We present MMDetection, an object detection toolbox that contains a rich set of object detection and instance segmentation methods as well as related components and modules. The toolbox started from a codebase of MMDet team who won the detection track of COCO Challenge 2018. It gradually evolves into a unified platform that covers many popular detection methods and contemporary modules. It not only includes training and inference codes, but also provides weights for more than 200 network models. We believe this toolbox is by far the most complete detection toolbox. In this paper, we introduce the various features of this toolbox. In addition, we also conduct a benchmarking study on different methods, components, and their hyper-parameters. We wish that the toolbox and benchmark could serve the growing research community by providing a flexible toolkit to reimplement existing methods and develop their own new detectors. Code and models are available at https: //github.com/open-mmlab/mmdetection. The project is under active development and we will keep this document updated.

Epithelial mechenchymal transition (EMT) has recently been linked to stem cell phenotype1, 2. However, the molecular mechanism involving regulation of EMT and stemness remains elusive. Here, using genomic approaches, we discovered that tumor suppressor p53 plays a role in regulating both EMT and EMT-associated stem cell properties through transcriptional activation of miR-200c. p53 transactivates miR-200c through direct binding to the miR-200c promoter. Loss of p53 in mammary epithelial cells leads to decreased expression of miR-200c and activates EMT program, accompanied by increased mammary stem cell population. Re-expressing miR-200c suppresses genes that mediate EMT and stemness properties3, 4 and thereby reverts mesenchymal and stem cell-like phenotype caused by loss of p53 to differentiated epithelial cell phenotype. Furthermore, loss of p53 negatively correlates with miR-200c level but positively with increased expression of EMT and stemness markers as well as high tumor grade in a cohort of breast tumors. Together, this study elucidates a role of p53 in regulating EMT-MET (mechenchymal epithelial transition) and stemness or differentiation plasticity and reveals a potential therapeutic implication to suppress EMT associated-cancer stem cells through activation of p53-miR-200c pathway.

The origin of Tibetans remains one of the most contentious puzzles in history, anthropology, and genetics. Analyses of deeply sequenced (30×-60×) genomes of 38 Tibetan highlanders and 39 Han Chinese lowlanders, together with available data on archaic and modern humans, allow us to comprehensively characterize the ancestral makeup of Tibetans and uncover their origins. Non-modern human sequences compose ∼6% of the Tibetan gene pool and form unique haplotypes in some genomic regions, where Denisovan-like, Neanderthal-like, ancient-Siberian-like, and unknown ancestries are entangled and elevated. The shared ancestry of Tibetan-enriched sequences dates back to ∼62,000-38,000 years ago, predating the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and representing early colonization of the plateau. Nonetheless, most of the Tibetan gene pool is of modern human origin and diverged from that of Han Chinese ∼15,000 to ∼9,000 years ago, which can be largely attributed to post-LGM arrivals. Analysis of ∼200 contemporary populations showed that Tibetans share ancestry with populations from East Asia (∼82%), Central Asia and Siberia (∼11%), South Asia (∼6%), and western Eurasia and Oceania (∼1%). Our results support that Tibetans arose from a mixture of multiple ancestral gene pools but that their origins are much more complicated and ancient than previously suspected. We provide compelling evidence of the co-existence of Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestries in the Tibetan gene pool, indicating a genetic continuity between pre-historical highland-foragers and present-day Tibetans. In particular, highly differentiated sequences harbored in highlanders' genomes were most likely inherited from pre-LGM settlers of multiple ancestral origins (SUNDer) and maintained in high frequency by natural selection.

ZEB1 is a protein of 1124 amino acids with a predicted relative molecular mass ~124K. However, in Supplementary Fig. S5 (corresponding to Fig. 4a) of our manuscript, the uncropped image of the ZEB1 immunoblot shows two bands with a relative molecular mass of 200K and 125K, respectively. Two major ZEB1 signals (M r 124K and 200K) have been observed in western blots when using different antibodies in various cell types (please see references 1-4 below). Therefore, to examine whether the bands observed in our study represent ZEB1, we knocked down ZEB1 in MCF12A control and p53 R175H mutant cells using shRNA (Fig. 1a) and siRNA (Fig. 1b). As shown in the figure to the right, both of the bands are diminished by knockdown of ZEB1, indicating that these bands are ZEB1.

OBJECTIVEObesity and type 2 diabetes are national and worldwide epidemics. Because currently available antiobesity and antidiabetic drugs have limited efficacy and/or safety concerns, identifying new medicinal agents, such as ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) as reported here, offers exciting possibilities for future development of successful antiobesity and antidiabetic therapies.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSChanges in feeding behavior after acute intraperitoneal administration of Rb1 and the effects of intraperitoneal Rb1 for 4 weeks on body weight, energy expenditure, and glucose tolerance in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats were assessed. We also examined the effects of Rb1 on signaling pathways and neuropeptides in the hypothalamus.RESULTSAcute intraperitoneal Rb1 dose-dependently suppressed food intake without eliciting signs of toxicity. This inhibitory effect on feeding may be mediated by central mechanisms because Rb1 stimulated c-Fos expression in brain areas involved in energy homeostasis. Consistent with this, Rb1 activated the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway and inhibited NPY gene expression in the hypothalamus. Four-week administration of Rb1 significantly reduced food intake, body weight gain, and body fat content and increased energy expenditure in HFD-induced obese rats. Rb1 also significantly decreased fasting blood glucose and improved glucose tolerance, and these effects were greater than those observed in pair-fed rats, suggesting that although Rb1's antihyperglycemic effect is partially attributable to reduced food intake and body weight; there may be additional effects of Rb1 on glucose homeostasis.CONCLUSIONSThese results identify Rb1 as an antiobesity and antihyperglycemic agent.

Hepatic gluconeogenesis is essential for maintaining blood glucose levels during fasting and is the major contributor to postprandial and fasting hyperglycemia in diabetes. Gluconeogenesis is a classic cAMP/protein kinase A-dependent process initiated by glucagon, which is elevated in the blood during fasting and in diabetes. In this study, we have shown that p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38) was activated in liver by fasting and in primary hepatocytes by glucagon or forskolin. Fasting plasma glucose levels were reduced upon blockade of p38 with either a chemical inhibitor or small interference RNA in mice. In examining the mechanism, inhibition of p38 suppressed gluconeogenesis in liver, along with expression of key gluconeogenic genes, including phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phosphatase. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ␥ coactivator 1␣ and cAMP-response element-binding protein have been shown to be important mediators of hepatic gluconeogenesis. We have shown that inhibition of p38 prevented transcription of the PPAR␥ coactivator 1␣ gene as well as phosphorylation of cAMP-response element-binding protein. Together, our results from in vitro and in vivo studies define a model in which cAMP-dependent activation of genes involved in gluconeogenesis is dependent upon the p38 pathway, thus adding a new player to our evolving understanding of this physiology.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy through Ucp1-mediated uncoupled respiration and its activation may represent a therapeutic strategy to combat obesity. Here we show that Lkb1 controls BAT expansion and UCP1 expression in mice. We generate adipocyte-specific Lkb1 knockout mice and show that, compared with wild-type littermates, these mice exhibit elevated UCP1 expression in BAT and subcutaneous white adipose tissue, have increased BAT mass and higher energy expenditure. Consequently, KO mice have improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, and are more resistant to high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. Deletion of Lkb1 results in a cytoplasm to nuclear translocation of CRTC3 in brown adipocytes, where it recruits C/EBPβ to enhance Ucp1 transcription. In parallel, the absence of Lkb1 also suppresses AMPK activity, leading to activation of the mTOR signalling pathway and subsequent BAT expansion. These data suggest that inhibition of Lkb1 or its downstream signalling in adipocytes could be a novel strategy to increase energy expenditure in the context of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

Background-Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is a circulation assist device that may improve endothelial dysfunction by increasing shear stress. Chronic exposure of vascular endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells to relatively high physiological shear stress has antiproliferative and vasoprotective effects. The present study hypothesizes that EECP inhibits intimal hyperplasia and atherogenesis by modifying shear stress-responsive gene expression. Methods and Results-Thirty-five male pigs were randomly assigned to 3 groups: high-cholesterol diet (nϭ11), high-cholesterol diet plus EECP (nϭ17), and usual diet (control; nϭ7). The coronary arteries and aortas were collected for histopathological study and immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis. The peak diastolic arterial wall shear stress during EECP increased significantly compared with before EECP (49.62Ϯ10.71 versus 23.92Ϯ7.28 dyne/cm 2 ; PϽ0.001). Intimal hyperplasia was observed in the coronary arteries of the high-cholesterol diet group, whereas in animals receiving EECP, the intima-to-media area ratio was significantly decreased by 41.59% (21.27Ϯ10.00% versus 36.41Ϯ16.69%; Pϭ0.008). Hypercholesterolemia attenuated the protein expression of endothelial NO synthase and enhanced the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2. EECP treatment alleviated these adverse changes. Conclusions-EECP reduces hypercholesterolemia-induced endothelial damage, arrests vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration, decreases proliferating cell nuclear antigen proliferative index, suppresses extracellular matrix formation, and eventually inhibits intimal hyperplasia and the development of atherosclerosis by increasing the arterial wall shear stress, which in turn activates the endothelial NO synthase/NO pathway and probably suppresses extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 overactivation. (Circulation. 2007;116:526-534.)