KONSTRUKCJA WEKTORA CECH W DIAGNOSTYCE SARKOIDOZY NA PODSTAWIE ANALIZY FRAKTALNEJ OBRAZÓW CT KLATKI PIERSIOWEJ

CT images corresponding to the cross-sections of the patients’ upper torso were analysed. The data set included the healthy class and 3 classes of cases affected by sarcoidosis. It was a state involving only the trachea – Sick(1), a state including trachea and lung parenchyma – Sick(2) and a state involving only lung parenchyma – Sick(3). Based on a fractal analysis and a feature selection by linear stepwise regression, 4 descriptors were obtained, which were later used in the classification process. These were 2 fractal dimensions calculated by the variation and box counting methods, lacunarity calculated also with the box counting method and the intercept parameter calculated using the power spectral density method. Two descriptors were obtained as a result of a gray image analysis, and 2 more were the effect of a binary image analysis. The effectiveness of the descriptors was verified using 8 popular classification methods. In the process of classifier testing, the overall classification accuracy was 90.97%, and the healthy cases were detected with the accuracy of 100%. In turn, the accuracy of recognition of the sick cases was: Sick(1) – 92.50%, Sick(2) – 87.50% and Sick(3) – 90.00%. In the classification process, the best results were obtained with the support vector machine and the naive Bayes classifier. The results of the research have shown the high efficiency of a fractal analysis as a tool for the feature vector extraction in the computer aided diagnosis of sarcoidosis.Przeprowadzono analizę obrazów CT górnej części tułowia pacjentów. Zbiór danych zawierał klasę pacjentów zdrowych i 3 klasy przypadków dotkniętych sarkoidozą. Był to stan obejmujący tylko tchawicę – Sick(1), stan obejmujący tchawicę i miąższ płucny – Sick(2) i stan obejmujący tylko miąższ płucny – Sick(3). Na podstawie analizy fraktalnej oraz selekcji cech metodą liniowej regresji krokowej otrzymano 4 deskryptory, które później wykorzystano w procesie klasyfikacji. Były to 2 wymiary fraktalne obliczone za pomocą metod variation i box counting, lakunarność obliczona również za pomocą metody box counting oraz parametr intercept obliczony za pomocą metody widmowej gęstości mocy. W wyniku analizy obrazu szarego otrzymano 2 deskryptory, a 2 kolejne były efektem analizy obrazu binarnego. Skuteczność deskryptorów zweryfikowano za pomocą 8 popularnych metod klasyfikacji. W procesie testowania klasyfikatorów, ogólna dokładność klasyfikacji wyniosła 90,97%, a przypadki zdrowe wykryto z dokładnością 100%. Z kolei, dokładność rozpoznania przypadków chorych była następująca: Sick(1) – 92,50%, Sick(2) – 87,50% i Sick(3) – 90,00%. W procesie klasyfikacji, najlepsze wyniki uzyskano za pomocą maszyny wektorów nośnych i naiwnego klasyfikatora Bayesa. Wyniki badań pokazały wysoką skuteczność analizy fraktalnej jako narzędzia do ekstrakcji wektora cech w komputerowej diagnostyce sarkoidozy

Characterization of the surface roughness of sand particles using an advanced fractal approach

The surface roughness of soil grains affects the mechanical behaviour of soils, but the characterization of real soil grain roughness is still limited in both quantity and quality. A new method is proposed, which applies the power spectral density (PSD), typically used in tribology, to optical interferometry measurements of soil grain surfaces. The method was adapted to characterize the roughness of soil grains separately from their shape, allowing the scale of the roughness to be determined in the form of a wavevector range. The surface roughness can be characterized by a roughness value and a fractal dimension, determined based on the stochastic formation process of the surface. When combined with other parameters, the fractal dimension provides additional information about the surface structure and roughness to the value of roughness alone. Three grain sizes of a quarzitic sand were tested. The parameters determined from the PSD analysis were input directly into a Weierstrass–Mandelbrot function to reconstruct successfully a fractal surface

Computing Local Fractal Dimension Using Geographical Weighting Scheme

The fractal dimension (D) of a surface can be viewed as a summary or average statistic for characterizing the geometric complexity of that surface. The D values are useful for measuring the geometric complexity of various land cover types. Existing fractal methods only calculate a single D value for representing the whole surface. However, the geometric complexity of a surface varies across patches and a single D value is insufficient to capture these detailed variations. Previous studies have calculated local D values using a moving window technique. The main purpose of this study is to compute local D values using an alternative way by incorporating the geographical weighting scheme within the original global fractal methods. Three original fractal methods are selected in this study: the Triangular Prism method, the Differential Box Counting method and the Fourier Power Spectral Density method. A Gaussian density kernel function is used for the local adaption purpose and various bandwidths are tested. The first part of this dissertation research explores and compares both of the global and local D values of these three methods using test images. The D value is computed for every single pixel across the image to show the surface complexity variation. In the second part of the dissertation, the main goal is to study two major U.S. cities located in two regions. New York City and Houston are compared using D values for both of spatial and temporal comparison. The results show that the geographical weighting scheme is suitable for calculating local D values but very sensitive to small bandwidths. New York City and Houston show similar global D results for both year of 2000 and 2016 indicating there were not much land cover changes during the study period

3D fractal analysis of multi–scale morphology of sand particles with μCT and interferometer

The particle morphology of granular materials comprises different characteristic scales, including particle shape and surface texture. Different methods have been proposed to characterise the morphology using three-dimensional parameters, among which is the fractal method. These methods, however, are applied either at the scale of particle shape or surface texture. A framework unifying the multi-scale morphology obtained from different measuring instruments could advance the current understanding to this topic, but is still lacking. This paper proposes a novel methodology to characterise the morphology of sand particles across different scales based on results from two previously adopted instruments with different measuring capabilities – an X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) and a high-resolution optical microscope equipped with an interferometer. The methodology is applied to sand-sized particles of a crushed granitic rock and a natural quarzitic sand (Fujian sand). By using spectrum analysis on data from both μCT and interferometer measurements, a single fractal dimension is found linking the spectrum of the two measurements for the crushed granitic rock. For Fujian sand, two self-affine patterns are observed, which serves as a separation between particle shape and surface texture, and also indicates that the fractal dimension obtained at larger scale may not be simply extended to small scales. The translation of surface measurements into numerically reconstructed particle morphology at particle shape and surface texture scale is demonstrated by using spherical harmonic expansion and power spectral density functions

Development of osteoconductive coatings for non-metallic bone implants

2008/2009The design of osseous implants, either load bearing or not, with desired mechanical and surface features that promote integration with bone and avoid risks of bone resorption and implant failure due to shear stresses, is still a challenging endeavour. The mechanical stresses which the skeleton undergoes affect bone formation and resorption processes. Bone remodelling is often promoted by adequate stress/strain conditions which are able to prevent bone mass loss. The largely used metallic implants offer several advantages like easy shape casting and modelling but include also several drawbacks like high stiffness if compared with the mechanical properties of native bone. A new generation of bone prosthesis is therefore indispensable to overcome the limitations of the obsolete metallic devices. In the orthopaedic framework, promising results have been achieved in the recent decades by three-dimensional structures named scaffolds. It is mandatory for any optimal scaffold to act as a temporary three-dimensional support for cell adhesion, growth and mineral matrix deposition. Moreover, ideal scaffolds should be able to integrate into surrounding tissue and mimic the structure and morphology of the natural bone tissue. Strict requirements for scaffolds are biocompatibility, a design closely resembling the natural extracellular matrix, an appropriate surface chemistry to promote cellular attachment, differentiation and proliferation and a sufficient mechanical strength to withstand in vivo stresses and physiological loading. Finally, the degradation of the ideal scaffold should proceed in a controlled way, keeping a sufficient structural integrity until the newly grown tissue has replaced the scaffold's supporting functions. Coupling a three-dimensional porous scaffold and a load bearing structure with suitable mechanical properties it is possible to obtain a device where the osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties of the former are synergistically linked with the mechanical ones of the latter. In this work both the aspects – osteointegration and load bearing – of an ideal prosthesis have been investigated. Alginate/Hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds were developed to be used either as scaffolds for sub-critical defects or as coatings for load bearing non-metallic bone prostheses. In both cases the investigation aimed to select suitable components and casting procedures to obtain the best results. The features of the single components and of the final three-dimensional structure were extensively investigated in order to obtain the most clarifying characterization both in terms of physical-chemical properties and in terms of biological responsiveness. The experimental section of this work involved physical-chemical analysis that helped to characterize both the organic and the inorganic components of the scaffold, respectively alginate and hydroxyapatite, before and after composite assembling. This investigation, based on several techniques (NMR, Rheology, XRD, Raman and TEM) allowed to characterize in detail the scaffold’s components and revealed the possibility of using the hydroxyapatite as a source of calcium ions for the gelification of the alginate without loosing the paramount osteoinductive properties of the mineral. Micro Computed Tomography (µ-CT) was employed to understand quantitatively the architectural features of the three-dimensional matrix obtained after alginate gel casting process. Moreover, this tool allowed to assess the influence of different manufacturing protocols (e.g. concentration of the components, casting temperatures) on the scaffold’s final structure. The results obtained by means of µ-CT coupled with the ones of Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analysis of the scaffolds showed an optimal interconnected porous structure with pore sizes ranging between 100 m and 300 m and over 88% porosity. Proliferation assays and SEM observations demonstrated that human osteosarcoma cell lines were able to proliferate, maintain osteoblast-like phenotype and massively colonize the scaffold structure. Once the in vitro behaviour of the structure was clear, in vivo tests were performed. Cone-like Alg/HAp scaffolds were tested on skeletally mature female New Zealand White rabbits and compared with positive (bioactive glass scaffold) and negative (without any implant) controls. Ex vivo investigations of the dissected samples were based on µ-CT and histological analysis and revealed high level of osteointegration and osteoconduction of the scaffolds. Moreover, efforts have been made to link the porous structure to the non-metallic fibre reinforced composite used as load bearing unit. Overall, these combined results indicate that the structure here developed is promising for being employed in orthopaedic applications.XXII Ciclo197

Biometric Systems

Biometric authentication has been widely used for access control and security systems over the past few years. The purpose of this book is to provide the readers with life cycle of different biometric authentication systems from their design and development to qualification and final application. The major systems discussed in this book include fingerprint identification, face recognition, iris segmentation and classification, signature verification and other miscellaneous systems which describe management policies of biometrics, reliability measures, pressure based typing and signature verification, bio-chemical systems and behavioral characteristics. In summary, this book provides the students and the researchers with different approaches to develop biometric authentication systems and at the same time includes state-of-the-art approaches in their design and development. The approaches have been thoroughly tested on standard databases and in real world applications

Wavelet Analysis and Classification of Urban Environment Using High -Resolution Multispectral Image Data.

Attempts to analyze urban features and classify land use and land cover directly from high-resolution satellite data with traditional computer classification techniques have proven to be inefficient. The fundamental problem usually found in identifying urban land cover types from high-resolution satellite imagery is that urban areas are composed of diverse materials (metal, glass, concrete, asphalt, plastic, trees, soil, etc.). These materials, each of which may have completely different spectral characteristics, are combined in complex ways by human beings. Hence, each urban land cover type may contain several different objects with different reflectance values. Noisy appearance with lots of edges, and the complex nature of these images, inhibit accurate interpretation of urban features. Traditional classifiers employ spectral information based on single pixel value and ignore a great amount of spatial information. Texture features play an important role in image segmentation and object recognition, as well as interpretation of images in a variety of applications ranging from medical imaging to remote sensing. This study analyzed urban texture features in multi-spectral image data. Recent development in the mathematical theory of wavelet transform has received overwhelming attention by the image analysts. An evaluation of the ability of wavelet transform and other texture analysis algorithms in urban feature extraction and classification was performed in this study. Advanced Thermal Land Application Sensor (ATLAS) image data at 2.5 m spatial resolution acquired with 15 channel (0.45 mum--12.2 mum) were used for this research. The data were collected by a NASA Stennis LearJet 23 flying at 6600 feet over Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 7, 1999. The algorithms examined were the wavelet transforms, spatial co-occurrence matrix, fractal analysis, and spatial autocorrelation. The performance of the above approaches with the use of different window sizes, different channels, and different feature measures were investigated. Six types of urban land cover features were evaluated. Wavelet transform was found to be far more efficient than other advanced spatial methods. The results of this research indicate that the accuracy of texture analysis in classifying urban features in fine resolution image data could be significantly improved with the use of wavelet transform approach

Influence of Coastal Processes on Speleogenesis and Landforms in the Caribbean Region

Evolution of rocky coastlines is controlled by littoral, biological and fluvial processes. Resultant landforms are overprinted and/or new ones formed as a result of changes in sea level caused by glacioeustasy and/or local tectonics. On carbonate coasts, chemical erosion in the form of karstification takes on a dominant role. Type of karstification is an important factor in understanding carbonate coast evolution and landform development so it is critical to identify type of karstification. In this research, fractal indices were used to distinguish cave and thus karstification type. It was determined that fractal indices effectively differentiated cave types and the indices were used to distinguish cave types at study sites on Barbados, the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) and the Caribbean coast of the northeast Yucatan peninsula, Mexico. This research evaluated caves located in the phreatic, epiphreatic and vadose zones of the northeast coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico to determine the relationship between the caves and to coastal processes. Three distinct coastal landforms associated with caves on the study sites were evaluated to quantify and model the interplay of littoral, fluvial and karstic processes and cave and karst development. On Barbados, the combination of surface fluvial processes, and mixing-zone and fluvial-karstic dissolution, resulted in the formation of gullies. Some gullies contained caves in their bounding walls and/or served as points of recharge to fluvial caves. Bokas of the ABC islands are distinctive geomorphic structures that formed from the interplay of fluvial, littoral and mixing zone karstification. The morphology of the bokas was a function of dominant geomorphic process. The caletas of the Yucatan Caribbean were formed by karstification processes that also produced features with mixing-zone-like morphologies but with fluvio-karstic function. The results of this research expand the Carbonate Island Karst Model (CIKM), which explains eogenetic dissolutional processes and landforms on small carbonate islands, to one that includes carbonate islands of all sizes, and carbonate continental coasts

Multifractal techniques for analysis and classification of emphysema images

This thesis proposes, develops and evaluates different multifractal methods for detection, segmentation and classification of medical images. This is achieved by studying the structures of the image and extracting the statistical self-similarity measures characterized by the Holder exponent, and using them to develop texture features for segmentation and classification. The theoretical framework for fulfilling these goals is based on the efficient computation of fractal dimension, which has been explored and extended in this work. This thesis investigates different ways of computing the fractal dimension of digital images and validates the accuracy of each method with fractal images with predefined fractal dimension. The box counting and the Higuchi methods are used for the estimation of fractal dimensions. A prototype system of the Higuchi fractal dimension of the computed tomography (CT) image is used to identify and detect some of the regions of the image with the presence of emphysema. The box counting method is also used for the development of the multifractal spectrum and applied to detect and identify the emphysema patterns. We propose a multifractal based approach for the classification of emphysema patterns by calculating the local singularity coefficients of an image using four multifractal intensity measures. One of the primary statistical measures of self-similarity used in the processing of tissue images is the Holder exponent (α-value) that represents the power law, which the intensity distribution satisfies in the local pixel neighbourhoods. The fractal dimension corresponding to each α-value gives a multifractal spectrum f(α) that was used as a feature descriptor for classification. A feature selection technique is introduced and implemented to extract some of the important features that could increase the discriminating capability of the descriptors and generate the maximum classification accuracy of the emphysema patterns. We propose to further improve the classification accuracy of emphysema CT patterns by combining the features extracted from the alpha-histograms and the multifractal descriptors to generate a new descriptor. The performances of the classifiers are measured by using the error matrix and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The results at this stage demonstrated the proposed cascaded approach significantly improves the classification accuracy. Another multifractal based approach using a direct determination approach is investigated to demonstrate how multifractal characteristic parameters could be used for the identification of emphysema patterns in HRCT images. This further analysis reveals the multi-scale structures and characteristic properties of the emphysema images through the generalized dimensions. The results obtained confirm that this approach can also be effectively used for detecting and identifying emphysema patterns in CT images. Two new descriptors are proposed for accurate classification of emphysema patterns by hybrid concatenation of the local features extracted from the local binary patterns (LBP) and the global features obtained from the multifractal images. The proposed combined feature descriptors of the LBP and f(α) produced a very good performance with an overall classification accuracy of 98%. These performances outperform other state-of-the-art methods for emphysema pattern classification and demonstrate the discriminating power and robustness of the combined features for accurate classification of emphysema CT images. Overall, experimental results have shown that the multifractal could be effectively used for the classifications and detections of emphysema patterns in HRCT images

Source to sink zircon grain shape: Constraints on selective preservation and significance for Western Australian Proterozoic basin provenance

The effect of selective preservation during transportation of zircon grains on the detrital age spectrum is difficult to quantify and could potentially lead to systematic bias in provenance analysis. Here we investigate whether the shape of detrital zircon grains holds provenance information and if the grain shape can assist in understanding preservation. We applied multiple linear regression analysis to identify significant shape properties in detrital zircons from Proterozoic metasediments of the Capricorn and Amadeus basins and their Archean and Proterozoic sources in the Yilgarn Craton and the Musgrave Province in Western Australia. Digital images and isotopic data from 819 SIMS U-Pb dated zircons were examined for correlation between grain shape, age, U and Th content. Out of twelve shape descriptors measured, Minor Axis, the width of zircon grains perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis, consistently shows the most significant correlation with isotopic age. In the studied population Archean grains are narrower than Proterozoic grains: the probability that grains wider than 75 µm are Archean is less than 30%.Calculations of the proportions of source material in sedimentary rocks relative to the proportions of source material in the overall catchment area (erosion parameter '. K' calculated based on age spectra) produced values typical for mature river systems, with K = 6 for the Yilgarn-Capricorn and K = 5.5 for the Musgrave-Amadeus source-sink system. For the Yilgarn-Capricorn system, we also calculated '. K' based on Minor Axis, to determine whether grain width can be linked to age populations. Results of the shape-based K of 5.3 suggest a similarity between age-based and shape-based '. K' values, demonstrating that zircon grain width may be a useful discriminator of provenance. Contrary to commonly applied qualitative shape classifications, we found no consistent correlations between shape descriptors of magmatic zircons and the composition of their host rock. While metamict zircons were preferentially removed during transport, the similarities in grain shape and age distribution of magmatic and detrital populations suggest that hydraulic sorting did not have a significant effect. We conclude that transport of zircon grains from magmatic source to sedimentary sink affects their width less than their length