Cutting out the middleman: measuring nuclear area in histopathology slides without segmentation

The size of nuclei in histological preparations from excised breast tumors is predictive of patient outcome (large nuclei indicate poor outcome). Pathologists take into account nuclear size when performing breast cancer grading. In addition, the mean nuclear area (MNA) has been shown to have independent prognostic value. The straightforward approach to measuring nuclear size is by performing nuclei segmentation. We hypothesize that given an image of a tumor region with known nuclei locations, the area of the individual nuclei and region statistics such as the MNA can be reliably computed directly from the image data by employing a machine learning model, without the intermediate step of nuclei segmentation. Towards this goal, we train a deep convolutional neural network model that is applied locally at each nucleus location, and can reliably measure the area of the individual nuclei and the MNA. Furthermore, we show how such an approach can be extended to perform combined nuclei detection and measurement, which is reminiscent of granulometry.Comment: Conditionally accepted for MICCAI 201

Genetic Variation in FADS Genes and Plasma Cholesterol Levels in 2-Year-Old Infants

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in fatty acid metabolism (FADS1 FADS2 gene cluster) are associated with plasma lipid levels. We aimed to investigate whether these associations are already present early in life and compare the relative contribution of FADS SNPs vs traditional (non-genetic) factors as determinants of plasma lipid levels. Information on infants' plasma total cholesterol levels, genotypes of five FADS SNPs (rs174545, rs174546, rs174556, rs174561, and rs3834458), anthropometric data, maternal characteristics, and breastfeeding history was available for 521 2-year-old children from the KOALA Birth Cohort Study. For 295 of these 521 children, plasma HDLc and non-HDLc levels were also known. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to study the associations of genetic and non-genetic determinants with cholesterol levels. All FADS SNPs were significantly associated with total cholesterol levels. Heterozygous and homozygous for the minor allele children had about 4% and 8% lower total cholesterol levels than major allele homozygotes. In addition, homozygous for the minor allele children had about 7% lower HDLc levels. This difference reached significance for the SNPs rs174546 and rs3834458. The associations went in the same direction for non-HDLc, but statistical significance was not reached. The percentage of total variance of total cholesterol levels explained by FADS SNPs was relatively low (lower than 3%) but of the same order as that explained by gender and the non-genetic determinants together. FADS SNPs are associated with plasma total cholesterol and HDLc levels in preschool children. This brings a new piece of evidence to explain how blood lipid levels may track from childhood to adulthood. Moreover, the finding that these SNPs explain a similar amount of variance in total cholesterol levels as the non-genetic determinants studied reveals the potential importance of investigating the effects of genetic variations in early life

The Implementation of the Feedback Principle in Science and Technics

In this study positive and negative influence of the feedback have been examined. A feedback principle in the alternating current amplifier and in the speed regulator of the turbine rotation was described. The main conclusion of the positive and negative effect was obtained. Negative feedback worsens the properties of an object, reducing a strengthening factor, delaying regulatory action. Positive feedback considerably raises device work stability. This research will enable to identify the importance and effectiveness of the feedback principle in science and technics

Evaluating the comparative effectiveness of different demand side interventions to increase maternal health service utilization and practice of birth spacing in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: an innovative, mixed methods approach

In this protocol we describe a mixed methods study in the province of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo evaluating the effectiveness of different demand side strategies to increase maternal health service utilization and the practice of birth spacing. Conditional service subsidization, conditional cash transfers and non-monetary incentives aim to encourage women to use maternal health services and practice birth spacing in two different health districts. Our methodology will comparatively evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches against each other and no intervention.; This study comprises four main research activities: 1) Formative qualitative research to determine feasibility of planned activities and inform development of the quantitative survey; 2) A community-based, longitudinal survey; 3) A retrospective review of health facility records; 4) Qualitative exploration of intervention acceptability and emergent themes through in-depth interviews with program participants, non-participants, their partners and health providers. Female community health workers are engaged as core members of the research team, working in tandem with female survey teams to identify women in the community who meet eligibility criteria. Female community health workers also act as key informants and community entry points during methods design and qualitative exploration. Main study outcomes are completion of antenatal care, institutional delivery, practice of birth spacing, family planning uptake and intervention acceptability in the communities. Qualitative methods also explore decision making around maternal health service use, fertility preference and perceptions of family planning.; The innovative mixed methods design allows quantitative data to inform the relationships and phenomena to be explored in qualitative collection. In turn, qualitative findings will be triangulated with quantitative findings. Inspired by the principles of grounded theory, qualitative analysis will begin while data collection is ongoing. This "conversation" between quantitative and qualitative data will result in a more holistic, context-specific exploration and understanding of research topics, including the mechanisms through which the interventions are or are not effective. In addition, engagement of female community health workers as core members of the research team roots research methods in the realities of the community and provides teams with key informants who are simultaneously implicated in the health system, community and target population

An Application of the Multi-Level Heuristic for the Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem

The Multi-Level heuristic is used to investigate the heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem (HFVRP). The initial solution for the Multi-Level heuristic is obtained by Dijkstra\u27s algorithm based on a cost network constructed by the sweep algorithm and the 2-opt procedure. The proposed algorithm uses a number of local search operators such as swap, 1-0 insertion, 2-opt, and Dijkstra\u27s Algorithm. In addition, in order to improve the search process, a diversification procedure is applied. The proposed algorithm is thentested on the data sets from the literature

Decay resistance variability of European wood species thermally modified by industrial process

Thermal modification is now considered as a new ecofriendly industrial wood modification process improving mainly the material decay resistance and its dimensional stability. Most industrial thermal treatment processes use convection heat transfer which induces sometimes heterogeneous treatment temperature propagation within the oven and lead to the heterogeneity in treatment efficiency. Thus, it is common that treatment is not completely effective on several stack boards, in a same batch. The aim of this paper was to study the decay resistance variability of various European wood species thermally modified. Thermal modifications were performed around 240°C during 4h, on about 10 m3 of 27 x 152 x 2000 mm3 wood planks placed in an industrial oven having a volume of 20 m3, on the following wood species: spruce, ash, beech and poplar. All of the tests concerning the decay resistance were carried out in the laboratory using untreated beech and pine woods as reference materials. An agar block test was used to determine the resistance of thermally modified woods, leached beforehand according to EN 84 standard or not, to brown-rot and white-rot fungi, according to XP CEN/TS 15083-1. A large selection of treated wood samples was tested in order to estimate the variability of treatment efficiency. Thermal treatment increased the biological durability of all leached and un-leached modified wood samples, compared with native wood species. The treatment temperature of 240°C used in this study is sufficient to reach durability classes ''durable'' or ''very durable'' for the four wood species. However, the dispersion of weight loss values, due to the fungal attacks was very important and showed a large variability of the durability of wood which has been treated in a single batch. These results showed that there is a substantial need to develop process control and² indicator in order to insure that the quality of treated timber is properly evaluated with a view to putting this modified timber on the market under a chain of custody. (Résumé d'auteur

Attitudes to a male contraceptive pill in a group of contraceptive users in the UK

BACKGROUND. Small scale trials of male hormonal contraception have produced encouraging results. Attitudes to and beliefs about a proposed male pill may affect uptake. METHODS. This paper examines attitudes towards a proposed ‘male contraceptive pill’ among a self selected sample of 54 men and 134 women, living in a non-metropolitan centre in the East of England, United Kingdom who were already users of contraception. Thirty four respondents were also interviewed and their views on the male pill were qualitatively analysed. RESULTS. The acceptability of a male pill was high with just under half (49.5%) of respondents indicating that they would use it. Gender, length of relationship, age and educational achievement did not affect the reported acceptability. 42% of respondents expressed concerns that men would forget to take a male pill. Women were significantly more likely to express this concern than men. 26% of respondents expressed health concerns. Willingness to take a male pill was associated with expressing the view that increased protection against pregnancy would be an advantage of such a method. Those unwilling or undecided were more likely to express concerns about the effect of a pill on future fertility. CONCLUSIONS. A male pill was accepted as a potential aid to increased fertility control by a large proportion of a convenience sample of contraceptive users in the East of England. If a male pill were to be marketed in the UK this study suggests that concerns about effects on future fertility and health risks may need to be addressed

Сутність адміністративного права за новою класифікацією юриспруденції

На основі новітніх підходів до розумінні завдань, об’єктів і класифікації юридичних наук запропонована перспектива розвитку адміністративного права і процесу, які повинні трансформуватися в нові юридичні науки: базисноантиделыктне «Адміністра­тивне право України», процедурне «Админо­регламентное право України» та у низку регулятивних юридичних наук, а також розробити Адміністративний кодекс України, Адміно-регламентній кодекс України, відповідні регулятивні кодекси.На основе новейших подходов к понимании задач, объектов и классификации юридических наук предложена перспектива развития административного права и процес­са, которые должны трансформироваться в новые юридические науки: базисноанти­деликтное «Административное право Украины», процедурное «Админо­регламентное право Украины» и ряд регулятивных юридических наук, а также разработать Административный кодекс Украины, Админо-регламентный кодекс Украины, соответствую­щие регулятивные кодексы.On the basis of the newest fittings to for understanding of tasks, objects and classification of legal sciences the prospect of development of administrative law and process is offered, which must be transformed in new legal sciences: basisuntidelictical the «Administrative law of Ukraine», procedural «Administrative-reglamental law of Ukraine» and the row of regulative legal sciences, and also to develop the Administrative code of Ukraine, Administrative­-reglamental code of Ukraine, proper regulative codes

Transient early wheeze and lung function in early childhood associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease genes

Background It has been hypothesized that a disturbed early lung development underlies the susceptibility to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Little is known about whether subjects genetically predisposed to COPD show their first symptoms or reduced lung function in c

Low-mass dark sector searches with deuteron photodisintegration

Recent years have seen much activity in searches for dark-sector messenger particles in the 10-100 MeV mass range, especially in view of a potential new light boson conjectured by the ATOMKI collaboration, X17. Under the assumption that the messenger particle has definite parity and either zero or unit spin, quite stringent bounds already exist on its coupling to electrons and protons. Equally stringent bounds on the neutron coupling do not exist yet, but are nonetheless desirable. We explore how measurements of deuteron photodisintegration with a quasi-free neutron can yield bounds on the neutron coupling, and compute projections for a potential measurement at the lowenergy high-intensity electron scattering experiment MAGIX@MESA. The projected bounds are found to be competitive for an axial-vector or pseudoscalar scenario, but not for a vector or scalar scenario.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PhysRev