Pseudocolor transformation of ERTS imagery

One of the photographic techniques which shows great promise as an aid in interpreting ERTS imagery is pseudocolor transformation. It is a process where each shade of gray in an original black-and-white image is seen as a different color in the transformation. The well known ERTS-1 MSS image of the Monterey Bay-San Francisco area was transformed using a technique which requires only two intermediate separations. Possible faults were delineated on an overlay of the transformation before referring to geologic maps. The results were quite remarkable in that all large active or recently active faults shown on the latest geologic map of California were interpreted from the image for all, or much, of their length. Perhaps the most interesting result was the Reliz fault. The fault is shown as covered; however, a lineation corresponding to the position of the fault is visible on the image. The usefulness of ERTS image in identifying recently active faults is demonstrable. Although the faults are also visible in the unenhanced image, they are clearly accentuated and more easily mapped on the pseudocolor transformation

Fault tectonics and earthquake hazards in parts of southern California

The author has identified the following significant results. Four previously unknown faults were discovered in basement terrane of the Peninsular Ranges. These have been named the San Ysidro Creek fault, Thing Valley fault, Canyon City fault, and Warren Canyon fault. In addition fault gouge and breccia were recognized along the San Diego River fault. Study of features on Skylab imagery and review of geologic and seismic data suggest that the risk of a damaging earthquake is greater along the northwestern portion of the Elsinore fault than along the southeastern portion. Physiographic indicators of active faulting along the Garlock fault identifiable in Skylab imagery include scarps, linear ridges, shutter ridges, faceted ridges, linear valleys, undrained depressions and offset drainage. The following previously unrecognized fault segments are postulated for the Salton Trough Area: (1) An extension of a previously known fault in the San Andreas fault set located southeast of the Salton Sea; (2) An extension of the active San Jacinto fault zone along a tonal change in cultivated fields across Mexicali Valley ( the tonal change may represent different soil conditions along opposite sides of a fault). For the Skylab and LANDSAT images studied, pseudocolor transformations offer no advantages over the original images in the recognition of faults in Skylab and LANDSAT images. Alluvial deposits of different ages, a marble unit and iron oxide gossans of the Mojave Mining District are more readily differentiated on images prepared from ratios of individual bands of the S-192 multispectral scanner data. The San Andreas fault was also made more distinct in the 8/2 and 9/2 band ratios by enhancement of vegetation differences on opposite sides of the fault. Preliminary analysis indicates a significant earth resources potential for the discrimination of soil and rock types, including mineral alteration zones. This application should be actively pursued

Analysis of pseudocolor transformations of ERTS-1 images of Southern California area

The author has identified the following significant results. Representative faults and lineaments, natural features on the Mojave Desert, and cultural features of the southern California area were studied on ERTS-1 images. The relative appearances of the features were compared on a band 4 and 5 subtraction image, its pseudocolor transformation, and pseudocolor images of bands 4, 5, and 7. Selected features were also evaluated in a test given students at the University of California, Los Angeles. Observations and the test revealed no significant improvement in the ability to detect and locate faults and lineaments on the pseudocolor transformations. With the exception of dry lake surfaces, no enhancement of the features studied was observed on the bands 4 and 5 subtraction images. Geologic and geographic features characterized by minor tonal differences on relatively flat surfaces were enhanced on some of the pseudocolor images

Towards Minimal Barcodes

In the setting of persistent homology computation, a useful tool is the persistence barcode representation in which pairs of birth and death times of homology classes are encoded in the form of intervals. Starting from a polyhedral complex K (an object subdivided into cells which are polytopes) and an initial order of the set of vertices, we are concerned with the general problem of searching for filters (an order of the rest of the cells) that provide a minimal barcode representation in the sense of having minimal number of “k-significant” intervals, which correspond to homology classes with life-times longer than a fixed number k. As a first step, in this paper we provide an algorithm for computing such a filter for k = 1 on the Hasse diagram of the poset of faces of K

Tumor biopsy and patient enrollment in clinical trials for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Tumor biopsies may help to reliably distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from other tumors, mostly cholangiocarcinoma as well as to identify the patient populations who most benefit from target-driven HCC treatments, in order to improve the success rate of experimental therapies. Clarifying tumor biology may also lead to identify biomarkers with prognostic role and/or enabling to predict response or resistance to therapies. Recently, clinical trials have more efficiently included biomarker endpoints and increasingly collected tumor tissue from enrolled patients. Due to their frail status and sometimes fast-progressing disease, the performance status of patients with HCC progressing on first-line therapy can deteriorate quickly, preventing their enrollment in clinical trials. However, the challenge of identifying the proper patient at the proper time can be overcome by periodic inter-department meetings involving the key specialists taking care of HCC patients, and solid networks between research centers and referring institutions. An early planned biopsy would also facilitate timely inclusion of patients in biology-driven clinical trials. Ultimately, institution of multidisciplinary teams can optimize treatment choice, biopsy timing, and quick enrollment of patients in clinical trials, before their performance status deteriorates

Measuring Success for a Future Vision: Defining Impact in Science Gateways/Virtual Research Environments

Scholars worldwide leverage science gateways/VREs for a wide variety of research and education endeavors spanning diverse scientific fields. Evaluating the value of a given science gateway/VRE to its constituent community is critical in obtaining the financial and human resources necessary to sustain operations and increase adoption in the user community. In this paper, we feature a variety of exemplar science gateways/VREs and detail how they define impact in terms of e.g., their purpose, operation principles, and size of user base. Further, the exemplars recognize that their science gateways/VREs will continuously evolve with technological advancements and standards in cloud computing platforms, web service architectures, data management tools and cybersecurity. Correspondingly, we present a number of technology advances that could be incorporated in next-generation science gateways/VREs to enhance their scope and scale of their operations for greater success/impact. The exemplars are selected from owners of science gateways in the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) clientele in the United States, and from the owners of VREs in the International Virtual Research Environment Interest Group (VRE-IG) of the Research Data Alliance. Thus, community-driven best practices and technology advances are compiled from diverse expert groups with an international perspective to envisage futuristic science gateway/VRE innovations

Endothelial cells and angiogenesis in the horse in health and disease—A review

The cardiovascular system is the first functional organ in the embryo, and its blood vessels form a widespread conductive network within the organism. Blood vessels develop de novo, by the differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells (vasculogenesis) or by angiogenesis, which is the formation of new blood vessels from existing ones. This review presents an overview of the current knowledge on physiological and pathological angiogenesis in the horse including studies on equine endothelial cells. Principal study fields in equine angiogenesis research were identified: equine endothelial progenitor cells; equine endothelial cells and angiogenesis (heterogeneity, markers and assessment); endothelial regulatory molecules in equine angiogenesis; angiogenesis research in equine reproduction (ovary, uterus, placenta and conceptus, testis); angiogenesis research in pathological conditions (tumours, ocular pathologies, equine wound healing, musculoskeletal system and laminitis). The review also includes a table that summarizes in vitro studies on equine endothelial cells, either describing the isolation procedure or using previously isolated endothelial cells. A particular challenge of the review was that results published are fragmentary and sometimes even contradictory, raising more questions than they answer. In conclusion, angiogenesis is a major factor in several diseases frequently occurring in horses, but relatively few studies focus on angiogenesis in the horse. The challenge for the future is therefore to continue exploring new therapeutic angiogenesis strategies for horses to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Individual Differences in Attitudes Toward Homosexuality: An Australian Twin Study

Previous research has shown that many heterosexuals hold negative attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality (homophobia). Although a great deal of research has focused on the profile of homophobic individuals, this research provides little theoretical insight into the aetiology of homophobia. To examine genetic and environmental influences on variation in attitudes toward homophobia, we analysed data from 4,688 twins who completed a questionnaire concerning sexual behaviour and attitudes, including attitudes toward homosexuality. Results show that, in accordance with literature, males have significantly more negative attitudes toward homosexuality than females and non-heterosexuals are less homophobic than heterosexuals. In contrast with some earlier findings, age had no significant effect on the homophobia scores in this study. Genetic modelling showed that variation in homophobia scores could be explained by additive genetic (36%), shared environmental (18%) and unique environmental factors (46%). However, corrections based on previous findings show that the shared environmental estimate may be almost entirely accounted for as extra additive genetic variance arising from assortative mating for homophobic attitudes. The results suggest that variation in attitudes toward homosexuality is substantially inherited, and that social environmental influences are relatively minor

Computational Models of HIV-1 Resistance to Gene Therapy Elucidate Therapy Design Principles

Gene therapy is an emerging alternative to conventional anti-HIV-1 drugs, and can potentially control the virus while alleviating major limitations of current approaches. Yet, HIV-1's ability to rapidly acquire mutations and escape therapy presents a critical challenge to any novel treatment paradigm. Viral escape is thus a key consideration in the design of any gene-based technique. We develop a computational model of HIV's evolutionary dynamics in vivo in the presence of a genetic therapy to explore the impact of therapy parameters and strategies on the development of resistance. Our model is generic and captures the properties of a broad class of gene-based agents that inhibit early stages of the viral life cycle. We highlight the differences in viral resistance dynamics between gene and standard antiretroviral therapies, and identify key factors that impact long-term viral suppression. In particular, we underscore the importance of mutationally-induced viral fitness losses in cells that are not genetically modified, as these can severely constrain the replication of resistant virus. We also propose and investigate a novel treatment strategy that leverages upon gene therapy's unique capacity to deliver different genes to distinct cell populations, and we find that such a strategy can dramatically improve efficacy when used judiciously within a certain parametric regime. Finally, we revisit a previously-suggested idea of improving clinical outcomes by boosting the proliferation of the genetically-modified cells, but we find that such an approach has mixed effects on resistance dynamics. Our results provide insights into the short- and long-term effects of gene therapy and the role of its key properties in the evolution of resistance, which can serve as guidelines for the choice and optimization of effective therapeutic agents