Enhancing soil texture classification with multivariate scattering correction and residual neural networks using visible near-infrared spectra.

Soil texture is one of the most important indicators of soil physical properties, which has traditionally been measured through laborious procedures. Approaches utilizing visible near-infrared spectroscopy, with their advantages in efficiency, eco-friendliness and non-destruction, are emerging as potent alternatives. Nevertheless, these approaches often suffer from limitations in classification accuracy, and the substantial impact of spectral preprocessing, model integration, and sample matrix effect is commonly disregarded. Here a novel 11-class soil texture classification strategy that address this challenge by combining Multiplicative Scatter Correction (MSC) with Residual Network (ResNet) models was presented, resulting in exceptional classification accuracy. Utilizing the LUCAS dataset, collected by the Land Use and Cover Area frame Statistical Survey project, we thoroughly evaluated eight spectral preprocessing methods. Our findings underscored the superior performance of MSC in reducing spatial complexity within spectral data, showcasing its crucial role in enhancing model precision. Through comparisons of three 1D CNN models and two ResNet models integrated with MSC, we established the superior performance of the MSC-incorporated ResNet model, achieving an overall accuracy of 98.97 % and five soil textures even reached 100.00 %. The ResNet model demonstrated a marked superiority in classifying datasets with similar features, as observed by the confusion matrix analysis. Moreover, we investigated the potential benefit of pre-categorization based on land cover type of the soil samples in enhancing the accuracy of soil texture classification models, achieving overall classification accuracies exceeding 99.39 % for woodland, grassland, and farmland with the 2-layer ResNet model. The proposed work provides a pioneering and efficient strategy for rapid and precise soil texture identification via visible near-infrared spectroscopy, demonstrating unparalleled accuracy compared to existing methods, thus significantly enhancing the practical application prospects in soil, agricultural and environmental science.

Switchable rotation of metal nanostructures in an intensity chirality-invariant focus field.

Light-induced rotation is a fundamental motion form that is of great significance for flexible and multifunctional manipulation modes. However, current optical rotation by a single optical field is mostly unidirectional, where switchable rotation manipulation is still challenging. To address this issue, we demonstrate a switchable rotation of non-spherical nanostructures within a single optical focus field. Interestingly, the intensity of the focus field is chiral invariant. The rotation switch is a result of the energy flux reversal in front and behind the focal plane. We quantitatively analyze the optical force exerted on a metal nanorod at different planes, as well as the surrounding energy flux. Our experimental results indicate that the direct switchover of rotational motion is achievable by adjusting the relative position of the nanostructure to the focal plane. This result enriches the basic motion mode of micro-manipulation and is expected to create potential opportunities in many application fields, such as biological cytology and optical micromachining.

Analysis of multisite surface electromyography characteristics of pelvic floor muscles in postpartum patients with diastasis recti abdominis.

AIM: To explore the electrophysiological characteristics of the independent muscles in the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) group of postpartum women with diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) and analyze the correlation between the rectus abdominis interval and PFM function. METHODS: A total of 133 women who underwent postpartum re-examination from August 2021 to July 2022 were collected. The participants were divided into DRA and control groups based on the occurrence of DRA on ultrasonography. General data of the participants were collected, and the multisite surface electromyography (sEMG) assessment of the PFMs was performed using a intravaginal novel airbag-type stretchable electrode array device developed by the team. The sEMG characteristics of the different PFMs in the two groups were compared, and the correlation between the maximum rectus abdominis interval and the sEMG parameters of different PFMs was analyzed. RESULTS: There were no differences in the baseline demographics and incidence of pelvic floor dysfunction between the two groups (p > 0.05). The mean amplitude of vaginal sphincter endurance contraction in the DRA group was significantly lower than that in the control group (28.44 ± 15.59 vs. 22.03 [12.22, 28.00], p < 0.05). Spearman's rank correlation analysis showed a weak negative correlation between the maximum rectus abdominis interval and the endurance contraction mean amplitude of the urethral and external anal sphincters (r = -0.173, -0.217, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DRA had weakened PFM endurance, and there was a weak negative correlation between the maximum rectus abdominis interval and the endurance contraction mean amplitude of the PFM.

A bibliometric and knowledge-map analysis of antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplantation.

OBJECTIVES: Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a large obstacle to the long-term survival of allograft kidneys. It is urgent to find novel strategies for its prevention and treatment. Bibliometric analysis is helpful in understanding the directions of one field. Hence, this study aims to analyze the state and emerging trends of AMR in kidney transplantation. METHODS: Literature on AMR in kidney transplantation from 1999 to 2022 was collected from the Web of Science Core Collection. HistCite (version 12.03.17), CiteSpace (version 6.2.R2), Bibliometrix 4.1.0 Package from R language, and Gephi (https://gephi.org) were applied to the bibliometric analysis of the annual publications, leading countries/regions, core journals, references, keywords, and trend topics. RESULTS: A total of 2522 articles related to AMR in kidney transplantation were included in the analysis and the annual publications increased year by year. There were 10874 authors from 118 institutions located in 70 countries/regions contributing to AMR studies, and the United States took the leading position in both articles and citation scores. Halloran PF from Canada made the most contribution to AMR in kidney transplantation. The top 3 productive journals, American Journal of Transplantation, Transplantation, and Transplantation Proceedings, were associated with transplantation. Moreover, the recent trend topics mainly focused on transplant outcomes, survival, and clinical research. CONCLUSIONS: North American and European countries/regions played central roles in AMR of kidney transplantation. Importantly, the prognosis of AMR is the hotspot in the future. Noninvasive strategies like plasma and urine dd-cfDNA may be the most potential direction in the AMR field.

Comparison of the modified laparoscopic Vecchietti and Davydov colpoplasty techniques in Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome: A long-term follow-up analysis.

AIMS: To introduce and compare the modified laparoscopic Vecchietti and Davydov techniques for vaginoplasty in patients with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. Moreover, the long-term treatment of vaginal agenesis was followed-up. METHODS: This comparative retrospective cohort study enrolled a total of 53 women with MRKH syndrome. The patients underwent surgical creation of a neovagina including 32 patients who underwent the modified laparoscopic Vecchietti technique, and 21 patients who underwent the modified laparoscopic Davydov technique from January 2009 to February 2019. The perioperative parameters, complications, anatomical, and functional outcomes of the two groups were compared. Patients' sexual functions were evaluated over a long-term follow-up using the female sexual function index (FSFI) and the revised female sexual distress scale (FSDS-R). RESULTS: The medians (25th-75th) of the surgery duration for modified Vecchietti procedures was 50.0 (40.0-59.0) minutes, comparing to 135.0 (117.5-162.5) min for Davydov procedures (p < 0.001). The intraoperative blood loss was 20 (7.5-20.0) mL versus 50.0 (50.0-100.0) mL using the modified Vecchietti and Davydov approaches (p < 0.001), respectively. In the 39 follow-up cases, the lengths of the neovagina of the patients for Vecchietti group versus Davydov group were 7.9 ± 1.0 cm versus 8.6 ± 1.2 cm at 6 months after the vaginoplasty and 8.3 ± 0.7 cm versus 8.5 ± 0.9 cm after 2 years. There was no statistical difference in the FSFI and FSDS-R scores between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both the modified Davydov and Vecchietti laparoscopic procedures successfully achieved optimal anatomic and functional outcomes in treatments of vaginal agenesis. The modified Vecchietti technique is relatively simpler than the modified Davydov technique.

Performance optimization of multi-plane light conversion (MPLC) mode multiplexer by error tolerance analysis.

The linear polarized (LP) mode multiplexer based on the inverse designed multi-plane light conversion (MPLC) has the advantages of low insertion loss and low mode crosstalk. However, the multiplexer also requires the fabrication and alignment accuracy in experiments, which have not been systematically analyzed. Here, we perform the error tolerance analysis of the MPLC and summarize the design rules for the LP mode multiplexer/demultiplexer. The error tolerances in the fabrication process and experimental demonstration are greatly released with proper parameters of the input/output optical beam waist, the pitch of optical beam array, and the propagation distances between the phase plane. To proof this design rule, we experimentally demonstrate the LP mode multiplexer generating LP01, LP11a, LP11b, LP21 modes and coupling to the few mode fiber, with the insertion loss lower than -5 dB. The LP modes are demultiplexed by MPLC, with the crosstalk of different mode groups lower than -10 dB. LP modes carrying 10 Gbit/s on-off keying signals transmit in a 5 km few mode fiber. The measured bit error rates (BER) curves of the LP01, LP11a, LP21 modes have the power penalties lower than 12 dB.

Switchable imaging between edge-enhanced and bright-field based on a phase-change metasurface.

Edge-enhanced imaging and bright-field imaging extract different morphological information from an object, and hence a system capable of switching dynamically between them is of vital importance for various applications. By incorporating an elaborately designed meta-device with a 4f imaging system, we demonstrate dynamic switching between 2D edge-enhanced imaging and bright-field imaging. The dynamically switchable characteristic results from the composed phase-change material meta-atoms, which are optimized to provide two independent phase profiles in amorphous and crystalline states. For dynamically switchable imaging, the meta-device functions as either a high-pass or a low-pass filter in the Fourier frequency spectrum, relying on its phase state. In addition, the dynamically switchable imaging is polarization independent. The proposed meta-device owns ultra-thin architecture and polarization-insensitive dynamically switchable functionality, holding potential applications in integrated biomedical imaging and defect detection.

Photonic Spin Lattices: Symmetry Constraints for Skyrmion and Meron Topologies.

Symmetry and topology govern many electronic, magnetic, and photonic phenomena in condensed matter physics and optics, resulting in counterintuitive skyrmion, meron, and other phenomena important for modern technologies. Here we demonstrate photonic spin lattices as a new topological construct governed by the spin-orbit coupling in an optical field. The symmetry of the electromagnetic field in the presence of the spin-orbit interaction may result in only two types of photonic spin lattices: either hexagonal spin-skyrmion or square spin-meron lattices. We show that these spin structures correspond to the lowest energy of the electromagnetic field configuration, therefore, energetically stable. We further show that in the absence of spin-orbit coupling these spin topologies are degenerated in dynamic field skyrmions, unifying the description of electromagnetic field topologies. The results provide a new understanding of electromagnetic field topology and its transformations as well as new opportunities for applications in quantum technologies, spin optics, and topological photonics.

Reconfigurable dielectric metasurface for active wavefront modulation based on a phase-change material metamolecule design.

Metasurfaces, the promising artificial micro-nano structures with the ability to manipulate the wavefront of light, have been widely studied and reported in recent years. However, dynamic control of the wavefront using dielectric metasurfaces remains a great challenge. Here, unlike the previously reported reconfigurable metasurfaces that offer only binary functions or limited switchable states, we propose and numerically demonstrate an active dielectric metasurface with the metamolecule unit-cell design that enables full-range phase or amplitude tuning in the telecommunications band using the phase-change material Ge2Sb2Se4Te1 (GSST). Selective control of the phase transition of each GSST nanopillar in the metamolecule allows multi-level modulation of the phase and amplitude of the light to be achieved. The functionalities of the structure are validated through the generation of optical vortices, phase-only hologram, and pure amplitude modulation. Benefiting from its dynamic wavefront control capability, the proposed metasurface offers major potential for use in future applications including complex beam steering, optical communications, 3D holograms, and displays.

Correction to: AUGS/IUGA scientific meeting : Abstracts of poster presentations, IUGA 44th annual meeting - Nashville, TN, USA, September 24-28, 2019.

In the originally published version of the Abstracts article, the figure presented in Poster 204 entitled "Exosomes derived from fibroblasts in anterior vaginal wall associated with the pathogenesis of female stress urinary incontinence by promoting fibroblasts migration".

High-resolution cylindrical vector beams sorting based on spin-dependent fan-out optical geometric transformation.

With growing data demands, the capacity of the single-mode fiber will reach its limit. Cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) as the eigenmodes of fiber have been demonstrated to increase the capacity in multiplexing optical communication. As a key component of CVB multiplexing, the sorter based on spin-dependent optical geometric transformation has the advantages of high efficiency and a large channel number. However, the demonstrated spatial resolution of the CVB sorter was not sufficient to separate the adjacent CVB orders. Therefore, there were still serious crosstalk issues for the CVB multiplexing channels. Here, we propose and demonstrate the high-resolution CVBs sorting by introducing fan-out structures in the spin-dependent optical geometric transformation. The crosstalk among the CVBs are suppressed compared with the original design. In addition, a cylindrical lens is used to modify the output beams to Gaussian shape. We experimentally demonstrate the sorting of 4 coaxial CVB channels to standard multimode fiber array. In the numerical modeling, we also design the CVB sorter for free space to integrated waveguide array demultiplexing.

Motion estimation and quality enhancement for a single image in dynamic single-pixel imaging.

In single-pixel imaging (SPI), a large number of illuminations is usually required to capture one single image. Consequently, SPI may only achieve a very low frame rate for a fast-moving object and the reconstructed images are contaminated with blur and noise. In previous works, some attempts are made to perform motion estimation between neighboring frames in a SPI video to enhance the image quality. However, the motion estimation and quality enhancement from one single image frame in dynamic SPI was seldom investigated. In this work, it assumed that some prior knowledge about the type of motion the object undergoes is known. A motion model of the target object is constructed and the motion parameters can be optimized within a search space. Our proposed scheme is different from common motion deblur techniques for photographs since the motion blur mechanism in SPI is significantly different from a conventional camera. Experimental results demonstrate that the reconstructed images with our proposed scheme in dynamic SPI have much better quality.

Optical machine learning with incoherent light and a single-pixel detector.

An optical diffractive neural network (DNN) can be implemented with a cascaded phase mask architecture. Like an optical computer, the system can perform machine learning tasks such as number digit recognition in an all-optical manner. However, the system can work only under coherent light illumination, and the precision requirement in practical experiments is quite high. This Letter proposes an optical machine learning framework based on single-pixel imaging (MLSPI). The MLSPI system can perform the same linear pattern recognition task as DNN. Furthermore, it can work under incoherent lighting conditions, has lower experimental complexity, and can be easily programmable.

Comparisons of Electromyography and Digital Palpation Measurement of Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength in Postpartum Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence and Asymptomatic Parturients: A Cross-Sectional Study.

AIMS: Early evaluation of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) in postpartum women is important for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Digital vaginal palpation and electromyography (EMG) evaluation based on Glazer protocol are widely used for the assessment of PFM. However, the correlation among digital palpation, EMG, and morbidity of postpartum SUI is still unclear. This study aims to investigate the relationship between postpartum SUI and PFM examinations. METHODS: This hospital-based cross-sectional study included 1,380 parturients during September 2016 to January 2018. We collected the clinical characteristics, PFM strength, and EMG variables of parturients 6-8 weeks after birth. Then the correlation among the results of EMG, digital palpation, and the occurrence of SUI was analyzed. RESULTS: There is no significant difference in digital palpation scores of PFM strength between SUI and non-SUI parturients. The EMG values were closely related to SUI: the multivariate logistic regression revealed that the most reliable evaluation indicators of postpartum SUI were pelvic floor contractile amplitude of endurance contraction (B = 0.021, p = 0.019) and pretest resting baseline (B = 0.056, p = 0.019). Correlation analysis demonstrated that the contraction variables of EMG had a significant correlation with the digital palpation PFM strength in postpartum women (r = 0.467-0.545, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The EMG proved to be reliable in assessing the PFM function in postpartum women. The decreased PFM activity, according to EMG, was correlated with postpartum SUI. Although digital palpation scores were positively correlated with EMG results, no correlation was observed with SUI incidence.

Pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of T0001, a newly developed anti-TNFα fusion protein, in healthy volunteers.

PURPOSE: T0001 was the first mutant of recombinant fusion protein of human tumor necrosis factor receptor and Fc fragment (rhTNFR:Fc) based on etanercept on a global scale. This study was carried out to investigate the pharmacokinetics (PK) and immunogenicity of T0001 in healthy Chinese volunteers. METHODS: This study was randomized, with a single ascending dose, and the first-in-human clinical trial of T0001. Healthy Chinese volunteers (n = 56; male: female = 1:1) were randomly assigned to receive a single subcutaneous (sc) injection of 10, 20, 35, 50, 65 or 75 mg of T0001. Blood samples were collected at designated time points after sc injection to assess immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics of T0001. RESULTS: During the study, no serious adverse events were observed. T0001 was slowly absorbed with a median Tmax of 84 h and slowly eliminated with a T1/2Z of 42.1-58.2 h. In the dose-exposure proportionality analysis, the estimated points for AUC0-∞ and Cmax were 0.87 with a 90% CI of 0.76-0.98 and 0.86 with a 90% CI of 0.74-0.97 respectively. The plasma concentration of free (unbound T0001) plasma TNFα and total (bound and unbound T0001) TNFα both increased significantly after the injection of T0001. Ten out of 56 volunteers (17.9%) tested positive for anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) at a low level. CONCLUSIONS: T0001 was safe and well-tolerated at doses up to 75 mg. Cmax and AUC0-∞ had an increasing tendency with dose levels, but we could not conclude that T0001 has linear PK properties in this study.

OAM-labeled free-space optical flow routing.

Space-division multiplexing allows unprecedented scaling of bandwidth density for optical communication. Routing spatial channels among transmission ports is critical for future scalable optical network, however, there is still no characteristic parameter to label the overlapped optical carriers. Here we propose a free-space optical flow routing (OFR) scheme by using optical orbital angular moment (OAM) states to label optical flows and simultaneously steer each flow according to their OAM states. With an OAM multiplexer and a reconfigurable OAM demultiplexer, massive individual optical flows can be routed to the demanded optical ports. In the routing process, the OAM beams act as data carriers at the same time their topological charges act as each carrier's labels. Using this scheme, we experimentally demonstrate switching, multicasting and filtering network functions by simultaneously steer 10 input optical flows on demand to 10 output ports. The demonstration of data-carrying OFR with nonreturn-to-zero signals shows that this process enables synchronous processing of massive spatial channels and flexible optical network.

Abruptly autofocusing terahertz waves with meta-hologram.

An abruptly autofocusing ring-Airy beam is demonstrated in the terahertz (THz) waveband with a meta-hologram. The designed meta-hologram is composed of gold C-shaped slot antennas, which can realize both phase and amplitude modulation of the incident THz wave. A THz holographic imaging system is utilized to measure the generated ring-Airy beam; an abrupt focus following a parabolic trajectory is subsequently observed. THz ring-Airy beams with different parameters are also generated and investigated. This method can be expanded to other wavebands, such as the visible band, for which the meta-hologram can replace traditional computer-generated holography to avoid undesirable multiple diffraction orders.

Use of a dose-response model to guide future clinical trial of benvitimod cream to treat mild and moderate psoriasis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the time-dose-response relationship of benvitimod cream after topical administration in patients with mild and moderate psoriasis vulgaris for dosage regimen exploring. METHODS: 36 patients with mild and moderate psoriasis vulgaris were randomly assigned to receive 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 0% (placebo) benvitimod cream of 30 g/1.7 m2 twice daily for 6 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome was the proportion of patients achieving more than 75% change of the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI 75) from baseline. A longitudinal Emax model was established using the NONMEM method, and then applied to try to find an appropriate dose for following trials. RESULTS: In the final time-dose-response model, the primary outcome at week 6 of PASI 75 of the 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% benvitimod cream was 31%, 63%, and 75%, respectively, demonstrating that the 1.0% benvitimod cream was an appropriate dose for the next trial. The time parameters of ET50 and ET90 were 15 and 69 days for 1.0% benvitimod cream, indicating that the maximum efficacy of PASI change rate was obtained at approximately week 10. The accuracy of PASI change rate by extrapolation prediction was limited at week 10, so the treatment period should be longer in future trials. CONCLUSIONS: The established dose-response model could well describe the relationship between PASI change rate and doses of benvitimod cream in patients with mild and moderate psoriasis vulgaris. This modeling approach may help choose 1.0% benvitimod cream twice daily as a dosage regimen in following clinical trials.

Appraisal of clinical practice guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia in children with AGREE II instrument.

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide among children. The growing number of guidelines have been accompanied with a growing concern about variance and conflicts among guideline recommendations. There is a need to critically appraise clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in order to ensure safe and effective practices. METHODS: A literature search was systematically conducted in English and Chinese major academic databases (from January 2000 to March 2015). CPGs related to CAP in children were evaluated by four independent assessors, according to AGREE II instruments. Standardized domain scores were calculated for each guideline. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient. The software used for analysis was SPSS 17.0. RESULTS: A total of 10 guidelines met the inclusion criteria and were appraised. Scope and purpose (69.03 %) and clarity of presentation (83.33 %) achieved relative high scores, while the scores of the other four domains were low: stakeholder involvement (42.78 %), rigour of development (44.95 %), applicability (37.60 %), and editorial independence (23.74 %). 3 guidelines were strongly recommended as a result of the overall scores were greater than 60 %. CONCLUSION: The qualities of CPGs for CAP in children were generally acceptable with several flaws. Stakeholder involvement, rigour of development, applicability and editorial independence should be considered and well described in the future development of CPGs.