Driving Style Recognition Based on Electroencephalography Data From a Simulated Driving Experiment

Driving style is a very important indicator and a crucial measurement of a driver's performance and ability to drive in a safe and protective manner. A dangerous driving style would possibly result in dangerous behaviors. If the driving styles can be recognized by some appropriate classification methods, much attention could be paid to the drivers with dangerous driving styles. The driving style recognition module can be integrated into the advanced driving assistance system (ADAS), which integrates different modules to improve driving automation, safety and comfort, and then the driving safety could be enhanced by pre-warning the drivers or adjusting the vehicle's controlling parameters when the dangerous driving style is detected. In most previous studies, driver's questionnaire data and vehicle's objective driving data were utilized to recognize driving styles. And promising results were obtained. However, these methods were indirect or subjective in driving style evaluation. In this paper a method based on objective driving data and electroencephalography (EEG) data was presented to classify driving styles. A simulated driving system was constructed and the EEG data and the objective driving data were collected synchronously during the simulated driving. The driving style of each participant was classified by clustering the driving data via K-means. Then the EEG data was denoised and the amplitude and the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of four frequency bands were extracted as the EEG features by Fast Fourier transform and Welch. Finally, the EEG features, combined with the classification results of the driving data were used to train a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model and a leave-one-subject-out cross validation was utilized to evaluate the performance. The SVM classification accuracy was about 80.0%. Conservative drivers showed higher PSDs in the parietal and occipital areas in the alpha and beta bands, aggressive drivers showed higher PSD in the temporal area in the delta and theta bands. These results imply that different driving styles were related with different driving strategies and mental states and suggest the feasibility of driving style recognition from EEG patterns

Citrus aurantium

Citrus aurantium is rich in flavonoids, which may prevent osteosarcoma progression, but its related molecular mechanism remains unclear. Flavonoids were extracted from C. aurantium and purified by reparative HPLC. Each fraction was identified by using electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Three main components (naringin, naringenin, and hesperetin) were isolated from C. aurantium. Naringenin inhibited the growth of MG-63 cells, whereas naringin and hesperetin had no inhibitory function on cell growth. ROS production was increased in naringin- and hesperetin-treated groups after one day of culture while the level was always lowest in the naringenin-treated group after three days of culture. 95 osteosarcoma patients who underwent surgery were assigned into two groups: naringenin group (NG, received 20 mg naringenin daily, n=47) and control group (CG, received 20 mg placebo daily, n=48). After an average of two-year follow-up, osteosarcoma volumes were smaller in the NG group than in the CG group (P>0.01). The rate of osteosarcoma recurrence was also lower in the NG group than in CG group. ROS levels were lower in the NG group than in the CG group. Thus, naringenin from Citrus aurantium inhibits osteosarcoma progression and local recurrence in the patients who underwent osteosarcoma surgery by improving antioxidant capability

Hydrogen peroxide induces apoptotic-like cell death in Microcystis aeruginosa (Chroococcales, Cyanobacteria) in a dose-dependent manner

We investigated the capability of Microcystis aeruginosa to cause apoptosis by pursuing morphological, molecular and physiological characteristics after exposure to H2O2. Microcystis proliferation was only weakly affected after exposure to 150 mu M H2O2 but cell numbers decreased dramatically after exposures of 250 and 325 mu M H2O2. Cells exposed to 250 and 325 mu M H2O2 were examined using transmission electron microscopy, and they exhibited membrane deformation and partial disintegration of thylakoids. Correspondingly, fluorescence imaging of DNA by Hoechst 33342 staining revealed the condensation of nucleoid chromatin. Moreover, cellular injury was concomitant with dramatic decreases in photosynthetic efficiency (ratio of variable fluorescence to maximum fluorescence [Fv/Fm], maximum electron transport rate [ETRmax]) and elevated caspase-3-like activity after exposure of 250 and 325 mu M H2O2. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase Deoxyuridine 5-triphosphate nick end labelling (TUNEL) positive staining appeared in cells exposed to 250 mu M and 325 mu M H2O2, and the percentage staining increased with increasing H2O2 concentration. These data suggested that M. aeruginosa exposed to H2O2 underwent an apoptotic event. Additionally, cells exposed to H2O2 had increased cytoplasmic vacuolation and nontypical DNA laddering. Increased caspase-3-like activity was not inhibited in the presence of the synthetic caspase inhibitor carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-[O-methyl]-fluoromethylketone. Therefore, H2O2 induced apoptotic-like cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, our results provided a novel mechanism for explaining cyanobacterial bloom dynamics in response to environmental stress. The results also contributed to the understanding of the origin and evolution of programmed cell death.We investigated the capability of Microcystis aeruginosa to cause apoptosis by pursuing morphological, molecular and physiological characteristics after exposure to H2O2. Microcystis proliferation was only weakly affected after exposure to 150 mu M H2O2 but cell numbers decreased dramatically after exposures of 250 and 325 mu M H2O2. Cells exposed to 250 and 325 mu M H2O2 were examined using transmission electron microscopy, and they exhibited membrane deformation and partial disintegration of thylakoids. Correspondingly, fluorescence imaging of DNA by Hoechst 33342 staining revealed the condensation of nucleoid chromatin. Moreover, cellular injury was concomitant with dramatic decreases in photosynthetic efficiency (ratio of variable fluorescence to maximum fluorescence [Fv/Fm], maximum electron transport rate [ETRmax]) and elevated caspase-3-like activity after exposure of 250 and 325 mu M H2O2. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase Deoxyuridine 5-triphosphate nick end labelling (TUNEL) positive staining appeared in cells exposed to 250 mu M and 325 mu M H2O2, and the percentage staining increased with increasing H2O2 concentration. These data suggested that M. aeruginosa exposed to H2O2 underwent an apoptotic event. Additionally, cells exposed to H2O2 had increased cytoplasmic vacuolation and nontypical DNA laddering. Increased caspase-3-like activity was not inhibited in the presence of the synthetic caspase inhibitor carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-[O-methyl]-fluoromethylketone. Therefore, H2O2 induced apoptotic-like cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, our results provided a novel mechanism for explaining cyanobacterial bloom dynamics in response to environmental stress. The results also contributed to the understanding of the origin and evolution of programmed cell death

Genomic analyses provide insights into peach local adaptation and responses to climate change

The environment has constantly shaped plant genomes, but the genetic bases underlying how plants adapt to environmental influences remain largely unknown. We constructed a high-density genomic variation map of 263 geographically representative peach landraces and wild relatives. A combination of whole-genome selection scans and genome-wide environmental association studies (GWEAS) was performed to reveal the genomic bases of peach adaptation to diverse climates. A total of 2092 selective sweeps that underlie local adaptation to both mild and extreme climates were identified, including 339 sweeps conferring genomic pattern of adaptation to high altitudes. Using genome-wide environmental association studies (GWEAS), a total of 2755 genomic loci strongly associated with 51 specific environmental variables were detected. The molecular mechanism underlying adaptive evolution of high drought, strong UVB, cold hardiness, sugar content, flesh color, and bloom date were revealed. Finally, based on 30 yr of observation, a candidate gene associated with bloom date advance, representing peach responses to global warming, was identified. Collectively, our study provides insights into molecular bases of how environments have shaped peach genomes by natural selection and adds candidate genes for future studies on evolutionary genetics, adaptation to climate changes, and breeding.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Response of soil bacterial community composition and its associated geochemical parameters to rapid short-term cyclic groundwater-level oscillations: soil column experiments

Groundwater-level oscillations change geochemical conditions, carbon cycling processes and bacterial community composition, and these changes may vary vertically with depth in a soil. In this study, soil column experiments were conducted to explore variations in soil bacterial community composition and its associated geochemical parameters to rapid short-term cyclic groundwater-level oscillations driven by natural fluctuations (NF) and rainfall infiltration (RI) and the results are compared with quasi static (QS) column. Water saturation patterns in vadose and oscillated zones, and oxygen level patterns, soil total organic carbon (TOC) removal rates and soil bacterial community composition in vadose, oscillated and saturated zones were evaluated. Results showed that water saturation and oxygen level oscillated with groundwater level in NF and RI columns. TOC removal rates in RI column were the highest across vadose (~38.4%), oscillated (~35.8%) and saturated (~35.2%) zones. Deltaproteobacteria, which was significantly correlated with TOC removal (p < 0.05), exhibited relatively higher abundances in the vadose and oscillated zones of RI column than those of QS and NF columns. Soil bacterial community structure was dynamic at the class level due to water saturation, oxygen level and TOC removal. TOC removal was the driver to separate distribution of bacterial community structure in the vadose and oscillated zones of RI column from those of QS and NF columns. This study suggests that RI induced rapid short-term cyclic groundwater-level oscillations could significantly influence both soil carbon cycle and bacterial community structure in vadose and oscillated zones

Reduced expression of lamin A/C correlates with poor histological differentiation and prognosis in primary gastric carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lamin A/C is very important in DNA replication, RNA dependent transcription and nuclear stabilization. Reduced or absent lamin A/C expression has been found to be a common feature of a variety of different cancers. To investigate the role of lamin A/C in gastric carcinoma (GC) pathogenesis, we analyzed the correlations between the lamin A/C expression level and clinicopathological factors and studied its prognostic role in primary GC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The expression of lamin A/C at mRNA level was detected by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real time RT-PCR, and western blot was used to examine the protein expression. Lamin A/C expression and its prognostic significance were investigated by performing immunohistochemical analysis on a total of 126 GC clinical tissue samples.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both lamin A/C mRNA and protein expression were downregulated in the majority of tumours compared with corresponding normal gastric tissues (<it>p </it>= 0.011 and <it>p </it>= 0.036, respectively). Real time RT-PCR further validated that downregulation of lamin A/C is associated with poor histological differentiation (r = 0.438, <it>p </it>= 0.025). The immunohistochemical staining showed an evident decrease of lamin A/C expression in 55.6% (70/126) GC cases. Importantly, the negative lamin A/C expression correlated strongly with histological classification (r = 0.361, <it>p </it>= 0.034). Survival analysis revealed that patients with lamin A/C downregulation have a poorer prognosis (<it>p </it>= 0.034). In addition, lamin A/C expression was found to be an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Data of this study suggest that lamin A/C is involved in the pathogenesis of GC, and it may serve as a valuable biomarker for assessing the prognosis for primary GC.</p

Concentration effects in solid-state CD spectra of chiral atropisomeric compounds

Atropisomerism is one of the basic concepts in stereochemistry. Chiral crystals of stereochemically labile atropisomers that originated from Mirror Symmetry Breaking (MSB) can only be characterized by solid-state chiroptical techniques. Herein, solid-state circular dichroism and UV-Vis spectra of six atropisomeric compounds (most of them were obtained from MSB) have been studied. A concentration effect including a wavelength shift and inverse concentration-dependence has been found and preliminarily explained by the absorption flattening effect, scattering effect and the torsion in the molecular structures.National Natural Science Foundation of China[20973136, 20974028, 20732004]; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province[2010J01048