Curriculum Knowledge Switching for Pancreas Segmentation

Pancreas segmentation is challenging due to the small proportion and highly changeable anatomical structure. It motivates us to propose a novel segmentation framework, namely Curriculum Knowledge Switching (CKS) framework, which decomposes detecting pancreas into three phases with different difficulty extent: straightforward, difficult, and challenging. The framework switches from straightforward to challenging phases and thereby gradually learns to detect pancreas. In addition, we adopt the momentum update parameter updating mechanism during switching, ensuring the loss converges gradually when the input dataset changes. Experimental results show that different neural network backbones with the CKS framework achieved state-of-the-art performance on the NIH dataset as measured by the DSC metric.Comment: ICIP 202

Cosmological Constraints on the Undulant Universe

We use the redshift Hubble parameter $H(z)$ data derived from relative galaxy ages, distant type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) peak, and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) shift parameter data, to constrain cosmological parameters in the Undulant Universe. We marginalize the likelihood functions over $h$ by integrating the probability density $P\propto e^{-\chi^2/2}$. By using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, we obtain the best fitting results and give the confidence regions on the $b-\Omega_{\rm m0}$ plane. Then we compare their constraints. Our results show that the $H(z)$ data play a similar role with the SNe Ia data in cosmological study. By presenting the independent and joint constraints, we find that the BAO and CMB data play very important roles in breaking the degeneracy compared with the $H(z)$ and SNe Ia data alone. Combined with the BAO or CMB data, one can improve the constraints remarkably. The SNe Ia data sets constrain $\Omega_{\rm m0}$ much tighter than the $H(z)$ data sets, but the $H(z)$ data sets constrain $b$ much tighter than the SNe Ia data sets. All these results show that the Undulant Universe approaches the $\Lambda \rm$CDM model. We expect more $H(z)$ data to constrain cosmological parameters in future.Comment: 10 pages,6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysic

4,6-Dichloro-5-(2-meth­oxy­phen­oxy)-2,2′-bipyrimidine

In the title compound, C15H10Cl2N4O2, the dichloro­pyrimidine and meth­oxy­phen­oxy parts are approximately perpendicular [dihedral angle = 89.9 (9)°]. The dihedral angle between the two pyrimidine rings is 36.3 (4)° In the crystal, there are no hydrogen bonds but the mol­ecules are held together by short inter­molecular C⋯N [3.206 (3) Å] contacts and C—H⋯π inter­actions

Benefits of laboratory personalized antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

   Background: The preventive effects of laboratory personalized antiplatelet therapy (PAPT) strategy in­cluding genetic detection and platelet function testing (PFT) on major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and bleeding events in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients undergoing stenting has been extensively studied. Despite that, no clear conclusion can be drawn. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to explore a more precise estimation of the benefits of laboratory PAPT. Methods: Randomized controlled trials were identified by the use of search databases such as PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register up to May 2017, and the estimates were pooled. Results: Fourteen studies including 9497 patients met the inclusion criteria. The laboratory PAPT reduced MACEs risk (risk ratio [RR] 0.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42–0.80, p = 0.001), stent thrombosis (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.41–0.87, p = 0.008) and myocardial infarctions (RR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21–0.88, p = 0.02) compared to the non-PAPT group. No statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding cardiovascular death (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.51–1.16, p = 0.21), bleeding events (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.81–1.13, p = 0.59) and ischemic stroke (RR 0.81; 95% CI 0.39–1.66, p = 0.57). The preventive effect on MACEs was more significant in patients with high on-treatment platelet reactivity (RR 0.46; 95% CI 0.27–0.80, p = 0.006). Conclusions: Coronary artery disease patients after stenting could obtain benefits from laboratory PAPT. (Cardiol J 2018; 25, 1: 128–141

Water-Soluble 3D Covalent Organic Framework that Displays an Enhanced Enrichment Effect of Photosensitizers and Catalysts for the Reduction of Protons to H2.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are emerging porous polymers that have 2D or 3D long-range ordering. Currently available COFs are typically insoluble or decompose upon dissolution, which remarkably restricts their practical implementations. For 3D COFs, the achievement of noninterpenetration, which maximizes their porosity-derived applications, also remains a challenge synthetically. Here, we report the synthesis of the first highly water-soluble 3D COF (sCOF-101) from irreversible polymerization of a preorganized supramolecular organic framework through cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8])-controlled [2 + 2] photodimerization. Synchrotron X-ray scattering and diffraction analyses confirm that sCOF-101 exhibits porosity periodicity, with a channel diameter of 2.3 nm, in both water and the solid state and retains the periodicity under both strongly acidic and basic conditions. As an ordered 3D polymer, sCOF-101 can enrich [Ru(bpy)3]2+ photosensitizers and redox-active polyoxometalates in water, which leads to remarkable increase of their photocatalytic activity for proton reduction to produce H2

Effect of the combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and oral paroxetine hydrochloride in patients with post-stroke depression

Purpose: To determine the effects of combined use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and paroxetine hydrochloride tablets in patients with post-stroke depression (PSD), and its effect on scores on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) and Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL). Methods: Clinical data for 96 patients with PSD who were treated in Dongying Traditional Chinese Hospital, Dongying City, China from June 2018 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients who met the inclusion criteria were divided into treatment group (TG, n = 48) and reference group (RG, n = 48) based on odd and even hospitalization numbers. Both groups received conventional treatment, but RG patients were in addition given clopidogrel, while TG received CBT in combination with paroxetine hydrochloride tablets. Clinical indices were evaluated in both groups before and after treatment. Moreover, therapeutic effects in the two different treatment methods on PSD, as well as on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) and Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL) scores were analyzed. Results: After treatment, TG had lower HAMD score (p < 0.001), lower scores on modified Rankin scale, and few incidences of adverse reactions at 3, 7, 15 and 30 days of treatment (p < 0.05), but higher total clinical effectiveness and mean SS-QOL score (p < 0.05), when compared with RG. Conclusion: Combined use of CBT and oral paroxetine hydrochloride tablets may be a promising strategy for treating depression and enhancing the quality of life of PSD patients, as it greatly improves neurological deficit and prognosis. However, further clinical trials should be carried out prior to introducing it in clinical practice