Computation of Wind Wave Flow Field with Moving Boundary Based on Image Processing

Based on image processing technology, a solution to the interference of moving boundary in wind wave flow field calculation is proposed. Invariant background is extracted from image sequence by means of the minimum method, and the differences between image sequence and invariant background image are used to remove the invariant background of image sequence. The image segmentation threshold is determined based on maximum interclass variance method, and the scatter interference is removed by image filtering and morphological technology, to obtain the target image. Then the flow field is calculated by PIV technology and the results of the flow field before and after the boundary treatment are compared. The experimental results show that the accuracy and speed of flow field calculation are greatly improved after removal of moving boundary disturbance, and the results of wind wave flow field calculation accord with the motion mechanism of hydraulic wind wave

A Survey on the Status of Smart Healthcare from the Universal Village Perspective

This survey paper discusses the condition of smart healthcare implementation. It discusses the current healthcare problems and how smart healthcare technologies ease the problems. Our group, Universal Village, realizes that the integration and interaction between parties in a system will maximize the effectiveness and benefit for the system. Based on this idea, this paper considers the smart city system as a whole, and talks about how smart healthcare interacts with infrastructures and functions inside and outside of the smart healthcare field. Then, it analyzes how a more powerful integrated system can be built from the smart healthcare system. In the end, several case studies are listed. Based on our analysis and the case studies, this paper then ended with the future prospects of the smart healthcare.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Transcribing Latin Manuscripts in Respect to Linguistics

Current text detection software, although can transcribe modern languages with high accuracy, has flaws detecting texts and transcribing original Latin manuscripts sufficiently. This paper proposes a general approach for transcribing Latin manuscripts in respect to linguistics and develops a system to transcribe Latin manuscripts containing intricate abbreviations, which combines basic object detection algorithms with linguistics. We used methods from image processing and made changes based on the characteristics of Latin.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Xinfeng capsule improves pulmonary function in ankylosing spondylitis patients via NF-κB-iNOS-NO signaling pathway

AbstractObjectiveTo study changes in the nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65)-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-nitric oxide (NO) signaling pathway and the effects of Xinfeng capsules (XFC) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS)MethodsOne hundred twenty patients with AS were randomly divided into an XFC group and a Salazopyrin group. Sixty health subjects were included as a normal control group. In the two treatment groups, pulmonary functional parameters, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow at 25% of forced vital capacity (FEF25), forced expiratory flow at 50% of forced vital capacity (FEF50), and forced expiratory flow at 75% of forced vital capacity (FEF75) were determined. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays were used for detection of the serum oxidative stress indexes, NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidative capacity (TAOC) and interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-10, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) contents. Westergren's method was used for determination of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) was detected with a 7060 full-automatic biochemical analyzer (Hitachi, Japan).ResultsThe clinical therapeutic effect in the XFC group was significantly superior to that in the Salazopyrin group (P<0.01). Compared with the normal control group, FEV1, MVV, PEF, FEF50, FEF75, SOD, CAT, TAOC, IL-4, IL-10 were significantly lower, and NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, ROS, RNS, MDA, IL-1β, TNF-α, ESR, and Hs-CRP significantly higher in patients with AS (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, FEV1, MVV, PEF, FEF50, FEF75, SOD, CAT, TAOC, IL-4, and IL-10 were significantly increased, and NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, ROS, RNS, MDA, IL-1β, TNF-α, ESR, CRP, visual analog scales (VAS), Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease active index, Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index, and Bath ankylosing spondylitis global index significantly decreased in the two treatment groups after treatment (P< 0.01 or P<0.05), with significant differences between the XFC and Salazopyrin groups (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis indicated that FEV1, MVV, PEF, FEF50, and FEF75 were positively correlated with SOD, CAT, TAOC, IL-4, and IL-10, and were negatively correlated with NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, ROS, RNS, MDA, IL-1β, TNF-α, ESR, and CRP.ConclusionPatients with AS have local pathologic changes in the spinal cord and other joints. They also have decreased pulmonary function, which is negatively correlated with the NF-κB-iNOS-NO signaling pathway, oxidative indexes, and inflammatory factors. XFC improves rigidity and pain in spinal joints and other symptoms, laboratory indexes, and pulmonary function. The mechanism is possibly related to inhibition of the NF-κB-iNOS-NO signaling pathway

Heterogeneous characters modeling of instant message services users’ online behavior

Research on temporal characteristics of human dynamics has attracted much attentions for its contribution to various areas such as communication, medical treatment, finance, etc. Existing studies show that the time intervals between two consecutive events present different non-Poisson characteristics, such as power-law, Pareto, bimodal distribution of power-law, exponential distribution, piecewise power-law, et al. With the occurrences of new services, new types of distributions may arise. In this paper, we study the distributions of the time intervals between two consecutive visits to QQ and WeChat service, the top two popular instant messaging services in China, and present a new finding that when the value of statistical unit T is set to 0.001s, the inter-event time distribution follows a piecewise distribution of exponential and power-law, indicating the heterogeneous character of IM services users’ online behavior in different time scales. We infer that the heterogeneous character is related to the communication mechanism of IM and the habits of users. Then we develop a combination model of exponential model and interest model to characterize the heterogeneity. Furthermore, we find that the exponent of the inter-event time distribution of the same service is different in two cities, which is correlated with the popularity of the services. Our research is useful for the application of information diffusion, prediction of economic development of cities, and so on.National Natural Science Foundation (China) (61201153)National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant 2012CB315805)CCF Venus Research Project (CCF-VenustechRP2016004)Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute. Institute of Future Networks Technology (BY2013095-2-16

Fusion-layer-based machine vision for intelligent transportation systems/

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-317).Environment understanding technology is very vital for intelligent vehicles that are expected to automatically respond to fast changing environment and dangerous situations. To obtain perception abilities, we should automatically detect static and dynamic obstacles, and obtain their related information, such as, locations, speed, collision/occlusion possibility, and other dynamic current/historic information. Conventional methods independently detect individual information, which is normally noisy and not very reliable. Instead we propose fusion-based and layered-based information-retrieval methodology to systematically detect obstacles and obtain their location/timing information for visible and infrared sequences. The proposed obstacle detection methodologies take advantage of connection between different information and increase the computational accuracy of obstacle information estimation, thus improving environment understanding abilities, and driving safety.by Yajun Fang.Ph.D

Scutellarin regulates microglia-mediated TNC1 astrocytic reaction and astrogliosis in cerebral ischemia in the adult rats

Additional file 1: (A). Scutellarin at 0.54 mM did not elicit a noticeable reaction of GFAP/iNOS in TNC1. (B). iNOS mRNA expression in TNC1 astrocytes remained relatively unchanged at all time-points following treatment with BM, BM + L and CM; however, when incubated with CM + L for various time points, TNC1 showed a remarkable increase in iNOS peaking at 24 h. (C). Confocal images showing iNOS (C1-3) expression in TNC1 astrocytes incubated with different medium for 24 h. Compared with cells incubated in BM (C1) and BM + L (C2), TNC1 astrocytes incubated with CM + L (C3) were hypertrophic and showed a marked increase in iNOS immunofluorescence. Scale bars: 20 μm. DAPI—blue

Evaluating the efficacy and acceptability of vagus nerve stimulation for fibromyalgia: a PRISMA-compliant protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundFibromyalgia has imposed substantial burdens on patients’ health and well-being, yet effective therapeutic options for this condition remain limited. Recently, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has emerged as a promising therapy for fibromyalgia. Nonetheless, despite the increasing number of randomized clinical trials (RCTs), current evidence remains inconclusive. Therefore, this protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis aims to synthesize the existing evidence to clarify the efficacy and acceptability of VNS for treating fibromyalgia.MethodsA comprehensive search for eligible RCTs will be conducted across nine bibliographic databases, namely PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, AMED, PsycINFO, PEDro, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wangfang database. Data obtained from the included studies will be synthesized quantitively using RevMan 5.4.1 for meta-analyses. The methodological soundness of included RCTs will be assessed via the Cochrane’s updated risk of bias tool (version 2.0). Additionally, sensitivity analyses, publication bias assessment, and subgroup analyses will be conducted as appropriate. Finally, we will utilize the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system to evaluate the certainty for the body of evidence.ConclusionThe findings of our study are anticipated to ascertain the efficacy and acceptability of VNS as a promising treatment option for fibromyalgia. This will not only fill current research gap but also identify potential areas for future research. The findings will provide essential guidance for evidence-based treatment decisions for fibromyalgia, benefiting both patients and clinicians

Historical reconstructions of water quality in the Kimberley using sediment records. Report of 2.2.9 prepared for the Kimberley Marine Research Program

The Kimberley Marine Research Project 2.2.9 made use of a suite of palaeoecological approaches to reconstruct a chronology of change in coastal water quality over the last approximately 100 years. The biogeochemical proxies addressed phytoplankton composition and biomass, temperature and terrestrial influences. Where possible these were matched to historical land/water use, meteorological or hydrological observational records. The project examined sediment cores from three coastal locations in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia, Koolama Bay (King George River), Cygnet Bay and Roebuck Bay. Each sampling location provided a contrast with which to evaluate changes over either a spatial or temporal gradient of human or natural influences