Technical Approaches Research Articles

Study on dynamic fracture growth mechanism of continental shale under compression failure

Microscale and nanoscale fractures induced by stress transfer can effectively improve pore connectivity, which can provide significant benefits by improving well productivity in shale reservoirs. In this research, representative samples of four shale lithofacies are investigated. The rock deformation and fracture propagation of shale samples under stress are numerically simulated by integrating various technical approaches, such as characterization of the mineral composition and distribution, digital core modeling, micromechanical tests, and finite element method-based simulations. The results show that the numerical model developed in this research can accurately replicate the microscale characteristics of the heterogeneity of shale and thus effectively clarify the effects of control of the composition, morphology, and distribution of minerals and structural defects on induced fractures in rock masses. Under uniaxial compression, the failure mechanism of rock is dominated by tensile fracturing, which generates tensile fractures parallel to the loading direction. However, compression‒shear fractures perpendicular to the loading direction also form due to the presence of lamination seams. The content of brittle minerals in different lithofacies is relatively stable, but the characteristics of the morphology and distribution of such minerals are highly differentiated, which leads to significant differences in mechanical properties and failure mechanisms. Both laminated felsic and diamictic shale (LFS and LDS) can present high fracture complexity in cases of low fracture energy. In argillaceous shale (AS), fractures initiate at low strengths, yet fracture propagation requires high energy. In contrast, the fracture initiation pressure and fracture propagation energy consumption of dolomitic shale (DS) are both high and unfavorable for the propagation of induced fractures. This research provides a technical approach for studying the formation mechanism and dynamic evolution of induced fractures, and the corresponding findings are of great theoretical significance for the identification of sweet spots and design of shale reservoirs for fracturing applications.

Image-based research methods for mapping tourist behaviour: smart photos

ABSTRACT Conventional research methods for understanding tourists’ behaviours need to be more practical and accurate when tracking tourists’ movements within a destination. In recent years, technological development has offered advanced technical approaches for data collection and analysis. Taking account of the tourist experience in post-industrial landscapes, this study introduces an image-based methodology to explore tourists’ movements at industrial heritage sites. Preliminary results are presented, using Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock as an example of detecting tourists’ movement through use of a drone. The findings demonstrate that the selected method – Smart Photo – effectively maps tourists’ behaviour and movements, and that this provides researchers with a simple, fast, and accurate data collection and analysis tool.

Research on Age-Friendly Design of Living Spaces in Institutional Elderly Care Models

With the increasing trend of population aging, elderly care institutions have become important places for the daily lives of older adults. However, there are still many issues in the current design of living spaces in institutional elderly care models, such as unreasonable spatial layout, inadequate functionality, and inconvenient facilities. To address these issues, this paper conducts a comprehensive analysis through literature review and field research, integrating the physiological and psychological characteristics of older adults and the advantages and disadvantages of living spaces in actual elderly care institutions. Based on spatial design principles and technical approaches, this paper summarizes the key points and strategies for designing age-friendly living environments for older adults in institutional elderly care models. This provides a reference basis for the design of living spaces for older adults in elderly care institutions in China, promoting the improvement of quality of life for older adults and the development of healthy aging care.

Approach Draft to Evaluate the Transport System State—A Case Study Regarding the Estimation Ratio Model of Transport Supply and Demand

The article suggests a system dynamics model for estimating the demand for public transport. Traditional scientific and technical transport modeling approaches involve coherent systems, meticulously considering other impactful variables for transport modeling. The vastness of the variables and their combinations hinder us from grasping all possible system interactions. This research aims at proposing a model that comprises decisive factors in relation to the supply and demand in various modes of transport, designing likely scenarios of the transport system development in a specific transport territory. The model uses system dynamics tools to explore the interaction between individual system elements and transport subsystems. A wise choice of crucial system elements, well-adjusted relationships and behavior settings, as well as system dynamics tools, allow for a considerable simplification of an otherwise complex system. The article works with a principle of stock and flow diagrams for forecasting supply and demand in public transport. We take into consideration the implementation of a ‘demand index’ in public and car passenger transport with a subsequent comparison. This innovative approach monitors the development of a regional or municipal transport system while assessing its sustainability. Suggested demand indexes may serve as indicators for a sustainable municipal system. The suggested model reflects data from the South Bohemian region in the Czech Republic and may involve other elements and indicators of a sustainable transport system.

Abstract 4086: Mitigating the CD5 CAR-CD5 interaction enhances the functionality of CD5 CAR-T cells by alleviating the T-cell fratricide

Abstract Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been used with unprecedented clinical responses in relapsed/refractory B-ALL or B-NHL, MM patients. However, CAR-T therapy has not yet been proven effective in other hematological malignancies, such as T cell lymphoma and leukemia (T-NHL/T-ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Developing CAR-T cells for patients with T-cell malignancies remains challenging as most CARs targeting T-lineage antigens, such as CD5, CD7, and CD3, target themselves, potentially resulting in fratricide of CAR-T cells. Thus, there is a need for technical approaches to alleviate the fratricide of CAR-T to treat T-cell malignancies successfully. As part of the approach, we studied whether the affinity of CAR and cognate antigen expression of CAR-T cells influence the intensity of CAR-T`s fratricide and hypothesized that if a single chain Fragment variable (scFv) with a low intensity of fratricide is applied to T-lineage antigen-downregulated CAR-T cells, the effector function of CAR-T cell targeting T cell antigen can be maximized. For this, we screened full human scFvs targeting CD5, a pan T-cell marker, tested the affinity of scFvs for CD5 antigen, and generated anti-CD5 CAR-T cells (CAR5). We evaluated the intensity of in vitro fratricide in CAR5 based on cell expansion and cytokine secretion in vitro and tested their anti-tumor activity in a CD5+ T-ALL xenograft model (Jurkat). In addition, to minimize CAR recognition to a cognate antigen expressed in CAR-T cells, we also generated CD5-downregulated CAR5s (CD5-KD CAR5) using a short hairpin RNA cassette integrated into an anti-CD5 CAR vector to test if the downregulation of CD5 in CAR5s can reduce the fratricide. We found that a CAR5 clone (C7CAR5) with the lowest level of fratricide in vitro, showed superior anti-tumor activity compared to other CAR5s in vivo and that CD5-downregulated C7 CAR5 (CD5-KD C7CAR5) further reduced the fratricide, maximizing the anti-tumor activity. In conclusion, we demonstrate that high-affinity CAR may not always show superior functionality in T cell malignancy CAR-T therapy, explaining one or more strategies to alleviate the fratricide are required. These studies provide the foundation for developing CD5 CART products to treat relapsed T-cell malignancies. Citation Format: Lee Young Ho, Seung Rok Yu, Jeong Hoon Jeong, Hyeong Ji Lee, Hyeon Jeong Cho, Hyung Cheol Kim. Mitigating the CD5 CAR-CD5 interaction enhances the functionality of CD5 CAR-T cells by alleviating the T-cell fratricide. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 4086.

Immobilized microalgal system: An achievable idea for upgrading current microalgal wastewater treatment.

Efficient wastewater treatment accompanied by sustainable "nutrients/pollutants waste-wastewater-resources/energy nexus" management is acting as a prominent and urgent global issue since severe pollution has occurred increasingly. Diverting wastes from wastewater into the value-added microalgal-biomass stream is a promising goal using biological wastewater treatment technologies. This review proposed an idea of upgrading the current microalgal wastewater treatment by using immobilized microalgal system. Firstly, a systematic analysis of microalgal immobilization technology is displayed through an in-depth discussion on why using immobilized microalgae for wastewater treatment. Subsequently, the main technical approaches employed for microalgal immobilization and pollutant removal mechanisms by immobilized microalgae are summarized. Furthermore, from high-tech technologies to promote large-scale production and application potentials in diverse wastewater and bioreactors to downstream applications lead upgradation closer, the feasibility of upgrading existing microalgal wastewater treatment into immobilized microalgal systems is thoroughly discussed. Eventually, several research directions are proposed toward the future immobilized microalgal system for microalgal wastewater treatment upgrading. Together, it appears that using immobilization for further upgrading the microalgae-based wastewater treatment can be recognized as an achievable alternative to make microalgal wastewater treatment more realistic. The information and perspectives provided in this review also offer a feasible reference for upgrading conventional microalgae-based wastewater treatment.

Role of artificial intelligence on green economic development: Joint determinates of natural resources and green total factor productivity

The energy consumption structure is now shifting from using fossil fuels to using renewable energy. Thus it is crucial to research if decreasing energy use can genuinely boost green total factor productivity (GTFP) and how to reconcile the link between reducing energy consumption and GTFP using various technical approaches. This study proposes the two-way influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and natural resources market on GTFP. It comprehensively evaluates the effects of AI on green economic development using the instance of China and a pertinent mathematical model. We found that the impacts of AI on carbon intensity vary between industries and developmental phases. Compared to the 11th Five-Year Plan, AI significantly reduced carbon intensity during the 12th. Compared to capital-intensive businesses, labor- and technology-intensive industries likely have a more significant drop in carbon intensity due to AI and natural resources market.

Is High-Fidelity Important for Human-like Virtual Avatars in Human Computer Interactions?

Survey/review study Is High-Fidelity Important for Human-like Virtual Avatars in Human Computer Interactions? Qiongdan Cao , Hui Yu ,*, Paul Charisse , Si Qiao , and Brett Stevens 1 University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2UP, UK * Correspondence: hui.yu@port.ac.uk Received: 2 March 2023 Accepted: 6 March 2023 Published: 27 March 2023 Abstract: As virtual avatars have become increasingly popular in recent years, current needs indicate that “interactivity” is crucial for inducing a positive response from users towards these avatars, especially in human computer interactions (HCI). This paper reviews recent works on high-fidelity human-like virtual avatars (e.g. high visual and motion fidelity) and discusses the critical question——“Is high-fidelity a positive choice for virtual avatars to achieve better interactions in HCI”. Furthermore, we summarise current technical approaches to developing those virtual avatars. We investigate the advantages and disadvantages of high-fidelity virtual avatars in different areas focusing on addressing the effect of motion, especially the upper body. Research shows that high-fidelity is a positive choice for virtual avatars, although it may depend on the application.

Placenta accreta spectrum into the parametrium, morbidity differences between upper and lower location

Objective To demonstrate the surgical and morbidity differences between upper and lower parametrial placenta invasion (PPI). Materials and methods Forty patients with placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) into the parametrium underwent surgery between 2015 and 2020. Based on the peritoneal reflection, the study compared two types of parametrial placental invasion (PPI), upper or lower. Surgical approach to PAS follows a conservative-resective method. Before delivery, surgical staging by pelvic fascia dissection established a final diagnosis of placental invasion. In upper PPI cases, the team attempted to repair the uterus after resecting all invaded tissues or performing a hysterectomy. In cases of lower PPI, experts performed a hysterectomy in all cases. The team only used proximal vascular (aortic occlusion) control in cases of lower PPI. Surgical dissection for lower PPI started finding the ureter in the pararectal space, ligating all the tissues (placenta and newly formed vessels) to create a tunnel to release the ureter from the placenta and placenta suppletory vessels. Overall, at least three pieces of the invaded area were sent for histological analysis. Results Forty patients with PPI were included, 13 in the upper parametrium and 27 in the lower parametrium. MRI indicated PPI in 33/40 patients; in three, the diagnosis was presumed by ultrasound or medical background. The intrasurgical staging categorizes 13 cases of PPI performed and finds diagnosis in seven undetected cases. The expertise team completed a total hysterectomy in 2/13 upper PPI cases and all lower PPI cases (27/27). Hysterectomies in the upper PPI group were performed by extensive damage of the lateral uterine wall or with a tube compromise. Ureteral injury ensued in six cases, corresponding to cases without catheterization or incomplete ureteral identification. All aortic vascular proximal control (aortic balloon, internal aortic compression, or aortic loop) was efficient for controlling bleeding; in contrast, ligature of the internal iliac artery resulted in a useless procedure, resulting in uncontrollable bleeding and maternal death (2/27). All patients had antecedents of placental removal, abortion, curettage after a cesarean section, or repeated D&C. Conclusions Lower PAS parametrial involvement is uncommon but associated with elevated maternal morbidity. Upper and lower PPI has different surgical risks and technical approaches; consequently, an accurate diagnosis is needed. The clinical background of manual placental removal, abortion, and curettage after a cesarean or repeated D&C could be ideally studied to diagnose a possible PPI. For patients with high-risk antecedents or unsure ultrasound, a T2 weight MRI is always recommended. Performing comprehensive surgical staging in PAS allows the efficient diagnosis of PPI before using some procedures.

Novel nanotherapeutics for cancer immunotherapy by CTLA-4 aptamer-functionalized albumin nanoparticle loaded with antihistamine.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is a promising strategy for cancer treatment and has generated remarkable clinical results against multiple malignancies. Exploration of new technical approaches to further boost the therapeutic efficacy of ICB is of potential medical importance. In this study, we designed a novel nanotherapeutics for ICB immunotherapy. CTLA-4 aptamers were conjugated to the surface of albumin nanoparticle to construct an aptamer-modified nanostructure (Apt-NP). To improve ICB efficacy, fexofenadine (FEXO), an antihistamine, was encapsulated into Apt-NP to make a drug-loaded nanoparticle (Apt-NP-FEXO).Theantitumor efficacies of Apt-NP and Apt-NP-FEXO were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Apt-NP and Apt-NP-FEXO had average diameters of 149nm and 159nm, respectively. Similar to free CTLA-4 aptamers, Apt-modified NPs could selectively bind with CTLA-4 positive cells and improve lymphocyte-mediated antitumor cytotoxicity in vitro. In animal studies, compared with free CTLA-4 aptamer, Apt-NP significantly enhanced antitumor immunity. Moreover, Apt-NP-FEXO further improved antitumor efficacy vs. Apt-NP in vivo. The results suggest that Apt-NP-FEXO represents a novel strategy to improve ICB outcome and may have application potential in cancer immunotherapy.

Critical Approaches on the Changes Taking Place after 24/2014/EU in BIM Adoption Process

In 2014, the European Union introduced the so-called BIM at the attention of the Member States with the European Directive 24/2014/EU to spread this method throughout Europe. Alongside the generally recurrent motivations (education, maturity in the construction sector, technical approaches) to understand the causes of the laborious and not yet wide diffusion of BIM in Europe, this work introduces an original way that still appears not explored well enough in the current research scenario: the analysis of the correctness of the technical terms used in the native text of the ED and the translated texts in the national languages. The goal is to demonstrate that incorrect technical terms can be misunderstood and interpreted, and they move away from the specific and original contents of Charles Eastman’s method. The misunderstanding of the real technical content of the legal obligation has conditioned the clarity, speed and effectiveness of the diffusion of BIM. It is necessary to include the acronym BIM in legal texts instead of the current generic expression “building information electronic modelling”. The strength of the article is to recover clarity with the original indication and definition of BIM and the limit is that, in general, all laws can be interpreted.

Exploring nonlinear degradation benefit of bio-inspired oscillator for engineering applications

Nonlinear structure design is an indispensable link in the development of vibration isolation, energy harvesting and fault diagnosis technologies. It is also one of the most effective technical means to improve the performance of structures in engineering applications. In this study, a bio-inspired nonlinear oscillator is proposed and the benefits of nonlinear degradation in engineering applications are explored. First, the degradation bistable oscillator and high-order quasi-zero stiffness oscillator can be obtained after the degradation of the bio-inspired nonlinear oscillator. Through the amplitude-frequency analysis, it is found that the nonlinear degradation can reduce the unstable solution in the ultra-low frequency region and reduce the resonant frequency of the bio-inspired nonlinear oscillator. Therefore, the degeneration nonlinear oscillator can realize the large-amplitude inter-well motion at ultra-low frequency or low random excitation intensity. Secondly, the theory and method of vibration isolation and energy harvesting based on the nonlinear degradation mechanism are proposed, and the vibration isolation and energy harvesting performance of the oscillator under harmonic and stochastic excitations are analyzed. Finally, the use of the stochastic resonance of the degeneration bistable oscillator can greatly improve the signal-to-noise ratio, enhance the weak fault signal, and realize early fault diagnosis. The related results help to deepen the understanding of nonlinear degenerate systems and provide new technical approaches for engineering applications.

Companion animal organoid technology to advance veterinary regenerative medicine.

First year medical and veterinary students are made very aware that drugs can have very different effects in various species or even in breeds of one specific species. On the other hand, the "One Medicine" concept implies that therapeutic and technical approaches are exchangeable between man and animals. These opposing views on the (dis)similarities between human and veterinary medicine are magnified in regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine promises to stimulate the body's own regenerative capacity via activation of stem cells and/or the application of instructive biomaterials. Although the potential is enormous, so are the hurdles that need to be overcome before large scale clinical implementation is realistic. It is in the advancement of regenerative medicine that veterinary regenerative medicine can play an instrumental and crucial role. This review describes the discovery of (adult) stem cells in domesticated animals, mainly cats and dogs. The promise of cell-mediated regenerative veterinary medicine is compared to the actual achievements, and this will lead to a set of unanswered questions (controversies, research gaps, potential developments in relation to fundamental, pre-clinical, and clinical research). For veterinary regenerative medicine to have impact, either for human medicine and/or for domesticated animals, answering these questions is pivotal.

Development and Application of an Optogenetic Manipulation System to Suppress Actomyosin Activity in Ciona Epidermis.

Studying the generation of biomechanical force and how this force drives cell and tissue morphogenesis is challenging for understanding the mechanical mechanisms underlying embryogenesis. Actomyosin has been demonstrated to be the main source of intracellular force generation that drives membrane and cell contractility, thus playing a vital role in multi-organ formation in ascidian Ciona embryogenesis. However, manipulation of actomyosin at the subcellular level is impossible in Ciona because of the lack of technical tools and approaches. In this study, we designed and developed a myosin light chain phosphatase fused with a light-oxygen-voltage flavoprotein from Botrytis cinerea (MLCP-BcLOV4) as an optogenetics tool to control actomyosin contractility activity in the Ciona larva epidermis. We first validated the light-dependent membrane localization and regulatory efficiency on mechanical forces of the MLCP-BcLOV4 system as well as the optimum light intensity that activated the system in HeLa cells. Then, we applied the optimized MLCP-BcLOV4 system in Ciona larval epidermal cells to realize the regulation of membrane elongation at the subcellular level. Moreover, we successfully applied this system on the process of apical contraction during atrial siphon invagination in Ciona larvae. Our results showed that the activity of phosphorylated myosin on the apical surface of atrial siphon primordium cells was suppressed and apical contractility was disrupted, resulting in the failure of the invagination process. Thus, we established an effective technique and system that provide a powerful approach in the study of the biomechanical mechanisms driving morphogenesis in marine organisms.

An Efficient Channel Imbalance Estimation Method Based on Subadditivity of Linear Normed Space of Sub-Band Spectrum for Azimuth Multichannel SAR

Azimuth multichannel (AMC) technology is one of the mainstream technical approaches to realize high-resolution wide-swath (HRWS) imaging. It has been successfully applied to several synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites in orbit. However, the inevitable imbalance between channels can seriously affect the azimuth reconstruction spectrum, introducing ghost targets into the final imaging results and degrading the SAR image quality. In order to address this issue, this paper proposes a channel imbalance estimation method based on minimizing the sum of the sub-band norm (MSSBN) for the reconstructed azimuth spectrum. First, the amplitude imbalance is calibrated in the range-Doppler domain. Then, the echo in each channel with phase imbalances is reconstructed by filters separately and converted to the range-Doppler domain. Finally, the global optimization algorithm is used to find the phase error of each channel so that the reconstructed postcompensation spectrum has the smallest sub-band spectrum norm sum. By two-dimensional blocking, this method can also estimate the space-varying phase imbalance in the range dimension and the time-varying phase imbalance in the azimuth dimension. Experimental results using simulated and actual AMC SAR data from the GF-3 system validate the proposed algorithm’s high estimation accuracy and excellent computational efficiency.

Remediation Process in Landfill in Arctic Region - A Case of Circular Economy

The Arctic region is a vast and inhospitable environment that presents significant challenges for waste management. Spanning 27 million Sq. km and shared by eight nations, the region has limited infrastructure and only 11% of waste has been treated properly. The high cost of waste removal in the Arctic, due to logistical and technological constraints, makes the challenge of safe waste management even greater insisting on the need for elaborate research in extracting such resources. Concerning those, this study was conducted to fill this gap by investigating the feasibility of extracting secondary resources from two specific sites: an MSW landfill in Dudinka, Russia and an industrial waste deposition site located in the permafrost zone in the Krasnoyarsk region. The research will evaluate the environmental and ecosystem impacts of these landfills and examine various technical and economic approaches for reclaiming resources from them. The findings of this study will provide valuable insights into the viability of extracting secondary resources from waste in the Arctic and inform future waste management strategies in the region. By applying the principles of the circular economy, that identifies that the best approach for addressing the waste management problem in Dudinka is the creation of an eco-industrial park for deep processing and manufacturing of products from secondary resources reducing the environmental impact of waste disposal and promote sustainable resource utilization in the permafrost regions.

Digital Medieval Studies: Practice and Preservation ed. by Laura K. Morreale and Sean Gilsdorf

Reviewed by: Digital Medieval Studies: Practice and Preservation ed. by Laura K. Morreale and Sean Gilsdorf Paul Evans Digital Medieval Studies: Practice and Preservation. By Laura K. Morreale and Sean Gilsdorf, eds. Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2022. Digital Medieval Studies is a short, 121-page, edited collection that makes an argument for using a specific methodology, known as the digital documentation process (DDP), to document digital scholarly projects in medieval studies. Although it is now common for medievalists to preserve public GitHub repositories associated with their digital projects, DDP is a more structured approach aimed at documenting projects narratively in a form accessible to scholars who are not versed in digital methodologies, including those who are involved in hiring and tenure decisions. Medievalists who have done at least some digital work are the book's intended audience, and its primary agenda is to encourage them to preserve their projects in what, the contributors hope, will become a comprehensive, persistent, corpus of digital medieval scholarship. Except for an introduction by editors Laura K. Morreale and Sean Gilsdorf and a concluding retrospective by Lisa Fagin Davis, the contributed chapters focus on projects that have been archived according to DDP. Although the chapter authors do not go out of their way to foreground the process, their individual articles form an expanded commentary on each project's archiving dossier narrative (ADN), the historical component of DDP. Readers interested in archiving their own projects according to DDP will benefit from consulting the project information in the appendix to connect the content of the essays with the corresponding digital artifacts. In the book's five contributed chapters, the editors offer a commendable range of perspectives, spanning public humanities, research, teaching, and technical approaches. In chapter 1, Deborah Everhart and Martin Irvine narrate the history of the Labyrinth, a 1990s-era portal that collected and presented a curated set of links to resources for medieval studies. The authors take justifiable pride in this early project, which established medieval studies as a first mover in using the web as a vehicle for scholarly communication and for what today is called public humanities. They note, however, that the demise of the Labyrinth project offers a cautionary lesson on the vulnerability of still-valuable [End Page 147] project information to the vagaries of platform evolution. Today there are only two existing archives of the Labyrinth contents: the original hand-edited HTML from 2007 and an Adobe ColdFusion format from 2014. ColdFusion was a web platform that enjoyed some vogue among university IT departments until about 2010 but is rarely used now. This means that the 2014 archive is effectively unrecoverable for most users. In chapter 2, John McEwan describes the digital sigillography project (DIGISIG), which makes the standard print references, upon which the subdiscipline of sigillography has long depended, available in an online form. In doing so, DIGISIG shows these references to be more than the sum of their parts because it invites both extensive cross-referencing and sophisticated hierarchical classification schemes. McEwan also indirectly highlights a more general problem: that of recording, organizing, and searching for information not easily represented in standard character formats such as Unicode text. In this respect sigillography has much in common with the only partially solved problem of digital paleography. In chapter 3, Rowan Doran presents a clear narrative of the life-cycle of the Corpus Synodalium project and highlights the importance of a good set of explicit fundamental decisions in guiding digital humanities projects—noting, in this case, that the project should be "designed for permanence" and "driven by research questions'' (55) and should not "replicate the existing unevenness in availability of sources" (56). In the case of the Corpus Synodalium project, design for permanence entailed a clear separation between format and platform commitments: plain-text data and comma-separated metadata, on the one hand; the ARTFL Project's PhilLogic4 on the other. (Doran's contention that capturing information in the simplest formats possible, such as .txt and .csv, is a key to long-term project data survivability is also a theme of Davis's closing chapter.) Doran is forthright in acknowledging that his project enjoyed an unusual level of institutional support, so...

Computed diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with transient neurovascular symptoms with and without ischemic infarction

PurposeDetection of ischemic lesions in patients with transient neurovascular symptoms is relevant for the estimation of the risk of a subsequent stroke and etiological classification. To improve detection rates, different technical approaches have been used, such as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with high b-values or higher magnetic field strength. Here, we sought to investigate the value of computed DWI (cDWI) with high b-values in these patients. MethodsFrom an MRI report database we identified patients with transient neurovascular symptoms who underwent repeated MRI including DWI. cDWI was calculated with a monoexponential model with high b-values (2000, 3000, and 4000 s/mm2) and compared to the routinely used standard DWI with regard to presence of ischemic lesions and lesion detectability. ResultOverall 33 patients with transient neurovascular symptoms (71 [IQR 57–83.5] years; 21 [63.6%] male) were included. On DWI, acute ischemic lesions were observed in 22 (78.6%). Acute ischemic lesions were observed in 17 (51.5%) patients on initial DWI, and in 26 (78.8%) patients on follow-up DWI. Lesion detectability was rated significantly better on cDWI at 2000s/mm2 compared to standard DWI. In 2 (9.1%) patients, cDWI at 2000s/mm2 revealed an acute ischemic lesion proven on follow-up standard DWI which was not detected with certainty on the initial standard DWI. ConclusioncDWI might be a valuable addition to routinely acquired standard DWI in patients with transient neurovascular symptoms since its use might result in improved ischemic lesion detection. A b-value of 2000s/mm2 seems most promising for clinical practice.

INTEGRAL METHODS FOR CONTROL OF COMPLEX PROCESSES IN NPP COOLING SYSTEMS

The relevance of the study is to ensure the reliable operation of NPP recirculating cooling water systems (RCWS) and select the method for discharge water conditioning. The purpose of the study is to provide scientific and technical substantiation of conditions that will effectively provide and improve the reliable and efficient long-term operation of NPP RCWS equipment. The study included analysis of main factors that influence the efficient and reliable performance of heat exchangers, and of modern scientific and technical approaches to study water-chemical regimes (WCR) of operating RCWS systems for preventing depositions of sparingly soluble salts and corrosion of power equipment, to study thermal-hydraulic regimes (THR) in RCWS WCR laboratory simulation, and to study the deposition rates on heat exchange surfaces (HES). The improvements refer to gas chromatography technique to control the content of oil product in water; the process flow diagram for the floor drain radioactive water treatment; methods of discrete control over RCWS operational efficiency with monitoring THR and WCR indicators, and deposition rates during laboratory studies and industrial tests. The obtained results make it possible to carry out a scientific and technical substantiation of the conditions for effective implementation of RCWS structural reconfigurations in order to increase the installed capacity factor (ICF) and for economical use of water during the variable loads on individual power units of large power facilities, considering their installed capacity, service life, and heat exchange equipment condition due to the use of separate RCWS with individual THR, WCR, and established individual standards for the amount of blowdown water and its possible reuse as makeup water for power units.

Теоретические аспекты принципов расчета струйных насосных станций и пути их совершенствования

The article presents analysis of the jet pump designs and methods of their improving, as well as technical approaches to their calculation, which is associated with a reasonable choice of an efficient variant, depending on the required accuracy of engineering calculations with optimal hardware support of pumping stations for solving specific oil and gas transportation tasks. According to the analysis results it has been inferred that one of the reasons for delay in application of jet pumping stations for lifting the fluid from the borehole space is the shortage of reliable surface-type pumping power stations, in particular, for driving the jet unit, as well as a compact set of equipment for purification and preliminary preparation of working fluid in the Russian Federation. For this reason, such units are mainly used for influencing the bottom-hole area, where the long-term permanent operation of jet pumping stations is not important, the mobile field pumping stations being possible as power plants.