Anàlisis de la viabilitat de la utilització d'histogrames de color per a la classificació d'obres d'art

L'objectiu principal d'aquest treball és establir si l'anàlisi dels histogrames de color és eficient per classificar obres d'art. A partir d'un conjunt d'imatges d'obres d'art els atributs de les quals coneixem, s'ha generat un programari que permet establir la precisió de la classificació en cas que es fes servir com a conjunt d'entrenament per a reconèixer altres imatges.

Automated four-color interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization approach for the simultaneous detection of specific aneuploidies of diagnostic and prognostic significance in high hyperdiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

In high hyperdiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the concurrence of specific trisomies confers a more favorable outcome than hyperdiploidy alone. Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) complements conventional cytogenetics (CC) through its sensitivity and ability to detect chromosome aberrations in nondividing cells. To overcome the limits of manual I-FISH, we developed an automated four-color I-FISH approach and assessed its ability to detect concurrent aneuploidies in ALL. I-FISH was performed using centromeric probes for chromosomes 4, 6, 10, and 17. Parameters established for nucleus selection and signal detection were evaluated. Cutoff values were determined. Combinations of aneuploidies were considered relevant when each aneuploidy was individually significant. Results obtained in 10 patient samples were compared with those obtained with CC. Various combinations of aneuploidies were identified. All clones detected by CC were observed also by I-FISH, and I-FISH revealed numerous additional abnormal clones in all patients, ranging from < or =1% to 31.6% of cells analyzed. We conclude that four-color automated I-FISH permits the identification of concurrent aneuploidies of potential prognostic significance. Large numbers of cells can be analyzed rapidly. The large number of nuclei scored revealed a high level of chromosome variability both at diagnosis and relapse, the prognostic significance of which is of considerable clinical interest and merits further evaluation.

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) as a matrix for nanoparticle exposure and health effect evaluation : final scientific report

The aim of this pilot project was to evaluate the feasibility of assessing the deposited particle dose in the lungs by applying the dynamic light scattering-based methodology in exhaled breath condensateur (EBC). In parallel, we developed and validated two analytical methods allowing the determination of inflammatory (hydrogen peroxide - H2O2) and lipoperoxidation (malondialdehyde - MDA) biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate. Finally, these methods were used to assess the particle dose and consecutive inflammatory effect in healthy nonsmoker subjects exposed to environmental tobacco smoke in controlled situations was done.

Coat color dilution in mice because of inactivation of the melanoma antigen MART-1.

Melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 (MART-1) is a melanoma-specific antigen, which has been thoroughly studied in the context of immunotherapy against malignant melanoma and which is found only in the pigment cell lineage. However, its exact function and involvement in pigmentation is not clearly understood. Melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 has been shown to interact with the melanosomal proteins Pmel17 and OA1. To understand the function of MART-1 in pigmentation, we developed a new knockout mouse model. Mice deficient in MART-1 are viable, but loss of MART-1 leads to a coat color phenotype, with a reduction in total melanin content of the skin and hair. Lack of MART-1 did not affect localization of melanocyte-specific proteins nor maturation of Pmel17. Melanosomes of hair follicle melanocytes in MART-1 knockout mice displayed morphological abnormalities, which were exclusive to stage III and IV melanosomes. In conclusion, our results suggest that MART-1 is a pigmentation gene that is required for melanosome biogenesis and/or maintenance.

Under-achievement and the glass ceiling: Evidence from a TV game show

We use a Colombian TV game show to test gender differences in competitivebehavior where there is no opportunity for discrimination and females face no genderspecificexternal constraints. Each game started with six contestants who had toanswer general knowledge questions in private. There were five rounds of questionsand, at the end of each, one participant was eliminated. Despite equality in startingnumbers, women earn less than men and exit the game at a faster rate. In particular,there are more voluntary withdrawals by women than men. We draw an analogybetween the game and the process by which employees rise through the levels of acorporation. As such, we note that glass ceilings may result, in part, from women sown behavior and this raises the issue of how women are socialized to behave. At thesame time, our results illustrate that maintaining and promoting gender diversity at thelower/middle ranks of organizations is necessary to obtain gender diversity at the top.

Beyond the glass ceiling: Does gender matter?

The representation of women in top corporate officer positions is steadily increasing. However, little is known about the impact this will have. A large literature documents that women are different from men in their choices and in their preferences, but most of this literature relies on samples of college students or workers at lower levels in the corporate hierarchy. If women must be like men to break the glass ceiling, we might expect gender differences to disappear among top executives. In contrast, using a large survey of all directors of publicly-traded corporations in Sweden, we show that female and male directors differ systematically in their core values and risk attitudes. While certain population gender differences disappear at the director level, others do not. Consistent with the findings for the Swedish population, female directors are more benevolent and universally concerned, but less power-oriented than men. However, they are less traditional and security-oriented than their male counterparts. Furthermore, female directors are slightly more risk-loving than male directors. This suggests that having a women on the board need not lead to more risk-averse decision-making.

Survey on batch-to-batch variation in spray paints: a collaborative study

This study represents the most extensive analysis of batch-to-batch variations in spray paint samples to date. The survey was performed as a collaborative project of the ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) Paint and Glass Working Group (EPG) and involved 11 laboratories. Several studies have already shown that paint samples of similar color but from different manufacturers can usually be differentiated using an appropriate analytical sequence. The discrimination of paints from the same manufacturer and color (batch-to-batch variations) is of great interest and these data are seldom found in the literature. This survey concerns the analysis of batches from different color groups (white, papaya (special shade of orange), red and black) with a wide range of analytical techniques and leads to the following conclusions. Colored batch samples are more likely to be differentiated since their pigment composition is more complex (pigment mixtures, added pigments) and therefore subject to variations. These variations may occur during the paint production but may also occur when checking the paint shade in quality control processes. For these samples, techniques aimed at color/pigment(s) characterization (optical microscopy, microspectrophotometry (MSP), Raman spectroscopy) provide better discrimination than techniques aimed at the organic (binder) or inorganic composition (fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) or elemental analysis (SEM - scanning electron microscopy and XRF - X-ray fluorescence)). White samples contain mainly titanium dioxide as a pigment and the main differentiation is based on the binder composition (Csingle bondH stretches) detected either by FTIR or Raman. The inorganic composition (elemental analysis) also provides some discrimination. Black samples contain mainly carbon black as a pigment and are problematic with most of the spectroscopic techniques. In this case, pyrolysis-GC/MS represents the best technique to detect differences. Globally, Py-GC/MS may show a high potential of discrimination on all samples but the results are highly dependent on the specific instrumental conditions used. Finally, the discrimination of samples when data was interpreted visually as compared to statistically using principal component analysis (PCA) yielded very similar results. PCA increases sensitivity and could perform better on specific samples, but one first has to ensure that all non-informative variation (baseline deviation) is eliminated by applying correct pre-treatments. Statistical treatments can be used on a large data set and, when combined with an expert's opinion, will provide more objective criteria for decision making.

Color preference of Anastrepha obliqua (Diptera, Tephritidae)

The color preference of A. obliqua was evaluated in two-choice tests. The results showed that both sexes were attracted to wavelengths ranging from 340 nm to 670 nm, although the broad major peak of attraction occurred between 380 and 570 nm.

Adaptive sequence evolution in a color gene involved in the formation of the characteristic egg-dummies of male haplochromine cichlid fishes.

BACKGROUND: The exceptionally diverse species flocks of cichlid fishes in East Africa are prime examples of parallel adaptive radiations. About 80% of East Africa's more than 1 800 endemic cichlid species, and all species of the flocks of Lakes Victoria and Malawi, belong to a particularly rapidly evolving lineage, the haplochromines. One characteristic feature of the haplochromines is their possession of egg-dummies on the males' anal fins. These egg-spots mimic real eggs and play an important role in the mating system of these maternal mouthbrooding fish. RESULTS: Here, we show that the egg-spots of haplochromines are made up of yellow pigment cells, xanthophores, and that a gene coding for a type III receptor tyrosine kinase, colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor a (csf1ra), is expressed in egg-spot tissue. Molecular evolutionary analyses reveal that the extracellular ligand-binding and receptor-interacting domain of csf1ra underwent adaptive sequence evolution in the ancestral lineage of the haplochromines, coinciding with the emergence of egg-dummies. We also find that csf1ra is expressed in the egg-dummies of a distantly related cichlid species, the ectodine cichlid Ophthalmotilapia ventralis, in which markings with similar functions evolved on the pelvic fin in convergence to those of the haplochromines. CONCLUSION: We conclude that modifications of existing signal transduction mechanisms might have evolved in the haplochromine lineage in association with the origination of anal fin egg-dummies. That positive selection has acted during the evolution of a color gene that seems to be involved in the morphogenesis of a sexually selected trait, the egg-dummies, highlights the importance of further investigations of the comparative genomic basis of the phenotypic diversification of cichlid fishes.

A new species of Homalocerus Schoenherr from the Atlantic coast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil (Coleoptera, Belidae, Belinae), with notes on color pattern and on the sclerites of the internal sac

A new species of Homalocerus Schoenherr from the Atlantic coast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil (Coleoptera, Belidae, Belinae), with notes on color pattern and on the sclerites of the internal sac. Homalocerus bimaculatus sp. nov. (type locality: Brazil, São Paulo) is described and illustrated, and comments on the sclerites of the internal sac of aedeagus and on color pattern are provided. The new species is compared to other similar species of the genus, being distinguished by having three clusters of carmine pubescence on pronotum and two lateral whitish oval spots located slightly before the middle of each elytron. Six species of Homalocerus, including the new one, are known from the State of São Paulo. The previously published identification key for species of Homalocerus is updated to include H. bimaculatus.

Determinar la causa de las diferencias de color

Dictamen