HyperBody: An Experimental VR Game Exploring the Cosmotechnics of Game Fandom through a Posthumanist Lens

Interdependencies among ACGN (Anime, Comics, Games, and Novels) communities in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are growing. However, game studies and fan studies remain distinct disciplines. This cross-disciplinary thesis bridges this gap by investigating "game-fandom" practices in VR production, defined as the fusion of game and fan studies within the ACGN context. Drawing from Yuk Hui's "cosmotechnics" and Karen Barad's posthumanist perspective, this research reconsiders the relationship between cosmology, morality, and technology (Hui 2017). It employs "intra-action" to emphasise the indivisible, dynamic relations among specified objects (Barad 2007). Cultural practices in C-pop idol groups, Chinese BL (Boys' Love) novels, science fiction, and modding communities are analysed, illuminating the ACGN fandom's cultural, technological, and affective dimensions. This work features the creation, description, and evaluation of an experimental VR game, "HyperBody", which integrates the written thesis by reflecting game-fandom's cosmotechnics and intra-actions. The thesis offers two significant contributions: "queer tuning", a theory illuminating new cultural, technological, and affective turns within fandom and computational art, and a "diffractive" approach, forming a methodological framework for posthuman performative contexts. This diffractive framework enables practical contributions such as creating and describing experimental VR productions using the sound engine. It also highlights a thorough evaluation approach reconciling quantitative and qualitative methods in VR production analysis, investigating affective experiences, and exploring how users engage creatively with queer VR gamespaces. These contributions foster interdisciplinary collaboration among VR, game design, architecture, and fandom studies, underscoring the inextricable link among ethics, ontology, and epistemology, culminating in a proposed ethico-onto-epistem-ological framework

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

A new formula to estimate final temperature rise of concrete considering ultimate hydration based on equivalent age

© 2017 When simulating the temperature field of concrete, the conventional adiabatic temperature rise models, which only take the age of concrete into account, can lead to a significant deviation (the maximum relative error nearly 73%) from predicted values to measured values under extreme conditions. To solve this problem, a new prediction formula is presented in this paper for estimating the final temperature rise of concrete, by considering ultimate hydration based on the equivalent age. The formula is developed on the basis of measured data obtained in some real construction cases during the recent years. It essentially reveals the ultimate degree of hydration for concrete with a variation in the placing temperature at the construction site. The degree of hydration at the construction site is not as accurate as measured with an adiabatic calorimeter. Also, the measured data shows that the ultimate degree of hydration of concrete under the non-adiabatic condition is related to its placing temperature. A logarithmic function is proposed to approximate this relationship. The equivalent age is developed to consider the effects of both the age of concrete and its temperature. The comparison shows that the proposed combination of equivalent age and the new formula can reduce the maximum relative error substantially from 73% to 15% than those algorithms which do not consider equivalent age or our proposed formula

Experimental Analysis of Transformer Core Vibration and Noise under Inter-Harmonic Excitation

With the wide application of power electronic devices and nonlinear loads, the resulting inter-harmonic pollution is becoming more and more serious in the power system. As important equipment in power systems, transformers have always been the focus of research. However, there are few studies on the abnormal increase in vibration and noise caused by inter-harmonic excitation. In this work, a transformer core vibration and noise measurement platform that can generate arbitrary inter-harmonic excitations was built. The real-time vibration displacement waveforms of the core model under normal and inter-harmonic conditions were experimentally measured as well as the surrounding noise level amplitude and spectrum analysis result. The influence law of excitation of intermediate harmonic content and frequency on core vibration displacement and surrounding sound pressure level was summarized. The work of this paper lays a theoretical foundation for studying the vibration and noise of power transformers and other equipment under inter-harmonics

Magnetic PSA-Fe3O4@C 3D mesoporous microsphere as anode for lithium ion batteries

Fe3O4 has long been regarded as one of the most promising anode materials for lithium ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity, low cost, and nontoxic properties. Here, we report a facile hydrothermal way to perform carbonization of poly (ST-AN) (PSA) to obtain a PSA-Fe3O4@C3Dmesoporousmicrosphere. (*) Its electrochemical performance as an anode material was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge experiments. The PSA-Fe3O4@C electrode delivers a capacity of 1130 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C, in contrast to that of the CA (Citric Acid)-Fe3O4@C (1111 mA h g−1) and Fe3O4 (817 mA h g−1). The improvements can be attributed to the unique composition and microstructure that endow the electrode with large contact area between material and electrolyte, short diffusion path for lithium ions transportation in the active material, low electron transfer resistance from a current collector to the active material, and large buffering space for volume change during charging/discharging process

Electrocatalytic desalination with CO2 reduction and O2 evolution

Multifunctional electrocatalytic desalination is a promising method to increase the production of additional valuable chemicals during the desalination process. In this work, a multifunctional desalination device was demonstrated to effectively desalinate brackish water (15 000 ppm) to 9 ppm while generating formate from captured CO2 at the Bi nanoparticle cathode and releasing oxygen at the Ir/C anode. The salt feed channel is sandwiched between two electrode chambers and separated by ion-exchange membranes. The electrocatalytic process accelerates the transportation of sodium ions and chloride ions in the brine to the cathode and anode chamber, respectively. The fastest salt removal rate to date was obtained, reaching up to 228.41 μg cm−2 min−1 with a removal efficiency of 99.94%. The influences of applied potential and the concentrations of salt feed and electrolyte were investigated in detail. The current research provides a new route towards an electrochemical desalination system

GBP2 is a prognostic biomarker and associated with immunotherapeutic responses in gastric cancer

Abstract Background The interferon-induced protein known as guanylate-binding protein 2 (GBP2) has been linked to multiple different cancer types as an oncogenic gene. Although the role of GBP2 in cancer has been preliminarily explored, it is unclear how this protein interacts with tumor immunity in gastric cancer. Methods The expression, prognostic value, immune-correlations of GBP2 in gastric cancer was explored in multiple public and in-house cohorts. In addition, the pan-cancer analysis was performed to investigate the immunological role of GBP2 based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset, and the predictive value of GBP2 for immunotherapy was also examined in multiple public cohorts. Results GBP2 was highly expressed in tumor tissues and associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer. In addition, GBP2 was associated with the immune-hot phenotype. To be more specific, GBP2 was positively related to immuno-modulators, tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs), immunotherapy biomarkers, and even well immunotherapeutic response. In addition to gastric cancer, GBP2 was expected to be an indicator of high immunogenicity in most cancer types. Importantly, GBP2 could predict the immunotherapeutic responses in at least four different cancer types, including melanoma, urothelial carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and breast cancer. Conclusions To sum up, GBP2 expression is a promising pan-cancer biomarker for estimating the immunological characteristics of tumors and may be utilized to detect immuno-hot tumors in gastric cancer

Cohort profile: the Liyang cohort study on chronic diseases and risk factors monitoring in China (Liyang Study)

Purpose The Liyang cohort study on chronic diseases and risk factors monitoring in China (Liyang Study) is a prospective population-based study which aims to investigate and identify the determinants of the most prevalent chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to evaluate the impact of demographic characteristics, lifestyle, dietary habits, cognition, disability and NCDs on the health-related quality of life.Participants Between March 2019 and June 2020, 10 056 individuals aged ≥18 years were administered a baseline survey through a multistage cluster random sampling in Liyang City, southern Jiangsu Province, China.Findings to date The Liyang Study included detailed sociodemographic, anthropometric and health-related behaviour, common NCDs and blood sample information. Moreover, the study gathered a series of data on specific scales including the activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, abbreviated mental test, Food Frequency Questionnaire and EuroQol 5-Dimensions 5-Levels Scale. Of the 10 056 participants, 52.92% (n=5322) were female and 92.26% (n=9278) came from rural areas. The mean age was 49.9±16.2 years. Men were more likely to have a higher level of education, annual income and a paid job than women (p<0.05). The top three overall most prevalent NCDs in the study were hypertension (18.06%, n=1815), digestive diseases (7.88%, n=791), and arthritis or rheumatism (5.28%, n=530). Women had a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (5.46%, n=290 vs 4.42%, n=209, p=0.016) and arthritis (6.04%, n=321 vs 4.42%, n=209, p<0.001) than men, while the opposite was true for chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.37%, n=65 vs 0.92%, n=49, p=0.032) and chronic hepatic diseases (0.80%, n=38 vs 0.47%, n=25, p=0.035).Future plans The current study will give valuable insights into the association between sociodemographic factors, health-related behaviour, diet, cognition, disability and genetic factors and the most prevalent NCDs among local community residents. Starting from 2022, a follow-up survey will be conducted every 3 years to further explore the causal relationship between the above factors and NCDs

Data_Sheet_1_Moderated-mediation analysis of multimorbidity and health-related quality of life among the Chinese elderly: The role of functional status and cognitive function.docx

ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between multimorbidity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and explore the effects of functional status and cognitive function on Chinses elderly behind this relationship.MethodsThe Multivariate logistic regression and Tobit regression models were used to determine the influence of multimorbidity on HRQoL. Bootstrap analysis was used to probe the mediating effects of functional status and the moderating role of cognition on multimorbidity and HRQoL.ResultsResults of the 2,887 participants age  ≥ 60  years included in the analysis, 51.69% had chronic diseases. Stroke (β = −0.190; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.232, −0.149; p ConclusionFunctional status partially mediated the relationship between multimorbidity and HRQoL in older adults. And cognitive function, if declined, may strengthen this relationship. These findings suggested that improving cognitive function and functional status in those who developed multimorbidity could be a viable prevention or treatment strategy to improve HRQoL in elderly patients.</p