CLIP-Driven Prototype Network for Few-Shot Semantic Segmentation.

Recent research has shown that visual-text pretrained models perform well in traditional vision tasks. CLIP, as the most influential work, has garnered significant attention from researchers. Thanks to its excellent visual representation capabilities, many recent studies have used CLIP for pixel-level tasks. We explore the potential abilities of CLIP in the field of few-shot segmentation. The current mainstream approach is to utilize support and query features to generate class prototypes and then use the prototype features to match image features. We propose a new method that utilizes CLIP to extract text features for a specific class. These text features are then used as training samples to participate in the model's training process. The addition of text features enables model to extract features that contain richer semantic information, thus making it easier to capture potential class information. To better match the query image features, we also propose a new prototype generation method that incorporates multi-modal fusion features of text and images in the prototype generation process. Adaptive query prototypes were generated by combining foreground and background information from the images with the multi-modal support prototype, thereby allowing for a better matching of image features and improved segmentation accuracy. We provide a new perspective to the task of few-shot segmentation in multi-modal scenarios. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed method achieves excellent results on two common datasets, PASCAL-5i and COCO-20i.

Synthesis of plant-derived cholesterol from bisnoralcohol.

Currently, the market demand of the non-animal-derived cholesterol is increasing. A novel synthetic route of producing cholesterol was developed through multiple reactions from plant-sourced and commercially available bisnoralcohol (BA). The key reaction conditions, including solvents, reaction temperatures, bases and reducing agents of the route were investigated and optimized. In this straightforward synthetic pathway of cholesterol, most of the reaction steps possess high conversions with average yields of 94%, and the overall yield is up to 74% (5 steps) from the BA. The epicholesterol and were also synthesized. This promising route offers economical and efficient strategies for potential large-scale production of plant-derived cholesterol.

Highly Sensitive Flow Sensor Based on Flexible Dual-Layer Heating Structures.

Hot film sensors detect the flow shear stress based on the forced convection heat transfer to the fluid. Current hot film sensors have been significantly hindered by the relatively low sensitivity due to the massive heat conduction to the substrate. This paper describes the design, fabrication, simulation, and testing of a novel flow sensor with dual-layer hot film structures. More specifically, the heat conduction was insulated from the sensing heater to the substrate by controlling both sensing and guarding heaters working at the same temperature, resulting in a higher sensitivity. The experiment and simulation results showed that the sensitivity of the dual-layer hot film sensor was significantly improved in comparison to the single-layer sensor. Additionally, the dual-layer sensor was designed and fabricated in an integrated, flexible, and miniaturized manner. Its small size makes it an excellent candidate for flow detection.

Cadmium induced hepatotoxicity in chickens (Gallus domesticus) and ameliorative effect by selenium.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic metal compounds released into the environment. It was well known that Cd induced hepatotoxicity in animal models. However, little is known about the negative effects of Cd toxicity in the liver of birds. To investigate the Cd hepatotoxicity in birds and the protective effects of selenium (Se) against subchronic exposure to dietary Cd, 100-day-old cocks received either Se (as 10mg Na2SeO3 per kg of diet), Cd (as 150mg CdCl2 per kg of diet) or Cd+Se in their diets for 60 days. Histological and ultrastructural changes in the liver, the concentrations of Cd and Se, the lipid peroxidation (LPO) and nitric oxide (NO) production, the activities of the antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activities and apoptosis were determined. Exposure to Cd significantly reduced SOD and GPx activity, Se content in the liver tissue. It increased the LPO and NO production, the numbers of apoptotic cells and Cd concentration and caused obvious histopathological changes in the liver. Concurrent treatment with Se reduced the Cd-induced liver histopathological changes, oxidative stress, overexpression of NO and apoptosis, suggesting that the toxic effects of Cd on the liver is partly ameliorated by inorganic Se. Se supplementation also modified the distribution of Cd in the liver.

High-level expression, purification and characterization of codon-optimized recombinant hemagglutinin 5 proteins in mammalian cells.

BACKGROUND: Numerous Asian cases of avian influenza virus infection, especially the highly pathogenic strain H5N1, in humans have raised the concern that another influenza pandemic is close. However, there are no effective therapeutic drugs or preventative vaccines available. Hemagglutinin is the membrane glycoprotein of avian influenza virus responsible for receptor binding to human cells and the main immunogenic protein that elicits a strong immune response. Although this protein is of great importance to the study of pathogenesis and vaccine development, its expression and purification are difficult due to high levels of glycosylation. METHODS: In this study, we expressed codon-optimized, full-length hemagglutinin 5 (H5) protein fused with a human IgG Fc tag (H5-Fc) in HEK293 cells. To enhance secretion of this protein, we also deleted the transmembrane domain and the intracellular domain of the H5 protein (H5DeltaTM-Fc). Purified proteins were obtained using a protein A column. RESULTS: ELISA revealed that the yield of soluble H5DeltaTM-Fc protein in the supernatant was about 20 mg/L. Western blotting and fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) indicated that the purified H5 protein was correctly folded and biologically active. CONCLUSION: Purification of H5 proteins from mammalian cells could be used for large-scale production of recombinant H5 protein for basic scientific research or the development of vaccines.

[Establishment of high-throughput drug screening model targeting retinoic acid receptor in cells].

AIM: To screen new drug for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia, psoriasis and acne, high-throughput drug screening cell models marked by green fluorescent protein (GFP) have been established. METHODS: Eight repeats of retinoic acid response element (RARE) were synthesized and cloned into a GFP expression vector. This construct was stably transfected into cells in vitro. Stable and sensitive cell clones with high copy numbers of RARE were selected by retinoic acid (RA) using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). RESULTS: A cell line has been chosen to be high-throughput drug screening cell model. This model was shown with low background, high sensitive and good reproducibility, and was convenient and inexpensive. CONCLUSION: This drug screening cell model can be used for retinoic acid receptor target high-throughput drug screening.