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As an important branch of computed tomography (CT), industrial CT is used widely in many fields, such as aerospace, military industry, and geological analysis fields, because of its advantages of high resolution, repeatability, and wide detection range. On the basis of thorough investigation and study, this paper summarizes three typical industrial CT technologies (i.e., seismic wave CT, resistivity CT, and electromagnetic wave CT) as well as the comprehensive geophysical exploration methods used in the geosciences. The current applications of industrial CT in pore structure studies, gas hydrate studies, digital core construction, and geological utilization and storage of carbon dioxide are introduced. The development trend of industrial CT in the geosciences is also discussed.

Rock and mineral samples contain a large amount of high-density metal substances, which often lead to metal artifacts in CT images and seriously affect the parameters analysis accuracy of rock and mineral samples. In order to improve the quality of CT images and suppress metal artifacts, in this paper we propose a dual-domain adaptive network-based metal artifact reduction algorithm for CT images of rock samples (DDA-CNN-MAR). The metal artifacts are suppressed by the projection domain network and the image domain network successively, and the dual domain processing results are adaptively fused to realize the end-to-end mapping from images with artifacts to artifact-free images. The algorithm is based on the residual encoder-decoder network model (RED-CNN), which is easy to extract features and restore image details. The dual-domain structure can adaptively adjust the weights of the projection domain (artifact suppression) and image domain (detail inpainting) to obtain optimal reduction results. The experimental results show that, compared with the RED-CNN metal artifact denoising method in the image domain, the MSE of the image corrected by the DDA-CNN-MAR method is reduced by 2.570, while the PSNR and SSIM are increased by 1.218 dB and 0.018 respectively, which effectively improves the CT image quality.

Narimalaheinan copper deposit is located in the east section of East Kunlun. Its ore forming belt belongs to Qimantage Dulan Variscan polymetallic metallogenic belt. The study of its tectonic activity provides scientific data for subsequent mineral exploration and the preservation and change of the deposit. Apatite fission track chronology method was used to explore the thermal chronological constraints of tectonic activities in different stages in the area, and the uplift rate and amount were quantitatively calculated. The ages of six apatite samples obtained in this study were (64±4), (59±3), (54±4), (57±4), (51±4), (57±4) Ma, P(χ2)＞5%, indicating a single thermal event reaction. The age of apatite samples is positively correlated with the elevation, indicating that the study area is uplifted as a whole by tectonic activities. The fission track length of apatite sample is (106±19)(123±17) μm. The track length is large, and the sample age value has a positive correlation with the track length, indicating that the older samples have a shorter residence time in the return zone and are less affected by later thermal events. The cooling curve simulation results show that the study area has experienced three stages of evolution: rapid uplift, stable uplift and rapid uplift, and the corresponding uplift amounts are 1 429, 285 and 1 571 m respectively. The thermal history in the area was simulated by HeFTy software, the results show that the thermal evolution in the region is divided into three stages. In the first stage (8065 Ma), the uplift rate is 0095 mm/a and the uplift amount is 1 429 m. There is a rapid uplift event, which records the beginning of the closure of the Yarlung Zangbo ocean and the beginning of the collision between India and Asia. In the second stage (6515 Ma) the uplift rate is 0006 mm/a and the uplift volume is 285 m, which occurrs slow uplift and records the collision event between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. In the third stage (15 Ma to now), the uplift rate is 0105 mm/a and the uplift volume is 1 571 m, which records the post collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate, resulting in the rapid uplift of the study area at 15 Ma.

Nanofluidics is the study on the behavior of fluid flow in a nanoscale-confined channel with at least one characteristic dimension smaller than 100 nm. Nanofluidics can exhibit unique physical phenomena such as ultrafast water transport, surface charges control ion transport that cannot be observed at microscales or in bulk structures. A significant growth of attention in nanofluidics was achieved due to the representative phenomena and effects, which make them potentially useful in osmosis energy generation, nanofluidic diodes or transistors, desalination, biology, and other applications. In the past few years, the fabricating nanofluidic channels is burgeoning throughout the globe and can be widely used for energy conversion due to the rapid advancement of micro- and nanotechnology. This review mainly focused on the research progress of the nanofabrication methods of nanofluidic channels, including nanolithography, microelectromechanical system(MEMS) based techniques, nanofluidic channels based on nanomaterials, and other natural nanofluidic materials. The preparation methods including electron beam lithography, focused ion beam lithography, scanning probe lithography, extreme ultraviolet lithography, interference lithography, and sacrificial layer releasing were discussed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of each nanofabrication method were pointed out. Following that, the recent application progress of nanofluidics from five aspects was summarized: in salt differenatial energy conversion, responsive ionic gate, sensors of ion detection, sensing of single molecules, and water desalination. Finally, the current challenges were discussed, and the fantastic opportunities and perspectives in the fabrication of nanofluidic channels were prospected, such as high cost, reliability and stability need to beimproved, etc.

Abstract Background Lumbar interbody fusion(LIF) is the leading way to treat Lumbar Degenerative Diseases(LDD). At present, there is a lack of research on the influencing factors of hidden blood loss in minimally invasive hybrid lumbar interbody fusion. This study comprehensively explores the definite factors affecting the hidden blood loss in minimally invasive hybrid lumbar interbody fusion. Materials and methods One hundred patients with Lumbar degenerative diseases who underwent minimally invasive hybrid lumbar interbody fusion in our center were included. Demographics, laboratory data, surgical data, and radiographic data were collected. The Gross equation and Sehat equation were used to calculate the estimated value of hidden blood loss. Multi-factor linear regression analysis was used to determine the influencing factors of hidden blood loss. Result We reviewed and collected 100 patients who underwent minimally invasive hybrid approach, mean age 65 ± 10 years, male: female 37:63; 17 patients of diabetes and 83 patients of non-diabetes; Total blood loss was 645.59 ± 376.37 ml, hidden blood loss was 421.39 ± 337.45 ml, the hidden blood loss percentage was 57 ± 26%. Results from the multi-factorial linear regression model: Diabetes (p

Abstract Background In the treatment of peripheral early-staged lung cancer and benign lesions, segmentectomy and wedge resection are both reliable treatment methods. It is debatable that how much pulmonary function will be lost after different sublobar resection in the treatment of early-staged deep-located peripheral NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer). The purpose of this study was to explore postoperative pulmonary function changes of sublobar resection in enrolled patients with non-subpleural peripheral nodules. Methods We collected clinical data of patients undergoing VATS (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery) segmentectomy or wedge resection for single nodule. These nodules were confirmed as peripheral non-subpleural nodules by preoperative 3D imaging. Patients were divided into two groups according to the operation procedure. Demographic characteristics, pulmonary function, postoperative outcomes, and others were collected. All data was gathered at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. Outcomes after wedge resection were compared with those after segmentectomy resection. Results A total of 88 patients were included in this study, including 46 patients with VATS wedge resection and 42 patients with VATS segmentectomy. No difference was detected when comparing FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 s) loss between these two groups (17.6 ± 2.1%, wedge resection vs. 19.4 ± 5.4%, segmentectomy, P = 0.176). FVC (forced vital capacity) loss (8.7 ± 2.3%, wedge resection vs. 17.1 ± 2.2%, segmentectomy, P

The complex structure of Neogene mudstone plays an important role in geological disasters. A close relationship exists between the mechanisms of mudstone landslides and the disintegration characteristics of rocks. Therefore, understanding the disintegration characteristics of Neogene mudstone at different depths is crucial for enhancing engineering safety and assessing landslide stability. This study employed Neogene mudstone from different depths to perform disintegration and plastic limit experiments and revealed the sliding mechanisms of landslides involving Neogene mudstone, providing theoretical support for mitigating mudstone geological disasters. Our results demonstrate that Neogene mudstone from different depths experiences varied stress conditions and pore water pressure due to geological actions, significantly affecting the disintegration characteristics. By ignoring the factors of the slip surface, the slake durability index of mudstone decreases with increasing burial depth, while the plasticity limit index tends to rise. The influence of groundwater, geo-stress, and pore structure on Neogene mudstones at different depths results in overall weak stability and disintegration. Landslide occurrences are likely connected to the mechanical properties of mudstones at the slip surface, where a low slake durability index and higher plasticity index make the mudstones prone to fracturing, breaking, and disintegrating once in contact with water.

To discern the indiscernibles is the main purpose of Danto’s philosophy of art. Influenced by analytical philosophy, Zen Buddhism, and symbolism, three ways of discernment can be identified in Danto’s text: the external discernment, the internal discernment, and the middle discernment, which, roughly speaking, mean a discernment by means of examining the object, self-reflection or enlightenment, and the relation between experience and expression, in Danto’s terms, the aboutness and embodiment, respectively. However, neither analytic philosophy and its external discernment nor Zen and its internal discernment can distinguish the indiscernible indeed, only symbolism and its middle discernment have the potential to do so. Unfortunately, Danto was so indulged in analytical philosophy and Zen that he could not see this promise from symbolism.

Abstract There is a potential correlation between G-protein-coupled receptor-associated sorting protein 1 (GASP1) and breast tumorigenesis. However, its biological function and underlying molecular mechanism in breast cancer have not been clearly delineated. Here, we demonstrated that GASP1 was highly expressed in breast cancers, and patients harboring altered GASP1 showed a worse prognosis than those with wild-type GASP1. Functional studies showed that GASP1 knockout significantly suppressed malignant properties of breast cancer cells, such as inhibition of cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion and xenograft tumor growth in nude mice as well as induction of G1-phase cell cycle arrest, and vice versa. Mechanistically, GASP1 inhibited proteasomal degradation of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) by competitively binding to IGF1R with ubiquitin E3 ligase MDM2, thereby activating its downstream signaling pathways such as NF-κB, PI3K/AKT, and MAPK/ERK pathways given their critical roles in breast tumorigenesis and progression. IGF1, in turn, stimulated GASP1 expression by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway, forming a vicious cycle propelling the malignant progression of breast cancer. Besides, we found that GASP1 knockout obviously improved the response of breast cancer cells to paclitaxel. Collectively, this study demonstrates that GASP1 enhances malignant behaviors of breast cancer cells and decreases their cellular response to paclitaxel by interacting with and stabilizing IGF1R, and suggests that it may serve as a valuable prognostic factor and potential therapeutic target in breast cancer.