Independent Component Analysis to Detect Clustered Microcalcification Breast Cancers

The presence of clustered microcalcifications is one of the earliest signs in breast cancer detection. Although there exist many studies broaching this problem, most of them are nonreproducible due to the use of proprietary image datasets. We use a known subset of the currently largest publicly available mammography database, the Digital Database for Screening Mammography (DDSM), to develop a computer-aided detection system that outperforms the current reproducible studies on the same mammogram set. This proposal is mainly based on the use of extracted image features obtained by independent component analysis, but we also study the inclusion of the patient's age as a nonimage feature which requires no human expertise. Our system achieves an average of 2.55 false positives per image at a sensitivity of 81.8% and 4.45 at a sensitivity of 91.8% in diagnosing the BCRP_CALC_1 subset of DDSM

An approach to zoning in the wine growing regions of “Jerez-Xérès-Sherry” and “Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda” (Cádiz, Spain)

The Appellations of Origin “Jerez-Xérès-Sherry” and “Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda” occupy one of the oldest and most world renowned viticultural areas in the peninsula, but it is not exempt from the serious problems that are to be found throughout the sector. In order to try to adapt to the present situation, zoning plans are being promoted whereby priority is given to the quality of the product, sustainable development and the economic interests. This work undertakes an approach to the viticultural zoning. The nutritional state of the grapevines is studied by means of foliage analysis at veraison. The quality of production was measured by means of the berry weight and the analysis of the most usual variables of the must at the time of harvest (°Baumé, pH and titratable acidity) over five seasons, in the 21 plots where the soil profiles were opened for analysis. As a result of applying statistical analysis, the plots are grouped into five classes, two of which are subdivided. The most significant differences were established between the plots of class CL1, on Miocene limestone, and those of class CL5, on Pliocene-Quaternary sands and clays. Class CL1 presented the highest content of ash (mean ± sd CL1; CL5) (15.36 ± 1.73; 12.36 ± 1.77) and calcium (3.42 ± 0.90; 2.65 ± 0.72), the lowest berry weight (2.10 ± 0.30; 2.47 ± 0.50) and a greater Baumé degree (10.55 ± 0.86; 9.63 ± 0.98) than the CL5. This new approach takes other essential factors for the quality of the production into account such as the climate and the geomorphology (altitude, slope, and physiography)Las Denominaciones de Origen Jerez-Xérès-Sherry y Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda ocupan una de las zonas de producción más antiguas de la península y de mayor reconocimiento a nivel mundial, aunque no están exentas de la grave problemática por la que atraviesa el sector. Para intentar adaptarse a la situación actual se están promoviendo planes de zonificación en donde prima la calidad del producto, el desarrollo sostenible y los intereses económicos. En este trabajo se realiza una aproximación a la zonificación vitícola. Para ello, se estudia el estado nutricional de las vides mediante el análisis foliar en el envero, la calidad de producción mediante el peso de los granos de uva y el análisis de las variables más usuales del mosto en la época de vendimia (°Baumé, pH y acidez total) durante 5 campañas, en 21 parcelas coincidentes con la apertura de los perfiles. Como resultado de aplicar el análisis estadístico, se han agrupado las parcelas en cinco clases, dos de ellas a su vez subdivididas. Las principales diferencias significativas se encontraron en las parcelas de las clases CL1, sobre albarizas del Mioceno, y las de la clase CL5, sobre arenas y arcillas del Plioceno-Cuaternario. La clase CL1 presenta el contenido más elevado de cenizas (mean ± sd CL1; CL5) (15,36 ± 1,73; 12,36 ± 1,77) y calcio (3,42 ± 0,90; 2,65 ± 0,72), el menor peso de grano de uva (2,10 ± 0,30; 2,47 ± 0,50) y un mayor grado Baumé (10,55 ± 0,86; 9,63 ± 0,98) que la CL5. Esta nueva aproximación tiene en cuenta otros factores esenciales para la calidad de la producción como son el clima y la geomorfología (altitud, pendiente, fisiografía

Mapping participatory planning in Havana: patchwork legacies for a strengthened local governance

In 2019, Cuba approved a new political constitution that calls for deepening citizen participation to strengthen local governance. The emerging decentralization processes and the role of new actors in urban development open new possibilities for inclusive planning. While citizen participation is widely documented in the global South and under Western liberal democracy regimes, participatory urban planning in the context of Southern socialist cities such as Havana has been less scrutinized. This paper aims at mapping the framings, trajectories and legacies of such participatory planning initiatives. Based on mapping workshops and desktop research, we find that participatory initiatives within Havana are spatially dispersed, sporadic, lacking at the city level, and occurring in isolation at the neighbourhood level. We argue that establishing sustained participatory urban planning practices in Havana requires decision makers to scale outwards and upwards the lessons learned from existing initiatives to foster a city-wide participatory planning strategy

IFCP Riemann solver: Application to tsunami modelling using GPUs

In this work, we present a simplified two-layer model of Savage-Hutter type to simulate tsunamis generated by landslides (see (Fern´andez et al. 2008)). A layer composed of fluidized granular material is assumed to flow within an upper layer composed of an inviscid fluid (e.g. water). The sediment layer ismodelled by a Savage-Hutter type model where buoyancy effects have been considered. The system is discretized using IFCP finite volume scheme. The first order IFCP scheme was introduced in (Fern´andez et al. 2011) and it is constructed by using a suitable decomposition of a Roe matrix by means of a parabolic viscosity matrix, that captures information of the intermediate fields (Intermediate Field Capturing Parabola). Its extension to high order and two-dimensional domains is straightforward. To conclude, some numerical examples are presente

Phytotoxicity Study of Ortho-Disubstituted Disulfides and Their Acyl Derivatives

Six different ortho-disubstituted disulfides were synthesized and evaluated in wheat coleoptiles bioassays. The most active ones were evaluated on seeds of four different plant species (Solanum lycopersicum L., Lolium rigidum Gaudin, Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauvois, and Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R. D. Webster) to evaluate their effects on the germination and plant growth, presenting, in general, higher activity than the model herbicide Logran. The results shown in this study indicate that these compounds are potential candidates as herbicide leads for weed control in agriculture

Multiple Rings in the Transitional Disk of GM Aurigae Revealed by VLA and ALMA

Our understanding of protoplanetary disks is rapidly departing from the classical view of a smooth, axisymmetric disk. This is in part thanks to the high angular resolution that (sub)millimeter observations can provide. Here, we present the combined results of Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) (0.9 mm) and Very Large Array (VLA) (7 mm) dust continuum observations toward the protoplanetary disk around the solar analog GM Aur. Both images clearly resolve the ∼35 au inner cavity. The ALMA observations also reveal a fainter disk that extends up to ∼250 au. We model our observations using two approaches: an analytical fit to the observed deprojected visibilities, and a physical disk model that fits the spectral energy distribution as well as the VLA and ALMA observations. Despite not being evident in the deconvolved images, the VLA and ALMA visibilities can only be fitted with two bright rings of radii ∼40 and ∼80 au. Our physical model indicates that this morphology is the result of an accumulation or trapping of large dust grains, probably due to the presence of two pressure bumps in the disk. Even though alternative mechanisms cannot be discarded, the multiple rings suggest that forming planets may have cleared at least two gaps in the disk. Finally, our analysis suggests that the inner cavity might display different sizes at 0.9 and 7 mm. This discrepancy could be caused by the presence of free-free emission close to the star at 7 mm, or by a more compact accumulation of the large dust grains at the edge of the cavity.© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.E.M., C.C.E., and A.R. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under CAREER grant Number AST-1455042 and the Sloan Foundation. G.A., M.O., and J.F.G. are supported by the MINECO (Spain) AYA2014-57369-C3 and AYA2017-84390-C2 grants (co-funded by FEDER)

Phytotoxins from Tithonia diversifolia

Tithonia diversifolia (Mexican sunflower) is a dominant plant of the Asteraceae family, which suggests it produces allelochemicals that interfere with the development of surrounding plants. The study described herein was conducted to identify the compounds that have phytotoxic activity in T. diversifolia extracts. Ethyl acetate extracts of the leaves, stems, and roots showed significant inhibition of wheat coleoptile growth, and the leaf extract had similar inhibitory effects to a commercial herbicide. Fourteen compounds, 12 of which were sesquiterpene lactones, have been isolated. Two sesquiterpene lactones are reported for the first time and were isolated as an inseparable mixture of 8β-O-(2-methylbutyroyl)- tirotundin (4) and 8β-O-(isovaleroyl)tirotundin (5). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis, including NMR techniques and mass spectrometry. The sesquiterpene lactones 1β methoxydiversifolin (6), tagitinin A (7), and tagitinin C (8) were the major products identified. These compounds were active on etiolated wheat coleoptiles, seed germination, and the growth of STS and weeds. The phytotoxic activity shown by these sesquiterpene lactones indicates that they are the compounds responsible for the activity exhibited by the initial extracts

Characterization of Ring Substructures in the Protoplanetary Disk of HD 169142 from Multiwavelength Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Observations

We present a detailed multiwavelength characterization of the multi-ring disk of HD 169142. We report new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations at 3 mm and analyze them together with archival 0.89 and 1.3 mm data. Our observations resolve three out of the four rings in the disk previously seen in high-resolution ALMA data. A simple parametric model is used to estimate the radial profile of the dust optical depth, temperature, density, and particle size distribution. We find that the multiple ring features of the disk are produced by annular accumulations of large particles, probably associated with gas pressure bumps. Our model indicates that the maximum dust grain size in the rings is ∼1 cm, with slightly flatter power-law size distributions than the interstellar medium-like size distribution (p ∼ 3.5) found in the gaps. In particular, the inner ring (∼26 au) is associated with a strong and narrow buildup of dust particles that could harbor the necessary conditions to trigger the streaming instability. According to our analysis, the snowlines of the most important volatiles do not coincide with the observed substructures. We explore different ring formation mechanisms and find that planet-disk interactions are the most likely scenario to explain the main features of HD 169142. Overall, our multiwavelength analysis provides some of the first unambiguous evidence of the presence of radial dust traps in the rings of HD 169142. A similar analysis in a larger sample of disks could provide key insights on the impact that disk substructures have on the dust evolution and planet formation processes.© 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..E.M., and C.C.E. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under CAREER grant No. AST-1455042 and the Sloan Foundation. M.O., G.A., J.M.T., and J.F.G. acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the AYA2017-84390-C2-1-R grant (co-funded by FEDER). M.O., G. A., and J.F.G. acknowledge support from the >Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa> award for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709). M. F. and G.H.M.B. acknowledge support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 757957).Peer Reviewe