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Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between severity of menopausal symptoms and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among middle-aged Chinese women. Methods: A cross-sectional study recruited 9679 women aged 40–70 years from three socioeconomic regions of China in 2018. Menopausal symptoms were assessed by the modified Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI). The severity of individual symptoms was classified as none (0 points), mild (1 points) and moderate-to-severe symptoms (2–3 points), and overall menopausal symptoms were classified as none (<15 points), mild (15–24 points) or moderate-to-severe (≥25 points) according to the sum score of the KMI. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations of the severity of menopausal symptoms with CVD risk. Results: A total of 5.6% of participants reported being diagnosed with CVD. Overall menopausal symptoms were more common in women aged 60–70 years than in women aged 40–59 years. After multiple adjustment, mild (odds ratio [OR] = 2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.64–2.61) and moderate-to-severe (OR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.92–3.63) overall menopausal symptoms were associated with increased risk of CVD compared with no symptoms. Significant positive associations between the severity of individual menopausal symptoms and CVD risk were observed for all 13 items. Conclusion: The severity of menopausal symptoms was positively associated with CVD risk in middle-aged Chinese women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the one hand, a growing amount of research discusses support for improving online collaborative learning quality, and many indicators are focused to assess its success. On the other hand, thinkLets for designing reputable and valuable collaborative processes have been developed for more than ten years. However, few studies try to apply thinkLets to online collaborative learning. This paper introduces thinkLets to online collaborative learning and experimentally tests its effectiveness with participants' responses on their satisfaction. Yield Shift Theory (YST), a causal theory explaining inner satisfaction, is adopted. In the experiment, 113 students from Universities in Beijing, China are chosen as a sample. They were divided into two groups, collaborating online in a simulated class. Then, YST in student groups under online collaborative learning is validated, a comparison study of online collaborative learning with and without thinkLets is implemented, and the satisfaction response of participants are analyzed. As a result of this comparison, YST is proved applicable in this context, and satisfaction is higher in online collaborative learning with thinkLets.

Transportation is the forerunner of economic and social development. Therefore, the high-quality development of comprehensive transportation is of great significance to ensure overall economic and social progress and the smooth implementation of major national strategies. The essence of high-quality development in transportation is to realize the optimal allocation of transportation resources. This study handles two aspects. First, the factors that reflect the quality of comprehensive transportation development are defined and analyzed, and an evaluation system is proposed to build China's comprehensive transportation development quality with transportation efficiency as the core is proposed, taking into account transportation infrastructure and transportation scale. Second, the static comprehensive evaluation value is calculated by the entropy weight method, and then the incentive control model is constructed by introducing incentive factors to achieve a dynamic comprehensive evaluation of comprehensive transportation development. The research results not only propose new indicators but also evaluate different modes of transportation within the same dimension. The results show that the quality of comprehensive transportation development in China is generally on the rise, but there are obvious regional differences. The proposed model is derived from evaluation cases in transportation-related fields and has not yet been applied in the transportation field. It can help understand the development status of the industry and assist in policy formulation., Author(s): Jiahao Zhan [1,2]; Shengwen Yang (corresponding author) [1,2]; Xueyin Wang [3]; Ting Fan [3] 1. Introduction Promoting the high quality and high efficiency development of an integrated transportation system, [...]

Early research suggested that bone morphogenetic protein 10 (BMP10) is primarily involved in cardiac development and congenital heart disease processes. BMP10 is a newly identified cardiac‐specific protein. In recent years, reports have emphasized the effects of BMP10 on myocardial apoptosis, fibrosis and immune response, as well as its synergistic effects with BMP9 in vascular endothelium and role in endothelial dysfunction. We believe that concentrating on this aspect of the study will enhance our knowledge of the pathogenesis of diabetes and the cardiovascular field. However, there have been no reports of any reviews discussing the role of BMP10 in diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In addition, the exact pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy is not fully understood, including myocardial energy metabolism disorders, microvascular changes, abnormal apoptosis of cardiomyocytes, collagen structural changes and myocardial fibrosis, all of which cause cardiac function impairment directly or indirectly and interact with one another. This review summarizes the research results of BMP10 in cardiac development, endothelial function and cardiovascular disease in an effort to generate new ideas for future research into diabetic cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Winding number and density of states are two fundamental physical quantities for non-self-adjoint quasi-periodic Schrödinger operators, which reflect the asymptotic distribution of zeros of the characteristic determinants of the truncated operators under Dirichlet boundary condition, with respect to complexified phase and the energy, respectively. We will prove that the winding number is in fact Avila's acceleration, it is also closely related to the density of states by a generalized Thouless formula for non-self-adjoint Schrödinger operators and Avila's global theory. Communicating Editor: Prof Svetlana Jitomirskaya [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The volume of a pig, a new phenotype feature, can be used to estimate its weight due to its high correlation with body weight. The proportions of different body parts, such as the head and legs, can be determined through point cloud segmentation, providing new phenotype information for breeding pigs with smaller heads and stouter legs. However, due to the irregular shape and potential missing parts of the pig point cloud, it is challenging to form a closed surface for volume calculation. The study addresses this challenge by using an improved Poisson reconstruction algorithm, which provides smoother, more continuous, and complete reconstruction results, and its accuracy and reliability have been confirmed. The study also found that the correlation coefficient between pig body volume and weight was 0.95, indicating a strong relationship. This research could be valuable for improving the efficiency and accuracy of livestock weight estimation and breeding. Pig point cloud data can be used to digitally reconstruct surface features, calculate pig body volume and estimate pig body weight. Volume, as a pig novel phenotype feature, has the following functions: (a) It can be used to estimate livestock weight based on its high correlation with body weight. (b) The volume proportion of various body parts (such as head, legs, etc.) can be obtained through point cloud segmentation, and the new phenotype information can be utilized for breeding pigs with smaller head volumes and stouter legs. However, as the pig point cloud has an irregular shape and may be partially missing, it is difficult to form a closed loop surface for volume calculation. Considering the better water tightness of Poisson reconstruction, this article adopts an improved Poisson reconstruction algorithm to reconstruct pig body point clouds, making the reconstruction results smoother, more continuous, and more complete. In the present study, standard shape point clouds, a known-volume Stanford rabbit standard model, a measured volume piglet model, and 479 sets of pig point cloud data with known body weight were adopted to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the improved Poisson reconstruction and volume calculation algorithm. Among them, the relative error was 4% in the piglet model volume result. The average absolute error was 2.664 kg in the weight estimation obtained from pig volume by collecting pig point clouds, and the average relative error was 2.478%. Concurrently, it was determined that the correlation coefficient between pig body volume and pig body weight was 0.95. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to estimate the association of depressive and anxiety symptoms with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in middle-aged and older Chinese women and to further evaluate whether the association was influenced by sociodemographic factors. This cross-sectional study included 9544 women aged 40 to 70 years from the eastern, central, and western regions of China in 2018. Logistic regression models were utilized to examine odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for depressive and anxiety symptoms with CVD risk. Depressive (OR = 1.89) and anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.55) were independently associated with an increased risk of CVD after adjusting for potential confounders. Stratified analyses found that depressive symptoms were only significantly associated with higher risk of CVD in women aged over 50 years and with lower levels of education and household income, whereas anxiety symptoms were only significantly associated with an elevated risk of CVD in women aged 60 to 70 years, and living in rural areas, and with lower levels of education and household income. Our findings emphasize the improvement of recognizing and managing depressive and anxiety symptoms to reduce the risk of CVD in middle-aged and older women, particularly in older women of low socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental context: Environmental estrogens can disrupt the normal functioning of endocrine systems, and their occurrence in drinking water sources could cause potential health risk. We investigated concentrations of four estrogens in the lakes from the Taihu Basin, and found that BPA and EE2 were elevated in some sites. However, concentrations of all four environmental estrogens were below the national standards, and caused no health threat to local population. Rationale: The Taihu Basin is a critical freshwater ecosystem susceptible to contamination from various anthropogenic activities. Environmental estrogens (also known as endocrine disrupting chemicals, EDCs) are exogenous substances that can disrupt the normal functioning of endocrine systems. The contamination of water by EDCs is primarily caused by effluents from sewage treatment plants and livestock poultry farms. In this study, we assessed the spatial distribution and potential risks of environmental estrogens in surface water in the Taihu basin. Various statistical evaluations were employed to establish connections between measured concentration of heavy elements, estrogens and physicochemical parameters, to identify potential sources of these contaminants. Methodology: Water samples from 44 sampling points in five lakes in Suzhou were taken for evaluation of environmental estrogens. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for identification of concentrations of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), ethinyl estradiol (EE2) and bisphenol A (BPA). Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry was employed to identify heavy element concentrations in water samples. Results: Environmental estrogen concentrations were detected ranging from 0.001 to 209 ng L-1, with the highest attributed to BPA, whereas E1, E2 and EE2 were comparatively lower. Correlation evaluation between environmental estrogens, physicochemical parameters and heavy element contents revealed a positive correlation (P < 0.05) between the total chromium and environmental estrogen contents. Consequently, the risk entropy value of Shanghu Lake exceeded 0.5, indicating a potentially high risk of estrogenic activity. Discussion: The widespread distribution and high concentrations of BPA in freshwater raise urgent concerns, highlighting the need for frequent monitoring of environmental estrogens in surface waters throughout the year to mitigate potential risks in the future. Our results suggest that a potential estrogen risk exists in the Shanghu Lake in the Taihu basin. Potential treatment methods for endocrine disruptors have been proposed, which could provide actionable plans for stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]