A Peer-to-peer Federated Continual Learning Network for Improving CT Imaging from Multiple Institutions

Deep learning techniques have been widely used in computed tomography (CT) but require large data sets to train networks. Moreover, data sharing among multiple institutions is limited due to data privacy constraints, which hinders the development of high-performance DL-based CT imaging models from multi-institutional collaborations. Federated learning (FL) strategy is an alternative way to train the models without centralizing data from multi-institutions. In this work, we propose a novel peer-to-peer federated continual learning strategy to improve low-dose CT imaging performance from multiple institutions. The newly proposed method is called peer-to-peer continual FL with intermediate controllers, i.e., icP2P-FL. Specifically, different from the conventional FL model, the proposed icP2P-FL does not require a central server that coordinates training information for a global model. In the proposed icP2P-FL method, the peer-to-peer federated continual learning is introduced wherein the DL-based model is continually trained one client after another via model transferring and inter institutional parameter sharing due to the common characteristics of CT data among the clients. Furthermore, an intermediate controller is developed to make the overall training more flexible. Numerous experiments were conducted on the AAPM low-dose CT Grand Challenge dataset and local datasets, and the experimental results showed that the proposed icP2P-FL method outperforms the other comparative methods both qualitatively and quantitatively, and reaches an accuracy similar to a model trained with pooling data from all the institutions

N-Cadherin Expression Level Distinguishes Reserved versus Primed States of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

SummaryOsteoblasts expressing the homophilic adhesion molecule N-cadherin form a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche. Therefore, we examined how N-cadherin expression in HSCs relates to their function. We found that bone marrow (BM) cells highly expressing N-cadherin (N-cadherinhi) are not stem cells, being largely devoid of a Lineage−Sca1+cKit+ population and unable to reconstitute hematopoietic lineages in irradiated recipient mice. Instead, long-term HSCs form distinct populations expressing N-cadherin at intermediate (N-cadherinint) or low (N-cadherinlo) levels. The minority N-cadherinlo population can robustly reconstitute the hematopoietic system, express genes that may prime them to mobilize, and predominate among HSCs mobilized from BM to spleen. The larger N-cadherinint population performs poorly in reconstitution assays when freshly isolated but improves in response to overnight in vitro culture. Their expression profile and lower cell-cycle entry rate suggest N-cadherinint cells are being held in reserve. Thus, differential N-cadherin expression reflects functional distinctions between two HSC subpopulations

The Asymmetric Impact of the Oil Price and Disaggregate Shocks on Economic Policy Uncertainty: Evidence From China

This study attempts to investigate the asymmetric impacts of oil price and component shocks on categorical economic policy uncertainties (EPUs) in China. A novel multiple thresholds nonlinear autoregressive distributed lagged model (ARDL) was employed to capture the asymmetric impacts of oil price and shocks on EPUs in the short and long run. Additionally, the influence of the Brent oil price on integral EPU was also examined. We find that asymmetric impact is more remarkable in the long run in China. Among the four categorical EPUs, trade policy uncertainty is the most notable in most cases. Based on the results, some implications are provided to policymakers and investors

Enhanced methane production of vinegar residue by response surface methodology (RSM).

As the by-product of the vinegar production process, a large number of vinegar residue has been abandoned and caused a serious environmental pollution. Anaerobic digestion has been proved to be able to dispose and convert vinegar residue into bioenergy but still need to improve the efficiency. This study applied central composite design of response surface methodology to investigate the influences of feed to inoculum ratio, organic loading, and initial pH on methane production and optimize anaerobic digestion condition. The maximum methane yield of 203.91 mL gVS-1 and biodegradability of 46.99% were obtained at feed to inoculum ratio of 0.5, organic loading of 31.49 gVS L-1, and initial pH of 7.29, which was considered as the best condition. It has a very significant improvement of 69.48% for methane production and 52.02% for biodegradability compared with our previous study. Additionally, a high methane yield of 182.09 mL gVS-1 was obtained at feed to inoculum ratio of 1.5, organic loading of 46.22 gVS L-1, and initial pH of 7.32. And it is more appropriate to apply this condition in industrial application owing to the high feed to inoculum ratio and organic loading. Besides, a significant interaction was found between feed to inoculum ratio and organic loading. This study maximized the methane production of vinegar residue and made a good foundation for further study and future industrial application

Enhanced methane production of vinegar residue by response surface methodology (RSM)

Abstract As the by-product of the vinegar production process, a large number of vinegar residue has been abandoned and caused a serious environmental pollution. Anaerobic digestion has been proved to be able to dispose and convert vinegar residue into bioenergy but still need to improve the efficiency. This study applied central composite design of response surface methodology to investigate the influences of feed to inoculum ratio, organic loading, and initial pH on methane production and optimize anaerobic digestion condition. The maximum methane yield of 203.91 mL gVS−1 and biodegradability of 46.99% were obtained at feed to inoculum ratio of 0.5, organic loading of 31.49 gVS L−1, and initial pH of 7.29, which was considered as the best condition. It has a very significant improvement of 69.48% for methane production and 52.02% for biodegradability compared with our previous study. Additionally, a high methane yield of 182.09 mL gVS−1 was obtained at feed to inoculum ratio of 1.5, organic loading of 46.22 gVS L−1, and initial pH of 7.32. And it is more appropriate to apply this condition in industrial application owing to the high feed to inoculum ratio and organic loading. Besides, a significant interaction was found between feed to inoculum ratio and organic loading. This study maximized the methane production of vinegar residue and made a good foundation for further study and future industrial application

Deformation Behavior and Dynamic Recrystallization of Mg-1Li-1Al Alloy

In this paper, the hot workability of Mg-1Li-1Al (LA11) alloy is assessed through a uniaxial compression test in a temperature range from 200 to 400 °C and a strain rate, έ, of 1–0.01 s−1. The present study reveals that flow stress increases when the strain rate increases and deformation temperature decreases. Based on the hyperbolic sine equation, the flow stress constitutive equation of this alloy under high-temperature deformation is established. The average activation energy was 116.5 kJ/mol. Avrami equation was employed to investigate the dynamic recrystallization (DRX). The DRX mechanism affected by the deformation conditions and Zener–Hollomon parameters is revealed. Finally, the relationship between DRX volume fraction and deformation parameter is verified based on microstructure evolution, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction

Preparation, Characterization and Performance of Conch Ceramics Added With Shell

The conch ceramics bodies with different ratios were prepared by compression moulding technology using shell, kaolin, and calcium oxide etc. as the raw materials, and then calcined at the high temperature to obtain the conch ceramics. The effects of raw material ratios and calcination temperatures on the performance of conch ceramics were investigated by rotational viscometer, vernier caliper, digital display whiteness meter, thermal analyzer, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(FT-IR). The results indicated that the viscosity, line shrinkage rate, and whiteness of the conch ceramics were 1.29 Pa·s, 17.9%, and 54.1%, respectively, when the content of the shell powder was 20 wt% and kaolin was 65 wt%. The density of the conch ceramics was the largest (3.8 g/cm3) when calcination temperature was 1200 °C. The results of FT-IR spectrum showed that the addition of the shell powders changed the structure of the ceramic body, which improved the performance of the conch ceramics

Preparation, Characterization and Performance of Conch Ceramics Added With Shell

The conch ceramics bodies with different ratios were prepared by compression moulding technology using shell, kaolin, and calcium oxide etc. as the raw materials, and then calcined at the high temperature to obtain the conch ceramics. The effects of raw material ratios and calcination temperatures on the performance of conch ceramics were investigated by rotational viscometer, vernier caliper, digital display whiteness meter, thermal analyzer, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(FT-IR). The results indicated that the viscosity, line shrinkage rate, and whiteness of the conch ceramics were 1.29 Pa·s, 17.9%, and 54.1%, respectively, when the content of the shell powder was 20 wt% and kaolin was 65 wt%. The density of the conch ceramics was the largest (3.8 g/cm3) when calcination temperature was 1200 °C. The results of FT-IR spectrum showed that the addition of the shell powders changed the structure of the ceramic body, which improved the performance of the conch ceramics