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In this paper, we propose a novel 3D object detection model that leverages the advantages of the Voxel Transformer (VoTr) and the Confident IoU-Aware Single-Stage Object Detector (CIA-SSD) to address the challenges of detecting objects in 3D point clouds. Our model adopts the VoTr as its backbone, which enables long-range interactions between voxels via a self-attention mechanism. This overcomes the limitations of conventional voxel-based 3D detectors, which struggle to capture sufficient contextual information due to their restricted receptive fields. Our model also integrates the sparse voxel module and the submanifold voxel module, which efficiently process empty and non-empty voxel positions, effectively handling the natural sparsity and abundance of non-empty voxels. Moreover, inspired by the CIA-SSD design, our model incorporates the Spatial-Semantic Feature Aggregation (SSFA) module, which allows for the adaptive fusion of high-level abstract semantic features and low-level spatial features, ensuring accurate predictions of bounding boxes and classification confidence. Furthermore, based on the IoU-aware confidence rectification module, which refines the alignment between confidence scores and localization accuracy, we devise an Optimized RPN (Region Proposal Network) Detection Head module as a dense head to further predict the IoU loss and improve the accuracy. In this paper, we combine two state-of-the-art techniques to provide a precise and efficient solution for 3D object detection in point clouds. We evaluate our model on the KITTI dataset 1 and achieve 76.56 % accuracy in terms of AP3D (%) Hard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the hysteretic behavior of concrete-filled double-skin stainless steel tubular (CFDSST) beam-columns with circular hollow section (CHS) outer and inner. A total of 18 specimens were designed and tested under constant axial compressive load and cyclically increasing flexural load to investigate the structural performance of the composite beam-columns and evaluate the effects of varied design parameters, including the thicknesses of the CHS outer and inner and concrete strength, on the performance of the hysteretic behavior of the CFDSST beam-columns. Both of the lateral load (P) versus lateral displacement (Δ) hysteresis response and moment (M) versus drift angel (θ) hysteresis response were obtained. Based on which, the failure mechanism, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness degradation, and ultimate strength of the specimens were investigated. The results show that the specimens failed in a ductile mechanism features bulge and rupture at the bottom of the CHS outer, unimpaired CHS inner, and local concrete crush, demonstrating the combined effect of the stainless tubes with the concrete. All of the specimens showed high level of ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Finally, comparisons of ultimate bending moments of the beam-columns between the test results and predictions from the existing design codes and design method demonstrate the deign codes underestimates bending moment strength of the CFDSST beam-columns. • The failure mechanism of CFDSST beam-columns under cyclically flexural load is revealed. • The effects of design parameters on ductility, energy consumption capacity, and ultimate moment capacity are evaluated. • The accuracy of existing design method for ultimate moment capacity prediction is validated. • The need to consider strain-hardening of stainless steel and confining effect of tubes on concrete in design are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The metabolism of Tartary buckwheat was investigated from single compound to extract. [•] 19 metabolites were characterised and identified in perfusate and intestinal contents. [•] The metabolism of single compounds increased using a liver-intestinal perfusion model. [•] Moreover 16 metabolites and 6 components were identified in faeces, urine, bile and plasma. [•] Metabolic pathways of N-trans-feruloyltyramine and phenylpropanoid glycosides were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We comprehensively analyzed the proteome and transcriptome data and fully explored host factors related to influenza virus ribonucleoprotein complexes. • The changes in mRNA and protein levels of multiple host proteins in influenza virus infection were found and verified. • Our work reveals for the first time that SRSF3 positively regulates influenza virus replication. Mechanistically, SRSF3 bound to viral mRNA and participated in the nuclear and cytoplasmic transport of viral mRNA. Many host factors were involved in regulating the polymerase activity of influenza A virus. To fully explore the role of polymerase complex-related host factors, we combined high-throughput transcriptome data to analyze the changes in mRNA levels of these factors during viral infection. Transcriptome data showed that viral infection caused down-regulation of MYH9, HNRNPU, SRSF3 and RPS24 mRNA levels. We confirmed the changes in mRNA and protein levels of MYH9, HNRNPU and SRSF3 by qPCR and WB. Then their effects on virus replication were tested through overexpression and knockdown experiments. We emphatically explained the mechanism of SRSF3 during influenza virus replication. Results showed that SRSF3 promoted influenza virus replication and regulated viral protein expression at the post-transcriptional level. Further analysis found that SRSF3 regulated viral replication depends on the 88th amino acid. RIP and FISH experiments further proved that SRSF3 bound to viral mRNA and participated in the nuclear and cytoplasmic transport of viral mRNA. Collectively, these findings suggested that virus infection regulated the expression of many host factors and SRSF3 positively regulated virus replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Jiu Wei Zhu Huang San" (JWZHS) is a Chinese patent drug that is effective against respiratory tract infections (RTIs). However, its underlying mechanisms are not clear. The objective of the present study was to identify the potential compounds of JWZHS and their therapeutic targets in the context of RTIs; in addition, we investigated the molecular mechanisms by adopting network pharmacology and molecular docking simulation approaches. In the present study, the network pharmacology approach mainly comprised of identification of the compounds and their predicted therapeutic targets, network construction, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, gene ontology, and pathway enrichment analysis. In addition, molecular docking simulation was adopted to assess the binding potential of selected target-compound pairs. The results identified eight potential therapeutic targets of JWZHS in upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and pneumonia (TNF, IL6, IL1B, IL2, JUN, MAPK1, MAPK8 and EGFR). By clustering the PPI data of compound/disease targets, 2 modules were obtained. Molecular docking simulation revealed good binding affinity of the eight putative targets with the corresponding compounds. Enrichment analysis indicated that the therapeutic effect of JWZHS against URTI and pneumonia was possibly mediated via synergistic regulation of several biological pathways, such as signal transduction, immune system, cell growth, apoptosis, cancer, and other related signaling pathways. Our results provide a preliminary explanation of the basic pharmacological effects of JWZHS against RTIs and characterize the potential underlying mechanisms. These findings provide a foundation for experimental research and eventual clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Reduning injection and nebulized inhalation for treating upper respiratory tract infections were compared, including anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, anti-tussive, and anti-phlegm. Using chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, and geniposide as the index components, the pharmacokinetics and tissue distributions were compared. Influenza virus PR8-infected mice in the Reduning groups showed significantly reduced mortality and prolonged survival time. The white blood cell count was significantly reduced in the 20- and 10-min groups. Inhalation significantly decreased the temperature from 2 h in the 20- and 10-min groups. Inhalation significantly reduced the cough rate but not cough latency. Phenol red excretion was significantly increased in all Reduning groups. The elimination half-life of geniposide after inhalation in male and female rats was 2.05–5.28 and 4.03–10.4 h, respectively, which was much greater than after injection. Regarding tissue distribution, the injection dose (2 mL/kg) was 50 times the inhalation dose, and maximum serum concentration (C max) and AUC INF_obs of the four components in the trachea and lung were 0.95–11.1 and 0.59–4.36 times the inhalation values, respectively. Plasma C max and AUC INF_obs were 160–637 and 22.7–180 times the inhalation values, respectively. Atomized Reduning dose was equivalent to 1/90 of the mouse injection dose, and the effects of inhalation were similar or superior to those of injections. Atomization inhalation is targeted to the lungs, so systemic drug exposure was greatly reduced and lung concentration was high, which may increase the efficacy and reduce the safety risks associated with injections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, 3D object detection by point cloud data processing has been applied to robotics and autonomous driving because of the popularity of the LiDAR sensors. Point cloud data contain the depth and geometric space information of an object as compared with the 2D images, and achieve high precision for classification and location. In the traditional processing of point cloud data, the disorder and sparsity of the points are significant problems. In addition, the traditional detector can only support processing a limited number of point clouds. Thus, it is difficult to detect objects using a large number of point clouds. However, the previous methods need to sample the point cloud data into a coarser type, so they cannot avoid the loss of information and the accuracy is affected, as seen in in PV-RCNN. In this paper, we propose a multiscale feature fusion detector called multiscale region proposal networks (MS-RPNs), which can provide multiscale prediction results for difficult category objects. Meanwhile, our method can improve the detection accuracy for smaller objects with the optimal processing of the multiscale feature extraction module. The efficiency and accuracy of the multiscale region proposal network on the KITTI 3D object detection datasets was evaluated using numerous experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viral infectious pathogens, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza virus, can cause extremely high infection rates and mortality in humans. Therefore, it is urgent to develop an effective vaccine against coronavirus and influenza virus infection. Herein, we used the influenza virus as a vector to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and hemagglutinin-esterase-fusion (HEF) protein of the influenza C virus. We then evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of this design strategy through experiments in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that the chimeric viruses could stably express the HEF protein and the SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD at a high level. BALB/c mice, infected with the chimeric virus, exhibited mild clinical symptoms, yet produced high specific antibody levels against RBD and HEF, including neutralizing antibodies. Importantly, high neutralizing antibodies could be retained in the sera of mice for at least 20 weeks. Altogether, our data provided a new strategy for developing safe and effective COVID-19 and influenza virus vaccines. • Two chimeric influenza viruses stably expressing SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) were generated. • The chimeric virus shows attenuated virulence, suggesting its potential as a live attenuated vaccine. • The mice inoculated with the chimeric virus produced high level and durable neutralizing antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate topical dressings for burn treatments are important to accelerate skin wound recovery and prevent external infections. This study aimed to evaluate the effect and investigate the mechanism of folium crataegi (Crataegus pinnatifida Bge.) for the treatment of burn wounds, as well as to compare the therapeutic effects of aqueous extracts (HLW) and alcoholic extracts (HLE) from folium crataegi. The results demonstrated that both HLW and HLE groups exhibited a higher wound contraction rate than the silver sulfadiazine (SSD) ointment group. Moreover, HLW showed more significant wound repair effects than HLE. HLW significantly increased levels of EGF and FGF-2 in wound tissue, as well as TGF-β1 , VEGF , CAT and IL-10 in serum. Folium crataegi extract, especially aqueous extracts, exerted good anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial effects by upregulating the expression of lag3 , txn1 and slpi , respectively. Folium crataegi extract significantly inhibits the expression of npas2 , a key gene in the circadian rhythm pathway. In conclusion, this research illustrated that the folium crataegi extract, especially aqueous extracts, had better therapeutic effects on skin burns through multiple ways, possibly including a novel mechanism related to circadian rhythm pathway. These findings suggest that folium crataegi could be a valuable source of compounds for enhancing skin regeneration through multiple ways. [Display omitted] • Folium crataegi could treat burns. • Hydrophilic extract has stronger activities. • Five genes were related. • Circadian pathway was promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peramivir, a neuraminidase inhibitor, was approved globally and is indicated for the treatment of uncomplicated influenza in adults and children. However, the only approved intravenous formulation of peramivir limits its clinical application due to the need for the specialized dosing techniques and increases the risk of contracting influenza virus infection among healthcare professionals when dosing within a short distance to the patient. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetic profile of peramivir in plasma and the lung of rats and to compare the profiles following administration through trans-nasal aerosol inhalation (0.0888, 0.1776, and 0.3552 mg/kg) and intravenous injection (30 mg/kg). The plasma concentration reached the C max within 1.0 h (upon inhalation) and decreased at a t 1/2 of 6.71 and 10.9 h after inhalation and injection, respectively. The absolute bioavailability of peramivir after inhalation was 78.2 %. Overall, the pharmacokinetic exposure of peramivir in the lungs was higher than that in the plasma after aerosol inhalation. After inhalation, the C max of peramivir in the lung was achieved within 1.0 h, and the elimination of the drug was slower than in the case of intravenous injection with t 1/2 values 1.81 h for injection and 5.72, 53.5, and 32.1 h for low, middle, and high doses administered through inhalation. The C max and AUC 0-t values for peramivir in the lungs increased linearly with the increased inhalation dose. The results elucidate the pharmacokinetic process of peramivir after trans-nasal aerosol inhalation to rats and provide useful information for further rational application of this drug formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Five derivatization conditions of the nitrofuran metabolites were optimized. • The derivatization time was significantly shortened from 16 h or overnight to 5 min. • The LLOQ of nitrofuran metabolite is 0.1 μg·L−1, in line with EU regulatory requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]