Preparation and characterization of cardanol‐based epoxy resin for coating at room temperature curing

Novel organic solvent‐free bio‐based epoxy resin for coating was prepared from cashew nut shell liquid which is one of renewable resources. The epoxy coating was fabricated by the reaction between amine compounds and epoxy cardanol prepolymer (ECP). The drying, physical, and thermal properties of the epoxy were investigated and compared with those of the commercial cashew coating. The ECP was synthesized by thermal polymerization under the various conditions. Based on the FT‐IR analysis, hydroxyl and carbonyl groups were generated, and viscosity increased with increasing heating temperature and time. On the other hand, the NMR analysis showed decrease in the degree of unsaturation in the side group of cardanol. Based on these results, the polymerization of the ECP could be autoxidized in the unsaturated group in the side chains. The drying time until harden dry of the ECP coating took about 2.5 h at room temperature, which is faster than that of the commercial cashew coating. This is because that the curing of ECP coating was based on the prepolymer (i.e., high molecular weight) and crosslink reaction between epoxy and amine groups. The ECP coating was rubbery state due to the flexible side chains of cardanol. Furthermore, the ECP coating improved chemical stability compared with the commercial cashew. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 2468–2478, 2013     

生成对抗式网络及其医学影像应用研究综述

生成对抗式网络(generative adversarial network, GAN)由负责学习数据分布的生成器和负责鉴别样本真伪的判别器构成,二者在相互对抗过程中互相学习逐渐变强。该网络模型使深度学习方法可以自动学习损失函数,减少了对专家知识的依赖,已经广泛应用于自然图像处理领域,对解决医学影像处理的相关瓶颈问题亦具有巨大应用前景。本文旨在找到生成对抗式网络与医学影像领域面临挑战的结合点,通过分析已有工作对未来研究方向进行展望,为该领域研究提供参考。1)阐述了生成对抗式网络的基本原理,从任务拆分、条件约束以及图像到图像的翻译等角度对其衍生模型进行分析回顾;2)对生成对抗式网络在医学影像领域中的数据增广、模态迁移、图像分割以及去噪等方面的应用进行回顾,分析各方法的优缺点与适用范围;3)对现有图像生成质量评估方法进行小结;4)总结生成对抗式网络在医学影像领域的研究进展,并结合该领域问题特性,指出现有理论应用存在的不足与改进方向。生成对抗式网络提出以来,理论不断完善,在医学影像的处理应用中也取得了长足发展,但仍然存在一些亟待解决的问题,包括3维数据合成、几何结构合理性保持、无标记和未配对...     

Cardiovascular Characteristics of Zucker Fatty Diabetes Mellitus Rats,an Animal Model for Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

Zucker fatty diabetes mellitus (ZFDM) rats harboring the missense mutation (fa) in a leptin receptor gene have been recently established as a novel animal model of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here, we explored changes in cardiovascular dynamics including blood pressure and heart rate (HR) associated with the progression of obesity and T2D, as well as pathological changes in adipose tissue and kidney. There was no significant difference in systolic blood pressure (SBP) in ZFDM-Lepr^fa/fa (Homo) compared with ZFDM-Lepr^fa/+ (Hetero) rats, while HR and plasma adrenaline in Homo were significantly lower than Hetero. The mRNA expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 in perirenal white adipose tissue (WAT) from Homo was significantly higher than Hetero. Interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) in Homo was degenerated and whitened. The plasma blood urea nitrogen in Homo was significantly higher than Hetero. In summary, we demonstrated for the first time that HR and plasma adrenaline concentration but not SBP in Homo decrease with obesity and T2D. In addition, inflammation occurs in WAT from Homo, while whitening occurs in BAT. Further, renal function is impaired in Homo. In the future, ZFDM rats will be useful for investigating metabolic changes associated with the progression of obesity and T2D.     

Home mortgage lenders and earthquake hazards

A survey of major home mortgage lenders and real-property appraisers in California and the Puget Sound region shows a general inattention to earthquake hazards in appraisal and lending policy. This inattention is demonstrated not only in responses to survey questions, but also in a lack of differentiation in lending decisions between properties within and outside surface-fault rupture zones. As posited by organizational theory, however, important variants exist in this overall policy, almost always resulting from the efforts of individuals within large lending organizations.     

Electrical treeing phenomena in two-layer silicone gel with different crosslinking degrees and its dielectric strength

Silicone gel is widely used to encapsulate power modules, and improvement of its dielectric strength has been required. So, the purpose of our research is to improve dielectric strength of silicone gel encapsulant, and we focus on crosslinking degree of silicone gel. Previous studies have shown that growth mechanism of electrical tree changes with crosslinking degree of silicone gel. This suggests the possibility that the presence of the interface by different crosslinking degrees inhibits the tree growth. In this paper, we have investigated the tree growth and breakdown characteristics in silicone gel—crosslinking degrees graded layer materials. The interfaces in our study are arrange as being vertical to the line of electric force. Consequently, it was clarified that barrier effect of interface by different crosslinking degrees and the relaxation of electric field in low crosslinking degree region retards on tree growth, which improves the dielectric strength.     

AS-OCT图像下的自动皮质性白内障分类框架

白内障是一种主要导致视觉损伤的眼病. 早期干预和白内障手术是改善患者视力和生活质量的主要手段. 眼前节光学相干断层成像图像 (anterior segment optical coherence tomography, AS-OCT) 是一种新型眼科图像, 其具有非接触、高分辨率、检查快速等特点. 在临床上, 眼科医生已经逐渐采用AS-OCT图像进行眼科疾病如青光眼的诊断, 然而尚未有研究工作利用它进行皮质性白内障 (cortical cataract, CC) 自动分类. 为此, 提出了一个基于AS-OCT图像的自动皮质性白内障分类框架, 由图像预处理、特征提取、特征筛选和分类等4部分组成. 首先, 利用反光区域去除和对比度增强方法进行图像预处理; 紧接着使用灰度共生矩阵 (grey level co-occurrence matrix, GLCM)、灰度区域大小矩阵 (grey level size zone matrix, GLSZM) 和邻域灰度差矩阵 (neighborhood grey tone difference matrix, NGTDM) 方法从皮质区域提取了22个特征; 然后, 采用斯皮尔曼相关系数方法对提取的特征进行特征重要性分析并筛除冗余特征; 最后利用线性支持向量机方法进行分类. 在一个临床AS-OCT图像数据集上的实验结果表明, 所提出的皮质性白内障分类框架准确率、召回率、精确率和F1分别达到86.04%, 86.18%, 88.27%和86.35%, 取得与先进的深度学习算法接近的性能, 表明其具有作为辅助眼科医生进行皮质性白内障临床诊断工具的潜力.     

Machine Learning for Cataract Classification/Grading on Ophthalmic Imaging Modalities: A Survey

Cataracts are the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness globally. Over the years, researchers have achieved significant progress in developing state-of-the-art machine learning techniques for automatic cataract classification and grading, aiming to prevent cataracts early and improve clinicians’ diagnosis efficiency. This survey provides a comprehensive survey of recent advances in machine learning techniques for cataract classification/grading based on ophthalmic images. We summarize existing literature from two research directions: conventional machine learning methods and deep learning methods. This survey also provides insights into existing works of both merits and limitations. In addition, we discuss several challenges of automatic cataract classification/grading based on machine learning techniques and present possible solutions to these challenges for future research.

     

Carcinogen specific dosimetry model for passive smokers of various ages

Studies indicate that being exposed to second hand smoke increases the chance of developing lung cancer. Understanding the deposition of carcinogenic particles present in second hand smoke is necessary to understand the development of specific histologic type cancers. In this study, a deposition model is presented for subjects of various ages exposed to sidestream smoke. The model included particle dynamics of coagulation, hygroscopic growth, charge and cloud behavior. Concentrations were varied from the maximum measured indoor concentrations (10(6) particles/cm3) to what would be expected from wisps of smoke (10(8) particles/cm3). Model results agreed well with experimental data taken from human subject deposition measurements (four studies). The model results were used to determine the dose intensity (dose per unit airway surface area) of Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in the respiratory tract for subjects of various ages. Model predictions for BaP surface concentration on the airway walls paralleled incident rates of tumors by location in the upper tracheobronchial region. Mass deposition efficiency was found to be larger for younger subjects, consistent with diffusion being the predominant mechanism for this particle size range. However, the actual dose intensity of BaP was found to be smaller for children than adults. This occurred due to the predominant effect of the smaller initial inhaled mass for children resulting from smaller tidal volumes. The resulting model is a useful tool to predict carcinogen specific particle deposition.     

Division of labor among lesbian and heterosexual parents: Associations with children's adjustment.

This study compared lesbian and heterosexual parents' division of household labor, satisfaction with division of labor, satisfaction with couple relationships, and associations of these variables with psychological adjustment of children. Participating lesbian (n?=?30) and heterosexual (n?=?16) couples all became parents by using anonymous donor insemination and had at least 1 child of elementary-school age. Although both lesbian and heterosexual couples reported relatively equal divisions of paid employment and of household and decision-making tasks, lesbian biological and nonbiological mothers shared child-care tasks more equally than did heterosexual parents. Among lesbian nonbiological mothers, those more satisfied with the division of family decisions in the home were also more satisfied with their relationships and had children who exhibited fewer externalizing behavior problems. The effect of division of labor on children's adjustment was mediated by parents' relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

三次B样条插值曲面及其实现

目前在ＣＡＭ／ＣＡＭ的自由曲面构造方法中，较流行的有Ｂ样条曲面，Ｂｅｚｉｅｒ曲面、Ｂａｌｌ曲面等方法，但由这几种方法和成都是拟合曲面，而百插值曲面，常常不能满足一些工程实际中严格插值的要求，本文构造了一种自由插值曲面生成方法－Ｂ样条母线法，所生成曲面达到Ｃ＾２级光滑，适用机械，模具、汽车、造船等制造加工行业的复杂曲面设计。