Atlas Toolkit: Fast registration of 3D morphological datasets in the absence of landmarks

Image registration is a gateway technology for Developmental Systems Biology, enabling computational analysis of related datasets within a shared coordinate system. Many registration tools rely on landmarks to ensure that datasets are correctly aligned; yet suitable landmarks are not present in many datasets. Atlas Toolkit is a Fiji/ImageJ plugin collection offering elastic group-wise registration of 3D morphological datasets, guided by segmentation of the interesting morphology. We demonstrate the method by combinatorial mapping of cell signalling events in the developing eyes of chick embryos, and use the integrated datasets to predictively enumerate Gene Regulatory Network states

Formation of Globular Cluster Candidates in Merging Proto-galaxies at High Redshift: A View from the FIRE Cosmological Simulations

Using a state-of-the-art cosmological simulation of merging proto-galaxies at high redshift from the FIRE project, with explicit treatments of star formation and stellar feedback in the interstellar medium, we investigate the formation of star clusters and examine one of the formation hypothesis of present-day metal-poor globular clusters. We find that frequent mergers in high-redshift proto-galaxies could provide a fertile environment to produce long-lasting bound star clusters. The violent merger event disturbs the gravitational potential and pushes a large gas mass of ~> 1e5-6 Msun collectively to high density, at which point it rapidly turns into stars before stellar feedback can stop star formation. The high dynamic range of the reported simulation is critical in realizing such dense star-forming clouds with a small dynamical timescale, t_ff <~ 3 Myr, shorter than most stellar feedback timescales. Our simulation then allows us to trace how clusters could become virialized and tightly-bound to survive for up to ~420 Myr till the end of the simulation. Because the cluster's tightly-bound core was formed in one short burst, and the nearby older stars originally grouped with the cluster tend to be preferentially removed, at the end of the simulation the cluster has a small age spread.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, High-resolution version of this article also available at http://www.jihoonkim.org/index/research.html#g

Effect of Pilates and Core Stability Exercise on Bone Mineral Density and Risk of Falls in Elderly Women

PURPOSE This study aimed to verify the effect of 8-week Pilates and core stability exercises on bone mineral density (BMD) and risk of falls in older adult women. METHODS A total of 49 healthy women over 60 years of age were randomly classified into three groups: Pilates exercise group (PG, n=17), core stability exercise group (CSG, n=17), and control group (CON, n=12). Pilates and core stability exercise programs were applied in each group for 8 weeks. Before and after the two exercise programs, BMD, Tinetti Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment (Tinetti POMA), and balance ability were measured. RESULTS There were no differences in BMD among the three groups depending on the application of the exercise program. The balance scores of the Tinetti POMA and total Tinetti POMA scores in both the PG and CSG were higher after the 8-week exercise program. In particular, the gait score of the Tinetti POMA in the PG was higher than that in the CSG. Static and dynamic balance abilities improved in both the PG and CSG. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that Pilates and core stability exercises can be effective for improving balance ability, leading to the prevention of falls in older adult women

Experimental Realization of a Four-Photon Seven-Qubit Graph State for One-Way Quantum Computation

We propose and demonstrate the scaling up of photonic graph state through path qubit fusion. Two path qubits from separate two-photon four-qubit states are fused to generate a two-dimensional seven-qubit graph state composed of polarization and path qubits. Genuine seven-qubit entanglement is verified by evaluating the witness operator. Six qubits from the graph state are used to execute the general two-qubit Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm with a success probability greater than 90%.Comment: 4 pages. Supplementary Material is included in the zip fil

基于雷电物理的风机叶片动态击距与 电气几何模型

The damage of wind turbine blades suffered lightning strikes has been a key factor of the safe and reliable operation of wind farms. The electric geometrical model of wind turbine blades (EGMTB) was presented based on the traditional electric geometrical method and the physical process of lightning leader. The concept of dynamic striking distance was introduced and clarified the physical meaning of striking distance. And the calculation method of blade lightning protection system (LPS) efficiency was deduced. Finally, the effectiveness of EGMTB was validated by the long gap breakdown experiment of blades. The EGMTB was used to analyze the influence factors of blade LPS efficiency. It is indicated that the efficiency of blade LPS reduces with the decrease of lightning current and the angle between the blade and horizontal, and the efficiency of blade LPS can be improved by increasing the side lightning receptors. The EGMTB is intended to provide a theory for lightning protection design and evaluation of wind turbine blades

Uncompensated Polarization in Incommensurate Modulations of Perovskite Antiferroelectrics

Complex polar structures of incommensurate modulations (ICMs) are revealed in chemically modified PbZrO3 perovskite antiferroelectrics using advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques. The Pb-cation displacements, previously assumed to arrange in a fully compensated antiparallel fashion, are found to be either antiparallel, but with different magnitudes, or in a nearly orthogonal arrangement in adjacent stripes in the ICMs. Ab initio calculations corroborate the low-energy state of these arrangements. Our discovery corrects the atomic understanding of ICMs in PbZrO3-based perovskite antiferroelectrics

Neutrino Clustering in the Galaxy with a Global Monopole

In spherically symmetric, static spacetime, we show that only j=1/2 fermions can satisfy both Einstein's field equation and Dirac's equation. It is also shown that neutrinos are able to have effective masses and cluster in the galactic halo when they are coupled to a global monopole situated at the galactic core. Astronomical implications of the results are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, Revtex

Health-related Physical Fitness, Blood Pressure, and Body Mass Index among People with Intellectual Disability, Visual Impairment, and Hearing Impairment

PURPOSE A low physical fitness level is one of the major health problems to be addressed among people with disabilities; this issue has not been spotlighted much in the public. This study was performed to determine the health-related physical fitness (HRPF) and blood pressure of people with intellectual disability (ID), visual impairment (VI), and hearing impairment (HI) and the differences in these parameters according to each type of disability and its severity. METHODS Data of 11,802 participants with ID, VI, and HI who underwent standard physical fitness tests were analyzed. Differences in the proportion of participants with high blood pressure (HBP), body mass index (BMI) group, and HRPF parameters according to the severity of each type of disability were analyzed using the χ2 test or one-way analysis of variance. The odds ratio for HBP after adjustments for age, sex, severity of disability, and BMI group was also analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS There were significant differences in all HRPF parameters according to the disability type as well as the severity of disability in each group of individuals with ID, VI, and HI. Those with ID had the lowest values in the hand grip strength, sit-up, and sit-and-reach tests, and these values were significantly lower in the most severely disabled group for individuals with ID. The odds ratio for HBP was 1.211 (95% confidence interval: 1.069–1.371) for grade 1 ID. CONCLUSIONS Participants with ID had generally lower HRPF parameter values than those of participants with VI and HI. In addition, significant differences in HRPF parameter values, the proportion of participants with HBP, and BMI were found among participants with disabilities according to the severity of their disability, indicating opportunities for improving the health in these groups

Atomically Intimate Contact between Solid Electrolytes and Electrodes for Li Batteries

Solid electrolytes, as a promising replacement for the flammable liquid electrolyte in conventional Li-ion batteries, may greatly alleviate the safety issues and improve the energy density. However, mainstream electrodes are also solid. If solid electrolytes were employed, creating intimate electrode-electrolyte contact similar to that between solid and liquid would be quite difficult. Here we discovered that, by forming epitaxial interfaces, such a seamless solid-solid contact can happen between two widely studied systems: the Li-rich layered electrode and perovskite solid electrolyte. Atomic-resolution electron microscopy unambiguously demonstrated that the former can be epitaxially embedded into the latter. The solid-solid composite electrode formed this way exhibited a rate capability no lower than the one based on solid-liquid contact. With the periodic misfit dislocations reconciling structural differences, such epitaxy can tolerate large lattice mismatch, and thus may occur between many layered electrodes and perovskite solid electrolytes