bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Postural Changes on Heart Rate Variability among Older Population: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Chuangchai Warawoot , Pothisiri Wiraporn
Published: February 2021

Objective. This study aims to investigate an association between body postures and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses through analysis of short-term heart rate variability (HRV) data obtained through electrocardiography. Methods. Forty older individuals were recruited to form the sample. HRV measurements were taken in three positions—sitting, supine, and standing—and compared. Results. Results demonstrated statistically significant differences in the HRV parameters used to examine the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), specifically in the measurements obtained from the sitting position and the supine position (

P

 < 0.001 for PNS and

P

 = 0.011 for SNS). The differences in these parameters were, however, negligible between the sitting and the standing positions. Moreover, the ANS responses obtained in the sitting position were strongly and positively correlated with those in the standing position (r = 0.854 for PNS and r = 0.794 for SNS). These results suggested that the PNS and SNS parameters obtained while sitting were likely to be affected by orthostatic hypotension in much the same way as those in the standing position, as compared to the supine position. Conclusions. As such, sitting may not be the best position for older individuals in the assessment of their autonomic responses, whereas the supine position is recommended as the baseline posture in the old-age population. These findings are useful for future research in clinical settings that require accuracy in the ANS responses as determined by the HRV measurements.
Robust Secure Color Image Watermarking Using 4D Hyperchaotic System, DWT, HbD, and SVD Based on Improved FOA Algorithm
Authors: Nazir Hira , Bajwa Imran Sarwar , Samiullah Muhammad , Anwar Waheed , Moosa Muhammad
Published: February 2021

In the recent past, a different set of algorithms for watermarking and securing the color images have been developed by using transformation, decomposition, and optimization techniques for watermark embedding and extraction. In this paper, we propose an optimized and robust watermarking algorithm coupled with a 4D hyperchaotic system, and its performance is analyzed by extending and differentiating the existing work. Our contribution in the presented work is watermarking and securing the color images by an optimized algorithm that uses transformation technique such as Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT) and decomposition techniques such as Hessenberg decomposition (HbD) and singular value decomposition (SVD) coupled with the 4D hyperchaotic system, while the optimization is carried out by improved evolution fruit fly optimization algorithm (IEFOA). The experimental results based on different types of attacks (filter attacks, noise attacks, cropping attack, JPEG compression, motion blur, sharpening, and rotation), key sensitivity, normalized correlation, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and structural similarity index measure are done for measuring the algorithm’s performance regarding invisibility and robustness. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme has excellent invisibility and keeps a good trade-off between invisibility and robustness. The experiment results show that the proposed approach outperforms the previous approaches.
A Classification Algorithm of Fault Modes-Integrated LSSVM and PSO with Parameters’ Optimization of VMD
Authors: Li Yunqian , Huang Darong , Qin Zixia
Published: February 2021

To overcome the shortcomings that the early fault characteristics of rolling bearing are not easy to be extracted and the identification accuracy is not high enough, a novel collaborative diagnosis method is presented combined with VMD and LSSVM for incipient faults of rolling bearing. First, the basic concept of VMD was introduced in detail, and then, the adaptive selection principle of parameter K in VMD was constructed by instantaneous frequency mean. Furthermore, we used Lagrangian polynomial and Euclidean norm to verify the value of K accurately. Secondly, we proposed a classification algorithm based on PSO-optimized LSSVM. Meanwhile, the flowchart of the classification algorithm of fault modes may be also designed. Third, the experiment shows that the presented algorithm in this paper is effective by using the existing failure data provided by the laboratory of Guangdong Petrochemical Research Institute. Finally, some conclusions and application prospects were discussed.
Postoperative Ratio of C-Reactive Protein to Albumin as a Predictive Marker in Patients with Crohn’s Disease Undergoing Bowel Resection
Authors: Zhao Hangfen , Liu Huaying , Qi Weilin , Liu Wei , Ye Lingna , Cao Qian , Ge Xiaolong , Zhou Wei , Wang Xianfa
Published: February 2021

Background. The ratio of C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin (CAR) has a significant correlation with postoperative complications and acts as a predictor in patients with pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer. However, whether the CAR can be used to predict complications in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients after surgery has not yet been reported. Methods. A total of 534 CD patients undergoing surgery between 2016 and 2020 were enrolled. The risk factors of postoperative complications were assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses. The cutoff values and the accuracy of diagnosis for the CAR and postoperative CRP levels were examined with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results. The rate of postoperative complications was 32.2%. The postoperative CAR (OR 13.200; 95% CI 6.501-26.803;

P
<
0.001

) was a significant independent risk factor for complications. Compared with the CRP level on postoperative day 3, the CAR more accurately indicated postoperative complications in CD patients (AUC: 0.699 vs. 0.771; Youden index: 0.361 vs. 0.599). ROC curves showed that the cutoff value for the CAR was 3.25. Patients with a

CAR
≥
3.25

had more complications (

P
<
0.001

), a longer postoperative stay (

15.5
±
0.6

 d vs.

9.0
±
0.2

 d,

P
<
0.001

), and more surgical site infections (48.2% vs. 5.7%,

P
<
0.001

) than those with a

CAR
<
3.25

. Conclusions. Compared to the CRP level, the CAR can more accurately predict postoperative complications and can act as a predictive marker in CD patients after surgery.
Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia and Immune Thrombocytopenia: A Unique Presentation of Kawasaki Disease
Authors: Kupelian Chloe , Sathi Bindu , Singh Deepika
Published: February 2021

Kawasaki disease is an acute multisystem vasculitis characterized by involvement of medium-sized vessels that mostly affects children under the age of 5 years. The presentation is typically preceded by five or more days of fever with additional clinical findings including rash, peripheral edema, mucositis, conjunctival changes, and unilateral cervical lymphadenopathy. The most feared complication of Kawasaki disease is development of coronary artery aneurysms. Common laboratory abnormalities include normocytic anemia, thrombocytosis, leukocytosis, and elevated inflammatory markers. Immune-mediated cytopenias such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia are rarely seen at presentation in Kawasaki disease. We describe a unique case of a child presenting with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, who sequentially developed immune thrombocytopenia concerning for Evans’ syndrome and eventually diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease with coronary artery dilatation. Characteristic clinical findings including extremity edema, cracked lips, and rash developed later in the course. Our patient was treated with IVIG and steroids with significant clinical improvement and complete resolution of cytopenias and coronary aneurysms on long term follow up. Timely administration of IVIG prevents and minimizes the risk of long term cardiac consequences. Hence a high index of suspicion should be maintained for this relatively common pediatric illness, even in absence of more commonly seen laboratory findings.
Calculation of Negative Frictional Resistance of Foundation Pile in Deep Fill Foundation
Authors: Zhao Ningyu , Wu Hongjun , Song Yi , Xiang Shun
Published: February 2021

In deep fill foundations, the pile foundation might suffer from negative frictional resistance (NFR) due to the consolidation and settlement of the soil. The NFR will cause the pile to settle excessively and reduce its bearing capacity. However, there are not yet many accurate methods to calculate the NFR of foundation piles in deep fill foundations. To make up for the gap, this paper carries out shear tests on the pile-soil interface and discusses the mechanism of pile-side frictional resistance. Considering the distribution law of pile-side frictional resistance with depth, the authors proposed a piecewise calculation model for pile-side frictional resistance, which couples the hyperbolic model and effective stress method. Then, the energy balance equation of the pile when the NFR occurs was established in the light of the energy transfer of the pile-soil system during the settlement of the soil around the pile. Furthermore, the calculation formulas of the axial force and displacement of the pile at different depths were derived, considering the pile-soil displacement and the potential energy change of the pile-soil system. The proposed method was applied to calculate the NFR of the foundation pile in a construction site, and the calculated results were compared with the measured data. The results show that the axial force-depth curve of the pile obtained through theoretical calculation agrees well with the measured data. Hence, our method can accurately reveal the mechanical features of the pile foundation in deep fill foundations.
An Improved Harmony Search Algorithm for Proactive Routing Protocol in VANET
Authors: Chandren Muniyandi Ravie , Hasan Mohammad Kamrul , Hammoodi Mustafa Raad , Maroosi Ali
Published: February 2021

Vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) is the direct application of mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) in which the nodes represent vehicles moving in a city or highway scenario. The deployment of VANET relies on routing protocols to transmit the information between the nodes. Different routing protocols that have been designed for MANET were proposed to be applied in VANET. However, the real-time implementation is still facing challenges to fulfill the quality of service (QoS) of VANET. Therefore, this study mainly focuses on the well-known MANET proactive optimized link state routing (OLSR) protocol. The OLSR in VANET gives a moderate performance; this is due to its necessity of maintaining an updated routing table for all possible routes. The performance of OLSR is highly dependent on its parameter. Thus, finding optimal parameter configurations that best fit VANET features and improve its quality of services is essential before its deployment. The harmony search (HS) is an emerging metaheuristic optimization algorithm with features of simplicity and exploration efficiency. Therefore, this paper aims to propose an improved harmony search optimization (EHSO) algorithm that considers the configuration of the OLSR parameters by coupling two stages, a procedure for optimization carried out by the EHSO algorithm based on embedding two popular selection methods in its memory, namely, roulette wheel selection and tournament selection. The experimental analysis shows that the proposed approach has achieved the QoS requirement, compared to the existing algorithms.
Failure Mechanism and Control of Lower Retracement Channel in Close‐Distance Double‐Thick Coal Seams
Authors: He Fulian , Lv Kai , Li Xiaobin , Qin Binbin , Li Liang
Published: February 2021

Under the condition of close‐distance double‐thick coal seams’ mining, the serious strata behavior occurred in the lower retracement channel, which is affected by the double disturbance with upper coal‐pillar static load and mining dynamic pressure. Field investigation, laboratory test, and numerical simulation were used to study the failure characteristics and stress distribution of N0381 retracement channel. The results show that the plastic failure and stress of the surrounding rock are obviously asymmetric; specifically, the closer the roof is to N0381 gob, the stronger the strata behavior is. In addition, when the upper coal pillar is in critical stable or stable state ((w/h) > 2), high stress concentration in the upper coal pillar is transmitted downward through floor rock so that two dangerous areas with severe strata behavior are formed in N0381 retracement channel. In view of this, a partition control strategy with “high‐pressure water jet + asymmetric high‐strength cable‐beam net + three‐hole anchor cable group + roof grouting” as the core is proposed to ensure the stability of the lower retracement channel. This study provides a reference for coal mines with similar production geological conditions.
Food Choice Behaviors of Lactating Women: Association with Body Mass Index and Fruits and Vegetables Intake in Central Amhara Region, Ethiopia—An Observational Study
Authors: Kibr Gesessew
Published: February 2021

Background. What food people choose to eat is embraced by circumstances that are essentially influenced by the underlying motives of food choices which are important to a healthful dietary change. Therefore, this study aimed to explore food choice behaviors associated with nutritional status and FVs intake in women during lactation from central Amhara. Methods. A multistage sampling technique was applied to select study participants. A study was conducted among 423 randomly selected lactating women using a face-to-face interview of the questionnaire. A community-based cross-sectional, quantitative study with descriptive and analytical components was done. Anthropometrics measurements such as weight, height, waist, and hip circumference were taken from all participants. Body mass index was calculated to determine the nutritional status of women. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 computer software program. Association between dependent and independent variables was identified by logistic regression analysis, and a

P

-value< 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results. About 21.7% of women were underweight. Approximately 37.4% of women had good consumption trends to fruits and vegetables. Healthy meal eating motivation, price-consciousness, and mood concern were identified as the most significant behaviors of food choice, influencing the nutritional status of women with AOR (95% CI) of 2.1 (1.21–3.62), 3.01 (1.32–6.9), and 0.5 (0.30–0.95), respectively. Natural content (AOR (95%): 2.37 (1.39–4.06)), mood concern (AOR (95%): 2.29 (1.15–4.56)), religion concern (AOR (95%): 2.45 (1.37–4.4)), husband encouragement (AOR (95%): 2.26 (1.04–4.89)), and availability of milk and milk products (AOR (95%): 1.6 (1.39–2.74)) and fruits and vegetables (AOR (95%): 1.66 (1.16–3.48)) in home were associated significantly with a good intake of fruit and vegetables. Conclusions. This finding provides a useful insight into the food choice motivations of a group of women with preference for natural foods, mood concern, religion concern, and husband support with good fruit and vegetable intake. This can help practitioners make recommendations for health promotion strategies. Emphasis on assisting women with healthy meal eating and avoiding psychological stress is important. Nutrition education about healthy food choice is recommended for communities.
An Improved Unsupervised Single‐Channel Speech Separation Algorithm for Processing Speech Sensor Signals
Authors: Jiang Dazhi , He Zhihui , Lin Yingqing , Chen Yifei , Xu Linyan
Published: February 2021

As network supporting devices and sensors in the Internet of Things are leaping forward, countless real‐world data will be generated for human intelligent applications. Speech sensor networks, an important part of the Internet of Things, have numerous application needs. Indeed, the sensor data can further help intelligent applications to provide higher quality services, whereas this data may involve considerable noise data. Accordingly, speech signal processing method should be urgently implemented to acquire low‐noise and effective speech data. Blind source separation and enhancement technique refer to one of the representative methods. However, in the unsupervised complex environment, in the only presence of a single‐channel signal, many technical challenges are imposed on achieving single‐channel and multiperson mixed speech separation. For this reason, this study develops an unsupervised speech separation method CNMF+JADE, i.e., a hybrid method combined with Convolutional Non‐Negative Matrix Factorization and Joint Approximative Diagonalization of Eigenmatrix. Moreover, an adaptive wavelet transform‐based speech enhancement technique is proposed, capable of adaptively and effectively enhancing the separated speech signal. The proposed method is aimed at yielding a general and efficient speech processing algorithm for the data acquired by speech sensors. As revealed from the experimental results, in the TIMIT speech sources, the proposed method can effectively extract the target speaker from the mixed speech with a tiny training sample. The algorithm is highly general and robust, capable of technically supporting the processing of speech signal acquired by most speech sensors.
A Method to Predict Rock Fracture with Infrared Thermography Based on Heat Diffusion Analysis
Authors: Deng Nai-Fu , Qiao Lan , Li Qing-wen , Hao Jia-Wang , Wu Shan
Published: February 2021

The forming of micro or mesocracks on rock surfaces is a symptom and precursor of the degradation of deep surrounding rocks under excavation. However, the direct detection or observation of these tiny developed cracks is not practical due to the limitation of current instruments which can only capture and recognize macrocracks. Therefore, many indirect detection ways are proposed to acquire some precautional signals and hereby forestall damage and failure of surrounding rocks. Infrared radiation (IRR) monitoring is one of the frequently used technologies. Current thermography derived from IRR can capture all temperature changes including the surrounding environment; this may influence the on-site judgement due to uncertainty or blur of generated temperature images. This paper proposes the “pseudothermography” under the true triaxial compressive test by combining the infrared radiation data and the heat diffusion theory. Our method evenly selects 25 small regions on the observed rock surface and uses the data obtained from these regions to derive the global temperature field which contains no uncertainty. By comparing our method with the real temperature field, the deduced diffusion model proposed in this paper can relatively reflect the real crack initiation under increasing loading. The experiment result proves that the attempt for the application of heat diffusion law is feasible to indirectly reflect the formation of micro and mesocracks and, ultimately, foresee the failure of the surrounding rock.
The Charge State of Protons with 90 and 100 keV Energies Decelerated in Hydrogen Plasma
Authors: Lei Yu , Cheng Rui , Zhao Yong Tao , Zhou Xian Ming , Wang Yu Yu , Chen Yan Hong , Wang Zhao , Zhou Ze Xian , Yang Jie , Ma Xin Wen
Published: February 2021

Energy loss of protons with 90 and 100 keV energies penetrating through a hydrogen plasma target has been measured, where the electron density of the plasma is about 1016 cm−3 and the electron temperature is about 1-2 eV. It is found that the energy loss of protons in the plasma is obviously larger than that in cold gas and the experimental results based on the Bethe model calculations can be demonstrated by the variation of effective charge of protons in the hydrogen plasma. The effective charge remains 1 for 100 keV protons, while the value for 90 keV protons decreases to be about 0.92. Moreover, two empirical formulae are employed to extract the effective charge.
Research on Method of Trajectory Prediction in Aircraft Flight Based on Aircraft Performance and Historical Track Data
Authors: Jiang Shu-Yuan , Luo Xiling , He Liang
Published: February 2021

Traditional 4D trajectory prediction based on aircraft performance models and flight procedures does not consider control handover rules. Meanwhile, method based on historical data mining cannot accurately couple with real-time conditions such as weather and also cause computational efficiency problems. This project collected a large amount of historical data to form a control experience database and mined the historical database to obtain control experience and flight intention. On the basis of the traditional aircraft performance model, this paper puts forward the aircraft maneuver mode using strategy and introduces the high-altitude wind information from the weather information into the aircraft 4D model to optimize the aircraft 4D trajectory calculation model. By comparing the flight forecast time with the real crossing time, it is found that the average error of the improved 4D forecast crossing time is less than 5% of the flight time, which is obviously better than that before optimization. It is proved that the optimized method based on historical track data is effective and reliable, and the accuracy of 4D track prediction is improved greatly.
Blockchain-Based Fine-Grained Data Sharing for Multiple Groups in Internet of Things
Authors: Li Teng , Zhang Jiawei , Lin Yangxu , Zhang Shengkai , Ma Jianfeng
Published: February 2021

Cloud-based Internet of Things, which is considered as a promising paradigm these days, can provide various applications for our society. However, as massive sensitive and private data in IoT devices are collected and outsourced to cloud for data storage, processing, or sharing for cost saving, the data security has become a bottleneck for its further development. Moreover, in many large-scale IoT systems, multiple group data sharing is practical for users. Thus, how to ensure data security in multiple group data sharing remains an open problem, especially the fine-grained access control and data integrity verification with public auditing. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a blockchain-based fine-grained data sharing scheme for multiple groups in cloud-based IoT systems. In particular, we design a novel multiauthority large universe CP-ABE scheme to guarantee the fine-grained access control and data integrity across multiple groups by integrating group signature into our scheme. Moreover, to ease the need for a trusted third auditor in traditional data public auditing schemes, we introduce blockchain technique to enable a distributed data public auditing. In addition, with the group signature, our scheme also realizes anonymity and traitor tracing. The security analysis and performance evaluation show that our scheme is practical for large-scale IoT systems.
The Air Lubrication Behavior of a Kingsbury Thrust Bearing Demonstration
Authors: Xu Wanjun , Yang Jiangang
Published: February 2021

In order to understand the air lubrication behavior of Kingsbury thrust bearing demonstration, an experimental and theoretical investigation on a simulated Kingsbury thrust bearing was presented. The motions of the thrust disk and tilting pads were measured by eddy current sensors for three mass load cases. A simplified theoretical model governing the motion of the thrust disk was established. The bearing successfully passed the examination of lamp extinction and maintained the maximum rotation time of 16 s. The effective hydrodynamic film with a thickness of about 5 μm was concentrated on the middle region of the working surface under a flatness of 0.010 mm. The adverse effect of the three surface bumps was minimized by the swing motion of tilting pads. Moreover, about 1/3 air film thickness was shown to be wasted due to the surface irregularity. However, the requirements of surface quality and misalignment were appropriately relaxed through the design of the centrally pivoted tilting pads. This design is conducive to thin-film lubrication and is a potential application for microturbines.
Intelligent and Smart Irrigation System Using Edge Computing and IoT
Authors: Munir M. Safdar , Bajwa Imran Sarwar , Ashraf Amna , Anwar Waheed , Rashid Rubina
Published: February 2021

Smart parsimonious and economical ways of irrigation have build up to fulfill the sweet water requirements for the habitants of this world. In other words, water consumption should be frugal enough to save restricted sweet water resources. The major portion of water was wasted due to incompetent ways of irrigation. We utilized a smart approach professionally capable of using ontology to make 50% of the decision, and the other 50% of the decision relies on the sensor data values. The decision from the ontology and the sensor values collectively become the source of the final decision which is the result of a machine learning algorithm (KNN). Moreover, an edge server is introduced between the main IoT server and the GSM module. This method will not only avoid the overburden of the IoT server for data processing but also reduce the latency rate. This approach connects Internet of Things with a network of sensors to resourcefully trace all the data, analyze the data at the edge server, transfer only some particular data to the main IoT server to predict the watering requirements for a field of crops, and display the result by using an android application edge.
Impact of Retailer’s Vertical and Horizontal Fairness Concerns on Manufacturer’s Online Channel Mode
Authors: Zhang Xuemei , Ma Chenhao , Chen Haoran , Qi Guohu
Published: February 2021

This paper investigates a dual-channel supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer, where the retailer exhibits vertical and horizontal fairness concerns. The manufacturer or the retailer direct selling and e-commerce platform agency selling modes are employed to characterize the impact of retailer’s fairness concerns on the online channel mode strategy. Results show that the retailer’s fairness concerns only affect the wholesale price and online channel mode strategy. Without the retailer’s fairness concerns, the manufacturer direct selling mode is the best strategy for the manufacturer, which harms the retailer’s utility. With the retailer’s fairness concerns, the manufacturer may choose the manufacturer direct selling or e-commerce platform agency selling mode. When the fairness concern parameters meet a certain range, the e-commerce platform agency selling mode strategy is better for the supply chain members, which can solve the interest conflict between supply chain members. These research findings help dual-channel supply chain members understand how to choose the channel structure strategy to balance the supply chain members’ interests by considering fairness concerns.
Theoretical Analysis on Stress and Deformation of Overburden Key Stratum in Solid Filling Coal Mining Based on the Multilayer Winkler Foundation Beam Model
Authors: Ma Chao , Guo Xiaoqian , Zhang Lianying , Lu Aihong , Mao Xianbiao , Li Bing
Published: February 2021

Solid backfill coal mining (SBCM) is a green mining technology which can effectively alleviate the environmental problems induced by traditional coal mining techniques, such as surface subsidence, water resources loss, coal gangue occupation, and pollution. In this study, a multilayer Winkler foundation beam model for the overburden key strata is proposed, and the model with two key strata is solved. The subsidence, rotating angle, inner force, and stress of the overburden key strata are systematically analyzed under various backfill elastic modulus, mining height, and soft layer thickness. The results show that the subsidence of the key strata exhibit “basin”-shape curves, and the backfill elastic modulus, mining height, and the thickness of the soft strata have significant influences on the subsidence of the key strata. The shear stress, horizontal stress, and vertical stress of key stratum can be effectively reduced by increasing the backfill elastic modulus. The increase of mining height has little influence on the stress of key stratum that close to the coal seam (key stratum #1), but has a significant effect on the stress of key stratum that above the soft layers (key stratum #2). On the contrary, the effect of increasing soft layer thickness on the stress of key stratum is opposite to that of increasing mining height. In addition, the shear failure of key stratum #1 at mining boundary and the tensile failures on both sides of mining boundary should be preferentially considered in SBCM engineering design. Due to the low shear stress level of key stratum #2, the tensile failure on both sides of the mining boundary should be mainly considered.
Wedge Instability Model Improvement of Shield Tunnel Excavation Face under Inclined Surface
Authors: Wang Zhikui , Wang Yuan , Feng Di , Niu Yulong
Published: February 2021

In the process of the underground tunnel excavation, a kind of geological condition Necking Region is often encountered. The ground surface inclines very fast, which also leads to the increase of Earth pressure on the excavation face. The determination of the excavation face support pressure is essential to solve the active Earth pressure when the shield passes through the Necking Region. In this paper, based on Horn’s wedge model, considering the influence of surface dip angle on excavation face support pressure, the traditional wedge model was improved. The analytical solution of the ultimate support pressure for the active failure of shield excavation face was derived. To evaluate the quality of the model, the theoretical model was compared with the ultimate bearing pressure of the horizontal surface test. The influence of the ultimate support pressure on the parameters of Nc, Nγ, and Nq was consistent with the results of finite element simulation and existing theories, which verified the rationality of the model. The stability of the excavation face of the Heyan road river crossing tunnel was analyzed by using the improved wedge model. The results show that the mud support pressure considering the slope angle was 36 kPa higher than that without considering the slope angle.
Developing a Multi-GPU-Enabled Preconditioned GMRES with Inexact Triangular Solves for Block Sparse Matrices
Authors: Ma Wenpeng , Hu Yiwen , Yuan Wu , Liu Xiazhen
Published: February 2021

Solving triangular systems is the building block for preconditioned GMRES algorithm. Inexact preconditioning becomes attractive because of the feature of high parallelism on accelerators. In this paper, we propose and implement an iterative, inexact block triangular solve on multi-GPUs based on PETSc’s framework. In addition, by developing a distributed block sparse matrix-vector multiplication procedure and investigating the optimized vector operations, we form the multi-GPU-enabled preconditioned GMRES with the block Jacobi preconditioner. In the implementation, the GPU-Direct technique is employed to avoid host-device memory copies. The preconditioning step used by PETSc’s structure and the cuSPARSE library are also investigated for performance comparisons. The experiments show that the developed GMRES with inexact preconditioning on 8 GPUs can achieve up to 4.4x speedup over the CPU-only implementation with exact preconditioning using 8 MPI processes.
Complex Service Process Optimization Based on Service Touchpoint Association and the Design Structure Matrix
Authors: Bai Zhonghang , Liu Chang , Sun Huihui , Ding Man
Published: February 2021

Service process optimization is conducive to the innovation of enterprise services, but the poor logic design of multiple touchpoints can easily lead to problems in the service process, such as scattered layouts and repeated paths. Aiming at the promotion of service innovation and user experience, this paper takes the optimization of a single service touchpoint as the prerequisite and proposes a service process optimization method based on service touchpoint association and the design structure matrix (DSM). The association of service touchpoints is categorized into two types, namely, noncoupled and coupled association. The DSM is used to describe the two types of association between service touchpoints, and the matrix operation is used for modular identification and layering of the two kinds of association. Finally, through the above steps, the problematic service process was replanned. By using the service process optimization of a new retail convenience store as an example, the service process is divided into 6 relatively independent modules, and the order of module execution is arranged. Moreover, the optimal service process of the convenience store system is determined, and the method is verified to be feasible. Through optimization both from single service touchpoint and service process modularization, the study provides a reference for process optimization of the complex service system.
A Fast and Validated HPLC Method for Simultaneous Determination of Dopamine, Dobutamine, Phentolamine, Furosemide, and Aminophylline in Infusion Samples and Injection Formulations
Authors: Chen Fuchao , Fang Baoxia , Wang Sicen
Published: February 2021

A simple, fast, and validated HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous quantization of five cardiovascular agents: dopamine (DPM), dobutamine (DBM), phentolamine (PTM), furosemide (FSM), and aminophylline (APL) either in infusion samples or in an injection dosage form. The proposed method was achieved with a 150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5.0 μm C18 column, by using a simple linear gradient. Mobile phase A was buffer (50 mM KH2PO4) and mobile Phase B was acetonitrile at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column temperature was kept at 30°C, and the injection volume was 20 μL. All analytes were separated simultaneously at a retention time (tr) of 3.93, 5.84, 7.06, 8.76, and 9.67 min for DPM, DBM, PTM, FSM, and APL, respectively, with a total run time of less than 15.0 min. The proposed method was validated according to ICH guidelines with respect to accuracy, precision, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantitation, and robustness. Linearity was obtained over a concentration range of 12.0–240.0, 12.0–240.0, 20.0–200.0, 6.0–240.0, and 10.0–200.0 μg/mL DPM, DBM, PTM, FSM, and APL, respectively. Interday and intraday accuracy and precision data were recorded in the acceptable limits. The new method has successfully been applied for quantification of all five drugs in their injection dosage form, infusion samples, and for evaluation of the stability of investigated drugs in mixtures for endovenous use. The results of the stability study showed that mixtures of DPM, DBM, PTM, FSM, and APL in 5% glucose or 0.9% sodium chloride injection were stable for 48 hours when stored in polypropylene syringes at 25°C.
Damage Identification of Structures Based on Smooth Orthogonal Decomposition and Improved Beetle Antennae Search Algorithm
Authors: Hu Zhixiang , Zhang Peiguan
Published: February 2021

A novel damage identification method that utilizes the smooth orthogonal decomposition (SOD) combined with the improved beetle antennae search algorithm (BAS) presented by previous scholars is proposed. Firstly, the damage index which can track the curvature changing of mode shape identified by the SOD method is generated by an adaptive polynomial fit method. The locations of structure damages are determined according to the damage index. Thus, the number of possible damaged elements needed to be taken into account can be reduced when calculating the degree of damage. Then, the reduction in the stiffness at the damage location of the structure is calculated by the improved BAS in which the fitness function is constructed by calculated frequencies of the damaged structure in each iteration and the modal frequencies obtained by SOD. The BAS algorithm is improved through a fusion strategy of simulated annealing theory. Thus, the improved BAS algorithm is efficient and adaptive. The effect of this combined application in damage identification has been verified by numerical examples of a simply supported beam with single damage and a cantilever beam with double damage. The numerical results show that this combined algorithm exhibits high reliability in damage identification of beam‐like structures.
Elevated Circular RNA PVT1 Promotes Eutopic Endometrial Cell Proliferation and Invasion of Adenomyosis via miR‐145/Talin1 Axis
Authors: Wang Yi-Yi , Duan Hua , Wang Sha , Quan Yong-Jun , Huang Jun-Hua , Guo Zheng-Chen
Published: February 2021

Several theories on the origin of adenomyosis (ADS) have been proposed, of which the most widely accepted is the fundamental pathogenic role of uterine eutopic endometrium. Emerging evidence suggests that circular RNAs participate in the multiple tumorgenesis. The vital importance of circular RNA PVT1 (circPVT1) in the pathological progress like malignancies has been well documented. Nevertheless, its underlying correlation with ADS remains elusive yet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression pattern, regulatory effect, and internal mechanism of circPVT1 in ADS. qRT‐PCR was performed to detect the relative mRNA expression of circPVT1, miR‐145, and Talin1 in ADS endometrial tissue and cells. The protein level of Talin1 was measured by Western blot and immunochemistry. Immunofluorescence was used to identify the primary endometrial epithelial and stromal cells. circPVT1 knockdown in vitro was achieved by transfecting with specific lentivirus vector CCK‐8, and colony formation assays were utilized to assess cell proliferation; meanwhile, the transwell assay was employed for evaluating cell invasion ability. By conducting bioinformatics, dual‐luciferase reporter assay, or RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) experiment, the interaction between miR‐145 and circPVT1 or Talin1 was verified. Rescue experiments further determined the regulatory effect of circPVT1/miR‐145/Talin1 axis. We found both circPVT1 and Talin1 were markedly upregulated in ADS endometrial tissue and cells, whereas miR‐145 was decreased. Elevated expression of circPVT1 was closely related to the severity of dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, and uterine enlargement of patients with ADS. Knockdown of circPVT1 inhibited adenomyotic epithelial and stromal cell proliferation and invasion. Further mechanistic experiments revealed that circPVT1 negatively regulated miR‐145 through serving as a molecular sponge. And the facilitating effect of circPVT1 was partially reversed by miR‐145. Talin1 was demonstrated to be a down target of miR‐145 and indirectly affected by circPVT1. Our findings unveiled that enhanced circPVT1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of ADS via stimulating endometrial cell proliferation and invasion. The establishment of circPVT1/miR‐145/Talin1 pathway might present a novel therapeutic insight for ADS.
Synergistic Network Pharmacology for Traditional Chinese Medicine Liangxue Tongyu Formula in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhagic Stroke
Authors: Chen Yang , Dong Ju , Yang Dongqing , Qian Qin , Wang Pengcheng , Yang Xiaojuan , Li Wei , Li Guochun , Shen Xu , Wang Fushun
Published: February 2021

Background. Nowadays, acute intracerebral hemorrhage stroke (AICH) still causes higher mortality. Liangxue Tongyu Formula (LXTYF), originating from a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, is widely used as auxiliary treatment for AICH. Objective. To dig into the multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway mechanism of LXTYF on treating AICH via network pharmacology and RNA-seq. Methods. Network pharmacology analysis was used by ingredient collection, target exploration and prediction, network construction, and Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG analysis, with the Cytoscape software and ClusterProfiler package in R. The RNA-seq data of the AICH-rats were analyzed for differential expression and functional enrichments. Herb-Compound-Target-Pathway (H-C-T-P) network was shown to clarify the mechanism of LXTYF for AICH. Results. 76 active ingredients (quercetin, Alanine, kaempferol, etc.) of LXTYF and 376 putative targets to alleviate AICH (PTGS2, PTGS1, ESR1, etc.) were successfully identified. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network indicated the important role of STAT3. The functional enrichment of GO and KEGG pathway showed that LXTYF is most likely to influence MAPK and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways for AICH treatment. From the RNA-seq of AICH-rats, 583 differential mRNAs were identified and 14 of them were consistent with the putative targets of LXTYF for AICH treatment. The KEGG pathway enrichment also implied that the MAPK signaling pathway was the most correlated one among all the related signaling pathways. Many important targets with expression changes of LXTYF for AICH treatment and their related pathways are great markers of antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptosis, and lowering blood pressure, which indicated that LXTYF may play mutiroles in the mechanisms for AICH treatment. Conclusion. The LXTYF attenuates AICH partially by antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptosis and lowers blood pressure roles through regulating the targets involved MAPK, calcium, apoptosis, and TNF signaling pathway, which provide notable clues for further experimental validation.
Melamine-formaldehyde rigid foams – Manufacturing and their thermal insulation properties
Authors: Kavšek Miha , Figar Nataša , Mihelič Igor , Krajnc Matjaž
Published: February 2021

The manufacturing of novel melamine-formaldehyde rigid foam material, by blowing the melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin emulsion with pentane and further catalytic and thermal curing, is presented in this work. The process of foaming is described in terms of particular process parameters, which are; the proportions of blowing, curing, emulsifying agents. The examination of the foam, by SEM images, shows that the foam pore sizes are in the range from 150 to 250 µm. The thermal characterization of the obtained foams, is described in terms of thermal conductivity contributions of solid, gas and radiation conduction to total thermal conductivity at atmospheric and vacuum condition. The foam with densities from 50 to 80 kg/m3 achieve thermal conductivity at an atmospheric pressure of 33–34 mW/(m × K), while in a vacuum of 6–7 mW/(m × K). Compared to other organic polymer foams, MF foams have superior fire resistance and chemical stability. The innovation of MF rigid foams presented here, compared to other well-known MF flexible foam, is in their rigid structure, combined with low density and thermal conductivity, which makes this particular foam potentially useful in the manufacture of vacuum insulation panels (VIP).
Aerobic Exercise Mediates Neural Inefficiency Among Adolescents At Risk for Suicide
Authors: Jeong Eunbi , Park Jinhan , Kim Yujin , Woo Minjung
Published: February 2021

This study examined the electroencephalograpy (EEG) coherence and working memory performance effects of a 9-week exercise program on a small group of adolescents at high suicide risk. We randomly assigned 26 adolescents at high suicide risk (based on their scores on the Adolescents Mental Health Inventory- AMHI) into equal sized exercise and no-exercise groups. Before and after the 9-week exercise program, all participants performed the Sternberg working memory task, during which we recorded their EEGs, with electrodes placed at F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, T3, T4, O1, and O2 regions (using the International 10-20 system of EEG electrode placement). We measured working memory performance and inter-hemispheric (F3-F4, C3-C4, T3-T4, P3-P4, O1-O2) and intra-hemispheric (F3-C3, F3-T3, F3-P3, F3-O1, F4-C4, F4-T4, F4-P4, F4-O2) EEG coherence as an index of the participants’ underlying neural efficiency. While we found no significant group differences in working memory performances, the exercise group, relative to the no-exercise group, exhibited lower inter- and intra-hemispheric EEG coherence while performing the working memory task. These EEG differences may reflect a mediating effect of aerobic exercise on these participants’ neural efficiency.
Image-based Bilateral Beard Method for measuring weight-based short fiber contents in raw cotton and semi-finished slivers
Authors: Lang Chenhong , Zhang Mingming , Wang Tingrong , Jin Jingye , Wang Fumei , Xu Bugao , Qiu Yiping
Published: February 2021

In this paper, an economical way for accurately determining weight-based short fiber contents in raw cotton and semi-finished slivers by utilizing special bilateral beard specimens and image processing was introduced. In the specimen preparation, cotton fibers were drawn by a manual device into a sliver, then the sliver was combed to form a bilateral beard specimen, and finally the bilateral beard was scanned to generate a grayscale image from which a relative fiber number curve was extracted. An algorithm for calculating the weight-based short fiber contents based on the curve was proposed. Five types of cottons were repetitively measured to investigate the robustness of the results of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], with the weight ratio of fibers shorter than 12.7 and 16 mm, respectively. The results showed that measuring two bilateral beards for each sample could keep the error rate lower than 15%, while four specimens kept the error rate lower than 10%. Compared with AFIS Pro 2, this Image-based Bilateral Beard Method provided results with lower standard deviations and variable coefficients, signifying its analogous or better robustness. In addition, 37 samples from some of the world’s major producing areas were measured by this method and AFIS Pro 2, and a Bland–Altman analysis confirmed a good agreement between the results from the two methods. As only a manual fiber drawing device and an office scanner are needed, this Image-based Bilateral Beard Method is clearly a cheap approach for accurately determining the short fiber contents in raw cotton and semi-finished slivers.
Development of a New Device for Postoperative Self-Irrigation of the Maxillary and Frontal Sinus
Authors: Omani Mohammad Al , Crepy-Ameil Marie , Grinholtz-Haddad Julia , Zaer Saïd , Benkhatar Hakim
Published: February 2021

Objectives:

Nasal saline irrigation is the corner stone of postoperative care after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). However, intrasinus penetration of the saline solution can be challenging and may require difficult head position, particularly for the frontal sinus. Our aim was to evaluate a novel device for direct intrasinus self-irrigation, usable at home for both maxillary and frontal sinus.

Methods:

Thirty devices were implemented in 23 patients: in the maxillary sinus for 18 patients and in the frontal sinus for 5 patients. The device was removed after 7 days on average (5-10 days), and nasal saline irrigation was carried on with a squeeze bottle for 6 weeks. Retrospective evaluation of the device included: device-related complication, patient satisfaction, and ostial or middle turbinate synechiae at 3 months.

Results:

No device-related complication (obstruction, displacement, infection, bleeding) occurred. Twenty-one (91.3%) patients were satisfied with the device. Two patients required the help of a nurse for irrigation. No ostial of middle turbinate synechiae was visualized at 3 months. This new endonasal device enables direct intrasinus self-irrigation after FESS for CRS.

Conclusion:

This preliminary study showed that this device is safe and easy to use. However, further investigations are required to assess its potential role to reduce the risk of synechiae and revision surgery.