Differences of Heart Rate Variability Between Happiness and Sadness Emotion States: A Pilot Study

This pilot study investigated the differences of heart rate variability (HRV) indices between two opposite emotion states: happiness and sadness, to reveal the differences of autonomic nervous system activity under different emotional states. Forty-eight healthy volunteers were enrolled for this study. Electrocardiography (ECG) signals were recorded under both emotion states with a random measurement order (first happiness emotion measurement then sadness or reverse). RR interval (RRI) time series were extracted from ECGs and multiple HRV indices, including time-domain (MEAN, SDNN, RMSSD and PNN50), frequency-domain (LFn, HFn and LF/HF) and nonlinear indices (SampEn and FuzzyMEn) were calculated. In addition, the effects of heart rate (HR) and mean artery pressure (MAP) on the aforementioned HRV indices were analyzed for both emotion states. The results showed that experimental order had no significant effect on all HRV indices from both happiness and sadness emotions (all P > 0.05). The key result was that among all nine HRV indices, six indices were identified having significant differences between happiness and sadness emotion states: MEAN (P = 0.028), SDNN (P = 0.002), three frequency-domain indices (all P < 0.0001) and FuzzyMEn (P = 0.047), whereas RMSSD, PNN50 and SampEn had no significant differences between the two emotion states. All indices, except for SampEn, had significant positive correlations (all P < 0.01) for the two emotion states. Four time-domain indices decreased with the increase of HR (all P < 0.01), while frequency-domain and nonlinear indices demonstrated no HR-related changes for each emotional state. In addition, all indices (time-domain, frequency-domain and nonlinear) showed no MAP-related changes. It concluded that HRV indices showed significant differences between happiness and sadness emotion states and the findings could help to better understand the inherent differences of cardiovascular time series between different emotion states in clinical practice

How to form shared objects to enhance university–school collaboration? A cultural–historical activity theory perspective

IntroductionUniversity-school (U–S) collaboration has proven to be an effective approach for teacher professional development, but it could be hampered by the lack of shared objects. To understand how shared objects are formed in U–S collaboration, this research established a university-school collaborated Change Laboratory in W primary school based on cultural-historical activity theory, which is under the background of Chinese teaching research activity.MethodsRecordings of meetings throughout the year were transcribed into texts and coded, and then analyzed via the method of grounded theory and contradiction analysis.ResultsThe findings reveal that, in comparison to previous studies regarding shared object formation process, this study identified an special phase named “experimental object,” which highlights the significance of experimentation in U–S collaboration. Also, multiple contradictions are recognized as the driving force for shared object formation which would gradually transform into fundamental conflicts between tools. The main contradictions identified include those between scientific and daily concepts, university culture and school culture, as well as new experiment and old routine.DiscussionThe current study implicates that U–S collaboration is an expansive learning process to acquire unknown knowledge, which necessitates both parties engaging in exploration and experimentation together. Furthermore, shared object formation within U–S collaboration requires participants to focus on developing teaching tools while consciously undergoing changes in aspects such as logic of thinking, culture and routine

Double-Layer Low-Density Parity-Check Codes over Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Channels

We introduce a double-layer code based on the combination of a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code with the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, where the decoding can be done in both inner-iteration and outer-iteration manners. The present code, called low-density MIMO code (LDMC), has a double-layer structure, that is, one layer defines subcodes that are embedded in each transmission vector and another glues these subcodes together. It supports inner iterations inside the LDPC decoder and outeriterations between detectors and decoders, simultaneously. It can also achieve the desired design rates due to the full rank of the deployed parity-check matrix. Simulations show that the LDMC performs favorably over the MIMO systems

Maintenance of estuarine water quality by mangroves occurs during flood periods: A case study of a subtropical mangrove wetland

Seasonal changes in water quality were measured in samples taken at various distances from shallow water across mudflat to mangroves during flood period and from mangroves across mudflat to shallow water during ebb period in a subtropical mangrove estuary (Zhangjiang Estuary, Fujian, China). The TN (total dissolved nitrogen), TP (total dissolved phosphorus), COD (chemical oxygen demand), and DOC (dissolved organic carbon) contents during the flood period were significantly higher than those during the ebb period. In contrast, the opposite was true for the POC (particulate organic carbon) content and transparency. The mangroves at Zhangjiang Estuary may trap nutrients at rates of 90.5 g N/m(2)/yr, 2.2 g TP/m(2)/yr, and 13.7 g C/m(2)/yr in the form of DOC, and export POC at a rate of 81.8 g/m(2)/yr. Our results support the hypothesis that the maintenance of estuarine water quality by mangroves occurs during flood periods. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Natural Science Fund of China [40876046, 40376025]; Fujian Province Universit

Combined treatment for a rare malignant glomus tumor of the esophagus with pulmonary and liver metastases: a case report and review of literature

BackgroundGlomus tumors are typically benign soft tissue tumors that occur at the extremities; malignant and viscerally occurring cases are extremely rare.Case presentationWe report a 49-year old male patient with a malignant esophageal glomus tumor that was complicated by lung and liver metastases. Genetic test results guided the patient’s individualized treatment. Consequently, treatment with Anlotinib combined with Tislelizumab achieved significant clinical benefits.ConclusionOur case report demonstrates that immunotherapy combined with anti-angiogenic therapy in patients with malignant esophageal glomus tumors can achieve significant efficacy and suggests the potential value of next-generation sequencing (NGS) detection in guiding personalized treatments in patients with malignant esophageal glomus tumors

The Qur'an and Identity in Contemporary Chinese Fiction

How is it possible to comprehend and assess the impact of the Qur’an on the literary expressions of Chinese Muslims (Hui) when the first full ‘translations’ of the Qur’an in Chinese made by non-Muslims from Japanese and English appeared only in 1927 and 1931, and by a Muslim from Arabic in 1932? But perhaps the fact that such a translation appeared so late in the history of the Muslim community in China, who have had a continuous presence since the ninth-century, is the best starting point. For it would be possible to address the relationship between the sacred text (as well as language) and identity among minority groups in a different way. This paper looks at the ways in which the Qur’an is imagined then embodied in literary texts authored by two prize-winning Chinese Muslim authors: Huo Da (b. 1945) and Zhang Chengzhi (b. 1948). While Huo Da, who does not have access to the Arabic language, alludes to the Chinese Qur’an in her novel, The Muslim’s Funeral (1982), transforming the its teachings into ritual performances of alterity through injecting Arabic and Persian words for religious rituals into her narrative of a Muslim family’s fortunes at the turn of the twentieth century, Zhang Chengzhi, who learned Arabic as an adult and travelled widely in the Muslim world, involves himself in reconstructing the history of the spread and persecution of the Jahriyya Sufi sect (an off-shoot of the Naqshabandiyya) in China between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries in his only historical novel, A History of the Soul (1991), and in education reform in Muslim communities, inventing an identity for Chinese Muslims based on direct knowledge of the sacred text and tradition and informed by the history of Islam not in China alone but in the global Islamic world, especially Arabic Islamic history

Molecular understanding of the suppression of new-particle formation by isoprene

Nucleation of atmospheric vapours produces more than half of global cloud condensation nuclei and so has an important influence on climate. Recent studies show that monoterpene (C10H16) oxidation yields highly oxygenated products that can nucleate with or without sulfuric acid. Monoterpenes are emitted mainly by trees, frequently together with isoprene (C5H8), which has the highest global emission of all organic vapours. Previous studies have shown that isoprene suppresses new-particle formation from monoterpenes, but the cause of this suppression is under debate. Here, in experiments performed under atmospheric conditions in the CERN CLOUD chamber, we show that isoprene reduces the yield of highly oxygenated dimers with 19 or 20 carbon atoms - which drive particle nucleation and early growth - while increasing the production of dimers with 14 or 15 carbon atoms. The dimers (termed C-20 and C-15, respectively) are produced by termination reactions between pairs of peroxy radicals (RO2 center dot) arising from monoterpenes or isoprene. Compared with pure monoterpene conditions, isoprene reduces nucleation rates at 1.7 nm (depending on the isoprene = monoterpene ratio) and approximately halves particle growth rates between 1.3 and 3.2 nm. However, above 3.2 nm, C-15 dimers contribute to secondary organic aerosol, and the growth rates are unaffected by isoprene. We further show that increased hydroxyl radical (OH center dot) reduces particle formation in our chemical system rather than enhances it as previously proposed, since it increases isoprene-derived RO2 center dot radicals that reduce C-20 formation. RO2 center dot termination emerges as the critical step that determines the highly oxygenated organic molecule (HOM) distribution and the corresponding nucleation capability. Species that reduce the C-20 yield, such as NO, HO2 and as we show isoprene, can thus effectively reduce biogenic nucleation and early growth. Therefore the formation rate of organic aerosol in a particular region of the atmosphere under study will vary according to the precise ambient conditions.Peer reviewe

Enhancement or Impediment? How University Teachers’ Use of Smart Classrooms Might Impact Interaction Quality

Technology’s involvement in teaching and learning is identified as an opportunity to bolster sustainable development in education. However, how it influences teaching quality and classroom interaction is a hotly debated subject, and the variations in interactions, by different technologies, between students and teachers in Smart Classrooms, particularly the ways in which interactions are impacted, are rarely discussed in existing research. The present study examines the effects of various degrees of technology on the quality of interactions in university-based Smart Classrooms based on an analysis of 38 courses, which were recorded and analysed over a three-year period. Also, an instrument to analyse interaction quality in a university Smart Classroom (USCIQAS) was developed. The results showed that advanced technological applications increase the quality of classroom interactions, particularly those involving student–teacher (ST) interactions, although it has a lower effect on the social–emotional outcomes of student–student (SS) interactions. Based on these findings, in order to maximize the potential of Smart Classrooms to improve classroom interactions, both teachers and students should be encouraged and trained to use technology. Teachers may also need to improve their pedagogy and technology use in tandem to avoid the risk of lower social–emotional outcomes of SS interaction

Epidemiology of birth defects in a national hospital-based birth defect surveillance spot in Southern Jiangsu, China, 2014–2018

ObjectiveAs the only hospital-based national surveillance spot of birth defects (BDs) in Changzhou city located in the economically developed eastern part of China, Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital has encountered serious challenges in BD prevention. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of total BDs born in the hospital from 2014 to 2018.MethodsThe data were collected from the national hospital-based birth defect surveillance system. BD prevalence was calculated by Poisson distribution. Trends of prevalence and the associations regarding information with BDs were analyzed by Poisson regression.ResultsThe reported prevalence of total BDs was 313.92 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 299.59–328.76) per 10,000 perinatal infants (PIs), while the perinatal prevalence of BD was 160.19 (95% CI: 150.00–170.89) per 10,000 PIs. A remarkable uptrend in the prevalence of BDs was noticed with a prevalence rate ratio (PRR) of 1.09 (95% CI: 1.04–1.14) and 1.13 (95% CI: 1.09–1.16), respectively. Congenital heart disease (CHD), cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P), congenital malformation of the kidney (CMK), polydactyly, Down syndrome (DS), cystic hygroma, neural tube defect (NTD), and congenital talipes equinovarus (CTE) were common types of total BDs. Mothers living in the urban area (PRR = 1.67, 95% CI:1.50–1.87), male fetuses (PRR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.05–1.28), and maternal age younger than 20 (PRR = 2.28, 95% CI: 1.60–3.25) and 25 years (PRR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.22–1.63) or older than 35 years (PRR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.00–1.40) were risk factors for BD occurrence.ConclusionThe reported prevalence of total BDs was nearly two times higher than the perinatal prevalence of BDs in PIs, and the ranks of total BDs and BDs in PIs were different. Mothers living in the urban area, male fetuses, and maternal ages younger than 25 or older than 35 years were risk factors for BD incidence. Thus, improving prenatal examination technology, expanding the surveillance time quantum of BDs, and keeping maternal health may be warranted