Minimally invasive interventional therapy for pain

Pain interventional therapy,known as the most promising medical technology in the 21st century,refers to clinical treatment technology based on neuroanatomy,neuroimaging,and nerve block technology to treat pain diseases.Compared with traditional destructive surgery,interventional pain therapy is considered a better and more economical choice of treatment.In recent years,a variety of minimally invasive pain interventional therapy techniques,such as neuroregulation,spinal cord electrical stimulation,intervertebral disc ablation,and intrasheath drug infusion systems,have provided effective solutions for the treatment of patients with post-herpetic neuralgia,complex regional pain syndrome,cervical/lumbar disc herniation,and refractory cancer pain.

Using video imagery to reconstruct the 3D intertidal terrain along a beach with multiple cusps

A high-frequency,high-resolution shore-based video monitoring system(VMS)was installed on a macrotidal(tidal amplitude>4 m)beach with multiple cusps along the Quanzhou coast,China.Herein,we propose a video imagery-based method that is coupled with waterline and water level observations to reconstruct the terrain of the intertidal zone over one tidal cycle.Furthermore,the beach cusp system(BCS)was precisely processed and embedded into the digital elevation model(DEM)to more effectively express the microrelief and detailed characteristics of the intertidal zone.During a field experiment conducted in January 2022,the reconstructed DEM was deemed satisfactory.The DEM was verified by RTK-GPS and had an average vertical root mean square error along corresponding RTK-GPS-derived intertidal profiles and corresponding BCS points of 0.134 m and 0.065 m,respectively.The results suggest that VMSs are an effective tool for investigating coastal geomorphic processes.

Nourishment and disaster mitigation efficiency of feeding sand on the dry section of a dissipative beach

To explore the nourishment effect and disaster reduction efficiency of a fully dissipative dry beach under the impact of storms,this paper uses the measured topography and hydrodynamic data to establish a one-dimensional numerical model of the XBeach beach profile.By numerically modeling the change in the nourished profile for different dry beach widths under normal waves and storm conditions and the recovery process of the profile after the storm,the degree of response in dry beach nourishment for the fully dissipative beach is analyzed.The results show that under normal wave conditions,the response of the nourished dry beach is obvious.Sediment on the dry beach erodes heavily,and the shoreline moves landward over a long distance.With the increase in the width and size of the dry beach,the wave height at the bottom of the backshore profile decreases,the wave height attenuation rate increases continuously,and the wave elimination effect is remarkable.When the storm incident wave intensifies,the wave height attenuation rate of the nourished dry beach decreases,indicating that the smaller the storm intensity is,the more significant the wave reduction effect of the nourished dry beach is.At the same time,different profile arrangements of nourished dry beaches suffer from different degrees of erosion under storm conditions,with significant changes in profile morphology.With intensified storm action,the intensity of sediment erosion in the nourished dry beach increases,the nourishment is weakened,and the recovery effect of the profile after the storm is not obvious.The results of the numerical modeling highlight that the dry beach nourishment method can resist storms to a certain extent,but the overall effect is relatively limited.

Variation in cross-shore wind speeds influenced by the morphology of nourished beach

The cross-shore variation in wind speeds influenced by beach nourishment,especially the dramatic changes at the nourished berm,is important for understanding the aeolian sand transport processes that occur after beach nourishment,which will contribute to better beach nourishment project design on windy coasts.In this paper,the influencing factors and potential mechanism of wind speed variation at the edge of a nourished berm were studied.Field observations,together with the Duna model,were used to study the cross-shore wind speed distribution for different nourishment schemes.The results show that the nourished berm elevation and beachface slope are the main factors controlling the increase in wind speed at the berm edge.When the upper beach slope is constant,the wind speed at the berm edge has a positive linear correlation with the berm elevation.When the berm elevation remains constant,the wind speed at the berm edge is also proportional to the upper beach slope.Considering the coupling effects of nourished berm elevation and beachface slope,a model for predicting the wind speed amplification rate at the nourished berm edge was established,and the underlying coupling mechanism was illustrated.

Effect of fence opening configurations on dune development

Fences have been widely used in coastal protection engineering for their low cost,simple deployment,and easy integration with ecosystems.The effects of fence porosity and height on dune development have been investigated while not much attention has been paid to the effects of fence opening configurations,such as opening size and geometry,and porosity distributions.In this study,we deployed eight fences with same height and similar porosity,but different opening configurations on a sandy beach in Pingtan,Fujian Province.Results indicate that there is a similar two-dune-one-trough pattern for all fences at the beginning of dune development,and opening size,orientation,and geometry,and porosity distribution control the leeward dune peak locations.Fences with small openings and non-uniform porosity have high trapping efficiency,and upper denser porosity may be the optimal design as these fences have the highest trapping efficiency and capacity.The conclusions from this study can provide guidance on practical fence design.