MSADCN:Multi-Scale Attentional Densely Connected Network for Automated Bone Age Assessment

Bone age assessment(BAA)helps doctors determine how a child’s bones grow and develop in clinical medicine.Traditional BAA methods rely on clinician expertise,leading to time-consuming predictions and inaccurate results.Most deep learning-based BAA methods feed the extracted critical points of images into the network by providing additional annotations.This operation is costly and subjective.To address these problems,we propose a multi-scale attentional densely connected network(MSADCN)in this paper.MSADCN constructs a multi-scale dense connectivity mechanism,which can avoid overfitting,obtain the local features effectively and prevent gradient vanishing even in limited training data.First,MSADCN designs multi-scale structures in the densely connected network to extract fine-grained features at different scales.Then,coordinate attention is embedded to focus on critical features and automatically locate the regions of interest(ROI)without additional annotation.In addition,to improve the model’s generalization,transfer learning is applied to train the proposed MSADCN on the public dataset IMDB-WIKI,and the obtained pre-trained weights are loaded onto the Radiological Society of North America(RSNA)dataset.Finally,label distribution learning(LDL)and expectation regression techniques are introduced into our model to exploit the correlation between hand bone images of different ages,which can obtain stable age estimates.Extensive experiments confirm that our model can converge more efficiently and obtain a mean absolute error(MAE)of 4.64 months,outperforming some state-of-the-art BAA methods.

Intelligent Network-Connected New Energy Vehicle Technology and Application Under the Dual-Carbon Strategy

In responding to the“dual carbon”strategy,intelligent networked new energy vehicle technology plays a crucial role.This type of vehicle combines the advantages of new energy technology and intelligent network technology,effectively reduces carbon emissions in the transportation sector,improves energy utilization efficiency,and contributes to the green transportation system through intelligent transportation management and collaborative work between vehicles,making significant contributions.This article aims to explore the development of intelligent network-connected new energy vehicle technology and applications under the dual-carbon strategy and lay the foundation for the future development direction of the automotive industry.

Fully Connected Feedforward Neural Networks Based CSI Feedback Algorithm

In modern wireless communication systems,the accurate acquisition of channel state information(CSI)is critical to the performance of beamforming,non-orthogonal multiple access(NOMA),etc.However,with the application of massive MIMO in 5G,the number of antennas increases by hundreds or even thousands times,which leads to excessive feedback overhead and poses a huge challenge to the conventional channel state information feedback scheme.In this paper,by using deep learning technology,we develop a system framework for CSI feedback based on fully connected feedforward neural networks(FCFNN),named CF-FCFNN.Through learning the training set composed of CSI,CF-FCFNN is able to recover the original CSI from the compressed CSI more accurately compared with the existing method based on deep learning without increasing the algorithm complexity.

Artificial neural network-based subgrid-scale models for LES of compressible turbulent channel flow

Fully connected neural networks(FCNNs)have been developed for the closure of subgrid-scale(SGS)stress and SGS heat flux in large-eddy simulations of compressible turbulent channel flow.The FCNNbased SGS model trained using data with Mach number Ma=3.0 and Reynolds number Re=3000 was applied to situations with different Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers.The input variables of the neural network model were the filtered velocity gradients and temperature gradients at a single spatial grid point.The a priori test showed that the FCNN model had a correlation coefficient larger than 0.91 and a relative error smaller than 0.43,with much better reconstructions of SGS unclosed terms than the dynamic Smagorinsky model(DSM).In a posteriori test,the behavior of the FCNN model was marginally better than that of the DSM in predicting the mean velocity profiles,mean temperature profiles,turbulent intensities,total Reynolds stress,total Reynolds heat flux,and mean SGS flux of kinetic energy,and outperformed the Smagorinsky model.

Acquisition of Network Connection Status Information from Physical Memory on Windows Vista Operating System

A method to extract information of network connection status information from physical memory on Windows Vista operating system is proposed. Using this method, a forensic examiner can extract accurately the information of current TCP/ IP network connection information, including IDs of processes which established connections, establishing time, local address, local port, remote address, remote port, etc., from a physical memory on Windows Xflsta operating system. This method is reliable and efficient. It is verified on Windows Vista, Windows Vista SP1, Windows Vista SP2.

Attention-based neural network for end-to-end music separation

The end-to-end separation algorithm with superior performance in the field of speech separation has not been effectively used in music separation.Moreover,since music signals are often dual channel data with a high sampling rate,how to model longsequence data and make rational use of the relevant information between channels is also an urgent problem to be solved.In order to solve the above problems,the performance of the end-to-end music separation algorithm is enhanced by improving the network structure.Our main contributions include the following:(1)A more reasonable densely connected U-Net is designed to capture the long-term characteristics of music,such as main melody,tone and so on.(2)On this basis,the multi-head attention and dualpath transformer are introduced in the separation module.Channel attention units are applied recursively on the feature map of each layer of the network,enabling the network to perform long-sequence separation.Experimental results show that after the introduction of the channel attention,the performance of the proposed algorithm has a stable improvement compared with the baseline system.On the MUSDB18 dataset,the average score of the separated audio exceeds that of the current best-performing music separation algorithm based on the time-frequency domain(T-F domain).

Interpretation and characterization of rate of penetration intelligent prediction model

Accurate prediction of the rate of penetration(ROP)is significant for drilling optimization.While the intelligent ROP prediction model based on fully connected neural networks(FNN)outperforms traditional ROP equations and machine learning algorithms,its lack of interpretability undermines its credibility.This study proposes a novel interpretation and characterization method for the FNN ROP prediction model using the Rectified Linear Unit(ReLU)activation function.By leveraging the derivative of the ReLU function,the FNN function calculation process is transformed into vector operations.The FNN model is linearly characterized through further simplification,enabling its interpretation and analysis.The proposed method is applied in ROP prediction scenarios using drilling data from three vertical wells in the Tarim Oilfield.The results demonstrate that the FNN ROP prediction model with ReLU as the activation function performs exceptionally well.The relative activation frequency curve of hidden layer neurons aids in analyzing the overfitting of the FNN ROP model and determining drilling data similarity.In the well sections with similar drilling data,averaging the weight parameters enables linear characterization of the FNN ROP prediction model,leading to the establishment of a corresponding linear representation equation.Furthermore,the quantitative analysis of each feature's influence on ROP facilitates the proposal of drilling parameter optimization schemes for the current well section.The established linear characterization equation exhibits high precision,strong stability,and adaptability through the application and validation across multiple well sections.

A New Malicious Code Classification Method for the Security of Financial Software

The field of finance heavily relies on cybersecurity to safeguard its systems and clients from harmful software.The identification of malevolent code within financial software is vital for protecting both the financial system and individual clients.Nevertheless,present detection models encounter limitations in their ability to identify malevolent code and its variations,all while encompassing a multitude of parameters.To overcome these obsta-cles,we introduce a lean model for classifying families of malevolent code,formulated on Ghost-DenseNet-SE.This model integrates the Ghost module,DenseNet,and the squeeze-and-excitation(SE)channel domain attention mechanism.It substitutes the standard convolutional layer in DenseNet with the Ghost module,thereby diminishing the model’s size and augmenting recognition speed.Additionally,the channel domain attention mechanism assigns distinctive weights to feature channels,facilitating the extraction of pivotal characteristics of malevolent code and bolstering detection precision.Experimental outcomes on the Malimg dataset indicate that the model attained an accuracy of 99.14%in discerning families of malevolent code,surpassing AlexNet(97.8%)and The visual geometry group network(VGGNet)(96.16%).The proposed model exhibits reduced parameters,leading to decreased model complexity alongside enhanced classification accuracy,rendering it a valuable asset for categorizing malevolent code.

Adaptive Resource Allocation Algorithm for 5G Vehicular Cloud Communication

The current resource allocation in 5G vehicular networks for mobile cloud communication faces several challenges,such as low user utilization,unbalanced resource allocation,and extended adaptive allocation time.We propose an adaptive allocation algorithm for mobile cloud communication resources in 5G vehicular networks to address these issues.This study analyzes the components of the 5G vehicular network architecture to determine the performance of different components.It is ascertained that the communication modes in 5G vehicular networks for mobile cloud communication include in-band and out-of-band modes.Furthermore,this study analyzes the single-hop and multi-hop modes in mobile cloud communication and calculates the resource transmission rate and bandwidth in different communication modes.The study also determines the scenario of one-way and two-way vehicle lane cloud communication network connectivity,calculates the probability of vehicle network connectivity under different mobile cloud communication radii,and determines the amount of cloud communication resources required by vehicles in different lane scenarios.Based on the communication status of users in 5G vehicular networks,this study calculates the bandwidth and transmission rate of the allocated channels using Shannon’s formula.It determines the adaptive allocation of cloud communication resources,introduces an objective function to obtain the optimal solution after allocation,and completes the adaptive allocation process.The experimental results demonstrate that,with the application of the proposed method,the maximum utilization of user communication resources reaches approximately 99%.The balance coefficient curve approaches 1,and the allocation time remains under 2 s.This indicates that the proposed method has higher adaptive allocation efficiency.

An Empirical Study on Chinese City Network Pattern Based on Producer Services

Globalization and informatization have accelerated city networking process over the world, which makes research on city network a hot topic in the fields of urban geography and economic geography. With Chinese economic structure adjustment and city economic growth, producer services have begun to play an increasingly important role in city-region networking. This paper employs the methodology of world city network to analyze and explain the spatial development characteristics of China's urban network system based on the data of nationwide producer services enterprise network. The research result indicated that the distribution of producer services network has a positive effect on the development of Chinese city networks. City network connectivity is closely related to the significance of city in producer services development, and the former will gradually decline with the drop of the latter. Accordingly, the 64 cities can be divided into the national central cities, regional central cities, sub-regional central cities and local central cities in accordance with their position and role in the nationwide producer services network. It is concluded that high-grade cities with quality producer services dominate the pattern of Chinese city networks and there emerges three spatial agglomerations of producer services enterprises in Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta, Zhujiang (Pearl) River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Economical Region. Moreover, the distribution of different producer services industry varies from city to city, which also affects the characteristics of network development.

Relay movement control for maintaining connectivity in aeronautical ad hoc networks

As a new sort of mobile ad hoc network(MANET), aeronautical ad hoc network(AANET) has fleet-moving airborne nodes(ANs) and suffers from frequent network partitioning due to the rapid-changing topology. In this work, the additional relay nodes(RNs) is employed to repair the network and maintain connectivity in AANET. As ANs move, RNs need to move as well in order to re-establish the topology as quickly as possible. The network model and problem definition are firstly given, and then an online approach for RNs' movement control is presented to make ANs achieve certain connectivity requirement during run time. By defining the minimum cost feasible moving matrix(MCFM), a fast algorithm is proposed for RNs' movement control problem. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms other control approaches in the highly-dynamic environment and is of great potential to be applied in AANET.

Changes in brain functional network connectivity after stroke

Studies have shown that functional network connection models can be used to study brain net- work changes in patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we inferred that these models could also be used to explore functional network connectivity changes in stroke patients. We used independent component analysis to find the motor areas of stroke patients, which is a novel way to determine these areas. In this study, we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets from healthy controls and right-handed stroke patients following their first ever stroke. Using independent component analysis, six spatially independent components highly correlat- ed to the experimental paradigm were extracted. Then, the functional network connectivity of both patients and controls was established to observe the differences between them. The results showed that there were 11 connections in the model in the stroke patients, while there were only four connections in the healthy controls. Further analysis found that some damaged connections may be compensated for by new indirect connections or circuits produced after stroke. These connections may have a direct correlation with the degree of stroke rehabilitation. Our findings suggest that functional network connectivity in stroke patients is more complex than that in hea- lthy controls, and that there is a compensation loop in the functional network following stroke. This implies that functional network reorganization plays a very important role in the process of rehabilitation after stroke.

Survivability modeling and analysis on 3D mobile ad-hoc networks

Most existing work on survivability in mobile ad-hoc networks(MANETs) focuses on two dimensional(2D) networks.However,many real applications run in three dimensional(3D) networks,e.g.,climate and ocean monitoring,and air defense systems.The impact on network survivability due to node behaviors was presented,and a quantitative analysis method on survivability was developed in 3D MANETs by modeling node behaviors and analyzing 3D network connectivity.Node behaviors were modeled by using a semi-Markov process.The node minimum degree of 3D MANETs was discussed.An effective approach to derive the survivability of k-connected networks was proposed through analyzing the connectivity of 3D MANETs caused by node misbehaviors,based on the model of node isolation.The quantitative analysis of node misbehaviors on the survivability in 3D MANETs is obtained through mathematical description,and the effectiveness and rationality of the proposed approach are verified through numerical analysis.The analytical results show that the effect from black and gray attack on network survivability is much severer than other misbehaviors.

A new approach for effectively determining fracture network connec- tions in fractured rocks using R tree indexing

Determinations of fracture network connections would help the investigators remove those ＂meaningless＂ no-flow-passing fractures, providing an updated and more effective fracture network that could considerably improve the computation efficiency in the pertinent numerical simulations of fluid flow and solute transport. The effective algorithms with higher computational efficiency are needed to accomplish this task in large-scale fractured rock masses. A new approach using R tree indexing was proposed for determining fracture connection in 3D stochastically distributed fracture network. By com- paring with the traditional exhaustion algorithm, it was observed that from the simulation results, this approach was much more effective; and the more the fractures were investigated, the more obvious the advantages of the approach were. Furthermore, it was indicated that the runtime used for creating the R tree indexing has a major part in the total of the runtime used for calculating Minimum Bounding Rectangles （MBRs）, creating the R tree indexing, precisely finding out fracture intersections, and identifying flow paths, which are four important steps to determine fracture connections. This proposed approach for the determination of fracture connections in three-dimensional fractured rocks are expected to provide efficient preprocessing and critical database for practically accomplishing numerical computation of fluid flow and solute transport in large-scale fractured rock masses.

Robust Virtual Network Embedding Based on Component Connectivity in Large-Scale Network

Virtual network embedding problem which is NP-hard is a key issue for implementing software-defined network which is brought about by network virtualization. Compared with other studies which focus on designing heuristic algorithms to reduce the hardness of the NP-hard problem we propose a robust VNE algorithm based on component connectivity in large-scale network. We distinguish the different components and embed VN requests onto them respectively. And k-core is applied to identify different VN topologies so that the VN request can be embedded onto its corresponding component. On the other hand, load balancing is also considered in this paper. It could avoid blocked or bottlenecked area of substrate network. Simulation experiments show that compared with other algorithms in large-scale network, acceptance ratio, average revenue and robustness can be obviously improved by our algorithm and average cost can be reduced. It also shows the relationship between the component connectivity including giant component and small components and the performance metrics.

Change of stream network connectivity and its impact on flood control

AbstUrbanization can alter the hydrogeomorphology of streams and rivers,change stream network structures,and reduce stream network connectivity,which leads to a decrease in the storage capacity of stream networks and aggravates flood damage.Therefore,investigation of the ways in which stream network connectivity impacts flood storage capacity and flood control in urbanized watersheds can provide significant benefits.This study developed a framework to assess stream network connectivity and its impact on flood control.First,a few connectivity indices were adopted to assess longitudinal stream network connectivity.Afterward,the static and dynamic storage capacities of stream networks were evaluated using storage capacity indices and a one-dimensional hydrodynamic model.Finally,the impact of stream network connectivity change on flood control was assessed by investigating the changes in stream network connectivity and storage capacity.This framework was applied to the Qinhuai River Basin,China,where intensive urbanization has occurred in the last few decades.The results show that stream network storage capacity is affected by stream network connectivity.Increasing stream network connectivity enhances stream network storage capacity.©2020 Hohai University.Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Network Structure and Chemical Durability of Non-alkali Aluminoborosilicate Glasses Containing ZnO

The structure and chemical durability of non-alkali aluminoborosilicate glasses with various contents of ZnO were investigated.As the replacement of MgO by ZnO increases from 0 to 3.2mol%,the average number of bridge oxygen per tetrahedron (BO/T) as a measure of network connectivity increases from 2.84 to 3.04,and the chemical durability improved.The weight loss ratio (WLR) of glass etched in 10vol% HF (20 ℃,20 min) solution decreased from 4.809 to 4.509,and in 5wt% NaOH (95 ℃,6 h) solution decreased from 1.201 to 0.994.The replacement of MgO by ZnO further increased to 6.4mol%,the value of BO/T decreased to 3.04 instead,and thus the chemical durability deteriorated.The WLR of HF-acid and NaOH-alkali corrosion increased to 6.683 and 1.994,respectively.The chemical durability shows strongly dependent on the network connectivity and exhibits mixed intermediate effects during the replacement of MgO by ZnO.

Fault-tolerant finite-time dynamical consensus of double-integrator multi-agent systems with partial agents subject to synchronous self-sensing function failure

This paper investigates fault-tolerant finite-time dynamical consensus problems of double-integrator multi-agent systems(MASs)with partial agents subject to synchronous self-sensing function failure(SSFF).A strategy of recovering the connectivity of network topology among normal agents based on multi-hop communication and a fault-tolerant finitetime dynamical consensus protocol with time-varying gains are proposed to resist synchronous SSFF.It is proved that double-integrator MASs with partial agents subject to synchronous SSFF using the proposed strategy of network topology connectivity recovery and fault-tolerant finite-time dynamical consensus protocol with the proper time-varying gains can achieve finite-time dynamical consensus.Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Global Functional Network Connectivity Disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment by Resting-State Functional MRI

Examining the spontaneous BOLD activity to understand the neural mechanism of Parkinson’s disease(PD)with mild cognitive impairment(MCI)is a focus in resting-state functional MRI(rs-fMRI)studies.This study aimed to investigate the alteration of brain functional connectivity in PD with MCI in a systematical way at two levels:functional connectivity analysis within resting state networks(RSNs)and functional network connectivity(FNC)analysis.Using group independent component analysis(ICA)on rs-fMRI data acquired from 30 participants(14 healthy controls and 16 PD patients with MCI),16 RSNs were identified,and functional connectivity analysis within the RSNs and FNC analysis were carried out between groups.Compared to controls,patients with PD showed decreased functional connectivity within putamen network,thalamus network,cerebellar network,attention network,and self-referential network,and increased functional connectivity within execution network.Globally disturbed,mostly increased functional connectivity of FNC was observed in PD group,and insular network and execution network were the dominant network with extensively increased functional connectivity with other RSNs.Cerebellar network showed decreased functional connectivity with caudate network,insular network,and self-referential network.In general,decreased functional connectivity within RSNs and globally disturbed,mostly increased functional connectivity of FNC may be characteristics of PD.Increased functional connectivity within execution network may be an early marker of PD.The multi-perspective study based on RSNs may be a valuable means to assess functional changes corresponding to specific RSN,contributing to the understanding of the neural mechanism of PD.

Quantitative characterization of irregular microfracture network and its effect on the permeability of porous media

Based on the comprehensive understanding on microfractures and matrix pores in reservoir rocks,numerical algorithms are used to construct fractured porous media and fracture-pore media models.Connectivity coefficient and strike factor are introduced into the models to quantitatively characterize the connectivity and strike of fracture network,respectively.The influences of fracture aperture,fracture strike and fracture connectivity on the permeability of porous media are studied by using multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model to simulate fluid flow in them.The greater the strike factor and the smaller the tortuosity of the fractured porous media,the greater the permeability of the fractured porous media.The greater the connectivity coefficient of the fracture network is,the greater the permeability of the fracture-pore media is,and the more likely dominant channel effect occurs.The fracture network connectivity has stronger influence on seepage ability of fracture-pore media than fracture aperture and fracture strike.The tortuosity and strike factor of fracture network in fractured porous media are in polynomial relation,while the permeability and fracture network connectivity coefficient of the fracture-pore media meet an exponential relation.