Ultrasound three-dimensional visualization, a cutting-edge technology in medical imaging, enhances diagnostic accuracy by providing a more comprehensive and readable portrayal of anatomical ...structures compared to traditional two-dimensional ultrasound. Crucial to this visualization is the segmentation of multiple targets. However, challenges like noise interference, inaccurate boundaries, and difficulties in segmenting small structures exist in the multi-target segmentation of ultrasound images. This study, using neck ultrasound images, concentrates on researching multi-target segmentation methods for the thyroid and surrounding tissues.
We improved the Unet++ to propose PA-Unet++ to enhance the multi-target segmentation accuracy of the thyroid and its surrounding tissues by addressing ultrasound noise interference. This involves integrating multi-scale feature information using a pyramid pooling module to facilitate segmentation of structures of various sizes. Additionally, an attention gate mechanism is applied to each decoding layer to progressively highlight target tissues and suppress the impact of background pixels.
Video data obtained from 2D ultrasound thyroid serial scans served as the dataset for this paper.4600 images containing 23,000 annotated regions were divided into training and test sets at a ratio of 9:1, the results showed that: compared with the results of U-net++, the Dice of our model increased from 78.78% to 81.88% (+ 3.10%), the mIOU increased from 73.44% to 80.35% (+ 6.91%), and the PA index increased from 92.95% to 94.79% (+ 1.84%).
Accurate segmentation is fundamental for various clinical applications, including disease diagnosis, treatment planning, and monitoring. This study will have a positive impact on the improvement of 3D visualization capabilities and clinical decision-making and research in the context of ultrasound image.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Introduction
Compared with traditional fundus examination techniques, ultra-widefield fundus (UWF) images provide 200° panoramic images of the retina, which allows better detection of peripheral ...retinal lesions. The advent of UWF provides effective solutions only for detection but still lacks efficient diagnostic capabilities. This study proposed a retinal lesion detection model to automatically locate and identify six relatively typical and high-incidence peripheral retinal lesions from UWF images which will enable early screening and rapid diagnosis.
Methods
A total of 24,602 augmented ultra-widefield fundus images with labels corresponding to 6 peripheral retinal lesions and normal manifestation labelled by 5 ophthalmologists were included in this study. An object detection model named You Only Look Once X (YOLOX) was modified and trained to locate and classify the six peripheral retinal lesions including rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), retinal breaks (RB), white without pressure (WWOP), cystic retinal tuft (CRT), lattice degeneration (LD), and paving-stone degeneration (PSD). We applied coordinate attention block and generalized intersection over union (GIOU) loss to YOLOX and evaluated it for accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision,
F
1 score, and average precision (AP). This model was able to show the exact location and saliency map of the retinal lesions detected by the model thus contributing to efficient screening and diagnosis.
Results
The model reached an average accuracy of 96.64%, sensitivity of 87.97%, specificity of 98.04%, precision of 87.01%,
F
1 score of 87.39%, and mAP of 86.03% on test dataset 1 including 248 UWF images and reached an average accuracy of 95.04%, sensitivity of 83.90%, specificity of 96.70%, precision of 78.73%,
F
1 score of 81.96%, and mAP of 80.59% on external test dataset 2 including 586 UWF images, showing this system performs well in distinguishing the six peripheral retinal lesions.
Conclusion
Focusing on peripheral retinal lesions, this work proposed a deep learning model, which automatically recognized multiple peripheral retinal lesions from UWF images and localized exact positions of lesions. Therefore, it has certain potential for early screening and intelligent diagnosis of peripheral retinal lesions.
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•Microwave heating promotes transglycosylation under mild temperature.•Microwave disrupts the hydrogen bonding networks within biomass structure.•Microwave activates the glycosidic ...bonds, thereby facilitating its cleavage.•Processes integrated with microwave are energy-saving and cost-effective.
Depolymerization of carbohydrate biomass using a long-chain alcohol (transglycosylation) to produce alkyl glycoside-based bio-surfactants has been gaining industrial interest. This study introduces microwave-assisted transglycosylation in transforming wheat bran, a substantial agricultural side stream, into these valuable compounds. Compared to traditional heating, microwave-assisted processing significantly enhances the product yield by 53 % while reducing the reaction time by 72 %, achieving a yield of 29 % within 5 h. This enhancement results from the microwave's capacity to activate intermolecular hydrogen and glycosidic bonds, thereby facilitating transglycosylation. Life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis demonstrate the benefits of microwave heating in reducing energy consumption by 42 %, CO2 emissions by 56 %, and equipment, operational and production costs by 44 %, 35 % and 30 %, respectively. The study suggests that microwave heating is a promising approach for efficiently producing bio-surfactants from agricultural wastes, with potential cost reductions and environmental benefits that could enhance industrial biomass conversion processes.
This study seeks to estimate how global supply chain relocates emissions of tropospheric ozone precursors and its impacts in shaping ozone formation. Here we show that goods produced in China for ...foreign markets lead to an increase of domestic non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) emissions by 3.5 million tons in 2013; about 13% of the national total or, equivalent to half of emissions from European Union. Production for export increases concentration of NMVOCs (including some carcinogenic species) and peak ozone levels by 20-30% and 6-15% respectively, in the coastal areas. It contributes to an estimated 16,889 (3,839-30,663, 95% CI) premature deaths annually combining the effects of NMVOCs and ozone, but could be reduced by nearly 40% by closing the technology gap between China and EU. Export demand also alters the emission ratios between NMVOCs and nitrogen oxides and hence the ozone chemistry in the east and south coast.
Cancer remains an intractable medical problem. Rapid diagnosis and identification of cancer are critical to differentiate it from nonmalignant diseases. High‐throughput biofluid metabolic analysis ...has potential for cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, the present metabolite analysis method does not meet the demand for high‐throughput screening of diseases. Herein, a high‐throughput, cost‐effective, and noninvasive urine metabolic profiling method based on TiO2/MXene‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI‐MS) is presented for the efficient screening of bladder cancer (BC) and nonmalignant urinary disease. Combined with machine learning, TiO2/MXene‐assisted LDI‐MS enables high diagnostic accuracy (96.8%) for the classification of patient groups (including 47 BC and 46 ureteral calculus (UC) patients) from healthy controls (113 cases). In addition, BC patients can also be identified from noncancerous UC individuals with an accuracy of 88.3% in the independent test cohort. Furthermore, metabolite variations between BC and UC individuals are investigated based on relative quantification, and related pathways are also discussed. These results suggest that this method, based on urine metabolic patterns, provides a potential tool for rapidly distinguishing urinary diseases and it may pave the way for precision medicine.
By using TiO2/MXene‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry, rapid screening of metabolic change in urinary disease is realized. The paradigm presented here can in principle be used for most biofluid samples. The combination of machine learning advances the understanding of urine metabolic fingerprints for large‐scale screening of disease. This approach paves the way for the early diagnosis of urinary cancers from nonmalignant diseases.
The outcomes of monotherapy could not satisfy clinical cancer treatment owing to the challenges of tumor heterogeneity, multi-drug resistance, tumor metastasis and relapse. In response, the ...significance of combinational cancer therapy has been highlighted. Traditional combinational schemes usually utilize “free” drug for multi drug administration, independently. The diverse pharmacokinetics and biodistribution greatly hinder the antitumor effects and cause systematic toxicity. To tackle the hinderance, various nanoparticulate drug delivery systems (Nano-DDSs) have been developed. However, conventional Nano-DDSs encapsulate drugs into carrier materials through noncovalent interactions, resulting in low drug loading, fixed multi drug encapsulation ratio, chemical instability and carrier-associated toxicity. Recently, carrier-free nanocombos based on self-assembling small-molecule prodrugs (SPNCs) have emerged as a versatile Nano-DDSs for multiple drug delivery. Benefited by the self-assembly capability, SPNCs could be facilely fabricated with distinct merits of ultra-high drug loading, adjustable drug ratio and negligible carrier-associated toxicity. Herein, we summarize the latest trends of SPNCs. First, a basic review on self-assembling small-molecule prodrugs is presented. Additionally, facile techniques to prepare SPNCs are introduced. Furthermore, advanced combinational therapies based on SPNCs are spotlighted with special emphasis on synergistic mechanisms. Finally, future prospects and challenges are discussed.
The manuscript summarizes the latest trends of carrier-free nanocombos based on self-assembling small-molecule prodrugs for advanced combinational cancer therapy. Display omitted
•This review summarizes latest trends of small-molecule prodrug-based nanocombos (SPNCs) for combinational cancer therapy.•The fabrication techniques of SPNCs are introduced in detail.•Advanced combinational therapies based on SPNCs are overviewed.•Synergistic mechanisms of SPNCs were specially emphasized.
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•Li0.35La0.55TiO3(LLTO) are synthesized by sol-gel method and two-step calcination.•LLTO-(PEO-FEC) possess high Li+ conductivity vs low electronic conductivity at 25 ...°C.•LLTO-(PEO-FEC) show a wide electrochemical window of 5.2 V (vs. Li+/Li).•FEC-Li+ coordination enables interface self-healing and dendrite-free Li deposition.
Solid-state Li-metal batteries have attracted much attention owing to the high energy density and safety afforded by Li-metal anode and solid-state electrolytes. However, Li-dendrite penetration and unstable interface between solid-state electrolyte and Li-metal incumber their application. Herein, fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) added Li0.35La0.55TiO3-Poly (ethylene oxide) (LLTO-(PEO-FEC)) composite solid-state electrolytes (CSSEs) are fabricated to address the bottlenecks. The CSSE possesses high Li+ conductivity of 1.13 × 10−4 S·cm−1 vs low electronic conductivity of 1.68 × 10−9 S·cm−1 at 25 °C, presents a wide electrochemical window of 5.2 V (vs. Li+/Li), and shows much more stable lithium deposition at current density of 0.2 mA·cm−2 for 800 h. FEC is driven by Li+ to the damaged interface to form new LiF-rich interface layer, which enables the self-healing of Li-metal and CSSE interface and enhances the electrochemical stability of CSSEs against Li-metal. Li| (LLTO-(PEO-FEC)) |LiFePO4 cell presents discharge capability of about 115 mAh·g−1 after 100 cycles at 50 °C. This work reveals the mechanism of dendrite-free Li deposition via interface self-healing process under the effect of FEC–Li+ coordination and provides a promising way to prepare the high performances composite solid-state electrolytes and to fabricate the dendrite-free all-solid-state lithium battery.
•Consumption-based emissions for 7 air pollutants in Guangdong in 2007 and 2012 were estimated.•Consumption-based emission patterns varied from production-based ones.•Half of the air pollutant ...emissions were related to export.•Production-end control, industrial structures and final demands explained emission trends.•Guangdong was moving towards a cleaner production and consumption pathway.
Guangdong is one of many fast-developing regions in China that are confronting the challenges of air pollution mitigation and sustainable economic development. Previous studies have focused on the characterization of production-based emissions to formulate control strategies, but the drivers of emission growth and pattern changes from the consumption side have rarely been explored. In this study, we used environmentally extended input-output analysis with well-established production-based emission inventories to develop a consumption-based emission inventory for seven pollutants in the years 2007 and 2012. The results showed that the demands of construction, transport and other services dominated the emissions from the consumption perspective, followed by electric power and some machinery and light industries. The varying trends of air pollutants from 2007 to 2012 were associated with production-based control measures and changes in economic structure and trading patterns. From the consumption perspective, due to the stringent control of SO2 in power plants and key industries, the SO2 emissions underwent substantial declines, while the less controlled PM10, PM2.5, VOC and CO emissions continued to grow. The contributions of the cleaner (that is, with lower emission intensity) service sectors (third-sector industries, excluding transport, storage and post) to all seven pollutants increased. This increase could be a consequence of the expansion of the service sector in Guangdong; in this five-year period, the service sector grew by 41% in terms of its contributions to Guangdong’s gross domestic product. Meanwhile, exports accounted for more than half of the emissions, but their share had started to decrease for most pollutants except VOC and CO. The results suggest that Guangdong moved towards a cleaner production and consumption pathway. The transformation of the industrial structure and increase in of urban demand should help to further reduce emissions while maintaining economic development.
A marine-sediment-derived bacterium Bacillus velezensis SH-B74 can produce cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs). This study presented the isolation, characterization, and activity evaluation of a new CLP from ...the bacterial cultures of the strain SH-B74. Multiple chromatographic methods (solid-phase extraction and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography) were applied to the purifying procedure of CLP, and the structural characterization of the new CLP was conducted by various spectroscopy (1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance together with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and spectrometry (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, high-resolution mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry) techniques as well as Marfey's method. The results displayed that the new CLP (anteiso-C
Ile
surfactin, 1) consists of a peptidic backbone of L-Glu
, L-Ile
, D-Leu
, L-Val
, L-Asp
, D-Leu
, L-Ile
, and an anteiso-C
type saturated fatty acid chain. Further activity assay showed that the new CLP displays activity on the inhibition of the appressoria formation of rice blast causal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. To sum up, the results presented the perspective of potential application of the new CLP as a green agrichemical to control M. oryzae.
Hollow multi-shelled Co3O4 (MS-Co3O4) and pomegranate-like Co3O4 encapsulated in carbon (CS-Co3O4@C) are fabricated by annealing at different atmosphere from the same micro-sized cobalt-based ...polymeric precursor.
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•Cubic cobalt-based polymeric precursor is prepared by hydrothermal reaction.•MS-Co3O4 and CS-Co3O4@C are fabricated from the same precursor.•MS-Co3O4 manifests a capacity of 1195 mAh·g−1 and initial CE of 80.3% at 200 mA·g−1.•CS-Co3O4@C delivers a capacity of 676 mAh·g−1 at 2 A·g−1 after 500 cycles.
To solve the low conductivity and huge volume change of cobalt-based anode, the tuneable Co3O4 structure is constructed through a template-free hydrothermal strategy and calcination under different atmosphere. Multi-shelled Co3O4 (MS-Co3O4) and pomegranate-like Co3O4 encapsulated in carbon (CS-Co3O4@C) are fabricated from the same micron-sized cobalt-based polymeric precursor. MS-Co3O4 manifests a capacity of 1195 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 200 mA·g−1 and delivers an initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 80.3%. In addition, CS-Co3O4@C delivers a reversible capacity as high as 676 mAh·g−1 at 2000 mA·g−1 after 500 cycles. Such high capacity, remarkable cycling and rate performances are attributed to hollow multi-shelled structure and carbon network skeleton, which promote the initial coulombic efficiency, relieve volume change and facilitate the migration of Li-ion.
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