Spectral quantization for ancient asymptotically cylindrical flows

We study ancient mean curvature flows in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ whose tangent flow at $-\infty$ is a shrinking cylinder $\mathbb{R}^{k}\times S^{n-k}(\sqrt{2(n-k)|t|})$, where $1\leq k\leq n-1$. We prove that the cylindrical profile function $u$ of these flows have the asymptotics $u(y,\omega,\tau)= (y^\top Qy -2\textrm{tr}(Q))/|\tau| + o(|\tau|^{-1})$ as $\tau\to -\infty$, where the cylindrical matrix $Q$ is a constant symmetric $k\times k$ matrix whose eigenvalues are quantized to be either 0 or $-\frac{\sqrt{2(n-k)}}{4}$. Compared with the bubble-sheet quantization theorem in $\mathbb{R}^{4}$ obtained by Haslhofer and the first author, this theorem has full generality in the sense of removing noncollapsing condition and being valid for all dimensions. In addition, we establish symmetry improvement theorem which generalizes the corresponding results of Brendle-Choi and the second author to all dimensions. Finally, we give some geometric applications of the two theorems. In particular, we obtain the asymptotics, compactness and $\textrm{O}(n-k+1)$ symmetry of $k$-ovals in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ which are ancient noncollapsed flows in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ satisfying full rank condition that $\textrm{rk}(Q)=k$, and we also obtain the classification of ancient noncollapsed flows in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ satisfying vanishing rank condition that $\textrm{rk}(Q)=0$.Comment: 58 page

A half-space Bernstein theorem for anisotropic minimal graphs

We prove that an anisotropic minimal graph over a half-space with flat boundary must itself be flat. This generalizes a result of Edelen-Wang to the anisotropic case. The proof uses only the maximum principle and ideas from fully nonlinear PDE theory in lieu of a monotonicity formula.Comment: 9 page

The infrared radiation and vacuum assisted drying kinetics of flue-cured tobacco leaf and its drying quality analysis

[EN] Dehydration is widely involved in tobacco processing such as tobacco leaf curing, tobacco trip redrying and cut tobacco drying, which plays a key role due to its effect on the physical and chemical quality of tobacco. The current drying methods in tobacco processing mainly use heat conduction, heat convection or their combination to dehydrate tobacco materials. However, radiation heat transfer as one of basic heat transferways has not been investigated in the tobacco drying. In the present work, infrared radiation dryer was designed to explore the tobacco infrared radiation drying characteristics. The effect of radiation heat transfer conditions and vacuum on the drying kinetics and temperature of tobacco leaves was investigated. Diffusion coefficient of middle tobacco leaves C2F is between 0.848×10-10 ~ 1.597×10-10 m2/s. At the same time, the pore structure andpetroleum ether tobacco extracts in dried tobacco were also analyzed in order to explore the different effects of infrared radiation drying and traditional drying technology on tobacco quality.Zhu, W.; Guo, G.; Liu, C.; Cheng, L.; Wang, L. (2018). The infrared radiation and vacuum assisted drying kinetics of flue-cured tobacco leaf and its drying quality analysis. En IDS 2018. 21st International Drying Symposium Proceedings. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 919-925. https://doi.org/10.4995/IDS2018.2018.7612OCS91992

Overlapped tobacco shred image segmentation and area computation using an improved Mask RCNN network and COT algorithm

IntroductionThe classification of the four tobacco shred varieties, tobacco silk, cut stem, expanded tobacco silk, and reconstituted tobacco shred, and the subsequent determination of tobacco shred components, are the primary tasks involved in calculating the tobacco shred blending ratio. The identification accuracy and subsequent component area calculation error directly affect the composition determination and quality of the tobacco shred. However, tiny tobacco shreds have complex physical and morphological characteristics; in particular, there is substantial similarity between the expanded tobacco silk and tobacco silk varieties, and this complicates their classification. There must be a certain amount of overlap and stacking in the distribution of tobacco shreds on the actual tobacco quality inspection line. There are 24 types of overlap alone, not to mention the stacking phenomenon. Self-winding does not make it easier to distinguish such varieties from the overlapped types, posing significant difficulties for machine vision-based tobacco shred classification and component area calculation tasks.MethodsThis study focuses on two significant challenges associated with identifying various types of overlapping tobacco shreds and acquiring overlapping regions to calculate overlapping areas. It develops a new segmentation model for tobacco shred images based on an improved Mask region-based convolutional neural network (RCNN). Mask RCNN is used as the segmentation network’s mainframe. Convolutional network and feature pyramid network (FPN) in the backbone are replaced with Densenet121 and U-FPN, respectively. The size and aspect ratios of anchors parameters in region proposal network (RPN) are optimized. An algorithm for the area calculation of the overlapped tobacco shred region (COT) is also proposed, which is applied to overlapped tobacco shred mask images to obtain overlapped regions and calculate the overlapped area.ResultsThe experimental results showed that the final segmentation accuracy and recall rates are 89.1% and 73.2%, respectively. The average area detection rate of 24 overlapped tobacco shred samples increases from 81.2% to 90%, achieving high segmentation accuracy and overlapped area calculation accuracy.DiscussionThis study provides a new implementation method for the type identification and component area calculation of overlapped tobacco shreds and a new approach for other similar overlapped image segmentation tasks

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Energy Fuels

A better understanding of the influence of particle size on pyrolysis and char reactivity is of crucial importance in optimizing the integrated process combining coal topping (coal fast pyrolysis) with char gasification. Different size fractions of two types of coal and demineralized coal were pyrolyzed in a spouted bed. The resulting chars were characterized by X-ray diffraction, and char reactivity was determined in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Within the range of particle sizes investigated, an increase in particle size results in an increase of char yield, which may be caused by the secondary reactions of volatile matters inside the coal particles. No significant difference in crystallinity was observed for the chars from different size fractions of the parent coals, while more crystallinity was observed for the chars from demineralized coals, which suggests that minerals in the coal play a role in the reduction of char crystallinity during pyrolysis. Char reactivity for raw coals decreased with the increasing of the particle size. For the demineralized coal samples, the change in char reactivity with the increasing of the particle size was reduced. Both the secondary reactions of volatiles and mineral distribution are believed to cause the influence of coal particle size on char reactivity.A better understanding of the influence of particle size on pyrolysis and char reactivity is of crucial importance in optimizing the integrated process combining coal topping (coal fast pyrolysis) with char gasification. Different size fractions of two types of coal and demineralized coal were pyrolyzed in a spouted bed. The resulting chars were characterized by X-ray diffraction, and char reactivity was determined in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Within the range of particle sizes investigated, an increase in particle size results in an increase of char yield, which may be caused by the secondary reactions of volatile matters inside the coal particles. No significant difference in crystallinity was observed for the chars from different size fractions of the parent coals, while more crystallinity was observed for the chars from demineralized coals, which suggests that minerals in the coal play a role in the reduction of char crystallinity during pyrolysis. Char reactivity for raw coals decreased with the increasing of the particle size. For the demineralized coal samples, the change in char reactivity with the increasing of the particle size was reduced. Both the secondary reactions of volatiles and mineral distribution are believed to cause the influence of coal particle size on char reactivity

Fuel Process. Technol.

The catalytic gasification of char from co-pyrolysis of coal and wheat straw was studied. Alkali metal salts, especially potassium salts, are considered as effective catalysts for carbon gasification by steam and CO2, while too expensive for industry application. The herbaceous type of biomass, which has a high content of potassium, may be used as an inexpensive source of catalyst by co-processing with coal. The reactivity of chars from co-pyrolysis of coal and straw was experimentally examined. The chars were prepared in a spout-entrained reactor with different ratios of coal to straw. The gasification characteristics of chars were measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The co-pyrolysis chars revealed higher gasification reactivity than that of char from coal, especially at high level of carbon conversion. The influence of the alkali in the char and the pyrolysis temperature on the reactivity of co-pyrolysis char was investigated. The experimental results show that the co-pyrolysis char prepared at 750 degrees C have the highest alkali concentration and reactivity. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The catalytic gasification of char from co-pyrolysis of coal and wheat straw was studied. Alkali metal salts, especially potassium salts, are considered as effective catalysts for carbon gasification by steam and CO2, while too expensive for industry application. The herbaceous type of biomass, which has a high content of potassium, may be used as an inexpensive source of catalyst by co-processing with coal. The reactivity of chars from co-pyrolysis of coal and straw was experimentally examined. The chars were prepared in a spout-entrained reactor with different ratios of coal to straw. The gasification characteristics of chars were measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The co-pyrolysis chars revealed higher gasification reactivity than that of char from coal, especially at high level of carbon conversion. The influence of the alkali in the char and the pyrolysis temperature on the reactivity of co-pyrolysis char was investigated. The experimental results show that the co-pyrolysis char prepared at 750 degrees C have the highest alkali concentration and reactivity. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effect of the Coal Particle Size on Pyrolysis and Char Reactivity for Two Types of Coal and Demineralized Coal

A better understanding of the influence of particle size on pyrolysis and char reactivity is of crucial importance in optimizing the integrated process combining coal topping (coal fast pyrolysis) with char gasification. Different size fractions of two types of coal and demineralized coal were pyrolyzed in a spouted bed. The resulting chars were characterized by X-ray diffraction, and char reactivity was determined in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Within the range of particle sizes investigated, an increase in particle size results in an increase of char yield, which may be caused by the secondary reactions of volatile matters inside the coal particles. No significant difference in crystallinity was observed for the chars from different size fractions of the parent coals, while more crystallinity was observed for the chars from demineralized coals, which suggests that minerals in the coal play a role in the reduction of char crystallinity during pyrolysis. Char reactivity for raw coals decreased with the increasing of the particle size. For the demineralized coal samples, the change in char reactivity with the increasing of the particle size was reduced. Both the secondary reactions of volatiles and mineral distribution are believed to cause the influence of coal particle size on char reactivity

Effect of Exogenous Neutral Protease Fermentation on Cigar Leaf Quality

In order to reveal the effect of exogenous neutral protease addition on the quality of cigar tobacco leaves during fermentation. Taking Sichuan Shifang cigar tobacco leaves as the research object, the changes of conventional chemical composition, amino acid content, organic acids and other substances in tobacco leaves after natural fermentation and fermentation with exogenous enzyme preparations were investigated, and the changes of sensory quality of cigar tobacco leaves before and after fermentation were also investigated. The results show that: 1) After fermentation, the content of total sugar, reducing sugar, total nitrogen, chlorogenic acid and rutin in tobacco leaves decreased, and the content of reducing sugar fermented with enzyme preparation decreased more. 2) After fermentation, the total amount of free amino acids in tobacco leaves increased. With the increase of exogenous neutral protease, the content of amino acids first increased and then decreased. 3) After fermentation, the content of organic acids in tobacco leaves increased. When the amount of enzyme added was 2.5g/kg leaves, the increase of organic acid content was greater than that of natural fermentation, and the other additions of enzyme were close to that of natural fermentation. 4) After fermentation, the content of plastid pigment in tobacco leaves decreased slightly. With the increase of neutral protease, the content of plastid pigment increased. 5) After the fermentation of exogenous enzyme preparation, the sensory quality of tobacco leaves is improved, but too much protease will produce bitter taste