Quantitative Genetics of Populus

Evidence for bark, stem and stomatal density adaptation to different climates in the model species Populus is seen in both the natural population as well as in the greenhouse, but the genetic basis of these adaptation remains poorly understood. The present thesis investigates bark texture, bark thickness, diameter and stomatal density variations among Populus population using two quantitative genetics methods to attempt understand the genetic system controlling inheritance of these traits and to associate them with respective genes. The first approach aimed at detecting quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with all phenotypic traits in an interspecific hybrid pedigree (Populus trichocarpa x P. deltoides and P. deltoides) collected across several years and sites. Identifying QTL for these important traits will pinpoint to polymorphisms linked to functional genes and provide a list of candidate genes and a baseline for future work. QTL specific to bark texture were highly reproducible in shared intervals across sites, years and replicates. Furthermore, significant positive correlations and co-localization between traits QTL suggest pleiotropic regulators or closely linked genes. Since bark texture showed promising results using the low-resolution QTL method, it was then analyzed further using high-resolution population genomic approach, the genome-wide association study (GWAS). Association mapping defined the genomic regions associated with natural variation in bark texture in a clonally replicated provenance trials of P. trichocarpa across three sites, multiple years. The association mapping used with a high-density SNP array allowed us to detect narrow genomic intervals (1-20 kb) with high reproducibility and shared candidate genes for bark texture variation. Several candidate genes were identified related putative function and their location close to QTL maxima were highlighted and are worth further investigation using functional genomics or forward genetics approaches. The results should be exploited for the future conservation and breeding of Populus species

Networks of inter-organisational coordination during disease outbreaks

Multi-organisational environment is demonstrating more complexities due the ever-increasing tasks’ complications in modern environments. Disease outbreak coordination is one of these complex tasks that require multi-skilled and multi-jurisdictional agencies to coordinate in dynamic environment. This research discusses theoretical foundations and practical approaches to suggest frameworks to study complex inter-organisational networks in dynamic environments, specifically during disease outbreak. We study coo¬¬rdination as being an interdisciplinary domain, and then uses social network theory to model it. I have surveyed 70 health professionals whom have participated in the swine influenza H1N1 2009 outbreak. I collected both qualitative and quantitative data in order to build a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the inter-organisational network that evolved during that outbreak. Then I constructed a performance model by use three main components of the network theory: degree centrality, connectedness and tie strength as the independent variables, and disease outbreak inter-organisational performance as the dependent one. In addition, we study both the formal networks and the informal ones. Formal networks are based on the standard operating structures, and the informal ones emerge based on trust, mutual benefits and relationships. Results suggest that the proposed social network measures have positive effect on coordination performance during the outbreak in both formal and informal networks, except centrality in the formal one. In addition, none of those measures influence performance before the outbreak. Practically, the results suggest that increasing the communication frequency and diversifying the tiers of the inter-organisational links enhance the overall network’s performance in formal coordination. In the informal one, links are created with the intention to improve performance; hence, all suggested network measures improve performance

Hyperbolic Geometry in Computer Vision: A Novel Framework for Convolutional Neural Networks

Real-world visual data exhibit intrinsic hierarchical structures that can be represented effectively in hyperbolic spaces. Hyperbolic neural networks (HNNs) are a promising approach for learning feature representations in such spaces. However, current methods in computer vision rely on Euclidean backbones and only project features to the hyperbolic space in the task heads, limiting their ability to fully leverage the benefits of hyperbolic geometry. To address this, we present HCNN, the first fully hyperbolic convolutional neural network (CNN) designed for computer vision tasks. Based on the Lorentz model, we generalize fundamental components of CNNs and propose novel formulations of the convolutional layer, batch normalization, and multinomial logistic regression (MLR). Experimentation on standard vision tasks demonstrates the effectiveness of our HCNN framework and the Lorentz model in both hybrid and fully hyperbolic settings. Overall, we aim to pave the way for future research in hyperbolic computer vision by offering a new paradigm for interpreting and analyzing visual data. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/kschwethelm/HyperbolicCV

A system for production of defective interfering particles in the absence of infectious influenza A virus

<div><p>Influenza A virus (IAV) infection poses a serious health threat and novel antiviral strategies are needed. Defective interfering particles (DIPs) can be generated in IAV infected cells due to errors of the viral polymerase and may suppress spread of wild type (wt) virus. The antiviral activity of DIPs is exerted by a DI genomic RNA segment that usually contains a large deletion and suppresses amplification of wt segments, potentially by competing for cellular and viral resources. DI-244 is a naturally occurring prototypic segment 1-derived DI RNA in which most of the PB2 open reading frame has been deleted and which is currently developed for antiviral therapy. At present, coinfection with wt virus is required for production of DI-244 particles which raises concerns regarding biosafety and may complicate interpretation of research results. Here, we show that cocultures of 293T and MDCK cell lines stably expressing codon optimized PB2 allow production of DI-244 particles solely from plasmids and in the absence of helper virus. Moreover, we demonstrate that infectivity of these particles can be quantified using MDCK-PB2 cells. Finally, we report that the DI-244 particles produced in this novel system exert potent antiviral activity against H1N1 and H3N2 IAV but not against the unrelated vesicular stomatitis virus. This is the first report of DIP production in the absence of infectious IAV and may spur efforts to develop DIPs for antiviral therapy.</p></div

Attention, Filling in The Gaps for Generalization in Routing Problems

Machine Learning (ML) methods have become a useful tool for tackling vehicle routing problems, either in combination with popular heuristics or as standalone models. However, current methods suffer from poor generalization when tackling problems of different sizes or different distributions. As a result, ML in vehicle routing has witnessed an expansion phase with new methodologies being created for particular problem instances that become infeasible at larger problem sizes. This paper aims at encouraging the consolidation of the field through understanding and improving current existing models, namely the attention model by Kool et al. We identify two discrepancy categories for VRP generalization. The first is based on the differences that are inherent to the problems themselves, and the second relates to architectural weaknesses that limit the model's ability to generalize. Our contribution becomes threefold: We first target model discrepancies by adapting the Kool et al. method and its loss function for Sparse Dynamic Attention based on the alpha-entmax activation. We then target inherent differences through the use of a mixed instance training method that has been shown to outperform single instance training in certain scenarios. Finally, we introduce a framework for inference level data augmentation that improves performance by leveraging the model's lack of invariance to rotation and dilation changes.Comment: Accepted at ECML-PKDD 202

Effectiveness of nurse-led telephone follow-up in cardiac patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

BackgroundNurse-led telephone follow-up has proven to be a successful mode of care for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). This model of care includes; intensive education about diet, exercise, and treatment and could be the next step in the evolution of our telemedicine system.ObjectivesTo investigate the effect of a nurse telephone follow-up in cardiac patients with type 2 DM on glycemic parameters and adherence to recommendations attending a nurse-led clinic at King Abdulaziz Cardiac Center.MethodsThis prospective quality improvement project invited all cardiac patients from October to December, 2011, who were unable to attend the clinic frequently, to participate. Inclusion criteria included documented coronary artery disease, type 2 DM on insulin with a current HbA1c>8% for 6months or more.All patients in this program receive care from a Cardiac Diabetic Nurse (CDN) according to the American Diabetic Association guidelines. In addition to this standard care, enrolled patients received a telephone call weekly for 12weeks which reinforced education regarding diet, exercise, medication adherence and addressed additional patient problems. Medication adherence was measured using the validated self-report Morisky Medication Adherence Scale Mandatory variables collected at baseline and at 12weeks included; body mass index blood pressure, fasting and postprandial blood glucose, HbA1c and total cholesterol screen.Statistical analysisAnalysis was performed using SPSS advanced statistics for windows, version 18.Results and conclusionPendin

Inter-organisational coordination of H1N1 outbreak: data collection, and analyses of a pilot field study

Improving effectiveness in response to H1N1 outbreaks requires us to understand how different organisations within the outbreak coordination network work collectively to share information needed to operate at optimal level. Research for developing reliable framework for the collection of inter-organisational coordinated response data and its impact on decision-making and support system for disease outbreak is lacking to date. We introduce a pilot field study using social networks based approach to capture H1N1 inter-organisational coordination data by introducing qualitative questionnaire and quantitative survey, which resulted in discovering the hidden social networks of coordination. Here, we propose a schema that can be used to classify the quantitative data collection and preparation for further empirical analysis, and suggest that lessons learned from this can be applied to explore possible data collection and analysis for other types of natural and man made crises.postprin

Random search

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-82).In the past three decades, especially in the aftermath of September 11th, significant effort has been focused on developing technologies for aviation security. Security inspectors have considerable latitude to wave passengers into additional screening, and pat-downs are extensive and thorough. Immigrants, individuals from minority groups, and persons from specific ethnicities are targeted more, and accuse authorities of racial profiling and discrimination in both the "random" selection and the actual pat-down procedure, but are often reluctant to resist or file official complaints. Expensive, intrusive technologies at security officials' disposal reinforce an inherent power imbalance between authorities and passengers, and set the space for abuse of power. To date, the only tool at a target's disposal is a verbal or written account of their experience that may or may not be taken seriously. Moreover, existing airport security legislation is flawed and open to interpretation, and official standards used to define a breach are absent or lax. search is an an instrument, a neutral, quantifiable witness to the screening process.(cont.) Undetectable, wearable pressure sensors, implemented with Quantum Tunneling Composites (QTC), are distributed across the undergarment in order to monitor and record inappropriate or unjustified searches. By allowing the traveler to log and share the experience s/he is going through, the 'smart' body suit attempts to quantify the search using a common platform and standardized measurements. The digital record is repeatable and legible enough to be used as evidence to hold security officials accountable for their actions. search is a personal, voluntary technology that does not impose a course of action on the wearer, but rather offers him/her a record to analyze, incriminate, share, perform, or simply keep.by Ayah Bdeir.S.M

Shindo Renmei entre duas narrativas: releituras da organização

Shindo Renmei (Liga do Caminho dos Súditos), foi uma associação ilegal, que nasceu no interior de São Paulo no Brasil, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Durante os anos de 1930 em diante, o Brasil recebeu um grande contingente de imigrantes japoneses, e o Japão, no decorrer desse período, entrou em guerra com os EUA. Além disso, em 1942 o Brasil rompeu relações diplomáticas com o Japão, e no mesmo ano alinhou-se aos EUA, tornando assim os imigrantes pertencentes a países do Eixo (Alemanha, Itália e Japão), inimigos da pátria. Consequentemente, esses imigrantes japoneses que já haviam imigrado para o Brasil, ficaram no meio de toda essa complicação da Guerra. Então, durante esse período, os imigrantes japoneses que já estavam sendo alvo de discriminações, sofreram ainda mais com a repressão do Estado brasileiro. Com a derrota do Japão na Segunda Guerra Mundial, esta situação piorou ainda mais. Os imigrantes não acreditavam nas informações da imprensa brasileira, e muitos não compreendiam o português. Além de que, sua visão de mundo dificultava com que eles acreditassem na derrota. Foi nesse contexto que eclodiu o conflito entre os próprios japoneses. De um lado, os imigrantes japoneses que não acreditavam na derrota do Japão, se intitulando como vitoristas. E, do outro lado, os esclarecidos, que tinham consciência sobre a derrota do Japão na Segunda Guerra Mundial.Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso apresentado ao Instituto Latino-Americano de Arte, Cultura e História da Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, como requisito parcial à obtenção do título de Bacharel em História – América Latina. Orientadora: Prof. Dra. Mirian Santos Ribeiro de OliveiraA presente monografia tem o objetivo de compreender e historicizar o conflito vitorista-derrotista (1945), que ocorreu entre os imigrantes japoneses no período da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Com isso, abordaremos a trajetória do imigrante japonês desde sua chegada (1908), as razões de sua vinda para o Brasil, questões imigratórias e raciais do período. Em seguida, verificaremos essa relação com o período marcado como Era Vargas (1930-1945), o aparato repressivo do Estado, racismo institucionalizado e correlações com a Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945). Por fim, analisaremos como ocorreu o conflito, e o surgimento do grupo autodenominado como Shindo Renmei. Com o intuito de fundamentar a pesquisa, utilizaremos a abordagem da história no cinema, e aplicando no documentário intitulado de Yami no Ichinichi – O crime que abalou a colônia japonesa no Brasil, junto a uma análise comparativa da obra Uma Epopeia Moderna: 80 anos da imigração japonesa no Brasil. Dessa forma, essa pesquisa proporciona uma crítica a utilização das fontes de depoimentos do DEOPS, ou melhor, a historiografia realizada com o uso. E, também uma reflexão sobre como a identidade cultural desses imigrantes estava vinculada ao conflito.La presente monografía tiene el objetivo de comprender e historizar el conflicto victorista- derrotista (1945), que ocurrió entre los inmigrantes japoneses en el período de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. De esa manera, abordaremos la trayectoria del inmigrante japonés desde su llegada (1908), las razones de su venida al Brasil así como cuestiones inmigratorias y raciales del período. Por consiguiente, verificaremos esa relación con el período conocido como Era Vargas (1930-1945), el aparato represivo del Estado, racismo institucionalizado y correlaciones con la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945). Por último, analizaremos cómo sucedió el conflicto y el surgimiento del grupo autodenominado como Shindo Renmei. Con el intuito de fundamentar la investigación, utilizaremos un abordaje de la historia en el cine, recurriendo al documental titulado "Yami no Ichinichi"– El crímen que avaló la colonia japonesa en el Brasil, junto a un análisis comparativo de la obra "Una Epopeya Moderna: 80 años de la inmigración japonesa en el Brasil". De esa forma, esta investigación proporciona una crítica al uso de fuentes de testimonios del DEOPS, o mejor, la historiografía realizada com su utilización. También, una reflexión sobre cómo la identidade cultural de esos inmigrantes estaba vinculada al conflict