SRU-NET: SOBEL RESIDUAL U-NET FOR IMAGE MANIPULATION DETECTION

Recently, most successful image manipulation detection methods have been based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Nevertheless, Existing CNN methods have limited abilities. CNN-based detection networks tend to extract signal features strongly related to content. However, image manipulation detection tends to extract weak signal features that are weakly related to content. To address this issue, We propose a novel Sobel residual neural network with adaptive central difference convolution, an extension of the classical U-Net architecture, for image manipulation detection. Adaptive central differential convolution can capture the essential attributes of an image by gathering intensity and gradient information. Sobel residual gradient block can capture forgery edge discriminative details. Extensive experimental results show that our method can significantly improve the accuracy of localising the forged region compared with the state-of-the-art methods

Insight of Silkworm Pupa Oil Regulating Oxidative Stress and Lipid Metabolism in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>

Silkworm pupa oil (SPO) contains unsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols, and phytosterols, which can regulate serum total cholesterol or be used as an antioxidant. In this study, we investigated the impacts of SPO on the antioxidant stress and lipid metabolism of Caenorhabditis elegans. The lifespan of the C. elegans fed with different SPO concentrations was determined. The levels of endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) were analyzed with the fluorescent probe method. The activity of antioxidant enzymes and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed. The transcription level of specific mRNA was characterized with q-PCR. The survival time of the mutant strain under oxidative stress was determined by daf-2 (CB1370) mutant, sod-3 (GA186) mutant, and skn-1 (EU31) mutant. As for the lipid metabolism, the lipid accumulation was determined with an Oil-Red-O (ORO) staining. The transcription level of specific mRNA was determined by q-PCR. The results showed that the SPO feeding enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzyme by upregulating the expression of the genes skn-1, and sod-3 to decrease the production of ROS and MDA, which prolonged the life of nematodes treated with juglone. ORO staining analysis indicated the feeding of SPO decreased intestinal fat accumulation, downregulated expression of fat-5, fat-6, fat-7, and nhr-80, and upregulated age-1 and tph-1 expression. Conclusively, SPO enhanced the antioxidant capacity by regulating the skn-1 and sod-3 expression of antioxidant gene and reducing the fat accumulation by the insulin/IGF signaling pathway and nuclear hormone receptor nhr-80 signaling pathway of nematodes. This study provides new evidence for the antioxidant and lipid-lowering mechanisms of SPO in C. elegans

The Destiny of Living Animals Imported into Chinese Zoos

Ex situ conservation is one of the major ways to strengthen biodiversity conservation. In China, ex situ conservation institutions mainly include zoos, aquariums, and breeding centers. In 1996, China began to import living animals duty-free for conservation purposes. Here, we built a dataset of nearly 300 vertebrate species (mammals, birds, fish and reptiles) imported into China over this past 20 years by interviewing all 123 institutions importing animals duty-free during 1996–2015. We then analyzed the annual variation of the species composition and individual numbers of these imported species, and quantified the relative population growth rate of each imported species for the first time. We found that the number of living animals imported into China decreased significantly year by year. The number of imported bird species and reptile individuals decreased the most, but the population growth rate was increasing for about half of the imported threatened species. We recommend that conservation institutions should enhance communication and promote cooperative breeding among them. Scientific research and sustainability assessments of threatened species should also be enhanced, which will allocate trade licenses and quotas more effectively. We hope that the data presented in this paper will contribute to the development of conservation policies, leading to stronger management of these imported species in China

The Destiny of Living Animals Imported into Chinese Zoos

Ex situ conservation is one of the major ways to strengthen biodiversity conservation. In China, ex situ conservation institutions mainly include zoos, aquariums, and breeding centers. In 1996, China began to import living animals duty-free for conservation purposes. Here, we built a dataset of nearly 300 vertebrate species (mammals, birds, fish and reptiles) imported into China over this past 20 years by interviewing all 123 institutions importing animals duty-free during 1996&ndash;2015. We then analyzed the annual variation of the species composition and individual numbers of these imported species, and quantified the relative population growth rate of each imported species for the first time. We found that the number of living animals imported into China decreased significantly year by year. The number of imported bird species and reptile individuals decreased the most, but the population growth rate was increasing for about half of the imported threatened species. We recommend that conservation institutions should enhance communication and promote cooperative breeding among them. Scientific research and sustainability assessments of threatened species should also be enhanced, which will allocate trade licenses and quotas more effectively. We hope that the data presented in this paper will contribute to the development of conservation policies, leading to stronger management of these imported species in China

Bioinformatic Exploration of the Targets of Xylem Sap miRNAs in Maize under Cadmium Stress

Cadmium (Cd) has the potential to be chronically toxic to humans through contaminated crop products. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can move systemically in plants. To investigate the roles of long-distance moving xylem miRNAs in regulating maize response to Cd stress, three xylem sap small RNA (sRNA) libraries were constructed for high-throughput sequencing to identify potential mobile miRNAs in Cd-stressed maize seedlings and their putative targets in maize transcriptomes. In total, about 199 miRNAs (20&#8211;22 nucleotides) were identified in xylem sap from maize seedlings, including 97 newly discovered miRNAs and 102 known miRNAs. Among them, 10 miRNAs showed differential expression in xylem sap after 1 h of Cd treatment. Two miRNAs target prediction tools, psRNAtarget (reporting the inhibition pattern of cleavage) and DPMIND (discovering Plant MiRNA-Target Interaction with degradome evidence), were used in combination to identify, via bioinformatics, the targets of 199 significantly expressed miRNAs in maize xylem sap. The integrative results of these two bioinformatic tools suggested that 27 xylem sap miRNAs inhibit 34 genes through cleavage with degradome evidence. Moreover, nearly 300 other genes were also the potential miRNAs cleavable targets without available degradome data support, and the majority of them were enriched in abiotic stress response, cell signaling, transcription regulation, as well as metal handling. These approaches and results not only enhanced our understanding of the Cd-responsive long-distance transported miRNAs from the view of xylem sap, but also provided novel insights for predicting the molecular genetic mechanisms mediated by miRNAs

Diffusion model-based probabilistic downscaling for 180-year East Asian climate reconstruction

Abstract As our planet is entering into the “global boiling” era, understanding regional climate change becomes imperative. Effective downscaling methods that provide localized insights are crucial for this target. Traditional approaches, including computationally-demanding regional dynamical models or statistical downscaling frameworks, are often susceptible to the influence of downscaling uncertainty. Here, we address these limitations by introducing a diffusion probabilistic downscaling model (DPDM) into the meteorological field. This model can efficiently transform data from 1° to 0.1° resolution. Compared with deterministic downscaling schemes, it not only has more accurate local details, but also can generate a large number of ensemble members based on probability distribution sampling to evaluate the uncertainty of downscaling. Additionally, we apply the model to generate a 180-year dataset of monthly surface variables in East Asia, offering a more detailed perspective for understanding local scale climate change over the past centuries

m6A and m5C modification of GPX4 facilitates anticancer immunity via STING activation

Abstract Cancer immunotherapy is arguably the most rapidly advancing realm of cancer treatment. Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) has emerged as the vital enzyme to prevent lipid peroxidation and maintain cellular redox homeostasis. However, the mechanism of GPX4 in the regulation of cancer immunotherapy of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) are incompletely understood. In pan-cancer analysis, we found that GPX4 showed remarkably upregulated expression and exhibited significant association with overall survival in multiple cancer types, especially COAD. Furthermore, upregulated GPX4 expression was positively correlated with increased immune cells infiltration and enhanced expression of immunomodulators. Mechanistically, RBM15B- and IGFBP2-mediated N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification and NSUN5-mediated 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification of GPX4 facilitated anticancer immunity via activation of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon (STING) signaling by maintaining redox homeostasis in COAD. The risk model and nomogram model constructed based on the GPX4-derived genes further confirmed the prognostic and treatment-guiding value of GPX4. In all, our study demonstrated that m6A and m5C modification of GPX4 may be a promising target for cancer immunotherapy via activating the cGAS-STING signaling pathway in COAD