This two-part paper aims to study lane change behaviors at the tactical level from an on-road perspective, with a special focus on analyzing the interactions between an ego and surrounding vehicles ...during the procedure. Part I addresses vehicle trajectory collection, whereas Part II addresses lane change extraction and scene-based behavioral analysis. Different from the general technique of moving object detection and tracking, trajectory collection for tactical driving behavior study is required to have the properties of consistency, completeness, continuity, and accuracy. This paper proposes a system of on-road vehicle trajectory collection, where an instrumented vehicle is developed with multiple horizontal 2-D lidars that have 360° coverage. The software is developed by fitting the laser points of all lidars on a vehicle model using a coupled estimation of features and reliability along frames to achieve accurate state estimations of occluded data and robust data association in multiviewpoint sensing. The performance is investigated extensively, and a large trajectory set is developed through on-road driving at the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing for a total distance of 64 km, with more than 5700 environmental trajectories with a total length of over 19 h. The performance is demonstrated to be of high quality in terms of the required properties. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first system that is able to automatically collect all-around vehicle trajectories during on-road driving and to demonstrate good performance in providing a high-quality database for driving behavior studies from an on-road perspective that addresses vehicle interactions in real-world traffic at the trajectory level.
Aflatoxins are highly toxic secondary metabolites produced by a number of different fungi and present in a wide range of food and feed commodities. Herein, we designed a simple and low-cost ...immunosensing platform for highly sensitive detection of mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, AFB1, used as a model) on polyethylenimine (PEI)-coated mesoporous silica nanocontainers (PEI-MSN). The assay was carried out by using a portable personal glucometer (PGM) as the readout based on a competitive displacement reaction mode between target AFB1 and its pseudo-hapten (PEI-MSN) for monoclonal anti-AFB1 antibody (mAb). To construct such an assay protocol, two nanostructures including mAb-labeled gold nanoparticle (mAb-AuNP) and PEI-MSN were initially synthesized, and then numerous glucose molecules were gated into the pores based on the interaction between negatively charged mAb-AuNP and positively charged PEI-MSN. In the presence of target AFB1, a competitive-type displacement reaction was implemented between mAb-AuNP and PEI-MSN by target AFB1 through the specific antigen–antibody reaction. Accompanying the reaction, target AFB1 could displace the mAb-AuNP from the surface of PEI-MSN, resulting in the release of the loading glucose from the pores due to the gate opened. The released glucose molecules could be quantitatively determined by using a portable PGM. Under optimal conditions, the PGM signal increased with the increment of AFB1 concentration in the range from 0.01 to 15 μg/kg (ppb) with a detection limit (LOD) of 5 ng/kg (5 ppt) at the 3s blank criterion. The selectivity and precision were acceptable. Importantly, the methodology was further validated for assaying naturally contaminated or spiked blank peanut samples, and consistent results between the PGM-based immunoassay and the referenced enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were obtained. Therefore, the developed immunoassay provides a promising approach for rapid screening of organic pollutants because it is simple, low-cost, sensitive, specific, and without the need of multiple separation and washing steps.
Online fatigue estimation is, inevitably, in demand as fatigue can impair the health of college students and lower the quality of higher education. Therefore, it is essential to monitor college ...students' fatigue to diminish its adverse effects on the health and academic performance of college students. However, former studies on student fatigue monitoring are mainly survey-based with offline analysis, instead of using constant fatigue monitoring. Hence, we proposed an explainable student fatigue estimation model based on joint facial representation. This model includes two modules: a spacial-temporal symptom classification module and a data-experience joint status inferring module. The first module tracks a student's face and generates spatial-temporal features using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) for the relevant drivers of abnormal symptom classification; the second module infers a student's status with symptom classification results with maximum a posteriori (MAP) under the data-experience joint constraints. The model was trained on the benchmark NTHU Driver Drowsiness Detection (NTHU-DDD) dataset and tested on an Online Student Fatigue Monitoring (OSFM) dataset. Our method outperformed the other methods with an accuracy rate of 94.47% under the same training-testing setting. The results were significant for real-time monitoring of students' fatigue states during online classes and could also provide practical strategies for in-person education.
Regular prenatal physical activity provides numerous health benefits to both mother and fetus. However, little is known about the physical activity status of pregnant women in China and whether they ...meet the current guidelines for prenatal physical activity. The aims of the study were to assess physical inactivity status and associated factors among pregnant women in Shanghai, China.
A cross-sectional study of 1636 pregnant women were recruited at a tertiary obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Shanghai. Maternal sociodemographic characteristics and health information were obtained using structured questionnaires or from the electronic medical records. Physical inactivity status was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form. Factors pertinent to physical inactivity were identified by binary logistic regression and were reported with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software package.
In total, the prevalence of physical inactivity was 47.5%. Walking was the main form of physical activity and only 2.8% of the pregnant women achieved the goal of at least 150 min of moderate-intensity physical activity weekly. Multivariate logistic regression identified a significant negative association of physical inactivity with personal monthly income (adjusted OR 0.648, 95% CI 0.505-0.831), engagement in regular exercise before pregnancy (adjusted OR 0.575, 95% CI 0.464-0.711) and in the second (adjusted OR 0.534, 95% CI 0.411-0.693) or third (adjusted OR 0.615, 95% CI 0.470-0.806) trimester of pregnancy. Women with nausea or vomiting during pregnancy were more likely to be physically inactive during pregnancy (adjusted OR 1.307, 95% CI 1.002-1.705).
Physical inactivity is highly prevalent among pregnant women in China. Further efforts should be taken to overcome the barriers to prenatal physical activity and to promote moderate- to vigorous-intensity activities among Chinese pregnant women.
This two-part paper aims to study lane change behaviors at the tactical level from an on-road perspective. Compared with longitudinal driving tasks, a lane change is more complicated because this ...task has more interactions with surrounding vehicles; thus, there are more potential risks during this procedure. Based on the results from Part I on an on-road vehicle trajectory collection, this part investigates lane change extraction and scene-based behavior analysis, and it has a particular focus on understanding the interactions between an ego and surrounding vehicles during the procedure. We claim that this paper provides the following novel contributions: 1) an automatic method is proposed for extracting lane change segments from a continuous driving sequence by modeling and recognizing patterns in a steering angle; 2) a lane change database at the trajectory level is generated, which reflects the interactions between an ego and the surrounding vehicles during the procedures; and 3) we present findings from analyzing lane change procedures using real-world data on the axes of both the ego's trajectory and interactions with the scene vehicles. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first lane change behavior study from an on-road perspective that addresses the vehicle interactions in real-world traffic at the trajectory level.
Background: This study evaluated the association between maternal B vitamins in early pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk. Methods: A cohort of 1265 pregnant women was recruited at ...8−15 weeks of gestation in 2021−2022 (Shanghai, China). Pregnancies with both serum B vitamin measurements at recruitment and glucose measurements at 24−28 weeks of gestation were included in the final analysis. Results: Of the 1065 pregnancies, in the final analysis, GDM occurred in 121 women (11.36%). In multivariate logistic models, an increased risk trend across serum vitamin B1 quartiles with GDM was observed (p-Trend = 0.001). Compared with women in the lowest quartile of serum vitamin B6, those in the upper two quartiles had approximately twofold higher odds of GDM. Moreover, compared with women with vitamin B12 levels < 150 pmol/L, those with vitamin B12 levels > 150 pmol/L had lower odds of GDM (p = 0.005). The restricted cubic spline regression models also revealed that serum vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 were associated with an increased risk of GDM in a nonlinear fashion. Conclusions: Our study shows that higher maternal serum vitamin B1 and B6 levels in early pregnancy are associated with increased GDM risk, while sufficient vitamin B12 status is associated with lower GDM risk.
Psoriasis is a common chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disorder. Sophora flavescens Alt. (S. flavescens) has been widely acknowledged in the prevention and treatment of psoriasis. Kushenol F ...(KSCF) is a natural isopentenyl flavonoid extracted from the root of S. flavescens. We aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of KSCF on imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice. A mouse model of psoriasis was induced with 5% IMQ for 5 days, and the mice were given KSCF dermally for 5 days. Changes in skin morphology, the psoriasis area, the severity index (PASI), and inflammatory factors of psoriasis-like skin lesions were evaluated. Metabolites in the psoriasis-like skin lesions were analyzed with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry followed by a multivariate statistical analysis to identify the differential metabolites and metabolic pathway. The results of the present study confirmed that KSCF significantly reduced PASI scores, epidermal thickening, and epidermal cell proliferation and differentiation. KSCF also reduced the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17A, IL-22, IL-23, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the injured skin tissues while increasing IL-10 content. KSCF significantly regulated metabolites in the skin samples, and a total of 161 significant metabolites were identified. These differential metabolites involved sphingolipid and linoleic acid metabolism and steroid hormone biosynthesis. Collectively, KSCF inhibited the inflammatory response to prevent IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice by call-backing the levels of 161 endogenous metabolites and affecting their related metabolic pathways. KSCF has the potential to be developed as a topical drug for treating psoriasis symptoms.
A novel competitive-type immunosensing strategy based on target-induced displacement reaction with antibody-functionalized mesoporous carbon (MSC) nanoparticles was designed for sensitive and rapid ...electrochemical detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1, used as a model) on the Nafion-functionalized sensing interface. Electroactive thionine molecules were initially decorated to the mesoporous carbon, and polyclonal anti-AFB1 antibody was then covalently conjugated to the nanostructures. The immunosensor was simply prepared via the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged Nafion film and positively charged anti-AFB1 antibody accompanying the nanostructures. The electrochemical signal originated from the carried thionine to mesoporous carbon. Upon target AFB1 introduction, the analyte reacted with the labeled anti-AFB1 antibody on the MSC based on specific antigen–antibody reaction and induced the dissociation of thionine–MSN nanostructures from the sensing interface, thus decreasing the cathodic current of the carried thionine molecules. Under optimal conditions, the immunosensor exhibited good electrochemical responses for determination of target AFB1 at a concentration as low as 3.0pgmL−1 (3.0ppt). Importantly, the non-conventional sensing system provides a promising immunosensing strategy for rapid screening of small molecules because of its simplicity, low cost and sensitivity without the needs of sample separation and washing step.
•We designed a new non-conventional competitive-type electrochemical immunoassay.•Target-induced displacement reaction mode was adopted for AFB1 detection.•The assay could be carried out within five minute.•Thionine-decorated mesoporous carbon nanostructure was used as the signal-generation tag.
Nuclease based genome editing systems have emerged as powerful tools to drive genomic alterations and enhance genome evolution via precise engineering in the various human and microbial cells. ...However, error-prone DNA repair has not been well studied previously to generate diverse genomic alterations and novel phenotypes. Here, we systematically investigated the potential interplay between DNA double strand break (DSB) repair and genome editing tools, and found that modulating the DSB end resection proteins could significantly improve mutational efficiency and diversity without exogenous DNA template in yeast. Deleting
,
, or
, or overexpressing
-H125N (nuclease-dead allele of
), for DSB end resection markedly increased the efficiency of CRISPR/SpCas9 (more than 22-fold) and CRISPR/AsCpf1 (more than 30-fold)-induced mutagenesis. Deleting
or overexpressing
-H125N substantially diversified CRISPR/SpCas9 or AsCpf1-induced mutation 2-3-fold at
locus, and 3-5-fold at
locus. Thus, the error-prone DNA repair protein was employed to develop a novel mutagenic genome editing (mGE) strategy, which can increase the mutation numbers and effectively improve the ethanol/glycerol ratio of Saccharomyces cerevisiae through modulating the expression of
and
. This study highlighted the feasibility of potentially reshaping the capability of genome editing by regulating the different DSB repair proteins and can thus expand the application of genome editing in diversifying gene expression and enhancing genome evolution.
Most of the published papers about nuclease-assisted genome editing focused on precision engineering in human cells. However, the topic of inducing mutagenesis via error-prone repair has often been ignored in yeast. In this study, we reported that perturbing DNA repair, especially modifications of the various DSB end resection-related proteins, could greatly improve the mutational efficiency and diversity, and thus functionally reshape the capability of the different genome editing tools without requiring an exogenous DNA template in yeast. Specifically, mutagenic genome editing (mGE) was developed based on CRISPR/AsCpf1 and
-H125N overexpression, and used to generate promoters of different strengths more efficiently. Thus, this work provides a novel method to diversify gene expression and enhance genome evolution.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been intensively studied in responses to different environmental stresses such as heat shock through global omic analysis. However, the S. cerevisiae industrial strains ...with superior thermotolerance have not been explored in any proteomic studies for elucidating the tolerance mechanism. Recently a new diploid strain was obtained through evolutionary engineering of a parental industrial strain, and it exhibited even higher resistance to prolonged thermal stress. Herein, we performed iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis on both the parental and evolved industrial strains to further understand the mechanism of thermotolerant adaptation. Out of ∼2600 quantifiable proteins from biological quadruplicates, 193 and 204 proteins were differentially regulated in the parental and evolved strains respectively during heat-stressed growth. The proteomic response of the industrial strains cultivated under prolonged thermal stress turned out to be substantially different from that of the laboratory strain exposed to sudden heat shock. Further analysis of transcription factors underlying the proteomic perturbation also indicated the distinct regulatory mechanism of thermotolerance. Finally, a cochaperone Mdj1 and a metabolic enzyme Adh1 were selected to investigate their roles in mediating heat-stressed growth and ethanol production of yeasts. Our proteomic characterization of the industrial strain led to comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of thermotolerance, which would facilitate future improvement in the industrially important trait of S. cerevisiae by rational engineering.
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