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Simple Summary: In the process of large-scale cage chicken breeding, using inspection robots instead of manual detection can solve the problems of large workload and low detection efficiency. However, poor driving stability of an inspection robot will lead to low inspection accuracy. In order to ensure high efficiency, accuracy, and stability of detection, this study takes the stability of visual navigation for inspection robots as the optimization goal, and designs an efficient and accurate road extraction algorithm and a navigation line fitting algorithm with better robustness. The experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this study can improve the stability of detection, achieve a faster running speed, and achieve a better detection effect and a higher detection efficiency while keeping the detection effect unchanged. The navigation algorithm can accelerate the automation process of large-scale cage chicken breeding and promote the realization of fast and accurate monitoring. The speed and accuracy of navigation road extraction and driving stability affect the inspection accuracy of cage chicken coop inspection robots. In this paper, a new grayscale factor (4B-3R-2G) was proposed to achieve fast and accurate road extraction, and a navigation line fitting algorithm based on the road boundary features was proposed to improve the stability of the algorithm. The proposed grayscale factor achieved 92.918% segmentation accuracy, and the speed was six times faster than the deep learning model. The experimental results showed that at the speed of 0.348 m/s, the maximum deviation of the visual navigation was 4 cm, the average deviation was 1.561 cm, the maximum acceleration was 1.122 m/s2, and the average acceleration was 0.292 m/s2, with the detection number and accuracy increased by 21.125% and 1.228%, respectively. Compared with inertial navigation, visual navigation can significantly improve the navigation accuracy and stability of the inspection robot and lead to better inspection effects. The visual navigation system proposed in this paper has better driving stability, higher inspection efficiency, better inspection effect, and lower operating costs, which is of great significance to promote the automation process of large-scale cage chicken breeding and realize rapid and accurate monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional reflective optical surface with adjustable reflection characteristics requires a complex external power source. The complicated structure and preparation process of the power system leads to the limited modulation of the reflective properties and difficulty of use in large-scale applications. Inspired by the biological compound eye, different microstructures are utilized to modulate the optical performance. Convex aspheric micromirror arrays (MMAs) can increase the luminance gain while expanding the field of view, with a luminance gain wide angle > 90° and a field-of-view wide angle close to 180°, which has the reflective characteristics of a large gain wide angle and a large field-of-view wide angle. Concave aspheric micromirror arrays can increase the luminance gain by a relatively large amount of up to 2.66, which has the reflective characteristics of high gain. Industrial-level production and practical applications in the projection display segment were carried out. The results confirmed that convex MMAs are able to realize luminance gain over a wide spectrum and a wide range of angles, and concave MMAs are able to substantially enhance luminance gain, which may provide new opportunities in developing advanced reflective optical surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We designed AM1241, a selective C[B.sub.2] cannabinoid receptor agonist, and used it to test the hypothesis that C[B.sub.2] receptor activation would reverse the sensory hypersensitivity observed in neuropathic pain states. AM 1241 exhibits high affinity and selectivity for C[B.sup.2] receptors. It also exhibits high potency in vivo. AM1241 dose-dependently reversed tactile and thermal hypersensitivity produced by ligation of the L5 and L6 spinal nerves in rats. These effects were selectively antagonized by a C[B.sub.2] but not by a C[B.sub.1] receptor antagonist, suggesting that they were produced by actions of AM1241 at C[B.sub.2] receptors. AM1241 was also active in blocking spinal nerve ligation-induced tactile and thermal hypersensitivity in mice lacking C[B.sub.1] receptors (C[B.sub.1-/-] mice), confirming that AM1241 reverses sensory hypersensitivity independent of actions at C[B.sub.1] receptors. These findings demonstrate a mechanism leading to the inhibition of pain, one that targets receptors localized exclusively outside the CNS. Further, they suggest the potential use of C[B.sub.2] receptor-selective agonists for treatment of human neuropathic pain, a condition currently without consistently effective therapies. C[B.sub.2] receptor-selective agonist medications are predicted to be without the CNS side effects that limit the effectiveness of currently available medications.

In order to evaluate the effect of laser interference under non-cooperative conditions, a new method was proposed to evaluate the effect of laser interference by using "cat-eye" echo intensity by the forming principle of "cat-eye effect". The influence of laser incidence angle, laser jamming power, and distance on the echo power of "cat-eye" was analyzed. The relationship between the power of "cat-eye" echo and the laser jamming effect of the photoelectric imaging system was obtained. The results show that the echo power of the "cat-eye" was mostly affected by the laser interference distance and the interference laser incidence angle, and the echo power and interference duration decreased significantly when the distance of the echo detector from the laser source exceeded 50m while jamming anti-tank missiles. It was feasible to apply the principle of "cat-eye" effect to evaluate the effect of laser directional jamming in real time. The conclusion had certain reference significance for laser directional jamming equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metalloprotease ADAMTS-5 is considered a potentialtarget forthe treatment of osteoarthritis. To identify selective inhibitorsof ADAMTS-5, we employed encoded library technology (ELT), which enablesaffinity selection of small molecule binders from complex mixturesby DNA tagging. Selection of ADAMTS-5 against a four-billion memberELT library led to a novel inhibitor scaffold not containing a classicalzinc-binding functionality. One exemplar, (R)-N-((1-(4-(but-3-en-1-ylamino)-6-(((2-(thiophen-2-yl)thiazol-4-yl)methyl)amino)-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)pyrrolidin-2-yl)methyl)-4-propylbenzenesulfonamide(8), inhibited ADAMTS-5 with IC50= 30 nM,showing >50-fold selectivity against ADAMTS-4 and >1000-foldselectivityagainst ADAMTS-1, ADAMTS-13, MMP-13, and TACE. Extensive SAR studiesshowed that potency and physicochemical properties of the scaffoldcould be further improved. Furthermore, in a human osteoarthritiscartilage explant study, compounds 8and 15finhibited aggrecanase-mediated 374ARGS neoepitope releasefrom aggrecan and glycosaminoglycan in response to IL-1β/OSMstimulation. This study provides the first small molecule evidencefor the critical role of ADAMTS-5 in human cartilage degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G-protein coupled receptors exist in both high and low agonist affinity conformations, with tracer levels of agonist radioligands preferentially binding to the former. The goal of the present study was to characterize the in vivo binding of the aminoalkyindole-based, CB1 receptor agonist, R-[125/131I]AM2233 ((2-[125/131I]iodo-phenyl)-[1-(1-methyl-piperidin-2-yl-methyl)-1 H-indol-3-yl]-methanone), and to use this radiotracer to selectively measure the receptor occupancy by the related CB1 receptor agonist, WIN55212-2, to the agonist-preferring affinity state of the receptor. In mouse locomotor assays, both WIN55212-2 and AM2233 (racemic) produced an ∼60% reduction in activity at 1 mg/kg, (i.v.) and completely inhibited activity at 3 mg/kg, confirming their agonist nature. In ex vivo autoradiography, preferential uptake of R-[131I]AM2233 was apparent in CB1 receptor-rich areas, including globus pallidus, substantia nigra, striatum, cerebellum, and hippocampus. Overall brain uptake of R-[131I]AM2233 was 1.3% injected activity/g at 5 min in mice. Coinjection of 3 mg/kg (i.v.) SR141716A, a CB1 receptor antagonist, with R-[125I]AM2233 inhibited the radiotracer binding almost to nonspecific levels in the striatum, globus pallidus, and substantia nigra, although residual binding to a non-CB1 receptor remained in the hippocampus. In contrast to the effect of SR141716A, coinjection of 10 mg/kg (i.v.) WIN55212-2, a high dose that produced an immediate and profound immobility and catalepsy in the mice, reduced CB1 receptor-specific binding of R-[125I]AM2233 in CB1 receptor-rich areas by only 21-43%. These observations suggest that the behavioral effects of CB1 receptor agonists are manifested with a relatively small fraction of the agonist-preferring affinity state of the receptor occupied. Synapse 60:93-101, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms16081 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an alpha-ketothiazole arginine moiety as a key recognition element, a series of small peptidomimetic molecules was designed and synthesized, and their co-crystal structures with factor XIa were studied in an effort to develop smaller, less peptidic inhibitors as antithrombotic agents.