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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The valuable information provided by a single HbA1c test has rendered it as a reliable biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of diabetes, which correlates well with the risk of long-term diabetes complications.
Abstract: Diabetes is a global endemic with rapidly increasing prevalence in both developing and developed countries. The American Diabetes Association has recommended glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) as a possible substitute to fasting blood glucose for diagnosis of diabetes. HbA1c is an important indicator of long-term glycemic control with the ability to reflect the cumulative glycemic history of the preceding two to three months. HbA1c not only provides a reliable measure of chronic hyperglycemia but also correlates well with the risk of long-term diabetes complications. Elevated HbA1c has also been regarded as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke in subjects with or without diabetes. The valuable information provided by a single HbA1c test has rendered it as a reliable biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of diabetes. This review highlights the role of HbA1c in diagnosis and prognosis of diabetes patients.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work has shown that viral genetic diversity is determined by multiple virus- and host-dependent processes, and that viral mutation rates can evolve in response to specific selective pressures.
Abstract: The remarkable capacity of some viruses to adapt to new hosts and environments is highly dependent on their ability to generate de novo diversity in a short period of time. Rates of spontaneous mutation vary amply among viruses. RNA viruses mutate faster than DNA viruses, single-stranded viruses mutate faster than double-strand virus, and genome size appears to correlate negatively with mutation rate. Viral mutation rates are modulated at different levels, including polymerase fidelity, sequence context, template secondary structure, cellular microenvironment, replication mechanisms, proofreading, and access to post-replicative repair. Additionally, massive numbers of mutations can be introduced by some virus-encoded diversity-generating elements, as well as by host-encoded cytidine/adenine deaminases. Our current knowledge of viral mutation rates indicates that viral genetic diversity is determined by multiple virus- and host-dependent processes, and that viral mutation rates can evolve in response to specific selective pressures.

585 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2019
TL;DR: This paper presents a simple method for “do as I do” motion transfer: given a source video of a person dancing, it is shown that it can transfer that performance to a novel (amateur) target after only a few minutes of the target subject performing standard moves.
Abstract: This paper presents a simple method for “do as I do” motion transfer: given a source video of a person dancing, we can transfer that performance to a novel (amateur) target after only a few minutes of the target subject performing standard moves. We approach this problem as video-to-video translation using pose as an intermediate representation. To transfer the motion, we extract poses from the source subject and apply the learned pose-to-appearance mapping to generate the target subject. We predict two consecutive frames for temporally coherent video results and introduce a separate pipeline for realistic face synthesis. Although our method is quite simple, it produces surprisingly compelling results (see video). This motivates us to also provide a forensics tool for reliable synthetic content detection, which is able to distinguish videos synthesized by our system from real data. In addition, we release a first-of-its-kind open-source dataset of videos that can be legally used for training and motion transfer.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the current status of optical thermometry of rare-earth ion doped phosphors is reviewed in detail, based on the mechanisms of optical temperature sensing of different phosphors, temperature dependent luminescence spectra, the fluorescence intensity ratio technique in the data fitting process, and errors of the energy difference between thermally coupled levels.
Abstract: Accurate and reliable temperature measurement of many special inaccessible objects is a challenging task. Optical temperature sensing is a promising method to achieve it. The current status of optical thermometry of rare-earth ion doped phosphors is reviewed in detail. Based on the mechanisms of optical temperature sensing of different phosphors, temperature dependent luminescence spectra, the fluorescence intensity ratio technique in the data fitting process, and errors of the energy difference between thermally coupled levels, we describe the recent developments in the use of optical thermometry materials. The most important results obtained in each case are summarized, and the main challenges that we need to overcome are discussed. Research in the field of phosphor sensors has shown that they have significant advantages compared to conventional sensors in terms of their properties like greater sensitivity, freedom from electromagnetic interference, long path monitoring, and independence of compatibility with electronic devices.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A group of experts convened to develop clinical, radiological and microbiological guidelines for the management of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis concluded that long-term oral antifungal therapy is recommended for CCPA to improve overall health status and respiratory symptoms, arrest haemoptysis and prevent progression.
Abstract: Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is an uncommon and problematic pulmonary disease, complicating many other respiratory disorders, thought to affect ~240 000 people in Europe. The most common form of CPA is chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis (CCPA), which untreated may progress to chronic fibrosing pulmonary aspergillosis. Less common manifestations include: Aspergillus nodule and single aspergilloma. All these entities are found in non-immunocompromised patients with prior or current lung disease. Subacute invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (formerly called chronic necrotising pulmonary aspergillosis) is a more rapidly progressive infection (<3 months) usually found in moderately immunocompromised patients, which should be managed as invasive aspergillosis. Few clinical guidelines have been previously proposed for either diagnosis or management of CPA. A group of experts convened to develop clinical, radiological and microbiological guidelines. The diagnosis of CPA requires a combination of characteristics: one or more cavities with or without a fungal ball present or nodules on thoracic imaging, direct evidence of Aspergillus infection (microscopy or culture from biopsy) or an immunological response to Aspergillus spp. and exclusion of alternative diagnoses, all present for at least 3 months. Aspergillus antibody (precipitins) is elevated in over 90% of patients. Surgical excision of simple aspergilloma is recommended, if technically possible, and preferably via video-assisted thoracic surgery technique. Long-term oral antifungal therapy is recommended for CCPA to improve overall health status and respiratory symptoms, arrest haemoptysis and prevent progression. Careful monitoring of azole serum concentrations, drug interactions and possible toxicities is recommended. Haemoptysis may be controlled with tranexamic acid and bronchial artery embolisation, rarely surgical resection, and may be a sign of therapeutic failure and/or antifungal resistance. Patients with single Aspergillus nodules only need antifungal therapy if not fully resected, but if multiple they may benefit from antifungal treatment, and require careful follow-up.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The new knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 acute respiratory disease is reviewed, and its clinical features are summarised.
Abstract: In December 2019, health authorities in Wuhan, China, identified a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown aetiology linked to the city's South China Seafood Market. Subsequent investigations revealed a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as the causative agent now at the heart of a major outbreak. The rising case numbers have been accompanied by unprecedented public health action, including the wholesale isolation of Wuhan. Alongside this has been a robust scientific response, including early publication of the pathogen genome, and rapid development of highly specific diagnostics. This article will review the new knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 acute respiratory disease, and summarise its clinical features.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is increasing worldwide and rates are coming together across countries, and current data suggest incidence is similar to that of conditions such as stomach, liver, testicular and cervical cancers.
Abstract: Introduction: As idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis emerges as an important public health problem, there is a need to coordinate data on incidence and mortality globally. This study aims to systematically assess all available studies to investigate the global burden of disease. Methods: Medline and Embase databases were searched systematically for all population-based studies of incidence or mortality of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Clinical case series and prevalence studies were excluded. The search was supplemented using Google search engine, hand-searching of references and conference abstracts. Data were extracted independently by two authors using a pre-specified proforma, with assessment of methodological quality. Results: 34 studies were identified providing data from 21 countries from 1968-2012. 28 studies reported incidence data, and eight reported mortality data. In studies from year 2000 onwards, we estimated a conservative incidence range of 3-9 cases per 100,000 per year for Europe and North America. Incidence was lower in East Asia and South America. The majority of studies showed an increase in incidence over time. Conclusions: The incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is increasing worldwide, and rates are coming together across countries. Current data suggest incidence is similar to that of conditions such as stomach, liver, testicular and cervical cancers.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conduct an application-oriented review of smart meter data analytics following the three stages of analytics, namely, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics, identifying the key application areas as load analysis, load forecasting, and load management.
Abstract: The widespread popularity of smart meters enables an immense amount of fine-grained electricity consumption data to be collected Meanwhile, the deregulation of the power industry, particularly on the delivery side, has continuously been moving forward worldwide How to employ massive smart meter data to promote and enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the power grid is a pressing issue To date, substantial works have been conducted on smart meter data analytics To provide a comprehensive overview of the current research and to identify challenges for future research, this paper conducts an application-oriented review of smart meter data analytics Following the three stages of analytics, namely, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics, we identify the key application areas as load analysis, load forecasting, and load management We also review the techniques and methodologies adopted or developed to address each application In addition, we also discuss some research trends, such as big data issues, novel machine learning technologies, new business models, the transition of energy systems, and data privacy and security

585 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as discussed by the authors proposed a spatial memory network, which stores neuron activations from different spatial regions of the image in its memory, and uses the question to choose relevant regions for computing the answer, a process of which constitutes a single hop in the network.
Abstract: We address the problem of Visual Question Answering (VQA), which requires joint image and language understanding to answer a question about a given photograph. Recent approaches have applied deep image captioning methods based on convolutional-recurrent networks to this problem, but have failed to model spatial inference. To remedy this, we propose a model we call the Spatial Memory Network and apply it to the VQA task. Memory networks are recurrent neural networks with an explicit attention mechanism that selects certain parts of the information stored in memory. Our Spatial Memory Network stores neuron activations from different spatial regions of the image in its memory, and uses the question to choose relevant regions for computing the answer, a process of which constitutes a single "hop" in the network. We propose a novel spatial attention architecture that aligns words with image patches in the first hop, and obtain improved results by adding a second attention hop which considers the whole question to choose visual evidence based on the results of the first hop. To better understand the inference process learned by the network, we design synthetic questions that specifically require spatial inference and visualize the attention weights. We evaluate our model on two published visual question answering datasets, DAQUAR [1] and VQA [2], and obtain improved results compared to a strong deep baseline model (iBOWIMG) which concatenates image and question features to predict the answer [3].

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A set of clear, practical, evidence-based recommendations is presented for MHapp developers to create better, more rigorous apps, and it may not be possible to incorporate all 16 recommendations into a single MHapp.
Abstract: Background The number of mental health apps (MHapps) developed and now available to smartphone users has increased in recent years. MHapps and other technology-based solutions have the potential to play an important part in the future of mental health care; however, there is no single guide for the development of evidence-based MHapps. Many currently available MHapps lack features that would greatly improve their functionality, or include features that are not optimized. Furthermore, MHapp developers rarely conduct or publish trial-based experimental validation of their apps. Indeed, a previous systematic review revealed a complete lack of trial-based evidence for many of the hundreds of MHapps available. Objective To guide future MHapp development, a set of clear, practical, evidence-based recommendations is presented for MHapp developers to create better, more rigorous apps. Methods A literature review was conducted, scrutinizing research across diverse fields, including mental health interventions, preventative health, mobile health, and mobile app design. Results Sixteen recommendations were formulated. Evidence for each recommendation is discussed, and guidance on how these recommendations might be integrated into the overall design of an MHapp is offered. Each recommendation is rated on the basis of the strength of associated evidence. It is important to design an MHapp using a behavioral plan and interactive framework that encourages the user to engage with the app; thus, it may not be possible to incorporate all 16 recommendations into a single MHapp. Conclusions Randomized controlled trials are required to validate future MHapps and the principles upon which they are designed, and to further investigate the recommendations presented in this review. Effective MHapps are required to help prevent mental health problems and to ease the burden on health systems.

585 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
08 Mar 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the out-of-plane and in-plane dielectric response of TMDs in trigonal prismatic and octahedral coordination, as well as for hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) with a thickness ranging from monolayer and bilayer to bulk, was analyzed.
Abstract: Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) promise greatly improved electrostatic control in future scaled electronic devices. To quantify the prospects of these materials in devices, we calculate the out-of-plane and in-plane dielectric constant from first principles for TMDs in trigonal prismatic and octahedral coordination, as well as for h-BN, with a thickness ranging from monolayer and bilayer to bulk. Both the ionic and electronic contribution to the dielectric response are computed. Our calculations show that the out-of-plane dielectric response for the transition-metal dichalcogenides is dominated by its electronic component and that the dielectric constant increases with increasing chalcogen atomic number. Overall, the out-of-plane dielectric constant of the TMDs and h-BN increases by less than 15% as the number of layers is increased from monolayer to bulk, while the in-plane component remains unchanged. Our computations also reveal that for octahedrally coordinated TMDs the ionic (static) contribution to the dielectric response is very high (4.5 times the electronic contribution) in the in-plane direction. This indicates that semiconducting TMDs in the tetragonal phase will suffer from excessive polar-optical scattering thereby deteriorating their electronic transport properties. The out-of-plane dielectric constant of transition metal dichalcogenides and h-BN is thickness-dependent, unlike their in-plane counterpart. A team led by William Vandenberghe at the University of Texas at Dallas performed calculations of the optical and static relative permittivity of free-standing monolayer, bilayer, and bulk transition metal dichalcogenides, in the in-plane and out-of-plane directions. In h-BN, the in-plane contribution was found to be larger than its out-of-plane counterpart, and independent on the number of h-BN layers. Conversely, the out-of-plane h-BN dielectric constant showed an increase when going from monolayer to bulk. In transition metal dichalcogenides, the dielectric constant components displayed similar trends to those observed in h-BN with regards to their thickness evolution. The calculations also indicated that the electronic component dominates the overall dielectric response for most of the analyzed 2D materials.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the 870 m continuum emission from the nearest gas-rich protoplanetary disk, around TW Hya, reveal a series of concentric ring-shaped substructures in the form of bright zones and narrow dark annuli with modest contrasts.
Abstract: We present long-baseline Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the 870 m continuum emission from the nearest gas-rich protoplanetary disk, around TW Hya, that trace millimeter-sized particles down to spatial scales as small as 1 AU (20 mas). These data reveal a series of concentric ring-shaped substructures in the form of bright zones and narrow dark annuli (1{6 AU) with modest contrasts (5{30%). We associate these features with concentrations of solids that have had their inward radial drift slowed or stopped, presumably at local gas pressure maxima. No signicant non-axisymmetric structures are detected. Some of the observed features occur near temperatures that may be associated with the condensation fronts of major volatile species, but the relatively small brightness contrasts may also be a consequence of magnetized disk evolution (the so-called zonal ows). Other features, particularly a narrow dark annulus located only 1 AU from the star, could indicate interactions between the disk and young planets. These data signal that ordered substructures on AU scales can be common, fundamental factors in disk evolution, and that high resolution microwave imaging can help characterize them during the epoch of planet formation.

Book
18 Jun 2021
TL;DR: This book discusses the synthesis of Ionic Liquids, their properties, and the green credentials of these liquids as Designer Solvents.
Abstract: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: History Chapter 3: Synthesis of Ionic Liquids Chapter 4: Properties of Ionic Liquids Chapter 5: Ionic Liquids as Designer Solvents Chapter 6: The Green Credentials of Ionic Liquids Chapter 7: Electrochemistry Chapter 8: Catalysis Chapter 9: Inorganic Chemistry Chapter 10: General Organic Reactions Chapter 11: Named Organic Reactions Chapter 12: Biotechnology Chapter 13: Analysis Chapter 14: Applications Subject Index

Journal ArticleDOI
26 Jun 2015-Science
TL;DR: An updated global surface temperature analysis reveals that global trends are higher than those reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, especially in recent decades, and that the central estimate for the rate of warming during the first 15 years of the 21st century is at least as great as the last half of the 20th century.
Abstract: Much study has been devoted to the possible causes of an apparent decrease in the upward trend of global surface temperatures since 1998, a phenomenon that has been dubbed the global warming “hiatus.” Here, we present an updated global surface temperature analysis that reveals that global trends are higher than those reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, especially in recent decades, and that the central estimate for the rate of warming during the first 15 years of the 21st century is at least as great as the last half of the 20th century. These results do not support the notion of a “slowdown” in the increase of global surface temperature.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This topical review article gives an overview of the interplay between quantum information theory and thermodynamics of quantum systems, including the foundations of statistical mechanics, resource theories, entanglement in thermodynamic settings, fluctuation theorems and thermal machines.
Abstract: This topical review article gives an overview of the interplay between quantum information theory and thermodynamics of quantum systems. We focus on several trending topics including the foundations of statistical mechanics, resource theories, entanglement in thermodynamic settings, fluctuation theorems and thermal machines. This is not a comprehensive review of the diverse field of quantum thermodynamics; rather, it is a convenient entry point for the thermo-curious information theorist. Furthermore this review should facilitate the unification and understanding of different interdisciplinary approaches emerging in research groups around the world.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review selected advances in the theoretical understanding of complex quantum many-body systems with regard to emergent notions of quantum statistical mechanics, such as equilibration and thermalisation in pure state statistical mechanics.
Abstract: We review selected advances in the theoretical understanding of complex quantum many-body systems with regard to emergent notions of quantum statistical mechanics. We cover topics such as equilibration and thermalisation in pure state statistical mechanics, the eigenstate thermalisation hypothesis, the equivalence of ensembles, non-equilibration dynamics following global and local quenches as well as ramps. We also address initial state independence, absence of thermalisation, and many-body localisation. We elucidate the role played by key concepts for these phenomena, such as Lieb-Robinson bounds, entanglement growth, typicality arguments, quantum maximum entropy principles and the generalised Gibbs ensembles, and quantum (non-)integrability. We put emphasis on rigorous approaches and present the most important results in a unified language.

Journal ArticleDOI
13 Jul 2018-Science
TL;DR: The magnitude of this leakage was reassessed and it was found that in 2015, supply chain emissions were ∼60% higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inventory estimate, likely because existing inventory methods miss emissions released during abnormal operating conditions.
Abstract: Methane emissions from the U.S. oil and natural gas supply chain were estimated by using ground-based, facility-scale measurements and validated with aircraft observations in areas accounting for ~30% of U.S. gas production. When scaled up nationally, our facility-based estimate of 2015 supply chain emissions is 13 ± 2 teragrams per year, equivalent to 2.3% of gross U.S. gas production. This value is ~60% higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inventory estimate, likely because existing inventory methods miss emissions released during abnormal operating conditions. Methane emissions of this magnitude, per unit of natural gas consumed, produce radiative forcing over a 20-year time horizon comparable to the CO2 from natural gas combustion. Substantial emission reductions are feasible through rapid detection of the root causes of high emissions and deployment of less failure-prone systems.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The validity of Fuh's equation, which relates annual water yield to a wetness index (precipitation/potential evapotranspiration; P/PET) and watershed characteristics (m), is examined, suggesting that any land cover changes in non-humid regions (P/PET<1) or in watersheds of low water retention capacity (m<2) can lead to greater hydrological responses.
Abstract: Research results on the effects of land cover change on water resources vary greatly and the topic remains controversial. Here we use published data worldwide to examine the validity of Fuh's equation, which relates annual water yield (R) to a wetness index (precipitation/potential evapotranspiration; P/PET) and watershed characteristics (m). We identify two critical values at P/PET=1 and m=2. m plays a more important role than P/PET when m 2. When P/PET 1, suggesting that any land cover changes in non-humid regions (P/PET<1) or in watersheds of low water retention capacity (m<2) can lead to greater hydrological responses. m significantly correlates with forest coverage, watershed slope and watershed area. This global pattern has far-reaching significance in studying and managing hydrological responses to land cover and climate changes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of the cell source, culture conditions, differentiation protocols, methods/approaches used to mimic PD and the preclinical validation of the SH-SY5Y findings by employing alternative cellular and animal models is described.
Abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating and highly prevalent neurodegenerative disease for which only symptomatic treatment is available. In order to develop a truly effective disease-modifying therapy, improvement of our current understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying PD pathogenesis and progression is crucial. For this purpose, standardization of research protocols and disease models is necessary. As human dopaminergic neurons, the cells mainly affected in PD, are difficult to obtain and maintain as primary cells, current PD research is mostly performed with permanently established neuronal cell models, in particular the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y lineage. This cell line is frequently chosen because of its human origin, catecholaminergic (though not strictly dopaminergic) neuronal properties, and ease of maintenance. However, there is no consensus on many fundamental aspects that are associated with its use, such as the effects of culture media composition and of variations in differentiation protocols. Here we present the outcome of a systematic review of scientific articles that have used SH-SY5Y cells to explore PD. We describe the cell source, culture conditions, differentiation protocols, methods/approaches used to mimic PD and the preclinical validation of the SH-SY5Y findings by employing alternative cellular and animal models. Thus, this overview may help to standardize the use of the SH-SY5Y cell line in PD research and serve as a future user’s guide.

Posted ContentDOI
25 Jul 2018-bioRxiv
TL;DR: The application of decontam to two recently published datasets corroborated and extended their conclusions that little evidence existed for an indigenous placenta microbiome, and that some low-frequency taxa seemingly associated with preterm birth were run-specific contaminants.
Abstract: Background: The accuracy of microbial community surveys based on marker-gene and metagenomic sequencing (MGS) suffers from the presence of contaminants - DNA sequences not truly present in the sample. Contaminants come from various sources, including reagents. Appropriate laboratory practices can reduce contamination, but do not eliminate it. Here we introduce decontam (https://github.com/benjjneb/decontam), an open-source R package that implements a statistical classification procedure that identifies contaminants in MGS data based on two widely reproduced patterns: contaminants appear at higher frequencies in low-concentration samples, and are often found in negative controls. Results: decontam classified amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in a human oral dataset consistently with prior microscopic observations of the microbial taxa inhabiting that environment and previous reports of contaminant taxa. In metagenomics and marker-gene measurements of a dilution series, decontam substantially reduced technical variation arising from different sequencing protocols. The application of decontam to two recently published datasets corroborated and extended their conclusions that little evidence existed for an indigenous placenta microbiome, and that some low-frequency taxa seemingly associated with preterm birth were contaminants. Conclusions: decontam improves the quality of metagenomic and marker-gene sequencing by identifying and removing contaminant DNA sequences. decontam integrates easily with existing MGS workflows, and allows researchers to generate more accurate profiles of microbial communities at little to no additional cost.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors study how two forces, regulatory differences and technological advantages, contributed to the growth of shadow banks in residential mortgage origination, concluding that traditional banks contracted in markets where they faced more regulatory constraints; shadow banks partially filled these gaps.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that working memory training programs appear to produce short-term, specific training effects that do not generalize to measures of “real-world” cognitive skills.
Abstract: It has been claimed that working memory training programs produce diverse beneficial effects. This article presents a meta-analysis of working memory training studies (with a pretest-posttest design and a control group) that have examined transfer to other measures (nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, or arithmetic; 87 publications with 145 experimental comparisons). Immediately following training there were reliable improvements on measures of intermediate transfer (verbal and visuospatial working memory). For measures of far transfer (nonverbal ability, verbal ability, word decoding, reading comprehension, arithmetic) there was no convincing evidence of any reliable improvements when working memory training was compared with a treated control condition. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicated that across studies, the degree of improvement on working memory measures was not related to the magnitude of far-transfer effects found. Finally, analysis of publication bias shows that there is no evidential value from the studies of working memory training using treated controls. The authors conclude that working memory training programs appear to produce short-term, specific training effects that do not generalize to measures of “real-world” cognitive skills. These results seriously question the practical and theoretical importance of current computerized working memory programs as methods of training working memory skills.

Journal ArticleDOI
26 Mar 2015-Nature
TL;DR: High-resolution electron microscopy imaging of water locked between two graphene sheets is reported, an archetypal example of hydrophobic confinement, and shows that the nanoconfined water at room temperature forms ‘square ice’—a phase having symmetry qualitatively different from the conventional tetrahedral geometry of hydrogen bonding between water molecules.
Abstract: Bulk water exists in many forms, including liquid, vapour and numerous crystalline and amorphous phases of ice, with hexagonal ice being responsible for the fascinating variety of snowflakes Much less noticeable but equally ubiquitous is water adsorbed at interfaces and confined in microscopic pores Such low-dimensional water determines aspects of various phenomena in materials science, geology, biology, tribology and nanotechnology Theory suggests many possible phases for adsorbed and confined water, but it has proved challenging to assess its crystal structure experimentally Here we report high-resolution electron microscopy imaging of water locked between two graphene sheets, an archetypal example of hydrophobic confinement The observations show that the nanoconfined water at room temperature forms 'square ice'--a phase having symmetry qualitatively different from the conventional tetrahedral geometry of hydrogen bonding between water molecules Square ice has a high packing density with a lattice constant of 283 A and can assemble in bilayer and trilayer crystallites Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that square ice should be present inside hydrophobic nanochannels independently of their exact atomic nature

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review examines recent advances in understanding of the contribution of the TME during cancer therapy and discusses key concepts that may be amenable to therapeutic intervention.

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Nov 2015-Science
TL;DR: Key aspects of microbial traits are reviewed and a synthesis of these studies reveals that, despite the promiscuity of HGT, microbial traits appear to be phylogenetically conserved, or not distributed randomly across the tree of life.
Abstract: A focus on the phenotypic characteristics of microorganisms-their traits-offers a path for interpreting the growing amount of microbiome data. We review key aspects of microbial traits, as well as approaches used to assay their phylogenetic distribution. Recent studies reveal that microbial traits are differentially conserved across the tree of life and appear to be conserved in a hierarchical fashion, possibly linked to their biochemical complexity. These results suggest a predictive framework whereby the genetic (or taxonomic) resolution of microbiome variation among samples provides information about the traits under selection. The organizational parallels seen among human and free-living microbiomes seem to support this idea. Developments in this framework may offer predictions not only for how microbial composition responds to changing environmental conditions, but also for how these changes may alter the health or functioning in human, engineered, and environmental systems.

Proceedings Article
24 May 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce a similarity index that measures the relationship between representational similarity matrices and does not suffer from this limitation, which is equivalent to centered kernel alignment (CKA) and is also closely connected to CCA.
Abstract: Recent work has sought to understand the behavior of neural networks by comparing representations between layers and between different trained models. We examine methods for comparing neural network representations based on canonical correlation analysis (CCA). We show that CCA belongs to a family of statistics for measuring multivariate similarity, but that neither CCA nor any other statistic that is invariant to invertible linear transformation can measure meaningful similarities between representations of higher dimension than the number of data points. We introduce a similarity index that measures the relationship between representational similarity matrices and does not suffer from this limitation. This similarity index is equivalent to centered kernel alignment (CKA) and is also closely connected to CCA. Unlike CCA, CKA can reliably identify correspondences between representations in networks trained from different initializations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The finding that, besides the bacterial gut microbiota, also the gut mycobiota contributes to the alteration of the intestinal microbial community structure in ASDs opens the possibility for new potential intervention strategies aimed at the relief of gastrointestinal symptoms in AsDs.
Abstract: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by social and behavioural impairments. In addition to neurological symptoms, ASD subjects frequently suffer from gastrointestinal abnormalities, thus implying a role of the gut microbiota in ASD gastrointestinal pathophysiology. Here, we characterized the bacterial and fungal gut microbiota in a cohort of autistic individuals demonstrating the presence of an altered microbial community structure. A fraction of 90% of the autistic subjects were classified as severe ASDs. We found a significant increase in the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in autistic subjects due to a reduction of the Bacteroidetes relative abundance. At the genus level, we observed a decrease in the relative abundance of Alistipes, Bilophila, Dialister, Parabacteroides, and Veillonella in the ASD cohort, while Collinsella, Corynebacterium, Dorea, and Lactobacillus were significantly increased. Constipation has been then associated with different bacterial patterns in autistic and neurotypical subjects, with constipated autistic individuals characterized by high levels of bacterial taxa belonging to Escherichia/Shigella and Clostridium cluster XVIII. We also observed that the relative abundance of the fungal genus Candida was more than double in the autistic than neurotypical subjects, yet due to a larger dispersion of values, this difference was only partially significant. The finding that, besides the bacterial gut microbiota, also the gut mycobiota contributes to the alteration of the intestinal microbial community structure in ASDs opens the possibility for new potential intervention strategies aimed at the relief of gastrointestinal symptoms in ASDs.

Journal ArticleDOI
Federica Spoto1, Federica Spoto2, Paolo Tanga1, Francois Mignard1  +498 moreInstitutions (86)
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the processing of the Gaia DR2 data, and describe the criteria used to select the sample published in Gaia DR 2, and explore the data set to assess its quality.
Abstract: Context. The Gaia spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been securing observations of solar system objects (SSOs) since the beginning of its operations. Data Release 2 (DR2) contains the observations of a selected sample of 14,099 SSOs. These asteroids have been already identified and have been numbered by the Minor Planet Center repository. Positions are provided for each Gaia observation at CCD level. As additional information, complementary to astrometry, the apparent brightness of SSOs in the unfiltered G band is also provided for selected observations.Aims. We explain the processing of SSO data, and describe the criteria we used to select the sample published in Gaia DR2. We then explore the data set to assess its quality.Methods. To exploit the main data product for the solar system in Gaia DR2, which is the epoch astrometry of asteroids, it is necessary to take into account the unusual properties of the uncertainty, as the position information is nearly one-dimensional. When this aspect is handled appropriately, an orbit fit can be obtained with post-fit residuals that are overall consistent with the a-priori error model that was used to define individual values of the astrometric uncertainty. The role of both random and systematic errors is described. The distribution of residuals allowed us to identify possible contaminants in the data set (such as stars). Photometry in the G band was compared to computed values from reference asteroid shapes and to the flux registered at the corresponding epochs by the red and blue photometers (RP and BP).Results. The overall astrometric performance is close to the expectations, with an optimal range of brightness G ~ 12 − 17. In this range, the typical transit-level accuracy is well below 1 mas. For fainter asteroids, the growing photon noise deteriorates the performance. Asteroids brighter than G ~ 12 are affected by a lower performance of the processing of their signals. The dramatic improvement brought by Gaia DR2 astrometry of SSOs is demonstrated by comparisons to the archive data and by preliminary tests on the detection of subtle non-gravitational effects.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A 33-year-old woman presented to the hospital with a 5-day history of fever and cough of unknown cause and real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction of the patient’s sputum was positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus nucleic acid.
Abstract: References 1. Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, et al. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med 2020 Jan 24. doi: 10.1056/ NEJMoa2001017. [Epub ahead of print] 2. Munster VJ, Koopmans M, van Doremalen N, van Riel D, de Wit E. A Novel Coronavirus Emerging in China Key Questions for Impact Assessment. N Engl J Med 2020 Jan 24. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2000929. [Epub ahead of print] A 33-year-old woman presented to the hospital with a 5-day history of fever and cough of unknown cause. She indicated that she worked in Wuhan, China (the center of novel coronavirus outbreak) but had traveled to Lanzhou, China, 6 days before presentation to the hospital. At admission, her body temperature was elevated to 39.0°C (102.2°F) and coarse breath sounds of both lungs were heard at auscultation. Laboratory studies showed leucopenia (white blood cell count: 2.91 3 109/L). The white blood cell differential count showed 70.0% neutrophils and 0.1% eosinophils. There were elevated blood levels for C-reactive protein (16.16 mg/L; normal range, 0–10 mg/L), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (29 mm/h; normal range, ,20 mm/h), and D-dimer (580 ng/mL; normal range, 500 ng/mL). Unenhanced chest CT showed multiple peripheral ground-glass opacities in both lungs (Figure, A) that did not spare the subpleural regions. Real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction of the patient’s sputum was positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) nucleic acid. Unenhanced CT images in a 33-year-old woman. A, Image shows multiple ground-glass opacities in bilateral lungs. Ground-glass opacities are seen in the posterior segment of right upper lobe and apical posterior segment of left superior lobe. B, Image obtained 3 days after follow-up shows progressive ground-glass opacities in the posterior segment of right upper lobe and apical posterior segment of left superior lobe. The bilateralism of the peripheral lung opacities, without subpleural sparing, are common CT findings of the 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia.

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TL;DR: A European consensus conference on endometrial carcinoma was held in 2014 to produce multi-disciplinary evidence-based guidelines on selected questions as mentioned in this paper, and the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncologies (ESTRO), and the EPSP jointly decided to update these evidence-base guidelines and to cover new topics in order to improve the quality of care for women with endometrium carcinoma across Europe and worldwide.
Abstract: A European consensus conference on endometrial carcinoma was held in 2014 to produce multi-disciplinary evidence-based guidelines on selected questions. Given the large body of literature on the management of endometrial carcinoma published since 2014, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and the European Society of Pathology (ESP) jointly decided to update these evidence-based guidelines and to cover new topics in order to improve the quality of care for women with endometrial carcinoma across Europe and worldwide.