Standardized Assessment of Automatic Segmentation of White Matter Hyperintensities; Results of the WMH Segmentation Challenge

Quantification of cerebral white matter hyperintensities (WMH) of presumed vascular origin is of key importance in many neurological research studies. Currently, measurements are often still obtained from manual segmentations on brain MR images, which is a laborious procedure. Automatic WMH segmentation methods exist, but a standardized comparison of the performance of such methods is lacking. We organized a scientific challenge, in which developers could evaluate their method on a standardized multi-center/-scanner image dataset, giving an objective comparison: the WMH Segmentation Challenge (https://wmh.isi.uu.nl/). Sixty T1+FLAIR images from three MR scanners were released with manual WMH segmentations for training. A test set of 110 images from five MR scanners was used for evaluation. Segmentation methods had to be containerized and submitted to the challenge organizers. Five evaluation metrics were used to rank the methods: (1) Dice similarity coefficient, (2) modified Hausdorff distance (95th percentile), (3) absolute log-transformed volume difference, (4) sensitivity for detecting individual lesions, and (5) F1-score for individual lesions. Additionally, methods were ranked on their inter-scanner robustness. Twenty participants submitted their method for evaluation. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the results. In brief, there is a cluster of four methods that rank significantly better than the other methods, with one clear winner. The inter-scanner robustness ranking shows that not all methods generalize to unseen scanners. The challenge remains open for future submissions and provides a public platform for method evaluation

Dataset for analyzing and modelling the eutrophication processes in groundwater-coastal lagoon systems: The La Pletera lagoons case study (NE Spain)

A comprehensive hydrogeological report was conducted to determine the origin, occurrence and processes affecting nitrogen in a Mediterranean coastal aquifer-lagoon system. Water levels, hydrochemical and isotopic data was gathered during a 4-year period in the La Pletera salt marsh area (NE Spain). They were collected from the alluvial aquifer, two natural lagoons and four other permanent lagoons excavated during a restoration process (in 2002 and 2016), two watercourses (the Ter River and the Ter Vell artificial channel), 21 wells (considering six of them for groundwater sampling) and the Mediterranean Sea. Potentiometric surveys were carried out seasonally, however twelve-monthly campaigns (from November 2014 to October 2015), and nine seasonal campaigns (from January 2016 to January 2018) were conducted for hydrochemical and environmental isotopes analyses. The evolution of the water table was analysed for each well, and potentiometric maps were plotted to determine the relationship between the aquifer and the lagoons, sea, watercourses, and groundwater flow. Hydrochemical data included physicochemical data measured in situ (temperature, pH, Eh, dissolved oxygen, and electrical conductivity), major and minor ions (HCO3−, CO32−, Cl−, SO42−, F−, Br−, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), and nutrients (NO2−, NO3−, NH4+, Total Nitrogen (TN), PO43−, and Total Phosphorus (TP)). Environmental isotopes included stable water isotopes (δ18O and δD), nitrate (δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3) and sulphate isotopes (δ34SSO4 and δ18OSO4). Water isotopes were analysed for all campaigns, however, nitrate and sulphate isotopes water samples were only analysed in some particular surveys (November and December 2014; January, April, June, July and August 2015). Additionally, two more surveys for sulphate isotopes were conducted in April and October of 2016. The data generated through this research may be used as a starting point to analyse the evolution of these recently restored lagoons, and their future responses to global change. In addition, this dataset may be used to model the hydrological and hydrochemical behaviour of the aquifer

The Role of Advection and Turbulent Mixing in the Vertical Distribution of Phytoplankton.

Abstract not availableJRC.H-Institute for environment and sustainability (Ispra

Documentant l'arqueologia: la casa de Massot Avengenà a l'alfòndec del call Major de Barcelona (carrer de Sant Honorat, núm. 3)

El present article sintetitza l?estudi historicoartístic de les restes medievals trobades al jaciment arqueològic del subsòl del número 3 del carrer Sant Honorat de Barcelona, avui seu del Departament de la Presidència de la Generalitat de Catalunya, realitzat l?any 2009. Les estratigrafies més importants d?aquest excepcional jaciment ?juntament amb les d?època tardoromana? corresponen a una casa palau situada a l?alfòndec del call Major de Barcelona, de la qual es conserven bona part dels fonaments i diverses sitges de grans proporcions construïdes a mitjan segle xiii. A partir de les dades facilitades per l?arqueologia, de la bibliografia existent i de documentació arxivística parcialment inèdita, s?ha pogut reconstruir la història de la finca entre els segles xiv i xix, però sobretot en un període clau per a la història de la ciutat: el pogrom de 1391, la desaparició de l?aljama barcelonina i l?establiment de les elits urbanes cristianes a l?antic call. En aquell moment, la casa passà de mans del darrer propietari jueu, el financer Massot Avengenà, al primer estadant cristià, el jurista Pere de Rajadell.Documenting archaeology: Massot Avengenà?s house in the corn exchange in Barcelona?s call Major (number 3, Carrer de Sant Honorat). The article outlines the historical and artistic study carried out in 2009 on the medieval remains found at the archaeological site in the subsoil of number 3, Carrer Sant Honorat in Barcelona, where the Government of Catalonia?s Presidential Office is currently located. This exceptional site?s most important stratigraphies (alongside those from the late Roman period) correspond to a house/palace located in the corn exchange in Barcelona?s call Major (the largest section of the city?s medieval Jewish quarter). A significant portion of the building?s foundations have been preserved, along with a number of large silos constructed in the mid-13th century. The information obtained through archaeological work and the existing bibliography and partially unpublished archive documents have made it possible to reconstruct the history of the property between the 14th and 19th centuries, particularly during a key period in the city?s past, encompassing the pogrom of 1391, the disappearance of Barcelona?s aljama (a Spanish term of Arabic origin used in old official documents to designate self-governing communities of Moors and Jews living under Spanish rule) and the settling of the urban Christian elite in the old Jewish quarter. During this period, the house ceased to belong to the financier Massot Avengenà, its last Jewish owner, and became the property of the jurist Pere de Rajadell, its first Christian resident

Localization and expression of TRPV1 and TRPA1 in the human oropharynx and larynx

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have found that TRPV1 and TRPA1 receptor agonists improve swallow response in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD), but little is known about the expression of these receptors in the human oropharynx. The aim of this study was to assess the expression and localization of TRPV1 and TRPA1 in human samples from the oropharynx of healthy patients, to provide the basis for new pharmacological treatments for OD. METHODS: Samples from oropharyngeal regions innervated by cranial nerves V, IX, and X (tongue, pharynx, and epiglottis) were obtained during ENT surgery and processed either for mRNA (21 patients) or for immunohistochemical assays (seven patients). The expression analysis was performed with RT-qPCR using ACTBh as reference gene. Hemotoxylin and eosin staining was used to study the histology; the immunohistochemical assay used (i) neuron-specific enolase to detect nerve fibers or (ii) fluorescent probes to locate TRPV1 and TRPA1. RESULTS: TRPV1 was expressed in the three studied regions, with higher levels in CN V region (tongue) than in CN X region (epiglottis; p < 0.05), and was localized at epithelial cells and nociceptive fibers in all studied regions. TRPA1 was also expressed in all studied regions, but was always localized below the basal lamina. No immunoreactivity for TRPA1 was found on epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: TRPV1 and TRPA1 are widely expressed in the human oropharynx with two distinct patterns. Our study further confirms that TRPV1/A1 receptors are promising therapeutic targets to develop active treatments for OD patients.status: publishe

An enantioselective entry to cis-perhydroisoquinolines

An enantioselective route to cis-perhydroisoquinolines, involving a cyclocondensation reaction of (R)-phenylglycinol with a racemic oxoester, a stereoselective conjugate addition to an unsaturated bicyclic lactam, and the closure of the carbocyclic ring by a ring-closing metathesis as the key steps is reported. This route allows the preparation of 3-cyano derivatives as well as cis-octahydroisoquinolines bearing a quaternary center at the C4-position