Image captioning means automatically generating a caption for an image. As a recently emerged research area, it is attracting more and more attention. To achieve the goal of image captioning, ...semantic information of images needs to be captured and expressed in natural languages. Connecting both research communities of computer vision and natural language processing, image captioning is a quite challenging task. Various approaches have been proposed to solve this problem. In this paper, we present a survey on advances in image captioning research. Based on the technique adopted, we classify image captioning approaches into different categories. Representative methods in each category are summarized, and their strengths and limitations are talked about. In this paper, we first discuss methods used in early work which are mainly retrieval and template based. Then, we focus our main attention on neural network based methods, which give state of the art results. Neural network based methods are further divided into subcategories based on the specific framework they use. Each subcategory of neural network based methods are discussed in detail. After that, state of the art methods are compared on benchmark datasets. Following that, discussions on future research directions are presented.
Adipose tissue, which is the crucial energy reservoir and endocrine organ for the maintenance of systemic glucose, lipid, and energy homeostasis, undergoes significant changes during aging. These ...changes cause physiological declines and age-related disease in the elderly population. Here, we review the age-related changes in adipose tissue at multiple levels and highlight the underlying mechanisms regulating the aging process. We also discuss the pathogenic pathways of age-related fat dysfunctions and their systemic negative consequences, such as dyslipidemia, chronic general inflammation, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Age-related changes in adipose tissue involve redistribution of deposits and composition, in parallel with the functional decline of adipocyte progenitors and accumulation of senescent cells. Multiple pathogenic pathways induce defective adipogenesis, inflammation, aberrant adipocytokine production, and insulin resistance, leading to adipose tissue dysfunction. Changes in gene expression and extracellular signaling molecules regulate the aging process of adipose tissue through various pathways. In addition, adipose tissue aging impacts other organs that are infiltrated by lipids, which leads to systemic inflammation, metabolic system disruption, and aging process acceleration. Moreover, studies have indicated that adipose aging is an early onset event in aging and a potential target to extend lifespan. Together, we suggest that adipose tissue plays a key role in the aging process and is a therapeutic target for the treatment of age-related disease, which deserves further study to advance relevant knowledge.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health problem in China. Over a decade has passed since the last National Hepatitis Seroepidemiological Survey was conducted in 2006. The lack of ...updated data on hepatitis B in China makes assessing the current prevalence and burden of the disease inadequate. In response to the above situation, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to provide a better understanding of hepatitis B epidemiology in the general population of China. A systematic search was conducted in international databases (Medline through PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science) and national databases (CBM, CNKI, WanFang Data) to retrieve primary studies published between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017. The pooled prevalence of HBV infection and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Quality assessment, heterogeneity testing and publication bias assessment were also performed. Of the 27 studies included in the meta-analysis, the pooled estimated prevalence of HBV infection in the general population of China from 2013 to 2017 was 6.89% (95% CI:5.84-7.95%), which could be extrapolated to an estimated population of 84 million living with HBsAg in 2018. The prevalence of HBV infection in males was higher than that in females (5.88% vs 5.05%), and rural areas had a higher prevalence than urban areas (5.86% vs 3.29%). The highest prevalence of HBV infection was reported in Western provinces (8.92, 95% CI: 7.19-10.64%). In adults older than 20 years, the prevalence of HBV infection was approximately 7%, which was higher than that in children. The prevalence of HBV infection in the general population of China was classified as higher intermediate prevalence (5-7.99%), of which more than 90% of the HBV infection population included adults older than 20 years. The blocking of mother-to-infant hepatitis B transmission and plans involving timely birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 h should be implemented. Additionally, improving the quality of life and survival rate of the infected population through antiviral therapy and high-risk adult vaccination will be the priority of our future work. Moreover, various control measures should be implemented in different provinces across China.
The karst region of Southwest China is one of the largest in the world. Due to the effects of human activities and climate change, rocky desertification has become the primary ecological disaster ...which has significantly hindered the economic growth in Southwest China. In recent decades, the Chinese government has carried out a number of ecological restoration projects in Southwest China. This study aims to analyze the changes in vegetation coverage and its main driving factors in the Southwest China and the karst region of Southwest China from 2001 to 2015 through trend analysis, Hurst index correlation analysis, correlation analysis, and residual analysis. The results showed that (1) both Southwest China and the karst region of Southwest China experienced significant increasing trends in annual fractional vegetation cover, at a rate of 0.0028 year
−1
and 0.0029 year
−1
, respectively; (2) the NDVI of the Southwest China and the karst region of Southwest China was stable, and the vegetation coverage areas showed low to medium fluctuations, accounting for 97.17% and 98.32% respectively; (3) the NDVI of the Southwest China and the karst region of Southwest China had strong sustainability, and the sustainable and improved regions account for 74.79% and 75.77% respectively; and (4) climate change had little influence on vegetation restoration, and human activities had a great influence on vegetation restoration. The relative contribution rates of human activities and climate change to vegetation NDVI changes in the Southwest China were 86% and 14%, respectively, and 90% and 10% in karst regions of Southwest China. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of vegetation change in karst region and may provide scientific support for local vegetation restoration and conservation policies.
Background
Mg is a macronutrient for plant growth. Mg deficiency has become an important limiting factor in intensive agricultural production, resulting in reduced crop yield and quality. Given that ...Mg is also essential for human and animals’ diets, Mg nutrition in plants has become an important issue not only for food security but also for human health.
Scope
We review recent progress in physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying Mg biological functionality, as well as Mg transport and Mg deficiency symptoms in plants.
Conclusions
As both a structural component and a regulatory factor, Mg helps plants achieve higher photosynthetic efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency and stress resistance. Plants need a certain range of Mg concentration for their growth, and a number of key genes responsible for Mg uptake, translocation and detoxification have been identified. Despite its functional importance, basic researches on Mg nutrition are still scarce. A deeper investigation of the genetic and molecular mechanisms employed in Mg nutrition will help to improve crop yield and intensify Mg application in the field. Developing more approaches to enhance Mg concentration in crop edible parts is urgently required for human diet and health.
Dressing change is a significant and inevitable process during wound healing. Possible secondary damage caused through dressing removal may impose a great threat on wound recovery, thus resulting in ...healing delays and ultimately a higher cost of hospitalization. Hence, a non-contact refreshable dressing with an ease of operation is of great desire, especially for chronic wounds where a long-term and repeated dressing change would be performed. Herein, an all-light-operated hydrogel dressing that would achieve a fast and remote-controllable dressing change (30 s for gelation/4 min for dissolution upon light irradiation) for chronic wounds is presented. In a diabetic murine model, substantially improved wound healing within 2-3 weeks is observed due to attenuated secondary damage during repeated dressing changes. Moreover, a promising facilitation of the healing processes of epithelialization, collagen deposition, cell proliferation, and inflammatory regulation is also detected, representing a synergistic effect of the photo-responsive hydrogel dressing for therapeutic efficiency.
Falls are one of the main health risks among the elderly. A fall detection system based on inertial sensors can automatically detect fall event and alert a caregiver for immediate assistance, so as ...to reduce injuries causing by falls. Nevertheless, most inertial sensor-based fall detection technologies have focused on the accuracy of detection while neglecting quantization noise caused by inertial sensor. In this paper, an activity model based on tri-axial acceleration and gyroscope is proposed, and the difference between activities of daily living (ADLs) and falls is analyzed. Meanwhile, a Kalman filter is proposed to preprocess the raw data so as to reduce noise. A sliding window and Bayes network classifier are introduced to develop a wearable fall detection system, which is composed of a wearable motion sensor and a smart phone. The experiment shows that the proposed system distinguishes simulated falls from ADLs with a high accuracy of 95.67%, while sensitivity and specificity are 99.0% and 95.0%, respectively. Furthermore, the smart phone can issue an alarm to caregivers so as to provide timely and accurate help for the elderly, as soon as the system detects a fall.
The activated spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) potently inhibits the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) to ensure accurate chromosome segregation at anaphase. Early studies have recognized ...that the SAC should be silenced within minutes to enable rapid APC/C activation and synchronous segregation of chromosomes once all kinetochores are properly attached, but the underlying silencers are still being elucidated. Here, we report that the timely silencing of SAC in fission yeast requires dnt1.sup.+, which causes severe thiabendazole (TBZ) sensitivity and increased rate of lagging chromosomes when deleted. The absence of Dnt1 results in prolonged inhibitory binding of mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) to APC/C and attenuated protein levels of Slp1.sup.Cdc20, consequently slows the degradation of cyclin B and securin, and eventually delays anaphase entry in cells released from SAC activation. Interestingly, Dnt1 physically associates with APC/C upon SAC activation. We propose that this association may fend off excessive and prolonged MCC binding to APC/C and help to maintain Slp1.sup.Cdc20 stability. This may allow a subset of APC/C to retain activity, which ensures rapid anaphase onset and mitotic exit once SAC is inactivated. Therefore, our study uncovered a new player in dictating the timing and efficacy of APC/C activation, which is actively required for maintaining cell viability upon recovery from the inhibition of APC/C by spindle checkpoint.
Bilateral cleft lip is a congenital defect often accompanied by secondary lip and nose deformity. The current classification system for secondary cleft lip deformity has limitations in guiding ...surgical planning. In this article, we report a method for secondary bilateral cleft lip classification that can guide surgery on the basis of the pathological anatomy of the columellar and upper lip.
Photographs of patients were retrospectively classified into four types on the basis of the ratio of columellar height to alar base width (CH/AW) and upper lip protrusion (UP) to lower lip, as follows: type I – with CH/AW ≥ 0.2 and UP ≥ 0; type II – with CH/AW ≥ 0.2 and UP <0; type III – with CH/AW < 0.2 and UP ≥0; type IV – with CH/AW < 0.2 and UP < 0. Surgical treatments and the change of the nasal profile were documented.
A total of 105 patients from January 2008 to December 2018 were included in this study. The nasal profile was significantly improved in type III and IV patients with postoperative CH/AW values close to normal. The upper lip was distinctively retruded in type II and IV patients before treatment, and the postoperative view revealed improved upper lip protrusion with UP values close to normal. Ninety-eight patients reported satisfactory outcomes after treatment.
The new classification method described provides key information regarding the deformity of different types of secondary bilateral cleft lip patients and provides clear guidance for surgical planning on the basis of the anatomical defect of each type.
Composting is an effective and necessary modality in the recycling of agricultural wastes such as livestock manure, furfural, and straw. However, the risks of heavy metals (HMs) and antibiotic ...resistance genes (ARGs) during industrial-scale composting process have not been adequately assessed, especially with the addition of bacterial agents. In this study, changes in HMs toxicity, ARGs propagation and microbial community structure during industrial-scale aerobic composting of livestock manure were firstly investigated with various substrates addition. Moreover, the effect of the addition of bacterial agents (Bacillus strains) was evaluated. The results showed that industrial aerobic composting process could immobilize various HMs with different extents and significantly reduce the levels of ARGs such as intl1 and oqxB genes. The addition of Bacillus strains could further reduce the levels of most detected ARGs and the bioavailability of Cu and Cr, and the relative abundance of ereA and tetA was undetectable in some materials. After composting, the main bacterial community structures were similar among different substrates irrespective of bacterial agents and indicated that the composting process was the main driver for their change. This study provides a scientific reference for the safe reuse of livestock manure.
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•Addition of Bacillus could accelerate the composting process and bad odour removal.•Aerobic composting immobilized heavy metals with promotion of Bacillus addition.•Aerobic composting could remove most ARGs except for the increase of ereA.•The microbial community tended to identity after composted in spite of materials.
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