Heavy Rain Face Image Restoration: Integrating Physical Degradation Model and Facial Component Guided Adversarial Learning

With the recent increase in intelligent CCTVs for visual surveillance, a new image degradation that integrates resolution conversion and synthetic rain models is required. For example, in heavy rain, face images captured by CCTV from a distance have significant deterioration in both visibility and resolution. Unlike traditional image degradation models (IDM), such as rain removal and superresolution, this study addresses a new IDM referred to as a scale-aware heavy rain model and proposes a method for restoring high-resolution face images (HR-FIs) from low-resolution heavy rain face images (LRHR-FI). To this end, a 2-stage network is presented. The first stage generates low-resolution face images (LR-FIs), from which heavy rain has been removed from the LRHR-FIs to improve visibility. To realize this, an interpretable IDM-based network is constructed to predict physical parameters, such as rain streaks, transmission maps, and atmospheric light. In addition, the image reconstruction loss is evaluated to enhance the estimates of the physical parameters. For the second stage, which aims to reconstruct the HR-FIs from the LR-FIs outputted in the first stage, facial component guided adversarial learning (FCGAL) is applied to boost facial structure expressions. To focus on informative facial features and reinforce the authenticity of facial components, such as the eyes and nose, a face-parsing-guided generator and facial local discriminators are designed for FCGAL. The experimental results verify that the proposed approach based on physical-based network design and FCGAL can remove heavy rain and increase the resolution and visibility simultaneously. Moreover, the proposed heavy-rain face image restoration outperforms state-of-the-art models of heavy rain removal, image-to-image translation, and superresolution

Eosinophilic myositis in a slaughtered Korean native cattle

Histopathological findings of eosinophilic myositis in the carcass of a slaughtered Korean native cow are presented. Lesions contained massive fibrous septae with vacuolar changes in some lesions, and the hypercontraction and rupturing of muscle bundles, with replacement by eosinophils. Necrosis and severe eosinophil infiltration were observed. Sarcoplasmic fragmentation and atrophy developed. Typical of granuloma, calcified myofibers were focally surrounded by macrophages and numerous inflammatory cells, and multinucleated giant cell formation was evident

Multiple intestinal lymphomatous polyposis in a Jindo dog

A male, 5-year-old Jindo dog underwent enterectomy and enteroanastomosis due to ileus of the intestine at a local veterinary hospital. Grossly, the excised intestine showed markedly thickened multinodular masses in the serosal layer of the upper part, and soft-to-firm, cream-colored neoplastic masses that displayed extensive nodular mucosal protuberances into the lumen. The neoplastic masses were filled with large round cells that were ovoid in shape and they had pale and/or hyperchromatic nuclei. The neoplastic cells had mainly infiltrated into the mucosal and submucosal layers, and they had diffusely invaded the muscular and serosal layers. Therefore, the diagnosis of canine multiple intestinal malignant lymphomatous polyposis was made based on the gross and histopathological findings. The origin of these tumor cells was determined to be B-cells since they were positive for anti-CD20

Formyl-methionine as an N-degron of a eukaryotic N-end rule pathway

In bacteria, nascent proteins bear the pretranslationally generated N-terminal (Nt) formyl-methionine (fMet) residue. Nt-fMet of bacterial proteins is a degradation signal, termed fMet/N-degron. In contrast, proteins synthesized by cytosolic ribosomes of eukaryotes were presumed to bear unformylated Nt-Met. Here we found that the yeast formyltransferase Fmt1, although imported into mitochondria, could also produce Nt-formylated proteins in the cytosol. Nt-formylated proteins were strongly up-regulated in stationary phase or upon starvation for specific amino acids. This up-regulation strictly required the Gcn2 kinase, which phosphorylates Fmt1 and mediates its retention in the cytosol. We also found that the Nt-fMet residues of Nt-formylated proteins act as fMet/N-degrons, and identified the Psh1 ubiquitin ligase as the recognition component of this eukaryotic fMet/N-end rule pathway, which destroys Nt-formylated proteins

Clinical characteristics of comorbid tic disorders in autism spectrum disorder: exploratory analysis

Background The frequency, clinical characteristics, and associated symptoms of comorbid tic disorders in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unclear. Methods We included subsets of individuals from a larger genetic study who were diagnosed with ASD (n = 679; age: 4–18 years) and completed the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) questionnaire. Based on the YGTSS score, the individuals were divided into two groups: ASD only (n = 554) and ASD with tics (n = 125). Individuals were assessed using the verbal and non-verbal intelligence quotient (IQ), Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS-2), Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2), Child Behavior Checklists (CBCL), and Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), followed by between-group comparisons. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results Tic symptoms were observed in 125 (18.4%) participants; among them, most participants presented both motor and vocal tics (n = 40, 40.0%). The ASD with tics group had a significantly higher average age and full-scale IQ score than the ASD only group. After adjusting for age, the ASD with tics group had significantly higher scores in the SRS-2, CBCL, and YBOCS subdomains than the ASD only group. Furthermore, all variables except the non-verbal IQ and VABS-2 scores were positively correlated with the YGTSS total score. Finally, the proportion of tic symptoms was significantly higher among individuals with a higher IQ score (≥ 70). Conclusions The IQ score was positively correlated with the proportion of tic symptoms among individuals with ASD. Moreover, the severity of the core and comorbid symptoms of ASD was associated with the occurrence and severity of tic disorders. Our findings suggest the need for appropriate clinical interventions for individuals with ASD. Trial registration This study retrospectively registered participantsThis research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. 2021M3E5D9021878) and by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion (ITTP) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No.2019-0-00330, Development of AI Technology for Early Screening of Infant/Child Autism Spectrum Disorders based on Cognition of the Psychological Behavior and Response). The role of the funding body was collection, analysis, and interpretation of data

Diagnostic validity of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition (K-ADOS-2) in the Korean population

Background : Although the Korean version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (K-ADOS‐2) is widely being used to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Korea, no previous study has examined the validity and reliability of all modules of K-ADOS-2 across a wide age range, particularly older children, adolescents, and adults. Method : Data from 2,158 participants were included (mean age = 79.7 months; 73.6% male): 1473 participants with ASD and 685 participants without ASD (Toddler Module, n = 289; Module 1, n = 642; Module 2 n = 574; Module 3 n = 411; Module 4, n = 242). Participants completed a battery of tests, including the K-ADOS or K-ADOS-2 and other existing diagnostic instruments. Sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), Cohen’s kappa (k), and agreement with existing diagnostic instruments were computed. Cronbach’s α values were also calculated. Results : All developmental cells of the K-ADOS-2 showed sufficient ranges of sensitivity 85.4–100.0%; specificity, 80.4–96.8%; area under the ROC curve, .90-.97; PPV, 77.8–99.3%; NPV, 80.6–100.0%; and k values, .83–.92. The kappa agreements of developmental cells with existing diagnostic instruments ranged from .20 to .90. Cronbach’s α values ranged from .82 to .91 across all developmental cells. Limitation : The best-estimate clinical diagnoses made in this study were not independent of the K-ADOS-2 scores. Some modules did not include balanced numbers of participants in terms of gender and diagnostic status. Conclusion : The K-ADOS-2 is a valid and reliable instrument in diagnosing ASD in South Korea. Future studies exploring the effectiveness of the K-ADOS-2 in capturing restricted, repetitive behaviors and differentiating ASD from other developmental disabilities are needed.This work was supported by the Original Technology Research Program for Brain Science of the NRF, funded by the Korean government, MSIT (NRF2017M3C7A1027467) and MIST (NRF-2021M3E5D9021878)

Outbreaks of Imipenem Resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii Producing OXA-23 β-Lactamase in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Korea

Hee University Hospital in Seoul, Korea. The purpose of this study was to determine the genetic basis and molecular epidemiology of outbreak isolates. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine non-repetitive isolates of the 734 IRAB strains were investigated in order to determine their characteristics. The modified Hodge and the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-disk synergy test were performed for the screening of carbapenemase and metallo-β-lactamase production. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were performed for the detection of genes encoding for OXA-23-like, OXA-24-like, OXA-58-like and OXA-51-like carbapenemase. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed for strain identification. Results: All isolates showed 100% resistance to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin, 97.9 % resistance to cefepime, piperacillin/tazobactam, aztreonam, ceftazidime and piperacillin, 93.9 % resistance to tobramycin and 57.1 % resistance to amikacin. All of the 49 isolates (100%) showed positive results in the modified Hodge test and negative results in the EDTA-disk synergy test. They all (100%) possessed the encoding gene for an intrinsic OXA-51-like carbapenemase and an acquired OXA-23-like carbapenemase in the multiplex PCR assay. PFGE patterns revealed that all isolates were clonally related from A1 to A14. Conclusion: It is concluded that all of the 49 IRAB isolates acquired resistance t

Shigella sonnei genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis indicate recent global dissemination from Europe

Shigella are human-adapted Escherichia coli that have gained the ability to invade the human gut mucosa and cause dysentery1,2, spreading efficiently via low-dose fecal-oral transmission3,4. Historically, S. sonnei has been predominantly responsible for dysentery in developed countries, but is now emerging as a problem in the developing world, apparently replacing the more diverse S. flexneri in areas undergoing economic development and improvements in water quality4-6. Classical approaches have shown S. sonnei is genetically conserved and clonal7. We report here whole-genome sequencing of 132 globally-distributed isolates. Our phylogenetic analysis shows that the current S. sonnei population descends from a common ancestor that existed less than 500 years ago and has diversified into several distinct lineages with unique characteristics. Our analysis suggests the majority of this diversification occurred in Europe, followed by more recent establishment of local pathogen populations in other continents predominantly due to the pandemic spread of a single, rapidly-evolving, multidrug resistant lineage