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It is controversial whether there is a different risk of recurrence between two histological subtypes in craniopharyngioma (CP) patients. Some reported that adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP) had a higher risk of recurrence than papillary craniopharyngioma (PCP), but others reported that there is no significant difference between them. So, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the association between the histological subtype of CP and the rate of recurrence. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken in PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science for all English articles published up to November 2020. Recurrence data stratified by ACP and PCP were extracted from studies meeting inclusion criteria. A pooled analysis of the association between the histological subtype of craniopharyngioma and rates of recurrence was performed. Thirteen articles containing 974 patients were included. When stratified by two pathological subtypes, the total recurrence rate of ACP was 26.0% and PCP was 14.1%, which showed ACP associated with a higher risk of tumor recurrence than PCP (odds ratio [OR] = 2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.36, 3.30, P = 0.00). This is the first meta-analysis focusing on histological subtypes of CP. PCP associates with a lower risk of recurrence than ACP, indicating that ACP could act as one of recurrence risk factors for CP patients. Nevertheless, large sample size and well-designed multicenter studies in which the other clinical variables are controlled to determine the histological subtype of CP as an independent recurrence risk factor are needed.

The hydrogeochemical characteristics of coalbed-produced water can provide insights into the sources of ions and water, the groundwater environments, hydrodynamic conditions, and water-rock interactions of depositional basins. To study the water-rock reaction process and reveal whether there is a microbial activity in the groundwater, a case of the Dafosi biogenic gas field was chosen by testing the ionic concentrations and hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions of coalbed-produced water and employing R-type cluster and principal component analyses. The results showed that Na+, Cl − , and HCO3- are the principal ions in the coalbed-produced water, while the water type is mainly a Na–Cl. Due to the hydrolysis of HCO3-, the pH in this region was controlled primarily by HCO3-. As the main cation in water, Na+ contributed substantially to the total dissolved solids. Na+ is also related to the exchange between rock-bound Na+ and Ca2+ and Mg2+ in water or surrounding rocks. The coalbed-produced water’s oxygen isotopes displayed a characteristic 18O drift and enrichment, indicating that the 16O isotope in the water was preferentially exchanged with the coal organic matter. Early evaporation is also contributed to the enrichment of TDS (total dissolved solids) and 18O in the water. The central part of the study area, including the Qijia anticline, was affected by the Yanshanian uplift and denudation and subsequently developed a water-conducting fissure zone and was recharged atmospheric precipitation; these conditions were conducive to the formation of secondary biogenic gas.

ObjectiveThe surgical management of lesions involving the lateral area of the suprasellar region, including the lateral aspect of the planum sphenoidale and the tight junction region of the optic canal (OC), anterior clinoid process (ACP), and internal carotid artery (ICA) and its dural rings, is extremely challenging. Here, these regions, namely, the “parasuprasellar” area, are described from the endonasal perspective. Moreover, the authors introduce two novels endoscopic endonasal supraoptic (EESO) and endoscopic endonasal infraoptic (EEIO) approaches to access the parasuprasellar area.MethodsSurgical simulation of the EESO and EEIO approaches to the parasuprasellar area was conducted in 5 silicon-injected specimens. The same techniques were applied in 12 patients with lesions involving the parasuprasellar area.ResultsThe EESO approach provided excellent surgical access to the lateral region of the planum sphenoidale, which corresponds to the orbital gyrus of the frontal lobe. With stepwise bone (OC, optic strut and ACP) removal, dissociation of the ophthalmic artery (OA) and optic nerve (ON), the EEIO approach enables access to the lateral region of the supraclinoidal ICA. These approaches can be used independently or in combination, but are more often employed as a complement to the endoscopic endonasal midline and transcavernous approaches. In clinical application, the EESO and EEIO approaches were successfully performed in 12 patients harboring tumors as well as multiple aneurysms involving the parasuprasellar area. Gross total and subtotal tumor resection were achieved in 9 patients and 1 patient, respectively. For two patients with multiple aneurysms, the lesions were clipped selectively according to location and size. Visual acuity improved in 7 patients, remained stable in 4, and deteriorated in only 1. No postoperative intracranial infection or ICA injury occurred in this series.ConclusionsThe EESO and EEIO approaches offer original treatment options for well-selected lesions involving the parasuprasellar area. They can be combined with the endoscopic endonasal midline and transcavernous approaches to remove extensive pathologies involving the intrasellar, suprasellar, sphenoid, and cavernous sinuses and even the bifurcation of the ICA. This work for the first time pushes the boundary of the endoscopic endonasal approach lateral to the supraclinoidal ICA and ON.

Background/aims Low glycemic index (GI) diets may have beneficial effects on glycemic control and serum lipid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, but whether its effect is affected by polymorphisms of genes associated with lipid metabolism remains unclear. This study investigated whether the effects of a low-GI diet on serum lipids and glycemic control in patients with diabetes are associated with polymorphisms of FABP2 Ala54Thr (rs1799883). Methods A retrospective study was conducted involving 165 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who participated in two completed trials. Parameters reflecting the glycemic control, inflammatory factors, and fasting plasma lipids before and after intervention were measured, and the polymorphism of rs1799883 for each participant was genotyped using a Mas-sARRAY. Differences between the genotypes of rs1799883 before or after the intervention were compared, and changes in the lipid profiles, glycemic control, inflammatory profiles, and dietary intake from baseline were analyzed using an analysis of covariance (generalized linear model). Results When the data were analyzed as a whole, after 4-5 weeks of similar low-GI diet intervention, we found that the decrease of triglycerides (TG) in the homozygous Ala54 carriers was more significant than that in the Thr54 allele carriers ([-0.58±1.24] vs [-0.14±1.08], P=0.015) with the adjustment for potential confounding factors; furthermore, compared with the Thr54 carriers, there was a significant trend in the decrease of total cholesterol (TC) in the homozygous Ala54 carriers (P=0.057). Subgroup analysis revealed that in women the homozygous Ala54 carriers exhibited a significant decrease of serum TG, TC, fasting blood glucose, and glycated albumin in women, but this was not noted in men. Conclusion The effect of FABP2 Ala54Thr polymorphism on response to blood lipids and gly-cemic control in low-GI diets is associated with gender among Han Chinese patients with T2DM.

Coalbed methane (CBM) resources formed biogenically and thermogenically have been discovered in the Permian coalbeds of the Huaibei coalfield. Four coals, three mudstones, and five coalbed-produced water samples collected from the Linhuan, Luling, and Haizi coal mines of the Huaibei coalfield were characterized geochemically and biologically to gain an understanding of the biogenic methane generation potential and the microbial communities involved in situ and in coalbed-produced water-enriched samples. The 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing results showed that the archaeal communities from in situ and enriched cultures were dominated by Methanolobus and Methanobacterium species. The organic material of coals and mudstones could be biodegraded under an anaerobic incubation. The maximum biogenic methane generation potentials of coal and mudstones were 98.5 and 72.5 μmol/g within 123 days, respectively. Volatile matter and total organic carbon (TOC) content were the most important internal factors aff...

With the continuous advancement of power system reform and the vigorous development of the Internet industry, power marketing services are also facing higher challenges. In some scenarios, business applications using traditional monolithic architecture will become less flexible and less capable of continuous delivery, which makes business application maintenance difficult. In order to expand the multichannel service of power marketing and establish a comprehensive service platform system, this paper takes spring-boot and spring-cloud as the technical framework, divides the traditional single application into several fine-grained ones. Based on the business application characteristics of micro-service architecture, it builds a domain-driven model for the whole process of scenario, and builds a multi-channel integrated application platform for power marketing, which solves the problems of distributed data interaction caused by large business concurrency or cross-specialty in power marketing. Business applications can achieve gray-scale publishing, frequent deployment, and strong sustained delivery ability, flexible and fast to adapt to the effect of business sustainable development and change.

We found a series of Knosp grade 3A-4 pituitary adenomas in the posterior areas of the cavernous sinus (CS), a triangular-like structure on axial MRI. In this study, we dissected the surrounding neurovascular structure, discussed the surgical approach, and analyzed outcomes for patients with this invasion into this area. Eight embalmed adult cadaveric specimens were prepared for this study to demonstrate in detail the surgical anatomy related to this triangular-like structure. We used the "two points and one line" method to determine the surgical approach, and 35 cases with this area invasion were retrospectively reviewed. According to the endoscopic and microsurgical anatomy, the triangular-like structure appearing on the axial MRI is correlated with a square-based pyramid structure in the CS, and the upper surface is the posterior portion of the oculomotor triangle. A total of 37 posterior areas of the CS were involved in 35 patients. The accuracy of the "two points and one line" method in predicting the surgical approach is 86.5% (32/37). All three patients with Knosp 3A underwent gross total resection (GTR). Twenty (62.5%) patients with Knosp 4 underwent GTR, 9 (28.1%) patients underwent subtotal resection, and 3 (9.4%) patients underwent partial resection. Preoperative symptoms were alleviated to varying degrees, and no worsening occurred. Postoperative complications included two (5.7%) cases of cerebrospinal fluid leakage, one (2.9%) case of meningitis, two (5.7%) cases of permanent diabetes insipidus, and three (8.6%) cases of transient cranial nerve palsy. The "two points and one line" method is of great value in predicting the surgical approach of pituitary adenomas with CS invasion. The anatomic description of this particular square-based pyramid structure in the CS refines the understanding of pituitary adenomas with CS invasion.

In the power intelligent customer service system, it mainly includes semantic analysis, intelligent voice, speech recognition, intelligent search, text knowledge base analysis and so on. In order to improve the service efficiency and accuracy of the intelligent knowledge base and enhance the user's satisfaction with the experience of the customer service robot, this paper mainly focuses on the text knowledge base, according to the segmentation results of power users, through the multi-threaded network crawler technology to expand the thesaurus in the intelligent knowledge base, making the knowledge of the knowledge base management background more comprehensive. For the power users, the retrieval terms can touch the knowledge in the knowledge base more likely, which greatly improves the accuracy of Knowledge Q & A, and improves the intelligent search effect of the intelligent robot; For the knowledge base managers, in the process of knowledge editing and management, only the part of speech synonyms need to be audited and certified, then they can be edited and stored in the database, serving the knowledge search engine, and improving the work efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge base managers.

To introduce a purely endoscopic endonasal trans-Meckel’s cave approach or a transclival approach for trigeminal schwannomas (TSs) involving both the middle and posterior fossae. This retrospective study reviewed the medical records and intraoperative videos of 8 patients with TSs occupying both the middle and posterior fossae who underwent an endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) between January 2017 and October 2019. All 8 patients received total resection under a single-stage EEA. Six patients underwent endoscopic endonasal resection via a purely trans-Meckel’s cave approach, and 2 patients underwent endoscopic endonasal resection via a trans-Meckel’s cave approach combined with a transclival approach. There was no surgical-related hemorrhage or mortality and no cerebrospinal fluid leakage. All headache symptoms completely improved postoperatively (n = 3 patients). All cranial nerve (CN) symptoms (CN IX and CN VI) improved postoperatively. The most common preoperative symptom was facial numbness (n = 5 patients); 2 of these 5 patients showed a partial improvement, 1 patient experienced worsening, and 2 patients remained unchanged at the last follow-up. Four patients developed postoperative complications, including CN VI palsy (n = 2), dry eye (n = 2), mastication weakness (n = 1), and facial numbness (n = 2). All complications except for dry eye were relieved at the last follow-up, but the patients with dry eye did not develop corneal keratopathy. The endoscopic endonasal trans-Meckel’s cave and transclival approaches provide adequate exposure and improve the rate of total resection for TSs occupying both the middle and posterior fossae with minimal invasion. It may be possible to use these approaches as a safe alternative to conventional surgical approaches.

In this paper, we report on the theoretical and numerical study of the transmission of circularly polarized vortex beams through a plasmonic coaxial nanoring. We show that the transmission peak wavelength of an incident circularly polarized vortex beam is dominantly governed by the total angular momentum, which determines the coupling to the plasmonic eigenmode supported by the coaxial nanoring with a given geometry and ultimately the transmitted beam in the far field. In addition, our study shows that the total angular momentum of the incident circularly polarized vortex beam can be conserved, where the far field of the transmitted beam contains both left- and right-handed circular polarization components with correspondingly modulated orbital angular momentum preserving the same total angular momentum. Our work can be potentially useful to advanced nanophotonic devices harnessing light's angular momentum division.

Biomethane is a clean, renewable, and environment-friendly resource, arousing wide attention worldwide. Eleven coals with vitrinite reflectance ranging from 0.18% to 2.50% were collected from underground coal mines; biomethane production process and carbon isotope fractionation effect in the 123 days biodegradation experiment were implemented. Results show that different coal-rank coals can be degraded by microorganisms and produce specific amounts of biomethane. However, the biomethane yield is related to the maceral contents rather than coal rank. The generation processes of methane and carbon dioxide exhibit the three-phases characteristics. The carbon isotope composition of biodegraded coal is lighter than that of raw coal. The liptinite inhibited biomethane production when the content of vitrinite is higher than 80%. The mineral promotes biomethane production when the content of vitrinite ranges from 60%~80%. The biomethane production yield is low, with vitrinite content less than 60%. The carbon isotope composition of coal organic matter is about −24.0‰, the carbon isotope compositions of CH4 (δ13C-CH4), CO2 (δ13C-CO2) and acetic acid (δ13C-ac) are −52.6‰~–22.1‰, −29.5‰~−24.5‰, and −40.7‰~−20.15‰, respectively. The CO2-CH4 isotope fractionation coefficient (αCO2-CH4) and its fractionation factors (eC) range from 1.001 to 1.025 and 0.50 to 23.80, proving that biomethane mainly generated from acetotrophic. The carbon isotope fractionation effect in the coal-methane conversion was jointly controlled by the anaerobic methane oxidation, multi-stage degradation, and substrate consumption.

Multi-layer co-production is a mainstream method for efficient development of coalbed methane (CBM) and coal series gas under multi-seam conditions. However, interlayer interferences during CBM co-production caused by differences in reservoir properties (especially permeability and pressure) between stacked CBM systems severely restrict the output of CBM from the production layers. The identification of interlayer interferences and optimization of production layer combinations are important scientific issues that need to be explored to achieve high CBM production. Physical simulation is an effective means of accomplishing this research objective. Physical simulations of CBM co-production were performed under designed permeability and pressure combinations based on self-developed experimental equipment, which is mainly composed of an injection subsystem, a vacuum subsystem, the model body subsystem, and a separation and metering subsystem. Coal samples were collected from three CBM basins in China to form a series of five permeability levels, specifically 0.2, 2, 10, 50, and 100 mD. We focused our analysis on the contribution of gas production from each production layer using the gas flow data obtained from the physical simulation experiments. The co-mining compatibility of the production layers is divided into four types based on the grading evaluation of gas contribution: Grade I, II, and III compatible, and incompatible, which represent gas production contribution of the weak seam ≥37.5%, 25%–37.5%, 12.5%–25%, and ≤12.5%, respectively. On this basis, a template for discriminating CBM co-production compatibility is constructed using the permeability ratio and pressure difference as basic parameters. The gas and water production data of representative CBM wells in the Bide-Santang basin were used to verify the reliability of the template, and the compatibility discrimination results show consistency with the production data. The average daily gas production per unit of coal thickness presents a decreasing trend with deteriorating compatibility of co-producing seams. Finally, an integrated technical process for the development of stacked CBM systems is proposed, including the hierarchical optimization of production layer combinations, identification of interlayer interferences and sources of produced water, and selection of suitable development methods and technology. We divided the production layer combinations into four types representing different development potentials based on the hierarchical method: most favorable, favorable, sub-favorable, and unfavorable. Suggestions are made for the key geological constraints (weak water-bearing reservoir, compatibility of CBM systems, shallow groundwater interference, and deep CBM condition) and specific development strategies for different types of production layer combinations. This study will enrich the geological understanding of CBM co-production and provide theoretical and technical support for the efficient development of stacked CBM systems.

The study explored the influence of temperature and particle size on the high-temperature fast pyrolysis behaviors of Shenmu(Yulin) coal through thermal gravimetric analyzer and the downer reactor. Results of TG-FTIR show that the thermal hysteresis causing by high heating rate make TG and DTG curves shift to high-temperature zone. The infrared spectra reveal that the release characteristics of typical products and functional groups are consistent with the weight loss curve. Moreover, experimental results of the downer reactor reveal that the content of coal-char and coal-tar decreased and coal-gas increased with the increment of temperature. Better syngas can be obtained at 900 °C. The yield of coal-char firstly increases and then decreases with the decrease of particle size and the coal-tar is opposite. More importantly, during the pyrolysis process of 35–60 mesh coal, the largest amount of coal-char and the smallest amount of coal-tar are not only obtained, but high-quality syngas is also obtained. Through the characterization of coal-tar, it is found that coal-tar is mainly composed of aromatic compounds, and the content can reach more than 50%. Moreover, the change of infrared absorption intensity of O–H, C O and C–O groups in coal-char varies with the change in pyrolysis parameters.

This study aimed to develop and validate an effective prognostic nomogram for advanced PDAC patients. We conducted a prospective multicenter cohort study involving 1,526 advanced PDAC patients from three participating hospitals in China between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2013. Two thirds of the patients were randomly assigned to the training set (n = 1,017), and one third were assigned to the validation set (n = 509). Multivariate cox regression analysis was performed to identify significant prognostic factors for overall survival to develop the nomogram. Internal and external validation using C-index and calibration curve were conducted in the training set and validation set respectively. As results, seven independent prognostic factors were identified: age, tumor stage, tumor size, ALT (alanine aminotransferase), ALB (albumin), CA 19-9, HBV infection status, and these factors were entered into the nomogram. The proposed nomogram showed favorable discrimination and calibration both in the training set and validation set. The C-indexes of the training set and validation set were 0.720 and 0.696 respectively, which were both significantly higher than that of the staging system (C-index = 0.613, P

According to the conclusion of Khelashvili et al. [Phys. Med. Biol. 51, 221 (2006)], the minus logarithm of the visibility ratio fulfills the line integral condition; consequently the scattering information can be reconstructed quantitatively by conventional computed tomography (CT) algorithms. Based on Fresnel diffraction theory, we analyzed the influence of particle-size selectivity on the performance of an X-ray grating interferometer (GI) applied for dark-field CT. The results state the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of dark-field imaging is sensitive to the particle size, which demonstrate that the X-ray dark-field CT using a GI can efficiently differentiate materials of identical X-ray absorption and help to choose optimal X-ray energy for known particle size, thus extending the application range of grating interferometer.

The role of emotional disturbance in the development of tumors have been well documented and verified in both theoretical and empirical studies among Chinese and Western medicine. However, there has been little work addressing emotional disturbance through therapy that focuses on emotional releasing in the treatment of tumors in general. We believe a lack of clinical evidence for the improvement of a patient’s physical condition through effective emotional releasing or guidance may be a key reason for the absence of psychologists in most existing tumor treatment protocols. Providing clinical evidence in emotion-disease association may be an important first step to enhancing existing treatment modalities with emotional-focused components. As an example, this paper describes two case studies of uterine fibroids, with the primary focus on the emotional pathogenic mechanism of tumor growth. In both cases, Emotional Soothing Therapy (EST) is used to help the patients shrink their uterine fibroids in one to two short treatments. The treatment procedures and dialogue between the patient and the therapist are provided to demonstrate how the EST was used to defuse negative emotions, reduce emotional disturbance, and help ease physical and psychological pain, In both cases, the uterine fibroids shrank significantly (by 50% and 90% respectively) after 1-2 EST sessions. These documented clinical cases provide an important reference for future clinical treatment of tumors, and warrant further randomized controlled trials on the EST, as well as the association between emotions and tumor reduction.

This paper describes a deep learning method that provides an improved image quality for single focal spot CT scan. An experiment with convolutional neural network learning is based on 30 clinical head datasets of flying focal spot images and the corresponding single focal spot images. The generated antialiasing images reduce streak artifacts and noise granularity, and improve the contrast of bony structure, which potentially meet with the high diagnostic criteria in clinical applications. At the same time, the CT system simplicity and stability properties are easier to maintain compared to a system with the flying focal spot system. Further, results for applications such as inner ear and extremities are also of diagnostic quality.

A 65-year-old man had intermittent abdominal pain for the previous 2 years. This pain suddenly became worse with a fever and elevated inflammatory markers. We took a while to diagnose the patient with mesenteric panniculitis (MP). Although imaging findings suggested MP, we needed to rule out other diseases. Choosing a treatment for the patient also took some time and we finally used glucocorticoid to cure the patient.

With the evolution of the domestic power system reform and the electricity sales market is becoming more competitive, it is necessary for the power grid enterprises to build the simulation system for the market operations to estimate the challenges and find out the solutions. The paper elaborates the method design, the scenarios design, the services design, and the functional design of the simulation system for the electricity sales market operations, where the products provided by the electricity sales companies and the policies adopted by the power grid enterprises are analyzed in details by deliberating the service needs and characteristics of various types of the electricity customers. The scenario of the electricity customer churns probability is simulated with the three cases, whose results are analyzed and shows that the power grid enterprises could increase their competitiveness in the market and retain their important customers by adjusting their policies and providing their products respectively corresponding to the characteristics of the electricity customers.

Microbial enhancing coal-bed methane generation (MECMG) is a feasible and environment-friendly approach for improving coal-bed methane production. In order to understand the potential of biogenic methane generation and factors controlling the process, the biogenic methane yield, coal intrinsic characteristics and incubation conditions are assembled from the published data. Results show that sub-bituminous and high volatile C-B bituminous coal have higher biogenic methane generation yield than that in peat and anthracite. Contents of H, N, and volatile matter in the coal contribute positively to the biogenic methane generation yield. The optimized conditions for ex-situ biogenic methane generation are headspace gas type, culture temperature, particle size, solid-liquid ratio and pH of N2:CO2 (4:1 v/v), 28–30 °C, 60 μm, 1:10, and 7.0–7.5, respectively. The organic composition and molecular structure collected from coal-bed produced water, culture solution, and biodegraded residuals would provide effective evidences for revealing biogenic methane generation mechanisms.

The aim of this study is to compare the effect of liver enucleation with resection of a giant hemangioma proximal to the hepatic portal vascular structures. From 2008 to 2014, 53 patients with giant hemangiomas proximal to the hepatic portal vascular structures underwent surgery in our hospital by the same surgical team. The indications for surgery included a tumor size greater than 8 cm, a middle size greater than 4 cm but with abdominal pain, a rapidly increased tumor size with uncertain malignancy, or tumor rupture. Thirty-two patients (60 %) had pain only, 15 (29 %) had pain with tumor growth, 5 patients (9 %) had an uncertain diagnosis, and 1 patient (2 %) had tumor rupture. Enucleation was performed in 31 patients and liver resection was performed in 22 patients. There were no significant differences in the size of the hemangioma (13.9 ± 3.1 vs 12.3 ± 5.5 cm; P > 0.05), preoperative liver function tests, hemoglobin levels, and platelet counts between the enucleation and resection groups. The mean intraoperative blood loss was significantly less in the enucleation group compared with the resection group (350.9 ± 89.8 vs 988 ± 91.7 mL; P

Electricity sales forecasting is a fundamental work for State Grid Corporation of China. Currently, after data preprocessing, X13 seasonal adjustment is applied to decompose electricity sales series into trend, season and random items. The decomposed items are predicted respectively to produce accurate forecasting results. On the basis of it, a new electricity sales forecasting method based on leading analysis and factor compensation is proposed in this paper. First of all, the leading factors are introduced to improve the ability in identifying sudden change of trend item. Then, the impact of the Spring Festival in random item is eliminated and the prediction of random item is categorized into normal month and abnormal month. Under normal month, the random item is forecasted by combining Mixture of Experts model with factor data and processed by Kalman Filter; under abnormal month, the prediction results are obtained by the method of factor elimination and compensation. Finally, combined with the impact of the Spring Festival, the adjustment of electricity sales forecasting result on January to March is achieved. The actual validation shows that the prediction accuracy and robustness of the proposed model is greatly improved.

In this paper, we presents a background subtraction approach with superpixel and k-means that aims to use less memory to establish a background model and less computation time for moving object detection. We use superpixels to divide similar pixels into the same area, K-mean is used to obtain the main color values of the superpixel. The mean and variance of superpixels and changes in the number of previous attractions are used as the discriminative features. The main contribution of this paper is to propose features suitable for superpixel-based moving object detection. We test this method in different videos demonstrate that this method demonstrated equal or better segmentation than the other techniques and proved capable of processing 320 * 240 video at 114 fps, including post-processing, faster than most existing algorithms.

Moving cast shadow detection is an essential and pivotal problem in image processing. One problem is that many existed moving cast shadow detection methods are only suitable for some specific situations. In order to solve this problem, a cast shadow detection and elimination algorithm based on the combination of texture feature and YUV color space is proposed in this paper. Firstly, we detect moving object using PBAS algorithm which suppress ghost region. Furthermore, a part of cast shadow candidate region is obtained by texture detection. Then, the other cast shadow candidate region is obtained by shadow detection based on YUV color space. Finally, two parts of the cast shadow candidate regions are screened and merged by the shadow feature. Experimental results show that the proposed method has higher detection rates and discrimination rates compared to some well-known methods.

A description of the rocking curve in diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) is presented in terms of the angular signal response function and a simple multi-information retrieval algorithm based on the cosine function fitting. A comprehensive analysis of noise properties of DEI is also given considering the noise transfer characteristic of the X-ray source. The validation has been performed with synchrotron radiation experimental data and Monte Carlo simulations based on theGeant4toolkit combined with the refractive process of X-rays, which show good agreement with each other. Moreover, results indicate that the signal-to-noise ratios of the refraction and scattering images are about one order of magnitude better than that of the absorption image at the edges of low-Zsamples. The noise penalty is drastically reduced with the increasing photon flux and visibility. Finally, this work demonstrates that the analytical method can build an interesting connection between DEI and GDPCI (grating-based differential phase contrast imaging) and is widely suitable for a variety of measurement noise in the angular signal response imaging prototype. The analysis significantly contributes to the understanding of noise characteristics of DEI images and may allow improvements to the signal-to-noise ratio in biomedical and material science imaging.

This study researched the geochemical origin of coalbed methane (CBM) in three mining areas of the Huaibei coalfield and the distribution of different origin gases. The Rock-Eval data indicate that coal and coaly mudstone in this coalfield are both good gas-source rocks and are within the gas generation window. The large ranges of isotope data (δ13CCH4 = −42.8‰ to −75.5‰; δDCH4 = −153.2‰ to −228.1‰; δ13CCO2 = +8.2‰ to −24.3‰) reflect the complicated formation mechanism and evolutionary process of CBM. Both thermogenic and biogenic gas are present within the mining areas to varying degrees, with the biogenic gas being predominately generated via the CO2 reduction pathway. Gas migration was most prevalent in the Suixiao mining area, low in the Linhuan mining area, and not identified in the Suzhou mining area. An appropriate distribution model for the gases of different origin is, from bottom to top, a thermogenic gas zone, a mixture zone, a secondary biogenic gas zone, and a gas-weathered zone. Spatially, s...

Purpose: Grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging is considered as one of the most promising techniques for future medical imaging. Many different methods have been developed to retrieve phase signal, among which the phase stepping (PS) method is widely used. However, further practical implementations are hindered, due to its complex scanning mode and high radiation dose. In contrast, the reverse projection (RP) method is a novel fast and low dose extraction approach. In this contribution, the authors present a quantitative analysis of the noise properties of the refraction signals retrieved by the two methods and compare their sensitivities. Methods: Using the error propagation formula, the authors analyze theoretically the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the refraction images retrieved by the two methods. Then, the sensitivities of the two extraction methods are compared under an identical exposure dose. Numerical experiments are performed to validate the theoretical results and provide some quantitative insight. Results: The SNRs of the two methods are both dependent on the system parameters, but in different ways. Comparison between their sensitivities reveals that for the refraction signal, the RP method possesses a higher sensitivity, especially in the case of high visibility and/or at the edge of the object. Conclusions: Compared with the PS method, the RP method has a superior sensitivity and provides refraction images with a higher SNR. Therefore, one can obtain highly sensitive refraction images in grating-based phase contrast imaging. This is very important for future preclinical and clinical implementations. (C) 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Electricity sales affected by economic development, seasonal changes, holiday, temperature and other factors, is difficult to predict accurately. In this paper, based on X13 seasonal adjustment and factor regression, a forecasting method is proposed, which takes development trend, seasonal variation and random variation of electricity sales into consideration. Firstly, the historical electricity sales data is preprocessed to improve the data quality, and the X13 seasonal adjustment method is adopted to decompose the electricity sales data into three subsequences: trend, season and random items. Then combining the influential factors of each subsequence with the characteristics of the curves, each item is predicted and reconstructed to get the forecasting results respectively, where the trend item is predicted by several algorithms. Finally, analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-based comprehensive evaluation model is adopted to get the final forecasting results. The validation shows that the monthly average error of the whole industry is 1.11% from January to June 2016.

The paper is aimed at solving the problems of inconsistency, inaccuracy and non-real time of customer profile in the electric power marketing information system, and proposes the new methods of improving the customer profile in electric power marketing based on the big data analysis of customer's addresses. The core idea of the methods is that by the introduction of other industry data resources, the electricity address provided by electric power marketing information system and the customer address provided by other resources are analyzed with the big data technologies to achieve precise matching of these addresses. The address matching is followed by three steps: Chinese word segmentation with Hidden Markov Model algorithm, sentence similarity calculation based on the semantic and word order, and finally geographical coordinates matching for cross validation. Based on the matching results, the procedures of updating customer profile are processed respectively according to customer contact changes or changes in customer property rights, to achieve the consistency, accuracy and real-time data of customer profile. By implementing the automatic and intelligent operations of perfecting customer profile, the strong information support is provided for the marketing departments to enhance the “Internet+” electric power marketing services.

The paper proposes the method of building the electric power marketing business application system based on the cloud computing and microservices architecture technologies to solve the issues of the current system with the concentrated infrastructure and the monolithic architecture which are difficult to support the business processing in very large scale and the evolution of the electric power marketing business. The paper first introduces the current electric power marketing business application system and highlights its main drawbacks. Then it proposes the method to build the innovative electric power marketing business application system with the main technical characteristics as follows: the IaaS part of the application system has the distributed infrastructures with the IT resource elastic management and powerful horizontal scalability brought by the cloud computing technology; its PaaS part is the service platform with the components of the data processing, information integration, application building, and cloud service center to provide the several cloud services, such as one-click deployment, flexible scaling, fault self-healing, gray distribution, full-link monitoring and other cloud service capabilities; and its SaaS part has the microservices architecture with the features of servitization, componentization, decentralization, independent deployment etc. Finally, the suggestions are given to design the microservices for the electric power marketing business application.

Organic shale in coal-bearing strata contains a large amount of shale gas resource in China. The organic shale is typically interlayered with coal beds and tight sandstone, and thus, joint development of the three unconventional gases, coal bed methane, tight gas, and shale gas, is becoming a frontier topic. In this paper, an integrated characterization of coal-bearing shale was implemented through a systematic series of measurements to assess the potential of shale gas in the Huainan–Huaibei coalfield. According to X-ray diffraction, quartz, kaolinite, and mixed illite/smectite (I/S) are the major minerals and the brittleness index for most samples is low to moderate (30–60). The risk of water swelling during hydraulic stimulation may be low in terms of the low concentration of smectite and mixed I/S. The efficiency of acid solution is limited by the low concentration of calcite and dolomite. The pore system has been well-developed on the basis of the thin section, scanning electron microscopy, mercury i...

This paper proposed an automatic exposure algorithm based on luminance histogram and region segmentation. The method ensures well exposure to the main object under the backlighting or excessive front-lighting conditions, and uses the characteristics of the luminance histogram to judge the scene condition. According to the luminance histogram, if the image under normal light conditions, the method compares the average luminance value of the image with the corresponding reference target brightness value to adjust exposure compensation. If the image under special conditions, the average brightness value will be calculated using fixed-partition method and exposure compensation will be adjusted. The paper combines auto-exposure and auto-gain control to adjust the exposure compensation. As it turns out, this method in a variety of light conditions can achieve well exposure.

The paper presents heat transfer enhancement by inserting a cylinder as spoiler element. It has a great significance for engineering. But its mechanism is still not very clear. Aiming at this problem, numerical simulation and experimental study on heat transfer enhancement by single cylinder or multi-row cylinders are summarized in this research. And they are also compared with other shape components. According to the results, the developing trend of heat transfer enhancement by cylinders is pointed out.

Background International surveys have demonstrated that use of traditional and complementary/alternative medicine (TCAM) is highly prevalent among children with cancer; however, little is known about its use among children with cancer in Latin America. As part of a regional initiative, we present the results of the first survey exploring use of TCAM among children with cancer residing in Latin America. Procedure A cross-sectional sample of 100 parents whose children received treatment in Guatemala City were interviewed from May 2008 to February 2010. Upon consent, an in-person interview was performed during a routine clinical visit. Information on the form, duration, cost, and satisfaction of TCAM was collected. Approval from the institutional review board was obtained. Results The median age of patients was 9.2 years with 63% undergoing treatment. Use of TCAM was reported by 90% of parents. Most often, more than one type of therapy was utilized. Most patients (67%) relied on TCAM for supportive care indications; however, a significant percentage (34%) used TCAM for curative purposes. The most commonly reported form was the use of oral supplements with the majority perceiving TCAM as effective for the intended purpose. Conclusions Use of TCAM was highly prevalent among children with cancer residing in Guatemala. Most importantly, TCAM was used alongside conventional therapy for supportive care indications. These findings underscoring the need for open lines of communication between clinicians and families. Future research may consider exploring the role of TCAM within the scope of supportive care and its effect on existing supportive care interventions. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:687–692. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Based on the characteristics of seven representative coalbed reservoirs in the Qinshui Basin in Shan’xi Province, China, the reservoirs were classified as gas pressure reservoirs, water pressure reservoirs or hybrid pressure reservoirs. Reservoir modelling technology was adopted to study the 1000 day recoverability and reservoir pressure transmission process of three typical coalbed methane (CBM) wells, each of which represents one of the three coalbed reservoir classifications identified. The results indicate that the three reservoirs are quite different in terms of their drainage performance. For gas pressure reservoirs, reservoir pressure changes in a very small region around the well bore. The gas production of this type of reservoir is very low; hence, integrated coal and gas mining may be appropriate to enhance its recovery. Reservoir pressure propagates further in water pressure reservoirs but declines gradually. The gas recoverability in water pressure reservoirs is also low, which indicates that effective water drainage is the key technology for improving it. The pressure in hybrid pressure reservoirs propagates moderately in the whole effective region. This type of reservoir has the strongest gas recoverability and is suitable for CBM exploitation using surface to reservoir boreholes.

Purpose This study investigates the use of homodigital reverse dorsoradial flap with neurorrhaphy for thumb soft tissue defect. Methods From 1996 to 2010, the homodigital dorsoradial flap was performed on seven adult patients and one 3-year-old boy. The flaps ranged from 1.2 to approximately 3.0 cm × 2.0 to approximately 4.2 cm in size. In six of the eight patients, the dorsal collateral branch of the radial nerve supplying the flap was also included in the pedicle and coapted to the proper digital nerves of the thumb. At final follow-ups, flap sensation, thumb motion, and donor-site morbidity were assessed. Results All flaps survived completely. At final follow-up of 8.5 months (range, 3 to 14 months), all patients except the 3-year-old child (who could not express clearly) reported satisfactory sensory recovery, with the static two-point discrimination ranging between 6 and 12 mm (mean, 9.4 mm). Range of motion of the metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints of the thumbs was also preserved with minimal donor-site morbidity in all cases. Conclusions Innervated reverse homodigital dorsoradial flap serves as a reliable and sensate flap for extensive thumb soft tissue reconstruction.

The current study tested the gas component and carbon isotopic composition of gas samples from 6 oil-gas fields at the northern margin of Qaidam Basin, and established a chart to quantitatively identify the mixing ratio of source-mixed gas. Besides, this research quantitatively investigated the natural gas generated by different types of organic matter. The results show that different ratios of source-mixed gas exist in the 6 oil-gas fields at the northern margin of Qaidam Basin. Among them, Mabei has the highest mixing ratio of coal-type gas, followed by Nanbaxian, Mahai, Lenghu-4, Lenghu-3 and Lenghu-5, with the ratios of coal-type gas 91%, 87%, 83%, 66%, 55% and 36%, respectively. Lenghu-3 and Lenghu-4 oil-gas fields were mainly filled by coal-type gas earlier. For Lenghu-3, the gas was mainly generated from low matured source rocks in lower Jurassic Series of Lengxi sub-sag. For Lenghu-4, the gas was mainly generated from humus-mature source rocks in lower Jurassic Series of the northern slope of Kunteyi sub-sag. Gas in Lenghu-5 was mainly later filled oil-type gas, which was generated from high matured sapropelics in lower Jurassic Series of Kunteyi sub-sag. Earlier filled coal-type gas was the main part of Mahai, Nanbaxian and Mabei oil-gas fields. Gas source of Mahai was mainly generated from high mature humics in lower Jurassic Series of Yibei sub-sag; for Nanbaxian, the gas was mainly generated from high matured humics in middle-lower Jurassic Series of Saishiteng sub-sag; for Mabei, the gas was mainly generated from humus-mature source rocks in middle Jurassic Series of Yuqia sub-sag. Keywords: Source-mixed gas, Quantitative identification, Coal-type gas, Oil-type gas, Northern margin of Qaidam Basin

This paper focused on the interior boom noise of a mini-car when driving at high speeds. Vehicle interior noise rotor drum tests in semi-anechoic room showed that vehicle interior boom noise in narrow frequency band exited near 250Hz. Structural and acoustic finite element analysis certified the front roof and rear floor coupled with interior acoustic cavity around this frequency, causing acoustic cavity resonance. On the base of sensitivity analysis technology, a structural improvement schemes pasting free damping fin on the front roof and rear floor of mini-car body for vibration and noise reduction was proposed. Finite element Modal analysis of the mini-car body after improving indicated that local modal amplitude of the mini-car body at the front roof and rear floor around 250Hz was controlled effectively. Mini-car rotating drum test results after improving showed that vehicle interior boom noise was decreased obviously after pasting free damping fin at the front roof and rear floor. The improving schemes and noise reduction effects proposed in this paper were validated.

Microscopy techniques using visible photons, x-rays, neutrons, and electrons have made remarkable impact in many scientific disciplines. The microscopic data can often be expressed as the convolution of the spatial distribution of certain properties of the specimens and the inherent response function of the imaging system. The x-ray grating interferometer (XGI), which is sensitive to the deviation angle of the incoming x-rays, has attracted significant attention in the past years due to its capability in achieving x-ray phase contrast imaging with low brilliance source. However, the comprehensive and analytical theoretical framework is yet to be presented. Herein, we propose a theoretical framework termed angular signal radiography (ASR) to describe the imaging process of the XGI system in a classical, comprehensive and analytical manner. We demonstrated, by means of theoretical deduction and synchrotron based experiments, that the spatial distribution of specimens' physical properties, including absorption, refraction and scattering, can be extracted by ASR in XGI. Implementation of ASR in XGI offers advantages such as simplified phase retrieval algorithm, reduced overall radiation dose, and improved image acquisition speed. These advantages, as well as the limitations of the proposed method, are systematically investigated in this paper.

The solar reflective green coating is prepared in the paper, of which the tailored infrared property reaches near upon 80%, and the temperature reduction bring by the reflectivity of the coat is improved too. The experiments on the temperature reduction and aging performance of the coat are also performed, the results suggests the green solar reflective coating can reduce more than 10°C compared with the same type coatings, it also has a good aging resistance capability.

The green chemistry technology is pivotal for the continuable development, the applcation and progress in this fields for the fuel industry is studied detailedly in this paper. It indicated the new substituted fuel and new ingredients gasoline technology is important for the environment. And that it is also an important work to study the exploitation of the coal in non-combustion field; it not only can make full use of the coal but also can improve the value of the coal. The coal liquefaction process is an important method to obtain the high value products from the coal, and it also can reduce the pollution contrast with the direct combustion.

The article begins by inspecting the absence of architectural characteristics under the background of globalization. The brief situation of Chinese traditional architecture research and regional architectural creation are organized. Points are made about the significance of research in the construction of urban and rural living environment. It is also important that the local building wisdom and culture be explored and the precious heritage of vernacular architectural culture be passed on. The simple building idea and ecological view should also be succeeded. And that is the route we must take to undertake contemporary regional architectural creation.

Car frame which is usually made of up beam, down beam, upright, cradle beam and bracer is bearing structure part which has a high intensity and stability requirements. Through research 2.5 tons, 4 high speed elevator's car frame, car frame's up beam, down beam, upright and cradle beam are designed by channel steel. In order to reduce the material cost of car frame based on the precondition that wouldn't influence frame's the stability and safety. First, Treating with the software SolidWorks establish 3D modeling. Second, by using the Plug-in COSMOS exert restriction, load and divide gridding meshing on the new car frame structure. After FEA gets stress cloud, strain cloud and safety factor cloud which provide the theory evidence of the new structure. The analysis of COSMOS shows the feasibility and stability of new structure. It can works on the condition that car frame keep steady and safe with material cost to lower, which has special significance on production practices.

Drive as the high-speed elevator's power input device, its function is to drag car and counterweight running in the hatchway. Drive's working status has significant impact to elevator's safety, dependability and comfort. Through the FEA on high-speed elevator's drive machine, and basis theoretical is used to provide reason for stress calculating and theoretical analyses. First, treat the drive device's stress with reasonable structure simplifying. Second, by the Plug-in SolidWorks COSMOS exert 3D modeling on load and constrain. The last, executing the FEA gets stress and strain cloud. Contrast the FEA analysis on the drive device with actual observation outcome, it shows that they are similarity, the analysis outcomes demonstrate the method of research to be reasonable, it has great meaning for high-speed and great capacity elevator's research. Provide directions for in-depth development.

The prediction accuracy of nonlinear time series is highly related to the dynamics of the data. In this study, a method based on error compensation is proposed to improve the accuracy of nonlinear time series prediction, especially for the problems in industry. First, an echo state network is modeled to describe the system complexity and then an error compensation is constructed based on least square support vector machine (LSSVM), in which a genetic algorithm is designed to select the training samples for LSSVM so as to reduce the negative impact by noise mixture. To verify the quality of the proposed model, a class of industrial problem for gas flow prediction is employed, and the experimental results indicate that the method gives a better performance than the others.

The complex tower structure appears as modeling of palms together, which is designed as steel frame-core tube structure. This paper uses SAP2000 to analysis seismic response respectively on the linear and elastic-plastic stage, and puts forward some specific suggestions for seismic design according to the analysis and calculation.

The electric spindle is the main form of high-speed NC machine spindle. Now the technology of ceramic spindle with its excellent performance applied to electric spindle is becoming a kind of important development trend. The performance of the electric spindle in largely determines machining precision and production efficiency of the high-speed machine tool. In order to meet the requirements of high speed, high accuracy, high reliability and small vibration in the rapid processing of machine tool, it is necessary to make a rigorous precision testing for the precision-processed spindle and obtain reliable data to meet the design standards and performance requirements of all ceramic high-speed spindle. In this paper, contact Surtronic25 type roughness measuring instrument is used for surface roughness analysis, and Leitz ultra PMM-C12.10.7 type tri-ordinate measuring machine is used for the roundness and cylindricity testing analysis of spindle external circular, which can make the surface roughness, roundness and cylindricity of the precision-processed zirconia ceramic spindle pore ​​to meet the design requirements and provide reliability safeguard to promote the using life and high-speed dynamic balance stability of the whole electric spindle.

Resistivity imaging and other resistivity methods are widely used to detect hidden troubles in embankments. Embankments have complex shapes and are made by multiple materials. Finite Element Method (FEM) and other numerical methods are efficient ways to solve the forward problems of complex objects such as embankment. This article introduces how to use ANSYS to build a 3D embankment model and simulate the detection of internal erosion. We simulated the process of detecting a seepage channel in embankments by Wenner arrays and list the simulation results and parts of the APDL source program. ANSYS and APDL are very suitable tools to rapidly solve the forward problems of complex objects, such as embankment.

A monitoring structure has been designed to detect settlement using a tube with distributed optical fiber sensors inside. The strain of the optical fibers inside the detecting tube was calculated to estimate the settlement degree of earth dam. The Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis of the tube interaction with the earth dam by ANSYS software is applied to find the best installation location of the detecting tube.