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Objectives: Artificial intelligence (AI) has been an important addition to medicine. We aimed to explore the use of deep learning (DL) to distinguish benign from malignant lesions with breast ultrasound (BUS). Methods: The DL model was trained with BUS nodule data using a standard protocol (1271 malignant nodules, 1053 benign nodules, and 2144 images of the contralateral normal breast). The model was tested with 692 images of 256 breast nodules. We used the accuracy, precision, recall, harmonic mean of recall and precision, and mean average precision as the indices to assess the DL model. We used 100 BUS images to evaluate differences in diagnostic accuracy among the AI system, experts (>25 years of experience), and physicians with varying levels of experience. A receiver operating characteristic curve was generated to evaluate the accuracy for distinguishing between benign and malignant breast nodules. Results: The DL model showed 73.3% sensitivity and 94.9% specificity for the diagnosis of benign versus malignant breast nodules (area under the curve, 0.943). No significant difference in diagnostic ability was found between the AI system and the expert group (P =.951), although the physicians with lower levels of experience showed significant differences from the AI and expert groups (P =.01 and.03, respectively). Conclusions: Deep learning could distinguish between benign and malignant breast nodules with BUS. On BUS images, DL achieved diagnostic accuracy equivalent to that of expert physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inhibition of calcite crystal growth by acrylic acid-allylpolyethoxy carboxylate-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propanesulfonic acid (AA-APEY-AMPS, PAYS for short) was investigated in the cooling-water system. The terpolymer was prepared via the copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA), allylpolyethoxy carboxylate (APEY) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS), whose structures were characterized by FTIR and1H NMR. In this study, we have investigated the effect of the agent concentration and the ratio of the reactant. The experimental results show that AA-APEY-AMPS is an effective chelating scale inhibitor and it has high efficiency toward scales and nearly 90% for calcium carbonate and 100% for calcium sulfate. The produced crystals were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. It appears that the crystal shape, size, and the morphology of scale have changed apparently at the dosage of 5 mg/L. Based on the contrast experiment of the problem of scale formation, this paper analyses the mechanism of scale formation and the advantage of PAYS. The supporting mechanism of scale formation was also described and analyzed briefly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Formation of mineral scales of carbonate and sulphate poses significant problems in cooling water systems. For the control of calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate scales, a novel environmentally friendly type of scale inhibitor ALn was synthesized. The antiscale property of the ALn copolymer towards CaCO3and CaSO4in the artificial cooling water was studied through static scale inhibition tests, The observation shows that both CaCO3and CaSO4inhibition increase with increasing the degree of polymerization of ALn from 5 to 15, andthe dosage of ALn plays an important role on CaCO3and CaSO4inhibition. The effect on formation of CaCO3and CaSO4was investigated with combination of scanning electronic microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction analysis, respectively. Inhibition mechanism is proposed that the interactions between calcium and polyethylene glycol are the fundamental impetus to restrain the formation of the scale in cooling water systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scale formation, e.g. precipitation of calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate, is a significant problem in cooling water system. For the control of calcium scale and in response to environmental guidelines, the novel low-phosphorus terpolymer was prepared through free radical polymerization reaction of acrylic acid (AA), oxalic acid-allypolyethoxy carboxylate (APEM), and phosphorous acid (H3PO3) in water with redox system of hypophosphorous and ammonium persulfate as initiator. The synthesized AA–APEM–H3PO3terpolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and1H NMR. The inhibition property of the low-phosphorus terpolymer towards CaCO3and CaSO4in the artificial cooling water was studied through static scale inhibition tests, and the effect on morphology of CaCO3and CaSO4was investigated with combination of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction analysis, respectively. FT-IR was also used to study the effect on morphology of CaCO3. It was shown that AA–APEM–H3PO3exhibited excellent ability to control calcium scale, with approximately 90.16% CaCO3inhibition and 96.94% CaSO4inhibition at levels of 8 and 4 mg/L AA–APEM–H3PO3, respectively. AA–APEM–H3PO3also displayed ability to change the morphologies and crystal structures of CaCO3and CaSO4precipitates. The proposed inhibition mechanism suggests the surface complexation and chelation between the functional groups –P(O) (OH)2, –COOH, and Ca2+, with polyethylene glycol segments increasing its solubility in water. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT The polymeric scale inhibition and dispersion agents (PAYS) were prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylic acid, allylpolyethoxy carboxylate (APEY) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propanesulfonic acid by using ammonium persulfate as a radical initiator in aqueous solution, among which APEY was synthesized in laboratory. Structure of PAYS was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Experimental data showed that the terpolymer was a high-efficient chelate sorbent, and it exhibited excellent ability for calcium orthophosphate, with approximately 96% efficiency at the dosage of 4 mg/L, as well as high efficiency toward barium sulfate scales nearly 80% inhibition. The effectiveness of PAYS depends on the agent concentration, temperature and the ratio of the reactant. The formation of Ca3(PO4)2 and BaSO4 precipitates was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. It appeared that the crystal shape, size, and the morphology of scale changed apparently at the dosage of 4 and 15 mg/L, respectively. In addition, it has good effect on controlling iron (III) scaling. This study was also devoted to the understanding of the action mechanism of these inhibitors in suppressing the crystal nucleus formation and preventing the crystal growth. Based on the contrast experiment of scale formation, the supposing mechanism diagram was also delineated and analyzed in detail. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41546. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel double-hydrophilic block copolymers, acrylic acid (AA)-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propane sulfonate (AMPS)-oxalic acid-allypolyethoxy carboxylate (APEM) was specially designed and synthesized from allyloxy polyethoxy ether (APEG) to inhibit the precipitation of CaCO3and CaSO4. The structure of the copolymer was characterized by FT-IR and H1-NMR. Using the static experiment method, the scale inhibition efficiencies for CaCO3and CaSO4scale were investigated. It was shown that AA-AMPS-APEM exhibited excellent ability to control inorganic minerals scales, with approximately 97.1% CaSO4inhibition and displayed significant ability to prevent the formation of CaCO3scales. The synthesized AA-AMPS-APEM was also compared with that of current commercial inhibitors. The effect of the copolymer addition on the crystals of CaCO3and CaSO4scales morphology and structures were examined through scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction studies (XRD). It proved that great changes in the size and morphology of the calcium scales took place under the influence of AA-AMPS-APEM. The proposed inhibition mechanism suggests the formation of complexes between the side-chain carboxyl groups of AA-AMPS-APEM and calcium ions on the surface of inorganic minerals, and the excellent solubility of complexes resulted from a number of hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sulfonic group (-SO3H) group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A novel low-phosphorus terpolymer, used as scale, corrosion inhibitor, and dispersant for iron oxide, was prepared through free-radical polymerization reaction of acrylic acid (AA), oxalic acid-allypolyethoxy carboxylate (APEM), and phosphorous acid (H3PO3) in water with redox system of hypophosphorous and ammonium persulfate as initiator. Structure of the synthesized AA-APEM-H3PO3 terpolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and 1H-NMR. The polymer possesses excellent scale inhibition performance for CaCO3, outstanding ability to disperse ferric oxide, and good corrosion inhibition properties. The study showed that AA-APEM-H3PO3 exhibited excellent ability to control calcium carbonate scale, with approximately 90.16% CaCO3 inhibition at a level of 8 mg/L AA-APEM-H3PO3. The data of the light transmittance showed that, compared to hydrolyzed polymaleic acid and polyepoxysuccinic acid, AA-APEM-H3PO3 had superior ability to control iron ions scaling. The light transmittance of the solution was about 24.1% in the presence of the terpolymer when the dosage was 8 mg/L. Moreover, the corrosion inhibition efficiency could reach up to 79.77% at a dosage of 30 mg/L, with ethylene diamine tetra methylene phosphonic acid just 39.62%. Scanning electronic microscopy, transmission electron microscope, and X-ray powder diffraction analysis were used to investigate the effect of AA-APEM-H3PO3 on morphology of calcium carbonate scale. The low-phosphorous terpolymer has also been proven to be effective inhibitor of calcium carbonate even at increasing solution temperature, pH, and Ca2+ concentration. The proposed inhibition mechanism suggests the surface complexation and chelation between the functional groups P(O) (OH)2, COOH and Ca2+, with polyethylene glycol segments increasing its solubility in water. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41447. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this study, we synthesized a novel double-hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based crystal growth modifier polyethylene glycol double-ester of maleic anhydride/ acrylic acid named PEGDMA/AA, whose structure was still linear but also had some differences from a traditional chelating linear polymer, in which the PEG segment was incorporated. The scale inhibition behavior of PEGDMA/AA was evaluated by means of a static scale inhibition method. As the polymerization degree of PEG nDMA was 8 ( n = 8), the maximum inhibitory toward calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and calcium sulfate (CaSO4) were 89.0 and 98.8% at dosage levels of 12 and 3 mg/L, respectively. Comparisons with other inhibitors were also carried out. Characterization of the CaCO3 and CaSO4 scales with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy proved that great changes in the size and morphology of the calcium scales took place under the influence of PEG8DMA/AA. X-ray diffraction and diffraction patterns further confirmed the impact of PEG8DMA/AA as a crystal growth modifier. The three supposed mechanisms, (1) chelating solubilization, (2) multilayer type of adsorption, and (3) electrostatic repulsion function, are also described in detail. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 39792. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]