Evaluation of Right Ventricular Volume and Systolic Function by Real-time Three-dimensional Echocardiography

The optimal plane for measurement of the right ventricular (RV) volumes by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) was determined and the feasibility and accuracy of RT3DE in studying RV systolic function was assessed. RV “Full volume” images were acquired by RT3DE in 22 healthy subjects. RV end-diastolic volumes (RVEDV) and end-systolic volumes (RVESV) were outlined using apical biplane, 4-plane, 8-plane, 16-plane offline separately. RVSV and RVEF were calculated. Meanwhile tricuspid annual systolic excursion (TASE) was measured by M-mode echo. LVSV was outlined by 2-D echo according to the biplane Simpson's rule. The results showed: (1) There was a good correlation between RVSV measured from series planes and LVSV from 2-D echo (r=0.73; r=0.69; r=0.63; r=0.66, P<0.25—0.0025); (2) There were significant differences between RVEDV in biplane and those in 4-, 8-, 16-plane (P<0.001). There was also difference between RV volume in 4-plane and that in 8-plane (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between RV volume in 8-plane and that in 16-plane (P>0.05); (3) Inter-observers and intro-observers variability analysis showed that there were close agreements and relations for RV volumes (r=0.986, P<0.001; r=0.93, P<0.001); (4) There was a significantly positive correlation of TASE to RVSV and RVEF from RT3DE (r=0.83; r=0.90). So RV volume measures with RT3DE are rapid, accurate and reproducible. In view of RV's complex shape, apical 8-plane method is better in clinical use. It may allow early detection of RV systolic function.

Real-time and wearable functional electrical stimulation system for volitional hand motor function control using the electromyography bridge method

Voluntary participation of hemiplegic patients is crucial for functional electrical stimulation therapy.A wearable functional electrical stimulation system has been proposed for real-time volitional hand motor function control using the electromyography bridge method.Through a series of novel design concepts,including the integration of a detecting circuit and an analog-to-digital converter,a miniaturized functional electrical stimulation circuit technique,a low-power super-regeneration chip for wireless receiving,and two wearable armbands,a prototype system has been established with reduced size,power,and overall cost.Based on wrist joint torque reproduction and classification experiments performed on six healthy subjects,the optimized surface electromyography thresholds and trained logistic regression classifier parameters were statistically chosen to establish wrist and hand motion control with high accuracy.Test results showed that wrist flexion/extension,hand grasp,and finger extension could be reproduced with high accuracy and low latency.This system can build a bridge of information transmission between healthy limbs and paralyzed limbs,effectively improve voluntary participation of hemiplegic patients,and elevate efficiency of rehabilitation training.

Preliminary Clinical Study of Real-time Three-dimensional Echo-cardiographic Volume-time Curve in Evaluating Left Ventricular Diastolic Function

The volume-time curve change in patients with normal left ventricular （LV） diastolic function and diastolic dysfunction was evaluated by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography （RT3DE）. LV diastolic dysfunction was defined by E＇〈A＇ in pulse-wave tissue Doppler for inter-ventricular septal （IVS） of mitral annulus. In 24 patients with LV diastolic dysfunction, including 12 patients with delayed relaxation （delayed relaxation group） and 12 patients with pseudo-normal function （pseudo-normal group） and 24 normal volunteers （control group）, data of full-volume image were acquired by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography and subjected to volume-time curve analysis. EDV （end-diastolic volume）, ESV （end-systolic volume）, LVEF （left ventricular ejection fraction）, PER （peak ejection rate）, PFR （peak filling rate） from RT3DE were examined in the three groups. Compared to the control group, PFR （diastolic filling index of RT3DE） was significantly reduced in the delayed relaxation group and pseudo-normal group （P〈0.05）. There were no significant differences in EDV, ESV, LVEE PER （P〉0.05）. It is concluded that PFR, as a diastolic filling index of RT3DE, can reflect the early diastolic function and serve as a new non-invasive, quick and accurate tool for clinical assessment of LV diastolic function.

Correlation analysis of real-time three-dimensional ultrasound in diagnosis of left ventricular function, portal hemodynamics and severity of liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis

Objective:To analyze the correlation between real-time three-dimensional ultrasound in diagnosis of left ventricular function, portal hemodynamics and severity of liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis.Methods: 90 patients with cirrhosis admitted to our hospital from January 2017 to December 2018 were enrolled in the cirrhosis group, and the cirrhosis components were group A, B and C according to the Child-Pauh classification criteria. During the same period, 90 healthy subjects who underwent physical examination were selected as the control group;real-time three-dimensional ultrasonography was performed to examine left ventricular function and portal hemodynamic parameters;Pearson correlation was used to analyze left ventricular function, portal hemodynamics and liver. Functional severity relationship.Results: The left heart E and E/A levels in the cirrhosis group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), and the A level was significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05). The Dpv and Q levels in the cirrhosis group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), and the level of Vpv was significantly lower than that of healthy controls (P<0.05). There were significant differences in E, A and E/A levels between different Child-Paugh patients (P<0.05). There were significant differences in portal hemodynamics Dpv, Vpv and Q between the different Child-Paugh grades, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05);left heart function E and E/A and liver function severity There was a significant negative correlation (P<0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between left cardiac function A and liver function severity (P<0.05). Portal vein hemodynamics Dpv, Vpv and QE were significantly associated with liver function severity. Positive correlation (P<0.05). Conclusion: Real-time three-dimensional ultrasound can effectively detect left ventricular function and portal hemodynamics changes in patients with cirrhosis, and left heart function, portal hemodynamics and liver function severity are significantly correlated.

A Real-Time Transient Analysis of a Functionally Graded Material Plate Using Reduced-Basis Methods

Based on the hybrid numerical method (HNM) combining with a reduced-basis method (RBM), the real-time transient response of a functionally graded material (FGM) plates is obtained. The large eigenvalue problem in wavenumber domain has been solved through real-time off-line/on-line calculation. At off-line stage, a reduced-basis space is constructed in sample wavenumbers according to the solved eigenvalue problems. The matrices independent of parameters are projected onto the reduced-basis spaces. At on-line stage, the reduced eigenvalue problems of the arbitrary wavenumbers are built. Subsequently, the responses in wavenumber domain are obtained by the approximated eigen-pairs. Because of the application of RBM, the computational cost of transient displacement analysis of FGM plate is decreased significantly, while the accuracy of the solution and the physics of the structure are still retained. The efficiency and validity of the proposed method are demonstrated through a numerical example.

Real-Time Rendering of Dynamic Clouds Using Multi-Resolution Adaptive Grids

The multi-resolution adaptive grids method is proposed to solve the problems of inefficiency in the previous grid-based methods,and it can be used in clouds simulation as well as the interactive simulation between objects and clouds.Oriented bounding box(OBB)hierarchical trees of objects are established,and the resolutions of global and local grids can be selected automatically.The motion equations of fluid dynamics are simplified.Upwind difference is applied to ensure the stability of the simulation process during the discrete process of partial differential equations.To solve the speed problem of existed phase functions,the improved phase function is applied to the illumination calculation of clouds.Experimental results show that the proposed methods can promote the simulation efficiency and meet the need for the simulation of large-scale clouds scene.Real-time rendering of clouds and the interaction between clouds and objects have been realized without preprocessing stage.

Functional-Material-Based Touch Interfaces for Multidimensional Sensing for Interactive Displays:A Review

Multidimensional sensing is a highly desired attribute for allowing human-machine interfaces(HMIs)to perceive various types of information from both users and the environment,thus enabling the advancement of various smart electronics/applications,e.g.,smartphones and smart cities.Conventional multidimensional sensing is achieved through the integration of multiple discrete sensors,which introduces issues such as high energy consumption and high circuit complexity.These disadvantages have motivated the widespread use of functional materials for detecting various stimuli at low cost with low power requirements.This work presents an overview of simply structured touch interfaces for multidimensional(x-y location,force and temperature)sensing enabled by piezoelectric,piezoresistive,triboelectric,pyroelectric and thermoelectric materials.For each technology,the mechanism of operation,state-of-the-art designs,merits,and drawbacks are investigated.At the end of the article,the author discusses the challenges limiting the successful applications of functional materials in commercial touch interfaces and corresponding development trends.

Real-time accurate hand path tracking and joint trajectory planning for industrial robots(Ⅱ)

Previously, researchers raised the accuracy for a robot′s hand to track a specified path in Cartesian space mainly through increasing the number of knots on the path and the segments of the path. But, this method resulted in the heavier on line computational burden for the robot controller. In this paper, aiming at this drawback, the authors propose a new kind of real time accurate hand path tracking and joint trajectory planning method for robots. Through selecting some extra knots on the specified hand path by a certain rule, which enables the number of knots on each segment to increase from two to four, and through introducing a sinusoidal function and a cosinoidal function to the joint displacement equation of each segment, this method can raise the path tracking accuracy of robot′s hand greatly but does not increase the computational burden of robot controller markedly.

Changes in bacterial community and abundance of functional genes in paddy soil with cry1Ab transgenic rice

A field experiment involving cry1Ab transgenic rice(GM) and its parental non-cry1Ab rice(M) has been on-going since 2014. The diversity of the bacterial communities and the abundance of the microbial functional genes which drive the conversion of nitrogen in paddy soil were analyzed during the growth period of rice in the fifth year of the experiment, using 16 S rRNAbased Illumina Mi Seq and real-time PCR on the amoA, nirS and nirK genes. The results showed no differences in the alpha diversity indexes of the bacterial communities, including Chao1, Shannon and Simpson, between the fields cultivated with line GM and cultivar M at any of the growth stages of rice. However, the bacterial communities in the paddy soil with line GM were separated from those of paddy soil with cultivar M at each of the growth stages of rice, based on the unweighted Uni Frac NMDS or PCoA. In addition, the analyses of ADONIS and ANOSIM, based on the unweighted Uni Frac distance, indicated that the above separations between line GM and cultivar M were statistically significant(P<0.05) during the growth season of rice. The increases in the relative abundances of Acidobacteria or Bacteroidetes, in the paddy soils with line GM or cultivar M, respectively, led to the differences in the bacterial communities between them. At the same time, functional gene prediction based on Illumina Mi Seq data suggested that the abundance of many functional genes increased in the paddy soil with line GM at the maturity stage of rice, such as genes related to the metabolism of starch, amino acids and nitrogen. Otherwise, the copies of bacterial amo A gene, archaeal amo A gene and denitrifying bacterial nir K gene significantly increased(P<0.05 or 0.01) in the paddy soil with line GM. In summary, the release of cry1Ab transgenic rice had effects on either the composition of bacterial communities or the abundance of microbial functional genes in the paddy soil.

Model Implementation and Analysis of a True Three-dimensional Display System

To model a true three-dimensional(3D)display system,we introduced the method of voxel molding to obtain the stereoscopic imaging space of the system.For the distribution of each voxel,we proposed a four-dimensional(4D)Givone–Roessor(GR)model for state-space representation—that is,we established a local state-space model with the 3D position and one-dimensional time coordi-nates to describe the system.First,we extended the original elementary operation approach to a 4D condition and proposed the implementation steps of the realiza-tion matrix of the 4D GR model.Then,we described the working process of a true 3D display system,analyzed its real-time performance,introduced the fixed-point quantization model to simplify the system matrix,and derived the conditions for the global asymptotic stability of the system after quantization.Finally,we provided an example to prove the true 3D display system’s feasibility by simulation.The GR-model-representation method and its implementation steps proposed in this paper simplified the system’s mathematical expression and facilitated the microcon-troller software implementation.Real-time and stability analyses can be used widely to analyze and design true 3D display systems.

基于临床可用的亚甲基蓝近红外二区成像用于泌尿系统结构及功能成像的研究

精准的结构和功能成像对于泌尿系统疾病的诊断和预后至关重要。近红外二区(second near-infrared,NIR-Ⅱ;1000~1700 nm)荧光生物成像相较于传统的荧光生物成像具有更高的空间分辨率、更深的穿透力和更好的信噪比,但其临床适用性有限。本文首次报道了基于临床可用且经肾脏排泄的荧光染料亚甲蓝(methylene blue,MB)NIR-Ⅱ活体泌尿系统荧光成像,该方法不仅可以实现清晰的有创/无创尿路造影,而且可以有效且无创地检测肾功能。以上研究结果表明MB辅助的NIR-Ⅱ荧光成像在临床及基础研究中的泌尿系统结构和功能成像中具有巨大前景。

Assessment of the morphology and mechanical function of the left atrial appendage by real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography

Background The left atrial appendage （LAA） is an important source of thrombus formation. We investigated the feasibility of the recently developed real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography （RT3D-TEE） method in assessment of the morphology and function of the LAA. Methods Ninety-six consecutive patients （58 males with a mean age of （43.4±12.5） years） who were referred for 2-dimensional （2D） transesophageal echocardiography （TEE） underwent additional RT3D-TEE. LAA morphology was visualized in multiple views. Orifice size, depth, volumes and ejection fraction （EF） of the LAA, were measured. Results All the patients underwent RT3D-TEE examination without complications. Ninety-two patients （95.8%） had adequate images for visualization and quantitative analysis of the LAA. The LAA exhibited great variability with respect to relative dimensions and morphology. LAA orifice area was （3.8±1.2） cm^2 with a diameter of （2.4±0.9） cm x （1.4±0.6） cm. The mean depth of the LAA was （2.9±0.7） cm. End-diastolic volume （EDV-LAA）, end-systolic volume （ESV-LAA） and EF of the LAA were （6.2±3.7） ml, （4.1±2.8） ml, and 0.35±0.16, respectively. EDV-LAA, ESV-LAA and the orifice area of the LAA in patients with atrial fibrillation （AF） were larger than those without AF, whereas the EF was smaller in the AF patients. Conclusions Defining LAA morphology and quantitative analysis of the size and function of the LAA with superior quality and resolution of images using RT3D-TEE is feasible. This technique may be an ideal tool for guidance of the LAA occlusion procedure. Determination of LAA volumes and volume-derived EF by RT3D-TEE provides new insights into the analysis of LAA function.

Real-Time Pricing of Smart Grid Based on Piece-Wise Linear Functions

In a power grid system, utility is a measure of the satisfaction of users’ electricity consumption;cost is a monetary value of electricity generated by the supplier. The utility and cost functions represent the satisfaction of different users and the supplier. Quadratic utility, logarithmic utility,and quadratic cost functions are widely used in social welfare maximization models of real-time pricing. These functions are not universal;they have to be discussed in detail for individual models. To overcome this problem, a piece-wise linear utility function and a piece-wise linear cost function with general properties are proposed in this paper. By smoothing the piece-wise linear utility and cost functions, a social welfare maximization model can be transformed into a differentiable convex optimization problem. A dual optimization method is used to solve the smoothed model. Through mathematical deduction and numerical simulations, the rationality of the model and the validity of the algorithm are verified as long as the elastic and cost coefficients take appropriate values. Thus, different user types and the supplier can be determined by selecting different elastic and cost coefficients.

An artificial neural network visible mathematical model for real-time prediction of multiphase flowing bottom-hole pressure in wellbores

Accurate prediction of multiphase flowing bottom-hole pressure(FBHP)in wellbores is an important factor required for optimal tubing design and production optimization.Existing empirical correlations and mechanistic models provide inaccurate FBHP predictions when applied to real-time field datasets because they were developed with laboratory-dependent parameters.Most machine learning(ML)models for FBHP prediction are developed with real-time field data but presented as black-box models.In addition,these ML models cannot be reproduced by other users because the dataset used for training the machine learning algorithm is not open source.These make using the ML models on new datasets difficult.This study presents an artificial neural network(ANN)visible mathematical model for real-time multiphase FBHP prediction in wellbores.A total of 1001 normalized real-time field data points were first used in developing an ANN black-box model.The data points were randomly divided into three different sets;70%for training,15%for validation,and the remaining 15%for testing.Statistical analysis showed that using the Levenberg-Marquardt training optimization algorithm(trainlm),hyperbolic tangent activation function(tansig),and three hidden layers with 20,15 and 15 neurons in the first,second and third hidden layers respectively achieved the best performance.The trained ANN model was then translated into an ANN visible mathematical model by extracting the tuned weights and biases.Trend analysis shows that the new model produced the expected effects of physical attributes on FBHP.Furthermore,statistical and graphical error analysis results show that the new model outperformed existing empirical correlations,mechanistic models,and an ANN white-box model.Training of the ANN on a larger dataset containing new data points covering a wider range of each input parameter can broaden the applicability domain of the proposed ANN visible mathematical model.

Real-time pupil tracking backlight system for holographic 3D display(Invited Paper)

We propose an automatic three-dimensionM （3D） pupil tracking backlight system for holographic 3D display system with large image size and full-parallax accommodation effect. The proposed tracking module is applied to a holographic 3D display system with two sets of directional holographic imaging module composed of 2 × 2 large scale lens array and 22-inch high-resolution liquid crystal display 3D panel. System architecture is described and experimental results are presented.

牛体外发育胚胎特定阶段差异表达基因的研究(英文)

[目的]研究不同发育时期牛体外受精胚胎在基因表达模式上的差异。[方法]利用单个胚胎mRNA差异显示技术,对单个8细胞期胚胎与囊胚进行mRNA差异显示,获得1条特异表达条带,对其进行克隆、测序,并与GenBank进行对比。[结果]该序列与牛核糖体蛋白L31基因(ribosom alprotein L31,RPL31)具有99%的同源性。采用实时定量PCR技术检测8细胞期和囊胚期胚胎RPL31的mRNA表达量,结果表明,RPL31在8细胞期胚胎的相对表达量为囊胚期胚胎的3.2倍。[结论]为揭示和阐明控制牛早期胚胎发育的相关机理提供依据。

Assessment of left ventricular systolic synchronicity by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Background Recent advances in real-time three-dimensional echocardiography （RT3DE） offer the potential to assess the left ventricular （LV） dyssynchrony simultaneously by analyzing the 17 segments time-volume curves. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and accuracy of RT3DE for quantitative evaluation of left ventricular systolic synchronicity. Methods Twenty-four patients with dilated cardiomyopathy （DCM） and twenty-ftve healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Full volume RT3DE was performed by using Philips IE33 with X3-1 probe. The global and 17-segmental time-volume curves were obtained by the on-line Qlab software （version 4.2）. The time to minimal systolic volume in each segment （Tmsv） was taken to derive the following indexes of systolic asynchrony： Tmsv 16-SD, Tmsv 16-Dif, Tmsv 12-SD, Tmsv 12-Dif, Tmsv 6-SD and Tmsv 6-Dif, which meant the standard deviation or the maximal difference of Tmsv among the 16, 12 and 6 segments of the left ventricle respectively. The software also provided with each of the above parameters as a percentage of the cardiac cycle. Results Tmsv 16-SD, Tmsv 12-SD and Tmsv 6-SD were all significantly larger in the DCM group than those of the control group [Tmsv 16-SD： （52.9±40.6） ms vs （8.8±6.2） ms; Tmsv 12-SD： （29.5＋30.8） ms vs （6.9±4.0） ms; Tmsv 6-SD： （28.9±34.6） ms vs （7.0±4.7）ms, all P≤0.001]. Tmsv 16-Dif, Tmsv 12-Dif and Tmsv 6-Dif were also significantly larger in the DCM group. There were close negative relations between the LVEF determined by RT3DE and each of the indexes of systolic asynchrony, among which the indexes of Tmsv-16-SD% and Tmsv-16-Dif% correlated most closely （r=-0.703 and r=-0.701, respectively）. The DCM patients had significantly larger EDV and ESV, with significantly reduced LVEF compared with the healthy subjects. Conclusion RT3DE provides a simple, useful and unique approach to assess the systolic synchronicity of all the left ventricular segments simultaneously.

Effects of neuregulin-1 on autonomic nervous system remodeling post-myocardial infarction in a rat model

Sympathetic nerve and vagus nerve remodeling play an important part in cardiac function post-myocardial infarction （MI）. Increasing evidence indicates that neuregulin-1 （NRG-1） improves cardiac function following heart failure. Since its impact on cardiac function and neural remodeling post-MI is poorly understood, we aimed to investigate the role of NRG-1 in autonomic nervous system remodeling post-MI. Forty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were equally randomized into three groups： sham （with the left anterior descending coronary artery exposed but without ligation）, MI （left anterior descending coronary artery ligation）, and MI plus NRG-1 （left anterior descending coronary artery ligation followed by intraperitoneal injection of NRG-1 （10 lag/kg, once daily for 7 days））. At 4 weeks after MI, echocardi- ography was used to detect the rat cardiac function by measuring the left ventricular end-systolic inner diameter, left ventricular diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic volume, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, left ventricular ejection fraction, and left ventricular fractional shortening, mRNA and protein expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase, growth associated protein-43 （neuronal specific pro- tein）, nerve growth factor, choline acetyltransferase （vagus nerve marker）, and vesicular acetylcholine transporter （cardiac vagal nerve fiber marker） in ischemic myocardia were detected by real-time PCR and western blot assay to assess autonomous nervous remodeling. After MI, the rat cardiac function deteriorated significantly, and it was significantly improved after NRG-1 injection. Compared with the MI group, mRNA and protein levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and growth associated protein-43, as well as choline acetyltransferase mRNA level significantly decreased in the MI plus NRG-1 group, while mRNA and protein levels of nerve growth factor and vesicular acetylcholine transporters, as well as choline acetyltransferase protein level slightly decreased. Our results indicate that NRG- 1 can improve cardiac function and regulate sympathetic and vagus nerve remodeling post-MI, thus reaching a new balance of the autonomic nervous system to protect the heart from injury.

Identification and Characterization of Genes Responsible for Drought Tolerance in Rice Mediated by Pseudomonas fluorescens

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses which adversely affect crop plants limiting growth and yield potential.Structural and functional characterization of drought stress-induced genes has contributed to a better understanding of how plants respond and adapt to the drought stress.In the present study,differential display technique was employed to study the gene expression of rice plants at the reproductive stage that were subjected to drought stress by withholding water,Pseudomonas fluorescens strain(Pf1) treated plants subjected for drought stress by withholding water and control(well-watered).Differentially expressed c DNAs of six genes(COX1,PKDP,b ZIP1,AP2-EREBP,Hsp20 and COC1) were identified,cloned and sequenced.Real-time q PCR analysis showed that all the six genes were upregulated in drought-stressed plants treated with Pf1.This revealed that the remarkable influence of Pf1 colonization leads to drought tolerance at the reproductive stage.These results showed that high levels of gene expression in plants lacking adequate water can be remarkably influenced by Pf1 colonization,which might be a key element for induced systemic tolerance by microbes.

Performance Enhancements in the EAST Digital Plasma Control System

The EAST plasma control system （PCS） is in continuous development to satisfy the EAST experimental requirements. In order to realize low latency and distortion-free signal transmission between PCS and servo systems such as the poloidal field power supply, in-vessel coil power supply and real-time scope, reflective memory boards （RFM） were applied. The new hardware layout and enhanced performance are reported. Newly implemented PCS control algorithms for gas control and real-time data display are also presented.