Static and dynamic performance evaluation of a 3-DOF spindle head using CAD–CAE integration methodology

Accurate and rapid modeling and performance evaluation over the entire workspace is a crucially important issue in the design optimization of parallel kinematic machines (PKMs), especially for those dedicated for high-speed machining where high rigidity and high dynamics are the essential requirements. By taking a 3-DOF spindle head named A3 head as an example, this paper presents a feature-based CAD–CAE integration methodology for the static and dynamic analyses of PKMs. The approach can be implemented by four steps: (1) creation of a parameterized geometric (CAD) model with analysis features in SolidWorks; (2) extraction of the features from the CAD model using the Application Programming Interface (API) available in SolidWorks; (3) formulation of a CAD model in SAMCEF by mapping the configuration features from SolidWorks to SAMCEF; and (4) conversion of the analysis features into a scripting language named Bacon for Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The merit of this approach lies in that the FE model at different configurations can be updated automatically in batch mode, and PKMs having different topologies can be modeled with ease thanks to the down to link/joint level featuring. The experiment is also carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach

The mediating effect of body mass index on the relationship between cigarette smoking and atopic sensitization in Chinese adults

Background: It is unclear whether the relationship between cigarette smoking and atopy is mediated by body fat mass, such as the Body Mass Index (BMI). We assessed the mediating role of BMI on the relationship between smoking and atopy in Chinese adults. Methods: A hospital-based case-control study of 786 atopic cases and 2771 controls was conducted in adults aged 18 years or older from March 2010 to September 2014 in Harbin, China. Mediation models were used to estimate the indirect effects of smoking on atopic sensitization through BMI. Results: Compared to non-smokers, light smokers and moderate smokers had a lower risk of inhalant allergen sensitization. The indirect effect of smoking and sensitization to aeroallergens were only observed in light smokers (point estimate, -0.026; 95% CI, -0.062 to -0.004). The mediating roles of BMI on the relationships between smoking and other types of allergic sensitization were not statistically significant. Conclusion: BMI appeared to partially mediate the effect of light smoking on sensitization to aeroallergens. However, considering the other harmful health effects of cigarette smoking, the effective method to lower the incidence of atopy would be to decrease body fat mass by physical exercise and employing other more healthy ways of living rather than smoking

Exploring Large Language Models for Communication Games: An Empirical Study on Werewolf

Communication games, which we refer to as incomplete information games that heavily depend on natural language communication, hold significant research value in fields such as economics, social science, and artificial intelligence. In this work, we explore the problem of how to engage large language models (LLMs) in communication games, and in response, propose a tuning-free framework. Our approach keeps LLMs frozen, and relies on the retrieval and reflection on past communications and experiences for improvement. An empirical study on the representative and widely-studied communication game, ``Werewolf'', demonstrates that our framework can effectively play Werewolf game without tuning the parameters of the LLMs. More importantly, strategic behaviors begin to emerge in our experiments, suggesting that it will be a fruitful journey to engage LLMs in communication games and associated domains.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures and 4 table

Position-Enhanced Visual Instruction Tuning for Multimodal Large Language Models

Recently, Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) that enable Large Language Models (LLMs) to interpret images through visual instruction tuning have achieved significant success. However, existing visual instruction tuning methods only utilize image-language instruction data to align the language and image modalities, lacking a more fine-grained cross-modal alignment. In this paper, we propose Position-enhanced Visual Instruction Tuning (PVIT), which extends the functionality of MLLMs by integrating an additional region-level vision encoder. This integration promotes a more detailed comprehension of images for the MLLM. In addition, to efficiently achieve a fine-grained alignment between the vision modules and the LLM, we design multiple data generation strategies to construct an image-region-language instruction dataset. Finally, we present both quantitative experiments and qualitative analysis that demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model. Code and data will be released at https://github.com/PVIT-official/PVIT

Pseudomyxoma peritonei induced by low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm accompanied by rectal cancer: a case report and literature review

Abstract Background Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a disease involving the peritoneum characterized by the production of large quantities of mucinous ascites. PMP has a low incidence, is difficult to diagnose, and has a guarded prognosis. PMP induced by low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm is extremely rare, and PMP accompanied by rectal cancer is even rarer. Case presentation We present a unique case of a 70-year-old male with PMP induced by low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm accompanied by rectal cancer. The patient’s clinical, surgical, and histologic data were reviewed. The patient had persistent distended abdominal pain without radiating lower back pain, abdominal distension for 1 month, and no exhaustion or defecation for 4 days. A transabdominal ultrasound-guided biopsy was performed on the first day. The patient received an emergency exploratory laparotomy because of increased abdominal pressure. We performed cytoreductive surgery, enterolysis, intestinal decompression, special tumour treatment and radical resection of rectal carcinoma. The postoperative course was uneventful. The postoperative histological diagnoses were PMP, low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm and rectal medium differentiated adenocarcinoma. At the 1-year follow-up visit, no tumour recurrence was observed by computed tomography (CT). We also performed a literature review. Conclusions We should be aware that PMP can rarely be accompanied by rectal cancer, which represents an easily missed diagnosis and increases the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, there are some typical characteristics of PMP with respect to diagnosis and treatment

A novel active islanding fault detection based on even harmonics injection and set-membership filtering

This paper proposes a novel active islanding fault detection method based on even harmonics injection and set-membership filtering for the distributed generation systems. Traditional active islanding detections are mainly adding disturbances to frequency or phase of the voltage reference signal. The proposed active method detects islanding fault by injecting even-order harmonics into the current reference signal and monitoring the changes of corresponding voltage harmonics using set-membership filtering. This paper gives the principle of this proposed detection method and analyzes the range of injected even harmonics. We compare the differences of the even-order harmonic voltage between grid-connected and grid-off conditions. The proposed method has a number of advantages such as fast detection speed, almost no non-detection zone, and little impact on power quality. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by MATLAB/Simulink simulations. Kalman filtering contrast experiments are presented to confirm that the set-membership filtering is more effective in islanding detection

A novel active islanding fault detection based on even harmonics injection and set-membership filtering

This paper proposes a novel active islanding fault detection method based on even harmonics injection and set-membership filtering for the distributed generation systems. Traditional active islanding detections are mainly adding disturbances to frequency or phase of the voltage reference signal. The proposed active method detects islanding fault by injecting even-order harmonics into the current reference signal and monitoring the changes of corresponding voltage harmonics using set-membership filtering. This paper gives the principle of this proposed detection method and analyzes the range of injected even harmonics. We compare the differences of the even-order harmonic voltage between grid-connected and grid-off conditions. The proposed method has a number of advantages such as fast detection speed, almost no non-detection zone, and little impact on power quality. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by MATLAB/Simulink simulations. Kalman filtering contrast experiments are presented to confirm that the set-membership filtering is more effective in islanding detection

The Protective Effects of Curcumin on Experimental Acute Liver Lesion Induced by Intestinal Ischemia-Reperfusion through Inhibiting the Pathway of NF-κB in a Rat Model

Objective. In this study, we investigated the protective effect and mechanism of curcumin on a rat model of intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), which induces an acute liver lesion. Methods. Curcumin was injected into rats in the curcumin groups through left femoral vein. The same volume of vehicle (0.9% normal saline) was injected into sham and I/R groups. Blood and liver tissue were gathered for serological and histopathological determination. Results. Intestinal I/R led to severe liver injury manifested as a significant increase in serum AST and ALT levels; all of those were reduced by treatment with curcumin. Simultaneously, the activity of SOD in liver decreased after intestinal I/R, which was increased by curcumin treatment. On the other hand, curcumin reduced MPO activity of liver tissue, as well as serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels observably. This is in parallel with the decreased level of liver intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) expression. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that curcumin treatment attenuates liver lesion induced by intestinal I/R, attributable to the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effect via inhibition of the NF-κB pathway