Conventional medical image watermarking techniques focus on improving invisibility and robustness of the watermarking mechanism to prevent medical disputes. This paper proposes a medical image ...watermarking algorithm based on the significant difference of cellular automata transform (CAT) for copyright protection. The medical image is firstly subsampled into four subimages, and two images are randomly chosen to obtain two low-frequency bandwidths using CAT. Coefficients within a low-frequency bandwidth are important information in an image. Hence, the difference between two low-frequency bandwidths is used as an important feature in the medical image. From these important features, watermarks and cover images can be used to generate an ownership share image (OSI) used for verifying the medical image. Besides appearing like cover images, the OSI will also be able to register with a third party. When a suspected medical image requires verification, the important features from the suspected medical image are first extracted. The master share image (MSI) can be generated from the important features from the suspected medical image. Lastly, the OSI and MSI can be combined to extract the watermark to verify the suspected medical image. The advantage of our proposed method is that the medical image does not require alteration to protect the copyright of the medical image. This means that while the image is protected, medical disputes will be unlikely and the appearance of the registered OSI will carry significant data to make management more convenient. Lastly, the proposed method has the features of having better security, invisibility, and robustness. Moreover, experimental results have demonstrated that our method results in good performance.
•A robust lossless medical watermarking scheme for copyright protection is proposed.•The CAT coefficient is used to produce an OSI for verifying the medical image.•The appearance of OSI is meaningful information to promote its management.•Our scheme can keep the quality of the medical image for copyright protection.
Background and Aims
The use of corticosteroids in chronic drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) is an important issue. Our previous randomized controlled trial showed that patients with chronic DILI ...benefited from a 48‐week steroid stepwise reduction (SSR) regimen. However, it remains unclear whether a shorter course of therapy can achieve similar efficacy. In this study, we aimed to assess whether a 36‐week SSR can achieve efficacy similar to that of 48‐week SSR.
Methods
A randomized open‐label trial was performed. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to the 36‐ or 48‐week (1:1) SSR group. Liver biopsies were performed at baseline and at the end of treatment. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with relapse rate (RR). The secondary outcomes were improvement in liver histology and safety.
Results
Of the 90 participants enrolled, 84 (87.5%) completed the trial, and 62 patients (68.9%) were women. Hepatocellular damage was observed in 53.4% of the cohort. The RR was 7.1% in the 36‐week SSR group but 4.8% in the 48‐week SSR group, as determined by per‐protocol set analysis (p = 1.000). Significant histological improvements in histological activity (93.1% vs. 92.9%, p = 1.000) and fibrosis (41.4% vs. 46.4%, p = .701) were observed in both the groups. Biochemical normalization time did not differ between the two groups. No severe adverse events were observed.
Conclusions
Both the 36‐ and 48‐week SSR regimens demonstrated similar biochemical response and histological improvements with good safety, supporting 36‐week SSR as a preferable therapeutic choice (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03266146).
Inactivating mutations in TET2 serve as an initiating genetic lesion in the transformation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Thus, effective therapy for this subset of patients ...would ideally include drugs that are selectively lethal in TET2-mutant HSPCs, at dosages that spare normal HSPCs. In this study, we tested 129 FDA-approved anticancer drugs in a tet2-deficient zebrafish model and showed that topoisomerase 1 (TOP1)-targeted drugs and PARP1 inhibitors selectively kill tet2-mutant HSPCs. We found that Tet2-deficient murine bone marrow progenitors and CRISPR-Cas9-induced TET2-mutant human AML cells were more sensitive to both classes of drugs compared with matched control cells. The mechanism underlying the selective killing of TET2-mutant blood cells by these drugs was due to aberrantly low levels of tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1), an enzyme that is important for removing TOP1 cleavage complexes (TOP1cc). Low TDP1 levels yield sensitivity to TOP1-targeted drugs or PARP1 inhibitors and an inability to remove TOP1 cleavage complexes, leading to DNA double-strand breaks and cell death. The finding that TET2 mutations render HSPCs uniquely vulnerable to disruption of TOP1 and PARP1 activity may therefore represent a unique opportunity to use relatively low dosages of these drugs for the "precision therapy" of TET2-mutant myeloid malignancies.
•Multisource hierarchical data fusion can generate high resolution AOD map.•MQQA-BME can help minimize the data gaps and reduce prediction uncertainties.•Combinations of remote sensing images and ...data help understand the forest fire impact.
Satellite and ground‐based remote sensing images, as well as reanalysis data, are widely used to measure and/or model aerosol properties of Earth's atmosphere. However, none of these data sources are perfect: satellite data suffer from various sources of uncertainties and data gaps; ground observations have limited spatial coverage; and reanalysis data can’t provide high resolution information. In this study, we synergize these three data sources to develop a hierarchical data fusion algorithm based on the philosophy of Modified Quantile-Quantile Adjustment-Bayesian Maximum Entropy (MQQA-BME). Such efforts lead to improved data coverage, prediction accuracy, and spatiotemporal resolution simultaneously. Practical implementation of MQQA-BME was assessed by mapping the aerosol optical depth (AOD) of a forest fire event in California in November 2018. The proposed hierarchical data fusion scheme successfully synergizes the multi-source AOD data of MERRA2, GOES-16, and MAIAC, and the fused products are further calibrated using AERONET data. The estimated coefficient of determination (R2) and the root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) of the fused data set of MEERA2_GOES_MAIAC are 0.481 and 0.084, respectively. After calibrating with AERONET AOD data, the R2 and RMSE were improved to 0.694 and 0.072, respectively. The MQQA-BME algorithm has paved a new way to dynamically map AOD at high spatiotemporal resolution.
Replication fork reversal which restrains DNA replication progression is an important protective mechanism in response to replication stress. PARP1 is recruited to stalled forks to restrain DNA ...replication. However, PARP1 has no helicase activity, and the mechanism through which PARP1 participates in DNA replication restraint remains unclear. Here, we found novel protein-protein interactions between PARP1 and DNA translocases, including HLTF, SHPRH, ZRANB3, and SMARCAL1, with HLTF showing the strongest interaction among these DNA translocases. Although HLTF and SHPRH share structural and functional similarity, it remains unclear whether SHPRH contains DNA translocase activity. We further identified the ability of SHPRH to restrain DNA replication upon replication stress, indicating that SHPRH itself could be a DNA translocase or a helper to facilitate DNA translocation. Although hydroxyurea (HU) and MMS induce different types of replication stress, they both induce common DNA replication restraint mechanisms independent of intra-S phase activation. Our results suggest that the PARP1 facilitates DNA translocase recruitment to damaged forks, preventing fork collapse and facilitating DNA repair.
Hemiplegic gait is the most common sequela of stroke. Patients with hemiplegic gait are at a risk of falling because of poor balance. The theory of cognitive-motor networks paved the way for a new ...field of research. However, the mechanism of the relationship of cognition with gait or posture control networks is unclear because of the dynamic characteristics of walking and changing postures. To explore differences in the balance function and fall risk between patients with and without cognitive impairment after stroke, we utilized the Berg balance scale, Timed “Up and Go” test, and 10 m walking test. Patients were divided into two groups: the observation group (16 patients, female 6 and male 10), comprising patients with cognitive impairment after stroke, and the control group (16 patients, female 7 and male 9), comprising patients without cognitive impairment after stroke. We found that patients with cognitive impairment had worse balance function and a higher risk of falls. They needed a longer time to turn around or sit down. Our findings indicated that posture control in turning around and sitting down required more cognitive resources in daily life.
► Electro-spark alloying (ESA) modification, as a potential promising method available was studied on Ti-alloy for biomedical applications. ► The ESA layer prepared in silicone oil show excellent ...wear and corrosion wear in SBF solution. ► The ESA layer prepared in silicone oil using a graphite electrode indicates good biocompatibility, and rough surface can help to enhance early cell attachment capacity.
In order to improve the biomedical properties of a titanium alloy surface, electro-spark surface alloying was carried out using a graphite electrode in air, in a nitrogen gas atmosphere and in silicone oil. The morphology and microstructure of the strengthened layers were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The hardness distributions as a function of depth were measured by a micro-hardness tester. Corrosion resistance capacities of the modified layers were evaluated using potentiodynamic polarization measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). In addition, wear resistance and corrosive wear properties in a simulated body fluid (SBF) were studied with a pin-on-disk tribometer. Alloyed layers, completely covering the substrate surface and about 40
μm thick mainly composed of the TiC phase and with strong metallurgical bonding and adhesion to the substrate, were obtained. This can markedly improve hardness and wear resistance of the surface layer of the substrate. In comparison to coatings prepared in air and nitrogen gas atmospheres, the coating produced in silicone oil media exhibits a denser and more perfect surface structure. The wear resistance in air and corrosive wear resistance in SBF solution is the best for the coating produced in silicone oil. For instance, the wear rate in air with a GCr15 steel ball counterpart is reduced by a factor of 29 compared with the original titanium alloy and the corrosive wear rate in SBF solution with a corundum ball can decrease by a factor of 13.8. Simultaneously, the effect of electron-spark surface alloying of the titanium alloy surface on biocompatibility and biological activity was also investigated. The electron-spark surface strengthened layer treated in silicone oil shows good biocompatibility and biological activity, and can help cell attachment to the substrate surface.
The first highly enantioselective hydrogenation of simple indoles was developed with a Brønsted acid as an activator to form the iminium intermediate in situ, which was hydrogenated using ...Pd(OCOCF3)2/(R)-H8-BINAP catalyst system with up to 96% ee. The present method provides an efficient route to enantioenriched 2-substituted and 2,3-disubstituted indolines.
Accurate signal detection is one of the most important requirements of wireless communication systems. The two most important processes of the signal detection are channel estimation and ...compensation. Since an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system among wireless communication systems uses orthogonal sub-carriers, the system has advantages of high bandwidth efficiency and simple channel compensation process compared with a single carrier system. However, due to the imperfect channel estimation and amplification of receiving noise by the channel compensation process, the reliability performance of the system is deteriorated according to the channel condition. This paper aims to introduce a new signal detection scheme based on deep learning. To address the challenges of signal detection, we propose the method which integrates the ensemble deep learning with the acquired received signals from multi-path channel according to the channel condition. The channel estimation corresponds to learning the deep neural network, and the channel compensation corresponds to assigning the received data to the learned network. Experiments on the OFDM symbol classification demonstrate that the proposed scheme has dramatically improved reliability performance compared with the conventional scheme.
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