Rethinking Context Aggregation in Natural Image Matting

For natural image matting, context information plays a crucial role in estimating alpha mattes especially when it is challenging to distinguish foreground from its background. Exiting deep learning-based methods exploit specifically designed context aggregation modules to refine encoder features. However, the effectiveness of these modules has not been thoroughly explored. In this paper, we conduct extensive experiments to reveal that the context aggregation modules are actually not as effective as expected. We also demonstrate that when learned on large image patches, basic encoder-decoder networks with a larger receptive field can effectively aggregate context to achieve better performance.Upon the above findings, we propose a simple yet effective matting network, named AEMatter, which enlarges the receptive field by incorporating an appearance-enhanced axis-wise learning block into the encoder and adopting a hybrid-transformer decoder. Experimental results on four datasets demonstrate that our AEMatter significantly outperforms state-of-the-art matting methods (e.g., on the Adobe Composition-1K dataset, \textbf{25\%} and \textbf{40\%} reduction in terms of SAD and MSE, respectively, compared against MatteFormer). The code and model are available at \url{https://github.com/QLYoo/AEMatter}

A Marine Anthraquinone SZ-685C Overrides Adriamycin-Resistance in Breast Cancer Cells through Suppressing Akt Signaling

Breast cancer remains a major health problem worldwide. While chemotherapy represents an important therapeutic modality against breast cancer, limitations in the clinical use of chemotherapy remain formidable because of chemoresistance. The HER2/PI-3K/Akt pathway has been demonstrated to play a causal role in conferring a broad chemoresistance in breast cancer cells and thus justified to be a target for enhancing the effects of anti-breast cancer chemotherapies, such as adriamycin (ADR). Agents that can either enhance the effects of chemotherapeutics or overcome chemoresistance are urgently needed for the treatment of breast cancer. In this context, SZ-685C, an agent that has been previously shown, as such, to suppress Akt signaling, is expected to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy. Our current study investigated whether SZ-685C can override chemoresistance through inhibiting Akt signaling in human breast cancer cells. ADR-resistant cells derived from human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, MCF-7/ADR and MCF-7/Akt, were used as models to test the effects of SZ-685C. We found that SZ-685C suppressed the Akt pathway and induced apoptosis in MCF-7/ADR and MCF-7/Akt cells that are resistant to ADR treatment, leading to antitumor effects both in vitro and in vivo. Our data suggest that use of SZ-685C might represent a potentially promising approach to the treatment of ADR-resistant breast cancer

Supplementary dataset for immune responses in hepatopancreas of Fenneropenaeus penicillatus under White Spot Syndrome Virus infection

Supplementary dataset for immune responses in hepatopancreas of Fenneropenaeus penicillatus under White Spot Syndrome Virus infection</p

On Pairwise Stability and Anti-Competitiveness of Cross-Holdings in Oligopoly

This paper considers a model of endogenous bilateral cross-holdings. A notion of pairwise stability is applied to analyze firms' incentives for cross-holdings. Under certain conditions and Cournot competition on the output market, it is shown that monopoly is the only outcome of pairwise stable cross-holdings when there are two firms; a wide range of outcomes is possible when there are three firms, including as special cases the triopoly and the duopoly Cournot equilibria without any cross-holding; and the Cournot equilibrium is an outcome of pairwise stable cross-holdings when there are four or more firms. Competitive implications of the results are also briefly discussed

The first complete mitochondrial genome of Actinopyga from Actinopyga echinites (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae)

The deep-water redfish, Actinopyga echinites, is an ecologically and economically important holothuroid in China due to its valuable nutrition and pharmacological compounds. However, the taxonomy and phylogeny of the Actinopyga have been debated and misidentifications have been reported recently. Moreover, there remain considerable doubts about cryptic species complex within Actinopyga. In this study, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome of Actinopyga from A. echinites. The mitogenome has 15,619 base pairs (62.9% A + T content) and made up of a total of 37 genes (13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNAs, and 2 ribosomal RNAs), and a putative control region. This study was the first available complete mitogenome of Actinopyga and will provide useful genetic information for future phylogenetic and taxonomic classification of Holothuriidae

The first complete mitochondrial genome of Bursidae from Bufonaria rana (Caenogastropoda: Tonnoidea)

The common frogsnail Bufonaria rana, is an ecologically and economically important Tonnoideans in China due to valuable nutrition and pharmacological compounds. However, the taxonomy and phylogeny of the Bursidae have been debated and synonyms among Bursidae species have been reported recently. In this study, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome of Bursidae from B. rana. The mitogenome has 15,510 base pairs (69.0% A + T content) and made up of total of 37 genes (13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNAs and 2 ribosomal RNAs), and a putative control region. This study was the first available complete mitogenomes of Bursidae and will provide useful genetic information for future phylogenetic and taxonomic classification of Tonnoideans

The complete mitochondrial genome of sea cucumber Stichopus monotuberculatus (aspidochirotida: Stichopodidae)

The sea cucumber, Stichopus monotuberculatus, is an economically important holothuroid in China due to its larger body size and valuable nutrition. However, the taxonomic revision studies of Stichopodidae have been one of the most controversial issues in recent years. Moreover, there remain considerable doubts about a complex of cryptic species within S. monotuberculatus. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of S. monotuberculatus. The mitogenome has 16,274 base pairs (60.4% A + T content) and made up of total of 37 genes (13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNAs and 2 ribosomal RNAs), and a putative control region. This study adds one more available complete mitogenomes of Stichopus and will provide useful genetic information for future evolutionary and taxonomic classification of Stichopodidae

On Pairwise Stability and Anti-Competitiveness of Cross-Holdings in Oligopoly

This paper considers a model of endogenous bilateral cross-holdings. A notion of pairwise stability is applied to analyze firms' incentives for cross-holdings. Under certain conditions and Cournot competition on the output market, it is shown that monopoly is the only outcome of pairwise stable cross-holdings when there are two firms; a wide range of outcomes is possible when there are three firms, including as special cases the triopoly and the duopoly Cournot equilibria without any cross-holding; and the Cournot equilibrium is an outcome of pairwise stable cross-holdings when there are four or more firms. Competitive implications of the results are also briefly discussed

The complete mitochondrial genome of marine gastropod Melo melo (neogastropoda: volutoidea)

Melo melo is an ecologically and economically important species of Neogastropoda, which is an ecologically diverse group of carnivorous marine gastropods. However, the taxonomic classification and phylogenetic studies have so far been limited. In this study, we report the second complete mitochondrial genome of Volutidae from M. melo. The mitogenome has 15,721 base pairs (68.3% A + T content) and made up of total of 37 genes (13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNAs and 2 ribosomal RNAs), and a control region. This study was the second available complete mitogenomes of Volutidae and will provide useful genetic information for future phylogenetic and taxonomic classification of Neogastropoda