Background/Objectives: Milk intake is widely recommended for a healthy diet. Epidemiological studies have suggested that the consumption of dairy products may be associated with a reduction in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A meta-analysis was conducted to elucidate the association between dairy products consumption and T2DM. Subjects/Methods: A systematical literature search was done through the Medline database and seven related cohort studies were identified. The adjusted relative risks (RRs) with the highest and the lowest categories from each study were extracted to calculate the combined RR. A least-square trend estimation was applied to assess the dose-response relationships. Results: A combined RR of 0.86 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.79-0.92) was revealed on T2DM risk associated to dairy intake, with little evidence of heterogeneity. For subgroup analysis, a combined RR was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.74-0.90), 1.00 (95% CI, 0.89-1.10), 0.95 (95% CI, 0.86-1.05) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.74-0.93) for the intake of low-fat dairy, high-fat dairy, whole milk and yogurt, respectively. Dose-response analysis showed that T2DM risk could be reduced 5% for total dairy products and 10% for low-fat dairy products. Conclusion: An inverse association of daily intake of dairy products, especially low-fat dairy, with T2DM was revealed, indicating a beneficial effect of dairy consumption in the prevention of T2DM development.

This article presents theoretical studies for parametrically excited vibrations of marine riser of the floating production, drilling, storage, and offloading system under random wave forces and earthquake excitation. The equation of motion of the riser is obtained by a mathematical method utilizing Euler beam theory and Galerkin method. The trigonometric series method is used to formulate random wave force and earthquake excitation in time domain. The dynamic analysis, spectral response analysis, and key parameters’ sensitivity analysis are conducted for the riser system. Parameter studies are conducted for the effects of wave and earthquake parameters and structural parameters on dynamics response of the riser system. The results from this study can provide valuable recommendations for the design and construction of the parametrically excited marine riser system under random wave forces and earthquake excitation and can promote widely practical application of the deep water riser in complicated environmental conditions.

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Block copolymers of poly(ethersulphone) (PES) oligomers with liquid crystalline polyester units were synthesized by the reaction of dihydroxy-terminated poly(ether sulphone) oligomers (number-average molecular weights: 704, 1,158 and 2570) and terephthaloyl bis(4-oxybenzoyl chloride), and their properties were investigated. The results indicated that the copolymer with PES segments of molecular weight of 704 possessed birefringent features when annealed at 360°C, while the copolymer with PES segments of molecular weight of 2,570 became isotropic. Also, the block copolymers had a better chemical resistance and high-temperature stability than PES.