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This study investigated the sex-specific prevalence of smoking (past 30 days) and the associations with height among university/college students. 25,405 (11,579/14,826 males/females) college students in Xi'an China. A cross-sectional, self-administered survey. The male and female prevalence of smoking (past 30 days) was 32.9% and 7.4%, respectively. The prevalence of smoking of the male height groups ranged from 29.8% to 36.9%; only the ≥188 cm height group showed significantly higher prevalence than the reference group (i.e., 173–177cm; 33.0%). The female prevalence of smoking was 4.0–8.2% in the ≤170cm groups and increased to 12.3% in the 171–175 cm group and 36.1% in the ≥176 cm group, while it was 6.5% for the reference group (161–165 cm). This exploratory study firstly revealed the significantly higher prevalence of smoking among the "tallest" height groups, especially among females. Future studies are warranted to confirm such findings and explore related mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumatic soft actuators have been widely considered the safest actuation technology for use in wearable rehabilitation robots. For soft robotic gloves, researchers commonly put soft extending or bending actuators on dorsal fingers to assist hand flexion. In this research, we propose a novel pre-folded flat tube actuator (PFTA) to assist finger flex into a pre-set bending angle or contact force. The PFTA has three folds, aligned with each of the finger joint. Different from other soft actuators, the PFTA exerts bending torque directly on each finger joint without large actuator deformation. The PFTA made of heat shrink flat tube has a small profile, with low cost, easy fabrication, and high safety. When actuated, the PFTA has the tendency to unfold as well, we call this effect as unfolding flat tube actuation. This effect is characterized by a range of bending angles and input air pressures in which four distinct response regimes were observed. They are defined as shearing, collapsing, creasing, and flattening regimes. Similarly, experimental characterization of PFTAs is also conducted to evaluate the level of joint flexion assistance based on which design guidelines for robotic gloves are recommended. Finally, we build PFTAs on a soft wearable glove and demonstrate their capability in assisting the grasping operations of various object shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) pollution in aqueous solution has caused great threat to human health. A novel chitosan and biochar supported sulfide-modified nZVI composite (CB-S-nZVI) was synthesized by liquid phase reduction method and applied to the removal of Cd2+ from wastewater. The synthesized materials were characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, FTIR, and zeta potential. Batch experiments showed that the optimum synthesis conditions of CB-S-nZVI were the S/Fe molar ratio of 0.56 and the Fe/BC mass ratio of 2. The removal capacity of Cd2+ by CB-S-nZVI increased with the increase of pH and reached the maximum of 249.92 mg/g at pH of 9. Among the competitive cations, Pb2+ and Cu2+ had a strong inhibition to the removal of Cd2+. The removal process of Cd2+ conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich model, and it was exothermic. XPS analysis suggested that the removal mechanism of Cd2+ was mainly through electrostatic attraction, precipitation, and complexation. Overall, these findings provide new insights into the development of new nZVI-modified material, and CB-S-nZVI is promising in removing heavy metals from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the limited hardware available in virtual reality, such as VR controllers or simple motion capture devices, users will need more tactile feedback, like the weight of virtual objects. Pseudo‐tactile feedback, such as the control display (C/D) ratio manipulation method, is considered a standard method to simulate weight perception. In past studies, this method was basically used in a static environment, and the C/D ratio was usually determined initially. Can this method still work if the C/D ratio changes in dynamic usage scenarios? In a series of experiments, we tried to answer this question. We proved that the dynamic change of C/D ratio could simulate the weight change and improve the sense of embodiment through another hand redirection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In wearable robotics, soft actuation principles have been increasingly explored and tested due to their safety and comfort in human–robot interactions. Herein, a braided flat‐tube artificial muscle (BFAM) is presented. BFAMs are fabricated by braiding cotton threads together with an inexpensive lay‐flat tube (LFT) in a specific conform‐to‐LFT weaving method. They generate uniaxial contractions when powered by compressed fluids. The basic structure and working mechanism of the proposed BFAM are explained, and a quasistatic model is also developed. A comparison with other fluidic driven soft actuators is made and tabulated. Based on experimental studies, the proposed BFAM can contract close to 30% and yield force outputs more than 150 times their weight at an air pressure of 0.12 MPa. BFAM can be braided with multiple layers of flat tube without large increase of size. Experimental studies have shown that more layers of flat tube give a larger strain and output force up to four layers, beyond which layer increase does not yield visible improvement in strain and output force. Finally, potential applications of BFAM to arm joint actuations are illustrated to show its easy fitting to wearable robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]