Soybean Cyst Nematode Reduces Soybean Yield Without Causing Obvious Aboveground Symptoms

Field experiments were conducted at locations in northern and southern Illinois, central Iowa, and central Missouri from 1997 to 1999 to investigate the effects of Heterodera glycines on soybean growth, development, and yield. A wide range of infestation levels was present at all locations. Two locally adapted cultivars, one resistant to H. glycines, were grown at each location. Cultivars were planted in alternating four-row strips with 76 cm between rows. For each cultivar, 20 1-m-long single-row plots were sampled every 2 weeks starting 4 weeks after planting. Infection by H. glycines reduced plant height and leaf and stem weight on the resistant cultivars in the first 12 weeks after planting, and delayed pod and seed development 12 to 14 weeks after planting. Biomass accumulation was not reduced on the susceptible cultivars until 10 weeks after planting; reduction in pod and seed development occurred throughout the reproductive stages. Susceptible cultivars produced significantly lower yields than resistant cultivars, but the yield reductions were not accompanied by visually detectable symptoms

Prototypes for Content-Based Image Retrieval in Clinical Practice

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has been proposed as key technology for computer-aided diagnostics (CAD). This paper reviews the state of the art and future challenges in CBIR for CAD applied to clinical practice

Elpusztított emlékhelyek

A Magyar Királyi Csendőrségnek négy emlékhelye volt, közülük hármat Budapesten helyezték el a két világháború között, a negyediket Nyitra vármegyében a dualizmus időszakában hozták létre

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Resampling study

The author has identified the following significant results. The nearest neighbor and cubic convolution resampling algorithms were applied to a variety of images extracted from LANDSAT MSS data. A comparison of the results demonstrated that (1) cubic convolution can cause spreading of small features and can introduce noticeable overshoot (ringing) into the data; (2) cubic convolution attenuates the high spatial frequencies compared to the original and nearest neighbor resampled data; and (3) cubic convolution generally produces photographic products of superior visual quality. The effects of the resampling algorithms on multispectral classification were not conclusively determined due to the small number of images tested