Graph run-length matrices for histopathological image segmentation

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The histopathological examination of tissue specimens is essential for cancer diagnosis and grading. However, this examination is subject to a considerable amount of observer variability as it mainly relies on visual interpretation of pathologists. To alleviate this problem, it is very important to develop computational quantitative tools, for which image segmentation constitutes the core step. In this paper, we introduce an effective and robust algorithm for the segmentation of histopathological tissue images. This algorithm incorporates the background knowledge of the tissue organization into segmentation. For this purpose, it quantifies spatial relations of cytological tissue components by constructing a graph and uses this graph to define new texture features for image segmentation. This new texture definition makes use of the idea of gray-level run-length matrices. However, it considers the runs of cytological components on a graph to form a matrix, instead of considering the runs of pixel intensities. Working with colon tissue images, our experiments demonstrate that the texture features extracted from "graph run-length matrices" lead to high segmentation accuracies, also providing a reasonable number of segmented regions. Compared with four other segmentation algorithms, the results show that the proposed algorithm is more effective in histopathological image segmentatio

Over-reaction and under-reaction in climate policy: an institutional analysis

In what circumstances do organizations react to changes in their operating environment by adopting proportionate policy responses? And drawing on institutional theory, what expectations can we formulate in relation to the proportionality of policy responses to climate change? These two research questions frame this article, which seeks to make new connections between the emerging perspective of proportionality in policy-making and existing institutional theories. We find that institutional theories are well suited to formulating expectations concerning the (dis)proportionality of policy responses, but their explanatory power can be further improved by taking the characteristics of specific climate policy problems into account. While there are many different problems nested in the ‘meta’ problem of climate change, we find that most of them have characteristics which suggest that policy under-reactions are more, not less likely. Amongst institutional theories, rational choice institutionalism provides the clearest expectation that proportionate policy responses are unlikely. Policy entrepreneurship is identified as one obvious way in which to stimulate proportionate policy responses, through fostering new ways of thinking within organizations

Structural and magnetic properties of Co-V nanoparticles

We have investigated the structural and magnetic properties of Co1-xVx nanoparticles (NPs) with composition x = 0.25 (stoichiometric) and 0.29 (under-stoichiometric) prepared by the cluster-beam deposition (CBD) technique. Our data shows that the as-made Co1-xVx NPs are a mixture of the high-temperature phase (HTP) and the low-temperature phase (LTP) of Co3V and the particles are superparamagnetic at room temperature (RT) with blocking temperatures (TB) of 90 and 137 K for x = 0.25 and 0.29, respectively. This behavior contrasts with the bulk which are paramagnetic down to 4.2 K. When the Co75V25 NPs are annealed at 573 K, they undergo a phase separation into a mixture of phases and become ferromagnetic at room temperature with Curie temperature (Tc) of 515 K

High-Tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Individuals with IDD and Complex Communication Needs: A Meta-Analysis (Variable Codes)

The attachment includes the operational definitions of the variable codes for the following article: The use of mobile technology is ubiquitous and is rapidly increasing in novel use. The use of mobile apps as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is rapidly expanding, both in the community and in the research literature. This article reports the social-communication outcome results of a meta-analysis of single-case experimental research on the use of high-tech AAC with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder. Following inclusion determination, including excluding studies with poor design quality, raw data from 24 publications were extracted and included 89 A-B phase contrasts. Tau-U nonparametric, non-overlap effect size was used to aggregate the results across all studies for an omnibus and moderator analyses. Kendall’s S was calculated for confidence intervals, p-values, and standard error. The omnibus analysis indicated overall low to moderate positive effects on social-communication outcomes for high-tech AAC with people with IDD.The contents of this manuscript were developed under the Preparation of Leaders in Autism Across the Lifespan grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (Grant No. H325D110046)

High-Tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Individuals with IDD and Complex Communication Needs: A Meta-Analysis (Search Terms)

Search Terms used in this manuscriptSearch Terms attached for the following paper: The use of mobile technology is ubiquitous and is rapidly increasing in novel use. The use of mobile apps as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is rapidly expanding, both in the community and in the research literature. This article reports the social-communication outcome results of a meta-analysis of single-case experimental research on the use of high-tech AAC with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder. Following inclusion determination, including excluding studies with poor design quality, raw data from 24 publications were extracted and included 89 A-B phase contrasts. Tau-U nonparametric, non-overlap effect size was used to aggregate the results across all studies for an omnibus and moderator analyses. Kendall’s S was calculated for confidence intervals, p-values, and standard error. The omnibus analysis indicated overall low to moderate positive effects on social-communication outcomes for high-tech AAC with people with IDD.The contents of this manuscript were developed under the Preparation of Leaders in Autism Across the Lifespan grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (Grant No. H325D110046)

Heparin Reduces Neuroinflammation and Transsynaptic Neuronal Apoptosis in a Model of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) can lead to disabling motor, cognitive, and neuropsychological abnormalities. Part of the secondary injury to cerebral tissues associated with SAH is attributable to the neuroinflammatory response induced by blood. Heparin is a pleiotropic compound that reduces inflammatory responses in conditions outside the central nervous system. Using a model of SAH devoid of global insult, we evaluated the effect of delayed intravenous (IV) infusion of heparin, at a dose that does not produce therapeutic anticoagulation, on neuroinflammation, myelin preservation, and apoptosis. Adult male rats underwent bilateral stereotactic injections of autologous blood (50 μL) into the subarachnoid space of the entorhinal cortex. The rats were implanted with mini-osmotic pumps that delivered either vehicle or unfractionated heparin (10 U/kg/h IV) beginning 12 h after SAH. No mechanical or hemorrhagic injury was observed in the hippocampus. In vehicle controls assessed at 48 h, SAH was associated with robust neuroinflammation in the adjacent cortex [neutrophils, activated phagocytic microglia, nuclear factor-kappa B, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-1beta] and neurodegeneration (Fluoro-Jade C staining and loss of NeuN). In the hippocampus, a muted neuroinflammatory response was indicated by Iba1-positive, ED1-negative microglia exhibiting an activated morphology. The perforant pathway showed Fluoro-Jade C staining and demyelination, and granule cells of the dentate gyrus had pyknotic nuclei, labeled with Fluoro-Jade C and showed upregulation of cleaved caspase-3, consistent with transsynaptic apoptosis. Administration of heparin significantly reduced neuroinflammation, demyelination, and transsynaptic apoptosis. We conclude that delayed IV infusion of low-dose unfractionated heparin may attenuate adverse neuroinflammatory effects of SAH

Towards an operationalization of test-driven development skills: An industrial empirical study

Abstract Context: The majority of the empirical studies on Test-driven development (TDD) are concerned with verifying or refuting the effectiveness of the technique over a traditional approach, and they tend to neglect whether the subjects possess the necessary skills to apply TDD, though they argue such skills are necessary. Objective: We evaluate a set of minimal, a priori and in process skills necessary to apply TDD. We determine whether variations in external quality (i.e., number of defects) and productivity (i.e., number of features implemented) can be associated with different clusters of the TDD skills? set. Method: We executed a quasi-experiment involving 30 practitioners from industry. We first grouped the participants according to their TDD skills? set (consisting of a priori experience on programming and testing as well as in-process TDD conformance) into three levels (Low-Medium-High) using k-means clustering. We then applied ANOVA to compare the clusters in terms of external quality and productivity, and conducted post-hoc pairwise analysis. Results: We did not observe a statistically significant difference between the clusters either for external software quality ( F ( 2 , 27 = 1.44 , p = . 260 ), or productivity ( F ( 2 , 27 ) = 3.02 , p = . 065 ). However, the analysis of the effect sizes and their confidence intervals shows that the TDD skills? set is a factor that could account for up to 28% of the external quality, and 38% for productivity. Conclusion: We have reason to conclude that focusing on the improvement of TDD skills? set investigated in this study could benefit software developers in improving their baseline productivity and the external quality of the code they produce. However, replications are needed to overcome the issues related with the statistical power of this study. We suggest practical insights for future work to investigate the phenomenon further.hisresearchispartiallysupportedbytheAcademyofFinlandwithdecisionno.:278354,andbyFinnishDistinguishedProfessor(Fi.Di.Pro.) programme, ESEIL