Driver's fatigue is one of the major causes of traffic accidents, particularly for drivers of large vehicles (such as buses and heavy trucks) due to prolonged driving periods and boredom in working ...conditions. In this paper, we propose a vision-based fatigue detection system for bus driver monitoring, which is easy and flexible for deployment in buses and large vehicles. The system consists of modules of head-shoulder detection, face detection, eye detection, eye openness estimation, fusion, drowsiness measure percentage of eyelid closure (PERCLOS) estimation, and fatigue level classification. The core innovative techniques are as follows: 1) an approach to estimate the continuous level of eye openness based on spectral regression; and 2) a fusion algorithm to estimate the eye state based on adaptive integration on the multimodel detections of both eyes. A robust measure of PERCLOS on the continuous level of eye openness is defined, and the driver states are classified on it. In experiments, systematic evaluations and analysis of proposed algorithms, as well as comparison with ground truth on PERCLOS measurements, are performed. The experimental results show the advantages of the system on accuracy and robustness for the challenging situations when a camera of an oblique viewing angle to the driver's face is used for driving state monitoring.
The follicle is the functional unit of the ovary, which is composed of three types of cells: oocytes, granulosa cells, and theca cells. Ovarian follicle development and the subsequent ovulation ...process are coordinated by highly complex interplay between endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine signals, which coordinate steroidogenesis and gametogenesis. Follicle development is regulated mainly by three organs, the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary, and gonad, which make up the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Steroid hormones and their receptors play pivotal roles in follicle development and participate in a series of classical signaling pathways. In this review, we summarize and compare the role of classical signaling pathways, such as the WNT, insulin, Notch, and Hedgehog pathways, in ovarian follicle development and the underlying regulatory mechanism. We have also found that these four signaling pathways all interact with FOXO3, a transcription factor that is widely known to be under control of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and has been implicated as a major signaling pathway in the regulation of dormancy and initial follicular activation in the ovary. Although some of these interactions with FOXO3 have not been verified in ovarian follicle cells, there is a high possibility that FOXO3 plays a core role in follicular development and is regulated by classical signaling pathways. In this review, we present these signaling pathways from a comprehensive perspective to obtain a better understanding of the follicular development process.
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•Novel Z-scheme Co9S8/g-C3N4 was synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method.•Co-Nx favored formation of well-combined interface of Co9S8 and g-C3N4.•Co-Nx served as intermediate ...medium in the Z-scheme Co9S8/g-C3N4 system.•Strong redox ability of Co9S8/g-C3N4 promoted reduction and oxidation simultaneously.•Co9S8/g-C3N4 has enhanced activity in synergistic removal of Cr(VI) and 2,4-D.
An all-solid-state Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst, Co9S8/graphitic carbon nitride (Co9S8/g-C3N4), was synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The photocatalyst was used in the simultaneous photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and oxidation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Co-Nx bonds in Co9S8/g-C3N4 promoted the formation of a well-combined interface between Co9S8 and g-C3N4. The CoNx bonds served as an electron-transfer medium in Co9S8/g-C3N4, leading to the formation of a Z-scheme photocatalytic system. Photocatalytic reactions were carried out under simulated solar irradiation and involved simultaneous Cr(VI) reduction and 2,4-D oxidation. Co9S8/g-C3N4 showed better photocatalytic activity than pristine g-C3N4 and Co9S8 owing to its effective separation of photo-generated charge-carriers and high redox potential. Compared with the single pollutant system, photocatalytic efficiencies over Co9S8/g-C3N4 were enhanced in the Cr(VI)/2,4-D composite pollutant system. This was because the simultaneous reduction and oxidation reactions promoted the separation of charge carriers. This study presents a simple, economic, and efficient method to synthesize an all-solid-state Z-scheme Co9S8/g-C3N4 photocatalytic system. The system has good potential in the solar light photocatalytic removal of complex pollutants.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Coal gangue is practically used as a filling material for soil reclamation in the coal mining subsidence areas. Due to the toxic elements enriched in coal gangue, the reclaimed soils potentially pose ...great environmental concerns. In this study, we investigated the distribution and mobility of six heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn) in coal gangue-reclaimed soils (n = 26) from a typical coal mining area of Huainan Coalfield, China. The concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn in the reclaimed soils were enriched by a factor of 1.51, 1.48 and 2.05 compared to the original agricultural soils, indicating potential migration of these heavy metals from coal gangue to soils. The soils of the finest particle grain size fraction (<74μm) had the highest concentrations of these heavy metals. The sequential extraction procedure results demonstrated that major portions of As, Cr and Pb existed in the residual fractions, whereas Mn was dominated in the reducible fraction and Cu, Zn in the oxidizable fractions. The results of risk assessment code and individual contamination factor revealed that Mn had a medium risk to the local ecology and the other heavy metals had lower potential risks. This study has a great implication to understand the behavior of heavy metals in soils and to implement various remedial options for soil pollution.
•We determined contamination levels of several important toxic heavy metals in coal gangue-reclaimed soils.•The distribution patterns of heavy metals in soils of different particle size fractions were investigated.•The mobility of heavy metals using the sequential extraction methods was evaluated.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The automatic ship detection method for thermal infrared remote sensing images (TIRSIs) is of great significance due to its broad applicability in maritime security, port management, and target ...searching, especially at night. Most ship detection algorithms utilize manual features to detect visible image blocks which are accurately cut, and they are limited by illumination, clouds, and atmospheric strong waves in practical applications. In this paper, a complete YOLO-based ship detection method (CYSDM) for TIRSIs under complex backgrounds is proposed. In addition, thermal infrared ship datasets were made using the SDGSAT-1 thermal imaging system. First, in order to avoid the loss of texture characteristics during large-scale deep convolution, the TIRSIs with the resolution of 30 m were up-sampled to 10 m via bicubic interpolation method. Then, complete ships with similar characteristics were selected and marked in the middle of the river, the bay, and the sea. To enrich the datasets, the gray value stretching module was also added. Finally, the improved YOLOv5 s model was used to detect the ship candidate area quickly. To reduce intra-class variation, the 4.23–7.53 aspect ratios of ships were manually selected during labeling, and 8–10.5 μm ship datasets were constructed. Test results show that the precision of the CYSDM is 98.68%, which is 9.07% higher than that of the YOLOv5s algorithm. CYSDM provides an effective reference for large-scale, all-day ship detection.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although the role of bromodomain‐containing protein 4 (BRD4) in ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, lymphoma, and many other diseases is well known, its function in cutaneous melanoma is only ...partially understood. The results of the present study show that the BRD4 inhibitor JQ1 promotes the apoptosis of B16 melanoma cells by altering mitochondrial dynamics, thereby inducing mitochondrial dysfunction and increasing oxidative stress. We found that treatment of B16 cells with different concentrations of JQ1 (125 nmol/L or 250 nmol/L) significantly downregulated the expression of protein subunits involved in mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes I, III, IV, and V, increased reactive oxygen species, induced energy metabolism dysfunction, significantly enhanced apoptosis, and activated the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. At the same time, JQ1 inhibited the activation of AMP‐activated protein kinase, a metabolic energy sensor. In addition, we found that the mRNA and protein levels of mitochondrial dynamin‐related protein 1 increased, whereas the levels of mitochondrial fusion protein 1 and optic atrophy protein 1 decreased. Mechanistically, we determined that JQ1 inhibited the expression of c‐Myc and altered mitochondrial dynamics, eventually leading to changes in the mitochondrial function, metabolism, and apoptosis of B16 melanoma cells.
The results of this study show that BRD4 can affect mitochondrial morphology, structure, and function by regulating mitochondrial dynamics and, ultimately, induce apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth. This study provides some clues for exploring the relationship between BRD4 and mitochondrial dynamics and apoptosis.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) is a NAD+-dependent deacetylase associated with numerous aspects of health and physiology. Overexpression of SIRT6 has emerged as a protector in cardiac tissues against pathologic ...cardiac hypertrophy. However, the mechanism of this protective effect is not fully understood. Here, both in vivo and in vitro results demonstrated that SIRT6 overexpression can attenuate cisplatin-induced kidney injury in terms of renal dysfunction, inflammation and apoptosis. In addition, SIRT6 knockout aggravated kidney injury caused by cisplatin. We also found that SIRT6 bound to the promoters of ERK1 and ERK2 and deacetylated histone 3 at Lys9 (H3K9) thereby inhibiting ERK1/2 expression. Furthermore, inhibition of ERK1/2 activity eliminated aggravation of kidney injury caused by SIRT6 knock out. Thus, our findings uncover the protective effect of SIRT6 on the kidney and define a new mechanism by which SIRT6 regulates inflammation and apoptosis. This may provide a new therapeutic target for kidney injury under stress.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Iron-oxidizing bacteria played an important role in the treatment of Sb-containing wastewater. In this study, effect of different iron sources on Sb(III) removal ability by isolated iron-oxidizing ...bacteria (named as IOB-L) was conducted systemically in batch experiment. Moreover, ferrous lactate and zero-valent iron were chosen as iron sources for IOB-L. The results showed that after inoculation of 2% volume of IOB-L, Sb(III) concentration in water decreased from initial 18 mg/L to 4.1 mg/L at optimal pH of 7.0. There was no reaction between Sb(III) and ferrous lactate, whereas corrosion product of iron can adsorb a certain amount of Sb. When active IOB-L cultivated in ferrous lactate, a better removal rate of Sb(III) can be reached with a longer stagnate phase for bacteria. However, Sb(III) removal ability of IOB-L using zero-valent iron as iron source was lower. SEM-EDS, FTIR, and XPS analysis further indicated that ferrous lactate was oxidized by IOB-L and precipitated as biogenic iron oxides which had strong adsorption ability towards Sb(III), whereas zero-valent iron was not a good iron source.
Mechanochemical bead-milling is a promising post-synthetic way to generate nanocrystalline zeotype materials with promoted catalytic performance. Post-milling recrystallization is often entailed to ...remedy the damaged framework but leads to crystal growth. Herein, using SAPO-34 (ca. 20 µm) derived from inexpensive morpholine as an example, we showcase that secondary growth can be suppressed by porogen-assisted recrystallization, resulting in formation of tiny crystals (100–200 nm) with better mass transport property. The presence of porogen (polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride) also induced a reduction of acid site density owing to a re-distribution of Si across the crystal, which alleviated zoning of Si at the external surface. The catalytic advantages, with respect to a control sample recrystallized in the absence of porogen, have been experimentally verified in dimethyl ether-to-olefin conversion, exhibiting an exaggerated light olefin selectivity and prolonged catalyst lifetime. This advancement of mechanochemical synthesis opens an avenue to better tailor crystal size for zeotype materials.
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•Combined bead-milling and porogen-assisted recrystallization method is developed to generate uniform SAPO-34 nanocrystals.•Secondary growth in the recrystallization process is suppressed by the presence of porogen.•Silicon zoning at the external surface is alleviated after recrystallization.•Enhanced diffusion property and high turnover number in dimethyl ether-to-olefin conversion are achieved.•Exaggerated light olefin selectivity and slowed coking rate are attained.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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