UAVPal:A New Dataset for Semantic Segmentation in Complex Urban Landscape with Efficient Multiscale Segmentation

Semantic segmentation has recently emerged as a prominent area of interest in Earth observation. Several semantic segmentation datasets already exist, facilitating comparisons among different methods in complex urban scenes. However, most open high-resolution urban datasets are geographically skewed toward Europe and North America, while coverage of Southeast Asia is very limited. The considerable variation in city designs worldwide presents an obstacle to the applicability of computer vision models, especially when the training dataset lacks significant diversity. On the other hand, naively applying computationally expensive models leads to inefficacies and sometimes poor performance. To tackle the lack of data diversity, we introduce a new UAVPal dataset of complex urban scenes from the city of Bhopal, India. We complement this by introducing a novel dense predictor head and demonstrate that a well-designed head can efficiently take advantage of the multiscale features to enhance the benefits of a strong feature extractor backbone. We design our segmentation head to learn the importance of features at various scales for each individual class and refine the final dense prediction accordingly. We tested our proposed head with a state-of-the-art backbone on multiple UAV datasets and a high-resolution satellite image dataset for LULC classification. We observed improved intersection over union (IoU) in various classes and up to 2$\%$ better mean IoU. Apart from the performance improvements, we also observed nearly 50$\%$ reduction in computing operations required when using the proposed head compared to the traditional segmentation head.</p

Despite its role in assembly, methionine 35 is not necessary for amyloid β-protein toxicity

Author Manuscript 2011 June 1.An important component of the pathologic process underlying Alzheimer’s disease is oxidative stress. Met[superscript 35] in amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is prone to participating in redox reactions promoting oxidative stress, and therefore is believed to contribute significantly Aβ-induced toxicity. Thus, substitution of Met[superscript 35] by residues that do not participate in redox chemistry would be expected to decrease Aβ toxicity. Indeed, substitution of Met[superscript 35] by norleucine (Nle) was reported to reduce Aβ toxicity. Surprisingly, however, substitution of Met[superscript 35] by Val was reported to increase toxicity. Aβ toxicity is known to be strongly related to its self-assembly. However, neither substitution is predicted to affect Aβ assembly substantially. Thus, the effect of these substitutions on toxicity is difficult to explain. We revisited this issue and compared Aβ40 and Aβ42 with analogs containing Met[superscript 35]→Nle or Met[superscript 35]→Val substitutions using multiple biophysical and toxicity assays. We found that substitution of Met[superscript 35] by Nle or Val had moderate effects on Aβ assembly. Surprisingly, despite these effects, neither substitution changed Aβ neurotoxicity significantly in three different assays. These results suggest that the presence of Met[superscript 35] in Aβ is not important for Aβ toxicity, challenging to the prevailing paradigm, which suggests that redox reactions involving Met35 contribute substantially to Aβ-induced toxicity.Alzheimer's Association (Grant IIRG- 07-5833)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant AG027818

Pathogenic alleles in microtubule, secretory granule and extracellular matrix-related genes in familial keratoconus.

Keratoconus is a common corneal defect with a complex genetic basis. By whole exome sequencing of affected members from 11 multiplex families of European ancestry, we identified 23 rare, heterozygous, potentially pathogenic variants in 8 genes. These include nonsynonymous single amino acid substitutions in HSPG2, EML6 and CENPF in two families each, and in NBEAL2, LRP1B, PIK3CG and MRGPRD in three families each; ITGAX had nonsynonymous single amino acid substitutions in two families and an indel with a base substitution producing a nonsense allele in the third family. Only HSPG2, EML6 and CENPF have been associated with ocular phenotypes previously. With the exception of MRGPRD and ITGAX, we detected the transcript and encoded protein of the remaining genes in the cornea and corneal cell cultures. Cultured stromal cells showed cytoplasmic punctate staining of NBEAL2, staining of the fibrillar cytoskeletal network by EML6, while CENPF localized to the basal body of primary cilia. We inhibited the expression of HSPG2, EML6, NBEAL2 and CENPF in stromal cell cultures and assayed for the expression of COL1A1 as a readout of corneal matrix production. An upregulation in COL1A1 after siRNA inhibition indicated their functional link to stromal cell biology. For ITGAX, encoding a leukocyte integrin, we assayed its level in the sera of 3 affected families compared with 10 unrelated controls to detect an increase in all affecteds. Our study identified genes that regulate the cytoskeleton, protein trafficking and secretion, barrier tissue function and response to injury and inflammation, as being relevant to keratoconus

Rubber Clay Nanocomposites

The use of nanofillers allows the development of nanocomposites with improved properties and novel applications. The technological goal is possible due to the new compounding method that allows a particle dispersion in the nanometer scale increasing the specific surface area.Fil: Cova Sánchez, Mariajose. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial - Caucho; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Bacigalupe, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial - Caucho; ArgentinaFil: Escobar, Mariano Martin. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial - Caucho; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mansilla, Marcela Angela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial - Caucho; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Computational approaches to understanding reaction outcomes of organic processes in ionic liquids

This review considers how various computational methods have been applied to explain the changes in reaction outcome on moving from a molecular to an ionic liquid solvent. Initially, different conceptual approaches to modelling ionic liquids are discussed, followed by a consideration of the limitations and constraints of these approaches. A series of case studies demonstrating the utility of computational approaches to explain processes in ionic liquids are considered; some of these address the solubility of species in ionic liquids while others examine classes of reaction where the outcome in ionic liquids can be explained through the application of computational approaches. Overall, the utility of computational methods to explain, and potentially predict, the effect of ionic liquids on reaction outcome is demonstrated

Carbon Dioxide Utilisation -The Formate Route

UIDB/50006/2020 CEEC-Individual 2017 Program Contract.The relentless rise of atmospheric CO2 is causing large and unpredictable impacts on the Earth climate, due to the CO2 significant greenhouse effect, besides being responsible for the ocean acidification, with consequent huge impacts in our daily lives and in all forms of life. To stop spiral of destruction, we must actively reduce the CO2 emissions and develop new and more efficient “CO2 sinks”. We should be focused on the opportunities provided by exploiting this novel and huge carbon feedstock to produce de novo fuels and added-value compounds. The conversion of CO2 into formate offers key advantages for carbon recycling, and formate dehydrogenase (FDH) enzymes are at the centre of intense research, due to the “green” advantages the bioconversion can offer, namely substrate and product selectivity and specificity, in reactions run at ambient temperature and pressure and neutral pH. In this chapter, we describe the remarkable recent progress towards efficient and selective FDH-catalysed CO2 reduction to formate. We focus on the enzymes, discussing their structure and mechanism of action. Selected promising studies and successful proof of concepts of FDH-dependent CO2 reduction to formate and beyond are discussed, to highlight the power of FDHs and the challenges this CO2 bioconversion still faces.publishersversionpublishe

Genome-wide Association Study of Long COVID

SummaryInfections can lead to persistent or long-term symptoms and diseases such as shingles after varicella zoster, cancers after human papillomavirus, or rheumatic fever after streptococcal infections1, 2. Similarly, infection by SARS-CoV-2 can result in Long COVID, a condition characterized by symptoms of fatigue and pulmonary and cognitive dysfunction3–5. The biological mechanisms that contribute to the development of Long COVID remain to be clarified. We leveraged the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative6, 7to perform a genome-wide association study for Long COVID including up to 6,450 Long COVID cases and 1,093,995 population controls from 24 studies across 16 countries. We identified the first genome-wide significant association for Long COVID at theFOXP4locus.FOXP4has been previously associated with COVID-19 severity6, lung function8, and cancers9, suggesting a broader role for lung function in the pathophysiology of Long COVID. While we identify COVID-19 severity as a causal risk factor for Long COVID, the impact of the genetic risk factor located in theFOXP4locus could not be solely explained by its association to severe COVID-19. Our findings further support the role of pulmonary dysfunction and COVID-19 severity in the development of Long COVID.</jats:p