Application Of Test Research Articles

Bending Strength Evaluation of Japanese Wooden Cultural Heritage Building Columns Based on a Non-Destructive Testing Method

ABSTRACT Column failure assessment is essential for seismic diagnosis of Japanese wooden cultural heritage buildings. Achieving accurate column failure assessment depends on accurately estimating the bending Young’s modulus (E b ) and characteristic bending strength (F b ) of columns. This study extends the application of a non-destructive testing (NDT) method to estimate E b and F b of Japanese cedar columns generally used in wooden cultural heritage buildings. For this purpose, a correlation between the dynamic bending Young’s modulus (E p ) and E b of Japanese cedar columns is established and the variations in the E p –E b relationship across different wood provenances and species are clarified. Using the proposed method, a statistical analysis of the estimated E b of Japanese wooden cultural heritage buildings is provided. Furthermore, estimated E b is used to determine F b of the columns using the mechanical grade classification system. The results show that most Japanese cypress and Japanese cedar columns feature higher F b than those used in conventional seismic diagnosis. Conversely, two-thirds of the Japanese red pine columns feature a lower F b than that used in conventional seismic diagnosis. The proposed F b evaluation method offers an NDT method that can be widely applied to Japanese wooden cultural heritage buildings to assess column failure more accurately.

Applicability of Single-Borehole Dilution Tests in Aquifers with Vertical Flow

A set of experimental field single-borehole dilution tests were completed in the Motril–Salobreña detrital aquifer (Spain) in a sector with coarse material in four different moments under variable hydrological conditions. The comparative study of the tracer washing, and the temperature profile patterns for the tests carried out in two wells located hundreds of m from each other, revealed the presence of ascending vertical flows in one of the wells (not detected by other means) that compromises the reliability of the tracer test. The values of both the apparent horizontal velocity and hydraulic conductivity obtained in the affected well were less than half of those estimated in the well not affected by the upward vertical flows. The repetition of the test eight times during different seasons showed that the hydraulic conductivity calculated from the apparent horizontal velocity can vary; therefore, to approximate to a representative hydraulic conductivity value, using this method is recommended to carry out tests under different hydrological conditions and average the results. The difference generated by the changes in conditions for the specific setting of the study area was 25%. Taking this into account, it was considered that an approximation to the more representative value would be an average under variable hydrological conditions, resulting in a horizontal velocity of 6.7 m/d and hydraulic conductivity of 337 m/d. This information is critical for the management of the aquifer as it has strategic resources against droughts that are becoming more frequent in the Mediterranean area.

Temporal Variations in Land Surface Temperature within an Urban Ecosystem: A Comprehensive Assessment of Land Use and Land Cover Change in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Remote sensing technologies are critical for analyzing the escalating impacts of global climate change and increasing urbanization, providing vital insights into land surface temperature (LST), land use and cover (LULC) changes, and the identification of urban heat island (UHI) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) phenomena. This research focuses on the nexus between LULC alterations and variations in LST and air temperature (Tair), with a specific emphasis on the intensified SUHI effect in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Employing an integrated approach, this study analyzes time-series data from Landsat and MODIS satellites, alongside Tair climate records, utilizing machine learning techniques and linear regression analysis. Key findings indicate a statistically significant upward trend in Tair and LST during the summer months from 1984 to 2023, with a notable positive correlation between Tair and LST across both datasets. MODIS data exhibit a stronger correlation (R2 = 0.879) compared to Landsat (R2 = 0.663). The application of a supervised classification through Random Forest algorithms and vegetation indices on LULC data reveals significant alterations: a 70.3% increase in urban land and a decrement in vegetative cover comprising a 15.5% reduction in dense vegetation and a 62.9% decrease in sparse vegetation. Change detection analysis elucidates a 24.6% conversion of sparse vegetation into urban land, underscoring a pronounced trajectory towards urbanization. Temporal and seasonal LST variations across different LULC classes were analyzed using kernel density estimation (KDE) and boxplot analysis. Urban areas and sparse vegetation had the smallest average LST fluctuations, at 2.09 °C and 2.16 °C, respectively, but recorded the most extreme LST values. Water and dense vegetation classes exhibited slightly larger fluctuations of 2.30 °C and 2.24 °C, with the bare land class showing the highest fluctuation 2.46 °C, but fewer extremes. Quantitative analysis with the application of Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests across various LULC classes substantiated the normality of LST distributions p > 0.05 for both monthly and annual datasets. Conversely, the Shapiro-Wilk test validated the normal distribution hypothesis exclusively for monthly data, indicating deviations from normality in the annual data. Thresholded LST classifies urban and bare lands as the warmest classes at 39.51 °C and 38.20 °C, respectively, and classifies water at 35.96 °C, dense vegetation at 35.52 °C, and sparse vegetation 37.71 °C as the coldest, which is a trend that is consistent annually and monthly. The analysis of SUHI effects demonstrates an increasing trend in UHI intensity, with statistical trends indicating a growth in average SUHI values over time. This comprehensive study underscores the critical role of remote sensing in understanding and addressing the impacts of climate change and urbanization on local and global climates, emphasizing the need for sustainable urban planning and green infrastructure to mitigate UHI effects.

Cost-effectiveness of genetic testing of endocrine tumor patients using a comprehensive hereditary cancer gene panel.

Heterogenous clinical manifestations, overlapping phenotypes and complex genetic backgrounds are common in patients with endocrine tumors. There are no comprehensive recommendations for genetic testing and counselling of these patients compared to other hereditary cancer syndromes. The application of multigene panel testing is common in clinical genetic laboratories, but their performance for patients with endocrine tumors has not been assessed. As a national reference center, we prospectively tested the diagnostic utility and cost-efficiency of a multigene panel covering 113 genes representing genetic susceptibility for solid tumors. 1279 patients (including 96 cases with endocrine tumors) were evaluated between October 2021 and December 2022 who were suspected to have hereditary tumor syndromes. The analytical performance of the hereditary cancer panel was suitable for diagnostic testing. Clinical diagnosis was confirmed in 24% (23/96); incidental findings in genes not associated with the patient's phenotype were identified in 5% (5/96). A further 7% of pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants were detected in genes with potential genetic susceptibility roles but currently no clear clinical consequence. Cost-benefit analysis showed that the application of a more comprehensive gene panel in a diagnostic laboratory yielded a shorter turnaround time and provided additional genetic results with the same cost and workload. Using comprehensive multigene panel results in faster turnaround time and cost-efficiently identifies genetic alterations in hereditary endocrine tumor syndromes. Incidentally identified variants in patients with poor prognoses may serve as a potential therapeutic target in tumors where therapeutic possibilities are limited.

Capillarity-Driven Enrichment and Hydrodynamic Trapping of Trace Nucleic Acids by Plasmonic Cavity Membrane for Rapid and Sensitive Detections.

Small-reactor-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has attracted considerable attention. A significant number of tiny reactors must be prepared in parallel to capture, amplify, and accurately quantify few target genes in clinically relevant large volume, which, however, requires sophisticated microfabrication and longer sample-to-answer time. Here, single plasmonic cavity membrane is reported that not only enriches and captures few nucleic acids by taking advantage of both capillarity and hydrodynamic trapping but also quickly amplifies them for sensitive plasmonic detection. The plasmonic cavity membrane with few nanoliters in a void volume is fabricated by self-assembling gold nanorods with SiO2 tips. Simulations reveal that hydrodynamic stagnation between the SiO2 tips is mainly responsible for the trapping of the nucleic acid in the membrane. Finally, it is shown that the plasmonic cavity membrane is capable of enrichingsevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genes up to 20000-fold within 1min, amplifying within 3min, and detecting the trace genes as low as a single copy µL-1. It is anticipated that this work not only expands the utility of PCR but also provides an innovative way of the enrichment and detection of trace biomolecules in a variety of point-of-care testing applications.

A metasurface for suppressing mode conversion and achieving directional reflection of shear horizontal wave

The lowest-order shear horizontal (SH0) guided wave in a plate is crucial for nondestructive testing and structural health monitoring due to its nondispersive nature. However, mode conversion at the interface for the SH0 wave complicates the received information and increases the difficulty of signal analysis. In this work, an elastic metasurface is proposed to suppress mode conversion at the interface and to reflect the SH0 wave directionally. The metasurface comprises a series of rectangular elements with a specific phase gradient covering the 2π phase range. The effectiveness of the proposed metasurface is confirmed through finite element simulations and experimental validation. The results indicate that the metasurface can significantly reduce the amplitude of the reflected lowest-order symmetric Lamb wave when compared to the reflection without the metasurface, while simultaneously allowing the reflected SH0 wave to propagate at the designed angle. Furthermore, the metasurface maintains its functionality for SH0 wave with incident angles varying from 0° to 25°. This study provides a viable approach for suppressing mode conversion and modulating the reflection behavior of SH0 wave, which is expected to find applications in nondestructive testing and structural health monitoring.

Abstract PO5-19-12: Innovative Trial Design: ARTIDIS Nanomechanical Generated Measurements for Early Breast Lesions (ANGEL) - Multicentre Study

Abstract Background: The diagnosis of breast cancer based on histopathology of core needle biopsies and the delineation into breast cancer subtypes to drive clinical treatment decisions can be time consuming and cause patient (and clinician) anxiety. Alternative, near patient, approaches to conventional diagnostic pathways would be desirable to drive diagnostic and therapeutic planning. This study harnesses the novel concept of evaluating diagnostic cores for nanomechanical features at the time of core biopsy. Clinical manifestations of disease are often accompanied by biomechanical alterations at sub-/cellular, extracellular, tissue and organ level. Mechanical properties of cancer cells and their microenvironment play a critical role in cancer invasion, progression, and immune cell infiltration. Ultrastructural (sub-) cellular alterations (nanoscale level), including the remodulation and alteration of cellular cytoskeleton dynamics, contribute to altered mechanical state of cancer cells, and lead to increased deformability and motility of soft cancer cells to overcome stromal barrier, and spread into the adjacent tissues and distant sites in the body. This results in a direct mechanistic correlation between nanomechanical properties and clinical outcome in cancer tissues. The ARTIDIS Nanomechanical Generated measurements for Early Lesions (ANGEL) Study will prospectively evaluate the efficacy of the ARTIDIS system as an aid to diagnosis, as well as subtyping breast cancer and predicting clinical outcomes based on tissue nanomechanics, particularly in the context of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). Methods: The study seeks to validate the predictive power of the nanomechanical signature, a unique tissue biomarker reflecting the tissue phenotype, by comparing it to standard histological assessment. A projected cohort of 2,705 patients will be enrolled, from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, with benign or malignant breast conditions undergoing diagnostic core biopsy. A single core biopsy (gauge agnostic) is placed in a cassette and subjected to thousands of mechanical measurements at the “nano” scale over a period of 1-3 hours. The ARTIDIS technology builds upon the Atomic Force Microscopy platform to non-disruptively detect up to 17 different nanomechanical parameters in soft tissues with a subcellular resolution. The same core biopsy can then undergo fixation and conventional histopathological analyses for comparison with the final pathology. The primary aim is to confirm the potential of the ARTIDIS system in diagnosis (benign vs malignant) and secondarily address whether the nanomechanical signature can differentiate subtypes of breast cancer, associate with clinical outcome, and guide treatment decisions. Particularly, we will investigate ARTIDIS potential as a predictor of treatment response for patients receiving NAT. Results: The multicenter ANGEL study is a prospective investigation that builds upon previous clinical data from the NANO study at the University Hospital Basel (Switzerland) and is designed to demonstrate the power of using a nanomechanical signature to evaluate breast biopsies within a routine clinical setting in a multicenter setting. The data will be used to develop ARTIDIS as an aid to diagnosis, as well as NEO Match test applications to predict and guide response to NAT. Conclusion: This study presents the first of its kind as a direct prospective, multi-center based clinical translation of the Physics of Cancer findings into clinical settings. This innovative trial design allows the prospective development of ARTIDIS as an aid to diagnosis and NAT outcome prediction and therapy guidance applications. Citation Format: Karla Sepulveda, Ashley Roark, Sagar Dhamne, Chandandeep Nagi, Ivan Marin, Iqbal Tabish, Susanne G. Hilsenbeck Hilsenbeck, Sara Nizzero, Mariam Gachechiladze, Tobias A Appenzeller, Marko Loparic, Marija Plodinec, Alastair Thompson. Innovative Trial Design: ARTIDIS Nanomechanical Generated Measurements for Early Breast Lesions (ANGEL) - Multicentre Study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO5-19-12.

Have you been there before? Decoding recognition of spatial scenes from fMRI signals in precuneus.

One potential application of forensic "brain reading" is to test whether a suspect has previously experienced a crime scene. Here, we investigated whether it is possible to decode real life autobiographic exposure to spatial locations using fMRI. In the first session, participants visited four out of eight possible rooms on a university campus. During a subsequent scanning session, subjects passively viewed pictures and videos from these eight possible rooms (four old, four novel) without giving any responses. A multivariate searchlight analysis was employed that trained a classifier to distinguish between "seen" versus "unseen" stimuli from a subset of six rooms. We found that bilateral precuneus encoded information that can be used to distinguish between previously seen and unseen rooms and that also generalized to the two stimuli left out from training. We conclude that activity in bilateral precuneus is associated with the memory of previously visited rooms, irrespective of the identity of the room, thus supporting a parietal contribution to episodic memory for spatial locations. Importantly, we could decode whether a room was visited in real life without the need of explicit judgments about the rooms. This suggests that recognition is an automatic response that can be decoded from fMRI data, thus potentially supporting forensic applications of concealed information tests for crime scene recognition.

Application of Phased Array Ultrasonic Test for Insulation System of CSMC

Application of Phased Array Ultrasonic Test for Insulation System of CSMC

Evaluating the sensitivity of direct shear testing of soils for rheological characterization of masonry mortars

The present work evaluated the applicability of the direct shear test of soils (ASTM D 3080) as an alternative for the rheological characterization of masonry mortars. The sensitivity analysis of the method for mortars was carried out by varying the particle size distribution of the sand and the water/dry material ratio, generating twelve different mixtures. In addition to a basic characterization, the shear test results were compared with those of the squeeze-flow test (ABNT NBR15839). For squeeze-flow, 24 tests were carried out with two speeds (0.1 and 3mm/s), and for direct shear, 48 tests were carried out with 4 normal stresses (13.5, 25, 50, and 100 KPa). It is concluded that the direct shear test, using cohesion and friction angle parameters, demonstrated the ability to adequately characterize the complex behavior of plastic mortars and the sensitivity to variations in the mixture. A linear correlation was found between the friction angle (shear test) and the consistency index (flow table), with R2 = 0,87. Furthermore, for high plasticity mortars, was found a non-linear correlation between compression flow (squeeze flow) and cohesion (direct shear test), with R2 = 0,67.

High precision low jitter pulse generator implemented with FPGA transceiver

Precisely controlled digital pulse plays a crucial role in various cutting-edge testing applications. This paper introduces an innovative approach to digital pulse generation utilizing an FPGA transceiver, with the AMD evaluation board ZCU102 serving as a demonstrative platform. In the normal mode, the transmitter generates a serial bit stream, enabling the generation of single or repeated pulses with configurable width and period. In the high precision mode, an internal dedicated phase interpolator enhances the configuration step size for width and period by up to 64 times, providing finer phase shift capability. The demonstration system operates at a line rate of 10Gbps, achieving a resolution of 100ps in normal mode and 1.5625ps in high precision mode. This paper details the design methodology, presents test results for pulse width uncertainty and non-linearity, and showcases achieved period jitter and time interval error jitter as small as around 1ps.

한국 저교육 노인에게 적용 가능한 개념화 능력 평가 도구의 개발 및 타당화

In this study, we developed a proverb test as a measure for assessing higher-order cognitive functions in Korean older adults and explored its psychometric properties. Specifically, we aimed to investigate the applicability of the proverb test as a measure for conceptualization ability within the context of predominantly low-educated elderly population in South Korea. Twenty items were selected, taking into consideration familiarity, abstract thinking requirement, and item adequacy. The test included both open-ended and closed questions to ensure an applicability of the test among low-educated older adults. The results indicated satisfactory internal consistency for both versions of the test. Furthermore, the test demonstrated a high correlation with measures assessing higher-order thinking while exhibiting a relatively lower correlation with measures for memory and attention, thus confirming its convergent and discriminant validity. Also, significant associations were observed between the test scores and measure of daily living functions, suggesting that proverb test scores may be useful in predicting overall adaptive functioning. Additionally, literate and illiterate group showed significant differences in proverb test scores. These findings suggest that the proverb test can adequately be applied as a measure of conceptualization ability in the Korean older adults.

Evaluation of Clinical and Etiological Characteristics of Cases with Pediatric Lymphadenopathy

Lymphadenopathies are among the common causes of frequent hospital admissions in childhood.Lymphadenopathy (LAP) may be most frequently seen during the follow-up of infectious diseases, but some chronic, malignant, and autoimmune diseases may also be encountered in the etiology of lymphadenopathy.In this study we aimed to investigate the clinical, epidemiologic, and etiological characteristics of pediatric patients presenting with lymphadenopathy.A total of 380 pediatric patients with lymphadenopathy who were followed up in the Eskisehir Osmangazi University Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic between January 2015 and January 2023 were included in the study.The mean age of the patients was 84 months and 65% of the patients were male.According to etiologic characteristics; 359(94%) cases had infectious and 21(6) cases had non-infectious LAP.Most frequently nonspecific lymphadenitis (68%), Epstein-Barr Virus (12.8%), cytomegalovirus (3.6%), suppurative lymphadenitis (1.9%) and tuberculous lymphadenitis (1.8%) were observed in cases with LAP. Cases with non-infectious LAP had rheumatologic diseases (n:11), hemato-oncologic malignancies (n: 6), and congenital cysts (n:4). When infectious and non-infectious LAP cases were compared, involved lymph nodes were larger (p:0.04) in the non-infectious group.In the non-infectious group,lymph nodes were relatively harder and conglomerated(p:0.03, p:0.04).Computed tomography scan was more frequently performed in the non-infectious group(p:0.01).Although lymphadenopathy in childhood is mostly due to infectious causes, rheumatologic diseases, hemato-oncologic malignancies, and congenital cysts should be kept in mind, especially in prolonged, treatment-refractory cases. Detailed history and physical examination are the first and the most important steps in the differential diagnosis of cases presenting with lymphadenopathy to prevent the application of unnecessary tests and investigations

Delineation of Soil Fertility Status and KVK Intervention to Improve the Productivity of Pepper in TSP Villages of Namakkal District under Soil Health Card Mission

Soil is the most important resource needed for agriculture production. The unbalanced fertilizer application associated with more production by high yield varieties affects the soil quality vulnerably. Soils of tribal areas, having multi nutrient deficiencies due to intense cropping especially spices Pepper, coffee, cardamom and banana. Balanced application of plant nutrients is thus the only option to increase soil productivity for maintaining/enhancing the overall soil productivity. Delineation of soil nutrient status is an important practice to plan the nutrient scheduling for pepper crop. Hence 100 soil samples were collected from five adopted villages and tested its properties. Based on the analytical results, soil health cards issued along with fertilizer recommendation. Then 50 farmers were selected, trained all scientific package of practices through trainings. The field experiment was conducted in 50 farmer’s field in an area of 20 ha. Pepper variety Panniyur 1 was the test crop. Application of soil test based integrated nutrient management practice increased the yield attributes and yield of pepper. An average of Rs. 74,220/ha net profit could be obtained by adopting all scientific package of practices in the farm holdings.

Estimated impact and value of blood-based colorectal cancer screening at varied adherence compared with stool-based screening

Objective: This analysis estimated the outcomes of triennial blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening at various adherence, including perfect adherence, compared with triennial multi-target stool DNA (mt-sDNA) screening at the reported real-world adherence rate. Methods: The validated CRC-AIM model simulated a US cohort of average-risk individuals receiving triennial screening with mt-sDNA or blood-based test from ages 45-75 years. Modeled specificity and sensitivity were based on reported data. Adherence was set at a real-world rate of 65.6% for mt-sDNA and at 65.6%, relative 10% incremental increases from 65.6%, or 100% for the blood-based test. Costs of mt-sDNA and the blood-based test were based on prices for clinically available tests ($508.87 and $895, respectively). Value-based pricing was estimated at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000. Results: Both tests resulted in life-years gained (LYG), reduced CRC cases, and reduced deaths versus no screening. With adherence for mt-sDNA set at 65.6% and for blood-based test set at 100%, mt-sDNA resulted in 30% more LYG, 52% more averted CRC cases, and 32% more averted CRC deaths. At reported sensitivity and specificity rates, mt-sDNA at 65.6% adherence dominates (is more effective and less costly) the blood-based test at any adherence. There was no price at which triennial screening with the blood-based test at any adherence was cost-effective compared with mt-sDNA at 65.6% adherence. Conclusions: Triennial screening with mt-sDNA resulted in better clinical outcomes at a lower cost compared with the modeled blood-based test even at perfect adherence, supporting application of blood-based tests only as a secondary screening option.

Illumination pattern optimization in tomography based on the Kalman estimation filter and optimal experiment design

Tomography is widely used in medical imaging or industrial non-destructive testing applications. One costly and time consuming operation in any form of tomography is the process of data acquisition where a large number of measurements are made and collected data is used for image reconstruction. Data acquisition can slow down tomography to the point that the scanner cannot catch up with the speed of changes in the medium under test. By optimizing the information content of each measurement, we can reduce the number of measurements needed to achieve the target precision. Development of algorithms to optimize the information content of tomography measurements is the main goal of this article. Here, the dynamics of the medium and tomography measurements are formulated in the form of a Kalman estimation filter. A mathematical algorithm is developed to compute the optimal measurement matrix which minimizes the uncertainty left in the estimation of the distribution the tomography scanner is reconstructing. Results, as presented in the paper, show noticeable improvement is the quality of generated images when the medium is scanned by optimal measurements instead of traditional raster or random scanning protocols.

3D printing of CaBi4Ti3.925(Nb2/3Mn1/3)0.075O15 ceramics for high temperature ultrasound transducer

Bismuth layer-structured CaBi4Ti3.925(Nb2/3Mn1/3)0.075O15 (CBTNM) piezoelectric ceramics have been prepared using stereolithography (SL) technology. The effects of various solid contents (76–82 wt%) of CBTNM ceramics on the slurry viscosity, phase structure, microstructure, and electric performance were studied in detail. At a solid content of 82 wt%, the ceramic exhibits good piezoelectric properties. The piezoelectric constant d 33, thickness-mode electromechanical coupling coefficient k t, and Curie temperature Tc were 21 pC/N, 47%, and 790 °C, respectively. The piezoelectric constant of the ceramic has a good stability up to 500 °C. Furthermore, a high-temperature ultrasound transducer was designed and fabricated based on the CBTNM ceramic, and its pulse-echo performance was characterized from room temperature to 250 °C. The pulse-echo performance indicates that the −6 dB bandwidth and echo amplitude of the transducer decrease slightly, but still work normally up to 250 °C. These results indicate that the transducer fabricated based on CBTNM ceramics has potential in high-temperature testing applications.

[Chinese expert consensus on the analytical validation of tumor comprehensive genomic profiling next generation sequencing testing (2024 edition)].

In hospital laboratories-developed testing is of great significance for the clinical testing products that has not been approved by the National Medical Product Administration and is urgently needed to meet clinical practice needs. With the development of cancer precision medicine in recent years, comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) has become an important means and method for the detection of drug targets, precise molecular typing, and immunotherapy biomarkers in cancer patients. However, there is still a lack of unified understanding and consensus on clinical testing standards and application specifications for laboratory-developed testing in the hospitals. The Molecular Pathology Collaboration Group of the Cancer Experts Committee of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and the Molecular Pathology Group of the Pathology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association initiated the expert consensus on relevant specifications for analytical validation of CGP next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing in Chinese hospitals. Combined with domestic clinical practice, refer to domestic and foreign literatures, from the background of the laboratory-developed testing, analytical validation scenarios, evaluation indicators and variation ranges, sample types and quantities covered by analytical validation, clinical performance and drug efficacy determination, and site personnel for analytical validation, quality control, inter-laboratory quality evaluation and document management, etc. After the discussion by the expert group, 12 expert consensuses were formed to provide reference for the analytical validation and clinical application of tumor CGP NGS testing in Chinese hospitals, so as to promote the laboratory-developed testing applications in Chinese hospitals.

Anisotropy and compaction gradient assessment on rammed earth specimens through sonic tomography approach

Rammed earth is a traditional construction technique that has recently gained attention because of its benefits from an ecological perspective. The conservation of the existing valuable cultural heritage sites and the quality control of new constructions built with this material require the development and application of practical inspection techniques. This paper explores the application of sonic tests and sonic tomography as practical tools for monitoring the state of conservation of existing structures and the identification of heterogeneities or damaged areas. Two groups of 6 rammed earth specimens were manufactured and tested. The manufacturing process of each group allowed the application of compression loads and the identification of the Sonic Wave Propagation Velocities along directions parallel and perpendicular to the compaction forces during manufacturing. The SWPV were identified for the different paths between 9 measuring points located at two opposite sides of the specimens, leading to up to 6 different planes for each specimen. The SWPV are identified by identifying the Time-of-Flight of the elastic wave between each pair of excitation and receiver points. A discretized coloured map of the SWPV distribution for each plane defined by the measurement points array is obtained by the application of an algorithm already developed by the authors to obtain tomographic images for other materials and applications. The SWPV are identified after 2 different increasing values of a uniform compressive load is applied to each specimen. The results show that the analysis of the SWPV and tomographic images is sensitive to heterogeneities, such as compaction gradients from the manufacturing process, and also to the accumulated damage in the solid. The paper demonstrates that the proposed technique can be potentially used for a qualitative inspection of the state of conservation of specific rammed earth constructions.

Survival Probability in Multidrug Resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in a South Indian Region

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a burgeoning threat to public health requiring novel strategies to combat the infection. Although national tuberculosis elimination programs focus on improving health services, challenges in eradicating tuberculosis still exist. Factors attributing to unfavorable outcomes are unknown in Warangal district of Telangana state. Methods: This study included 296 patients diagnosed with multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis. The study participants followed up for a maximum of 20 months to determine treatment outcomes. Statistical applications of Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test used to find the survival probabilities in subgroups. Results: The survival of multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients was ascertained, in male and female patients, aged between 31 and 50 years. Resistance to rifampicin was prominent. The study found a survival rate of 76.68% and a mortality rate of 23.31%. The log-rank test revealed a significant difference in survival in subcategories with and without comorbidities ( P = .03), non-adherence to treatment ( P = .0001), treatment duration ( P = .02), regimens ( P = .01), and grading of radiograph ( P = .0001). Conclusion: This study identified factors that influenced the survival probability of multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients, including comorbidities, weight band, non-adherence to treatment, treatment duration, regimens, and grading of radiograph. These findings emphasize the need for enhanced management strategies to improve treatment outcomes.