•Testing several Convolutional Neural Networks on for skeletal bone age assessment with X-Ray images.•BoNet: a CNN for automated skeletal age assessment able to cope with hand nonrigid ...deformation.•First automated skeletal bone age assessment work tested on a public dataset with source code publicly available.•Providing answers to more general questions about deep learning on medical images.
Display omitted
Skeletal bone age assessment is a common clinical practice to investigate endocrinology, genetic and growth disorders in children. It is generally performed by radiological examination of the left hand by using either the Greulich and Pyle (G&P) method or the Tanner–Whitehouse (TW) one. However, both clinical procedures show several limitations, from the examination effort of radiologists to (most importantly) significant intra- and inter-operator variability. To address these problems, several automated approaches (especially relying on the TW method) have been proposed; nevertheless, none of them has been proved able to generalize to different races, age ranges and genders.
In this paper, we propose and test several deep learning approaches to assess skeletal bone age automatically; the results showed an average discrepancy between manual and automatic evaluation of about 0.8 years, which is state-of-the-art performance. Furthermore, this is the first automated skeletal bone age assessment work tested on a public dataset and for all age ranges, races and genders, for which the source code is available, thus representing an exhaustive baseline for future research in the field.
Beside the specific application scenario, this paper aims at providing answers to more general questions about deep learning on medical images: from the comparison between deep-learned features and manually-crafted ones, to the usage of deep-learning methods trained on general imagery for medical problems, to how to train a CNN with few images.
In this paper we present the partial wave unitarity bound in the parameter space of dimension-5 and dimension-6 effective operators that arise in a compositeness scenario. These are routinely used in ...experimental searches at the LHC to constraint contact and gauge interactions between ordinary Standard Model fermions and excited (composite) states of mass M. After deducing the unitarity bound for the production process of a composite neutrino, we implement such bound and compare it with the recent experimental exclusion curves for Run 2, the High-Luminosity and High-Energy configurations of the LHC. Our results also applies to the searches where a generic single excited state is produced via contact interactions. We find that the unitarity bound, so far overlooked, is quite compelling and significant portions of the parameter space (M,Λ) become excluded in addition to the standard request M≥Λ.
This work aims to investigate the potential of complex coacervation technique to encapsulate and protect all‐trans retinoic acid (RA). Gelatin and κ‐carrageenan were used as wall material and pequi ...oil was employed as a hydrophobic phase. Three formulations with different protein: polysaccharide ratio and pH were defined to produce the microparticles based on the zeta potential and turbidity analysis: (F1) ratio 3:1 and pH 3.5, (F2) ratio 8:1 and pH 3.5, and (F3) ratio 8:1 and pH 5.0. Microparticles were evaluated regarding their morphology, yield, encapsulation efficiency (EE), and stability. The properties of microparticles were mainly affected by the protein: polysaccharide ratio and the turbidity of the mixtures, which is directly related to the protein‐polysaccharide interaction. Formulation 1 showed the optimal values of yield (75.6%), EE (100.2%), and stability (85% of the encapsulated RA remained in the particle). The results demonstrated the high potential of this innovative technique to encapsulate RA for a future application in topical formulations.
We investigate the search for heavy Majorana neutrinos stemming from a composite model scenario at the upcoming LHC Run II at a centre of mass energy of 13 TeV. While previous studies of the ...composite Majorana neutrino were focussed on gauge interactions via magnetic type transition coupling between ordinary and heavy fermions (with mass
m
∗
) here we complement the composite model with contact interactions at the energy scale
Λ
and we find that the production cross sections are dominated by such contact interactions by roughly two/three orders of magnitude. This mechanism provides therefore very interesting rates at the prospected luminosities. We study the same-sign di-lepton and di-jet signature (
p
p
→
ℓ
ℓ
j
j
) and perform a fast detector simulation based on
Delphes
. We compute 3
σ
and 5
σ
contour plots of the statistical significance in the parameter space (
Λ
,
m
∗
). We find that the potentially excluded regions at
s
=
13
TeV are quite larger than those excluded so far at Run I considering searches with other signatures.
This paper introduces improvements to the simulation of particle suspensions using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and the discrete element method (DEM). First, the benefit of using a ...two-relaxation-time (TRT) collision operator, instead of the popular Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) collision operator, is demonstrated. Second, a modified solid weighting function for the partially saturated method (PSM) for fluid–solid interaction is defined and tested. Results are presented for a range of flow configurations, including sphere packs, duct flows, and settling spheres, with good accuracy and convergence observed. Past research has shown that the drag, and consequently permeability, predictions of the LBM exhibit viscosity-dependence when used with certain boundary conditions such as bounce-back or interpolated bounce-back, and this is most pronounced when the BGK collision operator is employed. The improvements presented here result in a range of computational viscosities, and therefore relaxation parameters, within which drag and permeability predictions remain invariant. This allows for greater flexibility in using the relaxation parameter to adjust the LBM timestep, which can subsequently improve synchronisation with the time integration of the DEM. This has significant implications for the simulation of large-scale suspension phenomena, where the limits of computational hardware persistently constrain the resolution of the LBM lattice.
This study examined efficacy and safety of the 980 nm side-firing diode laser operating at a power of 100 W in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia ...(BPH). Patients were selected for surgery on the basis of maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) <or=15 ml/s or transvesically measured post-voiding residual volume (PVR) >100 ml in conjunction with an International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) >7. Laser therapy was conducted under spinal anaesthesia. Qmax, IPSS, prostate volume, PVR, IPSS-Quality of Life (QoL) questionnaire and ejaculatory function were measured at baseline and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months post-laser therapy. A total of 52 consecutive patients aged 52-65 years with mean (s.d.) prostate volume of 45.14 (9.15) g were treated. All patients were able to leave the hospital at a mean (s.d.) of 5 (2) h after the procedure. Mean (s.d.) follow-up was 100 (75.49) days. A significant reduction in IPPS was reported at 1 month (P<0.0001) and this was maintained through to 6 months. Significant durable improvements in Qmax, PVR and IPSS-QoL score were also reported for all patients (P<0.0001). No severe complications were reported, including any cases of urinary incontinence or significant irritative symptoms. None of the patients complained of a worsening of erectile function. This early experience in a pilot study with the 980 nm diode laser seems promising in the short-term and long-term outcome is being monitored.
A new physics scenario shows that four-fermion operators of Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) type have a strong-coupling UV fixed point, where composite fermions
F
(bosons
Π
) form as bound states of three ...(two) SM elementary fermions and they couple to their constituents via effective contact interactions at the composite scale
Λ
≈
O
(TeV). We present a phenomenological study to investigate such composite particles at the LHC by computing the production cross sections and decay widths of composite fermions in the context of the relevant experiments at the LHC with
pp
collisions at
s
=
13
TeV and
s
=
14
TeV. Systematically examining all the different composite particles
F
and the signatures with which they can manifest, we found a vast spectrum of composite particles
F
that has not yet been explored at the LHC. Recasting the recent CMS results of the resonant channel
p
p
→
e
+
F
→
e
+
e
-
q
q
¯
′
(as
F
=
E
), we find that the composite fermion mass
m
F
below 4.25 TeV is excluded for
Λ
/
m
F
= 1. We further highlight the region of parameter space where this specific composite particle
F
can appear using 3
ab
-
1
, expected by the High-Luminosity LHC, computing 3 and 5
σ
contour plots of its statistical significance.
The shear-induced migration of dense suspensions with continuously distributed (polydisperse) particle sizes is investigated in planar channel flows for the first time. A coupled lattice ...Boltzmann–discrete element method numerical framework is employed and validated against benchmark experimental results of bulk shear-induced migration and segregation by particle size. Distinct dependence on the particle size distribution is shown in the flowing (non-plugged) regime (where the bulk solid volume fraction, $\bar{\phi}$, $\leq 0.3$) resulting from a dual dependence on the particle self-diffusivity and local rheology imposed by the particle pressure gradient. Close agreement between statistically equivalent bidisperse and polydisperse suspensions suggests that the bulk migration, and by extension the shear-induced diffusivity, is completely characterised by the first three statistical moments of the particle size distribution. For both bidisperse and polydisperse suspensions in the plugging regime, $\bar {\phi }\geq 0.4$, the smallest particles preferentially form the plugs, causing the largest particles to segregate to the channel walls. This effect is accentuated as $\bar {\phi }$ increases and has not been reported in the literature hitherto. It is proposed that smaller particles preferentially form the plugs due to their higher shear-rate fluctuations, which completely dominate particle motion near the plug where the mean shear rate vanishes. Finally, increasing inertia causes a greater bulk migration towards the channel walls, but increased mid-plane migration for the largest particles due to the dependence of the particle self-diffusivity on the particle Reynolds number. As $\bar {\phi }$ increases shear-induced migration dominates and these inertial effects disappear, as does dependence on the particle size distribution.
Numerical results for the partial wave unitarity bounds on the parameter space (Λ,M) of dimension-6 effective operators of a composite scenario presented in Biondini et al. (2019) 1 are revised. ...Figs. 2-5 and Table 1 are to be replaced by the following corresponding figures and table. We briefly comment on the impact on the conclusions presented in the original article.
PDF
