F+0 renography in neonates and infants younger than 6 months: an accurate method to diagnose severe obstructive uropathy.

We studied the response to F+0 renography and the relative and absolute individual kidney function in neonates and < 6-mo-old infants before and after surgery for unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UJO). METHODS: The results obtained at diagnosis and after pyeloplasty for 9 children (8 boys, 1 girl; age range, 0.8-5.9 mo; mean age +/- SD, 2.4 +/- 1.5 mo) with proven unilateral UJO (i.e., affected kidney [AK]) and an unremarkable contralateral kidney (i.e., normal kidney [NK]) were evaluated and compared with a control group of 10 children (6 boys, 4 girls; age range, 0.8-2.8 mo; mean age, 1.5 +/- 0.7 mo) selected because of symmetric renal function, absence of vesicoureteral reflux or infection, and an initially dilated but not obstructed renal pelvis as proven by follow-up. Renography was performed for 20 min after injection of (123)I-hippuran (OIH) (0.5-1.0 MBq/kg) immediately followed by furosemide (1 mg/kg). The relative and absolute renal functions and the response to furosemide were measured on background-subtracted and depth-corrected renograms. The response to furosemide was quantified by an elimination index (EI), defined as the ratio of the 3- to 20-min activities: An EI > or = 3 was considered definitively normal and an EI < or = 1 definitively abnormal. If EI was equivocal (1 < EI < 3), the response to gravity-assisted drainage was used to differentiate AKs from NKs. Absolute separate renal function was measured by an accumulation index (AI), defined as the percentage of (123)I-OIH (%ID) extracted by the kidney 30-90 s after maximal cardiac activity. RESULTS: All AKs had definitively abnormal EIs at diagnosis (mean, 0.56 +/- 0.12) and were significantly lower than the EIs of the NKs (mean, 3.24 +/- 1.88) and of the 20 control kidneys (mean, 3.81 +/- 1.97; P < 0.001). The EIs of the AKs significantly improved (mean, 2.81 +/- 0.64; P < 0.05) after pyeloplasty. At diagnosis, the AIs of the AKs were significantly lower (mean, 6.31 +/- 2.33 %ID) than the AIs of the NKs (mean, 9.43 +/- 1.12 %ID) and of the control kidneys (mean, 9.05 +/- 1.17 %ID; P < 0.05). The AIs of the AKs increased at follow-up (mean, 7.81 +/- 2.23 %ID) but remained lower than those of the NKs (mean, 10.75 +/- 1.35 %ID; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In neonates and infants younger than 6 mo, (123)I-OIH renography with early furosemide injection (F+0) allowed us to reliably diagnose AKs and to determine if parenchymal function was normal or impaired and if it improved after surgery.

Use of high-resolution geophysical data to characterize heterogeneous aquifers: influence of data integration method on hydrological predictions

The integration of geophysical data into the subsurface characterization problem has been shown in many cases to significantly improve hydrological knowledge by providing information at spatial scales and locations that is unattainable using conventional hydrological measurement techniques. The investigation of exactly how much benefit can be brought by geophysical data in terms of its effect on hydrological predictions, however, has received considerably less attention in the literature. Here, we examine the potential hydrological benefits brought by a recently introduced simulated annealing (SA) conditional stochastic simulation method designed for the assimilation of diverse hydrogeophysical data sets. We consider the specific case of integrating crosshole ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and borehole porosity log data to characterize the porosity distribution in saturated heterogeneous aquifers. In many cases, porosity is linked to hydraulic conductivity and thus to flow and transport behavior. To perform our evaluation, we first generate a number of synthetic porosity fields exhibiting varying degrees of spatial continuity and structural complexity. Next, we simulate the collection of crosshole GPR data between several boreholes in these fields, and the collection of porosity log data at the borehole locations. The inverted GPR data, together with the porosity logs, are then used to reconstruct the porosity field using the SA-based method, along with a number of other more elementary approaches. Assuming that the grid-cell-scale relationship between porosity and hydraulic conductivity is unique and known, the porosity realizations are then used in groundwater flow and contaminant transport simulations to assess the benefits and limitations of the different approaches.

A genome-wide significant linkage for severe depression on chromosome 3: the depression network study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find loci for major depression via linkage analysis of a large sibling pair sample. Method: The authors conducted a genome-wide linkage analysis of 839 families consisting of 971 affected sibling pairs with severe recurrent major depression, comprising waves I and II of the Depression Network Study cohort. In addition to examining affected status, linkage analyses in the full data set were performed using diagnoses restricted by impairment severity, and association mapping of hits in a large case-control data set was attempted. Results: The authors identified genome-wide significant linkage to chromosome 3p25-26 when the diagnoses were restricted by severity, which was a maximum LOD score of 4.0 centered at the linkage marker D3S1515. The linkage signal identified was genome-wide significant after correction for the multiple phenotypes tested, although subsequent association mapping of the region in a genome-wide association study of a U.K. depression sample did not provide significant results. Conclusions: The authors report a genome-wide significant locus for depression that implicates genes that are highly plausible for involvement in the etiology of recurrent depression. Despite the fact that association mapping in the region was negative, the linkage finding was replicated by another group who found genome-wide-significant linkage for depression in the same region. This suggests that 3p25-26 is a new locus for severe recurrent depression. This represents the first report of a genome-wide significant locus for depression that also has an independent genome-wide significant replication.

Accuracy profile validation of a new method for carbon monoxide measurement in the human blood using headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS).

The aim of our study was to provide an innovative headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) method applicable for the routine determination of blood CO concentration in forensic toxicology laboratories. The main drawback of the GC/MS methods discussed in literature for CO measurement is the absence of a specific CO internal standard necessary for performing quantification. Even if stable isotope of CO is commercially available in the gaseous state, it is essential to develop a safer method to limit the manipulation of gaseous CO and to precisely control the injected amount of CO for spiking and calibration. To avoid the manipulation of a stable isotope-labeled gas, we have chosen to generate in a vial in situ, an internal labeled standard gas ((13)CO) formed by the reaction of labeled formic acid formic acid (H(13)COOH) with sulfuric acid. As sulfuric acid can also be employed to liberate the CO reagent from whole blood, the procedure allows for the liberation of CO simultaneously with the generation of (13)CO. This method allows for precise measurement of blood CO concentrations from a small amount of blood (10 μL). Finally, this method was applied to measure the CO concentration of intoxicated human blood samples from autopsies.

A method to obtain the integrated contour image in colour scenes

This paper describes a method to achieve the most relevant contours of an image. The presented method proposes to integrate the information of the local contours from chromatic components such as H, S and I, taking into account the criteria of coherence of the local contour orientation values obtained from each of these components. The process is based on parametrizing pixel by pixel the local contours (magnitude and orientation values) from the H, S and I images. This process is carried out individually for each chromatic component. If the criterion of dispersion of the obtained orientation values is high, this chromatic component will lose relevance. A final processing integrates the extracted contours of the three chromatic components, generating the so-called integrated contours image

Policy gradient based Reinforcement Learning for real autonomous underwater cable tracking

This paper proposes a field application of a high-level reinforcement learning (RL) control system for solving the action selection problem of an autonomous robot in cable tracking task. The learning system is characterized by using a direct policy search method for learning the internal state/action mapping. Policy only algorithms may suffer from long convergence times when dealing with real robotics. In order to speed up the process, the learning phase has been carried out in a simulated environment and, in a second step, the policy has been transferred and tested successfully on a real robot. Future steps plan to continue the learning process on-line while on the real robot while performing the mentioned task. We demonstrate its feasibility with real experiments on the underwater robot ICTINEU AUV

Online Robust 3D Mapping Using Structure from Motion Cues

This paper presents a complete solution for creating accurate 3D textured models from monocular video sequences. The methods are developed within the framework of sequential structure from motion, where a 3D model of the environment is maintained and updated as new visual information becomes available. The camera position is recovered by directly associating the 3D scene model with local image observations. Compared to standard structure from motion techniques, this approach decreases the error accumulation while increasing the robustness to scene occlusions and feature association failures. The obtained 3D information is used to generate high quality, composite visual maps of the scene (mosaics). The visual maps are used to create texture-mapped, realistic views of the scene

An improved method for discovering link criticality in transport networks

Quantitatively assessing the importance or criticality of each link in a network is of practical value to operators, as that can help them to increase the network's resilience, provide more efficient services, or improve some other aspect of the service. Betweenness is a graph-theoretical measure of centrality that can be applied to communication networks to evaluate link importance. However, as we illustrate in this paper, the basic definition of betweenness centrality produces inaccurate estimations as it does not take into account some aspects relevant to networking, such as the heterogeneity in link capacity or the difference between node-pairs in their contribution to the total traffic. A new algorithm for discovering link centrality in transport networks is proposed in this paper. It requires only static or semi-static network and topology attributes, and yet produces estimations of good accuracy, as verified through extensive simulations. Its potential value is demonstrated by an example application. In the example, the simple shortest-path routing algorithm is improved in such a way that it outperforms other more advanced algorithms in terms of blocking ratio

Estimation of the probability of congestion using Monte Carlo method in OPS networks

In networks with small buffers, such as optical packet switching based networks, the convolution approach is presented as one of the most accurate method used for the connection admission control. Admission control and resource management have been addressed in other works oriented to bursty traffic and ATM. This paper focuses on heterogeneous traffic in OPS based networks. Using heterogeneous traffic and bufferless networks the enhanced convolution approach is a good solution. However, both methods (CA and ECA) present a high computational cost for high number of connections. Two new mechanisms (UMCA and ISCA) based on Monte Carlo method are proposed to overcome this drawback. Simulation results show that our proposals achieve lower computational cost compared to enhanced convolution approach with an small stochastic error in the probability estimation

Schistosomiasis risk mapping in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using a decision tree approach, remote sensing data and sociological indicators

Schistosomiasis mansoni is not just a physical disease, but is related to social and behavioural factors as well. Snails of the Biomphalaria genus are an intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni and infect humans through water. The objective of this study is to classify the risk of schistosomiasis in the state of Minas Gerais (MG). We focus on socioeconomic and demographic features, basic sanitation features, the presence of accumulated water bodies, dense vegetation in the summer and winter seasons and related terrain characteristics. We draw on the decision tree approach to infection risk modelling and mapping. The model robustness was properly verified. The main variables that were selected by the procedure included the terrain's water accumulation capacity, temperature extremes and the Human Development Index. In addition, the model was used to generate two maps, one that included risk classification for the entire of MG and another that included classification errors. The resulting map was 62.9% accurate.

Methylation alterations are not a major cause of PTTG1 misregulation.

BACKGROUND On its physiological cellular context, PTTG1 controls sister chromatid segregation during mitosis. Within its crosstalk to the cellular arrest machinery, relies a checkpoint of integrity for which gained the over name of securin. PTTG1 was found to promote malignant transformation in 3T3 fibroblasts, and further found to be overexpressed in different tumor types. More recently, PTTG1 has been also related to different processes such as DNA repair and found to trans-activate different cellular pathways involving c-myc, bax or p53, among others. PTTG1 over-expression has been correlated to a worse prognosis in thyroid, lung, colorectal cancer patients, and it can not be excluded that this effect may also occur in other tumor types. Despite the clinical relevance and the increasing molecular characterization of PTTG1, the reason for its up-regulation remains unclear. METHOD We analysed PTTG1 differential expression in PC-3, DU-145 and LNCaP tumor cell lines, cultured in the presence of the methyl-transferase inhibitor 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine. We also tested whether the CpG island mapping PTTG1 proximal promoter evidenced a differential methylation pattern in differentiated thyroid cancer biopsies concordant to their PTTG1 immunohistochemistry status. Finally, we performed whole-genome LOH studies using Affymetix 50 K microarray technology and FRET analysis to search for allelic imbalances comprising the PTTG1 locus. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that neither methylation alterations nor LOH are involved in PTTG1 over-expression. These data, together with those previously reported, point towards a post-transcriptional level of misregulation associated to PTTG1 over-expression.

Rotavirus A genotype G1P[8]: a novel method to distinguish wild-type strains from the Rotarix® vaccine strain

Rotaviruses are important enteric pathogens for humans and animals. Group A rotaviruses (RV-A) are the most common agents of severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children and vaccination is the most effective method to reduce RV-A-associated diseases. G1P[8], the most prevalent RV-A genotype worldwide, is included in the RV-A vaccine Rotarix®. The discrimination between wild-type G1P[8] and vaccine G1P[8] strains is an important topic in the study of RV-A epidemiology to manage outbreaks and to define control measures for vaccinated children. In this study, we developed a novel method to segregate the wild-type and vaccine strains using restriction endonucleases. The dsRNA from the Rotarix® vaccine was sequenced and the NSP3 gene was selected as the target gene. The vaccine strain has a restriction pattern that is different than that of wild-type RV-A G1P[8] isolates after digestion with the restriction endonuclease BspHI. This pattern could be used as a marker for the differentiation of wild-type G1P[8] strains from the vaccine strain.

A New Method for ECG Tracking of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Termination during Stepwise Ablation

Stepwise radiofrequency catheter ablation (step-CA) has become the treatment of choice for the restoration of sinus rhythm (SR) in patients with long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (pers-AF). Its success rate appears limited as the amount of ablation to achieve long term SR is unknown. Multiple organization indexes (OIs) have been previously developed to track the organization of AF during step-CA, however, with limited success. We report an adaptive method for tracking AF termination (AF-term) based on OIs characterizing the relationship between harmonic components of atrial activity from the surface ECG of AF activity. By computing their relative evolution during the last two steps preceding AF-term, we found that the performance of our OIs was superior to classical indices to track the efficiency of step-CA "en route" to AF-term. Our preliminary results suggest that the gradual synchronization between the fundamental and its first harmonic of AF activity appears as a promising parameter for predicting AF-term during step-CA.

Schistosoma mansoni: a method for inducing resistance to praziquantel using infected Biomphalaria glabrata snails

To elucidate the mechanisms of antischistosoma resistance, drug-resistant Schistosoma mansoni laboratory isolates are essential. We developed a new method for inducing resistance to praziquantel (PZQ) using successive drug treatments of Biomphalaria glabrata snails infected with S. mansoni. Infected B. glabrata were treated three times with 100 mg/kg PZQ for five consecutive days with a one-week interval between them. After the treatment, the cercariae (LE-PZQ) produced from these snails and the LE strains (susceptible) were used to infect mice. Forty-five days after infection, mice were treated with 200, 400 or 800 mg/kg PZQ. Thirty days post-treatment, we observed that the mean number of worms recovered by perfusion was significantly higher in the group of mice infected with the LE-PZQ isolate treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg in comparison to the LE strain with the same treatment. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the ED50 (effective dose required to kill 50% of the worms) of the LE-PZQ isolate (362 mg/kg) and the LE strain (68 mg/kg). In the in vitro assays, the worms of the LE-PZQ isolate were also less susceptible to PZQ. Thus, the use of infected snails as an experimental model for development of resistance to S. mansoni is effective, fast, simple and cheap.