Impact of Ground Truth Annotation Quality on Performance of Semantic Image Segmentation of Traffic Conditions

Preparation of high-quality datasets for the urban scene understanding is a labor-intensive task, especially, for datasets designed for the autonomous driving applications. The application of the coarse ground truth (GT) annotations of these datasets without detriment to the accuracy of semantic image segmentation (by the mean intersection over union - mIoU) could simplify and speedup the dataset preparation and model fine tuning before its practical application. Here the results of the comparative analysis for semantic segmentation accuracy obtained by PSPNet deep learning architecture are presented for fine and coarse annotated images from Cityscapes dataset. Two scenarios were investigated: scenario 1 - the fine GT images for training and prediction, and scenario 2 - the fine GT images for training and the coarse GT images for prediction. The obtained results demonstrated that for the most important classes the mean accuracy values of semantic image segmentation for coarse GT annotations are higher than for the fine GT ones, and the standard deviation values are vice versa. It means that for some applications some unimportant classes can be excluded and the model can be tuned further for some classes and specific regions on the coarse GT dataset without loss of the accuracy even. Moreover, this opens the perspectives to use deep neural networks for the preparation of such coarse GT datasets.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, The Second International Conference on Computer Science, Engineering and Education Applications (ICCSEEA2019) 26-27 January 2019, Kiev, Ukrain

Beneficial effects of Caesalpinia digyna extract against acid aspiration-Induced acute lung injury in mice

Objective: Caesalpinia digyna belongs to the genus Caesalpinia, which is known since ancient times for its medicinal properties. The present work was designed to evaluate the beneficial potential of hydroalcoholic extract of the roots of C. dignea against hydrochloric acid (HCl)-induced acute lung injury in mice. Materials and Methods: Ethanolic extract of C. dignea roots at a dose of 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg boy weight was given once orally 90 min before HCl administration. Mice were then analyzed for infiltration of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and oxidative stress markers in the lung tissue. Further, the effects of the extract were compared with bergenin isolated from the extract. Results: Our results showed that an oral administration of the extract 90 min before HCl instillation reduced the infiltration of neutrophils in the lungs in a dose-dependent manner. Reduction in lung inflammation was associated with decline in pulmonary edema as the total protein content in the BALF was found to be decreased substantially. The drug also restored the redox balance in the lungs toward normal on HCl treatment as assessed by measuring the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and catalase activity. Bergenin, isolated from the plant, was able to suppress the neutrophils but increased the macrophage number in BALF when administered before HCl instillation, suggesting immunoregulatory properties of the key constituent of the extract. Conclusion: Our data suggest that hydroalcoholic extract of Caesalpinia digyna roots constitute the phytochemicals that can protect against HCl-induced acute lung injury in mice.

Aptamer-based multiplexed proteomic technology for biomarker discovery

Interrogation of the human proteome in a highly multiplexed and efficient manner remains a coveted and challenging goal in biology. We present a new aptamer-based proteomic technology for biomarker discovery capable of simultaneously measuring thousands of proteins from small sample volumes (15 [mu]L of serum or plasma). Our current assay allows us to measure ~800 proteins with very low limits of detection (1 pM average), 7 logs of overall dynamic range, and 5% average coefficient of variation. This technology is enabled by a new generation of aptamers that contain chemically modified nucleotides, which greatly expand the physicochemical diversity of the large randomized nucleic acid libraries from which the aptamers are selected. Proteins in complex matrices such as plasma are measured with a process that transforms a signature of protein concentrations into a corresponding DNA aptamer concentration signature, which is then quantified with a DNA microarray. In essence, our assay takes advantage of the dual nature of aptamers as both folded binding entities with defined shapes and unique sequences recognizable by specific hybridization probes. To demonstrate the utility of our proteomics biomarker discovery technology, we applied it to a clinical study of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We identified two well known CKD biomarkers as well as an additional 58 potential CKD biomarkers. These results demonstrate the potential utility of our technology to discover unique protein signatures characteristic of various disease states. More generally, we describe a versatile and powerful tool that allows large-scale comparison of proteome profiles among discrete populations. This unbiased and highly multiplexed search engine will enable the discovery of novel biomarkers in a manner that is unencumbered by our incomplete knowledge of biology, thereby helping to advance the next generation of evidence-based medicine

Prevalence of 22q11.2 microdeletion in 146 patients with cardiac malformation in a referral hospital of North India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome is a common condition that is associated with cardiac as well as extra-cardiac manifestations. Its prevalence and manifestations from north India has not been reported. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and ability of clinical criteria to predict 22q11.2 microdeletion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 146 cases of cardiac malformation requiring tertiary care at a teaching hospital were prospectively screened for 22q11.2 microdeletion using fluorescence in situ hybridization test. Detailed clinical information was obtained as per guidelines of Tobias, <it>et al </it>(1999).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine out of 146 patients (6.16%) was found to have 22q11.2 microdeletion. All the positive patients showed the presence of extra-cardiac features of 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome. None of the cases with isolated cardiac defect were positive for microdeletion.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It seems that 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome is over-suspected in children with isolated congenital heart defects. Screening for 22q11.2 microdeletion should be considered in those cardiac malformation cases which have extra-cardiac manifestations in the form of facial dysmorphism and hypocalcaemia.</p

Association between COX-2 rs 6681231 Genotype and Interleukin-6 in Periodontal Connective Tissue. A Pilot Study

This study was partially undertaken at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, which received a proportion of funding from the Department of Health’s National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme

Exendin-4 Improves Steatohepatitis by Increasing Sirt1 Expression in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese C57BL/6J Mice

The effects of exendin-4 on Sirt1 expression as a mechanism of reducing fatty liver have not been previously reported. Therefore, we investigated whether the beneficial effects of exendin-4 treatment on fatty liver are mediated via Sirt1 in high-fat (HF) diet-induced obese C57BL/6J mice and related cell culture models. Exendin-4 treatment decreased body weight, serum free fatty acid (FA), and triglyceride levels in HF-induced obese C57BL/6J mice. Histological analysis showed that exendin-4 reversed HF-induced hepatic accumulation of lipids and inflammation. Exendin-4 treatment increased mRNA and protein expression of Sirt1 and its downstream factor, AMPK, in vivo and also induced genes associated with FA oxidation and glucose metabolism. In addition, a significant increase in the hepatic expression of Lkb1 and Nampt mRNA was observed in exendin-4-treated groups. We also observed increased expression of phospho-Foxo1 and GLUT2, which are involved in hepatic glucose metabolism. In HepG2 and Huh7 cells, mRNA and protein expressions of GLP-1R were increased by exendin-4 treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Exendin-4 enhanced protein expression of Sirt1 and phospho-AMPKα in HepG2 cells treated with 0.4 mM palmitic acid. We also found that Sirt1 was an upstream regulator of AMPK in hepatocytes. A novel finding of this study was the observation that expression of GLP-1R is proportional to exendin-4 concentration and exendin-4 could attenuate fatty liver through activation of Sirt1

What Do Men Want from a Health Screening Mobile App? A Qualitative Study.

There is a lack of mobile app which aims to improve health screening uptake developed for men. As part of the study to develop an effective mobile app to increase health screening uptake in men, we conducted a needs assessment to find out what do men want from a health screening mobile app. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 31 men from a banking institution in Kuala Lumpur. The participants were purposely sampled according to their job position, age, ethnicity and screening status. The recruitment was stopped once data saturation was achieved. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic approach. Three themes emerged from the analysis and they were: content, feature and dissemination. In terms of the content, men wanted the app to provide information regarding health screening and functions that can assess their health; which must be personalized to them and are trustable. The app must have user-friendly features in terms of information delivery, ease of use, attention allocation and social connectivity. For dissemination, men proposed that advertisements, recommendations by health professionals, providing incentive and integrating the app as into existing systems may help to increase the dissemination of the app. This study identified important factors that need to be considered when developing a mobile app to improve health screening uptake. Future studies on mobile app development should elicit users' preference and need in terms of its content, features and dissemination strategies to improve the acceptability and the chance of successful implementation

Generation, Annotation and Analysis of First Large-Scale Expressed Sequence Tags from Developing Fiber of Gossypium barbadense L

BACKGROUND: Cotton fiber is the world's leading natural fiber used in the manufacture of textiles. Gossypium is also the model plant in the study of polyploidization, evolution, cell elongation, cell wall development, and cellulose biosynthesis. G. barbadense L. is an ideal candidate for providing new genetic variations useful to improve fiber quality for its superior properties. However, little is known about fiber development mechanisms of G. barbadense and only a few molecular resources are available in GenBank. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In total, 10,979 high-quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from a normalized fiber cDNA library of G. barbadense. The ESTs were clustered and assembled into 5852 unigenes, consisting of 1492 contigs and 4360 singletons. The blastx result showed 2165 unigenes with significant similarity to known genes and 2687 unigenes with significant similarity to genes of predicted proteins. Functional classification revealed that unigenes were abundant in the functions of binding, catalytic activity, and metabolic pathways of carbohydrate, amino acid, energy, and lipids. The function motif/domain-related cytoskeleton and redox homeostasis were enriched. Among the 5852 unigenes, 282 and 736 unigenes were identified as potential cell wall biosynthesis and transcription factors, respectively. Furthermore, the relationships among cotton species or between cotton and other model plant systems were analyzed. Some putative species-specific unigenes of G. barbadense were highlighted. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The ESTs generated in this study are from the first large-scale EST project for G. barbadense and significantly enhance the number of G. barbadense ESTs in public databases. This knowledge will contribute to cotton improvements by studying fiber development mechanisms of G. barbadense, establishing a breeding program using marker-assisted selection, and discovering candidate genes related to important agronomic traits of cotton through oligonucleotide array. Our work will also provide important resources for comparative genomics, polyploidization, and genome evolution among Gossypium species

The role of beta-lactamase-producing-bacteria in mixed infections

Beta-lactamase-producing bacteria (BLPB) can play an important role in polymicrobial infections. They can have a direct pathogenic impact in causing the infection as well as an indirect effect through their ability to produce the enzyme beta-lactamase. BLPB may not only survive penicillin therapy but can also, as was demonstrated in in vitro and in vivo studies, protect other penicillin-susceptible bacteria from penicillin by releasing the free enzyme into their environment. This phenomenon occurs in upper respiratory tract, skin, soft tissue, surgical and other infections. The clinical, in vitro, and in vivo evidence supporting the role of these organisms in the increased failure rate of penicillin in eradication of these infections and the implication of that increased rate on the management of infections is discussed