In this paper we tackle the problem of unsupervised domain adaptation for the task of semantic segmentation, where we attempt to transfer the knowledge learned upon synthetic datasets with ground-truth labels to real-world images without any annotation. With the hypothesis that the structural content of images is the most informative and decisive factor to semantic segmentation and can be readily shared across domains, we propose a Domain Invariant Structure Extraction (DISE) framework to disentangle images into domain-invariant structure and domain-specific texture representations, which can further realize imagetranslation across domains and enable label transfer to improve segmentation performance. Extensive experiments verify the effectiveness of our proposed DISE model and demonstrate its superiority over several state-of-the-art approaches.

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Stroke survivors have high likelihood of readmission within 1 year following discharge, with infections and recurrent vascular events being the most common reasons. Identification of high-risk subgroups might foster preventive interventions.

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The transcriptional network of the SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 17 (SOX17) and the prognostic impact of SOX17 protein expression in human cancers remain largely unclear. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic effect of low SOX17 protein expression and its dysregulation of transcriptional network in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Low SOX17 protein expression was found in 47.4% (73 of 154) of ESCC patients with predicted poor prognosis. Re-expression of SOX17 in ESCC cells caused reduced foci formation, cell motility, decreased ESCC xenograft growth and metastasis in animals. Knockdown of SOX17 increased foci formation in ESCC and normal esophageal cells. Notably, 489 significantly differential genes involved in cell growth and motility controls were identified by expression array upon SOX17 overexpression and 47 genes contained putative SRY element in their promoters. Using quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation-PCR and promoter activity assays, we confirmed that MACC1, MALAT1, NBN, NFAT5, CSNK1A1, FN1 and SERBP1 genes were suppressed by SOX17 via the SRY binding-mediated transcriptional regulation. Overexpression of FN1 and MACC1 abolished SOX17-mediated migration and invasion suppression. The inverse correlation between SOX17 and FN1 protein expression in ESCC clinical samples further strengthened our conclusion that FN1 is a transcriptional repression target gene of SOX17. This study provides compelling clinical evidence that low SOX17 protein expression is a prognostic biomarker and novel cell and animal data of SOX17-mediated suppression of ESCC metastasis. We establish the first transcriptional network and identify new suppressive downstream genes of SOX17 which can be potential therapeutic targets for ESCC.

The role of Y14 in regulating mRNA decay and P-body formation is described. Y14 interacts with Dcp2 and inhibits mRNA decapping. Moreover, Y14 prevents mRNA degradation and is essential for P-body formation. Y14 may function independent of the EJC to counteract mRNA decay in mRNA metabolism.

Importin-β family members, which shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, are essential for nucleocytoplasmic transport of macromolecules. We attempted to explore whether importin-β family proteins change their cellular localization in response to environmental change. In this report, we show that transportin (TRN) was minimally detected in cytoplasmic processing bodies (P-bodies) under normal cell conditions but largely translocated to stress granules (SGs) in stressed cells. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis indicated that TRN moves rapidly in and out of cytoplasmic granules. Depletion of TRN greatly enhanced P-body formation but did not affect the number or size of SGs, suggesting that TRN or its cargo(es) participates in cellular function of P-bodies. Accordingly, TRN associated with tristetraprolin (TTP) and its AU-rich element (ARE)-containing mRNA substrates. Depletion of TRN increased the number of P-bodies and stabilized ARE-containing mRNAs, as observed with knockdown of the 5′–3′ exonuclease Xrn1. Moreover, depletion of TRN retained TTP in P-bodies and meanwhile reduced the fraction of mobile TTP to SGs. Therefore, our data together suggest that TRN plays a role in trafficking of TTP between the cytoplasmic granules and whereby modulates the stability of ARE-containing mRNAs.

Predictive modeling of population trends can indicate the rate of population decline and risk of extinction, providing quantitative means of assessing conservation status and threats. Our study tests the rate of population change and risk of extinction of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis off the west coast of Taiwan, the only humpback dolphin population classified as Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Under the most optimistic assumptions, almost 60% of simulations (out of 250 replications × 5000 iterations) predicted that population decline will exceed 80% within 3 generations, while the mean estimate of population decline within 1 generation was > 50% of the current population numbers. Status classification performed using IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria Version 3.1 supported previous CR classification, while risk assessment models that factored in anthropogenic impacts further increased the estimated extinction risk. At an adult survival rate of 0.95, a modeled increment of annual bycatch rate by 1% of population size increased the probability of extinction within 100 yr by 7.5%; this increase was lower at a higher adult survival rate. The estimated extinction risk was greatest under the impact of habitat loss, reaching a hazardous level when habitat carrying capacity dropped to less than 50%, indicating that habitat fragmentation and alteration of coastal environments pose the greatest threats to this population, even if the cumulative sum of fragmented patches of habitat may superficially appear to be large.