The primary purpose of this research is to implement Deeplabv3 architecture’s deep neural network in detecting and segmenting portable X-ray source model parts such as body, handle, and aperture in ...the same color scheme scenario. Similarly, the aperture is smaller with lower resolution making deep convolutional neural networks more difficult to segment. As the input feature map diminishes as the net progresses, information about the aperture or the object on a smaller scale may be lost. It recommends using Deeplabv3 architecture to overcome this issue, as it is successful for semantic segmentation. Based on the experiment conducted, the average precision of the body, handle, and aperture of the portable X-ray source model are 91.75%, 20.41%, and 6.25%, respectively. Moreover, it indicates that detecting the “body” part has the highest average precision. In contrast, the detection of the “aperture” part has the lowest average precision. Likewise, the study found that using Deeplabv3 deep neural network architecture, detection, and segmentation of the portable X-ray source model was successful but needed improvement to increase the overall mean AP of 39.47%.
There is increasing interest in the use of biological control agents (BCAs) and plant resistance stimulants to suppress botrytis bunch rot in grapes, caused by Botrytis cinerea. Numerous different ...filamentous fungi, bacteria and yeasts have been selected as potential BCAs for control of grey mould based upon demonstrated antagonism towards B. cinerea. Biological suppression of the pathogen arises via competition for nutrients and space, the production of inhibitory metabolites and/or parasitism. Preformed and inducible grapevine defence mechanisms also contribute to disease suppression by preventing or delaying pathogenic infection. Furthermore, various biotic and abiotic agents can stimulate grapevine defence mechanisms and so elevate resistance to B. cinerea infection. Biosuppression of B. cinerea in vineyards, using BCAs and resistance stimulants, has been inconsistent when compared with that observed in controlled glasshouse or laboratory conditions. This may be attributable, in part, to the innate variability of the field environment. Research to improve field efficacy has focused on formulation improvement, the use of BCA mixtures and combinational approaches involving BCAs and plant resistance stimulants with complementary modes of action.
Summary
Among angiosperms there is a high degree of variation in embryo/endosperm size in mature seeds. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism underlying size control between these ...neighboring tissues. Here we report the rice GIANT EMBRYO (GE) gene that is essential for controlling the size balance. The function of GE in each tissue is distinct, controlling cell size in the embryo and cell death in the endosperm. GE, which encodes CYP78A13, is predominantly expressed in the interfacing tissues of the both embryo and endosperm. GE expression is under negative feedback regulation; endogenous GE expression is upregulated in ge mutants. In contrast to the loss‐of‐function mutant with large embryo and small endosperm, GE overexpression causes a small embryo and enlarged endosperm. A complementation analysis coupled with heterofertilization showed that complementation of ge mutation in either embryo or endosperm failed to restore the wild‐type embryo/endosperm ratio. Thus, embryo and endosperm interact in determining embryo/endosperm size balance. Among genes associated with embryo/endosperm size, REDUCED EMBRYO genes, whose loss‐of‐function causes a phenotype opposite to ge, are revealed to regulate endosperm size upstream of GE. To fully understand the embryo–endosperm size control, the genetic network of the related genes should be elucidated.
Infections with the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are closely associated with the development of inflammatory disorders and neoplastic transformation of the gastric epithelium. ...Drastic changes in the micromilieu involve a complex network of H. pylori-regulated signal transduction pathways leading to the release of proinflammatory cytokines, gut hormones and a wide range of signaling molecules. Besides controlling embryonic development, the Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway also plays important roles in epithelial proliferation, differentiation, and regeneration of the gastric physiology, but also in the induction and progression of inflammation and neoplastic transformation in H. pylori infections. Here, we summarize recent findings of H. pylori-associated Hedgehog/GLI signaling in gastric homeostasis, malignant development and the modulation of the gastric tumor microenvironment.
The opioid crisis of pain medication bears risks from addiction to cancer progression, but little experimental evidence exists. Expression of δ-opioid receptors (DORs) correlates with poor prognosis ...for breast cancer patients, but mechanistic insights into oncogenic signaling mechanisms of opioid-triggered cancer progression are lacking. We show that orthotopic transplant models using human or murine breast cancer cells displayed enhanced metastasis upon opioid-induced DOR stimulation. Interestingly, opioid-exposed breast cancer cells showed enhanced migration and strong STAT3 activation, which was efficiently blocked by a DOR-antagonist. Furthermore, opioid treatment resulted in down-regulation of E-Cadherin and increased expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers. Notably, STAT3 knockdown or upstream inhibition through the JAK1/2 kinase inhibitor ruxolitinib prevented opioid-induced breast cancer cell metastasis and migration in vitro and in vivo. We conclude on a novel mechanism whereby opioid-triggered breast cancer metastasis occurs via oncogenic JAK1/2-STAT3 signaling to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition. These findings emphasize the importance of selective and restricted opioid use, as well as the need for safer pain medication that does not activate these oncogenic pathways.
Aberrant activation of Hedgehog (HH)/GLI signaling is causally involved in numerous human malignancies, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and medulloblastoma. HH pathway antagonists targeting ...smoothened (SMO), an essential effector of canonical HH/GLI signaling, show significant clinical success in BCC patients and have recently been approved for the treatment of advanced and metastatic BCC. However, rapid and frequent development of drug resistance to SMO inhibitors (SMOi) together with severe side effects caused by prolonged SMOi treatment call for alternative treatment strategies targeting HH/GLI signaling downstream of SMO. In this study, we report that 4SC‐202, a novel clinically validated inhibitor of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs), efficiently blocks HH/GLI signaling. Notably, 4SC‐202 treatment abrogates GLI activation and HH target gene expression in both SMOi‐sensitive and ‐resistant cells. Mechanistically, we propose that the inhibition of HDACs 1/2/3 is crucial for targeting oncogenic HH/GLI signaling, and that class I HDAC inhibitors either in combination with SMOi or as second‐line therapy may improve the treatment options for HH‐associated malignancies with SMOi resistance.
What's new?
Inhibition of signaling by Hedgehog polypeptide and the effector protein GLI is an effective therapeutic strategy for basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma. The frequent development of resistance to Hedgehog pathway inhibitors (HPI), however, calls for the identification of alternative drugs. This study identifies the class I histone deacetylase inhibitor 4SC‐202 as a novel Hedgehog/GLI antagonist. A clinically suitable small molecule, 4SC‐202, showed inhibitory efficacy, blocking GLI activation and Hedgehog target gene expression, even in cells with acquired HPI resistance. The findings suggest that 4SC‐202 could be effective against Hedgehog‐driven cancers that are refractory to standard targeted therapy.
Real-time water quality index (WQI) monitoring – a simplified single variable indication of water quality (WQ) – is vital in attaining a sustainable future in precision aquaculture. Although several ...monitoring systems for water quality parameters (WQP) use IoT, there is no existing WQI IoT monitoring for
Oreochromis niloticus
because the current WQI models are too complex to be deployed for low-level computing platforms such as the IoT modules and dashboards. Thus, the development of the IoT-based WQI fuzzy inference system (FIS) was simplified by the multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP) to search for non-linear equations given the simulated WQP fuzzy sets. Results have shown that the implemented novel system can accurately predict the WQI IoT monitoring with an average of R
2
and RMSE of 0.9112 and 0.6441, respectively. Implementing WQI in the IoT monitoring dashboard using the MGGP has significantly addressed the present challenges in deploying other complex AI-based models for WQI, such as the FIS and neural networks in low-computing capable platforms.
The bio-bactericide YBCA5 is a strain of
Aureobasidium pullulans
(de Bary) G. Arnaud, which mitigates the leaf spot symptoms of bacterial canker in kiwifruit caused by
Pseudomonas syringae
pv.
...actinidiae
(Psa) biovar 3. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) this paper explores the mode of action of YBCA5 against Psa by visualising the interactions between the two microorganisms
in planta
. Time course studies were conducted by applying the abaxial surface of kiwifruit leaves (
Actinidia chinensis
var.
deliciosa
‘Hayward’) with either YBCA5 or Psa separately and the two microorganisms in combination. SEM revealed that blastospores of YBCA5 occasionally lodged inside the outer cavity of the stomata and commenced multiplying (budding) within 7 days after application. Within 10–14 days, mycelium was observed extending across the phylloplane. On leaves applied with both YBCA5 and Psa, the two microorganisms could be differentiated based on differences in their size with Psa cells measuring approximately a quarter of the length of the YBCA5 blastospores (1.6 ± 0.02 µm and 6.1 ± 0.2 µm, respectively). The Psa cells adhered to the YBCA5 blastospores and hyphae. At 7 days after inoculation, Psa cells adjacent to YBCA5 were deflated with their typical rod-shape distorted and appeared unable to infect the stomata. On average, distorted Psa cells were 20% shorter and 30% wider compared with those on leaves without YBCA5. At 10 days after inoculation, the Psa cells were appressed against the phylloplane and appeared to have collapsed. We hypothesise that this phenomenon is associated with extracellular substances exuded by YBCA5.
In performing underground imaging surveying, applying a coating in the antenna dipole plates with robust and durable material to stay protected against rough road features is vital to consider. By ...doing this, the mechanical properties of the metallic antenna dipole can be improved and be shielded from deterioration. With that, this study has developed an indentation-flexure algorithm optimized using a hybrid Lichtenberg algorithm (LA) and artificial neural network (ANN) that can predict the indentation-flexure as a function of the coating material’s elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, and thickness as well as the load antenna weight. Acrylic, epoxy, nylon 101, high-density polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride were chosen as the top five most popular coating materials. A 120° titanium cone indenter with a 0.5-inch-diameter, slightly rounded point, and a constant compressive force of 200 N in the center was employed to plot and use a nonlinear mechanical finite element analysis on an antenna dipole plate using SolidWorks. Nature-inspired and evolutionary metaheuristics such as African vultures, Lichtenberg, and gorilla troop optimization algorithm including genetic algorithm (GA) were employed as optimized models for the hardness indentation for capacitively coupled antenna dipoles. Based on the results, the hybrid LA-ANN solution with a hidden neurons of 3000 and a sigmoid activation function is the best performing model as it acquired a MSE score of 0.0061 in validation and 0.1478 in testing compare to the other model with 0.1610 for GA with 100 hidden neurons with sigmoid activation function. Thus, LA-ANN model is considered as the optIFnet as it exhibited the best prediction performance and fastest convergence among all optimizers used.
Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been seen as an appropriate instrument in several works to monitor and aid in the control of seawater intrusion (SWI) in coastal groundwater systems. This ...study seeks to discuss the synthesis of a digital twin that couples information between the physical space through ERT as a monitoring sensor and the digital space using SWI simulations to accurately model the behavior of SWI in the present and future settings. To showcase the concept, a Python-based simulation was presented that shows (a) the joint forward modeling-simulation scheme for calculating expected ERT apparent resistivity values from simulated SWI and (b) the calibration of the digital coastal aquifer system through genetic algorithm to accurately match the outputs of the SWI simulations with the ERT measurements.
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