Influence of age, reproductive cycling status, and menstruation on the vaginal microbiome in baboons (Papio anubis)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111197/1/ajp22378.pd

Risk of self-harm after the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in Hong Kong, 2000–10: a nested case-control study

Background Psychiatric disorders are established risk factors for self-harm. However, variation in risk of self-harm by specific psychiatric disorder, stratified by gender and age, is rarely examined using population representative samples. This study aims to investigate the risk of self-harm following the diagnosis of different psychiatric disorders based on inpatient records retrieved from the Hong Kong Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System (CDARS). Method A cohort of 86,353 people with a first-recorded diagnosis of depression, alcohol abuse/dependence, personality disorders, bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, or substance abuse/dependence, along with 134,857 matched controls, were followed between 2000 and 2010. For each diagnostic category, a Cox proportional hazard regression model was fitted to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) (95% confidence intervals) of associated self-harm, adjusting for gender, age, admission time, district of residence, and comorbidities. Outcomes The personality disorders and substance abuse/dependence groups had the highest self-harm incidences of 3,174 and 3,018 per 100,000 patient-years, respectively. The highest risk of self-harm was found in the substance abuse/dependence group (aHR, 9·6; 95% CI, 8·4-11·0), followed by the groups with personality disorders (3·7; 2·8-4·9) and alcohol abuse/dependence (3·2; 2·9-3·7). When stratified by gender and age, the highest risk was found in substance abuse/dependence group for both genders (female: aHR, 7·7; 95% CI, 6·0-9·8; male: 10·5; 95% CI, 8·9-12·4) and all age groups (adolescent: aHR, 9·6; 95% CI, 7·2-12·7; young: 10·2; 95% CI, 8·4-12·3; middle-aged: 11·2; 95% CI, 8·0-15·6; Elderly: 3·2; 95% CI, 1·7-6·1). Interpretation First-recorded diagnosis of psychiatric disorders were significantly associated with elevated risks of subsequent self-harm. The associations varied considerably by diagnostic categories across gender-age subgroups. This finding highlighted the needs to develop more efficient and targeted preventive measures in psychiatric care management. Specific attention should be paid to demographic characteristics linked to increased risk within the same diagnostic category

Multiplicity fluctuations in relativistic nuclear collisions

Multiplicity distributions of hadrons produced in central nucleus-nucleus collisions are studied within the hadron-resonance gas model in the large volume limit. In the canonical ensemble conservation of three charges (baryon number, electric charge, and strangeness) is enforced. In addition, in the micro-canonical ensemble energy conservation is included. An analytical method is used to account for resonance decays. Multiplicity distributions and scaled variances for negatively charged hadrons are presented along the chemical freeze-out line of central Pb+Pb (Au+Au) collisions from SIS to LHC energies. Predictions obtained within different statistical ensembles are compared with preliminary NA49 experimental results on central Pb+Pb collisions in the SPS energy range. The measured fluctuations are significantly narrower than a Poisson reference distribution, and clearly favor expectations for the micro-canonical ensemble.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Evaluation of stem rot in 339 Bornean tree species: implications of size, taxonomy, and soil-related variation for aboveground biomass estimates

Fungal decay of heart wood creates hollows and areas of reduced wood density within the stems of living trees known as stem rot. Although stem rot is acknowledged as a source of error in forest aboveground biomass (AGB) estimates, there are few data sets available to evaluate the controls over stem rot infection and severity in tropical forests. Using legacy and recent data from 3180 drilled, felled, and cored stems in mixed dipterocarp forests in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, we quantified the frequency and severity of stem rot in a total of 339 tree species, and related variation in stem rot with tree size, wood density, taxonomy, and species’ soil association, as well as edaphic conditions. Predicted stem rot frequency for a 50 cm tree was 53% of felled, 39% of drilled, and 28% of cored stems, demonstrating differences among methods in rot detection ability. The percent stem volume infected by rot, or stem rot severity, ranged widely among trees with stem rot infection (0.1–82.8 %) and averaged 9% across all trees felled. Tree taxonomy explained the greatest proportion of variance in both stem rot frequency and severity among the predictors evaluated in our models. Stem rot frequency, but not severity, increased sharply with tree diameter, ranging from 13% in trees 10–30 cm DBH to 54%in stems ≥ 50 cm DBH across all data sets. The frequency of stem rot increased significantly in soils with low pH and cation concentrations in topsoil, and stem rot was more common in tree species associated with dystrophic sandy soils than with nutrient-rich clays. When scaled to forest stands, the maximum percent of stem biomass lost to stem rot varied significantly with soil properties, and we estimate that stem rot reduces total forest AGB estimates by up to 7% relative to what would be predicted assuming all stems are composed strictly of intact wood. This study demonstrates not only that stem rot is likely to be a significant source of error in forest AGB estimation, but also that it strongly covaries with tree size, taxonomy, habitat association, and soil resources, underscoring the need to account for tree community composition and edaphic variation in estimating carbon storage in tropical forests

Evaluation of the United States National Air Quality Forecast Capability experimental real-time predictions in 2010 using Air Quality System ozone and NO₂ measurements

The National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC) project provides the US with operational and experimental real-time ozone predictions using two different versions of the three-dimensional Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Routine evaluation using near-real-time AIRNow ozone measurements through 2011 showed better performance of the operational ozone predictions. In this work, quality-controlled and -assured Air Quality System (AQS) ozone and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) observations are used to evaluate the experimental predictions in 2010. It is found that both ozone and NO₂ are overestimated over the contiguous US (CONUS), with annual biases of +5.6 and +5.1 ppbv, respectively. The annual root mean square errors (RMSEs) are 15.4 ppbv for ozone and 13.4 ppbv for NO₂. For both species the overpredictions are most pronounced in the summer. The locations of the AQS monitoring sites are also utilized to stratify comparisons by the degree of urbanization. Comparisons for six predefined US regions show the highest annual biases for ozone predictions in Southeast (+10.5 ppbv) and for NO₂ in the Lower Middle (+8.1 ppbv) and Pacific Coast (+7.1 ppbv) regions. The spatial distributions of the NO₂ biases in August show distinctively high values in the Los Angeles, Houston, and New Orleans areas. In addition to the standard statistics metrics, daily maximum eight-hour ozone categorical statistics are calculated using the current US ambient air quality standard (75 ppbv) and another lower threshold (70 ppbv). Using the 75 ppbv standard, the hit rate and proportion of correct over CONUS for the entire year are 0.64 and 0.96, respectively. Summertime biases show distinctive weekly patterns for ozone and NO₂. Diurnal comparisons show that ozone overestimation is most severe in the morning, from 07:00 to 10:00 local time. For NO₂, the morning predictions agree with the AQS observations reasonably well, but nighttime concentrations are overpredicted by around 100%

Theory and design of Inx_{x}Ga1−x_{1-x}As1−y_{1-y}Biy_{y} mid-infrared semiconductor lasers: type-I quantum wells for emission beyond 3 μ\mum on InP substrates

We present a theoretical analysis and optimisation of the properties and performance of mid-infrared semiconductor lasers based on the dilute bismide alloy In$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$As$_{1-y}$Bi$_{y}$, grown on conventional (001) InP substrates. The ability to independently vary the epitaxial strain and emission wavelength in this quaternary alloy provides significant scope for band structure engineering. Our calculations demonstrate that structures based on compressively strained In$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$As$_{1-y}$Bi$_{y}$ quantum wells (QWs) can readily achieve emission wavelengths in the 3 -- 5 $\mu$m range, and that these QWs have large type-I band offsets. As such, these structures have the potential to overcome a number of limitations commonly associated with this application-rich but technologically challenging wavelength range. By considering structures having (i) fixed QW thickness and variable strain, and (ii) fixed strain and variable QW thickness, we quantify key trends in the properties and performance as functions of the alloy composition, structural properties, and emission wavelength, and on this basis identify routes towards the realisation of optimised devices for practical applications. Our analysis suggests that simple laser structures -- incorporating In$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$As$_{1-y}$Bi$_{y}$ QWs and unstrained ternary In$_{0.53}$Ga$_{0.47}$As barriers -- which are compatible with established epitaxial growth, provide a route to realising InP-based mid-infrared diode lasers.Comment: Submitted versio

Dynamic Structure Factor of Liquid and Amorphous Ge From Ab Initio Simulations

We calculate the dynamic structure factor S(k,omega) of liquid Ge (l-Ge) at temperature T = 1250 K, and of amorphous Ge (a-Ge) at T = 300 K, using ab initio molecular dynamics. The electronic energy is computed using density-functional theory, primarily in the generalized gradient approximation, together with a plane wave representation of the wave functions and ultra-soft pseudopotentials. We use a 64-atom cell with periodic boundary conditions, and calculate averages over runs of up to 16 ps. The calculated liquid S(k,omega) agrees qualitatively with that obtained by Hosokawa et al, using inelastic X-ray scattering. In a-Ge, we find that the calculated S(k,omega) is in qualitative agreement with that obtained experimentally by Maley et al. Our results suggest that the ab initio approach is sufficient to allow approximate calculations of S(k,omega) in both liquid and amorphous materials.Comment: 31 pages and 8 figures. Accepted for Phys. Rev.

FSNet: An Identity-Aware Generative Model for Image-based Face Swapping

This paper presents FSNet, a deep generative model for image-based face swapping. Traditionally, face-swapping methods are based on three-dimensional morphable models (3DMMs), and facial textures are replaced between the estimated three-dimensional (3D) geometries in two images of different individuals. However, the estimation of 3D geometries along with different lighting conditions using 3DMMs is still a difficult task. We herein represent the face region with a latent variable that is assigned with the proposed deep neural network (DNN) instead of facial textures. The proposed DNN synthesizes a face-swapped image using the latent variable of the face region and another image of the non-face region. The proposed method is not required to fit to the 3DMM; additionally, it performs face swapping only by feeding two face images to the proposed network. Consequently, our DNN-based face swapping performs better than previous approaches for challenging inputs with different face orientations and lighting conditions. Through several experiments, we demonstrated that the proposed method performs face swapping in a more stable manner than the state-of-the-art method, and that its results are compatible with the method thereof.Comment: 20pages, Asian Conference of Computer Vision 201

Estimating iron and aluminum removal rates in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean using a box model approach.

a b s t r a c t Iron limitation plays an important role in maintaining the high-nitrate low-chlorophyll (HNLC) condition in the equatorial upwelling zone. The rate and depth of upwelling control Fe supply to the euphotic zone. This study constrains the transport fluxes and budget of two trace metals, Fe and Al, in the upper ocean. They are co-delivered to the eastern equatorial Pacific surface waters via the Equatorial Undercurrent and upwelling but show distinct biogeochemical cycling processes. We combine the results of the in situ measurements of dissolved Fe and Al (dFe and dAl) with the modeled velocity fields to calculate the physical fluxes. The model calculations are evaluated with the conservation of heat, volume transport, NO 3 and Si(OH) 4 budgets for the equatorial Pacific. The vertical flux due to upwelling provides averaged dFe and dAl supply rates of 1.45 mmol m , respectively. These estimates are equal to the net biological and chemical removal rates of dFe and dAl. The calculated dFe:C net removal ratio is in the range of 3-9 mmol:mol, which agrees with most other estimates. This suggests that the majority of net dFe removal is due to biological uptake in the upper water column. The results of this box model approach illustrate the usefulness of combining the modeled outputs and in situ measurements, which provide additional constraints on Fe transport and cycling in the equatorial Pacific and possibly other HNLC regions

Trapped waves on interfacial hydraulic falls over bottom obstacles

Hydraulic falls on the interface of a two-layer density stratified fluid flow in the presence of bottom topography are considered. We extend the previous work [Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London A 360, 2137 (2002)] to two successive bottom obstructions of arbitrary shape. The forced Korteweg-de Vries and modified Korteweg-de Vries equations are derived in different asymptotic limits to understand the existence and classification of fall solutions. The full Euler equations are numerically solved by a boundary integral equation method. New solutions characterized by a train of trapped waves are found for interfacial flows past two obstacles. The wavelength of the trapped waves agrees well with the prediction of the linear dispersion relation. In addition, the effects of the relative location, aspect ratio, and convexity-concavity property of the obstacles on interface profiles are investigated