Puzzle Facelift: A non-surgical, whole treatment for facial modelling and rejuvenation

The assessment of correct anatomy of face and the evaluation of the dynamic interplay between anatomy and function, in order to get an overall improvement, is a leading topic in aesthetic surgery and has increased its impact in the recent years. A non-surgical impact technique reduces both post-treatment discomfort and the overall cost. Obtaining the simultaneous correction in forehead, nose, lips and chin means obtaining an overall improvement in face view. Likewise, the high predictability of the procedure and the absence of alloplastic implant, bone re-absorption and scars have to be considered in non-surgical aesthetic medicine. In conclusion, a single-session of profile correction using HA filler should be proposed to patient, every time the aesthetic practitioner sees a coexistence of forehead, nose lips and chin defects.

Reconstruction after hemimandibulectomy by a titanium mesh and particulate cancellous bone and marrow harvested from posterior ilia: a case report

A particulate cancellous bone and marrow (PCBM) graft combined with titanium (Ti-) mesh tray has become one of the most popular mandibular reconstruction methods. The technique has been applied to the mandibular discontinuity defects after segmental mandibulectomy. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on using the technique after hemimandibulectomy, during which a wide mandibular resection, including the condyle, is performed. Here we report firstly a case of mandibular reconstruction after hemimandibulectomy, using a plate and soft-tissue free flap, followed by a Ti-mesh and PCBM harvested from the bilateral posterior ilia, which was successful. This case report first revealed how bone resorption occurred clinically in mandibular reconstruction using PCBM and Ti-mesh tray after hemimandibulectomy. We also revealed the high predictability of the mandibular reconstruction using PCBM and Ti-mesh tray after hemimandibulectomy. Our report also provides a guiding principle to overcome the limitation of mandibular reconstruction using PCBM and Ti-mesh tray after hemimandibulectomy. However, our manuscript has limited evidence being a case report.

Geostatistical Inversion in Carbonate Reservoirs to Map Reservoir Quality With High Predictability – A Case Study From Onshore Abu Dhabi

The Thamama group of reservoirs consist of porous carbonates laminated with tight carbonates, with pronounced lateral heterogeneities in porosity, permeability, and reservoir thickness. The main objective of our study was mapping variations and reservoir quality prediction away from well control. As the reservoirs were thin and beyond seismic resolution, it was vital that the facies and porosity be mapped in high resolution, with a high predictability, for successful placement of horizontal wells for future development of the field. We established a unified workflow of geostatistical inversion and rock physics to characterize the reservoirs. Geostatistical inversion was run in static models that were converted from depth to time domain. A robust two-way velocity model was built to map the depth grid and its zones on the time seismic data. This ensured correct placement of the predicted high-resolution elastic attributes in the depth static model. Rock physics modeling and Bayesian classification were used to convert the elastic properties into porosity and lithology (static rock-type (SRT)), which were validated in blind wells and used to rank the multiple realizations. In the geostatistical pre-stack inversion, the elastic property prediction was constrained by the seismic data and controlled by variograms, probability distributions and a guide model. The deterministic inversion was used as a guide or prior model and served as a laterally varying mean. Initially, unconstrained inversion was tested by keeping all wells as blind and the predictions were optimized by updating the input parameters. The stochastic inversion results were also frequency filtered in several frequency bands, to understand the impact of seismic data and variograms on the prediction. Finally, 30 wells were used as input, to generate 80 realizations of P-impedance, S-impedance, Vp/Vs, and density. After converting back to depth, 30 additional blind wells were used to validate the predicted porosity, with a high correlation of more than 0.8. The realizations were ranked based on the porosity predictability in blind wells combined with the pore volume histograms. Realizations with high predictability and close to the P10, P50 and P90 cases (of pore volume) were selected for further use. Based on the rock physics analysis, the predicted lithology classes were associated with the geological rock-types (SRT) for incorporation in the static model. The study presents an innovative approach to successfully integrate geostatistical inversion and rock physics with static modeling. This workflow will generate seismically constrained high-resolution reservoir properties for thin reservoirs, such as porosity and lithology, which are seamlessly mapped in the depth domain for optimized development of the field. It will also account for the uncertainties in the reservoir model through the generation of multiple equiprobable realizations or scenarios.

Determination and Profiling of Secondary Metabolites in Aloe vera, Aloe arborescens and Aloe saponaria

Metabolomics is as an innovative technique for discriminating plant species. The objective of this study was to investigate the secondary metabolites of three different Aloe species, A. vera, A. arborescens, and A. saponaria profiled by 1 H-NMR analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) derived from the 1 H-NMR spectra indicated a clear discrimination among the Aloe species, providing high predictability and good fitness of the PCA model (R2 = 0.928 and Q2 = 865). As observed in the PLS-DA score plot, discrimination was observed in the Aloe species with respect to primary metabolites including sugar and organic acid and secondary metabolites such as phenylpropanoids and carotenoids. A. vera was characterized by high levels of malate. On the other hand, as compared to the other Aloe species, A. arborescens was characterized by higher levels of aloenin and sugar metabolites such as sucrose and glucose. Furthermore, the secondary metabolites were quantitatively analyzed by HPLC, and the amounts of carotenoids including zeaxanthin, α- and β-carotene, and phenylpropanoids in A. arborescens were found to be significantly higher than those in the other Aloe species. In conclusion, we demonstrated that 1 H-NMR-based metabolomics with chemometric analysis can be used for the facile discrimination of Aloe species.

A Ligand-Based Approach to Lead Optimization of N, Nʹ-Substituted Diamines for Leishmanicidal Activity

Several N, N-substituted diamines such as putrescine and N-monoalkylated derivatives have demonstrated potential as lead compounds against Leishmania donovani at submicromolar levels. There is a need to refine available diamines for enhanced leishmanicidal activity. A 3D-QSAR by Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) on a series of tested diamines for their activities against L. donovani was conducted to understand better the mechanism of action and SARs of the compounds. The model was constructed with AM1 energy minimized conformers of the training set compounds (n=20) by the PLS algorithm method, cross-validated by the method of leave-one-out (LOO), and externally validated using the test set compounds (n=5). A robust model with high predictability of untested compounds was obtained for 2PC (latent variables). The coefficients of determinations for PLS regression R2, internal cross-validation, Q2 and external prediction P2 were 0.97 (SDEC=0.095), 0.82 (SDEP=0.102) and 0.73 (SDEP=0.115) respectively with F-value 618.8 for 2PC. The model coefficients graphically translated into contour maps showed regions where steric (62 %) and electrostatic (38 %) properties influence the leishmanicidal activity of the compounds. In addition to the optimum chain length (n=4), a steric effect at position 4 alone or combined with the electrostatic effect at position 3 of the diamine backbone significantly enhanced the leishmanicidal activity. It could further be explored for even higher activity. The model supported the empirical data, which identified N, N'-substituted diamine as the scaffold for leishmanicidal activities and further provided insights for further optimization of the lead compound.

The Neural Basis of Semantic Prediction in Sentence Comprehension

Although prediction plays an important role in language comprehension, its precise neural basis remains unclear. This fMRI study investigated whether and how semantic-category-specific and common cerebral areas are recruited in predictive semantic processing during sentence comprehension. We manipulated the semantic constraint of sentence contexts, upon which a tool-related, a building-related, or no specific category of noun is highly predictable. This noun-predictability effect was measured not only over the target nouns but also over their preceding transitive verbs. Both before and after the appearance of target nouns, left anterior supramarginal gyrus was specifically activated for tool-related nouns and left parahippocampal place area was activated specifically for building-related nouns. The semantic-category common areas included a subset of left inferior frontal gyrus during the anticipation of incoming target nouns (activity enhancement for high predictability) and included a wide spread of areas (bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, left superior/middle temporal gyrus, left medial pFC, and left TPJ) during the integration of actually perceived nouns (activity reduction for high predictability). These results indicated that the human brain recruits fine divisions of cortical areas to distinguish different semantic categories of predicted words, and anticipatory semantic processing relies, at least partially, on top–down prediction conducted in higher-level cortical areas.

The Effect of the Arctic Oscillation on the Predictability of Mid-High Latitude Circulation in December

The impact of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) on the predictability of mid-high latitude circulation in December is analysed using a full set of hindcasts generated form the Beijing Climate Center Atmospheric General Circulation Model version 2.2 (BCC_AGCM2.2). The results showed that there is a relationship between the predictability of the model on the Eurasian mid-high latitude circulation and the phase of AO, with the highest predictability in the negative AO phase and the lowest predictability in the normal AO phase. Moreover, the difference of predictability exists at different lead times. The potential sources of the high predictability in the negative AO phase in the BCC_AGCM2.2 model were further diagnosed. It was found that the differences of predictability on the Eurasian mid-high latitude circulation also exist in different Arctic sea ice anomalies, and the model performs well in reproducing the response of Arctic sea ice on the AO. The predictability is higher when sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events occur, and strong SSW events tend to form a negative AO phase distribution in the Eurasian mid-high latitudes both in the observation and model. In addition, the model captured the blocking over the mid-high latitudes well, it may be related to the relatively long duration of the blocking. Changes in the AO will affect the blocking circulations over the mid-high latitudes, which partly explains the high predictability of the model in negative AO phases from the aspect of the internal atmospheric dynamics.

A Comparison of Arctic and Atlantic Cyclone Predictability

Arctic cyclones (ACs) are synoptic scale features that can be associated with strong, intense winds over the Arctic region for long periods of time, potentially leading to rapid declines of sea ice during the summer. As a consequence, sea ice predictions may rely on the predictability of cyclone-related wind speed and direction, which critically depends on the cyclone track and intensity. Despite this, there are relatively few studies that have documented the predictability of ACs during the summer, beyond a few case studies, nor has there been an extensive comparison of whether these cyclones are more or less predictable relative to comparable midlatitude cyclones, which have been studied in greater detail. The goal of this study is to document the practical predictability of AC position and intensity forecasts over 100 cases and compare it to 89 Atlantic basin midlatitude cyclones using the Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) Reforecast V2. This dataset contains 11-member ensemble forecasts initialized daily from 1985-present using a fixed model. In this study, 1 and 3 day forecast hours are compared, where predictability is defined as the ensemble mean root mean square error and ensemble standard deviation (SD). Although Atlantic basin cyclone tracks are characterized by higher predictability relative to comparable ACs, intensity predictability is higher for ACs. In addition, storms characterized by low ensemble SD and predictability are found in regions of higher baroclinic instability than storms characterized by high predictability. There appears to be little, if any, relationship between latent heat release and precipitable water and predictability.

Predictive Ability of Fahrenheit, a Hand Motion Recording System for Assessing Hand Motor Function in Patients with Hemiplegia Post-Cerebrovascular Disease—A Pilot Study

The Brunnstrom recovery stage (BRS) assessment is a frequently used clinical instrument, but does not allow temporal or spatial analysis owing to its use of binary assessments. We developed a kinematic analysis system (Fahrenheit) that employs three-dimensional motor analysis using the Leap Motion Controller as an infrared camera to assess hand motor function in patients post- cerebrovascular disease (CeVD)/stroke, according to the BRS assessment criteria. We investigated whether Fahrenheit could predict the outcome of the BRS assessment of hand motor function in post-CeVD patients with hemiplegia. Thirty-two inpatients with CeVD were recruited in this pilot study. Participants’ hand motor function after CeVD was assessed through their performance of nine tasks according to the BRS assessment. We constructed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve based on each participants’ performance, and compared the results of the BRS assessment and computed the area under the curve (AUC) for each ROC curve. All task values showed significant differences between sufficient and insufficient movements. AUC analyses showed that the nine tasks assessed using Fahrenheit had high predictability (all AUC values ≥ 0.7), which were comparable to those of the therapists’ assessment. Measurements with Fahrenheit showed high predictability with respect to the BRS criteria, indicating that Fahrenheit may have clinical application for assessing post-CeVD finger movement and motor functions. Further verification involving more patients is required to ensure that Fahrenheit becomes a more reliable evaluation tool.

Sentiment Analysis of Social Media Content for Music Recommendation

There is a growing use of social media for communication and entertainment. The information obtained from these social media platforms like Facebook, Linkedln, Twitter and so on can be used for inferring users’ emotional state. Users express their emotions on social media such as Twitter through text and emojis. Such expression can be harvested for the development of a recommender system. In this work, live tweets of users were harvested for the development of an emotion-based music recommender system. The emotions captured in this work include happy, fear, angry disgusted and sad. Users tweets in the form of emojis or text were matched with predefined variables to predict the emotion of users. Random testing of live tweets using the system was conducted and the result showed high predictability.