When mosaicking orthoimages, especially in urban areas with various obvious ground objects like buildings, roads, cars or trees, the detection of optimal seamlines is one of the key technologies for creating seamless and pleasant image mosaics. In this paper, we propose a new approach to detect optimal seamlines for orthoimage mosaicking with the use of deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and graph cuts. Deep CNNs have been widely used in many fields of computer vision and photogrammetry in recent years, and graph cuts is one of the most widely used energy optimization frameworks. We first propose a deep CNN for land cover semantic segmentation in overlap regions between two adjacent images. Then, the energy cost of each pixel in the overlap regions is defined based on the classification probabilities of belonging to each of the specified classes. To find the optimal seamlines globally, we fuse the CNN-classified energy costs of all pixels into the graph cuts energy minimization framework. The main advantage of our proposed method is that the pixel similarity energy costs between two images are defined using the classification results of the CNN based semantic segmentation instead of using the image informations of color, gradient or texture as traditional methods do. Another advantage of our proposed method is that the semantic informations are fully used to guide the process of optimal seamline detection, which is more reasonable than only using the hand designed features defined to represent the image differences. Finally, the experimental results on several groups of challenging orthoimages show that the proposed method is capable of finding high-quality seamlines among urban and non-urban orthoimages, and outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms and the commercial software based on the visual comparison, statistical evaluation and quantitative evaluation based on the structural similarity (SSIM) index. Full article

Occupant behavior has a significant impact on building energy performance. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the stochastic characteristics of manual solar shades and their influence on building energy performance. A co-simulation for occupants’ stochastic control of manual solar shades was conducted and the statistic indicators (non-parameter tests and autocorrelation function) were calculated in order to identify potential occupant behavior patterns. The results show that occupants’ stochastic shade control behavior among different seasons is not statistically different and that shade control behavior is not completely stochastic. Meanwhile, the trend in the fluctuation of Sc changes with time. Furthermore, a new index was introduced to evaluate the effectiveness of manual solar shades in terms of energy performance. The result shows that the effectiveness of manual solar shades is only between 39.8% and 81.3%, compared with automatically controlled shades, and there is a large potential for improving the effectiveness of manual solar shades in different seasons. Full article

Natto, a fermented soybean product, has been consumed as a traditional food in Japan for thousands of years. Nattokinase (NK), a potent blood-clot dissolving protein used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, is produced by the bacterium Bacillus subtilis during the fermentation of soybeans to produce Natto. NK has been extensively studied in Japan, Korea, and China. Recently, the fibrinolytic (anti-clotting) capacity of NK has been recognized by Western medicine. The National Science Foundation in the United States has investigated and evaluated the safety of NK. NK is currently undergoing a clinical trial study (Phase II) in the USA for atherothrombotic prevention. Multiple NK genes have been cloned, characterized, and produced in various expression system studies. Recombinant technology represents a promising approach for the production of NK with high purity for its use in antithrombotic applications. This review covers the history, benefit, safety, and production of NK. Opportunities for utilizing plant systems for the large-scale production of NK, or for the production of edible plants that can be used to provide oral delivery of NK without extraction and purification are also discussed. Full article

In this paper, we propose a unified framework to generate a pleasant and high-quality street-view panorama by stitching multiple panoramic images captured from the cameras mounted on the mobile platform. Our proposed framework is comprised of four major steps: image warping, color correction, optimal seam line detection and image blending. Since the input images are captured without a precisely common projection center from the scenes with the depth differences with respect to the cameras to different extents, such images cannot be precisely aligned in geometry. Therefore, an efficient image warping method based on the dense optical flow field is proposed to greatly suppress the influence of large geometric misalignment at first. Then, to lessen the influence of photometric inconsistencies caused by the illumination variations and different exposure settings, we propose an efficient color correction algorithm via matching extreme points of histograms to greatly decrease color differences between warped images. After that, the optimal seam lines between adjacent input images are detected via the graph cut energy minimization framework. At last, the Laplacian pyramid blending algorithm is applied to further eliminate the stitching artifacts along the optimal seam lines. Experimental results on a large set of challenging street-view panoramic images captured form the real world illustrate that the proposed system is capable of creating high-quality panoramas. Full article

Daylight plays a significant role in sustainable building design. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of manual solar shades on indoor visual comfort. A developed stochastic model for manual solar shades was modeled in Building Controls Virtual Test Bed, which was coupled with EnergyPlus for co-simulation. Movable solar shades were compared with two unshaded windows. Results show that movable solar shades have more than half of the working hours with a comfortable illuminance level, which is about twice higher than low-e windows, with a less significant daylight illuminance fluctuation. For glare protection, movable solar shades increase comfortable visual conditions by about 20% compared to low-e windows. Moreover, the intolerable glare perception could be reduced by more than 20% for movable solar shades. Full article

In 2009, Xu et al. presented a safe, dynamic, id-based on remote user authentication method that has several advantages such as freely chosen passwords and mutual authentication. In this paper, we review the Xu–Zhu–Feng scheme and indicate many shortcomings in their scheme. Impersonation attacks and insider attacks could be effective. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a secure biometric-based remote authentication scheme using biometric characteristics of hand-geometry, which is aimed at withstanding well-known attacks and achieving good performance. Furthermore, our work contains many crucial merits such as mutual authentication, user anonymity, freely chosen passwords, secure password changes, session key agreements, revocation by using personal biometrics, and does not need extra device or software for hand geometry in the login phase. Additionally, our scheme is highly efficient and withstands existing known attacks like password guessing, server impersonation, insider attacks, denial of service (DOS) attacks, replay attacks, and parallel-session attacks. Compared with the other related schemes, our work is powerful both in communications and computation costs. Full article

Plant molecular farming (PMF), defined as the practice of using plants to produce human therapeutic proteins, has received worldwide interest. PMF has grown and advanced considerably over the past two decades. A number of therapeutic proteins have been produced in plants, some of which have been through pre-clinical or clinical trials and are close to commercialization. Plants have the potential to mass-produce pharmaceutical products with less cost than traditional methods. Tobacco-derived antibodies have been tested and used to combat the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Genetically engineered immunoadhesin (DPP4-Fc) produced in green plants has been shown to be able to bind to MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), preventing the virus from infecting lung cells. Biosafety concerns (such as pollen contamination and immunogenicity of plant-specific glycans) and costly downstream extraction and purification requirements, however, have hampered PMF production from moving from the laboratory to industrial application. In this review, the challenges and opportunities of PMF are discussed. Topics addressed include; transformation and expression systems, plant bioreactors, safety concerns, and various opportunities to produce topical applications and health supplements. Full article

Calpain 3 (CAPN3), also known as p94, is a skeletal muscle-specific member of the calpain family that is involved in muscular dystrophy; however, the roles of CAPN3 in muscular atrophy and regeneration are yet to be understood. In the present study, we attempted to explain the effect of CAPN3 in muscle atrophy by evaluating CAPN3 expression in rat gastrocnemius muscle following reversible sciatic nerve injury. After nerve injury, the wet weight ratio and cross sectional area (CSA) of gastrocnemius muscle were decreased gradually from 1–14 days and then recovery from 14–28 days. The active form of CAPN3 (~62 kDa) protein decreased slightly on day 3 and then increased from day 7 to 14 before a decrease from day 14 to 28. The result of linear correlation analysis showed that expression of the active CAPN3 protein level was negatively correlated with muscle wet weight ratio. CAPN3 knockdown by short interfering RNA (siRNA) injection improved muscle recovery on days 7 and 14 after injury as compared to that observed with control siRNA treatment. Depletion of CAPN3 gene expression could promote myoblast differentiation in L6 cells. Based on these findings, we conclude that the expression pattern of the active CAPN3 protein is linked to muscle atrophy and regeneration following denervation: its upregulation during early stages may promote satellite cell renewal by inhibiting differentiation, whereas in later stages, CAPN3 expression may be downregulated to stimulate myogenic differentiation and enhance recovery. These results provide a novel mechanistic insight into the role of CAPN3 protein in muscle regeneration after peripheral nerve injury. Full article

Electrospinning is a rapidly growing polymer processing technology as it provides a viable and simple method to create ultra-fine continuous fibers. This paper presents an in-depth review of the mechanical properties of electrospun fibers and particularly focuses on methodologies to generate high strength and high modulus nanofibers. As such, it aims to provide some guidance to future research activities in the area of high performance electrospun fibers. Full article

Design improvement is critical for achieving a low-cost and high energy-efficient building with low carbon emissions. Thus, designers need to consider many factors (such as energy, economic and environmental performance) in the early design stage. This paper presents a multi-objective analysis for better building design and compares the EDH-based design improvements (introduced by the author in a previous work, EDH means energy difference between households) with seven potential improvement measures commonly used in achieving a better overall performance for the energy, economy and environment. A typical residential building in China was modeled for a number of simulations, and the simulation results were used to carry out a life cycle-based performance analysis. Seven potential improvement options that are commonly used are compared, and the results show that it is difficult to identify an option that has a better performance in all these three aspects. On the other hand, EDH-based design improvement achieves relatively high energy, economic and environmental performance compared to the former seven options. Moreover, EDH-based design improvement can provide designers with flexible options to select from in order to address diverse demands for building aesthetics, function, and so on, or to avoid potential difficulties when some kinds of materials or measures that are planned to be used are unavailable locally. Full article

Eviprostat is a popular phytotherapeutic agent for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). At present, the signaling mechanisms underlying its therapeutic effects are still poorly understood. Given that cAMP has been reported to suppress cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy in various pathological situations, we asked whether the effect of Eviprostat could be ascribed to the activation of the cAMP signaling pathway. In the study, exposure of cAMP response element (CRE)-secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) (CRE-SEAP)-reporter cells to Eviprostat elevated SEAP secretion, which was associated with an increased phosphorylation of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) and cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB), as well as enhanced expression of CRE-regulated protein connexin43, indicating an activation of the cAMP signaling pathway. Consistent with these observations, Eviprostat-induced expression of Cx43 was abolished in the presence of adenylyl cyclase inhibitor SQ22536 or PKA inhibitor H89, whereas it was mimicked by adenylyl cyclase activator, forskolin. Further analysis demonstrated that Eviprostat significantly potentiated the effect of phosphodiesterase 3 (PDE3) inhibitor, but not that of PDE4 inhibitor, on CRE activation. Moreover, Eviprostat suppressed PDGF-induced activation of ERK and Akt and inhibited cell proliferation and hillock formation in both mesangial cells and bladder smooth muscle cells. Collectively, activation of the cAMP signaling pathway could be an important mechanism by which Eviprostat exerts its therapeutic effects for LUTS. Full article