Estimating animal pose using deep learning a trained deep learning model outperforms morphological analysis

INTRODUCTION: Analyzing animal behavior helps researchers understand their decision-making process and helper tools are rapidly becoming an indispensable part of many interdisciplinary studies. However, researchers are often challenged to estimate animal pose because of the limitation of the tools and its vulnerability to a specific environment. Over the years, deep learning has been introduced as an alternative solution to overcome these challenges. OBJECTIVES: This study investigates how deep learning models can be applied for the accurate prediction of animal behavior, comparing with traditional morphological analysis based on image pixels. METHODS: Transparent Omnidirectional Locomotion Compensator (TOLC), a tracking device, is used to record videos with a wide range of animal behavior. Recorded videos contain two insects: a walking red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) and a walking fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Body parts such as the head, legs, and thorax, are estimated by using an open-source deep-learning toolbox. A deep learning model, ResNet-50, is trained to predict the body parts of the fire ant and the fruit fly respectively. 500 image frames for each insect were annotated by humans and then compared with the predictions of the deep learning model as well as the points generated from the morphological analysis. RESULTS: The experimental results show that the average distance between the deep learning-predicted centroids and the human-annotated centroids is 2.54, while the average distance between the morphological analysis-generated centroids and the human-annotated centroids is 6.41 over the 500 frames of the fire ant. For the fruit fly, the average distance of the centroids between the deep learning- predicted and the human-annotated is 2.43, while the average distance of the centroids between the morphological analysis-generated and the human-annotated is 5.06 over the 477 image frames. CONCLUSION: In this paper, we demonstrate that the deep learning model outperforms traditional morphological analysis in terms of estimating animal pose in a series of video frames

Life-Long Reduction in MyomiR Expression Does Not Adversely Affect Skeletal Muscle Morphology

We generated an inducible, skeletal muscle-specific Dicer knockout mouse to deplete microRNAs in adult skeletal muscle. Following tamoxifen treatment, Dicer mRNA expression was significantly decreased by 87%. Wild-type (WT) and Dicer knockout (KO) mice were subjected to either synergist ablation or hind limb suspension for two weeks. There was no difference in muscle weight with hypertrophy or atrophy between WT and KO groups; however, even with the significant loss of Dicer expression, myomiR (miR-1, -133a and -206) expression was only reduced by 38% on average. We next aged WT and KO mice for ~22 months following Dicer inactivation to determine if myomiR expression would be further reduced over a prolonged timeframe and assess the effects of myomiR depletion on skeletal muscle phenotype. Skeletal muscle Dicer mRNA expression remained significantly decreased by 80% in old KO mice and sequencing of cloned Dicer mRNA revealed the complete absence of the floxed exons in KO skeletal muscle. Despite a further reduction of myomiR expression to ~50% of WT, no change was observed in muscle morphology between WT and KO groups. These results indicate the life-long reduction in myomiR levels did not adversely affect skeletal muscle phenotype and suggest the possibility that microRNA expression is uniquely regulated in skeletal muscle

Epidemiology and burden of chronic respiratory diseases in Brazil from 1990 to 2017 : analysis for the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study

Introduction: In Brazil, little is known about the trends of chronic respiratory diseases, which was estimated as the third leading cause of deaths in 2017 worldwide. Methods: We analyzed Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 estimates for prevalence, incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALY), a summary measure of years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs), and risk factors attributable to chronic respiratory diseases in Brazil from 1990 to 2017. Results: The overall estimates have decreased for all ages and both sexes, and for age-standardized rates. For age-adjusted prevalence, there was a 21% reduction, and nearly 16% reduction for incidence. There was a 42% reduction in mortality for both sexes, though the rate of deaths for men was 30% greater than the rate in women. The increase in the number of DALY was essentially due to the population growth and population ageing. We observed a 34% increase in the absolute number of DALY in Brazil over the study period. The majority of the DALY rates were due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). For all ages and both sexes, smoking was the main attributable risk factor. Conclusion: In Brazil, although mortality, prevalence and incidence for chronic respiratory diseases have decreased over the years, attention should be taken to the DALYs increase. Smoking remained as the main risk factor, despite the significant decrease of tobacco use, reinforcing the need for maintenance of policies and programs directed at its cessation.Introdução: No Brasil, pouco se sabe sobre as tendências das doenças respiratórias crônicas, que foram estimadas como a terceira principal causa de mortes em 2017 em todo o mundo. Métodos: Analisamos as estimativas do Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 para prevalência, incidência, mortalidade, anos de vida ajustados por incapacidade (DALY), uma medida resumida de anos de vida perdidos (YLL) e anos vividos com deficiência (YLD), e fatores de risco atribuíveis a doenças respiratórias crônicas no Brasil, de 1990 a 2017. Resultados: As estimativas gerais diminuíram para todas as idades e ambos os sexos, assim como para as taxas padronizadas por idade. Para a prevalência ajustada pela idade, houve uma redução de 21% e, aproximadamente, 16% para a incidência. Houve uma redução de 42% na mortalidade para ambos os sexos, embora a taxa de mortes para homens tenha sido 30% maior do que a taxa para mulheres. O aumento no número de DALY deveu-se ao crescimento e envelhecimento da população. Observamos um aumento de 34% no número absoluto de DALYs no Brasil durante o período do estudo. A maioria das taxas de DALY foi devido a Doença Pulmonar Obstrutiva Crônica (DPOC). Para todas as idades e ambos os sexos, tabagismo foi o principal fator de risco atribuível. Conclusão: No Brasil, embora a mortalidade, a prevalência e a incidência de doenças respiratórias crônicas tenham diminuído ao longo dos anos, maior atenção deve ser dada ao aumento dos DALYs. O tabagismo permaneceu como principal fator de risco, apesar da redução significativa do seu uso, reforçando a necessidade de manutenção de políticas e programas direcionados à sua cessação

INTEGRATING THE BeppoSAX GAMMA-RAY BURST MONITOR INTO THE THIRD INTERPLANETARY NETWORK

We have added the BeppoSAX Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor to the third Interplanetary Network (IPN3) of burst detectors. We analyze 16 bursts whose positions are known to good accuracy from mea- surements at other wavelengths. We show that there is excellent agreement between the Ulysses/ BeppoSAX triangulation annuli and the known positions of these events and that these annuli can in many cases provide useful constraints on the positions of bursts detected by the BeppoSAX Wide-Field Camera and Narrow-Field Instruments. Subject heading: gamma rays: burst

The Murchison Widefield Array

It is shown that the excellent Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory site allows the Murchison Widefield Array to employ a simple RFI blanking scheme and still calibrate visibilities and form images in the FM radio band. The techniques described are running autonomously in our calibration and imaging software, which is currently being used to process an FM-band survey of the entire southern sky.Comment: Accepted for publication in Proceedings of Science [PoS(RFI2010)016]. 6 pages and 3 figures. Presented at RFI2010, the Third Workshop on RFI Mitigation in Radio Astronomy, 29-31 March 2010, Groningen, The Netherland

A rheostat mechanism governs the bifurcation of carbon flux in mycobacteria

Fatty acid metabolism is an important feature of the pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis during infection. Consumption of fatty acids requires regulation of carbon flux bifurcation between the oxidative TCA cycle and the glyoxylate shunt. In Escherichia coli, flux bifurcation is regulated by phosphorylation-mediated inhibition of isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD), a paradigmatic example of post-translational mechanisms governing metabolic fluxes. Here, we demonstrate that, in contrast to E. coli, carbon flux bifurcation in mycobacteria is regulated not by phosphorylation but through metabolic cross-activation of ICD by glyoxylate, which is produced by the glyoxylate shunt enzyme isocitrate lyase (ICL). This regulatory circuit maintains stable partitioning of fluxes, thus ensuring a balance between anaplerosis, energy production, and precursor biosynthesis. The rheostat-like mechanism of metabolite-mediated control of flux partitioning demonstrates the importance of allosteric regulation during metabolic steady-state. The sensitivity of this regulatory mechanism to perturbations presents a potentially attractive target for chemotherapy

Cytoprotective Effect of Vitamin D on Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiac Toxicity in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Background: Doxorubicin (Dox) is a first-line treatment for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), but its use may be limited by its cardiotoxicity mediated by the production of reactive oxygen species. We evaluated whether vitamin D may prevent Dox-induced cardiotoxicity in a mouse TNBC model. Methods: Female Balb/c mice received rodent chow with vitamin D(3) (1500 IU/kg; vehicle) or chow supplemented with additional vitamin D(3) (total, 11,500 IU/kg). the mice were inoculated with TNBC tumors and treated with intraperitoneal Dox (6 or 10 mg/kg). Cardiac function was evaluated with transthoracic echocardiography. The cardiac tissue was evaluated with immunohistochemistry and immunoblot for levels of 4-hydroxynonenal, NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), C-MYC, and dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) phosphorylation. Results: At 15 to 18 days, the mean ejection fraction, stroke volume, and fractional shortening were similar between the mice treated with vitamin D + Dox (10 mg/kg) vs. vehicle but significantly greater in mice treated with vitamin D + Dox (10 mg/kg) vs. Dox (10 mg/kg). Dox (10 mg/kg) increased the cardiac tissue levels of 4-hydroxynonenal, NQO1, C-MYC, and DRP1 phosphorylation at serine 616, but these increases were not observed with vitamin D + Dox (10 mg/kg). A decreased tumor volume was observed with Dox (10 mg/kg) and vitamin D + Dox (10 mg/kg). Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation decreased Dox-induced cardiotoxicity by decreasing the reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial damage, and did not decrease the anticancer efficacy of Dox against TNBC

Novel study design to assess the utility of the copd assessment test in a primary care setting

The quality of a consultation provided by a physician can have a profound impact on the quality of care and patient engagement in treatment decisions. When the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) was developed, one of its aims was to aid the communication between physician and patient about the impact of COPD. We developed a novel study design to assess this in a primary care consultation. Primary care physicians across five countries in Europe conducted videoed consultations with six standardised COPD patients (played by trained actors) which had patient-specific issues that the physician needed to identify through questioning. Half the physicians saw the patients with the completed CAT, and half without. Independent assessors scored the physicians on their ability to identify and address the patient-specific issues, review standard COPD aspects, their understanding of the case and their overall performance. This novel study design presented many challenges which needed to be addressed to achieve an acceptable level of robustness to assess the utility of the CAT. This paper discusses these challenges and the measures adopted to eliminate or minimise their impact on the study results