Optimum Illuminant Determination Based on Reduced and Optimized Multispectral Spectroscopy to Enhance Vein Detection

Venepuncture as a mode of gaining intravenous access has been a prime practice in surgical procedures and other conventional drug administering into a patient. Biomedical engineering has stressed relatively high scale of importance in the spectroscopic analysis of vein imaging as a sparky approach to promote a non-invasive catheterization. However, medical personnel are challenged by the physiological circumstances of skin tone, presence of scars and irregularity of the epidermal topology, when performing subcutaneous vein localization, which led them to increase number of insertion attempts. Hence, this paper proposes an optimized solution to provide enhanced visual aids for personnel to achieve successful vein catheterization at first attempt

Optimum Illuminant Determination Based on Reduced and Optimized Multispectral Spectroscopy to Enhance Vein Detection

Venepuncture as a mode of gaining intravenous access has been a prime practice in surgical procedures and other conventional drug administering into a patient. Biomedical engineering has stressed relatively high scale of importance in the spectroscopic analysis of vein imaging as a sparky approach to promote a non-invasive catheterization. However, medical personnel are challenged by the physiological circumstances of skin tone, presence of scars and irregularity of the epidermal topology, when performing subcutaneous vein localization, which led them to increase number of insertion attempts. Hence, this paper proposes an optimized solution to provide enhanced visual aids for personnel to achieve successful vein catheterization at first attempt

Hyperspectral Imaging from Ground Based Mobile Platforms and Applications in Precision Agriculture

This thesis focuses on the use of line scanning hyperspectral sensors on mobile ground based platforms and applying them to agricultural applications. First this work deals with the geometric and radiometric calibration and correction of acquired hyperspectral data. When operating at low altitudes, changing lighting conditions are common and inevitable, complicating the retrieval of a surface's reflectance, which is solely a function of its physical structure and chemical composition. Therefore, this thesis contributes the evaluation of an approach to compensate for changes in illumination and obtain reflectance that is less labour intensive than traditional empirical methods. Convenient field protocols are produced that only require a representative set of illumination and reflectance spectral samples. In addition, a method for determining a line scanning camera's rigid 6 degree of freedom (DOF) offset and uncertainty with respect to a navigation system is developed, enabling accurate georegistration and sensor fusion. The thesis then applies the data captured from the platform to two different agricultural applications. The first is a self-supervised weed detection framework that allows training of a per-pixel classifier using hyperspectral data without manual labelling. The experiments support the effectiveness of the framework, rivalling classifiers trained on hand labelled training data. Then the thesis demonstrates the mapping of mango maturity using hyperspectral data on an orchard wide scale using efficient image scanning techniques, which is a world first result. A novel classification, regression and mapping pipeline is proposed to generate per tree mango maturity averages. The results confirm that maturity prediction in mango orchards is possible in natural daylight using a hyperspectral camera, despite complex micro-illumination-climates under the canopy

Remote Sensing of Earth Resources: A literature survey with indexes (1970 - 1973 supplement). Section 1: Abstracts

Abstracts of reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between March 1970 and December 1973 are presented in the following areas: agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, oceanography and marine resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Quality of muscle foods

The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of feed and storage time on meat quality. To study the effect of feed, chicken were fed seven steam-pelleted or nonpelleted rapeseed (RS) diets with different RS inclusion levels (0, 80, 160, and 240 g/kg) for 34 days, and the dietary effects on meat yield, fatty acid composition in meat, and the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes in liver were determined. Feeding with steam-pelleted diets with high inclusion of RS (160 or 240 g/kg) significantly increased the content of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA) in meat, without compromising the meat yield and total fatty acid content. The increased intake of α-linolenic acid enabled higher conversion into n-3 LC-PUFA. Therefore, feeding broiler chicken steam-pelleted diet with high RS inclusion can be a feasible strategy to increase human intake of n-3 LC-PUFA without compromising meat yield. The effect of storage time on meat color, microbial growth, and lipid oxidation was studied on beef steaks from Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscles overwrapped with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film and stored at 4°C for 0, 4, 7, and 10 days. Microbial spoilage of beef occurred at day 10 as indicated by the total viable count exceeding the threshold of 7 log10 CFU/cm². Pseudomonas spp. and Brochothrix spp. were the prevailing bacteria species when meat was spoiled. Moreover, Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis showed the successive changes in the incidences of different bacteria over time. At day 10, the a* and Chroma decreased and hue angle increased significantly, indicating meat discoloration. Concentrations of spermine, tyramine, and cadaverine were found to be potential spoilage indicators of meat freshness. Lipid oxidation occurred only slightly, which could be attributed to the high content of α-tocopherol in meat. In contrast, the degree of lipid lipolysis increased with storage time as reflected by the increase in the relative content of free fatty acids and decrease in relative content of triacylglycerols

Noninvasive Optical Imaging Techniques as a Quantitative Analysis of Kaposi's Sarcoma Skin Lesions

The visible inspection and palpation of skin lesions have long been used to assess the course of cutaneous disease in individuals with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Assessing the KS lesions requires a highly trained evaluator and evaluations made by different observers or by the same observer at different times can be inconsistent. Since lesions can grow from slow to explosively fast, and be associated with mortality and morbidity, reliable assessment of the lesions is important. Optical imaging techniques are quantitative methods that potentially offer a more objective means of assessing skin health that can supplement visual clinical observations. In this dissertation, the first paper describes using thermography and laser Doppler imaging (LDI) to monitor the temperature and vasculature, respectively, of KS lesions undergoing experimental therapy. Results showed that the median temperature elevation of lesions compared to the surrounding tissue was 1.1 ºC (range -0.68 to 3.43 ºC). In addition, 12 of the 16 lesions studied had increased blood perfusion as assessed by LDI (median 66 arbitrary units (AU), range -44 to 451 AU). The second paper describes the use of near-infrared (NIR) multi-spectral imaging to provide functional information about the lesions and surrounding tissue. Multi-spectral images were input to a mathematical optical skin model based on the absorption and scattering properties of skin, including the effects of melanin, blood, and oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin. Functional information about the lesions before and after treatment with experimental therapies was determined. The third paper describes Monte-Carlo simulations of tissue conducted to determine the detection limits of a typical multi-spectral imaging system. The results showed that biological information contained in a typical spectral image reflected a small volume of tissue situated vertically under each pixel from a depth less than 2-3 mm. The objects appearing on a spectral image reasonably reproduce the correct geometrical shape and size of underlying inclusions of pathological tissue. Based on the three papers included in this dissertation, these three imaging techniques were found to be objective, easy to perform, and appear to be very sensitive in quantitatively assessing KS lesion progress upon administration of therapy

X-ray fluorescence applied to yellow pigments based on lead, tin and antimony: comparison of laboratory and portable instrumentation

X-ray fluorescence is a diagnostic approach particularly suited to be utilized in cultural heritage sector since it falls in the non-destructive and non-invasive analytical tools. However there are big differences between portable and laboratory instrumentation that make difficult to perform a comparison in terms of quality and reliability of the results. The present study is specifically addressed to investigate these differences in respect of the same analytical sample-set. To reach this goal a comparison was thus carried out between portable and bench top devices X-ray fluorescence devices and techniques were used on different type of yellow pigments based on lead, tin and antimony obtained in laboratory, reproducing the instructions described in “old” recipes, that is: i) mortar of lead and tin produced on the basis of the recipe 13 /c V of the “Manuscript of Danzica” and “ Li tre libri dell’arte del Vasaio” by Cipriano Piccolpasso; ii) two types of lead and tin yellow (Pb2SnO4 and PbSnO3) produced starting from the indications of the 272 and 273 recipes of the “Bolognese Manuscript”; iii) lead antimonate (Pb2Sb2O7) obtained by following the instructions of the Piccolpasso’s treatise and those contained on the “Istoria delle pitture in maiolica fatte in Pesaro e ne’ luoghi circonvicini di Giambattista Passeri” and finally iv) lead, tin and antimony yellow (Pb2SnSbO6,5) obtained starting from the information contained in the paper 30 R of “Manuscript of Danzica” [1]. The XRF analysis were performed using a laboratory instrumentation (Bruker M4 Tornado) and a handset analytical device (Assing Surface Monitor). In order to perform a significant statistical comparison among acquired and processed data, all the analyses have been carried out utilizing the same sample, the same acquisition set up and operative conditions. A chemometric approach, based on the utilization of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and multivariate analytical based tools [2], was utilized in order to verify the spectral differences, and related informative content, among the different produced yellow pigments. The multivariate approach on the results revealed instrumental differences between the two systems and allowed to compare the common characteristics of the set of pigments analyzed

Advances in Image Processing, Analysis and Recognition Technology

For many decades, researchers have been trying to make computers’ analysis of images as effective as the system of human vision is. For this purpose, many algorithms and systems have previously been created. The whole process covers various stages, including image processing, representation and recognition. The results of this work can be applied to many computer-assisted areas of everyday life. They improve particular activities and provide handy tools, which are sometimes only for entertainment, but quite often, they significantly increase our safety. In fact, the practical implementation of image processing algorithms is particularly wide. Moreover, the rapid growth of computational complexity and computer efficiency has allowed for the development of more sophisticated and effective algorithms and tools. Although significant progress has been made so far, many issues still remain, resulting in the need for the development of novel approaches

Colour coded

This 300 word publication to be published by the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC) is a collection of the best papers from a 4-year European project that has considered colour from the perspective of both the arts and sciences.The notion of art and science and the crossovers between the two resulted in application and funding for cross disciplinary research to host a series of training events between 2006 and 2010 Marie Curie Conferences & Training Courses (SCF) Call Identifier: FP6-Mobility-4, Euros 532,363.80 CREATE – Colour Research for European Advanced Technology Employment. The research crossovers between the fields of art, science and technology was also a subject that was initiated through Bristol’s Festival if Ideas events in May 2009. The author coordinated and chaired an event during which the C.P Snow lecture “On Two Cultures’ (1959) was re-presented by Actor Simon Cook and then a lecture made by Raymond Tallis on the notion of the Polymath. The CREATE project has a worldwide impact for researchers, academics and scientists. Between January and October 2009, the site has received 221, 414 visits. The most popular route into the site is via the welcome page. The main groups of visitors originate in the UK (including Northern Ireland), Italy, France, Finland, Norway, Hungary, USA, Finland and Spain. A basic percentage breakdown of the traffic over ten months indicates: USA -15%; UK - 16%; Italy - 13%; France -12%; Hungary - 10%; Spain - 6%; Finland - 9%; Norway - 5%. The remaining approximate 14% of visitors are from other countries including Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany (approx 3%). A discussion group has been initiated by the author as part of the CREATE project to facilitate an ongoing dialogue between artists and scientists. http://createcolour.ning.com/group/artandscience www.create.uwe.ac.uk.Related papers to this research: A report on the CREATE Italian event: Colour in cultural heritage.C. Parraman, A. Rizzi, ‘Developing the CREATE network in Europe’, in Colour in Art, Design and Nature, Edinburgh, 24 October 2008.C. Parraman, “Mixing and describing colour”. CREATE (Training event 1), France, 2008