A CNN-Based Wearable System for Driver Drowsiness Detection

Drowsiness poses a serious challenge to road safety and various in-cabin sensing technologies have been experimented with to monitor driver alertness. Cameras offer a convenient means for contactless sensing, but they may violate user privacy and require complex algorithms to accommodate user (e.g., sunglasses) and environmental (e.g., lighting conditions) constraints. This paper presents a lightweight convolution neural network that measures eye closure based on eye images captured by a wearable glass prototype, which features a hot mirror-based design that allows the camera to be installed on the glass temples. The experimental results showed that the wearable glass prototype, with the neural network in its core, was highly effective in detecting eye blinks. The blink rate derived from the glass output was highly consistent with an industrial gold standard EyeLink eye-tracker. As eye blink characteristics are sensitive measures of driver drowsiness, the glass prototype and the lightweight neural network presented in this paper would provide a computationally efficient yet viable solution for real-world applications

CDKN2BAS gene polymorphisms and the risk of intracranial aneurysm in the Chinese population

Abstract Background CDKN2BAS gene polymorphisms has been shown to correlation with intracranial aneurysm(IA) in the study of foreign people. The study, the author selected the Chinese people as the research object to explore whether CDKN2BAS gene polymorphisms associated with Chinese patients with IA. Methods We selected 200 patients(52.69 ± 11.50) with sporadic IA as experimental group, 200 participants(49.99 ± 13.00) over the same period to the hospital without cerebrovascular diseases as control group. Extraction of peripheral blood DNA, applying polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-ligase detection reaction (LDR) identified CDKN2BAS Single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) locus genotype: rs6475606, rs1333040, rs10757272, rs3217992, rs974336, rs3217986, rs1063192. The differences in allelic and genotype frequencies between the patient and control groups were evaluated by the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact tests. Results The genotype of rs1333040 and rs6475606 shown association with sporadic IA(X2 = 8.545, P = 0.014; X2 = 10.961, P = 0.004; respectively);the C allele of rs6475606 showed reduction the occurrence of IA; the rs1333040 and rs6475606 associated with hemorrhage, the C allele of rs1333040 could lower the risk of hemorrhage, and rs6475606 will not, rs1333040 also associated with aneurysm size. Conclusion Our research shows that variant rs1333040 and rs6475606 of CDKN2BAS related to the Chinese han population of sporadic IAs occurs. This study confirms the association between CDKN2BAS and IAs

Mesenchymal stem cells alleviate the early brain injury of subarachnoid hemorrhage partly by suppression of Notch1-dependent neuroinflammation: involvement of Botch

Abstract Background Activated microglia-mediated neuroinflammation has been regarded as an underlying key player in the pathogenesis of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-induced early brain injury (EBI). The therapeutic potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation has been demonstrated in several brain injury models and is thought to involve modulation of the inflammatory response. The present study investigated the salutary effects of BMSCs on EBI after SAH and the potential mechanism mediated by Notch1 signaling pathway inhibition. Methods The Sprague-Dawley rats SAH model was induced by endovascular perforation method. BMSCs (3 × 106 cells) were transplanted intravenously into rats, and N-[N-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl-l-alanyl)]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (DAPT), a Notch1 activation inhibitor, and Notch1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) were injected intracerebroventricularly. The effects of BMSCs on EBI were assayed by neurological score, brain water content (BWC), blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, magnetic resonance imaging, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and Fluoro-Jade C staining. Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry staining, Western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to analyze various proteins and transcript levels. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results BMSCs treatment mitigated the neurobehavioral dysfunction, BWC and BBB disruption associated with EBI after SAH, reduced ionized calcium binding adapter molecule 1 and cluster of differentiation 68 staining and interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha expression in the left hemisphere but concurrently increased IL-10 expression. DAPT or Notch1 siRNA administration reduced Notch1 signaling pathway activation following SAH, ameliorated neurobehavioral impairments, and BBB disruption; increased BWC and neuronal degeneration; and inhibited activation of microglia and production of pro-inflammatory factors. The augmentation of Notch1 signal pathway agents and phosphorylation of nuclear factor-κB after SAH were suppressed by BMSCs but the levels of Botch were upregulated in the ipsilateral hemisphere. Botch knockdown in BMSCs abrogated the protective effects of BMSCs treatment on EBI and the suppressive effects of BMSCs on Notch1 expression. Conclusions BMSCs treatment alleviated neurobehavioral impairments and the inflammatory response in EBI after SAH; these effects may be attributed to Botch upregulation in brain tissue, which subsequently inhibited the Notch1 signaling pathway

Fluorine-Doped Cationic Carbon Dots for Efficient Gene Delivery

Carbon dots (CDs) focus great attention in a broad range of adhibitions because of their excellent optical properties and high biocompatibility and property adjustability. However, the developed CDs have rarely been used as effective gene vectors until now. In this work, we devised and synthesized novel fluorine-doped cationic CDs (FCDs) using tetrafluoroterephthalic acid as a fluorine source and using branched polyethylenimine to furnish positive charge sites. The FCDs achieve dramatic positive EGFP and luciferase gene transfection efficiency as well as low cytotoxicity in commonly used cell lines at a low weight ratio, even in primary and stem cells. It is worth pointing out that the FCDs possess superior efficiency and biocompatibility, compared to some widely used commercial reagents such as 25 kDa polyethylenimine and Lipofectamine 2000. In addition, the FCDs show excellent efficient transfection even at high serum concentration and low DNA dose, indicating potential practical applications

Large Emission Red-Shift of Carbon Dots by Fluorine Doping and Their Applications for Red Cell Imaging and Sensitive Intracellular Ag⁺ Detection

Heteroatom doping is one of the most effective routes to adjust the physicochemical and optical properties of carbon dots (CDs). However, fluorine (F) doped CDs have been barely achieved. In this work, a F-doping strategy was proposed and adopted to modulate optical properties of CDs. A kind of F-doped CDs was synthesized by a solvothermal process using aromatic F bearing moiety as the F source and shows much longer maximum emissions (up to 600 nm, red fluorescence) than that of undoped CDs, indicating a large emission red-shift effect by F-doping. In addition, the F-doped CDs have remarkable water-solubility, high biocompatibility, as well as excellent stability even under broad pH range, ionic strengths, and light illumination and thus can be used as a novel probe for the highly efficient cell imaging of various normal cells and cancer cells. The F-doped CDs can selectively bind to Ag⁺. It therefore makes the F-doped CDs be a highly sensitive probe for the detection of Ag⁺ under both aqueous solution and various biological systems. The huge potential of this F-doping strategy is indicated in the rational design of high-performance CDs, as well as in applications of clinical diagnosis and ion detection

Smart Macroporous Salecan/Poly(<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>‑diethylacrylamide) Semi-IPN Hydrogel for Anti-Inflammatory Drug Delivery

Poly­(<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-diethylacrylamide) is not only a thermosensitive polymer, but also a good hydrogen bond acceptor. Therefore, drugs with carboxyl groups can serve as hydrogen bond donors and form interactions with the tertiary amide groups in <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-diethylacrylamide. Herein, we report a novel drug delivery system for anionic drugs composed of poly­(<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-diethylacrylamide) and salecan. Salecan was used to improve the hydrophilicity and accelerate the responsive rate of this system. As expected, salecan-enriched hydrogels exhibited higher swelling ratios and were more sensitive to temperature. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy images showed that the hydrogels are superporous structures, with pore-sizes that increase with salecan concentration. The swelling ratios decreased continuously with the increase of temperature in the range 25–37 °C. MTT assay for cell viability and cell adhesion studies confirm the cell compatibility of the system. Delivery tests using diclofenac sodium, an anti-inflammatory drug, indicate that the thermosensitive property of this system is favorable for anionic drug delivery. Interestingly, the release rates of diclofenac sodium from the hydrogels were temperature dependent, with higher temperatures contributing toward faster release rate

Bioimaging Application and Growth-Promoting Behavior of Carbon Dots from Pollen on Hydroponically Cultivated Rome Lettuce

Carbon dots (CDs) obtained from rapeseed pollen with a high production yield, good biocompatibility, good water solubility, low cost, and simple synthesis are systematically characterized. They can be directly added to Hoagland nutrient solution for planting hydroponically cultivated Lactuca sativa L. to explore their influence on the plants at different concentrations. By measuring lettuce indices of growth, morphology, nutrition quality, gas exchange, and content of photosynthetic pigment, amazing growth-promotion effects of CDs were discovered, and the mechanism was analyzed. Moreover, the in vivo transport route of CDs in lettuce was evaluated by macroscopic and microscopic observations under UV light excitation. The results demonstrate that pollen-derived CDs can be potentially used as a miraculous fertilizer for agricultural applications and as a great in vivo plant bioimaging probe