Search

Abstract Soft robotics has emerged as a highly promising field, particularly for handling interactions in unstructured environments such as food factories and agricultural warehouses. This potential is largely attributed to the inherent flexibility and compliance of soft robots. A critical aspect in the development of these robots lies in the selection and utilization of appropriate soft actuators and materials. Nevertheless, the modeling of soft robots presents considerable challenges owing to their intricate properties and continuum nature. In this article, we focus on the design and modeling of a three dimensional (3D) printed soft bellows actuator. The primary objective is to assess its efficacy in creating suitable soft grippers for handling various practical products. We propose an empirical model to predict the output forces of the soft bellows actuator. This model comprehensively integrates parameters such as bellows geometry and material properties, thereby providing valuable insights for the actuator’s design and control. To ascertain the precision of our model, we conducted a series of finite element simulations considering different designed parameters of the bellows, and performed experimental validations using 3D printed bellows actuators. The empirical model demonstrated high accuracy in predicting the output forces of the bellows actuator, with average absolute and relative errors of $$1.35\,$$ 1.35 N and $$3.5\%$$ 3.5 % , respectively. As an application, a robotic gripper with two parallel bellows actuators was developed, and its grasping force was validated using the empirical model. Building on this, a robotic gripper incorporating three bellows actuators was designed and fabricated based on the empirical model, and pick-and-place experiments were effectively conducted for handling a range of products.

The large-scale utilization of wind energy is the key to establishing a modern energy system, an essential prerequisite for achieving carbon peaking and neutrality as planned, and an essential support for quality economic and social development. The installed wind power capacity continues to grow in China; by the end of 2022, the number of installed wind turbines had surpassed more than 170000 sets, and that of the cumulative installed blades had surpassed 3.65 million tons. Accordingly, early wind turbines are being decommissioned. The use of end-of-life wind turbine blades as a resource presents numerous challenges, such as disassembly- and degradation-related issues. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate green and high-value utilization technology paths capable of large-scale consumption to support the green and sustainable development of the wind power industry. This review examines the wind power industry and the growth trend of end-of-life wind turbines in China, outlines the main technical pathways of waste wind blade resource utilization, and highlights several waste wind blade resource utilization methods. ① Mechanical, thermal, and chemical recycling methods for fiber-reinforced composites: Mechanical recycling is a simple and traditional pathway that cannot provide long-scale fibers, thermal recycling damages the mechanical properties of long-scale fibers and makes reusing the matrix resin difficult, and chemical recycling preserves the mechanical properties of long-scale fibers and allows for the reuse of the matrix resin but at a high cost. Therefore, to achieve the sustainable reuse of reinforcing fibers and matrix resin, further research on the low-cost recycling method for fiber-reinforced composites from waste wind turbine blades is required. ② Application of waste blades in concrete and other construction materials: The blade, when cut into small pieces, can be used to replace natural aggregates in concrete materials. However, its organic components are not conducive to cement hydration, nor are the low-strength filler materials, such as balsa wood, conducive to the structural strength of concrete. ③ Structural utilization of waste blades: Waste blades can have structural reuse applications in pedestrian bridges, park benches, playground facilities, bus stops, and house roofs. Although reuse is simple and feasible, the blade materials need to be rendered nonhazardous and resourceful after the reuse cycle. This review compares and analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of various technical solutions to provide a reference for future research on the utilization of waste wind turbine blades.

Abstract Background The short-term safety and efficacy of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) in treating knee osteoarthritis (KOA) have been extensively studied but the mid-term and long-term prognoses remain unknown. Methods 126 KOA patients were recruited and randomly assigned to SVF group and hyaluronic acid (HA) group (control group). The scores of visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) were assessed and compared between the two groups 1, 2, 3, and 5 years after treatment. The endpoint was defined as surgeries related to KOA or clinical scores exceeding the patient acceptable symptom state (PASS). Results The VAS and WOMAC scores in the SVF group were significantly better than those in the HA group during the 5-year follow-up after treatment. The average responsive time to SVF treatment (61.52 months) was significantly longer than HA treatment (30.37 months). The adjusted Cox proportional hazards model showed that bone marrow lesion (BML) severity, body mass index (BMI) and treatment were independent risk factors and that the use of SVF reduced the risk of clinical failure by 2.602 times. The cartilage volume was reduced in both the SVF and control groups at 5 years but reduced less in the SVF group. Conclusions Up to 5 years after SVF treatment, acceptable clinical state was present for approximately 60% of patients. BML severity and BMI were independent predictors of the prognosis. Trial Registry: This study was retrospectively registered at Chinses Clinical Trial Registry with identifier ChiCTR2100052818 and was approved by ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, number 2013-X-063.

BackgroundThe associations between ambient temperature and influenza-like illness (ILI) have been investigated in previous studies. However, they have inconsistent results. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of ambient temperature on ILI in Shandong Province, China.MethodsWeekly ILI surveillance and meteorological data over 2014–2017 of the Shandong Province were collected from the Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the China Meteorological Data Service Center, respectively. A distributed lag non-linear model was adopted to estimate the city-specific temperature–ILI relationships, which were used to pool the regional-level and provincial-level estimates through a multivariate meta-analysis.ResultsThere were 911,743 ILI cases reported in the study area between 2014 and 2017. The risk of ILI increased with decreasing weekly ambient temperature at the provincial level, and the effect was statistically significant when the temperature was

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) seriously affect the poultry industry and pose a great threat to humans. Timely surveillance of AIVs is the basis for preparedness of the virus. This study reported the long-term surveillance of AIVs in the live bird market (LBM) of 16 cities in Shandong province from 2013 to 2019. A total of 29,895 samples were obtained and the overall positive rate of AIVs was 9.7%. The H9 was found to be the most predominant subtype in most of the time and contributed most to the monthly positve rate of AIVs as supported by the univariate and multivariate analysis, while H5 and H7 only circulated in some short periods. Then, the whole-genome sequences of 62 representative H9N2 viruses including one human isolate from a 7-year-old boy in were determined and they were genetically similar to each other with the median pairwise sequence identities ranging from 0.96 to 0.98 for all segments. The newly sequenced viruses were most similar to viruses isolated in chickens in mainland China, especially the provinces in Eastern China. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these newly sequenced H9N2 viruses belonged to the same clade for all segments except PB1. Nearly all of these viruses belonged to the G57 genotype which has dominated in China since 2010. Finally, several molecular markers associated with human adaptation, mammalian virulence, and drug resistance were identified in the newly sequenced H9N2 viruses. Overall, the study deepens our understanding of the epidemic and evolution of AIVs and provides a basis for effective control of AIVs in China.

Abstract Background Little comprehensive information on overall epidemic trend of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases is available in Shandong Province, China. This study aimed to determine the spatiotemporal distribution and epidemic characteristics of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases. Methods Time series was firstly performed to describe the temporal distribution feature of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases during 2005–2014 in Shandong Province. GIS Natural Breaks (Jenks) was applied to divide the average annual incidence of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases into five grades. Spatial empirical Bayesian smoothed risk maps and excess risk maps were further used to investigate spatial patterns of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases. Global and local Moran’s I statistics were used to measure the spatial autocorrelation. Spatial-temporal scanning was used to detect spatiotemporal clusters and identify high-risk locations. Results A total of 537,506 cases of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases were reported in Shandong Province during 2005–2014. The morbidity of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases had obvious seasonality with high morbidity in winter and spring. Local Moran’s I analysis showed that there were 5, 23, 24, 4, 20, 8, 14, 10 and 7 high-risk counties determined for influenza A (H1N1), measles, tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis, pertussis, scarlet fever, influenza, mumps and rubella, respectively. The spatial-temporal clustering analysis determined that the most likely cluster of influenza A (H1N1), measles, tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis, pertussis, scarlet fever, influenza, mumps and rubella included 74, 66, 58, 56, 22, 64, 2, 75 and 56 counties, and the time frame was November 2009, March 2008, January 2007, February 2005, July 2007, December 2011, November 2009, June 2012 and May 2005, respectively. Conclusions There were obvious spatiotemporal clusters of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases in Shandong during 2005–2014. More attention should be paid to the epidemiological and spatiotemporal characteristics of notifiable respiratory infectious diseases to establish new strategies for its control.

Abstract Background The effects of extreme temperature on infectious diseases are complex and far-reaching. There are few studies to access the relationship of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) with extreme temperature. The study aimed to identify whether there was association between extreme temperature and the reported morbidity of PTB in Shandong Province, China, from 2005 to 2016. Methods A generalized additive model (GAM) was firstly conducted to evaluate the relationship between daily reported incidence rate of PTB and extreme temperature events in the prefecture-level cities. Then, the effect estimates were pooled using meta-analysis at the provincial level. The fixed-effect model or random-effect model was selected based on the result of heterogeneity test. Results Among the 446,016 PTB reported cases, the majority of reported cases occurred in spring. The higher reported incidence rate areas were located in Liaocheng, Taian, Linyi and Heze. Extreme low temperature had an impact on the reported incidence of PTB in only one prefecture-level city, i.e., Binzhou (RR = 0.903, 95% CI: 0.817–0.999). While, extreme high temperature was found to have a positive effect on reported morbidity of PTB in Binzhou (RR = 0.924, 95% CI: 0.856–0.997) and Weihai (RR = 0.910, 95% CI: 0.843–0.982). Meta-analysis showed that extreme high temperature was associated with a decreased risk of PTB (RR = 0.982, 95% CI: 0.966–0.998). However, extreme low temperature was no relationship with the reported incidence of PTB. Conclusion Our findings are suggested that extreme high temperature has significantly decreased the risk of PTB at the provincial levels. The findings have implications for developing strategies to response to climate change.

A cellular automata model was established to simulate grain coarsening processes pinned by second-phase particles. The influences of particle coarsening, precipitation, growth and dissolution, which contain complex changes of size and number density of the particles, on the grain coarsening kinetics were investigated by considering the following two factors: average pinning force per particle and particle number density. The simulation results showed that the average pinning force per particle was related to the particle size, but little influenced by the particle number density. The investigations about the grain boundary/particles interactions showed that the increase of number fraction of particles, which located at the grain boundary junctions, should be the reason for the increase of average pinning force per particle. Then the limiting grain size was researched and compared to the results of some other models. The results showed that the average number of particles to stagnate a grain was related to both the number density and size of particles. At last, the comparisons between the present simulation results and the other simulation and experimental results showed that the present models were efficient in simulating the grain coarsening processes pinned by second-phase particles.

In 4D printing, structures with gradients in physical properties are 3D printed in order to dramatically increase deformation. For example, printing bilayer structures with passive and active layers has been proposed, however, these methods have the disadvantages that the material of each layer is mixed, and the modeling process is complicated. Herein, we present a method of creating gradient gels with different degrees of polymerization on the UV-exposed side and the other side using a single material by simply increasing the amount of initiator. This gel is the first example in which the differential swelling ratio between two sides causes the gradient to curl inward toward the UV-exposed side. The mechanical properties (swelling ratio and Young’s modulus) were measured at different material concentrations and structures, and the effects of each on deformation were analyzed and simulated. The results show that adding an initiator concentration of 0.2 (mol/L) or more causes deformation, that increasing the crosslinker concentration by a factor of three or more increases deformation, and that adding a hinge structure limits the gradient gel to deformation up to 90°. Thus, it was found that the maximum deformation can be predicted to some extent by simulation. In the future, we will be able to create complex structures while utilizing simulation.

PurposeIn this study, total lesion glycolysis (TLG) on positron emission tomography images was estimated by a trained and validated CT radiomics model, and its prognostic ability was explored among lung cancer (LC) and esophageal cancer patients (EC).MethodsUsing the identical features between the combined and thin-section CT, the estimation model of SUVsum (summed standard uptake value) was trained from the lymph nodes (LNs) of LC patients (n = 1239). Besides LNs of LC patients from other centers, the validation cohorts also included LNs and primary tumors of LC/EC from the same center. After calculating TLG (accumulated SUVsum of each individual) based on the model, the prognostic ability of the estimated and measured values was compared and analyzed.ResultsIn the training cohort, the model of 3 features was trained by the deep learning and linear regression method. It performed well in all validation cohorts (n = 5), and a linear regression could correct the bias from different scanners. Additionally, the absolute biases of the model were not significantly affected by the evaluated factors whether they included LN metastasis or not. Between the estimated natural logarithm of TLG (elnTLG) and the measured values (mlnTLG), significant difference existed among both LC (n = 137, bias = 0.510 ± 0.519, r = 0.956, P

Background: The dominant viral etiologies responsible for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are poorly understood, particularly among hospitalized patients. Improved etiological insight is needed to improve clinical management and prevention of ARIs. Methods: Clinical and demographic information and throat swabs were collected from 607 patients from 2011 to 2013 in Shandong Province, China. Multiplex RT-PCR (SeeplexTM RV detection, Seegene) was performed to detected 12 respiratory viral pathogens. Results: A total of 607 hospitalized patients were enrolled from 2011 to 2013. Viruses were identified in 35.75 % (217/607) of cases, including 78 influenza virus A and B (IVA and IVB), 47 para-influenza viruses (PIVs), 41 respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and 38 adenovirus (ADV). For the children under 15 year old, the common detected viruses were influenza viruses, RSV, PIVS and ADV, while the principal respiratory viruses were human coronaviruses (HCoV), PIVs, influenza viruses for the old adults. Co-infections with multiple viruses were detected in 15.67 % of patients. Children under 5 years were more likely to have one or more detectable virus associated with their ARI. The peak of ARI caused by the respiratory viruses occurred in winter. Conclusion: This study demonstrated respiratory viruses were the major cause of hospitalized ARI patients in Shandong Province, influenza virus was the most common detected, RSV was the highest incidence among the young children (≤5 years). These findings also gave a better understand of virus distribution among different age and seasons, which help to consider potential therapeutic approaches and develop effective prevention strategies for respiratory virus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The first case of human infection with avian influenza A (H7N9) virus was identified in March, 2013 and the new H7N9 virus infected 134 patients and killed 45 people in China as of September 30, 2013. Family clusters with confirmed or suspected the new H7N9 virus infection were previously reported, but the family cluster of H7N9 virus infection in Shandong Province was first reported. Case presentation A 36-year-old man was admitted to Zaozhuang City Hospital with progressive respiratory distress and suspicion of impending acute respiratory distress syndrome on April 21. The chest radiography revealed bilateral ground-glass opacities and pulmonary lesions. The second case, the first case's 4 year old son, was admitted to the same hospital on April 28 with fever and multiple patchy shadows in the bilateral lungs. Both of the two cases were confirmed to infect with H7N9 virus by the results of real-time reverse transcriptasepolymerase- chain reaction (rRT-PCR), virus isolation and serum antibody titer. At the same time, one environment samples was detected positive for H7N9 virus in the living poultry market in Zaozhuang. The homologous analysis of the full genome sequence indicated that both viruses from the patients were almost genetically identical. The field epidemiology investigation showed that the two cases had no recognized exposure to poultry, but had the exposure to the environment. The second case had substantial unprotected close exposure to his ill father and developed symptoms seven days after his last contact with his father. After surgery, the index case and his son were discharged on May 16 and May 6, respectively. 11 close contacts of both patients were identified and tested negative both the throat swabs and the serum antibody. Conclusion The infection of the index case probably resulted from contact with environmentally contaminated material. For the son, the probable infection source was from the index case during unprotected exposure, but the possibility from the environment or other sources could not be completely ruled out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]