Search

Compared to conventional actuators, the soft ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) actuator has significant advantages in specific applications, and the mathematical model of IPMC actuators is essential to comprehending and applying IPMCs. Due to the inherent characteristics of IPMCs and the impact of the manufacturing and measurement processes, it is challenging to developa reliable model. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the developments in IPMC actuator modeling. In particular, three types of models are examined and contrasted: the nonphysical identification model, the partial‐physical model, and the physical‐based model. In order to comprehend the current state of numerous IPMC actuator models, the characteristics, evolution, and functions of each type of model are discussed. Afterward, the evolution of the IPMC actuators' applications is discussed. Finally, promising research directions for IPMC actuator models are identified that can more effectively facilitate the development of IPMC‐based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To measure the association between ambient heat and hypoglycemia-related emergency department visit or hospitalization in insulin users. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We identified cases of serious hypoglycemia among adults using insulin aged ≥65 in the U.S. (via Medicare Part A/B/D-eligible beneficiaries) and Taiwan (via National Health Insurance Database) from June to September, 2016–2019. We then estimated odds of hypoglycemia by heat index (HI) percentile categories using conditional logistic regression with a time-stratified case-crossover design. RESULTS: Among ∼2 million insulin users in the U.S. (32,461 hypoglycemia case subjects), odds ratios of hypoglycemia for HI >99th, 95–98th, 85–94th, and 75–84th percentiles compared with the 25–74th percentile were 1.38 (95% CI, 1.28–1.48), 1.14 (1.08–1.20), 1.12 (1.08–1.17), and 1.09 (1.04–1.13) respectively. Overall patterns of associations were similar for insulin users in the Taiwan sample (∼283,000 insulin users, 10,162 hypoglycemia case subjects). CONCLUSIONS: In two national samples of older insulin users, higher ambient temperature was associated with increased hypoglycemia risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjectiveDesignStudy sampleResultsConclusionsApproximately 30–50% of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) patients show poor response to systemic steroid therapy. Additionally, the most appropriate treatment for patients with refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss (RSSNHL) is unknown. This study aimed to explore the best treatment for RSSNHL.Using a frequentist contrast-based model and PRISMA guidelines, this study compared five salvage regimes: intratympanic injection of steroids (ITS), hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy, post auricle steroid injection (PSI), ITS combined with HBO therapy, and continued systemic steroids.We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for randomised controlled trials and cohort studies comparing treatment regimens for RSSNHL.Compared with the control group (no additional treatment), PSI and ITS demonstrated significant improvements. The mean hearing gain was greater after PSI (11.1 dB [95% CI, 4.4–17.9]) than after ITS (7.7 dB [95% CI, 4.8–10.7]). When a restricted definition of RSSNHL was used, the ITS + HBO therapy showed the largest difference in improvement for pure tone average compared with the control group (14.5 dB [95% CI, 4.2–25.0]).The administration of either PSI or ITS leads to the greatest therapeutic effect in patients with RSSNHL. However, a consensus on the definition of RSSNHL is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of digital transformation has profoundly impacted the diversified development of Chinese family firms. Consequently, this study investigates the influence of digital transformation on the diversification strategies of Chinese family firms, employing a sample of Chinese-listed family firms from 2016 to 2020. The findings reveal a significant contribution of digital transformation to the diversification of Chinese family firms. The analysis shows that second-generation involvement plays a moderating role, negatively affecting both digital transformation and diversification. Furthermore, the study highlights that the positive impact of digital transformation on diversification strategy is particularly notable among family firms characterised by low family authority and high innovation capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We design and integrate free‐form metagratings with irregular nanoscale patterns into diffractive augmented reality (AR) waveguides to achieve simultaneous improvements in eye‐glow attenuation and outcoupling efficiency. The freeform metagrating demonstrates over 40% reduction in eye‐glow while enhancing outcoupling efficiency by 8% compared to the conventional binary grating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article published in the journal Remote Sensing. The correction addresses mistakes in the legend for Figure 5b,c and Figure 9, which occurred during the proofreading stage. The authors confirm that these corrections do not affect the figure captions or the scientific conclusions of the article. The corrected legend for Figure 5 provides information on the seasonal variation of the joint probability distribution of liquid water clouds over the Indochina Peninsula, while the corrected legend for Figure 9 presents the marginal probabilities of cloud top pressure with respect to cloud optical thickness in different regions. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses two methods for reconstituting injectable poly-D,L-lactic acid (PDLLA) using vacuum-assisted hydration (VAH). The first method, known as the "wet" VAH method, involves attaching a syringe containing sterile water for injection (SWFI) to a syringe housing PDLLA lumps and creating negative pressure to draw the SWFI into the lumps. The second method, known as the "dry" VAH method, involves creating a vacuum within both syringes before introducing the SWFI. Both methods are based on Boyle's law and can be completed in less than 1 minute. However, practitioners must follow aseptic procedures and have a thorough understanding of the process to avoid contamination or process failure. [Extracted from the article]

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are heterogeneous nanoparticles actively released by cells that comprise highly conserved and efficient systems of intercellular communication. In recent years, numerous studies have proven that EVs play an important role in the field of bone tissue engineering (BTE) due to several advantages, such as good biosafety, stability and efficient delivery. However, the application of EVs therapies in bone regeneration has not been widely used. One of the major challenges for the application of EVs is the lack of sufficient scaffolds to load and control the release of EVs. Thus, in this review, we describe the most advanced current strategies for delivering EVs with various biomaterials for the use in bone regeneration, the role of EVs in bone regeneration, the distribution of EVs mediated by biomaterials and common methods of promoting EVs delivery efficacy with a focus on biomaterial properties.

Triglycerides are the major form of stored fat in all animals. One important determinant of whole-body fat storage is whether an animal is male or female. Here, we use Drosophila, an established model for studies on triglyceride metabolism, to gain insight into the genes and physiological mechanisms that contribute to sex differences in fat storage. Our analysis of triglyceride storage and breakdown in both sexes identified a role for triglyceride lipase brummer (bmm) in the regulation of sex differences in triglyceride homeostasis. Normally, male flies have higher levels of bmm mRNA both under normal culture conditions and in response to starvation, a lipolytic stimulus. We find that loss of bmm largely eliminates the sex difference in triglyceride storage and abolishes the sex difference in triglyceride breakdown via strongly male-biased effects. Although we show that bmm function in the fat body affects whole-body triglyceride levels in both sexes, in males, we identify an additional role for bmm function in the somatic cells of the gonad and in neurons in the regulation of whole-body triglyceride homeostasis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that lipid droplets are normally present in both the somatic cells of the male gonad and in neurons, revealing a previously unrecognized role for bmm function, and possibly lipid droplets, in these cell types in the regulation of whole-body triglyceride homeostasis. Taken together, our data reveal a role for bmm function in the somatic cells of the gonad and in neurons in the regulation of male-female differences in fat storage and breakdown and identify bmm as a link between the regulation of triglyceride homeostasis and biological sex.

This research investigates the impact of higher education expansion on the educational wage premium from a long-term perspective in Taiwan. By using 1985 to 2015 Manpower Utilization Survey (MUS) data with the difference-in-difference-in-differences model (DDD), this study analyzes the change of the wage premium of university educated versus lower-than-university educated counterparts across the expansion of higher education since 1995. The number of universities in Taiwan tripled between 1995 and 2005, from 50 to more than 150, with upgrading of about 100 technology colleges and vocational schools additionally. Dramatic expansion of universities as well as the number of university graduates will shrink the university wage premium for the young generation who entered into the labor market after year 2000, but the older generation will be less affected. The empirical results show that the wages premium of university graduates of the younger generation is 12% to 21% lower than their older generation counterparts due to the higher-education expansion.

With the continuous development of science and technology (especially computational devices with powerful computing capabilities), the image generation technology based on deep learning has also made significant achievements. Most cross-modal technologies based on deep learning can generate information from text into images, which has become a hot topic of current research. Text-to-image (T2I) synthesis technology has applications in multiple fields of computer vision, such as image enhancement, artificial intelligence painting, games and virtual reality. The T2I generation technology using generative adversarial networks can generate more realistic and diverse images, but there are also some shortcomings and challenges, such as difficulty in generating complex backgrounds. This review will be introduced in the following order. First, we introduce the basic principles and architecture of basic and classic generative adversarial networks (GANs). Second, this review categorizes T2I synthesis methods into four main categories. There are methods based on semantic enhancement, methods based on progressive structure, methods based on attention and methods based on introducing additional signals. We have chosen some of the classic and latest T2I methods for introduction and explain their main advantages and shortcomings. Third, we explain the basic dataset and evaluation indicators in the T2I field. Finally, prospects for future research directions are discussed. This review provides a systematic introduction to the basic GAN method and the T2I method based on it, which can serve as a reference for researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weaning is a critical period in raising pigs. Novel animal feed additives that promote gut health and regulate immune function of piglets without antibiotics are needed. In this study, we aimed to test the ability of mesobiliverdin IXα‐enriched microalgae (MBV IXα‐enriched microalgae) to eliminate reliance on antibiotics to promote intestinal health in piglets. Eighty 28‐day‐old weaned piglets were randomly allocated to four groups each with four replicate pens and five piglets per pen. The dietary treatments were a basal diet as control (NC), basal diet plus 0.05% tylosin (PC), basal diet plus 0.1% or 0.5% MBV IXα‐enriched microalgae as low (MBV‐SP1) or high (MBV‐SP2) dose respectively. All treated animals showed no significant differences in live weight, average daily gain and feed efficiency compared to control animals. Histological examination showed that MBV‐SP1 and particularly MBV‐SP2 increased the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the jejunum and ileum compared to NC (p < 0.05). Similarly, tylosin treatment also increased villi lengths and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the jejunum and ileum compared to the NC (p < 0.05). MBV‐SP1 and particularly MBV‐SP2 reduced the levels of inflammatory cytokines interleukin‐6 and tumour necrosis factor‐alpha in the small intestine. MBV‐SP2 and tylosin similarly reduced the lipid peroxidation marker (TBARS value) in the duodenum and ileum. In conclusion, feed supplementation with MBV IXα‐enriched microalgae improved gut health by villus height and production of immunomodulators that correlated with down‐regulated secretion of inflammatory cytokines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocatalytic selective oxidation of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) presents a highly efficient and eco‐friendly method for biomass utilization. Herein, we synthesized pure β‐Ni(OH)2 and amorphous Ni(OH)2 on nickel foam (NF) using a facile stepwise electrodeposition technique and evaluated their catalytic performances for the oxidation of HMF to 2,5‐furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The β‐Ni(OH)2 nanosheets‐decorated electrode (β‐NiNS/NF) exhibited excellent interfacial lattice matching with the substrate nickel, resulting in enhanced electron transfer at the catalyst‐substrate interface, as confirmed by electrochemical analysis. Consequently, the β‐NiNS/NF electrode displayed improved intrinsic electrocatalytic activity and interfacial stability. Additionally, it demonstrated effective HMF adsorption capability. These advantageous properties led to enhanced HMF conversion, selectivity, and structural stability. Notably, the β‐NiNS/NF electrode achieved an unprecedented FDCA yield of 80.6 % under relatively large current density galvanostatic electrolysis commonly used in industry. Moreover, our investigation identified a novel possible oxidation pathway during HMF electrocatalysis. This study not only showcases an efficient and scalable synthetic approach but also highlights the potential of the β‐NiNS/NF electrode for industrial HMF electrocatalytic oxidation under conditions involving relatively large applied currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deformation behavior of a dam can comprehensively reflect its structural state. By comparing the actual response with model predictions, dam deformation prediction models can detect anomalies for effective advance warning. Most existing dam deformation prediction models are implemented within a single-step prediction framework; the single-time-step output of these models cannot represent the variation trend in the dam deformation, which may contain important information on dam evolution during the prediction period. Compared with the single value prediction, predicting the tendency of dam deformation in the short term can better interpret the dam's structural health status. Aiming to capture the short-term variation trends of dam deformation, a multi-step displacement prediction model of concrete dams is proposed by combining the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) algorithm, the k-harmonic means (KHM) algorithm, and the error minimized extreme learning machine (EM-ELM) algorithm. The model can be divided into three stages: (1) The CEEMDAN algorithm is adopted to decompose dam displacement series into different signals according to their timing characteristics. Moreover, the sample entropy (SE) method is used to remove the noise contained in the decomposed signals. (2) The KHM clustering algorithm is employed to cluster the denoised data with similar characteristics. Furthermore, the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) is utilized to optimize the KHM algorithm to avoid the local optimal problem. (3) A multi-step prediction model to capture the short-term variation of dam displacement is established based on the clustered data. Engineering examples show that the model has good prediction performance and strong robustness, demonstrating the feasibility of applying the proposed model to the multi-step forecasting of dam displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convolutional deep learning models have shown comparable performance to radiologists in detecting and classifying thoracic diseases. However, research on rib fractures remains limited compared to other thoracic abnormalities. Moreover, existing deep learning models primarily focus on using frontal chest X‐ray (CXR) images. To address these gaps, the authors utilised the EDARib‐CXR dataset, comprising 369 frontal and 829 oblique CXRs. These X‐rays were annotated by experienced radiologists, specifically identifying the presence of rib fractures using bounding‐box‐level annotations. The authors introduce two detection models, AB‐YOLOv5 and PB‐YOLOv5, and train and evaluate them on the EDARib‐CXR dataset. AB‐YOLOv5 is a modified YOLOv5 network that incorporates an auxiliary branch to enhance the resolution of feature maps in the final convolutional network layer. On the other hand, PB‐YOLOv5 maintains the same structure as the original YOLOv5 but employs image patches during training to preserve features of small objects in downsampled images. Furthermore, the authors propose a novel two‐level cascaded architecture that integrates both AB‐YOLOv5 and PB‐YOLOv5 detection models. This structure demonstrates improved metrics on the test set, achieving an AP30 score of 0.785. Consequently, the study successfully develops deep learning‐based detectors capable of identifying and localising fractured ribs in both frontal and oblique CXR images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeletal muscle growth in livestock impacts meat quantity and quality. Concerns arise because certain feed additives, like beta-agonists, may affect food safety. Skeletal muscle is a specialized tissue consisting of nondividing and multinucleated muscle fibers. Myostatin (MSTN), a protein specific to skeletal muscle, is secreted and functions as a negative regulator of muscle mass by inhibiting the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. To enhance livestock muscle growth, phytogenic feed additives could be an alternative as they inhibit MSTN activity. The objective of this study was to establish a systematic screening platform using MSTN activity to evaluate phytogenics, providing scientific evidence of their assessment and potency. In this study, we established a screening platform to monitor myostatin promoter activity in rat L8 myoblasts. Extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (GUE), an oriental herbal medicine, was identified through this screening platform, and the active fractions of GUE were identified using a process-scale liquid column chromatography system. For in vivo study, GUE as a feed additive was investigated in growth-finishing pigs. The results showed that GUE significantly increased body weight, carcass weight, and lean content in pigs. Microbiota analysis indicated that GUE did not affect the composition of gut microbiota in pigs. In summary, this established rodent myoblast screening platform was used to identify a myogenesis-related phytogenic, GUE, and further demonstrated that the active fractions and compounds inhibited MSTN expression. These findings suggest a novel application for GUE in growth performance enhancement through modulation of MSTN expression. Moreover, this well-established screening platform holds significant potential for identifying and assessing a diverse range of phytogenics that contribute to the process of myogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]