311 research outputs found
Streamlined Global and Local Features Combinator (SGLC) for High Resolution Image Dehazing
Image Dehazing aims to remove atmospheric fog or haze from an image. Although
the Dehazing models have evolved a lot in recent years, few have precisely
tackled the problem of High-Resolution hazy images. For this kind of image, the
model needs to work on a downscaled version of the image or on cropped patches
from it. In both cases, the accuracy will drop. This is primarily due to the
inherent failure to combine global and local features when the image size
increases. The Dehazing model requires global features to understand the
general scene peculiarities and the local features to work better with fine and
pixel details. In this study, we propose the Streamlined Global and Local
Features Combinator (SGLC) to solve these issues and to optimize the
application of any Dehazing model to High-Resolution images. The SGLC contains
two successive blocks. The first is the Global Features Generator (GFG) which
generates the first version of the Dehazed image containing strong global
features. The second block is the Local Features Enhancer (LFE) which improves
the local feature details inside the previously generated image. When tested on
the Uformer architecture for Dehazing, SGLC increased the PSNR metric by a
significant margin. Any other model can be incorporated inside the SGLC process
to improve its efficiency on High-Resolution input data.Comment: Accepted in CVPR 2023 Workshop
Guided Frequency Loss for Image Restoration
Image Restoration has seen remarkable progress in recent years. Many
generative models have been adapted to tackle the known restoration cases of
images. However, the interest in benefiting from the frequency domain is not
well explored despite its major factor in these particular cases of image
synthesis. In this study, we propose the Guided Frequency Loss (GFL), which
helps the model to learn in a balanced way the image's frequency content
alongside the spatial content. It aggregates three major components that work
in parallel to enhance learning efficiency; a Charbonnier component, a
Laplacian Pyramid component, and a Gradual Frequency component. We tested GFL
on the Super Resolution and the Denoising tasks. We used three different
datasets and three different architectures for each of them. We found that the
GFL loss improved the PSNR metric in most implemented experiments. Also, it
improved the training of the Super Resolution models in both SwinIR and SRGAN.
In addition, the utility of the GFL loss increased better on constrained data
due to the less stochasticity in the high frequencies' components among
samples
Prevalence and risk factors of low back pain among undergraduate students of a sports and physical education institute in Tunisia
Introduction: For obvious reasons, athletes are at greater risk of sustaining a lumber (lower) spine injury due to physical activity. To our knowledge, no previous studies have examined the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a Tunisian sports and physical education institute.Aim: To assess the prevalence of LBP in different sports among students studying in a sports and physical education institute in Tunisia, to determine the causes of the injuries, and to propose solutions.Methods: A total of 3,379 boys and 2,579 girls were studied. A retrospective cross-sectional survey was conducted on a group of students aged 18.524.5 years at the Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax to estimate the prevalence of LBP and its relation to the type of sports. Data on age, weight, height, smoking, and the sport in which the student was injured in the low back were collected from the institute health service records from 2005 until 2013.Results: LBP was reported by 879 of the 5,958 study participants (14.8%). The prevalence of LBP was significantly higher (pB0.001) in females (17.6%) than in males (12.5%). LBP prevalence did not differ by body mass index or smoking habit (p0.05). The sports associated with the higher rates of LBP were gymnastics, judo, handball, and volleyball, followed by basketball and athletics.Conclusion: LBP is frequent among undergraduate students of a sports and physical education institute in Tunisia. It is strongly associated with fatigue after the long periods of training in different sports. Gymnastics, judo, handball, and volleyball were identified as high-risk sports for causing LBP.Keywords: low back pain; sports students; sports training; risk factor
Effect of Forest Biomass Pretreatment on Essential Oil Yield and Properties
Essential oils (EOs) are natural and economically valuable aromatic compounds obtained from a variety of crops and trees, including forest trees, which have different therapeutic and biological activities. This project aims to assess the impact of different residual forest biomass pretreatments on the yield and the properties of EOs, including their antibacterial and antioxidant characteristics. Forest biomass from black spruce (BS, Picea mariana Mill.), balsam fir (BF, Abies balsamea), and jack pine (JP, Pinus banksiana Lamb.) was processed mechanically by (i) shredding, (ii) grinding, (iii) pelletizing, and (iv) bundling. EOs were then extracted by hydro- and steam distillation. The densification into bundles was found to improve EOs yield compared to the other residual forest biomass pretreatments. For example, the yield of bundled BF was improved by 68%, 83%, and 93% compared to shredded, ground, and granulated biomass, respectively. The highest yield was obtained when densification into bundles was combined with extraction through hydrodistillation. As for EOs' chemical composition, JP had the highest polyphenol content and consequently the greatest antioxidant activity. EOs derived from BS inhibited the growth of Grampositive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and Gram-negative Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli bacteria. The densification of forest biomass into bundles did not affect the antioxidant capacity or the antibacterial activity of EOs, thereby preserving both properties. Thus, the pretreatment of forest biomass residue could have an impact on the volume and the transport costs and therefore improve the bioproducts market and the bioeconomy in Canada
License Plate Super-Resolution Using Diffusion Models
In surveillance, accurately recognizing license plates is hindered by their
often low quality and small dimensions, compromising recognition precision.
Despite advancements in AI-based image super-resolution, methods like
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)
still fall short in enhancing license plate images. This study leverages the
cutting-edge diffusion model, which has consistently outperformed other deep
learning techniques in image restoration. By training this model using a
curated dataset of Saudi license plates, both in low and high resolutions, we
discovered the diffusion model's superior efficacy. The method achieves a
12.55\% and 37.32% improvement in Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) over SwinIR
and ESRGAN, respectively. Moreover, our method surpasses these techniques in
terms of Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), registering a 4.89% and 17.66%
improvement over SwinIR and ESRGAN, respectively. Furthermore, 92% of human
evaluators preferred our images over those from other algorithms. In essence,
this research presents a pioneering solution for license plate
super-resolution, with tangible potential for surveillance systems
HTTU-Net: Hybrid Two Track U-Net for Automatic Brain Tumor Segmentation
Brain cancer is one of the most dominant causes of cancer death; the best way to diagnose
and treat brain tumors is to screen early. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is commonly used for brain
tumor diagnosis; however, it is a challenging problem to achieve higher accuracy and performance, which is
a vital problem in most of the previously presented automated medical diagnosis. In this paper, we propose a
Hybrid Two-Track U-Net(HTTU-Net) architecture for brain tumor segmentation. This architecture leverages
the use of Leaky Relu activation and batch normalization. It includes two tracks; each one has a different
number of layers and utilizes a different kernel size. Then, we merge these two tracks to generate the final
segmentation. We use the focal loss, and generalized Dice (GDL), loss functions to address the problem of
class imbalance. The proposed segmentation method was evaluated on the BraTS’2018 datasets and obtained
a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 0.865 for the whole tumor region, 0.808 for the core region and 0.745
for the enhancement region and a median Dice similarity coefficient of 0.883, 0.895, and 0.815 for the
whole tumor, core and enhancing region, respectively. The proposed HTTU-Net architecture is sufficient
for the segmentation of brain tumors and achieves highly accurate results. Other quantitative and qualitative
evaluations are discussed, along with the paper. It confirms that our results are very comparable expert
human-level performance and could help experts to decrease the time of diagnostic.This work was supported in part by the Robotics and Internet-of-Things Laboratory of Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia, and in part
by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61375081.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Efecto del extracto de cáscara de granada tunecina sobre la estabilidad oxidativa del aceite de maÃz en condiciones de calentamiento
The effect of pomegranate peel extract (PPE) on the oxidative stability of corn oil during heating was studied. Oxidation was followed by determining peroxide value (PV), p-anisidine value (p-AV), free fatty acid value (FFA), conjugated dienes (CD), conjugated trienes hydroperoxides (CT) and the calculated total oxidation value (TOTOX). Polyphenol (TPC) and ortho-diphenol (TOPC) contents as well as the antioxidant activity of each oil sample were evaluated before and after heating. PPE showed a significant inhibitory effect on lipid oxidation. Heating samples for 8 hours supplemented by PPE to a level of 1000 ppm resulted in the highest significant decreases in investigated indices compared to the control and BHT values. It was concluded that the antioxidant activity of PPE delayed oxidation and can be used in the food industry to prevent and reduce lipid deterioration in oil.Se estudió el efecto del extracto de cáscara de granada (ECG) sobre la estabilidad oxidativa del aceite de maÃz durante condiciones de calentamiento. La oxidación se siguió mediante la determinación del Ãndice de peróxido (IP), el Ãndice de p-anisidina (p-AV), el Ãndice de acidez (IA), los dienos conjugados (DC), los hidroperóxidos de trienos conjugados (TC) y el valor calculado de la oxidación total (TOTOX). Se evaluó el contenido de polifenoles totales (PT) y de orto-difenoles (o-DF), asà como la actividad antioxidante de cada muestra de aceite, antes y después del calentamiento. El ECG mostró un efecto inhibidor significativo sobre la oxidación de lÃpidos. El calentamiento de las muestras, durante 8 horas suplementadas con ECG a un nivel de 1000 ppm, dio como resultado una significativa disminución de los Ãndices investigados en relación con los valores de control y con BHT. Se concluyó que la actividad antioxidante de los ECG retrasó la oxidación y que se puede utilizar en la industria alimentaria para prevenir y reducir el deterioro de los lÃpidos del aceite
Lung function profiles and aerobic capacity of adult cigarette and hookah smokers after 12 weeks intermittent training
Introduction: Pulmonary function is compromised in most smokers. Yet it is unknown whether exercise training improves pulmonary function and aerobic capacity in cigarette and hookah smokers and whether these smokers respond in a similar way as do non-smokers.Aim: To evaluate the effects of an interval exercise training program on pulmonary function and aerobic capacity in cigarette and hookah smokers.Methods: Twelve cigarette smokers, 10 hookah smokers, and 11 non-smokers participated in our exercise program. All subjects performed 30 min of interval exercise (2 min of work followed by 1 min of rest) three times a week for 12 weeks at an intensity estimated at 70% of the subject’s maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max). Pulmonary function was measured using spirometry, and maximum aerobic capacity was assessed by maximal exercise testing on a treadmill before the beginning and at the end of the exercise training program.Results: As expected, prior to the exercise intervention, the cigarette and hookah smokers had significantly lower pulmonary function than the non-smokers. The 12-week exercise training program did not significantly affect lung function as assessed by spirometry in the non-smoker group. However, it significantly increased both forced expiratory volume in 1 second and peak expiratory flow (PEF) in the cigarette smoker group, and PEF in the hookah smoker group. Our training program had its most notable impact on the cardiopulmonary system of smokers. In the non-smoker and cigarette smoker groups, the training program significantly improved VO2max (4.4 and 4.7%, respectively), v VO2max (6.7 and 5.6%, respectively), and the recovery index (7.9 and 10.5%, respectively).Conclusions: After 12 weeks of interval training program, the increase of VO2max and the decrease of recovery index and resting heart rate in the smoking subjects indicated better exercise tolerance. Although the intermittent training program altered pulmonary function only partially, both aerobic capacity and life quality were improved. Intermittent training should be advised in the clinical setting for subjects with adverse health behaviors.Keywords: cigarette smokers; hookah smokers; pulmonary function; aerobic capacity; interval trainin
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Adaptive fuzzy model-free control for 3D trajectory tracking of quadrotor
This paper presents a novel adaptive control strategy with rejection ability for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), namely fuzzy model-free control (FMFC). It is based on the model-free control (MFC) concept, where the control parameters are tuned online using fuzzy logic. The controller assumes an ultra-local model that can compensate unknown/unmodelled dynamics, uncertainties and external disturbances, ensuring a good robustness level. Moreover, the fuzzy logic system is used to tune online the proportional-derivative terms due to its heuristic aspect. These compensation and adaptation mechanisms allow ensuring good compromise robustness-performance even in the presence of disturbances. Several experiments, using RotorS Gazebo micro aerial vehicle (MAV) simulator, are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller compared with other techniques. The fuzzy model-free controller shows superior performance without the time-consuming and tedious tuning task
La maladie de cowden a propos d’un cas
La maladie de Cowden est une maladie héréditaire à transmission autosomique dominante caractérisée par des lésions associant des atteintes cutanées constantes et caractéristiques (lésions papuleuses au niveau de la face et des extrémités) et des lésions viscérales inconstantes notamment thyroïdiennes, mammaires, intestinales et rénales à haut risque de dégénérescence. Nous rapportons un cas chez une femme de 30 ans porteuse d’une craniomégalie, de polypes intestinaux, d’un fibroadénome des seins, de lésions papuleuses des gencives et d’un goitre multi-nodulaire. Elle a eu dans notre service une thyroïdectomie totale dont l’analyse anatomopathologique définitive de la pièce a révélé un micro-carcinome vésiculaire du lobe gauche de la thyroïde. Les lésions thyroïdiennes sont habituellement bien limitées, mais devant la multifocalité, le risque accru de récidive et de dégénérescence maligne, une thyroïdectomie totale doit être préconisée.Mots clès : Maladie de Cowden, Cancer de la thyro
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