Both dynamic and static visualizations of biphasic fluid have been the focus of attention that received wide notices. This work focused on carrying out research on solid-liquid biphasic visualization, which was common in slurry transportation or hydrocyclone. Multilevel fusion algorithms named single-path data fusion (SPDF), full-path data fusion (FPDF), and a hybrid algorithm of FPDF reconstruction with boundary enhancement (BE) method were proposed, which resulted in developing hybrid-ultrasonic process tomography (H-UPT). To verify the effects of tomographic fusion, different cases of monodisperse and polydisperse medium with spherical, ellipsoidal, and cubical distributions were carried out. The designed array mounted on polymethyl methacrylate pipe and the dynamic experiments of solid-liquid medium were executed. The quantitative analysis through the postprocessing of experimental results had illustrated good consistence with the real dynamic level by a deviation no more than 6.04%. In overall considering of the accuracy (such as imaging spatial error and correlation coefficient) and average time-consuming of the FPDF algorithm, the H-UPT illustrated an effective application and technological potential for completing high-precision imaging in particulate flow of varying shapes, dimensions, and quantities.

Real-time ultrasonic process tomography (UPT) could be suitable for the conditions including various sizes and locations as well as amount of the interesting targets and different pipelines. However, the dif-ficulty in determining flow-pattern segmentation in the back-projection for both transmission mode and reflection mode was not overcome for real-time imaging. This work focused on an ultrasonic process fus -ing tomography (UPFT) for implementing both reflection-mode and transmission-mode tomography draw support from an 8-channel scanning technique. The behavior of fan-shaped ultrasonic beam prop-agation and the characteristics of acoustic field in two phases had been studied, by which the tomo-graphic size resolution about UPFT had been analyzed numerically. The resultant impact on reconstructed image quality due to the operation conditions was discussed in detail. Transmitted waves were adopted as a base of imaging, and reflected waves were integrated as supplementary information to execute threshold optimization. To carry out a validation, a digital 8-channel prototype of UPFT was developed for the laboratory investigation of stratified flow with continuous injection of water. It was found that such ultrasonic tomography yielded significant improvements in reconstruction, compared to single-mode imaging merely using transmitted or reflected waves. At the same time, quantitative results showed that the proposed method facilitated automatic and reasonable flow-pattern identifica-tion, and the developed system represented a fast data acquisition and processing as well as strong noise resistance capability.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background: Blood smear examination through traditional optical microscopy is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis. However, it imposes strict requirements for operational staff and its sensitivity cannot perfectly satisfy the needs of clinical requirements. More sensitive and accurate modern technologies should be applied to this field. Digital PCR (dPCR), as an absolute quantification detection method, can serve as an effective tool to facilitate the diagnosis and classification of different malaria species. Objective: We aimed to establish a new multiplex dPCR detection system for four main Plasmodium species: P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale and P. malariae, which can distinguish exact species of malaria by one PCR reaction. Methods: A total of 39 patients were identified as malaria-positive by microscopic examination in Huashan Hospital from 2016 to 2021; seventy blood samples from these patients were collected. Additionally, 20 healthy individuals, 20 patients with fever and 6 patients with other types of blood parasites infection were also included in this study. Each blood sample was subjected to examination by both blood smears and dPCR. By optimizing four different fluorescence-labeled probes in one reaction system, dPCR permitted the performance of accurate quantitation and working out the exact number of copies of malaria DNA per microliter in whole blood. Rapid diagnostic tests were also conducted to verify part of the results obtained by dPCR. Results: The dPCR system was able to make rapid diagnosis and quantification of malaria DNA samples. The analytical sensitivity of multiplex dPCR was as low as 0.557 copies/mu L (95% CI 0.521 to 0.607), and it had a sensitivity of 98.0% and a specificity of 100% in clinical samples. Additionally, three multiple malaria co -infection samples have been detected by this dPCR system, including one triple malaria infection case. By testing consecutive daily blood samples of Patient 39, dPCR facilitated monitoring the efficacy of drug treatment. It showed that the DNA concentrations of P. falciparum ranged from 5474 copies/mu L to 0 copies/mu L, which can reflect the efficacy of antimalarials in real time. This study also found that haemocyte samples (plasma removed) rather than whole blood had higher malaria detection capability and an enhanced positive rate. Conclusion: The multiplex dPCR system newly established here made a substantial contribution in detecting malaria infection at low concentrations. It is suitable for mixed-infection diagnosis and multi-sample continuous monitoring, and presents a promising candidate as an absolute quantitative tool in clinical practice.

粪类圆线虫是一种肠道寄生虫，主要由幼虫通过皮肤或黏膜侵入人体而引发疾病，也可因食入虫卵而感染。该病为机会致病，多为散发，临床表现复杂多样，常规实验室检查和影像学表现均缺乏特异性，不容易及时诊断，感染者易进展为重症感染，病死率极高。现报道2例粪类圆线虫感染所致肠梗阻病例，并结合文献进行回顾分析，为临床医师加深对该病致病特点和治疗要点的理解提供参考。

环孢子虫病是一种肠道寄生虫病，人体通过食入被环孢子虫卵囊污染的水和食物而感染，摄入的卵囊通过侵犯小肠上皮细胞进入人体，尤以空肠为主，进而出现慢性肠炎的临床表现。本例患者以腹水为主要表现，血、腹水和骨髓检查结果均提示嗜酸性粒细胞水平增高明显，曾拟诊为"嗜酸细胞性胃肠炎"，并予以糖皮质激素治疗，患者腹胀症状一度出现好转，但在停药3个月后再次出现腹水，最终通过小肠黏膜病理和粪便直接涂片法在光学显微镜下找到环孢子虫卵囊确诊，服用复方磺胺甲噁唑得以痊愈。

The present challenge in the ultrasonic process tomography on dispersed small particle systems is that it is hard to obtain the accurate algorithm for reconstruction. For more accurate reconstruction, this work proposes an improved GMRES (Generalised Minimal Residual) algorithm based on generalised minimal residual iteration and mean filtering method. To verify the feasibility of the algorithm for dispersed small particle system visualisation, a linear acoustic attenuation model is developed to obtain the projection data of ultrasonic array. Then, we compared it with the current mainstream reconstruction algorithms under the conditions of the less effective information by solving the underdetermined equations. It is shown that this method can present a high reconstruction precision in the cases of numerical simulations, and reasonably reflect the cross section of dispersed small particle distribution. In the numerical simulations, the imaging accuracy of improved GMRES algorithm can reach about 90%.

Taking into account the consumer has a low carbon preference, under the dual driving force of environment production and economic benefit, the manufacturer will invest in emission reduction technology in the upstream and downstream, such as introduce emission reduction equipment or cleaner production technology.We focus on a twoechelon sustainable supply chain that includes single manufacturer and single retailer.We explore how should manufacturer rationally choose the way of investment in emission reduction, i.e., whether the manufacturer should invest in both upstream and downstream or only in the upstream.Compared with the sustainable investment only in the upstream, investment in both upstream and downstream is more sustainable and profitable.

Random noise attenuation is an important step in seismic signal processing. This paper develops a seismic denoising method which combines the improved complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (ICEEMD) and adaptive interval threshold. The seismic data are decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) by ICEEMD, which can overcome the problem of uncertain number of modes when adding different random noise as well as the problems of spurious modes and the residual noise from using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and the complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD). After the decomposition, the noise in IMFs is filtered out by the adaptive interval threshold. The de-noised data are reconstructed by stacking the filtered IMFs. The proposed approach is validated via the synthetic and field data. The results demonstrate that the approach can effectively improve the de-noising performance.

支气管肺泡灌洗液细胞学检测是临床常用的检验项目之一,其对肺部疾病的诊断、鉴别诊断、指导临床治疗具有重要意义.该文通过介绍支气管肺泡灌洗液细胞学检验目的、标本采集、检验程序、报告模式、临床意义等内容,使其操作规范化、标准化,更好地发挥临床检验价值.

Random noise attenuation is an important step in seismic processing. A method with an adaptive threshold based on scale and directional characteristics of shearlet transform is proposed to attenuate seismic random noise. The method can adaptively calculate threshold according to the decomposed scales and directions, where the directional characteristics are embodied by using the L1 norm of coefficients. Compared to the universal threshold and the threshold based on scale methods only, the scale and directional threshold methods can remove random noise and reserve an effective signal to the utmost extent. The synthetic and field data examples demonstrate that the proposed method can significantly improve the denoising effect and has the stronger denoising ability.

Particle sizing methods have gained considerable attention in the past few decades, but there is still a big challenge in high concentration situations (i.e., volume fraction>10%). However, the ultrasonic spectroscopy technique is a common tool for the noninvasive determination of essential parameters for high concentration systems by analyzing ultrasonic spectra with inversion algorithms, including the particle size distribution (PSD), volume fraction of each phase, and physicochemical properties. For the ultrasonic measurements, proper acquisition and analysis of ultrasonic spectra are becoming significant in order to understand the relationship between the unknown parameters and the ultrasonic spectra. In the work, an experimental setup was provided to synchronously acquire ultrasonic reflection and transmission signals. A series of experiments were performed on silicon-water solutions at volume fractions 8%, 10%, and 12% to obtain the ultrasonic attenuation spectra and ultrasonic phase velocity spectra based on different measurement methods, i.e., the pulse-echo method, reference reflection method, and through-transmission method, respectively. Based on the Epstein-Carhart-Allegra-Hawley (ECAH) forward model, genetic algorithm (GA) and optimum regularization technique (ORT) algorithms were implemented to determine PSD with the measured spectra; the obtained PSD was then compared with the optical microscope method. It revealed that the spectra obtained by different measurement methods showed individual features while the obtained PSD was consistent and the volume median diameters were within a deviation of 10% with GA and ORT algorithms. The differences and characteristics of these three measurement methods for signal acquisition and interpretation were discussed and presented to provide an evaluation and recommendation for ultrasonic particle sizing.

This article proposes the methods of parameter estimation and state estimation to calculate state space systems with delay. Associating the properties of linear conversion and shift operators, the state space model can be equal to the standard state space model, which can then be converted into the recognition model. The proposed stochastic gradient method is brought to calculate the system and converge to the recursive least squares estimates for state space models. Finally, one example is proposed to certify the theorems of this paper.

Background: Reticulocyte count (RET) has been used for many years to estimate the erythropoietic activity of the bone marrow. Fully automated methods not only provide enhanced precision and accuracy, but also enable reliable measurements of mRNA content and cellular indices. However, problems still exist, such as interference. The aim of the present study was to investigate the interferents of Sysmex XN 9000 reticulocyte analysis and ensure the accuracy of the results. Methods: We collected a total of 510 specimens from normal control patients and patients with various diseases including anemias, leukemias, infectious diseases, immune diseases, kidney disease, etc. Correlation of the agreement for reticulocytes between the new methylene blue (NMB) visual microscopy method and automated reticulocyte counting was evaluated by paired sample method according to the CLSI-ICSH document H44-A2-Methods for Reticulocyte Count. Blood smear microscopic examination was carried out on the disturbed samples, and the interferents were analyzed with the medical history, flagging algorithms, the warning information, and the microscopic examination. Results: A total of 44 (8.6%) cases exhibited interference. The main interferents of spuriously high reticulocyte count were caused by parasites, such as malaria, as well as suspicious autofluorescence due to drugs, while the main interferents of spuriously low reticulocyte count were caused by RBC fragments. Conclusions: Detection of potential interferences may be accomplished through alarm information and flagging algorithms incorporated into the instrument and by examination of a blood film to ensure absence of relevant interferences.

为验证不同超声谱测量和分析方式对颗粒粒度测试的影响,设计了一种非侵入式超声波透射和多次反射信号同步测量实验装置.采用脉冲回波法、反射比样法和透射法分别对体积分数为1％～4％的聚苯乙烯-水悬浮液进行实验,结合理论模型,分析超声波在颗粒两相体系中的衰减谱、相速度谱和阻抗谱.以ECAH模型为理论基础,结合ORT反演算法,对不同超声谱进行反演获得了聚苯乙烯样品颗粒粒径分布.将上述结果与图像法对比,颗粒中位径结果偏差均在15％之内,3种谱分析的粒径分布也较为吻合.

To improve the accuracy of particle image reconstruction, a new image reconstruction method, improved binary back projection algorithm using triangular-criteria (IBBPAT) for in-line ultrasound processing tomography (UPT), is presented. An ultrasonic transducer array consisting of eight transducers working as both transmitters and receivers and 16 ultrasonic transducers working only as receivers, is adopted in the simulation. The transducers that also function as transmitters emit fan-shaped ultrasonic waves. Based on multiphysics software (COMSOL Inc., Palo Alto, CA), signals scattering a cylindrical wave by different distribution of bubble particles are simulated. The results are entered in to IBBPAT for bubbles reconstruction and then the position and size of each bubble particle are accurately reconstructed. As indicated by the final results, spatial image error (SIE) of IBBPAT is clearly less than that of binary back projection algorithm (BBPA).

The influence of pulverized coal irregularity on acoustic attenuation is investigated, the relationship among the ultrasonic attenuation, the volume fraction and size of pulverized coal is established, and the theoretical dependence of retrieved pulverized coal volume fraction and particle size is formed with experimental data. The signal excitation of superposed wave is proposed to boost integration level of the experimental setup at two different frequencies of 40 kHz and 200 kHz for in-line measurement. Then, a comprehensive method integrating Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) and fast Fourier transform (FFT) is conducted for the effective signal identification during the signal processing. In the meantime, the influences of the designed probes on the flow field are analyzed by numerical simulation. In-line measurements are carried out at different zones/depths of the pneumatic pipelines, including one-hour continuous monitoring. The particle size comparison between imaging and ultrasonic methods shows that the latter is effective, which yields an average deviation of about 15%, and the obtained average volume fraction of pulverized coal is approximately 0.112%.

Objective To assess the performance of reticulocyte(RET) determination and its specific parameters by SYSMEX XN-9000 hematology analyzer,and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of anemia. Methods A total of 508 specimens were collected. New methylene blue(NMB) visual microscopy method and SYSMEX XN-9000 for the determination of RET count were compared,and the interference factors were analyzed. The precision,carry-over rate,comparability,accuracy and interference factors of RET determination by SYSMEX XN-9000 were evaluated according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)-the International Council for Standardization in Haematology(ICSH)document H44-A2. The correlation analysis was performed by linear regression analysis and pairedt test. The consistency test was performed by Bland-Altman test,and the interference factors were assessed byttest orWilcoxon rank sum test.Results The coefficient of determination(r2) between NMB visual microscopy method and SYSMEX XN-9000 was 0.97,and the consistency rate was 91.7％. The precision,carry-over rate,accuracy and stability were within allowable ranges. Linear range and normal reference interval met the requirements of verification. The main sources of spuriously high RET counts were erythrocytosis,thrombocytosis,erythrocyte fragments and nucleated erythrocytes,especially autofluorescence due to drugs and malaria.Conclusions SYSMEX XN-9000 for the determination of RET count has good performance. Potential interference may exist，which should be corrected in time.

超声过程层析成像能可靠地表征颗粒两相流的空间分布.为增加有效投影数据量,提出一种融合超声波透射和反射信息的双模式超声过程层析成像方法.设计了基于聚偏氟乙烯压电薄膜的微型传感器阵列,搭建24通道超声成像系统,并提出扫描过程中识别、提取透射波和反射波的方法,实现对扫描路径上的超声透射波和反射波同步测量.对四个不同的钢珠颗粒体系进行了数值和实验研究:通过COMSOL软件仿真获得成像区的声压分布,发现颗粒尺寸的测量下限应大于换能器发射面宽度;其后分别采用透射、反射和双模式成像方法对钢珠颗粒体系进行实验研究.结果对比表明,双模式超声成像方法从图像去噪和颗粒轮廓增强方面明显改进了超声层析成像效果.

Human African trypanosomiasis is endemic to parts of sub-Saharan Africa and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients who have visited or lived in Africa. We report a 2017 case of stage 2 Trypanosoma brucei gambiense disease in an emigrant who returned to China from Gabon.