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Objectives. To evaluate the value of the whole volume apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram in distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions and differentiating different molecular subtypes of breast cancers and to assess the correlation between ADC histogram parameters and Ki-67 expression in breast cancers. Methods. The institutional review board approved this retrospective study. Between September 2016 and February 2019, 189 patients with 84 benign lesions and 105 breast cancers underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Volumetric ADC histograms were created by placing regions of interest (ROIs) on the whole lesion. The relationships between the ADC parameters and Ki-67 were analysed using Spearman’s correlation analysis. Results. Of the 189 breast lesions included, there were significant differences in patient age ( P < 0.001 ) and lesion size ( P = 0.006 ) between the benign and malignant lesions. The results also demonstrated significant differences in all ADC histogram parameters between benign and malignant lesions (all P < 0.001 ). The median and mean ADC histogram parameters performed better than the other ADC histogram parameters (AUCs were 0.943 and 0.930, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the 10th percentile ADC value and entropy could determine the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status (both P = 0.001 ) and estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) status ( P = 0.020 and P = 0.041 , respectively). Among all breast cancer lesions, 35 tumours in the low-proliferation group ( Ki − 67 < 14 % ) and 70 tumours in the high-proliferation group ( Ki − 67 ≥ 14 ) were analysed with ROC curves and correlation analyses. The ROC analysis revealed that entropy and skewness could determine the Ki-67 status ( P = 0.007 and P < 0.001 , respectively), and there were weak correlations between ADC entropy ( r = 0.383 ) and skewness ( r = 0.209 ) and the Ki-67 index. Conclusion. The volumetric ADC histogram could serve as an imaging marker to determine breast lesion characteristics and may be a supplemental method in predicting tumour proliferation in breast cancer.

Yuan Ning,1 Yushuang Shao,1 Jiangyue Zhao,1 Jinsong Zhang,1 Mingwu Wang,2 Yu Qin1 1Department of Ophthalmology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Eye Hospital of China Medical University, Key Lens Research Laboratory of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110005, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, 85711-1824, USACorrespondence: Yu QinDepartment of Ophthalmology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Eye Hospital of China Medical University, Key Lens Research Laboratory of Liaoning Province, No. 11 Xinhua Road, Heping District, Shenyang, 110005, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 24 62035015Fax +86 24 62035015Email yuqin_3620@163.comObjective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the stability of four different types of aspheric intraocular lenses (IOLs) after implantation.Methods: This retrospective study included 124 eyes implanted with four different types of aspheric IOLs including a one-piece four-loop fixed hydrophilic acrylic IOL, a one-piece flat fixed acrylic IOL, a one-piece two-loop fixed acrylic IOL, and a three-piece two-loop fixed silicone IOL. IOL decentration, tilt, and ocular coma‐like aberration (coma) at one-week, one-month, three-month, and one-year time points were evaluated postoperatively.Results: IOL decentration, tilt, and coma in the AO, 36A, IQ, and KS-AiN implantation groups were statistically significantly different one week and one year postoperatively (p < 0.01). There were significant differences between each of the pairs of groups (p < 0.01), except for coma between the AO and 36A implantation groups one week postoperatively (p > 0.05). When comparing the different time points (ie, one week, one month, three months, and one year postoperatively), IOL decentration, tilt, and coma were significantly different in each group (p < 0.05). IOL decentration, tilt, and coma in each group increased over the period from one week to one year postoperatively. A positive linear correlation was observed between IOL decentration or tilt and coma one year postoperatively (p < 0.01).Conclusion: One-piece multi-point fixed acrylic IOLs demonstrate better stability when compared with three-piece two-point fixed silicone IOLs. IOL decentration, tilt, and coma increase gradually over time. Ocular coma‐like aberrations are influenced by the stability of IOLs.Keywords: stability, aspheric intraocular lens, IOL, decentration, tilt, coma

Aims This study aims to investigate the current status of biventricular pacemaker and defibrillator implantation in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with indications for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in China and the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)‐pacemaker (P) and CRT‐defibrillator (D) implantation on the clinical prognosis of CHF among patients undergoing CRT. Methods and results Overall, 798 consecutive patients who had devices implanted (implantable cardioverter defibrillator: 199, CRT‐D: 362, and CRT‐P: 237) from May 2012 to July 2013 in POSCD‐China, a multicentric prospective cohort study, were enrolled. The primary endpoint was all‐cause death, and the secondary endpoint was SCD. In total, 71.3% of patients had non‐ischaemic CHF. The mean follow‐up time was 27.7 ± 12.0 months, and death occurred in 158 cases, with 35 cases of SCD. CHF was the main cause of death (68.4%), followed by sudden death (22.2%). In the CRT‐P group, the SCD rate was 8.0%, which was much higher than that in the CRT‐D (3.3%) and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (2.0%) groups. No significant differences were identified in the all‐cause death rate between the CRT‐D and CRT‐P groups (CRT‐D vs. CRT‐P, 20.4% vs. 19.4%, P = 0.840). Conclusions In China, among CHF patients with indications for primary prevention of SCD who received device implantation, non‐ischaemic CHF was the main aetiology, and the most important cause of death was heart failure. No differences in all‐cause death were observed between the CRT‐D and CRT‐P groups, but the CRT‐D group had a lower SCD rate than the CRT‐P group.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis and to provide evidence for its use in clinical practice. Eight databases were extensively searched up to March 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the efficacy of acupuncture with sham acupuncture or no acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis were included. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment were independently conducted by two reviewers. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool was used for assessing the risk of bias. A total of 18 RCTs were included, involving a total of 3 522 participants. The results showed that acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture in relieving pain (SMD=−0.34, 95%CI: −0.57 to −0.11, l2=85%, P=0.003) and improving physical function (SMD=−0.34, 95%CI: −0.57 to −0.11, l2=85%, P=0.003). In comparison to the no-acupuncture group, the acupuncture group also showed significant advantages in relieving pain (SMD=−0.79, 95%CI: −1.15 to −0.43, l2=87%, P

Objectives We evaluated the safety and usefulness of preparatory anatomical reshaping with a geometric hourglass-shaped balloon to optimize transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) outcomes in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis. Background TAVR has been increasingly performed for BAV stenosis; however, technical challenges remain. Procedural results are suboptimal given unfavorable valvular anatomies. Methods Eligible patients with BAV stenosis were enrolled to undergo aortic valve predilatation with the hourglass-shaped TAV8 balloon before TAVR using the self-expandable Venus A-Valve. Procedural details and outcomes were compared to a sequential group of patients with BAV who underwent TAVR with the same device following preparatory dilatation using a cylindrical balloon. Results A total of 22 patients were enrolled in the TAV8 group and 53 were included in the control group. Valve downsizing was less common in the TAV8 group (36.4 vs. 67.9%; p = .012). Stable valve release and optimal implant depth were consistently achieved in the TAV8 group with no requirement for a second valve (0 vs. 17.0%; p = .039) and with higher device success rates (100.0 vs 77.4%; p = .014). Residual aortic regurgitation graded as ≥mild was less common in the TAV8 group (13.6 vs 45.3%; p = .009). Mortality was similar (0 vs. 3.8%; p = 1); no major/disabling stroke or conversion to open-heart surgery was seen in either group within 30 days. Conclusions Compared with standard cylindrical balloon valvuloplasty, preparatory reshaping with the hourglass-shaped balloon before self-expandable TAVR in BAV was associated with significantly better procedural results and may encourage more promising outcomes.

Introduction: Curriculum learning through the wisdom tree massive open online course platform not only gets rid of the limitations of specialty, school and region, eliminates the limitations of time and space in traditional teaching, but also effectively solves the problem of educational equity. Objectives: This paper proposes an intelligent algorithm combining decision tree, support vector machine, and simulated annealing to obtain the best classification accuracy and decision rules for university students' satisfaction with the wisdom tree massive open online course platform. Methods: This study takes the university students in Fuzhou city information management department as the survey object, and adopts the electronic questionnaire survey method. A total of 1136 formal questionnaires were responded, and 1028 valid questionnaires were obtained after data cleaning and deleting invalid questionnaires (the effective rate was 90.49%). In this paper, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were tested by IBM SPSS-20.0 software, and six explanatory variables including function, achievement, exercise, quality, richness, and interaction were obtained by principal component analysis. Then, the questionnaire data is converted to CSV (comma separated values) format for analysis. This paper proposes an intelligent algorithm combining decision tree, support vector machine, and simulated annealing to obtain the best classification accuracy and decision rules for university students' satisfaction with the wisdom tree massive open online course platform. In this paper, the proposed algorithm is compared with decision tree, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, and support vector machine to verify its performance. Results: The experimental results show that training set classification accuracy of decision tree, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, only support vector machine and the proposed algorithm (simulated annealing + support vector machine) are 92.21%, 96.10%, 95.67%, 97.29%, and 99.58%, respectively. Conclusion: The proposed algorithm simulated annealing + support vector machine does increase the classification accuracy. At the same time, the 11 decision rules generated by simulated annealing + decision tree can provide useful information for decision makers.

To simplify the design of a beam scanning device, we present a simple and compact structure to realize the frequency scanning characteristic based on a hybrid waveguide consisting of a spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) transmission line and half-mode substrate integrated waveguide (HMSIW). Additionally, the radiation characteristic is implemented using periodically modulated slots. The scanning angle range covers backward to forward directions without an open stop band at the broadside. The results from both simulations and measurements show that the total scanning angle reaches 117° for a frequency range of 9–11.4 GHz. Owing to the inherent features of the HMSIW and the unique design of the SSPP transmission line, the entire structure is only 139.2 m m × 15 m m in size. Moreover, the average gain is approximately 6.5 dBi. Overall, the compact size and good performance ensure that the proposed design is favorable for planar integrated communication systems.

This paper presents the microgrid in terms of its structures, operation mode, optimal configuration, and other aspects are described, and the optimal configuration model, solution algorithm, and other status reviews. We also review the research direction of the planning and design method of microgrid prospects from the microgrid itself, integrated energy grid, and coordinated planning with the distribution network.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a kind of common cancer worldwide. Too late in diagnosis results in poor prognosis of patients with GC. Thrombospondin-2 (THBS2) is a type of secreted protein that has been found to be a diagnostic biomarker in a variety of cancers. Our study aimed to uncover the clinical value of THBS2 in early detection for patients with gastric cancer. THBS2 was upregulated in gastric cancer tissue compared with normal tissue via analyzing data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Additionally, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that the level of serum THBS2 and carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19-9, was higher dramatically in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) than that in healthy control (HC) in addition to patients with benign gastric tumor (BGT), which suggested that THBS2 indeed associated with GC. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve assay was conducted to demonstrate that serum THBS2 was similar to CA19-9 to distinguish patients with early gastric cancer from healthy control and patients with benign gastric tumor and that THBS2 combined with CA19-9 improved the detective performance of THBS2 for early gastric cancer. Furthermore, we applied the gene set enrichment analysis assay to analyze signaling pathways related to THBS2. We found that THBS2 positively controlled MAPK and WNT signaling pathways, which indicated that THBS2 might exert its functions via the pathway mentioned above. Thus, our study expounded that serum THBS2 could serve as a vital early diagnostic marker for patients with gastric cancer.

Smartphone-enabled microfluidic chemiluminescence immunoassay is a promising portable system for point-of-care (POC) biosensing applications. However, due to the rather faint emitted light in such a limited sample volume, it is still difficult to reach the clinically accepted range when the smartphone serves as a standalone detector. Besides, the multiple separation and washing steps during sample preparation hinder the immunoassay's applications for POC usage. Herein, we proposed a novel acoustic streaming tweezers-enabled microfluidic immunoassay, where the probe particles' purification, reaction, and sensing were simply achieved on the same chip at continuous-flow conditions. The dedicatedly designed high-speed microscale vortexes not only enable dynamic trapping and washing of the probe particles on-demand but also enhance the capture efficiency of the heterogeneous particle-based immunoassay through active mixing during trapping. The enriched probe particles and enhanced biomarker capture capability increase the local chemiluminescent light intensity and enable direct capture of the immunobinding signal by a regular smartphone camera. The system was tested for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) sensing both in buffer and serum, where a limit of detection of 0.2 ng/mL and a large dynamic response range from 0.3 to 10 ng/mL using only 10 μL of sample were achieved in a total assay time of less than 15 min. With the advantages of on-chip integration of sample preparation and detection and high sensing performance, the developed POC platform could be applied for many on-site diagnosis applications.

Performance of electroanalytical lab-on-a-chip devices is often limited by the mass transfer of electroactive species toward the electrode surface, due to the difficulty in applying external convection. This article describes the powerful signal enhancement attained with a 2.54 GHz miniature acoustic resonator integrated with an electrochemical device in a miniaturized cell. Acoustic resonator and an on-chip gold thin-film three-electrode electrochemical cell were arranged facing each other inside a structured poly(methyl methacrylate) chamber. Cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric responses of 1 mM ferrocene-methanol were recorded under resonator's actuation at powers ranging from 0 to 1 W. Finite element analysis was carried out to study the sono-electroanalytical process. Acoustic resonator's actuation greatly enhances the mass transport of electroactive species toward the electrode surface. The diffusion limited cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric currents increase around 10 and 20 times, respectively, with an input power of 1 W compared to those recorded under stagnant conditions. The improvement in electroanalytical process is mainly associated with acoustic resonator's vibration induced fluid streaming. The advantages of a miniaturized acoustic resonator, including the submillimeter small size, amenability for mass fabrication, cost effectiveness, low energy consumption, as well as outstanding enhancement of coupled electrochemical processes, will enable the production of highly sensitive compact electroanalytical devices.

The authors sought to better understand the stent geometry of the Lotus valve after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and its potential implications for valve size selection.The authors hypothesized that the greatest interference between the frame and aortic valvar complex occurs across the aortic valve leaflets.The authors retrospectively analyzed the multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of 32 consecutive patients undergoing Lotus valve (Boston Scientific, Natick, Massachusetts) implantation. The prosthesis cross section was analyzed at 3-mm increments along its length. The plane where the frame had the smallest area was defined as the waist. The corresponding plane of the waist on pre-procedural MDCT was identified by surrounding structures such as calcium deposits, commissural fusion, and commissural gaps, and was referred to as the supra-annulus. The spline of the supra-annulus was circumscribed with reference to the post-implant stent geometry at the waist.The waist was 5.8 ± 1.7 mm higher than the native annulus on post-procedural MDCT. The waist had a nearly 2-fold larger compression rate than the stent at the native annulus level (36.3 ± 10.4% vs. 18.9 ± 9.6%; p 0.01), irrespective of valve morphologies. The supra-annulus was 5.9 ± 1.6 mm higher than the annulus on pre-procedural MDCT. Patients had an approximately 17% decrease in area from the annulus to the supra-annulus (18.3 ± 4.4% for bicuspid morphology and 16.0 ± 3.5% for tricuspid morphology).Major interference between the implanted prosthesis and anatomy occurred at a level above the annulus. The decrease in area from the annulus to supra-annulus may explain the feasibility of implanting a smaller valve than that suggested by traditional annular measurements.

Aiming at the uneven distribution of haze concentration and color imbalance in haze weather images, a natural hazy image enhancement method which combines with multilayer fusion and chunk-based is proposed. Based on the atmospheric physical model, the detail and base layers of scene images can be extracted using multilayer decomposition and nonlinear mapping function. Iterative Box Filter can improve the accuracy of ambient light selection and avoid the imbalance of ambient light estimation. The image is segmented into blocks, and the block images are processed by the same operations which are multilayer decomposition and nonlinear mapping function to obtain the detail maps of block images. By splicing these detail maps into the whole detail maps and combining with the dark channel priori, a good transmittance estimation map can be obtained. Throughout the experiment, the guide image filter is utilized to preserve the edges of the image and color correction is added to the model. The experiment results demonstrate that our proposed method can outperform state-of-the-art methods in both qualitative and quantitative comparisons.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating mental illness affecting people worldwide. Although significant progress has been made in the development of therapeutic agents to treat this condition, fewer than half of all patients respond to currently available antidepressants, highlighting the urgent need for the development of new classes of antidepressant drugs. Here, we found that paeoniflorin (PF) produced rapid and sustained antidepressant-like effects in multiple mouse models of depression, including the forced swimming test and exposure to chronic mild stress (CMS). Moreover, PF decreased the bodyweight of mice without affecting food intake and glucose homeostasis, and also reduced the plasma levels of total ghrelin and the expression of ghrelin O-acyltransferase in the stomach; however, the plasma levels of ghrelin and the ghrelin/total ghrelin ratio were unaffected. Furthermore, PF significantly increased the expression of growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1 alpha (GHSR1α, encoded by the Ghsr gene) in the intestine, whereas the levels of GHSR1α in the brain were only marginally downregulated following subchronic PF treatment. Finally, the genetic deletion of Ghsr attenuated the antidepressant-like effects of PF in mice exposed to CMS. These results suggested that increased GHSR1α expression in the intestine mediates the antidepressant-like effects of PF. Understanding peripheral ghrelin/GHSR signaling may provide new insights for the screening of antidepressant drugs that produce fast-acting and sustained effects.

The complex multi-constraint and multi-objective nonlinear optimization problem of optimal dispatching of microgrid is paid much attention by the studies. This study suggests the optimized dispatching of the micropower grid based on the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm (IPSO) for full playing to the power generation advantage of distributed energy. A multi-objective microgrid model under photovoltaic power generation prediction and load prediction is modeled mathematically for the objective function for optimization. The battery’s service life and the lowest economic cost are considered multi-objective criteria for solving the optimization problem by the IPSO algorithm. The experimental results’ validity confirmed that the proposed scheme works well with the micropower grid through case analysis.

How distributed power access distribution networks bring the greatest benefits is closely related to the optimal configuration of distributed power supplies. This paper studies the grid-connected planning problem of DG, establishes the distribution network of DG model with the least active loss, power generation and power purchase cost as the objective function, and uses the improved hybrid particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to access the distributed power supply for distribution network. The algorithm is based on the traditional particle swarm optimization algorithm and adopts the strategy of inertia weight adjustment based on dispersion, adjusts the weight according to the population environment information, and introduces the elite aging mechanism and replacement mechanism to apply the dual-population co-evolution. The strategy allows information between the various groups to be shared, so that the genetic and particle populations co-evolve in the process of optimization. However, by analyzing to the IEEE33 standard node power distribution system, the results show that the reasonable configuration of DG can effectively reduce the network loss and cost, and the proposed model and algorithm are reasonable and feasible.

Background The degree of myocardial injury, as reflected by troponin elevation, and associated outcomes among US hospitalized patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) are unknown. Objectives To describe the degree of myocardial injury and associated outcomes in a large hospitalized cohort with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Methods Patients with COVID-19 admitted to one of five Mount Sinai Health System hospitals in New York City between February 27th and April 12th, 2020 with troponin-I (normal value 0.09 ng/dL, n=530, 19.4%) were significantly associated with higher risk (adjusted HR 3.03, 95% CI 2.42-3.80; P, Condensed Abstract Myocardial injury reflected as elevated troponin in Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is not well characterized among US patients. We describe the prevalence of myocardial injury and its impact on outcomes among hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 who had troponin-I measurements within 24 hours of admission (N=2,736). Elevated troponin concentrations (normal

Hyperuricemia is prevalent throughout the world. However, a well-designed large-scale epidemiological investigation of hyperuricemia in southwestern China is lacking. A regional representative sample of 10,141 participants were included using multistage, stratified sampling in Chengdu and Chongqing from September 2013 to March 2014. Hyperuricemia was defined as the self-reported of the doctor's diagnosis of hyperuricemia, or serum uric acid > 420 μmol/L in men or serum uric acid > 360 μmol/L in women. The overall age- and sex-standardized prevalence of hyperuricemia among adults aged 35–79 years was 13.5%. Compared with women, the prevalence of hyperuricemia in men was higher (17.3% versus 10.0%). Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, overweight or obesity, central obesity were associated with an increased risk for hyperuricemia both in men and in women. Married men and women were not susceptible to hyperuricemia. Current cigarette smoking was an associated risk factor of hyperuricemia only in women. Hyperuricemia has become a major health problem among urban adults aged 35–79 years in southwestern China, and special attention should be paid to men. Comorbidities associated with hyperuricemia and causality worth further investigation.

Comorbidities are commonly seen in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the clinical implication is not yet well-delineated. We aim to characterize the prevalence and clinical implications of comorbidities in patients with COVID-19. This is a retrospective multi-centre study involving patients admitted between January 16th and March 10th 2020. The composite endpoint was defined as the presence of at least one of the following, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or the need for mechanical ventilation, or death. A total of 472 consecutive cases admitted to 51 certified COVID-19 tertiary care hospitals were enrolled (median age was 43 [32–53.5] years and 53.0% were male). There were 101 (21.4%) patients presented with comorbidities, including hypertension (15.0%), diabetes mellitus (7.8%), coronary artery disease (2.6%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.3%) and cerebrovascular disease (1.9%). The composite endpoint occurred in 65 (13.8%) patients. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that older age (odds ratio [OR] 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05–1.85, per 10-year increment), antecedent hypertension (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.09–7.29), neutrophil counts (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.14–1.56) and lactate dehydrogenase level (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.01) were independently associated with the presence of composite endpoint. Hypertensive patients, compared with controls, had a greater chance of experiencing the composite endpoint (p p p p = .012). In the stepwise regression analysis of anti-hypertensive medications, none of the therapy predicted the composite endpoint. Hypertension is a common comorbidity in patients with COVID-19 and associated with adverse outcomes.KEY MESSAGESHypertension was identified as the comorbidity associated with the prognosis of COVID-19 in this retrospective cohort.Patients with hypertension could experience an increased risk of the composite endpoint.Anti-hypertensive therapy did not affect patient outcomes. Hypertension was identified as the comorbidity associated with the prognosis of COVID-19 in this retrospective cohort. Patients with hypertension could experience an increased risk of the composite endpoint. Anti-hypertensive therapy did not affect patient outcomes.

Background. Paravalvular leak (PVL) is common after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and has been linked with worse survival. This study aimed to investigate the determinants and outcome of PVL after TAVI and determine the role of aortic valve calcification (AVC) distribution in predicting PVL. Methods and Results. This was a retrospective cohort study of 270 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI. Determinants and outcomes of ≥mild PVL were assessed. Matching rates of PVL jet with AVC distribution were calculated. AVC volume, larger annulus dimensions, and transvalvular peak velocity were risk factors for ≥mild PVL after TAVI. AVC volume was an independent predictor of ≥mild PVL. On the other hand, annulus ellipticity, left ventricular outflow tract nontubularity, and diameter-derived prosthesis mismatch were not found to predict PVL after TAVI. PVL jet matched, in varying proportions, with calcification at all aortic root regions, and the highest matching rate was with calcifications at body of leaflets. Moreover, matching rates were less with commissure compared to cusp calcifications. Mild or greater PVL was not associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality up to 1-year follow-up. Conclusion. ≥mild PVL after TAVI is common and can be predicted by aortic root calcification volume, larger annulus dimensions, and pre-TAVI transvalvular peak velocity, with calcification volume being an independent predictor for PVL. However, annulus ellipticity, left ventricular outflow tract nontubularity, and diameter-derived prosthesis mismatch had no role in predicting PVL. Importantly, body of leaflet calcifications (versus annulus and tip of leaflet) and cusp calcifications (versus commissure calcification) are more important in predicting PVL. No association between ≥mild PVL and increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 1-year follow-up.

Background Studies of permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) specifically for bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients are lacking. We aim to delineate possible aspects that might affect the incidence of PPI in a retrospective cohort of BAV patients treated with early-generation self-expanding devices. Methods A total of 80 patients with bicuspid morphology who successfully underwent TAVR by self-expanding devices without prior PPI were included. Baseline clinical, echocardiographic, and angiographic characteristics, procedural and post-procedural details were collected. Results The incidence of PPI after early-generation self-expanding valves in this BAV cohort was 26.3%. Baseline characteristics were comparable between patients requiring PPI post-TAVR or not. Perimeter oversizing greater than 20% significantly increased the risk of PPI compared with an oversizing of 10-20% (OR 5.08 [1.22, 21.07], P = 0.03). The proportion of patients with a depth of implantation greater than 6 mm was significantly higher in those who required PPI (82.4% vs 54.3%, P = 0.04). When testing the impact of depth of implantation >6 mm and oversizing in different morphologies, only in type 1 bicuspid patients and by oversizing>20% increased the risk of PPI (OR 12.00 [1.25, 115.36], P = 0.03) compared with an oversizing of 10-20%. Conclusions Excessive perimeter oversizing in relation to aortic annulus and depth of implantation greater than 6 mm should be avoided to improve PPI post-TAVR for BAV patients receiving self-expanding devices, especially for type 1 BAV.

Aims Limited information exists describing the results of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with symptomatic severe non-calcific aortic stenosis (AS). We aimed to compare procedural, echocardiographic, and clinical outcomes among patients with non-calcific AS with those of senile calcific AS undergoing TAVR. Methods and results We retrospectively identified patients with non-calcific AS who received TAVR with self-expanding transcatheter heart valves in our centre. Clinical and echocardiographic outcomes, and post-procedural multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) measures were compared to those in patients undergoing TAVR for calcific AS. Among 136 patients, 21 patients (15.4%) with native leaflet thickening and minimal calcification were identified (non-calcific group). The patients were significantly younger in the non-calcific group (70.0 [64.0-75.5] vs. 75.0 [69.0-78.0] years) with comparable STS-PROM scores (6.7 [4.8-8.9] vs. 8.2 [4.8-10.9] %). Predilation was performed less frequently (42.9% vs. 93.9%) and post-dilation more often (71.4% vs. 42.6%) in the non-calcific group. Both 30-day and one-year mortality were similar between groups (0% vs. 7.8% and 0% vs. 17.6%). Rates of post-implantation paravalvular leak ≥mild at six months (17.6% vs. 25.7%) were comparable despite lower implantation depth among non-calcific AS patients (10.9±5.7 vs. 7.2±4.3 mm) on post-implantation MDCT. Conclusions TAVR with self-expanding transcatheter heart valves appears to be safe and effective in patients with non-calcific AS.

Cervical cancer remains the fourth most common cause of cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer deaths for women in developing countries. Traditional screening tools, such as human papillomavirus and Pap tests, cannot provide results in real-time and cannot localize suspicious regions. Colposcopy-directed biopsies are invasive in nature and only a few sites of the cervix may be chosen for investigation. A non-invasive, label-free and real-time imaging method with a resolution approaching that of histopathology is desirable for early detection of the disease. Methods: Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence microscopy (OCM) is an emerging imaging technique used to obtain 3-dimensional (3-D) “optical biopsies” of biological samples with cellular resolution. In this study, 497 3-D OCM datasets from 159 specimens were collected from 92 patients. Results: Distinctive patterns for normal cervix, squamocolumnar junction, ectropion, low-grade and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL and HSIL) and invasive cervical lesions were clearly observed from OCM images, which matched well with corresponding histological slides. OCM images demonstrated a sensitivity of 80% (95% confidence interval, CI, 72%-86%) and a specificity of 89% (95% CI, 84%-93%) for detecting high-risk lesions (HSIL and invasive lesions) when blindly tested by three investigators. A substantial inter-observer agreement was observed (κ=0.627), which showed high diagnostic consistency among three investigators. Conclusion: These results laid the foundation for future non-invasive optical evaluation of cervical tissue in vivo, which could lead to a less invasive and more effective screening and “see-and-treat” strategy for the management of cervical cancer.

Background: To investigate the individual sequential hemodynamic changes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), especially for patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), in comparison with tricuspid aortic valve (TAV). Methods: The study population comprised 85 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVI for BAV (n = 49) or TAV (n = 36) with at least two serial echocardiographic follow-ups. Doppler echocardiography was scheduled to be performed at discharge and 1, 3, 6 months and 1 year after the procedure. D peak transvalvular velocities and D mean transvalvular gradients were calculated as the difference at follow-up time points and discharge. Paravalvular leak (PVL) was assessed as another indicator for prosthesis performance. Results: Comparisons between patients with BAV and TAV revealed similar gradient performances (1.00 [–2.00, 2.00] vs. 1.00 [–0.25, 5.00] mm Hg, p = 0.57 at 1 month; –0.71 ± 7.52 vs. 1.55 ± 3.97 mm Hg, p = 0.21 at 3 months; 0.96 ± 7.81 vs. 1.53 ± 5.85 mm Hg, p = 0.79 at 6 months; 1.00 [–0.50, 2.25] vs. 3.00 [–0.50, 7.50] mm Hg, p = 0.07 at 1 year). Moreover, the incidence of ≥ mild PVL was not significantly different in patients with BAV and TAV during follow-up (34.88% vs. 19.35%, p = 0.14 at 1 month; 45.83% vs. 27.27%, p = 0.19 at 3 months; 30.00% vs. 23.53%, p = 0.89 at 6 months; 30.00% vs. 17.65%, p = 0.56 at 1 year). Conclusions: TAVI is effective and applicable in BAV anatomy with sustained and acceptable mid- -term prosthesis hemodynamic performance. (Cardiol J 2017; 24, 4: 350–357)

As transcatheter aortic valve replacement has become an alternative treatment for patients at high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement, bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) draws our attention again. The reported frequency of BAV was 0.5% to 2% in western population. However, there was no such epidemiologic study in Chinese population. Our study sought to investigate the prevalence and complications of BAV in China by echocardiographic database. A total of 668 cases who were confirmed with BAV, identified from 195,708 echocardiographic records of 157,039 patients in the echocardiographic database of West China Hospital (between June 2008 and June 2012), were analyzed retrospectively. The incidence of BAV was 0.43% in the cohort, and 579 (86.68%) patients were complicated by various degree of aortic valve stenosis or aortic valve regurgitation. The incidence of infective endocarditis and aortic dissection was 0.68% episodes per patient-years with mean age of 42.96 ± 11.25 years and 0.18% episodes per patient-years with mean age of 43.00 ± 5.14 years, respectively. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the prevalence of BAV and complications in Chinese was similar to that in the western population.

AIMS The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the predictors and outcome of acute kidney injury (AKI) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). METHODS AND RESULTS There were 35 articles recruiting 13,256 patients included in our study. Hypertension (odds ratio [OR] 1.92, 95% CI: 1.44 to 2.56), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.33, 95% CI: 1.20 to 1.47), peripheral artery disease (OR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.45) and a left ventricular ejection fraction

Background Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been demonstrated to be an effective alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in patients with aortic stenosis who are deemed high risk or inoperable. Currently, TAVI procedures in China mostly make use of the domestic Venus A-Valve and the CoreValve; however, there is no data on their comparative performance. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing TAVI with the aforementioned devices were included. The outcomes were reported according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 (VARC) definitions. Results A total of 54 TAVI procedures were performed, 27 with the CoreValve and the other 27 with the Venus A-Valve. An additional valve was required in 4 (14.8%) and 3 (11.1%) patients, and the VARC-2 device success rates were 81.5 and 85.2%, respectively. The incidences of common complications were similar, except for the significantly less frequent pacemaker insertion in the Venus A-Valve group (7.4 vs. 37.0%, P = 0.03). Within 30 days, 2 (3.7%) patients died, 1 in each group, and both had a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). No other serious complications, such as annular rupture, coronary obstruction and aortic dissection, occurred in the 32 BAV patients treated with the Venus A-Valve (14) or the CoreValve (18). After 2-years of follow-up, there was no significant difference between CoreValve group and Venus-A group (11.1 vs. 7.4%, P = 0.64). Conclusion TAVI with the domestic Venus A-Valve is feasible, safe, and can produce favorable short-term outcomes comparable to those with the CoreValve in inoperable or high-risk patients with tricuspid and bicuspid aortic valve stenosis. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In lab-on-a-chip electroanalysis, the mass transfer of electroactive species towards the electrode surface limits the detection performance due to the difficulty in applying external convection. In this study, we proposed to integrate miniature acoustic resonator, fabricated by microelectrochemical system, within on-chip electroanalytical platform to improve electrochemical process. Gold film electrochemical sensor chip and acoustic resonator were assembled face-to-face with a polydimethylsiloxane chamber in between. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) responses of ferrocenemethanol were tested under actuation of miniature acoustic resonator at various powers. Resonator’s actuation results in sigmoidal CV curves and the diffusion limited current increases with the rise of applied power on resonator. The advantages of miniature acoustic resonator, including submillimeter small size, mass fabricability, low cost, low energy consumption, as well as outstanding performance towards enhancing electrochemical process, will strongly contribute to the development of highly-sensitive compact sono-electroanalytical devices.

This paper proposes a new regime of acoustic droplet ejection ( $\sim 30\ \mu\mathrm{m}$ in diameter) without a nozzle. For the first time, the acoustic waves' interference in liquid is achieved by a Lamb Wave transducer array (LWTA). In this case, the initial velocity of droplet exceeds 5.5 m/s at an input power of 8 W. Compared with acoustic streaming effect by surface acoustic wave devices, the acoustic radiation pressure effect by LWTA is more focused and intense. Therefore, the ejected droplet is smaller and its velocity is higher. Interestingly, simulation reveals that the focusing region in liquid forms a line instead of a point.

Biomarkers for the early prediction of the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) are urgently needed for clinical management of the disease. Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), one of the autocrine peptides that reduce endothelial permeability, has been found to be associated with various diseases, including inflammatory disorders. This study aimed to determine whether serum Ang-2 could serve as a noninvasive biomarker for the early prediction of persistent organ failure (POF) in acute pancreatitis. A total of 120 AP patients were prospectively enrolled at Jinling Hospital. Serum samples were collected on admission. Clinical and laboratory data were recorded. Ang-2 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A total of 37 patients developed POF and were classified as having severe AP (SAP). Ang-2 was significantly higher on admission in patients who developed POF than in those who did not (p

Background The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score has been extensively validated to predict risk during hospitalization in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Recently, serum calcium has been suggested as an independent predictor for in-hospital mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction; however, the relationship between the 2 has not been evaluated. Hypothesis The combination of GRACE risk score and serum calcium could provide better performance in risk prediction. Methods The study enrolled 2229 consecutive patients with ACS. Independent predictors were identified by a multivariate logistic regression model. The incremental prognostic value added by serum calcium to the GRACE score was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Results Patients in the upper quartiles of serum calcium presented with lower in-hospital mortality (odds ratios for 3 upper quartiles vs lowest quartile, respectively: 0.443, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.206-0.953; 0.243, 95% CI: 0.090-0.654; and 0.210, 95% CI: 0.082-0.538). Area under the curve increased significantly after adding serum calcium to the GRACE score (0.685 vs 0.746; Z = 2.617, P = 0.009). Furthermore, inclusion of serum calcium in the GRACE score enhanced NRI (0.524; P = 0.009) and IDI (0.011; P = 0.003). Conclusions Lower serum calcium level on admission is a possible indicator of increased risk of in-hospital mortality in ACS patients. Inclusion of serum calcium in the GRACE score may lead to a more accurate prediction of this risk. Large prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding.

Evidence regarding the safety and feasibility of transcatheter aortic valve implantation without balloon predilation (BP) is scarce. A literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and major conference proceedings was performed from January 2002 to July 2015. There were 18 studies incorporating 2,443 patients included in the present study. No differences were observed in the baseline characteristics between patients without BP (no-BP) and with BP. Compared with BP, no-BP had a shorter procedure time (no-BP vs BP, 124.2 vs 138.8 minutes, p = 0.008), used less-contrast medium (no-BP vs BP, 126.3 vs 156.3 ml, p = 0.0005) and had a higher success rate (odds ratio [OR] 2.24, 95% CI 1.40 to -3.58). In addition, no-BP was associated with lower incidences of permanent pacemaker implantation (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.67), grade 2 or greater paravalvular leakage (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.83), and stroke (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.32 to 1.0). Furthermore, no-BP was associated with a 0.6-fold decreased risk for 30-day all-cause mortality (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.92). However, the difference in the risk for permanent pacemaker implantation, grade 2, or higher aortic regurgitation, stroke was noted to be significant only in the subgroup of the CoreValve-dominating studies. In conclusion, no-BP before transcatheter aortic valve implantation was not only safe and feasible but was also associated with fewer complications and short-term mortality in selected patients especially using self-expandable valve.

To compare reverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) between patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV). We retrospectively reviewed data of patients with at least two serial echocardiographic follow-ups (1, 3, 6 months and 1 year) post-TAVR. A total of 116 patients were identified. BAV morphology was documented in 67 patients. LV mass index (LVMi) at baseline was not significantly different between the TAV and BAV group (178.0 ± 6.9 vs. 166.3 ± 6.4 g/m2, P = 0.14). Reverse LV remodeling was observed in both BAV and TAV patients, but the reduction of LVMi from baseline was significantly more pronounced in TAV patients compared with BAV patients from 6 months post-TAVR (− 56.3 ± 8.1 vs. − 30.0 ± 4.7 g/m2, P

Objective: Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence microscopy (OCM) has recently demonstrated its potential for accurate diagnosis of human cervical diseases. One major challenge for clinical adoption, however, is the steep learning curve clinicians need to overcome to interpret OCM images. Developing an intelligent technique for computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) to accurately interpret OCM images will facilitate clinical adoption of the technology and improve patient care. Methods: 497 high-resolution 3-D OCM volumes (600 cross-sectional images each) were collected from 159 ex vivo specimens of 92 female patients. OCM image features were extracted using a convolutional neural network (CNN) model, concatenated with patient information (e.g., age, HPV results), and classified using a support vector machine classifier. Ten-fold cross-validations were utilized to test the performance of the CADx method in a five-class classification task and a binary classification task. Results: An 88.3 plus or minus 4.9% classification accuracy was achieved for five fine-grained classes of cervical tissue, namely normal, ectropion, low-grade and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL and HSIL), and cancer. In the binary classification task (low-risk [normal, ectropion and LSIL] vs. high-risk [HSIL and cancer]), the CADx method achieved an area-under-the-curve (AUC) value of 0.959 with an 86.7 plus or minus 11.4% sensitivity and 93.5 plus or minus 3.8% specificity. Conclusion: The proposed deep-learning based CADx method outperformed three human experts. It was also able to identify morphological characteristics in OCM images that were consistent with histopathological interpretations. Significance: Label-free OCM imaging, combined with deep-learning based CADx methods, hold a great promise to be used in clinical settings for the effective screening and diagnosis of cervical diseases., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, and 2 tables

Background Changes in the ECG indicator PtfV1 reflect left atrial pressure and left ventricular diastolic function in NSTE-ACS patients during hospitalization. The value of PtfV1 in the evaluation of long-term prognosis in NSTE-ACS is still not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the dynamic changes in P-wave terminal force in lead V1(PtfV1) in the ECG of non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) patients during hospitalization and the long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) of patients. Methods A total of 595 patients who received coronary angiography and were confirmed as NSTE-ACS in the coronary heart disease database of Department of Cardiology of West China Hospital were continuously included. The PtfV1 and other clinical data at admission and discharge were collected and dynamically observed. The end events of follow-up observation were MACEs. Results Follow-up was performed on 595 patients for 24.71 ± 1.95 months. There were 127 PtfV1(+) and 468 PtfV1(–) at admission, and the incidences of MACEs were 14.2% and 11.1%, respectively (P = 0.731). Compared with patients with persistent PtfV1(–) ECG at admission and discharge, 53 patients with persistent PtfV1(+) ECG at admission and discharge had increased risk for MACEs (HR: 2.221, 95% CI: 1.072–4.601, P = 0.032); 94 patients with new PtfV1(+) ECG at discharge also had significantly increased risk for MACEs (HR: 2.993, 95% CI: 1.660–5.397, P = 0.000). Conclusions NSTE-ACS patients with persistent PtfV1(+) ECG indicators at admission and discharge and new PtfV1(+) at discharge had significantly increased risk of MACEs.

In our country, the waterproof bonding layer destruction is a main reason which lead to bridge deck pavement damage, the effective measure is to solve the weak quality question of bonding material between layers, it is a important quarantee for bridge deck pavement durability. This paper has an in-depth research to pavement performance of synchronization gravel waterproof bond layer, the best dosages of asphalt and gravel have been obtained, and the improving construction method has been put forward. The results shows that the synchronization gravel waterproof bond layer with two apray asphalt and one spread gravel method can solved the weak quality question of interlayer cementing material.

This paper discusses master-slave communication among multi-S7-200 CPUs, its application on silk cake transport line, programming to realize data sharing, the motor linkage control, as well as automatic transport process of silk cake. The realization of automatic transport of silk cake reduced silk cake pollution during man-made transport, also reduced labor intensity of the workers. It is perfect integration of mechanical and electrical automation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, predictors and outcome of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). A total of 30 articles incorporating 4,691 patients were identified. The pooled incidences of overall, moderate and severe PPM following TAVR were 33.0%, 25.0% and 11.0% respectively. Medtronic CoreValve (MCV) had lower incidence of overall (32% vs: 40%, P

Background Limited date describing the procedural, clinical and valve performance results of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with bicuspid versus tricuspid aortic stenosis (TAV). Methods Procedural and clinical results were defined and reported according to VARC-2 criteria. Results Consecutive 87 patients with BAV and 70 patients with TAV were included. Compared to patients with TAV, patients with BAV had similar incidence of second valve implantation (14.9% vs 12.9%, p =0.708), more than mild paravalvular leakage (PVL, 40.2% vs 31.9%, p =0.288), permanent pacemaker implantation (PPM, 24.1% vs 28.6%, p =0.53). Furthermore, the procedural and clinical results of TAVR also did not differ between patients with type 0 and type 1 (second valve implantation: 18.4% vs 11.8%, p =0.71, PVL: 38.8% vs 41.2%, p =0.83, PPM: 18.4% vs 31.6%, p =0.16). The hemodynamic outcomes were similar in patients with BAV and TAV at 1-year (maximum velocity, 2.3 vs 2.2m/s, p =0.307) and 2-year (2.3 vs 2.1m/s, p =0.184) follow-up respectively. Adjusted binary logistic regression analysis found oversizing ratio at 14.45–20.57% is at lower risk for more than mild PVL (OR, 0.069, 95% CI, 0.011–0.428, p =0.004). Moreover, the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that TAVR in type 0 BAV, type 1 BAV and TAV have comparable risk for midterm mortality (Log rank, p =0.772). Conclusion TAVR in whatever type of BAV appeared to be safe and efficacy, and TAVR in BAV was associated with comparable bioprosthetic function during follow up compared to patients with TAV.

Leo Suryadinata’s academic journey is in fact a journey of identity search, with his ethnic background as Indonesian Chinese growing up in the 1960s when the country was caught in political turmoil caused by ideological and ethnical confrontations. Leo Suryadinata has been using, questioning, examining, researching, and recording the meaning and question of Chinese identity in his academic life. He explores the issue with very diversified approaches, ranging from literature, history, political science, and international relations studies, etc. In this interview, he narrates this decades-long searching experience.

The workflow management, in which the main line is the product, is used widely. The emergence of product structure makes workflow management more complex. This thesis focuses on the realization method of workflow engine based on product structure. Firstly, this paper describes the formal definition of the workflow based on product structure, and then gives the algorithm of instantiating workflow, the startup algorithms and the advance algorithms involved in the workflow execution in detail, finally, this paper shows the realization of the engine based on these algorithms. These algorithms described in this paper allow users to make decisions on designing and establishing the composition of the product structure flexible, to define the approval process of the task node flexible, and to advance the process according to the results of the instantiation automatically.

This paper presents a 429 MHz flexible Lamb wave resonator based on lithium niobate thin films with a high figure of merit (FoM) of 205, which is about 10 times higher than the FoM of the flexible resonator presented in our previous work. The measured corresponding quality factor (Q) and electromechanical coupling coefficient (Kt2) are 1268 and 16.2%, respectively. The resonant frequency, Q, and Kt2 of the flexible resonator show maximum changes of only 0.11%, 0.37%, and 0.31%, respectively, under a repeated mechanical bending condition up to 10 000 times at a bending radius of 3 mm. We also found that FlexMEMS technology we proposed not only endows Lamb wave resonators with mechanical flexibility but also improves FoM by ∼180% compared to their counterpart, conventional Lamb wave resonators on rigid silicon substrates. The flexible resonators with much improved FoM will find applications as low-power radio frequency key components in emerging applications, especially Internet of Things.

Extraction of License plate region is an important stage in the intelligent vehicle license plate recognition system. A practical license plate extraction algorithm based on edge detection and mathematical morphology is presented, the algorithm mainly consists of six modules: pre-processing, edge detection, binaryzation and denoising, morphology operation, filtration of connected regions, finding license plate region. From the experiments, the algorithm can detect the region of license plate quickly with 98% average accuracy of locating vehicle license plate region.

Workflow management systems are the powerful tools as well as the best supports for industries which involve series of complex workflows. Specifically, two of the main objectives of workflows management system are (1) ensuring the correctness and integration of workflow advancement, and (2) carrying workflow forward to the maximum extent automatically. To ensure the correctness and integration of workflow management system, in this paper, a workflow management method based on the workflow node property is proposed, and a workflow management system model is given. In addition, in the given model, an automatic advance mode is proposed to make the workflow is able to be carried on automatically.

This paper focuses on the research of the transformation process of workflow engine caused by relevant information changes within the node.This paper describes how to improve the flexibility of the workflow engine from three aspects,that is,adapting to nodes’ internal circuit changes,dealing with nodes’ audit type and quantity changes, and version change processing.

In this paper, the embedded license plate recognition system based on TMS320DM642 is researched. During the design, median filter, threshold, and morphology closing operations are used to obtain license plate region, then segmented into disjoint characters for the character recognition phase, where the template matching is used to identify the characters. Embedded License Plate Recognition System, being smaller, has less power consumption with respect to software based LPR systems. The resulting hardware is suitable for applications where cost, compactness, and efficiency are system design constraints.

With high-speed welding inverter and precisely controlling the welding current with arc-bridge state, advanced pulse current waveforms can be produced to optimize the transfer characteristics of short circuiting transfer welding. In this paper, the images of droplet/wire, and the transient data of welding current and arc voltage were simultaneously recorded to study the influence of peak arcing current, background arcing current and tail-out time on the stability of short circuiting transfer process. It was found that maximum short circuiting transfer stability is reached under specific welding conditions. Any deviation from these conditions will cause abnormal rises in arc voltage indicating instantaneous arc extinguishing and greater spatter. Optimal welding conditions were obtained to achieve the maximum stability of short circuiting metal transfer process.