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Ancient machinery, either lost or existing, is an interdisciplinary subject. Except for the investigation of mechanisms, it can include ancient science and technology, history, philology, as well as others related to the subject matter, like astronomy, seismology, measurement, etc. This paper presents a process to apply the reconstruction research of ancient machinery to promote the exhibitions and science education. With the development of reconstruction research of ancient machinery, the study can be transformed to exhibitions through reconstructing physical and simulation models of ancient machines. The science theories of ancient machinery are simplified into the basic education of science. The traditional technologies can be replaced by digital machines, and the related teaching aids are developed further. People making the teaching models by themselves is more useful in thoroughly understanding these ancient machines. Furthermore, two examples following the application process, traditional Chinese locks and Antikythera astronomical device, are presented.

Background The Child–Pugh (CP) score is used widely to assess liver function and predict postoperative outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, the albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) score has been validated as a predictor of overall survival in these patients. This study aimed to compare the ability of the ALBI and CP scores to predict outcomes in patients with HCC after liver resection with curative intent. Methods Consecutive patients who underwent liver resection with curative intent for HCC between January 2007 and July 2013 were included in this retrospective study. The performance of the ALBI score in predicting postoperative liver failure (PHLF) and long-term survival was compared with that of the CP score. Results A total of 1242 patients were enrolled. Of these, 166 (13·4 per cent) experienced PHLF. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the ALBI score for predicting PHLF was greater than that of the CP score (0·723 versus 0·607; P < 0·001). Similar to findings for CP grade, the incidence and severity of PHLF increased with increasing ALBI grade. The ALBI grade stratified patients into at least two distinct overall survival cohorts (P < 0·001), whereas the CP grade did not. The ALBI grade also classified patients with CP grade A disease into two distinct overall survival cohorts (P < 0·001), and overall survival rates in the group with poorer survival were similar to those in the majority of patients with CP grade B disease. Both CP and ALBI scores had low power in predicting disease-free survival. Conclusion The ALBI grade predicted PHLF and overall survival in patients with HCC undergoing liver resection with curative intent more accurately than the CP grade.

Transparent conductive ZnO : Al : Mo films with a molar ratio of Zn : Al : Mo = 99 : 0·99 : 0·01 were deposited on quartz glass substrate by a template-assisted sol-gel process and characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and UV–Vis and luminescent spectrophotometries. The four types of organic template have induced nanowire morphology with varying aspect ratio. Dip coating in one constant positive and reverse direction causes the parallel array of ZnO : Al : Mo nanowires on the quartz glass substrate. Long and parallel arrayed nanowire films show obviously blue shifts and enhanced transmittances in the UV-Vis light range. The PEG-1000 and PEG-2000 have optimal effects among four templates as constant weight content is used. The films show strong ultraviolet, violet and bluish violet emissions. The templates also lead to overall thicker film and more native defect and thereby remarkably enhancing photoluminescence of the films. Long chain organic template can be used to optimize the optical properties of the doped ZnO film.

This paper tries to investigate a novel polishing technology with high efficiency and nice surface quality for sapphire crystal that has high hardness, wear resistance, and chemical stability. A Q-switched 355 nm ultraviolet laser with nanosecond pulses was set up and used to polish sapphire substrate in different conditions in this paper. Surface roughnessRaof polished sapphire was measured with surface profiler, and the surface topography was observed with scanning electronic microscope. The effects of processing parameters as laser energy, pulse repetition rate, scanning speed, incident angle, scanning patterns, and initial surface conditions on surface roughness were analyzed.

Summary Background Peginterferon-α–based therapy frequently leads to neutropenia. It remains unclear whether neutropenia is associated with bacterial infection in chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Aim To evaluate the risk of bacterial infection and neutropenia in patients with CHC treated with peginterferon-α/ribavirin. Methods In all, 207 patients with CHC with (group A, n = 30) and without (group B, n = 177) baseline neutropenia were treated with peginterferon-α/ribavirin. Results Group A had significantly higher rates of moderate (

The role of autotransplantation in end-stage hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is unclear. We aimed to present our 15-case experience and propose selection criteria for autotransplantation. All patients were considered to have unresectable hepatic AE by conventional resection due to critical invasion to retrohepatic vena cava, hepatocaval region along with three hepatic veins, and the tertiary portal and arterial branches. All patients successfully underwent ex vivo extended right hepatectomy and autotransplantation without intraoperative mortality. The median autograft weight was 706 g (380-1000 g); operative time was 15.5 hours (11.5-20.5 hours); and anhepatic time was 283.8 minutes (180-435 min). Postoperative hospital stay was 32.3 days (12-60 days). Postoperative complication Clavien-Dindo grade IIIa or higher occurred in three patients including one death that occurred 12 days after the surgery due to acute liver failure. One patient was lost to follow-up after the sixth month. Thirteen patients were followed for a median of 21.6 months with no relapse. This is the largest reported series of patients with end-stage hepatic AE treated with liver autotransplantation. The technique requires neither organ donor nor postoperative immunosuppressant. The early postoperative mortality was low with acceptable morbidity. Preoperative precise assessment and strict patient selection are of utmost importance.

We report a design and demonstration of an electro-optically Q-switched intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO) based on a unique ramped duty-cycle periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) in a diode-pumped 1064-nm Nd:YVO4 laser. The PPLN crystal, having a double-prism domain (DPD) structure with a domain period of 30 μm, can work simultaneously as an electro-optic (EO) beam deflector (and therefore an EO Q-switch in the laser cavity) and an optical parametric down converter. The characterized deflection sensitivity of the DPD PPLN device was 1.15°/kV-cm. At a 180-V Q-switching voltage and a 1-kHz switching rate, we measured a down-converted signal at 1550 nm with pulse energy of >8.1 μJ (or peak power of >2.3 kW) from the constructed IOPO at 7.5-W diode pump power. Continuous wavelength tuning of the IOPO signal was also demonstrated.

We report a tunable pulsed optical parametric oscillator using a double-prism domain PPLN as simultaneously an electro-optic Q-switch and a parametric generator in a Nd:YVO4 laser. g2.3-kW peak-power eye-safe light was obtained with this system.

In the Begg Technique, factors controlling the anterior intrusive force provided by the archwire have yet to be fully clarified. The rationale for bite opening with very light forces, the effect of Class II elastics on intrusive force magnitude and the intrinsic quality of ‘Australian’ wire in bite opening are examined in this paper. A formula is presented which allows the intrusive force that archwires exert in different individuals to be predicted. The values derived from the formula were compared with case model measurements. It was found that the intrusive force of the archwire was affected by the length of the individual dental arch. The magnitude of this intrusive force was seen to increase gradually during the period of bite opening and appeared to be related to the use of Class II elastics. The study revealed factors which affected the magnitude of the intrusive force.

Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a new technique for pattern classification, and is used in many applications. Kernel parameters set in the SVM training process, along with feature selection, will significantly impact classification accuracy. The objective of this paper was to simultaneously optimize parameters while finding a subset of features without degrading SVM classification accuracy. A simulated annealing (SA) approach for feature selection and parameters optimization was developed. Several UCI datasets are tested using the SA-based approach and the grid algorithm which is a traditional method of performing parameter searching. The developed SA-based approach was also compared with other approaches proposed by Fung and Mangasarian, and Liao et al. Results showed that the proposed SA-based approach significantly improves the classification accuracy rate and requires fewer input features for the SVM.

This study demonstrates the electrical characteristics of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films deposited onto n-type GaN (n-GaN) epitaxial layers with a variety of electron concentrations. The ohmic characteristics could be obtained from the GZO/n-GaN samples after a thermal annealing process was performed at 800°C in a nitrogen atmosphere for 1 min when the n-GaN layers had a carrier concentration of approximately 1 X 10 19 cm -3 The specific contact resistance (ρ c ) was as low as 2.6 X 10- 4 Ω cm 2 . The ohmic characteristics can be attributed to the fact that the heavy doping of n-GaN layers and the low resistivity GZO film can result in a carrier transport via a tunneling mechanism at the GZO/GaN interface. However, the GZO/n-GaN samples exhibited nonlinear current-voltage (1-V) characteristics (i.e., a Schottky contact) when the annealing temperature (TA ) was lower than or equal to 600°C even though the carrier concentration of n-GaN reached 1 X 10 19 cm- 3 These GZO/n-GaN Schottky contacts were due to the low carrier concentration of GZO films and/or n-GaN layers. The effective Schottky barrier heights of the 700°C annealed GZO/n-GaN (n ∼ 10 16 cm- 3 ) samples were around 0.73 and 0.75 eV, which were deduced from the I-V and capacitance-voltage characteristics, respectively.

In this paper we will outline our progress towards developing flexible electronics. The basic function of this flexible device is timepiece. The ultra thin flexible electronic device (e-skin IT device).with TFTs made by CMOS type low temperature poly-Silicon thin film process, bear the characteristics of high mobility and low power consumption. The display part of device is made by plastic top substrate, VA mode LC and 50 μm of glass bottom substrate. In order to fit the flexible requirement, we use 4 μm of photo spacer to replace ball spacer. 3 rechargeable polymer Li-ions batteries are bonded on this cell module via a FPC to make a complete, independent electronic device. The weight of e-skin IT device is merely 6g with ultra-thin, ultra-light, flexible character.

Schottky junctions have been fabricated by evaporating aluminum on electrodeposited p‐type polycrystalline CuInSe2 thin films. The devices showed a rectification effect with an ideality factor of about 2 in the low‐forward‐voltage region. Results of carrier concentration obtained from C‐V measurements of the Schottky devices were found to be consistent with those for CdS/CuInSe2 heterojunctions fabricated on the same substrates. The apparent diffusion potential and carrier concentration of the Al/CuInSe2 Schottky junctions were both found to increase after a short heat treatment at 200 °C in air.