Segmentation and Diagnosis of Liver Carcinoma Based on Adaptive Scale-Kernel Fuzzy Clustering Model for CT Images.

Medical image analysis plays an important role in computer-aided liver-carcinoma diagnosis. Aiming at the existing image fuzzy clustering segmentation being not suitable to segment CT image with non-uniform background, a fast robust kernel space fuzzy clustering segmentation algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the sample in euclidean space is mapped into the high dimensional feature space through the kernel function. Then the linear weighted filtering image is obtained by combining the current pixel with its neighborhood pixels through the space information in CT image. Finally, the two-dimensional histogram between the clustered pixel and its neighborhood mean is introduced into the robust kernel space image fuzzy clustering, and the iterative expression of the fast robust fuzzy clustering in kernel space is obtained by using Lagrange multiplier method. The experimental results on four databases show that our proposed method can segment liver tumors from abdominal CT volumes effectively and automatically, and the comprehensive segmentation performance of the proposed method is superior to that of several existing methods.

Efficacy of press needle treatment in reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting, and retching gastrointestinal cancer patients: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and retching often pose challenges in managing patients with gastrointestinal cancer. This randomized controlled trial sought to evaluate the effectiveness of press needle therapy in mitigating CINV and retching following chemotherapy. Methods: Two hundred patients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) chemotherapy were randomly assigned to either the press needle group or the control group. The control group received 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) antagonists and dexamethasone 30 min before chemotherapy, followed by dexamethasone on days 2 and 3 after chemotherapy. In contrast, the press needle group received press needle treatment 30 min prior to chemotherapy. The primary outcome was the Index of Nausea, Vomiting, and Retching (INVR), assessed at seven time points: before chemotherapy and at 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 h post-chemotherapy. Results: All patients completed their respective treatments, and no significant adverse effects related to press needle treatment (such as skin allergies, acupoint infections, headaches, or dizziness) were reported. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences in INVR scores between the two groups (P < 0.05). Further analysis with a t-test indicated that INVR scores in the press needle treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group at 12, 24, and 36 hours after chemotherapy (P < 0.05), with no significant difference observed thereafter. Conclusions: Press needle treatment effectively alleviated nausea, vomiting, and retching in patients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing chemotherapy. It represents a safe, efficient, and convenient complement to preventive treatment with 5-HT3 antagonists. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (No. ChiCTR1900024554).

Conflict or consensus? Stakeholders' willingness to participate in China's Sponge City program.

In 2015, China initiated the Sponge City Program (SCP), an integrated urban stormwater management strategy, to mitigate the paradoxical challenges of urban flooding and water shortages. Very few studies have attempted to examine the willingness to participate of multi-level stakeholders in the case of storm-water management initiatives. To address this gap in the existing body of knowledge, this study took Guyuan city, Ningxia Province, a Stage 2 pilot city located in the arid northwest region of the People's Republic of China, as a case study. Members of three key stakeholder groups were surveyed, i.e., government, commercial entities and communities, and a total of 687 valid questionnaires were obtained in the SCP. Via a logistic regression model, the results showed that: (1) the stakeholders reached a consensus during the participation process that they were motivated by personal benefits and expected to improve water usage through the participatory process; (2) the government represented the public interest by prioritizing the overall improvement of the urban water environment and improving standards of living by contributing to the program; (3) the commercial entities prioritized the acquisition of knowledge and technical issues relevant to their business operations, and expressed concerns about how these operations might be affected by stakeholder participation; (4) both the commercial and community groups were more willing to participate if they perceived that the SCP would affect their daily lives, and the general public were willing to participate for multiple reasons. This study will help to guide future studies to continuously explore the diverse factors that influence the stakeholder participation of diverse stakeholders. The findings can also benefit the design of future projects with a view to enhancing stakeholder participation. Recognizing the quantifiable benefits of the SCP, this paper demonstrates how the evaluation of diverse stakeholders' priorities and the assessment of the drivers for their willingness to participate can further benefit the implementation of sustainable urban water initiatives, as in the case of this megaproject, and their enduring success.