Efficient Fine Tuning for Fashion Object Detection.

Pre-trained models have achieved success in object detection. However, challenges remain due to dataset noise and lack of domain-specific data, resulting in weaker zero-shot capabilities in specialized fields such as fashion imaging. We addressed this by constructing a novel clothing object detection benchmark, Garment40K, which includes more than 140,000 human images with bounding boxes and over 40,000 clothing images. Each clothing item within this dataset is accompanied by its corresponding category and textual description. The dataset covers 2 major categories, pants and tops, which are further divided into 15 fine-grained subclasses, providing a rich and high-quality clothing resource. Leveraging this dataset, we propose an efficient fine-tuning method based on the Grounding DINO framework to tackle the issue of missed and false detections of clothing targets. This method incorporates additional similarity loss constraints and adapter modules, leading to a significantly enhanced model named Improved Grounding DINO. By fine-tuning only a small number of additional adapter module parameters, we considerably reduced computational costs while achieving performance comparable to full parameter fine tuning. This allows our model to be conveniently deployed on a variety of low-cost visual sensors. Our Improved Grounding DINO demonstrates considerable performance improvements in computer vision applications in the clothing domain.

Antigenicity and immunogenicity of transmitted/founder, consensus, and chronic envelope glycoproteins of human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine development requires selection of appropriate envelope (Env) immunogens. Twenty HIV-1 Env glycoproteins were examined for their ability to bind human anti-HIV-1 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and then used as immunogens in guinea pigs to identify promising immunogens. These included five Envs derived from chronically infected individuals, each representing one of five common clades and eight consensus Envs based on these five clades, as well as the consensus of the entire HIV-1 M group, and seven transmitted/founder (T/F) Envs from clades B and C. Sera from immunized guinea pigs were tested for neutralizing activity using 36 HIV-1 Env-pseudotyped viruses. All Envs bound to CD4 binding site, membrane-proximal, and V1/V2 MAbs with similar apparent affinities, although the T/F Envs bound with higher affinity to the MAb 17b, a CCR5 coreceptor binding site antibody. However, the various Envs differed in their ability to induce neutralizing antibodies. Consensus Envs elicited the most potent responses, but neutralized only a subset of viruses, including mostly easy-to-neutralize tier 1 and some more-difficult-to-neutralize tier 2 viruses. T/F Envs elicited fewer potent neutralizing antibodies but exhibited greater breadth than chronic or consensus Envs. Finally, chronic Envs elicited the lowest level and most limited breadth of neutralizing antibodies overall. Thus, each group of Env immunogens elicited a different antibody response profile. The complementary benefits of consensus and T/F Env immunogens raise the possibility that vaccines utilizing a combination of consensus and T/F Envs may be able to induce neutralizing responses with greater breadth and potency than single Env immunogens.

Envelope deglycosylation enhances antigenicity of HIV-1 gp41 epitopes for both broad neutralizing antibodies and their unmutated ancestor antibodies.

The HIV-1 gp41 envelope (Env) membrane proximal external region (MPER) is an important vaccine target that in rare subjects can elicit neutralizing antibodies. One mechanism proposed for rarity of MPER neutralizing antibody generation is lack of reverted unmutated ancestor (putative naive B cell receptor) antibody reactivity with HIV-1 envelope. We have studied the effect of partial deglycosylation under non-denaturing (native) conditions on gp140 Env antigenicity for MPER neutralizing antibodies and their reverted unmutated ancestor antibodies. We found that native deglycosylation of clade B JRFL gp140 as well as group M consensus gp140 Env CON-S selectively increased the reactivity of Env with the broad neutralizing human mAbs, 2F5 and 4E10. Whereas fully glycosylated gp140 Env either did not bind (JRFL), or weakly bound (CON-S), 2F5 and 4E10 reverted unmutated ancestors, natively deglycosylated JRFL and CON-S gp140 Envs did bind well to these putative mimics of naive B cell receptors. These data predict that partially deglycoslated Env would bind better than fully glycosylated Env to gp41-specific naïve B cells with improved immunogenicity. In this regard, immunization of rhesus macaques demonstrated enhanced immunogenicity of the 2F5 MPER epitope on deglyosylated JRFL gp140 compared to glycosylated JRFL gp140. Thus, the lack of 2F5 and 4E10 reverted unmutated ancestor binding to gp140 Env may not always be due to lack of unmutated ancestor antibody reactivity with gp41 peptide epitopes, but rather, may be due to glycan interference of binding of unmutated ancestor antibodies of broad neutralizing mAb to Env gp41.

Outpatient minimally invasive spine surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic - A retrospective analysis of 164 consecutive cases.

Objective: To share our surgical experiences of minimally invasive cervical and lumbar procedures for patients who suffered from non-fatal motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in the ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), minimally invasive laminotomy and discectomy (MILD), percutaneous endoscopic laser-assisted discectomy (PELD) and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PK) were performed on carefully selected patients. Results: From January 2020 to December 2021, our group performed 164 cases on 153 patients involving 249 intervertebral disc (IVD) levels. Of these, 116 cases (70.73%) on 114 patients (74.51%) were cervical, 48 cases (29.27%) were lumbar (including 8 PK cases). Eight patients had both cervical and lumbar procedures in a single anesthetic session (SAS) and were discharged on the same day. One hundred and six ACDF cases (92.17%) were at the C4-C5 and C5-C6 levels, which comprised of 146 (76.04%) IVDs. Of the 40 non-PK lumbar cases, 38 (95.0%) were at L4 to S1 lumbar levels. Six of these cases (15.0%) involved 2 lumbar levels. In contrast, 6 out of 8 kyphoplasties (75.0%) involved lower thoracic/higher lumbar vertebral columns (T11 to L2) and 2 were at the lower lumbar L4 level. Conclusions: We successfully and safely performed various cervical and lumbar spine surgeries in the ASCs amid COVID-19 pandemic and all patients achieved the same-day discharge (SDD). In the non-fatal MVAs, mid-lower cervical (C4 to C6) and lower lumbar (L4 to S1) IVDs were the most affected levels.

Association of influenza virus infection and inflammatory cytokines with acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential relationship between previous influenza virus (IV) infection and acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and the mechanism of atherosclerosis, we conducted a case-control study and examined inflammatory cytokines to assess the association of previous IV infection and AMI. METHODS: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect information about demographic characteristics and heart disease risk factors. Fasting blood samples were obtained to measure immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies to influenza virus A (IV-A), influenza virus B (IV-B), cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus type-1 and type-2, adenovirus, rubella virus and Chlamydia pneumoniae, and to measure the level of certain biochemistry markers: interleukin-2, 6, 10 and 18 (IL-2, 6, 10 and 18), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), endothelin-1 (ET-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1). RESULTS: Compared with the controls, the cases were more likely to have positive IgG antibodies to IV-A and IV-B [IV-A: odds ratio (OR): 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.5-6.4; IV-B: OR: 10.2, 95% CI: 5.7-20.0]. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, the risk of AMI was still associated with the presence of IgG antibodies to IV-A (adjusted OR: 5.5, 95% CI: 1.3-23.0) and IV-B (adjusted OR: 20.3, 95% CI: 5.6-40.8). The levels of IL-2, 6, 10 and18, TNF-α, IFN-γ, ET-1, sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in patients with AMI were significantly higher than those of the controls (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports the hypothesis that previous IV infection is associated with AMI. Inflammatory cytokines may take part in the development of atherosclerosis and trigger the occurrence of AMI.

Analysis of environmental taxes publications: a bibliometric and systematic literature review.

This study aims to provide a systematic literature review based on bibliometric analysis for scientific articles published between 1999 and 2019 extracted from Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science (WOS) database. The current research project provides an overview of scientific publications, influential authors, and research journals. Our analysis reveals that the USA leads the academic research contribution, whereas China has provided the most research publications in recent years. Environmental and Resource Economics, University of London, and Barcena-Ruiz are the most productive journal, academic institution, and author in the field of environmental taxes, respectively. The degree of research contribution among researchers, institutional and national level, has an upward trend in recent years; however, the research contribution at the author level is higher than the institutional and national level. Furthermore, cocitation analysis suggests that research articles in the dataset are closely related. Pigou's "The economics of welfare" published in 1920, is considered as the basic literature, and the "In defence of degrowth" authored by Giorgis Kallis is the most cited article. Our analysis of abstracts and keywords indicates that climate change, environmental taxes, double dividend, carbon tax, and environmental pollution are the hotspots within academic literature. We suggest that research collaboration between developed and developing nations and further coordination among environmental agencies such as IEA and IPCC will enhance the effectiveness of environmental reforms.

Evaluation of One Belt One Road publications: a bibliometric and literature review analysis.

AbstractThe aim of the "One Belt and One Road" (OBOR) project proposed by China is to encourage extension of global value chains, facilitate regional integration and increase efficient resource allocation. In recent times, scientific literature has examined the investment decisions of the OBOR investment and how it will affect the governmental policies, environmental initiatives, and bilateral flow of economic resources. Current study, based on Web of Science database, uses bibliometric methodology to map the research trends in OBOR publications. We contribute in the economic literature in the associated fields of OBOR publications in the following ways: (1) identify the most influential researchers, articles, and academic institutions, (2) mapping the interdisciplinary character of OBOR investments and its bibliometric similarity to adjacent fields, (3) visualize nature and trends of the research field, and (4) synthesizing future research areas. Although OBOR initiative has received considerable traction, but to this date, there is no bibliometric study on this topic. The findings of current study will help policymakers and academics to navigate the OBOR literature, provide a systematic basis for developing the field, and suggest promising future research avenues.

Scientific data-driven evaluation of academic publications on environmental Kuznets curve.

This study aims to provide a detailed overview of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis using bibliometric analysis for the Web of Science (WOS) database. Our analysis provides an overview of research trends, journals and most influential authors. China has contributed the most scientific publications; followed by the USA, Turkey, and Pakistan. Muhammad Shahbaz, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Environmental Science and Pollution Research are the most productive author, research institute, and research journal in EKC publications. Trend analysis of researchers, academic and country-level, reveal that publications in the environmental Kuznets curve have upward trend; also, cocitation analysis indicates that EKC publications are closely related. "Economic growth and income inequality" (1955) by Simon Kuznets is considered to be the basic literature, and "environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: A Survey" by Dinda (2004) is the most cited research article in the literature. Keywords and abstracts analysis further reveals that carbon emissions, renewable energy, energy consumption, economic growth, and sustainable development are the hot topics in current literature. We propose that joint research projects between industrial and emerging economies will promote research activities.

A brief review of socio-economic and environmental impact of Covid-19.

In recent months, Covid-19 has caused significant global social and economic distress. Governments and health officials around the world have introduced mandatory preventive measures to combat Covid-19, i.e., hand sanitizers, gloves, and masks, which have contributed to large quantities of medical wastes. Social distancing and mandatory lockdown have also been put in place to protect people from Covid-19. This epidemic has caused severe demographic changes and unemployment, and economic activities have been shut down to save human lives. Transportation and travel industries are most severely hit as global tourism has fallen to almost zero in recent months; as a solution, economic institutes have introduced stimulus packages worth more than $6 trillion. However, restricted economic activities have also contributed towards a cleaner environment. However, environmental changes are not permanent, and the pollution level may rise again in the future. As a result, current research suggests that policymakers must introduce stringent environmental policies to promote clean energy.

The nexus between environmental tax and carbon emissions with the roles of environmental technology and financial development.

This study evaluates the impacts of renewable energy, environmental taxes, environmental technology, and financial development on carbon emissions in OECD economies from 1995 to 2015 by employing system-GMM and quantile regression approaches. Our empirical analysis indicates that environmental tax negatively affects carbon emissions; economic growth impedes environmental quality by increasing carbon emissions. Further, renewable energy consumption, environmental technology, and financial development improve environmental quality by decreasing carbon emissions. We suggest that changes in policymaking to promote sustainable economic growth and environmental quality should be prevent environmental degradation, but also inspire greater investments in new technologies and energy expertise in the renewables industry.

Correlation between climate indicators and COVID-19 pandemic in New York, USA.

This study analyzed the association between COVID-19 and climate indicators in New York City, USA. We used secondary published data from New York city health services and National weather service, USA. The climate indicators included in the study are average temperature, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, rainfall, average humidity, wind speed, and air quality. Kendall and Spearman rank correlation tests were chosen for data analysis. We find that average temperature, minimum temperature, and air quality were significantly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study will help World Health Organization and health regulators such as Center for Disease Control (CDC) to combat COVID-19 in New York and the rest of the world.

Hyperacute leucopenia associated with furosemide.

A 72-year-old man presented to the hospital with exacerbation of congestive heart failure. He was given furosemide 40 mg intravenously twice at 4 hours apart. At 4 hours after the second dose of furosemide, his white blood cells (WBC) dropped acutely from 9.8 to 2.4×109/L (reference range 4.1 to 9.3×109/L). With the discontinuation of furosemide, the WBC trended up to 7.1×109/L about 13 hours after the second dose of intravenous furosemide and remained in normal range for the next 3 days. However, when the oral furosemide was started on hospital day 4, there was a mild drop in WBC count, which returned to and maintained at baseline since the next day. The dynamic changes in the patient's WBC were coincident with the use of furosemide. The possible mechanisms of furosemide-associated transient hyperacute leucopenia were discussed.

Anti-Ebola MAb 17A3 reacts with bovine and human alpha-2-macroglobulin proteins.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were developed against soluble Ebola virus (EBOV) envelope glycoprotein (GP) for the study of the diversity of EBOV envelope and development of diagnostic reagents. Of the three anti-EBOV GP mouse MAbs produced, MAb 15H10 recognized all human EBOV GP species tested (Zaire, Sudan, Ivory Coast), and as well as reacted with the Reston nonhuman primate EBOV GPs. A second MAb, 6D11 recognized EBOV GP species of Sudan and Sudan-Gulu. The third MAb, 17A3, was reported originally in the same article to be EBOV GP specific has now been found to be specific for bovine and human alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha-2M) proteins which were contaminants in the Ebola envelope protein preparation. Thus, while MAbs 15H10 and 6D11 are indeed EBOV GP specific, MAb 17A3 is an alpha-2-macroglobulin MAb.

A polymorphism in the HCP5 gene associated with HLA-B*5701 does not restrict HIV-1 in vitro.

A single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs2395029) in the HCP5 gene associated with HLA-B*5701 is correlated with lower HIV-1 viral set point. The two allelic forms of coding region were ectopically expressed in TZM-bl cells for an effect on HIV-1 replication. No significant HIV-1 restriction was observed in the cells with infectivity assays throughout HIV-1 life cycle, suggesting that the association of HCP5 variant with viral control is likely due to HLA-B*5701-related effect or other functional variants in the haplotype or both.

Analysis of HIV-1 subtype B third variable region peptide motifs for induction of neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 primary isolates.

The HIV-1 gp120 V3 loop is a potent inducer of neutralizing antibodies for T cell line adapted-HIV-1, but less so for primary isolates. We hypothesized that peptides representative of the diversity of natural HIV-1 V3 loop variants might capture elements of conserved higher order structures and so stimulate broadly reactive neutralizing antibodies. We designed a panel of 29 subtype B V3 sequences postulated to reflect the range of V3 diversity. These peptides were used to immunize guinea pigs. The most effective peptide (62.19) clustered around the subtype B consensus sequence and induced antibodies that reproducibly neutralized 31% of the subtype B HIV-1 primary isolates evaluated, but exhibited limited cross-neutralization of non-subtype B HIV-1 strains. Taken together, these data demonstrated that the limited neutralization profile of antibodies induced by optimal subtype B V3 motifs likely represents the maximum breadth of neutralization of subtype B HIV-1 primary isolates attainable by anti-V3 peptide antibodies.

Cross-subtype T-cell immune responses induced by a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 group m consensus env immunogen.

The genetic diversity among globally circulating human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains is a serious challenge for HIV-1 vaccine design. We have generated a synthetic group M consensus env gene (CON6) for induction of cross-subtype immune responses and report here a comparative study of T-cell responses to this and natural strain env immunogens in a murine model. Three different strains of mice were immunized with CON6 as well as subtype A, B, or C env immunogens, using a DNA prime-recombinant vaccinia virus boost strategy. T-cell epitopes were mapped by gamma interferon enzyme-linked immunospot analysis using five overlapping Env peptide sets from heterologous subtype A, B, and C viruses. The CON6-derived vaccine was immunogenic and induced a greater number of T-cell epitope responses than any single wild-type subtype A, B, and C env immunogen and similar T-cell responses to a polyvalent vaccine. The responses were comparable to within-clade responses but significantly more than between-clade responses. The magnitude of the T-cell responses induced by CON6 (measured by individual epitope peptides) was also greater than the magnitude of responses induced by individual wild-type env immunogens. Though the limited major histocompatibility complex repertoire in inbred mice does not necessarily predict responses in nonhuman primates and humans, these results suggest that synthetic centralized env immunogens represent a promising approach for HIV-1 vaccine design that merits further characterization.

A group M consensus envelope glycoprotein induces antibodies that neutralize subsets of subtype B and C HIV-1 primary viruses.

HIV-1 subtype C is the most common HIV-1 group M subtype in Africa and many parts of Asia. However, to date HIV-1 vaccine candidate immunogens have not induced potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies against subtype C primary isolates. We have used a centralized gene strategy to address HIV-1 diversity and generated a group M consensus envelope gene with shortened consensus variable loops (CON-S) for comparative studies with wild-type (WT) Env immunogens. Our results indicate that the consensus HIV-1 group M CON-S Env elicited cross-subtype neutralizing antibodies of similar or greater breadth and titer than the WT Envs tested, indicating the utility of a centralized gene strategy. Our study also shows the feasibility of iterative improvements in Env immunogenicity by rational design of centralized genes.

Antigenicity and immunogenicity of a synthetic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 group m consensus envelope glycoprotein.

Genetic variation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) represents a major obstacle for AIDS vaccine development. To decrease the genetic distances between candidate immunogens and field virus strains, we have designed and synthesized an artificial group M consensus env gene (CON6 gene) to be equidistant from contemporary HIV-1 subtypes and recombinants. This novel envelope gene expresses a glycoprotein that binds soluble CD4, utilizes CCR5 but not CXCR4 as a coreceptor, and mediates HIV-1 entry. Key linear, conformational, and glycan-dependent monoclonal antibody epitopes are preserved in CON6, and the glycoprotein is recognized equally well by sera from individuals infected with different HIV-1 subtypes. When used as a DNA vaccine followed by a recombinant vaccinia virus boost in BALB/c mice, CON6 env gp120 and gp140CF elicited gamma interferon-producing T-cell responses that recognized epitopes within overlapping peptide pools from three HIV-1 Env proteins, CON6, MN (subtype B), and Chn19 (subtype C). Sera from guinea pigs immunized with recombinant CON6 Env gp120 and gp140CF glycoproteins weakly neutralized selected HIV-1 primary isolates. Thus, the computer-generated "consensus" env genes are capable of expressing envelope glycoproteins that retain the structural, functional, and immunogenic properties of wild-type HIV-1 envelopes.

Genetic characterization of the M RNA segment of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strains, China.

We report the genetic characterization of the M RNA segment of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). Two CCHFV strains isolated in Xinjiang Province, a region endemic for CCHF in northwestern China, were studied. These strains, designated BA66019 and BA8402, were isolated in 1965 and 1984 from a CCHF patient and Hyalomma ticks, respectively. Viral RNA was extracted from suckling mouse brains infected with these two strains, amplified, and sequenced. The full-length M RNA, consisting of 5.3 kb, was determined for both strains. The coding nucleotide sequences of the two strains differed from each other by 17.5% and from the reference CCHFV strain IbAr10200 by a mean of 22%, suggesting that the genus Nairovirus comprises a group of genetically highly diverse strains.