Description: This study explores the potential of promoting college students’ positive psychological development using popular online social networks. Online social networks have dramatically changed the ways college students manage their social relationships. Social network activities, such as checking Facebook posts dominates students’ Internet time and has the potential to assist students’ positive development. Positive psychology is a scientific study of how ordinary individuals can apply their strength effectively when facing objective difficulties and how this capability can be cultivated with certain approaches. A positive message delivery approach was designed for a group of new college entrants. A series of positive messages was edited by university counselors and delivered by students to their Facebook social groups. Responses from each posted positive messages were collected and analyzed by researchers. The responses indicated that: (1) relationships of individual engagement and social influence in this study can partially explain the observed student behavior; (2) using class-based social groups can promote a positive atmosphere to enhance strong-tie relationships in both the physical and virtual environments, and (3) promoting student’s positive attitudes can substantially impact adolescents’ future developments, and many positive attitudes can be cultivated by emotional events and social influence.

Description: Background: Early diagnosis and treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial lung diseases (NTM-LD) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) are important clinical issues. The present study aimed to compare and identify the chest CT characteristics that help to distinguish NTM lung disease from PTB in patients with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive sputum. Methods: From January 2009 to April 2012, we received 467 AFB smear-positive sputum specimens. A total of 95 CT scans obtained from the 159 patients were analyzed, 75 scans were from patients with PTB and 20 scans from NTM-LD. The typical chest CT findings of mycobacterial diseases were analyzed. Results: In patients with PTB, the prevalence of pleural effusion (38.7% vs. 15.0%; P =0.047), nodules 〈 10 mm in size (76.0% vs. 25.0%; P 〈 0.001), tree-in-bud pattern (81.3% vs. 55.0%; P =0.021), and cavities (31.1% vs. 5.0%; P =0.018) were significantly higher than patients with NTM. Of the 20 patients with NTM lung diseases, bronchiectasis and cystic changes were significantly higher than patients with PTB (20.0% vs. 4.0%; P = 0.034). In multivariate analysis, CT scan findings of nodules was independently associated with patients with diagnoses of PTB (odds ratio [OR], 0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02-0.30). Presence of bronchiectasis and cystic changes in CT scans was strongly associated with patients with NTM-LD (OR, 33.04; 95% CI, 3.01-362.55). Conclusions: The CT distinction between NTM-LD and PTB may help radiologists and physicians to know the most likely diagnoses in AFB-smear positive patients and avoid unnecessary adverse effects and the related costs of anti-TB drugs in endemic areas.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 2329: Evaluating Social Performance of Construction Projects: An Empirical Study Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10072329 Authors: Xiaer Xiahou Yuchun Tang Jingfeng Yuan Tengyuan Chang Ping Liu Qiming Li The concept of sustainable development is gaining increasing popularity in construction industry. Previous studies have prioritized on the sustainable performance of construction projects from perspectives of economy and environment, social performance of construction projects has not drawn much attention. Social performance of construction projects refers to the extent which the projects meet the needs of current and future generations. Therefore, social performance of construction projects is critical for project success as well as social sustainability. However, a systematic framework for evaluating social performance of construction projects is absent. At the same time, existing methods are time-consuming and subject to certain degree of subjectivity. To overcome these limitations, the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) method is introduced in this paper to evaluate social performance of construction projects. A real-world hospital redevelopment project was employed as an empirical study to develop the systematic framework for social performance evaluation using FAHP method. By analyzing previous studies and the hospital redevelopment project, a systematic framework with 18 indicators of five dimensions (i.e., socio-economy development, socio-environment development, social flexibility, public service development, and environment and resource conservation) was developed. Social performance of two proposed schemes for hospital redevelopment project were evaluated using the FAHP approach. Results show Scheme 2 has a relative higher social performance sore than that of Scheme 1 and the hospital redevelopment project would improve socio-economy development, socio-environment development, social flexibility, and public service development, while it brings challenges to environment and resource conservation. More seriously, results indicate the hospital project may threaten healthcare and disease prevention of the local communities. Therefore, more measures should be taken to improve social performance of the hospital redevelopment project. The empirical study shows the proposed framework using FAHP method is viable for conducting social performance evaluation of construction projects, which could be helpful to improve social performance, reduce negative social impacts, and contribute to the social sustainability of construction projects.

Description: The goal of this research was to develop a chemical gas sensing device based on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks. The SWCNT networks are synthesized on Al2O3-deposted SiO2/Si substrates with 10 nm-thick Fe as the catalyst precursor layer using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). The development of interconnected SWCNT networks can be exploited to recognize the identities of different chemical gases by the strength of their particular surface adsorptive and desorptive responses to various types of chemical vapors. The physical responses on the surface of the SWCNT networks cause superficial changes in the electric charge that can be converted into electronic signals for identification. In this study, we tested NO2 and NH3 vapors at ppm levels at room temperature with our self-made gas sensing device, which was able to obtain responses to sensitivity changes with a concentration of 10 ppm for NO2 and 24 ppm for NH3.

Description: A nonlinear theory is developed to describe the cylindrical Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) of an impulsively accelerated interface between incompressible fluids, which is based on both a technique of Padé approximation and an approach of perturbation expansion directly on the perturbed interface rather than the unperturbed interface. When cylindrical effect vanishes (i.e., in the large initial radius of the interface), our explicit results reproduce those [Q. Zhang and S.-I. Sohn, Phys. Fluids 9, 1106 (1996)] related to the planar RMI. The present prediction in agreement with previous simulations [C. Matsuoka and K. Nishihara, Phys. Rev. E 73 , 055304(R) (2006)] leads us to better understand the cylindrical RMI at arbitrary Atwood numbers for the whole nonlinear regime. The asymptotic growth rate of the cylindrical interface finger (bubble or spike) tends to its initial value or zero, depending upon mode number of the initial cylindrical interface and Atwood number. The explicit conditions, directly affecting asymptotic behavior of the cylindrical interface finger, are investigated in this paper. This theory allows a straightforward extension to other nonlinear problems related closely to an instable interface.

Description: Background: The prevalence of diabetes has been growing rapidly in developing countries. This causes devastating economic burdens and increases demands on the health care system. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find a cost-effective and multi-faceted approach for diabetes care. Peer support models provide a potentially low-cost, flexible means which complements the current existing health care services. In this way, trained peer leaders can become qualified extensions to a formal healthcare system, capable of assisting education delivery and bolstering the efforts of professional staff. As such, creating a cultural specific peer support program and determining whether it is acceptable and cost-effective in rural communities of China is crucial. This study aims to implement and evaluate biophysical and psychosocial outcomes of peer support program for people with type 2 diabetes in rural communities, and to explore the program's feasibility and sustainability in China. Methods: This study is a cluster randomised controlled trial. All consenting patients will be randomised by community staff members to receive either peer support or the control care. The data collection and analysis including social demographics, health status, psychosocial status, economic status and biomedical measures will be collected at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. The primary indicator measured is the change in HbA1c, whereas secondary indicators include biophysical, psychosocial functioning and other lifestyle factors. Finally, economic evaluations will determine whether the program is cost effective.DiscussionThis protocol is a cluster randomized, controlled trial of group-based peer support for people with type 2 diabetes in the community settings of rural China. Results from this trial may provide evidence to the effectiveness of peer support; furthermore, they will provide valuable information concerning the acceptability and feasibility of a new approach to improve diabetes self-management among resource-constrained settings.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02119572, April 18, 2014.

Description: Background: Genomic structure variation (GSV) is widely distributed in various organisms and is an important contributor to human diversity and disease susceptibility. Efficient approaches to induce targeted genomic structure variation are crucial for both analytic and therapeutic studies of GSV. Here, we presented an efficient strategy to induce targeted GSV including chromosomal deletions, duplications and inversions in a precise manner. Results: Utilizing Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN) designed to target two distinct sites, we demonstrated targeted deletions, duplications and inversions of an 8.9 Mb chromosomal segment, which is about one third of the entire chromosome. We developed a novel method by combining TALEN-induced GSV and single stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) mediated gene modifications to reduce unwanted mutations occurring during the targeted GSV using TALEN or Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN). Furthermore, we showed that co-introduction of TALEN and ssODN generated unwanted complex structure variation other than the expected chromosomal deletion. Conclusions: We demonstrated the ability of TALEN to induce targeted GSV and provided an efficient strategy to perform GSV precisely. Furthermore, it is the first time to show that co-introduction of TALEN and ssODN generated unwanted complex structure variation. It is plausible to believe that the strategies developed in this study can be applied to other organisms, and will help understand the biological roles of GSV and therapeutic applications of TALEN and ssODN.