Lei Feng: China\u27s Evolving Cultural Icon, 1960s to the Present

In 1962, very few people within the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) had ever heard of Lei Feng, a young soldier who died in a tragic accident while driving a truck for the People\u27s Liberation Army. The following year, his name was known throughout China as one of the finest young soldiers that the country had ever produced. In years to come, his diary was put in the hands of everyone from school children to soldiers to serve as a model for the ideal Chinese citizen. Furthermore, as Chinese culture evolved, so did the Lei Feng image, changing from citizen-soldier in 1963 to socialist entrepreneur after 1978. This study\u27s focus is how Lei Feng has become not only a model Chinese citizen-soldier and entrepreneur, but a successful example to fellow nations of how they, too, could mold the ideals of their citizens for generations to come

Détection et contrôle par filtrage adaptatif des zones de frontière dans des images multitexturées

La segmentation automatique des images en régions pose le compromis classique entre la formation des régions et la détection des frontières. Dans le cadre des images multitexturées, cette dualité s'exprime dans un espace multidimensionnel, celui des attributs caractérisant les textures. Ici les attributs sont les énergies en sortie de filtres de type passe-bande orienté (filtre de Gabor 2D) intégrées sur une région d'intérêt de taille limitée. En décrivant les caractéristiques spectrales des zones de frontière entre textures, et en utilisant leurs propriétés, on montre que l'on peut diminuer l'incertitude de la position d'une frontière tout en maintenant une formation en région. Cela est réalisé par un processus simple de régularisation pour réaliser de manière adaptative l'intégration spatiale des mesures d'énergie caractérisant les textures

Gabor filter implementation by low-pass image pyramid

For applications needing orientation analysis, Gabor functions provide a well-known and frequently used wavelet decomposition. Localised band-pass low frequency filters, if implemented through direct convolution, lead to costly orientation image decompositions. Association with pyramidal representations yields a more efficient Gabor filter implementation, but this non-orthogona l gaussian decomposition alters the filters overall spectral characteristics . To counteract this effect, corrective action must be take n during the generation of the convolution kernels . Two examples of pyramidal decomposition illustrate the efficiency of our Gabo r filter implementation .Pour les applications nécessitant une analyse par orientations, les fonctions de Gabor produisent une décomposition en ondelettes très utilisée. Cette décomposition par orientation est très lourde en temps de calcul, pour des filtres orientés de type passe-bande positionnés à basse fréquence et appliqués par convolution directe. L'association avec des représentations pyramidales permet une implantation plus efficace des filtres de Gabor. A travers des pyramides non orthogonales comme le sont celles à base de filtrage gaussien, le filtre de Gabor subit des modifications de caractéristiques spectrales. Pour annuler ces modifications, des corrections adéquates doivent être prises en compte dès la génération du noyau de convolution. Deux exemples de décomposition pyramidale sont étudiés, à titre d'illustration et de comparaison

The effect of exercise on glucoregulatory hormones: A countermeasure to human aging: Insights from a comprehensive review of the literature

Hormones are secreted in a circadian rhythm, but also follow larger-scale timetables, such as monthly (hormones of the menstrual cycle), seasonal (i.e., winter, summer), and, ultimately, lifespan-related patterns. Several contexts modulate their secretion, such as genetics, lifestyle, environment, diet, and exercise. They play significant roles in human physiology, influencing growth of muscle, bone, and regulating metabolism. Exercise training alters hormone secretion, depending on the frequency, duration, intensity, and mode of training which has an impact on the magnitude of the secretion. However, there remains ambiguity over the effects of exercise training on certain hormones such as glucoregulatory hormones in aging adults. With advancing age, there are many alterations with the endocrine system, which may ultimately alter human physiology. Some recent studies have reported an anti-aging effect of exercise training on the endocrine system and especially cortisol, growth hormone and insulin. As such, this review examines the effects of endurance, interval, resistance and combined training on hormones (i.e., at rest and after) exercise in older individuals. We summarize the influence of age on glucoregulatory hormones, the influence of exercise training, and where possible, examine masters " athletes " endocrinological profile.Scopu

Proposition d'un indice de synchronisation pour la validation de modèles de réponses neuronales à des stimuli périodiques

Il est courant d'évaluer le degré de synchronisation d'une réponse neuronale à un stimulus périodique pour la caractériser. En neurophysiologie et par conséquent en modélisation, la mesure du vecteur dominant de Goldberg et Brown (1969) est très répandue. Les défauts de cet indice sont explicités et un nouvel indice les corrigeant est proposé. Une base de tests est construite pour évaluer le comportement de ceux-ci dans différentes situations. Il apparaît d'une part que l'interprétation en termes de synchronisation de l'indice vecteur dominant doit être faite avec précaution, et d'autre part que le nouvel indice est une mesure qui, à elle seule, permet de mieux rendre compte de la synchronisation d'une réponse neuronale. Cet indice est paramétrable, ce qui offre un certain éventail de comportements

Impact of cervical screening on cervical cancer mortality: estimation using stage-specific results from a nested case-control study

Cancer Research UK (A16892 to P.S.)

A two-state Raman coupler for coherent atom optics

We present results on a Raman laser-system that resonantly drives a closed two-photon transition between two levels in different hyperfine ground states of 87Rb. The coupler is based on a novel optical design for producing two phase-coherent optical beams to drive a Raman transition. Operated as an outcoupler, it produces an atom laser in a single internal atomic state, with the lower divergence and increased brightness typical of a Raman outcoupler. Due to the optical nature of the outcoupling, the two-state outcoupler is an ideal candidate for transferring photon correlations onto atom-laser beams. As our laser system couples just two hyperfine ground states, it has also been used as an internal state beamsplitter, taking the next major step towards free space Ramsey interferometry with an atom laser.Comment: 7 Pages, 4 figures: Revised and published in Optics Expres

Study protocol to investigate the effect of a lifestyle intervention on body weight, psychological health status and risk factors associated with disease recurrence in women recovering from breast cancer treatment

Background Breast cancer survivors often encounter physiological and psychological problems related to their diagnosis and treatment that can influence long-term prognosis. The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of a lifestyle intervention on body weight and psychological well-being in women recovering from breast cancer treatment, and to determine the relationship between changes in these variables and biomarkers associated with disease recurrence and survival. Methods/design Following ethical approval, a total of 100 patients will be randomly assigned to a lifestyle intervention (incorporating dietary energy restriction in conjunction with aerobic exercise training) or normal care control group. Patients randomised to the dietary and exercise intervention will be given individualised healthy eating dietary advice and written information and attend moderate intensity aerobic exercise sessions on three to five days per week for a period of 24 weeks. The aim of this strategy is to induce a steady weight loss of up to 0.5 Kg each week. In addition, the overall quality of the diet will be examined with a view to (i) reducing the dietary intake of fat to ~25% of the total calories, (ii) eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, (iii) increasing the intake of fibre and reducing refined carbohydrates, and (iv) taking moderate amounts of alcohol. Outcome measures will include body weight and body composition, psychological health status (stress and depression), cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life. In addition, biomarkers associated with disease recurrence, including stress hormones, estrogen status, inflammatory markers and indices of innate and adaptive immune function will be monitored. Discussion This research will provide valuable information on the effectiveness of a practical, easily implemented lifestyle intervention for evoking positive effects on body weight and psychological well-being, two important factors that can influence long-term prognosis in breast cancer survivors. However, the added value of the study is that it will also evaluate the effects of the lifestyle intervention on a range of biomarkers associated with disease recurrence and survival. Considered together, the results should improve our understanding of the potential role that lifestyle-modifiable factors could play in saving or prolonging lives

The biology of inequalities in health: The LIFEPATH project

Socioeconomic differences in health have been consistently observed worldwide. Physical health deteriorates more rapidly with age among men and women with lower socioeconomic status (SES) than among those with higher SES. The biological processes underlying these differences are best understood by adopting a life course approach. In this paper we introduce the pan- European LIFEPATH project which uses multiple cohorts - including biomarker data - to investigate ageing as a phenomenon with two broad stages across life: build-up and decline. The ‘build-up’ stage, from conception and early intra-uterine life to late adolescence or early twenties, is characterised by rapid successions of developmentally and socially sensitive periods. The second stage, starting in early adulthood, is a period of ‘decline’ from maximum attained health to loss of function, overt disease and death. LIFEPATH adopts a study design that integrates social science and public health approaches with biology (including molecular epidemiology), using well-characterised population cohorts and omics measurements (particularly epigenomics). LIFEPATH includes information and biological samples from 17 cohorts, including several with extensive phenotyping and repeat biological samples, and a very large cohort (1 million individuals) without biological samples (WHIP, from Italy). The countries that are covered by the cohorts are France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, UK, Finland, Switzerland and Australia. These cohorts are only a small proportion of all cohorts available in Europe, but we have chosen them for the combination of good measures of socioeconomic status, risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and biomarkers already measured (or availability of blood samples for further testing). The majority of cohorts include ‘hard’ outcomes (diabetes, cancer, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), total mortality), and the extensively phenotyped cohorts also include several measurements of the functional components of healthy ageing, including frailty, impaired vision, cognitive function, renal and brain function, osteoporosis, sleep disturbances and mental health. All age groups are represented with two birth cohorts, one cohort of adolescents and several cohorts encompassing young adults (age 18 and above). Furthermore, there is a strong representation of elderly subjects in seven cohorts. The specific objectives of the project are: (a) to show that healthy ageing is an achievable goal for society; (b) to improve the understanding of the mechanisms through which healthy ageing pathways diverge by SES, by investigating life course biological pathways using omic technologies; (c) to examine the consequences of the current economic recession on health and the biology of ageing (and the consequent increase in social inequalities); (d) to provide updated, relevant and innovative evidence for healthy ageing policies (particularly ‘health in all policies’) using both observational studies and an experimental approach based on a reanalysis of data from a ‘conditional cash transfer’ randomised experiment in New York and new data collected as part of an earned income tax credit randomised experiment in Atlanta and New York. To achieve these objectives, data are used from three categories of studies: 1. national census-based followup data to obtain mortality by socioeconomic status; 2. cohorts with intense phenotyping and repeat biological samples; 3. large cohorts with biological samples. With these objectives and methodologies, LIFEPATH seeks to provide updated, relevant and innovative evidence to underpin future policies and strategies for the promotion of healthy ageing, targeted disease prevention and clinical interventions that address the issue of social disparities in ageing and the social determinants of health. The present paper describes the design and some initial results of LIFEPATH as an example of the integration of social and biological sciences to provide evidence for public health policies