The difference between individuals and social groups in multidirectional movement

Social groups exhibit some degree of social cohesion that is more than a simple collection or aggregation of individuals. The study on behaviours of social groups is essential to gain a deeper understanding on pedestrian dynamics. In this paper, the crowd movement among individuals and social groups are studied by performing a series of multidirectional pedestrian flow experiments under laboratory condition. Interestingly, we found that the speed of individual is not always higher than that of social groups. Pedestrians try to use different strategies to arrive their destination. With different strategies, their speed and movement time show different properties. These findings may provide basis for facility design and evacuation plan

Compound-specific delta D and its hydrological and environmental implication in the lakes on the Tibetan Plateau

The hydrogen isotopic composition (delta D) of n-alkanes in lacustrine sediments is widely used in palaeoenvironmental studies, but the heterogeneous origins and relative contributions of these lipids provide challenges for the interpretation of the increasing dataset as an environment and climatic proxy. We systematically investigated n-alkane delta D values from 51 submerged plants (39 Potamogeton, 1 Myriophyllum, and 11 Ruppia), 13 algae (5 Chara, 3 Cladophora, and 5 Spirogyra) and 20 terrestrial plants (10 grasses and 10 shrubs) in and around 15 lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results demonstrate that delta D values of C-29 n-alkane are correlated significantly with the lake water delta D values both for algae (R (2)=0.85, p < 0.01, n=9) and submerged plants (R (2)=0.90, p < 0.01, n=25), indicating that delta D values of these algae and submerged plants reflect the delta D variation of lake water. We find that apparent hydrogen isotope fractionation factors between individual n-alkanes and water (epsilon (a/w)) are not constant among different algae and submerged plants, as well as in a single genus under different liminological conditions, indicating that the biosynthesis or environmental conditions (e.g. salinity) may affect their delta D values. The delta D values of submerged plant Ruppia in the Xiligou Lake (a closed lake) are significant enriched in D than those of terrestrial grasses around the lake (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.01), but the algae Chara in the Keluke Lake (an open lake) display similar delta D values with grasses around the lake (one-way ANOVA, p=0.826 > 0.05), suggesting that the n-alkane delta D values of the algae and submerged plants record the signal of D enrichment in lake water relative to precipitation only in closed lakes in arid and semi-arid area. For each algae and submerged plant sample, we find uniformed delta D values of different chain length n-alkanes, implying that, in combination with other proxies such as Paq and Average Chain Length, the offset between the delta D values of different chain length n-alkanes can help determine the source of sedimentary n-alkanes as well as inferring the hydrological characteristics of an ancient lake basin (open vs closed lake)

Evacuation characteristics of preschool children through bottlenecks

Pedestrian movement through bottlenecks have been widely studied from various aspects to understand the effects of bottlenecks on the pedestrian flow. However, few attentions have been paid to the movement characteristics of preschool children, who show obvious differences behaviour compared to adults due to the poor balance and understanding of danger especial under emergencies. In this study, we focus on the evacuation characteristics of preschool children through bottlenecks with laboratory experiments. From all the experiment, we do not observe clear lane formation process from the trajectories diagrams. It is found that the first arrive first out principle does not work in the situation with competition. Compared to adults, children are more likely to fall and hard to be controlled during movement, which is very dangerous in emergencies. The highest speed for the preschool children can beyond 3 m/s and is depend on the location in the crowd for each individual. For a given number of evacuees, the total evacuation time firstly decreases a linear with the increasing the bottleneck width and then keeps a constant if nobody falls down during the movement. Falling down of children will increase the evacuation time incredibly. The findings will be beneficial for the evacuation drill design in kindergarten as well as the facility design for young children

Alterations of dendritic cell subsets in the peripheral circulation of patients with cervical carcinoma

Patients with cervical carcinoma (CC) are frequently immunocompromised. Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells. Using multicolor flow cytometry, the percentages of CD11c+ (DC1) and CD123+ (DC2) subsets, were determined in the peripheral blood of 37 patients with cervical carcinoma (CC), 54 patients with CIN, and 62 healthy individuals. A substantial reduction of circulating dendritic cells and accordingly immunodepression may be associated with increased IL-6 and TGF-β in serum. These findings could give expression to the immunosuppression of circulating dendritic cells in patients with CC and CIN, thus, may indicate novel aspects of cervical carcinoma immune evasion

Reevaluation of carbonate concentration and oxygen isotope records from Lake Qinghai, the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Lake Qinghai is the largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau, and it is also one of the important sites for studying global environmental changes. Over the past 30 years, many studies have used oxygen isotope of authigenic carbonates from the lake as the proxy to infer past environmental and climate changes on the Plateau. However, debate on interpretations of isotopic data and their environmental implications still exist, largely due to the complex arid environment settings and multiple sources/species for carbonate minerals within the lake. In this study, we systematically analyze delta O-18 values in different-type carbonates collected [i.e. bulk carbonates, ostracode shells, Chara encrustations, and fine-grain (< 63 mu m) carbonate minerals] from modern lake sediments and surrounding soils, as well as the down-core delta O-18 values of bulk/fine-grain carbonates since the Last Glacial Maximum. Together with previously published delta O-18 records from ostracode shells, we try to re-evaluate the controlling factors of variations in lacustrine carbonate delta O-18 data and to infer environmental changes on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum. Our results show that the lake depth, or the size of the water body, is an important factor to influence the lake water and carbonate delta O-18 values. A shallow and small lake would be more easily influenced by precipitation delta O-18 which is characterized by negative values at Lake Qinghai region, while a deep and large lake would be better to reflect environmental changes such as the precipitation-evaporation balance. The "lake volume" effect might be an explanation for the negative carbonate delta O-18 values during the early Holocene, which was likely caused by an increased influence of negative delta O-18 values in precipitation and glacial melt water under a small and shallow water body. The delta O-18 values of ostracode shells and bulk carbonates show similar variations since both of them are dominated by lake water oxygen isotopic composition, but they still have distinct geochemical information. The isotopic differences between ostracode and bulk carbonates probably reflect the temperature differences between the surface and the bottom of lake water. In addition, the delta O-18 values of evaporative induced carbonates may correlate with carbonate contents, while those of Chara encrustations do not show any correlation with carbonate contents. Our results suggest that special caution would be necessary when using lacustrine delta O-18 values of authigenic carbonates to infer past hydrological and climate changes in an arid environment

Stretchable hybrid bilayered luminescent composite based on the combination of strain-induced and triboelectrification-induced electroluminescence

High luminescence intensity from materials that are excited by external stimuli is highly desired. In this work, a stretchable hybrid luminescent composite (HLC) that has multiple luminescence modes is reported. The luminescence can be excited either by externally applied mechanical strain or by a moving object that slides against the HLC. When the HLC is deformed, such as being twisted or folded, the ZnS/Cu phosphor experiences mechanical strain that trigger the mechanoluminescence (ML) of the phosphors. Moreover, as the HLC slides against a contact object, the triboelectrification at the contact interface induces the electroluminescence of phosphor. Here, a series of internal and external factors were studied on how they influence the luminescent intensity. It is found that the luminescent intensity from the two modes can be superposed. The HLC material was used to fabricate a fiber-based luminescent device that can be driven by air flow. The overall luminescent intensity is enhanced by over 72% compared to that obtained solely from the ML. The HLC reported in this work has such potential applications as self-powered light sources and sensors as means of detecting dynamic motions and interactio

Mathematical Reflections on Acupoint Combinations in the Traditional Meridian Systems

The meridian system is a systematic order of empirical knowledge functioning as a rational ground for a balanced treatment by combining meridians. In TCM theory, a continuous circulation of Qi through 12 meridians is postulated, described as the Chinese clock (CC). On this basis, combinations of meridians and acupoints had been described in historical writings. The most common is the interior/exterior system beside the neighbouring system, the opposite clock system, and three systems, developed out of the theory of the six stages. All of these represent symmetrical combinations, which were defined by the steps in the CC. We calculated the possible combinations that fit into the systematics of the historical descriptions, leading to 19 systems. Merging the data of the 19 systems, possible steps in the CC clock for balancing a meridian are 1, 2, 3, and 6. Step 4 is not possible. Step 5 is a combinatory possibility but has no widespread tradition except for activating the yin extraordinary vessels. These possibilities can be plotted on the CC as a powerful tool for daily practice. Only two meridians might be excluded as potentially balancing meridians, so it seems almost impossible to define noneffective acupuncture points as controls in clinical trials