Anti-Fall: A Non-intrusive and Real-time Fall Detector Leveraging CSI from Commodity WiFi Devices

Fall is one of the major health threats and obstacles to independent living for elders, timely and reliable fall detection is crucial for mitigating the effects of falls. In this paper, leveraging the fine-grained Channel State Information (CSI) and multi-antenna setting in commodity WiFi devices, we design and implement a real-time, non-intrusive, and low-cost indoor fall detector, called Anti-Fall. For the first time, the CSI phase difference over two antennas is identified as the salient feature to reliably segment the fall and fall-like activities, both phase and amplitude information of CSI is then exploited to accurately separate the fall from other fall-like activities. Experimental results in two indoor scenarios demonstrate that Anti-Fall consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art approach WiFall, with 10% higher detection rate and 10% less false alarm rate on average.Comment: 13 pages,8 figures,corrected version, ICOST conferenc

Primitive roles for inhibitory interneurons in developing frog spinal cord

Understanding the neuronal networks in the mammal spinal cord is hampered by the diversity of neurons and their connections. The simpler networks in developing lower vertebrates may offer insights into basic organization. To investigate the function of spinal inhibitory interneurons in Xenopus tadpoles, paired whole-cell recordings were used. We show directly that one class of interneuron, with distinctive anatomy, produces glycinergic, negative feedback inhibition that can limit firing in motoneurons and interneurons of the central pattern generator during swimming. These same neurons also produce inhibitory gating of sensory pathways during swimming. This discovery raises the possibility that some classes of interneuron, with distinct functions later in development, may differentiate from an earlier class in which these functions are shared. Preliminary evidence suggests that these inhibitory interneurons express the transcription factor engrailed, supporting a probable homology with interneurons in developing zebrafish that also express engrailed and have very similar anatomy and functions

The spinal interneurons and properties of glutamatergic synapses in a primitive vertebrate cutaneous flexion reflex

Unlike the monosynaptic “stretch” reflex, the exact neuronal pathway for a simple cutaneous reflex has not yet been defined in any vertebrate. In young frog tadpoles, we made whole-cell recordings from pairs of spinal neurons. We found direct, excitatory, glutamatergic synapses from touch-sensitive skin-sensory neurons to sensory pathway interneurons, and then from these sensory interneurons to motoneurons and premotor interneurons on the other side of the body. We conclude that the minimal pathway for this primitive reflex, in which stroking the skin on one side leads to flexion on the other side, is disynaptic. This detailed circuit information has allowed us to ask whether the properties of glutamatergic synapses during the first day of CNS development are tuned to their function in the tadpole's responses. Stroking the skin excites a few sensory neurons. These activate primarily AMPA receptors producing short, strong excitation that activates many sensory pathway interneurons but only allows temporal summation of closely synchronous inputs. In contrast, the excitation produced in contralateral neurons by the sensory pathway interneurons is weak and primarily mediated by NMDA receptors. As a result, considerable summation is required for this excitation to lead to postsynaptic neuron firing and a contralateral flexion. We conclude that from their early functioning, synapses from sensory neurons are strong and those from sensory pathway interneurons are weak. The distribution of glutamate receptors at synapses in this developing circuit is tuned so that synapses have properties suited to their roles in the whole animal's reflex responses.</jats:p

Intersecting black branes in strong gravitational waves

We consider intersecting black branes with strong gravitational waves propagating along their worldvolume in the context of supergravity theories. Both near-horizon and space-filling gravitational wave modes are included in our ansatz. The equations of motion (originally, partial differential equations) are shown to reduce to ordinary differential equations, which include a Toda-like system. For special arrangements of intersecting black branes, the Toda-like system becomes integrable, permitting a more thorough analysis of the gravitational equations of motion.Comment: 17 pages; v2: cosmetic improvements, published versio

Modulating signaling networks by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated transposable element insertion

In a recent past, transposable elements (TEs) were referred to as selfish genetic components only capable of copying themselves with the aim of increasing the odds of being inherited. Nonetheless, TEs have been initially proposed as positive control elements acting in synergy with the host. Nowadays, it is well known that TE movement into host genome comprises an important evolutionary mechanism capable of increasing the adaptive fitness. As insights into TE functioning are increasing day to day, the manipulation of transposition has raised an interesting possibility of setting the host functions, although the lack of appropriate genome engineering tools has unpaved it. Fortunately, the emergence of genome editing technologies based on programmable nucleases, and especially the arrival of a multipurpose RNA-guided Cas9 endonuclease system, has made it possible to reconsider this challenge. For such purpose, a particular type of transposons referred to as miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) has shown a series of interesting characteristics for designing functional drivers. Here, recent insights into MITE elements and versatile RNA-guided CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system are given to understand how to deploy the potential of TEs for control of the host transcriptional activity.Fil: Vaschetto, Luis Maria Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Cátedra de Diversidad Animal I; Argentin

Chemical profiles and simultaneous quantification of Aurantii fructus by use of HPLC-Q-TOF-MS combined with GC-MS and HPLC methods

Aurantii fructus (AF) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to improve gastrointestinal motility disorders for over a thousand years, but there is no exhaustive identification of the basic chemical components and comprehensive quality control of this herb. In this study, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed to identify the basic chemical compounds, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed to determine the major biochemical markers from AF extract. There were 104 compounds belonging to eight structure types, including 13 amino acids or peptides, seven alkaloids, 18 flavanones, 14 flavones, 15 polymethoxyflavonoids, six triterpenoids, nine coumarins, and 18 volatile oils, as well as four other compounds that were systematically identified as the basic components from AF, and among them, 41 compounds were reported for the first time. Twelve bioactive ingredients were chosen as the benchmark markers to evaluate the quality of AF. The analysis was completed with a gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min within 55 min. This efficient method was validated showing good linearity, precision, stability, repeatability and recovery. Furthermore, the method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of 12 chemical markers in different samples of AF. This study could be applied to the identification of multiple bioactive substances and improve the quality control of AF

Cathelicidin suppresses lipid accumulation and hepatic steatosis by inhibition of the CD36 receptor.

Background and objectivesObesity is a global epidemic which increases the risk of the metabolic syndrome. Cathelicidin (LL-37 and mCRAMP) is an antimicrobial peptide with an unknown role in obesity. We hypothesize that cathelicidin expression correlates with obesity and modulates fat mass and hepatic steatosis.Materials and methodsMale C57BL/6 J mice were fed a high-fat diet. Streptozotocin was injected into mice to induce diabetes. Experimental groups were injected with cathelicidin and CD36 overexpressing lentiviruses. Human mesenteric fat adipocytes, mouse 3T3-L1 differentiated adipocytes and human HepG2 hepatocytes were used in the in vitro experiments. Cathelicidin levels in non-diabetic, prediabetic and type II diabetic patients were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsLentiviral cathelicidin overexpression reduced hepatic steatosis and decreased the fat mass of high-fat diet-treated diabetic mice. Cathelicidin overexpression reduced mesenteric fat and hepatic fatty acid translocase (CD36) expression that was reversed by lentiviral CD36 overexpression. Exposure of adipocytes and hepatocytes to cathelicidin significantly inhibited CD36 expression and reduced lipid accumulation. Serum cathelicidin protein levels were significantly increased in non-diabetic and prediabetic patients with obesity, compared with non-diabetic patients with normal body mass index (BMI) values. Prediabetic patients had lower serum cathelicidin protein levels than non-diabetic subjects.ConclusionsCathelicidin inhibits the CD36 fat receptor and lipid accumulation in adipocytes and hepatocytes, leading to a reduction of fat mass and hepatic steatosis in vivo. Circulating cathelicidin levels are associated with increased BMI. Our results demonstrate that cathelicidin modulates the development of obesity

Supersymmetric Intersecting Branes on the Waves

We construct a general family of supersymmetric solutions in time- and space-dependent wave backgrounds in general supergravity theories describing single and intersecting p-branes embedded into time-dependent dilaton-gravity plane waves of an arbitrary (isotropic) profile, with the brane world-volume aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the wave. We discuss how many degrees of freedom we have in the solutions. We also propose that these solutions can be used to describe higher-dimensional time-dependent "black holes", and discuss their property briefly.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe

A very faint core-collapse supernova in M85

An anomalous transient in the early Hubble-type (S0) galaxy Messier 85 (M85) in the Virgo cluster was discovered by Kulkarni et al. (2007) on 7 January 2006 that had very low luminosity (peak absolute R-band magnitude MR of about -12) that was constant over more than 80 days, red colour and narrow spectral lines, which seem inconsistent with those observed in any known class of transient events. Kulkarni et al. (2007) suggest an exotic stellar merger as the possible origin. An alternative explanation is that the transient in M85 was a type II-plateau supernova of extremely low luminosity, exploding in a lenticular galaxy with residual star-forming activity. This intriguing transient might be the faintest supernova that has ever been discovered.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Nature "Brief Communication Arising" on 18 July 2007, Accepted on 17 August 2007. Arising from: Kulkarni et al. 2007, Nature, 447, 458-46