LE2Fusion: A novel local edge enhancement module for infrared and visible image fusion

Infrared and visible image fusion task aims to generate a fused image which contains salient features and rich texture details from multi-source images. However, under complex illumination conditions, few algorithms pay attention to the edge information of local regions which is crucial for downstream tasks. To this end, we propose a fusion network based on the local edge enhancement, named LE2Fusion. Specifically, a local edge enhancement (LE2) module is proposed to improve the edge information under complex illumination conditions and preserve the essential features of image. For feature extraction, a multi-scale residual attention (MRA) module is applied to extract rich features. Then, with LE2, a set of enhancement weights are generated which are utilized in feature fusion strategy and used to guide the image reconstruction. To better preserve the local detail information and structure information, the pixel intensity loss function based on the local region is also presented. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits better fusion performance than the state-of-the-art fusion methods on public datasets

WavePF: A Novel Fusion Approach based on Wavelet-guided Pooling for Infrared and Visible Images

Infrared and visible image fusion aims to generate synthetic images simultaneously containing salient features and rich texture details, which can be used to boost downstream tasks. However, existing fusion methods are suffering from the issues of texture loss and edge information deficiency, which result in suboptimal fusion results. Meanwhile, the straight-forward up-sampling operator can not well preserve the source information from multi-scale features. To address these issues, a novel fusion network based on the wavelet-guided pooling (wave-pooling) manner is proposed, termed as WavePF. Specifically, a wave-pooling based encoder is designed to extract multi-scale image and detail features of source images at the same time. In addition, the spatial attention model is used to aggregate these salient features. After that, the fused features will be reconstructed by the decoder, in which the up-sampling operator is replaced by the wave-pooling reversed operation. Different from the common max-pooling technique, image features after the wave-pooling layer can retain abundant details information, which can benefit the fusion process. In this case, rich texture details and multi-scale information can be maintained during the reconstruction phase. The experimental results demonstrate that our method exhibits superior fusion performance over the state-of-the-arts on multiple image fusion benchmark

Genetic features of a pollen-part mutation suggest an inhibitory role for the Antirrhinum pollen self-incompatibility determinant

Abstract Self-incompatibility (SI), an important barrier to inbreeding in flowering plants, is controlled in many species by a single polymorphic S-locus. In the Solanaceae, two tightly linked S-locus genes, S-RNase and SLF (S-locus F-box)/SFB (S-haplotype-specific F-box), control SI expression in pistil and pollen, respectively. The pollen S-determinant appears to function to inhibit all but self S-RNase in the Solanaceae, but its genetic function in the closely-related Plantaginaceae remains equivocal. We have employed transposon mutagenesis in a member of the Plantaginaceae (Antirrhinum) to generate a pollen-part SI-breakdown mutant Pma1 (Pollen-part mutation in Antirrhinum1). Molecular genetic analyses showed that an extra telocentric chromosome containing AhSLF-S 1 is present in its self-compatible but not in its SI progeny. Furthermore, analysis of the effects of selection revealed positive selection acting on both SLFs and SFBs, but with a stronger purifying selection on SLFs. Taken together, our results suggest an inhibitor role of the pollen S in the Plantaginaceae (as represented by Antirrhinum), similar to that found in the Solanaceae. The implication of these findings is discussed in the context of S-locus evolution in flowering plants

DEP and AFO Regulate Reproductive Habit in Rice

Sexual reproduction is essential for the life cycle of most angiosperms. However, pseudovivipary is an important reproductive strategy in some grasses. In this mode of reproduction, asexual propagules are produced in place of sexual reproductive structures. However, the molecular mechanism of pseudovivipary still remains a mystery. In this work, we found three naturally occurring mutants in rice, namely, phoenix (pho), degenerative palea (dep), and abnormal floral organs (afo). Genetic analysis of them indicated that the stable pseudovivipary mutant pho was a double mutant containing both a Mendelian mutation in DEP and a non-Mendelian mutation in AFO. Further map-based cloning and microarray analysis revealed that dep mutant was caused by a genetic alteration in OsMADS15 while afo was caused by an epigenetic mutation in OsMADS1. Thus, OsMADS1 and OsMADS15 are both required to ensure sexual reproduction in rice and mutations of them lead to the switch of reproductive habit from sexual to asexual in rice. For the first time, our results reveal two regulators for sexual and asexual reproduction modes in flowering plants. In addition, our findings also make it possible to manipulate the reproductive strategy of plants, at least in rice

The Tomato Sequencing Project, the First Cornerstone of the International Solanaceae Project (SOL)

The genome of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is being sequenced by an international consortium of 10 countries (Korea, China, the United Kingdom, India, The Netherlands, France, Japan, Spain, Italy and the United States) as part of a larger initiative called the ‘International Solanaceae Genome Project (SOL): Systems Approach to Diversity and Adaptation’. The goal of this grassroots initiative, launched in November 2003, is to establish a network of information, resources and scientists to ultimately tackle two of the most significant questions in plant biology and agriculture: (1) How can a common set of genes/proteins give rise to a wide range of morphologically and ecologically distinct organisms that occupy our planet? (2) How can a deeper understanding of the genetic basis of plant diversity be harnessed to better meet the needs of society in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner? The Solanaceae and closely related species such as coffee, which are included in the scope of the SOL project, are ideally suited to address both of these questions. The first step of the SOL project is to use an ordered BAC approach to generate a high quality sequence for the euchromatic portions of the tomato as a reference for the Solanaceae. Due to the high level of macro and micro-synteny in the Solanaceae the BAC-by-BAC tomato sequence will form the framework for shotgun sequencing of other species. The starting point for sequencing the genome is BACs anchored to the genetic map by overgo hybridization and AFLP technology. The overgos are derived from approximately 1500 markers from the tomato high density F2-2000 genetic map (http://sgn.cornell.edu/). These seed BACs will be used as anchors from which to radiate the tiling path using BAC end sequence data. Annotation will be performed according to SOL project guidelines. All the information generated under the SOL umbrella will be made available in a comprehensive website. The information will be interlinked with the ultimate goal that the comparative biology of the Solanaceae—and beyond—achieves a context that will facilitate a systems biology approach

Study on Shear Mechanical Properties and Microscopic Failure Mechanism of Dentate Joints Based on DEM and Laboratory Tests

The stability control of the surrounding rock is greatly influenced by the rock joint’s shear mechanical characteristics and deformation failure mechanism. A numerical model of the dentate joints was created using a particle flow discrete element method (DEM). To study the shear mechanical behavior and damage evolution characteristics of the joints, a numerical simulation of the joints shear test under the same normal stress was conducted. Additionally, the joints’ shear failure mechanism and failure mode were investigated from a microscopic perspective in conjunction with laboratory tests. The results show that the shear strength steadily increases as the roughness of the rock joints increases and that it rapidly decreases after reaching its peak shear strength, indicating an obvious brittle failure. Varied rock joints exhibit significantly different micro-crack evolution, with rougher rock joints (r = 0.30, r = 0.37) exhibiting greater micro-crack production and crack extension into the model’s interior. Rock joint specimens with lower roughness (r = 0.17) had less concentration and fewer areas of contact force concentration. The shear failure mode of the rock joints gradually shifts from abrasion failure mode to snip failure mode as the roughness rises, which is largely compatible with the failure characteristics shown in the laboratory testing. The pattern of micro-crack development within the model specimen and the failure characteristics of the laboratory tests are in good agreement with the distribution characteristics of contact force on the rock joints

New Sesquiterpenoids from the Fermented Broth of Termitomyces albuminosus and Their Anti-Acetylcholinesterase Activity

Termitomyces albuminosus is the symbiotic edible mushroom of termites and cannot be artificially cultivated at present. In the project of exploring its pharmaceutical metabolites by microbial fermentation, four new selinane type sesquiterpenoids—teucdiol C (1), D (2), E (3), and F (4), together with two known sesquiterpenoids teucdiol B (5) and epi-guaidiol A (6)—were obtained from its fermented broth of T. albuminosus. Their structures were elucidated by the analysis of NMR data, HR Q-TOF MS spectral data, CD, IR, UV, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Epi-guaidiol A showed obvious anti-acetylcholinesterase activity in a dose-dependent manner. The experimental results displayed that T. albuminosus possess the pharmaceutical potential for Alzheimer’s disease, and it was an effective way to dig new pharmaceutical agent of T. albuminosus with the microbial fermentation technique

Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of the Antirrhinum majus Genome

As a model system in classical plant genetics, the genus Antirrhinum has been well studied, especially in gametophytic self-incompatibility, flower development biology, and transposon-induced mutation. In contrast to the advances in genetic and molecular studies, little is known about Antirrhinum cytogenetics. In this study, we isolated two tandem repetitive sequences, CentA1 and CentA2, from the centromeric regions of Antirrhinum chromosomes. A standard karyotype has been established by anchoring these centromeric repeats on meiotic pachytene chromosome using FISH. An ideogram based on the DAPI-staining pattern of pachytene chromosomes was developed to depict the distribution of heterochromatin in the Antirrhinum majus genome. To integrate the genetic and chromosomal maps, we selected one or two molecular markers from each linkage group to screen an Antirrhinum transformation-competent artificial chromosome (TAC) library. These genetically anchored TAC clones were labeled as FISH probes to hybridize to pachytene chromosomes of A. majus. As a result, the relationship between chromosomes and the linkage groups (LGs) in Antirrhinum has been established

Nucleolar DEAD-Box RNA Helicase TOGR1 Regulates Thermotolerant Growth as a Pre-rRNA Chaperone in Rice.

Plants have evolved a considerable number of intrinsic tolerance strategies to acclimate to ambient temperature increase. However, their molecular mechanisms remain largely obscure. Here we report a DEAD-box RNA helicase, TOGR1 (Thermotolerant Growth Required1), prerequisite for rice growth themotolerance. Regulated by both temperature and the circadian clock, its expression is tightly coupled to daily temperature fluctuations and its helicase activities directly promoted by temperature increase. Located in the nucleolus and associated with the small subunit (SSU) pre-rRNA processome, TOGR1 maintains a normal rRNA homeostasis at high temperature. Natural variation in its transcript level is positively correlated with plant height and its overexpression significantly improves rice growth under hot conditions. Our findings reveal a novel molecular mechanism of RNA helicase as a key chaperone for rRNA homeostasis required for rice thermotolerant growth and provide a potential strategy to breed heat-tolerant crops by modulating the expression of TOGR1 and its orthologs

Modified Inguinal Microscope-Assisted Varicocelectomy under Local Anesthesia: A Non-randomised Controlled Study of 3565 Cases

Abstract Varicocele is a common abnormality, but the conventional microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy (CMSV) has some disadvantages. We invented Modified Inguinal Microscope-Assisted Varicocelectomy (MIMV) under local anesthesia. This study aims to evaluate MIMV by comparing it to CMSV in operating duration, time to return to normal activity, postoperative complications, achievement of natural pregnancy and improvement of semen quality for patients with infertility, pain score for those with scrotal pain, and so on. We enrolled 3089 patients who underwent MIMV and 476 who underwent CMSV in our hospital. Both the operating duration and the time to return to normal activity of MIMV was shorter than that of CMSV (P < 0.001). The recurrence rate (P < 0.001) and injury rate of vas deferens (P = 0.011) after MIMV were lower than that after CMSV. Moreover, patients with MIMV showed higher degree of satisfaction with the surgery experience and outcome than those with CMSV (P < 0.001). However, no statistical difference was found between the two groups in scores of pain due to surgery, postoperative varicose veins diameters, reflux duration, and the postoperative complications of wound infection, hydrocele, atrophy of testis, epididymitis, and scrotal hematoma. In summary, MIMV is a promising varicocelectomy and could be applied more in clinical practice