Unsupervised Segmentation of Stereoscopic Video Objects: Constrained Segmentation Fusion Versus Greedy Active Contours

In this paper, we present a novel memory access reduction scheme (MARS) for two-dimension fast cosine transform (2-D FCT). It targets programmable DSPs with high memory-access latency. It reduces the number of memory accesses by: 1) reducing the number of weighting factors and 2) combining butterflies in vector-radix 2-D FCT pruning diagram from two stages to one stage with an efficient structure. Hardware platform based on general purpose processor is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for vector-radix 2-D FCT pruning implementation. Experimental results validate the benefits of the proposed method with reduced memory access, less clock cycle and fewer memory space compared with the conventional implementation.     

Nanomaterials for radiotherapeutics-based multimodal synergistic cancer therapy

Over the past decade, numerous studies have attempted to enhance the effectiveness of radiotherapy (external beam radiotherapy and internal radioisotope therapy) for cancer treatment. However, the low radiation absorption coefficient and radiation resistance of tumors remain major critical challenges for radiotherapy in the clinic. With the development of nanomedicine, nanomaterials in combination with radiotherapy offer the possibility to improve the efficiency of radiotherapy in tumors. Nanomaterials act not only as radiosensitizers to enhance radiation energy, but also as nanocarriers to deliver therapeutic units in combating radiation resistance. In this review, we discuss opportunities for a synergistic cancer therapy by combining radiotherapy based on nanomaterials designed for chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, gas therapy, genetic therapy, and immunotherapy. We highlight how nanomaterials can be utilized to amplify antitumor radiation responses and describe cooperative enhancement interactions among these synergistic therapies. Moreover, the potential challenges and future prospects of radio-based nanomedicine to maximize their synergistic efficiency for cancer treatment are identified.

     

Sperm metabolism is altered during storage by female insects: evidence from two-photon autofluorescence lifetime measurements in bedbugs

We explore the possibility of characterizing sperm cells without the need to stain them using spectral and fluorescence lifetime analyses after multi-photon excitation in an insect model. The autofluorescence emission spectrum of sperm of the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, was consistent with the presence of flavins and NAD(P)H. The mean fluorescence lifetimes showed smaller variation in sperm extracted from the male (tau m, τ_m = 1.54–1.84 ns) than in that extracted from the female sperm storage organ (tau m, τ_m = 1.26–2.00 ns). The fluorescence lifetime histograms revealed four peaks. These peaks (0.18, 0.92, 2.50 and 3.80 ns) suggest the presence of NAD(P)H and flavins and show that sperm metabolism can be characterized using fluorescence lifetime imaging. The difference in fluorescence lifetime variation between the sexes is consistent with the notion that female animals alter the metabolism of sperm cells during storage. It is not consistent, however, with the idea that sperm metabolism represents a sexually selected character that provides females with information about the male genotype.