Due to the scattering of atmospheric particles, images captured under hazy conditions suffer from contrast attenuation and color distortion, which severely affect the performance of machine vision ...systems. Various types of methods have been developed to improve the clarity of images. However, these methods are typically challenging to apply in real-time systems. We present a fast, single-image dehazing method based on the atmospheric scattering theory and dark channel prior theory. The transmission map is approximately estimated using a fast average filter, the subsection mechanism is designed to avoid the high brightness of the sky region in the recovered image, the region projection method is adopted to obtain the atmospheric light, and image color compensation is implemented using the Weber-Fechner law. Our experimental results show that this algorithm can restore images to a clear and natural state and ensure the balance of quality and the speed of image restoration. Therefore, the algorithm can be used in real-time systems.
Abstract
Extending the benefits of tumor molecular profiling for all cancer patients requires a comprehensive analysis of tumor genomes across distinct patient populations worldwide. In this study, ...we perform deep next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) from tumor tissues and matched blood specimens from over 10,000 patients in China by using a 450-gene comprehensive assay, developed and implemented under international clinical regulations. We perform a comprehensive comparison of somatically altered genes, the distribution of tumor mutational burden (TMB), gene fusion patterns, and the spectrum of various somatic alterations between Chinese and American patient populations. Here, we show 64% of cancers from Chinese patients in this study have clinically actionable genomic alterations, which may affect clinical decisions related to targeted therapy or immunotherapy. These findings describe the similarities and differences between tumors from Chinese and American patients, providing valuable information for personalized medicine.
A TiO
2
-based multi-color photodetector with controlled photoelectric response to ultraviolet (UV) and visible light is developed by using band regulation technologies such as multi-junction synergy ...and surface adsorption. This photodetector is manufactured via a continuous process including magnetron sputtering, hydrothermal growth, hydrogen annealing, spin coating and thermal evaporation assembly to form a structure of N-doped TiO
2
/hydrogenated-TiO
2
/p-Si heterojunction. These synergistic effects form electronic potential wells in the device to control the electrical transport and spectral response of photo-generated carriers. In the air, the device exhibits a controllable photodetection ability that responds to visible light at positive voltages and UV light at negative voltages. But in vacuum (< 0.1 Pa), the photodetection ability of the device at negative voltages is greatly reduced due to the lack of barrier effect caused by surface adsorption. On the contrary, the photodetection ability at positive voltage (e.g., 4 V) has been greatly improved, and the quantum efficiency reaches 206.6% under the 480 nm wavelength light. The device has a controllable ability to detect UV and visible light depending on the environments, which is very useful in the fields of environmental detection, chemical sensing and multi-color communication, etc.
Deep-land resource exploitation is a crucial focus of future scientific and technological development in China. However, with the increasing depth of coal mining, rock burst disasters occur ...frequently, posing significant threats to the safe and efficient mining of coal mines. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to investigate mechanisms of rock burst, develop effective monitoring and warning systems, and explore techniques for pressure relief and shock reduction. This paper begins by summarizing the occurrence mechanisms of rock bursts in coal mines in chronological order and clarifying the interrelationships between these theories. Additionally, the paper presents a comprehensive summary of the mechanisms of rock bursts from a testing perspective, refining the understanding of their generation mechanisms and types. It emphasizes that the material effect and structure effect of coal and rock mass are key influencing factors in rock burst occurrences. Furthermore, the paper compares and analyzes the limitations of existing monitoring and warning by systems for rock bursts by various methods, such as microseismic monitoring, stress monitoring, electromagnetic radiation monitoring, and ground sound monitoring. Based on these findings, a proposed solution is presented: a big data analysis and comprehensive monitoring and early warning system that integrates temporally and spatially relevant precursor information using eigenvectors as weights. Lastly, the paper addresses the challenges faced in China in preventing and controlling rock bursts, including insufficient monitoring accuracy, difficulties in managing complex environments, inadequate optimization of relief and shock reduction schemes, and unsatisfactory support methods. Several suggestions are offered for future rock burst prevention and control efforts. The results of this study can provide valuable references for preventing rock bursts.
Genome‐wide 5hmC profiling in cell‐free DNA acquired from CRC patients, adenoma patients, and healthy individuals revealed that the differential 5hmC‐modified regions were gathered into four clusters ...with no overlap, although there are a few overlapped genes shared between the different clusters. CRC patients with adenoma history showed exclusive 5hmC‐gain characteristics, which was consistent with the ‘parallel’ evolution hypothesis in adenoma.
Approximately 85% colorectal cancers (CRCs) are thought to evolve through the adenoma‐to‐carcinoma sequence associated with specific molecular alterations, including the 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) signature in circulating cell‐free DNA (cfDNA). To explore colorectal disease progression and evaluate the use of cfDNA as a potential diagnostic factor for CRC screening, here, we performed genome‐wide 5hmC profiling in plasma cfDNA and tissue genomic DNA (gDNA) acquired from 101 samples (63 plasma and 38 tissues), collected from 21 early‐stage CRC patients, 21 AD patients, and 21 healthy controls (HC). The gDNA and cfDNA 5hmC signatures identified in gene bodies and promoter regions in CRC and AD groups were compared with those in HC group. All the differential 5hmC‐modified regions (DhMRs) were gathered into four clusters: Disease‐enriched, AD‐enriched, Disease‐lost, and AD‐lost, with no overlap. AD‐related clusters, AD‐enriched and AD‐lost, displayed the unique 5hmC signals in AD patients. Disease‐enriched and Disease‐lost clusters indicated the general 5hmC changes when colorectal lesions occurred. Cancer patients with a confirmable adenoma history segmentally gathered in AD‐enriched clusters. KEGG functional enrichment and GO analyses determined distinct differential 5hmC‐modified profiles in cfDNA of HC individuals, AD, and CRC patients. All patients had comprehensive 5hmC signatures where Disease‐enriched and Disease‐lost DhMR clusters demonstrated similar epigenetic modifications, while AD‐enriched and AD‐lost DhMR clusters indicated complicated subpopulations in adenoma. Analysis of CRC patients with adenoma history showed exclusive 5hmC‐gain characteristics, consistent with the ‘parallel’ evolution hypothesis in adenoma, either developed through the adenoma‐to‐carcinoma sequence or not. These findings deepen our understanding of colorectal disease and suggest that the 5hmC modifications of different pathological subtypes (cancer patients with or without adenoma history) could be used to screen early‐stage CRC and assess adenoma malignancy with large‐scale follow‐up studies in the future.
Hyacinth flower-like WS2 nanorods were successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. Sodium tungstate and L-cysteine were employed as source materials. The final products were ...characterized by XRD, XPS, EDS, SEM and TEM. A possible formation mechanism of these novel WS2 nanorods has been proposed. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of WS2 nanorods toward the rhodamine B was also investigated.
•Hyacinth flower-like WS2 nanorods were successfully synthesized for the first time.•The formation mechanism was proved reasonable and feasible by TEM and EDS.•WS2 nanorods showed good photocatalytic activity in degrading Rh B.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with functional disturbances in subcortical regions. In this naturalistic prospective study (NCT03294525), we aimed to investigate relationships among ...subcortical functional connectivity (FC), mood symptom profiles and treatment outcome in MDD using multivariate methods. Medication-free participants with MDD (n = 135) underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan at baseline and completed posttreatment clinical assessment after 8 weeks of antidepressant monotherapy. We used partial least squares (PLS) correlation analysis to explore the association between subcortical FC and mood symptom profiles. FC score, reflecting the weighted representation of each individual in this association, was computed. Replication analysis was undertaken in an independent sample (n = 74). We also investigated the relationship between FC score and treatment outcome in the main sample. A distinctive subcortical connectivity pattern was found to be associated with negative affect. In general, higher FC between the caudate, putamen and thalamus was associated with greater negative affect. This association was partly replicated in the independent sample (similarity between the two samples: r = 0.66 for subcortical connectivity, r = 0.75 for mood symptom profile). Lower FC score predicted both remission and response to treatment after 8 weeks of antidepressant monotherapy. The emphasis here on the role of dorsal striatum and thalamus consolidates prior work of subcortical connectivity in MDD. The findings provide insight into the pathogenesis of MDD, linking subcortical FC with negative affect. However, while the FC score significantly predicted treatment outcome, the low odds ratio suggests that finding predictive biomarkers for depression remains an aspiration.
Acupuncture attenuates neuronal damages following ischemia.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the beneficial effects of acupuncture on hypoxia–ischemia induced brain damages in ...neonatal rats.
Male postnatal 7 days rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: sham control (sham), hypoxia–ischemia (HI), and HI plus acupuncture treatment (HI+Acu). The rats in HI and HI+Acu groups were submitted to model of neonatal HI, established by occluding the left common carotid artery followed by a 3.5h period of hypoxia (8% O2–92% N2). At 24h after HI, animals were stimulated by acupuncture treatment once a day and the treatment continued during 4 weeks, 5days/week. Behavioral functions, learning and memory ability, and body weight were observed at different time-points after HI. DNA fragmentation assay were performed with TUNEL staining to evaluate apoptosis and expression levels of mitochondrial Bcl-2, mitochondrial Bax, Cleaved caspase 3, Cleaved caspase 9 in the damaged hippocampus were detected by western blotting 28 days following HI. GDNF, BDNF levels in hippocampus were also determined.
The results showed that acupuncture significantly promoted growth and development, improved neurobehavioral function, learning and memory ability after 20 days' treatment. Furthermore, we obtained one interesting finding that acupuncture attenuated cellular apoptosis and up-regulated GDNF and BDNF levels in hippocampus.
All of these results suggest that acupuncture as a potential treatment may exert neuroprotective effects via inhibiting cellular apoptosis, increased GDNF and BDNF expression levels in rat hippocampus experiencing HI.
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A recent study revealed disrupted topological organization of whole-brain networks in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD); however, these results were mostly driven by recurrent MDD ...patients, rather than first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) patients. Furthermore, few longitudinal studies have explored the effects of antidepressant therapy on the topological organization of whole-brain networks.
We collected clinical and neuroimaging data from 159 FEDN MDD patients and 152 normal controls (NCs). A total of 115 MDD patients completed an eight-week antidepressant treatment procedure. Topological features of brain networks were calculated using graph theory-based methods and compared between FEDN MDD patients and NCs, as well as before and after treatment.
Decreased global efficiency, local efficiency, small-worldness, and modularity were found in pretreatment FEDN MDD patients compared with NCs. Nodal degrees, betweenness, and efficiency decreased in several networks compared with NCs. After antidepressant treatment, the global efficiency increased, while the local efficiency, the clustering coefficient of the network, the path length, and the normalized characteristic path length decreased. Moreover, the reduction rate of the normalized characteristic path length was positively correlated with the reduction rate of retardation factor scores.
The interaction effects of groups and time on the topological features were not explored because of absence of the eighth-week data of NC group.
The topological architecture of functional brain networks is disrupted in FEDN MDD patients. After antidepressant therapy, the global efficiency shifted toward recovery, but the local efficiency deteriorated, suggesting a correlation between recovery of retardation symptoms and global efficiency.
•The topological architecture of functional brain networks was disrupted in first-episode drug-naïve MDD patients.•Nodal degrees, betweenness, and efficiency decreased in several networks compared to normal controls.•After antidepressant therapy, the global efficiency shifted toward recovery, suggesting recovery of retardation symptom.
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major and highly heritable mental illness with severe psychosocial impairment, but its etiology and pathogenesis remains unclear. This study aimed to identify the essential ...pathways and genes involved in BD using weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), a bioinformatic method studying the relationships between genes and phenotypes. Using two available BD gene expression datasets (GSE5388, GSE5389), we constructed a gene coexpression network and identified modules related to BD. The analyses of Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were performed to explore functional enrichment of the candidate modules. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was further constructed to identify the potential hub genes. Ten coexpression modules were identified from the top 5,000 genes in 77 samples and three modules were significantly associated with BD, which were involved in several biological processes (e.g., the actin filament-based process) and pathways (e.g., MAPK signaling). Four genes (
, and
) were identified as candidate hub genes by PPI analysis and CytoHubba. Finally, we carried out validation analyses in a separate dataset, GSE12649, and verified
as a hub gene and the involvement of several biological processes such as actin filament-based process and axon development. Taken together, our findings revealed several candidate pathways and genes (
) in the pathogenesis of BD and call for further investigation for their potential research values in BD diagnosis and treatment.
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