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Visual question answering(VQA) is a multi-modal task that combines computer vision and natural language proces-sing,which is extremely challenging.However,the current VQA model is often misled by the apparent correlation in the data,and the output of the model is directly guided by language bias.Many previous researches focus on solving language bias and assisting the model via counterfactual sample methods.These studies,however,ignore the prediction information and the difference between key features and non-key features in counterfactual samples.The proposed model can distinguish the difference between the original sample,the factual sample and the counterfactual sample.In view of this,this paper proposes a paradigm of contrastive learning based on counterfactual samples.By comparing these three samples in terms of feature gaps and prediction gaps,the VQA model has been significantly improved in its robustness.Compared with CL-VQA method,the overall precision,average precision and Num index of this method improves by 0.19%,0.89% and 2.6% respectively.Compared with the CSSVQA method,the Gap of the proposed method decrease to 0.45 from 0.96.

Reading text with a camera can help the computer understand the text content.However,due to the limited field of view of the camera and the complexity of Chinese text recognition,it is sometimes difficult for the computer to read complete text content from a single text image with the camera.Thus,we define the cross-image text reading task,which aims to read the complete text content of a pair of overlapping text images.For the cross-image text reading task,we propose the cross-image text reading method via text line matching.We first adopt a text detection network to crop text lines.Then,we design the text line matching network with the multi-head self-attention mechanism to predict the matching relationships of text lines.Finally,the editing-based text reading network is proposed to remove overlapping texts and read complete text content.We also construct the cross-image Chinese text reading(CCTR) dataset for training and evaluation.Experiment results on CCTR dataset demonstrate that the proposed method achieves higher reading performance than the pixel-level stitching and recognition methods,which proves the superiority of the proposed method.

Purpose: To preliminarily evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) for unresectable soft tissue sarcoma refractory to systemic chemotherapy. Methods: Ten patients with refractory sarcoma who underwent DEB-TACE therapy between January 2015 and January 2017 were identified. Clinical information and radiological data were retrospectively collected to analyze tumor response, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival and adverse events (AEs). Tumor response to DEB-TACE was assessed with modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) guidelines applied to computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Results: All DEB-TACE procedures were successfully performed for ten patients with 15 tumor lesions. The median follow-up duration was 19 months and the median survival time was 21 months (range 11-30 months). The 1- and 2-year OS rate was 90 and 30%, respectively. According to the guidance of mRECIST, complete response, partial response, stable disease and progressive disease were noted in zero (0%), three (30%), four (40%) and three (30%) patients, respectively. The disease control rate and objective response rate was 70 and 30%, respectively. There were no serious AEs in patients after DEB-TACE. Conclusions: Our data showed that DEB-TACE was effective and safe for patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Therefore, DEB-TACE can be considered as an alternative treatment option for unresectable soft tissue sarcoma refractory to conventionally systemic chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effect of modified Vattikuti Institute prostatectomy (mVIP) in the treatment of localized PCa., Methods: This retrospective study included 50 cases of localized PCa treated by mVIP and another 50 by robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) from March 2018 to April 2019. We analyzed the baseline data, the surgical techniques used and the results of short-term follow-up., Results: All the operations were completed successfully without conversion to open surgery. The mVIP group, compared with the RARP, showed longer operation time (［90.35 ± 24.22］ vs ［84.46 ± 19.18］ min, P > 0.05), more intraoperative blood loss (［220.00 ± 15.10］ vs ［215.00 ± 15.10］ ml, P > 0.05), shorter postoperative hospital stay (［5.75 ± 1.45］ vs ［6.20 ± 1.50］ d, P > 0.05), and higher rates of positive surgical margins (22.00% vs 14.00%, P > 0.05) and urinary continence at 1 month (76%vs 22%,P < 0.05), 6 months (84% vs 79%, P > 0.05) and 12 months after surgery (96% vs 94%, P > 0.05)., Conclusions: Modified VIP can better preserve the lateral and posterolateral prostatic fascial tissue in the treatment of localized PCa and therefore significantly promote the recovery of urinary continence after surgery.

This study was designed to define possible preoperative predictors of positive surgical margin after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. We retrospectively analyzed the records of 296 patients with prostate cancer diagnosed by prostate biopsy, and eventually treated with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. The prognostic impact of age, prostate volume, preoperative prostate-specific antigen, biopsy Gleason score, maximum percentage tumor per core, number of positive cores, biopsy perineural invasion, capsule invasion on imaging, and tumor laterality on surgical margin was assessed. The overall positive surgical margin rate was 29.1%. Gleason score, number of positive cores, perineural invasion, tumor laterality in the biopsy specimen, and prostate volume significantly correlated with risk of positive surgical margin by univariate analysis (P < 0.05). Gleason score (odds ratio [OR] = 2.286, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.431-3.653, P = 0.001), perineural invasion (OR = 4.961, 95% CI = 2.656-9.270, P < 0.001), and number of positive cores (OR = 4.403, 95% CI = 1.878-10.325, P = 0.001) were independent predictors of positive surgical margin at the multivariable logistic regression analysis. Patients with perineural invasion, higher biopsy Gleason scores and/or a large number of positive cores in biopsy pathology had more possibility of capsule invasion. The positive surgical margin rate in patients with capsule invasion (49.5%) was much higher than that with localized disease (17.8%). In contrast, prostate volume showed a protective effect against positive surgical margin (OR = 0.572, 95% CI = 0.346-0.945, P = 0.029). Gleason score, perineural invasion, and number of positive cores in the biopsy specimen were preoperative independent predictors of positive surgical margin after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy while prostate volume was a protective factor against positive surgical margin.

Objective: To investigate the application of Retzius-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RS-RARP) in the treatment of early-stage prostate cancer., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data about 10 cases of early-stage prostate cancer treated by RS-RARP with the Da Vinci Robot Surgical System from September to October 2016., Results: All the operations were successfully completed without positive surgical margins. The operation time was 170－250 min (［196±25］ min), the intraoperative blood loss was 150－500 ml (［260±128］ ml), the postoperative hospital stay was 6－7 days, and the catheterization time was 14 days. Urinary continence occurred after catheter removal in 1 patient and was recovered 1 month later., Conclusions: RS-RARP is a safe, effective and reliable method for the treatment of prostate cancer and conducive to the early recovery of urinary continence.

Aim: To analyze prognostic factors for survival after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with microwave ablation (MWA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: Clinical data of 86 patients who underwent TACE combined with MWA between January 2006 and December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Survival curves were detected using log-rank test. Univariate analysis was performed using log-rank test with respect to 13 prognostic factors affecting survival. All statistically significant prognostic factors identified by univariate analysis were entered into a Cox proportion hazards regression model to identify independent predictors of survival. P values were two-sided and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: Median follow-up time was 47.6 mo, and median survival time of enrolled patients was 21.5 mo. The 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year overall survival rates were 72.1%, 44.1%, 31.4% and 13.9%, respectively. Tumor size(χ(2) = 14.999, P = 0.000), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage (χ(2) = 29.765, P = 0.000), Child-Pugh class (χ(2) = 51.820, P = 0.000), portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) (χ(2) = 43.086, P = 0.000), arterio-venous fistula (χ(2) = 29.791, P = 0.000), MWA therapy times (χ(2) = 12.920, P = 0.002), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score (χ(2) = 28.660, P = 0.000) and targeted drug usage (χ(2) = 10.901, P = 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with overall survival by univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis identified that tumor size (95%CI: 1.608-4.962, P = 0.000), BCLC stage (95%CI: 1.016-2.208, P = 0.020), PVTT (95%CI: 2.062-9.068, P = 0.000), MWA therapy times (95%CI: 0.402-0.745, P = 0.000), ECOG score (95%CI: 1.012-3.053, P = 0.045) and targeted drug usage (95%CI: 1.335-3.143, P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors associated with overall survival., Conclusion: Superior performance status, MWA treatment and targeted drug were favorable factors, and large HCC, PVTT and advanced BCLC stage were risk factors for survival after TACE-MWA for HCC.

Aim: To compare conventional transarterial chemoembolization (c-TACE) with microsphere embolization in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: We searched PubMed, Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library for trials assessing the efficacy and safety of c-TACE in comparison with those of yttrium-90 microsphere or drug-eluting bead embolization from January 2004 to December 2013. Overall survival rate (OSR), tumor response [complete response, partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), progressive disease (PD)], α-fetoprotein (AFP) response, progression rate and complications were compared and analyzed. Pooled ORs with 95%CI were calculated using either the fixed-effects model or random-effects model. All statistical analyses were conducted using the Review Manager (version 5.1.) from the Cochrane collaboration., Results: Thirteen trials were identified, including a total of 1834 patients; 1233 were treated with c-TACE, 377 underwent yttrium-90 microsphere embolization and 224 underwent drug-eluting bead embolization. The meta-analysis with either the random-effects model or fixed-effects model indicated that microsphere embolization was associated with significantly higher OSRs compared with those of c-TACE (OR(1-year) = 1.38, 95%CI(1-year): 1.05-1.82; OR(2-year) = 2.88, 95%CI(2-year): 1.18-7.05; OR(3-year) = 2.15, 95%CI(3-year): 1.18-3.91). The complete tumor response rates of patients who underwent microspheres embolization were significantly higher than those of patients treated with c-TACE (OR = 2.19, 95%CI: 1.31-3.64). The tumor progression rate after microsphere embolization was markedly lower than that after c-TACE (OR = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.39-0.81). There was no significant difference between microsphere embolization and c-TACE in PR (OR = 0.73, 95%CI: 0.47-1.15), SD (OR = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.79-1.44), PD (OR = 0.75, 95%CI: 0.33-1.68), AFP response (OR = 1.38, 95%CI: 0.64-2.94) and complications (OR = 0.68, 95%CI: 0.46-1.00)., Conclusion: Our analysis indicated that microsphere embolization was associated with superior survival and treatment response in comparison with c-TACE in the treatment of patients with HCC.