(Table 1, 2) Foraminifera biometric data, and boron isotopic composition of Globigerinoides sacculifer of sediments from the Ontong-Java Plateau

Sediment samples from the Ontong-Java Plateau in the Pacific and the 90° east ridge in the Indian Ocean were used to investigate whether shell size and early diagenesis affect d11B of the symbiont-bearing planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides sacculifer. In pristine shells from both study locations we found a systematic increase of d11B and Mg/Ca with shell size. Shells in the sieve size class 515-865 µm revealed d11B values +2.1 to +2.3 per mil higher than shells in the 250-380 µm class. This pattern is most likely due to differences in symbiont photosynthetic activity and its integrated effect on the pH of the foraminiferal microenvironment. We therefore suggest smaller individuals must live at approximately 50-100 m water depth where ambient light levels are lower. Using the empirical calibration curve for d11B in G. sacculifer, only shells larger than 425 µm reflect surface seawater pH. Partial dissolution of shells derived from deeper sediment cores was determined by shell weight analyses and investigation of the shell surface microstructure by scanning electron microscopy. The d11B in partially dissolved shells is up to 2 per mil lower relative to pristine shells of the same size class. In agreement with a relatively higher weight loss in smaller shells, samples from the Ontong-Java Plateau show a more pronounced dissolution effect than larger shells. On the basis of the primary size effect and potential postdepositional dissolution effects, we recommend the use of shells that are visually pristine and, in the case of G. sacculifer, larger than 500 ?m for paleoreconstructions.

Breads Fortified with Freeze-Dried Vegetables : Quality and Nutritional Attributes. Part II: Breads Not Containing Oil as an Ingredient

Acknowledgments: Funds for the study were provided by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division and conducted as part of the Scottish Government Strategic Research programme (Diet and Health Theme of the Food Land & People Programme). The authors are grateful to Phillip Morrice, Vivian Buchan, and Donna Henderson for helping with the nutritional analysis of the breads. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ciliary muscle morphology in emmetropia and ocular biometric correlates

Purpose: Recent studies have documented a link between axial myopia and ciliary muscle morphology; yet, the variation in biometric characteristics of the emmetropic ciliary muscle are not fully known. Ciliary muscle morphology, including symmetry, was investigated between both eyes of emmetropic participants and correlated to ocular biometric parameters. Methods: Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (Zeiss, Visante) was utilised to image both eyes of 49 emmetropic participants (mean spherical equivalent refractive error (MSE) ≥ -0.55; < +0.75 D), aged 19 to 26 years. High resolution images were obtained of nasal and temporal aspects of the ciliary muscle in the relaxed state. MSE of both eyes was recorded using the Grand Seiko WAM 5500; axial length (AXL), anterior chamber depth (ACD) and lens thickness (LT) of the right eye were obtained using the Haag-streit Lenstar LS 900 biometer. A bespoke semi-objective analysis programme was used to measure a range of ciliary muscle parameters. Results: Temporal ciliary muscle overall length (CML) was greater than nasal CML, in both eyes (right: 3.58 ± 0.40 mm and 3.85 ± 0.39 mm for nasal and temporal aspects, respectively, P < 0.001; left: 3.65 ± 0.35 mm and 3.88 ± 0.41 mm for nasal and temporal aspects, respectively, P < 0.001). Temporal ciliary muscle thickness (CMT) was greater than nasal CMT at 2 mm and 3 mm from the scleral spur (CM2 and CM3, respectively) in each eye (right CM2: 0.29 ± 0.05 mm and 0.32 ± 0.05 mm for nasal and temporal aspects, respectively, P < 0.001; left CM2: 0.30 ± 0.05 mm and 0.32 ± 0.05 mm for nasal and temporal aspects, respectively, P < 0.001; right CM3: 0.13 ± 0.05 mm and 0.16 ± 0.04 mm for nasal and temporal aspects, respectively, P < 0.001; left CM3: 0.14 ± 0.04 mm and 0.17 ± 0.05 mm for nasal and temporal aspects, respectively, P < 0.001). AXL was positively correlated with ciliary muscle anterior length (AL) (e.g. P < 0.001, r2 = 0.262 for left temporal aspect), CML (P = 0.003, r2 = 0.175 for right nasal aspect) and ACD (P = 0.01, r2 = 0.181). Conclusions: Morphological characteristics of the ciliary muscle in emmetropic eyes display high levels of symmetry between the eyes. Greater CML and AL are linked to greater AXL and ACD, indicating ciliary muscle growth with normal ocular development.

Automated Assessment of Image Quality and Dose Attributes in Clinical CT Images

Computed tomography (CT) is a valuable technology to the healthcare enterprise as evidenced by the more than 70 million CT exams performed every year. As a result, CT has become the largest contributor to population doses amongst all medical imaging modalities that utilize man-made ionizing radiation. Acknowledging the fact that ionizing radiation poses a health risk, there exists the need to strike a balance between diagnostic benefit and radiation dose. Thus, to ensure that CT scanners are optimally used in the clinic, an understanding and characterization of image quality and radiation dose are essential.

The state-of-the-art in both image quality characterization and radiation dose estimation in CT are dependent on phantom based measurements reflective of systems and protocols. For image quality characterization, measurements are performed on inserts imbedded in static phantoms and the results are ascribed to clinical CT images. However, the key objective for image quality assessment should be its quantification in clinical images; that is the only characterization of image quality that clinically matters as it is most directly related to the actual quality of clinical images. Moreover, for dose estimation, phantom based dose metrics, such as CT dose index (CTDI) and size specific dose estimates (SSDE), are measured by the scanner and referenced as an indicator for radiation exposure. However, CTDI and SSDE are surrogates for dose, rather than dose per-se.

Currently there are several software packages that track the CTDI and SSDE associated with individual CT examinations. This is primarily the result of two causes. The first is due to bureaucracies and governments pressuring clinics and hospitals to monitor the radiation exposure to individuals in our society. The second is due to the personal concerns of patients who are curious about the health risks associated with the ionizing radiation exposure they receive as a result of their diagnostic procedures.

An idea that resonates with clinical imaging physicists is that patients come to the clinic to acquire quality images so they can receive a proper diagnosis, not to be exposed to ionizing radiation. Thus, while it is important to monitor the dose to patients undergoing CT examinations, it is equally, if not more important to monitor the image quality of the clinical images generated by the CT scanners throughout the hospital.

The purposes of the work presented in this thesis are threefold: (1) to develop and validate a fully automated technique to measure spatial resolution in clinical CT images, (2) to develop and validate a fully automated technique to measure image contrast in clinical CT images, and (3) to develop a fully automated technique to estimate radiation dose (not surrogates for dose) from a variety of clinical CT protocols.

Assistant Professor and FCE Co-PI, John Kominoski and collaborators, Chris McVoy and Jim Brock, are investigating the foundational role of floc in the structural and functional attributes of the ridge and slough ecosystems of the Central Everglades.

http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/fce_lter_photos/1336/thumbnail.jpg

My mind, my self, my identity: a task-independent neural signature for biometric identification

Programa de doctorado: Sistemas Inteligentes y Aplicaciones Numéricas en Ingeniería

Pileated Woodpecker Occupancy and the Occurrence and Recruitment of Key Habitat Attributes in a Managed Forest

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Optimal Budget-Constrained Sample Allocation for Selection Decisions with Multiple Uncertain Attributes

A decision-maker, when faced with a limited and fixed budget to collect data in support of a multiple attribute selection decision, must decide how many samples to observe from each alternative and attribute. This allocation decision is of particular importance when the information gained leads to uncertain estimates of the attribute values as with sample data collected from observations such as measurements, experimental evaluations, or simulation runs. For example, when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security must decide upon a radiation detection system to acquire, a number of performance attributes are of interest and must be measured in order to characterize each of the considered systems. We identified and evaluated several approaches to incorporate the uncertainty in the attribute value estimates into a normative model for a multiple attribute selection decision. Assuming an additive multiple attribute value model, we demonstrated the idea of propagating the attribute value uncertainty and describing the decision values for each alternative as probability distributions. These distributions were used to select an alternative. With the goal of maximizing the probability of correct selection we developed and evaluated, under several different sets of assumptions, procedures to allocate the fixed experimental budget across the multiple attributes and alternatives. Through a series of simulation studies, we compared the performance of these allocation procedures to the simple, but common, allocation procedure that distributed the sample budget equally across the alternatives and attributes. We found the allocation procedures that were developed based on the inclusion of decision-maker knowledge, such as knowledge of the decision model, outperformed those that neglected such information. Beginning with general knowledge of the attribute values provided by Bayesian prior distributions, and updating this knowledge with each observed sample, the sequential allocation procedure performed particularly well. These observations demonstrate that managing projects focused on a selection decision so that the decision modeling and the experimental planning are done jointly, rather than in isolation, can improve the overall selection results.

Physical properties of Physalis peruviana L

Physalis (Physalis peruviana L.), also known as cape gooseberry or ground-cherry, plays an important role in nutrition as an excellent base for dietetic products. Highly valued for its unique flavour, texture and colour, recent research has shown that physalis fruit is rich in many beneficial compounds. In this study, the diameter and mass of physalis fruits were measured, which can be used to calculate other biometric characteristics of the fruit, such as: surface area, volume or density. Other physical properties were measured, namely the colour coordinates, by means of a Chroma meter, whilst the textural parameters firmness and elasticity were measured with a texturometer. The following values were calculated for the physalis fruits analysed in the present work: 1.69 cm for average diameter; 8.98 cm2 for surface area, 2.51 cm3 for volume; 2.77 g for mass was, and 1.10 g/cm3 for density. The colour coordinates were 56.72 for lightness, 16.69 for redness, and 58.11 for yellowness. Skin firmness and elasticity were evaluated for texture attributes, and their average values were 2.40 N and 2.94 mm, respectively. The results of this work are in accordance

Ecomorfologia de dez espécies de peixes marinhos mais abundantes de Galinhos/RN

Ecomorphology is a science based on the idea that morphological differences among species could be associated with distinct biological and environmental pressures suffered by them. These differences can be studied employing morphological and biometric indexes denominated Ecomorphological attributes , representing standards that express characteristics of the individual in relation to its environment, and can be interpreted as indicators of life habits or adaptations suffered due its occupation of different habitats. This work aims to contribute for the knowledge of the ecomorphology of the Brazilian marine ichthyofauna, specifically from Galinhos, located at Rio Grande do Norte state. 10 different species of fish were studied, belonging the families Gerreidae (Eucinostomus argenteus), Haemulidae (Orthopristis ruber,Pomadasyscorvinaeformis,Haemulonaurolineatum,Haemulonplumieri,Haemulonsteindachneri), Lutjanidae (Lutjanus synagris), Paralichthyidae (Syaciummicrurum), Bothidae (Bothus ocellatus) and Tetraodontidae (Sphoeroidestestudineus), which were obtained during five collections, in the period time of September/2004 to April/2005, utilizing three special nets. The ecomorphological study was performed at the laboratory. Eight to ten samples of each fish specie were measured. Fifteen morphological aspects were considered to calculate twelve ecomorphological attributes. Multivariate statistical analysis methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis were done to identify ecmorphological patterns to describe the data set obtained. As results, H.aurolineatumwas the most abundant specie found (23,03%) and S.testudineusthe less one with 0,23%. The 1st Principal component showed variation of 60,03% with influence of the ecomorphological attribute related to body morphology, while the 2nd PC with 23,25% variation had influence of the ecomorphological attribute related to oral morphology. The Cluster Analiysis promoted the identification of three distinct groups Perciformes, Pleuronectiformes and Tetraodontiformes. Based on the obtained data, considering morphological characters differences among the species studied, we suggest that all of them live at the medium (E.argenteus,O.rubber, P.corvinaeformis,H.aurolineatum,H.plumieri,H.steindachneri,L.synagris) and bottom (S.micrurum,B.ocellatus,S.testudineus) region of column water.