We present LAVEA, a system built for edge computing, which offloads computation tasks between clients and edge nodes, collaborates nearby edge nodes, to provide low-latency video analytics at places ...closer to the users. We have utilized an edge-first design to minimize the response time, and compared various task placement schemes tailed for inter-edge collaboration. Our results reveal that the client-edge configuration has task speedup against local or client-cloud configurations.
Summary
As the critical load‐carrying components, hangers of long‐span suspension bridges are exposed to the combined actions of corrosive environment and cyclic stresses. Service life evaluation of ...hangers is an important issue for bridge maintenance and safety. In this study, a service life prediction framework is presented by establishing a direct link between site‐specific traffic loads and corrosion fatigue processes of hangers' steel wires. The cyclic stress responses of hangers are firstly obtained by inputting the weigh‐in‐motion (WIM)‐based reconstructed vehicular loads to the refined finite element model. The fatigue loading effects, that is, equivalent stress ranges and corresponding number of cycles extracted from cyclic stresses, are explicitly expressed as functions of the bridge‐site traffic loads. Then, the service lives of steel wires can be predicted based on the corrosion fatigue analysis with traffic growth. The proposed framework is applied to a newly built suspension bridge in China. Ninety‐day bridge‐site WIM data are utilized. It is indicated that the growing traffic density would greatly shorten the pitting corrosion time and accelerate the fatigue crack propagation of the steel wires, resulting in a dramatic decrease of the service lives of the hangers' steel wires.
Human brucellosis incidence in China has been increasing dramatically since 1999. However, epidemiological features and potential factors underlying the re-emergence of the disease remain less ...understood.
Data on human and animal brucellosis cases at the county scale were collected for the year 2004 to 2010. Also collected were environmental and socioeconomic variables. Epidemiological features including spatial and temporal patterns of the disease were characterized, and the potential factors related to the spatial heterogeneity and the temporal trend of were analysed using Poisson regression analysis, Granger causality analysis, and autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) models, respectively.
The epidemic showed a significantly higher spatial correlation with the number of sheep and goats than swine and cattle. The disease was most prevalent in grassland areas with elevation between 800-1,600 meters. The ADL models revealed that local epidemics were correlated with comparatively lower temperatures and less sunshine in winter and spring, with a 1-7 month lag before the epidemic peak in May.
Our findings indicate that human brucellosis tended to occur most commonly in grasslands at moderate elevation where sheep and goats were the predominant livestock, and in years with cooler winter and spring or less sunshine.
Increasing evidence suggests that T-UCRs are involved in the development of cancer. In this study, we evaluated the role of a macrophage-derived T-UCR, uc.306, in the prognosis of hepatitis B ...(HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
The uc.306 was obtained by screening microassay data obtained during the polarization of U937 cells from the M2 to M1 phenotype. Uc.306 and macrophage molecule markers were detected by qPCR. Immunohistochemical (IHC) assays were used to examine the M1/M2 status of 90 paired HCC tissues. Kaplan-Meier tests and multivariable Cox regression models were used to analyze predictive confidences, survival, and risk factors.
In total, 2,977 differentially expressed T-UCRs were obtained, of which 257 showed fold changes >1.5. The uc.306 was upregulated in M1 cells and was predicted to be involved in the Wnt pathway. The IHC results showed that M1 macrophages (CD68+) were present in the para-tumor tissues, while the M2 phenotype (CD163+) was mainly in the HCC tissues. Uc.306 had a lower expression in the HCC tissues than in that of the para-tumor tissues in 30 paired HCC training sets (P < 0.0001), and 252 paired HCC testing sets (P < 0.0001). Low expression of uc.306 was significantly associated with a shorter overall survival (P < 0.05).
The uc.306 may be a promising biomarkerfor HBV-related HCC, providing a novel marker for the prognosis of HCC.
The accurate prediction of post-hepatectomy early recurrence (PHER) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is vital in determining postoperative adjuvant treatment and monitoring. This study aimed to ...develop and validate an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict PHER in HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion.
Nine hundred and three patients who underwent curative liver resection for HCC participated in this study. They were randomly divided into derivation (n = 679) and validation (n = 224) cohorts. The ANN model was developed in the derivation cohort and subsequently verified in the validation cohort.
PHER morbidity in the derivation and validation cohorts was 34.8 and 39.2%, respectively. A multivariable analysis revealed that hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid load, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase level, α-fetoprotein level, tumor size, tumor differentiation, microvascular invasion, satellite nodules, and blood loss were significantly associated with PHER. These factors were incorporated into an ANN model, which displayed greater discriminatory abilities than a Cox's proportional hazards model, preexisting recurrence models, and commonly used staging systems for predicting PHER. The recurrence-free survival curves were significantly different between patients that had been stratified into two risk groups.
When compared to other models and staging systems, the ANN model has a significant advantage in predicting PHER for HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion.
It is necessary to control contact force through modulation of joint stiffness in addition to the position of our limb when manipulating an object. This is achieved by contracting the agonist muscles ...in an appropriate magnitude, as well as, balancing it with contraction of the antagonist muscles. Here we develop a decoding technique that estimates both the position and torque of a joint of the limb in interaction with an environment based on activities of the agonist-antagonistic muscle pairs using electromyography in real time. The long short-term memory (LSTM) network that is capable of learning time series of a longtime span with varying time lags is employed as the core processor of the proposed technique. We tested both the unidirectional LSTM network and bidirectional LSTM network. A validation was conducted on the wrist joint moving along a given trajectory under resistance generated by a robot. The decoding approach provided an agreement of greater than 93% in kinetics (i.e. torque) estimation and an agreement of greater than 83% in kinematics (i.e. angle) estimation, between the actual and estimated variables, during interactions with an environment. We found no significant differences in performance between the unidirectional LSTM and bidirectional LSTM as the learning device of the proposed decoding method.
Based on the hyperelastic material models, the propagation of nonlinear travelling waves in cylindrical rods has been studied. Here, different types of nonlinear travelling waves in a ...thermo-hyperelastic neo-Hookean cylindrical shell are determined. By using the variational principle, a complex differential dynamical system describing the axisymmetric motion of the shell is derived. The effect of the temperature fields is considered. Moreover, the structure is extended from a one-dimensional rod to a three-dimensional cylindrical shell. Then in terms of the bifurcation theory, a detailed qualitative analysis of the system is carried out, and for the bifurcation parameters, their corresponding critical bifurcation values are determined. Combining with the orbits in phase diagrams under different parameters, solitary waves and periodic waves are found in the shell. It is worth pointing out that the solitary waves with the valley form may appear in the radial direction of the shell. The implicit analytical solutions and profiles of these travelling waves are given. There is a promising prospect for the propagation of strongly nonlinear travelling waves to detect structural defects and determine material parameters.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumor in the world and its incidence is increasing in many countries. In recent years, with the deepening understanding of the ...immune and pathological mechanisms of HCC, immunotherapy based on the regulation of tumor immune microenvironment has become a new treatment choice for patients with HCC. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting programmed death protein-1, programmed death protein-ligand-1, or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 are the most widely used. Instead of general immune-enhancing therapies, ICIs can reactivate anti-tumor immune responses by disrupting co-inhibitory T cell signaling. In this review, the research progress and existing problems of ICIs in the treatment of HCC in recent years are reviewed.
The efficacy of core decompression plus autologous bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) remains controversial. We conducted a systematic ...review and meta-analysis to explore the efficacy of core decompression combined with BMSCs for OFNH patients.
We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library databases through October 2018 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of core decompression combined with BMSCs for OFNH patients. The primary outcome was the visual analog scale (VAS) score at 6 months, 12 months and 24 months. The pooled data were analyzed using Stata 12.0 software.
Fourteen studies with 540 patients (core decompression + BMSCs = 275, core decompression alone = 265) were included in our meta-analysis. Compared with the core decompression alone group, the core decompression + BMSCs group showed a significant decrease in the VAS score at 6 months, 12 months and 24 months, and a decrease in the number of hips undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) score and the volume of the postoperative necrotic zone. Core decompression + autologous BMSCs was associated with an increase in HHS postoperatively. No significant difference existed in adverse events.
Compared with core decompression alone in the treatment of ONFH, the combined utilization of core decompression and autologous BMSCs has better pain relief and clinical outcomes and can delay the collapse of the femoral head more effectively.
•We conducted a meta-analysis to compare the BMSCs combined core decompression for osteonecrosis of the femoral head.•This meta-analysis contains only RCT studies.•Combined CD with BMSCs can delay the collapse of the femoral head more effectively.