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Airborne target tracking is a crucial part of infrared imaging guidance. In contrast to visual tracking tasks, the target in infrared imagery shows different visual patterns. Moreover, severe background clutter and frequent occlusion caused by infrared interference make it a challenging task. Recently, discriminative correlation filter (DCF)‐based trackers have shown impressive performance. However, the features adopted in DCF‐based trackers are either handcrafted or pre‐trained from a different task, which do not closely intertwine with the domain‐specific video. To settle this problem, it is proposed to make full use of online training to learn domain‐specific features. By integrating the correlation filter layer into the convolutional neural networks, the feature domain and the response maps of the DCF can be optimized iteratively in the initial frame. Meanwhile, utilizing the measurement of the response maps' peak strength, further adjustments to the feature domain can be made to achieve a sharper peak and suppress the interference region during the tracking process. Evaluations are conducted to prove the validity of proposed aircraft‐tracking algorithm.

Background Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is one of the more prevalent congenital heart diseases (CHD). The conventional treatment approach involves surgical correction of the coarctation. This procedure, however, can be associated with several complications, such as re-stenosis, aneurysm formation and pseudoaneurysm. One rare but significant complication is left bronchial compression, which may result from anterior displacement of the thoracic aorta or compression of the trachea by adherent tissue. Case presentation We present a case of a 7-month-old postoperative CoA patient who developed stenosis due to compression of the left main bronchus by the thoracic aorta. After comprehensive evaluation, we utilized a fiberoptic bronchoscope to accurately expose the site of aortic compression and subsequently performed bronchial release and aortic suspension procedures to alleviate the symptoms. The child demonstrated a satisfactory recovery following the surgical intervention. This successful case provides valuable insights for managing similar cases in the future. Conclusions Computing tomography (CT) airway reconstruction enables precise diagnosis of tracheal stenosis secondary to aortic arch pathology or coarctation repair. Intraoperative fiberoptic bronchoscopy provides real-time anatomical localization of stenotic segments, warranting standardization in high-risk aortic surgeries to ensure airway patency. Three-dimensional airway modeling should be incorporated into perioperative reassessment and longitudinal follow-up protocols.

In this paper, we focus on developing an algorithm for infrared-imaging guidance that enables the aircraft to be reliably tracked in the event of interference. The key challenge is to track the aircraft with occlusion caused by decoys and drastic appearance changes resulting from a diversity of attacking angles. To address this challenge, an aircraft-tracking algorithm was proposed, which provides robustness in tracking the aircraft against the decoys. We reveal the inherent structure and infrared signature of the aircraft, which are used as discriminative features to track the aircraft. The anti-interference method was developed based on simulated images but validate the effectiveness on both real infrared image sequences without decoys and simulated infrared imagery. For frequent occlusion caused by the decoys, the mechanism of occlusion detection is exploited according to the variation of the model distance in tracking process. To have a comprehensive evaluation of tracking performance, infrared-image sequences with different attack angles were simulated, and experiments on benchmark trackers were performed to quantitatively evaluate tracking performance. The experiment results demonstrate that our aircraft-tracking method performs favorably against state-of-the-art trackers.

Nanoparticles (NPs) have great potential for use in the fields of biomedicine, building materials, and environmental protection because of their antibacterial properties. However, there are few reports regarding the antifungal activities of NPs on plants. In this study, we evaluated the antifungal roles of NPs against , which is a notorious worldwide fungal pathogen. Three common carbon nanomaterials, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, fullerene, and reduced graphene oxide, and three commercial metal oxidant NPs, copper oxide (CuO) NPs, ferric oxide (Fe O ) NPs, and titanium oxides (TiO ) NPs, were independently added to water-agar plates at 50 and 200-mg/L concentrations. Detached rose petals were inoculated with spores of and co-cultured with each of the six nanomaterials. The sizes of the lesions on infected rose petals were measured at 72 h after inoculation, and the growth of fungi on the rose petals was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The six NPs inhibited the growth of , but different concentrations had different effects: 50 mg/L of fullerene and CuO NPs showed the strongest antifungal properties among the treatments, while 200 mg/L of CuO and Fe O showed no significant antifungal activities. Thus, NPs may have antifungal activities that prevent infections in plants, and they could be used as antifungal agents during the growth and post-harvesting of roses and other flowers.

Highly reproducible smoking-associated DNA methylation changes in whole blood have been reported by many Epigenome-Wide-Association Studies (EWAS). These epigenetic alterations could have important implications for understanding and predicting the risk of smoking-related diseases. To this end, it is important to establish if these DNA methylation changes happen in all blood cell subtypes or if they are cell-type specific. Here, we apply a cell-type deconvolution algorithm to identify cell-type specific DNA methylation signals in seven large EWAS. We find that most of the highly reproducible smoking-associated hypomethylation signatures are more prominent in the myeloid lineage. A meta-analysis further identifies a myeloid-specific smoking-associated hypermethylation signature enriched for DNase Hypersensitive Sites in acute myeloid leukemia. These results may guide the design of future smoking EWAS and have important implications for our understanding of how smoking affects immune-cell subtypes and how this may influence the risk of smoking related diseases. Smoking-associated DNA methylation changes in whole blood have been reported by many EWAS. Here, the authors use a cell-type deconvolution algorithm to identify cell-type specific DNA methylation signals in seven EWAS, identifying lineage-specific smoking-associated DNA methylation changes.

Airborne target tracking in infrared imagery remains a challenging task. The airborne target usually has a low signal-to-noise ratio and shows different visual patterns. The features adopted in the visual tracking algorithm are usually deep features pre-trained on ImageNet, which are not tightly coupled with the current video domain and therefore might not be optimal for infrared target tracking. To this end, we propose a new approach to learn the domain-specific features, which can be adapted to the current video online without pre-training on a large datasets. Considering that only a few samples of the initial frame can be used for online training, general feature representations are encoded to the network for a better initialization. The feature learning module is flexible and can be integrated into tracking frameworks based on correlation filters to improve the baseline method. Experiments on airborne infrared imagery are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our tracking algorithm.

The rapid emergence and global dissemination of colistin resistance pose a critical threat to public health by limiting therapeutic options against Gram-negative infections. In this study, we report that bakuchiol (BAK), a natural antioxidant meroterpenoid, significantly restores colistin (COL) efficacy against a range of clinically relevant Gram-negative pathogens, including colistin-resistant strains. The combination of BAK and COL reduced the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of colistin by 8- to 32-fold, indicating strong synergistic antibacterial activity. Mechanistic studies revealed that BAK disrupts bacterial iron homeostasis via chelation-mediated intracellular iron depletion and concurrently compromises membrane integrity through interaction with phospholipids. This dual action induces collapse of the proton motive force and severe metabolic dysfunction. Importantly, the BAK–COL combination exhibited no detectable toxicity and demonstrated potent in vivo efficacy in a Galleria mellonella infection model. Furthermore, formulation with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) markedly improved the solubility and sustained the synergistic effects of BAK over a broad concentration range. Our findings highlight the potential of bakuchiol as a novel antioxidant adjuvant and provide a promising combinatory strategy for overcoming multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

Solar arrays are the primary energy source for spacecraft. Although traditional rigid solar arrays improve power supply, the quality increases proportionally. Hence, it is difficult to satisfy the requirements of high-power and low-cost space applications. In this study, a shape-memory polymer composite (SMPC) boom was designed, fabricated, and characterized for flexible reel-type solar arrays. The SMPC boom was fabricated from a smart material, a shape-memory polymer composite, whose mechanical properties were tested. Additionally, a mathematical model of the bending stiffness of the SMPC boom was developed, and the bending and buckling behaviors of the boom were further analyzed using the ABAQUS software. An SMPC boom was fabricated to demonstrate its shape memory characteristics, and the driving force of the booms with varying geometric parameters was investigated. We also designed and manufactured a reel-type solar array based on an SMPC boom and verified its self-deployment capability. The results indicated that the SMPC boom can be used as a deployable unit to roll out flexible solar arrays.

Hair conditions, such as hair loss and graying, are prevalent human conditions. But they are often poorly controlled due to our insufficient understanding of human scalp hair follicle (hsHF) in health and disease. Here we describe a comprehensive single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) analysis on highly purified black and early-stage graying hsHFs. Based on these, a concise single-cell atlas for hsHF and its early graying changes is generated and verified using samples from multiple independent individuals. These data reveal the lineage trajectory of hsHF in unprecedented detail and uncover its multiple unexpected features not found in mouse HFs, including the presence of an innerbulge like compartment in the growing phase, lack of a discrete companion layer, and enrichment of EMT features in HF stem cells (HFSCs). Moreover, we demonstrate that besides melanocyte depletion, early-stage human hair graying is also associated with specific depletion of matrix hair progenitors but not HFSCs. The hair progenitors’ depletion is accompanied by their P53 pathway activation whose pharmaceutical blockade can ameliorate hair graying in mice, enlightening a promising therapeutic avenue for this prevalent hair condition.

Human ear morphology, a complex anatomical structure represented by a multidimensional set of correlated and heritable phenotypes, has a poorly understood genetic architecture. In this study, we quantitatively assessed 136 ear morphology traits using deep learning analysis of digital face images in 14,921 individuals from five different cohorts in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Through GWAS meta-analysis and C-GWASs, a recently introduced method to effectively combine GWASs of many traits, we identified 16 genetic loci involved in various ear phenotypes, eight of which have not been previously associated with human ear features. Our findings suggest that ear morphology shares genetic determinants with other surface ectoderm-derived traits such as facial variation, mono eyebrow, and male pattern baldness. Our results enhance the genetic understanding of human ear morphology and shed light on the shared genetic contributors of different surface ectoderm-derived phenotypes. Additionally, gene editing experiments in mice have demonstrated that knocking out the newly ear-associated gene ( Intu ) and a previously ear-associated gene ( Tbx15 ) causes deviating mouse ear morphology.