Effects of Linpan nature therapy on health benefits in older women with and without hypertension

BackgroundNature therapy can significantly benefit the physiology and psychology of middle-aged and older people, but previous studies have focused on forest environments. The restoration potential of rural environments in urban fringe areas, which are more accessible to older people on a daily basis, has not been fully studied. This study assessed the effects of nature therapy on the physical and mental health of older women in a rural setting (locally known as Linpan) in the urban fringe area of Chengdu, China.MethodsWe recruited a total of 60 older women (65.3 ± 5.5 years old) living in cities for 3 days of nature therapy in the winter (30 subjects) and spring (30 subjects), including 20 hypertensive patients.ResultsThe results showed that the overall blood pressure, pulse and sleep dysfunction rating scores of the participants were significantly lower than the pretest levels, and the finger blood oxygen saturation, mid-day salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol were increased post-treatment. Increases in these biomarker indicates and increase in stress. There were significant differences in the changes in systolic blood pressure between the hypertension group (HTN) and the normal group (normal) (HTN decreased by 8.8%, normal decreased by 5.4%), salivary alpha-amylase content (HTN decreased by 0.3%, normal increased by 16.9%), and sleep dysfunction rating scores (HTN decreased by 59.6%, normal decreased by 54%). The decreases in systolic blood pressure and pulse in the winter group were higher than those in the spring group by 1.8 and 4.4%, respectively, while the increases in salivary alpha-amylase content and salivary cortisol content were lower than those in the spring group by 11.7 and 11.2%, respectively, and the decrease in sleep dysfunction rating scores was lower than that in the spring group by 7.1%.ConclusionOur study concluded that nature therapy based on various health activities in the Linpan has significant health effects on older women. It can regulate blood pressure and pulse in older women, relieve cardiovascular disease, improve sleep quality. Meanwhile, older women with high blood pressure experienced a more significant effect than the healthy group

Impact of algorithmic transforms for High Level Synthesis (HLS) : application to signal and image processing

La thèse porte sur l'impact d'optimisations algorithmiques pour la synthèse automatique HLS pour ASIC. Ces optimisations algorithmiques sont des transformations de haut niveau, qui de part leur nature intrinsèque restent hors de porter des compilateurs modernes, même les plus optimisants. Le but est d'analyser l'impact des optimisations et transformations de haut niveau sur la surface, la consommation énergétique et la vitesse du circuit ASIC. Les trois algorithmes évalués sont les filtres non récursifs, les filtres récursifs et un algorithme de détection de mouvement. Sur chaque exemple, des gains ont été possibles en vitesse et/ou en surface et/ou en consommation. Le gain le plus spectaculaire est un facteur x12.6 de réduction de l'énergie tout en maitrisant la surface de synthèse et en respectant la contrainte d'exécution temps réel. Afin de mettre en perspective les résultats (consommation et vitesse), un benchmark supplémentaire a été réalisé sur un microprocesseur ST XP70 avec extension VECx, un processeur ARM Cortex avec extension Neon et un processeur Intel Penryn avec extensions SSE.The thesis deals with the impact of algorithmic transforms for HLS synthesis for ASIC. These algorithmic transforms are high level transforms that are beyond the capabilities of modern optimizing compilers. The goal is to analyse the impact of the High level transforms on area execution time and energy consumption. Three algorithms have been analyzed: non recursive filters, recursive filter and a motion detection application. On each algorithm, the optimizations and transformations lead to speedups and area/surface gains. The most impressive gain in energy reduction is a factor x12.6, while the area remains constant and the execution time smaller than the real-time constraint. A benchmark has been done on SIMD general purpose processor to compare the impact of the high level transforms: ST XP70 microprocessor with VECx extension, ARM Cortex with Non extension and Intel Penryn with SSE extension

Impact des transformations algorithmiques sur la synthèse de haut niveau : application au traitement du signal et des images

The thesis deals with the impact of algorithmic transforms for HLS synthesis for ASIC. These algorithmic transforms are high level transforms that are beyond the capabilities of modern optimizing compilers. The goal is to analyse the impact of the High level transforms on area execution time and energy consumption. Three algorithms have been analyzed: non recursive filters, recursive filter and a motion detection application. On each algorithm, the optimizations and transformations lead to speedups and area/surface gains. The most impressive gain in energy reduction is a factor x12.6, while the area remains constant and the execution time smaller than the real-time constraint. A benchmark has been done on SIMD general purpose processor to compare the impact of the high level transforms: ST XP70 microprocessor with VECx extension, ARM Cortex with Non extension and Intel Penryn with SSE extension.La thèse porte sur l'impact d'optimisations algorithmiques pour la synthèse automatique HLS pour ASIC. Ces optimisations algorithmiques sont des transformations de haut niveau, qui de part leur nature intrinsèque restent hors de porter des compilateurs modernes, même les plus optimisants. Le but est d'analyser l'impact des optimisations et transformations de haut niveau sur la surface, la consommation énergétique et la vitesse du circuit ASIC. Les trois algorithmes évalués sont les filtres non récursifs, les filtres récursifs et un algorithme de détection de mouvement. Sur chaque exemple, des gains ont été possibles en vitesse et/ou en surface et/ou en consommation. Le gain le plus spectaculaire est un facteur x12.6 de réduction de l'énergie tout en maitrisant la surface de synthèse et en respectant la contrainte d'exécution temps réel. Afin de mettre en perspective les résultats (consommation et vitesse), un benchmark supplémentaire a été réalisé sur un microprocesseur ST XP70 avec extension VECx, un processeur ARM Cortex avec extension Neon et un processeur Intel Penryn avec extensions SSE

Fabrication and characterization of highly oriented N-Doped ZnO nanorods by selective area epitaxy

High-quality nitrogen-doped ZnO nanorods have been selectively grown on patterned and bare ZnO templates by the combination of nanoimprint lithography and chemical vapor transport methods. The grown nanorods exhibited uniformity in size and orientation as well as controllable density and surface-to-volume ratio. The structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods and the behaviour of N dopants have been investigated by means of the scanning electron microscope, photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and Raman scattering spectra. The additional vibration modes observed in Raman spectra of N-doped ZnO nanorods provided solid evidence of N incorporation in ZnO nanorods. The difference of excitonic emissions from ZnO nanorods with varied density and surface-to-volume ratio suggested the different spatial distribution of intrinsic defects. It was found that the defects giving rise to acceptor-bound exciton (A0X) emission were most likely to distribute in the sidewall surface with nonpolar characteristics, while the donor bound exciton (D0X) emission related defects distributed uniformly in the near top polar surface

High-Brightness Polarized Green InGaN/GaN Light-Emitting Diode Structure with Al-Coated p‑GaN Grating

The potential of polarized light sources in liquid-crystal displays has been extensively pursued due to the large energy savings as compared to conventional light sources. Here, we demonstrate high-brightness polarized green light emission from an InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode (LED) structure by combining the strong coupling between surface plasmons (SPs) and multiple quantum wells and polarization effects of SPs. As compared to the as-grown LED structure, a significant enhancement is observed in the total light emission with a high polarization degree of 54%. This work might provide an efficient way to realize simple, compact, and high-efficiency polarized light emission devices for applications in electro-optical integration