Deep learning driven diagnosis of malignant soft tissue tumors based on dual-modal ultrasound images and clinical indexes

BackgroundSoft tissue tumors (STTs) are benign or malignant superficial neoplasms arising from soft tissues throughout the body with versatile pathological types. Although Ultrasonography (US) is one of the most common imaging tools to diagnose malignant STTs, it still has several drawbacks in STT diagnosis that need improving.ObjectivesThe study aims to establish this deep learning (DL) driven Artificial intelligence (AI) system for predicting malignant STTs based on US images and clinical indexes of the patients.MethodsWe retrospectively enrolled 271 malignant and 462 benign masses to build the AI system using 5-fold validation. A prospective dataset of 44 malignant masses and 101 benign masses was used to validate the accuracy of system. A multi-data fusion convolutional neural network, named ultrasound clinical soft tissue tumor net (UC-STTNet), was developed to combine gray scale and color Doppler US images and clinic features for malignant STTs diagnosis. Six radiologists (R1-R6) with three experience levels were invited for reader study.ResultsThe AI system achieved an area under receiver operating curve (AUC) value of 0.89 in the retrospective dataset. The diagnostic performance of the AI system was higher than that of one of the senior radiologists (AUC of AI vs R2: 0.89 vs. 0.84, p=0.022) and all of the intermediate and junior radiologists (AUC of AI vs R3, R4, R5, R6: 0.89 vs 0.75, 0.81, 0.80, 0.63; p <0.01). The AI system also achieved an AUC of 0.85 in the prospective dataset. With the assistance of the system, the diagnostic performances and inter-observer agreement of the radiologists was improved (AUC of R3, R5, R6: 0.75 to 0.83, 0.80 to 0.85, 0.63 to 0.69; p<0.01).ConclusionThe AI system could be a useful tool in diagnosing malignant STTs, and could also help radiologists improve diagnostic performance

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Two Chrysomycin-Producing Wild-Type and Mutant Strains of Streptomyces sp. 891

Chrysomycin A (CA), a promising antibiotic agent, usually coexists with two analog chrysomycins B (CB) and C (CC) produced by several wild-type (WT) Streptomyces strains. With the aim to increase CA production, UV mutagenesis-based breeding had been employed on a marine-derived strain Streptomyces sp. 891 in our previous study and afforded an improved strain 891-B6 with enhanced CA yield. By comparative transcriptome analysis, significant differences in chrysomycin BGC-related gene expression between the WT strain 891 and the mutant strain 891-B6 were unveiled in the current study. Among 25 up-regulated genes in mutant 891-B6, chryA, chryB, chryC, chryF, chryG, chryK, chryP, and chryQ, responsible for the biosynthesis of benzonaphthopyranone aglycone, and chryD, chryE, and chryU in charge of production of its deoxyglycoside, were characterized. Furthermore, the expression of genes chryOII, chryOIII, and chryOIV responsible for the formation of 8-vinyl in CA from 8-ethyl in CB were greatly enhanced in strain 891-B6. These findings provide molecular mechanisms for increased yield of CA and decreased yield of CB for mutant 891-B6, which has potential application in industrial CA production

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Cruise Positioning and Docking Guidance Scheme

The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is capable of autonomously conducting underwater cruising tasks. When combined with docking operations, the AUV can replenish its electric power after long-distance travel, enabling it to achieve long-range autonomous monitoring. This paper proposes a positioning method for the cruising and docking stages of AUVs. Firstly, a vision guidance algorithm based on monocular vision and threshold segmentation is studied to address the issue of regional noise that commonly occurs during underwater docking. A solution for regional noise based on threshold segmentation and proportional circle selection is proposed. Secondly, in order to enhance the positioning accuracy during the cruising stage, a fusion positioning algorithm based on particle filtering is presented, incorporating the Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) and GPS carried by the AUV. In simulation, this algorithm improves positioning accuracy by over 56.0% compared to using individual sensors alone. Finally, experiments for cruising and docking were conducted in Qingjiang, Hubei, China. The effectiveness of both methods is demonstrated, with successful docking achieved in four out of five attempts

Pavement structure and materials design for sea-crossing bridges and tunnel: Case study of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge

With the continuous development of bridge and tunnel construction technologies, large-scale sea-crossing bridges and tunnels have gradually become the preferred choice for regional traffic. The construction technology of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB), one of the most representative sea-crossing passageways, is instructive for the construction of other large sea-crossing infrastructures. At present, the pavement design method of sea-crossing passageways lacks pertinence as it still refers to specifications for design of common pavement. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the bridge and tunnel pavement of HZMB as a typical example to analyze key technical problems encountered in its design, construction and operation. Novel solutions for material selection and structural design built upon the analysis of such critical problems should thus follow up. Based on comprehensive literature research, it can be found that environmental variability, tunnel closure, structural differential settlement and expansion deformation are the key technical problems faced by pavement of sea-crossing passageways. In view of the environmental variability, the steel deck-paving material and structure design of GMA-10 + SMA-13 is innovatively proposed. As for the closure of immersed tube tunnel, warm-mix flame retardant asphalt mixture is used to control pavement design through key indexes such as temperature and limit oxygen index. Regarding the deformation of immersed pipe joints, BJ200 asphalt seamless expansion joint material is introduced, which effectively satisfies the multi-directional deformation between pipe joints and ensures the smoothness of the road surface and driving comfort. For segmental joints, double-layer waterproof-coiled material is used to effectively prevent reflective cracks while ensuring the continuity of asphalt concrete pavement. Therefore, this paper provides a panel of ideas and methods for the pavement design of the same type of sea-crossing passageways

A Fast Color Image Encryption Algorithm Using 4-Pixel Feistel Structure.

Algorithms using 4-pixel Feistel structure and chaotic systems have been shown to resolve security problems caused by large data capacity and high correlation among pixels for color image encryption. In this paper, a fast color image encryption algorithm based on the modified 4-pixel Feistel structure and multiple chaotic maps is proposed to improve the efficiency of this type of algorithm. Two methods are used. First, a simple round function based on a piecewise linear function and tent map are used to reduce computational cost during each iteration. Second, the 4-pixel Feistel structure reduces round number by changing twist direction securely to help the algorithm proceed efficiently. While a large number of simulation experiments prove its security performance, additional special analysis and a corresponding speed simulation show that these two methods increase the speed of the proposed algorithm (0.15s for a 256*256 color image) to twice that of an algorithm with a similar structure (0.37s for the same size image). Additionally, the method is also faster than other recently proposed algorithms

Investigation of internal phases of linear SBS modified bitumen at the nanoscale using AFM PF-QNM

Currently, few studies explore the internal phases of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) modified bitumen at the nanoscale, though the surface phases of SBS modified bitumen have been deeply understood through a lot of research. The present study uses the atomic force microscopy (AFM) peak force quantitative nanomechanical mode (PF-QNM) to investigate the nanomechanical properties of the interior of linear SBS modified bitumen and corresponding mastics at the nanoscale. Firstly, the suitable experimental methods for the interior of bitumen and mastics are explored. Then, the phase relationship between surfaces and interiors of linear SBS modified bitumen is determined by analyzing nanomechanical properties. On this basis, in comparison with the internal phases of base bitumen, the effect of modifiers on phases is deeply investigated. Finally, the internal phases of linear SBS modified bituminous mastics are further investigated. The results reveal that the interior of linear SBS modified bitumen only has two phases, which form in a manner like periphase and paraphase on the surface. In contrast to base bitumen, linear SBS modified bitumen does not create new phases and change the properties of original phases in the interior, but affects the proportion of A-phase and B-phase and presents the homogenization. Furthermore, due to the influence of preparation methods, only the bitumen area away from the fillers can be imaged by AFM PF-QNM. It can be found that the addition of mineral fillers also slightly changes the internal phase distribution of linear SBS modified bitumen, while the effect is less than that of fillers on base bitumen

Viscoelastic Behavior and Phase Structure of High-Content SBS-Modified Asphalt

To investigate the effect of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) modifier content on the viscoelastic behavior of SBS-modified asphalt (SBSMA) at different temperatures and phase structures, the star SBS modifier was chosen to fabricate seven types of SBSMA with different contents. Multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR), linear amplitude sweep (LAS), and low-temperature frequency sweep tests were adopted to study the influence of SBS modifier content on the viscoelastic performance of SBSMA at high to low temperatures. The SBSMA’s microstructure with different contents was investigated using a fluorescence microscope. The results indicated that the change in non-recoverable creep compliance and creep recovery rate was bounded by 4.5% content at high temperatures, with an apparent turning point. The changing slope of content at less than 4.5% was much higher than that of the content greater than 4.5%. At medium temperatures, the fatigue life of SBSMA increased exponentially with the rising modifier content. The rate of increase in fatigue life was the largest as the content increased from 4.5% to 6.0%. At low temperatures, the low-temperature viscoelastic property index G (60 s) of SBSMA decreased logarithmically as the modifier content increased. In terms of the microscopic phase structure, the SBS modifier gradually changed from the dispersed to the continuous phase state with the increasing SBS modifier content

Exosomal miR-3174 induced by hypoxia promotes angiogenesis and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by inhibiting HIPK3

Summary: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly malignant tumor with rich blood supply. HCC-derived exosomes containing hereditary substances including microRNAs (miRNAs) were involved in regulating tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Subsequently, series experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of exosomal miR-3174 on HCC angiogenesis and metastasis. HCC-derived exosomal miR-3174 was ingested by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in which HIPK3 was targeted and silenced, causing subsequent inhibition of Fas and p53 signaling pathways. Furthermore, exosomal miR-3174 induced permeability and angiogenesis of HUVECs to enhance HCC progression and metastasis. Under hypoxia, upregulated HIF-1α further promoted the transcription of miR-3174. Moreover, HNRNPA1 augmented the package of miR-3174 into exosomes. Clinical data analysis confirmed that HCC patients with high-level miR-3174 were correlated with worse prognosis. Thus, exosomal miR-3174 induced by hypoxia promotes angiogenesis and metastasis of HCC by inhibiting HIPK3/p53 and HIPK3/Fas signaling pathways. Our findings might provide potential targets for anti-tumor therapy

Randomness test results.

<p>Randomness test results.</p