| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(author)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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In: eLIFE. - 2050-084X. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.522.7) and 16.5 cm (13.319.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 3. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(author)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3– 19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8– 144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Wang, Sifan, et al.
(author)
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Fire carbon emissions over Equatorial Asia reduced by shortened dry seasons
- 2023
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In: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science. - 2397-3722. ; 6:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fire carbon emissions over Equatorial Asia (EQAS) play a critical role in the global carbon cycle. Most regional fire emissions (89.0%) occur in the dry season, but how changes in the dry-season length affect the fire emissions remains poorly understood. Here we show that, the length of the EQAS dry season has decreased significantly during 1979–2021, and the delayed dry season onset (5.4 ± 1.6 (± one standard error) days decade−1) due to increased precipitation (36.4 ± 9.1 mm decade−1) in the early dry season is the main reason. The dry season length is strongly correlated with the length of the fire season. Increased precipitation during the early dry season led to a significant reduction (May: −0.7 ± 0.4 Tg C decade−1; August: −12.9 ± 6.7 Tg C decade−1) in fire carbon emissions during the early and peak fire season. Climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 project a continued decline in future dry season length in EQAS under medium and high-emission scenarios, implying further reductions in fire carbon emissions.
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| 6. |
- Zhou, Bin, et al.
(author)
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Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: A pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants
- 2016
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In: The Lancet. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 387:10027, s. 1513-1530
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: One of the global targets for non-communicable diseases is to halt, by 2025, the rise in the age standardised adult prevalence of diabetes at its 2010 levels. We aimed to estimate worldwide trends in diabetes, how likely it is for countries to achieve the global target, and how changes in prevalence, together with population growth and ageing, are aff ecting the number of adults with diabetes.Methods: We pooled data from population-based studies that had collected data on diabetes through measurement of its biomarkers. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in diabetes prevalence-defined as fasting plasma glucose of 7.0 mmol/L or higher, or history of diagnosis with diabetes, or use of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs-in 200 countries and territories in 21 regions, by sex and from 1980 to 2014. We also calculated the posterior probability of meeting the global diabetes target if post-2000 trends continue.Findings: We used data from 751 studies including 4372000 adults from 146 of the 200 countries we make estimates for. Global age-standardised diabetes prevalence increased from 4.3% (95% credible interval 2.4-17.0) in 1980 to 9.0% (7.2-11.1) in 2014 in men, and from 5.0% (2.9-7.9) to 7.9% (6.4-9.7) in women. The number of adults with diabetes in the world increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (28.5% due to the rise in prevalence, 39.7% due to population growth and ageing, and 31.8% due to interaction of these two factors). Age-standardised adult diabetes prevalence in 2014 was lowest in northwestern Europe, and highest in Polynesia and Micronesia, at nearly 25%, followed by Melanesia and the Middle East and north Africa. Between 1980 and 2014 there was little change in age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adult women in continental western Europe, although crude prevalence rose because of ageing of the population. By contrast, age-standardised adult prevalence rose by 15 percentage points in men and women in Polynesia and Micronesia. In 2014, American Samoa had the highest national prevalence of diabetes (>30% in both sexes), with age-standardised adult prevalence also higher than 25% in some other islands in Polynesia and Micronesia. If post-2000 trends continue, the probability of meeting the global target of halting the rise in the prevalence of diabetes by 2025 at the 2010 level worldwide is lower than 1% for men and is 1% for women. Only nine countries for men and 29 countries for women, mostly in western Europe, have a 50% or higher probability of meeting the global target.Interpretation: Since 1980, age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adults has increased, or at best remained unchanged, in every country. Together with population growth and ageing, this rise has led to a near quadrupling of the number of adults with diabetes worldwide. The burden of diabetes, both in terms of prevalence and number of adults aff ected, has increased faster in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
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| 7. |
- Wang, Chengdong, et al.
(author)
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The proto-oncogene transcription factor Ets1 regulates neural crest development through Histone Deacetylase 1 to mediate output of bone morphogenetic protein signaling.
- 2015
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In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 1083-351X. ; 290:36, s. 21925-21938
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The neural crest (NC) is a transient, migratory cell population that differentiates into a large variety of tissues including craniofacial cartilage, melanocytes, and peripheral nervous system. NC is initially induced at the border of neural plate and non-neuralectoderm by balanced regulation of multiple signaling pathways, among which an intermediate bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling is essential for NC formation. Ets1, a proto-oncogene playing important roles in tumor invasion, has also been implicated in delamination of NC cells. In this study, we investigated Ets1 function in NC formation using Xenopus. Overexpression of ets1 repressed NC formation through down-regulation of BMP signaling. Moreover, ets1 repressed the BMP-responsive gene id3 that is essential for NC formation. Conversely, overexpression of id3 can partially rescue the phenotype of NC inhibition induced by ectopic ets1. Mechanistically, we found that Ets1 binds to id3 promoter as well as Histone Deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), suggesting that Ets1 recruits HDAC1 to the promoter of id3, thereby inducing Histone deacetylation of the id3 promoter. Thus, our studies indicate that Ets1 regulates NC formation through attenuating BMP signaling epigenetically.
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| 8. |
- Chen, Hui, et al.
(author)
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Age- and sex-specific modifiable risk factor profiles of dementia : evidence from the UK Biobank
- 2023
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In: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 38:1, s. 83-93
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dementia constitutes a worldwide concern. To characterize the age- and sex-specific modifiable risk factor profiles of dementia, we included 497,401 UK Biobank participants (mean age = 56.5 years) without dementia at baseline (2006–2010) and followed them until March 2021. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the age- and sex-specific hazard ratios (HRs) of incident dementia associated with socioeconomic (less education and high Townsend deprivation index), lifestyle (non-moderate alcohol intake, current smoking, suboptimal diet, physical inactivity, and unhealthy sleep duration), and health condition factors (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and depressive symptoms). We also calculated the population attributable fractions (PAFs) of these factors. During follow-up (mean = 11.6 years), we identified 6564 dementia cases. HRs for the risk factors were similar between the sexes, while most factors showed stronger associations among younger participants. For example, the HRs of smoking were 1.74 (95% CI: 1.23, 2.47) for individuals aged < 50 years, and 1.18 (1.05, 1.33) for those aged ≥ 65 years. Overall, 46.8% (37.4%, 55.2%) of dementia cases were attributable to the investigated risk factors. The PAFs of the investigated risk factors also decreased with age, but that for health condition risk factors decreased with lower magnitude than socioeconomic and lifestyle risk factors. The stronger associations and greater PAFs of several modifiable risk factors for dementia among younger adults than older participants underscored the importance of dementia prevention from an earlier stage across the adult life course.
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| 9. |
- Chen, Hui, et al.
(author)
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Association of Long-Term Body Weight Variability With Dementia : A Prospective Study
- 2021
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In: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1079-5006 .- 1758-535X. ; 77:10, s. 2116-2122
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Body weight variability (BWV) refers to intraindividual weight loss and gain over a period. The association of long-term BWV with dementia remains unclear and whether this association is beyond body weight change is undetermined.Methods: In the Health and Retirement Study, a total of 5 547 dementia-free participants (56.7% women; mean [SD] age, 71.1 [3.2] years) at baseline (2008) were followed up to 8 years (mean = 6.8 years) to detect incident dementia. Body weight was self-reported biennially from 1992 to 2008. BWV was measured as the coefficient of variation utilizing the body weight reported 9 times across 16 years before baseline. Cox-proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).Results: Among the 5 547 participants, a total of 427 incident dementia cases were identified during follow-up. Greater long-term BWV was significantly associated with a higher risk of dementia (HR comparing extreme quartiles: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.48-2.72; HR of each SD increment: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.10-1.32; p-trend < .001) independent of mean body weight and body weight change. This significant association was even observed for BWV estimated approximately 15 years preceding dementia diagnosis (HR of each SD increment: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.03-1.23) and was more pronounced for that closer to diagnosis.Conclusion: Our prospective study suggested that greater BWV may be a novel risk factor for dementia.
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| 10. |
- Chen, Hui, et al.
(author)
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Associations of the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet with brain structural markers and their changes
- 2024
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In: Alzheimer's & Dementia. - 1552-5260 .- 1552-5279. ; 20:2, s. 1190-1200
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: The associations of the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet with brain structural changes are unclear.METHODS: Among 26,466 UK Biobank participants, a 15-point MIND score was calculated from 24-hour diet recalls from 2009 to 2012. We assessed its associations with 17 magnetic-resonance-derived brain volumetric markers and their longitudinal changes and explored whether genetic factors modify the associations.RESULTS: Higher MIND adherence was associated with larger volumes of thalamus, putamen, pallidum, hippocampus, and accumbens (beta per 3-unit increment ranging from 0.024 to 0.033) and lower white matter hyperintensities (P-trends < 0.05), regardless of genetic predispositions of Alzheimer's disease. MIND score was not associated with their longitudinal changes (P > 0.05) over a median of 2.2 years among participants with repeated imaging assessments (N = 2963), but was associated with slower atrophy in putamen (beta: 0.026, P-trend = 0.044) and pallidum (beta: 0.030, P-trend = 0.033) among APOE ε4 non-carriers (N = 654).DISCUSSION: The MIND diet showed beneficial associations with certain brain imaging markers, and its associations with long-term brain structural changes warrants future investigation.
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| 11. |
- Chen, Weili, et al.
(author)
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Detecting Ponzi Schemes on Ethereum : Towards Healthier Blockchain Technology
- 2018
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In: WWW '18. - New York, New York, USA : ACM Digital Library. - 9781450356398 ; , s. 1409-1418
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Blockchain technology becomes increasingly popular. It also attracts scams, for example, Ponzi scheme, a classic fraud, has been found making a notable amount of money on Blockchain, which has a very negative impact. To help dealing with this issue, this paper proposes an approach to detect Ponzi schemes on blockchain by using data mining and machine learning methods. By verifying smart contracts on Ethereum, we first extract features from user accounts and operation codes of the smart contracts and then build a classification model to detect latent Ponzi schemes implemented as smart contracts. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can achieve high accuracy for practical use. More importantly, the approach can be used to detect Ponzi schemes even at the moment of its creation. By using the proposed approach, we estimate that there are more than 400 Ponzi schemes running on Ethereum. Based on these results, we propose to build a uniform platform to evaluate and monitor every created smart contract for early warning of scams.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Lin, Jing, et al.
(author)
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Association of time spent in outdoor light and genetic susceptibility with the risk of type 2 diabetes
- 2023
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 888
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To explore the joint association of time spent in outdoor light and genetic susceptibility with the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). A total of 395,809 individuals of European ancestry with diabetes-free at baseline in the UK Biobank were in-cluded. Time spent in outdoor light on a typical day in summer or winter was obtained from the questionnaire. T2D genetic risk was quantified via the polygenic risk score (PRS) and divided into three levels based on tertiles (lower, in-termediate, and higher). T2D cases were ascertained according to the hospital records of diagnoses. After the median follow-up of 12.55 years, the association of outdoor light time and T2D risk demonstrated a nonlinear (J-shaped) trend. Compared to individuals with an average of 1.5-2.5 h/day of outdoor light, individuals who spent <1.5 h/ day or >2.5 h/day in outdoor light both had an elevated risk of T2D, and the risk of T2D related to <1.5 h/day outdoor light time was much higher (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.10, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.06 to 1.15). After combining with PRS, in comparison with the lower PRS - average 1.5-2.5 h/day outdoor light group (reference), the higher PRS - <1.5 h/day outdoor light group had the highest T2D risk (HR = 2.74, 95 % CI: 2.55 to 2.94), the higher PRS - >2.5 h/ day outdoor light group also had a higher risk of T2D (HR = 2.58, 95 % CI: 2.43 to 2.74). The interaction between average outdoor light time and genetic susceptibility for T2D was statistically significant (Paverage for interaction <0.001). We found that optimal outdoor light time may modify the genetic risk for T2D. This suggests the T2D risk related to genetic factors could be prevented by spending optimal outdoor light time.
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| 14. |
- Lin, Weili, et al.
(author)
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A superluminous supernova lightened by collisions with pulsational pair-instability shells
- 2023
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In: Nature Astronomy. - 2397-3366. ; 7:7, s. 779-789
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Superluminous supernovae are among the most energetic stellar explosions in the Universe, but their energy sources remain an open question. Here we present long-term observations of one of the closest examples of the hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae subclass SLSNe-I, supernova SN 2017egm, revealing the most complicated known luminosity evolution of SLSNe-I. Three distinct post-peak bumps were recorded in its light curve collected at about 100–350 days after maximum brightness, challenging current popular power models such as magnetar, fallback accretion, and interaction between ejecta and a circumstellar shell. However, the complex light curve can be well modelled by successive interactions with multiple circumstellar shells with a total mass of about 6.8–7.7 M⊙. In this scenario, large energy deposition from interaction-induced reverse shocks results in ionization of neutral oxygen in the supernova ejecta and hence a much lower nebular-phase line ratio of [O I] λ6,300/([Ca II] + [O II]) λ7,300 (~0.2) compared with that derived for other superluminous and normal stripped-envelope supernovae. The pre-existing multiple shells indicate that the progenitor of SN 2017egm experienced pulsational mass ejections triggered by pair instability within 2 years before explosion, in robust agreement with theoretical predictions for a pre-pulsation helium-core mass of 48–51 M⊙.
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| 15. |
- Ma, Fei, et al.
(author)
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Association of Leukocyte Telomere Length with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease : Role of Folate and Homocysteine
- 2019
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In: Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. - : S. Karger AG. - 1420-8008 .- 1421-9824. ; 48:1-2, s. 56-67
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with the aging process and age-related degenerative diseases. The relation of peripheral blood LTL to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the role of folate and homocysteine (Hcy) in this relation remain unclear.Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between LTL and the risks of MCI/AD, and to explore whether folate and Hcy may play a role in this association.Methods: This case-control study included 129 MCI subjects, 131 AD patients and 134 healthy controls. LTL was assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Serum folate levels were tested by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay, and serum Hcy levels were measured using the enzymatic cycling method. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression and multivariable linear regression with adjustment for potential confounders.Results: The mean LTL was 1.56 +/- 0.25 in controls, 1.44 +/- 0.23 in MCI, and 1.28 +/- 0.28 in AD patients (p< 0.01). In multivariate logistic regression, subjects in the longest LTL tertile had lower OR for MCI (OR 0.246; 95% CI 0.101-0.597) and AD (OR 0.123; 95% CI 0.044-0.345) in comparison to subjects in the shortest tertile. Shorter LTL was dose-dependently related to the ORs of MCI and AD. Further, serum folate concentration was positively associated with LTL (p < 0.01), while serum Hcy level was negatively associated with LTL (p < 0.05). In stratified analyses, LTL-MCI/AD association varied by serum folate and Hcy level. Conclusions: Shorter LTL is associated with the risks of MCI/AD. Folate and Hcy might play an important role in this association.
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| 16. |
- Pang, Zhibo, et al.
(author)
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Value-Centric Design of the Internet-of-Things Solution for Food Supply Chain : Value Creation, Sensor Portfolio and Information Fusion
- 2013
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In: Information Systems Frontiers. - : Springer US. - 1387-3326 .- 1572-9419. ; 17:2, s. 289-319
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The revolution of Internet-of-Things (IoT) is reshaping the modern food supply chains with promising business prospects. To be successful in practice, the IoT solutions should create “income-centric” values beyond the conventional “traceability-centric” values. To accomplish what we promised to users, sensor portfolios and information fusion must correspond to the new requirements introduced by this income-centric value creation. In this paper, we propose a value-centric business-technology joint design framework. Based on it the income-centric added-values including shelf life prediction, sales premium, precision agriculture, and reduction of assurance cost are identified and assessed. Then corresponding sensor portfolios are developed and implemented. Three-tier information fusion architecture is proposed as well as examples about acceleration data processing, self-learning shelf life prediction and real-time supply chain re-planning. The feasibilities of the proposed design framework and solution have been confirmed by the field trials and an implemented prototype system.
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| 17. |
- Wang, Zhida, et al.
(author)
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Association between diabetes or antidiabetic therapy and lung cancer : A meta-analysis
- 2013
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In: Journal of Diabetes Investigation. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 2040-1116 .- 2040-1124. ; 4:6, s. 659-666
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims/IntroductionDiabetes can increase the risk of cancers at several sites, but the association between diabetes and lung cancer remains unclear. We aimed to provide the quantitative estimates for the association between diabetes or antidiabetic treatment and lung cancer risk in the present meta-analysis. Materials and MethodsCohort studies were identified by searching the PubMed database (January 1960 through October 2012) and manually assessing the cited references in the retrieved articles. Study-specific relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using a random-effects model. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. ResultsA total of 19 cohort studies were included in the present meta-analysis. Of these, 14 studies focused on the association between diabetes and lung cancer incidence, and seven studies focused on the association between antidiabetic treatment and lung cancer incidence. Compared with non-diabetic individuals, diabetic patients do not have an increased risk of lung cancer (RR=1.04, 95% CI 0.87-1.24). The association between diabetes and lung cancer remained not statistically significant in subgroup analysis stratified by study characteristics, study quality, diabetes ascertainment or important confounders. A null association between insulin or biguanides therapy and lung cancer risk was found. However, the diabetic patients receiving thiazolidinedione (TZD) treatment had a 20% reduced risk of lung cancer than those without TZD treatment. ConclusionsNo association between diabetes and lung cancer risk was found. However, TZD treatment might reduce lung cancer risk in diabetic patients.
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| 18. |
- Yue, J., et al.
(author)
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Experimental and numerical study on dynamic response of fsru-lngc side-by-side mooring system
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering - OMAE. ; 7B-2019
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) becomes one of the most popular equipment in the industry for providing clean energy due to its technical, economic and environmental features. Under the combined loads from wind, wave and current, it is difficult for the prediction of the dynamic response for such FSRU-LNGC (Liquified Natural Gas Carrier) side-byside mooring system, because of the complicated hydrodynamic interaction between the two floating bodies. In this paper, a non-dimensional damping parameter of the two floating bodies is obtained from a scaled model test. Then the numerical analysis is carried out based on the test results, and the damping lid method is applied to simulate the hydrodynamic interference between floating bodies. The dynamic response of the side-byside mooring system including six degrees of freedom motion, cable tension and fender force are provided and analyzed. According to the comparisons between numerical results and the test results, it is shown that the proposed coupled analysis model is reliable, and the numerical analysis can properly describe the dynamic response of the multi-floating mooring system in the marine environment. Moreover, the nondimensional damping parameter which is used in numerical analysis can act as a good reference to the dynamic response analysis of similar multi-floating mooring systems.
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| 19. |
- Yue, J., et al.
(author)
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Prediction of dynamic responses of FSRU-LNGC side-by-side mooring system
- 2020
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In: Ocean Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 0029-8018. ; 195
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) becomes one of the most popular equipment in the industry for providing clean energy because of its technical, economic and environmental features. The interaction between the FSRU and Liquified Natural Gas Carrier (LNGC) under the combined loads from wind, wave and current is quite complex to model. In this paper, a configuration for the offloading operation of the FSRU-LNGC side-by-side mooring system is proposed to predict the motion responses, forces on the cables and fenders of the multi-floating mooring system. The damping lid method is adopted to improve the overestimated hydrodynamic coefficients calculated from conventional potential flow theory in the frequency domain. The dynamic response of the side-by-side mooring system including six degrees of freedom motion, relative motions, cable tensions and fender forces are provided and analyzed. The numerical results are validated using the experimental data. The proposed coupled analysis model and the numerical analysis can properly predict the dynamic response of the multi-floating mooring. The sensitivity analysis of pretension of the connecting cables on the dynamic responses of the two vessels are provided. Moreover, the non-dimensional damping parameters can be acted as a good reference to the dynamic response analysis of similar multi-floating mooring systems.
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