RGB-T salient object detection via fusing multi-level CNN features

RGB-induced salient object detection has recently witnessed substantial progress, which is attributed to the superior feature learning capability of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). However, such detections suffer from challenging scenarios characterized by cluttered backgrounds, low-light conditions and variations in illumination. Instead of improving RGB based saliency detection, this paper takes advantage of the complementary benefits of RGB and thermal infrared images. Specifically, we propose a novel end-to-end network for multi-modal salient object detection, which turns the challenge of RGB-T saliency detection to a CNN feature fusion problem. To this end, a backbone network (e.g., VGG-16) is first adopted to extract the coarse features from each RGB or thermal infrared image individually, and then several adjacent-depth feature combination (ADFC) modules are designed to extract multi-level refined features for each single-modal input image, considering that features captured at different depths differ in semantic information and visual details. Subsequently, a multi-branch group fusion (MGF) module is employed to capture the cross-modal features by fusing those features from ADFC modules for a RGB-T image pair at each level. Finally, a joint attention guided bi-directional message passing (JABMP) module undertakes the task of saliency prediction via integrating the multi-level fused features from MGF modules. Experimental results on several public RGB-T salient object detection datasets demonstrate the superiorities of our proposed algorithm over the state-of-the-art approaches, especially under challenging conditions, such as poor illumination, complex background and low contrast

Effect of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides on the expression of the BCL-2 and BAX in hepatic tissues of exhaustive exercise in rats

This study aims to assess the effects of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides (ABPS) on the expression of bcl-2 and bax in hepatic tissues after exhaustive exercise in order to provide theoretical support for the application of ABPS in the field of sports nutrition. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into three groups, each consisting of 10 rats: Normal control group (NCG), Exhausting exercises control group (EECG), ABPS treated group (ATG). ABPS were fed orally by gastric intubation to rats of ABPS treated group (ATG) once daily for 7 days. Control animals (EECG and NCG) received the same amount of isotonic sodium chloride solution. Exhaustive exercise was performed on a rodent treadmill. The SP (streptavidin peroxidase) method for immunohistochemical staining was adopted to test the protein expression of bax and bcl-2 in the hepatic tissues of the rats. Exhausting exercises increased bax protein expression of hepatic tissues of rats and bax/bcl-2 ratio dramatically, but a decreased bcl-2 protein expression. In the rats fed ABPS orally by gastric intubation, the bax protein expression and bax/bcl-2 ratio obviously decreased, while bcl-2 protein expression increased. The result indicated that bax and bcl-2 co-regulated the exercise-induced hepatocyte apoptosis. Feeding ABPS orally by gastricintubation to rats can inhibit the hepatocyte apoptosis in exhaustive exercise.Key words: achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides, apoptosis, bcl-2, bax, exhaustive exercis

The “Umbrella Society” and the Emergence and Development of Modern Enterprises During the Self-Strengthening Movement in China

The “umbrella society” is a main feature of the Chinese social structure. The “umbrella” protection that government offers business operators is not only a major social relationship but also an important means of resource allocation in China. During the Self-Strengthening Movement, the “paternal”, “kinship” and “friendship” relationships between the government and enterprises promoted the emergence of state-owned enterprises, government-supervised commercial enterprises and commercial enterprises, respectively, as modern enterprises. Simultaneously, different resource allocations facilitated their development. However, due to the ambiguities in the umbrella services provided by the government to enterprises, the Chinese efforts to establish modern enterprises during the Self-Strengthening Movement were far from successful

The Photometric Investigation of V921 Her using the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope of Chang'e-3 mission

The light curve of V921 Her in ultraviolet band observed by the Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) is analyzed by the Wilson-Devinney code. Our solutions conclude that V921 Her is an early type marginal contact binary system with an additional close-in component. The binary system is under poor thermal contact with a temperature difference of nearly $700K$ between the two components. The close-in component contributes about $19\,\%$ of the total luminosity in the triple system. Combining the radial velocity study together with our photometric solutions, the mass of the primary star and secondary one are calculated to be $M_1 = 1.784(\pm0.055)M_\odot$, $M_2 = 0.403(\pm0.012)M_\odot$. The evolutionary scenario of V921 Her is discussed. All times of light minimum of V921 Her available in the bibliography are taken into account and the $O - C$ curve is analyzed for the first time. The most probable fitting results are discussed in the paper, which also confirm the existence of a third component ($P_3=10.2$ year) around the binary system. The period of V921 Her is also undergoing a continuously rapid increase at a rate of $dP/dt=+2.79\times{10^{-7}}day\cdot year^{-1}$, which may due to mass transfer from the less massive component to the more massive one

Spectrophotometric determination of yeast RNA with neutral red

The interaction of neutral red (NR) with yeast RNA (yRNA) was studied by UV-Vis spectrophotometry to develop a simple spectrophotometric method for the determination yRNA. NR exhibited a maximum absorption peak at 528 nm in a Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution of pH 4.0. After the addition of yRNA into NR solution, the absorbance value was greatly decreased and no new absorption peaks appeared. The interaction conditions such as the buffer pH, reaction time, etc. were carefully studied. Under the optimal conditions the decrease in absorbance value was proportional to the yRNA concentration in the range from 0.2 to 20.0 mg L-1 when 8.0 × 10-5 M NR was employed. The detection limit was calculated as 0.78 mg L-1 (3σ) and three synthetic samples were determined satisfactorily. A binding ratio of NR to yRNA was found to be 1:1 by the molar ratio method. KEY WORDS: Neutral red, Yeast RNA, Interaction, UV-Vis spectrophotometry   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2008, 22(3), 441-444

Disaggregating and Consolidating Network Functionalities

Resource disaggregation has gained huge popularity in recent years. Existing works demonstrate how to disaggregate compute, memory, and storage resources. We, for the first time, demonstrate how to disaggregate network resources by proposing a new distributed hardware framework called SuperNIC. Each SuperNIC connects a small set of endpoints and consolidates network functionalities for these endpoints. We prototyped SuperNIC with FPGA and demonstrate its performance and cost benefits with real network functions and customized disaggregated applications

3,6-Dichloro-N-(4,6-dichloro­pyrimidin-2-yl)picolinamide

In the title compound, C10H4Cl4N4O, the pyridine and pyrimidine rings are nearly perpendicular to each other, the dihedral angle between them being 86.60 (10)°. In the crystal structure, the N and O atoms in the amide group are involved in inter­molecular hydrogen bonds, forming a one-dimensional chain along the c axis