Speckle reducing bilateral filter for cattle follicle segmentation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ultrasound imaging technology has wide applications in cattle reproduction and has been used to monitor individual follicles and determine the patterns of follicular development. However, the speckles in ultrasound images affect the post-processing, such as follicle segmentation and finally affect the measurement of the follicles. In order to reduce the effect of speckles, a bilateral filter is developed in this paper.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We develop a new bilateral filter for speckle reduction in ultrasound images for follicle segmentation and measurement. Different from the previous bilateral filters, the proposed bilateral filter uses normalized difference in the computation of the Gaussian intensity difference. We also present the results of follicle segmentation after speckle reduction. Experimental results on both synthetic images and real ultrasound images demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed filter.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Compared with the previous bilateral filters, the proposed bilateral filter can reduce speckles in both high-intensity regions and low intensity regions in ultrasound images. The segmentation of the follicles in the speckle reduced images by the proposed method has higher performance than the segmentation in the original ultrasound image, and the images filtered by Gaussian filter, the conventional bilateral filter respectively.</p

Real-Time Pricing Strategy Based on the Stability of Smart Grid for Green Internet of Things

The ever increasing demand of energy efficiency and the strong awareness of environment have led to the enhanced interests in green Internet of things (IoTs). How to efficiently deliver power, especially, with the smart grid based on the stability of network becomes a challenge for green IoTs. Therefore, in this paper we present a novel real-time pricing strategy based on the network stability in the green IoTs enabled smart grid. Firstly, the outage is analyzed by considering the imbalance of power supply and demand as well as the load uncertainty. Secondly, the problem of power supply with multiple-retailers is formulated as a Stackelberg game, where the optimal price can be obtained with the maximal profit for retailers and users. Thirdly, the stability of price is analyzed under the constraints. In addition, simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed strategy

Joint transmit power allocation and splitting for swipt aided OFDM-IDMA in wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we propose to combine Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing-Interleave Division Multiple Access (OFDM-IDMA) with Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT), resulting in SWIPT aided OFDM-IDMA scheme for power-limited sensor networks. In the proposed system, the Receive Node (RN) applies Power Splitting (PS) to coordinate the Energy Harvesting (EH) and Information Decoding (ID) process, where the harvested energy is utilized to guarantee the iterative Multi-User Detection (MUD) of IDMA to work under sufficient number of iterations. Our objective is to minimize the total transmit power of Source Node (SN), while satisfying the requirements of both minimum harvested energy and Bit Error Rate (BER) performance from individual receive nodes. We formulate such a problem as a joint power allocation and splitting one, where the iteration number of MUD is also taken into consideration as the key parameter to affect both EH and ID constraints. To solve it, a sub-optimal algorithm is proposed to determine the power profile, PS ratio and iteration number of MUD in an iterative manner. Simulation results verify that the proposed algorithm can provide significant performance improvement

Clinical efficacy of apatinib as a second-line treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer in a Chinese tertiary cancer health facility

Purpose: To study the effectiveness and safety of apatinib as second-line treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) in a Chinese tertiary cancer hospital. Methods: Two groups of APC patients who received treatment with single-agent or two-drug combination of gemcitabine-based first-line therapy (50 per group) in The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing were assessed. The study group received apatinib at or above the second line treatment, while the control group was treated with second-line chemotherapy, which was different from first-line single-drug chemotherapy. Patients received treatments until there was improvement in their conditions, or until adverse reactions became intolerable. Complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), disease stabilization (SD), disease progression (PD), incidence of adverse reactions, and progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients were recorded. Results: The number of PR cases in APC patients who received apatinib as second-line therapy, and the number of PD patients were higher than the corresponding populations in the control group (p &lt; 0.05). Treatment effectiveness was significantly higher in study group patients than in control subjects (p &lt; 0.05). However, the incidence of adverse reactions was lower in the study group than in control group. Median PFS in the study group (5 months) was significantly higher than that of the control group (4.1 months, p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of apatinib as second-line treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer is higher than that of the single drug. Apatinib is associated with low incidence of adverse reactions which prolongs PFS. Thus, apatinib has potentials for the clinical management of pancreatic cancer

Privacy-aware secure anonymous communication protocol in CPSS cloud computing

Cloud computing has emerged as a promising paradigm for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical-Social Systems (CPSS). However, the problem of how to ensure the security of data transmission and data storage in CPSS is a key issue to address. We need to protect the confidentiality and privacy of users’ data and users’ identity during the transmission and storage process in CPSS. In order to avoid users’ personal information leakage from IoT devices during the process of data processing and transmitting, we propose a certificateless encryption scheme, and conduct a security analysis under the assumption of Computational Diffie-Hellman(CDH) Problem. Furthermore, based on the proposed cryptography mechanism, we achieve a novel anonymous communication protocol to protect the identity privacy of communicating units in CPSS. In the new protocol, an anonymous communication link establishment method and an anonymous communication packet encapsulation format are proposed. The Diffie-Hellman key exchange algorithm is used to construct the anonymous keys distribution method in the new link establishment method. And in the new onion routing packet encapsulation format, the session data are firstly separated from the authentication data to decrease the number of cryptography operations. That is, by using the new onion routing packet we greatly reduces the encryption operations and promotes the forwarding efficiency of anonymous messages, implementing the privacy, security and efficiency in anonymous communication in cyber-physical-social systems

Experimental Assessment of Water Sprays Utilization for Controlling Hydrogen Sulfide Releases in Confined Space

This paper reported the utilization of water spray for controlling H2S release in a confined space, which is especially important in industry. A typical spray tower was modified to simulate the confined space for people's enterable routine operation (e.g., pump room), in which the dilution capacity of water sprays can also be evaluated. This work consists of two parts: the first part focuses on the influences of different operating conditions on chemical dilution capacities of water sprays in mechanisms; the second one is comparison between two nozzle configurations for evaluating their feasibilities of practical application. Water sprays express eligible performance for H2S release control even though their dilution capacity was weakened at high gaseous concentrations and rates of releases. The presence of Na2CO3 can significantly improve absorption effectiveness of H2S in water and the optimal Na2CO3 additive was found to be 1.0 g·L−1 in this test. Compared with Na2CO3, adjusting water flow rate may be an effective strategy in enhancing dilution capacity of water sprays due to the fact that larger flow rate led to both less dilution time (TD) and dilution concentration (CD). Furthermore, multinozzle configuration is more efficient than single-nozzle configuration under the same water consumption

Research trend of epigenetics and depression: adolescents' research needs to strengthen

ObjectiveWith its high prevalence, depression's pathogenesis remains unclear. Recent attention has turned to the interplay between depression and epigenetic modifications. However, quantitative bibliometric analyses are lacking. This study aims to visually analyze depression epigenetics trends, utilizing bibliometric tools, while comprehensively reviewing its epigenetic mechanisms.MethodsUtilizing the Web of Science core dataset, we collected depression and epigenetics-related studies. Employing VOSViewer software, we visualized data on authors, countries, journals, and keywords. A ranking table highlighted field leaders.ResultsAnalysis encompassed 3,469 depression epigenetics studies published from January 2002 to June 2023. Key findings include: (1) Gradual publication growth, peaking in 2021; (2) The United States and its research institutions leading contributions; (3) Need for enhanced collaborations, spanning international and interdisciplinary efforts; (4) Keyword clustering revealed five main themes—early-life stress, microRNA, genetics, DNA methylation, and histone acetylation—highlighting research hotspots; (5) Limited focus on adolescent depression epigenetics, warranting increased attention.ConclusionTaken together, this study revealed trends and hotspots in depression epigenetics research, underscoring global collaboration, interdisciplinary fusion, and multi-omics data's importance. It discussed in detail the potential of epigenetic mechanisms in depression diagnosis and treatment, advocating increased focus on adolescent research in this field. Insights aid researchers in shaping their investigative paths toward understanding depression's epigenetic mechanisms and antidepressant interventions

SATB2 shows different profiles between appendiceal adenocarcinomas ex goblet cell carcinoids and appendiceal/colorectal conventional adenocarcinomas: An immunohistochemical study with comparison to CDX2

Background: Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 2 (SATB2) is a novel marker for colorectal adenocarcinomas but little is known about its expression in appendiceal adenocarcinomas. We aim to investigate SATB2 in these tumors and colorectal adenocarcinomas with comparison to CDX2. Methods: Immunohistochemical stains for SATB2 and CDX2 were performed in 49 appendiceal adenocarcinomas (23 conventional, 26 adenocarcinoma ex goblet cell carcinoids (AdexGCCs)) and 57 colorectal adenocarcinomas. Their expression was correlated with tumor differentiation and growth patterns. Results: SATB2 staining was positive in 26/26 (100%) appendiceal AdexGCCs and 15/23 (65%) appendiceal conventional adenocarcinomas (P = 0.001). Their mean percentage of SATB2-positive cells was 93% and 34%, respectively (P \u3c 0.0001). CDX2 staining was seen in 26/26 (100%) AdexGCCs and 22/23 (96%) appendiceal conventional adenocarcinomas (P = 0.4694). SATB2 and CDX2 showed similar staining in AdexGCCs but CDX2 labeled more tumor cells than SATB2 in conventional adenocarcinomas (mean 84% vs. 34%, P \u3c 0.0001). SATB2 and CDX2 staining was seen in 82% (47/57) and 96% (55/57) colorectal adenocarcinomas, respectively (P = 0.01). The mean percentage of cells positive for SATB2 and CDX2 was 48% and 91%, respectively (P \u3c 0.00001). Decreased SATB2 immunoreactivity was associated with non-glandular differentiation particularly signet ring cells in colorectal (P = 0.001) and appendiceal conventional adenocarcinomas (P = 0.04) but not in appendiceal AdexGCCs. Conclusions: SATB2 is a highly sensitive marker for appendiceal AdexGCCs with similar sensitivity as CDX2. In colorectal and appendiceal conventional adenocarcinomas, SATB2 is not as sensitive as CDX2 and its immunoreactivity is dependent on tumor differentiation