Corticosteroid effects on isotonic contractile properties of rat diaphragm muscle

Contains fulltext : 25523___.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Quality assessment for geo - spatial objects derived from remotely sensed data

Airborne laser scanners and multi-spectral scanners provide information on height and spectra that offer exciting possibilities for extracting features in complicated urban areas. We apply an object-based approach to building extraction from image data in an approach that differs from conventional perpixel approaches. Since image objects are extracted based on the thematic and geometric components of objects, quality assessments will have to be made object-based with respect to these components. The known per-pixel-based methods for assessing quality have been examined in the new situation as well as their limitations. A new framework for carrying out quality assessments by measuring the similarity between the results of feature extraction and reference data is proposed in this paper, The proposed framework consists of both per-object and per-pixel measures of quality, thus providing measures pertaining to qualitative and quantitative measurements of object quality from thematic and geometric aspects. The proposed framework and measures of quality have been applied to an assessment of the results of object-based building extraction using high-resolution laser data and multi-spectral data in two test cases. The results show that the per-object-based method of assessing quality gives additional information to conventional per-pixel, attribute-only assessment methods.Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatic

Quality assessment for geo-spatial objects derived from remotely sensed data

Airborne laser scanners and multi‐spectral scanners provide information on height and spectra that offer exciting possibilities for extracting features in complicated urban areas. We apply an object‐based approach to building extraction from image data in an approach that differs from conventional per‐pixel approaches. Since image objects are extracted based on the thematic and geometric components of objects, quality assessments will have to be made object‐based with respect to these components. The known per‐pixel‐based methods for assessing quality have been examined in the new situation as well as their limitations. A new framework for carrying out quality assessments by measuring the similarity between the results of feature extraction and reference data is proposed in this paper. The proposed framework consists of both per‐object and per‐pixel measures of quality, thus providing measures pertaining to qualitative and quantitative measurements of object quality from thematic and geometric aspects. The proposed framework and measures of quality have been applied to an assessment of the results of object‐based building extraction using high‐resolution laser data and multi‐spectral data in two test cases. The results show that the per‐object‐based method of assessing quality gives additional information to conventional per‐pixel, attribute‐only assessment methods

Influence of corticosteroids on myonuclear domain size in the rat diaphragm muscle.

Contains fulltext : 58080.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Skeletal muscle fibers are multinucleated. Each myonucleus regulates gene products and protein expression in only a restricted portion of the muscle fiber, the myonuclear domain (MND). In the rat diaphragm muscle (DIAm), corticosteroid (CoS) treatment causes atrophy of fibers containing myosin heavy chain (MHC): MHC2X and/or MHC2B. We hypothesized that DIAm fiber MND size is maintained during CoS-induced atrophy. Adult male rats received methylprednisolone for 11 days at 1 (CoS-Low, n = 8) or 8 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1) (CoS-High, n = 8). Age-matched (CTL-AgeM, n = 8), sham-operated (SHAM-AgeM, n = 8), and weight-matched (CTL-WtM, n = 8) animals served as controls. In single DIAm fibers, cross-sectional area (CSA), MND size, and MHC expression were determined. Fiber CSA and MND size were similar in CTL-AgeM and SHAM-AgeM groups. Only fibers containing MHCslow or MHC2A displayed smaller CSA in CTL-WtM than in CTL-AgeM and SHAM-AgeM groups, and MND size was reduced in all fibers. Thus fibers containing MHCslow and MHC2A maintain the number of myonuclei, whereas MHC2X or MHC2B fibers show loss of myonuclei during normal muscle growth. Both CoS groups displayed smaller CSA and MND size than CTL-AgeM and SHAM-AgeM groups. However, compared with CTL-WtM DIAm fibers, only fibers containing MHC2X or MHC2B displayed reduced CSA and MND size after CoS treatment. Thus little, if any, loss of myonuclei was associated with CoS-induced atrophy of MHC2X or MHC2B DIAm fibers. In summary, MND size does not appear to be regulated during CoS-induced DIAm atrophy

Correlation of chest CT and RT-PCR testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: a report of 1014 cases

Background: Chest CT is used in the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is an important complement to reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic value and consistency of chest CT as compared with RT-PCR assay in COVID-19.Materials and Methods: This study included 1014 patients in Wuhan, China, who underwent both chest CT and RT-PCR tests between January 6 and February 6, 2020. With use of RT-PCR as the reference standard, the performance of chest CT in the diagnosis of COVID-19 was assessed. In addition, for patients with multiple RT-PCR assays, the dynamic conversion of RT-PCR results (negativeto positive, positive to negative) was analyzed as compared with serial chest CT scans for those with a time interval between RT-PCR tests of 4 days or more.Results: Of the 1014 patients, 601 of 1014 (59%) had positive RT-PCR results and 888 of 1014 (88%) had positive chest CT scans. The sensitivity of chest CT in suggesting COVID-19 was 97% (95% confidence interval: 95%, 98%; 580 of 601 patients) based on positive RT-PCR results. In the 413 patients with negative RT-PCR results, 308 of 413 (75%) had positive chest CT findings. Of those 308 patients, 48% (103 of 308) were considered as highly likely cases and 33% (103 of 308) as probable cases. At analysis of serial RT-PCR assays and CT scans, the mean interval between the initial negative to positive RT-PCR results was 5.1 days +/- 1.5; the mean interval between initial positive to subsequent negative RT-PCR results was 6.9 days +/- 2.3. Of the 1014 patients, 60% (34 of 57) to 93% (14 of 15) had initial positive CT scans consistent with COVID-19 before (or parallel to) the initial positive RT-PCR results. Twenty-four of 57 patients (42%) showed improvement on follow-up chest CT scans before the RT-PCR results turned negative.Conclusion: Chest CT has a high sensitivity for diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Chest CT may be considered as a primary tool for the current COVID-19 detection in epidemic areas. (C) RSNA, 2020Radiolog