Digital imaging

The study aimed to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of occlusal caries depth measurements obtained from different imaging modalities. The study comprised 21 human mandibular molar teeth with occlusal caries. Teeth were imaged using film, CCD, two different cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) units and a microcomputer tomography (micro-CT). Thereafter, each tooth was serially sectioned, and the section with the deepest carious lesion was scanned using a high-resolution scanner. Each image set was separately viewed by three oral radiologists. Images were viewed randomly, and each set was viewed twice. Lesion depth was measured on film images using a digital caliper, on CCD and CBCT images using built-in measurement tools, on micro-CT images using the Mimics software program, and on histological images using AxioVision Rel. 4.7. Intra- and inter-rater reliabilities were assessed according to the Bland/Altman method by calculating Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs). Mean/median values obtained with intraoral systems were lower than those obtained with 3-D and histological images for all observers and both readings. Intra-observer ICC values for all observers were highest for histology and micro-CT. In addition, intra-observer ICC values were higher for histology and CBCT than for histology and intra-oral methods. Inter-observer ICC values for first and second readings were high for all observers. No differences in repeatability were found between Accuitomo and Iluma CBCT images or between intra-oral film and CCD images. Micro-CT was found to be the best imaging method for the ex vivo measurement of occlusal caries depth. In addition, both CBCT units performed similarly and better than intra-oral modalities.

The impact of image pattern recognition on accessing large databases of medical images has recently been explored, and content-based image retrieval (CBIR) in medical applications (IRMA) is researched. At the present, however, the impact of image retrieval on diagnosis is limited, and practical applications are scarce. One reason is the lack of suitable mechanisms for query refinement, in particular, the ability to (1) restore previous session states, (2) combine individual queries by Boolean operators, and (3) provide continuous-valued query refinement. This paper presents a powerful user interface for CBIR that provides all three mechanisms for extended query refinement. The various mechanisms of manYmachine interaction during a retrieval session are grouped into four classes: (1) output modules, (2) parameter modules, (3) transaction modules, and (4) process modules, all of which are controlled by a detailed query logging. The query logging is linked to a relational database. Nes...

The last decade witnessed a growing interest in research on content-based image retrieval (CBIR) and related areas. Several systems for managing and retrieving images have been proposed, each one tailored to a specific application. Functionalities commonly available in CBIR systems include: storage and management of complex data, development of feature extractors to support similarity queries, development of index structures to speed up image retrieval, and design and implementation of an intuitive graphical user interface tailored to each application. To facilitate the development of new CBIR systems, we propose an image-handling extension to the relational database management system (RDBMS) PostgreSQL. This extension, called PostgreSQL-IE, is independent of the application and provides the advantage of being open source and portable. The proposed system extends the functionalities of the structured query language SQL with new functions that are able to create new feature extraction procedures, new feature vectors as combinations of previously defined features, and new access methods, as well as to compose similarity queries. PostgreSQL-IE makes available a new image data type, which permits the association of various images with a given unique image attribute. This resource makes it possible to combine visual features of different images in the same feature vector. To validate the concepts and resources available in the proposed extended RDBMS, we propose a CBIR system applied to the analysis of mammograms using PostgreSQL-IE.

Öz: Günümüz teknolojisinin hızlı ilerleyişi sayısal görüntüleme metotlarına ivme kazandırmış ve kültürel miras araştırmalarına da yeni yaklaşımlar getirmiştir. Teknolojinin bilime sunduğu yeni belgeleme ve analiz metotları birçok disipline adapte edilerek araştırmaların detaylı ve hızlı bir biçimde yapılmasına imkan tanımaktadır. Burada sunulan çalışma son yıllarda kültürel miras araştırmalarında kullanılan Yansıtma Dönüşümlü Görüntüleme (Reflectance Transformation Imaging-RTI) metodunun epigrafi araştırmalarında yazıtların belgeleme ve analiz süreçlerine sunduğu yenilikleri incelemektedir. RTI, bir nesne yüzeyinin farklı açılardan aydınlatılmasıyla elde edilen görüntü verilerinden sentezlenen yansıtma değerlerini kullanarak nesne yüzeyinin mikro-topografyasını ortaya çıkaran sayısal bir fotoğraflama me-todudur. Özellikle tahribata uğramış arkeolojik eserlerin yüzey detaylarının belgelenmesinde ve yorum-lanmasında ya da yazıt taşıyıcısı yüzeyindeki aşınmış harflerin karakterize edilmesinde görsel algıyı artırarak analiz süreçlerine pozitif katkılar sunmaktadır. Çalışmada 'tahribatsız' belgelemeye ve çok yönlü analize imkan veren RTI metodunun teknik ardalanı ve çalışma prensipleri Phaselis epigrafi araş-tırmalarında yürütülen RTI çalışmalarından sunulan örnekler ışığında detaylı bir biçimde aktarılmıştır.
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Abstract: Today's advanced technology has accelerated the use of digital imaging methods and brought new approaches to cultural heritage research. The new documentation and analysis methods have been adapted to various disciplines; which has made quick and detailed research possible. This study examines the innovations in documentation and analysis of the inscriptions in epigraphy through the RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) method which has recently begun to be employed in cultural heritage in recent years. RTI is a computational photographic method that records the micro-topography of the surface of an object by using reflectance properties synthesised from the image data that obtained through illuminating the object's surface from different angles. The method has contributed in particular to documenting and for accuracy in commenting upon partially destroyed surfaces of archaeological artifacts; and in enabling the characterisation of the letters of the damaged surface of an inscription bearer, through increasing the definition of the visual evidence. The study presents the technical background and the working principles of the RTI method which enables multi-directional analysis and a documentation process in a 'non-destructive' way, through a consideration of the examples of RTI studies conducted in epigraphical research at Phaselis.

Policies and procedures (P&P) constitute the mechanism for planning, standardizing, and documenting the provision of clinical services. Upon approval by hospital management, the P&P is an official statement of hospital rules and regulations. Each P&P establishes organizational responsibility for providing services. P&P are a mechanism for communicating standard operating procedures to hospital and medical staff. P&P serve as a reference document for unusual events, as well as routine procedures. P&P are often reviewed by inspection teams from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) to determine whether the hospital has documented systematic practices. A picture archival and communications system (PACS) provides a new vehicle for providing radiology services. P&P that were designed for conventional film-based imaging are often not appropriate for electronic imaging. Because PACS is new and not yet widespread, good examples of PACS P&P are not yet available. JCAHO has no official requirements for PACS: PACS is viewed only as a means for the hospital to accomplish its work. Successful P&P development is a team effort, drafted by personnel responsible for executing the procedure, assisted by staff proficient in PACS technology, and tested in the field. The P&P should be reviewed and approved by management personnel knowledgeable about hospital and imaging operations. P&P should be written in clear and concise language. Successful P&P development is an ongoing effort. P&P must be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect changes in PACS technology and changes in clinical operations. New P&P must be developed when a deficit is noted. PACS security is a good example of a topic worthy of P&P development, especially in the face of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation of 1996. What are the provisions for access control? Does the system include a feature for automatic shut-off of the software? Are there “generic” passwords and log-ins shared by a community of users? How are passwords assigned and how frequently are they changed? What security measures are in place to assure passwords are given to the appropriate user? Who grants and denies access? Service calls are another topic for P&P. Who initiates a service call? What is the process for escalating a service call from the operator level to the vendor? What immediate actions are expected by the operator in order to restore PACS services? How are service events documented? Who is responsible for determining when “downtime” procedures should be initiated or suspended? When our hospital’s total electrical system had to be shut down for an extended period, we found that a P&P was lacking for a task as mundane as shutting down and restarting our PACS components. What is the sequence for the shutdown? Who is responsible for shutting down and restarting? How long can the devices operate on uninteruptible power supplies (UPS)? What components are on emergency power? Should we expect the components to survive the switchover to generator power? Developing this P&P was worth the effort: it made the PACS more fault-tolerant and served as a reference document 3 years later when expansion of our physical plant required two more power outages.

""Electronic Visualisation in Arts and Culture explores a variety of new theory and technologies, including devices and techniques for motion capture for music and performance, advanced photographic techniques, computer generated images derived from different sources, game engine software, airflow to capture the motions of bird flight and low-altitude imagery from airborne devices.

The international authors of this book are practising experts from universities, art practices and organisations, research centres and independent research. They describe electronic visualisation used for such diverse aspects of culture as airborne imagery, computer generated art based on the autoimmune system, motion capture for music and for sign language, the visualisation of time and the long term preservation of these materials. Selected from the EVA London conferences from 2009-2012, held in association with the Computer Arts Society of the British Computer Society, the authors have reviewed, extended and fully updated their work for this state-of-the-art volume.
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A pandemia do coronavírus é também uma pandemia de imagens proliferadas entre câmeras térmicas, a intimidade extro-vertida em videoconferências, as projeções nas fachadas e as inúmeras reproduções da síntese computadorizada do vírus. Não menos significativas, no contexto brasileiro, são as imagens do Presidente Bolsonaro, cujas fotos expressam sua visão política do coronavírus, e as das escavadeiras abrindo as valas das vítimas que sucumbiram à doença. Neste artigo, algumas imagens marcantes do isolamento social durante a COVID-19 no Brasil são analisadas como enunciados das retóricas visuais constitutivas da experiência cultural do novo normal. Com base na metodologia de Didi-Huberman em Cascas, parte-se dos registros imagéticos para compreender o contexto pandêmico. Apoiado nas discussões de Barthes, Foss e Mateus sobre retóricas visuais, o artigo defende que é a partir do campo das invisibilidades das imagens, que se compreende a dimensão biopolítica da pandemia. Palavras-chave: Retórica visual, estéticas da vigilância, invisibilidade, coronavírus

An Analysis of Kath-khuni Architecture as a Sustainable Humane Habitat in Himachal Pradesh

Jay Thakkar (1), Skye Morrison (2)

1 School of Interior Design (SID), CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India
2 Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The publication of “Matra: Ways of Measuring Vernacular Built Forms of Himachal Pradesh” by SID Research Cell in 2008 is the culmination of three years of research and writing of fieldwork concerning ‘kath-khuni’ buildings by students, faculty and research scholars at School of Interior Design (SID), CEPT University, Ahmedabad. The vernacular architecture of the Sutlej valley, locally called ’Kath-khuni’ is constructed out of local deodar wood and slate stone and it is an example of an empirical seismic design in earthquake prone mountainous region of Himachal Pradesh.  This paper discusses the findings of our research as it supports the concept of humane eco-architecture. While ‘Kath-khuni’ architecture is demonstrated to be sustainable but at the same time it is vulnerable to social, political, environmental and inter-community forces. How can a comparison between the sustainability and the threat to continuity of ‘kath-khuni’ architecture be applied to similar situations in urban and regional sectors? 


Keywords: Vernacular architecture, Faculty and student fieldwork, seismic design, sustainable habitat, measure drawing, digital imaging, material culture, traditional craft, indigenous sustainable knowledge, eco-architecture

Foundations of Digital Art and Design combines lessons in Bauhaus-inspired design principles with examples of contemporary digital art for learners using the Adobe Creative Cloud. Like Burrough’s co-authored Digital Foundations and Visual Communication on the Web, exercises in this book transform software training into a critical learning activity.

Science fiction films that have dramatised issues of immigration detention and deportation form the focus of this chapter, which argues that, far from being about the future, science fiction is a historiographic mode which can situate current oppressive realities in a longer history of violence. In their mise en scène, Children of Men (2006), District 9 (2009), and Monsters (2010) make links between wealthy states’ present-day treatment of immigrants and historical atrocities of the ‘War on Terror’, Nazi concentration camps, and South African apartheid. Combining location shooting with CGI, these films create a recognisable world, a slightly altered version of our own reality, which provokes us to scrutinise an oppressive geopolitical order. A coda on SF blockbuster Elysium (2013), which shares similar features, both reinforces and qualifies the chapter’s argument about the genre’s critical potential.

Spinal clinicians still rely on laborious workloads to conduct comprehensive assessments of multiple spinal structures in MRIs, in order to detect abnormalities and discover possible pathological factors. The objective of this work is to perform automated segmentation and classification (i.e., normal and abnormal) of intervertebral discs, vertebrae, and neural foramen in MRIs in one shot, which is called semantic segmentation that is extremely urgent to assist spinal clinicians in diagnosing neural foraminal stenosis, disc degeneration, and ver-tebral deformity as well as discovering possible pathological factors. However, no work has simultaneously achieved the semantic segmentation of interverte-bral discs, vertebrae, and neural foramen due to threefold unusual challenges: 1) Multiple tasks, i.e., simultaneous semantic segmentation of multiple spinal structures, are more difficult than individual tasks; 2) Multiple targets: average 21 spinal structures per MRI require automated analysis yet have high variety and variability; 3) Weak spatial correlations and subtle differences between normal and abnormal structures generate dynamic complexity and indeterminacy. In this paper, we propose a Recurrent Generative Adversarial Network called Spine-GAN for resolving above-aforementioned challenges. Firstly, Spine-GAN

From ubiquitous surveillance to drone strikes that put “warheads onto foreheads,” we live in a world of globalized, individualized targeting. The perils are great. In The Eye of War, Antoine Bousquet provides both a sweeping historical overview of military perception technologies and a disquieting lens on a world that is, increasingly, one in which anything or anyone that can be perceived can be destroyed—in which to see is to destroy.

Arguing that modern-day global targeting is dissolving the conventionally bounded spaces of armed conflict, Bousquet shows that over several centuries, a logistical order of militarized perception has come into ascendancy, bringing perception and annihilation into ever-closer alignment. The efforts deployed to evade this deadly visibility have correspondingly intensified, yielding practices of radical concealment that presage a wholesale disappearance of the customary space of the battlefield. Beginning with the Renaissance’s fateful discovery of linear perspective, The Eye of War discloses the entanglement of the sciences and techniques of perception, representation, and localization in the modern era amid the perpetual quest for military superiority. In a survey that ranges from the telescope, aerial photograph, and gridded map to radar, digital imaging, and the geographic information system, Bousquet shows how successive technological systems have profoundly shaped the history of warfare and the experience of soldiering.

A work of grand historical sweep and remarkable analytical power, The Eye of War explores the implications of militarized perception for the character of war in the twenty-first century and the place of human subjects within its increasingly technical armature.

More than offering a visual immersion, 360 photography and video underline limits of human perception. Incapable of simultaneously seeing in all directions, while having haptic and auditive un-angled perception of reality, these genres surpass the human, perspectival and active view.
The multi-focality of a total image is not corresponding to natural human perception, but rather messing it, offering a disinterested and thus non-alive view. Impartial and basically dead, such a view is all but innocent. It is rather a symptom of a new politics of control that cannot be challenged as it acts as if asleep, and cannot be fought against as it is - already dead, convincing us nothing is going on.

Digital imaging systems for medical applications use amorphous silicon thin-film transistor (TFT) technology due to its ability to be manufactured over large areas. However, TFT technology is far inferior to crystalline silicon CMOS technology in terms of the speed, stability, noise susceptibility, and feature size. This work investigates the feasibility of integrating an imaging array fabricated in CMOS technology with an a-Se detector. The design of a CMOS passive pixel sensor (PPS) array is presented, in addition to how an 8×8 PPS array is integrated with the 75 micron thick stabilized amorphous selenium detector. A non-linear increase in the dark current of 200 pA, 500 pA and 2 nA is observed with 0.27, 0.67 and 1.33 V/micron electric field respectively, which shows a successful integration of selenium layer with the CMOS array. Results also show that the integrated Selenium-CMOS PPS array has good responsivity to optical light and X-rays, leaving the door open for further research on implementing CMOS imaging architectures going forward. Demonstrating that the PPS chips using CMOS technology can use a-Se as a detector is thus the first step in a promising path of research, which should yield substantial and exciting results for the field. Though area may still prove challenging, larger CMOS wafers can be manufactured and tiled to allow for a large enough size for certain diagnostic imaging applications and potentially even large area applications like digital mammography.

Biodiversity is in a state of global collapse. Among the main drivers of this crisis is habitat degradation that destroys living spaces for animals, birds, and other species. Design and provision of human-made replacements for natural habitat structures can alleviate this situation. Can emerging knowledge in ecology, design, and artificial intelligence (AI) help? Current strategies to resolve this issue include designing objects that reproduce known features of natural forms. For instance, conservation practitioners seek to mimic the function of rapidly disappearing large old trees by augmenting utility poles with perch structures. Other approaches to restoring degraded ecosystems employ computational tools to capture information about natural forms and use such data to monitor remediation activities. At present, human-made replacements of habitat structures cannot reproduce significant features of complex natural forms while supporting efficient construction at large scales. We propose an AI agent that can synthesise simplified but ecologically meaningful representations of 3D forms that we define as visual abstractions. Previous research used AI to synthesise visual abstractions of 2D images. However, current applications of such techniques neither extend to 3D data nor engage with biological conservation or ecocentric design. This article investigates the potential of AI to support the design of artificial habitat structures and expand the scope of computation in this domain from data analysis to design synthesis. Our case study considers possible replacements of natural trees. The application implements a novel AI agent that designs by placing three-dimensional cubes – or voxels – in the digital space. The AI agent autonomously assesses the quality of the resulting visual abstractions by comparing them with three-dimensional representations of natural trees. We evaluate the forms produced by the AI agent by measuring relative complexity and features that are meaningful for arboreal wildlife. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that AI can generate design suggestions that are aligned with the preferences of arboreal wildlife and can support the development of artificial habitat structures. The bio-informed approach presented in this article can be useful in many situations where incomplete knowledge about complex natural forms can constrain the design and performance of human-made artefacts.

The objective of this work is to automatically recognize faces from video sequences in a realistic, unconstrained setup in which illumination conditions are extreme and greatly changing, viewpoint and user motion pattern have a wide variability, and video input is of low quality. At the centre of focus are face appearance manifolds: this thesis presents a significant advance of their understanding and application in the sphere of face recognition. The two main contributions are the Generic Shape-Illumination Manifold recognition algorithm and the Anisotropic Manifold Space clustering.

The Generic Shape-Illumination Manifold algorithm shows how video sequences of unconstrained head motion can be reliably compared in the presence of greatly changing imaging conditions. Our approach consists of combining a priori domain-specific knowledge in the form of a photometric model of image formation, with a statistical model of generic face appearance variation. One of the key ideas is the reillumination algorithm which takes two sequences of faces and produces a third, synthetic one, that contains the same poses as the first in the illumination of the second.

The Anisotropic Manifold Space clustering algorithm is proposed to automatically determine the cast of a feature-length film, without any dataset-specific training information. The method is based on modelling coherence of dissimilarities between appearance manifolds: it is shown how inter- and intra-personal similarities can be exploited by mapping each manifold into a single point in the manifold space. This concept allows for a useful interpretation of classical clustering approaches, which highlights their limitations. A superior method is proposed that uses a mixture-based generative model to hierarchically grow class boundaries corresponding to different individuals.

The Generic Shape-Illumination Manifold is evaluated on a large data corpus acquired in real-world conditions and its performance is shown to greatly exceed that of state-of-the-art methods in the literature and the best performing commercial software. Empirical evaluation of the Anisotropic Manifold Space clustering on a popular situation comedy is also described with excellent preliminary results.

This article presents a set of 16 clay cones conserved in the Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH). They entered the Ancient Near East collections of the museum through various pathways since the early 20th century. These cones, nails or pegs were once placed in the foundations or walls of prominent Mesopotamian structures. The inscriptions on them testify to the grand building achievements of the rulers under which they were produced. The cones discussed in this publication are dated to the reigns of Enmetena, Ur-Bau, Gudea, Šulgi, Išme-Dagan and Lipit-Eštar (ca. 2400 to 1900 BC). In addition, the importance of interactive images for the unbiased publication of this type of three-dimensional inscribed objects is demonstrated using the Portable Light Dome system developed by the KU Leuven.

This short report highlights some of the preliminary findings of a 2018 American Research Center in Egypt Fellowship undertaken on the late 4th millennium decorated palettes held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Grand Egyptian Museum. Images obtained of the Narmer Palette using the nondestructive high-resolution imaging method of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) exemplify the insights gained into palette production techniques and processes.

In spring 2002, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held an “experimental” exhibition about the city of New York under the title ‘Life of the City’. Aiming to “explore the richness, diversity, and power of the tradition of photography in New York”, on a par with the architecture, landscape and buzz of the city, the 150 exhibits that furnished the first part of the show were drawn from the museum’s masterpiece collection. Next to the artworks proper, in an installation continuously changing throughout the duration of the exhibition, featured photographs contributed by New Yorkers and visitors who responded to the museum’s open call. Yet, the arresting centrepiece –of the show was the projection of a constant stream of professional and amateur photographs collected by the post-September 11 project, ‘Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs’ that was initiated, its instigators claimed, “as an alternative way of looking at and thinking about history” proposed “by the people for the...

This poster reports on the preliminary results of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) applied to the Narmer Palette, as part of research on late 4th millennium BCE ceremonial mudstone palettes and their techniques of manufacture. This poster was presented at the 11th International Congress of Egyptologists (ICE XI) held in Florence in 2015.

Background: Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Mellitus is a complex, chronic illness that affects half a million children under the age of 15 years. Complications associated with diabetic retinopathy can be prevented with continued self-management of Blood Glucose (BG) and Blood Pressure (BP) into adulthood. In this case, we present a 20-year-old man with a 15 year history of T1D who loses control of his BG and BP for 2 years.
Methods: Blood pressure, visual acuity and intraocular pressures were measured at the time of visit. Non-mydriatic retinal imaging was performed using a Canon CR-2 Plus AF with a resolution of 18 megapixel. A Spectral Domain (SD)-OCT provided a 5 micron resolution of the posterior pole including the macula/fovea. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) (Optovue, Inc., Fremont, CA, USA) captured 6*6 mm angiograms centered on macula. Team-ViewerTM was used to perform remote tele-presence tele-ophthalmology.
Results: Color Fundus Photo (CFP) of the subject in 2013 showed few hemorrhages with virtually no signs of retinopathy although his BP, last Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and BG were uncontrolled (130/91 mm Hg, 13+, 421 mg/dL, respectively). Two years later, after 15 years of diabetes, his BP, last HbA1c, and BG are still uncontrolled (142/62 mm Hg, 13.5%, and 319 mg/dL, respectively). CFP and tele-consultation confirms severe Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), after 131 days since last annual eye examination, with 259 retinal hemorrhages and 12 Intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMAs) in his left eye. OCT was normal, but OCTA identified areas of retinal telangiectasia and micro-aneurysm formation. 21 days following NPDR diagnosis, he reduced BP to 122/78 mm Hg, HbA1c to 10%, and BG to 115 mg/dL. CFP showed 80 fewer hemorrhages and 10 IRMAs. 57 days following NPDR
diagnosis, subject had BP of 107/72 mm Hg and BG of 124 mg/dL. CFP showed 180 fewer hemorrhages and 13 IRMAs.
Conclusions: As BG and BP were decreased and maintained within normal levels, the subject benefited from reduction in retinopathy findings. This case identifies the role non-mydriatic retinal imaging, OCT, and OCTA may play in the assessment and follow-up of patients with
long duration type 1 diabetes. Tele-ophthalmology can be an important tool in the follow-up and second opinion of screened patients. An emphasis on BP monitoring can play an important role in the better management of patients with type I diabetes. Close monitoring and maintenance of BP below 130/80, fasting BG under 120 mg/dL, and HbA1c<10% can help reduce NPDR microvascular complications and save vision.