Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Research on Subjective Quality Assessment of Light Field Images

Light field (LF) exerts a positive impact on many multimedia applications, due to its variety of the post-processing. For the sheer size of data volume and the huge difference compared to natural 2D images, many processing methods for such particular type of image have been proposed by researchers, for which the image quality assessment (IQA) research for such LF images (LFIs) is urgently needed. However, the development of the IQA of LFIs is restricted for lack of a database that fully reflects characteristics of LFIs. Therefore, in this paper, we build a perceptual quality assessment dataset including 240 distorted images from 8 source images by adding five distortion types with several distortion levels and obtain the mean opinion score (MOS) of each LF image by a developed subjective experiment. Further, we propose a subjective evaluation method to evaluate the perceptual quality of distorted LFIs. In the experiment, some classical full reference IQA metrics were used on the proposed dataset, and the results provide useful insights for the future development of compression solutions and objective IQA for LFIs.
Spontaneous Intake and Long-Term Effects of Essential Oils After a Negative Postnatal Experience in Chicks

The postnatal period is critical for broiler chicks as they are exposed to, possibly stressful, environmental changes in the hatchery and during transportation to the rearing houses. The ability of broiler chicks to spontaneously drink essential oils (EO) to mitigate the effects of a negative postnatal experience was tested. Chicks were either immediately placed in the rearing facility (C group), or subjected to a 24h-delay period before their placement (D group), mimicking the possible transportation delay in commercial conditions. In experiment 1, each group had access to either water only or to water and one EO (cardamom, marjoram or verbena) from D1 to D13. The verbena EO intake was higher in the D group than in the C group from D1 to D6 and the cardamom EO intake was lower in the D group than in the C group from D6 to D13. In experiment 2, half of the groups had access to water only and the other half was offered water and the 3 EO simultaneously. The EO were not differently chosen by chicks between D and C groups except a lower cardamom EO intake was observed in the D group than in the C group from D6 to D12. The delayed placement of the D group reduced chicken growth until 34 days of age and temporarily increased the feed conversion ratio, but did not affect their welfare or the prevalence of health disorders. The EO intake did not allow the chicks in the D group to overcome the growth reduction, but did overcome the reduction in Pectoralis major muscle yield. In conclusion, chicks are able to make spontaneous choices regarding EO intake according to their postnatal experience when EO are presented individually, but in our experimental design, they were not when EO were simultaneously presented. The EO intake only partially mitigated the decrease in chicken performance after the negative postnatal experience.
Crucial Role of Increased Arid3a at the Pre-B and Immature B Cell Stages for B1a Cell Generation

The Lin28b+Let7− axis in fetal/neonatal development plays a role in promoting CD5+ B1a cell generation as a B-1 B cell developmental outcome. Here we identify the Let7 target, Arid3a, as a crucial molecular effector of the B-1 cell developmental program. Arid3a expression is increased at pro-B cell stage and markedly increased at pre-B and immature B cell stages in the fetal/neonatal liver B-1 development relative to that in the Lin28b−Let7+ adult bone marrow (BM) B-2 cell development. Analysis of B-lineage restricted Lin28b transgenic (Tg) mice, Arid3a knockout and Arid3a Tg mice, confirmed that increased Arid3a allows B cell generation without requiring surrogate light chain (SLC) associated pre-BCR stage, and prevents MHC class II cell expression at the pre-B and newly generated immature B cell stages, distinct from pre-BCR dependent B development with MHC class II in adult BM. Moreover, Arid3a plays a crucial role in supporting B1a cell generation. The increased Arid3a leads higher Myc and Bhlhe41, and lower Siglec-G and CD72 at the pre-B and immature B cell stages than normal adult BM, to allow BCR signaling induced B1a cell generation. Arid3a-deficiency selectively blocks the development of B1a cells, while having no detectable effect on CD5− B1b, MZ B, and FO B cell generation resembling B-2 development outcome. Conversely, enforced expression of Arid3a by transgene is sufficient to promote the development of B1a cells from adult BM. Under the environment change between birth to adult, altered BCR repertoire in increased B1a cells occurred generated from adult BM. However, crossed with B1a-restricted VH/D/J IgH knock-in mice allowed to confirm that SLC-unassociated B1a cell increase and CLL/lymphoma generation can occur in aged from Arid3a increased adult BM. These results confirmed that in fetal/neonatal normal mice, increased Arid3a at the pre-B cell and immature B cell stages is crucial for generating B1a cells together with the environment for self-ligand reactive BCR selection, B1a cell maintenance, and potential for development of CLL/Lymphoma in aged mice.
Groundwater Extraction in Floodplain Forests Reduces Radial Growth and Increases Summer Drought Sensitivity of Pedunculate Oak Trees (Quercus robur L.)

In future, groundwater dependent ecosystems are likely to face increasing stress from direct and indirect effects of climate change. European floodplain forests already experience lower groundwater tables caused by river regulations and water extraction. Yet, the effects of more frequent and prolonged dry and hot periods in combination with groundwater extraction on floodplain forests are not well understood. Here, we conducted a dendroecological study in floodplain forests dominated by pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), a widespread forest type in Europe. Since drought-related precipitation deficits are increasingly less compensated by available groundwater, we hypothesized that groundwater extraction would increase climate sensitivity of growth. Moreover, we expected that younger trees that established under the condition of lowered groundwater tables would be less sensitive to droughts in contrast to older trees that might not be able to adapt to abrupt changes in groundwater levels. In three regions in the Upper Rhine Valley of Germany, we analysed retrospectively tree-ring growth in Q. robur stands where (a) water extraction had dramatically lowered groundwater levels and trees presumably lost direct access to it, or (b) trees have not been affected by water extraction. In addition, (c) nearby sessile oak (Q. petraea) stands at upland sites were analysed to isolate the climate signal for each study region from a groundwater signal. In total, we analysed ring-width chronologies from 18 forest stands and investigated their relationship with climate. Radial growth of oak trees was strongly correlated with summer drought (SPEI, Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index). Their sensitivity to summer drought increased significantly following the onset of groundwater extraction (88-49 years ago). However, sensitivity of oaks to summer drought at sites with groundwater contact remained relatively stable over time. Oaks at sites without water extraction took advantage of favourable growing conditions. Our results show that access to groundwater can buffer negative effects of summer drought on tree growth. Therefore, in the face of the ongoing climate change and more frequent occurrence of extreme drought events, we recommend that groundwater extraction from floodplain forests should be reduced rather than increased to maintain tree vitality in the long term.
The Role of Eye Gaze During Natural Social Interactions in Typical and Autistic People

Social interactions involve complex exchanges of a variety of social signals, such as gaze, facial expressions, speech and gestures. Focusing on the dual function of eye gaze, this review explores how the presence of an audience, communicative purpose and temporal dynamics of gaze allow interacting partners to achieve successful communication. First, we focus on how being watched modulates social cognition and behavior. We then show that the study of interpersonal gaze processing, particularly gaze temporal dynamics, can provide valuable understanding of social behavior in real interactions. We propose that the Interpersonal Gaze Processing model, which combines both sensing and signaling functions of eye gaze, provides a framework to make sense of gaze patterns in live interactions. Finally, we discuss how autistic individuals process the belief in being watched and interpersonal dynamics of gaze, and suggest that systematic manipulation of factors modulating gaze signaling can reveal which aspects of social eye gaze are challenging in autism.
Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated T and NK-Cell Lymphoproliferative Diseases

EBV-associated T and NK-cell lymphoproliferative diseases (EBV-T/NK LPDs) are characterized by the transformation and proliferation of EBV-infected T or NK cells. The 2016 revised World Health Organization classification recognizes the following EBV-positive lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD): chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV) of T- and NK-cell type (cutaneous and systemic forms), systemic EBV-positive T-cell lymphoma of childhood, aggressive NK-cell leukemia, extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type, and the new provisional entity primary EBV-positive nodal T/NK-cell lymphoma. EBV-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), although not included in the WHO classification because it is a reactive, inflammatory disease, is included in this review because it can be life-threatening and may have overlapping features with other EBV+ T/NK LPDs. EBV+ T/NK LPDs are rare diseases difficult to diagnose and manage properly, because some LPDs have unusual presentations, and discrepancies between clinical and histological findings might be encountered. Furthermore, EBV+ T/NK disorders share some clinico-pathological features, and may evolve into other categories during the clinical course, including malignant transformation of CAEBV. Here, we review the EBV+ T/NK LPDs in terms of their definitions, clinical features, histology, immunophenotype, molecular findings, and pathogenesis. This review aims to increase our understanding and awareness of the differential diagnosis among the different EBV+ T/NK LPDs. New insights into the genetic characteristics of these disorders will also be discussed.
A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies New Loci Involved in Wound-Induced Lateral Root Formation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Root systems can display variable architectures that contribute to nutrient foraging or to increase the tolerance of abiotic stress conditions. Root tip excision promotes the developmental progression of previously specified lateral root (LR) founder cells, which allows to easily measuring the branching capacity of a given root as regards its genotype and/or growth conditions. Here, we describe the natural variation among 120 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions in root system architecture (RSA) after root tip excision. Wound-induced changes in RSA were associated with 19 genomic loci using genome-wide association mapping. Three candidate loci associated with wound-induced LR formation were investigated. Sequence variation in the hypothetical protein encoded by the At4g01090 gene affected wound-induced LR development and its loss-of-function mutants displayed a reduced number of LRs after root tip excision. Changes in a histidine phosphotransfer protein putatively involved in cytokinin signaling were significantly associated with LR number variation after root tip excision. Our results provide a better understanding of some of the genetic components involved in LR capacity variation among accessions.
Transgenic Animal Models to Visualize Cancer-Related Cellular Processes by Bioluminescence Imaging

Preclinical animal models are valuable tools to improve treatments of malignant diseases, being an intermediate step of experimentation between cell culture and human clinical trials. Among different animal models frequently used in cancer research are mouse and, more recently, zebrafish models. Indeed, most of the cellular pathways are highly conserved between human, mouse and zebrafish, thus rendering these models very attractive. Recently, several transgenic reporter mice and zebrafishes have been generated in which the luciferase reporter gene are placed under the control of a promoter whose activity is strictly related to specific cancer cellular processes. Other mouse models have been generated by the cDNA luciferase knockin in the locus of a gene whose expression/activity has increased in cancer. Using BioLuminescence Imaging (BLI), we have now the opportunity to spatiotemporal visualize cell behaviors, among which proliferation, apoptosis, migration and immune responses, in any body district in living animal in a time frame process. We provide here a review of the available models to visualized cancer and cancer-associated events in living animals by BLI and as they have been successful in identifying new stages of early tumor progression, new interactions between different tissues and new therapeutic responsiveness.
The Rapid Methylation of T-DNAs Upon Agrobacterium Inoculation in Plant Leaves

Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been foundational in the development of transgenic plants for both agricultural biotechnology and plant molecular research. However, the transformation efficiency and level of transgene expression obtained for any given construct can be highly variable. These inefficiencies often require screening of many lines to find one with consistent and heritable transgene expression. Transcriptional gene silencing is known to affect transgene expression, and is associated with DNA methylation, especially of cytosines in symmetric CG and CHG contexts. While the specificity, heritability and silencing-associated effects of DNA methylation of transgene sequences have been analyzed in many stably transformed plants, the methylation status of transgene sequences in the T-DNA during the transformation process has not been well-studied. Here we used agro-infiltration of the eGFP reporter gene in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves driven by either an AtEF1α-A4 or a CaMV-35S promoter to study early T-DNA methylation patterns of these promoter sequences. The T-DNA was examined by amplicon sequencing following sodium bisulfite treatment using three different sequencing platforms: Sanger sequencing, Ion Torrent PGM, and the Illumina MiSeq. Rapid DNA methylation was detectable in each promoter region just 2–3 days post-infiltration and the levels continued to rapidly accumulate over the first week, then steadily up to 21 days later. Cytosines in an asymmetric context (CHH) were the most heavily and rapidly methylated. This suggests that early T-DNA methylation may be important in determining the epigenetic and transcriptional fate of integrated transgenes. The Illumina MiSeq platform was the most sensitive and robust way of detecting and following the methylation profiles of the T-DNA promoters. The utility of the methods was then used to show a subtle but significant difference in promoter methylation during intron-mediated enhancement. In addition, the method was able to detect an increase in promoter methylation when the eGFP reporter gene was targeted by siRNAs generated by co-infiltration of a hairpin RNAi construct.
TLR7 Controls VSV Replication in CD169+ SCS Macrophages and Associated Viral Neuroinvasion

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is an insect-transmitted rhabdovirus that is neurovirulent in mice. Upon peripheral VSV infection, CD169+ subcapsular sinus (SCS) macrophages capture VSV in the lymph, support viral replication, and prevent CNS neuroinvasion. To date, the precise mechanisms controlling VSV infection in SCS macrophages remain incompletely understood. Here, we show that Toll-like receptor-7 (TLR7), the main sensing receptor for VSV, is central in controlling lymph-borne VSV infection. Following VSV skin infection, TLR7−/− mice display significantly less VSV titers in the draining lymph nodes (dLN) and viral replication is attenuated in SCS macrophages. In contrast to effects of TLR7 in impeding VSV replication in the dLN, TLR7−/− mice present elevated viral load in the brain and spinal cord highlighting their susceptibility to VSV neuroinvasion. By generating novel TLR7 floxed mice, we interrogate the impact of cell-specific TLR7 function in anti-viral immunity after VSV skin infection. Our data suggests that TLR7 signaling in SCS macrophages supports VSV replication in these cells, increasing LN infection and may account for the delayed onset of VSV-induced neurovirulence observed in TLR7−/− mice. Overall, we identify TLR7 as a novel and essential host factor that critically controls anti-viral immunity to VSV. Furthermore, the novel mouse model generated in our study will be of valuable importance to shed light on cell-intrinsic TLR7 biology in future studies.
Brain Microglial Activation in Chronic Pain-Associated Affective Disorder

A growing body of evidence from both clinical and animal studies indicates that chronic neuropathic pain is associated with comorbid affective disorders. Spinal cord microglial activation is involved in nerve injury-induced pain hypersensitivity characterizing neuropathic pain. However, there is a lack of thorough assessments of microglial activation in the brain after nerve injury. In the present study, we characterized microglial activation in brain sub-regions of CX3CR1GFP/+ mice after chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve, including observations at delayed time points when affective brain dysfunctions such as depressive-like behaviors typically develop. Mice manifested chronic mechanical hypersensitivity immediately after CCI and developed depressive-like behaviors 8 weeks post-injury. Concurrently, significant increases of soma size and microglial cell number were observed in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), hippocampus, and amygdala 8 weeks post-injury. Transcripts of CD11b, and TNF-α, genes associated with microglial activation or depressive-like behaviors, are correspondingly upregulated in these brain areas. Our results demonstrate that microglia are activated in specific brain sub-regions after CCI at delayed time points and imply that brain microglial activation plays a role in chronic pain-associated affective disorders.
Ein visuelles Modell der Artikulation

Speech disorders become more and more important in clinical area of phoniatrics. It is striking during consultation and treatment of patients that there exist only humble concrete notions concerning speech organs and articulatory movements. Using the computational model introduced here speech organs and speech movements of unrestricted utterances can be displayed in the mediosagittal plane. Articulation is described concisely by using nine basic parameters. The time pattern of these parameter-values defines the articulatory motion plan of an utterance and gives a comprehensive overview of the spatio-temporal structure of the appertaining speech movements. The use of the model in speech therapy shall make patients sensitive for the existence of speech articulators - especially for those which are normally not directly visible (back tongue region, soft palate) -and help to understand and memorise the appertaining movement patterns.
CP-199 Effectiveness and safety of eculizumab in atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome and thrombotic microangiopathy

Background Atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare, life-threatening, chronic thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) caused by uncontrolled complement dysregulation. Eculizumab, a humanised anti-C5 monoclonal antibody, is the only approved treatment of aHUS. Purpose To assess the effectiveness and safety of eculizumab in patients with aHUS and/or TMA. Material and methods A retrospective observational study was conducted from June 2012 to September 2015 in a general university hospital, including patients diagnosed with aHUS and/or TMA. All patients received an induction period of 900 mg eculizumab weekly (weeks 1–4) followed by a maintenance period of 1200 mg in week 5 and then 1200 mg every 2 weeks. Demographic (sex and age) and clinical data (platelet count, haemoglobin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), haptoglobin and renal function) were systematically collected at baseline and during treatment. Effectiveness was assessed by complete response (normalisation of haematologic parameters combined with an improvement in renal function), haematologic response (normalisation of platelet count and LDH) and TMA event free status (no decrease in platelet count of >25%, no plasma exchange (PE) and no dialysis). Adverse events were registered. Results Six patients were included: 4 men, aged 34 ± 7years, 4 diagnosed with aHUS and 2 with post-transplant TMA. Five patients received PE and dialysis prior to eculizumab treatment. Clinical data at baseline were: platelet count (138 ± 65×109/L), haemoglobin (8.8 ± 1.0 g/dL), LDH (320.3 ± 269.2UI/L), haptoglobin (47.3 ± 38.5 mg/dL) and creatinine (6.3 ± 2.8 mg/dL). After the induction period, complete response was achieved in 3/6 patients, haematologic response in 4/6 patients and TMA event free status in 5/6 patients. Treatment response was maintained in all patients during the follow-up period (median 33 weeks; min 7, max 156). There were no adverse events. Conclusion Eculizumab showed effectiveness and safety profiles consistent with those seen in previous clinical trials, showing that it is a well tolerated and effective drug in patients with aHUS and post-transplant TMA. References and/or Acknowledgements Legendre CM, Licht C, Muus P, et al. Terminal complement inhibitor eculizumab in atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome. N Engl J Med 2013;368:2169–81 No conflict of interest.
Fluid mechanics of the pulmonary circulation.

: Assessment of the fluid mechanics of the pulmonary circulation has been hindered by the relative inaccessibility of the pulmonary vascular bed. Current understanding is based largely on analyses of mathematical models which have been used to simulate hemodynamic characteristics within an architectural representation of that bed. These representations have ranged from simple, lumped parameter structures to anatomically realistic structures based on measurements of casts of the irregular branching network of pulmonary arteries and veins. Nonlinear models have been studied to determine the effects of vessel taper and within beat geometrical variations as cross-sectional shapes change from circular to elliptical and small vessels undergo recruitment, distention, and collapse as a result of the shifting balance in alveolar, pleural, and capillary pressures. This article reviews current concepts of pulmonary circulatory fluid mechanics focusing on mathematical models and relevant hemodynamic studies.