Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Active Perception for Foreground Segmentation: An RGB-D Data-Based Background Modeling Method

Foreground moving object segmentation is a fundamental problem in many computer vision applications. As a solution for foreground segmentation, background modeling has been intensively studied over past years and many effective algorithms have been developed. However, accurate foreground segmentation is still a difficult problem. Currently, most of the algorithms work solely within the color space, in which the segmentation performance is prone to be degraded by a multitude of challenges, such as illumination changes, shadows, automatic camera adjustments, and color camouflage. RGB-D cameras are active visual sensors that provide depth measurements along with color images. We present in this paper an innovative background modeling method by using both the color and depth information from an RGB-D camera. The proposed method is evaluated using a public RGB-D data set. Various experiments confirm that our method is able to achieve superior performance compared with existing well-known methods. Note to Practitioners—This paper investigates background modeling for foreground segmentation with active perception. Recent RGB-D cameras that leverage the active perception technology have advanced many computer vision algorithms. In this paper, we develop a background modeling method to achieve superior performance by using an RGB-D camera instead of a color camera. Due to the use of the active sensing technology, the proposed method is characterized by its robustness to common challenges. Our method could be used for improving existing infrastructures, such as visual surveillance systems for parking spaces. Moreover, the simple design of our method allows it to be easily deployed on various computing platforms, which facilitates many practical applications that usually require embedded computing devices. However, our method cannot run real timely at the current status. We believe that it can be further improved using parallel programming techniques to meet the real-time requirement.
Multi‐objective optimisation of generation maintenance scheduling in restructured power systems based on global criterion method

Generation maintenance scheduling (GMS) is one of the most important scheduling problems in the restructured power systems. The maintenance time interval of generation units is the crucial factor of GMS for an operation lifespan of generation units, particularly within the smart grid which needs high reliability. Accordingly, this study proposes a multi-objective-GMS (MO-GMS) optimisation model for maintenance scheduling of generation units based on the global criterion approach, adopting a suitable compromise function. The proposed MO-GMS model determines the maintenance intervals, aims to maximise both the generation company's (GenCo's) financial returns from selling electricity and the system reserve at every time interval from the independent system operator (ISO) standpoint. This method searches the optimal maintenance weeks for each generation unit, considering the objectives of both GenCo and ISO, simultaneously. The proposed MO-GMS model is formulated as a mixed-integer non-linear programming problem and examined on the IEEE 24-bus and IEEE 118-bus test systems. The success of the proposed multi-objective model is validated by comparing the obtained results with intelligent optimisation algorithms.
Analysis of Flavonoid Compounds by Terahertz Spectroscopy Combined with Chemometrics

Flavonoids are a large class of polyphenols widely distributed in plants in the free form or as glycosides, and they have antioxidation, antibacterial, antitumor growth, and other pharmacological effects. As an important active component of traditional Chinese medicine, they have high medicinal value and development prospects. In this work, the biomolecular properties of 10 common flavonoids, including baicalein, baicalin, apigenin, quercetin, naringenin, hesperetin, daidzein, genistein, puerarin, and gastrodin, are studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the range of 0.2–2.5 THz. The results reveal that these flavonoids have different characteristic absorption peaks in the terahertz band. Moreover, the terahertz absorption characteristics of samples in the temperature range of 78–320 K are studied. The results show that the characteristic absorption peaks gradually increase with the decrease in temperature, and the frequency position of the absorption peak has a slight blue shift. Furthermore, qualitative identification and quantitative analysis of flavonoids are carried out by terahertz spectra combined with chemometrics. Specifically, a series of mixtures of three flavonoids with similar molecular structures under various concentrations are analyzed. The partial least-squares regression (PLSR) model and the artificial neural network (ANN) model are applied to quantitatively analyze the ternary mixture. The results confirm that the ANN model obtains the best predicted value, with the root-mean-square errors in the prediction set (RMSEP) of 1.27% for daidzein. In summary, the biomolecular properties of flavonoids are studied by the THz-TDS technique, and a rapid, effective, and nondestructive method for qualitative identification and quantitative analysis of flavonoids is provided. The results demonstrate that this method has potential application value in the detection of Chinese herbal medicine and has better referential significance for the study of other biomolecules, especially for isomers or similar molecular structures.
Identification and expression pattern of chemosensory genes in the transcriptome of Propsilocerus akamusi

Chironomidae is the most ecologically diverse insects in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. Propsilocerus akamusi (Tokunaga) is a dominant and ubiquitous chironomid species in Eastern Asia and its morphologically unique larvae are also considered as indicator organisms to detect water contamination, potential toxicity and waterborne pathogens. Since few studies to date have focused on the olfactory system of P. akamusi, our study aims to elucidate the potential functions of chemosensory genes in P. akamusi. In our study, we found that although signals released from male groups might attract female swarmers, it was a completely male-dominated mating process. Sequencing the transcriptome of P. akamusi on an Illumina HiSeq platform generated 4.42, 4.46 and 4.53 Gb of clean reads for heads, legs, and antennae, respectively. 27,609 unigenes, 20,379 coding sequences (CDSs), and 8,073 simple sequence repeats were finally obtained. The gene-level differential expression analysis demonstrated variants among three different tissues, including 2,019 genes specifically expressed in heads, 1,540 genes in legs, and 2,071 genes in antennae. Additionally, we identified an assortment of putative olfactory genes consisting of 34 odorant binding proteins, 17 odorant receptors, 32 gustatory receptors, 22 ionotropic receptors, six chemosensory proteins as well as 3 sensory neuron membrane proteins; their relative abundances in the above three tissues were also determined by RT-qPCR. Our finding could allow a more plausible understanding of certain olfaction-mediated behaviors in groups of this macroinvertebrate.
All Hands on Deck: Teaching Lymphocyte Activation by Using Role Play and Colored Gloves†

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education 1 Volume 21, Number 2 ©2020 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work. *Corresponding author. Mailing address: 3225 W. Foster Ave., Box 57, Chicago, IL 60625. Phone: 773-244-5655. E-mail: darholl@ northpark.edu. Received: 23 January 2020, Accepted: 2 June 2020, Published: 31 July 2020 †Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe INTRODUCTION
Overweight during lactation and its implications for biometric, nutritional and cardiovascular parameters of young and adult male and female rats

Litter size reduction can induce early overnourishment, being an attractive experimental model to study short- and long-term consequences of childhood obesity. Epidemiological data indicate sex differences regarding cardiometabolic disorders and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The present study aimed to describe biometric, nutritional and cardiovascular changes related to neonatal overweight promoted by litter size reduction in young and adult Wistar rats of both sexes. Litter adjustment to eight or four pups/mother (1:1 male-to-female ratio) gave, respectively, control and overweight groups. Body mass, food intake, haemodynamic and echocardiographic parameters and cardiorespiratory capacity were evaluated at postnatal days 30 and 150. Diminished litters were correlated with higher body mass and weight gain (12 %) during lactation, validating the experimental model of neonatal overweight. Soon after weaning male (16 %) and female (25 %) offspring of these litters presented a lower food intake than their respective control, without differences in body mass. Adult males from reduced litters presented higher abdominal circumference (7 %), systolic blood pressure (10 %), interventricular septum thickness (15 %) and relative wall thickness (15 %) compared with their respective control. Rats' performance on the maximal effort ergometer test was not affected by neonatal overweight. Data suggest the occurrence of catch-down growth and hypophagia in male and female rats submitted to neonatal overweight. However, only male rats presented haemodynamic and cardiac structural changes. These findings are crucial to personalised/gender medicine.
Emulsifying Salts Influence on Characteristics of Cheese Analogs from Calcium Caseinate

Cheese analogs were prepared from calcium caseinate, butter oil and emulsifying sodium salts (ES). Increasing ES levels gave cheese analogs with higher pH, degree of casein dissociation and degree of fat emulsification than the control without ES. Firmness of cheese analogs first increased, then decreased when the ES level was increased from 1 to 3%. Effects depended on the degree of polymerization of phosphate salts. Sodium citrate (>1%) or Na2HPO4 (>2%) made cheese analogs more able to melt upon reheating. Melting ability correlated with high pH, soft texture, high degree of casein dissociation and low degree of fat emulsification.
Measuring taxonomic diversity with parametric information functions

This paper discusses the measurement of taxonomic diversity of a given community or set of species. First, given D, the matrix of pairwise distances between species, I propose to summarize taxonomic diversity through Renyi.s information-theoretical parametric formalism on D. In this way, a family of taxonomic diversity indices is obtained which shows different sensitivity to the presence of species with different levels of taxonomic distinctness. The adequacy of information-theoretical indices for quantifying taxonomic diversity is discussed.
Suppression of cardiomyocyte functions by β-CTX isolated from the Thai king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) venom via an alternative method

Abstract Background: Beta-cardiotoxin (β-CTX), the three-finger toxin isolated from king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) venom, possesses β-blocker activity as indicated by its negative chronotropy and its binding property to both β-1 and β-2 adrenergic receptors and has been proposed as a novel β-blocker candidate. Previously, β-CTX was isolated and purified by FPLC. Here, we present an alternative method to purify this toxin. In addition, we tested its cytotoxicity against different mammalian muscle cell types and determined the impact on cardiac function in isolated cardiac myocyte so as to provide insights into the pharmacological action of this protein. Methods: β-CTX was isolated from the crude venom of the Thai king cobra using reverse-phased and cation exchange HPLC. In vitro cellular viability MTT assays were performed on mouse myoblast (C2C12), rat smooth muscle (A7r5), and rat cardiac myoblast (H9c2) cells. Cell shortening and calcium transient dynamics were recorded on isolated rat cardiac myocytes over a range of β-CTX concentration. Results: Purified β-CTX was recovered from crude venom (0.53% w/w). MTT assays revealed 50% cytotoxicity on A7r5 cells at 9.41 ± 1.14 µM (n = 3), but no cytotoxicity on C2C12 and H9c2 cells up to 114.09 µM. β-CTX suppressed the extend of rat cardiac cell shortening in a dose-dependent manner; the half-maximal inhibition concentration was 95.97 ± 50.10 nM (n = 3). In addition, the rates of cell shortening and re-lengthening were decreased in β-CTX treated myocytes concomitant with a prolongation of the intracellular calcium transient decay, indicating depression of cardiac contractility secondary to altered cardiac calcium homeostasis. Conclusion: We present an alternative purification method for β-CTX from king cobra venom. We reveal cytotoxicity towards smooth muscle and depression of cardiac contractility by this protein. These data are useful to aid future development of pharmacological agents derived from β-CTX.
The Clinical Application of Core-Needle Biopsy after Radiofrequency Ablation for Low-risk Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: A Large Cohort of 202 Patients Study

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical application of core-needle biopsy (CNB) for low-risk papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) Methods: A total of 202 patients with 211 low-risk PTMCs were included in this study. RFA procedure was used the hydrodissection technique and moving-shot technique. Patients were followed at 1, 3, 6, 12 months and every 6 months thereafter. The volume of ablation area and the volume reduction ratio (VRR) were calculated. At 3 or 6 months after RFA, CNB was performed to the central zone, the peripheral zone and surrounding thyroid parenchyma for post-ablation evaluation. Results: The mean volume of tumors was 102.34±93.84 mm3 (range 4.19-424.10 mm3), which decreased significantly to 1.37±7.74 mm3 (range 0-73.30 mm3) at a mean follow-up time of 24.42±9.15 months (range 3-42 months) with a mean VRR of 99.14±4.18% (range 71.88-100%). A total of 3 ablation areas had positive CNB in the peripheral zone and underwent additional RFA. No recurrent or suspicious metastatic lymph nodes were detected Conclusion: CNB is a feasible and effective evaluation for low-risk PTMC after RFA, which can detect residual cancer cells early.
Effects of Aflatoxin Bi on liver phase I and phase II enzymes induced in vitro on Sparus aurata hepatocytes primary culture

Among all known mycotoxins, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been one of the most studied for its hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressant effects. However, there have only been a few metabolic and toxicological studies on aflatoxins in farmed Sparus aurata and these have been restricted to in vivo trials. This study aimed to examine the effects of acute and chronic AFB1exposure on CYP1A and GST enzymes induced in vitro on S. aurata hepatocytes by immunoblot analysis, and to carry out apoptotic studies on the cytotoxic effects leading to cell death. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that cell damage was not reversible but permanent, as the cellular repair systems were unable to recover from the induced toxic insult. We detected several CYP1A bands and showed an indirect correlation between induction of CYP1A with dose and time of exposure. The decrease in expression of CYP1A over prolonged exposure times, along with high toxic concentration, could be related to the lethal damage observed on hepatocytes under contrast phase and immunofluorescence analysis. A particular pattern of expression was found for GST isoforms upon AFB1 exposure, identifying two different kinds of toxic insult for each isoform profile. The 65 KDa and the 49 KDa bands were suggestive of markers of acute and chronic response, respectively. Interestingly, apoptosis induction, considered an early DNA lesion, was found to be associated with chronic damage along with low toxic concentration. The new cell model from S. aurata has been proven to be a useful and valid tool to be used in the further investigation of the modulated response of liver phase I and II enzymes to AFB1.
Intra-articular Administration of Tranexamic Acid Has No Effect in Reducing Intra-articular Hemarthrosis and Postoperative Pain After Primary ACL Reconstruction Using a Quadruple Hamstring Graft: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Insufficient data are available to support the routine use of tranexamic acid (TXA) in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgeries with respect to administration method and frequency, exposure duration, dose, and adverse effects. Purpose: To investigate whether intra-articular (IA) administration of TXA could reduce hemarthrosis and postoperative pain in patients after ACL reconstruction. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods: A total of 47 patients were included in this study, which was performed between July 2017 and May 2019. Single-bundle reconstructions using autologous hamstring tendon grafts were performed in all patients. The patients were randomized into 2 groups: the TXA group (received the index procedure with 100-mL IA injection of TXA [30 mg/mL]) and a control group (did not receive IA injection of TXA). No patients received a drain. Blood loss was calculated on the basis of hemoglobin balance at postoperative day (PD) 2. The visual analog scale (VAS) for pain score was assessed at PD 3. The midpatellar circumference was measured at PD 2 and PD 5. Knee range of motion (ROM) was evaluated 6 weeks after surgery. Results: The mean ± SD blood loss was 467 ± 242 mL in the TXA group and 558 ± 236 mL in the control group. No significant differences were found for blood loss (P = .20), VAS pain scores (P = .28), ROM at postoperative week 6 (P = .61), or patellar circumference at PD 2 (P = .75) and PD 5 (P = .84). Conclusion: This study showed that IA administration of 3.0 g of TXA had no effect in reducing blood loss and postoperative pain after primary anatomic single-bundle ACL reconstruction using quadruple hamstring autografts. Registration: NCT04042688 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier).
Exploring the equity impact of mobile health-based human immunodeficiency virus interventions: A systematic review of reviews and evidence synthesis

Objective While mobile health-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) interventions are often designed to promote health equity, systematic differences in the use of and access to mobile technologies may counteract that and widen treatment gaps. This systematic review applies an equity lens to investigate whether existing research provides adequate evidence on the ethical implications of mHealth technologies in HIV treatment and prevention. Methods This study included a two-stage methodology, consisting of (a) a systematic review of systematic reviews and (b) an evidence synthesis of primary studies. For the review of reviews we searched eight electronic databases, eight electronic journals and Google Scholar. We also screened reference lists and consulted authors of included studies. Primary studies were extracted from eligible reviews. We based our data extraction and analysis on the Place of residence, Race, Occupation, Gender/Sex, Religion, Education, Socioeconomic status, Social capital and other disadvantage related characteristics (PROGRESS-Plus) framework and the use of harvest plots, focusing on the socio-demographic distribution of mHealth effects. Results A total of 8786 citations resulted in 19 eligible reviews and 39 eligible primary studies. Existing reviews did not provide any analyses of the equity impacts of mobile health-based HIV initiatives. Information availability was higher in primary studies, predominantly suggesting no social gradient of mobile health-based HIV interventions. Overall, evidence remains weak and not sufficient to allow for confident equity statements. Conclusions Despite the negative force of socio-demographic inequities and the emerging nature of mobile health technologies, evidence on the equity implications of mobile health interventions for HIV care remains scarce. Not knowing how the effects of mobile health technologies differ across population subgroups inevitably limits our capacities to equitably adopt, adjust and integrate mobile health interventions towards reaching those disproportionally affected by the epidemic.
Pots vs trammel nets: a catch comparison study in a Mediterranean small-scale fishery

Passive bottom-set nets are the most widely used fishing gears in Mediterranean small-scale fisheries (SSFs). Trammel nets, in particular, have key advantages such as their ease of use and handling and high capture efficiency for numerous commercial species. However, they entail high discard rates (5–44% of the total catch) connected to high mortality, thus exerting an adverse impact on benthic communities, besides catching individuals of commercial species under the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) and specimens of protected species. Fish pots are seen as alternative and a more sustainable gear type that allow reducing discards in SSFs. In this study, a collapsible pot was tested at three coastal sites in the north-western Adriatic Sea (GFCM GSA 17) to compare its catch efficiency with that of the local traditional trammel nets. Data analysis demonstrated a similar catch efficiency for the commercial species, both among sites and as a whole. Moreover, the trammel net caught a larger amount of discards, both in terms of species number and of CPUEW. The catch comparison study involved the two most abundant landed species, common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis and annular sea bream Diplodus annularis. The pots were more effective for S. officinalis, whereas the trammel net was more effective for the shorter length classes for D. annularis, which were mostly under the MCRS (12 cm). The innovative pots could provide a valuable alternative to the trammel nets traditionally used in the Adriatic Sea, at least in certain areas and periods. Their main advantages include that they do not require a different rigging and they can be used without bait, while their foldable design allows large numbers to be easily loaded on board SSF vessels. The results of this pilot study indicate that pots can achieve the objectives of reducing discards and bycatch in SSFs without penalizing the catch of commercial species.
Deep Neural Networks Represent Semantic Category in Object Images Independently from Low-level Shape

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) categorize object images with extremely high levels of accuracy, with performance that is able to match, or even surpass, humans. In natural images, category is often confounded with shape information, therefore it is possible that DNNs rely heavily upon visual shape, rather than semantics, in order to discriminate between categories. Using two datasets that explicitly dissociate shape from category, we quantify the extent to which DNNs represent semantic information independently from shape. One dataset defines shape as a high-level property, namely low versus high aspect ratio. The second dataset defines shape as 9 different types that best represent low-level, retinotopic shape. We discover that DNNs are able to encode semantic information independently from low-level shape, peaking at the final fully connected layer in multiple DNN architectures. The final layer of multiple DNNs represents high-level shape to the same level of correlation as category. This work suggests that DNNs are able to bridge the semantic gap, by representing category independently from low-level shape.