REMOTELY SENSED IMAGE FAST CLASSIFICATION AND SMART THEMATIC MAP PRODUCTION

Abstract. Apps available for Smartphone, as well as software for GNSS/GIS devices, permit to easily mapping the localization and shape of an area by acquiring the vertices coordinates of its contour. This option is useful for remote sensing classification, supporting the detection of representative sample sites of a known cover type to use for algorithm training or to test classification results. This article aims to analyse the possibility to produce smart maps from remotely sensed image classification in rapid way: the attention is focalized on different methods that are compared to identify fast and accurate procedure for producing up-to-date and reliable maps. Landsat 8 OLI multispectral images of northern Sicily (Italy) are submitted to various classification algorithms to distinguish water, bare soil and vegetation. The resulting map is useful for many purposes: appropriately inserted in a larger database aimed at representing the situation in a space-time evolutionary scenario, it is suitable whenever you want to capture the variation induced in a scene, e.g. burnt areas identification, vegetated areas definition for tourist-recreational purposes, etc. Particularly, pixel-based classification approaches are preferred, and experiments are carried out using unsupervised (k-means), vegetation index (NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), supervised (minimum distance, maximum likelihood) methods. Using test sites, confusion matrix is built for each method, and quality indices are calculated to compare the results. Experiments demonstrate that NDVI submitted to k-means algorithm allows the best performance for distinguishing not only vegetation areas but also water bodies and bare soils. The resulting thematic map is converted for web publishing

Remotely sensed image fast classification and smart thematic map production

Apps available for Smartphone, as well as software for GNSS/GIS devices, permit to easily mapping the localization and shape of an area by acquiring the vertices coordinates of its contour. This option is useful for remote sensing classification, supporting the detection of representative sample sites of a known cover type to use for algorithm training or to test classification results. This article aims to analyse the possibility to produce smart maps from remotely sensed image classification in rapid way: The attention is focalized on different methods that are compared to identify fast and accurate procedure for producing up-To-date and reliable maps. Landsat 8 OLI multispectral images of northern Sicily (Italy) are submitted to various classification algorithms to distinguish water, bare soil and vegetation. The resulting map is useful for many purposes: Appropriately inserted in a larger database aimed at representing the situation in a space-Time evolutionary scenario, it is suitable whenever you want to capture the variation induced in a scene, e.g. burnt areas identification, vegetated areas definition for tourist-recreational purposes, etc. Particularly, pixel-based classification approaches are preferred, and experiments are carried out using unsupervised (k-means), vegetation index (NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), supervised (minimum distance, maximum likelihood) methods. Using test sites, confusion matrix is built for each method, and quality indices are calculated to compare the results. Experiments demonstrate that NDVI submitted to k-means algorithm allows the best performance for distinguishing not only vegetation areas but also water bodies and bare soils. The resulting thematic map is converted for web publishing

Tunical plication in the management of penile curvature due La Peyronie’s disease. Our experience on 47 cases.

BACKGROUND: Peyronie’s disease is an acquired connective tissue disorder of the penile tunica albuginea with fibrosis and inflammation. The disease produces palpable plaques, penile curvature and pain during erections. Patients report negative effects in four major domains: physical appearance and self-image, sexual function and performance. These changes damage sexual life and compromise the quality of life. Our objective is to review the patient's sexual life after penile tunical plicature using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and the Sexual Encounter Profile (SEP) questionnaires. METHODS: A total of 47 patients with Peyronie's disease (PD) were enrolled at our urology department and they underwent correction of penile deviation between February 2009 and March 2010. Mean patient age was 56 years and mean follow-up was 24 months. Patients with painless PD plaque with no progression in angulation for at least 12 months were chosen for surgery. They underwent a penile tunical plication. IIEF and SEP questionnaire were administered to all patients. RESULTS: Of all treated patients, 94% were able to insert their penis in the partner's vagina (p<0.01; SEP question 2), compared with 62% preoperatively and 90% of them was satisfied overall with the sexual intercourse (p<0.01; SEP question 5) .Patients had a significantly higher endpoint and a greater change from baseline for the remaining SEP questions related to achievement of an erection, satisfaction of erection hardness (SEP questions 1 and 4; p < 0:001). We reported a significant improvement in the IIEF scores (from a baseline total score of 25.2 +/- 3.2 to a final score of 38.3 +/- 5.2; P<0.01). It resulted in significantly higher endpoint IIEF scores across all five IIEF domains: Erectile Function, Intercourse Satisfaction, Orgasmic Function, Sexual Desire and Overall Satisfaction. The main complaint was penile shortening (28 patients, 60%), feeling of the suture during flaccidity and tumescence (37 patients, 80%). CONCLUSION: Patient quality of life improved after surgery thanks to the improvement of their sexual life. The complications are unimportant and few bother symptoms are reported. The significant improvement in erectile function was also supported by IIEF and SEP questionnaire data. Nowadays tunical plication is a safe, advantageous and useful technique to treat patients suffering of Peyronie’s disease

Brain energetics plays a key role in the coordination of electrophysiology, metabolism and hemodynamics: evidence from an integrated computational model

The energetic needs of brain cells at rest and during elevated neuronal activation has been the topic of many investigations where mathematical models have played a significant role providing a context for the interpretation of experimental findings. A recently proposed mathematical model, comprising a double feedback between cellular metabolism and electrophysiology, sheds light on the interconnections between the electrophysiological details associated with changes in the frequency of neuronal firing and the corresponding metabolic activity. We propose a new extended mathematical model comprising a three-way feedback connecting metabolism, electrophysiology and hemodynamics. Upon specifying the time intervals of higher neuronal activation, the model generates a potassium based signal leading to the concomitant increase in cerebral blood flow with associated vasodilation and metabolic changes needed to sustain the increased energy demand. The predictions of the model are in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental findings reported in the literature, even predicting a slow after-hyperpolarization of a duration of approximately 16 s matching experimental observations.The work of Daniela Calvetti was partly support by NSF grants DMS-1522334 and NIH grant 1U01 GM111251-01. The work of Erkki Somersalo was partly support by NSF grants DMS 1714617 and NIH grant 1U01GM111251-01

Efficacy and safety profile of a novel technique, ThuLEP (Thulium laser enucleation of the prostate) for the treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy. Our experience on 148 patients.

BACKGROUND: Over the past years laser technology has played a predominant role in prostate surgery, for the treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH). Various laser devices have been introduced in clinical practice, showing good results in terms of complications and urodynamic outcomes efficacy compared with TURP and Open Prostatectomy. In this study we describe the efficacy and the safety profile of a novel laser technique, ThuLEP (Thulium Laser Enucleation of Prostate) that permits a complete anatomical endoscopic enucleation of prostatic adenoma independently to prostate size. METHODS: 148 patients with a mean age of 68.2 years were enrolled between September 2009 and March 2012 (36 months), and treated for BPH with ThuLEP. Every patient was evaluated at base line according to: Digital Rectal Examination (DRE), prostate volume, Post-Voided volume (PVR), International Prostate Symptoms Score (I-PSS), International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5), Quality of Life (QoL), PSA values, urine analysis and urine culture, uroflowmetry. The same evaluation was conducted after a 12 month follow-up. ThuLEP was performed by 2 expert surgeons. RESULTS: Our data showed a better post-operative outcome in terms of catheter removal, blood loss, TURP syndrome, clot retention and residual tissue compared to large series of TURP and OP. Only 1.3% of patients had bladder wall injury during morcellation. I-PSS, Qmax, Prostate Volume, QoL and PVR showed a highly significant improvement at 12 month follow-up in comparison to preoperative assessment. CONCLUSION: ThuLEP represent an innovative option in patients with BPH. It is a size independent surgical endoscopic technique and it can be considered the real alternative, at this time, to TURP and even more to Open Prostatectomy for large prostate, with a complete removal of adenoma and with a low complication rate

Mechanical Properties of Animal Tendons: A Review and Comparative Study for the Identification of the Most Suitable Human Tendon Surrogates

The mechanical response of a tendon to load is strictly related to its complex and highly organized hierarchical structure, which ranges from the nano-to macroscale. In a broader context, the mechanical properties of tendons during tensile tests are affected by several distinct factors, due in part to tendon nature (anatomical site, age, training, injury, etc.) but also depending on the experimental setup and settings. This work aimed to present a systematic review of the mechanical properties of tendons reported in the scientific literature by considering different anatomical regions in humans and several animal species (horse, cow, swine, sheep, rabbit, dog, rat, mouse, and foal). This study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. The literature research was conducted via Google Scholar, PubMed, PicoPolito (Politecnico di Torino’s online catalogue), and Science Direct. Sixty studies were selected and analyzed. The structural and mechanical properties described in different animal species were reported and summarized in tables. Only the results from studies reporting the strain rate parameter were considered for the comparison with human tendons, as they were deemed more reliable. Our findings showed similarities between animal and human tendons that should be considered in biomechanical evaluation. An additional analysis of the effects of different strain rates showed the influence of this parameter

Testosterone deficiency causes penile fibrosis and organic erectile dysfunction in aging men. Evaluating association among Age, TDS and ED.

INTRODUCTION: We studied the possible correlation between age, testosterone deficiency, cavernosal fibrosis and erectile dysfunction (ED). METHODS: 47 patients with ED were enrolled between September 2010 and October 2011. IIEF-EF score, NPTR test using the Rigiscan method, total and free testosterone levels, and cavernosum biopsy were carried out on all patients. Patients aged 65 or over were defined as Old Age (OA) while patients under 65 were defined Young age (YA). The strength of the relationships found was estimated by Odds Ratio. RESULTS: 74% of patients with values of over 52% collagen fibers in the corpora cavernosa were found to have organic ED. A significant difference was found in age, percentage of collagen fibers, testosterone levels between patients with Positive Rigiscan (PR) and Negative Rigiscan (NR). Hypotestosteronaemia increased the risk of ED with PR (OR: 21.4, 95% CI: 20.2-22.6) and in both young age patients (OR: 4.3, 95% CI: 2.4-6.2) and old age patients (OR: 15.5, 95% CI: 13.4-17.6). Moreover cavernosal fibrosis increased the risk of ED with PR in both young age patients (OR: 8.2, 95% CI: 6.4-10.0 and old age patients (OR: 24.6, 95% CI: 20.8-28.4). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates a strong association among age, testosterone deficiency, cavernosal fibrosis and ED with PR. Age, testosterone deficiency and cavernosal fibrosis are potentially correctable factors of cavernosal fibrosis and organic ED. Further, prospective studies are needed to evaluate if testosterone treatment, alone or in association with PDE5 inhibitors, may lower the risk of cavernosal fibrosis or decrease the severity the fibrosis in ED patients

Precision medicine and machine learning towards the prediction of the outcome of potential celiac disease

Potential Celiac Patients (PCD) bear the Celiac Disease (CD) genetic predisposition, a significant production of antihuman transglutaminase antibodies, but no morphological changes in the small bowel mucosa. A minority of patients (17%) showed clinical symptoms and need a gluten free diet at time of diagnosis, while the majority progress over several years (up to a decade) without any clinical problem neither a progression of the small intestine mucosal damage even when they continued to assume gluten in their diet. Recently we developed a traditional multivariate approach to predict the natural history, on the base of the information at enrolment (time 0) by a discriminant analysis model. Still, the traditional multivariate model requires stringent assumptions that may not be answered in the clinical setting. Starting from a follow-up dataset available for PCD, we propose the application of Machine Learning (ML) methodologies to extend the analysis on available clinical data and to detect most influent features predicting the outcome. These features, collected at time of diagnosis, should be capable to classify patients who will develop duodenal atrophy from those who will remain potential. Four ML methods were adopted to select features predictive of the outcome; the feature selection procedure was indeed capable to reduce the number of overall features from 85 to 19. ML methodologies (Random Forests, Extremely Randomized Trees, and Boosted Trees, Logistic Regression) were adopted, obtaining high values of accuracy: all report an accuracy above 75%. The specificity score was always more than 75% also, with two of the considered methods over 98%, while the best performance of sensitivity was 60%. The best model, optimized Boosted Trees, was able to classify PCD starting from the selected 19 features with an accuracy of 0.80, sensitivity of 0.58 and specificity of 0.84. Finally, with this work, we are able to categorize PCD patients that can more likely develop overt CD using ML. ML techniques appear to be an innovative approach to predict the outcome of PCD, since they provide a step forward in the direction of precision medicine aimed to customize healthcare, medical therapies, decisions, and practices tailoring the clinical management of PCD children