Single Part Research Articles

A Model-Driven Approach to Extract Multi-Source Fault Features of a Screw Pump

Screw pumps’ faulty working conditions affect the stability of oil production. At project sites, different sensors are used simultaneously to collect multi-dimensional signals; the data fault labels and location are not clear, and how to comprehensively use multi-source information in effective fault feature extraction has become an urgent issue. Existing diagnostic methods use a single signal or part of a signal and do not fully utilize the acquired signal, which makes it difficult to achieve the required accuracy of diagnostic results. This paper focuses on the model-driven approach to extract multi-source fault features of screw pumps. Firstly, it constructs a fault data model (FDM) by analyzing the fault mechanism of the screw pump. Secondly, it uses the FDM to select an effective data set. Thirdly, it constructs a multi-dimensional fault feature extraction model (MDFEM) to extract featured signal features and data features, for which we also comprehensively used multi-source signals in effective fault feature extraction, while other traditional methods only use one or two signals. Finally, after feature selection, unsupervised fault diagnosis was achieved by using the k-means method. After experimental verification, the method can comprehensively use multi-source information to construct an effective data set and extract multi-dimensional, effective fault features for screw pump fault diagnosis.

Abstract 4144520: Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists for the Primary Prevention of Major Adverse Cardiac Events in Drug-naïve Type 2 Diabetes: A Propensity-score Analysis

Background: The effectiveness of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) as a first-line agent for the primary prevention of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in obese patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is unknown. Research Question: Does initial treatment with GLP-1 RA in obese drug-naïve patients with type 2 DM prevent future MACE? Aims: To examine the association between GLP-1 RA treatment and the primary prevention of MACE in drug-naïve type 2 DM patients with obesity. Methods: A retrospective propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis was conducted using the TriNetX Global database. We implemented a new-user design, including adult overweight/obese patients with drug-naive type 2 DM between January 1 st , 2019 and May 1 st , 2023. Patients with prior heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI), coronary revascularization, stroke, or cardiac arrest were excluded. We compared those starting GLP-1 RA versus starting non GLP-1 RA. Medication starting window spans from the first diagnosis to 3 months afterwards. Patients with insulin were excluded if they had any emergency or inpatient encounters during this window. The primary outcome was incident MACE, defined as any death, decompensated HF, MI, cardiac arrest, or ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, within 5 years of initial drug dispense. Secondary outcomes were individual MACE. Gastrointestinal bleeding was set as a falsification endpoint. Results: Of 1,245,340 patients with A1c <10% and 293,072 patients with A1c ≥10%, 7,483 and 1,563 patients started on GLP-1 RA as a single agent and part of a combined approach, respectively. After PSM, baseline covariates were balanced between the two treatment groups and no significant differences were observed in the falsification endpoint by treatment arm (Figure) . Compared with non-GLP-1 RA, with the exception of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2i), starting a GLP-1 RA first was associated with a significant reduction in MACCE, primarily driven by reductions in decompensated HF (Figure) . Conclusions: Initiation of a GLP-1 RA as the first agent for obese patients with drug-naïve type 2 DM was associated with a significant reduction in MACE compared to all other diabetes medications, with the exception of SGLT2i.

An automatic multi-precursor flow-type atomic layer deposition system

Designs for two automated atomic layer deposition (ALD) flow reactors are presented, and their capabilities for coating additively manufactured (AM) metal prints are described. One instrument allows the coating of several AM parts in batches, while the other is useful for single part experiments. To demonstrate reactor capabilities, alumina (Al2O3) was deposited onto AM 316L stainless steel by dosing with water (H2O) vapor and trimethylaluminum (TMA) and purging with nitrogen gas (N2). Both instruments are controlled by custom-programmed LabVIEW software that enables in situ logging of temperature, total pressure, and film thickness using a quartz crystal microbalance. An initial result shows that 150 ALD cycles led to a film thickness of ∼55 nm, which was verified with Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. This indicates that the reactors were indeed depositing single atomic layers of Al2O3 per ALD cycle, as intended.

Cost Apportionment Method for Transmission and Distribution Projects Based on Multiple Apportionment Factors

In today’s society, sustainability has become a key theme, and utilizing renewable energy is part of sustainability. Under the high proportion of renewable energy access, the conventional grid is gradually shifting to an active and distributed structure, which makes the existing cost apportionment method of transmission and distribution projects unable to match the actual situation. Reasonable apportionment of the costs of different voltage levels is the basis for the evaluation of transmission and distribution projects and is important for the formulation of transmission and distribution tariffs, which in turn have a significant impact on the development of renewable energy. To this end, this paper takes China’s power system as the research object and firstly analyzes the impact of the activization of the grid on the cost apportionment of transmission and distribution projects and then the inadequacy of the existing cost apportionment, which only considers a single factor and part of the cost which should be apportioned downward is still borne by this voltage level, and then combines the activation and the inherent characteristics of the power grid to extract the multiple factors to be considered for cost apportionment, and at the same time takes into account the reverse direction of the power trend, and divides the cost apportionment into two scenarios. The cost sharing model of transmission and distribution projects based on multiple apportionment factors is established. Finally, the feasibility and applicability of the model are verified by the examples of linear and reticulated grids, and the cost sharing results obtained by this method and the traditional method are compared. Using this method for the cost sharing of transmission and distribution projects, lower voltage levels will share more costs, and higher voltage levels will share fewer costs. The results show that the inclusion of the factors affecting cost sharing in the case of an active grid is more in line with the development trend of the new power system; the cost apportionment method based on multiple sharing factors makes the results fairer; and the inclusion of the power trend conduction relationship in the sharing process reflects the essential attributes of the grid. This is conducive to improving the operational efficiency of the power grid and promoting the long-term sustainability of the power system.

Graphene nanoribbon resonant tunneling diode with dual connection between contacts

In this paper, we numerically study the transport properties of a resonant tunneling diode (RTD) based on graphene nanoribbon (GNR) with an H-type antidote between the contacts. The structure may also be thought of as having two parallel (W-shape) parts connecting the contacts, each having a wider channel region sandwiched between two narrower barrier regions. The energy at which quasi-bound states occur in each part depends on the dimensional parameters of the respective portion in the structure. We study how the transmission through quasi-bound states is influenced by the edge states on the contacts and dimensional parameters such as barrier length and also by the ambient temperature. The results are compared with those of an RTD with a single part connecting the contacts. Transmission peaks at different energies are observed for an RTD with asymmetrical lower and upper parts between the contacts. This is then utilized for the creation of two negative differential resistance (NDR) peaks. For numerical computation, the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism (NEGF) based on the nearest neighbor tight-binding model is employed.

Selective laser melting of 316L stainless steel: Porosity dependence on geometric feature size

This technical brief reports an experimental study on the effect of geometric feature size on the porosity in parts made via selective laser melting. Cylindrical features of different diameters were designed on a single part and printed using the same scan strategy. The resultant pores at different cylindrical feature diameters were captured by optical microscopy. The image processing results showed that as the cylindrical feature diameter decreased from 10 mm to 0.8 mm, the porosity increased from 0.11 % to 4.1 %, and the maximum pore size increased from 41.7 µm to 102.2 µm. To identify the reason for this interesting finding, the average areal energy density was calculated at each cylindrical feature diameter. The calculations showed that the different cylindrical feature diameters resulted in local energy density discrepancies. Because the scan strategy had a disparity for the border in comparison to the volume infill, and the areal ratio of the border to the volume infill naturally varied at different cylindrical feature diameters, the average areal energy density was found to vary significantly for cylindrical features of different diameters. The average areal energy density increased from 2.8 J/mm2 to 5.9 J/mm2 as the cylindrical feature diameter decreased from 10 mm to 0.8 mm. That change in the average areal energy density was identified as the cause for the porosity variation in this study.

Predicting temporal evacuation travel time in staircases between adjacent floors of super high-rise buildings by artificial neural networks

Predicting temporal evacuation travel time in staircases between adjacent floors is crucial for dynamic evacuation guidance to improve vertical evacuation efficiency during emergencies in super high-rise buildings. However, the prediction methods used in previous studies mainly focus on the total evacuation time in buildings and cannot predict the temporal evacuation travel time in every single part of the total evacuation route. This study proposes a novel method to predict temporal evacuation travel time in staircases between adjacent floors of super high-rise buildings by using artificial neural networks. Firstly, evacuation simulation data of a 71-storey office building are analyzed for feature engineering and dataset building. Secondly, three types of artificial neural networks, including convolutional neural networks, RNN-based model (the traditional recurrent neural networks, long-short term memory networks, and bidirectional long-short term memory networks), and Attention-based model (Attention model and Transformer model) are extended to predict the temporal evacuation travel time in staircases between adjacent floors based on the simulation data. Finally, the prediction results by different artificial neural networks are compared. The results show that the artificial neural networks can provide accurate prediction values for the temporal evacuation travel time in staircases between adjacent floors of super high-rise buildings.

Characterization of a novel antioxidant exopolysaccharide from an intestinal-originated bacteria Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum Bi-OTA128

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPSs) have attracted extensive attention for their biological functions in antioxidant activities. In this study, we characterized a novel EPS produced by Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum Bi-OTA128 which exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity compared to nine other ropy bacterial strains, achieving 76.50 % and 93.84 % in DPPH· and ABTS·+ scavenging activity, and ferric reducing power of 134.34 μM Fe2+. Complete genomic analysis identified an eps gene cluster involved in the EPS biosynthesis of Bi-OTA128 strain, which might be responsible for its ropy phenotype. The EPS was then isolated and purified by a DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow column. A single elution part EPS128 was obtained with a recovery rate of 43.5 ± 1.78 % and a total carbohydrate content of 93.6 ± 0.76 %. Structural characterization showed that EPS128 comprised glucose, galactose, and rhamnose (molar ratio 4.0:1.2:1.1), featuring a putative complex backbone structure with four branched chains and an unusual acetyl group at O-2 of terminal rhamnose. Antioxidant assay in vitro indicated that EPS128 exhibited antioxidant potential with 50.52 % DPPH· and 65.40 % ABTS·+ scavenging activities, reaching 54.3 % and 70.44 % of the efficacy of standard Vitamin C at 2.0 mg/L. Furthermore, EPS128 showed protective effects against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in HepG2 cells by reducing cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increasing cell viability. These findings present the first comprehensive report of an antioxidant EPS from B. pseudocatenulatum, highlighting its potential as a natural antioxidant for applications in the food industry and clinical settings.

Parameter identification of vibratory conveying systems including statistical part behavior

This work presents a complete workflow for the parameter identification of an MBS model representing a vibratory conveying system. First, the MBS model built within the multibody dynamics tool HOTINT is shown. Essential components, such as contact modeling and adaptive time step control, are explained in detail. The model includes a considerable amount of parameters that need to be identified. Altough, this model is fully deterministic, the complex contact dynamics can cause major effect on results by minor parameter variations. Thus, parameter variations usually show statistical variance, which is characteristic for real conveying processes too. For parameter identification it is important to detect parameters that significantly correlate with results. A method that allows to distinguish significant and non-significant parameters is presented. The application to the multibody system shows that stiffness, restitution and sliding friction of the contact model are the essential parameters. Next, the parameter identification is discussed with particular attention to multimodal distributions, that can occur in conveying systems. Furthermore, the integration of statistics into the deterministic simulation model is discussed. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methods, a parameter identification is performed based on measurement data of a single part on a real conveying system in the development site of STIWA Automation GmbH. Finally, the validity of the fully parametrized simulation model is shown by investigating geometric adjustments of the conveyor. In order to further verify the identified set of parameters, a conveying process with multiple parts is analyzed and compared in measurement and simulation.

Synthesis of a Novel and Highly HOR/HER Selective Ru@Pt/TiOx/C Catalyst Exhibiting Strong Metal-Support Interactions (SMSI) for PEMFC Applications

One main goal in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) research is to make Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) viable for long-haul travel and increase their durability. Besides many degradation modes which target different parts of a PEMFC such as the catalyst layer, the membrane, bipolar plates, and other components, one major concern is the start-up/shut-down (SUSD) of the cell, inducing degradation of the catalyst support on the cathode. Addressing this, two mitigation strategies are possible: a) the system approach, e.g., reducing number of damaging SUSD events; b) the catalyst approach, e.g., suppressing the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) activity of the anode.The latter is feasible by utilizing a highly selective HOR/HER (Hydrogen Oxidation/Evolution Reaction) catalyst on the anode side that catalyzes the HOR but has a poor ORR activity, a property that was reported for a Pt/TiOx/C catalyst by Stühmeier et al.[1,2] The high selectivity towards the HOR/HER is explained by the Strong-Metal-Support-Interaction (SMSI) formed between the Pt nanoparticles and the TiOx-support, where the support creeps over the particle during a reductive heat treatment, as observed in HR-TEM.[1] In general, the SMSI effect between a metal and a suitable metal support is found in various heterogeneous catalytic applications, altering the catalyst’s activity for various reactions.[3] In the particular case of Pt/TiOx/C, the SMSI layer forming on the Pt nanoparticle is said to be permeable for protons but impermeable for any other oxygen-containing species, explaining a still rather high HOR/HER activity compared to a Pt/C catalyst (≈ 30% vs Pt/C) and an ORR activity that is decreased by two magnitudes (≈ 2% vs Pt/C).[1] Such interaction was also observed by Stühmeier et al. between Ru and a TiOx-support, where similar trends were determined. However, since the intrinsic HOR/HER activity of a Ru catalyst is quite low compared to Pt, a Ru/TiOx/C catalyst is not feasible for PEMFC applications.[4] Ru@Pt core-shell particles, as shown by Schwämmlein et al., exhibit a 3-5x higher HOR/HER activity compared to a Pt/C catalyst, making a Ru@Pt/C catalyst viable even for alkaline fuel cell applications.[5] Due to the already successfully explored interaction of Pt and Ru with a TiOx-support, we will examine the HOR and ORR activity of Ru@Pt/TiOx/C catalysts..In this work we successfully synthesized a novel catalyst system by forming an SMSI between Ru@Pt core-shell particles and a TiOx-support. Via RDE (Rotating Disk Electrode) characterization, we elucidate if the Ru@Pt/TiOx/C catalyst gains all the benefits from the single parts of the catalyst, namely: i) a high HOR/HER activity from the Ru@Pt core-shell particles; ii) a low ORR activity due to the SMSI effect. Figure 1 shows the HOR/HER performance catalysts based on Ru@Pt particles supported on Vulcan carbon (black line) or on TiO2 nanoparticles, whereby for the latter support the catalysts were either tested as-synthesized (red line) or after a reductive heat-treatment under 5% H2/Ar to induce SMSI effects (green line). Apparently, the SMSI layer on the Ru@Pt core-shell particles enable a sustained HOR/HER activity at > 1.0 VRHE, in contrast to the other two catalysts which show the typical decrease of the HOR/HER activity at high potentials. Similar observations had been made by Stühmeier et al. for a Pt/TiOx/C and Ru/TiOx/C catalyst.[1,2,4] The findings in this particular study with the TiOx-support, as an example, should serve as proof of principle to possibly translate the gained knowledge on different types of metal oxide supports, since the stability of TiOx is known to be limited under PEMFC operation.[2,6] References [1] B. M. Stühmeier, S. Selve, M. U. M. Patel, T. N. Geppert, A. Hubert, H. A. Gasteiger, H. A. El-Sayed, ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2019, 1–8.[2] B. M. Stühmeier, A. M. Damjanović, K. Rodewald, H. A. Gasteiger, J. Power Sources 2023, 558, DOI 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2022.232572.[3] C. J. Pan, M. C. Tsai, W. N. Su, J. Rick, N. G. Akalework, A. K. Agegnehu, S. Y. Cheng, B. J. Hwang, J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng. 2017, 74, 154–186.[4] B. M. Stühmeier, R. J. Schuster, L. Hartmann, S. Selve, H. A. El-Sayed, H. A. Gasteiger, J. Electrochem. Soc. 2022, 169, 034519.[5] J. N. Schwämmlein, H. A. El-Sayed, B. M. Stühmeier, K. F. Wagenbauer, H. Dietz, H. A. Gasteiger, ECS Trans. 2016, 75, 971–982.[6] J. Zhang, F. Coms, S. Kumaraguru, J. Electrochem. Soc. 2021, 168, 024520. Figure 1

Response of the emerald‐spotted wood‐dove to the song of conspecific males and sympatric congeners

AbstractBird song contains crucial information that enables recognition of conspecific individuals from a distance, which facilitates subsequent complex behaviors related to mate attraction and rival deterrence. Loud broadcast signals of non‐learning bird species are usually treated as less complex than songs of Oscines, but several studies have revealed that song learning is not necessary for the evolution of complex signaling. Here, we focused on a species of African wood‐dove which produces superficially simple songs consisting of short notes organized into two parts of different amplitude. Our model was a population of emerald‐spotted wood‐doves (Turtur chalcospilos) that live in the same area as the physically and vocally similar blue‐spotted wood‐dove (Turtur afer). We tested the responses of male emerald‐spotted wood‐doves to different playbacks simulating territorial intrusion. We used songs of the focal species and of the congener, two types of artificially mixed songs with different parts belonging to the focal or congeneric species, and a control song. We aimed to assess (i) whether the focal species responds only to its own species' song or exhibits interspecific territoriality, and (ii) which part of the song is responsible for coding species identity. We found that male emerald‐spotted wood‐doves responded strongly to playback, but almost exclusively approached only the playback of their own species' song. Additionally, only conspecific song caused a decrease in song rate during playback and an increase in song output after playback. Our results suggest that emerald‐spotted wood‐doves are able to discriminate their own songs from those of congeners and do not exhibit interspecies territoriality. We were unable to identify a single part of the song that codes species‐specificity, as mixed songs of any kind did not substantially increase responsiveness to playback in comparison to the congener song or the control. We discuss these results in the context of current hypotheses regarding interspecific territoriality and the evolution of species‐identity coding.

Human-robot interaction in motor imagery: A system based on the STFCN for unilateral upper limb rehabilitation assistance

BackgroundRehabilitation training based on the brain-computer interface of motor imagery (MI-BCI) can help restore the connection between the brain and movement. However, the performance of most popular MI-BCI system is coarse-level, which means that they are good at guiding the rehabilitation exercises of different parts of the body, but not for the individual component. New methodsIn this paper, we designed a fine-level MI-BCI system for unilateral upper limb rehabilitation assistance. Besides, due to the low discrimination of different sample classes in a single part, a classification algorithm called spatial-temporal filtering convolutional network (STFCN) was proposed that used spatial filtering and deep learning. Comparison with existing methodsOur STFCN outperforms popular methods in recent years using BCI IV 2a and 2b data sets. ResultsTo verify the effectiveness of our system, we recruited 6 volunteers and collected their data for a four-classification online experiments, resulting in an average accuracy of 62.7 %. ConclusionThis fine-level MI-BCI system has good appli-cation prospects, and inspires more exploration of rehabilitation in a single part of the human body.

Gas tungsten arc welding of a multiphase CoCuxFeMnNi (x=20,30) high entropy alloy system: Microstructural differences and their consequences on mechanical performance

With the current advancements in materials science, the development of high entropy alloys (HEAs) is progressively increasing. Hence, research on their processability is essential to make them competitive alternatives to common engineering alloys that are widely used in structural applications. One manufacturing technique commonly employed in this sector is gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). This technique allows to obtain single monolithic parts from separate components, often at the cost of local microstructural and mechanical properties variation across the joint. As such, GTAW processing is capable of supplying relevant knowledge regarding the feasibility of joining new materials and their potential industry uptake. In this study, we present a comparative analysis on the use of GTAW on two distinct multiphase high entropy alloys: CoCu20FeMnNi and the CoCu30FeMnNi. Firstly, microstructural observations coupled with CalPhaD-based calculations and synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis, allowed to delve, and compare, the microstructural evolution across both welds. It was possible to observe the dual phase nature of the microstructure throughout the welded joint alongside the nucleation of a B2 BCC phase in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of both HEAs. Considering the mechanical properties of the welded materials, results evidenced a poorer, yet still acceptable mechanical performance. The observed decrease in mechanical strength is attributed to the residual stress conditions and large grain size that developed owing to the process thermal cycle, which contrasted deeply with the microstructure of each base material.

Implementation of the Rules of the Institute of Application of Ciminal Law Measures to Legal Entities in Court Practice: Results of a 10-Year Marathon

The article analyzes both criminal and criminal procedural legislation and court practice with regard to the application of criminal law measures against legal entities. The author establishes that at the regulatory level, the objective reason for the low efficiency of the rules on the application of such measures is, first of all, the dependence established by the criminal procedure legislation of Ukraine between the procedural fate of proceedings against a legal entity and criminal proceedings against an authorized person who committed a relevant criminal offense on behalf of and/or in the interests of a legal entity. The author analyzed 6 verdicts which resolved the issue of application of criminal legal measures against legal entities. As can be seen from the above analysis, during the 10 years of the legal institution on the application of criminal legal measures against legal entities, the court practice is characterized by a progressive movement from primitive decisions on the application of criminal legal measures against legal entities in the wrong procedural order provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine to verdicts that applied such measures procedurally correctly. In our opinion, the reason for such a small number of cases of application of criminal legal measures against legal entities in Ukraine is the fact that the procedural fate of proceedings against a legal entity is completely dependent on the criminal proceedings against its authorized person, and the lack of a single structural part of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine that would regulate the procedural procedure for application of criminal legal measures against legal entities. This situation should be remedied at the regulatory level by introducing appropriate amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. At the same time, there is a need to develop training activities for stakeholders – investigators, prosecutors, judges, lawyers - aimed at learning the procedure for applying criminal legal measures to legal entities. Key words: criminal law measures against legal entities, proceedings against a legal entity, criminal proceedings against an individual, authorized person of a legal entity, actions on behalf of and/or in the interests of a legal entity, representative of a legal entity in respect of which proceedings are being conducted, criminal offense, training of investigators, prosecutors, attorneys, judges.

Helmet-Roled Molecules Carrying Double Metronidazole Frameworks and Phenyl Ring for Strengthening Adsorption and Anticorrosion on Mild Steel.

This study prepared new helmet-roled molecules (HMs) carrying metronidazole frameworks and a phenyl ring for strengthening adsorption and anticorrosion on mild steel. The adsorption of the HMs on the copper surface was understood by material simulation computation. Furthermore, the surface analysis experiments suggest that the studied molecules could be adsorbed to a mild steel surface through the chemical coordination bonding. The remarkable corrosion resistance of the HMs for mild steel in HCl was surveyed by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at 298 K. The HMs including two metronidazole skeletons displayed the stronger corrosion inhibition effect on mild steel than the HM1 bearing one single metronidazole part (the corrosion inhibition efficiency, HM3, 98.03%, HM2, 95.14%, HM1, 88.72%). The results presented in this study provided an efficient strategy to develop new clinical medicine-based corrosion inhibitors for metal in acid medium through molecular preconstruction.

Additively manufactured, long, serpentine submillimeter channels by combining binder jet printing and liquid-phase sintering

Metallic microfluidic devices made from powder-bed additive manufacturing systems have received increasing attention, but their feasible channel geometry and complexity are often limited by lack of an effective approach to removing trapped powder particles within the channels or conduits of the sintered parts. Here, we present an innovative approach to fabricating long serpentine, high-aspect-ratio submillimeter channels made of stainless steel 316L (SS) by binder jet printing (BJP) and liquid-phase sintering. We leverage the unique nature of the BJP process, that is printing and consolidation steps are decoupled, enabling us to join two or more parts during the sintering step. Instead of constructing the channel device as a single part, we print multiple parts for easy powder removal and later join them to form enclosed channels. The key innovation lies in adding sintering additives like boron nitrides (BN) to the SS stock powder—at the SS/BN interfaces, liquid phase is locally generated at temperature much lower than the SS melting temperature, facilitating the bonding of the multiple parts as well as the consolidation of parts for near-full density. We systematically vary the sintering temperature to show how it affects the joining quality and the channel shape distortion. The joining quality such as the fracture strengths of the joined samples is measured by a pull test while the shape distortion is characterized by various imaging techniques. The feasibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by fabricating a 400-mm-long, fully enclosed serpentine channel with a rectangular cross-section of 0.5 mm in width and 1.8 mm in height. The pressure drop across this 3D-printed SS serpentine channels is measured for air flow and compared to a standard gas flow model, showing that the device is free of leakage or clogs.

WATSU (Water-Shiatsu) increases body awareness and improves pain and mood: A randomised controlled study

Background and purposeWATSU (Water-Shiatsu) is a body-oriented therapy in warm-water pool with passive movements, massage and breathing techniques. The present study investigated the short-term effect of a single session of WATSU on body awareness. Materials and methodsIn a randomized-controlled study 60 volunteers (18–65 years) were assigned to a 20-min intervention of WATSU or to a 20-min lecture on WATSU. Immediately before and after the intervention they had to answer questionnaires. Primary endpoint of the investigation was the change of the total score of the non-verbal Awareness Body Chart (ABC). Secondary endpoints were the changes of the scores of the 14 single body parts of the ABC, of the Visual Analogue Pain Scale, of a German self-perception questionnaire (KEKS) and changes in mood scored with a German questionnaire on mood (Bf-SR). To compare groups, Mann-Whitney U tests were used. ResultsThe WATSU group had a significantly higher increase in the ABC total score in comparison to the lecture group (WATSU: 0.3 (IQR 0 – 0.8), lecture: 0.1 (IQR -0.2 – 0.2), p = 0.014). In the KEKS no group differences were seen. In WATSU a significantly stronger improvement of pain (Visual Analogue Pain Scale: WATSU: −15 (IQR -29 to −8), lecture: −4 (IQR -9 – 2), p < 0.001) and of mood (Bf-SR: WATSU: −6 (IQR -14 to −2), lecture: −1 (IQR -5 – 1), p = 0.003) could be observed. ConclusionThis study showed that WATSU immediately increases body awareness and improves pain and mood.

Analysis of anatomic location of burns inpatients in China from 2009 to 2018

BackgroundBurns cause serious physical and psychological harm to patients, placing a heavy burden on the global healthcare system. Our previous study detailed the epidemiological characteristics of burn injuries in Chinese inpatients from 2009 to 2018. Interestingly, the anatomic locations of burn injuries vary by gender, age, provinces, and outcomes among different causes. Therefore, this current study aims to analyze the characteristics of burn injuries in inpatients with various burn sites by collecting data in China from 2009 to 2018. This analysis will inform future healthcare system decisions and provide effective strategies.MethodsBurns inpatients from 196 hospitals across 31 provinces in China were included in the study, covering the period from 2009 to 2018. The data collected encompassed information on gender, age, etiology, regions, clinical outcomes, and anatomical locations of the injuries. Data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel 2007.ResultsFrom 2009 to 2018, a total of 333,995 burns inpatients were recorded. The most vulnerable parts to burns were multiple burn sites (230,090, 68.89%). Women were more susceptible to lower limb burns (15,608, 14%), while men were more prone to eye injuries (8,387, 3.37%) and hand burns (6,119, 2.75%). The age group of 0–10 years was the most vulnerable to burns across all body areas, including internal organs. In China, individuals aged 20–50 years were at a higher risk of head and neck burns compared to other age groups. The Han population showed increased vulnerability to eye injuries (2.12 times higher than minorities), respiratory tract issues (2.09 times higher than minorities), and trunk burns (1.83 times higher than minorities), while being less susceptible to internal organ injuries (0.23 times fewer than minorities) and lower limb burns (0.78 times fewer than minorities). The southwest region had the highest proportion of burns inpatients with burns affecting single body parts, whereas the eastern area had the highest rates of respiratory tract burns (0.85%) and multiple burn sites (80.64%). Scalding was identified as the most common cause of burns, while flame burns (769, 55.81%) and chemical burns (438, 47.35%) were the main causes of respiratory tract and internal organ injuries, respectively.ConclusionsThis study provides an initial description of characteristics of burns inpatients with various anatomic locations of burns in China over the past decade. Our findings will contribute to the most up-to-date clinical evidence database for healthcare planning and prevention initiatives in both China and other countries.

A quantitative image analysis platform for assessing trophoblast differentiation

Immunofluorescence microscopy is extensively used in characterization of trophoblast differentiation in vitro. However, such data is primarily used to confirm the presence of protein markers or qualitatively compare levels of protein markers across experimental conditions. Imaging data, when processed and analyzed appropriately can provide quantitative and spatial information, and provide biological insight. Towards this end, here we present MATroph, an open-source MATLAB-based computational tool to process images generated by immunofluorescent microscopy. MATroph automatically executes a series of image processing operations, including the classification of red, blue, and green channels from images, background extraction, morphological operations, and image filtering. From the isolated blue channels corresponding to nuclear staining, this tool generates numerical values for cell number. Additionally, relative levels and spatial location of proteins are obtained by mapping red and green channel pixels to blue pixels by assigning minimum pixel distance between the blue and other color objects. Thus, this tool provides information about intracellular protein accumulation areas. Additionally, this tool can also classify cells as single cells or part of colonies, and extract information on protein levels for each; this is particularly useful for quantitative studies on extravillous trophoblast maturation. We provide a user-guide to analyze the relative levels of markers relevant to human trophoblast stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Importantly, MATroph is composed of a simple MATLAB algorithm, and its implementation requires minimal expertise in programming.

Optimizing heterogeneous elastic material distributions on 3D models

Optimizing heterogeneous elastic material distribution on a 3D part to achieve desired deformation behavior is an important task in computer-aided design and additive manufacturing. This paper presents a solution to this problem, which involves interactive design, automatic deformation generation, and optimization of spatial distribution of heterogeneous elastic materials. Our method improves previous techniques in three aspects. First, we incorporates a geometric deformation-based interactive design into FEM-based optimization, which makes the solution less dependent of initial guesses of Young’s modulus values and it more likely to produce the target design even with sparse user input of displacements and forces at a limited set of mesh vertices. Second, we formulate the problem as an L2- or L0-optimization problem. The L2 formulation outputs smoothly varying heterogeneous material distribution that accommodates multiple functions within a single part. The L0 formulation achieves the computation of sparse material distribution in one step, which is beneficial for additive manufacturing with multi-material printers. Third, we utilize the adjoint method to derive formulae for efficiently computing the gradient of the objective functions, making it possible to quickly solve the optimization problem in the full-dimensional space of materials, which was previously infeasible. The experiments demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our approach.