HYBRID DEEP LEARNING APPROACH FOR VEHICLE’S RELATIVE ATTITUDE ESTIMATION USING MONOCULAR CAMERA

Relative pose estimation using a monocular camera is one of the most common approaches for aiding vehicle’s navigation. It involves determining the position and orientation of a vehicle relative to its surroundings using only a single camera. This can be achieved through four main steps: feature detection and matching, motion estimation, filtering and optimization, and scale estimation. Feature tracking involves detecting and tracking distinctive visual features in the environment, such as corners or edges, and using their relative motion to estimate the camera's movement. This approach can be prone to errors due to feature detection and tracking difficulties, as well as issues with moving objects, occlusions, and changes in lighting conditions. These typical computer vision approaches are computationally intensive and may require significant processing power as well, which limits their real time application. This paper proposes a hybrid deep neural network approach for estimating the relative attitude of a vehicle using a monocular camera to aid in vehicle navigation. The proposed neural network adopts a relatively shallow architecture to minimize the computational cost and to meet the real-time requirements of low-cost processing systems. The network is trained using the KITTI dataset and can estimate the relative attitude of the vehicle with a RMSE of relative orientation of 0.017 degrees per frame. The processing time of the proposed approach is around 28 ms per frame including both the tracking and network prediction steps, which is significantly faster than the typical estimation pipelines. The results show that the proposed approach is a viable alternative to conventional computer vision methods and can significantly reduce computational costs, deal with the confusing scenarios of the moving objects while maintaining a good accuracy in estimating ego-motion

pH-Sensitive nanoparticles containing 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin as an improved anti-cancer option for colon cancer

Parenteral administration of chemotherapeutic drugs, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV), is commonly used to treat large bowel carcinomas such as colon cancer (CC) and colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Our study aims to design a novel nanoparticulate drug-delivery vehicle for oral use capable of colon-specific release. A modified double-emulsion solvent evaporation method was used in the preparation of pH-responsive Eudargit S100 polymeric nanoparticles, loaded with 5-FU/LV combination (5-FU/LV-loaded Eudargit S100 NPs). Our optimized drug-loaded NP showed a pH-responsive drug release and exhibited significantly more cytotoxic actions in cancer-cell lines than free drugs. These findings open the way for conducting clinical trials for colon malignancies treated with nanoparticles

Spectrophotometric determination of the sulfhydryl containing drug mesna

AbstractFour simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods were developed for the determination of the sulfhydryl containing drug mesna (MSN). Methods I and II rely on nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions using two UV tagging reagents namely: 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) for method I and 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) for method II. Both reactions took place in alkaline buffered medium and the obtained yellowish products were measured at 414 and 332nm for methods I and II, respectively. Methods III and IV are indirect spectrophotometric methods based on the suppressive effect of MSN on the absorption of two ternary complex systems which are composed of 1,10-phenanthroline, silver and eosin for method III and 1,10-phenanthroline, silver and bromopyrogallol red for method IV. The decrease in absorbance of the ternary complexes was measured at 547 and 635nm for methods III and IV, respectively. All the experimental parameters affecting these reactions were carefully studied and optimized. The methods were validated as per the ICH guidelines. The methods were applicable in the linearity ranges 4–18μg/mL for method I, 4–16μg/mL for method II, 0.25–2.25μg/mL for method III and 0.25–1.75μg/mL for method IV. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the analysis of MSN in its commercial ampoules and no interference was encountered from the present excipients as indicated by the satisfactory percentage recoveries. The results obtained were in a good agreement with those obtained from a previously published method of the investigated drug

A Novel Approach in Pigment Printing Using Nano-keratin Based Binder

This study is devoted to preparation and characterization of nano-keratin based binder (NKBB) from cheap renewable natural resources, namely coarse Egyptian wool or feather. The prepared NKBB is utilized as a biodegradable, environment-friendly and relatively cheap binder in textile pigment printing of polyester, pure polyacrylic, viscose, polyester/viscose, and polyester/acrylic fabrics. Different concentrations of the prepared NKBB as well as its mixture with commercially produced one are used in the pigment printing paste. The colour strength of the printed fabrics as well as their fastness properties to light, washing, and perspiration are evaluated. The effect of the used binder on the bending stiffness of the printed fabrics is also assessed. Results show that the NKBB gives almost the same colour strength and fastness properties as the commercial binder with improved stiffness of the printed samples in relation to that printed with commercial one

Use of some plant essential oils as post-harvest botanical fungicides in the management of anthracnose disease of mango fruits (Mangifera indica L.) caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

Abstract Mango suffers fro m several diseases at all stages of its life. Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gleosporioides is the most important post harvest disease of mango. The aim of this study was to test the possibility of the use of some plant essential oils i.e. Basel oil (Ocimum basilicum), Orange oil (Citrus sinensis), Lemon oil (Citrus Medica) and Mustard oil (Brassica juncea L.) to reduce postharvest losses induced by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) in mango fruits. In this study, the antifungal activity of essential oils under in vitro condition were assayed by tested various concentrations (0, 50,100 and 150µg/ ml)) and under in vivo condition by used different essential oil concentrations (0, 250,500 and 1000pp m) on inoculated mango fruits. Results of the present study showed that orange oil at all tested concentrations were a significant reducing the fungal linear growth if co mpared with other tested essential oils. At low concentration 50 (µg/ ml) orange oil caused 10.0% reduction in fungal growth, while at 100 (µg/ ml) caused 72.2% and at high tested concentration 150 (µg/ ml) caused a comp lete reduction in myceliu m linear growth of pathogenic fungus. Meanwhile, at low tested concentration 50 (µg/ ml), mustard oil caused a highly significantly reduction of the percentage of fungal spore germination by 70.8 % followed by basil oil by 64.7%. Results of in vivo studies showed that, at low concentration 250 ppm, mustard oil caused a highly reduction of anthracnose incidence of mango fru its by 79.9% fo llo wed by basil o il with 66.7% .On the other hand, orange and lemon oil at low concentration (250ppm) were showed a highly effect to reducing the percentage of rotting fruit tissue by 84.5 and 75.0%, respectively if co mpared with other treat ments and un-treated fruits

Novel Ran-RCC1 inhibitory peptide-loaded nanoparticles have anti-cancer efficacy in vitro and in vivo

YesThe delivery of anticancer agents to their subcellular sites of action is a significant challenge for effective cancer therapy. Peptides, which are integral to several oncogenic pathways, have significant potential to be utilised as cancer therapeutics due to their selectivity, high potency and lack of normal cell toxicity. Novel Ras protein-Regulator of chromosome condensation 1 (Ran-RCC1) inhibitory peptides designed to interact with Ran, a novel therapeutic target in breast cancer, were delivered by entrapment into polyethylene glycol-poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) PEG-PLGA polymeric nanoparticles (NPs). A modified double emulsion solvent evaporation technique was used to optimise the physicochemical properties of these peptide-loaded biodegradable NPs. The anti-cancer activity of peptide-loaded NPs was studied in vitro using Ran-expressing metastatic breast (MDA-MB-231) and lung cancer (A549) cell lines, and in vivo using Solid Ehrlich Carcinoma-bearing mice. The anti-metastatic activity of peptide-loaded NPs was investigated using migration, invasion and colony formation assays in vitro. A PEG-PLGA-nanoparticle encapsulating N-terminal peptide showed a pronounced antitumor and anti-metastatic action in lung and breast cancer cells in vitro and caused a significant reduction of tumor volume and associated tumor growth inhibition of breast cancer model in vivo. These findings suggest that the novel inhibitory peptides encapsulated into PEGylated PLGA NPs are delivered effectively to interact and deactivate Ran. This novel Ran-targeting peptide construct shows significant potential for therapy of breast cancer and other cancers mediated by Ran overexpression