A decade of change in breastfeeding in China's far north-west

BACKGROUND: There have been considerable changes in breastfeeding practices in China over the past forty years. However China is a very large country, and breastfeeding rates in different parts of China vary considerably. The objective of this paper is to identify and compare breastfeeding types and rates between 1994–1996 and 2003–2004 in Shihezi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, PR China. METHODS: In 1994–1996, a study of breastfeeding (n = 2197) was undertaken in Shihezi, Xinjiang, PR China. A decade later in 2003–2004, a longitudinal study (n = 545) of infant feeding practices was undertaken in the same area. RESULTS: The 'any breastfeeding' rates at 1, 4 and 6 months were 94%, 82% and 78% respectively in the early 1990s. A decade later, breastfeeding at 1 month was lower, but rates at 4 and 6 months remained the same. In 2004 the 'full breastfeeding' rate at one month was significantly higher (57%) than a decade earlier (38%), but after 3 months there was a rapid decline. This reflected a shift in the way complementary foods are introduced: the initial introduction was later, but by a higher proportion of mothers. CONCLUSION: The rate of breastfeeding at one month is significantly lower in 2003–2004 when compared to 1994–1996. The 'full breastfeeding' rates were initially higher, but after 3 months were then lower. The Chinese national breastfeeding targets were not reached in either period of the study. These studies show the need to further promote full or exclusive breastfeeding and further longitudinal studies are necessary to provide the detailed knowledge about risk factors required for health promotion programs

A study of the effect of suboptimal glycemic control on subclinical myocardial systolic function in patients with T2DM

Objective·To explore the relationship between poor blood glucose control and early impaired cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods·Eighty-three patients diagnosed with T2DM in Jiading Branch of Shanghai General Hospital from June 2021 to March 2022 were selected and divided into two groups according to the level of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c): satisfactory control of glycaemia (SCG) group and less satisfactory control of glycaemia (LSCG) group. Fifty-four subjects were in the control group. Echocardiography was performed to obtain left ventricular structural and functional parameters and left ventricular subendocardial, medial and subepicardial global longitudinal strain (GLS): GLSendo, GLSmid, and GLSepi. The parameters were compared by using analysis of variance. The correlation analysis was performed by Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The diagnostic performance of longitudinal strain in differentiating subclinical myocardial dysfunction in patients with T2DM was analyzed by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve.Results·The thickness of the ventricular septum and the posterior wall of the left ventricle were thicker in the LSCG group than in the SCG group and the control group (all P0.05). Compared with the control group, the left ventricular diastolic function index E/e (early peak flow velocity by Doppler/early and atrial diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus by tissue Doppler imaging) was higher in both the LSCG group and the SCG group (all P 0.05). There was no significant difference in left ventricular ejection fraction among the three groups (P>0.05). Compared with LSCG group, GLSendo, GLSmid and GLSepi were higher in the SCG group and control group (all P0.05). HbA1c was an independently negative factor of GLSmid and GLSepi (β= -0.198 and -0.239, all P<0.05). GLSendo, GLSmid and GLSepi had moderate diagnostic performance between the LSCG group and SCG group, with areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.754 (95%CI 0.624‒0.884), 0.755 (95%CI 0.624‒0.885), and 0.751 (95%CI 0.619‒0.882), respectively.Conclusions·T2DM patients with unsatisfactory glycemic control have reduced myocardial contractility, and this subclinical myocardial damage is independently negatively correlated with the level of HbA1c

Electromechanical Impedance Response of a Cracked Timoshenko Beam

Typically, the Electromechanical Impedance (EMI) technique does not use an analytical model for basic damage identification. However, an accurate model is necessary for getting more information about any damage. In this paper, an EMI model is presented for predicting the electromechanical impedance of a cracked beam structure quantitatively. A coupled system of a cracked Timoshenko beam with a pair of PZT patches bonded on the top and bottom surfaces has been considered, where the bonding layers are assumed as a Kelvin-Voigt material. The shear lag model is introduced to describe the load transfer between the PZT patches and the beam structure. The beam crack is simulated as a massless torsional spring; the dynamic equations of the coupled system are derived, which include the crack information and the inertial forces of both PZT patches and adhesive layers. According to the boundary conditions and continuity conditions, the analytical expression of the admittance of PZT patch is obtained. In the case study, the influences of crack and the inertial forces of PZT patches are analyzed. The results show that: (1) the inertial forces affects significantly in high frequency band; and (2) the use of appropriate frequency range can improve the accuracy of damage identification

Simulation and Analysis for Electric Bicycle Traffic Flow

Keywords: traffic engineering, electric bicycle flow, lane changing rule, cellular automaton model. Abstract. The electric bicycle has become the main part of non motor vehicles in small and medium-sized cities. Research on the traffic flow characteristic of the electric bicycle has important practical significance. Based on NaSch model, this paper models electric bicycle traffic flow with CA model and improves the lane changing model. Then the electric bicycle lanes change into general lane change and whistle change, and corresponding lane changing rules are set up. Simulation analysis of the model is carried out. The results show that when the traffic density is small, whistling behavior to raise the road utilization rate has some effect, but in the high density, whistle behavior can not improve road traffic capacity

Multi-Agent Based Microscopic Simulation Modeling for Urban Traffic Flow

Traffic simulation plays an important role in the evaluation of traffic decisions. The movement of vehicles essentially is the operating process of drivers, in order to reproduce the urban traffic flow from the micro-aspect on computer, this paper establishes an urban traffic flow microscopic simulation system (UTFSim) based on multi-agent. The system is seen as an intelligent virtual environment system (IVES), and the four-layer structure of it is built. The road agent, vehicle agent and signal agent are modeled. The concept of driving trajectory which is divided into LDT (Lane Driving Trajectory) and VDDT (Vehicle Dynamic Driving Trajectory) is introduced. The “Link-Node” road network model is improved. The driving behaviors including free driving, following driving, lane changing, slowing down, vehicle stop, etc. are analyzed. The results of the signal control experiments utilizing the UTFSim developed in the platform of Visual Studio. NET indicates that it plays a good performance and can be used in the evaluation of traffic management and control

Rapid determination of vitellogenin in fish plasma by anion exchange high performance liquid chromatography using postcolumn fluorescence derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde

An analytical method involving anion exchange high performance liquid chromatographic determination of vitellogenin (Vtg) in fish plasma after postcolumn fluorescence derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) was developed. The retention time of Vtg was about 11 min. The reagent variables for derivatization were optimized. The fluorophore was excited at 335 nm and detected at 435 nm. A calibration curve was established ranging from 0.13 to 11.28 mu g. The determination limit of Vtg was found to be as low as 0.13 mu g. The spiked recovery was 93.6% and interassay variability was less than 4%. The method developed was used to determine Vtg in fish plasma obtained from red sea bream (Pagrosomus major), black porgy (Sparus macrocephalus) and skew band grunt (Hapalogenys nitens), without complicated sample pretreatment. The results confirmed that the method showed advantages of being simple, rapid, reproducible and sensitive

Paint has the potential to release microplastics, nanoplastics, inorganic nanoparticles, and hybrid materials

Abstract Background When we paint our houses or offices, we might paint plastic, because most paints are generally formulated with polymer binders. After drying and curing, the binders fix the colourants on the painted surface as a film of plastic mixture, which is tested herein using Raman imaging to analyse and directly visualise the hybrid plastic-colourant (titanium dioxide or TiO2 nanoparticles). Results For the plastic mixture or hybrid, the co-existence and competition between the Raman signals of plastic and TiO2 complicate the individual analysis, which should be carefully extracted and separated in order to avoid the weak signal of plastic to be masked by that of TiO2. This is particularly important when considering the Raman activity of TiO2 is much stronger than that of plastic. Plastic is observed to coat the TiO2 nanoparticle surface, individually or as a bulk to embed the TiO2 nanoparticles as mixture or hybrid. Once branched, pended, scratched or aged, the paint can also be peeled off from the painted surface, including gyprock, wood and glass, releasing microplastics and nanoplastics (coating onto the individual TiO2 nanoparticle surface or embedding the TiO2 nanoparticles, or individually as particles) in potential. Conclusions Our test sends us a warning that we are surrounded by plastic items that might release microplastics and nanoplastics in potential, for which the risk assessment is needed. Overall, Raman imaging is a suitable approach to effectively characterise microplastics and nanoplastics, even from the mixture with the hybrid background and the complicated interference. Graphical Abstrac

A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of duloxetine hydrochloride enteric-coated tablets in the treatment of refractory chronic cough

Abstract Introduction Refractory cough, a chronic cough with an unclear diagnosis or poor treatment response. The symptoms are often stubborn and persistent, causing serious complications and lowering the patient's quality of life. Cough hypersensitivity syndrome (CHS) is proposed as a potential cause, and reducing sensory nerve hyperresponsiveness is suggested as an effective treatment. However, current drugs have low efficacy and benefit rates and numerous side effects. This trail proposes using duloxetine, a selective 5-HT and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, as a potential treatment for refractory cough, which has shown promise in treating pain and depression. Duloxetine may inhibit pain conduction and oxidative stress in peripheral nerves by inhibiting the activity of TRPV1 channels, which play an important role in the peripheral afferent pathway of refractory cough. Meanwhile, the antidepressant effects of duloxetine may also play a role in the treatment of refractory cough. Methods and analysis This is a single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, and controlled trial. A total of 98 individuals will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to duloxetine group and placebo control group (starting with 20 mg QD, increasing 20 mg daily until 20 mg TID). After a screening period, the second stage runs from baseline to the 42nd (last) day of treatment, with follow-up visits on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 35th, 42nd and 49th days. The main end-stage observation indicators include objective cough frequency, cough visual analog scale (VAS), cough symptom score, Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), and cough evaluation test (CET); the secondary end-stage observation indicators include capsaicin cough sensitivity, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Major Depression Inventory (MDI), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7), Life Events Scale (LES-32), induced sputum supernatant. The safety measures will be AEs/SAEs, vital signs, liver and kidney function, fecal occult blood test. Discussion This study is the first randomized, double-blind, and controlled clinical trial investigating the use of duloxetine in the treatment of refractory coughs. The study aims to provide a high-quality basis for evaluating the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for this condition. Trial registration Our study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Register ( www.chictr.org.cn/ ) (ChiCTR2000037429) in 28/08/2020