| 1. |
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- 2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 2. |
- Gong, Ze, et al.
(author)
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The Association Between Quadriceps Strength and Synovitis in Knee Osteoarthritis : An Exploratory Study From the Osteoarthritis Initiative
- 2023
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In: The Journal of rheumatology. - : The Journal of Rheumatology. - 0315-162X .- 1499-2752. ; 50:4, s. 548-555
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the association between quadriceps strength and synovitis in knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: This study was derived from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), which recruited adults from the OAI cohort with or at risk of KOA. Knees with complete records of isometric quadriceps strength and effusion-synovitis and Hoffa-synovitis assessments were included. Quadriceps strength was measured isometrically at baseline. Effusion-synovitis and Hoffa-synovitis were measured using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Osteoarthritis Knee Score at baseline and at 1-year and 2-year follow-ups. Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the associations of baseline quadriceps strength with changes in effusion-synovitis and Hoffa-synovitis in multivariable analyses. Additionally, analyses were stratified by synovitis-driven inflammatory phenotypes. RESULTS: A total of 1513 knees were included in this study. In total, 61% of the subjects were female; subjects had an average age of 61.9 (SD 8.8) years and a mean BMI of 29.4 (SD 4.7). Regarding the whole population, baseline quadriceps strength was negatively associated with baseline effusion-synovitis and follow-up changes in effusion-synovitis (odds ratio [OR] 0.77-0.86), but no significant association was observed in terms of Hoffa-synovitis. Stratified by synovitis-driven inflammatory phenotype, baseline quadriceps strength was significantly associated with follow-up changes in effusion-synovitis-but not in Hoffa-synovitis-in the population with existing effusion-synovitis (OR 0.75-0.79). CONCLUSION: Higher baseline quadriceps strength was negatively associated with changes in effusion-synovitis-but not in Hoffa-synovitis-especially in the population with existing effusion-synovitis. Our findings suggested a potential protective role of the quadriceps in effusion-synovitis.
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| 3. |
- Li, Qi, et al.
(author)
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Construction of cellulose-based Pickering stabilizer as a novel interfacial antioxidant : A bioinspired oxygen protection strategy
- 2020
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In: Carbohydrate Polymers. - : Elsevier. - 0144-8617 .- 1879-1344. ; 229
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Oxygen protection/isolation is imperative to prevent the lipid oxidation since oxygen molecule is an ultimate quencher in photon conversion process. Inspired by the structural buildup of seeds from oil crops, a sustainable solid particle stabilizer with novel antioxidant activity was prepared by using cellulose and polyphenol. In this work, bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibrils modified by tea polyphenols (TPs) was prepared and used as Pickering emulsifier for the O/W emulsion. BC nanofibirls exhibited excellent adsorption capacity up to 55 mu g/mg, and the adsorption kinetics between BC and TPs were further investigated. After modification, the interfacial diffusion rate constant of BC was significantly increased to from 0.43 to 1.21 mN m(-1) s(-0.5). Moreover, the obtained O/W interfacial modulus of the dilatational elasticity was increased from 58 to 130 mN/m. Furthermore, the emulsions exhibited excellent free-radical scavenging activity at oil-water interface, suggesting a potential application in usage to extend the lifespan of the food containing polyunsaturated fats.
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| 4. |
- Zhang, Longhai, et al.
(author)
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Rational Design of Multinary Metal Chalcogenide Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 Nanocrystals for Efficient Potassium Storage
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In: Advanced Materials. - 0935-9648.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Multinary metal chalcogenides hold considerable promise for high-energy potassium storage due to their numerous redox reactions. However, challenges arise from issues such as volume expansion and sluggish kinetics. Here, a design featuring a layered ternary Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 anchored on graphene layers as a composite anode, where Bi atoms act as a lattice softening agent on Sb, is presented. Benefiting from the lattice arrangement in Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 and structure, Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3/graphene exhibits a mitigated expansion of 28% during the potassiation/depotassiation process and demonstrates facile K+ ion transfer kinetics, enabling long-term durability of 500 cycles at various high rates. Operando synchrotron diffraction patterns and spectroscopies including in situ Raman, ex situ adsorption, and X-ray photoelectron reveal multiple conversion and alloying/dealloying reactions for potassium storage at the atomic level. In addition, both theoretical calculations and electrochemical examinations elucidate the K+ migration pathways and indicate a reduction in energy barriers within Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3/graphene, thereby suggesting enhanced diffusion kinetics for K+. These findings provide insight in the design of durable high-energy multinary tellurides for potassium storage.
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| 5. |
- Li, Hansen, et al.
(author)
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Can Residential Greenspace Exposure Improve Pain Experience? A Comparison between Physical Visit and Image Viewing
- 2021
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In: Healthcare. - : MDPI. - 2227-9032. ; 9:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reducing the burden of pain via greenspace exposure is a rising research topic. However, insufficient evidence has been found in relation to the environmental effect itself. Residential greenspace, as a convenient but limited natural environment for urban dwellers, has benefits and services yet to be discovered. Therefore, the current study recruited 24 young adults to evaluate the effects of physical visit to, or image viewing of, residential greenspace on pain perception and related psychophysiological outcomes, via simulated pain. Pain threshold and tolerance were recorded via the level of pain stimuli, and pain intensity was evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The state scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and two adjective pairs were employed to measure the state anxiety and subjective stress, respectively. Meanwhile, heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and blood pressure (BP) were measured to investigate physiological responses. Besides, Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) was also employed to assess participants' preference regarding the experimental environments. The results revealed that visiting the greenspace significantly increased the pain threshold and tolerance, while no significant effect was observed for image viewing. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed in pain-related psychophysiological indices between the experimental settings, but significantly negative associations were found between the scores of SBE and subjective stress and state anxiety. In conclusion, the current study brings experimental evidence of improving pain experience via residential greenspace exposure, while the related psychophysiological benefits require further investigation.
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| 6. |
- Li, Hansen, et al.
(author)
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Green Exercise : Can Nature Video Benefit Isometric Exercise?
- 2021
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In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Green exercise is the combination of physical activity and nature exposure, which has been associated with positive effects on psychophysiological health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of nature video viewing on isometric exercise and find a useful practice for green exercise in urban living. In the current study, 18 male subjects were recruited in a randomized crossover trial and underwent a sequence of wall squat exercises. The whole experiment contained three periods of baseline (before exercise), exercise, and recovery (after exercise), and each period lasted for 2 min. A video of forest walking was played in the exercise and recovery periods as treatment, while a black screen was set as control. The Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE) and Feeling Scale (FS) were employed to measure perceived exertion and affective responses in the exercise period; heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) including the standard deviation of normal-to-normal RR intervals (SDNN), the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), and the standard deviations of the Poincaré plot (SD1), were recorded in the three periods. Heart rate recovery (HRR) in the recovery period was further calculated based on 30 s and 60 s time frames. Results demonstrated that during the exercise period nature video viewing was associated with better affective responses (median of 1.00 and an interquartile (IQR) of 2.00, p = 0.017), lower perceived exertion (median = 6.00, IQR = 2.00, p = 0.021), and lower HR (median = 89.60, IQR = 20.94, p = 0.01), but the differences in HRV indices between the experimental settings were not statistically significant. In the recovery period, significantly higher values of RMSSD (median = 34.88, IQR = 24.52, p = 0.004), SD1 (median = 24.75, IQR = 17.41, p = 0.003), and HR (median = 84.18, IQR = 16.58, p = 0.001) were observed in the treatment setting, whereas no statistically significant difference was found for HRR. In general, our findings support that nature video viewing may help reduce perceived exertion, increase exercise pleasure, buffer heart rate, and improve cardiac autonomic recovery for wall squat exercising, which implies the potential of nature-based stimuli in green exercise. However, due to the limited research sample, further study may need to include female participants and focus on various populations to confirm the effectiveness of using virtual and environments depicting nature at home or in public exercise places to promote positive exercise experience.
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| 7. |
- Li, Hansen, et al.
(author)
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Psychological benefits of green exercise in wild or urban greenspaces : A meta-analysis of controlled trials
- 2022
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In: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. - : Elsevier. - 1618-8667 .- 1610-8167. ; 68
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Green exercise, the combination of exercise and nature exposure, is known to benefit physical and mental health. However, there is a lack of quantitative evidence to support the psychological advantage of green exercise over non-green exercise. Also, it is unclear if there are psychological differences between green exercise in wild environments and urban greenspaces. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature search for outcomes concerning measures including the Profile of Mood States (POMS), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Semantic Differential Method (SDM), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS). Nineteen studies with 1662 participants were included in a meta-analysis to examine the advantages of green exercise and compare them in the two types of natural environments. The results indicate that green exercise may lower negative affect, including anxiety, tension, anger, depression, and fatigue. Meanwhile, green exercise may lead to higher positive moods and emotions, including vigor, comfort, natural feeling, and relaxation. Nevertheless, the effect on overall positive affect was not statistically significant. The comparative results suggest that wild environments may be more effective than urban greenspaces in improving vigor and comfort during green exercise. In conclusion, our findings support the advantages of green exercise over non-green exercise, meanwhile implying potential psychological differences between exercises in wild environments and urban greenspaces. Due to the limited number of studies and high heterogeneities, a future review is warranted to re-examine the psychological benefits.
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| 8. |
- Li, Hansen, et al.
(author)
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The Effects of Green and Urban Walking in Different Time Frames on Physio-Psychological Responses of Middle-Aged and Older People in Chengdu, China
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 18:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nighttime walking is becoming a popular exercise for many middle-aged and older people in Asian countries. However, the health benefits of nighttime walking in urban areas and green spaces are still unclear. This study evaluated the physiological and psychological responses of 48 middle-aged and older people who walked 1.6 km through a green space and an urban area during daytime and nighttime. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), and Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS) were employed to measure the psychological responses, and pulse rate and blood pressure (SBP, DBP and MAP) were measured to evaluate the physiological responses. The results showed that the daytime green walking induced psychological improvements and lowered blood pressure (p < 0.05), while the daytime urban walking resulted in slight deterioration of all the measured parameters (p > 0.05). On the other hand, the nighttime green walking induced lowered blood pressure (p < 0.05), whilst the nighttime urban walking resulted in psychological improvements and lowered blood pressure (p < 0.05), and no significant difference was found in any measured parameter between the two nighttime walking groups. In conclusion, urban areas are noisy and irritating in the daytime, and not suitable for walking, but may become pleasurable and attractive at night. The psychological benefits of green walking may decrease at night, and nighttime walking in either an urban area or a green space may achieve similar health benefits. Therefore, we recommend that urban citizens start nighttime walking in a green space or an urban area to keep fit when the air is less polluted.
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| 9. |
- Pang, Xiaodan, Dr., et al.
(author)
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Key technologies to enable terabit-scale digital radio-over-fiber systems
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 9781510625327
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the approach of the 5G era, stringent requirements are imposed on the data transport solutions, including both of the supported transmission reach and the capacity. Radio-over-fiber technologies are considered to be promising candidates to cope with both aspects, owing to the low-loss and broad-bandwidth nature of the optical fibers. Meanwhile with such optical transport solutions, signals can be collected from the distributed remote radio sites and processed in a centralized manner. In this report, we target on the digital radio-over-fiber systems, and discuss about several key technologies, focusing on the aspects of coding and transmission, which could potentially enable terabit-scale data transport.
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| 10. |
- Qu, Yanhua, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Genetic responses to seasonalvariation in altitudinal stress: whole-genome resequencing ofgreat tit in eastern Himalayas
- 2015
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Species that undertake altitudinal migrations are exposed to a considerable seasonal variationin oxygen levels and temperature. How they cope with this was studied in a population of greattit (Parus major) that breeds at high elevations and winters at lower elevations in the easternHimalayas. Comparison of population genomics of high altitudinal great tits and those living inlowlands revealed an accelerated genetic selection for carbohydrate energy metabolism (aminosugar, nucleotide sugar metabolism and insulin signaling pathways) and hypoxia response (PI3K-akt,mTOR and MAPK signaling pathways) in the high altitudinal population. The PI3K-akt, mTOR andMAPK pathways modulate the hypoxia-inducible factors, HIF-1α and VEGF protein expression thusindirectly regulate hypoxia induced angiogenesis, erythropoiesis and vasodilatation. The strategiesobserved in high altitudinal great tits differ from those described in a closely related species onthe Tibetan Plateau, the sedentary ground tit (Parus humilis). This species has enhanced selectionin lipid-specific metabolic pathways and hypoxia-inducible factor pathway (HIF-1). Comparativepopulation genomics also revealed selection for larger body size in high altitudinal great tits.
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| 11. |
- Qu, Yanhua, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Ground tit genome reveals avian adaptation to living at high altitudes in the Tibetan plateau.
- 2013
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In: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 4, s. 2071-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ground tit (Parus humilis) is endemic to the Tibetan plateau. It is a member of family Paridae but it was long thought to be related to the ground jays because of their morphological similarities. Here we present the ground tit's genome and re-sequence two tits and one ground jay, to clarify this controversially taxonomic status and uncover its genetic adaptations to the Tibetan plateau. Our results show that ground tit groups with two tits and it diverges from them between 7.7 and 9.9 Mya. Compared with other avian genomes, ground tit shows expansion in genes linked to energy metabolism and contractions in genes involved in immune and olfactory perception. We also found positively selected and rapidly evolving genes in hypoxia response and skeletal development. These results indicated that ground tit evolves basic strategies and 'tit-to-jay' change for coping with the life in an extreme environment.
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| 12. |
- Teh, Wei Hock, et al.
(author)
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Breaking conventional limits of silicon content in Fe-xSi magnetic alloys through additive manufacturing
- 2024
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In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds. - 0925-8388. ; 983
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Silicon steels, e.g., Fe-3.2% Si alloys, are widely used in energy conversion and transmission. Increasing the Si content can enhance electrical resistivity and reduce magnetic hysteresis loss, improving the energy efficiency. However, high silicon content decreases ductility and workability, limiting the Si content of the alloys that can be produced by conventional manufacturing. Instead, we used additive manufacturing by the direct energy deposition technique to produce high Si content Fe-Si alloys. Dense samples with up to 20% Si were successfully fabricated for the first time. A substantial change in saturation magnetization (from 90 to 209 emu/g) and a three-fold increase in hardness was observed with higher Si content. The electrical resistivity values tripled, enhancing the attractiveness of these higher Si content alloys. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength also increased, from 71 to 545 MPa, and 91 to 567 MPa, respectively. The coercivity remained relatively unchanged in the range of 9.1 to 10.8 Oe. Our results demonstrate the potential of fabrication of bulk high Si content Fe-Si alloys via additive manufacturing.
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| 13. |
- Zhang, Xing, et al.
(author)
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Auto-Regulation Method vs. Fixed-Loading Method in Maximum Strength Training for Athletes : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Physiology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-042X. ; 12
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The auto-regulation method is a rising training strategy to improve strength and motor performance, and the Autoregulatory Progressive Resistance Exercise (APRE), Rating of Perceived Exertion program (RPE), and Velocity-Based Training (VBT) are the three common auto-regulation programs. However, whether the auto-regulation method is more effective than the traditional strength training (the fixed-loading method) in maximum strength training is still unclear. The present study searched the Pubmed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Embase, EBSCO, Cochrane, CNKI, and CQVIP databases, and included eight related studies published between 2010 and 2020, with a total of 166 subjects including division 1 college players and athletes with at least 1-year training history, and interventions ranging from 5 to 10 weeks. A meta-analysis was performed to check the difference between the two training methods, and analyzed the differences in the existing auto-regulation programs' effectiveness. The overall results showed that the auto-regulation method was more effective than the fixed-loading method in maximum strength training (effect size = 0.64; P < 0.001; I2 = 0%). In specific, the pooled results in subgroup analysis indicated that the auto-regulation method may effectively improve the strength performance in squat (effect size = 4.64; P < 0.05; I2 = 54%) and bench press (effect size = 3.21; P < 0.05; I2 = 62%). Greater benefits of the auto-regulation method on strength improvement could be achieved in an 8-week or even shorter training (effect size = 0.87; P < 0.001; I2 = 0%) compared with those of 8–10 weeks (effect size = 0.32; P < 0.001; I2 = 0%). The APRE is the most effective training program among the three auto-regulation programs (effect size = 0.78; P < 0.001; I2 = 0%). In conclusion, the auto-regulation method could be more effective than the fixed-loading method in maximum strength training. The APRE is a convenient and effective training program that may be considered a practical training program to replace traditional training in athletes.
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