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In recent years, compressive sensing has been one promising technique for denoising images. This paper presents a new denoising model based on blocking sparsity. First, an image is blocked. Second, the split-Bregman method is used to solve for each block image. Finally, all denoised block images are combined into one image. Compared with the latest HTV, GHNS, FastATV, CSR and BM3D models, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is efficient, and has better denoising capability.

In this paper, a novel guide robot for blind people based on an elastic rope and a force sensor is proposed, which overcomes the shortcomings of the existing guide robot which uses rigid stick to pull the blind people and brings uncomfortable guiding experience. The robot has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, light weight, foldability and portability. While walking, blind people can adjust the speed of the robot at any time to match his own speed, which can play a reliable and safe following effect. Experiments are carried out in an office and a larger factory. The results show that the feedback force and speed are always kept in a small and stable range during the process of the robot pulling the blind people, so the user experience is good. And blind people can be safely and reliably brought to the target location.

BackgroundMicrovascular insufficiency plays an important role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), therapeutic angiogenesis has been mainly used for the treatment of ischemic diseases. This study sought to verify the preclinical performance of SonoVue microbubbles (MB) combined ultrasound (US) treatment on myocardial angiogenesis in the rat model of DCM and investigate the optimal ultrasonic parameters.MethodsThe male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were induced DCM by streptozotocin through intraperitoneal injecting and fed with high-fat diet. After the DCM model was established, the rats were divided into the normal group, DCM model group, and US + MB group, while the US + MB group was divided into four subsets according to different pulse lengths (PL) (8 cycles;18 cycle;26 cycle; 36 cycle). After all interventions, all rats underwent conventional echocardiography to examine the cardiac function. The rats were sacrificed and myocardial tissue was examined by histology and morphometry evaluations to detect the myocardial protective effect of SonoVue MBs using US techniques.ResultsFrom morphologic observation and echocardiography, the DCM rats had a series of structural abnormalities of cardiac myocardium compared to the normal rats. The US-MB groups exerted cardioprotective effect in DCM rats, improved reparative neovascularization and increased cardiac perfusion, while the 26 cycle group showed significant therapeutic effects on the cardiac functions in DCM rats.ConclusionThis strategy using SonoVue MB and US can improve the efficacy of angiogenesis, even reverse the progress of cardiac dysfunction and pathological abnormalities, especially using the 26 cycle parameters. Under further study, this combined strategy might provide a novel approach for early intervention of DCM in diabetic patients.

In this paper, we updated an inspection robot with passive adaptation ability, which is used to detect small size water supply pipeline. By geometric calculation and kinematic verification, static model of the robot is checked for flexible movement in the pipeline. Besides, inertial measurement unit is leveraged to simultaneously detect the attitude of robot, and different algorithm is tested to compensate the camera image rotation, stabilizing the image output.

At present, the deep reinforcement learning method has become one of the important branches in the field of artificial intelligence. Its model-free feature makes it considered as one of the ways to achieve the goal of strong artificial intelligence. In addition to discrete decision-making tasks, deep reinforcement learning has been gradually applied to continuous control tasks. Nevertheless, compared with classical control strategies and methods, the instability of deep reinforcement learning limits its extensive application in real scenarios. The instability of reinforcement learning mainly comes from two aspects: the first is the inherent discontinuity of reinforcement learning action strategies; the second is the randomness of reinforcement learning action strategies. This paper will discuss theoretical reasons of this instability and evaluate the instability of the current mainstream reinforcement learning algorithms by time-frequency analysis. Finally, we give an improved framework based on stochastic differential equation, and theoretically solve the inherent discontinuity of reinforcement learning action strategy.

Modern Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) or Shield Machine is a large-scale intelligent tunnel engineering equipment which highly integrates machinery, electricity, fluid, control and information technology. During the tunnel construction, the cutting tools assembled onto the cutter head need to be replaced frequently due to the wear by rocks in complex geological conditions. At present, the shield machine adopts the manual tool changing method with the problems such as long period, huge cost and dangerous working environment, therefore, the operators bear great labor strength and safety risks. The replacement of cutting tools with economical, reasonable and safe solution is an important direction in tunnel construction technology. One approach is to use robot and automation technology instead of manual tool changing. This paper focuses onto this problem, introduces the academic and application situation of cutter changing robots for shield machine from both domestic and foreign researches. And then, this paper analyzes / summaries the technical principle, application scope, advantages and disadvantages of various type of cutter changing robots, and presents the prospect of cutter changing robotic technology for shield machine in China.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, To evaluate the prognostic value of the baseline SUVmax of 18F-FDG PET-CT in extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) patients. From January 2010 to December 2015, 141 extranodal NKTCL patients with staging 18F-FDG PET-CT scan were divided into two group based on SUVmax cutoff value obtained from operating characteristic (ROC) curves. All the patients received radiotherapy, chemotherapy or chemoradiation. Survival analysis was performed on the basis of SUVmax. The median baseline SUVmax of the tumors was 11.67 (range 2.6–34.6). The ROC curves showed that the optimal cutoff of the baseline SUVmax was 9.65. The patients were divided into two groups: low SUV group (SUVmax .05). These results were consistent with that of the survival analyses using the Kaplan–Meier method. The multivariate survival analyses showed that the baseline SUVmax was no longer a prognostic factor for OS (HR 1.99, 95% CI 0.81–4.88, P = .135), but it still indicated worse PFS (HR 2.6, 95% CI 1.24–5.46, P = .012) and DRFS (HR 4.58, 95% CI 1.83–11.46, P = .001) independent of other variables. For extranodal NKTCL patients, a higher baseline SUVmax of 18F-FDG PET-CT was associated with more aggressive clinical features. An SUVmax ≥ 9.65 was an independent poor prognostic factor for DRFS and PFS. Thus, the baseline SUVmax may be a valuable tool to help identify patients with a high risk of disease progression.

Heavy metal pollution has seriously disrupted eco-balance and transformed estuaries into sewage depots. Quanzhou bay is a typical heavy metal-contaminated estuary, in which Spartina alterniflora has widely invaded. Plant-associated microbial communities are crucial for biogeochemical cycles, studies of which would be helpful to demonstrate the invasion mechanisms of plants. Meanwhile, they are indispensable to phytoremediation by enhancing the heavy metal tolerance of plants, facilitating heavy metal absorption rate and promoting growth of plants. In the present study, S. alterniflora-associated rhizo- and endobacterial communities from 3 experimental sites were investigated by 454-pyrosequencing. Heavy metal screening generated 16 culturable isolates, further biochemical assays suggested these clones possess various abilities such as phosphate solubilization, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase production to accelerate heavy metal uptake and growth of the host. This study revealed the bacterial community structures and characterized the predominant resident bacterial strains of S. alterniflora-associated rhizo- and endobacteria under heavy metal stress, and isolated several bacterial species with potential ecological function.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has become worldwide pandemic and posed a serious public health risk. It was proved that lung ultrasound (LUS) can be extremely valuable in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, which could also minimize number of exposed healthcare workers and equipment. Since in the department of ultrasound, the healthcare workers are close contacted with patients who might be infected or virus carrying, it is extremely important to offer sufficient protection of them. Too aggressive protection should also be avoided because all the hospital might encounter lack of protection equipment. Guidance about the proper protection management should be provided in detailed, for example, how to choose personal protective equipment, or how to disinfect the environment. To address those problems, on behalf of Chinese Ultrasound Doctors Association, Chinese PLA Professional Committee of Ultrasound in Medicine, Beijing Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and Chinese Research Hospital Association Ultrasound Professional Committee, the authors summarized the recommendations for effective protection according to the exist hygienic standards, their experience, and available literature. After the recommendations were finished, two online conferences were held on January 31st 2020 and February 7th 2020 respectively, and the recommendations were discussed in detail part by part. A modified version of the work was circulated and finally approved by all the authors, which was the present Chinese Experts Consensus on Protection for Ultrasound Healthcare Workers against COVID-19.

In this paper, an ego-motion estimation problem of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle is studied. A nonlinear observer is proposed to simultaneously estimate the depth of the point features and the translational velocity of the quadrotor using visual feedback from an on-board monocular camera. Image moments defined on a rotated image plane are chosen as image features, and a decoupled image feature dynamics is achieved to facilitate the observer design. Based on the image feature dynamics and the dynamic model of the quadrotor, an observer is proposed to estimate the ego-motion of the quadrotor. Only several point features need to be tracked in consecutive acquired images, which makes the observer computationally efficient and robust. The stability of the observer is proved by means of Lyapunov analysis. Finally, computer simulations and experimental tests, including closed loop image-based visual servoing control and comparison with extended-Kalman-filter based observer, are conducted to verify the validity of the observer.

medical service robot, human-robot interaction, COVID-19, sensor fusion The cabin hospitals used for COVID-19 victims have an infectious environment and thus require highly autonomous systems to provide various services. This article presents a multirobot architecture designed for cabin hospitals with special focus on the sensors used by service robots. The robots' functions include autonomous disinfection, delivery, cleaning, temperature measurement, physical interaction, and conversation assistance. The robots collaborate with each other by using multiple sensors in large and complicated scenes and evolve together. The robots are controlled by cloud controllers considering a human-centered multi-robot collaboration mechanism. This article presents the details of these robots, including the hardware and software architecture of the robots with sensors, the communication modules, and the cloudbased central controllers. It also presents several applications of the robots and discusses open problems. © 2021 M Y U Scientific Publishing Division. All rights reserved.

Purpose The aim of this paper is to implement direct teaching of industrial manipulators using current sensors. The traditional way to implement teaching is either to use a teaching pedant, which is time consuming, or use force sensors, which increases system cost. To overcome these disadvantages, a novel method is explored in the paper by using current sensors installed at joints as torque observers. Design/methodology/approach The method uses current sensors installed at each joint of a manipulator as torque observers and estimates external forces from differences between joint-driven torque computed based on the values of current sensors and commanded values of motor-driven torque. The joint-driven torque is computed by cancelling out both pre-calibrated gravity and friction resistance (compensation). Also, to make the method robust, the paper presents a strategy to detect unexpected slowly drifts and zero external forces and stop the robot in those situations. Findings Experimental results demonstrated that compensating the joint torques using both pre-calibrated gravity and friction resistance has performance comparable to a force sensor installed on the end effector of a manipulator. It is possible to implement satisfying direct teaching without using force sensors on 7 degree of freedom manipulators with large mass and friction resistance. Originality/value The main contribution of the paper is that the authors cancel out both pre-calibrated gravity and friction resistance to improve the direct teaching using only current sensors; they develop methods to avoid unsafe situations like slow drifts. The method will benefit industrial manipulators, especially those with large mass and friction resistance, to realize flexible and reliable direct teaching.

Purpose This paper aims to propose a novel method to identify the parameters of robotic manipulators using the torque exerted by the robot joint motors (measured by current sensors). Design/methodology/approach Previous studies used additional sensors like force sensor and inertia measurement unit, or additional payload mounted on the end-effector to perform parameter identification. The settings of these previous works were complicated. They could only identify part of the parameters. This paper uses the torque exerted by each joint while performing Fourier periodic excited trajectories. It divides the parameters into a linear part and a non-linear part, and uses linear least square (LLS) parameter estimation and dual-swarm-based particle swarm optimization (DPso) to compute the linear and non-linear parts, respectively. Findings The settings are simpler and can identify the dynamic parameters, the viscous friction coefficients and the Coulomb friction coefficients of two joints at the same time. A SIASUN 7-Axis Flexible Robot is used to experimentally validate the proposal. Comparison between the predicted torque values and ground-truth values of the joints confirms the effectiveness of the method. Originality/value The proposed method identifies two joints at the same time with satisfying precision and high efficiency. The identification errors of joints do not accumulate.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the BRAF V600E mutation and ultrasound features of the thyroid in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Fresh thyroid carcinoma tissue and paracarcinoma tissue were obtained from 34 patients undergoing surgery for PTC. The BRAF V600E mutation was detected by PCR amplification and direct DNA sequencing. The thyroid ultrasound results were compared between patients with and without the BRAF V600E mutation. Eighteen out of 34 cases were identified with the BRAF V600E mutation (52.9%), while 16 cases did not have the BRAF V600E mutation (47.1%). Additionally, no BRAF V600E mutation was detected in paracarcinoma tissue in the 34 cases. The results of ultrasound imaging suggested that there were no significant differences in tumor size, whether the border was clear, or in tumor calcification (presence or absence) between patients with and without BRAF V600E mutation (P>0.05). The BRAF V600E mutation rate was high in patients with PTC. There was no significant correlation between BRAF V600E mutation and thyroid ultrasound features. Thyroid ultrasound features are therefore unable to predict the presence of the BRAF V600E mutation in patients with PTC.

The motion features that accompanied by the alternate walking of the humanoid robot, which include body swing, foot slip, and fear of collision, are important factor limiting the indoor applications. In this manuscript, the humanoid robot NAO is taken as the platform, and the reliable pass through the maze−like indoor region is set as specific goal. Firstly, the specific intersection scene types are summarized, and the walking strategies for different intersection scenarios are discussed. Then, the general algorithm of path correction is developed. And the long straight walking, yaw correction, and L−shape intersection steering experiments are carried out. Furthermore, the corresponding optimization methods are discussed. The proposed strategy realizes a comprehensive technical framework for NAO to perform visual perception and stable walking in an unknown environment, which provide practical reference for efficient indoor navigation.

In this paper, an improved sensorless hybrid controller for constant force control along normal direction is proposed for applications including polishing, milling and deburring. No additional sensors are involved. External joint torques of all joints can be calculated from their electric current, dynamic model and friction model. With the help of dynamically consistent generalized inverse matrix, they can be converted to external force/torque at the end-effector. The underlying force control strategy is the integration of impedance control model and explicit force control. The novel improvement is the real-time prediction algorithm of surface’s shape profile and normal direction without any prior knowledge. So, this force controller has great adaptiveness to arbitrary unknown surfaces. Experiments were performed on a 7 degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) robot to test the controller’s capability and utility on an inclined plane and curved surface. Results prove the credibility of external force estimation. The normal force tracking accuracy is adequate for targeted applications. Real-time prediction is functional as the robot adjusts its orientation accordingly.

Multiparametric MRI fusion with transrectal ultrasound (mpMRI/TRUS)-guided biopsy has the sensitivity of mpMRI with the practicality of TRUS, but males with no cancerous lesion(s) detected on mpMRI have a considerable remaining risk of cancer. Endorectal power Doppler ultrasound improves the sensitivity of grayscale ultrasound-guided biopsies. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the beneficial effect of endorectal power Doppler/grayscale ultrasound-guided biopsy over that of mpMRI/TRUS-guided biopsy for decision-making regarding prostatectomy in males with a high risk of prostate cancer. Data regarding endorectal power Doppler/grayscale ultrasound-guided biopsies and mpMRI/TRUS-guided biopsies of 1,094 males with elevated specific prostate antigen, were included. Radical prostatectomy was performed in males aged

Purpose – This paper aims to present a different cooling method (water cooling) to protect all the mechanical/electrical components for Tokamak in-vessel inspection manipulator. The method is demonstrated effective through high temperature experiment, which provides an economical and robust approach for manipulators to work normally under high temperature. Design/methodology/approach – The design of cooling system uses spiral copper tube structure, which is versatile for all types of key components of manipulator, including motors, encoders, drives and vision systems. Besides, temperature sensors are set at different positions of the manipulator to display temperature data to construct a close-loop feedback control system with cooling components. Findings – The cooling system for the whole inspection manipulator working under high temperature is effective. Using insulation material such as rubber foam as component coating can significantly reduce the environmental heat transferred to cooling system. Originality/value – Compared with nitrogen gas cooling applied in robotic protection design, although it is of less interest in prior research, water cooling method proves to be effective and economical through our high temperature experiment. This paper also presents an energetic analysis method to probe into the global process of water cooling and to evaluate the cooling system.

Objective This in vitro study calculated longitudinal strain (LS) from different ultrasound systems (GE Vivid E9 and Philips IE 33) before and after myocardial infarct (MI) using a vendor-independent analysis software package (TomTec's 4D LV Analysis) to validate the variation of two ultrasound systems. Methods Ten freshly harvested porcine hearts were passively driven by a pulsatile pump apparatus at stroke volumes (SV) 30-70 mL. Full-volume three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) data were acquired before and after MI using two different ultrasound systems. LS was derived from TomTec and validated against sonomicrometry data. Results Linear regression analyses showed excellent correlations between TomTec-calculated LS values and sonomicrometry data for both normal and simulated MI groups (GE: R2 = 0.72/0.68, Philip: R2 = 0.71/0.66). Bland-Altman analyses demonstrated overestimation of echo-derived strain values for all groups. Both ultrasound system-derived strain values demonstrated decreased LS after MI, and the average change in strain after infarct was roughly 30% in GE images and 25% in Philips images. Conclusions Both GE and Philips echocardiographic systems can be analyzed with TomTec's program, and these images correlated well with sonomicrometry with acceptable variations.

This study presents a new Perona–Malik (PM) model which is based on new non-local means (NLM) theory for an image denoising. In the proposed model, the intensity, space position and gradient information are introduced into NLM model, which weakens the staircasing effect and preserves edge in a processed image. The new PM model enhances the denoising capability, and decreases fine characteristics to be over-smoothed. Comparative experiments show that the denoising capability of the proposed model is superior to the other three existing models.

The effect of scanning angle and region of interest (ROI) depth on shear-wave velocity (SWV) was investigated in this study. Shear-wave velocity of ox liver ex vivo was measured with different approaches. Region of interest was set underneath the liver capsule at depths of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm. Three groups of measurements were performed at different scanning angles. One group of measurement was conducted with a scanning angle of 0 to 15 degrees from the midline, and the other 2 groups were performed with scanning angles of 15 to 30 degrees and 30 to 45 degrees. The data on SWV from different scan angles and ROI depths were analyzed statistically. Scanning angle and ROI depth were found to be the 2 factors that affect SWV. Interaction was observed between the scan angle and ROI depth. The data at different depths within 0- to 15-degree scanning angles exhibited no significant difference. However, the reliability of SWV decreased with the increase in ROI depth. In the groups of 15 to 30 degrees and 30 to 45 degrees, a significant difference was found between the 2 different measured depths. Scanning angle and ROI depth affected the reliability of SWV measurement. The scanning angle should be confined within 15 degrees from the midline. Therefore, SWV from shallow ROI is more reliable than that at deep ROI.

Purpose The aim of the study was to explore surgical strategies for effectively treating spine fractures in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and investigate the postoperative outcomes. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 9 patients with AS that was complicated by spine fractures, who underwent surgery at our spine and spinal cord clinic between 2005 and 2012. The surgical methods included posterior instrumentation and bone grafting, with or without decompression. Fracture healing and neurological function recovery were observed postoperatively. The average follow-up period was 45.1 months (range: 24-60). Results The 9 patients included 7 men and 2 women. Eight patients were treated with long posterior fixation. One patient underwent combined long posterior fixation and anterior bone grafting. The neurological function of these patients improved significantly to varying degrees after surgery, and fracture union and segmental instability of the lumbar vertebrae were radiologically confirmed at the 1-month and 2-year follow-up intervals. Severe surgery-related complications were not observed. Conclusions Posterior instrumentation with bone grafting was a satisfying method for treating spine fractures in patients with AS.

In this paper, a comprehensive friction model for collaborative industrial robot joints is proposed which takes into account the velocity, temperature and load torque effects. The model indicates that the velocity and temperature have a strong influence on viscous friction nonlinearly, whereas load torque significantly influences the Coulomb friction linearly and causes a slight Stribeck effect. The friction characteristics were investigated on the collaborative robot joints which are equipped with temperature sensor and harmonic reducer. The proposed model has been verified successfully under wide velocity, temperature and load range. In addition, the permillage of the rated current of the motor is used to scale the value of joint torque, so that the model can be applied in common industrial robot.

Objective: To evaluate whether or not highly active antiretroviral therapy is associated with carotid artery stiffness in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients in Henan Province, China. Method: Fifty human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients with at least a 5-year history of highly active antiretroviral therapy use and 50 human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients without a history of highly active antiretroviral therapy use were enrolled in this study. Carotid artery intima-media thickness and stiffness were determined by quantitative inter-media thickness and quantitative artery stiffness, respectively. Results: No statistically significant difference in carotid artery intima-media thickness and stiffness was observed between groups. A significant association between human immunodeficiency virus infection time and carotid artery stiffness was observed, but no significant association between human immunodeficiency virus infection time and intima-media thickness was found. No significant association between intima-media thickness, stiffness, and CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell counts were observed. Conclusion: The first-line highly active antiretroviral therapy currently used in China is not associated with carotid artery stiffness in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients with good highly active antiretroviral therapy compliance. Human immunodeficiency virus may play a role in the development of atherosclerosis. Keywords: Artery stiffness, AIDS, Ultrasound, HAART

In this study, a new local region-based active contour model in a variational level set formulation for ultrasound image segmentation is proposed. The energy function is formulated based on the local divergence with likelihood ratio. The proposed model can handle blurry boundaries and noise problems. In addition, the regularity of the level set function is intrinsically preserved by the level set regularisation term to ensure accurate computation. The authors only adopt a level set function to define the partition of image domain into two disjoined regions. Experimental results demonstrate desirable performance of the authors’ method for synthetic images with different level noise and ultrasound images with weak boundaries and noise.

The present study used a spinal cord injury (SCI) model to evaluate whether sparstolonin B was able to prevent SCI, and to investigate the underlying signaling mechanism. Sparstolonin B attenuated the SCI‑induced Batto, Beattie and Bresnahan score and water content in rats. Sparstolonin B attenuated the mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)‑18, IL‑6, IL‑1β, and IL‑23, decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor‑α and interferon‑γ, and decreased caspase‑3 activity and apoptosis regulator Bax protein expression in SCI rats. Similarly, sparstolonin B inhibited monocyte chemoattractant protein‑1 mRNA levels, and Toll‑like receptor (TLR) 4, myeloid differentiation primary response protein MyD88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor (NF)‑κB protein levels in SCI rats. The present results suggested that sparstolonin B may attenuate SCI‑induced inflammation and apoptosis in rats by modulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF‑κB signaling pathway.

This paper presents a conceptual design of laser in-frame robot for electron cyber scalpel therapy, and a detailed design of its rotary joint, particularly. This manipulator system is expected to be a tool, which transmits strong pulse laser beams from its base to tip, where the electron beams are stimulated for therapy, also controls and delivers such electron beams for precise treatment. Among all the research issues of radiosurgery robotics the rotary joint, which acts as the driving/guiding part and supporting structure, comes out to be extremely significant. With the novel proposal, the mentioned joint is designed with a big diameter vacuum hollow structure inside, to serve for the transmission channel of laser. Thus, all the driven components are outward distributed. Relative analysis or discussion is given to illuminate design goal, high positional precision, high rigidity and motion stability, low manufacturing cost, simple structure, and easy maintainability, also welcome for laser transmission.

This paper presents an improved force-free control method based on current, which can be applied to industrial articulated robotic arms with large mass and large friction torque for direct teaching. Three kinds of torques that influence direct teaching are analyzed, and thus a calibration method and a compensation model are proposed. The model has been demonstrated effective through experiments. Considering the issue of large inertia, some security strategies are proposed at last and also well testified.

The impact of major lung resections on myocardial function has not been well-investigated. We aimed to identify this impact through the use of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) to evaluate the right and left ventricular myocardial function in patients who underwent lung resections. Thirty patients who had lung resections were recruited for this study. Ten patients who underwent pneumonectomies were matched by age and sex, with 20 patients who underwent lobectomies. STE was performed on both right and left ventricle (RV and LV). Strain values of pre and postlung resections were compared in both the pneumonectomy group and the lobectomy group. Comparison between the pneumonectomy group and the lobectomy group was also studied. Left ventricular ejection fraction remained normal (>55%), but significantly decreased after lung resection in both the pneumonectomy group and the lobectomy group. An accelerated heart rate was observed in both groups after lung resection, with the pneumonectomy group demonstrating extra rapid heart rate (P

Some old state-owned industries in China, such as sugar companies, still remain traditional production lines, which are dirty, dangers, inefficient, and difficult to transform. Technical revolution has become an indispensable approach. This paper introduces some real cases during the revolution, where robotic techniques, equipment and manipulators have taken the place of labors. The paper also discusses the reasons, proposal, and verification of the innovative designs and techniques. All of these efforts will guide the local companies enter a new stage for the preparation of global competition.

The present paper introduces a serial-link robot which is named flexible in-vessel inspection robot (FIVIR) and developed for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The task of the robot is to carry process tools, such as viewing camera and leakage detector, to inspect the components installed inside of EAST vacuum vessel. The FIVIR can help to understand the physical phenomena which could be happened in the vacuum vessel during plasma operation and could be one part of EAST remote handling system if needed. The FIVIR was designed with the consideration of having easy control and a good mechanics property which drives it resulted in function modular design. The workspace simulation and kinematic analysis are given in this paper. The dynamic behavior of the FIVIR is studied by multi-body system simulation using ADAMS software. The study result shows the FIVIR has ascendant kinematic and dynamic performance and can fulfill the design requirement for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel.

This paper is a technical report which discusses a selfdeveloped automatic robot (machine) for glass furnace feeding. It was designed for use in a small-scale glass industry, in which most factories are still feeding small, old fashioned furnaces manually. The huge robot discussed in this paper is intended to substitute for exhausted workers. It was designed with four degrees of freedom and a planar manipulator structure, including X-axis and Y-axis translations, Z-axis rotation, and a belt scrolling motion for feeding the granular glass material into the furnace. The development and implementation of the mechanical and control systems are analyzed, including design considerations, motion using the teaching playback method, and feeding path planning. To ensure system safety and reliability, the necessity and the design of a redundant control systemare presented. Finally, the feeding quantity and quality control are discussed. Unlike other feeding machines, the robot fully utilizes robotic control components and technologies, which is considered another approach to real robotics application.

Objective To detect the longitudinal peak strain in left ventricular (LV) during systolic phase at different time after coronary vein ligation in Bama mini pig. Methods Twelve healthy Bama mini pigs were ligated with great cardiac veins. The images of three long axis sections, including basal state, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes, 150 minutes and 180 minutes after ligation, were measured and collected. Then EchoPAC 201 software was imported for two-dimensional dynamic image analysis to obtain the inner, middle, outer layers and whole layers of left ventricle Systolic longitudinal peak strain (LS). Results During the ligation of coronary vein, there were no significant differences in the parameters of left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, stroke volume between the two groups (P > 0.05). After ligation of coronary vein, the LS of left ventricular three-layer and whole-layer myocardium decreased, but the descending amplitude was different, the descending speed was different with time, and the descending speed of isc 30 and isc180 was faster. Conclusion Layer-specific strain can evaluate left ventricular longitudinal strain in Bama mini pig,and has a value of potential applications in the influence of cardiac vein ligation to left ventricular myocardial function.

Objective To investigate the velocity vector imaging (VVI) technique to evaluate hemodialysis on left ventricular function and application value of longitudinal strain effect of three myocardial layers. Method Echocardiography was performed in 35 cases of uremia patients with high flux hemodialysis, respectively before and after dialysis within 2H. Use VVI software to analyze the two-dimensional images after conventional measurement and image acquisition and obtain 17 segments of left ventricular peak systolic longitudinal strain (LPS) and layered whole layer strain. Results Left atrial diameter (LAD), left ventricular end diastolic and end systolic diameter (LVIDd, LVIDs), and left ventricular diastolic end and end systolic volume (EDV, ESV), stroke volume (SV)were reduced after dialysis(P 0.05).Layered strain parameter: Compared with before dialysis, the peak systolic longitudinal strain (LPS) of left ventricular global layer and inner layer,the global layer, subendocardial layer, middle layer and epicardial layer of the basal segment,the global layer and subendocardial layer of middle segment were lower than before dialysis. The difference was statistically significant (P 0.05).Single hemodialysis has a negative effect on left ventricular function. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the heart function in hemodialysis patients to avoid the occurrence of cardiovascular events during dialysis and after dialysis. Conclusion VVI can be more accurate to evaluate the effect of blood dialysis in uremic patients with left ventricular myocardial regional and global function, and has potential applications in clinical practice.

This paper proposes a biometric-based user authentication protocol for wireless sensor networks (WSN) when a user wants to access data from sensor nodes, since WSN are often deployed in an unattended environment. The protocol employs biometric keys and resists the threats of stolen verifier, of which many are logged-in users with the same login identity, guessing, replay, and impersonation. The protocol uses only Hash function and saves the computational cost, the communication cost, and the energy cost. In addition, the user’s password can be changed freely using the proposed protocol.

Fault diagnosis plays an important role for guaranteeing the efficient and safe operation of the high speed maglev train. This paper studies the fault trees and fault detection technology of the maglev train, analyses the fault types and the effect on system operation, and then studies the fault location technology to the minimal replaceable unit. The fault information management system and fault recovery are discussed at the end.

In more and more robotic applications, it is strongly desired that each actuator provides a wide range of speed, and has more capability to adapt to larger changes of load at the same time. In this paper, we discuss the proposal and development of a novel linear motion mechanism with load sensitive transmission, which consists of certain key components such as rubber rollers and flat springs. The developed mechanical model provides long stroke linear motion and has its ratio changed automatically in response to the continuously variable coaxial pressing load. This compact mechanism has the ability to absorb sudden coaxial load shock and is equipped with overload protection; it stops its advance if the load exceeds a certain value while the motor continues to rotate to keep it from overheating. Having the characteristics of light weight, compact dimensions, large ranges of load and speed, load sensitivity, and long stroke linear motion, it is expected that this mechanism can be used in linear moving robotic application in future.

Chronic heart disease contributes to the mortality of patients with AIDS. Although studies of left ventricular function in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) have been conducted, studies of right ventricular function are rare. The present study aimed to characterize the tricuspid annulus movement and evaluate the right ventricular function of patients with AIDS by tissue Doppler imaging. Tissue Doppler echocardiography was performed on 106 patients with AIDS and 64 controls. Tricuspid annulus movements were detected from the apical four-chamber view and the apical right heart two-chamber view. The peak diastolic early period velocity (Ve), peak diastolic later period velocity (Va) and peak systolic velocity (Vs) were measured at the anterior, posterior and lateral walls and also at the interventricular septum. Mean values were calculated, as well as the Tei index of the lateral site. Compared with the values in the control group, the Vs and Va of the AIDS group decreased at all sites with the exception of the lateral wall, whereas the Ve decreased at all sites of the tricuspid annulus (P

Leg-wheel hybrid mobile vehicle has been regarded as the best combination and many of them have been presented recently because of the high terrain adaptability of legged walking robots on rough ground and the high mobility of wheeled mobile vehicles on flat terrain. We discuss the detailed actualization of safe and stable stair climbing and three-dimensional locomotion for wheelchair - with mainly indoor or ordered terrain environments - in mechanism sensor system and control method based on the developed leg-wheel hybrid mobile vehicle Zero Carrier I in this paper.

A development of stair climbing mobile vehicle to be the base for stair climbing wheelchairs and/or inspection robots is greatly demanded. Several types of the vehicles using crawlers, wheels and legs have been proposed to perform such a stable stair climbing motion. However, conventional vehicles are limited by their mobility, safety, and mechanical size and weight. We propose a new stair climbing leg-wheel hybrid vehicle coined as“Zero Carrier”. The Zero Carrier composed of unified eight prismatic-joint legs, four of which attached active wheels and other four attached passive casters. Proposing Zero Carrier can be designed lightweight and powerful. It can also maintain high stability on stair climbing motion and perform slip-less turning motion. Design of driving mechanisms, sensors, and motion control of the Zero Carrier are then performed and demonstrated its motion by the mechanical model Zero Carrier I.

Telescopic mechanism has lots of merits and is used in devices and equipment long before the appearance of robots. This paper explores the merits of telescopic mechanism and designs a cable-driven multi-stage telescopic arm with only one actuated degree of freedom (DOF) for mobile surveillance robots. We use pulleys and cables as the transmission system and use a DC motor together with harmonic drive as the actuation system. We analyze the integration of pulleys and cables to reduce cost and carry out numerical analysis by simulation and prototyping. The results show that our arm is fast, portable, stable and has low cost. We expect it to be widely employed for camera lifting tasks in mobile surveillance systems without significantly increasing costs. We also expect its general usage as an arm to support various end-effectors.

Focusing on mass transit, this paper points out demand characteristics and processing mode of the active repair for the mass transit system. It introduces the technical support of the active repair, presents basic frame and main function of the rail transit predictive maintenance management system (PMMS), analyzes the general situation of the Chinese market, PMMS's demand situation and the target market for PMMS, carries out competitive advantage analysis for PMMS, and discusses the business model of PMMS. It is expected that this paper could share with the readers in organization management the active repair for mass transit company construction management information system, the market application of PMMS and references.

A maintenance management system is designed and developed to accommodate maglev system's maintenance management in the preliminary stage of construction of the Shanghai Maglev Demonstration Line. With preparations for implementation of the system before the first maglev train is implemented, the commissioning and maintenance of maglev trains are supported during the period of construction. At present, the maintenance management system has been fully used for decades to achieve remarkable results in the maintenance management and material management. This paper introduces diagnosis interface, scheduled maintenance, work order management and performance evaluation in the entire process of scheduled maintenance of maglev trains in order to conduct the key analysis of the system's application in scheduled maintenance management.

Pericardial lipomas are rare and mostly asymptomatic tumors, which are usually detected incidentally during physical examination. The present study describes a case of giant pericardial lipoma that was diagnosed by surgical pathology. The study also describe the X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging, and the distinguish of the pericardial lipomas. The study also describes the ultrasonography, X-ray, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings of the tumor, and a review of the literature of cardiac lipoma, to help increase awareness of the tumor and selection of the correct imaging method for diagnosis.

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common disease and lumbar discectomy is the most common surgical procedure carried out for patients with low back pain and leg symptoms. Although most researchers are focusing on the surgical techniques during operation, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of local intervertebral lavage during microdiscectomy.In this retrospective study, 410 patients were operated on by microdiscectomy for LDH during 2011 to 2014. Retrospectively, 213 of them (group A) accepted local intervertebral irrigation with saline water before wound closure and 197 patients (group B) only had their operative field irrigated with saline water. Systematic records of visual analog scores (VAS), Oswestry disability Index (ODI) questionnaire scale scores, use of analgesia, and hospital length of stay were done after hospitalization.The majority (80.49%) of the cases were diagnosed with lumber herniation at the levels of L4/5 and L5/S1. Fifty-one patients had herniations at 2 levels. There were significant decreases of VAS scores and ODI in both groups between preoperation and postoperation of different time points. VAS scores decreased more in group A than group B at early stage of postoperation follow-up. However, there were no statistically significant differences between 2 groups in using analgesia, VAS and ODI up to 1 month of follow-up.Microdiscectomy for LDH offers a marked improvement in back and radicular pain. Local irrigation of herniated lumber disc area could relief dick herniation-derived low back pain and leg radicular pain at early stage of post-operation. However, the pain relief of this intervention was not noticeable for a long period.

This paper describes the design principle and detailed considerations for a new developed wheel type mobile platform. The vehicle is designed as one of the choices for real practical use such as rescue or public security purpose. The vehicle utilizes eight big wheels and installs them into two side rows. All the wheels are densely cascading assembled and are nearly half overlapping with each other. A new planetary swing wheel structure is utilized in this vehicle, as a result of which, the necessary actuators for 8 active wheels are reduced to four. The planetary swing structure adjusts the relative posture to the vehicle' chassis passively and automatically, according to the coming terrain situation, without using other mechanical swing structures or motion assistant mechanism. Mechanical discussion and analysis, such as the varieties of planetary swing structure, wheel distribution, are given in this paper. Also, in the later part, experimental tests are carried out to exam the traversing effect.