BGT: A blind image quality evaluator via gradient and texture statistical features

Blind image quality assessment (BIQA) aims to design a model that can accurately evaluate the quality of the distorted image without any information about its reference image. Previous studies have shown that gradients and textures of image is widely used in image quality evaluation tasks. However, few studies used the joint statistics of gradient and texture information to evaluate image quality. Considering the visual perception characteristics of the human visual system, we develop a novel general-purpose BIQA model via two sets of complementary perception features. Specifically, the joint statistical histograms of gradient and texture are extracted as the first set of features, and the second set of features is extracted using the local binary pattern (LBP) operator. After extracting two groups of complementary quality-aware features, the feature vectors are sent to the support vector regression machine to establish the nonlinear relationship between quality-aware features and quality scores. A large number of experiments on seven large benchmark databases show that the proposed BIQA model has higher accuracy, better generalization properties and lower computational complexity than the relevant state-of-the-art BIQA metrics.     

Validation of the CALUX bioassay for PCDD/F analyses in human blood plasma and comparison with GC-HRMS

Following the dioxin crisis of 1999, several studies were conducted to assess the impact of this crisis on the dioxin body burden in the Belgian population. The Scientific Institute of Public Health identified a population from whom plasma samples were available and from whom, during the follow up survey, plasma samples were obtained in 2000. In total, 496 samples were collected for GC-HRMS and CALUX analyses to verify statistical assessment conclusions. This study was seen as an opportunity to validate the CALUX bioassay for biological sample analysis and to compare toxic equivalency (TEQ) values obtained by the reference GC-HRMS technique and by the screening method. This article focuses on the validation results of the CALUX bioassay for the analyses of the dioxin fractions of blood plasma. The sample preparation is based on a liquid–liquid extraction, followed by an acid silica in series with an activated carbon clean-up. A good recovery (82%) and reproducibility (coefficient of variation less than 25%) were found for this method. Based on 341 plasma samples, a significant correlation was established between the bioassay and chemical method (R = 0.64). However, a proportional systematic error was observed when the results obtained with the CALUX bioassay were regressed with the results from the GC-HRMS analyses. The limit of quantification (LOQ) used to calculate TEQ values from the GC-HRMS determinations, the use of the relative potency values instead of the toxic equivalent factor and the potential of CALUX bioassay to measure all compounds with affinity for the AhR may partly explain this proportional systematic error. Nevertheless, the present results suggest that the CALUX bioassay could be a promising valid screening method for human blood plasma analyses.     

甲磺酸培氟沙星与人血清白蛋白之间结合模式的研究

采用实验和计算的方法研究了甲磺酸培氟沙星与人血清白蛋白之间的结合作用.荧光法测得甲磺酸培氟沙星与人血清白蛋白形成一种类型的复合物,结合常数为1.7×10⁵ L&;#8226;mol^－1,有1.05个平均结合位点；微量热法测得该药物-蛋白结合过程中焓变为1.03 kJ&;#8226;mol^－1,熵变为101.28 J&;#8226;K^－1&;#8226;mol^－1,反应为熵驱动.用分子对接的方法预测了甲磺酸培氟沙星与人血清白蛋白的结合模式.计算表明,甲磺酸培氟沙星可结合在人血清白蛋白的两个药物结合位点,疏水作用即熵效应在药物与蛋白的结合中起重要作用,预测的结合自由能和实验值基本一致.     

High resolution applications of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for environmental and forensic applications

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been used in the elemental analysis for a variety of environmental samples and as a proof of concept for a host of forensic applications. In the first application, LIBS was used for the rapid detection of carbon from a number of different soil types. In this application, a major breakthrough was achieved by using a multivariate analytical approach that has brought us closer towards a “universal calibration curve”. In a second application, it has been demonstrated that LIBS in combination with multivariate analysis can be employed to analyze the chemical composition of annual tree growth rings and correlate them to external parameters such as changes in climate, forest fires, and disturbances involving human activity. The objectives of using this technology in fire scar determinations are: 1) To determine the characteristic spectra of wood exposed to forest fires and 2) To examine the viability of this technique for detecting fire occurrences in stems that did not develop fire scars. These examples demonstrate that LIBS-based techniques are inherently well suited for diverse environmental applications. LIBS was also applied to a variety of proof of concept forensic applications such as the analysis of cremains (human cremation remains) and elemental composition analysis of prosthetic implants.     

毛细管色谱测定工业糠醇含量

通过对工业糠醇各组分相对重量校正因子和样品进样区间的研究，建立了一种用毛细管气相色谱测定工业糠醇的方法。该方法准确、简便、快速，适用于糠醇生产企业质量控制及检测部门日常检测。     

Capillary gas chromatographic determination of major and minor metabolites of aromatic solvents in human urine

Aromatic solvents are involved in manifold areas of industry and craft. Inhaled solvent vapors are a known health hazard to workers. For medical prevention and toxicological assay specific laboratory methods for urinary metabolites are necessary. An economical capillary gas chromatographic procedure is described which is suitable for routine analysis of major metabolites, sensitive for the determination of minor metabolites, and effective for the separation of chiral metabolic intermediates.     

A validated stripping voltammetric procedure for quantification of the anti-hypertensive and benign prostatic hyperplasia drug terazosin in tablets and human serum

The electrochemical behavior of terazosin at the hanging mercury drop electrode was studied in Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 2-11), acetate buffer (4.5-5.5), and in 0.1 M solution of each of sodium sulfate, sodium nitrate, sodium perchlorate and potassium chloride as supporting electrolytes. The square-wave adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammogram of terazosin exhibited a single well-defined two-electron irreversible cathodic peak which may be attributed to the reduction of CO double bond of the drug molecule. A fully validated, simple, high sensitive, precise and inexpensive square-wave adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetric procedure was described for determination of terazosin in bulk form, tablets and human serum. A mean recovery for 1×10⁻⁸ M terazosin in bulk form, following preconcentration onto the hanging mercury drop electrode for 60 s at a −1.0 V (versus Ag/AgCl/KCl_s), of 99±0.7% (n=5) was obtained. Limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) of 1.5×10⁻¹¹ and 5×10⁻¹¹ M bulk terazosin were achieved, respectively. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to determination of the drug in its Itrin^® tablets and human serum samples. The achieved LOD and LOQ of the drug in human serum samples were 5.3×10⁻¹¹ and 1.8×10⁻¹⁰ M THD, respectively. The pharmacokinetic parameters of the drug in human plasma were estimated as: C_max=77.5 ng ml⁻¹, t_max=1.75 h, AUC_0-t=602.3 ng h ml⁻¹, K_e=0.088 h⁻¹ and t_1/2=11.32 h) which are favorably compared with those reported in literature.     

影响稀土氧化物-钼阴极次级发射性能的因素

通过不同的工艺制备了稀土氧化物-钼(RE2O3-Mo)阴极材料的次级发射体，测定了材料的次级发射性能，采用SEM和能谱分析等手段研究了材料的微观结构。实验结果表明，影响材料次级发射性能的因素有：材料的化学成分、掺杂方式、烧结方法、热激活温度等。所有利于提高材料表面稀土氧化物含量的因素均可以提高材料的次级发射性能，这是因为稀土氧化物中的自由电子比较少，由一次电子激发出的二次电子在离开材料时，与材料体内自由电子碰撞的机会就小，而提高材料的次级发射性能。     

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor activity of substituted anthracene-1,4-diones

Based on a rational approach, 6-substituted 1,4-anthracenediones were synthesized and found to exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against murine and human leukemic cells. The synthetic sequence includes a double Friedel-Crafts reaction, reductive quinone formation, and selective bromination of the alkyl side chain. A key intermediate, 6-bromomethyl-1,4-anthracenedione (10), was synthesized and converted to various active antitumor agents, including a water-soluble phosphate ester pro-drug. The interconversion reactions include displacement of the bromide with various nucleophiles and basic hydrolysis to the alcohol and subsequent oxidation to provide the aldehyde. Based on their ability to decrease L1210 and HL-60 tumor cell viability, 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinones are inactive but 1,4-anthracenediones have interesting antitumor activity, which may be abolished by modification of the A-ring and improved by substitution of the C-ring. The cytostatic and cytotoxic activity of the representative compound 10 was verified at the National Cancer Institute in studies on the 60-human tumor cell line panel in the in vitro antitumor screening. A wide spectrum of tumor cells are sensitive to 10 inhibition, and concentrations required to inhibit tumor cell growth by 50% (GI₅₀) at 48 h are <10 nM in HL-60 and MOLT-4 and 37.1 nM in SR leukemia. Preliminary studies suggest that the molecular targets and mechanisms of action of 10 may be different from those of daunomycin.