Image Non-Uniformity Correction in 3T Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Comparison among Different Software Versions

Background: Non-uniformity in signal intensity occurs commonly in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, which may pose substantial problems when using a 3T scanner. Therefore, image non-uniformity correction is usually applied. Purpose: To compare the correction effects of the phased-array uniformity enhancement (PURE), a calibration-based image non-uniformity correction method, among three different software versions in 3T Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Material and Methods: Hepatobiliary-phase images of a total of 120 patients who underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging on the same 3T scanner were analyzed retrospectively. Forty patients each were examined using three software versions (DV25, DV25.1, and DV26). The effects of PURE were compared by visual assessment, histogram analysis of liver signal intensity, evaluation of the spatial distribution of correction effects, and evaluation of quantitative indices of liver parenchymal enhancement. Results: The visual assessment indicated the highest uniformity of PURE-corrected images for DV26, followed by DV25 and DV25.1. Histogram analysis of corrected images demonstrated significantly larger variations in liver signal for DV25.1 than for the other two versions. Although PURE caused a relative increase in pixel values for central and lateral regions, such effects were weaker for DV25.1 than for the other two versions. In the evaluation of quantitative indices of liver parenchymal enhancement, the liver-to-muscle ratio (LMR) was significantly higher for the corrected images than for the uncorrected images, but the liver-to-spleen ratio (LSR) showed no significant differences. For corrected images, the LMR was significantly higher for DV25 and DV26 than for DV25.1, but the LSR showed no significant differences among the three versions. Conclusion: There were differences in the effects of PURE among the three software versions in 3T Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Even if the non-uniformity correction method has the same brand name, correction effects may differ depending on the software version, and these differences may affect visual and quantitative evaluations.

Numerical Simulation of the Impact of Urban Non-uniformity on Precipitation

To evaluate the influence of urban non-uniformity on precipitation, the area of a city was divided into three categories （commercial, high-density residential, and low-density residential） according to the building density data from Landsat satel- lites. Numerical simulations of three corresponding scenarios （urban non-uniformity, urban uniformity, and non-urban） were performed in Nanjing using the WRF model. The results demonstrate that the existence of the city results in more precip- itation, and that urban heterogeneity enhances this phenomenon. For the urban non-uniformity, uniformity, and non-urban experiments, the mean cumulative summer precipitation was 423.09 mm, 407.40 mm, and 389.67 mm, respectively. Urban non-uniformity has a significant effect on the amount of heavy rainfall in summer. The cumulative precipitation from heavy rain in the summer for the three numerical experiments was 278.2 mm, 250.6 mm, and 236.5 mm, respectively. In the non- uniformity experiments, the amount of precipitation between 1500 and 2200 （LST） increased significantly. Furthermore, the adoption of urban non-uniformity into the WRF model could improve the numerical simulation of summer rain and its daily variation.

Non-Uniformity of Heavy-Ion Beam Irradiation on a Direct-Driven Pellet in Inertial Confinement Fusion

Heavy-ion-driven fusion （HIF） is a scheme to achieve inertial confinement fusion （ICF）. Investigation of the non-uniformity of heavy-ion beam （HIB） irradiation is one of the key issues for ICF driven by powerful heavy-ion beams. Ions in HIB impinge on the pellet surface and deposit their energy in a relatively deep and wide area. Therefore, the non-uniformity of HIB irradiation should be evaluated in the volume of the deposition area in the absorber layer. By using the OK1 code with some corrections, the non-uniformity of heavy-ion beam irradiation for the different ion beams on two kinds of targets were evaluated in 12-beam, 20-beam, 60-beam and 120-beam irradiation schemes. The root-mean-square （RMS） non-uniformity value becomes aRMS = 8.39% in an aluminum mono-layer pellet structure and aRMS = 6.53% in a lead-aluminum layer target for the 12-uranium-beam system. The RMS non-uniformity for the lead-aluminum layer target was lower than that for the mono-layer target. The RMS and peak-to-valley （PTV） non-uniformities are reduced with the increase in beam number, and low at the Bragg peak layer.

Study on effect of heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on in-cylinder NOx emission formation in internal combustion engine

The components of combustion chamber (cylinder head-cylinder liner-piston assembly-oil film) were taken as a coupled body.Based on the three-dimensional heat transfer numerical simulation of the coupled body,a coupled three-dimensional calculation model for in-cylinder working process and the combustion chamber components was built with domain decomposition and boundary coupled method,which implements the coupled three-dimensional simulation of in-cylinder working process and the combustion chamber components.The model was applied in the influence investigation of the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among combustion chamber components on the generation of in-cylinder emissions:NOx.The results showed that the heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components directly influences the formation of in-cylinder NOx.The main area being influenced was the accessory area on the wall,while the influence on the generation of NOx in the central area couold be omitted.

The coefficient of variation representing the non-uniformity of the strain field and its implication to detect earthquake precursor

Before the major earthquake or rock damage occurs,it is often accompanied by a sudden change in the degree of non-uniformity of the strain field.In order to find a stronger non-uniformity signal before the rock failure,the coefficient of variation(Cv)is examined and reformed in this study.We test the Cv calculation way of the"normal-abnormal"model proposed in the previous studies.Based on the analysis of the physical process of rock failure and its relationship to the shear strain field,we construct a new way to calculate the Cv value.The variation of shear strain field on rock sample with the increase of stress is obtained by the digital speckle correlation method(DSCM).The new Cv value calculation way is used to study the non-uniformity of the spatial distribution for the shear strain field.The results show that this Cv calculation way can get more obvious abnormal signals.When the number of observation points are limited,the specific distribution of points can increase the signal strength,which may provide reference for the research on precursor detection of earthquakes.

Pressure transient characteristics of non-uniform conductivity fractured wells in viscoelasticity polymer flooding based on oil-water two-phase flow

Polymer flooding in fractured wells has been extensively applied in oilfields to enhance oil recovery.In contrast to water,polymer solution exhibits non-Newtonian and nonlinear behavior such as effects of shear thinning and shear thickening,polymer convection,diffusion,adsorption retention,inaccessible pore volume and reduced effective permeability.Meanwhile,the flux density and fracture conductivity along the hydraulic fracture are generally non-uniform due to the effects of pressure distribution,formation damage,and proppant breakage.In this paper,we present an oil-water two-phase flow model that captures these complex non-Newtonian and nonlinear behavior,and non-uniform fracture characteristics in fractured polymer flooding.The hydraulic fracture is firstly divided into two parts:high-conductivity fracture near the wellbore and low-conductivity fracture in the far-wellbore section.A hybrid grid system,including perpendicular bisection(PEBI)and Cartesian grid,is applied to discrete the partial differential flow equations,and the local grid refinement method is applied in the near-wellbore region to accurately calculate the pressure distribution and shear rate of polymer solution.The combination of polymer behavior characterizations and numerical flow simulations are applied,resulting in the calculation for the distribution of water saturation,polymer concentration and reservoir pressure.Compared with the polymer flooding well with uniform fracture conductivity,this non-uniform fracture conductivity model exhibits the larger pressure difference,and the shorter bilinear flow period due to the decrease of fracture flow ability in the far-wellbore section.The field case of the fall-off test demonstrates that the proposed method characterizes fracture characteristics more accurately,and yields fracture half-lengths that better match engineering reality,enabling a quantitative segmented characterization of the near-wellbore section with high fracture conductivity and the far-wellbore section with low fracture conductivity.The novelty of this paper is the analysis of pressure performances caused by the fracture dynamics and polymer rheology,as well as an analysis method that derives formation and fracture parameters based on the pressure and its derivative curves.

Effect of non-uniform swelling on coal multiphysics during gas injection: The triangle approach

In current dual porosity/permeability models,there exists a fundamental assumption that the adsorption-induced swelling is distributed uniformly within the representative elementary volume (REV),irrespective of its internal structures and transient processes.However,both internal structures and transient processes can lead to the non-uniform swelling.In this study,we hypothesize that the non-uniform swelling is responsible for why coal permeability in experimental measurements is not only controlled by the effective stress but also is affected by the adsorption-induced swelling.We propose a concept of the swelling triangle composed of swelling paths to characterize the evolution of the non-uniform swelling and serve as a core link in coupled multiphysics.A swelling path is determined by a dimensionless volumetric ratio and a dimensionless swelling ratio.Different swelling paths have the same start and end point,and each swelling path represents a unique swelling case.The swelling path as the diagonal of the triangle represents the case of the uniform swelling while that as the two perpendicular boundaries represents the case of the localized swelling.The paths of all intermediate cases populate inside the triangle.The corresponding relations between the swelling path and the response of coal multiphysics are established by a non-uniform swelling coefficient.We define this method as the triangle approach and corresponding models as swelling path-based ones.The proposed concept and models are verified against a long-term experimental measurement of permeability and strains under constant effective stress.Our results demonstrate that during gas injection,coal multiphysics responses have a close dependence on the swelling path,and that in both future experiments and field predictions,this dependence must be considered.

An improved non-uniform fast Fourier transform method for radio imaging of coronal mass ejections

Radioheliographs can obtain solar images at high temporal and spatial resolution,with a high dynamic range.These are among the most important instruments for studying solar radio bursts,understanding solar eruption events,and conducting space weather forecasting.This study aims to explore the effective use of radioheliographs for solar observations,specifically for imaging coronal mass ejections(CME),to track their evolution and provide space weather warnings.We have developed an imaging simulation program based on the principle of aperture synthesis imaging,covering the entire data processing flow from antenna configuration to dirty map generation.For grid processing,we propose an improved non-uniform fast Fourier transform(NUFFT)method to provide superior image quality.Using simulated imaging of radio coronal mass ejections,we provide practical recommendations for the performance of radioheliographs.This study provides important support for the validation and calibration of radioheliograph data processing,and is expected to profoundly enhance our understanding of solar activities.

Motion equations of hemispherical resonator and analysis of frequency split caused by slight mass non-uniformity

The mass non-uniformity of hemispherical resonator is one of reasons for frequency split,and frequency split can cause gyroscope to drift.Therefore,it is of great significance to analyze the relationship between mass non-uniformity and frequency split,which can provide a theoretical basis for mass balance of imperfect resonator.The starting point of error mechanism analysis for gyroscope is the motion equations of resonator.Firstly,based on the Kirchhoff-Love hypothesis in the elastic thin shell theory,the geometric deformation equations of resonator are deduced.Secondly,the deformation energy equation of resonator is derived according to the vibration mode and relationship between the stress and strain of hemispherical thin shell.Thirdly,the kinetic energy equation of resonator is deduced by the Coriolis theorem.Finally,the motion equations of resonator are established by the Lagrange mechanics principle.The theoretical values of precession factor and natural frequency are calculated by the motion equations,which are substantially consistent with the ones by the finite element method and practical measurement,the errors are within a reasonable range.Simultaneously,the varying trend of natural frequency with respect to the geometrical and physical parameters of resonator by the motion equations is consistent with that by the finite element analysis.The above conclusions prove the correctness and rationality of motion equations.Similarly,the motion equations of resonator with mass non-uniformity are established by the same modeling method in case of ignoring the input angular rate and damping,and the state equations with respect to the velocity and displacement of vibration system are derived,then twonatural frequencies are solved by the characteristic equation.It is concluded that one of reasons for frequency split is the 4 th harmonic of mass non-uniformity,and thus much attention should be paid to minimizing the 4 th harmonic of mass non-uniformity in the course of mass balancing for imperfect resonator.

Effects of radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on in-cylinder soot emission formation in diesel engine

Combustion chamber components (cylinder head-cylinder liner-piston assembly-fuel film) were treated as a coupled body. Based on the three-dimensional numerical simulation of heat transfer of the coupled body, the multi-dimensional simulation computation coupling flow and solid on working process and combustion chamber components of internal combustion engine was performed using Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) radiation heat transfer model, zoning solution method and boundary coupling method. The simulation was applied to the influence investigation of the space non-uniformity in radiation heat transfer among combustion chamber components on the generation of in-cylinder soot emissions. The results show that the space non-uniformity in heat transfer among the combustion chamber components has great influence on the generation of in-cylinder NOx emissions. The difference value of total soot in cylinder when exhaust valves are opened is 1.3% (no radiation), 0.8% (radiation). So the effect of radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity of combustion chamber components on total soot production can be ignored. While in local area radiation heat transfer space non-uniformity has certain effect on soot production inside whole combustion chamber space, and has less effect on soot production in the area near the wall of combustion chamber components.

Numerical Study of the Air Bleeding Caused Non-Uniformity in Axial Compressor

Bleeding in the compressor is getting more and more attractive because the increasing demand of bleeding rate as the temperature of the first stage of turbine gets higher and needs more cooling air.Though plenty of work has been done about bleeding,however,most of the work is studied with a single passage or ignoring the real structure of the bleeding system.In the present study,multi-passage calculation was used through ANSYS CFX to consider the finite duct holes in the whole blade row,and the effect of the axial location of bleeding slot on the non-uniformity of the blade passage was investigated,and the non-uniform could maintain a low level when bleeding at the front part of the blade passage and the non-uniformity would become large when moving the bleeding slot much further downstream.Afterward,the air bleeding mass flow rate was studied.It’s found that the non-uniformity of air bleeding mass flow is small when bleeding at a low mass flow rate in each passage and results in relatively uniform flow field in the passage.However,the non-uniformity increases significantly as the bleeding mass flow rate increases.Some flow field details were also given to study how the flow field changes when bleeding non-uniformly.

Possible Impact of Spatial and Temporal Non-Uniformity in Land Surface Temperature Data on Trend Estimation

The present work investigates possible impact of the non-uniformity in observed land surface temperature on trend estimation, based on Climatic Research Unit （CRU） Temperature Version 4 （CRUTEM4） monthly temperature data-sets from 1900 to 2012. The CRU land temperature data exhibit remarkable non-uniformity in spatial and temporal features. The data are characterized by an uneven spatial distribution of missing records and station density, and dis-play a significant increase of available sites around 1950. Considering the impact of missing data, the trends seem to be more stable and reliable when estimated based on data with 〈 40% missing percent, compared to the data with above 40% missing percent. Mean absolute error （MAE） between data with 〈 40% missing percent and global data is only 0.011℃ （0.014℃） for 1900-50 （1951-2012）. The associated trend estimated by reliable data is 0.087℃ decade^-1 （0.186℃ decade^-l） for 1900-50 （1951-2012）, almost the same as the trend of the global data. However, due to non-uniform spatial distribution of missing data, the global signal seems mainly coming from the regions with good data coverage, especially for the period 1900-50. This is also confirmed by an extreme test conducted with the records in the United States and Africa. In addition, the influences of spatial and temporal non-uniform features in observation data on trend estimation are significant for the areas with poor data coverage, such as Africa, while insig-nificant for the countries with good data coverage, such as the United States.

Estimation of tunneling effect caused by luminance non-uniformity in head-up displays

Head-up displays （HUDs） enable a pilot to manage aircraft activities by facilitating simultaneous access to the flight instrument data and to the outside scene. However, HUDs can also distract a pilot. This study shows that HUD luminance non-uniformity may force inappropriate distribution of attention between the events shown on HUD symbology and the outside scene because of the resultant differential contrast in the display area. Results of statistical analysis demonstrate considerable effects of HUD image luminance and ambient luminance, as well as their interaction, on the detection of events displayed on an HUD and the outside scene.

Interior non-uniformity of acoustically excited oscillating gas bubbles

In the present paper, the interior non-uniformity of oscillating gas bubbles in liquids under an acoustic field is theoretically investigated, as well as the temperature non-uniformity in the surrounding liquid. The pressure, the density and the temperature inside the gas bubbles are quantitatively predicted for a wide range of bubble Mach numbers. It is shown that the bubble interior non-uniformity increases significantly with the increase of the bubble Mach number. In the case of a large Mach number, the values of aforementioned paramount parameters at the bubble center are significantly larger than those at the bubble interface. Except for a very thin layer close to the bubble interface, the effects of the temperature non-uniformity in the bulk liquid could be safely ignored.

Standing wave drift of hemispherical resonator with quality factor non-uniformity under a ring electrode excitation

Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope(HRG)is a classical high precision Coriolis Vibration Gyroscope(CVG),which performs attitude estimation of carrier by detecting the precession of standing wave of resonator,thus,the drift of standing wave of resonator has a great influence on the output accuracy of gyroscope,where the quality factor non-uniformity of resonator is one of main error sources.Ring electrode is a classical excitation structure of HRG because the standing wave can precess freely under its excitation,which makes the gyroscope have more accurate scale factor,larger measurement range and better dynamic characteristics.In this paper,the equations of motion of an ideal resonator excited by a ring electrode are derived by the elastic thin shell theory and Lagrange mechanical principle,then the corresponding equivalent mechanical model is established.According to the“average method”,it can be seen that the ideal resonator excited by the ring electrode works in integral mode,and any position in the circumferential direction of resonator can be a working point,which means that the quality factor non-uniformity has a great effect on the drift of standing wave.Therefore,the equations of motion of resonator with quality factor non-uniformity under the ring electrode excitation are deduced by the equivalent mechanical model,and the drift model of standing wave is established by the“average method”,it can be found that both the amplitude of quality factor non-uniformity and angle between the“inherent damping axis”and antinode axis of standing wave can affect the drift rate of standing wave.Moreover,the drift model indicates that if the input angular rate does not reach the threshold,the precession angular rate of standing wave will appear“self-locking”phenomenon,that is,the gyroscope will lose the integral effect.

Effects of the reciprocating parameters of the carrier on material removal rate and non-uniformity in CMP

Based on the Preston equation, the mathematical model of the material removal rate （MRR）, aiming at a line-orbit chemical mechanical polisher, is established. The MRR and the material removal non-uniformity （MRNU） are numerically calculated by MATLAB, and the effects of the reciprocating parameters on the MRR and the MRNU are discussed. It is shown that the smaller the inclination angle and the larger the amplitude, the higher the MRR and the lower the MRNU. The reciprocating speed of the carrier plays a minor role to improve the MRR and decrease the MRNU. The results provide a guide for the design of a polisher and the determination of a process in line-orbit chemical mechanical polishing.

Robust and Reusable Fuzzy Extractors from Non-Uniform Learning with Errors Problem

Afuzzy extractor can extract an almost uniformrandom string from a noisy source with enough entropy such as biometric data.To reproduce an identical key from repeated readings of biometric data,the fuzzy extractor generates a helper data and a random string from biometric data and uses the helper data to reproduce the random string from the second reading.In 2013,Fuller et al.proposed a computational fuzzy extractor based on the learning with errors problem.Their construction,however,can tolerate a sub-linear fraction of errors and has an inefficient decoding algorithm,which causes the reproducing time to increase significantly.In 2016,Canetti et al.proposed a fuzzy extractor with inputs from low-entropy distributions based on a strong primitive,which is called digital locker.However,their construction necessitates an excessive amount of storage space for the helper data,which is stored in authentication server.Based on these observations,we propose a new efficient computational fuzzy extractorwith small size of helper data.Our scheme supports reusability and robustness,which are security notions that must be satisfied in order to use a fuzzy extractor as a secure authentication method in real life.Also,it conceals no information about the biometric data and thanks to the new decoding algorithm can tolerate linear errors.Based on the non-uniform learning with errors problem,we present a formal security proof for the proposed fuzzy extractor.Furthermore,we analyze the performance of our fuzzy extractor scheme and provide parameter sets that meet the security requirements.As a result of our implementation and analysis,we show that our scheme outperforms previous fuzzy extractor schemes in terms of the efficiency of the generation and reproduction algorithms,as well as the size of helper data.

Radial Basis Approximations Based BEMD for Enhancement of Non-Uniform Illumination Images

An image can be degraded due to many environmental factors like foggy or hazy weather,low light conditions,extra light conditions etc.Image captured under the poor light conditions is generally known as non-uniform illumination image.Non-uniform illumination hides some important information present in an image during the image capture Also,it degrades the visual quality of image which generates the need for enhancement of such images.Various techniques have been present in literature for the enhancement of such type of images.In this paper,a novel architecture has been proposed for enhancement of poor illumination images which uses radial basis approximations based BEMD(Bi-dimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition).The enhancement algorithm is applied on intensity and saturation components of image.Firstly,intensity component has been decomposed into various bi-dimensional intrinsic mode function and residue by using sifting algorithm.Secondly,some linear transformations techniques have been applied on various bidimensional intrinsic modes obtained and residue and further on joining the transformed modes with residue,enhanced intensity component is obtained.Saturation part of an image is then enhanced in accordance to the enhanced intensity component.Final enhanced image can be obtained by joining the hue,enhanced intensity and enhanced saturation parts of the given image.The proposed algorithm will not only give the visual pleasant image but maintains the naturalness of image also.

Simulation of Corrosion-Induced Cracking of Reinforced Concrete Based on Fracture Phase Field Method

Accurate simulation of the cracking process caused by rust expansion of reinforced concrete(RC)structures plays an intuitive role in revealing the corrosion-induced failure mechanism.Considering the quasi-brittle fracture of concrete,the fracture phase field driven by the compressive-shear term is constructed and added to the traditional brittle fracture phase field model.The rationality of the proposed model is verified by a mixed fracture example under a shear displacement load.Then,the extended fracture phase model is applied to simulate the corrosion-induced cracking process of RC.The cracking patterns caused by non-uniform corrosion expansion are discussed for RC specimens with homogeneous macroscopically or heterogeneous with different polygonal aggregate distributions at the mesoscopic scale.Then,the effects of the protective layer on the crack propagation trajectory and cracking resistance are investigated,illustrating that the cracking angle and cracking resistance increase with the increase of the protective layer thickness,consistent with the experimental observation.Finally,the corrosion-induced cracking process of concrete specimens with large and small spacing rebars is simulated,and the interaction of multiple corrosion cracking is easily influenced by the reinforcement spacing,which increases with the decrease of the steel bar interval.These conclusions play an important role in the design of engineering anti-corrosion measures.The fracture phase field model can provide strong support for the life assessment of RC structures.

Comparative Analysis of Energy Characteristics of Two Southwest Vortices in Sichuan Under Similar Circulation Backgrounds

Based on ERA5 reanalysis data,the present study analyzed the thermal energy development mechanism and kinetic energy conversion characteristics of two extreme rainstorm processes in relation to the shallow southwest vortex in the warm-sector during a“rain-generated vortex”process and the deep southwest vortex in a“vortex-generated rain”process.The findings were as follows:(1)During the extreme rainstorm on August 11,2020(hereinafter referred to as the“8·11”process),intense surface heating and a high-energy unstable environment were observed.The mesoscale convergence system triggered convection to produce heavy rainfall,and the release of latent condensation heat generated by the rainfall promoted the formation of a southwest vortex.The significant increase(decrease)in atmospheric diabatic heating and kinetic energy preceded the increase(decrease)in vorticity.By contrast,the extreme rainstorm on August 16,2020(hereinafter referred to as the“8·16”process)involved the generation of southwest vortex in a low-energy and highhumidity environment.The dynamic uplift of the southwest vortex triggered rainfall,and the release of condensation latent heat from rainfall further strengthened the development of the southwest vortex.The significant increase(decrease)in atmospheric diabatic heating and kinetic energy exhibited a delayed progression compared to the increase(decrease)in vorticity.(2)The heating effect around the southwest vortex region was non-uniform,and the heating intensity varied in different stages.In the“8·11”process,the heating effect was the strongest in the initial stage,but weakened during the vortex's development.On the contrary,the heating effect was initially weak in the“8·16”process,and intensified during the development stage.(3)The available potential energy of the“8·11”process significantly increased in kinetic energy converted from rotational and divergent winds through baroclinic action,and the divergent wind energy continued to convert into rotational wind energy.By contrast,the“8·16”process involved the conversion of rotational wind energy into divergent wind energy,which in turn converted kinetic energy back into available potential energy,thereby impeding the further development and maintenance of the southwest vortex.