Multispectral Imaging Algorithm Predicts Breslow Thickness of Melanoma

Breslow thickness is a major prognostic factor for melanoma. It is based on histopathological evaluation, and thus it is not available to aid clinical decision making at the time of the initial melanoma diagnosis. In this work, we assessed the efficacy of multispectral imaging (MSI) to predict Breslow thickness and developed a classification algorithm to determine optimal safety margins of the melanoma excision. First, we excluded nevi from the analysis with a novel quantitative parameter. Parameter s’ could differentiate nevi from melanomas with a sensitivity of 89.60% and specificity of 88.11%. Following this step, we have categorized melanomas into three different subgroups based on Breslow thickness (≤1 mm, 1–2 mm and >2 mm) with a sensitivity of 78.00% and specificity of 89.00% and a substantial agreement (κ = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.58–0.76). We compared our results to the performance of dermatologists and dermatology residents who assessed dermoscopic and clinical images of these melanomas, and reached a sensitivity of 60.38% and specificity of 80.86% with a moderate agreement (κ = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.39–0.43). Based on our findings, this novel method may help predict the appropriate safety margins for curative melanoma excision.

Application of the ARMA Model to Describe and Forecast the Flotation Feed Solids Flow Rate

The flow rate of solids is subject to random disturbances of the changing feed and can significantly affect the quantitative and qualitative parameters of the coal flotation products. This quantity can be described as a stochastic process. The paper presents the results of the solids flow rate model for coal flotation identification calculations, treated as a disturbance to the process. This is an innovative approach to modelling those quantitative parameters of the flotation feed that are measurably available and whose random changes have a significant impact on the enhancement process under industrial conditions. These include the volumetric flow rate of the feed and, in particular, concentration of solids in the feed. Therefore, it is suggested that random changes of these two parameters of the feed should be mapped using a model of one quantity—the flow rate of solids. This solution is advantageous because this quantity, as a quantitative parameter of the feed, has a significant impact on the course of the coal flotation process. The model is necessary in the process of designing an automatic control system through simulation tests. It allows us to generate a data string simulating random changes to this quantitative parameter of the feed. On this basis, in the simulation model, the correct functioning of the automatic control system is tested, the task of which is to compensate the influence of this disturbance. To determine the empirical model of the feed solids flow rate, measurement data obtained during the registration of the solids concentration and volumetric flow rate of the feed were used in four consecutive periods of operation of an industrial facility of one of the Polish coal processing plants. The time courses of the solids flow rate in the feed were described by ARMA (autoregressive–moving-average model) means, and the two-stage least squares method was used to estimate the model parameters. The results of the identification and verification of the designated model showed the correctness of adopting the third-order ARMA model, with parameters a1 = −1.0682, a2 = −0.2931, a3 = 0.3807, c1 = −0.1588, c2 = −0.2301, c3 = 0.1037, and variance σ2ε = 0.0891, white noise sequence εt, determined on the basis of a series of residuals described by the fifth-order model. It has been shown that the identified model of the flow rate of solids of the feed to flotation as disturbances can be used to develop a predictive model that allows forecasting the modelled quantity with a prediction horizon equal to the sampling period. One-step forecasting based on the determined predictor equation was found to give results consistent with the recorded values of the solid part flow rate of the feed and the extreme values of the prediction error are within the range from −1.08 to 2.90 kg/s.

Sod Tensile Strength, Handling Quality, and Their Interrelationship for 39 Bermudagrasses

Suitable tensile strength is essential for sod harvest, transport, and installation. Thirty-nine bermudagrass (Cynodon sp.) entries were evaluated for sod handling quality (SHQ) and sod tensile strength (STS) during 2014–15. The SHQ (a discontinuous qualitative parameter) was evaluated using a 1 to 5 scale with 1 = complete pad separation during handling and 5 = no cracking or separation in the sod pad with excellent quality. The STS (a quantitative parameter) was determined using the force required to shear/separate the sod pad. Sod harvests were conducted at 14, 22, and 24 months after planting (MAP). The entry, harvest date, and their interaction affected STS and SHQ. Entries OKC 1302 and 12-TSB-1 had greater STS than ‘Patriot’ but less STS than ‘Latitude 36’, ‘Tifway’, ‘Astro’, and ‘TifGrand’. The seeded entry PST-R6T9S had the lowest STS and SHQ. The overall mean STS and SHQ were lowest at 22 MAP, which could be attributed to the slow recovery of the entries after Winter 2014. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.92) between STS and SHQ suggests that SHQ can be used as a rapid field method to estimate suitability for sod harvest. A predictive linear relationship between overall STS and overall SHQ (r2 = 0.85) found predicted STS values of 8.5, 22.6, 36.8, and 51.0 kg⋅dm–2 for overall mean SHQ ratings of 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The results of this work will help sod producers in cultivar selection and will aid breeders in making commercialization decisions.

Comparative analysis of the quantitative parameter method and elasticity color mode method for real-time shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of benign and malignant solid breast lesions

Objective: To examine the performance of real-time shear wave elastography (RT-SWE) in routine clinical practice. Methods: This was a prospective study of 500 patients. The elasticity color mode method was judged by a four-mode system. The quantitative parameter method was used to measure the modulus of elasticity of the lesions. Pathologic reports were used as a gold standard to comparatively analyze the diagnostic performance of the two methods. Results: A total of 553 tumors were detected. The average mode value and the modulus of elasticity (Emax) of the benign breast masses was lower than that of malignant masses ( p < 0.05). With Emax = 67.4 as the diagnostic threshold value, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of the two methods were not statistically significant different ( p > 0.05). Conclusions: The shear wave quantitative parameter method and the elasticity color mode method showed similar performances in the diagnosis of benign and malignant breast masses. The elasticity color mode method is convenient and intuitive, whereas the quantitative parameter method can be used to objectively assess the lesions when it is difficult to score the elasticity of an image, but could not be relied on alone.

The establishment of the inflation target and the corridor of fluctuations of the target: analysis of world trends and practice in Ukraine

The article presents an analysis of global trends in setting the inflation target and the acceptable corridor of inflation target fluctuations. Inflation targeting is an important attribute of the monetary regime of inflation targeting, its main quantitative parameter. The tendency of the inflation targeting regime in 70 countries all over the world are considered, of which 41 countries have official recognition by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the inflation targeting regime. It was found that most countries set the inflation target at 5% or below, and the level of the corridor of fluctuations in relative terms hovers around 20-50% of the target value. The latest trends related to changes in the monetary policy of the European Central Bank have been studied, recommendations for determining the acceptable corridor of fluctuations of the inflation target in small and open economies on the example of Ukraine are provided.

Changes of Anthropogenic Precursor Emissions Drive Shifts of Ozone Seasonal Cycle throughout Northern Midlatitude Troposphere

Simulations by six CMIP6 Earth System Models indicate that the seasonal cycle of baseline tropospheric ozone at northern midlatitudes has been shifting since the mid-20th Century. Beginning in ~ 1940 the seasonal cycle increased in amplitude by ~ 10 ppb (measured from seasonal minimum to maximum), and the seasonal maximum shifted to later in the year by about 3 weeks. This shift maximized in the mid-1980s, followed by a reversal – the seasonal cycle decreased in amplitude and the maximum shifted back to earlier in the year. Similar changes are seen in measurements collected from the 1970s to the present. The timing of the seasonal cycle changes is generally concurrent with the rise and fall of anthropogenic emissions that followed industrialization and subsequent implementation of air quality emission controls. We quantitatively compare the temporal changes of the ozone seasonal cycle at sites in both Europe and North America with the temporal changes of ozone precursor emissions across the northern midlatitudes and find a high degree of similarity between these two temporal patterns. We hypothesize that changing precursor emissions are responsible for the shift in the ozone seasonal cycle, and suggest the mechanism by which changing emissions drive the changing seasonal cycle: increasing emissions of NOX allow summertime photochemical production of ozone to become more important than ozone transported from the stratosphere and increasing VOCs lead to progressively greater photochemical ozone production in the summer months, thereby increasing the amplitude of the seasonal ozone cycle. Decreasing emissions of both precursor classes then reverse these changes. The quantitative parameter values that characterize the seasonal shifts provide useful benchmarks for evaluating model simulations, both against observations and between models.

LINGUISTIC SITUATION AS THE DEVELOPMENT FACTOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEXICOGRAPHY IN INDIA: THE BRITISH RAJ PERIOD

The given paper features the second part of the extended research focused on the investigation of the linguistic situation as a development factor of the English language lexicography in India. Thus, in this article the main parameters of the linguistic situation during the British Raj period, with English being the case study, are scanned. The diachronic approach used towards the analysis of the linguistic situation constituencies elicits certain stability of quantitative, qualitative and evaluative parameters as regards local languages in India and the pivotal changes as regards English. The English language quantitative parameter mirrors the fluctuation in demographic rate, national identity and professional occupancy of English speaking population in India during the Raj period. The qualitative parameter of linguistic situation being enriched by another Indo-European language, maintains its multilingual, heterogeneous and unbalanced features. The English language evaluative parameter reveals the main stages of the colonial language incorporation into the linguistic situation in the country. English in India goes through the perception as the language of traders and missionaries into its adoption as а means of education obtainment, social stability access and interaction mechanisms both with foreigners and citizenry of other multilingual country regions. Such position of English in colonial India prompts the alteration of its functional characteristics with political, pedagogical and lingua franca functions being the most essential. Their actualization is only feasible due to the flourish of lexicographic practice in colonial India. Thus, the English language serves the base for a number of glossaries, bilingual and explanatory dictionaries describing various lexical layers of English in India.

Quantitative Parameter Mapping of Contrast Agent Concentration and Relaxivity and Brain Tumor Extracellular pH

In clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), gadolinium-based contrast agents are most commonly used for evaluating brain tumors. However, contrast-enhanced MRI can only provide relative signal changes such as mixed information with longitudinal relaxivity (r1) and contrast agent concentration. Herein, we present a new method to evaluate r1 and contrast agent concentration separately in contrast-enhanced lesions using quantitative parameter mapping. We demonstrated that it is possible to evaluate pathophysiological tumor changes owing to therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, the r1 value can be used as an extracellular pH tumor marker. We believe that our method has an easy clinical application and demonstrates how acidic environments affect the T1 relaxation time of contrast agents. In conclusion, these indices can be useful for brain tumor management.