Writ(h)ing Images: Imagination, the Human Form, and the Divine in William Blake, Salman Rushdie, and Simon Louvish

In this paper, we address issues in segmentation Of remotely sensed LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) data. The LIDAR data, which were captured by airborne laser scanner, contain 2.5 dimensional (2.5D) terrain surface height information, e.g. houses, vegetation, flat field, river, basin, etc. Our aim in this paper is to segment ground (flat field)from non-ground (houses and high vegetation) in hilly urban areas. By projecting the 2.5D data onto a surface, we obtain a texture map as a grey-level image. Based on the image, Gabor wavelet filters are applied to generate Gabor wavelet features. These features are then grouped into various windows. Among these windows, a combination of their first and second order of statistics is used as a measure to determine the surface properties. The test results have shown that ground areas can successfully be segmented from LIDAR data. Most buildings and high vegetation can be detected. In addition, Gabor wavelet transform can partially remove hill or slope effects in the original data by tuning Gabor parameters

Role of surgical hyoid bone repositioning in modifying upper airway collapsibility

Background: Surgical hyoid bone repositioning procedures are being performed to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), though outcomes are highly variable. This is likely due to lack of knowledge regarding the precise influence of hyoid bone position on upper airway patency. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of surgical hyoid bone repositioning on upper airway collapsibility.Methods: Seven anaesthetized, male, New Zealand White rabbits were positioned supine with head/neck position controlled. The rabbit’s upper airway was surgically isolated and hyoid bone exposed to allow manipulation of its position using a custom-made device. A sealed facemask was fitted over the rabbit’s snout, and mask/upper airway pressures were monitored. Collapsibility was quantified using upper airway closing pressure (Pclose). The hyoid bone was repositioned within the mid-sagittal plane from 0 to 5 mm (1 mm increments) in anterior, cranial, caudal, anterior-cranial (45°) and anterior-caudal (45°) directions.Results: Anterior displacement of the hyoid bone resulted in the greatest decrease in Pclose amongst all directions (p = 0.002). Pclose decreased progressively with each increment of anterior hyoid bone displacement, and down by −4.0 ± 1.3 cmH2O at 5 mm. Cranial and caudal hyoid bone displacement did not alter Pclose (p > 0.35). Anterior-cranial and anterior-caudal hyoid bone displacements decreased Pclose significantly (p < 0.004) and at similar magnitudes to the anterior direction (p > 0.68).Conclusion: Changes in upper airway collapsibility following hyoid bone repositioning are both direction and magnitude dependent. Anterior-based repositioning directions have the greatest impact on reducing upper airway collapsibility, with no effect on collapsibility by cranial and caudal directions. Findings may have implications for guiding and improving the outcomes of surgical hyoid interventions for the treatment of OSA

Desmopressin for reversal of Antiplatelet drugs in Stroke due to Haemorrhage (DASH): protocol for a phase II double-blind randomised controlled feasibility trial

IntroductionIntracerebral haemorrhage can be devastating and is a common cause of death and disability worldwide. Pre-intracerebral haemorrhage antiplatelet drug use is associated with a 27% relative increase in one-month case fatality compared to patients not using antithrombotic drugs. We aim to assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled testing the safety and efficacy of desmopressin for patients with antiplatelet-associated intracerebral haemorrhage.Methods and AnalysisWe aim to include 50 patients within 24 hours of spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage onset, associated with oral antiplatelet drug(s) use in at least the preceding seven days. Patients will be randomised (1:1) to receive intravenous desmopressin 20μg in 50 mls sodium chloride 0.9% infused over 20 minutes or matching placebo. We will mask participants, relatives and outcome assessors to treatment allocation. Feasibility outcomes include proportion of patients approached being randomised, number of patients receiving allocated treatment, rate of recruitment, and adherence to treatment and follow up. Secondary outcomes include change in intracerebral haemorrhage volume at 24 hours; hyponatraemia at 24 hours, length of hospital stay, discharge destination, early death less than 28 days, death or dependency at day 90, death up to day 90, serious adverse events (including thromboembolic events) up to day 90; disability (Barthel index, day 90), quality of life (EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D], day 90), cognition (telephone mini-mental state examination day 90), and health economic assessment (EQ-5D).Ethics and disseminationThe DASH trial received ethical approval from the East Midlands - Nottingham 2 research ethics committee (18/EM/0184). The DASH trial is funded by NIHR RfPB grant: PB-PG-0816-20011. Trial results will be published in a peer reviewed academic journal and disseminated through academic conferences and through patient stroke support groups. Reporting will be in compliance with CONSORT recommendations

Collective magnetism in an artificial 2D XY spin system

This work was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF project grants 200021-155917, 200021-159736, and 200021-172774). D.L. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 701647. J.R.L.M. is grateful to the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research, Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology (NCCR MUST).Two-dimensional magnetic systems with continuous spin degrees of freedom exhibit a rich spectrum of thermal behaviour due to the strong competition between fluctuations and correlations. When such systems incorporate coupling via the anisotropic dipolar interaction, a discrete symmetry emerges, which can be spontaneously broken leading to a low-temperature ordered phase. However, the experimental realisation of such two-dimensional spin systems in crystalline materials is difficult since the dipolar coupling is usually much weaker than the exchange interaction. Here we realise two-dimensional magnetostatically coupled XY spin systems with nanoscale thermally active magnetic discs placed on square lattices. Using low-energy muon-spin relaxation and soft X-ray scattering, we observe correlated dynamics at the critical temperature and the emergence of static long-range order at low temperatures, which is compatible with theoretical predictions for dipolar-coupled XY spin systems. Furthermore, by modifying the sample design, we demonstrate the possibility to tune the collective magnetic behaviour in thermally active artificial spin systems with continuous degrees of freedom.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Trans-ethnic Meta-analysis and Functional Annotation Illuminates the Genetic Architecture of Fasting Glucose and Insulin

Knowledge of the genetic basis of the type 2 diabetes (T2D)-related quantitative traits fasting glucose (FG) and insulin (FI) in African ancestry (AA) individuals has been limited. In non-diabetic subjects of AA (n = 20,209) and European ancestry (EA; n = 57,292), we performed trans-ethnic (AA+EA) fine-mapping of 54 established EA FG or FI loci with detailed functional annotation, assessed their relevance in AA individuals, and sought previously undescribed loci through trans-ethnic (AA+EA) meta-analysis. We narrowed credible sets of variants driving association signals for 22/54 EA-associated loci; 18/22 credible sets overlapped with active islet-specific enhancers or transcription factor (TF) binding sites, and 21/22 contained at least one TF motif. Of the 54 EA-associated loci, 23 were shared between EA and AA. Replication with an additional 10,096 AA individuals identified two previously undescribed FI loci, chrX FAM133A (rs213676) and chr5 PELO (rs6450057). Trans-ethnic analyses with regulatory annotation illuminate the genetic architecture of glycemic traits and suggest gene regulation as a target to advance precision medicine for T2D. Our approach to utilize state-of-the-art functional annotation and implement trans-ethnic association analysis for discovery and fine-mapping offers a framework for further follow-up and characterization of GWAS signals of complex trait loc

Genome-wide meta-analysis associates HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA and lifestyle factors with human longevity

Genomic analysis of longevity offers the potential to illuminate the biology of human aging. Here, using genome-wide association meta-analysis of 606,059 parents' survival, we discover two regions associated with longevity (HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA). We also validate previous suggestions that APOE, CHRNA3/5, CDKN2A/B, SH2B3 and FOXO3A influence longevity. Next we show that giving up smoking, educational attainment, openness to new experience and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are most positively genetically correlated with lifespan while susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD), cigarettes smoked per day, lung cancer, insulin resistance and body fat are most negatively correlated. We suggest that the effect of education on lifespan is principally mediated through smoking while the effect of obesity appears to act via CAD. Using instrumental variables, we suggest that an increase of one body mass index unit reduces lifespan by 7 months while 1 year of education adds 11 months to expected lifespan.Variability in human longevity is genetically influenced. Using genetic data of parental lifespan, the authors identify associations at HLA-DQA/DRB1 and LPA and find that genetic variants that increase educational attainment have a positive effect on lifespan whereas increasing BMI negatively affects lifespan

Genome-wide meta-analysis associates HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA and lifestyle factors with human longevity

Genomic analysis of longevity offers the potential to illuminate the biology of human aging. Here, using genome-wide association meta-analysis of 606,059 parents' survival, we discover two regions associated with longevity (HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA). We also validate previous suggestions that APOE, CHRNA3/5, CDKN2A/B, SH2B3 and FOXO3A influence longevity. Next we show that giving up smoking, educational attainment, openness to new experience and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are most positively genetically correlated with lifespan while susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD), cigarettes smoked per day, lung cancer, insulin resistance and body fat are most negatively correlated. We suggest that the effect of education on lifespan is principally mediated through smoking while the effect of obesity appears to act via CAD. Using instrumental variables, we suggest that an increase of one body mass index unit reduces lifespan by 7 months while 1 year of education adds 11 months to expected lifespan

Discovery and fine-mapping of adiposity loci using high density imputation of genome-wide association studies in individuals of African ancestry: African Ancestry Anthropometry Genetics Consortium

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >300 loci associated with measures of adiposity including body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), but few have been identified through screening of the African ancestry genomes. We performed large scale meta-analyses and replications in up to 52,895 individuals for BMI and up to 23,095 individuals for WHRadjBMI from the African Ancestry Anthropometry Genetics Consortium (AAAGC) using 1000 Genomes phase 1 imputed GWAS to improve coverage of both common and low frequency variants in the low linkage disequilibrium African ancestry genomes. In the sex-combined analyses, we identified one novel locus (TCF7L2/HABP2) for WHRadjBMI and eight previously established loci at P < 5×10−8: seven for BMI, and one for WHRadjBMI in African ancestry individuals. An additional novel locus (SPRYD7/DLEU2) was identified for WHRadjBMI when combined with European GWAS. In the sex-stratified analyses, we identified three novel loci for BMI (INTS10/LPL and MLC1 in men, IRX4/IRX2 in women) and four for WHRadjBMI (SSX2IP, CASC8, PDE3B and ZDHHC1/HSD11B2 in women) in individuals of African ancestry or both African and European ancestry. For four of the novel variants, the minor allele frequency was low (<5%). In the trans-ethnic fine mapping of 47 BMI loci and 27 WHRadjBMI loci that were locus-wide significant (P < 0.05 adjusted for effective number of variants per locus) from the African ancestry sex-combined and sex-stratified analyses, 26 BMI loci and 17 WHRadjBMI loci contained ≤ 20 variants in the credible sets that jointly account for 99% posterior probability of driving the associations. The lead variants in 13 of these loci had a high probability of being causal. As compared to our previous HapMap imputed GWAS for BMI and WHRadjBMI including up to 71,412 and 27,350 African ancestry individuals, respectively, our results suggest that 1000 Genomes imputation showed modest improvement in identifying GWAS loci including low frequency variants. Trans-ethnic meta-analyses further improved fine mapping of putative causal variants in loci shared between the African and European ancestry populations