Toward Automated Ice-Water Classification on Large Northern Lakes Using RADARSAT-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

Changes to ice cover on lakes throughout the northern landscape has been established as an indicator of climate change and variability. These changes are expected to have implications for both human and environmental systems. Additionally, monitoring lake ice cover is required to enable more reliable weather forecasting across lake-rich northern latitudes. Currently the Canadian Ice Service (CIS) monitors lakes using RADARSAT-2 SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and optical imagery through visual interpretation, with total lake ice cover reported weekly as a fraction out of ten. An automated method of classification would allow for more detailed records to be delivered operationally. In this research, the Iterative Region Growing using Semantics (IRGS) approach has been employed to perform ice-water classification on 61 RADARSAT-2 scenes of Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake over a three year period. This approach first locally segments homogeneous regions in an image, then merges similar regions into classes across the entire scene. These classes are manually labelled by the user, however automated labelling capability is currently in development. An accuracy assessment has been performed on the classification results, comparing outcomes with user-generated reference data as well as the CIS fraction reported at the time of image acquisition. The overall average accuracy of the IRGS method for this dataset is 92%, demonstrating the potential of this semi-automated method to provide detailed and reliable lake ice cover information

The Developmental Role of Agouti in Color Pattern Evolution

Animal color patterns can affect fitness in the wild; however, little is known about the mechanisms that control their formation and subsequent evolution. We took advantage of two locally camouflaged populations of Peromyscus mice to show that the negative regulator of adult pigmentation, Agouti, also plays a key developmental role in color pattern evolution. Genetic and functional analyses showed that ventral-specific embryonic expression of Agouti establishes a prepattern by delaying the terminal differentiation of ventral melanocytes. Moreover, a skin-specific increase in both the level and spatial domain of Agouti expression prevents melanocyte maturation in a regionalized manner, resulting in a novel and adaptive color pattern. Thus, natural selection favors late-acting, tissue-specific changes in embryonic Agouti expression to produce large changes in adult color pattern.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Remote severity assessment in atopic dermatitis:Validity and reliability of the remote Eczema Area and Severity Index and Self-Administered Eczema Area and Severity Index

Background: Reliable assessment of atopic dermatitis (AD) severity is necessary for clinical practice and research. Valid and reliable remote assessment is essential to facilitate remote care and research. Objectives: Assess the validity and reliability of the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) based on images and patient-assessed severity based on the Self-Administered EASI (SA-EASI). Methods: Whole-body clinical images were taken during consultation from children with AD. After consultations, caregivers completed the SA-EASI and provided images from home. Four raters assessed all images twice using EASI. Results: A total of 1534 clinical images and 425 patient-provided images were collected from 87 and 32 children. Excellent (0.90) validity, good inter (0.77) and intrarater reliability (0.91), and standard error of measurement (4.31) was found for the EASI based on clinical images. Feasibility of patient-provided images showed limitations with missing images (43.8%) and quality issues (23.1%). However, good validity (0.86), inter (0.74) and intrarater reliability (0.94) were found when assessment was possible. Moderate correlation (0.60) between SA-EASI and EASI was found. Limitations: Low portion patient-provided images. Conclusion: AD severity assessment based on images strongly correlates with in-person AD assessment. Good measurement properties confirm the potential of remote assessment. Moderate correlation between SA-EASI and in-person EASI suggest limited value of self-assessment.</p

Sex differences in antipsychotic efficacy and side effects in schizophrenia spectrum disorder:results from the BeSt InTro study

Current guidelines for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disease do not take sex differences into account, which may result in inappropriate sex-specific treatment. In the BeSt InTro study, a total of 144 patients (93 men and 51 women) with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis and ongoing psychosis were included and randomized to amisulpride, aripiprazole, or olanzapine in flexible dose. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01446328). Primary outcomes were sex differences in dose, dose-corrected serum levels, efficacy, and tolerability. Dosing was higher for men than for women in the aripiprazole group (p = 0.025) and, at trend level, in the olanzapine group (p = 0.056). Dose-corrected serum levels were 71.9% higher in women than in men for amisulpride (p = 0.019) and 55.8% higher in women than in men for aripiprazole (p = 0.049). In the amisulpride group, men had a faster decrease in psychotic symptoms than women (p = 0.003). Moreover, amisulpride was more effective than the other medications in men but not in women. Prolactin levels were higher in women than in men, especially for amisulpride (p < 0.001). Also, women had higher BMI increase on amisulpride compared to the two other antipsychotics (p < 0.001). We conclude that clinicians should be aware of the risks of overdosing in women, especially for amisulpride and aripiprazole. Amisulpride is highly effective in men, but in women, amisulpride showed more severe side effects and may thus not be the drug of first choice. Our study shows that sex differences should be taken into account in future studies on antipsychotics. Future research is warranted to evaluate these preliminary results

Developmental mechanisms of stripe patterns in rodents

Mammalian color patterns are among the most recognizable characters found in nature and can have a profound impact on fitness. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying their formation and subsequent evolution. Here we show that, in the African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio), periodic dorsal stripes result from underlying differences in melanocyte maturation, which give rise to spatial variation in 6hair color,and we identify the transcription factor Alx3 as a regulator of this process.In 7embryonic dorsal skin, patterned expression of Alx3 foreshadows pigment stripes and acts 8to directly repress Mitf, a master regulator of melanocyte differentiation, giving rise to 9light-colored hair. Moreover, Alx3 is also upregulated in the light stripes of chipmunks, 10which have independently evolved a similar dorsal pattern.Our results reveal a 11previously unappreciated mechanism for modulating spatial variation in hair color and provide new insight into the ways in which phenotypic novelty evolves.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Melanism in Peromyscus Is Caused by Independent Mutations in Agouti

Identifying the molecular basis of phenotypes that have evolved independently can provide insight into the ways genetic and developmental constraints influence the maintenance of phenotypic diversity. Melanic (darkly pigmented) phenotypes in mammals provide a potent system in which to study the genetic basis of naturally occurring mutant phenotypes because melanism occurs in many mammals, and the mammalian pigmentation pathway is well understood. Spontaneous alleles of a few key pigmentation loci are known to cause melanism in domestic or laboratory populations of mammals, but in natural populations, mutations at one gene, the melanocortin-1 receptor (Mc1r), have been implicated in the vast majority of cases, possibly due to its minimal pleiotropic effects. To investigate whether mutations in this or other genes cause melanism in the wild, we investigated the genetic basis of melanism in the rodent genus Peromyscus, in which melanic mice have been reported in several populations. We focused on two genes known to cause melanism in other taxa, Mc1r and its antagonist, the agouti signaling protein (Agouti). While variation in the Mc1r coding region does not correlate with melanism in any population, in a New Hampshire population, we find that a 125-kb deletion, which includes the upstream regulatory region and exons 1 and 2 of Agouti, results in a loss of Agouti expression and is perfectly associated with melanic color. In a second population from Alaska, we find that a premature stop codon in exon 3 of Agouti is associated with a similar melanic phenotype. These results show that melanism has evolved independently in these populations through mutations in the same gene, and suggest that melanism produced by mutations in genes other than Mc1r may be more common than previously thought

Quality assessment of positron emission tomography scans:Recommendations for future multicentre trials

BACKGROUND: Standardization protocols and guidelines for positron emission tomography (PET) in multicenter trials are available, despite a large variability in image acquisition and reconstruction parameters exist. In this study, we investigated the compliance of PET scans to the guidelines of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM). From these results, we provide recommendations for future multicenter studies using PET. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients included in a multicenter randomized phase II study had repeated PET scans for early response assessment. Relevant acquisition and reconstruction parameters were extracted from the digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) header of the images. The PET image parameters were compared to the guidelines of the EANM for tumor imaging version 1.0 recommended parameters. RESULTS: From the 223 included patients, 167 baseline scans and 118 response scans were available from 15 hospitals. Scans of 19% of the patients had an uptake time that fulfilled the Uniform Protocols for Imaging in Clinical Trials response assessment criteria. The average quality score over all hospitals was 69%. Scans with a non-compliant uptake time had a larger standard deviation of the mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) of the liver than scans with compliant uptake times. CONCLUSIONS: Although a standardization protocol was agreed on, there was a large variability in imaging parameters. For future, multicenter studies including PET imaging a prospective central quality review during patient inclusion is needed to improve compliance with image standardization protocols as defined by EANM

Hubungan Antara Perhatian Orangtua Dan Hasil Belajar Pada Pembelajaran Tematik Integratif Siswa Kelas IV SD Negeri Kembangarum 2 Mranggen Demak

More less the studying result of students in 4th SD Negeri Kembangarum 2 Mranggen that influences some aspects, one of aspects is her parents?óÔé¼Ôäó not careless with them. Parents?óÔé¼Ôäó is constitute the?é?á first educator for children so that her parents?óÔé¼Ôäó has have responsibility to the studying result her children. The problem in this research contents is about Is there any correlation between of parents?óÔé¼Ôäó attention and the study result for thematic integrative learning in 4th SD Negeri Kembangarum 2 Mranggen Demak?. The hypothesis is that there is positive and significant correlation between of parents?óÔé¼Ôäó attention and the study result for thematic integrative learning in 4th SD Negeri Kembangarum 2 Mranggen Demak. The kind of this research is quantitative research. This research use correlation methode and submited the data use questionnaire and test. The colected data are analysed using product moment formula. The finding is that > on significancy level of 0,05. So the?é?á conclusion is there is positive and significant correlation between of parents?óÔé¼Ôäó attention and the study result for thematic integrative learning in 4th SD Negeri Kembangarum 2 Mranggen Demak

Twinning across the Developing World

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