Spectral Illumination Correction: Achieving Relative Color Constancy Under the Spectral Domain

Achieving color constancy between and within images, i.e., minimizing the color difference between the same object imaged under nonuniform and varied illuminations is crucial for computer vision tasks such as colorimetric analysis and object recognition. Most current methods attempt to solve this by illumination correction on perceptual color spaces. In this paper, we proposed two pixel-wise algorithms to achieve relative color constancy by working under the spectral domain. That is, the proposed algorithms map each pixel to the reflectance ratio of objects appeared in the scene and perform illumination correction in this spectral domain. Also, we proposed a camera calibration technique that calculates the characteristics of a camera without the need of a standard reference. We show that both of the proposed algorithms achieved the best performance on nonuniform illumination correction and relative illumination matching respectively compared to the benchmarked algorithms

Superior Capture of CO₂ Achieved by Introducing Extra-framework Cations into N‑doped Microporous Carbon

We designed and prepared a novel microporous carbon material (KNC-A-K) for selective CO₂ capture. The combination of a high N-doping concentration (>10 wt %) and extra-framework cations, which were introduced into carbonaceous sorbents for the first time, endowed KNC-A-K with exceptional CO₂ adsorption capabilities, especially at low pressures. Specifically, KNC-A-K exhibited CO₂ uptake of 1.62 mmol g^–1 at 25 °C and 0.1 bar, far exceeding the CO₂ adsorption capability of most reported carbon material to date. Single component adsorption isotherms indicated that its CO₂/N₂ selectivity was 48, which also significantly surpasses the selectivity of conventional carbon materials. Furthermore, breakthrough experiments were conducted to evaluate the CO₂ separation capability of KNC-A-K on CO₂/N₂ (10:90 v/v) mixtures under kinetic flow conditions, and the obtained CO₂/N₂ selectivity was as high as 44, comparable to that predicted from equilibrium adsorption data. Upon facile regeneration, KNC-A-K showed constant CO₂ adsorption capacity and selectivity during multiple mixed-gas separation cycles. Its outstanding low-pressure CO₂ adsorption ability makes KNC-A-K a promising candidate for selective CO₂ capture from flue gas. Theoretical calculations indicated that K⁺ ions play a key role in promoting CO₂ adsorption via electrostatic interactions. In addition, we found that HCl molecules anchored in N-doped carbon have a similar promotion effect on CO₂ adsorption, which contradicts the conventional wisdom that the neutralization of basic sites by acids diminishes the adsorption of acidic CO₂ gas

The effect of the combination treatment on key pro-survival kinases.

<p>The combination of taxol and shikonin inhibites the activation of Akt (A), p70S6 (B), and ERKs (C). Human phosphor-kinase array analysis was performed following the manufacturer's instruction. Whole cell lysate from MB231 cells treated with DMSO, taxol (8 nM), shikonin (2.5 μM), or the combination. The normalized intensity for each antibody was plotted. * p<0.05 when compared to the control (DMSO); # p<0.05 when compared to the combination.</p

UCP2 knockdown enhanced p53 mitochondrial translocation and decreased colony formation in response to TPA treatment.

<p>(A) UCP2 knockdown efficiency examined by Western blot analysis. (B) p53 mitochondrial translocation. (C) Soft agar colony formation assays of JB6 P+ cells (light micrograph: 100× magnification). (D) Quantification of formed colonies. Cells grown in 0.33% soft agar containing 6.66 ng/ml TPA or vehicle (DMSO 1000× diluted). *: Significant difference compared to DMSO treatment. **: Significant difference compared to normal cells with TPA treatment.</p

Highly Sensitive and High-Throughput Method for the Analysis of Bisphenol Analogues and Their Halogenated Derivatives in Breast Milk

The structural analogs of bisphenol A (BPA) and their halogenated derivatives (together termed BPs) have been found in the environment, food, and even the human body. Limited research showed that some of them exhibited toxicities that were similar to or even greater than that of BPA. Therefore, adverse health effects for BPs were expected for humans with low-dose exposure in early life. Breast milk is an excellent matrix and could reflect fetuses’ and babies’ exposure to contaminants. Some of the emerging BPs may present with trace or ultratrace levels in humans. However, existing analytical methods for breast milk cannot quantify these BPs simultaneously with high sensitivity using a small sampling weight, which is important for human biomonitoring studies. In this paper, a method based on Bond Elut Enhanced Matrix Removal-Lipid purification, pyridine-3-sulfonyl chloride derivatization, and liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry was developed. The method requires only a small quantity of sample (200 μL) and allowed for the simultaneous determination of 24 BPs in breast milk with ultrahigh sensitivity. The limits of quantitation of the proposed method were 0.001–0.200 μg L^–1, which were 1–6.7 times lower than the only study for the simultaneous analysis of bisphenol analogs in breast milk based on a 3 g sample weight. The mean recoveries ranged from 86.11% to 119.05% with relative standard deviation (RSD) ≤ 19.5% (<i>n</i> = 6). Matrix effects were within 20% with RSD < 10% for six different lots of samples. The proposed method was successfully applied to 20 breast milk samples. BPA, bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol S (BPS), and bisphenol AF (BPAF) were detected. BPA was still the dominant BP, followed by BPF. This is the first report describing the occurrence of BPF and BPAF in breast milk

Apoptosis analysis of the combination treatment.

<p>Both caspase activity (A) and annexin V conjugates for apoptosis (B) were measured in MDA-MB-231 cells treated with DMSO as the vehicle control, taxol (8 nM), shikonin (2.5 μM), and the combination. Activity was measured as Δabsorbance after 1 hr incubation with the DTT assay buffer and the AFC-conjugated substrate (n = 3 in each group). <i>* P</i><0.05 when compared to the control (DMSO), # <i>P</i><0.05 when compared to the Taxol; ** <i>P</i><0.05 when compared between SKN and Taxol+SKN.</p

Enzymatic activity and expression levels of PKM2 were detected in both human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 (MB231) cells and MCF-7 cells.

<p>Whole cell lysate was subjected to activity and Western blot analysis to determine the enzymatic activity (A) and protein expression (B) of PKM2. β-Actin served as the loading control. * <i>P</i><0.05 compared with MCF-7 cells.</p

Mitochondrial uncoupling prevented mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis associated with p53 mitochondrial translocation in JB6 P+ cells.

<p>(A) ROS levels. (B) Mitochondrial complex I activities. (C) Mitochondrial membrane potential. (D) Cytochrome <i>c</i> detected in both mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions. GAPDH or SDHB served as the loading control. (E) Cell death levels revealed by the DNA fragmentation ELISA assay. (F) Apoptosis revealed by detection of cleave caspase 3 and caspase 3 activity assay. *: Significant difference compared to the control. **: Significant difference compared to TPA treatment.</p

Enzymatic activity of PKM2 was measured from cells treated with DMSO as the vehicle control, taxol (8 nM), shikonin (2.5 μM), and the combination.

<p>*, p<0.05 compared to the control group. The experiments have been repeated more than three times.</p

Survival probability of MD-MB-231 tumor xenografted mice.

<p>MD-MB-231 cells were transplanted into the animals. When tumor size reached 300 mm³, mice were randomized to receive a single i.p. injection of DMSO (n = 7), taxol (6 mg/kg body weight, n = 11), or the combination of taxol and shikonin (1 mg/kg body weight, n = 11). p = 0.0918 when the DMSO and the combination group were compared.</p