A comprehensive review of computer-aided whole-slide image analysis: from datasets to feature extraction,segmentation, classification and detection approaches

With the development of Computer-aided Diagnosis (CAD) and image scanning techniques, Whole-slide Image (WSI) scanners are widely used in the field of pathological diagnosis. Therefore, WSI analysis has become the key to modern digital histopathology. Since 2004, WSI has been used widely in CAD. Since machine vision methods are usually based on semi-automatic or fully automatic computer algorithms, they are highly efficient and labor-saving. The combination of WSI and CAD technologies for segmentation, classification, and detection helps histopathologists to obtain more stable and quantitative results with minimum labor costs and improved diagnosis objectivity. This paper reviews the methods of WSI analysis based on machine learning. Firstly, the development status of WSI and CAD methods are introduced. Secondly, we discuss publicly available WSI datasets and evaluation metrics for segmentation, classification, and detection tasks. Then, the latest development of machine learning techniques in WSI segmentation, classification, and detection are reviewed. Finally, the existing methods are studied, and the application prospects of the methods in this field are forecasted.

     

A comprehensive review of image analysis methods for microorganism counting: from classical image processing to deep learning approaches

Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi play essential roles in many application fields, like biotechnique, medical technique and industrial domain. Microorganism counting techniques are crucial in microorganism analysis, helping biologists and related researchers quantitatively analyze the microorganisms and calculate their characteristics, such as biomass concentration and biological activity. However, traditional microorganism manual counting methods, such as plate counting method, hemocytometry and turbidimetry, are time-consuming, subjective and need complex operations, which are difficult to be applied in large-scale applications. In order to improve this situation, image analysis is applied for microorganism counting since the 1980s, which consists of digital image processing, image segmentation, image classification and suchlike. Image analysis-based microorganism counting methods are efficient comparing with traditional plate counting methods. In this article, we have studied the development of microorganism counting methods using digital image analysis. Firstly, the microorganisms are grouped as bacteria and other microorganisms. Then, the related articles are summarized based on image segmentation methods. Each part of the article is reviewed by methodologies. Moreover, commonly used image processing methods for microorganism counting are summarized and analyzed to find common technological points. More than 144 papers are outlined in this article. In conclusion, this paper provides new ideas for the future development trend of microorganism counting, and provides systematic suggestions for implementing integrated microorganism counting systems in the future. Researchers in other fields can refer to the techniques analyzed in this paper.

     

Effect of phenyl-isocyanate functionalized graphene oxide on the crystalline phases,mechanical and piezoelectric properties of electrospun PVDF nanofibers

Owing to their good flexibility, biocompatibility, and capability to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanofibers (PVDFNFs) have attracted considerable attention for energy harvesting as well as wearable and self-powered electronics. However, inadequate mechanical strength and low piezoelectric output are major concerns for their practical application. Herein, we report an effective method for fabricating mechanically robust PVDFNFs with enhanced piezoresponse by incorporating phenyl-isocyanate functionalized graphene oxide (IGO) as an efficient nanofiller. The presence of IGO endowed PVDFNFs with a rough surface morphology, enhanced crystallinity, and electroactive β phase. Excitingly, enhancements of 303% and 332% in the ultimate tensile strength and modulus, respectively, were achieved for the IGO-incorporated PVDFNFs. Furthermore, the acoustic sensitivity of the composites was 63.09% higher than that of the pristine PVDFNFs. The composites had a minimum sensing force of 0.012 N, which was 20% less than the minimum sensing force of the pristine PVDFNFs. The incorporation of IGO enhanced the power generation capability of the composites by 55.23% compared with that of the pristine PVDFNFs. Thus, the as-prepared composites hold great promise for the fabrication of mechanically robust, high-performance piezoelectric composites for mechanical energy conversion applications.     

Radiation crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl pyrrolidone/acrylic acid hydrogels: swelling,crosslinking and dye adsorption study

Iranian Polymer Journal - Hydrogels were produced from mixtures of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and acrylic acid (AAc) using γ-radiation at doses of 3, 7, and...     

Local cloning of multipartite entangled states

No cloning theorem is a very fundamental issue in quantum mechanics. But the issue is much more involved if we consider quantum state shared among two or more than two parties and allow only local operation and classical communication. In the context of the fact that no known bipartite entangled state can be cloned by local operation and classical communication (LOCC) without assistance of extra entangled state, the cloning of unknown orthogonal entangled state becomes meaningful when there is some supply of free entanglement. With restriction on supply of free entanglement, various cases have been studied. In this paper, we try to give an overview of the subject and results that have been obtained across the literature along with a new result on probabilistic LOCC cloning of four Bell states.     

Bioactive glass scaffolds for bone tissue engineering: state of the art and future perspectives

The repair and regeneration of large bone defects resulting from disease or trauma remains a significant clinical challenge. Bioactive glass has appealing characteristics as a scaffold material for bone tissue engineering, but the application of glass scaffolds for the repair of load-bearing bone defects is often limited by their low mechanical strength and fracture toughness. This paper provides an overview of recent developments in the fabrication and mechanical properties of bioactive glass scaffolds. The review reveals the fact that mechanical strength is not a real limiting factor in the use of bioactive glass scaffolds for bone repair, an observation not often recognized by most researchers and clinicians. Scaffolds with compressive strengths comparable to those of trabecular and cortical bones have been produced by a variety of methods. The current limitations of bioactive glass scaffolds include their low fracture toughness (low resistance to fracture) and limited mechanical reliability, which have so far received little attention. Future research directions should include the development of strong and tough bioactive glass scaffolds, and their evaluation in unloaded and load-bearing bone defects in animal models.     

Pseudo-Parallel Datapath Structure for Power Optimal Implementation of 128-pt FFT/IFFT for WPAN

An optimal implementation of 128-Pt FFT/IFFT for low power IEEE 802.15.3a WPAN using pseudo-parallel datapath structure is presented, where the 128-Pt FFT is devolved into 8-Pt and 16-Pt FFTs and then once again by devolving the 16-Pt FFT into 4×4 and 2×8. We analyze 128-Pt FFT/IFFT architecture for various pseudo-parallel 8-Pt and 16-Pt FFTs and an optimum datapath architecture is explored. It is suggested that there exists an optimum degree of parallelism for the given algorithm. The analysis demonstrated that with a modest increase in area one can achieve significant reduction in power. The proposed architectures complete one parallel-to-parallel (i.e., when all input data are available in parallel and all output data are generated in parallel) 128-point FFT computation in less than 312.5 ns and thereby meet the standard specification. The relative merits and demerits of these architectures have been analyzed from the algorithm as well as implementation point of view. Detailed power analysis of each of the architectures with a different number of data paths at block level is described. We found that from power perspective the architecture with eight datapaths is optimum. The core power consumption with optimum case is 60.6 MW which is only less than half of the latest reported 128-point FFT design in 0.18u technology. Furthermore, a Single Event Upset (SEU) tolerant scheme for registers is also explored. The SEU tolerant scheme will not affect the performance, however, there is an increase power consumption of about 42 percent. Apart from the low power consumption, the advantages of the proposed architectures include reduced hardware complexity, regular data flow and simple counter based control.     

Composition‐dependent electrical and dielectric properties of polyaniline/graphene composites produced by in situ polymerization technique

Polyaniline (Pani)/Graphene nanocomposites with different compositions were prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline in presence of graphene oxide. Two types of Pani/graphene composites were prepared, composite‐1: where graphite powder as procured is used for preparation of composites, composite‐2: graphite powder is subjected ball milling for further reduction of graphite particles size and then used for preparation of composites. DC and AC resistivity of these composites have been found to be composition dependent. In fact composite‐2 exhibit lower resistivity compared to composite‐1 at same composition. However, both composites show frequency‐independent AC resistivity but frequency‐dependent dielectric constant and loss. POLYM. COMPOS. 36:445–453, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Kinetics and mechanisms of converting bioactive borate glasses to hydroxyapatite in aqueous phosphate solution

Borate bioactive glasses are receiving increasing attention as scaffold materials for bone repair and regeneration. In this study, the kinetics and mechanisms of converting three groups of sodium–calcium–borate glasses with varying CaO:B₂O₃ ratio to hydroxyapatite (HA) in 0.25 M K₂HPO₄ solution were investigated at 10–70 °C. Glass disks with the composition 2Na₂O·(2 − x)CaO·(6 + x)B₂O₃ (x = 0, 0.5, and 1.0) were immersed for up to 8 days in the potassium phosphate solution. The conversion kinetics to HA were monitored by measuring the weight loss of the glass, while X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to study structural and compositional changes. All three groups of glasses formed HA on their surfaces, showing that the glasses were bioactive. At 10–37 °C, the conversion kinetics was well fitted by the contracting sphere model. Also, the contracting sphere model has a good fit for the early stage of conversion at 70 °C, whereas a three-dimensional (3D) diffusion model provided a good fit to the data of the later stage. The results of this study provide kinetic and structural data for the design of borate bioactive glasses for potential applications in bone tissue engineering.