Object Detection Through Exploration With A Foveated Visual Field

We present a foveated object detector (FOD) as a biologically-inspired alternative to the sliding window (SW) approach which is the dominant method of search in computer vision object detection. Similar to the human visual system, the FOD has higher resolution at the fovea and lower resolution at the visual periphery. Consequently, more computational resources are allocated at the fovea and relatively fewer at the periphery. The FOD processes the entire scene, uses retino-specific object detection classifiers to guide eye movements, aligns its fovea with regions of interest in the input image and integrates observations across multiple fixations. Our approach combines modern object detectors from computer vision with a recent model of peripheral pooling regions found at the V1 layer of the human visual system. We assessed various eye movement strategies on the PASCAL VOC 2007 dataset and show that the FOD performs on par with the SW detector while bringing significant computational cost savings.Comment: An extended version of this manuscript was published in PLOS Computational Biology (October 2017) at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.100574

Recurrent Modification of a Conserved Cis-Regulatory Element Underlies Fruit Fly Pigmentation Diversity

The development of morphological traits occurs through the collective action of networks of genes connected at the level of gene expression. As any node in a network may be a target of evolutionary change, the recurrent targeting of the same node would indicate that the path of evolution is biased for the relevant trait and network. Although examples of parallel evolution have implicated recurrent modification of the same gene and cis-regulatory element (CRE), little is known about the mutational and molecular paths of parallel CRE evolution. In Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, the Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors control the development of a suite of sexually dimorphic traits on the posterior abdomen. Female-specific Bab expression is regulated by the dimorphic element, a CRE that possesses direct inputs from body plan (ABD-B) and sex-determination (DSX) transcription factors. Here, we find that the recurrent evolutionary modification of this CRE underlies both intraspecific and interspecific variation in female pigmentation in the melanogaster species group. By reconstructing the sequence and regulatory activity of the ancestral Drosophila melanogaster dimorphic element, we demonstrate that a handful of mutations were sufficient to create independent CRE alleles with differing activities. Moreover, intraspecific and interspecific dimorphic element evolution proceeded with little to no alterations to the known body plan and sex-determination regulatory linkages. Collectively, our findings represent an example where the paths of evolution appear biased to a specific CRE, and drastic changes in function were accompanied by deep conservation of key regulatory linkages. © 2013 Rogers et al

Satisfaction of staff of Swiss insurance companies with medical appraisals: a cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A high quality of timely delivered medical appraisals is crucial for social and other insurances to judge possible occupational reintegration measures for patients with medical conditions who are in danger to lose their job. However, little is known about the satisfaction of staff of insurance companies with medical appraisals that they have commissioned.</p> <p>Our questionnaire survey prospectively included all medical appraisals arriving at Swiss insurances from FEB to APR 2008. We assessed the satisfaction of the commissioner with medical appraisals performed by medical assessors. In addition, we evaluated the contribution of several factors to overall satisfaction. The unit of sample was the medical appraisal.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We analysed 3165 medical appraisals, 2444 (77%) of them from the public disability insurance, 678 (22%) from private accident, liability and loss of income insurances and 43 (1%) from other insurances. Overall satisfaction of staff of insurance companies in Switzerland was high, but satisfaction of the disability insurance with appraisals was generally lower compared to satisfaction of private insurances. The staff of the disability insurance judged time for preparation as too long in 30%. For staff of private insurance companies 20% of appraisals were not "worth its price". Well-grounded and comprehensible conclusions were the single most important factor for high overall satisfaction (OR 10.1; 95%-CI: 1.1-89.3).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>From the viewpoint of staff of insurance companies, a relevant part of medical appraisals arrives too late. Medical assessors have to take the specific needs of insurances into account, to perform more appraisals with sound conclusions in due time.</p

Consumption patterns of sweet drinks in a population of Australian children and adolescents (2003–2008)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intake of sweet drinks has previously been associated with the development of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. The present study aimed to assess the consumption pattern of sweet drinks in a population of children and adolescents in Victoria, Australia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on 1,604 children and adolescents (4–18 years) from the comparison groups of two quasi-experimental intervention studies from Victoria, Australia were analysed<it>.</it> Sweet drink consumption (soft drink and fruit juice/cordial) was assessed as one day’s intake and typical intake over the last week or month at two time points between 2003 and 2008 (mean time between measurement: 2.2 years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Assessed using dietary recalls, more than 70% of the children and adolescents consumed sweet drinks, with no difference between age groups (p = 0.28). The median intake among consumers was 500 ml and almost a third consumed more than 750 ml per day. More children and adolescents consumed fruit juice/cordial (69%) than soft drink (33%) (p < 0.0001) and in larger volumes (median intake fruit juice/cordial: 500 ml and soft drink: 375 ml). Secular changes in sweet drink consumption were observed with a lower proportion of children and adolescents consuming sweet drinks at time 2 compared to time 1 (significant for age group 8 to <10 years, p = 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The proportion of Australian children and adolescents from the state of Victoria consuming sweet drinks has been stable or decreasing, although a high proportion of this sample consumed sweet drinks, especially fruit juice/cordial at both time points.</p

Chronic diarrhea associated with persistent norovirus excretion in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: report of two cases

BACKGROUND: Chronic diarrhea in patients treated with immunosuppressive agents or suffering from immunosuppressive disease can represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the clinician. Norovirus infection, a major cause of acute epidemic diarrhea, has been described as a cause of chronic diarrhea in patients who are immunosuppressed, including transplant recipients and the very young. CASE PRESENTATIONS: We describe two patients, a 64 year-old man and a 59 year-old woman, both suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia and hypogammaglobulinemia, who developed chronic diarrhea resistant to therapy. In both cases, after months of symptoms, persistent norovirus infection--documented by repeatedly-positive high-sensitivity stool enzyme immunoassay--was found to be the cause. Both patients died with active diarrheal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the first cases of advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia to suffer from chronic symptomatic norovirus infection. Clinicians caring for such patients, particularly those with concomitant hypogammaglobulinema, who have chronic unexplained diarrhea, should consider norovirus infection in the differential diagnosis

Diversity and quantity of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in sediment of the Pearl River Estuary, China

The diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in the sediment of the Pearl River Estuary were investigated by cloning and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). From one sediment sample S16, 36 AOA OTUs (3% cutoff) were obtained from three clone libraries constructed using three primer sets for amoA gene. Among the 36 OTUs, six were shared by all three clone libraries, two appeared in two clone libraries, and the other 28 were only recovered in one of the libraries. For AOB, only seven OTUs (based on 16S rRNA gene) and eight OTUs (based on amoA gene) were obtained, showing lower diversity than AOA. The qPCR results revealed that AOA amoA gene copy numbers ranged from 9.6 × 106 to 5.1 × 107 copies per gram of sediment and AOB amoA gene ranged from 9.5 × 104 to 6.2 × 105 copies per gram of sediment, indicating that the dominant ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in the sediment of the Pearl River Estuary were AOA. The terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism results showed that the relative abundance of AOB species in the sediment samples of different salinity were significantly different, indicating that salinity might be a key factor shaping the AOB community composition

Disparities in healthy food zoning, farmers’ market availability, and fruit and vegetable consumption among North Carolina residents

Background Context and purpose of the study. To examine (1) associations between county-level zoning to support farmers’ market placement and county-level farmers’ market availability, rural/urban designation, percent African American residents, and percent of residents living below poverty and (2) individual-level associations between zoning to support farmers’ markets; fruit and vegetable consumption and body mass index (BMI) among a random sample of residents of six North Carolina (NC) counties. Methods Zoning ordinances were scored to indicate supportiveness for healthy food outlets. Number of farmers’ markets (per capita) was obtained from the NC-Community Transformation Grant Project Fruit and Vegetable Outlet Inventory (2013). County-level census data on rural/urban status, percent African American, and percent poverty were obtained. For data on farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI, trained interviewers conducted a random digit dial telephone survey of residents of six NC counties (3 urban and 3 rural). Pearson correlation coefficients and multilevel linear regression models were used to examine county-level and individual-level associations between zoning supportiveness, farmers’ market availability, and fruit and vegetable consumption and BMI. Results At the county-level, healthier food zoning was greater in more urban areas and areas with less poverty. At the individual-level, self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with healthier food zoning. Conclusions Disparities in zoning to promote healthy eating should be further examined, and future studies should assess whether amending zoning ordinances will lead to greater availability of healthy foods and changes in dietary behavior and health outcomes.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun

Zebrafish: A See-Through Host and a Fluorescent Toolbox to Probe Host–Pathogen Interaction

In many ways, the zebrafish represents a hybrid between mouse and invertebrate infection models. Powerful forwardgenetic tools that have made invertebrates justifiably famous are not only relatively accessible in the zebrafish, but have been exploited to yield new insights into human infectious diseases, including leprosy and tuberculosis [1]. Transgenic technologies have enabled detailed, non-invasive in vivo visualization of macrophages and neutrophils in pitched battle with bacteria and fungi [2,3]. Reverse genetics with morpholinos, vivo-morpholinos, and zinc-finger nucleases (but unfortunately not homologous recombination, which for the moment remains out of reach in this organism) enable examination of the roles of specific genes during infection. Flexible genetic systems such as Gal4-UAS and Cre-Lox permit tissue-specific transformation and ablation ([3]; Figure 1)

Spatio-temporal Models of Lymphangiogenesis in Wound Healing

Several studies suggest that one possible cause of impaired wound healing is failed or insufficient lymphangiogenesis, that is the formation of new lymphatic capillaries. Although many mathematical models have been developed to describe the formation of blood capillaries (angiogenesis), very few have been proposed for the regeneration of the lymphatic network. Lymphangiogenesis is a markedly different process from angiogenesis, occurring at different times and in response to different chemical stimuli. Two main hypotheses have been proposed: 1) lymphatic capillaries sprout from existing interrupted ones at the edge of the wound in analogy to the blood angiogenesis case; 2) lymphatic endothelial cells first pool in the wound region following the lymph flow and then, once sufficiently populated, start to form a network. Here we present two PDE models describing lymphangiogenesis according to these two different hypotheses. Further, we include the effect of advection due to interstitial flow and lymph flow coming from open capillaries. The variables represent different cell densities and growth factor concentrations, and where possible the parameters are estimated from biological data. The models are then solved numerically and the results are compared with the available biological literature.Comment: 29 pages, 9 Figures, 6 Tables (39 figure files in total

A stable aberrant immunophenotype characterizes nearly all cases of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in blood and can be used to monitor response to therapy

BACKGROUND: Abnormal variations in the expression level of some commonly expressed T-cell antigens are a feature of many T-cell malignancies. METHODS: We sought to assess the frequency of such abnormal antigen expression by flow cytometry in peripheral blood (PB) samples from patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS). We correlated presence of morphologically identifiable tumor cells on PB smear with the frequency of abnormalities in the level of expression of CD3, CD4, CD7, CD8 and CD26. We also examined the degree of stability of these abnormal findings in tumor cells over the course of disease. The flow cytometric findings in 100 PB samples from 44 patients, including 38 who had multiple sequential PB samples (2–8 samples each), were assessed. RESULTS: Abnormalities were seen in the expression level of one or more T-cell markers in 41 cases (93%) including CD3 in 34% of patients, CD4 in 54%, CD26 in 86% and CD 45 in 40% (10 cases tested). In all but 2 cases, the abnormal T-cell immunophenotype remained similar over the course of treatment and correlated with the relative numbers of tumor cells counted on PB smear. CONCLUSIONS: Using a standard T-cell panel, stable phenotypically aberrant T-cell populations representing the tumor are detected in the vast majority of involved PB samples in MF/SS and can be used to monitor response to therapy