Effective Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning Control with Relative Entropy Regularization

In this paper, a novel Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) approach, Multi-Agent Continuous Dynamic Policy Gradient (MACDPP) was proposed to tackle the issues of limited capability and sample efficiency in various scenarios controlled by multiple agents. It alleviates the inconsistency of multiple agents' policy updates by introducing the relative entropy regularization to the Centralized Training with Decentralized Execution (CTDE) framework with the Actor-Critic (AC) structure. Evaluated by multi-agent cooperation and competition tasks and traditional control tasks including OpenAI benchmarks and robot arm manipulation, MACDPP demonstrates significant superiority in learning capability and sample efficiency compared with both related multi-agent and widely implemented signal-agent baselines and therefore expands the potential of MARL in effectively learning challenging control scenarios

Metabolic syndrome and metastatic prostate cancer correlation study, a real-world study in a prostate cancer clinical research center, Xinjiang, China

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the relevance of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and metabolic scores to the occurrence, progression and prognosis of metastatic prostate cancer (mPCA), assessing the definition of the variables of metabolic syndrome, and the potential mechanisms of MetS and mPCA.MethodsData were obtained from the database of prostate cancer follow-up at the Urology Centre of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University (N=1303). After screening by inclusion and exclusion criteria, clinical data of 190 patients diagnosed with mPCA by pathology and imaging from January 2010 to August 2021 were finally included, including 111 cases in the MetS group and 79 cases in the Non-MetS group.ResultsThe MetS group was higher than the Non-MetS group: T stage, Gleasson score, initial PSA, tumor load, PSA after 7 months of ADT (P<0.05),with a shorter time to progression to CRPC stage(P<0.05)[where the time to progression to CRPC was relatively shorter in the high metabolic score subgroup of the MetS group than in the low subgroup (P<0.05)].Median survival time was significantly shorter in the MetS group than in the Non-MetS group (P<0.05),and there was a correlation with metabolic score, with the higher metabolic score subgroup having a lower survival time than the lower metabolic score subgroup (P<0.05).ConclusionThose with mPCA combined with MetS had lower PSA remission rates, more aggressive tumors, shorter time to progression to CRPC and shorter median survival times than those with mPCA without MetS.Tumour progression and metabolic score showed a positive correlation, predicting that MetS may promote the progression of mPCA, suggesting that MetS may be a risk factor affecting the prognosis of mPCA

CoNIC Challenge: Pushing the Frontiers of Nuclear Detection, Segmentation, Classification and Counting

Nuclear detection, segmentation and morphometric profiling are essential in helping us further understand the relationship between histology and patient outcome. To drive innovation in this area, we setup a community-wide challenge using the largest available dataset of its kind to assess nuclear segmentation and cellular composition. Our challenge, named CoNIC, stimulated the development of reproducible algorithms for cellular recognition with real-time result inspection on public leaderboards. We conducted an extensive post-challenge analysis based on the top-performing models using 1,658 whole-slide images of colon tissue. With around 700 million detected nuclei per model, associated features were used for dysplasia grading and survival analysis, where we demonstrated that the challenge's improvement over the previous state-of-the-art led to significant boosts in downstream performance. Our findings also suggest that eosinophils and neutrophils play an important role in the tumour microevironment. We release challenge models and WSI-level results to foster the development of further methods for biomarker discovery

Methylparaben as a preservative in the development of a multi-dose HPV-2 vaccine

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is the simplest, most economical, convenient, and effective method of preventing cervical cancer. However, the current HPV vaccine is supplied as a single-dose vial with a relatively high cost per dose, which hinders its supply to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the demand for HPV vaccine is highest. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a multi-dose HPV vaccine to promote large-scale affordable vaccination in LMICs. Moreover, the addition of preservatives is required to reduce the risk of microbial contamination in multi-dose vaccines within a single vial. In this study, we investigated the effects of six preservatives on HPV 16L1 and 18L1 virus-like particles in solution, as well as the aluminum adsorption status, under normal and high-temperature conditions. Multiple methods were employed, including dynamic light scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, an in vitro relative potency assay, and an in vivo potency assay in mice. Based on the above results, four types of selected preservatives were further studied, and an antimicrobial effectiveness test was performed on the HPV-2 vaccine, which was employed as a model HPV vaccine. Finally, three preservatives were selected based on their performance to evaluate the long-term stability of the HPV-2 vaccine. The results indicated that 0.12% methylparaben is the most suitable preservative for the multi-dose HPV-2 vaccine, guaranteeing the shelf life for at least three years and meeting “B” standards for antimicrobial effectiveness. The formula developed in this study can contribute toward combating cervical cancer in LMICs

Glass-SOI-Based Hybrid-Bonded Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer With Hermetic Cavities for Immersion Applications

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) can be widely used in ultrasonic devices. After a discussion of the advantages and challenges for the existing CMUT technology especially for immersion applications, this paper presents a glass-silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-based and hybrid-bonded CMUT with hermetic cavities for the first time. It is understood that while anodic bonding can provide good mechanical strength, it is poor in providing sealing. Hence, Au-Au thermal compression bonding is needed. With the hybrid-bonded vacuum-sealing-line, the bond pad can be opened without damaging the vacuum level of the hermetic cavities, which effectively addresses the difficulty in cavity vacuum sealing. Due to structure design and the insulation characteristic of the glass wafer, the CMUT also has highlight in the aspect of no additional stray parasitic capacitances. Furthermore, the low-temperature compatibility of this hybrid-bonded CMUT improves the performance uniformity for both cells and dies. Capacitance-voltage test of device certificates the feasibility of electrical connections and confirms the low parasitic capacitance of device. Topography of the prototype is measured by using white light interferometer to verify the hermetic performance. Frequency response characterization, including dynamic vibration mode, resonance frequency, vibrating deflection and velocity, are carried out with a laser Doppler vibrometer. The immersion test is carried out and demonstrates the transmitting and receiving of ultrasound from fabricated devices. This glass-SOI-based and hybrid-bonded hermetic CMUT shows a great potential for immersion applications. [2015-0280

Design and Test of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer

Currently, most capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers, adopting surface sacrificial technology encounter various problems such as difficult cavity etch, low controllability of membrane thickness etc., and their operating frequencies are more concentrated in several MHz bandwidths that cannot meet the requirements of long-distance imaging applications. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes a new capacitive ultrasound transducer based on Si-Si bonding technology, which consists of an integration vibration membrane requiring no extra separate metal film and having high sensitivity, uniform thickness and more controllable frequencies. This transducer has several great advantages such as: easy processing, simple structure and process technology, and a high degree of integration. The structure and size of the transducer is determined by theoretical analysis and finite element analysis software ANSYS, and a process flow is also presented. Through scanning by SEM and Polytec MSA-400, the processed transducer is tested and analyzed, and the results are consonant with the simulation, verifying the reliability of the design and fabrication

Participation in a Swedish cervical cancer screening program among women with psychiatric diagnoses: a population-based cohort study

Abstract Background In Sweden, organized screening programs have significantly reduced the incidence of cervical cancer. For cancers overall, however, women with psychiatric diagnoses have lower survival rates than other women. This study explores whether women with psychiatric diagnoses participate in cervical cancer screening programs to a lesser extent than women on average, and whether there are disparities between psychiatric diagnostic groups based on grades of severity. Methods Between 2000 and 2010, 65,292 women within screening ages of 23–60 had at least two ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems – Tenth Revision) codes F20*–F40* registered at visits in primary care or psychiatric care in Region Västra Götaland, Sweden. Participation in the cervical cancer screening program during 2010–2014 was compared with the general female population using logistic regression adjusted for age. Results Relative risk for participation (RR) for women diagnosed within psychiatric specialist care RR was 0.94 compared with the general population, adjusted for age. RR for diagnoses outside specialist care was 0.99. RR for psychoses (F20*) was 0.81. Conclusions Women with less-severe psychiatric diagnoses participate in the screening program to the same extent as women overall. Women who have received psychiatric specialist care participate to a lesser extent than women overall. The lowest participation rates were found among women diagnosed with psychoses

Spatial–Temporal Patterns of Carbon Sequestration Benefits and Identification of County-Level Compensation Orders in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Ecosystems

The role of ecosystems in sequestering carbon is becoming increasingly important as China’s “dual-carbon” strategy and the construction of an ecological civilisation continue to be promoted and implemented. The rapid economic development of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region is accompanied by the problem of excessive carbon emissions. Focusing on enhancing the carbon sequestration benefits of ecosystems and coordinating regional development, this paper adopts the model construction method, spatial correlation analysis, and centre of gravity migration analysis to study the spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystems’ carbon sequestration benefits in the counties of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, spatial and spatial aggregation, the pattern of centre of gravity migration, and the sequence of county compensation differentials in the period from 2000 to 2020. The results show (1) the carbon account of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region before the revision shows an overall distribution pattern of “low in the north and high in the south”. However, it is important to take into account the differences in the regional area, regional population, and regional GDP and the fact that the analysis of the amount of ecological compensation does not mechanically take into account the absolute magnitude of each value but rather takes into account all the values and then makes a trade-off for the difference in the value of the difference in the background. The spatial distribution of corrected carbon accounts is more even. (2) The high–high aggregation area of ecological compensation from 2000 to 2020 is mainly distributed in a dozen counties, such as Lulong County and Luan County in the eastern part of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, while the low–low aggregation area is mainly concentrated in counties such as Weichang County and Longhua County in the western and northern parts of the country, and the scope has a tendency to expand. (3) The centre of gravity of the ecological compensation amount moves roughly within the range of 116°17′30″ E–116°30′30″ E, 38°40′ N–38°50′ N, and the overall change rule of northwest to southeast migration is observed, with reciprocal movement in some years. (4) The top 15 lists of eco-compensation pay areas and payment areas have basically remained stable, with only some internal sorting changes, and the overall amount of payment areas is larger than that of payee areas, with sufficient surplus funds to ensure the smooth implementation of eco-compensation work at the county level in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei. The findings of this paper are important for coordinating the integrated development of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and, at the same time, contributing positively to the realisation of China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals