With a history of more than 100 years, Chuquicamata has become one of the largest open pits in the world. Its current depth of 1100 m, length of 4500 m and width of 3000 m, resulting in haulage distances of over 11,00...With a history of more than 100 years, Chuquicamata has become one of the largest open pits in the world. Its current depth of 1100 m, length of 4500 m and width of 3000 m, resulting in haulage distances of over 11,000 m from pit bottom to the processing plant or waste dumps, with waste/ore ratio greater than 4 and much lower grades, are effectively determining its profitable limit by the end of this decade. Currently, there are over 4300 Mt of geological resources containing 0.7% of copper and 340 ppm (1 ppm = 1 g/t) of molybdenum below the final pit shell. The corresponding orebody geometry is 3000 m northsouth, 300-800 m eastwest and the drilling campaign suggested the existence of more than 900 m of mineable ore from the final pit bottom. This is in spite of the fact that the Chuquicamata orebody is still open at depth. The business case to continue with the mining of the Chuquicamata orebody is to change from the current large open pit to a novel macroblock variant block caving geometry. This requires a production rate of 140,000 t/d (50 Mt per annum), with a continuous material handling system to achieve the 7-year ramp-up to full production. The resolution of a number of known technical, operational and logistical challenges outside current industry practises which Chuquicamata will face over its projected 40-year mine life is therefore essential. These challenges include simultaneous operations of open pit and underground macroblocks and from the initial lift to the second lift, rapid ramp-up and optimum sequencing of the planned macroblocks, early dilution from the west fault and late dilution from potential slope failures, and the potential for major operational hazards. An equally important issue to be addressed is cultural given that the mining history in the northern region of Chile, which includes Chuquicamata, is predominantly open pit. This paper presents a synopsis of the main challenges that the Chuquicamata underground project will face in order to meet the objectives of its corresponding business case. Those discussed and how they were resolved are: simultaneous operations, rapid ramp-up and optimum sequencing of the planned macroblocks, and early and late dilutions. The project is an example of the fact that there are no recipes or cook books in cave mining.展开更多
A double-tapered AlGaN electron blocking layer(EBL)is proposed to apply in a deep ultraviolet semiconductor laser diode.Compared with the inverse double-tapered EBL,the laser with the double-tapered EBL shows a higher...A double-tapered AlGaN electron blocking layer(EBL)is proposed to apply in a deep ultraviolet semiconductor laser diode.Compared with the inverse double-tapered EBL,the laser with the double-tapered EBL shows a higher slope efficiency,which indicates that effective enhancement in the transportation of electrons and holes is achieved.Particularly,comparisons among the double-tapered EBL,the inverse double-tapered EBL,the singletapered EBL and the inverse single-tapered EBL show that the double-tapered EBL has the best performance in terms of current leakage.展开更多
A novel low-complexity iterative receiver for multiuser space frequency block coding (SFBC) system was proposed in this paper. Unlike the conventional linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector, which requires m...A novel low-complexity iterative receiver for multiuser space frequency block coding (SFBC) system was proposed in this paper. Unlike the conventional linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector, which requires matrix inversion at each iteration, the soft-in soft-out (SISO) detector is simply a parallel interference cancellation (PIC)-matched filter (MF) operation. The probability density function (PDF) of PIC-MF detector output is approximated as Gaussian, whose variance is calculated with a priori information fed back from the channel decoder. With this approximation, the log likelihood ratios (LLRs) of transmitted bits are under-estimated. Then the LLRs are multiplied by a constant factor to achieve a performance gain. The constant factor is optimized according to extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart of the SISO detector. Simulation results show that the proposed iterative receiver can significantly improve the system performance and converge to the matched filter bound (MFB) with low computational complexity at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).展开更多
The most commonly used method for assessing the hydraulic erodibility of rock is Annandale's method.This method is based on a correlation between the erosive force of flowing water and the capacity of rock resista...The most commonly used method for assessing the hydraulic erodibility of rock is Annandale's method.This method is based on a correlation between the erosive force of flowing water and the capacity of rock resistance. This capacity is evaluated using Kirsten's index, which was initially developed to evaluate the excavatability of earth materials. For rocky material, this index is determined according to certain geomechanical factors related to intact rock and rock mass, such as compressive strength of intact rock, rock block size, discontinuity shear strength and relative block structure. To quantify the relative block structure, Kirsten(1982) developed a mathematical expression that accounts for the shape and orientation of the blocks relative to the direction of flow. Kirsten's initial concept for assessing the relative block structure considers that the geological formation is mainly fractured by two joint sets forming an orthogonally fractured system. An adjusted concept is proposed to determine the relative block structure when the fractured system is non-orthogonal where the angle between the planes of the two joint sets is greater or less than 90°. An analysis of the proposed relative block structure rating shows that considering a non-orthogonally fractured system has a significant effect on Kirsten's index and, as a consequence, on the assessment of the hydraulic erodibility of rock.展开更多
Background: Pneumatic arterial tourniquet is a utilized strategy in limb surgeries to provide bloodless field to facilitate surgical procedure. Be that as it may, arterial tourniquet has numerous injurious impacts inc...Background: Pneumatic arterial tourniquet is a utilized strategy in limb surgeries to provide bloodless field to facilitate surgical procedure. Be that as it may, arterial tourniquet has numerous injurious impacts including hemodynamic changes and tourniquet-induced pain which sometimes can be severe and intolerable. Objectives: Our primary aim was to assess the impact of performing “Lumbar Plexus Block and sciatic nerve block” with General Anesthesia (GA) on the degree of arterial tourniquet-induced hemodynamic effects. On the other hand, our secondary aims were: amount of postoperative analgesic prerequisites, patient satisfactory score and documented side effects. Settings and Design: Ain Shams University, Orthopedic operating theatre;a prospective, randomized, double-blind study. Methods and Material: The physical status of 50 patients (both sexes) including I and II patients from American Society of Anesthesiologists, whose ages are from 20 - 40 years, is not so ideal when they are undergoing elective knee Arthroscopy. The duration lasts no more than ninety minutes under GA with application of tourniquet. Patients were allotted haphazardly to one of two groups. In Group C (Control group): Only GA. In Group B: LPB and sciatic nerve block were performed just before GA administration. Intraoperative hemodynamics was recorded at specific timings. Results: Incidence of tourniquet induced hypertension (TIH) was markedly less with Group B at: forty five, sixty, seventy five mins after tourniquet inflation and just before tourniquet deflation. Also, the total ketorolac consumption during first 24 hours of postoperative period was significantly less with Group B (p Conclusions: Combined Sciatic-Lumbar plexus blocks when combined with general anesthesia were very effective in attenuating TIH.展开更多
The western margin of Yangtze block and southwestern Sanjiang region absorbed much attention from geologists. It has been proved that there occurred a series of plate subduction, collision, assembly, rifting and break...The western margin of Yangtze block and southwestern Sanjiang region absorbed much attention from geologists. It has been proved that there occurred a series of plate subduction, collision, assembly, rifting and breakup processes between them since Palaeozoic and the tectonic evolutionary relationship between them is clear. But in Proterozoic this kind of links between them became unclear. Did they undergo the assembly and breakup processes of the Rodinia super continent? This paper will take a primary discussion on this question on the basis of basement component, structure characteristics and magmatic activities.1\ Basement features\;(1) In western margin of Yangtze block its basement is composed of crystalline basement and folded basement, a so\|called double\|layer structure. The crystalline basement is made up of Kangding group, Pudeng Formation and Dibadu Formation, among them Kangding group is a representative and composed mainly of migmatite, compositing gneiss, hornblende schist and granulitite. The isotopic age of crystalline basement is older than 1900Ma, so its geological time is late Archaean to early Proterozoic. The folded basement is composed of Dahongshan group, Hekou group, Kunyang group, Huili group and Yanbian group. Their rock associations are made up mainly of spilite\|keratophyre formation, carbonate formation, clastic rock and clastic rock formation with some basic volcanic rocks. The folded basement is assigned to be early and middle Proterozoic (1000～1700M a).展开更多
Purpose: Regadenoson (REG) is currently becoming the stress agent of choice in patients undergoing pharmacologic single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). However, in patients with left bundle branch block (...Purpose: Regadenoson (REG) is currently becoming the stress agent of choice in patients undergoing pharmacologic single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). However, in patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) and ventricular paced rhythm (VPR), hesitation exists amongst clinicians to use REG-SPECT due to the concern that the increased heart rate could cause false positive SPECT results. We sought to evaluate the comparability of A-SPECT and REG-SPECT in patients with LBBB and VPR. Methods: Retrospective study of 30 patients who served as their own controls. All 30 patients who underwent REG-SPECT (Grp 1) were compared to their prior A-SPECT (Grp 2) done within two years prior to REG-SPECT. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) parameters, ECG, stress perfusion and gated variables, SPECT ischemia, and side-effects were evaluated. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Grp 1 and Grp 2 were comparable in hemodynamic parameters with increase in HR and decrease in systolic and diastolic BP with administration of adenosine and REG stress agents. However, there were no significant differences found in hemodynamic parameters and II degree AV block between the groups. All normal A-SPECT were found to be normal with REG-SPECT. No differences could be found between the two groups among SPECT parameters. Muscle pain was significantly higher in REG (10.0% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.083) and so was the use of aminophylline (16.7% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.025) to relieve the side-effect. Conclusion: REG-SPECT can be administered in patients with LBBB and VPR patients based on favorable and comparable hemodynamic responses and arrhythmia occurrences to A-SPECT. REG-SPECT can also be used for adequate interpretation of presence or absence of SPECT ischemia particularly in the LAD territory without any concern for false positive perfusion defects.展开更多
Many applications require the solution of large un-symmetric linear systems with multiple right-hand sides.Instead of applying an iterative method to each of these systems individually,it is often more efficient to us...Many applications require the solution of large un-symmetric linear systems with multiple right-hand sides.Instead of applying an iterative method to each of these systems individually,it is often more efficient to use a block version of the method that generates iterates for all the systems simultaneously.This paper proposes a new adaptive block QMR version based on the incomplete or-thogomalization method(IOM(q))for solving large multi-ple nusymmetric linear systems.How to incorporate de-flation to drop comverged linear systems,and how to delete linearly and almost liearly dependent vectors in the underlying block Krylov sequences are discussed.Nu-merical experiments show that the new adaptive block method has better practical performance and less compu-tational cost and CPU time than block GMRES and other proposed methods for the solution of systems with multi- ple right-hand sides.展开更多
Theory has it that increasing the step length improves the accuracy of a method. In order to affirm this we increased the step length of the concept in [1] by one to get k = 5. The technique of collocation and interpo...Theory has it that increasing the step length improves the accuracy of a method. In order to affirm this we increased the step length of the concept in [1] by one to get k = 5. The technique of collocation and interpolation of the power series approximate solution at some selected grid points is considered so as to generate continuous linear multistep methods with constant step sizes. Two, three and four interpolation points are considered to generate the continuous predictor-corrector methods which are implemented in block method respectively. The proposed methods when tested on some numerical examples performed more efficiently than those of [1]. Interestingly the concept of self starting [2] and that of constant order are reaffirmed in our new methods.展开更多
Dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane con-ductance regulator(CFTR) chloride channel causes cys-tic fibrosis, while inappropriate activity of this channeloccurs in secretory diarrhea and polycystic kidney di...Dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane con-ductance regulator(CFTR) chloride channel causes cys-tic fibrosis, while inappropriate activity of this channeloccurs in secretory diarrhea and polycystic kidney dis-ease. Drugs that interact directly with CFTR are there-fore of interest in the treatment of a number of diseasestates. This review focuses on one class of small mol-ecules that interacts directly with CFTR, namely inhibi-tors that act by directly blocking chloride movementthrough the open channel pore. In theory such com-pounds could be of use in the treatment of diarrheaand polycystic kidney disease, however in practice allknown substances acting by this mechanism to inhibitCFTR function lack either the potency or specificity forin vivo use. Nevertheless, this theoretical pharmaco-logical usefulness set the scene for the developmentof more potent, specific CFTR inhibitors. Biophysically,open channel blockers have proven most useful as ex-perimental probes of the structure and function of theCFTR chloride channel pore. Most importantly, the useof these blockers has been fundamental in developing afunctional model of the pore that includes a wide innervestibule that uses positively charged amino acid sidechains to attract both permeant and blocking anionsfrom the cell cytoplasm. CFTR channels are also subjectto this kind of blocking action by endogenous anionspresent in the cell cytoplasm, and recently this blocking effect has been suggested to play a role in the physio-logical control of CFTR channel function, in particular as a novel mechanism linking CFTR function dynamically to the composition of epithelial cell secretions. It has also been suggested that future drugs could target this same pathway as a way of pharmacologically increasing CFTR activity in cystic fibrosis. Studying open channel blockers and their mechanisms of action has resulted in significant advances in our understanding of CFTR as a pharmacological target in disease states, of CFTR chan-nel structure and function, and of how CFTR activity is controlled by its local environment.展开更多
Better dealing with carbon issues can support the management of current greenhouse gas emissions while achieving energy economic diversification and energy security. Carbon dioxide displacement has become the most ack...Better dealing with carbon issues can support the management of current greenhouse gas emissions while achieving energy economic diversification and energy security. Carbon dioxide displacement has become the most acknowledged and practical method in enhanced oil recovery system. This is because of its oil sweep efficiency and ability to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emission. Nevertheless, it would lead to the organic solid phase deposition, which causes the changes of the wettability and the damages of wellbores and reservoirs. In this study, we used slim tube test and component test to research the dynamic characteristics of displacement process. In addition, the mechanism of porous media blockage was also investigated. Results show that when the displacement pressure closed to the minimum miscibility pressure, reservoir blockage in pore throat could happen. Component test characterizes that during near miscible displacement process, the components of oil sample varied obviously, the variation range of peak component carbon marks fluctuated strongly. Crude oil component differentiation could happen after carbon dioxide fully contacted with oil. Besides, the rapid extraction mechanism of aromatic hydrocarbons played a significant role in this process under such condition. The reason is that the solubility of saturated hydrocarbons to asphaltene and non-hydrocarbons is obviously weaker than aromatic hydrocarbons. Controlling the pressure is considered as an important link to prevent the occurrence of blocking in the carbon dioxide multiphase and multicomponent displacement process.展开更多
Genetic algorithms offer very good performances for solving large optimization problems, especially in the domain of error-correcting codes. However, they have a major drawback related to the time complexity and memor...Genetic algorithms offer very good performances for solving large optimization problems, especially in the domain of error-correcting codes. However, they have a major drawback related to the time complexity and memory occupation when running on a uniprocessor computer. This paper proposes a parallel decoder for linear block codes, using parallel genetic algorithms (PGA). The good performance and time complexity are confirmed by theoretical study and by simulations on BCH(63,30,14) codes over both AWGN and flat Rayleigh fading channels. The simulation results show that the coding gain between parallel and single genetic algorithm is about 0.7 dB at BER = 10﹣5 with only 4 processors.展开更多
Background: The Box and Block clinical test is a validated and standardized scale for use in the clinical environment that allows the assessment of rough manipulative dexterity. Proposing virtual methods to carry out ...Background: The Box and Block clinical test is a validated and standardized scale for use in the clinical environment that allows the assessment of rough manipulative dexterity. Proposing virtual methods to carry out these assessments is an attempt to eliminate some of the subjectivity that the test may entail depending on the observer and the way in which the patient gives instructions. Applied to the assessment of skills after neurological pathologies, previous experiences in stroke patients have been found. So, this work was centered on the Spinal Cord Injury. Objective: To present the virtual application of the Box and Block scale, as well as details about its design and development for its manipulation based on Leap Motion Controller. Methodology: The relationship between the results obtained in the actual test and in the virtual application in healthy subjects and, mostly, patients with cervical spinal cord injury is analyzed, obtaining a high correlation index between both tests’ performance. Results: A high correlation index was obtained between both tests performance, the real and virtual version of the Box and Block Test. Conclusion: This virtual test can serve as an element to evaluate in the future the effectiveness of the RehabHand prototype based on virtual reality applications with a therapeutic and a rehabilitative sense that, manipulated from Leap Motion Controller, allow the improvement of the manipulative dexterity in patients with neurological diseases such as spinal cord injury.展开更多
Modern buildings and blocks in open port city, which are an essential part of the urban context, possess unspoken values of material properties and cultural resources for the urban future. According to the investigati...Modern buildings and blocks in open port city, which are an essential part of the urban context, possess unspoken values of material properties and cultural resources for the urban future. According to the investigation of Taiyanggou Block and Lvshun Industrial School Site in Lvshun (China), this paper aims to discuss the understanding and conservation of modern heritage. Firstly, it interprets the opening of modern Lvshun and the formation of Taiyanggou Block to provide the fundamental knowledge. After a brief introduction of Lvshun Industrial School Site, the paper analyzes the problems in conservation practice and proposes countermeasures on heritage management and reuse strategy. Finally, it indicates that to conserve modern heritage means to preserve and to enhance their integrated values of space and culture in the framework of local development.展开更多
The following article has been retracted due to the investigation of complaints received against it. Title: A New Method of Construction of Robust Second Order Rotatable Designs Using Balanced Incomplete Block Designs...The following article has been retracted due to the investigation of complaints received against it. Title: A New Method of Construction of Robust Second Order Rotatable Designs Using Balanced Incomplete Block Designs Authors: Bejjam Re. Victorbabu, Kottapalli Rajyalakshmi. The above paper is a copy of Dr. Rabindra Nath Das’s former article, entitled '“Robust second order rotatable designs (Part I)”. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and we solemnly withdrawn?the paper from the journal OJS. This paper published in OJS Vol.2 No.1, 39-47, 2012, has been retracted.展开更多
During the Early-Middle Proterozoic era,three major lithostratigraphic unit associations,namely Hekou-Dahongshan,Dongchuan,and Kunyang-Huili Groups,were established for the metamorphosed volcanicsedimentary rocks expo...During the Early-Middle Proterozoic era,three major lithostratigraphic unit associations,namely Hekou-Dahongshan,Dongchuan,and Kunyang-Huili Groups,were established for the metamorphosed volcanicsedimentary rocks exposed in the southwestern Yangtze Block (SWYB).The integration of petrology, geochemistry and geochronology constrains tectonic framework and evolution of the SWYB,in which four sets of SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages were obtained from the volcanic rocks interbedded within the Middle Proterozoic successions:1800-1600 Ma,1600-1300 Ma,1300-1100 Ma,and 1100-1000 Ma. Major and trace elemental analysis indicate that four key tectonic evolutionary stages,each coinciding with the above radiometric age set,of the SWYB during the Early-Middle Mesoproterozoic.The SWYB was characterized by an east-westerly trending rift in the Hekou,Dongshan,and Dongchuan areas,and separate basin-forming events during 1800-1600 Ma arid 1600-1300 Ma,respectively.In the SWYB,an intracontinental rift basin and a rift basin occurred in the Caiziyuan-Matang and Laowushan areas, respectively in 1300-1100 Ma ago.During 1100-1000 Ma,the SWYB was characterized by the closure of the Caiziyuan-Matang rift-ocean basin,collision between the Huili Blocks and Kunyang Blocks,and presence of volcanic ares in the Tianbaoshan and Fulingpen areas.Accordingly,the SWYB represents a new basin that records the relatively complete assembly process of the Rodina during the Early-Middle Mesoproterozoic era.展开更多
Objective: To investigate the effect of ultrasound-guided pleural paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia on serum monocyte chemokinin-1 (McP-1), interleukin-6 (il-1) and il-10 levels in patients with ear...Objective: To investigate the effect of ultrasound-guided pleural paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia on serum monocyte chemokinin-1 (McP-1), interleukin-6 (il-1) and il-10 levels in patients with early breast cancer after modified radical mastectomy. Methods: A total of 76 patients with early breast cancer from October 2015 to July 2018 were selected from our hospital and divided into study group (n=38) and control group (n=38). The control group received general anesthesia, and the study group received ultrasound-guided paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia. Data of two groups of perioperative situation (PCIA press the number, volume of intraoperative sufentanil and PACU time), preoperative and postoperative 12 h, 24 h serum factor (MCP-1, IL-6, IL-10) level, after 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 24 h when pain (VAS) score, preoperative (T1), 15 min after the anesthesia (T2), 5 min after surgery (T3) hemodynamic state [heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP)], the incidence of adverse reactions were counted. Results: (1) Perioperative status: PCIA presses, intraoperative dose of sufentanil and PACU duration in the study group were less than those in the control group. (2) Serum factors: there was no significant difference in serum McP-1, il-6 and il-10 levels between the two groups before operation. The serum levels of McP-1, il-6 and il-10 in the two groups 12 h after operation were higher than those before operation. The serum levels of McP-1, il-6 and il-10 in the two groups at 24 h after surgery were significantly lower than those at 12 h after surgery, and the serum levels of McP-1, il-6 and il-10 in the group at 12 h and 24 h after surgery were lower than those of the control group. (3) Pain degree: the VAS score of the study group at 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h after surgery was lower than that of the control group. (4) Hemodynamics: there was no significant difference in HR and MAP between the two groups during T1, HR and MAP in T2 were lower than those in T1, but the level of each indicator in the study group was higher than that in the control group. (5) Adverse Reactions: the incidence of adverse reactions was lower in the study group (10.53%) than in the control group (28.95%). Conclusion: The application of ultrasound guided early breast cancer modified radical block complex general anesthesia thoracic vertebra, can reduce the dosage of anesthetic drugs, shorten the PACU, residence time, reduce postoperative pain, maintain stable hemodynamic state, inhibiting inflammatory reaction caused by surgical trauma degree, and can reduce the incidence of adverse reactions, and has safety.展开更多
Digital Communications, in relation to wireless networks, have taken off in recent years due to the expanding need to communicate faster and more efficiently. A popular way to achieve this is by using wireless Multipl...Digital Communications, in relation to wireless networks, have taken off in recent years due to the expanding need to communicate faster and more efficiently. A popular way to achieve this is by using wireless Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communication systems. MIMO systems utilize Space Time Block Codes (STBC) as one of the leading ways to obtain higher data rates with limited bandwidth and power. With several STBC methods currently available, this paper analyzes simulations using Orthogonal Space Time Block Codes (OSTBC) in Rayleigh fading channels to evaluate the performance of MIMO systems. The selection to use a Rayleigh fading channel as a model for a non-line-of-sight (nLOS) environment is selected to mimic installations where a large number of signal paths and reflections are expected. All simulations are coded, generated and plotted using MATLAB resulting in graphical data representing the bit-error rate (BER) to signal-to-noise ratio (Eb/N<sub>0</sub>) or SNR. Each simulation captures how different configurations of key variables including code rate, diversity and antenna count can impact system performance. Four modulation schemes (BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM and 64-QAM) are included in each simulation. Conclusive evidence based upon these simulations suggests higher diversity gains were achieved with a greater number of antennas. The most significant factor for increasing system performance was using a lower count of transmit antennas with a higher count of receive antennas.展开更多
Dear Editor,The latest Visian implantable collamer lens(ICL)with a central port design(Aquaport;model V4c)obviates the necessity for preoperative laser iridotomy or intraoperative iridectomy by allowing the free flow ...Dear Editor,The latest Visian implantable collamer lens(ICL)with a central port design(Aquaport;model V4c)obviates the necessity for preoperative laser iridotomy or intraoperative iridectomy by allowing the free flow of the aqueous humor between the sides of the intraocular lens.The design of Aquaport can also eliminate the complications associated with iridotomy and iridectomy.Therefore,the V4c ICL has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of pupillary block compared to its predecessors.展开更多
文摘With a history of more than 100 years, Chuquicamata has become one of the largest open pits in the world. Its current depth of 1100 m, length of 4500 m and width of 3000 m, resulting in haulage distances of over 11,000 m from pit bottom to the processing plant or waste dumps, with waste/ore ratio greater than 4 and much lower grades, are effectively determining its profitable limit by the end of this decade. Currently, there are over 4300 Mt of geological resources containing 0.7% of copper and 340 ppm (1 ppm = 1 g/t) of molybdenum below the final pit shell. The corresponding orebody geometry is 3000 m northsouth, 300-800 m eastwest and the drilling campaign suggested the existence of more than 900 m of mineable ore from the final pit bottom. This is in spite of the fact that the Chuquicamata orebody is still open at depth. The business case to continue with the mining of the Chuquicamata orebody is to change from the current large open pit to a novel macroblock variant block caving geometry. This requires a production rate of 140,000 t/d (50 Mt per annum), with a continuous material handling system to achieve the 7-year ramp-up to full production. The resolution of a number of known technical, operational and logistical challenges outside current industry practises which Chuquicamata will face over its projected 40-year mine life is therefore essential. These challenges include simultaneous operations of open pit and underground macroblocks and from the initial lift to the second lift, rapid ramp-up and optimum sequencing of the planned macroblocks, early dilution from the west fault and late dilution from potential slope failures, and the potential for major operational hazards. An equally important issue to be addressed is cultural given that the mining history in the northern region of Chile, which includes Chuquicamata, is predominantly open pit. This paper presents a synopsis of the main challenges that the Chuquicamata underground project will face in order to meet the objectives of its corresponding business case. Those discussed and how they were resolved are: simultaneous operations, rapid ramp-up and optimum sequencing of the planned macroblocks, and early and late dilutions. The project is an example of the fact that there are no recipes or cook books in cave mining.
基金Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program under Grant No 2016YFE0118400the Key Project of Science and Technology of Henan Province under Grant No 172102410062+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No 61176008the National Natural Science Foundation of China Henan Provincial Joint Fund Key Project under Grant No U1604263
文摘A double-tapered AlGaN electron blocking layer(EBL)is proposed to apply in a deep ultraviolet semiconductor laser diode.Compared with the inverse double-tapered EBL,the laser with the double-tapered EBL shows a higher slope efficiency,which indicates that effective enhancement in the transportation of electrons and holes is achieved.Particularly,comparisons among the double-tapered EBL,the inverse double-tapered EBL,the singletapered EBL and the inverse single-tapered EBL show that the double-tapered EBL has the best performance in terms of current leakage.
基金The Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai Municipality ( No 06DZ15013,No03DZ15010)
文摘A novel low-complexity iterative receiver for multiuser space frequency block coding (SFBC) system was proposed in this paper. Unlike the conventional linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector, which requires matrix inversion at each iteration, the soft-in soft-out (SISO) detector is simply a parallel interference cancellation (PIC)-matched filter (MF) operation. The probability density function (PDF) of PIC-MF detector output is approximated as Gaussian, whose variance is calculated with a priori information fed back from the channel decoder. With this approximation, the log likelihood ratios (LLRs) of transmitted bits are under-estimated. Then the LLRs are multiplied by a constant factor to achieve a performance gain. The constant factor is optimized according to extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart of the SISO detector. Simulation results show that the proposed iterative receiver can significantly improve the system performance and converge to the matched filter bound (MFB) with low computational complexity at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).
基金the organizations that have funded this project:the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(Grant No.498020-16)Hydro-Quebec(NC-525700)Mitacs Accelerate Program(Grant Ref.IT10008)
文摘The most commonly used method for assessing the hydraulic erodibility of rock is Annandale's method.This method is based on a correlation between the erosive force of flowing water and the capacity of rock resistance. This capacity is evaluated using Kirsten's index, which was initially developed to evaluate the excavatability of earth materials. For rocky material, this index is determined according to certain geomechanical factors related to intact rock and rock mass, such as compressive strength of intact rock, rock block size, discontinuity shear strength and relative block structure. To quantify the relative block structure, Kirsten(1982) developed a mathematical expression that accounts for the shape and orientation of the blocks relative to the direction of flow. Kirsten's initial concept for assessing the relative block structure considers that the geological formation is mainly fractured by two joint sets forming an orthogonally fractured system. An adjusted concept is proposed to determine the relative block structure when the fractured system is non-orthogonal where the angle between the planes of the two joint sets is greater or less than 90°. An analysis of the proposed relative block structure rating shows that considering a non-orthogonally fractured system has a significant effect on Kirsten's index and, as a consequence, on the assessment of the hydraulic erodibility of rock.
文摘Background: Pneumatic arterial tourniquet is a utilized strategy in limb surgeries to provide bloodless field to facilitate surgical procedure. Be that as it may, arterial tourniquet has numerous injurious impacts including hemodynamic changes and tourniquet-induced pain which sometimes can be severe and intolerable. Objectives: Our primary aim was to assess the impact of performing “Lumbar Plexus Block and sciatic nerve block” with General Anesthesia (GA) on the degree of arterial tourniquet-induced hemodynamic effects. On the other hand, our secondary aims were: amount of postoperative analgesic prerequisites, patient satisfactory score and documented side effects. Settings and Design: Ain Shams University, Orthopedic operating theatre;a prospective, randomized, double-blind study. Methods and Material: The physical status of 50 patients (both sexes) including I and II patients from American Society of Anesthesiologists, whose ages are from 20 - 40 years, is not so ideal when they are undergoing elective knee Arthroscopy. The duration lasts no more than ninety minutes under GA with application of tourniquet. Patients were allotted haphazardly to one of two groups. In Group C (Control group): Only GA. In Group B: LPB and sciatic nerve block were performed just before GA administration. Intraoperative hemodynamics was recorded at specific timings. Results: Incidence of tourniquet induced hypertension (TIH) was markedly less with Group B at: forty five, sixty, seventy five mins after tourniquet inflation and just before tourniquet deflation. Also, the total ketorolac consumption during first 24 hours of postoperative period was significantly less with Group B (p Conclusions: Combined Sciatic-Lumbar plexus blocks when combined with general anesthesia were very effective in attenuating TIH.
文摘The western margin of Yangtze block and southwestern Sanjiang region absorbed much attention from geologists. It has been proved that there occurred a series of plate subduction, collision, assembly, rifting and breakup processes between them since Palaeozoic and the tectonic evolutionary relationship between them is clear. But in Proterozoic this kind of links between them became unclear. Did they undergo the assembly and breakup processes of the Rodinia super continent? This paper will take a primary discussion on this question on the basis of basement component, structure characteristics and magmatic activities.1\ Basement features\;(1) In western margin of Yangtze block its basement is composed of crystalline basement and folded basement, a so\|called double\|layer structure. The crystalline basement is made up of Kangding group, Pudeng Formation and Dibadu Formation, among them Kangding group is a representative and composed mainly of migmatite, compositing gneiss, hornblende schist and granulitite. The isotopic age of crystalline basement is older than 1900Ma, so its geological time is late Archaean to early Proterozoic. The folded basement is composed of Dahongshan group, Hekou group, Kunyang group, Huili group and Yanbian group. Their rock associations are made up mainly of spilite\|keratophyre formation, carbonate formation, clastic rock and clastic rock formation with some basic volcanic rocks. The folded basement is assigned to be early and middle Proterozoic (1000～1700M a).
文摘Purpose: Regadenoson (REG) is currently becoming the stress agent of choice in patients undergoing pharmacologic single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). However, in patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) and ventricular paced rhythm (VPR), hesitation exists amongst clinicians to use REG-SPECT due to the concern that the increased heart rate could cause false positive SPECT results. We sought to evaluate the comparability of A-SPECT and REG-SPECT in patients with LBBB and VPR. Methods: Retrospective study of 30 patients who served as their own controls. All 30 patients who underwent REG-SPECT (Grp 1) were compared to their prior A-SPECT (Grp 2) done within two years prior to REG-SPECT. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) parameters, ECG, stress perfusion and gated variables, SPECT ischemia, and side-effects were evaluated. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Grp 1 and Grp 2 were comparable in hemodynamic parameters with increase in HR and decrease in systolic and diastolic BP with administration of adenosine and REG stress agents. However, there were no significant differences found in hemodynamic parameters and II degree AV block between the groups. All normal A-SPECT were found to be normal with REG-SPECT. No differences could be found between the two groups among SPECT parameters. Muscle pain was significantly higher in REG (10.0% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.083) and so was the use of aminophylline (16.7% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.025) to relieve the side-effect. Conclusion: REG-SPECT can be administered in patients with LBBB and VPR patients based on favorable and comparable hemodynamic responses and arrhythmia occurrences to A-SPECT. REG-SPECT can also be used for adequate interpretation of presence or absence of SPECT ischemia particularly in the LAD territory without any concern for false positive perfusion defects.
文摘Many applications require the solution of large un-symmetric linear systems with multiple right-hand sides.Instead of applying an iterative method to each of these systems individually,it is often more efficient to use a block version of the method that generates iterates for all the systems simultaneously.This paper proposes a new adaptive block QMR version based on the incomplete or-thogomalization method(IOM(q))for solving large multi-ple nusymmetric linear systems.How to incorporate de-flation to drop comverged linear systems,and how to delete linearly and almost liearly dependent vectors in the underlying block Krylov sequences are discussed.Nu-merical experiments show that the new adaptive block method has better practical performance and less compu-tational cost and CPU time than block GMRES and other proposed methods for the solution of systems with multi- ple right-hand sides.
文摘Theory has it that increasing the step length improves the accuracy of a method. In order to affirm this we increased the step length of the concept in [1] by one to get k = 5. The technique of collocation and interpolation of the power series approximate solution at some selected grid points is considered so as to generate continuous linear multistep methods with constant step sizes. Two, three and four interpolation points are considered to generate the continuous predictor-corrector methods which are implemented in block method respectively. The proposed methods when tested on some numerical examples performed more efficiently than those of [1]. Interestingly the concept of self starting [2] and that of constant order are reaffirmed in our new methods.
文摘Dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane con-ductance regulator(CFTR) chloride channel causes cys-tic fibrosis, while inappropriate activity of this channeloccurs in secretory diarrhea and polycystic kidney dis-ease. Drugs that interact directly with CFTR are there-fore of interest in the treatment of a number of diseasestates. This review focuses on one class of small mol-ecules that interacts directly with CFTR, namely inhibi-tors that act by directly blocking chloride movementthrough the open channel pore. In theory such com-pounds could be of use in the treatment of diarrheaand polycystic kidney disease, however in practice allknown substances acting by this mechanism to inhibitCFTR function lack either the potency or specificity forin vivo use. Nevertheless, this theoretical pharmaco-logical usefulness set the scene for the developmentof more potent, specific CFTR inhibitors. Biophysically,open channel blockers have proven most useful as ex-perimental probes of the structure and function of theCFTR chloride channel pore. Most importantly, the useof these blockers has been fundamental in developing afunctional model of the pore that includes a wide innervestibule that uses positively charged amino acid sidechains to attract both permeant and blocking anionsfrom the cell cytoplasm. CFTR channels are also subjectto this kind of blocking action by endogenous anionspresent in the cell cytoplasm, and recently this blocking effect has been suggested to play a role in the physio-logical control of CFTR channel function, in particular as a novel mechanism linking CFTR function dynamically to the composition of epithelial cell secretions. It has also been suggested that future drugs could target this same pathway as a way of pharmacologically increasing CFTR activity in cystic fibrosis. Studying open channel blockers and their mechanisms of action has resulted in significant advances in our understanding of CFTR as a pharmacological target in disease states, of CFTR chan-nel structure and function, and of how CFTR activity is controlled by its local environment.
文摘Better dealing with carbon issues can support the management of current greenhouse gas emissions while achieving energy economic diversification and energy security. Carbon dioxide displacement has become the most acknowledged and practical method in enhanced oil recovery system. This is because of its oil sweep efficiency and ability to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emission. Nevertheless, it would lead to the organic solid phase deposition, which causes the changes of the wettability and the damages of wellbores and reservoirs. In this study, we used slim tube test and component test to research the dynamic characteristics of displacement process. In addition, the mechanism of porous media blockage was also investigated. Results show that when the displacement pressure closed to the minimum miscibility pressure, reservoir blockage in pore throat could happen. Component test characterizes that during near miscible displacement process, the components of oil sample varied obviously, the variation range of peak component carbon marks fluctuated strongly. Crude oil component differentiation could happen after carbon dioxide fully contacted with oil. Besides, the rapid extraction mechanism of aromatic hydrocarbons played a significant role in this process under such condition. The reason is that the solubility of saturated hydrocarbons to asphaltene and non-hydrocarbons is obviously weaker than aromatic hydrocarbons. Controlling the pressure is considered as an important link to prevent the occurrence of blocking in the carbon dioxide multiphase and multicomponent displacement process.
文摘Genetic algorithms offer very good performances for solving large optimization problems, especially in the domain of error-correcting codes. However, they have a major drawback related to the time complexity and memory occupation when running on a uniprocessor computer. This paper proposes a parallel decoder for linear block codes, using parallel genetic algorithms (PGA). The good performance and time complexity are confirmed by theoretical study and by simulations on BCH(63,30,14) codes over both AWGN and flat Rayleigh fading channels. The simulation results show that the coding gain between parallel and single genetic algorithm is about 0.7 dB at BER = 10﹣5 with only 4 processors.
文摘Background: The Box and Block clinical test is a validated and standardized scale for use in the clinical environment that allows the assessment of rough manipulative dexterity. Proposing virtual methods to carry out these assessments is an attempt to eliminate some of the subjectivity that the test may entail depending on the observer and the way in which the patient gives instructions. Applied to the assessment of skills after neurological pathologies, previous experiences in stroke patients have been found. So, this work was centered on the Spinal Cord Injury. Objective: To present the virtual application of the Box and Block scale, as well as details about its design and development for its manipulation based on Leap Motion Controller. Methodology: The relationship between the results obtained in the actual test and in the virtual application in healthy subjects and, mostly, patients with cervical spinal cord injury is analyzed, obtaining a high correlation index between both tests’ performance. Results: A high correlation index was obtained between both tests performance, the real and virtual version of the Box and Block Test. Conclusion: This virtual test can serve as an element to evaluate in the future the effectiveness of the RehabHand prototype based on virtual reality applications with a therapeutic and a rehabilitative sense that, manipulated from Leap Motion Controller, allow the improvement of the manipulative dexterity in patients with neurological diseases such as spinal cord injury.
文摘Modern buildings and blocks in open port city, which are an essential part of the urban context, possess unspoken values of material properties and cultural resources for the urban future. According to the investigation of Taiyanggou Block and Lvshun Industrial School Site in Lvshun (China), this paper aims to discuss the understanding and conservation of modern heritage. Firstly, it interprets the opening of modern Lvshun and the formation of Taiyanggou Block to provide the fundamental knowledge. After a brief introduction of Lvshun Industrial School Site, the paper analyzes the problems in conservation practice and proposes countermeasures on heritage management and reuse strategy. Finally, it indicates that to conserve modern heritage means to preserve and to enhance their integrated values of space and culture in the framework of local development.
文摘The following article has been retracted due to the investigation of complaints received against it. Title: A New Method of Construction of Robust Second Order Rotatable Designs Using Balanced Incomplete Block Designs Authors: Bejjam Re. Victorbabu, Kottapalli Rajyalakshmi. The above paper is a copy of Dr. Rabindra Nath Das’s former article, entitled '“Robust second order rotatable designs (Part I)”. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and we solemnly withdrawn?the paper from the journal OJS. This paper published in OJS Vol.2 No.1, 39-47, 2012, has been retracted.
基金grants from a 973 Program (2009CB421003)a National Resources Survey Project (1212010610213)a National Natural Science Foundation of China project (40773001).
文摘During the Early-Middle Proterozoic era,three major lithostratigraphic unit associations,namely Hekou-Dahongshan,Dongchuan,and Kunyang-Huili Groups,were established for the metamorphosed volcanicsedimentary rocks exposed in the southwestern Yangtze Block (SWYB).The integration of petrology, geochemistry and geochronology constrains tectonic framework and evolution of the SWYB,in which four sets of SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages were obtained from the volcanic rocks interbedded within the Middle Proterozoic successions:1800-1600 Ma,1600-1300 Ma,1300-1100 Ma,and 1100-1000 Ma. Major and trace elemental analysis indicate that four key tectonic evolutionary stages,each coinciding with the above radiometric age set,of the SWYB during the Early-Middle Mesoproterozoic.The SWYB was characterized by an east-westerly trending rift in the Hekou,Dongshan,and Dongchuan areas,and separate basin-forming events during 1800-1600 Ma arid 1600-1300 Ma,respectively.In the SWYB,an intracontinental rift basin and a rift basin occurred in the Caiziyuan-Matang and Laowushan areas, respectively in 1300-1100 Ma ago.During 1100-1000 Ma,the SWYB was characterized by the closure of the Caiziyuan-Matang rift-ocean basin,collision between the Huili Blocks and Kunyang Blocks,and presence of volcanic ares in the Tianbaoshan and Fulingpen areas.Accordingly,the SWYB represents a new basin that records the relatively complete assembly process of the Rodina during the Early-Middle Mesoproterozoic era.
文摘Objective: To investigate the effect of ultrasound-guided pleural paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia on serum monocyte chemokinin-1 (McP-1), interleukin-6 (il-1) and il-10 levels in patients with early breast cancer after modified radical mastectomy. Methods: A total of 76 patients with early breast cancer from October 2015 to July 2018 were selected from our hospital and divided into study group (n=38) and control group (n=38). The control group received general anesthesia, and the study group received ultrasound-guided paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia. Data of two groups of perioperative situation (PCIA press the number, volume of intraoperative sufentanil and PACU time), preoperative and postoperative 12 h, 24 h serum factor (MCP-1, IL-6, IL-10) level, after 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 24 h when pain (VAS) score, preoperative (T1), 15 min after the anesthesia (T2), 5 min after surgery (T3) hemodynamic state [heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP)], the incidence of adverse reactions were counted. Results: (1) Perioperative status: PCIA presses, intraoperative dose of sufentanil and PACU duration in the study group were less than those in the control group. (2) Serum factors: there was no significant difference in serum McP-1, il-6 and il-10 levels between the two groups before operation. The serum levels of McP-1, il-6 and il-10 in the two groups 12 h after operation were higher than those before operation. The serum levels of McP-1, il-6 and il-10 in the two groups at 24 h after surgery were significantly lower than those at 12 h after surgery, and the serum levels of McP-1, il-6 and il-10 in the group at 12 h and 24 h after surgery were lower than those of the control group. (3) Pain degree: the VAS score of the study group at 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h after surgery was lower than that of the control group. (4) Hemodynamics: there was no significant difference in HR and MAP between the two groups during T1, HR and MAP in T2 were lower than those in T1, but the level of each indicator in the study group was higher than that in the control group. (5) Adverse Reactions: the incidence of adverse reactions was lower in the study group (10.53%) than in the control group (28.95%). Conclusion: The application of ultrasound guided early breast cancer modified radical block complex general anesthesia thoracic vertebra, can reduce the dosage of anesthetic drugs, shorten the PACU, residence time, reduce postoperative pain, maintain stable hemodynamic state, inhibiting inflammatory reaction caused by surgical trauma degree, and can reduce the incidence of adverse reactions, and has safety.
文摘Digital Communications, in relation to wireless networks, have taken off in recent years due to the expanding need to communicate faster and more efficiently. A popular way to achieve this is by using wireless Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communication systems. MIMO systems utilize Space Time Block Codes (STBC) as one of the leading ways to obtain higher data rates with limited bandwidth and power. With several STBC methods currently available, this paper analyzes simulations using Orthogonal Space Time Block Codes (OSTBC) in Rayleigh fading channels to evaluate the performance of MIMO systems. The selection to use a Rayleigh fading channel as a model for a non-line-of-sight (nLOS) environment is selected to mimic installations where a large number of signal paths and reflections are expected. All simulations are coded, generated and plotted using MATLAB resulting in graphical data representing the bit-error rate (BER) to signal-to-noise ratio (Eb/N<sub>0</sub>) or SNR. Each simulation captures how different configurations of key variables including code rate, diversity and antenna count can impact system performance. Four modulation schemes (BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM and 64-QAM) are included in each simulation. Conclusive evidence based upon these simulations suggests higher diversity gains were achieved with a greater number of antennas. The most significant factor for increasing system performance was using a lower count of transmit antennas with a higher count of receive antennas.
基金Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program(No.2019YFC1710200)the Shandong Province Pharmaceutical Technology Development Project(No.202107020970).
文摘Dear Editor,The latest Visian implantable collamer lens(ICL)with a central port design(Aquaport;model V4c)obviates the necessity for preoperative laser iridotomy or intraoperative iridectomy by allowing the free flow of the aqueous humor between the sides of the intraocular lens.The design of Aquaport can also eliminate the complications associated with iridotomy and iridectomy.Therefore,the V4c ICL has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of pupillary block compared to its predecessors.
