A greater understanding of moisture sorption behaviour of aged wooden structural components, which has a close relationship with dimensional stability, is required to effectively evaluate and ...preserve historical artefacts. This study focused on the effects of aging on Baotou beam samples from a Chinese historical wooden building. An analysis of the sorption isotherms and hysteresis loops of a naturally aged, decayed sample (AOS), an aged sound sample (AIS), and a reference sample (RS), using classical sorption isotherm models revealed that the moisture sorption behaviour of samples from the same growth ring in a Baotou beam can differ significantly. AOS showed higher hygroscopicity than AIS, and both these samples were more hygroscopic than RS. Furthermore, the mono/multilayer moisture contents of AOS were always higher than those of AIS and RS. In addition, Fourier transform infrared, second-derivative infrared, and two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate chemical changes in the samples. The relative hemicellulose and lignin contents of the samples changed significantly with wood aging. Furthermore, AOS exhibited the highest calcium oxalate content, which may be associated with fungal infections. Overall, these results provide valuable insights into the effects of aging on wood samples and the dimensional stability of timber structures, which could inform future research on methods for the preservation or restoration of aging timber structures.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is widely noticed as an essential tool for business operation and sustainable development. Meanwhile, the fiercely competitive external environment and ...unpredictable events prompt enterprises’ cooperation to prevent supply chain collapse. We investigate the cooperative strategy in a live-streaming supply chain (LSC) consisting of a dominant brand owner, a retailer, and a live streamer, where the brand owner considers CSR by considering the welfare of stakeholders. We construct one non-cooperative and three cooperative Stackelberg game models to explore the impact of CSR on cooperative strategy and LSC operations. The results show the following. (1) When the brand owner considers CSR, LSC members and systems are more profitable in the four models than when the brand owner does not consider CSR. (2) When the flow effect is small, the brand owner tends to cooperate with the retailer; otherwise, the brand owner prefers to cooperate with the live streamer. (3) The grand coalition C (the brand owner cooperates with the retailer and live streamer) is the consistent strategy for the LSC system, consumers, and society. These findings help enterprises recognize the importance of CSR and collaboration, thus further providing reference opinions on engaging in CSR and how to achieve collaboration.
Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have been widely explored for molecular separation, but the molecular diffusion behavior inside GO membranes and the interaction between the diffusates and GO sheets ...during diffusion is still unclear and rarely studied. In this paper, time-dependent attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy was used for the first time to in situ monitor the diffusion processes of several typical organic solvents through GO membranes. The diffusion coefficients of the solvents and the evolution of molecular interaction during diffusion were investigated. The diffusion coefficients of the solvents decrease with the increase of their interaction with the oxygen-containing functional groups on GO sheets. In addition, when diffusing into GO membranes, solvent molecules exhibit a different aggregation form compared with their bulk states. Time-dependent ATR-FTIR spectroscopy can be an efficient and powerful technique to explore the molecular diffusion mechanism in GO membranes.
This study investigated the temporal and spatial patterns of heat wave (HW) events in Jiangxi, China. Our analysis is based on the observation data, including daily maximum temperature and daily ...average air relative humidity from 81 meteorological stations from 1959 to 2023. We also examined the impact of HW events on summer electricity consumption by taking the capital city of Jiangxi, Nanchang, as a case study. The results reveal an overall increase in the frequency of HW events over the past 65 years, with a pronounced increase since 1997, particularly in central and southern Jiangxi. The onset of HW events has generally occurred earlier, while their cessation has been delayed across most areas of Jiangxi Province, resulting in extended HW periods. Economic growth in regions like the Jitai Basin, the Ganfu Plain, and the hilly areas of northeastern Jiangxi has been accompanied by more intense and prolonged HW events. In Nanchang City, the summer electricity load increased by approximately 9% on holidays compared to working days and by about 20% on high-temperature days compared to normal conditions. These insights highlight the need for adaptive strategies to mitigate the impacts of increasing HW occurrences.
Sleep disorder after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is complex as it greatly differs from patient to patient. Thus, it can be seen that we should further know the detail in sleep disorders following ...TKA to find well solutions to achieve satisfactory sleep and better recovery.
Between October 2011 and January 2016, 965 patients accepted primary TKA. We reviewed each patient's data. Sleep disorder was evaluated via subjective instruments. The Sleep Questionnaire in the present study is a 12-item instrument that evaluates sleep in terms of three dimensions: sleep quality; disruptive factors; and specific forms. Patients were identified and confirmed as at least 1 kind of sleep disorders according to the Second Edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-2). And we compare the clinical characteristics and difference in postoperative recovery of different types of sleep disorders.
Sleep disturbances persisted approximately 2 months postoperatively. 75.9% patients was classified into primary insomnias, while 24.1% was secondary insomnias. There was the largest number of those who were adjustment sleep disorder. Pains, mental elements, and factors intrinsic to the patients were the most significant causes of insomnia of patients. There were significant differences in VAS pain score (P < 0.001*), active ROM (P < 0.001*) and LOS in hospital (P < 0.001*) among varied forms of insomnias.
Our data revealed that adjustment insomnia ranked first. Specifically, the factors affecting sleep quality postoperatively included pains, mental elements, and factors intrinsic to the patients etc. In addition, we found that patients with difficulty in staying asleep and non-restorative sleep has increased pain scores and LOS in hospital with decreased active ROM in comparison to difficulty in falling asleep and too early awakening. Our data may be of a certain benefit to rational use of medication to improve diverse insomnias and to make patients recover better.
Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy is a powerful tool to obtain knowledge about the spatial and/or temporal distributions of the chemical compositions of plants for better understanding of ...their biological properties. However, the chemical morphologies of plant leaves in the plane of the blade are barely studied, because sections in this plane for mid-infrared transmission measurements are difficult to obtain. Besides, native compositions may be changed by chemical reagents used when plant samples are microtomed. To improve methods for direct infrared microspectroscopic imaging of plant leaves in the plane of the blade, the bulk and surface chemical morphologies of nonmicrotomed
Ginkgo biloba
leaves were characterized by near-infrared transmission and mid-infrared attenuated total reflection microspectroscopic imaging. A new self-modeling curve resolution procedure was proposed to extract the spectral and concentration information of pure compounds. Primary and secondary metabolites of secretory cavities, veins, and mesophylls of
Ginkgo biloba
leaf blades were analyzed, and the distributions of cuticle, protein, calcium oxalate, cellulose, and ginkgolic acids on the adaxial surface were determined. By the integration of multiple infrared microspectroscopic imaging and chemometrics methods, it is possible to analyze nonmicrotomed leaves and other plant samples directly to understand their native chemical morphologies in detail.
Graphical abstract
Visible and infrared microspectroscopic images of a
Ginkgo biloba
leaf blade. PC-1 score image shows the physical morphology, while the positive and negative part of PC-2 score image shows the distribution of dichotomous branching veins and secretory cavities, respectively
Excess infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy, a new concept brought forward by applying the idea of excess thermodynamic functions to infrared spectroscopy, is shown to be a potential method to study ...hydrogen bonds. It can be applied to enhance spectral resolution of complexed IR bands, to evaluate nonideality of liquid mixtures, and to estimate selective molecular interactions. The sign of the excess infrared absorption coefficient is also of importance in providing information on molecular interactions. The results demonstrate that excess infrared absorption spectroscopy can unveil new information on hydrogen bonding in condensed phases.
Waterlogged archaeological wood samples may degrade during long-term immersion in microbial-activity environments, which causes its biodegradation. Simultaneous dynamic vapor sorption (SDVS) and ...two-dimensional correlation infrared (2D COS-IR) spectroscopy reveal the degradation inhomogeneity of waterlogged fir wood from the Shengbeiyu shipwreck. The waterlogged and reference wood exhibit type II sorption isotherms. The equilibrium moisture contents of waterlogged archaeological fir wood from a decay region (WFD) were 22.5% higher than those of waterlogged archaeological fir wood from a sound region (WFS). WFD exhibits a higher measurable sorption hysteresis than WFS, implying greater variation in the surface moisture content in the WFD region compared to the WFS region, which may compromise the dimensional stability of the shipwreck. 2D COS-IR spectra confirmed the inhomogeneous degradation of the waterlogged wood via numerous mechanisms. The efficacy of SDVS and 2D COS-IR spectroscopy in the evaluation of the degradation state of waterlogged wood was demonstrated. This study verifies the existence of hygroscopic and chemical differences between visually similar samples from the same shipwreck.
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is primarily preformed among the elderly population who is commonly affected by cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a very common ...heart disease and its prevalence increases significantly with age. Therefore, we decided to evaluate the outcomes of patients with AF following TKA and analyze the risk factors of AF patients who underwent postoperative complication.
We designed a retrospective cohort study using data from three institutions in China. We evaluated a total of 453 AF patients who received primary TKA and 453 matched control patients. Comparisons of specific parameters between AF and non-AF cohorts were performed.
Our results demonstrated that AF patients had significantly higher odds of more intraoperative bleeding, periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), post-operative cerebral stroke (POCS), post-operative cardiovascular events (POCE) and worse SF-36 physical component score and mental score at mean 24-month after surgery, but had no increased incidence of post-operative gastrointestinal events, DVT and PE in comparison to patients without AF than those without AF disease. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors of patients who underwent severe complication. Smoking, diabetes mellitus and persistent AF were common risk factors of PJI, POCS, and POCE. Heart rate＞70/min and absence of Beta blocker use were common risk factors of POCS and POCE. Absence of LMWH bridging was risk factor of POCS. BMI >25 kg/m2 and hypertension were risk factors of POCE.
These findings should be taken into consideration when discussing the expected outcomes of AF patients after TKA. AF disease impaired SF-36 physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS) of patient after TKA.
Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen,
Pterocarpus santalinus L.F. and
Pterocarpus soyauxii are three kinds of the most valuable wood species, which are hard to distinguish. In this paper, differentiation of
...D. odorifera,
P. santalinus and
P. soyauxii was carried out by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), second derivative IR spectra and two-dimensional correlation infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy. The three woods have their characteristic peaks in conventional IR spectra. For example,
D. odorifera has obvious absorption peaks at 1640 and 1612
cm
−1;
P. santalinus has only one peak at 1614
cm
−1; and
P. soyauxii has one peak at 1619
cm
−1 and one shoulder peak at 1597
cm
−1. To enhance spectrum resolution and amplify the differences between the IR spectra of different woods, the second derivative technology was adopted to examine the three wood samples. More differences could be observed in the region of 800–1700
cm
−1. Then, the thermal perturbation is applied to distinguish different wood samples in an easier way, because of the spectral resolution being enhanced by the 2D correlation spectroscopy. In the region of 1300–1800
cm
−1,
D. odorifera has five auto-peaks at 1518, 1575, 1594, 1620 and 1667
cm
−1;
P. santalinus has four auto-peaks at 1469, 1518, 1627 and 1639
cm
−1 and
P. soyauxii has only two auto-peaks at 1627 and 1639
cm
−1. It is proved that the 2D correlation IR spectroscopy can be a new method to distinguish
D. odorifera,
P. santalinus and
P. soyauxii.
