FDive: Learning Relevance Models using Pattern-based Similarity Measures

The detection of interesting patterns in large high-dimensional datasets is difficult because of their dimensionality and pattern complexity. Therefore, analysts require automated support for the extraction of relevant patterns. In this paper, we present FDive, a visual active learning system that helps to create visually explorable relevance models, assisted by learning a pattern-based similarity. We use a small set of user-provided labels to rank similarity measures, consisting of feature descriptor and distance function combinations, by their ability to distinguish relevant from irrelevant data. Based on the best-ranked similarity measure, the system calculates an interactive Self-Organizing Map-based relevance model, which classifies data according to the cluster affiliation. It also automatically prompts further relevance feedback to improve its accuracy. Uncertain areas, especially near the decision boundaries, are highlighted and can be refined by the user. We evaluate our approach by comparison to state-of-the-art feature selection techniques and demonstrate the usefulness of our approach by a case study classifying electron microscopy images of brain cells. The results show that FDive enhances both the quality and understanding of relevance models and can thus lead to new insights for brain research.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, LaTeX; corrected typo; added DO

Trace gas/aerosol boundary concentrations and their impacts on continental-scale AQMEII modeling domains

Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Over twenty modeling groups are participating in the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII) in which a variety of mesoscale photochemical and aerosol air quality modeling systems are being applied to continental-scale domains in North America and Europe for 2006 full-year simulations for model inter-comparisons and evaluations. To better understand the reasons for differences in model results among these participating groups, each group was asked to use the same source of emissions and boundary concentration data for their simulations. This paper describes the development and application of the boundary concentration data for this AQMEII modeling exercise. The European project known as GEMS (Global and regional Earth-system Monitoring using Satellite and in-situ data) has produced global-scale re-analyses of air quality for several years, including 2006 (http://gems.ecmwf.int). The GEMS trace gas and aerosol data were made available at 3-hourly intervals on a regular latitude/longitude grid of approximately 1.9° resolution within 2 "cut-outs" from the global model domain. One cut-out was centered over North America and the other over Europe, covering sufficient spatial domain for each modeling group to extract the necessary time- and space-varying (horizontal and vertical) concentrations for their mesoscale model boundaries. Examples of the impact of these boundary concentrations on the AQMEII continental simulations are presented to quantify the sensitivity of the simulations to boundary concentrations. In addition, some participating groups were not able to use the GEMS data and instead relied upon other sources for their boundary concentration specifications. These are noted, and the contrasting impacts of other data sources for boundary data are presented. How one specifies four-dimensional boundary concentrations for mesoscale air quality simulations can have a profound impact on the model results, and hence, this aspect of data preparation must be performed with considerable care.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Extratubular Polymerized Uromodulin Induces Leukocyte Recruitment and Inflammation In Vivo

Uromodulin (UMOD) is produced and secreted by tubular epithelial cells. Secreted UMOD polymerizes (pUMOD) in the tubular lumen, where it regulates salt transport and protects the kidney from bacteria and stone formation. Under various pathological conditions, pUMOD accumulates within the tubular lumen and reaches extratubular sites where it may interact with renal interstitial cells. Here, we investigated the potential of extratubular pUMOD to act as a damage associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule thereby creating local inflammation. We found that intrascrotal and intraperitoneal injection of pUMOD induced leukocyte recruitment in vivo and led to TNF-alpha secretion by F4/80 positive macrophages. Additionally, pUMOD directly affected vascular permeability and increased neutrophil extravasation independent of macrophage-released TNF-alpha. Interestingly, pUMOD displayed no chemotactic properties on neutrophils, did not directly activate beta 2 integrins and did not upregulate adhesion molecules on endothelial cells. In obstructed neonatal murine kidneys, we observed extratubular UMOD accumulation in the renal interstitium with tubular atrophy and leukocyte infiltrates. Finally, we found extratubular UMOD deposits associated with peritubular leukocyte infiltration in kidneys from patients with inflammatory kidney diseases. Taken together, we identified extratubular pUMOD as a strong inducer of leukocyte recruitment, underlining its critical role in mounting an inflammatory response in various kidneys pathologies

26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Potential for improvement of the adhesive seal over root canal fillings and assessment of conventional materials

Hintergrund und Ziele Der koronale Verschluss nach Wurzelkanalbehandlung ist mindestens so hoch wie die Wertigkeit der Wurzelkanalfüllung selbst für den Langzeiterfolg einzuschätzen. Der adhäsive Trepanationsverschluss mit Syntac classic und Tetric flow nach Phosphorsäureätzung hat sich als eine gute Variante erwiesen, Undichtigkeiten zu verringern. Zielstellung dieser Arbeit war es, Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten der adhäsiven Versiegelung von Wurzelkanaleingangsbereichen zu untersuchen. Die Ansatzpunkte waren die Anwendung anderer fließfähiger Komposite, eines anderen Adhäsivsystems, verschiedener Applikationstechniken sowie einer speziellen Methode der Sealerentfernung. Außerdem sollte die Effektivität herkömmlicher mit der von adhäsiven Verschlussmaterialien verglichen werden. Methode 80 extrahierte menschliche Molaren wurden trepaniert und die Wurzelkanäle aufbereitet. Die Zähne wurden randomisiert auf acht Gruppen aufgeteilt. Nach Wurzelkanalfüllung mit AH Plus und Guttapercha wurden verschiedene Verschlussarten mit einer Materialstärke von je 2 mm durchgeführt. Der Verschluss von Gruppe 1 (Vergleichsgruppe) bestand aus Phosphorsäureätzung, Syntac classic und Tetric flow. Die nächsten beiden Gruppen wurden mit den herkömmlichen Materialien Zinkphosphatzement und Glasionomerzement verschlossen. In den Gruppen 4-7 wurde jeweils eine Phosphorsäureätzung und Syntac classic angewendet. Die nachfolgende Versiegelung erfolgte mit Grandio flow (Gruppe 4), Tetric flow in spezieller Applikationstechnik (Gruppe 5) und Tetric flow und Tetric ceram in Hybridtechnik (Gruppe 6). Die Gruppe 7 wurde wie Gruppe 1 versorgt, vor Ätzung und Dentinbonding erfolgte aber eine Kavitätenreinigung mittels Pulverstrahlgerät und Clinpro Prophy Powder. In Gruppe 8 kam das für den adhäsiven Verschluss entwickelte Zweikomponenten-Adhäsivsystem Coroseal zur Anwendung. Nach siebentägiger Lagerung zum Aushärten des Sealers wurde zur Überprüfung der Dichtigkeit ein Farbstoffpenetrationstest durchgeführt. Zur Qualifizierung und Quantifizierung der Penetration wurden axiale Sägeschnitte zu je 1 mm Schichtabstand angefertigt. Die statistische Auswertung erfolgte mit SPSSR Win 14.0 (Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Test, ANOVA mit SNK Post-Hoc-Test; alpha=0,05). Ergebnisse und Beobachtungen Die Ergebnisse des Farbstoffpenetrationstests zeigten, dass der adhäsive Verschluss in der Regel signifikant weniger Leakages zulässt als herkömmliche Materialien. Lediglich Gruppe 4 wies keine signifikant besseren Werte als die Gruppen 2 und 3 auf (ANOVA/SNK; p>0,05). Diese dichtete zudem signifikant schlechter ab als die meisten weiteren Adhäsivverschlüsse (ANOVA/SNK; p0.05) and furthermore showed significantly more leakage than most of the other adhesive obturation types (ANOVA/SNK; p<0.05). Despite changing different parameters, none of the groups was able to improve the sealing ability of the reference group significantly. Coroseal showed the best results. On closer examination of the conventional cements, Ionofil Molar sealed significantly better than Harvard Cement (ANOVA/SNK; p<0.05). Conclusions The results indicate that the cavity floor should be sealed with adhesive materials immediately after endodontic treatment for prevention of a reinfection. Tetric flow, especially groups 1 and 7, as well as Coroseal are effective barrier materials. The use of conventional cements cannot be recommended

Accuracy of Ga-68-PSMA-PET/CT for patient selection for lymphadenectomy in addition to salvage radical prostatectomy in locally recurrent prostate cancer after primary radiotherapy

229 Background: Salvage radical prostatectomy, sRPE, is an option for patients in locally recurrent prostate cancer with curative intent. Patients with low PSA at time of salvage treatment and initially low-risk disease have a favourable outcome whereas locally advanced and lymph node positive patients do not. Imaging studies could be beneficial for patient selection of lymph node dissection in addition to sRPE. Here we show first results of the diagnostic accuracy of PSMA-PET/CT in this setting. Methods: We reviewed 87 patients with sRPE and PSMA-PET/CT prior to surgery. In all patients an extended sRPE with an extended lymphnode dissection including the internal, external iliac artery, fossa obturatoria as well as the A iliaca communis to the ureteral crossing, was performed. For diagnostic accuracy Sensitivity, Specifity, pos. and neg. predictive value was calculated per person and per lymph node. Results: 11 patients had a PSMA PET/CT prior to surgery. All scans showed positive results in the prostate but only one showed a positive lymph node. A total of 141 lymph nodes were dissected (median 13,5; 8-29 per patient). Pathological analysis showed 6 lymph nodes with a metastasis in 4 patients. No positive lymph node was identified correctly by PSMA PET/CT. Specificity and negative predictive value per patient / per lymph node were high with 85% / 99% and 60% / 95.7%, respectively. As no patient or lesion was identified correctly sensitivity and pos. predictive value could not be calculated. Accuracy was 55% / 95.7%. Conclusions: In this small patient group PSMA PET/CT has an insufficient per-patient accuracy for patient selection of lymph node dissection in addition to sRPE. For patient selection clinical data including primary risk profile and PSA kinetics prior to surgery are still more useful for this purpose. </jats:p

PSA levels, PSA doubling time, Gleason score and prior therapy cannot predict measured uptake of [Ga-68]PSMA-HBED-CC lesion uptake in recurrent/metastatic prostate cancer

Aim: To assess whether clinical prostate cancer (PCA) related factors and therapy status can predict the degree of tracer uptake on [Ga-68] PSMA-HBED-CC PET/CT. Materials & methods: We retrospectively studied 124 patients with recurrent an/or metastatic PCA who underwent [Ga-68] PSMA-HBED-CC PET/CT. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was determined in the prostate bed as well as in three size categories ( 5-15 mm, > 15 mm) in pelvic lymph node, extrapelvic lymph node, bone and visceral metastases. Results: Significant positive correlations between lesion size and SUVmax were found in pelvic lymph node metastases > 5 - 5 - <= 15 mm (rho = 0.614, p < 0.001). SUVmax tended to be higher in the largest diameter category in each anatomic station than in the middle and lower categories. We were unable to find evidence for a relationship between SUVmax and PSA, PSAdt, Gleason score, androgen deprivation therapy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy status. Conclusion: Measured tracer uptake in [Ga-68] PSMA-HBED-CC PET/CT in patients with recurrent/metastasized prostate cancer is significantly influenced by lesion size as a result of partial volume effects in the very small lesions. Clinical indicators of aggressive prostate cancer behaviour such as PSA levels, PSA doubling time or the Gleason score of the primary tumour, as well as the androgen deprivation therapy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy status are not related to measured tracer uptake

Ga-68-PSMA-PET/CT helps to select patients for salvage radical prostatectomy with local recurrence after primary radiotherapy for prostate cancer

Objective To investigate the diagnostic performance of gallium-68 prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography/computed tomography (Ga-68-PSMA PET/CT) in patients with recurrent prostate cancer with regard to the presence of lymph node metastases (LNM) and local recurrences after primary radiotherapy. Patients and methods We retrospectively reviewed 142 patients following salvage radical prostatectomy (sRP), 50 of which had a(68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT performed as a preoperative staging module. Predictive clinical parameters were analysed in a multivariate Cox regression analysis. Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) and the accuracy of(68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT were analysed with regard to LNM and local recurrence. Results In all, 613 lymph nodes were resected in 40 patients and 23 lymph nodes had metastatic deposits in 14 patients. In all patients local recurrence could have been found with(68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV and accuracy on a per lymph node basis were 34.78% (16.38-57.2%), 100% (99.38-100%), 100%, 97.52% (96.69-98.15%) and 97.55% (96.00-98.62%). For detecting local recurrence, the sensitivity and PPV were both 100% with an accuracy of 100% (92.89-100%). Conclusion Ga-68-PSMA PET/CT should be the standard imaging in biochemical recurrent prostate cancer. With this imaging module one detects first local recurrence and can detect locoregional and distant metastases more precisely than standard CT and bone scan