bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tactics of the tobacco industry in an Arab nation: a review of tobacco documents in Oman
Authors: Al-Lawati Jawad A , Bialous Stella A
Published: September 2021

Background

Few studies have investigated tobacco industry interference in the tobacco control policies of Arab nations. This paper explores the tactics used by the industry to subvert tobacco control policies in Oman and offers lessons on how to prevent such interference in the future.

Methods

We searched the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents Archive using the word ‘Oman’, names of government institutions, policymakers and local tobacco distributors. Extracted data were noted chronologically by key elements of tobacco control measures. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Health Ministers’ Council resolutions on tobacco control were also reviewed.

Results

Out of 1020 tobacco documents located, 327 were closely related to policy interference. Documents revealed that the industry met key government officials, offered in-kind services, used local diplomatic missions to influence Omani policymakers, opposed smoking bans, delayed regulations to lower tar and nicotine content of cigarettes, and to require effective health warnings, circumvented a tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship ban and provided voluntary codes as an alternative to effective regulations. Additionally, industry representatives lobbied individual countries in the GCC to veto tax increments and defeat consensus on agreed resolutions of the Health Ministers’ Council.

Conclusion

The tobacco industry interfered in all key public health policies aimed to reduce tobacco use in Oman. There is an urgent need for the Omani government to enforce the Civil Code of Conduct and develop guidelines for all policymakers through implementing Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to curb the tobacco epidemic.
Consequences of a match made in hell: the harm caused by menthol smoking to the African American population over 1980–2018
Authors: Mendez David , Le Thuy T T
Published: September 2021

Background

For many years, national surveys have shown a consistently disproportionately high prevalence of menthol smokers among African Americans compared with the general population. However, to our knowledge, no prior study has quantified the harm that menthol smoking has caused on that population. In this work, we estimate the public health harm that menthol cigarettes have caused to the African American community over the last four decades.

Methods

Using National Health Interview Survey data, we employed a well-established simulation model to reproduce the observed smoking trajectory over 1980–2018 in the African American population. Then, we repeat the experiment, removing the effects of menthol on the smoking initiation and cessation rates over that period, obtaining a new hypothetical smoking trajectory. Finally, we compared both scenarios to calculate the public health harm attributable to menthol cigarettes over 1980–2018.

Results

Our results show that menthol cigarettes were responsible for 1.5 million new smokers, 157 000 smoking-related premature deaths and 1.5 million life-years lost among African Americans over 1980–2018. While African Americans constitute 12% of the total US population, these figures represent, respectively, a staggering 15%, 41% and 50% of the total menthol-related harm.

Discussion

Our results show that menthol cigarettes disproportionally harmed African Americans significantly over the last 38 years and are responsible for exacerbating health disparities among that population. Removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit the overall US population but, particularly, the African American community.
The UK needs an open data portal dedicated to coastal flood and erosion hazard risk and resilience
Authors: Lazarus Eli D. , Aldabet Sofia , Thompson Charlotte E. L. , Hill Christopher T. , Nicholls Robert J. , French Jon R. , Brown Sally , Tompkins Emma L. , Haigh Ivan D. , Townend Ian H. , Penning-Rowsell Edmund C.
Published: September 2021

In the UK, coastal flooding and erosion are two of the primary climate-related hazards to communities, businesses, and infrastructure. To better address the ramifications of those hazards, now and into the future, the UK needs to transform its scattered, fragmented coastal data resources into a systematic, integrated portal for quality-assured, publicly accessible open data. Such a portal would support analyses of coastal risk and resilience by hosting, in addition to data layers for coastal flooding and erosion, a diverse array of spatial datasets for building footprints, infrastructure networks, land use, population, and various socio-economic measures and indicators derived from survey and census data. The portal would facilitate novel combinations of spatial data layers to yield scientifically, societally, and economically beneficial insights into UK coastal systems.
Numerical study of droplet breakup in an asymmetric T-junction microchannel with different cross-section ratios
Authors: Isanejad Milad , Fallah Keivan
Published: September 2021

In this study, numerical simulations are conducted to investigate droplet breakup in an asymmetric [Formula: see text]-junction microchannel with different cross-section ratios. To this approach, a two-phase model based on the volume of fluid (VOF) method is adopted to study the three-dimensional feature of droplet motion inside [Formula: see text]-junctions. The comparison reveals that the present results are in good agreement with previous studies. The effects of the capillary number (Ca), the non-dimensional droplet length ([Formula: see text]), and the non-dimensional width ratio ([Formula: see text]) on the breakup time and splitting ratio of daughter droplets are studied. Five distinct regimes are observed involving the non-breakup, breakup with tunnel, breakup without tunnel, asymmetric breakup, and sorting. Achieved results indicate that the time of breakup ([Formula: see text]) increases about 15% when the Ca is increased from 0.0134 to 0.0268 (about 100%). It is also found that the mass center of the mother droplet in the primary channel is shifted to a larger wide branch, which facilitates the asymmetric breakup of the droplet in a [Formula: see text]-junction microchannel.
AdS black brane solution surrounded by quintessence in massive gravity and KSS bound
Authors: Sadeghi Mehdi
Published: September 2021

In this paper, the Einstein AdS black brane solution in the presence of quintessence in context of massive gravity is introduced. The ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density for this solution violates the KSS bound by applying the Dirichlet boundary and regularity conditions on the horizon for [Formula: see text]. Our result shows that this value is independent of quintessence in any arbitrary dimensions.
A NOVEL APPROACH BASED ON FEATURE FUSION FOR FRACTURE IDENTIFICATION USING WELL LOG DATA
Authors: LI TIANYANG , LI RUIHENG , YU NIAN , WANG ZIZHEN , WANG RUIHE
Published: September 2021

Accurate identification of fractures is necessary and complex for carbonate reservoir exploration. Using conventional well logs and geological data, we identify various fracture identification methods based on depth point information and waveform processing. The results show that the method based on equivalent medium theory maintains high stability and accuracy in reflecting the secondary pores in cases of unfavorable borehole environments. Both the acoustic log and dual lateral difference fractal dimensions increase in line with the degree of fracture development. The high-frequency energy information shows significantly high values in the fractured zone on a suitable scale. Finally, the fractures are characterized by a novel approach based on feature fusion. The linear predictive relationship for fracture identification via proposed comprehensive factor scores (CFS) avoids the influence of the deviation of a few variables on the stability of the overall results. Our study offers a new framework for fracture identification in the exploration and evaluation of carbonate reservoirs.
INFORMATION VOLUME FRACTAL DIMENSION
Authors: GAO QIUYA , WEN TAO , DENG YONG
Published: September 2021

There has been immense interest in uncertainty measurement because most real-world problems are accompanied by uncertain events. Therefore, Deng entropy has been proposed to measure the uncertainty in the probability theory and evidence theory. In this paper, we show that the uncertainty of the basic probability assignment (BPA) separated through the maximum Deng entropy separation rule (MDESR) is larger than the maximum Deng entropy of the original BPA. In addition, when the cardinality of the frame of discernment increases, the maximum information volume becomes larger and converges slower. The information volume fractal dimension is then proposed to describe the fractal property of uncertainty about the separated BPA distribution, which indicates the inherent physical meanings of Deng entropy from the perspective of statistics. This work can inspire further research on the fractal property of Deng entropy. Some experiments are applied to show the applicability of our proposed information volume fractal dimension.
STUDY ON SEEPAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF FRACTAL-LIKE TREE NETWORK STRUCTURE IN WATER-INJECTED COAL FRACTURE UNDER STRESS
Authors: LIU ZHEN , YANG WENZHI , YANG HE , HU PENG , WANG SHUANGYUE
Published: September 2021

The study of water seepage characteristics in coal fracture networks is the key for accurately guiding the development of coal seam water injection technology. Based on the fractal geometry theory, we represented the shape of a fracture network in a water-injected coal body through a tree branch network; furthermore, we established a seepage model for the fracture network, determined the relationship between permeability, overburden pressure, and water pressure according to the relationship between fractal dimension and effective stress, and verified the applicability of the proposed model through a self-developed experimental system. This model was developed based on the “penny-shaped” single-fracture seepage model and did not contain any empirical constants. The results showed that the influence weight of the fracture diameter ratio ([Formula: see text] on permeability was the highest: when [Formula: see text], the permeability was almost 0, but when [Formula: see text], the permeability increased rapidly. Notably, the local and overall permeabilities of the fracture network decreased with the increase of the radial distance; when the radial distance was constant, however, the permeability of the fracture network decreased with the increase of the bifurcation series (m) and of the fracture radius. Lastly, the ratio of gap depth to length increased with the increase of the ratio of fracture depth to length ([Formula: see text]. Overall, our research results provide a theoretical basis for defining the seepage law of high-pressure water in coal bodies, as well as the relationship between permeability and several environmental parameters.
NEW FRACTAL SETS COINED FROM FRACTIONAL MAPS
Authors: WANG YUPIN , LIU SHUTANG , LI HUI
Published: September 2021

This paper proposes a criterion for fractionalizing traditional fractal sets, and reports several fractional generalizations of the Julia set and Mandelbrot set of the classic quadratic map. The discrepancies among those extensions are investigated preliminarily. The influence of the map’s memory effect on its fractal sets is discussed through visualization techniques and dimension analysis.
Nonlocal quantum computing theory and Poincare cycle in spherical states
Authors: Wu C. H. , Van Horn Andrew
Published: September 2021

Four new fundamental nonlocal quantum computing diagonal operator-state relations are derived which model the interaction between two adjacent atoms of an entangled atomic chain. Each atom possesses four eigen-states. These relations lead to four momentum-space cyclic transformations and are used as the computation states in one-dimensional cellular automaton. Four interacting half-observable periodic planar states appear with the same Poincare cycle. Due to the space-time rotational symmetry of these operator-state relations, a new type of periodic spherical state can be constructed consisting of eight finite space-time quadrants as the special quantum computing result.
Holographic quantum singularity
Authors: Tanaka Izumi
Published: September 2021

In this study, we addressed the influence of quantum singularity on the topological state. The quantum singularity creates the defect in the momentum space ubiquitously and leads to the phase transition for the topological material. The kinetic equation reveals that the defect generates an anomaly without the characteristic energy scale. In the holographic model, the three-dimensional dislocations map into the gravitational bulk as domain walls extending along the AdS radial direction from the boundary. The creation/annihilation of the domain wall causes the quantum phase transition by ’t Hooft anomaly generation and is controlled by the gauge field. In other words, the phase transition is realized by the anomaly inflow. This ’t Hooft anomaly is caused by a phase ambiguity of the ground state resulting from the singularity in parameter space. This singularity gives the basis for the boundary’s topological state with the Berry connection. ’t Hooft anomaly’s renormalization group invariance shows that the total Berry flux is conserved in the UV layer to the IR layer. Phase transition entails domain wall constitution, which generates the entropy from the non-universal form or quantum entropy correction.
Role of Country-Level Characteristics in Segment Reporting: EU Evidence
Authors: Aboud Ahmed , Helfaya Akrum
Published: September 2021

Based on a country-level-characteristics framework, we empirically tested the impact of IFRS 8 adoption, the country’s legal system and level of legal enforcement, investor protection, conservatism, and closeness between national GAAP and IFRS on both the quantity and quality of segment reporting. Using a sample of companies from 15 EU countries covering four years (two years preadoption and two years postadoption of IFRS 8), we found that the adoption of IFRS 8 is associated with a decrease in the quantity and an increase in the quality of segment reporting. Moreover, we report that a common-law system, the country-level legal enforcement, and investor protection have a significant and positive impact on the quantity and quality of segment reporting. Meanwhile, country-level conservatism and closeness between national GAAP and IFRS are negatively related to the quantity and quality of segment reporting. In addition to firm-level characteristics, this study extends the prior limited literature by documenting the importance of country-level characteristics as factors that enhance segment reporting practices in Europe. We also discuss the research contributions and implications for research, professional practice, and policymakers.
An Improved Nonlinear Creep Model for Rock Applied to Tunnel Displacement Prediction
Authors: Wu Kui , Shao Zhushan , Qin Su , Zhao Nannan , Chu Zhaofei
Published: September 2021

Traditional creep models cannot describe the nonlinear creep characteristics of rock; thus, considerable efforts have been made to establish better rock creep models. However, many of the previously presented improved models are too complicated, leading to difficulties in mathematical derivation and engineering application. To address this problem, this study proposes a simple model that can comprehensively describe rock creep characteristics and that can be effectively applied in practical engineering. Based on the variable-order fractional derivatives and continuum damage mechanics, an improved Burgers creep model is established. The use of this proposed model can be divided into two stages based on whether the accumulated creep strain of the rock reaches the threshold of starting accelerated creep. Then, both the one-dimensional and three-dimensional constitutive equations of the improved model are provided. In addition, the compression creep test results of six groups of rock samples are used to verify the effectiveness and reliability of the improved Burgers model proposed in this study. Furthermore, an analytical solution for tunnel displacement is derived on the basis of the improved model. This analytical solution is applied to the time-dependent displacement prediction of an auxiliary tunnel in Jinping hydropower station, and a good agreement between the theoretical results and monitoring data is achieved. The outcome of this study can provide useful guidance for related engineering designs.
Zeros of a binomial combination of Chebyshev polynomials
Authors: Al Hamdani Summer , Tran Khang
Published: September 2021

For [Formula: see text], we study the zeros of the sequence of polynomials [Formula: see text] generated by the reciprocal of [Formula: see text], expanded as a power series in [Formula: see text]. Equivalently, this sequence is obtained from a linear combination of Chebyshev polynomials whose coefficients have a binomial form. We show that the number of zeros of [Formula: see text] outside the interval (−1, 1) is bounded by a constant independent of m.
Study on Properties and Heat Treatment Process of Fe75.9Cu1Si13B8Nb1.5Mo0.5Dy0.1
Authors: Gu L. Y. , Wang S. Z. , Bai X. F. , Zhang X. , Kong Q. K. , Li X. S. , Xue Z. Y.
Published: September 2021

The soft magnetic properties of Fe[Formula: see text]Cu1Si[Formula: see text]B8Nb[Formula: see text]Mo[Formula: see text]Dy[Formula: see text] nanocrystalline alloy were studied which is designed on the basis of the Finemet type alloys. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), electric inductance measuring-testing instrument and MATS soft magnetic material AC/DC tester were used to study the effects of the effective permeability ([Formula: see text], saturation magnetic induction ([Formula: see text]), coercivity ([Formula: see text]), and hysteresis losses ([Formula: see text]) at 100[Formula: see text]kHz and 0.2[Formula: see text]T under factors such as different annealing temperatures, different thicknesses, and whether there is a need for transverse field for annealing. The results show that the commercial amorphous alloy ribbons Fe[Formula: see text] Cu1Si[Formula: see text]B8Nb[Formula: see text]Mo[Formula: see text]Dy[Formula: see text] have complete amorphous structure in as-cast state, and [Formula: see text]-Fe nanocrystalline phase precipitates on the amorphous matrix after vacuum annealing. Fe[Formula: see text] Cu1Si[Formula: see text]B8Nb[Formula: see text]Mo[Formula: see text]Dy[Formula: see text] alloy has high [Formula: see text] value and good thermal stability, which can better control the formation of nanocrystalline structure. The transverse magnetic field annealing can greatly increase the [Formula: see text] of the material and reduce the [Formula: see text], which is more significant for the ribbons. The optimum annealing process of Fe[Formula: see text]Cu1Si[Formula: see text]B8Nb[Formula: see text]Mo[Formula: see text]Dy[Formula: see text] alloy is that the transverse magnetic field of 1000[Formula: see text]Gs is applied and the temperature is kept at 833[Formula: see text]k for 30[Formula: see text]min. And the best properties for [Formula: see text] are 1.39[Formula: see text]T, for [Formula: see text] is 4.6[Formula: see text]A/m and [Formula: see text]@1[Formula: see text]kHz, [Formula: see text]@100[Formula: see text]kHz. With the high frequency and miniaturization of electronic components, this material has potential application value.
A Procedure for the Correction of Back-to-Front Degradations in Archival Manuscripts with Preservation of the Original Appearance
Authors: Savino Pasquale , Tonazzini Anna
Published: September 2021

Virtual restoration of digital copies of the human documental heritage is crucial for facilitating both the traditional work of philologists and paleographers and the automatic analysis of the contents. Here we propose a practical and fast procedure for the correction of the typically complex background of recto–verso historical manuscripts. The procedure has two main, distinctive features: it does not need for a preliminary registration of the two page sides, and it is non-invasive, as it does not alter the original appearance of the manuscript. This makes it suitable for the routinary use in the archives, and permits an easier fruition of the manuscripts, without any information being lost. In the first stage, the detection of both the primary text and the spurious strokes is performed via soft segmentation, based on the statistical decorrelation of the two recto and verso images. In the second stage, the noisy pattern is substituted with pixels that simulate the texture of the clean surrounding background, through an efficient technique of image inpainting. As shown in the experimental results, evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively, the proposed procedure is able to perform a fine and selective removal of the degradation, while preserving other informative marks of the manuscript history.
China’s Contribution and the Chinese Approach to Tackling Global Climate Change
Authors: CHEN Ying , WANG Mou
Published: September 2021

China is one of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has been actively promoting the multilateral global climate governance process. China has advanced its eco-civilization construction and the agenda for combating climate change in a coordinated manner, and delivered positive results. By studying and interpreting the guiding principles of President Xi Jinping’s important speeches at the Leaders Summit on Climate and the video summit between China, France and Germany, this paper goes over the basic thinking of China’s participation in international climate governance and the Chinese approach to tackling global climate change, and sums up China’s achievements in the fields such as transition to green and low-carbon development, energy structure adjustment, greenhouse gases control, the construction of national carbon market, as well as its contribution to tackling global climate change.
Temporal Relation Extraction in Clinical Texts
Authors: Gumiel Yohan Bonescki , Silva e Oliveira Lucas Emanuel , Claveau Vincent , Grabar Natalia , Paraiso Emerson Cabrera , Moro Claudia , Carvalho Deborah Ribeiro
Published: September 2021

Unstructured data in electronic health records, represented by clinical texts, are a vast source of healthcare information because they describe a patient's journey, including clinical findings, procedures, and information about the continuity of care. The publication of several studies on temporal relation extraction from clinical texts during the last decade and the realization of multiple shared tasks highlight the importance of this research theme. Therefore, we propose a review of temporal relation extraction in clinical texts. We analyzed 105 articles and verified that relations between events and document creation time, a coarse temporality type, were addressed with traditional machine learning–based models with few recent initiatives to push the state-of-the-art with deep learning–based models. For temporal relations between entities (event and temporal expressions) in the document, factors such as dataset imbalance because of candidate pair generation and task complexity directly affect the system's performance. The state-of-the-art resides on attention-based models, with contextualized word representations being fine-tuned for temporal relation extraction. However, further experiments and advances in the research topic are required until real-time clinical domain applications are released. Furthermore, most of the publications mainly reside on the same dataset, hindering the need for new annotation projects that provide datasets for different medical specialties, clinical text types, and even languages.
LATTE:

L

STM Self-

Att

ention based Anomaly Detection in

E

mbedded Automotive Platforms
Authors: Kukkala Vipin Kumar , Thiruloga Sooryaa Vignesh , Pasricha Sudeep
Published: September 2021

Modern vehicles can be thought of as complex distributed embedded systems that run a variety of automotive applications with real-time constraints. Recent advances in the automotive industry towards greater autonomy are driving vehicles to be increasingly connected with various external systems (e.g., roadside beacons, other vehicles), which makes emerging vehicles highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Additionally, the increased complexity of automotive applications and the in-vehicle networks results in poor attack visibility, which makes detecting such attacks particularly challenging in automotive systems. In this work, we present a novel anomaly detection framework called
LATTE
to detect cyber-attacks in Controller Area Network (CAN) based networks within automotive platforms. Our proposed
LATTE
framework uses a stacked Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) predictor network with novel attention mechanisms to learn the normal operating behavior at design time. Subsequently, a novel detection scheme (also trained at design time) is used to detect various cyber-attacks (as anomalies) at runtime. We evaluate our proposed
LATTE
framework under different automotive attack scenarios and present a detailed comparison with the best-known prior works in this area, to demonstrate the potential of our approach.
Neurodevelopmental Disorder Traits in Taijin-Kyofu-sho and Social Anxiety Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study among University Students
Authors: Kajitani Kosuke , Tsuchimoto Rikako , Omodaka Yusaku , Matsushita Tomoko , Fukumori Hideaki , Sato Takeshi , Nagano Jun
Published: September 2021

Taijin-Kyofu-sho is an East Asian culture-bound anxiety disorder with similarities to social anxiety disorder. However, few studies have examined these two disorders from the perspective of neurodevelopmental disorders. This study is aimed at examining the association of Taijin-Kyofu-sho and social anxiety disorder with the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trait and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) trait. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety, Taijin-Kyofu-sho, and Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report scales and the 16-item Autism-Spectrum Quotient were administered to 818 university students. Participants were divided into four groups: control (neither Taijin-Kyofu-sho nor social anxiety disorder), pure Taijin-Kyofu-sho (Taijin-Kyofu-sho alone), pure social anxiety disorder (social anxiety disorder alone), and mixed Taijin-Kyofu-sho-social anxiety disorder (both Taijin-Kyofu-sho and social anxiety disorder). We used logistic regression analysis to examine whether the ADHD trait and ASD trait were associated with Taijin-Kyofu-sho and social anxiety disorder. ASD trait was significantly associated with pure Taijin-Kyofu-sho (

p
=
0.006

, odds ratio: 3.99). Female sex and ADHD trait were significantly associated with pure social anxiety disorder (sex:

p
=
0.013

, odds ratio: 2.61; ADHD trait:

p
=
0.012

, odds ratio: 2.46). Female sex, ADHD trait, and ASD trait were significantly associated with mixed Taijin-Kyofu-sho-social anxiety disorder (sex:

p
=
0.043

, odds ratio: 2.16; ADHD trait:

p
=
0.003

, odds ratio: 2.75; ASD trait:

p
<
0.001

, odds ratio: 16.93). Neurodevelopmental disorder traits differed between individuals with Taijin-Kyofu-sho and those with social anxiety disorder. Overall, our study reveals that Japanese individuals with the ADHD or ASD traits are at a heightened risk of developing Taijin-Kyofu-sho or social anxiety disorder.
Investigating the Compatibility of Various Components in Marine Low-Sulfur Fuel Oil by Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Authors: Zhou Daping , Wei Haijun , Xue Shuye , Qiu Ye , Wu Shen , Yu Haijie
Published: September 2021

Asphaltene aggregation and precipitation are one of the major issues for marine low-sulfur fuel oil used on board. Many research studies have been carried out to investigate the aggregation behavior of asphaltene under different conditions, but the mechanism of asphaltene aggregation in low-sulfur fuel oil at the molecular level is still unclear. In this work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to calculate the solubility parameters, intermolecular interaction energies, and radial distribution function (RDF) curves of each component in marine low-sulfur fuel oil to examine their mutual compatibility. Simulation results indicate that the solubility parameter of resin gains the highest value and it is close to asphaltene. The solubility parameters of aromatic, hexadecane, and saturate decrease successively. The interaction energy between resin and asphaltene molecules is higher than that between the same kind of molecules, which means that resin can inhibit the aggregation of asphaltene molecules. Typically, a light distillate component (hexadecane) is added to heavy fuel oil to yield low-sulfur oil, and our calculations reveal that this has a negative effect on asphaltene aggregation. Specifically, asphaltene is more likely to self-aggregate, as shown by the increase in peak height in the radial distribution function of the asphaltene-asphaltene pair. The findings of this study will provide theoretical support for the production of marine low-sulfur fuel.
English Pronunciation Standards Based on Multimodal Acoustic Sensors
Authors: Zhu Lingyi
Published: September 2021

In recent years, economic globalization is the trend, and communication between countries is getting closer and closer; more and more people begin to pay attention to learning spoken English. The development of computer‐aided language learning makes it more convenient for people to learn spoken English; however, the detection and correction of incorrect English pronunciation, which is its core, are still inadequate. In this paper, we propose a multimodal end‐to‐end English pronunciation error detection and correction model based on audio and video, which does not require phoneme forced alignment of the English pronunciation video signal to be processed, and uses rich audio and video features for English pronunciation error detection, which improves the error detection accuracy to a great extent especially in noisy environments. To address the shortcomings of the current lip feature extraction algorithm which is too complicated and not enough characterization ability, a feature extraction scheme based on the lip opening and closing angle is proposed. The lip syllable frames are obtained by video frame splitting, the syllables are denoised, the key point information of the lips is obtained using a gradient enhancement‐based regression tree algorithm, the effects of speaker tilt and movement are removed by scale normalization, and finally, the lip opening and closing angles are calculated using mathematical geometry, and the lip feature values are generated by combining the angle changes.
Case Report of a Rare Nonpuerperal Uterine Inversion Managed with Uterosacral Ligament Hysteropexy
Authors: Azadi Ali , Wolfe Alexandra , Marchand Greg J.
Published: September 2021

Nonpuerperal uterine inversions are rare. Typically occurring in older women, they are most commonly due to transcervical mass expulsion. Diagnosis is often difficult because of vague symptomatology, presentation, and unknown course of the pathology. Surgical correction is often necessary in the presence of active bleeding or prolapse severity causing urinary retention. This case of nonpuerperal inversion presented to the emergency department with vaginal bleeding and mass protrusion. The examination was consistent with POPQ stage IV prolapse and uterine inversion secondary to cervical expulsion of multiple uterine fibroids. Because of full cervical dilation and concerns of ureteral injury with an extirpative procedure, vaginal myomectomy was performed with concomitant robotic uterosacral ligament hysteropexy. The operative procedure and postoperative course were uncomplicated, and discharge occurred on post-op day 1. She remained asymptomatic at the 6-month follow-up encounter. Though uterine preservation has been performed in cases of uterine inversion to maintain fertility, there are no reported cases of concomitant hysteropexy being completed for correction of POPQ stage IV prolapse simultaneously encountered. Additionally, the novel robotic approach has not been documented. This case illustrates the short-term success of robotic uterosacral hysteropexy as an additional option of care with potentially less morbidity when compared to hysterectomy for advanced stage uterine prolapse with nonpuerperal uterine inversion.
Giant Cell Arteritis Presenting as Cholestatic Hepatitis
Authors: Riordan Gerald , Riordan John
Published: September 2021

Background. Severely deranged liver function tests (LFTs) are an atypical presentation of giant cell arteritis (GCA). Atypical presentations of GCA may result in missed or delayed diagnosis. This increases the risk of visual loss, the most feared outcome of GCA. Our patient presented with significant cholestatic derangement of his LFTs with a peak alkaline phosphatase level (ALP) of 3091 IU/L, which is the highest published level for patients with GCA. Case Presentation. Our patient was investigated for abnormal LFTs associated with sinus pain, fevers, and a dry cough. Bilateral temporal artery biopsies confirmed GCA. His symptoms and LFTs improved with corticosteroids. Conclusion. This is an unusual presentation of GCA and highlights the need to consider GCA in patients with unexplained cholestatic LFT abnormalities.
Study on Autogenous Heat Technology of Offshore Oilfield: Experiment Research, Process Design, and Application
Authors: Sun Yanping , Wang Chengsheng , Sun Jun , Ren Shuliang , Peng Hua , Fang Yueyue , Xu Fangxue
Published: September 2021

Conventional heavy oil has abundant reserves and low recovery efficiency in offshore oilfields. Autogenous heat technology uses 2-3 kinds of inorganic salt solution to produce inert gas and release a lot of heat under the action of a catalyst. It is applied to improve heavy oil recovery of the offshore oilfield. This paper applies experimental schemes such as viscosity reduction rate evaluation, heat conditions, gas production conditions, reaction rate control, and effect of environmental factors. This paper evaluates the performance of the autogenous heat system, optimizes the process parameters, and designs the process scheme and construction scheme according to the oil well production. This paper researches an autogenous heat system with nontoxic and high heat production and optimizes the catalyst type, concentration, and time to reach exothermic peak. When the concentration of the thermogenic agent is 1.5 mol/L in the autogenous heat system, the range of temperature rise is 67°C, which achieves the target requirement of more than 50°C. Field application shows that the autogenous heat system can effectively reduce the viscosity of heavy oil, dissolve solid paraffin, clean organic scale, improve reservoir permeability, and increase heavy oil production. This paper applies autogenous heat technology to improving the efficiency of heavy oil recovery of the offshore oilfield. Research conclusions show that the autogenous heat system can effectively reduce the viscosity of heavy oil, improve reservoir permeability, and increase heavy oil production.
CFD-Based Determination of the Optimal Blowing and Suction Air Volume Ratio of Dual-Radial Swirl Shielding Ventilation in a Fully Mechanized Excavation Face
Authors: Wu Kuan , Shi Shiliang , Shi Yijie , Chen Yong
Published: September 2021

Dust is one of the main pollutants in coal mines, which seriously affects the physical and mental health of workers, as well as the safe production in underground mines. Dual-radial swirl shielding ventilation is a new ventilation method for a fully mechanized excavation face and can effectively reduce the dust concentration in the underground. The dust control effect of dual-radial swirl shielding ventilation is mainly affected by the thickness and integrity of the shielding air curtain, as well as the disturbance of the flow field near the air curtain. By changing the blowing and suction air volume ratio of the air duct, the strength of the radial air curtain can be improved, and the dust control effect of the dual-radial swirl shielding ventilation system can be effectively improved. In order to determine the optimal operating parameters of the dual-radial swirl shielding ventilation system, a numerical simulation method was used to conduct an in-depth study on the blowing and suction air volume ratio of the system. The results showed that when the blowing and suction air volume ratio of the air duct was 1.5, the radial air curtain had the highest strength. Under this condition, the dust concentration at the driver’s position of the roadheader was the lowest, and the dual-radial swirl shielding ventilation system can achieve an ideal dust control effect.
Agricultural Restructure Policy in Vietnam and Practical Application for Sustainable Development in Agriculture
Authors: Ngoc Vinh Bao , Hung Nguyen Manh , Pham Phuong Thu
Published: September 2021

The Vietnam’s agricultural sector had to challenge with its course and learned lessons of further development. Novel policy might be adopted to encourage the private investments and sectors in agriculture. Furthermore, an introduction of new models such as climate-smart or green agriculture and application of modern technology increased productivity at the same time and creating jobs for millions of agricultural workers and reversing the massive rural-urban migration flux. Vietnam’s agricultural sector needs to maintain the reform momentum, particularly liberalization policy, and to boost up agricultural potential. Obstacles such as land limitation policy must be removed to enable large-scale production and encourage private investment in the agricultural sector. To avoid being trapped by its own success, Vietnam is now shifting the old development paradigm that focuses too much on the quantity to the quality of the agricultural production. The government makes major efforts to achieve at the same time agricultural growth, better livelihood of the farmer, and the development of the rural areas. However, Vietnam still needs to prepare a “transition strategy” to overcome the impact of the technological progress on the traditional agricultural workers.
A Novel Evaluation Method of Static Balance Ability Based on Human Pelvic Center Measurement
Authors: Xia Mingli , Guo Shuai
Published: September 2021

This study evaluates the static balance ability of human body based on a lower limb rehabilitation robot. According to the balance parameters obtained from the movement trajectory of the center of human pelvis, SPSS statistical software was used to verify that there was a significant difference between the two groups (

p
<
0.01

). Principal component analysis is used to allocate the weight of each parameter and establish the comprehensive evaluation value. The comprehensive evaluation value of the control group was 0.383 ± 0.038, and the experimental group was 0.875 ± 0.136. When the subject’s comprehensive evaluation value is between 0.739 and 1.011, it indicates the presence of balance dysfunction, and when it is between 0.345 and 0.421, it indicates that the balance of the lower limbs of the subject is normal. Experimental results show that this evaluation method can objectively and quantitatively reflect the static equilibrium state of human body.
Rare Pseudopapillary Neoplasm of the Pancreas: A 10-Year Experience
Authors: Jena Suvendu Sekhar , Ray Samrat , Das Sri Aurobindo Prasad , Mehta Naimish N , Yadav Amitabh , Nundy Samiran
Published: September 2021

Introduction. The solid pseudopapillary epithelial neoplasm (SPN) is a rare form of pancreatic neoplasm with an incidence of 2-3% of all pancreatic tumours. The recent increase in incidence is attributed to the increasing use of imaging techniques for nonspecific abdominal complaints. We report our institutional experience in the management of this tumour over the last decade. Method. We retrospectively analyzed from a prospectively maintained database of patients from January 2011 to December 2020 who were operated upon for SPN. All the patients were followed till date. Results. Of 479 patients operated on for various types of pancreatic tumours during this period, 15 (3.1%) had SPN. The mean age of presentation was 28 years with a female preponderance (12/15, 80%). The most common location was the body and tail of the pancreas (66%), and the mean size was 6.4 cm (2–15 cm). The tumour extent was defined as ‘borderline resectable’ in 20% of cases. Distal pancreatectomy was done in 11 patients with spleen preservation in 3. R0, R1, and R2 resection were done in 12, 2, and 1 patient(s), respectively. The operative mortality was 6.7%. All the patients are doing well on follow-up. Conclusion. SPN is a low-grade malignant tumour with a strong female predilection. Clinical manifestations have no specificity, imaging examination only contributes tumour location, and the final diagnosis rests on pathology. Surgery is the main modality of treatment and carries a good prognosis.
Numerical Simulation of Fracturing in Coals Using Water and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide with Potential-Based Cohesive Zone Models
Authors: Yang Jianfeng , Ren Yuqing , Zhang Dingding , Liu Yongliang , Ma Zhe
Published: September 2021

The Park-Paulino-Roesler (PPR) cohesive zone model (CZM) for coal was established for analyzing mixed-mode I/II fractures using semicircular specimens under punch-through shear (PTS) and three-point bending (SCB) tests. In these methods, the main parameters of the fracture were obtained through SCB tests and PTS tests. And according to the experimental results, the coal specimens show obvious characteristics of ductile fracture under mode I and II loading. Moreover, hydraulic and supercritical carbon dioxide (ScCO2) fracture tests were conducted, and accordingly, it was found that the crack initiation pressure of coal specimens for hydraulic fracturing is 17.76 MPa, about 1.59 times that driven by ScCO2. And the crack initiation time of coal with ScCO2 fracturing is 123.73 s, which is 1.58 times that for hydraulic fracturing. A macrocrack eventually formed in the coal specimen due to the hydraulic drive, which penetrated through the entire specimen. Yet, there was no crack penetrating the whole fracture specimen and several widely distributed secondary cracks in the fractured coal specimens by ScCO2. Furthermore, zero-thickness pore pressure cohesive elements were utilized to investigate multicrack propagation in coals undergoing hydraulic and ScCO2 fracturing. The constitutive relationships of the established PPR CZM were introduced into the cohesive elements. The obtained results are consistent with the hydraulic and ScCO2 fracturing experiment results for the coal specimens. This indicates that the established PPR CZMs can accurately represent the crack propagation behavior in coals for hydraulic and ScCO2 fracturing.
Electrochemical Characteristics Based on Skin‐Electrode Contact Pressure for Dry Biomedical Electrodes and the Application to Wearable ECG Signal Acquisition
Authors: Song Jinzhong , Zhou Tianshu , Liang Zhonggang , Liu Ruoxi , Guo Jianping , Yu Xinming , Cao Zhongping , Yu Chuang , Liu Qingjun , Li Jingsong
Published: September 2021

Based on one simulated skin‐electrode electrochemical interface, some electrochemical characteristics based on skin‐electrode contact pressure (SECP) for dry biomedical electrodes were analysed and applied in this research. First, 14 electrochemical characteristics including 2 static impedance (SI) characteristics, 11 alternating current impedance (ACI) characteristics and one polarization voltage (PV), and 4 SECP characteristics were extracted in one electrochemical evaluation platform, and their correlation trends were statistically analysed. Second, dry biomedical electrode samples developed by the company and the laboratory, including textile electrodes, Apple watch, AMAZFIT rice health bracelet 1S, and stainless steel electrodes, were placed horizontally and vertically on the “skin” surface of the electrochemical evaluation platform, whose polarization voltages were quantitatively analysed. Third, electrocardiogram (ECG) collection circuits based on an impedance transformation (IT) circuit for textile electrodes were designed, and a wearable ECG acquisition device was designed, which could obtain complete ECG signals. Experimental results showed SECP characteristics for dry electrodes had good correlations with static impedance and ACI characteristics and the better correlation values among 2‐10 Hz. In addition, polarization voltages in vertical state were smaller in horizontal state for dry biomedical electrodes, and polarization voltage of electrode pair (PVEP) values for Apple watch bottom was always smaller than ones for Apple watch crown and LMF‐2 textile electrode. And the skin‐electrode contact impedance of IT textile electrodes was less than the traditional textile electrodes.
The Application of the Big Data Medical Imaging System in Improving the Medical and Health Examination
Authors: Zhou Xiaojuan , Ouyang Wenjun
Published: September 2021

To explore the application effect of the big data medical imaging tertiary diagnostic system in improving the medical and health examination, cases in township health centers were collected by the medical imaging tertiary diagnosis system. Clinical cases examined by the tertiary diagnostic system of big data medical imaging will be set as the observation group. Clinical cases not involved in the tertiary diagnostic system of big data medical imaging were set as the control group. The qualified rate, film positive rate, and film diagnosis accuracy between the two groups are compared, and X-ray perspective, X-ray examination, and CT multiple medical imaging examinations are used in two groups. The experimental results showed that the pass rate was 86.57%, positive rate was 72.32%, and diagnosis rate was 80.17%. Pass rate, positive rate, and diagnostic accuracy were higher than the control group (

P
<
0.05

). X-line film is the most cost effective. CT examination has a high diagnostic sensitivity and can achieve a clear diagnosis of the benign and malignant diseases. The three-level diagnosis system of medical imaging has significantly improved and improved the technical level in the medical and health examination, which has good practical value.