Description: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood neurobehavioral conditions. Evidence of the negative effects of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on mental health has not been convincing, although a few studies have found an association between high SSB levels and attention problems in children. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that SSB consumption is associated with ADHD among children. Doctor-diagnosed ADHD cases (n = 173) and non-ADHD controls (n = 159) between age 4 to 15 were recruited. SSB consumption, socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics of the children, as well as of their mothers’ characteristics during pregnancy, were collected using a questionnaire. Blood lead levels and polymorphisms of two commonly verified dopaminergic-related genes (the D4 dopamine receptor gene DRD4 and the dopamine transporter gene DAT1) were also analyzed. There was a dose-response relationship between SSB consumption and ADHD. After covariates were adjusted, children who consumed SSBs at moderate levels and high levels had 1.36 and 3.69 odds, respectively, of having ADHD, compared with those who did not consume SSBs (p for trend 〈 0.05). Similar results were obtained when females were excluded. Our findings highlighted the adverse correlation between SSB consumption and ADHD and indicated a dose-response effect even after covariates were adjusted.

Description: Sensors, Vol. 18, Pages 2620: Design and Implementation of a Novel Polarimetric Active Radar Calibrator for Gaofen-3 SAR Sensors doi: 10.3390/s18082620 Authors: Liang Li Yongtao Zhu Jun Hong Feng Ming Yu Wang The Chinese first fully polarimetric space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-Gaofen-3 (GF-3) was launched in August 2016, which operates at the C-band and the resolution can reach 1 m. Polarimetric SAR calibration is a procedure that corrects the polarization distortion of a measured scattering matrix by referring to the scattering matrix of a known target. The present paper describes the principle, design, manufacture, and measurement results of a novel polarimetric active radar calibrator (PARC) designed for GF-3. A new design method for PARC was presented and two dual-polarized antennas with very high polarization purity were used. The internal calibration technique was introduced to ensure balance in the amplitude and phase, which ensures the precision of the PARC’s scattering matrices. The results we obtained through measurement in the microwave anechoic chamber and experiments in in-orbit calibration agree well with the theoretical predictions, and the novel PARC presented is proved to be well suited for polarization and radiometric calibration of GF-3.

Description: An actual account of the angle random walk (ARW) coefficients of gyros in the constant rate biased rate ring laser gyro (RLG) inertial navigation system (INS) is very important in practical engineering applications. However, no reported experimental work has dealt with the issue of characterizing the ARW of the constant rate biased RLG in the INS. To avoid the need for high cost precise calibration tables and complex measuring set-ups, the objective of this study is to present a cost-effective experimental approach to characterize the ARW of the gyros in the constant rate biased RLG INS. In the system, turntable dynamics and other external noises would inevitably contaminate the measured RLG data, leading to the question of isolation of such disturbances. A practical observation model of the gyros in the constant rate biased RLG INS was discussed, and an experimental method based on the fast orthogonal search (FOS) for the practical observation model to separate ARW error from the RLG measured data was proposed. Validity of the FOS-based method was checked by estimating the ARW coefficients of the mechanically dithered RLG under stationary and turntable rotation conditions. By utilizing the FOS-based method, the average ARW coefficient of the constant rate biased RLG in the postulate system is estimated. The experimental results show that the FOS-based method can achieve high denoising ability. This method estimate the ARW coefficients of the constant rate biased RLG in the postulate system accurately. The FOS-based method does not need precise calibration table with high cost and complex measuring set-up, and Statistical results of the tests will provide us references in engineering application of the constant rate biased RLG INS.

Description: IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 1910: A Comparative Study of Nutritional Status, Knowledge Attitude and Practices (KAP) and Dietary Intake between International and Chinese Students in Nanjing, China International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph15091910 Authors: Ijaz ul Haq Zahula Mariyam Min Li Xiaojia Huang Pan Jiang Falak Zeb Xiaoyue Wu Qing Feng Ming Zhou University students tend to have poor dietary practices, which ultimately affect their nutritional status. International students are becoming more prevalent in China. The current study aimed to compare the nutritional status, knowledge attitude and practices (KAP) and dietary intake between international and Chinese students in China. A comparative study was conducted in undergraduate students of Nanjing Medical University aged 17–31 years including 308 international and 393 Chinese students. Data was collected by self-administered questionnaire. Body composition was detected by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Student t-test and chi square test were used for comparison. Linear regressions were used for association of nutritional status with determinants. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in international student was higher than Chinese students. International male and female students were having significantly (p < 0.05) high BMI and percent body fats than Chinese male and female students. Nutritional KAP scores of Chinese students was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than international students. As for diet consumption, daily milk consumption was high in international students while daily egg and weekly fish and meat consumption were found more in Chinese students. Fast foods and carbonated drinks weekly consumption was significantly (p < 0.001) high in international students. After adjusted for age, gender, education, sleeping duration and physical exercise, the inverse association of nutritional KAP with BMI remained significant. Our data indicate that international students had more percent body fats, less nutritional KAP scores and unhealthy dietary habits than Chinese students. Proper nutrition education and guidance for improving good habits and nutritional status is suggested for international students.