64 research outputs found
AdaptaciĂłn del algoritmo maracas para segmentaciĂłn de la arteria carĂłtida y cuantificaciĂłn de estenosis en imĂĄgenes tac
En este artĂculo se describen las adaptaciones hechas al algoritmo MARACAS para segmentar y cuantificar estructuras vasculares en imĂĄgenes TAC de la arteria carĂłtida. El algoritmo MARACAS, que estĂĄ basado en un modelo elĂĄstico y en un anĂĄlisis de los valores y vectores propios de la matriz de inercia, fue inicialmente diseñado para segmentar una sola arteria en imĂĄgenes ARM. Las modificaciones estĂĄn principalmente enfocadas a tratar las especificidades de las imĂĄgenes TAC, asĂ como la presencia de bifurcaciones. Los algoritmos implementados en esta nueva versiĂłn se clasifican en dos niveles. 1) Los procesamientos de bajo nivel (filtrado de ruido y de artificios direccionales, presegmentaciĂłn y realce) destinados a mejorar la calidad de la imagen y presegmentarla. Estas tĂ©cnicas estĂĄn basadas en informaciĂłn a priori sobre el ruido, los artificios y los intervalos tĂpicos de niveles de gris del lumen, del fondo y de las calcificaciones. 2) Los procesamientos de alto nivel para extraer la lĂnea central de la arteria, segmentar el lumen y cuantificar la estenosis. A este nivel, se aplican conocimientos a priori sobre la forma y anatomĂa de las estructuras vasculares. El mĂ©todo fue evaluado en 31 imĂĄgenes suministradas en el concurso âCarotid Lumen Segmentation and Stenosis Grading Grand Challengeâ 2009. Los resultados obtenidos en la segmentaciĂłn arrojaron un coeficiente de similitud de Dice promedio de 80.4% comparado con la segmentaciĂłn de referencia, y el error promedio de la cuantificaciĂłn de estenosis fue 14.4%
A multicentre epidemiological study on sunbed use and cutaneous melanoma in Europe
A large European case-control study investigated the association between sunbed use and cutaneous melanoma in an adult population aged between 18 and 49 years. Between 1999 and 2001 sun and sunbed exposure was recorded in 597 newly diagnosed melanoma cases and 622 controls in Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Fifty three precent of cases and 57% of controls ever used sunbeds. The overall adjusted odds ratio (OR) associated with ever sunbed use was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.71-1.14). There was a South-to-North gradient with high prevalence of sunbed exposure in Northern Europe and lower prevalence in the South (prevalence of use in France 20%, OR: 1.19 (0.68-2.07) compared to Sweden, prevalence 83%, relative risk 0.62 (0.26-1.46)). Dose and lag-time between first exposure to sunbeds and time of study were not associated with melanoma risk, neither were sunbathing and sunburns (adjusted OR for mean number of weeks spent in sunny climates >14 years: 1.12 (0.88-1.43); adjusted OR for any sunburn >14 years: 1.16 (0.9-1.45)). Host factors such as numbers of naevi and skin type were the strongest risk indicators for melanoma. Public health campaigns have improved knowledge regarding risk of UV-radiation for skin cancers and this may have led to recall and selection biases in both cases and controls in this study. Sunbed exposure has become increasingly prevalent over the last 20 years, especially in Northern Europe but the full impact of this exposure on skin cancers may not become apparent for many years
Measurements of sideward flow around the balance energy
Sideward flow values have been determined with the INDRA multidetector for
Ar+Ni, Ni+Ni and Xe+Sn systems studied at GANIL in the 30 to 100 A.MeV incident
energy range. The balance energies found for Ar+Ni and Ni+Ni systems are in
agreement with previous experimental results and theoretical calculations.
Negative sideward flow values have been measured. The possible origins of such
negative values are discussed. They could result from a more important
contribution of evaporated particles with respect to the contribution of
promptly emitted particles at mid-rapidity. But effects induced by the methods
used to reconstruct the reaction plane cannot be totally excluded. Complete
tests of these methods are presented and the origins of the
``auto-correlation'' effect have been traced back. For heavy fragments, the
observed negative flow values seem to be mainly due to the reaction plane
reconstruction methods. For light charged particles, these negative values
could result from the dynamics of the collisions and from the reaction plane
reconstruction methods as well. These effects have to be taken into account
when comparisons with theoretical calculations are done.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figure
Effect of the intermediate velocity emissions on the quasi-projectile properties for the Ar+Ni system at 95 A.MeV
The quasi-projectile (QP) properties are investigated in the Ar+Ni collisions
at 95 A.MeV taking into account the intermediate velocity emission. Indeed, in
this reaction, between 52 and 95 A.MeV bombarding energies, the number of
particles emitted in the intermediate velocity region is related to the overlap
volume between projectile and target. Mean transverse energies of these
particles are found particularly high. In this context, the mass of the QP
decreases linearly with the impact parameter from peripheral to central
collisions whereas its excitation energy increases up to 8 A.MeV. These results
are compared to previous analyses assuming a pure binary scenario
Multifragmentation of a very heavy nuclear system (II): bulk properties and spinodal decomposition
The properties of fragments and light charged particles emitted in
multifragmentation of single sources formed in central 36AMeV Gd+U collisions
are reviewed. Most of the products are isotropically distributed in the
reaction c.m. Fragment kinetic energies reveal the onset of radial collective
energy. A bulk effect is experimentally evidenced from the similarity of the
charge distribution with that from the lighter 32AMeV Xe+Sn system. Spinodal
decomposition of finite nuclear matter exhibits the same property in simulated
central collisions for the two systems, and appears therefore as a possible
mechanism at the origin of multifragmentation in this incident energy domain.Comment: 28 pages including 14 figures; submitted to Nucl. Phys.
Multifragmentation of a very heavy nuclear system (I): Selection of single-source events
A sample of `single-source' events, compatible with the multifragmentation of
very heavy fused systems, are isolated among well-measured 155Gd+natU 36AMeV
reactions by examining the evolution of the kinematics of fragments with Z>=5
as a function of the dissipated energy and loss of memory of the entrance
channel. Single-source events are found to be the result of very central
collisions. Such central collisions may also lead to multiple fragment emission
due to the decay of excited projectile- and target-like nuclei and so-called
`neck' emission, and for this reason the isolation of single-source events is
very difficult. Event-selection criteria based on centrality of collisions, or
on the isotropy of the emitted fragments in each event, are found to be
inefficient to separate the two mechanisms, unless they take into account the
redistribution of fragments' kinetic energies into directions perpendicular to
the beam axis. The selected events are good candidates to look for bulk effects
in the multifragmentation process.Comment: 39 pages including 15 figures; submitted to Nucl. Phys.
Study of intermediate velocity products in the Ar+Ni collisions between 52 and 95 A.MeV
Intermediate velocity products in Ar+Ni collisions from 52 to 95 A.MeV are
studied in an experiment performed at the GANIL facility with the 4
multidetector INDRA. It is shown that these emissions cannot be explained by
statistical decays of the quasi-projectile and the quasi-target in complete
equilibrium. Three methods are used to isolate and characterize intermediate
velocity products. The total mass of these products increases with the violence
of the collision and reaches a large fraction of the system mass in mid-central
collisions. This mass is found independent of the incident energy, but strongly
dependent on the geometry of the collision. Finally it is shown that the
kinematical characteristics of intermediate velocity products are weakly
dependent on the experimental impact parameter, but strongly dependent on the
incident energy. The observed trends are consistent with a
participant-spectator like scenario or with neck emissions and/or break-up.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figure
Source size scaling of fragment production in projectile breakup
Fragment production has been studied as a function of the source mass and
excitation energy in peripheral collisions of Cl+Au at 43
MeV/nucleon and Ge+Ti at 35 MeV/nucleon. The results are
compared to the Au+Au data at 600 MeV/nucleon obtained by the ALADIN
collaboration. A mass scaling, by 35 to 190, strongly
correlated to excitation energy per nucleon, is presented, suggesting a thermal
fragment production mechanism. Comparisons to a standard sequential decay model
and the lattice-gas model are made. Fragment emission from a hot, rotating
source is unable to reproduce the experimental source size scaling.Comment: 13 pages LaTeX file, including 3 postscript figures (in .tar.gz
fornmat), accepted in Phys. Rev. C . Also available at
http://thomson.phy.ulaval.ca/ions_lourds/gil-en.htm
General Requirements on Matter Power Spectrum Predictions for Cosmology with Weak Lensing Tomography
Forthcoming projects such as DES, LSST, WFIRST, and Euclid aim to measure
weak lensing shear correlations with unprecedented precision, constraining the
dark energy equation of state at the percent level. Reliance on
photometrically-determined redshifts constitutes a major source of uncertainty
for these surveys. Additionally, interpreting the weak lensing signal requires
a detailed understanding of the nonlinear physics of gravitational collapse. We
present a new analysis of the stringent calibration requirements for weak
lensing analyses of future imaging surveys that addresses both photo-z
uncertainty and errors in the calibration of the matter power spectrum. We find
that when photo-z uncertainty is taken into account the requirements on the
level of precision in the prediction for the matter power spectrum are more
stringent than previously thought. Including degree-scale galaxy clustering
statistics in a joint analysis with weak lensing not only strengthens the
survey's constraining power by ~20%, but can also have a profound impact on the
calibration demands, decreasing the degradation in dark energy constraints with
matter power spectrum uncertainty by a factor of 2-5. Similarly, using galaxy
clustering information significantly relaxes the demands on photo-z
calibration. We compare these calibration requirements to the contemporary
state-of-the-art in photometric redshift estimation and predictions of the
power spectrum and suggest strategies to utilize forthcoming data optimally.Comment: 3 new figures; new section added on multipole-dependence of
calibration requirements; references added; version accepted by JCA
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