Search

In recent years, one-stage HOI (Human–Object Interaction) detection methods tend to divide the original task into multiple sub-tasks by using a multi-branch network structure. However, there is no sufficient attention to information communication between these branches. The inference approach in the cascaded structure is singular, while fully parallel methods will disrupt the associations between different pieces of information. Besides, noise interference may occur during the fusion of different features and thus affect the detection performance. To address these issues, this article proposes a one-stage three-branch parallel HOI detection method, which treats HOI as three separate sub-tasks (human detection, object detection, and interaction detection) and leverages three distinct reasoning relationships to generate richer relational information. Firstly, an auxiliary feature fusion (AFF) module is introduced, which integrates features originally extracted independently to form fused features enriched with supplementary information. This approach strengthens communication between branches in the network while handling the three sub-tasks concurrently, thereby facilitating the exchange of more contextual information. Secondly, to mitigate noise interference generated during the fusion process, a fusion noise suppression (FNS) module is introduced, which effectively suppresses noise and enhances the model's performance in interaction detection tasks. Finally, experiments are conducted on two major benchmark datasets, and experimental results show that our HOI detection method is superior to previous methods. Also, ablation studies confirm the effectiveness of all the components in our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify effects of different fungal strains on fermented tiger nut paste enzyme activities and volatile flavor compounds composition, koji enzyme activities and volatile flavor substances of six tiger nut paste preparations (S1–S6) were compared. The results revealed that koji enzyme activities of S4, S5 and S6 were significantly higher than corresponding activities of S1, S2 and S3. Among them, S4 exhibited the highest enzyme activity levels for cellulase, xylanase, acid protease, glucosidase, and amylase. GC-MS analysis of the six paste preparations detected 43 volatile components, including 17 aldehydes, 8 alkenes, 4 heterocyclics, 2 ketones, 2 phenols and 7 other types of compounds. Notably, S4 had the most volatile compounds (28), including 5 volatile compounds which were not detected in the other tiger nut pastes. Results of principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed differences in levels of 17 volatile flavor substances among the six tiger nut paste preparations. Notably, PLS-DA results achieved more significant separation and stronger clustering trends when used to discriminate among volatile flavor substances of paste preparations fermented using single-strain starters (S1, S2, S3) versus double-strain starters (S4, S5, S6) consisting of Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus niger and/or Mucor. The tiger nut paste (S4) prepared by mixed fermentation of A. oryzae and A. niger had a unique flavor, producing the highest enzyme activity and a wider variety of volatile flavor compounds. Therefore, the production of tiger nut paste through compound strain koji fermentation was a feasible strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the intrinsic drawbacks of low separation efficiency and high recombination rate of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs, we demonstrate an ingenious design and construction of a hierarchical m-CdS/HCN hetero–homo-structured catalyst by an ultrasonic-mechanical stirring method for TC degradation under visible light irradiation. m-CdS is synthesized by a hydrothermal treatment and ultrasonically smashed into cypress leaf-like nanoparticles. Then, the m-CdS nanoparticles are ultrasonically jolted into the HCN nanosheet slits to form a hierarchical m-CdS/HCN hetero–homo-structure. The unique architecture facilitates the separation and transfer, and suppresses the recombination of the photogenerated carriers, which offers a large surface area, exposing numerous active sites for surface reaction. Benefiting from the unique structural and compositional advantages, the optimized m-CdS/HCN-55 photocatalyst exhibits remarkable performance with a degradation efficiency of 98.2% in 20 min for TC and 92.7% in 30 min for MO, and high stability. Finally, a double-oxidation-site mechanism of h+ and ˙O2− is proposed and discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After cold storage (CS) and subsequent transplantation, fatty liver is more inclined to develop liver dysfunction and serious postoperative complications in contrast to healthy liver. Hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) is a safe and efficacious system, which can repair fatty liver and reduce ischemia‐reperfusion injury. The aim of this research is to investigate the function of Brg1/Nrf2/HO‐1 signaling pathway in the protective effect of HOPE on ischemia‐reperfusion injury of fatty liver. Methods: The mouse fatty liver model was successfully established and verified by hematoxylin‐eosin (HE) staining and oil red O staining. The animals were divided into Control group, CS group and HOPE group. The levels of liver enzyme and lactate in the perfusate were used to measure liver function and cellular metabolism. HE staining and TUNEL staining were utilized to assess the tissue structure and apoptosis, respectively. The levels of superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species in liver tissue were measured to quantitatively analyze the degree of oxidative stress, and the expressions of protein Brg1, Nrf2 and HO‐1 were detected by means of the western blot. Double‐labeling immunofluorescence was to explore the colocalization of Brg1 and Nrf2. Results: The injury of the liver in the CS group was more serious than that in the control group. However, HOPE could significantly reduce the injury, which was manifested by the improvement of liver function and cellular metabolism, and the lower degrees of apoptosis, necrosis and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the expressions of Brg1, Nrf2 and HO‐1 in the HOPE group were significantly increased than those in the CS group. Conclusions: One‐hour HOPE treatment before reperfusion can obviously improve the injury of fatty liver in mice. The underlying mechanism may be that the interaction of Brg1 and Nrf2 can selectively activate the transcription of HO‐1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We exhibit the reasonable design and architect of MoS2@g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4 hierarchical hetero‐homojunction structure by ultrasonically pulverize and vibrate MoS2 nanoparticles into the ultrasonically exfoliated hierarchical g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4 homojunction slit for efficient organic pollutant photodegradation, where the g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4 homojunction is fabricated using recrystallized urea and recrystallized dicyandiamide as double‐source precursor for better photogenerated charges separation and transfer. Oil bath thermal‐treatment enhances the interaction between MoS2 nanoparticles and g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4 nanosheets. The distinctive design accelerates the separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers, provide larger specific surface area and more active sites for organic pollutant degradation. In the composite catalyst, MoS2 serves as the electron convergence center. Profiting from the hetero‐homojunction structural merits, the optimized UOMSHCN‐25 displays excellent photocatalysis activity and high stability for organic pollutant degradation (MO (96.3% within 40 min), Rh B (98.7% within 10 min) and TC (83.9% within 60 min)). Finally, a reasonable photocatalysis mechanism is proposed and discussed in detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using corncob as raw material, high-temperature pyrolysis was used to extract pentosans. Based on single-factor experiments, orthogonal test methods were used to optimize the extraction process parameters, and high-performance liquid chromatography was used to extract pentosans. Component analysis. The results showed that the optimal extraction process conditions were solid-liquid ratio 1:15 (g/mL), pyrolysis temperature 180℃, pyrolysis time 60 min, and the extraction rate under these conditions was 25.84%. The chromatogram results show that the extract contains a large amount of pentosan, xylobiose, xylotriose, xylotetraose, xylopentaose and xylanose, which provide raw materials for the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis process to prepare xylo-oligosaccharides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shikonin is a natural naphthoquinone component with antioxidant and anti‐tumor function and has been used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment. According to the previous study, many herbs can regulate cancer cell progression by targeting specific microRNA (miRNA) (Liu, 2016). However, the underlying pathological mechanism of shikonin in HCC therapy is still unclear. The detection of cell growth and death rate were performed by hemacytometry and trypan blue staining, respectively. The expression of miR‐106b and SMAD7 messenger RNA (mRNA) in HCC cells was evaluated by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration ability were measured by cell counting kit‐8 (CCK‐8), flow cytometry, and transwell assay. The expression of proteins E‐cadherin, N‐cadherin, vimentin, SMAD7, TGF‐β1, p‐SMAD3, SMAD3, and GAPDH was examined by western blot. The interaction between SMAD7 and miR‐106b was assessed by luciferase reporter system. Shikonin inhibited Huh7 and HepG2 cell growth in a dose‐dependent manner while induced cell death in a time‐dependent manner. In addition, the expression of miR‐106b was reduced after shikonin treatment. Moreover, miR‐106b attenuated the suppressive effects of shikonin on HCC cell migration and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). SMAD7 was predicted as a target of miR‐106b and the prediction was confirmed by luciferase reporter system. Additionally, we observed that SMAD7 reversed the promotive effects of miR‐106b on HCC cell progression and EMT. The subsequent western blot assay revealed that shikonin could modulate SMAD7/TGF‐β signaling pathway by targeting miR‐106b. In conclusion, Shikonin suppresses cell progression and EMT and accelerates cell death of HCC cells via modulating miR‐106b/SMAD7/TGF‐β signaling pathway, suggesting shikonin could be an effective agent for HCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protective mechanisms for liver preservation associated with hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) remain unclear. However, the lack of a common and portable HMP system for rat livers limits the study of HMP. The present study aimed to develop a novel, modi- fied HMP system using a LifePort Kidney Transporter for preserving rat livers. A simple 'Y' shunt combined with a pressoreceptor for flow and pressure regulation was adapted to perfuse rat livers via the portal vein continuously using a LifePort Kidney Transporter under its 'prime mode' setting. An electronic scale was installed under the liver container to calculate the portal inflow according to the association with weight, density and volume of the perfusate. A total of 10 rat livers underwent 6 h of HMP using histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution enriched with acridine orange (AO) and propidium iodide (PI). The perfusion status of HMP was assessed by comparison of AO+PI-positive cell count in core region (CR) and peripheral region (PR) of rat liver under fluorescence microscopy. The dynamics (inflow, pressure and intrahepatic resistance of perfusion) were assessed to identify whether this system met the demands for HMP of rat livers. Biochemical [alanine transaminase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and endothelin levels] and histological parameters (sinusoidal dilatation, endothelial cell detachment and vacuolization) were measured to determine cellular damage associated with HMP. No significant difference was observed between the CR and PR according to the comparison of the AO+PI-positive cell count, which indicated that complete perfusion was achieved. Intrahepatic resistance significantly decreased during the initial 3 h of HMP (P<0.01), but remained stable during the final 3 h. ALT and LDH levels significantly increased over the 6 h HMP duration: ALT (0 h, 42.67±5.81 U/l; 3 h, 90.67±6.74 U/l; 6 h, 164.33±7.31 U/l; P<0.01) and LDH (0 h, 492.90±90.20 U/l; 3 h, 973.53±97.4; 6 h, 1,843.40±85.78 U/l; P<0.01) However, the levels of endothelin and oxygen consumption were constant throughout HMP. Furthermore, histological analysis indicated sinusoidal dilation was significantly increased in the post-HMP group compared with the pre-HMP group (P<0.01); however, no other significant differences were observed. Combined with the results of ATP test (640.64±29.46 nmol/l) and bile production (4.88±0.69 µl/h/g of liver) at the end of HMP, the present results demonstrated minimal cellular injury associated with HMP while retaining the dependability and portability of the LifePort Kidney Transporter, which suggests the modified HMP system met the demands required and may be suitable for rat liver preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]