58,966 research outputs found
Probabilistic Intra-Retinal Layer Segmentation in 3-D OCT Images Using Global Shape Regularization
With the introduction of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT),
resulting in a significant increase in acquisition speed, the fast and accurate
segmentation of 3-D OCT scans has become evermore important. This paper
presents a novel probabilistic approach, that models the appearance of retinal
layers as well as the global shape variations of layer boundaries. Given an OCT
scan, the full posterior distribution over segmentations is approximately
inferred using a variational method enabling efficient probabilistic inference
in terms of computationally tractable model components: Segmenting a full 3-D
volume takes around a minute. Accurate segmentations demonstrate the benefit of
using global shape regularization: We segmented 35 fovea-centered 3-D volumes
with an average unsigned error of 2.46 0.22 {\mu}m as well as 80 normal
and 66 glaucomatous 2-D circular scans with errors of 2.92 0.53 {\mu}m
and 4.09 0.98 {\mu}m respectively. Furthermore, we utilized the inferred
posterior distribution to rate the quality of the segmentation, point out
potentially erroneous regions and discriminate normal from pathological scans.
No pre- or postprocessing was required and we used the same set of parameters
for all data sets, underlining the robustness and out-of-the-box nature of our
approach.Comment: Accepted for publication in Medical Image Analysis (MIA), Elsevie
Direct Constraints on Minimal Supersymmetry from Fermi-LAT Observations of the Dwarf Galaxy Segue 1
The dwarf galaxy Segue 1 is one of the most promising targets for the
indirect detection of dark matter. Here we examine what constraints 9 months of
Fermi-LAT gamma-ray observations of Segue 1 place upon the Constrained Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM), with the lightest neutralino as the dark
matter particle. We use nested sampling to explore the CMSSM parameter space,
simultaneously fitting other relevant constraints from accelerator bounds, the
relic density, electroweak precision observables, the anomalous magnetic moment
of the muon and B-physics. We include spectral and spatial fits to the Fermi
observations, a full treatment of the instrumental response and its related
uncertainty, and detailed background models. We also perform an extrapolation
to 5 years of observations, assuming no signal is observed from Segue 1 in that
time. Results marginally disfavour models with low neutralino masses and high
annihilation cross-sections. Virtually all of these models are however already
disfavoured by existing experimental or relic density constraints.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures; added extra scans with extreme halo parameters,
expanded introduction and discussion in response to referee's comment
Experimental and numerical polar scans of several anisotropic materials using pulsed and harmonic ultrasonic beams
Ultrasonic non-destructive testing is a well known technique in present days, in which the C-scan is the most wide spread. Though, because of the inherent limitations of most methods to quantitatively characterize (damaged) composite materials, the quest for more sophisticated methods is put forward. This study reports experimentally registered polar scans using an in house developed ultrasonic test setup for some typical composite materials. Both pulsed and harmonic ultrasonic beams are considered, which impinge onto the immersed anisotropic layer under investigation. Numerical computations are shown and compared with the experimental results. The experimental polar scan of a carbon fabric/PPS laminate with an artificially added delamination shows a drastic change in the observed patterns, compared to the one of the undamaged carbon fabric/PPS laminate. Combined with the sensitivity to the local stiffness tensor, a polar scan can become a great tool to quantitatively evaluate (damaged) composite materials
CO map and steep Kennicutt-Schmidt relation in the extended UV disk of M63
Results from the UV satellite GALEX revealed large extensions of disks in
some nearby spiral galaxies, extending out to 3 to 4 times the isophotal
radius, r25. M63 is a remarkable example of a spiral galaxy with one of the
most extended UV disks, so it offers the opportunity to search for the
molecular gas and characterize the star formation in outer disk regions as
revealed by the UV emission. We obtained deep CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) observations
on the IRAM 30 m telescope along the major axis of the M63 disk from the center
out to the galactocentric radius rgal = 1.6 r25 and over a bright UV region at
rgal = 1.36 r25. CO(1-0) is detected all along the M63 major axis out to r25,
and CO(2-1) is confined to rgal = 0.68 r25, which may betray lower excitation
temperatures in the outer disk. CO(1-0) is also detected in the external bright
UV region of M63. The radial profiles of the CO emission and of the Halpha, 24
micron, NUV and FUV star formation tracers and HI taken from the literature
show a severe drop with the galactocentric radius, such that beyond r25 they
are all absent with the exception of a faint UV emission and HI. The CO
emission detection in the external UV region, where the UV flux is higher than
the UV flux observed beyond r25, highlights a tight correlation between the CO
and UV fluxes, namely the amount of molecular gas and the intensity of star
formation. This external UV region is dominated by the atomic gas, suggesting
that HI is more likely the precursor of H2 rather than the product of UV
photodissociation. A broken power law needs to be invoked to describe the
Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) relation of M63 from the center of the galaxy out to
rgal = 1.36 r25. While all along the major axis out to r25 the K-S relation is
almost linear, in the external UV region the SFR regime is highly nonlinear and
characterized by a steep K-S relation and very low star formation efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, A&A accepte
Generalized Linear Models for Geometrical Current predictors. An application to predict garment fit
The aim of this paper is to model an ordinal response variable in terms
of vector-valued functional data included on a vector-valued RKHS. In particular,
we focus on the vector-valued RKHS obtained when a geometrical object (body) is
characterized by a current and on the ordinal regression model. A common way to
solve this problem in functional data analysis is to express the data in the orthonormal
basis given by decomposition of the covariance operator. But our data present very important differences with respect to the usual functional data setting. On the one
hand, they are vector-valued functions, and on the other, they are functions in an
RKHS with a previously defined norm. We propose to use three different bases: the
orthonormal basis given by the kernel that defines the RKHS, a basis obtained from
decomposition of the integral operator defined using the covariance function, and a
third basis that combines the previous two. The three approaches are compared and
applied to an interesting problem: building a model to predict the fit of children’s
garment sizes, based on a 3D database of the Spanish child population. Our proposal
has been compared with alternative methods that explore the performance of other
classifiers (Suppport Vector Machine and k-NN), and with the result of applying
the classification method proposed in this work, from different characterizations of
the objects (landmarks and multivariate anthropometric measurements instead of
currents), obtaining in all these cases worst results
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