Representative sampling method for laboratory testing on shear strength of rock joints

The direct shear test is commonly used to determine the shear strength of rock joints. The measured shear strength, however, varies greatly with specimen positions due to the heterogeneity of rock joints. As a result, selecting specimens that represent the overall properties of rock joints is usually difficult. This paper aims to investigate the heterogeneity of rock joints and propose a new sampling method for selecting representative specimens. The roughness and shear strength variations of specimens taken from different positions of a natural rock joint were analyzed, and it was discovered that the heterogeneity of rock joint roughness is responsible for the heterogeneity of shear strength. The limitations of the traditional sampling method based on visual judgment were extensively investigated, revealing that shear strength parameters acquired by the traditional method contain large coefficient of variation (COV) values. To acquire trustworthy shear strength parameters, we proposed a representative sampling method based on the maximum likelihood estimation of the overall properties of rock joints. The number of determined representative specimens increases with the increase of normal stress. Representative specimens determined under low normal stresses can likewise exhibit the overall properties of the rock joint when subjected to high normal stresses. The Mohr-Coulomb and a nonlinear criterion were used to validate the derived representative specimens, demonstrating that the proposed method can produce reliable shear strength parameters and shear strength envelopes. Particularly, the determined representative specimens could derive shear strength parameters with relative errors less than 10% and COV values less than 0.1. The proposed method provides a quantitative and reliable tool for determining representative specimens to obtain reliable shear strength of rock joints

Towards Decrypting Attractiveness via Multi-Modality Cue

Decrypting the secret of beauty or attractiveness has been the pursuit of artists and philosophers for centuries. To date, the computational model for attractiveness estimation has been actively explored in the computer vision and multimedia community, yet with the focus mainly on facial features. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive study on female attractiveness conveyed by single/multiple modalities of cues, that is, face, dressing and/or voice; the aim is to discover how different modalities individually and collectively affect the human sense of beauty. To extensively investigate the problem, we collect the Multi-Modality Beauty (M2B) dataset, which is annotated with attractiveness levels converted from manual k-wise ratings and semantic attributes of different modalities. Inspired by the common consensus that middle-level attribute prediction can assist higher-level computer vision tasks, we manually labeled many attributes for each modality. Next, a tri-layer Dual-supervised Feature-Attribute-Task (DFAT) network is proposed to jointly learn the attribute model and attractiveness model of single/multiple modalities. To remedy possible loss of information caused by incomplete manual attributes, we also propose a novel Latent Dual-supervised Feature-Attribute-Task (LDFAT) network, where latent attributes are combined with manual attributes to contribute to the final attractiveness estimation. The extensive experimental evaluations on the collected M2B dataset well demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DFAT and LDFAT networks for female attractiveness prediction

Simplified neutrosophic indeterminate decision making method with decision makers’ indeterminate ranges

There exists the indeterminate situations of truth, falsity, indeterminacy degrees due to the uncertainty and inconsistency of decision makers’ arguments in a complicated decision making (DM) problem. Then, existing neutrosophic set cannot describe the indeterminate information of truth, falsity, indeterminacy degrees. It is noted that the simplified neutrosophic set (SNS) is depicted by truth, falsity, indeterminacy degrees, while a neutrosophic number (NN) can be flexibly depicted by its determinate part and its indeterminate part. Regarding the indeterminate situations of truth, falsity, indeterminacy degrees in indeterminate DM problems, this study first presents a simplified neutrosophic indeterminate set (SNIS) to express the hybrid information of SNS and NN and defines the score, accuracy, and certainty functions of simplified neutrosophic indeterminate elements (SNIEs) with indeterminate ranges to compare SNIEs. Then, we introduce a SNIE weighted arithmetic averaging (SNIEWAA) operator and a SNIE weighted geometric averaging (SNIEWGA) operator to aggregate simplified neutrosophic indeterminate information. Next, a multi-attribute DM approach with decision makers’ indeterminate ranges is established regarding the SNIEWAA and SNIEWGA operators in SNIS setting. Finally, the proposed DM approach is applied in a DM example on choosing a suitable slope design scheme to indicate the applicability and suitability of the proposed approach

A preliminary study on the monitoring of mixed venous oxygen saturation through the left main bronchus

INTRODUCTION: The study sought to assess the feasibility and accuracy of measuring mixed venous oxygen saturation (SvO(2)) through the left main bronchus (SpO(2trachea)) METHODS: Twenty hybrid pigs of each sex were studied. After anesthesia, a Robertshaw double-lumen tracheal tube with a single-use pediatric pulse oximeter attached to the left lateral surface was introduced toward the left main bronchus of the pig by means of a fibrobronchoscope. Measurements of SpO(2trachea )and oxygen saturation from pulmonary artery samples (SvO(2blood)) were performed with an intracuff pressure of 0 to 60 cmH(2)O. After equilibration, hemorrhagic shock was induced in these pigs by bleeding to a mean arterial blood pressure of 40 mmHg. With the intracuff pressure maintained at 60 cmH(2)O, SpO(2trachea )and SvO(2blood )were obtained respectively during the pre-shock period, immediately after the onset of shock, 15 and 30 minutes after shock, and 15, 30, and 60 minutes after resuscitation. RESULTS: SpO(2trachea )was the same as SvO(2blood )at an intracuff pressure of 10, 20, 40, and 60 cmH(2)O, but was reduced when the intracuff pressure was zero (p < 0.001 compared with SvO(2blood)) in hemodynamically stable states. Changes of SpO(2trachea )and SvO(2blood )corresponded with varieties of cardiac output during the hemorrhagic shock period. There was a significant correlation between the two methods at different time points. CONCLUSION: Measurement of the left main bronchus SpO(2 )is feasible and provides similar readings to SvO(2blood )in hemodynamically stable or in low saturation states. Tracheal oximetry readings are not primarily derived from the tracheal mucosa. The technique merits further evaluation

5-Bromo-3-(3-hydroxyprop-1-ynyl)-2H-pyran-2-one targets prostate cancer cells by down-regulating inflammation-related genes

The present study was performed to examine the effect of 5-bromo-3-(3-hydroxyprop-1-ynyl)-2H-pyran-2-one (BHP) on the rate of cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in the PC3, human prostate carcinoma cell line. The cell viability was assayed by using sulphorhodamine B staining and apoptosis by annexin V and flow cytometry analyses. The results revealed that BHP treatment in PC3 cells caused a significant reduction in the rate of cell proliferation in dose- and time-dependent manner. Compared to the un-treated cells, the formation of HUVEC tubes was markedly inhibited on treatment with BHP at a concentration of 30 µM. Further investigation revealed the expression of HMGB1, IL-6 and IL-8, pro-inflammatory cytokines was also inhibited on treatment with BHP. Therefore, BHP treatment plays an important role in inducing apoptosis in the prostrate cells and can be of therapeutic value for the prostate cancer treatment