Abstract Terrestrial laser scanning of conifer tree crowns is challenged by occlusion problems causing sparse point clouds for many trees. Automatic segmentation from a task that has only recently been addressed and not solved in way all trees can be segmented automatically without assignment errors. We developed new algorithm based on region growing seeds voxelized 3D clouds. In our data, fiel...

Clients, stakeholders, and customers in the construction industry around world have long been concerned about project success. Despite massive financial investments related economic advantages, road projects Tanzania are plagued by cost overruns, time delays, failure to meet required quality stakeholders’ expectations. Even though prior studies produced models frameworks improve success, resear...

OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to investigate the consistency of use of plant stanol ester margarine and to characterise consistent and inconsistent users. DESIGN A cohort of plant stanol ester margarine users was established based on 14 national surveys conducted by the National Public Health Institute in Finland between 1996 and 1999. A follow-up study questionnaire was developed and...

The insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) plays an important role in cell transformation and in protection from apoptosis. Although the wild-type IGF-IR generally has an antiapoptotic effect, there are reports that its COOH terminus may actually generate a proapoptotic signal. Three different expression plasmids, all coding for the COOH-terminal sequences of the human IGF-IR, MyCF, CF,...

The association of snoring with ischaemic heart disease and stroke was studied prospectively in 4388 men aged 40-69. The men were asked, in a questionnaire sent to them, whether they snored habitually, frequently, occasionally, or never. Hospital records and death certificates were checked for the next three years to establish how many of the men developed ischaemic heart disease or stroke: the...

Some biological or chemical reactions need to be performed at high temperatures to decrease reaction time. However, many proteins are not very stable when heated. Research is needed that helps proteins to remain active and stable at high temperatures overcoming many limitations to their industrial applications. Recently we have shown that some structural features of proteins are related to the ...

BACKGROUND Concern that measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination might cause autism has led to a fall in vaccine coverage. We investigated whether MMR vaccination is associated with an increased risk of autism or other pervasive developmental disorders. METHODS We did a matched case-control study using the UK General Practice Research Database. Cases were people born in 1973 or later who had f...

BACKGROUND Cruciferous vegetables have been suggested to protect against various cancers, though the issue is open to discussion. To further understand their role, we analyzed data from a network of case-control studies conducted in Italy and Switzerland. PATIENTS AND METHODS The studies included a total of 1468 cancers of the oral cavity/pharynx, 505 of the esophagus, 230 of the stomach, 239...

The presence of hypertension aggravates the high cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients. Pulse pressure is a marker of arterial stiffness and constitutes a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. This study examines the relationship between different blood pressure indices and mortality in a cohort of type 2 diabetic patients. A total of 1294 type 2 diabetic patients with a median ag...