The set of undominated imputations and the core: an axiomatic approach

This paper provides an axiomatic framework to compare the D-core (the set of undominatedimputations) and the core of a cooperative game with transferable utility. Theorem1 states that the D-core is the only solution satisfying projection consistency, reasonableness (from above), (*)-antimonotonicity, and modularity. Theorem 2 characterizes the core replacing (*)-antimonotonicity by antimonotonicity. Moreover, these axioms alsocharacterize the core on the domain of convex games, totally balanced games, balancedgames, and superadditive games

Exporting Contours to DICOM-RT Structure Set

This paper presents an ITK implementation for exportingthe contours of the automated segmentation results toDICOM-RT Structure Set format. The âeurooeradiotherapystructure setâeuro (RTSTRUCT) object of the DICOM standard isused for the transfer of patient structures and relateddata, between the devices found within and outside theradiotherapy department. It mainly contains theinformation of regions of interest (ROIs) and points ofinterest (E.g. dose reference points). In many cases,rather than manually drawing these ROIs on the CT images,one can indeed benefit from the automated segmentationalgorithms already implemented in ITK. But at present, itis not possible to export the ROIs obtained from ITK toRTSTRUCT format. In order to bridge this gap, we havedeveloped a framework for exporting contour data toRTSTRUCT. We provide here the complete implementation ofRTSTRUCT exporter and present the details of the pipelineused. Results on a 3-D CT image of the Head and Neck(H&N) region are presented.

An appropriate data set size for digital soil mapping in Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Digital information generates the possibility of a high degree of redundancy in the data available for fitting predictive models used for Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). Among these models, the Decision Tree (DT) technique has been increasingly applied due to its capacity of dealing with large datasets. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the data volume used to generate the DT models on the quality of soil maps. An area of 889.33 km² was chosen in the Northern region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The soil-landscape relationship was obtained from reambulation of the studied area and the alignment of the units in the 1:50,000 scale topographic mapping. Six predictive covariates linked to the factors soil formation, relief and organisms, together with data sets of 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 % of the total data volume, were used to generate the predictive DT models in the data mining program Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA). In this study, sample densities below 5 % resulted in models with lower power of capturing the complexity of the spatial distribution of the soil in the study area. The relation between the data volume to be handled and the predictive capacity of the models was best for samples between 5 and 15 %. For the models based on these sample densities, the collected field data indicated an accuracy of predictive mapping close to 70 %.

SET translocation is associated with increase in caspase cleaved amyloid precursor protein in CA1 of Alzheimer and Down syndrome patients.

Caspase cleaved amyloid precursor protein (APPcc) and SET are increased and mislocalized in the neuronal cytoplasm in Alzheimer Disease (AD) brains. Translocated SET to the cytoplasm can induce tau hyperphosphorylation. To elucidate the putative relationships between mislocalized APPcc and SET, we studied their level and distribution in the hippocampus of 5 controls, 3 Down syndrome and 10 Alzheimer patients. In Down syndrome and Alzheimer patients, APPcc and SET levels were increased in CA1 and the frequency of both localizations in the neuronal cytoplasm was high in CA1, and low in CA4. As the increase of APPcc is already present at early stages of AD, we overexpressed APPcc in CA1 and the dentate gyrus neurons of adult mice with a lentiviral construct. APPcc overexpression in CA1 and not in the dentate gyrus induced endogenous SET translocation and tau hyperphosphorylation. These data suggest that increase in APPcc in CA1 neurons could be an early event leading to the translocation of SET and the progression of AD through tau hyperphosphorylation.

Interventions aiming at balance confidence improvement in older adults: an updated review.

BACKGROUND: Loss of balance confidence is a frequent condition that affects 20-75% of community-dwelling older persons. Although a recent fall is a common trigger, loss of balance confidence also appears independent of previous experience with falls. Maintaining or improving balance confidence is important to avoid unnecessary, self-imposed restrictions of activity and subsequent disability. Holding another person's hand or using an assistive device while walking are simple interventions that are used naturally to address poor balance confidence in daily life. However, more complex interventions have also been developed and tested to achieve more sustained improvement in balance confidence. OBJECTIVES: This review describes interventions that have been tested to improve balance confidence in older community-dwelling persons. METHODS: Based on 2 recent systematic reviews, an additional search for literature was performed to update current information on interventions aiming at balance confidence improvement. Interventions were classified as those directly aimed at increasing balance confidence or not, and further stratified into those using monofactorial or multifactorial approaches. RESULTS: A total of 46 randomized controlled trials were identified. Five of the 8 interventions that directly targeted balance confidence showed benefits. Among those, multicomponent behavioral group interventions provided the most robust evidence of benefits in improving balance confidence and in decreasing activity avoidance. Among interventions not directly aiming at balance confidence improvement (11/21 studies with benefits), exercise (including tai chi) appears as the most promising monofactorial intervention. Nine of the 17 multifactorial fall prevention programs showed an effect on balance confidence, exercise being a main component in 7 of these 9 studies. Interventions that targeted elderly persons reporting poor balance confidence and/or those at risk for falls seemed more likely to be beneficial. CONCLUSIONS: Positive and sometimes sustained improvement in balance confidence can be achieved by various interventions among community-dwelling elderly persons. The effect of these interventions on activity restriction associated with poor balance confidence have been less well studied, but some studies also suggest potential benefits.

The set of undominated imputations and the core: an axiomatic approach

This paper provides an axiomatic framework to compare the D-core (the set of undominatedimputations) and the core of a cooperative game with transferable utility. Theorem1 states that the D-core is the only solution satisfying projection consistency, reasonableness (from above), (*)-antimonotonicity, and modularity. Theorem 2 characterizes the core replacing (*)-antimonotonicity by antimonotonicity. Moreover, these axioms alsocharacterize the core on the domain of convex games, totally balanced games, balancedgames, and superadditive games

Low E2F1 transcript levels are a strong determinant of favorable breast cancer outcome.

INTRODUCTION: We investigated whether mRNA levels of E2F1, a key transcription factor involved in proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, could be used as a surrogate marker for the determination of breast cancer outcome. METHODS: E2F1 and other proliferation markers were measured by quantitative RT-PCR in 317 primary breast cancer patients from the Stiftung Tumorbank Basel. Correlations to one another as well as to the estrogen receptor and ERBB2 status and clinical outcome were investigated. Results were validated and further compared with expression-based prognostic profiles using The Netherlands Cancer Institute microarray data set reported by Fan and colleagues. RESULTS: E2F1 mRNA expression levels correlated strongly with the expression of other proliferation markers, and low values were mainly found in estrogen receptor-positive and ERBB2-negative phenotypes. Patients with low E2F1-expressing tumors were associated with favorable outcome (hazard ratio = 4.3 (95% confidence interval = 1.8-9.9), P = 0.001). These results were consistent in univariate and multivariate Cox analyses, and were successfully validated in The Netherlands Cancer Institute data set. Furthermore, E2F1 expression levels correlated well with the 70-gene signature displaying the ability of selecting a common subset of patients at good prognosis. Breast cancer patients' outcome was comparably predictable by E2F1 levels, by the 70-gene signature, by the intrinsic subtype gene classification, by the wound response signature and by the recurrence score. CONCLUSION: Assessment of E2F1 at the mRNA level in primary breast cancer is a strong determinant of breast cancer patient outcome. E2F1 expression identified patients at low risk of metastasis irrespective of the estrogen receptor and ERBB2 status, and demonstrated similar prognostic performance to different gene expression-based predictors.

Coalitionally monotonic set-solutions for cooperative TU games

A static comparative study on set-solutions for cooperative TU games is carried out. The analysis focuses on studying the compatibility between two classical and reasonable properties introduced by Young (1985) in the context of single valued solutions, namely core-selection and coalitional monotonicity. As the main result, it is showed that coalitional monotonicity is not only incompatible with the core-selection property but also with the bargaining-selection property. This new impossibility result reinforces the tradeoff between these kinds of interesting and intuitive economic properties. Positive results about compatibility between desirable economic properties are given replacing the core selection requirement by the core-extension property.

Molecular phylogenetics of soricid shrews (Mammalia) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences: with special reference to the Soricinae

Molecular phylogeny of soricid shrews (Soricidae, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) based on 1140 bp mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cytb) sequences was inferred by the maximum likelihood (ML) method. All 13 genera of extant Soricinae and two genera of Crocidurinae were included in the analyses. Anourosorex was phylogenetically distant from the main groupings within Soricinae and Crocidurinae in the ML tree. Thus, it could not be determined to which subfamily Anourosorex should be assigned: Soricinae, Crocidurinae or a new subfamily. Soricinae (excluding Anourosorex) should be divided into four tribes: Neomyini, Notiosoricini, Soricini and Blarinini. However, monophyly of Blarinini was not robust in the present data set. Also, branching orders among tribes of Soricinae and those among genera of Neomyini could not be determined because of insufficient phylogenetic information of the cytb sequences. For water shrews of Neomyini (Chimarrogale, Nectogale and Neomys), monophyly of Neomys and the Chimarrogale-Nectogale group could not be verified, which implies the possibility of multiple origins for the semi-aquatic mode of living among taxa within Neomyini. Episoriculus may contain several separate genera. Blarinella was included in Blarinini not Soricini, based on the cytb sequences, but the confidence level was rather low; hence more phylogenetic information is needed to determine its phylogenetic position. Furthermore, some specific problems of taxonomy of soricid shrews were clarified, for example phylogeny of local populations of Notiosorex crawfordi, Chimarrogale himalayica and Crocidura attenuata.

Plastid genome characterisation in Brassica and Brassicaceae using a new set of nine SSRs.

We report a new set of nine primer pairs specifically developed for amplification of Brassica plastid SSR markers. The wide utility of these markers is demonstrated for haplotype identification and detection of polymorphism in B. napus, B. nigra, B. oleracea, B. rapa and in related genera Arabidopsis, Camelina, Raphanus and Sinapis. Eleven gene regions (ndhB-rps7 spacer, rbcL-accD spacer, rpl16 intron, rps16 intron, atpB-rbcL spacer, trnE-trnT spacer, trnL intron, trnL-trnF spacer, trnM-atpE spacer, trnR-rpoC2 spacer, ycf3-psaA spacer) were sequenced from a range of Brassica and related genera for SSR detection and primer design. Other sequences were obtained from GenBank/EMBL. Eight out of nine selected SSR loci showed polymorphism when amplified using the new primers and a combined analysis detected variation within and between Brassica species, with the number of alleles detected per locus ranging from 5 (loci MF-6, MF-1) to 11 (locus MF-7). The combined SSR data were used in a neighbour-joining analysis (SMM, D (DM) distances) to group the samples based on the presence and absence of alleles. The analysis was generally able to separate plastid types into taxon-specific groups. Multi-allelic haplotypes were plotted onto the neighbour joining tree. A total number of 28 haplotypes were detected and these differentiated 22 of the 41 accessions screened from all other accessions. None of these haplotypes was shared by more than one species and some were not characteristic of their predicted type. We interpret our results with respect to taxon differentiation, hybridisation and introgression patterns relating to the 'Triangle of U'.

Estimating the confidence level of white matter connections obtained with MRI tractography.

BACKGROUND: Since the emergence of diffusion tensor imaging, a lot of work has been done to better understand the properties of diffusion MRI tractography. However, the validation of the reconstructed fiber connections remains problematic in many respects. For example, it is difficult to assess whether a connection is the result of the diffusion coherence contrast itself or the simple result of other uncontrolled parameters like for example: noise, brain geometry and algorithmic characteristics. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work, we propose a method to estimate the respective contributions of diffusion coherence versus other effects to a tractography result by comparing data sets with and without diffusion coherence contrast. We use this methodology to assign a confidence level to every gray matter to gray matter connection and add this new information directly in the connectivity matrix. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that whereas we can have a strong confidence in mid- and long-range connections obtained by a tractography experiment, it is difficult to distinguish between short connections traced due to diffusion coherence contrast from those produced by chance due to the other uncontrolled factors of the tractography methodology.

Comparison of human and rhesus macaque T-cell responses elicited by boosting with NYVAC encoding human immunodeficiency virus type 1 clade C immunogens.

Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) have played a valuable role in the development of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine candidates prior to human clinical trials. However, changes and/or improvements in immunogen quality in the good manufacturing practice (GMP) process or changes in adjuvants, schedule, route, dose, or readouts have compromised the direct comparison of T-cell responses between species. Here we report a comparative study in which T-cell responses from humans and macaques to HIV type 1 antigens (Gag, Pol, Nef, and Env) were induced by the same vaccine batches prepared under GMP and administered according to the same schedules in the absence and presence of priming. Priming with DNA (humans and macaques) or alphavirus (macaques) and boosting with NYVAC induced robust and broad antigen-specific responses, with highly similar Env-specific gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) enzyme-linked immunospot assay responses in rhesus monkeys and human volunteers. Persistent cytokine responses of antigen-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells of the central memory as well as the effector memory phenotype, capable of simultaneously eliciting multiple cytokines (IFN-gamma, interleukin 2, and tumor necrosis factor alpha), were induced. Responses were highly similar in humans and primates, confirming earlier data indicating that priming is essential for inducing robust NYVAC-boosted IFN-gamma T-cell responses. While significant similarities were observed in Env-specific responses in both species, differences were also observed with respect to responses to other HIV antigens. Future studies with other vaccines using identical lots, immunization schedules, and readouts will establish a broader data set of species similarities and differences with which increased confidence in predicting human responses may be achieved.

Els set sabers traslladats al cinema formatiu. "La Ruta Natural"

Podeu consultar el document complet de la "XVI Setmana de Cinema Formatiu" a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/22523

Els set sabers traslladats al cinema formatiu. "Explorando la máquina de los sueños". El cine y la infancia en contextos de educación no formal

Podeu consultar el document complet de la "XVI Setmana de Cinema Formatiu" a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/22523