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Continuous real-time location data is very important in the big data era, but the privacy issues involved is also a considerable topic. It is not only necessary to protect the location privacy at each release moment, but also have to consider the impact of data correlation. Correlated Laplace Mechanism (CLM) is a sophisticated method to implement differential privacy on correlated time series. This paper aims to solve the key problems of applying CLM in continuous location release. Based on the finding that the location increment is approximately stationary in many scenarios, a location correlation estimation method based on the location increment is proposed to solve the problem of nonstationary location data correlation estimation; an adaptive adjustment model for the CLM filter based on parameter quantization idea (QCLM) as well as its effective implementation named QCLM-Lowpass utilizing the lowpass spectral characteristics of location data series is proposed to solve the problem of output deviations due to the undesired transient response of the CLM filter in time-varying environments. Extensive simulations and real data experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and show that the privacy scheme based on QCLM-Lowpass can offer a better balance between the ability to resist correlation-based attacks and data availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to investigate the biomechanical differences between different adjunct fixation methods for oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) and to further analyze its effect on adjacent segmental degeneration. Methods: We built a single-segment (Si-segment) finite element model (FEM) for L4-5 and a double-segment (Do-segment) FEM for L3-5. Each complete FEM was supplemented and modified, and both developed two surgical models of OLIF with assisted internal fixation. They were OLIF with posterior bilateral percutaneous pedicle screw (TINA system) fixation (OLIF + BPS) and OLIF with lateral plate system (OLIF + LPS). The range of motion (ROM) and displacement of the vertebral body, cage stress, adjacent segment disc stress, and spinal ligament tension were recorded for the four models during flexion/extension, right/left bending, and right/left rotation by applying follower load. Results: For the BPS and LPS systems in the six postures of flexion, extension, right/left bending, and right/left rotation, the ROM of L4 in the Si-segment FEM were 0.32°/1.83°, 0.33°/1.34°, 0.23°/0.47°, 0.24°/0.45°, 0.33°/0.79°, and 0.34°/0.62°; the ROM of L4 in the Do-segment FEM were 0.39°/2.00°, 0.37°/1.38°, 0.23°/0.47°, 0.21°/0.44°, 0.33°/0.57°, and 0.31°/0.62°, and the ROM of L3 in the Do-segment FEM were 6.03°/7.31°, 2.52°/3.50°, 4.21°/4.38°, 4.21°/4.42°, 2.09°/2.32°, and 2.07°/2.43°. BPS system had less vertebral displacement, less cage maximum stress, and less spinal ligament tension in Si/Do-segment FEM relative to the LPS system. BPS system had a smaller upper adjacent vertebral ROM, greater intervertebral disc stress in terms of left and right bending as well as left and right rotation compared to the LPS system in the L3-4 of the Do-segment FEM. There was little biomechanical difference between the same fixation system in the Si/Do-segment FEM. Conclusions: Our finite element analysis showed that compared to OLIF + LPS, OLIF + BPS (TINA) is more effective in reducing interbody stress and spinal ligament tension, and it better maintains the stability of the target segment and provides a better fusion environment to resist cage subsidence. However, OLIF + BPS (TINA) may be more likely to cause adjacent segment degeneration than OLIF + LPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nickel-Titanium shape-memory sawtooth-arm embracing clamps (SSECs) have been used in revision total hip arthroplasties (rTHAs) to protect stem stability. This study was to introduce this technique and report its mid to long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients implanted with SSECs in our department from January 2008 to December 2015. 41 patients (41 hips) were finally included. Radiographs and Harris hip scores (HHS) were collected. Radiographs were blindly analyzed for evidence of loosening, subsidence and stress shielding. HHS were compared to previous records by student's t tests. The average follow-up period was 9.3 years. Results: All stems were stably fixed with no signs of loosening. The mean stem subsidence was 0.9 mm (range, 0 to 3 mm). Only one patient (2.4%) demonstrated the fourth degree of stress shielding, with the others none or minor bone resorption. The mean HHS at the final follow-up was 84.2 (range, 81 to 91), which was improved from 17.4 (range, 0 to 37) before surgery. No implant failures or re-revisions occurred. Dislocation occurred in 1 case during the follow-up period. Conclusions: The SSEC protected stem fixation and achieved favorable clinical and radiographic outcomes in this 9-year follow-up study. It offered an additional extramedullary fixation option for surgeons to choose from in treating complex femoral revision arthroplasties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic understanding of delayed packet loss is key to successfully applying it to multi-node hopping networks. Given the problem of delayed data loss due to network delay in a hop network environment, we review early time windowing approaches, for which most contributions focus on end-to-end hopping networks. However, they do not apply to the general hopping network environment, where data transmission from the sending host to the receiving host usually requires forwarding at multiple intermediate nodes due to network latency and network cache overflow, which may result in delayed packet loss. To overcome this challenge, we propose a delay time window and a method for estimating the delay time window. By examining the network delays of different data tasks, we obtain network delay estimates for these data tasks, use them as estimates of the delay time window, and validate the estimated results to verify that the results satisfy the delay distribution law. In addition, simulation tests and a discussion of the results were conducted to demonstrate how to maximize the reception of delay groupings. The analysis shows that the method is more general and applicable to multi-node hopping networks than existing time windowing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differential privacy (DP) has become a de facto standard to achieve data privacy. However, the utility of DP solutions with the premise of privacy priority is often unacceptable in real-world applications. In this paper, we propose the best-effort differential privacy (B-DP) to promise the preference for utility first and design two new metrics including the point belief degree and the regional average belief degree to evaluate its privacy from a new perspective of preference for privacy. Therein, the preference for privacy and utility is referred to as expected privacy protection (EPP) and expected data utility (EDU), respectively. We also investigate how to realize B-DP with an existing DP mechanism (KRR) and a newly constructed mechanism (EXP Q ) in the dynamic check-in data collection and publishing. Extensive experiments on two real-world check-in datasets verify the effectiveness of the concept of B-DP. Our newly constructed EXP Q can also satisfy a better B-DP than KRR to provide a good trade-off between privacy and utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sought to investigate the outcomes of posterior-only approach using polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cage combined with single-segment instrumentation (modified-approach) for mono-segment lumbar tuberculosis in children. Between February 2008 and August 2017 in our hospital, 18 children with single-segment lumbar tuberculosis enrolled in this study were treated by modified-approach. Medical records and radiographs were retrospectively analyzed. Mean follow-up time was 54.6 ± 12.1 months. No severe complications were noted to have occurred. Measures indicated there was satisfactory bone fusion for all patients. Mean Cobb angles were significantly decreased from preoperative angle (19.8° ± 13.1°) to those both postoperatively (− 4.9° ± 7.6°) and at final follow-up (− 3.5° ± 7.3°) (both P < 0.05), with a mean angle loss of 1.7° ± 0.9°. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) returned to normal levels for all patients within 3 months postoperatively. All patients had significant postoperative improvement in neurological performance. The modified-approach was an effective and feasible treatment option for mono-segment children with lumbar tuberculosis. Such procedures can likely help patients by increasing retainment of lumbar mobility and reducing invasiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma is the most prevalent primary bone malignancy in adolescents, and ferroptosis is implicated in its pathogenesis. MicroRNA (miR)-1287-5p plays critical roles in multiple human cancers, and the present study aims to investigate the role and underlying mechanisms of miR-1287-5p in regulating ferroptosis and osteosarcoma progression. Human osteosarcoma cell lines were treated with the mimic, inhibitor or matched controls of miR-1287-5p. Cell viability, colony formation, cell death ratio and ferroptosis were determined. miR-1287-5p expression was downregulated in human osteosarcoma, but upregulated upon ferroptotic stimulation. Overexpression of miR-1287-5p significantly induced, while inhibition of miR-1287-5p suppressed ferroptosis of osteosarcoma cells, thereby modulating cell viability and colony formation. Mechanistic studies indicated that miR-1287-5p directly bound to the 3′-untranslated region of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) to inhibit its protein level and activity, and that GPX4 overexpression completely abolished the miR-1287-5p mimic-mediated ferroptotic induction and tumor suppression. Moreover, the miR-1287-5p mimic dramatically sensitized human osteosarcoma cells to cisplatin chemotherapy. Our findings prove that miR-1287-5p promotes ferroptosis of osteosarcoma cells through inhibiting GPX4, identifying an adjuvant and even alternative method for the treatment of human osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although data analysis and mining technologies can efficiently provide intelligent and personalized services to us, data owners may not always be willing to share their true data because of privacy concerns. Recently, differential privacy (DP) technology has achieved a good trade-off between data utility and privacy guarantee by publishing noisy outputs. Nonetheless, DP still has a risk of privacy leakage when handling correlated data directly. Current schemes attempt to extend DP to publish correlated data, but are faced with the challenge of violating DP or low-level data utility. In this paper, we try to explore the essential cause of this inapplicability. Specifically, we suppose that this inapplicability is caused by the different correlations between noise and original data. To verify our supposition, we propose the notion of Correlation-Distinguishability Attack (CDA) to separate IID (Independent and Identically Distributed) noise from correlated data. Furthermore, taking time series as an example, we design an optimum filter to realize CDA in practical applications. Experimental results support our supposition and show that, the privacy degree of current approaches has a degradation under CDA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To compare the cervical sagittal balance and surgical outcomes between anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and hybrid decompression and fusion (HDF; 1-level corpectomy combined with 1-level discectomy) for consecutive 3-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). From January 2013 to June 2016, 82 patients with 3-level CSM who underwent ACDF (n = 40) and HDF (n = 42) were retrospectively reviewed. Perioperative parameters, clinical outcomes, and radiologic sagittal alignment were analyzed and compared. Patients were followed up for 35.5 ± 6.5 months (range, 25–53 months). All patients had achieved significant improvement in Neck Disability Index and Japanese Orthopedic Association scores after operation, with similar clinical outcomes between both groups (P > 0.05). In the ACDF group, 2 patients were found with axial symptoms, and 1 with hoarseness. In the HDF group, 5 patients were found with axial symptoms, 1 with hoarseness, 1 with dysphagia, and 1 with pseudarthrosis. The ACDF group had less operation time and bleeding compared with the HDF group (P < 0.05). The restoration of segmental and C2-7 lordosis were significantly greater in the ACDF group than the HDF group (P < 0.05). The C2-7 sagittal vertical axis and T1 slope minus C2-7 lordosis decreased in the ACDF group at final follow-up (P < 0.05); however, there was no obvious change in those of the HDF group (P > 0.05). Both ACDF and HDF were safe and effective for the treatment of 3-level CSM. ACDF showed superiority to HDF in terms of less blood loss, shorter operation time, and better postoperative sagittal balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Clofazimine/moxifloxacin combinations showed excellent synergism against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. • Moxifloxacin showed better synergism than capreomycin when combined with clofazimine. • Multidrug-/extensively drug-resistant isolates more likely to show antagonism than drug-resistant/pan-sensitive strains. • Difference in antagonism relevant for clofazimine/moxifloxacin and clofazimine/capreomycin. Clofazimine (CFZ) is a promising candidate drug for use in the management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients. In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method and checkerboard method were used to investigate potential synergies between CFZ and moxifloxacin (MOX) or capreomycin (CAP). Thirty Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains were collected, including 13 MDR strains, 2 extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains, 3 pan-sensitive strains and 12 strains resistant to other drugs. When the minimum fractional inhibitory concentration indexes (FICIs) were calculated, synergy was found in 21 (70.00%) M. tuberculosis strains against the CFZ/CAP combination and 29 (96.67%) against the CFZ/MOX combination. When the maximum FICIs were calculated, 10 of 15 MDR/XDR strains and 2 of 15 other drug-resistant or pan-sensitive strains showed antagonism against the CFZ/CAP combination, whilst 8 of 15 MDR/XDR strains and 1 of 15 other drug-resistant or pan-sensitive strains showed antagonism against the CFZ/MOX combination, respectively. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that the combination of CFZ and MOX shows better synergism than the combination of CFZ and CAP. The MDR/XDR isolates are more likely to show antagonism than the other drug-resistant or pan-sensitive strains in both the CFZ/MOX and CFZ/CAP combinations. CFZ in combination with MOX may be a promising drug regimen for the treatment of MDR-TB, particularly for susceptible M. tuberculosis infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of data sharing applications brings a serious problem of privacy disclosure. As an effective privacy-preserving method, the differential privacy, which strictly defines the privacy-preserving degree and data utility mathematically, can balance the privacy and data utility. However, the differential privacy has a hypothesis premise that the raw data are accurate without any error, so it could not limit the privacy security and the data utility to the expected range when processing data with errors. Hence, this paper focuses on the study on the influence of data errors on differential privacy. Taking the random error as an example, we analyze the influence mode and mechanism of data errors on differential privacy, especially on the privacy budget ε . The theoretical derivations and experimental simulations prove that the Laplace mechanism still preserves ε ′ -indistinguishability for data with errors. Moreover, the random algorithm can realize the expected privacy preserving strength by adding less noise compared with the algorithm that do not consider data errors, and has a better data utility by reducing the unnecessary cost of utility. This paper defines the research directions on the differential privacy theory concerning of data errors, and provides the foundations of perfecting the theory system and promoting the practicality of the differential privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brachydactyly type E (BDE) is a general term characterized by variable shortening of metacarpals and metatarsals, with phalanges affected frequently. It can occur as an isolated form or part of syndromes and manifest a high degree of phenotypic variability. In this study, we have identified the clinical characteristics and pathogenic causes of a four‐generation pedigree with 10 members affected by BDE and short stature. Methods: After the informed consent was signed, clinical data and peripheral blood samples were collected from available family members. Karyotype analysis, array‐CGH, next‐generation sequencing, and Sanger sequencing were employed to identity the pathogenic candidate gene. Results: No translocation or microdeletion/duplication was found in karyotype analysis and array‐CGH; hence, a novel heterozygous mutation, c.146dupA. p.S50Vfs*22, was detected by next‐generation sequencing in PTHLH gene, leading to a premature stop codon. Subsequently, the mutation was confirmed by Sanger sequencing and co‐segregation analysis. Conclusion: In this study, we described a novel heterozygous mutation (c.146dupA. p.S50Vfs*22) of gene PTHLH in a Chinese family. The mutation could induce a premature stop codon leading to a truncation of the protein. Our study broadened the mutation spectrum of PTHLH in BDE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of frame deletion forgery is of great significance in the field of video forensics. Existing approaches, however, are not applicable to video sequences with variable motion strengths. In addition, the impact of interfering frames has not been considered in these approaches. Our research aims to develop a motion-adaptive forensic method as well as to eliminate interfering frames. Through a study of the statistical characteristics of the most common interfering frames such as relocated I-frames, we develop a new fluctuation feature based on frame motion residuals to identify frame deletion points (FDPs). The fluctuation feature is further enhanced by an intra-prediction elimination procedure so that it can be adapted to sequences with various motion levels. The enhanced feature is measured using a moving window detector to identify the location of a FDP. Finally, a postprocessing procedure is proposed to eliminate the minor interferences of sudden lighting change, focus vibration, and frame jitter. Our experimental results demonstrate that for videos with variable motion strengths and different interfering frames, the true positive rate of the algorithm can reach 90% when the false alarm rate is 0.3%. Our proposed method could provide a foundation for many practical applications of video forensics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Analyzing and mining time-series data by taking advantage of the correlation between the data values can provide outstanding beneficial. But data owners may be unwilling to publish the data’s true values due to privacy considerations. Recently, researchers have begun to leverage differential privacy to address this challenge. However, the Laplace noise series used in the current state-of-the-art approaches has a drawback in that it is independent and identically distributed. An adversary can remove the independent noise from the correlated time-series by utilizing a refinement method (e.g., filtering), resulting in a lesser than expected effective degree of privacy. To remedy this problem, we propose an effective correlated time-series data publication solution based on differential privacy by enforcing Series-Indistinguishability and designing a correlated Laplace mechanism. Based on the concept of indistinguishability from the unconditional security definition, Series-Indistinguishability guarantees that the correlation between the noise and original series is indistinguishable to an adversary. Furthermore, instead of using an independent Laplace mechanism, a correlated Laplace noise series is produced using four Gauss white noise series passed through a specific linear system, to satisfy Series-Indistinguishability. Experimental results demonstrate that our solution outperforms the state-of-the-art differential privacy mechanisms in terms of security and mean absolute error for large quantities of queries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing user access patterns to develop a prefetching scheme can effectively improve system I/O performance and reduce user access latency. For massive spatiotemporal data, traditional pattern mining methods fail to directly reflect the spatiotemporal correlation and transition rules of user access, resulting in poor prefetching performance. This paper proposed a prefetching scheme based on spatial-temporal attribute prediction, named STAP. It maps the history of user access requests to the spatiotemporal attribute domain by analyzing the characteristics of spatiotemporal data in a smart city. According to the spatial locality and time stationarity of user access, correlation analysis is performed and variation rules are identified for the history of user access requests. Further, the STAP scheme mines the user access patterns and constructs a predictive function to predict the user’s next access request. Experimental results show that the prefetching scheme is simple yet effective; it achieves a prediction accuracy of 84.3% for access requests and reduces the average data access response time by 44.71% compared with the nonprefetching scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring new optical thermometric materials is important to realize highly accurate temperature detecting. Herein, Yb/Er activators are successfully doped into Cs 2 Ag(In/Bi)Cl 6 lead-free double perovskite (DP) semiconductor, providing dual-modal photoluminescence originated from self-trapped exciton recombination and 4f-4f transitions of Yb/Er dopants as well as Er3+ upconversion emissions. Remarkably different temperature-dependent emissive behaviors from DP host and Yb/Er activators are experimentally demonstrated, which enables to design novel fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) between DP and Yb/Er based thermometric technology. In addition, upconversion FIR-based temperature sensing via thermal population between the 2H 11/2 level and 4S 3/2 one of Er3+ dopants in DP host is also realized. It is believed that the present Yb/Er: Cs 2 Ag(In/Bi)Cl 6 DP with excellent long-term stability and dual-functional temperature detecting is a suitable candidate as the self-calibrated optical thermometric material. The combination of the exciton recombination of Cs 2 AgInCl 6 lead-free double perovskite with Ln3+ (Ln = Yb, Er) dopants induces dual-modal light-emitting channel to produce a novel thermometric material. [Display omitted] • Yb/Er: Cs 2 Ag(In/Bi)Cl 6 lead-free double perovskite is successfully prepared. • The product exhibits both self-trapped exciton recombination and Ln3+: 4f-4f emissions. • Different temperature-dependent emissive behaviors from host and Ln3+ activators are demonstrated. • A novel DP/Ln3+ fluorescence intensity ratio thermometric channel is developed. • The product is a promising candidate for dual-modal optical temperature sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical efficacy and feasibility of surgical treatment for lumbosacral junction tuberculosis by one-stage posterior debridement, interbody fusion, lumbopelvic fixation, and postural drainage. Methods: A total of 15 cases with lumbosacral junction tuberculosis treated by one-stage posterior debridement, interbody fusion, lumbopelvic fixation, and postural drainage in our center from January 2005 to October 2011 were studied. Lumbosacral angle, visual analog scale (VAS), and neurological performance were assessed before and after surgery. Results: All patients were followed for 28-56 months post-operation (average, 40.7 ± 7.7 months). No severe complications occurred. Bone fusion occurred in all patients at a mean of 8.4 months (range 6-12 months) after surgery. The mean lumbosacral angle was significantly increased from the mean preoperative angle (20.9° ± 1.8°) both post-operatively (26.5° ± 1.6°) and at final follow-up (25.3° ± 1.4°) (both P < 0.05). All patients had significant post-operative improvement in neurological performance and VAS scores. Conclusions: Our results suggest that one-stage posterior debridement, interbody fusion, lumbopelvic fixation, and postural drainage can be an effective and feasible treatment option for lumbosacral junction tuberculosis, offering fewer complications and a better quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of single-stage posterior debridement, compact bone grafting and posterior single-segment fixation for the treatment of mono-segmental lumbar tuberculosis.Methods: We enrolled 32 patients with mono-segmental lumbar tuberculosis from January 2005 to April 2011. The severity of damage to the vertebral bodies is not more than 2/3 height. All the patients were treated by single-stage posterior debridement, compact bone grafting and posterior single-segment fixation.Results: Patients were followed 21-63 months (43.5±9.5 months). The average Cobb angle decreased to 5.3±3.0° postoperatively from 22.1±6.1° preoperatively. Meanwhile, average 1.8±1.0° loss was observed at last visit. Fusion occurred at 3-9 months (mean 5.1 months). All patients with preoperative neurologic deficit recovered in different degree. 1 with grade B recovered to grade D; 2 with grade C recovered to grade E; 18 with grade D recovered to grade E. No mortality occurred. One patient experienced anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver dysfunction which was managed successfully with modified anti-TB treatment and hepato-protective treatment. The Oswestry Disability Index decreased from 40.1±4.0 preoperatively to 13.7±3.1 postoperatively.Conclusions: Single-stage posterior debridement, compact bone grafting and posterior single-segment fixation is an effective method for the treatment of mono-segmental lumbar tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet applications create massive small spatio-temporal data files in cloud environments. Therefore a method aiming to raise the processing efficiency of small files in HDFS; a data scheme combining user access and data features, is proposed. This scheme regards a user access stream as file request sequence, and constructs a characteristic sequence by spatio-temporal attribute extraction. A characteristic template of different user access patterns is formed when analyzing the characteristic sequence by template matching. Then merger-related files are analyzed. Experimental results show that our scheme improves the storage efficiency for small files, and also decreases network application response times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Commutative Encryption and Watermarking (CEW) combines encryption and watermarking to protect confidentiality and ownership. CEW based on Orthogonal Decomposition (CEWod) has been recommended as a mechanism to implement CEW. CEWod has great potential for multimedia content protection applications if its security is validated. This study investigates the security issues of CEWod and their resolution. By redefining the encryption and watermarking operations and performing security analyses, it is proven that the security of the CEWod scheme is based on the security of the orthogonal transformational matrix, B, as well as on its sub-matrixes, R and S. Applying the principle of computational security in cryptography, the security of B, R and S can be assured by selecting appropriate parameters. With respect to the security requirements used in the existing multimedia content protection solutions, other issues that arise from the CEWod approach are addressed. Experimental results and analysis show the feasibility and robustness of CEWod. This study provides evidences that CEWod can provide the promising solution for a buyer–seller protocol-based security system. The discussion also shows that CEWod can be used to build multi-watermarking systems or re-encryption watermarking combined systems. The latter is very useful for cloud computing security. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With the development of multimedia group applications, the construction of multicast routing tree satisfying Quality of Service (QoS) is more important. In many multicast applications, it is required that the network supports dynamic multicast, which the membership of the multicast group changes with the time. In this paper an effective heuristic algorithm is proposed for dynamic multicast routing with delay-constrained. Aims of this proposed algorithm is to guarantee that: (1) the cost of multicast tree is as small as possible at each node addition/removal event, (2) all the maximal path delay is meet a fixed delay-constrained, (3) minimize perturbation to an existing tree. The proposed algorithm is based on ‘damage’ and ‘usefulness’ concept, and a Balancing Factor (BF) is provided to judge whether or not to arrange a region of tree. Mutation operation in Genetic Algorithm (GA) is also employed to find an attached node in tree for a dynamic adding node. Simulation shows that our algorithm performs well than those static heuristic algorithms in term of cost especially. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Differential privacy, a cornerstone of privacy-preserving techniques, plays an indispensable role in ensuring the secure handling and sharing of sensitive data analysis across domains such as in census, healthcare, and social networks. Histograms, serving as a visually compelling tool for presenting analytical outcomes, are widely employed in these sectors. Currently, numerous algorithms for publishing histograms under differential privacy have been developed, striving to balance privacy protection with the provision of useful data. Nonetheless, the pivotal challenge concerning the effective enhancement of precision for small bins (those intervals that are narrowly defined or contain a relatively small number of data points) within histograms has yet to receive adequate attention and in-depth investigation from experts. In standard DP histogram publishing, adding noise without regard for bin size can result in small data bins being disproportionately influenced by noise, potentially severely impairing the overall accuracy of the histogram. In response to this challenge, this paper introduces the SReB_GCA sanitization algorithm designed to enhance the accuracy of small bins in DP histograms. The SReB_GCA approach involves sorting the bins from smallest to largest and applying a greedy grouping strategy, with a predefined lower bound on the mean relative error required for a bin to be included in a group. Our theoretical analysis reveals that sorting bins in ascending order prior to grouping effectively prioritizes the accuracy of smaller bins. SReB_GCA ensures strict ϵ -DP compliance and strikes a careful balance between reconstruction error and noise error, thereby not only initially improving the accuracy of small bins but also approximately optimizing the mean relative error of the entire histogram. To validate the efficiency of our proposed SReB_GCA method, we conducted extensive experiments using four diverse datasets, including two real-life datasets and two synthetic ones. The experimental results, quantified by the Kullback–Leibler Divergence (KLD), show that the SReB_GCA algorithm achieves substantial performance enhancement compared to the baseline method (DP_BASE) and several other established approaches for differential privacy histogram publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed geographic information system is a typical service-intensive application which has to store massive data in lots of storages and server for a large number of users. Due to the slow network input/output, replicas can be used to improve system performance. Since all data have the relationships of long-term stability as well as short-term bursty, a comprehensive method which considers not only static replicas and its placement strategy but also dynamic replicas and its selection strategy can achieve more significant improvements and are proposed in this article. First, a general dynamic correlation representation model of all data is designed and implemented. And then replica selection strategies for static copies and dynamic copies are proposed based on their relationships. Also, a comprehensive data placement strategy for all data and all replicas is defined to realize load balance. Finally, the performance of the proposed method has been proved through a series of comparative experiments, and the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can meet the requirements of distributed geographic information system in all aspects, including different dataset, different access modes, and different data scales and can achieve an average local storage hit ratio of about 11.55%–45.22% higher than the other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replication strategy is one of effective solutions to meet the requirement of service response time by preparing data in advance to avoid the delay of reading data from disks. This paper presents a brand-new method to create copies considering the selection of replicas set, the number of copies for each replica and the placement strategy of all copies. First, the popularities of all data are computed considering both the historical access records and the timeliness of the records. Then, replica set can be selected based on their recent popularities. Also, an enhanced Q-value scheme is proposed to assign the number of copies for each replica. Finally, a reasonable copies placement strategy is designed to meet the requirement of load balance. In addition, we present several experiments that compare the proposed method with techniques that use other replication management strategies. The results show that the proposed model has better performance than other algorithms in all respects. Moreover, the experiments based on different parameters also demonstrated the effectiveness and adaptability of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caching can prepare data for computational tasks in advance by tracking the requirements and behaviors of distributed geographical information systems to reduce network latency and improve computational performance. This paper presents an enhanced method to actively cache data for data-intensive computations that considers both data relationships and the timeliness of those relationships. First, the access correlations, the correlation steps and the times of the correlations are computed based on the behaviors of the computational tasks. Because the influence of historically accessed records will decrease gradually over time, only recently accessed records are used. To track changes in the relationships and prevent cache waste problems, each record is given a different age-based weight. A conditional caching probability can then be computed based on the timeliness relationships, which can be used to find the appropriate data to compute simultaneously. Finally, we present several experiments that compare the proposed method with techniques that use other data placement strategies, active caching strategies and passive caching algorithms. The results show that the proposed model has better performance than other algorithms in all respects. In addition, the proposed model results in a lower cache replacement ratio. The experiments with different data sets on different data scales indicate that the proposed algorithm can also be used in large-scale distributed environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a distributed environment, limited available bandwidth resources lead a high data access latency. Replication is a popular method that can upgrade the access performance and increase the data availability. However, unreasonable replication would cause over-consumption of system resources and finally a further deterioration on data access latency. So, In this paper, a theoretical model of access latency optimization with replication is presented firstly, which complement the blank space, and then a well-designed dynamic replication strategy is proposed, which consists of three algorithms: replica selection algorithm, replica layout algorithm and replica replacement algorithm. Replica selection algorithm selects the optimal replica with a hierarchical time cost based on the derivation of the theoretical model. Replica layout algorithm selects the optimal node for placing the replica based on the spatio-temporal locality of data access. Replica replacement algorithm, in which the fuzzy logic system is introduced originally, deletes replica when the available storage space is insufficient. FLSDR is tested by OptorSim and experimental results show that FLSDR achieves better performance in comparison with other algorithms in terms of mean job execution time, computing resource usage, number of data scheduling between clusters and number of replicas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extraction of individual Motor Unit Action Potentials (MUAPs) from a surface ElectroMyoGram (EMG) is an essential but challenging task for clinical study and physiological investigation. This paper presents an automatic decomposition of surface EMGs using a self-organised ART2 neural network. In our approach, MUAP peaks are first detected using a Weighted Low-Pass Differential (WLPD) filter. A modified ART2 network is then utilised to classify MUAPs based on MUAP waveforms and firing time information. Individual MUAP trains are identified from real surface EMG signals recorded during weak contraction, and also from simulated surface EMGs. The firing statistics and the waveforms of individual MUAPs are then extracted. A number of computer tests on 50 simulated and real surface EMGs of limb muscles show that up to five MUAP trains can be effectively extracted, with their waveforms and firing parameters estimated. Being able to decompose real surface EMGs has essentially demonstrated the potential applications of our approach to the noninvasive diagnosis of neuromuscular disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud computing systems provide high-performance computing resources and distributed storage space to deal with data-intensive computations. Data scheduling between data centers is becoming indispensable for the cloud computing systems in which a mass of large datasets is stored at different data centers and inter-center data accesses are needed in data analytics. However, the performance of data scheduling is highly dependent upon the rationality of data placement. Data placement is a key optimization method for reducing data scheduling between data centers and realizing statistical I/O load balancing, accordingly reducing the mean computation execution time. This paper proposes a data placement strategy, DCCP, which is developed based on dynamic computation correlation. DCCP places the datasets with high dynamic computation correlations at the same data center considering the I/O load and the capacity load of data centers; when computations are scheduled for this data center, most of the datasets they process are stored locally, and thus the mean computation execution time can be reduced. Evidence from a large number of experiments proves that the DCCP can achieve the statistical I/O load balancing and the capacity load balancing of data centers, thus reducing the total data scheduling between data centers as much as possible at a very low time complexity, even as the numbers of datasets and data centers increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declustering techniques are widely used in distributed environments to reduce query response time through parallel I/O by splitting large files into several small blocks and then distributing those blocks among multiple storage nodes. Unfortunately, however, many small geospatial image data files cannot be further split for distributed storage. In this paper, we propose a complete theoretical system for the distributed storage of small geospatial image data files based on mining the access patterns of geospatial image data using their historical access log information. First, an algorithm is developed to construct an access correlation matrix based on the analysis of the log information, which reveals the patterns of access to the geospatial image data. Then, a practical heuristic algorithm is developed to determine a reasonable solution based on the access correlation matrix. Finally, a number of comparative experiments are presented, demonstrating that our algorithm displays a higher total parallel access probability than those of other algorithms by approximately 10–15% and that the performance can be further improved by more than 20% by simultaneously applying a copy storage strategy. These experiments show that the algorithm can be applied in distributed environments to help realize parallel I/O and thereby improve system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The proposed scheme integrates encryption and digital fingerprinting. [•] The scheme is implemented in JPEG compressed domain with no need for decompression. [•] The cipher-image is kept format-compliant. [•] A single encrypted copy of the media content is distributed for different users. [•] Users who decrypt the data with different keys obtains unique fingerprinted copies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have witnessed rapid advances in both face presentation attack models and presentation attack detection (PAD) in recent years. When compared with widely studied 2D face presentation attacks, 3D face spoofing attacks are more challenging because face recognition systems are more easily confused by the 3D characteristics of materials similar to real faces. In this work, we tackle the problem of detecting these realistic 3D face presentation attacks and propose a novel anti-spoofing method from the perspective of fine-grained classification. Our method, based on factorized bilinear coding of multiple color channels (namely MC_FBC), targets at learning subtle fine-grained differences between real and fake images. By extracting discriminative and fusing complementary information from RGB and YCbCr spaces, we have developed a principled solution to 3D face spoofing detection. A large-scale wax figure face database (WFFD) with both images and videos has also been collected as super realistic attacks to facilitate the study of 3D face presentation attack detection. Extensive experimental results show that our proposed method achieves the state-of-the-art performance on both our own WFFD and other face spoofing databases under various intra-database and inter-database testing scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new database with wax figure faces as super-realistic 3D face spoofing attacks. • High diversity and high quality of faces in database. • Fusion of attention-aware features of different face scales for face anti-spoofing. • Performance evaluation under both intra- and cross-database testing scenarios. Face spoofing attacks based on 3D face images have posed a severe security risk to face recognition systems. Despite the great effort made by the technical community in recent years, existing 3D face spoofing databases, mostly based on 3D masks, still suffer from small sample size, low diversity, or poor authenticity due to the production difficulty and high cost. To fill in this gap, we introduce a new database in this paper with 4-000 single wax figure faces, named SWFFD (Single Wax Figure Face Database), as a type of super-realistic 3D face presentation attack. Collected from online resources, this database has high diversity in terms of subjects, lighting conditions, facial poses, and recording devices. We have also designed a new detection method, which combines attention-aware features from different face scales to generate discriminative representations for realistic face spoofing attack detection. Extensive experiments have been conducted on the SWFFD as well as the CelebA-HQ database (containing real faces from the online collection). Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method in both intra-database and cross-database testing scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the impressive progress in face recognition, current systems are vulnerable to presentation attacks, which subvert the face recognition systems by presenting a face artifact. Several techniques have been developed to automatically detect different presentation attacks, mostly for 2D photo print and video replay attacks. However, with the development of 3D modeling and printing technologies, 3D mask has become a more effective way to attack the face recognition systems. Over the last decade, various detection methods for 3D mask attacks have been proposed, but there is no survey yet to summarize the advances. We present a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art approaches in 3D mask spoofing and anti-spoofing, including existing databases and countermeasures. In addition, we quantitatively compare the performance of different mask spoofing detection methods on a common ground (i.e., using the same database and evaluation metric). The effectiveness of several 2D presentation attack detection methods is also evaluated on two 3D mask spoofing databases to show whether they are applicable or not for 3D mask attacks. Finally, we present some insights and summarize open issues to address in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vulnerability of face recognition systems to different presentation attacks has aroused increasing concern in the biometric community. Face presentation detection (PAD) techniques, which aim to distinguish real face samples from spoof artifacts, are the efficient countermeasure. In recent years, various methods have been proposed to address 2D type face presentation attacks, including photo print attack and video replay attack. However, it is difficult to tell which methods perform better for these attacks, especially in practical mobile authentication scenarios, since there is no systematic evaluation or benchmark of the state-of-the-art methods on a common ground (i.e., using the same databases and protocols). Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of several representative face PAD methods (30 in total) on three public mobile spoofing datasets to quantitatively compare the detection performance. Furthermore, the generalization ability of existing methods is tested under cross-database testing scenarios to show the possible database bias. We also summarize meaningful observations and give some insights that will help promote both academic research and practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The neuroinflammation following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a critical process that impacts both the injury and the recovery of spinal cord parenchyma. Infiltrating regulatory T (Treg) cells are potent anti‐inflammatory cells that restrain post‐SCI neuroinflammation. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the activity of infiltrating Treg cells, we used a mouse spinal cord compression injury model to analyze the role of Sirtuins (SIRTs) in the modulation of infiltrating Treg cell functions. We found that the expressions of SIRT4 and SIRT6 were up‐regulated in infiltrating Treg cells. Using lentivirus‐mediated gene expression or RNA interference, we revealed that SIRT4 substantially inhibited the expression of Foxp3, interleukin‐10, and transforming growth factor‐β in Treg cells, whereas SIRT6 had little effect on Treg cells. Consistently, SIRT4 overexpression weakened the suppressive effect of Treg cells on lipopolysaccharide‐stimulated spinal cord CD11b+ myeloid cells. Knock‐down of SIRT4 enhanced the anti‐inflammatory activity of infiltrating Treg cells in the parenchyma of injured spinal cords. Additionally, SIRT4 overexpression blocked in vitro Treg cell generation from conventional T cells. Furthermore, SIRT4 down‐regulated 5′ AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling in Treg cells, whereas the AMPK agonist AICAR restored the expression of Foxp3 and interleukin‐10 in SIRT4‐overexpressing Treg cells. In conclusion, our research unveils a new mechanism by which the post‐SCI neuroinflammation is regulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess whether preoperative T1 slope and cervical lordosis mismatching affect the surgical outcomes of patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) after laminoplasty. A total of 85 patients with CSM who underwent unilateral open-door laminoplasty between January 2013 and May 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Based on preoperative T1 slope and C2–C7 lordosis matching, the patients were divided into 2 groups: the match group and the mismatch group. The T1 slope minus C2–C7 lordosis (T1S-CL) <20° was defined as matching. Radiographic parameters included T1 slope, C2–C7 lordosis, C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), and T1S-CL. Clinical outcomes were based on the Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores. The preoperative T1S-CL had significant correlation with T1 slope (r = 0.283), C2–C7 lordosis (r = -0.611), and C2–C7 SVA (r = 0.331). At the final follow-up, patients in the mismatch group had a higher incidence of postoperative cervical kyphosis (P = 0.007) and C2–C7 SVA >40 mm (P = 0.043). The mismatch group also had greater △C2–C7 lordosis (P = 0.028), △C2–C7 SVA (P = 0.042), and △T1S-CL (P = 0.044). Comparison of clinical outcomes revealed that patients in the match group had better NDI and JOA recovery (P < 0.05). T1S-CL is a clinically relevant parameter for surgical decision making because patients with T1S-CL mismatching are more likely to have postoperative kyphotic alignment changes and cervical sagittal imbalance. Laminoplasty might not be a suitable option for patients with T1S-CL mismatching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design: This a retrospective study in single centre.Objective: The objective of this retrospective clinical study is to compare the long-term clinical efficacy of posterior long-segment and short-segment fixation with single-stage transpedicular debridement and fusion for the treatment of thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis in adults.Methods: Sixty-six cases of thoracolumbar tuberculosis were treated by single-stage transpedicular debridement, bone graft fusion, and pedicle screw fixation. Thirty-five cases were under long-segment fixation (group A) and 31 cases were under short-segment fixation (group B). These patients were followed up for a minimum of five years. The clinical and radiographic results for these patients were analyzed and compared.Results: All 66 patients were completely cured during the follow-up. All patients had significant improvement of neurological condition and visual analogue scale pain scores at the final follow-up. The average operation duration and blood loss in group A were more than that in group B. Kyphosis Cobb angle of both groups was significantly corrected after surgical management. The correction rate of Cobb angle in group A was significantly higher than that in group B at the time of immediate post-operative period or the last follow-up (P < 0.05). The correction loss of group A was significantly less than that in group B (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Both posterior long-segment and short-segment pedicle screw fixations for the treatment of thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis have significant effects in the correction of kyphosis and the improvement of neurological function. Although the blood loss and operation time of long-segment fixation were more than that of short-segment fixation, long-segment fixation was superior to the short-segment fixation in the correction of kyphosis and the maintenance of spinal stability, especially in the prevention of long-term correction loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to protect data privacy, image with sensitive or private information needs to be encrypted before being outsourced to a cloud service provider. However, this causes difficulties in image retrieval and data management. A privacy-preserving content-based image retrieval method based on orthogonal decomposition is proposed in the paper. The image is divided into two different components, for which encryption and feature extraction are executed separately. As a result, cloud server can extract features from an encrypted image directly and compare them with the features of the queried images, so that users can thus obtain the image. Different from other methods, the proposed method has no special requirements to encryption algorithms, which makes it more universal and can be applied in different scenarios. Experimental results prove that the proposed method can achieve better security and better retrieval performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:The aim of this retrospective clinical study is to evaluate the long-term outcomes for single-stage transpedicular debridement, posterior instrumentation and fusion in the management of thoracic and thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis in adults. Methods:Fifty-nine adult patients with thoracic and thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis underwent single-stage transpedicular debridement, posterior instrumentation and fusion. These patients were followed for a minimum of 5 years. Patients were assigned to one of two groups according to the infected anatomic segment. In the thoracic spinal tuberculosis group, there were 28 cases (17 males, 11 females) with a mean age of 38.9 years; in the thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis group, there were 31 cases (19 males, 12 females) with a mean age of 40.3 years. All cases were evaluated clinically using the visual analog scale (VAS), Kirkaldy–Willis criteria and the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale. Radiographs were performed for measuring the angle of kyphosis and scoliosis. Complications related to surgery were recorded. Results:All patients successfully resolved their infections, experienced one or more ASIA grades of improvement, and improved in their VAS pain scores at final follow-up. In both groups, patient-reported outcomes reached over 90% excellent or good results using Kirkaldy–Willis criteria. The loss of kyphotic angle correction was 2.6° in the thoracic spinal tuberculosis group and 3.2° in the thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis group. No scoliosis was observed in either group. Fifty-eight (98.3%) cases achieved solid bony fusion. In the thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis group, one patient experienced screw loosening, and another patient with nonunion and rod breakage underwent revision surgery. Conclusions:The technique of single-stage transpedicular debridement, posterior instrumentation and fusion is an effective method for the treatment of thoracic and thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis in adults. Long-term postoperative clinical and radiological outcomes were satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is limited evidence to guide treatment for pediatric cervical spinal tuberculosis with kyphosis (PCSTK). This study retrospectively evaluates the safety, feasibility and efficacy of 360-degree arthrodesis combined with anterior debridement and decompression for treating PCSTK, while simultaneously emphasizing the role of posterior fixation for the correction and maintenance of the kyphosis angle. Methods: From May 2006 to December 2012, a total of 12 children with PCSTK underwent 360-degree cervical spinal arthrodesis followed by debridement of focus and decompression of the spinal cord. Data on the angle of kyphosis correction, visual analogue scale scores of pain, the American Spinal Injury Association scoring system of nerve function scores, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and body weight were collected at certain periods. Clinical efficacy was evaluated by statistical analysis based on collected data. Results: Average follow-up period was 34.3 ± 8.6 months. No postoperative complications related to the instrumentation occurred, and neurologic function improved in various degrees. Preoperative kyphosis angle was 41.4 ± 5.2°, and significantly decreased to -4.9 ± 4.9° after surgery. The correction of kyphosis and loss of correction were 47.1 ± 4.9° and 0.6 ± 1.4°, respectively. Average pretreatment ESR was 49.8 ± 13.2 mm/h, which normalized (8.5 ± 0.6 mm/h) within three months in all patients. Average preoperative visual analogue scale was 6.6 ± 1.6, which decreased to 2.3 ± 1.4 postoperatively and 0.3 ± 0.5 during the final follow-up. Mean preoperative body weight was 25.9 ± 5.1 kg, and body weight was 33.5 ± 4.8 kg at the third month of post-operation. Bone healing was achieved in all patients after a mean period of 5.4 months. Conclusions: 360-degree arthrodesis combined with anterior debridement and decompression is a safe and effective method for the treatment of PCSTK. For the correction and maintenance of the kyphosis angle, additional posterior fixation is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents case report of a patient who suffered hemangioendothelioma of the cervical spine. The female patient was presented with a 12-year history of chronic, progressive cervical pain and limitation of motion localized to the cervical spine, associated with progressive quadriplegia and sensory disturbance over the previous year.

• Improved grey wolf optimizer and verified the effectiveness of the improvement. • Grey wolf optimizer improves the prediction performance of support vector regression. • Optimized support vector regression is applied to coal spontaneous combustion temperature prediction. The effective prediction of coal spontaneous combustion temperature is of great importance to the monitoring and prevention of coal mine fires. Aiming at the problem of insufficient prediction accuracy of traditional coal spontaneous combustion temperature prediction model, and considering the characteristics of prediction data samples and the timeliness of applicable models, an improved grey wolf optimized support vector regression coal spontaneous combustion temperature prediction model based on nonlinear parameter control, dynamic inertia weights and grey wolf social hierarchy is proposed, and the effectiveness of the improved grey wolf optimizer algorithm is verified by numerical experiments. The O 2 concentration, CO concentration, C 2 H 4 concentration, CO/ΔO 2 , and C 2 H 4 /C 2 H 6 selected from the coal spontaneous combustion procedure warming experiment were used as the input indexes of the prediction model, and the coal body temperature was used as the output index, and the prediction model was compared and analyzed with the particle swarm optimization support vector regression and grey wolf optimized support vector regression models through the experimental data. The results show that the improved grey wolf algorithm has stronger global search ability, faster convergence speed and better stability, and the proposed prediction model has strong advantages in accuracy and stability, which can provide better decision reference for coal spontaneous combustion fire prediction and warning in coal mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The correction of severe post-tubercular kyphosis (PTK) is complex and has the disadvantage of being multistaged with a high morbidity. In this study, we evaluated the outcomes of children who underwent single-stage closing-opening wedge osteotomy as a surgical treatment of PTK of the thoracolumbar spine. Method: Our study group included 12 children with thoracolumbar PTK (seven boys and five girls) with an average age of 9.4 years (range 6-12 years), who were treated at our institution from January 2004 to October 2009. The American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale and visual analog scale score were used to classify neurologic function. All patients underwent halo-pelvic traction before surgery and were treated with single-stage closing-opening wedge osteotomy. Result: The duration of surgery averaged 99 min (range 70-150 min). Average blood loss was 782 ml (range 560-1,200 ml), and the average length of hospital stay was 12 days (range 8-16 days). The neurological function of all patients improved significantly after the procedure. The mean preoperative kyphotic angle was 83.3° (range 59-118°), which had reduced to 27.6° (range 20-38°) at the final follow-up visit. All patients had solid fusion, and no major complications were observed through the final follow-up visit. Conclusion: Single-stage closing-opening wedge osteotomy is an effective method to correct severe thoracolumbar PTK. A main advantage of the procedure is that it is a posterior-only, single-staged surgery, allowing for significant correction with minimal complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical efficacy and feasibility of one-stage surgical treatment for thoracic spinal tuberculosis with adjacent segments lesion by internal fixation, transpedicular debridement, and combined interbody and posterior fusion via a posterior-only approach. Materials and methods: Twenty-one patients (thirteen males, eight females) with thoracic tuberculosis whose lesions were confined to two adjacent segments were studied retrospectively. All patients were treated with one-stage surgical treatment by internal fixation, transpedicular debridement, and combined interbody and posterior fusion via a posterior-only approach. The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale was used to assess neurological function. Thoracic Cobb angle was used to assess thoracic kyphosis. Operating time, blood loss, complications, neurological function, deformity correction and interbody fusion were investigated. Results: Average mean operating time was 231.4 ± 31.9 min, and evaluated blood loss during operation was 880.2 ± 112.7 ml. All patients were followed up for 22-41 months postoperatively (average 29.8 ± 5.4 months). All patients had significant postoperative improvement in ASIA classification scores. The thoracic kyphotic angles were significantly decreased to 9°-25° postoperatively (average 16.7° ± 4.4°), and at final follow-up were 10°-27°(average 17.7° ± 4.4°). No severe complications or spinal cord injury occurred. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate recovered to normal within 3 months postoperatively in all patients. All patients got bony fusion within 6-9 months after surgery. Conclusions: One-stage transpedicular debridement, posterior instrumentation and combined interbody and posterior fusion via a posterior-only approach can be an effective and feasible treatment method for thoracic spinal tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Retrospective analysis of the clinical efficacy and feasibility of patients with thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis with psoas abscesses treated by one-stage posterior transforaminal lumbar debridement, interbody fusion, posterior instrumentation, and postural drainage. Method: A total of 18 patients with thoracolumbar tuberculosis (TB), between February 2007 and February 2011, underwent one-stage posterior transforaminal lumbar debridement, interbody fusion, posterior instrumentation, and postural drainage. And the clinical efficacy was evaluated based on surgery duration time, the blood loss, the postural drainage of time, neurological status that was recorded by American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale, the fate of bone graft fusion, kyphosis angle, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP), which were collected at certain time. Results: The average follow-up period was 34 months (range 18-48 months). 18 patients suffered from seriously neurological deficits pre-operatively, of which 16 patients returned to normal at final follow-up. The surgery duration time was 197 ± 37.9 min, and the blood loss was 815 ± 348.5 ml. The postural drainage of time was 7.2 ± 2.7 days. The psoas abscesses disappeared in all cases, within the time range of 6-9 months (mean 7.4 ± 1.2 months). All patients of the grafted bones were thoroughly fused, with a fusion time ranging from 4 to 12 months (mean 7.8 months). Kyphosis angle was 44.32 ± 7.26° on average pre-operative and returned to 11.72 ± 2.85° at 6 weeks after operation; kyphosis angle was 13.10 ± 2.39° at final follow-up. The values of ESR and CRP were significant declined at 6 weeks post-operative, and returned to normal levels at final follow-up. Conclusion: With standardized anti-TB chemotherapy, thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis with psoas abscesses could be effectively treated by one-stage posterior transforaminal lumbar debridement, interbody fusion, posterior instrumentation, and postural drainage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Anastomosis of ureteropelvic junction with a laparoscope for the treatment of ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) is a time-consuming and technically challenging procedure. We present our experience of laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty and compare clinical outcomes of two different suture techniques. Methods: From September 2003 to June 2010, 105 laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasties were performed in our department. All procedures were done using the retroperitoneal approach. According to the suture methods (interrupted or running), the patients were divided into two groups. An indwelling stent was placed intraoperatively in an antegrade manner. Data on operation time, blood loss and complications were collected. Results: All procedures were completed without open conversion. Mean operation time and anastomotic time were 96 (55-150) and 36 min (15-70), respectively. A significant decrease of operation and anastomosis time was seen when running sutures were applied. Mean blood loss was 54 ml (30-100). The total complication rate was 7.6%. No anastomotic stricture occurred. The average hospitalization stay was 7 days. During 5-85 months of follow-up, hydronephrosis was alleviated in all cases. Conclusions: Laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty for the treatment of UPJO can provide satisfactory clinical outcomes. Higher surgical efficiency and lower complication rates can be obtained by using the running suture method. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Warm ischemic injury is one of the most important factors affecting renal function in partial nephrectomy (PN). The technique of segmental renal artery clamping emerges as an alternative to conventional renal artery clamping for renal hilar control. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of laparoscopic PN (LPN) with segmental renal artery clamping in comparison with the conventional technique. Design, setting, and participants: A total of 75 patients underwent LPN from June 2007 to November 2009. All patients had T1a or T1b tumor in one kidney and a normal contralateral kidney. Thirty-seven patients underwent surgeries with main renal artery clamping, and 38 underwent surgeries with segmental artery clamping. Intervention: All procedures were performed by the same laparoscopic surgeon. Measurements: Blood loss, operation time, warm ischemia (WI) time, and complications affected renal function before and after operation were recorded. Results and limitations: All LPNs were completed without conversion to open surgery or nephrectomy. The novel technique slightly increased WI time (p <0.001) and intraoperative blood loss (p =0.006), while it provided better postoperative affected renal function (p <0.001) compared with the conventional technique. The total complication rate was 12%. Among the 38 cases where segmental renal artery clamping was performed, 7 had to convert to the conventional method. Tumor size and location influenced the number of clamped segmental arteries. Long-term postoperative renal function is still awaited. Conclusions: LPN with segmental artery clamping is safe and feasible in clinical practice. It minimizes the intraoperative WI injury and improves early postoperative affected renal function compared with main renal artery clamping. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]