Predictability effects and parafoveal processing of compound words in natural Chinese reading

We report a boundary paradigm eye movement experiment to investigate whether the predictability of the second character of a two-character compound word affects how it is processed prior to direct fixation during reading. The boundary was positioned immediately prior to the second character of the target word, which itself was either predictable or unpredictable. The preview was either a pseudocharacter (nonsense preview), or an identity preview. We obtained clear preview effects in all conditions, but more importantly, skipping probability for the second character of the target word and the whole target word from pretarget was greater when it was predictable than when it was not predictable from the preceding context. Interactive effects for later measures on the whole target word (gaze duration and go-past time) were also obtained. These results demonstrate that predictability information from preceding sentential context and information regarding the likely identity of upcoming characters are used concurrently to constrain the nature of lexical processing during natural Chinese reading

A review of heat stress evaluation indices in extremely hot environments

Selecting appropriate evaluation indices to evaluate extremely hot environments has become an urgent problem to ensure the safety of workers’ lives and improve labor productivity. The objective of this review is to compare relevant evaluation indices for assessing heat stress and to analyze the more effective ones applicable to the industrial environment by considering each one together. Based on extensive research on existing literature and relevant international standards, this paper introduces the definitions of heat stress and its influencing factors. Based on the actual needs of workers, analyze the existing heat stress indices from a practical standpoint, and summarize the definitions, advantages, and limitations of each index. As a result, this paper emphasizes that the relevant thresholds of thermal indices should be appropriately adjusted to suit different industrial environments. The hazards of extreme work environments can be reduced by developing new indices, charts, or related strategies. This review will provide a solid theoretical foundation for environmental control schemes for harsh working situations

Study on oxygen concentration distribution of Sejila mount tunnel construction based on fluent

Sichuan-Tibet Railway is a major construction project to ensure national defense security and support social and economic development in the west. Due to the geographical environment at high altitudes in the Sichuan-Tibet region, for every 1000 m increase in the average altitude, the atmospheric pressure decreases by about 11.55 %, and the oxygen partial pressure decreases accordingly, forming a low-pressure and low-oxygen environment, which affects the construction safety. The oxygen consumption of mechanical equipment in the tunnel and the discharge of pollutants make the construction personnel’s hypoxia problem more serious. Based on the project of the Sejila Mountain Tunnel, this paper divides the tunnel into the working face and the construction section along the tunnel according to different construction procedures. Based on the numerical simulation by CFD software, the distribution law of oxygen concentration in the tunnel construction process before the implementation of the environmental control scheme under different factors is proposed, and the relationship between various influencing factors and oxygen concentration distribution is obtained. It is concluded that oxygen consumption and emission of internal combustion engines and tunnel excavation length are important factors affecting oxygen concentration in the tunnel construction environment

Lookine: Let the Blind Hear a Smile

It is believed that nonverbal visual information including facial expressions, facial micro-actions and head movements plays a significant role in fundamental social communication. Unfortunately it is regretful that the blind can not achieve such necessary information. Therefore, we propose a social assistant system, Lookine, to help them to go beyond this limitation. For Lookine, we apply the novel techniques including facial expression recognition, facial action recognition and head pose estimation, and obey barrier-free principles in our design. In experiments, the algorithm evaluation and user study prove that our system has promising accuracy, good real-time performance, and great user experience

Association between combination COVID-19-influenza vaccination and long COVID in middle-aged and older Europeans: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACTThe potential impact of combined COVID-19 and influenza vaccination on long COVID remains uncertain. In the present cross-sectional study, we aimed to investigate the plausible association between them in middle-aged and older Europeans based on the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). A total of 1910 participants were recruited in the analyses. The study outcome was long COVID. Participants were divided into 4 groups through the self-reported status of COVID-19 and influenza vaccination. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. 1397 participants experienced long COVID. After multivariable adjustment, those vaccinated with neither COVID-19 nor influenza vaccine had higher risk of long COVID (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.26–2.35) compared to those vaccinated with both vaccines. Furthermore, adding the 4 statuses of COVID-19 vaccination/influenza vaccination to conventional risk model improved risk reclassification for long COVID (continuous net reclassification improvement was 16.26% [p = .003], and integrated discrimination improvement was 0.51% [p = .005]). No heterogeneity was found in the subgroup analyses (all p-interaction ≥0.05). Our study might provide a strategy for people aged 50 and over to reduce the occurrence of long COVID, that is, to combine the use of the COVID-19 vaccine and influenza vaccines

Ultrasound induced grain refinement of crystallization in evaporative saline droplets

We investigate the effect of ultrasound on the evaporation and crystallization of sessile NaCl solution droplets which were positioned in traveling or standing wave ultrasound field. The experimental results indicated that the ultrasound field can significantly accelerate the evaporation rate of the sessile droplets and refine the crystal grains. By adjusting the distance between the sessile droplets and the ultrasound emitter, it is found that, in traveling wave ultrasound field, the sessile droplet evaporation time and the time for the appearance of NaCl grains exhibited a fluctuating increase as the droplet-emitter distance increased. While in the standing wave ultrasound, the sessile droplet evaporation rate increases with the increasing droplet-emitter distance. Overall, the traveling wave ultrasound field has a stronger effect on grain refinement of the sessile droplets than the standing wave ultrasound field. The grain refinement is attributed to the decrease of critical nucleation radius caused by ultrasound energy and the increase of the nucleation rate caused by the accelerated evaporation rate. In addition, the breakage of grains caused by ultrasonic cavitation would also lead to grain refinement

The association between brachial-ankle pulse-wave velocity and adverse cardiovascular events in 5719 community participants a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: The brachial-ankle pulse-wave velocity (baPWV) is regarded as the gold standard in the evaluation of arterial stiffness. Its prognostic significance for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) has been demonstrated. However, the factors influencing the association between baPWV and MACE risk have not been determined. In this study, we investigated the association of baPWV and MACE risk and whether it is affected by the risk factors for different cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study that initially enrolled 6850 participants from 12 communities in Beijing. The participants were divided into three subgroups according to their baPWV values. The primary outcome was the first occurrence of MACE, defined as hospitalization from cardiovascular diseases, first occurrence of a nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. Cox proportional hazards regression and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to examine the association between baPWV and MACE. The effect of CVD risk factors on the relationship between baPWV and MACE was explored in subgroup analyses. RESULTS: The final study population consisted of 5719 participants. During a median follow-up of 34.73 months, MACE occurred in 169 participants. The restricted cubic spline analysis indicated a positive linear relationship between baPWV and MACE risk. After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for MACE risk per SD increase in baPWV was 1.272 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.149-1.407, P  \u3c 0.001], and the HR for MACE in the high-baPWV vs. the low-baPWV group was 1.965 (95% CI: 1.296-2.979, P  = 0.001). Adding baPWV to the conventional cardiovascular risk factors significantly improved the model\u27s prediction performance and the net reclassification (NRI) [NRI: 0.379 (95% CI: 0.072-0.710), P  = 0.025] in MACE discrimination. However, in the subgroup analysis, two CVD risk factors, stable coronary heart disease and hypertension, showed significant interaction effects ( Pinteraction both \u3c 0.05). This result indicated that the effect of CVD risk factors must be taken into account when assessing the relationship between baPWV and MACE. CONCLUSION: baPWV is a potential marker to improve the identification of MACE risk in the general population. A positive linear correlation was firstly determined between baPWV and MACE risk, but it may not be valid in participants with stable coronary heart disease and hypertension