Highlights • The multi-channel fully convolutional networks is designed. • We segment liver tumors from multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images. • We train one network for each phase of CT images and ...fuse their high-layer features together. • This method can make full use of the characteristics of different enhancement phases of CT images. • The results showed our model provided greater accuracy and robustness than previous methods.
The sand cat swarm optimization algorithm (SCSO) is a novel metaheuristic algorithm that has been proposed in recent years. The algorithm optimizes the search ability of individuals by mimicking the ...hunting behavior of sand cat groups in nature, thereby achieving robust optimization performance. It is characterized by few control parameters and simple operation. However, due to the lack of population diversity, SCSO is less efficient in solving complex problems and is prone to fall into local optimization. To address these shortcomings and refine the algorithm's efficacy, an improved multi-strategy sand cat optimization algorithm (IMSCSO) is proposed in this paper. In IMSCSO, a roulette fitness-distance balancing strategy is used to select codes to replace random agents in the exploration phase and enhance the convergence performance of the algorithm. To bolster population diversity, a novel population perturbation strategy is introduced, aiming to facilitate the algorithm's escape from local optima. Finally, a best-worst perturbation strategy is developed. The approach not only maintains diversity throughout the optimization process but also enhances the algorithm's exploitation capabilities. To evaluate the performance of the proposed IMSCSO, we conducted experiments in the CEC 2017 test suite and compared IMSCSO with seven other algorithms. The results show that the IMSCSO proposed in this paper has better optimization performance.
The keyword extraction of patents is crucial for technicians to master the trends of technology. Traditional keyword extraction approaches only handle short text like title or claims, but ignore the ...comprehensive meaning of the description. This paper proposes a novel patent keyword extraction method based on corpus classification (PKECC), which simulates the patent understanding methods of human patent examiners. First of all, a corpus classification model based on multi-level attention mechanism adopts the Bert model and hierarchical attention mechanism to classify the sentences of patent description into four parts including technical field, technical problem, technical solution, and technical effect. Then, the proposed keyword extraction method based on the fusion of BiLSTM and CRF is incorporated to extract keywords from the four parts. The proposed PKECC simulates understanding style of patent examiner by extracting keywords from the description. Meanwhile, PKECC may reduce the complexity of extracting keywords from a long text and improve the accuracy of keyword extraction. The proposed PKECC is compared with 5 traditional or state-of-the-art models and achieves better accuracy, F1 score and recall rate; its recall rate is above 62%, its accuracy reaches over 84%, and the F1 score arrives at 69%. In addition, the experimental results shows the proposed PKECC has a better universality in keyword extraction.
Accurate segmentation of specific organ from computed tomography (CT) scans is a basic and crucial task for accurate diagnosis and treatment. To avoid time-consuming manual optimization and to help ...physicians distinguish diseases, an automatic organ segmentation framework is presented. The framework utilized convolution neural networks (CNN) to classify pixels. To reduce the redundant inputs, the simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) of super-pixels and the support vector machine (SVM) classifier are introduced. To establish the perfect boundary of organs in one-pixel-level, the pixels need to be classified step-by-step. First, the SLIC is used to cut an image into grids and extract respective digital signatures. Next, the signature is classified by the SVM, and the rough edges are acquired. Finally, a precise boundary is obtained by the CNN, which is based on patches around each pixel-point. The framework is applied to abdominal CT scans of livers and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans of lungs. The experimental CT scans are derived from two public datasets (Sliver 07 and a Chinese local dataset). Experimental results show that the proposed method can precisely and efficiently detect the organs. This method consumes 38 s/slice for liver segmentation. The Dice coefficient of the liver segmentation results reaches to 97.43%. For lung segmentation, the Dice coefficient is 97.93%. This finding demonstrates that the proposed framework is a favorable method for lung segmentation of HRCT scans.
Necroptosis is a new type of programmed cell death and involves the occurrence and development of various cancers. Moreover, the aberrantly expressed lncRNA can also affect tumorigenesis, migration, ...and invasion. However, there are few types of research on the necroptosis-related lncRNA (NRL), especially in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). In this study, we analyzed the sequencing data obtained from the TGCA-KIRC dataset, then applied the LASSO and COX analysis to identify 6 NRLs (AC124854.1, AL117336.1, DLGAP1-AS2, EPB41L4A-DT, HOXA-AS2, and LINC02100) to construct a risk model. Patients suffering from KIRC were divided into high- and low-risk groups according to the risk score, and the patients in the low-risk group had a longer OS. This signature can be used as an indicator to predict the prognosis of KIRC independent of other clinicopathological features. In addition, the gene set enrichment analysis showed that some tumor and immune-associated pathways were more enriched in a high-risk group. We also found significant differences between the high and low-risk groups in the infiltrating immune cells, immune functions, and expression of immune checkpoint molecules. Finally, we use the "pRRophetic" package to complete the drug sensitivity prediction, and the risk score could reflect patients' response to 8 small molecule compounds. In general, NRLs divided KIRC into two subtypes with different risk scores. Furthermore, this signature based on the 6 NRLs could provide a promising method to predict the prognosis and immune response of KIRC patients. To some extent, our findings helped give a reference for further research between NRLs and KIRC and find more effective therapeutic drugs for KIRC.
The process of colorectal cancer (CRC) formation is considered a typical model of multistage carcinogenesis in which aberrant DNA methylation plays an important role. In this study, 752 ...methylation-driven genes (MDGs) were identified by the
MethylMix
package based on methylation and gene expression data of CRC in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Iterative recursive feature elimination (iRFE) based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used to determine the minimum MDGs (iRFE MDGs), which could distinguish between cancer and cancer-adjacent tissues. Further analysis indicated that the changes in methylation levels of the four iRFE MDGs, ADHFE1-Cluster1, CNRIP1-Cluster1, MAFB, and TNS4, occurred in adenoma tissues, while changes did not occur until stage IV in cell-free DNA. Furthermore, the methylation levels of iRFE MDGs were correlated with the genes involved in the reprogramming process of somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells, which is considered the common signature of cancer cells and embryonic stem cells. The above results indicated that the four iRFE MDGs may play roles in the early stage of colorectal carcinogenesis and highlighted the complicated relationship between tissue DNA and cell-free DNA (cfDNA).
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•Ionic liquid-assisted voltage-driven exsolution of Cu nanoparticles was achieved.•Exsolved Cu with high density was socketed on the matrix.•Cu, metal/oxide interfaces and oxygen ...vacancies faciliated the reactions.•The electrochemical performances were promoted after the exsolution process.
In-situ exsolution of metal nanoparticles (NPs) from perovskite-type oxides has sparked tremendous attention to design highly efficient and durable heterogeneous catalysts for energy applications. However, the numbers of exsolved metal NPs are still limited even at high temperatures in reducing environments due to the sluggish kinetics of cations. Herein, an ionic liquid-assisted voltage-driven exsolution strategy at room temperature to prepare the Cu NPs socketed on La1.568Sr0.392Ce0.04NiCuxO4-δ (Cu@LSCNCx, x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) with uniform distribution and high density was proposed. When employed as cathodes for Zn-air batteries, the electrochemical performance was significantly enhanced, mainly ascribing to the rich well-dispersed Cu NPs, synchronously generated socketed metal/oxide interfaces and oxygen vacancies, which facilitated the mass transportation and electrons transferring during the charging/discharging process. Specifically, Cu@LSCNC0.05, exsolved using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide with an applied voltage of -0.6 V, demonstrated the highest peak power density enhancement of about 201% from 42.6 to 128.4 mW·cm−2 compared to the LSCNC0.05 counterpart. In addition, the battery performance could be further enhanced under solar irradiation. This work provides a new approach to designing economic and effective catalysts with abundant metal/oxide interfaces for many challenging electrochemical applications.
To obtain a spheroidal microstructure of a semi-solid Mg-Zn-Nd-Zr alloy, which is favorable for the subsequent thixocasting process, the recrystallization and partial remelting （RAP） method was used ...in this study, and the microstructure evolution of the alloy and the mechanism of the shape factor change during the RAP process were invesigated. The as-cast Mg-Zn-Nd-Zr alloy was prepared in a metal mold and then extruded into bars with an extrusion ratio of 16：1. Partial remelting was carried out on the extruded samples at 589 ℃ （at a heating rate of 0.5 ℃ .s1） for different holding times ranging from 0 to 90 min. To examine the effect of heating rate, partial remelting of samples at the heating rate of 2 ℃.s1 was also performed. Results show that the extruded microstructure rapidly evolutes into recrystallized grains in the semi-solid state; the liquid film initially forms at grain boundaries during the partial remelting, and then gradually changes from continuous into discontinuous state with the increase of holding time; this results in the agglomeration of adjacent grains and the decrease in shape factor. The value of shape factor increases continuously with holding time at first and reaches the maximum 0.62 when holding for 60 min, while decreases rapidly after a prolonged holding time. Moreover, local melting, mainly due to the inhomogeneous deformation during extrusion, becomes more significant and less uniformly distributed at a relatively higher reheating rate. The Mg-Zn-Nd-Zr magnesium alloy components have been thixo-cast successfully using the RAP method, which strongly proves the feasibility of RAP process in Mg-Zn-Nd-Zr alloy.
Aims. To investigate the historical data of the “Internet+ Nursing” service platform and provide a theoretical basis to optimize the “Internet+ Nursing” service model by analyzing a population in ...need of nursing care services, service prices, services in demand, willingness to place orders, and feedback on use. Methods. A retrospective analysis of data related to home care services on the “Jiuzhou Nursing Care” platform from April 2020 to August 2021, a total of 279 person-times, relevant information about the research subjects, and the status of home care services was conducted. SPSS 24.0 software was used for data analyses, such as calculating frequencies and percentages and conducting chi-square tests. Results. The “Jiuzhou Online Nurse” primarily serves elderly patients, and the majority of these patients have lost their ability to care for themselves. The average cost of nursing services was ¥183.45, and the unit cost of services had no effect on the number of service items. This particular internet-based home nursing service has a high level of satisfaction. Patients aged 60 to 74 have the highest number of Internet-based home care service orders (χ2=11.791, P<0.05). Patients who reuse the platform are more willing to assign people to provide services (χ2=238.078, P<0.05). Patients who were unable to care for themselves had a higher rate of repeat order (χ2=10.877, P<0.05). Conclusion. The “Internet+ Nursing” service platform specifically meets the individual needs of elderly patients, provides them with home nursing services, and improves local medical treatment and door-to-door services. This platform also provides convenience for elderly individuals who cannot care for themselves so that they can receive prompt treatment and assistance to improve their quality of life.
A new process, squeeze casting-solid extrusion (SCSE), was introduced to prepare semi-solid billets for thixoforming together with partial remelting. The microstructure development and tensile ...properties of AZ91D alloy reheated from states of as-cast and SCSE-formed were studied. During partial remelting, SCSE-formed samples obtained finer and more uniform microstructure obviously compared with as-cast ones. As the holding time went on, both solid particles from the two states experienced continuous spheroidization. In the meantime, from SCSE-formed were always to coarsen, while from as-cast were refined initially and coarsened then. Microstructure development is determined by the combination effects of various factors, including distortion energy from SCSE deformation, grain coalescence, Ostwald ripening mechanism, etc. During thixoforming, components with good forming quality were prepared successfully. Excellent tensile properties were obtained for the thixoformed alloy prepared by SCSE deformation, mainly with the microstructure refinement and the decrease of defects related.Original Abstract: Pristatomas naujas liejimo kieta ekstruzija isspaudziant procesas (SCSE), naudotas kartu su daliniu perlydymu pusiau kietu ruosiniu gamybai. Istirta AZ91D lydinio mikrostrukturos kaita ir atsparumas tempimui lydini pakartotinai atkaitinant po SCSE formavimo. Dalinio perlydymo atveju SCSE meginiams buvo budinga smulkesne ir vienodesne mikrostruktura, lyginant su neperlydytu. Didinant perlydymo trukme, abieju bandiniu kietosios daleles daresi sferoidines. Mikrostruktura leme ivairiu poveikiu derinys, iskaitant deformacijos energija del SCSE deformaciju, grudu susiliejima, Ostwald'o nokimo mechanizma ir t.t. Magnio AZ91D liejimo metu buvo uztikrinta gera komponentu formavimo kokybe bei puikios atsparumo tempimui savybes, kurios siejamos daugiausia su mikrostrukturos tobulinimu ir su ja susijusiu defektu sumazejimu.
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