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Camouflaged object detection (COD) is to distinguish the target objects with varied sizes and shapes from the low-contrast real-world scenarios. Although deep learning-based methods have made great progress, it is still challenging to accurately detect and segment the complete and edge-preserving camouflaged objects. In this paper, we propose a novel cross-level context supplement network (CCSNet) to effectively utilize cross-level features to provide additional information, which can compensate for the deficiencies of the current level potentials. Specifically, we develop a selective cross-level aggregation (SCA) module to fully explore the cross-level different but complementary cues to detect camouflaged objects with different scales. It makes each level of the network adaptively focus on the informative features with the assist of the channel dependencies and spatial relationship provided by the adjacent levels. Furthermore, considering that the camouflaged objects are hardly distinguishable from the backgrounds, we design a location and boundary supplement (LBS) module to directly incorporate the global and edge information to different levels, thus enhancing the spatial coherence of interior regions and reducing the uncertainty of boundary regions. Comprehensive experiments are conducted on four public datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of our CCSNet. In addition, we apply our model to two other dense pixel prediction tasks to further demonstrate the effectiveness and generalization ability of our network. The code, trained model and predicted maps will be available upon acceptance of this paper for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an advanced inventory replenishment optimization approach tailored for the Physical Internet (PI), addressing the dynamic and complex nature of this environment. We propose a hybrid Simulated Annealing–Genetic Algorithm (SA–GA), engineered to optimize the balance between exploration and exploitation, ensuring adaptability and efficiency in a variety of PI contexts. The study also presents an enriched mathematical model integrating dynamic demand, and multi-objective optimization. The SA–GA algorithm emerges as a novel contribution, characterized by its computational efficiency and adaptability, marking an advancement in PI inventory management. The incorporation of real-time data analytics in our dynamic inventory replenishment strategy enhances adaptability and responsiveness, while the robust mathematical model offers a versatile tool for both theoretical analysis and practical application. Collectively, these innovations help bridge existing gaps in PI inventory management and serve as a reference for other similar studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor that is prone to metastasize early and primarily affects children and adolescents. Cell migration-inducing protein (CEMIP) plays a crucial role in the progression and malignancy of various tumor diseases, including osteosarcoma. Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), an oligomer isolated from chitin, has been found to have significant anti-tumor activity in various cancers. This study investigates the effects of COS on CEMIP expression in osteosarcoma and explores the underlying mechanism. In present study, in vitro experiments were conducted to confirm the inhibitory activity of COS on human osteosarcoma cells. Our results demonstrate that COS possesses inhibitory effects against human osteosarcoma cells and significantly suppresses CEMIP expression in vitro. Next, we studied the inhibition of the expression of CEMIP by COS and then performed bioinformatics analysis to explore the potential inhibitory mechanism of COS against signaling pathways involved in regulating CEMIP expression. Bioinformatics analysis predicted a close association between the PI3K signaling pathway and CEMIP expression and that the inhibitory effect of COS on CEMIP expression may be related to PI3K signaling pathway regulation. The results of this study show that COS treatment significantly inhibits CEMIP expression and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, as observed both in vitro and in vivo. This study demonstrates that COS could inhibit the expression of CEMIP, which is closely related to osteosarcoma malignancy. This inhibitory effect may be attributed to the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold spells have been associated with specific diseases. However, there is insufficient scientific evidence on the effects of cold spells on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Data on OHCA cases and on meteorological factors and air pollutants were collected between 2013 and 2020. We adopted a quasi-Poisson generalized additive model with a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to estimate the effect of cold spells on daily OHCA incidence. Backward attributable risk within the DLNM framework was calculated to quantify the disease burden. We compared the effects and OHCA burden of cold spells using nine definitions. The risks of different cold spells on OHCA increased at higher intensities and longer durations. Based on Akaike's information criterion for the quasi-Poisson regression model and the attributable risk, the optimal cold spell was defined as a period in the cold month when the daily mean temperature was below the 10th percentile of the temperature distribution in the study period for at least 2 days. The single-day effect of the optimal cold spell on OHCA occurred immediately and lasted for approximately 1 week. The maximum single-day effect was 1.052 (95% CI: 1.018–1.087) at lag0, while the maximum cumulative effect was 1.433 (95% CI:1.148–1.788) after a 14-day lag. Men were more susceptible to cold spells. Young and middle-aged people were affected by cold spells similar to the elderly. Cold spells can increase the risk of OHCA with an approximately 1-week lag effect. Health regulators should take more targeted measures to protect susceptible populations during cold weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The integration of regenerated cartilage with surrounding native cartilage is a major challenge for the success of cartilage tissue-engineering strategies. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether incorporation of the power of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) sheet to MSCs-loaded bilayer poly-(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds can improve the integration and repair of cartilage defects in a rabbit model. Methods: Rabbit bone marrow-derived MSCs were cultured and formed cell sheet. Full-thickness cylindrical osteochondral defects (4 mm in diameter, 3 mm in depth) were created in the patellar groove of 18 New Zealand white rabbits and the osteochondral defects were treated with PLGA scaffold ( n = 6), PLGA/MSCs ( n = 6) or MSC sheet-encapsulated PLGA/MSCs ( n = 6). After 6 and 12 weeks, the integration and tissue response were evaluated histologically. Results: The MSC sheet-encapsulated PLGA/MCSs group showed significantly more amounts of hyaline cartilage and higher histological scores than PLGA/MSCs group and PLGA group ( P < 0.05). In addition, the MSC sheet-encapsulated PLGA/MCSs group showed the best integration between the repaired cartilage and surrounding normal cartilage and subchondral bone compared to other two groups. Conclusions: The novel method of incorporation of MSC sheet to PLGA/MCSs could enhance the ability of cartilage regeneration and integration between repair cartilage and the surrounding cartilage. Transplantation of autologous MSC sheet combined with traditional strategies or cartilage debris might provide therapeutic opportunities for improving cartilage regeneration and integration in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy has great potential for tissue regeneration. However, being able to monitor the in vivo behavior of implanted MSCs and understand the fate of these cells is necessary for further development of successful therapies and requires an effective, non-invasive and non-toxic technique for cell tracking. Super paramagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) is an idea label and tracer of MSCs. MRI can be used to follow SPIO-labeled MSCs and has been proposed as a gold standard for monitoring the in vivo biodistribution and migration of implanted SPIO-labeled MSCs. This review discusses the biological effects of SPIO labeling on MSCs and the therapeutic applications of local or systemic delivery of these labeled cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disorder and the restoration of the diseased articular cartilage in patients with OA is still a challenge for researchers and clinicians. Currently, a variety of experimental strategies have investigated whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) instead of chondrocytes can be used for the regeneration and maintenance of articular cartilage in OA. MSCs can modulate the immune response of individuals and positively influence the microenvironment of the stem cells already present in the diseased tissue. Through direct cell-cell interaction or the secretion of various factors, MSCs can initiate endogenous regenerative activities in the OA joint. Targeted gene-modified MSC-based therapy might further enhance the cartilage regeneration in OA. Conventionally, delivery of MSCs was attained by graft of engineered constructs derived from cell-seeded scaffolds. However, intra-articular MSCs transplantation without scaffolds is a more attractive option for OA treatment. This article briefly summarizes the current knowledge about MSC-based therapy for prevention or treatment of OA, discussing the direct intra-articular injection of MSCs for the treatment of OA in animal models and in clinical applications, as well as potential future strategies for OA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cartilage has a limited self-repair capability and the repair of large cartilage defects remains a challenge in clinic. This study aimed to investigate the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) loaded three-dimensional bilayer collagen scaffold for cartilage repair. Cross-linked three-dimensional bilayer collagen scaffolds seeded with or without MSCs were implanted into large cartilage defects (4 mm in diameter; 3 mm in depth) in rabbit knees. The untreated cartilage defects served as control. The tissue response was evaluated at 6 and 12 weeks after implantation by general histology and semi-quantitative histological grading systems. In addition, the repaired tissues were evaluated by mechanical test at 12 weeks after implantation. The MSCs-loaded collagen scaffold group showed the most hyaline cartilage, highest histological scores and compressive modulus. Moreover, it showed a good integration with the subchondral bone and adjacent cartilage. The structure of the novel bilayer collagen scaffolds provided architectural support for the differentiation of MSCs and demonstrated successful induction of in vivo chondrogenesis. These findings suggested that MSCs-loaded bilayer collagen scaffold could be an appealing candidate to be used for cartilage regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spherical-or cylindrical-shaped nanosized calcium phosphate particles are considered as an integral part of biological hard tissues such as bone and tooth enamel. The size effects of these nanoparticles were evaluated by coculturing osteosarcoma (U2OS) cells on their films or in their aqueous suspensions. Experimental results demonstrated that these nanophase minerals could inhibit the proliferations of U2OS significantly. The effects were increased with decreasing particle sizes, and the 20-nm sized calcium phosphate, the basic building blocks during bone/enamel formations, was the most effective inhibitor. The particle size is believed to play an important role on cellular behaviors and this in vitro study suggested the potential of calcium phosphate nanoparticles for use in therapeutic replacement and reconstruction of bone merits after tumor extractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at digital watermark which is a new popular research topic recently, presents some methods to embed digital watermark based on modifying frequency coefficients in discrete wavelet transform (DWT) domain. First, the present progress of digital watermark is briefly introduced; after that, starting from Pitas’s method and discarding his pseudo random number method, the authors use a digital image scrambling technology as preprocessing for digital watermarking. Then the authors discuss how to embed a 1-bit digital image as watermark in frequency domain. Finally another digital watermarking method is given in which 3-D DWT is used to transform a given digital image. Based on the experimental results, it is shown that the proposed methods are robust to a large extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]