Multiple Sclerosis lesions detection by a hybrid Watershed-Clustering algorithm

Background: Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems have been developing in the last years with the aim of helping the diagnosis and monitoring of several diseases. We present a novel CAD system based on a hybrid Watershed-Clustering algorithm for the detection of lesions in Multiple Sclerosis. Methods: Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans (FLAIR sequences without gadolinium) of 20 patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis with hyperintense lesions were studied. The CAD system consisted of the following automated processing steps: images recording, automated segmentation based on the Watershed algorithm, detection of lesions, extraction of both dynamic and morphological features, and classification of lesions by Cluster Analysis. Results: The investigation was performed on 316 suspect regions including 255 lesion and 61 non-lesion cases. The Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis revealed a highly significant difference between lesions and non-lesions; the diagnostic accuracy was 87% (95% CI: 0.83–0.90), with an appropriate cut-off of 192.8; the sensitivity was 77% and the specificity was 87%. Conclusions: In conclusion, we developed a CAD system by using a modified algorithm for automated image segmentation which may discriminate MS lesions from non-lesions. The proposed method generates a detection out-put that may be support the clinical evaluation

Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus strain LGCM 259 chromosome, complete genome

NCBI Reference Sequence: NZ_CP034412.1 The complete genome sequencing of G. creatinolyticus LGCM 259 was deposited with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) under accession number CP034412; BioProject: PRJNA507728, BioSample: SAMN10502625, Assembly: GCF_006094275.1 and the same became NCBI RefSeq sequence NZ_CP034412.1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/1679400616. LOCUS NZ_CP034412 3309128 bp DNA circular CON 08JUN2019 DEFINITION Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus strain LGCM 259 chromosome, complete genome. ACCESSION NZ_CP034412 VERSION NZ_CP034412.1 DBLINK BioProject: PRJNA224116 BioSample: SAMN10502625 Assembly: GCF_006094275.1 KEYWORDS RefSeq. SOURCE Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus ORGANISM Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus Bacteria; Actinobacteria; Micrococcales; Micrococcaceae; Glutamicibacter. REFERENCE 1 (bases 1 to 3309128) AUTHORS Santos,R.G., Silva,A.L., Seyffert,N., Castro,T.L.P., Attili,A.R., Rifici,C., Mazzullo,G., Brenig,B., Venanzi,F. and Azevedo,V. TITLE Complete Genome Sequence of Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus strain LGCM259,isolated from an abscess of a 12yearold mare in Italy JOURNAL Unpublished REFERENCE 2 (bases 1 to 3309128) AUTHORS Santos,R.G., Silva,A.L., Seyffert,N., Castro,T.L.P., Attili,A.R., Rifici,C., Mazzullo,G., Brenig,B., Venanzi,F. and Azevedo,V. TITLE Direct Submission JOURNAL Submitted (07DEC2018) General Biology, UFMG, Av Antonio Carlos 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minhas Gerais 31270901, Brazil COMMENT REFSEQ INFORMATION: The reference sequence was derived from CP034412. The annotation was added by the NCBI Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (PGAP). Information about PGAP can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/annotation_prok/ Bacteria and source DNA available from GcLGCM259. ##GenomeAssemblyDataSTART## Assembly Date :: OCT2018 Assembly Method :: SPAdes v. 3.9.1 Assembly Name :: GcLGCM259 Genome Representation :: Full Expected Final Version :: Yes Genome Coverage :: 286.0x Sequencing Technology :: Illumina HiSeq ##GenomeAssemblyDataEND## ##GenomeAnnotationDataSTART## Annotation Provider :: NCBI RefSeq Annotation Date :: 06/07/2019 10:17:37 Annotation Pipeline :: NCBI Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (PGAP) Annotation Method :: Bestplaced reference protein set; GeneMarkS2+ Annotation Software revision :: 4.8 Features Annotated :: Gene; CDS; rRNA; tRNA; ncRNA; repeat_region Genes (total) :: 3,035 CDSs (total) :: 2,962 Genes (coding) :: 2,882 CDSs (with protein) :: 2,882 Genes (RNA) :: 73 rRNAs :: 4, 4, 4 (5S, 16S, 23S) complete rRNAs :: 4, 4, 4 (5S, 16S, 23S) tRNAs :: 58 ncRNAs :: 3 Pseudo Genes (total) :: 80 CDSs (without protein) :: 80 Pseudo Genes (ambiguous residues) :: 0 of 80 Pseudo Genes (frameshifted) :: 31 of 80 Pseudo Genes (incomplete) :: 51 of 80 Pseudo Genes (internal stop) :: 6 of 80 GenBank Due to the large size of this record, sequence and annotated features are not shown. Use the "Customize view" panel to change the display##GenomeAnnotationDataEND## COMPLETENESS: full length. FEATURES Location/Qualifiers source 1..3309128 /organism="Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus" /mol_type="genomic DNA" /strain="LGCM 259" /isolation_source="abcess of a mare" /host="horse" /db_xref="taxon:162496" /country="Italy" /collection_date="2015" CONTIG join(CP034412.1:1..3309128) /

Atypical multibacterial granulomatous myositis in a horse: First report in Italy

Infectious causes of myositis are reported relatively uncommonly in horses. Among them, bacterial causes include Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus, Actinobacillus equuli, Fusobacterium spp. Staphylococcus spp, and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. Infection can be spread to muscles via haematogenous or extension from skin lesions. Parasitic myositis has also been documented. In this report, a 12 year-old Italian Quarter Horse mare presented with diffuse subcutaneous nodules and masses ranging from 2 × 3 to 5 × 20 cm in size, and adherent to subcutis and muscles that were first macroscopically and cytologically diagnosed as pyogranulomas. Subsequently, histological, molecular, bacteriological, and biochemical investigations were performed. All the data obtained allowed to diagnose a severe and diffuse multibacterial granulomatous myositis caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and Corynebacterium amycolatum. Following the therapy and an initial disappearance of most of the lesions together with a general improvement of the mare, the clinical condition deteriorated, and new nodules appeared. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) and PCR techniques revealed the presence of bacteria as Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus and Dietzia spp. To the authors’ knowledge, this case report represents the first description of multibacterial granulomatous myositis due to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, Corynebacterium amycolatum, Glutamicibacter creatinolyticus, and Dietzia spp. in a horse reared in Italy

Curatela di "Shakespeare in the Maze of Contemporary Culture/Shakespeare nei labirinti del contemporaneo" numero monografico della rivista STRATAGEMMI ΣTPATHTHMATA. PROSPETTIVE TEATRALI. Numero speciale 24-25. Dicembre 2012-Marzo 2013.

Questo numero monografico raccoglie gli interventi delle giornate del convegno internazionale Shakespeare nei labirinti del contemporaneo, organizzato presso la Facolt\ue0 di Lettere e Filosofia dell\u2019Universit\ue0 degli Studi di Milano dal 28 al 30 marzo 2012. In quella sede abbiamo voluto prendere in considerazione l\u2019influsso molteplice di William Shakespeare sulla cultura contemporanea, con un taglio interdisciplinare che teneva conto della presenza di Shakespeare nel teatro, nel cinema e alla televisione, nelle letterature europee ed extraeuropee. Sulla base di approcci critici che si avvalgono sia della lunga e consolidata tradizione di studi shakespeariani, sia degli studi sul contemporaneo, che vedono i testi shakespeariani dialogare con la cultura popolare e i media pi\uf9 avanzati, abbiamo cercato di delineare un quadro in cui il pieno recupero di uno Shakespeare \u2018nostro contemporaneo\u2019 \ue8 fonte inesauribile di ispirazione, rielaborazione, manipolazione, appropriazione, ricodificazione, ben al di l\ue0 del contesto culturale britannico. Alla composizione di questo quadro hanno contribuito voci a tutti note, tra cui vorremmo ricordare quelle di Thomas Cartelli, l\u2019autore di "Repositioning Shakespeare. National Formations, Postcolonial Appropriations" (1999) e di Carla Dente, fino allo scorso anno Presidente di Iasems, Italian Association of Early Modern Studies. Appoggiati da un nutrito numero di colleghi e di colleghe del nostro ateneo, provenienti dal Dipartimento di Scienze del linguaggio, ma anche da quello di Mediazione linguistica e culturale, abbiamo potuto inoltre contare sulla presenza attiva di studiosi e studiose autorevoli delle universit\ue0 di Bergamo, Bologna, Ferrara, Napoli \u201cL\u2019Orientale\u201d, Pisa, Roma 3.Sul versante squisitamente teatrale e su quello didattico-traduttologico, il dibattito si \ue8 articolato soprattutto in due tavole rotonde, coordinate rispettivamente da Mariacristina Cavecchi e Alessandra Marzola, che fanno parte integrante anche di questo volume, a testimonianza della vivacit\ue0 con cui la cultura milanese si confronta ancora oggi con le opere di Shakespeare. N\ue9 vogliamo dimenticare il contributo di Fabio Cavalli, l\u2019autore di una straordinaria messinscena del Giulio Cesare con la compagnia del carcere di Rebibbia, poi ripresa dai fratelli Taviani nel film "Cesare deve morire". D\u2019altra parte, proprio mentre il convegno aveva luogo, sul palcoscenico del Piccolo Teatro di Milano debuttava il "Giulio Cesare" per la regia di Carmelo Rifici, anch\u2019egli presente al convegno e in queste pagine. Abbiamo avuto cos\uec conferma che in tutte le sue metamorfosi e interpretazioni Shakespeare continua a essere una guida e un\u2019esperienza preziosa da sviluppare a scuola e all\u2019universit\ue0, da rintracciare al cinema e alla televisione, da verificare nelle traduzioni, da rinnovare ogni volta a teatro. Se la nostra contemporaneit\ue0 assomiglia tanto a un labirinto insidioso, Shakespeare continua a tessere il filo del suo linguaggio teatrale, per indicare a ognuno di noi un percorso praticabile, una possibile via di salvezza, che ci consenta di sfuggire all\u2019agguato del Minotauro