Image Restoration Effect on DCT High Frequency Removal and Wiener Algorithm for Detecting Facial Key Points

This study aims to figure out the effect of using Histogram Equalization and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) in detecting facial keypoints, which can be applied for 3D facial reconstruction in face recognition. Four combinations of methods comprising of Histogram Equalization, removing low-frequency coefficients using Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and using five feature detectors, namely: SURF, Minimum Eigenvalue, Harris-Stephens, FAST, and BRISK were used for test. Data that were used for test were obtained from Head Pose Image and ORL Databases. The result from the test were evaluated using F-score. The highest F-score for Head Pose Image Dataset is 0.140 and achieved through the combination of DCT & Histogram Equalization with feature detector SURF. The highest F-score for ORL Database is 0.33 and achieved through the combination of DCT & Histogram Equalization with feature detector BRISK

Anti-Apolipoprotein A-1 auto-antibodies are active mediators of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability

Aims Anti-Apolipoprotein A-1 auto-antibodies (anti-ApoA-1 IgG) represent an emerging prognostic cardiovascular marker in patients with myocardial infarction or autoimmune diseases associated with high cardiovascular risk. The potential relationship between anti-ApoA-1 IgG and plaque vulnerability remains elusive. Thus, we aimed to investigate the role of anti-ApoA-1 IgG in plaque vulnerability. Methods and results Potential relationship between anti-ApoA-1 IgG and features of cardiovascular vulnerability was explored both in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, we investigated anti-ApoA-1 IgG in patients with severe carotid stenosis (n = 102) and in ApoE−/− mice infused with polyclonal anti-ApoA-1 IgG. In vitro, anti-ApoA-1 IgG effects were assessed on human primary macrophages, monocytes, and neutrophils. Intraplaque collagen was decreased, while neutrophil and matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-9 content were increased in anti-ApoA-1 IgG-positive patients and anti-ApoA-1 IgG-treated mice when compared with corresponding controls. In mouse aortic roots (but not in abdominal aortas), treatment with anti-ApoA-1 IgG was associated with increased lesion size when compared with controls. In humans, serum anti-ApoA-1 IgG levels positively correlated with intraplaque macrophage, neutrophil, and MMP-9 content, and inversely with collagen. In vitro, anti-ApoA-1 IgG increased macrophage release of CCL2, CXCL8, and MMP-9, as well as neutrophil migration towards TNF-α or CXCL8. Conclusion These results suggest that anti-ApoA-1 IgG might be associated with increased atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability in humans and mic

The activation of the cannabinoid receptor type 2 reduces neutrophilic protease-mediated vulnerability in atherosclerotic plaques

Aims The activation of cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2)-mediated pathways might represent a promising anti-atherosclerotic treatment. Here, we investigated the expression of the endocannabinoid system in human carotid plaques and the impact of CB2 pharmacological activation on markers of plaque vulnerability in vivo and in vitro. Methods and results The study was conducted using all available residual human carotid tissues (upstream and downstream the blood flow) from our cohort of patients symptomatic (n = 13) or asymptomatic (n = 27) for ischaemic stroke. Intraplaque levels of 2-arachidonoylglycerol, anandamide N-arachidonoylethanolamine, N-palmitoylethanolamine, N-oleoylethanolamine, and their degrading enzymes (fatty acid amide hydrolase and monoacylglycerol lipase) were not different in human plaque portions. In the majority of human samples, CB1 (both mRNA and protein levels) was undetectable. In downstream symptomatic plaques, CB2 protein expression was reduced when compared with asymptomatic patients. In these portions, CB2 levels were inversely correlated (r = −0.4008, P = 0.0170) with matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-9 content and positively (r = 0.3997, P = 0.0174) with collagen. In mouse plaques, CB2 co-localized with neutrophils and MMP-9. Treatment with the selective CB2 agonist JWH-133 was associated with the reduction in MMP-9 content in aortic root and carotid plaques. In vitro, pre-incubation with JWH-133 reduced tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α-mediated release of MMP-9. This effect was associated with the reduction in TNF-α-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation in human neutrophils. Conclusion Cannabinoid receptor type 2 receptor is down-regulated in unstable human carotid plaques. Since CB2 activation prevents neutrophil release of MMP-9 in vivo and in vitro, this treatment strategy might selectively reduce carotid vulnerability in human

Artificial Intelligence in Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have been researched in educational contexts for more than 30 years (Woolf 1988; Cumming and McDougall 2000; du Boulay 2016). More recently, commercial AI products have also entered the classroom. However, while many assume that Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) means students taught by robot teachers, the reality is more prosaic yet still has the potential to be transformative (Holmes et al. 2019). This chapter introduces AIED, an approach that has so far received little mainstream attention, both as a set of technologies and as a field of inquiry. It discusses AIED’s AI foundations, its use of models, its possible future, and the human context. It begins with some brief examples of AIED technologies

Position Paper on Young Vascular Surgeons Training of the Mediterranean Federation for the Advancing of Vascular Surgery (MeFAVS):State of the Art and Perspectives

The Mediterranean Federation for the Advancing of Vascular Surgery (MeFAVS) was founded in 2018, with the aim to promote cooperation among vascular professionals within Mediterranean countries. Due to its prominent social and economic impact on national health systems, diabetic peripheral artery was selected as the very first topic to be investigated by the federation. In this second paper, different experiences from delegates of participating countries were shared to define common strategies to harmonize, standardize, and optimize education and training in the Vascular Surgery specialty

Symptom-based stratification of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome: multi-dimensional characterisation of international observational cohorts and reanalyses of randomised clinical trials

Background Heterogeneity is a major obstacle to developing effective treatments for patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. We aimed to develop a robust method for stratification, exploiting heterogeneity in patient-reported symptoms, and to relate these differences to pathobiology and therapeutic response. Methods We did hierarchical cluster analysis using five common symptoms associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pain, fatigue, dryness, anxiety, and depression), followed by multinomial logistic regression to identify subgroups in the UK Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Registry (UKPSSR). We assessed clinical and biological differences between these subgroups, including transcriptional differences in peripheral blood. Patients from two independent validation cohorts in Norway and France were used to confirm patient stratification. Data from two phase 3 clinical trials were similarly stratified to assess the differences between subgroups in treatment response to hydroxychloroquine and rituximab. Findings In the UKPSSR cohort (n=608), we identified four subgroups: Low symptom burden (LSB), high symptom burden (HSB), dryness dominant with fatigue (DDF), and pain dominant with fatigue (PDF). Significant differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte counts, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibody positivity, as well as serum IgG, κ-free light chain, β2-microglobulin, and CXCL13 concentrations were observed between these subgroups, along with differentially expressed transcriptomic modules in peripheral blood. Similar findings were observed in the independent validation cohorts (n=396). Reanalysis of trial data stratifying patients into these subgroups suggested a treatment effect with hydroxychloroquine in the HSB subgroup and with rituximab in the DDF subgroup compared with placebo. Interpretation Stratification on the basis of patient-reported symptoms of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome revealed distinct pathobiological endotypes with distinct responses to immunomodulatory treatments. Our data have important implications for clinical management, trial design, and therapeutic development. Similar stratification approaches might be useful for patients with other chronic immune-mediated diseases. Funding UK Medical Research Council, British Sjogren's Syndrome Association, French Ministry of Health, Arthritis Research UK, Foundation for Research in Rheumatology

Ocean acidification induces multi-generational decline in copepod naupliar production with possible conflict for reproductive resource allocation

Climate change, including ocean acidification (OA), presents fundamental challenges to marine biodiversity and sustained ecosystem health. We determined reproductive response (measured as naupliar production), cuticle composition and stage specific growth of the copepod Tisbe battagliai over three generations at four pH conditions (pH 7.67, 7.82, 7.95, and 8.06). Naupliar production increased significantly at pH 7.95 compared with pH 8.06 followed by a decline at pH 7.82. Naupliar production at pH 7.67 was higher than pH 7.82. We attribute the increase at pH 7.95 to an initial stress response which was succeeded by a hormesis-like response at pH 7.67. A multi-generational modelling approach predicted a gradual decline in naupliar production over the next 100 years (equivalent to approximately 2430 generations). There was a significant growth reduction (mean length integrated across developmental stage) relative to controls. There was a significant increase in the proportion of carbon relative to oxygen within the cuticle as seawater pH decreased. Changes in growth, cuticle composition and naupliar production strongly suggest that copepods subjected to OA-induced stress preferentially reallocate resources towards maintaining reproductive output at the expense of somatic growth and cuticle composition. These responses may drive shifts in life history strategies that favour smaller brood sizes, females and perhaps later maturing females, with the potential to profoundly destabilise marine trophodynamics

Riociguat treatment in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Final safety data from the EXPERT registry

Objective: The soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat is approved for the treatment of adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable or persistent/recurrent chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) following Phase

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TERHADAP DATA PRIBADI KONSUMEN YANG DIRETAS BERDASARKAN PERATURAN PEMERINTAH NOMOR 80 TAHUN 2019 TENTANG PERDAGANGAN MELALUI SISTEM ELEKTRONIK

Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk mengetahui perlindungan hukum terhadap konsumen yang data pribadinya diretas dan untuk mengetahui sanksi hukum terhadap pelaku kejahatan peretasan data pribadi. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode penelitian hukum normatif. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah : 1.  Macam-macam peraturan perundang–undangan yang ada di Indonesia, yang mengatur mengenai perlindungan data pribadi masi kurang efektif memberikan perlindungan yang cukup terhadap data pribadi. Begitu juga dengan Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 80 Tahun 2019 Tentang Perdagangan Melalui Sitem Elektronik masih banyak kekurangan didalamnya. Perlindungan terhadap data pribadi telah diatur secara khusus pada Undang-Undang Nomor 27 Tahun 2022 Tentang Perlindungan Data Pribadi, dan Peraturan Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika No. 20 Tahun 2016, namun perlindungan hukum yang sifatnya represif pada peraturan tersebut belum bisa memberikan perlindungan yang cukup karena disana tidak memiliki sanksi yang cukup untuk menghentikan atau mengurangi pelaku pelanggar data pribadi. 2. Penyelesaian sengketa bagi konsumen yang dirugikan dari peretasan data pribadi. Penyelesaian sengketa ada dua jalur yang dapat di gunakan oleh konsumen untuk menyelesaikan sengketa data pribadi yaitu litigasi (melalui pengadilan) dengan cara melakukan gugatan perdata kepada pihak penyelenggara sistem elektronik sesuai dengan prosedur yang telah di tetapkan oleh perundang-undangan. Langkah selanjutnya yaitu penyelesaian sengketa diluar pengadilan (non- litigasi) dapat ditempuh melalui BPSK (Badan Penyelesaian Sengketa Konsumen).  Kata Kunci : data pribadinya diretas, sanksi huku

Image Restoration Effect on DCT High Frequency Removal and Wiener Algorithm for Detecting Facial Key Points

This study aims to figure out the effect of using Histogram Equalization and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) in detecting facial keypoints, which can be applied for 3D facial reconstruction in face recognition. Four combinations of methods comprising of Histogram Equalization, removing low-frequency coefficients using Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and using five feature detectors, namely: SURF, Minimum Eigenvalue, Harris-Stephens, FAST, and BRISK were used for test. Data that were used for test were obtained from Head Pose Image and ORL Databases. The result from the test were evaluated using F-score. The highest F-score for Head Pose Image Dataset is 0.140 and achieved through the combination of DCT & Histogram Equalization with feature detector SURF. The highest F-score for ORL Database is 0.33 and achieved through the combination of DCT & Histogram Equalization with feature detector BRISK