Search

Resistive switching (RS) has been studied for several applications such as information storage and bio-inspired computing, although reliability issues still prevent their massive use. In this work, we present a novel observation of trapping activity that imposes giant random conductance fluctuations, up to 3 orders of magnitude, resembling RTN in RS devices based on TiO2, HfO2 and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) under reading voltages (~ 0.1 V). These events appeared reproducible for all the aforementioned RS device types in sequential measurements and under different bias. This behavior is very beneficial to ensure recognition of the device’s two-state in applications such as stochastic computing integrated circuits (ICs).

Background While anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) therapy has been proven effective in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), approximately 40% of patients lose the response. Transmembrane TNF-α (mTNF-α) expression in the intestinal mucosa is correlated with therapeutic efficacy, and quantification of mTNF-α expression is significant for predicting response. However, conventional intravenous application of microbubbles is unable to assess mTNF-α expression in intestinal mucosa. Herein, we proposed intracolic ultrasound molecular imaging with TNF-α-targeted microbubbles (MBTNF-α) to quantitatively detect mTNF-α expression in the intestinal mucosa. Methods MBTNF-α was synthesized via a biotin–streptavidin bridging method. TNF-α-targeted ultrasound imaging was performed by intracolic application of MBTNF-α to detect mTNF-α expression in surgical specimens from a murine model and patients with IBD. Linear regression analyses were performed to confirm the accuracy of quantitative targeted ultrasound imaging. Results On quantitative TNF-α-targeted ultrasound images, a greater signal intensity was observed in the mouse colons with colitis ([1.96 ± 0.45] × 106 a.u.) compared to that of the controls ([0.56 ± 0.21] × 106 a.u., P P Conclusion Intracolic ultrasound molecular imaging with MBTNF-α enables quantitative assessment of mTNF-α expression. It may be a potential tool for facilitating the implementation of personalized medicine in IBD.

Background and Aims Emerging evidence points to a link between creeping fat and the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease [CD]. Non-invasive assessment of the severity of creeping fat on cross-sectional imaging modality has seldom been investigated. This study aimed to develop and characterize a novel mesenteric creeping fat index [MCFI] based on computed tomography [CT] in CD patients. Methods MCFI was developed based on vascular findings on CT in a retrospective cohort [n = 91] and validated in a prospective cohort [n = 30]. The severity of creeping fat was graded based on the extent to which mesenteric fat extended around the intestinal circumference using the vessels in the fat as a marker. The accuracy of MCFI was assessed by comparing it with the degree of creeping fat observed in surgical specimens. The relationship between MCFI and fibrostenosis was characterized by determining if these correlated. The accuracy of MCFI was compared with other radiographic indices [i.e. visceral to subcutaneous fat area ratio and fibrofatty proliferation score]. Results In the retrospective cohort, MCFI had moderate accuracy in differentiating moderate–severe from mild fibrostenosis (area under the receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve [AUC] = 0.799; p = 0.000). ROC analysis in the retrospective cohort identified a threshold MCFI of > 3 which accurately differentiated fibrostenosis severity in the prospective cohort [AUC = 0.756; p = 0.018]. An excellent correlation was shown between MCFI and the extent of fat wrapping in specimens in the prospective cohort [r = 0.840, p = 0.000]. Neither visceral to subcutaneous fat area ratio nor fibrofatty proliferation score correlated well with the degree of intestinal fibrosis. Conclusions MCFI can accurately characterize the extent of mesenteric fat wrapping in surgical specimens. It may become another non-invasive measure of CD fibrostenosis.

In this manuscript, a cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access based intelligent mobile edge computing (NOMA-MEC) communication system is constructed in detail. The nearby user is viewed as a decoding and forwarding relay, which can assist a distant user in offloading tasks to the intelligent MEC server. Then, the closed-form expressions of offloading outage probability for a pair of users are derived in detail to evaluate the performance of the cooperative NOMA-MEC system. Furthermore, the approximate expressions of offloading outage probability are provided in the high signal-to-noise ratio region. Based on the asymptotic analyses, the diversity order of distant user and nearby user is n+m+1 and n+1, respectively. The system throughput and energy efficiency of cooperative NOMA-MEC are analyzed in delay-limited transmission mode. Numerical results show that 1) Cooperative NOMA-MEC is better than orthogonal multiple access (OMA) in terms of offload performance; 2) The offload performance of cooperative NOMA-MEC system improves as the number of transmission task decreases; and 3) Cooperative NOMA-MEC performs better than OMA in energy efficiency.

Background Leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare malignant tumour with poor prognosis. Surgical resection is the first line of treatment to achieve the best possible outcome. However, precise preoperative evaluation is essential to guide therapeutic decisions. Here, the preoperative evaluation potential of gadobutrol-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was assessed in the management of a 42-year-old patient with a large IVC mass. Methods The patient first underwent enhanced computed tomography (CT), but the relationship between the left renal vein and the mass in the dilated IVC was ambiguous, and it remained unclear whether the right hepatic vein was invaded by the lesion. To make a precise assessment of the tumour, the patient subsequently underwent high-resolution MRI angiography examination combined with high-concentration contrast medium gadobutrol. Results MRI demonstrated the integrity of the right hepatic vein and the left renal vein. Following a multidisciplinary consultation, a complicated surgery including complete resection of the mass, artificial vessel replacement of IVC, total hepatectomy, and bilateral nephrectomy with liver and kidney auto-transplantation was performed successfully. The surgical plan formulated after reviewing the MRI preoperatively was adhered to the course of the surgery. Postoperative CT re-examination showed that the blood flow of the artificial blood vessel and the right hepatic vein was unobstructed. Histopathological examination confirmed the tumour to be a leiomyosarcoma. Conclusion Preoperative imaging diagnosis and assessment have important implications for the surgical planning of IVC leiomyosarcoma. High-resolution MRI angiography examination with high concentration contrast medium gadobutrol may be of particular benefit in IVC tumours.

More than 30% of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) develop fibrotic strictures in the bowel as the disease progresses. Excessive deposition of extracellular matrix components in the submucosa and smooth muscle hypertrophy or hyperplasia are the main features of fibrosis in CD. Cross-sectional imaging technology provides a wealth of information on the anatomy, histological composition, and physiological function of the bowel, allowing for a non-invasive and complete evaluation of associated abnormalities. This review summarizes recent advances in and the potential technologies of cross-sectional imaging for assessing intestinal fibrosis in CD, including ultrasound imaging, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

In Fucun Coal Mine, the average spacing between the 3upper coal seam (UCS) and 3lower coal seam (LCS) is only 6 m. In the process of mining upper coal, the lower roadway (LR), which is 60 m away from upper pillar, becomes unstable. In order to control the surrounding rock of lower roadway, a physical model experiment and a 3D numerical calculation were performed in this study. The results of physical similarity simulation experiment show that mining of longwall face in UCS will lead to fracturing of key layers at a high elevation (KLHE) far away from the coal seam. The expanded goaf area caused large‐scale fracturing and rotation of the KLHE, which resulted in significant strata pressure behavior in LR. The numerical calculation results show that the LR should be within 19 m of the coal pillar. Finally, a plan which includes a proper location and a supporting system was proposed. The feasibility of the proposed plan is verified by an industrial application.

Fibrostenosis is a serious complication of Crohn’s disease (CD), affecting approximately one-half of all patients. Surgical resection is the typical clinical end due to ineffective antifibrotic therapy mainly through anti-inflammatory treatment and fibrosis can be reverted only at early stages. Mover, human fibrotic disorders is known to be associated with aging process. Thus, accurate monitoring of the progression of fibrosis is crucial for CD management as well as can be benefit to aging related fibrosis. The excessive deposition of type I collagen (ColI) is the core point in major complications of fibrosis, including that in patients with CD and aging related fibrosis. Therefore, a MR imaging probe (EP-3533) targeted ColI was employed to stage bowel fibrosis in CD using a rat model and to compare its efficiency with the common MR imaging contrast medium gadopentetatedimeglumine (Gd-DTPA). The bowel fibrotic rat model was established with different degrees of bowel fibrosis, were scanned using a 3.0-T MRI scanner with a specialized animal coil. MRI sequence including T1 mapping and T1-weighed imaging were performed before and after injecting the MRI probe (EP-3533 or Gd-DTPA). The T1 relaxation time (T1 value) and change in the contrast-to-noise ratio (ΔCNR) were measured to evaluate bowel fibrosis. Masson’s trichrome staining was performed to determine the severity of fibrosis. EP-3533 offered a better longitudinal relaxivity (r1) with 67.537 L/mmol·s, which was approximately 13 times that of Gd-DTPA. The T1 value on bowel segments was reduced in the images from EP-3533 compared to that from Gd-DTPA (F = 16.478; p < 0.001). Additionally, a better correlation between ΔCNR calculated from EP-3533 imaging and bowel fibrosis (AUC = 0.846) was determined 10 min after enhanced media administration than with Gd-DTPA (AUC = 0.532). The 10th-minute ΔCNR performed using the ColI probe showed the best correlation with the severity of bowel fibrosis (r = 0.538; p = 0.021). Our results demonstrates that targeted MRI probe (EP-3533) supplies a better enhanced effect compared to Gd-DTPA and could be a promising method to evaluate the progression and monitor the therapeutic response of bowel fibrosis.

Background Cytokines play an important role in bacterial infection, and thus, we aim to find out cytokines that may be diagnostically significant in early stage of bacterial bloodstream infection. Methods Mice models infected with Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were established. Then dynamic changes of nine serum cytokines were monitored within 48 hours after the infection. Cytokines with significant differences between the infected groups and control group were further analyzed. Clinical samples of patients who were suspected of bloodstream infection were collected. Then the diagnostic efficiency of screened cytokines was determined with receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results As for mice models infected by Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, six cytokines including IL‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐12p70, G‐CSF, IFN‐γ, and TNF‐α were significantly different (P, Clinical samples of patients who were suspected of bloodstream infection were collected. Then, the diagnostic efficiency of screened cytokines was determined with receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. IL‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐12p70, G‐CSF, IFN‐γ, and TNF‐α were significantly different between two bacterial infected groups. G‐CSF cannot only identify bacterial bloodstream infection, but can also distinguish the infection of Staphylococcus aureus from Klebsiella pneumoniae.

ObjectiveAccurate prediction of postoperative recurrence risk of gastric cancer (GC) is critical for individualized precision therapy. We aimed to investigate whether a computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics nomogram can be used as a tool for predicting the local recurrence (LR) of GC after radical resection.Materials and Methods342 patients (194 in the training cohort, 78 in the internal validation cohort, and 70 in the external validation cohort) with pathologically proven GC from two centers were included. Radiomics features were extracted from the preoperative CT imaging. The clinical model, radiomics signature, and radiomics nomogram, which incorporated the radiomics signature and independent clinical risk factors, were developed and verified. Furthermore, the performance of these three models was assessed by using the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultsThe radiomics signature, which was comprised of two selected radiomics features, namely, contrast_GLCM and dissimilarity_GLCM, showed better performance than the clinical model in predicting the LR of GC, with AUC values of 0.83 in the training cohort, 0.84 in the internal validation cohort, and 0.73 in the external cohort, respectively. By integrating the independent clinical risk factors (N stage, bile acid duodenogastric reflux and nodular or irregular outer layer of the gastric wall) into the radiomics signature, the radiomics nomogram achieved the highest accuracy in predicting LR, with AUC values of 0.89, 0.89 and 0.80 in the three cohorts, respectively. DCA in the validation cohort showed that radiomics nomogram added more net benefit than the clinical model within the range of 0.01-0.98.ConclusionThe CT-based radiomics nomogram has the potential to predict the LR of GC after radical resection.

In this study, we investigated the utility of native T1 mapping in differentiating between various grades of fibrosis and compared its diagnostic accuracy to magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) in a rat model of CD. Bowel specimens (64) from 46 CD model rats undergoing native T1 mapping and MTI were enrolled. The longitudinal relaxation time (T1 value) and normalized magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) were compared between none-to-mild and moderate-to-severe fibrotic bowel walls confirmed by pathological assessments. The results showed that the correlation between the T1 value and fibrosis (r = 0.438, p &lt, 0.001) was lower than that between the normalized MTR and fibrosis (r = 0.623, p &lt, 0.001). Overall, the T1 values (t = −3.066, p = 0.004) and normalized MTRs (z = 0.081, p &lt, 0.001) in none-to-mild fibrotic bowel walls were lower than those in moderate-to-severe fibrotic bowel walls. The area under the curve (AUC) of the T1 value (AUC = 0.716, p = 0.004) was significantly lower than that of the normalized MTR (AUC = 0.881, p &lt, 0.001) in differentiating moderate-to-severe fibrosis from none-to-mild fibrosis (z = −2.037, p = 0.042). Our results support the view that the T1 value could be a promising imaging biomarker in grading the fibrosis severity of CD. However, the diagnostic performance of native T1 mapping was not superior to MTI.

Background: HIFA-AS1, an antisense transcript of HIF1α gene, is a 652 bp long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) which globally expressed in multiple tissues of animals. Recent evidence indicate d that the HIFA-AS1 was involved in tumorigenesis of several types of cancer, but there were no report s on pancreatic cancer (PC).Results: In order to investigate whether the HIFA-AS1 could mediate the PC or not, it was overexpressed in a PC cell line (PANC-1), and a series of experiments including cell viability detection, flow cytometry transwell migration, clone formation and wound healing were performed. Functionally, the results indicated that overexpression (OE) of HIFA-AS1 could inhibit proliferation and shift, and promote apoptosis of PC cells. Moreover, to explore underlying molecular mechanism of anti tumorigenic actions of HIFA-AS1 in PC cells, the iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification) quantitative proteomics analysis was implemented and the results indicated that OE of HIFA-AS1 globally affected the expression levels of multiple protein associated with metabolism of cancer. Moreover, the network analysis revealed that the most of these differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were integrated, and severed essential roles in regulatory function.Conclusions: In summary, HIFA-AS1 may exhibit a potential therapeutic effect on PC, and our study provided useful information in this filed.

The impact of pharmacogenetics on predicting survival in gastroenteric cancer remains unclear. We tested 322 consecutive patients treated with capecitabine-based chemotherapy for CDA and MTHFR polymorphisms. Patients who carried the CDA 79 A>C (rs2072671) CC genotype showed significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) comparing with A-allele (P = 0.008). A significant better PFS was found in the patients with 451 A>G (rs532545) G-allele (P = 0.002) and 92 C>T (rs602950) T-allele (P = 0.002). In addition, a shorter PFS was also observed in patients with MTHFR 1298 A>C (rs1801131) CC genotype than the patients with AC or AA genotype after capecitabine-based chemotherapy (P = 0.002). Furthermore, the colon, female, or elder (> 65 years old) patients with MTHFR 1298 A>C CC genotype had poorer PFS than A-allele. Moreover, CDA 451 A>G was independent predictors of chemotherapy-induced toxicity in colon patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the CDA 79 A>C CC, 451 A>G AA, 92 C>T CC, and MTHFR 1298 A>C CC were predictive of shorter PFS in gastroenteric cancer patients. The results reminded us those gastroenteric cancer patients with CDA 79 A>C CC, 451 A>G AA, 92 C>T CC, or MTHFR 1298 A>C CC genotype are not likely to benefit from the therapy of capecitabine-based chemotherapy.

Although diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is reported to be accurate in detecting bowel inflammation in Crohn’s disease (CD), its ability to assess bowel fibrosis remains unclear. This study assessed the role of DWI in the characterization of bowel fibrosis using surgical histopathology as the reference standard. Abdominal DWI was performed before elective surgery in 30 consecutive patients with CD. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) in pathologic bowel walls were calculated. Region-by-region correlations between DWI and the surgical specimens were performed to determine the histologic degrees of bowel fibrosis and inflammation. ADCs correlated negatively with bowel inflammation (r = − 0.499, p

Background Understanding how normal weight and obese young children process high-calorie food stimuli may provide information relevant to the neurobiology of eating behavior contributing to childhood obesity. In this study, we used fMRI to evaluate whether brain activation to high-calorie food images differs between normal weight and obese young children. Methods Brain activation maps in response to high-calorie food images and non-food images for 22 healthy, 8–10-years-old children (N = 11/11 for normal weight/obese respectively) were generated and compared between groups. Results When comparing brain activation differences in response to viewing high-calorie food versus non-food images between normal weight and obese children, group differences were observed in areas related to memory and cognitive control. Specifically, normal weight children showed higher activation of posterior parahippocampal gyri (PPHG) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC). Further ROI analyses indicated higher activation strength (Z scores) in the right PPHG (p = 0.01) and higher activation strength (p

Dispersal ability is important for the introduction, establishment, and spread of alien plant species. Therefore, determination of the geographical distribution of the dispersal ability of such species, and the relationship between dispersal ability and socio-climatic factors are essential to elucidate the invasion strategies of the alien plant species. Analytic hierarchy process and inventory, risk rank, and dispersal mode data available on Chinese alien plant species were used to determine their dispersal ability, the geographical distribution thereof, and the relationship between socio-climatic factors and dispersal ability. High-risk alien plant species had a higher natural dispersal ability (or several natural dispersal modes) but a lower anthropogenic dispersal ability (or few anthropogenic dispersal modes) than low-risk alien plant species. The geographical distribution of the dispersal ability of the alien plant species showed an inverse relationship with species density. Alien plant species with low dispersal ability (i.e., with fewer dispersal modes and distribution in the southeast) showed a tendency to adapt to environments with mild climates, while those with high dispersal ability (i.e., with more disposal nodes and distribution in the northwest) showed a tendency to adapt to harsh environments. It is essential for land managers and policy makers to understand the geographical distribution of the dispersal ability of alien plant species and their socio-climatic control factors to formulate strategies to control the natural and anthropogenic dispersal of such plants.

Advanced data encryption requires the use of true random number generators (TRNGs) to produce unpredictable sequences of bits. TRNG circuits with high degree of randomness and low power consumption may be fabricated by using the random telegraph noise (RTN) current signals produced by polarized metal/insulator/metal (MIM) devices as entropy source. However, the RTN signals produced by MIM devices made of traditional insulators, i.e., transition metal oxides like HfO and AlO, are not stable enough due to the formation and lateral expansion of defect clusters, resulting in undesired current fluctuations and the disappearance of the RTN effect. Here, the fabrication of highly stable TRNG circuits with low power consumption, high degree of randomness (even for a long string of 2 − 1 bits), and high throughput of 1 Mbit s by using MIM devices made of multilayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is shown. Their application is also demonstrated to produce one-time passwords, which is ideal for the internet-of-everything. The superior stability of the h-BN-based TRNG is related to the presence of few-atoms-wide defects embedded within the layered and crystalline structure of the h-BN stack, which produces a confinement effect that avoids their lateral expansion and results in stable operation., M.L. acknowledges generous support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grants no. 2018YFE0100800, 2019YFE0124200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants no. 61874075), the Collaborative Innovation Centre of Suzhou Nano Science & Technology, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and the 111 Project from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of China. A.A. and S.R. acknowledge the project: ModElling Charge and Heat trANsport in 2D-materIals based Composites—MECHANIC reference number: PCI2018-093120 funded by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. ICN2 is funded by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya and is supported by the Severo Ochoa program from Spanish MINECO (Grant No. SEV-2017-0706). Y.S. acknowledges support from the European Union (Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions (grant no. 894840). The authors acknowledge technical advice from H.-S. Philip Wong from Stanford University and Xiaoming Xie from Chinese Academy of Sciences.

BackgroundThe EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D are two widely used generic index score measures. We compared the discriminative validity, agreement and sensitivity of EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D utility scores in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV).MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey among PLWHIV aged more than 18 years old in 9 municipalities in Yunnan Province, China. A convenience sample was enrolled. We administered the SF-12 and EQ-5D-5L to measure health-related quality of life (QALY). The utility index of the SF-6D was derived from the SF-12. The covariate data included demographic components, clinical components and social-psychology components. To evaluate the homogeneity of the EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), scatter plots and Bland-Altman plots were computed and drawn. To evaluate the capacity to discriminate between different categories of clinical components, social support and anxiety and depression status, mean and median scores were calculated and compared using one-way ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test, respectively. The effect size was defined as the difference of each of the characteristics and was computed using Z/N. We also used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to compare the discriminative properties and sensitivity of the econometric index.ResultsA total of 1,797 respondents, with a mean age of 45.6±11.7 years (range 18 to 80), was interviewed. The distribution of EQ-5D-5L scores skewed towards full health with a skewness of -3.316. The distribution of SF-6D scores was almost centered around its mean, and the skewness was 0.084. The effect size was smaller for the EQ-5D-5L than for the SF-6D across the social support, anxiety and depression subgroups. The overall correlation between EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D index scores was 0.46 (PDiscussionOur study demonstrated evidence of the performance of EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D index scores to measure health utility in people living with HIV/AIDS. Both have shown discriminative capacity and validity in measuring health status. However, there were significant differences in their performance. Users need to pay more attention to the characteristics of the target population. HIV/AIDS has transformed from being a terminal illness to being a chronic disease. We preferred to apply the SF-6D to measure the health utility of PLWHIV during the cART period.Conclusion our study has demonstrated evidence for instrument choice and preference measurements in PLWHIV under cART. The differences between the measures could generate different health utilities for the same sample population, which is critical for cost-utility analyses that guide resource allocation and decision making.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: No reliable method for evaluating intestinal fibrosis in Crohn’s disease (CD) exists; therefore, we developed a computed-tomography enterography (CTE)–based radiomic model (RM) for characterizing intestinal fibrosis in CD. METHODS: This retrospective multicenter study included 167 CD patients with 212 bowel lesions (training, 98 lesions; test, 114 lesions) who underwent preoperative CTE and bowel resection at 1 of the 3 tertiary referral centers from January 2014 through June 2020. Bowel fibrosis was histologically classified as none–mild or moderate–severe. In the training cohort, 1454 radiomic features were extracted from venous-phase CTE and a machine learning–based RM was developed based on the reproducible features using logistic regression. The RM was validated in an independent external test cohort recruited from 3 centers. The diagnostic performance of RM was compared with 2 radiologists’ visual interpretation of CTE using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: In the training cohort, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of RM for distinguishing moderate–severe from none–intestinal fibrosis was 0.888 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.818–0.957). In the test cohort, the RM showed robust performance across 3 centers with an AUC of 0.816 (95% CI, 0.706–0.926), 0.724 (95% CI, 0.526–0.923), and 0.750 (95% CI, 0.560–0.940), respectively. Moreover, the RM was more accurate than visual interpretations by either radiologist (radiologist 1, AUC = 0.554; radiologist 2, AUC = 0.598; both, P < .001) in the test cohort. Decision curve analysis showed that the RM provided a better net benefit to predicting intestinal fibrosis than the radiologists. CONCLUSIONS: A CTE-based RM allows for accurate characterization of intestinal fibrosis in CD.

Globally, colorectal cancer is the third most frequent cancer type, with >1.4 million new cases and >690,000 deaths annually [1]. Survival from colorectal cancer is significantly dependent on the s...

Total suspended matter (TSM) is a core parameter in the quantitative retrieval of ocean color remote sensing and an important indicator for evaluating the quality of the aquatic environment. This study selects part of Nansi Lake in North China as the study area. Researchers used Hyperion remote sensing data and field-measured TSM concentration as data sources. Firstly, the characteristic variables with high correlation were selected based on spectral analysis. Then, seven methods such as linear regression, BP neural network (BP), KNN, random forest (RF), and random forest based on genetic algorithm optimization (GA_RF) are used to construct the inversion model of TSM concentration. The retrieval accuracy of each model shows that the machine learning models are much more accurate than the linear model. Among them, the GA_RF model retrieves the suspended solids concentration with the best performance and the highest prediction accuracy, with a determination coefficient R2 of 0.98, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.715 mg/L, and an average relative error (ARE) of 6.83%. Additionally, the spatial distribution of TSM concentration was inversed by Hyperion remote sensing image. The results showed that the concentration of TSM was lower in the northwest and higher in the southeast, and the concentration distribution was uneven, showing the characteristics of a typical shallow macrophytic lake. This study provides an effective method for monitoring TSM concentration and other water quality parameters in the shallow macrophytic lake and further proves the advantages of machine learning in ocean color inversion. All in all, this research provides some useful methods and suggestions for quantitative inversion of TSM concentration in shallow macrophytic lakes.

The K-means algorithm has been extensively investigated in the field of text clustering because of its linear time complexity and adaptation to sparse matrix data. However, it has two main problems, namely, the determination of the number of clusters and the location of the initial cluster centres. In this study, we propose an improved K-means++ algorithm based on the Davies-Bouldin index (DBI) and the largest sum of distance called the SDK-means++ algorithm. Firstly, we use the term frequency-inverse document frequency to represent the data set. Secondly, we measure the distance between objects by cosine similarity. Thirdly, the initial cluster centres are selected by comparing the distance to existing initial cluster centres and the maximum density. Fourthly, clustering results are obtained using the K-means++ method. Lastly, DBI is used to obtain optimal clustering results automatically. Experimental results on real bank transaction volume data sets show that the SDK-means++ algorithm is more effective and efficient than two other algorithms in organising large financial text data sets. The F-measure value of the proposed algorithm is 0.97. The running time of the SDK-means++ algorithm is reduced by 42.9% and 22.4% compared with that for K-means and K-means++ algorithms, respectively.

Background Telemedicine plays an important role in the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly during a pandemic such as COVID-19. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of telemedicine in managing IBD are unclear. Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the impact of telemedicine with that of standard care on the management of IBD. Methods We systematically searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus databases on April 22, 2020. Randomized controlled trials comparing telemedicine with standard care in patients with IBD were included, while conference abstracts, letters, reviews, laboratory studies, and case reports were excluded. The IBD-specific quality of life (QoL), disease activity, and remission rate in patients with IBD were assessed as primary outcomes, and the number of in-person clinic visits per patient, patient satisfaction, psychological outcome, and medication adherence were assessed as secondary outcomes. Review Manage 5.3 and Stata 15.1 were used for data analysis. Results A total of 17 randomized controlled trials (2571 participants) were included in this meta-analysis. The telemedicine group had higher IBD-specific QoL than the standard care group (standard mean difference 0.18, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.34; P.03). The number of clinic visits per patient in the telemedicine group was significantly lower than that in the standard care group (standard mean difference −0.71, 95% CI −1.07 to −0.36; P Conclusions Telemedicine intervention showed a promising role in improving IBD-specific QoL among adolescents and decreased the number of clinic visits among patients with IBD. Further research is warranted to identify the group of patients with IBD who would most benefit from telemedicine.

The aim of this study was to test whether CES1, UMPS, DPYS and TPYS polymorphisms influence the outcomes of gastroenteric cancer patients. We consecutively enrolled 338 patients who were diagnosed with colorectal and gastric cancer from January 2016 to December 2018 at the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, China. We found that the patients with CES1 rs7187684 CC genotype had a higher proportion of stage III–IV and relapse rate significantly compared with CT/TT genotype, and the patients with rs7187684 CC genotype had a higher level of CA199 than CT/TT genotype after adjusted for tumor stage, and medication, age, sex, smoking, and drinking. Moreover, the patients with rs7187684 CC genotype had shorter event-free survival (EFS) than CT/TT genotype, and a significant shorter EFS was also found in the patients with rs2244613 TT genotype than GG or GT genotype. Subset analysis results showed that the male, less-drinking or gastric cancer patients with rs7187684 CC genotype had shorter EFS than the patients with CT/TT genotype. Compared with the patients with CES1 rs2244613 TT genotype, the stage I–II patients with GG/GT genotype had longer progression-free survival (PFS), and the male patients with GG/GT genotype had longer EFS. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that stage III–IV and tumor metastasis could reduce the patients’ PFS and EFS. The identified CES1 polymorphisms might provide guide for the identification of gastroenteric cancer patients who were likely to benefit from capecitabine-based chemotherapy.

The large spatial variability of in-situ stress and initial reservoir pressure in steeply-dipping ultra-thick coalbed methane (UTCBM) reservoirs exert strong control on the initial distribution of stress-sensitive permeability. This results in significant differences in the propagation of reservoir depressurization, gas production characteristics, distribution of fluid saturation, and evolution of permeability relative to flat-lying and thin counterpart coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs. We contrast these responses using the Fukang mining area of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China, as a type-example using coupled hydro-mechanical modeling. Production response indicates: (1) Dual peaks in CBM production rate, due to the asynchronous changes in the gas production rate in each the upper and lower sections of the reservoir; (2) higher depressurization and water saturation levels in the lower section of the reservoir relative to the upper at any given distance from the production well that ameliorate with time to be similar to those of standard horizontal reservoirs; (3) the heterogeneity in effective stress is further amplified by the asymmetry of the initial pressure drawdown distribution of the reservoir to exert extreme control on the down-dip evolution of absolute permeability—with implications for production. Field drainage data and simulation results obtained in this study more accurately reflect the drainage characteristics of the steeply-dipping UTCBM reservoirs. For ultra-thick low-rank coal seams, permeability anisotropy plays an important role in determining the utility of horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing to maximize rates and yields CBM production, and requiring further study.

ObjectivesTo explore how to integrate the "best" practice into nursing of venous thromboembolism (VTE) based on the integrated-Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARIHS) framework.MethodsA mixed-methods design was used. A steering group for clinical evidence implementation (EI) was established to conduct pre-implementation baseline surveys, a thorough analysis of the evidence, and an analysis of the survey results. The hindering and enabling factors associated with the clinical implementation of the evidence were analysed based on the three core elements of i-PARIHS, to formulate the clinical implementation plan for VTE nursing evidence. On-site expert reviews and focus group interviews were used to evaluate the feasibility of the draft plan, make adjustments, and finalize the evidence-based practice plan, which was then put into practice and evaluated.ResultsA new nursing process, a health education manual and a nursing quality checklist on VTE has been established and proved to be appropriate through the implementation. Compliance with evidence related to VTE nursing increased significantly in the two units, with better compliance in unit B than unit A. The knowledge, attitude and behaviour scores for VTE nursing increased substantially in both nurses and patients.ConclusionThe EI programme of incorporating the "best" evidence on VTE nursing into clinical practice using the i-PARIHS framework demonstrated feasibility, appropriateness and effectiveness and could serve as a reference.

High stress is a common technical problem in many coal mines, and coal rock mass fracturing is an effective means to transfer stress. In this paper, the RFPA numerical simulation method is applied to investigate the stress transfer law under the various influence factors. The results show that coal rock mass with cracks produces a “saddle-shaped” stress profile that may be divided into three characteristic zones: a pressure relief zone, a pressure boost zone, and a primary rock stress zone. Shear slip deformation occurs along cracks and cracks are squeezed, forming an elliptical low-stress region around the cracks and a torsion plane in the displacement field. Increased mining-induced stress causes cracks to extend continuously into the bulk, which transfers the high stress at the original crack tip continuously to the new crack tip. This stress transfer phenomenon is enhanced monotonically with increasing crack length and decreasing angle between crack direction and minimum principal stress, thereby weakening the mechanical properties of the crack surface and increasing the number of crack groups. An analysis shows that, in each crack group, cracks oriented at small angles with respect to the minimum principal stress more strongly affect stress transfer, and the pressure relief area is a polygonal area defined by the crack tips. As crack spacing increases, the stress exhibits a low-pressure, high-pressure, low-pressure wave-shape distribution. Finally, with increasing burial depth, the crack pressure relief range becomes small.

In this paper, a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-based mobile edge computing (MEC) system is proposed, where paired users (the mth user and the nth user) offload tasks to the MEC server under imperfect channel state information (ipCSI) condition. To evaluate the effect on performance under ipCSI condition in NOMA-MEC system, this study derives new exact and asymptotic expressions of the offloading outage probability for two users under ipCSI and perfect channel state information (pCSI) conditions. On the basis of the theoretical derivation, the diversity orders of the nth user under ipCSI and pCSI conditions are zero and n, respectively, while those for the distant user are all zeros. In addition, we also investigate the system throughput and energy efficiency of NOMA-MEC in delay-limited transmission. Numerical results show that (1) the offloading outage behaviors of NOMA-MEC are better than those of time division multiple address (TDMA), (2) the offloading outage performance of paired users under ipCSI is worse than that under pCSI, and (3) the NOMA-MEC system achieves higher throughput and energy efficiency than does the TDMA-MEC system.

Summary Background The prevalence and prognosis of digestive system involvement, including gastrointestinal symptoms and liver injury, in patients with COVID-19 remains largely unknown. We aimed to quantify the effects of COVID-19 on the digestive system. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for studies published between Jan 1, 2020, and April 4, 2020. The websites of WHO, CDC, and major journals were also searched. We included studies that reported the epidemiological and clinical features of COVID-19 and the prevalence of gastrointestinal findings in infected patients, and excluded preprints, duplicate publications, reviews, editorials, single case reports, studies pertaining to other coronavirus-related illnesses, and small case series ( Findings We analysed findings from 35 studies, including 6686 patients with COVID-19, that met inclusion criteria. 29 studies (n=6064) reported gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with COVID-19 at diagnosis, and the pooled prevalence of digestive system comorbidities was 4% (95% CI 2–5; range 0–15; I2=74%). The pooled prevalence of digestive symptoms was 15% (10–21; range: 2–57; I2=96%) with nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea, and loss of appetite being the three most common symptoms. The pooled prevalence of abnormal liver functions (12 studies, n=1267) was 19% (9–32; range 1–53; I2=96%). Subgroup analysis showed patients with severe COVID-19 had higher rates of abdominal pain (odds ratio [OR] 7·10 [95% CI 1·93–26·07]; p=0·003; I2=0%) and abnormal liver function including increased ALT (1·89 [1·30–2·76]; p=0·0009; I2=10%) and increased AST (3·08 [2·14–4·42]; p Interpretation Our study showed that digestive symptoms and liver injury are not uncommon in patients with COVID-19. Increased attention should be paid to the care of this unique group of patients. Funding None.

To determine the utility of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for assessing bowel fibrosis and to establish a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based classification based on DKI and conventional MRI parameters for characterizing intestinal strictures in Crohn’s disease (CD) using the histological evaluation of resected intestine samples as the reference standard. Thirty-one patients with CD undergoing preoperative conventional MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) (b values = 0–2000 s/mm2) were consecutively enrolled. We classified the mural T2-weighted signal intensity and arterial-phase enhancement patterns on conventional MRI. We also measured DWI-derived apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) and DKI-derived apparent diffusion for non-Gaussian distribution (Dapp) and apparent diffusional kurtosis (Kapp). A new MRI-based classification was established to characterize intestinal strictures in CD. Its performance was validated in nine additional patients with CD. Histological inflammation grades were significantly correlated to T2-weighted signal intensity (r = 0.477; P

This essay aimed to illustrate the various hepatic nodules that may exhibit arterial phase hyperenhancement and washout on computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI). Hepatic nodules with arterial phase hyperenhancement and washout on CT/MRI include hepatocellular carcinoma, focal nodular hyperplasia-like nodules, serum amyloid A-positive hepatocellular neoplasms, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, intrahepatic bile duct adenoma, hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular adenoma, hepatic epithelioid angiomyolipoma, and metastasis including neuroendocrine and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Understanding the imaging findings is important to ensure correct diagnosis.

Human activities such as agriculture, aquaculture, and industry can lead to the pollution of coastal waters by trace organic contaminants (TrOCs), and the TrOCs can pose a threat to marine ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk of the TrOCs in coastal waters. Previous studies adopting conventional analytical methods have focused on a limited number of targets. Herein, a comprehensive and systematic determination was undertaken to target 484 TrOCs in the waters around the Liaodong Peninsula, China. Eighty-six TrOCs were detected at concentrations of up to 350 ng L−1, and 25 TrOCs were detected at a frequency of >50%. Pesticides were the predominant pollutants, occurring at high concentrations with large detection frequencies. Ecological risks were assessed for single pollutants and mixtures based on the risk quotient and concentration addition modeling, respectively. The detected pesticides posed relatively high risk to aquatic organisms, while pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and other pollutants posed little or no risk. TrOC mixtures posed extremely high risk to aquatic organisms, which represented a significant threat to the marine environment and local communities. The results described here provide useful information that can inform China’s “Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution”.

Memristors have shown an extraordinary potential to emulate the plastic and dynamic electrical behaviors of biological synapses and have been already used to construct neuromorphic systems with in-memory computing and unsupervised learning capabilities; moreover, the small size and simple fabrication process of memristors make them ideal candidates for ultradense configurations. So far, the properties of memristive electronic synapses (i.e., potentiation/depression, relaxation, linearity) have been extensively analyzed by several groups. However, the dynamics of electroforming in memristive devices, which defines the position, size, shape, and chemical composition of the conductive nanofilaments across the device, has not been analyzed in depth. By applying ramped voltage stress (RVS), constant voltage stress (CVS), and pulsed voltage stress (PVS), we found that electroforming is highly affected by the biasing methods applied. We also found that the technique used to deposit the oxide, the chemical composition of the adjacent metal electrodes, and the polarity of the electrical stimuli applied have important effects on the dynamics of the electroforming process and in subsequent post-electroforming bipolar resistive switching. This work should be of interest to designers of memristive neuromorphic systems and could open the door for the implementation of new bioinspired functionalities into memristive neuromorphic systems.

Determination of the geographical distribution and life-form spectra of alien species with different invasive abilities are essential to understand the process of invasion and to develop measures to manage alien species. Based on six classifications of Chinese alien species, environmental and social data, we determined species density, life-form spectrum of alien species, and the relationship between species density of alien species and climatic or social factors. The species density of alien species increased from the northwest to the southeast regions of China for all the six ranks. The boundary line between low and high species density of alien species was consistent with the dividing line of population density (the "Hu Line"). Mean annual precipitation was the most important factor for species density in malignant invaders, serious invaders, local invaders, and species requiring further observation (Ranks I, II, III, and V, respectively). Gross domestic product per square kilometer and annual minimum temperature were the most important factors in mild invaders and cultivated aliens (Ranks IV and VI, respectively). Annual and biennial herbs made up 52.9% to 71.2% of total species in Ranks I to IV; shrubs and trees 3.7% to 14.7%. The annual and biennial herbs were 35.5% and 32.6%, and the shrubs and trees were 25.3% and 31.6% in Ranks IV and VI. Results implied that precipitation was the most important factor on species density for the invasive alien species. However, social factors and temperature were the most important factors for the non-invasive alien species. The invasive alien species had a high proportion of annual and biennial herbs and non-invasive alien had a high proportion of shrubs and trees. It is important to understand the geographical distribution and life-form spectra of various invasive alien species for alien species controls.

After mining the upper-goaf side, large coal pillars and part of hard roof exposed above the pillars remain. The hard roof can significantly deform the roadway by transferring high stress through coal pillars to the roadway. This paper reports the use of hydraulic fracturing technology to cut the hard roof on both sides (i.e. the broken roof slides to the goaf) to relieve the pressure. The position of the roof fracture is the key to controlling the pressure relief. The bearing characteristics of the large coal pillars and hard roof are analyzed to establish a mechanical model of the broken-roof sliding instability after directional fracturing and determine the width of the coal pillars that can collapse under maximum overburden load on coal pillars as a reasonable hydraulic fracturing position. The results show that the distance from the mine gateway to the fracture location increases with increasing hard-roof length, coal pillar depth, coal pillar thickness (mining height), and goaf width. In addition, the distance to the mine gateway decreases with increasing coal strength, support of the coal pillar by the anchor rod, cohesive force, and internal friction angle of the coal–rock interface. Engineering tests were applied in coal roadway 5107 of coal seam 5# of the Baidong Coal Mine of the Datong Coal Mine Group. Given the site conditions, a reasonable fracturing length of 8.8 m was obtained. Next, directional hydraulic fracturing was implemented. The comparison of the roof deformation before and after fracturing suggests that this method reduces the local stress concentration in coal pillars, which allows the surrounding rock deformation in roadway 5107 to be controlled.

To explore the association between obesity and cognitive impairment in children with mild or moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).A total of 71 children with obesity and 71 age- and sex- matched children who were non-obese were included. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children fourth edition (WISC-IV) was adopted to evaluate the cognition of the participating children. Pearson and partial correlation analysis were performed to investigate the relationships between neurocognitive functions and demographic and polysomnography parameters. Two-way Analysis of Variance was performed to evaluate the effect of obesity and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) on cognitive functions.Full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ, 92.4 ± 12.3 vs. 98.6 ± 13.1; P 0.01), verbal comprehension index (VCI, 92.8 ± 10.8 vs. 98.7 ± 10.9; P 0.01), working memory index (WMI, 92.6 ± 11.3 vs. 96.5 ± 11.0; P = 0.04) and perceptual reasoning index (PRI, 93.8 ± 12.1 vs. 99.2 ± 12.5; P 0.01) were significantly lower in the children with obesity compared with those in the control group. Partial correlation analysis showed that FSIQ were negatively and significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI, r = -0.347, P 0.01) and AHI (r = -0.304, P 0.01). Two-way ANOVA revealed that both obesity and AHI had independent effects on FSIQ (both P 0.05). The interaction between the effect of obesity and AHI on cognitive functions was not significant, indicating that obesity is a risk factor of cognitive impairment independent of AHI.Obesity aggravates cognitive impairment in children with mild or moderate OSAHS.Children diagnosed with OSAHS and obesity are recommended to control their body weight for the prevention, management and treatment of cognitive impairment.

The application of NIR‐II emitters for gastrointestinal (GI) tract imaging remains challenging due to fluorescence quenching in the digestive microenvironment. Herein, we report that red‐shifting of the fluorescence emission of Au nanoclusters (AuNCs) into NIR‐II region with improved quantum yields (QY) could be achieved by engineering a protein corona structure consisting of a ribonuclease‐A (RNase‐A) on the particle surfaces. RNase‐A‐encapsulated AuNCs (RNase‐A@AuNCs) displayed emissions at 1050 nm with a 1.9 % QY. Compared to rare earth and silver‐based NIR‐II emitters, RNase‐A@AuNCs had excellent biocompatibility, showing >50‐fold higher sensitivity in GI tract, and migrated homogenously during gastrointestinal peristalsis to allow visualization of the detailed structures of the GI tract. RNase‐A@AuNCs could successfully examine intestinal tumor mice from healthy mice, indicating a potential utility for early diagnosis of intestinal tumors.

Mining fissures formed by coal mining can easily open bedrock and loose aquifers, and can thus cause water–rock interaction. The strength of coal and rock and their pore and fracture development characteristics are closely related to moisture content. Therefore, this paper studied the strength, porosity, fracture propagation, and failure characteristics of coal with different moisture contents. Six representative coal samples with different moisture contents of 0, 3.79, 6.10, 9.17, 11.01, and 11.68% were prepared by non-destructive water immersion experiment, and the samples were analyzed using. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and uniaxial compression acoustic emission experiments. Then, the temporal and spatial variation of the moisture contents of the coal samples and the characteristics of crack propagation and failure were studied before and after water immersion. Non-destructive water immersion and NMR analysis showed that the moisture content increases exponentially with increasing water immersion time and immersion frequency. Additionally, it was shown that with increasing water immersion time and frequency, the moisture distribution within the coal samples changes from uneven to uniform, and micro-pores and meso-pores develop into larger pores with increasing water content. A coupled uniaxial compression–acoustic emission experiment showed that acoustic emissions are closely related to the macroscopic failure mode of the coal sample. With increasing sample moisture content, the degree of sample destruction and the concentration of acoustic emissions both reduced. The increase of moisture content promotes the change of the macroscopic failure mode of the coal samples from tensile failure to tensile–shear composite failure. The results of this study have important reference value for analyzing the stability of coal pillars and surrounding rock under the action of water, and especially for the design of coal pillar dam bodies in coal mines with groundwater reservoirs.

In recent years, with the rapid development of computer simulation technology, the modeling and simulation of radar systems has attracted widespread attention. This article focuses on the modeling and simulation of radar klystrons. Combined with other transmitter components that affect the normal operation of klystrons, the construction and design of klystron models are completed using SystemVue simulation software. The effects of titanium pump power supply, filament power supply, magnetic field power supply, modulated pulse voltage and other components on klystron are introduced, and the theoretical calculation and simulation results of klystron modeling are given to verify the correctness and feasibility of the klystron simulation model.

This paper studies a large-scale heterogeneous cellular network (HCN) consisting of ultra-dense small cells and macro cells. Each small cell base station (SBS) serves a dedicated user with a constant distance in a random direction. To reduce electricity consumption without degrading network performance, a hybrid SBS deployment strategy is considered, in which both on-grid and off-grid SBSs are placed in the network for data transmissions. The on-grid SBSs are connected to the electric grid and powered by stable energy, while the off-grid SBSs are powered by harvesting the ambient radio frequency energy broadcasted by the macro base stations (MBSs) and the on-grid SBSs. Using tools from stochastic geometry, the outage probabilities of both cellular network users and dedicated users are analyzed. On this basis, the tradeoff between the energy efficiency and throughput of the HCN is characterized and the optimal ratio of on-grid and off-grid SBSs is also analyzed. These results can provide useful insights and guidelines for the practical design of the next generation energy harvesting-based HCNs.

Background and aim The distinction of intestinal fibrosis from inflammation in Crohn's disease (CD) associated strictures has important therapeutic implications. Ultrasound elastography is useful in evaluating the degree of fibrosis in liver, but there is little evidence whether it can assess fibrosis in the bowel. We determined whether shear-wave elastography (SWE), a novel modification of elastography, quantifying tissue stiffness, could differentiate between inflammatory and fibrotic components in strictures of patients with CD. Methods Consecutive CD patients with ileal/ileocolonic strictures who underwent SWE within 1 week to surgical resection were enrolled. The SWE value of the stenotic bowel wall was compared to the grade and severity of fibrosis and inflammation, respectively, in the resected bowel specimen. Results Thirty-five patients were enrolled. The mean SWE value of stenotic bowel wall was significantly higher in severe fibrosis (23.0 ± 6.3 Kpa) than that in moderate (17.4 ± 3.8 Kpa) and mild fibrosis (14.4 ± 2.1 Kpa)(P = 0.008). Using 22.55 KPa as the cutoff value in discriminating between mild/moderate and severe fibrosis, the sensitivity and specificity was 69.6 % and 91.7% with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.822 (P = 0.002). However, no significant difference regarding mean SWE existed among different grades of inflammation. The sensitivity and specificity of bowel vascularization score on conventional ultrasound in differentiating severe inflammation from mild/moderate was 87.5 % and 57.9% with AUC of 0.811 (P = 0.002). Combining SWE and conventional ultrasound (bowel vascularization score), we propose a bowel ultrasound classification of intestinal strictures. A moderate agreement between ultrasound and pathological classification was observed (κ = 0.536, P＜0.001). Conclusions This pilot study suggests that SWE is feasible and accurate in detecting intestinal fibrosis in patients with CD. After validation, combing SWE and bowel vascularization on conventional ultrasound might be applied to guide a management strategy in CD patients through defining the type of intestinal stricture. 10.1093/ibd/izy115_video1izy115.video15777734754001.

BACKGROUND Assessing bowel fibrosis in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) has important therapeutic implications. PURPOSE To determine the utility of T2* mapping versus that of contrast enhanced (CE) imaging in grading intestinal fibrosis in patients with CD using surgical pathology as the reference standard. STUDY TYPE Prospective. SPECIMENS 102 specimens from 27 patients with CD. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE 3.0T; T2WI; T1WI; T2*WI. ASSESSMENT The T2*WI values of the bowel wall targeted for resection were measured by two radiologists by drawing regions of interest on the thickened bowel wall. The resected bowel specimens with pathological fibrosis and type I collagen were classified into four severity grades (0-3) by a pathologist using a semi-quantitative scoring system. STATISTICAL TESTS The differences in the T2*WI values among the different histological grades were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance or the Kruskal-Wallis test, and their correlations were analyzed. The ability of the T2*WI values to discriminate between various degrees of fibrosis was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS Significant differences were observed in the T2* values of mild (23.56 ± 1.60 ms), moderate (16.19 ± 0.55 ms), and severe (13.59 ± 0.53 ms) fibrosis types (F = 35.84; P

In this paper, we propose a hybridly connected structure for hybrid beamforming in millimeter-wave (mmWave) massive MIMO systems, where the antenna arrays at the transmitter and receiver consist of multiple sub-arrays, each of which connects to multiple radio frequency (RF) chains, and each RF chain connects to all the antennas corresponding to the sub-array. In this structure, through successive interference cancelation, we decompose the precoding matrix optimization problem into multiple precoding sub-matrix optimization problems. Then, near-optimal hybrid digital and analog precoders are designed through factorizing the precoding sub-matrix for each sub-array. Furthermore, we compare the performance of the proposed hybridly connected structure with the existing fully and partially connected structures in terms of spectral efficiency, the required number of phase shifters, and energy efficiency. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate that the spectral efficiency of the hybridly connected structure is better than that of the partially connected structure and that its spectral efficiency can approach that of the fully connected structure with the increase in the number of RF chains. Moreover, the proposed algorithm for the hybridly connected structure is capable of achieving higher energy efficiency than existing algorithms for the fully and partially connected structures.