The presence of Taeniodonta (Mammalia) in the Early Eocene of Europe

The first representative of the extinct mammalian order Taeniodonta in Europe is described, Eurodon silveirinhensis n. gen., n. sp., from the early Eocene locality of Silveirinha, Portugal. A formerly enigmatic form, Lessnessina Hooker, 1979, from Abbey Wood, England, and approximately contemporary, is also referred to the Taeniodonta.

Questões em torno dos Ordinários do Oficio Divino de Alcobaça

This paper focus on the Ordinals of the Divine Office copied in the scriptorium of Alcobaça’s abbey during the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th. The Ordinals were not meant to be used in the celebration of the liturgical service, but they were used as a guide, to help solving conflicts between offices that converge in the same day. These Ordinals also show us some aspects of the life and habits of Alcobaça monks.

Mass detection on mammograms: influence of signal shape uncertainty on human and model observers.

We studied the influence of signal variability on human and model observers for detection tasks with realistic simulated masses superimposed on real patient mammographic backgrounds and synthesized mammographic backgrounds (clustered lumpy backgrounds, CLB). Results under the signal-known-exactly (SKE) paradigm were compared with signal-known-statistically (SKS) tasks for which the observers did not have prior knowledge of the shape or size of the signal. Human observers' performance did not vary significantly when benign masses were superimposed on real images or on CLB. Uncertainty and variability in signal shape did not degrade human performance significantly compared with the SKE task, while variability in signal size did. Implementation of appropriate internal noise components allowed the fit of model observers to human performance.

Development of model observers applied to 3D breast tomosynthesis microcalcifications and masses

The development of model observers for mimicking human detection strategies has followed from symmetric signals in simple noise to increasingly complex backgrounds. In this study we implement different model observers for the complex task of detecting a signal in a 3D image stack. The backgrounds come from real breast tomosynthesis acquisitions and the signals were simulated and reconstructed within the volume. Two different tasks relevant to the early detection of breast cancer were considered: detecting an 8 mm mass and detecting a cluster of microcalcifications. The model observers were calculated using a channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) with dense difference-of-Gaussian channels, and a modified (Partial prewhitening [PPW]) observer which was adapted to realistic signals which are not circularly symmetric. The sustained temporal sensitivity function was used to filter the images before applying the spatial templates. For a frame rate of five frames per second, the only CHO that we calculated performed worse than the humans in a 4-AFC experiment. The other observers were variations of PPW and outperformed human observers in every single case. This initial frame rate was a rather low speed and the temporal filtering did not affect the results compared to a data set with no human temporal effects taken into account. We subsequently investigated two higher speeds at 5, 15 and 30 frames per second. We observed that for large masses, the two types of model observers investigated outperformed the human observers and would be suitable with the appropriate addition of internal noise. However, for microcalcifications both only the PPW observer consistently outperformed the humans. The study demonstrated the possibility of using a model observer which takes into account the temporal effects of scrolling through an image stack while being able to effectively detect a range of mass sizes and distributions.

The genome sequence of taurine cattle: a window to ruminant biology and evolution.

To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.

Un nou fragment del sepulcre de Ramon Folc VI de Cardona del monestir de Poblet

En el present article donem a conèixer un fragment del sepulcre de Ramon Folc VI de Cardona (†1320), conegut com el Prohom Vinculador, que es troba al braç meridional del transsepte de l’església del monestir de Poblet. El fragment fou subhastat a Barcelona el març del 2008 i fou adquirit per la Generalitat de Catalunya, que el diposità al Museu de Lleida: diocesà i comarcal. La peça sortia a la venda amb un possible origen pobletana procedent de la tradició antiquària, ja que havia estat propietat del pintor i il·lustrador modernista Alexandre de Riquer (1856-1920), de qui sabem que va extreure materials del monestir, a la vegada que és coneguda la seva faceta de col·leccionista i marxant d’art i antiguitats. Finalment, aquesta procedència s’ha pogut corroborar en descobrir-se que el fragment subhastat era un dels membra disjecta de l’esmentat sepulcre. Avui el fragment es troba pendent de ser restituït al Monestir de Poblet.

Derivation of an observer model adapted to irregular signals based on convolution channels.

Anthropomorphic model observers are mathe- matical algorithms which are applied to images with the ultimate goal of predicting human signal detection and classification accuracy across varieties of backgrounds, image acquisitions and display conditions. A limitation of current channelized model observers is their inability to handle irregularly-shaped signals, which are common in clinical images, without a high number of directional channels. Here, we derive a new linear model observer based on convolution channels which we refer to as the "Filtered Channel observer" (FCO), as an extension of the channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) and the nonprewhitening with an eye filter (NPWE) observer. In analogy to the CHO, this linear model observer can take the form of a single template with an external noise term. To compare with human observers, we tested signals with irregular and asymmetrical shapes spanning the size of lesions down to those of microcalfications in 4-AFC breast tomosynthesis detection tasks, with three different contrasts for each case. Whereas humans uniformly outperformed conventional CHOs, the FCO observer outperformed humans for every signal with only one exception. Additive internal noise in the models allowed us to degrade model performance and match human performance. We could not match all the human performances with a model with a single internal noise component for all signal shape, size and contrast conditions. This suggests that either the internal noise might vary across signals or that the model cannot entirely capture the human detection strategy. However, the FCO model offers an efficient way to apprehend human observer performance for a non-symmetric signal.

Fanfare in C Major

Soitinnus: Urut.

Primary characterization of genes involved in the colony development of the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae /

Strain improvement of the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopUae is necessary to increase its virulence towards agricultural pests and thus improve its commercial efficacy. Nevertheless, the release of genetically modified conidia in crop fields may negatively affect the ecosystem. Controlling conidiation is a potential means of limiting the release of engineered strains since conidia are the infective propagules and the means of dispersal. The purpose of this study was to research the colony development of M. anisopUae to identify potential targets for genetic manipulation to control conidiation. Following Agrobacterium tumefaciem insertional mutagenesis, phenotypic mutants were characterized using Y-shaped adaptor dependent extension PCR. Four of 1 8 colony development recombinants had T-DNA flanking sequences with high homology to genes encoding known signaling pathway proteins that regulate pathogenesis and/or asexual development in filamentous fungi. Conidial density counts and insect bioassays suggested that a Serine/Threonine protein kinase COTl homolog is not essential for conidiation or virulence. Furthermore, a choline kinase homolog is important for conidiation, but not virulence. Finally, the regulator of G protein signaling CAG8 and a NADPH oxidase NoxA homolog are necessary for conidiation and virulence. These genes are candidates for further investigation into the regulatory pathways controlling conidiation to yield insight into promising gene targets for biocontrol strain improvement.

Second Welland Canal - Book 3, Survey Map 1 - Canal to Chippewa Creek with Port Robinson

Survey map of the Second Welland Canal created by the Welland Canal Company showing Port Robinson and the canal to Chippewa Creek. The surveyors' measurements and notes can be seen in red and black ink and pencil. Local area landmarks are also identified and include streets and roads (ex. Front Street, Bridge Street, and Cross Street), the Welland railroad, Dry Dock leased to D. McFarland and Abbey, G. Jordan Tavern, D. McFarland and Co. Burnt Saw Mill, I. Pew Shop, Old Locks, New Lock, Canal to Chippewa Creek, Chippewa Creek, covered drain from dry dock, a barn and several bridges. Properties and property owners of note are: Lots 202, Broken Front lots 202 and 203, D. McFarland, and G. Jordan.

Second Welland Canal - Book 3, Survey Map 2 - Canal to Chippewa Creek with Port Robinson

Survey map of the Second Welland Canal created by the Welland Canal Company showing the canal as it passes through Port Robinson. Identified structures associated with the Canal include the Guard Lock, Collector Toll Office, towing path, and the New Cut of the canal. The surveyors' measurements and notes can be seen in red and black ink and pencil. Local area landmarks are also identified and include streets and roads (ex. Island Street, Bridge Street, John Street, and Cross Street), bridges (Swing Bridge, and several unnamed bridges), Welland Railroad, Canal to Chippewa Creek (and two old locks and one new lock associated with the canal), Chippewa Creek, Back Water, an unnamed Island, Dry Dock leased to McFarland and Abbey, Abbey's Office, D. McFarland and Co. Saw Mill (Burnt), G. Jordan Tavern, Robert Elliot Store House and Wharf, Isaac Pew's Shop, Colemans Hotel, R. Band and Co. Girst Mill, Donaldson and Co. Grist Mill, H. Marlatt Dwelling House and barn, Henry W. Timms Hotel, Methodist Church, Post Office, Blacksmith Shop, a church, a structure labeled B. Patch, and a number of other structures that are not named. Properties and property owners of note are: Lots 202 and 203, S. Hill, D. McFarland, Church Society, G. Jordan, D. Coleman, John Brown, Rob Coulter, Robert Elliot, Isaac Pew, James McCoppen, William Bell, Charles Stuart, Andrew Elliot, Robert Band, Ed. Feney, John Betty, F. Sharp, William B. Hendershot, A. Brownson, H. Marlatt, J. S. Powell, and the School Trustees. Two reserved properties are labeled in red.The current spelling of Chippewa Creek is Chippawa. Although it not possible to make out the entire name of the H. W. Timms hotel located at Front and Bridge Street on the map itself, it was discovered to belong to Henry W. Timms after consulting the 1851-52 Canada Directory.