Entropy Projection Curved Gabor with Random Forest and SVM for Face Recognition

In this work, we propose a workflow for face recognition under occlusion using the entropy projection from the curved Gabor filter, and create a representative and compact features vector that describes a face. Despite the reduced vector obtained by the entropy projection, it still presents opportunity for further dimensionality reduction. Therefore, we use a Random Forest classifier as an attribute selector, providing a 97% reduction of the original vector while keeping suitable accuracy. A set of experiments using three public image databases: AR Face, Extended Yale B with occlusion and FERET illustrates the proposed methodology, evaluated using the SVM classifier. The results obtained in the experiments show promising results when compared to the available approaches in the literature, obtaining 98.05% accuracy for the complete AR Face, 97.26% for FERET and 81.66% with Yale with 50% occlusion

Decolonising violence against women research: a study design for co-developing violence prevention interventions with communities in low and middle income countries (LMICs)

BACKGROUND: There has been substantial progress in research on preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the last 20 years. While the evidence suggests the potential of well-designed curriculum-based interventions that target known risk factors of violence at the community level, this has certain limitations for working in partnership with communities in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries, particularly when it comes to addressing the power dynamics embedded within north-south research relationships. METHODS: As an alternative approach, we outline the study design for the EVE Project: a formative research project implemented in partnership with community-based researchers in Samoa and Amantaní (Peru) using a participatory co-design approach to VAWG prevention research. We detail the methods we will use to overcome the power dynamics that have been historically embedded in Western research practices, including: collaboratively defining and agreeing research guidelines before the start of the project, co-creating theories of change with community stakeholders, identifying local understandings of violence to inform the selection and measurement of potential outcomes, and co-designing VAWG prevention interventions with communities. DISCUSSION: Indigenous knowledge and ways of thinking have often been undermined historically by Western research practices, contributing to repeated calls for better recognition of Southern epistemologies. The EVE Project design outlines our collective thinking on how to address this gap and to further VAWG prevention through the meaningful participation of communities affected by violence in the research and design of their own interventions. We also discuss the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the project in ways that have both disrupted and expanded the potential for a better transfer of power to the communities involved. This article offers specific strategies for integrating Southern epistemologies into VAWG research practices in four domains: ethics, theories of change, measurement, and intervention design. Our aim is to create new spaces for engagement between indigenous ways of thinking and the evidence that has been established from the past two decades of VAWG prevention research and practice

Feature selection for chemical sensor arrays using mutual information

We address the problem of feature selection for classifying a diverse set of chemicals using an array of metal oxide sensors. Our aim is to evaluate a filter approach to feature selection with reference to previous work, which used a wrapper approach on the same data set, and established best features and upper bounds on classification performance. We selected feature sets that exhibit the maximal mutual information with the identity of the chemicals. The selected features closely match those found to perform well in the previous study using a wrapper approach to conduct an exhaustive search of all permitted feature combinations. By comparing the classification performance of support vector machines (using features selected by mutual information) with the performance observed in the previous study, we found that while our approach does not always give the maximum possible classification performance, it always selects features that achieve classification performance approaching the optimum obtained by exhaustive search. We performed further classification using the selected feature set with some common classifiers and found that, for the selected features, Bayesian Networks gave the best performance. Finally, we compared the observed classification performances with the performance of classifiers using randomly selected features. We found that the selected features consistently outperformed randomly selected features for all tested classifiers. The mutual information filter approach is therefore a computationally efficient method for selecting near optimal features for chemical sensor arrays

Effect of Biodiversity Changes in Disease Risk: Exploring Disease Emergence in a Plant-Virus System

The effect of biodiversity on the ability of parasites to infect their host and cause disease (i.e. disease risk) is a major question in pathology, which is central to understand the emergence of infectious diseases, and to develop strategies for their management. Two hypotheses, which can be considered as extremes of a continuum, relate biodiversity to disease risk: One states that biodiversity is positively correlated with disease risk (Amplification Effect), and the second predicts a negative correlation between biodiversity and disease risk (Dilution Effect). Which of them applies better to different host-parasite systems is still a source of debate, due to limited experimental or empirical data. This is especially the case for viral diseases of plants. To address this subject, we have monitored for three years the prevalence of several viruses, and virus-associated symptoms, in populations of wild pepper (chiltepin) under different levels of human management. For each population, we also measured the habitat species diversity, host plant genetic diversity and host plant density. Results indicate that disease and infection risk increased with the level of human management, which was associated with decreased species diversity and host genetic diversity, and with increased host plant density. Importantly, species diversity of the habitat was the primary predictor of disease risk for wild chiltepin populations. This changed in managed populations where host genetic diversity was the primary predictor. Host density was generally a poorer predictor of disease and infection risk. These results support the dilution effect hypothesis, and underline the relevance of different ecological factors in determining disease/infection risk in host plant populations under different levels of anthropic influence. These results are relevant for managing plant diseases and for establishing conservation policies for endangered plant species

Comparative effectiveness of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue as add-on therapies to sulphonylurea among diabetes patients in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is rising globally, and it induces a substantial public health burden to the healthcare systems. Its optimal control is one of the most significant challenges faced by physicians and policy-makers. Whereas some of the established oral hypoglycaemic drug classes like biguanide, sulphonylureas, thiazolidinediones have been extensively used, the newer agents like dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and the human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues have recently emerged as suitable options due to their similar efficacy and favorable side effect profiles. These agents are widely recognized alternatives to the traditional oral hypoglycaemic agents or insulin, especially in conditions where they are contraindicated or unacceptable to patients. Many studies which evaluated their clinical effects, either alone or as add-on agents, were conducted in Western countries. There exist few reviews on their effectiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. The purpose of this systematic review is to address the comparative effectiveness of these new classes of medications as add-on therapies to sulphonylurea drugs among diabetic patients in the Asia-Pacific countries. We conducted a thorough literature search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE from the inception of these databases to August 2013, supplemented by an additional manual search using reference lists from research studies, meta-analyses and review articles as retrieved by the electronic databases. A total of nine randomized controlled trials were identified and described in this article. It was found that DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 analogues were in general effective as add-on therapies to existing sulphonylurea therapies, achieving HbA1c reductions by a magnitude of 0.59–0.90% and 0.77–1.62%, respectively. Few adverse events including hypoglycaemic attacks were reported. Therefore, these two new drug classes represent novel therapies with great potential to be major therapeutic options. Future larger-scale research should be conducted among other Asia-Pacific region to evaluate their efficacy in other ethnic groups

An approach for the identification of targets specific to bone metastasis using cancer genes interactome and gene ontology analysis

Metastasis is one of the most enigmatic aspects of cancer pathogenesis and is a major cause of cancer-associated mortality. Secondary bone cancer (SBC) is a complex disease caused by metastasis of tumor cells from their primary site and is characterized by intricate interplay of molecular interactions. Identification of targets for multifactorial diseases such as SBC, the most frequent complication of breast and prostate cancers, is a challenge. Towards achieving our aim of identification of targets specific to SBC, we constructed a 'Cancer Genes Network', a representative protein interactome of cancer genes. Using graph theoretical methods, we obtained a set of key genes that are relevant for generic mechanisms of cancers and have a role in biological essentiality. We also compiled a curated dataset of 391 SBC genes from published literature which serves as a basis of ontological correlates of secondary bone cancer. Building on these results, we implement a strategy based on generic cancer genes, SBC genes and gene ontology enrichment method, to obtain a set of targets that are specific to bone metastasis. Through this study, we present an approach for probing one of the major complications in cancers, namely, metastasis. The results on genes that play generic roles in cancer phenotype, obtained by network analysis of 'Cancer Genes Network', have broader implications in understanding the role of molecular regulators in mechanisms of cancers. Specifically, our study provides a set of potential targets that are of ontological and regulatory relevance to secondary bone cancer.Comment: 54 pages (19 pages main text; 11 Figures; 26 pages of supplementary information). Revised after critical reviews. Accepted for Publication in PLoS ON

IFNAR1-Signalling Obstructs ICOS-mediated Humoral Immunity during Non-lethal Blood-Stage Plasmodium Infection

Funding: This work was funded by a Career Development Fellowship (1028634) and a project grant (GRNT1028641) awarded to AHa by the Australian National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC). IS was supported by The University of Queensland Centennial and IPRS Scholarships. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Reciprocal relationship between expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and the pro-apoptotic protein Bid in ex vivo colorectal cancer

Hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) represses the transcription of pro-apoptotic bid in colorectal cancer cells in vitro. To assess the clinical relevance of this observation, HIF-1α and Bid were assessed in serial sections of 39 human colorectal adenocarcinomas by immunohistochemistry. In high HIF-1α nuclear-positive cell subpopulations, there was a significant reduction in Bid expression (ANOVA, P=0.04). Given the role of Bid in drug-induced apoptosis, these data add impetus to strategies targeting HIF-1 for therapeutic gain

Circumstellar discs: What will be next?

This prospective chapter gives our view on the evolution of the study of circumstellar discs within the next 20 years from both observational and theoretical sides. We first present the expected improvements in our knowledge of protoplanetary discs as for their masses, sizes, chemistry, the presence of planets as well as the evolutionary processes shaping these discs. We then explore the older debris disc stage and explain what will be learnt concerning their birth, the intrinsic links between these discs and planets, the hot dust and the gas detected around main sequence stars as well as discs around white dwarfs.Comment: invited review; comments welcome (32 pages