Comparison of spatial domain optimal trade-off maximum average correlation height (OT-MACH) filter with scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) using images with poor contrast and large illumination gradient

A spatial domain optimal trade-off Maximum Average Correlation Height (OT-MACH) filter has been previously developed and shown to have advantages over frequency domain implementations in that it can be made locally adaptive to spatial variations in the input image background clutter and normalised for local intensity changes. In this paper we compare the performance of the spatial domain (SPOT-MACH) filter to the widely applied data driven technique known as the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). The SPOT-MACH filter is shown to provide more robust recognition performance than the SIFT technique for demanding images such as scenes in which there are large illumination gradients. The SIFT method depends on reliable local edge-based feature detection over large regions of the image plane which is compromised in some of the demanding images we examined for this work. The disadvantage of the SPOTMACH filter is its numerically intensive nature since it is template based and is implemented in the spatial domain. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only

Comparative ambient and indoor particulate matter analysis of operation theatres of government and private (trust) Hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan

The link between infection and indoor air quality (IAQ) in operating theatres is well established. The level of airborne particulate matter (PM) in operating theatres in Pakistan has not yet been studied comprehensively. Monitoring of both indoor (operating theatre) and outdoor concentrations of PM in both activity and non-activity time periods was done using a DUSTTRAK Aerosol Monitor (TSI Model 8520) and DRX Aerosol Monitor (TSI Model 8533) for 24 hours. Two hospitals in Lahore were selected: Services Hospital (government – site 1) and Shalamar Hospital (private – site 2). The highest concentration of PM was observed in the orthopaedic operating theatre at site 1 during working hours with an average concentration of 757(±540), 809(±58), 824(±585), 875(±586) and 970(±581) μg/m3 of PM1,PM2.5, PM4, PM10 and PMTotal respectively while the average PM2.5 outdoor concentration was 294 μg/m3. The minimum average PM concentration was found in the orthopaedic operating theatre at site 2 during working hours: 18(±8), 19(±8), 20(±9), 26(±9) and 39(±9) μg/m3 for PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10 and PMTotal respectively. The use of vertical laminar air flow ventilation strategy was found to be an effective measure in reducing PM levels and it might be possible to predict the air quality of operating theatres by determining PM dust load. Factors such as ventilation system, door opening /closing rates, building age, possible sources of infiltration, number of people present in the operating area all play a role in influencing PM concentrations in operating theatres

Speciation in little: the role of range and body size in the diversification of Malagasy mantellid frogs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rate and mode of lineage diversification might be shaped by clade-specific traits. In Madagascar, many groups of organisms are characterized by tiny distribution ranges and small body sizes, and this high degree of microendemism and miniaturization parallels a high species diversity in some of these groups. We here investigate the geographic patterns characterizing the radiation of the frog family Mantellidae that is virtually endemic to Madagascar. We integrate a newly reconstructed near-complete species-level timetree of the Mantellidae with georeferenced distribution records and maximum male body size data to infer the influence of these life-history traits on each other and on mantellid diversification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We reconstructed a molecular phylogeny based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA for 257 species and candidate species of the mantellid frog radiation. Based on this phylogeny we identified 53 well-supported pairs of sister species that we used for phylogenetic comparative analyses, along with whole tree-based phylogenetic comparative methods. Sister species within the Mantellidae diverged at 0.2-14.4 million years ago and more recently diverged sister species had geographical range centroids more proximate to each other, independently of their current sympatric or allopatric occurrence. The largest number of sister species pairs had non-overlapping ranges, but several examples of young microendemic sister species occurring in full sympatry suggest the possibility of non-allopatric speciation. Range sizes of species included in the sister species comparisons increased with evolutionary age, as did range size differences between sister species, which rejects peripatric speciation. For the majority of mantellid sister species and the whole mantellid radiation, range and body sizes were associated with each other and small body sizes were linked to higher mitochondrial nucleotide substitution rates and higher clade diversity. In contrast, small range sizes were unexpectedly associated with a slow-down of mitochondrial substitution rates.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on these results we define a testable hypothesis under which small body sizes result in limited dispersal capabilities and low physiological tolerances, causing smaller and more strongly fragmented ranges. This can be thought to facilitate reproductive isolation and thus favor speciation. Contrary to the expectation of the faster speciation of such microendemic phenotype species, we only found small body sizes of mantellid frogs to be linked to higher diversification and substitution rates, but not small range sizes. A joint analysis of various species-rich regional anuran radiations might provide enough species with all combinations of range and body sizes for a more conclusive test of this hypothesis.</p

A genome-wide association study in Europeans and South Asians identifies five new loci for coronary artery disease

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Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired β-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ∼2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS: Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 × 10(-4)), improved β-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10(-5)), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10(-6)). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis

Body Size Distribution of the Dinosaurs

The distribution of species body size is critically important for determining resource use within a group or clade. It is widely known that non-avian dinosaurs were the largest creatures to roam the Earth. There is, however, little understanding of how maximum species body size was distributed among the dinosaurs. Do they share a similar distribution to modern day vertebrate groups in spite of their large size, or did they exhibit fundamentally different distributions due to unique evolutionary pressures and adaptations? Here, we address this question by comparing the distribution of maximum species body size for dinosaurs to an extensive set of extant and extinct vertebrate groups. We also examine the body size distribution of dinosaurs by various sub-groups, time periods and formations. We find that dinosaurs exhibit a strong skew towards larger species, in direct contrast to modern day vertebrates. This pattern is not solely an artefact of bias in the fossil record, as demonstrated by contrasting distributions in two major extinct groups and supports the hypothesis that dinosaurs exhibited a fundamentally different life history strategy to other terrestrial vertebrates. A disparity in the size distribution of the herbivorous Ornithischia and Sauropodomorpha and the largely carnivorous Theropoda suggests that this pattern may have been a product of a divergence in evolutionary strategies: herbivorous dinosaurs rapidly evolved large size to escape predation by carnivores and maximise digestive efficiency; carnivores had sufficient resources among juvenile dinosaurs and non-dinosaurian prey to achieve optimal success at smaller body size. © 2012 O'Gorman, Hone

Eggshell catalyst and methods of its preparation

An eggshell catalyst useful for a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis or other reactions comprises a homogeneously dispersed transition metal and a promoter situated in an active phase in a precisely selected outer region of a catalyst pellet. The active phase region is controlled to a specific depth, which permits the control of the catalysts selectivity, for example, the size of the hydrocarbon chains formed in the FT process. A method of preparing these eggshell catalysts involves a non-aqueous synthesis where polar and non-polar solvents of relatively low vapor pressure are employed to define the depth of penetration of metal species in a refractory oxide substrate, which is followed by fixing and activating metallic catalytic species in the structure by calcination of the catalyst particles

Darwin's finches and their diet niches: the sympatric coexistence of imperfect generalists

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