Estimating babassu palm density using automatic palm tree detection with very high spatial resolution satellite images.

High spatial resolution images as well as image processing and object detection algorithms are recent technologies that aid the study of biodiversity and commercial plantations of forest species. This paper seeks to contribute knowledge regarding the use of these technologies by studying randomly dispersed native palm tree. Here, we analyze the automatic detection of large circular crown (LCC) palm tree using a high spatial resolution panchromatic GeoEye image (0.50 m) taken on the area of a community of small agricultural farms in the Brazilian Amazon. We also propose auxiliary methods to estimate the density of the LCC palm tree Attalea speciosa (babassu) based on the detection results. We used the "Compt-palm" algorithm based on the detection of palm tree shadows in open areas via mathematical morphology techniques and the spatial information was validated using field methods (i.e. structural census and georeferencing). The algorithm recognized individuals in life stages 5 and 6, and the extraction percentage, branching factor and quality percentage factors were used to evaluate its performance. A principal components analysis showed that the structure of the studied species differs from other species. Approximately 96% of the babassu individuals in stage 6 were detected. These individuals had significantly smaller stipes than the undetected ones. In turn, 60% of the stage 5 babassu individuals were detected, showing significantly a different total height and a different number of leaves from the undetected ones. Our calculations regarding resource availability indicate that 6870 ha contained 25,015 adult babassu palm tree, with an annual potential productivity of 27.4 t of almond oil. The detection of LCC palm tree and the implementation of auxiliary field methods to estimate babassu density is an important first step to monitor this industry resource that is extremely important to the Brazilian economy and thousands of families over a large scale.

The genetic legacy of legendary and historical Siberian chieftains.

Seventeen years of archaeological and anthropological expeditions in North-Eastern Siberia (in the Sakha Republic, Yakutia) have permitted the genetic analysis of 150 ancient (15th-19th century) and 510 modern individuals. Almost all males were successfully analysed (Y-STR) and this allowed us to identify paternal lineages and their geographical expansion through time. This genetic data was confronted with mythological, historical and material evidence to establish the sequence of events that built the modern Yakut genetic diversity. We show that the ancient Yakuts recovered from this large collection of graves are not representative of an ancient population. Uncommonly, we were also able to demonstrate that the funerary preference observed here involved three specific male lineages, especially in the 18th century. Moreover, this dominance was likely caused by the Russian conquest of Siberia which allowed some male clans to rise to new levels of power. Finally, we give indications that some mythical and historical figures might have been the actors of those genetic changes. These results help us reconsider the genetic dynamics of colonization in some regions, question the distinction between fact and myth in national histories and provide a rare insight into a funerary ensemble by revealing the biased process of its composition.

The role of coagulation marker fibrin D-dimer in early diagnosis of catatonia.

Catatonia is a common but under-diagnosed neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by the occurrence in a single patient of concomitant affective, motor and behavioral symptoms with a hazardous outcome (called lethal catatonia: LC). Deaths by thromboembolic disease have been previously reported in LC. A 2-year prospective study was carried out to examine D-dimer levels, an early and sensitive coagulation marker, in patients with catatonic disorders. Twenty-five acute catatonic patients and 50 psychiatric control patients - matched on age, gender, psychiatric diagnosis, general psychopathology and neuroleptic medication matched - were investigated and considered in relation to D-dimer blood levels and other biological variables (serum iron, creatine phosphokinase, leukocytosis). All catatonic patients had high D-dimer levels and mean levels were significantly higher in catatonics than in non-catatonic patients, independently of age, gender, immobility, comorbid diagnosis, general psychopathology and neuroleptic medication. No significant association was observed with other biological parameters investigated. These preliminary and exploratory results suggest that catatonia is associated with early coagulation activation.

No pathogenic rearrangement within the DISC 1 gene in psychosis.

A translocation disrupting the DISC 1 gene segregates with schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders in a large Scottish family. Mutation screening of this gene by routine PCR-based methods has remained largely negative. We sought to detect rearrangements affecting DISC 1 in 347 individuals meeting the DSM3R criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, 70 subjects with bipolar disorder and 377 psychiatrically healthy controls, but failed to detect any pathological rearrangement.

Using SPOT-5 HRG Data in Panchromatic Mode for Operational Detection of Small Ships in Tropical Area.

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in applications of space remote sensing systems for maritime surveillance which includes among others traffic surveillance, maritime security, illegal fisheries survey, oil discharge and sea pollution monitoring. Within the framework of several French and European projects, an algorithm for automatic ship detection from SPOT-5 HRG data was developed to complement existing fishery control measures, in particular the Vessel Monitoring System. The algorithm focused on feature-based analysis of satellite imagery. Genetic algorithms and Neural Networks were used to deal with the feature-borne information. Based on the described approach, a first prototype was designed to classify small targets such as shrimp boats and tested on panchromatic SPOT-5, 5-m resolution product taking into account the environmental and fishing context. The ability to detect shrimp boats with satisfactory detection rates is an indicator of the robustness of the algorithm. Still, the benchmark revealed problems related to increased false alarm rates on particular types of images with a high percentage of cloud cover and a sea cluttered background.

Rapid Urban Mapping Using SAR/Optical Imagery Synergy.

This paper highlights the potential of combining Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical data for operational rapid urban mapping. An algorithm consisting of a completely unsupervised procedure for processing pairs of co-registered SAR/optical images is proposed. In a first stage, a texture analysis is conducted independently on the two images using eight different chain-based Gaussian models. In a second stage, the resulting texture images are partitioned by an unsupervised fuzzy K-means approach. Finally, a fuzzy decision rule is used to aggregate the results provided by the classification of texture images obtained from the pair of SAR and optical images. The method was tested and validated on images of Bucharest (Romania) and Cayenne (French Guiana). These two study areas are of different terrain relief, urban settlement structure and land cover complexity. The data set included Radarsat-1/ENVISAT and SPOT-4/5 images. The developed SAR/optical information fusion scheme improved the capabilities of urban areas extraction when compared with the separate use of SAR and optical sensors. It also proved to be suitable for monitoring urbanization development. The encouraging results thus confirm the potential of combining information from SAR and optical sensors for timely urban area analysis, as required in cases of disaster management and planning in urban sprawl areas.

The effects of familiarity and emotional expression on face processing examined by ERPs in patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: The main objective of the study was to determine whether patients with schizophrenia are deficient relative to controls in the processing of faces at different levels of familiarity and types of emotion and the stage where such differences may occur. METHODS: ERPs based on 18 patients with schizophrenia and 18 controls were compared in a face identification task at three levels of familiarity (unknown, familiar, subject's own) and for three types of emotion (disgust, smiling, neutral). RESULTS: The schizophrenic group was less accurate than controls in the face processing, especially for unknown faces and those expressing negative emotions such as disgust. P1 and N170 amplitudes were lower and P1, N170, P250 amplitudes were of slower onset in patients with schizophrenia. N170 and P250 amplitudes were modulated by familiarity and face expression in a different manner in patients than controls. CONCLUSIONS: Schizophrenia is associated with a genelarized defect of face processing, both in terms of familiarity and emotional expression, attributable to deficient processing at sensory (P1) and perceptual (N170) stages. These patients appear to have difficulty in encoding the structure of a face and thereby do not evaluate correctly familiarity and emotion.

Regional-scale climate-variability synchrony of cholera epidemics in West Africa.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between cholera and climate was explored in Africa, the continent with the most reported cases, by analyzing monthly 20-year cholera time series for five coastal adjoining West African countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. METHODS: We used wavelet analyses and derived methods because these are useful mathematical tools to provide information on the evolution of the periodic component over time and allow quantification of non-stationary associations between time series. RESULTS: The temporal variability of cholera incidence exhibits an interannual component, and a significant synchrony in cholera epidemics is highlighted at the end of the 1980's. This observed synchrony across countries, even if transient through time, is also coherent with both the local variability of rainfall and the global climate variability quantified by the Indian Oscillation Index. CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest that large and regional scale climate variability influence both the temporal dynamics and the spatial synchrony of cholera epidemics in human populations in the Gulf of Guinea, as has been described for two other tropical regions of the world, western South America and Bangladesh.

The subjective quality of life in deficit and nondeficit schizophrenic patients.

We assessed the subjective quality of life (QOL) of 30 deficit schizophrenic patients compared to 112 nondeficit schizophrenic patients. The deficit patients did not differ in term of QOL, total score of positive symptoms, general psychopathology from the nondeficit patients. This result suggested an absence of impact of primary negative symptoms on the subjective QOL in schizophrenic patients.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in schizophrenia: investigation of the right and left hippocampus, thalamus, and prefrontal cortex.

Single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) was used to study the metabolites N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (CHO), and myo-inositol (ml) in order to test a neurodegenerative hypothesis in schizophrenia (decrease of NAA, increase of CHO, and increase of ml) and a cerebral asymmetry of these metabolites. 1H MRS was performed in 17 schizophrenia patients and 14 healthy subjects in three cerebral areas highly involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia (the prefrontal cortex, the thalamus, and the hippocampus). The ratio amplitudes between metabolites and creatine plus phosphocreatine (Cr) were determined. No difference in the metabolites existed between patients and healthy subjects. However, relationships were noted between NAA/Cr and age in the thalami of the schizophrenia patients (r = -0.37; p = 0.14) and healthy subjects (r = -0.52; p = 0.05). A significant correlation was observed between NAA/Cr and age of onset of illness in the hippocampi of schizophrenia patients (r = -0.59; p < 0.05). Moreover, NAA/Cr was lower in the right than in the left prefrontal cortex in both schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects. There was no relationship between the metabolites and duration of illness or dose of antipsychotics. These findings might suggest a neurodegenerative process in the hippocampi of schizophrenia patients with late onset of illness, and the NAA/Cr ratio could be a marker of aging in the thalami.

[Non-metastatic prostate cancer treated with exclusive radiotherapy: prognosis of patients according to lymph node radiologic or surgical assessment method. Multivariate retrospective analysis]. / Cancers de prostate non métastatiques traités par radiothérapie exclusive: devenir des patients selon la méthode d'évaluation ganglionnaire radiologique ou chirurgicale. Une analyse rétrospective multivariée.

PURPOSE: To compare retrospectively the outcome of localized prostate cancers treated by curative external radiotherapy in which the negative lymphatic status was either surgically or radiologically assessed. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From January 1986 to December 1995, 112 patients with localized prostate cancers were found to have no evidence of lymphatic disease in the pelvis. N0 status was assessed either surgically (61 patients, group pN-) or after a CT scan procedure (51 patients, group cN0). The treatment consisted of conventional external radiotherapy using a four-fields box technique to a total dose of 65 Gy. The pelvis was never irradiated. RESULTS: The two groups did not statistically differ according to age, PSA level, Gleason score, T stage and hormonal therapy. Actuarial NED survival rates were 80% and 60% at five and ten years respectively. At ten years, the actuarial NED survival rates were 78% and 34% in the pN- and cN0 groups respectively (p = 0.003). The multivariate analysis corroborated the positive impact of lymphatic dissection before radiotherapy on disease free survival of T1-T2 patients, but not for T3 stages. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study suggests the inability of CT scan to accurately evaluate the lymph node status in carcinoma of the prostate. Systematic ilio-obturator nodal dissection is strongly recommended in early stages before curative radiotherapy. Only pN-patients should be included in high dose conformal irradiation trials.

[Conservative surgery for testicular tumours]. / Chirurgie conservatrice dans les tumeurs du testicule.

The management of testicular tumours is based on inguinal orchidectomy, but conservative surgery is possible in some situations. The indication for conservative surgery is based on clinical assessment, precise analysis of good quality ultrasound images and testicular marker assays. It must be performed according to a strict operative protocol. Conservative surgery may be indicated in the case of teratoma in prepubescent boys, suspicion of epidermal cyst or Leydig cell tumour in adults. Finally, the presence of a germline tumour in a patient with a solitary testis can also be an indication for this type of procedure by observing particularly rigorous imperatives: very motivated patient, absence of hypogonadism, remaining parenchyma representing more than 25% of the initial parenchyma, systematic screening for and treatment of an associated carcinoma in situ by radiotherapy or radical surgery, rigorous and prolonged subsequent surveillance. Only strict compliance with these rules in a very well informed and compliant patient can allow partial orchidectomy to be performed in complete safety, allowing maintenance of endogenous testicular activity.

Involvement of hyperprolinemia in cognitive and psychiatric features of the 22q11 deletion syndrome.

Microdeletions of the 22q11 region, responsible for the velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS), are associated with an increased risk for psychosis and mental retardation. Recently, it has been shown in a hyperprolinemic mouse model that an interaction between two genes localized in the hemideleted region, proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and catechol-o-methyl-transferase (COMT), could be involved in this phenotype. Here, we further characterize in eight children the molecular basis of type I hyperprolinemia (HPI), a recessive disorder resulting from reduced activity of proline dehydrogenase (POX). We show that these patients present with mental retardation, epilepsy and, in some cases, psychiatric features. We next report that, among 92 adult or adolescent VCFS subjects, a subset of patients with severe hyperprolinemia has a phenotype distinguishable from that of other VCFS patients and reminiscent of HPI. Forward stepwise multiple regression analysis selected hyperprolinemia, psychosis and COMT genotype as independent variables influencing IQ in the whole VCFS sample. An inverse correlation between plasma proline level and IQ was found. In addition, as predicted from the mouse model, hyperprolinemic VCFS subjects bearing the Met-COMT low activity allele are at risk for psychosis (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.04-7.4). Finally, from the extensive analysis of the PRODH gene coding sequence variations, it is predicted that POX residual activity in the 0-30% range results into HPI, whereas residual activity in the 30-50% range is associated either with normal plasma proline levels or with mild-to-moderate hyperprolinemia.

PRODH mutations and hyperprolinemia in a subset of schizophrenic patients.

The increased prevalence of schizophrenia among patients with the 22q11 interstitial deletion associated with DiGeorge syndrome has suggested the existence of a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia within the DiGeorge syndrome chromosomal region (DGCR) on 22q11. Screening for genomic rearrangements of 23 genes within or at the boundaries of the DGCR in 63 unrelated schizophrenic patients and 68 unaffected controls, using quantitative multiplex PCR of short fluorescent fragments (QMPSF), led us to identify, in a family including two schizophrenic subjects, a heterozygous deletion of the entire PRODH gene encoding proline dehydrogenase. This deletion was associated with hyperprolinemia in the schizophrenic patients. In addition, two heterozygous PRODH missense mutations (L441P and L289M), detected in 3 of 63 schizophrenic patients but in none among 68 controls, were also associated with increased plasma proline levels. Segregation analysis within the two families harboring respectively the PRODH deletion and the L441P mutation showed that the presence of a second PRODH nucleotide variation resulted in higher levels of prolinemia. In two unrelated patients suffering from severe type I hyperprolinemia with neurological manifestations, we identified a homozygous L441P PRODH mutation, associated with a heterozygous R453C substitution in one patient. These observations demonstrate that type I hyperprolinemia is present in a subset of schizophrenic patients, and suggest that the genetic determinism of type I hyperprolinemia is complex, the severity of hyperprolinemia depending on the nature and number of hits affecting the PRODH locus.