Evaluation of a smartphone app for forest sample plot measurements

We evaluated a smartphone app (TRESTIMA(TM)) for forest sample plot measurements. The app interprets imagery collected from the sample plots using the camera in the smartphone and then estimates forest inventory attributes, including species-specific basal areas (G) as well as the diameter (D-gM) and height (H-gM) of basal area median trees. The estimates from the smartphone app were compared to forest inventory attributes derived from tree-wise measurements using calipers and a Vertex height measurement device. The data consist of 2169 measured trees from 25 sample plots (32 m x 32 m), dominated by Scots pine and Norway spruce from southern Finland. The root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) in the basal area varied from 19.7% to 29.3% and the biases from 11.4% to 18.4% depending on the number of images per sample plot and image shooting location. D-gM measurement bias varied from -1.4% to 3.1% and RMSE from 5.2% to 11.6% depending on the tree species. Respectively, H-gM bias varied from 5.0% to 8.3% and RMSE 10.0% to 13.6%. In general, four images captured toward the center of the plot provided more accurate results than four images captured away from the plot center. Increasing the number of captured images per plot to the analyses yielded only marginal improvement to the results.Peer reviewe

Role of hydroxysteroid (17beta) dehydrogenase type 1 in reproductive tissues and hormone-dependent diseases

Abnormal synthesis and metabolism of sex steroids is involved in the pathogenesis of various human diseases, such as endometriosis and cancers arising from the breast and uterus. Steroid biosynthesis is a multistep enzymatic process proceeding from cholesterol to highly active sex steroids via different intermediates. Human Hydroxysteroid (17beta) dehydrogenase 1 (HSD17B1) enzyme shows a high capacity to produce the highly active estrogen, estradiol, from a precursor hormone, estrone. However, the enzyme may also play a role in other steps of the steroid biosynthesis pathway. In this article, we have reviewed the literature on HSD17B1, and summarize the role of the enzyme in hormone-dependent diseases in women as evidenced by preclinical studies.</p

Mapping the risk of forest wind damage using airborne scanning LiDAR

Wind damage is known for causing threats to sustainable forest management and yield value in boreal forests. Information about wind damage risk can aid forest managers in understanding and possibly mitigating damage impacts. The objective of this research was to better understand and quantify drivers of wind damage, and to map the probability of wind damage. To accomplish this, we used open-access airborne scanning light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. The probability of wind-induced forest damage (PDAM) in southern Finland (61°N, 23°E) was modelled for a 173 km2 study area of mainly managed boreal forests (dominated by Norway spruce and Scots pine) and agricultural fields. Wind damage occurred in the study area in December 2011. LiDAR data were acquired prior to the damage in 2008. High spatial resolution aerial imagery, acquired after the damage event (January, 2012) provided a source of model calibration via expert interpretation. A systematic grid (16 m x 16 m) was established and 430 sample grid cells were identified systematically and classified as damaged or undamaged based on visual interpretation using the aerial images. Potential drivers associated with PDAM were examined using a multivariate logistic regression model. Risk model predictors were extracted from the LiDAR-derived surface models. Geographic information systems (GIS) supported spatial mapping and identification of areas of high PDAM across the study area. The risk model based on LiDAR data provided good agreement with detected risk areas (73 % with kappa-value 0,47). The strongest predictors in the risk model were mean canopy height and mean elevation. Our results indicate that open-access LiDAR data sets can be used to map the probability of wind damage risk without field data, providing valuable information for forest management planning

Structural and Construct Validity of the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) With an Emphasis on Pain and Functionality After Foot Surgery : A Multicenter Study

The Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) is a patient-reported outcome measure that is available in several languages. We aim to assess the structural and construct validity of the FAAM with an emphasis on pain and functionality after foot surgery. The activities of daily living (ADL) and Sports subscales of the Finnish version of the FAAM were completed by 182 patients who underwent operative treatment for disorders of the foot. Convergent validity was assessed by principal component analysis using Spearman's correlation coefficient between the FAAM subscales and the principal components (Function-PC and Pain-PC) derived from validated patient-reported outcome measures. Subscales were studied for floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency and unidimensionality. Internal consistency was examined with Cronbach's alpha and the subscale structure with exploratory factor analysis. FAAM-ADL had high correlation with the Function-PC (r = 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81-0.91) and the Pain-PC (r = 0.75, 95% CI 0.65-0.83). FAAM-Sports had moderate correlation (r = 0.64, 95% CI 0.50-0.74) with the Function-PC and high correlation (r = 0.74, 95% CI 0.64-0.82) with the Pain-PC. No floor or ceiling effects were observed. Cronbach's alpha was 0.97 (95% CI 0.96-0.98) for the ADL and 0.93 (95% CI 0.91-0.95) for the Sports subscales. The results supported the unidimensionality of the FAAM-Sports. Within the ADL subscale, 3 factors were identified, suggesting a 3-factor model for the FAAM overall. Results highlighted the inter-relationship of pain and physical function. Further research on longitudinal validity is needed. (C) 2021 The Author(s).Peer reviewe

Efficiency Improvements for Encrypt-to-Self

Recent work by Pijnenburg and Poettering (ESORICS'20) explores the novel cryptographic Encrypt-to-Self primitive that is dedicated to use cases of symmetric encryption where encryptor and decryptor coincide. The primitive is envisioned to be useful whenever a memory-bounded computing device is required to encrypt some data with the aim of temporarily depositing it on an untrusted storage device. While the new primitive protects the confidentiality of payloads as much as classic authenticated encryption primitives would do, it provides considerably better authenticity guarantees: Specifically, while classic solutions would completely fail in a context involving user corruptions, if an encrypt-to-self scheme is used to protect the data, all ciphertexts and messages fully remain unforgeable. To instantiate their encrypt-to-self primitive, Pijnenburg et al propose a mode of operation of the compression function of a hash function, with a carefully designed encoding function playing the central role in the serialization of the processed message and associated data. In the present work we revisit the design of this encoding function. Without questioning its adequacy for securely accomplishing the encrypt-to-self job, we improve on it from a technical/implementational perspective by proposing modifications that alleviate certain conditions that would inevitably require implementations to disrespect memory alignment restrictions imposed by the word-wise operation of modern CPUs, ultimately leading to performance penalties. Our main contributions are thus to propose an improved encoding function, to explain why it offers better performance, and to prove that it provides as much security as its predecessor. We finally report on our open-source implementation of the encrypt-to-self primitive based on the new encoding function.Comment: this is the full version of content that appears at CYSARM'2

Prolonged injury symptoms and later visits to psychiatric care after mild traumatic brain injury in school-age

Objective To investigate demographic and pre-injury factors in Finnish school-aged children admitted to pediatric neurology services after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The relation of these factors to prolonged injury symptoms and later visits into psychiatric care was assessed. Methods Demographic information, pre-injury learning status, and neuropsychological test results of 120 patients aged 7-16 years were retrospectively collected from the hospital medical records. Data were compared with self- or parent-reported injury symptoms at 1-3 months post-injury and later visits to psychiatric care. Results According to medical records, 14.2% of the children with mTBI had a diagnosed neurobehavioral or psychiatric condition pre-injury. Additionally, 53.3% of the children had some neurobehavioral or psychiatric concerns or traits prior to the injury. Over half (56.7%) of the children studied were symptomatic at 1-3 months following the injury. Female gender and presence of prolonged symptoms were predictive for later visit into psychiatric care. Conclusions Pre-injury neurobehavioral or psychiatric problems may predict prolonged injury symptoms following pediatric mTBI. In this retrospective patient series, prolonged symptoms and female gender seem to predict the need for later psychiatric care. Monitoring the recovery of children with mTBI and pre-injury risk factors is important for timely interventions.Peer reviewe

Clustering of vacancy defects in high-purity semi-insulating SiC

Positron lifetime spectroscopy was used to study native vacancy defects in semi-insulating silicon carbide. The material is shown to contain (i) vacancy clusters consisting of 4--5 missing atoms and (ii) Si vacancy related negatively charged defects. The total open volume bound to the clusters anticorrelates with the electrical resistivity both in as-grown and annealed material. Our results suggest that Si vacancy related complexes compensate electrically the as-grown material, but migrate to increase the size of the clusters during annealing, leading to loss of resistivity.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Neural Network Driven Eye Tracking Metrics and Data Visualization in Metaverse and Virtual Reality Maritime Safety Training

Understand the human brain, predict human performance, and proactively plan, strategize and act based on such information initiated a scientific multidisciplinary alliance to address modern management challenges. This paper integrates numerous advanced information technologies such as eye tracking, virtual reality and neural networks for cognitive task analysis leading to behavioral analysis on humans that perform specific activities. The technology developed and presented in this paper has been tested on a maritime safety training application for command bridge communication and procedures for collision avoidance. The technology integrates metaverse and virtual reality environments with eye tracking for the collection of behavioral data which are analyzed by a neural network to indicate the mental and physical state, attention and readiness of a seafarer to perform such a critical task. The paper demonstrates the technology architecture, data collection process, indicative results, and areas for further research

Effect of high-temperature annealing on the residual strain and bending of freestanding GaN films grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

The effect of high-temperature high-pressure annealing on the residual strain, bending, and point defect redistribution of freestanding hydride vapor phase epitaxial GaN films was studied. The bending was found to be determined by the difference in the in-plane lattice parameters in the two faces of the films. The results showed a tendency of equalizing the lattice parameters in the two faces with increasing annealing temperature, leading to uniform strain distribution across the film thickness. A nonmonotonic behavior of structural parameters with increasing annealing temperature was revealed and related to the change in the point defect content under the high-temperature treatment.Peer reviewe