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Wildfire is one of the most severe natural disasters globally, profoundly affecting natural ecology, economy, and health and safety. Precisely predicting the spread of wildfires has become an important research topic. Current fire spread prediction models depend on inputs from a variety of geographical and environmental variables. However, unlike the ideal conditions simulated in the laboratory, data gaps often occur in real wildfire scenarios, posing challenges to the accuracy and robustness of predictions. It is necessary to explore the extent to which different missing items affect prediction accuracy, thereby providing rational suggestions for emergency decision-making. In this paper, we tested how different conditions of missing data affect the prediction accuracy of existing wildfire spread models and quantified the corresponding errors. The final experimental results suggest that it is necessary to judge the potential impact of data gaps based on the geographical conditions of the study area appropriately, as there is no significant pattern of behavior yet identified. This study aims to simulate the impact of data scarcity on the accuracy of wildfire spread prediction models in real scenarios, thereby enabling researchers to better understand the priority of different environmental variables for the model and identify the acceptable degree of missing data and the indispensable data attributes. It offers new insights for developing spread prediction models applicable to real-world scenarios and rational assessment of the effectiveness of model outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) plays a crucial role in the management of Crohn's disease (CD) patients receiving infliximab (IFX). While reactive TDM has been more commonly utilized previously, recent research suggests that proactive TDM may offer greater benefits for patients. To compare treatment outcomes among patients receiving different monitoring modalities of IFX. This was a retrospective cohort study that enrolled 142 CD patients who initiated IFX therapy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2014 to June 2021. The patients were divided into a reactive (n = 43) and proactive (n = 99) group. The outcome measures included sustained clinical response and remission rates, biological remission rates, endoscopic response and remission rates achieved in both groups at weeks 30 and 54. The incidence of adverse events (AEs), changes in IFX trough concentrations (TCs) and treatment adjustments within 54 weeks were also evaluated. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that the proactive group exhibited significantly higher cumulative probabilities of sustained clinical response, sustained clinical remission, and endoscopic response by Week 54. Compared to the reactive group, patients in the proactive group achieved significantly reduced rates of AEs-related hospitalization and surgery. After adjusting treatment strategies, the median concentration and the proportion of patients achieved an effective therapeutic concentration (TC > 3 μg/mL) at Week 54 was both significantly higher in the proactive group. Proactive TDM of IFX plays a more crucial role in timely adjustment of treatment strategies and maintenance of effective concentrations, thereby contributing to the outcomes for CD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PRKN is a key gene involved in mitophagy in Parkinson's disease. However, recent studies have demonstrated that it also plays a role in the development and metastasis of several types of cancers, both in a mitophagy-dependent and mitophagy-independent manner. Despite this, the potential effects and underlying mechanisms of Parkin on bladder cancer (BLCA) remain unknown. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the expression of Parkin in various BLCA cohorts derived from human. Here we show that PRKN expression was low and that PRKN acts as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting the proliferation and migration of BLCA cells in a mitophagy-independent manner. We further identified Catalase as a binding partner and substrate of Parkin, which is an important antioxidant enzyme that regulates intracellular ROS levels during cancer progression. Our data showed that knockdown of CAT led to increased intracellular ROS levels, which suppressed cell proliferation and migration. Conversely, upregulation of Catalase decreased intracellular ROS levels, promoting cell growth and migration. Importantly, we found that Parkin upregulation partially restored these effects. Moreover, we discovered that USP30, a known Parkin substrate, could deubiquitinate and stabilize Catalase. Overall, our study reveals a novel function of Parkin and identifies a potential therapeutic target in BLCA. A study on bladder cancer indicates that Parkin influences bladder cancer progression and metastasis by regulating cellular ROS levels through ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation of Catalase, rather than its autophagic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance use disorders present similar behaviors and psychopathologies related to impaired decision making/inhibition control and information processing, suggesting common alterations in frontal and limbic brain areas. To test this hypothesis, we identified three uni-substance use cohorts with dependence to only one type of substance from the Human Connectome Project: marijuana dependence, nicotine dependence, and alcohol dependence. Fifty-nine marijuana uses, 34 nicotine smokers, 35 alcohol drinkers, and their age and sex-matched non-substance use controls were identified. We used brain entropy mapping to probe brain alterations in substance use disorders. Compared to non-substance use individuals, all three substance use disorder cohorts had increased brain entropy. Marijuana dependence and nicotine dependence showed overlapped hyper-brain entropy in bilateral dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and right insula. Hyper-brain entropy in marijuana dependence and alcohol dependence overlap in left insula, left doso-lateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate. Hyper-brain entropy in nicotine dependence and alcohol dependence overlap only in left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex. Hyper-brain entropy in those areas was correlated with increased impulsivity or reduced inhibition control in substance use disorder but not in controls. Drug dependence is associated with hyper-brain entropy in the prefrontal cortex and the meso-limbic system, independent of a specific addictive drug. Brain entropy in this circuit provides a sensitive marker to detect brain and behavioral alterations in substance user disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By optimizing the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) reflection coefficients, the channel capacity of legitimate users can be increased, thereby enhancing the anti-jamming performance of communication systems. However, existing studies on RIS-assisted anti-jamming assume that there is no coupling between the RIS reflection coefficients and the incident angle of electromagnetic (EM) waves, which is quite unreasonable. Therefore, we consider the effect of the incident angle of EM waves on the reflection coefficients of the RIS and propose a communication anti-jamming scheme assisted by an RIS with angular response. Specifically, a problem is formulated to optimize the RIS reflection coefficients so that the legitimate signal is amplified, but the jamming signal is attenuated, thus enhancing the legitimate channel capacity. However, the coupling of the EM incident angle and the RIS reflection coefficients causes the problem to be non-convex. To tackle this problem, we equivalently transform the RIS reflection coefficients optimization problem into a quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP) problem using the complex Taylor expansion and the multidimensional complex quadratic transform (MCQT) and solve it utilizing the alternating direction method of the multipliers (ADMM) algorithm. The simulation results reveal that, compared to other schemes supported by RIS without angular response, the proposed scheme is able to achieve a significant improvement in the anti-jamming performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to restore degraded wetlands, restoration projects were implemented in the Yellow River Delta wetland reserve from 2010. Water was diverted from the Yellow River and was used to saturate artificial wetlands. This study used in-situ data and model simulations to investigate the effects of water diversion on groundwater systems in the artificial wetlands in 2010, 2011, and 2013. The objectives were to: (1) develop a model for simulating groundwater flow within the study area using Visual MODFLOW, (2) apply the model to simulate and compare the water-table and water-balance responses to water diversion between years, and (3) compare several landscape scenarios that combine artificial shallow ponds and canals and investigate potential water efficiency improvements in the wetland reserve. Results indicate that precipitation infiltration, evapotranspiration, and wetland leakage were the most dominant water budget components. Water diversion increased groundwater storage and shifted the water tables. Between 2010 and 2013, as the water diversion volume in the restoration area near the Diaokou Channel increased, wetland leakage increased, and the spatial effect (meaning impact range on groundwater) of diversion increased from 800 to 1,000 m. Based on the scenario analysis, wetland canals have lower evapotranspiration losses, thus diversion canals that retain water for a longer duration improve the efficiency of water use. Artificial shallow ponds and canals may enhance surface-water/groundwater interactions and restore plant biodiversity. This study can provide a design reference for the construction of artificial wetlands in semiarid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. NUDT15 gene polymorphisms have been identified to predispose Asian patients with an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to thiopurine-induced leukopenia. This study predicted the influence of NUDT15 haplotypes and diplotypes on azathioprine (AZA)-induced leukopenia as well as the long-term influence of AZA on hematologic parameters in IBD. Methods. 194 IBD patients were tested for NUDT15 genotypes. We collected clinical data of 80 patients with AZA treatment including adverse events, dosage, white blood cell (WBC) count, platelet (PLT) count, and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) after AZA initiation. Patients without adverse events and drug withdrawal were followed up for at least one year. The relationship between NUDT15 haplotypes and diplotypes and leukopenia was analyzed. Results. The haplotypes NUDT15 c.415C > T and c.36_37insGGAGTC as well as the diplotypes NUDT15 ∗ 1/ ∗ 2, ∗ 3/ ∗ 3, and ∗ 3/ ∗ 5 were significantly associated with AZA-induced leukopenia. Only one patient with NUDT15 c.52G > A experienced leukopenia. NUDT15 ∗ 1/ ∗ 3 was not associated with leukopenia. After AZA initiation, the WBC count showed a downward trend in both wild types and mutants. The mean of WBC count in the mutant group at 1st month after AZA initiation was lower than that in the wild-type group (P = 0.006). The MCV increased gradually in mutant cases (P = 0.039), and the differences were obvious at 6th and 12th months compared with the baseline (P = 0.014 a n d P = 0.042 , respectively). The PLT count showed a decreasing trend in the mutant group, but there was no difference until 11 months after initiating treatment (P = 0.023). The final dose of AZA in the NUDT15 mutant group was significantly lower than that in the wild-type group (P = 0.006). Conclusion. NUDT15 polymorphisms may be an appropriate predictor of AZA abnormal hematologic indices in IBD patients. It is necessary for IBD patients to monitor hematological indices and optimize AZA therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with an increased risk of periprosthetic joint infection, periprosthetic fractures, dislocations, and post-operative blood transfusion. However, higher post-operative blood transfusion is unclear whether it reflects peri-operative blood loss or is characteristic of RA. This study aimed to compare the complications, allogenic blood transfusion, albumin use, and peri-operative blood loss between patients who underwent THA because of RA or osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Patients undergoing cementless THA for hip RA (n = 220) or hip OA (n = 261) at our hospital between 2011 and 2021 were retrospectively enrolled. Deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, calf muscular venous thrombosis, wound complications, deep prosthetic infection, hip prosthesis dislocation, periprosthetic fractures, 30-day mortality, 90-day readmission, allogeneic blood transfusion, and albumin infusions were considered as primary outcomes, while secondary outcomes included the number of perioperative anaemia patients as well as total, intra-operative, and hidden blood loss. Results: Compared to the OA group, patients with hip RA showed significantly higher rates of wound aseptic complications, hip prosthesis dislocation, homologous transfusion, and albumin use. RA patients also showed a significantly higher prevalence of pre-operative anemia. However, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in total, intra-operative, or hidden blood loss. Conclusions: Our study suggests that RA patients undergoing THA are at a higher risk of wound aseptic complications and hip prosthesis dislocation than patients with hip OA. Pre-operative anaemia and hypoalbuminaemia in patients with hip RA place them at a significantly higher risk of post-operative blood transfusion and use of albumin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multiple doses of dexamethasone and tranexamic acid can inhibit postoperative inflammation and reduce fibrinolysis and perioperative blood loss in total knee arthroplasty. In this single-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial, the aim was to investigate whether applying a tourniquet to patients on dexamethasone and tranexamic acid could further reduce perioperative blood loss. Materials and methods: Patients who underwent cemented total knee arthroplasty at our hospital were randomized to receive a tourniquet (n = 71) or not (n = 70) during the procedure. All patients received multiple doses of dexamethasone and tranexamic acid perioperatively. The primary outcome was perioperative blood loss, while secondary outcomes were surgery duration, postoperative laboratory indices of inflammation and fibrinolysis, range of knee motion, VAS pain score, knee circumference, knee swelling rate, homologous transfusion, albumin use, and complications. Results: Using a tourniquet was associated with significantly lower intraoperative blood loss (P < 0.001) and total blood loss (P = 0.007) as well as significantly shorter surgery duration (P < 0.001). In contrast, the tourniquet did not significantly affect hidden blood loss, postoperative inflammation or fibrinolysis, range of knee motion, VAS pain score, knee circumference, knee swelling rate, homologous transfusion, albumin use, or complications. Conclusions: The results of this randomized clinical trial demonstrate that applying a tourniquet during cemented total knee arthroplasty to patients receiving multiple doses of dexamethasone and tranexamic acid can further reduce perioperative blood loss without increasing the risk of inflammation, fibrinolysis, or other complications. Thus, it is advised to use tourniquets combined with dexamethasone and tranexamic acid to reduce perioperative blood loss and avoid tourniquet-related adverse events. Level of evidence: Therapeutic Level I. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trail Registry, ChiCTR2200060567. Registered 5 June 2022—retrospectively registered, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=171291. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a clinical trial, the responses to the new treatment may vary among patient subsets with different characteristics in a biomarker. It is often necessary to examine whether there is a cutpoint for the biomarker that divides the patients into two subsets of those with more favourable and less favourable responses. More generally, we approach this problem as a test of homogeneity in the effects of a set of covariates in generalized linear regression models. The unknown cutpoint results in a model with nonidentifiability and a nonsmooth likelihood function to which the ordinary likelihood methods do not apply. We first use a smooth continuous function to approximate the indicator function defining the patient subsets. We then propose a penalized likelihood ratio test to overcome the model irregularities. Under the null hypothesis, we prove that the asymptotic distribution of the proposed test statistic is a mixture of chi‐squared distributions. Our method is based on established asymptotic theory, is simple to use, and works in a general framework that includes logistic, Poisson, and linear regression models. In extensive simulation studies, we find that the proposed test works well in terms of size and power. We further demonstrate the use of the proposed method by applying it to clinical trial data from the Digitalis Investigation Group (DIG) on heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study of prognostic and predictive biomarkers plays an important role in the design and analysis of clinical trials. The Cox proportional hazards model is often used to study the biomarker main effect and the treatment‐biomarker interaction effect for survival data. The estimated effects can be biased if the proportional hazards assumption is violated. The restricted mean survival time is becoming popular in clinical studies for having a clear intuitive interpretation. In this article, we first propose nonparametric methods to make statistical inference for the one‐sample problem of the biomarker effect on the restricted mean survival time; we then extend the methods to the two‐sample problem for studying the difference in the biomarker effects between treatment groups in clinical trials. For a given biomarker, the restricted mean survival time is estimated by kernel smoothing methods with the inverse probability of censoring weights. We prove the consistency for the estimates and develop simultaneous confidence bands for the biomarker effects on the restricted mean survival time. The simultaneous confidence bands are evaluated in extensive simulation studies and are found to have good finite sample performance. We then apply the proposed methods to a breast cancer study conducted by the Breast International Group (BIG) to illustrate how the Ki67 biomarker, a protein marker of cell proliferation, affects the survival time of patients, compared between the treatment groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wildfire prediction model is crucial for accurate rescue and rapid evacuation. Existing models mainly adopt regular grids or fire perimeters to describe the wildfire landscape. However, these models have difficulty in explicitly demonstrating the local spread details, especially in a complex landscape. In this paper, we propose a wildfire spread model with an irregular graph network (IGN). This model implemented an IGN generation algorithm to characterize the wildland landscape with a variable scale, adaptively encoding complex regions with dense nodes and simple regions with sparse nodes. Then, a deep learning-based spread model is designed to calculate the spread duration of each graph edge under variable environmental conditions. Comparative experiments between the IGN model and widely used fire simulation models were conducted on a real wildfire in Getty, California, USA. The results show that the IGN model can accurately and explicitly describe the spatiotemporal characteristics of the wildfire spread in a novel graph form while maintaining competitive simulation refinement and computational efficiency (Jaccard: 0.587, SM: 0.740, OA: 0.800). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is considered the best treatment for sequelae of suppurative hip arthritis, but such patients are more likely to have occult infection and therefore to suffer post-operative periprosthetic joint infection. Our study examined (1) the occult infection rate among patients with sequelae of suppurative hip arthritis, and whether (2) neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), or fibrinogen levels can be used to screen such patients for occult infection before THA. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 428 patients who underwent primary THA at our hospital between 2010 and 2021, of whom 31 had occult infection and 397 did not. The maximum sensitivity and specificity were determined for the three indicators using receiver operating characteristic curves, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated. Results: Patients with occult infection showed significantly higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen than those without occult infection. The various potential indicators gave the following areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves: ESR, 0.586; CRP, 0.599; interleukin-6, 0.651; NLR, 0.506; MLR, 0.600; and fibrinogen, 0.589. Sensitivity and specificity were as follows: ESR, 30.8% and 92.5%; CRP, 50.0% and 70.2%; interleukin-6, 57.7% and 67.5%; NLR, 46.7% and 62.9%; MLR, 60.0% and 61.7%; and fibrinogen, 43.3% and 81.7%. Conclusion: The rate of occult infection was 7.24% among our patients. ESR, NLR, MLR, and levels of CRP, interleukin-6, and fibrinogen may be unreliable for screening such patients for occult infection before THA according to sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Regional river–lake-floodplain water exchange is extensively affected by dam regulation. • PLHD Dam operations alleviate regional groundwater deficit induced by autumn drought. • Groundwater level in ∼5,700 km2 plain increases due to regulated lake inundation. Large numbers of dams are planned or constructed for hydroelectric power production, water supply, and flood control in many rivers around the world. While the social and environmental impacts of dams are now well-understood, there is little knowledge about the effects of dams on groundwater-surface water interactions in a complex lake–river-aquifer system. This study adopts a three-dimensional groundwater numerical model to quantify the potential impacts of dam construction, on regional groundwater flow system, exemplified by the proposed Poyang Lake Hydraulic Dam (PLHD) in China. Once implemented, the PLHD will regulate lake levels, artificially controlling the lake inundation area during the recession season (September-October) and the dry season (November-December). Modeling results indicated that the increase in lake infiltration induced by PLHD regulation would alter the regional water exchange pattern. The PLHD regulation will likely enhance the groundwater storage by 20.44 % in the general dry year (i.e., 2018), alleviating 78.1 % of the groundwater deficit in the extreme dry year (i.e., 2019). Additionally, the response of groundwater dynamics to the PLHD regulation exhibits significant spatial differences between the upstream and downstream areas of the dam, primarily depending on topographical changes. Overall, the PLHD regulation is most likely to impact groundwater levels across an area of approximately 5,700 km2, and the associated groundwater storage is anticipated to reach a stable state, under future long-term regulation. Our findings may guide policy-makers wishing to develop more suitable PLHD scheduling plans and floodplain protection strategies by providing reliable information regarding groundwater storage change and ecosystem succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ignition location prediction is crucial for wildfire incident investigation and events reconstruction. However, existing models mainly focus on simulating the wildfire forward and rarely trace the ignition backward. In this paper, a novel transformer-based neural network named ILNet was proposed to predict the ignition location backward from the final wildfire perimeter. The ILNet first concatenated all wildfire-driven data as a composite image and divided it into several regular patches. Then, the self-attention mechanism was adopted to extract global spatial features with a variable scale among these patches. These features were further decoded to output semantic masks of growth phase and ignition phase. The geometric center of ignition phase was defined as the ignition location. Finally, a real wildfire was chosen as the study case. The results show the competitive performance of ILNet model (MIoU: 88.45%, IDE_N: 1.99%, computation time: 0.57s), enabling to improve the traditional field work for government agencies. [Display omitted] • Traditional ignition traceability methods require heavy human work. So, it's necessary to investigate innovative algorithm. • We implemented a novel transformer-based model to predict wildfire ignition from the final wildfire perimeter. • Our proposed ILNet eliminates the limitations of traditional methods in computational complexity and model accuracy. • The transformer with self-attention mechanism can better extract and represent global spatial features. • The experimental results on real cases show that ILNet has superior performance than traditional CNN models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new genus and species of the Galeaspida Qushiaspis elaia gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Devonian Xujiachong Formation of Qujing, Yunnan Province, southwestern China. The new genus displays the diagnostic characters of Huananaspidiformes including a large oval-shaped median dorsal opening, a slender rostral process, lateral positioned orbital opening, and posteriorly projecting cornual and inner cornual processes. It bears a closer resemblance to Gantarostrataspidae than to Sanchaspidae and Huananaspidae in lacking the laterally projecting cornual processes, than to Sanqiaspidae in lacking the crescent-shaped median dorsal opening. Unlike all other galeaspids, the dermal ornamentation of Qushiaspis exhibits numerous tessera-like units composed of a central large olive-shaped tubercle surrounded by 1–2 rings of much smaller tubercles. An extended phylogenetic analysis of Galeaspida indicates that Qushiaspis, Gantarostrataspis, Wumengshanaspis, and Rhegmaspis form a monophyletic group, the family Gantarostrataspidae, and Qushiaspis is the sister taxon of all other gantarostrataspids. As a less derived gantarostrataspid, Qushiaspis sheds new light on the plesiomorphic condition of the family Gantarostrataspidae, and demonstrates the high diversity of Devonian galeaspids during the Pragian in the Qujing Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometer based on a UV digital micromirror device (UV-DMD-AFS) has been proposed by our team for attenuating spectral and scattering interferences. Software is nontrivial for the automation of component control and sample analysis in the new instrument. In this work, the software was developed using the C# programming language together with multi-threading and combined with the SQLite database, which consists of component control and data acquisition, database, wavelength initialization, and real-time interference reduction module. To realize the accurate analysis of the trace heavy metal concentration, the spectral interference was avoided by measuring the non-interference wavelength, and the scattering interference was eliminated by the real-time proportional coefficient method. The microsecond rotation speed of the DMD is the key to achieving real-time reduction. The concentration of arsenic in Water Quality (GSB 07-3171-2014) was detected to validate the practicability of the software with the concentration deviation of 0.02 ng/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cox regression model or accelerated failure time regression models are often used for describing the relationship between survival outcomes and potential explanatory variables. These models assume the studied covariates are connected to the survival time or its distribution or their transformations through a function of a linear regression form. In this article, we propose nonparametric, nonlinear algorithms (deepAFT methods) based on deep artificial neural networks to model survival outcome data in the broad distribution family of accelerated failure time models. The proposed methods predict survival outcomes directly and tackle the problem of censoring via an imputation algorithm as well as re‐weighting and transformation techniques based on the inverse probabilities of censoring. Through extensive simulation studies, we confirm that the proposed deepAFT methods achieve accurate predictions. They outperform the existing regression models in prediction accuracy, while being flexible and robust in modeling covariate effects of various nonlinear forms. Their prediction performance is comparable to other established deep learning methods such as deepSurv and random survival forest methods. Even though the direct output is the expected survival time, the proposed AFT methods also provide predictions for distributional functions such as the cumulative hazard and survival functions without additional learning efforts. For situations where the popular Cox regression model may not be appropriate, the deepAFT methods provide useful and effective alternatives, as shown in simulations, and demonstrated in applications to a lymphoma clinical trial study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pocock and Simon's minimization method is a popular approach for covariate‐adaptive randomization in clinical trials. Valid statistical inference with data collected under the minimization method requires the knowledge of the limiting covariance matrix of within‐stratum imbalances, whose existence is only recently established. In this work, we propose a bootstrap‐based estimator for this limit and establish its consistency, in particular, by Le Cam's third lemma. As an application, we consider in simulation studies adjustments to existing robust tests for treatment effects with survival data by the proposed estimator. It shows that the adjusted tests achieve a size close to the nominal level, and unlike other designs, the robust tests without adjustment may have an asymptotic size inflation issue under the minimization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pattern analysis in wildfire spread behaviors is crucial for rescue actions and disaster reduction. Deep learning methods have the potential to model the wildfire spread despite problems such as continuous time prediction and multimodal environmental encoding. Therefore, we present a novel hierarchical convolutional neural network (CNN) denoted as WFNet to model the spread pattern of wildfires. The core of WFNet is defining the spread spatiotemporal distribution field (SSDF) to describe the process of wildfire spread, enabling global optimization and end-to-end prediction. Then, a hierarchical State-Condition mechanism is implemented to progressively and efficiently encode high-order features pertaining to multimodal elements. The experimental results demonstrate that WFNet has a competitive performance to existing models in computation time and model accuracy. More interestingly, WFNet shows excellent robustness when input fire state is in an uncertain moment, enabling investigators to quickly backward the ignition from the fire perimeter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Evaluation of vertical effective stress of soils around piles is essential to calculation of pile capacities. However, the widely-used design manuals such as FHWA and API recommend different methods for calculating the vertical effective stress under scour conditions, which thus lead to different calculations of pile capacities. This paper was to evaluate the suitability of the existing methods and the proposed analytical solution for estimation of pile tension capacity by comparing them with FE analyses under different scour-hole dimensions. Based on the comparisons, recommendations were developed for selecting an appropriate method to calculate pile tension capacity under different scour-hole conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlocal means filter plays an important role in image denoising. We propose in this paper an image denoising model which is a suitable improvement of the nonlocal means filter. We compare this model with the nonlocal means filter, both theoretically and experimentally. Experiment results show that this new model provides good results for image denoising. Particularly, it is better than the nonlocal means filter when we consider the denoising for natural images with high textures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aberrant formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been implicated in ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic recurrent intestinal inflammation. Cyclosporine A (CsA) is now applied as rescue therapy for acute severe UC. In addition, it has been certained that CsA inhibits the formation of NETs in vitro and the mechanism of which was still vague. The study aimed to explore the mechanism CsA inhibits the NETs formation of colitis in vivo and in vitro. Methods: NETs enrichment in clinical samples was analyzed using databases from Gene Expression Omnibus and verified in our center. Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced acute colitis mice model was used to investigate the effect of CsA on NETs of colonic tissue expression. To clarify the mechanism, intracellular energy metabolites were examined by Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were examined by fluorescence intensity in neutrophils treated with CsA after LPS stimulation. The transcriptional level and activity of G6PD of neutrophils were also assessed using qRT-PCR and WST-8. RNA Sequencing was used to detect differentially expressed genes of neutrophils stimulated by LPS with or without CsA. The expression levels of related proteins were detected by western blot. Results: NETs enrichment was especially elevated in moderate-to-severe UC patients compared to HC. NETs expression in the colon from DSS colitis was decreased after CsA treatment. Compared with neutrophils stimulated by LPS, NETs formation and cellular ROS levels were decreased in LPS + CsA group. Cellular ribulose 5-phosphate and NADPH/NADP + related to the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) were reduced in LPS + CsA group. In addition, CsA could decrease G6PD activity in neutrophils stimulated with LPS, and the results were further verified by inhibiting G6PD activity. At last, P53 protein was highly expressed in LPS + CsA group compared with the LPS group. Intracellular G6PD activity, ROS level and NETs formation, which were downregulated by CsA, could be reversed by a P53 inhibitor. Conclusion: Our results indicated CsA could alleviate the severity of colitis by decreasing the formation of NETs in vivo. In vitro, CsA reduced ROS-dependent NETs release via downregulating PPP and cellular ROS levels by decreasing G6PD activity directly by activating the P53 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When making patient-specific prediction, it is important to compare prediction models to evaluate the gain in prediction accuracy for including additional covariates. We propose two statistical testing methods, the complete data permutation (CDP) and the permutation cross-validation (PCV) for comparing prediction models. We simulate clinical trial settings extensively and show that both methods are robust and achieve almost correct test sizes; the methods have comparable power in moderate to large sample situations, while the CDP is more efficient in computation. The methods are also applied to ovarian cancer clinical trial data. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In contrast to single piles, pile groups experience more capacity loss by scour due to not only geotechnical group effect but also hydraulic group effect. However, existing standards only include design considerations for scoured single piles, and scour effects on lateral responses of pile groups are not fully appreciated. This study proposes a practical method to analyze lateral responses of pile groups in soft clays affected by local scour. The proposed method was verified against the results of 3D continuum finite element (FE) models, in which the baseline no-scour 3D FE model was established based on a reported full-scale load test. Parametric analyses were conducted to investigate the effects of scour-hole dimensions and pile group configurations on the lateral responses of pile groups in soft clays. The suitability of applying the methods specified in the various standards for a scoured single isolated pile to a scoured pile group was assessed by comparing them with the proposed method and 3D FE analyses. The results also highlighted the importance of the hydraulic group effect in the evaluation of lateral behavior of scoured pile groups. This research recommends a rectangular pile group shape with greater pile spacing in the foundation design against scour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In clinical trials, patients with different biomarker features may respond differently to the new treatments or drugs. In personalized medicine, it is important to study the interaction between treatment and biomarkers in order to clearly identify patients that benefit from the treatment. With the local partial-likelihood estimation (LPLE) method proposed by Fan J, Lin H, Zhou Y. Local partial-likelihood estimation for lifetime data. The Annals of Statistics 2006; 34(1):290Ű325, the treatment effect can be modeled as a flexible function of the biomarker. In this paper, we propose a bootstrap test method for survival outcome data based on the LPLE, for assessing whether the treatment effect is a constant among all patients or varies as a function of the biomarker. The test method is called local partial-likelihood bootstrap (LPLB) and is developed by bootstrapping the martingale residuals. The test statistic measures the amount of change in treatment effects across the entire range of the biomarker and is derived based on asymptotic theories for martingales. The LPLB method is nonparametric and is shown in simulations and data analysis examples to be flexible enough to identify treatment effects in a biomarker-defined subset and more powerful to detect treatment-biomarker interaction of complex forms than the Cox regression model with a simple interaction. We use data from a breast cancer and a prostate cancer clinical trial to illustrate the proposed LPLB test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) fundamentally changes the existing anti‐jamming paradigm by reconstructing the wireless propagation environment. However, the existing RIS‐based anti‐jamming work mainly considers narrow‐band frequency‐flat fading channels. As an extension of existing work, the use of RIS to enhance the anti‐jamming capability of broadband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system in frequency‐selective fading channels is first studied. In the multipath frequency‐selective fading channels, the anti‐jamming design needs to satisfy the channel gains of all signal paths with different delays. To this end, the authors propose a joint design scheme of active precoding at the transmitter and passive precoding at the RIS to attenuate the jamming signal and enhance the legitimate signal, and formulate the joint design objective to maximize the average rate of all subcarriers. An alternating optimization algorithm is developed to address this non‐convex problem due to the complex coupling of active and passive precoding. In detail, the active and passive precoding are solved by the Cauchy–Schwarz inequality and power water‐filling method and the alternating direction method of multipliers method assisted by multidimensional complex quadratic transform, respectively. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can significantly improve the anti‐jamming communication performance of the OFDM system compared with the scheme without RIS. In addition, the impact of the number of RIS elements and deployment location on system performance is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Interleukin-17(IL-17)-producing T helper(Th)17 cells are considered as a new subset of cells critical to the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to investigate the distribution of Th17 cells, the expressions of Th17-related cytokines (IL-17, IL-21 and IL-22) and their association with disease activity in IBD patients. Methods: We collected intestinal tissue biopsies from 40 patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC), 20 patients with active Crohn's disease (CD) and 20 healthy controls. The distribution of Th17 cells and expressions of Th17-related cytokines in colonic tissues were evaluated by a standard immunohistochemical procedure. Serum IL-17, IL-21 and IL-22 levels were determined by ELISA. Pearson's and Spearman's correlation analyses were performed to analyze the correlation between the number of Th17 cells, the expressions of Th17-related cytokines and disease activity index, endoscopic and histological grading, and CRP and PLT levels, respectively. Results: Compared with healthy controls, the number of Th17 cells and the expressions of IL-17, IL-21 and IL-22 were significantly increased in active IBD patients ( P < 0.05). In addition, Pearson's and Spearman's correlation analyses showed that the number of Th17 cells and the expressions of Th17-related cytokines were correlated with disease activity index, endoscopic and histological grading, CRP and PLT levels ( P < 0.05). Conclusions: Th17 cells and Th17-related cytokines (IL-17, IL-21 and IL-22) were increased in the intestinal mucosa in active IBD patients and may play an important role in disease activity and mucosal damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are interested in estimating prediction error for a classification model built on high dimensional genomic data when the number of genes ( p) greatly exceeds the number of subjects ( n). We examine a distance argument supporting the conventional 0.632+ bootstrap proposed for the $n > p$ scenario, modify it for the $n < p$ situation and develop learning curves to describe how the true prediction error varies with the number of subjects in the training set. The curves are then applied to define adjusted resampling estimates for the prediction error in order to achieve a balance in terms of bias and variability. The adjusted resampling methods are proposed as counterparts of the 0.632+ bootstrap when $n < p$, and are found to improve on the 0.632+ bootstrap and other existing methods in the microarray study scenario when the sample size is small and there is some level of differential expression. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 41: 133-150; 2013 © 2012 Statistical Society of Canada [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we develop a weighted permutation (WP) method to construct confidence intervals for regression parameters in relative risk regression models. The WP method is a generalized permutation approach. It constructs a resampled history which mimics the observed history for individuals under study. Inference procedures are based on studentized score statistics that are insensitive to the forms of the relative risk function. This makes the WP method appealing in the general framework of the relative risk regression model. First-order accuracy of the WP method is established using counting process approach with a partial likelihood filtration. A simulation study indicates that the method typically improves accuracy over asymptotic confidence intervals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cross-validation based point estimates of prediction accuracy are frequently reported in microarray class prediction problems. However these point estimates can be highly variable, particularly for small sample numbers, and it would be useful to provide confidence intervals of prediction accuracy. We performed an extensive study of existing confidence interval methods and compared their performance in terms of empirical coverage and width. We developed a bootstrap case crossvalidation (BCCV) resampling scheme and defined several confidence interval methods using BCCV with and without bias-correction. The widely used approach of basing confidence intervals on an independent binomial assumption of the leave-one-out cross validation errors results in serious under-coverage of the true prediction error. Two split-sample based methods previously proposed in the literature tend to give overly conservative confidence intervals. Using BCCV resampling, the percentile confidence interval method was also found to be overly conservative without bias-correction, while the bias corrected accelerated (BCa) interval method of Efron returns substantially anti-conservative confidence intervals. We propose a simple bias reduction on the BCCV percentile interval. The method provides mildly conservative inference under all circumstances studied and outperforms the other methods in microarray applications with small to moderate sample sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first provides a critical review on some existing methods for estimating the prediction error in classifying microarray data where the number of genes greatly exceeds the number of specimens. Special attention is given to the bootstrap-related methods. When the sample size n is small, we find that all the reviewed methods suffer from either substantial bias or variability. We introduce a repeated leave-one-out bootstrap (RLOOB) method that predicts for each specimen in the sample using bootstrap learning sets of size ln. We then propose an adjusted bootstrap (ABS) method that fits a learning curve to the RLOOB estimates calculated with different bootstrap learning set sizes. The ABS method is robust across the situations we investigate and provides a slightly conservative estimate for the prediction error. Even with small samples, it does not suffer from large upward bias as the leave-one-out bootstrap and the 0.632+ bootstrap, and it does not suffer from large variability as the leave-one-out cross-validation in microarray applications. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FoxP3+CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a key role in the maintenance of peripheral self-tolerance, and it has been suggested that diabetes-susceptible nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice are defective in the generation and numbers of Tregs. We found thymic selection of Tregs to be under genetic control. Fetal thymic organ cultures on the NOD background required 3-to 10-fold more antigen than corresponding cultures on the B6 background for optimal induction of Tregs, but once the threshold for induction was reached the NOD background yielded close to 10-fold more Tregs. This increased selection of Tregs was also found in non- transgenic NOD mice in fetal through adult stages. This trait did not map to the MHC, idd3, or the chromosome 3 (Chr3) regions that control clonal deletion, but mainly to two regions on Chrl and Chril. Thus, NOD mice do not have a global defect in the generation or maintenance of Tregs; if anything, they show the opposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For pile-supported structures, scour is a major threat as it removes soils around foundations and causes structural damages. Scour effects on the performance of the pile foundation have been well studied. However, most of these studies are focused on lateral responses of single piles, while very limited research is focused on lateral responses of pile groups. Therefore, prevailing design standards only recommend scour design procedures for single piles. Here, we proposed an improved analytical method (IAM) to analyze laterally loaded pile groups considering various scour-hole dimensions. The IAM was validated against the results of 3D finite element (FE) models calibrated against a full-scale load test. A series of parametric analyses were conducted to investigate the effects of scour-hole depth, scour-hole slope angle, sand relative density, pile spacing, number of piles, and pile group configuration on both post-scour vertical effective stresses and lateral responses of pile groups. Based on the IAM, a simple practical approach called the influence depth method (IDM) was also developed for use in routine design. The feasibility of applying the standard methods for the scoured pile groups was evaluated by comparing them with the 3D FE analyses and the proposed methods (IAM and IDM). • Two simple methods were proposed to analyze the scoured laterally-loaded pile groups. • The feasibility of applying standard methods for scoured pile groups was assessed. • Open-source computer scripts were developed to implement the proposed methods. • A pile group in rectangular configuration may help mitigate scour impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the monopile-supported offshore wind turbine (OWT), scour can significantly affect the seismic responses of the structure. However, the combined effects of scour and earthquakes are not fully appreciated. This study proposed a new method to evaluate the post-scour seismic responses of monopole-supported OWTs, considering various scour-hole dimensions and soil stress-history changes due to different scour levels. Using the developed computer scripts, a parametric study was conducted, including 198 cases on a monopile-supported OWT in soft clays under different scoured conditions and six crustal earthquakes. The results showed that scour significantly changed the seismic responses of the selected OWT structure. Use of an overpredicted scour depth in the post-scour analysis underestimated the seismic response while simplifying local scour as general scour and ignoring soil stress history overestimated the seismic response of OWT. This research recommends in analysis the use of a cone-shape scour hole with side slope angle of 30°. • A simple method was proposed to assess the post-scour seismic responses of monopile-supported offshore wind turbine (OWT). • A set of open-source computer scripts were developed to implement the proposed method for engineering practice. • Use of an overpredicted scour depth in the post-scour analysis caused unsafe predictions of the seismic responses of OWT. • Simplifying local scour as general scour and ignoring soil stress history could overpredict the seismic responses of OWT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire safety in urban areas is gaining more attention along with the rapid development of urbanization and the increasing complexity of urban structures. Many fire spread models have been developed to support emergency decision making. However, most of them only investigate on single scenarios (forest fire or house fire) and usually have difficulty in balancing model accuracy and timeliness, which makes it hard to apply these models to large-scale heterogeneous scenarios. In this paper, we developed a fire spread model based on the heterogeneous Cellular Automata model for large-scale complex wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas. The model flexibly integrates a forest fire model and a house fire model based on thermal principles and empirical statistics. A software platform is developed based on the fire spread model correspondingly to validate its performance. Taking a real WUI fire occurred in California as a case study, we conducted comparative simulation experiments based on our software platform and widely used forest fire simulation software FlamMap6. The experimental results show that our model can simulate fire spread process with high efficiency, strong timeliness, and competitive accuracy, providing support on emergency decision-making of large-scale complex fire scenarios. • We propose a heterogeneous cellular automata model to simulate fire spread in the large-scale complex WUI scenario. • We optimize the fire spread algorithm in every single scenario and take the fire-resistant elements into consideration. • Comparative experimental results demonstrate that our model can generate timely predictions with competitive accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, no functional MRI (fMRI) studies have focused on brain entropy in right temporal lobe epilepsy (rTLE) patients. Here, we characterized brain entropy (BEN) alterations in patients with rTLE using resting‐state functional MRI(rs‐fMRI) and explored the relationship between BEN and alertness. Method: Thirty‐one rTLE patients and 33 controls underwent MRI scanning to investigate differences in BEN and resting‐state functional connectivity (rs‐FC) in regions of interest (ROIs) between patients and controls. Correlation analyses were performed to examine relationships between the BEN of each ROI and alertness reaction times (RTs) in rTLE patients. Results: Compared with controls, the BEN of rTLE patients was significantly increased in the right middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, and other regions of the left hemisphere and significantly decreased in the right middle frontal gyrus and left supplementary motor area (p < .05). The rs‐FCs between the ROIs (at p < .01, with the left superior parietal lobule and right precentral gyrus defined as ROI1 and ROI2, respectively) and the whole brain showed an increasing trend in rTLE patients. In addition, the BEN of ROI2 was associated with the intrinsic alertness and phasic alertness RTs of patients with rTLE. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that BEN is altered in patients with rTLE and that decreased BEN in the right precentral gyrus is positively related to intrinsic and phasic alertness; the abnormal FC in the brain regions with altered entropy suggests a reconstruction of brain functional connectivity. These findings suggest that BEN mapping may provide a useful tool for probing brain mechanisms related to TLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazardous chemicals are indispensable substances for the development of modern industries. However, improper storage, transportation, or handling of hazardous chemicals can cause chain disasters such as leakage and explosion, seriously threatening the safety of people's lives, society, economy, and natural environment. In this study, we analysed the occurrence and evolution process of various disaster events caused by hazardous chemical leakage based on the disaster system theory, and constructed a hazardous chemical leakage disaster chain from the aspects of disaster-causing factors, disaster-pregnant environment, hazard-affected bodies, and post-disaster losses. Taking a methane leakage accident as a case study, we conducted numerical simulation and spatio-temporal dynamic derivation on the hazardous chemical leakage disaster chain in a three-dimensional (3-D) geographic scene. This study can provide support on handling hazardous chemical leakage disasters and assist informed decision-making, including monitoring, pre-warning, disaster forecast and prevention, emergency preparedness, and post-disaster response, further improving the efficiency of emergency response and urban safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intense ultraviolet radiation and large amount of saline-alkali soil in the Golmud region of Province, China, have deteriorated the performance of asphalt pavement. Given the effect of adverse conditions in this area, this paper investigated the collective and interaction effects of salt chemicals, air temperature, and ultraviolet radiation on asphalt and asphalt mixture through laboratory experiments under controlled conditions. In particular, using different concentrations of Na2SO4 and NaCl solutions, simulated salt chemicals for asphalt and asphalt mixture performance impact. The mechanism of performance deterioration of the asphalt mixture suffered from salt attack was explored. The results show that the original asphalt's storage and loss modulus are higher than the modified asphalt at different temperatures with the multi-factors effect. In addition, the modified asphalt's phase angle is 5%∼10% higher than the original asphalt below −2°C. At the same time, strength loss rates of asphalt mixture increase with the cycles and solution concentration, varying from 20%−40%. Wet-dry cycles and the concentration of salt solution are positively correlated with the deterioration of asphalt mixture strength. This research provides the durability prediction and the more reasonable composition design of the asphalt mixture applied in salt enrichment regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of dexmedetomidine rather than midazolam may improve ICU outcomes. We summarized the available recent evidence to further verify this conclusion. Methods: An electronic search of PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science was conducted. Risk ratios (RR) were used for binary categorical variables, and for continuous variables, weighted mean differences (WMD) were calculated, the effect sizes are expressed as 95% confidence intervals (CI), and trial sequential analysis was performed. Results: 16 randomized controlled trials were enrolled 2035 patients in the study. Dexmedetomidine as opposed to midazolam achieved a shorter length of stay in ICU (MD = -2.25, 95%CI = -2.94, -1.57, p<0.0001), lower risk of delirium (RR = 0.63, 95%CI = 0.50, 0.81, p = 0.0002), and shorter duration of mechanical ventilation (MD = -0.83, 95%CI = -1.24, -0.43, p<0.0001). The association between dexmedetomidine and bradycardia was also found to be significant (RR 2.21, 95%CI 1.31, 3.73, p = 0.003). We found no difference in hypotension (RR = 1.44, 95%CI = 0.87, 2.38, P = 0.16), mortality (RR = 1.02, 95%CI = 0.83, 1.25, P = 0.87), neither in terms of adverse effects requiring intervention, hospital length of stay, or sedation effects. Conclusions: Combined with recent evidence, compared with midazolam, dexmedetomidine decreased the risk of delirium, mechanical ventilation, length of stay in the ICU, as well as reduced patient costs. But dexmedetomidine could not reduce mortality and increased the risk of bradycardia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is a non-invasive tool for monitoring Crohn's disease (CD) activity. Recently, sonographic activity scores, including the International Bowel Ultrasound Segmental Activity Score (IBUS-SAS) and Simple Ultrasound Activity Score for CD (SUS-CD), were developed. This study aimed to assess their clinical application value. This retrospective study enrolled patients with CD from March 2021 to June 2022. The diagnostic performance of the ultrasound scores was evaluated using the simplified endoscopic score for CD (SES-CD). Correlations of ultrasound scores with SES-CD, CD activity index (CDAI), and inflammatory biomarkers were assessed. Inter-rater reliability was compared. In total, 140 patients were included. The IBUS-SAS for evaluating disease activity had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.895, sensitivity of 85.4%, and specificity of 82.4% for the cut-off value of 48.7. The SUS-CD revealed an AUC of 0.835, sensitivity of 92.7%, and specificity of 64.7% for the cut-off value of 2.5. The IBUS-SAS and SUS-CD were positively correlated with SES-CD (r = 0.511 and 0.534, respectively). The scores correlated significantly with the CDAI and inflammatory biomarkers (all p < 0.01). The IBUS-SAS was more strongly correlated with CDAI (r = 0.666 vs 0.486) and C-reactive protein (r = 0.645 vs 0.434) than the SUS-CD. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the IBUS-SAS and SUS-CD between the two sonologists was excellent (ICC = 0.96 and 0.78, respectively). Both the IBUS-SAS and SUS-CD can evaluate disease activity in CD and exhibited a significant correlation with activity indices and inflammatory biomarkers. ChiCTR2200055221 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The brain activation patterns of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are still unclear and they involve multiple brain regions. Most previous studies have focused on abnormal activation in the frontal and temporal lobes, with few investigating the entire brain.Objective: To identify and compare the changes in cerebral hemodynamics and abnormal activation patterns in the entire brain of MCI patients and healthy older adults.Methods: Patients with MCI (n = 22) and healthy controls (HC, n = 34) matched by age, education levels, sex, and mental state were enrolled. They performed the same letter and category verbal fluency test (VFT) tasks while their behavioral performance and global cerebral hemodynamics were analyzed.Results: The performance during the category VFT task was significantly better than that during the letter VFT task across all participants (HC: correct: p < 0.001; intrusions: p < 0.001; MCI: correct: p < 0.001; intrusions: p < 0.001). The number of correct words during the letter and category VFT tasks was significantly higher in the HC group than in the MCI group (p < 0.001). The deoxygenated-hemoglobin (HbR) concentrations in the left parietal lobule (p = 0.022) and left inferior parietal lobule (p = 0.034) were significantly different during the category VFT task.Conclusion: The differences between HC and MCI groups were greater in the category task. The HbR concentration was more sensitive for the category VFT task and concentration changes in the left parietal lobule and left inferior parietal lobule may be useful for clinical screening and application; thus, they deserve more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tube internal erosion, which corresponds to its wall thinning process, is one of the major safety concerns for tubes. Many sensing technologies have been developed to detect a tube wall thinning process. Among them, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are the most popular ones due to their precise measurement properties. Most of the current works focus on how to design different types of FBG sensors according to certain physical laws and only test their sensors in controlled laboratory conditions. However, in practice, an industrial system usually suffers from harsh and dynamic environmental conditions, and FBG signals are affected by many unpredictable factors. Consequently, the FBG signals have more fluctuations and are polluted by noises. Hence, the signals no longer directly follow the assumed physical laws and their proposed thinning detection mechanisms no longer work. Targeting at this, this article develops a data-driven model for FBG signal feature extraction and tube wall thickness monitoring using data analytic techniques. In particular, we develop a spatiotemporal model to describe dynamic FBG signals and extract features related to thickness. By taking physical law as guideline, we trace the relationship between the extracted features and the tube wall thickness, based on which we construct an online statistical monitoring scheme for tube wall thinning process. We use both laboratory test and field trial experiment to demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of the proposed scheme. Note to Practitioners—This article is motivated by the real industrial needs of inner erosion detection of tubes in harsh environment. Most of the current research works focus on designing various sensing apparatuses based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors for nondestructive erosion detection. These apparatuses prove to be able to collect signals reflecting tube wall thickness in static and controllable laboratory environment qualitatively. However, in reality, the industrial environment, which is impacted by many changing factors, is dynamic and uncontrollable. Consequently, the signals collected by these FBG apparatuses would have larger variations that mask the signals related to thickness. Furthermore, current methods have neither mentioned how to process their collected data to capture the unnoticeably slow but accumulative erosion information efficiently nor constructed online monitoring algorithms to detect the tube wall thinning process based on the collected signals quantitatively. Built upon their apparatuses but targeting at their unsolved challenges, we propose a novel data-driven approach for FBG signal analysis that can remove the environmental influence and extract features only related to tube wall thickness, and using the extracted features, we construct a statistical process control scheme to monitor tube wall thickness and detect erosion in real time efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clonal deviation is a mechanism by which immature thymocytes expressing a self-reactive T cell antigen receptor (TCR) are rescued from clonal deletion by adopting an alternative differentiation pathway resistant to apoptosis. Here, we confirm and generalize previous indications that genetic alleles in NOD mice condition ineffective clonal deviation toward the CD8αα lineage, a peculiar population of TCRαβ lymphocytes that electively colonizes the intraepithelial lymphocyte pool in the gut. Thymic selection of CD8αα cells was very age-dependent, occurring almost exclusively in the postnatal period. Fewer CD8αα cells were found in the thymus and intraepithelial lymphocytes of BDC2.5 TCR transgenic mice on the NOD than on the C57BL/6 (B6) background; this paucity extended to standard NOD mice, albeit to a lesser extent. CD8αα cells resided in the BDC2.5 pancreatic infiltrate, and they were more abundant on the B6 than the NOD background, correlating with aggressivity of the lesion. A (B6g7 × NOD)F2 intercross in agonist-challenged BDC2.5 fetal thymic organ cultures demonstrated the existence of a major quantitative trait locus on chromosome 3, coincident with an interval associated with resistance to clonal deletion. A replicate linkage confirmed these positions and showed that the same region also controls clonal deviation toward the CD4+FoxP3+ regulatory I cell lineage. That clonal deviation toward the CD8αα and regulatory T cell pathways share genetic control further highlights the similarities between these two "rescue lineages," consistent with an immunoregulatory role for CD8αα cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Our regularization parameter is adaptively determined according to the image content. • Our model is based on nonlocal TV and the proposed regularization parameter. • Our algorithm based on split-Bregman can solve our new model efficiently. • Our method has efficient denoising performance while preserve edges and textures. • Our method can improve visual quality, PSNR and SSIM efficiently. In the nonlocal total variation (NLTV) model the constant regularization parameter λ cannot adaptively control the balance between the regularization term and the fidelity term, which may results in over-smoothing and the more losing image details in non-flat areas when λ is small, or insufficient noise removal in flat areas when λ is large. It is better that λ has different values according to the characteristics of image areas. In this paper, we introduce an adaptive regularization parameter λ (x) which can recognize flat areas and non-flat areas of an image and propose an improved NLTV model by replacing regularization parameter λ in NLTV model with the function λ (x). In addition, we calculate the similarity weight function of our model from the pre-filtered image to reduce the influence of noise on it. Experimental results demonstrate our approach outperforms some existing methods in terms of objective criteria and subjective visual perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kisspeptin and its G protein-coupled receptor KISS1R play key roles in mammalian reproduction due to their involvement in the onset of puberty and control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. However, recent studies have indicated a potential role of extra-hypothalamic kisspeptin in reproductive function. Here, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of the physiological significance of kisspeptin/KISS1R in the peripheral reproductive system (including the ovary, testis, uterus, and placenta) and the potential role of kisspeptin/KISS1R in reproductive diseases. A comprehensive understanding of the expression, function, and potential molecular mechanisms of kisspeptin/KISS1R in the peripheral reproductive system will contribute to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of reproductive diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]