Therapeutic effect of nerve growth factor on cerebral infarction in dogs using the hemisphere anomalous volume ratio of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

A model of focal cerebral ischemic infarction was established in dogs through middle cerebral artery occlusion of the right side.Thirty minutes after occlusion,models were injected with nerve growth factor adjacent to the infarct locus.The therapeutic effect of nerve growth factor against cerebral infarction was assessed using the hemisphere anomalous volume ratio,a quantitative index of diffusion-weighted MRI.At 6 hours,24 hours,7 days and 3 months after modeling,the hemisphere anomalous volume ratio was significantly reduced after treatment with nerve growth factor. Hematoxylin-eosin staining,immunohistochemistry,electron microscopy and neurological function scores showed that infarct defects were slightly reduced and neurological function significantly improved after nerve growth factor treatment.This result was consistent with diffusion-weighted MRI measurements.Experimental findings indicate that nerve growth factor can protect against cerebral infarction,and that the hemisphere anomalous volume ratio of diffusion-weighted MRI can be used to evaluate the therapeutic effect.

Improved designed method of pervious concrete based on optimal volume ratio of paste to aggregate

An improved design method of pervious concrete was proposed to lower the deviation between the designed and actual porosity and maintain both mechanical property and permeability of pervious concrete. The improved design method is mainly based on the optimal volume ratio of paste to aggregate(VRPA), which was determined by testing the average thickness of cement paste coating aggregate. The performances of pervious concrete designed by the traditional method and the improved one were compared. The results show that with the increase of designed porosity, the reduction of compressive strength and flexural strength of pervious concrete designed by the improved method is significantly smaller than those designed by the traditional one. The maximum deviation between the designed and actual porosity of the pervious concrete by the improved method is only 1.54%, which is far less than 8.7% obtained by the traditional one. Micro-structural analysis shows that the porous distribution of pervious concrete designed by improved method exhibits better uniformity.

Effect of melt-to-solid volume ratio and preheating temperature on Mg/Al bimetals interface by centrifugal casting

Compound casting is an efficient method for bonding dissimilar metals,in which a dramatic reaction can occur between the melt and solid.The centrifugal casting process,a type of compound casting,was applied to cast Al/Mg dissimilar bimetals.Magnesium melt was poured at 700 °C,with melt-to-solid volume ratios(Vm/Vs) of 1.5 and 3,into a preheated hollow aluminum cylinder.The preheating temperatures of the solid part were 320,400,and 450 °C,and the constant rotational speed was 1,600 rpm.The cast parts were kept inside the casting machine until reaching the cooling temperature of 150 °C.The result showed that an increase in preheating temperature from 320 to 450 °C led to an enhanced reaction layer thickness.In addition,an increase in the Vm/Vs from 1.5 to 3 resulted in raising the interface thickness from 1.2 to 1.8 mm.Moreover,the interface was not continuously formed when a Vm/Vs of 3 was selected.In this case,the force of contraction overcame the resultant acting force on the interface.An interface formed at the volume ratio of 1.5 was examined using scanning electron microscopy(SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS),and the results demonstrated the formation of Al_(3)Mg_(2),Al_(12)Mg_(17) and(δ+Al_(12)Mg_(17)) eutectic structures in the interface.

COMPATIBLE STEM TAPER AND VOLUME RATIO EQUATION FOR KOREAN PINE

Based on 29 stems analysis and 140 sample trees of nature Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sib.et Zucc.) measured on the Xiaoxing'an Mountain, effects of age ranged from 20 to 300 years on stem form were discussed and a compatible taper and volume ratio system was developed. The merchantable cubic-metre volume ratio table of varying log rules was constructed for nature Korean pine in this paper. Results indicated that age classes were regarded as a totality to develop taper equation. The compatible tree profile and volume ratio equation developed in this paper can be used to obtain estimates of individual tree volumes and stem profile or volume of varying merchantability limits.

A Modified Bi-Directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization Procedure with Variable Evolutionary Volume Ratio Applied to Multi-Objective Topology Optimization Problem

Natural frequency and dynamic stiffness under transient loading are two key performances for structural design related to automotive,aviation and construction industries.This article aims to tackle the multi-objective topological optimization problem considering dynamic stiffness and natural frequency using modified version of bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization(BESO).The conventional BESO is provided with constant evolutionary volume ratio(EVR),whereas low EVR greatly retards the optimization process and high EVR improperly removes the efficient elements.To address the issue,the modified BESO with variable EVR is introduced.To compromise the natural frequency and the dynamic stiffness,a weighting scheme of sensitivity numbers is employed to form the Pareto solution space.Several numerical examples demonstrate that the optimal solutions obtained from the modified BESO method have good agreement with those from the classic BESO method.Most importantly,the dynamic removal strategy with the variable EVR sharply springs up the optimization process.Therefore,it is concluded that the modified BESO method with variable EVR can solve structural design problems using multi-objective optimization.

Combined effects of volume ratio and nitrate recycling ratio on nutrient removal,sludge characteristic and microbial evolution for DPR optimization

The optimization of volume ratio(V_(An)/V_(A)/V_(0))and nitrate recycling ratio(R)in a two-sludge denitrifying phosphorus removal(DPR)process of Anaerobic Anoxic Oxic-Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor(A^(2)/O-MBBR)was investigated.The results showed that prolonged anaerobic retention time(HRT An:1.25→3.75 hr)exerted favorable effect on chemical oxygen demand(COD)removal(57.26%→73.54%),poly-β-hydroxyalkanoates(PHA)synthesis(105.70→138.12 mg COD/L)and PO_(4)^(3-)release(22.3→38.9 mg/L).However,anoxic retention time(HRT A)and R exhibited positive correlation with PHA utilization(43.87%-81.34%)and denitrifying phosphorus removal(DPR)potential(NO_(3)-/PO^(3-)_(4):0.57-1.34 mg/mg),leading to dramatical TN removal variations from 68.86%to 81.28%.Under the V An/V A/V O ratio of 2:6:0,sludge loss deteriorated nutrient removals but the sludge bioactivity quickly recovered when the oxic zone was recovered.The sludge characteristic and microstructure gradually transformed under the dissolved oxygen(DO)control(1.0-1.5→1.5-2.0 mg/L),in terms of sludge volume index(SVI:194→57 m L/g VSS),median-particle-size(D 50:99.6→300.5μm),extracellular polymeric substances(EPS)(105.62→226.18 mg/g VSS)and proteins/polysaccharides(PN/PS)ratio(1.52→3.46).Fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)results showed that phosphorus accumulation organisms(PAOs)(mainly Cluster I of Accumulibacter,contribution ratio:91.79%-94.10%)dominated the superior DPR performance,while glycogen accumulating organisms(GAOs)(mainly Competibacter,contribution ratio:82.61%-86.89%)was responsible for deteriorative TN and PO_(4)^(3-)removals.The optimal HRT A and R assembled around 5-6.5 hr and 300%-400%based on the PHA utilization and DRP performance,and the oxic zones also contributed to PO_(4)^(3-)removal although it showed low dependence on DO concentration and oxic retention time(HRT_(0)).

Destructive and non-destructive evaluation of concrete for optimum sand to aggregate volume ratio

Aggregates are the biggest contributor to concrete volume and are a crucial parameter in dictating its mechanical properties.As such,a detailed experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of sand-toaggregate volume ratio(s/a)on the mechanical properties of concrete utilizing both destructive and non-destructive testing(employing UPV(ultrasonic pulse velocity)measurements).For investigation,standard cylindrical concrete samples were made with different s/a(0.36,0.40,0.44,0.48,0.52,and 0.56),cement content(340 and 450 kg/m^(3)),water-to-cement ratio(0.45 and 0.50),and maximum aggregate size(12 and 19 mm).The effect of these design parameters on the 7,14,and 28 d compressive strength,tensile strength,elastic modulus,and UPV of concrete were assessed.The careful analysis demonstrates that aggregate proportions and size need to be optimized for formulating mix designs;optimum ratios of s/a were found to be 0.40 and 0.44 for the maximum aggregate size of 12 and 19 mm,respectively,irrespective of the W/C(water-to-cement)and cement content.

Liver and spleen volume variations in patients with hepatic fibrosis

AIM： To study the liver and spleen volume variations in hepatic fibrosis patients at different histopathological stages. METHODS： Multidetector computed tomography （MDCT） scan was performed in 85 hepatic fibrosis patients. Liver volume （LV） and spleen volume （SV） were measured. Fifteen healthy individuals served as a control group （SO）. The patients were divided into stage 1 （S1） group （n = 34）, stage 2 （S2） group （n = 25）, stage 3 （S3） group （n = 16）, and stage 4 （S4） group （n = 10） according to their histopathological stage of liver fibrosis. RESULTS： The LV and standard LV （SLV） had a tendency to increase with the severity of fibrosis, but no statistical difference was observed in the 5 groups （LV： F = 0.245, P = 0.912; SLV： F = 1.902, P = 0.116）. The SV was gradually increased with the severity of fibrosis, and a statistically significant difference in SV was observed among the 5 groups （P 〈 0.01）. The LV/SV ratio and SLV/SV ratio were gradually decreased with the aggravation of hepatic fibrosis, and statistically significant differences in both LV/SV and SLV/SV were found among the 5 groups （P 〈 0.01）.CONCLUSION： The absence of obvious LV reduction in patients with chronic liver disease may be a morphological index of patients without liver cirrhosis. The SV is related to the severity of fibrosis, and the spleen of patients with advanced fibrosis is enlarged evidently. The LV/SV ratio and SLV/SV ratio are of a significant clinical value in the diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis.

Neuroprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning in focal cerebral infarction: relationship with upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor

Neuroprotection by ischemic preconditioning has been confirmed by many studies, but the precise mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we performed cerebral ischemic pre- conditioning in rats by simulating a transient ischemic attack twice （each a 20-minute occlusion of the middle cerebral artery） before inducing focal cerebral infarction （2 hour occlusion-reper- fusion in the same artery）. We also explored the mechanism underlying the neuroprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning. Seven days after ocdusion-reperfusion, tetrazolium chloride staining and immunohistochemistry revealed that the infarct volume was significantly smaller in the group that underwent preconditioning than in the model group. Furthermore, vascular endothelial growth factor immunoreactivity was considerably greater in the hippocampal CA3 region of preconditioned rats than model rats. Our results suggest that the protective effects of ischemic preconditioning on focal cerebral infarction are associated with upregulation of vascu- lar endothelial growth factor.

Experiment on mechanical properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete and application in deep underground engineering

Specimens of steel fiber reinforced concrete （SFRC） in volume ratios of 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% were prepared to study the supporting effect of SFRC at these diffterent volume ratios in a deep soft rock tunnel. Experiments with mechanical properties of compressive strength in cubic specimens, cleave strength in cylindrical specimens and four-point flexure strength of sheet metal specimens were carded out. The experimental results indicate that SFRC in a volume ratio of 1% is superior in ranking to other volume ratios in terms of technique and economics. By means of a numerical simulation, given the characteristics of soft rock deformation and damage at great depth, a new support substitution scheme of SFRC to replace plain concrete is proposed. The results of an industrial trial show that the support provided by SFRC can withstand large deformations of the surrounding rock. Good resuits have been obtained in a practical anplication.

Selective ensemble modeling based on nonlinear frequency spectral feature extraction for predicting load parameter in ball mills

Strong mechanical vibration and acoustical signals of grinding process contain useful information related to load parameters in ball mills. It is a challenge to extract latent features and construct soft sensor model with high dimensional frequency spectra of these signals. This paper aims to develop a selective ensemble modeling approach based on nonlinear latent frequency spectral feature extraction for accurate measurement of material to ball volume ratio. Latent features are first extracted from different vibrations and acoustic spectral segments by kernel partial least squares. Algorithms of bootstrap and least squares support vector machines are employed to produce candidate sub-models using these latent features as inputs. Ensemble sub-models are selected based on genetic algorithm optimization toolbox. Partial least squares regression is used to combine these sub-models to eliminate collinearity among their prediction outputs. Results indicate that the proposed modeling approach has better prediction performance than previous ones.

Diagnostic Value of Quantitative Parameters of DCE-MRI in Endometrial Carcinoma and Its Correlation with Clinicopathological Factors

In the study,108 patients with endometrial cancer were selected as the observation group,and 105 patients with benign endometrial lesions were selected as the control group.After DCE-MRI examination,it was found that the volume transfer constant(K^(trans)),rate constant(K_(e))and extracellular space volume ratio(V_(e))in the observation group were higher than those in the control group(P<0.05).The area under curve(AUC)of combined K^(trans),K_(e) and V_(e) values in the diagnosis of endometrial cancer was 0.841.The values of K^(trans),K_(e )and V_(e) were positively correlated with the clinical stage and the degree of muscular invasion,but negatively correlated with the degree of differentiation(P<0.05).The results of the study suggested that DCE-MRI quantitative parameters have a certain value in the differential diagnosis of endometrial cancer,which helped to further distinguish the degree of muscular invasion,clinical stage,and differentiation of endometrial cancer patients.

Theoretical Distribution of Gutta-percha within Root Canals Filled Using Cold Lateral Compaction Based on Numeric Calculus

This study aimed to present a new method based on numeric calculus to provide data on the theoretical volume ratio of voids when using the cold lateral compaction technique in canals with various diameters and tapers. Twenty-one simulated mathematical root canal models were created with different tapers and sizes of apical diameter, and were filled with defined sizes of standardized accessory gutta-percha cones. The areas of each master and accessory gutta-percha cone as well as the depth of their insertion into the canals were determined mathematically in Microsoft Excel. When the first accessory gutta-percha cone had been positioned, the residual area of void was measured. The areas of the residual voids were then measured repeatedly upon insertion of additional accessary cones until no more could be inserted in the canal. The volume ratio of voids was calculated through measurement of the volume of the root canal and mass of gutta-percha cones. The theoretical volume ratio of voids was influenced by the taper of canal, the size of apical preparation and the size of accessory gutta-percha cones. Greater apical preparation size and larger taper together with the use of smaller accessory cones reduced the volume ratio of voids in the apical third. The mathematical model provided a precise method to determine the theoretical volume ratio of voids in root-filled canals when using cold lateral compaction.

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of the Relationship between Pressure and Drip Rate in a Vertical Polypropylene Infusion Bag

Vertical infusion(self-emptying)bags used for Intravenous infusion are typically obtained by moulding a soft envelope of polypropylene.In normal conditions a continuous flow of liquid can be obtained with no need to use a pump.In the present study,the relationship between air pressure effects and the drug drip rate have been investigated experimentally and numerically.After determining relevant experimental data about the descending height of liquid level,the dropping speed and pressure,the ordinary least square method and MATLAB have been used to reconstruct the related variation and interrelation laws.Numerical simulations have been performed to determine the best gas-liquid volume ratio and improve the overall performances of these bags.According to these results,that the biggest effect on the drip rate is produced by the diameters of the used needles.

Engineering practice of reducing ground subsidence by grouting into overburden bed-separated and similar model experiment

The subsidence prediction theory under the condition of grouting into bedseparated was developed. Reducing ground subsidence by grouting was carried out on eight fully-mechanized top-coal caving faces, by using the continuous grouting in multiple-layer to obtain experiment results of reducing subsidence under fully mining. The similar material model that can be dismantled under the condition of constant temperature and constant humidity was developed. The model was used to simulate the evolution of overburden bed-separated under such constraints of temperature and humidity, at the same time, and to test the hardening process of similar materials.

Influence of notch volume on mechanical properties of a novel high-strength and high-toughness steel

The effect of notch volume on the mechanical behavior of a novel high-strength and high-toughness steel with negative Poisson’s ratio effect(called NPR steel)was studied.First,the quasi-static tensile test of NPR steel with different notch volumes was carried out,and its failure characteristics and mechanical properties parameters were studied.Then,the modified Johnson-Cook(J-C)constitutive model with coupled notch volume ratio was proposed.The model was validated based on three-dimensional finite element numerical simulations.The results show that the engineering stress–strain curve of NPR steel has no yield platform,and has the mechanical properties of high strength,high elongation,and high energy absorption.Notch volume significantly affects the mechanical properties of NPR steel.The elongation,yield strength,tensile strength,and energy absorption characteristics of steel bar gradually decrease with the increase in notch volume.The notch volume ratio V^{*},a characteristic parameter describing the notch volume of reinforcement,is defined,and the quantitative relationship between this parameter and mechanical parameters is established,which can accurately characterize the mechanical properties of specimens with different notch volume ratios.Based on the true stress–strain curves with different notch volume ratios,a constitutive model with modified Johnson-Cook model parameters is proposed.The finite element results show that the modified J-C model can accurately fit the quasi-static tensile mechanical behavior of NPR steel.

Investigation of acoustic attributes based on preference and perceptional acoustics of Korean traditional halls for optimal design solutions

Immersed in the rich tapestry of traditional culture,Gugak,the traditional Korean music stands as a captivating embodiment of artistic expression.This study embarked on a comprehensive evaluation of a Gugak hall,employing acoustic measurements,computer simulations,and subjective perception surveys.The evaluation focused on the reverberance,clarity,spatial impression,and preference,unravelling the secrets that shape the immersive Gugak experience.Through intricate computer simulations and auralization,the experience of Gugak performances was meticulously brought to life,allowing exploration under diverse conditions by adjusting stage volume ratios from -20% to+20% and modifying the interior materials,including the walls,ceiling,and lateral reflectors.Although Gugak halls exhibited relatively low values of reverberation time(RT),early decay time(EDT),and binaural quality index(BQI)the dominant factor influencing the acoustic environment was the effect of sound strength(G).Musical clarity(C80)value did not show an inverse proportionality to the reverberation time.Furthermore,genre differences between traditional Korean and Western classical music did not significantly affect listeners’perception and satisfaction with regards to reverberance,clarity,and spatial impression.As a result,Gugak halls can adhere to the same acoustic design criteria as Western orchestra halls,since this study found that people perceived them the same way.In this study,sound strength was found to be strongly correlated with perception indicators.It was possible to enhance listeners’perception and preference regarding the acoustic environment through material and structural changes to the sidewalls and ceiling.These changes improved the reinforcement of low frequencies and simultaneously enhanced the relative effect of side reflections.Additionally,enhancing the reflection and spatial characteristics of the materials effectively improved listener preference.Based on these findings,an optimal design solution was proposed.

Fabrication and characterization of NiO films for energetic nano-multilayers by direct current reactive sputtering

NiO films were fabricated by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering on glass and alumina substrates for the application in energetic nano-multilayers. The structural and thermal properties of the films were investigated with the volume ratio of oxygen to argon ranging from 1：9 to 3：2, and the optimized ratio value is obtained as 1：3, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, atomic force microscopy and ultrafast measure- ment system. The effect of the film thickness, varying from 150 to 900 nm, on the structural properties was characterized by XRD and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. XRD analysis reveals that the （111） lattice plane is the preferred orientation. The intensities of preferential peaks and the grain sizes increase as the film thicknesses increase.

Manifolds with pinched 2-positive curvature operator

In this paper, we show that any complete Riemannian manifold of dimension great than 2 must be compact if it has positive complex sectional curvature and δ-pinched 2-positive curvature operator, namely, the sum of the two smallest eigenvalues of curvature operator are bounded below by δ.scal 〉 O. If we relax the restriction of positivity of complex sectional curvature to non- negativity, we can also show that the manifold is compact under the additional condition of positive asymptotic volume ratio.

Estimation of the minimum miscibility pressure for CO_(2)ecrude-oil systems by molecular dynamics simulation

CO_(2)injection is an effective enhanced oil recovery technique for energy security with the benefits of carbon neutrality.To reach the maximum oil recovery,the miscible condition between CO_(2)and oil needs to be maintained in the reservoir,which requires the operation pressure to be higher than the minimum miscibility pressure(MMP).There are two types of MMPs:the first-contact MMP(FC-MMP)and the multi-contact MMP(MC-MMP).In this study,molecular dynamics simulations were performed for the CO_(2)eoil interface system using two simplified digital oil models:a Bakken dead oil with four lumping components and a live-crude-oil model with 50 types of oil molecules but with no asphaltenes and heavy oil fractions.The vanishing interfacial tension method was used to predict the MMP.Different CO_(2)eoil volume ratios were considered to mimic the different degrees of vaporization.To estimate the MMP accurately and rapidly,the interfacial tension in the low-pressure regime was used for the prediction.Consequently,different MMPs were obtained,where the MMP value increased with increasing CO_(2)eoil volume ratio.FC-MMP can be predicted when the CO_(2)eoil volume ratio is sufficiently high.When the CO_(2)eoil volume ratio was approximately 9e10,MMP was closest to the actual MC-MMP value.The condensing and vaporizing mechanism was also studied at the molecular scale.Because pure CO_(2)was used,only the vaporizing effect on MMP occurred.It was found that the intermediate C2eC6 components have the main effect on the MMP calculation.This study can help to establish a computational protocol to estimate FC-MMP and MC-MMP,which are widely used in reservoir engineering.