A Self-diagnostic Flame Monitoring System Incorporating Acoustic, Optical, and Electrostatic Sensors

Reliable flame monitoring is essential to enhance the safety of industrial boilers. This paper presents a new self-diagnostic system to measure the oscillation frequency of a burner flame. The system incorporates three sensors including a microphone, a photodiode and an electrostatic electrode and simultaneously acquires three signals. The oscillation frequencies from the three sensors are determined through power spectral analysis, and a fused result of the three frequencies is obtained as the oscillation frequency of the burner flame. Moreover, detection and location of the system faults are realized using a self-diagnostic algorithm through the cross-correlation signal processing. Experimental tests were performed on a laboratory-scale combustion test rig with methane as the test fuel. The results demonstrate that the method is capable of measuring the oscillation frequency of a burner flame. In addition, the results are helpful for the comprehensive analysis of the oscillatory behaviors of burner flames. The self-diagnostic algorithm is able to detect the fault of the monitoring system and no additional self-diagnostic hardware is required

The carbohydrate-insulin model does not explain the impact of varying dietary macronutrients on the body weight and adiposity of mice

Acknowledgments This study was funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Strategic Program (XDB13030100), the K.C. Wong Foundation, the 1000 Talents Program, and a Wolfson Merit Award to J.R.S. We thank those in the molecular energetics group in Beijing who contributed to handling the animals and the measurement of their food intake and body weight, including L. Li, B. Li, M. Li, G. Wang, X. Zhang, J. Li, C. Niu, E. Couper, A. Whittington-Davies, and M. Mazidi. Author contributions S.H. was involved in the initial experiment design, conducted experiment one, analyzed the data from experiments one and two, performed the IPA-related analysis, and co-wrote the manuscript. L.W. was involved in the sample collection for experiments one and two and conducted the RNA extractions and the RNA-seq. J.T. was involved in the sample and data collection for experiments one and two. D.Y. and Y.X. performed the initial data collection and glucose measurements for experiment two. Y.W. conducted the insulin measurements and was involved in the initial data collection for experiment two. A.D. was involved in the RNA-seq-related analysis. J.R.S. directed both projects, conceived and designed the experiments, contributed to the data analysis, and co-wrote the paper. All of the authors approved the final version prior to submission for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

CT-guided microcoil localization for scapula-blocked pulmonary nodules using penetrating lung puncture before video-assisted thoracic surgery

PURPOSETo retrospectively analyze the effectiveness and safety of computed tomography (CT)-guided microcoil localization for scapula-blocked pulmonary nodules using penetrating lung puncture prior to video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).METHODSOne hundred thirty-eight patients with 138 pulmonary nodules were included in this single-center retrospective study. Among them, 110 patients who underwent CT-guided microcoil localization using the routine puncture technique formed the routine group; the other 28 patients who underwent the CT-guided microcoil localization using the penetrating lung puncture technique formed the penetrating lung group. The main outcomes were the success rate and complication rate of the two groups.RESULTSThe localization success rate was 95.5% (105/110) in the routine group and 89.3% (25/28) in the penetrating lung group (P = 0.205). There was no statistical difference in any of the complications (pneumothorax, intrapulmonary hemorrhage, or moderate and severe chest pain) in both groups (P = 0.178, P = 0.204, P = 0.709, respectively). Localization procedure time was significantly increased in the penetrating lung group compared with the routine group (31.0 ± 3.0 min vs. 21.2 ± 2.8 min, P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONCT-guided microcoil localization for scapula-blocked pulmonary nodules using penetrating lung puncture prior to VATS resection is effective and safe. However, the deployment of the microcoil using penetrating lung puncture required more time than the routine puncture method

Increased Variation in Body Weight and Food Intake Is Related to Increased Dietary Fat but Not Increased Carbohydrate or Protein in Mice

Funding This study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFA0801900) to JS and the Postdoctoral Innovation Fund (2021) to YW. The original diet exposure experiment was funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Strategic Program (XDB13030100). JS was also supported during this work by a PIFI professorial fellowship from CAS and a Wolfson merit award from the UK Royal Society. CORRECTION article Front. Nutr., 21 October 2022 Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.1049766 Corrigendum: Increased variation in body weight and food intake is related to increased dietary fat but not increased carbohydrate or protein in micePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Combination Analysis of a Radiomics-Based Predictive Model With Clinical Indicators for the Preoperative Assessment of Histological Grade in Endometrial Carcinoma

BackgroundHistological grade is one of the most important prognostic factors of endometrial carcinoma (EC) and when selecting preoperative treatment methods, conducting accurate preoperative grading is of great significance.PurposeTo develop a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics-based nomogram for discriminating histological grades 1 and 2 (G1 and G2) from grade 3 (G3) EC.MethodsThis was a retrospective study included 358 patients with histologically graded EC, stratified as 250 patients in a training cohort and 108 patients in a test cohort. T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and a dynamic contrast-enhanced three-dimensional volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (3D-VIBE) were performed via 1.5-Tesla MRI. To establish ModelADC, the region of interest was manually outlined on the EC in an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map. To establish the radiomic model (ModelR), EC was manually segmented by two independent radiologists and radiomic features were extracted. The Radscore was calculated based on the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression. We combined the Radscore with carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and body mass index (BMI) to construct a mixed model (ModelM) and develop the predictive nomogram. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) and calibration curves were assessed to verify the prediction ability and the degree of consistency, respectively.ResultsAll three models showed some amount of predictive ability. Using ADC alone to predict the histological risk of EC was limited in both the cohort [area under the curve (AUC), 0.715; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.6509–0.7792] and test cohorts (AUC, 0.621; 95% CI, 0.515–0.726). In comparison with ModelADC, the discrimination ability of ModelR showed improvement (Delong test, P &lt; 0.0001 for both the training and test cohorts). ModelM, established based on the combination of radiomic and clinical indicators, showed the best level of predictive ability in both the training (AUC, 0.925; 95% CI, 0.898–0.951) and test cohorts (AUC, 0.915; 95% CI, 0.863–0.968). Calibration curves suggested a good fit for probability (Hosmer–Lemeshow test, P = 0.673 and P = 0.804 for the training and test cohorts, respectively).ConclusionThe described radiomics-based nomogram can be used to predict EC histological classification preoperatively

Antifungal Activity and Mechanism of Perillaldehyde against Penicillium citrinum, a Major Fungal Pathogen of Myrica rubra

Perillaldehyde is a green and safe natural antibacterial substance extracted from perilla leaves, which is also used as a food additive in food production. In this study, the inhibitory effect of perillaldehyde on Penicillium citrinum, a major pathogen of Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra), was investigated by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), spore germination rate and mycelial growth inhibition assays, and the underlying mechanism was elucidated by studying the mycelial morphology and ultrastructure, cell membrane damage, membrane lipid peroxidation and changes in functional groups. The results showed that the MIC of perillaldehyde on P. citrinum was 120 μL/L. Mycelial growth was completely inhibited by treatment with 120 μL/L perillaldehyde, and the relative conductivity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased. Compared with the untreated group, ergosterol, total lipid and chitin contents and mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity decreased by 80.00%, 81.25%, 64.97% and 87.40% in P. citrinum treated with 90 μL/L perillaldehyde. The treatment with perillaldehyde damaged cell membrane permeability and affected the normal physiological function of the cell membrane. By scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it was found showed that the broom-like conidial head of P. citrinum disappeared after perillaldehyde treatment, and the mycelia appeared to be broken and ablated. Moreover, the cell membrane was broken, intracellular contents leaked out, and the cells became shriveled. In addition, the amounts of leakage of soluble protein, soluble sugar and nucleic acid from P. citrinum treated with 120 μL/L perillaldehyde for 5 h increased by 71.20%, 210.93% and 117.31% compared with those before the treatment, which verified cell membrane damage. By using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, it was found that the contents of functional groups such as hydroxyl, methyl, aromatic carbon skeleton and benzene ring carbon skeleton in perillaldehyde treated P. citrinum decreased, and internal substances were gradually consumed. In summary, perillaldehyde showed a good antifungal activity on P. citrinum by destroying cell membrane structure, changing membrane permeability, interfering with energy metabolism and destroying protein and genetic material. Perillaldehyde has good research and development prospects as a natural preservative

Effects of dietary macronutrients and body composition on glucose homeostasis in mice

Funding This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Strategic Programs (XDA12030209 and XDB13030100), the 1000 Talents Program and a Wolfson Merit Award to J.R.SPeer reviewedPublisher PD