Identification of body fat tissues in MRI data

In recent years non-invasive medical diagnostic techniques have been used widely in medical investigations. Among the various imaging modalities available, Magnetic Resonance Imaging is very attractive as it produces multi-slice images where the contrast between various types of body tissues such as muscle, ligaments and fat is well defined. The aim of this paper is to describe the implementation of an unsupervised image analysis algorithm able to identify the body fat tissues from a sequence of MR images encoded in DICOM format. The developed algorithm consists of three main steps. The first step pre-processes the MR images in order to reduce the level of noise. The second step extracts the image areas representing fat tissues by using an unsupervised clustering algorithm. Finally, image refinements are applied to reclassify the pixels adjacent to the initial fat estimate and to eliminate outliers. The experimental data indicates that the proposed implementation returns accurate results and furthermore is robust to noise and to greyscale in-homogeneity

Placing the university: thinking in and beyond globalization

In some respects, the impact of globalization on universities is well rehearsed (competition for international students; the drive for status in global rankings; the opening of overseas campuses; the dream of massive open online courses and other forms of digital education), but the relationship between universities as place-based institutions and globalization is less well understood. It is on that this chapter focuses. Drawing on work undertaken as part of an Economic and Social Research Council project (“Higher Education and Regional Social Transformation”) the author sets the arguments in a wider context. He explores the extent to which and ways in which universities have become key players in the reimagination of their city regions in a (neoliberal) global context. As well as reflecting on the wider public (and local) role of universities, he also considers how universities use the tools available to them to position themselves effectively as successful businesses within the new world in which they find themselves

Home ranges of rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) in a subtropical peri-urban environment in South East Queensland

Wild rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) are increasing in numbers and distribution in peri-urban eastern Australia. To effectively manage rusa deer, land managers need to know the extent of their movements to determine the appropriate scale of control through trapping and shooting. We found that in a subtropical peri-urban environment in South East Queensland, four rusa deer (three male, one female) with GPS collars annually ranged over areas of <400 ha with core areas of ~100 ha over a period of 10–17 months. Our limited data indicated their relatively small home ranges varied little in size and location from season-to-season, suggesting that these deer can be effectively managed at the local level

Rapid automated measurement of body fat distribution from whole-body MRI

The accurate determination of a person’s total body fat is an important issue in medical analysis because obesity is a significant contributing factor to a variety of serious health problems. The medical literature identifies a wide range of diseases that are closely linked to obesity. Current methods of fat assessment are largely inaccurate, and most current methods of fat determination cannot show regional fat distribution, which is important in defining disease risk. We introduce a method that combines computer-aided techniques with whole-body MRI techniques and enables accurate quantification and visualization of total body fat burden and regional fat distribution. This technique may be important in identifying and treating at-risk populations

Optimization of propagation-based x-ray phase-contrast tomography for breast cancer imaging

The aim of this study was to optimise the experimental protocol and data analysis for in-vivo breast cancer X-ray imaging. Results are presented of the experiment at the SYRMEP beamline of Elettra Synchrotron using the propagation-based phase-contrast mammographic tomography method, which incorporates not only absorption, but also X-ray phase information. In this study the images of breast tissue samples, of a size corresponding to a full human breast, with radiologically acceptable X-ray doses were obtained, and the degree of improvement of the image quality (from the diagnostic point of view) achievable using propagation-based phase-contrast image acquisition protocols with proper incorporation of X-ray phase retrieval into the reconstruction pipeline was investigated. Parameters such as the X-ray energy, sample-to-detector distance and data processing methods were tested, evaluated and optimized with respect to the estimated diagnostic value using a mastectomy sample with a malignant lesion. The results of quantitative evaluation of images were obtained by means of radiological assessment carried out by 13 experienced specialists. A comparative analysis was performed between the X-ray and the histological images of the specimen. The results of the analysis indicate that, within the investigated range of parameters, both the objective image quality characteristics and the subjective radiological scores of propagation-based phase-contrast images of breast tissues monotonically increase with the strength of phase contrast which in turn is directly proportional to the product of the radiation wavelength and the sample-to-detector distance. The outcomes of this study serve to define the practical imaging conditions and the CT reconstruction procedures appropriate for low-dose phase-contrast mammographic imaging of live patients at specially designed synchrotron beamlines

First Detector Guide to Invasive Insects

This is a guide to help first detectors identify invasive insects, including biology, identification, and monitoring

The impact of care farms on quality of life, depression and anxiety among different population groups : a systematic review

Care farming (also called social farming) is the therapeutic use of agricultural and farming practices. Service users and communities supported through care farming include people with learning disabilities, mental and physical health problems, substance misuse, adult offenders, disaffected youth, socially isolated older people and the long term unemployed. Care farming is growing in popularity, especially around Europe. This review aimed to understand the impact of care farming on quality of life, depression and anxiety, on a range of service user groups. It also aimed to explore and explain the way in which care farming might work for different groups. By reviewing interview studies we found that people valued, among other things, being in contact with each other, and feeling a sense of achievement, fulfilment and belonging. Some groups seemed to appreciate different things indicating that different groups may benefit in different ways but, it is unclear if this is due to a difference in the types of activities or the way in which people take different things from the same activity. We found no evidence that care farms improved people’s quality of life and some evidence that they might improve depression and anxiety. Larger studies involving single service user groups and fully validated outcome measures are needed to prove more conclusive evidence about the benefits of care farming

Carbon-sensitive pedotransfer functions for plant available water

Currently accepted pedotransfer functions show negligible effect of management-induced changes to soil organic carbon (SOC) on plant available water holding capacity (θAWHC), while some studies show the ability to substantially increase θAWHC through management. The Soil Health Institute\u27s North America Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements measured water content at field capacity using intact soil cores across 124 long-term research sites that contained increases in SOC as a result of management treatments such as reduced tillage and cover cropping. Pedotransfer functions were created for volumetric water content at field capacity (θFC) and permanent wilting point (θPWP). New pedotransfer functions had predictions of θAWHC that were similarly accurate compared with Saxton and Rawls when tested on samples from the National Soil Characterization database. Further, the new pedotransfer functions showed substantial effects of soil calcareousness and SOC on θAWHC. For an increase in SOC of 10 g kg–1 (1%) in noncalcareous soils, an average increase in θAWHC of 3.0 mm 100 mm–1 soil (0.03 m3 m–3) on average across all soil texture classes was found. This SOC related increase in θAWHC is about double previous estimates. Calcareous soils had an increase in θAWHC of 1.2 mm 100 mm–1 soil associated with a 10 g kg–1 increase in SOC, across all soil texture classes. New equations can aid in quantifying benefits of soil management practices that increase SOC and can be used to model the effect of changes in management on drought resilience