Comprehensive assessment and variation characteristics of the drought intensity in North China based on EID

Under the new background of climate change, it is very important to identify the characteristics of drought in North China. Based on the daily Meteorological Drought Comprehensive Index from 494 national meteorological stations in North China during 1961–2019, the drought processes and their intensity are identified by applying the ‘extreme’ intensity-duration theory. Then, the stage variation characteristics of the drought trend, the average drought intensity and the drought frequency are analyzed. The results show that among the five drought intensity indexes the process maximum intensity demonstrates the greatest correlation coefficient with the disaster rate of drought in North China. Therefore, the process maximum intensity of drought is selected as the annual drought intensity to analyze the drought characteristics in North China. According to the climate warming trends, the study period is divided into three stages, i.e., 1951–1984 (stage I), 1985–1997 (stage II) and 1998–2019(stage III). The comprehensive results show that the drought intensity in North China has significant stage characteristics. In stage I, the drought shows an increasing trend in most parts of North China, but its average intensity is relatively weaker, with a lower severe drought frequency. The drought also shows an increasing trend in most parts in stage II, with a more significant increase rate than that in stage I, and the average drought intensity is the strongest and the severe drought frequency is the highest. In stage III, the drought shows a decreasing trend in some areas, and the average intensity is the weakest, with a lower severe drought frequency.

Deep Learning Using Multiple Degrees of Maximum-Intensity Projection for PET/CT Image Classification in Breast Cancer

Deep learning (DL) has become a remarkably powerful tool for image processing recently. However, the usefulness of DL in positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for breast cancer (BC) has been insufficiently studied. This study investigated whether a DL model using images with multiple degrees of PET maximum-intensity projection (MIP) images contributes to increase diagnostic accuracy for PET/CT image classification in BC. We retrospectively gathered 400 images of 200 BC and 200 non-BC patients for training data. For each image, we obtained PET MIP images with four different degrees (0°, 30°, 60°, 90°) and made two DL models using Xception. One DL model diagnosed BC with only 0-degree MIP and the other used four different degrees. After training phases, our DL models analyzed test data including 50 BC and 50 non-BC patients. Five radiologists interpreted these test data. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated. Our 4-degree model, 0-degree model, and radiologists had a sensitivity of 96%, 82%, and 80–98% and a specificity of 80%, 88%, and 76–92%, respectively. Our 4-degree model had equal or better diagnostic performance compared with that of the radiologists (AUC = 0.936 and 0.872–0.967, p = 0.036–0.405). A DL model similar to our 4-degree model may lead to help radiologists in their diagnostic work in the future.

First Record of Pseudocapillaria tomentosa (Dujardin, 1845) Moravec, 1987 in Cultured Grass Carp in Basrah Province, Iraq

A total of 110 specimens of cultured grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (Pisces: Cyprinidae) were collected from three different fish pond stations in Basrah province, during the period from March till July 2007. Postmortem parasitological examinations indicated infection of the grass carp with the nematode Pseudocapillaria tomentosa and this infection occurred only in Faddak fish ponds during all months of investigation. The maximum incidence of infection was 26.6% in April, while the maximum intensity of infection was 8.5 in June. The present finding of this nematodes represents its first record in Iraqi fishes.

Diagnosis of the functional state of the photosynthetic apparatus Taraxacum officinale (L.) Weber ex F. H. Wigg. by the method of chlorophyll fluorescence induction

The informativeness is established of the method of induction of chlorophyll fluorescence for bioindication in the conditions of anthropogenic influence on the example of T. officinale plants, by the parameters: F0, Fm, Fst, Fv, Fv/Fm та k1, k2. The main parameters of the induction curve can be used as test indicators to determine the resistance of plants to adverse factors. Changes in these indicators characterize the processes associated with the influence of the environment on the course of both light and dark phases of photosynthetic processes in chloroplasts. The photosensitivity of T. offic- inale leaves, which indicates the physiological state of plants, decreases with increasing adverse external influences. It is established that the plants of T. officinale have the maximum intensity of photosynthesis, which grow in more favorable ecological conditions control. Therefore, the use of the device «Floratest» to determine the condition of plants at different levels of anthropogenic load is promising and requires further research.

SEISMICITY of the NORTHERN CAUCASUS in 2015

Seismic monitoring in the region in 2015 was carried out by a seismic network consisting of 59 stations. Digital equipment was installed at all stations in the second half of the year. The network capability was assessed by the level of seismic noise at the stations: in most of the region, the network provided registration of an earthquake from КR7.0, in the central (including the Greater Sochi region) and eastern parts of the region – КR6.0, and in some local zones with КR5.5. 2,276 earthquakes were registered, 17 earthquakes were felt in the settlements of the Caucasus. The maximum intensity VII at MSK-64 (SSI-17) scale was noted from the earthquake in the territory of Azerbaijan. The earthquake on November 3, which occurred on the platform territory within the Stavropol arch, felt IV at MSK-64. The strongest earthquakes were recorded in the Terek-Caspian and Kura troughs and in the eastern part of the Greater Caucasus. The seismicity of the North Caucasus in 2015 in accordance with the seismicity scale "SOUS-09" was set as the "background average" for the observation period from 1962 to 2015.

CHINGIZ EARTHQUAKE on January 20, 2015, KR=12.2, mb=5.6, I_0^P=5–6 NEAR the SEMIPALATINSK POLYGON (Eastern Kazakhstan)

The work presents the results of data analysis of the earthquake on January 20, 2015, mb=5.6 occurred at the low-active region of Eastern Kazakhstan near the border of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. The work briefly describes the seismicity of the Semipalatinsk Test Site related to aseismic regions according to the acting map of general seismic zoning. The earthquake was recorded by permanent seismic stations of the Institute of Geophysical Research of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and by two strong-motion accelerometers. The earthquake was felt at distances up to 300 km from the epicentre, its maximum intensity was noted at Medeu settlement where the shaking intensity was 56 by the MSK-64 scale. The earthquake focal mechanism is shown, the parameters of seismic effects and response spectra are calculated.

In Search of Salience: Focus Detection in the Speech of Different Talkers

Many different prosodic cues can help listeners predict upcoming speech. However, no research to date has assessed listeners’ processing of preceding prosody from different speakers. The present experiments examine (1) whether individual speakers (of the same language variety) are likely to vary in their production of preceding prosody; (2) to the extent that there is talker variability, whether listeners are flexible enough to use any prosodic cues signaled by the individual speaker; and (3) whether types of prosodic cues (e.g., F0 versus duration) vary in informativeness. Using a phoneme-detection task, we examined whether listeners can entrain to different combinations of preceding prosodic cues to predict where focus will fall in an utterance. We used unsynthesized sentences recorded by four female native speakers of Australian English who happened to have used different preceding cues to produce sentences with prosodic focus: a combination of pre-focus overall duration cues, F0 and intensity (mean, maximum, range), and longer pre-target interval before the focused word onset (Speaker 1), only mean F0 cues, mean and maximum intensity, and longer pre-target interval (Speaker 2), only pre-target interval duration (Speaker 3), and only pre-focus overall duration and maximum intensity (Speaker 4). Listeners could entrain to almost every speaker’s cues (the exception being Speaker 4’s use of only pre-focus overall duration and maximum intensity), and could use whatever cues were available even when one of the cue sources was rendered uninformative. Our findings demonstrate both speaker variability and listener flexibility in the processing of prosodic focus.

Solitons propagation dynamics in a saturable PT-symmetric fractional medium

In the current research, the propagation of solitons in a saturable PT-symmetric fractional system is studied by solving nonlinear fractional Schrödinger equation. Three numerical methods are employed for this purpose, namely Monte Carlo based Euler-Lagrange variational schema, split-step method, and extrapolation approach. The results show good agreement and accuracy. The effect of different parameters such as potential depth, Levy indices, and saturation parameter, on the physical properties of the systems such as maximum intensity and soliton width oscillations are considered.

Prediction of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Grading Risk Based on Quantitative Radiomic Analysis of MR

BackgroundPancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) grade is very important for treatment strategy of PNETs. The present study aimed to find the quantitative radiomic features for predicting grades of PNETs in MR images.Materials and MethodsTotally 48 patients but 51 lesions with a pathological tumor grade were subdivided into low grade (G1) group and intermediate grade (G2) group. The ROI was manually segmented slice by slice in 3D-T1 weighted sequence with and without enhancement. Statistical differences of radiomic features between G1 and G2 groups were analyzed using the independent sample t-test. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to find better predictors in distinguishing G1 and G2 groups. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was constructed to assess diagnostic performance of each model.ResultsNo significant difference between G1 and G2 groups (P > 0.05) in non-enhanced 3D-T1 images was found. Significant differences in the arterial phase analysis between the G1 and the G2 groups appeared as follows: the maximum intensity feature (P = 0.021); the range feature (P = 0.039). Multiple logistic regression analysis based on univariable model showed the maximum intensity feature (P=0.023, OR = 0.621, 95% CI: 0.433–0.858) was an independent predictor of G1 compared with G2 group, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.695.ConclusionsThe maximum intensity feature of radiomic features in MR images can help to predict PNETs grade risk.

Secondary Headache Disorders

In the evaluation of a patient with headache, the first task is to differentiate between a secondary headache and a primary headache. This step is essential because secondary causes of headache may require vastly different evaluation and treatment than primary headache disorders. Thunderclap headache (TCH) is an acute, severe headache with an abrupt onset, reaching maximum intensity in less than 1 minute. TCH is a neurologic emergency and should immediately prompt an urgent evaluation for a secondary headache.