Monitoring moisture content of timber structures using PZT-enabled sensing and machine learning

Qingzhao Kong,Lin Chen,Hai-Bei Xiong,Yufeng He,Xiuquan Li 국제구조공학회 2022 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.29 No.4

Timber structures are susceptible to structural damages caused by variations in moisture content (MC), inducing severe durability deterioration and safety issues. Therefore, it is of great significance to detect MC levels in timber structures. Compared to current methods for timber MC detection, which are time-consuming and require bulky equipment deployment, Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT)-enabled stress wave sensing combined with statistic machine learning classification proposed in this paper show the advantage of the portable device and ease of operation. First, stress wave signals from different MC cases are excited and received by PZT sensors through active sensing. Subsequently, two non-baseline features are extracted from these stress wave signals. Finally, these features are fed to a statistic machine learning classifier (i.e., naive Bayesian classification) to achieve MC detection of timber structures. Numerical simulations validate the feasibility of PZT-enabled sensing to perceive MC variations. Tests referring to five MC cases are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results present high accuracy for timber MC detection, showing a great potential to conduct rapid and long-term monitoring of the MC level of timber structures in future field applications.

Evaluation of Liver Metastases Using Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound: Enhancement Patterns and Influencing Factors

( Wen Tao Kong ),( Zheng Biao Ji ),( Wen Ping Wang ),( Hao Cai ),( Bei Jian Huang ),( Hong Ding ) 대한소화기학회 2016 Gut and Liver Vol.10 No.2

Background/Aims: To evaluate the enhancement patterns of liver metastases and their influencing factors using dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods: A total of 240 patients (139 male and 101 female; 58.5±11.2 years of age) diagnosed with liver metastases in our hospital were enrolled in this study to evaluate tumor characteristics using CEUS. A comparison of enhancement patterns with tumor size and primary tumor type was performed using the chi-square test. The differences between quantitative variables were evaluated with the independent-sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance. Results: The enhancement patterns of liver metastases on CEUS were categorized as diffuse homogeneous hyperenhancement (133/240, 55.4%), rim-like hyperenhancement (80/240, 33.3%), heterogeneous hyperenhancement (10/240, 4.2%), and isoenhancement (17/240, 7.1%). There were significant differences in the enhancement patterns during the arterial phase based on the nodule size (p=0.001). A total of 231 of the nodules showed complete washout during the portal phase, and 237 nodules were hypoenhanced during the delayed phase. The washout time was correlated with tumor vascularity, with a longer washout time observed in hypervascular metastases compared to hypovascular metastases (p=0.033). Conclusions: Diffuse homogeneous hyperenhancement followed by rapid washout was the most common enhancement pattern of liver metastases on CEUS and was affected by the nodule size and tumor vascularity. Small metastases were prone to show diffuse homogeneous hyperenhancement. Hypervascular metastases showed a significantly longer washout time compared to hypovascular metastases. (Gut Liver 2016;10:283-287)

Impact of Logistics Information Service on Customer Satisfaction : An Empirical Study with Assurance as the Moderator

Liu Chang,Jia YongFei,Kong Bei ASCONS 2019 IJASC Vol.1 No.1

Background/Objectives: Internetization at the communication and channel levels impels many companies to make efforts in building themselves as a trading platform, where a huge bulk of buyers and sellers can carry on transactions. Methods/Statistical analysis: In this paper, by summarizing the critical factors of logistics information system (LIS) quality, a theoretical model was established to resolve the factors that influence customer satisfaction. In this process, customer satisfaction theory (CS) is applied to be a moderator. And then based on the PLS structural equation model, an empirical study was conducted. Findings: The results presented that making full use of Internet of things technology to accelerate the process of reengineering and standardization while guaranteeing the information quality to make contribution to the improvement of customer satisfaction. At the meantime, the establishment of service quality evaluation system in the context of Internet of things can help logistics enterprises to improve the service quality, promote the enterprises’ competitiveness, and realize the collaboration management of enterprises’ services. Improvements/Applications: At the meantime, the establishment of service quality evaluation system in the context of Internet of things can help logistics enterprises to improve the service quality, promote the enterprises’ competitiveness, and realize the collaboration management of enterprises’ services.

miR-31a-5p promotes postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation by targeting RhoBTB1

Junjie Xiao,Hui Liu,Dragos Cretoiu,Daniela Oana Toader,Nicolae Suciu,Jing Shi,Shutong Shen,Yihua Bei,Joost PG Sluijter,Saumya Das,Xiangqing Kong,Xinli Li 생화학분자생물학회 2017 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.49 No.-

A limited number of microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) have been reported to control postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation, but their strong regulatory effects suggest a possible therapeutic approach to stimulate regenerative capacity in the diseased myocardium. This study aimed to investigate the miRNAs responsible for postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation and their downstream targets. Here, we compared miRNA profiles in cardiomyocytes between postnatal day 0 (P0) and day 10 (P10) using miRNA arrays, and found that 21 miRNAs were upregulated at P10, whereas 11 were downregulated. Among them, miR-31a-5p was identified as being able to promote cardiomyocyte proliferation as determined by proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, double immunofluorescent labeling for α-actinin and 5-ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine (EdU) or Ki-67, and cell number counting, whereas miR-31a-5p inhibition could reduce their levels. RhoBTB1 was identified as a target gene of miR-31a-5p, mediating the regulatory effect of miR-31a-5p in cardiomyocyte proliferation. Importantly, neonatal rats injected with a miR-31a-5p antagomir at day 0 for three consecutive days exhibited reduced expression of markers of cardiomyocyte proliferation including PCNA expression and double immunofluorescent labeling for α-actinin and EdU, Ki-67 or phospho-histone-H3. In conclusion, miR-31a-5p controls postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation by targeting RhoBTB1, and increasing miR-31a-5p level might be a novel therapeutic strategy for enhancing cardiac reparative processes.

Clinical and Pathological Factors Related to the Prognosis of Chinese Patients with Stage Ⅰb To Ⅱb Cervical Cancer

Xie, Xiu-Zhen,Song, Kun,Cui, Baoxia,Jiang, Jie,Zhang, You-Zhong,Wang, Bo,Yang, Xing-Sheng,Kong, Bei-Hua Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.11

Objective: The aim of this retrospective study is to analyze the clinical and pathological factors related to the prognosis of Chinese patients with stage Ib to IIb cervical cancer. Methods and Results: 13 clinical pathological factors in 255 patients with stage Ib to IIb cervical cancer undergoing radical hysterectomy and systematic lymphadenectomy were analyzed to screen for factors related to prognosis. The cumulative 5-year survival of the 255 patients was 75.7%. The result of the univariate analysis suggested that clinical stage, cell differentiation, depth of cervical stromal invasion, parametrial tissue involvement, and lymph node metastasis were prognostic factors for patients with stage Ib to IIb cervical cancer (P<0.05). Compared with cases with involvement of iliac nodes, obturator nodes, or inguinal lymph nodes, cases with metastasis to the common iliac lymph nodes had a poorer prognosis (P<0.05). Cases with involvement of four or more lymph nodes had a poorer prognosis than those with involvement of three or fewer lymph nodes (P<0.05). Using multivariate Cox proportional hazards model regression analysis, non-squamous histological type, poor differentiation, parametrial tissue involvement, and outer 1/3 stromal invasion were found to be independently related to patients poor prognosis (P<0.05). Conclusion: Non-squamous histological type, poor cell differentiation, parametrial tissue involvement, and outer 1/3 stromal invasion are the independent poor prognostic factors for patients with stage Ib to IIb cervical cancer.

Evaluation of Several Screening Approaches for Detection of Cervical Lesions in Rural Shandong, China

Zong, Li-Ju,Zhang, You-Zhong,Yang, Xing-sheng,Jiang, Jie,Cui, Bao-Xia,Qiao, Yun-Bo,Li, Li,Jiang, Kan,Zhang, Wen-Jing,Kong, Bei-Hua,Shen, Keng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.5

Purpose: The study was designed to: (1) investigate the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection and cervical neoplasia; and (2) evaluate clinical performance of visual inspection with acetic acid/ Lugol's iodine (VIA /VILI), Pap smear, high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) DNA test for detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and (3) explore appropriate screening approach in rural areas of Shandong Province. Materials and Methods: A total of 3,763 eligible women from Yiyuan County in Yimeng mountainous areas of rural Shandong, China, were enrolled and underwent Pap smear, HR-HPV DNA testing by Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2), and VIA /VILI tests. Women positive in any test were referred to colposcopy and biopsy as indicated. Results: The prevalence of HR-HPV infection among all enrolled women was 11.1% and that in healthy women was 9.9%. In total 33 cases of CIN1, 16 cases of CIN2, 6 cases of CIN3 but none of cervical cancer were detected and the crude prevalence of CIN2+ was 0.58%. For detecting CIN2+, the sensitivity of HR-HPV DNA testing, VIA/VILI, Pap smear was 90.9%, 77.3%, 81.8%, respectively. Pap smear had the best specificity of 98.2%, followed by HR-HPV DNA testing with specificity of 89.4%, VIA/VILI had the lowest specificity of 81.2%. Colposcopy referral rate of HR-HPV DNA testing, VIA/VILI, Pap smear was 11.1%, 18.5%, 2.3%, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that HR-HPV DNA testing alone might be appropriate for primary cervical cancer screening in rural low-resource areas of Shandong Province, China.