A large-scale dataset for end-to-end table recognition in the wild.

Table recognition (TR) is one of the research hotspots in pattern recognition, which aims to extract information from tables in an image. Common table recognition tasks include table detection (TD), table structure recognition (TSR) and table content recognition (TCR). TD is to locate tables in the image, TCR recognizes text content, and TSR recognizes spatial & ontology (logical) structure. Currently, the end-to-end TR in real scenarios, accomplishing the three sub-tasks simultaneously, is yet an unexplored research area. One major factor that inhibits researchers is the lack of a benchmark dataset. To this end, we propose a new large-scale dataset named Table Recognition Set (TabRecSet) with diverse table forms sourcing from multiple scenarios in the wild, providing complete annotation dedicated to end-to-end TR research. It is the largest and first bi-lingual dataset for end-to-end TR, with 38.1 K tables in which 20.4 K are in English and 17.7 K are in Chinese. The samples have diverse forms, such as the border-complete and -incomplete table, regular and irregular table (rotated, distorted, etc.). The scenarios are multiple in the wild, varying from scanned to camera-taken images, documents to Excel tables, educational test papers to financial invoices. The annotations are complete, consisting of the table body spatial annotation, cell spatial & logical annotation and text content for TD, TSR and TCR, respectively. The spatial annotation utilizes the polygon instead of the bounding box or quadrilateral adopted by most datasets. The polygon spatial annotation is more suitable for irregular tables that are common in wild scenarios. Additionally, we propose a visualized and interactive annotation tool named TableMe to improve the efficiency and quality of table annotation.

A novel temperate phage, vB_PstS-pAN, induced from the naphthalene-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri AN10.

A novel temperate phage named vB_PstS-pAN was induced by mitomycin C treatment from the naphthalene-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri AN10. The phage particles have icosahedral heads and long non-contractile tails, and vB_PstS-pAN can therefore be morphologically classified as a member of the family Siphoviridae. The whole genome of vB_PstS-pAN is 39,466 bp in length, with an 11-nt 3' overhang cohesive end. There are 53 genes in the vB_PstS-pAN genome, including genes responsible for phage integration, replication, morphogenesis, and bacterial lysis. The vB_PstS-pAN genome has low similarity to other phage genomes in the GenBank database, suggesting that vB_PstS-pAN is a novel member of the family Siphoviridae.

Isolation Chip Increases Culturable Bacterial Diversity and Reduces Cultivation Bias.

Conventional cultivation methods, including petri dish plating, are selective and biased to enrich specific microorganisms, such as big population and fast-growing bacteria. In this study, we evaluated the ability of isolation chip (ichip) to reduce cultivation bias. We used the ichip and petri dish plating methods to cultivate bacteria from soil contaminated with (contaminated soil) or without (natural soil) crude oil. Ichip improved the richness and evenness of bacterial isolates in both the natural and contaminated soil samples. Using the petri dish plating method, Pseudomonas and Lysinibacillus isolates were found to be the most abundant, with over 50% of the relative abundance in the natural and oil-polluted soil-cultured communities, respectively. In comparison, using the ichip method, the isolates with the highest relative abundances were from Bacillus and Aeromonas in natural and contaminated soil-cultured communities, which only accounted for 20% and 28% of the total isolates, respectively. Interestingly, the evenness and richness of the bacteria varied slightly between the natural and oil-polluted soil samples, indicating that ichip had the ability to reduce the cultivation bias. In addition, oil selective pressure enriched the functional bacteria isolated using the petri dish plating method. In summary, ichip allows bacteria to grow evenly, as well as allowing for substance exchange between the environment and single cells. As such, it is a very good method for increasing culturable bacterial diversity and reducing cultivation bias.

Isolation and characterization of the novel Pseudomonas stutzeri bacteriophage 8P.

Bacteriophage 8P was isolated with a Pseudomonas stutzeri strain isolated from an oil reservoir as its host bacterium. The phage genome comprises 63,753 base pairs with a G+C content of 64.35. The phage encodes 63 predicted proteins, and 27 of them were functionally assigned. No tRNA genes were found. Comparative genomics analysis showed that 8P displayed some relatedness to F116-like phages (78% identity, 20% query coverage). The genome has very low sequence similarity to the other phage genomes in the GenBank database and Viral Sequence Database. Based on whole-genome analysis and transmission electron microscopy imaging, 8P is proposed to be a member of a new species in the genus Hollowayvirus, family Podoviridae.

Complete genome sequence of a novel Bacillus phage, P59, that infects Bacillus oceanisediminis.

P59, a virulent phage of Bacillus oceanisediminis, was isolated from the sediment of Weiming Lake at Peking University (Beijing, China). P59 showed the typical morphology of myovirids. The complete genome sequence of P59 is 159,363 bp in length with a G+C content of 42.34%. The genome sequence has very low similarity to the other phage genome sequences in the GenBank database, suggesting that P59 is a new phage. A total of 261 open reading frames and 15 tRNA genes were predicted. Based on its morphological and genetic traits, we propose phage P59 to be a new member of the family Herelleviridae.

Cerebral Microbleeds Are Associated With Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are hypothesized downstream markers of brain damage caused by vascular and amyloid pathologic mechanisms. The aim of this study was to determine whether CMB count and location are associated with an increased risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in patients with essential hypertension without a history of transient ischemic attack or stroke. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this cross-sectional study, patients were prospectively enrolled from consecutive outpatients with essential hypertension 50 years and older at 3 centers in northern China. Generalized linear Poisson models were used to determine the association between the number and location of CMBs and MCI in patients with hypertension. The association of microbleeds with different cognitive domains was estimated using linear mixed models. The presence, number, and distribution of CMBs were greater in patients with hypertension who had MCI (P<0.001). The presence of any CMBs, strictly lobar CMBs, and deep or infratentorial CMBs were all related to MCI after adjusting for age, sex, education, cardiovascular risk factors, body mass index, intima-media thickness, the presence of silent lacunar infarctions, white matter lesion grade, and brain atrophy. Furthermore, the presence of multiple microbleeds (≥5) was associated with lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment total scores and worse performance on specific domains of cognitive tests, such as global cognitive function, information processing speed, and motor speed. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the presence of and a greater number of cerebral CMBs independently correlate with MCI in patients with essential hypertension without a history of transient ischemic attack or stroke.

Association between platelet function and recurrent ischemic vascular events after TIA and minor stroke
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Platelet activation and aggregation play an important role in the pathological and physiological processes of recurrent ischemic vascular events in stroke patients. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between platelet function measured in the acute period and recurrent ischemic vascular events in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke. A total of 417 patients who were within the 24-hour period of clopidogrel-aspirin therapy after onset of a minor stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack according to the Clopidogrel in High-risk patients with Acute Nondisabling Cerebrovascular Events (CHANCE) trial were included in this study. The platelet aggregation ratio was detected using a method of continuous platelet counting; patients underwent CYP2C19 genotyping, and the baseline data were recorded. The patients underwent a 6-month follow-up period during which the recurrent ischemic vascular events were observed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to obtain the risk factors for recurrent ischemic vascular events. The number of patients with recurrent ischemic events who had an arachidonic acid-induced maximum platelet aggregation ratio (MAR-AA) (aspirin 100 mg) (31.85 ± 12.86 vs. 26.71 ± 12.44, p = 0.007) and adenosine diphosphate-induced maximum platelet aggregation ratio (MAR-ADP) after the administration of 75 mg clopidogrel for 12 ± 2 days (65.82 ± 10.72 vs. 53.10 ± 12.98, p < 0.001) was significantly higher compared with the no ischemic vascular event group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that being a carrier of the CYP2C19 loss-of-function (LOF) allele (OR = 2.308, 95% CI: 1.087 ~ 4.901, p = 0.029) as well as the MAR-AA (aspirin 100 mg) (OR = 1.028, 95% CI: 1.006  ~  1.052, p = 0.014) and MAR-ADP after the administration of 75 mg clopidogrel (OR = 1.067, 95% CI: 1.037 ~ 1.095, p < 0.001) were risk factors for ischemic vascular events. The MAR-ADP after the administration of 75 mg clopidogrel was significantly higher in patients who were carriers of the CYP2C19 (LOF) allele compared with non-carriers (57.53 ± 13.32 vs. 50.86 ± 12.55, p < 0.001), and no significant differences between the CYP2C19 LOF allele carriers and non-carriers in the MAR-ADP were detected after the administration of 300 mg clopidogrel (37.18 ± 11.36 vs. 35.86 ± 12.49, p = 0.264). Being a carrier of the CYP2C19 LOF allele has a significant influence on clopidogrel response. Platelet function is closely related to recurrent ischemic vascular events in acute minor stroke or TIA patients.
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NLRP6 Inflammasome Ameliorates Brain Injury after Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

NLRP6 inflammasome, one of the important intracellular innate immune sensors, has been shown to regulate immune responses. However, its roles in the intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are completely not clear. In the present study, we investigated the expression profile and biological roles of NLRP6 inflammasome in perihematomal brain tissues of mice subjected to ICH. In this study, we investigated the expression profile of NLRP6 inflammasome in the perihematomal brain tissues and explored the biological role of NLRP6 inflammasome upon acute brain injury in mice subjected to ICH. Increased expression of NLRP6 inflammasome was found in perihematomal brain tissues ranging from 6 h to 3 days, with a peak level at 1 day after ICH. Immunohistochemistry staining also showed that NLRP6 inflammasome was significantly increased in the perihematomal brain tissues at 1 day after ICH. Moreover, immunofluorescence staining showed that NLRP6 inflammasome was mainly colocalized in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes, while with little colocalized expression in NeuN-positive neurons and without expression in CD11b-positive microglia and CD31-positive endothelial cell in the perihematomal brain tissue of mice after ICH. Furthermore, NLRP6-/- ICH mice exhibited significantly higher brain water contents (BMCs), proinflammatory cytokines, NF-κB activity and neurological deficit scores when compared with the wild type (WT) ICH mice. In addition, we found that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-/- mice, as well as the TAK242 treated mice, had markedly lower expression of NLRP6 inflammasome expression in the perihematomal brain tissue at 1 day after ICH. Our data suggest that the upregulated NLRP6 inflammasome in perihematomal brain tissues attenuates ICH-induced brain injury.