Assessing neural network scene classification from degraded images

Scene recognition is an essential component of both machine and biological vision. Recent advances in computer vision using deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated impressive sophistication in scene recognition, through training on large datasets of labeled scene images (Zhou et al. 2018, 2014). One criticism of CNN-based approaches is that performance may not generalize well beyond the training image set (Torralba and Efros 2011), and may be hampered by minor image modifications, which in some cases are barely perceptible to the human eye (Goodfellow et al. 2015; Szegedy et al. 2013). While these “adversarial examples” may be unlikely in natural contexts, during many real-world visual tasks scene information can be degraded or limited due to defocus blur, camera motion, sensor noise, or occluding objects. Here, we quantify the impact of several image degradations (some common, and some more exotic) on indoor/outdoor scene classification using CNNs. For comparison, we use human observers as a benchmark, and also evaluate performance against classifiers using limited, manually selected descriptors. While the CNNs outperformed the other classifiers and rivaled human accuracy for intact images, our results show that their classification accuracy is more affected by image degradations than human observers. On a practical level, however, accuracy of the CNNs remained well above chance for a wide range of image manipulations that disrupted both local and global image statistics. We also examine the level of image-by-image agreement with human observers, and find that the CNNs' agreement with observers varied as a function of the nature of image manipulation. In many cases, this agreement was not substantially different from the level one would expect to observe for two independent classifiers. Together, these results suggest that CNN-based scene classification techniques are relatively robust to several image degradations. However, the pattern of classifications obtained for ambiguous images does not appear to closely reflect the strategies employed by human observers

Library subject guides: A case study of evidence-informed library development

This paper describes the process whereby a university library investigated the value of its subject guides to its users. A literature review and surveys of library staff, library users and other libraries were carried out. Existing library subject guides and those of other higher education libraries were evaluated. The project team reported regularly to the wider library team throughout the year long investigation and made recommendations. The project served to develop the professional skills of the project team, to expand the knowledge of the wider library team and encouraged new ways of thinking about guide provision to users

Potential use of Microwave Technology in Dermatology

Background Microwaves are used in medicine for diagnostics, and treatment of cancer. Recently, novel microwave devices (Swift®, Emblation Ltd, UK and miraDry®, Miramar Labs Inc., CA) have been cleared by the FDA and Health Canada for various dermatological conditions. Objective and methods To review the dermatological use of microwave-based treatments (plantar warts, corns, actinic keratosis, dermatophytosis, axillary hyperhidrosis, osmidrosis, and hidradenitis suppurativa). Clinical trials, case reports, or in vitro studies for each condition are summarized. Results and conclusion Microwaves are a promising alternative therapy for cutaneous warts, actinic keratosis, axillary hyperhidrosis, and osmidrosis, with favorable safety profiles. However, patients with hidradenitis suppurativa have had negative clinical outcomes. Limited treatment of corns showed good pain reduction but did not resolve hyperkeratosis. A preliminary in vitro study indicated that microwave treatment inhibits the growth of T. rubrum. We present the first case of toenail onychomycosis successfully treated with microwaves. Despite the advancements in the use of microwaves, the mechanism of action in non-ablative treatment is not well understood; further research is needed. More high-quality randomized clinical trials with larger groups and long follow-up periods are also required to evaluate the clinical benefits and possible adverse effects of microwaves in treating dermatological conditions

Household Transmission of Rotavirus in a Community with Rotavirus Vaccination in Quininde, Ecuador

Background: We studied the transmission of rotavirus infection in households in peri-urban Ecuador in the vaccination era. Methods: Stool samples were collected from household contacts of child rotavirus cases, diarrhea controls and healthy controls following presentation of the index child to health facilities. Rotavirus infection status of contacts was determined by RT-qPCR. We examined factors associated with transmissibility (index-case characteristics) and susceptibility (householdcontact characteristics). Results: Amongst cases, diarrhea controls and healthy control household contacts, infection attack rates (iAR) were 55%, 8% and 2%, (n = 137, 130, 137) respectively. iARs were higher from index cases with vomiting, and amongst siblings. Disease ARs were higher when the index child was ,18 months and had vomiting, with household contact ,10 years and those sharing a room with the index case being more susceptible. We found no evidence of asymptomatic infections leading to disease transmission. Conclusion: Transmission rates of rotavirus are high in households with an infected child, while background infections are rare. We have identified factors associated with transmission (vomiting/young age of index case) and susceptibility (young age/sharing a room/being a sibling of the index case). Vaccination may lead to indirect benefits by averting episodes or reducing symptoms in vaccinees

Saturn’s F ring is intermittently shepherded by Prometheus

One of the stranger planetary rings is Saturn’s narrow, clumpy F ring, lying just outside the main rings, in a region disturbed by chaotic orbital dynamics. We show that the F ring has a stable “true core” that dominates its mass and is confined into discontinuous short arcs of particles larger than a few millimeters in radius. The more obvious micron-size particles seen in images, outlining and obscuring the true core, contribute only a small fraction of its mass. We found that these arcs of large particles orbit Saturn in a specific corotational resonance with the nearby 100-kilometer diameter ringmoon Prometheus, which stabilizes the F ring material and allows it to persist within the disturbed region for decades or longer. Toward the end of the observing period, a small chaotic glitch in the orbit of Prometheus temporarily disrupted the confinement, but the arcs seem to be able to adapt.</jats:p

Arthroscopic Treatment of Acetabular Retroversion With Acetabuloplasty and Subspine Decompression: A Matched Comparison With Patients Undergoing Arthroscopic Treatment for Focal Pincer-Type Femoroacetabular Impingement.

BackgroundGlobal acetabular retroversion is classically treated with open reverse periacetabular osteotomy. Given the low morbidity and recent success associated with the arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), there may also be a role for arthroscopic treatment of acetabular retroversion. However, the safety and outcomes after hip arthroscopic surgery for retroversion need further study, and the effect of impingement from the anterior inferior iliac spine (subspine) in patients with retroversion is currently unknown.HypothesisArthroscopic treatment for global acetabular retroversion will be safe, and patients will have similar outcomes compared with a matched group undergoing arthroscopic treatment for focal pincer-type FAI.Study designCohort study; Level of evidence, 2.MethodsPatients undergoing hip arthroscopic surgery for symptomatic global acetabular retroversion were prospectively enrolled and compared with a matched group of patients undergoing arthroscopic surgery for focal pincer-type FAI. Both groups underwent the same arthroscopic treatment protocol. All patients were administered patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures, including the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) Physical Component Summary (PCS) and a Mental Component Summary (MCS), modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively.ResultsThere were no differences in age, sex, or body mass index between 39 hips treated for global acetabular retroversion and 39 hips treated for focal pincer-type FAI. There were no major or minor complications in either group. Patients who underwent arthroscopic treatment for global acetabular retroversion demonstrated similar significant improvements in postoperative PRO scores (scores increased by 17 to 43 points) as patients who underwent arthroscopic treatment for focal pincer-type FAI. Patients treated for retroversion who also underwent subspine decompression had greater improvement than patients who did not undergo subspine decompression for the HOOS-Pain (33.7 ± 15.3 vs 22.5 ± 17.6, respectively; P = .046) and HOOS-Quality of Life (49.7 ± 18.8 vs 34.6 ± 22.0, respectively; P = .030) scores.ConclusionArthroscopic treatment for acetabular retroversion is safe and provides significant clinical improvement similar to arthroscopic treatment for pincer-type FAI. Patients with acetabular retroversion who also underwent arthroscopic subspine decompression demonstrated greater improvements in pain and quality of life outcomes than those who underwent arthroscopic treatment without subspine decompression

Heparin prevents Zika virus induced-cytopathic effects in human neural progenitor cells

The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak, which mainly affected Brazil and neighbouring states, demonstrated the paucity of information concerning the epidemiology of several flaviruses, but also highlighted the lack of available agents with which to treat such emerging diseases. Here, we show that heparin, a widely used anticoagulant, while exerting a modest inhibitory effect on Zika Virus replication, fully prevents virus-induced cell death of human neural progenitor cells (NPCs)

Use of domesticated pigs by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in northwestern Europe

Acknowledgements We thank the Archaeological State Museum Schleswig-Holstein, the Archaeological State Offices of Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and Saxony and the following individuals who provided sample material: Betty Arndt, Jo¨rg Ewersen, Frederick Feulner, Susanne Hanik, Ru¨diger Krause, Jochen Reinhard, Uwe Reuter, Karl-Heinz Ro¨hrig, Maguerita Scha¨fer, Jo¨rg Schibler, Reinhold Schoon, Regina Smolnik, Thomas Terberger and Ingrid Ulbricht. We are grateful to Ulrich Schmo¨lcke, Michael Forster, Peter Forster and Aikaterini Glykou for their support and comments on the manuscript. We also thank many institutions and individuals that provided sample material and access to collections, especially the curators of the Museum fu¨r Naturkunde, Berlin; Muse´um National d0 Histoire Naturelle, Paris; Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.; Zoologische Staatssammlung, Mu¨nchen; Museum fu¨r Haustierkunde, Halle; the American Museum of Natural History, New-York. This work was funded by the Graduate School ‘Human Development in Landscapes’ at Kiel University (CAU) and supported by NERC project Grant NE/F003382/1. Radiocarbon dating was carried out at the Leibniz Laboratory, CAU. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Blow-up profile of rotating 2D focusing Bose gases

We consider the Gross-Pitaevskii equation describing an attractive Bose gas trapped to a quasi 2D layer by means of a purely harmonic potential, and which rotates at a fixed speed of rotation $\Omega$. First we study the behavior of the ground state when the coupling constant approaches $a\_*$ , the critical strength of the cubic nonlinearity for the focusing nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equation. We prove that blow-up always happens at the center of the trap, with the blow-up profile given by the Gagliardo-Nirenberg solution. In particular, the blow-up scenario is independent of $\Omega$, to leading order. This generalizes results obtained by Guo and Seiringer (Lett. Math. Phys., 2014, vol. 104, p. 141--156) in the non-rotating case. In a second part we consider the many-particle Hamiltonian for $N$ bosons, interacting with a potential rescaled in the mean-field manner $--a\_N N^{2\beta--1} w(N^{\beta} x), with$w$a positive function such that$\int\_{\mathbb{R}^2} w(x) dx = 1$. Assuming that$\beta < 1/2$and that$a\_N \to a\_*$sufficiently slowly, we prove that the many-body system is fully condensed on the Gross-Pitaevskii ground state in the limit$N \to \infty$

<i>C-elegans</i> model identifies genetic modifiers of alpha-synuclein inclusion formation during aging

Inclusions in the brain containing alpha-synuclein are the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease, but how these inclusions are formed and how this links to disease is poorly understood. We have developed a &lt;i&gt;C-elegans&lt;/i&gt; model that makes it possible to monitor, in living animals, the formation of alpha-synuclein inclusions. In worms of old age, inclusions contain aggregated alpha-synuclein, resembling a critical pathological feature. We used genome-wide RNA interference to identify processes involved in inclusion formation, and identified 80 genes that, when knocked down, resulted in a premature increase in the number of inclusions. Quality control and vesicle-trafficking genes expressed in the ER/Golgi complex and vesicular compartments were overrepresented, indicating a specific role for these processes in alpha-synuclein inclusion formation. Suppressors include aging-associated genes, such as sir-2.1/SIRT1 and lagr-1/LASS2. Altogether, our data suggest a link between alpha-synuclein inclusion formation and cellular aging, likely through an endomembrane-related mechanism. The processes and genes identified here present a framework for further study of the disease mechanism and provide candidate susceptibility genes and drug targets for Parkinson's disease and other alpha-synuclein related disorders