Shape-Based Measures Improve Scene Categorization.

Converging evidence indicates that deep neural network models that are trained on large datasets are biased toward color and texture information. Humans, on the other hand, can easily recognize objects and scenes from images as well as from bounding contours. Mid-level vision is characterized by the recombination and organization of simple primary features into more complex ones by a set of so-called Gestalt grouping rules.

Structural basis of lipoprotein recognition by the bacterial Lol trafficking chaperone LolA.

In gram-negative bacteria, lipoproteins are vital structural components of the outer membrane (OM) and crucial elements of machineries central to the physiology of the cell envelope. A dedicated apparatus, the Lol system, is required for the correct localization of OM lipoproteins and is essential for viability. The periplasmic chaperone LolA is central to this trafficking pathway, accepting triacylated lipoproteins from the inner membrane transporter LolCDE, before carrying them across the periplasm to the OM receptor LolB.

Assessment of Hypertension, Guideline-Directed Counseling, and Outcomes in the ACHD Population.

Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension were published by the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2017. The prevalence of hypertension in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) under these guidelines has yet to be characterized. We sought to assess the prevalence, impact, and provider response to hypertension under current guidelines.

Neural correlates of local parallelism during naturalistic vision.

Human observers can rapidly perceive complex real-world scenes. Grouping visual elements into meaningful units is an integral part of this process. Yet, so far, the neural underpinnings of perceptual grouping have only been studied with simple lab stimuli.

Would that it were so simple: Interactions between multiple traits undermine classical single-trait-based predictions of microbial community function and evolution.

Understanding how microbial traits affect the evolution and functioning of microbial communities is fundamental for improving the management of harmful microorganisms, while promoting those that are beneficial. Decades of evolutionary ecology research has focused on examining microbial cooperation, diversity, productivity and virulence but with one crucial limitation. The traits under consideration, such as public good production and resistance to antibiotics or predation, are often assumed to act in isolation.

Predicting microbial growth dynamics in response to nutrient availability.

Developing mathematical models to accurately predict microbial growth dynamics remains a key challenge in ecology, evolution, biotechnology, and public health. To reproduce and grow, microbes need to take up essential nutrients from the environment, and mathematical models classically assume that the nutrient uptake rate is a saturating function of the nutrient concentration. In nature, microbes experience different levels of nutrient availability at all environmental scales, yet parameters shaping the nutrient uptake function are commonly estimated for a single initial nutrient concentration.

Two-year analysis of Clostridium difficile ribotypes associated with increased severity.

Background: Certain Clostridium difficile ribotypes have been associated with complex disease phenotypes including recurrence and increased severity, especially the well-described hypervirulent RT027. This study aimed to determine the pattern of ribotypes causing infection and the association, if any, with severity.

Methods: All faecal samples submitted to a large diagnostic laboratory for C.

High-throughput characterisation of bull semen motility using differential dynamic microscopy.

We report a high-throughput technique for characterising the motility of spermatozoa using differential dynamic microscopy. A movie with large field of view (∼10mm2) records thousands of cells (e.g.

Local contour symmetry facilitates scene categorization.

People are able to rapidly categorize briefly flashed images of real-world environments, even when they are reduced to line drawings. This setting allows for the study of time-limited perceptual grouping processes in the human visual system that are applicable to line drawings. Previous work (Wilder, Dickinson, Jepson, & Walther, 2018) showed that standard local features of individual contours, or junctions between contours, do not account for this rapid classification ability but, rather, the relative placement of these contours appeared to be important.

Spatial relationships between contours impact rapid scene classification.

Photographs and line drawings of natural scenes are easily classified even when the image is only briefly visible to the observer. Contour junctions and points of high curvature have been shown to be important for perceptual organization (Attneave, 1954; Biederman, 1987) and have been proposed to be influential in rapid scene classification (Walther & Shen, 2014). Here, we manipulate the junctions in images, either randomly translating them, or selectively removing or maintaining them.

What Is the 'Minimum Inhibitory Concentration' (MIC) of Pexiganan Acting on Escherichia coli?-A Cautionary Case Study.

We measured the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the antimicrobial peptide pexiganan acting on Escherichia coli , and found an intrinsic variability in such measurements. These results led to a detailed study of the effect of pexiganan on the growth curve of E. coli, using a plate reader and manual plating (i.

Waterborne Elizabethkingia meningoseptica in Adult Critical Care.

Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is an infrequent colonizer of the respiratory tract; its pathogenicity is uncertain. In the context of a 22-month outbreak of E. meningoseptica acquisition affecting 30 patients in a London, UK, critical care unit (3% attack rate) we derived a measure of attributable morbidity and determined whether E.

Escherichia coli as a model active colloid: A practical introduction.

The flagellated bacterium Escherichia coli is increasingly used experimentally as a self-propelled swimmer. To obtain meaningful, quantitative results that are comparable between different laboratories, reproducible protocols are needed to control, 'tune' and monitor the swimming behaviour of these motile cells. We critically review the knowledge needed to do so, explain methods for characterising the colloidal and motile properties of E.

Performance of Xpert MTB/RIF in the diagnosis of tuberculous mediastinal lymphadenopathy by endobronchial ultrasound.

Rationale: The Xpert (GeneXpert) MTB/RIF, an integrated polymerase chain reaction assay, has not been systematically studied in extrapulmonary and in particular mediastinal tuberculosis (TB).

Objectives: To investigate the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF in the diagnosis of intrathoracic nodal TB in a large tertiary urban medical center in the UK.

Methods: We collected clinical, cytological, and microbiological data from two cohorts: 116 consecutive patients referred with mediastinal lymphadenopathy with detailed diagnostic information obtained, and an immediately subsequent second cohort of 52 consecutive patients with microbiologically confirmed mediastinal TB lymphadenopathy.

Enhanced diffusion of nonswimmers in a three-dimensional bath of motile bacteria.

We show, using differential dynamic microscopy, that the diffusivity of nonmotile cells in a three-dimensional (3D) population of motile E. coli is enhanced by an amount proportional to the active cell flux. While nonmotile mutants without flagella and mutants with paralyzed flagella have quite different thermal diffusivities and therefore hydrodynamic radii, their diffusivities are enhanced to the same extent by swimmers in the regime of cell densities explored here.

Early (2008-2010) hospital outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae producing OXA-48 carbapenemase in the UK.

OXA-48 β-lactamase is one of the several emerging carbapenemases. Pre-2007 reports were almost exclusively from Turkey, but subsequently its distribution has expanded. We report an early and prolonged outbreak in the UK of Klebsiella pneumoniae producing OXA-48 carbapenemase affecting a predominantly renal cohort in a West London hospital.

Undetected multidrug-resistant tuberculosis amplified by first-line therapy in mixed infection.

Infections with >1 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain(s) are underrecognized. We show, in vitro and in vivo, how first-line treatment conferred a competitive growth advantage to amplify a multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis strain in a patient with mixed infection.

Hindlimb unloading results in increased predisposition to cardiac arrhythmias and alters left ventricular connexin 43 expression.

Hindlimb unloading (HU) is a well-established animal model of cardiovascular deconditioning. Previous data indicate that HU results in cardiac sympathovagal imbalance. It is well established that cardiac sympathovagal imbalance increases the risk for developing cardiac arrhythmias.

Rhinovirus infection induces degradation of antimicrobial peptides and secondary bacterial infection in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations are associated with virus (mostly rhinovirus) and bacterial infections, but it is not known whether rhinovirus infections precipitate secondary bacterial infections.

Objectives: To investigate relationships between rhinovirus infection and bacterial infection and the role of antimicrobial peptides in COPD exacerbations.

Methods: We infected subjects with moderate COPD and smokers and nonsmokers with normal lung function with rhinovirus.

The integration of depressive behaviors and cardiac dysfunction during an operational measure of depression: investigating the role of negative social experiences in an animal model.

Objective: There is a bidirectional association between depression and cardiovascular disease. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying this association may involve an inability to cope with disrupted social bonds. This study investigated in an animal model the integration of depressive behaviors and cardiac dysfunction after a disrupted social bond and during an operational measure of depression, relative to the protective effects of intact social bonds.

Post-bronchoscopy sputum: improving the diagnostic yield in smear negative pulmonary TB.

Introduction: Patients with suspected active Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) who are Acid-Fast Bacilli (AFB) smear negative or non-productive of sputum may undergo bronchoalveolar lavage. However, post-bronchoscopy sputum (PBS) sampling is not routine. The aim of this study was to establish the potential diagnostic value of PBS sampling.

Utility of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in patients with tuberculous intrathoracic lymphadenopathy: a multicentre study.

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has emerged as an important tool for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer but its role in the diagnosis of tuberculous intrathoracic lymphadenopathy has not been established. The aim of this study was to describe the diagnostic utility of EBUS-TBNA in patients with intrathoracic lymphadenopathy due to tuberculosis (TB).

Methods: 156 consecutive patients with isolated intrathoracic TB lymphadenitis were studied across four centres over a 2-year period.

Evaluation of a rapid qualitative enzyme chromatographic test for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

Rapid determination of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) status is desirable when it is necessary to use a drug contraindicated in G6PD-deficient persons, such as use of primaquine for malaria prevention or treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare a new, rapid, qualitative enzyme chromatographic test for deficiency of G6PD to a standard reference method. Samples from 196 G6PD-normal persons and 50 G6PD-deficient persons were evaluated.

Host genetic contribution to the cellular immune response to Chlamydia trachomatis: Heritability estimate from a Gambian twin study.

If the cellular immune response to Chlamydia trachomatis is subject to genetic influences, the degree and mechanisms of such genetic control may have important implications for vaccine development. We estimated the relative contribution of host genetics to the total variation in lymphoproliferative responses to C. trachomatis antigen by analyzing these responses in 64 Gambian twin pairs from trachoma endemic areas.