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• It was found that under the conditions of small grain size, small metallurgical defect size and careful specimen preparation, the tensile results of SS-J3 specimens could be close to the tensile results of large-size specimen. • With ±0.1 mm deviation of thickness and parallel width, the maximum variation in total elongation was about 1.8 %. • The ductility properties are sensitive to thickness non-uniformity, with 0.01 mm non-uniformity, the uniform elongation and total elongation would obviously decrease. Tensile testing of small-size specimens has been widely used to evaluate the influence of neutron irradiation on the mechanical properties for structural materials of fusion reactors. In recent years, researchers have been trying to standardize small-size specimen tensile test method. In the present paper, we have investigated the influence of dimensional deviation and thickness non-uniformity on the tensile results of small-size specimen by both experiments and finite element simulations, based on one of the candidate structural materials of fusion reactor, i.e. CLF-1 steel. It was found that under the conditions of small grain size, small metallurgical defect size and suitable specimen preparation, the tensile results of SS-J3 specimen could be close to the results of large-size specimen. Slightly higher yield and ultimate strengths for small specimens may be caused by the surface treatment of the wheel grinding. The repeatability of ultimate strength was better than that of yield strength, and the repeatability of elongation was worse than that of strength. For tensile tests on eight SS-J3 specimens, the maximum difference in total elongation was about 3 %. With ±0.1 mm deviation of thickness and parallel width, the maximum variation in total elongation was about 1.8 %. The ductility properties were sensitive to specimen's thickness non-uniformity, the measured uniform and total elongations would obviously decrease even with 0.01 mm thickness non-uniformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this manuscript, we have extensively examined expression and prognosis of CXCL1 gene in colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD) using different cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma and tissues. To verify this, protein and mRNA expressions of cxcl1 were identified through RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in 30 cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma and adjacent tissues, which were surgically resected from January to July 2021 in our hospital, and relationship between CXCL1 mRNA and clinicopathological features and protein expression was analyzed. CXCL 1 mRNA in COAD carcinoma's expression was considerably higher than in the adjacent normal intestine. At the same time, CXCL 1 diagnostic receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve had preferably higher value of the diagnostic for area under curve (AUC) = 0.912, 95%, COAD (P < 0.001 , CI = 0.825–0.969). We have observed that CXCL1 gene was closely linked with preoperative CEA level (P = 0.007) and gross tumor typing (P = 0.039). Finally, we have concluded that that CXCL1 can be a possible biomarker for stress prognosis and diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visibility of outdoor images is usually significantly degraded by haze. Existing dehazing algorithms, such as dark channel prior (DCP) and colour attenuation prior (CAP), have made great progress and are highly effective. However, they all suffer from the problems of dark distortion and detailed information loss. This paper proposes an improved algorithm for single‐image haze removal based on dark channel prior with weighted guided coefficient and union self‐adaptive image enhancement. First, a weighted guided coefficient method with sampling based on guided image filtering is proposed to refine the transmission map efficiently. Second, the k‐means clustering method is adopted to calibrate the original image into bright and non‐bright colour areas and form a transmission constraint matrix. The constraint matrix is then marked by connected‐component labelling, and small bright regions are eliminated to form an atmospheric light constraint matrix, which can suppress the halo effect and optimize the atmospheric light. Finally, an adaptive linear contrast enhancement algorithm with a union score is proposed to optimize restored images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can overcome the problems of image distortion and detailed information loss and is more efficient than conventional dehazing algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To analyse and discuss the clinical features and pathogenic characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of patients with otomycosis in southern China. Two hundred fifty‐six patients from southern China diagnosed with otomycosis were randomly separated into two groups: the drug filling group and drug smearing group. Patients in the drug filling group were first examined and then had the pathogenic secretions in their external auditory canals cleared by otoendoscopy. Then, the local antifungal cream triamcinolone acetonide clotrimazole was injected into the external auditory canal. The same treatment was undertaken 1 week later and repeated once or twice more. Patients in the drug smearing group were also treated by otoendoscopy. Then, they were told to smear their external auditory canals once per day with the antifungal cream. All cases were followed for more than 6 months after the 3‐ to 4‐week treatment. The main symptoms and otoendoscopic examination were used to evaluate the prognosis. Aspergillus was the commonest fungus. The cure rate was 93% in the drug filling group and 81% in the drug smearing group. Otomycosis is very common in southern China, but it lacks characteristic features in its early stages. Once diagnosed, the local lesions in the external auditory canal should be cleared thoroughly using otoendoscopy, and then, the local antifungal cream is injected into external auditory canal. The cure rate can be significantly improved with the foregoing treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The methylation status of SPG20 promoter region in HCC were confirmed in a relatively large size cohort. • The expression of SPG20 gene was regulated by the methylation status of promoter. • The abnormal methylation of SPG20 promoter region in HCC was associated with comprehensively clinicopathologic features and might contribute to HCC metastasis. The aim of this study is to analyze the methylation levels of SPG20 promotor region and explore the association between the methylation levels and clinical features in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We collected paired of HCC and adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANT) from 160 HCC patients and analyze the methylation levels through MassARRAY Analyzer 4. The statistical calculations were performed using SPSS version 22.0. Real-time-quantification PCR was performed to assess expression levels of SPG20 in HCC cell lines. Wound healing assay and transwell assay was used to measure cell migration capacity. We found that mean methylation level of SPG20 in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in ANT (7.3% vs. 16.2%, P <0.0013). There was a significantly negative correlation between expression level and methylation level of SPG20 (P <0.01). In addition, the methylation levels in HCC were correlated with age and HBV infection. Meanwhile, micro-satellite tumors (P = 0.016) and tumor number (P = 0.018) was found significantly associated with increased methylation levels of several CpG sites and the mean levels of SPG20 promotor in ANT. In addtion, the capacity of cell migration was significantly enhanced in SPG20 knock-down HCC cells. The hypermethylation status of SPG20 gene promoter is significantly associated with intra-hepatic metastasis and contribute to HCC metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the connected-component labeling problem which consists in assigning a unique label to all pixels of each connected component (i.e., each object) in a binary image. Connected-component labeling is indispensable for distinguishing different objects in a binary image, and prerequisite for image analysis and object recognition in the image. Therefore, connected-component labeling is one of the most important processes for image analysis, image understanding, pattern recognition, and computer vision. In this article, we review state-of-the-art connected-component labeling algorithms presented in the last decade, explain the main strategies and algorithms, present their pseudo codes, and give experimental results in order to bring order of the algorithms. Moreover, we will also discuss parallel implementation and hardware implementation of connected-component labeling algorithms, extension for n -D images, and try to indicate future work on the connected component labeling problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Euler number of a binary image is an important topological feature for many image processing, image analysis, pattern recognition, and computer vision applications. This paper proposes a new run-based Euler number computation algorithm. The conventional run-based algorithm processes rows of the given image one-by-one from top to bottom in a single phase. For each row, it finds the runs in the row and records the start and end locations of each run to compute neighbor runs. In contrast, our algorithm calculates the Euler number of an image in two phases. In the first phase, we process odd rows alternately to find runs and only record its end location. In the second phase, we process each of the remaining even rows to find runs and calculate neighboring runs between the current row and the rows immediately above and below using the recorded run data. Using this method, the number of accesses required to compute the Euler number decreases in almost all cases. Analysis of the time complexity and experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms conventional Euler number computation algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, open innovation communities (OICs), in which users are allowed to post ideas, have become a momentous source of product innovation and development for enterprises. Continuous generation of ideas is critical to the success of an OIC. When users post an idea more than once, they are considered to be conducting re-innovation behavior (RIB). Many enterprises have implemented management response systems in their OICs to motivate users' RIB and promote the prosperity of the OIC. However, researchers have not yet examined whether management response is an effective management tool for motivating users' RIB in OICs. This research shows that receiving management response has a positive effect on the volume, quality and novelty of user's RIB. Furthermore, we found that the enterprise's official adoption willingness expressed through management response may reduce the volume, quality, and novelty of ideas in user's RIB, which may have an impact on the enterprise's insights. Additionally, we conducted heterogeneity analyses to explore the effects of different lengths and sentiments of management response in this mechanism. This research has implications for managers and enterprises and contributes to the literature on management response, idea generation behavior, OICs, and, more broadly, co-innovation between enterprises and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labeling connected components and calculating the Euler number in a binary image are two fundamental processes for computer vision and pattern recognition. This paper presents an ingenious method for identifying a hole in a binary image in the first scan of connected-component labeling. Our algorithm can perform connected component labeling and Euler number computing simultaneously, and it can also calculate the connected component (object) number and the hole number efficiently. The additional cost for calculating the hole number is only $O(H)$ , where $H$ is the hole number in the image. Our algorithm can be implemented almost in the same way as a conventional equivalent-label-set-based connected-component labeling algorithm. We prove the correctness of our algorithm and use experimental results for various kinds of images to demonstrate the power of our algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whenever one wants to distinguish, recognize, and/or measure objects (connected components) in binary images, labeling is required. This paper presents two efficient label-equivalence-based connected-component labeling algorithms for 3-D binary images. One is voxel based and the other is run based. For the voxel-based one, we present an efficient method of deciding the order for checking voxels in the mask. For the run-based one, instead of assigning each foreground voxel, we assign each run a provisional label. Moreover, we use run data to label foreground voxels without scanning any background voxel in the second scan. Experimental results have demonstrated that our voxel-based algorithm is efficient for 3-D binary images with complicated connected components, that our run-based one is efficient for those with simple connected components, and that both are much more efficient than conventional 3-D labeling algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a run- and label-equivalence-based one-and-a-half-scan algorithm for labeling connected components in a binary image. Major differences between our algorithm and conventional label-equivalence-based algorithms are: (1) all conventional label-equivalence-based algorithms scan all pixels in the given image at least twice, whereas our algorithm scans background pixels once and object pixels twice; (2) all conventional label-equivalence-based algorithms assign a provisional label to each object pixel in the first scan and relabel the pixel in the later scan(s), whereas our algorithm assigns a provisional label to each run in the first scan, and after resolving label equivalences between runs, by using the recorded run data, it assigns each object pixel a final label directly. That is, in our algorithm, relabeling of object pixels is not necessary any more. Experimental results demonstrated that our algorithm is highly efficient on images with many long runs and/or a small number of object pixels. Moreover, our algorithm is directly applicable to run-length-encoded images, and we can obtain contours of connected components efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Label-equivalence-based connected-component labeling algorithms complete labeling in two or more raster scans. In the first scan, each foreground pixel is assigned a provisional label, and label equivalences between provisional labels are recorded. For doing this task, all conventional algorithms use the same mask that consists of four processed neighbor pixels to process every foreground pixel. This paper presents a simple yet efficient first-scan method for label-equivalence-based labeling algorithms. In our method, foreground pixels following a background pixel and those following a foreground pixel are processed in a different way. By use of this idea, the pixel followed by the current foreground pixel can be removed from the mask. In other words, the mask used in our method consists of three processed neighbor pixels. Thus, for processing a foreground pixel, the average number of times for checking the processed neighbor pixels in the first scan is reduced from 2.25 to 1.75. Because the current foreground pixel following a background pixel or a foreground pixel can be known without any additional computing cost, our method is efficient for any image that contains at least one foreground pixel. Experimental results demonstrated that our method is effective for improving the efficiency of label-equivalence-based labeling algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Labeling of connected components in a binary image is one of the most fundamental operations in pattern recognition: labeling is required whenever a computer needs to recognize objects (connected components) in a binary image. This paper presents a fast two-scan algorithm for labeling of connected components in binary images. We propose an efficient procedure for assigning provisional labels to object pixels and checking label equivalence. Our algorithm is very simple in principle, easy to implement, and suitable for hardware and parallel implementation. We show the correctness of our algorithm, analyze its complexity, and compare it with other labeling algorithms. Experimental results demonstrated that our algorithm is superior to conventional labeling algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite being able to predict accurate user-item interactions, recommender systems also lead to homogeneous information flow, resulting in negative online experiences. However, users' coping processes for this stressful event remain basically unclear. Drawing on coping theory, this study examines how users appraise two stressors (information narrowing and information redundancy) in homogenous information flow, especially in different user experiences, and thus adopt algorithmic resistance and avoidance coping strategies. Data (N = 407) were collected based on a survey. The empirical results indicate that information narrowing and information redundancy are significantly and negatively related to challenge appraisal, and exert significant and positive effects on threat appraisal. The moderating effect denotes that user experience strengthens the relationship between information narrowing and information redundancy to threat appraisal. Threat appraisal further triggers algorithmic resistance and avoidance of users. The paper provides several implications for theory and research by revealing the mechanism through which recommender systems users cope with homogeneous information flow. Our findings also provide new insights for designers of recommender systems platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A clear stele image of ancient Chinese calligraphy pieces is very useful for studying ancient Chinese calligraphy. However, due to hundreds of or even thousands of years of natural or artificial damage on stele, images of ancient Chinese stele calligraphy works usually suffer from a large amount of image noise, and which usually leads to a poor visibility. To address this problem, in this paper, we propose a de-noising method based on L0 gradient minimization and guided filter. It consists of two main operations in sequence: First, L0 gradient minimization is utilized to obtain a random-noise free map, and then the random-noise free map is used as a guided image, and convoluted with its corresponding original noised stele image by a guided filter to obtain an edge preserved random-noise free image. Finally, the eight-connection region-based de-noising technique is followed to remove ant-like isolated blocks. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is superior to several recent published stele image de-noising techniques in terms of preserving the character structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time domain synchronous orthogonal frequency division multiplex (TDS-OFDM) is an effective multi-carrier modulation scheme to improve the spectrum efficiency. However, conventional synchronization algorithm based on the correlation property of the time-domain pseudo-noise (PN) sequence may not work well over severe multipath fading channels when large carrier frequency offset (CFO) exits. In this paper, a robust synchronization algorithm is proposed where the PN sequence in the frame head is considered as a cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM training symbol. The time-domain slide auto-correlation based on the cyclic structure of the PN sequence is adopted for timing and fine CFO estimation, while in the frequency domain, a differential correlation is applied for large CFO estimation. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed method could achieve the satisfactory performance over multipath fading channels. In addition, to reduce the implementation complexity, the frame head of the TDS-OFDM system is preferred to be binary PN sequences in the frequency domain with cyclic structure in the time domain1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uranium-niobium (U-Nb) alloys as structural materials play an important role in nuclear industry. During their utilizing, U-Nb alloys tend to dynamically fracture along the adiabatic shear bands, which affects their performances. In order to understand the formation process and mechanisms, we systematically investigate the adiabatic shear bands formed in U-5.7Nb alloys, where systematical characterization methods were applied, such as optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope. Using stopper rings, the U-5.7Nb alloy was impacted by a split Hopkinson pressure bar at a strain rate of 8 000 s-1 to perform seven strain levels. The formation process of adiabatic shear bands in U-5.7Nb alloys was characterized, and we found two types of adiabatic shear bands: the deformed ones together with the transformed ones. They are formed at different stage of severe shear localization. The deformed adiabatic shear bands mainly included highly deformed and elongated grains, and the transformed adiabatic shear bands were basically composed of ultrafine equiaxed grains with size of about 150 nm. High density of dislocations or dislocation cells were found in these ultrafine equiaxed grains. The occurrence of ultrafine equiaxed grains in the adiabatic shear bands of U-5.7Nb alloys was deduced to be rotational dynamic recrystallization mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sluggish hole transfer and the resulting pronounced charge recombination hinder the efficiency of photocatalytic overall water splitting. Herein, we present Si quantum dots (SiQDs) as hole transporter to construct SiQDs/Cu-doped ZnIn 2 S 4 heterojunction photocatalysts (Cu 0.48 SZ) for overall water splitting. Under visible light illumination, Cu 0.48 SZ exhibits highly stable overall water-splitting activity of 210 μmol g−1 h−1 H 2 and 97 μmol g−1 h−1 O 2 with an apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 2.57 % at 420 nm. Results demonstrate that the synergy of SiQDs and Cu doping enhances carrier-separation efficiency and reduce surface kinetic barriers, leading to high photocatalytic performance. The presence of SiQDs effectively accelerates the transfer of photoexcited holes and avoids the self-oxidation of ZnIn 2 S 4 , favoring water oxidation. The Cu doping increases the electron density around the S atoms of ZnIn 2 S 4 and thus promotes water reduction. This work extends the application of SiQD S as efficient hole transporter for photocatalytic overall water splitting. [Display omitted] • SiQDs on ZIS facilitates the efficient transfer of photogenerated holes for water oxidization. • The Cu doping-induced charge redistribution of neighboring S atoms promotes the HER reaction. • SiQDs and Cu doping reduce the surface HER and OER kinetic barriers synergistically. • Achieve high overall water splitting activity and apparent quantum yield (2.57 % at 420 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicting results existed about the role of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who received curative hepatectomy. The aim of this study is to identify the predictive capacity of PNI for survival after hepatectomy. Preoperative PNI, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), tumor feature and clinical information of 187 patients with HCC from Sir Run Run Shaw hospital were evaluated. We also conducted a meta-analysis of seven cohort studies. Our study showed that HCC patients with a low PNI of <45 had a poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate (hazard ratio [HR] 1.762, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.066–2.911, p = 0.027, respectively). The 5-year OS and RFS rates of the high PNI (≥45) vs low PNI (<45) were 76.7% vs 50.1% (p = 0.001) and 47.0% vs 28.9% (p = 0.001), respectively. In HCC TNM I patients (n = 144), a low PNI remained an independent prognostic factor of OS and RFS (HR 2.305, 95% CI 1.008–5.268, p = 0.048; HR 2.122, 95% CI 1.149–3.920, p = 0.016). The 5-year OS and RFS rates of the high PNI vs low PNI were 81.3% vs 62.4% (p = 0.041) and 53.4% vs 45.6% (p = 0.013), respectively. In the pooled analysis, the data showed that a low PNI was significantly associated with poor OS and RFS (HR 2.27, 95% CI 1.03–4.07, p < 0.001 and HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.45–1.94, p < 0.001, respectively). The preoperative PNI was an independent prognostic factor for OS and RFS rates in HCC patients who received hepatectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposition work of Loran-C resultant waves propagating in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide is concentrated on in this article. Resultant waves of different Earth–ionosphere models are predicted by the FDTD method first. The inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) spectral-division technique combined with a filtering process is employed to estimate the delays of different wave-propagation modes in the resultant waves, whereas the amplitudes are solved with the least-square method. Finally, accurate field strengths and delays of different modes (ground waves and skywaves of diverse hops) are obtained, which are important for Loran-C receivers to optimize their performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are important in tumor microenvironments and are closely associated with cancer occurrence, metastasis and progression. Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) serves a crucial role in TAM formation. Whether CSF1R expression is regulated by DNA methylation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been fully elucidated. In the current study, HCC and adjacent non-cancerous tissue (ANT) samples were collected from 160 patients with HCC. CSF1R methylation levels were analyzed using a Mass ARRAY Analyzer to establish the potential impact of CSF1R methylation alternations on HCC clinicopathological characteristics. The mean methylation level of the CSF1R promoter (chr 5:149492491-149492958) was demonstrated to be significantly higher in ANTs compared with HCC tissues (65.3±7.5% vs. 57.3±14.4%, respectively; P<0.0001). CSF1R also exhibited decreased expression in HCC tissues compared with ANTs (P=0.0026). However, CSF1R expression was negatively correlated with CSF1R methylation levels in ANTs (r>0.4; P<0.0001). Further analysis indicated that patients with diabetes exhibited lower methylation levels in ANTs compared with HCC tissues (P=0.0062). Furthermore, CSF1R hypomethylation in ANTs was associated with a larger number of tumors (P=0.0332), larger tumor size (P=0.0494) and higher tumor grade (P=0.0244). Therefore, methylation alternation of the CSF1R promoter region analyzed in the present study was a key regulatory mechanism on CSF1R expression and ANT hypomethylation indicated poor clinicopathological characteristics of HCC. CSF1R may be a potential immunological therapeutic target for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to investigate the mechanism underlying the high level of long non-coding RNA FOXD3-AS1 in cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells. Methods: Cisplatin-resistant cells were generated from A549 cells. CCK-8 were used to evaluate cell proliferation. The FOXD3-AS1, miR-127-3p, MDM2 and MRP1 mRNA expression levels were confirmed by qRT-PCR. Protein levels of MDM2 and MRP1 were determined by western blot assay. Luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays were evaluated the relationship between miR-127-3p and FOXD3-AS1/MDM2. In vivo tumor growth was evaluated in a xenograft nude mice model. Results: FOXD3-AS1 was up-regulated in cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells (A549/DDP and H1299/DDP cells) in comparison with their parental cell lines. Overexpression of FOXD3-AS1 promoted cisplatin-resistance in A549 and H1299 cells; while FOXD3-AS1 knockdown sensitized A549/DDP and H1299/DDP cells to cisplatin treatment. FOXD3-AS1 regulated miR-127-3p expression by acting as a competing endogenous RNA, and miR-127-3p repressed MDM2 expression via targeting the 3′UTR. MiR-127-3p overexpression and MDM2 knockdown both increased the chemo-sensitivity in A549/DDP cells; while miR-127-3p knockdown and MDM2 overexpression both promoted chemoresistance in A549 cells. Further rescue experiments revealed that miR-127-3p knockdown or MDM2 overexpression counteracted the suppressive effects of FOXD3-AS1 knockdown on chemo-resistance and MRP1 expression in A549/DDP cells. In vivo studies showed that FOXD3-AS1 knockdown potentiated the antitumor effects of cisplatin treatment. Inspection of clinical samples showed the upregulation of FOXD3-AS1 and MDM2, and down-regulation of miR-127-3p in NSCLC tissues compared to normal adjacent tissues. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results suggest that LncRNA FOXD3-AS1 promotes chemo-resistance of NSCLC cells via directly acting on miR-127-3p/MDM2 axis. Our findings may provide novel perspectives for the treatment of NSCLC in patients resistant to chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rainy conditions, especially at night with low illumination, the visual of images obtained by outdoor computer vision systems is degraded significantly, leading to a significant negative effect on the work of the outdoor computer vision system. In this paper, we develop a new rainy image model to describe rain scenes at night with low illumination. From this model, we propose a joint deep neural network-based method for single nighttime rainy image enhancement. First, a decom-net based on Retinex theory is employed for image decomposition, and the purpose of this sub-net is to extract the reflection image and the illumination image from the input image. Then, an enhancement net is proposed for illumination adjustment. The goal of this sub-net is to remove the negative effect (low visual) caused by low illumination. Finally, a symmetric sub-net termed multi-stream network-based contextual autoencoder is developed, where rain features are directly learned from the enhanced nighttime rainy images in a recurrent way. The goal of this sub-net is to effectively remove rain streaks from the illumination-enhanced image. The experimental results show the advantage and effectiveness of the proposed method, and evident improvements over existing state-of-the-art methods are obtained with the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Images captured in the sand–dust weather often suffer from serious colour cast and poor contrast, and this has serious implications for outdoor computer vision systems. To address these problems, a normalised gamma transformation‐based contrast‐limited adaptive histogram equalisation (CLAHE) with colour correction in Lab colour space for sand–dust image enhancement is proposed in this study. This method consists of image contrast enhancement and image colour correction. To avoid producing new colour deviation, the input sand–dust images are first transformed from red, green, and blue colour space into Lab colour space. Then, the contrast of the lightness component (L channel) of the sand–dust image is enhanced using CLAHE. To avoid unbalanced contrast, as well as to reduce the overincreased brightness caused by CLAHE, a normalised gamma correction function is introduced to CLAHE. After that, the a and b chromatic components are recovered by a grey‐world‐based colour correction method. Experiments on real sand–dust images demonstrate that the proposed method can obtain the highest percentage of new visible edges for all testing images. The contrast restoration exhibits good colour fidelity and proper brightness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diethyl aminoethyl hexanoate (DA-6), a plant growth regulator, has many beneficial effects on agricultural production. DA-6 has been applied to many plant species, but the molecular mechanism by which spraying DA-6 after anthesis regulates wheat grain filling is still unknown. Results: In this study, we used four DA-6 concentrations: C0 (0 g/L), C2 (2 g/L), C4 (4 g/L), and C6 (6 g/L). The results showed that C4 and C6 led to a significantly higher 1000-grain weight and seed protein content than C0 during two wheat growing seasons. We then subjected samples at 24 days after anthesis (at which point the grain weight increased rapidly) to transcriptome analysis. Flag leaf (L), seed (S), and stem (T) samples under C6 and C0 were used for RNA-seq. The seed samples under C6 compared with C0 (S6vsS0) presented the most differentially expressed genes (DEGs; 2164). Plant hormone signal transduction (p = 1.97 × 10− 4), protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER; p = 9.04 × 10− 11) and starch and sucrose metabolism (p = 1.90 × 10− 10) pathways were the most markedly enriched pathways in the flag leaves, stems, and seeds, respectively. DEGs involved in sucrose synthesis in the flag leaves, protein processing in ER in the stems, and starch synthesis and protein processing in ER in the seeds were significantly upregulated under C6 compared with C0. Conclusions: Overall, we propose a model for spraying DA-6 after anthesis to regulate metabolic pathways in wheat, which provides new insights into wheat in response to DA-6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Local stress concentration sites and/or microstructural inhomogeneities result in the nucleation and initiation of adiabatic shear bands (ASB). This paper reports the influence of impurities for the initiation and evolution of ASBs in U-2.5 wt%Nb alloy. Both cylindrical specimen and hat-shaped specimen were used to investigate the formation and evolution mechanism of ASBs in U-2.5 wt%Nb alloy using a split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus. It was observed that brittle inclusions such as carbides in all of the specimens break up to form microcracks at very small strain during impact, then the microcracks coalesce and grow with increasing strain, which revealed that the brittle impurities in specimen not only precedes adiabatic shear failure, but also likely to be a dominant micromechanical factor in the very generation of the band. Adiabatic shear fracture occurs in the top end of hat-shaped specimen, it also appears that the microstructural inhomogeneities play more important role in occurrence of ASBs than the geometrical inhomogeneities. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the ductile inclusion of niobium was susceptible to resist the propagation of shear bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignancy with poor prognosis. Complex genetic and epigenetic alterations are the two primary causes of HCC. The aim of the study was mainly to explore the correlation between the methylation status of DNAH17 and HCC. Methods: We evaluated the methylation levels of DNAH17 in 163 HCC samples and their paired normal tissue using Sequenom EpiTYPER assays and performed the TaqMan copy number assay to assess the copy number status of DNAH17 in HCC samples. Results: The mean methylation levels were significantly decreased in the tumor tissues compared to the paired normal tissues in both selected regions of DNAH17 (amplicon 1:58.7% vs 84.5%, P < 0.0001; amplicon 2:69.9% vs 84.5%, P = 0.0060). Contrarily，both RNA‐seq and immunohistochemistry indicated the expression of DNAH17 was increased in tumor tissues (P < 0.05). DNMT inhibitor decitabine treatment could increase the expression of DNAH17 in HCC cell lines. DNAH17 gene amplification always companied with hypomethylation status. Moreover, hypomethylation status was associated with several clinical characteristics, such as male patients, higher AFP values, higher age of onset, fibrous capsules, tumor necrosis, liver cirrhosis, and tumor thrombus (P < 0.05). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated the methylation levels of DNAH17 could efficiently predict the existence of the fibrous capsule (AUC = 0.695) and tumor thrombus (AUC = 0.806). Conclusions: These findings suggested that aberrant methylation of DNAH17 was associated with comprehensive HCC clinicopathological factors and could be a promising biomarker for tumor thrombosis in HCC patients. The aim of the study was to explore the correlation between the methylation status of DNAH17 and HCC. Our findings suggested that aberrant methylation of DNAH17 might contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis and progression and could be a promising biomarker for tumor thrombosis in HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rain image enhancement is important for outdoor computer vision applications. In this study, the authors propose a multi‐stage filtering method for single rainy image enhancement. It is based on their new rainy image model, and consists of two main operations: rain streaks removal and rain fog removal. For rain streaks removal, based on one key observation that the low‐pass version of a rainy image and that of a non‐rainy image of the same scene are almost the same after appropriate low‐pass filtering, they remove rain streaks from rainy images by decomposing an input rainy image (or a rainy component image) into the low‐frequency (LF) part and the high‐frequency (HF) part via an LF smooth filter, i.e. the traditional Gaussian filter with a simple subtraction operation in multiple different stages. After rain streaks removal, dark channel prior‐based method was employed for rain fog removal. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm generated comparable outputs with most of the state‐of‐the‐art algorithms with low computation cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic mechanical analysis was used to investigate the damping behavior of a U–Nb shape memory alloy in various states, including water quenched (WQ), aging (AG), and cold rolling (CR). Internal friction peaks in the U–Nb alloy were identified, as well as their sensitivity to microstructure. The effects of amplitudes on internal friction and storage modulus were more pronounced in the WQ and AG samples than in the CR samples. A relaxation peak at 200 K was discovered in the U–Nb alloy, and its intensity decreased with aging, as did the activation energy for the relaxation event. It may be that the interaction between H and twin boundaries became more active as a result of the local concentration of Nb with aging. There are three transformation peaks in the current U–Nb alloy in the WQ and AG states, corresponding to phase transformations of α"→γ0 and γ0→γ, respectively. The damping behavior of the coarse-grained and fine-grained samples differs only slightly, and grain size (grain boundaries), is not believed to be directly responsible for the difference; instead, twin boundaries as damping sources may dominate the damping behavior of the U–Nb alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deformation twins in cast uranium strained to 4.2% and 6.2% by quasi static compression were investigated using electron backscattered diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Twin types of {130}, ‘{172}’, {112} and ‘{176}’ were observed in present experiment. All the operative twin variants in each twin type have the highest Schmid factor among the equivalent variants. Some {130} twins in cast uranium were inclined to disappear during subsequent loading through the re-twinning processes with Schmid factor values greater than 0.4. The ‘(−176)’ variant was identified by indexing the electron diffraction pattern combining with the stereographic projection analysis. Twin pairs of ‘(−176)’–‘(−17−2)’ occurred in the adjacent grains were well matched with the geometric compatibility factor value of 0.933. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate lung segmentation is an essential step in developing a computer-aided lung disease diagnosis system. However, because of the high variability of computerized tomography (CT) images, it remains a difficult task to accurately segment lung tissue in CT slices using a simple strategy. Motived by the aforementioned, a novel CT lung segmentation method based on the integration of multiple strategies was proposed in this paper. Firstly, in order to avoid noise, the input CT slice was smoothed using the guided filter. Then, the smoothed slice was transformed into a binary image using an optimized threshold. Next, a region growing strategy was employed to extract thorax regions. Then, lung regions were segmented from the thorax regions using a seed-based random walk algorithm. The segmented lung contour was then smoothed and corrected with a curvature-based correction method on each axis slice. Finally, with the lung masks, the lung region was automatically segmented from a CT slice. The proposed method was validated on a CT database consisting of 23 scans, including a number of 883 2D slices (the number of slices per scan is 38 slices), by comparing it to the commonly used lung segmentation method. Experimental results show that the proposed method accurately segmented lung regions in CT slices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the effects of the homogenizing and aging conditions on the microstructural evolution of Al 3 Sc precipitates and the mechanical properties of cast 62Be-37.6Al-0.4Sc alloy were investigated. Stereoscopic observations by selective phase leaching indicated that the dendritic Be matrix remained continuous with weakened secondary dendrite arms compared to those of other cast Be-Al alloys. The activation energy of diffusion Q was calculated to be 160.3 kJ/mol for Sc in the cast alloy though resistivity measurements, which indicated that the diffusion of Sc in the Be matrix could be neglected below 640 °C. The homogenization kinetics curves of the cast alloy were acquired, and the homogenizing conditions were optimized to be 620 °C for 2 h followed by water-quenching. The temporal evolution of the hardness and thermal analysis indicated that Al 3 Sc started precipitating at approximately 250 °C and underwent a coarsening stage when heated at temperatures greater than 300 °C for times longer than 1 h during isochronal aging. The Vickers hardness during isothermal aging revealed four distinct stages in the aging response of the cast alloys, and the aging treatment at 400 °C for 2 h followed by water-quenching was sufficient for considerable precipitation of Al 3 Sc in the as-homogenized alloys. The precipitating behaviors of Al 3 Sc during the aging processes were qualitatively obtained. The coarsening process of the Al 3 Sc precipitates due to the overall increase in the lattice mismatch between Al 3 Sc and Al was illustrated. Notably, it was observed for the first time that secondary Al 3 Sc phases with morphologies controlled by the elastic free energy grew preferentially along certain directions into elongated particles from the larger spherical primary Al 3 Sc particles in the Al matrix. Thermal analysis also revealed that the heating processes influenced the enthalpy needed by the Al matrix during melting and cooling processes owing to the effects of Al 3 Sc particle density and supersaturated solid solution of Sc. • A leaching test showed a continuous Be matrix with weakened secondary dendrite arms. • The activation energy of diffusion of Sc atoms was 160.3 kJ/mol. • Optimal alloy homogenizing conditions were 620 °C/2 h followed by water-quenching. • The precipitating behaviors of Al 3 Sc during aging were qualitatively obtained. • Secondary Al 3 Sc particles grew into elongated particles in preferential directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]