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Cardiac magnetic resonance (cMRI) imaging has recently become essential in cardiology. cMRI is widely recognized as the most reliable imaging technique for assessing the size and performance of the right ventricle. It allows for objective and functional cardiac tissue evaluations. Early in disease progression, cardiac structure and activity decrease subclinically. Late-phase clinically visible signs have been associated with less favourable outcomes. Subclinical alterations ought to be recognized for rapid evaluations and accurate treatment. An increasing amount of evidence supports cMRI deformation parameter quantification. Strain imaging enables cardiologists to assess heart function beyond traditional measurements. Prognostic information for cardiovascular disease patients is obtained through the right ventricle (RV) strain, including information primarily about the left ventricle (LV). Right atrial (RA) function evaluations using RA strain have been promising in recent studies. Therefore, this narrative review aims to present an overview of the data that are currently available for assessing right myocardial strain and biomechanics using cMRI.

We investigate solutions of the classical Mathieu–Hill (MH) equation that characterizes the dynamics of trapped ions. The analytical model we introduce demonstrates the equations of motion are equivalent to those of a harmonic oscillator (HO). Two independent approaches are used, based on two classes of complex solutions of the MH equation. This paper addresses both a damped HO and parametric oscillator (PO) for an ion confined in an electrodynamic (Paul) trap, along with stability and instability regions for the associated periodic orbits.

Abstract Interactive graphical genome browsers are essential tools in genomics, but they do not contain all the recent genome assemblies. We create Genome Archive (GenArk) collection of UCSC Genome Browsers from NCBI assemblies. Built on our established track hub system, this enables fast visualization of annotations. Assemblies come with gene models, repeat masks, BLAT, and in silico PCR. Users can add annotations via track hubs and custom tracks. We can bulk-import third-party resources, demonstrated with TOGA and Ensembl gene models for hundreds of assemblies. Three thousand two hundred sixty-nine GenArk assemblies are listed at https://hgdownload.soe.ucsc.edu/hubs/ and can be searched for on the Genome Browser gateway page.

As a complement to traditional estimates of stem dimensions from numerical models, terrestrial light detection and ranging (Lidar) provides direct stem diameter and volume values using cylindrical models constructed from point clouds. This study used two approaches to estimate total stem volume using Lidar and compared them with two empirical equations, one used by the Forest Inventory Analysis in the Pacific Northwest (FIA-PNW) and one based on a taper equation. We fitted point clouds of 10 Douglas-fir with three sets of cylinder models that are distinguished by their segment length (i.e. 0.5 m, 1 m, and 2 m), then developed three taper equations based on the point-cloud-based diameter estimated previously. We estimated the total stem volume of the tree with eight models: six-point cloud-based (i.e. three taper and three cylinders) and two empirical. Finally, we used simulations to extrapolate the volume estimations of various methods for different diameters at breast height (DBH) classes. We found that all the point-cloud-based taper equations were similar in their performance (R2=0.94, RMSE = 4.6 cm) and produced mean volume estimates greater than mean estimates of the existing models. The cylinder models produced 11–16% greater mean volume estimates than the FIA-PNW estimate, with the 0.5 m segment length producing the greatest values, followed by the 1 m and 2 m segment length. The simulated data suggested that the mean volume estimates of a given DBH class are different when using different computation methods. ANOVA revealed a combined effect of the computation methods and the DBH class on the mean volume estimates. We conclude that the point-cloud-based taper equations, after being symmetrically calibrated, would be consistent with the regional stem volume estimates, whereas the cylinder models would be better in estimating individual stem volume. When constructing Lidar-based cylinder models in future applications, cylinder segment length would need to be adjusted to the length and DBH of the stem, as well as to the objectives of the research.

In this paper, the methodology for designing an asymmetrical four-phase 8/6 switched reluctance motor (SRM) that achieves approximately constant output power over a wide speed range is described. In an asymmetrical 8/6 SRM, orthogonal phase pairs are different in terms of the pole width and number of turns. The main comparison criterion between the asymmetrical and symmetrical 8/6 SRM is the power-speed characteristic, obtained for a given rated RMS phase current of the symmetrical drive. The obtained results demonstrate that the asymmetrical 8/6 SRM allows the shape of the power-speed characteristic to be modified, thereby extending the constant power region well beyond that of the symmetrical configuration with the same rated power level. To make a fair comparison between the asymmetrical and symmetrical 8/6 SRM drives, the converter volt-ampere rating, machine volume, slot fill factor, and ohmic losses per phase are kept constant in all analyzed cases. For determination of the optimal control parameters and maximal drive performance for both designs, the appropriate SRM mathematical model and differential evolution algorithm are used. The applied model includes all substantial non-linearities and mutual coupling between phases. The simulation results are verified using a Finite Element Method (FEM)-based model in the Ansys Electronics 2020 R2 software package.

The stability properties of the Hill equation are discussed, especially those of the Mathieu equation that characterize ion motion in electrodynamic traps. The solutions of the Mathieu-Hill equation for a trapped ion are characterized by employing the Floquet theory and Hill’s method solution, which yields an infinite system of linear and homogeneous equations whose coefficients are recursively determined. Stability is discussed for parameters a and q that are real. Characteristic curves are introduced naturally by the Sturm–Liouville problem for the well-known even and odd Mathieu equations cem(z,q) and sem(z,q). In the case of a Paul trap, the stable solution corresponds to a superposition of harmonic motions. The maximum amplitude of stable oscillations for ideal conditions (taken into consideration) is derived. We illustrate the stability diagram for a combined (Paul and Penning) trap and represent the frontiers of the stability domains for both axial and radial motion, where the former is described by the canonical Mathieu equation. Anharmonic corrections for nonlinear Paul traps are discussed within the frame of perturbation theory, while the frontiers of the modified stability domains are determined as a function of the chosen perturbation parameter and we demonstrate they are shifted towards negative values of the a parameter. The applications of the results include but are not restricted to 2D and 3D ion traps used for different applications such as mass spectrometry (including nanoparticles), high resolution atomic spectroscopy and quantum engineering applications, among which we mention optical atomic clocks and quantum frequency metrology.

Abstract Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) is an urgent public health threat, according to the CDC. This pathogen has few treatment options and causes severe nosocomial infections with > 50% fatality rate. Although previous studies have examined the proteome of CRAb, there have been no focused analyses of dynamic changes to β-lactamase expression that may occur due to drug exposure. Here, we present our initial proteomic study of variation in β-lactamase expression that occurs in CRAb with different β-lactam antibiotics. Briefly, drug resistance to Ab (ATCC 19606) was induced by the administration of various classes of β-lactam antibiotics, and the cell-free supernatant was isolated, concentrated, separated by SDS-PAGE, digested with trypsin, and identified by label-free LC–MS-based quantitative proteomics. Thirteen proteins were identified and evaluated using a 1789 sequence database of Ab β-lactamases from UniProt, the majority of which were Class C β-lactamases (≥ 80%). Importantly, different antibiotics, even those of the same class (e.g. penicillin and amoxicillin), induced non-equivalent responses comprising various isoforms of Class C and D serine-β-lactamases, resulting in unique resistomes. These results open the door to a new approach of analyzing and studying the problem of multi-drug resistance in bacteria that rely strongly on β-lactamase expression.

Background and Objectives. Numerous genome-wide association studies have highlighted that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a lymphoproliferative disorder with an important genetic component. An important number of genes have been implicated in CLL etiology, with some of the most important being human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of CLL with certain HLA alleles in the Romanian population and to compare our results with previous findings. Materials and Methods. This study included 66 patients with CLL, diagnosed between 2020 and 2022, and 100 healthy controls. HLA class I and class II genes (HLA-A/B/C, HLA-DQA1/DQB1/DPA1/DPB1, and HLA-DRB1/3/4/5) were investigated using next-generation sequencing technology. Results. Several HLA alleles were strongly associated with CLL. The most important finding was that HLA-DRB1∗04:02:01 (p=0.001, OR = 1.05) and HLA-DRB3∗02:01:01 (p=0.009, OR = 1.03) have a predisposing role in CLL development. Moreover, we identified that HLA-A∗24:02:01 0.01 (p=0.01, OR = 0.38), HLA-DQA1∗05:05:01 (p=0.01, OR = 0.56), HLA-DQB1∗03:02:01 (p=0.03, OR = 0.40), and HLA-DRB4∗01:03:01 (p=0.03, OR = 0.54 alleles have protective roles. Correlations between HLA expression and gender showed that women had a higher expression of protective HLA alleles when compared to men. Conclusions. Our data are the first to indicate that in Romanian patients with CLL, the HLA-A∗24:02:01 and HLA-DQA1∗05:05:01 alleles have a protective role against CLL development, whereas HLA-DRB1∗04:02:01 and HLA-DRB3∗02:01:01alleles are positively associated with CLL.

Arguably the most popular remote-sensing products are classified images. However, there are no definitive procedures to assess classification accuracy that simultaneously consider resources available and field efforts. The explosive usage of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in land surveys adds new challenges to classification assessment, as orthorectified images usually contain significant artifacts. This study aims to identify the optimal ratio between training and validation sample size within a supervised classification approach applied to UAS orthophotos. As a case study, we used a wetland area west of Portland, OR, USA, treated with various glyphosate formulations to control Phalaris arundinacea, commonly known as reed canary grass. A completely randomized design with five replications and six glyphosate formulations was used to assess P. arundinacea vigor following repeated herbicide applications. The change in P. arundinacea vitality was monitored with high-resolution four-band imagery acquired with a SlantRange 3PX camera installed on a DJI Matrice 210. The orthophotos created from images were produced with Pix4D, which was subsequently preprocessed with ERDAS Imagine 2020 to reduce the noise, shadows, and artifacts. All images were classified with the maximum likelihood classification algorithm. Simple random and stratified random sampling methods were applied to collect training and validation samples, evaluating eight ratios of training to validation samples to assess their classification accuracy. We found that increasing the training-to-validation sample size ratio enhances accuracy, with the 3:1 ratio being the most reliable in classifying P. arundinacea vigor. Our study provides evidence that image preprocessing and enhancement are essential for UAS-based imagery.

The Elliott State Research Forest comprises 33,700 ha of temperate, Douglas-fir rainforest along North America’s Pacific Coast (Oregon, United States). In 2015, naturally regenerated stands at least 92 years old covered 49% of the research area and sawtimber plantations younger than 68 years another 50%. During the winter of 2015–2016, a forest wide inventory sampled both naturally regenerated and plantation stands, recording 97,424 trees on 17,866 plots in 738 stands. The resulting dataset is atypical for the area as plot locations were not restricted to upland, commercially harvestable timber. Multiage stands and riparian areas were therefore documented along with plantations 2–61 years old and trees retained through clearcut harvests. This dataset constitutes the only open access, stand-based forest inventory currently available for a large area within the Oregon Coast Range. The dataset enables development of suites of models as well as many comparisons across stand ages and types, both at stand level and at the level of individual trees.

Among the various mechanisms that bacteria use to develop antibiotic resistance, the multiple expression of β-lactamases is particularly problematic, threatening public health and increasing patient mortality rates. Even if a combination therapy—in which a β-lactamase inhibitor is administered together with a β-lactam antibiotic—has proven effective against serine-β-lactamases, there are no currently approved metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors. Herein, we demonstrate that quercetin and its analogs are promising starting points for the further development of safe and effective metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors. Through a combined computational and in vitro approach, taxifolin was found to inhibit VIM-2 expressing P. aeruginosa cell proliferation at

The electrical resistivity and the Hall effect of topological insulator Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 single crystals were studied in the temperature range from 4.2 to 300 K and in magnetic fields up to 10 T. Theoretical calculations of the electronic structure of these compounds were carried out in density functional approach, taking into account spin–orbit coupling and crystal structure data for temperatures of 5, 50 and 300 K. A clear correlation was found between the density of electronic states at the Fermi level and the current carrier concentration. In the case of Bi2Te3, the density of states at the Fermi level and the current carrier concentration increase with increasing temperature, from 0.296 states eV−1 cell−1 (5 K) to 0.307 states eV−1 cell−1 (300 K) and from 0.9 × 1019 cm−3 (5 K) to 2.6 × 1019 cm−3 (300 K), respectively. On the contrary, in the case of Bi2Se3, the density of states decreases with increasing temperature, from 0.201 states eV−1 cell−1 (5 K) to 0.198 states eV−1 cell−1 (300 K), and, as a consequence, the charge carrier concentration also decreases from 2.94 × 1019 cm−3 (5 K) to 2.81 × 1019 cm−3 (300 K).

Composites based on Al-Fe alloys and reinforced with three-layer graphene sheets were synthesized “in situ” under a layer of molten salts. Composites containing 0.12 wt.% graphene were subjected to severe plastic deformation via high-pressure torsion. SEM and TEM were used to study the morphological and size characteristics of the composite structure in the as-cast and deformed states. Herein, it is shown that severe plastic deformation leads to the deformation-induced dissolution of iron-containing aluminides with the formation of a supersaturated Al solid solution with a submicrocrystalline structure. The hardness and electrical properties of the graphene composites were measured in different structural states and compared to the characteristics of the matrix alloy.

Considerations on state security [book review Państwo-polityka-bezpieczeństwo wewnętrzne] Соображения о государственной безопасности [рецензия книги Państwo-polityka-bezpieczeństwo wewnętrzne]

8-Hydroxyquinoline (8-hq) exhibits potent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (SA) bacteria with MIC = 16.0–32.0 µM owing to its ability to chelate metal ions such as Mn2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ to disrupt metal homeostasis in bacterial cells. We demonstrate that Fe(8-hq)3, the 1:3 complex formed between Fe(III) and 8-hq, can readily transport Fe(III) across the bacterial cell membrane and deliver iron into the bacterial cell, thus, harnessing a dual antimicrobial mechanism of action that combines the bactericidal activity of iron with the metal chelating effect of 8-hq to kill bacteria. As a result, the antimicrobial potency of Fe(8-hq)3 is significantly enhanced in comparison with 8-hq. Resistance development by SA toward Fe(8-hq)3 is considerably delayed as compared with ciprofloxacin and 8-hq. Fe(8-hq)3 can also overcome the 8-hq and mupirocin resistance developed in the SA mutant and MRSA mutant bacteria, respectively. Fe(8-hq)3 can stimulate M1-like macrophage polarization of RAW 264.7 cells to kill the SA internalized in such macrophages. Fe(8-hq)3 exhibits a synergistic effect with both ciprofloxacin and imipenem, showing potential for combination therapies with topical and systemic antibiotics for more serious MRSA infections. The in vivo antimicrobial efficacy of a 2% Fe(8-hq)3 topical ointment is confirmed by the use of a murine model with skin wound infection by bioluminescent SA with a reduction of the bacterial burden by 99 ± 0.5%, indicating that this non-antibiotic iron complex has therapeutic potential for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs).

Designing effective covert security features is highly regarded to deter counterfeit of goods and currency in the global markets. Here, the authors present an electrohydrodynamically printed unicolour multifluorescent-lifetime security tag system based on perovskite to provide an alternative yet affordable solution.

Abstract Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after allogeneic stem cell transplantation; however, its incidence and outcome in patients transplanted for multiple myeloma (MM) is unknown. We evaluated the incidence, severity, and risk factors for AKI within the first 30 days after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for MM. We prospectively followed 185 consecutive patients with MM, without chronic renal replacement therapy, who underwent ASCT; 12.5% of patients had MM‐associated amyloidosis. AKI occurred in 19 (10.3%) patients, 8 ± 3 days after ASCT, with 18 patients (9.7%) stage 1 and one patient (0.6%) stage 2 AKI. The development of AKI was not associated with reduced overall survival and recovery of kidney function was evident in 68.4% of patients at 3 months. In Cox regression analysis, preexisting–chronic kidney disease (HR 7.01, CI 95% 2.04‐24.09; P = 0.002), serum beta2 microglobulin (HR 3.05, CI 95% 1.10‐8.44; P = 0.03), and mucositis grade 3/4 (HR 1.29, CI 95% 1.08‐1.53; P = 0.003) were independent risk factors for AKI. Our results suggest that AKI occurs with low incidence and reduced severity after ASCT for MM. Prophylactic measures in patients with preexisting–kidney failure may further reduce this risk.

Traditional inventories require large investments of resources and a trained workforce to measure tree sizes and characteristics that affect wood quality and value, such as the presence of defects and damages. Handheld light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and photogrammetric point clouds developed using Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithms achieved promising results in tree detection and dimensional measurements. However, few studies have utilized handheld LiDAR or SfM to assess tree defects or damages. We used a Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone camera to photograph trees and create digital models using SfM, and a handheld GeoSLAM Zeb Horizon to create LiDAR point cloud models of some of the main tree species from the Pacific Northwest. We compared measurements of damage count and damage length obtained from handheld LiDAR, SfM photogrammetry, and traditional field methods using linear mixed-effects models. The field method recorded nearly twice as many damages per tree as the handheld LiDAR and SfM methods, but there was no evidence that damage length measurements varied between the three survey methods. Lower damage counts derived from LiDAR and SfM were likely driven by the limited point cloud reconstructions of the upper stems, as usable tree heights were achieved, on average, at 13.6 m for LiDAR and 9.3 m for SfM, even though mean field-measured tree heights was 31.2 m. Our results suggest that handheld LiDAR and SfM approaches show potential for detection and measurement of tree damages, at least on the lower stem.

Thiohydantoin and quinolone derivatives have attracted researchers’ attention because of a broad spectrum of their medical applications. The aim of our research was to synthesize and analyze the antimicrobial properties of novel 2-thiohydantoin and 2-quinolone derivatives. For this purpose, two series of hybrid compounds were synthesized. Both series consisted of 2-thiohydantoin core and 2-quinolone derivative ring, however one of them was enriched with an acetic acid group at N3 atom in 2-thiohydantoin core. Antibacterial properties of these compounds were examined against bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The antimicrobial assay was carried out using a serial dilution method to obtain the MIC. The influence of blue light irradiation on the tested compounds was investigated. The relative yield of singlet oxygen (1O2*, 1Δg) generation upon excitation with 420 nm was determined by a comparative method, employing perinaphthenone (PN) as a standard. Antimicrobial properties were also investigated after blue light irradiation of the suspensions of the hybrids and bacteria placed in microtitrate plates. Preliminary results confirmed that some of the hybrid compounds showed bacteriostatic activity to the reference Gram-positive bacterial strains and a few of them were bacteriostatic towards Gram-negative bacteria, as well. Blue light activation enhanced bacteriostatic effect of the tested compounds.

Herein, a method based on selective piazselenol formation is applied for total selenium determination in biofortified Allium species. Piazselenol is formed by reacting Se(IV) with an aromatic diamine, namely 4-nitro-1,2-phenylenediamine, in acidic medium. Samples were digested in a nitric acid/hydrogen peroxide open system, followed by selenate reduction in hydrochloric acid. Reaction conditions were optimized in terms of pH, temperature, reaction time, and other auxiliary reagents for interference removal, namely, EDTA and hydroxylamine. For the extraction of the selectively formed 4-nitro-piazselenol, micro-solid-phase extraction (μSPE) was applied, and the analysis and detection of the corresponding complex was performed by HPLC coupled with DAD. An external standard calibration curve was developed (R2 = 0.9994) with good sensitivity, and was used to calculate the total selenium content from several Allium plants material, with good intermediate precision (RSD% < 16%). The accuracy of the method was evaluated using both, a comparison with an accepted reference method from our previously published data, as well as three certified reference material with recoveries between 84–126%. The limit of detection was determined to be 0.35 μg/g (in solids) and 1.1 μg/L (in solution), while the limit of quantification was 1.07 μg/g and 3.4 μg/L (in solution). Using the proposed method, selenium content can be quickly and accurately determined in several types of samples. In addition, this study present experimental conditions for overcoming the interferences that might be encountered in selenium determination using piazselenol.

We firstly discuss classical stability for a dynamical system of two ions levitated in a 3D Radio-Frequency (RF) trap, assimilated with two coupled oscillators. We obtain the solutions of the coupled system of equations that characterizes the associated dynamics. In addition, we supply the modes of oscillation and demonstrate the weak coupling condition is inappropriate in practice, while for collective modes of motion (and strong coupling) only a peak of the mass can be detected. Phase portraits and power spectra are employed to illustrate how the trajectory executes quasiperiodic motion on the surface of torus, namely a Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser (KAM) torus. In an attempt to better describe dynamical stability of the system, we introduce a model that characterizes dynamical stability and the critical points based on the Hessian matrix approach. The model is then applied to investigate quantum dynamics for many-body systems consisting of identical ions, levitated in 2D and 3D ion traps. Finally, the same model is applied to the case of a combined 3D Quadrupole Ion Trap (QIT) with axial symmetry, for which we obtain the associated Hamilton function. The ion distribution can be described by means of numerical modeling, based on the Hamilton function we assign to the system. The approach we introduce is effective to infer the parameters of distinct types of traps by applying a unitary and coherent method, and especially for identifying equilibrium configurations, of large interest for ion crystals or quantum logic.

The Willamette Valley, bounded to the west by the Coast Range and to the east by the Cascade Mountains, is the largest river valley completely confined to Oregon. The fertile valley soils combined with a temperate, marine climate create ideal agronomic conditions for seed production. Historically, seed cropping systems in the Willamette Valley have focused on the production of grass and forage seeds. In addition to growing over two-thirds of the nation’s cool-season grass seed, cropping systems in the Willamette Valley include a diverse rotation of over 250 commodities for forage, seed, food, and cover cropping applications. Tracking the sequence of crop rotations that are grown in the Willamette Valley is paramount to answering a broad spectrum of agronomic, environmental, and economical questions. Landsat imagery covering approximately 25,303 km2 were used to identify agricultural crops in production from 2004 to 2017. The agricultural crops were distinguished by classifying images primarily acquired by three platforms: Landsat 5 (2003–2013), Landsat 7 (2003–2017), and Landsat 8 (2013–2017). Before conducting maximum likelihood remote sensing classification, the images acquired by the Landsat 7 were pre-processed to reduce the impact of the scan line corrector failure. The corrected images were subsequently used to classify 35 different land-use classes and 137 unique two-year-long sequences of 57 classes of non-urban and non-forested land-use categories from 2004 through 2014. Our final data product uses new and previously published results to classify the western Oregon landscape into 61 different land use classes, including four majority-rule-over-time super-classes and 57 regular classes of annually disturbed agricultural crops (19 classes), perennial crops (20 classes), forests (13 classes), and urban developments (5 classes). These publicly available data can be used to inform and support environmental and agricultural land-use studies.

The article is devoted investigations the effects of foliar treatment complex fertilizers with chelates оn functional activity in tissues of roots in connection with redox potential of cells and kinetics of release of protons from the root cells, as well as enzymatic activity: catalase, peroxidase, ATPase in tissues of roots and grain productivity of plant winter wheat varieties Smuglanka. Study shows that non-leaf feeding complex fertilizers chelates Fiziozhivlin+P, Breksil Mix, Master 18.18.18 and Plantafol 5.15.45 regulates the metabolism of a plant, including affecting the functional capacity of the tissues of roots, as reflected in the increasing activity of redox potential of cells and inhibition of the kinetics of release of protons from the root cells. Increasing the ATPase activity of the root tissues indicates a growing share and maintaining active biosynthetic and regulatory of processes under the influence of chelated fertilizers, in particular, of biosynthesis of organic molecules, that associated with increased the biomass of wheat plants according from the data obtained. Determination of the activity of the antioxidant ferments: catalase and peroxidase showed increased activity of catalase (І.ІІ.І.6) under foliar fertilizer processing Fiziozhivlin+P and of peroxidase (І.ІІ.І.7) on 32 % in contrast of the control roots plants. Our studies have shown increase in grain productivity with by foliar treatment of chelate complex fertilizers: Fiziozhivlin+P, Breksil Mix, Master and Plantafol that increased by 5,9; 6,4; 6,0 and 5,1 t/ha, respectively. Thus, treatment of complex chelate fertilizer improves the functional activity of the tissues of roots, promoting the growth of their potential absorption capacity, supporting high plant energy balance of the body, promotes the resistance of wheat to the effects of pathogenic factors and eventually leads to an increase of grain productivity.

Forest species classifications are becoming increasingly automated as advances are made in machine learning. Complex algorithms can reach high accuracies, but are not always suitable for small-scale classifications, which may benefit from simpler conventional methods. The goal of this classification was to identify contiguous stands of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex Lawson) against a mix of forest and non-forest background in the southern Willamette Valley, Oregon. The study area is approximately 816,600 ha, considerably larger than most study areas used for presenting techniques for tree species classification. To achieve the objective, we used two classification procedures, one parametric and one non-parametric. For the parametric method, we selected the maximum likelihood (ML) algorithm, whereas for the non-parametric method we chose the random forest (RF) algorithm. To identify ponderosa pine, we used 1 m spatial resolution red-green-blue-infrared (RGBI) aerial images supplied by the U.S. National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and 1 m spatial resolution canopy height models (CHMs) provided by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI). We tested four data variations for each method: Aerial imagery, CHM-masked aerial imagery, aerial imagery with an additional CHM band, and CHM-masked aerial imagery with a CHM band. The parametric classifications of aerial imagery alone reached an average kappa coefficient of 0.29, which increased to 0.51 when masked with CHM data. The incorporation of CHM data as a fifth band resulted in a similar improvement in kappa (0.47), but the most effective parametric method was the incorporation of CHM data as both a fifth band and a post-classification mask, resulting in a kappa coefficient of 0.89. The non-parametric classification of aerial imagery achieved a mean validation kappa coefficient of 0.85 collectively and 0.90 individually, which only increased by approximately 0.01 or less when the CHM masks were applied. The addition of the CHM band increased the kappa value to 0.91 for both individual and collective tile classifications. The highest kappa of all methods was achieved through five-band non-parametric classification with the addition of the CHM band (0.94) for both collective and individual classifications. Our results suggest that parametric methods, when enhanced with a CHM mask, could be suitable for large-area, small-scale classifications based on RGBI imagery, but a non-parametric classification of fused spectral and height data will generally achieve the highest accuracy for large, unbalanced datasets.

Routinely measuring epicardial fat had become a novel tool for cardiovascular risk stratification. Structural changes in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), including fat thickness, inflammation, and angiogenesis, have been described in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. We proposed to measure EAT thickness and characterize inflammatory infiltrate and angiogenesis in epicardial adipose tissue in CAD patients with and without chronic heart failure (CHF), established by cardiac dysfunction on echocardiography (left ventricular ejection fraction, LVEF ≤ 50%) and symptoms of heart failure (New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II or III).The study included 15 patients with CAD (demonstrated by coronary angiography),, who underwent right atrial appendages (RAA) excision during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The study was performed by histopathological, immunohistochemical (IHC), and morphometrical analysis. EAT thickness was assessed by using morphometry applied on routine histological stains. Inflammatory cell infiltration and angiogenesis were investigated immunohistochemically by using antibodies against CD68 and CD34 markers. Diminished EAT thickness in the CAD patients with CHF was associated with increased macrophage infiltration and reduced angiogenesis of the EAT as compared to CAD patients without CHF. In conclusion, the present study on epicardial fat samples of the RAA suggested that high expression of CD68 appeared to be associated with severe deterioration of heart function in CAD patients who underwent myocardial revascularization consisting of CABG.

Accurate and precise location of trees from data acquired under-the-canopy is challenging and time-consuming. However, current forestry practices would benefit tremendously from the knowledge of tree coordinates, particularly when the information used to position them is acquired with inexpensive sensors. Therefore, the objective of our study is to geo-reference trees using point clouds created from the images acquired below canopy. We developed a procedure that uses the coordinates of the trees seen from above canopy to position the same trees seen below canopy. To geo-reference the trees from above canopy we captured images with an unmanned aerial vehicle. We reconstructed the trunk with photogrammetric point clouds built with a structure−from−motion procedure from images recorded in a circular pattern at multiple locations throughout the stand. We matched the trees segmented from below canopy with the trees extracted from above canopy using a non-rigid point-matching algorithm. To ensure accuracy, we reduced the number of matching trees by dividing the trees segmented from above using a grid with 50 m cells. Our procedure was implemented on a 7.1 ha Douglas-fir stand from Oregon USA. The proposed procedure is relatively fast, as approximately 600 trees were mapped in approximately 1 min. The procedure is sensitive to the point density, directly impacting tree location, as differences larger than 2 m between the coordinates of the tree top and the bottom part of the stem could lead to matching errors larger than 1 m. Furthermore, the larger the number of trees to be matched the higher the accuracy is, which could allow for misalignment errors larger than 2 m between the locations of the trees segmented from above and below.

The Douglas fir crown structure serves important ecological functions in regulating the ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Mapping and modeling of the Douglas-fir crown has traditionally focused on young plantations or old-growth forests. The crown description in natural regime forests is limited by data availability. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) enables the acquisition of crown structural attributes, even in dense forests, at a fine scale. The certical and horizontal distributions of the fine-scale branch attributes, such as branch diameter, branch length, and branch insertion angle, will reflect the crown behaviors towards light resources availability, as a result of neighborhood competition. The main objective of the study is to compare crown structural models of a group of neighboring trees developed with two TLS-based procedures, namely: semi-automatic (Cyclone software) and automatic (TreeQSM) procedures. The estimated crown attributes are the branch diameter, branch length, branch insertion angle, height of branch insertion point, and branch azimuth. The results show that branch azimuth distribution does not differ between TreeQSM and Cyclone for most of the sample trees. However, the TreeQSM and Cyclone identified branches exhibit different distributions of insertion height. A paired t-test indicates no difference between the mean branch diameter of Cyclone and TreeQSM at an individual tree level. However, Cyclone estimated that the branch length and branch insertion angle are 0.49 m and 9.9° greater than the TreeQSM estimates, respectively. Repeat measurements of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggest that the height along the stem is an influential factor of the difference between the Cyclone and TreeQSM branch diameter estimates. To test whether TLS-based estimates are within the ranges of the previous observations, we computed the tree crown attributes of second- and old-growth trees using Monte Carlo simulations for diameter at breast height (DBH) class 50−55 cm, 60−65 cm, and 85−105 cm. We found that the crown attributes estimated from both of the TLS-based methods are between the simulated second- and old-growth trees, except for DBH 85−105 cm. The TLS-based crown structural models show increasingly diverse distributions of branch insertion angles and increasing branch exclusion as DBH increases. Cyclone-based crown structural models are consistent with previous studies. However, TreeQSM-based crown structural models omitted a significant number of branches and generated crown structures with reduced plausibility.

The paper will examine the arguments, initiatives and specific strategies that political parties in Romania use for gaining support of the Romanian communities living abroad in view of 2012 elections. In the existing EU context, the Romanian Diaspora has a huge unexplored potential which no political party can ignore. Altough we are approximately six month ahead the legislative elections, enough time for the political parties to change or introduce new themes in their political discourse according to their positioning in front of the voters, we are going to present several working hypothesis that, in our opinion, will shape the electoral strategies of political parties in order to obtain the support of Romanian abroad.

Annotating coding genes and inferring orthologs are two classical challenges in genomics and evolutionary biology that have traditionally been approached separately, limiting scalability. We present TOGA (Tool to infer Orthologs from Genome Alignments), a method that integrates structural gene annotation and orthology inference. TOGA implements a different paradigm to infer orthologous loci, improves ortholog detection and annotation of conserved genes compared with state-of-the-art methods, and handles even highly fragmented assemblies. TOGA scales to hundreds of genomes, which we demonstrate by applying it to 488 placental mammal and 501 bird assemblies, creating the largest comparative gene resources so far. Additionally, TOGA detects gene losses, enables selection screens, and automatically provides a superior measure of mammalian genome quality. TOGA is a powerful and scalable method to annotate and compare genes in the genomic era.

A plethora of information contained in full-waveform (FW) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data offers prospects for characterizing vegetation structures. This study aims to investigate the capacity of FW LiDAR data alone for tree species identification through the integration of waveform metrics with machine learning methods and Bayesian inference. Specifically, we first conducted automatic tree segmentation based on the waveform-based canopy height model (CHM) using three approaches including TreeVaW, watershed algorithms and the combination of TreeVaW and watershed (TW) algorithms. Subsequently, the Random forests (RF) and Conditional inference forests (CF) models were employed to identify important tree-level waveform metrics derived from three distinct sources, such as raw waveforms, composite waveforms, the waveform-based point cloud and the combined variables from these three sources. Further, we discriminated tree (gray pine, blue oak, interior live oak) and shrub species through the RF, CF and Bayesian multinomial logistic regression (BMLR) using important waveform metrics identified in this study. Results of the tree segmentation demonstrated that the TW algorithms outperformed other algorithms for delineating individual tree crowns. The CF model overcomes waveform metrics selection bias caused by the RF model which favors correlated metrics and enhances the accuracy of subsequent classification. We also found that composite waveforms are more informative than raw waveforms and waveform-based point cloud for characterizing tree species in our study area. Both classical machine learning methods (the RF and CF) and the BMLR generated satisfactory average overall accuracy (74% for the RF, 77% for the CF and 81% for the BMLR) and the BMLR slightly outperformed the other two methods. However, these three methods suffered from low individual classification accuracy for the blue oak which is prone to being misclassified as the interior live oak due to the similar characteristics of blue oak and interior live oak. Uncertainty estimates from the BMLR method compensate for this downside by providing classification results in a probabilistic sense and rendering users with more confidence in interpreting and applying classification results to real-world tasks such as forest inventory. Overall, this study recommends the CF method for feature selection and suggests that BMLR could be a superior alternative to classical machining learning methods.

The estimation of tree biomass and the products that can be obtained from a tree stem have focused forest research for more than two centuries. Traditionally, measurements of the entire tree bole were expensive or inaccurate, even when sophisticated remote sensing techniques were used. We propose a fast and accurate procedure for measuring diameters along the merchantable portion of the stem at any given height. The procedure uses unreferenced photos captured with a consumer grade camera. A photogrammetric point cloud (PPC) is produced from the acquired images using structure from motion, which is a computer vision range imaging technique. A set of 18 loblolly pines (Pinus taeda Lindl.) from east Louisiana, USA, were photographed, subsequently cut, and the diameter measured every meter. The same diameters were measured on the point cloud with AutoCAD Civil3D. The ground point cloud reconstruction provided useful information for at most 13 m along the stem. The PPC measurements are biased, overestimating real diameters by 17.2 mm, but with a reduced standard deviation (8.2%). A linear equation with parameters of the error at a diameter at breast height (d1.3) and the error of photogrammetric rendering reduced the bias to 1.4 mm. The usability of the PPC measurements in taper modeling was assessed with four models: Max and Burkhart [1], Baldwin and Feduccia [2], Lenhart et al. [3], and Kozak [4]. The evaluation revealed that the data fit well with all the models (R2 ≥ 0.97), with the Kozak and the Baldwin and Feduccia performing the best. The results support the replacement of taper with PPC, as faster, and more accurate and precise product estimations are expected.

The primary aim of this article was to show the changes in the system of support for agricultural producer groups, which were recorded between RDP 2004-2006 and RDP 2007-2013. Groups are based on the law on agricultural producer groups and associations from 2000. Groups of agricultural producers were assigned the task of accumulating agricultural production and delivery of uniformed goods to the market. Financial support measures were aimed at accelerating the formation of new groups and help them in the first 5 years of their operation. The task of creating new groups has failed to sufficiently stimulate the pace. The RDP 2004-2006 in the amount of support of 24 million, realised the task of EUR 6.4 million (25.2%). At the same time, there was s plan to create 172 new groups, but there were formed only 79 (45.9%). The RDP 2007-2013 for the operation of groups of agricultural producers provides EUR 140 million, but at the time of four years of the system functioning there were used only EUR 2.2 million (15.7%).

Relationships among laurasiatherian clades represent one of the most highly disputed topics in mammalian phylogeny. In this study, we attempt to disentangle laurasiatherian interordinal relationships using two independent genome-level approaches: (1) quantifying retrotransposon presence/absence patterns, and (2) comparisons of exon datasets at the levels of nucleotides and amino acids. The two approaches revealed contradictory phylogenetic signals, possibly due to a high level of ancestral incomplete lineage sorting. The positions of Eulipotyphla and Chiroptera as the first and second earliest divergences were consistent across the approaches. However, the phylogenetic relationships of Perissodactyla, Cetartiodactyla, and Ferae, were contradictory. While retrotransposon insertion analyses suggest a clade with Cetartiodactyla and Ferae, the exon dataset favoured Cetartiodactyla and Perissodactyla. Future analyses of hitherto unsampled laurasiatherian lineages and synergistic analyses of retrotransposon insertions, exon and conserved intron/intergenic sequences might unravel the conflicting patterns of relationships in this major mammalian clade.