A Convex Model for Edge-Histogram Specification with Applications to Edge-preserving Smoothing

The goal of edge-histogram specification is to find an image whose edge image has a histogram that matches a given edge-histogram as much as possible. Mignotte has proposed a non-convex model for the problem [M. Mignotte. An energy-based model for the image edge-histogram specification problem. IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 21(1):379--386, 2012]. In his work, edge magnitudes of an input image are first modified by histogram specification to match the given edge-histogram. Then, a non-convex model is minimized to find an output image whose edge-histogram matches the modified edge-histogram. The non-convexity of the model hinders the computations and the inclusion of useful constraints such as the dynamic range constraint. In this paper, instead of considering edge magnitudes, we directly consider the image gradients and propose a convex model based on them. Furthermore, we include additional constraints in our model based on different applications. The convexity of our model allows us to compute the output image efficiently using either Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers or Fast Iterative Shrinkage-Thresholding Algorithm. We consider several applications in edge-preserving smoothing including image abstraction, edge extraction, details exaggeration, and documents scan-through removal. Numerical results are given to illustrate that our method successfully produces decent results efficiently

Analytical and mathematical methods for revealing hidden details in ancient manuscripts and paintings: A review

In this work, a critical review of the current nondestructive probing and image analysis approaches is presented, to revealing otherwise invisible or hardly discernible details in manuscripts and paintings relevant to cultural heritage and archaeology. Multispectral imaging, X-ray fluorescence, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and Thermography are considered, as techniques for acquiring images and spectral image sets; statistical methods for the analysis of these images are then discussed, including blind separation and false colour techniques. Several case studies are presented, with particular attention dedicated to the approaches that appear most promising for future applications. Some of the techniques described herein are likely to replace, in the near future, classical digital photography in the study of ancient manuscripts and paintings

Wine Cunterfeiting: Development of fast, non-destructive and multifactorial laser-based spectrochemical methods for authentication of bottled wine

378 p.La presente Tesis Doctoral pretende avanzar en el desarrollo de una herramienta analítica que permita certificar la autenticidad de un vino de forma inequívoca mediante técnicas analíticas no invasivas (es decir, prácticamente inapreciable a simple vista) como son la ablación laser con plasma de acoplamiento inductivo-espectrometría de masas (LA-ICPMS) y las espectroscopias Raman e Infrarroja, que permiten el análisis de una muestra sólida sin necesidad de procesarla y sin inducir degradación o alteración apreciable alguna. Mediante la metodología desarrollada se pretende establecer el perfil elemental y molecular del vidrio, el papel, la tinta y la cápsula de las botellas de vino

Wine Cunterfeiting: Development of fast, non-destructive and multifactorial laser-based spectrochemical methods for authentication of bottled wine

378 p.La presente Tesis Doctoral pretende avanzar en el desarrollo de una herramienta analítica que permita certificar la autenticidad de un vino de forma inequívoca mediante técnicas analíticas no invasivas (es decir, prácticamente inapreciable a simple vista) como son la ablación laser con plasma de acoplamiento inductivo-espectrometría de masas (LA-ICPMS) y las espectroscopias Raman e Infrarroja, que permiten el análisis de una muestra sólida sin necesidad de procesarla y sin inducir degradación o alteración apreciable alguna. Mediante la metodología desarrollada se pretende establecer el perfil elemental y molecular del vidrio, el papel, la tinta y la cápsula de las botellas de vino

6th International Meeting on Retouching of Cultural Heritage, RECH6

RECH Biennial Meeting is one of the largest educational and scientific events in Retouching field, an ideal venue for conservators and scientists to present their research results about retouching. The main focus will be to promote the exchange of ideas, concepts, terminology, methods, techniques and materials applied during the retouching process in different areas of conservation: mural painting, easel painting, sculpture, graphic documentation, architecture, plasterwork, photography, contemporary art, among others. This Meeting aims to address retouching by encouraging papers that contribute to a deeper understanding of this final task of the conservation and restoration intervention. The main theme embraces the concepts of retouching, the criteria and limits in the retouching process, the bad retouching impact on heritage and their technical and scientific developments.This Meeting will discuss real-life approaches on retouching, focusing on practical solutions and on sharing experiencesColomina Subiela, A.; Doménech García, B.; Bailão, A. (2023). 6th International Meeting on Retouching of Cultural Heritage, RECH6. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/RECH6.2021.1601

A "second counter-reformation? Aspects of the pontificate of Pius VI reconsidered".

Radical transformations came about in the Habsburg Empire and their satellite states during the 1780s, as the Emperor Joseph II embraced the Enlightened reforms and promoted ways in which laws and a new order could be spread. The main opposition towards this sovereign and his reforms came from the Catholic Church. In 1775, shortly after he was declared pope, Pius VI issued a bull (Inscrutabile divinae) which was at the same time an anti-Enlightenment manifesto and a warning towards any criticisms within the Church of Rome. In 1781, Joseph II reformed censorship, and in 1782, began a campaign to suppress monasteries belonging to contemplative orders and issued the Edict of Tolerance. In a short period of time, the subjects of the Empire had access to great scholarly works of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Europe. Under Joseph II the newly generated intellectual culture produced an amazing number of pamphlets, books, and journals/periodicals, the like of which had never been seen before in the Habsburg territories. Public debate on the state, religion, and society accompanied the flood of short tracts, bringing together a group of intellectuals in support of “Josephinism”. A strong counter-reform movement arose in answer to this reform action; the movement was represented by members of new diplomatic class endowed with greater powers, since they were announced as the pope’s direct representatives abroad. After the suppression of the Jesuit Order, the apostolic nunciatures and printed publications became the instruments of diffusion and control of the Catholic population. The increase in anti-Enlightenment publications and the recall of the community of the faithful back to the orthodoxy was the pretext for a series of measures against the Jews and catholic reformers. Therefore Rome and Vienna became the centres of a battle whose main objective was the renewal of society or its negation. Compared to “orthodox” historiography and the main research into this topic which state Pius VI’s inadequacy when confronted by the reforms imposed by the Emperor, many of the documents consulted demonstrate a certain capacity on the part of the Church of Rome in not only resisting the wave of reforms introduced by the Hapsburg court, but also in successfully imposing its own political policy in the Italian peninsular at the same time. The answer from Pius VI led to a series of changes (among which, it should be remembered, the worsening status of the Jews and the end of Jansenism) which left lasting traces in the history of the Church, and even stronger in European history

Inscribed Administrative Material Culture And The Development Of The Umayyad State In Syria-Palestine 661-750 Ce

The seventh century CE in the Near East was a period characterized by major political transition and cultural change, representing an era that witnessed the decline of the region’s long-standing major political institutions alongside the emergence of a powerful Arab Caliphate that supplanted both the offices of the Byzantine Emperor and the Persian, Sasanid Shah in most or all of the region. This Arab Caliphate, first based out of the Hejaz, then out of Syria-Palestine with the rise of the Umayyads (r. 661-750 CE), Islam’s first hereditary dynasty, embarked on a successful campaign of Arab and Muslim hegemony across three continents within the course of a century. Some of the Umayyad’s successes in terms of both the acquisition of and projection of power were not only the result of an organized and determined military and a steady stream of income from its territorial acquisitions, but also due to their ability to construct institutions and bureaucratic machinery that allowed them to create and control narratives through the production of inscribed material culture. Through various administrative and institutional mechanisms, the Umayyad caliphs were able to universalize the Arabic language and script and, by extension, promote a doctrinal form of Islam, both of which were accelerated by the development and expansion of their state and which played a critical role in the attempt to validate their political claims. Most importantly, an Umayyad monopoly on the cursive Arabic script, an orthography initially used by Christian missionaries in the Levant and Arabia in the sixth century, led to its appropriation for administrative uses by the Muslims which was then wielded as a source of political capital. The weaponization of the Arabic orthography enabled the Umayyads to decisively institute and enforce a new linguistic, cultural, religious and political order over the Near East in the era of Late Antiquity. The extant inscribed material culture implicates the Umayyads as graphophiles, obsessed with the written word and cognizant of its qualities and abilities in helping them impose their political will on their opponents in a battle for cultural, political and ideological primacy. Thus, this dissertation serves as an archaeolinguistic study of how the Umayyads instrumentalized and exploited the Arabic script on administrative material culture as instruments of authority and as purveryors of a new order in the region

Histopathological Analysis of Prostatic Adenocarcinoma and the Role of Immunohistochemistry in Distinction between Low Grade and High Grade Carcinomas

INTRODUCTION: Prostatic adenocarcinoma accounts for about 95% of malignancies of prostate gland. It is the most common malignant tumor among men. Incidence increases from 20% in men in their 50's to 70% in men between ages of 70's and 80's. The relative distribution of prostate cancer is different in each zone, 68% arises in the peripheral zone, 24% in transitional zone, and 8% in the central zone. Both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the origin of this disease. Long term androgen exposure and estrogen receptor β play an important role in the initiation of prostate cancer. Gleason's grading system is used to grade prostate cancers. Gleason's score ranges from 2-10. Serum prostate specific antigen is used to assist the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Immunohistochemical markers like cyclin D1, Ki-67 and ER-β are used to distinguish between low and high grade prostate adenocarcinomas. Alcian blue stain is used to demonstrate acid mucin production by tumor cells. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To find out the age distribution of prostate carcinoma. 2. To distinguish between low grade and high grade prostate adenocarcinoma using Gleason's scoring method as well as immunohistochemical markers like Ki-67, cyclin D1, estrogen receptor -β. 3. To demonstrate the production of acid mucin by prostate cancer using histochemical stain like Alcian blue. 4. To correlate the level of serum prostate specific antigen with the grade of the tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a study done in Thanjavur Medical College and Hospital from January 2015 to June 2017. Specimems obtained by transurethral resection of prostate from 50 cases were studied in the Department of Pathology. 1. Clinical details of patients like age, symptoms, location of the lesion within the prostate gland, serum PSA level were noted. 2. TURP specimens were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin, processed in a routine manner and sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The sections were examined under light microscope and using modified Gleason's grading system. The prostate adenocarcinomas were grouped into low grade (score ≤6) and high grade tumors (score ≥7). 3. Immunohistochemistry was performed on whole tissue section using Cyclin D1, Ki67 and ER-b. 4.Also special stain like combined alcian blue -PAS was used to demonstrate the acid mucin production by prostate adenocarcinomas. RESULTS: Out of the 50 cases, 60% of the cases were between the age group of 70 - 80 years of age. Peripheral zone was involved by the tumor in all the 50 cases. There was a steep rise in the serum PSA level with increase in the Gleason's score. Mean serum PSA level in cases with low Gleason's score was 27.9 ng/mL .This was lower than serum PSA level of individuals with high Gleason score in whom it was 139.25 ng/mL. All 16 cases with high grade tumors (100%) showed cyclin D1 positivity. The mean expression of cyclin D1 was higher (35%) in high grade tumors than low grade tumors (16%). 94% of the high grade tumors showed Ki-67 expression when compared to low grade tumors where the expression of Ki-67 was found only in 29 % of the cases. ER-b expression was only 7% in high grade tumors when compared to the low grade tumors where the mean ER-b expression was 30.58%. 59% of the well differentiated tumors showed acid mucin production. None of the poorly differentiated tumors secreted acid mucin. CONCLUSION: Thus, a steep rise was found in the serum prostate specific antigen levels with increase in Gleason's score. Also a significant correlation was found between Gleason's score and cyclin D1, Ki-67 expression. The expression of these two markers was higher in high grade prostate adenocarcinomas. ER-β expression was higher in low grade tumors and its expression gets reduced with increase in Gleason's score. Acid mucin production by tumor cells gets reduced as the Gleason's score of the tumor increases