Research on real-time detection algorithm of safety helmets in complex operating environment

In order to solve the problems of low detection accuracy when the background of safety helmets is complex at construction sites, and the safety helmet target is too small to be easily detected, this paper proposes a real-time detection algorithm for safety helmets in complex working environments based on the YOLOv5 framework. An improved YOLOv5 detection algorithm is proposed to address the issues of missing safety helmets and low detection accuracy in the construction environment. Adding an attention mechanism to the YOLOv5 backbone network, adding a detection layer at the neck of the network, and integrating an ASFF module at the neck of the network have better detection performance when facing complex backgrounds and dense helmet detection; The experimental results show that compared to the original YOLOv5 model, the improved average accuracy has increased by 2.4%, reaching 91.3%, effectively improving the detection ability of safety helmets in complex environments

Enhancing Quantised End-to-End ASR Models via Personalisation

Recent end-to-end automatic speech recognition (ASR) models have become increasingly larger, making them particularly challenging to be deployed on resource-constrained devices. Model quantisation is an effective solution that sometimes causes the word error rate (WER) to increase. In this paper, a novel strategy of personalisation for a quantised model (PQM) is proposed, which combines speaker adaptive training (SAT) with model quantisation to improve the performance of heavily compressed models. Specifically, PQM uses a 4-bit NormalFloat Quantisation (NF4) approach for model quantisation and low-rank adaptation (LoRA) for SAT. Experiments have been performed on the LibriSpeech and the TED-LIUM 3 corpora. Remarkably, with a 7x reduction in model size and 1% additional speaker-specific parameters, 15.1% and 23.3% relative WER reductions were achieved on quantised Whisper and Conformer-based attention-based encoder-decoder ASR models respectively, comparing to the original full precision models.Comment: 5 pages, submitted to ICASSP 202

Association between dynamic fluctuations in triiodothyronine levels and prognosis among critically ill patients within comprehensive intensive care units

ObjectiveDecrease in free thyroid hormone T3 (FT3) can be used as an independent prognostic indicator for the risk of death in ICUs. However, FT3 as a predictive marker is hindered by its accuracy. The study introduces the concept of dynamic FT3 data as a means to bolster the value of FT3 as a prognostic tool. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic value of dynamic FT3 evolution in a comprehensive ICU setting, analyze the consistency between dynamic FT3 changes and variations in disease severity, and explore the feasibility of FT3 as an objective indicator for real-time clinical treatment feedback.MethodsEmploying a single-center prospective observational study, FT3 measurements were taken on multiple days following enrollment, corresponding clinical data were collected. To investigated the pattern of dynamic changes of FT3,its prognostic significance in forecasting the risk of 28-day mortality, the alignment between dynamic FT3 changes and variations in the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score.ResultsThe survival group exhibited higher last FT3 levels compared to the lowest point (p<0.05), while the death group did not show statistically significant differences (p>0.05). The study also identifies the optimal correlation between FT3 and SOFA score at day 5 (optimal correlation coefficient -0.546).The ROC curve for FT3 at day 5 yielded an optimal AUC of 0.88, outperforming the SOFA score. The study categorizes FT3 curve patterns,Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of these patterns highlighted that the descending-type curve was significantly associated with increased risk of death (P<0.001). Additionally, the research explores the consistency between changes in FT3 and SOFA scores. While overall consistency rates were modest, subgroup analyses unveiled that greater disease severity led to higher consistency rates.ConclusionsThis study introduces the concept of dynamic FT3 changes to augment its prognostic utility in comprehensive ICU settings. The research identifies day 5 as the optimal time point for predictive efficacy, the descending FT3 curve as indicative of poor prognosis. While overall consistency with SOFA scores is modest, the correlation strengthens with greater disease severity

Bicuspid Aortic Valve: An Update in Morphology, Genetics, Biomarker, Complications, Imaging Diagnosis and Treatment

The bicuspid aortic valve, a kind of heart disease that comes from parents, has been paid attention around the world. Although most bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients will suffer from some complications including aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, endocarditis, and heart dysfunction in the late stage of the disease, there is none symptom in the childhood, which restrains us to diagnose and treatment in the onset phase of BAV. Hemodynamic abnormalities induced by the malformations of the valves in BAV patients for a long time will cause BAV-associated aortopathy: including progress aortic dilation, aneurysm, dissection and rupture, cardiac cyst and even sudden death. At present, preventive surgical intervention is the only effective method used in this situation and the diameter of the aorta is the primary reference criterion for surgery. And the treatment effects are always not satisfactory for patients and clinicians. Therefore, we need more methods to evaluate the progression of BAV and the surgery value and the appropriate intervention time by combining basic research with clinical treatment. In this review, advances in morphology, genetic, biomarkers, diagnosis and treatments are summarized, which expects to provide an update about BAV. It is our supreme expectations to provide some evidences for BAV early screening and diagnosis, and in our opinion, personalized surgical strategy is the trend of future BAV treatment

Biventricular longitudinal strain as a predictor of functional improvement after D-shant device implantation in patients with heart failure

BackgroundThe creation of an atrial shunt is a novel approach for the management of heart failure (HF), and there is a need for advanced methods for detection of cardiac function response to an interatrial shunt device. Ventricular longitudinal strain is a more sensitive marker of cardiac function than conventional echocardiographic parameters, but data on the value of longitudinal strain as a predictor of improvement in cardiac function after implantation of an interatrial shunt device are scarce. We aimed to investigate the exploratory efficacy of the D-Shant device for interatrial shunting in treating heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and to explore the predictive value of biventricular longitudinal strain for functional improvement in such patients.MethodsA total of 34 patients were enrolled (25 with HFrEF and 9 with HFpEF). All patients underwent conventional echocardiography and two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiogram (2D-STE) at baseline and 6 months after implantation of a D-Shant device (WeiKe Medical Inc., WuHan, CN). Left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) and right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain (RVFWLS) were evaluated by 2D-STE.ResultsThe D-Shant device was successfully implanted in all cases without periprocedural mortality. At 6-month follow-up, an improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class was observed in 20 of 28 patients with HF. Compared with baseline, patients with HFrEF showed significant reduced left atrial volume index (LAVI) and increased right atrial (RA) dimensions, as well as improved LVGLS and RVFWLS, at 6-month follow-up. Despite reduction in LAVI and increase in RA dimensions, improvements in biventricular longitudinal strain did not occur in HFpEF patients. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that LVGLS [odds ratio (OR): 5.930; 95% CI: 1.463–24.038; P = 0.013] and RVFWLS (OR: 4.852; 95% CI: 1.372–17.159; P = 0.014) were predictive of improvement in NYHA functional class after D-Shant device implantation.ConclusionImprovements in clinical and functional status are observed in patients with HF 6 months after implantation of a D-Shant device. Preoperative biventricular longitudinal strain is predictive of improvement in NYHA functional class and may be helpful to identify patients who will experience better outcomes following implantation of an interatrial shunt device

Low-dose-rate induces more severe cognitive impairment than high-dose-rate in rats exposed to chronic low-dose γ-radiation

BackgroundOwing to the long penetration depth of gamma (γ)-rays, individuals working in ionizing radiation environments are chronically exposed to low-dose γ-radiation, resulting in cognitive changes. Dose rate significantly affects radiation-induced biological effects; however, its role in chronic low-dose γ-irradiation-induced cognitive impairment remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether chronic low-dose γ-irradiation at low-dose-rate (LDR) could induce cognitive impairment and to compare the cognitive alteration caused by chronic low-dose γ-irradiation at LDR and high-dose-rate (HDR).MethodsThe rats were exposed to γ-irradiation at a LDR of 6 mGy/h and a HDR of 20 mGy/h for 30 days (5 h/day). Functional imaging was performed to assess the brain inflammation and blood–brain barrier (BBB) destruction of rats. Histological and immunofluorescence analyses were used to reveal the neuron damage and the activation of microglia and astrocytes in the hippocampus. RNA sequencing was conducted to investigate changes in gene expression in hippocampus.ResultsThe rats in the LDR group exhibited more persistent cognitive impairment than those in the HDR group. Furthermore, irradiated rats showed brain inflammation and a compromised BBB. Histologically, the number of hippocampal neurons were comparable in the LDR group but were markedly decreased in the HDR. Additionally, activated M1-like microglia and A1-like astrocytes were observed in the hippocampus of rats in the LDR group; however, only M1-like microglia were activated in the HDR group. Mechanistically, the PI3K–Akt signaling pathway contributed to the different cognitive function change between the LDR group and HDR group.ConclusionCompared with chronic low-dose γ-irradiation at HDR, LDR induced more severe cognitive impairment which might involve PI3K/Akt signaling pathway