Design of Heavy-Load Soft Robots Based on a Dual Biomimetic Structure.

This study first draws inspiration from the dual biomimetic design of plant cell walls and honeycomb structures, drawing on their structural characteristics to design a flexible shell structure that can achieve significant deformation and withstand large loads. Based on the staggered bonding of this flexible shell structure, we propose a new design scheme for a large-load pneumatic soft arm and establish a mathematical model for its flexibility and load capacity. The extension and bending deformation of this new type of soft arm come from the geometric variability of flexible shell structures, which can be controlled through two switches, namely, deflation and inflation, to achieve extension or bending actions.

Predictors of quitting support from nonsmoking mothers for smoking fathers: a cross-sectional study from Chinese pupils' families.

Background: Quitting support from smokers' partners can predict quit attempts and smoking abstinence but research on factors that predict such support has been limited. To add more evidence for partner support and the improved interventions for smoking cessation, we analyzed some new potential predictors of quitting support from smokers' spouses.

Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in in 2022 and 2023, selecting the students' families in which fathers smoked and mothers didn't smoke from grade 1-5 of 13 primary schools in Qingdao, China.

Serum Resistin Levels in Adult Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Previous studies reported that serum resistin levels were remarkably changed in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) but the conclusions were inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate accurate serum resistin levels in adult patients with NAFLD.

Methods: A complete literature research was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases, and all the available studies up to 7 May 2020 were reviewed.

Recent progress in beetle-inspired superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic micropatterned water-collection materials.

Biological creatures with unique surface wettability have long served as a source of inspiration for scientists and engineers. More specifically, certain beetle species in the Namib Desert have evolved to collect water from fog on their backs by way of wettability patterns, which attracted an ongoing interest in biomimetic studies. Bioinspired materials exhibiting extreme wetting properties, such as superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces, have attracted considerable attention because of their potential use in various applications.

Droplet Growth Model for Dropwise Condensation on Concave Hydrophobic Surfaces.

In this paper, mathematical models for predicting the droplet growth and droplet distribution of dropwise condensation on hydrophobic concave surface are developed and a theoretical analysis of the results of the model simulation is made. Under the assumptions of the Cassie-Baxter wetting mode and the consideration of noncondensable gases, the droplet growth model is not only established by heat transfer through a single droplet but also considered the thermal conductive resistance of the surface promoting layer. In addition, a droplet distribution model has been built based on the population balance theory.

The Association Between Age at Initiation of Alcohol Consumption and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cohort Study of 0.5 Million Persons in China.

It is well known that alcohol consumption is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the association of age at initiation of alcohol consumption and duration of alcohol drinking with type 2 diabetes mellitus among Chinese adults is not fully understood. This study was based on data from the China Kadoorie Biobank, which included 512,712 participants aged 30-79 years who were living in China in 2004-2008.

Adiposity and risk of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke in 0·5 million Chinese men and women: a prospective cohort study.

Background: China has high stroke rates despite the population being relatively lean. Uncertainty persists about the relevance of adiposity to risk of stroke types. We aimed to assess the associations of adiposity with incidence of stroke types and effect mediation by blood pressure in Chinese men and women.