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Person Re-IDentification (ReID) aims at re-identifying persons from different viewpoints across multiple cameras. Capturing the fine-grained appearance differences is often the key to accurate person ReID, because many identities can be differentiated only when looking into these fine-grained differences. However, most state-of-the-art person ReID approaches, typically driven by a triplet loss, fail to effectively learn the fine-grained features as they are focused more on differentiating large appearance differences. To address this issue, we introduce a novel pairwise loss function that enables ReID models to learn the fine-grained features by adaptively enforcing an exponential penalization on the images of small differences and a bounded penalization on the images of large differences. The proposed loss is generic and can be used as a plugin to replace the triplet loss to significantly enhance different types of state-of-the-art approaches. Experimental results on four benchmark datasets show that the proposed loss substantially outperforms a number of popular loss functions by large margins; and it also enables significantly improved data efficiency.

Burn injuries are severe problems for human. Accurate segmentation for burn wounds in patient surface can improve the calculation precision of %TBSA (total burn surface area), which is helpful in determining treatment plan. Recently, deep learning methods have been used to automatically segment wounds. However, owing to the difficulty of collecting relevant images as training data, those methods cannot often achieve fine segmentation. A burn image-generating framework is proposed in this paper to generate burn image datasets with annotations automatically. Those datasets can be used to increase segmentation accuracy and save the time of annotating. This paper brings forward an advanced burn image generation framework called Burn-GAN. The framework consists of four parts: Generating burn wounds based on the mainstream Style-GAN network; Fusing wounds with human skins by Color Adjusted Seamless Cloning (CASC); Simulating real burn scene in three-dimensional space; Acquiring annotated dataset through three-dimensional and local burn coordinates transformation. Using this framework, a large variety of burn image datasets can be obtained. Finally, standard metrics like precision, Pixel Accuracy (PA) and Dice Coefficient (DC) were utilized to assess the framework. With nonsaturating loss with R2 regularization (NSLR2) and CASC, the segmentation network gains the best results. The framework achieved precision at 90.75%, PA at 96.88% and improved the DC from 84.5 to 89.3%. A burn data-generating framework have been built to improve the segmentation network, which can automatically segment burn images with higher accuracy and less time than traditional methods.

The wide-field telescope will be an important tool in the discovery and birth of new theories of astronomy in future. The detectors in this kind of telescope mostly adopt a mosaic focal plane array. The focal depth of a large-F-number optical system is very small, and the flatness of the mosaic detector should be less than half the focal depth. In this paper, a new flatness measurement and data processing method is developed. A flatness measurement platform composed of a high-precision gantry platform and a coaxial multispectral displacement meter was built. The flatness of a single detector was measured under uncooled and cooled working conditions, and data processing was conducted, in which the root mean square (RMS) and the peak-valley (PV) values of the cooled detector were 0.0017 mm and 0.0112 mm, respectively. Next, a 2 × 6 mosaic model of the focal plane with a dimension of 148.5 mm × 168.5 mm was built using a metal detector model. The measurement platform was used to measure the flatness of the mosaic focal plane. According to the measurement results, the preliminary installation and mosaic adjustment were completed. The final RMS and PV values of the mosaic focal plane are 0.009 mm and 0.0808 mm, respectively. The experimental results show that the measurement and the data processing method can accurately reflect surface information on the detectors. This suggests that the method has great potential for use in ensuring the accuracy of wide-field telescope equipment in all applicable research areas.

In order to avoid the effect of photon defect on the imaging during X-ray generation, an imaging integral filter based on quantum enhancement was proposed in this paper to effectively reduce the sensitivity of X-ray detection system for quantum noise. Firstly, the coupling constraint at the end of the image intensifier was analyzed by discussing the X-ray imaging mechanism. The effects of quantum thermal noise and defects on spectrum transfer were studied from the micro perspective. Then the effectiveness of the new integral filter method was verified from the view of the integral effect of fundamental space frequency transfer characteristics in Fourier spectrum. Finally, the superiority and real-time performance of the quantum enhancement filter method were verified by the comparison filter testing.

The double-eyelid operation is the most requested cosmetic surgery in Asians. The incision is usually located at the pretarsal skin 6 mm to 8 mm above palpebral margin. The purpose of this paper is to report a novel approach of double-eyelid operation through a supraciliary incision (SCI). Three transverse curved lines were drawn on the upper lid skin. The location of line 1 (SCI) was 1.5 mm above the eyelash, line 2 according to the amount of redundant skin excised and line 3 at 3 mm to 4 mm above line 2. After the incisions were made between line 1 and line 2, the subcutaneous dissection is carried out over 5 mm the line 3. Then, the redundant skin and a strip orbicularis oculi muscle were removed to open the orbital septum and to explore underside levator aponeurosis. Along the line 3, the internal buried fixation sutures between dermal tissue and the fusion line of the orbital septum and levator aponeurosis were placed. Finally, the wounds were closed between line 2 and line 1. There were 528 patients who underwent the double-eyelid operation through the supraciliary approach. In long-term follow-up, 288 patients were evaluated at 6 months to 78 months postoperatively. Of those, 266 patients were satisfactory for the result (92.36%) with natural shape and invisible surgical scar. In another 22 patients (7.63%), a revised blepharoplasty was performed in 22 eyelids. The double-eyelid surgery using the SCI has several advantages including less visibility of the incision, the protected subdermal vascular network, the intact continuity of the upper eyelid skin, the combination of the SCI and internal dermal buried suture method. The approach can be considered an efficient technique for Asian patients. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Background Although studies on the effectiveness of the use of ICU diaries on psychiatric disorders and quality of life have been published, the results still seem to be controversial. The study aimed to determine the effects of using an ICU diary on psychiatric disorders, sleep quality, and quality of life (QoL) in adult ICU survivors in China. Methods One hundred and twenty-six patients who underwent a scheduled cardiac surgery and were expected to stay ≥ 24 h in ICU were randomized to two groups (63 in each group). The patients in the intervention group received the use of ICU diaries during the period of post-ICU follow-up, while the patients in the control group received usual care without ICU diaries. The primary outcome was significant PTSD symptoms (Chinese version of Impact of Event Scale-Revised, IES-R; total score ≥ 35 was defined as significant PTSD symptoms) and its severity in patients 3 months post-ICU. The secondary outcomes included memories of the ICU at 1 month, QoL (Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form, SF-36), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire, PSQI), anxiety, and depression symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) at 3 months. Results Eighty-five and 83 patients completed the follow-up interviews at 1 month and 3 months post-ICU, respectively. Significant PTSD symptoms were reported by 6 of 41 (14.63%) in the intervention group vs 9 of 42 (21.43%) in the control group (risk difference, − 9% [95% CI, − 2% to 21%], P = 0.10). There was no significant differences between groups in IES-R score, symptoms of intrusion, symptoms of avoidance, numbers of memories of feeling and delusional memories, SF-36 score and anxiety score (P > 0.05), while significant differences were found in symptom of hyperarousal score, numbers of factual memories and PSQI score (P Conclusions Using an ICU diary is not useful for preventing PTSD symptoms and anxiety symptoms and preserving the quality of life of the patients at 3 months post-ICU, while it significantly improves the survivor’s factual memory of ICU and sleep quality, and prevents the hyperarousal symptom. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IOR-16009109, registered on 28 August 2016

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe cardiopulmonary disease characterized by pathological vascular remodeling in the lung. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is known to participate in aortic vascular remodeling, but whether IgE mediates pulmonary vascular remodeling in PH is unknown. Here, we found serum IgE elevation in PAH patients, hypoxia-induced PH mice and monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PH rats. Combining animal model of PH with single-cell RNA sequencing, we found IgE production in the lung tissues of PH mice. Neutralizing IgE with an anti-IgE antibody was effective in preventing PH development in mice and rat models. The IgE receptor FcεRIα was also upregulated in PH lung tissues and Fcer1a deficiency prevented the development of PH in mice. Single-cell RNA-seq revealed that FcεRIα was mostly expressed in mast cells, and mast cell-specific Fcer1a knockout protected against PH in mice. Further mechanistic experiments revealed that IgE-activated mast cells produced interleukins IL6 and IL13, which subsequently promoted vascular muscularization. Clinically approved IgE antibody Omalizumab alleviated the progression of established PH in rats. Using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we have demonstrated that blocking IgE- FcεRIα signaling may hold potential for the treatment of PAH.

Protein-DNA interactions play an important role in biological processes. Accurately identifying DNA-binding residues is a critical but challenging task for protein function annotations and drug design. Although wet-lab experimental methods are the most accurate way to identify DNA-binding residues, they are time consuming and labor intensive. There is an urgent need to develop computational methods to rapidly and accurately predict DNA-binding residues. In this study, we propose a novel sequence-based method, named PredDBR, for predicting DNA-binding residues. In PredDBR, for each protein, its position-specific frequency matrix (PSFM), predicted secondary structure (PSS), and predicted probabilities of ligand-binding residues (PPLBR) are first generated as three feature sources. Secondly, for each feature source, the sliding window technique is employed to extract the matrix-format feature of each residue. Then, we design two strategies, i.e., SR and AVE, to separately transform PSFM-based and two predicted feature source-based, i.e., PSS-based and PPLBR-based, matrix-format features of each residue into three cube-format features. Finally, after serially combining the three cube-format features, the ensemble classifier is generated via applying bagging strategy to multiple base classifiers built by the framework of 2D convolutional neural network. Experimental results demonstrate that PredDBR outperforms several state-of-the-art sequenced-based DNA-binding residue predictors.

Background: Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) is widely used in women of advanced maternal age (AMA). However, the effectiveness remains controversial. Method: We conducted a comprehensive literature review comparing outcomes of IVF with or without PGT-A in women of AMA in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in January 2021. All included trials met the criteria that constituted a randomized controlled trial for PGT-A involving women of AMA (≥35 years). Reviews, conference abstracts, and observational studies were excluded. The primary outcome was the live birth rate in included random control trials (RCTs). Results: Nine randomized controlled trials met our inclusion criteria. For techniques of genetic analysis, three trials (270 events) performed with comprehensive chromosomal screening showed that the live birth rate was significantly higher in the women randomized to IVF/ICSI with PGT-A (RR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.03–1.65), which was not observed in six trials used with FISH as well as all nine trials. For different stages of embryo biopsy, only the subgroup of blastocyst biopsy showed a higher live birth rate in women with PGT-A (RR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.04–1.79). Conclusion: The application of comprehensive chromosome screening showed a beneficial effect of PGT-A in women of AMA compared with FISH. Moreover, blastocyst biopsy seemed to be associated with a better outcome than polar body biopsy and cleavage-stage biopsy.

Background To evaluate the safety and efficacy of single incision plus one (SI+1) port three-dimensional (3D) laparoscopic minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). Methods Clinical data of patients who underwent 3D thoracic laparoscopic MIE in our department from September 2020 to March 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the different methods of laparoscopic surgery, the patients were divided into 2 groups: SI+1 port 3D laparoscopy group and multiportal 3D laparoscopy group. The operation time of the 3D laparoscopy component, amount of intraoperative blood loss, number of celiac lymph node dissections, postoperative abdominal drainage days, postoperative total abdominal drainage, postoperative complications, and length of hospital stay were analyzed. Results There was no significant difference between the 2 methods in laparoscopic operation time (30.11±5.86 vs. 28.45±4.72 min, P=0.49), intraoperative blood loss (34.44±9.82 vs. 35.91±6.25 mL, P=0.69), number of celiac lymph node dissections (8.44±3.13 vs. 7.09±2.12, P=0.27), postoperative abdominal drainage days (3.11±0.33 vs. 3.00±0.00 days, P=0.28), postoperative total abdominal drainage (95.00±23.33 vs. 92.27±11.26 mL, P=0.74), postoperative complications (22.2% vs. 27.3%, P=0.33), and hospital stay (9.67±0.71 vs. 10.18±0.87 days, P=0.17). None of the patients enrolled in the study had recurrence or death to date. Conclusions The application of SI+1 port 3D laparoscopy in minimally invasive resection of esophageal carcinoma is safe and feasible.

The accurate prediction of the relative solvent accessibility of a protein is critical to understanding its 3D structure and biological function. In this study, a novel deep multi-view feature learning (DMVFL) framework that integrates three different neural network units, i.e., bidirectional long short-term memory recurrent neural network, squeeze-and-excitation, and fully-connected hidden layer, with four sequence-based single-view features, i.e., position-specific scoring matrix, position-specific frequency matrix, predicted secondary structure, and roughly predicted three-state relative solvent accessibility probability, is developed to accurately predict relative solvent accessibility information of protein. On the basis of this newly developed framework, one new protein relative solvent accessibility predictor was proposed and called DMVFL-RSA, which employs a customized multiple feedback mechanism that helps to extract discriminative information embedded in the four single-view features. In benchmark tests on TEST524 and CASP14-derived (CASP14set) datasets, DMVFL-RSA outperforms other existing state-of-the-art protein relative solvent accessibility predictors when predicting two-state (exposure threshold of 25%), three-state (exposure thresholds of 9% and 36%), and four-state (exposure thresholds of 4%, 25%, and 50%) discrete values. For real-valued prediction on TEST524 and CASP14set, DMVFL-RSA has also gained high Pearson correlation coefficient values, indicating a positive correlation between the predicted and native relative solvent accessibility. Detailed analyses show that the major advantages of DMVFL-RSA lie in the high efficiency of the DMVFL framework, the applied multiple feedback mechanism, and the strong sensitivity of the sequence-based features. The web server of DMVFL-RSA is freely available at https://jun-csbio.github.io/DMVFL-RSA/for academic use. The standalone package of DMVFL-RSA is downloadable at https://github.com/XueQiangFan/DMVFL-RSA.

The number of children born after assisted reproductive technology (ART) is accumulating rapidly, and the health problems of the children are extensively concerned. This study aims to evaluate whether ART procedures alter behaviours in male offspring. Mouse models were utilized to establish three groups of offspring conceived by natural conception (NC), in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET), and frozen-thawed embryo transfer (IVF-FET), respectively. A battery of behaviour experiments for evaluating anxiety and depression levels, including the open field test (OFT), elevated plus maze (EPM) test, light/dark transition test (L/DTT), tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST), and sucrose preference test (SPT) was carried out. Aged (18 months old), but not young (3 months old), male offspring in the IVF-ET and IVF-FET groups, compared with those in the NC group, exhibited increased anxiety and depression-like behaviours. The protein expression levels of three neurotrophins in PFC or hippocampus in aged male offspring from the IVF-ET and IVF-FET groups reduced at different extent, in comparison to NC group. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed in the hippocampus of 18 months old offspring to further explore the gene expression profile changes in the three groups. KEGG analyses revealed the coexisted pathways, such as PI3K-Akt signalling pathway, which potentially reflected the similarity and divergence in anxiety and depression between the offspring conceived by IVF-ET and IVF-FET. Our research suggested the adverse effects of advanced age on the psychological health of children born after ART should be highlighted in the future.

Background: The attributable mortality and microbial etiology of stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) vary among different studies. We intednd to determine the microbiology and outcomes of SAP in lower respiratory tract (LRT) for patients with invasive mechanical ventilation (MV).Methods: In this prospective observational study, included patients were divided into SAP and non-SAP based on comprehensive analysis of symptom, imaging and laboratory results. Baseline characteristic, clinical characteristic, microbiology and outcomes were recorded and evaluated.Results: Of 185 patients, 41.6% developed SAP after onset of stroke, and they had lower proportion of non-smoker (p=0.016), lower GCS score (p 19 isolated pathogens, main pathogens included K. pneumoniae, S. aureus, H. influenzae, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, E. aerogens, Serratia marcescens, and Burkholderia cepacia. SAP significantly prolonged length of MV (pConclusion: Microbiology of SAP is similar to early-phase HAP and VAP. SAP significantly prolongs duration of MV and lengths of ICU stays, but also markedly increase 60-day mortality.Trial registration: ChiCTR2000028849; http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx, Registered 05 January 2020.

BackgroundAlport syndrome, a monogenic kidney disease, is characterized by progressive hemorrhagic nephritis, sensorineural hearing loss, and ocular abnormalities. Mutations in COL4A5 at Xq22 accounts for 80–85% of X-linked Alport syndrome patients. Three couples were referred to our reproductive genetics clinic for prenatal or preconception counseling.MethodsPrenatal diagnoses were performed by amplifying targeted regions of COL4A5. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based haplotype analysis or karyomapping was performed in two patients. Pregnancy outcomes in the three patients were collected and analyzed. Published Alport syndrome cases were searched in Pubmed and Embase.ResultsPrenatal diagnoses in two cases showed one fetus harbored the same pathogenic mutation as the proband and the other was healthy. The couple with an affected fetus and the patient with a family history of Alport syndrome chose to take the preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) procedure. One unaffected embryo was transferred to the uterus, and a singleton pregnancy was achieved, respectively. Two patients presented non-nephrotic range proteinuria (ConclusionThe PGT procedure performed in this study was proven to be practicable and might be expanded to be applied in other monogenic diseases. Moderate or severe renal impairments in Alport syndrome were strongly associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, and baseline proteinuria was a potential predictor for pregnancy outcomes of Alport syndrome as other kidney diseases.

In this paper, based on the practice of implementing bilingual teaching in Digital Signal Processing Course of Anhui Xinhua University, the project team systematically studied, analyzed and summarized the necessity and feasibility of bilingual teaching, the formulation of teaching program and the implementation of teaching organization, and the assessment and evaluation of courses. Through the concrete actual effect testing, the result is pretty well, which has the extensibility.

Phase 2 and phase 3 clinical studies showed that hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors (HIF-PHIs) efficiently increased hemoglobin levels in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. However, the effects of HIF-PHIs on iron regulation have not been consistent among clinical trials. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effects of six HIF-PHIs on iron regulation in non-dialysis CKD patients. Electronic databases were searched from inception to April 20, 2020, for eligible studies. Changes from baseline in transferrin saturation (TSAT), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), iron, ferritin, and hepcidin levels were pooled using the inverse-variance method and presented as the mean difference (MD) or standardized MD (SMD) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). Meta-analysis of the included studies showed that, in non-dialysis-dependent CKD patients, HIF-PHIs decreased TSAT (MD, -4.51; 95 % CI, -5.81 to -3.21), ferritin (MD, -47.29; 95 % CI, -54.59 to -40.00) and hepcidin (SMD, -0.94; 95 % CI, -1.25 to -0.62), increased TIBC (MD, 9.15; 95 % CI, 7.08-11.22), and did not affect serum iron (MD, -0.31; 95 % CI, -2.05 to 1.42) despite enhanced erythropoiesis. This systematic review suggests that HIF-PHIs promote iron utilization in non-dialysis-dependent CKD patients. Importantly, HIF-PHIs are associated with increased transferrin levels (and TIBC), leading to reduced TSAT. Therefore, the reduction of TSAT after HIF-PHIs should not be interpreted as iron deficiency.

Dexamethasone has been reported to reduce the infarct volume and protect neurological function after ischaemic injury, but the mechanism of Dex in brain injury is not clear. We aimed to study the mechanism by which dexamethasone protects against ischaemic brain injury. Western blotting was to detected the expression of Hap1,TrkB, Akt and Erk; TTC staining to analyse ischemic volume; neurological deficit evaluation to test degree of ischemic injury; immunofluorescence staining to analyse the distribution of Hap1; and the MCAO model was used to study these processes. All data are expressed as the means ± SEM and were analysed by GraphPad Prism 6. P

Feeder-bus networks between urban rail transit systems and bus stops are inefficient in terms of the cost incurred by passengers, the time taken to reach the destination, and the number and...

Social media has replaced the traditional media and become one of the main platforms for spreading news [1]. News on social media tends to travel faster and easier than traditional news sources due to the internet accessibility and convenience. However, not all the news published on social media are genuine and/or came from unverified sources. False information can be created and spread easily through social media and this false news can potentially or deliberately mislead or misinform readers. The extensive spread of fake news brings negative impact to not only individual but also society [2]. Consequently, fake news may affect how readers perceive an online news on social media and indirectly mislead the way they respond to real news [2] [11]. Though there are some existing manual fact-checking websites developed to examine if a news is authentic, it does not scale with the volume of the fast spread online information, especially on social media. To overcome this problem, there are automated fact-checking applications were developed to tackle the need for automation and scalability. However, the existing application approaches lack an inclusive dataset with derived multi-dimension information for detecting fake news characteristics to achieve higher accuracy of machine learning classification model performance. To solve this limitation, we derived and transformed social media Twitter’s data to identify additional significant attributes that influence the accuracy of machine learning methods to classify if a news is real or fake using data mining approach. In this paper, we present the mechanisms of identifying the significant Tweets’ attributes and application architecture to systematically automate the classification of an online news.

Several studies have reported that apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) is involved in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, no research has been performed regarding the association between APOA5 polymorphisms and the risk of NAFLD. This study aimed to explore the association between APOA5 gene polymorphisms and NAFLD in a Chinese Han population.Genotypes of the SNPs (rs10750097, rs1263173, rs17120035, rs3135507 and rs662799) of APOA5 in 232 NAFLD patients and 188 healthy controls were determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Clinical characteristics were measured using biochemical methods.The five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs10750097, rs1263173, rs17120035, rs3135507 and rs662799) of APOA5 showed no significant association with NAFLD (P 0.05). The rs10750097 with G allele showed a higher serum level of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) compared with C allele in overall series and NAFLD patients (P 0.05). The rs1263173(A/A) carriers showed a higher level of glucose compared to the non-carriers in overall series (P 0.05). The rs17120035(T/T) carriers showed a lower plasma TG level in overall series and NAFLD patients (P 0.05), and the rs662799(G/G) carriers showed higher levels of plasma triglyceride (TG), ALP, and lower level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) compared to non-carriers in NAFLD patients (P 0.05). No significant difference were observed on the clinic parameters of APOA5 rs3135507(T/T) carriers in both group of overall series and NAFLD patients (P 0.05).The five SNPs (rs10750097, rs1263173, rs17120035, rs3135507 and rs662799) of APOA5 gene are not associated with the risk of NAFLD in the Chinese Han population. The genotypes of rs10750097(G/G), rs1263173(A/A), rs17120035(T/T), and rs662799(G/G) performed a significant effect on clinic characteristics in overall series and NAFLD patients, indicating that these polymorphisms may be associated with NAFLD.

The development of wheel-side reducer with proper durability is important for electric vehicles equipped with a wheel-side reducer system. Based on the Shanghai road driving cycle, a novel conversion method is proposed from vehicle speed to load, which provides a theoretical foundation for lightweight design and a durability analysis of the key components of the wheel-side reducer system. With the gears of the wheel-side reducer as an example, an electric drive system durability test specification is also developed on the basis of the Miner linear cumulative damage theory considering the material strengthening under low-amplitude loads. The durability test shows that the second round of the prototype design no longer has an infinite life compared with the first round of the prototype design. The method based on active load spectrum is more effective than the traditional design method.

To better retain the deep features of an image and solve the sparsity problem of the end-to-end segmentation model, we propose a new deep convolutional network model for medical image pixel segmentation, called MC-Net. The core of this network model consists of four parts, namely, an encoder network, a multiple max-pooling integration module, a cross multiscale deconvolution decoder network and a pixel-level classification layer. Each max-pooling layer (the pooling size of each layer is different) is spliced after each convolution to achieve the translation invariance of the feature maps of each submodule. The multiscale convolution of each submodule in the decoder network is cross-fused with the feature maps generated by the corresponding multiscale convolution in the encoder network. Using the above feature map processing methods solves the sparsity problem after the max-pooling layer-generating matrix and enhances the robustness of the classification. We compare our proposed model with the well-known Fully Convolutional Networks for Semantic Segmentation (FCNs), DecovNet, PSPNet, U-net, SgeNet and other state-of-the-art segmentation networks such as HyperDenseNet, MS-Dual, Espnetv2, Denseaspp using one binary dataset and two multiclass dataset and obtain encouraging experimental results.

To obtain relatively high imaging quality in the whole field of view and simultaneously create petabytes of data with a high signal-to-noise ratio, the alignment requirements for the dark energy camera (DECam)-like wide field active optics survey telescope are strict. Ensuring the real-time alignment of the system is the most important target for the future DECam-like large survey telescope due to the requirement for ellipticity of stellar image across the full field of view is much higher than the traditional telescopes. In such case, the alignment procedure needs to be designed more carefully to consider the large dynamical range and tight residual optical aberration at the same time The error of coarse alignment, influence of camera seeing, error of wavefront sensing, and interaction between the active optics and primary focus assembly and the active optics nonlinear factors, are analyzed by focusing on the DECam-like wide-field active optics survey telescope. Finally, the error of a real time active optics system is analyzed using the normalized point source sensitivity (PSSn). The PSSn of an ideal telescope is 0.9698 and the PSSn of a telescope with an alignment error is 0.8359. This work will be a good guide for the design of future large survey telescopes.

Background: According to the renal phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) immunohistochemistry, idiopathic membranous nephropathy (iMN) could be categorized into PLA2R-associated and non-PLA2R-associated iMN. This study aimed to examine whether the non-PLA2R-associated iMN had any difference in clinical features compared with PLA2R-associated iMN. Methods: A total of 231 adult patients diagnosed as iMN were recruited to this retrospective study. Renal PLA2R expression was examined by immunofluorescence. Among these patients, 186 (80.5%) with complete baseline clinical data were used for further study. Urinary protein excretion, serum albumin, and creatinine were analyzed. For those patients with follow-up longer than 1 year, the relationship between PLA2R and response to immunosuppressants were analyzed. The t-test was used for parametric analysis and the Mann-Whitney U-test was used for nonparametric analysis. Categorical variables were described as frequencies or percentages, and the data were analyzed with Pearson’s Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Results: Of the 231 iMN patients, 189 showed renal detectable PLA2R expression (81.8%). The baseline serum creatinine, serum albumin, and urine protein excretion were not significantly different between PLA2R-associated (n = 145) and non-PLA2R-associated iMN patients (n = 41). However, about 1/3 of the non-PLA2R-associated iMN had abnormal serological tests, significantly more common than PLA2R-associated iMN (31.7% vs. 8.3%, P= 0.000). The non-PLA2R-associated iMN had lower C4 levels compared with PLA2R-associated iMN (P = 0.004). The non-PLA2R-associated iMN patients also showed a better response to immunosuppressants (complete remission [CR] 42.9%; partial remission [PR] 14.3%) compared with PLA2R-associated iMN (CR 3.2%; PR 48.4%, P = 0.004) at the 3rd month. Conclusions: There were no significant differences in serum creatinine, albumin, and urine protein excretion between PLA2R-associated and non-PLA2R-associated iMN, while the non-PLA2R-associated iMN patients showed more abnormal serological tests. The non-PLA2R-associated iMN seemed to respond more quickly to the immunosuppressive therapy compared with PLA2R-associated iMN. Key words: Immunosuppressive Therapy; Membranous Nephropathy; Phospholipase A2 Receptor; Serology

Collaborative applications of physical systems and algorithms bring the rapid development of cyber physical systems (CPS). Establishing CPS with image classification systems, however, is difficult, because both categories of algorithms, deep learning methods and traditional feature extraction methods, are independent and individual currently. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a fast feature fusion algorithm to satisfy the requirement of CPS in the area of image classification from a comprehensive perspective. First, we fuse the shallow-layer network feature, large pre-trained convolutional neural network feature and traditional image features together by genetic algorithm, in order to guarantee high accuracy with little training time and hardware cost. Second, we increase the distance between different centers by dynamic weight assignment to improve distinguishability of different classes. Third, we propose a partial selection method to reduce the length of the fused feature vectors and to improve the classification accuracy further by centralizing the features within the same class. Finally, experimental results show that our method can achieve high classification accuracy with lower training time and hardware consumption, which can greatly improve the efficiency and flexibility of image classification in cyber physical systems.

An 11-year-old male patient with the deletion of IKZF1 (Ikaros family zinc finger 1) and positive Breakpoint Cluster Region-C-Abelson oncogene 1(BCR-ABL1) acute lymphoblastic leukemia developed mucositis, gastrointestinal toxicity, hepatotoxicity, myelosuppression, and severe dermatologic toxicity during the first and second courses of high-dose methotrexate. The patient recovered completely after therapy. However, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) occurred following oral methotrexate at a dose of 25 mg/m2 in maintenance treatment, and he had neurological sequelae including hemiplegic paralysis.

Multi-satellite co-location is the main means of solving the orbital tension of geostationary satellites. The co-location configuration and control strategy have an important impact on space missions in geostationary orbit. In order to achieve the reliable operation of geostationary satellite constellations, it is necessary to analyze the relative motion between satellites, design a feasible configuration scheme and give an effective co-location maintenance strategy. In view of the above problems, this paper establishes the orbital motion model of geostationary satellite orbital motion, and studies the influence of various perturbation forces during satellite flight. The evolution of co-located satellite configuration and the perturbation factors are analyzed through simulation studies. Finally, a north-south, east-west maintenance strategy is presented, and the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed maintenance strategy.

Background Genetic factors affect the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and colorectal adenoma (CRA) importantly. Transmembrane protein 6 superfamily member 2 (TM6SF2) rs58542926 is a significant genetic susceptibility site for NAFLD. The relationships of TM6SF2 rs58542926 with the risk of NAFLD and CRA in Chinese Han population were unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of TM6SF2 rs58542926 with the risk of NAFLD and CRA, and the effect of CRA on TM6SF2 rs58542926 carried NAFLD patients. Results A total of 839 Chinese Han population were included in this retrospective study. TM6SF2 rs58542926 polymorphism was genotyped in B-type ultrasonography proven NAFLD patients with or without CRA, CRA patients and healthy controls, using polymerase chain reaction. Serum lipid profiles were determined using biochemical methods. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS statistical software, version 16.0 for mac. There was a significant difference in the distribution of genotype and allele of TM6SF2 rs58542926 in NAFLD and NAFLD&CRA patients compared to controls. The CT + TT genotypes were tightly associated with the risk of NAFLD and NAFLD&CRA. TM6SF2 rs58542926 T allele promotes the abnormal regulation of lipids metabolism and liver injury in NAFLD patients and NAFLD&CRA patients. CRA aggravates the clinical performance of NAFLD in T allele carriers. Conclusions We demonstrated the significant association between TM6SF2 rs58542926 polymorphism and the risk of NAFLD and NAFLD&CRA in a Chinese Han population. The TM6SF2 rs58542926 T allele promotes the abnormal regulation of lipid profiles and liver injury in NAFLD patients, NAFLD&CRA patients, and overall subjects.

It is highly necessary to share information between satellites in optics distributed satellite system. The signals usually need to be multi-casted to several nodes. The initial signals can be copied to several wavelengths directly by multi-wavelength converting technology. So it is an efficient way to solve the issue of optics multicast in distributed satellite network. To realize the optics multicast in distributed satellite system, an optical multi-wavelength conversion method based on the nonlinearity of semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is put forward. Firstly, by making use of the SOA’s property of spectrum broadening combined with offset filter, the initial signal is filtered by blue-shifted filter and red-shifted. The pre-conversion and detecting signals are produced respectively. Then the multi-wavelength conversion is realized based on the four-wave mixing (FWM) in another SOA. As is obtained by dividing the initial signals, the pre-conversion and detecting signals can be synchronized more easily. The results show that the output Q factor for each channel is promoted and varies with wavelength and signal input power. The power improvement is more than 15dB and the maximum value is 27dB.

The facial flat wart (verruca plana) is one of the most common reasons for dermatology and primary care visits. Although there are many therapeutic modalities, no single therapy has been proven to be completely curative. Case reports and uncontrolled studies suggested that photodynamic therapy (PDT) with topical 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) can effectively treat recalcitrant facial flat warts. A total of 12 patients with recalcitrant facial flat warts were enrolled in the study. ALA gel (10 %) was applied topically to lesions and incubated for 3 h. The lesions were irradiated by an LED light of 630 ± 10 nm at dose levels of 60-100 mW/cm. Clinical assessment was conducted before and after every treatment for up to 24 weeks. Among the ten patients completing three sessions of ALA-PDT, five had complete lesions clearance, and the other five patients were significantly improved. At the 24-week follow-up, the average effective rate was 88.8 %, with no recurrences. No significant side effects were reported. A low-dose topical ALA-PDT regimen using 10 % ALA, 3 h incubation, and a red light source for three treatment sessions are suggested as the optimal scheme for the treatment of recalcitrant flat warts on the face in Chinese patients. Superior efficacy is found in elevated or active period lesions with mild side effects.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common causes of liver dysfunction worldwide, and its prevalence is highly associated with genetic susceptibility. The transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2 (TM6SF2) E167K variant represents a general genetic determinant of hepatic triglyceride content and lobular inflammation, and its presence appears to be directly involved in the pathogenesis and development of NAFLD. Although this variant appears to be a novel powerful modifier in the development of NAFLD, whether it is associated with an increased risk of NAFLD-related liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be determined. The aim of this review is to describe the functions of the TM6SF2 E167K variant and its association with NAFLD, with particular emphasis on the underlying mechanisms of its role in the development and progression of NAFLD. Additionally, the links between the TM6SF2 E167K variant and NAFLD-related liver fibrosis and HCC will be discussed.

Prednisolone is a synthetic glucocorticoid used clinically for treating allergies, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases. Long-term prednisolone use has been shown to have negative effects on physiology and mood. We aimed to study the pharmacology and toxicology of glucocorticoid-like drugs by investigating behavioral and hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis effects in a zebrafish model. Zebrafish embryos 24 h post fertilization were exposed to 25 μM prednisolone. Their behavior was investigated 5 days post fertilization (dpf), and their HPI axis-related activity and related neurotransmitter levels were investigated 3, 4, 5, and 6 dpf. The behavior results showed that exposure to prednisolone resulted in decreased autonomic activity and low sensitivity to light. qRT-PCR and ELISA results showed decreased activity of the HPI axis and increased secretion of dopamine and serotonin after exposure to prednisolone. This study provides us with new insights into understanding the effects of glucocorticoids on the HPI axis.

Context: Pancreatic cancer portal hypertension (PCPH) is a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. This study retrospectively assessed gastrointestinal bleeding risk factors in 57 PCPH patients diagnosed via multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Materials and Methods: The data of patients with pancreatic cancer from January 2008 to January 2018 at Qingdao Municipal Hospital were reviewed. PCPH patients were screened with MDCT and followed up. MDCT findings (e.g., the location of the venous obstruction, type of variceal veins pathway, and splenomegaly) were recorded. Variceal hemorrhage was recorded. The MDCT findings and clinical data of the PCPH patients were used in this analysis to explore the risk factors of variceal hemorrhage using binary logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression model. Results: Fifty-seven of the 182 patients were diagnosed with PCPH. A total of 7 draining routes and 11 types of varices were found. Of these patients, eight experienced variceal hemorrhage. Univariate analysis showed that splenomegaly (odds ratio [OR] = 10.364, P = 0.003) was significantly associated with an increased risk of variceal hemorrhage. Multivariate analysis showed that splenomegaly (OR = 66.491, 95% confidence interval: 2.790–1584.643, P = 0.009) was an independent influencing factor for variceal hemorrhage in PCPH patients. Conclusions: Patients with pancreatic cancer have high morbidity of PCPH. The splenomegaly is more prone to hemorrhage. Splenomegaly was an independent risk factor of variceal hemorrhage. MDCT can provide insight into the stenosis and occlusion of the portal vein system and the drainage routes of variceal veins and is one of the best ways to diagnose PCPH.

The IoT system has become a significant component of next generation networks, and drawn a lot of research interest in academia and industry. As the sensor nodes in the IoT system are always battery-limited devices, the power control problem is a serious problem in the IoT system which needs to be solved. In this paper, we research the resource allocation in the wireless powered IoT system, which includes one hybrid access point (HAP) and many wireless sensor nodes, to obtain the optimal power level for information transmission and energy transfer simultaneously. The relationship between the HAP and the sensor nodes are formulated as the Stackelberg game, and the dynamic variations of the energy for both the HAP and IoT devices are formulated through the dynamic game with mean field control. Then the power control in the wireless powered IoT system is formulated as a mean field Stackelberg game model. We aim to minimize the transmission cost for each sensor node based on optimally power resource allocation. Meanwhile, we attempt to minimize the energy transfer cost based on power control. As a result, the optimal solutions based on the mean field control of the sensor nodes and the HAP are achieved through dynamic programming theory and the law of large numbers, and &epsilon, Nash equilibriums can be obtained. The energy variations for both the sensor nodes and HAP after the control of resource allocation based on the proposed approach are verified based on the simulation results.

The feature extraction module is an important step of human motion recognition, and the task of this module is to extract accurate and sufficient feature information. The traditional method of feature extraction is limited to a separate time domain or frequency domain, leading to low accuracy of the recognition results. In this paper, we propose a feature extraction method in frequency domain which combined with time domain. We leverage the Short-term Fourier transform algorithm and the K-means algorithm to extract the precise feature information and reduce the complexity. The experimental results demonstrate that the feature extraction algorithm has good performance, and show the variations of performance with the parameters.

miR-181c is a newly identified negative regulator of immune cell activation. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression and functional role of miR-181c in myasthenia gravis (MG). miR-181c showed significant downregulation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from MG patients compared with healthy controls, with lower expression in generalized patients than in ocular ones. MG patients also had increased serum IL-7 and IL-17 levels. Additionally, serum IL-7 level presents a positive correlation with the serum IL-17 level. miR-181c levels were negatively correlated with serum levels of IL-7 and IL-17 in either generalized patients or ocular patients. A luciferase reporter assay revealed that miR-181c could directly bind to the 3'-UTR of interleukin-7. Forced expression of miR-181c led to decreased IL-7 and IL-17 release in cultured PBMCs, while depletion of miR-181c increased the secretion of these two proinflammatory cytokines. The results from our study suggested for the first time that miR-181c was able to negatively regulate the production of proinflammatory cytokines IL-7 and IL-17 in MG patients, and it is a novel potential therapeutic target for MG.

There are some shortcomings in the delay tolerant network (DTN) routing algorithm, such as low message delivery rate, low network efficiency and high cost in the satellite network. In order to solve the problem above, this paper proposes a limited copy algorithm MPWLC based on service probability. In MPWLC, not only is the number of copies limited, but the storage resources of the satellite are also taken into account to ensure reliable data transmission. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively improve the efficiency of the network and ensure the reliable data transmission.

Background According to renal M type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) immunohistochemistry, idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) could be categorized into PLA2R-associated and non-PLA2R-associated IMN. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter cohort study with 91 patients to compare the effect of immunosuppressive therapy between PLA2R-associated and non-PLA2R-associated IMN patients. Methods A total of 91 biopsy-proven IMN patients from Huashan hospital and People’s Hospital of Wuxi in past 5 years were collected into this study. IMN with positive PLA2R immunohistochemistry in kidney biopsies were designated as PLA2R-associated IMN. Seventy-eight of the 91 IMN patients was PLA2R-associated IMN and 13 were non-PLA2R-associated IMN. Forty-five patients were treated with prednisone plus cyclophosphamide (CTX), and 46 with prednisone plus calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs). The follow-up duration was 15 months. Results The total remission rate (76.9% versus 44.9%, p = 0.032) and complete remission rate (30.8% versus 2.6%, p = 0.003) were both significantly higher in the non-PLA2R-associated group than in the PLA2R-associated group at the 3rd month visit point, and at the 6th month time point, the complete remission rate was still significantly higher in the non-PLA2R-associated group (46.2% versus 11.5%,p = 0.007). But similar remission rates were found after the 9th month. Relapses were observed in 8 patients in PLA2R-associated group and none in non-PLA2R-associated group, although there was no significant difference between these two groups. Conclusion Compared with the PLA2R-associated IMN, the non-PLA2R-associated IMN responded quicker to the immunosuppressive therapy.

Background A growing number of studies reported the connection between the level of serum ferritin (SFL) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, such connection was still disputable. The aim of our meta-analysis was to estimate SFL between the groups as below: patients with NAFLD against control group; non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients against control group; non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) patients against a control group and NASH patients vs NAFL patients. Methods We screened the studies in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Database and the Cochrane Central register controlled trials from the beginning to July 10, 2016 to find the studies indicated the connection between SFL and NAFLD (NAFL and/or NASH). Fourteen published studies which evaluate the SFL in NAFLD patients were selected. Results Higher SFL was noticed in NAFLD patients against control group (standardized mean difference [SMD] 1.01; 95% CI 0.89, 1.13), NASH patients against control group (SMD 1.21; 95% CI 1.00, 1.42), NAFL patients against control group (SMD 0.51; 95% CI 0.24, 0.79) and NASH patients against NAFL patients (SMD 0.63; 95% CI 0.52, 0.75). These results remained unaltered actually after the elimination of studies which were focused on paediatric or adolescent populations. Higher SFL was presented in NAFLD patients against the control group (SMD 1.08; 95% CI 0.95, 1.20) in adults and NASH patients against NAFL patients in adults (SMD 0.74; 95% CI 0.62, 0.87). The connection between SFL and NASH against NAFL group in paediatric or adolescent populations was observed inconsistently (SMD 0.10; 95% CI -0.18, 0.38). Conclusions The level of SFL was elevated in patients with NAFLD (NAFL and/or NASH) compared with the controls. Compared with NAFL, The level of SFL was increased in NASH. The result remained unaltered actually after the elimination of studies focused on paediatric or adolescent populations.

Background: The clinicopathological and prognostic significance of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains controversial. To investigate this question, we conducted a meta-analysis. Methods: A comprehensive literature search of electronic databases (up to July 10, 2016) was performed for relevant studies using multiple search strategies. Correlation between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features/overall survival (OS) was analyzed. Results: A total of 1,350 ESCC patients from eight studies were included. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) indicated that none of the clinicopathological characteristics was correlated with PD-L1 expression, including gender [OR =0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.59–1.18; P=0.31], histological differentiation (OR =1.33; 95% CI: 0.95–1.85; P=0.09), tumor depth (OR =0.66; 95% CI: 0.33–1.35; P=0.26), status of lymph node metastasis (OR =0.67; 95% CI: 0.30–1.52; P=0.34), distal metastasis (OR =0.66; 95% CI: 0.40–1.09; P=0.10) and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage (OR =0.93; 95% CI: 0.49–1.75; P=0.82). The combined hazard ratio (HR) for OS showed a trend that overexpression of PD-L1 might be associated with the survival outcome of ESCC, though the difference was not statistically significant (HR =1.65; 95% CI 0.95–2.85; P=0.07). Conclusions: Based on the published studies, PD-L1 overexpression in ESCC was not associated with common clinicopathological characteristics. PD-L1 might be a poor prognostic biomarker for ESCC. Further large-scale research should be performed to reveal the precise clinicopathological and prognostic significance of PD-L1 in ESCC by unified testing standard.