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The encoder-decoder model is a commonly used Deep learning (DL) model for medical image segmentation. Encoder-decoder models make pixel-wise predictions that focus heavily on local patterns. As a result, the predicted mask often fails to preserve the object's shape and topology, which requires an understanding of the image's global context. In this work, we propose a Fourier Coefficient Segmentation Network (FCSN)---a novel global context-aware DL model that segments an object by learning the complex Fourier Coefficients of the object's masks. The Fourier coefficients are calculated by integrating over the mask's contour. Hence, FCSN is naturally motivated to incorporate a broader image context when estimating the coefficients. The global context awareness of FCSN helps produce more accurate segmentation and is more robust to local perturbations, such as additive noise or motion blur. We compare FCSN on other state-of-the-art global context-aware models (UNet++, DeepLabV3+, UNETR) on 5 medical image segmentation tasks (ISIC_2018, RIM_CUP, RIM_DISC, PROSTATE, FETAL). When compared with UNETR, FCSN attains significantly lower Hausdorff scores with 19.14 (6%), 17.42 (6%), 9.16 (14%), 11.18 (22%), and 5.98 (6%) for ISIC_2018, RIM_CUP, RIM_DISC, PROSTATE, and FETAL tasks respectively. Moreover, FCSN is lightweight by discarding the decoder module. FCSN only requires 29.7 M parameters which are 75.6 M and 9.9 M fewer than UNETR and DeepLabV3+, respectively. FCSN attains inference/training speeds of 1.6 ms/img and 6.3 ms/img, which is 8 and 3 faster than UNet and UNETR. Our work is available at https://github.com/nus-morninlab/FCSN.

Pretilachlor is a chloroacetamide herbicide mainly used for weed and broadleaf weed control in rice, that is widely utilized in China. In order to detect the residue of pretilachlor in the environment and food, a highly sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) against pretilachlor was prepared, and the half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of the monoclonal antibody was validated to be 31.47 ± 2.35 μg/L. An indirect competitive ELISA (ic-ELISA) based on the antibody with a linear range of 6.25~100 μg/L was developed. The specificity of the antibody was explained by computer simulations and experimental validation. The mAb exhibited negligible cross-reactivity towards alachlor, acetochlor, propisochlor, butachlor, and metalaxyl, and the limits of detection (LOD) for pretilachlor in lake, rice, and soil samples were 4.83~5.23 μg/L. The recoveries of all samples were 78.3~91.3%. The reliability of the ic-ELISA method for residue detection of pretilachlor in the environment and grains was confirmed using high performance liquid chromatography., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

This study aims to assess the predictive value of the apolipoprotein B (ApoB) /apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) ratio in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) for the rapid progression (RP) of non-culprit coronary lesions (NCCLs) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and observe the effect of the ApoB/ApoA1 ratio on major adverse cardiac events (MACE).A total of 175 patients with DM presenting with ACS who received a PCI and an average 13-month follow-up coronary angiography (CAG) were enrolled from January 2015 to December 2020. According to the CAG, the patients were divided into the RP group and the non-RP group. MACE was defined as a composite of death from cardiac causes, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, or rehospitalization from unstable or progressive angina at the end of a 24-month follow-up.The low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), ApoB, ApoB/ApoA1 ratio, and LDL-C/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio levels at baseline were significantly higher in the RP group than in the non-RP group. The ApoA1 level at baseline in the non-RP group was significantly higher than in the RP group. The predictive significance of the ApoB/ApoA1 ratio (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.712) for the RP of NCCLs was significantly higher than those of ApoA1, ApoB, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio (AUC = 0.628, AUC = 0.640, and AUC = 0.620, respectively). A higher ApoB/ApoA1 ratio and the RP of NCCLs were significantly associated with the occurrence of MACE.The ApoB/ApoA1 ratio was an effective clinical indicator for the RP of NCCLs after PCI in patients with DM presenting with ACS. The high ApoB/ApoA1 ratio and the RP of NCCLs were two risks for MACE.

This article presents two studies with data from 750 college students (58.67% females, M age = 20.79 years) and 1035 school students (52.1% girls, M age = 14.44 years) respectively, describing the development and initial validation of the Positive and Negative Co-Rumination Scale (PANCRS). The PANCRS consists of 32 items with 3 second-order factors: Positive Co-Rumination consisting of 3 first-order factors (i.e., Affirmation, Problem-Solving and Enhancing Friendship), Negative Co-Rumination consisting of 4 first-order factors (i.e., Worry About Evaluation, Inhibiting Happiness, Worry About Impact and Slack) and Frequency consisting of 2 first-order factors (i.e., Frequencies of Co-Rumination on Positive and Negative Events). Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the measure's 9 first-order and 3 second-order factors structure. Moreover, correlation analyses provided first evidence for the subscales' differential validity: (1) Positive Co-Rumination showed positive correlations with positive indicators of psychological adjustment (i.e., friendship quality and life satisfaction) and negative correlations with negative indicators of psychological adjustment (i.e., anxiety and depression); (2) Negative Co-Rumination showed non-significant or negative correlations with positive indicators of psychological adjustment and positive correlations with negative indicators of psychological adjustment; (3) Frequency showed positive correlations with both positive and negative indicators of psychological adjustment. In addition, all PANCRS scores showed satisfactory composite reliability (omegas) and temporal stability (test-retest). Overall the findings suggest that the PANCRS is a reliable and valid instrument to assess positive and negative aspects of Co-rumination.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are significant environmental and food pollutants that can cause cancer. In this work, a specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) to identify pyrene (PYR) and benzo [a]pyrene (BaP) was prepared, and an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay (ic-ELISA) was established to detect PYR and BaP residues in living aquatic products for the first time. The effects of complete antigens with different coupling ratios on the production of high-sensitivity mAb was explored. Under the optimal conditions, the IC 50 value was 3.73 ± 0.43 µg/L (n = 5). The limits of detection (LODs) for PYR and BaP in fish, shrimp, and crab ranged from 0.43 to 0.98 µg/L. The average recoveries of the spiked samples ranged from 81.5-101.9%, and the coefficient of variation (CV) was less than 11.7%. The validation of the HPLC-FLD method indicated that the ELISA method set up in this experiment provided a trustworthy tool for PAHs residues detection in aquatic products.

The large-scale rapid monitoring of heavy metal pollution has become a hot topic due to increasing contamination of Tailings soil by heavy metal. In order to explore the possibility of using soil spectrum to estimate the content of heavy metals in soil and realize the rapid monitoring of soil heavy metals in the Yangshanchong tailings area in Tongling, China. The spectral reflectance of soil and the content of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Zn) in soil were determined. The optimal bands of Cr, Ni and Zn elements in soil appeared at 467 nm, 467 nm and 468 nm respectively, and the maximum correlation coefficients were - 0.716, - 0.685 and - 0.630. The inversion model of element Cr constructed under the Reciprocal Transformation Second Derivative has a better effect, and its determination coefficient R 2 is 0.613; It is better to construct the model of elements Ni and Zn in the form of Reciprocal Transformation First Derivative, and their determination coefficients R 2 are 0.724 and 0.603, respectively. The results of the single factor index method showed that the pollution degree of heavy metal elements in the soil in the study area is Ni > Zn > Cr; the Nemerow comprehensive pollution index method showed that the three elements in the study area were polluted to varying degrees, and the comprehensive pollution index was in order Ni > Zn > Cr; Comprehensive potential ecological hazard index evaluation, the pollution degree and ecological risk of the study area were low., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Streptococcus agalactiae is a contagious pathogen that causes bovine mastitis worldwide, resulting in considerable economic losses. In this study, we isolated 42 S. agalactiae strains in 379 milk samples from cows with subclinical mastitis on 15 dairy farms in 12 Chinese provinces. Analysis based on capsular typing and multilocus sequence typing, combined with patterns of virulence gene scanning and antimicrobial resistance, identified the lineages and populations of the isolates. We grouped the 42 isolates into 7 sequence types belonging to 6 clonal complexes, mainly CC103 (31/42 isolates; 73.8%). We identified an ST-23 strain named Sa 129 for the first time on Chinese dairy farms-this strain is usually associated with human isolates. Capsular types Ia and II were predominant in capsular typing. The prevalence of virulence profile 1 (bibA, cfb, cspA, cylE, fbsA, fbsB, hylB, and pavA) was 64.3%, and represented the main trend in China. With respect to antimicrobial resistance, most isolates were susceptible to β-lactams, rifamycin, glycopeptides, and oxazolidone; resistance to several antimicrobial agents, including lincomycin, clindamycin, and doxycycline, varied in 4 different regions. Our research provides a profile for the molecular epidemiology, multilocus sequence typing, antimicrobial resistance, and virulence gene clustering of S. agalactiae, and may be beneficial for the clinical monitoring, prevention, and control of mastitis in dairy cattle., (Copyright © 2021 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study sought to examine the utility of eating expectancy, thinness expectancy, and the interactive role of both, in predicting eating disturbances (viz., bulimic symptoms and drive for thinness) in European American and Chinese female college students., Methods: A sample of 237 European American and 221 Chinese female college students completed measures of eating and thinness expectancies and eating disturbances., Results: Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that thinness expectancy significantly predicted increases in both drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms (with these increases being greater for European Americans), whereas eating expectancy predicted increases in bulimic symptoms only. In addition, for European Americans, a significant interaction for bulimic symptoms was found, revealing a synergistic increase in bulimic symptoms for those with both a high thinness expectancy and a high eating expectancy. For Chinese, a significant interaction for drive for thinness was found, demonstrating that for those with a high thinness expectancy, a higher eating expectancy was actually associated with a lower drive for thinness., Conclusion: The present findings point to the value of examining for the co-presence of both expectancies in predicting eating disturbances while also highlighting cultural variations in the study of eating pathology., Level of Evidence: Descriptive cross-sectional study, level V.

Net primary productivity (NPP) of terrestrial ecosystems is an important metric of ecosystem functioning; however, the understanding of response mechanism of NPP to influencing factors and driving mechanisms are still limited. In this study, taking Anhui province as an example, spatio-temporal changes of NPP and its response to influencing factors were investigated for evaluating the effects of climate change and land use and land cover change (LUCC) on regional NPP. The Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model was employed for NPP simulation by using the MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and meteorological data over 2001-2016. Combined domestic LUCC, the spatiotemporal distribution pattern and dynamic change characteristics of NPP under a long time series and its response to climate factors and human activities were analyzed in the Anhui province. The results indicated that from 2001 to 2016, total NPP had a fluctuated and decreased trend with the variation range between 30.52 and 38.07 TgC in Anhui province. The multi-year average of total NPP was about 34.62 TgC. The highest value was in 2008 and the lowest value was in 2011. Among them, amount of forestland NPP was the most. The spatial distribution of NPP shows that the high value area was mainly distributed in southern Anhui mountain areas and western Anhui Dabie mountain areas; the lower value was distributed in the middle in the study area. The area of which the NPP showed a slight decrease and essentially unchanged accounted for 59.35% and 31.82%, respectively. In general, the correlation between vegetation NPP and temperature was greater than that between precipitation. The vegetations NPP of eight land use types were all positively correlated with temperature. However, the other seven types of land use were negatively correlated with precipitation except cultivated land. In the past 16 years, the decrease of cultivated land areas and the increase of urban and construction land areas contributed a lot to the decrease of vegetation NPP in Anhui province. The NPP changes of different land use types were closely related to climatic factors, land cover area, and vegetation types.

The objective of the present study was to develop a scale that is appropriate for use internationally to measure affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data of 3,420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th grade) from 12 countries (Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The intraclass correlation of the full-scale scores of student engagement between countries revealed that it was appropriate to aggregate the data from the 12 countries for further analyses. Coefficient alphas revealed good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients were also acceptable. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the data fit well to a second-order model with affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement as the first-order factors and student engagement as the second-order factor. The results support the use of this scale to measure student engagement as a metaconstruct. Furthermore, the significant correlations of the scale with instructional practices, teacher support, peer support, parent support, emotions, academic performance, and school conduct indicated good concurrent validity of the scale. Considerations and implications regarding the international use of this student engagement in school measure are discussed., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.)

Objective: To study the effect of the two arms of miR-590, miR-590-5p and miR-590-3p, on hepatoma cell proliferation and their roles in tumor development., Methods: We analyzed and verified the expression pattern of miR-590 in liver cancer specimens and cell lines by miRNA microarrays and QPCR. MiR-590 mimic or inhibitor was transfected into normal liver cells or liver cancer cells via liposome, and the changes in cell proliferation and survival were determined by MTT assay and soft agar colony formation assay. The target genes of miR-590-5p and miR-590-3p were predicated with Targetscan and validated by luciferase reporter system and Western blotting., Results: The expressions of miR-590-5p and miR-590-3ps were up-regulated in 3 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and their synchronization was significantly up-regulated in 8 out of 10 HCC tissues as compared with the adjacent tissues. QPCR further showed that miR-590-5p/3p was up-regulated in 3 HCC cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B, and Huh7) in comparison with the normal liver cell line L-O2. L-O2 cells over-expressing miR-590-5p and miR-590-3p exhibited significantly increased proliferation (P<0.05), while down-regulation of miR-590-5p and miR-590-3p caused significantly suppressed proliferation in HepG2, Hep3B, and Huh7 cells. Targetscan predicted PDCD4 and PTEN as the potential target genes of miR-590-5p and miR-590-3p, which was verified by luciferase reporter system and Western blotting. miR-590-3p was found to activate PI3K-AKT signaling pathway by down-regulating PTEN to promote AKT1-S473 phosphorylation., Conclusion: MiR-590 is an important tumorigenic factor for HCC, and its two arms can both promote tumorigenesis by regulating the expression of their target tumor suppressor gene, PDCD4 and PTEN, to promote HCC cell proliferation and survival and activate the core tumor signal pathway PI3K-AKT.

By the method of solution culture, this paper studied the coercion and damage of Cu pollution on the growth of Artemisia lavandulaefolia. The Cu concentration was set as 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg x L(-1), experimental duration was 14 days, and the growth and physiological indices of plants were tested. The results showed that the growth of A. lavandulaefolia was stimulated at low Cu concentration (2.5 mg x L(-1)), while inhibited at higher Cu concentrations (5 to approximately 40 mg x L(-1)). There was a significant negative correlation between each growth index and Cu concentration, and pigments contents had the similar trend. The sensibility of various photosynthetic pigments to Cu was in the order of chlorophyll a > chlorophyll a + b > chlorophyll b > carotenoid. Cell membrane permeability, O2 generation rate, and MDA content decreased slightly at 2.5 mg Cu x L(- 1) and then increased with increasing Cu concentration. The activities of POD, SOD and CAT increased first but decreased then with the increasing Cu concentration, and the endurance index of root showed the same trend, being > 0.5 at the Cu concentration less than 20 mg x L(-1) while decreased to 0.36 at 40 mg Cu x L(-1).