The Mediterranean diet is often proposed as a sustainable diet model. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and sustainability domains in a cohort of French adults, using multiple criteria including nutritional quality, environmental pressures, monetary cost and dietary pesticide exposure. Food intakes of 29 210 NutriNet-Santé volunteers were assessed in 2014 using a semi-quantitative FFQ. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated using the validated literature-based adherence score (MEDI-LITE). The associations between the MEDI-LITE and various sustainability indicators were examined using ANCOVA models, adjusted for sex, age and energy intake. Higher adherence to the MEDI-LITE was associated with higher nutritional quality scores, better overall nutrient profile as well as reduced environmental impact (land occupation: Q5 v. Q1: −35 %, greenhouse gas emissions: −40 % and cumulative energy demand: −17 %). In turn, monetary cost increased with increasing adherence to the Mediterranean diet (Q5 v. Q1: +15 %), while higher adherents to the Mediterranean diet had overall higher pesticide exposure due to their high plant-based food consumption. In this large cohort of French adults, greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with nutritional and environmental benefits, but also with higher monetary cost and greater exposure to pesticides, illustrating the necessity to develop large-scale strategies for healthy, safe (pesticide- and contaminant-free) and environmentally sustainable diets for all.

A ‘control’ provides a point of clinical comparison for a new intervention, allowing researchers and clinicians to draw more confident conclusions about the effectiveness or potential harm of a given, often novel, therapy. Although this aspect of a trial's design provides the basis from which interventional impact is measured, it is often less closely examined. This commentary appraises a Cochrane Review that compares various controls in common use in modern psychiatric research and aims to characterise their effects on the outcomes of that research.

In this study, tunability of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like transmission window by low-volume dielectric loadings is presented both numerically and experimentally in S-band. The EIT-like transmission behavior is obtained by a metamaterial, composed of an electric resonator and a closed-ring resonator patterned on a dielectric substrate. The frequency tuning is obtained by two applications called horizontal sliding application (HSA) and vertical sliding application based on sliding of the low-volume loadings from the edges to geometric center (i.e., inward). For both applications, the frequency tuning has been investigated for dielectric loadings which have relative permittivity of 2.2, 3, 4.5, and 6.15. The results reveal that the proposed sliding applications are effective on tuning the transmission peak frequency. An achieved 1136 and 971 MHz absolute spectral shifts and corresponding 6.34% and 5.41% absolute sensitivities by simulations and measurements, respectively, are the best results which are obtained for HSA at 5 mm shift value. Moreover, 14.67% sensitivity is obtained in simulations for the complete dielectric loading on the resonator in response to the increase in refractive index from 1 to 1.5. It is believed that the proposed applications will contribute to the existent sensing studies.

We show that the size-Ramsey number of the $\sqrt{n} \times \sqrt{n}$ grid graph is $O(n^{5/4})$, improving a previous bound of $n^{3/2 + o(1)}$ by Clemens, Miralaei, Reding, Schacht, and Taraz.

Developed sequential order statistics (DSOS) are very useful in modeling the lifetimes of systems with dependent components, where the failure of one component affects the performance of remaining surviving components. We study some stochastic comparison results for DSOS in both one-sample and two-sample scenarios. Furthermore, we study various ageing properties of DSOS. We state many useful results for generalized order statistics as well as ordinary order statistics with dependent random variables. At the end, some numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed results.

In China, government at all levels relies on the specially selected graduates (SSG) scheme to recruit elite university students as future political leaders. This article examines the mechanism of the SSG scheme and the relationship between elite university education and political selection in China. We show that elite education is increasingly stratified, such that graduates from top elite universities have significant selection advantages in the SSG competition and are more likely to be offered incentives and preferences. We argue that taking elite university education as a hard eligibility criterion reinforces the homophily effects in selection of future political elites and strengthens the political influence of top elite universities on China's politics. Further, because poor and lower-class students have little chance of entering elite universities, the SSG does not provide an effective route of upward mobility for non-elite classes. Merit-based political recruitment as a channel of upward mobility for non-elite classes is largely an illusion.

Let $x\in [0,1)$ be an irrational number and let $x=[a_{1}(x),a_{2}(x),\ldots ]$ be its continued fraction expansion with partial quotients $\{a_{n}(x): n\geq 1\}$. Given a natural number m and a vector $(x_{1},\ldots ,x_{m})\in [0,1)^{m},$ we derive the asymptotic behaviour of the shortest distance function

$$ \begin{align*} M_{n,m}(x_{1},\ldots,x_{m})=\max\{k\in \mathbb{N}: a_{i+j}(x_{1})=\cdots= a_{i+j}(x_{m}) \ \text{for}~ j=1,\ldots,k \mbox{ and some } i \mbox{ with } 0\leq i \leq n-k\}, \end{align*} $$

which represents the run-length of the longest block of the same symbol among the first n partial quotients of $(x_{1},\ldots ,x_{m}).$ We also calculate the Hausdorff dimension of the level sets and exceptional sets arising from the shortest distance function.

This paper proves the finite axiomatizability of transitive modal logics of finite depth and finite width w.r.t. proper-successor-equivalence. The frame condition of the latter requires, in a rooted transitive frame, a finite upper bound of cardinality for antichains of points with different sets of proper successors. The result generalizes Rybakov’s result of the finite axiomatizability of extensions of $\mathbf {S4}$ of finite depth and finite width.

The axial offset joint has two rotating axes that do not intersect but have a specific offset in space. It is used widely in parallel manipulators (PMs). The offset-joint workspace can directly affect the PM workspace. This study performed a theoretical derivation and workspace analysis of a class of axial offset joints. First, a theoretical parametric model describing the rotation range of the offset joint is established that considers the interference of the offset joint because of the contact between the upper- and lower-joint brackets during movement. Second, the analytical expressions of the offset-joint workspace are formulated based on the coordinate system transformation. The offset-joint workspace is theoretically calculated in this study using formulations. Then, through a comparative analysis, the superiority of the offset joint compared with the universal joint is verified. The theoretical formulations in this paper can be used to calculate the workspace of a class of axial offset joints. Finally, based on a workspace analysis of three types of PMs using offset, universal, and spherical joints, the offset-joint PM workspace is much larger than those of the other two types.

This article shows the design of two different low phase noise (LPN) planar X-band frequency oscillators using two various microstrip filters (MFs). These two MFs act as a frequency stabilization part in the loop of the microwave oscillator. The first one, the modified Jerusalem MF (MJ-MF), is based on the Jerusalem scheme. The second one, the complementary modified Jerusalem MF (CMJ-MF), is complementary of the MJ-MF. Finally, by employing the branchline coupler, the LPN MF oscillator is achieved. The MJ-MF (narrowband filter) LPN X-band oscillator operates at 8.17 GHz and denotes a phase noise (PN) of −161 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz frequency offset. The CMJ-MF (wideband filter) LPN X-band oscillator operates at 8.14 GHz and mentions a PN of −157 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz frequency offset.

Due to the advent of high-throughput communication satellites in a geostationary orbit, the development of multiple beam phased array antenna (MBPAA) technology has become a necessity. This paper presents the design and implementation of the constituent unit of a beamforming network (BFN), which feeds an MBPAA with interleaved sub-arrays. The proposed BFN generates multiple orthogonal sub-beams with a very tiny angular distance between adjacent sub-beams in a limited field of view. The BFN consists of sub-array beamforming networks (SABFNs) with unequal number of beam ports and antenna ports, which can feed both the arrays lateral elements and the interleaved core sub-arrays for pattern shaping and side-lobe level reduction. A microwave circuit for this SABFN has been designed and fabricated in C-band. The microstrip lines have been printed on the two sides of a suspended substrate. This technique leads to size reduction of the circuit by twice a value compared to a conventional microstrip circuit. Measurements have been compared to simulations, and good conformity has been observed. The insertion loss in the path of beam ports to the antenna ports is 3.5 dB for a relative bandwidth of 10%.

For 147 hospital-onset bloodstream infections, we assessed the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the National Healthcare Safety Network surveillance definitions of central-line–associated bloodstream infections against the gold standard of physician review, examining the drivers of discrepancies and related implications for reporting and infection prevention.

Two thrips, Megalurothrips usitatus (Bagnall) and Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom) are major pests of cowpea in South China. To realistically compare the growth, development and reproductive characteristics of these two thrips species, we compared their age-stage, two-sex life tables on cowpea pods under summer and winter natural environmental regimes. The results showed that the total preadult period of M. usitatus was 8.09 days, which was significantly longer than that of F. intonsa (7.06 days), while the adult female longevity of M. usitatus (21.14 days) was significantly shorter than that of F. intonsa (25.77 days). Significant differences were showed in male adult longevity (10.68 days for F. intonsa and 16.95 days for M. usitatus) and the female ratio of offspring (0.67 for F. intonsa and 0.51 for M. usitatus), and the total preadult period of M. usitatus (16.20 days) was significantly longer than that of F. intonsa (13.66 days) in the winter regime. The net reproductive rate (summer: R0 = 85.62, winter: R0 = 105.22), intrinsic rate of increase (summer: r = 0.3020 day−1, winter: r = 0.2115 day−1), finite rate of increase (summer: λ = 1.3526 day−1, winter: λ = 1.2356 day−1) and gross reproduction rate (summer: GRR = 139.34, winter: GRR = 159.88) of F. intonsa were higher than those of M. usitatus (summer: R0 = 82.91, r = 0.2741, λ = 1.3155, GRR = 135.71; winter: R0 = 80.62, r = 0.1672, λ = 1.1820, GRR = 131.26), and the mean generation times (summer: T = 14.73 days, winter: T = 22.01 days) of F. intonsa were significantly shorter than those of M. usitatus (summer: T = 16.11 days, winter: T = 26.25 days). These results may contribute to a better understanding of the bioecology of different thrips species, especially the interspecific competition between two economically important cowpea thrips with the same ecological niche in a changing environment.