Segmental Fusion Research Articles

Fusion of Spatially Heterogeneous GNSS and InSAR Deformation Data Using a Multiresolution Segmentation Algorithm and Its Application in the Inversion of Slip Distribution

The fusion of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) deformation data can leverage the advantages of GNSS high temporal resolution and InSAR high spatial resolution, and obtain more abundant deformation data for constraints on geophysical structural and mechanical parameters. Existing studies seldom consider the spatial heterogeneity of largescale deformation data, which easily leads to obvious spatial aggregation of errors in the results of fusion. Here, we propose a novel multiresolution segmentation fusion (MRSF) method that uses a multiresolution segmentation algorithm to automatically classify the spatial heterogeneity of InSAR deformation data with similar deformation characteristics. We applied the MRSF method to the fusion of GNSS and InSAR deformation data covering the central valley aquifer system (CVAS) in southern California to verify its precision and robustness. Results show that the MRSF method can accurately reflect spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of displacement data and reliably estimate deformation for the times and locations of missing data. We then tested this method for geophysical parameter estimation by constructing three different sets of data, including dense GNSS sites, sparse GNSS sites, and sparse GNSS sites fused with InSAR data using MRSF, to invert the slip distribution of the Cascadia subduction zone. Results show that the inverted slip of the fused InSAR and GNSS data is comparable to that of the dense GNSS sites. Therefore, the MRSF method can obtain deformation results with high precision and high spatiotemporal resolution and effectively compensate for the lack of data caused by sparse GNSS sites during the geophysical inversion process.

Meta-heuristic-based FCM-UNet segmentation with multi-objective function and deep learning for brain tumour classification

ABSTRACT A technique of automated segmentation has been introduced in this paper, which makes the tumour segmentation out of MRI images, apart from improving the effectiveness of segmentation as well as classification. Once the dataset of MRI dataset is collected from different public sources, the pre-processing of the image is performed by the median filtering and contrast enhancement. The segmentation of brain tumour is the main contribution of this paper, which concentrates on developing the Adaptive Influence Factor-based Elephant Herding Optimisation (AIF-EHO)-based FCM-UNet fusion segmentation with multi-objective function. Then, the feature extraction is performed using Completed Local Binary Pattern (CLBP) and Local Gradient Pattern (LGP). These extracted features are further used in deep learning using Enhanced Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) for brain tumour classification. Results demonstrated on public benchmarks described that this method attains competitive accuracy than the conventional techniques while being computationally effective.

Postoperative Sagittal Balance Has Only a Limited Role in the Development of Adjacent Segment Disease After Lumbar Spine Fusion for Degenerative Lumbar Spine Disorders: A Subanalysis of the 10-year Follow-up Study.

Study Design.Retrospective additional analysis of a prospective follow-up study.Objectives.We aimed to find out whether poor postoperative sagittal alignment increases revisions for adjacent segment disease (ASD) after lumbar spine fusion (LSF) performed for degenerative lumbar spine disease.Summary of Background Data.Revisions for ASD accumulate over time after LSF for degenerative lumbar spine disease. The etiology of ASD is considered multifactorial. Yet, the role of postoperative sagittal balance in this process remains controversial.Materials and Methods.A total of 215 consecutive patients who had undergone an elective LSF surgery for spinal stenosis with (80%) or without (20%) spondylolisthesis were analyzed. Spinal reoperations were collected from the hospital records. Preoperative and postoperative sagittal alignment were evaluated from standing radiographs. The risk of revisions for ASD was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards regression models.Results.We did not find the poor postoperative balance [pelvic incidence−lumbar lordosis (LL) >9°] to significantly increase the risk of revisions for ASD: crude hazard ratio (HR)=1.5 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8–2.7], adjusted (by age, sex, pelvic incidence, fusion length, and the level of the caudal end of fusion): HR=1.7 (95% CI: 0.9–3.3). We found higher LL outside the fusion segment (LL−segmental lordosis) to decrease the risk of revisions for ASD: HR=0.9 (95% CI: 0.9–1.0).Conclusion.Poor sagittal balance has only a limited role as a risk factor for the revisions for ASD among patients with degenerative spinal disease. However, the risk for ASD might be the greatest among patients with reduced spinal mobility.

Clinical outcomes of S2 Alar-Iliac screw technique in the treatment of severe spinal sagittal imbalance: a retrospective 2-year follow-up study

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background: </strong>The treatment of adult spinal deformity (ASD) remains a significant challenge, especially in elderly patients. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of the S2AI screw technique in the treatment of severe spinal sagittal imbalance with a minimum 2-year follow-up.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods: </strong>From January 2015 to December 2018, 23 patients with severe degenerative thoracolumbar kyphosis who underwent placement of S2AI screws for long segment fusion were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into group A (no mechanical complications, 13 cases) and group B (with mechanical complications, 10 cases) according to the occurrence of mechanical complications at the last follow-up. Radiographic parameters were compared between groups preoperatively, 1 month postoperatively and at the last follow-up. Risk factors for mechanical complications were analyzed.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> The incidence of mechanical complications was 43.5% and the revision rate was 17.4%. At 1 month postoperatively, sagittal correction was better in group A than in group B (p<0.05). The area under the curve for predicting mechanical complications of sacral slope (SS), lumbar lordosis (LL), PI (pelvic incidence)-LL at 1 month postoperatively were 0.762 (p=0.035), 0.896 (p=0.001) and 0.754 (p=0.041) respectively and the best cut-off values were 24.1°, 32.8°and 12.0°. The sagittal correction of both groups was partially lost at the last follow-up.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> A high incidence of mechanical complications was observed in long-segment corrective surgery with the S2AI screw technique for severe spinal sagittal imbalance. Inadequate sagittal correction is a risk factor for the development of mechanical complications.</p><p class="abstract"> </p>

Clinical study on real-time three-dimensional CT navigation-guided full-endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion

To analyze the technical notes, effectiveness, and current issues of real-time three-dimensional CT navigation-guided full-endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion. Between April 2020 and October 2021, a total of 27 patients received real-time three-dimensional CT navigation-guided full-endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion. There were 18 males and 9 females with an average age of 63.2 years (range, 48-84 years). There were 6 cases of lumbar spinal stenosis, 1 case of lumbar instability, 9 cases of lumbar spinal stenosis with instability, 3 cases of degenerative spondylolisthesis, 6 cases of isthmus spondylolisthesis, and 2 cases of recurrent lumbar disc herniation. All patients showed neurological symptoms before operation (ipsilateral symptom for 15 cases and bilateral symptom for 12 cases). The symptom duration was 1-300 months (median, 24 months). The operations were performed via transforaminal approach in 8 cases, trans-facet joint approach in 18 cases, and combined approaches in 1 case. A total of 32 levels were fused, including 23 single-level cases, 3 two-level cases, and 1 three-level case. Lumbar fusion segment was L 2, 3 in 1 case, L 3, 4 in 4 cases, L 4, 5 in 20 cases, and L 5, S 1 in 7 cases. The operation time, intraoperative estimated blood loss (IEBL), and perioperative complications were recorded. The improvement of intervertebral space height at fusion level was measured, and the accuracy of percutaneous pedicle screw (PPS) and Cage placement was also evaluated based on CT images performed at 1 week postoperatively. Visual analogue scale (VAS) score for both low back pain and leg pain, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, and Oswestry disability index (ODI) were evaluated before operation, at 1 week postoperatively, and at last follow-up. Satisfaction to effectivenss were assessed by patients using modified MacNab criteria at last follow-up. The operation time was ranged from 255 to 805 minutes (mean, 424.9 minutes). IEBL was 150-290 mL (mean, 219.3 mL). All patients received follow-up with the duration from 4 to 22 months (mean, 12.4 months). At 1 week postoperatively and last follow-up, VAS scores of low back pain and leg pain, JOA score, and ODI were significantly improved when compared with those before operation ( P<0.05). At last follow-up, the clinical indicators were similar in comparison with those at 1 week postoperatively ( P>0.05). There were 26 patients and 1 patient who respectively ranked excellent and mild in terms of effectiveness according to the modified MacNab criteria, with the excellent and good rate of 96.3%. There was 1 patient who suffered from incomplete injury of L 5 nerve root and partial neurological function recovered after 3-month conservative treatments. There were 118 implanted PPSs, and 116 of them were implanted under navigation. There were 33 Cages that were implanted under navigation. The accuracy of PPS and Cage placement was 99.1% and 97.0% respectively based on CT performed at 1 week postoperatively. The postoperative intervertebral space height was significantly increased in comparison with that before operation ( P<0.05). During follow-up, mild Cage subsidence was observed in 1 patient, whereas no fixation loosing was found. Real-time three-dimensional CT navigation-guided full-endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion has great safety and effectiveness with satisfactory preliminary clinical results. Design and further improvement of surgical equipment and instruments are expected to resolve the current technical difficulties.

Sensing fusion in vehicular network digital twins for 6G smart city

The aims demonstrated in this article are to effectively monitor the complex road environment in smart city transportation using the sixth generation mobile communication technology (6G) Digital Twins (DTs), to perceive the complex road environment of smart city traffic. Vehicular Networks (VN) in the smart transportation system have been selected as the research object, and the multi-sensor collaboration and fusion technology in the network is explored, so as to meet the active control requirements of intelligent vehicles. A lidar and camera fusion-based segmentation network C-LNet is proposed. The structure of a C-LNet multi-sensing data fusion segmentation network is double encoder-single decoder. Two encoders are used to extract image features and lidar features respectively. The same heterogeneous data is realized through the synchronization of lidar point cloud data and image data in sensor space. For multimodal information, a multiscale feature fusion-based vehicle collaboration method is designed. In the simulation experiment part, the C-LNet multi-sensing data fusion segmentation network is verified on the KITTI data set. The accuracy, F1 value, and MIoU of C-LNet are 98.4%, 96.7%, and 94.51%, respectively, which are better than those of an RGB network and lidar network. In summary, the smart transportation system supported by DTs in a 6G environment is explored. The proposed VN sensing fusion method can effectively realize the collaborative positioning perception of multiple vehicles, which lays the foundation for the realization of complex collaborative decision-making and control in smart transportation.

A Study of English Learning Vocabulary Detection Based on Image Semantic Segmentation Fusion Network.

College students learn words always under both teachers' and school administrators' control. Based on multi-modal discourse analysis theory, the analysis of English words under the synergy of different modalities, students improve the motivation and effectiveness of word learning, but there are still some problems, such as the lack of visual modal memory of pictures, incomplete word meanings, little interaction between users, and lack of resource expansion function. To this end, this paper proposes a stepped image semantic segmentation network structure based on multi-scale feature fusion and boundary optimization. The network aims at improving the accuracy of the network model, optimizing the spatial pooling pyramid module in Deeplab V3+ network, using a new activation function Funnel ReLU (FReLU) for vision tasks to replace the original non-linear activation function to obtain accuracy compensation, improving the overall image segmentation accuracy through accurate prediction of the boundaries of each class, reducing the intra-class error in the prediction results. The accuracy compensation is obtained by replacing the original linear activation function with FReLU. Experimental results on the Englishhnd dataset demonstrate that the improved network can achieve 96.35% accuracy for English characters with the same network parameters, training data and test data.

Multi-perspective label based deep learning framework for cerebral vasculature segmentation in whole-brain fluorescence images.

The popularity of fluorescent labelling and mesoscopic optical imaging techniques enable the acquisition of whole mammalian brain vasculature images at capillary resolution. Segmentation of the cerebrovascular network is essential for analyzing the cerebrovascular structure and revealing the pathogenesis of brain diseases. Existing deep learning methods use a single type of annotated labels with the same pixel weight to train the neural network and segment vessels. Due to the variation in the shape, density and brightness of vessels in whole-brain fluorescence images, it is difficult for a neural network trained with a single type of label to segment all vessels accurately. To address this problem, we proposed a deep learning cerebral vasculature segmentation framework based on multi-perspective labels. First, the pixels in the central region of thick vessels and the skeleton region of vessels were extracted separately using morphological operations based on the binary annotated labels to generate two different labels. Then, we designed a three-stage 3D convolutional neural network containing three sub-networks, namely thick-vessel enhancement network, vessel skeleton enhancement network and multi-channel fusion segmentation network. The first two sub-networks were trained by the two labels generated in the previous step, respectively, and pre-segmented the vessels. The third sub-network was responsible for fusing the pre-segmented results to precisely segment the vessels. We validated our method on two mouse cerebral vascular datasets generated by different fluorescence imaging modalities. The results showed that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods, and the proposed method can be applied to segment the vasculature on large-scale volumes.

Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy in the treatment of adjacent segment lumbar disc herniation after lumbar fusion

To explore the clinical effect of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy in the treatment of adjacent segment lumbar disc herniation after lumbar fusion. From February 2010 to June 2018, 64 patients with adjacent segment lumbar disc herniation after lumbar fusion were retrospectively analyzed and divided into observation group and control group. In observation group, there were 23 males and 10 females performed with percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy, including 27 cases of single segment fusion and 6 cases of double segment fusion, aged from 55 to 83 years old with an average of (65.7±7.4) years old. In control group, there were 22 males and 9 females performed with traditional open fusion revision, including 25 cases of single-segment fusion and 6 cases of double segment fusion, aged from 51 to 78 years old with an average of(64.8±7.8) years old. The operative time, intraoperative blood loss, fluoroscopy times, postoperative ambulation time and length of postoperative hospital stay were recorded. The clinical efficacy was evaluated by visual analogue scale(VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index(ODI). The complications between two groups were observed. All patients were followed up for at least 2 years. The observation group patients were followed up with an average of (2.4±0.5) years. The control group patients were followed up with an average of(2.6±0.7) years. Compared with control group, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative ambulation time and length of postoperative hospital stay of the observation group were significantly reduced (P<0.05), and the fluoroscopy times of observation group were significantly increased compared with control group(P<0.05). The VAS of low back and lower limb, and ODI at the latest follow-up between two groups were all significantly improved compared to those of pre-operation (P<0.05). The VAS of low back at each point and ODI at 1, 3 months after operation in observation group was significantly reduced compared with control group(P<0.05), however there was no significant difference in VAS for lower limb between two groups (P>0.05). The difference of complications between two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with traditional open fusion revision surgery, percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for the treatment of adjacent segment lumbar disc herniation after lumbar fusion has the advantages of reducing operation time and intra-operative blood loss, shortening ambulation time and the length of postoperative hospital stay, and promoting pain and functional improvement, and decrease incidence of complications. However, long-term clinical efficacy needs further study.

Efficacy comparison of zero-profile intervertebral fusion and stand-alone interbody cage combined with cage-titanium plate construct in treatment of two-segment skip cervical spondylosis

Objective: To investigate the difference in clinical efficacy between zero-profile interbody fusion (ROI-C) and stand-alone interbody cage combined with cage-titanium plate construct for patient with two-segment skipped cervical spondylosis who received the anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgical strategies. Methods: The clinical data of 62 patients with two-segment skipped cervical spondylosis who underwent surgical treatment in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from June 2017 to June 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, included 38 males and 24 females, aged (53.3±8.5) years. Thirty-three cases were treated with ROI-C (ROI-C group), and 29 cases with stand-alone interbody cage combined with cage-titanium plate construct (cage+titanium plate group). The following parameters, including operation time, intraoperative blood loss, dysphagia Bazaz grade, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain, neck disability index (NDI), average intervertebral height of operated segments, C2-7 Cobb angle, and related complications, were compared between the two groups. Results: The patients were followed up for (28±5) months (16-34 months). The operation time of ROI-C group was (127.6±34.2) min, which was shorter than that in cage+titanium plate group [(157.1±43.9) min, P=0.004]. The scores of JOA and VAS in both ROI-C group and cage+titanium plate group were significantly improved 3 months after operation when compared with those before operation, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (all P>0.05). The average intervertebral space height of fusion segment in ROI-C group was (6.02±1.03) mm before operation, it was improved to (8.38±1.47) mm at 3 months after operation, (8.16±1.40) mm at 12 months after operation, and it was (6.24±1.05) mm, (8.58±1.18) mm and (7.87±0.73) mm in cage+titanium plate group, respectively, and there was no significant difference between the two groups at each time point (all P>0.05). The Cobb angle of cervical vertebrae in ROI-C group was 10.5°±6.8° before operation, improved to 19.2°±9.0° at 3 months after operation, 18.2°±5.8° at 12 months after operation, and it was 10.9°±4.6°, 18.5°±7.8°, 17.1°±5.2° in cage+titanium plate group, respectively, and there was no significant difference between the two groups at each time point (all P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative dysphagia was 9.1%(3/33) in the ROI-C group and 37.9%(11/29) in the cage+titanium plate group, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.007). Conclusions: Both ROI-C and stand-alone interbody cage combined with cage-titanium plate construct can achieve good results for two-segment skipped cervical spondylosis. However, ROI-C is more advantageous in shortening the operation time and reducing early postoperative dysphagia.

Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion With rhBMP-2 can Achieve High Fusion Rates in Adult Spine Deformity Surgeries.

An ambispective, observational study of the prospective, institutional adult spine deformity (ASD) database. The study investigates the clinical and radiographic fusion rates with lateral interbody approach and rhBMP-2 in multiple-level lumbar fusion in the ASD population. Previous studies have reported over 10% pseudoarthrosis rate with multiple segment fusions. Lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) allows multiple-level, less-invasive access to the anterior lumbar spine. We hypothesized that fusion rates with lateral approach with rhBMP-2 use are superior to the published data on lumbar fusion in ASD patients. The institutional ASD database was searched to identify eligible patients with two or more levels of LLIF (T12-L5), >4 levels of posterior instrumentations and >2years of follow-up between the years 2010 and 2018. Antero-posterior and lateral 36-inch standing radiographs for each patient and computed tomography scans in select patients were studied to ascertain fusion status and patients were divided into two groups based on fusion status. The study included 179 patients with a mean age of 65.3years and 74% female patients. The median number of interbody fusions was performed at 3 (IQR 3-4) levels. The mean follow-up duration was 4.4years (SD = 1.9). 169 patients (94.5%) had successful arthrodesis, while 10 patients (5.5%) had radiological pseudoarthrosis at one level. Of the 10 patients, 8 (4.4%) were either clinically asymptomatic or had manageable back pain. Two patients (1.1%) required revision surgery for symptomatic pseudoarthrosis. This is the largest known series of ASD patients investigating the fusion rates with multiple-level LLIFs. LLIF along with rhBMP-2 can achieve high fusion success across interbody fusion levels in multi-segmental ASD surgeries.

Fusion of Whole Night Features and Desaturation Segments Combined with Feature Extraction for Event-Level Screening of Sleep-Disordered Breathing.

PurposeMisdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is common because polysomnography (PSG) is time-consuming, expensive, and uncomfortable. The use of recording methods based on the oxygen saturation (SpO2) signals detected by wearable devices is impractical and inaccurate for extracting signal features and detecting apnoeic events. We propose a method to automatically detect the apnoea-based SpO2 signal segments and compute the apnoea–hypopnea index (AHI) for SDB screening and grading.Patients and MethodsFirst, apnoea-related desaturation segments in raw SpO2 signals were detected; global features were extracted from whole night signals. Then, the SpO2 signal segments and global features were fed into a bi-directional long short-term memory convolutional neural network model to identify apnoea-related and non-apnoea-related events. The apnoea-related segments were used to assess the AHI.ResultsThe model was trained on 500 individuals and tested on 8131 individuals from two public hospitals and one private centre. In the testing data, the classification accuracy for apnoea-related segments was 84.3%. Individuals with SDB (AHI n ge n 15) were identified with a mean accuracy of 88.95%.ConclusionUsing automatic SDB detection based on SpO2 signals can accurately screen for SDB.

How body patterning might have worked in the evolution of arthropods-Acase study of the mystacocarid Derocheilocaris remanei (Crustacea, Oligostraca).

Body organization within arthropods is enormously diverse, but a fusion of segments into "functional groups" (tagmatization) is found in all species. Within Tetraconata/Pancrustacea, an anterior head, a locomotory thorax region, and a posterior, mostly limbless tagma known as the abdomen is present. The posterior-most tagma in crustaceans is frequently confused with the malacostracan, for example,decapod pleon often misleadingly termed abdomen, however, its evolutionary and developmental origin continues to pose a riddle, especially the completely limbless abdomen of the "entomostracan morphotype" (e.g., fairy shrimps). Since the discovery of Hox genes and their involvement in specifying the morphology or identity of segments, tagmata, or regions along the anteroposterior axis of an organism, only a few studies have focused on model organisms representing the "entomostracan morphotype" and used a variety of dedicated Hox genes and their transcription products to shine light on abdomen formation. The homeotic genes or the molecular processes that determine the identity of the entomostracan abdomen remain unknown to date.This study focuses on the "entomostracan morphotype" representative Derocheilocaris remanei (Mystacocarida). We present a complete overview of development throughout larval stages and investigate homeotic gene expression data using the antibody FP6.87 that binds specifically to epitopes of Ultrabithorax/Abdominal-A proteins.Our results suggest that the abdomen in Mystacocarida is bipartite (abdomen I + abdomen II). We suggest that the limbless abdomen is an evolutionary novelty that evolved several times independently within crustaceans and which might be the result of a progressive reduction of former thoracic segments into abdominal segments.

A robust hybrid fusion segmentation approach for automated tumor diagnosis and classification in brain MR images

In today’s world, Brain Tumor diagnosis plays a significant role in the field of Oncology. The earlier identification of brain tumors increases the compatibility of treatment of patients and offers an efficient diagnostic recommendation from medical practitioners. Nevertheless, accurate segmentation and feature extraction are the vital challenges in brain tumor diagnosis where the handling of higher resolution images increases the processing time of existing classifiers. In this paper, a new robust weighted hybrid fusion classifier has been proposed to identify and classify the tumefaction in the brain which is of the hybridized form of SVM, NB, and KNN (SNK) classifiers. Primarily, the proposed methodology initiates the preprocessing technique such as adaptive fuzzy filtration and skull stripping in order to remove the noises as well as unwanted regions. Subsequently, an automated hybrid segmentation strategy can be carried out to acquire the initial segmentation results, and then their outcomes are compiled together using fusion rules to accurately localize the tumor region. Finally, a Hybrid SNK classifier is implemented in the proposed methodology for categorizing the type of tumefaction in the brain. The hybrid classifier has been compared with the existing state-of-the-art classifier which shows a higher accuracy result of 99.18% while distinguishing the benign and malignant tumors from brain Magnetic Resonance (MR) images.

Automatic Gray Image Coloring Method Based on Convolutional Network.

Image coloring is a time-consuming and laborious work. For a work, color collocation is an important factor to determine its quality. Therefore, automatic image coloring is a topic with great research significance and application value. With the development of computer hardware, deep learning technology has achieved satisfactory results in the field of automatic coloring. According to the source of color information, this paper can divide automatic coloring methods into three types: image coloring based on prior knowledge, image coloring based on reference pictures, and interactive coloring. The coloring method can meet the needs of most users, but there are disadvantages such as users cannot get the multiple objects in a picture of different reference graph coloring. Aiming at this problem, based on the instance of color image segmentation and image fusion technology, the use of deep learning is proposed to implement regional mixed color more and master the method. It can be divided into foreground color based on reference picture and background color based on prior knowledge. In order to identify multiple objects and background areas in the image and fuse the final coloring results together, a method of image coloring based on CNN is proposed in this paper. Firstly, CNN is used to extract their semantic information, respectively. According to the extractive semantic information, the color of the designated area of the reference image is transferred to the designated area of the grayscale image. During the transformation, images combined with semantic information are input into CNN model to obtain the content feature map of grayscale image and the style feature map of reference image. Then, a random noise map is iterated to make the noise map approach the content feature map as a whole and the specific target region approach the designated area of the style feature map. Experimental results show that the proposed method has good effect on image coloring and has great advantages in network volume and coloring effect.

Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Anterior Cervical Decompression versus Segmental Fusion and Posterior Expansive Canal Plasty in the Treatment of Multilevel Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy.

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of anterior cervical decompression and segmental fusion and posterior expansive canal plasty in the treatment of multisegment cervical myelopathy. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed of 56 cases of multisegment cervical myelopathy patients admitted from July 2018 to June 2021, 32 male patients and 24 females, aged 56.9 ± 12.8 years with an average duration of 10.6 ± 3.2 years. All patients' preoperative imaging examination revealed multiple-segmented cervical disc herniation and had clinical manifestations of cervical myelopathy. Results No neurovascular complications occurred in both groups, and 24 to 36 months of follow-up (mean 28.6 months) were obtained. The height of the cervical spondylosis segment was higher than that 2 weeks after surgery (p < 0.05), and the curvature of the cervical spine was significantly lower than that before surgery. There was no statistical significance in the height of the anterior column and curvature of the cervical vertebra at 2 weeks after surgery and at the last follow-up (p > 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in anterior curvature of the cervical spine between the two groups at 2 weeks after surgery and the last follow-up (p < 0.05). Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores in both groups recovered significantly after surgery. At 3 months and the last follow-up, the improvement rate of JOA score in the anterior approach group was significantly higher than that in the posterior approach group (p < 0.05), and the improvement rate of JOA score in the anterior approach group was also better than that in the posterior approach group (p < 0.05). Conclusion This segmented anterior fusion procedure can effectively restore the anterior cervical column height and can significantly improve spinal cord function compared with posterior spinal canal enlargement plasty, thus could be considered an effective option for the treatment of multisegment cervical myelopathy.

Anterior versus posterior approach in Lenke type 1 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a comparison of long-term follow-up outcomes.

BackgroundAfter surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), doctors should not only focus on the short-term surgical effect, but also pay special attention to whether the patients can live normally in the long-term. This work compared the long-term effects of thoracoscopy-assisted anterior spinal fusion (ASF) and posterior spinal fusion (PSF) in AIS.MethodsTwenty-two patients underwent thoracoscopy-assisted ASF, and twenty-three patients underwent PSF from 2004 to 2009 were involved , including 14 males and 31 females with an average age of 14.8±2.6 years, and all patients suffered from only Lenke type 1 AIS. The mean follow-up time was 102 months, the radiographic parameters and operation time, hospitalization time, fusion segments and estimated blood loss were evaluated. Comparisons between groups were made such as Cobb’s angle, thoracic kyphosis, the instrumented levels, curve correction, preoperative parameters, SF-36/SRS-22 questionnaire scores, and pulmonary function.ResultsThere was no significant difference in age, gender, Risser sign and follow-up period between two groups. The instrumentation level had an average of 6 in the thoracoscopy-assisted ASF group and 9.7 in the PSF group (P<0.001). The average correction rate of the main curve was 67.4% in ASF group versus 79.2% in PSF group (P>0.05). The postoperative thoracic kyphosis was 16.2°±3.9° in ASF group and 25.6°±4.4° in PSF group (P=0.023). Patients had momentous advancement in self-image, vitality and mental health in the SRS-22 and SF-36 questionnaires. Compared to preoperatively, the pulmonary function of both groups was satisfactorily improved at the final follow-up.ConclusionsSince there was no statistically significant difference in the general conditions of the two groups selected for this study, so we finally concluded that thoracoscopy-assisted ASF had a satisfactory correction rate, famous long-term radiography outcomes and desirable pulmonary function results. However, compared to PSF, it has a longer operation time, a more complicated surgical procedure and a weaker three-dimensional correction effect, and PSF has affirmative long-term outcomes, fewer complications, and satisfactory sagittal balance, all of which make PSF the standard operation to treat AIS.

Effect of cervical alignment change after anterior cervical fusion on radiological adjacent segment pathology

Adjacent segment pathology (ASP) is one of the primary complications affecting the long-term efficacy of anterior cervical fusion (ACF). At present, the cause and mechanism of adjacent segmental lesions are still controversial. We performed a retrospective analysis on 88 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) who had been followed up for at least 1 year after ACF. The patients were divided into radiological adjacent segment pathology (RASP) and non-RASP groups according to the presence of postoperative RASP. On the lateral radiographs of the cervical spine of all patients taken before and after surgery at the short-term and final follow-ups, the following parameters were measured: C2-7 Cobb angle of the cervical vertebrae; Cobb angle of the operated segments; and the anterior and posterior height of the fused segments [i.e., the anterior fusion segment height (AFH) and the posterior fusion segment height (PFH)]. The intra- and inter-group differences of the patients before and after surgery were calculated, as well as correlation of ACF with the occurrence of RASP. There were 42 cases in the RASP group and 46 cases in the non-RASP group. In the RASP group, the C2-7 Cobb angle was significantly reduced in the short term after surgery (20.42±9.92° vs. 13.81±8.52°, P<0.01), while in non-RASP group the C2-7 Cobb angle was significantly increased in the short term after surgery (12.65±11.91° vs. 15.35±10.05°, P<0.05). The heights of both the anterior and posterior fused segments in the 2 groups were significantly higher after surgery, and they were significantly lower at the final follow-up than at the short-term follow-up. Post-operative AFH change was significantly correlated with C2-7 Cobb angle (r=0.274, P=0.010) and fused segment Cobb angle change (r=0.333, P=0.002). However, Cox regression analysis showed that only the postoperative C2-7 Cobb angle change was associated with RASP, with a hazard ratio of 0.336. Decreased cervical lordosis after ACF may be related to postoperative RASP. Maintaining good cervical curvature after surgery may reduce the incidence of RASP after ACF.

A microCT-based atlas of the central nervous system and midgut in sea spiders (Pycnogonida) sheds first light on evolutionary trends at the family level

BackgroundPycnogonida (sea spiders) is the sister group of all other extant chelicerates (spiders, scorpions and relatives) and thus represents an important taxon to inform early chelicerate evolution. Notably, phylogenetic analyses have challenged traditional hypotheses on the relationships of the major pycnogonid lineages (families), indicating external morphological traits previously used to deduce inter-familial affinities to be highly homoplastic. This erodes some of the support for phylogenetic information content in external morphology and calls for the study of additional data classes to test and underpin in-group relationships advocated in molecular analyses. In this regard, pycnogonid internal anatomy remains largely unexplored and taxon coverage in the studies available is limited.ResultsBased on micro-computed X-ray tomography and 3D reconstruction, we created a comprehensive atlas of in-situ representations of the central nervous system and midgut layout in all pycnogonid families. Beyond that, immunolabeling for tubulin and synapsin was used to reveal selected details of ganglionic architecture. The ventral nerve cord consistently features an array of separate ganglia, but some lineages exhibit extended composite ganglia, due to neuromere fusion. Further, inter-ganglionic distances and ganglion positions relative to segment borders vary, with an anterior shift in several families. Intersegmental nerves target longitudinal muscles and are lacking if the latter are reduced. Across families, the midgut displays linear leg diverticula. In Pycnogonidae, however, complex multi-branching diverticula occur, which may be evolutionarily correlated with a reduction of the heart.ConclusionsSeveral gross neuroanatomical features are linked to external morphology, including intersegmental nerve reduction in concert with trunk segment fusion, or antero-posterior ganglion shifts in partial correlation to trunk elongation/compaction. Mapping on a recent phylogenomic phylogeny shows disjunct distributions of these traits. Other characters show no such dependency and help to underpin closer affinities in sub-branches of the pycnogonid tree, as exemplified by the tripartite subesophageal ganglion of Pycnogonidae and Rhynchothoracidae. Building on this gross anatomical atlas, future studies should now aim to leverage the full potential of neuroanatomy for phylogenetic interrogation by deciphering pycnogonid nervous system architecture in more detail, given that pioneering work on neuron subsets revealed complex character sets with unequivocal homologies across some families.

Clinical study on modified Topping-off technology in the treatment of multiple lumbar degenerative diseases

To explore the clinical effect of the modified Topping-off technique in the treatment of multiple lumbar degenerative diseases. From October 2019 to May 2020, 42 patients who underwent modified Topping-off operation (modified Topping-off group) and 42 patients who underwent multilevel total laminectomy and interbody fusion with screw rod system internal fixation (whole laminectomy group) were observed and analyzed. There were 15 males and 27 females in the modified Topping-off group, aged from 28 to 80 years old, with an average of (59.57±11.85)years old. There were 14 males and 28 females in the whole laminectomy group, aged from 45 to 82 years old, with an average of (64.26±9.19) years old. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were evaluated before operation, 1 week, 6 weeks and 12 weeks after operation. The intraoperative blood loss, incision length, operation time, postoperative drainage, weight-bearing time, hospitalization time, intervertebral space height, intervertebral foramen height and lumbar mobility were statistically analyzed. All patients were followed up for 12 weeks. The intraoperative blood loss and postoperative drainage in the modified Topping-off group were significantly less than those in the whole lamina group (P<0.05). The incision length, operation time, weight-bearing time and hospital stay in the modified Topping-off group were shorter than those in the whole lamina group(P<0.05). There were significant differences in intervertebral space height, intervertebral foramen height and lumbar mobility between the two groups at 12 weeks after operation(P<0.05). The modified Topping-off group had significantly lower VAS 1, 6, 12 weeks after operation and ODI 12 weeks after operation compared with rhose before operation. The VAS at 1, 6, 12 weeks in the whole lamina group were significantly lower those that before operation(P<0.05). The ODI at 12 weeks in the whole lamina group were significantly lower than those before operation(P<0.01). There were significant differences in VAS scores between the two groups at 1 week, 6 weeks and 12 weeks after operation(P<0.01). There was significant difference in ODI between the two groups 12 weeks after operation(P<0.01). The application of modified Topping-off technique in the treatment of multi segmental lumbar degenerative diseases can reduce the total length of fusion segments, avoid or slow down the degeneration of adjacent segments, and has a positive effect on maintaining the normal movement of the spine.