Accuracy and Utility of Vessel Analysis Using Non-Contrast CT for Planning Endovascular Aortic Repair

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether errors in vascular measurements would affect device selection in endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) by comparing measurements obtained using non-contrast computed tomography (NCT) with those obtained using contrast-enhanced CT (CECT). Materials and Methods: This single-center, retrospective study included 25 patients who underwent EVAR for abdominal aortic aneurysm at our institution. A 1-mm horizontal cross-sectional slice of NCT and CECT from each patient was retrospectively reviewed. The area from the abdominal aorta to the common iliac artery was divided into four zones. A centerline was created using the NCT by manually plotting the center points. Subsequently, the centerlines were automatically extracted and manually corrected during the arterial phase of CECT. The diameter and length of each zone were measured for each modality. The mean diameters and lengths of the target vessels were compared between NCT and CECT. Results: The measurements obtained using both methods were reproducible and demonstrated good agreement. The mean differences in vessel length and diameter measurements for each segment between NCT and CECT were not statistically significant, indicating good consistency. Conclusion: NCT may be useful for preoperative EVAR evaluation in patients with renal dysfunction or allergies to contrast agents.

A Study of E-C and C-E Translation in the Light of Lexical Contrastive Analysis and Cultural Differences

The essay briefly illustrates E-C and C-E Translation strategies in the light of lexical similarity and differences of Lexical Contrastive Analysis, and explores lexical translation skills under the theory of Cultural Differences.

A Contrastive Analysis of English and Chinese Idioms About Color Words & Their Cultural Connotations

There are many idioms related to color words in English and Chinese.The use of color words in idioms adds beauty and vividness to the language.Due to the cultural differences,“color idioms”have gained different cultural connotations with the development of English and Chinese languages.It is of great significance to accurately understand and grasp the meanings and differences of color-related idioms in Chinese and English.This paper intends to analyze and expound the cultural connotations of English and Chinese idioms related to several widely used basic color words with the aim of helping English learners know and use the idioms about color words better.

Contrastive analysis and crashworthiness optimization of two composite thin-walled structures

For the safety protection of passengers when train crashes occur, special structures are crucially needed as a kind of indispensable energy absorbing device. With the help of the structures, crash kinetic-energy can be completely absorbed or dissipated for the aim of safety. Two composite structures(circumscribed circle structure and inscribed circle structure) were constructed. In addition, comparison and optimization of the crashworthy characteristic of the two structures were carried out based on the method of explicit finite element analysis(FEA) and Kriging surrogate model. According to the result of Kriging surrogate model, conclusions can be safely drawn that the specific energy absorption(SEA) and ratio of specific energy absorption to initial peak force(REAF) of circumscribed circle structure are lager than those of inscribed circle structure under the same design parameters. In other words, circumscribed circle structure has better performances with higher energy-absorbing ability and lower initial peak force. Besides, error analysis was adopted and the result of which indicates that the Kriging surrogate model has high nonlinear fitting precision. What is more, the SEA and REAF optimum values of the two structures have been obtained through analysis, and the crushing results have been illustrated when the two structures reach optimum SEA and REAF.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the evaluation of incidental focal liver lesions: A cost-effectiveness analysis

AIM To determine whether contrast-enhanced ultrasonography(CEUS) as the first-line method is more costeffective in evaluating incidentally discovered focal liver lesions(FLLs) than is computed tomography(CT) and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). METHODS Between 2010 and 2015, our prospective study enrolled 459 patients with incidentally found FLLs. The biological nature of FLLs was assessed by CEUS in all patients. CT or MRI examinations were added in unclear cases. The sensitivity and specificity of CEUS were calculated. The total costs of CEUS examinations and of the added examinations performed in inconclusive cases were calculated. Afterwards, the theoretical expenses for evaluating incidentally discovered FLLs using CT or MRI as the first-line method were calculated. The resultswere compared. RESULTS The total cost of the diagnostic process using CEUS for all enrolled patients with FLLs was 75884 USD. When the expenses for additional CT and MRI examinations performed in inconclusive cases were added, the total cost was 90540 US dollar(USD). If all patients had been examined by CT or MR as the first-line method, the costs would have been 78897 USD or 384235 USD, respectively. The difference between the cost of CT and CEUS was 3013 USD(4%) and that between MRI and CEUS was 308352 USD(406.3%). We correctly described 97.06% of benign or malignant lesions, with 96.99% sensitivity and 97.09% specificity. Positive predictive value was 94.16% and negative predictive value was 98.52%. In cases with 4 and more lesions, malignancy is significantly more frequent and inconclusive findings significantly less frequent(P < 0.001).CONCLUSION While the costs of CEUS and CT in evaluating FLLs are comparable, CEUS examination is far more costeffective in comparison to MRI.

A Three-layered Contrasting Analysis of the Theme in Once more to the lake

Once more to the lake is a representative work of the American Writer, Elwyn Brooks White, and has been acclaimed by people in the world. The paper offers a three-layered contrasting analysis of the essay. By detailed analysis of the contrasts running through the whole essay, the author finds that those contrasts are symbol of White's internal struggle and reflection for life.On the foundation of the three-layered contrasts, the paper presents the theme analysis and clarifies the content of the essay.

Texture analysis on parametric maps derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in head and neck cancer

AIM: To investigate the merits of texture analysis on parametric maps derived from pharmacokinetic modeling with dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(DCE-MRI) as imaging biomarkers for the prediction of treatment response in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC). METHODS: In this retrospective study,19 HNSCC patients underwent pre- and intra-treatment DCEMRI scans at a 1.5T MRI scanner. All patients had chemo-radiation treatment. Pharmacokinetic modeling was performed on the acquired DCE-MRI images,generating maps of volume transfer rate(Ktrans) and volume fraction of the extravascular extracellular space(ve). Image texture analysis was then employed on maps of Ktrans and ve,generating two texture measures: Energy(E) and homogeneity.RESULTS: No significant changes were found for the mean and standard deviation for Ktrans and ve between pre- and intra-treatment(P > 0.09). Texture analysis revealed that the imaging biomarker E of ve was significantly higher in intra-treatment scans,relative to pretreatment scans(P < 0.04). CONCLUSION: Chemo-radiation treatment in HNSCC significantly reduces the heterogeneity of tumors.

The combined time-frequency analysis of the acoustic signals backscattered from ultrasonic contrast agents in the evaluation of the blood perfusion

Objective: To analyze the non-periodic, unstable and even chaotic echoes scattered from microbubbles which are extremely sensitive and may easily collapse, fragment or shrink when ultrasound contrast agents are exposed to ultrasound (US) irradiation. Methods: The combined time-frequency analysis was applied to the original signals instead of the traditional Fourier spectral analysis technique. Results: The results obtained from simulation as well as experiment showed that the subharmonic, 2nd harmonic and ultra harmonic of the microbubbles occurred during the oscillation and varied with time. The dependence on the incident ultrasonic amplitude and microbubble parameters were established. Conclusion: The transient echoes backscattered from the ultrasound agent in the evaluation of the blood perfusion can be analyzed thoroughly by the technique of combined-frequency analysis and the time detail of the frequency contents can be revealed.

Using Contrasts in One-Way Analysis of Variance with Control Groups and an Application

In this study, it was shown that, same comparisons can be made by using contrast coefficients instead of Dunnett＇s test in the experiments with control groups. It was also shown that, in situations with an ordinal scale and equal spacing quantitative grouping, a trend investigation could be done by contrast coefficients. For this purpose, a small part of the data from a TUBITAK project in the Soil Science Department, Agriculture Faculty, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, was used with permission. The soils were absorbed to natural zeolite in concentration of 0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg, and after two years, the available Zinc （Zn） amounts in the soil were analyzed. As a result, in both Dunnett＇s test and contrast methods, the Zn amounts in control and 2.5 mg/kg concentration groups were found similar （P 〉 0.01）; but were different （P 〈 0.01） between control and 5 mg/kg concentration groups, and control and 10 mg/kg concentration groups. Furthermore, when orthogonal polynomial contrast coefficients were investigated, linear effects were found significant （P 〈 0.01） and cubic effects were obtained significant （P 〈 0.05）, but quadratic effect was obtained insignificant （P 〉 0.05）.

Leveraging Vision-Language Pre-Trained Model and Contrastive Learning for Enhanced Multimodal Sentiment Analysis

Multimodal sentiment analysis is an essential area of research in artificial intelligence that combines multiple modes,such as text and image,to accurately assess sentiment.However,conventional approaches that rely on unimodal pre-trained models for feature extraction from each modality often overlook the intrinsic connections of semantic information between modalities.This limitation is attributed to their training on unimodal data,and necessitates the use of complex fusion mechanisms for sentiment analysis.In this study,we present a novel approach that combines a vision-language pre-trained model with a proposed multimodal contrastive learning method.Our approach harnesses the power of transfer learning by utilizing a vision-language pre-trained model to extract both visual and textual representations in a unified framework.We employ a Transformer architecture to integrate these representations,thereby enabling the capture of rich semantic infor-mation in image-text pairs.To further enhance the representation learning of these pairs,we introduce our proposed multimodal contrastive learning method,which leads to improved performance in sentiment analysis tasks.Our approach is evaluated through extensive experiments on two publicly accessible datasets,where we demonstrate its effectiveness.We achieve a significant improvement in sentiment analysis accuracy,indicating the supe-riority of our approach over existing techniques.These results highlight the potential of multimodal sentiment analysis and underscore the importance of considering the intrinsic semantic connections between modalities for accurate sentiment assessment.

Meta-analysis of the impact of hyperuricemia on contrast agent-related acute kidney injury after percutaneous coronary intervention

Objective:To evaluate the impact of hyperuricemia on the occurrence of contrast agentrelated acute kidney injury after percutaneous coronary intervention.Methods:Retrieve PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,CNKI,Wanfang,and VIP databases,and publish articles on the correlation between hyperuricemia and contrast agent-related acute kidney damage after percutaneous coronary intervention from the establishment of the database to August 162023.Two researchers independently conducted literature screening and data extraction to evaluate the bias risk of inclusion in the study,and conducted metaanalysis using Review Manager 5.4 software.Results:A total of 12 articles were included,including 11676 patients.The meta-analysis results showed that compared with patients without hyperuricemia,patients with hyperuricemia had a higher risk of developing PC-AKI,with an incidence rate of 22.3%.Hyperuricemia was a risk factor for the occurrence of PCAKI(OR=2.03,95%CI:1.58-2.61);Patients with hyperuricemia have a higher risk of death after PC-AKI,with a mortality rate of 7.5%.Hyperuricemia is a risk factor for early death in PC-AKI patients(OR=2.33,95%CI:1.81-3.00);The probability of CRRT treatment after PCAKI in patients with hyperuricemia is higher,at 3.14%.Hyperuricemia is an influencing factor for CRRT treatment in PC-AKI patients(OR=7,95%CI:2.83-17.30).Conclusion:Existing research evidence suggests that the presence of hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of PC-AKI,and it significantly increases the hospital mortality rate and the risk of renal replacement therapy in PC-AKI patients.

Evaluation of tumor response to antiangiogenic therapy in patients with recurrent gliomas using contrast-enhanced perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging techniques:A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND It is of vital importance to find radiologic biomarkers that can accurately predict treatment response. Usually, the initiation of antiangiogenic therapy causes a rapid decrease in the contrast enhancing tumor. However, the treatment response is observed only in a fraction of patients due to the partial radiological response secondary to stabilization of abnormal vessels which does not essentially indicate a true antitumor effect. Perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging(PWMRI) techniques have shown implicitness as a strong imaging biomarker for gliomas since they give hemodynamic information of blood vessels. Hence, there is a rapid expansion of PW-MRI related studies and clinical applications.AIM To determine the diagnostic performance of PW-MRI techniques including:(A)dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(DCE-MRI); and(B)dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging(DSC-MRI) for evaluating response to antiangiogenic therapy in patients with recurrent gliomas.METHODS Databases such as PubMed(MEDLINE included), EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched for relevant original articles. The included studies were assessed for methodological quality with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool. Medical imaging follow-up or histopathological analysis was used as the reference standard. The data were extracted by two reviewers independently, and then the sensitivity, specificity, summary receiver operating characteristic curve, area under the curve(AUC), and heterogeneity were calculated using Meta-Disc 1.4 software.RESULTS This study analyzed a total of six articles. The overall sensitivity for DCE-MRI and DSC-MRI was 0.69 [95% confidence interval(CI): 0.53-0.82], and the specificity was 0.99(95%CI: 0.93-1) by a random effects model(DerSimonianeeLaird model). The likelihood ratio(LR) +, LR-, and diagnostic odds ratio(DOR)were 12.84(4.54-36.28), 0.35(0.22-0.53), and 24.44(7.19-83.06), respectively. The AUC(± SE) was 0.9921(± 0.0120), and the Q* index(± SE) was 0.9640(± 0.0323).For DSC-MRI, the sensitivity was 0.73, the specificity was 0.98, the LR+ was 7.82,the LR-was 0.32, the DOR was 31.65, the AUC(± SE) was 0.9925(± 0.0132), and the Q* index was 0.9649(± 0.0363). For DCE-MRI, the sensitivity was 0.41, the specificity was 0.97, the LR+ was 5.34, the LR-was 0.71, the DOR was 8.76, the AUC(± SE) was 0.9922(± 0.2218), and the Q* index was 0.8935(± 0.3037).CONCLUSION This meta-analysis demonstrated a beneficial value of PW-MRI(DSC-MRI and DCE-MRI) in monitoring the response of recurrent gliomas to antiangiogenic therapy, with reasonable sensitivity, specificity, +LR, and-LR.

A Contrastive Analysis of Same-Topic News Reports in Chinese and American Mainstream Media

Based on ideational,interpersonal,and textual metafunctions in systemic functional linguistics(SFL),a contrastive analysis is carried out on two same-topic news reports of Chinese and American main stream media.Two reports from the People’s Daily and CNN are analyzed in terms of the lexical-grammatical systems(transitivity,mood and modality,and theme)realizing the three corresponding metafunctions to compare Chinese and American media reports on the same event.Results show that the two reports deploy different transitivity processes,but indicate similarity in the uses of mood and thematic choices.There are also respective preferences for reporting the sametopic news:CNN focuses on the whole process of the incident,the report being relatively objective and fair without obvious emotional bias,while the report of People’s Daily is relatively comprehensive,analyzing the incident from various angles,and playing a positive role in guiding public opinion.

Contrastive Analysis:A Phonetic Case

This paper is to make a comparison on Chinese and English sounds under contrastive analysis with the consideration of that Chinese teachers of English would be better able to foresee their students' difficulty and consequently be better able to do their teaching plan in practice.

Contrastive thematic analysis in research articles

Based on the theory of thematic complexity, a contrastive analysis on 2 sections selected from research articles-method and discussion, was conducted. The differences and similarities between the 2 sections in simple theme, multiple theme, textual theme, interpersonal theme, topical theme and thematic progression were analyzed and concluded. The author believes that the causes of the differences and similarities are the different genre features of the 2 sections and the academic features of the materials selected.

Contrastive Analysis of Conversational Implicature between English and Chinese

Implicature is a universal feature of human communication.In conversations,it is common to see examples of something unsaid but communicated.After introducing the theory of conversational impilcature and its four maxims,this paper presents English and Chinese examples to compare their conversational implicature,and finds conversational implicature exists in both Chinese and English conversation.

A Brief Analysis of Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

This paper makes a brief analysis on the contrastive analysis hypothesis, and it is hoped to be helpful for the English teachers.

Integrated use of GIS, remote sensing and multi-criteria decision analysis to assess ecological land suitability in multi-functional forestry

The Zagros forests are a treasure of valuable oak forests, but they have been severely degraded from long-term misuse. Geographic information systems （GIS） and multi-criteria decision analysis （MCDA） have been increasingly used to improve the management of vulnerable ecosystems to prevent further degradation and increase the sustainability of land use. This study presents a methodology to assess land suitability using remote sensing （RS） to obtain wall-to-wall data for the calculations, GIS to analyze the data, and MCDA to rank alternative land uses. The criteria and subcriteria affecting the suitability of land for different uses were identified and weighted using an analytic hierarchy process. Variables used as subcriteria were assessed using satellite data and other sources of information such as existing maps and field surveys. Numerical values for the subcriteria were classified, and each class was given a priority rating according to expert judgments. Based on the ratings and weights of the subcriteria, a priority map was created for each land use using the weighted linear combination method. The priority maps for different land uses were overlaid to obtain a preliminary land use map, which often indicated several simultaneous land uses for the same location. The preliminary map was further edited by removing unrealistic, mutually exclusive land-use combinations. The study tested and demonstrated the potential of integrating RS, G1S and MCDA techniques for solving complicated land allocation problems in forested regions using a scientifically sound and practical approach for efficient and sustainable allocation of forestland for different uses.

Symplectic analysis for elastic wave propagation in two-dimensional cellular structures

On the basis of the finite element analysis, the elastic wave propagation in cellular structures is investigated using the symplectic algorithm. The variation principle is first applied to obtain the dual variables and the wave propagation problem is then transformed into two-dimensional （2D） symplectic eigenvalue problems, where the extended Wittrick-Williams algorithm is used to ensure that no phase propagation eigenvalues are missed during computation. Three typical cellular structures, square, triangle and hexagon, are introduced to illustrate the unique feature of the symplectic algorithm in higher-frequency calculation, which is due to the conserved properties of the structure-preserving symplectic algorithm. On the basis of the dispersion relations and phase constant surface analysis, the band structure is shown to be insensitive to the material type at lower frequencies, however, much more related at higher frequencies. This paper also demonstrates how the boundary conditions adopted in the finite element modeling process and the structures＇ configurations affect the band structures. The hexagonal cells are demonstrated to be more efficient for sound insulation at higher frequencies, while the triangular cells are preferred at lower frequencies. No complete band gaps are observed for the square cells with fixed-end boundary conditions. The analysis of phase constant surfaces guides the design of 2D cellular structures where waves at certain frequencies do not propagate in specified directions. The findings from the present study will provide invaluable guidelines for the future application of cellular structures in sound insulation.