Smart prediction of liquefaction-induced lateral spreading

The prediction of liquefaction-induced lateral spreading/displacement(Dh)is a challenging task for civil/geotechnical engineers.In this study,a new approach is proposed to predict Dh using gene expression programming(GEP).Based on statistical reasoning,individual models were developed for two topographies:free-face and gently sloping ground.Along with a comparison with conventional approaches for predicting the Dh,four additional regression-based soft computing models,i.e.Gaussian process regression(GPR),relevance vector machine(RVM),sequential minimal optimization regression(SMOR),and M5-tree,were developed and compared with the GEP model.The results indicate that the GEP models predict Dh with less bias,as evidenced by the root mean square error(RMSE)and mean absolute error(MAE)for training(i.e.1.092 and 0.815;and 0.643 and 0.526)and for testing(i.e.0.89 and 0.705;and 0.773 and 0.573)in free-face and gently sloping ground topographies,respectively.The overall performance for the free-face topology was ranked as follows:GEP>RVM>M5-tree>GPR>SMOR,with a total score of 40,32,24,15,and 10,respectively.For the gently sloping condition,the performance was ranked as follows:GEP>RVM>GPR>M5-tree>SMOR with a total score of 40,32,21,19,and 8,respectively.Finally,the results of the sensitivity analysis showed that for both free-face and gently sloping ground,the liquefiable layer thickness(T_(15))was the major parameter with percentage deterioration(%D)value of 99.15 and 90.72,respectively.

Effects of non-liquefiable crust layer and superstructure mass on the response of 2×2 pile groups to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading

In this research,two shake table experiments were conducted to study the effects of non-liquefiable crust layer and superstructure mass on the responses of two sets of 22 pile groups to liquefactioninduced lateral spreading.In this regard,an inclined base layer overlain by a very loose liquefiable layer was constructed in both models;while only in one model,a non-liquefiable crust layer was built.A lumped mass,being representative of a superstructure,was attached to the cap of one pile group in both models.The models were fully instrumented with various sensors,including acceleration,displacement,and pore water pressure transducers.Also,the piles were instrumented with pair strain gauges to measure pure bending moments induced by cyclic and monotonic loadings associated with ground shaking and lateral spreading,respectively.The results showed that the existence of the non-liquefiable crust layer increases both the maximum and residual soil displacements at the free field and also the maximum bending moments in the piles.The results of the experiments indicated that the crust layer induces a high kinematic lateral soil pressure and force on the piles which are not present in the crustless case.The crust layer increases the pile cap displacement before liquefaction,albeit decreases it after liquefaction,due to the elastic rebound of the piles in the liquefiable layer.The crust layer postpones both liquefaction triggering and dissipation of excess pore water pressure.The existence of the superstructure mass on the pile caps decreases the acceleration amplitude of the pile caps,while increases their maximum displacement.

The burden of upper motor neuron involvement is correlated with the bilateral limb involvement interval in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:a retrospective observational study

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a rare neurodegenerative disease characterized by the involvement of both upper and lower motor neurons.Early bilateral limb involvement significantly affects patients'daily lives and may lead them to be confined to bed.However,the effect of upper and lower motor neuron impairment and other risk factors on bilateral limb involvement is unclear.To address this issue,we retrospectively collected data from 586 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with limb onset diagnosed at Peking University Third Hospital between January 2020 and May 2022.A univariate analysis revealed no significant differences in the time intervals of spread in different directions between individuals with upper motor neuron-dominant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and those with classic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.We used causal directed acyclic graphs for risk factor determination and Cox proportional hazards models to investigate the association between the duration of bilateral limb involvement and clinical baseline characteristics in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.Multiple factor analyses revealed that higher upper motor neuron scores(hazard ratio[HR]=1.05,95%confidence interval[CI]=1.01–1.09,P=0.018),onset in the left limb(HR=0.72,95%CI=0.58–0.89,P=0.002),and a horizontal pattern of progression(HR=0.46,95%CI=0.37–0.58,P<0.001)were risk factors for a shorter interval until bilateral limb involvement.The results demonstrated that a greater degree of upper motor neuron involvement might cause contralateral limb involvement to progress more quickly in limb-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.These findings may improve the management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with limb onset and the prediction of patient prognosis.

Influence of network structure on spreading dynamics via tie range

There are various phenomena of malicious information spreading in the real society, which cause many negative impacts on the society. In order to better control the spreading, it is crucial to reveal the influence of network structure on network spreading. Motifs, as fundamental structures within a network, play a significant role in spreading. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the influence of the structural characteristics of basic network motifs on spreading dynamics.Considering the edges of the basic network motifs in an undirected network correspond to different tie ranges, two edge removal strategies are proposed, short ties priority removal strategy and long ties priority removal strategy. The tie range represents the second shortest path length between two connected nodes. The study focuses on analyzing how the proposed strategies impact network spreading and network structure, as well as examining the influence of network structure on network spreading. Our findings indicate that the long ties priority removal strategy is most effective in controlling network spreading, especially in terms of spread range and spread velocity. In terms of network structure, the clustering coefficient and the diameter of network also have an effect on the network spreading, and the triangular structure as an important motif structure effectively inhibits the spreading.

Individual dynamics and local heterogeneity provide a microscopic view of the epidemic spreading

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe global disasters,highlighting the importance of understanding the details and trends of epidemic transmission in order to introduce efficient intervention measures.While the widely used deterministic compartmental models have qualitatively presented continuous “analytical” insight and captured some transmission features,their treatment usually lacks spatiotemporal variation.Here,we propose a stochastic individual dynamical(SID)model to mimic the random and heterogeneous nature of epidemic propagation.The SID model provides a unifying framework for representing the spatiotemporal variations of epidemic development by tracking the movements of each individual.Using this model,we reproduce the infection curves for COVID-19 cases in different areas globally and find the local dynamics and heterogeneity at the individual level that affect the disease outbreak.The macroscopic trend of virus spreading is clearly illustrated from the microscopic perspective,enabling a quantitative assessment of different interventions.Seemingly,this model is also applicable to studying stochastic processes at the “meter scale”,e.g.,human society’s collective dynamics.

DiriNet:An Estimation Network for Spectral Response Function and Point Spread Function

Hyper-and multi-spectral image fusion is an important technology to produce hyper-spectral and hyper-resolution images,which always depends on the spectral response function andthe point spread function.However,few works have been payed on the estimation of the two degra-dation functions.To learn the two functions from image pairs to be fused,we propose a Dirichletnetwork,where both functions are properly constrained.Specifically,the spatial response function isconstrained with positivity,while the Dirichlet distribution along with a total variation is imposedon the point spread function.To the best of our knowledge,the neural network and the Dirichlet regularization are exclusively investigated,for the first time,to estimate the degradation functions.Both image degradation and fusion experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of theproposed Dirichlet network.

Adaptive Video Dual Domain Watermarking Scheme Based on PHT Moment and Optimized Spread Transform Dither Modulation

To address the challenges of video copyright protection and ensure the perfect recovery of original video,we propose a dual-domain watermarking scheme for digital video,inspired by Robust Reversible Watermarking(RRW)technology used in digital images.Our approach introduces a parameter optimization strategy that incre-mentally adjusts scheme parameters through attack simulation fitting,allowing for adaptive tuning of experimental parameters.In this scheme,the low-frequency Polar Harmonic Transform(PHT)moment is utilized as the embedding domain for robust watermarking,enhancing stability against simulation attacks while implementing the parameter optimization strategy.Through extensive attack simulations across various digital videos,we identify the optimal low-frequency PHT moment using adaptive normalization.Subsequently,the embedding parameters for robust watermarking are adaptively adjusted to maximize robustness.To address computational efficiency and practical requirements,the unnormalized high-frequency PHT moment is selected as the embedding domain for reversible watermarking.We optimize the traditional single-stage extended transform dithering modulation(STDM)to facilitate multi-stage embedding in the dual-domain watermarking process.In practice,the video embedded with a robust watermark serves as the candidate video.This candidate video undergoes simulation according to the parameter optimization strategy to balance robustness and embedding capacity,with adaptive determination of embedding strength.The reversible watermarking is formed by combining errors and other information,utilizing recursive coding technology to ensure reversibility without attacks.Comprehensive analyses of multiple performance indicators demonstrate that our scheme exhibits strong robustness against Common Signal Processing(CSP)and Geometric Deformation(GD)attacks,outperforming other advanced video watermarking algorithms under similar conditions of invisibility,reversibility,and embedding capacity.This underscores the effectiveness and feasibility of our attack simulation fitting strategy.

Possible Cortical Spreading Depression Recorded Intraoperatively Following a Generalized Seizure: Illustrative Case

Background: We present a compelling case fitting the phenomenon of cortical spreading depression detected by intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) following an intraoperative seizure during a craniotomy for revascularization. Cortical spreading depression (CSD, also called cortical spreading depolarization) is a pathophysiological phenomenon whereby a wave of depolarization is thought to propagate across the cerebral cortex, creating a brief period of relative neuronal inactivity. The relationship between CSD and seizures is unclear, although some literature has made a correlation between seizures and a cortical environment conducive to CSD. Methods: Intraoperative somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and electroencephalography (EEG) were monitored continuously during the craniotomy procedure utilizing standard montages. Electrophysiological data from pre-ictal, ictal, and post-ictal periods were recorded. Results: During the procedure, intraoperative EEG captured a generalized seizure followed by a stepwise decrease in somatosensory evoked potential cortical amplitudes, compelling for the phenomenon of CSD. The subsequent partial recovery of neuronal function was also captured electrophysiologically. Discussion: While CSD is considered controversial in some aspects, intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring allowed for the unique analysis of a case demonstrating a CSD-like phenomenon. To our knowledge, this is the first published example of this phenomenon in which intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring captured a seizure, along with a stepwise subsequent reduction in SSEP cortical amplitudes not explained by other variables.

Bearing Capacity Analysis of Spread Footing on Massif in the “Corniche Ouest” of the Dakar Peninsula (Senegal, West Africa)

This study presents various approaches to calculating the bearing capacity of spread footings applied to the rock mass of the western corniche at the tip of the Dakar peninsula. The bearing capacity was estimated using empirical, analytical and numerical approaches based on the parameters of the rock mass and the foundation. Laboratory tests were carried out on basanite, as well as on the other facies detected. The results of these studies give a range of allowable bearing capacity values varying between 1.92 and 11.39 MPa for the empirical methods and from 7.13 to 25.50 MPa for the analytical methods. A wide dispersion of results was observed according to the different approaches. This dispersion of results is explained by the use of different rock parameters depending on the method used. The allowable bearing capacity results obtained with varying approaches of calculation remain admissible to support the loads. On the other hand, the foundation calculations show acceptable settlement of the order of a millimeter for all the layers, especially in the thin clay layers resting on the bedrock at shallow depths, where the rigidity of the rock reduces settlement.

Response of a pile group behind quay wall to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading:a shake-table investigation

The response of pile foundations near a quay wall under liquefaction-induced lateral spreading remains a complex problem. This study presents the results of a shake-table test on a 2×2 pile group behind a sheet-pile quay wall that was subjected to lateral spreading. The quay wall was employed to trigger liquefaction-induced large lateral ground deformation. The discussions focus on the behavior of the pile and the soil and on the bending moment distributions within the group pile and the restoring force characteristics at the superstructure. Overall, the piles exhibited apparent pinning effects that reduced soil deformation. In addition, the rear-row piles near the quay wall experienced larger bending moments than did the front-row piles, indicating significant pile group effects. The tests showed that lateral spreading could be a primary cause of larger monotonic deformations and bending moments. It can also be concluded that the monotonic bending moments were significantly decreased due to the presence of slow soil flow. The stiffness at the superstructure was reduced because of accumulated excess pore pressure before liquefaction, and it was recovered during lateral spreading. The present study further enhances current understanding of the behavior of low-cap pile foundations under lateral spreading.

Peroral cholangioscopy for non-invasive papillary cholangio-carcinoma with extensive superficial ductal spread

Papillary carcinoma arising from the extrahepatic bile duct often shows superficial ductal spread. We report herein the case of a patient with extensive superficial spread of non-invasive papillary cholangiocarcinoma,which was depicted with peroral cholangioscopy. A 65-year-old woman presented with the sudden-onset of severe epigastric pain. Ultrasonography revealed acute acalculous cholecystitis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography found small protruding lesions around the confluence of the cystic duct, suggestive of a cholangiocarcinoma. As the contour of the middle and upper bile ducts it was slightly irregular on the cholangiogram, the presence of superficial ductal spread was suspected. Peroral cholangioscopy revealed small papillary lesions around the confluence of the cystic duct and fine granular mucosal lesions in the middle and upper bile ducts and the right hepatic duct, suggesting a superficially spreading tumor. A right hepatectomy with bile duct resection was performed and no residual tumor was found. Histological examination revealed a non-invasive papillary carcinoma arising from the cystic duct with extensive superficial spread. Our experience of this case and a review of the literature suggest that a fine granular or fine papillary appearance of the ductal mucosae on cholangioscopy indicates superficial spread of papillary cholangiocarcinoma, for which peroral cholangioscopy is an efficient diagnostic option.

Channel Estimation for OTFS System over Doubly Spread Sparse Acoustic Channels

This paper addresses sparse channels estimation problem for the generalized linear models(GLM)in the orthogonal time frequency space(OTFS)underwater acoustic(UWA)system.OTFS works in the delay-Doppler domain,where timevarying channels are characterized as delay-Doppler impulse responses.In fact,a typical doubly spread UWA channel is associated with several resolvable paths,which exhibits a structured sparsity in the delayDoppler domain.To leverage the structured sparsity of the doubly spread UWA channel,we develop a structured sparsity-based generalized approximated message passing(GAMP)algorithm for reliable channel estimation in quantized OTFS systems.The proposed algorithm has a lower computational complexity compared to the conventional Bayesian algorithm.In addition,the expectation maximum algorithm is employed to learn the sparsity ratio and the noise variance.Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has superior performance and low computational complexity for quantized OTFS systems.

Functionalized alginate-based bioinks for microscale electrohydrodynamic bioprinting of living tissue constructs with improved cellular spreading and alignment

Bioprinting has been widely investigated for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.However,it is still difficult to reconstruct the complex native cell arrangement due to the limited printing resolution of conventional bioprinting techniques such as extrusion-and inkjet-based printing.Recently,an electrohydrodynamic(EHD)bioprinting strategy was reported for the precise deposition of well-organized cell-laden constructs with microscale filament size,whereas few studies have been devoted to developing bioinks that can be applied for EHD bioprinting and simultaneously support cell spreading.This study describes functionalized alginate-based bioinks for microscale EHD bioprinting using peptide grafting and fibrin incorporation,which leads to high cell viability(>90%)and cell spreading.The printed filaments can be further refined to as small as 30μm by incorporating polyoxyethylene and remained stable over one week when exposed to an aqueous environment.By utilizing the presented alginate-based bioinks,layer-specific cell alignment along the printing struts could be observed inside the EHD-printed microscale filaments,which allows fabricating living constructs with cell-scale filament resolution for guided cellular orientation.

Topological phase transition in network spreading

This paper investigates information spreading from the perspective of topological phase transition.Firstly,a new hybrid network is constructed based on the small-world networks and scale-free networks.Secondly,the attention mechanism of online users in information spreading is studied from four aspects:social distance,individual influence,content richness,and individual activity,and a dynamic evolution model of connecting with spreading is designed.Eventually,numerical simulations are conducted in three types of networks to verify the validity of the proposed dynamic evolution model.The simulation results show that topological structure and node influence in different networks have undergone phase transition,which is consistent with the phenomenon that followers and individual influence in real social networks experience phase transition within a short period.The infection density of networks with the dynamic evolution rule changes faster and reaches higher values than that of networks without the dynamic evolution rule.Furthermore,the simulation results are compared with the real data,which shows that the infection density curve of the hybrid networks is closer to that of the real data than that of the small-world networks and scale-free networks,verifying the validity of the model proposed in this paper.

Boosting image watermarking authenticity spreading secrecy from counting-based secret-sharing

This study presents enhancing images authentication by securing watermarking hidden data via shares generated from counting-based secret sharing.The trustfulness of shares utilised secret-sharing as an applicable privacy creation tool for the authentication of real-life complex platforms.This research adjusts embedding the watermarking data over the images by innovative redistribution of shares to be embedded spread over all the images.The anticipated watermarking technique guaranteed to scatter the share bits implanting at different least significant bits of image pixels as boosting up the trust overall authentication practicality.The paper experimentation performance analysis shows that this improved image watermarking authentication(capacity)is averagely better by 33%–67%than other related exclusive-OR oriented and octagon approaches.Interestingly,these measurement improvements did not degrade the robustness and security of the system,inspiring our research for opening novel track of related future counting-based secret-sharing authentication progresses to come.

Non-Supervised Learning for Spread Spectrum Signal Pseudo-Noise Sequence Acquisition

An idea of estimating the direct sequence spread spectrum（DSSS） signal pseudo-noise（PN） sequence is presented. Without the apriority knowledge about the DSSS signal in the non-cooperation condition, we propose a self-organizing feature map（SOFM） neural network algorithm to detect and identify the PN sequence. A non-supervised learning algorithm is proposed according the Kohonen rule in SOFM. The blind algorithm can also estimate the PN sequence in a low signal-to-noise（SNR） and computer simulation demonstrates that the algorithm is effective. Compared with the traditional correlation algorithm based on slip-correlation, the proposed algorithm＇s bit error rate（BER） and complexity are lower.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor in an elderly patient with superficial spreading melanoma:A case report

BACKGROUND Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor(MPNST)is a type of spindle cell sarcoma originating from the peripheral nerve,which usually results in the corresponding nerve sign on magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).Patients with MPNST may also have neurofibromatosis type 1.CASE SUMMARY A 78-year-old male was admitted to the hospital due to a tumor in his left knee.He had a previous history of superficial spreading melanoma on the left thigh.Color Doppler ultrasonography showed a hypoechoic mass in the subcutaneous soft tissues of the medial left knee with an abundant rich blood flow.Computed tomography scanning did not show obvious signs of bone destruction,but the skin adjacent to the tumor was slightly thickened.MRI examination revealed that the hypervascular lesion was well-circumscribed,lobulated,invaded the surrounding soft tissues and demonstrated heterogeneous enhancement but lacked an entering and exiting nerve sign.The MRI result indicated the invasiveness of the tumor.The patient underwent a left knee joint mass expanded resection and the first histopathological examination showed a MPNST with positive surgical margins.Therefore,the second extended resection was performed,and the patient had a good outcome in the short term.CONCLUSION MRI is a useful technique for revealing the biological characteristics of MPNST and provides clinical support for evaluation of the surgical area before operation.

Influence of Climatic Factors on the Recent Spread of Dubas Bug Ommatissus lybicus （Debergevin） on Date Palm Trees in Some Upper Euphrates Regions of AI-Anbar Province

The dubas bug Ommatissus lybicus （Debergevin） （Homoptera： Tropiduchidae） was almost absent in AI-Anbar Province during the past years, however, field survey conducted in different regions of the province during fall of 2007 indicated the presence of heavy infestation by this pest on date palm trees in some orchards toward the east of Hit city. Infestation was highly influencing in term of affected trees and accumulation of honey dew. Scattered infestations were also recorded in some orchards west of Hit city and near the cities of Haditha, Rawa and AI-Kaim near the Syrian border. However, a sharp decline of dubas population was observed during 2008 and subsequent years as a result of the influence of sever winter in 2008 and the continuous occurrence of dust storms which showed a detrimental effect on moving stages of dubas bug. Data showed that nymphs density reached to about 50 individuals/leaflet recorded during the last week of April and early May of 2008 and was reduced to less than 5 nymphs/leaflet by the end of the third week of May of the same year as a result of the indicated climatic factors. Farther samplings conducted in Spring and Fall seasons of 2009 and 2010 indicated that insects were mainly found on offshoots near the ground with a maximum density reached to 12 individuals/tree. Since the spread of the pest occurred in a discontinuous manner with no correlation to infestations in close by provinces indicating that the arrival or transportation of the pest was happened in a way other than the normal distribution, therefore, dubas bug may not persist in date palm orchards in A1- Anbar Province.

Synergistic Suppression of Cortical Spreading Depression under NR2A and NR2B Inhibition

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is a transient synaptic excitation, followed by depression, which can propagate slowly across cortex, subcortex and retina. CSD is implicated in migraine with aura and may lead to migraine pain. CSD can be suppressed by inhibition of both NR2A and NR2B containing N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors. However, whether there is a synergistic effect of co-inhibition of NR2A and NR2B containing receptors on CSD remains unknown. In this study, an efficient in vitro model of migraine with intrinsic optical imaging approach was applied to address this role of co-activation of both NR2A and NR2B in CSD. The results showed that co-application of NVP-AAM077, a drug selectively targeting for NR2A and Ro 25-6981, a drug selectively targeting for NR2B containing receptors, showed synergistic inhibitory effects on propagation rate and the magnitude of CSD in a concentration dependent manner in chick retina. Inhibition of CSD propagation was also observed by a clinical acceptable drug that antagonizes both NR2A and NR2B containing receptors, memantine, at 10 μM. These data suggest that combinational use of antagonists selectively targeting NR2A and NR2B containing receptors could be a useful strategy for preventative treatment of migraine with improved efficacy with potential alleviated side effects.

Two-Dimensional Numerical Investigation on Applicability of 45^。Heat Spreading Angle

The 45。heat spreading angle is familiar among thermal designers. This angle has been used for thermal design of electronic devices, and provides a heat spreading area inside a board, e.g. printed circuit board, which is placed between a heat dissipating element and a relatively large heat sink. By using this angle, the heat transfer behavior can be estimated quickly without using high-performance computers. In addition, the rough design can be made easily by changing design parameters. This angle is effective in a practical situation;however, the discussion has not been made sufficiently on the applicability of the 45。heat spreading angle. In the present study, therefore, the extensive numerical investigation is conducted for the rational thermal design using the 45。heat spreading angle. The two-dimensional mathematical model of the board is considered;the center of the top is heated by a heat source while the bottom is entirely cooled by a heat sink. The temperature distribution is obtained by solving the heat conduction equation numerically with the boundary conditions. From the numerical results, the heat transfer behavior inside the board is shown and its relation with the design parameters is clarified. The heat transfer behavior inside the 45。heat spreading area is also evaluated. The applicability is moreover discussed on the thermal resistance of the board obtained by the 45。heat spreading angle. It is confirmed that the 45。heat spreading angle is applicable when the Biot number is large, and then the equations are proposed to calculate the Biot number index to use the 45。angle. Furthermore, the validity of the 45。heat spreading angle is also confirmed when the isothermal boundary condition is used at the cooled section of the board.