In this study, the aim was to evaluate the influence on the cardiopulmonary system of muscular contractions of the paralyzed limbs in paraplegia, activated by FES during treatment, and the energy cost of standing and walking while using FES as an orthotic aid. Three traumatic spastic paraplegics were selected for the measurements. At the end of a 6 month training program heart rate and oxygen consumption of the patients were evaluated as follows: at rest; following 30 minutes of FES in the sitting position; following 15 minutes of standing; and during ambulation. Lactic acid level during maximal effort was evaluated as well. The results indicated a low energy cost of FES in the sitting position and during usage of FES as an orthotic device for standing, confirming the beneficial effect of FES for spastic paraplegics. However, effort invested during ambulation by means of FES was found exhaustive and FES is therefore advisable for young subjects mainly.
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Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering, Pappanamcode, Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Globally, domestic refrigerators account for over 13% of the total energy consumption in residential buildings. The brazed plate water-cooled condenser (BPWCC) is compact in size and an attractive option to reduce the energy consumption of refrigerators using domestic water tanks. This study evaluated the performance of a household refrigerator with a secondary refrigerant calorimeter and BPWCC, using an appropriate experimental setup.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Inf Model
January 2025
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Accurately predicting activation energies is crucial for understanding chemical reactions and modeling complex reaction systems. However, the high computational cost of quantum chemistry methods often limits the feasibility of large-scale studies, leading to a scarcity of high-quality activation energy data. In this work, we explore and compare three innovative approaches (transfer learning, delta learning, and feature engineering) to enhance the accuracy of activation energy predictions using graph neural networks, specifically focusing on methods that incorporate low-cost, low-level computational data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
January 2025
School of Pharmacy, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China.
Non-viral vectors have gained recognition for their ability to enhance the safety of gene delivery processes. Among these, polyethyleneimine (PEI) stands out as the most widely utilized cationic polymer due to its accessibility. Traditional methods of modifying PEI, such as ligand conjugation, chemical derivatization, and cross-linking, are associated with intricate preparation procedures, limited transfection efficiency, and suboptimal biocompatibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutrients
January 2025
Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University & Research, 6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Background: Rapid socio-economic developments confront China with a rising consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and ultra-processed drinks (UPDs). This study aims to evaluate their potential impact on diet transformation towards sustainability including nutrition, environmental sustainability, and diet-related cost.
Methods: Dietary intake was assessed by 24 h recalls in 27,311 participants (age: 40.
Polymers (Basel)
January 2025
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea.
Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for symmetrical supercapacitors are proposed herein with activated carbon as electrodes and optimized solid polymer electrolyte membranes, which serve as the separators and electrolytes. We propose the design of a low-cost solid polymer electrolyte consisting of guanidinium nitrate (GuN) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). Using the solution casting approach, blended polymer electrolytes with varying GuN weight percentage ratios of PVP and PEO are prepared.
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