A study on giant panda recognition based on images of a large proportion of captive pandas

1. As a highly endangered species, the giant panda (panda) has attracted significant attention in the past decades. Considerable efforts have been put on panda conservation and reproduction, offering the promising outcome of maintaining the population size of pandas. To evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and management strategies, recognizing individual pandas is critical. However, it remains a challenging task because the existing methods, such as traditional tracking method, discrimination method based on footprint identification, and molecular biology method, are invasive, inaccurate, expensive, or challenging to perform. The advances of imaging technologies have led to the wide applications of digital images and videos in panda conservation and management, which makes it possible for individual panda recognition in a noninvasive manner by using image‐based panda face recognition method.
2. In recent years, deep learning has achieved great success in the field of computer vision and pattern recognition. For panda face recognition, a fully automatic deep learning algorithm which consists of a sequence of deep neural networks (DNNs) used for panda face detection, segmentation, alignment, and identity prediction is developed in this study. To develop and evaluate the algorithm, the largest panda image dataset containing 6,441 images from 218 different pandas, which is 39.78% of captive pandas in the world, is established.
3. The algorithm achieved 96.27% accuracy in panda recognition and 100% accuracy in detection.
4. This study shows that panda faces can be used for panda recognition. It enables the use of the cameras installed in their habitat for monitoring their population and behavior. This noninvasive approach is much more cost‐effective than the approaches used in the previous panda surveys.

     

Apigenin 4′-O-β-d-glucoside 7-O-β-d)- glucuronide: The copigment in the blue pigment of Centaurea cyanus

The copigment present in the crystalline blue pigment isolated from Blue Boy cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus L.) was identified as apigenin 4′-O-β-glucoside 7-O-β-d-glucuronide. The NMR spectra of aryl glucuronides are discussed.     

Putative candidate genes for blood pressure control in the SHR.BN-RNO8 congenic substrains

The SHR-Lx congenic strain carrying a differential segment of chromosome 8 of BN and PD origin was recently shown to exhibit a significant decrease in blood pressure as compared to the SHR strain. There were two positional candidate genes for blood pressure control mapped to the differential segment: the rat kidney epithelial potassium channel gene (Kcnj1) and brain dopamine receptor 2 gene (Drd2). Bot these genes were separated into SHR.BN-RNO8 congenic substrains. In this communication, we are presenting the assignment of two further putative candidate genes, which might be involved in blood pressure control to the BN/PD differential segment of the SHR-Lx congenic strain. These are: the gene coding for smooth muscle cell specific protein 22 (Sm22) defined by the D8Mcw1 marker and neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene cluster, defined by the D8Bord1 marker. Moreover, the glutamate receptor gene Grik4 which also maps to the differential segment of the SHR-Lx should be taken into account. The genetic separation of all these putative candidate genes of blood pressure control is being performed by recombinations and subsequent selection using (SHR×SHR-Lx) intercross population.     

Repetitive excitation of bursts of action potentials in the rat hippocampus following single shock stimulation

1. Post-stimulus time (PST) histograms of rat hippocampal cells were recorded in vivo following single-shock stimulation of the fornix. 2. The PST histograms displayed a series of peaks of decreasing amplitude, similar to damped oscillatory responses previously recorded in cats and rabbits. 3. The effect of increased background activity was investigated by recording histograms with concurrent pulse train stimulation of the contralateral hippocampus. The histograms showed a decreased latency to the onset of the second peak. 4. Damped oscillatory activity seen in the in vivo rat preparation could not be elicited in the in vitro rat slice preparation. Thus species differences cannot account for the absence in slice studies of this type of damped oscillatory activity. 5. We conclude that the level of spontaneous activity is one factor contributing to the genesis of multiple peaks in histograms in the in vivo preparation.     

Catecholamine-induced changes in transmembrane potential and temperature in normal and dystrophic hamster brown adipose tissue

Previous studies have shown that norepinephrine (NE) elicits trans-membrane potential changes in skeletal muscle cells from normal and dystrophic (BIO 14.6) hamsters, with the magnitude of these changes being significantly less in dystrophic cells. To determine if the decreased response of the dystrophic muscle cells reflects a more generalized phenomenon, the present study was designed to evaluate the effects of NE on membrane properties of brown adipocytes. $\text{In vivo}$ techniques using glass microelectrodes were similar to those used in the muscle studies. NE injection (2 to 5 μg/kg body wt, i.v.) into anesthetized hamsters was followed by membrane depolarization, the magnitude of which did not significantly differ in the dystrophic and normal adipocytes. For example, upon administration of 5 μg NE/kg body wt, the average depolarization was $\text{14.5 ± 1.3}\text{mV}\text{(}\text{X}\text{±}\text{S.E.}\text{)}$ for 20 dystrophic cells and 14.1 ± 1.8 mV for 18 normal cells. The depolarizations following i.v. infusion of isoproterenol and phenylephrine also had similar amplitudes in both normal and dystrophic cells. Despite this lack of difference in plasma membrane responses, NE induced a significantly smaller rise in interscapular brown fat temperature in the dystrophic (0.09°C) than in the normal hamsters (0.26°C) following administration of 5 μg NE/kg body wt. Thus, the decreased responsiveness to NE of dystrophic sarcolemma did not occur with the plasma membrane of brown adipocytes, although brown fat temperature changes in the dystrophic hamsters were decreased in amplitude.