Labolmage: a workstation environment for research in image processing and analysis

Numerous images are produced daily in biomedical research. In order to extract relevant and useful results, various processing and analysis steps are mandatory. The present paper describes a new, powerful and user-friendly image analysis system: Labolmage. In addition to standard image processing modules, Labolmage also contains various specialized tools. These multiple processing modules and tools are first introduced. A one-dimensional gel analysis method is then described. The new concept of ‘normalized virtual one-dimensional gel' is introduced, making comparisons between gels particularly easy. This normalized gel is obtained by compensating for the bending of the lanes automatically; no information loss is incurred in the process. Finally, the model of interaction in a multi-window environment is discussed. Labolmage is designed to run in two ways: interactively, using menus and panels; and in batch mode by means of user-defined macros. Examples are given to illustrate the potentialities of the softwar

Research practice development for nuclear medicine technologists: an innovative experience

Introduction - European nuclear medicine technologist’s education is delivered by Higher Education Institutions and students obtain a grade of Bachelor of Sciences (BSc), during which they are initiated to research during their studies. Once BSc nuclear medicine technologists are in professional practice, they have very few opportunities to develop a real research experience and they rather become passive users than active contributors the growth of scientific knowledge in nuclear medicine. Aim - To describe and discuss an innovative educational and professional experience aimed in strengthen research knowledge, skills and competencies of former nuclear medicine technologists student in the context of an international mobility stay

A Q-Ising model application for linear-time image segmentation

A computational method is presented which efficiently segments digital grayscale images by directly applying the Q-state Ising (or Potts) model. Since the Potts model was first proposed in 1952, physicists have studied lattice models to gain deep insights into magnetism and other disordered systems. For some time, researchers have realized that digital images may be modeled in much the same way as these physical systems (i.e., as a square lattice of numerical values). A major drawback in using Potts model methods for image segmentation is that, with conventional methods, it processes in exponential time. Advances have been made via certain approximations to reduce the segmentation process to power-law time. However, in many applications (such as for sonar imagery), real-time processing requires much greater efficiency. This article contains a description of an energy minimization technique that applies four Potts (Q-Ising) models directly to the image and processes in linear time. The result is analogous to partitioning the system into regions of four classes of magnetism. This direct Potts segmentation technique is demonstrated on photographic, medical, and acoustic images.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, revtex, uses subfigure.sty. Central European Journal of Physics, in press (2010

Plate tectonics drive tropical reef biodiversity dynamics

The Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana strongly modified the global distribution of shallow tropical seas reshaping the geographic configuration of marine basins. However, the links between tropical reef availability, plate tectonic processes and marine biodiversity distribution patterns are still unknown. Here, we show that a spatial diversification model constrained by absolute plate motions for the past 140 million years predicts the emergence and movement of diversity hotspots on tropical reefs. The spatial dynamics of tropical reefs explains marine fauna diversification in the Tethyan Ocean during the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic, and identifies an eastward movement of ancestral marine lineages towards the Indo-Australian Archipelago in the Miocene. A mechanistic model based only on habitat-driven diversification and dispersal yields realistic predictions of current biodiversity patterns for both corals and fishes. As in terrestrial systems, we demonstrate that plate tectonics played a major role in driving tropical marine shallow reef biodiversity dynamics