Higher radiation doses after partial laryngectomy may raise the incidence of pneumonia: A retrospective cohort study

BackgroundCurrently, studies have shown that a high dose of radiotherapy to the throat have various harmful and adverse effects on the patients’ laryngeal function, resulting in the development of pneumonia. This study aimed to explore how radiotherapy dose affected the probability of pneumonia following laryngeal cancer surgery.Materials and methodsA retrospective analysis was done on patients diagnosed with laryngeal cancer between 2010 and 2020 and were treated surgically and with postoperative radiotherapy in the same institution. This study included 108 patients in total, 51 of who were in the low-dose group and 57 of whom were in the high-dose group. Age, gender, the location of laryngeal cancer, the presence or absence of lymph node metastasis, and other demographic and clinical characteristics were collected, and the prevalence of postoperative pneumonia was compared between the two groups.ResultsThe total prevalence of postoperative pneumonia was 59.3%, but there was a significant difference between the two groups(high-dose group 71.9% VS low-dose group 45.1%; p=0.005). A total of 9.3% (10/108) of the patients had readmission due to severe pneumonia, and the rate of readmission due to pneumonia was significantly different between the two groups (high-dose group 15.8% VS low-dose group 2.0%, p=0.032). Additionally, the high-dose group’s prevalence of Dysphagia was significantly higher than the low-dose group’s. According to multivariate logistic modeling, high-dose radiation was a risk factor for pneumonia (OR=4.224, 95%CI =1.603-11.131, p=0.004).ConclusionPneumonia risk could increase with radiotherapy doses > 50 Gy in the treatment of laryngeal cancer. Therefore, we recommend that when the radiation dose surpasses 50Gy, doctors should pay particular attention to the lung health of patients with laryngeal cancer

Assessing the health impact of proposed congestion pricing plan for downtown San Francisco

Final ReportCongestion pricing (CP) is seen as a viable solution to urban traffic congestion, but its impact on public health also deserves to be evaluated before implementation. In this study, we assessed several congestion pricing schemes proposed for the San Francisco downtown area from a health perspective. We compare the eight proposed CP schemes with baseline scenario (no-action) to observe the health effects from physical activity (PA), fine inhalable particles matter (PM) exposure, and road traffic injuries (RTI) three pathways using the Integrated Transport and Health Impact Model (ITHIM). The results of the study show that these CP schemes all have a beneficial effect on the public health of San Francisco. Finally, we recommend further research on TNC travel fees in these CP schemes and explore the potential for health improvements on physical activity by encouraging people to use active modes of transport.U.S. Department of Transportation 69A355174711

Investigating the Health Effect of the Citi Bike Bike-sharing Program in New York City Using the ITHIM Health Assessment Tool

Final ReportBike travel is often considered as a healthy and environmentally friendly mode of travel and promoted by cities. Bike sharing, as a bike usage boosting program, invigorates these advantages. However, as usage of it rises, so do the adverse effects on cyclists’ physical well-being, such as hazardous air exposure and bicycle involved accidents. The net health benefits of bike-sharing programs are therefore not clear cut and are worthy of studying case by case. This paper focuses on the Citi Bike Bike-sharing program in New York City. We evaluate the health effect of it using a modified Integrated Transport Health Impact Model (ITHIM) by assessing and comparing the risks of two proposed scenarios: with-Citi bike scenario (baseline) and without-Citi bike scenario (hypothetical). The baseline scenario corresponds to the actual traffic and health condition in 2017, while we split the Citi Bike trips to other modes according to the NYC travel survey data to construct the hypothetical scenario. For each scenario, we investigate the overall health effects of the Citi Bike from three pathways: physical activity, hazardous air exposure, and road traffic injuries. The result indicates that the implementation of Citi Bike plays a positive role in improving the public health. By conducting a sensitivity study, we delve into the potential benefits of the Citi Bike under some possible policy outcomes. Finally, we discuss the strength and limitation of the study, and provide the future study directions.U.S. Department of Transportation 69A355174711

Heat Transfer Enhancement of Phase Change Material in Triple-Tube Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Units: Operating Modes and Fin Configurations

The inherent low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) serious limits the thermal performance of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems. In this study, the author proposed two operating modes (inside heating/outside cooling and inside cooling/outside heating)and designed seven fin configurations to improve the thermal performance and flexibility of the triple-tube LHTES unit. A transient two-dimensional numerical model was established to study the energy storage, release and simultaneous storage and release processes, and local and global entropy generation was analyzed. A comprehensive evaluation was used to propose the optimal combination of operating mode and fin configuration. Considering various performances, the combination of the operation mode of inside cooling/outside heating and the staggered fin configuration shortened the total time by 66.6% and increased the heat transfer rate by 5.6%, providing the best performance in both the continuous and simultaneous storage and release process

Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Enhancement by Arc-Shaped Fins in a Shell-Tube Thermal Energy Storage Unit

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) technology can alleviate the mismatch between the supply and demand of solar energy and industrial waste heat, but the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) is an issue that needs to be solved. In this work, the effects of the bifurcated fins on melting and solidification are studied, and local and global entropy generation are discussed. The radial lag time and the circumferential lag time were defined to evaluate thermal penetration and thermal uniformity. Subsequently, a novel arc-shaped fin configuration was proposed to further enhance the heat transfer. The results showed that attaching the bifurcated fins could effectively reduce the global entropy generation. Increasing the trunk fin length was beneficial to enhance the thermal uniformity and promote the melting process, while increasing the branch fin was more effective in the solidification process. Overall, thermal uniformity determined the phase change process. More importantly, the concentric arc-shaped fins significantly reduced the heat transfer hysteresis region, showed better thermal performance than straights fins, and the energy storage and release time were reduced by 52.7% and 51.6%, respectively

Plant and Disease Recognition Based on PMF Pipeline Domain Adaptation Method: Using Bark Images as Meta-Dataset

Efficient image recognition is important in crop and forest management. However, it faces many challenges, such as the large number of plant species and diseases, the variability of plant appearance, and the scarcity of labeled data for training. To address this issue, we modified a SOTA Cross-Domain Few-shot Learning (CDFSL) method based on prototypical networks and attention mechanisms. We employed attention mechanisms to perform feature extraction and prototype generation by focusing on the most relevant parts of the images, then used prototypical networks to learn the prototype of each category and classify new instances. Finally, we demonstrated the effectiveness of the modified CDFSL method on several plant and disease recognition datasets. The results showed that the modified pipeline was able to recognize several cross-domain datasets using generic representations, and achieved up to 96.95% and 94.07% classification accuracy on datasets with the same and different domains, respectively. In addition, we visualized the experimental results, demonstrating the model’s stable transfer capability between datasets and the model’s high visual correlation with plant and disease biological characteristics. Moreover, by extending the classes of different semantics within the training dataset, our model can be generalized to other domains, which implies broad applicability

Joining mechanism of connection between Ag-plated Kovar interconnector and stranded Ag-plated Cu wire produced via parallel gap resistance welding

A space solar array includes GaAs solar cell, interconnector, and stranded Cu wire. Due to the preferential high working efficiency, the assembly of solar array is mostly performed using parallel gap resistance welding (PGRW). Since strengthening of the PGRW joints is the key to further extend service life of solar array, it is necessary to elucidate joining mechanism of each connection. In the present research, to clarify the controversy over PGRW joining mechanism between Ag-plated Kovar interconnector and stranded Ag-plated Cu wire, various advanced material characterization methods are conducted to joining interfaces. Experimental results confirm that, in addition to the known Ag/Cu eutectic interface, solid evidence of metallurgy bonding is also found in Cu/Cu interface. Such finding has significant implication for further enlarge the PGRW process window and produce stronger joints

A comprehensive study of parallel gap resistance welding joint between Ag foil and front electrode of GaAs solar cell

When space solar cell array is subjected to harsh temperature cycle, such as planet orbit, thermal fatigue cracks in bonding area are easily induced. With the aim of improving bonding quality and elucidating failure mechanism of parallel gap resistance welding (PGRW) joints in temperature cycling environment, the present research investigates the effect of current density on bonding quality and thermal fatigue behavior of PGRW joint between Ag interconnector and front electrode of GaAs solar cell. When current density is set at 417 A/mm2, a solid diffusion bonding is achieved at the Ag/Au interface, which also possesses adequate joint strength as ensured by both pressure and input energy of PGRW. Crack initiation by thermal fatigue is found at joint edge, which subsequently propagates along the interface as the environment temperature cycling continues. Further investigation reveals that the conducted temperature cycling generates serious tensile and compressive stress in the multi-layered joint structure. Since such reciprocating forces directly induce micro-plastic deformation and strain accumulation at joint interface, failure by crack is finally generated at the joining interface