Search

In the last decade, the Internet of Things (IoT) has grown to connect a large number of smart entities, devices, and components. These connected entities provide a wide range of services to improve the current society of end customers. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoTs) are revolutionary systems that have linked manufacturing processes with Internet access in order to preciously increase quality of services. These systems have minimized the costs of production through collaboration with electronic objects, accumulating computing, advanced analytics, and smart perception techniques. A demanding analysis of the strengths and limitations of computational models of IIoT is an essential part of the industry and before deciding which approach to use and implement for enhancing usability. Therefore, the goal of this study is to provide feedback and information to the research community and identify patterns in recommendations for future research in the context of process, development, and monitoring of additional technologies of computational models for IIoT. This paper has presented a comprehensive summary of the existing literature on IIoT for providing details about modern industrial revolutions in the context of IIoT. Associated materials were searched and filtered for identification of relevant materials to the proposed study. These materials have been collectively studied with in-depth analysis and then summarized to condense the information of computation models for the readers as well as entrepreneurs. The study will facilitate research community and practitioners to develop novel techniques, algorithms, and tools to automate and facilitate IIoT. This will develop the field of IIoT and will enhance its usability.

Deficiency of the interleukin-36 receptor antagonist (DITRA) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations of the IL36RN gene. DITRA is characterized by acute generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP), fever, systemic inflammation, and leukocytosis. We report the case of a 5-year-old girl with severe scalp and nail involvement with a rapid response to secukinumab.

AIM: To evaluate the driving performance in young and middle-aged Chinese glaucoma patients with mild to severe visual field loss compared to those without glaucoma by using a driving simulation test. METHODS: Twenty-nine participants were included in this study: nine patients with glaucoma but pass the binocular Esterman visual field test, ten patients with glaucoma and fail the binocular Esterman visual field test, and ten age-matched healthy controls. A driving simulation test was designed as a frequency-based analysis of a lane-keeping task. The total performance error, the control-response amplitude and delay were calculated. RESULTS: Esterman visual field test fail group showed the longest delay of control-response among three groups (P=0.02). And the delay in lane-keeping task was significantly associated with inferior field of better-eye (r=0.51, P=0.004) and integrated visual field (r=0.55, P=0.002). CONCLUSION: Young and middle-aged glaucoma patients with binocular visual field loss suffered from a longer delay of response in driving simulation test, while inferior visual field having more impact than superior visual field.

The fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda) is an important polyphagous insect pest in many crops. This highly invasive pest species originates from the Americas and recently spread rapidly across more than 100 countries worldwide. It poses a major threat to food security in a number of developing countries due to its rapid spread and distinctive ability to inflict widespread damage across multiple crops. Chemical insecticides are used as the main management strategy to control FAW in many parts of the world, particularly in the recently invaded areas in Africa and Asia. However, concerns over the adverse effects on environment and humans, and the development of resistance against insecticides have intensified efforts to develop alternatives that are effective and low-risk, while at the same time cost effective. Given that microbials are generally considered desirable options for pest management, this review compiles information on microbials in all phases of their development including entomopathogenic fungi, entomopathogenic nematodes, bacteria and baculoviruses, with a special focus on their efficacy against FAW. In addition, combinations of microbial agents and also mixtures with compatible insecticides for improved control of FAW are reviewed. The findings are discussed in light of improving management programs of FAW

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and classification of non-thrombolytic hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), to unravel new diagnostic approach. Methods: We recruited and selected 636 patients who did not undergo thrombolytic therapy between May 2018 and April 2019 at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University. The laboratory and clinical data were collected within 24 h after the onset of AIS. Based on the status of HT development during hospitalization, all participants were divided into three groups, namely, the non-HT (NHT) group, hemorrhagic infarction (HI) group, and parenchymal hematoma (PH) group. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that NLR and the ischemic lesion diameter are independent risk factors of HI and PH, while the score of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and cardioembolism are considered to be independent risk factors for PH only. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis determined that the optimal cutoff values of NLR in HI group and PH group were 3.75 and 3.97, respectively. The optimal cutoff value can be used as the critical value for the unfavorable outcome. Conclusion: NLR values were significantly increased and correlated with both HI and PH groups and NLR could be used as a predictor of both HI and PH.

BackgroundSeasonal epidemics of influenza are often characterized through national or international surveillance efforts to determine vaccine efficacy and vaccine strain selection, but they do not provide detailed information about local variations in factors that can influence influenza cases and disease severity.MethodsSurveillance for influenza like illness was performed in Emergency Medicine Departments in Taipei, Taiwan and Baltimore, Maryland during the winter of 2015-16. Detailed demographic and clinical data were obtained. Nasal swabs or washes were collected for influenza virus diagnosis, sequencing and isolation. Serum was collected to determine neutralizing antibody levels.ResultsH1N1 viruses dominated both sites, but more influenza cases occurred in Taipei compared to Baltimore. H1 HA clade diversity was greater in Taipei. Vaccination rates were lower in Taipei than Baltimore, but vaccination was associated with an increase in serum neutralizing antibodies to recent H1N1 strains in Taipei, but not Baltimore. There was a higher level of preexisting immunity to circulating H1N1 strains in Baltimore.ConclusionsRegional differences in preexisting immunity and H1N1 strain circulation may have contributed to the vastly different 2015-16 influenza seasons in Taipei and Baltimore and suggest immune responses to vaccination can be affected by the degree of preexisting immunity in the population.

Data on obesity in relation to bone mineral density(BMD) in infants and preschool children were sparse in China. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between body mass index (BMI) and BMD.This was a large population-based multicenter study in which the representative children aged 0-5 years were recruited from 13 Children's Health Care Centers by a stratified cluster random-sampling method in Jiangsu Province, China. BMD was measured by using quantitative ultrasound. The association of BMD with BMI and obesity were evaluated using multiple linear regression and logistic regression analysis taking into account the effects of confounders. The relations between age, weight, height, BMI and BMD were analyzed by using Pearson's correlation and further tested using partial correlation in the additive model.A total of 5,289 children (2786 boys and 2503 girls) were recruited. The BMD was positively linear relation with age, length/height, and was inversely linear relation with BMI (r=0.711, P0.001; r=0.727, P0.001; r=-0.318, P0.001, respectively). The BMD gradually increased when the weight was in the range within 21.2kg, but started to gain slowlyand even decreased when the weight was over 21.2kg. After adjusting for confounders, compared with control group, children with obesityhad higher odds of low BMD (OR 95%CI: 2.73 (1.57, 4.76), P0.001), the speed of sound (SOS)value in children with obesity was lower 47.45 (β=-47.45, 95%CI=-85.07, -9.83, P=0.013).Adiposity was not advantageous for bone mineral density in 0-5-year-old Chinese children.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiology of and prognostic factors for appendiceal carcinomas (ACs). All cases of ACs registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 1973 to 2014 were retrospectively identified in this study. Age-adjusted incidence and survival rates were calculated. We analyzed 7170 patients with ACs. We observed a significant increase in the reported annual age-adjusted incidence of ACs from 1973 (0.18/100,000) to 2014 (1.11/100,000). The elevation of the incidence was noted in all the histological types, stages, and grades. The most common histological type varied by race, with the appendiceal mucinous adenocarcinoma (AMA) being the most common in white, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaskan Native patients, and the appendiceal adenocarcinoma (AA) being the most common in African American patients. In multivariate analysis of patients with all ACs, gender (P

The aim of this study was to compare radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with minimally invasive liver surgery (MIS) in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (SHCC) and to assess short-term and long-term clinical outcomes. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of science, and CBM were systematically searched for articles from inception to July 2018, comparing RFA and MIS in SHCC treatment. We evaluated overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), local recurrence, and complication rates, as well as hospitalization duration and operation times. Six retrospective studies were analyzed, including a total of 597 patients, 313 treated with RFA and 284 treated with MIS. OS rates were significantly higher in patients treated with MIS at 3 years, when compared to RFA (OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.36 to 0.84). The 3-year DFS MIS rates were also superior to RFA (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.98). In contrast, when compared to MIS, RFA demonstrated a significantly higher rate of local intrahepatic recurrences, (OR 2.24; 95% CI 1.47 to 3.42), and a lower incidence of postoperative complications (OR 0.34; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.53), as well as shorter operation times (OR − 145.31, 95% CI − 200.24 to − 90.38) and hospitalization duration (OR − 4.02,95% CI − 4.94 to − 3.10). We found that MIS led to higher OS, DFS, and lower local recurrences in SHCC patients. Meanwhile, RFA treatments led to significantly lower complication rates, shorter operation times, and hospitalization duration. Considering long-term outcomes, MIS was found to be superior to RFA. However, RFA may be an alternative treatment for patients presenting a single SHCC nodule (≤ 3 cm), given its minimally invasive nature and its comparable long-term efficacy with MIS. Nevertheless, our findings should be explained with caution due to the low level of evidence obtained.

BACKGROUND For initial respiratory management, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is increasingly used for preterm infants, especially for gestational age less than 32 weeks. However, neonatologists are concerned about the potential risks of CPAP support failure. OBJECTIVES To examine the association between different initial respiratory support modalities and the outcomes of preterm infants at

To fulfill the requirements of tracing and controlling the unit state for post-accident conditions in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), a post-accident primary circuit operating state monitoring and tracing system is designed based on the characteristics of the unit operation under Incident and Accident Conditions (IAC). The system, which will be integrated into the plants’ Digital Control System (DCS), can automatically trace and display primary circuit state (pressure and temperature) to assist the operators to trace the state evolution process and trend of the primary circuit clearly and intuitively. In addition, the system zones the unit state under IAC into several operating ranges according to various limit conditions for post-accident operation, which can provide support for the operators while implementing Emergency Operating Procedure (EOP) as each operating range is assigned to a specific operation strategy. The system will be beneficial to improve the efficiency of EOP implementation, to effectively reduce the operator human errors under IAC, as well as to optimize the human-machine interface (HMI) design of EOP.

Surgical resection of huge hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, ≥ 10 cm) is potentially curative. More adjuvant treatments are needed to reduce relapses in these patients. We evaluated the influence of postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE) on the prognosis of huge HCC.Data from consecutive patients who underwent curative resection for huge HCC in our center were retrospectively collected. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between patients who did and did not undergo PA-TACE. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used.Among the 255 enrolled patients, 93 underwent PA-TACE. The clinical outcomes were significantly better in the PA-TACE group than those in the non PA-TACE group (5-year RFS rate: 33.5% vs. 18.0%; 5-year OS rate: 47.0% vs. 28.0%, all P 0.001). After PSM, similar results were obtained (5-year RFS rate: 28.8% vs. 17.6%, P 0.001; 5-year OS rate: 42.5% vs. 25.0%, P = 0.004). PA-TACE decreased the possibility of early recurrence ( 2 years, crude cohort: P 0.001, PSM cohort: P 0.001) but not late recurrence (≥ 2 years, crude cohort: P = 0.692, PSM cohort: P = 0.325). Multivariable Cox regression analysis suggested that PA-TACE was an independent protective factor prolonging early RFS, RFS and OS.PA-TACE is a safe intervention for huge HCC patients after liver resection and improves outcomes.

Background A pandemic of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection broke out all over the world, however, epidemiological data and viral shedding in pediatric patients are limited. Methods We conducted a retrospective, multi‐center study, and followed up with all children from the families with SARS‐CoV‐2 infected members in Zhejiang Province, China. All infections were confirmed by testing the SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA with RT‐PCR method, and epidemiological data between children and adults in the same families was compared. Effect of antiviral therapy was evaluated observationally and fecal viral excretion times among groups with different antiviral regiments were compared with Kaplan Meier plot. Results By February 29, 2020, 1298 cases from 883 families were confirmed with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and 314 of which were families with children. Incidence of infection in child close contacts was significantly lower than that in adult contacts (13.2% vs 21.2%). The mean age of 43 pediatric cases was 8.2 years and mean incubation period was 9.1 days. Forty (93.0%) were family clustering. Thirty‐three children had COVID‐19 (20 pneumonia) with mild symptoms and 10 were asymptomatic. Fecal SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA detection was positive in 91.4% (32/35) cases and some children had viral excretion time over 70 days. Viral clearance time was not different among the groups treated with different antiviral regiments. No subsequent infection was observed in family contacts of fecal‐viral‐excreting children. Conclusion Children have lower susceptibility of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, longer incubation and fecal viral excretion time. Positive results of fecal SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA detection were not used as indication for hospitalization or quarantine. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Aim: The influence of surgical margin on the prognosis of patients with early solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (≤5 cm) is undetermined.Methods: The data of 904 patients with early solitary HCC who underwent liver resection were collected for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance the potential bias.Results: Log-rank tests showed that 2 mm was the best cutoff value to discriminate the prognosis of early HCC. Liver resection with a >2 mm surgical margin distance (wide-margin group) led to better 5-year RFS and OS rate compared with liver resection with a ≤2 mm surgical margin distance (narrow-margin group) among patients both before (RFS: 59.1% vs. 39.6%, P < 0.001; OS: 85.3% vs. 73.7%, P < 0.001) and after PSM (RFS: 56.3% vs. 41.0%, P < 0.001; OS: 83.0% vs. 75.0%, P = 0.010). Subgroup analysis showed that a wide-margin resection significantly improved the prognosis of patients with microvascular invasion (RFS: P < 0.001; OS: P = 0.001) and patients without liver cirrhosis (RFS: P < 0.001; OS: P = 0.001) after PSM. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that narrow-margin resection is associated with poorer RFS [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.781, P < 0.001), OS (HR = 1.935, P < 0.001], and early recurrence (HR = 1.925, P < 0.001).Conclusions: A wide-margin resection resulted in better clinical outcomes than a narrow-margin resection among patients with early solitary HCC, especially for those with microvascular invasion and without cirrhosis. An individual strategy of surgical margin should be formulated preoperation according to both tumor factors and background liver factors.

BackgroundThe objective of this prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study was to evaluate the association between admission hypothermia and neonatal outcomes in very low-birth weight (VLBW) infants in multiple neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in China.MethodsSince January 1, 2018, a neonatal homogeneous cooperative research platform-Shandong Neonatal Network (SNN) has been established. The platform collects clinical data in a prospective manner on preterm infants with birth weights (BWs) ResultsA total of 1247 VLBW infants were included in this analysis, of which 1100 infants (88.2%) were included in the hypothermia group, 554 infants (44.4%) in the mild hypothermia group and 546 infants (43.8%) in the moderate/severe hypothermia group. Small for gestational age (SGA), caesarean section, a low Apgar score at 5 min and intubation in the delivery room (DR) were related to admission hypothermia (AH). Mortality was the lowest when their admission temperature was 36.5 ~ 37.5 °C, and after adjustment for maternal and infant characteristics, mortality was significantly associated with AH. Compared with infants with normothermia (36.5 ~ 37.5 °C), the adjusted ORs of all deaths increased to 4.148 (95%CI1.505–11.437) and 1.806 (95%CI0.651–5.009) for infants with moderate/severe hypothermia and mild hypothermia, respectively. AH was also associated with a high likelihood of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH), and late-onset neonatal sepsis (LOS).ConclusionsAH is still very high in VLBW infants in NICUs in China. SGA, caesarean section, a low Apgar score at 5 min and intubation in the DR were associated with increased odds of hypothermia. Moderate/severe hypothermia was associated with mortality and poor outcomes, such as RDS, IVH, LOS.

In engineering design, a difficulty has always existed in those standard laboratory tests that cannot accurately predict the behavior of large structures like pipelines due to the different constraint levels. At present, extensive work has been done to characterize the constraint effects on fracture toughness by introducing a second parameter, while the systematic research on constrained transformation is inadequate. To address this issue, the ductile fracture process of X65 SENB specimen is simulated through the finite-element method coupled with the Gurson–Tvergaard–Needelman model. The parameters crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack tip opening angle (CTOA) are chosen to characterize the fracture behaviors. The effects of specimen thickness on fracture toughness based on CTOD/CTOA and constraints ahead of crack tips in SENB specimen are studied. The results indicate that the critical values of CTOD/CTOA decrease with the increase of specimen thickness, but the constraint parameters are opposite. Furthermore, it finds that there is a near linear relationship between critical values of CTOD/CTOA and the stress constraint ahead of the crack tip. Thus, a constraint-corrected fracture failure criterion based on CTOD/CTOA is proposed, which can be used for the prediction and simulation of stable tearing crack growth in specimens and structures, made of this steel with any thickness value.

Cao, Y.; Zhen, Y.; Liu, C.; Zhang, S., and Meng, Z., 2018. Parametric study of stress concentration factors (CSFs) on tubular X-joints used in offshore platform structures. Accurate information on stress distributions along an intersection is required for fatigue strength assessment of tubular joints subjected to cyclic loading. An X-joint is widely used on offshore platforms because its strength is very important for the safety evaluation of platforms. On the basis of ANSYS, three-dimensional elements were used to model the structure with welding seams. According to the thermo effect of the welding process, using birth–death element technology, a numerical simulation was performed for the welding process by coupling the temperature field and stress field. Considering that an annealing treatment is generally performed for joints after welding, the annealing treatment process was also simulated in this paper and the influence of it on welding residual stress was analysed. Considering the influence...

The profitability of agricultural listed companies is an important aspect to measure the development level of agricultural modernization in China. Based on the relevant data of agricultural listed companies from 2011 to 2016, this paper empirically analyzes the relationship among the profitability of agricultural listed companies in China, the level of assets and liabilities, the degree of equity concentration , the level of primary business operation, tax subsidy intensity, income subsidy intensity and high-level agricultural modernization by using the method of multiple regression. Besides, high-level agricultural modernization listed company is the important trend of agricultural listed company development, which is also a focal point of this paper. The results show that the profitability of agricultural listed companies in China is negatively correlated with the level of assets and liabilities, and is positively correlated with the degree of equity concentration, the intensity of tax subsidies, and the high-level of agricultural modernization listed companies. However, the operating level of primary business and the intensity of income subsidy have no significant influence on the profitability of listed companies. According to the above conclusions, this paper puts forward the corresponding suggestions and countermeasures for the further improvement of the profitability of agricultural listed companies.

Background Head and neck cancer is increasingly being managed through nonsurgical approaches. Evidence comes from studies that have mainly examined patients with laryngeal cancer. Few studies, with limited sample size, have focused on the comparative outcomes of surgical and nonsurgical approaches in patients with advanced oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer. Methods Using a national cancer database, we identified 1603 and 1512 patients with clinical stage III/IVA oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, respectively, treated between 2004 and 2009. The study cohort was followed until 2012, and analyzed through Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression. Results Overall, 31.4% of patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer and 42.2% of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer received surgery as their primary treatment. Receiving primary surgery for advanced oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer was associated with higher survival rates after controlling for potential confounders. Conclusion We recommend that surgery be considered a first-line treatment for advanced oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers.

Background We aimed to derive and validate a parsimonious and pragmatic clinical prediction rule using the concepts of Predisposition, Infection, Response, and Organ Dysfunction to predict in-hospital mortality; and to compare it with other prediction rules, as well as with conventional biomarkers for evaluating the mortality risk of patients with suspected sepsis in the emergency department (ED). Methods We conducted a pragmatic cohort study with consecutive ED patients aged 18 or older with documented diagnostic codes of infection and two sets of blood culture ordered by physicians between 2010 and 2012 in a tertiary teaching hospital. Results 7011 and 12,110 patients were included in the derivation cohort and the validation cohort for the final analysis. There were 479 deaths (7%) in the derivation cohort and 1145 deaths (9%) in the validation cohort. Independent predictors of death were absence of Chills (odds ratio: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.75–2.97), Hypothermia (2.12, 1.57–2.85), Anemia (2.45, 1.97–3.04), wide Red cell Distribution Width (RDW) (3.27, 2.63–4.05) and history of Malignancy (2.00, 1.63–2.46). This novel clinical prediction rule (CHARM) performed well for stratifying patients into mortality risk groups (sensitivity: 99.4%, negative predictive value 99.7%, receiver operating characteristic area 0.77). The CHARM score also outperformed the other scores or biomarkers such as PIRO, SIRS, MEDS, CURB-65, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin and lactate (all p Conclusions In patients with suspected sepsis, this parsimonious and pragmatic model could be utilized to stratify the mortality risk of patients in the early stage of sepsis.

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adlay has been used as a dietary supplement to promote health and treat various ailments for thousands of years. The effective and safe ingredients of TCM could be used as sources for developing new drugs. This paper reviews the main research and application of adlay seed in medicinal field in the following aspects: botanical resource, ethnopharmacological function, chemical constituents, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, safety evaluation and toxicity, and clinical application. We hope that the review could help researchers mine the scientific values of adlay seed, innovative drug design, provide the guidance for the application in clinical therapy, and enhance the academic level and clinical efficacy of adlay seed.

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 has been responsible for over 300,000 infections worldwide, however, epidemiological and clinical data of infected children are limit

The continual emergence of novel influenza A strains from non-human hosts requires constant vigilance and the need for ongoing research to identify strains that may pose a human public health risk. Since 1999, canine H3 influenza A viruses (CIVs) have caused many thousands or millions of respiratory infections in dogs in the United States. While no human infections with CIVs have been reported to date, these viruses could pose a zoonotic risk. In these studies, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) network collaboratively demonstrated that CIVs replicated in some primary human cells and transmitted effectively in mammalian models. While people born after 1970 had little or no pre-existing humoral immunity against CIVs, the viruses were sensitive to existing antivirals and we identified a panel of H3 cross-reactive human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs) that could have prophylactic and/or therapeutic value. Our data predict these CIVs posed a low risk to humans. Importantly, we showed that the CEIRS network could work together to provide basic research information important for characterizing emerging influenza viruses, although there were valuable lessons learned., Author summary The 2009 influenza pandemic was a stark reminder that ongoing vigilance is critical to protect the public from an influenza pandemic. The continual evolution of influenza viruses and emergence from animal reservoirs, leads to the need to quickly identify strains that pose a public health risk. In these studies, members of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Centers for Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) network worked together to demonstrate that the emerging canine H3 influenza viruses posed a low risk to public health and identified several therapeutic options in the event of an emergence. In addition to providing important new basic research, many lessons were learned that may be important in dealing with any emerging disease outbreak.

Rationale: Cavernous hemangiomas referred to as venous malformations (VMs), are not true vascular tumors. The treatment of cavernous hemangiomas is controversial. Patient concerns: A five-year-old girl with a cavernous hemangioma on her right buttock had undergone surgery but recurred 1 month after the operation. Diagnoses: Cavernous hemangioma was diagnosed on the basis of physical examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postoperative pathologic examination. Interventions: We treated her with intralesional injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TCA) for 8 times. Outcomes: She was cured and had no recurrence during the 3-month follow-up. Lessons: This prompts that TCA may provide a more effective and safer choice for the treatment of cavernous hemangiomas.

Background: Survival rates for Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who experienced early relapse have usually been relatively low. Our study aims at developing an autophagy signature that could help to detect early relapse cases in CRC. Methods: Propensity score matching analysis was carried out between patients from the early relapse group and the long-term survival group from GSE39582. For both groups, respectively, global autophagy expression changes were then analyzed to identify the differentially expressed prognostic autophagy related genes by conducting Linear Models for Microarray data method analysis. Then, the multi-gene signature was validated in TCGA and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) cohorts. Time-dependent ROC were used to test the efficiency of this signature feature in predicting the prognosis of CRC patients. Results: 5 autophagy genes were finally identified to build an early relapse classifier. With specific risk score formula, patients were classified into low- or high-risk group. Time-dependent ROC analyses proved its prognostic accuracy, with AUC 0.841 and 0.803 at 1 and 3 years, respectively. Then, we validated its prognostic value in two external validation series (GSE17538 and GSE33113) and proved that the result is indeed significant irrespective of datasets in two external independent validation cohorts (TCGA and FUSCC cohorts). A nomogram was constructed to guide individualized treatment of patients with CRC. Conclusions: The identification of robust autophagy-related features can effectively classify CRC patients into groups with low and high risk of early relapse. This signature may be used to help select high-risk CRC patients who require more aggressive treatment interventions.

Background: To identify the impact of tumor number on Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the impact of microvascular invasion (MVI) on multinodular HCC (MHCC). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1,548 patients who had early-stage HCC [solitary HCC (SHCC, n=1,481) and MHCC (n=67)], according to the BCLC classification, after curative resection. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance potential confounding factors. Results: Both before and after PSM, significant differences were noted between the MHCC group and the SHCC group in RFS but not in OS. For the PSM cohort, the 5-year RFS rates were 7.5% and 41.2% for the MVI-positive MHCC group and the SHCC group, respectively (P

In contrast to conventional lasers, random lasers (RLs), without cavity mirrors, were generated based on recurrent light scattering within nano-materials and possessed peculiar properties for practical applications. Todate, resarchers are not only interested in the novel nano-materails for the generation of RL but also curious in the manipulated property of RL through temperature and electric filed [1]. In addtion, plasmonic random laser (PRL)[2] based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of metallic nanoparticles has attracted great interest. In this work, the dye-covered PVA (DC-PVA) film with the embedding of silver nano-particles (AgNPs) was produced to investigate the enahcment of emission spike intensity from PRL and the underlying mechanim by varying the size and shape of AgNPs. Here, the AgNPs were synthesized by a soft solution-phase approach insde the DI water [3]. Depending on the size and shape of AgNPs in colloidal solution, the absorbance spectrum in Fig. 1(a) reveals different peak absorption wavelength (λ p ) at 404 nm and 610 nm, respectively, and shows deep yellow and navy color (Fig. 1(a)). The PVA film with embedding of AgNPs (PVA/AgNPs) was produced by dropping the mixed solution, comprsing PVA powder and AgNPs, onto a glass substrate. After drying, the laser dye (Pyrromethene 597, Exciton inc.) was coated on the top of PVA film (Inset of Fig. 1 : the structure of sample).

In addition to the artificial saturable absorber (SA) like the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) [1], the investigation of peculiar soliton dynamics from passive mode-locked fiber laser (PML-FL) can be produced based on the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) and various nanomaterials, like the carbon nanotube (CNT), graphene, graphene oxide (GO), topological insulator (Bi 2 Se 3 ) with lower mode-locked threshold [2, 3]. In comparison with other SAs, GO reveals various advantages including relative widely operation bandwidth, easy fabrication, low saturation intensity, ultrashort recovery time. For specific application, the wavelength tuning of PML-FL is required but is limited for the SESAM or CN. Recently, the wavelength tuning of mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser (EDFL) around 1570–1600 nm has been demonstrated based on graphene because of its relative wide absorption range [4]. In this work, we demonstrated the fine tuning of emission peak wavelength of EDFL based on the GO/PVA film.

The plasma cell malignancy multiple myeloma (MM) is unique amongst haematological malignancies in its capacity to cause osteoclast-mediated skeletal destruction. The PI3K/Akt pathway mediates proliferation, survival and drug resistance in MM plasma cells and is also involved in regulating the formation and activity of bone-forming osteoblasts and bone-resorbing osteoclasts.NVP-BKM120 (Buparlisib, Novartis) is a PI3K inhibitor that is currently undergoing clinical evaluation in several tumour settings. In this study, we have examined the anti-tumorigenic effects of BKM120in an immuno competent mouse model of MM and its effects on osteoblast and osteoclast formation and function. BKM120 treatment (40 mg/kg) resulted in a significant decrease in serum paraprotein and tumour burden, and CT analysis of the proximal tibia revealed a significant reduction in the number of osteolytic bone lesions in BKM120-treated animals. BKM120 also mediated a significant increase in serum levels of the osteoblast marker P1NP, and a significant decrease in serum levels of the osteoclast markerTRAcP5. In vitro, BKM120 decreased MM plasma cell proliferation, osteoclast formation and function, and promoted osteoblast formation and function. These findings suggest that, in addition to its anti-tumour properties, BKM120 could be used to treat osteolytic bone disease in MM patients. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The continuous wavelength tunable passively mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser (PML-EDFL) from C-band around 1544 nm to L-band around 1574 nm has been demonstrated in combination with graphene oxide (GO) nano-platelets and the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) mechanism. The preparation of GO nano-platelets was based on the liquid phase exfoliation and then mixed with a PVA solution to produce the GO/PVA film. The PML-EDFL was operated at the fundamental mode-locked state in the longer wavelength regime (>1565 nm) and was turned into the fourth harmonic mode-locked state in the shorter wavelength regime. The wavelength tuning mechanism is attributed to the invisible filter by means of the in-line polarizer inside laser cavity, which can be verified from the emission peaks of the dual wavelengths mode-locked state. The relatively stable operation of tunable PML-EDFL at certain wavelength, disregarding environmental perturbations, has been confirmed to reveal promising commercial applications in the near future.

Evaluating the mechanical properties of materials of in-service pipelines without shutting down transportation has been always a challenge. A semi-destructive method for determining the true stress-strain curve of in-service natural gas pipeline steel based on backpropagation (BP) artificial neural network and small punch test (SPT) was proposed in this study. The load-displacement curves of 457 groups of different hypothetical materials were obtained by the verified finite element model of SPT within Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) damage parameters and used to train the neural network. The relationship between the load-displacement curve of the SPT and the true stress-strain curve of the conventional tensile test was established based on the trained neural network. The elastoplastic properties of in-service natural gas X80 pipeline steel were obtained by this method. The accuracy and wide applicability of the trained neural network were verified by the experimental results of four types of materials obtained by the SPT and conventional tensile test. This work demonstrates a semi-destructive method, which can be applied to derive the true stress-strain curve of the in-service pipeline steels to determine the elastoplastic properties only by the load-displacement curve of the SPT without performing conventional tensile test.

Introduction Dentofacial injuries are usually the result of sporting activities, falls at home, road traffic accidents, fights, or intentional assaults. Tooth avulsion among the victims of such accidents is quite common. Soon after the accident, most victims seek help from medical professionals. Aim This study was designed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of emergency management of avulsed teeth among medical students in Melaka, Malaysia, and the need to include dental trauma emergency management as a part of their undergraduate training. Materials and methods A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among medical students to gather data on their profile and self-assessed perceived knowledge of dental avulsion and its emergency management. Results Of the 190 students, 187 (98.4%) had low knowledge and 3 (1.6%) had some knowledge on the emergency management of tooth avulsion. Conclusion Medical students in Melaka have low knowledge regarding dental avulsion and its emergency management. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce dental trauma emergency management as a part of their undergraduate training. Clinical significance Introducing dental trauma emergency management as a part of the medical curriculum can help educate and train the students to be competent future medical professionals with sound knowledge on first-aid management of avulsed teeth. They would be able to act efficiently and effectively, thereby reducing the extra-alveolar time and, hence, contributing to the better prognosis of such teeth. How to cite this article Varghese E, Zhen-Ying JN, Law LL, Samson RS, Soe HHK. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Emergency Management of Tooth Avulsion among Medical Students in Melaka, Malaysia: A Cross-sectional Study. World J Dent 2017;8(4):273-280.

// Yanrong Fu 1, 2, 3, * , Youfang Hu 2, * , Zhenying Qin 2 , Yan Zhao 2 , Zi Yang 2 , Yinfang Li 4 , Guanyu Liang 2 , Heyun Lv 5 , Hong Hong 6 , Yuan Song 7 , Yarong Wei 8 , Hongni Yue 9 , Wen Zheng 10 , Guoqin Liu 11 , Yufei Ni 12 , Mei Zhu 13 , Aiping Wu 14 , Juhua Yan 15 , Chenbo Ji 3 , Xirong Guo 3 , Juan Wen 3 , Rui Qin 2 1 Department of Child Health Care, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210011, China 2 Department of Child Health Care, Jiangsu Women and Children Health Hospital, Women and Child Branch Hospital of Jiangsu Province Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210036, China 3 Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Institute, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China 4 Department of Pediatrics, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210006, China 5 Department of Child Health Care, Jiangning Maternity and Child Health Care Institute, Nanjing, 211100, China 6 Department of Child Health Care, Drum Tower Maternity and Child Health Care Institute, Nanjing, 210009, China 7 Department of Child Health Care, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, 215000, China 8 Department of Child Health Care, Wuxi Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Wuxi, 214000, China 9 Department of Child Health Care, Huai’an Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Huai’an, 223001, China 10 Department of Child Health Care, Yancheng Maternity and Child Health Care Institute, Yancheng, 224000, China 11 Department of Child Health Care, Dafeng Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Dafeng, 224100, China 12 Department of Child Health Care, Nantong Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nantong, 226000, China 13 Department of Child Health Care, Xuzhou Children's Hospital, Xuzhou, 221000, China 14 Department of Child Health Care, Xinghua Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Xinghua, 225700, China 15 Department of Child Health Care, Kunshan Maternity and Child Health Care Institute, Kunshan, 215300, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Rui Qin, email: qinrui329@163.com Juan Wen, email: wenj2010@gmail.com Keywords: serum 25-hydoxyvitamin D, bone mineral density, 0-7 year old children Received: September 14, 2016 Accepted: October 28, 2016 Published: November 04, 2016 ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the status of serum 25-hydoxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations and identify the relationship between 25(OH)D and bone mineral density (BMD). In an effort to explore the appropriate definition of vitamin D (VD) deficiency in 0–7 year old children. Results: The median serum 25(OH)D concentrations was 62.9 nmol/L and 28.9% of the children had a low 25(OH)D (< 50 nmol/L). And a linear relation between 25(OH)D concentrations and BMD was surveyed (r = 0.144 , P < 0.001). After adjusting for the confounders, serum 25(OH)D was positively associated with BMD (β = 172.0, 95%CI = 142.8–201.2, P < 0.001), and low 25(OH)D (< 75 nmol/L) had a high stake for low BMD (OR = 1.424, 95%CI = 1.145–1.769, P = 0.001). Additionally, there was a nonlinear relation between 25(OH)D and low BMD, and a critical value for 25(OH)D of 75 nmol/L appeared for low BMD. The prevalence of low BMD was 14.1% in children with 25(OH)D ≥ 75 nmol/L, much lower than that of the concentrations between 50–75 nmol/L and < 50 nmol/L. Materials and Methods: A total of 4,846 children 0–7 years old were recruited in Jiangsu Province, China. BMD and serum 25(OH)D concentrations were determined by quantitative ultrasound and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Linear regression and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association of 25(OH)D concentrations with BMD. Conclusions: Serum 25(OH)D concentrations was related with BMD and 25(OH)D concentrations < 75 nmol/L might be a more appropriate definition of VD deficiency in 0–7 year old children.

Controlling the Charpy impact toughness of materials is the key to the ductile fracture arrest design of pipelines. The finite element method based on Johnson–Cook (J-C) model has become an effective method to assist the experimental study of material impact toughness. In this paper, model parameters of J-C constitutive relation and damage parameters of J-C failure model for X80 pipeline steel have been determined experimentally from quasi-static uniaxial tension tests and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) tests. Charpy impact test has been simulated using J-C constitutive and failure models with the determined parameters. Reasonable agreements between the simulation and experimental results have been achieved. On this basis, the effects of the pendulum velocity, specimen width and striker radius on Charpy impact test results are studied. The results show that pendulum velocity has negligible influence on Charpy impact test results; the maximum force and impact absorbed energy both have a highly linear relationship to specimen width; Charpy impact test is sensitive to striker geometry, the results measured by 2 mm-striker are obviously smaller than those of 8 mm-striker. Based on the above researches, the impact absorbed energy correlation model between sub-size specimens and standard full-size specimens, the test results transformation rules of the two strikers are established. The methods and results presented in this paper will provide references for dynamic behavior study, impact dynamic design, pipeline safety operation and risk assessment of high-grade pipeline steel.

For damaged submarine pipelines, interference fit is necessary for the mechanical connector repair. The ovality of pipelines resulting from the fabrication errors is easy to increase the failure risk during the fit process. In order to ensure the construction safety, it is necessary to judge whether the repair process may be affected by the strength damage in advance. Since the interference joint with ovality is a complex nonlinear contact problem, there is no theoretical model for reference at present. Reasonable and verified numerical simulation has been proved to be a convenient and feasible solution. In this paper, the finite element (FE) software ANSYS was used to analyze the contact characteristics of the pipeline coupled with the theory of combined thick-wall cylinder. The influences of the equivalent interference and pipeline ovality on the maximum effective stress of the pipeline were quantitatively characterized, and the corresponding correlation model was fitted. The results show that the contact stress of pipeline is closely related to the equivalent interference, the ovality hardly effects it but has a significant effect on the uniformity of the contact stress distribution on the interference surface. Furthermore, according to the theoretical solution, the prediction model of the equivalent stress of pipeline is deduced with an introduced ovality stress concentration coefficient. The prediction model can effectively evaluate the strength of the submarine pipeline after interference repair. The rationality and practicability of this method are validated by simulation analysis of a practical engineering project.

We sought to evaluate effect of propranolol in the treatment of infantile hemangiomas by quantifying the amount of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Hemangioma tissue was isolated from an infant patient and implanted into nude mice to establish a hemangioma model. Twenty-four hemangioma-model nude mice were divided into two groups including a control group (saline, by gastrogavage) and an experimental group (propranolol, by gastrogavage). The hemangioma-model nude mice were euthanized and tumors were removed at 30 and 50 days (before and after treatment). HE staining was used to observe the histopathological changes, and western blot and quantitative real-time PCR were used to describe levels of protein and mRNA expression of PI3K, AKT, and HIF-1α. Propranolol treatment decreased tumor size as compared to the control group. Protein and mRNA expression levels of PI3K, AKT, and HIF-1α were lower in the experimental group at day 50 compared to the control group at day 50 and the experimental group at day 30 (p

Objective Cataplexy is a complicated and dynamic process in narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) patients. This study aimed to clarify the distinct stages during a cataplectic attack and identify the changes of the primary motor cortex (PMC) excitability during these stages. Methods Thirty‐five patients with NT1 and 29 healthy controls were recruited to this study. Cataplectic stages were distinguished from a cataplectic attack by video‐polysomnogram monitoring. Transcranial magnetic stimulation motor‐evoked potential (TMS‐MEP) was performed to measure the excitability of PMC during quiet wakefulness, laughter without cataplexy, and each cataplectic stage. Results Based on the video and electromyogram observations, a typical cataplectic attack (CA) process is divided into four stages: triggering (CA1), resisting (CA2), atonic (CA3), and recovering stages (CA4). Compared with healthy controls, NT1 patients showed significantly decreased intracortical facilitation during quiet wakefulness. During the laughter stage, both patients and controls showed increased MEP amplitude compared with quiet wakefulness. The MEP amplitude significantly increased even higher in CA1 and 2, and then dramatically decreased in CA3 accompanied with prolonged MEP latency compared with the laughter stage and quiet wakefulness. The MEP amplitude and latency gradually recovered during CA4. Interpretation This study identifies four stages during cataplectic attack and reveals the existence of a resisting stage that might change the process of cataplexy. The fluctuation of MEP amplitude and MEP latency shows a potential participation of PMC and motor control pathway during cataplexy, and the increased MEP amplitude during CA1 and 2 strongly implies a compensatory mechanism in motor control that may resist or avoid cataplectic attack.

The pipeline inspection gauges (PIGs) are often blocked in actual operation. As the PIG ran in the straight pipeline, elbow, and anomaly, the large deformation and stress state of the power...

A micromechanical investigation on simple shear behavior of dense granular assemblies was carried out by discrete element method. Three series of numerical tests were performed to examine the effects of initial porosity, vertical stress and particle shape on simple shear behavior of the samples, respectively. It was found that during simple shear the directions of principal stress and principal strain increment rotate differently with shear strain level. The non-coaxiality between the two directions decreases with strain level and may greatly affect the shear behavior of the assemblies, especially their peak friction angles. The numerical modelling also reveals that the rotation of the principal direction of fabric anisotropy lags behind that of the major principal stress direction during simple shear, which is described as fabric hyteresis effect. The degrees of fabric and interparticle contact force anisotropies increase as particle angularity increases, whereas the orientations of these anisotropies have not been significantly influenced by particle shape. An extended stress-dilatancy relationship based on ROWE-DAVIS framework was proposed to consider the non-coaxiality effect under principal stress rotation. The model was validated by present numerical results as well as some published physical test and numerical modelled data.

An optimization model was developed to obtain the ideal values of the primary support parameters of tunnels, which are wide-ranging in high-speed railway design codes when the surrounding rocks are at the III, IV, and V levels. First, several sets of experiments were designed and simulated using the FLAC 3D software under an orthogonal experimental design. Six factors, namely, level of surrounding rock, buried depth of tunnel, lateral pressure coefficient, anchor spacing, anchor length, and shotcrete thickness, were considered. Second, a regression equation was generated by conducting a multiple linear regression analysis following the analysis of the simulation results. Finally, the optimization model of support parameters was obtained by solving the regression equation using the least squares method. In practical projects, the optimized values of support parameters could be obtained by integrating known parameters into the proposed model. In this work, the proposed model was verified on the basis of the Liuyang River Tunnel Project. Results show that the optimization model significantly reduces related costs. The proposed model can also be used as a reliable reference for other high-speed railway tunnels.

Condition monitoring ensures the safety of freight railroad operations. With the development of machine vision technology, visual inspection has become a principal means of condition monitoring. The brake shoe key (BSK) is an important component in the brake system, and its absence will lead to serious accidents. This paper presents a novel method for automated visual inspection of the BSK condition in freight cars. BSK images are first acquired by hardware devices. The subsequent inspection process is divided into three stages: first, the region-of-interest (ROI) is segmented from the source image by an improved spatial pyramid matching scheme based on multi-scale census transform (MSCT). To localize the BSK in the ROI, census transform (CT) on gradient images is developed in the second stage. Then gradient encoding histogram (GEH) features and linear support vector machines (SVMs) are used to generate a BSK localization classifier. In the last stage, a condition classifier is trained by SVM, but the features are extracted from gray images. Finally, the ROI, BSK localization, and condition classifiers are cascaded to realize a completely automated inspection system. Experimental results show that the system achieves a correct inspection rate of 99.2% and a speed of 5 frames/s, which represents a good real-time performance and high recognition accuracy.

In-doped GeSe 2 films were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering method. Amorphous behavior of as-deposited films was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction. The linear optical properties of the films have been derived by analyzing transmission spectra. The experimental results show that linear refractive index rises and optical band gap reduces from 2.04 eV to 1.66 eV with increasing In content. The proper In content of 13.18 at.% is obtained by optimizing the composition of the films. The nonlinear optical properties of the films were studied at 800 nm by using femto-second Z-scan measurement. Experimental results show that the third-order nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear susceptibility of In 13.18 (GeSe 2 ) 86.82 film are up to 8.50 × 10 −16 m 2 /W and 1.41 × 10 −9 esu, respectively, almost two orders larger than those of the GeSe 2 film. These excellent properties indicate that In-doped GeSe 2 films are perspective in the aspect of all-optical applications.

The construction site practice of civil engineering major plays a significant role in the teaching process. Each year in the college of civil engineering of Yangzhou University, a large number of students participate in various construction sites. The management of the practice, however, is quite challenging as the practice is scattered in different construction sites and the construction progress varies accordingly. We have been exploring different ways to make the practice more manageable, i.e., to strengthen the practice process management, and to improve the quality of practice. In recent years, the paper authors have developed a practice management platform called “Zanxue.com” based on Internet, and have established the institutionalization of site practice management. Several years’ practice demonstrates the effectiveness of the platform in both improving the quality of the practice and in achieving good teaching effect.

Background Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2T (UBE2T) is overexpressed in several types of malignancies. However, little is known about its diagnostic significance in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and other bile duct diseases or its prognostic value in ICC. Methods The expression levels of UBE2T in the intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD, N = 13), biliary intraepithelial neoplasia (BilIN; BilIN-1/2, N = 23; BilIN-3, N = 11), and ICC (N = 401) were examined by immunohistochemistry. The differential diagnostic and prognostic values were also assessed. Results The number of UBE2T-positive cells was significantly higher in ICC tissues than in nonmalignant tissues, including the IHBD, BilIN-1/2, and BilIN-3 tissues. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that overexpression of UBE2T was correlated with a shorter time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS). The 5-year TTR rates in the high UBE2T and low UBE2T groups were 100% and 86.2%, respectively. The corresponding OS rates were 1.9% and 22.2%, respectively. High expression of UBE2T was an independent risk factor for both TTR (hazard ratio: 1.345; 95% confidence interval: 1.047,1.728) and OS (hazard ratio: 1.420; 95% confidence interval: 1.098,1.837). Conclusions UBE2T can assist in differentiating benign bile duct diseases from ICC, and high expression of UBE2T suggests a poor prognosis for ICC.

In this paper, we address the problem of recovering the 3D structure of a non-rigid object based on trajectories throughout an image sequence. We formulate the 3D non-rigid shape as a linear combination of basis trajectories and compute the rectification matrix using generic algorithm with orthogonal constrains. In order to improve the reconstruction ability, trajectory filters are introduced to eliminate the need for choosing basis size. Experimental results from a human motion image sequences show that the proposed approach is more efficient for recovery of 3D non-rigid structure. Furthermore, the adjustment of basis size is avoided through the success use of trajectory filters.

Energy consumption analysis models of ship energy system were established. The performance indexes, such as energy loss ratio, waste heat recovery rate and waste heat recovery perfect degree were defined. A 70000 - ton crude oil carrier was taken as an example for energy consumption analysis. The results show that the waste heat recovery rate of exhaust smoke was 15.69%, and the waste heat recovery perfect degree was 52.76%.

Flexural sensitivity is a key parameter of atomic force microscopy. In order to improve the dynamic atomic force microscopy’s flexural sensitivity, a scanning method that drives the atomic force microscopy cantilever vibrating at its high resonant frequency is utilized. In this article, the operation principle of the high resonant atomic force microscopy is introduced and the factors that affect the sensitivity in the measurement of the displacement of the amplitude based on optical lever detection method are analyzed, and the flexural sensitivities of the cantilever vibrating at different resonant frequencies are compared theoretically and measured experimentally. The experimental results indicate that the flexural resolution of atomic force microscopy operated on the fundamental mode and the second mode is 0.30 and 0.13 nm, respectively. Both the theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the flexural sensitivity of the high resonant cantilever is better than that of the fundamental mode cantilever. It is an effective method to improve the sensitivity of dynamic atomic force microscopy cantilever by working at higher resonant frequency.

A new IAQ improved ventilation system-reversible ventilation system was designed. This system's working principle was introduced. For analyzing the superiority of reversible ventilation system, the conceptions of effective fresh air ratio and minimum effective fresh air ratio were described. The formula of effective fresh air ratio was deduced. The formula can be used to analyze the different air outputs of reversible ventilation system and conventional general ventilation system, in rooms with the same degree of fresh air. It can be taken as the guide for design and actual applications of reversible ventilation system.

The soluble cluster of differentiation 14 (or presepsin) is a free fragment of glycoprotein expressed on monocytes and macrophages. Although many studies have been conducted recently, the diagnostic performance of presepsin for sepsis remains debated. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available literature to assess the accuracy of presepsin for the diagnosis of sepsis in adult patients and compared the performance between presepsin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT). A comprehensive systemic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar for studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of presepsin for sepsis until January 2017. The hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic method was used to pool individual sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Eighteen studies, comprising 3470 patients, met our inclusion criteria. The pooled diagnosis sensitivity and specificity of presepsin for sepsis were 0.84 (95% CI 0.80–0.87) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.67–0.82), respectively. Furthermore, the pooled DOR, PLR, NLR, and AUC were 16 (95% CI 10–25), 3.4 (95% CI 2.5–4.6), 0.22 (95% CI 0.17–0.27), and 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.90), respectively. Significant heterogeneity was found in both sensitivities (Cochrane Q = 137.43, p

Background: We report the feasibility and safety of chest surgery through the subxiphoid single port approach based on our preliminary experience. Methods: From December 2013 till January 2016, 39 patients underwent 40 thoracoscopic surgeries via a 3- to 4-cm subxiphoid single incision. A sternal lifter was applied for better entrance and working angle. A zero-degree deflectable scope was preferred. The technique for anatomic resection was similar to that in the traditional single-port approach. Patient characteristics and demographic data were analyzed. Results: There were 29 females and 10 males, with a median age of 56 years. Indication for surgery included 24 patients with primary lung cancer, eight with lung metastases, two with benign lung lesions, one with bilateral pneumothorax, and five with mediastinal tumors. Surgeries included lobectomy in 21, segmentectomy in five, wedge resection in nine, and mediastinal surgery in five patients. There was no surgical mortality. Complications (10%, 4 in 40) included postoperative bleeding in one patient, chylothorax in one patient, and transient arrhythmia in the early learning curve in two patients. Conclusions: Our results indicated that subxiphoid single-incision thoracoscopic pulmonary resection could be performed safely but under careful patient selection with modification of instruments. Moreover, having a previous single-port incision experience was crucial. Major limitations of this approach included more frequently encountered instrument fighting; interference of left-side procedure related to heartbeat and radical mediastinal lymph node (LN) dissection; and the ability to handle complex conditions, such as anthracotic LNs, diffuse adhesion, and major bleeding.