Description: Accumulating evidence has shown that cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for ischemic stroke. However, it is not clear about the potential mechanisms through which cigarette smoking affects stroke ri...

Description: To effectively manage and save energy and natural resources, the measurement and monitoring of gas/fluid flows play extremely important roles. The objective of this study was to incorporate an efficient power generation and a power management system for a commercial water flow meter thus eliminating the usage of batteries. Three major technologies have made this possible: a low power consumption metering unit, a cog-resistance-free generator with high efficiency; and an effective methodology to extract/store energy. In this system, a new attempt and simple approach was developed to successfully extract a portion of the kinetic energy from the fluid/air, store it in a capacitor and used it efficiently. The resistance to the flow was negligible because of the very low power consumption as well as the application of the coreless generator technology. Feasibility was demonstrated through repeated experiments: for air flowing in an 11 mm diameter pipe, 18 s of energy harvesting at 10 revolution-per-second (RPS) turbine speeds generated enough power for the flowmeter to operate for 720 s with a flowrate of 20 RPS, without battery or any external power. The pipeline monitoring in remote areas such as deep sea oil drilling; geothermal power plants and even nuclear power plants could benefit greatly from this self-power metering system design.

Description: Background: Hypertensive putaminal haemorrhage comprises major part of intra-cerebral haemorrhages, with particularly high morbidity and mortality. However, the optimal treatments for these individuals remain controversial. Methods: From June 2010 to August 2013, patients with hypertensive putaminal haemorrhages were treated in the Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital. Information regarding the age, signs of cerebral herniation, haematoma volume, intra-ventricular haemorrhage, intra-cerebral haemorrhage score and the treatments of each patient were analyzed retrospectively. The outcome was evaluated by the 30-day mortality rate. Results: The 30-day mortality rate of the patients with haematomas volume greater than or equal to 30 ml and intra-cerebral haemorrhage scores of 1 or 2 was decreased in the surgical group compared with those in the conservative group (1.92% VS. 21.40%, OR = 0.072, p = 0.028; 15.40% VS. 33.3%, OR = 0.365, p = 0.248, respectively). The mortality rate of the patients with signs of cerebral herniation was not significantly different between the surgical and conservative groups (83.30% VS. 100%; p = 0.529). The intra-cerebral haemorrhage score was significantly associated with the 30-day mortality rate of patients with intra-cerebral haemorrhages (r = -0.798, p 〈 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with basal ganglia haematomas volume greater than or equal to 30 ml and intra-cerebral haemorrhage scores of 1 or 2 could benefit from the surgical removal of haematomas. The intra-cerebral haemorrhage score can accurately predict the 30-day mortality rate of patients with hypertensive putaminal haemorrhages.

Description: Background: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is one of the leading causes of death and adult disability worldwide. In the present study, we aimed to develop a web-based risk model for predicting dynamic functional status at discharge, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year after acute ischemic stroke (Dynamic Functional Status after Acute Ischemic Stroke, DFS-AIS). Methods: The DFS-AIS was developed based on the China National Stroke Registry (CNSR), in which eligible patients were randomly divided into derivation (60%) and validation (40%) cohorts. Good functional outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score???2 at discharge, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year after AIS, respectively. Independent predictors of each outcome measure were obtained using multivariable logistic regression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and plot of observed and predicted risk were used to assess model discrimination and calibration. Results: A total of 12,026 patients were included and the median age was 67 (interquartile range: 57?75). The proportion of patients with good functional outcome at discharge, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year after AIS was 67.9%, 66.5%, 66.9% and 66.9%, respectively. Age, gender, medical history of diabetes mellitus, stroke or transient ischemic attack, current smoking and atrial fibrillation, pre-stroke dependence, pre-stroke statins using, admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, admission blood glucose were identified as independent predictors of functional outcome at different time points after AIS. The DFS-AIS was developed from sets of predictors of mRS???2 at different time points following AIS. The DFS-AIS demonstrated good discrimination in the derivation and validation cohorts (AUROC range: 0.837-0.845). Plots of observed versus predicted likelihood showed excellent calibration in the derivation and validation cohorts (all r?=?0.99, P?

Description: The main purpose of this research is to analyze the performance of an evaporator for the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system and discuss the influence of the evaporator on the operating characteristics of diesel engine. A simulation model of fin-and-tube evaporator of the ORC system is established by using Fluent software. Then, the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the exhaust at the evaporator shell side are obtained, and then the performance of the fin-and-tube evaporator of the ORC system is analyzed based on the field synergy principle. The field synergy angle (β) is the intersection angle between the velocity vector and the temperature gradient. When the absolute values of velocity and temperature gradient are constant and β 〈 90°, heat transfer enhancement can be achieved with the decrease of the β. When the absolute values of velocity and temperature gradient are constant and β >90°, heat transfer enhancement can be achieved with the increase of the β. Subsequently, the influence of the evaporator of the ORC system on diesel engine performance is studied. A simulation model of the diesel engine is built by using GT–Power software under various operating conditions, and the variation tendency of engine power, torque, and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) are obtained. The variation tendency of the power output and BSFC of diesel engine–ORC combined system are obtained when the evaporation pressure ranges from 1.0 MPa to 3.5 MPa. Results show that the field synergy effect for the areas among the tube bundles of the evaporator main body and the field synergy effect for the areas among the fins on the windward side are satisfactory. However, the field synergy effect in the areas among the fins on the leeward side is weak. As a result of the pressure drop caused by the evaporator of the ORC system, the diesel engine power and torque decreases slightly, whereas the BSFC increases slightly with the increase of exhaust back pressure. With the increase of engine speed, power loss, torque loss, and BSFC increment increase gradually, where the most significant change is less than 1%. Compared with the diesel engine itself, the maximum increase of power output of the diesel engine–ORC combined system is 6.5% and the maximum decrease of BSFC is 6.1%.

Description: Energies, Vol. 11, Pages 318: Icing Condition Assessment of In-Service Glass Insulators Based on Graphical Shed Spacing and Graphical Shed Overhang Energies doi: 10.3390/en11020318 Authors: Yanpeng Hao Jie Wei Xiaolan Jiang Lin Yang Licheng Li Junke Wang Hao Li Ruihai Li Icing on transmission lines might lead to ice flashovers of insulators, collapse of towers, tripping faults of transmission lines, and other accidents. Shed spacing and shed overhang of insulators are clues for evaluating the probability of ice flashover. This paper researches image-processing methods for the natural icing of in-service glass insulators. Calculation methods of graphical shed spacing and graphical shed overhang are proposed via recognizing the convexity defects of the contours of an icing insulator string based on the GrabCut segmentation algorithm. The experiments are carried out with image data from our climatic chamber and the China Southern Power Grid Disaster (Icing) Warning System of Transmission Lines. The results show that the graphical shed overhang of insulators show evident change due to icing. This method can recognize the most serious icing conditions where the insulator sheds are completely bridged. Also, it can detect bridging positions including the left side, right side, or both sides of the insulator strings in the images.