Streamlining Social Media Information Retrieval for Public Health Research with Deep Learning

The utilization of social media in epidemic surveillance has been well established. Nonetheless, bias is often introduced when pre-defined lexicons are used to retrieve relevant corpus. This study introduces a framework aimed at curating extensive dictionaries of medical colloquialisms and Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts. The framework comprises three modules: a BERT-based Named Entity Recognition (NER) model that identifies medical entities from social media content, a deep-learning powered normalization module that standardizes the extracted entities, and a semi-supervised clustering module that assigns the most probable UMLS concept to each standardized entity. We applied this framework to COVID-19-related tweets from February 1, 2020, to April 30, 2022, generating a symptom dictionary (available at https://github.com/ningkko/UMLS_colloquialism/) composed of 9,249 standardized entities mapped to 876 UMLS concepts and 38,175 colloquial expressions. This framework demonstrates encouraging potential in addressing the constraints of keyword matching information retrieval in social media-based public health research.Comment: Accepted to ICHI 2023 (The 11th IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics) as a poster presentatio

Investigation of Stability and Underlying Mechanism of Unstable Subgrades Loess Modified by Carbide Slag in Road Construction Projection

The repurposing of carbide slag (CS) coupled with the advancement of eco-friendly engineering methodologies promises a novel approach to addressing the technical challenges inherent in loess refinement. This inquiry delves into the feasibility of employing CS as an economically viable and ecologically sustainable remedy to amplify the engineering attributes of loess within the context of optimal preservation. In this investigation, assorted quantities of CS, spanning from 1% to 6%, were infused into the loess. The efficacy of CS as an additive was ascertained through a comprehensive array of tests administered across varied curing durations (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 days), concentrating on its influence over the soil’s mechanical attributes. The study conducted various tests such as dual hydrometer, Attberg limit, specific gravity, compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), consolidation, physico-chemical properties (pH, conductivity), and chemical analysis (sodium percentage and sodium adsorption rate). The study demonstrated that the incorporation of CS into loess resulted in an increase in hydraulic conductivity, UCS, and optimum water content while reducing maximum dry density, plasticity, and compressibility. Specifically, the application of 6% CS resulted in a significant 6.7-fold increase in UCS from 226.8 (kPa) to 1508.8 (kPa) over a 30-day curing period. It was also observed that the addition of CS and curing period resulted in a decrease in soil pH from 8.5 to 7.5 and an increase in electrical conductivity (EC) from 250 to 490 μs/cm. When the CS concentration was increased to 6%, the amount of Na+ ions, the total soluble salts, and the percentage of Na in the loess decreased. The phenomenon can be ascribed to the replacement of Ca2+ for Na+, leading to a more slender, diffuse double layer and heightened stability. The application of calcium silicate in loess subgrades enhances their stability and potency, concurrently providing an ecologically sound waste management resolution. Consequently, it emerges as a profoundly viable choice for ameliorating loess within the realm of the construction sector

Application of artificial intelligence in ophthalmic plastic surgery

The advancement of computers and data explosion have ushered in the third wave of artificial intelligence(AI). AI is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses new ideas, new theories, and new technologies, etc. AI has brought convenience to ophthalmology application and promoted its intelligent, precise, and minimally invasive development. At present, AI has been widely applied in various fields of ophthalmology, especially in oculoplastic surgery. AI has made rapid progress in image detection, facial recognition, etc., and its performance and accuracy have even surpassed humans in some aspects. This article reviews the relevant research and applications of AI in oculoplastic surgery, including ptosis, single eyelid, pouch, eyelid mass, and exophthalmos, and discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by AI in oculoplastic surgery, and provides prospects for its future development, aiming to provide new ideas for the development of AI in oculoplastic surgery

Experimental and Computational Research on the Shear Performance of Partially Filled Narrow-Width Steel Box-UHPC-Combined Girders under Negative Moment Action

To examine the vertical shear behavior of narrow-width steel box-UHPC (Ultra-High Performance Concrete) composite beams with partial filling under negative bending moments, a total of six test beams were created and constructed in this study. The variables considered during the design and fabrication process included the flange thickness of UHPC, the amount of steel fibers in UHPC, and the height of the concrete filling. Reverse static concentration loading was applied to the beams. Compared to the C40 concrete flange, the cracking load of the 1/2 plate thickness UHPC flange and pure UHPC flange increased by 55.6% and 66.7%, respectively. The yield load witnessed a rise of 17.3% and 22.7%, while the ultimate load experienced an increase of 7% and 13.1%. This suggests that incorporating steel fibers can regulate the formation of cracks, enhance the flexibility of the flanges, and improve the overall shear capacity of the composite beams. When steel fibers were used in the amount of 2% of the concrete volume, the cracking resistance of the flange plate was increased by 16.7%. Partially filled and fully filled composite beams exhibited a 7.7% and 30.8% augmentation in cracking load, a 35.3% and 49.9% increase in yield load, and a 41% and 83.2% elevation in ultimate load when contrasted with composite beams devoid of concrete infusion within the steel box. The above observation implies that the incorporation of concrete within the steel box significantly improves the yield strength and ultimate shear capacity of the composite beams. The shear strength of the narrow-width steel box-UHPC composite beams, which are partially filled, shows a significant relationship with the experimental results when applying the principle of component superposition

The effects of different shapes of capsulorrhexis on postoperative refractive outcomes and the effective position of the intraocular lens in cataract surgery

Abstract Background To evaluate the effects of anterior capsular opening size on deviation from predicted refraction and the effective position of the intraocular lens (ELP) in cataract surgery. Methods Nonrandomized clinical trial. Eighty patients (80 eyes) with simple age-related cataracts were treated from May 2018 to September 2018 at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. All patients undergoing phacoemulsification received intraocular lens based on the voluntary principle. Forty eyes were implanted with the C-loop haptic intraocular lens (AMO Tecnis ZCB00) while the other 40 eyes were implanted with the plate haptic intraocular lens (CT ASPHINA 509 M). Follow-up visits were conducted postoperatively at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months during which patients underwent refraction and data collection after pupil dilation, which included anterior segment photography and Scheimpflug imaging by Pentacam. The area, horizontal and vertical diameter of the capsulorrhexis, circularity, decentration, and package were analysed using the image analysis software Image-Pro-Plus 6.0,then evaluated the relationship between the different shapes of capsulorrhexis with deviation from predicted refraction and ELP in cataract surgery. Results Deviation from predicted refraction and all of the parameters of capsulorrhexis were not correlative in the 509 M IOL group, however, in the Tecnis IOL group, while the deviation from predicted refraction and all of the capsulorrhexis parameters were not correlative at 1 week, the deviation from predicted refraction did correlate with capsulorrhexis area, horizontal diameter at 1 month (P = 0.029, P = 0.048), and with capsulorrhexis area, vertical diameter at 3 months (P = 0.03, P = 0.017). The ELP correlated with package in both groups postoperatively (r > 0, P  0.05). For the Tecnis IOL group, the ELP and capsulorrhexis area were correlated at 1 week and 1 month, while the ELP and horizontal diameter, the ELP and vertical diameter were correlated at 1 week, but did not correlate with the other capsulorrhexis parameters in the Tecnis IOL group (all P > 0.05). Conclusions The shape of the capsulorrhexis has an effect on postoperative refractive outcomes and the effective position of the intraocular lens in cataract surgery, and plate haptic intraocular lenses have better refractive stability than C-loop haptic intraocular lenses. Trial registration ChiCTR1800015638,2018-04-12