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In response to the characteristics of financial image data, this paper proposes an efficient digital image compression scheme. Firstly, discrete cosine transform (DCT) is applied to divide the financial image into DC and AC coefficients. Secondly, based on the characteristics of DCT coefficients, a fuzzy method is employed to categorize DCT subblocks into smooth, texture, and edge classes, enabling distinct quantization strategies. Subsequently, to eliminate spatial and statistical redundancies in financial images, common features and structures are utilized, and a specific scanning approach is employed to optimize the arrangement of important coefficients. Finally, differential prediction and entropy coding are employed for DCT coefficient scanning encoding, enhancing compression efficiency. The objective evaluation metrics of this algorithm are approximately 2 dB higher than existing algorithms at bit rates of 0.25 and 0.5. Even at bit rates of 0.75, 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5, the performance of this method still outperforms the comparative algorithms, demonstrating its capability to efficiently store and transmit massive financial image data, thereby providing robust support for data processing in the financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel financial text image security authentication algorithm based on binary wavelet transform. Initially, the algorithm preprocesses the original financial text image using binary wavelet transform. Subsequently, it categorizes the pixels in each low-frequency subband image block based on their flippability. The "nonflippable" pixels are then hashed to generate watermark information, which replaces the "flappable" pixels in the corresponding mapping block to embed the watermark into the low-frequency subband. By studying the characteristics of high-frequency coefficients, the algorithm identifies the flippable coefficients in the frequency domain and uses block mapping to embed high-frequency subband encryption watermark information. The authenticity of the image block is verified by comparing the consistency between the reconstructed watermark and the extracted watermark. Furthermore, the "low-frequency-high-frequency subband joint judgment criterion" is employed to enhance tampering detection performance. Our experimental results indicate that the structural similarity (SSIM) of financial text images embedded with watermarks using this algorithm is above 0.99, satisfying the human visual system's image quality requirements. Under different tampering attack rates, the missed-detection probability and false-detection probability of this algorithm are lower than those of existing methods. It is also compatible with financial text image compression algorithms, making it suitable for tampering detection of important financial text images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: FOSL1, a key component of the Activating protein-1 (AP-1) transcriptional complex, plays an important role in cancer cell migration, invasion, and proliferation. However, the impact of FOSL1 in ameloblastoma (AM) has not been clarified. Herein, we aimed to assess the expression of FOSL1 and investigate its functional role in AM. Methods: The expression of FOSL1 was examined based on an immunohistochemistry analysis of 96 AM samples. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumorigenesis were assessed using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation, Transwell, and sphere formation assays. RNA sequencing (RNAseq) was employed to investigate the molecular alterations of AM cells upon FOSL depletion. Microarrays of AMs were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database for bioinformatics analysis. In addition, patient-derived AM organoids were used to evaluate the therapeutic value of the AP-1 inhibitor. Results: FOSL1 was detected in the nuclei of AMs and upregulated in conventional AMs compared to unicystic AMs and normal oral epithelium. Compared with primary AM, FOSL1 expression was significantly increased in recurrent AM. Genetic knockdown of FOSL1 suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasion, and sphere formation of AMs. Similar results were also observed by pharmacological inhibition of AP-1 activity. Moreover, the AP-1 inhibitor T5224 impeded the growth of organoids derived from AM patients. Mechanistically, our Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) results revealed that depletion of FOSL1 inactivated kinetochore metaphase signaling and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathway and then impaired the aggressiveness of AM cells accordingly. Conclusion: FOSL1 promotes tumor recurrence and invasive growth in AM by modulating kinetochore metaphase signaling and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathway; thus, it represents a promising therapeutic target for AM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a high-performance steganographic technique in wavelet domain. This algorithm firstly encrypts the information to be embedded and then performs bright-color separation and wavelet transform on the cover-image. With the purpose of guaranteeing the perceptual quality of stego-image and improving the information hiding capacity of cover-image, wavelet trees of cover images are classified into three categories in accordance with human visual system (HVS) characteristics and fuzzy theory. Afterwards, the number of bits to be embedded in each high-frequency coefficient of a wavelet tree is varied adaptively with the type of the trees. Finally following the inverse wavelet transform, the stego-image is generated. Experimental results show that the proposed method is characterized by excellent performances in terms of image quality and message capacity while compatible with JPEG2000 standard. In addition, this algorithm does not need to refer to the original cover-image when the secret information is extracted and achieves blind detection of the extracted information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim: The use of sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) flap for facial reanimation was established in the 1980s by the senior author of this paper. We aimed to analyze long-term outcome and complications of this procedure. Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients undergoing SCM reanimation for longstanding facial palsy between January 2009 and December 2015. Patients with follow-up longer than 12 months (range=12-96) were included in the study. Facial muscle function was evaluated before and at each follow-up after the surgery with the House-Brackmann (HB) scale-facial nerve grading system and Facegram analysis. Donor site morbidity and overall complication rates were documented and analyzed. Results: Forty-two patients aged 18-66 years (mean age=37) with a mean duration of facial palsy of 5 years (range=2-48) met the inclusion criteria. The HB score 2 years after surgery improved significantly (p<0.05) in comparison to the pre-operative condition (3.6 vs. 4.7). Twelve months after surgery, oral commissure excursion improved by mean 8.95 mm. No flap necrosis occurred, nor compromise of neck and shoulder function despite an obvious contour defect in the SCM donor site. None of the patients presented head posture or movement issues. Conclusion: The SCM flap transfer is a reliable and effective procedure to achieve moderate improvement of the oral commissure excursion using a local method with moderate donor site morbidity. It can be regarded as a valuable option for dynamic facial reanimation in case of longstanding facial palsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Little is known about the sensate recovery of skin grafts over free non-neurotized muscle flaps. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of free gracilis muscle flaps and meshed skin grafts without nerve coaptation. Methods Thirteen consecutive patients with a median age of 55 years (range, 21-70 years) who underwent lower extremity reconstruction between September 2014 and October 2016 were included. Complications, flap contour, skin perception, and sensate recovery were assessed. Results All flaps survived completely. In one patient, wound dehiscence and infection occurred 1 month after surgery. After a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 10-51 months), a satisfactory contour and skin perception were achieved. The Semmes-Weinstein (SW) monofilament test (154.8±22 g) and static two-point discrimination (2-PD) (12.6±0.7 mm) showed intermediate recovery compared to the surrounding site (41% and 76%, respectively). There was an intermediate correlation between flap size and sensate recovery (2-PD: r=0.27, P=0.36; SW test: r=0.45, P=0.12). Vibration sensation recovered to 60%, whereas thermal sensation remained poor (19% at 5°C and 25% at 25°C). Conclusions Finer sensation could be partially restored. However, thermal sensation remained poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A porous aromatic framework of type PAF-6 was synthesized and explored as a coating onto a steel wire for using in solid-phase microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalate plasticizers, and n-alkanes. The extraction temperature, extraction time, salt concentration, agitation speed, desorption temperature, and desorption time were optimized. This method for SPME resulted in the enrichment factors ranging from 122 to 1090 for PAHs (naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene), from 122 to 271 for plasticizers (diisobutyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, dicyclohexyl phthalate), and from 9 to 113 for n-alkanes (n-undecane, n-dodecane, n-tridecane, n-tetradecane, npentadecane, n-hexadecane, n-octadecane and n-eicosane). The good extraction of the PAHs is assumed to be due to their π- stacking interaction and hydrophobic effect. The PAF-6 coated fibers are durable and can be reused more than 100 times without significant loss of extraction performance. In combination with GC-MS detection, the method has limits of detection in the range from 0.8 to 4.2 ng L-1 in case of PAHs. The relative standard deviations for five replicate determinations of the PAHs by using one fiber are in the range from 5.2 to 8.5%. When using different fibers, they range from 7.1 to 9.6%. The recoveries of PAHs from water samples at a spiking level of 20 ng L-1 are in the range from 89.5 to 103.1%, with relative standard deviations ranging from 4.0 to 9.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low satisfaction rates and severe complications are two major limitations for temporal hollowing augmentation using autologous fat grafting. Despite fat compartments in temporal region have been reported, its clinical applied anatomy for fat grafting have not been the subject of studies that show its benefits objectively and statistically.Objectives: To investigate temporal fat compartments and relative neurovascular structures in cadavers, developing a safe and effective fat grafting technique for temporal hollowing augmentation.Methods: The study was conducted on 8 cadavers (16 temples). The tissue layers, fat compartments, ligaments, and neurovascular structures in the temporal region were analysed. The variables were the number and location of sentinel veins, perforator vessels of the middle temporal vein. Measurements were taken with a digital calliper.Results: Two separate fat compartments, the lateral temporal-cheek fat compartment and lateral orbital fat compartment, were found in the subcutaneous layer, and two separate septum compartments, the upper and lower temporal compartment, were found in the loose areolar tissue layer. One sentinel vein and 1 to 6 perforator vessels were found to travel through the subcutaneous tissue layer, traverse the overlapping tissue layers in the lower temporal septum region, and finally join in the middle temporal vein.Conclusions: The four fat compartments in the temporal region are ideal receipt sites for fat grafting. The medial border of the junction of the hairline and temporal line is a safe and effective cannula entry site for temporal fat grafting. The anterior half of the lower temporal compartment is a "zone of caution" for temporal fat grafting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injections of botulinum toxin type A represent the most common nonsurgical cosmetic treatment worldwide. The authors report a case of dynamic horizontal wrinkling in the upper lip that appeared after botulinum toxin type A injections to treat gummy smile associated with nasal alar base reduction, in a 28-year-old woman. The anatomic features and pathogenic mechanism underlying this unusual complication are analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the effect of numerical weather prediction (NWP) error on short term load forecasting (STLF) and improve the forecasting accuracy, a new hybrid model based on support vector regression (SVR) optimized by an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm (ABC-SVR) and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model is proposed. According to the different day types and effect of the NWP error on forecasting prediction, working days and weekends load forecasting models are selected and constructed, respectively. The ABC-SVR method is used to forecast weekends load with large fluctuation, in which the best parameters of SVR are determined by the ABC algorithm. The working days load forecasting model is constructed based on SARIMA modified by ABC-SVR (AS-SARIMA). In the AS-SARIMA model, the ability of SARIMA to respond to exogenous variables is improved and the effect of NWP error on prediction accuracy is reduced more than with ABC-SVR. Contrast experiments are constructed based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) New England load data. The experimental results show that prediction accuracy of the proposed method is less affected by NWP error and has higher forecasting accuracy than contrasting approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As pointed out by "Basel New Capital Accord", modern commercial banks should pay attention to the relevance of market risk, credit risk and operational risk when managing them. This thesis starts with the risk appetites of different bankers, proposes the risky assets optimized configuration of commercial banks basic on risk integration measurement model, and provides the solution algorithm combining stochastic simulation, neural network and genetic algorithms. With the optimized configuration of market risk assets and credit risk assets of Bank of China (BOC) and China Merchants Bank (CMB) as example, this thesis has validated the effectiveness of model and solution. This model indicates that basic on historical data, bankers can determine the level of integrating risk according to their risk appetites. This thesis is the forward-looking for the optimized configuration of risk assets of commercial banks, and provides new ideas for assets configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As pointed out by "Basel New Capital Accord", modern commercial banks should pay attention to the relevance of market risk, credit risk and operational risk when managing them. This thesis starts with the risk appetites of different bankers, proposes the risky assets optimized configuration of commercial banks basic on risk integration measurement model, and provides the solution algorithm combining stochastic simulation, neural network and genetic algorithms. With the optimized configuration of market risk assets and credit risk assets of Bank of China (BOC) and China Merchants Bank (CMB) as example, this thesis has validated the effectiveness of model and solution. This model indicates that basic on historical data, bankers can determine the level of integrating risk according to their risk appetites. This thesis is the forward-looking for the optimized configuration of risk assets of commercial banks, and provides new ideas for assets configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Gastric cancer is among the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, especially in Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Statin is one of the most widely used medications for hypercholesterolemia. Several meta-analyses have failed to determine the relationship between statins and gastric cancer. Aims: A meta-analysis of case control studies is conducted to evaluate the association of statin exposure and risk of gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Eight electronic databases (The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (Issue 12, 2012), PubMed, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, CNKI, CBM, CSJD and Wanfang Database) were searched for relevant publications through September 2013. Two reviewers determined the eligibility of articles and abstracted the data independently. RevMan 5.2 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: 146 items were retrieved from the databases and 6 studies were identified in this meta-analysis, which included 5,993 cases and 54,800 matched controls. Results from the meta-analysis demonstrated that statins were inversely related to the risk of gastric cancer (RR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.35-0.90). There was no significant difference for cumulative duration of statin exposure and gastric cancer, nor participants from Asia, Europe, or USA. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that statins have favorable effects on gastric cancer, rigorously designed and executed observational studies and randomized control trials with longer duration of follow-up are warranted to determine effects in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In an 8-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study, we evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of pantoprazole (0.3mg/kg [low dose (LD)], 0.6 mg/kg [medium dose (MD)], and 1.2 mg/kg [high dose (HD)]) for delayed-release oral suspension (granules) in patients 1 to 5 years with documented symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and endoscopic evidence of reflux-related erosive esophagitis (EE) or histologic esophagitis (HE) consistent with GERD. Patients with HE were randomly assigned to LD, MD, or HD, and patients with EE, to MD or HD. A daily eDiary captured 5 individual GERD symptoms. A total of 60 patients (56 HE, 4 EE) were randomized. Mean weekly GERD symptom score (WGSS, sum of weekly mean frequency scores for 5 individual GERD symptoms) for the modified intention-to-treat HE population at the final week was improved with LD (P < .001), MD (P = .063), and HD (P < 0.001) (paired t-tests). Patients with EE were healed at week 8. Adverse event incidences did not increase with dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a polynomial-based noise variance estimator for multiple-Input multiple-output single-carrier block transmission (MIMO-SCBT) systems. It is shown that the optimal pilots for noise variance estimation satisfy the same condition as that for channel estimation. Theoretical analysis indicates that the proposed estimator is statistically more efficient than the conventional sum of squared residuals (SSR) based estimator. Furthermore, we obtain an efficient implementation of the estimator by exploiting its special structure. Numerical results confirm our theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An age-appropriate questionnaire (GASP-Q) was used to assess the frequency and severity of the gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms: abdominal/belly pain, chest pain/heartburn, pain after eating, nausea, burping/belching, vomiting/regurgitation, choking when eating, and difficulty swallowing, in adolescents age 12 to 16 years. The primary objective was to compare the mean composite symptom score (CSS) at week 8 with baseline after treatment with 20 or 40 mg of pantoprazole. Statistically significant (p <0.001) improvement in CSS occurred in both groups. Safety was comparable between the 2 groups. Pantoprazole was safe, well tolerated, and effective in reducing symptoms of GERD in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the risk factors of Helicobacter pylori resistance to antimicrobials in the U.S. Effect of geographic region on clarithromycin resistance; Significance on the relation between metronidazole and female sex; Relation between drug utilization and antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Objective: Detecting discomfort status of infants is particularly clinically relevant. Late treatment of discomfort infants can lead to adverse problems such as abnormal brain development, central nervous system damage and changes in responsiveness of the neuroendocrine and immune systems to stress at maturity. In this study, we exploit deep convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms to address the problem of discomfort detection for infants by analyzing their facial expressions. Approach: A dataset of 55 videos about facial expressions, recorded from 24 infants, is used in our study. Given the limited available data for training, we employ a pre-trained CNN model, which is followed by fine-tuning the networks using a public dataset with labeled facial expressions (the shoulder-pain dataset). The CNNs are further refined with our data of infants. Main results: Using a two-fold cross-validation, we achieve an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.96, which is substantially higher than the results without any pre-training steps (AUC  =  0.77). Our method also achieves better results than the existing method based on handcrafted features. By fusing individual frame results, the AUC is further improved from 0.96 to 0.98. Significance: The proposed system has great potential for continuous discomfort and pain monitoring in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) enables contactless heart-rate monitoring using a regular video camera. Objective: This paper aims to improve the rPPG technology targeting continuous heart-rate measurement during fitness exercises. The fundamental limitation of the existing (multi-wavelength) rPPG methods is that they can suppress at most n  −  1 independent distortions by linearly combining n wavelength color channels. Their performance are highly restricted when more than n  −  1 independent distortions appear in a measurement, as typically occurs in fitness applications with vigorous body motions. Approach: To mitigate this limitation, we propose an effective yet very simple method that algorithmically extends the number of possibly suppressed distortions without using more wavelengths. Our core idea is to increase the degrees-of-freedom of noise reduction by decomposing the n wavelength camera-signals into multiple orthogonal frequency bands and extracting the pulse-signal per band-basis. This processing, namely Sub-band rPPG (SB), can suppress different distortion-frequencies using independent combinations of color channels. Main results: A challenging fitness benchmark dataset is created, including 25 videos recorded from 7 healthy adult subjects (ages from 25 to 40 yrs; six male and one female) running on a treadmill in an indoor environment. Various practical challenges are simulated in the recordings, such as different skin-tones, light sources, illumination intensities, and exercising modes. The basic form of SB is benchmarked against a state-of-the-art method (POS) on the fitness dataset. Using non-biased parameter settings, the average signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) for POS varies in [−4.18, −2.07] dB, for SB varies in [−1.08, 4.77] dB. The ANOVA test shows that the improvement of SB over POS is statistically significant for almost all settings (p-value  <0.05). Significance: The results suggest that the proposed SB method considerably increases the robustness of heart-rate measurement in challenging fitness applications, and outperforms the state-of-the-art method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vital signs monitoring is ubiquitous in clinical environments and emerging in home-based healthcare applications. Still, since current monitoring methods require uncomfortable sensors, respiration rate remains the least measured vital sign. In this paper, we propose a video-based respiration monitoring method that automatically detects a respiratory region of interest (RoI) and signal using a camera. Based on the observation that respiration induced chest/abdomen motion is an independent motion system in a video, our basic idea is to exploit the intrinsic properties of respiration to find the respiratory RoI and extract the respiratory signal via motion factorization. We created a benchmark dataset containing 148 video sequences obtained on adults under challenging conditions and also neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The measurements obtained by the proposed video respiration monitoring (VRM) method are not significantly different from the reference methods (guided breathing or contact-based ECG; p-value  =  0.6), and explain more than 99% of the variance of the reference values with low limits of agreement (−2.67 to 2.81 bpm). VRM seems to provide a valid solution to ECG in confined motion scenarios, though precision may be reduced for neonates. More studies are needed to validate VRM under challenging recording conditions, including upper-body motion types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]