Diabetes is a serious public health problem affecting 422 million people worldwide. Traditional diabetes management often requires multiple daily insulin injections, associated with pain and inadequate glycemia contro...Diabetes is a serious public health problem affecting 422 million people worldwide. Traditional diabetes management often requires multiple daily insulin injections, associated with pain and inadequate glycemia control. Herein, we have developed an ultrasound-triggered insulin delivery system capable of pulsatile insulin release that can provide both long-term sustained and fast on-demand responses. In this system, insulin-loaded poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） （PLGA） nanocapsules are encapsulated within chitosan microgels. The encapsulated insulin in nanocapsules can passively diffuse from the nanoparticle but remain restricted within the microgel. Upon ultrasound treatment, the stored insulin in microgels can be rapidly released to regulate blood glucose levels. In a chemically-induced type I diabetic mouse model, we demonstrated that this system, when activated by 30 s ultrasound administration, could effectively achieve glycemic control for up to one week in a noninvasive, localized, and pulsatile manner.展开更多
The upgrading of the DH （district heating） system through installing WSN （wireless sensor networks）--a technology by which to monitor and control quality operation of the DH system will lead to more effective use ...The upgrading of the DH （district heating） system through installing WSN （wireless sensor networks）--a technology by which to monitor and control quality operation of the DH system will lead to more effective use of thermal energy, enabling also the provision of quality customer services, as the data concerning the status of the existing networks is available in a timely manner, and in the stated amounts. Over the last decades, the use of WSN systems in enabling quality monitoring of heat production and supply process has been widely discussed among various researchers and industry experts, but has been little deployed in practice. These researchers and industry experts have analysed the advantages and constraints related to the use of the WSN in district heating. A pilot project conducted by Riga Heat （the main heating supplier in Riga, Latvia） has allowed to gain a real life experience as to the use of the WSN system in district in-house heating substations, and is deemed to be a major step towards future development of WSN technologies.展开更多
Objective: To determine the effect of helmets on the risk of head and neck inj uries in skiers and snowboarders.Design: Matched case-control and case crossove r study.Setting: 19 ski areas in Quebec, Canada, November ...Objective: To determine the effect of helmets on the risk of head and neck inj uries in skiers and snowboarders.Design: Matched case-control and case crossove r study.Setting: 19 ski areas in Quebec, Canada, November 2001 to April 2002. Pa rticipants: 1082 skiers and snowboarders (cases) with head and neck injuries rep orted by the ski patrol and 3295 skiers and snowboarders (controls) with non-he ad or non-neck injuries matched to cases at each hill. Main outcome measures: E stimates of matched odds ratios for the effect of helmet use on the risk of any head or neck injury and for people requiring evacuation by ambulance. Results: T he adjusted odds ratio for helmet use in participants with any head injury was 0 .71 (95%confidence interval 0.55 to 0.92), indicating a 29%reduction in the ri sk of head injury. For participants who required evacuation by ambulance for hea d injuries,the adjusted odds ratio for helmet use was 0.44 (0.24 to 0.81). Simil ar results occurred with the case crossover design (odds ratio 0.43, 0.09 to 1.8 3). The adjusted odds ratio for helmet use for participants with any neck injury was 0.62 (0.33 to 1.19) and for participants who required evacuation by ambulan ce for neck injuries it was 1.29 (0.41 to 4.04). Conclusions: Helmets protect sk iers and snowboarders against head injuries. We cannot rule out the possibility of an increased risk of neck injury with helmet use, but the estimates on which this assumption is based are imprecise.展开更多
Recent advances in information and communications technology(ICT) have initiated development of a smart electrical grid and smart buildings. Buildings consume a large portion of the total electricity production worldw...Recent advances in information and communications technology(ICT) have initiated development of a smart electrical grid and smart buildings. Buildings consume a large portion of the total electricity production worldwide, and to fully develop a smart grid they must be integrated with that grid. Buildings can now be"prosumers"on the grid(both producers and consumers), and the continued growth of distributed renewable energy generation is raising new challenges in terms of grid stability over various time scales. Buildings can contribute to grid stability by managing their overall electrical demand in response to current conditions. Facility managers must balance demand response requests by grid operators with energy needed to maintain smooth building operations.For example, maintaining thermal comfort within an occupied building requires energy and, thus an optimized solution balancing energy use with indoor environmental quality(adequate thermal comfort, lighting, etc.) is needed. Successful integration of buildings and their systems with the grid also requires interoperable data exchange. However, the adoption and integration of newer control and communication technologies into buildings can be problematic with older legacy HVAC and building control systems.Public policy and economic structures have not kept up with the technical developments that have given rise to the budding smart grid, and further developments are needed in both technical and non-technical areas.展开更多
文摘Diabetes is a serious public health problem affecting 422 million people worldwide. Traditional diabetes management often requires multiple daily insulin injections, associated with pain and inadequate glycemia control. Herein, we have developed an ultrasound-triggered insulin delivery system capable of pulsatile insulin release that can provide both long-term sustained and fast on-demand responses. In this system, insulin-loaded poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） （PLGA） nanocapsules are encapsulated within chitosan microgels. The encapsulated insulin in nanocapsules can passively diffuse from the nanoparticle but remain restricted within the microgel. Upon ultrasound treatment, the stored insulin in microgels can be rapidly released to regulate blood glucose levels. In a chemically-induced type I diabetic mouse model, we demonstrated that this system, when activated by 30 s ultrasound administration, could effectively achieve glycemic control for up to one week in a noninvasive, localized, and pulsatile manner.
文摘The upgrading of the DH （district heating） system through installing WSN （wireless sensor networks）--a technology by which to monitor and control quality operation of the DH system will lead to more effective use of thermal energy, enabling also the provision of quality customer services, as the data concerning the status of the existing networks is available in a timely manner, and in the stated amounts. Over the last decades, the use of WSN systems in enabling quality monitoring of heat production and supply process has been widely discussed among various researchers and industry experts, but has been little deployed in practice. These researchers and industry experts have analysed the advantages and constraints related to the use of the WSN in district heating. A pilot project conducted by Riga Heat （the main heating supplier in Riga, Latvia） has allowed to gain a real life experience as to the use of the WSN system in district in-house heating substations, and is deemed to be a major step towards future development of WSN technologies.
文摘Objective: To determine the effect of helmets on the risk of head and neck inj uries in skiers and snowboarders.Design: Matched case-control and case crossove r study.Setting: 19 ski areas in Quebec, Canada, November 2001 to April 2002. Pa rticipants: 1082 skiers and snowboarders (cases) with head and neck injuries rep orted by the ski patrol and 3295 skiers and snowboarders (controls) with non-he ad or non-neck injuries matched to cases at each hill. Main outcome measures: E stimates of matched odds ratios for the effect of helmet use on the risk of any head or neck injury and for people requiring evacuation by ambulance. Results: T he adjusted odds ratio for helmet use in participants with any head injury was 0 .71 (95%confidence interval 0.55 to 0.92), indicating a 29%reduction in the ri sk of head injury. For participants who required evacuation by ambulance for hea d injuries,the adjusted odds ratio for helmet use was 0.44 (0.24 to 0.81). Simil ar results occurred with the case crossover design (odds ratio 0.43, 0.09 to 1.8 3). The adjusted odds ratio for helmet use for participants with any neck injury was 0.62 (0.33 to 1.19) and for participants who required evacuation by ambulan ce for neck injuries it was 1.29 (0.41 to 4.04). Conclusions: Helmets protect sk iers and snowboarders against head injuries. We cannot rule out the possibility of an increased risk of neck injury with helmet use, but the estimates on which this assumption is based are imprecise.
文摘Recent advances in information and communications technology(ICT) have initiated development of a smart electrical grid and smart buildings. Buildings consume a large portion of the total electricity production worldwide, and to fully develop a smart grid they must be integrated with that grid. Buildings can now be"prosumers"on the grid(both producers and consumers), and the continued growth of distributed renewable energy generation is raising new challenges in terms of grid stability over various time scales. Buildings can contribute to grid stability by managing their overall electrical demand in response to current conditions. Facility managers must balance demand response requests by grid operators with energy needed to maintain smooth building operations.For example, maintaining thermal comfort within an occupied building requires energy and, thus an optimized solution balancing energy use with indoor environmental quality(adequate thermal comfort, lighting, etc.) is needed. Successful integration of buildings and their systems with the grid also requires interoperable data exchange. However, the adoption and integration of newer control and communication technologies into buildings can be problematic with older legacy HVAC and building control systems.Public policy and economic structures have not kept up with the technical developments that have given rise to the budding smart grid, and further developments are needed in both technical and non-technical areas.
