Focal cross transformer: multi-view brain tumor segmentation model based on cross window and focal self-attention.

Introduction: Recently, the Transformer model and its variants have been a great success in terms of computer vision, and have surpassed the performance of convolutional neural networks (CNN). The key to the success of Transformer vision is the acquisition of short-term and long-term visual dependencies through self-attention mechanisms; this technology can efficiently learn global and remote semantic information interactions. However, there are certain challenges associated with the use of Transformers. The computational cost of the global self-attention mechanism increases quadratically, thus hindering the application of Transformers for high-resolution images. Methods: In view of this, this paper proposes a multi-view brain tumor segmentation model based on cross windows and focal self-attention which represents a novel mechanism to enlarge the receptive field by parallel cross windows and improve global dependence by using local fine-grained and global coarse-grained interactions. First, the receiving field is increased by parallelizing the self-attention of horizontal and vertical fringes in the cross window, thus achieving strong modeling capability while limiting the computational cost. Second, the focus on self-attention with regards to local fine-grained and global coarse-grained interactions enables the model to capture short-term and long-term visual dependencies in an efficient manner. Results: Finally, the performance of the model on Brats2021 verification set is as follows: dice Similarity Score of 87.28, 87.35 and 93.28%; Hausdorff Distance (95%) of 4.58 mm, 5.26 mm, 3.78 mm for the enhancing tumor, tumor core and whole tumor, respectively. Discussion: In summary, the model proposed in this paper has achieved excellent performance while limiting the computational cost.

Assisting Scalable Diagnosis Automatically via CT Images in the Combat against COVID-19

Introductory paragraphThe pandemic of coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused enormous loss of life globally. 1-3 Case identification is critical. The reference method is using real-time reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) assays, with limitations that may curb its prompt large-scale application. COVID-19 manifests with chest computed tomography (CT) abnormalities, some even before the onset of symptoms. We tested the hypothesis that application of deep learning (DL) to the 3D CT images could help identify COVID-19 infections. Using the data from 920 COVID-19 and 1,073 non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients, we developed a modified DenseNet-264 model, COVIDNet, to classify CT images to either class. When tested on an independent set of 233 COVID-19 and 289 non-COVID-19 patients. COVIDNet achieved an accuracy rate of 94.3% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98. Application of DL to CT images may improve both the efficiency and capacity of case detection and long-term surveillance.

Clinical Observation on Acupuncture Treatment of 30 Cases with Apoplectic Pseudobulbar Palsy / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective: To investigate the factors influencing the therapeutic effect in acupuncture treatment of apoplectic pseudobulbar palsy (PBP). Methods: Sixty patients with apoplectic pseudobulbar palsy in pattern of obstruction of wind and phlegm in the meridians were randomly divided into the treatment group and control group, to observe the therapeutic effect. Results and Conclusion: The therapeutic effect was significantly better in the treatment group than in the control group (P＜0.05). It has been found in the study that with increase in the occurrence of cerebral apoplexy, the incidence rate of severe dysphagia increased and dysphagia took place progressively earlier, indicating the importance of early treatment and prevention of cerebral apoplexy.