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Fused magnesium furnace (FMF) is the vital equipment for Magnesia refractory production. The melting process of FMF is subject to melting temperature, magnesite quality and composition, and much more dynamic factors, which are prone to abnormal conditions such as overheating, abnormal exhausting, semi-molten and affect the stability and safety of the production seriously. Due to the difficulties of effectively monitoring and accurately identifying the abnormal conditions with the existing methods, this paper proposes a novel method for identifying the abnormal conditions of FMF based on deep learning and multi-information fusion. First, the Wasserstein distance based Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) with Gradient Penalty (WGAN-GP) is developed to solve the problem of obtaining overheating condition image samples with obvious visual characteristics. Then, the image-based Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) model is established to recognize the abnormal condition images and extract image features whose training set is the combination of the generated images and the original images. Finally, based on multi-source information fusion, the traditional process current data are fused with the extracted image features, and a support vector machine model is established to complete the classification and identification of the FMF working-conditions. Various experiments on actual industrial data show that the proposed method is effective and advanced.

Rotor-step straight skewing is a common method to reduce electromagnetic vibration of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). However, the difference of the radial electromagnetic forces received by different axial positions of the stator caused by the elastic-plastic material is generally ignored in the theoretical analysis to determine the skewing structure, which makes the vibration suppression effect of the structure far less than expected in practical applications. Take a 48-slot 8-pole interior PMSM as an example, this paper compares the suppression effects of rotor-step straight skewing and rotor-step zigzag skewing when the elastoplasticity of the stator material is considered. It is pointed out that the rotor-step zigzag skewing can overcome the limitation of the straight skewing in restraining electromagnetic vibration in practical application. Based on the theoretical formula and multi-physical field simulation, the selection rules of the rotor-step zigzag skewing angle and segment number are summarized. Finally, the rationality and effectiveness of the simulation method are verified by experiments on the prototype.

Abstract: Protein-ligand interactions are necessary for majority protein functions. Adenosine- 5’-triphosphate (ATP) is one such ligand that plays vital role as a coenzyme in providing energy for cellular activities, catalyzing biological reaction and signaling. Knowing ATP binding residues of proteins is helpful for annotation of protein function and drug design. However, due to the huge amounts of protein sequences influx into databases in the post-genome era, experimentally identifying ATP binding residues is costineffective and time-consuming. To address this problem, computational methods have been developed to predict ATP binding residues. In this review, we briefly summarized the application of machine learning methods in detecting ATP binding residues of proteins. We expect this review will be helpful for further research.

OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness of an eye-tracking-based test (ETBT) to measure eye deviation angle vs. a manual prism alternating cover test (PACT) in children with strabismus. DESIGN The prospective, masked, cross-sectional study included 95 children aged 1.8 years and older. Eye deviation was tested twice by each of ETBT and PACT. Each subject underwent four strabismus measurements, two by the ETBT and two by PACT. In each test, subjects were fixated on accommodative targets at 50 cm, with habitual optical correction allowed. Masked examiners compared the manual PACT results with those of the ETBT. RESULTS There was a high correlation (about 90%) between the ETBT and PACT. Repeatability of ETBT was higher than that of PACT (correlation coefficients of 0.99 and 0.91 respectively, p

Background Many real‐world studies of patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) are restricted to single centers, limiting the generalizability of their insights. This study aimed to identify important population‐based predictors for survival in patients diagnosed with mPDAC in a broader setting. Methods Data between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2019 were extracted from the Flatiron Health EHR database. Treatment‐specific predictive models were generated for patients treated with first‐line gemcitabine+nab­paclitaxel (GNP), FOLFIRINOX, gemcitabine monotherapy (gem‐mono), and second‐line liposomal irinotecan‐based regimens. The holdout method was used for cross‐validation. Age at diagnosis, sex, BMI, smoking status, and ECOG performance score were included in all models with additional demographic, clinical characteristics, and hematological function assessed for inclusion. Results Of the 3625 patients, 43% received GNP, 26% received FOLFIRINOX, 7% received gem‐mono, and 23% received other regimens; 40% (n = 1448) advanced to the second line. Among all first‐line patients, the following were included in the final model: prior surgery, white blood cell (WBC) counts, serum albumin (SA), liver function tests (LFTs), serum bilirubin, serum carbohydrate antigen 19–9, and ascites. Models for patients receiving specific therapies differed from the overall model, GNP (ascites removed), FOLFIRINOX (stage at initial diagnosis added), and gem‐mono (LFTs omitted). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), SA, and WBC counts were important predictors of survival among patients treated with second‐line liposomal irinotecan. Across all regimens, the strongest predictors of survival were ECOG score, SA, and ALP. Conclusions In this real‐world study of patients with mPDAC, important population prognostic factors of survival were identified in a large cohort of patients receiving systemic treatment., This retrospective observational analysis of US patient‐level electronic health record data identified a sample of 3625 patients who initiated first‐line systemic therapy for metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from 2017 to 2019. Important population prognostic factors of survival were identified that applied across all regimens including performance status, serum albumin, and alkaline phosphatase levels. Additional patient characteristics were identified as prognostic factors of survival in the context of specific therapies.

To investigate the improvement of fixation stability of severe amblyopia with traditional patching treatment by the MP-1 microperimeter.Eighteen patients with severe unilateral amblyopia were enrolled and received prescribed 6 h per day of patching of the fellow eye with optical correction if needed. Fixation test was performed on eighteen severe unilateral amblyopia patients by the MP-1 microperimeter in baseline, 3-month and 6-month after treatment. The bivariate contour ellipse area (BCEA, degThe RMANOVA showed that significant differences were found in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between amblyopia eyes/fellow eyes (AE/FE) group (F = 113.52, p 0.001) and among follow-up time (F = 74.684, p 0.001). Moreover, a significant interaction could be found between AE/FE group and follow-up time (baseline/3-month/6-month, F = 60.189, p 0.001). Post hoc analysis by Bonferroni showed significant improvement of BCVA in AE at 3-month (p 0.001) and 6-month (p 0.001), compared to baseline, and also significant between 3-month and 6-month (p = 0.002). The RMANOVA showed that significant differences were found in BCEA between AE/FE group (F = 8.432, p = 0.006) and among follow-up time (F = 10.431, p = 0.003). Moreover, a significant interaction could be found between AE/FE group and follow-up time (F = 9.099, p = 0.005). The mean BCEA of AE changed from 13.14 ± 17.97 degThe fixation stability in the amblyopic eyes is significantly worse than that of the fellow eyes in patients with unilateral severe amblyopia. The fixation stability became better after 6-month occlusion treatment, but the change of fixation stability was not correlated with visual acuity improvement. These quantitative results highlight the importance of fixation in the mechanism of amblyopia.

This study aimed to explore the effect of pelvic reconstruction surgery on the relation of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and overactive bladder (OAB) and the impact of preoperative vaginal oestrogen supplement on vaginal tissue. A total of 100 postmenopausal women with symptomatic POP who underwent pelvic reconstruction surgery (laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy or transvaginal mesh) were enrolled in this study. Preoperative vaginal oestrogen was prescribed in 28 cases. The evaluation tools consisted of POP-Q, urodynamic study, Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), and urinary NGF. Vaginal maturation index and vaginal specimens for hormone receptors study were investigated during operation to evaluate the effect of topical oestrogen. Follow-up assessments were performed at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. Preoperatively, 58 (58%) were POP with OAB. After reconstruction surgery, the OABSS decreased significantly (6.87 ± 0.85 vs 3.77 ± 0.61, p

In recent years, the research and development of 3D bioprinting device for artificial blood vessels has attracted great attention of researchers. In this paper, the research object is the control system of 3D bioprinting device for artificial blood vessel and the four-channel air pressure cooperative control technology for 3D bioprinting device double nozzles printing is mainly studied. Through the scheme design, working principle innovation, hardware selection and air pressure output calibration experiment of four-way air pressure cooperative control system, the hardware platform of 3D bioprinting device air pressure control system is built. Then, by using the embedded TwinCAT NC PTP software platform based on EtherCAT Ethernet bus protocol, the four-channel air pressure cooperative control is programmed and field experiments are carried out, which realizes the printing process of uniform liquid output and good continuity, and meets the requirements of 3D bioprinting for printing continuity and forming quality. The study of four-channel air pressure cooperative control system in this course is a worthy of application and promotion control method.

Intelligent underwater pollution cleaning robot is used to release microbial solution which can dissolve into water slowly into polluted river, so that the solution can react fully with pollutants, so as to achieve the purpose of river pollution control. The research of robot wireless monitoring system is based on the comprehensive application of wireless communication technology and intelligent control technology, in order to achieve real-time monitoring and centralized remote control of underwater pollution removal. Through the three-dimensional structure modeling of the intelligent underwater pollution cleaning robot, the overall scheme design and debugging test of the wireless monitoring system, it is proved that the intelligent underwater pollution cleaning robot is feasible in the intelligent and efficient underwater cleaning operation, and it is a research method worthy of reference and promotion.

This study aimed to analyze the risk factors of adverse cardiovascular events (ACVEs) in elderly patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using the intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images based on the deep learning of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This study included 90 patients with coronary heart disease as the research object. All the patients were randomly divided into a control group (group C) and an experimental group (group E), and all were treated with PCI. The patients in group C were diagnosed by angiography, and patients in group E underwent IVUS examination under deep learning. The levels of blood lipids and inflammatory factors between the two groups before and after PCI were compared, and the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were recorded. Compared with angiography diagnosis, ultrasound diagnosis based on deep learning algorithm had higher sensitivity (92.3% vs. 81.4%), specificity (90.1% vs. 88.6%), and PPV (94.8% vs. 75.3%) ( P < 0.05 ). Compared with group C, patients in group E had a higher narrowest lesion diameter (2.54 ± 0.18 mm vs. 2.21 ± 0.19 mm) and detection rate of eccentric plaques (80.1% vs. 45.3%) ( P < 0.05 ). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) after PCI in the two groups was significantly higher than that before surgery, while low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly lower than those before surgery, and the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.05 ). In short, the ultrasonic detection method based on deep learning algorithm has high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for CHD detection; PCI can improve the patient’s blood lipid level, relieve the patient’s inflammation, and reduce the occurrence of ACVEs in the patient.

Background Although three-dimensional (3D)-printed digital ostectomy templates (DOTs) can help surgeons perform mandibular angle ostectomy (MAO) more precisely and safely, the clinical application of such templates is problematic. Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a novel DOT and improve the precision of MAO. Methods A total of 20 patients with a prominent mandibular angle (PMA) were allocated into 2 groups (10 patients per group). A conventional DOT and a novel DOT were applied to guide MAO in Groups A and B, respectively. The mean time taken for curved osteotomy and the volume of postoperative drainage on 1 side within 24 hours were recorded. The deviations between the simulated and postoperative lower border of the mandible were measured on both sides. Results All the patients were satisfied with the cosmetic outcomes. Statistical results showed that the mean time taken for curved osteotomy was shorter in Group B than in Group A, and that the volume of postoperative drainage on 1 side within 24 hours was similar between the 2 groups. The deviations at the anterior and posterior parts of the inferior border showed that the accuracy of osteotomy was higher in Group B than in Group A, and that there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the middle part. Conclusions The novel DOT is easy to locate and fix tightly, which reduced the operating time and increased the safety and precision of the procedures. Level of Evidence: 4

A diet supplemented with freeze‐dried black raspberries (BRBs) has been demonstrated to modulate various biochemical and physiological pathways in both colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and ApcMin/+ mice, which are utilized to model CRC. These changes have been previously shown to exert beneficial chemopreventive effects against CRC, with outcomes such as reduction of adenoma development and inflammation. This study aimed to assess whether these effects manifest in a meaningful change in survival rates by comparing these rates between ApcMin/+ mice administered a 5% BRB‐supplemented diet or a control AIN‐76A diet. Percent survival over days elapsed was assessed in order to determine a median length of survival for each group of mice. Significant increases in survival rates with consumption of the BRB diet versus the control diet were demonstrated in both male and female mouse study groups. Male and female control groups were also compared in order to reduce confounding due to the sex of the mice; the difference in survival rates between male and female mice was not significant (p = 0.07, *p

Background Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is widely used for heroin use disorder. Although its curative effect is remarkable, there are problems associated with its use. While previous studies have found that methadone use may have certain effects on cerebral white matter, its effect on gray matter (GM) and its related neural networks is unclear. This study aimed to observe the effects of long-term methadone use on cerebral GM and the changes in related neural networks. Methods Patients receiving MMT treatment for heroin use disorder (N=50) were recruited. Longitudinal self-control was adopted, and the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to compare the difference in cerebral GM volume before and after 1 year of methadone use, then we select the brain region where the GM volume changed as the region of interest (ROI), and use the DPARSF software for the whole brain function connection, and the differences in brain function connections before and after 1year MMT treatment were compared. Results Our results demonstrated that, after 1 year of MMT, patients showed smaller GM volume in the bilateral insula, occipital lingual gyrus, right cingulate gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, caudate nucleus, temporal, and occipital regions, and the resting neural network of the brain also changed. Conclusions We speculate that long-term methadone use can lead to damage to GM structure and adaptive changes in the neural network of patients with heroin use disorder, mainly involving emotional perception, spatial localization, working memory, and other related functions.

Fuzzy information entropy based on fuzzy relation in fuzzy rough set theory is an important metric of uncertainty. However, the research of fuzzy information entropy for hybrid feature outlier detection has not been reported. On this basis, this paper constructs a hybrid feature outlier detection method based on fuzzy information entropy by using fuzzy approximate space with fuzzy similarity relation. Firstly, the adaptive fuzzy radius of standard deviation and hybrid fuzzy similarity are employed to construct the fuzzy approximate space, and the relative fuzzy entropy is defined based on the fuzzy information entropy. Then, two kinds of metrics are constructed to describe the outlier degree of object. Finally, the fuzzy entropy-based outlier factor is integrated to implement outlier detection, and the relevant fuzzy information entropy-based outlier detection algorithm (FIEOD) is designed. The FIEOD algorithm is compared with the main outlier detection algorithms on public data. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method has better effectiveness and adaptability.

Lissencephaly is a malformation of cortical development associated with deficient neuronal migration and abnormal formation of gyri. The natural course includes developmental delay, mental retardation, epileptic seizures, and microcephaly. Early diagnosis of lissencephaly is very important to give couples reproductive choices. Cranial ultrasonography is often used for the initial evaluation of intracranial abnormalities in fetuses and infants, and we believe that it is a safe and cost-efficient alternative to MRI and CT in many cases. This study combines a case of lissencephaly in our hospital and related literature review, to explore the clinical manifestations, epileptic seizures and ultrasonographic features of the disease, in order to improve the understanding of the disease.

PurposeThe present study aims to explore the relationship between manufacturing–research and development (R&D) integration and organizational culture in enhancing quality and product development performance (PDP).Design/methodology/approachBased on data collected from 931 manufacturing firms around world, the authors examine the proposed hypothesis by using regression analyses. In addition, PROCESS (SPSS macro) is used to test both the mediation and moderated mediation models in this study.FindingsThe findings reveal that quality management practices (QMPs) partially mediate the relationship between R&D-manufacturing integration and PDP. Further, it is found that the direct and indirect effects of R&D-manufacturing integration on PDP are stronger when the organization is characterized as participative rather than hierarchical.Originality/valueThis study, by investigating the combined effect of R&D-manufacturing integration and organizational culture on QMPs and PDP, provides practical insights into the ways that manufacturing firms effectively utilize the integration between R&D and manufacturing functions to improve QMPs and enhance PDP.

Polarization imaging has the advantage of detecting artificial targets based on their intrinsic characteristics. However, with the development of camouflage materials and camouflage shielding performance, the anti-optical detection technology for camouflaged targets continues to improve. In this paper, we combine the advantages of polarization imaging and deep learning to achieve rapid detection of artificial targets camouflaged in natural scenes. Firstly, we propose a Stokes-vector-based parameter image to show the polarization specificity of the camouflaged artificial targets. Then, a detection method is proposed, which uses an Otsu segmentation algorithm and morphological operations to extract polarization signatures of the target from the proposed parameter image, and utilizes the extracted polarization signatures to highlight the camouflaged artificial targets. Finally, we improve a self-supervised deep learning network to enhance the low-light images, extending the application of our method into low illumination environment target detection. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can effectively detect the camouflaged artificial targets with a detection rate better than 80%, which has potential application value in the fields of military target detection, security monitoring, and remote sensing.

The prices of fossil fuels, the gap between energy supply and demand, energy security, environmental issues, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions commonly promote the development of biomass power generation in China. Compared to direct biomass combustion power generation and biogas power generation, liquid biofuel power generation has better application potential. Policies and finance environment of countries and organizations have promoted the extensive application of biofuel power generation in recent years, especially in China. Evaluation of internal combustion engine, gas turbine and fuel cell on the stationary power station and mobile generation shows that gas turbine is the main generator-set, the fuel cell is the fastest-growing and future generator-set, while the engine is the first choice in transport and low power generation field. As the second, third and fourth generation biofuels, biomethanol, bioethanol, biodiesel and others have been researched and widely used in power generation. In addition, power generation performance and emissions have been improved to some extent after biofuels supplying. For the future, combined heat and power (CHP) generation and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is imperative development trends of power generation for higher energy and exergy efficiency. CHP based on the various generating facilities will be the next choice and direction of energy use trends for transport.

This study investigates a kind of masonry consisting of clay-fired brick (fc = 10 MPa; ρ = 1 . 38 g / cm 3 ) and mortar (fc = 10 MPa; ρ = 1 . 8 g / cm 3 ). Clay-fired brick masonry connotes a traditional construction material of old architecture and public buildings. We carried out penetration experiments in which four clay-fired brick walls employing two different patterns were subjected to impact from small high-speed projectile, i.e. 12.7 mm armor-piercing explosive incendiary projectile and material tests in which the static and dynamic compressive strengths of clay-fired brick and mortar were determined by quasi-static and SHPB (Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar) tests. The experimental data include hit and exit velocities, damage configuration of clay brick masonry and mechanical properties of material at low and high strain rates, though which influence of thickness and bonding patterns of wall on kinetic loss of bullet, the damage patterns of masonry observed experimentally and dynamic increase of material strengths are analyzed. To keep minimum boundary inconsistency with reality, full 3D detailed finite element model consisting of two different material is established. Sharing common nodes and employing automatic tiebreak contact are combined to reduce computational time usage of large-scale model. For description of clay-fired brick and mortar Riedel–Hiermaier–Thoma (RHT) material model is employed. Material parameter set is derived based on experimental data, available literature and engineering assumptions. The numerical simulations study the mesh resolution dependency of material model, reproduce the crucial phenomena of masonry in experiment acceptably and offer more time-resolved insight into motion of bullet in the process of penetration. The feasibility of means of constructing finite element model and applying RHT model to the masonry herein and analogous constructions is explored through numerical investigation.

Objective:We aimed to evaluate the association between coffee and/or tea consumption and breast cancer (BC) risk among premenopausal and postmenopausal women and to conduct a network meta-analysis.Design:Systematic review and network meta-analysis.Setting:We conducted a systematic review of electronic publications in the last 30 years to identify case–control studies or prospective cohort studies that evaluated the effects of coffee and tea intake.Results:Forty-five studies that included more than 3 323 288 participants were eligible for analysis. Network meta-analysis was performed to determine the effects of coffee and/or tea consumption on reducing BC risk in a dose-dependent manner and differences in coffee/tea type, menopause status, hormone receptor and the BMI in subgroup and meta-regression analyses. According to the first pairwise meta-analysis, low-dose coffee intake and high-dose tea intake may exhibit efficacy in preventing ER(estrogen receptor)− BC, particularly in postmenopausal women. Then, we performed another pairwise and network meta-analysis and determined that the recommended daily doses were 2–3 cups/d of coffee or ≥5 cups/d of tea, which contained a high concentration of caffeine, particularly in postmenopausal women.Conclusions:Coffee and tea consumption is not associated with a reduction in the overall BC risk in postmenopausal women and is associated with a potentially lower risk of ER− BC. And the highest recommended dose is 2–3 cups of coffee/d or ≥5 cups of tea/d. They are potentially useful dietary protectants for preventing BC.

Uterocutaneous fistula is an extremely rare postoperative complication and the most appropriate treatment remains unclear. In this case report, we described uterocutaneous fistula of a 41-year-old woman with persistent purulent discharge from a small opening in her midline incision after abdominal myomectomy. The patient was diagnosed as uterocutaneous fistula based on magnetic resonance imaging and the methylene blue dye test. Fertility-sparing surgery was performed and uterocutaneous fistula was successfully corrected. Some nonabsorbable silk sutures were found attached to the sinus tract. This could lead to infection, which could cause the formation of a uterocutaneous fistula. Since after 1-year of operation, no evidence of recurrence was found. Fertility-sparing surgery is effective for a patient with uterocutaneous fistula. Complete resection of the sinus tract and surrounding necrotic tissue is required in the repair of urterocutaneous fistula.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly angiogenesis malignant tumor with a significant heterogeneity of vascular morphology. The vascular patterns could be served as an indicator of vascular morphological complexity that associated with postoperative prognosis of patients with GBM. Here, multiphoton microscopy (MPM), based on second harmonic generation (SHG) and two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF), is applied for detecting the architectural feature of blood vessels from ex vivo, unfixed, and unstained human GBM specimens. Combined with the image processing algorithms, the morphology, location, orientation, alignment, and density of vascular collagen are qualitatively and quantitatively visualized, revealing the presented method not only contribute to differentiate GBM from normal brain tissue, but also provide important indicators of different vascular patterns, which may serve as a reference to the prognosis more accurately. Therefore, these results can provide prognosis-related histopathological diagnosis of GBM, holding a translational potential to be used as a label-free, quick, and on-site imaging tool for clinicians to determine the extent of excision involving brain functional areas.

An opportunistic link between two mobile devices or nodes can be constructed when they are within each other’s communication range. Typically, cyber–physical environments consist of a number of mobile devices that are potentially able to establish opportunistic contacts and serve mobile applications in a cost-effective way. Opportunistic mobile service computing is a promising paradigm capable of utilizing the pervasive mobile computational resources around the users. Mobile users are thus allowed to exploit nearby mobile services to boost their computing capabilities without investment in their resource pool. Nevertheless, various challenges, especially its quality-of-service and reliability-aware scheduling, are yet to be addressed. Existing studies and related scheduling strategies consider mobile users to be fully stable and available. In this article, we propose a novel method for reliability-aware and deadline-constrained service composition over opportunistic networks. We leverage the Krill–Herd-based algorithm to yield a deadline-constrained, reliability-aware, and well-executable service composition schedule based on the estimation of completion time and reliability of schedule candidates. We carry out extensive case studies based on some well-known mobile service composition templates and a real-world opportunistic contact data set. The comparison results suggest that the proposed approach outperforms existing ones in terms of success rate and completion time of composed services. Note to Practitioners —Recently, the rapid development of mobile devices and mobile communication leads to the prosperity of mobile service computing. Services running on mobile devices within a limited range are allowed to be composed to coordinate through wireless communication technologies and perform complex tasks and business processes. Despite its great potential, mobile service compositions remains a challenge since the mobility of users and devices imposes high unpredictability on the execution of tasks. A careful investigation into existing methods has found their various limitations, e.g., assuming time-invariant availability of mobile services. This article presents a novel reliability-aware and deadline-constrained service composition method for mobile opportunistic networks. Instead of assuming time-invariant availability of mobile nodes, the proposed method is capable of estimating service availability at run-time and leveraging a Krill–Herd-based algorithm to yield the deadline-constrained, reliability-aware, and well-executable service composition schedules. Case studies based on well-known service composition templates and real-world data sets suggest that it outperforms traditional ones in terms of success and completion time of composed services. It can thus aid the design and optimization of composite services as well as their smooth execution in a mobile environment. It can help practitioners better manage the reliability and performance of real-world applications built upon mobile services.

Objective To compare the clinical effects of needling at “five acupoints for swallow function” combined with rehabilitation training and only rehabilitation training in the treatment of dysphagia due to pseudobulbar paralysis after stroke. Methods Seventy-six patients were randomized into rehabilitation group and combination group, with 38 cases in each. Both groups were treated with basic treatment of western medicine. The rehabilitation group was treated with routine rehabilitation training, and the combination group was treated with acupuncture at “five acupoints for swallow function” based on treatment in the rehabilitation group. Patients in the two groups were treated once a day, 6 days a week, 1 day for rest, for 3 weeks in succession. The changes in the grades and scores of water swallow test (WST), video fluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS), and swallowing quality of life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL) in the two groups were observed before and after treatment, and the clinical effects of the two groups were compared. Results After treatment, the WST grades of the two groups were statistically different from that of before treatment (both P Conclusion The acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training for pseudobulbar paralysis after stroke is more effective than rehabilitation training only. The combination of the two can significantly relieve the dysphagia and improve the patients’ quality of life.

Background:. Reports evaluating the efficacy of transcranial sonography (TCS) for the differential diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) and other movement disorders in China are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the application of TCS for the differential diagnosis of PD, multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and essential tremor (ET) in Chinese individuals. Methods:. From 2017 to 2019, 500 inpatients treated at the Department of Dyskinesia, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University underwent routine transcranial ultrasound examination. The cross-sections at the midbrain and thalamus levels were scanned, and the incidence rates of substantia nigra (SN) positivity and the incidence rates of lenticular hyperechoic area were recorded. The echo of the SN was manually measured. Results:. Of the 500 patients, 125 were excluded due to poor signal in temporal window sound transmission. Among the 375 individuals with good temporal window sound transmission, 200 were diagnosed with PD, 90 with ET, 50 with MSA, and 35 with PSP. The incidence rates of SN positivity differed significantly among the four patient groups (χ2 = 121.061, P 0.017). Conclusion:. SN positivity could effectively differentiate PD from ET, PSP, and MSA in a Chinese population.

Background People with schizophrenia often exhibit deficits in empathy, which plays a major role in social cognition and interpersonal relationship. However, little work has investigated potential factors that influence empathy in schizophrenia. The study aimed to investigate the relationship among metacognition, psychiatric symptoms, cognitive functioning and empathy in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Methods Forty-eight people with schizophrenia were enrolled in the study group. All subjects participated in the metacognitions questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS), neurocognitive functioning, interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), and the pictorial empathy test (PET). Results Stepwise regression analysis revealed that cognitive self-consciousness (domain of metacognitions questionnaire-30) accounted for 37% of the variance in perspective taking scores (domain of interpersonal reactivity index). Resistance (subscale of brief psychiatric rating scale) and positive beliefs about worry (domain of metacognitions questionnaire-30) accounted for 34% of the variance in fantasy (domain of interpersonal reactivity index). Activation (subscale of brief psychiatric rating scale) was a significant predictor for empathic concern (domain of interpersonal reactivity index). Resistance, cognitive confidence (domain of metacognitions questionnaire-30), intellectual processes and inhibitory control (go-no-go task) accounted for 38% of the variance in personal distress. Negative symptoms (subscale of brief psychiatric rating scale) and cognitive self-consciousness were significant predictors for the pictorial empathy test. Conclusion The study was aimed to examine self-perception of metacognitive beliefs and empathy. More research is needed to explore the association between metacognitive beliefs, cognitive functioning and psychiatric symptoms on empathy in people with schizophrenia.

Summary Background & aims Sarcopenia is characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and associated with poor postoperative outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of preoperative albumin-globulin score (AGS), skeletal muscle index (SMI) as well as their combination in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) treated with surgical resection. Methods A total of 613 newly diagnosed ICC patients from two centers were retrospectively analyzed (460 in discovery cohort and 153 in validation cohort). The plain computed tomography images were used to measure SMI. The effect of AGS, SMI and CAS grade on clinicopathological characteristics and long-term outcomes of patients with ICC were analyzed. Results The SMI was significantly greater in males than in females. Patients with decreased AGS, increased SMI were associated with improved overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Stratefied by CAS grade, 68 (14.8%) patients in grade 1 were associated with increased body mass index (BMI) and best postoperative prognosis, whereas 194 (42.1%) patients in grade 3 were linked to worst OS and RFS. The CAS grade showed a promising accuracy in predicting OS and RFS of ICC patients (area under curves [AUCs] were 0.732 and 0.768). Multiple tumors, MVI and elevated CAS grades were identified as independent risk factors for OS and RFS of ICC patients. These results were confirmed by validation cohort. Conclusion The present study provided compelling evidence that a novel index based on combination of preoperative AGS and SMI was closely related to postoperative long-term outcomes for surgically treated ICC patients. Preoperative evaluation of CAS grade may be useful for risk classification and clinical therapeutic decision-making for ICC patients.

Background This study aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of parenchyma-sparing hepatectomy (PSH) on solitary small intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods A total of 184 patients with solitary small ICC (≤ 5 cm) from 2009 to 2017 were included. Short- and long-term outcomes were compared between PSH and Non-PSH approach. Results 95 (51.6%) patients underwent PSH and 89 (48.4%) patients underwent Non-PSH for solitary small ICC. PSH was associated with less intraoperative blood loss (212.9 mL versus 363.5 mL, P=0.038), lower transfusion rate (7.4% versus 16.9%, P=0.048), without increasing the frequency of tumor recurrence (60.0% versus 58.4%). No significant differences were observed in overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and liver RFS (P = 0.627, 0.769 and 0.538, respectively). 109 (59.2%) patients experienced recurrence, of these, 67 (36.4%) were intrahepatic recurrence. Subgroup analysis of patients with liver-only recurrence demonstrated an increased likelihood of repeat hepatectomy for PSH compared to Non-PSH (21.2% versus 2.9%, P = 0.031), thus resulting in improved liver OS (P = 0.016). Conclusion PSH was associated with improved perioperative outcomes but it did not increase liver recurrence rates. PSH offered an increased rate of salvage hepatectomy for recurrent tumor, thus improving long-term survival in cases in which liver recurrence occurred.

Genetic mutations associated with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) also occur in age-related clonal hematopoiesis, often in the same individual. This makes confident assignment of detected variants to malignancy challenging. The issue is particularly crucial for AML posttreatment measurable residual disease monitoring, where results can be discordant between genetic sequencing and flow cytometry. We show here that it is possible to distinguish AML from clonal hematopoiesis and to resolve the immunophenotypic identity of clonal architecture. To achieve this, we first design patient-specific DNA probes based on patient's whole-genome sequencing and then use them for patient-personalized single-cell DNA sequencing with simultaneous single-cell antibody–oligonucleotide sequencing. Examples illustrate AML arising from DNMT3A- and TET2-mutated clones as well as independently. The ability to personalize single-cell proteogenomic assessment for individual patients based on leukemia-specific genomic features has implications for ongoing AML precision medicine efforts. Significance: This study offers a proof of principle of patient-personalized customized single-cell proteogenomics in AML including whole-genome sequencing–defined structural variants, currently unmeasurable by commercial “off-the-shelf” panels. This approach allows for the definition of genetic and immunophenotype features for an individual patient that would be best suited for measurable residual disease tracking.

Background There is a lack of a comprehensive evaluation for pediatric clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) published in recent years. Here, we assessed the quality of pediatric CPGs, considering factors that might affect their quality. The aim of the study is to promote a more coherent development and application of CPGs. Methods Pediatric CPGs published in PubMed, MedLive, Guidelines International Network, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and World Health Organization between 2017 and 2019 were searched and collected. Paired researchers conducted screening, data extraction, and quality assessment using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II). Linear regression analysis determined the factors affecting CPGs’ quality. Results The study included a total of 216 CPGs, which achieved a mean score of 4.26 out of 7 points (60.86%) in the AGREE II assessment. Only 6.48% of the CPGs reached the “recommend” level. The remaining 69.91% should have been modified before recommendation, while the other 23.61% did not reach the recommended level at all. The overall quality of recent pediatric CPGs was higher than previously, and the proportion of CPGs with low-quality decreased over time. However, there were still too few CPGs that reached a high-quality level. The “applicability” and “rigor of development” domains had generally low scores. CPGs formulated by developing countries or regions, those that are not under an organizations or groups responsibility, and those that used non-evidence-based methods were found to be associated with poorer quality in different domains as independent or combinational factors. Conclusions The quality of pediatric CPGs still needs to be improved. Specifically, a quality control before applying new CPGs should be essential to ensure their quality and applicability.

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women worldwide. Patients carrying mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) account for 5-10% of all breast cancer patients. Therefore, screening for susceptibility genes may reduce the incidence of breast cancer and improve prognosis. To provide evidence for mutation interpretation and targeted drug use in breast cancer patients, gene mutations were screened in 78 women diagnosed with sporadic breast cancer using a next-generation sequencing panel, confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Then the pathogenicity of the identified novel variants was explored using in vitro experiments including western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation and cell-migration assays. Four novel variants (BRCA2 L1390W, BRCA2 Glu432fs, BRCA1 P706L, and BRCA1 Cys882fs) were identified. BRCA2 Glu432fs decreased the expression of BRCA2 protein, enhanced cell migration and invasion ability, and prevented the protein from interacting with RAD51, resulting in a defect in the homologous recombination pathway. The identification of these novel BRCA variants and the confirmation of their pathogenicity have enriched the genetic database of breast cancer, especially in the Chinese population. Moreover, the variants are the genetic risk factors for hereditary breast cancer. Therefore, BRCA variant detection and genetic counseling for breast cancer patients are meaningful and important.

Representation-based methods have achieved exciting results in recent applications of face recognition. However, it is still challenging for the face recognition task due to noise and outliers in the data. Many existing methods avoid these problems by constructing an auxiliary dictionary from the extended data but fail to achieve good performances because they use the main dictionary only for classification. In this paper, to avoid the need to manually construct an auxiliary dictionary and the effects of noise, we propose a Joint Latent Low-Rank and Non-Negative Induced Sparse Representation (JLSRC) for face recognition. Specifically, JLSRC adaptively learns two clean low-rank reconstructed dictionaries jointly via an extended latent low-rank representation to reveal the potential relationships in the data and then embeds a non-negative constraint and an Elastic Net regularization in the coefficient vectors of the dictionaries to enhance the performance on classification. In this way, the learned low-rank dictionaries can be mutually boosted to extract discriminative features and handle the noise, and the obtained coefficient vectors are simultaneously both sparse and discriminative. Moreover, the proposed method seamlessly and elegantly integrates low-rank learning and sparse representation-based classification. Extensive experiments on three challenging face databases demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of JLSRC in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods.

Background ABO-incompatible liver transplantation (ABO-i LT) has become a rescue therapeutic option for patients with severe hepatic failure. Although the use of rituximab greatly reduces the morbidity of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), severe adverse effects, such as infection and biliary complications, still seriously threaten the survival of transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to replace rituximab in ABO-i LT. Methods Twenty-two patients with severe hepatic failure undergoing ABO-i LT were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups: the MSC group and the rituximab group. The safety of the application of MSCs and the incidence of allograft rejection, including antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and acute cellular rejection (ACR), were evaluated in both groups at the 2-year follow-up period as primary endpoints. Recipients and graft survival and other postoperative complications were compared as secondary endpoints. Results No severe MSC-related adverse events were observed during the trial. MSC treatment yielded comparable, if not better, results than rituximab at decreasing the incidence of acute rejection (9.1% vs 27.3%). Inspiringly, compared to those in the rituximab group, the rates of biliary complications (0% vs 45.5%) and infection (9.1% vs 81.8%) were significantly decreased in the MSC group. In addition, there were no significant differences in 2-year graft and recipient survival between the two groups (81.8% vs 72.7%). Conclusions Our data show that MSC transfusion is comparable to rituximab treatment for AMR prophylaxis following ABO-i LT. Additionally, the results indicate that MSCs are more beneficial to the prevention of infection and biliary complications and may be introduced as a novel immunosuppressive approach for ABO-i LT. Trial registration Trial registration: chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR2000037732. Registered 31 August 2020- Retrospectively registered, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=57074.

With the increasing prevalence of electric vehicles (EVs), the EV charging station (EVCS) and power distribution have become a coupled physical system. A multi‐objective planning model is developed herein for the sizing and siting of EVCSs and the expansion of a power distribution network with high wind power penetration. The objectives of the planning model are to minimise the total cost of investment and energy losses of the distribution system while maximising the total captured traffic flow. The uncertainties associated with wind power sources are considered. Additionally, the uncertainties in EV daily charging loads are also important concerns in the optimisation of the planning model. To model the EV load uncertainties, a recent scenario generation (SG) method is adopted. Further, a multi‐objective optimisation tool, Multi‐Objective Natural Aggregation Algorithm (MONAA), is introduced to obtain the final solutions of the planning model. The simulations based on coupled 54‐node distribution network and 25‐node traffic network systems are conducted to verify the efficiency of the proposed model and the effectiveness of SG‐based MONAA.

Objective To explore the impact of lymphadenectomy on the prognosis of women of reproductive age with clinically apparent Stage I epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods Data of women of reproductive age with Stage I EOC, diagnosed between 2010 and 2016, were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Five-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate Cox analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of lymph node dissection on survival. Propensity score (PS) matching was conducted to balance various clinicopathologic factors. Results Of 2222 patients included, 1609 (72.4%) received lymph node dissection. The rate of histopathologically confirmed lymph node metastasis was highest in serous subtype (10.2%) and lowest in mucinous subtype (2.2%). No significant difference between the lymphadenectomy and non-lymphadenectomy groups in 5-year CSS was observed in the original cohort (P = 0.364) or in the PS matching cohort (P = 0.248). Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between the lymphadenectomy and non-lymphadenectomy groups for patients with Stage IC EOC (92.4% vs. 88.1%, P = 0.027). According to the multivariate analysis, performance of the lymphadenectomy was not significantly associated with CSS in the original cohort (P = 0.163) or the PS matching cohort (P = 0.101). Conclusion Dissection of lymph nodes was not significantly associated with improved prognosis for most Stage I EOC, but, lymphadenectomy may be necessary for women of reproductive age with Stage IC subtype.

Background X‐ray repair cross‐complementary 5 (XRCC5) and 6 (XRCC6) are critical for DNA repair. Few studies have assessed their association with breast cancer risk, and related gene‐environment interactions remain poorly understood. This study aimed to determine the influence of XRCC5/6 polymorphisms on breast cancer risk, and their interactions with cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep satisfaction. Methods The study included 1039 patients with breast cancer and 1040 controls. Four single‐nucleotide polymorphisms of XRCC5 and two of XRCC6 were genotyped. Information about smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep satisfaction was collected through questionnaires. Odds ratios (OR) and related 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were assessed using unconditional logistic regression models. Gene‐environment interactions were analyzed using logistic regression with multiplicative interaction models. Results XRCC5 rs16855458 was associated with increased breast cancer risk in the co‐dominant (p trend = 0.003) and dominant (CA + AA vs. CC, OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.07–1.56, p = 0.008) genetic models after Bonferroni correction. The CG + GG genotype of XRCC6 rs2267437 was associated with an increased risk of estrogen receptor‐negative/progesterone receptor‐negative (ER−/PR−) breast cancer (CG + GG vs. CC: OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.12–2.13, p = 0.008) after Bonferroni correction. Moreover, an antagonistic interaction between XRCC5 rs16855458 and alcohol consumption (p interaction = 0.017), and a synergistic interaction between XRCC6 rs2267437 and sleep satisfaction were associated with breast cancer risk (p interaction = 0.0497). However, these interactions became insignificant after Bonferroni correction. Conclusion XRCC5 rs16855458 was associated with breast cancer risk, and XRCC6 rs2267437 was associated with the risk of ER−/PR− breast cancer. Breast cancer risk associated with XRCC5 and XRCC6 polymorphisms might vary according to alcohol consumption and sleep satisfaction, respectively, and merit further investigation., XRCC5 rs16855458 was associated with breast cancer risk, and XRCC6 rs2267437 was associated with the risk of ER−/PR− breast cancer. Breast cancer risk associated with XRCC5 and XRCC6 polymorphisms might vary according to alcohol consumption and sleep satisfaction, respectively, and merit further investigation.

PurposeCurrently, the bulk of research on marketing innovation focuses on various firm-level dimensions using relationships from the technological (product and process) innovation literature. Research on industry-level differences in marketing innovation is lacking. Testing relationships form the technological paradigm in the context of the marketing innovation paradigm is also lacking. This paper aims to present empirical evidence on both aspects using a large-scale data set.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses two large-scale datasets, each consisting of approximately 4,000 Canadian enterprises in 18 industries. The data was collected by Statistics Canada in 2009 and 2012 through its nationwide Survey of Innovation and Business Strategies program. Two widely used theoretical frameworks, resource-based view of the firm and the competitive perspective, are used to generate constructs and hypotheses in relation to marketing innovation. The data was analyzed using multi-level logistic regression.FindingsThe findings show that industry-level competition is a much more important driver of marketing innovation than firm-level competition. The authors also show that marketing constructs that are significant in the context of technological innovation are also significant for marketing innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends the firm-level literature by providing evidence of how industry-level dynamics enhances marketing innovation. The study also provides empirical evidence from Canadian enterprises that complement those from other countries.Practical implicationsA deeper understanding of the drivers of marketing innovation can enable managers to enact innovation strategies that can enhance organizational performance, differentiate themselves and enhance customer engagement and brand image.Originality/valueAs one of the few studies to examine industry-level differences in marketing innovation, the authors show that disaggregating competition into industry-level and firm-level provides a clearer picture of how competition advances marketing innovation. Additionally, this study is the first of its kind to provide empirical evidence on Canadian enterprises, thereby complementing evidence on marketing innovation from other countries. Thus, this study makes a theoretical and empirical contribution to the emerging marketing innovation literature.

Background: Bioelectrical impedance technology is a common technique used for the early detection of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). However, studies on the threshold value established by Inbody 720 device (Biospace, Korea) have been extremely limited. We aimed to determine its reference range and cutoff values. Methods: All patients were recruited from October 2017 to October 2019 at the Peking University People's Hospital Breast Center. In total, 82 patients with unilateral BCRL and 1305 healthy subjects were recruited in this study. We measured the extracellular fluid (ECF) ratio, extracellular water (ECW) ratio, as well as the single-frequency bioimpedance analysis (SFBIA) ratios at 1 and 5 kHz with the Inbody 720 device. The Youden index-based cutoff points, mean + 2SD and mean + 3SD values of these four indicators for both dominant and nondominant arms were also calculated. Results: Data were collected from 1387 women, including healthy subjects and patients with lymphedema. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS. Significant differences were found between the two groups in the ECW, ECF, and SFBIA ratios. For the dominant affected arms, the Youden index-based cutoff points for the ECF, ECW, as well as SFBIA ratios at 1 and 5 kHz were 1.009, 1.008, 1.068, and 1.068, respectively. For the nondominant affected arms, the Youden index-based cutoff points were 1.014, 1.013, 1.047, and 1.048, respectively. The mean + 2 standard deviations (SD) and mean + 3SD values were also calculated. Conclusions: We determined the Youden index-based cutoff points, mean + 2SD and mean + 3SD values of the ECF, ECW, as well as SFBIA ratios at 1 and 5 kHz for both dominant and nondominant arms with data from 1305 healthy subjects. Next, the Youden index-based cutoff points, the mean + 2SD and mean + 3SD values were used to recognize patients with lymphedema. We found that the Youden index-based cutoff points and the mean + 2SD showed similar identification capacity on lymphedema, and they seemed to distinguish more patients with lymphedema than mean + 3SD values.

To further improve the security of SHA-256, a compression function construction scheme based on chaotic S-box is proposed. Through the reasonable design of the iteration mode and using the nonlinearity, confusion, and anti-difference of chaotic S-box, the relationship between the plaintext and the hash value becomes more complicated and unpredictable, by the diffusion of the linear transformation P-box, the dependence between the plaintext and the hash value is further improved. The compression function is applied to the SHA-256 Hash Algorithm to test and analyze the distribution, sensitivity, confusion, diffusion, and collision resistance, and compared with the original SHA-256 and the mainstream Hash Algorithms. The results show that the proposed scheme can effectively improve the collision resistance of the SHA-256 Hash Algorithm and enhance the stability of confusion and diffusion with fewer cryptographic components and lower operational consumption to provide more reliable security guarantee for its application.

Background: Tumor microenvironment (TME) has attracted lots of attention with its important role in the tumor development. This study aimed to explore TME- related genes of prognostic value in patients with endometrial cancer (EC) and establish a prediction model for EC. Methods: The RNA-Seq data and clinicopathological characteristics of 521 subjects were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified based on the immune and stromal scores, which were calculated by the ESTIMATE algorithm. Hub genes were initially screened using the Cytoscape and further selected through Cox regression. Gene correlation analysis was performed in TIMER database. A nomogram was constructed integrating prognosis-related hub genes and clinical factors and validated in the validation group. Risk stratification was performed based on the nomogram. Results: Three TME-related hub genes (CCR5, FCER1G, and ITGB2) were found with significant prognostic value for EC patients. The expression of CCR5, FCER1G, and ITGB2 were significantly correlated with various immune cells infiltration. Based on the Cox regression, a nomogram was constructed by integrating five predictors (stage, grade, immune score, expression of FCER1G, and ITGB2), with a C-index of 0.765. Discrimination of the model was confirmed in the validation group (C-index: 0.716). The calibration curves for the 3- and 5- year survival indicated good calibration. Patients in high- and low- risk groups presented significantly different survival outcomes (P

Accurate breast mass segmentation of automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) images plays a crucial role in 3D breast reconstruction which can assist radiologists in surgery planning. Although the convolutional neural network has great potential for breast mass segmentation due to the remarkable progress of deep learning, the lack of annotated data limits the performance of deep CNNs. In this article, we present an uncertainty aware temporal ensembling (UATE) model for semi-supervised ABUS mass segmentation. Specifically, a temporal ensembling segmentation (TEs) model is designed to segment breast mass using a few labeled images and a large number of unlabeled images. Considering the network output contains correct predictions and unreliable predictions, equally treating each prediction in pseudo label update and loss calculation may degrade the network performance. To alleviate this problem, the uncertainty map is estimated for each image. Then an adaptive ensembling momentum map and an uncertainty aware unsupervised loss are designed and integrated with TEs model. The effectiveness of the proposed UATE model is mainly verified on an ABUS dataset of 107 patients with 170 volumes, including 13382 2D labeled slices. The Jaccard index (JI), Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), pixel-wise accuracy (AC) and Hausdorff distance (HD) of the proposed method on testing set are 63.65%, 74.25%, 99.21% and 3.81mm respectively. Experimental results demonstrate that our semi-supervised method outperforms the fully supervised method, and get a promising result compared with existing semi-supervised methods.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can increase serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. We thus aimed to evaluate the impact of CKD on CEA prognostic accuracy in colorectal cancer.Altogether, 429 patients who underwent curative resection for stages I-III colorectal adenocarcinoma were grouped according to postoperative CEA levels and history of CKD.Three-year disease-free survival (DFS) was higher in patients with normal postoperative CEA (group A, 83.4%) than in those with elevated postoperative CEA (group B, 64.3%) (p 0.001). CKD patients had higher postoperative CEA levels than non-CKD patients (odds ratio 3.27, 95% confidence interval 1.78-5.99, p 0.001). In multivariable analysis, postoperative CEA level was an independent prognostic factor for DFS in non-CKD, but not CKD, patients.CKD can increase postoperative CEA levels in colorectal cancer patients. Elevated postoperative CEA levels were associated with shorter DFS in non-CKD, but not CKD, patients.

11C-Acetate radiotracer with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging is currently used in cardiovascular imaging for perfusion and oxygen consumption measurement. It is also used, among other diseases, for prostate cancer as this radiotracer does not accumulate in the bladder. The present study reports the assessment of the radiotherapy treatment by measuring the tumor perfusion and oxygenation before and at mid-treatment by imaging with dynamic 11C-Acetate in patients with head and neck cancer. A pre-treatment dynamic 11C-Acetate and a clinical static 18F-FDG PET were conducted before initiation of the treatment, and the second 11C-Acetate dynamic scan was performed after four weeks of radiotherapy (i.e., after a dose of 35 Gy for a total of 70 Gy). The two-tissue compartment model was applied to 11C-Acetate images to extract the perfusion and oxygen consumption. The results showed a reduction in tumor volume by more than 50% compared to the initial volume in patient-1. Besides, patient-2 has displayed a more reduced tumor volume after 4 weeks of treatment. The 11C-Acetate rate constant k2 representing oxygen consumption increased after radiotherapy dose in both patients. This increase of k2 could reflect the reoxygenation process inside the tumor, and it can reflect the early treatment response. In conclusion, 11C-Acetate could predict the early changes in the tumor perfusion and the oxidative metabolism to optimally adjust the treatment.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data have significant potential for soil moisture monitoring because of their high spatial resolution and independence from cloud coverage. However, it is challenging...

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the performance of four artificial intelligence‐aided diagnostic systems in identifying and measuring four types of pulmonary nodules. Methods Four types of nodules were implanted in a commercial lung phantom. The phantom was scanned with multislice spiral computed tomography, after which four systems (A, B, C, D) were used to identify the nodules and measure their volumes. Results The relative volume error (RVE) of system A was the lowest for all nodules, except for small ground glass nodules (SGGNs). System C had the smallest RVE for SGGNs, −0.13 (−0.56, 0.00). In the Bland–Altman test, only systems A and C passed the consistency test, P = 0.40. In terms of precision, the miss rate (MR) of system C was 0.00% for small solid nodules (SSNs), ground glass nodules (GGNs), and solid nodules (SNs) but 4.17% for SGGNs. The comparable system D MRs for SGGNs, SSNs, and GGNs were 71.30%, 25.93%, and 47.22%, respectively, the highest among all the systems. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that system A had the best performance in recognizing SSNs and GGNs, with areas under the curve of 0.91 and 0.68. System C had the best performance for SGGNs (AUC = 0.91). Conclusion Among four types nodules, SGGNs are the most difficult to recognize, indicating the need to improve higher accuracy and precision of artificial systems. System A most accurately measured nodule volume. System C was most precise in recognizing all four types of nodules, especially SGGN.

Background. Associations between iodine intake and thyroid nodules (TNs) were not consistent. We aimed to illustrate the relationship between urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and TNs. Methods. A total of 12,698 participants were enrolled in analysis. All of the participants filled out questionnaires and underwent physical examinations, laboratory tests, and thyroid ultrasonography. UIC, serum thyrotropin (TSH), thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb), and thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) were measured in the central laboratory. Results. The prevalence of TNs was 16.00%, and the median UIC was 206.1 μg/L. TNs and UIC were negatively related when UIC was less than 527 μg/L ( adjusted OR = 0.87 ; 95% CI, 0.80, 0.94), and the relationship between UIC and TNs was not statistically significant when UIC was greater than 527 μg/L ( adjusted OR = 1.25 ; 95% CI, 0.98, 1.60). In women, UIC was negatively associated with risk for TNs (adjusted OR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.91, 0.99). Conclusion. The relationship between TNs and UIC differed between men and women. The risk of TNs decreased with the elevation of UIC in men when UIC was lower than 527 μg/L, while UIC and the presence of TNs were negatively correlated in women. In the future, cohort studies or other studies that can explain causality must be conducted to explore the relationship between iodine status and TNs.

To evaluate the efficacy of dydrogesterone for the treatment of premenopausal patients with endometrial polyps (EPs).A single-center, open-label, prospective, single-arm clinical treatment trial was conducted in patients of reproductive age with EP(s). Patients were prescribed dydrogesterone from day 15 to day 24 of the menstrual cycle over a period of 3 months. At the 3-month follow-up, the efficacy of dydrogesterone was evaluated based on changes in self-report symptoms and ultrasonographic characteristics. The predictive factors of efficacy as well as the predictive value of the significant factors were also assessed.A total of 60 patients were included. Improvements in both symptoms and ultrasound findings occurred in 31 patients, achieving an efficacy rate of 51.67%. Of 41 patients with clinical presentations, 39 (95.1%) reported improvements in symptoms. In terms of ultrasound findings, 33 (55%) of patients demonstrated improvements. Significant decreases were observed in the mean endometrial thickness (1.17 ± 0.33 cm vs 0.90 ± 0.35 cm,Dydrogesterone is effective in the management of EPs in premenopausal patients. Age, polyp size and blood flow should be taken into consideration when prescribing dydrogesterone for this population of women.