A Preliminary Study of Image Analysis for Parasite Detection on Honey Bees

International Conference Image Analysis and Recognition (ICIAR 2018, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal

Relevance of a photo-Fenton like technology based on peroxymonosulphate for 17b-estradiol removal from wastewater

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of sulphate radical based homogeneous advanced oxidation technologies (SR-AOTs) involving peroxymonosulphate (PMS) as an oxidant and ferrous iron (Fe(II)) as a catalyst, for the removal of 17b-estradiol (E2) from wastewater effluents collected downstream of a biological WWTP in Perpignan (France). This molecule is used as a surrogate for endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) due to its high biological activity at very low concentration levels (ng/ L). For this purpose, two different laboratory-scale devices have been employed, one for indoor experiments working with controlled and artificial UV light centered on k = 365 nm emission, and the other at a larger scale for outdoor experiments using direct solar irradiation. Comparison of kinetic studies with those obtained with commonly used hydroxyl radical based advanced oxidation technologies (HR-AOTs), i.e., UV–Vis/H2O2/Fe(II) and UV/TiO2 revealed the higher efficiency of the former over the latter ones. Estrogenicity measurement through bioassays confirmed the complete removal of 17b-estradiol after only a few minutes treatment. Determination of E2 transformation pathways upon sulphate radical reactivity through intermediates identification by mass spectrometry revealed that the oxidation of phenol moiety into quinone might be the main step responsible for the decrease in estrogenicity. UV–Vis/PMS/Fe(II) system appears to be the most suitable method for the treatment of aqueous solutions containing E2

Convergence of Ginzburg-Landau functionals in 3-d superconductivity

In this paper we consider the asymptotic behavior of the Ginzburg- Landau model for superconductivity in 3-d, in various energy regimes. We rigorously derive, through an analysis via {\Gamma}-convergence, a reduced model for the vortex density, and we deduce a curvature equation for the vortex lines. In a companion paper, we describe further applications to superconductivity and superfluidity, such as general expressions for the first critical magnetic field H_{c1}, and the critical angular velocity of rotating Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 45 page

PP270—Computational modeling of dravet syndrome

e102 Volume 35 Number 8S clorazepate (20mg 2× /d), and pregabalin (100 mg 3× /d). Because of resurgence of severe anxio-depressive symptoms, without any change of the treatment, the patient was readmitted 2 months later. Despite increasing the dose of clomipramine up to 225 mg/d, there was no clinical improvement, and the patient finally attempted to her life by abusing drugs. She then improved after 2 weeks on clomipramine IV (50 mg/d). Compliance was estimated good and no pharmacokinetic interactions with the rest of the treatment were found. C and DC plasma levels were measured, and CYP2D6/CYP2C19 genotype analyzed. Results: The plasma levels of C and DC are given in the Table below. Measures were done at the steady state and at trough concentration for IV treatment and 10 hours after the last dose for oral treatment

Groupwise Multimodal Image Registration using Joint Total Variation

In medical imaging it is common practice to acquire a wide range of modalities (MRI, CT, PET, etc.), to highlight different structures or pathologies. As patient movement between scans or scanning session is unavoidable, registration is often an essential step before any subsequent image analysis. In this paper, we introduce a cost function based on joint total variation for such multimodal image registration. This cost function has the advantage of enabling principled, groupwise alignment of multiple images, whilst being insensitive to strong intensity non-uniformities. We evaluate our algorithm on rigidly aligning both simulated and real 3D brain scans. This validation shows robustness to strong intensity non-uniformities and low registration errors for CT/PET to MRI alignment. Our implementation is publicly available at https://github.com/brudfors/coregistration-njtv

Assessing the assessments: evaluation of four impact assessment protocols for invasive alien species

Aim: Effective policy and management responses to the multiple threats posed by invasive alien species (IAS) rely on the ability to assess their impacts before conclusive empirical evidence is available. A plethora of different IAS risk and/or impact assessment protocols have been proposed, but it remains unclear whether, how and why the outcomes of such assessment protocols may differ. Location: Europe. Methods: Here, we present an in-depth evaluation and informed assessment of the consistency of four prominent protocols for assessing IAS impacts (EICAT, GISS, Harmonia and NNRA), using two non-native parrots in Europe: the widespread ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) and the rapidly spreading monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). Results: Our findings show that the procedures used to assess impacts may influence assessment outcomes. We find that robust IAS prioritization can be obtained by assessing species based on their most severe documented impacts, as all protocols yield consistent outcomes across impact categories. Additive impact scoring offers complementary, more subtle information that may be especially relevant for guiding management decisions regarding already established invasive alien species. Such management decisions will also strongly benefit from consensus approaches that reduce disagreement between experts, fostering the uptake of scientific advice into policy-making decisions. Main conclusions: Invasive alien species assessments should take advantage of the capacity of consensus assessments to consolidate discussion and agreement between experts. Our results suggest that decision-makers could use the assessment protocol most fit for their purpose, on the condition they apply a precautionary approach by considering the most severe impacts only. We also recommend that screening for high-impact IAS should be performed on a more robust basis than current ad hoc practices, at least using the easiest assessment protocols and reporting confidence scores.This study is a joint effort from a workshop organized under COST European Cooperation in Science and Technology Actions Parrotnet (ES1304) and Alien Challenge (TD1209). We would also like to thank two anonymous referees for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. D.S is currently funded by a Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Action under the Horizon 2020 call (H2020‐MSCA‐IF‐2015, grant number 706318) and acknowledges the Danish National Research Foundation for support to the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (grant number DNRF96). J.C.S. was supported by funds from the Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, Spanish Research Council (CGL‐2016‐79568‐C3‐3‐P)

Fenfluramine for Treatment-Resistant Seizures in Patients With Dravet Syndrome Receiving Stiripentol-Inclusive Regimens A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Fenfluramine treatment may reduce monthly convulsive seizure frequency in patients with Dravet syndrome who have poor seizure control with their current stiripentol-containing antiepileptic drug regimens. OBJECTIVE To determine whether fenfluramine reduced monthly convulsive seizure frequency relative to placebo in patients with Dravet syndrome who were taking stiripentol-inclusive regimens. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group randomized clinical trial was conducted in multiple centers. Eligible patients were children aged 2 to 18 years with a confirmed clinical diagnosis of Dravet syndrome who were receiving stable, stiripentol-inclusive antiepileptic drug regimens. INTERVENTIONS Patients with 6 or more convulsive seizures during the 6-week baseline period were randomly assigned to receive fenfluramine, 0.4 mg/kg/d (maximum, 17 mg/d), or a placebo. After titration (3 weeks), patients’ assigned dosages were maintained for 12 additional weeks. Caregivers recorded seizures via a daily electronic diary. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary efficacy end point was the change in mean monthly convulsive seizure frequency between fenfluramine and placebo during the combined titration and maintenance periods relative to baseline. RESULTS A total of 115 eligible patients were identified; of these, 87 patients (mean [SD], age 9.1 [4.8] years; 50 male patients [57%]; mean baseline frequency of seizures, approximately 25 convulsive seizures per month) were enrolled and randomized to fenfluramine, 0.4 mg/kg/d (n = 43) or placebo (n = 44). Patients treated with fenfluramine achieved a 54.0% (95% CI, 35.6%-67.2%; P < .001) greater reduction in mean monthly convulsive seizure frequency than those receiving the placebo. With fenfluramine, 54% of patients demonstrated a clinically meaningful (50%) reduction in monthly convulsive seizure frequency vs 5% with placebo (P < .001). The median (range) longest seizure-free interval was 22 (3.0-105.0) days with fenfluramine and 13 (1.0-40.0) days with placebo (P = .004). The most common adverse events were decreased appetite (19 patients taking fenfluramine [44%] vs 5 taking placebo [11%]), fatigue (11 [26%] vs 2 [5%]), diarrhea (10 [23%] vs 3 [7%]), and pyrexia (11 [26%] vs 4 [9%]). Cardiac monitoring demonstrated no clinical or echocardiographic evidence of valvular heart disease or pulmonary arterial hypertension. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Fenfluramine demonstrated significant improvements in monthly convulsive seizure frequency in patients with Dravet syndrome whose conditions were insufficiently controlled with stiripentol-inclusive antiepileptic drug regimens. Fenfluramine was generally well tolerated. Fenfluramine may represent a new treatment option for Dravet syndrome. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT0292689

Regularity of harmonic discs in spaces with quadratic isoperimetric inequality

We study harmonic and quasi-harmonic discs in metric spaces admitting a uniformly local quadratic isoperimetric inequality for curves. The class of such metric spaces includes compact Lipschitz manifolds, metric spaces with upper or lower curvature bounds in the sense of Alexandrov, some sub-Riemannian manifolds, and many more. In this setting, we prove local Hölder continuity and continuity up to the boundary of harmonic and quasi-harmonic discs