7 research outputs found
NeuralMarker: A Framework for Learning General Marker Correspondence
We tackle the problem of estimating correspondences from a general marker,
such as a movie poster, to an image that captures such a marker.
Conventionally, this problem is addressed by fitting a homography model based
on sparse feature matching. However, they are only able to handle plane-like
markers and the sparse features do not sufficiently utilize appearance
information. In this paper, we propose a novel framework NeuralMarker, training
a neural network estimating dense marker correspondences under various
challenging conditions, such as marker deformation, harsh lighting, etc.
Besides, we also propose a novel marker correspondence evaluation method
circumstancing annotations on real marker-image pairs and create a new
benchmark. We show that NeuralMarker significantly outperforms previous methods
and enables new interesting applications, including Augmented Reality (AR) and
video editing.Comment: Accepted by ToG (SIGGRAPH Asia 2022). Project Page:
https://drinkingcoder.github.io/publication/neuralmarker
Molecular characterizations of
Giardia duodenalis is an important zoonotic parasite that causes economic losses to animal husbandry and threatens public health. In the present study, a total of 1466 fresh fecal samples were collected from sheep (n = 797), goats (n = 561) and beef cattle (n = 108) in Southwest Inner Mongolia, China. Giardia duodenalis was initially screened via nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the β-giardin (bg) gene, and bg-positive samples were subjected to PCR amplification targeting the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) and triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) genes. A total of 4.0% of samples (58/1466) were positive for G. duodenalis, with a prevalence of 3.4% in sheep, 3.7% in goats and 5.2% in beef cattle. Three G. duodenalis assemblages (A, B, and E) were identified, with E as the prevalent assemblage. Four and one novel assemblage E sequences were obtained for the gdh and tpi loci, respectively and four assemblage E multilocus genotypes (MLG) were obtained. This study demonstrates high genetic variations in G. duodenalis assemblage E, and provides baseline data for preventing and controlling G. duodenalis infection in livestock in Inner Mongolia
Aflatoxin B<sub>1</sub> Exposure in Sheep: Insights into Hepatotoxicity Based on Oxidative Stress, Inflammatory Injury, Apoptosis, and Gut Microbiota Analysis
The widespread fungal toxin Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an inevitable pollutant affecting the health of humans, poultry, and livestock. Although studies indicate that AFB1 is hepatotoxic, there are few studies on AFB1-induced hepatotoxicity in sheep. Thus, this study examined how AFB1 affected sheep liver function 24 h after the animals received 1 mg/kg bw of AFB1 orally (dissolved in 20 mL, 4% v/v ethanol). The acute AFB1 poisoning caused histopathological injuries to the liver and increased total bilirubin (TBIL) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) levels. AFB1 also markedly elevated the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 while considerably reducing the expression of antioxidation-related genes (SOD-1 and SOD-2) and the anti-inflammatory gene IL-10 in the liver. Additionally, it caused apoptosis by dramatically altering the expression of genes associated with apoptosis including Bax, Caspase-3, and Bcl-2/Bax. Notably, AFB1 exposure altered the gut microbiota composition, mainly manifested by BF311 spp. and Alistipes spp. abundance, which are associated with liver injury. In conclusion, AFB1 can cause liver injury and liver dysfunction in sheep via oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and gut-microbiota disturbance
Heterologous Expression Guides Identification of the Biosynthetic Gene Cluster of Chuangxinmycin, an Indole Alkaloid Antibiotic
The indole alkaloid antibiotic chuangxinmycin,
from Actinobacteria <i>Actinoplanes tsinanensis</i>, containing
a unique thiopyrano[4,3,2-<i>cd</i>]indole scaffold, is
a potent and selective inhibitor
of bacterial tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase. The chuangxinmycin biosynthetic
gene cluster was identified by <i>in silico</i> analysis
of the genome sequence, then verified by heterologous expression.
Systemic gene inactivation and intermediate identification determined
the minimum set of genes for unique thiopyrano[4,3,2-<i>cd</i>]indole formation and the concerted action of a radical <i>S</i>-adenosylmethionine protein plus an unknown protein for addition
of the 3-methyl group. These findings set a solid foundation for comprehensively
investigating the biosynthesis, optimizing yield, and generating new
analogues of chuangxinmycin