191 research outputs found
Evolutionary comparison in the vertebrate lineage of WT1, a Wilms' tumour predisposition gene
Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of a Marine-Derived Bacillus Strain for Use as an In-Feed Probiotic for Newly Weaned Pigs
peer-reviewedForty eight individual pigs (8.7±0.26 kg) weaned at 28±1 d of age were used in a 22-d study to evaluate the effect of oral administration of a Bacillus pumilus spore suspension on growth performance and health indicators. Treatments (n = 16) were: (1) non-medicated diet; (2) medicated diet with apramycin (200 mg/kg) and pharmacological levels of zinc oxide (2,500 mg zinc/kg) and (3) B. pumilus diet (non-medicated diet + 1010 spores/day B. pumilus). Final body weight and average daily gain tended to be lower (P = 0.07) and feed conversion ratio was worsened (P<0.05) for the medicated treatment compared to the B. pumilus treatment. Ileal E. coli counts were lower for the B. pumilus and medicated treatments compared to the non-medicated treatment (P<0.05), perhaps as a result of increased ileal propionic acid concentrations (P<0.001). However, the medicated treatment reduced fecal (P<0.001) and cecal (P<0.05) Lactobacillus counts and tended to reduce the total cecal short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration (P = 0.10). Liver weights were lighter and concentrations of liver enzymes higher (P<0.05) in pigs on the medicated treatment compared to those on the non-medicated or B. pumilus treatments. Pigs on the B. pumilus treatment had lower overall lymphocyte and higher granulocyte percentages (P<0.001) and higher numbers of jejunal goblet cells (P<0.01) than pigs on either of the other two treatments or the non-medicated treatment, respectively. However, histopathological examination of the small intestine, kidneys and liver revealed no abnormalities. Overall, the B. pumilus treatment decreased ileal E. coli counts in a manner similar to the medicated treatment but without the adverse effects on growth performance, Lactobacillus counts, cecal SCFA concentration and possible liver toxicity experienced with the medicated treatment.The study was funded by the Higher Education Authority/Institutes of Technology Ireland Technological Sector Research Strand III Programme
Are alternative livelihood projects effective at reducing local threats to specified elements of biodiversity and/or improving or maintaining the conservation status of those elements?: a systematic review protocol
SDSS Standard Star Catalog for Stripe 82: the Dawn of Industrial 1% Optical Photometry
We describe a standard star catalog constructed using multiple SDSS
photometric observations (at least four per band, with a median of ten) in the
system. The catalog includes 1.01 million non-variable unresolved
objects from the equatorial stripe 82 ( 1.266) in
the RA range 20h 34m to 4h 00m, and with the corresponding band
(approximately Johnson V band) magnitudes in the range 14--22. The
distributions of measurements for individual sources demonstrate that the
photometric pipeline correctly estimates random photometric errors, which are
below 0.01 mag for stars brighter than (19.5, 20.5, 20.5, 20, 18.5) in ,
respectively (about twice as good as for individual SDSS runs). Several
independent tests of the internal consistency suggest that the spatial
variation of photometric zeropoints is not larger than 0.01 mag (rms). In
addition to being the largest available dataset with optical photometry
internally consistent at the 1% level, this catalog provides practical
definition of the SDSS photometric system. Using this catalog, we show that
photometric zeropoints for SDSS observing runs can be calibrated within nominal
uncertainty of 2% even for data obtained through 1 mag thick clouds, and
demonstrate the existence of He and H white dwarf sequences using photometric
data alone. Based on the properties of this catalog, we conclude that upcoming
large-scale optical surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will be
capable of delivering robust 1% photometry for billions of sources.Comment: 63 pages, 24 figures, submitted to AJ, version with correct figures
and catalog available from
http://www.astro.washington.edu/ivezic/sdss/catalogs/stripe82.htm
A pilot study for a non-invasive system for detection of malignancy in canine subcutaneous and cutaneous masses using machine learning
IntroductionEarly diagnosis of cancer enhances treatment planning and improves prognosis. Many masses presenting to veterinary clinics are difficult to diagnose without using invasive, time-consuming, and costly tests. Our objective was to perform a preliminary proof-of-concept for the HT Vista device, a novel artificial intelligence-based thermal imaging system, developed and designed to differentiate benign from malignant, cutaneous and subcutaneous masses in dogs.MethodsForty-five dogs with a total of 69 masses were recruited. Each mass was clipped and heated by the HT Vista device. The heat emitted by the mass and its adjacent healthy tissue was automatically recorded using a built-in thermal camera. The thermal data from both areas were subsequently analyzed using an Artificial Intelligence algorithm. Cytology and/or biopsy results were later compared to the results obtained from the HT Vista system and used to train the algorithm. Validation was done using a “Leave One Out” cross-validation to determine the algorithm's performance.ResultsThe accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the system were 90%, 93%, 88%, 83%, and 95%, respectively for all masses.ConclusionWe propose that this novel system, with further development, could be used to provide a decision-support tool enabling clinicians to differentiate between benign lesions and those requiring additional diagnostics. Our study also provides a proof-of-concept for ongoing prospective trials for cancer diagnosis using advanced thermodynamics and machine learning procedures in companion dogs
An Improved Photometric Calibration of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Imaging Data
We present an algorithm to photometrically calibrate wide field optical
imaging surveys, that simultaneously solves for the calibration parameters and
relative stellar fluxes using overlapping observations. The algorithm decouples
the problem of "relative" calibrations, from that of "absolute" calibrations;
the absolute calibration is reduced to determining a few numbers for the entire
survey. We pay special attention to the spatial structure of the calibration
errors, allowing one to isolate particular error modes in downstream analyses.
Applying this to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging data, we achieve ~1%
relative calibration errors across 8500 sq.deg. in griz; the errors are ~2% for
the u band. These errors are dominated by unmodelled atmospheric variations at
Apache Point Observatory. These calibrations, dubbed "ubercalibration", are now
public with SDSS Data Release 6, and will be a part of subsequent SDSS data
releases.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures, matches version accepted in ApJ. These
calibrations are available at http://www.sdss.org/dr
Training and validation of a novel non-invasive imaging system for ruling out malignancy in canine subcutaneous and cutaneous masses using machine learning in 664 masses
ObjectiveTo train and validate the use of a novel artificial intelligence-based thermal imaging system as a screening tool to rule out malignancy in cutaneous and subcutaneous masses in dogs.AnimalsTraining study: 147 client-owned dogs with 233 masses. Validation Study: 299 client-owned dogs with 525 masses. Cytology was non-diagnostic in 94 masses, resulting in 431 masses from 248 dogs with diagnostic samples.ProceduresThe prospective studies were conducted between June 2020 and July 2022. During the scan, each mass and its adjacent healthy tissue was heated by a high-power Light-Emitting Diode. The tissue temperature was recorded by the device and consequently analyzed using a supervised machine learning algorithm to determine whether the mass required further investigation. The first study was performed to collect data to train the algorithm. The second study validated the algorithm, as the real-time device predictions were compared to the cytology and/or biopsy results.ResultsThe results for the validation study were that the device correctly classified 45 out of 53 malignant masses and 253 out of 378 benign masses (sensitivity = 85% and specificity = 67%). The negative predictive value of the system (i.e., percent of benign masses identified as benign) was 97%.Clinical relevanceThe results demonstrate that this novel system could be used as a decision-support tool at the point of care, enabling clinicians to differentiate between benign lesions and those requiring further diagnostics
Ensemble Properties of Comets in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present the ensemble properties of 31 comets (27 resolved and 4
unresolved) observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This sample of
comets represents about 1 comet per 10 million SDSS photometric objects.
Five-band (u,g,r,i,z) photometry is used to determine the comets' colors,
sizes, surface brightness profiles, and rates of dust production in terms of
the Af{\rho} formalism. We find that the cumulative luminosity function for the
Jupiter Family Comets in our sample is well fit by a power law of the form N(<
H) \propto 10(0.49\pm0.05)H for H < 18, with evidence of a much shallower fit
N(< H) \propto 10(0.19\pm0.03)H for the faint (14.5 < H < 18) comets. The
resolved comets show an extremely narrow distribution of colors (0.57 \pm 0.05
in g - r for example), which are statistically indistinguishable from that of
the Jupiter Trojans. Further, there is no evidence of correlation between color
and physical, dynamical, or observational parameters for the observed comets.Comment: 19 pages, 8 tables, 11 figures, to appear in Icaru
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Genome-wide association study of primary open-angle glaucoma in continental and admixed African populations.
Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a complex disease with a major genetic contribution. Its prevalence varies greatly among ethnic groups, and is up to five times more frequent in black African populations compared to Europeans. So far, worldwide efforts to elucidate the genetic complexity of POAG in African populations has been limited. We conducted a genome-wide association study in 1113 POAG cases and 1826 controls from Tanzanian, South African and African American study samples. Apart from confirming evidence of association at TXNRD2 (rs16984299; OR[T] 1.20; P = 0.003), we found that a genetic risk score combining the effects of the 15 previously reported POAG loci was significantly associated with POAG in our samples (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.26-1.93; P = 4.79 × 10-5). By genome-wide association testing we identified a novel candidate locus, rs141186647, harboring EXOC4 (OR[A] 0.48; P = 3.75 × 10-8), a gene transcribing a component of the exocyst complex involved in vesicle transport. The low frequency and high degree of genetic heterogeneity at this region hampered validation of this finding in predominantly West-African replication sets. Our results suggest that established genetic risk factors play a role in African POAG, however, they do not explain the higher disease load. The high heterogeneity within Africans remains a challenge to identify the genetic commonalities for POAG in this ethnicity, and demands studies of extremely large size
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