331 research outputs found
EXTRACTION of DEMS and ORTHOIMAGES from ARCHIVE AERIAL IMAGERY to SUPPORT PROJECT PLANNING in CIVIL ENGINEERING
Archive aerial photos represent a valuable heritage to provide information about land content and topography in the past years. Today, the availability of low-cost and open-source solutions for photogrammetric processing of close-range and drone images offers the chance to provide outputs such as DEM's and orthoimages in easy way. This paper is aimed at demonstrating somehow and to which level of accuracy digitized archive aerial photos may be used within a such kind of low-cost software (Agisoft Photoscan Professional®) to generate photogrammetric outputs. Different steps of the photogrammetric processing workflow are presented and discussed. The main conclusion is that this procedure may come to provide some final products, which however do not feature the high accuracy and resolution that may be obtained using high-end photogrammetric software packages specifically designed for aerial survey projects. In the last part a case study is presented about the use of four-epoch archive of aerial images to analyze the area where a tunnel has to be excavated
First Isolation, Antifungal Susceptibility, and Molecular Characterization of Cryptococcus neoformans from the Environment in Croatia
The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of Cryptococcus neoformans species complex isolates from environmental sources in Croatia and to determine their molecular types and antifungal susceptibility. Swab samples of tree hollows and bird excreta in the soil beneath trees were collected. Samples included 472 (92.73%) samples obtained from tree hollows and 37 (7.27%) samples from bird excreta. Four C. neoformans species complex isolates were recovered from tree hollow swabs along the Mediterranean coast, while there were no isolates recovered from bird excreta or from the continental area. Three isolates were identified as molecular types VNI and one as VNIV. All tested antifungals showed high in vitro activity against the four isolates. This is the first report proving the presence of C. neoformans species complex in the environment of Croatia. The results of the study suggest a major risk of exposure for inhabitants living along the Croatian coast and that both VNI and VNIV molecular types can be expected in clinical cases of cryptococcosis. Susceptibility to antifungals confirmed that no resistance should be expected in patients with cryptococcosis at the present time
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Minerva User Manual Version 1.0
MINERVA (Modality-Inclusive Environment for Radiotherapeutic Variable Analysis) is a Java-based patient-centric radiation treatment planning system (RTPS) for computational dosimetry and treatment planning in emerging areas of radiotherapy for cancer and other diseases. MINERVA was primarily developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Montana State University (MSU). MINERVA allows the radiotherapist to make side-by-side comparison of plans for multiple treatment modalities with a common anatomical basis for the computational geometry, calculate doses for combinations of different radiotherapy modalities, and perform dose analysis and reporting functions. This provides the therapist with a consistent basis for selecting the modality or combination of modalities to use for treatment of the patient. MINERVA employs an integrated, lightweight plug-in architecture to accommodate multi-modal treatment planning using standard interface components. The MINERVA design facilitates integration of improved or emerging treatment planning technologies. MINERVA consists of the basic radiation treatment planning software modules managed by a consistent patient interface for developing multi-modal radiotherapy patient treatment plans. One of MINERVA's main functions is to provide a graphical environment for constructing and displaying uniform volume-element-based solid models derived from medical images. These solid models form the geometric basis of the target areas for the radiation transport model
Optimal Sensor Placement with Adaptive Constraints for Nuclear Digital Twins
Given harsh operating conditions and physical constraints in reactors,
nuclear applications cannot afford to equip the physical asset with a large
array of sensors. Therefore, it is crucial to carefully determine the placement
of sensors within the given spatial limitations, enabling the reconstruction of
reactor flow fields and the creation of nuclear digital twins. Various design
considerations are imposed, such as predetermined sensor locations, restricted
areas within the reactor, a fixed number of sensors allocated to a specific
region, or sensors positioned at a designated distance from one another. We
develop a data-driven technique that integrates constraints into an
optimization procedure for sensor placement, aiming to minimize reconstruction
errors. Our approach employs a greedy algorithm that can optimize sensor
locations on a grid, adhering to user-defined constraints. We demonstrate the
near optimality of our algorithm by computing all possible configurations for
selecting a certain number of sensors for a randomly generated state space
system. In this work, the algorithm is demonstrated on the Out-of-Pile Testing
and Instrumentation Transient Water Irradiation System (OPTI-TWIST) prototype
vessel, which is electrically heated to mimic the neutronics effect of the
Transient Reactor Test facility (TREAT) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The
resulting sensor-based reconstruction of temperature within the OPTI-TWIST
minimizes error, provides probabilistic bounds for noise-induced uncertainty
and will finally be used for communication between the digital twin and
experimental facility
Scaf1 promotes respiratory supercomplexes and metabolic efficiency in zebrafish
The oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system is a dynamic
system in which the respiratory complexes coexist with superassembled quaternary structures called supercomplexes (SCs). The
physiological role of SCs is still disputed. Here, we used zebrafish
to study the relevance of respiratory SCs. We combined immunodetection analysis and deep data-independent proteomics to
characterize these structures and found similar SCs to those
described in mice, as well as novel SCs including III2 + IV2, I + IV,
and I + III2 + IV2. To study the physiological role of SCs, we generated two null allele zebrafish lines for supercomplex assembly
factor 1 (scaf1). scaf1 / fish displayed altered OXPHOS activity
due to the disrupted interaction of complexes III and IV. scaf1 /
fish were smaller in size and showed abnormal fat deposition and
decreased female fertility. These physiological phenotypes were
rescued by doubling the food supply, which correlated with
improved bioenergetics and alterations in the metabolic gene
expression program. These results reveal that SC assembly by Scaf1
modulates OXPHOS efficiency and allows the optimization of
metabolic resources.Microscopy Imaging Center of the University of BernSpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO
SAF2015-65633-RSpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO
SAF2015-65633-RHuman Frontier Science Program
RGP0016/2018European Research Council (ERC)
337703SNF
31003A-159721Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
320030_170062MINECO
BIO2015-67580-PCarlos III Institute of Health-Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria)
PRB3
IPT17/0019Fundacion La Marato TV3La Caixa Foundation
HR17-00247Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MEIC)Pro-CNIC FoundationSevero Ochoa Center of Excellence (MEIC award)
SEV-2015-050
Morphometric aspects of the thymus in domestic cats (Felis domesticus)
O timo é um órgão linfático primário que desenvolve sua atividade em organismos jovens. Apesar de sua função ser responsável por mecanismos fundamentais na aquisição das defesas e conseqüentes respostas orgânicas, ela ainda não está totalmente esclarecida, nem tampouco as bases morfológicas que respondem por tais funções, como o processo de desenvolvimento e involução do órgão. Objetivou-se analisar e caracterizar os aspectos morfológicos do timo, tais como seu tamanho e volume, e aspectos histológicos do timo em gatos, correlacionando o sexo e o desenvolvimento etário. Doze timos provenientes de fetos de gatos domésticos (Felis domesticus) sem raça definida (SRD), machos e fêmeas, separados em três grupos etários. O timo apresentou-se com uma coloração rosa-pálida e com duas porções, a torácica e a cervical, sendo que cada uma delas possuía um lobo direito e um lobo esquerdo em sua maioria. A porção torácica localizava-se em região de mediastino cranial, entre os pulmões e à base do coração. E a porção cervical estendia-se além das costelas em sentido cranial, estando localizada ventralmente à traqueia. A estrutura celular do timo demonstrou-se organizada com a presença de agregados concêntricos, os chamados corpúsculos tímicos, formados por células epiteliais, sustentada por uma cápsula de tecido conjuntivo de onde partiam septos que ao penetrar no órgão dividia-o em lóbulos. Ocorreram variações significativas quanto à lobação e as dimensões do timo entre indivíduos da mesma faixa etária, e entre sexos diferentes. Os valores relativos ao comprimento, espessura e largura, de maneira geral, apresentaram aumento, em conformidade ao desenvolvimento dos animais, mas com diferenças entre os sexos
Activation of Serine One-Carbon Metabolism by Calcineurin A beta 1 Reduces Myocardial Hypertrophy and Improves Ventricular Function
Background In response to pressure overload, the heart develops ventricular hypertrophy that progressively decompensates and leads to heart failure. This pathological hypertrophy is mediated, among others, by the phosphatase calcineurin and is characterized by metabolic changes that impair energy production by mitochondria. Objectives The authors aimed to determine the role of the calcineurin splicing variant CnAβ1 in the context of cardiac hypertrophy and its mechanism of action. Methods Transgenic mice overexpressing CnAβ1 specifically in cardiomyocytes and mice lacking the unique C-terminal domain in CnAβ1 (CnAβ1Δi12 mice) were used. Pressure overload hypertrophy was induced by transaortic constriction. Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography. Mice were characterized using various molecular analyses. Results In contrast to other calcineurin isoforms, the authors show here that cardiac-specific overexpression of CnAβ1 in transgenic mice reduces cardiac hypertrophy and improves cardiac function. This effect is mediated by activation of serine and one-carbon metabolism, and the production of antioxidant mediators that prevent mitochondrial protein oxidation and preserve ATP production. The induction of enzymes involved in this metabolic pathway by CnAβ1 is dependent on mTOR activity. Inhibition of serine and one-carbon metabolism blocks the beneficial effects of CnAβ1. CnAβ1Δi12 mice show increased cardiac hypertrophy and declined contractility. Conclusions The metabolic reprogramming induced by CnAβ1 redefines the role of calcineurin in the heart and shows for the first time that activation of the serine and one-carbon pathway has beneficial effects on cardiac hypertrophy and function, paving the way for new therapeutic approaches
Gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with sars-cov-2 infection managed by interventional radiology
Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the technical and clinical success of trans-arterial embolization (TAE) as a treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and to describe its safety; moreover, we describe the characteristics of these patients. Methods: Thirty-four COVID-19 hospitalized patients presented with GIB. Risk factors, drugs administered for COVID-19 infection, and clinical and biological parameters were evaluated. Furthermore, intraprocedural data and outcomes of embolization were analyzed. Results: GIB was more frequent in male. Overweight, hypertension, diabetes, previous cardiac disease, and anticoagulation preadmission (48.5%) were frequently found in our population. Previous or actual COVID Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and a high level of D-dimer were encountered in most cases. Upper GIB was more frequent than lower GIB. Technical and clinical success rates of embolization were 88.2% and 94.1%, respectively. The complication rate was 5.9%. Conclusions: Our study highlights the most frequent characteristics of COVID-19 patients with GIB. Embolization is feasible, effective, and safe
Knowledge based fundamental and harmonic frequency detection in polyphonic music analysis
In this paper, we present an efficient approach to detect and tracking the fundamental frequency (Fo) from 'wav' audio. In general, music Fo and harmonic frequency show the multiple relations; therefore frequency domain analysis can be used to track the Fo. The model includes the harmonic frequency probability analysis method and useful pre-post processing for multiple instruments. Thus, the proposed system can efficiently transcribe polyphonic music, while taking into account the probability of Fo and harmonic frequency. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can successful transcribe polyphonic music, achieved the quite advanced level
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