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Copyright of Arab Journal of Plant Protection is the property of Arab Society for Plant Protection and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Efficient privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) is essential for integrating data from different providers without exposing personally identifiable information (PII). This study investigates the effectiveness of a novel blocking technique, implemented on Bloom filters (a space-efficient probabilistic data structure), to enhance efficiency and maintain privacy in a real-world evaluation. This methodology involves the utilization of Anonlink, an open-source Python-based PPRL system which generates a type of Bloom filter, Cryptographic Longterm Keys (CLK), for secure record linkage. Initially, the relevant PII fields of the two datasets undergo anonymization into CLKs. Utilizing the CLK’s property of similarity preservation, we create manageable blocks of records based on bits in common within the Bloom filters. This allows us to reduce the number of comparisons of non-matching records to improve linkage efficiency. Finally, record linkage is performed to identify potential matches within the blocked datasets. This blocking technique for CLKs is evaluated in terms of efficiency and record matching precision, aiming to determine the optimal balance between the two factors. Preliminary results indicate a significant reduction in computational burden, with recall minimally affected. Moreover, the implemented blocking technique poses no additional risks of privacy breaches. Preliminary evaluation of the blocking technique shows a promising avenue for secure and efficient data integration, especially in datasets with PII, warranting further investigation for validation and wider application.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic effect of tumor volume at diagnosis, tumor reduction ratio during external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with central-shielding method, and cumulative minimal dose to 90% of the high-risk clinical target volume (CTVHR D90) on combined EBRT and image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) for cervical cancer. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent definitive radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer at Gunma University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Tumor volume at diagnosis and reduction ratio were calculated using magnetic resonance imaging at diagnosis and before the first IGABT session. The cumulative dose of EBRT and IGABT was calculated as an equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions (EQD2). Optimal cutoff values were determined according to a receiver operating characteristic curve. Treatment outcomes were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: A total of 254 patients were included in the analysis. The median followup for all patients was 57 (2-134) months. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 81.9%, progression-free survival (PFS) was 71.3%, and local control (LC) was 94.5%. The patients were divided into four groups according to tumor volume at diagnosis and reduction ratio. The group with tumor volume at diagnosis = 34.1 cm3 and reduction ratio < 68.8% showed significantly worse OS, PFS, and LC than the other three groups (All p < 0.05). In this group, the patients with a cumulative CTVHR D90 < 69.6 GyEQD2 showed significantly worse PFS and LC (p = 0.042 and p = 0.027, respectively). In the multivariate analysis of OS, adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinoma, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2009 stage III/IV, and a reduction ratio of < 68.8% were independent significant poor prognostic factors (p = 0.045, p = 0.009 and p = 0.001, respectively). In the univariate analysis of LC, a reduction ratio of < 68.8% was the only poor prognostic factor (p = 0.041). Conclusion: The patients with large and poorly responding tumors had significantly worse prognoses in terms of OS, PFS, and LC, suggesting that dose escalation should be considered for such tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In order to improve the elderly people’s quality of life, supporting their walking behaviors is a promising technology. Therefore, based on one ultrasonic motor, a wire-driven series elastic mechanism for walking assistive system is proposed and investigated in this research. In contrast to tradition, it innovatively utilizes an ultrasonic motor and a wire-driven series elastic mechanism to achieve superior system performances in aspects of simple structure, high torque/weight ratio, quiet operation, quick response, favorable electromagnetic compatibility, strong shock resistance, better safety, and accurately stable force control. The proposed device is mainly composed of an ultrasonic motor, a linear spring, a steel wire, four pulleys and one rotating part. To overcome the ultrasonic motor’s insufficient output torque, a steel wire and pulleys are smartly combined to directly magnify the torque instead of using a conventional gear reducer. Among the pulleys, there is one tailored pulley playing an important role to keep the reduction ratio as 4.5 constantly. Meanwhile, the prototype is manufactured and its actual performance is verified by experimental results. In a one-second operating cycle, it only takes 86 ms for this mechanism to output an assistive torque of 1.6 N·m. At this torque, the ultrasonic motor’s speed is around 4.1 rad/s. Moreover, experiments with different operation periods have been conducted for different application scenarios. This study provides a useful idea for the application of ultrasonic motor in walking assistance system.

In order to improve the elderly people's quality of life, supporting their walking behaviors is a promising technology. Therefore, based on one ultrasonic motor, a wire-driven series elastic mechanism for walking assistive system is proposed and investigated in this research. In contrast to tradition, it innovatively utilizes an ultrasonic motor and a wire-driven series elastic mechanism to achieve superior system performances in aspects of simple structure, high torque/weight ratio, quiet operation, quick response, favorable electromagnetic compatibility, strong shock resistance, better safety, and accurately stable force control. The proposed device is mainly composed of an ultrasonic motor, a linear spring, a steel wire, four pulleys and one rotating part. To overcome the ultrasonic motor's insufficient output torque, a steel wire and pulleys are smartly combined to directly magnify the torque instead of using a conventional gear reducer. Among the pulleys, there is one tailored pulley playing an important role to keep the reduction ratio as 4.5 constantly. Meanwhile, the prototype is manufactured and its actual performance is verified by experimental results. In a one-second operating cycle, it only takes 86 ms for this mechanism to output an assistive torque of 1.6 N·m. At this torque, the ultrasonic motor's speed is around 4.1 rad/s. Moreover, experiments with different operation periods have been conducted for different application scenarios. This study provides a useful idea for the application of ultrasonic motor in walking assistance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various process nonhomogeneities in the cold rolling lead to an uneven distribution of deformation across the strip cross-section, resulting in the induction of residual stresses. This study investigates the longitudinal residual stresses in cold-rolled EN AW-5083 aluminum alloy strips using the finite element method (FEM) to achieve reliable predictions. The impacts of process parameters, including the reduction ratio, coefficient of contact friction, and front and back tensions, were analyzed. Changes in residual stresses, depending on the process parameters, were determined by the distribution of linear and shear strains, as well as the strain hardening conditions at the exit part of the deformation zone. An increase in the reduction ratio from 20 to 50%, as well as an increase in the friction coefficient from 0.1 to 0.2, resulted in decreased stress values. The residual stresses on the strip surface, determined by the experimental deflection method, were consistent with the results obtained by FEM simulation. Under the impact of back and/or front tensions, there is a reduction in longitudinal residual stresses, with the front tension exerting the greatest influence. The research results show that the FEM is a reliable tool for predicting residual stresses in cold-rolled strips.

Objective: Achieving an early molecular response (EMR) is crucial for improving the prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The halving time (HT) and reduction ratio (RR) of BCR: : ABL1 transcript levels have recently emerged as additional prognostic indexes besides the BCR: : ABL1 International Scale (IS). We aimed to investigate the prognostic role of BCR: : ABL1 transcript levels, HT, and RR on molecular response kinetics at 3 months in patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase (CP)-CML. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with CP-CML who received first-line imatinib treatment were included in this study. BCR: : ABL1 transcript levels and molecular responses at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months of treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Major molecular response (MMR) at 12 months and event-free survival (EFS) were determined as primary endpoints and the effects of treatment kinetics on these parameters were examined. Results: Of the 40 patients, BCR: : ABL1 IS was ≤10% at 3 months in 72.5%, representing EMR. The rate of event occurrence was 45.5% in patients with BCR: : ABL1 IS of >10%, whereas it was 6.9% in those with BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% (p=0.004). MMR was detected in 62.1% of the patients with EMR and in 9.1% of those without EMR (p=0.003). The cut-off value for achieving MMR was 24 days for HT and 0.04 for RR. Deep molecular response (DMR) at 24 months was associated with HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04. EFS was found to be significantly better in the group with BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% and HT of ≤24 days (p=0.001) and in the group with BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% and RR of ≤0.04 (p=0.007) compared to others. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that MMR could be predicted via EMR as well as by HT and RR. Additionally, HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04 were more important than BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% in achieving DMR at 24 months, and the combination of BCR: : ABL1 IS of ≤10% with both HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04 has the best predictive value for EFS.

Johannes Wienker, Kaid Darwiche, Julia Wälscher, Jane Winantea, Michael Hagemann, Erik Büscher, Abhinav Singla, Christian Taube, Rüdiger Karpf-Wissel Department of Pneumology, University Medicine Essen- Ruhrlandklinik, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, GermanyCorrespondence: Johannes Wienker, Department of Pneumology, University Medicine Essen- Ruhrlandklinik, Tüschener Weg 40, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, 45239, Germany, Tel +49 2014334222, Fax +49 2014331988, Email johannes.wienker@stud.uni-due.deBackground: Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) with endobronchial valves (EBV) can be a successful treatment for end-stage emphysema patients. The reduction of hyperinflation enhances ventilatory mechanics and diaphragm function. Understanding predictors for treatment success is crucial for further improvements.Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the target lobe volume reduction (TLVR) in relation to the ipsilateral lung volume reduction (ILVR), affected by the compensatory expansion of the adjacent lobe, on the outcome after BLVR with valves.Patients and Methods: The volumetric relationship of ILVR% to TLVR%, addressed as Reduction Ratio (R), was recorded in 82 patients and compared to changes in lung function, physical performance and quality of life. A small value for R implies a relatively low volume reduction of the ipsilateral lung (ILVR) compared to the volume reduction of the target lobe (TLVR). Additionally, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for R was calculated.Results: Patients with a smaller Reduction Ratio (R < 0.2) showed minor improvements at the 3 months follow-up compared to patients with R ≥ 0.2 (mean changes of 39 mL (5.8%), – 395 mL (– 4.9%) and 96 mL (7.1%) versus 231 mL (33%), – 1235 mL (– 20%) and 425 mL (29%) in the forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1), residual volume (RV) and inspiratory vital capacity (IVC), respectively, and – 3 m and 0 points versus 20.4 m and – 3.4 points in the 6-minute-walking-distance (6MWD) and COPD assessment test (CAT) score respectively). With a combined value of 0.185, a MCID for R was calculated with established anchors (FEV1, RV, and 6MWD) for emphysema patients.Conclusion: Extensive compensatory hyperinflation of the adjacent non-treated lobe after BLVR results in decreased ILVR, which is responsible for a lack of meaningful improvements in ventilatory mechanics and clinical outcome, despite technically successful lobe volume reduction.Keywords: emphysema, ipsilateral lung volume, reduction ratio, volume shift

Copyright of Automobile Technology & Material is the property of Automobile Technology & Material Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The effect of the cold rolling reduction ratio (εh) on the microstructure and the complex of mechanical and technological properties of cold-rolled sheets from aluminum alloy V-1579 of the Al–Mg–Sc system has been studied. The influence of the final annealing temperature of sheets rolled with different reduction ratios has been examined as well. The character of plastic anisotropy has been found to change slightly with an increase in εh during cold rolling; an increase in tensile strength and yield strength with a decrease in relative elongation is observed. In this case, the anisotropy of the ultimate strength and yield strength is nearly absent. With an increase in the reduction ratio to 30–40%, the anisotropy of the relative elongation increases: the relative elongation in the rolling direction decreases more rapidly. However, after rolling with εh > 50%, the elongation anisotropy almost disappears. Regardless of the annealing temperature, samples rolled with a higher reduction ratio have higher strength characteristics. With an increase in the annealing temperature, the ultimate strength and yield strength decrease, while the relative elongation increases. In this case, softening with the annealing temperature occurs more intensely for samples rolled with a lower reduction. For all analyzed regimes, the character of the distribution of anisotropy indices in the sheet plane does not decrease after annealing and corresponds to the deformation type of textures. Moreover, the in-plane anisotropy coefficient decreases after annealing in comparison with a cold-rolled sample. At the same time, the technological properties of samples rolled with a higher degree of deformation are higher after annealing than those of samples rolled with a lower reduction regardless of the annealing temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of the vertical seismic barriers intended for protecting from Rayleigh seismic waves and filled with (1) homogeneous linearly elastic materials and (2) granular metamaterials, is done by the finite-element (FE) modeling. The granular metamaterial obeys the Mohr–Coulomb plasticity model with the associated flow rule, low cohesion value, and small internal friction and dilation angles. The performed numerical analysis reveals a principal ability achieving much higher reduction ratios for magnitudes of accelerations along with much longer shadow zones behind the barrier for barriers filled with metamaterials in comparison with the purely elastic homogeneous barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Achieving an early molecular response (EMR) is crucial for improving the prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The halving time (HT) and reduction ratio (RR) of BCR::ABL1 transcript levels have recently emerged as additional prognostic indexes besides the BCR::ABL1 International Scale (IS). We aimed to investigate the prognostic role of BCR::ABL1 transcript levels, HT, and RR on molecular response kinetics at 3 months in patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase (CP)-CML. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with CP-CML who received first-line imatinib treatment were included in this study. BCR::ABL1 transcript levels and molecular responses at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months of treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Major molecular response (MMR) at 12 months and event-free survival (EFS) were determined as primary endpoints and the effects of treatment kinetics on these parameters were examined. Results: Of the 40 patients, BCR::ABL1 IS was ≤10% at 3 months in 72.5%, representing EMR. The rate of event occurrence was 45.5% in patients with BCR::ABL1 IS of >10%, whereas it was 6.9% in those with BCR::ABL1 IS of ≤10% (p=0.004). MMR was detected in 62.1% of the patients with EMR and in 9.1% of those without EMR (p=0.003). The cut-off value for achieving MMR was 24 days for HT and 0.04 for RR. Deep molecular response (DMR) at 24 months was associated with HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04. EFS was found to be significantly better in the group with BCR::ABL1 IS of ≤10% and HT of ≤24 days (p=0.001) and in the group with BCR::ABL1 IS of ≤10% and RR of ≤0.04 (p=0.007) compared to others. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that MMR could be predicted via EMR as well as by HT and RR. Additionally, HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04 were more important than BCR::ABL1 IS of ≤10% in achieving DMR at 24 months, and the combination of BCR::ABL1 IS of ≤10% with both HT of ≤24 days and RR of ≤0.04 has the best predictive value for EFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AA7020 twin-roll cast sheets were warm rolled with different processing parameters to investigate the evolution of cracks, microstructure and properties by a single variable method. The as-cast rolled and as-warm rolled sheets were examined by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), a Vickers hardness tester and an electronic universal testing machine. As the reduction ratio increased, the grains became finer, the mechanical properties improved, and the cracks gradually healed. The grain size, mechanical properties, and cracks first increased and then decreased with increasing warm rolling temperature. The cracks healed by occlusion between grains. When the warm rolling temperature was too high, the grains grew upward, the mechanical properties decreased, and the healed cracks left scars. The optimum process parameters were a warm rolling temperature of 350 °C and a reduction ratio of 80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the high permeability temperature gradient rolling technology by temperature-deformation coupling control, the effects of the intensive water cooling before rolling and rolling reduction ratio on void closure in the core of the bloom were studied by numerical simulation using DEFORM software. The results show that temperature gradient greatly affects the deformation flow of the bloom. Increasing the water-cooling time increases the temperature difference between the core and the surface of the continuous casting steel, which leads to a larger temperature gradient, so that the deformation permeability of rolling can be enhanced effectively. Moreover, an increasing reduction ratio of the single-pass rolling combined with the temperature gradient can further increase the deformation flow in the core of the bloom, which promotes the void closure, so that the quality of the continuous casting steel can be greatly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. As the demand for prostate biopsies increases, a worldwide shortage and an uneven geographical distribution of proficient pathologists place a strain on the efficacy of pathological diagnosis. Deep learning (DL) is able to automatically extract features from whole-slide images of prostate biopsies annotated by skilled pathologists and to classify the severity of PCa. A whole-slide image of biopsies has many irrelevant features that weaken the performance of DL models. To enable DL models to focus more on cancerous tissues, we propose a Multi-Channel and Multi-Spatial (MCMS) Attention module that can be easily plugged into any backbone CNN to enhance feature extraction. Specifically, MCMS learns a channel attention vector to assign weights to channels in the feature map by pooling from multiple attention branches with different reduction ratios; similarly, it also learns a spatial attention matrix to focus on more relevant areas of the image, by pooling from multiple convolutional layers with different kernel sizes. The model is verified on the most extensive multi-center PCa dataset that consists of 11,000 H&E-stained histopathology whole-slide images. Experimental results demonstrate that an MCMS-assisted CNN can effectively boost prediction performance in accuracy (ACC) and quadratic weighted kappa (QWK), compared with prior studies. The proposed model and results can serve as a credible benchmark for future research in automated PCa grading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic effect of tumor volume at diagnosis, tumor reduction ratio during external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with central-shielding method, and cumulative minimal dose to 90% of the high-risk clinical target volume (CTV HR D 90 ) on combined EBRT and image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) for cervical cancer., Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent definitive radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer at Gunma University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Tumor volume at diagnosis and reduction ratio were calculated using magnetic resonance imaging at diagnosis and before the first IGABT session. The cumulative dose of EBRT and IGABT was calculated as an equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions (EQD2). Optimal cutoff values were determined according to a receiver operating characteristic curve. Treatment outcomes were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression., Results: A total of 254 patients were included in the analysis. The median follow-up for all patients was 57 (2-134) months. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 81.9%, progression-free survival (PFS) was 71.3%, and local control (LC) was 94.5%. The patients were divided into four groups according to tumor volume at diagnosis and reduction ratio. The group with tumor volume at diagnosis ≥ 34.1 cm 3 and reduction ratio < 68.8% showed significantly worse OS, PFS, and LC than the other three groups (All p < 0.05). In this group, the patients with a cumulative CTV HR D 90 < 69.6 Gy EQD2 showed significantly worse PFS and LC ( p = 0.042 and p = 0.027, respectively). In the multivariate analysis of OS, adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinoma, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2009 stage III/IV, and a reduction ratio of < 68.8% were independent significant poor prognostic factors ( p = 0.045, p = 0.009 and p = 0.001, respectively). In the univariate analysis of LC, a reduction ratio of < 68.8% was the only poor prognostic factor ( p = 0.041)., Conclusion: The patients with large and poorly responding tumors had significantly worse prognoses in terms of OS, PFS, and LC, suggesting that dose escalation should be considered for such tumors., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ohtaka, Ando, Oike, Noda, Kaminuma, Murata and Ohno.)

Secondary processing of waste from metallurgical and other industries becomes an urgent issue in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressure and a shortage of sources of materials. The paper shows the results of chemical and technological studies of processes, executing in the Cu(II) - Cu(I) - Cl- - CO - H2О system. The processing technology of copper-bearing intermediate products multicomponent leaching solutions, permitting high purity copper production at the least economic cost, is proposed.

Mining and mineral processing industry are under pressure from political and social stakeholders to deliver products more sustainably with a much smaller environmental impact. Technical innovations to achieve these goals include reduction in energy consumption, waterless mineral processing, coarse particle liberation, and safe dry stacking of tailings. Traditional, largely abrasional comminution in robust ball and SAG mills is known for its inefficiency with respect to breakage and energy consumption. Earlier theoretical predictions and numerical modelling postulated that more efficient impact breakage should occur at higher impact energies from higher operational velocities. The VeRo Liberator impact crusher operates in such a mechanical high-velocity regime and achieves very high particle size reduction ratios and degrees of particle liberation at very low energy consumption and without using process water. These step-changing comminution results are achieved from high frequency, high-velocity impacts with an efficient momentum transfer that leads to the effective disintegration of the feed material. The empirically tested results have been experimentally simulated and confirmed in static and dynamic uniaxial load tests and high-velocity impact gas cannon tests. The VeRo Liberator technology has currently achieved TRL 7 and several units operate currently at mining operations and test facilities in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research of Environmental Sciences is the property of Research of Environmental Sciences Editorial Board and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Forest fire has a wide range of long and short-term devastating and consequential impacts on the habitat and forest ecosystems. Topography is an important factor that influences fire patterns, its severity, and spatial distribution. The present study quantified forest severity (the consumption and reduction value of burnt forest vegetation) and assessed the relationship of forest severity with topographic factors and spectral indices computed using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Landsat-8 imagery, respectively. The severity classes of forest fire identified were low, moderate, high and very high. The results showed that the reduction ratio of shrubs ranged from 100% to 16% and the reduction ratio of herbs ranged from 100% to 43% in the high and very low severity class, respectively. Similarly, litter and duff were reduced to 96% in the high severity class to 27% in the very low severity class. Regarding the consumption of burnt fuel, the highest and lowest litter burnt was 390 g/m2 and 40 g/m2, respectively, whereas duff consumption ranged from 100 g/m2 to 34 g/m2 for the high and very low severity class, respectively. As far as correlation is concerned the elevation, heavy fuel, medium fuel, NDVI, NBR, and NBI were significantly correlated with fire severity class, while aspect relation was insignificant. Likewise stepwise regression showed that NBR, NDVI, and medium fuel entered in selection while other variables (elevation, aspect, heavy fuel, and BAI) were excluded. Overall, R2 for the stepwise regression model was 0.77, which means that 77% of fire severity was explained while 23% remained unexplained. The present study suggests that a more detailed insight study should be conducted by using high resolution DEM and satellite imagery in order to quantify the influence of topographic factors and forest density on fire severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In patients with rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), differences are often observed between high and low radiological image reduction effects. It may be suggested that high radiological image reduction indicates a beneficial response to chemotherapy. However, the pathological investigation of the differences between high and low radiological cancer volume reduction cases remains limited. In the current study, a total of 50 patients with rectal cancer, treated with NAC, were examined. The approximate pathological primary cancer area and the radiological cancer volume reduction ratio were measured using CT and/or MRI imaging and the donut-shaped measurement method. Immunostaining of cytokeratin AE1/AE3 was performed to quantitatively measure the cancer cell mass in the largest section of rectal cancer. Cytokeratin AE1/AE3-stained area (P=0.04), mitosis (P=0.0027) and radiological donut-shaped images after NAC (P=0.010) were lower in the high radiological cancer volume reduction ratio group compared with the low radiological cancer volume reduction ratio group. These findings indicate that the radiological images had some ability to determine the treatment effect and clinicopathological characteristics of patients with rectal cancer treated with NAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One possibility to increase the interface strength of cold roll bonded materials is the application of a thin intermediate layer. In the present study, a tin coating was employed to strengthen the interface formed between cold roll bonded steel sheets, and the impact of subsequent heat treatment on the resulting bonding strength was investigated. To increase the bond strength by diffusion, the tin-coated steel bonds underwent heat post-treatment between temperatures of 150 °C and 300 °C for different dwell times. The results demonstrate that the use of tin as an active intermediate layer increases the bond area established. Moreover, the thin tin coating results in the formation of an active intermediate layer that directly takes part in the joining process by establishing a reactive link between the two substrates. A subsequent heat treatment further affects the bond strength by diffusion of tin at the interface.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. As the demand for prostate biopsies increases, a worldwide shortage and an uneven geographical distribution of proficient pathologists place a strain on the efficacy of pathological diagnosis. Deep learning (DL) is able to automatically extract features from whole-slide images of prostate biopsies annotated by skilled pathologists and to classify the severity of PCa. A whole-slide image of biopsies has many irrelevant features that weaken the performance of DL models. To enable DL models to focus more on cancerous tissues, we propose a Multi-Channel and Multi-Spatial (MCMS) Attention module that can be easily plugged into any backbone CNN to enhance feature extraction. Specifically, MCMS learns a channel attention vector to assign weights to channels in the feature map by pooling from multiple attention branches with different reduction ratios; similarly, it also learns a spatial attention matrix to focus on more relevant areas of the image, by pooling from multiple convolutional layers with different kernel sizes. The model is verified on the most extensive multi-center PCa dataset that consists of 11,000 H&E-stained histopathology whole-slide images. Experimental results demonstrate that an MCMS-assisted CNN can effectively boost prediction performance in accuracy (ACC) and quadratic weighted kappa (QWK), compared with prior studies. The proposed model and results can serve as a credible benchmark for future research in automated PCa grading.

Copyright of China Mechanical Engineering is the property of Editorial Board of China Mechanical Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nitrogen is an essential element for grapevine growth and development. Excessive nitrogen may accumulate in consumed parts of the plants, then pose serious health risks on human health. Grape leaves have traditionally been used to prepare stuffed leaves (Dolma) in Mediterranean countries. This study was conducted to determine the effects of increasing ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and urea treatments on nitrate content of brined vine leaf of Narince grape cultivar (Vitis vinifera L). Three levels of different nitrogen forms (0-control, 5,10,15 kg N/da) were applied to Narince grape cultivar. In addition, effects of hot water brine treatments on leaf nitrate contents were also investigated. Vine leaves were harvested in four different periods with 8-9 day intervals during the growing season. Nitrate content of fresh and brined vine leaves were determined. Nitrate content of the vine leaves increased with increasing N levels. Nitrate content was higher in fresh vine leaves than in brined leaves. Nitrate content of vine leaves decreased with hot water brine treatments. Nitrate contents of fresh vine leaves were generally greater than the critical levels (3500-2000 mg kg-1). It was recommended based on present findings that nitrogen treatments should not be greater than 15 kg/da. Consumers were advised to prefer brined leaves. It was advised that small children should not consume stuffed vine leaf more than one serving a day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Computational Mechanics / Jisuan Lixue Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Computational Mechanics Editorial Office, Dalian University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Collapsible soils are meta-stable soils which present a potential for a large deformation and a complete change to the whole particle structure after wetting, with or without loading. Such soils can show high apparent strength in its natural state but collapse takes place as the bonds between grains break down when the soil is wetted or loaded. There are several techniques for treatment of collapsible soils such as chemical stabilization and dry mixing the soil with other material/materials which improve the soil's mechanical properties. This paper discusses a new proposed technique for treating the collapsible soils by dry mixing with iron powder in a specified percentage proportional to the weight (A d). Experimental tests program was performed on collapsible soils with/without the addition of iron powder. The analysis of results showed the effect of the initial unit weight of soil γ d , and the percentage of the weight-related additives on collapse potential (CP). The testing program also presents the effects of the amount of induced rainfall water (Qw), the applied stress on footing model (q), the ratio between depth of improved soils and the footing width (di/B), as well as the degree of compaction (Rc) of the improved portion of collapsible soils. This study presents the obtained results and shows in detail the positive effect of using iron powder for treating the collapsible soils and subsequently reducing the expected collapse settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary processing of waste from metallurgical and other industries becomes an urgent issue in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressure and a shortage of sources of materials. The paper shows the results of chemical and technological studies of processes, executing in the Cu(II) - Cu(I) - Cl- - CO - H2O system. The processing technology of copper-bearing intermediate products multicomponent leaching solutions, permitting high purity copper production at the least economic cost, is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a titanium alloy and low carbon steel were bonded via hot rolling in a vacuum, and the effect of roll bonding temperature and reduction ratio on the microstructural and mechanical properties of the plate was studied. When the bonding temperature was between 850 and 1050 °C, the shear strength of the interface increased with an increasing reduction ratio from 18 to 70%. At a bonding temperature of 950 °C and at a rolling reduction ratio of 70%, the best bonding strength was obtained, and a shear fracture occurred on the low carbon steel matrix. At 1050 °C, brittle compounds, i.e., TiC, FeTi, and Fe2Ti, formed at the interface, which decreased the bonding strength. The large reduction ratio can break up compounds at the interface and extrude fresh metal for bonding, thereby increasing the bonding strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]