bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
paGAN
Authors: Nagano Koki , Seo Jaewoo , Xing Jun , Wei Lingyu , Li Zimo , Saito Shunsuke , Agarwal Aviral , Fursund Jens , Li Hao
Published: November 2018

With the rising interest in personalized VR and gaming experiences comes the need to create high quality 3D avatars that are both low-cost and variegated. Due to this, building dynamic avatars from a single unconstrained input image is becoming a popular application. While previous techniques that attempt this require multiple input images or rely on transferring dynamic facial appearance from a source actor, we are able to do so using only one 2D input image without any form of transfer from a source image. We achieve this using a new conditional Generative Adversarial Network design that allows fine-scale manipulation of any facial input image into a new expression while preserving its identity. Our photoreal avatar GAN (paGAN) can also synthesize the unseen mouth interior and control the eye-gaze direction of the output, as well as produce the final image from a novel viewpoint. The method is even capable of generating fully-controllable temporally stable video sequences, despite not using temporal information during training. After training, we can use our network to produce dynamic image-based avatars that are controllable on mobile devices in real time. To do this, we compute a fixed set of output images that correspond to key blendshapes, from which we extract textures in UV space. Using a subject's expression blendshapes at run-time, we can linearly blend these key textures together to achieve the desired appearance. Furthermore, we can use the mouth interior and eye textures produced by our network to synthesize on-the-fly avatar animations for those regions. Our work produces state-of-the-art quality image and video synthesis, and is the first to our knowledge that is able to generate a dynamically textured avatar with a mouth interior, all from a single image.
FlexMaps
Authors: Malomo Luigi , Pérez Jesús , Iarussi Emmanuel , Pietroni Nico , Miguel Eder , Cignoni Paolo , Bickel Bernd
Published: November 2018

We propose FlexMaps, a novel framework for fabricating smooth shapes out of flat, flexible panels with tailored mechanical properties. We start by mapping the 3D surface onto a 2D domain as in traditional UV mapping to design a set of deformable flat panels called
FlexMaps.
For these panels, we design and obtain specific mechanical properties such that, once they are assembled, the static equilibrium configuration matches the desired 3D shape. FlexMaps can be fabricated from an almost rigid material, such as wood or plastic, and are made flexible in a controlled way by using computationally designed spiraling microstructures.
Set-in-stone
Authors: Schumacher Christian , Zehnder Jonas , Bächer Moritz
Published: November 2018

Large-scale binder jetting provides a promising alternative to manual sculpting of sandstone. The weak build material, however, severely limits its use in architectural ornamentation. We propose a structural optimization that jointly optimizes an ornament's strength-to-weight ratio and balance under self-weight, thermal, wind, and live loads. To account for the difference in the tensile and compressive strength of the build material, we turn the Bresler-Pister criterion into a failure potential, measuring the distance to failure. Integrated into an XFEM-based level set formulation, we minimize this potential by changing the topology and shape of the internal structure. To deal with uncertainties in the location of live loads, and the direction of wind loads, we first estimate loads that lead to the weakest structure, then minimize the potential of failure under identified worst-case loads. With the help of first-order optimality constraints, we unify our worst-case load estimation and structural optimization into a
continuous
optimization. We demonstrate applications in art, furniture design, and architectural ornamentation with three large-scale 3D printed examples.
Real-time viscous thin films
Authors: Vantzos Orestis , Raz Saar , Ben-Chen Mirela
Published: November 2018

We propose a novel discrete scheme for simulating viscous thin films at real-time frame rates. Our scheme is based on a new formulation of the gradient flow approach, that leads to a discretization based on
local stencils
that are easily computable on the GPU. Our approach has physical fidelity, as the total mass is guaranteed to be preserved, an appropriate discrete energy is controlled, and the film height is guaranteed to be non-negative at all times. In addition, and unlike all existing methods for thin films simulation, it is fast enough to allow realtime interaction with the flow, for designing initial conditions and controlling the forces during the simulation.
The shape space of discrete orthogonal geodesic nets
Authors: Rabinovich Michael , Hoffmann Tim , Sorkine-Hornung Olga
Published: November 2018

Discrete orthogonal geodesic nets (DOGs) are a quad mesh analogue of developable surfaces. In this work we study continuous deformations on these discrete objects. Our main theoretical contribution is the characterization of the shape space of DOGs for a given net connectivity. We show that generally, this space is locally a manifold of a fixed dimension, apart from a set of singularities, implying that DOGs are continuously deformable. Smooth flows can be constructed by a smooth choice of vectors on the manifold's tangent spaces, selected to minimize a desired objective function under a given metric. We show how to compute such vectors by solving a linear system, and we use our findings to devise a geometrically meaningful way to handle singular points. We base our shape space metric on a novel DOG Laplacian operator, which is proved to converge under sampling of an analytical orthogonal geodesic net. We further show how to extend the shape space of DOGs by supporting creases and curved folds and apply the developed tools in an editing system for developable surfaces that supports arbitrary bending, stretching, cutting, (curved) folds, as well as smoothing and subdivision operations.
Instant transport maps on 2D grids
Authors: Nader Georges , Guennebaud Gael
Published: November 2018

In this paper, we introduce a novel and extremely fast algorithm to compute continuous transport maps between 2D probability densities discretized on uniform grids. The core of our method is a novel iterative solver computing the
L
2
optimal transport map from a grid to the uniform density in the 2D Euclidean plane. A transport map between arbitrary densities is then recovered through numerical inversion and composition. In this case, the resulting map is only approximately optimal, but it is continuous and density preserving. Our solver is derivative-free, and it converges in a few cheap iterations. We demonstrate interactive performance in various applications such as adaptive sampling, feature sensitive remeshing, and caustic design.
Stabilized real-time face tracking via a learned dynamic rigidity prior
Authors: Cao Chen , Chai Menglei , Woodford Oliver , Luo Linjie
Published: November 2018

Despite the popularity of real-time monocular face tracking systems in many successful applications, one overlooked problem with these systems is rigid instability. It occurs when the input facial motion can be explained by either head pose change or facial expression change, creating ambiguities that often lead to jittery and unstable rigid head poses under large expressions. Existing rigid stabilization methods either employ a heavy anatomically-motivated approach that are unsuitable for real-time applications, or utilize heuristic-based rules that can be problematic under certain expressions. We propose the first rigid stabilization method for real-time monocular face tracking using a dynamic rigidity prior learned from realistic datasets. The prior is defined on a region-based face model and provides dynamic region-based adaptivity for rigid pose optimization during real-time performance. We introduce an effective offline training scheme to learn the dynamic rigidity prior by optimizing the convergence of the rigid pose optimization to the ground-truth poses in the training data. Our real-time face tracking system is an optimization framework that alternates between rigid pose optimization and expression optimization. To ensure tracking accuracy, we combine both robust, drift-free facial landmarks and dense optical flow into the optimization objectives. We evaluate our system extensively against state-of-the-art monocular face tracking systems and achieve significant improvement in tracking accuracy on the high-quality face tracking benchmark. Our system can improve facial-performance-based applications such as facial animation retargeting and virtual face makeup with accurate expression and stable pose. We further validate the dynamic rigidity prior by comparing it against other variants on the tracking accuracy.
C
urve
F
usion
Authors: Liu Lingjie , Chen Nenglun , Ceylan Duygu , Theobalt Christian , Wang Wenping , Mitra Niloy J.
Published: November 2018

We introduce C
urve
F
usion
, the first approach for high quality scanning of thin structures at interactive rates using a handheld RGBD camera. Thin filament-like structures are mathematically just 1D curves embedded in R
3
, and integration-based reconstruction works best when depth sequences (from the thin structure parts) are fused using the object's (unknown) curve skeleton. Thus, using the complementary but noisy color and depth channels, C
urve
F
usion
first automatically identifies point samples on potential thin structures and groups them into
bundles
, each being a group of a fixed number of aligned consecutive frames. Then, the algorithm extracts per-bundle skeleton curves using L
1
axes, and aligns and iteratively merges the L
1
segments from all the bundles to form the final complete curve skeleton. Thus, unlike previous methods, reconstruction happens via integration along a
data-dependent fusion primitive
, i.e., the extracted curve skeleton. We extensively evaluate C
urve
F
usion
on a range of challenging examples, different scanner and calibration settings, and present high fidelity thin structure reconstructions previously just not possible from raw RGBD sequences.
Multi-directional geodesic neural networks via equivariant convolution
Authors: Poulenard Adrien , Ovsjanikov Maks
Published: November 2018

We propose a novel approach for performing convolution of signals on curved surfaces and show its utility in a variety of geometric deep learning applications. Key to our construction is the notion of directional functions defined on the surface, which extend the classic real-valued signals and which can be naturally convolved with with real-valued template functions. As a result, rather than trying to fix a canonical orientation or only keeping the maximal response across all alignments of a 2D template at every point of the surface, as done in previous works, we show how information across all rotations can be kept across different layers of the neural network. Our construction, which we call
multi-directional geodesic convolution
, or
directional convolution
for short, allows, in particular, to propagate and relate directional information across layers and thus different regions on the shape. We first define directional convolution in the continuous setting, prove its key properties and then show how it can be implemented in practice, for shapes represented as triangle meshes. We evaluate directional convolution in a wide variety of learning scenarios ranging from classification of signals on surfaces, to shape segmentation and shape matching, where we show a significant improvement over several baselines.
Relighting humans
Authors: Kanamori Yoshihiro , Endo Yuki
Published: November 2018

Relighting of human images has various applications in image synthesis. For relighting, we must infer albedo, shape, and illumination from a human portrait. Previous techniques rely on human faces for this inference, based on spherical harmonics (SH) lighting. However, because they often ignore light occlusion, inferred shapes are biased and relit images are unnaturally bright particularly at hollowed regions such as armpits, crotches, or garment wrinkles. This paper introduces the first attempt to infer light occlusion in the SH formulation directly. Based on supervised learning using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), we infer not only an albedo map, illumination but also a
light transport map
that encodes occlusion as nine SH coefficients per pixel. The main difficulty in this inference is the lack of training datasets compared to unlimited variations of human portraits. Surprisingly, geometric information including occlusion can be inferred plausibly even with a small dataset of synthesized human figures, by carefully preparing the dataset so that the CNNs can exploit the data coherency. Our method accomplishes more realistic relighting than the occlusion-ignored formulation.
Geometry-aware metropolis light transport
Authors: Otsu Hisanari , Hanika Johannes , Hachisuka Toshiya , Dachsbacher Carsten
Published: November 2018

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) rendering utilizes a sequence of correlated path samples which is obtained by iteratively mutating the current state to the next. The efficiency of MCMC rendering depends on how well the mutation strategy is designed to adapt to the local structure of the state space. We present a novel MCMC rendering method that automatically adapts the step sizes of the mutations to the
geometry
of the rendered scene. Our geometry-aware path space perturbation largely avoids tentative samples with zero contribution due to occlusion. Our method limits the mutation step size by estimating the maximum opening angle of a cone, centered around a segment of a light transport path, where no geometry obstructs visibility. This geometry-aware mutation increases the acceptance rates, while not degrading the sampling quality. As this cone estimation introduces a considerable overhead if done naively, to make our approach efficient, we discuss and analyze fast approximate methods for cone angle estimation which utilize the acceleration structure already present for the ray-geometry intersection. Our new approach, integrated into the framework of Metropolis light transport, can achieve results with lower error and less artifact in equal time compared to current path space mutation techniques.
HSP90: Enabler of Cancer Adaptation
Authors: Jaeger Alex M. , Whitesell Luke
Published: November 2018

The stability and function of many oncogenic mutant proteins depend on heat shock protein 90 (HSP90). This unique activity has inspired the exploration of HSP90 as an anticancer target for over two decades. Unfortunately, while clinical trials of highly optimized HSP90 inhibitors have demonstrated modest benefit for patients with advanced cancers, most commonly stabilization of disease, no HSP90 inhibitor has demonstrated sufficient efficacy to achieve FDA approval to date. This review discusses potential reasons for the limited success of these agents and how our increasingly sophisticated understanding of HSP90 suggests alternative, potentially more effective strategies for targeting it to treat cancers. First, we focus on insights gained from model organisms that suggest a fundamental role for HSP90 in supporting the adaptability and heterogeneity of cancers, key factors underlying their ability to evolve and acquire drug resistance. Second, we examine how HSP90’s role in promoting the stability of mutant proteins might be targeted in genetically unstable tumor cells to reveal their aberrant, foreign proteome to the immune system. Both of these emerging aspects of HSP90 biology suggest that the most effective use of HSP90 inhibitors may not be at high doses with the intent to kill cancer cells, but rather in combination with other molecularly targeted therapies at modest, non-heat shock-inducing exposures that limit the adaptive capacity of cancers.
Biology and Therapy of Dominant Fusion Oncoproteins Involving Transcription Factor and Chromatin Regulators in Sarcomas
Authors: Perry Jennifer A. , Seong Bo Kyung Alex , Stegmaier Kimberly
Published: November 2018

A third of soft tissue sarcomas have been shown to carry recurrent, characteristic chromosomal translocations, many of which generate fusion proteins that act as dominant transcription factors or as chromatin regulators. With routine use of massively parallel sequencing and advances in technology for the study of epigenetics and protein complexes, the last decade has seen a marked advancement in the identification of novel fusions and in our understanding of the mechanisms by which they contribute to the malignant state. Moreover, with new approaches in chemistry, such as the strategy of targeted protein degradation, we are now better poised to address these previously intractable targets. In this review, we describe three of the most common fusion-driven sarcomas (Ewing sarcoma, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, and synovial sarcoma), mechanistic themes emerging across these diseases, and novel approaches to their targeting.
Branched Chain Amino Acids
Authors: Neinast Michael , Murashige Danielle , Arany Zoltan
Published: November 2018

Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are building blocks for all life-forms. We review here the fundamentals of BCAA metabolism in mammalian physiology. Decades of studies have elicited a deep understanding of biochemical reactions involved in BCAA catabolism. In addition, BCAAs and various catabolic products act as signaling molecules, activating programs ranging from protein synthesis to insulin secretion. How these processes are integrated at an organismal level is less clear. Inborn errors of metabolism highlight the importance of organismal regulation of BCAA physiology. More recently, subtle alterations of BCAA metabolism have been suggested to contribute to numerous prevalent diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart failure. Understanding the mechanisms underlying altered BCAA metabolism and how they contribute to disease pathophysiology will keep researchers busy for the foreseeable future.
The Economics and Politics of Preferential Trade Agreements
Authors: Baccini Leonardo
Published: November 2018

The number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has skyrocketed over the past 20 years. In addition to reducing barriers at the border, modern PTAs remove many behind-the-border barriers by regulating foreign direct investment (FDI), liberalizing services, and protecting intellectual property rights. This article surveys the literature explaining the formation of PTAs and their consequences. Regarding the formation of PTAs, studies have gradually moved from exploring the macro-foundation of preferential liberalization to focusing on the micro-foundation of PTAs, relying on industry- and firm-level data. Regarding the effect of PTAs, there is robust evidence that PTAs substantively increase trade flows and FDI and are associated with economic reforms in developing countries, though the general welfare effect of preferential liberalization remains largely unexplored. I make some concrete suggestions on avenues toward which to push the research on PTAs. In particular, I argue that scholars interested in PTAs would benefit from engaging in debate about the distributional consequences of trade liberalization, which not only informs much of the current academic and policy research but also features in political debates taking place in democratic polities.
Approximate Bayesian Computation
Authors: Beaumont Mark A.
Published: November 2018

Many of the statistical models that could provide an accurate, interesting, and testable explanation for the structure of a data set turn out to have intractable likelihood functions. The method of approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) has become a popular approach for tackling such models. This review gives an overview of the method and the main issues and challenges that are the subject of current research.
Exercise training normalizes elevated firing rate of hypothalamic presympathetic neurons in heart failure rats
Authors: Shen Yiming , Park Jin Bong , Lee So Yeong , Han Seong Kyu , Ryu Pan Dong
Published: November 2018

Exercise training (ExT) normalizes elevated sympathetic nerve activity in heart failure (HF), but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. In this study, we examined the effects of 3 wk of ExT on the electrical activity of the hypothalamic presympathetic neurons in the brain slice of HF rats. HF rats were prepared by ligating the left descending coronary artery. The electrophysiological properties of paraventricular nucleus neurons projecting to the rostral ventrolateral medulla (PVN-RVLM) were examined using the slice patch-clamp technique. The neuronal firing rate was elevated in HF rats, and ExT induced a reduction in the firing rate ( P < 0.01). This ExT-induced decrease in the firing rate was associated with an increased frequency of spontaneous and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSCs; P < 0.05). There was no significant change in excitatory postsynaptic current. Replacing Ca2+ with Mg2+ in the recording solution reduced the elevated IPSC frequency in HF rats with ExT ( P < 0.01) but not in those without ExT, indicating an increase in the probability of GABA release. In contrast, ExT did not restore the reduced GABAA receptor-mediated tonic inhibitory current in HF rats. A GABAA receptor blocker (bicuculline, 20 μM) increased the firing rate in HF rats with ExT ( P < 0.01) but not in those without ExT. Collectively, these results show that ExT normalized the elevated firing activity by increasing synaptic GABA release in PVN-RVLM neurons in HF rats. Our findings provide a brain mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of ExT in HF, which may shed light on the pathophysiology of other diseases accompanied by sympathetic hyperactivation.
Renal olfactory receptor 1393 contributes to the progression of type 2 diabetes in a diet-induced obesity model
Authors: Shepard Blythe D. , Koepsell Hermann , Pluznick Jennifer L.
Published: November 2018

Olfactory receptors are G protein-coupled receptors that serve to detect odorants in the nose. Additionally, these receptors are expressed in other tissues, where they have functions outside the canonical smell response. Olfactory receptor 1393 (Olfr1393) was recently identified as a novel regulator of Na+-glucose cotransporter 1 (Sglt1) localization in the renal proximal tubule. Glucose reabsorption in the proximal tubule (via Sglt1 and Sglt2) has emerged as an important contributor to the development of diabetes. Inhibition of Sglt2 is accepted as a viable therapeutic treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes and has been shown to delay development of diabetic kidney disease. We hypothesized that Olfr1393 may contribute to the progression of type 2 diabetes, particularly the development of hyperfiltration, which has been linked to increased Na+reabsorption in the proximal tubule via the Sglts. To test this hypothesis, Olfr1393 wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice were challenged with a high-fat diet to induce early-stage type 2 diabetes. After 16 wk on the high-fat diet, fasting blood glucose values were increased and glucose tolerance was impaired in the male WT mice. Both of these effects were significantly blunted in the male KO mice. In addition, male and female WT mice developed diabetes-induced hyperfiltration, which was attenuated in the Olfr1393 KO mice and corresponded with a reduction in luminal expression of Sglt2. Collectively, these data indicate that renal Olfr1393 can contribute to the progression of type 2 diabetes, likely as a regulator of Na+-glucose cotransport in the proximal tubule.
Furosemide reduces BK-αβ4-mediated K+ secretion in mice on an alkaline high-K+ diet
Authors: Wang Bangchen , Wang-France Jun , Li Huaqing , Sansom Steven C.
Published: November 2018

Special high-K diets have cardioprotective effects and are often warranted in conjunction with diuretics such as furosemide for treating hypertension. However, it is not understood how a high-K diet (HK) influences the actions of diuretics on renal K+ handling. Furosemide acidifies the urine by increasing acid secretion via the Na+-H+ exchanger 3 (NHE3) in TAL and vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) in the distal nephron. We previously found that an alkaline urine is required for large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK)-αβ4-mediated K+ secretion in mice on HK. We therefore hypothesized that furosemide could reduce BK-αβ4-mediated K+ secretion by acidifying the urine. Treating with furosemide (drinking water) for 11 days led to decreased urine pH in both wild-type (WT) and BK-β4-knockout mice (BK-β4-KO) with increased V-ATPase expression and elevated plasma aldosterone levels. However, furosemide decreased renal K+ clearance and elevated plasma [K+] in WT but not BK-β4-KO. Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining showed that furosemide treatment decreased cortical expression of BK-β4 and reduced apical localization of BK-α in connecting tubules. Addition of the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, acetazolamide, to furosemide water restored urine pH along with renal K+ clearance and plasma [K+] to control levels. Acetazolamide plus furosemide also restored the cortical expression of BK-β4 and BK-α in connecting tubules. These results indicate that in mice adapted to HK, furosemide reduces BK-αβ4-mediated K+ secretion by acidifying the urine.
Patients with hypokalemia develop WNK bodies in the distal convoluted tubule of the kidney
Authors: Thomson Martin N. , Schneider Wolfgang , Mutig Kerim , Ellison David H. , Kettritz Ralph , Bachmann Sebastian
Published: November 2018

Hypokalemia contributes to the progression of chronic kidney disease, although a definitive pathophysiological theory to explain this remains to be established. K+deficiency results in profound alterations in renal epithelial transport. These include an increase in salt reabsorption via the Na+-Cl−cotransporter (NCC) of the distal convoluted tubule (DCT), which minimizes electroneutral K+loss in downstream nephron segments. In experimental conditions of dietary K+depletion, punctate structures in the DCT containing crucial NCC-regulating kinases have been discovered in the murine DCT and termed “WNK bodies,” referring to their component, with no K (lysine) kinases (WNKs). We hypothesized that in humans, WNK bodies occur in hypokalemia as well. Renal needle biopsies of patients with chronic hypokalemic nephropathy and appropriate controls were examined by histological stains and immunofluorescence. Segment- and organelle-specific marker proteins were used to characterize the intrarenal and subcellular distribution of established WNK body constituents, namely, WNKs and Ste20-related proline-alanine-rich kinase (SPAK). In both patients with hypokalemia, WNKs and SPAK concentrated in non-membrane-bound cytoplasmic regions in the DCT, consistent with prior descriptions of WNK bodies. The putative WNK bodies were located in the perinuclear region close to, but not within, the endoplasmic reticulum. They were closely adjacent to microtubules but not clustered in aggresomes. Notably, we provide the first report of WNK bodies, which are functionally challenging structures associated with K+deficiency, in human patients.
Hydrogeochemical Characteristics and Genesis Model of Jinjiang and Julong Hot Springs in Changbai Mountain, Northeast China
Authors: Yan Baizhong , Liang Xiujuan , Xiao Changlai
Published: November 2018

Changbai Mountain in China has been explored as a potential area for its rich hot springs including the Jinjiang and Julong hot spring groups. The hydrogeochemical characteristics and conceptual genesis models of the Jinjiang and Julong hot springs were evaluated by hydrogeochemical analysis, isotope analysis, rock sample analysis, hydrogeochemistry simulation, and geophysical exploration method. The results showed that HCO3− and Na+ were the most abundant anion and cation in the hot springs, and the hydrochemical type was Na-HCO3. And the hot springs are enriched with trace components such as H2SiO3 and Sr. The major gas composition of the Jinjiang hot springs and Julong hot springs were CO2, N2, and CH4, which were derived from the mantle. The chemical compositions were produced by feldspar and pyroxene mineral hydrolysis. The recharge source of the hot springs was atmospheric precipitation and was also influenced by evaporation, and the genetic models for the Jinjiang hot springs and Julong hot springs were as follows: the heat source of both was a magma body and heat was mainly migrated in the form of thermal conduction. The cap rocks were both composed of trachyte of Baitoushan formation, basalt of Junjianshan formation, and rhyolitic pyroclastic rocks of Changbai formation. The geothermal reservoir of both hot springs was a fracture zone with the lithology of volcanic breccia, sand, and gravel and volcanic breccia and marble, respectively.
Upregulation of Cardiac IL-10 and Downregulation of IFN-γin Balb/c IL-4−/−in Acute Chagasic Myocarditis due to Colombian Strain ofTrypanosoma cruzi
Authors: da Silva Marcos Vinicius , de Almeida Vera Lúcia , de Oliveira Wendyson Duarte , Matos Cascudo Natália Carasek , de Oliveira Pollyana Guimarães , da Silva Crislaine Aparecida , da Silva Aline Cristina Souza , dos Reis Monteiro Maria Luíza Gonçalves , Correa Rosana Rosa Miranda , Oliveira Milton Adriano Pelli , Lino-Júnior Ruy de Sousa , Celes Mara Rúbia Nunes , Machado Juliana Reis
Published: November 2018

Inflammatory response in Chagas disease is related to parasite and host factors. However, immune system regulation has not been fully elucidated. Thus, this study is aimed at evaluating IL-4 influence on acute phase ofTrypanosoma cruziexperimental infection through dosage of cytokine levels in cardiac homogenate of infected Balb/c WT and Balb/c IL-4−/−as well as its histopathological repercussions. For such purpose, mice were divided into two groups: an infected group with 100 forms of the Colombian strain and an uninfected group. After 21 days of infection, animals were euthanized and the blood, spleen, and heart were collected. The spleen was used to culture splenic cells in 48 h. Subsequently, cytokines TNF-α, IL-12p70, IL-10, IFN-γ, and IL-17 were measured in the blood, culture supernatant, and heart apex by ELISA. The base of the heart was used for histopathological analysis. From these analysis, infected Balb/c IL-4−/−mice showed milder inflammatory infiltrate compared to Balb/c WT, but without changes in nest density and collagen deposition. IL-4 absence culminated in lower cardiac tissue IFN-γproduction, although it did not affect TNF-αexpression in situ. It also decreased TNF-αsystemic production and increased IL-10, both systemically andin situ. In addition, IL-4 absence did not influence IL-17 expression. Splenocytes of IL-4-deficient mice produced higher amounts of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-17 and lower amounts of IL-10. Thus, IL-4 absence in acute phase of experimental infection withT. cruziColombian strain reduces myocarditis due to lower IFN-γproduction and greater IL-10 productionin situand this pattern is not influenced by splenocyte general repertoire.
Improved Cost-Sensitive Support Vector Machine Classifier for Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Authors: Liu Na , Shen Jiang , Xu Man , Gan Dan , Qi Er-Shi , Gao Bo
Published: November 2018

As one of the most prevalent cancers among women worldwide, breast cancer has attracted the most attention by researchers. It has been verified that an accurate and early detection of breast cancer can increase the chances for the patients to take the right treatment plan and survive for a long time. Nowadays, numerous classification methods have been utilized for breast cancer diagnosis. However, most of these classification models have concentrated on maximum the classification accuracy, failed to take into account the unequal misclassification costs for the breast cancer diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, misclassifying the cancerous patient as non-cancerous has much higher cost compared to misclassifying the non-cancerous as cancerous. Consequently, in order to tackle this deficiency and further improve the classification accuracy of the breast cancer diagnosis, we propose an improved cost-sensitive support vector machine classifier (ICS-SVM) for the diagnosis of breast cancer. In the proposed approach, we take full account of unequal misclassification costs of breast cancer intelligent diagnosis and provide more reasonable results over previous works and conventional classification models. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, Wisconsin Breast Cancer (WBC) and Wisconsin Diagnostic Breast Cancer (WDBC) breast cancer datasets obtained from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) machine learning repository have been studied. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid algorithm outperforms all the existing methods. Promisingly, the proposed method can be regarded as a useful clinical tool for breast cancer diagnosis and could also be applied to other illness diagnosis.
Multimodal Deep Feature Fusion (MMDFF) for RGB‐D Tracking
Authors: Jiang Ming-xin , Deng Chao , Zhang Ming-min , Shan Jing-song , Zhang Haiyan
Published: November 2018

Visual tracking is still a challenging task due to occlusion, appearance changes, complex motion, etc. We propose a novel RGB‐D tracker based on multimodal deep feature fusion (MMDFF) in this paper. MMDFF model consists of four deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs): Motion‐specific CNN, RGB‐ specific CNN, Depth‐specific CNN, and RGB‐Depth correlated CNN. The depth image is encoded into three channels which are sent into depth‐specific CNN to extract deep depth features. The optical flow image is calculated for every frame and then is fed to motion‐specific CNN to learn deep motion features. Deep RGB, depth, and motion information can be effectively fused at multiple layers via MMDFF model. Finally, multimodal fusion deep features are sent into the C‐COT tracker to obtain the tracking result. For evaluation, experiments are conducted on two recent large‐scale RGB‐D datasets and results demonstrate that our proposed RGB‐D tracking method achieves better performance than other state‐of‐art RGB‐D trackers.
Seroprevalence of AsymptomaticLeishmania donovaniamong Laborers and Associated Risk Factors in Agricultural Camps of West Armachiho District, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Ayehu Animen , Aschale Yibeltal , Lemma Wossenseged , Alebel Animut , Worku Ligabaw , Jejaw Ayalew , Bayih Abebe Genetu
Published: November 2018

Background. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL, also called kala-azar) is a public health problem in Ethiopia, especially in sesame and sorghum growing areas. Compared to other populations, labor migrants are the most exposed. Knowing the seroprevalence ofLeishmania donovaniand associated risk factors is essential to design appropriate control measures. The main aim of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of asymptomaticL. donovaniamong laborers and associated risk factors in agricultural camps of West Armachiho district, Northwest Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted to know the seroprevalence and associated risk factors ofL. donovaniinfection.Method. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 185 laborers from October to December 2017. A simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants from selected agricultural camps. After obtaining written informed consent, data were collected using a structured pretested Amharic version questionnaire using the interview technique. A single finger prick blood sample was collected from the study participants and the blood samples were subjected to the serological diagnostic method using the rk39 kit. The multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors associated withL. donovaniinfection.Result. Among 185 participants examined using rk39, 14 (7.6%) were seroreactive forL. donovani.Leishmania donovaniinfection had a statistically significant association with sleeping underBalanitestrees (AOR: 4.36, 95%CI: 1.186-16.06), presence of domestic animals near sleeping place (AOR: 4.68, 95% CI: 1.25-17.56), and lack of knowledge about VL transmission (AOR: 3.79, 95% CI: 1.07-13.47).Conclusion. Seroprevalence of asymptomaticL. donovaniamong laborers in agricultural camps of West Armachiho was low. Prevention measures and health education about risk factors that expose toL. donovaniinfection for the laborers are essential to prevent the spread of the disease.
Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Dynamic Fat Accumulation in the Walnut Kernel
Authors: Zhao Shuang , Zhang Xuemei , Su Yanping , Chen Yilan , Liu Yang , Sun Meng , Qi Guohui
Published: November 2018

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is an important woody oilseed species cultivated throughout the world. In this study, comparative transcript profiling was performed using high-throughput RNA sequencing technology at the following three stages of walnut fat synthesis in the “Lvling” walnut cultivar: the initial developmental stage (L1), the fast developing stage (L2), and the last developing stage (L3). A total of 68.18 GB of data were obtained on the three developmental stages, and 92% to 94% of clean data were able to be located to the reference genome. Further comparisons of the transcripts in the three libraries revealed that 724, 2027, and 4817 genes were differentially expressed between the L2 and L1 (L2vsL1), L3 and L2 (L3vsL2), and L3 and L1 (L3vsL1) samples, respectively. Through the GO gene enrichment analysis, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in L2vsL1, L3vsL2, and L3vsL1 were enriched into 3, 0, and 2 functional categories, respectively. According to the KEGG enrichment analysis, DEGs in L2vsL1, L3vsL2, and L3vsL1 were annotated into 77, 110, and 3717 taxonomic metabolic pathways in the KEGG database, respectively. Next, we analyzed expression levels of genes related to fat synthesis. Our results indicated that ACCase, LACS, and FAD7 were the key genes related to fat synthesis. The high-throughput transcriptome sequencing of walnut in different developmental stages has greatly enriched the current genomic available resources. The comparison of DEGs under different developmental stages identified a wealth of candidate genes involved in fat synthesis, which will facilitate further genetic improvement and molecular studies of the walnut.
Tracheal Diameter and Respiratory Outcome in Infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Treated by Fetal Endoscopic Tracheal Occlusion
Authors: Morandi Anna , Macchini Francesco , Ophorst Marijke , Borzani Irene , Ciralli Fabrizio , Farolfi Andrea , Porro Giuliana Anna , Franzini Stefania , Fabietti Isabella , Persico Nicola , Mosca Fabio , Leva Ernesto
Published: November 2018

Aim: To evaluate tracheal diameters and their clinical impact in patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) after fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO). Methods: Patients born with CDH between January 2012 and August 2016 were divided into two groups: noFETO and FETO. Tracheal diameters at three levels (T1, carina, and maximum tracheal dilation) on chest X-ray at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months of follow-up, requirements of invasive and noninvasive respiratory support, the incidence of respiratory infections, and results of pulmonary function tests (PFT) were compared. Results: A total of 71 patients with CDH were born in the study period, and there were 34/41 survivors in the no­FETO group (82.9%) and 13/30 in the FETO group (43.3%). The maximum tracheal diameter was significantly greater in the FETO group at all ages. No differences were observed in the diameters at T1 and the carina, in the requirements of invasive and noninvasive respiratory support, and in the incidence respiratory infections. At the PFT (6–12 months), the FETO group presented higher respiratory rates (46.1 ± 6.2 vs. 36.5 ± 10.6, p = 0.02). No differences in PFT results were found between the groups after the 1st year of life. Conclusions: The FETO procedure leads to persistent tracheomegaly. However, the tracheomegaly does not seem to have a significant clinical impact.
Immediate-Type Hypersensitivity Cross-Reactions to Proton Pump Inhibitors: A Descriptive Study of Data from the French National Pharmacovigilance Database
Authors: Tourillon Caroline , Mahe Julien , Baron Aurélie , Lambert Aude , Yélehé-Okouma Mélissa , Veyrac Gwenaelle , Jolliet Pascale
Published: November 2018

Background: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can trigger immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs). Three main patterns of cross-reactivity have been identified: reactions to a single PPI, selective cross-reactions, and cross-reactions with all PPIs. Several hypotheses have been advanced, but no consensus has been reached. Objective: We sought to identify immediate-type hypersensitivity cross-reactions to PPIs using real-world data about hypersensitivity testing from French pharmacovigilance cases. Methods: Potentially relevant immediate-type HSRs reported from January 1985 to February 2015 were extracted from the French pharmacovigilance database using a standardized MedDRA query (SMQ). Cases describing skin tests or oral provocation tests (OPTs) performed with several PPIs that yielded at least one positive result were included. Results: The SMQ extracted 2,119 cases, 38 of which were included in our study. Data collected from skin tests and OPTs indicated cross-reactions with all PPIs (n = 1), reactions to a single PPI (n = 14), or selective cross-reactions (n = 23). Esomeprazole, omeprazole, and pantoprazole concerned 78% of all selective cross-reactions. In more than half of the cases (55.3%), only 2 PPIs were tested. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this PPI cross-reactivity study is the largest to date in terms of population size, describing 38 immediate-type HSRs to PPIs explored by skin tests or OPTs. This paucity of data belies the lack of standardized procedures for PPI hypersensitivity testing. It is likely that PPI HSR workups in everyday clinical practice are often incomplete. Further research to gain insight into selective cross-reactions between PPIs is needed. In the meantime, thorough workups should be completed when a PPI is suspected to have triggered an HSR, instead of routine contraindication to all PPIs.
Marital Transitions and Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults: Examining Educational Differences
Authors: Recksiedler Claudia , Stawski Robert S.
Published: November 2018

Background: Later decades of the life course have undergone rapid transformations due to demographic changes in ageing societies, such as more frequent occurrences of later-life marital transitions. Adaption to these transitions, even when welcomed, brings novel chances and challenges in negotiating new social roles in old age, which could reinforce preexisting disparities in the acquisition and mastery of resources, social ties, and coping strategies. Objectives: Because the ability to weather later-life marital transitions may depend on the long arm of education acquired earlier in the life course, the present study aims to identify and track trends in the prevalence of marriage, divorce/separation, and widowhood among sociodemographic subgroups; link the occurrence of those transitions with mental health; and test the influence of educational attainment on these associations. Methods: We employ an intraindividual, within-person approach to quantify the occurrence of marital transitions and their impact using data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 22,013; 1992–2010). Measures of transition occurrence, depressive symptoms, and educational attainment were available across up to 10 biennial assessments. Results: Individuals with less than a high school diploma displayed the highest likelihood of losing their significant other through divorce/separation or death. Marital loss was associated with increasing, and marital gain with decreasing, depressive symptoms. Compared to those with less than a high school diploma, individuals with a high school or general equivalency diploma exhibited larger increases in depressive symptoms associated with widowhood, even though their average levels of depressive symptoms were lower in the absence of this transition. Conclusions: Our findings revealed a predictable educational gradient for the occurrence of marital transitions and later-life mental health. Yet higher, formalized education did not protect the participants from increased depression in the presence of a loss-related transition, which could suggest that the strains of spousal loss may to some degree function as a leveler of the preexisting social inequalities of stratified life courses. We conclude that the benefits conferred by education are not necessarily ubiquitous, and its impact on the adaptation to spousal loss may be more complex and nuanced depending on the range of prior experiences and available coping strategies.
Lifestyle Factors Are Important Contributors to Subjective Memory Complaints among Patients without Objective Memory Impairment or Positive Neurochemical Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Miley-Akerstedt Anna , Jelic Vesna , Marklund Kristina , Walles Håkan , Åkerstedt Torbjörn , Hagman Göran , Andersson Christin
Published: November 2018

Background/Aims: Many patients presenting to a memory disorders clinic for subjective memory complaints do not show objective evidence of decline on neuropsychological data, have nonpathological biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, and do not develop a neurodegenerative disorder. Lifestyle variables, including subjective sleep problems and stress, are factors known to affect cognition. Little is known about how these factors contribute to patients’ subjective sense of memory decline. Understanding how lifestyle factors are associated with the subjective sense of failing memory that causes patients to seek a formal evaluation is important both for diagnostic workup purposes and for finding appropriate interventions and treatment for these persons, who are not likely in the early stages of a neurodegenerative disease. The current study investigated specific lifestyle variables, such as sleep and stress, to characterize those patients that are unlikely to deteriorate cognitively. Methods: Two hundred nine patients (mean age 58 years) from a university hospital memory disorders clinic were included. Results: Sleep problems and having much to do distinguished those with subjective, but not objective, memory complaints and non-pathological biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Conclusions: Lifestyle factors including sleep and stress are useful in characterizing subjective memory complaints from objective problems. Inclusion of these variables could potentially improve health care utilization efficiency and guide interventions.