Cystatin C is being considered as a replacement for serum creatinine in the estimation of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR); however, its plasma levels might be affected by factors other than the ...GFR, such as protein intake. We performed a post hoc analysis of the data in the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study, in which we compared serum creatinine and cystatin C levels in 741 patients with available estimates of protein intake at baseline prior to their randomization to diets containing various amounts of protein, and at 2 years of follow-up in 426 of these patients in whom a cystatin C measurement was available. The 503 patients in study A (GFR 25–55 ml/min per 1.73 m2) had been assigned a low (0.58 g/kg per day) or a usual (1.3 g/kg per day) protein intake, and the 238 participants in study B (GFR 13–24 ml/min per 1.73 m2) were assigned a very low (0.28 g/kg per day) or the low protein intake. In either study group, lowering the dietary protein intake reduced the change in creatinine, but did not have a significant change in cystatin C. Thus, in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease, serum cystatin C unlike serum creatinine was not affected by dietary protein intake independent of changes in GFR. Hence, cystatin C may allow more accurate estimates of GFR than creatinine for patients with reduced protein intake. Further study of other non-GFR determinants of cystatin C is needed before the widespread adoption.
► Biochar prepared from an invasive plant –Spartina alterniflora. ► 5 times higher removal capacity for Cu(II) was obtained. ► Surface complexation other than ions exchange contributes the Cu(II) ...removal. ► A 3-site model was proposed to characterize the complex surface of the char. ► Other mechanisms, such as Cπ–metal interaction, metal (hydr)oxide precipitation may involve.
A cost-effective biochar (SABC) was prepared from Spartina alterniflora by pyrolysis at low temperatures (⩽500°C) under anoxic conditions. The obtained biochar was examined for its ability to adsorb copper ions from aqueous solution and the Cu(II) removal mechanisms were explored. Cu(II) adsorption on SABC was found to fit well with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum Cu(II) adsorption capacity of SABC reached 48.49mgg−1, which is about 5 times higher than the raw biomass. Ion exchange had negligible effect on Cu(II) removal. Based on FTIR spectra and potentiometric titration, a complexation model including two acidic and one basic functional groups was proposed. However, metal ions complexation with the surface sites could not account for the uptake amounts of Cu(II) by SABC, alternative binding mechanisms might involve simultaneously.
Running posture estimation is a specialized task in human pose estimation that has received relatively little research attention due to the lack of appropriate datasets. To address this issue, this ...paper presents the construction of a new benchmark dataset called “Running Human”, which was specifically designed for running sports. This dataset contains over 1000 images along with comprehensive annotations for 1288 instances of running humans, including bounding boxes and keypoint annotations on the human body. Additionally, a Receptive Field Spatial Pooling (RFSP) module was developed to tackle the challenge of joint occlusion, which is common in running sports images. This module was incorporated into the High-Resolution Network (HRNet) model, resulting in a novel network model named the Running Human Posture Network (RHPNet). By expanding the receptive field and effectively utilizing multi-scale features extracted from the multi-branch network, the RHPNet model significantly enhances the accuracy of running posture estimation. On the Running Human dataset, the proposed method achieved state-of-the-art performance. Furthermore, experiments were conducted on two benchmark datasets. Compared to the state-of-the-art ViTPose-L method, when applied to the COCO dataset, RHPNet demonstrated comparable prediction accuracy while utilizing only one tenth of the parameters and one eighth of the floating-point operations (FLOPs). On the MPII dataset, RHPNet achieves a PCKh@0.5 score of 92.0, which is only 0.5 points lower than the state-of-the-art method, PCT. These experimental results provide strong validation for the effectiveness and excellent generalization ability of the proposed method.
X-ray weld seam images carry vital information about welds. Leveraging graphic–text recognition technology enables intelligent data collection in complex industrial environments, promising ...significant improvements in work efficiency. This study focuses on using deep learning methods to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of detecting weld seam information. We began by actively gathering a dataset of X-ray weld seam images for model training and evaluation. The study comprises two main components: text detection and text recognition. For text detection, we employed a model based on the DBNet algorithm and tailored post-processing techniques to the unique features of weld seam images. Through model training, we achieved efficient detection of the text regions, with 91% precision, 92.4% recall, and a 91.7% F1 score on the test dataset. In the text recognition phase, we introduced modules like CA, CBAM, and HFA to capture the character position information and global text features effectively. This optimization led to a remarkable text line recognition accuracy of 93.4%. In conclusion, our study provides an efficient deep learning solution for text detection and recognition in X-ray weld seam images, offering robust support for weld seam information collection in industrial manufacturing.
•DNA/chitosan nanocarriers were initially used for astaxanthin loading and delivery.•Astaxanthin-loaded nanosystem can efficiently protect cells from oxidative damage.•Encapsulated-astaxanthin can be ...quickly absorbed via endocytosis by Caco-2 cells.
DNA/chitosan co-assemblies were initially used as nanocarriers for efficient astaxanthin encapsulation and delivery. The obtained astaxanthin-loaded DNA/chitosan (ADC) colloidal system was transparent and homogenous, with astaxanthin content up to 65μg/ml. Compared to free astaxanthin, ADC nanoparticles with an astaxanthin concentration as low as 3.35nM still showed a more powerful cytoprotective effect on H2O2-induced oxidative cell damage, and improved cell viability from 49.9% to 61.9%. The ROS scavenging efficiency of ADC nanoparticles was as high as 54.3%, which was 2-fold higher than that of free astaxanthin. Besides this, ADC nanoparticles were easily engulfed by Caco-2 cells in a short time, indicating that the encapsulated astaxanthin could be absorbed through endocytosis by intestinal epithelial cells. The improved antioxidation capability and facilitated cellular uptake enabled the ADC nanoparticles to be good candidates for efficient delivery and absorption of astaxanthin.
A novel and efficient end-to-end learning model for automatic modulation classification is proposed for wireless spectrum monitoring applications, which automatically learns from the time domain ...in-phase and quadrature data without requiring the design of hand-crafted expert features. With the intuition of convolutional layers with pooling serving as the role of front-end feature distillation and dimensionality reduction, sequential convolutional recurrent neural networks are developed to take complementary advantage of parallel computing capability of convolutional neural networks and temporal sensitivity of recurrent neural networks. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed architecture delivers overall superior performance in signal to noise ratio range above −10 dB, and achieves significantly improved classification accuracy from 80% to 92.1% at high signal to noise ratio range, while drastically reduces the average training and prediction time by approximately 74% and 67%, respectively. Response patterns learned by the proposed architecture are visualized to better understand the physics of the model. Furthermore, a comparative study is performed to investigate the impacts of various sequential convolutional recurrent neural network structure settings on classification performance. A representative sequential convolutional recurrent neural network architecture with the two-layer convolutional neural network and subsequent two-layer long short-term memory neural network is developed to suggest the option for fast automatic modulation classification.
To enhance the holographic properties, one of the main methods is increasing the solubility of the photosensitizer and modifying the components to improve the modulation of the refractive index in ...the photopolymer. This study provides evidence, through the introduction of a mutual diffusion model, that the incorporation of SiO2 nanoparticles in photopolymers can effectively enhance the degree of refractive index modulation, consequently achieving the objective of improving the holographic performance of the materials. Different concentrations of SiO2 nanoparticles have been introduced into highly soluble photosensitizer Irgacure 784 (solubility up to 10wt%)-doped poly-methyl methacrylate (Irgacure 784/PMMA) photopolymers. Holographic measurement experiments have been performed on the prepared samples, and the experiments have demonstrated that the Irgacure 784/PMMA photopolymer doped with 1.0 × 10−3wt% SiO2 nanoparticles exhibits the highest diffraction efficiency (74.5%), representing an approximate 30% increase in diffraction efficiency as compared to an undoped photopolymer. Finally, we have successfully achieved the recording of real objects on SiO2/Irgacure 784/PMMA photopolymers, demonstrated by the SiO2/Irgacure 784/PMMA photopolymer material prepared in this study, which exhibits promising characteristics for holographic storage applications. The strategy of doping nanoparticles (Nps) in Irgacure 784/PMMA photopolymers has also provided a new approach for achieving high-capacity holographic storage in the future.
Cigarette smoke is a well-known strong risk factor for inducing airway hyperreactivity (AHR), but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. In the present study, mouse in-vivo and ...in-vitro models were used to study effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-extracted cigarette smoke particles (DSP) on the airway, and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms that are involved in DSP-induced AHR. In mouse in-vivo model, DSP (0.75, 1.5 or 3 µL/mL) was administered intranasally daily for 7 d. At the end of this period, lung functions were measured with flexiVent™. The results showed that the mice exhibited AHR in a dose-dependent manner following methacholine inhalation in vivo. In mouse in-vitro organ culture model, exposure of mouse tracheal segments to DSP (0.1 µL/mL) with or without the following pharmacological inhibitors: specific c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor SP600125 (10 µM) or the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone (1 µM). DSP-induced bradykinin receptor-mediated airway contraction with increased mRNA and protein expressions for bradykinin B1 and B2 receptors could be significantly reduced by SP600125 or dexamethasone. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that DSP could induce AHR in vivo and in vitro. In addition to this, the upregulation of bradykinin receptors in airway is most likely one of the underlying molecular mechanisms involved.
The publication of ＇The origin, diversification and adaptation of a major mangrove clade （Rhizophoreae） revealed by whole genome sequencing＇ by Xu et al. is the very first genomic study of mangroves, ...which are the woody plants that colonize the inter- face between land and sea 1. These environments are the least hospitable habitats for woody plants, likely accounting for the small number of mangrove species （〈 100） globally. While the number of species is small, mangroves are the dominant plants on the global tropical coastsz providing shelters1 materials and nutrients for the vast fauna or flora of the coastal communities. Given the projected sea-level rises, mangroves and the tropical communities they anchor are going to be the first ones to suffer. ~he authors cite warnings of ＇a world without mangroves＇ in the coming century.
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