Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dilated Conditional GAN for Bone Suppression in Chest Radiographs with Enforced Semantic Features.

PURPOSE The purpose of this essay is to improve computer-aided diagnosis of lung diseases by the removal of bone structures imagery; such as ribs and clavicles, which may shadow a clinical view of lesions. This paper aims to develop an algorithm to suppress the imaging of bone structures within clinical X-ray images, leaving a residual portrayal of lung tissue; such that these images can be used to better serve applications, such as lung nodule detection or pathology based on the radiological reading of chest X-rays. METHODS We propose a conditional Adversarial Generative Network (cGAN)1 model, consisting of a generator and a discriminator, for the task of bone shadow suppression. The proposed model utilizes convolutional operations to expand the size of the receptive field of the generator without losing contextual information while downsampling the image. It is trained by enforcing both the pixel-wise intensity similarity and the semantic-level visual similarity between the generated X-ray images and the groundtruth, via optimizing an L-1 loss of the pixel intensity values on the generator side and a feature matching loss on the discriminator side, respectively. RESULTS The framework we propose is trained and tested on an open-access chest radiograph dataset for benchmark. Results show that our model is capable of generating bone-suppressed images of outstanding quality with a limited number of training samples (N=272). CONCLUSIONS Our approach outperforms current state-of-the-art bone suppression methods using X-ray images. Instead of simply downsampling images at different scales, our proposed method mitigates the loss of contextual information by utilizing dilated convolutions, which gains a noticeable quality improvement for the outputs. On the other hand, our experiment shows that enforcing the semantic similarity between the generated and the ground-truth images assists the adversarial training process and achieves better perceptual quality.
Field Performance of 'Sanna' Lingonberry Derived by Micropropagation vs. Stem Cuttings

rhizomes Abstract. Field performance in lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. cv. Sanna) was compared in 1995-97 for plants produced by tissue culture (TC) vs. stem cuttings (SC). Pot plants of about the same size were transplanted from the nursery to an infertile, sandy moraine soil. Survival was 97% for the TC plants but only 83% for the SC plants. Fruit yield was significantly greater for TC plants than for SC plants in both the second (+79%) and third (+190%) years, but mean fruit weight was not influenced by propagation method. Rhizome production and total plant weight were also greater for the TC plants. Although micropropagation may give rise to somaclonal variation, no obviously variant plants were apparent in the field.
Genetic association and interrelationship of yield and its components in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

A total of 31 cucumber genotypes of diverse origin were assessed for nature and magnitude of association among various yield and its contributing characters. Correlation analysis indicated that yield was positively correlated with fruit weight, fruit length and flesh thickness at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. Path coefficient analysis revealed that characters such as fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, flesh thickness and node number of first female flower are highly dependable and reliable for selection to improve yield.
Supplemental feeding of migratory moose Alces alces: forest damage at two spatial scales

Landowners in southeast Norway have supplied moose Alces alces with ensilaged bales of hay for up to eight winters. The incentive has been to limit migratory movements into heavily trafficated winter areas and away from young forest plantations. In this article, we report on landscape characteristics that increase the use of feeding stations, and on how browsing activity on Scots pine Pinus sylvestris twigs as well as leader stems of both pine and Norway spruce Picea abies was associated with distance to feeding stations at two different spatial scales: 1) at a local scale we sampled data from 50 m2 observational plots up to 200 m from the feeding stations, and 2) at a regional scale we sampled data at all available young forest plantations up to 7 km from a feeding station. The probability that a feeding station was used increased towards the bottom of side valleys. The frequency of use of feeding stations increased annually, with increasing distance to other feeding stations, and with increasing distance to the more populated main valley. Moose-induced browse damage was extensive at proximate distances (< 200 m) to feeding stations, decreased to a minimum at 1–2 km, and increased slightly again at 3–7 km distance from less intensely used feeding stations. Indices of moose activity distribution (i.e. piles of faecal pellets) resembled browsing activity.
THE NEOCHORD PROCEDURE AFTER FAILED SURGICAL MITRAL VALVE REPAIR.

Surgical mitral valve reintervention is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and repeat repair is not always feasible. We examine the clinical outcomes of the NeoChord procedure after failed conventional mitral valve repair. A total of 312 patients were treated with the NeoChord repair procedure between January 2014 and December 2018 at five European centers. Clinical and echocardiographic data were reviewed to identify patients who had a prior surgical mitral valve repair procedure. The primary endpoint (Patient Success) was a composite of placement of at least 2 neochordae and end-procedure MR≤mild, freedom from death, stroke, structural or functional procedure failure (MR> moderate), procedure or device-related unplanned procedures, cardiac-related rehospitalization, or worsening NYHA functional class at 1 and 2-year FU. Fifteen (15) patients were identified who required reoperation for failed surgical mitral valve repair. Mean time-to-reoperation was 2.7 years (2.2-6.1). Median intensive care unit stay was 24 hours and median hospitalization time was 7 days (6-8). No in-hospital deaths were observed. At discharge, mitral regurgitation was ≤ mild in 13 patients (86.7%). Patient success and freedom from more than mild MR were 92.3±7.4% and 83.9±10.4% at 1 and 2-year follow-up respectively. One high-risk patient presented with severe recurrent MR and died during surgical reintervention due to an acute aortic dissection. Selected patients can be successfully treated with the NeoChord procedure after failed surgical mitral valve repair. These results support a wider adoption of the NeoChord procedure as a first-line minimally invasive, alternative therapy to treat failed mitral valve repair.
Carbon budget of the planktonic food web in an atoll lagoon (Takapoto, French Polynesia)

The structure and functioning of the planktonic food web were characterized in the lagoon of Takapoto Atoll (French Polynesia). Several variables were estimated over several weeks in April 1996 and 1997: carbon stocks of different planktonic compartments, phytoplankton particulate net production (PPNP), release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from phytoplankton, bacterial production and metabolic activity, and sinking of partides. The carbon stocks and flows were used to build up a quantitative description of the planktonic food web. The heterotrophic bacterial community was characterized by high biomass, low production and a small proportion of actively respiring cells. This was consistent with the observed low consumption of bacteria by protozoa. The relatively high PPNP was mostly due to cyanobacteria \textless1 μm in size. DOC release from phytoplankton represented, on average, 48% of the total photoassimilated carbon. The planktonic food web was characterized by a high biomass of small protozoa (82% were ≤14 μm). The contribution of metazoa to the carbon stock of zooplankton was smaller than that of protozoa, but their rates of production and ingestion were high. Detritus had a high sinking rate and were largely consumed by metazoan plankton. The carbon budget of the planktonic system shows that 70% of phytoplankton total net production (PTNP: particulate and dissolved) is lost through heterotrophic respiration. This moderate value, for oligotrophic warm waters, is due to the low activity of bacteria. The remaining 30% of the PTNP is exported from the planktonic system through food-web transfers and sinking of detritus (20 and 10% of PTNP, respectively). It follows that the lagoonal planktonic food web, despite the small size of primary producers, is quite efficient at exporting biogenic carbon. Protozoan grazers play a key role in carbon export, as they exert a strong grazing pressure on phytoplankton, and are themselves largely consumed by metazoan zooplankton.
TOOTH SOCKET HISTOLOGY IN THE CRETACEOUS SNAKE DINILYSIA, WITH A REVIEW OF AMNIOTE DENTAL ATTACHMENT TISSUES

Abstract The dental attachment site histology and gross morphology of Dinilysia patagonica, a Cretaceous terrestrial snake, is examined in a thin section through the tissue-filled mesial-distal region between tooth positions of a left maxilla, and other partial tooth-bearing bones with teeth. We observed compact zonal bone and cancellous bone forming the maxilla, and alveolar bone (a woven-fibered bone) lining the tooth socket and filling the region between tooth positions. The discovery of alveolar bone in D. patagonica is significant because alveolar bone was found previously in only one other group of squamates, mosasaurs (extinct large marine lizards), and other amniotes with a thecodont tooth-attachment anatomy (archosaurs, mammals). The presence of alveolar bone in D. patagonica, associated with the recent finding of alveolar bone and other tissues associated with thecodonty (alveolar bone, cement, periodontal ligament) in mosasaurs, suggest that these tissues might be broadly distributed among squamates. Dinilysia patagonica is inferred to have a hinged tooth-attachment type, based on the tooth socket morphology and relationship between preserved teeth and the tooth-bearing bone.
Genetic identification of asteroid larvae from Tasmania, Australia, by PCR–RFLP

Studies of seastar larvae in the Derwent River (Tasmania) were hampered by identification uncertainties. A genetic test was developed, based on PCR amplification of a 1300 bp mitochondrial DNA region followed by digestion with three restriction enzymes. The restriction profiles of adults of 14 seastar species were determined. The test was validated for larvae as laboratory‐raised larvae of two species had the appropriate composite haplotypes. Approximately 80% of planktotrophic seastar larvae from Derwent River plankton samples were identified as the recently introduced northern Pacific seastar, Asterias amurensis. The two other larval seastars identified were Coscinasterias muricata and Patiriella regularis.
IFN-γ Production and Cytotoxicity of IL-2-Activated Murine NK Cells Are Differentially Regulated by MHC Class I Molecules

Activation of NK cells by target cells leads to cytotoxicity as well as production of various cytokines including IFN-γ. MHC class I molecules on target cells regulate NK cytotoxicity. However, little is known about the regulation of IFN-γ production by NK cells. We examined the production of IFN-γ in individual murine NK cells stimulated with tumor cell lines by flow cytometric analysis of intracellular IFN-γ. Among several tumor lines tested, the rat basophilic leukemia line RBL-1 induced particularly high level of IFN-γ production in IL-2-activated NK cells, whereas other lines, including the prototypic NK target YAC-1, induced very low or no IFN-γ production. Transfection of murine classical MHC class I molecules into RBL-1 cells substantially inhibited IFN-γ production. This inhibition of IFN-γ production by MHC class I was independent of Ly-49 or CD94/NKG2A expression on NK cells. These results indicate that some target cells directly stimulate IL-2-activated NK cells and induce IFN-γ production, but the requirements for the induction of IFN-γ production seem different from those for NK cytotoxicity. Furthermore, similar to NK cytotoxicity, induction of IFN-γ production is inhibited by MHC class I on stimulating cells. However, the MHC class I-specific receptors inhibiting IFN-γ production are different from those for NK cytotoxicity.
‘Her death is as saintly as her life’. Media representations of royal deathbeds in Belgium, 1850–1910

ABSTRACT This paper explores the media representations of the deathbeds of Queen Louise-Marie (1850), King Leopold I (1865), Queen Marie-Henriette (1902) and King Leopold II (1909) of Belgium. Print and visual media made the dominant ideals of the ‘beautiful death’ and the ‘good death’ tangible and visible by representing the last moments of Belgian kings and queens. Whether these representations showed the royal family in a positive or a negative light depended on the degree of compliance between the final acts of the king/queen and the dominant deathbed paradigms. The historical process of mediatisation affected the public perception of these four royal deaths and changed considerably in form and scale as time passed. Romanticised illustrations and descriptions of the deathbeds of Louise-Marie and Leopold I in weekly French illustrated newsmagazines and Belgian dailies successfully projected the ideal of ‘the family on the throne’ for a mid-nineteenth century bourgeois readership. Regarding the Catholic model of the ‘good death’, the pictures and descriptions of the deathbed of Louise-Marie served as a modern version of devotional ars moriendi-literature. On the other hand, Leopold’s religious sentiments during his final moments became the object of discussion and conflicting interpretations. The remarkable gap between the idealised model of the beautiful death in the bosom of the family and the lack of family affection during the last moments of Marie-Henriette and Leopold II led to mediatised scandals against the background of a growing culture of yellow journalism in the early twentieth century.
MicroRNA-150 Regulates Lipid Metabolism and Inflammatory Response

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as an important class of small molecules that regulate a spectrum of biological processes. However, their roles in the regulation of lipid metabolism and inflammatory response in metabolic syndrome are not completely known. To identify miRNAs and investigate how they are involved in lipid metabolism and inflammatory response in cells and animals and define the function and regulatory mechanism of these microRNAs. Methods and results: We stimulated human THP-1 macrophages with oxLDL and found that one of the miRNAs, miR-150, strongly responded to the lipid accumulation and inflammatory response in these cells. Overexpression of miR-150 in macrophage cells resulted in an increase in lipid accumulation, accompanying with a high expression of several pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conversely, when miR-150 knockout mice were challenged with a high fat diet, these mice presented reduced whole body weight with less fat accumulation, improved systemic glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. The expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the insulin target adipose tissues was reduced in miR-150 null mice. We identified Adiponectin receptor 2 (AdipoR2) as a potential miR-150 target gene and suggested it may play an important role in miR-150-mediated lipid metabolism and inflammatory response. Conclusions: These results uncovered novel functions for miR-150 in modulating lipid metabolism and inflammatory response by regulating genes linked to lipid accumulation and related inflammation and provided a firm mechanistic explanation with characterization and determination of critical miR-150 for its associations with the metabolic diseases. These studies will highly impact and benefit metabolic disease research both in vitro and in vivo
Dendrosoter protuberans (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), An Important Elm Bark Beetle Parasitoid

The most favourable period for Dendrosoter protuberans development occurred when wasps were introduced 16 days after the beginning of Scolytus multistriatus development (the greatest number of emerged wasps per a single parasitoid female with a very positive sexual index and high percentage of parasitised elm bark beetle larvae). No significant differences were observed in parasitoid efficiency between the 11th and the 21st day. The most unfavourable period for elm bark beetle parasitisation was six days after the beginning of S. multistriatus development (a low reproduction of D. protuberans, a negative sexual index and a low number of destroyed S. multistriatus larvae). The reproduction of both the elm bark beetle and D. protuberans was greater in the first, than in the second generation. The developmental period of D. protuberans in the first generation was approximately two days longer than in the second generation. Furthermore, the development of females was 1–2 days longer than the development of males. D. protuberans developed most successfully on S. multistriatus (the most abundant parasitoid reproduction with the longest developmental period and a very positive sexual index that resulted in a high percentage of parasitised larvae) and then on S. ensifer, S. pygmaeus and Pteleobius kraatzi. On the other hand, S. scolytus larvae were the poorest host of all elm species – the reproduction of D. protuberans in this species was the scarcest with the shortest period of development and a negative sexual index, hence larval parasitisation was the lowest.
Can pikeperch colonise new freshwater systems via estuaries? Evidence from behavioural salinity tests

Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) are non-native in the United Kingdom. It is important to understand how environmental factors, such as salinity, influence the behaviour and activity of introduced fish species to identify their dispersal potential. Previous studies have shown that pikeperch, traditionally recognised as a freshwater fish, can tolerate brackish waters and demonstrate physiological acclimation. However, their behavioural responses to brackish waters are unknown. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the activity and swimming behaviour of pikeperch obtained from freshwater canals in southern England. In the laboratory, fish were exposed to a 12-h simulated tidal cycle and a 12-day stepped salinity challenge where salinity was increased by 4 every 2 days, up to a salinity of 20. In both regimes, fish showed increased swimming activity in response to increasing salinity, which may represent an avoidance response. The most dramatic changes, including vertical movements, occurred at salinities above ∼16. At these higher salinities, head shaking and coughing behaviours were also observed, suggesting significant stress and respiratory impairment. However, during the simulated tidal cycle, normal behaviour was rapidly restored once salinity was reduced. The results of this study may have implications in understanding the dispersal of non-native fish in the wild.
Frost Resistance of Somaclones Derived from Triticum aestivum L. Winter Wheat Calli

Frost resistance was studied in SC4 seedlings generated by self pollination from 31 (SC4) plants of ‘GK Csongor’ winter wheat variety derived from resistance than ‘GK Csongor’. With respect to percentage survival, one family possessed significantly higher frost resistance as compared to the control at a temperature of -13°C In the case of regrowth analysis, 22 of the 31 families showed less growing capacity and 5 proved to be significantly better than ‘GK Csongor’. According to both testing methods, one family showed significantly higher frost resistance than the control.
Fine-Grained Facial Expression Recognition in the Wild

Over the past decades, researches on facial expression recognition have been restricted within six basic expressions (anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness and surprise). However, these six words can not fully describe the richness and diversity of human beings’ emotions. To enhance the recognitive capabilities for computers, in this paper, we focus on fine-grained facial expression recognition in the wild and build a brand new benchmark FG-Emotions to push the research frontiers on this topic, which extends the original six classes to more elaborate thirty-three classes. Our FG-Emotions contains 10,371 images and 1,491 video clips annotated with corresponding fine-grained facial expression categories and landmarks. FG-Emotions also provides several features (e.g., LBP features and dense trajectories features) to facilitate related research. Moreover, on top of FG-Emotions, we propose a new end-to-end Multi-Scale Action Unit (AU)-based Network (MSAU-Net) for facial expression recognition with image which learns a more powerful facial representation by directly focusing on locating facial action units and utilizing “zoom in” operation to aggregate distinctive local features. As for recognition with video, we further extend the MSAU-Net to a two-stream model (TMSAU-Net) by adding a module with attention mechanism and a temporal stream branch to jointly learn spatial and temporal features. (T)MSAU-Net consistently outperforms existing state-of-the-art solutions on our FG-Emotions and several other datasets, and serves as a strong baseline to drive the future research towards fine-grained facial expression recognition in the wild.
Life cycle and population dynamics of Discus perspectivus (Megerle von Muhlfeld, 1818) (Gastropoda: pulmonata: Endodontidae)

Life cycle and population dynamics of Discus perspectivus (Muhlf.) were studied in the field and in the laboratory. No courtship, copulation or uniparental reproduction could be observed. The eggs, laid in June, July and August on rotting timber are calcified, ellipsoidal, ca. 1 mm in major diameter; the number of eggs per batch is 1–9 (mostly 3–4), with a total of 17–33 eggs per individual per season. The incubation period is 24–35 days, hatching is nearly synchronous; the proportion of hatching eggs laid by individuals brought from the field is 51% (for eggs brought from the field 38.7%). The hatchlings have shells of 1.8–2.3 whorls; they consume their egg envelopes immediately after hatching. The egg cannibalism is prolonged into adult stage; only conspecific eggs are consumed; juveniles eat eggs of their own and alien batches. The growth rate in the laboratory is 1 whorl per 49–188 days (slower in the field); the growth is faster in juvenile and slower in mature snails. The snails reach maturity at slightly over 5 whorls (mature gametes present in the gonad), the life span is 173–849 days, the reproductive life constituting ca. 7% total life span. In the field juveniles hatch from June till October, with the maximum in August; till their first hibernation they reach 2.6–3.5 whorls and become mature in their second season to reproduce in the same or next year. The population density exceeds 50 m in summer, and ranges from 25 to 30 m during the remaining seasons. D. perspectivus shows aggregated distribution in August and October, in the remaining months the distribution is even. Some laboratory-born individuals have very much elevated spires and their shells become scalariform at the level of 5.3–5.75 whorls.