Remarks on certain identities with derivations on semiprime rings

Let n be a fixed positive integer, let R be a (2n)! -torsion-free semiprime ring, let α be an automorphism or an anti-automorphism of R, and let D₁,D₂:R→R be derivations. We prove the following result: If (D²₁(x) + D₂(x))ⁿ ∘ α(x)ⁿ = 0 holds for all xЄR, then D₁=D₂=0. The same is true if R is a 2-torsion free semiprime ring and F(x) ° β(x) = 0 for all x ∈ R, where F(x)=(D²₁(x) + D₂(x)) ∘ α(x), x ∈ R, and β is any automorphism or antiautomorphism on R.Припустимо, що n — фіксоване натуральне число, R — (2n)! напівпросте кільцє, вільнє від кручення, α — автоморфізм або антиавтоморфізм на R, а D₁,D₂:R→R — похідні. Доведено наступний результат: якщо (D²₁(x) + D₂(x))ⁿ ∘ α(x)ⁿ = 0 виконується для всіх xЄR, то D₁=D₂=0. Аналогічне твердження справджується, якщо R — 2-напівпросте кільце, вільне від кручення, i F(x)°β(x)=0 для всіх xЄR, де F(x)=(D²₁(x) + D₂(x)) ∘ α(x), x ∈ R, i β — довільний автоморфізм або антиавтоморфізм на R

Identification and validation of candidate genes associated with domesticated and improved traits in soybean

Soybean, an important source of vegetable oils and proteins for humans, has undergone significant phenotypic changes during domestication and improvement. However, there is limited knowledge about genes related to these domesticated and improved traits, such as flowering time, seed development, alkaline-salt tolerance, and seed oil content (SOC). In this study, more than 106,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified by restriction site associated DNA sequencing of 14 wild, 153 landrace, and 119 bred soybean accessions, and 198 candidate domestication regions (CDRs) were identified via multiple genetic diversity analyses. Of the 1489 candidate domestication genes (CDGs) within these CDRs, a total of 330 CDGs were related to the above four traits in the domestication, gene ontology (GO) enrichment, gene expression, and pathway analyses. Eighteen, 60, 66, and 10 of the 330 CDGs were significantly associated with the above four traits, respectively. Of 134 traitassociated CDGs, 29 overlapped with previous CDGs, 11 were consistent with candidate genes in previous trait association studies, and 66 were covered by the domesticated and improved quantitative trait loci or their adjacent regions, having six common CDGs, such as one functionally characterized gene Glyma15 g17480 (GmZTL3). Of the 68 seed size (SS) and SOC CDGs, 37 were further confirmed by gene expression analysis. In addition, eight genes were found to be related to artificial selection during modern breeding. Therefore, this study provides an integrated method for efficiently identifying CDGs and valuable information for domestication and genetic research

Comparison of semi-automatic and deep learning-based automatic methods for liver segmentation in living liver transplant donors

PURPOSE We aimed to compare the accuracy and repeatability of emerging machine learning-based (i.e., deep learning) automatic segmentation algorithms with those of well-established interactive semi-automatic methods for determining liver volume in living liver transplant donors at computed tomography (CT) imaging. METHODS A total of 12 methods (6 semi-automatic, 6 full-automatic) were evaluated. The semi-automatic segmentation algorithms were based on both traditional iterative models including watershed, fast marching, region growing, active contours arid modern techniques including robust statistics segmenter and super-pixels. These methods entailed some sort of interaction mechanism such as placing initialization seeds on images or determining a parameter range. The automatic methods were based on deep learning and included three framework templates (DeepMedic, NiftyNet and U-Net), the first two of which were applied with default parameter sets and the last two involved adapted novel model designs. For 20 living donors (8 training and 12 test datasets), a group of imaging scientists and radiologists created ground truths by performing manual segmentations on contrast-enhanced CT images. Each segmentation was evaluated using five metrics (i.e., volume overlap and relative volume errors, average/root-mean-square/maximum symmetrical surface distances). The results were mapped to a scoring system and a final grade was calculated by taking their average. Accuracy and repeatability were evaluated using slice-by-slice comparisons and volumetric analysis. Diversity and complementarily were observed through heatmaps. Majority voting (MV) and simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) algorithms were utilized to obtain the fusion of the individual results. RESULTS The top four methods were automatic deep learning models, with scores of 79.63, 79.46, 77.15, and 74.50. Intra-user score was determined as 95.14. Overall, automatic deep learning segmentation outperformed interactive techniques on all metrics. The mean volume of liver of ground truth was 1409.93 +/- 271.28 mL, while it was calculated as 1342.21 +/- 231.24 mL using automatic and 1201.26 +/- 258.13 mL using interactive methods, showing higher accuracy and less variation with automatic methods. The qualitative analysis of segmentation results showed significant diversity and complementarity, enabling the idea of using ensembles to obtain superior results. The fusion score of automatic methods reached 83.87 with MV and 86.20 with STAPLE, which my slightly less than fusion of all methods (MV, 86.70) and (STAPLE, 88.74). CONCLUSION Use of the new deep learning-based automatic segmentation algorithms substantially increases the accuracy and repeatability for segmentation and volumetric measurements of liver. Fusion of automatic methods based on ensemble approaches exhibits best results with almost no additional time cost due to potential parallel execution of multiple models

A novel procedure to measure the antioxidant capacity of Yerba maté extracts

Yerba maté extracts have in vitro antioxidant capacity attributed to the presence of polyphenolic compounds, mainly chlorogenic acids and dicaffeoylquinic acid derivatives. DPPH is one of the most used assays to measure the antioxidant capacity of pure compounds and plant extracts. It is difficult to compare the results between studies because this assay is applied in too many different conditions by the different research groups. Thus, in order to assess the antioxidant capacity of yerba maté extracts, the following procedure is proposed: 100 µL of an aqueous dilution of the extracts is mixed in duplicate with 3.0 mL of a DPPH 'work solution in absolute methanol (100 µM.L-1), with an incubation time of 120 minutes in darkness at 37 ± 1 °C, and then absorbance is read at 517 nm against absolute methanol. The results should be expressed as ascorbic acid equivalents or Trolox equivalents in mass percentage (g% dm, dry matter) in order to facilitate comparisons. The AOC of the ethanolic extracts ranged between 12.8 and 23.1 g TE % dm and from 9.1 to 16.4 g AAE % dm. The AOC determined by the DPPH assay proposed in the present study can be related to the total polyphenolic content determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay

Feelings of burden among family caregivers of people with spinal cord injury in Turkey

Study design: The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine the level of feelings of burden in family caregivers of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Turkey, and to explore its predictors. Setting: Turkey. Methods: One hundred family caregivers of people with SCI completed measures of burden of caregiving, depression, social support and physical health. The SCI participants completed a measure of functional independence. Multivariate statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted to identify significant predictors of caregiver burden. Results: Caregiver burden was significantly related to caregivers’ feelings of depression. SEM analysis showed that social support from family and from friends predicted caregiver burden via depression. Caregivers’ age, sex, educational level, physical health and household income did not significantly predict their feelings of depression or burden. Conclusions: Our findings revealed that support received from both families and friends is an important source for alleviating the depressive feelings of caregivers and, in return, their burden in the caregiving. In Turkey, high support from family members is expected and is important for psychological well-being, yet the current study showed that the support received from friends also has unique contribution to the well-being of the caregivers of persons with SCI. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of supportive relationships between family as well as friends for the caregivers who may have to provide lifetime care for their family member with special needs.WOS:000407265700012Scopus - Affiliation ID: 60105072PMID: 28169295Science Citation Index Expanded - Social Sciences Citation IndexQ2 - Q3ArticleUluslararası işbirliği ile yapılan - EVETAğustos2017YÖK - 2016-1

Thrombotic Microangiopathy in the Renal Allograft:Results of the TMA Banff Working Group Consensus on Pathologic Diagnostic Criteria

The Banff community summoned the TMA Banff Working Group to develop minimum diagnostic criteria (MDC) and recommendations for renal transplant TMA (Tx-TMA) diagnosis, which currently lacks standardized criteria. Using the Delphi method for consensus generation, 23 nephropathologists (panelists) with &gt;3 years of diagnostic experience with Tx-TMA were asked to list light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopic, clinical and laboratory criteria and differential diagnoses for Tx-TMA. Delphi was modified to include 2 validations rounds with histological evaluation of whole slide images of 37 transplant biopsies (28 TMA and 9 non-TMA). Starting with 338 criteria in R1, MDC were narrowed down to 24 in R8 generating 18 pathological, 2 clinical, 4 laboratory criteria, and 8 differential diagnoses. The panelists reached a good level of agreement (70%) on 76% of the validated cases. For the first time in Banff classification, Delphi was used to reach consensus on MDC for Tx-TMA. Phase I of the study (pathology phase) will be used as a model for Phase II (nephrology phase) for consensus regarding clinical and laboratory criteria. Eventually in Phase III (consensus of the consensus groups) and the final MDC for Tx-TMA will be reported to the transplantation community.</p

Delphi:A Democratic and Cost-Effective Method of Consensus Generation in Transplantation

The Thrombotic Microangiopathy Banff Working Group (TMA-BWG) was formed in 2015 to survey current practices and develop minimum diagnostic criteria (MDC) for renal transplant TMA (Tx-TMA). To generate consensus among pathologists and nephrologists, the TMA BWG designed a 3-Phase study. Phase I of the study is presented here. Using the Delphi methodology, 23 panelists with &gt;3 years of diagnostic experience with Tx-TMA pathology listed their MDC suggesting light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy lesions, clinical and laboratory information, and differential diagnoses. Nine rounds (R) of consensus resulted in MDC validated during two Rs using online evaluation of whole slide digital images of 37 biopsies (28 TMA, 9 non-TMA). Starting with 338 criteria the process resulted in 24 criteria and 8 differential diagnoses including 18 pathologic, 2 clinical, and 4 laboratory criteria. Results show that 3/4 of the panelists agreed on the diagnosis of 3/4 of cases. The process also allowed definition refinement for 4 light and 4 electron microscopy lesions. For the first time in Banff classification, the Delphi methodology was used to generate consensus. The study shows that Delphi is a democratic and cost-effective method allowing rapid consensus generation among numerous physicians dealing with large number of criteria in transplantation.</p

Real-time high-resolution heterodyne-based measurements of spectral dynamics in fibre lasers

Conventional tools for measurement of laser spectra (e.g. optical spectrum analysers) capture data averaged over a considerable time period. However, the generation spectrum of many laser types may involve spectral dynamics whose relatively fast time scale is determined by their cavity round trip period, calling for instrumentation featuring both high temporal and spectral resolution. Such real-time spectral characterisation becomes particularly challenging if the laser pulses are long, or they have continuous or quasi-continuous wave radiation components. Here we combine optical heterodyning with a technique of spatiooral intensity measurements that allows the characterisation of such complex sources. Fast, round-trip-resolved spectral dynamics of cavity-based systems in real-time are obtained, with temporal resolution of one cavity round trip and frequency resolution defined by its inverse (85 ns and 24 MHz respectively are demonstrated). We also show how under certain conditions for quasi-continuous wave sources, the spectral resolution could be further increased by a factor of 100 by direct extraction of phase information from the heterodyned dynamics or by using double time scales within the spectrogram approach