Contrastive Attention for Automatic Chest X-ray Report Generation

Recently, chest X-ray report generation, which aims to automatically generate descriptions of given chest X-ray images, has received growing research interests. The key challenge of chest X-ray report generation is to accurately capture and describe the abnormal regions. In most cases, the normal regions dominate the entire chest X-ray image, and the corresponding descriptions of these normal regions dominate the final report. Due to such data bias, learning-based models may fail to attend to abnormal regions. In this work, to effectively capture and describe abnormal regions, we propose the Contrastive Attention (CA) model. Instead of solely focusing on the current input image, the CA model compares the current input image with normal images to distill the contrastive information. The acquired contrastive information can better represent the visual features of abnormal regions. According to the experiments on the public IU-X-ray and MIMIC-CXR datasets, incorporating our CA into several existing models can boost their performance across most metrics. In addition, according to the analysis, the CA model can help existing models better attend to the abnormal regions and provide more accurate descriptions which are crucial for an interpretable diagnosis. Specifically, we achieve the state-of-the-art results on the two public datasets.Comment: Appear in Findings of ACL 2021 (The Joint Conference of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the 11th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing (ACL-IJCNLP 2021)

The organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis and subfornical organ: regulation of thirst

Thirst and water intake are regulated by the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT) and subfornical organ (SFO), located around the anteroventral third ventricle, which plays a critical role in sensing dynamic changes in sodium and water balance in body fluids. Meanwhile, neural circuits involved in thirst regulation and intracellular mechanisms underlying the osmosensitive function of OVLT and SFO are reviewed. Having specific Nax channels in the glial cells and other channels (such as TRPV1 and TRPV4), the OVLT and SFO detect the increased Na+ concentration or hyperosmolality to orchestrate osmotic stimuli to the insular and cingulate cortex to evoke thirst. Meanwhile, the osmotic stimuli are relayed to the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) via direct neural projections or the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) to promote the secretion of vasopressin which plays a vital role in the regulation of body fluid homeostasis. Importantly, the vital role of OVLT in sleep-arousal regulation is discussed, where vasopressin is proposed as the mediator in the regulation when OVLT senses osmotic stimuli

Overview and prospect of the detection capability of China's first precipitation measurement satellite FY-3G

Based on introducing the technical characteristics of FY-3G, which is China's first precipitation measurement satellite and successfully launched at 09∶36 BT on April 16 in 2023, this paper focuses on the precipitation detection capabilities and application prospect in rainstorm monitoring of FY-3G. The results show that, with an orbit at 407 km and an inclination angle of 50°, and equipped with a dual-frequency Ka/Ku band precipitation measurement radar, microwave, and optical imaging instruments, the FY-3G satellite can detect the three-dimensional structure of disastrous weather systems such as typhoon, heavy rainfall, and other strong convection events in most of China. At the design level, FY-3G has precipitation detection capabilities comparable to the current US Second Generation Global Precipitation Measurement Program (GPM) Core Satellite (GPMCO), but better payload types, quantities, and channel settings compared with the GPMCO satellite. After the service operation, the FY-3G satellite, together with other polar-orbiting meteorological satellites such as FY-3 AM, PM, and EM, as well as high-orbit geostationary satellites, will form the Fengyun precipitation detection constellation system, which will improve the overall precipitation detection capability of the Fengyun Satellite constellation and provide stronger basic support for meteorological disaster prevention and mitigation

Impact of Immunization Technology and Assay Application on Antibody Performance – A Systematic Comparative Evaluation

Antibodies are quintessential affinity reagents for the investigation and determination of a protein's expression patterns, localization, quantitation, modifications, purification, and functional understanding. Antibodies are typically used in techniques such as Western blot, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), among others. The methods employed to generate antibodies can have a profound impact on their success in any of these applications. We raised antibodies against 10 serum proteins using 3 immunization methods: peptide antigens (3 per protein), DNA prime/protein fragment-boost (“DNA immunization”; 3 per protein), and full length protein. Antibodies thus generated were systematically evaluated using several different assay technologies (ELISA, IHC, and Western blot). Antibodies raised against peptides worked predominantly in applications where the target protein was denatured (57% success in Western blot, 66% success in immunohistochemistry), although 37% of the antibodies thus generated did not work in any of these applications. In contrast, antibodies produced by DNA immunization performed well against both denatured and native targets with a high level of success: 93% success in Western blots, 100% success in immunohistochemistry, and 79% success in ELISA. Importantly, success in one assay method was not predictive of success in another. Immunization with full length protein consistently yielded the best results; however, this method is not typically available for new targets, due to the difficulty of generating full length protein. We conclude that DNA immunization strategies which are not encumbered by the limitations of efficacy (peptides) or requirements for full length proteins can be quite successful, particularly when multiple constructs for each protein are used

Efficacy of Pilates on Pain, Functional Disorders and Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common health problem. Pilates is a unique exercise therapy. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy of Pilates on pain, functional disorders, and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, CBM, EBSCO, and Embase were searched. Randomized controlled trials of Pilates in the treatment of CLBP were collected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 and Stata 12.2. Results: 19 randomized controlled trials with a total of 1108 patients were included. Compared with the controls, the results showed the following values: Pain Scale [standard mean difference; SMD = −1.31, 95%CI (−1.80, −0.83), p p p = 0.04], 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) (Physical Function (PF) [MD = 5.09, 95%CI (0.20, 9.99), p = 0.04], Role Physical (RP) [MD = 5.02, 95%CI (−1.03, 11.06), p = 0.10], Bodily Pain (BP) [MD = 8.79, 95%CI (−1.57, 19.16), p = 0.10], General Health (GH) [MD = 8.45, 95%CI (−5.61, 22.51), p = 0.24], Vitality (VT) [MD = 8.20, 95%CI(−2.30, 18.71), p = 0.13], Social Functioning (SF) [MD = −1.11, 95%CI (−7.70, 5.48), p = 0.74], Role Emotional (RE) [MD = 0.86, 95%CI (−5.53, 7.25), p = 0.79], Mental Health (MH) [MD = 11.04, 95%CI (−12.51, 34.59), p = 0.36]), Quebec Back in Disability Scale (QBPDS) [MD = −5.51, 95%CI (−23.84, 12.81), p = 0.56], and the sit-and-reach test [MD = 1.81, 95%CI (−0.25, 3.88), p = 0.09]. Conclusions: This meta-analysis reveals that Pilates may have positive efficacy for pain relief and the improvement of functional disorders in CLBP patients, but the improvement in quality of life seems to be less obvious. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42022348173

Continuous Medium Hypothesis Based Study on the Screw Flight Wear Model and Wear Regularity in Screw Ship Unloader

The screw flight on the vertical screw conveyor which is the spiral blade welded on the axial cylinder is the core component of the screw ship unloader and can be seriously worn by the materials during long-term conveying. The damaged screw flight will make the screw ship unloader unable to unload materials or even lead to an accident. Hence, we established a new screw flight wear model based on the Archard wear model and Continuous Medium Hypothesis. Two influencing factors, including speed and filling rate were selected to study the wear law of the screw flight, and the wear law was verified by experimental. Results indicate that the experimental results were consistent with the calculation model. The wear rate of screw flight was approximately parabola increased with the increase of rotational speed and the screw flight wear rate positively and linearly correlated with the filling rate.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Green, Hydrothermal Synthesis of Fluorescent Carbon Nanodots from Gardenia, Enabling the Detection of Metronidazole in Pharmaceuticals and Rabbit Plasma

Strong fluorescent carbon nanodots (FCNs) were synthesized with a green approach using gardenia as a carbon source through a one-step hydrothermal method. FCNs were characterized by their UV-vis absorption spectra, photoluminescence (PL), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We further explored the use of as-synthesized FCNs as an effective probe for the detection of metronidazole (MNZ), which is based on MNZ-induced fluorescence quenching of FCNs. The proposed method displayed a wide linear range from 0.8 to 225.0 µM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992 and a limit of detection as low as 279 nM. It was successfully applied to the determination of MNZ in commercial tablets and rabbit plasma with excellent sensitivity and selectivity, which indicates its potential applications in clinical analysis and biologically related studies

Silk Fibroin/Silk Braiding Fabric Composite Grafts via Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembly: Water Permeability and Cytocompatibility

Stent grafts play an important role in sealing vessel perforations, ruptures or aneurysms for remodeling vascular access, but maintaining long-term patency remains a major challenge after implantation. Silk fibroin (SF) is an ideal vascular graft material with excellent biocompatibility and physicochemical properties. In this study, we developed a series of composite grafts consisting of regenerated SF (RSF) and silk fabric, prepared using braiding technology and layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly, and investigated morphology, water permeability and cytotoxicity. The results showed that silk fabrics were covered effectively and tightly by RSF films, and the anti-water permeability of grafts was closely related to fabric structural parameters and self-assembly layers, in which the braiding angle of 90° and number of axial yarns above 60 threads/10 cm obtained very low water leakage. In particular, the graft prepared by 1 × 2 silk yarn had a thinner and more uniform thickness (70–80 μm), and showed lower water permeability (8.8 mL/min·cm2). Tests on L929 fibroblast cells showed that grafts had no significant cytotoxicity, and unreacted substances could be removed by LBL rinsing. These composite grafts may be promising biomaterials for the repair and regeneration of vascular access

Matrix Regeneration Ability In Situ Induced by a Silk Fibroin Small-Caliber Artificial Blood Vessel In Vivo

The success of a small-caliber artificial vascular graft in the host in order to obtain functional tissue regeneration and remodeling remains a great challenge in clinical application. In our previous work, a silk-based, small-caliber tubular scaffold (SFTS) showed excellent mechanical properties, long-term patency and rapid endothelialization capabilities. On this basis, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the vascular reconstruction process after implantation to replace the common carotid artery in rabbits. The new tissue on both sides of the SFTSs at 1 month was clearly observed. Inside the SFTSs, the extracellular matrix (ECM) was deposited on the pore wall at 1 month and continued to increase during the follow-up period. The self-assembled collagen fibers and elastic fibers were clearly visible in a circumferential arrangement at 6 months and were similar to autologous blood vessels. The positive expression rate of Lysyl oxidase-1 (LOXL-1) was positively correlated with the formation and maturity of collagen fibers and elastic fibers. In summary, the findings of the tissue regeneration processes indicated that the bionic SFTSs induced in situ angiogenesis in defects