Competitive Segmentation Performance on Near-lossless and Lossy Compressed Remote Sensing Images

Image segmentation lies at the heart of multiple image processing chains, and achieving accurate segmentation is of utmost importance as it impacts later processing. Image segmentation has recently gained interest in the field of remote sensing, mostly due to the widespread availability of remote sensing data. This increased availability poses the problem of transmitting and storing large volumes of data. Compression is a common strategy to alleviate this problem. However, lossy or near-lossless compression prevents a perfect reconstruction of the recovered data. This letter investigates the image segmentation performance in data reconstructed after a near-lossless or a lossy compression. Two image segmentation algorithms and two compression standards are evaluated on data from sev- eral instruments. Experimental results reveal that segmentation performance over previously near-lossless and lossy compressed images is not markedly reduced at low and moderate compression ratios. In some scenarios, accurate segmentation performance can be achieved even for high compression ratios

Cambios en la representación polínica de los ecosistemas fluvio-marinos de transición del entorno de la Ría de Vigo durante los últimos 1500 años

XV lnternational A.P.L.E. Symposium of Palynolog

Estradiol Stimulates Vasodilatory and Metabolic Pathways in Cultured Human Endothelial Cells

Vascular effects of estradiol are being investigated because there are controversies among clinical and experimental studies. DNA microarrays were used to investigate global gene expression patterns in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) exposed to 1 nmol/L estradiol for 24 hours. When compared to control, 187 genes were identified as differentially expressed with 1.9-fold change threshold. Supervised principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis revealed the differences between control and estradiol-treated samples. Physiological concentrations of estradiol are sufficient to elicit significant changes in HUVEC gene expression. Notch signaling, actin cytoskeleton signaling, pentose phosphate pathway, axonal guidance signaling and integrin signaling were the top-five canonical pathways significantly regulated by estrogen. A total of 26 regulatory networks were identified as estrogen responsive. Microarray data were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR in cardiovascular meaning genes; cyclooxigenase (COX)1, dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH)2, phospholipase A2 group IV (PLA2G4) B, and 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase were up-regulated by estradiol in a dose-dependent and estrogen receptor-dependent way, whereas COX2, DDAH1 and PLA2G4A remained unaltered. Moreover, estradiol-induced COX1 gene expression resulted in increased COX1 protein content and enhanced prostacyclin production. DDAH2 protein content was also increased, which in turn decreased asymmetric dimethylarginine concentration and increased NO release. All stimulated effects of estradiol on gene and protein expression were estrogen receptor-dependent, since were abolished in the presence of the estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182780. This study identifies new vascular mechanisms of action by which estradiol may contribute to a wide range of biological processes

New records of rare fish species for the Gulf of Cádiz

Comunicación a congresoThe Gulf of Cádiz represents an area with a high faunistic biodiversity due to the coexistence of species from different biogeografical regions (Lusitanian, Mediterranean, Mauritanian). The natural distribution of these species includes latitudinal (African and north Atlantic species) or longitudinal gradients (Mediterranean and anfiatlantic species). Information on the distribution/presence of species in the Gulf of Cádiz is scarce for deep-sea ones and it is of interest for biodiversity studies and further monitoring of global warming effects (colonization of species from lower latitudes), among others. During the scientific surveys INDEMARES/CHICA 0211 and ARSA 0311, carried out by the IEO on board R/V Cornide de Saavedra, some rare fish species were caught using diferent fishing gears such as otter-trawl and beam-trawl. Some of them represents first records for the Gulf of Cádiz area or the European margin

Intermediate snowpack melt-out dates guarantee the highest seasonal grasslands greening in the Pyrenees

In mountain areas, the phenology and productivity of grassland are closely related to snow dynamics. However, the influence that snow melt timing has on grassland growing still needs further attention for a full understanding, particularly at high spatial resolution. Aiming to reduce this knowledge gap, this work exploits 1 m resolution snow depth and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index observations acquired with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle at a sub-alpine site in the Pyrenees. During two snow seasons (2019–2020 and 2020–2021), 14 NDVI and 17 snow depth distributions were acquired over 48 ha. Despite the snow dynamics being different in the two seasons, the response of grasslands greening to snow melt-out exhibited a very similar pattern in both. The NDVI temporal evolution in areas with distinct melt-out dates reveals that sectors where the melt-out date occurs in late April or early May (optimum melt-out) reach the maximum vegetation productivity. Zones with an earlier or a later melt-out rarely reach peak NDVI values. The results obtained in this study area, suggest that knowledge about snow depth distribution is not needed to understand NDVI grassland dynamics. The analysis did not reveal a clear link between the spatial variability in snow duration and the diversity and richness of grassland communities within the study area

Characterizing the phenotype and mode of inheritance of patients with inherited peripheral neuropathies carrying MME mutations

[EN] Background Mutations in the metalloendopeptidase (MME) gene were initially identified as a cause of autosomal recessive Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2 (CMT2). Subsequently, variants in MME were linked to other late-onset autosomal dominant polyneuropathies. Thus, our goal was to define the phenotype and mode of inheritance of patients carrying changes in MME. Methods We screened 197 index cases with a hereditary neuropathy of the CMT type or distal hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN) and 10 probands with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) using a custom panel of 119 genes. In addition to the index case subjects, we also studied other clinically and/or genetically affected and unaffected family members. Results We found 17 variants in MME in a total of 20 index cases, with biallelic MME mutations detected in 13 cases from nine families (three in homozygosis and six in compound heterozygosis) and heterozygous variants found in 11 families. All patients with biallelic variants had a similar phenotype, consistent with late-onset axonal neuropathy. Conversely, the phenotype of patients carrying heterozygous mutations was highly variable [CMT type 1 (CMT1), CMT2, dHMN and fALS] and mutations did not segregate with the disease. Conclusion MME mutations that segregate in an autosomal recessive pattern are associated with a late-onset CMT2 phenotype, yet we could not demonstrate that MME variants in heterozygosis cause neuropathy. Our data highlight the importance of establishing an accurate genetic diagnosis in patients carrying MME mutations, especially with a view to genetic counselling.The authors thank the patients and healthy relatives for having participated in this project. We are grateful to the Eurobiobank CIBERER and the Biobank La Fe for their participation in the collection and processing of patient samples. We also thank the technicians at the Department of Genomics and Translational Genetics (CIPF) who participated in the quality control and processing of DNA samples (Virginia Rejas and Laura Ramírez), and the Bachelor¿s thesis student Andrea Ballester who helped with some clinical data collection. This project was funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), FEDER (Grants no. PI12/00946 and PI16/00403 to TS, PI15/00187 to CE). MF holds a grant funded by the IIS La Fe (Grant no. 2015/0085). AS-M holds a grant funded by the Fundació Per Amor a l'Art (FPAA). JFV-C holds a ' Rio Hortega' contract funded by the ISCIII.Lupo, V.; Frasquet, M.; Sánchez-Monteagudo, A.; Pelayo-Negro, A.; García-Sobrino, T.; Sedano, MJ.; Pardo, J.... (2018). Characterizing the phenotype and mode of inheritance of patients with inherited peripheral neuropathies carrying MME mutations. Journal of Medical Genetics. 55(12):814-823. https://doi.org/10.1136/jmedgenet-2018-105650814823551

In Vivo Induction of P‑Glycoprotein Function can be Measured with [18F]MC225 and PET

P-Glycoprotein (P-gp) is an efflux pump located at the blood−brain barrier (BBB) that contributes to the protection of the central nervous system by transporting neurotoxic compounds out of the brain. A decline in P-gp function has been related to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. P-gp inducers can increase the P-gp function and are considered as potential candidates for the treatment of such disorders. The P-gp inducer MC111 increased P-gp expression and function in SW480 human colon adenocarcinoma and colo-320 cells, respectively. Our study aims to evaluate the P-gp inducing effect of MC111 in the whole brain in vivo, using the P-gp tracer [18F]MC225 and positron emission tomography (PET). Eighteen Wistar rats were treated with either vehicle solution, 4.5 mg/kg of MC111 (low-dose group), or 6 mg/kg of MC111 (high-dose group). Animals underwent a 60 min dynamic PET scan with arterial-blood sampling, 24 h after treatment with the inducer. Data were analyzed using the 1-tissue-compartment model and metabolite-corrected plasma as the input function. Model parameters such as the influx constant (K1) and volume of distribution (VT) were calculated, which reflectthe in vivo P-gp function. P-gp and pregnane xenobiotic receptor (PXR) expression levels of the whole brain were assessed using western blot. The administration of MC111 decreased K1 and VT of [18F]MC225 in the whole brain and all of the selected brain regions. In the high-dose group, whole-brain K1 was decreased by 34% (K1-high-dose = 0.20 ± 0.02 vs K1-control = 0.30 ± 0.02; p < 0.001) and in the low-dose group by 7% (K1-low-dose = 0.28 ± 0.02 vs K1-control = 0.30 ± 0.02; p = 0.42) compared to controls. Whole-brain VT was decreased by 25% in the high-dose group (VT-high-dose = 5.92 ± 0.41 vs VT-control = 7.82 ± 0.38; p < 0.001) and by 6% in the low-dose group (VT-low-dose = 7.35 ± 0.38 vs VT-control = 7.82 ± 0.37; p = 0.38) compared to controls. k2 values did not vary after treatment. The treatment did not affect the metabolism of [18F]MC225. Western blot studies using the whole brain tissue did not detect changes in the P-gp expression, however, preliminary results using isolated brain capillaries found an increasing trend up to 37% in treated rats. The decrease in K1 and VT values after treatment with the inducer indicates an increase in the P-gp functionality at the BBB of treated rats. Moreover, preliminary results using brain endothelial cells also sustained the increase in the P-gp expression. In conclusion, the results verify that MC111 induces P-gp expression and function at the BBB in rats. An increasing trend regarding the P-gp expression levels is found using western blot and an increased P-gp function is confirmed with [18F]MC225 and PET

3 Cat-4 mission, 1-Unit CubeSat for earth observation: Evaluation on the qualification and production during Phase D

The 3Cat-4 mission is a 1-unit CubeSat platform that serves as a technology demonstrator and educational platform for students at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Promoted by the UPC Nanosatellite and Payload Laboratory (UPC NanoSatLab), the most notable subsystems that innovate in the nanosatellite scenario are (1) the Flexible Microwave Payload - 1 (FMPL-1) [1], a cost-effective payload to execute Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R), and L-band microwave radiometry experiments using a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software-defined radio (SDR) and (2) the Nadir Antenna Deployment Subsystem (NADS) [2], an in-orbit deployable high-directivity antenna used by Earth Observation (EO) payloads. This paper presents the findings of the 3Cat-4 mission during Phase D, the qualification and production phase of the project. Since the publication of the first introductory work for this mission in 2019[3], several sections of the subsystems have been redesigned and upgraded to correct previous design flaws or to meet new requirements. In addition, this paper addresses the educational perspective of this mission, analyzing its performance and usefulness in the aforementioned subject