Measuring Symmetry in Real-World Scenes Using Derivatives of the Medial Axis Radius Function

Symmetry has been shown to be an important principle that guides the grouping of scene information. Previously, we have described a method for measuring the local, ribbon symmetry content of line-drawings of real-world scenes (Rezanejad, et al., MODVIS 2017), and we demonstrated that this information has important behavioral consequences (Wilder, et al., MODIVS 2017). Here, we describe a continuous, local version of the symmetry measure, that allows for both ribbon and taper symmetry to be captured. Our original method looked at the difference in the radius between successive maximal discs along a symmetric axis. The number of radii differences in a local region that exceeded a threshold, normalized by the number of total differences, was used as the symmetry score at an axis point. We now use the derivative of the radius function along the symmetric axis between two contours, which allows for a continuous method of estimating the score which does not need a threshold. By replacing the first derivative with a second derivative, we can generalize this method to allow pairs of contours which taper with respect to one another, to express high symmetry. Such situations arise, for example, when parallel lines in the 3D world project onto a 2D image. This generalization will allow us to determine the relative importance of taper and ribbon symmetries in natural scenes

Seismic Upgradation of RC Beams Strengthened with Externally Bonded Spent Catalyst Based Ferrocement Laminates

Globally, since there are more systems of civil infrastructure, there are also more degraded buildings and structures. If upgrading or strengthening is a practical option, complete replacement is likely to be an escalating financial burden and may be a waste of natural resources. It is necessary to repair or strengthen a number of reinforced concrete buildings and structures in order to boost their load-bearing capabilities or improve their ductility under seismic stress. Additionally, due to changes in service circumstances, a structure might need to be modified to reduce deflections or manage cracking. Strengthening may be preferable to limiting usage, capping applied loads, and regularly inspecting the structure rather than removing the existing structure or part and building a new one. This study aims to examine the flexural, shear, and combined effect of flexural and shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with externally bonded spent catalyst-based ferrocement laminates and compare them to the control beams (unstrengthened) under two-point loading conditions. This study involves researching laminates with various spent catalyst doses, such as 3, 6, 9, and 12%, in an effort to determine the best amounts that will improve the structural performance of ferrocement laminates. Twelve spent catalyst-based ferrocement laminates measuring 500(L) × 125(B) × 20 mm (thickness) with 3% volume fraction of meshes each were cast and tested in the lab as part of the preliminary investigation. For repeatability, three laminates per case were employed. Eight numbers of under-reinforced RC beams measuring 75(L) × 100(B) × 150(D) mm were cast for the main study; six numbers were strengthened with optimized spent catalyst-based ferrocement laminates bonded with flexible epoxy systems at the tension zone, shear zone, and combination of tension and shear zone. Two of the beams were cast as control specimens. The beams were then evaluated using a Universal Testing Machine (UTM) with a 1000 kN capacity under two-point loading conditions. As a result, the strength, yield load, ultimate load, stiffness, ductility, and related failure modes of all tested beams' flexural and shear performances were examined. According to a preliminary analysis of laminates made of spent catalyst, the dosage of 9% provides good flexural strength in comparison to other doses. In comparison to the strengthened beam, the control beam's initial cracks appeared earlier. In comparison to the control beam, the strengthened beam has an increase in load-carrying capacity of 18% for flexure, 16% for shear, and 30% for the combined impact of flexure and shear. In comparison to the control beam, the deflection of the strengthened beam was decreased by close to 20 to 40% for flexure, 10 to 30% for shear, and 15 to 20% for the combined effects of flexure and shear at the same load level. In relation to control beams, the ductility also improved up to 30% for flexure, 25% for shear, and 25% for the combined impact of flexure and shear. Similar to this, the retrofitted beam is stiffer than the control beam by approximately 40% for flexure, 48% for shear, and 30% for the combined effect of flexure and shear. Theoretical formulation by section analysis is also derived and it gives close agreement with control and strengthened beams. The flexural and shear strengthening of the RC beam retrofitting system is effectively increased by using spent catalyst-based ferrocement laminates. No beam showed signs of premature and brittle failure. According to the test findings, it can be said that spent catalyst-based ferrocement reinforced beams perform better in every way than control beams. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2023-04-01-013 Full Text: PD

Genome-wide co-occupancy of AML1-ETO and N-CoR defines the t(8;21) AML signature in leukemic cells

BACKGROUND: Many leukemias result from chromosomal rearrangements. The t(8;21) chromosomal translocation produces AML1-ETO, an oncogenic fusion protein that compromises the function of AML1, a transcription factor critical for myeloid cell differentiation. Because of the pressing need for new therapies in the treatment of acute myleoid leukemia, we investigated the genome-wide occupancy of AML1-ETO in leukemic cells to discover novel regulatory mechanisms involving AML-ETO bound genes. RESULTS: We report the co-localization of AML1-ETO with the N-CoR co-repressor to be primarily on genomic regions distal to transcriptional start sites (TSSs). These regions exhibit over-representation of the motif for PU.1, a key hematopoietic regulator and member of the ETS family of transcription factors. A significant discovery of our study is that genes co-occupied by AML1-ETO and N-CoR (e.g., TYROBP and LAPTM5) are associated with the leukemic phenotype, as determined by analyses of gene ontology and by the observation that these genes are predominantly up-regulated upon AML1-ETO depletion. In contrast, the AML1-ETO/p300 gene network is less responsive to AML1-ETO depletion and less associated with the differentiation block characteristic of leukemic cells. Furthermore, a substantial fraction of AML1-ETO/p300 co-localization occurs near TSSs in promoter regions associated with transcriptionally active loci. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings establish a novel and dominant t(8;21) AML leukemia signature characterized by occupancy of AML1-ETO/N-CoR at promoter-distal genomic regions enriched in motifs for myeloid differentiation factors, thus providing mechanistic insight into the leukemic phenotype

Cytomegalovirus Infection of the Colon Presenting as a Mass-Like Lesion

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is responsible for the most common opportunistic infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The colon is a common site for these infections in patients positive for human immunodeficiency virus. CMV rarely presents as an intraluminal inflammatory mass in the colon. Here we report the case of a CMV infection presenting as a mass-like lesion in an AIDS patient. The clinical diagnosis of CMV infection is largely based on the characteristic endoscopic appearance. Endoscopic procedures are encouraged early in the course of CMV infection in immunocompromised patients. CMV pseudotumors along with malignancy should be part of the endoscopic evaluation in patients with AIDS

Deep Learning Assisted Automated Assessment of Thalassaemia from Haemoglobin Electrophoresis Images

Haemoglobin (Hb) electrophoresis is a method of blood testing used to detect thalassaemia. However, the interpretation of the result of the electrophoresis test itself is a complex task. Expert haematologists, specifically in developing countries, are relatively few in number and are usually overburdened. To assist them with their workload, in this paper we present a novel method for the automated assessment of thalassaemia using Hb electrophoresis images. Moreover, in this study we compile a large Hb electrophoresis image dataset, consisting of 103 strips containing 524 electrophoresis images with a clear consensus on the quality of electrophoresis obtained from 824 subjects. The proposed methodology is split into two parts: (1) single-patient electrophoresis image segmentation by means of the lane extraction technique, and (2) binary classification (normal or abnormal) of the electrophoresis images using state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and using the concept of transfer learning. Image processing techniques including filtering and morphological operations are applied for object detection and lane extraction to automatically separate the lanes and classify them using CNN models. Seven different CNN models (ResNet18, ResNet50, ResNet101, InceptionV3, DenseNet201, SqueezeNet and MobileNetV2) were investigated in this study. InceptionV3 outperformed the other CNNs in detecting thalassaemia using Hb electrophoresis images. The accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score, and specificity in the detection of thalassaemia obtained with the InceptionV3 model were 95.8%, 95.84%, 95.8%, 95.8% and 95.8%, respectively. MobileNetV2 demonstrated an accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score, and specificity of 95.72%, 95.73%, 95.72%, 95.7% and 95.72% respectively. Its performance was comparable with the best performing model, InceptionV3. Since it is a very shallow network, MobileNetV2 also provides the least latency in processing a single-patient image and it can be suitably used for mobile applications. The proposed approach, which has shown very high classification accuracy, will assist in the rapid and robust detection of thalassaemia using Hb electrophoresis images. 2022 by the authors.A part of the research was funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan through its funded project of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, Intelligent Information Processing Lab, National Center of Artificial Intelligence.Scopu

Sorl1 as an Alzheimer's disease predisposition gene?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressively disabling impairments in memory, cognition, and non-cognitive behavioural symptoms. Sporadic AD is multifactorial and genetically complex. While several monogenic mutations cause early-onset AD and gene alleles have been suggested as AD susceptibility factors, the only extensively validated susceptibility gene for late-onset AD is the apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon4 allele. Alleles of the APOE gene do not account for all of the genetic load calculated to be responsible for AD predisposition. Recently, polymorphisms across the neuronal sortilin-related receptor (SORL1) gene were shown to be significantly associated with AD in several cohorts. Here we present the results of our large case-control whole-genome scan at over 500,000 polymorphisms which presents weak evidence for association and potentially narrows the association interval