Householder-Absolute Neural Layers For High Variability and Deep Trainability

We propose a new architecture for artificial neural networks called Householder-absolute neural layers, or Han-layers for short, that use Householder reflectors as weight matrices and the absolute-value function for activation. Han-layers, functioning as fully connected layers, are motivated by recent results on neural-network variability and are designed to increase activation ratio and reduce the chance of Collapse to Constants. Neural networks constructed chiefly from Han-layers are called HanNets. By construction, HanNets enjoy a theoretical guarantee that vanishing or exploding gradient never occurs. We conduct several proof-of-concept experiments. Some surprising results obtained on styled test problems suggest that, under certain conditions, HanNets exhibit an unusual ability to produce nearly perfect solutions unattainable by fully connected networks. Experiments on regression datasets show that HanNets can significantly reduce the number of model parameters while maintaining or improving the level of generalization accuracy. In addition, by adding a few Han-layers into the pre-classification FC-layer of a convolutional neural network, we are able to quickly improve a state-of-the-art result on CIFAR10 dataset. These proof-of-concept results are sufficient to necessitate further studies on HanNets to understand their capacities and limits, and to exploit their potentials in real-world applications

Fat- and iron-corrected ADC to assess liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B

PURPOSE:We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in assessing liver fibrosis after correcting for the effects of hepatic steatosis or iron deposition.METHODS:Seventy-three patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were included in this retrospective study. The aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) was calculated for classification of the fibrosis grade. Significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were diagnosed with the APRI. The proton density fat fraction (PDFF), R2*, and ADC values were measured. The impact of the PDFF and R2* on the ADC was analyzed. The PDFF- and R2*-corrected ADC values (ADCPDFF and ADCR2*) were calculated according to linear regression equations. The diagnostic performance of uncorrected ADC (ADCu), ADCPDFF and ADCR2* in predicting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis was assessed, and the area under the curve (AUC) values were compared.RESULTS:Among the 73 patients in this study, the mean ADC was 0.866 ± 0.084×10-3 mm2/s, the mean R2* was 60.24 (42.77, 85.37) 1/s, and the mean PDFF was 2.90% (1.60%- 4.80%). The ADC was negatively correlated with the PDFF (r= -0.298, P = .010) and R2* (r = -0.457, P < .001). Linear regression analysis showed that the PDFF and R2* were independent factors of the ADC (β= -0.315, P = .007, R2= 0.099 and β= -0.493, P < .001, R2= 0.243, respectively). Compared with the uncorrected ADC (r= -0.307, P = .022), the correlation between the ADCPDFF and fibrosis grade increased (r= -0.513, P < .001), and the correlation between the ADCR2* and fibrosis grade decreased (r=-0.168, P = .215). The AUC of the ADCPDFF was significantly larger than that of the ADCu in the diagnosis of significant fibrosis and cirrhosis, which increased from 0.68 to 0.81 (P = .003) for predicting significant fibrosis and from 0.75 to 0.84 (P = .009) for predicting cirrhosis. The AUCs for the ADCR2* in the diagnosis of significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were both lower than that for the uncorrected ADC (P = .206 and P = .109, respectively).CONCLUSION:After correcting for the effects of steatosis, the diagnostic performance of the ADC for signifi-cant fibrosis and cirrhosis increased. The ADC corrected for the effects of steatosis may be more reliable for identifying liver fibrosis

Impact of lockdown on the growth of children in China aged 3-6 years during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundLockdowns in COVID-19 pandemic led to less physical activity and more intake of unhealthy food in children. The aim of this study was to investigate the negative impact of major lockdowns on the growth of children aged 3-6 years during COVID-19 pandemic period.MethodsPhysical examination results in 2019 to 2022 from 5834 eligible children (2972 males and 2862 females) from Southwestern China who were 3 years old in 2019 were retrospectively collected. Height and weight data points were extracted from the results, and percentiles of height (height%), weight (weight%), and BMI (BMI%), and rates of overweight and obesity were calculated and compared between different years during the pandemic.ResultsAfter analyzing the 15404 growth data points from 5834 children, a slowly increasing trend of height% from 2019 to 2022 was observed. Weight%, BMI%, overweight rate, obesity rate, and combined overweight and obesity rate had two peaks in 2020 and 2022 when major lockdowns were adopted and a drop in between (year 2021), except for obesity rate which did not drop in 2021. Similar results were shown after stratification by gender.ConclusionThe lockdowns in COVID-19 pandemic promoted obesity of kindergarten children, but did not show any negative impact on their height growth possibly due to over-nutrition of children during lockdowns. More efforts need to be made to limit the increase of obesity rate in kindergarten children during possible future lockdowns

Surgical treatment of patellar dislocation: A network meta-analysis of randomized control trials and cohort studies

BackgroundCurrently, there are many surgical options for patellar dislocation. The purpose of this study is to perform a network meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies to determine the better treatment.MethodWe searched the Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, clinicaltrials.gov and who.int/trialsearch. Clinical outcomes included Kujala score, Lysholm score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score, redislocation or recurrent instability. We conducted pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis respectively using the frequentist model to compare the clinical outcomes.ResultsThere were 10 RCTs and 2 cohort studies with a total of 774 patients included in our study. In network meta-analysis, double-bundle medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction (DB-MPFLR) achieved good results on functional scores. According to the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA), DB-MPFLR had the highest probabilities of their protective effects on outcomes of Kujala score (SUCRA 96.5 %), IKDC score (SUCRA 100.0%) and redislocation (SUCRA 67.8%). However, DB-MPFLR (SUCRA 84.6%) comes second to SB-MPFLR (SUCRA 90.4%) in Lyshlom score. It is (SUCRA 70%) also inferior to vastus medialis plasty (VM-plasty) (SUCRA 81.9%) in preventing Recurrent instability. The results of subgroup analysis were similar.ConclusionOur study demonstrated that MPFLR showed better functional scores than other surgical options

Deformation prediction analysis of vertical displacement of deep foundation pit based on LIBSVM

The reliable prediction of the surface vertical displacement deformation of deep foundation pits is of great significance to the excavation of large foundation pits. The support vector machine model (LIBSVM) has become a hot spot in the prediction of deep foundation pit deformation and provides a new prediction for the deformation of deep foundation pits. In this paper, taking the deep foundation pit of Daoxianghu Road Station in xx as an example, a prediction model of vertical displacement on the ground is established based on LIBSVM and analysis shows that the prediction results based on the model are in good agreement with the measured data, and the MSE reaches 0.0323. The model is effective and has an effective prospective skill

Fabrication and repair of GaN nanorods by plasma etching with self-assembled nickel nanomasks

High crystal quality GaN nanorod arrays were fabricated by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching using self-organized nickel (Ni) nano-islands mask on GaN film and subsequent repaired process including annealing in ammonia and KOH etching. The Ni nano-islands have been formed by rapid thermal annealing, whose density, shape, and dimensions were regulated by annealing temperature and Ni layer thickness. The structural and optical properties of the nanorods obtained from GaN epitaxial layers were comparatively studied by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL). The results indicate that damage induced by plasma can be successfully healed by annealing in NH3 at 900 °C. The average diameter of the as-etched nanorod was effectively reduced and the plasma etch damage was removed after a wet treatment process in a KOH solution. It was found that the diameter of the GaN nanorod was continuously reduced and the PL intensity first increased, then reduced and finally increased as the KOH etching time sequentially increased

Fabricate the Auto-aquaculture Structure with Android Monitoring System

Based on the Android monitoring system, the automated fish feeder has been developed. The system provides a convenient and reliable solution for fish farmers. This system includes a fish feeder that distributes food at predetermined intervals. The Android application allows farmers to monitor and control the feeding process remotely. The application displays the current feeding schedule. At the same time, the users can adjust the frequency and amount of food dispensed. The alarm function can send the notification information to the farmer’s mobile phone if the feeder experiences any issues or requires maintenance. By automating the feeding process and providing real-time monitoring, the system can help farmers optimize fish growth and health while reducing the time and effort required for artificial feeding

Detection of groundwater storage variability based on GRACE and CABLE model in the Murray-Darling Basin

Monitoring groundwater storage is in great importance for economic and social development. In this paper, the monthly GRACE data from 2003 to 2015 is combined with the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model to estimate the variations of groundwater storage (GWS) in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The results show that (1) the simulations of TWS from CABLE are more accurate than GLDAS over the MDB, and there is a higher correlation coefficient of 0.94 and a lower RMSE of 15.74 between CABLE and GRACE. (3) The spatial pattern of GWS trends shows decline trends in the southwest, east and south, and increasing trends in the north and south central (3) For the whole MDB, the average GWS has strong seasonality and shows an increasing trend with a rate of 1.19 0.41 mmyyear between 2003 and 2015