Analysis of patient self-assessment visual analogue scales

The present paper describes an example of practical analysis of data from an application of visual analogue scales. Potentially useful and simple methods for analysing visual analogue scales are described for effective handling of complex data when the desire is to compare two or more groups of patients. Visual analogue scales were used to assess subjective tolerability in the International Prospective Primary Prevention Study in Hypertension, a large scale clinical trial. The methods are illustrated on the IPPPSH data.     

Discrimination of crude and processed rhubarb products using a chemometric approach based on ultra fast liquid chromatography with ion trap/time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Crude rhubarb subjected to different processing procedures will produce different therapeutic effects that are possibly due to processing‐induced variation in chemical composition. In this study, a chemometric approach based on ultra fast liquid chromatography with ion trap/time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry was established to systematically investigate the chemical variations of rhubarb induced by different processing methods. The approach was validated based on pooled quality‐control samples from two perspectives: the individual properties of variables and the bulk properties of samples. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis was introduced to compare the differences between crude and processed rhubarb products. A total of 20 significantly different markers were screened out and unambiguously/tentatively characterized. This research proved that a chemometric method based on ultra fast liquid chromatography with ion trap/time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry can comprehensively analyze the chemical variation of herbal medicine and provide evidence for a deeper understanding of the pharmacological activities of processed rhubarb products.     

A Universal equipment for biaxial stretching of polymer films

A biaxial stretching equipment was designed and constructed to enable fundamental studies of the relationship between film processing conditions and structures of oriented film products. With programmable drive motors and scissorlike mechanism, all stretching modes, including uniaxial stretching with constant and free width, simultaneous and sequential biaxial stretching, can be applied to a square-shaped sheet. Parameters related to film stretching manufacturing, such as temperature, draw ratio and stretching speed can be set independently to meet the requirement of different polymers. The force information during stretching is recorded by two miniature tension sensors in two directions independently, which can monitor the mechanical stimulus and stress response. Using this equipment, experiments are conducted to investigate the influence of stretching parameters on the structure of polypropylene films, which provides an effective method to tailor the processing conditions to obtain the films with desired properties.     

光纤陀螺捷联系统标定测试软件的设计与开发

基于 windows 平台,采用 VC 6.0 开发了光纤陀螺捷联惯组标定测试软件,着重阐述了该软件的设计思想和关键技术的实现。该软件实现了对光纤陀螺捷联组合误差系数的标定与测试,为光纤陀螺捷联系统标定测试提供了方便,具有很强的工程实用价值。     

双通道高速数据采集处理平台的设计与实现

为满足数字式测向接收机对高速数据采集和处理的需求,研制了高速数据采集处理平台,该平台基于ADC12D1800RF模数转换器实现了两路1.35GHz中频信号的带通采样,以Xilinx公司V7系列FPGA为数据处理器,采用高速DDR3作为存储设备解决了海量数据存储问题,并通过高速串行接口（GTX/SRIO）实现了大容量数据的实时传输。该平台的测试结果为：1.8GHz采样率时有效位数大于8bit,DDR3存储器的工作主频可达1333MHz,GTX接口在10Gbps速率下工作时,其误码率小于10-9,上述测试结果表明该平台可以高速、准确地实现信号采集、数据传输、存储和处理,达到了预期设计目标。     

A visual strip sensor for determination of iron

A visual strip has been developed for sensing iron in different aqueous samples like natural water and fruit juices. The sensor has been synthesized by UV-radiation induced graft polymerization of acrylamide monomer in microporous poly(propylene) base. For physical immobilization of iron selective reagent, the in situ polymerization of acrylamide has been carried out in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline. The loaded strip on interaction with Fe(II) in aqueous solution turned into orange red color and the intensity of the color was found to be directly proportional to the amount of Fe(II) in the aqueous sample. The minimal sensor response with naked eye was found for 50 ng mL⁻¹ of Fe in 15 min of interaction. However, as low as 20 ng mL⁻¹ Fe could be quantified using a spectrophotometer. The detection limit calculated using the 3s/S criteria, where ‘s’ is the standard deviation of the absorbance of blank reagent loaded strip and ‘S’ is the slope of the linear calibration plot, was 1.0 ng mL⁻¹. The strip was applied to measure Fe in a variety of samples such as ground water and fruit juices.     

Determination of dissolved organic matter based on UV-light induced reduction of ionic silver to metallic nanoparticles by humic and fulvic acids

We describe a novel solution-based method for the determination of dissolved organic matter (DOM) relying on the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) via photo-stimulated reduction of silver ions by humic and fulvic acids. The method is based on natural driven formation of nanoscale materials yielding a direct relationship between DOM concentration and AgNPs formation. The aqueous dispersion of the formed AgNPs show strong and uniform UV–Vis absorption bands between 450 and 550 nm irrespectively of DOM nature and properties (i.e. humic or fulvic acids). The ensuing chromatic shift accompanying the appearance of the new absorption bands is easily conceivable by a simple spectrophotometer and the bare eye, holding great promise for the on-site, instrumental-free screening of DOM levels. Under the optimum experimental conditions the determination of DOM was successfully demonstrated to various water samples with high sensitivity (<1.0 mg L⁻¹), satisfactory recoveries (87.5–123.5%) and reproducibility (5.87–6.73%).     

Game-theoretic solutions through intelligent optimization for efficient resource management in wireless visual sensor networks

We propose a quality-driven cross-layer optimization scheme for wireless direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) visual sensor networks (VSNs). The scheme takes into account the fact that different nodes image videos with varying amounts of motion and determines the source coding rate, channel coding rate, and power level for each node under constraints on the available bit rate and power. The objective is to maximize the quality of the video received by the centralized control unit (CCU) from each node. However, since increasing the power level of one node will lead to increased interference with the rest of the nodes, simultaneous maximization of the video qualities of all nodes is not possible. In fact, there are an infinite number of Pareto-optimal solutions. Thus, we propose the use of the Nash bargaining solution (NBS), which pinpoints one of the infinite Pareto-optimal solutions, based on the stipulation that the solution should satisfy four fairness axioms. The NBS results in a mixed-integer optimization problem, which is solved using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The presented experimental results demonstrate the advantages of the NBS compared with alternative optimization criteria.     

数字电视用户接收系统中常见故障及处理方法

本文简要介绍有线数字电视用户室内接收系统中机顶盒及智能卡常见的故障、故障原因及排除方法。