Evaluation of Concrete Carbonation Based on a Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor.

The carbonation of concrete greatly affects its service life. In this paper, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors were used to investigate the relationship between concrete carbonation and its mechanical properties. A T130 High Sensitivity Strain Cable Sensor with a good linearity was used to monitor the internal strain in concrete, to investigate the variation in the elastic modulus of concrete with carbonation time.

Best evidence summary for prevention and management of enteral feeding intolerance in critically ill patients.

Aim: To evaluate and summarize the evidence for prevention and management of enteral feeding intolerance in critically ill patients and provide reference for clinical practice.

Design: This study was an evidence summary followed by the evidence summary reporting standard of Fudan University Center for Evidence-based Nursing.

Methods: Current literatures were systematically searched for the best evidence for prevention and management of enteral feeding intolerance in critically ill patients.

Molecular bases for the stronger plastic response to high nitrate in the invasive plant Xanthium strumarium compared with its native congener.

High expressions of nitrate use and photosynthesis-related transcripts contribute to the stronger plasticity to high nitrate for the invader relative to its native congener, which may be driven by hormones. Strong phenotypic plasticity is often considered as one of the main mechanisms underlying exotic plant invasions. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the related molecular mechanisms.

A Long-Term Monitoring Method of Corrosion Damage of Prestressed Anchor Cable.

Based on high-stress characteristics of prestressed anchor cables, this paper develops an axial-distributed testing method to test corrosion damage of prestressed anchor cables. The positioning accuracy and corrosion range of an axial-distributed optical fiber sensor is studied, and its mathematical model between corrosion mass loss and axial fiber strain is established. The experimental results show that the fiber strain from an axial-distributed sensor enables one to reflect the corrosion rate along a prestressed anchor.

Prediction Method of Steel Corrosion Rate Based on the Helix Distributed Sensor.

Corrosion of steel bars is of great significance for safety and service life of reinforced concrete structures. This work develops a prediction method for steel corrosion mass loss rate before the crack of concrete structure based on a spiral distributed fiber optic sensor. Reinforced concrete sample instrumented with a spiral distributed fiber optic sensor were prepared.

Effect of Laser Vocal Cord Surgery under Laryngeal Microscope Combined with Nano-silver Dressing Antibacterial Nursing on Efficacy and Quality of Life of Patients with Laryngeal Cancer.

To explore the adoption effect of nano-silver medical antibacterial dressing in the perioperative treatment of patients with laryngeal cancer, 120 patients with early laryngeal cancer were selected as the research objects. According to the different treatments, they were averagely divided into the test group (laser vocal cord surgery under a laryngeal microscope and nano-silver medical antibacterial dressing) and the control group (laser vocal cord surgery under a laryngeal microscope and sterilized vaseline gauze). The results showed that there were considerable differences in dressing-change times, dressing-change cost, hospital stay, and recovery time between both groups (P<0.

Study of the Associations between Color Doppler Ultrasound Grading of Hyperthyroidism and Biochemical Data on Thyroid Function.

Objective: The main study objective was to investigate the correlation between the color Doppler ultrasound grading of hyperthyroidism and the biochemical data of thyroid function.

Methods: Seventy-six patients were diagnosed with hyperthyroidism based on clinical and laboratory data at our hospital. The patients were examined using color Doppler ultrasound and laboratory investigations before starting I treatment.

Effectiveness of Chinese Native Culture Education for Improving Undergraduate Nursing Students' Transcultural Self-Efficacy.

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of Chinese native culture education based on Chinese native culture on the intercultural competence of undergraduate nursing students.

Method: A quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest was used. We recruited nursing students from 4 classes of the School of Nursing in our hospital in 2016 as research subjects.

Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the Upper Limb Lymphedema Quality of Life Questionnaire in breast cancer-related lymphedema patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Upper Limb Lymphedema Quality of Life Questionnaire (C-ULLQoL).

Methods: Eighty-five participants completed the C-ULLQoL and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (C-FACT-B). The Cronbach's alpha () was used to determine the internal consistency, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) - to evaluate the test-retest reliability.

Analysis on the Effect of the Rehabilitation Intervention-Centered Targeted Nursing Model on the Cardiac Function Recovery and Negative Emotions in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Rehabilitation intervention which refers to the functional training by caregivers with the aid of specialized nursing techniques and the progressive promotion of patients' training initiative, with the purpose of improving mobility and quality of life, is of great significance. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of the rehabilitation intervention-centered targeted nursing model on the cardiac function recovery and negative emotions in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). A total of 120 AMI patients admitted to our hospital between January 2019 and January 2020 were selected as the study subjects and randomly divided into group A ( = 60) and group B ( = 60), in which the group B patients received routine nursing combined with rehabilitation intervention, while based on the treatment in group B, the patients in group A underwent rehabilitation intervention-centered targeted nursing model.

A Combined Positioning Method Used for Identification of Concrete Cracks.

Fully distributed fiber optic sensors are characteristically used for the measurement of long distances and continuous distribution of space. However, due to the different fiber type, fiber length, ambient temperature and strain, fully distributed fiber optic sensors fail to locate damage accurately and cause a greater error. Therefore, this paper proposes a new positioning method of combining fully distributed fiber optic sensors with fiber Bragg gratings, which enables accurately the localization of a structural damage during the long-term monitoring of fully distributed fiber optic sensors.

A Spiral Distributed Monitoring Method for Steel Rebar Corrosion.

This paper proposes a novel spiral-wound, optic-fiber sensor to monitor the corrosion of steel bars. At the same time, the winding parameters, such as winding angle and pitch, were first theoretically deduced. Then, to decrease light loss, a practically distributed sensor wound onto the protective mortar layer was developed by increasing the winding curvature radius.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI differentiates hepatocellular carcinoma from hepatic metastasis of rectal cancer by extracting pharmacokinetic parameters and radiomic features.

The aim of the present study was to explore how dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) may differentiate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from hepatic metastasis of rectal cancer (HMRC) by extracting pharmacokinetic parameters and radiomic features. A total of 75 patients, including 41 cases with HCC and 34 cases with HMRC, underwent DCE-MRI examination. Dual-input two-compartment extended Tofts tracer kinetic model attached to a specialized image post-processing software package from OmniKinetics; GE Healthcare was used to calculate the values of the pharmacokinetic parameters and radiomic features, which were extracted from the lesions at the same region of interest.

Evaluation of Caspase-3 Activity During Apoptosis with Fluorescence Lifetime-Based Cytometry Measurements and Phasor Analyses.

Caspase-3 is a well-described protease with many roles that impact the fate of a cell. During apoptosis, caspase-3 acts as an executioner caspase with important proteolytic functions that lead to the final stages of programmed cell death. Owing to this key role, caspase-3 is exploited intracellularly as a target of control of apoptosis for therapeutic outcomes.

Erratum: Influencing factors of transient elastography in detecting liver stiffness.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3892/etm.2016.

Correlations between health-promoting lifestyle and health-related quality of life among elderly people with hypertension in Hengyang, Hunan, China.

Hypertension is considered as an important public health problem in developed and developing countries. The disease is closely associated with health-promoting lifestyle (HPL), and it seems that HPL plays an important role in improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This cross-sectional study is to investigate the effects of health-promoting lifestyle (HPL) on health-related quality of life in elderly people with hypertension from a community health service center in Hengyang, Hunan, PR China.

The evaluation of endocrine disrupting effects of tert-butylphenols towards estrogenic receptor α, androgen receptor and thyroid hormone receptor β and aquatic toxicities towards freshwater organisms.

The phenolic compounds have posed public concern for potential threats to human health and ecosystem. Tert-butylphenols (TBPs), as one group of emerging contaminants, showed potential endocrine disrupting effects and aquatic toxicities. In the present study, we detected concentrations of 2,4-DTBP ranging from <0.

Bipolar Switching Properties of Neodymium Oxide RRAM Devices Using by a Low Temperature Improvement Method.

Bipolar resistive switching properties and endurance switching behavior of the neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃) thin films resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices for a high resistive status/low resistive status (HRS/LRS) using a low temperature supercritical carbon dioxide fluid (SCF) improvement post-treatment process were investigated. Electrical and physical properties improvement of Nd₂O₃ thin films were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and current versus voltage () measurement. The metal-like behavior of ohmic conduction mechanism and metallic cluster reaction of hopping conduction mechanism in initial metallic filament path forming process of the SCF-treated thin films RRAM devices was assumed and discussed.

Simultaneous determination of 16 macrolide antibiotics and 4 metabolites in milk by using Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe extraction (QuEChERS) and high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

A novel analytical method was developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of 16 macrolide antibiotics and 4 metabolites in milk. A modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method (QuEChERS) optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) was used for sample preparation. All the drugs were subsequently separated and detected by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), using roxithromycin as internal standards for maximum accuracy and precision.

Influencing factors of transient elastography in detecting liver stiffness.

Liver stiffness, which correlates well with liver fibrosis stage, can be measured noninvasively by transient elastography, also known as Fibroscan. The present study aimed to determine the independent factors influencing Fibroscan detection by multiple regression analysis. A total of 181 patients who required liver biopsy were enrolled.