MST-YOLO: Small Object Detection Model for Autonomous Driving.

Autonomous vehicles operating in public transportation spaces must rapidly and accurately detect all potential hazards in their surroundings to execute appropriate actions such as yielding, lane changing, and overtaking. This capability is a prerequisite for achieving advanced autonomous driving. In autonomous driving scenarios, distant objects are often small, which increases the risk of detection failures.

BinVPR: Binary Neural Networks towards Real-Valued for Visual Place Recognition.

Visual Place Recognition (VPR) aims to determine whether a robot or visual navigation system locates in a previously visited place using visual information. It is an essential technology and challenging problem in computer vision and robotic communities. Recently, numerous works have demonstrated that the performance of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based VPR is superior to that of traditional methods.

Immunological alterations in the endothelial barrier: a new predictive and therapeutic paradigm for sepsis.

Introduction: Despite the fact incidence and mortality vary widely among regions, sepsis remains a major cause of morbidity and cost worldwide. The importance of the endothelial barrier in sepsis and infectious diseases is increasingly recognized; however, the underlying pathophysiology of the endothelial barrier in sepsis remains poorly understood.

Areas Covered: Here we review the advances in basic and clinical research for relevant papers in PubMed database.

Ulinastatin protects against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats via Rho/ROCK signaling pathway.

We aimed to study the influences of ulinastatin on diseased myocardial tissues, cardiomyocyte apoptosis and inflammatory reaction in rats with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) via the Ras homolog (Rho)/Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) signaling pathway and its mechanism. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group (C group), IR model group (IR group) and IR model + ulinastatin treatment group (UR group). The pathological changes in myocardial tissues were detected via HE staining, the markers of myocardial injury were examined using kits, and apoptosis was determined through TUNEL assay.

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced endothelial activation and dysfunction: a new predictive and therapeutic paradigm for sepsis.

Background: Lipopolysaccharide, a highly potent endotoxin responsible for severe sepsis, is the major constituent of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. Endothelial cells participate in both innate and adaptive immune responses as the first cell types to detect lipopolysaccharide or other foreign debris in the bloodstream. Endothelial cells are able to recognize the presence of LPS and recruit specific adaptor proteins to the membrane domains of TLR4, thereby initiating an intracellular signaling cascade.

The role of ubiquitination in microbial infection induced endothelial dysfunction: potential therapeutic targets for sepsis.

Introduction: The ubiquitin system is an evolutionarily conserved and universal means of protein modification that regulates many essential cellular processes. Endothelial dysfunction plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of sepsis and organ failure. However, the mechanisms underlying the ubiquitination-mediated regulation on endothelial dysfunction are not fully understood.

Protective effects of tanshinone ⅡA on sepsis-induced multiple organ dysfunction: a literature review.

TanshinoneⅡA (TanⅡA) is a noteworthy lipophilic diterpene compound derived from the dried roots of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Danshen () that has various pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidative effects. Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction induced by a dysregulated host response to infection. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to sepsis-induced dysfunction of the intestine, car-diovascular system, lungs, kidneys, liver, and other organs.

Serum levels of angiopoietin 2 mRNA in the mortality outcome prediction of septic shock.

It has been reported that angiopoietin 2 (Ang-2) plays an integral role in the pathophysiology of sepsis and many other inflammatory diseases. However, the specific role of Ang-2 in septic shock has not been defined. The aim of the present study was to assess the predictive value of serum Ang-2 in patients with septic shock.

Novel insights into the pathogenesis of virus-induced ARDS: review on the central role of the epithelial-endothelial barrier.

Respiratory viruses can directly or indirectly damage the pulmonary defense barrier, potentially contributing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Despite developments in the understanding of the pathogenesis of ARDS, the underlying pathophysiology still needs to be elucidated. The PubMed database was reviewed for relevant papers published up to 2021.

Traditional Chinese medicine shenhuang granule in patients with severe/critical COVID-19: A randomized controlled multicenter trial.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still a pandemic, with a high mortality rate in severe/critical cases. Therapies based on the Shenghuang Granule have proved helpful in viral infection and septic shock.

Hypothesis/purpose: The objective of the current study was to compare the efficacy and safety of the traditional Chinese medicine, Shenhuang Granule, with standard care in hospitalized patients with severe/critical COVID-19.

Clinical Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenhuang Granule in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: A Single-Centered, Retrospective, Observational Study.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a public health emergency of global concern. In China, traditional Chinese medicine has been widely administered to COVID-19 patients without sufficient evidence. To evaluate the efficacy of Shenhuang Granule (SHG) for treating critically ill patients with COVID-19, we included in this study 118 patients who were admitted to the ICU of Tongji Hospital between January 28, 2020 and March 28, 2020.

The protective effect of tanshinone IIa on endothelial cells: a generalist among clinical therapeutics.

Introduction: Tanshinone IIa (TSA) has been approved to treat cardiovascular diseases by the China State Food and Drug Administration. TSA has exhibited a variety of pharmacological effects, including vasodilator, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties. Endothelial cells play an important physiological role in vascular homeostasis and control inflammation, coagulation, and thrombosis.

Gut-lung axis: The microbial contributions and clinical implications.

Gut microbiota interacts with host immune system in ways that influence the development of disease. Advances in respiratory immune system also broaden our knowledge of the interaction between host and microbiome in the lung. Increasing evidence indicated the intimate relationship between the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract.

Microscopic vision modeling method by direct mapping analysis for micro-gripping system with stereo light microscope.

We present a novel and high-precision microscopic vision modeling method, which can be used for 3D data reconstruction in micro-gripping system with stereo light microscope. This method consists of four parts: image distortion correction, disparity distortion correction, initial vision model and residual compensation model. First, the method of image distortion correction is proposed.

Novel insights in preventing Gram-negative bacterial infection in cirrhotic patients: review on the effects of GM-CSF in maintaining homeostasis of the immune system.

Cirrhotic patients with dysfunctional and/or low numbers of leukocytes are often infected with bacteria, especially Gram-negative bacteria, which is characterized by producing lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that influences the production, maturation, function, and survival of various immune cells. In this paper, we reviewed not only Toll-like receptors 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway and its immunological effect, but also the specific stimulating function and autocrine performance of GM-CSF on hematopoietic cells, as well as the recent discovery of innate response activator-B cells in protection against microbial sepsis and the direct LPS-TLR4 signaling on hematopoiesis.

Nucleoside analogs prevent disease progression in HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure: validation of the TPPM model.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of entecavir, lamivudine and telbivudine for treating patients with HBV-ACLF and to validate the Tongji prognostic predictor model (TPPM) in these patients.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we enrolled 283 patients with HBV-ACLF (100 treated with entecavir, 98 treated with lamivudine and 85 treated with telbivudine). There were no significant differences in baseline clinical and virological characteristics among patients treated with entecavir, telbivudine or lamivudine.

Acute liver failure resulting from discontinuation of nucleoside analogues in chronic hepatitis B patients: a report of two cases.

Lamivudine, adefovir, telbivudine, and entecavir are nucleoside analogues that can inhibit hepatitis B virus replication and are licensed in China by the Food and Drug Administration. This study presents the cases of 2 patients who were chronically infected with HBV and suffered hepatic failure resulting from withdrawal of telbivudine and adefovir, respectively.

Review on regulation of inwardly rectifying potassium channels.

An inwardly rectifying potassium channel (Kir) is a kind of protein complex that is widely expressed on excitable and nonexcitable cell membranes. Kir channels serve important roles in cellular physiology such as cell excitability and K+ homeostasis. The Kirs (KIR1-7) are regulated by many factors: phosphatidylinosital-4, 5-bisphosphate (PIP2), ATP, or G-proteins.