Models of preconception care implementation in selected countries.

Globally, maternal and child health faces diverse challenges depending on the status of the development of the country. Some countries have introduced or explored preconception care for various reasons. Falling birth rates and increasing knowledge about risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes led to the introduction of preconception care in Hong Kong in 1998, and South Korea in 2004. In Hong Kong, comprehensive preconception care including laboratory tests are provided to over 4000 women each year at a cost of $75 per person. In Korea, about 60$12) for preconception health care services. These case studies illustrate programmatic feasibility of preconception care services to address maternal and child health and other public health challenges in developed and emerging economies

Short-term gain, long-term pain: the senescence life cycle and cancer.

Originally thought of as a stress response end point, the view of cellular senescence has since evolved into one encompassing a wide range of physiological and pathological functions, including both protumorignic and antitumorigenic features. It has also become evident that senescence is a highly dynamic and heterogenous process. Efforts to reconcile the beneficial and detrimental features of senescence suggest that physiological functions require the transient presence of senescent cells in the tissue microenvironment. Here, we propose the concept of a physiological "senescence life cycle," which has pathological consequences if not executed in its entirety.The Narita laboratory is funded by a Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute Core Grant (C14303/A17197). Masashi Narita is also supported by Cancer Research UK Early Detection Pump Priming award (C20/A20976), Medical Research Council (MR/R010013/1) and the Tokyo Tech World Research Hub Initiative (WRHI)

Invited - Temporal information processing for in-sensor computing based on amorphous IGZO phototransistor

On facing the massive and unstructured data processing, it is imperative to emulate artificial neural networks with new physical hardware architectures in addition to software-based approaches, to overcome the barrier of the von Neumann bottleneck. By mimicking the human visual sensing system, the optoelectronic devices, which can perform data compression and reduce the network size through the reconstruction of input signals, are promising to develop the neuromorphic in-sensor computing for minimizing the time latency as well as improving the energy efficiency. In this work, we demonstrate an amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) phototransistor with ZrOx high-k dielectric layer with distinct responses to various optical stimulation inputs. Due to the persistent photoconductivity (PPC) effect of a-IGZO after lighting, our device is able to exhibit synaptic functions via the application of 405 nm light spikes, such as paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) and short-term memory (STM). Furthermore, in order to perform the temporal optical signals processing, the a-IGZO phototransistor is stimulated by four-timeframe temporal pulse streams composed of 405 nm light spikes and it expresses the different temporal responses. The distinct output photocurrent response reveals that the a-IGZO phototransistor can be applied to distinguish the time-series input light signals. Accordingly, the a-IGZO phototransistor have a promising potential for processing optical temporal information and can possibly be implemented for visual in-sensor computing techniques. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract

Modular dynamic RBF neural network for face recognition

Over the years, we have seen an increase in the use of RBF neural networks for the task of face recognition. However, the use of second order algorithms as the learning algorithm for all the adjustable parameters in such networks are rare due to the high computational complexity of the calculation of the Jacobian and Hessian matrix. Hence, in this paper, we propose a modular structural training architecture to adapt the Levenberg-Marquardt based RBF neural network for the application of face recognition. In addition to the proposal of the modular structural training architecture, we have also investigated the use of different front-end processors to reduce the dimension size of the feature vectors prior to its application to the LM-based RBF neural network. The investigative study was done on three standard face databases; ORL, Yale and AR databases

A hierarchical climatic zoning method for energy efficient building design applied in the region with diverse climate characteristics

The climate-responsive strategies for energy efficient building design and management require a detailed understanding of the local climatic conditions, while climate zones are fundamental to building regulations and the application of technologies. Smaller and more homogeneous climate zones could help policy-makers and building designers to improve building energy efficiency while improving the indoor thermal environment. A new climate zoning method, with two-tier classification designed for passive building design, is proposed, using climate data (degree-days, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind speed) with Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) following the Ward’s method. The method is applied to the Hot Summer and Cold Winter (HSCW) zone of China as a showcase, where there are no fine climate zones for energy efficient building design with diverse climate characteristics. Seven sub-zones that consider both cooling and heating demands are generated in Tier 1. In the second tier, the HSCW zone is further sub-divided into three humidity groups, three solar radiation clusters, and four wind speed clusters. To assess the impact of climate zoning on building heating and cooling, EnergyPlus simulations are conducted with the output of heating and cooling load. The cooling loads decrease from sub-zone A to B to C (mean = 82.8, 65.3, 43.8 kWh m-2, respectively) with sub-zone mean heating A1 larger than A2 and A3, B1 larger than B2, and C1 larger than C2, which is in accordance with the assumption made in the first-tier division. The higher wind speeds can raise the possibility of natural ventilation, and further increase the free-running period (FRP) when heating and cooling are not needed. The proposed zones are mapped and provide a useful reference for the policy/building code makers for heating and cooling strategies in this region. The method to create the climate zones could be applied in any region with local climate data

Promoting tau secretion and propagation by hyperactive p300/CBP via autophagy-lysosomal pathway in tauopathy.

BackgroundThe trans-neuronal propagation of tau has been implicated in the progression of tau-mediated neurodegeneration. There is critical knowledge gap in understanding how tau is released and transmitted, and how that is dysregulated in diseases. Previously, we reported that lysine acetyltransferase p300/CBP acetylates tau and regulates its degradation and toxicity. However, whether p300/CBP is involved in regulation of tau secretion and propagation is unknown.MethodWe investigated the relationship between p300/CBP activity, the autophagy-lysosomal pathway (ALP) and tau secretion in mouse models of tauopathy and in cultured rodent and human neurons. Through a high-through-put compound screen, we identified a new p300 inhibitor that promotes autophagic flux and reduces tau secretion. Using fibril-induced tau spreading models in vitro and in vivo, we examined how p300/CBP regulates tau propagation.ResultsIncreased p300/CBP activity was associated with aberrant accumulation of ALP markers in a tau transgenic mouse model. p300/CBP hyperactivation blocked autophagic flux and increased tau secretion in neurons. Conversely, inhibiting p300/CBP promoted autophagic flux, reduced tau secretion, and reduced tau propagation in fibril-induced tau spreading models in vitro and in vivo.ConclusionsWe report that p300/CBP, a lysine acetyltransferase aberrantly activated in tauopathies, causes impairment in ALP, leading to excess tau secretion. This effect, together with increased intracellular tau accumulation, contributes to enhanced spreading of tau. Our findings suggest that inhibition of p300/CBP as a novel approach to correct ALP dysfunction and block disease progression in tauopathy