FMD-UNet: fine-grained feature squeeze and multiscale cascade dilated semantic aggregation dual-decoder UNet for COVID-19 lung infection segmentation from CT images.

With the advancement of computer-aided diagnosis, the automatic segmentation of COVID-19 infection areas holds great promise for assisting in the timely diagnosis and recovery of patients in clinical practice. Currently, methods relying on U-Net face challenges in effectively utilizing fine-grained semantic information from input images and bridging the semantic gap between the encoder and decoder. To address these issues, we propose an FMD-UNet dual-decoder U-Net network for COVID-19 infection segmentation, which integrates a Fine-grained Feature Squeezing (FGFS) decoder and a Multi-scale Dilated Semantic Aggregation (MDSA) decoder. The FGFS decoder produces fine feature maps through the compression of fine-grained features and a weighted attention mechanism, guiding the model to capture detailed semantic information. The MDSA decoder consists of three hierarchical MDSA modules designed for different stages of input information. These modules progressively fuse different scales of dilated convolutions to process the shallow and deep semantic information from the encoder, and use the extracted feature information to bridge the semantic gaps at various stages, this design captures extensive contextual information while decoding and predicting segmentation, thereby suppressing the increase in model parameters. To better validate the robustness and generalizability of the FMD-UNet, we conducted comprehensive performance evaluations and ablation experiments on three public datasets, and achieved leading Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) scores of 84.76, 78.56 and 61.99% in COVID-19 infection segmentation, respectively. Compared to previous methods, the FMD-UNet has fewer parameters and shorter inference time, which also demonstrates its competitiveness.

Associations of multiple blood metals with cardiac structure and function: A cross-sectional study in a CAD population.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is often accompanied by abnormal cardiac structure and function, leading to an increased prognostic risk. However, less is known about the associations of mixed metals with abnormal cardiac structure and function in CAD patients. Here, we aimed to investigate the associations of exposure to metal mixtures with cardiac structure and function and potential interactions in a CAD population. We conducted a cross-sectional study from Southwest China that included 1555 CAD patients. The blood concentrations of 14 metals were measured via inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. CAD was defined as at least one vessel having stenosis ≥ 50% the vessel diameter. Echocardiography was used for cardiac structural and functional measurements. Bayesian kernel machine regression was applied to explore the overall effect, metal weight, and dose effect. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of single metals, metal‒metal interactions and metal‒traditional interactions. Finally, we found that the negative associations of mixed metals with cardiac structure was significant when the levels of all metals were below the 60th percentile. For cardiac function, changes in metals from 50th to 75th were associated with 0.954% and 0.683% decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular fractional shortening, respectively. Negative associations of copper and manganese with cardiac structure and function, whereas positive associations of titanium, selenium and molybdenum with several parameters were found. Antagonistic interactions between copper and tin and between selenium and several metals (manganese, copper and aluminum) (all Pinteraction terms < 0.05) were found. In conclusion, mixed metal exposure was negatively associated with cardiac structure and function in CAD patients. The main metals contributing to this negative associations were copper and manganese. Selenium or tin supplementation may reduce the adverse associations of copper and manganese with cardiac structure and function.

Contrast­associated acute kidney injury in myocardial infarction patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention: insight from the Iodixanol-AKI Registry.

Previous studies have reported a high occurrence of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) in myocardial infarction (MI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the data on CA-AKI in MI patients who underwent elective PCI are limited. To evaluate the incidence of CA-AKI in MI patients undergoing elective PCI. The data were sourced from the Iodixanol-AKI Registry of MI patients scheduled to undergo elective PCI in 8 medical centers from May 2020 to November 2021. The participants were divided into three groups: acute, prior, and multiple MI. The outcomes measured were CA-AKI and the composite endpoint of major adverse renal and cardiovascular events (MARCE). The incidence of CA-AKI was 4.46% (37/830) in the MI patients, 4.40% (7/159) in the acute MI patients, 4.41% (22/499) in the prior MI patients, and 4.65% (8/172) in the multiple MI patients. Of note, 36 patients (97.30%) at AKI stage 1, and only 1 patient at AKI stage 2. There was no difference in the incidence of CA-AKI (P = 0.991) among the three groups. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the independent risk factors for CA-AKI were diabetes and an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. MARCE occurred in 3.4% (28/830) of the total patients and was not associated with either any subgroup of patients with MI or AKI. The incidence of CA-AKI was low and mainly limited to mildly impaired renal function in MI patients undergoing elective PCI.

Scorpiones, Scolopendra and Gekko Inhibit Lung Cancer Growth and Metastasis by Ameliorating Hypoxic Tumor Microenvironment via PI3K/AKT/mTOR/HIF-1α Signaling Pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether Buthus martensii karsch (Scorpiones), Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans L. Koch (Scolopendra) and Gekko gecko Linnaeus (Gekko) could ameliorate the hypoxic tumor microenvironment and inhibit lung cancer growth and metastasis by regulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin/hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (PI3K/AKT/mTOR/HIF-1α) signaling pathway. METHODS: Male C57BL/6J mice were inoculated with luciferase labeled LL/2-luc-M38 cell suspension to develop lung cancer models, with rapamycin and cyclophosphamide as positive controls. Carboxy methyl cellulose solutions of Scorpiones, Scolopendra and Gekko were administered intragastrically as 0.33, 0.33, and 0.83 g/kg, respectively once daily for 21 days. Fluorescent expression were detected every 7 days after inoculation, and tumor growth curves were plotted. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine CD31 and HIF-1α expressions in tumor tissue and microvessel density (MVD) was analyzed. Western blot was performed to detect the expression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR/HIF-1α signaling pathway-related proteins. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect serum basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in mice. RESULTS: Scorpiones, Scolopendra and Gekko prolonged the survival time and inhibited lung cancer metastasis and expression of HIF-1α (all P<0.01). Moreover, Scorpiones, Scolopendra and Gekko inhibited the phosphorylation of AKT and ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In addition, they also decreased the expression of CD31, MVD, bFGF, TGF-ß1 and VEGF compared with the model group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Scorpiones, Scolopendra and Gekko all showed beneficial effects on lung cancer by ameliorating the hypoxic tumor microenvironment via PI3K/AKT/mTOR/HIF-1α signaling pathway.

Advances in biosensors for major depressive disorder diagnostic biomarkers.

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders and is mainly characterized by low mood or lack of interest and pleasure. It can be accompanied by varying degrees of cognitive and behavioral changes and may lead to suicide risk in severe cases. Due to the subjectivity of diagnostic methods and the complexity of patients' conditions, the diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) has always been a difficult problem in psychiatry. With the discovery of more diagnostic biomarkers associated with MDD in recent years, especially emerging non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), it is possible to quantify the condition of patients with mental illness based on biomarker levels. Point-of-care biosensors have emerged due to their advantages of convenient sampling, rapid detection, miniaturization, and portability. After summarizing the pathogenesis of MDD, representative biomarkers, including proteins, hormones, and RNAs, are discussed. Furthermore, we analyzed recent advances in biosensors for detecting various types of biomarkers of MDD, highlighting representative electrochemical sensors. Future trends in terms of new biomarkers, new sample processing methods, and new detection modalities are expected to provide a complete reference for psychiatrists and biomedical engineers.

Association of Blood Copper With the Subclinical Carotid Atherosclerosis: An Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Copper exposure is reported to be associated with increased risk of stroke. However, the association of copper exposure with subclinical carotid atherosclerosis remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: This observational study included consecutive participants from Xinqiao Hospital between May 2020 and August 2021. Blood metals were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and carotid atherosclerosis was assessed using ultrasound. Modified Poisson regression was performed to evaluate the associations of copper and other metals with subclinical carotid plaque presence. Blood metals were analyzed as categorical according to the quartiles. Multivariable models were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, education, smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and coronary artery disease history. Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression was conducted to evaluate the overall association of metal mixture with subclinical carotid plaque presence. One thousand five hundred eighty-five participants were finally enrolled in our study, and carotid plaque was found in 1091 subjects. After adjusting for potential confounders, metal-progressively-adjusted models showed that blood copper was positively associated with subclinical carotid plaque (relative risk according to comparing quartile 4 to quartile 1 was 1.124 [1.021-1.238], relative risk according to per interquartile increment was 1.039 [1.008-1.071]). Blood cadmium and lead were also significantly associated with subclinical carotid plaque. Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression analyses suggested a synergistic effect of copper-cadmium-lead mixture on subclinical carotid plaque presence. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings identify copper as a novel risk factor of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis and show the potential synergistic proatherogenic effect of copper, cadmium, and lead mixture.

Successful Treatment of Severe Case of Lipid Overload Syndrome with Pancreatitis and Pneumonia: A Case Report.

Background: Fat overload syndrome is a rare and severe adverse reaction triggered by the infusion of a single source of lipid emulsion, resulting in elevated blood triacylglycerol (TG) levels. The majority of literature reports focus on cases of fat overload syndrome in patients with mild symptoms. This case is significant because it demonstrates the diagnostic and therapeutic experience and provide valuable insights for the management for severe fat overload syndrome. Case Presentation: We present a case report of a female patient who developed fat overload syndrome following prolonged and excessive infusion of lipid emulsion after colon resection surgery. In the setting of compromised immune function and malnutrition, the patient's pulmonary infection and respiratory distress symptoms have further exacerbated. Hence, in addition to severe pancreatitis, the patient has also contracted severe pneumonia. Upon admission, tracheal intubation, plasma exchange and blood perfusion were performed. Subsequently, comprehensive treatment was provided, including anti-infection, antispasmodic, acid suppression, enzyme inhibition, as well as targeted supportive measures to stabilize electrolytes and nutritional status. After treatment, there was a progressive reduction in blood lipid levels. After assessing the relevant risks, it was deemed necessary to perform an emergency computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous drainage tube placement procedure targeting the necrotic area of the pancreas while the patient was still intubated. Finally, the patient was discharged from the hospital. Conclusion: The case highlights the association between fat overload syndrome and pancreatitis as well as the use of lipid emulsions and suggests the treatment strategies for severe fat overload syndrome.

Inferring Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Drug Resistance and Transmission using Whole-genome Sequencing in a High TB-burden Setting in China.

Objective: China is among the 30 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, and TB remains a public health concern. Kashgar Prefecture in the southern Xinjiang Autonomous Region is considered as one of the highest TB burden regions in China. However, molecular epidemiological studies of Kashgar are lacking. Methods: A population-based retrospective study was conducted using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to determine the characteristics of drug resistance and the transmission patterns. Results: A total of 1,668 isolates collected in 2020 were classified into lineages 2 (46.0%), 3 (27.5%), and 4 (26.5%). The drug resistance rates revealed by WGS showed that the top three drugs in terms of the resistance rate were isoniazid (7.4%, 124/1,668), streptomycin (6.0%, 100/1,668), and rifampicin (3.3%, 55/1,668). The rate of rifampicin resistance was 1.8% (23/1,290) in the new cases and 9.4% (32/340) in the previously treated cases. Known resistance mutations were detected more frequently in lineage 2 strains than in lineage 3 or 4 strains, respectively: 18.6% vs. 8.7 or 9%, P < 0.001. The estimated proportion of recent transmissions was 25.9% (432/1,668). Multivariate logistic analyses indicated that sex, age, occupation, lineage, and drug resistance were the risk factors for recent transmission. Despite the low rate of drug resistance, drug-resistant strains had a higher risk of recent transmission than the susceptible strains (adjusted odds ratio, 1.414; 95% CI, 1.023-1.954; P = 0.036). Among all patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), 78.4% (171/218) were attributed to the transmission of DR-TB strains. Conclusion: Our results suggest that drug-resistant strains are more transmissible than susceptible strains and that transmission is the major driving force of the current DR-TB epidemic in Kashgar.

Evaluating the impact of China's MSW sorting pilot policy on urban sustainable development: Empirical evidence from 95 cities.

The escalating challenge of municipal solid waste (MSW) critically tests the sustainable development capacities of urban centers. In response, China initiated pilot policies in 2017 aimed at bolstering MSW management. The effectiveness of these initiatives, however, necessitates empirical scrutiny. This study leverages panel data spanning 95 cities at the prefectural level or higher, covering the period from 2006 to 2020, to assess the impact of the MSW sorting pilot policy on urban sustainable development using a difference-in-differences approach. The research found that the MSW sorting pilot policy has significantly increased the processing volume of MSW, thereby enhancing the sustainable development capabilities of cities. Further, the study identifies augmented fixed asset investments as a key mechanism through which pilot cities have enhanced their MSW management capabilities. Notably, the policy's stimulative effects are more pronounced in less densely populated and economically lagging regions. These findings provide critical insights for developing nations in shaping MSW sorting strategies and advancing urban sustainability.

Interval from transurethral resection of prostate to laparoscopic radical prostatectomy does not affect outcomes for incidental prostate cancer.

Introduction: Laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) has become a common option for the treatment of prostate cancer. The aim of our study was to examine whether LRP performed within 12 weeks of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is associated with surgical difficulty or outcomes. Material and methods: A single-institutional retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent LRP for incidental prostate cancer after TURP between July 2009 and December 2017. The interval between TURP and LRP was determined and patients with intervals of ≤ 12 weeks were compared to those with intervals of > 12 weeks. Patient characteristics, perioperative, pathological, and postoperative functional outcomes were analyzed to determine statistically significant differences between the 2 groups. Multivariable analyses were performed to determine whether the interval between TURP and LRP was a significant independent predictor of these outcomes. Results: A total of 56 incidental prostate cancer patients detected by TURP were included in this study. No significant differences were detected in estimated blood loss, operative duration, postoperative length of stay, and rate of positive margin, Gleason score upgrading, major complications, incontinence and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence in patients with a TURP to LRP interval above and below 12 weeks. The TURP to LRP interval was not an independent predictor of outcomes during or after LRP. Conclusions: Our results showed that performing LRP within 12 weeks after TURP does not adversely influence surgical difficulty or outcomes.

A novel approach for transforming breast cancer stem cells into endothelial cells.

Tumor vascular endothelial cells play a pivotal in the tumor microenvironment, influencing the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of tumor progression. The present study investigated a novel method for inducing the transformation of breast cancer stem cells into endothelial cells, providing a cellular model investigating anti-angiogenic mechanisms in vitro. The breast cancer cell line MCF-7 was used, and the expression of CD133 was initially detected using flow cytometry. CD133+ breast cancer cells were purified using immunomagnetic bead sorting technology, yielding an MCF-7CD133+ subpopulation. The proliferation ability of these cells was assessed using an MTT assay, while their microsphere formation ability was evaluated using a microsphere formation assay. Post-transformation in an optimized endothelial cell culture medium, expression of endothelial cell markers CD31 and CD105 were detected using flow cytometry. Endothelial cell tube formation assays and DiI-labeled acetylated low-density lipoprotein (DiI-Ac-LDL) assays were employed to analyze the endothelial cell function of the MCF-7CD133+ cells. MDM2/CEN12 gene amplification was detected through fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The MCF-7 breast cancer cell line exhibited 1.7±0.3% trace cells expressing the stem cell surface marker CD133. After anti-CD133 immunomagnetic bead sorting, MCF-7CD133+ and MCF-7CD133- subpopulation cells were obtained, with CD133 expression rates of 85.6±2.8 and 0.18±0.08%, respectively. MTT assay results demonstrated that, after 7 days, the proliferation rate of MCF-7CD133+ cells was significantly higher compared with MCF-7CD133- cells. MCF-7CD133+ subpopulation cells displayed strong stem cell characteristics, growing in suspension in serum-free media and forming tumor cell spheres. In contrast, MCF-7CD133- cells failed to form microspheres. After culturing cells in endothelial cell differentiation and maintenance media, the percentage of MCF-7CD133+ cells before and after endothelial cell culture was 0.3±0.16 and 81.4±8.37% for CD31+ cells and 0.2±0.08 and 83.8±7.24% for CD105+ cells, respectively. Vascular-like structure formation and Ac-LDL phagocytosis with red fluorescence in the tube formation assays confirmed endothelial cell function in the MCF-7CD133+ cells. FISH was used to verify MDM2/CEN12 gene amplification in the induced MCF-7CD133+ cells, indicating tumor cell characteristics. The modified endothelial cell transformation medium effectively induced differentiated tumor stem cells to express vascular endothelial cell markers and exhibit endothelial functions, ideal for in vitro anti-angiogenesis research.

Association of multiple blood metals and systemic atherosclerosis: A cross-sectional study in the CAD population.

BACKGROUND: Coronary atherosclerotic disease (CAD) is often accompanied by peripheral atherosclerosis, resulting in a higher risk of ischemia and cardiovascular death. Exposure to metals is associated with atherosclerotic plaques at specific sites. However, less is known about the effects of mixed metals on systemic atherosclerotic burden in CAD patients. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of metal mixtures with systemic atherosclerotic burden in a CAD population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study including 1562 CAD patients from Southwest China was conducted. The levels of 10 blood metals were measured via inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. More than one vessel with a stenosis ≥50% vessel diameter was defined as CAD. Carotid and lower limb atherosclerosis was assessed by using ultrasound, and coronary atherosclerosis was quantified via arterial angiography. Systemic atherosclerosis was scored according to the presence or absence of lesions at the three sites and the total number of lesions. To investigate the combined impacts and interaction effects of metals, Bayesian kernel machine regression was used. Weighted quantile regression was used to identify the contributions of the metals. RESULTS: Significant overall associations of mixed metals with systemic atherosclerotic burden were found. These positive overall associations were mainly driven by Cd, Cu and Pb in systemic atherosclerosis. The main contributing factors were As and Cu for coronary atherosclerosis as well as Cd, Cu and Pb for carotid and lower limb atherosclerosis. Cd and Pb or Cr can interact, and Pb interacts with age, sex and alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: In CAD patients, exposure to combinations of metals was highly positively associated with systemic atherosclerotic burden. These significant trends were more pronounced in the peripheral arteries and carotid arteries. Controlling environmental metal exposure can contribute to reducing systemic atherosclerosis in CAD patients.

Scalable Face Image Coding via StyleGAN Prior: Toward Compression for Human-Machine Collaborative Vision.

The accelerated proliferation of visual content and the rapid development of machine vision technologies bring significant challenges in delivering visual data on a gigantic scale, which shall be effectively represented to satisfy both human and machine requirements. In this work, we investigate how hierarchical representations derived from the advanced generative prior facilitate constructing an efficient scalable coding paradigm for human-machine collaborative vision. Our key insight is that by exploiting the StyleGAN prior, we can learn three-layered representations encoding hierarchical semantics, which are elaborately designed into the basic, middle, and enhanced layers, supporting machine intelligence and human visual perception in a progressive fashion. With the aim of achieving efficient compression, we propose the layer-wise scalable entropy transformer to reduce the redundancy between layers. Based on the multi-task scalable rate-distortion objective, the proposed scheme is jointly optimized to achieve optimal machine analysis performance, human perception experience, and compression ratio. We validate the proposed paradigm's feasibility in face image compression. Extensive qualitative and quantitative experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed paradigm over the latest compression standard Versatile Video Coding (VVC) in terms of both machine analysis as well as human perception at extremely low bitrates (< 0.01 bpp), offering new insights for human-machine collaborative compression.

Dmbg-Net: Dilated multiresidual boundary guidance network for COVID-19 infection segmentation.

Accurate segmentation of infected regions in lung computed tomography (CT) images is essential for the detection and diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, lung lesion segmentation has some challenges, such as obscure boundaries, low contrast and scattered infection areas. In this paper, the dilated multiresidual boundary guidance network (Dmbg-Net) is proposed for COVID-19 infection segmentation in CT images of the lungs. This method focuses on semantic relationship modelling and boundary detail guidance. First, to effectively minimize the loss of significant features, a dilated residual block is substituted for a convolutional operation, and dilated convolutions are employed to expand the receptive field of the convolution kernel. Second, an edge-attention guidance preservation block is designed to incorporate boundary guidance of low-level features into feature integration, which is conducive to extracting the boundaries of the region of interest. Third, the various depths of features are used to generate the final prediction, and the utilization of a progressive multi-scale supervision strategy facilitates enhanced representations and highly accurate saliency maps. The proposed method is used to analyze COVID-19 datasets, and the experimental results reveal that the proposed method has a Dice similarity coefficient of 85.6% and a sensitivity of 84.2%. Extensive experimental results and ablation studies have shown the effectiveness of Dmbg-Net. Therefore, the proposed method has a potential application in the detection, labeling and segmentation of other lesion areas.

A Co-Sputtering Process Optimization for the Preparation of FeGaB Alloy Magnetostrictive Thin Films.

A co-sputtering process for the deposition of Fe0.8Ga0.2B alloy magnetostrictive thin films is studied in this paper. The soft magnetic performance of Fe0.8Ga0.2B thin films is modulated by the direct-current (DC) sputtering power of an FeGa target and the radio-frequency (RF) sputtering power of a B target. Characterization results show that the prepared Fe0.8Ga0.2B films are amorphous with uniform thickness and low coercivity. With increasing FeGa DC sputtering power, coercivity raises, resulting from the enhancement of magnetism and grain growth. On the other hand, when the RF sputtering power of the B target increases, the coercivity decreases first and then increases because of the conversion of the films from a crystalline to an amorphous state. The lowest coercivity of 7.51 Oe is finally obtained with the sputtering power of 20 W for the FeGa target and 60 W for the B target. Potentially, this optimization provides a simple way for improving the magnetoelectric coefficient of magnetoelectric composite materials and the sensitivity of magnetoelectric sensors.

A Flexible Pressure Sensor Based on Graphene/Epoxy Resin Composite Film and Screen Printing Process.

At present, flexible pressure-sensitive materials generally have problems with weak adhesion and poor wear resistance, which easily result in friction failure when used for plantar pressure detection. In this study, a flexible pressure sensor with the advantages of a wide detection range, fast recovery, and good abrasive resistance was designed and prepared based on the screen printing process. The pressure-sensitive unit with a structural size of 5 mm× 8 mm was a functional material system due to the use of graphene and epoxy resin. The influence of the different mass ratios of the graphene and epoxy resin on the sensing properties was also studied. The test results showed that when the mass ratio of graphene to epoxy resin was 1:4, the response time and recovery time of the sensing unit were 40.8 ms and 3.7 ms, respectively, and the pressure detection range was 2.5-500 kPa. The sensor can detect dynamic pressure at 0.5 Hz, 1 Hz, 2 Hz, 10 Hz, and 20 Hz and can withstand 11,000 cycles of bending. In addition, adhesion tests showed that the high viscosity of the epoxy helped to improve the interlayer bond between the pressure-sensitive materials and the flexible substrate, which makes it more suitable for plantar pressure detection environments, where friction is common.

Spatio-temporal variation and environmental drivers of chlorophyll a concentration and diatom community in four small urban lakes of Kunming, China.

Chlorophyll a (Chla) and diatom community structure are two indicators of lake water quality. In this study, we investigated the environmental parameters, chlorophyll a, and diatom community of four small urban lakes in Kunming (Beitan, Beihu, Nanhu and Longtan lakes in the campus of Yunnan Normal University) between March 2017 and December 2019. The results showed that the concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and Chla in the four lakes showed significant seasonal fluctuation. The Chla concentration in Nanhu Lake, which had the highest nutrient level among the four lakes, was significantly higher than that in the other three lakes and largely affected by TN. In comparison, water temperature significantly contributed to the increases in Chla concentration in the other three lakes. Water temperature and TN were significantly correlated with Chla across the four lakes. Diatom assemblages in Beitan, Nanhu, and Longtan lakes were dominated by planktonic diatoms, and benthic diatoms were dominant in the shallowest lake Beihu, suggesting that water depth significantly affected the proportion of planktonic diatoms and dominant taxa. Water depth, TN, TP, transparency, and water temperature affected the spatio-temporal changes of diatom community structure, with water temperature as the major factor in causing the seasonal variation in diatom community, and TN and TP as the major drivers for community variation among lakes within the same season.

High-Efficiency and Reliable Value Geometric Standard: Integrated Periodic Structure Reference Materials.

Integrated periodic structure reference materials are crucial for calibration in optical instruments and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), yet they face limitations concerning a restricted measurement range, a single pattern type, and a single calibration parameter. In this study, we address these challenges by developing integrated periodic structure reference materials with an expanded measurement range, diverse pattern types, and multiple calibration parameters through a combination of photolithography and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching process. These reference materials facilitate high-efficiency and multi-value calibration, finding applications in the calibration of optical instruments and micro-CT systems. The simulations were conducted using MATLAB (R2022b) to examine the structure-morphology changes during the single-step ICP etching process. The variation rules governing line widths, periods, etching depths, and side wall verticality in integrated periodic structure reference materials were thoroughly evaluated. Linewidths were accurately extracted utilizing an advanced image processing algorithm, while average period values were determined through the precise Fast Fourier Transform method. The experimental results demonstrate that the relative errors of line widths do not exceed 17.5%, and the relative errors of periods do not exceed 1.5%. Furthermore, precise control of the etching depth was achieved, ranging from 30 to 60 µm for grids with line widths 2-20 µm. The side wall verticality exhibited remarkable consistency with an angle of 90° ± 0.8°, and its relative error was found to be less than 0.9%.

Iodixanol-associated acute kidney injury and prognosis in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention: a prospective, multi-center study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate iodixanol-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) and prognosis in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: Patients undergoing elective PCI and iodixanol administration were prospectively enrolled in 8 centers between May 2020 and November 2021. The primary endpoint was AKI, defined as an increase in SCr of ≥ 0.3 mg/dL (26.4 µmol/L) or relative elevation ≥ 50% from baseline in the 48-72 h after PCI. Prognosis evaluations included the major adverse renal and cardiovascular events (MARCE): all-cause mortality, new-onset renal replacement therapy (NRRT), non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke. AKI predictors were identified using multivariable logistic regression and associations between AKI and outcomes were examined using Cox regression. RESULTS: A total of 3630 patients were included in the final analysis and 2.9% of patients (107/3,630) suffered AKI. Among them, 95.3% (102/107) of AKI were stage 1, and 4.6% (5/107) of stage 2. The multivariable analysis indicated that age over 75-year-old, diabetes, NT-pro-BNP > 300 pg/mL, hemoglobin < 110 g/L, eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73m2, and diuretics were independently associated with AKI (p < 0.05). After a median follow-up of 13 months, MARCE occurred in 3.6% (131/3630) of the study population, and their incidence was higher in AKI (9.4%, 10/107) vs. non-AKI patients (3.4%, 121/3,523). However, after multivariable adjustment, there was no statistically significant association between AKI and MARCE (p = 0.382). CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing elective PCI, cases of iodixanol-associated AKI were mostly mild and, after multivariable adjustment, held no statistically significant association with MARCE on mid-term follow-up. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: The incidence of iodixanol-associated AKI was low and mainly limited to mild renal impairment in patients undergoing elective PCI. Physicians should provide adequate contrast for coronary artery evaluation and, at the same time, minimize the contrast volume. KEY POINTS: • The incidence of iodixanol-associated acute kidney injury was low and mostly limited to mild renal impairment. • Iodixanol administration had no statistically significant impact on the major adverse renal and cardiovascular events in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention.

Overlapping filter bank convolutional neural network for multisubject multicategory motor imagery brain-computer interface.

BACKGROUND: Motor imagery brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is a classic and potential BCI technology achieving brain computer integration. In motor imagery BCI, the operational frequency band of the EEG greatly affects the performance of motor imagery EEG recognition model. However, as most algorithms used a broad frequency band, the discrimination from multiple sub-bands were not fully utilized. Thus, using convolutional neural network (CNNs) to extract discriminative features from EEG signals of different frequency components is a promising method in multisubject EEG recognition. METHODS: This paper presents a novel overlapping filter bank CNN to incorporate discriminative information from multiple frequency components in multisubject motor imagery recognition. Specifically, two overlapping filter banks with fixed low-cut frequency or sliding low-cut frequency are employed to obtain multiple frequency component representations of EEG signals. Then, multiple CNN models are trained separately. Finally, the output probabilities of multiple CNN models are integrated to determine the predicted EEG label. RESULTS: Experiments were conducted based on four popular CNN backbone models and three public datasets. And the results showed that the overlapping filter bank CNN was efficient and universal in improving multisubject motor imagery BCI performance. Specifically, compared with the original backbone model, the proposed method can improve the average accuracy by 3.69 percentage points, F1 score by 0.04, and AUC by 0.03. In addition, the proposed method performed best among the comparison with the state-of-the-art methods. CONCLUSION: The proposed overlapping filter bank CNN framework with fixed low-cut frequency is an efficient and universal method to improve the performance of multisubject motor imagery BCI.