Evaluation of registration methods on thoracic CT: the EMPIRE10 challenge

EMPIRE10 (Evaluation of Methods for Pulmonary Image REgistration 2010) is a public platform for fair and meaningful comparison of registration algorithms which are applied to a database of intrapatient thoracic CT image pairs. Evaluation of nonrigid registration techniques is a nontrivial task. This is compounded by the fact that researchers typically test only on their own data, which varies widely. For this reason, reliable assessment and comparison of different registration algorithms has been virtually impossible in the past. In this work we present the results of the launch phase of EMPIRE10, which comprised the comprehensive evaluation and comparison of 20 individual algorithms from leading academic and industrial research groups. All algorithms are applied to the same set of 30 thoracic CT pairs. Algorithm settings and parameters are chosen by researchers expert in the configuration of their own method and the evaluation is independent, using the same criteria for all participants. All results are published on the EMPIRE10 website (http://empire10.isi.uu.nl). The challenge remains ongoing and open to new participants. Full results from 24 algorithms have been published at the time of writing. This paper details the organization of the challenge, the data and evaluation methods and the outcome of the initial launch with 20 algorithms. The gain in knowledge and future work are discussed.     

Assessing the forms and functions of aggression using self-report: Factor structure and invariance of the Peer Conflict Scale in youths.

This study examined the structure of a self-report measure of the forms and functions of aggression in 855 adolescents (582 boys, 266 girls) aged 12 to 19 years recruited from high school, detained, and residential settings. The Peer Conflict Scale (PCS) is a 40-item measure that was developed to improve upon existing measures and provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of four dimensions of aggression (i.e., reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational) in youths. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a 4-factor model represented a satisfactory solution for the data. The factor structure fit well for both boys and girls and across high school, detained, and residential samples. Internal consistency estimates were good for the 4 factors, and they showed expected associations with externalizing variables (i.e., arrest history, callous-unemotional traits, and delinquency). Reactive and proactive subtypes showed unique associations consistent with previous literature. Implications for the use of the PCS to assess aggression and inform intervention decisions in diverse samples of youths are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of subthreshold concentrations of limonin,naringin and sweeteners on bitterness perception

A sensory panel of experienced judges was used to determine taste thresholds of mixtures of limonin and naringin and various sweeteners. Data from these experiments showed that within the 95% confidence interval, subthreshold interactions between limonin and naringin were additive, indicating that less than threshold amounts of these compounds contributed to bitterness of a mixture. Mixtures of hesperetin dihydrochalcone glucoside (HDG), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHD), naringin dihydrochalcone (ND), sucrose and naringin were neither additive nor synergistic at subthreshold concentrations. At suprathreshold levels, sucrose, (HDG) and (NHD) were effective in suppressing naringin bitterness, but (ND) was not.     

Lipid and protein oxidation in microsomal fraction from turkeys: influence of dietary fat and vitamin E supplementation

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of dietary fats (6% soya oil or rapeseed oil or tallow) and α-tocopheryl acetate supplementation (30 ppm for control and 200 ppm for supplemented animals), on lipid and protein oxidation, induced by Fe(3+)/ascorbate, of microsomal fraction in turkey muscles (M. pectoralis major and M. sartorius). Supplementation of turkeys with α-tocopheryl acetate increased the vitamin E content of microsomal membranes. Vitamin E supplementation strongly decreased lipid oxidation in membranal fractions when animals were fed rapeseed oil or tallow; this effect was less pronounced in animals fed soya oil. Vitamin E supplementation induced a slight decrease in protein carbonyl content, especially in animals fed soya oil. Level of protein free thiols was considerably enhanced in diet enriched with soya oil. Vitamin E supplementation had a stabilizing effect on glucose-6-phosphatase activity of microsomes when oxidized by Fe(3+)/ascorbate. No muscle effect was detected on the level of lipid and protein oxidation in membranal fractions even if M. sartorius is known to be more oxidative than M. pectoralis major.     

美国印刷市场"冷""热"情报

序言 印刷品在各大应用领域的"冷""热"与该领域市场对印刷品的需求直接相关,而需求的增减又依赖于这一市场是景气还是衰退.本文作者是美国印刷界知名的市场"预报员"和推荐者,他认为消费者已经为整体经济增长费用超支,因此零售商为了扩大销售将添加目录、再订购点(ROP)和户外/购买点(POP)宣传所需材料,以便引起消费者的购买欲;此外对海外收入和资金的日益依赖将意味着需要更多多语种(multi-lingual)的广告和包装;同时业务合并也将导致名称的改变,从而掀起一股从商业卡片到户外标识的印刷热浪.     

Prediction of sensory textural properties from rheological analysis for process cheeses varying in emulsifying salt,protein and moisture contents

Textural characteristics of process cheeses varying in emulsifying salt (disodium phosphate), protein and moisture contents were evaluated by rheological compression using texture profile analysis and by sensory evaluation. The primary objective of this study was to predict sensory textural parameters using instrumental rheological parameters. All sensory parameters correlated with one or more instrumental parameters, e.g. rheological firmness versus sensory firmness (R = 0.98, P < 0.001), rheological chewiness versus sensory rubbery (R = 0.92, P < 0.001) and rheological chewiness versus sensory chewy (R = 0.86, P < 0.001). Partial least squares calibration models were developed for each of nine sensory parameters using instrumental parameters. Principal component analysis of instrumental and sensory parameters illustrated relationships among parameters. It was shown that instrumental parameters could be used to supplement sensory evaluation of process cheese texture. Increasing emulsifying salt content increased firmness, springiness and chewiness and decreased adhesiveness, mouthcoating and mass formation. Increasing protein content resulted in increased fracture strain and stress and chewiness and decreased melting. Increasing moisture content increased cohesiveness and decreased firmness and chewiness. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of the nature of the doping salt and of the thermal pre-treatment and sintering temperature on Spark Plasma Sintering of transparent alumina

A slurry of α-Al₂O₃ was doped with Mg, Zr and La nitrates or chlorides, in various amounts in the range 150-500 wt ppm and then freeze-dried to produce nanosized doped powder (∼150 nm). The powder was sintered by SPS to yield transparent polycrystalline alpha alumina. The influence of the nature of the doping element and the starting salt, the thermal treatment before sintering and the sintering temperature on the transparency of the ceramics were investigated. The transparency of the ceramics of nanosized Al₂O₃ was shown to depend mainly on the way the powder was prepared, the nature of the doping salt also had an effect. Finally, a high real inline transmittance, reaching 48.1% was achieved after optimization.     

Polyphenolic Contents and Antioxidant Potential of Stem Bark Extracts from Jatropha curcas (Linn)

We assessed the polyphenolic contents and antioxidant potential of the aqueous, ethanol and methanol stem bark extracts of Jatropha curcas. The total phenol, flavonoids, flavonols and proanthocyanidin contents of the extracts were evaluated to determine their effect on the antioxidant property of this plant, using standard phytochemical methods. The antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of ethanol, methanol and aqueous extracts of the plant were also assessed against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), ferric reducing, nitric oxide (NO), superoxide anion, (O(2) (-)) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) using spectroscopic methods and results were compared with that of butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT) and ascorbic acid as standards. The concentrations of different classes of phenolic compounds were higher in methanol and ethanol extracts compared to aqueous extracts. There was correlation between total phenol, total flavonoids, total flavonol and total proanthocyanidins (r = 0.996, 0.978, 0.908, and 0.985) respectively. There was correlations between the amount of phenolic compounds and percentage inhibition of DPPH radicals scavenging activity of the extract (r = 0.98). Findings from the present study indicated that J. curcas is a potential source of natural antioxidants and may be a good candidate for pharmaceutical plant based products.     

Identification of a Protein with Antioxidant Activity that is Important for the Protection against Beer Ageing

This study was carried out with fresh Australian lager beer which was sampled directly off the production line, the same samples aged for 12 weeks at 30 °C, and the vintage beer which was kept at 20 °C for 5 years. Characteristic Australian lager flavour was maintained in the fresh and vintage beers but was lost in the aged beer. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and free thiol group labelling analyses of beer proteins found that this flavour stability correlated with the presence of an unknown 10 kilodaltons (kDa) protein with a higher level of free thiols. The protein was purified by size-exclusion chromatography, then peptide sequencing and database matching identified it as the barley lipid transfer protein (LTP1). Further characterisation using diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and a Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based antioxidant screening assay demonstrated that the LTP1 protein was active in DPPH reduction and antioxidant activity. The absence of free thiol in the aged beer indicates that the thiol functional groups within the LTP1 protein were saturated and suggests that it is important in the flavour stability of beer by maintaining reduction capacity during the ageing process.     

A Simple Method for the Reinforcement of UV‐Cured Coatings via Sol‐Gel Photopolymerization

A difunctional methacrylate oligomer was mixed with a variable amount of a MAPTMS precursor in the presence of both a radical and a cationic photoinitiator. The simultaneous photolysis of both photosensitive molecules upon UV irradiation allowed the single‐step generation of a type‐II polymethacrylate/polysiloxane nanocomposite film. Methacrylate and methoxysilyl conversions during irradiation were efficiently monitored by FTIR spectroscopy. The inorganic structure of the resulting silica‐based hybrid films was characterized using ²⁹Si solid‐state NMR. Finally, the reinforcement ability of the resulting hybrid films was also assessed by using a unique range of characterization techniques: DMA, scratch test, and nanoindentation.