From a comparative perspective, this paper argues that early Chinese empires lacked the concept of talion or tort law when malicious violence or intent became factors. Instead, wrongdoers were required to pay fines to the government or received punishment as hard labor for the state. Victims not only could not receive compensation but were sometimes punished along with the offender if their loss was perceived as a loss to the empire. I argue that the absence of corrective justice in criminal cases can be traced back to the philosophical underpinnings of the body politic, a prominent discourse in early China that viewed the emperor and the people as a single, organic entity. When people were conceived of as constituting a unified, singular entity, criminal actions against an individual were interpreted as damage to the empire. Therefore, punishments for offenders were designed to compensate the empire, not the individual. Furthermore, in the context of the body politic, the suffering of both victims and offenders was regarded as metaphysically equal, which justified frequently pardoning culprits on a large scale to secure harmony within the empire. Originally, the body politic was employed to admonish and criticize the throne, urging the emperor to align his interests with the well-being of his people, but in practice, it compromised the practice of justice.

The reactive Navier–Stokes equations with adaptive mesh refinement and a detailed chemical reactive mechanism (11 species, 27 steps) were adopted to investigate a detonation engine considering the injection and supersonic mixing processes. Flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in a premixed/inhomogeneous supersonic hydrogen–air mixture with and without transverse jet obstacles were addressed. Results demonstrate the difficulty in undergoing DDT in the premixed/inhomogeneous supersonic mixture within a smooth chamber. By contrast, multiple transverse jets injected into the chamber aid detonation transition by introducing perturbed vortices, shock waves and a suitable blockage ratio. Increasing distance between the leading shock and the flame tip impedes detonation transition due to an insufficient blockage ratio. The extremely perturbed distributions of fuel-lean and fuel-rich mixtures lead to more complicated flame structures. Also, a larger flame thickness appears in the inhomogeneous mixture compared with the premixed mixture, resulting in a lower combustion temperature. The key findings are that the DDT, detonation quenching and reinitiation are generated in the inhomogeneous supersonic mixture, but both DDT mechanisms are ascribed to a strong Mach stem with the Zel'dovich gradient mechanism. Additionally, the obtained results demonstrate that an intensely fuel-lean mixture (equivalence ratio = 0.15) results in a partially decoupled flame front. However, detonation reinitiation and subsequent self-sustained detonation occur when a fierce shock wave propagates through a highly sensitive mixture, even within a smaller and elongated area. Moreover, the inhomogeneous mixture also augments the propagation speed and detonation cell structure instabilities and delays the sonic point resulting from the extending non-equilibrium reaction.

This study aimed to understand the potassium voltage-gated channel KQT-like subfamily, member 1 gene polymorphism in a rural elderly population in a county in Guangxi and to explore the possible relationship between its gene polymorphism and blood sugar. The 6 SNP loci of blood DNA samples from 4355 individuals were typed using the imLDRTM Multiple SNP Typing Kit from Shanghai Tianhao Biotechnology Co. The data combining epidemiological information (baseline questionnaire and physical examination results) and genotyping results were statistically analyzed using GMDR0.9 software and SPSS22.0 software. A total of 4355 elderly people aged 60 years and above were surveyed in this survey, and the total abnormal rate of glucose metabolism was 16·11 % (699/4355). Among them, male:female ratio was 1:1·48; the age group of 60–69 years old accounted for the highest proportion, with 2337 people, accounting for 53·66 % (2337/4355). The results of multivariate analysis showed that usually not doing farm work (OR 1·26; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·50), TAG ≥ 1·70 mmol/l (OR 1·19; 95 % CI 1·11, 1·27), hyperuricaemia (OR 1·034; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·66) and BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 (OR 1·06; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·09) may be risk factors for abnormal glucose metabolism. Among all participants, rs151290 locus AA genotype, A allele carriers (AA+AC) were 0.70 times more likely (0.54 to 0.91) and 0.82 times more likely (0.70 to 0.97) to develop abnormal glucose metabolism than CC genotype carriers, respectively. Carriers of the T allele at the rs2237892 locus (CT+TT) were 0.85 times more likely to have abnormal glucose metabolism than carriers of the CC genotype (0.72 to 0.99); rs2237897 locus CT gene. The possibility of abnormal glucose metabolism in the carriers of CC genotype, TT genotype and T allele (CT + TT) is 0·79 times (0·67–0·94), 0·74 times (0·55–0·99) and 0·78 times (0·66, 0·92). The results of multifactor dimensionality reduction showed that the optimal interaction model was a three-factor model consisting of farm work, TAG and rs2237897. The best model dendrogram found that the interaction between TAG and rs2237897 had the strongest effect on fasting blood glucose in the elderly in rural areas, and they were mutually antagonistic. Environment–gene interaction is an important factor affecting abnormal glucose metabolism in the elderly of a county in Hechi City, Guangxi.

Dietary antioxidant indices (DAI) may be potentially associated with relative telomere length (RTL) of leucocytes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between DAI and RTL. A cross-sectional study involving 1656 participants was conducted. A generalised linear regression model and a restricted cubic spline model were used to assess the correlation of DAI and its components with RTL. Generalised linear regression analysis revealed that DAI (β = 0·005, P = 0·002) and the intake of its constituents vitamin C (β = 0·043, P = 0·027), vitamin E (β = 0·088, P < 0·001), Se (β = 0·075, P = 0·003), and Zn (β = 0·075, P = 0·023) were significantly and positively correlated with RTL. Sex-stratified analysis showed that DAI (β = 0·006, P = 0·005) and its constituents vitamin E (β = 0·083, P = 0·012), Se (β = 0·093, P = 0·006), and Zn (β = 0·092, P = 0·034) were significantly and positively correlated with RTL among females. Meanwhile, among males, only vitamin E intake (β = 0·089, P = 0·013) was significantly and positively associated with RTL. Restricted cubic spline analysis revealed linear positive associations between DAI and its constituents’ (vitamin E, Se and Zn) intake and RTL in the total population. Sex-stratified analysis revealed a linear positive correlation between DAI and its constituents’ (vitamin E, Se and Zn) intake and RTL in females. Our study found a significant positive correlation between DAI and RTL, with sex differences.

Previous research has primarily focused on the impact of basic psychological needs frustration on parenting styles and its effect on children. However, there is a lack of research on the impact of basic psychological needs frustration in mothers, particularly those who work full time. To fill the gap, this study explores how frustration of needs experienced by full-time working mothers in the family context relates to their experience of maternal stress and family-to-work conflict and the moderating role of financial motivation to work. In a three-wave study of 168 full-time working mothers, we discovered a positive correlation between basic psychological needs frustration and maternal stress, which in turn led to family-to-work conflict. These relationships were more pronounced among mothers with lower financial motivation to work, as opposed to those with higher. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research and suggesting areas for future study.

Blood oxygen is an essential component for numerous biological processes of mammalian animals. Milk production of ruminants largely relies on the supply of nutrients, such as glucose, amino acids and fatty acids. To define the regulatory role of blood oxygen availability in regard to milk production, seventy-five healthy Guanzhong dairy goats with similar body weight, days in milk and parities were selected. For each animal, milk yield was recorded and milk sample was collected to determine compositions. Milk vein blood was collected to determine parameters including blood gas, physio-biochemistry and haematology. Another blood sample was prepared for transcriptome and RT-qPCR. Results showed that both pressure of oxygen (pO2) in the milk vein (positively) and numbers of neutrophils in mammary vein (negatively) were associated with milk yield of the animals. To learn the role of pO2 in blood cell functionality, twelve animals (six with higher yield (H-group) and six with lower yield (L-group)) from seventy-five goats were selected. Compared with animals in L-group, goats in H-group were higher in pO2 but lower in pCO2, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase activity and neutrophil abundance in milk vein, compared with L-group. The blood transcriptome analysis suggested that compared with L-group, animals in H-group were depressed in functionality including neutrophil activation and metabolic pathways including glycolysis, NF-κB and HIF-1. Our result revealed that lower milk production could be associated with neutrophil activation responding to low pO2 in the mammary vein. In the meantime, we highlighted the potential importance of blood oxygen as a milk yield regulator.

Nutritional Risk Screening index is a standard tool to assess nutritional risk, but epidemiological data are scarce on controlling nutritional status (CONUT) as a prognostic marker in acute haemorrhagic stroke (AHS). We aimed to explore whether the CONUT may predict a 3-month functional outcome in AHS. In total, 349 Chinese patients with incident AHS were consecutively recruited, and their malnutrition risks were determined using a high CONUT score of ≥ 2. The cohort patients were divided into high-CONUT (≥ 2) and low-CONUT (< 2) groups, and primary outcomes were a poor functional prognosis defined as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of ≥ 3 at post-discharge for 3 months. Odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the poor functional prognosis at post-discharge were estimated by using a logistic analysis with additional adjustments for unbalanced variables between the high-CONUT and low-CONUT groups. A total of 328 patients (60·38 ± 12·83 years; 66·77 % male) completed the mRS assessment at post-discharge for 3 months, with 172 patients at malnutrition risk at admission and 104 patients with a poor prognosis. The levels of total cholesterol and total lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in high-CONUT patients than low-CONUT patients (P = 0·012 and < 0·001, respectively). At 3-month post discharge, there was a greater risk for the poor outcome in the high-CONUT compared with the low-CONUT patients at admission (OR: 2·32, 95 % CI: 1·28, 4·17). High-CONUT scores independently predict a 3-month poor prognosis in AHS, which helps to identify those who need additional nutritional managements.

Localization based on visual natural landmarks is one of the state-of-the-art localization methods for automated vehicles that is, however, limited in fast motion and low-texture environments, which can lead to failure. This paper proposes an approach to solve these limitations with an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based on a state estimation algorithm that fuses information from a low-cost MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit and a Time-of-Flight camera. We demonstrate our results in an indoor environment. We show that the proposed approach does not require any global reflective landmark for localization and is fast, accurate, and easy to use with mobile robots.

The present work studies numerically the quasi-steady propagation of a hydrogen/oxygen detonation in a supersonic model combustor consisting of a cavity and an expanding wall. The two-dimensional reactive compressible Navier–Stokes equations with a one-step and two-species reaction model are solved using a hybrid sixth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory-centred difference scheme combined with a structured adaptive mesh refinement technique. The results show that, after the shutdown of the hot jet, the detonation wave is successfully stabilized quasi-steadily in the supersonic model combustor together with periodic fluctuations of the detonation front. The formation of the quasi-steady propagation of detonation in the model combustor is mainly due to the combined effects of (i) pressure oscillations generated in the cavity, which facilitate the detonation propagation, and (ii) lateral mass divergence brought by the expanding wall, which can lead to detonation attenuation, and an unburned jet associated with large-scale vortices resulting from a Prandtl–Meyer expansion fan. This expansion fan is generated because of the expanding wall, which can contribute to the detonation stabilization. It is found that, for an incoming velocity lower than the Chapman–Jouguet value, a quasi-steady propagation of the detonation wave cannot be achieved. However, for incoming velocity higher than the Chapman–Jouguet value, a stabilization can be realized. This is effectively due to the formation of a periodic process, including four stages of forward propagation, detonation attenuation, backward propagation and detonation bifurcation, indicating the influence of the supersonic model combustor on the overall process.

Preoperative nutritional status plays an important role in predicting postoperative outcomes. Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) are good tools to assess patients’ nutritional status. They have been used in predicting outcomes in various malignancies, but few studies have focused on pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Totally, 306 PDAC patients were enrolled. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was introduced to eliminate the baseline inequivalence. Patients with different PNI (or CONUT) scores showed inequivalence baseline characteristics, and patients with compromised nutritional status were related with a more advanced tumour stage. After PSM, the baseline characteristics were well balanced. Both low PNI (≤45) and high CONUT (≥3) were independent risk factors for poor overall survival (P < 0·05), and the result remained the same after PSM. Survival analysis demonstrated both patients with low PNI and high CONUT score were associated with poorer survival, and the result remained the same after PSM. The results of AUC indicated that CONUT might have a higher sensitivity and specificity in predicting complications and survival. Preoperative low PNI (≤45) and high CONUT (≥3) scores might be reliable predictors of prognosis and surgical complications in PDAC patients. Compared with PNI, CONUT might be more effective.

Several studies analysed the associations between dietary carbohydrate intake, glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) and digestive system cancers; however, the results remain controversial. This study was to perform a meta-analysis evaluating the quantitative and dose–response associations between carbohydrate intake, GI and GL, and risk of digestive system cancers. We searched medical and biological databases up to June 2018 and identified twenty-six cohort studies and eighteen case–control studies. Meta-analytic fixed or random effects models were applied to process data. We also performed dose–response analysis, meta-regression and subgroup analyses. We found that high levels of GI were significantly associated with the risk of digestive system cancers at the highest compared with the lowest categories from cohort studies (summary relative risk (RR)=1·10, 95 % CI 1·05, 1·15). Similar effects were observed from case–control studies of the comparison between the extreme categories, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (summary OR=1·28, 95 % CI 0·97, 1·69). We also observed significant dose–response association between GI and digestive system cancers, with every 10-unit increase in GI (summary RR=1·003; 95 % CI 1·000, 1·012 for cohort studies; summary OR=1·09; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·11 for case–control studies). In addition, both cohort studies and case–control studies indicated that neither dietary carbohydrate intake nor GL bore any statistical relationship to digestive system cancers from the results of the highest compared with the lowest categories analyses and dose–response analyses. The results suggest a moderate association between high-GI diets and the risk of digestive system cancers.

In this study I take men from Donghai, a region of northeast China, as a case study for examining models of success in the Western Han (206 b.c.e.–9 c.e.). Employing digital tools to mine data from The Grand Scribe's Records (Shi ji) and The History of the Western Han (Han shu), I explore the social networks and career patterns of men from a region that enjoyed a reputation for producing a remarkable number of high officials and celebrated Ru. I focus on three questions. First, what was the social mechanism that enabled people to distinguish themselves at both the local and the imperial levels? Second, did these celebrated men from Donghai serve as bridges connecting the local to the capital, directing resources back to their hometown and helping their local fellows achieve success? Third, did their positions in the central government remove them from local society by transforming them into capital-dwelling elites primarily concerned about the success of their families in the central court? In addressing these questions, I probe the dynamics between bureaucratic hierarchy, social networks, and the flow of talent and resources. I investigate various understandings of prestige and the strategies for climbing the ladder of success. Furthermore, I ask which forms of social prestige—for example, academic reputation, wealth, social networks—could bypass the hierarchical system imposed by the imperial bureaucracy, providing direct access to lofty positions. Did the patterns of success seen in the Donghai group reflect a bias built into the sources, constitute a regional variation, or provide a universal model for success in early imperial China?

Study of the residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) can assist with the assessment of the contamination level, distribution, sources, transportation and trends in these selected OCPs. We investigated the concentration levels of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), chlordane, which is currently used, and the never-used aldrin and dieldrin in the Ningbo region – a heavily industrialised and urbanised area in East China. OCPs were found in all soil samples and were predominantly composed of HCHs, DDT and its metabolites. The concentration of DDTs in the soil ranged from 2.2 to 566.6ngg–1, with a mean value of 55.6±94.8ngg–1, while the concentration of HCHs ranged from 2.7 to 28.2ngg–1, with an average of 4.6±2.9ngg–1. Aldrin, dieldrin, endrin and heptachlor were detected at much lower concentrations. The wide distribution of these never-used OCPs indicates that they have been input via long-range atmospheric processes. The results from analysis suggest that HCHs and DDTs were mainly derived from use in historical times.

In the present work, the role of diffusion and mixing in hot jet initiation and detonation propagation in a supersonic combustible hydrogen–oxygen mixture is investigated in a two-dimensional channel. A second-order accurate finite volume method solver combined with an adaptive mesh refinement method is deployed for both the reactive Euler and Navier–Stokes equations in combination with a one-step and two-species reaction model. The results show that the small-scale vortices resulting from the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability enhance the reactant consumption in the inviscid result through the mixing. However, the suppression of the growth of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and the subsequent formation of small-scale vortices imposed by the diffusion in the viscous case can result in the reduction of the mixing rate, hence slowing the consumption of the reactant. After full initiation in the whole channel, the mixing becomes insufficient to facilitate the reactant consumption. This applies to both the inviscid and viscous cases and is due to the absence of the unburned reactant far away from the detonation front. Nonetheless, the stronger diffusion effect in the Navier–Stokes results can contribute more significantly to the reactant consumption closely behind the detonation front. However, further downstream the mixing is expected to be stronger, which eventually results in a stronger viscous detonation than the corresponding inviscid one. At high grid resolutions it is vital to correctly consider physical viscosity to suppress intrinsic instabilities in the detonation front, which can also result in the generation of less triple points even with a larger overdrive degree. Numerical viscosity was minimized to such an extent that inviscid results remained intrinsically unstable while asymptotically converged results were only obtained when the Navier–Stokes model was applied, indicating that solving the reactive Navier–Stokes equations is expected to give more correct descriptions of detonations.

Students of Chinese intellectual history are familiar with moral cosmology developed in the Han era, a theory that alleges that ru use omens to admonish the emperor, and thereby to constrain and compete with his absolute political power. This thesis, in theory, is convincing; in actuality it is not. This article questions the autonomous power of omen discourse. Focusing on the socio-political conditions in which this discourse functioned, it demonstrates that, in real politics, the enactment of omen interpretation had nothing to do with restraining the power of the throne, but evolved with bloody factional struggles. Replacing the secret knowledge of diviners and astrologers with the common cultural heritage—the classics—and transforming the mysterious otherworldly spirits into a moral agent, ru successfully defeated the technical specialists and became the primary operators of the omen interpretation enterprise. The theoretical innovation that contributed to ru's success, however, undermined their chance of building a social closure both to close off competition and to secure their interpretative authority. As numerous historical cases show, neither the ru classics nor the moral competence of the speaker add to the social efficacy of omen explanation: without monopolised knowledge, standardised hermeneutic rules, or institutionalised positions, omen discourse, rather than contesting political power, became its servant.