A probabilistic approach to 3D interpretation of monocular images

The work described in this thesis is concerned with the 3D interpretation of monocular images. First, the perspective transformation is interpreted in an image which enables the extraction of 3D information. Then, connectivity in the image is utilized in order to infer 3D groupings in the scene. The result of the process is 3D structures, leading to local 3D maps, the scales of which are unknown. The processing of several images from unknown viewpoints allows the relative scales of the various maps to be known. Thus, an unsealed but consistent 3D map is extracted. This map has a 3D symbolic representation and may be integrated in a CAD database. A probabilistic approach is used for interpreting the image. First, two types of error are defined : errors due to the measurement uncertainty and errors due to accidents such as the proximity of unrelated features, called segmentation errors. Because of measurement errors, relations are not exactly fulfilled. Accounting for such errors is responsible for segmentation errors, and thereby unreliability of the process. The best trade-off for checking these relations is based on the maximum likelihood test. In order to determine this test, a precise statistical model of the data is defined. Moreover, accounting for measurement uncertainty leads to an original process for detecting the vanishing points in the image in a consistent way over the space. Another central theme of this work is the 3D representation adopted for the structures extracted from the image. The intrinsic parameters of these structures are viewpoint and scale invariant and the geometric relationships and the degree of freedom of these structures are implicit in such a representation. This considerably eases the construction of the 3D structures, and then of the local and global maps. The method is illustrated by the processing of images of indoor scenes of a power plant

Enticing Communication: An Examination of Environmental Arrangement Strategies in Early Intervention Settings

Many children develop language naturally, but some children experience communication delays. In these cases, naturalistic communication intervention can improve a child’s language abilities. One component of naturalistic communication intervention and the focus of this study is environmental arrangement (EA). This study sought to understand the relationship between parent-implemented EA strategy use during daily home routines and child rate of communication. Thirteen sets of video recordings were transcribed and coded from a larger data set from the Language and Play Every Day program (LAPE) to be analyzed. Although there appeared to be a relationship when looking at the averages, no statistically significant correlations between EA usage and child rate of communication were found

Defects quantization in industrial radiographs by image processing

This paper refers to the industrial application of image processing using Non Destructive Testing by radiography . The various problems involved by the conception of a numerical tool are described . This tool intends to help radiograph experts to quantify defects and to follow up their evolution, using numerical techniques . The sequences of processings that achieve defect segmentation and quantization are detailed. They are based on the thorough knowledge of radiographs formation techniques . The process uses various methods of image analysis, including textural analysis and morphological mathematics. The interface between the final product and users will occur in an explicit language, using the terms of radiographie expertise without showing any processing details . The problem is thoroughly described : image formation, digitization, processings fitted to flaw morphology and finally product structure in progress .Cet article a pour sujet l'application industrielle du traitement d'image au contrôle non destructif par radiographie . Il décrit les différents problèmes posés par la conception d'un outil informatique ayant pour but de faciliter et d'améliorer la tâche d'expertise du radiographe pour la quantification et la suivi des défauts au cours du temps . Cet outil doit permettre à l'expert radiographe, néophyte en traitement d'image, d'utiliser pleinement les possibilités offertes par les techniques numériques . Des chaînes de traitement robustes, conduisant à la segmentation et à la quantification des défauts sont détaillées . Elles s'appuient sur la connaissance approfondie des techniques de formation de la radiographie . Les traitements retenus sont essentiellement basés sur l'analyse de texture et la morphologie mathématique . Les échanges entre l'utilisateur et le produit final se feront dans le vocabulaire de l'expert radiographe assurant la transparence des traitements . Le problème est décrit dans son intégralité : la formation de l'image, la numérisation, le choix de méthodes de traitement robustes et adaptées à l'aspect morphologique des défauts, et enfin la structure du produit en cours de réalisation

Communication Temptation: An Examination of Environmental Arrangement Strategies in Early Intervention Settings

Language learning is an essential component of child development. Many children develop language naturally as they interact with their family and community, but some children experience communication delays due to unknown reasons or secondary to developmental disabilities. In these cases, naturalistic communication intervention (NCI) can improve a child’s language abilities. One component of NCIs, and the focus of this study, is environmental arrangement (EA). This study sought to understand the relationship between parent-implemented EA strategy use during daily home routines and child rate of communication. Eighteen sets of video recordings were transcribed and coded from a larger data set from the Language and Play Every Day program (LAPE) to be analyzed. Although this paper doesn\u27t yet include the whole dataset, a statistically significant correlation between EA usage and child rate of communication was found

Management der Primären Ciliären Dyskinesie

Die Primäre Ciliäre Dyskinesie (PCD, MIM 242650) ist eine seltene hereditäre Multisystemerkrankung mit klinisch heterogenem Phänotyp. Leitsymptom ist eine chronische Sekretretention der oberen und unteren Atemwege, welche durch die Dysfunktion motiler respiratorischer Zilien entsteht. In der Folge kommt es zur Ausbildung von Bronchiektasen, häufig zu einer Infektion durch Pseudomonas aeruginosa sowie einer abnehmenden Lungenfunktion bis hin zum Lungenversagen. Bislang gibt es kaum evidenzbasierte Therapieempfehlungen, da randomisierte Langzeitstudien zur Behandlung der PCD fehlten. In diesem Jahr wurden die Daten einer ersten placebokontrollierten Medikamentenstudie bei PCD veröffentlicht. Anlässlich dieses Meilensteins im Management der PCD wurde der vorliegende Übersichtsartikel als Konsens von Patientenvertretern sowie Klinikern, die langjährige Erfahrung in der Behandlung der PCD haben, verfasst. Diese Arbeit bietet eine Zusammenfassung aktuell eingesetzter Behandlungsverfahren, die überwiegend auf persönlichen Erfahrungen und Expertenmeinungen beruhen oder von anderen Atemwegserkrankungen wie der Cystischen Fibrose (CF), COPD oder Bronchiektasen-Erkrankung abgeleitet werden. Da es derzeit keine kurative Therapie für PCD gibt, stehen symptomatische Maßnahmen wie die regelmäßige Reinigung der Atemwege und die Behandlung von rezidivierenden Atemwegsinfektionen im Fokus. Nicht respiratorische Manifestationen werden organspezifisch behandelt. Um neben der ersten Medikamentenstudie mehr evidenzbasiertes Wissen zu generieren, werden weitere Projekte etabliert, u. a. ein internationales PCD-Register. Hierüber wird Patienten der Zugang zu klinischen und wissenschaftlichen Studien erleichtert und die Vernetzung behandelnder Zentren gefördert. Des Weiteren können Erkenntnisse über eine Genotyp-spezifische Erkrankungsschwere erlangt werden, um folglich die therapeutische Versorgung der Patienten zu verbessern und somit zu individualisieren. = Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD, MIM 242650) is a rare, hereditary multiorgan disease characterized by malfunction of motile cilia. Hallmark symptom is a chronic airway infection due to mucostasis leading to irreversible lung damage that may progress to respiratory failure. There is no cure for this genetic disease and evidence-based treatment is limited. Until recently, there were no randomized controlled trials performed in PCD, but this year, data of the first placebo-controlled trial on pharmacotherapy in PCD were published. This cornerstone in the management of PCD was decisive for reviewing currently used treatment strategies. This article is a consensus of patient representatives and clinicians, which are highly experienced in care of PCD-patients and provides an overview of the management of PCD. Treatments are mainly based on expert opinions, personal experiences, or are deduced from other lung diseases, notably cystic fibrosis (CF), COPD or bronchiectasis. Most strategies focus on routine airway clearance and treatment of recurrent respiratory tract infections. Non-respiratory symptoms are treated organ specific. To generate further evidence-based knowledge, other projects are under way, e. g. the International PCD-Registry. Participating in patient registries facilitates access to clinical and research studies and strengthens networks between centers. In addition, knowledge of genotype-specific course of the disease will offer the opportunity to further improve and individualize patient care

The Second-Factor Authentication System at CERN

In 2022, CERN ran its annual simulated phishing campaign in which 2000 users gave away their passwords. In a real phishing incident, this would have meant 2000 compromised accounts, unless they were protected by Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). In the same year, CERN introduced 2FA for accounts with access to critical services. The new login flow requires users to always authenticate with a 2FA token, either with Time-based one-time password (TOTP) or WebAuthn. This introduces a significant security improvement for the individual and for the laboratory. The previous flow enforced 2FA to access a small number of applications. In this paper, we will discuss the rationale behind the 2FA deployment, as well as the technical setup of 2FA in the CERN Single Sign-On system, Keycloak. The paper will give a detailed overview of the architecture for this new 2FA flow and compare how it differs from the legacy 2FA system which was in place since 2019. We share statistics on how users are responding to this change in the login flow, and the actions we have taken to improve the user experience. Finally, we briefly describe our custom extensions to Keycloak for specific use cases, which include adding roles in the user token, overriding the default Keycloak session, and modifying the user login flow

Functional kinomics establishes a critical node of volume-sensitive cation-Cl^- cotransporter regulation in the mammalian brain

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.There is another record in ORE for this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/33424Cell volume homeostasis requires the dynamically regulated transport of ions across the plasmalemma. While the ensemble of ion transport proteins involved in cell volume regulation is well established, the molecular coordinators of their activities remain poorly characterized. We utilized a functional kinomics approach including a kinome-wide siRNA-phosphoproteomic screen, a high-content kinase inhibitor screen, and a kinase trapping-Orbitrap mass spectroscopy screen to systematically identify essential kinase regulators of KCC3 Thr991/Thr1048 phosphorylation – a key signaling event in cell swelling-induced regulatory volume decrease (RVD). In the mammalian brain, we found the Cl−-sensitive WNK3-SPAK kinase complex, required for cell shrinkage-induced regulatory volume decrease (RVI) via the stimulatory phosphorylation of NKCC1 (Thr203/Thr207/Thr212), is also essential for the inhibitory phosphorylation of KCC3 (Thr991/Thr1048). This is mediated in vivo by an interaction between the CCT domain in SPAK and RFXV/I domains in WNK3 and NKCC1/KCC3. Accordingly, genetic or pharmacologic WNK3-SPAK inhibition prevents cell swelling in response to osmotic stress and ameliorates post-ischemic brain swelling through a simultaneous inhibition of NKCC1-mediated Cl− uptake and stimulation of KCC3-mediated Cl− extrusion. We conclude that WNK3-SPAK is an integral component of the long-sought “Cl−/volume-sensitive kinase” of the cation-Cl− cotransporters, and functions as a molecular rheostat of cell volume in the mammalian brain.We thank the excellent technical support of the MRC-Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (PPU) DNA Sequencing Service (coordinated by Nicholas Helps), the MRC-PPU tissue culture team (coordinated by Laura Fin), the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) antibody purification teams (coordinated by Hilary McLauchlan and James Hastie). We are grateful to the MRC PPU Proteomics facility (coordinated by David Campbell, Robert Gourlay and Joby Varghese). We thank for support the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12016/2; DRA) and the pharmaceutical companies supporting the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy Unit (AstraZeneca, Boehringer-Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck KGaA, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Pfizer; DRA). We thank Thomas J. Jentsch (Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin) for providing the KCC1/3 double KO mice and his reading of this manuscript. We thank Nathaniel Grey (Harvard) for providing the kinase inhibitor library used in this study (NIH LINCS Program grant U54HL127365). This work was also supported by a Harvard-MIT Neuroscience Grant (to KTK/SJE)

Updated precision measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons

The measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons using inclusively reconstructed secondary vertices has been updated using both an improved processing of previous data and additional statistics from new data. This has reduced the statistical and systematic uncertainties and gives \tau_{\mathrm{B}} = 1.582 \pm 0.011\ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.027\ \mathrm{(syst.)}\ \mathrm{ps.} Combining this result with the previous result based on charged particle impact parameter distributions yields \tau_{\mathrm{B}} = 1.575 \pm 0.010\ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.026\ \mathrm{(syst.)}\ \mathrm{ps.

Measurement of inclusive π0\pi^{0} production in hadronic Z0Z^{0} decays

An analysis is presented of inclusive \pi^0 production in Z^0 decays measured with the DELPHI detector. At low energies, \pi^0 decays are reconstructed by \linebreak using pairs of converted photons and combinations of converted photons and photons reconstructed in the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter (HPC). At high energies (up to x_p = 2 \cdot p_{\pi}/\sqrt{s} = 0.75) the excellent granularity of the HPC is exploited to search for two-photon substructures in single showers. The inclusive differential cross section is measured as a function of energy for {q\overline q} and {b \bar b} events. The number of \pi^0's per hadronic Z^0 event is N(\pi^0)/ Z_{had}^0 = 9.2 \pm 0.2 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 1.0 \mbox{(syst)} and for {b \bar b}~events the number of \pi^0's is {\mathrm N(\pi^0)/ b \overline b} = 10.1 \pm 0.4 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 1.1 \mbox{(syst)} . The ratio of the number of \pi^0's in b \overline b events to hadronic Z^0 events is less affected by the systematic errors and is found to be 1.09 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.01. The measured \pi^0 cross sections are compared with the predictions of different parton shower models. For hadronic events, the peak position in the \mathrm \xi_p = \ln(1/x_p) distribution is \xi_p^{\star} = 3.90^{+0.24}_{-0.14}. The average number of \pi^0's from the decay of primary \mathrm B hadrons is found to be {\mathrm N} (B \rightarrow \pi^0 \, X)/\mbox{B hadron} = 2.78 \pm 0.15 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 0.60 \mbox{(syst)}