Neuroelectrophysiological indexes and clinical characteristics of patients with peroneal muscular atrophy: Retrospective analysis of 24 cases

BACKGROUND: Peroneal muscular atrophy (PMA) is characterized by insidious onset, gradually progressive course of disease, very mild disability degree and easily subjecting to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis. Nerve conductive velocity is helpful in the diagnosis of atypical cases. OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the characteristics of clinical manifestation, electromyogram (EMG), motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity of patients with PMA. DESIGN: Retrospective case analysis. SETTING: Department of Neurology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four patients with PMA, including 16 males and 8 females, aged 5-68 years old, admitted to Guangzhou First People's Hospital between March 1996 and January 2006 were recruited. Informed consents were obtained from all the patients. METHODS: All the patients subjected to EMG and detection of nerve conduction velocity at distal end of four extremities with a Keypoint evoked potential/ EMG instrument (Denmark). Sensory and motor conduction velocity, EMG changes of upper and lower extremities were observed, and relationship of neuroelectrophysiological characteristics and clinical symptoms was analyzed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in sensory and motor conduction velocity, EMG and clinical manifestations of 24 patients. RESULTS: ① All the patients suffered from insidious onset and gradually progressive course of PMA. Muscular atrophy of lower extremity was found in 14 patients, and that of upper extremity in 5 patients. ②Routine nerve conduction study showed that sensory and motor conduction velocity were stepped down, especially in 16 patients with typeⅠPMA (demyelinating pattern, nerve conduction velocity below normal level 50%). Motor nerve conduction velocity of median nerve, ulnar nerve, common peroneal nerve and tibial nerve averaged 34.8 m/s, 37.2 m/s, 16.5 m/s and 17.4 m/s, respectively; Sensory nerve conduction velocity of median nerve, ulnar nerve and sural nerve averaged 27.9%, 24.6 m/s and 3.1 m/s, respectively. Slowing conduction velocity and muscular strength involvement were disproportionate, i.e. myasthenia was relatively lessened, sensory and motor conduction velocities were greatly decreased. Nerve conduction velocity in distal end of two lower extremities was not detected in 8 patients, but who could still walk. CONCLUSION: ①PMA of patients is characterized by insidious onset and gradually progressive course of disease. Clinical symptom is the base to diagnose PMA. ②Neuroelectrophysiological study is a simple and easy-to-operate means with good reproducibility in diagnosing PMA. Patients with abnormal myasthenia in lower extremity can be detected in the early stage.

A study on characteristic indexesof railway ballast bed underhigh-frequency radar

Purpose–In this paper,a high-frequency radar test system was used to collect the data of clean ballast bed and fouled ballast bed of ballasted tracks,respectively,for a quantitative evaluation of the condition of railway ballast bed.Design/methodology/approach–Based on original radar signals,the time–frequency characteristics of radar signals were analyzed,five ballast bed condition characteristic indexes were proposed,including the frequency domain integral area,scanning area,number of intersections with the time axis,number of timedomain inflection points and amplitude envelope obtained by Hilbert transform,and the effectiveness and sensitivity of the indexes were analyzed.Findings–The thickness of ballast bed tested at the sleep bottom by high-frequency radar is up to 55 cm,which meets the requirements of ballast bed detection.Compared with clean ballast bed,the values of the five indexes of fouled ballast bed are larger,and the five indexes could effectively show the condition of the ballast bed.The computational efficiency of amplitude envelope obtained by Hilbert transform is 140 s$km
1,and the computational efficiency of other indexes is 5 s$km
1.The amplitude envelopes obtained by Hilbert transform in the subgrade sections and tunnel sections are the most sensitive,followed by scanning area.The number of intersections with the time axis in the bridge sections was the most sensitive,followed by the scanning area.The scanning area can adapt to different substructures such as subgrade,bridges and tunnels,with high comprehensive sensitivity.Originality/value–The research can provide appropriate characteristic indexes from the high-frequency radar original signal to quantitatively evaluate ballast bed condition under different substructures.

Evaluation Indices of Interaction Ability of Asphalt and Aggregate Based on Rheological Characteristics

In order to find a parameter as the evaluation index that can capture the effect of the interaction between asphalt and aggregate, the rheological properties of asphalt mastics using two kinds of asphalts and four kinds of aggregates under different filler-asphalt ratios were measured by a dynamic shear rheometer （DSR）. Moreover, four rheological parameters of K.Ziegel-B, Luis Ibrarra-A, complex shear modulus ΔG＊and complex viscosity Δη＊ for evaluating the interaction ability were studied. Results indicate that all the four parameters can characterize the interaction ability of asphalt and aggregate correctly and feasibly. Through the comparison of sensitivities and physical meanings of the four parameters, K.Ziegel-B with high sensitivity and exact physical meaning is finally selected as the evaluation index for interaction ability of asphalt and aggregate.

Study on the Photosynthetic Characteristics in Spring Maize (Zea mays L.)of Different Quality Type

common maize synthetic rate（ Photosynthetic characteristics were probed by sweet maize, waxy maize, high starch maize and The results revealed that leaf area index （LAI）, chlorophyll a content, chlorophyll b content,photo-PR） showed single peak curve at the whole growth stage. The stages of peak were different according to different varieties. NEAUS4 had the lowest peak and while SIDAN 19 had the highest among all stages. Ratio of chlorophyll a to b was low at seedling stage, reached the peak atjointing stage and then declined. SIDAN 19 had the lower level at the last stages.

Analysis on Climatic and Synoptic Characteristics of Thunderstorm Gale Weather in Jiangsu

By using observation and sounding data at 68 artificial observatories of Jiangsu Province during 2009- 2013,thunderstorm gale weather and its climatic characteristics in Jiangsu were conducted statistics. The characteristics of some instability indexes and strong convection parameters were analyzed,and environmental parameters of dry and wet thunderstorm gales were contrasted. Results showed that thunderstorm gale in Jiangsu had the characteristics of high occurrence frequency,local feature and stronger intensity. It was mostly accompanied by precipitation,and had obvious seasonal and daily change characteristics. Synoptics analysis showed that temperature-humidity profile characteristics before thunderstorm gale appeared in Jiangsu mainly had four types： bell mouth type,inverted V type,dry unstable type and wet unstable type. Before thunderstorm gale occurred,atmospheric instability was stronger,and some strong convection parameters all had certain instructions. But the forecasts of some thunderstorm gale processes were easy to be missed by only considering CAPE. Environmental condition difference of generating dry and wet thunderstorm gale was that instability of dry thunderstorm gale was stronger than that of wet thunderstorm gale. Before dry thunderstorm gale occurred,environmental temperature at middle-low layer was lower; lapse rate was larger; humidity was small. Before wet thunderstorm gale occurred,environmental temperature was higher; lapse rate was small; humidity was large. At dynamic structure,vertical wind shear at 0- 6 km of dry thunderstorm gale was significantly stronger than that of wet thunderstorm gale.

Quantitative Analysis on Distribution of Modifier in Microstructure of SBS Modifi ed Asphalt

A method was developed to make a quantitative analysis of the microstructure of asphalt modified with styrene-butadiene-styrene block（SBS） copolymer. Moreover, both mixed and branched SBS were employed in the preparation of modified asphalt. By sampling specimens from the top, middle, and bottom, a number of microscope slides were made and 400 times micro images were gained. Binarized with the software of MATLAB, the images then went to the process of distribution test, when four typical distributions were employed to investigate the distribution of modifi er spread in asphalt. The distribution characteristic and its parameter were both found. The results show that asphalt phase clearly obeys Poisson distribution, and its parameter, λ, is bond up with the condition SBS performs in. Based on this parameter, indexes can be set up to evaluate the structure of the mixture and its performance as well. Compared with that modifi ed with mixed SBS, the asphalt modifi ed with branched SBS has better performance but worse stability, for it is easier to segregate.

Study on <i>in Vitro</i>Accurate Measurement Method of PICC Insertion Depth

Objective to study an in vitro accurate measurement method for the placement depth of PICC. Methods 270 patients undergoing PICC catheterization under ultrasound guidance in outpatient PICC catheterization from March to September 2019 were selected by convenient sampling. By using the random number table method, the subjects were divided into group A (horizontal L-type measurement method) and Group B (characteristic index measurement calculation) by 1:1, with 135 cases in each group. X-ray chest radiograph was taken after catheterization in both groups, and the indwelling position of the catheter was adjusted according to the X-ray chest radiograph. The correlation between PICC predicted length and ideal depth and patient satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results The success rate of PICC catheter tip insertion in group B was 97.78%, while that in control group A was 82.22%, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The satisfaction degree of patients in group B was significantly higher than that in group A. The differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion Improving the success rate of the precise depth of PICC catheter placement can significantly reduce the incidence of complications, waste of human and material resources caused by adjusting the catheter position, and significantly improve patient satisfaction.

Insights on pretreatment of Indian hematite fines in grate-kiln pelletizing process： the choice of grinding processes

Indian hematite fines are normally characterized by high iron grade and minor impurities, which are usually used for sinter fines. With macroscale operations technology of blast furnace in Indian, pellets, as a kind of high-quality materials, attract more and more attention. However, the hematite fines possess the coarse size. Hence, they inevitably need to be further finely ground for pelletizing before balling. The grinding behavior of Indian hematite fines was revealed by conducting the ball milling tests and determining the Bond ball mill work index （Wi）. The results show that Indian hematite fines have an excellent grindability with Wi of only 7.40-7.73 kWh/t, indicating that ball milling is an economically viable way to pretreat Indian hematite fines. Nonetheless, due to poor sedimentation and filtering properties of wet ground products, the dry ball milling is more appropriate to process Indian hematite fines. In addition, the superior quality green balls can be manufactured with dry ground products under the conditions of 0.5% bentonite dosage, 7.5% moisture and balling for 12 min, which further confirmed that the recommended pellet feed preparation technique is reasonable.

Optimization of fused deposition modeling process parameters using a fuzzy inference system coupled with Taguchi philosophy

Fused deposition modeling （FDM） is an additive manufacturing technique used to fabricate intricate parts in 3D, within the shortest possible time without using tools, dies, fixtures, or human intervention. This article empiri- cally reports the effects of the process parameters, i.e., the layer thickness, raster angle, raster width, air gap, part orientation, and their interactions on the accuracy of the length, width, and thicknes, of acrylonitrile-butadiene- styrene （ABSP 400） parts fabricated using the FDM tech- nique. It was found that contraction prevailed along the directions of the length and width, whereas the thickness increased from the desired value of the fabricated part. Optimum parameter settings to minimize the responses, such as the change in length, width, and thickness of the test specimen, have been determined using Taguchi＇s parameter design. Because Taguchi＇s philosophy fails to obtain uniform optimal factor settings for each response, in this study, a fuzzy inference system combined with the Taguchi philosophy has been adopted to generate a single response from three responses, to reach the specific target values with the overall optimum factor level settings. Further, Taguchi and artificial neural network predictive models are also presented in this study for an accuracy evaluation within the dimensions of the FDM fabricated parts, subjected to various operating conditions. The pre- dicted values obtained from both models are in good agreement with the values from the experiment data, with mean absolute percentage errors of 3.16 and 0.15, respectively. Finally, the confirmatory test results showed an improvement in the multi-response performance index of 0.454 when using the optimal FDM parameters over the initial values.