More complex encoder is not all you need

U-Net and its variants have been widely used in medical image segmentation. However, most current U-Net variants confine their improvement strategies to building more complex encoder, while leaving the decoder unchanged or adopting a simple symmetric structure. These approaches overlook the true functionality of the decoder: receiving low-resolution feature maps from the encoder and restoring feature map resolution and lost information through upsampling. As a result, the decoder, especially its upsampling component, plays a crucial role in enhancing segmentation outcomes. However, in 3D medical image segmentation, the commonly used transposed convolution can result in visual artifacts. This issue stems from the absence of direct relationship between adjacent pixels in the output feature map. Furthermore, plain encoder has already possessed sufficient feature extraction capability because downsampling operation leads to the gradual expansion of the receptive field, but the loss of information during downsampling process is unignorable. To address the gap in relevant research, we extend our focus beyond the encoder and introduce neU-Net (i.e., not complex encoder U-Net), which incorporates a novel Sub-pixel Convolution for upsampling to construct a powerful decoder. Additionally, we introduce multi-scale wavelet inputs module on the encoder side to provide additional information. Our model design achieves excellent results, surpassing other state-of-the-art methods on both the Synapse and ACDC datasets

Monocular 3D reconstruction on low-cost equipment in real time

In recent years, 3D reconstruction has been widely used in various fields. However, highquality data acquisition equipment is expensive in these application fields. This paper proposes a 3D reconstruction solution on the basis of low-cost equipment, which uses low-cost monocular camera to collect a series of images of real-world scenarios, thereby reconstructing the real-world scenarios (3D model of the scenes) in real time

A novel lithium battery anode-cathode distance detection method based on X-RAY images

Lithium battery is a promising energy source that can used in power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle or hybrid electric vehicle. However, in recent years, many serious safety accidents in electric vehicle that caused by the defect of the anode and cathode harm the industry. Therefore, we proposed a novel distance detection method, which can detect the defect of the anode and cathode automatically with high accuracy and speed

Metal Oxide Gas Sensors: Sensitivity and Influencing Factors

Conductometric semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors have been widely used and investigated in the detection of gases. Investigations have indicated that the gas sensing process is strongly related to surface reactions, so one of the important parameters of gas sensors, the sensitivity of the metal oxide based materials, will change with the factors influencing the surface reactions, such as chemical components, surface-modification and microstructures of sensing layers, temperature and humidity. In this brief review, attention will be focused on changes of sensitivity of conductometric semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors due to the five factors mentioned above

Porous hierarchical TiO2/MoS2/RGO nanoflowers as anode material for sodium ion batteries with high capacity and stability

To enhance the reversible capacity and cycle stability of MoS2 as anode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIBs), we constructed a hybrid architecture composed of MoS2 and TiO2 nanosheets, linking with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) to another TiO2/MoS2 to form a nanoflower structure. Owing to layered RGO coupled with TiO2/MoS2 hybrid, such a composite offered interconnected conductive channels to short shuttle path of Na+ ions and favorable transport kinetics under charge/discharge cycling. Moreover, this unique structure showed a porous and hierarchical architecture, which not only buffered volume changes but also provided more electrochemical active sites during insertion/deintercalation processes of Na ions. Outstanding electrochemical performances were identified by the component matching effect among TiO2, MoS2 and RGO with a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected network, exhibiting a good reversible capacity of 616 mA h g-1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g-1, an excellent rate capability of 250 mA h g-1 even at 5A g-1 and a long cycling stability of 460 mA h g-1 with a capacity fluctuation of 0.03% per cycle within 350 cycles at 1 A g-1

Clinical application of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in skeletal muscle

Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) is increasingly applied in the detection and characterization of skeletal muscle. This promising technique has aroused much enthusiasm and generated high expectations, because it is able to provide some specific information of skeletal muscle that is not available from other imaging modalities. Compared with conventional MRI, DTI could reconstruct the trajectories of skeletal muscle fibers. It makes it possible to non-invasively detect several physiological values (diffusion values), like fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), which have a great association with the muscle physiology and pathology. Furthermore, other advantages of DTI are the capability of investigating the muscle biomechanics and also investigate the pathological condition of skeletal muscle. Finally, several challenges, which limit the wide application of DTI in skeletal muscle, were discussed. It is believed that this review may arouse in-depth studies on the clinical application of DTI in skeletal muscle in futur

Effects of Aerosol on Reference Crop Evapotranspiration: A Case Study in Henan Province, China

An increase in atmospheric pollution markedly affects the climatic environment. Aerosol is the main component of atmospheric pollutants and has a significant influence on the changes of reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0), while the effects of aerosol on ET0 are still unclear. In this study, the influence of aerosol on the changes in meteorological elements and ET0 in Henan Province was evaluated using online two-way coupling of WRF (Weather Research Forecast)–Chem. The results of the 30-day Online Two-way Coupling indicated that the WRF–Chem model accurately simulated the temporal and spatial variation of each meteorological element in Henan Province. Aerosol decreased the overall temperature in Henan Province by 0.036 °C, wind speed by 0.176 m s−1, and barometric pressure by 20 Pa, while the relative humidity increased by 1.39%. The effect of aerosol on meteorological elements led to the change in ET0. The extent of the effect of aerosol on ET0 was closely related to the aerosol concentration. The variation of ET0 ranged from −0.545 to 0.676 mm d−1 for a pollution condition and −0.309 to 0.380 mm d−1 for an excellent condition. The extent of the effect of aerosol on ET0 varied among regions, and the variation of ET0 showed distinct spatial patterns under different pollution levels. The varying degree of ET0 in the daytime (ET0-d) was greater than ET0-n (ET0 in the nighttime) regardless of the circumstances. Shortwave aerosol radiative forcing was the main cause of this phenomenon. For an excellent condition, aerosol showed positive regulation of ET0-d in 63% of the regions and of ET0-n in 88% of the regions. ET0-A (aerodynamic term of ET0) plays a dominant role in ET0 changes in most of Henan Province. However, as the pollution level increased, more urban ET0-R (radiation term of ET0) also began to dominate the ET0 changes. These results contribute to an in-depth understanding of the response of regional evapotranspiration to atmospheric pollutants and climate change

Investigating the Magnetotelluric Responses in Electrical Anisotropic Media

When interpreting magnetotelluric (MT) data, because of the inherent anisotropy of the earth, considering electrical anisotropy is crucial. Accordingly, using the edge-based finite element method, we calculated the responses of MT data for electrical isotropic and anisotropic models, and subsequently used the anisotropy index and polar plot to depict MT responses. High values of the anisotropy index were mainly yielded at the boundary domains of anomalous bodies for isotropy cases because the conductive differences among isotropic anomalous bodies or among anomalous bodies and background earth can be regarded as macro-anisotropy. However, they only appeared across anomalous bodies in the anisotropy cases. The anisotropy index can directly differentiate isotropy from anisotropy but exhibits difficulty in reflecting the azimuth of the principal conductivities. For the isotropy cases, polar plots are approximately circular and become curves with a big ratio of the major axis to minor axis, such as an 8-shaped curve for the anisotropic earth. Furthermore, the polar plot can reveal the directions of principal conductivities. However, distorted by anomalous bodies, polar plots with a large ratio of the major axis to minor axis occur in isotropic domains around the anomalous bodies, which may lead to the misinterpretation of these domains as anisotropic earth. Therefore, combining the anisotropy index with a polar plot facilitates the identification of the electrical anisotropy

Seismic Signal Characteristics and Numerical Modeling Analysis of the Xinmo Landslide

Due to the high elevation and huge potential energy of high-level landslides, they are extremely destructive and have prominent kinetic-hazard effects. Studying the kinetic-hazard effects of high-level landslides is very important for landslide risk prevention and control. In this paper, we focus on the high-level landslide that occurred in Xinmo on 24 June 2017. The research is carried out based on a field geological survey, seismic signal analysis, and the discrete element method. Through ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and Fourier transformation, it is found that the seismic signals of the Xinmo landslide are mainly located at low frequencies of 0–10 Hz, and the dominant frequency range is 2–8 Hz. In addition, the signal time-frequency analysis and numerical simulation calculation results reveal that the average movement distance of the sliding body was about 2750 m, and the average movement speed was about 22.9 m/s. The movement process can be divided into four main stages: rapid start, impact loading, fragmentation and migration, and scattered accumulation stages. We also provide corresponding suggestions for the zoning of high-level landslide geological hazards