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(Introduction)HoLEP's role in the surgical management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is steadily growing. In this study, a questionnaire containing questions about perioperative management was submitted to HoLEP surgeons to help establish standard surgical training procedures. (Methods)We sent a comprehensive 17 questionnaires on HoLEP procedures to 18 surgeons. The questionnaire asked, "Which method are you using, the 1-LOBE or 3-LOBE method?", "What educational methods are being used for surgeons?", "How long is the catheter insertion period after HoLEP?", and "What is the most difficult problem encountered in surgical HoLEP education and what aspect of training is the most emphasized?" (Results)Sixteen (88.9%) surgeons answered these questionnaires. Five surgeons reported using the one lobe method, five surgeons reported using the three lobe method, and four surgeons answered that it depends on the case. Regarding educational methods, the main answer was that it is important to evaluate pre-HoLEP imaging tests such as MRI and cystoscopy and to simulate surgery for education. Regarding the postoperative catheter insertion period, 1 day: 1 surgeon, 2 days: 9 surgeons, 3 days: 3 surgeons, 4 days or more: 1 surgeon. The most important thing reported for surgical education was to help beginners understand the characteristics of lasers, including direction, distance to prostate tissue, and adenoma removal. (Conclusions)The surgeons' responses clearly indicated some differences in practices between institutions. More detailed data from these results will provide a step towards designing standardized surgical and educational protocols for HoLEP.

BACKGROUND Focal therapies for prostate cancer (PC) can reduce adverse events and do not lead to androgen-independent progression. Ultrasound could be used for cancer treatments if the repetition frequency is fitted to the purpose. We investigated the possible therapeutic effect of ultrasound irradiation on PC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS We irradiated two PC cell lines, androgen-dependent LNCaP and -independent PC-3 with ultrasound (3.0 W/cm2 , 3 MHz, irradiation time rate: 20%) for 2 minutes for 1 day or 3 consecutive days at a repetition frequency of 1, 10, or 100 Hz in vitro. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined after irradiation. RESULTS Cell proliferation of PC-3 was significantly inhibited after 1 day (P

Background: Ultrasound (US) is mostly used for diagnostic purpose but could be used for cancer treatments with a US intensity or frequency fitted to such a purpose. Prostate cancer (PC) has the highest prevalence in the urological field, but indications for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for PC are limited to very few cases. In this study, we compared the antitumor effect of US irradiation alone with the combined use of US and ICIs in vitro and in vivo. Methods: PC cell line TRAMP-C2 cells were used in our experiments. TRAMP-C2 cells were irradiated with US with pulse repeated frequencies (PRF) of 1, 10, and 100 Hz. Cell proliferation was evaluated by MTS assay and apoptotic cells were analyzed using flow cytometry. To verify the antitumor effect of US irradiation on PC in vivo, we conducted animal experiments using mice. TRAMP-C2-bearing mice were irradiated with US with PRF of 10 and 100 Hz. Three weeks after the start of US irradiation, anti-PD-1 antibody was administered to the mice. Finally, mice were sacrificed and tumors were collected. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses were assessed for cleaved caspase-3 and CD3 in tumor cell extracts. Results: Cell proliferation assays showed that 1 and 10 Hz US significantly inhibited cell survival (p < 0.0001). In addition, US irradiation induced apoptosis at 1, 10, and 100 Hz (p = 0.0129, p = 0.0150, and p = 0.0017, respectively). In animal experiments, a significant tumor growth inhibitory effect was observed at 10 and 100 Hz, and 100 Hz + ICIs (p < 0.05, respectively). Hematoxylin–eosin (H–E) staining showed a significant increase in the necrotic area of the tumor at 100 Hz and 100 Hz + ICIs (p < 0.05, respectively). In addition, under IHC staining the expression level of cleaved caspase-3 and the number of CD3-positive cells increased at 100 Hz (p < 0.05, respectively). Conclusion: US irradiation induced apoptosis in cells and reduced cell viability. In vivo tumor growth was suppressed by combined treatment with US irradiation and ICIs. Further research on immune system activation will lead to less invasive and more efficient treatments for PC.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is transmitted through respiratory droplets and close contact [1–4]. To diagnose COVID-19, oropharyngeal-swab (OP-swab) sampling is widely used for viral nucleic acid detection [3]. However, healthcare workers who perform OP-swab are at high risk of infection due to aerosol from patients during the process of sampling. And the quality of manual OP-swabs is inconsistent among different collectors, which may lead to misdiagnosis [5]. Remote controlled OP-swab robot has the potential to avoid close contact between healthcare workers with patients, and thus reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection during sampling. Here, we invented a robotic sampling (RS) system and evaluated the safety and efficacy of this system on OP-swab sampling during the period of pandemic., Clinical Application on the safety and effectiveness of Intelligent Oropharyngeal-swab Robot for the Implication for COVID-19 Pandemic

The electromagnetic radiation emission model of motor drive System for electric vehicles (EVs) is presented in this paper. First, the radiation electromagnetic interference (EMI) mechanism of the motor drive system is analyzed and investigated by experiment. The radiation EMI mainly comes from the common mode current flowing along the three phase cable between the inverter and the motor. Secondly, the feasibility of the finite element method (FEM) is verified by calculating the wire electromagnetic field around and the radiation EMI model of the motor drive system is established using the FEM. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed model is feasible.

In this paper, the electric impendence sensor is simulated calculation with COMSOL Multiphysics. The relationship between impedance and x-displacement of air cavity, the relationship between impedance and y-displacement of air cavity, and the relationships between impedance and radius of air cavity are obtained.

Common mode (CM) conducted interference are predicted and compared with experiments in a motor drive system of Electric vehicles in this study. The prediction model considers each part as an equivalent circuit model which is represented by lumped parameters and proposes the parameter extraction method. For the modeling of the inverter, a concentrated and equivalent method is used to process synthetically the CM interference source and the stray capacitance. For the parameter extraction in the power line model, a computation method that combines analytical method and finite element method is used. The modeling of the motor is based on measured date of the impedance and vector fitting technique. It is shown that the parasitic currents and interference voltage in the system can be simulated in the different parts of the prediction model in the conducted frequency range (150 kHz-30 MHz). Experiments have successfully confirmed that the approach is effective.

Image quality characterizes the perceived image degradation and is of great importance in many industrial applications which use image quality assessment as their first step to select images. The accuracy and efficiency of the image quality assessment method is critical in many real time applications, e.g. on-line monitoring. In this paper, an efficient and effective image quality assessment method is proposed for on line weld pool monitoring. The proposed method assesses the image quality with a better stability compared to other evaluated state of art methods. In addition, the computation speed of the proposed method is also fast and suitable for on line applications.

In order to solve complex problems of traditional methods used to evaluate the rock fracability, the relationship between fractal dimension, rock brittleness and fracture density these three parameters was studied. The multiple linear regression is reasonable through nine kinds cores. The regression coefficients demonstrate both rock brittleness and surface fracture density play positive roles on fractal dimension value, the larger they are, the better the fracability. Therefore, the two parameters can be converted to consider only one parameter that is the fractal dimension of rock. The larger the fractal dimension, the better the fracability is, that is using fractal dimension represents brittle index and surface density to participate in fracability evaluation.

Transformer vibration research is an effective diagnosis of DC bias fault. The vibration signal acquired is actually the mix signal of vibration from both the core and windings, and this makes it difficult to analyze the above two separately. Therefore the paper presents a new approach to separate vibration signal of core and windings by Fast-ICA algorithm. The simulated results of core and windings vibration are given and compared with experiment test. Comparative analysis verify that transformer vibration in no-load is core vibration and vibration in short circuit is windings vibration. Transformer vibration signals under different DC bias are tested by experiment. Vibration signals are separated by Fast-ICA algorithm. Core vibration signal and windings vibration signal are respectively obtained. The research lays the groundwork for further research of transformer DC bias vibration.

The objective of this research is to utilize the ultrasonic method to analyze the property of partial discharge (PD) which is generated by the winding of the insulation stator in the generator. Therefore, a PD measurement system is built based on ultrasonic and virtual instruments. Three types of PD models (internal PD model, surface PD model and slot PD model) have been constructed. With the analysis of these experimental results, this research has identified the ultrasonic signals of the discharges which were produced by three types of PD models. This analysis shows the different features among these PD types. Both the time domain and frequency domain of the ultrasonic signals are obviously different. In addition, an experiment based on a large rotating machine has been done to analyze ultrasonic noises. The result indicates that the ultrasonic noises can be wiped off by the filters and algorithms. The application of this system is convenient for the detection of early signs of insulation failure, which is an effective method for diagnosis of insulation faults.

Probe-type electrostatic sensors provide a novel and applicable way to realize on-line condition monitoring of heat engines. However, researches on this type of electrostatic sensors are still scanty, especially needs more detailed studies for the sensors sensing characteristics. In this paper, a simulative 3-D model with high fidelity was established using COMSOL, by which a detailed research on probe-type electrostatic sensors spatial sensitivity was conducted, the whole spatial sensitivity distribution on the centre section and conclusions about the influencing factors of spatial sensitivity were acquired. The simulative results were confirmed by experiments, and can be used for optimal design of probe-type electrostatic sensors.

In this paper, the terminal sliding mode (TSM) control technique is used to solve the solution sought for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of wind energy conversion system. In order to realize the control strategy, the wind energy conversion system (WECS) is regarded as a part of the constructed high order system. Based on the constant tip-speed ratio (TSR), selecting the appropriate state variables and treating rotational speed as the object researched, the control scheme for the MPPT of wind turbine can be achieved by using the terminal sliding mode control technique. The simulation carried out shows that the system tracking efficiency can be greatly improved and the power factor and tip speed ratio are very close to the optimal value in this solution.

In this paper, a method for conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) prediction in Electric Vehicle motor drive system based on components’ circuit models is presented. Firstly, the characteristics of the components are analyzed and the equivalent circuits are drew; then, the parasitic parameters of the electromagnetic device are extracted by the measurement, analytical solution and finite element method (FEM); and finally, the circuit model of the whole motor drive system in high frequency range is established. This model is verified by the measurement and simulation results in the frequency domain.

The application of the high-voltage supply system and the motor drive system in electric and hybrid-electric vehicles can leads to a significant increase in electromagnetic compatibility. The influence of traction batteries as part of the electromagnetic interference path must be considered. In this paper models of single cell, cells connected in series and cells connected in parallel are developed based on the measured impedance curve of single cell, the models are formulized in the frequency domain and verified by impedance measurement on Ni-MH batteries, the results allow the simulation of batteries as interference path and the prediction of external electric fields and magnetic fields.

In this paper, the first order buoyancy force of ferrofluid is simulated calculation under external magnetic field in ferrofluid devices. The relationship between first order buoyancy force and displacement of nonmagnetic body under different relative permeability of ferrofluid，and the relationship between first order buoyancy force and relative permeability of ferrofluid are obtained.

It is very important for accurately grasping stress, strain, and metal flow during the hollow motor shaft rolling, and it is also foundation of forming regularity, rolling force and energy parameter. The cross wedge rolling process of hollow motor shaft was simulated through rigid-plastic finite element software deform-3D. According to the simulation results, the distribution of internal stress, strain field inside the second step of the motor shaft had been obtained, revealed the metal flow ruler for the second step during forming process and it could effected on the metal flow ruler for the first step.

Rolling force is the main parameters for calculating the intensity and rigidity of the main parts in the mill. To determine the force produced by the four roll rolling process, the finite element (FE) model for hollow motor shaft forming using 4-roll cross wedge rolling had been established for forming analysis with the aid of FE software Deform-3D. According to the results of FE simulation, the rolling load rules were obtained and maximum force of up to 60 KN. It has important theoretical significance and application value for the mill equipment designing and die structure optimization.

In this work, we present a new algorithm for extracting action landmarks from proposition landmarks graph. Compared to published approaches, the action landmarks extraction algorithm we proposed can find more disjunctive action landmarks and single action landmarks. We illustrate our ideas with experiments among benchmark domains. The experiments show that the new algorithm is competitive with traditional algorithm for finding action landmarks from relaxed plan graph. (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

In this paper, the self-levitation force of ferrofluid in sensor is simulated calculation under different magnets core in ferrofluid sensor. The relationship between self-levitation force and height under different radius of magnet core, and the relationship between self-levitation height and length of magnet core are obtained.

Soil-Rock Mixture (SRM) is a unique type of geological material characterized by inhomogeneous composition and complicated structures. This paper investigated the fracture mechanisms that govern the strength and deformation of SRM subjected to uniaxial compression loads by means of computed tomography (CT) techniques. The self-designed loading devices and self-developed image processing program were applied to identify and quantify the fractures inside SRM during compressions. The results show that the internal fracture behavior of SRM greatly depends on the rock ratios of SRM.

Currently specific discharge point cannot be effectively located using common electrometric methods of generator stator winding partial discharge online monitoring. To solve the problem an electrical-sound joint detection method has been proposed. Since accuracy of location would be heavily affected by time delay of ultrasonic wave propagation, background noise and spectrum of partial discharge ultrasonic signal were analyzed first, and ultrasound field distribution and ultrasonic wave propagation were also stimulated. Moreover, an ultrasonic sensors distribution method was proposed to reduce the delay estimation error. The method was verified by field experiments. Experimental results showed that the theoretical analysis was exact and the sensor distribution method was feasible, thus laying foundation for further realizing large generator partial discharge Ultrasonic wave on line monitoring and location.

Video-oculography (VOG) is a non-invasive method used for the eye tracking detecting. A most important work of VOG is to accurately estimate the pupil center. However, VOG cannot acquire eye movement when the eye blinks. A Grey forecasting model was proposed to predict the pupil center for the blinking frame of VOG video. The Grey forecasting model used GM(1,1) model to carry on the modeling. Then an experiment is provided. The experiment results show that the predicted data of the Grey forecasting meet the characteristics of the patients with nystagmus. The Grey forecasting model is a viable means of accurately predict the pupil center for blinking in VOG.

When do research on the location of partial discharge in power generator’s stator using ultrasonic sensor, there are many problems exist including that ultrasonic signals detection is not obvious or even ultrasonic sensor can not detect ultrasonic signals. This article researches the location distribution in power generator which is favorable for ultrasonic sensor to receive ultrasonic signals. Put forward a placement method of sensor which is applies to the partial discharge location of power generator basing on sonic pressure distribution of ultrasonic signal in the stator’s outer, which is obtained by simulating sound field of power generator stator using ANSYS Multiphysics. The placement method of sensor has laid the foundation for the future research of the partial discharge location of power generator. Through comparing the simulation results and actual experimental test, the authors find that simulation of sonic pressure is similar to experimental results, proving the placement method is validity.

In the inviscid and incompressible fluid flow regime, surface tension effects on the behavior of two initially spherical bubbles with same size rising axisymmetrically in an infinite and initially stationary liquid are investigated numerically with the VOF method. The numerical experiments are performed for two bubbles with two different bubble distances. The ratio of gas density to liquid density is 0.001, which is close to the case of air bubbles rising in water. In the case of Dis = 2.5 , where Dis is defined as the ratio of the distance between the bubble centroids to the radius of the bubble, it is found from numerical experiments that there exist four critical Weber numbers We 1 , We 2 , We 3 and We 4 , which are in between 10 and 100, 3 and 4, 1.5 and 1.8, and 0.2 and 0.3, respectively. In the case of Dis = 2.3 , similar phenomena also appear but the corresponding four critical Weber numbers are lower than those in the case of Dis = 2.5 . The mechanism of the above phenomena is analyzed theoretically and numerically.

In this paper, a remote Distribution Transformer (DT) monitoring system is presented and developed to solve the problems of existing remote monitoring system wiring too much, too complicated, fault diagnosing and maintaining difficulty. The system hardware design based on 16 bit PIC18F458 chip and GSM module TC35i is proposed. The system software design with MySQL and Visual C++6.0 are discussed in detail. A real-time monitoring of parameters such as three-phase voltage, current, power factor and transformer temperature is finally realized. Experiment results show that the system possesses accurate data gathering, strong anti-interference and good operation performance.

In this paper, a new type steel plate with nano-layered martensite lath structure was produced by heavy cold-rolling. After rolling, subsequent annealing has great effect on the deformed martensite morphology and grain refinement. Microstructure recrystallizing course have occurred after long time annealing at 350°C. The recrystallization activation energy is 151 kJmol-1. The ultrafine ferrite grains (average grain size about 317nm), nano-carbides precipitated uniformly were seen in the specimen annealed at 500 °C. Annealing at and above 600 °C resulted in coarse ferrite grains with spheroidized coarse carbides, causing grain growth.

In this paper, the process of severe cold-rolling and annealing for Q235 steel with lath martensite has demonstrated a new promising technique for producing in-situ composite multi-nanolayer steel. Cold rolling and subsequent annealing have great impact on microstructure evolution as well as mechanical properties. In the as-rolled state, the strength (b 2112 MPa) is approximately four times increased than as-received material, which is attributed to work hardening and grain refining during cold rolling. As cold-rolled sample subjected to further annealing below 500 °C, deformed microstructure underwent further recovery and recrystallization and finally became refined equiaxed grains; ultrafine ferrite grains, nano-carbides precipitated uniformly were seen in the specimen annealed at 500 °C, and the phenomenon of fracture delamination was observed from the specimens, the delamination plane was parallel to the rolling plane, in-situ composite weak interfaces effect has great impact on the fracture surface. Annealing at and above 600 °C resulted in coarse ferrite grains with spheroidized coarse carbides, causing grain growth.

In the incompressible fluid flow regime, without taking consideration of surface tension effects, the viscosity effects on the behavior of an initially spherical buoyancy-driven bubble rising in an infinite and initially stationary liquid are investigated numerically by the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method. The ratio of the gas density to the liquid density is taken as 0.001, and the gas viscosity to the liquid viscosity is 0.01, which is close to the case of an air bubble rising in water. It is found by numerical experiments that there exist two critical Reynolds numbers Re1 and Re2, which are in between 30 and 50 and in between 10 and 20, respectively. As Re > Re1 the bubble will have the transition to toroidal form, and the toroidal bubble will break down into two toroidal bubbles. In this case viscosity will damp the development of the liquid jet and delay the formation of the toroidal bubble. As Re Re*, it will not rise with a constant speed. The mechanism of the above phenomena has been analyzed theoretically and numerically.

In the frame of inviscid and incompressible fluids without taking into consideration of surface tension effects, the axisymmetric evolution of two buoyancy-driven bubbles in an infinite and initially stationary liquid are investigated numerically by VOF method. The numerical experiments are performed for two bubbles with same size, with the following one being half of the leading one, and with the leading one being half of the following one, and for different bubble distances. The ratio of gas density to liquid density is 0.001. It is found by numerical experiment that when the distance between the two bubbles is greater than or equal to one and half of the bigger bubble radius, the interaction is very weak and the two bubbles evolute like isolated ones rising in an infinite liquid. When the two bubbles come closer, the leading bubble itself evolutes like an isolated one rising in an infinite liquid. However, due to the smaller distance between the two bubbles, large pressure gradient forms in the liquid region near the top of the following bubble, which causes the upward stretch of its top part no matter what sizes of the two bubbles are. When the distance between the two bubbles is less than or equal to three-tenth of the bigger bubble radius, before the liquid jet behind the leading bubble fully developed, the top part of the following bubble has already been sucked into the leading one, giving a pear-like shape. Soon after the following bubble merges with the leading one. It is also found that for the smaller bubble, its transition to toroidal is always faster than that of the bigger one because of its smaller size. The mechanism of the above phenomena has been analyzed numerically.

This paper presents a general zerotree encoder architecture based on parallel processing of multi-bit-planes and two-stage encoder and EZW encoder. The parallel processing of multi-bit-planes is supported with a simple preprocess unit pipelined in encoding process. The two-stage encoding technique reduces the recursive processing significantly by partitioning the encoding process into two orderly scans. Additionally, a simplified encoder based on the MPEG-4 zerotree encoder is proposed that employs the clearing processing in place of the skip processing. The compression performance changes a little and becomes slightly better when PSNR is below 37dB around. Using the technique can save more than 20% both circuit resource and computation time than the MPEG-4 zerotree encoder.

Objective:There exists a close relationship between drying of a fresh herb and its preservation and extraction of efficient components. In order to investigate the influences of different drying methods on extraction and separation of ginsenosides, three drying processes, such as drying in the sun, drying in oven and microwave drying, were used to dry fresh ginsengs . Methods:The ginsenosides of the dry ginsengs were extracted by poaching and microwave heating, and were separated by foam separation.The concentrations of ginsenosides were measured. Results:Microwave drying saved both time and labour, and was favorable for release of ginsenosides. The ginsenosides could be extracted from the dry ginsengs in a shorter time by microwave heating than poaching. The ginsenosides Rb 1, Rb 2, Rd could be observably concentrated by foam separation. Conclusion:Microwave drying and microwave assisted extraction are efficient and economic methods with a high recovery yield of ginsenosides.

To evaluate the efficacy of an ultrasound-based quantitative method to diagnose liver fibrosis using a rat model. Ultrasonography was performed on the livers of 90 Sprague-Dawley rats with or without thioacetamide-induced fibrosis. The liver capsule thickness and 13 texture parameters of gray level co-occurrence matrix were extracted from the standard sonograms. After sacrifice, severity of liver fibrosis (S0-S4 classification) was diagnosed by histopathology. Analysis of variance and correlation statistical tests were used to analyze the differences between groups and determine the relationships between each of the 14 quantitative ultrasound index points and the histological results, respectively. Discriminant analysis models were developed for quantitative diagnosis of liver fibrosis, and the leave-one-case-out method was used to verify the efficiency of models. All 14 indices were significantly correlated with the histological stages of fibrosis (P less than 0.05). The accuracy of the discriminant model for S0, S1, S2, S3 and S4 was 83.3%, 84.2%, 70.0%, 50.0% and 88.2%, respectively. In addition, 73.3% of cross-validated rats were accurately classified. Grouping S0 as no fibrosis, S1 as mild fibrosis, S2 with S3 as moderate to severe fibrosis and S4 as early cirrhosis increased the accuracy of the discriminant model for these four groups (respectively, 91.7%, 84.2%, 69.0% and 88.2%) and allowed for 78.9% of cross-validated rats to be correctly identified. Ultrasonography combined with texture analysis was a novel and accurate method to diagnose liver fibrosis in a rat model; further studies may provide insights into its applicability for quantitating liver fibrosis in other animal models or in clinic.

To investigate the feasibility of orientation-induced differentiation of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) into cochlear hair cell-like cells in vitro.MSC were extracted, cultured and identified. The organ of Corti was isolated from post natal day 1-day 3 Sprague-Dawley rats. Then MSC were co-cultured with organ of Corti for 14 days in vitro. The expression of hair cell markers (myosin VIIa, math1 and calretinin) was detected by immunocytochemical analyses and by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).The differentiated cells were immunopositive for myosin VIIa, calretinin and math1. And RT-PCR results indicated that these differentiated cells expressed hair cell markers Math1 and myosin VIIa.MSC cultured in vitro could be successfully induced to differentiate into hair cell-like cells with hair cell molecular markers.

To investigate the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in preoperative T-staging of gastric cancer.A sulfur hexafluoride-filled microbubble ultrasound contrast agent and a continuous real-time imaging technique of contrast pulse sequencing were used. Normal gastric wall was examined by CEUS in 8 healthy volunteers and the results were compared with the findings on multislice computed tomography. Sixty-two patients with gastric cancer proved by biopsies who received preoperative CEUS examination were involved in this study, and the CEUS result was compared with postoperative pathological findings.The normal gastric wall presented a one-layer structure in the portal venous phase and a three-layer structure in the arterial and equilibrium phase including a slightly hyper-enhanced inner layer, a hypo-enhanced intermediate layer, and a markedly hyper-enhanced outer layer, which corresponded histologically to the mucosal, submucosal, and muscular-serosal layer, respectively. The accuracy of transabdominal ultrasonography and CEUS in determining the T stage of gastric cancer was 72.9% and 88.1% respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (chi(2)=4.37, P=0.036).CEUS shows the normal gastric wall as a one- or a three-layer structure, which provides a theory base for CEUS in preoperative T-staging of gastric cancer. CEUS is a useful diagnostic method for preoperative T-staging of gastric cancer.

To evaluate the clinical value of double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography using oral and intravenous contrast agents in preoperative staging of gastric cancer.Sixty-two patients with biopsy-proven gastric cancer were enrolled into this study, and were examined by double contrast-enhanced gastric ultrasonography preoperatively. The results were compared with postoperative pathologic findings.The accuracy of oral contrast-enhanced gastric ultrasonography and double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in determining the T stage of gastric cancer was 72.9% (T1: 66.7%, T2: 60.0%, T3: 76.9%, T4: 71.4%) and 88.1% (T1: 66.7%, T2: 80.0%, T3: 89.7%, T4: 100%), respectively, with a statistically significant difference between the two methods (P = 0.036). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Youden index of oral contrast-enhanced gastric ultrasonography and double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in assessment of lymph node metastasis were 74.5%, 66.7%, 72.9%, and 0.41 versus 89.4%, 75.0%, 86.4%, 0.76, respectively. No significant difference in the accuracy of assessment for lymph node metastasis was observed (P0.05).Double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is useful for preoperative staging of gastric cancer, especially for T staging.

In order to achieve distributed task allocation dynamically and efficiently for multi-robot systems, multi-robot fire-disaster response was presented, because of its dynamic characteristic. The proposed multi-robot task allocation algorithm for fire-disaster response is based on reinforcement learning. The reinforcement learning algorithm for multi-robot is divided into two types: non-cooperation and cooperation, this algorithm satisfies the requirement of dynamic task allocation for fire-disaster response. The experimental results verify that the proposed strategy can achieve efficient multi-robot dynamic task allocation for fire-disaster response, and the fires are extinguished timely.

Wavelength-dependent AC Stark shifts and magic wavelengths of the terahertz clock transitions between the metastable triplet states 6s5d 3D1 and 6s5d 3D2 are investigated with considering the optical lattice trapping of barium atoms with the linearly polarized laser. The trap depths and the slopes of light shift difference with distinct magic wavelengths of the optical lattices are also discussed in detail. Several potentially suitable working points for the optical lattice trapping laser are recommended and selected from these magic wavelengths.

The isotope shifts of the 2s2 1S0 to 2s2p 1P1 and 3P1 transitions in the four-electron beryllium atom are calculated by using the multi-configuration Dirac–Hartree–Fock method and the relativistic configuration interaction approach for the stable and short-lived beryllium isotopes. The results provided herein can be employed for the consistency check with the nuclear rms charge radii from the experimental isotope shifts by using the corresponding transitions for the short-lived nuclei7,10–12Be and 14Be. The analogous isotope shift results could also be obtained for the beryllium-like ions by the methods used here.

To investigate potential mechanism underlying lipo-prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) in treatment of patients with chronic glomerulonephritis.The recommended dose of 20 microg lipo-PGE1 for treatment of chronic glomerulonephritis was as a daily dose by continuous intravenous infusion or intravenous injection for 4 weeks. The levels of interleukin-1 (IL- 1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr) and clearance of creatinine (CCr) were measured before and after treatment.After treatment with lipo-PGE1, levels of IL-1, TNF-alpha, BUN and SCr were lower than those before treatment (all P0.01), but CCr values were higher than those before treatment (P0.05).Lipo-PGE1 can reduce the renal inflammatory response and improve the renal function in the patients with chronic glomerulonephritis.

To explore a new method in estimating extent and degree of arterial injury in upper limbs sustaining high tension electric burns.Eighteen patients (twenty-four upper limbs) with high tension electricity injury were admitted from December 1998 to September 2002, The damaged limbs consisted of four parts: wrist wound part, 5 cm, 10 cm, 15 cm parts around wrist wound, where the radial and ulnar arteries were detected using B ultrasound and color WP Doppler examination. The changes of endangium, vessel diameter, thickness of the vessel wall and volume of blood flow were recorded respectively. The parameters of normal radial and ulnar arteries were also determined as normal control.B ultrasound and color WP Doppler examination showed that the endangium in radial and ulnar arteries become coarse, edema or exfoliation. The vessel wall was thicker than that of the normal control and the thickness was heterogeneity. The vessel wall could be necrosis in severe patient and the vessel cavity was stricture or beaded. Thrombosis or occlusion could occur at the site of severe injury area in vessel. The decrease in volume of blood flow was observed. The condition of the radial and ulnar arteries become well apart from 10 - 15 cm of wrist wound.The ultrasonography can be used to detect the changes in endangium, diameter, thickness of the vessel wall, blood flow volume in injury blood vessel caused by electric burn injury. It is helpful in judging the degree and extent of injury vessel and could be a safe, non-invasive diagnostic method and is worth popularizing.