Color Image Enhancement Based on Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

In the collection, transmission, decoding process, the images are likely to produce noise. Noise makes the image color distorted and the articulation dropped, and also affects the image quality. Due to different causes, there are different types of noise, and the impulse noise is most common among them which exert great influence on the image quality. This paper, according to the characteristics of the color image, combines the ant colony algorithm and weighted vector median filter method to put forward an algorithm for the impulse noise removal and the color image enhancement. This method finds the optimal filter bank parameter by ant colony optimization (ACO) and processes image points polluted by the noise to achieve the purpose of image enhancement and protect the image details and edge information. Simulation experiment proves the correctness and validity of this method

Land-Atmosphere Interaction in the Southwestern Karst Region of China

Land-atmosphere interaction in the southwestern Karst region of China was investigated from two aspects: response of land cover to climate change and climatic effects of Karst rocky desertification. The first part focused on the temporal-spatial variation of growing-season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and its relationship with climate variables. The relationships between growing-season NDVI with temperature and precipitation were both positive, indicating its limiting role on the distribution and dynamic of vegetation cover in the study area. The second part was designed to investigate whether the changed vegetation cover and land surface processes in the Karst regions was capable of modifying the summer climate simulation over East Asia. It was shown that land desertification resulted in the reduced net radiation and evaporation in the degraded areas. The East Asian summer monsoon was weakened after land degradation. Such circulation differences favored the increase in moisture flux and clouds, and thereby causing more precipitation in southeast coastal areas. Based on the above findings, it can be concluded that vegetation cover in Karst region was sensitive to climate change at larger scale, and on the other hand, there was significant feedback of vegetation cover change to regional climate by altering water and energy balance

Effect of combination of Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction and chemotherapy on quality of life and adverse reactions of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer

Purpose: To investigate the effect of combined treatment with Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction and chemotherapy (carboplatin + paclitaxel) on quality of life (QOL) and adverse reactions of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC).Methods: One hundred and fourteen (114) ROC patients in The Second Children & Women’s Healthcare of Jinan City were split into chemotherapy group (n = 60) and combination group (n = 54), based on whether or not they were treated with Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction. Differences in clinical efficacy, adverse reactions, levels of tumor marker, levels of immune indexes, and scores on Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) between the two groups were evaluated.Results: Treatment effectiveness was higher in the combination group than in the chemotherapy group (p < 0.05). Compared with the chemotherapy group, post-treatment levels of HE4 and CA125 in the combination group were lower, while the levels of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+, and population of NK cells were higher (p < 0.05). After treatment, the KPS score in the combination group was higher than the corresponding score in the chemotherapy group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Combination of Yiqi Jianpi Yangxue Decoction and chemotherapy (carboplatin + paclitaxel) produces significant enhancement of clinical efficacy in the treatment of ROC. The combination treatment is highly safe, and improves the health status and QOL of patients. Therefore, the combination treatment appears to be suitable for the management of ovarian cancer

A Safety Control Method of Car-Following Trajectory Planning Based on LSTM

This paper focuses on the potential safety hazards of collision in car-following behaviour generated by deep learning models. Based on an intelligent LSTM model, combined with a Gipps model of safe collision avoidance, a new, Gipps-LSTM model is constructed, which can not only learn the intelligent behaviour of people but also ensure the safety of vehicles. The idea of the Gipps-LSTM model combination is as follows: the concept of a potential collision point (PCP) is introduced, and the LSTM model or Gipps model is controlled and started through a risk judgment algorithm. Dataset 1 and dataset 2 are used to train and simulate the LSTM model and Gipps-LSTM model. The simulation results show that the Gipps-LSTM can solve the problem of partial trajectory collision in the LSTM model simulation. Moreover, the risk level of all trajectories is lower than that of the LSTM model. The safety and stability of the model are verified by multi-vehicle loop simulation and multi-vehicle linear simulation. Compared with the LSTM model, the safety of the Gipps-LSTM model is improved by 42.02%, and the convergence time is reduced by 25 seconds

Impaired 26S Proteasome Assembly Precedes Neuronal Loss in Mutant UBQLN2 Rats.

Proteasomal dysfunction is known to be associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal degeneration (ALS/FTD). Our previous reports have shown that a mutant form of ubiquilin-2 (UBQLN2) linked to ALS/FTD leads to neurodegeneration accompanied by accumulations of the proteasome subunit Rpt1 in transgenic rats, but the precise pathogenic mechanisms of how this mutation impairs the proteasome remains to be elucidated. Here, we reveal that this UBQLN2 mutation in rats disrupted the proteasome integrity prior to neurodegeneration, that it dissociated the 26S proteasome in vitro, and that its depletion did not affect 26S proteasome assembly. During both disease progression and in an age-dependent manner, we found that proteasome subunits were translocated to the nucleus, including both of the 20S core particles (PSMA1 and PSMB7) and the 19S regulatory particles (Rpt1 and Rpn1), suggesting that defective proteasome function may result from the proteasome-subunit mislocalization. Taken together, the present data demonstrate that impaired proteasome assembly is an early event in the pathogenesis of UBQLN2-associated neurodegeneration in mutant UBQLN2 rats

Antibacterial activity of the novel oxazolidinone contezolid (MRX-I) against Mycobacterium abscessus

ObjectiveTo evaluate contezolid (MRX-I) antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium abscessus in vitro and in vivo and to assess whether MRX-I treatment can prolong survival of infected zebrafish.MethodsMRX-I inhibitory activity against M. abscessus in vitro was assessed by injecting MRX-I into zebrafish infected with green fluorescent protein-labelled M. abscessus. Thereafter, infected zebrafish were treated with azithromycin (AZM), linezolid (LZD) or MRX-I then maximum tolerated concentrations (MTCs) of drugs were determined based on M. abscessus growth inhibition using one-way ANOVA. Linear trend analysis of CFU counts and fluorescence intensities (mean ± SE values) was performed to detect linear relationships between MRX-I, AZM and LZD concentrations and these parameters.ResultsMRX-I anti-M. abscessus minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and MTC were 16 μg/mL and 15.6 μg/mL, respectively. MRX-I MTC-treated zebrafish fluorescence intensities were significantly lower than respective LZD group intensities (whole-body: 439040 ± 3647 vs. 509184 ± 23064, p < 0.01); head: 74147 ± 2175 vs. 95996 ± 8054, p < 0.05). As MRX-I concentration was increased from 0.488 μg/mL to 15.6 μg/mL, zebrafish whole-body, head and heart fluorescence intensities decreased. Statistically insignificant differences between the MRX-I MTC group survival rate (78.33%) vs. corresponding rates of the 62.5 μg/mL-treated AZM MTC group (88.33%, p > 0.05) and the 15.6 μg/mL-treated LZD MTC group (76.67%, p > 0.05) were observed.ConclusionMRX-I effectively inhibited M. abscessus growth and prolonged zebrafish survival when administered to M. abscessus-infected zebrafish, thus demonstrating that MRX-I holds promise as a clinical treatment for human M. abscessus infections

Antibacterial activity of the novel compound Sudapyridine (WX-081) against Mycobacterium abscessus

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate sudapyridine (WX-081) antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium abscessus in vitro and its effect on in vivo bacterial growth and host survival using a zebrafish model of M. abscessus infection.MethodsWX-081 in vitro antibacterial activity was assessed based on growth inhibition of M. abscessus standard strain ATCC19977 and 36 clinical isolates. Maximum tolerated concentrations (MTCs) of WX-081, bedaquiline, and azithromycin and inhibition of M. abscessus growth were assessed in vivo after fluorescently labelled bacilli and drugs were injected into zebrafish. Bacterial counts were analysed using one-way ANOVA and fluorescence intensities of zebrafish tissues were analysed and expressed as the mean ± SE. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was conducted to assess intergroup differences in survival of M. abscessus-infected zebrafish treated with different drug concentrations using a log-rank test, with a p value <0.05 indicating a difference was statistically significant.ResultsDrug sensitivity testing of M. abscessus standard strain ATCC19977 and 36 clinical isolates revealed MICs ranging from 0.12-0.96 µg/mL and MIC50 and MIC90 values of 0.48 µg/mL and 0.96 µg/mL, respectively. Fluorescence intensities of M. abscessus-infected zebrafish tissues was lower after treatment with the WX-081 MTC (62.5 µg/mL) than after treatment with the azithromycin MTC (62.5 µg/mL) and the bedaquiline MTC (15.6 µg/mL). When the concentration of WX-081 increased from 1.95µg/mL to 1/8 MTC(7.81µg/mL), the survival rate of zebrafish at 4-9 dpf decreased from 90.00% to 81.67%.ConclusionWX-081 effectively inhibited M. abscessus growth in vitro and in vivo and prolonged survival of M. abscessus-infected zebrafish, thus indicating that WX-081 holds promise as a clinical treatment for M. abscessus infection

PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATION OF 3024 HAINAN, 3920 AUBIGNAN, AND 5951 ALICEMONET

Three minor planets were measured photometrically between 2012 September 4 and 21 using the SARA (Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy) South telescope, located in Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The following synodic periods were found: 3024 Hainan, P = 11.785 ± 0.005 h; 3920 Aubignan, P = 4.4762 ± 0.0005 h; and 5951 Alicemonet, P = 3.8871 ± 0.0005 h

Profound Climatic Effects on Two East Asian Black-Throated Tits (Ave: Aegithalidae), Revealed by Ecological Niche Models and Phylogeographic Analysis

Although a number of studies have assessed the effects of geological and climatic changes on species distributions in East Asian, we still have limited knowledge of how these changes have impacted avian species in south-western and southern China. Here, we aim to study paleo-climatic effects on an East Asian bird, two subspecies of black-throated tit (A. c. talifuensis–concinnus) with the combined analysis of phylogeography and Ecological Niche Models (ENMs). We sequenced three mitochondrial DNA markers from 32 populations (203 individuals) and used phylogenetic inferences to reconstruct the intra-specific relationships among haplotypes. Population genetic analyses were undertaken to gain insight into the demographic history of these populations. We used ENMs to predict the distribution of target species during three periods; last inter-glacial (LIG), last glacial maximum (LGM) and present. We found three highly supported, monophyletic MtDNA lineages and different historical demography among lineages in A. c. talifuensis–concinnus. These lineages formed a narrowly circumscribed intra-specific contact zone. The estimated times of lineage divergences were about 2.4 Ma and 0.32 Ma respectively. ENMs predictions were similar between present and LGM but substantially reduced during LIG. ENMs reconstructions and molecular dating suggest that Pleistocene climate changes had triggered and shaped the genetic structure of black-throated tit. Interestingly, in contrast to profound impacts of other glacial cycles, ENMs and phylogeographic analysis suggest that LGM had limited effect on these two subspecies. ENMs also suggest that Pleistocene climatic oscillations enabled the formation of the contact zone and thus support the refuge theory

A Safety Control Method of Car-Following Trajectory Planning Based on LSTM

This paper focuses on the potential safety hazards of collision in car-following behaviour generated by deep learning models. Based on an intelligent LSTM model, combined with a Gipps model of safe collision avoidance, a new, Gipps-LSTM model is constructed, which can not only learn the intelligent behaviour of people but also ensure the safety of vehicles. The idea of the Gipps-LSTM model combination is as follows: the concept of a potential collision point (PCP) is introduced, and the LSTM model or Gipps model is controlled and started through a risk judgment algorithm. Dataset 1 and dataset 2 are used to train and simulate the LSTM model and Gipps-LSTM model. The simulation results show that the Gipps-LSTM can solve the problem of partial trajectory collision in the LSTM model simulation. Moreover, the risk level of all trajectories is lower than that of the LSTM model. The safety and stability of the model are verified by multi-vehicle loop simulation and multi-vehicle linear simulation. Compared with the LSTM model, the safety of the Gipps-LSTM model is improved by 42.02%, and the convergence time is reduced by 25 seconds