Image Non-Uniformity Correction in 3T Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Comparison among Different Software Versions

Background: Non-uniformity in signal intensity occurs commonly in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, which may pose substantial problems when using a 3T scanner. Therefore, image non-uniformity correction is usually applied. Purpose: To compare the correction effects of the phased-array uniformity enhancement (PURE), a calibration-based image non-uniformity correction method, among three different software versions in 3T Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Material and Methods: Hepatobiliary-phase images of a total of 120 patients who underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging on the same 3T scanner were analyzed retrospectively. Forty patients each were examined using three software versions (DV25, DV25.1, and DV26). The effects of PURE were compared by visual assessment, histogram analysis of liver signal intensity, evaluation of the spatial distribution of correction effects, and evaluation of quantitative indices of liver parenchymal enhancement. Results: The visual assessment indicated the highest uniformity of PURE-corrected images for DV26, followed by DV25 and DV25.1. Histogram analysis of corrected images demonstrated significantly larger variations in liver signal for DV25.1 than for the other two versions. Although PURE caused a relative increase in pixel values for central and lateral regions, such effects were weaker for DV25.1 than for the other two versions. In the evaluation of quantitative indices of liver parenchymal enhancement, the liver-to-muscle ratio (LMR) was significantly higher for the corrected images than for the uncorrected images, but the liver-to-spleen ratio (LSR) showed no significant differences. For corrected images, the LMR was significantly higher for DV25 and DV26 than for DV25.1, but the LSR showed no significant differences among the three versions. Conclusion: There were differences in the effects of PURE among the three software versions in 3T Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Even if the non-uniformity correction method has the same brand name, correction effects may differ depending on the software version, and these differences may affect visual and quantitative evaluations.

Radial Non-uniformity Index Research on High-density,High-flux CFB Riser with Stratified Injection

A high-density, high-flux circulating fluidized bed （CFB） riser （100 mm in ID and 10.614 m in height） was ap- plied in a wide range of operating conditions （with solid fluxes up to 400 kg/m2s and superficial gas velocities up to 12 m/s） to examine its radial non-uniformity dynamics. The solids holdup was determined through the use of a fiber-optic probe at 11 axial levels. The results indicated that under all operating conditions, the high superficial gas velocity and low solid flux- es maintained a low radial non-uniformity index （RNI）. The high-density/flux CFB riser had several unique characteristics, so that the peak of the radial solids holdup profile occurred at a position with r/R=0.8. The RNI and solids holdup at the cross-sectional position had a good logarithmic relationship at the low-density condition （with a mean solids holdup of 〈0.2）, and the RNI decreased when the mean solids holdup exceeded 0.2. Investigation of the dynamics of stratified injec- tion revealed that the feed ratio had an important effect on G, and on solids holdup distribution. A novel ＂〈＂ shaped axial solids holdup profile was found. Gs decreased sharply when the up-flow feed ratio exceeded 0.5, and RNI was lowest when the up-flow feed ratio was 1.

Numerical Simulation of the Impact of Urban Non-uniformity on Precipitation

To evaluate the influence of urban non-uniformity on precipitation, the area of a city was divided into three categories （commercial, high-density residential, and low-density residential） according to the building density data from Landsat satel- lites. Numerical simulations of three corresponding scenarios （urban non-uniformity, urban uniformity, and non-urban） were performed in Nanjing using the WRF model. The results demonstrate that the existence of the city results in more precip- itation, and that urban heterogeneity enhances this phenomenon. For the urban non-uniformity, uniformity, and non-urban experiments, the mean cumulative summer precipitation was 423.09 mm, 407.40 mm, and 389.67 mm, respectively. Urban non-uniformity has a significant effect on the amount of heavy rainfall in summer. The cumulative precipitation from heavy rain in the summer for the three numerical experiments was 278.2 mm, 250.6 mm, and 236.5 mm, respectively. In the non- uniformity experiments, the amount of precipitation between 1500 and 2200 （LST） increased significantly. Furthermore, the adoption of urban non-uniformity into the WRF model could improve the numerical simulation of summer rain and its daily variation.

Effect of heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on in-cylinder soot emission formation in diesel engine

Combustion chamber components （cylinder head, cylinder liner, piston assembly and oil film） are treated as a coupled body. Based on the three-dimensional numerical simulation of heat transfer of the coupled body, a coupled three-dimensional calculation model for the in-cylinder working process and the combustion chamber components was built with domain decomposition and boundary coupling method, in which the coupled three-dimensional simulation of in-cylindcr working process and the combustion chamber components was adopted. The simulation was applied in the influence investigation of the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among combustion chamber components on the generation of in-cylinder emissions. The results show that the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among the combustion chamber components has great influence on the generation of in-cylinder NOx emissions. The heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components has little effect on soot formation, and far less effect on soot formation than on NOx. Under two situations of different wall temperature distributions, the soot in cylinder is different by 1.3% when exhaust valves are open.

Non-Uniformity of Heavy-Ion Beam Irradiation on a Direct-Driven Pellet in Inertial Confinement Fusion

Heavy-ion-driven fusion （HIF） is a scheme to achieve inertial confinement fusion （ICF）. Investigation of the non-uniformity of heavy-ion beam （HIB） irradiation is one of the key issues for ICF driven by powerful heavy-ion beams. Ions in HIB impinge on the pellet surface and deposit their energy in a relatively deep and wide area. Therefore, the non-uniformity of HIB irradiation should be evaluated in the volume of the deposition area in the absorber layer. By using the OK1 code with some corrections, the non-uniformity of heavy-ion beam irradiation for the different ion beams on two kinds of targets were evaluated in 12-beam, 20-beam, 60-beam and 120-beam irradiation schemes. The root-mean-square （RMS） non-uniformity value becomes aRMS = 8.39% in an aluminum mono-layer pellet structure and aRMS = 6.53% in a lead-aluminum layer target for the 12-uranium-beam system. The RMS non-uniformity for the lead-aluminum layer target was lower than that for the mono-layer target. The RMS and peak-to-valley （PTV） non-uniformities are reduced with the increase in beam number, and low at the Bragg peak layer.

Study on effect of heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on in-cylinder NOx emission formation in internal combustion engine

The components of combustion chamber (cylinder head-cylinder liner-piston assembly-oil film) were taken as a coupled body.Based on the three-dimensional heat transfer numerical simulation of the coupled body,a coupled three-dimensional calculation model for in-cylinder working process and the combustion chamber components was built with domain decomposition and boundary coupled method,which implements the coupled three-dimensional simulation of in-cylinder working process and the combustion chamber components.The model was applied in the influence investigation of the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among combustion chamber components on the generation of in-cylinder emissions:NOx.The results showed that the heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components directly influences the formation of in-cylinder NOx.The main area being influenced was the accessory area on the wall,while the influence on the generation of NOx in the central area couold be omitted.

The coefficient of variation representing the non-uniformity of the strain field and its implication to detect earthquake precursor

Before the major earthquake or rock damage occurs,it is often accompanied by a sudden change in the degree of non-uniformity of the strain field.In order to find a stronger non-uniformity signal before the rock failure,the coefficient of variation(Cv)is examined and reformed in this study.We test the Cv calculation way of the"normal-abnormal"model proposed in the previous studies.Based on the analysis of the physical process of rock failure and its relationship to the shear strain field,we construct a new way to calculate the Cv value.The variation of shear strain field on rock sample with the increase of stress is obtained by the digital speckle correlation method(DSCM).The new Cv value calculation way is used to study the non-uniformity of the spatial distribution for the shear strain field.The results show that this Cv calculation way can get more obvious abnormal signals.When the number of observation points are limited,the specific distribution of points can increase the signal strength,which may provide reference for the research on precursor detection of earthquakes.

Improved Non-uniformity Correction Method for Uncooled Microbolometer

The uncooled microbolometer has a severe temperature requirement for non-uniformity correction. An improved two-point non-uniformity correction method is proposed, which can operate in wider uniform substrate temperatures. This method can control the bias voltage of MOS transistors by memory and DAC to meet two restrictions about responsivity and offset before traditional two-point calibration is implemented. The simulation results seem that this non-uniformity correction can work at uniform substrate temperature with fluctuant range of 4K.

The non-uniformity study under geo-magnetic field of 20-inch MCP-PMT for LHAASO

Purpose The large diameter photon sensors are widely applied in astroparticle physics and neutrino physics experiment.Due to its large size,the geo-magnetic effect cannot be ignored.In this work,one 20-inch MCP-PMT are scanned under geo-magnetic field and magnetic shielding environment,and finally,the multi-parameter scanning results are given.Method In order to evaluate the response of MCP-PMTs,an automatic spherical scanning system based on stepper motor and quartz fiber was established.A comprehensive multi-point scanning was performed on the entire 20-inch MCP-PMT,and a multi parameter data scanning model was established.Our self-developed magnetic shielding was used to demonstrate the improvement of magnetic shielding on the ratio of signals,charge uniformity,and time characteristics of the 20-inch MCP-PMT.Results By comparing the results with and without magnetic shielding,it can be concluded that with magnetic shielding,the variation in charge spectrum and the ratio of signals are relatively smaller.At the same time,the composition of photon time spectrum has become simpler.The relative transit time and time spread of photons are reduced to a certain extent,and the uniformity of both is also improved.Conclusion The use of magnetic shielding has improved the various performance of MCP-PMT,preparing for future LHAASO and other experiments.

Failure mechanisms and destruction characteristics of cemented coal gangue backfill under compression effect of non-uniform load

Backfill mining is one of the most important technical means for controlling strata movement and reducing surface subsidence and environmental damage during exploitation of underground coal resources. Ensuring the stability of the backfill bodies is the primary prerequisite for maintaining the safety of the backfilling working face, and the loading characteristics of backfill are closely related to the deformation and subsidence of the roof. Elastic thin plate model was used to explore the non-uniform subsidence law of the roof, and then the non-uniform distribution characteristics of backfill bodies’ load were revealed. Through a self-developed non-uniform loading device combined with acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) monitoring technology, the synergistic dynamic evolution law of the bearing capacity, apparent crack, and internal fracture of cemented coal gangue backfills (CCGBs) under loads with different degrees of non-uniformity was deeply explored. The results showed that: 1) The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of CCGB increased and then decreased with an increase in the degree of non-uniformity of load (DNL). About 40% of DNL was the inflection point of DNL-UCS curve and when DNL exceeded 40%, the strength decreased in a cliff-like manner;2) A positive correlation was observed between the AE ringing count and UCS during the loading process of the specimen, which was manifested by a higher AE ringing count of the high-strength specimen. 3) Shear cracks gradually increased and failure mode of specimens gradually changed from “X” type dominated by tension cracks to inverted “Y” type dominated by shear cracks with an increase in DNL, and the crack opening displacement at the peak stress decreased and then increased. The crack opening displacement at 40% of the DNL was the smallest. This was consistent with the judgment of crack size based on the AE b-value, i. e., it showed the typical characteristics of “small b-value-large crack and large b-value-small crack”. The research results are of significance for preventing the instability and failure of backfill.

Study of the pressure transient behavior of directional wells considering the effect of non-uniform flux distribution

During the production,the fluid in the vicinity of the directional well enters the wellbore with different rates,leading to non-uniform flux distribution along the directional well.However,in all existing studies,it is oversimplified to a uniform flux distribution,which can result in inaccurate results for field applications.Therefore,this paper proposes a semi-analytical model of a directional well based on the assumption of non-uniform flux distribution.Specifically,the direction well is discretized into a carefully chosen series of linear sources,such that the complex well trajectory can be captured and the nonuniform flux distribution along the wellbore can be considered to model the three-dimensional flow behavior.By using the finite difference method,we can obtain the numerical solutions of the transient flow within the wellbore.With the aid of Green's function method,we can obtain the analytical solutions of the transient flow from the matrix to the wellbore.The complete flow behavior of a directional well is perfectly represented by coupling the above two types of transient flow.Subsequently,on the basis of the proposed model,we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the pressure transient behavior of a directional well.The computation results show that the flux variation along the direction well has a significant effect on pressure responses.In addition,the directional well in an infinite reservoir may exhibit the following flow regimes:wellbore afterflow,transition flow,inclined radial flow,elliptical flow,horizontal linear flow,and horizontal radial flow.The horizontal linear flow can be observed only if the formation thickness is much smaller than the well length.Furthermore,a dip region that appears on the pressure derivative curve indicates the three-dimensional flow behavior near the wellbore.

Effect of non-uniform swelling on coal multiphysics during gas injection: The triangle approach

In current dual porosity/permeability models,there exists a fundamental assumption that the adsorption-induced swelling is distributed uniformly within the representative elementary volume (REV),irrespective of its internal structures and transient processes.However,both internal structures and transient processes can lead to the non-uniform swelling.In this study,we hypothesize that the non-uniform swelling is responsible for why coal permeability in experimental measurements is not only controlled by the effective stress but also is affected by the adsorption-induced swelling.We propose a concept of the swelling triangle composed of swelling paths to characterize the evolution of the non-uniform swelling and serve as a core link in coupled multiphysics.A swelling path is determined by a dimensionless volumetric ratio and a dimensionless swelling ratio.Different swelling paths have the same start and end point,and each swelling path represents a unique swelling case.The swelling path as the diagonal of the triangle represents the case of the uniform swelling while that as the two perpendicular boundaries represents the case of the localized swelling.The paths of all intermediate cases populate inside the triangle.The corresponding relations between the swelling path and the response of coal multiphysics are established by a non-uniform swelling coefficient.We define this method as the triangle approach and corresponding models as swelling path-based ones.The proposed concept and models are verified against a long-term experimental measurement of permeability and strains under constant effective stress.Our results demonstrate that during gas injection,coal multiphysics responses have a close dependence on the swelling path,and that in both future experiments and field predictions,this dependence must be considered.

Pressure transient characteristics of non-uniform conductivity fractured wells in viscoelasticity polymer flooding based on oil-water two-phase flow

Polymer flooding in fractured wells has been extensively applied in oilfields to enhance oil recovery.In contrast to water,polymer solution exhibits non-Newtonian and nonlinear behavior such as effects of shear thinning and shear thickening,polymer convection,diffusion,adsorption retention,inaccessible pore volume and reduced effective permeability.Meanwhile,the flux density and fracture conductivity along the hydraulic fracture are generally non-uniform due to the effects of pressure distribution,formation damage,and proppant breakage.In this paper,we present an oil-water two-phase flow model that captures these complex non-Newtonian and nonlinear behavior,and non-uniform fracture characteristics in fractured polymer flooding.The hydraulic fracture is firstly divided into two parts:high-conductivity fracture near the wellbore and low-conductivity fracture in the far-wellbore section.A hybrid grid system,including perpendicular bisection(PEBI)and Cartesian grid,is applied to discrete the partial differential flow equations,and the local grid refinement method is applied in the near-wellbore region to accurately calculate the pressure distribution and shear rate of polymer solution.The combination of polymer behavior characterizations and numerical flow simulations are applied,resulting in the calculation for the distribution of water saturation,polymer concentration and reservoir pressure.Compared with the polymer flooding well with uniform fracture conductivity,this non-uniform fracture conductivity model exhibits the larger pressure difference,and the shorter bilinear flow period due to the decrease of fracture flow ability in the far-wellbore section.The field case of the fall-off test demonstrates that the proposed method characterizes fracture characteristics more accurately,and yields fracture half-lengths that better match engineering reality,enabling a quantitative segmented characterization of the near-wellbore section with high fracture conductivity and the far-wellbore section with low fracture conductivity.The novelty of this paper is the analysis of pressure performances caused by the fracture dynamics and polymer rheology,as well as an analysis method that derives formation and fracture parameters based on the pressure and its derivative curves.

An improved non-uniform fast Fourier transform method for radio imaging of coronal mass ejections

Radioheliographs can obtain solar images at high temporal and spatial resolution,with a high dynamic range.These are among the most important instruments for studying solar radio bursts,understanding solar eruption events,and conducting space weather forecasting.This study aims to explore the effective use of radioheliographs for solar observations,specifically for imaging coronal mass ejections(CME),to track their evolution and provide space weather warnings.We have developed an imaging simulation program based on the principle of aperture synthesis imaging,covering the entire data processing flow from antenna configuration to dirty map generation.For grid processing,we propose an improved non-uniform fast Fourier transform(NUFFT)method to provide superior image quality.Using simulated imaging of radio coronal mass ejections,we provide practical recommendations for the performance of radioheliographs.This study provides important support for the validation and calibration of radioheliograph data processing,and is expected to profoundly enhance our understanding of solar activities.

Motion equations of hemispherical resonator and analysis of frequency split caused by slight mass non-uniformity

The mass non-uniformity of hemispherical resonator is one of reasons for frequency split,and frequency split can cause gyroscope to drift.Therefore,it is of great significance to analyze the relationship between mass non-uniformity and frequency split,which can provide a theoretical basis for mass balance of imperfect resonator.The starting point of error mechanism analysis for gyroscope is the motion equations of resonator.Firstly,based on the Kirchhoff-Love hypothesis in the elastic thin shell theory,the geometric deformation equations of resonator are deduced.Secondly,the deformation energy equation of resonator is derived according to the vibration mode and relationship between the stress and strain of hemispherical thin shell.Thirdly,the kinetic energy equation of resonator is deduced by the Coriolis theorem.Finally,the motion equations of resonator are established by the Lagrange mechanics principle.The theoretical values of precession factor and natural frequency are calculated by the motion equations,which are substantially consistent with the ones by the finite element method and practical measurement,the errors are within a reasonable range.Simultaneously,the varying trend of natural frequency with respect to the geometrical and physical parameters of resonator by the motion equations is consistent with that by the finite element analysis.The above conclusions prove the correctness and rationality of motion equations.Similarly,the motion equations of resonator with mass non-uniformity are established by the same modeling method in case of ignoring the input angular rate and damping,and the state equations with respect to the velocity and displacement of vibration system are derived,then twonatural frequencies are solved by the characteristic equation.It is concluded that one of reasons for frequency split is the 4 th harmonic of mass non-uniformity,and thus much attention should be paid to minimizing the 4 th harmonic of mass non-uniformity in the course of mass balancing for imperfect resonator.

Contact stress non-uniformity of wafer surface for multi-zone chemical mechanical polishing process

A finite element analysis(FEA)model is developed for the chemical-mechanical polishing(CMP)process on the basis of a 12-in five-zone polishing head.The proposed FEA model shows that the contact stress non-uniformity is less dependent on the material property of the membrane and the geometry of the retaining ring.The larger the elastic modulus of the pad,the larger contact stress non-uniformity of the wafer.The applied loads on retaining ring and zone of the polishing head significantly affect the contact stress distribution.The stress adjustment ability of a zone depends on its position.In particular,the inner-side zone has a high stress adjustment ability,whereas the outer-side zone has a low stress adjustment ability.The predicted results by the model are shown to be consistent with the experimental data.Analysis results have revealed some insights regarding the performance of the multi-zone CMP.

Effects of radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on in-cylinder soot emission formation in diesel engine

Combustion chamber components (cylinder head-cylinder liner-piston assembly-fuel film) were treated as a coupled body. Based on the three-dimensional numerical simulation of heat transfer of the coupled body, the multi-dimensional simulation computation coupling flow and solid on working process and combustion chamber components of internal combustion engine was performed using Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) radiation heat transfer model, zoning solution method and boundary coupling method. The simulation was applied to the influence investigation of the space non-uniformity in radiation heat transfer among combustion chamber components on the generation of in-cylinder soot emissions. The results show that the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among the combustion chamber components has great influence on the generation of in-cylinder NOx emissions. The difference value of total soot in cylinder when exhaust valves are opened is 1.3% (no radiation), 0.8% (radiation). So the effect of radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on total soot production can be ignored. While in local area radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity has certain effect on soot production inside whole combustion chamber space, and has less effect on soot production in the area near the wall of combustion chamber components.

Numerical Study of the Air Bleeding Caused Non-Uniformity in Axial Compressor

Bleeding in the compressor is getting more and more attractive because the increasing demand of bleeding rate as the temperature of the first stage of turbine gets higher and needs more cooling air.Though plenty of work has been done about bleeding,however,most of the work is studied with a single passage or ignoring the real structure of the bleeding system.In the present study,multi-passage calculation was used through ANSYS CFX to consider the finite duct holes in the whole blade row,and the effect of the axial location of bleeding slot on the non-uniformity of the blade passage was investigated,and the non-uniform could maintain a low level when bleeding at the front part of the blade passage and the non-uniformity would become large when moving the bleeding slot much further downstream.Afterward,the air bleeding mass flow rate was studied.It’s found that the non-uniformity of air bleeding mass flow is small when bleeding at a low mass flow rate in each passage and results in relatively uniform flow field in the passage.However,the non-uniformity increases significantly as the bleeding mass flow rate increases.Some flow field details were also given to study how the flow field changes when bleeding non-uniformly.

Estimation of tunneling effect caused by luminance non-uniformity in head-up displays

Head-up displays （HUDs） enable a pilot to manage aircraft activities by facilitating simultaneous access to the flight instrument data and to the outside scene. However, HUDs can also distract a pilot. This study shows that HUD luminance non-uniformity may force inappropriate distribution of attention between the events shown on HUD symbology and the outside scene because of the resultant differential contrast in the display area. Results of statistical analysis demonstrate considerable effects of HUD image luminance and ambient luminance, as well as their interaction, on the detection of events displayed on an HUD and the outside scene.

Standing wave drift of hemispherical resonator with quality factor non-uniformity under a ring electrode excitation

Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope(HRG)is a classical high precision Coriolis Vibration Gyroscope(CVG),which performs attitude estimation of carrier by detecting the precession of standing wave of resonator,thus,the drift of standing wave of resonator has a great influence on the output accuracy of gyroscope,where the quality factor non-uniformity of resonator is one of main error sources.Ring electrode is a classical excitation structure of HRG because the standing wave can precess freely under its excitation,which makes the gyroscope have more accurate scale factor,larger measurement range and better dynamic characteristics.In this paper,the equations of motion of an ideal resonator excited by a ring electrode are derived by the elastic thin shell theory and Lagrange mechanical principle,then the corresponding equivalent mechanical model is established.According to the“average method”,it can be seen that the ideal resonator excited by the ring electrode works in integral mode,and any position in the circumferential direction of resonator can be a working point,which means that the quality factor non-uniformity has a great effect on the drift of standing wave.Therefore,the equations of motion of resonator with quality factor non-uniformity under the ring electrode excitation are deduced by the equivalent mechanical model,and the drift model of standing wave is established by the“average method”,it can be found that both the amplitude of quality factor non-uniformity and angle between the“inherent damping axis”and antinode axis of standing wave can affect the drift rate of standing wave.Moreover,the drift model indicates that if the input angular rate does not reach the threshold,the precession angular rate of standing wave will appear“self-locking”phenomenon,that is,the gyroscope will lose the integral effect.