PlantKViT: A Combination Model of Vision Transformer and KNN for Forest Plants Classification

The natural ecosystem incorporates thousands of plant species and distinguishing them is normally manual, complicated, and time-consuming. Since the task requires a large amount of expertise, identifying forest plant species relies on the work of a team of botanical experts. The emergence of Machine Learning, especially Deep Learning, has opened up a new approach to plant classification. However, the application of plant classification based on deep learning models remains limited. This paper proposed a model, named PlantKViT, combining Vision Transformer architecture and the KNN algorithm to identify forest plants. The proposed model provides high efficiency and convenience for adding new plant species. The study was experimented with using Resnet-152, ConvNeXt networks, and the PlantKViT model to classify forest plants. The training and evaluation were implemented on the dataset of DanangForestPlant, containing 10,527 images and 489 species of forest plants. The accuracy of the proposed PlantKViT model reached 93%, significantly improved compared to the ConvNeXt model at 89% and the Resnet-152 model at only 76%. The authors also successfully developed a website and 2 applications called ‘plant id’ and ‘Danangplant’ on the iOS and Android platforms respectively. The PlantKViT model shows the potential in forest plant identification not only in the conducted dataset but also worldwide. Future work should gear toward extending the dataset and enhance the accuracy and performance of forest plant identification

Single-machine Scheduling with Splitable Jobs and Availability Constraints

This paper deals with a single machine scheduling problem with availability constraints. The jobs are splitable and lower bound on the size of each sub-job is imposed. The objective is to find a feasible schedule that minimizes the makespan. The proposed scheduling problem is proved to be NP-hard in the strong sense. Some effective heuristic algorithms are then proposed. Additionally, computational results show that the proposed heuristic performs well

Chemical profile and antibacterial activity of acetone extract of Homalomena cochinchinensis Engl. (Araceae)

Homalomena cochinchinensis Engl. is a rare species which is found in Southern China, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and its chemical constituents and bioactivity have not been determined yet. In this study, we identified 32 and 38 compounds in acetone extracts of H. cochinchinensis aerial part and rhizome, respectively via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main constituents of acetone extract of the aerial part were 3-((4Z,7Z)-Heptadeca-4,7-dien-1-yl)phenol (18.73%); cis-9,cis-12-Octadecadienoic acid (12.04%); linolenic acid (11.08%); n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.13%); (Z)-3-(Heptadec-10-en-1-yl)phenol (7.09%); ?-Sitosterol (5.58%) and linalool (5.56%). On the other hand, acetone extract of rhizome contained linalool (28.42%); 1,2,3-Propanetriol, 1-acetate (10.13%); 3-((4Z,7Z)-Heptadeca-4,7-dien-1-yl)phenol (5.28%); 3-Buten-2-one, 3-methyl-4-(1,3,3-trimethyl-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-yl)- (5.28%) and 4-(2,6,6-Trimethyl-cyclohex-1-enyl)-butyric acid (4.54%). Furthermore, this study has also proved the antibacterial activity of acetone extracts from the aerial part and the rhizome of this species for the first time using disk diffusion method. The results showed that the extract of the aerial part could inhibit the growth of 5 out of a total 6 bacterial strains, including Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus; while the susceptible strains to the rhizome extract were 5 strains, such as B. cereus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium and S. aureus. The findings suggest the further application of this species in pharmacology and medicine

TẠO DÒNG CÁC GEN MÃ HÓA CHITINASE 42 kDa CỦA Trichoderma asperellum VÀO VECTOR BIỂU HIỆN THỰC VẬT pMYV719 ĐỂ PHỤC VỤ CHUYỂN GEN

In this study, chitinase genes containing a signal peptide sequence, such as Chi42, syncodChi42-1 and syncodChi42-2, were cloned in the plant expression vector pMYV719 and successfully transferred into Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA 4404. Among them, Chi42 is a wild-type gene of Trichoderma asperellum SH16. Both genes syncodChi42-1 and syncodChi42-2 are derived from Chi42, which was optimized for codon usage for plant expression. Agrobacterium bacteria-harbouring pMYV719/chitinase vector was used for genetic transformation into peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) to enhance resistance to phytopathogenic fungi in further studies.Trong nghiên cứu này, các gen chitinase mang trình tự peptide tín hiệu như Chi42, syncodChi42-1 và syncodChi42-2 đã được tạo dòng trong vector biểu hiện thực vật pMYV719 và biến nạp thành công vào vi khuẩn Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA 4404. Trong đó, gen Chi42 là kiểu gen hoang dại từ chủng nấm Trichoderma asperellum SH16. Hai gen syncodChi42-1 và syncodChi42-2 có nguồn gốc từ gen Chi42 đã được tối ưu hóa bộ ba sử dụng để biểu hiện thực vật. Vi khuẩn A. tumefaciens mang các gen chitinase được sử dụng để chuyển gen vào cây lạc (Arachis hypogaea L.) trong các nghiên cứu tiếp theo để cải thiện khả năng kháng nấm bệnh của chúng

Elevated Levels of Cell-Free Circulating DNA in Patients with Acute Dengue Virus Infection

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of severe dengue and the release of cell-free DNA into the circulatory system in several medical conditions. Therefore, we investigated circulating DNA as a potential biomarker for severe dengue. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A direct fluorometric degradation assay using PicoGreen was performed to quantify cell-free DNA from patient plasma. Circulating DNA levels were significantly higher in patients with dengue virus infection than with other febrile illnesses and healthy controls. Remarkably, the increase of DNA levels correlated with the severity of dengue. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that circulating DNA levels independently correlated with dengue shock syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating DNA levels were increased in dengue patients and correlated with dengue severity. Additional studies are required to show the benefits of this biomarker in early dengue diagnosis and for the prognosis of shock complication

The Association of Cytokines with Severe Dengue in Children

Background: Dengue virus infection is a major public health problem. A hypothesis put forward for severe dengue is the cytokine storm, a sudden increase in cytokines that induces vascular permeability. Previous studies and our recent meta-analysis showed that IL-6, IL-8, IFNγ, TNFα, VEGF-A and VCAM-1 are associated with dengue shock syndrome. Therefore, in this study we aim to validate the association of these cytokines with severe dengue. Methods & Findings: In a hospital based-case control study in Vietnam, children with dengue fever, other febrile illness and healthy controls were recruited. Dengue virus infection was confirmed by several diagnostic tests. Multiplex immunoassay using Luminex technology was used to measure cytokines simultaneously. A positive association with dengue shock syndrome was found for VCAM-1, whereas a negative association was found for IFNγ. Furthermore, multivariate logistic analysis also showed that VCAM-1 and IFNγ were independently correlated with dengue shock syndrome. Conclusion: IFNγ and VCAM-1 were associated with dengue shock syndrome, although their role in the severe dengue pathogenesis remains unclear. Additional studies are required to shed further light on the function of these cytokines in severe dengue

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Cohomology of Coxeter varieties for linear groups : endomorphisms algebra, compactification

Les variétés de Deligne-Lusztig associées à un élément de Coxeter, dites variétés de Coxeter et notées Y(c˙), sont des variétés candidates à réaliser l'équivalence dérivée demandée dans la conjecture de Broué. Cette conjecture implique qu'une telle variété doit avoir une cohomologie disjointe et donne également la description de l'algèbre d'endomorphismes associée. Dans le cas des groupes linéaires, nous décrivons la cohomologie des variétés de Coxeter et en déduisons que celles-ci vérifient bien les propriétés impliquées par la conjecture de Broué. Pour ce faire, nous montrons qu'il est possible d'appliquer un résultat de "transitivité" permettant de se ramener à des variétés de Coxeter "plus petites" et nous utilisons ensuite un résultat établi par Lusztig sur des variétés notées X(c), obtenues comme des quotients des variétés Y(c˙) par des groupes finis. Enfin, dans une dernière partie, la description de la cohomologie des variétés de Coxeter nous permet d'obtenir un lien entre la cohomologie de la compactification Y¯(c˙) et celle de la compactification X¯(c).Deligne-Lusztig varieties associated to Coxeter elements, or more simply Coxeter Varieties denoted by Y(c˙), are good candidates to realize the derived equivalence needed for the Broué's conjecture. The conjecture implies that the varieties should have disjoint cohomology as well as gives a description of the endomorphisms algebra. For linear groups, we describe the cohomology of the Coxeter varieties and hence show that it agrees with the conditions implied by Broué's conjecture. To do so, we prove it is possible to apply a "transitivity" result allowing us to restrict to "smaller" Coxeter varieties. Then, we apply a result obtained by Lusztig on varieties X(c), which are quotient varieties of Y(c˙) by some finite groups. In the last part of the thesis, we use the description of the cohomology of Coxeter varieties to connect the cohomology of the compactification Y¯(c˙) and the cohomology of the compactification X¯(c)

Transformation of coastal fisheries in Nha Phu lagoon of Vietnam: Livelihood changes and implications

Transformation of Coastal Fisheries in Nha Phu Lagoon of Vietnam: Livelihood Changes and Implications This study sets out to explore key technological and access-related transformations in coastal fisheries-based livelihoods, and their implications for livelihood sustainability and for the production of wealth and poverty in fishing communities around Nha Phu lagoon of Vietnam. Drawing upon three approaches to understanding poverty, key concepts of sustainable livelihoods, agrarian change and property theory, an integrated approach is applied to analyze the underlying processes of coastal fisheries-based livelihood transformations and to examine how these processes have affected the sustainability of livelihoods and the creation of wealth and poverty. The research findings indicate three key transformative trends in the study area: the modernization of capture fisheries, the intensification and expansion of aquaculture, and the privatization of common pool resources. These transformations have led to increasing concentration of production capacity in the hands of a relatively small number of individuals who have capital and hence the means to apply new technologies and livelihoods. The processes have eventually resulted in a series of impacts on the socio-economic life of people living around the lagoon and on natural resources. Most significantly, the differentiation of rich and poor has emerged between those who can adapt to, and thus can benefit from, the change and those who cannot. Co-production of wealth and poverty can be seen as the consequence of the money-lending system and the conflicts of resources use between and beyond communities. This study thus elaborates an innovative understanding of implications of livelihoods change on poverty and inequality in coastal fisheries. Suggestive solutions for poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods are also provided