Increasing residents' commute satisfaction and subjective well-being contribute to a healthy, sustainable, and successful society. In this respect, transport mode choice is commonly recognized as one ...of the key factors associated with commute satisfaction and commuters' subjective well-being. However, few studies have investigated how e-moped, one of the most popular commute transport modes in China, shapes residents' commute satisfaction and subjective well-being, although e-moped ownership in China is extremely great. Thus, we conducted an empirical study on the impact of commuting by e-mopeds, using the survey data from eight residential communities in Shanghai. A path analysis model was established to investigate the relationships between commute characteristics (including commute distance, commute time, commute costs, transport mode choice, transport environment), socio-demographics, commute satisfaction, and subjective well-being. The model results showed that commute satisfaction positively correlated with commuters’ subjective well-being. However, the relationship between transport mode choice and commute satisfaction was demonstrated not straightforward but fully mediated by commute time and commute costs which both showed a negative impact on commute satisfaction. In this case, using active modes was revealed to lead to a happier work commute than using private cars, whereas bus riders were at the bottom of the list as expected. Surprisingly, the use of e-mopeds resulted in the second highest total effects on the increase of commute satisfaction and subjective well-being, due to less commute time and lower commute costs. Moreover, the substitution effects of e-mopeds were examined. The results indicated that bus commuters held the most possibility to shift to e-mopeds; while, it was found hard to let e-moped users alter to the other transport modes of commuters. In this context, it was reasonable to further promote the development of e-mopeds in Shanghai, and targeted practical implications were given in this study.
•E-moped is a mainstream transport mode of commuting in Shanghai, China.•How e-mopeds shape commuters' subjective well-being (SWB) is analyzed.•Commuting by e-mopeds is found to associate with the most increase in SWB.•E-moped has the largest substitution effects on city bus.•A targeted strategy for the development of e-mopeds in Shanghai is given.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease primarily characterized by cartilage degeneration. Milk-derived extracellular vesicles (mEVs) were reported to inhibit catabolic and inflammatory ...processes in the cartilage of OA patients. However, the current therapies target the advanced symptoms of OA, and it is significant to develop a novel strategy to inhibit the processes driving OA pathology. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of mEVs in alleviating OA in vivo. The results revealed that mEVs ameliorated cartilage degeneration by increasing hyaline cartilage thickness, decreasing histological Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) scores, enhancing matrix synthesis, and reducing the expression of cartilage destructive enzymes in the destabilization of medial meniscus (DMM) mice. In addition, the disturbed gut microbiota in DMM mice was partially improved upon treatment with mEVs. It was observed that the pro-inflammatory bacteria (
) were reduced and the potential beneficial bacteria (
,
,
) were increased. mEVs could alleviate the progression of OA by restoring matrix homeostasis and reshaping the gut microbiota. These findings suggested that mEVs might be a potential therapeutic dietary supplement for the treatment of OA.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and recurrent disease. It has been observed that the incidence and prevalence of IBD are increasing, which consequently raises the risk of developing ...colon cancer. Recently, the regulation of the intestinal barrier by probiotics has become an effective treatment for colitis. Akkermansia muciniphila-derived extracellular vesicles (Akk EVs) are nano-vesicles that contain multiple bioactive macromolecules with the potential to modulate the intestinal barrier. In this study, we used ultrafiltration in conjunction with high-speed centrifugation to extract Akk EVs. A lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cell model was established to assess the anti-inflammatory effects of Akk EVs. It was found that Akk EVs were able to be absorbed by RAW264.7 cells and significantly reduce the expression of nitric oxide (NO), TNF-α, and IL-1β (p < 0.05). We explored the preventative effects on colitis and the regulating effects on the intestinal barrier using a mouse colitis model caused by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). The findings demonstrated that Akk EVs effectively prevented colitis symptoms and reduced colonic tissue injury. Additionally, Akk EVs significantly enhanced the effectiveness of the intestinal barrier by elevating the expression of MUC2 (0.53 ± 0.07), improving mucus integrity, and reducing intestinal permeability (p < 0.05). Moreover, Akk EVs increased the proportion of the beneficial bacteria Firmicutes (33.01 ± 0.09%) and downregulated the proportion of the harmful bacteria Proteobacteria (0.32 ± 0.27%). These findings suggest that Akk EVs possess the ability to regulate immune responses, protect intestinal barriers, and modulate the gut microbiota. The research presents a potential intervention approach for Akk EVs to prevent colitis.
The Riccati differential equation is a well-known nonlinear differential equation and has different applications in engineering and science domains, such as robust stabilization, stochastic ...realization theory, network synthesis, and optimal control, and in financial mathematics. In this study, we aim to approximate the solution of a fractional Riccati equation of order 0<β<1 with Atangana–Baleanu derivative (ABC). Our numerical scheme is based on Laplace transform (LT) and quadrature rule. We apply LT to the given fractional differential equation, which reduces it to an algebraic equation. The reduced equation is solved for the unknown in LT space. The solution of the original problem is retrieved by representing it as a Bromwich integral in the complex plane along a smooth curve. The Bromwich integral is approximated using the trapezoidal rule. Some numerical experiments are performed to validate our numerical scheme.
Using nonlinear difference equations, combined with symbolic computations, we make a detailed study of the running times of numerous variants of the celebrated Quicksort algorithms, where we consider ...the variants of single-pivot and multi-pivot Quicksort algorithms as discrete probability problems. With nonlinear difference equations, recurrence relations and experimental mathematics techniques, explicit expressions for expectations, variances and even higher moments of their numbers of comparisons and swaps can be obtained. For some variants, Monte Carlo experiments are performed, the numerical results are demonstrated and the scaled limiting distribution is also discussed.
We discuss, and make partial progress on, the peaceable queens problem, the protagonist of OEIS sequence A250000. Symbolically, we prove that Jubin's construction of two pentagons is at least a local ...optimum. Numerically, we find the exact numerical optimums for some specific configurations. Our method can be easily applied to more complicated configurations with more parameters.
Sustaining passengers’ loyalty towards bus service has been regarded as the key to secure its market share. However, passengers are not homogenous in terms of behavioral loyalty or attitudinal ...loyalty. Therefore, the determinants to retain loyalty may differ across each group of passengers. This study proposed a data-fusion based clustering method to segment passengers. An empirical study of Xiamen, China was given. Specifically, by fusing the smart card data and the survey data, the method measured passengers’ behavioral and attitudinal loyalty simultaneously. As a result, spurious-loyalty passengers were identified, who were characterized as behaviorally loyal but attitudinal disloyal; they held the most potential to shift to other transport modes. In order to retain the spurious-loyalty passengers, a novel model framework was built to investigate the determinants of driving them to continue using public transportation. The results indicated that the passengers’ satisfaction fully mediated between service value and attitudinal loyalty, as found in previous studies. Service value was unveiled to exert a significant and positive impact on predicting the passengers’ satisfaction and attitudinal loyalty. However, service value was not only determined by the passengers’ utilitarian value (perceived service quality), but also involved with their hedonic value (emotional dependence on public transportation which came from the passengers’ long-term involvement); hedonic value was demonstrated highly correlated with utilitarian value. In addition, we justified that utilitarian value could be separately measured by the quality of basic service attributes and the quality of value-added service attributes; they were revealed to exhibit non-linear and heterogeneous effects on the passengers’ satisfaction. Moreover, the index score of variables was employed to indicate the specific service attributes that needed to be improved to sustain the targeted passengers; practical suggestions to the specific direction of improvement were provided for transport sectors and public transport operators.
We consider the sixth-order $m$-point boundary-value problem $$displaylines{ u^{(6)}(t)=fig(u(t), u''(t), u^{(4)}(t)ig),quad tin(0,1),cr u(0)=0, quad u(1)=sum_{i=1}^{m-2}a_iu(eta_i),cr u''(0)=0, quad ...u''(1)=sum_{i=1}^{m-2}a_iu''(eta_i),cr u^{(4)}(0)=0, quad u^{(4)}(1)=sum_{i=1}^{m-2}a_iu^{(4)}(eta_i), }$$ where $f: mathbb{R}imes mathbb{R}imes mathbb{R} o mathbb{R}$ is a sign-changing continuous function, $mgeq3$, $eta_iin(0,1)$, and $a_i>0$ for $i=1,2,dots,m-2$ with $sum_{i=1}^{m-2}a_i<1$. We first show that the spectral properties of the linearisation of this problem are similar to the well-known properties of the standard Sturm-Liouville problem with separated boundary conditions. These spectral properties are then used to prove a Rabinowitz-type global bifurcation theorem for a bifurcation problem related to the above problem. Finally, we obtain the existence of nodal solutions for the problem, under various conditions on the asymptotic behaviour of nonlinearity $f$ by using the global bifurcation theorem.
Objective: To study the therapeutic effect of thalidomide on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) by meta-analysis. Methods: Personal digital library, Cochrane library, and China Biology Medicine disc ...(CMBdisc), as well as relevant pharmaceutical and medical journals, were collected and reviewed. After the analysis of characteristics of the selected document and the evaluation of the risk of bias, the therapeutic effect of thalidomide on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and its influence on related indexes were analyzed by literature data. Results: The meta-analysis results of 8 pieces of literature showed that the total effective rate of thalidomide in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was significantly improved, compared with conventional treatment or sulfasalazine (SASP) treatment (P＜0.05). Furthermore, the time of morning stiffness, BASDAI score, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and other related symptoms and indexes were significantly optimized (P＜0.05). Conclusion: By rational utilization of thalidomide in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), related symptoms and indexes of patients can be effectively improved, the total effective rate of the treatment was significantly improved and the safety of the treatment can be guaranteed.
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