Neural network-based image reconstruction in swept-source optical coherence tomography using undersampled spectral data

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a widely used non-invasive biomedical imaging modality that can rapidly provide volumetric images of samples. Here, we present a deep learning-based image reconstruction framework that can generate swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) images using undersampled spectral data, without any spatial aliasing artifacts. This neural network-based image reconstruction does not require any hardware changes to the optical set-up and can be easily integrated with existing swept-source or spectral domain OCT systems to reduce the amount of raw spectral data to be acquired. To show the efficacy of this framework, we trained and blindly tested a deep neural network using mouse embryo samples imaged by an SS-OCT system. Using 2-fold undersampled spectral data (i.e., 640 spectral points per A-line), the trained neural network can blindly reconstruct 512 A-lines in ~6.73 ms using a desktop computer, removing spatial aliasing artifacts due to spectral undersampling, also presenting a very good match to the images of the same samples, reconstructed using the full spectral OCT data (i.e., 1280 spectral points per A-line). We also successfully demonstrate that this framework can be further extended to process 3x undersampled spectral data per A-line, with some performance degradation in the reconstructed image quality compared to 2x spectral undersampling. This deep learning-enabled image reconstruction approach can be broadly used in various forms of spectral domain OCT systems, helping to increase their imaging speed without sacrificing image resolution and signal-to-noise ratio.Comment: 20 Pages, 7 Figures, 1 Tabl

Excessive Unbalanced Meat Consumption in the First Year of Life Increases Asthma Risk in the PASTURE and LUKAS2 Birth Cohorts

A higher diversity of food items introduced in the first year of life has been inversely related to subsequent development of asthma. In the current analysis, we applied latent class analysis (LCA) to systematically assess feeding patterns and to relate them to asthma risk at school age. PASTURE (N=1133) and LUKAS2 (N=228) are prospective birth cohort studies designed to evaluate protective and risk factors for atopic diseases, including dietary patterns. Feeding practices were reported by parents in monthly diaries between the 4(th) and 12(th) month of life. For 17 common food items parents indicated frequency of feeding during the last 4 weeks in 4 categories. The resulting 153 ordinal variables were entered in a LCA. The intestinal microbiome was assessed at the age of 12 months by 16S rRNA sequencing. Data on feeding practice with at least one reported time point was available in 1042 of the 1133 recruited children. Best LCA model fit was achieved by the 4-class solution. One class showed an elevated risk of asthma at age 6 as compared to the other classes (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 8.47, 95% CI 2.52-28.56, p = 0.001) and was characterized by daily meat consumption and rare consumption of milk and yoghurt. A refined LCA restricted to meat, milk, and yoghurt confirmed the asthma risk effect of a particular class in PASTURE and independently in LUKAS2, which we thus termed unbalanced meat consumption (UMC). The effect of UMC was particularly strong for non-atopic asthma and asthma irrespectively of early bronchitis (aOR: 17.0, 95% CI 5.2-56.1, p < 0.001). UMC fostered growth of iron scavenging bacteria such as Acinetobacter (aOR: 1.28, 95% CI 1.00-1.63, p = 0.048), which was also related to asthma (aOR: 1.55, 95% CI 1.18-2.03, p = 0.001). When reconstructing bacterial metabolic pathways from 16S rRNA sequencing data, biosynthesis of siderophore group nonribosomal peptides emerged as top hit (aOR: 1.58, 95% CI 1.13-2.19, p = 0.007). By a data-driven approach we found a pattern of overly meat consumption at the expense of other protein sources to confer risk of asthma. Microbiome analysis of fecal samples pointed towards overgrowth of iron-dependent bacteria and bacterial iron metabolism as a potential explanation.Peer reviewe

The New Mexico State University Satellite (NMSUSat) Mission

The New Mexico State University Satellite (NMSUSat) is part of the University Nanosat 3 program managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and it is being developed at New Mexico State University. The planned Science Mission for the satellite is to perform Near Ultra Violet emission intensity measurements of the earth\u27s upper atmosphere over the night side of the earth. The Engineering Mission is to demonstrate techniques for distributed data relaying over the Internet and to conduct an energy storage experiment to assess the operational characteristics of double layer capacitors. The Educational Mission of the program to assist in the further development of the aerospace engineering concentration area in the College of Engineering and to develop multi-disciplinary capstone and design classes for students in engineering departments, computer science, and the engineering physics program. This paper will discuss the preliminary design for the satellite components and how the mission segments will be worked among the participating departments at New Mexico State University

Do international institutions matter? Socialization and international bureaucrats

A key component of (neo-)functionalist and constructivist approaches to the study of international organizations concerns staff socialization. Existing analyses of how, or indeed whether, staff develop more pro-internationalist attitudes over time draw predominantly on cross-sectional data. Yet, such data cannot address (self-)selection issues or capture the inherently temporal nature of attitude change. This article proposes an innovative approach to the study of international socialization using an explicitly longitudinal design. Analysing two waves of a large-scale survey conducted within the European Commission in 2008 and 2014, it examines the beliefs and values of the same individuals over time and exploits exogenous organizational changes to identify causal effects. Furthermore, the article theorizes and assesses specified scope conditions affecting socialization processes. Showing that international institutions do, in fact, influence value acquisition by individual bureaucrats, our results contest the widely held view that international organizations are not a socializing environment. Our analysis also demonstrates that age at entry and gender significantly affect the intensity of such value change

Multi-band behaviour of the TeV blazar PG 1553+113 in optical range on diverse timescales. Flux and spectral variations

Context. The TeV BL Lac object PG1553+113 is one of the primary candidates for a binary supermassive black hole system.Aims. We study the flux and spectral variability of PG1553+113 on intra-night to long-term timescales using (i) BVRI data collected over 76 nights from January 2016 to August 2019 involving nine optical telescopes and (ii) historical VR data (including ours) obtained for the period from 2005 to 2019.Methods. We analysed the light curves using various statistical tests, fitting and cross-correlation techniques, and methods for the search for periodicity. We examined the colour-magnitude diagrams before and after the corresponding light curves were corrected for the long-term variations.Results. Our intra-night monitoring, supplemented with literature data, result in a low duty cycle of ∼(10?18)%. In April 2019, we recorded a flare, which marks the brightest state of PG1553+113 for the period from 2005 to 2019: R ≃ 13.2mag. This flare is found to show a clockwise spectral hysteresis loop on its VR colour-magnitude diagram and a time lag in the sense that the V-band variations lead the R-band ones.We obtain estimates of the radius, the magnetic field strength, and the electron energy that characterize the emission region related to the flare.We find a median period of (2.21±0.04) years using the historical light curves. In addition, we detect a secondary period of about 210 days using the historical light curves corrected for the long-term variations. We briefly discuss the possible origin of this period.Fil: Agarwal, A.. Indian Institute Of Astrophysics; India. Raman Research Institute; IndiaFil: Mihov, B.. Institute Of Astronomy And Nao; BulgariaFil: Andruchow, Ileana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Cellone, Sergio Aldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito"; ArgentinaFil: Anupama, G. C.. Indian Institute Of Astrophysics; IndiaFil: Agrawal, V.. Embibe; IndiaFil: Zola, S.. Jagiellonian University; PoloniaFil: Slavcheva Mihova, L.. Institute Of Astronomy And Nao; BulgariaFil: Özdönmez, A.. Ataturk University; TurquíaFil: Ege, E.. Istanbul University; TurquíaFil: Raj, A.. University Enclave; IndiaFil: Mammana, Luis Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito"; ArgentinaFil: Zibecchi, Lorena Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Lajus, Eduardo Eusebio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentin

Multi-band behaviour of the TeV blazar PG 1553+113 in optical range on diverse timescales. Flux and spectral variations

Context. The TeV BL Lac object PG1553+113 is one of the primary candidates for a binary supermassive black hole system.Aims. We study the flux and spectral variability of PG1553+113 on intra-night to long-term timescales using (i) BVRI data collected over 76 nights from January 2016 to August 2019 involving nine optical telescopes and (ii) historical VR data (including ours) obtained for the period from 2005 to 2019.Methods. We analysed the light curves using various statistical tests, fitting and cross-correlation techniques, and methods for the search for periodicity. We examined the colour-magnitude diagrams before and after the corresponding light curves were corrected for the long-term variations.Results. Our intra-night monitoring, supplemented with literature data, result in a low duty cycle of ∼(10?18)%. In April 2019, we recorded a flare, which marks the brightest state of PG1553+113 for the period from 2005 to 2019: R ≃ 13.2mag. This flare is found to show a clockwise spectral hysteresis loop on its VR colour-magnitude diagram and a time lag in the sense that the V-band variations lead the R-band ones.We obtain estimates of the radius, the magnetic field strength, and the electron energy that characterize the emission region related to the flare.We find a median period of (2.21±0.04) years using the historical light curves. In addition, we detect a secondary period of about 210 days using the historical light curves corrected for the long-term variations. We briefly discuss the possible origin of this period.Fil: Agarwal, A.. Indian Institute Of Astrophysics; India. Raman Research Institute; IndiaFil: Mihov, B.. Institute Of Astronomy And Nao; BulgariaFil: Andruchow, Ileana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Cellone, Sergio Aldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito"; ArgentinaFil: Anupama, G. C.. Indian Institute Of Astrophysics; IndiaFil: Agrawal, V.. Embibe; IndiaFil: Zola, S.. Jagiellonian University; PoloniaFil: Slavcheva Mihova, L.. Institute Of Astronomy And Nao; BulgariaFil: Özdönmez, A.. Ataturk University; TurquíaFil: Ege, E.. Istanbul University; TurquíaFil: Raj, A.. University Enclave; IndiaFil: Mammana, Luis Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito". Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito"; ArgentinaFil: Zibecchi, Lorena Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez Lajus, Eduardo Eusebio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentin

CX-072 (pacmilimab), a Probody® PD-L1 inhibitor, in advanced or recurrent solid tumors (PROCLAIM-CX-072): an open-label dose-finding and first-in-human study

Background: Probody® therapeutics are antibody prodrugs that are activated in the tumor microenvironment by tumor-associated proteases, thereby restricting the activity to the tumor microenvironment and minimizing ‘off-tumor’ toxicity. We report dose-escalation and single-agent expansion phase data from the first-in-human study of CX-072 (pacmilimab), a Probody checkpoint inhibitor directed against programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). / Methods: In the dose-escalation phase of this multicenter, open-label study (NCT03013491), adults with advanced solid tumors (naive to programmed-death-1/PD-L1 or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 inhibitors) were enrolled into one of seven dose-escalation cohorts, with pacmilimab administered intravenously every 14 days. The primary endpoints were safety and determination of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). In the expansion phase, patients with one of six prespecified malignancies (triple-negative breast cancer [TNBC]; anal squamous cell carcinoma [aSCC]; cutaneous SCC [cSCC]; undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma [UPS]; small bowel adenocarcinoma [SBA]; and thymic epithelial tumor [TET]); or high tumor mutational burden (hTMB) tumors were enrolled. The primary endpoint was objective response (Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors v.1.1). / Results: An MTD was not reached with doses up to 30 mg/kg. A recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of 10 mg/kg was chosen based on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic findings in the expansion phase. Ninety-eight patients enrolled in the expansion phase: TNBC (n=14), aSCC (n=14), cSCC (n=14), UPS (n=20), SBA (n=14), TET (n=8), and hTMB tumors (n=14). Of 114 patients receiving pacmilimab at the RP2D, grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were reported in 10 patients (9%), serious TRAEs in six patients (5%), and treatment discontinuation due to TRAEs in two patients (2%). Grade ≥3 immune-related AEs occurred in two patients (rash, myocarditis). High PD-L1 expression (ie, >50% Tumor Proportion Score) was observed in 22/144 (19%) patients. Confirmed objective responses were observed in patients with cSCC (n=5, including one complete response), hTMB (n=4, including one complete response), aSCC (n=2), TNBC (n=1), UPS (n=1), and anaplastic thyroid cancer (n=1). / Conclusions: Pacmilimab can be administered safely at the RP2D of 10 mg/kg every 14 days. At this dose, pacmilimab had a low rate of immune-mediated toxicity and showed signs of antitumor activity in patients not selected for high PD-L1 expression. / Trial registration number: NCT03013491

Excessive Unbalanced Meat Consumption in the First Year of Life Increases Asthma Risk in the PASTURE and LUKAS2 Birth Cohorts.

A higher diversity of food items introduced in the first year of life has been inversely related to subsequent development of asthma. In the current analysis, we applied latent class analysis (LCA) to systematically assess feeding patterns and to relate them to asthma risk at school age. PASTURE (N=1133) and LUKAS2 (N=228) are prospective birth cohort studies designed to evaluate protective and risk factors for atopic diseases, including dietary patterns. Feeding practices were reported by parents in monthly diaries between the 4th and 12th month of life. For 17 common food items parents indicated frequency of feeding during the last 4 weeks in 4 categories. The resulting 153 ordinal variables were entered in a LCA. The intestinal microbiome was assessed at the age of 12 months by 16S rRNA sequencing. Data on feeding practice with at least one reported time point was available in 1042 of the 1133 recruited children. Best LCA model fit was achieved by the 4-class solution. One class showed an elevated risk of asthma at age 6 as compared to the other classes (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 8.47, 95% CI 2.52-28.56, p = 0.001) and was characterized by daily meat consumption and rare consumption of milk and yoghurt. A refined LCA restricted to meat, milk, and yoghurt confirmed the asthma risk effect of a particular class in PASTURE and independently in LUKAS2, which we thus termed unbalanced meat consumption (UMC). The effect of UMC was particularly strong for non-atopic asthma and asthma irrespectively of early bronchitis (aOR: 17.0, 95% CI 5.2-56.1, p < 0.001). UMC fostered growth of iron scavenging bacteria such as Acinetobacter (aOR: 1.28, 95% CI 1.00-1.63, p = 0.048), which was also related to asthma (aOR: 1.55, 95% CI 1.18-2.03, p = 0.001). When reconstructing bacterial metabolic pathways from 16S rRNA sequencing data, biosynthesis of siderophore group nonribosomal peptides emerged as top hit (aOR: 1.58, 95% CI 1.13-2.19, p = 0.007). By a data-driven approach we found a pattern of overly meat consumption at the expense of other protein sources to confer risk of asthma. Microbiome analysis of fecal samples pointed towards overgrowth of iron-dependent bacteria and bacterial iron metabolism as a potential explanation

Farm-like indoor microbiota in non-farm homes protects children from asthma development

Asthma prevalence has increased in epidemic proportions with urbanization, but growing up on traditional farms offers protection even today(1). The asthma-protective effect of farms appears to be associated with rich home dust microbiota(2,3), which could be used to model a health-promoting indoor microbiome. Here we show by modeling differences in house dust microbiota composition between farm and non-farm homes of Finnish birth cohorts(4) that in children who grow up in non-farm homes, asthma risk decreases as the similarity of their home bacterial microbiota composition to that of farm homes increases. The protective microbiota had a low abundance of Streptococcaceae relative to outdoor-associated bacterial taxa. The protective effect was independent of richness and total bacterial load and was associated with reduced proinflammatory cytokine responses against bacterial cell wall components ex vivo. We were able to reproduce these findings in a study among rural German children(2) and showed that children living in German non-farm homes with an indoor microbiota more similar to Finnish farm homes have decreased asthma risk. The indoor dust microbiota composition appears to be a definable, reproducible predictor of asthma risk and a potential modifiable target for asthma prevention.Peer reviewe