Application of Robust Zero-Watermarking Scheme Based on Federated Learning for Securing the Healthcare Data.

The privacy protection and data security problems existing in the healthcare framework based on the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) have always attracted much attention and need to be solved urgently. In the teledermatology healthcare framework, the smartphone can acquire dermatology medical images for remote diagnosis. The dermatology medical image is vulnerable to attacks during transmission, resulting in malicious tampering or privacy data disclosure. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a watermarking scheme that doesn't tamper with the dermatology medical image and doesn't disclose the dermatology healthcare data. Federated learning is a distributed machine learning framework with privacy protection and secure encryption technology. Therefore, this paper presents a robust zero-watermarking scheme based on federated learning to solve the privacy and security issues of the teledermatology healthcare framework. This scheme trains the sparse autoencoder network by federated learning. The trained sparse autoencoder network is applied to extract image features from the dermatology medical image. Image features are undergone to two-dimensional Discrete Cosine Transform (2D-DCT) in order to select low-frequency transform coefficients for creating zero-watermarking. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme has more robustness to the conventional attack and geometric attack and achieves superior performance when compared with other zero-watermarking schemes. The proposed scheme is suitable for the specific requirements of medical images, which neither changes the important information contained in medical images nor divulges privacy data.

Application of Zero-Watermarking Scheme Based on Swin Transformer for Securing the Metaverse Healthcare Data.

The existing medical image privacy solutions cannot completely solve the security problems created by applying the metaverse healthcare system. A robust zero-watermarking scheme based on the Swin Transformer is proposed in this paper to improve the security of medical images in the metaverse healthcare system. This scheme uses a pretrained Swin Transformer to extract deep features from the original medical images with a good generalization performance and multiscale, and binary feature vectors are generated by using the mean hashing algorithm. Then, the logistic chaotic encryption algorithm boosts the security of the watermarking image by encrypting it. Finally, an encrypted watermarking image is XORed with the binary feature vector to create a zero-watermarking, and the validity of the proposed scheme is verified through experimentation. According to the results of the experiments, the proposed scheme has excellent robustness to common attacks and geometric attacks, and implements privacy protections for medical image security transmissions in the metaverse. The research results provide a reference for the data security and privacy protection of the metaverse healthcare system.

Light-driven lignocellulosic biomass conversion for production of energy and chemicals.

The depletion of fossil fuels and the increasingly severe environmental pollution caused by massive fossil fuel consumption has driven the quick development of emerging renewable energy technologies. As the most extensive renewable carbon resource, lignocellulose is the potential substitute of fossil resources because of its sustainability and carbon-neutral features. Efficient lignocellulose conversion based on photocatalysis is a promising topic because of sustainable solar energy and the mild condition. This review highlights state-of-the-art photocatalytic technologies for lignocellulosic biomass conversion, focusing on the electricity generation, hydrogen production, and high-value-added biomass derivatives production. Moreover, the progress, challenge, and perspectives of related photocatalytic technologies are specifically discussed. It is recommended that developing more robust and efficient photocatalysts suitable for the complex structure of lignocellulose is necessary to promote the oxidation the biomass. Design and development of novel photochemical reactors and photoelectrochemical cells are also important for demonstration of light-driven lignocellulose conversion at larger scale.

Big Data-Enabled Analysis of DRGs-Based Payment on Stroke Patients in Jiaozuo, China.

Stroke is the first leading cause of mortality in China with annual 2 million deaths. According to the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, the annual in-hospital costs for the stroke patients in China reach ¥20.71 billion. Moreover, multivariate stepwise linear regression is a prevalent big data analysis tool employing the statistical significance to determine the explanatory variables. In light of this fact, this paper aims to analyze the pertinent influence factors of diagnosis related groups- (DRGs-) based stroke patients on the in-hospital costs in Jiaozuo city of Henan province, China, to provide the theoretical guidance for medical payment and medical resource allocation in Jiaozuo city of Henan province, China. All medical data records of 3,590 stroke patients were from the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Polytechnic University between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019, which is a Class A tertiary comprehensive hospital in Jiaozuo city. By using the classical statistical and multivariate linear regression analysis of big data related algorithms, this study is conducted to investigate the influence factors of the stroke patients on in-hospital costs, such as age, gender, length of stay (LoS), and outcomes. The essential findings of this paper are shown as follows: (1) age, LoS, and outcomes have significant effects on the in-hospital costs of stroke patients; (2) gender is not a statistically significant influence factor on the in-hospital costs of the stroke patients; (3) DRGs classification of the stroke patients manifests not only a reduced mean LoS but also a peculiar shape of the distribution of LoS.

Biliverdin Reductase A (BLVRA) Promotes Colorectal Cancer Cell Progression by Activating the Wnt/ß-Catenin Signaling Pathway.

PURPOSE: Biliverdin reductase A (BLVRA) is a pleiotropic enzyme that converts biliverdin-IX-alpha into the antioxidant and anti-nitrosative compound, bilirubin-IX-alpha. It is related to various diseases, including cancer. It is overexpressed in many types of cancers and promotes cancer development and metastasis, but the effects of BLVRA in colorectal cancer have not been researched at present. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of biliverdin reductase A (BLVRA) in vivo and vitro experiments and its possible mechanism. METHODS: The clinical samples of CRC patients and CRC cell lines HT-29 and SW620 were chosen to perform the experiments. ELISA and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) were applied to test the level of BLVRA in patients. HT-29 knockdown of BLVRA and SW620 overexpression of BLVRA was established by the lentiviral vector transfection. Reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were performed to examine the expression of BLVRA. MTT was used to detect the proliferation of CRC cells. Flow cytometry was applied to assess the rate of apoptosis. Transwell assay was performed to examine the capacity of migration and invasion. Immunofluorescence staining was adopted to assess the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin. Western blotting was utilized to detect the expression of apoptosis-related proteins, EMT-related proteins and target proteins of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. RESULTS: Analysis of the clinical samples revealed that BLVRA was overexpressed in CRC patients and implied poor prognosis. BLVRA overexpression in the in vitro studies revealed that it increased the potential of CRC cells for proliferation, migration and invasion; augmented EMT; and hindered apoptosis. In addition, BLVRA overexpression was found to upregulate positive target genes and downregulate negative target genes of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, which implied that the biological effects of BLVRA in CRC were mediated by this pathway. In contrast, knockdown of BLVRA manifested the opposite effects. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that BLVRA might be a promising prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target in CRC.

Admission blood glucose and in-hospital clinical outcome among patients with acute stroke in Inner Mongolia, China.

PURPOSE: There is still controversy about the association between admission blood glucose concentration and outcome of acute stroke. We studied the association between admission blood glucose and in-hospital death / dependency among acute stroke patients in Inner Mongolia, China. METHODS: 2,178 acute ischemic and 1,760 hemorrhagic stroke patients in six hospitals were included in the study. Blood glucose and other study variables were collected within the first 24-hr of hospital admission. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by neurologists during hospitalization. The associations between admission blood glucose and the risk of in-hospital death/dependency were analyzed using a multiple logistic model. RESULTS: There were associations between admission blood glucose and in-hospital death/dependency among patients with acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Compared with patients with blood glucose < 6.1mmol/L, multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of death/dependency were 0.53 (0.23, 1.27), 2.22 (1.21, 4.11), 1.92 (1.12, 3.33) and 1.91 (1.00, 3.64) for ischemic stroke patients, and 0.93 (0.44, 1.96), 1.42 (0.65, 3.10), 1.98 (1.10, 3.55) and 2.93 (1.40, 6.11) for hemorrhagic stroke patients, with blood glucose 6.1-6.9, 7.0-7.7, 7.8-11.0 and >or=11.1mmol/L, respectively. CONCLUSION: Increased admission blood glucose was associated with death/dependency among patients with acute hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.

Blood pressure and clinical outcome among patients with acute stroke in Inner Mongolia, China.

OBJECTIVES: The association between blood pressure and short-term clinical outcome of acute stroke is inconclusive. We studied the association between admission blood pressure and in-hospital death or disability among acute stroke patients in Inner Mongolia, China. METHODS: A total of 2178 acute ischemic stroke and 1760 hemorrhagic stroke patients confirmed by a computed tomography scan or magnetic resonance imaging were included in the present study. Blood pressure and other study variables were collected within the first 24 h of hospital admission. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by trained neurologists during hospitalization. RESULTS: The in-hospital case-fatality rate was higher for acute hemorrhagic stroke (5.9%) than it was for acute ischemic stroke (1.8%), whereas the disability rate was higher for those with acute ischemic stroke (41.3%) than those with acute hemorrhagic stroke (34.4%) at discharge. Blood pressure at admission was not significantly associated with clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke. On the contrary, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly and positively associated with odds of death or disability in acute hemorrhagic stroke. For example, compared to those with a systolic blood pressure less than 140 mmHg, multiple-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of death/disability was 1.38 (0.96, 1.99), 1.42 (1.00, 2.03), 1.84 (1.28, 2.64), and 1.91 (1.35, 2.70) among participants with systolic blood pressure 140-159, 160-179, 180-199, and at least 200 mmHg, respectively (P < 0.0001 for linear trend). CONCLUSION: Increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly and positively associated with death and disability among patients with acute hemorrhagic stroke, but not acute ischemic stroke, in Inner Mongolia, China.