Temporal Relational Reasoning in Videos

Temporal relational reasoning, the ability to link meaningful transformations of objects or entities over time, is a fundamental property of intelligent species. In this paper, we introduce an effective and interpretable network module, the Temporal Relation Network (TRN), designed to learn and reason about temporal dependencies between video frames at multiple time scales. We evaluate TRN-equipped networks on activity recognition tasks using three recent video datasets - Something-Something, Jester, and Charades - which fundamentally depend on temporal relational reasoning. Our results demonstrate that the proposed TRN gives convolutional neural networks a remarkable capacity to discover temporal relations in videos. Through only sparsely sampled video frames, TRN-equipped networks can accurately predict human-object interactions in the Something-Something dataset and identify various human gestures on the Jester dataset with very competitive performance. TRN-equipped networks also outperform two-stream networks and 3D convolution networks in recognizing daily activities in the Charades dataset. Further analyses show that the models learn intuitive and interpretable visual common sense knowledge in videos.Comment: camera-ready version for ECCV'1

Characterization of Myeloid Cellular Populations in Mesenteric and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue of Holstein-Friesian Cows

Immune cells resident in adipose tissue have important functions in local and systemic metabolic homeostasis. Nevertheless, these immune cell populations remain poorly characterized in bovines. Recently, we described diverse lymphocyte subpopulations in adipose tissue of Holstein-Friesian cows. Here, we aimed at characterising myeloid cell populations present in bovine adipose tissue using multicolour flow cytometry, cell sorting and histochemistry/immunohistochemistry. Macrophages, CD14(+)CD11b(+)MHC-II(+)CD45(+) cells, were identified in mesenteric and subcutaneous adipose tissue, though at higher proportions in the latter. Mast cells, identified as SSC-A(high)CD11b(-/+)CD14(-)MHC-II(-)CH138A(-)CD45(+) cells, were also observed in adipose tissue and found at higher proportions than macrophages in mesenteric adipose tissue. Neutrophils, presenting a CH138A(+)CD11b(+) phenotype, were also detected in mesenteric and subcutaneous adipose tissue, however, at much lower frequencies than in the blood. Our gating strategy allowed identification of eosinophils in blood but not in adipose tissue although being detected by morphological analysis at low frequencies in some animals. A population not expressing CD45 and with the CH138A(+) CD11b(-)MHC-II- phenotype, was found abundant and present at higher proportions in mesenteric than subcutaneous adipose tissue. The work reported here may be useful for further studies addressing the function of the described cells

Modulation of Leptin and Leptin Receptor Expression in Mice Acutely Infected with Neospora caninum

Neospora caninumis an apicomplexan parasite that in cattle assumes particular importance, as it is responsible for abortions reported worldwide. Leptin is an adipokine mainly secreted by adipocytes, which beside its role in maintaining metabolic homeostasis also has important effects in both innate and adaptive immunity. In previous work, we showed that mice chronically infected withN. caninumhad elevated serum leptin levels. Here, we sought to assess whether acute infection withN. caninuminfection influenced the production of this adipokine as well as leptin receptor mRNA levels. Our results show that acute infection withN. caninumled to decreased leptin serum levels and mRNA expression in adipose tissue. A decrease in leptin receptor transcript variant 1 mRNA (long isoform) and leptin receptor transcript variant 3 mRNA (one of the short isoforms) expression was also observed. An increase in the number of cells staining positive for leptin in the liver of infected mice was observed, although this increase was less marked in Interleukin (IL)-12/IL-23 p40-deficient mice. Overall, our results show thatN. caninuminfection also influences leptin production during acute infection

Hyperoside Supplementation in Preservation Media Surpasses Vitamin C Protection Against Oxidative Stress-Induced Damages in Human Spermatozoa

Background/Aims: Oxidative Stress (OS) is reported as one of the main causes of male infertility. Infertile couples often resort to assisted reproductive technology (ART) to achieve parenthood. However, preparation for ART protocols increases the exposer of gametes to OS. Thus, it is crucial to find suitable preservation media that can counteract the OS-induced damages in spermatozoa. In this work, we tested and compared the efficiency of vitamin C (VC) and hyperoside (HYP) as potential antioxidant supplements for sperm preservation media. Methods: We evaluated the cytotoxicity of HYP (0, 5, 50, 100, and 500 µM) in spermatozoa. After incubation of sperm cells with VC (600 µM) and HYP (100 and 500 µM), in the presence and absence of H2O2 (300 µM), the following parameters were assessed: total sperm motility and vitality, OS biomarkers expression, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the media, percentage of DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and metabolite quantification of the media by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). Results: The supplementation with VC (600 µM) and HYP (100 and 500 µM) did not induce any deleterious effects to the physiology and metabolism of the spermatozoa, after 1-hour of treatment. In the presence of H2O2 (300 µM), both VC and HYP were able to prevent some of the deleterious effects of H2O2 in sperm, which were represented by an increase in sperm motility, a decrease in DNA fragmentation, and a decreasing trend in lipid peroxidation levels. However, these antioxidants were not able to prevent the decrease of MMP associated with H2O2 treatment, nor were able to prevent the conversion of pyruvate into acetate (a reaction promoted by H2O2). Conclusion: The supplementation of sperm preservation media with VC and HYP could be beneficial for the preservation of sperm physiology. From the antioxidant conditions tested, the supplementation of media with HYP (100 µM) demonstrated the best results regarding sperm preservation, evidencing the higher antioxidant capacity of HYP compared to VC. Nevertheless, none of the antioxidants used was able to prevent the metabolic alterations promoted by H2O2 in spermatozoa.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - FCT to Sara C. Pereira (2021.05487.BD); David F. Carrageta (SFRH/BD/136779/2018); Marco G. Alves (IFCT2015 and PTDC/MEC-AND/28691/2017); LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020); UMIB (UIDB/00215/2020, and UIDP/00215/2020); ITR - Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (LA/P/0064/2020). Pedro F. Oliveira was funded by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the Scientific Employment Stimulus - Institutional Call - reference CEECINST/00026/2018

Interventions to improve exercise behaviour in sedentary people living with and beyond cancer: a systematic review

Background: To systematically review the effects of interventions to improve exercise behaviour in sedentary people living with and beyond cancer. Methods: Only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared an exercise intervention to a usual care comparison in sedentary people with a homogeneous primary cancer diagnosis, over the age of 18 years were eligible. The following electronic databases were searched: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials MEDLINE; EMBASE; AMED; CINAHL; PsycINFO; SportDiscus; PEDro from inception to August 2012. Results: Fourteen trials were included in this review, involving a total of 648 participants. Just six trials incorporated prescriptions that would meet current recommendations for aerobic exercise. However, none of the trials included in this review reported intervention adherence of 75% or more for a set prescription that would meet current aerobic exercise guidelines. Despite uncertainty around adherence in many of the included trials, the interventions caused improvements in aerobic exercise tolerance at 8–12 weeks (SMD=0.73, 95% CI=0.51–0.95) in intervention participants compared with controls. At 6 months, aerobic exercise tolerance is also improved (SMD=0.70, 95% CI=0.45–0.94), although four of the five trials had a high risk of bias; hence, caution is warranted in its interpretation. Conclusion: Expecting the majority of sedentary survivors to achieve the current exercise guidelines is likely to be unrealistic. As with all well-designed exercise programmes, prescriptions should be designed around individual capabilities and frequency, duration and intensity or sets, repetitions, intensity of resistance training should be generated on this basis

Relationships Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Physical Activity, and Psychosocial Variables in Overweight and Obese Breast Cancer Survivors

# The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Background Breast cancer survivors not only experience distressing physical symptoms associated with treatments, but also are faced with psychosocial challenges. Despite growing scientific evidence that physical activity (PA) may mitigate psychosocial distress experienced by women treated for breast cancer, the literature is equivocal. Purpose This study investigated the relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), PA, and psychosocial factors in breast cancer survivors. Method Data involving overweight or obese breast cancer survivors (N=260) were examined. CRF was determined by a submaximal graded exercise test. PA, depressive symptoms, total fatigue, and global self-esteem were assessed with selfreport measures. Pearson's correlations were conducted to determine associations among CRF, PA, depressive symptoms, total fatigue, and global self-esteem. Multiple regression models, with age and body mass index as covariates, were performed using continuous levels for CRF and PA. Results Bivariate correlations suggested that CRF and PA were unrelated to the psychosocial variables. One of the regression models identified a marginally significant (P=0.06) inverse association between depressive symptoms and PA. Conclusion CRF and PA were not associated with psychosocial factors in this sample of breast cancer survivors. However

Effects of the functional HOTAIR rs920778 and rs12826786 genetic variants in glioma susceptibility and patient prognosis

Abnormal expression of the long non-coding RNA HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is oncogenic in several human cancers, including gliomas. The HOTAIR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs920778 (C > T) and rs12826786 (C > T) present in the intronic enhancer and promoter regions of HOTAIR, respectively, are associated with expression, cancer susceptibility, and patient prognosis in some tumor types. However, the relevance of these HOTAIR SNPs has not been studied in glioma. Here, we report a case-control study comprising 177 Portuguese glioma patients and 199 cancer-free controls. All subjects were genotyped by PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). No statistically significant differences were found in the genotype or allele distributions of either rs920778 or rs12826786 between glioma patients and controls, suggesting these SNPs are not associated with glioma risk. No significant associations were found between rs920778 variants and HOTAIR expression levels, while rs12826786 CT genotype was associated with increased intratumoral HOTAIR RNA levels when compared to TT genotype (p-value = 0.04). Univariate (Log-rank) and multivariate (Cox proportional) analyses showed both rs920778 CT and rs12826786 CT genotypes were significantly associated with longer overall survival of WHO grade III anaplastic oligodendroglioma patients. Our results suggest that HOTAIR SNPs rs920778 and rs12826786 do not play a significant role in glioma susceptibility, but may be important prognostic factors in anaplastic oligodendroglioma patients. Future studies are warranted to validate and expand these findings, and to further dissect the importance of these SNPs in glioma.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The origin of dust in galaxies revisited: the mechanism determining dust content

The origin of cosmic dust is a fundamental issue in planetary science. This paper revisits the origin of dust in galaxies, in particular, in the Milky Way, by using a chemical evolution model of a galaxy composed of stars, interstellar medium, metals (elements heavier than helium), and dust. We start from a review of time-evolutionary equations of the four components, and then, we present simple recipes for the stellar remnant mass and yields of metal and dust based on models of stellar nucleosynthesis and dust formation. After calibrating some model parameters with the data from the solar neighborhood, we have confirmed a shortage of the stellar dust production rate relative to the dust destruction rate by supernovae if the destruction efficiency suggested by theoretical works is correct. If the dust mass growth by material accretion in molecular clouds is active, the observed dust amount in the solar neighborhood is reproduced. We present a clear analytic explanation of the mechanism for determining dust content in galaxies after the activation of accretion growth: a balance between accretion growth and supernova destruction. Thus, the dust content is independent of the uncertainty of the stellar dust yield after the growth activation. The timing of the activation is determined by a critical metal mass fraction which depends on the growth and destruction efficiencies. The solar system formation seems to have occurred well after the activation and plenty of dust would have existed in the proto-solar nebula.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Evidence-based effect size estimation:An illustration using the case of acupuncture for cancer-related fatigue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Estimating a realistic effect size is an important issue in the planning of clinical studies of complementary and alternative medicine therapies. When a minimally important difference is not available, researchers may estimate effect size using the published literature. This evidence-based effect size estimation may be used to produce a range of empirically-informed effect size and consequent sample size estimates. We provide an illustration of deriving plausible effect size ranges for a study of acupuncture in the relief of post-chemotherapy fatigue in breast cancer patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A PubMed search identified three uncontrolled studies reporting the effect of acupuncture in relieving fatigue. A separate search identified five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a wait-list control of breast cancer patients receiving standard care that reported data on fatigue. We use these published data to produce best, average, and worst-case effect size estimates and related sample size estimates for a trial of acupuncture in the relief of cancer-related fatigue relative to a wait-list control receiving standard care.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Use of evidence-based effect size estimation to calculate sample size requirements for a study of acupuncture in relieving fatigue in breast cancer survivors relative to a wait-list control receiving standard care suggests that an adequately-powered phase III randomized controlled trial comprised of two arms would require at least 101 subjects (52 per arm) if a strong effect is assumed for acupuncture and 235 (118 per arm) if a moderate effect is assumed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Evidence-based effect size estimation helps justify assumptions in light of empirical evidence and can lead to more realistic sample size calculations, an outcome that would be of great benefit for the field of complementary and alternative medicine.</p