Spiking Neural Network Based on Threshold Encoding For Texture Recognition

This paper presents a neuromorphic computing model that classifies material textures using a neural coding scheme based on threshold encoding. The proposed threshold encoding converts raw tactile data of each texture into an eventbased data highlighting the spatio-temporal features needed to recognize human touch. Achieved results show that the model can categorize the input tactile signals into their corresponding material textures with high accuracy and fast inference. This work paves the way toward employing the proposed encoding method in more complex tactile based applications from the theoretical and hardware implementation aspects

Functional proteomic profiling links deficient DNA clearance with increased mortality in individuals with severe COVID-19 pneumonia

The factors that influence survival during severe infection are unclear. Extracellular chromatin drives pathology, but the mechanisms enabling its accumulation remain elusive. Here, we show that in murine sepsis models, splenocyte death interferes with chromatin clearance through the release of the DNase I inhibitor actin. Actin-mediated inhibition was compensated by upregulation of DNase I or the actin scavenger gelsolin. Splenocyte death and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) clearance deficiencies were prevalent in individuals with severe COVID-19 pneumonia or microbial sepsis. Activity tracing by plasma proteomic profiling uncovered an association between low NET clearance and increased COVID-19 pathology and mortality. Low NET clearance activity with comparable proteome associations was prevalent in healthy donors with low-grade inflammation, implicating defective chromatin clearance in the development of cardiovascular disease and linking COVID-19 susceptibility to pre-existing conditions. Hence, the combination of aberrant chromatin release with defects in protective clearance mechanisms lead to poor survival outcomes

Analysis of the Emitted Wavelet of High-Resolution Bowtie GPR Antennas

Most Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR) cover a wide frequency range by emitting very short time wavelets. In this work, we study in detail the wavelet emitted by two bowtie GPR antennas with nominal frequencies of 800 MHz and 1 GHz. Knowledge of this emitted wavelet allows us to extract as much information as possible from recorded signals, using advanced processing techniques and computer simulations. Following previously published methodology used by Rial et al. [1], which ensures system stability and reliability in data acquisition, a thorough analysis of the wavelet in both time and frequency domain is performed. Most of tests were carried out with air as propagation medium, allowing a proper analysis of the geometrical attenuation factor. Furthermore, we attempt to determine, for each antenna, a time zero in the records to allow us to correctly assign a position to the reflectors detected by the radar. Obtained results indicate that the time zero is not a constant value for the evaluated antennas, but instead depends on the characteristics of the material in contact with the antenna

A new FRDA mouse model [Fxnnull:YG8s(GAA) > 800] with more than 800 GAA repeats

Introduction: Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is an inherited recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by a homozygous guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA) repeat expansion within intron 1 of the FXN gene, which encodes the essential mitochondrial protein frataxin. There is still no effective therapy for FRDA, therefore the development of optimal cell and animal models of the disease is one of the priorities for preclinical therapeutic testing. Methods: We obtained the latest FRDA humanized mouse model that was generated on the basis of our previous YG8sR, by Jackson laboratory [YG8JR, Fxnnull:YG8s(GAA) > 800]. We characterized the behavioral, cellular, molecular and epigenetics properties of the YG8JR model, which has the largest GAA repeat sizes compared to all the current FRDA mouse models. Results: We found statistically significant behavioral deficits, together with reduced levels of frataxin mRNA and protein, and aconitase activity in YG8JR mice compared with control Y47JR mice. YG8JR mice exhibit intergenerational GAA repeat instability by the analysis of parent and offspring tissue samples. Somatic GAA repeat instability was also detected in individual brain and cerebellum tissue samples. In addition, increased DNA methylation of CpG U13 was identified in FXN GAA repeat region in the brain, cerebellum, and heart tissues. Furthermore, we show decreased histone H3K9 acetylation and increased H3K9 methylation of YG8JR cerebellum tissues within the FXN gene, upstream and downstream of the GAA repeat region compared to Y47JR controls. Discussion: These studies provide a detailed characterization of the GAA repeat expansion-based YG8JR transgenic mouse models that will help investigations of FRDA disease mechanisms and therapy.Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) (2018) and Brunel University London (BRIEF Award; 2019)

Guidance on Noncorticosteroid Systemic Immunomodulatory Therapy in Noninfectious Uveitis : Fundamentals Of Care for UveitiS (FOCUS) Initiative

Supplemental material available at www.aaojournal.org. Supported by AbbVie, Inc., and the Fundamentals of Care for Uveitis Initiative National Faculty. This manuscript was developed subsequent to an AbbVie-sponsored literature review of noninfectious, nonanterior uveitis. The meeting was conducted to understand the available literature regarding the management of patients with noninfectious, nonanterior uveitis. The program involved a total of 139 experts from 28 countries, who were selected for participation by AbbVie. However, AbbVie was not involved in the development of the manuscript. The authors maintained complete control over the content and this manuscript reflects the opinions of the authors. AbbVie selected the discussion participants and reviewed the final manuscript draft for scientific accuracy, but the authors determined the final content. All authors made substantial contributions to the article or critically revised it for important intellectual content and approved the final manuscript. AbbVie provided funding to invited participants, including honoraria for their attendance at the meetings. Travel to and from the meetings was reimbursed. No payments were made to the authors for the development of this manuscript. Dhinakaran Sambandan, PhD, and Shula Sarner, PhD, of Lucid Partners, Burleighfield House, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, provided medical writing and editorial support to the authors in the development of this manuscript; financial support for these services was provided by AbbVie. AbbVie reviewed the manuscript, but was not involved in the methodology, data collection and analysis, or completion of this manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Photon correlations from the Mollow triplet

Photon correlations between the photoluminescence peaks of the Mollow triplet have been known for a long time, and recently hailed as a resource for heralded single-photon sources. Here, we provide the full picture of photon-correlations at all orders (we deal explicitly with up to four photons) and with no restriction to the peculiar frequency windows that enclose the peaks. We show that a rich multi-photon physics lies between the peaks, due to transitions involving virtual photons, and thereby much more strongly correlated than those transiting through the real states. Specifically, we show that such emissions occur in bundles of photons rather than as successive, albeit correlated, photons. We provide the recipe to frequency-filter the emission of the Mollow triplet to turn it into a versatile and tunable photon source, allowing in principle all scenarios of photon emission, with advantages already at the one-photon level, i.e., providing more strongly correlated heralded single-photon sources than those already known.Spanish MINECO under contract FIS2015- 64951-R (CLAQUE), Newton fellowship of the Royal Society, POLAFLOW ERC project No. 30813

Influence of texture on the recrystallization mechanisms in an AZ31 Mg sheet alloy at dynamic rates

An AZ31 rolled sheet alloy has been tested at dynamic strain rates View the MathML source at 250 °C up to various intermediate strains before failure in order to investigate the predominant deformation and restoration mechanisms. In particular, tests have been carried out in compression along the rolling direction (RD), in tension along the RD and in compression along the normal direction (ND). It has been found that dynamic recrystallization (DRX) takes place despite the limited diffusion taking place under the high strain rates investigated. The DRX mechanisms and kinetics depend on the operative deformation mechanisms and thus vary for different loading modes (tension, compression) as well as for different relative orientations between the loading axis and the c-axes of the grains. In particular, DRX is enhanced by the operation of 〈c + a〉 slip, since cross-slip and climb take place more readily than for other slip systems, and thus the formation of high angle boundaries is easier. DRX is also clearly promoted by twinning

A single polyploidization event at the origin of the tetraploid genome of Coffea arabica is responsible for the extremely low genetic variation in wild and cultivated germplasm

The genome of the allotetraploid species Coffea arabica L. was sequenced to assemble independently the two component subgenomes (putatively deriving from C. canephora and C. eugenioides) and to perform a genome-wide analysis of the genetic diversity in cultivated coffee germplasm and in wild populations growing in the center of origin of the species. We assembled a total length of 1.536 Gbp, 444 Mb and 527 Mb of which were assigned to the canephora and eugenioides subgenomes, respectively, and predicted 46,562 gene models, 21,254 and 22,888 of which were assigned to the canephora and to the eugeniodes subgenome, respectively. Through a genome-wide SNP genotyping of 736 C. arabica accessions, we analyzed the genetic diversity in the species and its relationship with geographic distribution and historical records. We observed a weak population structure due to low-frequency derived alleles and highly negative values of Taijma's D, suggesting a recent and severe bottleneck, most likely resulting from a single event of polyploidization, not only for the cultivated germplasm but also for the entire species. This conclusion is strongly supported by forward simulations of mutation accumulation. However, PCA revealed a cline of genetic diversity reflecting a west-to-east geographical distribution from the center of origin in East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. The extremely low levels of variation observed in the species, as a consequence of the polyploidization event, make the exploitation of diversity within the species for breeding purposes less interesting than in most crop species and stress the need for introgression of new variability from the diploid progenitors

Comparison of bulk milk antibody and youngstock serology screens for determining herd status for Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus

BACKGROUND: This paper examines the use of Bulk Milk antibody (BM Ab), Youngstock (YS) serology (Check Tests) and Bulk Milk PCR (BM PCR) for determining the presence or absence of animals persistently infected (PI) with Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) within a herd. Data is presented from 26 herds where average herd sizes were 343 and 98 animals for dairy and beef units respectively. Seventeen herds had sufficient data to analyse using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and probability curves enabling calculation of the sensitivity and specificity of BM Ab and YS Check tests for determining the presence of PI animals within herds in this dataset. RESULTS: Using BM Ab to screen a herd for the presence of PI animals, achieved a herd level sensitivity and specificity of 80.00 % (44.39–97.48 %) and 85.71 % (42.13–99.64 %) respectively (95 % confidence intervals quoted). Sensitivity and specificity of YS Check Tests at a cut off of 3/10 Ab positive YS were 81.82 % (48.22–97.72 %) and 66.67 % (22.28–95.67 %) respectively (95 % confidence interval). These results were achieved by comparing the screening tests to whole herd PI searches that took place 1–19 months after the initial screen with a mean interval of 8 months. Removal of this delay by taking BM samples on the day of a whole herd test and simulating a YS Check Test from the herd test data produced improvements in the reliability of the Check Tests. BM Ab sensitivity and specificity remained unchanged. However, the Check Test sensitivity and specificity improved to 90.9 % (58.72–99.77 %) and 100 % (54.07–100 %) respectively (95 % confidence interval) at a cut of off 2.5/10 Ab positive animals. Our limited BM PCR results identified 5/23 dairy farms with a positive BM PCR result; two contained milking PIs, two had non-milking PIs and another had no PIs identified. CONCLUSIONS: Delaying a PI search following an initial herd screen decreased the diagnostic accuracy and relevance of our results. With careful interpretation, longitudinal surveillance using a combination of the techniques discussed can successfully determine farm status and therefore allow changes in BVDV status to be detected early, thus enabling prompt action in the event of a BVDV incursion

Increased Left Ventricular Torsion in Uncomplicated Type 1 Diabetic Patients: The role of coronary microvascular function

We used speckle tracking echocardiography to study the early changes in left ventricular (LV) torsion in young patients with uncomplicated type 1 diabetes and stress magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess its interrelationships with coronary microangiopathy