Predictive Diagnostic Analysis of Mammographic Breast Tissue Microenvironment

Improving computer-aided early detection techniques for breast cancer is paramount because current technology has high false positive rates. Existing methods have led to a substantial number of false diagnostics, which lead to stress, unnecessary biopsies, and an added financial burden to the health care system. In order to augment early detection methodology, one must understand the breast microenvironment. The CompuMAINE Lab has researched computational metrics on mammograms based on an image analysis technique called the Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima (WTMM) method to identify the fractal and roughness signature from mammograms. The WTMM method was used to color code the mammograms based on the type of tissue present and assign the Hurst exponent (H) value to corresponding tissue: dense tissue with H greater than 0.55, fatty tissue with H less than 0.45, and disrupted tissue with H between 0.45 and 0.55, with the latter being a key trait in tumorous tissue. This analysis on the full breast was performed on 127 cases for the Medio Lateral Oblique (MLO) view. We are revisiting these data by analyzing the region behind the nipple for the MLO view and the region outside the nipple area. After performing the WTMM analysis on each breast, non-parametric statistical analysis methods were performed to determine the level of significance between normal, benign, and cancerous cases. Furthermore, we utilized logistic models to assess the predictability of these metrics for future datasets

The influence of nutrient enrichment on riverine food web function and stability

Nutrient enrichment of rivers and lakes has been increasing rapidly over the past few decades, primarily because of agricultural intensification. Although nutrient enrichment is known to drive excessive algal and microbial growth, which can directly and indirectly change the ecological community composition, the resulting changes in food web emergent properties are poorly understood. We used ecological network analysis (ENA) to examine the emergent properties of 12 riverine food webs across a nutrient enrichment gradient in the Manawatu, New Zealand. We also derive Keystone Sensitivity Indices to explore whether nutrients change the trophic importance of species in a way that alters the resilience of the communities to further nutrient enrichment or floods. Nutrient enrichment resulted in communities composed of energy inefficient species with high community (excluding microbes) respiration. Community respiration was several times greater in enriched communities, and this may drive hypoxic conditions even without concomitant changes in microbial respiration. Enriched communities exhibited weaker trophic cascades, which may yield greater robustness to energy flow loss. Interestingly, enriched communities were also more structurally and functionally affected by species sensitive to flow disturbance making these communities more vulnerable to floods

The Effect of Maternal Tetanus Immunization on Children’s Schooling Attainment in Matlab, Bangladesh: Follow-up of a Randomized Trial

We investigate the effects of ante-natal maternal vaccination against tetanus on the schooling attained by children in Bangladesh. Maternal vaccination prevents the child from acquiring tetanus at birth through blood infection and substantially reduces infant mortality and may prevent impairment in children who would otherwise acquire tetanus but survive. We follow up on a 1974 randomized trial of maternal tetanus toxoid, looking at outcomes for children born in the period 1975-1979. We find significant schooling gains from maternal tetanus vaccination for children whose parents had no schooling, showing a large impact on a small number of children.Vaccination, tetanus, schooling, education, Bangladesh

Oscillatory behaviour in Type IA FBG: Ruling out chemical complexity

© 2015 SPIE. Type IA FBG are regenerated gratings that appear in hydrogenated germanosilicate fibre of all types during prolonged UV exposure. The gratings are characterised by a large Bragg wavelength shift and a concomitant increase in the mean fibre core index. Modulated index changes are complex by comparison and significantly weaker, often characterised by oscillatory growth behaviour. Low thermal stability of Type IA gratings suggests a possible chemical role similar to thermally processed optical fibres where autocatalysis has been observed. We show that GeOH and SiOH formation are not out-of-phase and follow each other, with no evidence of autocatalysis, ruling out a chemical origin

Assessment of Orchid Surfaces Using Top-Down Contact Angle Mapping

© 2013 IEEE. Top-down contact angle (CA) measurements are used to characterize the green leaves and purple flowers of both old and young the Cattleya warneri orchids. The top-down CA allows the characterization of large surfaces away from the leaf edge, avoiding traditional cutting required for side view CA measurement. This allows large area mapping without damaging leaves making the method amenable to fieldwork and useful in environmental diagnostics. Young leaves are found to be hydrophobic whilst old leaves become practically hydrophilic across their entirety, mostly as a result of continued exposure to changes in the environment over time. The flowers are hydrophobic because of their visual and tactile attractor function for pollinating animals and the self-cleaning of dirt and pathogens. Real-time measurement and mapping of CA of surfaces open a new tool to assess the long-term impact of plant aging, pollution, and more of organisms in the field. The method has clear applications elsewhere such as in industrial probing of surfaces and products

MinION sequencing of fungi in Sub-Saharan African air, and a novel LAMP assay for rapid detection of the tropical phytopathogenic genus Lasiodiplodia

To date, there have been no DNA-based metabarcoding studies into airborne fungi in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. In this initial study, 10 air samples were collected onto Vaseline-coated acrylic rods mounted on drones flown at heights of 15-50 metres above ground for 10-15 minutes at three sites in Ghana. Purified DNA was extracted from air samples, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified using fungal-specific primers, and minION third-generation amplicon sequencing was undertaken with downstream bioinformatics analyses utilizing GAIA cloud-based software (at genus taxonomic level). Principal Co-Ordinate analyses based on Bray-Curtis beta diversity dissimilarity values found no clear evidence for structuring of fungal air communities based on geographic location (east vs. central Ghana), underlying vegetation type (cocoa vs. non-cocoa) or height above ground level (15-23 m vs. 25-50 m). In Ghanaian air samples, despite the very short flight times, ~90 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in each sample, with no statistical differences in alpha diversity between air samples from different locations, vegetation types or height above ground. In Ghanaian air, fungal assemblages were skewed at the phylum taxonomic level towards the ascomycetes (53.7%) as opposed to basidiomycetes (24.6%); at the class level, the Dothideomyectes were predominant (29.8%) followed by the Agaricomycetes (21.8%). The most common fungal genus in Ghanaian air was cosmopolitan and globally ubiquitous Cladosporium (9.9% of reads). Interestingly, many fungal genera containing economically important phytopathogens of tropical crops were also identified in Ghanaian air, including Corynespora, Fusarium and Lasiodiplodia. Consequently, a novel loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, based on translation elongation factor-1α sequences, was developed and tested for rapid, sensitive and specific detection of the fungal phytopathogenic genus Lasiodiplodia. The potential applications for improved tropical disease management are considered

Evidence of chemical complexity and laser-driven autocatalysis in type IA FBGs

© OSA 2016. We observe the first chemical complexity for Type IA FBG growth under prolonged UV laser exposure. Out-of-phase oscillatory behaviour in GeOH/SiOH formation provides evidence of laser-driven autocatalysis and chemical origins for grating formation

Black dyes for coir fibre: 3 practical considerations

Earlier trials on Synacril Black A, Benzamin Black DS 167% and Suprexcel Black VY- three possible substitute dyes for Chlorazol Black E -showed the effect of variations in dyebath conditions on the amount of dye deposited on coir (Canning, A. J., Jarman, C. G. and Mykoluk, S. M. (1979) Black dyes for coir fibre. Part 2. Evaluation of selected dyes. Report of the Tropical Products Institute, L52). Further trials, in which both different concentrations of dye in the bath, and a standing bath were used, have now been carried out to obtain additional data on the exhaustion characteristics of the three dyes. Additionally, the effect of variations in dyebath conditions on the quality of colour, and the amount of each of the three dyes that needs to be deposited on to the fibre to produce an acceptable black, have been assessed. With all three dyes, dyebath exhaustion was approached more slowly with increased dyebath concentration. As a consequence, when additional dye is used, dyeing time must be increased to obtain the most efficient use of dye. Since the proportion of dye that exhausts from the bath is also reduced, particularly with the higher dyebath concentrations or the shorter dyeing times, increasingly large additions of dye are required in order to intensify the visual depth of shade. With low dyebath concentrations of the two direct dyes (Benzamin Black and Suprexcel Black), allowing the liquor to cool during dyeing could reduce heating costs since the exhaustion obtained after 1.5 hours at 95°C followed by cooling was similar to that obtained after 6 hours at 95°C. However, with deeper shades the opportunity for reducing heating costs by reducing dyeing time at 95°C and then cooling is less. The inclusion of sodium carbonate in the dyebath could also result in savings on dyestuff. When using a standing bath technique with Benzamin Black, significantly different exhaustion/time relationships were obtained with each batch of fibre. As a consequence there would be considerable practical difficulties in using this dye with this technique. On the other hand, the exhaustion of Suprexcel Black was only slightly affected by the use of replenished liquors and a standing bath technique could reduce costs. Because of its almost complete exhaustion, there would be no advantage in using a standing bath with the basic dye Synacril Black. All the dyes gave better light-fastness properties when they were concentrated at the periphery of the fibre rather than when they penetrated more deeply: however, staining of adjacent fabrics was greater. The distribution of the dye within the fibre did not affect the visual colour. All three dyes should produce black colours which are technically similar to those of commercial samples of black coir. The amounts which need to be deposited on the fibre to produce an acceptable black are estimated as approximately: Benzamin Black DS 167% - 19g per kilogram of fibre; Suprexcel Black VY - 22g per kilogram of fibre; Synacril Black A - 10g per kilogram of fibre. Fastness properties of the blacks vary with the dye and the technique used to apply it. Information on the development of optimum dyeing conditions is appended