Geospatial intelligence and visual classification of environmentally observed species in the future Internet

The rapid development of advanced smart communication tools with good quality and resolution video cameras,audio and GPS devices in the last few years shall lead to profound impacts on the way future environmentalobservations are conducted and accessed by communities. The resulting large scale interconnections of these"Future Internet Things" form a large environmental sensing network which will generate large volumes of qualityenvironmental observations and at highly localised spatial scales. This enablement in environmental sensing atlocal scales will be of great importance to contribute in the study of fauna and flora in the near future, particularlyon the effect of climate change on biodiversity in various regions of Europe and beyond. The Future Internet couldalso potentially become the de facto information space to provide participative real-time sensing by communitiesand improve our situation awarness of the effect of climate on local environments. In the ENVIROFI(2011-2013)Usage Area project in the FP7 FI-PPP programme, a set of requirements for specific (and generic) enablers isachieved with the potential establishement of participating community observatories of the future. In particular,the specific enablement of interest concerns the building of future interoperable services for the management ofenvironmental data intelligently with tagged contextual geo-spatial information generated by multiple operatorsin communities (Using smart phones). The classification of observed species in the resulting images is achievedwith structured data pre-processing, semantic enrichement using contextual geospatial information, and high levelfusion with controlled uncertainty estimations. The returned identification of species is further improved usingfuture ground truth corrections and learning by the specific enablers

Heterocyclic monoazo dyes derived from 2-(p-aminophenyl)oxazolo-[4,5-b]pyridine and 7-(p-aminophenyl)-4H-[1,3,4]thiadiazolo-[2,3-c][1,2,4]triazin-4-one

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Prophylactic DNA vaccine targeting Foxp3 + regulatory T cells depletes myeloid-derived suppressor cells and improves anti-melanoma immune responses in a murine model

Regulatory T cells (Treg) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are the two important and interactive immunosuppressive components of the tumor microenvironment that hamper anti-tumor immune responses. Therefore, targeting these two populations together might be beneficial for overcoming immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment. We have recently shown that prophylactic Foxp3 DNA/recombinant protein vaccine (Foxp3 vaccine) promotes immunity against Treg in tumor-free conditions. In the present study, we investigated the immune modulatory effects of a prophylactic regimen of the redesigned Foxp3 vaccine in the B16F10 melanoma model. Our results indicate that Foxp3 vaccination continuously reduces Treg population in both the tumor site and the spleen. Surprisingly, Treg reduction was associated with a significant decrease in the frequency of MDSC, both in the spleen and in the tumor environment. Furthermore, Foxp3 vaccination resulted in a significant reduction of arginase-1(Arg-1)-induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and suppressed MDSC activity. Moreover, this concurrent depletion restored production of inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ and enhanced tumor-specific CTL response, which subsequently resulted in the reduction of tumor growth and the improved survival rate of vaccinated mice. In conclusion, our results revealed that Foxp3 vaccine promotes an immune response against tumor by targeting both Treg and MDSC, which could be exploited as a potential immunotherapy approach.. © 2017, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Prophylactic DNA vaccine targeting Foxp3+regulatory T cells depletes myeloid-derived suppressor cells and improves anti-melanoma immune responses in a murine model

Abstract Regulatory T cells (Treg) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are the two important and interactive immunosuppressive components of the tumor microenvironment that hamper anti-tumor immune responses. Therefore, targeting these two populations together might be beneficial for overcoming immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment. We have recently shown that prophylactic Foxp3 DNA/recombinant protein vaccine (Foxp3 vaccine) promotes immunity against Treg in tumor-free conditions. In the present study, we investigated the immune modulatory effects of a prophylactic regimen of the redesigned Foxp3 vaccine in the B16F10 melanoma model. Our results indicate that Foxp3 vaccination continuously reduces Treg population in both the tumor site and the spleen. Surprisingly, Treg reduction was associated with a significant decrease in the frequency of MDSC, both in the spleen and in the tumor environment. Furthermore, Foxp3 vaccination resulted in a significant reduction of arginase-1(Arg-1)-induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and suppressed MDSC activity. Moreover, this concurrent depletion restored production of inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ and enhanced tumor-specific CTL response, which subsequently resulted in the reduction of tumor growth and the improved survival rate of vaccinated mice. In conclusion, our results revealed that Foxp3 vaccine promotes an immune response against tumor by targeting both Treg and MDSC, which could be exploited as a potential immunotherapy approach. Keywords Regulatory T cells Myeloid-derived suppressor cells Foxp3 Melanom

Shaped Wavelets for Curvilinear Structures for Ear Biometrics

One of the most recent trends in biometrics is recognition by ear ap-pearance in head profile images. Determining the region of interest which con-tains the ear is an important step in an ear biometric system. To this end, we propose a robust, simple and effective method for ear detection from profile im-ages by employing a bank of curved and stretched Gabor wavelets, known as banana wavelets. A 100% detection rate is achieved here on a group of 252 pro-file images from XM2VTS database. The banana wavelets technique demon-strates better performances than Gabor wavelets technique. This indicates that the curved wavelets are advantageous here. Also the banana wavelet technique is applied to a new and more challenging database which highlights practical considerations of a more realistic deployment. This ear detection technique is fully automated, has encouraging performance and appears to be robust to de-gradation by noise

Effect of the increased level of Lead on in-vitro serum lipid peroxidation

Background: Lead is a heavy metal that enters the human body through the environmental pollution such as air. Lead contamination is associated with the increased cardiovascular diseases, but the exact mechanism is not fully clarified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Lead on lipid peroxidation. Materials and Methods: In this in vitro experimental study, a pool serum was prepared from the healthy subjects and divided into the five fractions. With the addition of Lead, its concentrations in the four samples reached to 0.5, 1, 4 and 5 μM and the fifth sample was used as control. Samples were incubated at 37 °C for one day. Lipid oxidation was induced in each diluted sample by the addition of Cu2+. Oxidation profile was monitored by reading of OD at 245nm. A number of quantitative parameters including the lag-time, maximal rate of oxidation (V-max), and maximal amount of lipid peroxide products (OD-max) were evaluated. Results: The lag-times in the Lead samples were 4 and 5 µM (158±1.7) and (149.3±1.3) decreased compared to the control (169.7±0.5). Moreover, OD-max in the samples (0.399±0.003) and (0.409±0.008) increased compared to the control (0.373±0.01, P<0.05). Conclusion: The results show that Lead in high concentrations can trigger serum lipid oxidation. Since the experimental concentrations were in the borderline of toxicity to humans, Lead contamination may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by enhanced lipid peroxidation

Ultraviolet 308-nm excimer laser ablation of bone: an acute and chronic study.

A comparative study was undertaken in rabbit tibiae to assess the healing of bone in response to osteotomies by a XeCl 308-nm excimer laser and a mechanical saw. The laser parameter producing the most efficient ablation rate for osteotomy was determined and shown to produce deep cuts with sharp edges. However, it was noted histologically that there was a significant delay in healing of the laser osteotomies compared with saw osteotomies. This delay was caused by thermal damage to bone adjacent to the laser cuts. It is suggested that the excimer laser at this wavelength ablates bone primarily through a photothermal as opposed to a photodissociative mechanism