9 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Gender Gaps in the Measurement of Public Opinion About Homosexuality in Cross-national Surveys: A Question-Wording Experiment
Measures of attitudes towards homosexuality in cross-national studies have received criticism for not being ‘gender-sensitive’. The current study used a split-ballot design allowing for separate analyses of the attitudes towards ‘gay men and lesbian women’, ‘gay men’, and ‘lesbian women’ in a pooled sample of 3,381 participants from Great Britain, Hungary, and Portugal. Analyses controlling for sociodemographics showed that differences in attitudes towards male and female targets were generally small and did not interact with the gender of the rater. In addition, results showed that men’s attitudes towards homosexuality were more strongly related to their gender ideology than women’s attitudes. Implications of these findings for cross-national studies measuring attitudes towards homosexuality are discussed
A Review of Deep-Learning-Based Medical Image Segmentation Methods
As an emerging biomedical image processing technology, medical image segmentation has made great contributions to sustainable medical care. Now it has become an important research direction in the field of computer vision. With the rapid development of deep learning, medical image processing based on deep convolutional neural networks has become a research hotspot. This paper focuses on the research of medical image segmentation based on deep learning. First, the basic ideas and characteristics of medical image segmentation based on deep learning are introduced. By explaining its research status and summarizing the three main methods of medical image segmentation and their own limitations, the future development direction is expanded. Based on the discussion of different pathological tissues and organs, the specificity between them and their classic segmentation algorithms are summarized. Despite the great achievements of medical image segmentation in recent years, medical image segmentation based on deep learning has still encountered difficulties in research. For example, the segmentation accuracy is not high, the number of medical images in the data set is small and the resolution is low. The inaccurate segmentation results are unable to meet the actual clinical requirements. Aiming at the above problems, a comprehensive review of current medical image segmentation methods based on deep learning is provided to help researchers solve existing problems
Image_2_miR394 Acts as a Negative Regulator of Arabidopsis Resistance to B. cinerea Infection by Targeting LCR.TIF
<p>Gray mold of tomato is caused by the pathogen Botrytis cinerea. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the biotic and abiotic stress responses of plants and regulate their targets by gene silencing. miR394 is an ancient and conserved miRNA in plants, and it participates in the regulation of plant development and stress responses. In our previous study, miR394 was found to respond to B. cinerea infection in tomato, but the roles and regulatory mechanisms of miR394 in B. cinerea-infected tomato remain unclear. miR394 was down-regulated in tomato in response to B. cinerea infection, showing an expression pattern opposite to the previous finding that miR394 was up-regulated in tomato cv. Jinpeng 1 infected by B. cinerea. We obtained transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing miR394, which resulted in low expression levels of its target LEAF CURLING RESPONSIVENESS (LCR). Leaf lesion size and trypan blue staining showed that miR394 overexpression led to increased sensitivity of transgenic Arabidopsis to B. cinerea compared to wild type. We also detected changes in the expression levels of stress-related miRNAs, including miR159, miR156, miR168, and miR172. In the transgenic plants, it indicated potential cross talk between these miRNAs and miR394, except for miR159. miR394 also enhanced the expression of ARGONAUTE 1 (AGO1), DSRNA-BINDING PROTEIN 4 (DRB4) and the RNA-binding protein gene DAWDLE (DDL), which are involved in the pathways of miRNA biosynthesis and regulation, suggesting that miR394 overexpression has a feedback effect on these genes. Our data indicate that overexpression of miR394 in Arabidopsis increased the susceptibility of plants to B. cinerea by affecting the expression of its target gene LCR along with a number of key genes involved in plant miRNA metabolism (AGO1). Thus, miR394 is a negative regulator of Arabidopsis resistance to B. cinerea infection by targeting LCR.</p
Table_1_miR394 Acts as a Negative Regulator of Arabidopsis Resistance to B. cinerea Infection by Targeting LCR.XLSX
<p>Gray mold of tomato is caused by the pathogen Botrytis cinerea. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the biotic and abiotic stress responses of plants and regulate their targets by gene silencing. miR394 is an ancient and conserved miRNA in plants, and it participates in the regulation of plant development and stress responses. In our previous study, miR394 was found to respond to B. cinerea infection in tomato, but the roles and regulatory mechanisms of miR394 in B. cinerea-infected tomato remain unclear. miR394 was down-regulated in tomato in response to B. cinerea infection, showing an expression pattern opposite to the previous finding that miR394 was up-regulated in tomato cv. Jinpeng 1 infected by B. cinerea. We obtained transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing miR394, which resulted in low expression levels of its target LEAF CURLING RESPONSIVENESS (LCR). Leaf lesion size and trypan blue staining showed that miR394 overexpression led to increased sensitivity of transgenic Arabidopsis to B. cinerea compared to wild type. We also detected changes in the expression levels of stress-related miRNAs, including miR159, miR156, miR168, and miR172. In the transgenic plants, it indicated potential cross talk between these miRNAs and miR394, except for miR159. miR394 also enhanced the expression of ARGONAUTE 1 (AGO1), DSRNA-BINDING PROTEIN 4 (DRB4) and the RNA-binding protein gene DAWDLE (DDL), which are involved in the pathways of miRNA biosynthesis and regulation, suggesting that miR394 overexpression has a feedback effect on these genes. Our data indicate that overexpression of miR394 in Arabidopsis increased the susceptibility of plants to B. cinerea by affecting the expression of its target gene LCR along with a number of key genes involved in plant miRNA metabolism (AGO1). Thus, miR394 is a negative regulator of Arabidopsis resistance to B. cinerea infection by targeting LCR.</p
Image_1_miR394 Acts as a Negative Regulator of Arabidopsis Resistance to B. cinerea Infection by Targeting LCR.TIF
<p>Gray mold of tomato is caused by the pathogen Botrytis cinerea. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the biotic and abiotic stress responses of plants and regulate their targets by gene silencing. miR394 is an ancient and conserved miRNA in plants, and it participates in the regulation of plant development and stress responses. In our previous study, miR394 was found to respond to B. cinerea infection in tomato, but the roles and regulatory mechanisms of miR394 in B. cinerea-infected tomato remain unclear. miR394 was down-regulated in tomato in response to B. cinerea infection, showing an expression pattern opposite to the previous finding that miR394 was up-regulated in tomato cv. Jinpeng 1 infected by B. cinerea. We obtained transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing miR394, which resulted in low expression levels of its target LEAF CURLING RESPONSIVENESS (LCR). Leaf lesion size and trypan blue staining showed that miR394 overexpression led to increased sensitivity of transgenic Arabidopsis to B. cinerea compared to wild type. We also detected changes in the expression levels of stress-related miRNAs, including miR159, miR156, miR168, and miR172. In the transgenic plants, it indicated potential cross talk between these miRNAs and miR394, except for miR159. miR394 also enhanced the expression of ARGONAUTE 1 (AGO1), DSRNA-BINDING PROTEIN 4 (DRB4) and the RNA-binding protein gene DAWDLE (DDL), which are involved in the pathways of miRNA biosynthesis and regulation, suggesting that miR394 overexpression has a feedback effect on these genes. Our data indicate that overexpression of miR394 in Arabidopsis increased the susceptibility of plants to B. cinerea by affecting the expression of its target gene LCR along with a number of key genes involved in plant miRNA metabolism (AGO1). Thus, miR394 is a negative regulator of Arabidopsis resistance to B. cinerea infection by targeting LCR.</p
Image_3_miR394 Acts as a Negative Regulator of Arabidopsis Resistance to B. cinerea Infection by Targeting LCR.TIF
<p>Gray mold of tomato is caused by the pathogen Botrytis cinerea. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the biotic and abiotic stress responses of plants and regulate their targets by gene silencing. miR394 is an ancient and conserved miRNA in plants, and it participates in the regulation of plant development and stress responses. In our previous study, miR394 was found to respond to B. cinerea infection in tomato, but the roles and regulatory mechanisms of miR394 in B. cinerea-infected tomato remain unclear. miR394 was down-regulated in tomato in response to B. cinerea infection, showing an expression pattern opposite to the previous finding that miR394 was up-regulated in tomato cv. Jinpeng 1 infected by B. cinerea. We obtained transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing miR394, which resulted in low expression levels of its target LEAF CURLING RESPONSIVENESS (LCR). Leaf lesion size and trypan blue staining showed that miR394 overexpression led to increased sensitivity of transgenic Arabidopsis to B. cinerea compared to wild type. We also detected changes in the expression levels of stress-related miRNAs, including miR159, miR156, miR168, and miR172. In the transgenic plants, it indicated potential cross talk between these miRNAs and miR394, except for miR159. miR394 also enhanced the expression of ARGONAUTE 1 (AGO1), DSRNA-BINDING PROTEIN 4 (DRB4) and the RNA-binding protein gene DAWDLE (DDL), which are involved in the pathways of miRNA biosynthesis and regulation, suggesting that miR394 overexpression has a feedback effect on these genes. Our data indicate that overexpression of miR394 in Arabidopsis increased the susceptibility of plants to B. cinerea by affecting the expression of its target gene LCR along with a number of key genes involved in plant miRNA metabolism (AGO1). Thus, miR394 is a negative regulator of Arabidopsis resistance to B. cinerea infection by targeting LCR.</p
Light-Controlled Shrinkage of Large-Area Gold Nanoparticle Monolayer Film for Tunable SERS Activity
The
two-dimensional (2D) monolayer gold nanoparticle (Au NP) film
is of significant interest and importance in both fundamental and
practical applications including optoelectronic devices, sensing,
catalysis, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Because
of the weak physical interaction, the conventional monolayer Au NP
film fabricated at the oil–water interface was unstable, easily
breakable, and difficultly transferred. In the present work, we report
on a simple and effective chemical cross-linking strategy at the air–water
interface to achieve a large-scale monolayer gold nanoparticle film
with intelligently tunable size of nanogaps, and excellent free-standing
and easily transferable properties. In our strategy, acrylamide, a
polymerizable molecule, was first modified on the surface of Au NPs
for subsequent self-assembly into a monolayer film at the liquid–liquid
interface. Through photopolymerization of acrylamide, a chemically
cross-linked film was formed with closely packed nanoparticles, highly
macroscopic uniformity, and excellent free-standing property, which
allowed it to be easily transferred from the air–water interface
onto various solid substrates while maintaining its integrity. It
is interesting to find that the macroscopic film underwent an <i>in situ</i> shrinkage under irradiation of UV-light, and its
area shrinkage ratio is close to 55% (equal to 2.2 times) of that
from non-cross-linked counterparts. More importantly, UV-light-controlled <i>in situ</i> shrinkage of the Au NP film would lead to intelligently,
precisely tuned nanogaps less than 0.5 nm between neighboring Au NPs
for maximal amplification of SERS signals, and the macroscopic uniformity
of the films ensured the reproducible performance of SERS signals,
providing an ideal candidate for SERS applications
Engineering Gold Nanoparticles in Compass Shape with Broadly Tunable Plasmon Resonances and High-Performance SERS
We present the uniform
and high-yield synthesis of a novel gold nanostructure of compass
shape composed of a Au sphere at the central and two gradually thinning
conical tips at the opposed poles. The Au compass shapes were synthesized
through a seed-mediated growth approach employing a binary mixture
of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium oleate (NaOL)
as the structure-directing agents. Under the condition of single surfactant
(CTAB), the spherical seeds tend to grow into larger spherical Au
nanoparticles (NPs); while the spherical seeds favor the formation
of Au compass shaped NPs using two mixed surfactants (CTAB/NaOL).
The reaction kinetics clearly shows a growth mechanism of Au compass
shaped NPs. Interestingly, due to their anisotropic structure, Au
compass shaped NPs show two distinctive plasmonic resonances, similar
to those from Au nanorods. Particularly, the longitudinal surface
plasmon resonances of Au compass shaped NPs exhibit a broadly tunable
range from 600 to 865 nm. In addition, the obtained Au compass shaped
NPs can be self-assembled into a two-dimensional monolayer with closely
packed and highly aligned NPs, which results in periodic arrays of
overlapped Au tips, generating hot spots for high-performance surface-enhanced
Raman scattering
Humidity-Responsive Gold Aerogel for Real-Time Monitoring of Human Breath
Humidity sensors
have received considerable attention in recent
years because of their significance and wide applications in agriculture,
industries, goods stores, and medical fields. However, the conventional
humidity sensors usually possessed a complex sensing mechanism and
low sensitivity and required a time-consuming, labor-intensive process.
The exploration for an ideal sensing material to amplify the sensitivity
of humidity sensors is still a big challenge. Herein, we developed
a simple, low-cost, and scalable fabrication strategy to construct
a highly sensitive humidity sensor based on polymer/gold nanoparticle
(AuNP) hybrid materials. The hybrid polymer/AuNP aerogel was prepared
by a simple freeze-drying method. By taking advantage of the conductivity
of AuNPs and high surface area of the highly porous structure, the
hybrid poly-<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAm)/AuNP aerogel
showed high sensitivity to water molecules. Interestingly, the hybrid
PNIPAm/AuNP aerogel-based humidity sensor can be used to detect human
breath in different states, such as normal breath, fast breath, and
deep breath, or in different individuals such as persons with illness,
persons who are smoking, and persons who are normal, which is promising
in practical flexible wearable devices for human health monitoring.
In addition, the humidity sensor can be used in whistle tune recognition