Mechanical resistance of Quercus robur L. at the environmental boundary of the species distribution in the steppe

The paper studies the mechanical resistance of old-age pedunculate oak trees which grow at the environmental boundary of the species distribution in the steppe. The trees of the studied species growing in the south of the East European Plain (Donetsk Ridge) can be about 200 years old and still be viable (good condition) and have a high mechanical resistance (critical mass (mcr)=105 kg, and flexural stiffness=9.8·107 N·m2) even under unfavourable environmental conditions. A strong dependence of the morphometric parameter of the ratio was established between the tree trunk diameter and its height on the parameters of the trunk bending stiffness, its critical mass, and the relative resistance to bending. The obtained results of statistical analysis can be used to monitor oak forests and scattered trees of Quercus robur L. in order to single out plants with low mechanical resistance with the help of the d/l parameter which serves as a morphometric marker of the tree resistance.

Motiro: a unified automatic framework for statistical analysis of probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy videos of colorectal mucosa

Probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicrocopy (pCLE) enables imaging the colorectal mucosa for screening and surveillance of cancer. Analyzing acquired videos relies on subjectivity of the endomicroscopists. Quantitative criteria are needed to enhance the diagnostics obtained using pCLE. We present Motiro, an automatic framework to extract features of the colorectal mucosa imaged by pCLE. Morphometric features of the crypts of the healthy colorectal mucosa are analysed and their variability quantified using the Shannon entropy. Hellinger distance compares the statistics of a morphometric parameter in multiple mucosas (or mucosas' regions). Quantification of variability of the healthy mucosa is a prerequisite for pCLE-based early diagnostics of colorectal cancer.

Quantitative Geomorphological Parameters Analysis for the Aynalem- Illala Streams, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Morphometric analysis is the measurement and mathematical analysis of the configuration of the surface, shape, and dimension of landforms. The objective of this study is to characterize the Aynalem and Illala streams using the morphometric parameter. The topographic map at a scale of 1:50,000 taken from the Ethiopian National Mapping Agency was used to characterize the linear and areal aspects. ASTER Digital Elevation Model with 10m resolution was used to characterize the relief aspect. The Arc GIS 10.4.1 was used during the morphometric analysis. The analysis result of the streams is summarized based on the linear, areal, and relief aspects. The area is characterized by a dendritic drainage pattern which is characteristics of massive hard rock terrain. The Aynalem and Illala streams are 4th and 5th order streams. Considering the number of streams in the Aynalem (75.81%) and Illala (74.66%) is composed of first-order streams that indicate a flashy flood and the mean bifurcation value of Aynalem (6.8) and Illala (4.7) shows that the Aynalem area is more structurally affected than Illala but both show less stream integration. The analysis of areal aspects such as elongation ratio, circularity ratio, and form factor has indicated that both streams are characterized as elongated streams, this implies that both streams are flowing in heterogeneous rock material, presences of structural effect, and slow runoff discharge. The other areal aspect such as drainage density, stream frequency, infiltration number, and length of overland flow all show smaller values in both streams. This implies that the streams are characterized by a relatively permeable rock material with a higher infiltration capacity. The relief aspect of the Aynalem and Illala was also analyzed using basin relief, relief ratio, ruggedness number, hypsometric curves, and Hypsometric integral. The streams are characterized by a lower relief ratio and ruggedness number which implies a relatively flat slope and lower relief. The hypsometric curves and the Hypsometric Integral of the streams indicate that the Aynalem and Illala are at the maturity stage. This shows the area is characterized by higher erosion but less affected by recent structures. Based on the morphometric parameter analysis result it is possible to conclude that the stream development is dependent on the topography and geology of the study area and both streams show similar morphometric character.

Linking Soil Erosion Modeling to Landscape Patterns and Geomorphometry: An Application in Crete, Greece

Soil erosion is a severe and continuous environmental problem caused mainly by natural factors, which can be enhanced by anthropogenic activities. The morphological relief with relatively steep slopes, the dense drainage network, and the Mediterranean climate are some of the factors that render the Paleochora region (South Chania, Crete, Greece) particularly prone to soil erosion in cases of intense rainfall events. In this study, we aimed to assess the correlation between soil erosion rates estimated from the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and the landscape patterns and to detect the most erosion-prone sub-basins based on an analysis of morphometric parameters, using geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing technologies. The assessment of soil erosion rates was conducted using the RUSLE model. The landscape metrics analysis was carried out to correlate soil erosion and landscape patterns. The morphometric analysis helped us to prioritize erosion-prone areas at the sub-basin level. The estimated soil erosion rates were mapped, showing the spatial distribution of the soil loss for the study area in 2020. For instance, the landscape patterns seemed to highly impact the soil erosion rates. The morphometric parameter analysis is considered as a useful tool for delineating areas that are highly vulnerable to soil erosion. The integration of three approaches showed that there is are robust relationships between soil erosion modeling, landscape patterns, and morphometry.

MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF BAUR CATCHMENT IN LESSER HIMALAYA: USING GEO-SPATIALTECHNIQUES

The current assessment is an undertaking to evaluateand compare variousmorphometric parameters of the Baur catchment. Morphometric analysis of the river basin provides a quantitative description of the drainage system, which is an important aspect of the categorization of the basin (Strahler, 1964).The Baur catchment is located in the outer part of the Lesser Himalaya in the Kumaun region, which is a major part of Western Himalaya.The geographical area of Baur Catchment is 106.233Km2.Morphometric analysis of Baur Catchment includes linear, areal, and relief aspects.The calculation of the morphometric parameter, along with map preparation, was performed with the help of GIS techniques and ancillary material.Most of the area of Baur Catchment is occupied by Siwalik Group (sandstone and clay intercalation with pseudo-conglomerate) of rocks.The entire Baur Catchment has found 6th order drainage, which reveals sub-dendritic to a dendritic type of drainage pattern. It is observed that the drainage density of the Baur Catchment is 3.525 km/halfkm2.

Deep learning-based automatic meibomian gland segmentation and morphology assessment in infrared meibography

Meibomian glands (MG) are large sebaceous glands located below the tarsal conjunctiva and the abnormalities of these glands cause Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) which is responsible for evaporative dry eye disease (DED). Accurate MG segmentation is a key prerequisite for automated imaging based MGD related DED diagnosis. However, Automatic MG segmentation in infrared meibography is a challenging task due to image artifacts. A deep learning-based MG segmentation has been proposed which directly learns MG features from the training image dataset without any image pre-processing. The model is trained and evaluated using 728 anonymized clinical meibography images. Additionally, automatic MG morphometric parameters, gland number, length, width, and tortuosity assessment were proposed. The average precision, recall, and F1 score were achieved 83%, 81%, and 84% respectively on the testing dataset with AUC value of 0.96 based on ROC curve and dice coefficient of 84%. Single image segmentation and morphometric parameter evaluation took on average 1.33 s. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a validated deep learning-based approach is applied in MG segmentation and evaluation for both upper and lower eyelids.

Morphometric Study of Height of Medial Malleolus of Fully Ossified Dry Human Left Tibia

Tibia is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates. The objective of this study was to determine the morphometry of the height of medial malleolus of fully ossified dry human left tibia and this morphometric parameter also clinically important in imaging diagnosis of fractures of the medial malleolus. This analytical type of study was done on two hundred (200) fully ossified dry human left tibia conducted in the Department of Anatomy at Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2014 to June 2015 for a period of one year. From the result of the present study it can be concluded that the mean (±SD) value of height of medial malleolus of tibia was greater in male than that of female which was statistically significant (p<0.01). The results of this study will be useful for Orthopedic surgeons while making implants for the lower end of tibia.

MORPHOMETRY OF BLUE LAND CRAB (CARDISOMA GUANHUMI) BURROWS: ICHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT A large brachyuran, the blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumiLatreille, 1825) is a keystone species and a prolific burrower in a variety of low-latitude supratidal habitats; however, few studies have addressed its ichnological aspects. Here we present a detailed morphological assessment of C. guanhumi burrows and make comparisons to Macanopsis plataniformis, a trace fossil thought to be constructed by a similar brachyuran. Using nine burrow casts from a mangrove wetland on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, 29 dimensionless morphometric parameters were compared. Results of Bray-Curtis tests show high overall similarity index (0.85) between casts, with complexity, tortuosity, and opening inclination angle having moderate to high similarity (&gt; 0.8). End chamber angle of the blue land crab has highest similarity both within the modern morphometric parameter dataset (&gt; 0.9) and to that of M. plataniformis (0.88). The large terminal chamber is particularly important because of its high preservation potential, as a repository for organic remains, and as a reliable water table (∼ sea-level) indicator. Cluster analysis suggests size-independent Macanopsis-resembling burrow morphology among different extant taxa can be discriminated via quantitative neoichnological methods. Our findings demonstrate how a quantitative assessment of modern burrows and their likely counterparts from the sedimentary record can help constrain tracemaker identity and aid paleoenvironmental reconstruction of low-energy microtidal settings.

MORPHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF SPERMATOGENIC EPITHELIOCYTES STRUCTURE UNDER THE RUBOMYCIN INFLUENCE IN RATS

Background. Over the last 20 years, the quality of men’s sperm around the world has deteriorated twice. The causes are poor environment, stress, sedentary lifestyle, prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, obesity, alcohol abuse and various stimulants. The structure and function of the testes, when exposed to various drugs and chemicals, attracts the attention of present researchers. Objectives. The aim of the research was to study the structural changes of the spermatogenic epithelium in testicular damage caused by rubomycin hydrochloride. Methods. The spermatogenic epithelium of the testes of 30 white adult white male rats, which were divided into 2 groups, was morphometrically examined. The 1st group comprised 15 experimental intact animals, the 2nd – 15 rats, in which testicular damage with rubomycin hydrochloride was simulated. Euthanasia of rats was performed by bloodletting under thiopental anesthesia one month after the experiment beginning. Quantitative morphological parameters were statistically processed. In spermatocytes of the 1st P-order, spermatogonia and spermatids of testes, their height, diameter of nuclei, nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio and relative volumes of damaged cells of spermatogenic epithelium were evaluated. Results. It was established that spermatogenic epithelial cells were damaged in the simulated experimental conditions, which was morphometrically confirmed by changes in nuclear-cytoplasmic relations in the 1st, 2nd order spermatocytes, spermatogonia and spermatids. The relative volumes of damaged spermatogenic epithelial cells also increased significantly. The most significant morphometric parameters were altered in spermatids. Thus, the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio in the studied cells was statistically significantly (p <0.001) increased by 7.4% compared with the similar control morphometric parameter. The relative volume of damaged spermatids in these experimental conditions reached (32.50±0.18) %, which with a high statistically significant difference (p<0.001) exceeded the same control value in almost 15.8 times. Optically, histological preparations of the testes showed severe vascular disorders, characterized by dilation and plethora mostly of venous vessels, which pointed to violation of venous drainage of the studied organs. Conclusions. According to the attained research results it has been established that nuclear-cytoplasmic relations are an objective and valuable informative indicator of a functional condition of cells and their structural changes in pathological conditions. When rubomycin hydrochloride is exposed to experimental animals, the most significant changes in nuclear-cytoplasmic relations are found in spermatic spermatozoa.