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Localization based on visual natural landmarks is one of the state-of-the-art localization methods for automated vehicles that is, however, limited in fast motion and low-texture environments, which can lead to failure. This paper proposes an approach to solve these limitations with an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based on a state estimation algorithm that fuses information from a low-cost MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit and a Time-of-Flight camera. We demonstrate our results in an indoor environment. We show that the proposed approach does not require any global reflective landmark for localization and is fast, accurate, and easy to use with mobile robots.
The present work studies numerically the quasi-steady propagation of a hydrogen/oxygen detonation in a supersonic model combustor consisting of a cavity and an expanding wall. The two-dimensional reactive compressible Navier–Stokes equations with a one-step and two-species reaction model are solved using a hybrid sixth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory-centred difference scheme combined with a structured adaptive mesh refinement technique. The results show that, after the shutdown of the hot jet, the detonation wave is successfully stabilized quasi-steadily in the supersonic model combustor together with periodic fluctuations of the detonation front. The formation of the quasi-steady propagation of detonation in the model combustor is mainly due to the combined effects of (i) pressure oscillations generated in the cavity, which facilitate the detonation propagation, and (ii) lateral mass divergence brought by the expanding wall, which can lead to detonation attenuation, and an unburned jet associated with large-scale vortices resulting from a Prandtl–Meyer expansion fan. This expansion fan is generated because of the expanding wall, which can contribute to the detonation stabilization. It is found that, for an incoming velocity lower than the Chapman–Jouguet value, a quasi-steady propagation of the detonation wave cannot be achieved. However, for incoming velocity higher than the Chapman–Jouguet value, a stabilization can be realized. This is effectively due to the formation of a periodic process, including four stages of forward propagation, detonation attenuation, backward propagation and detonation bifurcation, indicating the influence of the supersonic model combustor on the overall process.
Preoperative nutritional status plays an important role in predicting postoperative outcomes. Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) are good tools to assess patients’ nutritional status. They have been used in predicting outcomes in various malignancies, but few studies have focused on pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Totally, 306 PDAC patients were enrolled. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was introduced to eliminate the baseline inequivalence. Patients with different PNI (or CONUT) scores showed inequivalence baseline characteristics, and patients with compromised nutritional status were related with a more advanced tumour stage. After PSM, the baseline characteristics were well balanced. Both low PNI (≤45) and high CONUT (≥3) were independent risk factors for poor overall survival (P < 0·05), and the result remained the same after PSM. Survival analysis demonstrated both patients with low PNI and high CONUT score were associated with poorer survival, and the result remained the same after PSM. The results of AUC indicated that CONUT might have a higher sensitivity and specificity in predicting complications and survival. Preoperative low PNI (≤45) and high CONUT (≥3) scores might be reliable predictors of prognosis and surgical complications in PDAC patients. Compared with PNI, CONUT might be more effective.
Several studies analysed the associations between dietary carbohydrate intake, glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) and digestive system cancers; however, the results remain controversial. This study was to perform a meta-analysis evaluating the quantitative and dose–response associations between carbohydrate intake, GI and GL, and risk of digestive system cancers. We searched medical and biological databases up to June 2018 and identified twenty-six cohort studies and eighteen case–control studies. Meta-analytic fixed or random effects models were applied to process data. We also performed dose–response analysis, meta-regression and subgroup analyses. We found that high levels of GI were significantly associated with the risk of digestive system cancers at the highest compared with the lowest categories from cohort studies (summary relative risk (RR)=1·10, 95 % CI 1·05, 1·15). Similar effects were observed from case–control studies of the comparison between the extreme categories, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (summary OR=1·28, 95 % CI 0·97, 1·69). We also observed significant dose–response association between GI and digestive system cancers, with every 10-unit increase in GI (summary RR=1·003; 95 % CI 1·000, 1·012 for cohort studies; summary OR=1·09; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·11 for case–control studies). In addition, both cohort studies and case–control studies indicated that neither dietary carbohydrate intake nor GL bore any statistical relationship to digestive system cancers from the results of the highest compared with the lowest categories analyses and dose–response analyses. The results suggest a moderate association between high-GI diets and the risk of digestive system cancers.
In this study I take men from Donghai, a region of northeast China, as a case study for examining models of success in the Western Han (206 b.c.e.–9 c.e.). Employing digital tools to mine data from The Grand Scribe's Records (Shi ji) and The History of the Western Han (Han shu), I explore the social networks and career patterns of men from a region that enjoyed a reputation for producing a remarkable number of high officials and celebrated Ru. I focus on three questions. First, what was the social mechanism that enabled people to distinguish themselves at both the local and the imperial levels? Second, did these celebrated men from Donghai serve as bridges connecting the local to the capital, directing resources back to their hometown and helping their local fellows achieve success? Third, did their positions in the central government remove them from local society by transforming them into capital-dwelling elites primarily concerned about the success of their families in the central court? In addressing these questions, I probe the dynamics between bureaucratic hierarchy, social networks, and the flow of talent and resources. I investigate various understandings of prestige and the strategies for climbing the ladder of success. Furthermore, I ask which forms of social prestige—for example, academic reputation, wealth, social networks—could bypass the hierarchical system imposed by the imperial bureaucracy, providing direct access to lofty positions. Did the patterns of success seen in the Donghai group reflect a bias built into the sources, constitute a regional variation, or provide a universal model for success in early imperial China?
Study of the residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) can assist with the assessment of the contamination level, distribution, sources, transportation and trends in these selected OCPs. We investigated the concentration levels of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), chlordane, which is currently used, and the never-used aldrin and dieldrin in the Ningbo region – a heavily industrialised and urbanised area in East China. OCPs were found in all soil samples and were predominantly composed of HCHs, DDT and its metabolites. The concentration of DDTs in the soil ranged from 2.2 to 566.6ngg–1, with a mean value of 55.6±94.8ngg–1, while the concentration of HCHs ranged from 2.7 to 28.2ngg–1, with an average of 4.6±2.9ngg–1. Aldrin, dieldrin, endrin and heptachlor were detected at much lower concentrations. The wide distribution of these never-used OCPs indicates that they have been input via long-range atmospheric processes. The results from analysis suggest that HCHs and DDTs were mainly derived from use in historical times.
In the present work, the role of diffusion and mixing in hot jet initiation and detonation propagation in a supersonic combustible hydrogen–oxygen mixture is investigated in a two-dimensional channel. A second-order accurate finite volume method solver combined with an adaptive mesh refinement method is deployed for both the reactive Euler and Navier–Stokes equations in combination with a one-step and two-species reaction model. The results show that the small-scale vortices resulting from the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability enhance the reactant consumption in the inviscid result through the mixing. However, the suppression of the growth of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and the subsequent formation of small-scale vortices imposed by the diffusion in the viscous case can result in the reduction of the mixing rate, hence slowing the consumption of the reactant. After full initiation in the whole channel, the mixing becomes insufficient to facilitate the reactant consumption. This applies to both the inviscid and viscous cases and is due to the absence of the unburned reactant far away from the detonation front. Nonetheless, the stronger diffusion effect in the Navier–Stokes results can contribute more significantly to the reactant consumption closely behind the detonation front. However, further downstream the mixing is expected to be stronger, which eventually results in a stronger viscous detonation than the corresponding inviscid one. At high grid resolutions it is vital to correctly consider physical viscosity to suppress intrinsic instabilities in the detonation front, which can also result in the generation of less triple points even with a larger overdrive degree. Numerical viscosity was minimized to such an extent that inviscid results remained intrinsically unstable while asymptotically converged results were only obtained when the Navier–Stokes model was applied, indicating that solving the reactive Navier–Stokes equations is expected to give more correct descriptions of detonations.
Students of Chinese intellectual history are familiar with moral cosmology developed in the Han era, a theory that alleges that ru use omens to admonish the emperor, and thereby to constrain and compete with his absolute political power. This thesis, in theory, is convincing; in actuality it is not. This article questions the autonomous power of omen discourse. Focusing on the socio-political conditions in which this discourse functioned, it demonstrates that, in real politics, the enactment of omen interpretation had nothing to do with restraining the power of the throne, but evolved with bloody factional struggles. Replacing the secret knowledge of diviners and astrologers with the common cultural heritage—the classics—and transforming the mysterious otherworldly spirits into a moral agent, ru successfully defeated the technical specialists and became the primary operators of the omen interpretation enterprise. The theoretical innovation that contributed to ru's success, however, undermined their chance of building a social closure both to close off competition and to secure their interpretative authority. As numerous historical cases show, neither the ru classics nor the moral competence of the speaker add to the social efficacy of omen explanation: without monopolised knowledge, standardised hermeneutic rules, or institutionalised positions, omen discourse, rather than contesting political power, became its servant.
The association of 24 h urinary Na and potassium excretion with the risk of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) has not been studied in China. The aim of the present study was to examine this association by analysing the data from 1906 study participants living in north China. To this end, 24 h urine samples were collected. Of the 1906 participants, 471 (24·7 %) had the MetS. The mean urinary Na and K excretion was 228·7 and 40·8 mmol/d, respectively. After multivariate adjustment, the odds of the MetS significantly increased across the increasing tertiles of urinary Na excretion (1·00, 1·40 and 1·54, respectively). For the components of the MetS, the odds of central obesity, elevated blood pressure and elevated TAG, but not the odds of low HDL-cholesterol and elevated fasting glucose, significantly increased with the successive tertiles of urinary Na excretion. Furthermore, for every 100 mmol/d increase in urinary Na excretion, the odds of the MetS, central obesity, elevated blood pressure and elevated TAG was significantly increased by 29, 63, 22 and 21 %, respectively. However, urinary K excretion was not significantly associated with the risk of the MetS. These findings suggest that high Na intake might be an important risk factor for the MetS in Chinese adults.
To assess correlations between cruciferous vegetable intake and urinary isothiocyanate (ITC) level, in addition to glutathione S-transferase (GST) genotypes and other individual factors.
Design
The study included cohort participants whose urinary ITC levels had been previously ascertained. Urinary ITC was assessed using HPLC. Usual dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables was assessed using a validated FFQ and total dietary ITC intake was calculated. Recent cruciferous vegetable intake was determined. GST genotypes were assessed using duplex real-time quantitative PCR assays. Spearman correlations were calculated between the covariates and urinary ITC levels and linear regression analyses were used to calculate the mean urinary ITC excretion according to GST genotype.
Setting
Urban city in China.
Subjects
The study included 3589 women and 1015 men from the Shanghai Women’s and Men’s Health Studies.
Results
Median urinary ITC level was 1·61 nmol/mg creatinine. Self-reported usual cruciferous vegetable intake was weakly correlated with urinary ITC level (rs=0·1149; P<0·0001), while self-reported recent intake was more strongly correlated with urinary ITC (rs=0·2591; P<0·0001). Overall, the GST genotypes were not associated with urinary ITC level, but significant differences according to genotype were observed among current smokers and participants who provided an afternoon urine sample. Other factors, including previous gastrectomy or gastritis, were also related to urinary ITC level.
Conclusions
The study suggests that urinary secretion of ITC may provide additional information on cruciferous vegetable intake and that GST genotypes are related to urinary ITC level only in some subgroups.
Despite substantial research, uncertainty remains about the clinical and etiological heterogeneity of major depression (MD). Can meaningful and valid subtypes be identified and would they be stable cross-culturally?
Method.
Symptoms at their lifetime worst depressive episode were assessed at structured psychiatric interview in 6008 women of Han Chinese descent, age ⩾30 years, with recurrent DSM-IV MD. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed in Mplus.
Results.
Using the nine DSM-IV MD symptomatic A criteria, the 14 disaggregated DSM-IV criteria and all independently assessed depressive symptoms (n = 27), the best LCA model identified respectively three, four and six classes. A severe and non-suicidal class was seen in all solutions, as was a mild/moderate subtype. An atypical class emerged once bidirectional neurovegetative symptoms were included. The non-suicidal class demonstrated low levels of worthlessness/guilt and hopelessness. Patterns of co-morbidity, family history, personality, environmental precipitants, recurrence and body mass index (BMI) differed meaningfully across subtypes, with the atypical class standing out as particularly distinct.
Conclusions.
MD is a clinically complex syndrome with several detectable subtypes with distinct clinical and demographic correlates. Three subtypes were most consistently identified in our analyses: severe, atypical and non-suicidal. Severe and atypical MD have been identified in multiple prior studies in samples of European ethnicity. Our non-suicidal subtype, with low levels of guilt and hopelessness, may represent a pathoplastic variant reflecting Chinese cultural influences.
The symptoms of major depression (MD) are clinically diverse. Do they form coherent factors that might clarify the underlying nature of this important psychiatric syndrome?
Method
Symptoms at lifetime worst depressive episode were assessed at structured psychiatric interview in 6008 women of Han Chinese descent, age ⩾30 years with recurrent DSM-IV MD. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatoryfactor analysis (CFA) were performed in Mplus in random split-half samples.
Results
The preliminary EFA results were consistently supported by the findings from CFA. Analyses of the nine DSM-IV MD symptomatic A criteria revealed two factors loading on: (i) general depressive symptoms; and (ii) guilt/suicidal ideation. Examining 14 disaggregated DSM-IV criteria revealed three factors reflecting: (i) weight/appetite disturbance; (ii) general depressive symptoms; and (iii) sleep disturbance. Using all symptoms (n = 27), we identified five factors that reflected: (i) weight/appetite symptoms; (ii) general retarded depressive symptoms; (iii) atypical vegetative symptoms; (iv) suicidality/hopelessness; and (v) symptoms of agitation and anxiety.
Conclusions
MD is a clinically complex syndrome with several underlying correlated symptom dimensions. In addition to a general depressive symptom factor, a complete picture must include factors reflecting typical/atypical vegetative symptoms, cognitive symptoms (hopelessness/suicidal ideation), and an agitated symptom factor characterized by anxiety, guilt, helplessness and irritability. Prior cross-cultural studies, factor analyses of MD in Western populations and empirical findings in this sample showing risk factor profiles similar to those seen in Western populations suggest that our results are likely to be broadly representative of the human depressive syndrome.
The standing porous nanoplate-built ZnO hollow microspheres with micro/nanostructure are fabricated based on a modified hydrothermal strategy, using citrate as structural director, and subsequent annealing treatment. The hollow spheres are composed of the vertically standing and cross-linked single crystalline porous nanoplates with the exposed surface of nonpolar (100) planes. Experiments have revealed the structural evolution: the formation of amorphous spheres in the initial reaction stage, followed by surface crystallization and nanoplate outward growth accompanied by inward dissolution of the amorphous spheres. Citrate in the precursor solution plays a dominant role in the formation of such porous ZnO hollow spheres. A model is presented, based on citrate-induced amorphous sphere formation and kinetically controlled dissolution and crystal growth. The model describes the formation of the hollow spheres, thermodynamically and kinetically.
Atomic structures of the Zr48Cu45Al7 as-prepared and annealed metallic glasses (MGs) were investigated by performing the reverse Monte Carlo simulation on the synchrotron radiation-based experiments. It was found that although the annealed sample remains completely amorphous, the volumes of the Al-centered clusters evidently expand, which is attributed to the relatively longer Al–Zr bonds. As a result, the role of Al atoms as the glue atoms to connect and fix the Zr- and Cu-centered large clusters is accordingly weakened, which leads to the ease of the rearrangement of atoms and clusters in the glass state. This study provides an insight into the microstructures of MGs, which extends understanding of the structural evolution in the glass alloys during annealing prior to the precipitation of nanocrystals.
In China, many bird species are generally thought to be threatened mainly, or at least partly, by hunting. However, there have been few studies of bird hunting at a local scale. Bird hunting and trade in Nanmao, a remote mountainous village of Hainan Island, China, was investigated during March–July 2003 and September–October 2005. In total, 86 households were visited, of which 43% reported that they engaged in hunting of birds while 91% of households were seen to have hunted birds or hunting tools. This indicated that hunting by village people was widespread. Most hunters were male, and were between 12 and 68 years old. A total of 78 bird species were hunted, including 2 First Class and 19 Second Class national protected species. This extreme level of hunting has changed from a more moderate subsistence hunting tradition since about 1980, when local urban markets for wild meat started to develop. We outline a strategic plan designed to conserve birds, other wildlife and their forest habitats, whilst improving the livelihoods and preserving the minority tribal traditions of the people of Nanmao forest.
The microstructures of Zr70Cu30 and Zr70Ni30 metallic glasses (MGs) were investigated via the synchrotron radiation techniques combined with the reverse Monte-Carlo simulations. Although Cu and Ni are neighbor elements in the periodic table and their atomic radii are almost the same in length, it is found that atomic- and cluster-scale structural differences occur between these two Zr-based MGs. In particular, the relatively regular clusters caused by the narrow distributions of atomic separations and bond angles are detected in Zr70Cu30. This is the structural origin of the different glass-forming abilities in ZrCu and ZrNi alloys. This work has implications for understanding of the glass-forming mechanism in this class of glassy materials.