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Objective Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) are common incidents associated with an increased hospital stay, readmissions into the intensive care unit (ICU), increased costs, and mortality after cardiac surgery. Our study aims to analyze whether minimally invasive valve surgery (MIVS) can reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications compared to the full median sternotomy (FS) approach. Methods We reviewed the records of 1076 patients who underwent isolated mitral or aortic valve surgery (80 MIVS and 996 FS) in our institution between January 2015 and December 2019. Propensity score-matching analysis was used to compare outcomes between the groups and to reduce selection bias. Results Propensity score matching revealed no significant difference in hospital mortality between the groups. The incidence of PPCs was significantly less in the MIVS group than in the FS group (19% vs. 69%, respectively; P P = 0.034), pleural effusions (P = 0.042), and pulmonary infection (P = 0.001). Prolonged mechanical ventilation time (> 24 h) (P = 0.016), blood transfusion amount (P = 0.006), length of hospital stay (P P P P Conclusion MIVS for isolated valve surgery reduces the risk of PPCs compared with the FS approach.

Background Osteosarcoma is most common malignant bone tumors. OS patients with metastasis have a poor prognosis. There are few tools to assess metastasis; we want to establish a nomogram to evaluate metastasis of osteosarcoma. Methods Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of patients with osteosarcoma were retrieved for retrospective analysis. We identify risk factors through univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, we established a nomogram to predict metastasis of patients with osteosarcoma and used the concordance index (C-index) and calibration curves to test models. Results One thousand fifteen cases were obtained from the SEER database. In the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis, age, primary site, grade, T stage, and surgery are risk factors. The nomogram for metastasis was constructed based on these factors. The C-index of the training and validation cohort was 0.754 and 0.716. This means that the nomogram predictions of patients with metastasis are correct, and the calibration plots also show the good prediction performance of the nomogram. Conclusion We successfully develop the nomogram which can reliably predict metastasis in different patients with osteosarcoma and it only required basic information of patients. The nomogram that we developed can help clinicians better predict the metastasis with OS and determine postoperative treatment strategies.

Bronchial asthma (abbreviated as asthma), is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness. The main characteristics of asthma include variable reversible airflow limitation and airway remodeling. The pathogenesis of asthma is still unclear. Th1/Th2 imbalance, Th1 deficiency and Th2 hyperfunction are classic pathophysiological mechanisms of asthma. Some studies have shown that the imbalance of the Th1/Th2 cellular immune model and Th17/Treg imbalance play a key role in the occurrence and development of asthma; however, these imbalances do not fully explain the disease. In recent years, studies have shown that γδT and γδT17 cells are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. γδTreg has a potential immunosuppressive function, but its regulatory mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this paper, we reviewed the role of γδT17/γδTreg cells in bronchial asthma, including the mechanisms of their development and activation. Here we propose that γδT17/Treg cell subsets contribute to the occurrence and development of asthma, constituting a novel potential target for asthma treatment.

Background: Postoperative pulmonary complications remain a leading cause of increased morbidity, mortality, longer hospital stays, and increased costs after cardiac surgery; therefore, our study aims to analyze whether minimally invasive valve surgery (MIVS) for both aortic and mitral valves can improve pulmonary function and reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications when compared with the full median sternotomy (FS) approach.Methods: A comprehensive systematic literature research was performed for studies comparing MIVS and FS up to February 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and propensity score-matching (PSM) studies comparing early respiratory function and pulmonary complications after MIVS and FS were extracted and analyzed. Secondary outcomes included intra- and postoperative outcomes.Results: A total of 10,194 patients from 30 studies (6 RCTs and 24 PSM studies) were analyzed. Early mortality differed significantly between the groups (MIVS 1.2 vs. FS 1.9%; p = 0.005). Compared with FS, MIVS significantly lowered the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (odds ratio 0.79, 95% confidence interval [0.67, 0.93]; p = 0.004) and improved early postoperative respiratory function status (mean difference −24.83 [−29.90, −19.76]; p < 0.00001). Blood transfusion amount was significantly lower after MIVS (p < 0.02), whereas cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamp time were significantly longer after MIVS (p < 0.00001).Conclusions: Our study showed that minimally invasive valve surgery decreases the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and improves postoperative respiratory function status.

Microplastic (MP) pollution has received widespread attention; however, its occurrence and distribution in water supply systems, particularly in pipe scales, remains unclear. In this study, MPs were observed in water and pipe scale samples from the drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) and distribution system (DWDS), respectively. The MP concentrations ranged from 13.23 to 134.79 n/L and 569.99 to 751.73 n/kg in the water and pipe scale samples, respectively. The predominant particles in the pipe scales (50–100 μm) were smaller than those in the water samples (> 200 μm). Overall, MP fragments were the most abundant. Of all the identified MPs, nylon and polyvinyl chloride were predominant in the water and pipe scale samples, respectively. Furthermore, the DWTP and DWDS both prevented MPs from entering the tap water, thereby reducing their risk. The results of this study provide direct evidence for the strong adsorption of MPs onto pipe scales, indicating that pipe scale stability may play a role in improving water quality and security. However, the abundance of MPs in pipe scales cannot be ignored. Additionally, the results provide valuable background information on MP pollution in water supply systems.

Background Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (LGMS) is a rare type of tumor. Previous research has paid much attention to reporting pathological analyses of LGMS. However, only few systematic clinical and/or radiological studies have been conducted. Methods This study recruited 14 cases (8 males and 6 females) of LGMS. X-ray or computer tomography (CT) scan were performed on 11 cases. MRI was performed on 5 cases. Results X-Ray and CT scan: Five cases developed LGMS in bones, including 3 cases in the distal femur, 1 in the right shoulder blade, and another 1 in the right inferior ramus. Massive infiltrative and vermiform bone destruction with poorly-circumscribed lesion margins and partial soft tissue masses were observed. The other 9 cases were developed in soft tissues. Out of them, 4 cases presented slightly irregular hyper- or lower-density masses with poorly-circumscribed margins. 2 cases presented massive calcification and ossification. Significant enhancement was observed in 1 case, while no obvious enhancement was seen in the other 2 cases. MRI: MR images of 5 cases revealed homogeneous iso- or hyper-signal intensity on T1WI and homogeneous or heterogeneous hyper-signal intensity on T2WI. Enhanced MRI revealed homogeneous enhancement in 2 cases and rim enhancement in 1 case. Conclusions Our findings show that LGMS is characterized by invasiveness, metastases and calcification. Different radiological tools should be employed to make an accurate diagnosis.

Background The pathological features of aortic dissection (AD) include vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) loss, elastic fiber fraction, and inflammatory responses in the aorta. However, little is known about the post-translational modification mechanisms responsible for these biological processes. Methods A total of 72 aorta samples, used for protein detection, were collected from 36 coronary artery disease (CAD, served as the control) patients and 36 type A AD (TAAD) patients. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-PCR was used to identify the genes regulated by H3K23ac, and tubastatin A, an inhibitor of HDAC6, was utilized to clarify the downstream mechanisms regulated by HDAC6. Results We found that the protein level of histone deacetylase HDAC6 was reduced in the aortas of patients suffering from TAAD and that the protein levels of H4K12ac, and H3K23ac significantly increased, while H3K18ac, H4K8ac, and H4K5ac dramatically decreased when compared with CAD patients. Although H3K23ac, H3K18ac, and H4K8ac increased in the human VSMCs after treatment with the HDAC6 inhibitor tubastatin A, only H3K23ac showed the same results in human tissues. Notably, the results of ChIP-PCR demonstrated that H3K23ac was enriched in extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes, including Col1A2, Col3A1, CTGF, POSTN, MMP2, TIMP2, and ACTA2, in the aortic samples of TAAD patients. In addition, our results showed that HDAC6 regulates H4K20me2 and p-MEK1/2 in the pathological process of TAAD. Conclusions These results indicate that HDAC6 is involved in human TAAD formation by regulating H3K23ac, H4K20me2 and p-MEK1/2, thus, providing a strategy for the treatment of TAAD by targeting protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), chiefly histone PTMs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s10020-019-0080-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Obstacle detection and target tracking are two major issues for intelligent autonomous vehicles. This paper proposes a new scheme to achieve target tracking and real-time obstacle detection of obstacles based on computer vision. ResNet-18 deep learning neural network is utilized for obstacle detection and Yolo-v3 deep learning neural network is employed for real-time target tracking. These two trained models can be deployed on an autonomous vehicle equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson Nano motherboard. The autonomous vehicle moves to avoid obstacles and follow tracked targets by camera. Adjusting the steering and movement of the autonomous vehicle according to the PID algorithm during the movement, therefore, will help the proposed vehicle achieve stable and precise tracking.

In this paper, an adaptive event triggered tracking control problem is investigated for a class of servo mechanisms based on the prescribed performance control scheme. In order to make the tracking error meet the prescribed performance, a novel error transformation function is introduced and modified to design the adaptive controller, which is differentiable and helps to reduce the procedure of finding the inverse function. Based on an event driven observer and the neural network approximation method, an event triggered controller and a dynamic event triggering condition are proposed, which can reduce the communication frequency. Finally, simulations results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The past decade has witnessed numerous discoveries of two-dimensional (2D) semimetals and insulators, whereas 2D metals were rarely identified. Borophene, a monolayer boron sheet, has recently emerged as a perfect 2D metal with unique electronic properties. Here we study collective excitations in borophene, which exhibit two major plasmon modes with low damping rates extending from the infrared to ultraviolet regime. The anisotropic 1D plasmon originates from electronic transitions of tilted Dirac cones in borophene, analogous to that in extreme doped graphene. These features enable borophene as an integrated platform of 1D, 2D, and Dirac plasmons, promising for directional polariton transport and broadband optical communication in next-generation optoelectronic devices.

Unmixing is an important issue of hyperspectral images. Most unmixing methods adopt linear mixing models for simplicity. However, multiple scattering usually occurs between vegetation and soil in a bilinear scene. Thus, nonlinear mixing problems which are difficult to be solved should be taken into consideration under this circumstance. In practice, both linear and nonlinear spectral mixtures exist in hyperspectral scenes. Considering the characteristics of different regions in images, we propose a hybrid unmixing algorithm for hyperspectral images based on region adaptive segmentation. Our method uses a standard K-means clustering algorithm to obtain different regions, including homogeneous regions and detailed regions. The model of the homogeneous regions is assumed to be linear, which will be pursued using the method of sparse-constrained nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), and the mixing in the detailed regions is assumed to be based on a nonlinear model. We also propose a new nonlinear unmixing method, called graph-regularized semi-NMF, which considers the manifold structure of hyperspectral data as the unmixing method to deal with the detailed regions. Finally, by combining the two regions, we obtain the abundance of the whole hyperspectral image. The proposed method can not only achieve more precise abundance but also be good at keeping the edge information of the bilinear abundance. The experimental results on both synthetic and real data also show that the proposed method is effective for improving the unmixing accuracy of hyperspectral remote-sensing images.

In the present work, a novel combined system based on the biomass-based solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine system combined with the organic flash cycle is regarded for power generation aim. The main objective of this work is to investigate the feasibility of the proposed system from the economic and environmental viewpoints. The optimum performance of all optimization scenarios is found by applying the multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm and using the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method. Regarding the obtained results, for fuel cost of 6 $ / G J and electricity price of 0.10 $ / k W h , the total net present value at the end of plant lifetime is 9.8 × 10 5 $ and the payback period is 4.25 years, which means that the plant is feasible for construction from the economic perspective. Also, the simulation results indicate that the proposed hybrid system can yield to the energy and exergy efficiencies of 49.37 % and 42.50 % , respectively. Also, the net output electrical power and is obtained 425.39 k W . Moreover, the final optimum solution selected by the decision-making method is obtained by η I I = 47.12 % , L T E = 23.24 t / M W h , and c p , t o t = 5.50 $ / G J .

Objective To determine the quantity and quality of articles in the field of knee arthroplasty worldwide and elucidate the characteristics of global scientific production. Methods Web of Science was used to identify articles in the field of knee arthroplasty from 2011 to 2015. The total number of papers, number of papers per capita, total number of citations, and mean number of citations were collected. Results In total, 11,590 papers were identified. The number of publications significantly increased from 2011 to 2015. Most originated from North America, East Asia, and West Europe. Most (88.51%) were from high-income countries, 11.48% were from middle-income countries, and only 0.01% were from lower-income countries. The United States had the most articles and total citations. Sweden had the highest mean citations, followed by Denmark and Canada. However, when adjusted by population size, Denmark had the most articles per million population, followed by Switzerland and the Netherlands. Conclusions The number of knee arthroplasty publications has rapidly increased in recent years. The United States is the most prolific, but some European countries are more productive relative to their population.

Objective To identify the constituents in Shuanghuanglian injection (SHLI) that correlate with anaphylactoid reaction. Methods Chemical fingerprints of 10 batches SHLI samples were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and further investigated by similarity analysis. Combined with optical microscopy, both anaphylactoid experiments and confirmatory assay were displayed in Rat basophil leukemia cells (RBL-2H3) to obtain the histamine release inducing by SHLI. The content of histamine was tested by Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay method. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) method and HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS n technology were conducted to analyze constituents in SHLI involving anaphylactoid reaction. Results The results of spectrum and effect relationships showed that the eight constituents were positively correlated with anaphylactoid reaction. Among which, nearly 90% of them were identified as baicalin and rutin with PLSR and HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS n . This result was in accordance with confirmatory assay on RBL-2H3 cells. Conclusion Baicalin and rutin from SHLI were the main constituents involving anaphylactoid reaction.

Before testing the similarity of the tire pattern, the following problems must be solved: the background image of the tire is complicated, the angle of the pattern is varied, and the illumination is inconsistent. In this paper, the traditional template matching method is optimized by Hue, Saturation, Value color model (HSV) and Sobel operator, so that the acquired target image has higher accuracy. The original Local Binary Pattern(LBP) algorithm is improved to make it more suitable for tire pattern similarity detection while overcoming the problem of variable pattern angle.

With the development of the construction of power grid information, the scale of power communication transmission network is rapidly expanding, which greatly increases the difficulty of maintenance scheduling and requires the relevant intelligent algorithm to assist the operation and maintenance department to formulate an efficient maintenance plan. Aiming at solve maintenance problem of power communication transmission network, we proposed a maintenance task scheduling model which balancing the waiting time of maintenance task, considering the scheduling requirements of maintenance task of power communication network with non-interruptible conditions of service. Experiment results show that the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm are verified. A maintenance scheduling algorithm for power communication transmission network based on big data is useful to solve the problem which using heuristic method to generate the scheduling scheme for maintenance task of the power communication network.

Osteosarcoma is one of the most common malignant bone tumors in human worldwide. Angiogenesis is a pivotal process during osteosarcoma development. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) has been reported to promote angiogenesis. However, the role of 3' untranslational region (3'UTR) of IGF1 mRNA in angiogenic activity in osteosarcomas is still unknown. In the present study, we performed gain-of-function assays to investigate the role of IGF1-3'UTR in angiogenesis. For the first time, we demonstrated that IGF1 3'UTR increased VEGF expression and promotes angiogenesis in osteosarcoma cells. In addition, RNA-immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays showed that IGF1 3'UTR was a direct target of miR-29s. Our data also demonstrated that there existed a competition of miR-29s between IGF1-3'UTR and VEGF mRNA, and IGF1-3'UTR promoted angiogenesis at least in part via sponging miR-29s. Taken together, our study suggests that IGF1-3'UTR functions as a ceRNA in promoting angiogenesis by sponging miR-29s in osteosarcoma.

Single-layer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as MoS2 and MoSe2 exhibit unique electronic band structures ideal for hosting many exotic spin-orbital orderings. It has been widely accepted that Rashba spin splitting (RSS) is linearly proportional to the external field in heterostructure interfaces or to the potential gradient in polar materials. Surprisingly, an extraordinary nonlinear dependence of RSS is found in semiconducting TMD monolayers under a gate field. In contrast to small and constant RSS in polar materials, the potential gradient in non-polar TMDs gradually increases with the gate bias, resulting in nonlinear RSS with a Rashba coefficient an order-of-magnitude larger than the linear one. Most strikingly, under a large gate field MoSe2 demonstrates the largest anisotropic spin splitting among all known semiconductors to our knowledge. Based on the k·p model via symmetry analysis, we identify that the third-order contributions are responsible for the large nonlinear Rashba splitting. The gate tunable spin splitting found in semiconducting pristine TMD monolayers promises future spintronics applications in that spin polarized electrons can be generated by external gating in an experimentally accessible way.

Black phosphorus (BP), an elemental semiconductor, has attracted tremendous interest because it exhibits a wealth of interesting electronic and optoelectronic properties in equilibrium condition. The nonequilibrium electronic structures of bulk BP under a periodic field of laser remain unexplored, but can lead to intriguing topological optoelectronic properties. Here we show that, under the irradiation of circularly polarized light (CPL), BP exhibits a photon-dressed Floquet-Dirac semimetal state, which can be continuously tuned by changing the direction, intensity, and frequency of the incident laser. The topological phase transition from type-I to type-II Floquet-Dirac fermions manifests a new form of type-III phase, which exists in a wide range of intensities and frequencies of the incident laser. Furthermore, topological surface states exhibit nonequilibrium electron transport in a direction locked by the helicity of CPL. Our findings not only deepen our understanding of fundamental properties of BP in relation to topology but also extend optoelectronic device applications of BP to the nonequilibrium regime.

Plant identification is crucial in plant protection, crop breeding and agriculture research area. With the development of information technology, computer vision-based plant identification is an effective and efficient solution. Many tradition plant identification algorithms utilize only one type of plant images, such as images from leaves, flowers and stems etc., which may bring misclassifications. In order to recognize plant accurately, we propose a new plant identification scheme based on image set analysis. In this method, uses image set as a taxonomic unit, each image set consists of multiple images (whole plant, fruits, leaves, flowers, stems, branches, leaves scan), the characteristics of plants are fused together as a basis for plant identification. Compared to the traditional single feature, this study has more characteristics and provides more information in the classification process. A face recognition algorithm based on image collection is used in our research, for example: AHISD/CHISD (Affine/Convex Hull based Image Set Distance), PLRC (Pairwise Linear Regression Classification), SSDML (Set-to-Set Distance Metric Learning), SANP (Sparse Approximated Nearest Point), RNP (Regularized Nearest Points). Data set contains 64,150 plant images, it can be divided into 369 training set (each training set contains 50 pictures) and 914 test sets (each test set contains 50 picture). The results show that CHISD has the highest recognition rate, at 77.02%, which is more suitable for requiring higher accuracy. RNP identifies a plant class took an average of 0.75 s, the algorithm is more suitable for the occasion with higher time requirement. Therefore, the plant identification based on image set is feasible and low cost, which can be extended to agricultural production.

The Ivor Lewis surgery originally included two stages and is generally completed in a single stage in China. A thoracoscopic-laparoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy is indicated by esophageal cancer involving the cardia and the inferior portion of the esophagus, while an involvement of the medial and superior portions may lead to over-tension of anastomotic stoma, and therefore should not resort to this procedure.

The separate absorption and multiplication (SAM) GaN/AlGaN solar-blind avalanche photodiodes (APDs) integrated with the specific design of 1-D dual-periodic photonic crystal on the back of the sapphire substrate are investigated numerically. The calculated results show that the proposed APDs can increase significantly the avalanche gain compared with the conventional SAM AlGaN solar-blind APDs using GaN instead of AlGaN as the multiplication layer. The enhanced performance can be explained by the larger hole ionization coefficient in the multiplication layer, the higher hole injection efficiency, and the reduced total dark current in this APDs. Meanwhile, the cutoff wavelength of 282 nm is achieved due to the optical filter effect of 1-D dual-periodic photonic crystal.

In order to solve the problem of mobile robot self-localization, a robot vision absolute localization method based on binocular stereo omni-directional vision system is proposed. With the artificial landmarks as a priori position information, the improved modified discrete Gaussian hermite moment SURF algorithm is used to complete the rapid detection of feature points, as well as the feature matching algorithm to identify the area of the landmarks. By the matching center of gravity iteration algorithm, the matching error is reduced. An algorithm of sub-pixel location of circle target based on unmixing the mixed pixels is applied to improve the positioning accuracy of the center coordinates of landmarks. The landmark detection area is predicted by the current state of motion of the robot, which improves the real-time positioning of robot while moving. For the characteristics of the panoramic system, a triangulation algorithm is improved to solve the localization and orientation of the robot. According to multiple localization experiments performed in different environmental paths, the results show that the proposed algorithm has high accuracy and real-time performance.

In the ABB Freelance process control system, it is difficult to compose the complex intelligent control algorithm using industrial programming language. In order to realize the intelligent control algorithm applied in ABB Freelance quickly, Proposed the use of the system application interface to achieve VC + +, MATLAB and other environmental development of customer applications directly with the ABB Freelance system communication, making VC++, MATLAB and other environmental development intelligent control algorithm can be quickly and easily applied in the ABB Freelance control system.

Circuit breaker is the essential electrical equipment of power plants and substations in distribution equipment. It shoulders the dual task of control and protection in Power System. Breaker as the power system is an important switching equipment, the merits of its motion feature has an important impact on the safety of the grid. Due to the motion characteristics of a conventional circuit breaker testing methods has low efficiency, poor accuracy, consumption of labor and other shortcomings, so its poor detection reliability and quality. Therefore, we introduce the computer vision to the analysis of circuit breaker movement characteristics, in order to visual analysis of the circuit breaker. In this paper, we adopt the analytical methods which based on predetermined template to analysis the movement characteristics of circuit breaker, and utilize the sliding window filtering methods to its motion parameters denoising and filtering, so that the result is closer to the actual movement characteristics of the circuit breaker. Predetermined template is captured from the source image in general, which is similar to the target that it can be found in the source image. This algorithm solves many shortcomings of the current motion characteristics of the circuit breaker testing.

Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar has been proved to be a powerful tool in imaging moving targets in military and civilian applications. The target's movement with respect to the radar sensor provides the angular diversity required for range-Doppler ISAR imagery and image blur due to its motion error. For real targets such as plane, ship and tank have complicated motion components which are unknown to the radar. This paper is a brief review of universally used motion compensation techniques employed in ISAR for a clear and focused image.

To investigate the expression of TNF-α, IFN-γ, TGF-β, and IL-4 in the spinal tuberculous focus and its relationship with the lesions type, severity, and bone destruction. The pathological samples of patients with spinal tuberculosis (TB) were divided into hyperplasia group and necrosis group according to their intra-operative and post-operative pathological findings. Normal bone tissues were taken as the control group. Pathology and expression of TNF-α, IFN-γ, TGF-β, and IL-4 in different tissues were compared among these three groups using immunohistochemical staining, quantitative image analysis, and measurement of bone tissue. 286 granulomas observed in the 14 samples in the hyperplasia group, which included 84 necrotizing and 202 non-necrotizing granulomas. As for the 20 samples in the necrosis group, there were 356 necrotizing and 186 non-necrotizing granulomas among all the 542 granulomas. The proportion of necrotizing granulomas in the necrosis group was significantly higher than that of the hyperplasia group. By inter-group comparison, expression of TNF-α, IFN-γ of granulomas in the hyperplasia group was significantly higher than that of the necrosis group, while the expression of TGF-β, IL-4 of granulomas in the necrosis group was significantly higher than that of the hyperplasia group. Also, expression of IFN-γ of non-necrotizing granulomas was significantly higher than that of necrotizing granulomas in the hyperplasia group, and expression of TGF-β in necrotizing granulomas was significantly higher than that of non-necrotizing granulomas in the necrosis group. The lesions were mainly bone resorption in the hyperplasia group, whereas mostly necrotic bones accompanied by local fibrosis in the necrosis group. Expression levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ in the hyperplasia group have a positive correlation to bone loss, whereas expression levels of TGF-β, IL-4 in the necrosis group have a positive correlation to the bone formation. The high expressions of TNF-α, IFN-γ in the spinal tuberculous focus were associated with protective immune cells. TGF-β and IL-4 were related to allergic lesions, fibrosis and osteogenesis. Expression imbalance of TNF-α, IFN-γ, TGF-β, and IL-4 might aggravate the allergy of TB.

A consistent positive association between cigarette smoking and the human esophageal cancer has been confirmed all over the world. However, details in the association need to be more focused on and be identified. Recently, aberrantly expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be promising biomarkers for understanding the tumorigenesis of a wide array of human cancers, including the esophageal cancer, and the deregulation on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) by miRNAs is involved in the tumorigenesis. In present study, we were going to identify the role of nicotine-induced miR-21 in the EMT of esophageal cells. We found that there was an overexpression of miR-21 in esophageal specimens, having an association with cigarette smoking, and the upregulation of miR-21 was also induced by nicotine in esophageal carcinoma cell line, EC9706. Moreover, the upregulated miR-21 by nicotine promoted EMT transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) dependently. Thus, the present study reveals a novel oncogenic role of nicotine in human esophageal cancer.

Purpose This study aimed to validate a Chinese version of the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) in patients with epilepsy. The relationships between adherence, seizure frequency, and adverse effects were assessed using this method. Methods Data from patients diagnosed with epilepsy at the Department of Neurology of Huashan Hospital were collected between January and June 2013. To validate the MMAS-8, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and factor analysis were calculated. Relationships between adherence, seizure frequency, and adverse effects were assessed using Pearson's correlation. Results One hundred and eleven patients were recruited. The MMAS-8 had moderate internal consistency (Cronbach's α =0.556) and good test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.729). The MMAS-8 adherence rate was 79.2%. MMAS-8 adherence was negatively correlated with seizure frequency and adverse effects ( r =–0.708, p r =–0.484, p Conclusion The MMAS-8 scale can be used as a tool to assess medication adherence in Chinese patients with epilepsy. Better seizure control and lower rates of adverse effects were significantly correlated with higher adherence scores.

Esophageal carcinoma is one of the most virulent malignant diseases and a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Despite improvements in surgical techniques and perioperative management and surgery combined with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) at an advanced stage remains poor. ESCC shows a relatively high incidence of EGFR (50% – 70%), and the humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) cetuximab against EGFR has been undergoing clinical development. However, all responding patients eventually developed acquired resistance to cetuximab. In the current study, we described a cetuximab-sensitive ESCC xeongraft model that developed resistance to cetuximab as a result of FGFR2 gene amplification and overexpression. Inhibition of FGFR2 signaling in this xenograft model restored its sensitivity to cetuximab. The antitumor effect may be induced by inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. These findings suggest that combination therapy including cetuximab and FGFR2 inhibition may be a promising strategy to treat ESCC. Keywords:: EGFR, FGFR2, cetuximab, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

A shearlets-based edge identification algorithem for the sea-sky in infrared image is proposed. The algorithem demonstrates the performance of edge detection based on shearlets, which is proper to use in infrared images. Simultaneously, with the advantage of edge geometric features provided by the shearlets, infrared image were extracted the direction information of edge of Infrared image, and classified. Simulation results conformed to the theory on edge detection based on shearlets. It drew the outline of edge for infrared image, provided the edge orientation feature and detected the sea-sky line.

To study the alternating current (AC) impedance properties of Ag/AgCl electrocardiograph (ECG) electrodes, the electrode pair was gel-to-gel connected, and then the electrical potential was recorded after a safe stimulating current passes through the electrode pair, so the AC impedance data of ECG electrodes were obtained. Varying the frequency and value of stimulating current, the detailed comparison and analysis of AC impedance properties of the electrodes were performed, and the stability was further characterized by using the continuous measurement within 24 h. The experimental results show that the AC impedance values of electrodes decreased, and then slightly increased with the increase of frequency of stimulating current. The minimum AC impedance value was obtained when the frequency was changed to 10 kHz. When the stimulating current increased, the AC impedance values of electrodes showed a slight decrease, but did not change significantly. Besides, the continuous measurement results show that the impedance value presented a significant increase in the initial 30 min, and then was stabilized in the following measuring process.

Because natural image filter response probability model is often a non-Gaussian form(sparse),it leads to the optimization problem of image restoration to be a non-convex and the optimal estimation solution can not be obtained by traditional maximum a posterior estimation.Therefore,this paper proposes a image restoration algorithm based on adaptive weight matrix to solve the problem.With image restoration,a prior model for the natural image is used to restrain the ring effect effectively and the conjugate gradient algorithm based on adaptive weight matrix is used to solve the problem of the non-convex optimization function due to the sparse prior.The weight matrix updates according to the last iteration result and is able to correct the error of the local image derivative estimation in the last iteration process.Experiments show that Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR)gotten by proposed algorithm is 36.131 6,better than that from other algorithms.Finally,the panoramic image is restored by proposed method and the good results are also obtained,which demonstrates that the algorithm proposed is practical and effective.

In this paper, a novel fault diagnosis approach combining support vector machine (SVM) with association rule mining for ship diesel engine is designed for enhancing accuracy rate of ship diesel engine fault diagnosis. We used SVM algorithm and association rule to analyze fault data for lubricating subsystem of ship diesel engine so as to achieve fault diagnosis for lubricating system. We explained in detail fault diagnosis for lubricating system in the paper. Finally, we design a ship diesel engine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis simulation system used to verify the novel fault diagnosis approach.

The engraving process of projectile is a very complicated mechanics process,In this paper, the artillery projectile engraving tube process is the research object, using the WDW-T200 microcomputer control electronic universal tension and compression testing machine of projectile and barrel samples of projectile with static indentation test。 The purpose is to explore the antiaircraft artillery projectiles in the engraving process, engraving resistance under the condition of different slope bore size variation and analysis to draw general conclusions, in order to facilitate for barrel bore slope design and model design of projectile provide theoretical reference. At the same time, the relationship between the taper of the bore and the length of the initial part is very important for studying the reliability of the gun and improving the firing accuracy and safety.

BACKGROUND Visudyne® mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) at low drug/light conditions has shown to selectively enhance the uptake of liposomal doxorubicin in subpleural localized sarcoma tumors grown on rodent lungs without causing morphological alterations of the lung. The present experiments explore the impact of low dose PDT on liposomal doxorubicin (Liporubicin™) uptake to different tumor types grown on rodent lungs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Three groups of Fischer rats underwent subpleural generation of sarcoma mesothelioma or adenocarcinoma tumors on the left lung. At least five animals of each group (sarcoma n?=?5; mesothelioma n?=?7; adenocarcinoma n?=?5) underwent intraoperative low dose (10?J/cm(2) at 35?mW/cm(2) ) PDT with 0.0625?mg/kg Visudyne® of the tumor and the lower lobe. This was followed by intravenous (IV) administration of 400?µg Liporubicin™. After a circulation time of 60?min the tumor bearing lung was processed for HPLC analyses. At least five animals per group underwent the same procedure but without PDT (sarcoma n?=?5; mesothelioma n?=?5; adenocarcinoma n?=?6). Five untreated animals per group underwent CD31 immunostaining of their tumors with histomorphometrical assessment of the tumor vascularization. RESULTS Low dose PDT significantly enhanced Liporubicin™ uptake to all tumor types (sarcoma P?=?0.0007; mesothelioma P?=?0.001; adenocarcinoma P?=?0.02) but not to normal lung tissue compared to IV drug administration alone. PDT led to a significantly increased ratio of tumor to lung tissue drug uptake for all three tumor types (P?0.05). However the tumor drug uptake varied between tumor types and paralleled tumor vascular density. The vascular density was significantly higher in sarcoma than in adenocarcinoma (P?

There are a large number of various kinds of weeds in agriculture. Weeds have a great impact on the development of agricultural production and agricultural economy. The reproduction and spread of weeds are mainly dependent on weed seeds. So we want to find an efficient algorithm with robust and accurate classification of weed seeds, which has an important practical value and economic significance. PCA Network has been applied to image feature extraction and achieved fantastic effects. Here we propose a variant of PCA Network and apply it to the classification of weed seeds in agriculture. The difference between the proposed method and the original PCA Network lies in that we get L1 families of orthogonal filters rather than one family of orthogonal filters in the second stage of PCA. After using the PCA Network variant method to extract image features, we conduct an experiment to test the classification accuracy of weed seeds. The data sets contain 91 types of weed seeds. In the experiment we use a large margin classifier to construct a linear classifier, which is based on affine hulls. Next we use the features extracted from the test samples to examine the recognition accuracy rate. Experiment results show that the PCA Network variant method obtains good classification results and improves the recognition accuracy. In the data sets composed of 91 types of weed seeds, 45 arrives at 100% recognition rate of classification, and 90.96% average recognition rate. At the same time, our algorithm shows relatively higher robustness than the recognition of weed seeds images does. This algorithm improves the classification accuracy rate of weed seeds greatly and thus can be applied to the agricultural production practice.

The Scale-invariant Feature Transform(SIFT) algorithm was improved in this paper,which could match two pictures and could also compute the object rotation angles in the pictures.Firstly,the SIFT was used to extract two images according to the SIFT feature invariance.Then,the computing process for the main direction of the feature point was analyzed,and the main angle for every key point was recorded.After matching two pictures,the angle difference of main direction for each pair of matched SIFT feature points was calculated and the rotation angle of feature point was obtained.Afterthat,all of the rotation angles of the feature points were analyzed by iterative self-organizing clustering method.Finally,the correct class of samples was selected by the variance and the number of samples within the classe,and the mean of the correct class was used as the final rotation angle of the object.The experiment results indicate that the rotation angle error is within 3° when the image distortion is not significant and it can also well estimate the rotation angle even if the object is partially occluded.Furthermore,in the case of the time complexity does not increase obvionsly,the SIFT can compute the rotation angle of the object,which expands its applications.

Laminectomy is an effective surgical treatment for multi-segment cervical spondylotic myelopathy (M-CSM) but usually results in C5 palsy. Some surgical techniques to restore the spinal sequence, increase the intervertebral foramen diameter, and limit the spinal cord drift distance have been proposed; however, it is unclear whether these procedures can avoid this complication. To investigate the clinical efficacy of limited laminectomy and foraminal decompression with fixation (LLFDF) for improving neurological recovery and preventing C5 palsy. A total of 71 patients with M-CSM were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-nine of them were treated with LLFDF (group A) and 32 with normal laminectomy with fixation (NLF; group B) after 3 months of formal conservative treatment. Pre- and postoperative neurological function, spinal cord drift distance, cervical curvature index (CCI), and number of C5 palsy cases were recorded and analyzed. There was no significant intergroup difference in the surgical time or intraoperative blood loss (P >.05). The laminectomy widths in groups A and B were 16.7 ± 2.6 mm and 21.8 ± 2.9 mm, respectively (P .05). Both groups demonstrated significant CCI improvements after surgery compared with those before surgery (P

Retrospective single institution analysis of all patients undergoing sleeve lobectomy or pneumonectomy between 2000 and 2005. Seventy-eight patients underwent pneumonectomy (65 patients 70 years) and 69 sleeve lobectomy (50 patients 70 years). Pre-existing co-morbidity, surgical indication and induction therapy was similarly distributed between treatment by age-groups. In patients 70 years, pneumonectomy and sleeve lobectomy resulted in a 30-day mortality of 15% vs. 0 and an overall complication rate of 23% vs. 32%. In both age groups, pneumonectomy was associated with more airway complications (NS) and a significantly higher postoperative loss of FEV(1) than sleeve lobectomy (P

Isolated lung perfusion (ILP) with free and a novel liposomal-encapsulated doxorubicin (Liporubicin, CT Sciences SA, Lausanne, Switzerland) was compared with respect to drug uptake and distribution in rat lungs bearing a sarcomatous tumor.A single sarcomatous tumor was generated in the left lung of 39 Fischer rats, followed 10 days later by left-sided ILP (n = 36) with free and equimolar-dosed liposomal doxorubicin at doses of 100 microg (n = 9) and 400 microg (n = 9) for each doxorubicin formulation. In each perfused lung, the drug concentration and distribution were assessed in the tumor and in three areas of normal lung parenchyma by high-performance liquid chromatography (n = 6) and fluorescence microscopy (n = 3). Histologic assessment and immunostaining with von Willebrand factor was performed in 3 animals with untreated tumors.The sarcomatous tumors in controls were well vascularized with fine branching capillaries present throughout the tumors. Isolated lung perfusion resulted in a heterogeneous drug distribution within the perfused lung and a consistently lower drug uptake in tumors than in lung parenchyma for both doxorubicin formulations and both drug doses applied. Isolated lung perfusion with free doxorubicin resulted in a significantly higher drug uptake than Liporubicin in both the tumor and lung tissue for both drug doses applied (p0.01). However, the tumor/normal tissue drug ratio was lower for free than for liposomal doxorubicin at a drug dose of 100 microg (0.27 +/- 0.1 vs 0.53 +/- 0.5; p = 0.225) and similar for both doxorubicin formulations at a drug dose of 400 microg (0.67 +/- 0.2 vs 0.54 +/- 0.2; p = 0.335). Both doxorubicin formulations resulted in fluorescence signaling emerging from all tissue compartments of normal lung parenchyma but only in weak and sporadic signaling from the tumors confined to the tumor periphery and vessels situated within the tumor for both drug doses assessed.Isolated lung perfusion with free and liposomal doxorubicin resulted in a heterogeneous drug distribution within the perfused lung and in a lower drug uptake in tumors than in lung tissue for both doxorubicin formulations and drug doses applied.

The traditional thin dielectric sheet approximation (TDS) method models the electromagnetic scattering by thin dielectric sheet using surface integral equation. In this approximation, only the tangential current within the dielectric sheet is considered, and the vertical component is ignored. This article proposes a method that uses the volume integral equation solution to predict the vertical volume current and hence to improve the overall solution accuracy. The formulation is based on the hybrid surface (SIE) and volume integration equation (VIE) in which, the thin dielectric is modeled with SIE, and the thin layers are modeled by VIE. It is shown that the inclusion of the vertical current component does not increase memory and solution time. Numerical examples will be provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 1978–1982, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23518

Central frequency is a key parameter of storage rings. This paper presents the measurement of central frequency of the HLS-II storage ring using the sextupole modulation method. Firstly, the basis of central frequency measurement of the electron storage ring is briefly introduced. Then, the error sources and the optimized measurement method for the HLS-II storage ring are discussed. The workflow of the self-compiled Matlab script used in central frequency measurement is also described. In the end, the results achieved by using two methods to cross-check each other are shown. The measured value of the central frequency demonstrates that the real circumference of the HLS-II storage ring agrees well with the designed value., 5 pages, 8 figures, 2818 words

An increasing number of studies are reporting a high frequency of creatine kinase (CK) elevation during telbivudine therapy; however, few reports have focused on the cumulative incidence and risk factors of CK elevation. This study was performed to investigate the cumulative incidence and risk factors of CK elevation in Chinese patients treated with telbivudine. In this observational study, patients with chronic hepatitis B receiving telbivudine therapy between July 2008 and December 2013 were enrolled. The cumulative incidence of CK elevation was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method combined with the log rank test. Risk factors were determined using Cox proportional hazards regression models. A total of 207 eligible patients were analyzed. The cumulative incidence of CK elevation at 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 months was 51.2 %, 68.9 %, 75.1 %, 78.1 %, 78.1 %, and 78.1 %, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that male and lower baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were significant risk factors for CK elevation. The cumulative incidence of CK elevation after long-term telbivudine use is quite high, and gender and baseline eGFR may be useful predictors. However, when combined with regular monitoring of CK levels, especially for patients with lower eGFR, telbivudine is a relatively safe nucleoside analog treatment for chronic hepatitis B.

Image has important applications in many fields such as marine surveillance, environment monitoring and so on. The scattering effects of the atmospheric particles in the air play a main role of resulting in contrast reduction and color fading. For dealing with this challenging but imperative issue, there are numerous researchers have strove for this scientific field and published a plenty of findings about restoring the foggy image. In generally, the foggy image always includes the sky and non-sky regions while the pixel values in this two distinguished regions is extremely different. The dark channel prior algorithm has been considered as one effective dehazing approach which only employs one constant factor for the overall image regardless of the scene pattern. This imprudent procedures always leads to more darkness image color and fails to achieve excellent results. For dealing with this challenging but imperative issue, we propose one improved dark channel prior dehazing approach using adaptive factor. In our algorithm, the foggy image is segmented into sky region and non-sky region respectively, the critical parameters i.e. light intensity and transmission ratio are obtained based on different factors. Some comparative experiments have also been conducted for validating dehazing performance of the proposed approach.

Helicopter blade running elevation measurement is an important measure target in helicopter blade dynamic balance experimentation. The elevation influences the helicopter's security and other performance capabilities. In testing, however, it has been difficult to measure the elevation when the rotor reaches high speeds. To get a simple, fast and highly accurate measurement system, photo electricity technology was applied to measuring the blade running elevation. Discussed is the measurement principle of blade running elevation, the design of the measurement system and analysis of the measurement precision.