Deep Compressive Sensing on ECG Signals with Modified Inception Block and LSTM

In practical electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, there are some challenges in reducing the data burden and energy costs. Therefore, compressed sensing (CS) which can conduct under-sampling and reconstruction at the same time is adopted in the ECG monitoring application. Recently, deep learning used in CS methods improves the reconstruction performance significantly and can removes of some of the constraints in traditional CS. In this paper, we propose a deep compressive-sensing scheme for ECG signals, based on modified-Inception block and long short-term memory (LSTM). The framework is comprised of four modules: preprocessing; compression; initial; and final reconstruction. We adaptively compressed the normalized ECG signals, sequentially using three convolutional layers, and reconstructed the signals with a modified Inception block and LSTM. We conducted our experiments on the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database and Non-Invasive Fetal ECG Arrhythmia Database to validate the robustness of our model, adopting Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and percentage Root-mean-square Difference (PRD) as the evaluation metrics. The PRD of our scheme was the lowest and the SNR was the highest at all of the sensing rates in our experiments on both of the databases, and when the sensing rate was higher than 0.5, the PRD was lower than 2%, showing significant improvement in reconstruction performance compared to the comparative methods. Our method also showed good recovering quality in the noisy data

Diels-Alder adducts with PTP1B inhibition from Morus notabilis

Eight Diels-Alder adducts, morbilisins A-H (1-8), a known analogue, chalcomoracin (9), together with eleven known flavonoids and 2-arylbenzofurans, were isolated from the leaves of Morus notabilis. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D, 2D NMR, MS, and ECD data. Compounds 1, 5, and 7-9 showed inhibition against PTP1B phosphatase activity in vitro

Prognostic role of C-reactive protein in prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Several studies have reported that C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammation biomarker, may be associated with the prognosis of prostate cancer (PCa). The objective of this systematic review is to summarize the predictive role of CRP for survival in PCa as reported in previous studies. Related studies were identified, and evaluated for quality through multiple search strategies. Data was collected from studies comparing overall and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with elevated CRP levels and those having lower levels. However, for progression-free survival (PFS), data were collected according to the log of CRP. The hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength of associations. A total of nine studies (n = 1,497) were evaluated in this meta-analysis (five for overall survival (OS), four for CSS and two for PFS). For OS and PFS, the pooled HR of CRP was statistically significant at 1.51 (95% CI, 1.28-1.79) and 1.50 (95% CI, 1.25-1.81), respectively. For CSS, the pooled HR was 1.91 (95% CI, 1.36-2.69) with higher CRP expression in PCa, which strongly indicates poorer survival in PCa. This study demonstrates that CRP may have a critical prognostic value in patients with prostatic cancer

Congenital coralliform cataract is the predominant consequence of a recurrent mutation in the CRYGD gene

Abstract Background Congenital cataract is a leading cause of treatable childhood blindness and both clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Among the already characterized phenotypes, coralliform cataract is a rare special form of congenital cataracts. Although previous studies had shown that mutations in the γD-crystallin (CRYGD) can result in congenital coralliform cataracts, no conclusive genotype-phenotype correlation might be drawn. Here we aimed to identify the spectrum and frequency of CRYGD gene mutations in congenital coralliform cataracts of Chinese origin. Methods The medical records of 392 Chinese families with congenital cataracts were reviewed between January 2011 and December 2021. The families, clinically documented to have congenital coralliform cataracts, were screened for mutations in candidate CRYGD gene. The genomic DNA of all subjects was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. PCR amplified and direct sequencing were performed to identify the disease-causing mutation. Results A total of 12 families with coralliform cataracts were recruited in this study in the past 10 years, accounting for 3.1% of the families with congenital cataracts. Of the 12 families, all affected individuals presented with bilateral non-progressive coralliform cataracts since birth, with the best-corrected Snellen visual acuities ranging from 20/200 to 20/25. A recurrent c.70 C > A (p. P24T) mutation in CRYGD was identified in 10 families (83.3%) with congenital cataract, which co-segregated with all affected individuals and was not observed in unaffected family members or ethnically matched normal controls. Conclusions The coralliform cataract is characterized by being bilateral, non-progressive and present at birth. A recurrent p.P24T CRYGD mutation occurs independently in 83.3% of the Chinese families with congenital coralliform cataracts and most likely represents a mutational hot spot, which underscore the relations between coralliform cataract and p.P24T CRYGD

Evaluation of two intervention models on contraceptive attitudes and behaviors among nulliparous women in Shanghai, China: a clustered randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background With increasing acceptance of premarital sex among young Chinese women, the rates of unintended pregnancies and induced abortions are becoming alarmingly high, suggesting the needs of educating women with adequate contraceptive knowledge and providing them with accessible contraceptive services. Previous studies have shown that knowledge and attitudes towards contraception could be modified through intervention strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two community intervention models on modifying contraceptive attitudes and behaviors among nulliparous women. Methods In this clustered randomized controlled trial, nulliparous women aged 18–40 years from 18 communities were enrolled and randomized to either the traditional community intervention model (TC model) or the more comprehensive new community-based intervention model (NC model) with a ratio of 1:2. Contraceptive attitudes and behaviors were assessed before and after the interventions. Results A total of 901 nulliparous women were followed. The most common contraceptive method in both groups was condom (approximately 80%) before or after interventions. The rates of using effective contraceptive methods were very low (<5%) even after the intervention. Comparing the NC with TC group, the adjusted ORs and 95% CIs regarding natural family planning, emergency contraceptive usage and short-acting OCPs were1.53 (95% CI: 1.11–2.13), 2.87 (95% CI: 2.05–4.02), and 2.71 (95% CI: 1.65–4.47), respectively; while the ORs and 95%CIs of gynecological examination and contraceptive use were 2.31 (95% CI: 1.63–3.27) and 2.89 (95% CI: 1.98–4.23), respectively. No statistical significant difference was found for the use of effective contraceptive methods at post-intervention among the two models. Conclusions High proportions of nulliparous women held negative attitudes and behaviors towards effective contraceptive methods. The NC model, integrating existing health resources, had more positive influence than the TC model on the favorable contraceptive attitudes and behaviors towards the use of any contraceptive methods, but had limited impact on the use of effective contraceptive methods. Our study suggested the feasibility of applying the NC model in Shanghai. Interventions on contraceptive attitudes and behaviors should base on the existing health service system, synthesize resources and selectively apply to populations with distinct characteristics

Evaluation of two intervention models on contraceptive attitudes and behaviors among nulliparous women in Shanghai, China: a clustered randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background With increasing acceptance of premarital sex among young Chinese women, the rates of unintended pregnancies and induced abortions are becoming alarmingly high, suggesting the needs of educating women with adequate contraceptive knowledge and providing them with accessible contraceptive services. Previous studies have shown that knowledge and attitudes towards contraception could be modified through intervention strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two community intervention models on modifying contraceptive attitudes and behaviors among nulliparous women. Methods In this clustered randomized controlled trial, nulliparous women aged 18–40 years from 18 communities were enrolled and randomized to either the traditional community intervention model (TC model) or the more comprehensive new community-based intervention model (NC model) with a ratio of 1:2. Contraceptive attitudes and behaviors were assessed before and after the interventions. Results A total of 901 nulliparous women were followed. The most common contraceptive method in both groups was condom (approximately 80%) before or after interventions. The rates of using effective contraceptive methods were very low (<5%) even after the intervention. Comparing the NC with TC group, the adjusted ORs and 95% CIs regarding natural family planning, emergency contraceptive usage and short-acting OCPs were1.53 (95% CI: 1.11–2.13), 2.87 (95% CI: 2.05–4.02), and 2.71 (95% CI: 1.65–4.47), respectively; while the ORs and 95%CIs of gynecological examination and contraceptive use were 2.31 (95% CI: 1.63–3.27) and 2.89 (95% CI: 1.98–4.23), respectively. No statistical significant difference was found for the use of effective contraceptive methods at post-intervention among the two models. Conclusions High proportions of nulliparous women held negative attitudes and behaviors towards effective contraceptive methods. The NC model, integrating existing health resources, had more positive influence than the TC model on the favorable contraceptive attitudes and behaviors towards the use of any contraceptive methods, but had limited impact on the use of effective contraceptive methods. Our study suggested the feasibility of applying the NC model in Shanghai. Interventions on contraceptive attitudes and behaviors should base on the existing health service system, synthesize resources and selectively apply to populations with distinct characteristics