Highly sensitive and reliable optical fiber TDLAS gas detection system for methane in situ monitoring in near space.

A highly sensitive and reliable tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy gas detection system with a temperature-pressure compensation algorithm is demonstrated for detecting C H 4 concentrations in near space. Near space generally refers to the airspace 20-100 km away from the ground, where temperature and pressure changes are complex. Since the gas absorption spectrum is easily affected by temperature and pressure, a temperature-pressure compensation algorithm is proposed and used in the C H 4 sensor to improve the detection accuracy of the sensor. First, we measured the basic characteristics of the sensor in the laboratory, such as linearity and long-term stability. Experimental results showed that the linear correlation coefficient R-square can reach 0.999, and the concentration fluctuation of C H 4 is less than 0.17 ppm within 3.5 h. Then the sensor was applied to a research activity in Qinghai Province, China, in September, and the results show that the sensor can effectively monitor the C H 4 concentration in near space.

Ultra-Stable Temperature Controller-Based Laser Wavelength Locking for Improvement in WMS Methane Detection.

In the wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) gas detection system, the laser diode is usually stabilized at a constant temperature and driven by current injection. So, a high-precision temperature controller is indispensable in every WMS system. To eliminate wavelength drift influence and improve detection sensitivity and response speed, laser wavelength sometimes needs to be locked at the gas absorption center. In this study, we develop a temperature controller to an ultra-high stability level of 0.0005 °C, based on which a new laser wavelength locking strategy is proposed to successfully lock the laser wavelength at a CH4 absorption center of 1653.72 nm with a fluctuation of fewer than 19.7 MHz. For 500 ppm CH4 sample detection, the 1σ SNR is increased from 71.2 dB to 80.5 dB and the peak-to-peak uncertainty is improved from 1.95 ppm down to 0.17 ppm with the help of a locked laser wavelength. In addition, the wavelength-locked WMS also has the absolute advantage of fast response over a conventional wavelength-scanned WMS system.

Feature Domain Transform Filter for the Removal of Inherent Noise Bound to the Absorption Signal.

We propose to replace the traditional time-frequency domain filtering with feature domain filtering to realize an innovation of filtering algorithm. A feature domain transform filter (FDTF) is composed of the feature domain transform layer based on principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm, the feature domain information extractor based on deep learning and the time domain transform layer. It is established to filter out the noise with the same frequency and phase as the signal and is verified on methane gas. Although FDTF is established based on the simulated data set, the filtering effects of the simulation test set and the experimental data set show that the proposed FDTF outperforms other widely used time-frequency filtering algorithms. The FDTF-assisted methane sensor has good linearity at different concentrations of methane gas. With the FDTF enhancement, the optimized methane sensor performs excellent precision and stability in real-time measurements and achieves the minimum detectable column density of 2.50 ppm·m. This is undoubtedly a successful attempt to move the signal to a new domain for parsing and separation.

A Robust Optical Sensor for Remote Multi-Species Detection Combining Frequency-Division Multiplexing and Normalized Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy.

By combining frequency-division multiplexing and normalized wavelength modulation spectroscopy, a robust remote multi-species sensor was developed and demonstrated for practical hydrocarbon monitoring. Independently modulated laser beams are combined to simultaneously interrogate different gas samples using an open-ended centimeter-size multipass cell. Gas species of interest are demodulated with the second harmonics to enhance sensitivity, and high immunity to laser power variation is achieved by normalizing to the corresponding first harmonics. Performance of the optical sensor was experimentally evaluated using methane (CH4) and acetylene (C2H2) samples, which were separated by a 3-km fiber cable from the laser source. Sub-ppm sensitivity with 1-s time resolution was achieved for both gas species. Moreover, even with large laser intensity fluctuations ranging from 0 to 6 dB, the noise can be kept within 1.38 times as much as that of a stable intensity case. The reported spectroscopic technique would provide a promising optical sensor for remote monitoring of multi hazardous gases with high robustness.

Extent of lymph node dissection improves overall survival in pT3N0 non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with radical nephrectomy: a propensity score-based analysis.

BACKGROUND: To assess the impact of lymph node dissection (LND) extent on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with pN0M0 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with radical nephrectomy (RN). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data queried for this study include RCC (2010-2014) from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Kaplan-Meier analyses and multivariate Cox regression models tested the effect of number of removed lymph node (NRN) ≥ 50th percentile on OS and CSS. The associations were evaluated using propensity score (PS) matching adjustment. RESULTS: A total of 5532 pN0M0 RCC patients were enrolled in our study. The median NRN was 2 (IQR 1-6), the 50th percentile defined patients with NRN ≥ 2. Following PS adjustment, there were no significant differences in clinicopathologic features between two groups of patients except for age. Multivariate model analysis showed that patients with NRN < 2 had worse OS than those with NRN ≥ 2 in pT3 group (HR 1.442; P = 0.032) but not in pT1 and pT2 groups (HR 0.859 and 1.393, P = 0.443 and P = 0.267, respectively). However, patients with NRN < 2 had better CCS than those with NRN ≥ 2 in pT1 group (HR 0.368; P = 0.016) but not in pT2 and pT3 groups (HR 1.674 and 1.325, P = 0.216 and P = 0.176, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: More extensive LND (NRN ≥ 2) at RN is associated with better OS in pT3N0M0 RCC patients while it exerts negative influence on CCS in pT1N0M0 group. Hence, more extensive LND has therapeutic value in pT3 individuals but not in pT1 group.

Demodulation algorithm used in single-beam system immune to light power drift.

A demodulation algorithm based on the head-tail technique is proposed for single-beam water vapor detection under rough environmental conditions, which is immune to fluctuations of light power. In the head-tail technique, collected data are processed by adding the head and tail data together and gradually approaching the center. The majority of photocurrent attenuation caused by optical loss can be effectively compensated by combining an optical intensity normalization coefficient in the method. The experiment indicates that, when the light power attenuates 4%, the deviation in a single-beam system is 1.29%, which is obviously superior to a dual-beam subtraction system whose deviation is 8.45%. The connection and advantages compared to a previous single-beam detection system have been discussed. The whole arrangement is simply designed without a beam splitter, of which the reliability and validity are fully verified by the experimental results.

CH4/C2H6 dual gas sensing system using a single mid-infrared laser.

Methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) dual gas sensor with low system complexity and strong stability is proposed. The correction method based on absorbance spectrum is applied, and the cross-interference of C2H6 to CH4 is eliminated. In the single gas concentration measurement, linear fitting is performed between the absorbance and concentration of CH4 and C2H6, and the correlation coefficients of R2 = 0.99959 and R2 = 0.99994 are obtained respectively, which proves that the accuracy of the dual gas sensor is robust. In the dual gas concentration measurement, we carry out continuous measurement of five mixed gases and a long-term measurement of a mixture of gases, which verifies that our sensor has the fast response speed and strong stability. The minimum detectable column densities of 0.62 ppm·m for CH4 and 0.1 ppm·m for C2H6 are achieved, respectively. The CH4/C2H6 dual gas sensor assisted by the correction method has high sensitivity and strong robustness to cross-interference, and has great potential for application in various scenarios.

Systematic Identification of Survival-Associated Alternative Splicing Events in Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma.

There is growing evidence that aberrant alternative splicing (AS) is highly correlated with driving tumorigenesis, but its function in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) remains to be discovered. In this study, we obtained the level-3 RNA sequencing and clinical data of KIRC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TGCA). Combining with the splicing event detail information from TGCA SpliceSeq database, we established the independent prognosis signatures for KIRC with the univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Then, we used the Kaplan-Meier analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) to assess the accuracy of prognosis signatures. We also constructed the regulatory network of splicing factors (SFs) and AS events. Our results showed that a total of 12029 survival-associated AS events of 5761 genes were found in 524 KIRC patients. All types of prognosis signatures displayed a satisfactory ability to reliably predict, especially in exon skip model which the area under curve of ROC was 0.802. Moreover, 18 splicing factors (SFs) highly correlated to AS events were identified. With the construction of the SF-AS interactive network, we found that SF powerfully promotes the occurrence of abnormal AS and may have a profound role in KIRC. Collectively, we screened survival-associated AS events and established prognosis signatures for KIRC, coupling with the SF-AS interactive network, which might provide a key perspective to clarify the potential mechanism of AS in KIRC.

[Application in methane extraction of fiber methane monitoring system based on spectral absorption].

An optical fiber distributed multi-point methane real-time monitoring system based on the methane spectral absorption characteristic is researched, and it's application in methane extraction is presented. An 1665 nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser is used as the light source by taking the triangular signal to modulate the light frequency of the DFB laser. Using the combination of single-chip computer C8051F410, A/D transform circuit, communication circuit, display circuit, etc, the concentration of methane can be monitored and displayed on the screen. And the function of sounding the alarm bell and communication are achieved. The laser wavelength shift is carried out with adaptive adjustment by the built-in gas calibration pond so as to realize the locking of a methane absorption line. Several field tests have been founded at home and abroad. The results show that the system has good performance in stability and sensitivity. The distributed multi-point methane concentration monitoring is realized in the range of 0%-100%. A sensitivity of ppm order of magnitude has been achieved. It possesses of wide application in methane extraction.