Spatial-temporal Vehicle Re-identification

Vehicle re-identification (ReID) in a large-scale camera network is important in public safety, traffic control, and security. However, due to the appearance ambiguities of vehicle, the previous appearance-based ReID methods often fail to track vehicle across multiple cameras. To overcome the challenge, we propose a spatial-temporal vehicle ReID framework that estimates reliable camera network topology based on the adaptive Parzen window method and optimally combines the appearance and spatial-temporal similarities through the fusion network. Based on the proposed methods, we performed superior performance on the public dataset (VeRi776) by 99.64% of rank-1 accuracy. The experimental results support that utilizing spatial and temporal information for ReID can leverage the accuracy of appearance-based methods and effectively deal with appearance ambiguities.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Simultaneous detection and subtyping of porcine endogenous retroviruses proviral DNA using the dual priming oligonucleotide system

The purpose of this study was to develop a multiplex PCR that can detect porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) proviral genes (pol, envA, envB, envC) and porcine mitochondrial DNA, using a dual priming oligonucleotide (DPO) system. The primer specifically detected the PERV proviral genes pol, envA, envB, envC, and porcine mitochondrial DNA only in samples of pig origin. The sensitivity of the primer was demonstrated by simultaneous amplification of all 5 target genes in as little as 10 pg of pig DNA containing PERV proviral genes and mitochondrial DNA. The multiplex PCR, when applied to field samples, simultaneously and successfully amplified PERV proviral genes from liver, blood and hair root samples. Thus, the multiplex PCR developed in the current study using DPO-based primers is a rapid, sensitive and specific assay for the detection and subtyping of PERV proviral genes

SARS-CoV-2 aberrantly elevates mitochondrial bioenergetics to induce robust virus propagation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a 'highly transmissible respiratory pathogen, leading to severe multi-organ damage. However, knowledge regarding SARS-CoV-2-induced cellular alterations is limited. In this study, we report that SARS-CoV-2 aberrantly elevates mitochondrial bioenergetics and activates the EGFR-mediated cell survival signal cascade during the early stage of viral infection. SARS-CoV-2 causes an increase in mitochondrial transmembrane potential via the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-nucleocapsid cluster, thereby abnormally promoting mitochondrial elongation and the OXPHOS process, followed by enhancing ATP production. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 activates the EGFR signal cascade and subsequently induces mitochondrial EGFR trafficking, contributing to abnormal OXPHOS process and viral propagation. Approved EGFR inhibitors remarkably reduce SARS-CoV-2 propagation, among which vandetanib exhibits the highest antiviral efficacy. Treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells with vandetanib decreases SARS-CoV-2-induced EGFR trafficking to the mitochondria and restores SARS-CoV-2-induced aberrant elevation in OXPHOS process and ATP generation, thereby resulting in the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 propagation. Furthermore, oral administration of vandetanib to SARS-CoV-2-infected hACE2 transgenic mice reduces SARS-CoV-2 propagation in lung tissue and mitigates SARS-CoV-2-induced lung inflammation. Vandetanib also exhibits potent antiviral activity against various SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including alpha, beta, delta and omicron, in in vitro cell culture experiments. Taken together, our findings provide novel insight into SARS-CoV-2-induced alterations in mitochondrial dynamics and EGFR trafficking during the early stage of viral infection and their roles in robust SARS-CoV-2 propagation, suggesting that EGFR is an attractive host target for combating COVID-19

Pregnancy-related knowledge, risk perception, and reproductive decision making of women with epilepsy in Korea

AbstractPurposeTo determine the influence of pregnancy-related knowledge and the risk perception on reproductive decision making in women with epilepsy.MethodsWe enrolled women with epilepsy, who were of reproductive age and were considering having children in the future. A questionnaire was used to assess the level of pregnancy-related knowledge, perception of the offspring's risk for developing epilepsy or for having a congenial anomaly, and discussion with a physician concerning pregnancy-related issues. We evaluated the following outcome variables: (1) the decision to discontinue anti-epileptic drug (AED) during a future pregnancy regardless of the medical indication; and (2) the decision to have fewer children because of epilepsy.ResultsWe enrolled a total of 186 women with epilepsy. (1) Fifty-eight percent of the women were considering discontinuing AED during a future pregnancy regardless of the medical indication, and 25% of the women decided to have fewer children because of epilepsy. (2) The decision to discontinue AED during a future pregnancy was associated with low-level pregnancy-related knowledge. (3) The decision to have fewer children because of epilepsy was associated with an exaggerated perception of the offspring's risk for developing epilepsy. (4) The women who had ever discussed pregnancy-related issues with their physician were less likely to decide to discontinue AED during a future pregnancy; however, a discussion on this issue had no impact on their decision to have fewer children because of epilepsy.ConclusionMore than 50% of the women would decide to discontinue AED during a future pregnancy, and 25% of the women stated that they would have fewer children because of epilepsy. These data highlight the importance of education on pregnancy-related issues and genetic risk counseling

A Role of Canonical Transient Receptor Potential 5 Channel in Neuronal Differentiation from A2B5 Neural Progenitor Cells

Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) channels are the main pathway of Ca2+ entry in non-excitable cells such as neural progenitor cells (NPCs). However, the role of SOCE channels has not been defined in the neuronal differentiation from NPCs. Here, we show that canonical transient receptor potential channel (TRPC) as SOCE channel influences the induction of the neuronal differentiation of A2B5+ NPCs isolated from postnatal-12-day rat cerebrums. The amplitudes of SOCE were significantly higher in neural cells differentiated from proliferating A2B5+ NPCs and applications of SOCE blockers, 2-aminoethoxy-diphenylborane (2-APB), and ruthenium red (RR), inhibited their rise of SOCE. Among TRPC subtypes (TRPC1-7), marked expression of TRPC5 and TRPC6 with turned-off TRPC1 expression was observed in neuronal cells differentiated from proliferating A2B5+ NPCs. TRPC5 small interfering RNA (siRNA) blocked the neuronal differentiation from A2B5+ NPCs and reduced the rise of SOCE. In contrast, TRPC6 siRNA had no significant effect on the neuronal differentiation from A2B5+ NPCs. These results indicate that calcium regulation by TRPC5 would play a key role as a switch between proliferation and neuronal differentiation from NPCs

Prediction of strawberry fruit yield based on cultivar-specific growth models in the tunnel-type greenhouse

The strawberry growth and fruit yield of five Korean cultivars in the tunnel-type greenhouse predicted using their growth. The number of leaves, petiole length, leaf length and width, crown diameter, and the ratio of red and far-red (RFR) of the five Korean cultivars were measured during the cultivation period. The number of leaves of all cultivars exhibited a similar trend during this period; the plant and petiole length of ‘Maehyang’ were the longest, leaf length exhibited similar trends in all five cultivars except for ‘Jukhyang’, the leaf width of ‘Arihyang’, was the longest, and crown diameter of ‘Keumsil’ was the thickest. The leaf length, crown diameter, and RFR were associated with the fruit yield in the multiple linear regression. When a single model was used to predict the yield of all five cultivars, the correlation between expected yield and actual yield was r = 0.53. When cultivar-specific models were built for the prediction, the correlation increased to r = 0.77. The results indicated that the fruit yield of strawberry cultivars could be better predicted by considering cultivar-specific information, so it may be necessary to consider individual cultivars specifically rather than all cultivars simultaneously