BACKGROUND The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing annually.Clinical routine thyroid surgery can be performed under a cervical plexus block,but cannot mediate the stress response during the surgery.If thyroid su...BACKGROUND The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing annually.Clinical routine thyroid surgery can be performed under a cervical plexus block,but cannot mediate the stress response during the surgery.If thyroid surgery is performed under nerve block,an inappropriate level of blockade may occur.Similarly,the stress response caused by surgery is more serious than that caused by conventional anesthesia.Therefore,it is important to combine blockade with more effective anesthesia methods.AIM To investigate the effects of combining sevoflurane-dexmedetomidine inhalation general anesthesia with the cervical plexus nerve block on the post-surgical levels of the serum oxidative stress biomarkers levels in thyroid cancer patients.METHODS We enrolled 96 thyroid cancer patients admitted to the hospital between January 2019 and December 2020.Participants were divided into a control group(n=47)and an experimental group(n=49).The experimental group received a combination of inhaled sevoflurane-dexmedetomidine and cervical plexus block,while the control group received conventional general anesthesia.The groups were compared for serum levels of monocyte chemotactic protein-1(MCP-1)and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)before and after surgery,and the adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH)and norepinephrine(NE)levels at 1 and 12 h postsurgery.The Bispectral index(BIS)and the incidence of anesthesia side effects were also compared.RESULTS Following surgery,MCP-1 was significantly lower in the experimental group compared to the control group,whereas GSH-Px was significantly higher than that in the control group(P<0.001).The serum ACTH and NE levels were significantly lower in the experimental group than those the control group at 1 and 12 h post-surgery(P<0.001).BIS was significantly lower in the experimental group than that in the control group at 20 minutes into the operation,but the direction of the difference was reversed at eye opening(P<0.001).The incidence of side effects was 10.20%(5/49)and 12.76%(6/47)in the experimental and control groups,respectively,the difference being non-significant.CONCLUSION Sevoflurane-dexmedetomidine inhalation general anesthesia combined with cervical plexus nerve block can reduce the postoperative stress and inflammatory responses in thyroid cancer patients,while maintaining high anesthesia effectiveness and safety.展开更多
Characterizing spatial distribution of soil liquefaction potential is critical for assessing liquefactionrelated hazards(e.g.building damages caused by liquefaction-induced differential settlement).However,in engineer...Characterizing spatial distribution of soil liquefaction potential is critical for assessing liquefactionrelated hazards(e.g.building damages caused by liquefaction-induced differential settlement).However,in engineering practice,soil liquefaction potential is usually measured at limited locations in a specific site using in situ tests,e.g.cone penetration tests(CPTs),due to the restrictions of time,cost and access to subsurface space.In these cases,liquefaction potential of soil at untested locations requires to be interpreted from limited measured data points using proper interpolation method,leading to remarkable statistical uncertainty in liquefaction assessment.This underlines an important question of how to optimize the locations of CPT soundings and determine the minimum number of CPTs for achieving a target reliability level of liquefaction assessment.To tackle this issue,this study proposes a smart sampling strategy for determining the minimum number of CPTs and their optimal locations in a selfadaptive and data-driven manner.The proposed sampling strategy leverages on information entropy and Bayesian compressive sampling(BCS).Both simulated and real CPT data are used to demonstrate the proposed method.Illustrative examples indicate that the proposed method can adaptively and sequentially select the required number and optimal locations of CPTs.展开更多
Excessive settlement may induce structural damage and water leakage in immersed tunnels,seriously threatening the tunnels’safety.However,making accurate assessment of the settlement in immersed tunnels is difficult d...Excessive settlement may induce structural damage and water leakage in immersed tunnels,seriously threatening the tunnels’safety.However,making accurate assessment of the settlement in immersed tunnels is difficult due to the incomplete knowledge of the geotechnical parameters and the inadequacy of the model itself.This paper proposes an effective method to accurately assess the settlement in immersed tunnels.An enhanced beam on elastic foundation model(E-BEFM)is developed for the settlement assessment,with the Bayesian adaptive direct search algorithm adopted to estimate unknown model parameters based on previous observations.The proposed method is applied to a field case of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao immersed tunnel.The original BEFM is used for comparison to highlight the better assessment performance of E-BEFM,particularly for joints’differential settlement.Results show that the proposed method can provide accurate predictions of the total settlement,angular distortion(a representation of tubes’relatively differential settlement),and joints’differential settlement,which consequently supports the associated maintenance decision-making and potential risk prevention for immersed tunnels in service.展开更多
Background:In recent years,visual quality has been extensively investigated in various conditions.In this community-based population study,we analyzed the effects of aging,refraction,and Lens Opacification Classificat...Background:In recent years,visual quality has been extensively investigated in various conditions.In this community-based population study,we analyzed the effects of aging,refraction,and Lens Opacification Classification System III(LOCSIII)score on retinal imaging quality in healthy Chinese adults.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on sub-group subjects from The Handan Eye Study between October 2012 and January 2013.Healthy subjects over 30-years-old with logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution(logMAR)best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA)less than 0 were included.Retinal image quality was measured by optical quality analysis system(OQAS)and recorded as modulation transfer function cutoff frequency(MTFcutoff),OQAS value(OV)100%,OV20%,OV9%,Strehl ratio(SR),and objective scatter index(OSI).The correlation between age,spherical equivalent refraction(SE),LOCSIII score,and optical quality parameters were investigated by multivariate analysis.Results:Among 1108 verified subjects,690 subjects(1380 eyes)met the inclusion criteria.Their age ranged from 30 to 76 years,SE ranged from-4.75 to 2.75 D.They were divided into five age groups(30–39,40–49,50–59,60–69,and≥70 years)for further analysis.After multivariate analysis by mixed-effect linear model,SR(t=-3.03,P=0.002),OV20%(t=-2.39,P=0.017),and OV9%(t=-3.16,P=0.001)significantly decreased with the increasing age,whereas logMAR BCVA(t=4.42,P<0.001)and OSI(t=4.46,P<0.001)significantly increased with age.As SE increased,SR(t=2.74,P=0.01),OV20%(t=2.31,P=0.02),and OV9%(t=2.79,P=0.005)significantly elevated,and OSI(t=-3.38,P<0.001)significantly decreased.With the increase in cortical opacity score,all optical quality parameters except for SR significantly decreased,including MTFcutoff(t=-2.78,P=0.01),OV100%(t=-2.78,P=0.005),OV20%(t=-2.60,P=0.009),and OV9%(t=-2.05,P=0.04).As posterior sub capsular opacity score increased,MTFcutoff(t=-2.40,P=0.02)and OV100%(t=-2.40,P=0.01)significantly decreased,while OSI(t=7.56,P<0.001)significantly increased.Conclusions:In healthy Chinese adult population,optical quality-related parameters significantly decrease with the increasing age,and OSI significantly increases with age.In normal BCVA subjects,optical quality is significantly impacted by cortical and posterior sub capsular opacity rather than by nuclear opacity.展开更多
基金Supported by Clinical Research Award of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University,China,No. XJTU1AF-CRF-2017-009
文摘BACKGROUND The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing annually.Clinical routine thyroid surgery can be performed under a cervical plexus block,but cannot mediate the stress response during the surgery.If thyroid surgery is performed under nerve block,an inappropriate level of blockade may occur.Similarly,the stress response caused by surgery is more serious than that caused by conventional anesthesia.Therefore,it is important to combine blockade with more effective anesthesia methods.AIM To investigate the effects of combining sevoflurane-dexmedetomidine inhalation general anesthesia with the cervical plexus nerve block on the post-surgical levels of the serum oxidative stress biomarkers levels in thyroid cancer patients.METHODS We enrolled 96 thyroid cancer patients admitted to the hospital between January 2019 and December 2020.Participants were divided into a control group(n=47)and an experimental group(n=49).The experimental group received a combination of inhaled sevoflurane-dexmedetomidine and cervical plexus block,while the control group received conventional general anesthesia.The groups were compared for serum levels of monocyte chemotactic protein-1(MCP-1)and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)before and after surgery,and the adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH)and norepinephrine(NE)levels at 1 and 12 h postsurgery.The Bispectral index(BIS)and the incidence of anesthesia side effects were also compared.RESULTS Following surgery,MCP-1 was significantly lower in the experimental group compared to the control group,whereas GSH-Px was significantly higher than that in the control group(P<0.001).The serum ACTH and NE levels were significantly lower in the experimental group than those the control group at 1 and 12 h post-surgery(P<0.001).BIS was significantly lower in the experimental group than that in the control group at 20 minutes into the operation,but the direction of the difference was reversed at eye opening(P<0.001).The incidence of side effects was 10.20%(5/49)and 12.76%(6/47)in the experimental and control groups,respectively,the difference being non-significant.CONCLUSION Sevoflurane-dexmedetomidine inhalation general anesthesia combined with cervical plexus nerve block can reduce the postoperative stress and inflammatory responses in thyroid cancer patients,while maintaining high anesthesia effectiveness and safety.
基金supported by grants from the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,China(Project Nos.CityU 11202121 and CityU 11213119).
文摘Characterizing spatial distribution of soil liquefaction potential is critical for assessing liquefactionrelated hazards(e.g.building damages caused by liquefaction-induced differential settlement).However,in engineering practice,soil liquefaction potential is usually measured at limited locations in a specific site using in situ tests,e.g.cone penetration tests(CPTs),due to the restrictions of time,cost and access to subsurface space.In these cases,liquefaction potential of soil at untested locations requires to be interpreted from limited measured data points using proper interpolation method,leading to remarkable statistical uncertainty in liquefaction assessment.This underlines an important question of how to optimize the locations of CPT soundings and determine the minimum number of CPTs for achieving a target reliability level of liquefaction assessment.To tackle this issue,this study proposes a smart sampling strategy for determining the minimum number of CPTs and their optimal locations in a selfadaptive and data-driven manner.The proposed sampling strategy leverages on information entropy and Bayesian compressive sampling(BCS).Both simulated and real CPT data are used to demonstrate the proposed method.Illustrative examples indicate that the proposed method can adaptively and sequentially select the required number and optimal locations of CPTs.
基金support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China(Grant No.2019YFB1600700)the Science and Technology Development Fund,Macao SAR,China(Grant Nos.0026/2020/AFJ,0057/2020/AGJ,and SKL-IOTSC-2021-2023)the Funds for International Cooperation and Exchange of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52061160367)。
文摘Excessive settlement may induce structural damage and water leakage in immersed tunnels,seriously threatening the tunnels’safety.However,making accurate assessment of the settlement in immersed tunnels is difficult due to the incomplete knowledge of the geotechnical parameters and the inadequacy of the model itself.This paper proposes an effective method to accurately assess the settlement in immersed tunnels.An enhanced beam on elastic foundation model(E-BEFM)is developed for the settlement assessment,with the Bayesian adaptive direct search algorithm adopted to estimate unknown model parameters based on previous observations.The proposed method is applied to a field case of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao immersed tunnel.The original BEFM is used for comparison to highlight the better assessment performance of E-BEFM,particularly for joints’differential settlement.Results show that the proposed method can provide accurate predictions of the total settlement,angular distortion(a representation of tubes’relatively differential settlement),and joints’differential settlement,which consequently supports the associated maintenance decision-making and potential risk prevention for immersed tunnels in service.
基金a research special fund of the Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China(No.201002019).
文摘Background:In recent years,visual quality has been extensively investigated in various conditions.In this community-based population study,we analyzed the effects of aging,refraction,and Lens Opacification Classification System III(LOCSIII)score on retinal imaging quality in healthy Chinese adults.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on sub-group subjects from The Handan Eye Study between October 2012 and January 2013.Healthy subjects over 30-years-old with logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution(logMAR)best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA)less than 0 were included.Retinal image quality was measured by optical quality analysis system(OQAS)and recorded as modulation transfer function cutoff frequency(MTFcutoff),OQAS value(OV)100%,OV20%,OV9%,Strehl ratio(SR),and objective scatter index(OSI).The correlation between age,spherical equivalent refraction(SE),LOCSIII score,and optical quality parameters were investigated by multivariate analysis.Results:Among 1108 verified subjects,690 subjects(1380 eyes)met the inclusion criteria.Their age ranged from 30 to 76 years,SE ranged from-4.75 to 2.75 D.They were divided into five age groups(30–39,40–49,50–59,60–69,and≥70 years)for further analysis.After multivariate analysis by mixed-effect linear model,SR(t=-3.03,P=0.002),OV20%(t=-2.39,P=0.017),and OV9%(t=-3.16,P=0.001)significantly decreased with the increasing age,whereas logMAR BCVA(t=4.42,P<0.001)and OSI(t=4.46,P<0.001)significantly increased with age.As SE increased,SR(t=2.74,P=0.01),OV20%(t=2.31,P=0.02),and OV9%(t=2.79,P=0.005)significantly elevated,and OSI(t=-3.38,P<0.001)significantly decreased.With the increase in cortical opacity score,all optical quality parameters except for SR significantly decreased,including MTFcutoff(t=-2.78,P=0.01),OV100%(t=-2.78,P=0.005),OV20%(t=-2.60,P=0.009),and OV9%(t=-2.05,P=0.04).As posterior sub capsular opacity score increased,MTFcutoff(t=-2.40,P=0.02)and OV100%(t=-2.40,P=0.01)significantly decreased,while OSI(t=7.56,P<0.001)significantly increased.Conclusions:In healthy Chinese adult population,optical quality-related parameters significantly decrease with the increasing age,and OSI significantly increases with age.In normal BCVA subjects,optical quality is significantly impacted by cortical and posterior sub capsular opacity rather than by nuclear opacity.
