Description of two new species of Calodromus Guérin-Méneville, 1832 from Peninsular Malaysia (Coleoptera: Brentidae, Cyphagoginae)

Calodromus mantillerii n. sp. and Calodromus goosseni n. sp. from Perak (Malaysia) are described on two single male specimens. The new taxa are closely related to Calodromus insignis (Senna, 1895) but can be easily distinguished by the very different shape of the first tarsal article of the male hind legs. A key for the identification of the males of the three known species of the Calodromus insignis group is provided. A new locality record of Calodromus insignis from Malaysia is also given

Revision of the genus Opisthozemius Kolbe, 1916, with description of a new species and designation of a new genus (Coleoptera: Brentidae, Cyphagoginae)

The Afrotropical genus Opisthozemius Kolbe, 1916 is revised. The genus now includes four species, one of which is described as new: Opisthozemius naamae sp. nov., from Tanzania and Zambia. Opisthozemius sulcithorax Damoiseau, 1967, from Java, is removed from the genus Opisthozemius and included in Euparagogus gen. nov. Opisthozemius honestus is placed in synonymy with Opisthozemius vittatus (new synonymy). A key for the identification of the species of Opisthozemius and some distributional data are also given. O. appendiculatus is quoted for the first time from Ghana; O. vittatus for the first time from Central African Republic, Ghana and Uganda

Warning: potential problems for taxonomy on the horizon?

Whether or not a species might reasonably be described without the preservation of a type specimen is a matter of ongoing discussion among taxonomists (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Minteer et al. 2014; Krell & Wheeler 2014; Löbl et al. 2016; Marshall & Evenhuis 2016; Santos et al. 2016). Here, we attempt to make our own contribution to the topic

Audio-Visual Target Speaker Extraction on Multi-Talker Environment using Event-Driven Cameras

In this work, we propose a new method to address audio-visual target speaker extraction in multi-talker environments using event-driven cameras. All audio-visual speech separation approaches use a frame-based video to extract visual features. However, these frame-based cameras usually work at 30 frames per second. This limitation makes it difficult to process an audio-visual signal with low latency. In order to overcome this limitation, we propose using event-driven cameras due to their high temporal resolution and low latency. Recent work showed that the use of landmark motion features is very important in order to get good results on audio-visual speech separation. Thus, we use event-driven vision sensors from which the extraction of motion is available at lower latency computational cost. A stacked Bidirectional LSTM is trained to predict an Ideal Amplitude Mask before post-processing to get a clean audio signal. The performance of our model is close to those yielded in frame-based fashion

Audio-Visual Target Speaker Enhancement on Multi-Talker Environment using Event-Driven Cameras

We propose a method to address audio-visual target speaker enhancement in multi-talker environments using event-driven cameras. State of the art audio-visual speech separation methods shows that crucial information is the movement of the facial landmarks related to speech production. However, all approaches proposed so far work offline, using frame-based video input, making it difficult to process an audio-visual signal with low latency, for online applications. In order to overcome this limitation, we propose the use of event-driven cameras and exploit compression, high temporal resolution and low latency, for low cost and low latency motion feature extraction, going towards online embedded audio-visual speech processing. We use the event-driven optical flow estimation of the facial landmarks as input to a stacked Bidirectional LSTM trained to predict an Ideal Amplitude Mask that is then used to filter the noisy audio, to obtain the audio signal of the target speaker. The presented approach performs almost on par with the frame-based approach, with very low latency and computational cost.Comment: Accepted at ISCAS 202

A review of geographical distribution of the stag beetles in Mediterranean countries (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

A list of recent records of stag beetles (Coleoptera Lucanidae) species occurring in Mediterranean countries is given to improve the current knowledge on their geographic distribution. The saproxylic larvae of the stag beetles are very important for forest ecosystems, and some lucanid species are included in the IUCN Red List and in several national protection lists. However, the knowledge on their distribution is rather heterogeneous for several countries and taxa because the distribution records are scattered in poorly known papers or hidden in Museum or private collections. This paper is an attempt to better understanding the distribution of the stag beetle species across the Mediterranean region, to facilitate research and conservation efforts

Description of the female of Xiphodontus endroedyi Bartolozzi, 2005 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

The female of Xiphodontus endroedyi Bartolozzi, 2005 is described for the first time. The new locality record for this species shows that it actually has a wide distribution range across the Cape Floral Region, in the Fynbos Biome. Both larvae and adults were found boring into dead wood at the base of senescent trunks of a variety of Proteaceae species, including the alien invasive Hakea sericea

Transarterial radioembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: An update and perspectives

In the last decade trans-arterial radioembolization has given promising results in the treatment of patients with intermediate or advanced stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), both in terms of disease control and tolerability profile. This technique consists of the selective intra-arterial administration of microspheres loaded with a radioactive compound (usually Yttrium90), and exerts its therapeutic effect through the radiation carried by these microspheres. A careful and meticulous selection of patients is crucial before performing the radioembolization to correctly perform the procedure and reduce the incidence of complications. Radioembolization is a technically complex and expensive technique, which has only recently entered clinical practice and is supported by scant results from phase III clinical trials. Nevertheless, it may represent a valid alternative to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of intermediate-stage HCC patients, as shown by a comparative retrospective assessment that reported a longer time to progression, but not of overall survival, and a more favorable safety profile for radioembolization. In addition, this treatment has reported a higher percentage of tumor shrinkage, if compared to TACE, for pre-transplant downsizing and it represents a promising therapeutic option in patients with large extent of disease and insufficient residual liver volume who are not immediately eligible for surgery. Radioembolization might also be a suitable companion to sorafenib in advanced HCC or it can be used as a potential alternative to this treatment in patients who are not responding or do not tolerate sorafenib

The conservation status and distribution of Mediterranean saproxylic beetles

The Mediterranean Red List assessment is a review of the conservation status at regional level of approximately 6,000 species of animals and plants. This report summarizes the results for a key group of Mediterranean biodiversity: saproxylic beetles. Despite their key role in the ecosystem´s health and food chain, saproxylic beetles are still largely misunderstood and the current information gaps on these species´ population status, trends, and distribution are a reflection on how little we still know about them. The geographical scope followed for this assessment is the Mediterranean region according to the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot, with the exception of the Macaronesian islands, which have not been included in this study. All the obligate saproxylic beetles endemic or almost endemic to the Mediterranean region – 320 species and 1 subspecies – are included