Nonlocal Multiscale Single Image Statistics From Sentinel-1 SAR Data for High Resolution Bitemporal Forest Wind Damage Detection

Change detection of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is a challenge for high-resolution applications. This study presents a new nonlocal averaging approach (STAl'SAR) to reduce the speckle of single Sentinel-1 SAR images and statistical parameters derived from the image. The similarity of SAR pixels is based on the statistics of 3 x 3 window as represented by the mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, and maximum. K-means clustering is used to divide the SAR image in 30 similarity clusters. The nonlocal averaging is carried out within each cluster separately in magnitude order of the 3 x 3 window averages. The nonlocal filtering is applicable not only to the original pixel backscattering values but also to statistical parameters, such as standard deviation. The statistical parameters to be filtered can represent any window size, according to the need of the application. The nonlocally averaged standard deviation derived in two spatial resolutions, 3 x 3 and 7 x 7 windows, are demonstrated here for improving the resolution in which the forest damages can be detected using the VH polarized backscattering spatial variation change.Peer reviewe

Mental Action Simulation Synchronizes Action-Observation Circuits across Individuals

A frontoparietal action–observation network (AON) has been proposed to support understanding others' actions and goals. We show that the AON "ticks together" in human subjects who are sharing a third person's feelings. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, 20 volunteers watched movies depicting boxing matches passively or while simulating a prespecified boxer's feelings. Instantaneous intersubject phase synchronization (ISPS) was computed to derive multisubject voxelwise similarity of hemodynamic activity and inter-area functional connectivity. During passive viewing, subjects' brain activity was synchronized in sensory projection and posterior temporal cortices. Simulation induced widespread increase of ISPS in the AON (premotor, posterior parietal, and superior temporal cortices), primary and secondary somatosensory cortices, and the dorsal attention circuits (frontal eye fields, intraparietal sulcus). Moreover, interconnectivity of these regions strengthened during simulation. We propose that sharing a third person's feelings synchronizes the observer's own brain mechanisms supporting sensations and motor planning, thereby likely promoting mutual understanding.Peer reviewe

Long-term antipsychotic use and its association with outcomes in schizophrenia - the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

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Response to antipsychotic drugs in treatment-resistant schizophrenia : Conclusions based on systematic review

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Predictors of long-term change in adult cognitive performance: systematic review and data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

Objective: Several social life events and challenges have an impact on cognitive development. Our goal was to analyze the predictors of change in cognitive performance in early midlife in a general population sample. Additionally, systematic literature review was performed. Method: The study sample was drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 at the ages of 34 and 43 years. Primary school performance, sociodemographic factors and body mass index (BMI) were used to predict change in cognitive performance measured by the California Verbal Learning Test, Visual Object Learning Test, and Abstraction Inhibition and Working Memory task. Analyses were weighted by gender and education, and p-values were corrected for multiple comparisons using Benjamini–Hochberg procedure (B–H). Results: Male gender predicted decrease in episodic memory. Poor school marks of practical subjects, having no children, and increase in BMI were associated with decrease in episodic memory, though non-significantly after B–H. Better school marks, and higher occupational class were associated with preserved performance in visual object learning. Higher vocational education predicted preserved performance in visual object learning test, though non-significantly after B-H. Likewise, having children predicted decreased performance in executive functioning but non-significantly after B-H. Conclusions: Adolescent cognitive ability, change in BMI and several sociodemographic factors appear to predict cognitive changes in early midlife. The key advantage of present study is the exploration of possible predictors of change in cognitive performance among general population in the early midlife, a developmental period that has been earlier overlooked

Dissociable Roles of Cerebral mu-Opioid and Type 2 Dopamine Receptors in Vicarious Pain: A Combined PET-fMRI Study

Neuroimaging studies have shown that seeing others in pain activates brain regions that are involved in first-hand pain, suggesting that shared neuromolecular pathways support processing of first-hand and vicarious pain. We tested whether the dopamine and opioid neurotransmitter systems involved in nociceptive processing also contribute to vicarious pain experience. We used in vivo positron emission tomography to quantify type 2 dopamine and mu-opioid receptor (D2R and MOR, respectively) availabilities in brains of 35 subjects. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, the subjects watched short movie clips depicting persons in painful and painless situations. Painful scenes activated pain-responsive brain regions including anterior insulae, thalamus and secondary somatosensory cortices, as well as posterior superior temporal sulci. MOR availability correlated negatively with the haemodynamic responses during painful scenes in anterior and posterior insulae, thalamus, secondary and primary somatosensory cortices, primary motor cortex, and superior temporal sulci. MOR availability correlated positively with orbitofrontal haemodynamic responses during painful scenes. D2R availability was not correlated with the haemodynamic responses in any brain region. These results suggest that the opioid system contributes to neural processing of vicarious pain, and that interindividual differences in opioidergic system could explain why some individuals react more strongly than others to seeing pain

Difference in Rupture Risk Between Familial and Sporadic Intracranial Aneurysms An Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: We combined individual patient data (IPD) from prospective cohorts of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA) to assess to what extent patients with familial UIA have a higher rupture risk than those with sporadic UIA. METHODS: For this IPD meta-analysis we performed an Embase and Pubmed search for studies published up to December 1, 2020. We included studies that 1) had a prospective study design; 2) included 50 or more patients with UIA; 3) studied the natural course of UIA and risk factors for aneurysm rupture including family history for aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and UIA; and 4) had aneurysm rupture as an outcome. Cohorts with available IPD were included. All studies included patients with newly diagnosed UIA visiting one of the study centers. The primary outcome was aneurysmal rupture. Patients with polycystic kidney disease and moyamoya disease were excluded. We compared rupture rates of familial versus sporadic UIA using a Cox proportional hazard regression model adjusted for the PHASES score and smoking. We performed two analyses: 1. only studies defining first-degree relatives as parents, children, and siblings and 2. all studies, including those in which first-degree relatives are defined as only parents and children, but not siblings. RESULTS: We pooled IPD from eight cohorts with a low and moderate risk of bias. First-degree relatives were defined as parents, siblings and children in six cohorts (29% Dutch, 55% Finnish, 15% Japanese), totalling 2,297 patients (17% familial, 399 patients) with 3,089 UIA and 7,301 person-years follow-up. Rupture occurred in 10 familial patients (rupture rate: 0·89%/person-year; 95% CI:0·45-1·59) and 41 sporadic patients (0·66%/person-year; 95% CI:0·48-0·89); adjusted HR for familial patients 2·56 (95% CI: 1·18-5·56). After adding also the two cohorts excluding siblings as first-degree relatives resulting in 9,511 patients the adjusted HR was 1·44 (95% CI: 0·86-2·40). CONCLUSION: The risk of rupture of UIA is two and a half times higher, with a range from a 1.2 to 5 times higher risk, in familial than in sporadic UIA. When assessing the risk of rupture in UIA, family history should be taken into account

Familial idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a late-onset surgically alleviated, progressive disease. We characterize a potential familial subgroup of iNPH in a nation-wide Finnish cohort of 375 shunt-operated iNPH-patients. The patients were questionnaired and phone-interviewed, whether they have relatives with either diagnosed iNPH or disease-related symptomatology. Then pedigrees of all families with more than one iNPH-case were drawn. Eighteen patients (4.8%) from 12 separate pedigrees had at least one shunt-operated relative whereas 42 patients (11%) had relatives with two or more triad symptoms. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, familial iNPH-patients had up to 3-fold risk of clinical dementia compared to sporadic iNPH patients. This risk was independent from diagnosed Alzheimer's disease and APOE epsilon 4 genotype. This study describes a familial entity of iNPH offering a novel approach to discover the potential genetic characteristics of iNPH. Discovered pedigrees offer an intriguing opportunity to conduct longitudinal studies targeting potential preclinical signs of iNPH. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Early environmental factors and somatic comorbidity in schizophrenia and nonschizophrenic psychoses: A 50-year follow-up of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

Background. We studied the cumulative incidence of physical illnesses, and the effect of early environmental factors (EEFs) on somatic comorbidity in schizophrenia, in nonschizophrenic psychosis and among nonpsychotic controls from birth up to the age of 50 years. Methods. The sample included 10,933 members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, of whom, 227 had schizophrenia and 205 had nonschizophrenic psychosis. Diagnoses concerning physical illnesses were based on nationwide registers followed up to the end of 2016 and classified into 13 illness categories. Maternal education and age, family type at birth and paternal socioeconomic status were studied as EEFs of somatic illnesses. Results. When adjusted by gender and education, individuals and especially women with nonschizophrenic psychosis had higher risk of morbidity in almost all somatic illness categories compared to controls, and in some categories, compared to individuals with schizophrenia. The statistically significant adjusted hazard ratios varied from 1.27 to 2.42 in nonschizophrenic psychosis. Regarding EEFs, single-parent family as the family type at birth was a risk factor for a higher somatic score among men with schizophrenia and women with nonschizophrenic psychosis. Maternal age over 35 years was associated with lower somatic score among women with nonschizophrenic psychosis. Conclusions. Persons with nonschizophrenic psychoses have higher incidence of somatic diseases compared to people with schizophrenia and nonpsychotic controls, and this should be noted in clinical work. EEFs have mostly weak association with somatic comorbidity in our study

A vertex detector for the International Linear Collider based on CMOS sensors

The physics programme at the International Linear Collider (ILC) calls for a vertex detector (VD) providing unprecedented flavour tagging performances, especially for c-quarks and τ leptons. This requirement makes a very granular, thin and multi-layer VD installed very close to the interaction region mandatory. Additional constraints, mainly on read-out speed and radiation tolerance, originate from the beam background, which governs the occupancy and the radiation level the detector should be able to cope with. CMOS sensors are being developed to fulfil these requirements. This report addresses the ILC requirements (highly related to beamstrahlung), the main advantages and features of CMOS sensors, the demonstrated performances and the specific aspects of a VD based on this technology. The status of the main R&D directions (radiation tolerance, thinning procedure and read-out speed) are also presented