Physical Position Research Articles

Mapping of a Major-Effect Quantitative Trait Locus for Seed Dormancy in Wheat.

The excavation and utilization of dormancy loci in breeding are effective endeavors for enhancing the resistance to pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat varieties. CH1539 is a wheat breeding line with high-level seed dormancy. To clarify the dormant loci carried by CH1539 and obtain linked molecular markers, in this study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross of weak dormant SY95-71 and strong dormant CH1539 was genotyped using the Wheat17K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array, and a high-density genetic map covering 21 chromosomes and consisting of 2437 SNP markers was constructed. Then, the germination percentage (GP) and germination index (GI) of the seeds from each RIL were estimated. Two QTLs for GP on chromosomes 5A and 6B, and four QTLs for GI on chromosomes 5A, 6B, 6D and 7A were identified. Among them, the QTL on chromosomes 6B controlling both GP and GI, temporarily named QGp/Gi.sxau-6B, is a major QTL for seed dormancy with the maximum phenotypic variance explained of 17.66~34.11%. One PCR-based diagnostic marker Ger6B-3 for QGp/Gi.sxau-6B was developed, and the genetic effect of QGp/Gi.sxau-6B on the RIL population and a set of wheat germplasm comprising 97 accessions was successfully confirmed. QGp/Gi.sxau-6B located in the 28.7~30.9 Mbp physical position is different from all the known dormancy loci on chromosomes 6B, and within the interval, there are 30 high-confidence annotated genes. Our results revealed a novel QTL QGp/Gi.sxau-6B whose CH1539 allele had a strong and broad effect on seed dormancy, which will be useful in further PHS-resistant wheat breeding.

Improving assessment of procedural skills in health sciences education: a validation study of a rubrics system in neurophysiotherapy

BackgroundThe development of procedural skills is essential in health sciences education. Rubrics can be useful for learning and assessing these skills. To this end, a set of rubrics were developed in case of neurophysiotherapy maneuvers for undergraduates. Although students found the rubrics to be valid and useful in previous courses, the analysis of the practical exam results showed the need to change them in order to improve their validity and reliability, especially when used for summative purposes. After reviewing the rubrics, this paper analyzes their validity and reliability for promoting the learning of neurophysiotherapy maneuvers and assessing the acquisition of the procedural skills they involve.MethodsIn this cross-sectional and psychometric study, six experts and 142 undergraduate students of a neurophysiotherapy subject from a Spanish university participated. The rubrics’ validity (content and structural) and reliability (inter-rater and internal consistency) were analyzed. The students’ scores in the subject practical exam derived from the application of the rubrics, as well as the rubrics’ criteria difficulty and discrimination indices were also determined.ResultsThe rubrics´ content validity was found to be adequate (Content Validity Index > 0.90). These showed a unidimensional structure, and an acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.71) and inter-rater reliability (Fleiss’ ƙ=0.44, ICC = 0.94). The scores of the subject practical exam practically covered the entire range of possible theoretical scores, showing all the criterion medium-low to medium difficulty indices - except for the one related to the physical therapist position-. All the criterion exhibited adequate discrimination indices (rpbis > 0.39), as did the rubric as a whole (Ferguson’s δ = 0.86). Students highlighted the rubrics´ usefulness for learning the maneuvers, as well as their validity and reliability for formative and summative assessment.ConclusionsThe changed rubrics constitute a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating the execution quality of neurophysiotherapy maneuvers from a summative evaluation viewpoint. This study facilitates the development of rubrics aimed at promoting different practical skills in health-science education.

Enriching BIM models with fire safety equipment using keypoint-based symbol detection in escape plans

In the context of fire safety inspections, Building Information Modeling (BIM) models enriched with Fire Safety Equipment (FSE) components can be used to complete compliance checks and other analyses. However, BIM models often lack the required FSE information. To address this issue, escape plans are a convenient source of data, as they show the position and type of FSE on floor plans. Therefore, this study proposes an automated method to analyze escape plans and extract FSE component information to enrich existing BIM models. The method employs the deep learning model Keypoint R-CNN for symbol detection. Symbol locations are then translated into physical positions within the BIM model. Through a real-building case study, the method demonstrates promising results. Future research may focus on improving the symbol detection performance and the registration between the BIM models and fire escape plans, as well as utilizing the extracted information for actual fire safety analyses.

Enhancing Wireless Security and Privacy: A 2-Way Identity Authentication Method for 5G Networks

The communication network would have potential uses dependent on the infrastructure once the fifth generation (5G) network is fully commercialized. Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) authentication is a well-known mechanism for safeguarding the confidentiality of wireless device users. Fifth-generation computer technologies are very advanced in certification based on geolocation, regular confirmation, and authentication mechanisms. The clonable authentication feature solves the issue of authentication using duplicate modules. In highly dynamic environments, the problem poses a risk to privacy protection, adaptiveness, self-organization, information leakage, and the reliability of services. The article introduces a 2-way identity authentication method (2WIAM) using a Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) to address the issue above. The suggested technique for detecting module clones depends on user-provided authentication and geolocation data. The 2-way mutual authentication used in the suggested technique is a clever way to combine the many wireless technologies accessible to a given network node and enable the creation of wireless on-demand service providers and networks. The initial stage involves immediate passcode authentication, and the second is verifying the identity of the mobile equipment and any shifts or copies in its physical position. A new-cross authentication is then carried out to determine the identity of the clone's physical counterpart. In prior authentication situations, the choice to provide authorization or ban the clone was made fairly and objectively. The experiment results show that the users' privacy is protected, enhanced adaptiveness and the amount of data lost is limited.

Performance investigation of ShapeDoKu variant for PV formations under realistic assumptions of shading situations

During shading conditions, performance of physical relocation techniques for PV formations is more effective than total cross-tied (TCT) type of PV formation. The main purpose of physical relocation technique is to rearrange the physical position of PV modules in TCT formation without changing the electrical connections. Due to relocation of PV modules, the lengths of required wires are increased. So, the appropriate selection of PV formation is also important. In this paper, three different variants of physical relocation techniques are considered for 6×6 size TCT formation. These three variants are named as SuDoKu (SDK), ShapeDoKu (SPDK) and Futoshiki (FS). Moreover, these variants are analyzed on realistic assumptions of shading situations and these shading situations are categorized into eight different cases. Also, the comparative analysis of PV formations is reported in terms of P-V profiles, effects of shadings on individual rows and generation of energy and incomes. Further, from the obtained results of this paper, it is concluded that these variants of physical relocation techniques enhance the output power, energy and income generation in comparison of TCT type of PV formation. The SPDK variant of physical relocation technique is performing better than the other variants.

Transferable Virtual-Physical Environmental Alignment With Redirected Walking.

Several advanced redirected walking techniques have been proposed in recent years to improve natural walking in virtual environments. One active and important research challenge of redirected walking focuses on the alignment of virtual and physical environments by redirection gains. If both environments are aligned, physical objects appear at the same positions as their virtual counterparts. When a user arrives at such a virtual object, she can touch the corresponding physical object providing passive haptic feedback. When multiple transferable virtual or physical target positions exist, the alignment can exploit multiple options, but the process requires more complicated solutions. In this paper, we study the problem of virtual-physical environmental alignment at multiple transferable target positions, and introduce a novel reinforcement learning-based redirected walking method. We design a novel comprehensive reward function that dynamically determines virtual-physical target matching and updates virtual target weights for reward computation. We evaluate our method through various simulated experiments as well as real user tests. The results show that our method obtains less physical distance error for environmental alignment and requires fewer resets than state-of-the-art techniques.

Role of spatial positioning strategy for speech recognition in a simulated environment: Effects of age and hearing loss

In realistic listening environments, the physical position of the listener and target talker, relative to competing talkers, affects the signal-to-noise ratio and availability of spatial cues for release from masking. While the importance of signal-to-noise ratio and spatial cues for speech recognition has been demonstrated in the laboratory, a listener’s ability to leverage these acoustic cues by manipulating their position in an environment has received less attention. This study evaluated how changes in listener position within a simulated environment effect speech recognition for four listener groups that differed in age (younger or older) and hearing status (normal or impaired hearing). The simulated environment consisted of 8–10 speech maskers, individually rendered under headphones for specific locations within the space, with target and listener positions that varied across conditions. The intensity of the target varied throughout testing to estimate the psychometric function for keyword recognition of each listener in each position. Subjective reports of preferred listening position were collected before and after testing to determine the extent to which these listener groups strategically position themselves to maximize their speech recognition in noise. Results will be discussed in terms of the potential gains in speech recognition associated with optimal positioning strategies.

Identification of novel QTLs for resistance to late leaf spot in peanut by SNP array and QTL-seq

Late leaf spot (LLS) is one of important diseases that causes severe yield losses in peanut. Peanut has various sources of resistance to LLS, and the identification of resistant QTLs and the development of related molecular markers are of great importance for breeding of LLS-resistant peanut. In this study, 173 individual lines of a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and 48K SNP array for genotyping were used to construct a high-density genetic map with 1475 SNP marker and 20 linkage groups. A total of 11 QTLs were obtained through QTL analysis using the constructed genetic map. Among them, a stable major QTL qLLS.LG02 was identified on linkage group 2 in all six environments, with a phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranging from 15.57 to 31.09%. Additionally, QTL-seq technology was also employed for QTL analysis of LLS resistance. As a result, 14 QTL loci related to LLS resistance were identified using the G prime algorithm. Notably, physical position of qLLS02 and qLLS03 are coincided with that of qLLS.LG02 and qLLS.LG03 respectively. Gene annotation analysis within the 14 QTL intervals by QTL-seq revealed that there were a total of 163 NBS-LRR disease resistance genes, accounting for 22.86% of all R genes in peanut genome and showing a 4.26-fold enrichment with a p-value of 5.19e-57. Within the QTL region qLLS02 of the resistant parent Mi-2, there was a 5 Mb structural variation interval (SV) containing 81 NBS-LRR genes. A PCR diagnostic marker was developed, and validation data suggest that this SV might lead to gene deletion or replacement with other genes. This SV has the potential to enhance peanut resistance to late leaf spot disease. This study holds significant implications for improving peanut breeding for LLS resistance through development of associated molecular markers.

Study on Adsorption of Diesel Molecules on MoS<sub>2</sub> and NiMoS Catalysts

For deep insight into complex reaction system of diesel hydrotreating, the monolayer adsorption and competitive adsorption of typical reactant molecules (phenanthrene, naphthalene, acridine, quinoline, dibenzothiophene, 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene and H2) on MoS2 and NiMoS catalyst models with different structures were investigated. The basal plane is discovered to be the best physical adsorption position for all molecules in MoS2 series catalysts. Following saturation of the basal plane, reactant molecules will be adsorbed at Mo edge first, and Mo edge is more prone to bimolecular or multimolecular adsorption than S-edge, implying that Mo edge active sites play an important role in diesel hydrotreating. Naphthalene has a higher adsorption capacity in the partial pressure system that simulates the actual reaction atmosphere, and it is the most likely reactant molecule to predominately occupy active sites, but 4,6-dimethyl dibenzothiophene still exhibits good competition adsorption performance due to its high adsorption capacity and heat release. Interestingly, after phenanthrene adsorption, the secondary adsorption of hydrogen decreases in all of the catalyst models studied, indicating that phenanthrene is one of the most important molecules influencing hydrogen adsorption. Furthermore, the secondary adsorption of hydrogen after phenanthrene adsorption decreased the most on Tri-S50 catalyst. It shed light on that the activity and stability of Tri-S50 catalyst was most likely to decrease during diesel hydrotreating because of the notable inhibition on adsorption of hydrogen molecules brought by phenanthrene adsorption. It presents a theoretical basis for the design and development of highly efficient diesel hydrotreating catalysts.

Genetic analysis and molecular mapping of fruit‐bearing habit locus (Bh1) in eggplant (Solanum melongenaL.)

AbstractIn eggplant, two kinds of fruit‐bearing habits can be observed, that is, cluster and solitary. The fruits grown in cluster are small in size but contribute towards yield and productivity. In this investigation, we have studied the genetics of fruit‐bearing habit and identified the SSR markers linked to this trait. Pusa Safed Baingan 1 (cluster bearer) and Pusa Hara Baingan 1 (solitary bearer) having contrasting traits were crossed to generate F1(20 plants), F2(215 plants), B1(73 plants) and B2(64 plants). Genetic analysis of the trait was carried out using Chi‐square test. The segregation of plants in F2suggested recessive epistasis with ratio of 9:3:4 (solitary: mixed: cluster) indicating involvement of two genes for controlling the fruit‐bearing habit. The parental polymorphic 6 SSR markers were used for genotyping F2plants and co‐segregated with the fruit‐bearing habit (Bh1) locus in 1:2:1. A linkage map covering 63.86 cm distance was developed, the SSR marker emf11A03 was closest with a distance of 4.37 cm,emk03O04at 12.5 cm distance, andemf21O06at 14.5 cm. The physical positions of the SSR markersemb01J19andemf11A03flankingBh1gene were located at 4.77 mb position of contig Sme2.5_05721.1 and 5.18 Mb position of contig Sme2.5_00994.1, respectively. The findings in the present study will be helpful in marker‐assisted breeding to enhance yield in eggplant.

Genetic Diversity within a Collection of Italian Maize Inbred Lines: A Resource for Maize Genomics and Breeding

Genetic diversity is fundamental for studying the complex architecture of the traits of agronomic importance, controlled by major and minor loci. Moreover, well-characterized germplasm collections are essential tools for dissecting and analyzing genetic and phenotypic diversity in crops. A panel of 360 entries, a subset of a larger collection maintained within the GenBank at CREA Bergamo, which includes the inbreds derived from traditional Italian maize open-pollinated (OP) varieties and advanced breeding ones (Elite Inbreds), was analyzed to identify SNP markers using the tGBS® genotyping-by-sequencing technology. A total of 797,368 SNPs were found during the initial analysis. Imputation and filtering processes were carried out based on the percentage of missing data, redundant markers, and rarest allele frequencies, resulting in a final dataset of 15,872 SNP markers for which a physical map position was identified. Using this dataset, the inbred panel was characterized for linkage disequilibrium (LD), genetic diversity, population structure, and genetic relationships. LD decay at a genome-wide level indicates that the collection is a suitable resource for association mapping. Population structure analyses, which were carried out with different clustering methods, showed stable grouping statistics for four groups, broadly corresponding to ‘Insubria’, ‘Microsperma’, and ‘Scagliolino’ genotypes, with a fourth group composed prevalently of elite accessions derived from Italian and US breeding programs. Based on these results, the CREA Italian maize collection, genetically characterized in this study, can be considered an important tool for the mapping and characterization of useful traits and associated loci/alleles, to be used in maize breeding programs.

Evaluation of the lumbar and abdominal muscles behavior in different sagittal plane angles during maximum voluntary isometric extension.

Physical positions and lumbar movements are directly related to lumbar disorders. It is known that the sagittal plane angle affects the person's ability to apply extension torque. However, there is no consensus on whether or not muscle activity and co-contractions change at these angles. This paper aimed to investigate the abdominal and lumbar muscles' behavior at different sagittal plane angles during maximum voluntary isometric extension (MVIE). We have evaluated our findings with the aid of a computational biomechanical model. Fourteen healthy males participated. A total of 16 muscles EMG were recorded during the lumbar MVIE on the Sharif Lumbar Isometric Strength Tester device in 5°, 15°, 30°, and 45° flexion. The torque and muscle activity changes and all co-contraction indexes (CCI) between 120 possible muscle pairs were calculated. Finally, the experimental test conditions were modeled in the AnyBody software, and the MVIE torque, muscle activity, and all CCIs were calculated. Also, muscle torque lever arms were calculated at different angles. Results show that MVIE at four angles is 137.94 ± 36.08, 148.63 ± 47.96, 168.09 ± 50.48, and 171.44 ± 53.95 N · m, respectively. Muscle activity and CCI are similar at all angles. The AnyBody model gives similar findings. Muscles torque lever arms change with angle. In conclusion, to determine the safety mode of lifting in the sagittal plane, it seems that the torque differences are due to changes in the geometrical muscle parameters (including the torque lever arm). Despite the almost constant muscular effort, subjects in the 30°-45° bending positions can apply more MVIE.

Identification of reliable QTLs and designed QTL breeding for grain shape and milling quality in the reciprocal introgression lines in rice

Milling quality (MQ) and grain shape (GS) of rice (Oryza sativa L.) are correlated traits, both determine farmers’ final profit. More than one population under multiple environments may provide valuable information for breeding selection on these MQ-GS correlations. However, suitable analytical methods for reciprocal introgression lines with linkage map for this kind of correlation remains unclear. In this study, our major tasks were (1) to provide a set of reciprocal introgression lines (composed of two BC2RIL populations) suitable for mapping by linkage mapping using markers/bins with physical positions; (2) to test the mapping effects of different methods by using MQ-GS correlation dissection as sample case; (3) to perform genetic and breeding simulation on pyramiding favorite alleles of QTLs for representative MQ-GS traits. Finally, with four analysis methods and data collected under five environments, we identified about 28.4 loci on average for MQ-GS traits. Notably, 52.3% of these loci were commonly detected by different methods and eight loci were novel. There were also nine regions harboring loci for different MQ-GS traits which may be underlying the MQ-GS correlations. Background independent (BI) loci were also found for each MQ and GS trait. All these information may provide useful resources for rice molecular breeding.

Mapping of a Recessive Gene for All-Stage Resistance to Stripe Rust in a Wheat Line Derived from Cultivated Einkorn (Triticum monococcum).

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of wheat. Cultivated einkorn (Triticum monococcum L. ssp. monococcum, 2n = 2x = 14, AmAm), one of the founder crops of agriculture, harbors unexploited genetic sources for wheat improvement. An advanced wheat line, Z15-1949, with 42 chromosomes, selected from the hybrids of Pst-susceptible common wheat cultivar Crocus and resistant T. monococcum accession 10-1, exhibits high resistance to a mixture of the prevalent Chinese Pst races. Genetic analysis on F1, F2, and F2:3 generations of the cross between Z15-1949 and Pst-susceptible common wheat SY95-71 indicated that the resistance of Z15-1949 was conferred by a recessive gene, tentatively designated as YrZ15-1949. This gene was mapped to the short arm of chromosome 7D using the Wheat 55K single nucleotide polymorphism array, flanked by markers KASP-1949-2 and KASP-1949-10 within a 3.3-cM genetic interval corresponding to a 1.12-Mb physical region in the Chinese Spring reference genome V2.0. The gene differs from previously reported Yr genes on 7D based on their physical positions and is probably a novel gene. YrZ15-1949 would be a valuable resource for developing Pst-resistant wheat cultivars, and the linked markers could be used for marker-assisted selection.

Identification of Putative Quantitative Trait Loci for Improved Seed Oil Quality in Peanuts.

Improving seed oil quality in peanut (Arachis hypogaea) has long been an aim of breeding programs worldwide. The genetic resources to achieve this goal are limited. We used an advanced recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from JH5 × KX01-6 to explore quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting peanut oil quality and their additive effects, epistatic effects, and QTL × environment interactions. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis suggested seven fatty acids components were obviously detected in both parents and analyzed in a follow-up QTL analysis. The major components, palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), and linoleic acid (C18:2), exhibited considerable phenotypic variation and fit the two major gene and minor gene mixed-inheritance model. Seventeen QTL explained 2.57-38.72% of the phenotypic variation in these major components, with LOD values of 4.12-37.56 in six environments, and thirty-five QTL explained 0.94-32.21% of the phenotypic variation, with LOD values of 5.99-150.38 in multiple environments. Sixteen of these QTL were detected in both individual and multiple environments. Among these, qFA_08_1 was a novel QTL with stable, valuable and major effect. Two other major-effect QTL, qFA_09_2 and qFA_19_3, share the same physical position as FAD2A and FAD2B, respectively. Eleven stable epistatic QTL involving nine loci explained 1.30-34.97% of the phenotypic variation, with epistatic effects ranging from 0.09 to 6.13. These QTL could be valuable for breeding varieties with improved oil quality.

Effect on Physical Position of Peak Inspiratory Flow in Stable COPD: An Observational Study.

We examined the effect of physical position on peak inspiratory flow (PIF) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using dry-powder inhalers (DPIs) with low‑medium internal resistance (R2) and/or high internal resistance (R5). This prospective study in stable, ambulatory patients with spirometry-confirmed COPD evaluated the effect of 3 physical positions on maximal PIF achieved. Participants had PIFs of 30-90L/min (R5) or 60-90L/min (R2 DPIs) using the In-Check™ DIAL. PIF was measured in triplicate randomly in 3 positions that patients might be in while using their inhaler (standing, sitting, and semi-upright [supine position with the head of the bed at 45°, neck flexed forward]) against prescribed DPI resistance (R2/R5/both). Correlations between PIF and percentage decline in PIF between positions and differences in participant characteristics with >10% versus ≤10% PIF decline standing to semi-upright were calculated. A total of 76 participants (mean age, 65.2 years) had positional measurements; 59% reported seated DPI use at home. The mean (standard deviation) PIF standing, sitting, and semi-upright was 80.7 (13.4), 77.8 (14.3), and 74.0 (14.5) L/min, respectively, for R2 and 51.1 (9.52), 48.6 (9.84), and 45.8 (7.69) L/min, respectively, for R5 DPIs. PIF semi-upright was significantly lower than sitting and standing (R2; P < 0.0001) and standing (R5; P= 0.002). Approximately half of the participants had >10% decline in PIF from standing to semi-upright. Patient characteristics exceeding the 0.10 absolute standardized difference threshold with the decline in PIF for both the R2 and R5 DPIs were waist-to-hip ratio, modified Medical Research Council dyspnea score, and postbronchodilator percentage predicted forced vital capacity and PIF by spirometry. PIF was significantly affected by physical position regardless of DPI resistance. PIF was highest when standing and lowest when semi-upright. We recommend that patients with COPD stand while using an R2 or R5 DPI. Where unfeasible, the position should be sitting rather than semi-upright. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04168775.

QTL Mapping for Adult-Plant Resistance to Leaf Rust in Italian Wheat Cultivar Libellula.

Wheat leaf rust (Lr), which is caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks. (Pt), is one of the most important wheat diseases affecting wheat production globally. Using resistant wheat cultivars is the most economical and environmentally friendly way to control leaf rust. The Italian wheat cultivar Libellula has demonstrated good resistance to Lr in field studies. To identify the genetic basis of Lr resistance in 'Libellula', 248 F6 recombinant inbred lines from the cross 'Libellula'/'Huixianhong' was phenotyped for Lr severity in seven environments: the 2014/2015, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, and 2018/2019 cropping seasons at Baoding, Hebei Province, and the 2016/2017, 2017/2018, and 2018/2019 crop seasons at Zhoukou, Henan Province. Bulked segregant analysis and simple sequence repeat markers were then used to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for Lr adult-plant resistance in the population. Six QTLs were consequently detected and designated as QLr.hebau-1AL and QLr.hebau-1AS that were presumed to be new and QLr.hebau-1BL, QLr.hebau-3AL, QLr.hebau-4BL, and QLr.hebau-7DS that were identified at similar physical positions as previously reported QTLs. Based on chromosome positions and molecular marker tests, QLr.hebau-1BL and QLr.hebau-7DS share similar flanking markers with Lr46 and Lr34, respectively. Lr46 and Lr34 are race nonspecific adult plant resistance (APR) genes for leaf rust and stripe rust and powdery mildew. QLr.hebau-4BL showed multiple disease resistance to leaf rust, stripe rust, Fusarium head blight, and powdery mildew. The QTL identified in this study, as well as their closely linked markers, may potentially be used in marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding.

ESTIMATION OF SENSOR OFFSETS FOR A UAV PLATFORM USING TIEPOINTS ONLY

Abstract. In a UAV system, physical sensor offsets occur between an observation sensor and a GPS/IMU sensor which represents the position of UAV. The difference of angle between the GPS/IMU sensor’s axis and the observation sensor’s axis is referred to as boresight angle. The difference in physical position between the two is referred to as lever-arm. It is important to obtain accurate offset values in order to utilize UAVs in rapid mapping manner. Due to the sensor offsets, misalignment error can be caused when generating a mosaic image. Offset values can be measured by using extensive ground control points. However, this is very costly and time-consuming. In this study, we describe an estimation method for sensor offsets using tie-points and re-weighted least square estimation method. The proposed method consists of 5 steps. Firstly, a frame images for the target area were classified into image strips based on the kappa value of initial EOPs (Exterior Orientation Parameters), after which tie points were extracted between adjacent images. Secondly, strip bundle adjustment was performed to update initial EOPs using images with the same flight direction. Thirdly, tie-points between adjacent strips were extracted. Fourthly, block bundle adjustment was performed in all images, using all extracted tie-points. Finally, a mosaic image is generated using the EOPs value to which the estimated sensor offset is applied. From this study, we confirmed that the sensor offset of the platform could be estimated only with the tie-points extracted between adjacent images. And we confirmed that misalignment was adjusted when generating mosaic image. We expect that our research makes UAV system to be operated more fluently.

Novel genomic loci shape two neuroanatomical dimensions of AD in non‐demented populations

AbstractBackgroundArtificial intelligence has been in burgeoning demand to be applied to magnetic imaging resonance (MRI) data to parse the neuroanatomical heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (Wen et al., 2021a, 2021b; Yang et al., 2021). However, the genetic heterogeneity leading to this neuroanatomical heterogeneity, especially at the early asymptomatic stages, is not fully elucidated.MethodA deep semi‐supervised representation learning method, called Surreal‐GAN (Yang et al., 2022), was applied to T1‐weighted MRI from AD/MCI patients from ADNI to define the two neuroanatomical dimensions of AD at the symptomatic stages. The R1 dimension was characterized by widespread brain atrophy without an exclusive focus on the medial temporal lobe, whereas the R2 dimension showed focal medial temporal lobe atrophy (Wen et al., 2022). We then applied the trained model to 33,540 non‐demented individuals from UK Biobank. Imputed genotyping data were analyzed in genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). We performed multiple linear regressions controlling for confounding factors (e.g., age) via Plink (Purcell et al., 2007). We defined a genomic locus (represented by the top lead SNP) considering linkage disequilibrium. Finally, we manually queried all leading SNPs on GWAS Catalog (Buniello et al., 2019) to determine if the genomic loci were novel, provided they were not previously associated with any clinical traits.ResultGWAS discovered 24 genomic loci, of which 7 were novel for R1 and R2, respectively (Fig. 1). For R1, 8 mapped genes, based on physical positions, eQTL, and chromatin interactions, were associated with AD‐related traits in the literature. For example, the KDM2B gene from the genomic locus (rs9795600, P‐value = 1.13e‐08) was previously associated with AD (Gouveia et al., 2022). For R2, 13 mapped genes were associated with AD‐related traits. For example, the TESC gene from the genomic locus (rs77956314, P‐value = 9.99e‐29) was associated with neurofibrillary tangles measurement, which is formed by hyperphosphorylation of a microtubule‐associated protein known as tau in AD (Wang et al., 2020).ConclusionOur results confirmed genetic variants previously associated with AD and identified novel genomic loci contributing to this neuroanatomical heterogeneity. Further research is needed to understand these novel loci’s biological pathways and functional consequences.

Novel genomic loci shape two neuroanatomical dimensions of AD in non‐demented populations

AbstractBackgroundArtificial intelligence has been in burgeoning demand to be applied to magnetic imaging resonance (MRI) data to parse the neuroanatomical heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (Wen et al., 2021a, 2021b; Yang et al., 2021). However, the genetic heterogeneity leading to this neuroanatomical heterogeneity, especially at the early asymptomatic stages, is not fully elucidated.MethodA deep semi‐supervised representation learning method, called Surreal‐GAN (Yang et al., 2022), was applied to T1‐weighted MRI from AD/MCI patients from ADNI to define the two neuroanatomical dimensions of AD at the symptomatic stages. The R1 dimension was characterized by widespread brain atrophy without an exclusive focus on the medial temporal lobe, whereas the R2 dimension showed focal medial temporal lobe atrophy (Wen et al., 2022). We then applied the trained model to 33,540 non‐demented individuals from UK Biobank. Imputed genotyping data were analyzed in genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). We performed multiple linear regressions controlling for confounding factors (e.g., age) via Plink (Purcell et al., 2007). We defined a genomic locus (represented by the top lead SNP) considering linkage disequilibrium. Finally, we manually queried all leading SNPs on GWAS Catalog (Buniello et al., 2019) to determine if the genomic loci were novel, provided they were not previously associated with any clinical traits.ResultGWAS discovered 24 genomic loci, of which 7 were novel for R1 and R2, respectively (Fig. 1). For R1, 8 mapped genes, based on physical positions, eQTL, and chromatin interactions, were associated with AD‐related traits in the literature. For example, the KDM2B gene from the genomic locus (rs9795600, P‐value = 1.13e‐08) was previously associated with AD (Gouveia et al., 2022). For R2, 13 mapped genes were associated with AD‐related traits. For example, the TESC gene from the genomic locus (rs77956314, P‐value = 9.99e‐29) was associated with neurofibrillary tangles measurement, which is formed by hyperphosphorylation of a microtubule‐associated protein known as tau in AD (Wang et al., 2020).ConclusionOur results confirmed genetic variants previously associated with AD and identified novel genomic loci contributing to this neuroanatomical heterogeneity. Further research is needed to understand these novel loci’s biological pathways and functional consequences.