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It is of great significance to evaluate the groundwater resources carrying capacity, for understanding the basic situation of regional groundwater resource availability and utilization, establishing a monitoring and warning mechanism for resources and environment carrying capacity, and supporting the research oriented to national spatial planning. In this paper, groundwater resources carrying capacity is proposed based on analysis of the quantity, quality and ecological feature of groundwater in Yangtze River Economic Belt, an evaluation methodology is established respectively from background and status of carrying capacity. Results show that integrated carrying capacity is medium in this region. The number of cities with strong, medium-strong, medium, medium-weak, and weak integrated carrying capacity are 27, 28, 51, 15, and 8 respectively. Cities with strong and medium-strong integrated carrying capacity are mainly located in Middle-Lower of Yangtze River, Huang-Huai-Hai Plain and Sichuan Basin. Cities with medium-weak and weak integrated carrying capacity are mainly located in coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, Sichuan red layer area, north of Sichuan Plateau, and Jinsha River basin.

The middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin (MYRB) are known for their significant soil erosion and fragile ecological environment, where vegetation growth is important. However, the vegetation's reaction to climate change (CC) and human activity (HA), and the potential driving mechanisms underlying such changes in the MYRB, have not yet been clarified. Thus, based on remote sensing data, combined with trend analysis and the Hurst method and supplemented by the structural equation model (SEM) and residual analysis method, we aimed to conduct an analysis of the spatio-temporal evolution of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the MYRB from 2000 to 2020. Additionally, we explored how climate and human factors together affect the NDVI and quantified the proportion of their respective contributions to NDVI change. The NDVI exhibited a fluctuating upward trend in the MYRB. Moreover, approximately 97.7% of the area showed an improving trend, with nearly 50% of the area continuing to maintain an improving trend. Precipitation and temperature had positive effects on the NDVI, while vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and land use intensity (LUI) had negative effects. HA played a pivotal role in the vegetation improvement area with a contribution rate of 67.53%. The study revealed NDVI variations and emphasized the influence of HA on the NDVI in the MYRB. The findings are vital in comprehending the response mechanism of ecosystems and guiding reasonable environmental protection policies, which is beneficial for the sustainable development of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) pulse and systolic blood pressure (SBP) measurement system based on the edge-filtering method is proposed. The edge filter is the Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) fabricated by two fiber couplers with a linear slope of 52.45 dBm/nm. The developed system consists of a broadband light source, an edge filter, fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), a coarse wavelength-division multiplexer (CWDM), and signal-processing circuits based on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). It can simultaneously measure pulse pulsations of the radial artery in the wrist at three positions: Cun, Guan and Chi. The SBP can be calculated based on the pulse transit time (PTT) principle. The measurement results compared to a standard blood pressure monitor showed the mean absolute error (MAE) and standard deviation (STD) of the SBP were 0.93 ± 3.13 mmHg. The system meets the requirements of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) equipment standards. The proposed system can achieve continuous real-time measurement of pulse and SBP and has the advantages of fast detection speed, stable performance, and no compression sensation for subjects. The system has important application value in the fields of human health monitoring and medical device development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of renal mass subtypes, along with the WHO/ISUP grade and pathological T (pT) stage of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), is crucial for optimal decision making. Our study aimed to investigate the feasibility and reproducibility of motion-robust radial T2 mapping in differentiating lipid-poor angiomyolipoma (MFAML) from RCC and characterizing the WHO/ISUP grade and pT stage of ccRCC. Finally, 92 patients undergoing renal radial T2 mapping and ZOOMit DWI were recruited. The T2 values and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were analyzed. Correlation coefficients were calculated between ADC and T2 values. Notably, ccRCC exhibited higher T2 and ADC values than MFAML (p < 0.05). T2 values were lower in the higher WHO/ISUP grade and pT stage of ccRCC (all p < 0.05). ADC showed no significant difference for pT stage (p = 0.056). T2 values revealed a higher area under the curve (AUC) in evaluating the WHO/ISUP grade compared to ADC (0.936 vs. 0.817, p = 0.027). T2 values moderately positively correlated with ADC (r = 0.675, p < 0.001). In conclusion, quantitative motion-robust radial T2 mapping is feasible for characterizing solid renal masses and could provide additional value for multiparametric imaging in predicting WHO/ISUP grade and pT stage of ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the Oxford classification and prognostic risk stratification of the non-invasive evaluation of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) or immunoglobulin A vasculitis with nephritis (IgAVN) in children using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods: Forty-four children diagnosed with IgAN or IgAVN were included. Patients with 80-month risk scores >10% were categorized as the high-risk group, while others constituted the low-risk group. The T2* and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the renal cortex and medulla were measured. Clinical and pathological parameters were also assessed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the indicators associated with the high-risk group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn and the areas under the curve (AUCs) were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic performance variables for differentiating the high-risk group from the low-risk group. Results: Only the T2*Cortex and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were independently reliable in both the univariate and multivariate analyses. The AUCs for differentiating the high-risk group from the low-risk group of T2*Cortex, MAP, and their combination model were 0.907, 0.881, and 0.947, respectively. Conclusions: Multiparametric MRI parameters, especially T2* values, could be used as new biomarkers to provide a new dimension in chronic kidney disease-related research and could play an important role in the non-invasive prognosis of children with IgAN or IgAVN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric desalination units in the crude oil refining process are becoming increasingly important with the growing trend towards heavy and poor crude oils. The oil–water mixing effect of the static mixer plays a crucial role in the electric desalination process. The present study investigated the effect of various variables, such as mixer type, number of mixing elements, washing water consumption, and oil viscosity and density on the oil–water mixing efficiency of a static mixer. In addition, this study also analyzed the effect of these variables on the salt washing process that occurs during mixing using a kinetic equation for the dissolution of inorganic salts. The results showed that the number of mixing elements was the most significant variable, followed by the amount of washing water injected. The density of the crude oil had a negligible effect. Based on these results, the use of four mixing elements in the SMX static mixer was recommended. The injection of washing water should be controlled at about 8%, while ensuring that the interfacial tension between oil and water remains below 0.01 N/m. Under these conditions, the salt washing efficiency reached 46.3%. This study provides a theoretical basis for designing static mixers and optimizing their operation in electric desalination processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]