Discovering Class-Specific Pixels for Weakly-Supervised Semantic Segmentation

We propose an approach to discover class-specific pixels for the weakly-supervised semantic segmentation task. We show that properly combining saliency and attention maps allows us to obtain reliable cues capable of significantly boosting the performance. First, we propose a simple yet powerful hierarchical approach to discover the class-agnostic salient regions, obtained using a salient object detector, which otherwise would be ignored. Second, we use fully convolutional attention maps to reliably localize the class-specific regions in a given image. We combine these two cues to discover class-specific pixels which are then used as an approximate ground truth for training a CNN. While solving the weakly supervised semantic segmentation task, we ensure that the image-level classification task is also solved in order to enforce the CNN to assign at least one pixel to each object present in the image. Experimentally, on the PASCAL VOC12 val and test sets, we obtain the mIoU of 60.8% and 61.9%, achieving the performance gains of 5.1% and 5.2% compared to the published state-of-the-art results. The code is made publicly available

Western Blot Analysis of the IgG-Antibody Response to Acid- Glycine-Extracted Antigens from Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus and C. jejuni in Naturally Infected Sheep

IgG-antibody response in aborting sheep and in apparently healthy sheep in a flock against acidglycine- extracted antigens from three strains for each C. fetus subsp. fetus and C. jejuni were analysed by Western blot. One strain of C. fetus subsp. fetus was isolated from aborting sheep. Western blot analysis of the sera revealed the presence of IgG antibody binding to the common antigens including proteins with the Mw of 63 kDa and 54 kDa in extracts from both C. fetus subsp. fetus and C. jejuni strains. In addition, IgG antibodies in sera from aborting sheep reacted more strongly with the antigens from C. fetus subsp. fetus strains with Mw of approximately 100, 95 and 86.5 kDa than those of apparently healthy sheep. The binding profile of the antibodies with these antigens appeared to be unique for each C. fetus subsp. fetus strain. On the other hand, IgG antibodies only in sera from aborting sheep recognized strongly the antigens of each C. fetus subsp. fetus strain at the Mw ranged from approximately 26 to 22 kDa. However, the antigenic components between 26 and 22 kDa were not detectable in coomassie blue stained gel and thought to have non-protein nature. These low molecular weight antigens of C. fetus subsp. fetus may be related to a recent infection in aborting sheep. These observations indicate that such speciesspecific antigens or conjugated protein antigens could be used for improving the specificity of the serological tests to detect C. fetus antibodies in sheep sera, and may be the candidates for subunit vaccines against ovine abortion

In vitro comparison of four different electronic apex locators to determine the major foramen using the clearing technique

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of four electronic apex locators (EALs) (DentaPort ZX, Raypex 5, Endo Master and VDW Gold) in detecting the major foramen using the clearing technique.Materials and Methods: Forty‑eight extracted single‑rooted extracted teeth with mature apices were used for the study and divided into four groups of 12 teeth each. All teeth were embedded in an alginate model. Electronic measurements were taken using a size 15 K‑file attached to the holder. Then, the teeth were cleared and photographed under a stereomicroscope with a digital camera. The distance between the tip of the file and the major foramen was measured by using an image analysis software program. Positive and negative values were recorded when the file tip was beyond or short of the major foramen and zero value when the file tip and the major foramen coincided. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Chi‑square tests at a significance level of 0.05.Results: Mean distance from the file tip to the major foramen were 0.302 ± 0.202, 0.065 ± 0.293, 0.117 ± 0.475, and 0.258 ± 0.160 mm in the DentaPort ZX, Raype 5, Endo Master, and VDW Gold groups, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences among the devices (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Under the experimental conditions, all EALs showed an acceptable determination of the major foramen.Keywords: Clearing technique, electronic apex locator, major forame

Association of atherogenic indices with obesity and as biomarkers of cardiovascular risk

Background: Obesity, the new world syndrome is the major health problem pandemically. One of the causes of dyslipidemia is obesity. The study was aimed to detect the pattern and prevalence of dyslipidemia in obese persons.Methods: Case control study included 70 subjects categorized into two groups based on BMI (body mass index) as cases (obese) with BMI >25 kg/m2 (n=35) and controls (non-obese) with BMI <25 kg/m2 (n=35). Anthropometric measurements such as waist and hip circumference and waist to hip ratio were measured. Fasting venous blood samples collected were estimated for total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein. Non-HDL-cholesterol, atherogenic indices such as atherogenic index of plasma, Castelli's risk index I and II and atherogenic coefficient were calculated from the estimated lipids.Results: Dyslipidemia observed in obese cases was hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia (28.57%), lowered HDL (57.14%) and increased LDL (65.71%). Significant lower HDL, elevated non-HDL cholesterol, CRI-I, II and AC were observed in cases compared to controls. BMI had a significant negative correlation with HDL and positive correlation with anthropometric measurements, TC, non-HDL cholesterol and atherogenic indices. TC and HDL were associated with all the atherogenic indices. CRI-I, CRI-II and AC have significant diagnostic utility, with CRI-I and AC having more sensitivity and specificity at cut off values of 3.85 and 2.85 respectively.Conclusions: Decrease in HDL, elevated non-HDL cholesterol and atherogenic indices are associated with BMI. CRI-I and AC are indicative cardiovascular risk

The effect of Si(x)N(y) interlayer on the quality of GaN epitaxial layers grown on Si(111) substrates by MOCVD

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In the present paper, the effects of nitridation on the quality of GaN epitaxial films grown on Si(111) substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor phase deposition (MOCVD) are discussed. A series of GaN layers were grown on Si(111) under various conditions and characterized by Nomarski microscopy (NM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), and room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Firstly, we optimized LT-AlN/HT-AlN/Si(111) templates and graded AlGaN intermediate layers thicknesses. In order to prevent stress relaxation, step-graded AlGaN layers were introduced along with a crack-free GaN layer of thickness exceeding 2.2 mu m. Secondly, the effect of in situ substrate nitridation and the insertion of an Si(x)N(y) intermediate layer on the GaN crystalline quality was investigated. Our measurements show that the nitridation position greatly influences the surface morphology and PL and XRD spectra of GaN grown atop the Si(x)N(y) layer. The X-ray diffraction and PL measurements results confirmed that the single-crystalline wurtzite GaN was successfully grown in samples A (without Si(x)N(y) layer) and B (with Si(x)N(y) layer on Si(111)). The resulting GaN film surfaces were flat, mirror-like, and crack-free. The full-width-at-half maximum (FWHM) of the X-ray rocking curve for (0002) diffraction from the GaN epilayer of the sample B in omega-scan was 492 arcsec. The PL spectrum at room temperature showed that the GaN epilayer had a light emission at a wavelength of 365 nm with a FWHM of 6.6 nm (33.2 meV). In sample B, the insertion of a Si(x)N(y) intermediate layer significantly improved the optical and structural properties. In sample C (with Si(x)N(y) layer on Al(0.11)Ga(0.89)N interlayer). The in situ depositing of the, however, we did not obtain any improvements in the optical or structural properties. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A Note on Doubly Warped Product Contact CR-Submanifolds in trans-Sasakian Manifolds

Warped product CR-submanifolds in Kaehlerian manifolds were intensively studied only since 2001 after the impulse given by B.Y. Chen. Immediately after, another line of research, similar to that concerning Sasakian geometry as the odd dimensional version of Kaehlerian geometry, was developed, namely warped product contact CR-submanifolds in Sasakian manifolds. In this note we proved that there exists no proper doubly warped product contact CR-submanifolds in trans-Sasakian manifolds.Comment: 5 Latex page

Studying the effects of Industrial Wastes on Tigris water in Al- Grea't City-Baghdad-Iraq

Tigris River is one of the main important surface water resources in Iraq. This necessitates continuous study of its quality . The present study is concerned with the characteristics and quality of Tigris  water passing through in Baghdad  city. (eight) samples were collected from the river in the area Grea't City. The study periods were carried over four season, which  has been sampled once  represent the  every season. First sampling 12-11-2012  represent the autumn season The second sampling 20-1-2013 to represent the winter season. The third in 25-3-2013  to represent the Springer season. The fourth during  29-5-2013 to represent the summer spring season. In order to specify the water quality, a group of physical and chemical analyses have been conducted. The physical measurements included the temperature, and the Specific electrical Conductance while the chemical analyses included measuring the pH , hardness , Salinity,  alkalinity, Total Dissolved Solids(TDS) , and total suspended solids (TSS),Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD ) and measuring the quantity of greases and oils via the gravimetric methods. The chemical analyses also included measuring the anions such as the (Sulphate (SO4-2), phosphate (pO4-3) and Nitrate (NO3-) by using the techniques of the UV – VIS Spectrophotometer.In order to identify the main cations in the water , the concentration of   K+2,Ca+2 and  Mg+2  were measured .   The above  mentioned analyses varied from using the classical chemical analyses such as titration as in measuring the [Cl- , (HCO3- ,Ca+2 ,Mg+2 ]Ions.Owing to the importance of assessing the trace and heavy metals in water due to their direct effect on human health and reliability, metals were measured; Flame Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer was used to measure the metals . Also, The correlation coefficients between the quality parameter pairs of the river water samples were calculated in order to indicate the nature and the sources of the polluting substances.all results are not  matched with the values of national (Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control) and international except(pH &amp;E.C.) but (HCO3 - &amp;Mg+2 ,Ca+2 ) and heavy metals where matched in some station and not in others.   Keywords: Tigris river ,Industrial Wastes, water  pollution, Al- Grea't City-Baghdad-Iraq physicochemical characteristics