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Despite significant advancements in deep learning-based video–text retrieval methods, three challenges persist: the alignment of fine-grained semantic information from text and video, ensuring that the obtained textual and video feature representations capture primary semantic information while maintaining good discriminability, and measuring the semantic similarity between different instances. To tackle these issues, we introduce an end-to-end video–text retrieval framework which exploit Multi-Modal Masked Transformer and Adaptive Attribute-Aware Graph Convolutional Network (M 3 Trans-A 3 GCN). Specifically, the features extracted from videos and texts are fed into M 3 Trans to jointly integrate the multi-modal content and mask irrelevant multi-modal context. Subsequently, a novel GCN with an adaptive correlation matrix (i.e., A 3 GCN) is constructed to obtain discriminative video representation for video–text retrieval. To better measure the semantic similarity between video–text pairs during training, we propose a novel Text-semantic-guided Multi-Modal Cross-Entropy (TMCE) loss function. Here, the similarity between different video–text pairs within a batch is computed based on the features of the corresponding text rather than their instance labels. Comprehensive experimental results on three benchmark datasets, MSR-VTT, MSVD and LSMDC, demonstrate the superiority of M 3 Trans-A 3 GCN, compared with the state-of-the-art methods in video–text retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the task of visual grounding (VG), which aims to localize regions of an image through sentence queries. The development of VG has significantly advanced with Transformer-based frameworks, which can capture image and text contexts without proposals. However, previous research has rarely explored hierarchical semantics and cross-interactions between two uni-modal encoders. Therefore, this paper proposes a Hierarchical Cross-modal Contextual Attention Network (HCCAN) for the VG task. The HCCAN model utilizes a visual-guided text contextual attention module, a text-guided visual contextual attention module, and a Transformer-based multi-modal feature fusion module. This approach not only captures intra-modality and inter-modality relationships through self-attention mechanisms but also captures the hierarchical semantics of textual and visual content in a common space. Experiments conducted on four standard benchmarks, including Flickr30K Entities and RefCOCO, RefCOCO+, RefCOCOg, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The code is publicly available at https://www.github.com/cutexin66/HCCAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen isotopes derived from three different strains of silkworms at different life stages involved in silkworm rearing, were measured to understand the fractionation characteristics of stable isotopes at different stages of silkworm development, and to trace the movement of these isotopes from food to larva to excrement and finally to silk. We found that silkworm strain had little effect on δ2H, δ18O and δ13C values. However, a large difference was found in the δ15N levels of newly-hatched silkworms between Jingsong Haoyue and Hua Kang No. 3 orthogonal strains, suggesting that the mating and egg laying differences may result in an inconsistent kinetic nitrogen isotope fractionation. The δ13C values of silkworm pupae and silkworm cocoon also displayed significant differences, suggesting that heavy carbon isotopes are greatly fractionated from the larva to the silk during cocoon formation. Overall, these results may be used to clarify the relationship between isotope fractionation and the ecological process of the Bombyx mori and expand our ability to resolve stable isotope anomalies at a small regional-scale level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant bone tumor that most commonly affects children, adolescents, and young adults. Here, we comprehensively analyze genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic data from 121 OS patients. Somatic mutations are diverse within the cohort, and only TP53 is significantly mutated. Through unsupervised integrative clustering of the multi-omics data, we classify OS into four subtypes with distinct molecular features and clinical prognosis: (1) Immune activated (S-IA), (2) Immune suppressed (S-IS), (3) Homologous recombination deficiency dominant (S-HRD), and (4) MYC driven (S-MD). MYC amplification with HR proficiency tumors is identified with a high oxidative phosphorylation signature resulting in resistance to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Potential therapeutic targets are identified for each subtype, including platinum-based chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, anti-VEGFR, anti-MYC and PARPi-based synthetic lethal strategies. Our comprehensive integrated characterization provides a valuable resource that deepens our understanding of the disease, and may guide future clinical strategies for the precision treatment of OS. Osteosarcoma survival rates have been largely unchanged for several decades, and treatment response is variable. Here, the authors analyzed genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic data from 121 osteosarcoma patients and identify subtypes related to treatment outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lunar Mineralogical Spectrometer (LMS) is one of the main payloads on the Chang'E-5 (CE-5) lunar probe, belonging to the China Lunar Exploration Program. The scientific objective of the LMS is to explore the mineralogical composition and search for evidence of -OH/H2O in the sampling area. The LMS consists of an optomechanism unit, a dustproof calibration unit (DPCU) and an electronic unit. The LMS is installed on the lander about 1.4-m above the lunar surface, the field of view (FOV) is 4.17 × 4.17 ∘ , the instant FOV of the visible imaging channel is 0.28 mrad, and the typical spatial resolution is 0.56 mm/pixel @ 2 m distance. The rotation range of the 2D scanner is ± 22.5 ∘ along the azimuth axis and 0 ∼ 30 ∘ along the elevation axis, making it possible to observe the sampling area or to select important observing targets. The dispersing beam uses acousto-optic tunable filters, and target detection is performed with a 2D scanner. The LMS acquires spectral imaging information covering 480–950 nm, and reflectance spectra of 900–3,200-nm, both at a 5-nm/band sampling interval. The spectral resolution is 2.4 ∼ 9.4 nm in the visible and near-infrared channels and 7.6 ∼ 24.9 nm in the short–medium-wave infrared channel. The LMS has a 588-band detection capability designed for fine spectral observation of sampling points and wields a 20-band full-view multi-spectral mode to observe candidate areas prior to sampling. The DPCU of the LMS is integrated with a calibration diffuser that is used for in-flight calibration on the lunar surface using solar irradiation, thus improving the quantitative level of scientific data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impurities rate and losses rate are two main indicators for the performance of a cleaning system in combine harvester. The impurities rate and losses rate are affected by both the external environment factors and mechanical structural parameters of the system. To obtain an ideal cleaning effect, an effective control strategy, which should be able to adjust the key controlled variables based on the real-time working parameters detection, is required. Due to the nonlinear process of grain harvesting, there is no precise mathematical model to describe the behavior of the cleaning system. By means of combining fuzzy logic control (FLC) theory and expert knowledge, this paper presents an improved FLC algorithm for the cleaning system which is mounted in our self-designed combine harvester. A control system is developed to implement the proposed algorithm. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the cleaning performance. The average values of the impurities rate and losses rate in low, middle and high modes based on our fuzzy control method are 1.66 and 1.69%, which are better than the corresponding values of 2.13 and 2.11% from the classical control method. The results show that the established control system is reliable and effective to improve harvest efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible light polarization image desmogging aims to recover the clear image solely from an input visible light polarization image with smog. It is a challenging research topic due to desmogging is an ill-posed problem. Most of existing methods effort to build desmogging physical model based on classical atmospheric scattering principle. However, compared with natural image dehazing task, the smog in visible light polarization image is very complex and diverse, which makes it hard to find accurate desmogging physical model. To address this issue, we propose a Cycle Convolutional Neural Network (CCNN), which exploits polarization characteristics explicitly to learn a visible light polarization image desmogging model in an end-to-end way. To be specific, the model computes polarization information of the visible light polarization image via Stokes equation. Object detection sub-network is utilized to detect smog regions according to the polarization information. Then an encoder–decoder sub-network with feature converter structure is proposed to generate smog-free regions. The coarse clear image is obtained by fusing the generated smog-free regions with original smog visible light polarization image. More importantly, to obtain the final clear image, the coarse clear image is considered as the input data to our model again, which makes our model in a cycle topology. Moreover, we contribute the first large-scale dataset for visible light polarization image desmogging evaluation, which contains 17,216 visible light polarization images, to validate our proposed method. On this dataset, extensive experiments demonstrate that our method can achieve the best performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several pharmacological agents, such as chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, have been promoted for COVID-19 treatment or pre-exposure prophylaxis. However, no comprehensive evaluation of the safety of these possible agents is available, and is urgently needed. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the risks of cardiac adverse events associated with the possible pharmacotherapies for COVID-19, including certain antimalarial, antiviral, and antibiotic drugs. Patients and Methods: We conduced retrospective pharmacovigilance analyses of the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System database. The reporting odds ratio (ROR), a data mining algorithm commonly used in pharmacovigilance assessment, was generated to quantify the detection signal of adverse events. Results: Among individuals without coronavirus infection from 2015 Q1 to 2020 Q1, increased risks for cardiac disorders were found for antiviral agents such as chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (ROR: 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.66–1.70), lopinavir/ritonavir (ROR: 1.52; 95% CI 1.39–1.66), and antibiotics such as azithromycin (ROR: 1.37; 95% CI 1.30–1.44) and ceftriaxone (ROR: 1.92; 95% CI 1.80–2.05). Increased serious cardiac adverse events, including myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and cardiac arrest, were also reported for these drugs. Further analyses of individuals with coronavirus infections revealed that 40% of individuals receiving chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine reported serious cardiac adverse events. Two cases resulted in QT prolongations and one case resulted in cardiac arrest. Chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin contributed to all the QT prolongation and cardiac arrest cases. Conclusions: The current pharmacotherapies for COVID-19 are associated with increased risks of cardiac adverse events. Variations in the cardiac safety profiles of these pharmacotherapies were also observed. Clinicians should closely monitor patients with COVID-19, especially those at high risk, using chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescent graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles were obtained from the thermal carbonization of citrate acid. Depending on the synthesizing temperature, the size of GO varied from several to several hundred nanometers. Owing to the confinement from the size, green and blue emissions at around 504 and 450 nm were observed from the GO suspension. These emissions could be dynamically quenched by titrating against copper (II) (Cu2+) ions, and the emission intensity was reduced exponentially as a function of Cu2+ concentration. The quenching mechanism was ascribed to the bridging of the surface –COOH and –OH groups by Cu2+, which restricted the vibration of edge atoms or clusters and reduced the number of luminophores of GO nanosheets. As a result, the concentration of Cu2+ was detectable with the fluorescent intensity of GO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of modern electronic technology has provided high efficiency for social production, but it also brings serious electromagnetic interference (EMI). Although traditional metals and their alloys can serve as good electromagnetic shielding materials, their heavy weight, high cost as well as poor corrosion resistance limit their application in EMI shielding. Therefore, electromagnetic shielding materials with lightweight are gradually attracting more and more attention to meet the trend of lightweight and highly integrated electronic equipment. Polymers are widely used in EMI shielding materials because of their unique characteristics, such as lightweight, high flexibility and excellent corrosion resistance. This review is focused on the well-studied polymer-based lightweight composites, with the aim of providing a comprehensive review of the existing EMI shielding mechanism, preparation and application of polymer-based lightweight composites, along with retrieving new general insights into the advantages and limitations associated with the different measurement and prediction techniques, as well as the EMI shielding effectiveness of polymer-based lightweight composites including metal-containing composites, intrinsic conductive polymers, filler-containing polymers and newly discovered materials. These lightweight materials with fine EMI shielding performance will find more and more potential applications in communications, electronics, aerospace, military, environmental protection, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mars Mineralogical Spectrometer (MMS) is a hyperspectral imager onboard the Mars orbiter of Tianwen-1, China's first Mars exploration mission. MMS consists of 4 subassemblies: an Optical Sensor Unit (OSU), an Electronics Unit (EU), a Calibration Unit (CU), and a Thermal Control Accessories (TCA). With a 0.5 mrad IFOV and a 416-sample cell array for nadir observation, MMS can map the spectral and spatial information of the Martian surface through push-broom scanning, and it can transmit scientific data by hyperspectral mode or multispectral imaging mode through spatial and spectral combination. MMS can perform multi-sample hyperspectral imaging at full spectral resolution (0.379–1.076 μm with 2.73 nm/band, 1.033–3.425 μm at 7.5 nm/band, both spectral ranges at 2.1 km/pixel at 265 km). For the wavelength region of interest, the multispectral mapping mode provides additional options, a subset of 72 bands that are binned to minimum pixel footprints of 265 m/pixel. The major objective of the MMS is to analyze the compositions and distributions of the minerals on Martian surface, in order to characterize its evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR) vacuum vessel is welded by narrow gap TIG (NG-TIG) welding, and the welding residual stress of the CFETR vacuum vessel can be redistributed by trailing welding ultrasonic impact treatment. In order to investigate the feasibility of the residual stress removing scheme, and to obtain the optimal trailing ultrasonic impact treatment technological parameters in the process of removing welding residual stress, a welding model that similar to vacuum vessel welding seam is established by using ABAQUS software, a NG-TIG welding heat source subroutine which is written in FORTRAN language used to simulate NG-TIG welding. According to the welding simulation results, a trailing welding ultrasonic impact treatment model is established, and the effects of the impact pin number, the impact method, the impact pin diameter and the impact frequency on welding residual stress are studied. The results show that the longitudinal residual stress in welding seam and its adjacent area and the lateral residual stress in the whole region have been obviously decreased by different trailing welding ultrasonic impact processes, and have made the tensile stress in the welding seam and its adjacent area has been changed into compressive stress, which can provide theoretical guidance and reference for actual production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common and devastating central nervous system insult which lacks efficient treatment. Our previous experimental findings indicated that dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) mediates mitochondrial fission during SCI, and inhibition of Drp1 plays a significant protective effect after SCI in rats. Dynasore inhibits GTPase activity at both the plasma membrane (dynamin 1, 2) and the mitochondria membrane (Drp1). The aim of the present study was to investigate the beneficial effects of dynasore on SCI and its underlying mechanism in a rat model. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to sham, SCI, and 1, 10, and 30 mg dynasore groups. The rat model of SCI was established using an established Allen's model. Dynasore was administered via intraperitoneal injection immediately. Results of motor functional test indicated that dynasore ameliorated the motor dysfunction greatly at 3, 7, and 10 days after SCI in rats ( P < 0.05). Results of western blot showed that dynasore has remarkably reduced the expressions of Drp1, dynamin 1, and dynamin 2 and, moreover, decreased the Bax, cytochrome C, and active Caspase-3 expressions, but increased the expressions of Bcl-2 at 3 days after SCI ( P < 0.05). Notably, the upregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GAFP) are inhibited by dynasore at 3 days after SCI ( P < 0.05). Results of immunofluorescent double labeling showed that there were less apoptotic neurons and proliferative astrocytes in the dynasore groups compared with SCI group ( P < 0.05). Finally, histological assessment via Nissl staining demonstrated that the dynasore groups exhibited a significantly greater number of surviving neurons compared with the SCI group ( P < 0.05). This neuroprotective effect was dose-dependent ( P < 0.05). To our knowledge, this is the first study to indicate that dynasore significantly enhances motor function which may be by inhibiting the activation of neuronal mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and astrocytic proliferation in rats after SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy occurs prior to apoptosis and plays an important role in cell death regulation during spinal cord injury (SCI). This study aimed to determine the effects and potential mechanism of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist extendin-4 (Ex-4) in SCI. Seventy-two male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to sham, SCI, 2.5 μg Ex-4, and 10 μg Ex-4 groups. To induce SCI, a 10-g iron rod was dropped from a 20-mm height to the spinal cord surface. Ex-4 was administered via intraperitoneal injection immediately after surgery. Motor function evaluation with the Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale indicated significantly increased scores ( p < 0.01) in the Ex-4-treated groups, especially 10 μg, which demonstrated the neuroprotective effect of Ex-4 after SCI. The light chain 3-II (LC3-II) and Beclin 1 protein expression determined via western blot and the number of autophagy-positive neurons via immunofluorescence double labeling were increased by Ex-4, which supports promotion of autophagy ( p < 0.01). The caspase-3 protein level and neuronal apoptosis via transferase UTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)/NeuN/DAPI double labeling were significantly reduced in the Ex-4-treated groups, which indicates anti-apoptotic effects ( p < 0.01). Finally, histological assessment via Nissl staining demonstrated the Ex-4 groups exhibited a significantly greater number of surviving neurons and less cavity ( p < 0.01). To our knowledge, this is the first study to indicate that Ex-4 significantly enhances motor function in rats after SCI, and these effects are associated with the promotion of autophagy and inhibition of apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper-cerium-zirconium catalysts loaded on TiO prepared by a wet impregnation method were investigated for NH-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO. The reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of results from in situ diffuse reflectance infrared transform spectroscopy (DRIFT). When NH3 is introduced, ammonia bonded to Lewis acid sites is more stable over CuCeZr/TiO at high temperature, while Brønsted acid sites are more important than Lewis acid sites at low temperature. For the NH+NO+O co-adsorption, NH3 species occupy most of activity sites on CuCeZr/TiO catalyst, and mainly exist in the forms of NH (at low temperature) and NH coordinated (at high temperature), playing a crucial role in the NH-SCR process. Two different reaction routes, the L-H mechanism at low temperature (< 200°C) and the E-R mechanism at high temperature (> 200°C), are presented for the SCR reaction over CuCeZr/TiO catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial division inhibitor 1 (Mdivi-1) is the most effective pharmacological inhibitor of mitochondrial fission. Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common and serious trauma, which lacks efficient treatment. This study aimed to detect the role of Mdivi-1 in neuronal injury and its underlying mechanism after acute SCI (ASCI) in rats. Western blot analysis showed that Bax levels on the mitochondrial outer membrane, and release of cytochrome C (cytC) and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from the mitochondria began to increase significantly at 4 h after ASCI, then peaked at 16 h, and declined significantly from 16 to 24 h. However, the mitochondrial levels of Bcl-2 increased significantly at 2 h, peaked at 4 h, and subsequently significantly decreased from 4 to 24 h after ASCI. In addition, Mdivi-1(1.2 mg/kg) significantly suppressed the translocation of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and Bax to the mitochondria, mitochondrial depolarization, decrease of ATP and reduced Glutathione, increase of the Malondialdehyde, cytC release, and AIF translocation at 16 h and 3 days after ASCI, and also inhibited the caspase-3 activation and decrease of the percentage of apoptotic cells at 16 h, 3 and 10 days, further, ameliorated the motor dysfunction greatly from 3 to 10 days after ASCI in rats. This neuroprotective effect was dose-dependent. However, Mdivi-1(1.2 mg/kg) had no effects on the translocation of Bcl-2 and fission protein 1 on the mitochondria, and did not affect the expression of total Drp1 at 16 h after ASCI. Our experimental findings indicated that Mdivi-1 can protect rats against ASCI, and that its underlying mechanism may be associated with inhibition of Drp1 translocation to the mitochondria, alleviation of mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, and suppression of caspase-dependent and -independent apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: The purpose of our meta-analysis was to assess the overall diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) in detecting node metastases and investigate whether the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value could be used to discriminate between metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes in patients with primary tumors. Materials and methods: The meta-analysis included a total of 1,748 metastatic and 6,547 non-metastatic lymph nodes from 39 studies, including 8 different tumor types with lymph node metastases. Results: The pooled sensitivity and specificity of DW-MRI were 0.82 (95 % CI 0.76-0.87) and 0.92 (95 % CI 0.88-0.94), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and the area under the curve were 9.8 (95 % CI 6.9-14.0), 0.20 (95 % CI 0.15-0.26) and 0.93 (95 % CI 0.91-0.95), respectively. The probability of 42 % can be viewed as the cutoff pretest probability for DW-MRI to diagnosis lymph node metastases; when the more chance of metastatic increased from 42 % that the pretest probability was estimated, it was more suitable to emphasize on 'ruling in,' on the contrary, and when the more chance of metastatic decreased from 42 %, it was more suitable to emphasize on 'ruling out.' Furthermore, the mean ADC value of metastatic lymph nodes was significantly lower than that of non-metastatic ( P = 0.001). Conclusions: DW-MRI is useful for differentiation between metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes. However, DW-MRI has a moderate diagnostic value for physician's decision making when PLR and NLR took into consideration, while a superior ability for nodal metastases confirmation, but an inferior ability for ruling out. In the future, large-scale, high-quality trials are necessary to evaluate, respectively, their clinical value in different tumor types with nodal metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was performed to investigate the effect of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) combined with green tea polyphenols (GTPs) on the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability after spinal cord injury (SCI) in the rat model. In the model of SCI rats, we found that the water content and the BSCB permeability were decreased by BMSCs and GTPs treatment, and their combination had a synergistic effect. Further, the motor function of rats was also greatly improved by BMSCs and GTPs administration. After treated by the combination of BMSCs and GTPs, SCI rats showed the up-regulated expression of tight junction (TJ) associated proteins claudin-5, occludin and ZO-1 by Western blot, which was more remarkable than that in the single treatment. The increased expression levels of claudin-5, occludin, and ZO-1 were the most obvious in the spinal cord microvessels using immunohistochemistry assay. This led to the conclusion that the combination of BMSCs and GTPs could decrease the BSCB permeability by up-regulating protein expression levels of claudin-5, occludin, and ZO-1. In addition, after BMSCs and GTPs administration, the results of Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed a significant decrease in protein expression level and the activation of nuclear factor-кB (NF-кB) p65. Our results indicated that combination of BMSCs and GTPs could improve motor function after SCI, which might be correlated with improvements in BSCB integrity, and that NF-кB might be involved in the modulating process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PPY nanoparticles, as one of the important organic photothermal agents has been attracted great attention due to their good biocompatibility, high photothermal efficiency, and low cost. In order to further evaluate the size-dependent photothermal effect, PPY nanoparticles with two different sizes have been prepared with a facile method. The near infrared absorption and photothermal effect of the two size PPY nanoparticles were compared. The PPY nanoparticle with small size shows better photothermal effect at the same condition. The photostability, stability, and cytotoxicity in biologic system have also been investigated. In addition, the PPY nanoparticles with small size can kill the cancer cells effectively under the irradiation of 808 nm laser with a low-power density. These findings may provide better information for the application of the PPY nanoparticles on the photothermal ablation of cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale semantic concept detection from large video database suffers from large variations among different semantic concepts as well as their corresponding effective low-level features. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to deal with this obstacle. The proposed framework consists of four major components: feature pool construction, pre-filtering, modeling, and classification. First, a large low-level feature pool is constructed, from which a specific set of features are selected for the latter steps automatically or semi-automatically. Then, to deal with the unbalance problem in training set, a pre-filtering classifier is generated, which the aim of achieving a high recall rate and a certain precision rate nearly 50% for a certain concept. Thereafter, from the pre-filtered training samples, a SVM classifier is built based on the selected features in the feature pool. After that, the SVM classifier is applied to classification of semantic concept. This framework is flexible and extensible in terms of adding new features into the feature pool, introducing human interactions in selecting features, building models for new concepts and adopting active learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salvianolic acid B (Sal B), a bioactive compound isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb danshen, is commonly used for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of Sal B on the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) after spinal cord injury (SCI) in a rat model. Sal B (1, 10, and 50 mg/kg i.v.) was administered to rats immediately following SCI. The permeability of the BSCB and spinal cord tissue water content were evaluated. Additionally, the expression levels of tight junction proteins and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) were monitored by Western blot analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis of spinal cord tissue homogenates was performed 24 h post-SCI to evaluate the expression of inflammation-related cytokines. In addition, the motor recovery of SCI rats was assessed using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan scoring system. Compared to the SCI group, rats treated with Sal B (10, 50 mg/kg) exhibited significantly reduced spinal cord tissue water content and BSCB permeability. Further, the motor function of rats was also greatly improved by Sal B administration. The expression of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α and NF-κB was found to be greatly increased 24 h post-SCI, and this upregulation was significantly attenuated by Sal B treatment. The expression of ZO-1 and occludin was upregulated by Sal B (10 mg/kg) treatment after SCI, and this effect was blocked by the HO-1 inhibitor ZnPP. Taken together, our results clearly indicate that Sal B attenuates SCI by promoting the repair of the damaged BSCB, demonstrating that this molecule is a novel and promising therapeutic agent for human SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc plays an important role in regulating the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor in nervous system, but the correlation among Zn, zinc transporter, and BDNF in spinal cord injuries (SCI) is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of Zn, zinc transporter 1 (ZnT-1), and BDNF, as well as their correlation in spinal cord-injured rats. One hundred Wistar male rats were divided into two groups: sham-operated group (as control group) and model group. Spinal cord injury was induced in model groups by hemisection of T9 on the left side. Compared with the control group, the serum zinc levels in SCI model group were significantly decreased after surgery, but zinc concentrations in spinal cord were increased gradually. The mRNA levels of ZnT-1 and BDNF were significantly increased in SCI model group, and there is a positive correlation between them (Spearman rho = 0.381, P = 0.0204). The correlation found between BDNF and ZnT-1 allows us to speculate that these two factors may be physiologically co-regulated, which may provide an idea for the treatment of SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different fixation modalities are available for fixation of posterior malleolar fractures (PMFs), but the best method is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to carry out a comparative biomechanical analysis of three commonly used fixation constructs for PMFs using experimental and finite element analysis (FEA). 15 human cadaveric ankle specimens were randomly divided into three groups. Specimens in group-A were fixed with two anteroposterior (AP) lag screws, group-B with two posteroanterior (PA) lag screws, and for group-C, a posterior plate was used. Each model was subjected to axial load. Outcomes included loads for 0.5 mm, 1 mm, 1.5 mm, and 2 mm vertical displacements of posterior fragments were noted. 3D FE models were reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) images and subjected to vertical loads. The model's stress, fracture step-off, and resultant strains in implants were also studied in 3D FE models. Significantly higher amounts of mean compressive loads were observed to cause the same amount of vertical displacements in plate group (265 ± 60.21 N, 796 ± 57.27 N, 901.18 ± 8.88 N, 977.26 ± 13.04 N) than AP (102.7 ± 16.78 N, 169.5 ± 19.91 N, 225.32 ± 15.92 N, 269.32 ± 17.29 N) and PA (199.88 ± 31.43 N, 362.80 ± 28.46 N, 431.3 ± 28.12 N, 541.86 ± 36.05 N) lag screws respectively (P < 0.05). Simulated micro-motion analysis demonstrated that fracture step-off values in plate group (0.03 ± 0.001 mm, 0.06 ± 0.003 mm and 0.13 ± 0.010 mm) were the lowest among the three groups (P < 0.001). The cancellous bone showed the highest amount of stress in AP and PA lag groups respectively, whereas the lowest stress was noted in the plate-group. This biomechanical study concluded that posterior plating is biomechanically the most stable fixation construct for PMFs fixation. AP and PA lag screws with higher bone stress and fracture step-off values have a high tendency of bone cut-through and loss of fixation respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is an process for the degradation of cytoplasmic aggregated proteins and damaged organelles and plays an important role in the development of SCI. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of Netrin-1 and its potential mechanism for autophagy regulation after SCI. A rat model of SCI was established and used for analysis. Results showed that administration of Netrin-1 not only significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) but also reduced the phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and P70S6K. In addition, the expression of Beclin-1 and the ratio of the light-chain 3B-II (LC3B-II)/LC3B-I in the injured spinal cord significantly increased in Netrin-1 group than those in SCI group. Moreover, the ratio of apoptotic neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord and the cavity area of spinal cord significantly decreased in Netrin-1 group compared with those in SCI group. In addition, Netrin-1 not only preserved motor neurons but also significantly improved motor fuction of injured rats. These results suggest that Netrin-1 improved functional recovery through autophagy stimulation by activating the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway in rats with SCI. Thus, Netrin-1 treatment could be a novel therapeutic strategy for SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: We investigate the feasibility, safety, and clinical therapeutic effect of laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in women with Mayer–Rokitansky–Kuster–Hauser (MRKH) syndrome.We performed a retrospective case review cohort study of 56 patients with MRKHs undergoing laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in Wuhan Union Hospital between 2000 and 2020, and all patients were followed up.The median operating time was 165 min (120–420 min). The median hospital stay was 10 days (rang 7–15 days). A functional neovagina was created 11–15 cm in length and two fingers in breadth in all patients. No introitus stenosis was observed. No intra- or post-operative complications occurred. Two patients were lost to follow-up after 3 months of outpatient visits. Six patients had no intercourse and were required to wear a vaginal mold occasionally. None of the patients had complained of local irritation or dyspareunia. Patients who had post-surgery sexual intercourse were satisfied with their sexual life and the mean total Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score was 25.17 ± 0.63. The cosmetic results were excellent.The laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty can achieve the goal of making a functional neovagina. The main advantage of this surgical technique is that it is minimally invasive and that there are fewer complications post-operation. It is an acceptable procedure for patients with MRKH syndrome.Methods: We investigate the feasibility, safety, and clinical therapeutic effect of laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in women with Mayer–Rokitansky–Kuster–Hauser (MRKH) syndrome.We performed a retrospective case review cohort study of 56 patients with MRKHs undergoing laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in Wuhan Union Hospital between 2000 and 2020, and all patients were followed up.The median operating time was 165 min (120–420 min). The median hospital stay was 10 days (rang 7–15 days). A functional neovagina was created 11–15 cm in length and two fingers in breadth in all patients. No introitus stenosis was observed. No intra- or post-operative complications occurred. Two patients were lost to follow-up after 3 months of outpatient visits. Six patients had no intercourse and were required to wear a vaginal mold occasionally. None of the patients had complained of local irritation or dyspareunia. Patients who had post-surgery sexual intercourse were satisfied with their sexual life and the mean total Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score was 25.17 ± 0.63. The cosmetic results were excellent.The laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty can achieve the goal of making a functional neovagina. The main advantage of this surgical technique is that it is minimally invasive and that there are fewer complications post-operation. It is an acceptable procedure for patients with MRKH syndrome.Results: We investigate the feasibility, safety, and clinical therapeutic effect of laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in women with Mayer–Rokitansky–Kuster–Hauser (MRKH) syndrome.We performed a retrospective case review cohort study of 56 patients with MRKHs undergoing laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in Wuhan Union Hospital between 2000 and 2020, and all patients were followed up.The median operating time was 165 min (120–420 min). The median hospital stay was 10 days (rang 7–15 days). A functional neovagina was created 11–15 cm in length and two fingers in breadth in all patients. No introitus stenosis was observed. No intra- or post-operative complications occurred. Two patients were lost to follow-up after 3 months of outpatient visits. Six patients had no intercourse and were required to wear a vaginal mold occasionally. None of the patients had complained of local irritation or dyspareunia. Patients who had post-surgery sexual intercourse were satisfied with their sexual life and the mean total Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score was 25.17 ± 0.63. The cosmetic results were excellent.The laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty can achieve the goal of making a functional neovagina. The main advantage of this surgical technique is that it is minimally invasive and that there are fewer complications post-operation. It is an acceptable procedure for patients with MRKH syndrome.Conclusions: We investigate the feasibility, safety, and clinical therapeutic effect of laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in women with Mayer–Rokitansky–Kuster–Hauser (MRKH) syndrome.We performed a retrospective case review cohort study of 56 patients with MRKHs undergoing laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty in Wuhan Union Hospital between 2000 and 2020, and all patients were followed up.The median operating time was 165 min (120–420 min). The median hospital stay was 10 days (rang 7–15 days). A functional neovagina was created 11–15 cm in length and two fingers in breadth in all patients. No introitus stenosis was observed. No intra- or post-operative complications occurred. Two patients were lost to follow-up after 3 months of outpatient visits. Six patients had no intercourse and were required to wear a vaginal mold occasionally. None of the patients had complained of local irritation or dyspareunia. Patients who had post-surgery sexual intercourse were satisfied with their sexual life and the mean total Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score was 25.17 ± 0.63. The cosmetic results were excellent.The laparoscopic sigmoid vaginoplasty can achieve the goal of making a functional neovagina. The main advantage of this surgical technique is that it is minimally invasive and that there are fewer complications post-operation. It is an acceptable procedure for patients with MRKH syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]