The Efficacy of Acupuncture on Anthropometric Measures and the Biochemical Markers for Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Background. Many previous studies have shown the potential therapeutic effect of acupuncture for metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, most of these studies were limited by short durations of observation and a lack of sham acupuncture as control. We designed a randomized controlled trial, used sham acupuncture as the control, and evaluated the efficacy over 12 weeks of treatment and 12 weeks of follow-up. Methods/Design. The study was designed as a multicentre, parallel-group, randomized, double-blinded trial. 40 patients were randomly assigned to two groups: treatment group (treated with acupuncture) and control group (treated with sham acupuncture). Outcomes were measured at 4, 8, and 12 weeks and 3 months after treatment. Results. 33 participants (17 in acupuncture group and 16 in control group) completed the treatment and the follow-up. Decreases from baseline in mean waist circumference (WC) and weight at the end of treatment were 4.85 cm (95% CI [2.405,5.595]) and 4.00 kg (95% CI [1.6208,4.4498]) in acupuncture group and 1.62 cm and 1.64 kg in control group (P<0.01). The changes in mean glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and blood pressure in acupuncture group were greater than the changes in control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusion. Acupuncture decreases WC, HC, HbA1c, TG, and TC values and blood pressure in MetS

Stability Analysis and Clinic Phenomenon Simulation of a Fractional-Order HBV Infection Model

In this paper, a fractional-order HBV model was set up based on standard mass action incidences and quasisteady assumption. The basic reproductive number R0 and the cytotoxic T lymphocytes’ immune-response reproductive number R1 were derived. There were three equilibrium points of the model, and stable analysis of each equilibrium point was given with corresponding hypothesis about R0 or R1. Some numerical simulations were also given based on HBeAg clinical data, and the simulation showed that there existed positive logarithmic correlation between the number of infected cells and HBeAg, which was consistent with the clinical facts. The simulation also showed that the clinical individual differences should be reflected by the fractional-order model

Characterization of Key Odor-Active Compounds in Draft Beers for the Chinese Market Using Molecular Sensory Science Approaches

Beer is a popular alcoholic beverage worldwide. However, limited research has been conducted on identifying key odor-active components in lager-type draft beers for the Chinese market. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the odor characteristics of the four most popular draft beer brands through a sensory evaluation and an electronic nose. Subsequently, the four draft beers were analyzed through solid-phase microextraction and liquid–liquid extraction using a two-dimensional comprehensive gas chromatography–olfactometry–mass spectrometry analysis (GC×GC–O–MS). Fifty-five volatile odor compounds were detected through GC×GC–O–MS. Through an Aroma Extract Dilution Analysis, 22 key odor-active compounds with flavor dilution factors ≥ 16 were identified, with 11 compounds having odor activity values > one. An electronic nose analysis revealed significant disparities in the odor characteristics of the four samples, enabling their distinct identification. These findings help us to better understand the flavor characteristics of draft beer and the stylistic differences between different brands of products and provide a theoretical basis for objectively evaluating the quality differences between different brands of draft beer

Modified Multi&ndash;Source Water Supply Module of the SWAT&ndash;WARM Model to Simulate Water Resource Responses under Strong Human Activities in the Tang&ndash;Bai River Basin

In the past few decades, the water resources in the Tang&ndash;Bai River Basin showed a declining trend, due to the human&ndash;driven alteration of surface water and groundwater management. There are potential risks to the sustainable utilization of future water resources in response to agricultural, industrial, and domestic water supply. In this work, we used the water allocation and regulation model based on SWAT (SWAT&ndash;WARM model) to quantify the characteristics of water resources response under human activities in this basin. The multi&ndash;source water supply module was modified to improve the applicability of the SWAT&ndash;WARM model in this basin. We validated our simulations against observed runoff, water consumption, and supply. The main results were as follows: (a) We used the percent bias, the correlation coefficient, and the Nash&ndash;Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient to measure the model validity and found that the modified model did not show obvious advantages in runoff simulations, whereas it reproduced water consumption and supply better than the original model. The modified model had more advantages in reflecting the process of water resources transformation and utilization in the basin driven by strong human activities. (b) By comparing the variation of watershed water circulation fluxes under natural and human disturbance conditions in the Tang&ndash;Bai River Basin from 1995 to 2016, we found that human activities increased evapotranspiration by 6.8% and surface runoff increased by 10.0%, while groundwater resources decreased by 0.23 million m3/yr. (c) There was water shortage in the basin at different flow frequencies, among which agricultural water shortage accounted for the largest proportion, &gt;70%. The basin should further strengthen agricultural and industrial water saving, reduce water consumption fundamentally, and ensure the sustainable development of economy and society

RoboCup@Home SSPL Champion 2023: RoboBreizh, a Fully Embedded Approach

International audienceThis paper presents the approach employed by the team RoboBreizh to win the championship in the 2023 RoboCup@Home Social Standard Platform League (SSPL). RoboBreizh decided to limit itself to an entirely embedded system with no connection to the internet and external devices. This article describes the design of embedded solutions including the global architecture, perception, navigation, interaction, reasoning and digital twin

Modified Multi–Source Water Supply Module of the SWAT–WARM Model to Simulate Water Resource Responses under Strong Human Activities in the Tang–Bai River Basin

In the past few decades, the water resources in the Tang–Bai River Basin showed a declining trend, due to the human–driven alteration of surface water and groundwater management. There are potential risks to the sustainable utilization of future water resources in response to agricultural, industrial, and domestic water supply. In this work, we used the water allocation and regulation model based on SWAT (SWAT–WARM model) to quantify the characteristics of water resources response under human activities in this basin. The multi–source water supply module was modified to improve the applicability of the SWAT–WARM model in this basin. We validated our simulations against observed runoff, water consumption, and supply. The main results were as follows: (a) We used the percent bias, the correlation coefficient, and the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient to measure the model validity and found that the modified model did not show obvious advantages in runoff simulations, whereas it reproduced water consumption and supply better than the original model. The modified model had more advantages in reflecting the process of water resources transformation and utilization in the basin driven by strong human activities. (b) By comparing the variation of watershed water circulation fluxes under natural and human disturbance conditions in the Tang–Bai River Basin from 1995 to 2016, we found that human activities increased evapotranspiration by 6.8% and surface runoff increased by 10.0%, while groundwater resources decreased by 0.23 million m3/yr. (c) There was water shortage in the basin at different flow frequencies, among which agricultural water shortage accounted for the largest proportion, >70%. The basin should further strengthen agricultural and industrial water saving, reduce water consumption fundamentally, and ensure the sustainable development of economy and society

Particle filter vehicles tracking by fusing multiple features

Real-time and accurate vehicle tracking by Cameras and Surveillance can provide strong support for the acquisition and application of important traffic parameters, which is the basis of the traffic condition evaluation and the reasonable traffic command and dispatch. To deal with difficult problems of vehicle tracking research in a complex environments, such as occlusion, sudden illumination change, similar target interference and real-time tracking, measures are taken as follows. Firstly, the existing color local entropy particle filter tracking method is improved. The symmetry of information entropy is used to overcome the tracking failure caused by large-area occlusion. Secondly, the SIFT feature tracking method is improved to enhance real-time performance and robustness. Thirdly, two tracking methods were combined according to their characteristics, aiming at effectively improving the quasi-determination and real-time performance of vehicle tracking. Fourthly, Kalman filter was used to predict the motion state of vehicles. According to the SIFT characteristics and license plate information of vehicles, the exact position of the lost target vehicles is quickly located. It has been verified by experiments that our method has effectively improved the accuracy and real-time performance of vehicle tracking in complex situations

<i>N</i>-Glycan Profiles of Neuraminidase from Avian Influenza Viruses

The cleavage of sialic acids by neuraminidase (NA) facilitates the spread of influenza A virus (IV) descendants. Understanding the enzymatic activity of NA aids research into the transmission of IVs. An effective method for purifying NA was developed using p-aminophenyloxamic acid-modified functionalized hydroxylated magnetic particles (AAMPs), and from 0.299 to 0.401 mg of NA from eight IV strains was isolated by 1 mg AAMP. A combination of lectin microarrays and MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS was employed to investigate the N-glycans of isolated NAs. We found that more than 20 N-glycans were identified, and 16 glycan peaks were identical in the strains derived from chicken embryo cultivation. Multi-antennae, bisected, or core-fucosylated N-glycans are common in all the NAs. The terminal residues of N-glycans are predominantly composed of galactose and N-acetylglucosamine residues. Meanwhile, sialic acid residue was uncommon in these N-glycans. Further computational docking analysis predicted the interaction mechanism between NA and p-aminophenyloxamic acid