ALBERT

Description: Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG) represent serious threats to human health, and as a result, this study was aimed at understanding the blood glucose distribution characteristics and the risk factors among a large health examination population in China. Methods: An investigation with physical and biochemical examinations and questionnaires was conducted in the physical examination center from 2011 to 2014 and as a result 175,122 physical examination attendees were enrolled in this study. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the factors influencing blood sugar levels. Results: The rates of IFG and DM were 6.0% and 3.8%. Prevalence were 7.6%/5.1% in males and 5.1%/2.8% in females for IFG and DM, respectively. The prevalence of IFG and DM were thus higher in males than in females. In the normal group, except high density lipoprotein (HDL) that was significantly higher than in the IFG and DM group, the other indexes (age, body mass index (BMI), glucose (Glu), total cholesterol (TC) and total glycerides (TG) were lower than those in the IFG and DM group. The proportion of IFG and DM also increased with the increases in proportion of abnormal blood pressure, smoking and alcohol consumption. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that increasing age, high BMI, high TC, high TG and low HDL increased the risk of diabetes, while in males, in addition to the above factors, the smoking and drinking factors also increased the risk of diabetes. After the age of 65, the blood glucose level reached a peak in males, while in females, the increasing trends was on the rise. The inflexion age of the fast rise was younger in males than in females. Conclusion: The study population showed a high prevalence of DM and IFG among the adults. Regular physical examination for the early detection of diabetes is recommended in the high-risk population.

Description: Ultrafine aluminum oxide, which are abundant in ambient and involved occupational environments, are associated with neurobehavioral alterations. However, few studies have focused on the effect of sex differences following exposure to environmental Al2O3 ultrafine particles. In the present study, male and female mice were exposed to Al2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) through a respiratory route. Only the female mice showed depression-like behavior. Although no obvious pathological changes were observed in mice brain tissues, the neurotransmitter and voltage-gated ion channel related gene expression, as well as the small molecule metabolites in the cerebral cortex, were differentially modulated between male and female mice. Both mental disorder-involved gene expression levels and metabolomics analysis results strongly suggested that glutamate pathways were implicated in sex differentiation induced by Al2O3 NPs. Results demonstrated the potential mechanism of environmental ultrafine particle-induced depression-like behavior and the importance of sex dimorphism in the toxic research of environmental chemicals.

Description: The eco-hydrological wireless sensor network (EHWSN) in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin in China is designed to capture the spatial and temporal variability and to estimate the ground truth for validating the remote sensing productions. However, there is no available prior information about a target variable. To meet both requirements, a hybrid model-based sampling method without any spatial autocorrelation assumptions is developed to optimize the distribution of EHWSN nodes based on geostatistics. This hybrid model incorporates two sub-criteria: one for the variogram modeling to represent the variability, another for improving the spatial prediction to evaluate remote sensing productions. The reasonability of the optimized EHWSN is validated from representativeness, the variogram modeling and the spatial accuracy through using 15 types of simulation fields generated with the unconditional geostatistical stochastic simulation. The sampling design shows good representativeness; variograms estimated by samples have less than 3% mean error relative to true variograms. Then, fields at multiple scales are predicted. As the scale increases, estimated fields have higher similarities to simulation fields at block sizes exceeding 240 m. The validations prove that this hybrid sampling method is effective for both objectives when we do not know the characteristics of an optimized variables.

Description: IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 1949: Ecohydraulogical Characteristic Index System of Schizopygopsis younghusbandi during Spawning Periods in the Yarlung Tsangpo River International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph15091949 Authors: Qing-Yuan Liu Jia Li Rui-Dong An Yong Li To address the species decline in aboriginal fish in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin and the lack of research on the habitat characteristics of fish spawning grounds, this paper studied the changing trends in runoff in spawning grounds and the habitat conditions characteristics of Schizopygopsis younghusbandi during the spawning period. In conventional approaches, inaccurate statistical results are obtained when a full river section is taken as the region to be assessed, so a new method for determining the statistical boundaries of characteristic indexes was proposed. By combining hydrological analyses, mathematical statistics, and numerical simulations, the statistical boundary of the index was determined, and a suitable range for the habitat characteristic indexes for the spawning field was finally obtained. The results showed that (1) the maximum percentage of the statistical boundary for the spawning grounds was 39% near the banks on both sides of the river; (2) the flow during the spawning period exhibited small variations, a short duration and a fluctuation cycle and was dominated by water rising events, and the interannual growth trend in the daily flow was obvious; and (3) during the spawning period, the flow velocity of the fish habitat was small, the turbulence level of the fluid was low, and the flow regime was stable. A suitable range for the habitat characteristic index of the target fish provided the basic data for the protection of aboriginal fish and was beneficial to maintain the balance of aquatic ecological system in the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The results of this study contribute to the rational development of water resources in the basin and the protection of species diversity and water environment.

Description: Sensors, Vol. 18, Pages 1733: A Capsule-Type Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer for Fast Screening of External Corrosion in Nonmagnetic Pipes Sensors doi: 10.3390/s18061733 Authors: Yong Li Rui Cai Bei Yan Ilham Mukriz Zainal Abidin Haoqing Jing Yi Wang For fuel transmission and structural strengthening, small-diameter pipes of nonmagnetic materials are extensively adopted in engineering fields including aerospace, energy, transportation, etc. However, the hostile and corrosive environment leaves them vulnerable to external corrosion which poses a severe threat to structural integrity of pipes. Therefore, it is imperative to nondestructively detect and evaluate the external corrosion in nonmagnetic pipes. In light of this, a capsule-type Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) for in-situ nondestructive evaluation of nonmagnetic pipes and fast screening of external corrosion is proposed in this paper. A 3D hybrid model for efficient prediction of responses from the proposed transducer to external corrosion is established. Closed-form expressions of field quantities of electromagnetics and EMAT signals are formulated. Simulations based on the hybrid model indicate feasibility of the proposed transducer in detection and evaluation of external corrosion in nonmagnetic pipes. In parallel, experiments with the fabricated transducer have been carried out. Experimental results are supportive of the conclusion drawn from simulations. The investigation via simulations and experiments implies that the proposed capsule-type EMAT is capable of fast screening of external corrosion, which is beneficial to the in-situ nondestructive evaluation of small-diameter nonmagnetic pipes.

Description: A ‘two birds, one stone’ strategy was developed via a one-pot click reaction to simultaneously prepare a novel cyclodextrin (CD) dimer based aggregation induced emission (AIE) sensor (AIE-DCD) and a monomer based chiral stationary phase (CSP-MCD) for chiral high performance liquid chromatography (CHPLC). AIE-DCD was found to afford satisfactory AIE response for specific detection of Zn2+ with a detection limit of 50 nM. CSP-MCD exhibits excellent enantioseparation ability toward dansyl amino acids, where the resolution of dansyl amino leucine reaches 5.43.

Description: China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide, with industrial carbon emissions (ICE) accounting for approximately 65% of the country’s total emissions. Understanding the ICE decoupling patterns and factors influencing the decoupling status is a prerequisite for balancing economic growth and carbon emissions. This paper provides an overview of ICE based on decoupling elasticity and the Tapio decoupling model. Furthermore, the study identifies the factors contributing to ICE changes in China, using the Kaya identity and Log Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) techniques. Based on the effects and contributions of ICE, we close with a number of recommendations. The results revealed a significant upward trend of ICE during the study period 1994 to 2013, with a total amount of 11,147 million tons. Analyzing the decoupling relationship indicates that “weak decoupling” and “expansive decoupling” were the main states during the study period. The decomposition analysis showed that per capita wealth associated with industrial outputs and energy intensity are the main driving force of ICE, while energy intensity of industrial output and energy structure are major determinants for ICE reduction. The largest contributing cumulative effect to ICE is per capita wealth, at 1.23 in 2013. This factor is followed by energy intensity, with a contributing cumulative effect of −0.32. The cumulative effects of energy structure and population are relatively small, at 0.01 and 0.08, respectively.

Description: The integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) has been identified as a promising but challenging topic to transform information towards the generation of knowledge and intelligence. Achievement of integrating these two concepts and enabling technologies will have a significant impact on solving problems in the civil, building and infrastructure sectors. However, since GIS and BIM were originally developed for different purposes, numerous challenges are being encountered for the integration. To better understand these two different domains, this paper reviews the development and dissimilarities of GIS and BIM, the existing integration methods, and investigates their potential in various applications. This study shows that the integration methods are developed for various reasons and aim to solve different problems. The parameters influencing the choice can be summarized and named as “EEEF” criteria: effectiveness, extensibility, effort, and flexibility. Compared with other methods, semantic web technologies provide a promising and generalized integration solution. However, the biggest challenges of this method are the large efforts required at early stage and the isolated development of ontologies within one particular domain. The isolation problem also applies to other methods. Therefore, openness is the key of the success of BIM and GIS integration.

Description: The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by the global construction industry account for 36% of the world’s total carbon emissions, and 50% of China’s total carbon emissions. The carbon emissions from Jiangsu Province’s construction industry account for approximately 16% of the total emissions of the Chinese construction industry. Taking the construction industry in Jiangsu Province as our study object, therefore, this paper introduces the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) carbon emission accounting method as a means to measure the total CO2 emissions of the Jiangsu Province construction industry. Specifically, we examine the period from 2005 to 2013. Based on the Tapio decoupling model, we analyze the decoupling state between the CO2 emissions of the construction industry in Jiangsu Province and the province’s economic growth. Our paper also employs the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) approach, in order to conduct a decomposition analysis of those factors that influenced the changes in the level of CO2 emissions during the studied period. According to the results of our research, during the period from 2005 to 2013, the CO2 emission levels caused by the construction industry in Jiangsu Province experienced a significant increase. The cumulative total CO2 emissions reached 402.85 million tons. During most of the years covered by our study, an expansive negative decoupling state existed between the level of CO2 emissions and the output value of Jiangsu’s construction industry. These periods were interspersed with either a weak decoupling state in some years or a strong decoupling state in other years. The indirect carbon emission intensity effect and the industry scale effect were the main factors influencing the increases in the construction industry’s CO2 emissions. At the conclusion of our paper, we put forward policy suggestions, with the objective of promoting the de-carbonization of the construction industry in Jiangsu Province.

Description: Energies, Vol. 11, Pages 1286: Investigation on Planetary Bearing Weak Fault Diagnosis Based on a Fault Model and Improved Wavelet Ridge Energies doi: 10.3390/en11051286 Authors: Hongkun Li Rui Yang Chaoge Wang Changbo He Rolling element bearings are of great importance in planetary gearboxes. Monitoring their operation state is the key to keep the whole machine running normally. It is not enough to just apply traditional fault diagnosis methods to detect the running condition of rotating machinery when weak faults occur. It is because of the complexity of the planetary gearbox structure. In addition, its running state is unstable due to the effects of the wind speed and external disturbances. In this paper, a signal model is established to simulate the vibration data collected by sensors in the event of a failure occurred in the planetary bearings, which is very useful for fault mechanism research. Furthermore, an improved wavelet scalogram method is proposed to identify weak impact features of planetary bearings. The proposed method is based on time-frequency distribution reassignment and synchronous averaging. The synchronous averaging is performed for reassignment of the wavelet scale spectrum to improve its time-frequency resolution. After that, wavelet ridge extraction is carried out to reveal the relationship between this time-frequency distribution and characteristic information, which is helpful to extract characteristic frequencies after the improved wavelet scalogram highlights the impact features of rolling element bearing weak fault detection. The effectiveness of the proposed method for weak fault recognition is validated by using simulation signals and test signals.