Background: Alzheimer disease is incurable, but it is possible to intervene and slow down the progression of dementia during periods of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) through virtual reality (VR) technology. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the effects of VR interventions on older adults with MCI. The examined outcomes include cognitive abilities, mood, quality of life, and physical fitness, including general cognitive function, memory performance, attention and information processing speed, executive function, language proficiency, visuospatial abilities, depression, daily mobility of individuals, muscle performance, and gait and balance. Methods: A total of 4 web-based databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Ovid) were searched up to December 30, 2023, for randomized controlled trials assessing the self-reported outcomes of VR-based technology on cognition, mood, quality of life, and physical fitness in older adults (aged ≥55 years) with MCI. Two reviewers independently screened the search results and reference lists of the identified papers and related reviews. Data on the intervention components and delivery and behavioral change techniques used were extracted. A meta-analysis, risk-of-bias sensitivity analysis, and subgroup analysis were performed where appropriate to explore potential moderators. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach was used to assess the quality of evidence. Results: This review analyzed 18 studies involving 722 older adults with MCI. VR was delivered through different immersion levels with VR cognitive training, VR physical training, or VR cognitive-motor dual-task training. VR interventions showed significant improvements in memory (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.2, 95% CI 0.02-0.38), attention and information processing speed (SMD 0.25, 95% CI 0.06-0.45), and executive function (SMD 0.22, 95% CI 0.02-0.42). VR without therapist involvement improved memory as well as attention and information processing speed. VR cognitive training also resulted in significant improvements in attention and information processing speed in older adults with MCI (SMD 0.31, 95% CI 0.05-0.58). In addition, immersive VR had a significant impact on improving attention and information processing speed (SMD 0.25; 95% CI 0.01-0.50) and executive function (SMD 0.25; 95% CI 0.00-0.50). However, the effects of the intervention were very small in terms of general cognitive function, language proficiency, visuospatial abilities, depression, daily living ability, muscle performance, and gait and balance. Quality of evidence varied, with moderate ratings for certain cognitive functions and low ratings for others, based on the GRADE approach. Conclusions: VR interventions can improve memory, attention and information processing speed, and executive function in older adults with MCI. The quality of evidence is moderate to low, and further research is needed to confirm these findings and explore additional health-related outcomes.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is widely used in machinery and construction due to their extra-ordinary mechanical properties. Up to now, conventional drilling is the most common machining process to facilitate holes on CFRP laminates for the component assembly. However, drilling-induced delamination is widely considered as the most undesirable damage and challenging failure mode in this process. The present paper aims to propose a convenient and quick method to predict the mechanical properties of open-hole laminated plain woven CFRP composites more accurately. First, the delamination results of nondestructive test by C-scan and simulation were compared after practical experiment and numerical simulation of drilling process. Second, an equivalent parameter was proposed to simplify the delamination regions with complex boundaries, and the mechanical property evaluation model was constructed by introducing the initial delamination damage area, which was obtained from the drilling numerical simulation results. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated by analyzing the mechanical properties and failure modes of CFRP with processing delamination damage under loading conditions of tension, compression and bending. Therefore, the proposed method in this paper can help understand the degradation mechanism of composites after drilling and provide guidance for the design of open-hole laminated plain woven CFRP composites.

The antennal sensilla of Myzus persicae were mapped using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Placoid sensilla and coeloconic sensilla were found on the 6th segments, whereas 2 types of trichoid sensilla were present all through the length of the antenna. A single sensillum placoideum was located on the 5th segment, whereas alate aphids also presented placoid sensilla on the 3rd antennal segment. Immunocytochemical localization of odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) was performed on ultrathin sections of antennal chemosensilla. The antiserum against OBP7 intensively labeled all placoid sensilla from both primary and secondary rhinaria, with gold granules concentrated in the lymph surrounding the dendrite. OBP6 and OBP3 could also be detected in placoid sensilla, but less strongly than OBP7. Barely significant reaction or no reaction was observed with antibodies against OBP8.