Wenxiang Dong, H. Vicky Zhao^*

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.140, No.1, pp. 139-170, 2024, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2024.047156

Abstract Understanding and modeling individuals’ behaviors during epidemics is crucial for effective epidemic control. However, existing research ignores the impact of users’ irrationality on decision-making in the epidemic. Meanwhile, existing disease control methods often assume users’ full compliance with measures like mandatory isolation, which does not align with the actual situation. To address these issues, this paper proposes a prospect theory-based framework to model users’ decision-making process in epidemics and analyzes how irrationality affects individuals’ behaviors and epidemic dynamics. According to the analysis results, irrationality tends to prompt conservative behaviors when the infection risk is low but encourages risk-seeking behaviors when… More >

Zhuo Huang, Ye Tian, Yifan Zhang, Tielin Shi, Qi Xia^*

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.140, No.1, pp. 711-733, 2024, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2024.045411

Abstract Stiffened structures have great potential for improving mechanical performance, and the study of their stability is of great interest. In this paper, the optimization of the critical buckling load factor for curved grid stiffeners is solved by using the level set based density method, where the shape and cross section (including thickness and width) of the stiffeners can be optimized simultaneously. The grid stiffeners are a combination of many single stiffeners which are projected by the corresponding level set functions. The thickness and width of each stiffener are designed to be independent variables in the projection applied to each level… More >

SAIFEI XIE^1,2,4, HUI XIE^2,*, JINCAI GUO³, JIN TAN⁴, YULIN YU¹, MINYI ZHANG¹, SHANG WEN¹

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.4, pp. 591-599, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.046691

Abstract Background: Puerarin (Pue) has been reported to be a natural active ingredient with multiple antifibrotic properties. This work aimed at exploring the function of Pue in oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) treatment. Methods: Human oral mucosa fibroblasts (hOMF) were induced with transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) and intervened with Pue. Expressions of fibrosis-related markers were analyzed by Western blot and IF staining. Cell viability was characterized by the CCK-8 assay. Expressions of miR-30 family members were quantified by qRT-PCR. The correlation between fibroblast activation protein (FAP) and miR-30 family expression was evaluated by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Bioinformatics prediction and dual-luciferase… More > Graphic Abstract

Liting Jia¹, Xiao Han¹, Cuixia Qiao², Gang Zhao², Yanzhi Xia¹, Zhixin Xue^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 427-441, 2024, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.044310

Abstract Ba²⁺ pre-crosslinked carrageenan fiber (Ba/CAF) was prepared by adding a small amount of Ba²⁺ to the carrageenan (CA) solution as the spinning solution. Ba/CAF-n/A, Ba/CAF-n/B and Ba/CAF-n/C were prepared with ethanol solution (combine A), high concentration BaCl₂ solution (combine B) and low concentration BaCl₂ solution (combine C), as coagulation bath and stretch bath, respectively. The combination of coagulation bath and stretch bath suitable for Ba²⁺ pre-crosslinking wet spinning was screened. The results showed that Ba²⁺ can induce the birefringence of the CA molecular chain, and the Ba²⁺ pre-crosslinking effect is the best when the CA mass fraction is 8.0 wt%.… More > Graphic Abstract

Feng Sheng^1,*, Chen Kong², Chao Li³

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, Vol.26, No.3, pp. 221-228, 2024, DOI:10.32604/ijmhp.2024.030209

Abstract Objective: This study was conducted to explore the relationships among sedentary behavior (SB), electronic product addiction (EPA), and depression (D) in adolescents during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: A total of 604 adolescents (including 309 girls and 295 boys aged 12–18) were selected from Qufu City, Shandong Province, China for three rounds of investigation. The model was constructed using AMOS 23.0 software, and cross-lagged analysis was conducted. Results: SB at T1 can significantly positively predict SB and EPA at T2 (p < 0.05). EPA at T1 can significantly positively predict SB and D at T2 (p < 0.05). Physical activity level… More >

B. MOULIPRASANTH^A, P. HARIHARAN^B

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.4, pp. 351-369, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.04.5

Abstract Electrical discharge machining is a non-traditional machining processes in which it is based upon thermal and electrical energy source as an interval energy pulse discharge in-between the work piece and tool electrode so as to remove the material. A systematical investigation of melting and vaporising of aluminium to find the output responses such as Material removal rate (MRR), Electrode wear rate (R_a), and Surface finish (EWR) in EDM using two different dielectrics was conducted as experimental work. The working fluids are Polyethylene glycol (PEG 600) and kerosene. It is the hour of need to get the maximum MRR and surface… More >

ÇAĞLA GÜL GÜLDİKEN, LEVENT AKYALÇIN, HASAN FERDİ GERÇEL^*

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.4, pp. 337-349, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.04.4

Abstract In the present study, polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymer which has a great importance in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) research was synthesized via the solution polycondensation method, under various synthesis conditions to put forward the effect of the synthesis parameters on the properties of the synthesized polymer and consequently to the quality of the prepared polymer electrolyte membrane. The synthesized polymers were characterized in terms of their chemical structure, thermal degradation behaviour, and molecular weight by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹ H NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The Mechanical properties, acid-doping level capacity, proton conductivity, and fuel cell… More >

KEMIN WANG, LIFEI HE

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 253-260, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.03.5

Abstract This study proposes a simple approach for the fabrication of microspherical catalysts with a hierarchical porous structure. The cross-linked porous microspheres with catalytic ability were prepared directly from small-molecular monomers via low-temperature phase-separation photopolymerization of water/oil suspension. The morphology, pore size, chemical structure, and thermal stability of the obtained porous microspheres were characterized by SEM, Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry, FTIR, and TGA. The porous microspheres directly served as an acid catalyst for the condensation reaction of benzaldehyde and ethylene glycol, which exhibited superior catalytic activity and recyclability. The results indicated that such porous microspheres have great potential in the application of… More >

ZONGQIAN WANG, HAIWEI YANG, JIAN XING, ZHI LIU^*

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.2, pp. 149-159, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.02.4

Abstract Colored silk fibroin (SF) film can change the proportion of transmitted light composition and therefore shows potential application in optoelectronics area. However, few methods are reported for the preparation of colored SF film with good color fastness. Herein, colored SF film was prepared by coupling modification dyeing (CM-dyeing) of SF tyrosine residues in solution. SF film shows excellent color fastness due to the formation of the azo covalent bond formed by electrophilic substitution reaction between SF tyrosine residues and aniline diazonium salt. Furthermore, compared with the undyed film, the dyed SF film is effectively preserved its mechanical property by the… More >

FEHMI SALTAN^1,2, AYLIN PALAMUTLU², HAKAN AKAT^2,*

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.2, pp. 133-147, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.02.3

Abstract In this work, tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) compound was first synthesized by the condensation reaction of pyrrole and benzaldehyde using Adler method. Then, the synthesized tetraphenylporphyrin was nitrated with sodium nitrite. Nitro-functionalized porphyrin (TPP-NO₂ ) compound was reduced to amine-functional using ammonia and this amine- functionalized porphyrin was reacted with methacryloyl chloride to obtain porphyrin-derived radical monomer (TPP-MAO). Copolymer was synthesized with obtained porphyrin functional monomer and styrene by free radical polymerization method. Structural characterization and spectroscopic studies of the synthesized compounds were carried out by FTIR, H¹ -NMR, UV spectroscopy. The molecular weight and thermal properties of the copolymer were determined… More >