Automating lichen monitoring in ecological studies using instance segmentation of time-lapse images

Lichens are symbiotic organisms composed of fungi, algae, and/or cyanobacteria that thrive in a variety of environments. They play important roles in carbon and nitrogen cycling, and contribute directly and indirectly to biodiversity. Ecologists typically monitor lichens by using them as indicators to assess air quality and habitat conditions. In particular, epiphytic lichens, which live on trees, are key markers of air quality and environmental health. A new method of monitoring epiphytic lichens involves using time-lapse cameras to gather images of lichen populations. These cameras are used by ecologists in Newfoundland and Labrador to subsequently analyze and manually segment the images to determine lichen thalli condition and change. These methods are time-consuming and susceptible to observer bias. In this work, we aim to automate the monitoring of lichens over extended periods and to estimate their biomass and condition to facilitate the task of ecologists. To accomplish this, our proposed framework uses semantic segmentation with an effective training approach to automate monitoring and biomass estimation of epiphytic lichens on time-lapse images. We show that our method has the potential to significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of lichen population monitoring, making it a valuable tool for forest ecologists and environmental scientists to evaluate the impact of climate change on Canada's forests. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an approach has been used to assist ecologists in monitoring and analyzing epiphytic lichens.Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figures, 8 Tables, Accepted for publication in IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA), copyright IEE

Diffuse lipomatosis of the thyroid gland

AbstractDiffuse thyroïd lipomatosis is an extremely rare histopathological condition characterized by diffuse fatty infiltration in thyroïd stroma. We report a case of 67year old female who presented a plunging goiter. She underwent a thyroïdectomy. Histopathologic study concluded to the diagnosis of diffuse thyroïd lipomatosis. No recurrence was observed

Magnetic and Photocatalytic Activity of Pure BaFe12O19 and BaFe12O19-TiO2 Hexagonal Ferrite Nanocomposites

International audienc

Z-Monitor: A protocol analyzer for IEEE 802.15.4-based low-power wireless networks

Network sniffers are invaluable tools for designing, testing, commissioning and running distributed embedded systems. They become even more useful if these systems build on low-power wireless networks (LoWPAN), particularly when these scale in density and/or space and impose stringent quality-of-service requirements. This paper presents Z-Monitor, a low-cost and open-source network/protocol analyzer for LoWPANs. Z-Monitor is better than existing solutions since it combines the following features all-together: it covers the most widely used LoWPAN protocols, namely IEEE 802.15.4, 6LoWPAN, RPL and ZigBee; packet sniffing can be performed by any IEEE 802.15.4-compliant node, e.g., TelosB or MicaZ, requiring no extra hardware; the code is in Java (host PC), so it is OS-agnostic, and is freely available as open-source; Z-Monitor provides an user-friendly graphical user interface and a complete set of functionalities; nonetheless, Z-Monitor software architecture and programming approach are modular, so it is easily adaptable and extensible. We demonstrate and validate Z-Monitor in several LoWPAN network scenarios/settings and sites, ranging from a small-scale laboratory test-bed to a 400+ real-world deployment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adventitious discovery of elastofibroma dorsi on skin biopsy

Elastofibroma dorsi is a rare soft tissue pseudotumor, slow-growing, sitting in 99% of cases at the subscapular region and occurring in the elderly active people. Its pathogenesis is unclear. It is often asymptomatic. However, the diagnosis can be made on the typical topography of the mass and its characteristic appearance on CT and MRI. Thus, in the literature, most of the reported cases were radiologically discovered. An incidental histological discovery, like in our case is rare. We report the case of a 63 year-old man who had multiple nodular lesions, well circumscribed, firm, sometimes inflammatory, measuring between 3 and 5 cm, and located on the thighs and the paravertebral and scapular regions. The chest x-ray showed a right basal opacity suggesting a malignant processus. These nodules were biopsied in search of cutaneous metastasis of a probable pulmonary neoplasia. At histological examination, the diagnosis of elastofibroma was retained. Despite its rarity, the dorsal elastofibroma deserves to be known, thus avoiding excessive surgery. We propose to study its clinical, radiological and pathological features and its therapeutic modalities

A Biodegradable Bioactive Glass-Based Hydration Sensor for Biomedical Applications

Monitoring changes in edema-associated intracranial pressure that complicates trauma or surgery would lead to improved outcomes. Implantable pressure sensors have been explored, but these sensors require post-surgical removal, leading to the risk of injury to brain tissue. The use of biodegradable implantable sensors would help to eliminate this risk. Here, we demonstrate a bioactive glass (BaG)-based hydration sensor. Fluorine (CaF2) containing BaG (BaG-F) was produced by adding 5, 10 or 20 wt.% of CaF2 to a BaG matrix using a melting manufacturing technique. The structure, morphology and electrical properties of the resulting constructs were evaluated to understand the physical and electrical behaviors of this BaG-based sensor. Synthesis process for the production of the BaG-F-based sensor was validated by assessing the structural and electrical properties. The structure was observed to be amorphous and dense, the porosity decreased and grain size increased with increasing CaF2 content in the BaG matrix. We demonstrated that this BaG-F chemical composition is highly sensitive to hydration, and that the electrical sensitivity (resistive–capacitive) is induced by hydration and reversed by dehydration. These properties make BaG-F suitable for use as a humidity sensor to monitor brain edema and, consequently, provide an alert for increased intracranial pressure

KRAS and NRAS pyrosequencing screening in Tunisian colorectal cancer patients in 2015

Background: Mutations in KRAS and NRAS often result in constitutive activation of RAS in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway. Mutations in KRAS exon 2 (codon 12–13) predict resistance to anti-EGFR targeted therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma (mCRC). However, it's currently known that a significant proportion of mCRC have RAS mutations outside KRAS exon 2, particularly in exons 3 and 4 of KRAS and exons 2, 3 and 4 of NRAS. No data about RAS mutations outside KRAS exon 2 are available for Tunisian mCRC. The aim of this study was to analyze RAS, using pyrosequencing, in nine hotspots mutations in Tunisian patients with mCRC. Methods: A series of 131 mCRC was enrolled. Nine hotspots sites mutations of KRAS and NRAS were analyzed (KRAS: codons 12–13, codons 59–61, codon 117 and codon 146, NRAS: codons 12–13, codon 59, codon 61, codon 117 and codon 146) using Therascreen KRAS and RAS extension pyrosequencing kits. Results: Analysis was successful in 129 cases (98.5%). Mutations were observed in 97 cases (75.2%) dominated by those in KRAS exon 2 (86.6%). KRAS G12V was the most dominated mutation, observed in 25 cases (25.8%), and followed by KRAS G12S and KRAS G12D, each in 17 cases (17.5%). Mutations outside of KRAS exon 2 presented 13.4% of mutated cases and almost a third (28.8%) of KRAS exon 2 wild type mCRC. Among those, 9 cases (69.3%) carried mutations in NRAS exons 2, 3 and 4 and 4 cases (30.7%) in KRAS exons 3 and 4. Conclusions: RAS mutations outside exon 2 of KRAS should be included in routine practice, since they predict also response to anti-EGFR. That would make certain these patients benefit from appropriate testing and treatment. In addition unjustified expenses of anti-EGFR targeted therapy could be avoided