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Counting the number of trees and obtaining information on tree crowns have always played important roles in the efficient and high-precision monitoring of forest resources. However, determining how to obtain the above information at a low cost and with high accuracy has always been a topic of great concern. Using deep learning methods to segment individual tree crowns in mixed broadleaf forests is a cost-effective approach to forest resource assessment. Existing crown segmentation algorithms primarily focus on discrete trees, with limited research on mixed broadleaf forests. The lack of datasets has resulted in poor segmentation performance, and occlusions in broadleaf forest images hinder accurate segmentation. To address these challenges, this study proposes a supervised segmentation method, SegcaNet, which can efficiently extract tree crowns from UAV images under natural light conditions. A dataset for dense mixed broadleaf forest crown segmentation is produced, containing 18,000 single-tree crown images and 1200 mixed broadleaf forest images. SegcaNet achieves superior segmentation results by incorporating a convolutional attention mechanism and a memory module. The experimental results indicate that SegcaNet's m I o U values surpass those of traditional algorithms. Compared with FCN, Deeplabv3, and MemoryNetV2, SegcaNet's m I o U is increased by 4.8%, 4.33%, and 2.13%, respectively. Additionally, it reduces instances of incorrect segmentation and over-segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development has become one of the major objectives in building and operating healthcare facilities, as they exert a major impact on the environment and society. It is also critically important for modern healthcare facilities to adapt to an aging population, rapid technology upgrades, and the increasing demand for quality health care. In this background, sustainable healthcare facilities (SHFs) have attracted growing attention from researchers in the past decade. However, there has not been a clear scope of SHFs, which undermines the theoretical foundation of SHFs evaluation. This study identifies, aggregates, and analyzes the existing body of knowledge to address such issue. We attempted to reveal the dimensions of sustainability in the context of healthcare facilities, the links among the dimensions of sustainability, and the framework of SHFs themes based on a systematic scoping review. A four-dimensional model of sustainability was discussed and a framework of SHFs themes is proposed, consisting of core business, supporting service, and organizational environment layers. We suggest future research to focus more on the core business and organizational environment layers and the links among the different attributes of sustainability in the SHFs field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Considering platane wood as a kind of natural biomass building material, it features a structure with abundant pores and lightweight, which can be used as a supporting material to prevent the liquid leakage of phase change materials (PCMs). In this work, the lignin of the platane wood is removed, and then, a series of the form‐stable PCMs (FSPCMs) are prepared by the vacuum impregnation method, for which implemented the delignified wood (DW) as a supporting material and four kinds of fatty acid (FA) as PCMs. The microstructure and thermophysical characteristics of the FSPCMs are investigated. Furthermore, the results show that DW preserves the inherent porous structure of the platane wood, and the specific surface area and total pore volume of DW are greater than those of the platane wood. Thus, the DW adsorbs more PCMs than platane wood by the physical connection. The maximum impregnation rate of FA in the DW is as high as 76 wt%. There is a little variation in the phase change temperature of DW/FA FSPCMs compared with that of the FA, while the latent heat of DW/FA FSPCMs is almost consistent with the content of FA in the composite. Thermogravimetric analysis results show that DW/FA FSPCMs present good thermal stability. Moreover, DW/FA FSPCMs have good thermal reliability after 500 thermal cycles. Therefore, the prepared DW/FA FSPCMs show a potential application prospect in the thermal energy storage system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the energy storage performance of polyethylene glycol (PEG), copper sulfide (CuS) was introduced into PEG to endow the function of photo-to-thermal conversion. A series of novel PEG/CuS composite phase change materials (PCMs) were prepared by melt blending method with polyethylene pyrrolidone (PVP) employed as a stabilizer. Results of the dispersion stability experiment and 100 thermal cycles test showed that 2 wt% PVP can effectively improve the stability of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs. And the CuS nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed in the PEG through physical action with the help of PVP. DSC results showed that the melting enthalpy of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCM is as high as 171.8 J/g, 164.0 J/g, and 156.2 J/g when the content of CuS is 2 wt%, 6 wt%, and 10 wt%, respectively. Thermal cycling test and TGA results demonstrated that PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs have excellent reliability and stability. The photo-absorption property of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCM increases to the range of 0.44–0.852, 0.938–1.533, 1.335–2.462 respectively within the addition of 2 wt%, 6 wt%, 10 wt% CuS in the radiation range of 300–900 nm. And the photo-to-thermal conversion efficiency of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs was tested up to 87.36%. Therefore, the prepared PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs show remarkable potential in solar thermal utilization applications. • 2 wt% PVP can effectively improve the stability of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs. • The maximum melting enthalpy of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs is measured as 171.8 J/g. • The photo-to-thermal conversion efficiency of PEG/PVP/CuS composite PCMs is tested up to 87.36%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the impact of bleomycin/etoposide/cisplatin (BEP) and paclitaxel/carboplatin (PC) chemotherapy regimens on the fertility and prognostic outcomes in malignant ovarian germ cell tumor (MOGCT) patients who underwent fertility-sparing surgery (FSS)., Methods: A propensity score matching algorithm was performed between the BEP and PC groups. The χ² test and the Kaplan-Meier method were used to compare the fertility outcome, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to identify risk factor of DFS., Results: We included 213 patients, 185 (86.9%) underwent BEP chemotherapy, and 28 (13.1%) underwent PC chemotherapy. The median age was 22 years (range, 8-44 years), and the median follow-up period was 63 months (range, 2-191 months). Fifty-one (29.3%) patients had a pregnancy plan, and 35 (85.4%) delivered successfully. In the before and after propensity score matching cohorts, there were no significant differences in spontaneous abortion, selective termination of pregnancy, during-pregnancy status, and live birth between the BEP and PC groups (p>0.05). Fourteen (6.6%) patients experienced recurrence, including 11 (5.9%) in the BEP group and 3 (10.7%) in the PC group. Four (1.9%) patients in the BEP group died. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed no significant differences in DFS (p=0.328) and OS (p=0.446) between the BEP and PC groups, and the same survival results were observed in the after matching cohort., Conclusion: The PC regimen is as safe as the BEP regimen for MOGCT patients with fertility preservation treatment, and no differences were observed in fertility and clinical prognosis., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported., (© 2023. Asian Society of Gynecologic Oncology, Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology, and Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology.)

Background: The prognostic value of lymphadenectomy in low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) remains uncertain., Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 155 patients with LGSOC who underwent surgery over a ten-year period (2011-2020) was performed. The propensity score matching (PSM) algorithm was performed between the lymphadenectomy and no lymphadenectomy groups, and Kaplan-Meier analyses were conducted to evaluate clinical prognosis. Finally, univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to analyze high-risk factors associated with clinical prognosis., Results: In the pre-PSM cohort, 110 (71.0%) patients underwent lymphadenectomy. Of these, 54 (34.8%) experienced recurrence, and 27 (17.4%) died. There were statistical differences in disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.018) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.016) in the post-PSM cohort. In the subgroup analysis, there were no statistically significant differences in DFS (P = 0.449) or OS (P = 0.167) in the FIGO I/II cohort. However, in the FIGO III/IV cohort, DFS (P = 0.011) and OS (P = 0.046) were statistically different between the two groups. Age > 50 years, FIGO stage III/IV, and suboptimal cytoreductive surgery were risk factors associated with prognosis. In the lymphadenectomy group, the histological status of pelvic lymph nodes had no significant effect on DFS (P = 0.205) or OS (P = 0.114)., Conclusion: Lymphadenectomy was associated with DFS and OS, particularly in patients with advanced LGSOC patients. Age > 50 years, advanced FIGO stage III/IV, and suboptimal cytoreductive surgery were high-risk factors associated with clinical prognosis in patients with LGSOC., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)