Image sequence inpainting: Towards numerical software for detection and removal of local missing data via motion estimation

AbstractFilm restoration aims to remove or reduce various types of film and video defects in order to provide visual enhancements of image sequences. The automatic treatment of these defects is a challenge. Restoration is still performed by hand even if by using numerical techniques for retouching. This is a very intensive activity and great improvements, both in quality and in speed, can be obtained by using automatic or semiautomatic software.This paper surveys the overall computational steps needed for the development of effective software tools to be actually used in a concrete application. In particular, here we focus on recovery and reconstruction of a particular local random defect of old black-and-white films, commonly referred to as “blotch”. We start from the characterization of the degradation model both for detecting and for restoring the defect and deal with such inverse and ill-posed problem through edge preserving regularization. We employ a spatio-temporal interpolation for blotch removal where the initial approximation is given by interpolating along the motion trajectory data belonging to adjacent frames. Finally, we describe the numerical algorithm and some experimental results

The Challenge of Onboard SAR Processing: A GPU Opportunity

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Spin-label scanning reveals conformational sensitivity of the bound helical interfaces of IA₃

IA3 is an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) that becomes helical when bound to yeast proteinase A (YPRA) or in the presence of the secondary stabilizer 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE). Here, site-directed spin-labeling (SDSL) continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR) spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) are used to characterize the TFE-induced helical conformation of IA3 for a series of spin-labeled cysteine scanning constructs and varied amino acid substitutions. Results demonstrate that the N-terminal concave helical surface of IA3, which is the buried interface when bound to YPRA, can be destabilized by the spin-label or bulky amino acid substitutions. In contrast, the helical tendency of IA3 is enhanced when spin-labels are incorporated into the convex, i.e., solvent exposed, surface of IA3. No impact of the spin-label within the C-terminal region was observed. This work further demonstrates the utility and sensitivity of SDSL CW-EPR for studies of IDPs. In general, care must be taken to ensure the spin-label does not interfere with native helical tendencies and these studies provide us with knowledge of where to incorporate spin-labels for future SDSL investigations of IA3

Monitoring the Final Orbital Decay and the Re-Entry of Tiangong-1 with the Italian SST Ground Sensor Network

The uncontrolled re-entry of spacecraft and upper stages is quite common, occurring nearly every week. Among them, intact objects having a mass greater than five metric tons re-enter, on average, 1-2 times per year. Therefore, the re-entry of the first Chinese Space Station, Tiangong-1, was far from unusual, but attracted anyway a great worldwide attention and some concerns. For these reasons, the Italian component of the European SST (Space Surveillance and Tracking) consortium took this opportunity for carrying out a national exercise. According to Chinese official sources, the ground control of Tiangong-1 was lost in March 2016, precluding the planned de-orbiting in the South Pacific Ocean Unpopulated Area (SPOUA). Tiangong-1 consisted of a cylindrical section, 10:5m in length and 3:4m in (maximum) diameter, with two rectangular solar panels of 3m x 7m. The mass was estimated to be around 7500kg. The Italian network of sensors activated for the campaign included mono-static and bi-static radars, optical telescopes, a laser ranging station and a network of all-sky cameras, originally deployed for the observation of fireballs and bolides. In addition to providing complementary information, concerning the orbit, the attitude and the photometry of Tiangong-1, this quite heterogeneous collection of national assets provided also the occasion for testing, in an operational environment, the Italian sensor tasking preparedness and the data acquisition, exchange and processing capabilities within the European SST consortium. In this respect, it is important to remember that in 2014 the European Commission, well aware of the topic criticality, took the commitment to implement a European network of sensors for surveillance and tracking of objects in Earth's orbit by starting a dedicated SST support framework program. Italy, France, Germany, Spain and UK joined it and constituted, together with SatCent, the front desk for SST services, the EUSST Consortium. In this paper, a description of the Tiangong-1 monitoring activities and of the main observations results obtained by the Italian sensor network are reported. Attention is also devoted to the coordination aspects of several Italian entities (military, civil and research organizations) that worked together. Finally, a description of the re-entry prediction and alert procedure for the national civil protection authorities is presented

Prediction of early recurrent thromboembolic event and major bleeding in patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation by a risk stratification schema: the ALESSA score study

Background and Purposes—This study was designed to derive and validate a score to predict early ischemic events and major bleedings after an acute ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Methods—The derivation cohort consisted of 854 patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation included in prospective series between January 2012 and March 2014. Older age (hazard ratio 1.06 for each additional year; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.11) and severe atrial enlargement (hazard ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–2.87) were predictors for ischemic outcome events (stroke, transient ischemic attack, and systemic embolism) at 90 days from acute stroke. Small lesions (≤1.5 cm) were inversely correlated with both major bleeding (hazard ratio, 0.39; P=0.03) and ischemic outcome events (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.30–1.00). We assigned to age ≥80 years 2 points and between 70 and 79 years 1 point; ischemic index lesion >1.5 cm, 1 point; severe atrial enlargement, 1 point (ALESSA score). A logistic regression with the receiver-operating characteristic graph procedure (C statistic) showed an area under the curve of 0.697 (0.632–0.763; P=0.0001) for ischemic outcome events and 0.585 (0.493–0.678; P=0.10) for major bleedings. Results—The validation cohort consisted of 994 patients included in prospective series between April 2014 and June 2016. Logistic regression with the receiver-operating characteristic graph procedure showed an area under the curve of 0.646 (0.529–0.763; P=0.009) for ischemic outcome events and 0.407 (0.275–0.540; P=0.14) for hemorrhagic outcome events. Conclusions—In acute stroke patients with atrial fibrillation, high ALESSA scores were associated with a high risk of ischemic events but not of major bleedings

Descriptive epidemiology of gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a population-based registry

The incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), particularly at certain extranodal sites, has been demonstrated to be rising, at least in the USA, more than for any other malignancy. One of the major sites of extranodal NHL is the gastrointestinal tract, though little is known of its epidemiological characteristics. Over an 8-year period (1986 to 1993) 1069 primary gastrointestinal NHL cases were reported to the Leukaemia Research Fund Data Collection Survey which covers many parts of England and Wales. Age-standardized incidence rates of gastrointestinal NHL at all sites (0.58/105 per year), gastric (0.24/105 per year), small bowel (0.17/105 per year) and large bowel (0.06/105 per year) confirmed that the UK has the lowest rates of gastrointestinal NHL in Europe. An excess of males was observed at all ages and for all sites. Time-trend analyses showed annual increases in incidence rates for gastric (6.3%) and small bowel (5.9%) NHL although a concomitant decrease in gastrointestinal NHL of unknown site suggested that at least part of these increases had resulted from more accurate diagnoses. Overall, the incidence of gastrointestinal NHL significantly increased by 2.7% per annum and was limited to the population aged over 50 years in this series. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

The risk of angiosarcoma following primary breast cancer

Lymphangiosarcoma of the upper extremity is a rare and aggressive tumour reported to occur following post-mastectomy lymphoedema (Stewart–Treves syndrome). Haemangiosarcoma, a related rare tumour, has occasionally been reported to occur in the breast following irradiation. We conducted a case-control study using the University of Southern California-Cancer Surveillance Program, the population-based cancer registry for Los Angeles County, to evaluate the relationship between invasive female breast cancer and subsequent upper extremity or chest lymphangiosarcoma and haemangiosarcoma together referred to as angiosarcoma. Cases were females diagnosed between 1972 and 1995 with angiosarcoma of the upper extremity (n = 20) or chest (n = 48) who were 25 years of age or older and residing in Los Angeles County when diagnosed. Other sarcomas at the same anatomic sites were also studied. Controls were females diagnosed with cancers other than sarcoma during the same time period (n = 266 444). Cases and controls were then compared with respect to history of a prior invasive epithelial breast cancer. A history of breast cancer increased the risk of upper extremity angiosarcoma by more than 59-fold (odds ratio [OR] = 59.3, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 21.9–152.8). A strong increase in risk after breast cancer was also observed for angiosarcoma of the chest and breast (OR = 11.6, 95% CI = 4.3–26.1) and for other sarcomas of the chest and breast (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 1.1–1.7). © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Association between siesta (daytime sleep), dietary patterns and the presence of metabolic syndrome in elderly living in Mediterranean area (MEDIS study):The moderating effect of gender

Objectives: Several lifestyle parameters including diet, physical activity and sleep were associated in isolation with the presence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in adults, to date there is a paucity of studies which evaluated their combined role aging populations and especially with respect to gender. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide a global consideration of the lifestyle factors associated with MetS among elderly individuals. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: 21 Mediterranean islands and the rural Mani region (Peloponnesus) of Greece. Participants: during 2005-2015, 2749 older (aged 65-100 years) from were voluntarily enrolled in the study. Measurements: Dietary habits, energy intake, physical activity status, sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle parameters (sleeping and smoking habits) and clinical profile aspects were derived through standard procedures. The presence of MetS was defined using the definition provided by NCEP ATP III (revised) and cluster analysis was used to identify overall dietary habit patterns. Results: The overall prevalence of MetS in the study sample was 36.2%, but occurred more frequently in females (40.0% vs. 31.8%, respectively, p=0.03). Individuals with MetS were more likely to sleep during the day (89.4% vs. 76.8% respectively, p=0.039) and frequent ‘siesta’ was positively linked to the odds of MetS presence in females (Odds Ratio (OR) =3.43, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 1.08-10.9), but not for men (p=0.999). The lower carbohydrate (i.e., 45.2% of total daily energy, 120±16gr/day) dietary cluster was inversely associated with the odds for MetS presence, but only for men (OR=0.094, 95%CI: 0.010-0.883). Conclusions: Lifestyle parameters including sleep and diet quality are strongly associated with the presence of MetS in elderly cohort, but different their level of influence appears to be different, depending on gender. Further research is needed to better consider the role of lifestyle characteristics in the management of MetS in clinical practice