47 research outputs found
Efficient Ambient LoRa Backscatter with On-Off Keying Modulation
Backscatter communication holds potential for ubiquitous and low-cost
connectivity among low-power IoT devices. To avoid interference between the
carrier signal and the backscatter signal, recent works propose a
frequency-shifting technique to separate these two signals in the frequency
domain. Such proposals, however, have to occupy the precious wireless spectrum
that is already overcrowded, and increase the power, cost, and complexity of
the backscatter tag. In this paper, we revisit the classic ON-OFF Keying (OOK)
modulation and propose Aloba, a backscatter system that takes the ambient LoRa
transmissions as the excitation and piggybacks the in-band OOK modulated
signals over the LoRa transmissions. Our design enables the backsactter signal
to work in the same frequency band of the carrier signal, meanwhile achieving
flexible data rate at different transmission range. The key contributions of
Aloba include: (1) the design of a low-power backscatter tag that can pick up
the ambient LoRa signals from other signals. (2) a novel decoding algorithm to
demodulate both the carrier signal and the backscatter signal from their
superposition. We further adopt link coding mechanism and interleave operation
to enhance the reliability of backscatter signal decoding. We implement Aloba
and conduct head-to-head comparison with the state-of-the-art LoRa backscatter
system PLoRa in various settings. The experiment results show Aloba can achieve
199.4 Kbps data rate at various distances, 52.4 times higher than PLoRa
Combination of Walnut Peptide and Casein Peptide alleviates anxiety and improves memory in anxiety mices
IntroductionAnxiety disorders continue to prevail as the most prevalent cluster of mental disorders following the COVID-19 pandemic, exhibiting substantial detrimental effects on individualsâ overall well-being and functioning. Even after a search spanning over a decade for novel anxiolytic compounds, none have been approved, resulting in the current anxiolytic medications being effective only for a specific subset of patients. Consequently, researchers are investigating everyday nutrients as potential alternatives to conventional medicines. Our prior study analyzed the antianxiety and memory-enhancing properties of the combination of Walnut Peptide (WP) and Casein Peptide (CP) in zebrafish.Methods and ResultsBased on this work, our current research further validates their effects in mice models exhibiting elevated anxiety levels through a combination of gavage oral administration. Our results demonstrated that at 170 + 300 mg human dose, the WP + CP combination significantly improved performances in relevant behavioral assessments related to anxiety and memory. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that the combination restores neurotransmitter dysfunction observed while monitoring Serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), dopamine (DA), and acetylcholine (ACh) levels. This supplementation also elevated the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA, indicating protective effects against the neurological stresses of anxiety. Additionally, there were strong correlations among behavioral indicators, BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), and numerous neurotransmitters.ConclusionHence, our findings propose that the WP + CP combination holds promise as a treatment for anxiety disorder. Besides, supplementary applications are feasible when produced as powdered dietary supplements or added to common foods like powder, yogurt, or milk
Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Perceived Stress Scale in Policewomen
BACKGROUND: The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is one of most widely used instruments to measure a global level of perceived stress in a range of clinical and research settings. This study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the Simplified Chinese version of the PSS-10 in policewomen. METHODOLOGY: A total of 240 policewomen were recruited in this study. The Simplified Chinese versions of the PSS-10, the Beck Depression Inventory Revised (BDI-II), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to all participants, and 36 of the participants were re-tested two weeks after the initial testing. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.86, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.68. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) yielded 2 factors with eigenvalues of 4.76 and 1.48, accounting for 62.41% of variance. Factor 1 consisted of 6 items representing "negative feelings"; whereas Factor 2 consisted of 4 items representing "positive feelings". The item loadings ranged from 0.72 to 0.83. The Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated a very good fit of this two-factor model to this sample. The PSS-10 significantly correlated with both BDI-II and BAI, indicating an acceptable concurrent validity. CONCLUSIONS: The Simplified Chinese version of the PSS-10 demonstrated adequate psychometric properties for evaluating stress levels. The results support its use among the Chinese population
Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study
Introduction. Switchingfrom polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal)to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking
fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions.While studies have
evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role
of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse
community settings, is not well understood. Methods.We examined longitudinal survey data from
24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and
Rural Epidemiology study.We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a
median of 10 years offollow up (âź2005â2015).We used hierarchical logistic regression models to
examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors
contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households(12 369)reported
changing their primary cookingfuels between baseline andfollow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582)
switchedfrom polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene)to clean (gas,
electricity)fuels, 26% (3109)switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164)switched from clean
to polluting fuels and 3% (522)switched between different clean fuels
Alienation from medical care policy, medical care avoidance, and the role of sex and risk perception
Abstract Background Medical care avoidance affects individualsâ health status. Previous studies on medical care avoidance have mainly focused on medical costs and peopleâs satisfaction with medical services. This study investigates whether an individualâs sense of policy alienation toward medical care policy (SPA-M) affects behavioral intention of medical care avoidance, and to what extent an intermediary variableâmedical financial risk perceptionâmediates the relationship between SPA-M and medical care avoidance. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 434 people aged 35â59 years from Wuhu, a city in Chinaâs Anhui province. A moderated mediation model was constructed to investigate the research question and sex (biological: male and female) was used as a moderating variable between SPA-M and medical financial risk perception. Results We found that SPA-M significantly impacted medical care avoidance, and that medical financial risk perception played a complete mediating role in this relationship, while sex moderated the relationship between SPA-M and medical financial risk perception. Conclusion This study contributes to the literature by enhancing our understanding of the factors that influence behavioral intention regarding medical care avoidance, deepening our understanding of the role of SPA-M in medical care policy, and expanding the role of sex differences in the analysis of the relationship between SPA-M, medical financial risk perception, and medical care avoidance, offering implications for public and community health
Improving the effectiveness of planning EIA (PEIA) in China: Integrating planning and assessment during the preparation of Shenzhen's Master Urban Plan
The enactment and implementation of the 2003 EIA Law in China institutionalised the role of plan environmental impact assessment (PEIA). While the philosophy, methodology and mechanisms of PEIA have gradually permeated through the various levels of government with a positive effect on the process and outcome of urban planning, only a few cities in China have so far carried out PEIA as a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)-type procedure. One such case is the southern city of Shenzhen. During the past three decades, Shenzhen has grown from a small town to a large and booming city as China has successfully and rapidly developed its economy by adopting the âreform and open doorâ policy. In response to the challenges arising from the generally divergent processes of rapid urbanisation, economic transformation and environment protection, Shenzhen has incrementally adopted the SEA concept in developing the city's Master Urban Plan. As such, this paper reviews the effectiveness of PEIA in three ways:
â˘as a tool and process for achieving more sustainable and strategic planning;
â˘to determine the level of integration of SEA within the planning system; and,
â˘its effectiveness vis-Ă -vis implementation.
The implementation of PEIA within Shenzhen's Master Urban Plan offers important insights into the emergence of innovative practices in undertaking PEIA as well as theoretical contributions to the field, especially in exploring the relationship between PEIA and SEA and highlighting the central role of local governing institutions in SEA development