Tactical Requirements Enforcing Ability Analysis of Different WeaponManipulators for Military Unmanned Ground Vehicles

It is an important work to design a weapon manipulator to satisfy the tactical needs for the militaryunmanned ground vehicles (MUGV). In this work, the RRR and 6-SPS mechanisms are proposed to designa weapon manipulator. The design factors for the weapon manipulator to satisfy the tactical needs are alsodiscussed. According to the direct and inverse position analysis methods, the workspace analysis results showthat these two mechanisms have better performances in satisfying the tactical needs than the RR and RPRmechanisms. The gradability performance is also discussed to verify that the proposed mechanisms can achievea good performance. The analysis results can provide a reference resource for designers to design a weaponmanipulator for MUGV.Defence Science Journal, 2008, 58(5), pp.664-677, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.58.169

Papillary Adenocarcinoma of Rete Testis Mimics Inflammatory Lump: A Case Report

We presented a rare extratesticular neoplasm, papillary adenocarcinoma of rete testis, which manifested variable symptoms and mimicked most frequently seen benign extratesticular lesions. Due to its rarity, the treatment is therefore uncertain. Our patient's clinical manifestations mimicked an inflammatory lump and underwent radical orchiectomy after pathological report had been confirmed. Unlike other reports, our patient survives and has a good outcome. No definite predictor and tumor marker can be used to define the prognosis. Early diagnosis and surgical treatment may have a good outcome

Single-Image HDR Reconstruction by Learning to Reverse the Camera Pipeline

Recovering a high dynamic range (HDR) image from a single low dynamic range (LDR) input image is challenging due to missing details in under-/over-exposed regions caused by quantization and saturation of camera sensors. In contrast to existing learning-based methods, our core idea is to incorporate the domain knowledge of the LDR image formation pipeline into our model. We model the HDRto-LDR image formation pipeline as the (1) dynamic range clipping, (2) non-linear mapping from a camera response function, and (3) quantization. We then propose to learn three specialized CNNs to reverse these steps. By decomposing the problem into specific sub-tasks, we impose effective physical constraints to facilitate the training of individual sub-networks. Finally, we jointly fine-tune the entire model end-to-end to reduce error accumulation. With extensive quantitative and qualitative experiments on diverse image datasets, we demonstrate that the proposed method performs favorably against state-of-the-art single-image HDR reconstruction algorithms.Comment: CVPR 2020. Project page: https://www.cmlab.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~yulunliu/SingleHDR Code: https://github.com/alex04072000/SingleHD

Differential Presentations of Arterial Thromboembolic Events Between Venous Thromboembolism and Atrial Fibrillation Patients

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) share several risk factors related to arterial thromboembolism. No study has reported the differential contribution to arterial thromboembolic events and mortality between these two conditions in the same population. We therefore assessed the differential arterial thromboembolic events between AF and VTE. Methods: We included AF and VTE national cohorts derived from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 2001 and 2013. The eligible population was 314,861 patients in the AF cohort and 41,102 patients in the VTE cohort. The primary outcome was arterial thromboembolic events, including ischemic stroke, extracranial arterial thromboembolism (ECATE) and myocardial infarction (MI). Secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death. Results: After a 1:1 propensity matching, 32,688 patients in either group were analyzed. The risk of arterial thromboembolic events was lower in the VTE cohort than that in the AF cohort (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57–0.62). The risk of ischemic stroke (SHR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.42–0.46) and MI (SHR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.72–0.89) were lower in the VTE cohort, while the risk of ECATE (SHR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.14–1.33; particularly lower extremities) was higher in the VTE cohort. All-cause mortality rate was higher in the VTE cohort (HR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.15–1.21) while the risk of cardiovascular death was lower in the VTE cohort (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93–0.995). Conclusions: Patients with AF had higher risks of arterial thromboembolic events compared to patients with VTE, despite having risk factors in common. The VTE cohort had higher risks of all-cause mortality and ECATE, particularly lower extremity events, compared to AF patients. The differential manifestations of thromboembolism sequelae and mortality between AF and VTE patients merit further investigation

TRPC5 channels participate in pressure-sensing in aortic baroreceptors

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Left bundle branch pacing preserved left ventricular myocardial work in patients with bradycardia

BackgroundLeft bundle branch pacing (LBBP) is an emerging physiological pacing modality. Left ventricular (LV) myocardial work (MW) incorporates afterload and LV global longitudinal strain to estimate global and segmental myocardial contractility. However, the effect of LBBP on LV MW remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of LBBP on LV MW in patients receiving pacemaker for bradyarrhythmia.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 70 bradycardia patients with normal LV systolic function receiving LBBP (n = 46) and non-selective His-bundle pacing (NS-HBP) (n = 24). For comparative analysis, patients receiving right ventricular pacing (RVP) (n = 16) and control subjects (n = 10) were enrolled. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography was performed. The LV pressure-strain loop was non-invasively constructed to assess global LV MW.ResultsAfter 6-month follow-up, LBBP group (with >40% ventricular pacing during 6 months) had shorter peak strain dispersion (PSD) compared with RVP group, and higher LV global longitudinal strain compared with RVP group and NS-HBP group, but had no difference in left intraventricular mechanical dyssynchrony, including septal-to-posterior wall motion delay and PSD, compared with NS-HBP group. During ventricular pacing, LBBP group had higher global MW index (GWI) (2,189 ± 527 vs. 1,493 ± 799 mmHg%, P = 0.002), higher global constructive work (GCW) (2,921 ± 771 vs. 2,203 ± 866 mmHg%, P = 0.009), lower global wasted work (GWW) (211 ± 161 vs. 484 ± 281 mmHg%, P < 0.001) and higher global MW efficiency (GWE) (91.4 ± 5.0 vs. 80.9 ± 8.3%, P < 0.001) compared with RVP group, and had lower GWW (211 ± 161 vs. 406 ± 234 mmHg%, P < 0.001) and higher GWE (91.4 ± 5.0 vs. 86.4 ± 8.1%, P < 0.001) compared with NS-HBP group.ConclusionsIn this study we found that in patients with mid-term (6-month) high ventricular pacing burden (>40%), LBBP preserved more LV MW compared with NS-HBP and RVP. Further studies are warranted to assess the association between LV MW and long-term clinical outcomes in LBBP with high ventricular pacing burden

Levels and values of circulating endothelial progenitor cells, soluble angiogenic factors, and mononuclear cell apoptosis in liver cirrhosis patients

BACKGROUND: The roles of circulating endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) and mononuclear cell apoptosis (MCA) in liver cirrhosis (LC) patients are unknown. Moreover, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α are powerful endogenous substances enhancing EPC migration into circulation. We assessed the level and function of EPCs [CD31/CD34 (E(1)), KDR/CD34 (E(2)), CXCR4/CD34 (E(3))], levels of MCA, VEGF and SDF-1α in circulation of LC patients. METHODS: Blood sample was prospectively collected once for assessing EPC level and function, MCA, and plasma levels of VEGF and SDF-1α using flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively, in 78 LC patients and 25 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. RESULTS: Number of EPCs (E(1), E(2), E(3)) was lower (all p < 0.0001), whereas SDF-1α level and MCA were higher (p < 0.001) in study patients compared with healthy controls. Number of EPCs (E(2), E(3)) was higher but MCA was lower (all p < 0.05) in Child's class A compared with Child's class B and C patients, although no difference in VEGF and SDF-1α levels were noted among these patients. Chronic hepatitis B and esophageal varices bleeding were independently, whereas chronic hepatitis C, elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and decompensated LC were inversely and independently correlated with circulating EPC level (all p < 0.03). Additionally, angiogenesis and transwell migratory ability of EPCs were reduced in LC patients than in controls (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that level, angiogenic capacity, and function of circulating EPCs were significantly reduced, whereas plasma levels of SDF-1α and circulating MCA were substantially enhanced in cirrhotic patients

A comparative study on the indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption of typical public rental housing types under near-extreme summer conditions in Hong Kong

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Residents of the dense urban environment in Hong Kong suffer from poor living conditions due to building overheating, especially during near-extreme summer conditions. In this study, the thermal comfort and energy performance of typical public rental housing (PRH) building types were simulated using DesignBuilder. Results show that the oldest Slab type PRH, which has a compact building form, has the highest indoor air temperature, yet the lowest cooling energy demand. On the other hand, the Trident type PRH, with the largest external wall U-value, performs the worst overall and is the most responsive to outdoor temperature changes