Road layout understanding by generative adversarial inpainting

Autonomous driving is becoming a reality, yet vehicles still need to rely on complex sensor fusion to understand the scene they act in. The ability to discern static environment and dynamic entities provides a comprehension of the road layout that poses constraints to the reasoning process about moving objects. We pursue this through a GAN-based semantic segmentation inpainting model to remove all dynamic objects from the scene and focus on understanding its static components such as streets, sidewalks and buildings. We evaluate this task on the Cityscapes dataset and on a novel synthetically generated dataset obtained with the CARLA simulator and specifically designed to quantitatively evaluate semantic segmentation inpaintings. We compare our methods with a variety of baselines working both in the RGB and segmentation domains

Drosophila tan Encodes a Novel Hydrolase Required in Pigmentation and Vision

Many proteins are used repeatedly in development, but usually the function of the protein is similar in the different contexts. Here we report that the classical Drosophila melanogaster locus tan encodes a novel enzyme required for two very different cellular functions: hydrolysis of N-β-alanyl dopamine (NBAD) to dopamine during cuticular melanization, and hydrolysis of carcinine to histamine in the metabolism of photoreceptor neurotransmitter. We characterized two tan-like P-element insertions that failed to complement classical tan mutations. Both are inserted in the 5′ untranslated region of the previously uncharacterized gene CG12120, a putative homolog of fungal isopenicillin-N N-acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.164). Both P insertions showed abnormally low transcription of the CG12120 mRNA. Ectopic CG12120 expression rescued tan mutant pigmentation phenotypes and caused the production of striking black melanin patterns. Electroretinogram and head histamine assays indicated that CG12120 is required for hydrolysis of carcinine to histamine, which is required for histaminergic neurotransmission. Recombinant CG12120 protein efficiently hydrolyzed both NBAD to dopamine and carcinine to histamine. We conclude that D. melanogaster CG12120 corresponds to tan. This is, to our knowledge, the first molecular genetic characterization of NBAD hydrolase and carcinine hydrolase activity in any organism and is central to the understanding of pigmentation and photoreceptor function

Two-stage composite megathrust rupture of the 2015 M(w)8.4 Illapel, Chile, earthquake identified by spectral-element inversion of teleseismic waves

The Mw8.4 Illapel earthquake occurred on 16 September was the largest global event in 2015. This earthquake was not unexpected because the hypocenter was located in a seismic gap of the Peru-Chile subduction zone. However, the source model derived from 3-D spectral-element inversion of teleseismic waves reveals a distinct two-stage rupture process with completely different slip characteristics as a composite megathrust event. The two stages were temporally separated. Rupture in the first stage, with a moment magnitude of Mw8.32, built up energetically from the deeper locked zone and propagated in the updip direction toward the trench. Subsequently, the rupture of the second stage, with a magnitude of Mw8.08, mainly occurred in the shallow subduction zone with atypical repeating slip behavior. The unique spatial-temporal rupture evolution presented in this source model is key to further in-depth studies of earthquake physics and source dynamics in subduction systems

Surfactant status and respiratory outcome in premature infants receiving late surfactant treatment.

BACKGROUND:Many premature infants with respiratory failure are deficient in surfactant, but the relationship to occurrence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is uncertain. METHODS:Tracheal aspirates were collected from 209 treated and control infants enrolled at 7-14 days in the Trial of Late Surfactant. The content of phospholipid, surfactant protein B, and total protein were determined in large aggregate (active) surfactant. RESULTS:At 24 h, surfactant treatment transiently increased surfactant protein B content (70%, p < 0.01), but did not affect recovered airway surfactant or total protein/phospholipid. The level of recovered surfactant during dosing was directly associated with content of surfactant protein B (r = 0.50, p < 0.00001) and inversely related to total protein (r = 0.39, p < 0.0001). For all infants, occurrence of BPD was associated with lower levels of recovered large aggregate surfactant, higher protein content, and lower SP-B levels. Tracheal aspirates with lower amounts of recovered surfactant had an increased proportion of small vesicle (inactive) surfactant. CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that many intubated premature infants are deficient in active surfactant, in part due to increased intra-alveolar metabolism, low SP-B content, and protein inhibition, and that the severity of this deficit is predictive of BPD. Late surfactant treatment at the frequency used did not provide a sustained increase in airway surfactant

Isolation and Expression Profile of the Ca2+-Activated Chloride Channel-like Membrane Protein 6 Gene in Xenopus laevis

To clone the first anion channel from Xenopus laevis (X. laevis), we isolated a calcium-activated chloride channel (CLCA)-like membrane protein 6 gene (CMP6) in X. laevis. As a first step in gene isolation, an expressed sequence tags database was screened to find the partial cDNA fragment. A putative partial cDNA sequence was obtained by comparison with rat CLCAs identified in our laboratory. First stranded cDNA was synthesized by reverse transcription polymerase-chain reaction (RT-PCR) using a specific primer designed for the target cDNA. Repeating the 5' and 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends, full-length cDNA was constructed from the cDNA pool. The full-length CMP6 cDNA completed via 5'- and 3'-RACE was 2,940 bp long and had an open reading frame (ORF) of 940 amino acids. The predicted 940 polypeptides have four major transmembrane domains and showed about 50% identity with that of rat brain CLCAs in our previously published data. Semi-quantification analysis revealed that CMP6 was most abundantly expressed in small intestine, colon and liver. However, all tissues except small intestine, colon and liver had undetectable levels. This result became more credible after we did real-time PCR quantification for the target gene. In view of all CLCA studies focused on human or murine channels, this finding suggests a hypothetical protein as an ion channel, an X. laevis CLCA

A global method for coupling transport with chemistry in heterogeneous porous media

Modeling reactive transport in porous media, using a local chemical equilibrium assumption, leads to a system of advection-diffusion PDE's coupled with algebraic equations. When solving this coupled system, the algebraic equations have to be solved at each grid point for each chemical species and at each time step. This leads to a coupled non-linear system. In this paper a global solution approach that enables to keep the software codes for transport and chemistry distinct is proposed. The method applies the Newton-Krylov framework to the formulation for reactive transport used in operator splitting. The method is formulated in terms of total mobile and total fixed concentrations and uses the chemical solver as a black box, as it only requires that on be able to solve chemical equilibrium problems (and compute derivatives), without having to know the solution method. An additional advantage of the Newton-Krylov method is that the Jacobian is only needed as an operator in a Jacobian matrix times vector product. The proposed method is tested on the MoMaS reactive transport benchmark.Comment: Computational Geosciences (2009) http://www.springerlink.com/content/933p55085742m203/?p=db14bb8c399b49979ba8389a3cae1b0f&pi=1

Weekly gemcitabine plus 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin for locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the biliary tract

[[abstract]]Both gemcitabine and weekly 24-h infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (HDFL) have shown promising antitumour activity for patients with locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma of the biliary tract (CBT). From April 1999 through December 2002, 30 patients with inoperable CBT were treated with gemcitabine 800 mg m(-2), intravenous infusion for 30 min, followed by 5-FU, 2000 mg m(-2) and leucovorin, 300 mg m(-2), intravenous infusion for 24 h, on day 1, 8 and 15, every 4 weeks. A total of 166 cycles were given (median of four cycles per patient, range 1-24 cycles). Response was evaluable in 28 patients and toxicity in 29 patients. Partial response was obtained in six patients, stable disease in 13, while progressive disease occurred in nine. The objective response rate was 21.4% (95% CI: 5.2-37.6%). The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicity was infection (nine patients). Other types of grade 3 or 4 toxicity included leucopenia (four patients), thrombocytopenia (three patients), anaemia (three patients), nausea/vomiting (two patients) and elevation of liver transaminases (three patients). As of 30 September 2003, the median progression-free survival was 3.7 months (95% CI: 2.8-4.6 months) and the median overall survival was 4.7 months (95% CI: 0.8-8.6 months). Our data suggest that weekly gemcitabine plus HDFL is modestly active with acceptable treatment-related toxicity for patients with advanced CBT

Extremely long quasiparticle spin lifetimes in superconducting aluminium using MgO tunnel spin injectors

There has been an intense search in recent years for long-lived spin-polarized carriers for spintronic and quantum-computing devices. Here we report that spin polarized quasi-particles in superconducting aluminum layers have surprisingly long spin-lifetimes, nearly a million times longer than in their normal state. The lifetime is determined from the suppression of the aluminum's superconductivity resulting from the accumulation of spin polarized carriers in the aluminum layer using tunnel spin injectors. A Hanle effect, observed in the presence of small in-plane orthogonal fields, is shown to be quantitatively consistent with the presence of long-lived spin polarized quasi-particles. Our experiments show that the superconducting state can be significantly modified by small electric currents, much smaller than the critical current, which is potentially useful for devices involving superconducting qubits

The Prevalence of Natural Health Product Use in Patients with Acute Cardiovascular Disease

Background: Natural health products (NHP) use may have implications with respect to adverse effects, drug interactions and adherence yet the prevalence of NHP use by patients with acute cardiovascular disease and the best method to ascertain this information is unknown. Objective: To identify the best method to ascertain information on NHP, and the prevalence of use in a population with acute cardiovascular disease. Methods: Structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of consecutive patients admitted with acute cardiovascular disease to the University of Alberta Hospital during January 2009. NHP use was explored using structured and open-ended questions based on Health Canada’s definition of NHP. The medical record was reviewed, and documentation of NHP use by physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, compared against the gold-standard structured interview. Results: 88 patients were interviewed (mean age 62 years, standard deviation [SD 14]; 80 % male; 41 % admitted for acute coronary syndromes). Common co-morbidities included hypertension (59%), diabetes (26%) and renal impairment (19%). NHP use was common (78 % of patients) and 75 % of NHP users reported daily use. The category of NHP most commonly used was vitamins and minerals (73%) followed by herbal products (20%), traditional medicines including Chines