Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DeepFuse: A Deep Unsupervised Approach for Exposure Fusion with Extreme Exposure Image Pairs

We present a novel deep learning architecture for fusing static multi-exposure images. Current multi-exposure fusion (MEF) approaches use hand-crafted features to fuse input sequence. However, the weak hand-crafted representations are not robust to varying input conditions. Moreover, they perform poorly for extreme exposure image pairs. Thus, it is highly desirable to have a method that is robust to varying input conditions and capable of handling extreme exposure without artifacts. Deep representations have known to be robust to input conditions and have shown phenomenal performance in a supervised setting. However, the stumbling block in using deep learning for MEF was the lack of sufficient training data and an oracle to provide the ground-truth for supervision. To address the above issues, we have gathered a large dataset of multi-exposure image stacks for training and to circumvent the need for ground truth images, we propose an unsupervised deep learning framework for MEF utilizing a no-reference quality metric as loss function. The proposed approach uses a novel CNN architecture trained to learn the fusion operation without reference ground truth image. The model fuses a set of common low level features extracted from each image to generate artifact-free perceptually pleasing results. We perform extensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation and show that the proposed technique outperforms existing state-of-the-art approaches for a variety of natural images.
On the Surface Heating of Synchronously Spinning Short-Period Jovian Planets

We consider the atmospheric flow on short-period extrasolar planets through two-dimensional numerical simulations of hydrodynamics with radiation transfer. The observed low eccentricity of these planets indicates that tidal dissipation within them has been effective in circularizing their orbits and synchronizing their spins. Consequently, one side of these planets (the day side) is always exposed to the irradiation from the host star, whereas the other (the night side) is always in shadow. The temperature of the day side is determined by the equilibrium that the planetary atmosphere establishes with the stellar radiation. For planets around solar-type stars with periods less than 7 days, the flux of stellar irradiation exceeds that released from their Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction by several orders of magnitude. A fraction of the thermal energy deposited on the day side is advected to the night side by a current. We show that the radiation transfer and the nightside temperature distribution in a planet's atmosphere are sensitive functions of its opacity. If the atmosphere contains grains with an abundance and size distribution comparable to that of the interstellar medium, only shallow heating occurs on the day side, whereas the heat flux carried by the circulation does not effectively heat the night side, which cools well below the day side. The temperature difference affects the spectroscopic signature of these planets. However, the temperature difference decreases as the abundance of grains in the atmosphere is reduced. This effect occurs because if the grains are depleted, the stellar radiative flux penetrates more deeply into the atmosphere on the day side, and the higher density atmospheric circulation carries a larger flux of heat over to the night side. A simple analytic model of the dissipation of the circulation flow and associated kinetic heating is also considered. This heating effect occurs mostly near the photosphere, not deep enough to significantly affect the size of planets. The depth of the energy deposition increases as the abundance of grains is reduced. Finally, we show that the surface irradiation suppresses convection near the photospheric region on the day side. However, in some cases, depending on the opacity, convection zones are present near the surface on the night side. This structural modification may influence the response and dissipation of tidal disturbances and alter the circularization and synchronization timescales.
Rediscovering Annotation Projection for Cross-Lingual Parser Induction

Previous research on annotation projection for parser induction across languages showed only limited success and often required substantial language-specific post-processing to fix inconsistencies and to lift the performance onto a useful level. Model transfer was introduced as another quite successful alternative and much research has been devoted to this paradigm recently. In this paper, we revisit annotation projection and show that the previously reported results are mainly spoiled by the flaws of evaluation with incompatible annotation schemes. Lexicalized parsers created on projected data are especially harmed by such discrepancies. However, recently developed cross-lingually harmonized annotation schemes remove this obstacle and restore the abilities of syntactic annotation projection. We demonstrate this by applying projection strategies to a number of European languages and a selection of human and machine-translated data. Our results outperform the simple direct transfer approach by a large margin and also pave the road to cross-lingual parsing without gold POS labels.
Airway ciliary dysfunction and sinopulmonary symptoms in patients with congenital heart disease.

RATIONALE Patients with congenital heart disease with heterotaxy exhibit a high prevalence of abnormal airway ciliary motion and low nasal nitric oxide, characteristics associated with primary ciliary dyskinesia, a reflection of the role of motile cilia in airway clearance and left-right patterning. OBJECTIVES To assess the potential broader clinical significance of airway ciliary dysfunction in congenital heart disease, we assessed the prevalence of ciliary dysfunction versus respiratory symptoms in patients with congenital heart disease with or without heterotaxy. METHODS Patients with a broad spectrum of congenital heart disease were recruited (n = 218), 39 with heterotaxy. Nasal nitric oxide measurements and nasal biopsies for ciliary motion video microscopy were conducted. Sinopulmonary symptoms were reviewed by questionnaire. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS A high prevalence of ciliary motion defects (51.8%) and low or borderline low nasal nitric oxide levels (35.5%) were observed in patients with congenital heart disease with or without heterotaxy. Patients with ciliary motion defects or low nasal nitric oxide showed increased sinopulmonary symptoms, with most respiratory symptoms seen in those with both abnormal ciliary motion and low nitric oxide. Multivariate analysis showed that abnormal ciliary motion and low nasal nitric oxide were more important in determining risk of sinopulmonary symptoms than heterotaxy status. CONCLUSIONS Patients with congenital heart disease without heterotaxy exhibit a high prevalence of abnormal ciliary motion and low nasal nitric oxide. This was associated with more sinopulmonary symptoms. These findings suggest that patients with a broad spectrum of congenital heart disease and respiratory symptoms may benefit from screening for ciliary dysfunction and implementation of medical interventions to reduce sinopulmonary morbidities.
G-Protein–Coupled Receptor 30 and Estrogen Receptor-α Are Involved in the Proliferative Effects Induced by Atrazine in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Background Atrazine, one of the most common pesticide contaminants, has been shown to up-regulate aromatase activity in certain estrogen-sensitive tumors without binding or activating the estrogen receptor (ER). Recent investigations have demonstrated that the orphan G-protein–coupled receptor 30 (GPR30), which is structurally unrelated to the ER, mediates rapid actions of 17β-estradiol and environmental estrogens. Objectives Given the ability of atrazine to exert estrogen-like activity in cancer cells, we evaluated the potential of atrazine to signal through GPR30 in stimulating biological responses in cancer cells. Methods and results Atrazine did not transactivate the endogenous ERα in different cancer cell contexts or chimeric proteins encoding the ERα and ERβ hormone-binding domain in gene reporter assays. Moreover, atrazine neither regulated the expression of ERα nor stimulated aromatase activity. Interestingly, atrazine induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation and the expression of estrogen target genes. Using specific signaling inhibitors and gene silencing, we demonstrated that atrazine stimulated the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells through the GPR30–epidermal growth factor receptor transduction pathway and the involvement of ERα. Conclusions Our results indicate a novel mechanism through which atrazine may exert relevant biological effects in cancer cells. On the basis of the present data, atrazine should be included among the environmental contaminants potentially able to signal via GPR30 in eliciting estrogenic action.
Convergence of the Lloyd Algorithm for Computing Centroidal Voronoi Tessellations

Centroidal Voronoi tessellations (CVTs) are Voronoi tessellations of a bounded geometric domain such that the generating points of the tessellations are also the centroids (mass centers) of the corresponding Voronoi regions with respect to a given density function. Centroidal Voronoi tessellations may also be defined in more abstract and more general settings. Due to the natural optimization properties enjoyed by CVTs, they have many applications in diverse fields. The Lloyd algorithm is one of the most popular iterative schemes for computing the CVTs but its theoretical analysis is far from complete. In this paper, some new analytical results on the local and global convergence of the Lloyd algorithm are presented. These results are derived through careful utilization of the optimization properties shared by CVTs. Numerical experiments are also provided to substantiate the theoretical analysis.
ZBP2 Facilitates Binding of ZBP1 to β-Actin mRNA during Transcription

ABSTRACT Cytoplasmic mRNA localization regulates gene expression by spatially restricting protein translation. Recent evidence has shown that nuclear proteins (such as hnRNPs) are required to form mRNPs capable of cytoplasmic localization. ZBP1 and ZBP2, two hnRNP K homology domain-containing proteins, were previously identified by their binding to the zipcode, the sequence element necessary and sufficient for β-actin mRNA localization. ZBP1 colocalizes with nascent β-actin mRNA in the nucleus but is predominantly a cytoplasmic protein. ZBP2, in contrast, is predominantly nuclear. We hypothesized that the two proteins cooperate to localize β-actin mRNA and sought to address where and how this might occur. We demonstrate that ZBP2, a homologue of the splicing factor KSRP, binds initially to nascent β-actin transcripts and facilitates the subsequent binding of the shuttling ZBP1. ZBP1 then associates with the RNA throughout the nuclear export and cytoplasmic localization process.
Enhancement of mitochondrial ATP production by the Escherichia coli cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that constantly change shape and structure in response to different stimuli and metabolic demands of the cell. The Escherichia coli protein toxin cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (CNF1) has recently been reported to influence mitochondrial activity in a mouse model of Rett syndrome and to increase ATP content in the brain tissue of an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. In the present work, the ability of CNF1 to influence mitochondrial activity was investigated in IEC‐6 normal intestinal crypt cells. In these cells, the toxin was able to induce an increase in cellular ATP content, probably due to an increment of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. In addition, the CNF1‐induced Rho GTPase activity also caused changes in the mitochondrial architecture that mainly consisted in the formation of a complex network of elongated mitochondria. The involvement of the cAMP‐dependent protein kinase A signaling pathway was postulated. Our results demonstrate that CNF1 positively affects mitochondria by bursting their energetic function and modifying their morphology.
Endovascular Treatment of Intracranial Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas -Clinical and Radiographic Outcome Over A Long-Term Follow-Up

Background and Purpose: Dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) are pathologic shunts between dural arteries and dural venous sinuses, meningeal veins or cortical veins, representing 10%–15% of all intracranial vascular malformations. Although there are several treatment modalities such as surgical interruption of the fistula and stereotactic radiation therapy, endovascular embolization has recently become the most widely used one, but long-term follow-up data are not available in the literature. Materials and Methods: We present a retrospective, single-center study of the long-term clinical and radiographic outcome of 32 patients who have undergone endovascular treatment of an intracranial DAVF with detachable coils and/or endovascular glue. Results: There was no recurrence in the follow-up period (mean: 33 months, range 1-108 months) after complete occlusion with the treatment (n=19). Even in cases of incomplete occlusion (n=13), there was no aggravation of shunt flow and spontaneous complete occlusion was confirmed in almost 50% (n=6) in the follow-up period. Multi-session treatment was frequently needed for tentorial DAVF and complication rate was higher than other types. Conclusion: In this study, there was no DAVF recurrence over an extended follow-up period (mean: 33 months, range: 1-108 months) after complete occlusion with the endovascular treatment and in nearly 50% of cases with incomplete occlusion, there was spontaneous complete occlusion during the follow-up period.
Overview of OVATE FAMILY PROTEINS, A Novel Class of Plant-Specific Growth Regulators

OVATE FAMILY PROTEINS (OFPs) are a class of proteins with a conserved OVATE domain. OVATE protein was first identified in tomato as a key regulator of fruit shape. OFPs are plant-specific proteins that are widely distributed in the plant kingdom including mosses and lycophytes. Transcriptional activity analysis of Arabidopsis OFPs (AtOFPs) in protoplasts suggests that they act as transcription repressors. Functional characterization of OFPs from different plant species including Arabidopsis, rice, tomato, pepper, and banana suggests that OFPs regulate multiple aspects of plant growth and development, which is likely achieved by interacting with different types of transcription factors including the KNOX and BELL classes, and/or directly regulating the expression of target genes such as Gibberellin 20 oxidase (GA20ox). Here, we examine how OVATE was originally identified, summarize recent progress in elucidation of the roles of OFPs in regulating plant growth and development, and describe possible mechanisms underpinning this regulation. Finally, we review potential new research directions that could shed additional light on the functional biology of OFPs in plants.
Global Profiling of Rice and Poplar Transcriptomes Highlights Key Conserved Circadian-Controlled Pathways and cis-Regulatory Modules

BACKGROUND Circadian clocks provide an adaptive advantage through anticipation of daily and seasonal environmental changes. In plants, the central clock oscillator is regulated by several interlocking feedback loops. It was shown that a substantial proportion of the Arabidopsis genome cycles with phases of peak expression covering the entire day. Synchronized transcriptome cycling is driven through an extensive network of diurnal and clock-regulated transcription factors and their target cis-regulatory elements. Study of the cycling transcriptome in other plant species could thus help elucidate the similarities and differences and identify hubs of regulation common to monocot and dicot plants. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using a combination of oligonucleotide microarrays and data mining pipelines, we examined daily rhythms in gene expression in one monocotyledonous and one dicotyledonous plant, rice and poplar, respectively. Cycling transcriptomes were interrogated under different diurnal (driven) and circadian (free running) light and temperature conditions. Collectively, photocycles and thermocycles regulated about 60% of the expressed nuclear genes in rice and poplar. Depending on the condition tested, up to one third of oscillating Arabidopsis-poplar-rice orthologs were phased within three hours of each other suggesting a high degree of conservation in terms of rhythmic gene expression. We identified clusters of rhythmically co-expressed genes and searched their promoter sequences to identify phase-specific cis-elements, including elements that were conserved in the promoters of Arabidopsis, poplar, and rice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Our results show that the cycling patterns of many circadian clock genes are highly conserved across poplar, rice, and Arabidopsis. The expression of many orthologous genes in key metabolic and regulatory pathways is diurnal and/or circadian regulated and phased to similar times of day. Our results confirm previous findings in Arabidopsis of three major classes of cis-regulatory modules within the plant circadian network: the morning (ME, GBOX), evening (EE, GATA), and midnight (PBX/TBX/SBX) modules. Identification of identical overrepresented motifs in the promoters of cycling genes from different species suggests that the core diurnal/circadian cis-regulatory network is deeply conserved between mono- and dicotyledonous species.
Evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic delay in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE A monocentric cross-sectional study recruiting rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients residing in the Lazio region, Italy, to assess factors related to diagnostic delay and treatment accessibility. METHODS Clinical/serological data, including the time between symptom onset, diagnosis, and the beginning of treatment, were collected. Residence, referral to a rheumatologic center, physician who made the diagnosis, and previous misdiagnosis were also evaluated. RESULTS A higher diagnostic delay (p=0.003), and time between symptom onset and the start of I-line therapy (p=0.006) were observed in PsA compared to RA. A delayed start of II-line therapy was observed in RA compared to PsA (p=0.0007). Higher diagnostic delay (p=0.02), and time between symptom onset and the start of conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) (p=0.02) were observed among residents of small-medium cities for both groups. Patients who have been diagnosed by another physician rather than a rheumatologist had a longer diagnostic delay (p=0.034) and a delayed start of I-line therapy (p=0.019). Patients who received a different previous diagnosis experienced greater diagnostic delay (p=0.03 and p=0.003) and time of start of csDMARDs (p=0.05 and p=0.01) compared with those receiving RA or PsA as the first diagnosis. PsA had a delay in starting targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (p=0.0004) compared to RA. Seronegative RA had delayed diagnosis (p=0.02) and beginning of therapies (p=0.03; p=0.04) compared to seropositive ones. CONCLUSIONS According to our results, greater diagnostic delay was found in PsA compared to RA, in patients living in small-medium cities, in those who did not receive the diagnosis from a rheumatologist, in those who were previously misdiagnosed, and in seronegative RA.
Comparison of point-of-care versus laboratory-based CD4 cell enumeration in HIV-positive pregnant women

Early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in eligible pregnant women is a key intervention for prevention of mother‐to‐child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. However, in many settings in sub‐Saharan Africa where ART‐eligibility is determined by CD4 cell counts, limited access to laboratories presents a significant barrier to rapid ART initiation. Point‐of‐care (POC) CD4 cell count testing has been suggested as one approach to overcome this challenge, but there are few data on the agreement between POC CD4 cell enumeration and standard laboratory‐based testing.
Common Genetic Variants Are Associated with Accelerated Bone Mineral Density Loss after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Background Bone mineral density (BMD) loss commonly occurs after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Hypothesizing that genetic variants may influence post-HCT BMD loss, we conducted a prospective study to examine the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in bone metabolism pathways and acute BMD loss after HCT. Methods and Findings We genotyped 122 SNPs in 45 genes in bone metabolism pathways among 121 autologous and allogeneic HCT patients. BMD changes from pre-HCT to day +100 post-HCT were analyzed in relation to these SNPs in linear regression models. After controlling for clinical risk factors, we identified 16 SNPs associated with spinal or femoral BMD loss following HCT, three of which have been previously implicated in genome-wide association studies of bone phenotypes, including rs2075555 in COL1A1, rs9594738 in RANKL, and rs4870044 in ESR1. When multiple SNPs were considered simultaneously, they explained 5–35% of the variance in post-HCT BMD loss. There was a significant trend between the number of risk alleles and the magnitude of BMD loss, with patients carrying the most risk alleles having the greatest loss. Conclusion Our data provide the first evidence that common genetic variants play an important role in BMD loss among HCT patients similar to age-related BMD loss in the general population. This infers that the mechanism for post-HCT bone loss is a normal aging process that is accelerated during HCT. A limitation of our study comes from its small patient population; hence future larger studies are warranted to validate our findings.
Arsenite Delays Progression through Each Cell Cycle Phase and Induces Apoptosis following G2/M Arrest in U937 Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Arsenic is a well known toxicant and carcinogen that is also effective as a chemotherapeutic in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Although its effects on humans are well documented, arsenic's mechanism of action is not well understood. Its ability to act as a carcinogen and as a chemotherapeutic seems paradoxical. However, cancer cell transformation and cancer cell destruction can both occur through perturbations of the cell cycle machinery, making cell cycle function a likely target of arsenic action. Arsenic has previously been shown to inhibit cancer cell cycle progression, but the targeted cell cycle phase has been debated. This study was designed to identify the cell cycle phase at which U937 cells are most sensitive to arsenite-induced growth inhibition. Centrifugal elutriation was used to divide asynchronous cell cultures into specific cell cycle phase-enriched fractions. These fractions were monitored for cell cycle phase progression in the presence and absence of sodium arsenite. We found an overall reduction in cell cycle progression rather than induction of arrest at one specific checkpoint. G2/M is the phase most sensitive to arsenite-induced apoptosis. However, arsenite profoundly affects U937 cell growth by increasing the length of time it takes cells to transit each phase of the cell cycle. Future study of cell cycle inhibition by arsenic should consider that the effect may not be mediated by the major cell cycle checkpoints. Arsenic's ability to inhibit growth in any cell cycle phase may increase its value as a chemotherapeutic used together with other, more phase-selective agents, such as camptothecin.