Multiscale Image Segmentation Using Active Contours

We propose a new approach for image segmentation at different scales of observation, based on a multiscale image decomposition and on the active contour segmentation model. The proposed method consists of two steps. Firstly, a representation of a given image at multiple scales is derived, by means of a smoothing method which minimizes the weighted total variation norm of the image. This method allows the longtime preservation of edges and contrast with increasing scale, facilitating the detection of underlying structures. Secondly, image structures are extracted at each scale, using a level set formulation of active contours, minimizing the Mumford-Shah functional. Promising results of the proposed segmentation approach on natural images are reported

The Total Filmmaker: thinking of screenwriting, directing and editing as one role

As screenwriting continues to establish itself as a discrete discipline in academia, either in alignment with creative writing departments or film and media practice departments, there is a danger that such developments may entrench a distancing of the craft from the cinematic form itself and that such a distancing may ultimately reinforce the screenplay's propensity for dramaturgy and the dramatic, rather than the sensory and experiential of the cinematic. Closely related creative stages in telling cinematic stories include directing and editing and this article seeks to argue, with reference to personal screen practice, that screenwriting, directing and editing are, in fact, three variations of the same thing. The article proposes the notion of the Total Filmmaker who embraces all three aspects of the cinematic storyteller. If the ultimate aim is to create a narrative that fully utilises the unique properties of the cinematic form in telling a story, rather than being dominated by the theatricality of dramatically driven classical narratives. How might one explore the relationship between screenwriting, directing and editing? Can an integrated approach to creating the cinematic blueprint change the way we think of pedagogy and screenwriting

o.OM: Structured-Functional Communication between Computer Music Systems using OSC and Odot

International audienceO.—odot—is a portable media programming framework based on the OSC data encoding. It embeds a small expression language which allows writing and executing programs in OSC structures. The integration of programming and declarative functional descriptions within data transfer protocols enables structured and expressive communication in media systems: program snippets can be distributed in OSC messages, which evaluate to further OSC messages in the different communicating software. We present experiments using this framework in the OpenMusic computer-aided composition environment , and illustrate via case studies some advantages of such integrated system

Human recombinant anti-thyroperoxidase autoantibodies: in vitro cytotoxic activity on papillary thyroid cancer expressing TPO

International audienceBACKGROUND: Thyroid cancers are difficult to treat due to their limited responsiveness to chemo- and radiotherapy. There is thus a great interest in and a need for alternative therapeutic approaches. RESULTS: We studied the cytotoxic activity of anti-thyroperoxidase autoantibodies (anti-TPO aAbs, expressed in baculovirus/insect cell (B4) and CHO cells (B4') or purified from patients' sera) against a papillary thyroid cancer (NPA) cell line. Anti-TPO aAbs from patients' sera led to a partial destruction of NPA cell line by complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and exhibited an anti-proliferative activity. Comparison of the cytotoxic activity of anti-TPO aAbs shows that B4' induced an anti-proliferative effect and a better ADCC than B4, but a lower one than anti-TPO aAbs from patients' sera. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity was increased when human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used as effector cells, suggesting that FcgammaRs, CD64, CD32 and CD16 are involved. Indeed, anti-TPO aAbs from patients' sera, but not B4 and B4', exhibited CDC activity. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that anti-TPO aAbs display moderate ADCC and anti-proliferative activities on NPA cells; IgG glycosylation appears to be important for cytotoxic activity and ADCC efficiency depends on FcgammaR-bearing cells. Finally, recombinant human anti-TPO aAbs cannot yet be considered as an optimal tool for the development of a novel therapeutic approach for thyroid cancer

White Matter Mapping in DT-MRI Using Geometric Flows

We present a 3D geometric flow designed to evolve in Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Images(DT-MRI) along fiber tracts by measuring the diffusive similarity between voxels. Therefore we define a front propagation speed that is proportional to the similarity between the tensors lying on the surface and its neighbor in the propagation direction. The method is based on the assumption that successive voxels in a tract have similar diffusion properties. The front propagation is implemented using level set methods by Osher and Sethian [1] to simplify the handling of topology changes and provides an elegant tool for smoothing the segmented tracts. While many methods demand a regularized tensor field, our geometrical flow performs a regularization as it evolves along the fibers. This is done by a curvature dependent smoothing term adapted for thin tubular structures. The purpose of our approach is to get a quantitative measure of the diffusion in segmented fiber tracts. This kind of information can also be used for white matter registration and for surgical planning

The secondary eclipses of WASP-19b as seen by the ASTEP 400 telescope from Antarctica

The ASTEP (Antarctica Search for Transiting ExoPlanets) program was originally aimed at probing the quality of the Dome C, Antarctica for the discovery and characterization of exoplanets by photometry. In the first year of operation of the 40 cm ASTEP 400 telescope (austral winter 2010), we targeted the known transiting planet WASP-19b in order to try to detect its secondary transits in the visible. This is made possible by the excellent sub-millimagnitude precision of the binned data. The WASP-19 system was observed during 24 nights in May 2010. The photometric variability level due to starspots is about 1.8% (peak-to-peak), in line with the SuperWASP data from 2007 (1.4%) and larger than in 2008 (0.07%). We find a rotation period of WASP-19 of 10.7 +/- 0.5 days, in agreement with the SuperWASP determination of 10.5 +/- 0.2 days. Theoretical models show that this can only be explained if tidal dissipation in the star is weak, i.e. the tidal dissipation factor Q'star > 3.10^7. Separately, we find evidence for a secondary eclipse of depth 390 +/- 190 ppm with a 2.0 sigma significance, a phase consistent with a circular orbit and a 3% false positive probability. Given the wavelength range of the observations (420 to 950 nm), the secondary transit depth translates into a day side brightness temperature of 2690(-220/+150) K, in line with measurements in the z' and K bands. The day side emission observed in the visible could be due either to thermal emission of an extremely hot day side with very little redistribution of heat to the night side, or to direct reflection of stellar light with a maximum geometrical albedo Ag=0.27 +/- 0.13. We also report a low-frequency oscillation well in phase at the planet orbital period, but with a lower-limit amplitude that could not be attributed to the planet phase alone, and possibly contaminated with residual lightcurve trends.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 13 pages, 13 figure

Workshop Report: Concepts and methods in the economics of nutrition - Gateways to better economic evaluation of nutrition interventions

Improving health through better nutrition of the population may contribute to enhanced efficiency and sustainability of healthcare systems. A recent expert meeting investigated in detail a number of methodological aspects related to the discipline of nutrition economics. The role of nutrition in health maintenance and in the prevention of non-communicable diseases is now generally recognised. However, the main scope of those seeking to contain healthcare expenditures tends to focus on the management of existing chronic diseases. Identifying additional relevant dimensions to measure and the context of use will become increasingly important in selecting and developing outcome measurements for nutrition interventions. The translation of nutrition-related research data into public health guidance raises the challenging issue of carrying out more pragmatic trials in many areas where these would generate the most useful evidence for health policy decision-making. Nutrition exemplifies all the types of interventions and policy which need evaluating across the health field. There is a need to start actively engaging key stakeholders in order to collect data and to widen health technology assessment approaches for achieving a policy shift from evidence-based medicine to evidence-based decision-making in the field of nutrition