Innovative Design of an Elliptical Trainer with Right Timing of the Foot Trajectory

The existing elliptical trainer cannot provide the user with the real jogging exercising mode and does not meet the principles of ergonomics. The purpose of this paper is to propose and study an innovative elliptical trainer that imitates the right timing of the foot trajectory while jogging. First of all, this study proposes and illustrates the structure and function of the innovative elliptical trainer with quick-return effect. Then, by using vector-loop method and motion geometry of the mechanism, the proposed innovative mechanism is studied kinematically. A design example is presented for interpreting the design process. At last, the foot trajectory of the innovative elliptical trainer is analyzed and confirmed. The simulation results confirm that the timing of the foot trajectory of the foot support members satisfies the principles of ergonomics, and keeps the user’s legs from injury

The Yang-Tonifying Herbal Medicine Cynomorium songaricum

Aging is highly correlated with the progressive loss of physiological function, including cognitive behavior and reproductive capacity, as well as an increased susceptibility to diseases; therefore, slowing age-related degeneration could greatly contribute to human health. Cynomorium songaricum Rupr. (CS) is traditionally used to improve sexual function and treat kidney dysfunction in traditional Chinese medicine, although little is known about whether CS has effects on longevity. Here, we show that CS supplementation in the diet extends both the mean and maximum lifespan of adult female flies. The increase in lifespan with CS was correlated with higher resistance to oxidative stress and starvation and lower lipid hydroperoxides (LPO) levels. Additionally, the lifespan extension was accompanied by beneficial effects, such as improved mating readiness, increased fecundity, and suppression of age-related learning impairment in aged flies. These findings demonstrate the important antiaging effects of CS and indicate the potential applicability of dietary intervention with CS to enhance health and prevent multiple age-related diseases

Insertion of the Mirena Intrauterine System for Treatment of Adenomyosis-Associated Menorrhagia: A Novel Method

SummaryObjectiveInsertion of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system Mirena is difficult in women with adenomyosis, and the device is often subsequently expelled. We used a novel insertion technique (Yang's method) to overcome this problem.Materials and MethodsThis retrospective study enrolled 273 patients with adenomyosis who were receiving Mirena for treatment of menorrhagia and/or dysmenorrhea between 2001 and 2008. Clinical outcomes and expulsion rates were compared between patients treated using conventional insertion and those treated using Yang's insertion methods.ResultsExpulsion occurred in 25.3% of patients with the conventional method, compared with 10.2% of patients with Yang's method. Hemoglobin levels and dysmenorrhea improved greatly in both groups after Mirena insertion.ConclusionYang's insertion method for levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system is more reliable in some difficult cases, such as patients with severe adenomyosis. This method ensures correct positioning, thus reducing the risks of uterine perforation and/or expulsion

Multiagent Cooperative Learning Strategies for Pursuit-Evasion Games

This study examines the pursuit-evasion problem for coordinating multiple robotic pursuers to locate and track a nonadversarial mobile evader in a dynamic environment. Two kinds of pursuit strategies are proposed, one for agents that cooperate with each other and the other for agents that operate independently. This work further employs the probabilistic theory to analyze the uncertain state information about the pursuers and the evaders and uses case-based reasoning to equip agents with memories and learning abilities. According to the concepts of assimilation and accommodation, both positive-angle and bevel-angle strategies are developed to assist agents in adapting to their environment effectively. The case study analysis uses the Recursive Porous Agent Simulation Toolkit (REPAST) to implement a multiagent system and demonstrates superior performance of the proposed approaches to the pursuit-evasion game

Do European Central Bank Asset Purchase Programmes Matter for the Euro-area Stock Markets and Brent Crude Market?

This paper examines macroeconomic impacts of European Central Bank (ECB) unconventional policy on Euro stock markets and Brent crude market respectively. We use actual and confidential asset purchase programmes (APPs) data to capture the unconventional effect and apply the vector auto-regression (VAR) model. We find that when the percentage change in ECB APPs leads stock market returns in French, England and Italy as controlling either the Germany or French stock market. Controlling both French and Germany stock markets simultaneously, we find that the percentage change in ECB APPs leads stock market returns only in Italy, suggesting that ECB APPs for the segments of European stock markets matter. Finally, we find the causality from the percentage change in APPs to crude oil returns. Similar results are obtained when controlling positive percentage change in APPs. Hence, our results shed valuable lights on conducting conventional monetary policy in times of crisis. Keywords: ECB, Asset purchase programme, Stock market, Crude market, Granger causality JEL Classifications: G15, G14, E5

Does Air Pollution Cause the Retail Investor's Disposition Effect in Taiwan Mutual Fund Markets?

Disposition effect is a biased behavior of investor, which sells winners too early and rides losers too long. Retail investors may have a disposition effect compared to professional investor because retail investors may lack of expertise or their psychology are affected easily by external factors, such as weather, temperature, mood, etc. Recently, Taiwan suffers from air pollution problem. Does air pollution cause the retail investor's disposition effect? By using multiple regression analysis, this article investigates the relationship between air pollution and retail investor's disposition effect in Taiwan mutual fund market. We divide the market conditions into three states, bull, bear, and neutral. Empirical results revealed that although there is no significant correlation between air pollution and the disposition effect in the overall Taiwan mutual fund market, but the retailer investor's behavior is more conservative as the degree of air pollution increases under the bull and bear markets. Keywords: Mutual Fund, Disposition Effect, Air Pollution, Multiple Regression Analysis JEL Classifications: E22, G40, Q53 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.729