Detecting Distracted Driving with Deep Learning

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017Driver distraction is the leading factor in most car crashes and near-crashes. This paper discusses the types, causes and impacts of distracted driving. A deep learning approach is then presented for the detection of such driving behaviors using images of the driver, where an enhancement has been made to a standard convolutional neural network (CNN). Experimental results on Kaggle challenge dataset have confirmed the capability of a convolutional neural network (CNN) in this complicated computer vision task and illustrated the contribution of the CNN enhancement to a better pattern recognition accuracy.Peer reviewe

Risks and benefits of oxygen therapy

Mootha and Chinnery review the risks and benefits of oxygen administration in mitochondrial disease. They highlight probable harm from hyperoxia and possible benefit from hypoxia. At first sight this is counter-intuitive. It seems improbable that reducing the availability of a substrate that enables high-energy phosphate production via oxidative phosphorylation would be of benefit. But recent clinical data beyond the field of inherited metabolic disease support this approach

Age-related delay in information accrual for faces: Evidence from a parametric, single-trial EEG approach

Background: In this study, we quantified age-related changes in the time-course of face processing by means of an innovative single-trial ERP approach. Unlike analyses used in previous studies, our approach does not rely on peak measurements and can provide a more sensitive measure of processing delays. Young and old adults (mean ages 22 and 70 years) performed a non-speeded discrimination task between two faces. The phase spectrum of these faces was manipulated parametrically to create pictures that ranged between pure noise (0% phase information) and the undistorted signal (100% phase information), with five intermediate steps. Results: Behavioural 75% correct thresholds were on average lower, and maximum accuracy was higher, in younger than older observers. ERPs from each subject were entered into a single-trial general linear regression model to identify variations in neural activity statistically associated with changes in image structure. The earliest age-related ERP differences occurred in the time window of the N170. Older observers had a significantly stronger N170 in response to noise, but this age difference decreased with increasing phase information. Overall, manipulating image phase information had a greater effect on ERPs from younger observers, which was quantified using a hierarchical modelling approach. Importantly, visual activity was modulated by the same stimulus parameters in younger and older subjects. The fit of the model, indexed by R2, was computed at multiple post-stimulus time points. The time-course of the R2 function showed a significantly slower processing in older observers starting around 120 ms after stimulus onset. This age-related delay increased over time to reach a maximum around 190 ms, at which latency younger observers had around 50 ms time lead over older observers. Conclusion: Using a component-free ERP analysis that provides a precise timing of the visual system sensitivity to image structure, the current study demonstrates that older observers accumulate face information more slowly than younger subjects. Additionally, the N170 appears to be less face-sensitive in older observers

MicroRNAs miR-203-3p, miR-664-3p and miR-708-5p are associated with median strain lifespan in mice

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA species that have been shown to have roles in multiple processes that occur in higher eukaryotes. They act by binding to specific sequences in the 3' untranslated region of their target genes and causing the transcripts to be degraded by the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). MicroRNAs have previously been reported to demonstrate altered expression in several aging phenotypes such as cellular senescence and age itself. Here, we have measured the expression levels of 521 small regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) in spleen tissue from young and old animals of 6 mouse strains with different median strain lifespans by quantitative real-time PCR. Expression levels of 3 microRNAs were robustly associated with strain lifespan, after correction for multiple statistical testing (miR-203-3p [β-coefficient = -0.6447, p = 4.8 × 10(-11)], miR-664-3p [β-coefficient = 0.5552, p = 5.1 × 10(-8)] and miR-708-5p [β-coefficient = 0.4986, p = 1.6 × 10(-6)]). Pathway analysis of binding sites for these three microRNAs revealed enrichment of target genes involved in key aging and longevity pathways including mTOR, FOXO and MAPK, most of which also demonstrated associations with longevity. Our results suggests that miR-203-3p, miR-664-3p and miR-708-5p may be implicated in pathways determining lifespan in mammals.This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant number WT097835MF to D. Melzer and L.W. Harries), and the NIH-NIA (grant number AG038070 to The Jackson Laboratory)

Changes in the expression of splicing factor transcripts and variations in alternative splicing are associated with lifespan in mice and humans

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Dysregulation of splicing factor expression and altered alternative splicing are associated with aging in humans and other species, and also with replicative senescence in cultured cells. Here, we assess whether expression changes of key splicing regulator genes and consequent effects on alternative splicing are also associated with strain longevity in old and young mice, across 6 different mouse strains with varying lifespan (A/J, NOD.B10Sn-H2(b) /J, PWD.Phj, 129S1/SvlmJ, C57BL/6J and WSB/EiJ). Splicing factor expression and changes to alternative splicing were associated with strain lifespan in spleen and to a lesser extent in muscle. These changes mainly involved hnRNP splicing inhibitor transcripts with most changes more marked in spleens of young animals from long-lived strains. Changes in spleen isoform expression were suggestive of reduced cellular senescence and retained cellular proliferative capacity in long-lived strains. Changes in muscle isoform expression were consistent with reduced pro-inflammatory signalling in longer-lived strains. Two splicing regulators, HNRNPA1 and HNRNPA2B1, were also associated with parental longevity in humans, in the InCHIANTI aging study. Splicing factors may represent a driver, mediator or early marker of lifespan in mouse, as expression differences were present in the young animals of long-lived strains. Changes to alternative splicing patterns of key senescence genes in spleen and key remodelling genes in muscle suggest that correct regulation of alternative splicing may enhance lifespan in mice. Expression of some splicing factors in humans was also associated with parental longevity, suggesting that splicing regulation may also influence lifespan in humans.The authors would like to acknowledge the Wellcome Trust (grant number WT097835MF LWH, DM), and NIH-NIA grant number AG038070 to The Jackson Laboratory for providing the funding for this study

A weak characterization of slow variables in stochastic dynamical systems

We present a novel characterization of slow variables for continuous Markov processes that provably preserve the slow timescales. These slow variables are known as reaction coordinates in molecular dynamical applications, where they play a key role in system analysis and coarse graining. The defining characteristics of these slow variables is that they parametrize a so-called transition manifold, a low-dimensional manifold in a certain density function space that emerges with progressive equilibration of the system's fast variables. The existence of said manifold was previously predicted for certain classes of metastable and slow-fast systems. However, in the original work, the existence of the manifold hinges on the pointwise convergence of the system's transition density functions towards it. We show in this work that a convergence in average with respect to the system's stationary measure is sufficient to yield reaction coordinates with the same key qualities. This allows one to accurately predict the timescale preservation in systems where the old theory is not applicable or would give overly pessimistic results. Moreover, the new characterization is still constructive, in that it allows for the algorithmic identification of a good slow variable. The improved characterization, the error prediction and the variable construction are demonstrated by a small metastable system

Tuning of Human Modulation Filters Is Carrier-Frequency Dependent

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The Cost of Sex: Quantifying Energetic Investment in Gamete Production by Males and Females

The relative energetic investment in reproduction between the sexes forms the basis of sexual selection and life history theories in evolutionary biology. It is often assumed that males invest considerably less in gametes than females, but quantifying the energetic cost of gamete production in both sexes has remained a difficult challenge. For a broad diversity of species (invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, birds, and mammals), we compared the cost of gamete production between the sexes in terms of the investment in gonad tissue and the rate of gamete biomass production. Investment in gonad biomass was nearly proportional to body mass in both sexes, but gamete biomass production rate was approximately two to four orders of magnitude higher in females. In both males and females, gamete biomass production rate increased with organism mass as a power law, much like individual metabolic rate. This suggests that whole-organism energetics may act as a primary constraint on gamete production among species. Residual variation in sperm production rate was positively correlated with relative testes size. Together, these results suggest that understanding the heterogeneity in rates of gamete production among species requires joint consideration of the effects of gonad mass and metabolism

Homing and Long-Term Engraftment of Long- and Short-Term Renewal Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSC) and short-term hematopoietic stem cells (ST-HSC) have been characterized as having markedly different in vivo repopulation, but similar in vitro growth in liquid culture. These differences could be due to differences in marrow homing. We evaluated this by comparing results when purified ST-HSC and LT-HSC were administered to irradiated mice by three different routes: intravenous, intraperitoneal, and directly into the femur. Purified stem cells derived from B6.SJL mice were competed with marrow cells from C57BL/6J mice into lethally irradiated C57BL/6J mice. Serial transplants into secondary recipients were also carried out. We found no advantage for ST-HSC engraftment when the cells were administered intraperitoneally or directly into femur. However, to our surprise, we found that the purified ST-HSC were not short-term in nature but rather gave long-term multilineage engraftment out to 387 days, albeit at a lower level than the LT-HSC. The ST-HSC also gave secondary engraftment. These observations challenge current models of the stem cell hierarchy and suggest that stem cells are in a continuum of change