JSENet: Joint Semantic Segmentation and Edge Detection Network for 3D Point Clouds

Semantic segmentation and semantic edge detection can be seen as two dual problems with close relationships in computer vision. Despite the fast evolution of learning-based 3D semantic segmentation methods, little attention has been drawn to the learning of 3D semantic edge detectors, even less to a joint learning method for the two tasks. In this paper, we tackle the 3D semantic edge detection task for the first time and present a new two-stream fully-convolutional network that jointly performs the two tasks. In particular, we design a joint refinement module that explicitly wires region information and edge information to improve the performances of both tasks. Further, we propose a novel loss function that encourages the network to produce semantic segmentation results with better boundaries. Extensive evaluations on S3DIS and ScanNet datasets show that our method achieves on par or better performance than the state-of-the-art methods for semantic segmentation and outperforms the baseline methods for semantic edge detection. Code release: https://github.com/hzykent/JSENetComment: Accepted to ECCV 2020, supplementary materials include

The IKEA ASM Dataset: Understanding People Assembling Furniture through Actions, Objects and Pose

The availability of a large labeled dataset is a key requirement for applying deep learning methods to solve various computer vision tasks. In the context of understanding human activities, existing public datasets, while large in size, are often limited to a single RGB camera and provide only per-frame or per-clip action annotations. To enable richer analysis and understanding of human activities, we introduce IKEA ASM-a three million frame, multi-view, furniture assembly video dataset that includes depth, atomic actions, object segmentation, and human poses. Additionally, we benchmark prominent methods for video action recognition, object segmentation and human pose estimation tasks on this challenging dataset. The dataset enables the development of holistic methods, which integrate multi-modal and multi-view data to better perform on these tasks

Anti-inflammatory recombinant TSG-6 stabilizes the progression of focal retinal degeneration in a murine model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inflammatory responses are detected in the retina of patients with age-related macular degeneration and <it>Ccl2^-/-/Cx3cr1^-/-</it>mice on rd8 background,(<it>Ccl2^-/-/Cx3cr1^-/-</it>mice) a model that develops progressive age-related macular degeneration-like retinal lesions including focal photoreceptor degeneration, abnormal retinal pigment epithelium and A2E accumulation. Tumor necrosis factor-inducible gene 6 protein is an anti-inflammatory protein and has been shown to improve myocardial infarction outcome and chemically injured cornea in mice by suppressing inflammation. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an intravitreous injection of recombinant TSG-6 on the retinal lesions of <it>Ccl2^-/-/Cx3cr1^-/-</it>mice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Recombinant TSG-6 (400 ng) was administered by intravitreous injection into the right eye of six-week-old C<it>cl2^-/-/Cx3cr1^-/-</it>mice. Their left eye was injected with phosphate-buffered saline as a control. Funduscopic pictures were taken before injection and sequentially once a month after injection. The mice were killed two months after injection and the ocular histology examined. Retinal A2E, a major component of lipofuscin, was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The microarray of ocular mRNA of 92 immunological genes was performed. The genes showing differentiated expression in microarray were further compared between the injected right eye and the contralateral (control) eye by [real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] qRT-PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The continuous monitoring of the fundus for two months showed a slower progression or alleviation of retinal lesions in the treated right eyes as compared with the untreated left eyes. Among 23 pairs of eyes, the lesion levels improved in 78.3%, stayed the same in 8.7% and progressed in 13.0%. Histology confirmed the clinical observation. Even though there was no difference in the level of A2E between the treated and the untreated eyes, microarray analysis of 92 immune genes showed that <it>IL-17a </it>was substantially decreased after the treatment. Expression of <it>TNF-α </it>showed a similar pattern to <it>IL-17a</it>. The results were consistent in duplicated arrays and confirmed by qRT-PCR.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We concluded that intravitreous administration of recombinant TSG-6 might stabilize retinal lesions in <it>Ccl2^-/-/Cx3cr1^-/-</it>mice on rd8 background. Modulation of ocular immunological gene expressions, especially IL-17a, could be one of the mechanisms.</p

Whole organisms or pure compounds? entourage effect versus drug specificity

As the therapeutic use of sacred plants and fungi becomes increasingly accepted by Western medicine, a tug of war has been taking place between those who advocate the traditional consumption of whole organisms and those who defend exclusively the utilization of purified compounds. The attempt to reduce organisms to single active principles is challenged by the sheer complexity of traditional medicine. Ayahuasca, for example, is a concoction of at least two plant species containing multiple psychoactive substances with complex interactions. Similarly, cannabis contains dozens of psychoactive substances whose specific combinations in different strains correspond to different types of therapeutic and cognitive effects. The “entourage effect” refers to the synergistic effects of the multiple compounds present in whole organisms, which may potentiate clinical efficacy while attenuating side effects. In opposition to this view, mainstream pharmacology is adamant about the need to use purified substances, presumably more specific and safe. In this chapter, I will review the evidence on both sides to discuss the scientific, economic, and political implications of this controversy. The evidence indicates that it is time to embrace the therapeutic complexity of psychedelics.2019-07-3

Temporal stability of the rumen microbiota in beef cattle, and response to diet and supplements

Acknowledgements Sampling of ruminal digesta was carried out at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) by Laura Nicoll, Lesley Deans and Claire Broadbent. Sequencing using Illumina MiSeq was carried out by Edinburgh Genomics, The University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh Genomics is partly supported through core grants from NERC (R8/H10/56), MRC (MR/K001744/1) and BBSRC (BB/J004243/1). Data were processed using the Maxwell High Performance Computing Cluster of the University of Aberdeen IT Service (www.abdn.ac.uk/staffnet/research/hpc.php), provided by Dell Inc. and supported by Alces Software. Funding This work was funded by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) of the Scottish Government as a collaborative HEI project between The University of Aberdeen, The Roslin Institute, and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). The funding body had no role in the design of the study or collection, analysis, or interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Alleviation of insulin resistance and liver damage by oral administration of Imm124-E is mediated by increased Tregs and associated with increased serum GLP-1 and adiponectin: results of a phase I/II clinical trial in NASH

Meir Mizrahi,1 Yehudit Shabat,1 Ami Ben Ya&amp;#39;acov,1 Gadi Lalazar,1 Tomer Adar,1 Victor Wong,2 Brian Muller,2 Grant Rawlin,2 Yaron Ilan11Liver Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel; 2Immuron Limited, North Melbourne, AustraliaBackground: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is considered to be part of the nonalcoholic fatty liver disorders and its incidence is increasing. Imm124-E (Immuron Ltd, Melbourne, Australia), containing hyperimmune bovine colostrum, has been shown to exert an immunomodulatory effect and to alleviate target organ damage in animal models of NASH. The aim of our study was to determine the safety and efficacy of oral administration of Imm124-E to patients with insulin resistance and NASH.Methods: In an open-label trial, ten patients with biopsy-proven NASH and insulin resistance were orally treated with Imm124-E for 30 days.Results: Oral administration of Imm124-E was safe, and no side effects were noted. Alleviation of insulin resistance was reflected by significantly improved hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values in all ten treated patients. For between five and eight responders, the following effects were noted: a decrease in fasting glucose levels; improved oral glucose tolerance test (OGGT) and homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA) scores; and alleviation in lipid profile. These effects were accompanied by increased serum levels of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), adiponectin and T regulatory cells.Conclusion: Hyperimmune colostrum alleviates NASH.Keywords: NASH, anti-LPS, diabetes, adipokines, regulatory T cell