We introduce a transformation of general higher-order Markov random field with binary labels into a first-order one that has the same minima as the original. Moreover, we formalize a framework for ...approximately minimizing higher-order multilabel MRF energies that combines the new reduction with the fusion-move and QPBO algorithms. While many computer vision problems today are formulated as energy minimization problems, they have mostly been limited to using first-order energies, which consist of unary and pairwise clique potentials, with a few exceptions that consider triples. This is because of the lack of efficient algorithms to optimize energies with higher-order interactions. Our algorithm challenges this restriction that limits the representational power of the models so that higher-order energies can be used to capture the rich statistics of natural scenes. We also show that some minimization methods can be considered special cases of the present framework, as well as comparing the new method experimentally with other such techniques.
We introduce a method to solve exactly a first order Markov random field optimization problem in more generality than was previously possible. The MRF has a prior term that is convex in terms of a ...linearly ordered label set. The method maps the problem into a minimum-cut problem for a directed graph, for which a globally optimal solution can be found in polynomial time. The convexity of the prior function in the energy is shown to be necessary and sufficient for the applicability of the method.
The 3D structure of the catalyst layer (CL) in the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is modeled with a Pt/carbon (Pt/C) ratio of 0.4–2.3 and ionomer/carbon (i/C) ratio of 0.5–1.5, and the ...structural properties are evaluated by numerical simulation. The models are constructed by mimicking the actual shapes of Pt particles and carbon aggregates, as well as the ionomer adhesion in real CLs. CLs with different compositions are characterized by structural properties such as Pt inter-particle distance, ionomer coating thickness, pore size distribution, tortuosity, and ionomer coverage on Pt. The results for Pt/C = 1.0, i/C = 1.0 with Pt loading of 0.3 mg cm−2 and 50% porosity are validated against measured data for CLs with the same composition. With increasing i/C ratio, the smaller pores disappear and the number of isolated pores increases; while the ionomer connection and its coverage on Pt are significantly enhanced at i/C ∼1.0. With increasing Pt/C ratio, the Pt inter-particle distance decreases as the particles connect with each other. The tortuosity of the pores and the ionomer exhibits a trade-off relation depending on the ionomer volume. Further CL design concepts to optimize both O2 diffusion and H+ conduction are discussed.
Display omitted
•3D catalyst layer (CL) structure in polymer electrolyte fuel cells is modeled.•Calculated pore, Pt particle, and ionomer configurations validated with experiments.•Effects of Pt/C and ionomer/C ratios on CL structure and performance are estimated.•New design concepts based on balancing several trade-offs are proposed.
The aim of this study is to estimate the lifetime and 12-month prevalence, severity and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV) mental disorders in ...Japan based on the final data set of the World Mental Health Japan Survey conducted in 2002-2006.
Face-to-face household interviews of 4130 respondents who were randomly selected from Japanese-speaking residents aged 20 years or older were conducted from 2002 to 2006 in 11 community populations in Japan (overall response rate, 56%). The World Mental Health version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI), a fully structured, lay administered psychiatric diagnostic interview, was used for diagnostic assessment.
Lifetime/12-month prevalence of any DSM-IV common mental disorders in Japan was estimated to be 20.3/7.6%. Rank-order of four classes of mental disorders was anxiety disorders (8.1/4.9%), substance disorders (7.4/1.0%), mood disorders (6.5/2.3%) and impulse control disorders (2.0/0.7%). The most common individual disorders were alcohol abuse/dependence (7.3/0.9%), major depressive disorder (6.1/2.2%), specific phobia (3.4/2.3%) and generalized anxiety disorder (2.6/1.3%). While the lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder was greater for males and the middle-aged, the persistence (proportion of 12-month cases among lifetime cases) of any mental disorder was greater for females and younger respondents. Among those with any 12-month disorder, 15.3% were classified as severe, 44.1% moderate and 40.6% mild. Although a strong association between severity and service use was found, only 21.9% of respondents with any 12-month disorder sought treatment within the last 12 months; only 37.0% of severe cases received medical care. The mental health specialty sector was the most common resource used in Japan. Although the prevalence of mental disorders were quite low, mental disorders were the second most prevalent cause of severe role impairment among chronic physical and mental disorders.
These results suggest lower prevalence of mental disorders in Japan than that in Western countries, although the general pattern of disorders, risk factors and unmet need for treatment were similar to those in other countries. Greater lifetime prevalence for males and greater persistence for females seems a unique feature of Japan, suggesting a cultural difference in gender-related etiology and course of disorders. The treatment rate in Japan was lower than that in most other high-income countries in WMH surveys.
Background
This study aimed to examine the effects of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) on gut–brain interactions under stressful conditions.
Methods
Three double‐blind, placebo‐controlled ...trials were conducted to examine the effects of LcS on psychological and physiological stress responses in healthy medical students under academic examination stress. Subjects received LcS‐fermented milk or placebo daily for 8 weeks prior to taking a national standardized examination. Subjective anxiety scores, salivary cortisol levels, and the presence of physical symptoms during the intervention were pooled and analyzed. In the animal study, rats were given feed with or without LcS for 2 weeks, then submitted to water avoidance stress (WAS). Plasma corticosterone concentration and the expression of cFos and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) were measured immediately after WAS. In an electrophysiological study, gastric vagal afferent nerve activity was monitored after intragastric administration of LcS to urethane‐anesthetized rats.
Key Results
Academic stress‐induced increases in salivary cortisol levels and the incidence rate of physical symptoms were significantly suppressed in the LcS group compared with the placebo group. In rats pretreated with LcS, WAS‐induced increases in plasma corticosterone were significantly suppressed, and the number of CRF‐expressing cells in the PVN was reduced. Intragastric administration of LcS stimulated gastric vagal afferent activity in a dose‐dependent manner.
Conclusions & Inferences
These findings suggest that LcS may prevent hypersecretion of cortisol and physical symptoms under stressful conditions, possibly through vagal afferent signaling to the brain and reduced stress reactivity in the PVN.
We examined the effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) on stress markers and stress‐related symptoms in healthy medical students preparing for a major examination, and found that salivary cortisol levels and physical complaints which increased toward the exam day were significantly suppressed by LcS treatment. Results of animal studies suggested that the ingestion of LcS suppresses stress‐induced increases in glucocorticoids, possibly through vagal afferent signaling from the upper intestines to the brain and reduced stress reactivity in the hypothalamus.
The present study assessed the inhibitory action of exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R‐1 against influenza virus infection followed by secondary ...bacterial infection. We found that the presence of 200 or 400 μg ml−1 of EPS significantly protected against influenza virus infection in a dose‐dependent manner when A549 cells were treated with EPS before infection but not after it. The expression of carcinoembryonic antigen‐related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM‐1), an adhesion molecule for bacteria adherence, on A549 cells was significantly enhanced during influenza virus infection compared with viral‐non‐infected A549 cells. However, this upregulated CEACAM‐1 expression was significantly decreased by EPS treatment before viral infection in association with the reduction in the virus titre in A549 cells. In a bacterial adhesion assay using Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterial adherence to viral‐infected A549 cells was significantly greater than that to viral‐non‐infected A549 cells, and the increased bacterial adherence induced by influenza virus infection tended to be decreased by EPS treatment before the infection. Our findings show that EPS treatment before viral infection can inhibit influenza virus infection and alleviate secondary bacterial infection through decreased CEACAM‐1 expression.
Significance and Impact of the Study: This study demonstrated that exopolysaccharides (EPS) derived from Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R‐1 prevent influenza virus infection to A549 cells in vitro. Moreover, the EPS reduced upregulated expression of CEACAM‐1 (an adhesion molecule for bacterial adherence) on A549 cells resulting in reducing the bacterial adhesion to viral‐infected cells. This attenuates the risk of secondary bacterial infection.
Tissue macrophages in many adult organs originate from yolk sac (YS) progenitors, which invade the developing embryo and persist by means of local self-renewal. However, the route and characteristics ...of YS macrophage trafficking during embryogenesis are incompletely understood. Here we show the early migration dynamics of YS-derived macrophage progenitors in vivo using fate mapping and intravital microscopy. From embryonic day 8.5 (E8.5) CX
CR1+ pre-macrophages are present in the mouse YS where they rapidly proliferate and gain access to the bloodstream to migrate towards the embryo. Trafficking of pre-macrophages and their progenitors from the YS to tissues peaks around E10.5, dramatically decreases towards E12.5 and is no longer evident from E14.5 onwards. Thus, YS progenitors use the vascular system during a restricted time window of embryogenesis to invade the growing fetus. These findings close an important gap in our understanding of the development of the innate immune system.
Aims
To assess the effects of renal impairment (RI) on the efficacy and safety of ipragliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods
A cohort of Japanese patients with T2DM and ...mild to moderate RI and poor glycaemic control, despite diet/exercise therapy alone or diet/exercise therapy in combination with an oral hypoglycaemic agent (an α‐glucosidase inhibitor, a sulfonylurea, or pioglitazone), were randomized in a double‐blind manner to 50 mg ipragliflozin or placebo once daily for 24 weeks. The patients continued open‐label ipragliflozin for a 28‐week extension period (total treatment duration: 52 weeks).
Results
Ipragliflozin significantly decreased glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and body weight from baseline to week 24 (last observation carried forward) compared with placebo in all patients with RI. The decreases in HbA1c and FPG levels were statistically significant in patients with mild RI, but not in patients with moderate RI. Ipragliflozin significantly reduced body weight in both RI groups. The improvements in glycaemic control were maintained in the 28‐week extension period. Ipragliflozin was associated with no clinically significant safety concerns, and its safety profiles were not influenced by the severity of RI.
Conclusions
Ipragliflozin significantly improved glycaemic control and body weight in patients with T2DM with mild RI, but did not improve glycaemic control in patients with moderate RI. Ipragliflozin is a valid treatment option for patients with mild RI but not those with moderate RI.
In this paper, a high sensitivity compact multi-slot sub-wavelength Bragg grating refractive index (RI) sensor was investigated. The structural parameters were optimized for higher sensitivity to RI ...change of the surrounding medium from viewpoints of a wavelength shift, an extinction ratio and a transmission loss, and a record-high sensitivity was experimentally demonstrated with a compact size. In this sensor, the first side-lobe at the Bragg grating (BG) stop-band end was focused as a sensing peak wavelength for moderate transmission loss and efficient sensing. To realize the compactness, a period count of the BG was kept as small as 20. By increasing the RI of the surrounding medium, the sensing peak shifts toward a longer wavelength side; thus due to the high sharpness and easy tracing of the first side-lobe, the device worked as an efficient RI sensor. The structural optimization was carried out by using 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation approach, and also influences of the structural parameters to sensitivities were discussed. Based on these optimized parameters, the devices were fabricated using the lift-off technique. By exposing the sensor to various liquid samples with different RIs such as pure water, sugar-dissolved water with various concentrations, acetone and isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a record-high sensitivity of 730 nm/RIU was attained for a sensor fabricated on SOI platforms with a length of as small as 9.5 µm and a transmission loss of 3 dB.
Ruthenium compounds serve as a platform for fundamental concepts such as spin-triplet superconductivity
, Kitaev spin liquids
and solid-state analogues of the Higgs mode in particle physics
. ...However, basic questions about the electronic structure of ruthenates remain unanswered, because several key parameters (including Hund's coupling, spin-orbit coupling and exchange interactions) are comparable in magnitude and their interplay is poorly understood, partly due to difficulties in synthesizing large single crystals for spectroscopic experiments. Here we introduce a resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS)
technique capable of probing collective modes in microcrystals of 4d electron materials. We observe spin waves and spin-state transitions in the honeycomb antiferromagnet SrRu
O
(ref.
) and use the extracted exchange interactions and measured magnon gap to explain its high Néel temperature
. We expect that the RIXS method presented here will enable momentum-resolved spectroscopy of a large class of 4d transition-metal compounds.
PDF
