Integrated nucleic acid purification technology based on amino-modified centrifugal microfluidic chip.

Nucleic acid detection is an important tool for clinical diagnosis. The purification of the sample is the most time-consuming step in the nucleic acid testing process and will affect the results of the assay. Here, we developed a surface modification-based nucleic acid purification method and designed an accompanying set of centrifugation equipment and chips to integrate the steps of nucleic acid purification on a single platform. The results of experiments with HeLa cells and HPV type 16 as samples showed that the mentioned method had good nucleic acid purification capability and the accompanying equipment greatly simplified the operation of the experimenters in the whole process. Overall, our equipment can improve the efficiency of nucleic acid purification and is suitable for application in larger-scale clinical assays.

Development of a prognostic nomogram for lymph node positive HR+/HER2- breast cancer patients: a study of SEER database and a Chinese cohort.

Background: The hormone receptor+/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2- (HR+/HER2-) breast cancer (BC) patients account for the largest proportion in all patients and are still at high risk of long-range recurrence. This current study aimed to construct a prognostic nomogram to predict 3-year and 5-year BC-specific survival (BCSS) in HR+/HER2- BC patients with axillary lymph node metastasis. Methods: A total of 25,338 HR+/HER2- patients with axillary lymph node-positive BC were enrolled from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database and randomly divided into the training (n=17,738) and validation (n=7,600) cohorts using a ratio of 7:3. Univariate and multivariable Cox regression hazards were used to build a prognostic nomogram based on the training cohort. The nomogram was validated with two independent cohorts. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calibration plots were used to evaluate the performance of the model, and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were applied to test the clinical utility of the risk stratification system. Results: Twelve factors including age, race, marital status, grade, T stage, N stage, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and metastasis to the bone, brain, lung and liver were identified and incorporated to construct the nomogram (P<0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) values at 3- and 5-year in the training and internal validation sets were 0.800, 0.800, 0.831 and 0.819, respectively, while those of the external set were 0.765 and 0.735, indicating a satisfactory discrimination with our nomogram. The calibration curves showed highly consistent results for the actual and predicted survival probabilities. Furthermore, patients were divided into three risk groups according to the total scores of the nomogram. The risk stratification system accurately differentiated between patients with different BCSS rates. Conclusions: We constructed the first nomogram and corresponding risk stratification system to predict the 3-year and 5-year BCSS for HR+/HER2- patients with lymph node-positive BC, indicating a satisfactory accuracy and clinical application.

Prevalent Introgression Underlies Convergent Evolution in the Diversification of Pungitius Sticklebacks.

New mutations and standing genetic variations contribute significantly to repeated phenotypic evolution in sticklebacks. However, less is known about the role of introgression in this process. We analyzed taxonomically and geographically comprehensive genomic data from Pungitius sticklebacks to decipher the extent of introgression and its consequences for the diversification of this genus. Our results demonstrate that introgression is more prevalent than suggested by earlier studies. Although gene flow was generally bidirectional, it was often asymmetric and left unequal genomic signatures in hybridizing species, which might, at least partly, be due to biased hybridization and/or population size differences. In several cases, introgression of variants from one species to another was accompanied by transitions of pelvic and/or lateral plate structures-important diagnostic traits in Pungitius systematics-and frequently left signatures of adaptation in the core gene regulatory networks of armor trait development. This finding suggests that introgression has been an important source of genetic variation and enabled phenotypic convergence among Pungitius sticklebacks. The results highlight the importance of introgression of genetic variation as a source of adaptive variation underlying key ecological and taxonomic traits. Taken together, our study indicates that introgression-driven convergence likely explains the long-standing challenges in resolving the taxonomy and systematics of this small but phenotypically highly diverse group of fish.

Multi-Focus Image Fusion Based on Hessian Matrix Decomposition and Salient Difference Focus Detection.

Multi-focus image fusion integrates images from multiple focus regions of the same scene in focus to produce a fully focused image. However, the accurate retention of the focused pixels to the fusion result remains a major challenge. This study proposes a multi-focus image fusion algorithm based on Hessian matrix decomposition and salient difference focus detection, which can effectively retain the sharp pixels in the focus region of a source image. First, the source image was decomposed using a Hessian matrix to obtain the feature map containing the structural information. A focus difference analysis scheme based on the improved sum of a modified Laplacian was designed to effectively determine the focusing information at the corresponding positions of the structural feature map and source image. In the process of the decision-map optimization, considering the variability of image size, an adaptive multiscale consistency verification algorithm was designed, which helped the final fused image to effectively retain the focusing information of the source image. Experimental results showed that our method performed better than some state-of-the-art methods in both subjective and quantitative evaluation.

A Fully Convolutional Network-Based Tube Contour Detection Method Using Multi-Exposure Images.

The tube contours in two-dimensional images are important cues for optical three-dimensional reconstruction. Aiming at the practical problems encountered in the application of tube contour detection under complex background, a fully convolutional network (FCN)-based tube contour detection method is proposed. Multi-exposure (ME) images are captured as the input of FCN in order to get information of tube contours in different dynamic ranges, and the U-Net type architecture is adopted by the FCN to achieve pixel-level dense classification. In addition, we propose a new loss function that can help eliminate the adverse effects caused by the positional deviation and jagged morphology of tube contour labels. Finally, we introduce a new dataset called multi-exposure tube contour dataset (METCD) and a new evaluation metric called dilate inaccuracy at optimal dataset scale (DIA-ODS) to reach an overall evaluation of our proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the integrity and accuracy of tube contour detection in complex scenes.

Camera calibration based on two-cylinder target.

A large-size 2D target cannot be used for calibration in the application scenarios with confined spaces, neither can traditional 1D target because the need of constrained motion. To solve this problem, a camera calibration method based on two-cylinder (TC) target is proposed. The TC target is placed in the Field of View (FOV) arbitrarily and images of the target are acquired from multiple views, then the camera can be calibrated by establishing the perspective projection relationship between the TC target and its projective contours in each view. The experiments with both synthetic and real data show that the proposed method has better anti-noise ability and higher accuracy compared with small-size 2D target.

Well-being and health-related quality of life in new-generation migrant workers in Zhejiang province, China.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reliability and validity of the multiple happiness questionnaire (MHQ) in new-generation migrant workers (NGMW), to compare the difference of well-being and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in NGMW with first-generation migrant workers (FGMW) and urban workers (UW), and to explore the relationship between well-being and HRQOL and analyze influential factors to well-being in NGMW in Zhejiang province, China. METHODS: By stratified sampling, 542 NGMW, 226 FGMW and 200 UW had completed the questionnaires in 2018. Cronbach's alpha coefficient (a) for internal consistency of the multiple happiness questionnaire (MHQ) was used. Factor analysis was applied for construct validity. Scores of well-being and HRQOL were compared between NGMW and control groups. Spearman's correlation was performed to clarify the relationship between well-being and HRQOL in NGMW. Multiple linear regression analytical methods were used to adjust confounding effects and to identify the variables that were associated with well-being. RESULTS: MHQ had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha overall was 0.960, subscales ranged from 0.754 to 0.957) and structural validity based on factor analysis. Except for life satisfaction and altruism commitment, there was a positive correlation between well-being and HRQOL in NGMW. There were significant differences in psychological well-being (PWB), health concern, subjective vitality, physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) between NGMW and FGMW. Compared to UW, NGMW's general well-being (GWB), subjective well-being (SWB), life satisfaction, positive relation and altruism commitment scores were lower and their negative affect was higher. The GWB score was related to MCS, PCS, self-reported social status, marital status, age and monthly income. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the MHQ is a reliable and valid measure for well-being in NGMW. There is a significant difference in well-being and HRQOL between NGMW and control groups. Well-being is higher in NGMW than in FGMW, but is lower than in UW. Well-being is related with HRQOL and may be affected by MCS, PCS, self-reported social status, marital status, age and monthly income in NGMW.

A high precision 3D reconstruction method for bend tube axis based on binocular stereo vision.

Previous stereo-vision based methods for measuring bent tube axis usually approximate the centerlines of image contours as the axis projection, inevitably resulting in reconstruction errors. This phenomenon is more significant as the tube diameter increases. In this paper, a perspective projection model for any cross section of bent tube was established. Based on this model, a way to locate the precise projected position on image planes of points laying on axis was proposed and 3D coordinates of axis points are reconstructed by binocular stereo vision. We measured three bent tubes with different diameters. Compared with classical approaches, this method effectively reduces the reconstruction errors with measurement accuracy practically independent of diameter.