Search

Additional file 2

Salinity affects over 33% of irrigated farmland globally. Developing a low-cost, safe, and effective material as a soil salinity mitigation option would be of significant importance. This study proposed to synthesize a hydrogel using liquefied biomass from sugarcane bagasse, polyvinyl alcohol, and sodium tetraborate decahydrate. The effectiveness of the produced hydrogel in mitigating soil salinity was evaluated based on an incubation experiment at two salinity levels (5 and 10 dS m

An optical heater based on hexagonal NaGdF4:Yb3+/Er3+ is reported. XRD, SEM and EDS characterization results show that F−/Ln3+ can not only control the phase composition, particle size and morphology, but also affect the effective doping concentration of Yb3+ and Er3+. When F−/Ln3+ is 12/1, the strongest upconversion luminescence is obtained. Based on the luminescent temperature sensing behavior of Er3+, the photo-thermal conversion performance was investigated. The results indicate that the temperature of irradiation spot is linearly dependent on the power density, and the photo-thermal responsivity is determined to be 3.3 K·cm2/W. Also, it is found that the photo-thermal conversion efficiency can be regulated by changing the Yb3+ doping concentration. Compared with the nano-gold, copper sulfide and carbon nanotubes, the NaGdF4:Yb3+/Er3+ has the triple functions of upconversion luminescence, temperature sensing, and photo-thermal conversion, and may therefore be a promising optical heater for photo-thermal therapy of tumors.

Additional file 1. STROBE Statement—Checklist of items included in reports.

Additional file 3. Newcastle Ottawa (NOS) critical appraisal evaluation for Cross sectional and Cohort studies.

Additional file 2. Sensitivity analysis (E-values) for the association between low social support and the risk of antenatal depressive symptoms for the final adjusted model.

Additional file 2. Data extraction sheet used for studies examining the relationship between social support and mental health problems (depression, anxiety and self-harm) among adult pregnant mothers.

Additional file 3. Sensitivity analysis (E-values) for the association between low social support and the risk of antenatal anxiety symptoms for the final adjusted model.

Additional file 1. PRISMA 2020 Checklist.

Additional file 3. Sensitivity analysis (E-values) for the association between low social support and the risk of antenatal anxiety symptoms for the final adjusted model.

Additional file 2. Sensitivity analysis (E-values) for the association between low social support and the risk of antenatal depressive symptoms for the final adjusted model.

A ceramic membrane is applied to improve the clarification of sugarcane juice and reduce or eliminate the usage of chemicals in sugar industry. Although membrane fouling is unavoidable, fouling can be solved by understanding its mechanism and developing an effective approach to regenerate membranes. Mathematical model prediction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) during membrane fouling indicated that the dominant fouling during ultrafiltration of limed raw sugarcane juice was caused by cake formation on the membrane surface. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) revealed that polysaccharides, proteins, aliphatics, sucrose, phenols, phosphorus, silicon, and few metal elements, such as calcium, magnesium, aluminum, potassium, and sodium, were the compositions of foulants primarily responsible for fouling. An effective membrane cleaning method was proposed on the basis of these findings. The fouled membrane was successively cleaned with tap water, 1.0% NaOH and 0.5% NaClO mixture, and 0.5% HNO3 solution. The flux recovery ratio was higher than 96.6%, and this value indicated the high repeatability, efficiency, and feasibility of this cleaning method. This method has also helped identify the compositions of foulants on membranes and vice versa.

The hydraulic power unit is the power source of a hydraulic system, and also the source causing hydraulic system vibration and noise. In order to further reduce the vibration and noise level of hydraulic systems, this paper presents a low-noise hydraulic station design method based on modal analysis and Vibration Transfer Function(VTF) analysis. The finite element model of the hydraulic station is established, the mode of the oil station solved and the modal superposition method used to optimize the structure of the station and the installation position of the hydraulic pump. The optimal structure of the station and the improved installation location of the pump are obtained. The VTF is used to optimize the structure of the oil tank, and the influence of the pump vibration on the station is further reduced. The test results for vibration and noise show that the design method is effective in significantly reducing the vibration and noise of the hydraulic station. The vibration acceleration of the hydraulic station is reduced by 5.7 dB, and the air noise is reduced by 2 dB. In short, this paper provides a better way for reducing the vibration and noise of hydraulic systems.

Micro/small-scale thermoelectric generation modules are able to produce continuous, noise-free and reliable electricity power using low temperature differences that widely exist in nature or industry. These advantages bring them great application prospects in the fields of remote monitoring, microelectronics/micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), medical apparatus and smart management system, which often require a power source free of maintenance and vibration. In this work, a prototypical thermoelectric module (12 mm × 12 mm × 0.8 mm) with 15 pairs of micro-scale thermoelectric legs (0.2 mm in width and 0.6 mm in height for each leg) is fabricated using a low-cost mechanical machining process. In this process, cutting and polishing are the main methods for the preparation of thermoelectric pairs from commercial polycrystalline materials and for the fabrication of electrode patterns. The as-fabricated module is tested for its power generation properties with the hot side heated by an electrical heater and the cold side by cold air. With the heater temperature of 375 K, the thermoelectric potential is about 9.1 mV, the short circuit current is about 14.5 mA, and the maximum output power is about 32.8 μW. The finite element method is applied to analyze the heat transfer of the module during our test. The temperature difference and heat flux are simulated, according to which the output powers at different temperatures are calculated, and the result is relatively consistent compared to the test results.

Purpose : To study the effects of a combination of Yiqi Huazhuo Gushen formula and valsartan on metabolic syndrome (MetS) complicated with microalbuminuria. Methods : Patients with MetS (100), recruited from Department of the Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital; Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University; and Department of Endocrinology, Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Yueyang, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, were randomly divided into two sets: control group (n = 50) given valsartan treatment, and Chinese herbal medicine (CHF) group (n = 50) given Yiqi Huazhuo Gushen formula in addition to valsartan. Both therapeutic regimens were given once a day for 12 weeks. The parameters measured were conversion rate of microalbuminuria (MA), ratio of urinary albumin to creatinine (UACR), 24- h total volume of urinary protein (24hTP), urinary transferrin, urinary β2 microglobulin, constitutional index (CI), and waist-hip ratio (WHR). Other indices assessed were peak systolic and diastolic pressure (SBP and DBP), mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), postprandial 2 h blood glucose (2hPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (GH), steadystate model for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), total cholesterol (TC), glycerin trilaurate (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Results : All 100 subjects completed the clinical study. The outcome revealed that compared with 10.00 % in controls, the negative conversion of MA reached 28.00 % in the CHF group (p < 0.050). CHF produced reductions in MA, UACR, BMI, 24hTP and urinary β2 microglobulin (p < 0.05). It also led to marked increases in BMI, WHR, SBP, MAP, FPG, 2hPPG, HbA1c and HOMA-IR, and significant decreases in TG (p < 0.05). Conclusion : These results suggest that CHF treatment results in alleviation of microalbuminuria and multiple cardiovascular risk factors in metabolic syndrome complicated with microalbuminuria. These effects correlate with improvements in insulin sensitivity and rectification of abnormal fat distribution. Keywords : Metabolic syndrome, Microalbuminuria, Yiqi Huazhuo Gushen formula, Insulin resistance, Central obesity

Based on the Seebeck effect, thermoelectric generators can convert thermal energy directly into electrical power, which can be applied in waste heat recovery and clean energy generation. In this work, segmented thermoelectric legs were prepared with high-performance thermoelectric materials for the fabrication of multistage thermoelectric generators, which can be utilized in medium temperature energy harvesting. The P-type leg material was Pb0.94Sr0.04Na0.02Te/Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3, and the N-type leg material was Pb0.94Ag0.01La0.05Te/Bi2Te3. The length ratio of the two segments was optimized based on the energy conversion efficiency under different working conditions. The segmented legs were measured with the four-probe method at different temperatures to evaluate their output performance. At a temperature difference of 420 K, the maximum output power density was 0.40 W/cm2 for the P-type leg and 0.32 W/cm2 for the N-type leg.

A 2-DOF localized nonlinear vibrating system with quadratic nonlinear stiffness and damping is studied, spatial approach by which linear and nonlinear frequency response function is estimated is used to parametrically identify the nonlinear vibration model, and nonlinear stiffness coefficient and nonlinear damping coefficient of the model are optimized by least square method in this paper. The feasibility of the approach is validated by the experimental result, which showed that the approach have some reference value in identifying and optimizing the physical parameters, such as frequency response function and nonlinear stiffness and damping coefficient, of localized nonlinear vibrating system.

Tandem amorphous silicon solar cells have attracted extensive interest because of better performance than single junction counterpart. As n/p junctions play an important role in the current transportation of tandem solar cells, it is important to design and fabricate good n/p junctions.

Based on the law of physics, known as "Seebeck effect," a thermoelectric generator (TEG) produces electricity when the temperature differential is applied across the TEG. This article reports a precision method in characterizing TEG modules. A precision instrument is constructed to study thermoelectric conversion in terms of output power and efficiency of TEG modules. The maximum allowable TEG module size is 150 mm, and the preferred size is from 30 mm to 60 mm. During measurements, the highest hot side temperature is 500 °C and the cold side temperature can be adjusted from room temperature to 100 °C. A mechanical structure is developed to control the pressure and parallelism of the clamping force of the TEG on both its hot and cold sides. A heat flux measurement module is installed at its cold side, and the heat flux through TEGs can be measured in position. Finally, the energy conversion efficiency of TEGs is calculated from experimental data of both an output power and a heat flux.

As a wide bandgap semiconductor material, ZnO has huge potential in applications such as light emitting devices and sensors. Compared with GaN and SiC, ZnO has a bandgap of 3.37 eV and exciton binding energy of 60 meV at room temperature, indicating it is a promising candidate of UV detector. ZnO based metal-semiconductor-metal photoconductive ultraviolet detector has the advantages of high optical gain and strong responsivity. However, due to the photoconductive relaxation and surface effect of the ZnO material, a ZnO-based photoconductive UV detector has a slow response which is defective for practical application. The intrinsic defects typically generated during the synthesis of ZnO, e.g. oxygen vacancy, should be responsible for the slow response. Therefore, we have fabricated the high-resistive ZnO thin film based UV detector and studied its UV response characteristic. High resistance ZnO thin film is fabricated on glass by RF magnetron sputtering and followed by lift-off photolithography to form Al interdigital electrodes. SEM and XRD images show that the as-fabricated ZnO thin film grows with preferential orientation along c-axis. A linear I-V curve under UV illumination indicates the ohmic contact between Al and ZnO. From these results, we can calculate the resistivities to be 3.71×109 Ω · cm and 7.20×106 Ω · cm respectively when in the dark and under 365 nm UV light of 303 μW/cm2. The light-to-dark current ratio is up to 516 with bias of 40 V. Besides, the ZnO thin film detector shows a stable, rapid, repeatible and reproducible response with a rise time of 199 ms and a fall time of 217 ms when exposed to periodically switched UV light illumination at a bias voltage of 40 V. Moreover, the detector has a high selectivity for 365 nm UV light and the responsivity is 0.15 mA/W with the intensity of 303 μW/cm2. Furthermore, the transient response process is analyzed using the theory of surface recombination and bulk recombination of ZnO semiconductor. For a high resistance ZnO thin film based UV detector, the surface recombination process is weakened ascribed to the decrease of intrinsic defects and the bulk recombination process plays a leading role, resulting in the fast response. Results show that high resistivity ZnO thin film based UV detectors have outstanding UV photoresponse characteristics for potential applications in UV/radiation detection.

Ag-ZnO-Ag X-ray detectors based on ZnO film and nanowires are both fabricated in this paper. Results of continuous X-ray radiation measurement show that the two detectors have high responsivity: the responsivity of the ZnO film device is about 0.12 μC/Gy under a 100 V bias voltage, and that of the ZnO nanowires device is about 0.15 μC/Gy under a 50 V bias voltage. Surface effect due to the absorption and desorption of oxygen on the ZnO surface, which makes the carrier lifetime increase, is decisive to the high responsivity. ZnO film and nanowires have their potential applications in the X-ray dose rate measurement.

Composites consisting of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si: H, inorganic) and zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc, organic) were prepared by vacuum evaporation of ZnPc and sequential deposition amorphous silicon via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The optical and electrical properties of the composite film have been investigated. The results demonstrate that ZnPc can endure the temperature and bombardment of the PECVD plasma and photoconductivity of the composite film was improved by 89.9% compared to pure a-Si: H film. Electron mobility-lifetime products μτ of the composite film were increased by nearly one order of magnitude from 6.96 × 10~(-7) to 5.08 × 10~(-6) cm~2/V. Combined with photoconductivity spectra of the composites and pure a-Si: H, we tentatively elucidate the improvement in photoconductivity of the composite film.

Boron-doped hydrogenated silicon films with different gaseous doping ratios (B2H6/SiH4) were deposited in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. The microstructure of the films was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman scattering spectroscopy. The electrical properties of the films were characterized by their room temperature electrical conductivity (σ) and the activation energy (Ea). The results show that with an increasing gaseous doping ratio, the silicon films transfer from a microcrystalline to an amorphous phase, and corresponding changes in the electrical properties were observed. The thin boron-doped silicon layers were fabricated as recombination layers in tunnel junctions. The measurements of the I–V characteristics and the transparency spectra of the junctions indicate that the best gaseous doping ratio of the recombination layer is 0.04, and the film deposited under that condition is amorphous silicon with a small amount of crystallites embedded in it. The junction with such a recombination layer has a small resistance, a nearly ohmic contact, and a negligible optical absorption.

The density of states （DOS） above Fermi level of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon （μc-Si:H） films is correlated to the material microstructure. We use Raman scattering and infrared absorption spectra to characterize the structure of the films made with different hydrogen dilution ratios. The DOS of the films is examined by modulated photocurrent measurement. The results have been accounted for in the framework of a three-phase model comprised of amorphous and crystalline components， with the grain boundary as the third phase. We observed that the DOS increases monotonically as the grain boundary volume fractions fgb is increased， which indicates a positive correlation between the DOS and the grain boundary volume fraction.

WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-23 recommended evidence-based healthcare (EBHC) education for traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) professionals, including Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs). We evaluated the impact of a customized educational workshop on Hong Kong CMPs’ knowledge, attitude and practice of EBHC. Two validated instruments, Evidence-based Practice Questionnaire (EPQ) and Evidence-based Practice Inventory (EPI), were used to assess the impact of EBHC education. Paired t-tests were used to compare scores before and after the workshop. Multiple linear regression was performed to explore the associations between changes in EPQ/EPI scores and CMPs’ characteristics. CMPs who completed the workshop (n = 59) demonstrated significant improvements in the attitude (p = 0.013) and knowledge domains of the EPQ (p = 0.005). Significant improvements were also observed in the attitude, perceived behavioural control, decision making, and intention and behaviour domains of the EPI. CMPs who had never received prior EBHC training showed a larger magnitude of improvement in the EPI attitude (p = 0.032), decision making (p = 0.015), and intention and behaviour (p = 0.015) domains post-workshop. Our findings suggest that tailored workshop is effective in strengthening knowledge and in improving attitudes towards EBHC. Future RCTs should be conducted to affirm our findings. Future initiatives may consider incorporating this education approach into CMP curricula, as well as facilitating implementation of EBHC in routine Chinese medicine practice. Refereed/Peer-reviewed