Anchor Pairs Research Articles

Anchor Association Learning for Unsupervised Video Person Re-Identification.

Video-based person re-identification (re-id) has attracted a significant attention in recent years due to the increasing demand of video surveillance. However, existing methods are usually based on the supervised learning, which requires vast labeled identities across cameras and is not suitable for real scenes. Although some unsupervised approaches have been proposed for video re-id, their performance is far from satisfactory. In this article, we propose an unsupervised anchor association learning (UAAL) framework to address the video-based person re-id task, in which the feature representation of each sampled tracklet is regarded as an anchor. Specifically, we first propose an intracamera anchor association learning (IAAL) term that learns the discriminative anchor by utilizing the affiliation relations between an image and the anchors in each camera. Then, the exponential moving average (EMA) strategy is employed to update the anchor and the updated anchors are stored into an anchor memory module. On top of that, a cross-camera anchor association learning (CAAL) term is introduced to mine potential positive anchor pairs across cameras by presenting a cyclic ranking anchor alignment and threshold filtering method. Extensive experiments conducted on two public datasets show the superiority of the proposed method; for example, our method achieves 73.2% for rank-1 accuracy and 60.1% for mean average precision (mAP) score, respectively, on MARS, similarly 89.7% and 87.0% on DukeMTMC-VideoReID.

IBC-Oxford University2023_BJSOral_17The Endoscopic Sleeve Megaplication (ESM): Preliminary Results of a Modification of a Standard Procedure to Reduce the Cost with Maintaining the Effectiveness. A six-month follow-up.

Abstract Aims The cost of POSE 2.0 is very high, being one of the limitations of the accessibility of this procedure. The Endoscopic Sleeve Megaplication (ESM) procedure involves a novel pattern of full-thickness gastric body plications to shorten and narrow the stomach using the IOP platform (USGI Medical, San Clemente, CA) and durable suture anchor pairs g-Cath and two g-Lix simultaneously to achieve larger folds, reducing the number of sutures per procedure. Our prospective trial examined the safety and durability of ESM in adults with obesity grade I and II. Methods Adults suffering obesity underwent ESM in our centre. A single line of double plications in the greater curvature from incisura till 3-4 cm from gastro-oesophageal junction, single plications were placed in distal body anterior and posterior walls to close the diameter of the distal body under 10 mm. Primary outcomes were safety, durability of plications at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-up and the cost effectiveness of the technique. Safety will be determined by the incidence of any serious adverse events reported either by the subject or observed by the investigator, relating to the procedure either peri-procedurally or in the follow-up period. All adverse events will be documented. Secondary outcomes were total body weight loss (%TBWL), proportion of patients achieving > 5% TBWL at 12 months and reduction of the cost of the procedure compared to standard POSE 2.0 technique, based on the average number of plications placed. Results 13 patients (7F, age 45 ± 9.9 years) underwent ESM between February 2022 to September 2022. Baseline BMI was 37.2 ± 3.1 kg/m2. Technical success was 100%. An average of 10 ± 2 suture anchor pairs were placed in each case. At six months, patients (n=13) achieved a 16.1 ± 3.9 % total weight loss (%TWL), with 84,61 % achieving more than 10 % TWL. Blood test results, state that insulin resistance and liver enzymes improved. No serious adverse events were reported. The reduction of an average of 8 plications compared to the standard POSE 2.0 pattern brings a significant reduction of the cost of the procedure. Conclusions ESM procedure happens to be effective for treating obesity and its related comorbidities. It is a safe, durable and a cost-effective procedure however, it is necessary to complete a long-term follow-up and carry out studies with larger samples to proclaim those benefits.

Generalized Cell Type Annotation and Discovery for Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data

The rapid development of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology allows us to study gene expression heterogeneity at the cellular level. Cell annotation is the basis for subsequent downstream analysis in single-cell data mining. Existing methods rarely explore the fine-grained semantic knowledge of novel cell types absent from the reference data and usually susceptible to batch effects on the classification of seen cell types. Taking into consideration these limitations, this paper proposes a new and practical task called generalized cell type annotation and discovery for scRNA-seq data. In this task, cells of seen cell types are given class labels, while cells of novel cell types are given cluster labels instead of a unified “unassigned” label. To address this problem, we carefully design a comprehensive evaluation benchmark and propose a novel end-to-end algorithm framework called scGAD. Specifically, scGAD first builds the intrinsic correspondence across the reference and target data by retrieving the geometrically and semantically mutual nearest neighbors as anchor pairs. Then we introduce an anchor-based self-supervised learning module with a connectivity-aware attention mechanism to facilitate model prediction capability on unlabeled target data. To enhance the inter-type separation and intra-type compactness, we further propose a confidential prototypical self-supervised learning module to uncover the consensus category structure of the reference and target data. Extensive results on massive real datasets demonstrate the superiority of scGAD over various state-of-the-art clustering and annotation methods.

ScGAD: a new task and end-to-end framework for generalized cell type annotation and discovery.

The rapid development of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology allows us to study gene expression heterogeneity at the cellular level. Cell annotation is the basis for subsequent downstream analysis in single-cell data mining. As more and more well-annotated scRNA-seq reference data become available, many automatic annotation methods have sprung up in order to simplify the cell annotation process on unlabeled target data. However, existing methods rarely explore the fine-grained semantic knowledge of novel cell types absent from the reference data, and they are usually susceptible to batch effects on the classification of seen cell types. Taking into consideration the limitations above, this paper proposes a new and practical task called generalized cell type annotation and discovery for scRNA-seq data whereby target cells are labeled with either seen cell types or cluster labels, instead of a unified 'unassigned' label. To accomplish this, we carefully design a comprehensive evaluation benchmark and propose a novel end-to-end algorithmic framework called scGAD. Specifically, scGAD first builds the intrinsic correspondences on seen and novel cell types by retrieving geometrically and semantically mutual nearest neighbors as anchor pairs. Together with the similarity affinity score, a soft anchor-based self-supervised learning module is then designed to transfer the known label information from reference data to target data and aggregate the new semantic knowledge within target data in the prediction space. To enhance the inter-type separation and intra-type compactness, we further propose a confidential prototype self-supervised learning paradigm to implicitly capture the global topological structure of cells in the embedding space. Such a bidirectional dual alignment mechanism between embedding space and prediction space can better handle batch effect and cell type shift. Extensive results on massive simulation datasets and real datasets demonstrate the superiority of scGAD over various state-of-the-art clustering and annotation methods. We also implement marker gene identification to validate the effectiveness of scGAD in clustering novel cell types and their biological significance. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to introduce this new and practical task and propose an end-to-end algorithmic framework to solve it. Our method scGAD is implemented in Python using the Pytorch machine-learning library, and it is freely available at https://github.com/aimeeyaoyao/scGAD.

Optimization of Anchor Placement in TPoS MEMS Resonators: Modeling and Experimental Validation

In this paper, a semi-analytical model is derived to calculate the anchor loss of TPoS resonators operating in higher-order length extensional modes. This model provides valuable insights on the effect of order, device dimensions, position and number of anchors on the quality factor (Q) of these resonators. Results from this model are in close agreement with the FEM simulations. The optimum position, dimension, and the number of anchors to deliver the highest Q are also discussed. Predictions of the model are validated through characterization of TPoS resonators fabricated to operate at a resonant frequency of around 1 GHz with different number of anchor pairs and position. A <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$23^{rd}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> order resonator with a W/L ratio of 1.5 with three pairs of anchors placed at positions suggested by the model gave a loaded Q of 4431, which is 65% more than the conventional case where anchors are uniformly placed towards the edge, and also an improvement in the insertion loss by 5.5 dB compared to the latter. For resonators where the anchor loss is predominant, our results show that the performance can be improved by placing the anchors at the optimum position, closer to the middle of the resonator than the conventional scheme where anchors are uniformly placed towards the edge.

Prospective Multicenter Study of the Primary Obesity Surgery Endoluminal (POSE 2.0) Procedure for Treatment of Obesity

The Primary Obesity Surgery Endoluminal (POSE) 2.0 procedure involves a novel pattern of full-thickness gastric body plications to shorten and narrow the stomach using durable suture anchor pairs. Our prospective, multicenter trial examined the safety, efficacy, durability, and physiologic effects of POSE 2.0 in adults with obesity. Adults with obesity underwent POSE 2.0 at 3 centers. Primary outcomes were percent total body weight loss (%TBWL) and proportion of patients achieving >5% TBWL at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included change in obesity comorbidities, satiety, quality of life at 6 months, and durability of plications at 12 and 24 months. Subjects were followed for adverse events throughout the study duration. 44 patients (61% female; mean age, 45 ± 9.7 years; mean body mass index, 37 ± 2.1 kg/m2) were enrolled. This procedure used an average of 19 suture anchor pairs, with a mean duration of 37 ± 11 minutes, and was technically successful in all subjects. Mean %TBWL at 12 months was 15.7% ± 6.8%. At 12 months, %TBWL >5%, >10%, and >15% was achieved in 98%, 86%, and 58% of patients, respectively. Improvements in lipid profile, liver biochemistries, and hepatic steatosis were seen at 6 months. Improvements in hepatic steatosis persisted for 24 months in a subgroup of patients (P < .01). POSE 2.0 reduced maximum tolerated meal volume (P= .03) and was associated with increased fullness (P < .01) and improved eating behavior (P < .01) at 6 months. Impact of weight on quality-of-life questionnaire improved at 6 months (2.23 vs 1.23; P < .01). Repeat assessment at 24 months (n= 26) showed fully intact plications. No serious adverse events occurred. POSE 2.0 is an effective and durable endoscopic bariatric therapy which may influence physiologic pathways impacting satiety. Larger comparative studies are needed to further elucidate these initial findings. gov Identifier: NCT03721731.

LIVE Procedure - A Bespoke Technique for Ischemic Heart Failure

<h3>Purpose</h3> Ischemic cardiomyopathy is the most common cause of heart failure (HF). In patients with left ventricular (LV) dilatation, low ejection fraction (EF) and transmural scar, Less Invasive Ventricular Enhancement (LIVE procedure) is a therapeutic option. LIVE is a unique minimal invasive intervention to exclude scarred myocardium, reduce volumes and reshape the LV, while improving HF symptoms. The procedure can be tailored to the unique characteristics of individual scar morphology. <h3>Methods</h3> We herein report 2 cases that highlight this therapy's scope of applicability. <h3>Results</h3> First patient is a 69 year-old male with a mid anterior wall and apical myocardial infarct (MI), which resulted in a dyskinetic scar. Despite guideline-directed medial therapy (GDMT), he was in NYHA class III. Cardiac CT showed a dilated heart with a LV end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) of 82 mL/m² and an EF of 24%. Due to recurrent ventricular tachycardia (VT), he underwent endocardial ablation. However, persistent slow VT's were shown during follow-up. As such, he underwent successful LIVE procedure using 3 Revivent TC™ (BioVentrix™) surgically applied anchors combined with epicardial cryoablation using the Atricure™ CryoICE™, improving his LVESVI to 52 mL/m² (-37%) and EF to 33% (+38%). Post-operative (PO) course was uneventful and follow-up defibrillator interrogation showed no sign of VT's. NYHA class improved to class I. Second patient is a 62 year-old male who suffered a previous osteal left anterior descending artery MI. This has resulted in extreme LV remodeling, with a LVESVI of 162 mL/m2 and EF of 18% by CT, due to a large highly transmural scar. Despite GDMT, he was in NYHA III. As there was an important septal scar component, he underwent hybrid LIVE procedure with Revivent TC™ system (RV-LV). 5 anchor pairs were used, including 1 internal anchor, 1 Antonius stitch (external RV-LV) and 3 LV-LV anchor pairs. PO course was straightforward and he was discharged on PO day #6. Follow-up CT showed a LVESVI of 60 mL/m2 (-63%), an EF of 44% (+151%) and full scar exclusion. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Hybrid LV reshaping and volume reduction is a safe and effective option in patients with symptomatic HF after MI. The procedure is highly customizable and adaptable to each patient's scar morphology. Additionally, concomitant procedures are possible, as described above, making of this therapy a valuable tool in the HF therapeutic armamentarium.

Five-Year Outcome of Hybrid Transcatheter and Minimally Invasive Left Ventricular Reconstruction for the Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure

<h3>Purpose</h3> Remodelling of the left ventricle (LV) after anterior myocardial infarction (AMI) can result in a pathological increase in LV volume, reduction in LV ejection fraction (EF) and symptomatic heart failure (HF). We describe the five-year results of a hybrid transcatheter and minimally invasive surgical technique to reconstruct the remodelled LV by myocardial scar plication and exclusion. <h3>Methods</h3> Patients were eligible for the procedure when they presented with symptomatic HF (NYHA-class ≥II, EF<40%) after AMI. All patients had a dilated LV with a- or dyskinetic scar in the anteroseptal wall and/or apex ≥50% transmurality. Hybrid transcatheter and minimally technique (BioVentrix Revivent TC) that relies on micro-anchoring technology is used to reconstruct the LV by plication of the fibrous scar. A series of internal and external anchors are brought together over a PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone) tether to form a longitudinal line of apposition between the LV free wall and the anterior septum from the mid-ventricle to the apex. Internal anchors are deployed by transcatheter technique on the right side of the ventricular septum. External anchors are advanced through a left sided mini-thoracotomy and the anchor-pairs are brought together under measured compression forces. Additional external apical anchor pairs complete the reconstruction. <h3>Results</h3> Between October 2016 and October 2021 29 patients (24 males, 5 females; mean age 62 ± 12 years) were operated in a single Dutch centre. On average 2.3 ± 0.8 anchor-pairs were used for reconstruction. Comparing echocardiographic data pre- and directly postoperatively, LVEF increased from 33 ± 8 to 44 ± 10% (change +35%, P<0.001) and LV-volumes decreased: LVESVI 56 ± 27 to 35 ± 19 ml/m² (change -36%, P<0.001) and LVEDVI 85 ± 33 to 59 ± 25 ml/m² (change -30%, P<0.001). Hospital mortality was 0%. and median length of hospital stay was 7 days (IQR 5-61 days). Survival at 60 months was 86%. At latest follow-up, 85% of surviving patients were in NYHA-class I-II compared to 19% preoperatively. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Hybrid transcatheter and minimally invasive LV reconstruction is a promising treatment option for patients with symptomatic HF after AMI. Five-year results demonstrate that the procedure is safe and results in significant improvement in EF, reduction in LV volumes and sustained improvement in symptoms.

A Cylindrical Molding Method for the Biofabrication of Plane-Shaped Skeletal Muscle Tissue.

Muscle tissues can be fabricated in vitro by culturing myoblast-populated hydrogels. To counter the shrinkage of the myoblast-populated hydrogels during culture, a pair of anchors are generally utilized to fix the two ends of the hydrogel. Here, we propose an alternative method to counter the shrinkage of the hydrogel and fabricate plane-shaped skeletal muscle tissues. The method forms myoblast-populated hydrogel in a cylindrical cavity with a central pillar, which can prevent tissue shrinkage along the circumferential direction. By eliminating the usages of the anchor pairs, our proposed method can produce plane-shaped skeletal muscle tissues with uniform width and thickness. In experiments, we demonstrate the fabrication of plane-shaped (length: ca. 10 mm, width: 5~15 mm) skeletal muscle tissue with submillimeter thickness. The tissues have uniform shapes and are populated with differentiated muscle cells stained positive for myogenic differentiation markers (i.e., myosin heavy chains). In addition, we show the assembly of subcentimeter-order tissue blocks by stacking the plane-shaped skeletal muscle tissues. The proposed method can be further optimized and scaled up to produce cultured animal products such as cultured meat.

Updated results of hybrid transcatheter and minimally invasive left ventricular reconstruction for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy

Abstract Aims Remodelling of the left ventricle (LV) after anterior myocardial infarction can result in a pathological increase in LV volume and reduction in LV ejection fraction (EF). We describe the updated results of an l hybrid transcatheter and minimally invasive surgical technique to reconstruct the negatively remodelled LV by myocardial scar plication and exclusion to rehape and reduce the excess volume, decrease the wall stress and increase LVEF. Methods and results Patients were considered eligible for the procedure when they presented with symptomatic heart failure (NYHA-class ≥II or more) and ischemic cardiomyopathy (EF&amp;lt;40%) after anterior myocardial infarction. All patients had a dilated LV with either a- or dyskinetic scar in the anteroseptal wall and/or apex of ≥50% transmurality. Hybrid transcatheter and minimally technique that relies on micro-anchoring technology is used to reconstruct the LV by plication of the fibrous scar. A series of internal and external micro anchors are brought together over a PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone) tether to form a longitudinal line of apposition between the LV free wall and the anterior septum from the mid-ventricle to the apex. Internal anchors are deployed by transcatheter technique on the right side of the ventricular septum through the right internal jugular vein. Paired external anchors are advanced through a left sided mini-thoracotomy and deployed on the LV epicardium (figure 1). A specialized Force Gauge is used to bring these “RV-LV” anchors together under measured compression forces. “LV-LV” anchor pairs through the LV apex beyond the distal tip of the RV complete the reconstruction. Between October 2016 and March 2021 28 patients (23 males, 5 females; mean age 61±12 years) were operated in a single Dutch centre. Procedural success was 100%. On average 2.3±0.8 anchor-pairs were used to reconstruct the LV. Comparing echocardiographic data pre- and directly postoperatively, LVEF increased from 33±8% to 44±10% (change +35%, P&amp;lt;0.0001) and LV-volumes decreased: LVESV 116 ml ± 52 ml to 69±39 ml (change −35%, P&amp;lt;0.0001) and LVEDV 170 ml ± 72 ml to 118±55 ml (change −29%, P&amp;lt;0.0001). Hospital mortality was 0%. Also no strokes occurred. Median duration of ICU–stay was 2 days (IQR 1–48 days) and median length of hospital stay was 7 days (IQR 5–61 days). Survival at 48 months was 84%. At latest follow-up, 9670% of surviving patients were in NYHA-class I-II compared to 18% preoperatively. Conclusions Hybrid transcatheter and minimally invasive LV reconstruction is a promising novel treatment option for patients with symptomatic heart failure and ischemic cardiomyopathy after anteroseptal myocardial infarction. Updated results demonstrate that the procedure is safe and results in significant improvement in EF, reduction in LV volumes and sustained improvement in heart failure symptoms. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1

ID: 3526904 PRIMARY OBESITY SURGERY ENDOLUMINAL 2 (POSE 2.0): AN INTERNATIONAL MULTICENTER PROSPECTIVE TRIAL WITH PLICATION DURABILITY ASSESSMENT

Gastric endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies (EBMTs) that remodel the stomach offers durable alternative to temporary removable space-occupying EBMTs. The Primary Obesity Surgical Endoluminal 2 (POSE2) procedure, performed using the Incisionless Operating Platform (IOP) (USGI, San Clemente, CA), involves a new pattern of full-thickness gastric plications with durable suture anchor pairs that both shortens and tabularizes the greater curvature of the stomach (figure 1). This international, protocol-driven, prospective multicenter trial examined the safety, efficacy, and durability of the POSE2 procedure.

Ordinal UNLOC: Target Localization With Noisy and Incomplete Distance Measures

A main challenge in target localization arises from the lack of reliable distance measures. This issue is especially pronounced in indoor settings due to the presence of walls, floors, furniture, and other dynamically changing conditions, such as the movement of people and goods, varying temperature and air flows. Here, we develop a new computational framework to estimate the location of a target without the need for reliable distance measures. The method, which we term Ordinal UNLOC, uses only ordinal data obtained from comparing the signal strength from anchor pairs at known locations to the target. Our estimation technique utilizes rank aggregation, function learning as well as proximity-based unfolding optimization. As a result, it yields accurate target localization for common transmission models with unknown parameters and noisy observations that are reminiscent of practical settings. Our results are validated by both numerical simulations and hardware experiments.

Hybrid transcatheter left ventricular reconstruction for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Left ventricular (LV) enlargement is a mechanical adaptation to accommodate LV systolic inefficiency following an acute damage or a progressive functional deterioration, which fails to correct the decline of stroke volume in the long term, leading to progressive heart failure (HF). Surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) is a treatment for patients with severe ischemic HF aiming to restore LV efficiency by volume reduction and LV re-shaping. Recently, a new minimally-invasive hybrid technique for ventricular reconstruction has been developed by means of the Revivent™ system (BioVentrix Inc., San Ramon, CA, USA). The device for ventricular reconstruction consists of anchor pairs that enable plication of the anterior and free wall LV scar against the right ventricular (RV) septal scar of anteroseptal infarctions to decrease cardiac volume without ventriculotomy in a beating-heart minimally-invasive procedure, consisting of a transjugular and left thoracotomy approach. Patients with severe (Grade 4) functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) or with previous cardiac surgery procedures were excluded. Outcome of the reconstruction procedure: from 2012 until 2019, it has been applied to 203 patients, with 5 (2.5%) in-hospital deaths. LV volume reduction varied according to experience gained along years: LV end-systolic volume index decreased from baseline 43% (post-market registry) vs. 27% (CE-mark study); left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) increased from baseline 25% (post-market registry) vs. 16% (CE-mark study). Clinical status (NYHA class, HF questionnaire, 6-minute walking test) improved significantly compared to baseline, and re-hospitalization rate was only 13% at 6-month follow-up (60% of patients in NYHA =3). FMR grade decreased at follow-up in 63%, while it was unchanged in 37% of patients. The hybrid ventricular reconstruction (HVR) seems a promising treatment for HF patients who may benefit from LV volume reduction, with reasonable mortality and good results at follow-up. A baseline less severe clinical profile was not associated to better outcome at follow-up, which makes the procedure feasible in patients with very large ventricles and depressed ejection fraction (EF). LV reshaping has no detrimental effect on FMR, that may, on the contrary, benefit owing to less papillary muscle displacement, partial recovery of torsion dynamics and of myofibers re-orientation. A controlled study on top of optimal medical treatment is warranted to confirm its role in the management of HF patients.

Range-free localization using Reliable Anchor Pair Selection and Quantum-behaved Salp Swarm Algorithm for anisotropic Wireless Sensor Networks

Localization is one of the essential problems in the Internet of Things (IoT) and other wireless sensor applications. Most traditional range-free localization algorithms ignore the anisotropy factors, which are frequently observed in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and result in low positioning precision. To mitigate the impact of anisotropy on localization, we propose an accurate localization approach based on Reliable Anchor Pair Selection (RAPS) and Quantum-behaved Salp Swarm Algorithm (QSSA) for anisotropic networks. First, the proposed algorithm uses hop count threshold to limit the number of message transmissions between nodes, which assists to decrease communication overhead. Next, based on the geometric constraints, the selected reliable anchor pairs are divided into two types, namely, super anchor pairs and suboptimal ones. Then, we design different distance estimation equations for the reliable anchor pairs to reduce ranging error. Finally, the QSSA is introduced to calculate the coordinates of regular nodes, which tends to lower the impact of anisotropy factors and improve location accuracy. Extensive simulations show that the proposed algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of accuracy and robustness against network anisotropy.

LIVE procedure for ischemic heart failure: the evolution of an unique technique

Abstract Background Ischemic cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of heart failure. In patients with left ventricular (LV) dilatation, low ejection fraction, and transmural scar in an anteroseptal distribution, surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) is a treatment option. However, SVR is an invasive procedure which often cannot be offered to patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy due to other comorbidities. Less Invasive Ventricular Enhancement (LIVE) technique is a unique intervention to exclude scarred myocardium, improving symptoms and quality of life. Methods LIVE procedure has evolved from open sternotomy to a hybrid procedure done with right internal jugular vein access and a left minithoracotomy. LV shape and size is restored without extracorporeal circulation by plication of the scarred myocardium. This is achieved by implantation of a series of internal and external microanchors brought together over a poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) tether to make a longitudinal approximation between the LV free wall and the anterior septum. Internal anchors are deployed by a transcatheter technique, through the right internal jugular vein, on the right side of the ventricular septum. Results Between July 2018 and January 2020, 47 patients (84.4% men; mean age 61±12.5 years) were submitted to the LIVE procedure in 16 Institutions in Europe, North America and Asia. Procedural success was 100%. There was no intra-hospital mortality. A mean of 2.3 anchor pairs (median 2) were used to reshape the LV. Echocardiographic data showed an increase in LV ejection fraction (EF) from 31.4±9.2% to 40.0±12.4% (change +29.8%, p&amp;lt;0.001) and LV end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) reduction from 66.6±29.3 ml/m2 to 40.7±21.5 ml/m2 (change −38%, p&amp;lt;0.001) and LV end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI) reduction from 92.8±39.2 ml/m2 to 60.6±25.9 ml/m2 (change −33.2%, p=0.001) after the procedure. Sternotomy conversion was needed in one patient due to right ventricular perforation. New onset tricuspid valve regurgitation was observed in one patient. There was no case of ventricular septal defect. In the mean follow-up period of 9.8 months, NYHA class improved a median of 1 grade and there was no late mortality. Conclusion Hybrid LV reshaping and volume reduction has proven to be a useful option for patients with symptomatic heart failure after left anterior descending territory myocardial infarction. These results from the latest iteration of the technique show that this approach is safe and has a significant short and mid-term impact on improving EF and reduction in LV. LIVE procedure Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Five monogenean species (Allodiscocotylidae, Heteromicrocotylidae, Microcotylidae) from the Pacific seabream Acanthopagrus pacificus (Perciformes: Sparidae) in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam, with descriptions of three new species.

A total of 52 specimens of the Pacific seabream Acanthopagrus pacificus Iwatsuki, Kume et Yoshino from the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam were examined for monogeneans. Twenty fish were parasitised by 101 individuals of five monogenean species, including two known species Allodiscocotyla diacanthi Unnithan, 1962 and Heterapta chorinemi (Tripathi, 1956), as well as three new species, Polylabroides tienyenensis sp. n., Polylabroides tonkinensis sp. n. and Metacamopia lebedevi sp. n. Polylabroides tienyenensis and P. tonkinensis are morphologically more similar to Polylabroides guangdongensis Zhang et Yang, 2001 in comparison with other species within the genus, based on the absence of small spines on the cirrus. However, P. tonkinensis is distinguished from P. guangdongensis by fewer clamps on the haptor and by the different shapes of the large spines on the cirrus. Similarly, P. tienyenensis differs from P. guangdongensis by vaginal ducts with fewer branches, fewer clamps and smaller egg size. Metacamopia lebedevi is distinguished from Metacamopia chorinemi (Yamaguti, 1953) by the arrangement of testes (one row vs two rows), diverticula absent in the oesophagus, and the number of anchor pairs (one vs two); it differs from Metacamopia oligoplites Takemoto, Amato et Luque, 1996 by the smaller haptor, shape and absence of small sclerotised hooks, the number of ribs in their clamps, and the position of the testes; it can be separated from Metacamopia indica (Unnithan, 1962) by having fewer testes and lacking sclerotised structures in the vagina. The present study also provides the measurements for A. diacanthi, H. chorinemi, and proposes a new key to all species of Polylabroides.

A Novel Range-Free Localization Scheme Based on Anchor Pairs Condition Decision in Wireless Sensor Networks

It is essential to acquire the location of sensor nodes in the wireless sensor networks (WSNs), since the data collected with nodes would become meaningless without their location. In the existing studies, range-free localization schemes have been proved suitable to large-scaled WSNs due to the low cost in hardware implementation. However, the defect of those schemes is their poor accuracy in anisotropic networks with coverage holes. To tackle this problem, we propose a range-free localization scheme that combines the advantages of geometric constraint and hop progress-based methods. The geometric information provided by the combination of anchor pairs and unknown nodes is used to design the discrimination conditions, and each node divides the anchor pairs into one of three proposed categories. For different categories of anchor pairs, corresponding methods are proposed to estimate the distancse between sensor nodes. In this way, the trade-off between distance estimation accuracy and anchor utilization can be achieved. Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme outperforms other schemes in terms of localization accuracy and proportion of outliers with acceptable computational and time complexity, where the localization accuracy and proportion of outliers in the proposed scheme are improved by up to 47% and 61% compared to DV-maxHop.

TDOA-Based Joint Synchronization and Localization Algorithm for Asynchronous Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents a joint synchronization and localization algorithm based on the time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) for asynchronous Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), where the positions of anchors are relatively fixed but unknown. To obtain time synchronization and anchor positions, each anchor broadcasts signals periodically, while other anchors receive the broadcasting signals and stamp times-of-arrival (TOAs). Based on these TOAs, we estimate the internal clock parameters and anchor positions in three steps: least square estimation (LSE) of the relative clock skew based on TDOAs, maximum likelihood localization (MLE) of anchors using biased time of flight (TOF), and LSE estimation of relative clock offsets. Anchor pairs stamp the TDOAs when a tag (a wireless sensor node that requires localization) transmits a signal. The biased TDOAs, due to asynchronous local clocks, are compensated by relative clock offset estimation. The maximum likelihood estimation is used for the tag localization based on the Gaussian noise model. We evaluate the performance of the proposed synchronization and localization algorithm using the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB). Simulations are carried out to verify the validity of the algorithm in this paper.

Deep multi-granularity graph embedding for user identity linkage across social networks

There have been increasing interests in user identity linkage (UIL) across social networks since it supports many applications such as cross-net recommendation, link prediction, and network fusion. Existing graph embedding based techniques cannot sufficiently model the higher-order structural properties in UIL. Moreover, the very limited supervisory anchor pairs (SAP), which are crucial for the task of UIL across social networks, are not utilized effectively. In this paper, a novel framework named multi-granularity graph embedding (MGGE) is proposed. And as an extension, a deep multi-granularity graph embedding model (DeepMGGE) is further developed. DeepMGGE uses the random walk (RW) to capture the higher-order structural proximities which is ignored by IONE Liu et al. (2016). Besides, DeepMGGE employs a heuristic edge-weighting mechanism given by deep learning to better capture the non-linear SAP-oriented structural properties. Experiments on real social networks demonstrate that the DeepMGGE outperforms state-of-the-art methods.

Mid-Term Follow-Up of the Revivent System as a Less-Invasive Ventricular Reconstruction Procedure - Preliminary Results from a Multicenter-Trial

Background Surgical ventricular reconstruction to remodel, reshape and reduce ventricular volume is an effective therapy in selected patients with ischemic heart failure (IHF). The BioVentrix Revivent System offers comparable efficacy to conventional surgical ventricular reconstruction aiming to exclude nonfunctioning myocardium, reshape ventricular size and reduce ventricular volume in selected patients with IHF, but is a less-invasive procedure on the beating heart. With this study we aimed to assess its functional effectiveness. Methods Patient were considered eligible for the procedure when they presented with symptomatic (at least NYHA II) left ventricular (LV) dilatation and dysfunction, caused by myocardial infarction (MI) that occurred at least 90 days prior to study enrollment, and with akinetic and/or dyskinetic scarred myocardium of at least 50% transmurality located in the antero-septal, anterolateral, and/or apical regions. The BioVentrix Revivent System consists of polyester-covered titanium anchor pairs that are drawn together to exclude scarred areas of the LV free wall. The anchors were implanted via sternotomy or, alternatively, through a combined mini-thoracotomy and transcatheter procedure. Results Eighty-nine patients were enrolled. At 2 years, a significant improvement in LVEF(30 ± 8% vs 34 ± 9%, p Conclusions Less invasive reconstruction with the BioVentrix Revivent system in patients with symptomatic IHF results in significant and sustained improvement of LV function, reduction in LV volumes with reduction of heart failure symptoms and improved quality of life at mid-term follow-up.