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Obesity has become a global public health issue and is closely related to bowel habits. The Weight-Adjusted-Waist Index (WWI), a new indicator of obesity, provides a more accurate assessment of central obesity. This study aims to investigate the relationship between WWI and bowel habits. The 2005–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset was used for the cross-sectional survey. Bowel habits were defined by self-report. Multiple logistic regression models were used to test the linear association of WWI with chronic diarrhea and constipation. Fitted smoothed curves and threshold effects analysis were used to characterize nonlinear relationships. Subgroup analyses and interaction tests were used to determine the heterogeneity and stability of the study. This population-based study included 14,238 adults (≥ 20 years). After adjusting for covariates, there was a significant positive association between WWI and chronic diarrhea (OR [95% CI] 1.27 [1.14, 1.41]). There was a non-linear association between WWI and chronic constipation, and we found a breakpoint of 9.77, with a positive correlation on the left side of the breakpoint and no statistical significance on the right side. Subgroup analyses and interaction tests showed stable and consistent results between WWI and bowel habits across the stratification factors. Elevated levels of WWI are associated with an increased risk of chronic diarrhea. A range of WWI < 9.77 is associated with an increased risk of chronic constipation. WWI is a stable valid indicator for assessing intestinal health in U.S. adults, and we should be mindful of the importance of maintaining good levels of body fat in our daily lives to maintain healthy bowel habits.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated with dyslipidemia, and the non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (NHHR) is a more comprehensive indicator of lipids. This study aimed to investigate the association between NHHR and hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis. The 2017–2020 national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) dataset was used for the cross-sectional survey. NHHR was calculated by lipid profiling, and the controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) were determined by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE). Multiple linear regression models were used to test the linear association between NHHR and hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis. Fitted smoothing curves and threshold effect analysis were used to describe the nonlinear relationships. This population-based study included 6575 adults (≥ 18 years). After adjusting for covariates, we found a U-shaped association between NHHR and hepatic steatosis, with a breakpoint of 1.26. There was a negative association on the left side of the breakpoint (OR [95% CI] − 24.31 [− 43.92, − 4.70]) and a positive association on the right side of the breakpoint (OR [95% CI] 3.82 [2.05, 5.59]). There was no significant association between NHHR and liver fibrosis. In addition, subgroup analyses and interaction tests showed stable results. In summary, NHHR has a U-shaped association with hepatic steatosis and no significant association with liver fibrosis. Keeping NHHR below 1.26 may be an effective option to reduce the risk of hepatic steatosis. NHHR is a more efficient and cost-effective marker for NAFLD surveillance that can be utilized in future clinical practice.

Taxi demand can be divided into pick-up demand and drop-off demand, which are firmly related to human’s travel habits. Accurately predicting taxi demand is of great significance to passengers, drivers, ride-hailing platforms and urban managers. Most of the existing studies only forecast the taxi demand for pick-up and separate the interaction between spatial correlation and temporal correlation. In this paper, we first analyze the historical data and select three highly relevant parts for each time interval, namely closeness, period and trend. We then construct a multi-task learning component and extract the common spatiotemporal feature by treating the taxi pick-up prediction task and drop-off prediction task as two related tasks. With the aim of fusing spatiotemporal features of historical data, we conduct feature embedding by attention-based long short-term memory (LSTM) and capture the correlation between taxi pick-up and drop-off with 3D ResNet. Finally, we combine external factors to simultaneously predict the taxi demand for pick-up and drop-off in the next time interval. Experiments conducted on real datasets in Chengdu present the effectiveness of the proposed method and show better performance in comparison with state-of-the-art models.

Obesity has become a global public health problem, and its relationship with gastrointestinal diseases has become a major concern. The visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a novel index to assess the distribution and content of visceral fat, and this study aimed to investigate the association between VAI and bowel habits (chronic diarrhea, chronic constipation) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The 2005–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset was used for the cross-sectional survey. Bowel habits and IBD were defined by self-report. Multiple logistic regression models were used to test the linear association of VAI with bowel habits and IBD. Fitted smoothed curves and threshold effects analyses were used to characterize nonlinear relationships. This cross-sectional study included 10,391 adults (≥ 20 years). After adjusting for covariates, there was a significant negative association between VAI and chronic constipation (OR [95% CI]: 0.97 [0.95, 1.00]) but no significant association with IBD (OR [95% CI]: 0.97 [0.87, 1.07]). Additionally, there was a nonlinear association between VAI and chronic diarrhea with a breakpoint of 3.08, with a positive correlation between the two on the left side of the breakpoint and no statistical significance on the right side. Subgroup analyses and interaction tests showed that maintaining sleep health was associated with a low risk of chronic constipation. Elevated VAI levels were negatively associated with chronic constipation, and elevated levels were positively associated with chronic diarrhea at VAI < 3.08. This reminds us that maintaining moderate levels of visceral fat may prevent the onset of chronic constipation and circumvent the risk of chronic diarrhea. Notably, maintaining healthy sleep may play a positive role in reducing chronic constipation.

In our previous work (J Chem Eng Data 2021, 66(3):1385–1398), a residual entropy scaling (RES) approach was developed to link viscosity to residual entropy [a thermodynamic property calculated with an equation of state (EoS)] using a simple polynomial equation for refrigerants. Here, we present an extension of this approach to a much wider range of fluids: all pure fluids and their mixtures whose reference EoS and experimental viscosity data are available. A total of 84 877 experimental points for 124 pure fluids and 351 mixtures are collected from 1846 references. The investigated pure fluids contain a wide variety of fluids from light gases with quantum effects at low temperatures to dense fluids and fluids with strong intermolecular association. More than 68.2 % (corresponding to the standard deviation) of the evaluated experimental data agree with the RES model within 3.2 % and 8.0 % for pure fluids and mixtures, respectively. Compared to the recommended models implemented in the REFPROP 10.0 software (the state-of-the-art for thermophysical property calculation), if the dilute gas viscosity is calculated in the same way, our RES approach yields similar statistical agreement with the experimental data while having a much simpler formulation and fewer parameters. To use our RES model, a software package written in Python is provided in the supporting information.Graphical Abstract

With the development of technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, digital technology and finance are becoming increasingly intertwined. At present, digital finance has altered the competitive environment of commercial banks, and the traditional competitive edges in service scenarios and channels, customer information, and capital have been challenged. Based on perfect competition and technology spillover effects, this study attempted to measure the impact of digital finance on commercial banks’ total factor productivity (TFP) and its mediating and moderating mechanisms. We have used the data envelopment analysis-based Malmquist productivity index to measure the total factor productivity of 132 commercial banks in China between 2011 and 2019. The results show that (a) digital finance significantly enhances the TFP of commercial banks; (b) risk taking partially mediates the relationship between digital finance and TFP. The study further tests the effect of the nature of property rights and the moderating effect of diversification. The findings suggest that digital finance significantly improves the TFP of non-state-owned commercial banks but has no significant effect on the TFP of state-owned commercial banks. Additionally, the implementation of diversification can strengthen the effect of digital finance on TFP.

The effect of caffeine in coffee, a popular beverage, on gastrointestinal symptoms has been the subject of ongoing debate worldwide. The present study explored the association between caffeine intake and bowel habits and Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning 2005-2010 were utilized for this cross-sectional survey. Bowel habits and IBD were defined by self-report. Logistic regression models assessed the linear relationship between caffeine intake and chronic constipation. Nonlinear associations were delineated using fitted smoothed curves and threshold effect analyses. Finally, subgroup analyses and interactions were used to test the stability of the findings. This population-based study included a total of 12,759 adults. We found that caffeine intake was negatively associated with chronic diarrhea. There was a U-shaped nonlinear relationship between caffeine intake and chronic constipation. To the left of breakpoint 2.04 (100 mg/1 unit), caffeine intake was negatively associated with chronic constipation (OR [95% CI]: 0.82 [0.74, 0.90]), however, to the right of the breakpoint, there was a positive association (OR [95% CI]: 1.06 [1.00, 1.12]). In addition, no significant association was found between caffeine intake and IBD. Subgroup analyses and interaction tests showed that caffeine intake was simply negatively associated with chronic constipation in older adults. In conclusion, moderate caffeine intake may help with bowel movements, but excessive caffeine intake may cause chronic constipation. Appropriate caffeine intake in older adults may help prevent chronic constipation. This suggests that in our clinical practice, we need to strategize caffeine intake according to the population's defecation status.

Professional identity is considered important for nursing students' professional commitment and future career development. Meaning in life, attitudes toward death, and peer support may be related to professional identity formation. This study aimed to examine the association between meaning in life and professional identity among nursing students, test the parallel mediating roles of positive and negative death attitudes, and explore whether peer support moderated these associations. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. A total of 361 nursing interns from mainland China were recruited using convenience sampling and completed structured questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, the Death Attitude Profile-Revised, the Professional Identity Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the Friends Support Scale. Data were analyzed using correlation analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and moderated parallel mediation analysis. Professional identity was positively associated with meaning in life, positive death attitudes, and peer support, and was negatively associated with negative death attitudes. Positive and negative death attitudes showed partial parallel mediating roles in the association between meaning in life and professional identity. Peer support significantly moderated the direct association between meaning in life and professional identity, but did not significantly moderate the associations between death attitudes and professional identity. The findings suggest that nursing students' professional identity is associated with both internal meaning-making and external peer support, and that death attitudes may represent potential psychological mechanisms linking meaning in life and professional identity. Nursing education may benefit from strategies that address students' sense of meaning, incorporate reflective death education, and support peer networks. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal relationships.

Point of interest (POI) recommendation can benefit users and merchants. It is a very important and popular service in modern life. In this paper, we aim to study the next new POI recommendation problem with the consideration of privacy preserving in edge computing. The challenge lies in capturing the transition patterns between POIs precisely and meanwhile protecting users’ location. In this paper, first, we propose to model users’ check-in sequences with their latent states based on HMM, and EM algorithm is used to estimate the parameters of the model. Second, we propose to protect users’ location information by a weighted noise injection method. Third, we predict users’ next movement according to his current location based on Forward algorithm. Experimental results on two large-scale LBSNs datasets show that our proposed model without noise injection can achieve better recommendation accuracy than several state-of-the-art techniques, and the proposed weighted noise injection approach can achieve better performance on privacy preserving than traditional one with a little cost on accuracy.

Satellite communication networks have been widely used to provide essential communication services, including voice communication, global positioning, message communication, etc. However, sorts of network attacks are easy to be launched in these networks due to the limited computation capability and communication width, long communication delay, and intermittent link connection. In this paper, we first propose a new [E]ncryption-based [M]utual [A]uthentication and [K]ey [U]pdate (EMAKU) protocol in satellite communication networks. Next we analyze the security of the EMAKU protocol under two classic network attacks which are replay attack and man-in-the-middle attack. Finally, experiments show that the EMAKU protocol is 21.5% faster than the traditional encryption-based authentication protocols, and the average time of key update of the EMAKU protocol is about 450.01 ms.