Boticário Group Foundation

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Lip segmentation is crucial in computer vision, especially for lip reading. Despite extensive face segmentation research, lip segmentation has received limited attention. The aim of this study is to compare state-of-the-art lip segmentation models using a standardized setting and a publicly available dataset. Five techniques, namely EHANet, Mask2Former, BiSeNet V2, PIDNet, and STDCI, are qualitatively selected based on their reported performance, inference time, code availability, recency, and popularity. The CelebAMask-HQ dataset, comprising manually annotated face images, is used to fairly assess the lip segmentation performance of the selected models. Inference experiments are conducted on a Raspberry Pi4 to emulate limited computational resources. The results show that Mask2Former and EHANet have the best performances in terms of mIoU score. BiSeNet V2 demonstrate competitive performance, while PIDNet excels in recall but has lower precision. Most models present inference time ranging from 1000 to around 3000 milliseconds on a Raspberry Pi4, with PIDNet having the lowest mean inference time. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of lip segmentation models, highlighting their performance and inference times. The findings contribute to the development of lightweight techniques and establish benchmarks for future advances in lip segmentation, especially in IoT and edge computing scenarios.

Fish cell lines have become increasingly used in ecotoxicity studies, and cytotoxicity assays have been proposed as methods to predict fish acute toxicity. Thus, this protocol presents cytotoxicity assays modified to evaluate cell viability in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo (ZEM2S) and liver (ZFL) cell lines in 96-well plates. The cytotoxicity endpoints evaluated are mitochondrial integrity (Alamar Blue [AB] and MTT assays), membrane integrity via esterase activity (CFDA-AM assay), and lysosomal membrane integrity (Neutral Red [NR] assay). After the exposure of the test substances in a 96-well plate, the cytotoxicity assays are performed; here, AB and CFDA-AM are carried out simultaneously, followed by NR on the same plate, while the MTT assay is performed on a separate plate. The readouts for these assays are taken by fluorescence for AB and CFDA-AM, and absorbance for MTT and NR. The cytotoxicity assays performed with these fish cell lines can be used to study the acute toxicity of chemical substances on fish.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the primary pathogen of the pathology known as enzootic pneumonia, a highly contagious chronic respiratory disease that affects pigs, characterized by high morbidity and low mortality. The etiologic agent is found in the respiratory mucosa, adhered to the ciliated epithelium of the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles. Infections occur worldwide and have major economic impacts for the pig industry. The present work aimed to carry out a review of the control strategies and economic losses caused by M. hyopneumoniae, for this purpose research was carried out based on information acquired from scientific articles, books, theses and dissertations on M. hyopneumoniae. The transmission of the agent occurs mainly by direct contact of the respiratory secretions of a pig with a susceptible pig. The disease is most commonly seen in growing and finishing animals. After the infection, destruction of the mucociliary system occurs, together with the alteration of the immune response, increases the susceptibility of pigs affected to secondary infections. Clinical signs are based on dry cough, runny nose, low herd development, lack of shine and uneven score among piglets. The severity of the lesions depends on environmental factors, management and host immunity. There are several diagnostic tests that can detect the agent, the choice of the test depends on the patient's clinical circumstances and property, the most used being the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and ELISA tests. Vaccination is commonly used, studies have observed a reduction in bacterial loads and a drop in the severity of clinical signs in vaccinated pigs, currently available vaccines are economical and easy to access, but some studies have concluded that neither vaccination nor preventive medication can prevent infection and adhesion of M. hyopneumoniae to the hair cells of the respiratory tract to occur. research is needed to improve understanding of the microorganism's mechanisms of action and its interaction with the host and other pathogens, as this research can assist in the development and improvement of control methods, such as the development of new vaccines that provide better protection to the animal.

In vitro stem cell models are used as alternatives to animal models and are important tools for cytotoxicity studies. Researchers can determine the effects of test substances on human cells by evaluating cell viability and differentiation. Here, we describe an in vitro model to quantify adipogenesis based on the Nile red staining of specific lipid droplets and the emission of basic lipids from human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (AD-MSCs) in the presence of test substances. This assay allows for the prediction of toxicity based on the inhibition of adipogenesis in vitro in a 96-well format. The differentiation of a progenitor cell into a specialized cell, the adipocyte, is easy to monitor and quantify, making this a simple assay. The fluorescence staining of nuclei and lipid droplets is measured after 14 days of cell differentiation to determine cell number and assess cell differentiation using high-content imaging analysis, thus allowing for the identification of chemicals that impact differentiation. We also describe a protocol to assess adipocyte differentiation by fluorescence intensity using a multiplate reader.•Researchers can utilize the protocol described here for many purposes to evaluate in vitro adipogenesis.•With this method, it is possible to reduce the use of animals.

The continuous search for natural products that attenuate age-related losses has increasingly gained notice; among them, those applicable for skin care have drawn significant attention. The bioester generated from the Chenopodium quinoa’s oil is a natural-origin ingredient described to produce replenishing skin effects. With this as motivation, we used shotgun proteomics to study the effects of quinoa bioester on human reconstructed epidermis tridimensional cell cultures after 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h of exposure. Our experimental setup employed reversed-phase nano-chromatography coupled online with an Orbitrap-XL and PatternLab for proteomics as the data analysis tool. Extracted ion chromatograms were obtained as surrogates for relative peptide quantitation. Our findings spotlight proteins with increased abundance, as compared to the untreated cell culture counterparts at the same timepoints, that were related to preventing premature aging, homeostasis, tissue regeneration, protection against ultraviolet radiation and oxidative damage.

ABSTRACT We assessed litterfall and nutrient cycling in an old-growth Atlantic rainforest in southern Brazil. Plant litter collected monthly was separated into: leaves, twigs, reproductive organs, and fragments, and dried, weighed, and ground. Determination of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sodium contents of different litter fractions was also performed. The total deposition was 8.44 Mg-1 ha-1 year-1, with a higher proportion of leaves fraction. Litterfall predominated in spring and summer, coinciding with the highest average temperature and rainfall in the study area. For leaves, twigs and fragments, the elements sequence of concentration was C>N>Ca>K>Mg>P>Na; whereas for reproductive organs it was C>N>K>Ca>Mg>P>Na. A higher concentration of nutrients was observed in spring and summer for the leaves fraction. The quantitative transfer of nutrients by litterfall fractions to the forest soil followed the same sequence observed for the concentration of nutrients.

Resumo: este artigo apresenta quatro cenários para mostrar que a “versão neoliberal da globalização”, como sua crença na primazia da “auto-regulação” do mercado provocando a desregulamentação da economia, o desmantelamento do Estado de Bem-Estar, a redução da força dos sindicatos e a fi nanceirização da economia internacional, provocou o aumento da desigualdade de renda. A primeira seção do artigo defi ne os conceitos de globalização e desigualdade. A segunda, explica como globalização neoliberal tornou-se uma força dominante intelectual e politicamente. A terceira e quarta seções mostram à luz de quatro estudos de caso, Coreia do Sul, Taiwan, Chile e Índia, como a versão neoliberal da globalização exacerbou ainda mais a desigualdade. O artigo conclui com propostas para a promoção de uma globalização não-neoliberal.Palavras-chave: Globalização. Desigualdade. Neo-liberalismo.