DIFFERENCES IN SLEEP PATTERNS AMONG HEALTHY SLEEPERS AND PATIENTS AFTER STROKE

Sleep deprivation, whether from disorder or lifestyle, whether acute or chronic, poses a significant risk in daytime cognitive performance, excessive somnolence, impaired attention or decreased level of motor abilities. Ischemic stroke resulting in cerebral lesions is a well-known acute disorder that leaves affected patients strongly vulnerable to sleep disturbances that often lead to the above-mentioned cognitive and attentional impairments. In this paper, we analyzed and compared sleep patterns of healthy sleepers and patients after stroke. To overcome the well-known limits of the standardized sleep scoring into several discrete sleep stages we employed the recently proposed probabilistic sleepmodel that represents the sleep process as a continuum in terms of a set of probability curves. The probability curves were considered to represent a form of functional data, and microstructure along with time dynamics of the curves were studied using functional principal components analysis and clustering. Although our study represents a preliminary attempt to separate the two groups of subjects, we were able to identify several physiologically separate sleep patterns and we also identified sleep microstate patterns being a potential source allowing the discrimination of healthy subjects and stroke patients

The inductive bias of ReLU networks on orthogonally separable data

We study the inductive bias of two-layer ReLU networks trained by gradient flow. We identify a class of easy-to-learn (`orthogonally separable') datasets, and characterise the solution that ReLU networks trained on such datasets converge to. Irrespective of network width, the solution turns out to be a combination of two max-margin classifiers: one corresponding to the positive data subset and one corresponding to the negative data subset. The proof is based on the recently introduced concept of extremal sectors, for which we prove a number of properties in the context of orthogonal separability. In particular, we prove stationarity of activation patterns from some time onwards, which enables a reduction of the ReLU network to an ensemble of linear subnetworks

A new species of the paper wasp genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville, plebeja group (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae), from Vietnam

A new species, Ropalidia daklak Bui, Mai & Nguyen, sp. nov., belonging to the plebeja-group of the genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville, 1831 is described and figured based on females and males from Vietnam. The nest structure of the new species is described, and an updated key is provided to all known species of the group

Adjunctive dexamethasone for the treatment of HIV-uninfected adults with tuberculous meningitis stratified by Leukotriene A4 hydrolase genotype (LAST ACT): Study protocol for a randomised double blind placebo controlled non-inferiority trial [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

Background: Tuberculosis kills more people than any other bacterial infection worldwide. In tuberculous meningitis (TBM), a common functional promoter variant (C/T transition) in the gene encoding leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H), predicts pre-treatment inflammatory phenotype and response to dexamethasone in HIV-uninfected individuals. The primary aim of this study is to determine whether LTA4H genotype determines benefit or harm from adjunctive dexamethasone in HIV-uninfected Vietnamese adults with TBM. The secondary aim is to investigate alternative management strategies in individuals who develop drug induced liver injury (DILI) that will enable the safe continuation of rifampicin and isoniazid therapy.  Methods: We will perform a parallel group, randomised (1:1), double blind, placebo-controlled,  multi-centre Phase III non-inferiority trial, comparing dexamethasone versus placebo for 6-8 weeks in addition to standard anti-tuberculosis treatment in HIV-uninfected patients with TBM stratified by LTA4H genotype. The primary endpoint will be death or new neurological event. The trial will enrol approximately 720 HIV-uninfected adults with a clinical diagnosis of TBM, from two hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 640 participants with CC or CT- LTA4H genotype will be randomised to either dexamethasone or placebo, and the remaining TT- genotype participants will be treated with standard-of-care dexamethasone. We will also perform a randomised comparison of three management strategies for anti-tuberculosis DILI. An identical ancillary study will also be perfomed in the linked randomised controlled trial of dexamethasone in HIV-infected adults with TBM (ACT HIV).  Discussion: Previous data have shown that LTA4H genotype may be a critical determinant of inflammation and consequently of adjunctive anti-inflammatory treatment response in TBM. We will stratify dexamethasone therapy according to LTA4H genotype in HIV-uninfected adults, which may indicate a role for targeted anti-inflammatory therapy according to variation in LTA4H C/T transition. A comparison of DILI management strategies may allow the safe continuation of rifampicin and isoniazid