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In this article, the innovation-based linear attack against state estimation in cyber-physical systems is studied. The scenario is considered where a sensor transmits its measurements to a remote estimator via a wireless channel. We propose an attack strategy to worsen the estimation performance of system when a passive detector is adopted. Different from the existing results, the side information is adopted synergistically besides the intercepted data. Meanwhile, the attacker needs to remain stealthy to the false-data detector. We analyze the performance degradation of system under the proposed attack strategy by deriving the remote estimation error covariance recursion. With the stealthiness constraint, the optimal stealthy attack can be obtained by solving a convex optimization problem accordingly. Besides, we provide a specific algorithm to calculate the falsified measurements. Finally, the effectiveness of explored attack strategy is demonstrated via simulation examples.

Tissue ischemia usually leads to necrosis and is a threatening condition associated with reconstructive surgery. Promoting the survival of ischemic tissue is critical for improving clinical outcomes. Although various solutions based on stem cells have been reported, there are still limitations to clinical translation. The aim of this study was to develop an effective method to promote the survival of ischemic tissue. Adipose-derived CD34 + and CD34- cells were obtained by magnetic bead sorting from the stromal vascular faction (SVF). Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) were collected by subculture. The angiogenic capacities of CD34 + cells, CD34- cells and ADSCs were evaluated in vitro by comparing mRNA and protein expression. Random axial flaps in nude mice were used to evaluate the efficacy of these cells in protecting tissue from necrosis. The effect of these cells in preventing inflammation was also evaluated. Our data suggest that CD34 + cells expressed higher levels of angiogenetic factors and lower levels of inflammatory factors than the other cell types. More vessel branches were formed when human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with conditioned medium from CD34 + cells than conditioned medium from the other cell types. Compared to ADSCs, CD34 + cells showed significantly higher efficacy in promoting tissue survival. More CD31 + cells and higher levels of angiogenic factors were observed in tissues from the CD34 + group than in those from the other groups. Lower levels of the proinflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1b and higher levels of anti-inflammatory factors were found in the CD34 + group than in the other groups. Adipose-derived CD34 + cells showed better efficacy in improving ischemic tissue survival than ADSCs by reducing tissue inflammation and promoting angiogenesis. CD34 + cells can be obtained easily and may be suitable for clinical applications.

Objective Lumbar spondylolisthesis (LS) is a common lumbar disease, and the prevalence of LS in different countries or regions was not consistent in the past. This study intends to make statistics on the prevalence of lumbar spondylolisthesis in middle‐aged people in Beijing community. Methods This is an epidemiological study. 4548 people in Beijing community aged 50 to 64 years were recruited from the local communities by advertisements placed in housing estates and community centres for people to take part in a prospective cohort study from August from September 2013 to March 2014. There is no intervention on the subjects. RadiAnt DICOM Viewer is adopted to read the lateral CT positioning images of all the studied objects, adjust the image as bone window, observe and evaluate the slide of L1 to L5 vertebra in the lateral CT positioning image. Results Among the 4,548 subjects included in the study, 2,490 (54.75%) were male and 2,058 (45.25%) were female. A total of 785 subjects had lumbar spondylolisthesis, with a total incidence of 17.26%. There was no significant difference between prevalence of males and females in the subgroup 50‐54 years old (13.55% males / 12.53% females) and 55‐59 years old (14.77% males / 14.93% females). But the prevalence of LS in 60‐64 years old females (28.57%) increased significantly, compared with 55‐59 years old females (14.93%) and 60‐64 years old males (18.76%). There were 847 levels that had slipped, L5S1 > L4/5 > L3/4 > L2/3 > L1/2. The retrolisthesis was the most, accounting for 61.51% (521/847), and the anterolisthesis was 38.49% (326/847), including anterolisthesis gradeI for 95.71% (312/326), anterolisthesis gradeII for 4.29% (14/326). Neither of anterolisthesis and retrolisthesis presented more than grade III. Among all the subjects, 318 had anterolisthesis, with a total incidence of 6.99%, and 467 subjects only had retrolisthesis. Conclusion The total prevalence of LS in the middle‐aged people in Beijing community was 17.26%, 15.98% in males and 18.80% in females, and women are more likely to suffer from LS after 60 years old., This study analyzed the prevalence of lumbar spondylolisthesis (LS) in middle‐aged people in the Beijing community, compared the result with previous studies, and summarized the characteristics of LS in middle‐aged and elderly people.

This paper considers the event-triggered consensus problem for multi-agent systems (MASs) under intermittently random denial-of-service (IRDoS) attacks. The IRDoS attack compromises communication networks when the attacker is at active periods. Then, the distributed event-triggered controller is designed to achieve the consensus objective, and each agent’s communications towards neighbors are interrupted by the IRDoS attack with a certain probability when the triggered instants are at active periods of attackers. Furthermore, the sufficient conditions on the attack duration and successful probability, under which the designed control protocol guarantees secure consensus of MASs, are proposed. Finally, the effectiveness of the distributed event-triggered controller under a class of IRDoS attack is illustrated with a numerical example.

According to a recent epidemiological survey, the incidence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is increasing yearly. The cause of SSNHL is of great interest in research. To date, viral infection, vascular occlusion, abnormal cellular stress responses within the cochlea, and immune-mediated mechanisms are considered the most likely etiologies of this disease. Among these etiologies, the relationship between viral infection and sudden deafness has been unclear. In this review, we mainly discuss the viral hypothesis of SSNHL. There is little research proving or clearly indicating the pathogenesis of this disease. Further research is needed to elucidate the precise etiopathogenesis to better understand SSNHL and establish more suitable treatment to help restore hearing in affected patients.

Non-Common Path Error (NCPE) is one of the factors that limit an Adaptive Optics (AO) system from delivering ultra-high performance. To correct the NCPE associated static aberration, we propose a simple but robust and high-performance pupil-plane based wavefront measurement and correction technique, which can copy a single-mode fiber generated perfect wavefront to the AO system via an iteration optimization process, and the NCPE can be effectively corrected by directly commanding the Deformable Mirror (DM) of the AO system. Compared with the previous focal-plane based approach that uses focal plane based Point Spread Function (PSF) for correction evaluation, the pupil-plane based approach can be reliably and rapidly converged to a global optimization result and provides better performance, in particular for an AO system with a large initial static wavefront error. This technique we proposed can be implemented in astronomical AO systems where extremely high performance is required.

Cerebral blood perfusion and cerebrovascular lesions are important factors that can affect the therapeutic efficacy of thrombolysis. At present, the majority of studies focus on assessing the accuracy of lesion location using imaging methods before treatment, with less attention to predictions of outcomes after thrombolysis. Thus, in the present study, we assessed the efficacy of combined computed tomography (CT) perfusion and CT angiography in predicting clinical outcomes after thrombolysis in ischemic stroke patients. The study included 52 patients who received both CT perfusion and CT angiography. Patients were grouped based on the following criteria to compare clinical outcomes: (1) thrombolytic and non-thrombolytic patients, (2) thrombolytic patients with CT angiography showing the presence or absence of a vascular stenosis, (3) thrombolytic patients with CT perfusion showing the presence or absence of hemodynamic mismatch, and (4) different CT angiography and CT perfusion results. Short-term outcome was assessed by the 24-hour National Institution of Health Stroke Scale score change. Long-term outcome was assessed by the 3-month modified Rankin Scale score. Of 52 ischemic stroke patients, 29 were treated with thrombolysis and exhibited improved short-term outcomes compared with those without thrombolysis treatment (23 patients). Patients with both vascular stenosis and blood flow mismatch (13 patients) exhibited the best short-term outcome, while there was no correlation of long-term outcome with CT angiography or CT perfusion findings. These data suggest that combined CT perfusion and CT angiography are useful for predicting short-term outcome, but not long-term outcome, after thrombolysis.

Strain sensors have been widely used in the fields of wearable devices, robot arms, medical sensing, bio-sensing, artificial skin and so on, but the existing strain sensors have some shortcomings such as a limited gauge factor (GF) or strain range. We fabricate a novel and flexible strain sensor with high performance based on self-locked overlapping graphene sheets (SOGS) which can be used for wearable devices. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used to lock the overlapping graphene sheets, and then the graphene can be stretched and achieve an ultrahigh GF. In addition, a new theory is put forward to explain the GF changes with strain range for the SOGS strain sensor. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) film is reduced to reduced GO (rGO) by a laser. Then, the SOGS and electrodes are encapsulated by PDMS. The SOGS strain sensor has a high GF up to 400 and strain range over 7.5%, and this SOGS strain sensor achieves a balance between high sensitivity and large strain range compared with other existing strain sensors. Furthermore the theoretical equation based on the new theory agrees well with the experimental results. And this strain sensor can be used in many applications because of its high sensitivity. Some applications of the SOGS strain sensors are demonstrated for the detection of various human motions and human sounds. The SOGS strain sensor can exhibit great potential in wearable electronics because of its good balance between high sensitivity and large strain.

In this work, the relationship between sludge color and operational conditions was studied. It was found that the coordinates H and S of the HSV color space well correlated with biological status and the operational conditions of mixing and oxygen deficiency, and a coefficient of variation (CVH/S) of the ratio of H to S in sludge cake images was derived. A smaller CVH/S indicated better mixing conditions based on the observations of four laboratory-scale experiments and two full scale WWTPs, which can be used as a promising index for the monitoring of mixing condition. The coordinate oxygen uptake rate (OURq) of the respirogram space showed similar trend as CVH/S, and analysis of microbial community also showed that CVH/S could indicate changes of biological community including species and richness. These findings suggested that CVH/S is a biological meaningful index for detecting the effect of changing operational conditions, which gives a key to quantify a large number of empirical rules accumulated in the past. Furthermore, it promotes the Internet of Things (IoT) application to the management of WWTPs, as color is readily available with MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) sensors such as smart phones.

Previous researches focusing on BC hearing mechanisms proved that the two routes, (1) EAC sound radiation and (2) inertial of ossicular chain, partially contribute to normal BC hearing. Therefore, the BC hearing for those patients with congenital aural atresia should partially decrease theoretically due to their abnormal anatomy. However, there are not many studies which mention these patients' BC hearing up till now. The objective of this study is to investigate congenital aural atresia patient's BC hearing by analysis of pre-surgical audiogram and to study their potential BC hearing mechanisms using animal modeling and their ABR measurements. The study methoed involves analyzing 75 patients' pre-operative audiogram. Then we produced an animal model by surgery to measure their BC hearing threshold changes. Clinical data showed that those patients had some BC hearing loss; and there were 25 cases (25/75, 33.3 %) which present with typical Carhart's Notch. The animal experiments proved that inertia of ossicular chain contribute to partial BC hearing, which demonstrated that the inertia produced more affects on high frequencies by comparing with low frequencies. The patients with congenital aural atresia present BC hearing loss, which could be mainly ascribed to the absence of inertia of ossicular chain.

As a new field of comprehensive science, methodology and technique, health risk assessment (HRA) connected pollution of the environment and human health and had been developed swiftly recent decades. Through the study of some literatures, the problems about basic research steps of HRA, uncertainty in assessment and the development are summarized simply.

This paper introduces conductive heat turning method using the high manganese steel as experimental materials.An experimental platform has been established, and vibration signal collected through continuous wavelet transform. By comparing and analyzing different processing parameters and working conditions,the effectiveness of conductive heating turning method’s reducing the vibration in the process of turning the size has been proved.

Satellite constellation networking is a kind of problem of swarm planning. Generally speaking, several times of satellite launch are needed to complete the satellite constellation networking task. During constellation networking process, the main factors affecting the management efficiencies are included as constellation network topology evolution and planning of satellite-ground cooperating missions. Considering efficient Tracking Telemetry and Command (TT&C) problem of Chinese COMPASS constellation networking process, a kind of constellation network topology evolution strategy and planning method of satellite-ground cooperating missions are proposed, after taking ground station resource and satellite operation as the optimization goal. Finally, the idea and method are simulated and validated based on Chinese COMPASS space system and the distribution of ground TT&C network. The experiments show that our proposed idea and method can save the ground TT&C resource and communication bandwidth between satellites. It is beneficial to manage a large scale satellite network in the future.

In this paper, we fabricate a graphene film heater through laser reduction on graphene oxide, which is a two-step process. The electrothermal performance of the graphene heater can be adjusted by the laser energy density. While the applied voltage is 18 V, the graphene heater reaches a steady-state temperature of 247.3 °C within 20 s. After the graphene heater is folded in half 100 times, its output temperature remains to be precisely controlled by the input power and the temperature distribution is uniform. In addition, the flexibility of the graphene heater is superior to a heater based on a commercial indium tin oxide film. It's worth noting that the graphene heater can be fabricated with desired shapes directly and easily, which is rare among the reported film heaters. In consideration of the high performance of the graphene film heater, we demonstrate its three application scenarios: portable warmers applied in medical infusion apparatus, flexible custom-shaped heaters for special requirements and displays.

The heat transfer property of double skin façade’s façade was analyzed and summarized from the façade’s ventilation pattern, shading mode, cavity width, cavity height, vent openings, the glass optical property and its sequence and convection methods. It showed that the analysis of double skin facade should employ various research methods on the basis of dynamic analysis and comprehensively take multiple factors into consideration on the grounds of actual situation for which may have effects on the heat transfer property of curtains. As a result, more double skin façade with a higher performance of heat transfer can be invented.

The monitoring data of radon concentration in a uranium ore district were taken as the evaluating objects in this paper. Carcinogenic risk was evaluated by health risk assessment four-paragraph method put forward by the national academy of sciences (NAS). Then the quantitative analysis was performed to evaluate the probability of radon and its daughters’ carcinogenic risk. Monte-Carlo technology was carried on to establish the model of simulation, and the Crystal Ball software was used to calculate quickly. The results show that effective dose will be still less than 1 mSV restricted by GB18871-2002 until 94.99% and the mean of carcinogenic risk is 1.40 ×10-7. The further protection measures are necessary near the sources of pollution according to the distribution of radon concentration.

With the promotion of building energy conservation, many residential areas are closely link with energy saving in design phase, and natural ventilation becomes the key to reduce building energy consumption. Thus, house design and building distribution of residential district is particularly important. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) get rapid development in recent 20 years, especially in architectural design. This text established a model of part of a residential district in Zhuzhou based upon ANSYS FLUENT CFD software, and used numerical simulation method to simulate the condition of indoor natural ventilation under typical summer climate when the doors and windows of buildings were opened. The distribution regularities of indoor velocity field and pressure field and etc have been gotten. These data provide a theoretical basis to evaluate the building distribution of residential area.

TEWI (total equivalent warming impact) index, a comparatively scientific method to evaluate the environmental impact of air-conditioning cold and heat source, is introduced. Taking some engineering in Hunan Province for example, the TEWI analysis was performed on the environmental impact assessment of four air-conditioning cold and heat source plans. Also the first investment and energy consumption were analyzed. The results indicate that: water loop heat pump unit, due to investment recovery period with only 2.9 years and carbon emission reduction up to 22.68%, has significant economy and environmental protection, which is followed by water source heat pump; the screw chilled water units plus gas boiler is poor. Gas direct-fired machine has certain economic advantage, but its environmental performance is general. Among four schemes, the proportion of indirect effects of CO2emissions from fossil fuels used to generate energy to operate the equipment throughout its lifetime are all larger, respectively is 95.1%, 95.2%, 100% and 89.9%. It fully showed the importance of developing clean and renewable energy, reducing energy consumption and increasing performance coefficient of refrigeration and air conditioning device.

The aim of this study was to examine and assess comparative values of HRCT-based multiplanar reformation (MPR), volume rendering (VR) and virtual endoscope built on three-dimensional (3D) shaded-surface display (SSD-based CTVE) for detections of ossicular chain's damage in patients with otitis media. 70 human ears from 70 patients suffering by chronic otitis media or cholesteatoma, who were examined with a preoperative multi-slice computer tomography (MSCT) examination and tympanoplasty in our hospital were collected. The patients ossicular chains were reconstructed with the aforementioned three protocols and assessed via a three-point scoring system by three radiologists. Then, all the patients ossicular chains were reviewed by a surgeon and a radiologist via the same three-point scoring system used during surgeries at same time. By calculation, the Youden's index and coincidence rate were acquired without a significant difference for display of malleus. With regard to the incus, the Youden's index and coincidence rate of VR and MPR did not show any difference, however, both were higher than CTVE. For representation of the stapes, the accuracy of these three modalities is very low; especially, for the CTVE. In conclusion, both MPR and VR are relative robust, and CTVE is not effective for evaluation of small ossicular structures, particularly the stapes. Furthermore, the VR images are real 3D ones. Therefore, it could be the more valuable protocols for detection of the damage of ossicular chain in the patients with otitis media, and should be further applied in the future work.

Background. To investigate the specific link between lung and large intestine.Methods. Rat COPD-like model was prepared. Mirabilite or Chinese rhubarb was administrated intragastrically to stimulate the large intestine. Histological analysis of lung inflammation was assessed. The tissues levels of SP, VIP, NK1R, VIPR1, and VIPR2 were measured by using ELISA kits. In addition, mouse model of allergic asthma was prepared. Mirabilite was administrated intragastrically to stimulate the large intestine. Airway responsiveness and lung inflammation were assessed. The tissues levels of SP, VIP, NKA, NKB, NK1R, VIPR1, and VIPR2 were measured by using ELISA kits.Results. Stimulating the intestine with Mangxiao or Dahuang, SP, NK-1R, VIP, VIPR1, and VIPR2 were significantly increased in intestine tissues of rats with COPD and mice with asthma. Meanwhile, the SP and NK1R were significantly decreased, while VIP, VIPR1, and VIPR2 were significantly increased in lung tissues. An abnormal secretion of SP and VIP can be observed in other tissues; however, no marked changes were found in the receptors. The NKA and NKB levels were similar in lung tissues of mice with asthma among groups.Conclusions. Stimulating intestine with Mangxiao or Dahuang can specifically regulate the secretion of SP, VIP, and the receptors in lung tissues.

Introduction: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is usually a relatively benign disease but can have an aggressive clinical course. The primary treatment for laryngeal papillomatosis is endoscopic resection. However, there is no effective treatment for pulmonary spread of laryngeal papillomatosis. Case Presentation: We describe a rare case of a 19-year-old man with pulmonary spread of laryngeal papillomatosis. The treatment regimen was surgical resection under general anesthesia using suspension laryngoscopy and endoscopy. The patient had been diagnosed with laryngeal papillomatosis and had undergone a tracheotomy when he was 18 months old. He underwent 17 endoscopic resections for laryngeal papillomatosis at intervals of 3 months to 1 year. At follow-up, the patient continued to have tracheal intubation and was not extubated. CT scans revealed multiple nodular and cavitary lesions in both lungs. Laryngoscopy performed when the patient was 18 years showed diffuse papillomata in the glottis and left ventricular fold. Conclusions: This article presents a rare case of juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV) HPV-11 and pulmonary spread. Intravenous cidofovir has oncogenic potential, but it has been used successfully to treat five patients with pulmonary spread of RRP. Intravenous cidofovir should be considered as salvage therapy.

Based the hinged slab bridge theory and fundamental of structural mechanics, calculation formulas of load lateral distribution are deduced for hinged slab bridge with different rigidity between outside slabs and inside slabs, which make the hinged slab theory more perfect. Finally, a practical example is calculated and its results are compared with the results calculated by Equivalent Stiffness Method.

For the initial lining structure of tunnel , constructing an consider integrated safety factor function.Consider the initial shotcrete tunnel support structure as a series system, using the interval estimation of the "wide boundaries of law" system of tunnel lining structure analysis, on this basis to determine the system failure mode. Using the limit displacement under the condition of axial force and bending moment of the corresponding displacement and construction monitoring of displacement are analyzed, considering the material properties, geometry and random effects. Using the Monte Carlo finite element method, combined with a typical project example to tunnel structural system reliability index were calculated. The calculation results show that in the engineering example, tunnel lining structure in some local section of the reliability index is smaller, but the whole support system reliability indexes meet the design requirements, the whole tunnel lining structure in a safe state.

Objective: To explore the radiologic characteristics of lingual thyroglossal duct cyst relevant to diagnosis. In addition, to probe the feasibility of modified Sistrunk surgery for patients who experience recurrence after cystectomy or marsupialization under endoscopy. Study Design: Retrospective. Methods: Seven patients, three male and four female, who had been diagnosed with lingual thyroglossal duct cysts, had received cystectomy or marsupialization under endoscopy between one and eight times with cyst recurrence soon after every operation. All of these cases were evaluated by CT before proceeding with the latest modified Sistrunk surgery. During surgery, we routinely used methylene blue to trace the cysts, and then we used an enlarged Sistrunk procedure for such cases. Results: The CT images demonstrated that there were cysts located posteriorly to the tongue that had a close relationship with the hyoid bone and the foramen cecum. In addition, the results of the pathological examinations were consistent with thyroglossal duct cysts. During the postoperative follow up of 18 to 31 months, the patients did not show any symptoms or signs of recurrence. The results of their most recent examinations, two by laryngoscopy and five by CT scan, did not reveal any abnormality in their pars laryngea pharyngis. Conclusions: CT could differentiate lingual thyroglossal duct cysts from the other cysts occurring at the lingual root. For those patients with lingual thyroglossal duct cysts that recur after cystectomy or marsupialization under endoscopy, the modified Sistrunk operation could be a suitable treatment option.

Through the survey of the current situation of sport venues as disaster refuge at home and abroad, the advantages of sport venue were widely dissussed from open space outside the sports venues, characteristic of main stadium and information transceiver system. The distribution structure of the hierarchical network of sport venues was analysised. Finally, some examples of sport venues as disasger refuge were proposed. It will be new development trend of stadium and sport venue in the future.

Metal oxide-based resistive random access memory (RRAM) has attracted a lot of attention for its scalability, temperature robustness, and potential to achieve machine learning. However, a thick oxide layer results in relatively high program voltage while a thin one causes large leakage current and a small window. Owing to these fundamental limitations, by optimizing the oxide layer itself a novel interface engineering idea is proposed to reduce the programming voltage, increase the uniformity and on/off ratio. According to this idea, a molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 )-palladium nanoparticles hybrid structure is used to engineer the oxide/electrode interface of hafnium oxide (HfOx )-based RRAM. Through its interface engineering, the set voltage can be greatly lowered (from -3.5 to -0.8 V) with better uniformity under a relatively thick HfOx layer (≈15 nm), and a 30 times improvement of the memory window can be obtained. Moreover, due to the atomic thickness of MoS2 film and high transmittance of ITO, the proposed RRAM exhibits high transparency in visible light. As the proposed interface-engineering RRAM exhibits good transparency, low SET voltage, and a large resistive switching window, it has huge potential in data storage in transparent circuits and wearable electronics with relatively low supply voltage.

In this paper, a flexible, simple-preparation, and low-cost graphene-silk pressure sensor based on soft silk substrate through thermal reduction was demonstrated. Taking silk as the support body, the device had formed a three-dimensional structure with ordered multi-layer structure. Through a simple and low-cost process technology, graphene-silk pressure sensor can achieve the sensitivity value of 0.4 kPa − 1, and the measurement range can be as high as 140 kPa. Besides, pressure sensor can have a good combination with knitted clothing and textile product. The signal had good reproducibility in response to different pressures. Furthermore, graphene-silk pressure sensor can not only detect pressure higher than 100 kPa, but also can measure weak body signals. The characteristics of high-sensitivity, good repeatability, flexibility, and comfort for skin provide the high possibility to fit on various wearable electronics.

In this paper, a flexible heater based on anisotropic laser-reduced graphene oxide (LRGO) is established. Attributing to precision and shape design of laser processing and excellent adhesion of graphene oxide, the LRGO-based heater can be microminiaturized with custom patterns and integrated on various substrates, which is what the existing film heaters cannot do and can be widely used for wearable heating devices, flexural warming systems in medical science, and light deicing equipment and heaters for aero vehicles. The electrothermal performance of the anisotropic LRGO is investigated systematically through a series of experiments including Raman spectra, SEM, white-light interferograms, IV testing, and infrared thermography. The electrothermal performance of the LRGO with the parallel aligned direction is better than the LRGO with the vertical aligned direction. The electrothermal performance can be improved greatly through radiating repeatedly. The saturated temperature and heating rate of the LRGO ra...

The fusion of infrared and visible light images can effectively improve the ability of detail description and hot taget representation. For this purpose, a novel image fusion algorithm based on nonsubsampled shearlet transform (NSST) was presented in this paper. Firstly, the NSST was adopted to decompose the two source images at different scales and directions, and the low-frequency and high-frequency sub-band coefficients of the images were obtained. Secondly, we used a modified fusion rules. For the low-frequency coefficients of the fused image, we summed up the low-frequency coefficients of two source images, and then subtracted the average of the mean values of the two low-frequency coefficients. Meanwhile, considering that adjacent pixels had strong correlation, an improved selection principle based on the local energy matching was developed for the high-frequency coefficients of the fused image, which was also consistent with the characteristics of the human vision system. Finally, the fused image was reconstructed by performing the inverse NSST on the combined coefficients. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively integrate important information from infrared and visible light images. And comparing with some other image fusion algorithms, the proposed algorithm can further enhance the contrast of fused images and protect more detail information of source images. Both visual quality and objective evaluation criteria show that the method has a higher performance.

The aim of this study was to examine and assess the comparative values of HRCT-based multiplanar reformation (MPR), volume rendering (VR) and virtual endoscope built on three-dimensional shaded-surface display (SSD-based CTVE) for evaluations of the ossicular chain. The normal pure tone audiograms, type-A tympanogram, and normal HRCT characteristics of 32 human ears of 18 patients were reviewed, whose ossicular chains were reconstructed with the three aforementioned protocols and assessed via the 3-point scoring system. The HRCT-based protocols could demonstrate a 3D image of the ossicular chain, except that of the footplate on the SSD-based CTVE. On the qualitative assessment, the efficacy of the MPR and VR, which were both superior to the SSD-based CTVE (P0.05), presented no statistical significance among the major and/or hyperdense structures (P0.05). As regards the lateral process of the malleus, VR was found to be significantly superior to the MPR and SSD-based CTVE (P0.05), both of which, however, showed no significant comparative differences (P0.05). Moreover, the three protocols in terms of efficacy were comparatively different in their representations of the anterior crus and footplates of the stapes, respectively (P0.05). On the MPR images, not all the images of the lenticular process were ideal; 20 of 32 cases were detected, but not defined. VR could be the more valuable protocol for the 3D reconstruction of the ossicular chain and ought to be more employed in future, especially for the education.

Objective To evaluate the effect of intratympanic dexamethasone (ITD) as initial therapy for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) as well as to determine the concentration-dependent time course distribution of dexamethasone in the inner ear. Methods Sixty-six patients with profound ISSHL were included. Twenty-two were treated with ITD and the rest as control. Audiograms were performed before the treatment and one month afterwards. In the animal study, dexamethasone of different concentrations (5, 10 and 20 mg/ml) was injected into the tympanums of three groups of SD rats (Groups A, B and C), their inner ears dissected free at various postinjection survival intervals. Immunofluorescence was applied to detect the locations of dexamethasone. Results The overall rate of good prognosis was 77.27% in ITD group, which was not significantly different from 81.82% in the control group. In the animal study, the higher local concentration and longer lasting period was found in Groups B and C. Conclusions ITD at 5 mg/ml did not add effect to systemic steroids in improving hearing outcomes in patients with ISSHL. An increase in dexamethasone concentration led to large variations in pharmacokinetics in animal study, showing potential value in optimizing the drug delivery protocols and improving the therapeutic results.

Removal of an airway foreign body (FB) is usually performed by rigid bronchoscopy under general anesthesia, but the choice of anesthesia and ventilation techniques varies greatly among anesthesiologists and institutions. Hypoxemia is the most commonly observed adverse event during rigid bronchoscopy. It is influenced by a variety of factors including the patient's medical condition, the type of surgical procedure, and the anesthetic technique. In the current study, we investigated risk factors that statistically correlate with intraoperative or postoperative hypoxemia in young patients undergoing rigid bronchoscopy.From January 2007 to December 2008, 384 children younger than 5-yr-of-age subjected to rigid bronchoscopy for FB removal were included in the study. The detailed clinical information and perioperative adverse events were recorded. Surgical outcomes and incidence of perioperative adverse events were compared among different ventilation modes (spontaneous ventilation, manual intermittent positive pressure ventilation, and manual jet ventilation) and different anesthetic techniques (total IV anesthesia and inhaled anesthesia). An amalgamated dataset was used for the analysis of factors that correlated with perioperative hypoxemia.In children who received total IV anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation during rigid bronchoscopy, we observed more intraoperative body movement and breath holding, significantly longer duration of emergence from anesthesia, lower percentage of successful FB removal, and more postoperative laryngospasm. Children in the manual jet ventilation group had the least occurrence of intraoperative hypoxemia. Five factors strongly correlated with intraoperative hypoxemia. Younger age, plant seed as the type of FB, longer surgical duration, pneumonia before the procedure, and spontaneous ventilation mode significantly increased the risk of intraoperative hypoxemia, whereas manual jet ventilation mode decreased it. Two factors were associated with postoperative hypoxemia: plant seed as a FB and prolonged duration of emergence from anesthesia.We identified risk factors associated with intraoperative or with postoperative hypoxemia in rigid bronchoscopy which included patient age, type of FB, duration of surgical procedure, pneumonia before the procedure, ventilation mode, and duration of emergence from anesthesia. These results provide evidence that will help clinicians to reduce the incidence of hypoxemia in high-risk children.