Multimedia animation outsourcing : capstone proposal ...

Outsourcing in multimedia animation is a three phase research project in order to create a comparative analysis to obtain a hypothesis in three categories: 1. What are the comparative pros and cons of multimedia animation outsourcing? 2. What the benefits/disadvantages of multimedia animation outsourcing are in terms of costs, quality and time effectiveness? 3. What are the historical, current and future trends in multimedia animation? This research was conducted by literature investigation, qualitative interviews of several small to medium to large business in the beginning to advance states of this industry. Topics in history, industry trends, budget, saving time and cost, quality employee and social responsibilities, cultural issues and more were reviewed in this research. These companies either outsource or are outsourcers in the multimedia industries In-House, Onshore, Nearshore or Offshore. The purpose of this research is to obtain new information from these selectively chosen companies\u27 interviews for other companies who are, or planning to outsource, their animation to have another information resource. Multimedia Animation Outsourcing is considered the most current innovative technology and the wave of future in its learning phases. This research is an educational contribution to that technology

Preliminary observations from the use of US-Soviet Joint Seismic Program data to model upper mantle triplications beneath Asia

New short-period waveform data from the US-Soviet Joint Seismic Program (JSP) make possible investigations of Asian upper mantle structure. the goal of this paper is to explore the potential use of the newly available JSP data to gain a qualitative view of upper mantle structure beneath Asia, and to facilitate more detailed future detailed future upper mantle studies. In a reconnaissance approach, waveform upper mantle studies. In a reconnaissance approach, waveform predictions from upper mantle P-wave velocity models of previous studies are compared to the JSP data to investigate regional differences in the central Asian upper mantle. Data coverage brackets the upper mantle triplications with excellent multi-source-to-stations sections. the abundance of data for controlled source-receiver geometries and the impulsive nature of the arrivals enable us to stack seismograms to improve signal-to-noise ratio. Arrivals from the 400 and 670 km discontinuities are apparent in the data and are compared to predictions of the mantle models. the principal result is that, for the regions studied, paths through cratonic regions of Asia are compatible with shield-type models, while paths through highly deformed regions of Asia are compatible with models derived for tectonically active regions, suggesting large lateral variations beneath the Eurasian continent. Use of the JSP data in a comparative approach is fast and simple, and proves effective in obtaining a first-order understanding of the Asian upper mantle. This result also presents the potential for qualitative studies elsewhere with digital portable stations

Competitive segmentation of the hippocampus and the amygdala from MRI scans

The hippocampus and the amygdala are two brain structures which play a central role in several fundamental cognitive processes. Their segmentation from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans is a unique way to measure their atrophy in some neurological diseases, but it is made difficult by their complex geometry. Their simultaneous segmentation is considered here through a competitive homotopic region growing method. It is driven by relational anatomical knowledge, which enables to consider the segmentation of atrophic structures in a straightforward way. For both structures, this fast algorithm gives results which are comparable to manual segmentation with a better reproducibility. Its performances regarding segmentation quality, automation and computation time, are amongst the best published data.L’hippocampe et l’amygdale sont deux structures cérébrales intervenant dans plusieurs fonctions cognitives fondamentales. Leur segmentation, à partir de volumes d’imagerie par résonance magnétique (IRM), est un outil essentiel pour mesurer leur atteinte dans certaines pathologies neurologiques, mais elle est rendue difficile par leur géométrie complexe. Nous considérons leur segmentation simultanée par une méthode de déformation homotopique compétitive de régions. Celle-ci est guidée par des connaissances anatomiques relationnelles ; ceci permet de considérer directement des structures atrophiées. Rapide, l’algorithme donne, pour les deux structures, des résultats comparables à la segmentation manuelle avec une meilleure reproductibilité. Ses performances, concernant la qualité de la segmentation, le degré d’automatisation et le temps de calcul, sont parmi les meilleures de la littérature

Time Domain Regional Discriminants

The time and frequency domains are equivalent displays of seismic trace, information, though some qualities of the signal are more easily observed in one domain than the other. The relative frequency excitation of Lg, for instance, is most easily viewed in the frequency domain, but such waveform qualities as the sequence in which pulses arrive in the wave train or the sharpness of pulse onset are most easily studied in the time domain (Murphy and Bennett, 1982, Blandford, 1981). Because of the tremendous complexity of high frequency regional data, most attempts at using it for discrimination purposes have involved analysis of the frequency content of the various arrivals either through transforming selected windows or through multiple bandpass filtering. We report here on our initial attempts to explore the alternative and to discriminate events using those waveform characteristics most easily observed in the time domain. A second advantage of time domain analysis approaches is that they permit a deeper insight into the physical processes creating a seismic signal's character. For this reason, they can be more e3silv used to evaluate the transportabilty of a discriminant to varying geophysical and tectonic regimes. This is an especially important feature in the development of regional discriminants. The most prominent and successful spectral regional discriminants have been empirically developed. This means that they must be redeveloped and reverified in each new area. As we shall show in the following, through rigorous time domain analysis such features as regional depth phases can be identified and used to discriminate. Discriminants based on such simple physical features as source depth should be transportable anywhere. In work recently completed under the treaty verification program, we have proved that such time domain discriminants do exist. In analyzing a test discrimination data set from the western U. S., we have discovered that the onset of P_n is always very similar for explosions and that few earthquakes have this unique waveform character. This information can be constructed into a simple discrimination scheme by testing the correlation of observed P_n waveform onsets with average waveforms observed from explosions. High correlations indicate explosions and low correlations earthquakes. We have also discovered that the regional phase P_g is actually composed of a sequence of sub-arrivals which correspond to successively higher orders of reverberation in the crust. In realistic crust models, the depth phases play an important role in the waveshapes of these sub-arrivals. By selecting an appropriate frequency band to analyze, we have been able to accurately model this type of data from explosions in the western United States. Over the very relevant regional distance ranges of 200 to 600 km, it appears that a discrimination procedure very similar to the one which is known to work for P_n will also be effective for P_g. We are investigating whether similar discriminants can be constructed based on the phases S_n and S_g in areas where those phases are prominent arrivals

Time Domain Regional Discriminants

The time and frequency domains are equivalent displays of seismic trace, information, though some qualities of the signal are more easily observed in one domain than the other. The relative frequency excitation of Lg, for instance, is most easily viewed in the frequency domain, but such waveform qualities as the sequence in which pulses arrive in the wave train or the sharpness of pulse onset are most easily studied in the time domain (Murphy and Bennett, 1982, Blandford, 1981). Because of the tremendous complexity of high frequency regional data, most attempts at using it for discrimination purposes have involved analysis of the frequency content of the various arrivals either through transforming selected windows or through multiple bandpass filtering. We report here on our initial attempts to explore the alternative and to discriminate events using those waveform characteristics most easily observed in the time domain. A second advantage of time domain analysis approaches is that they permit a deeper insight into the physical processes creating a seismic signal's character. For this reason, they can be more e3silv used to evaluate the transportabilty of a discriminant to varying geophysical and tectonic regimes. This is an especially important feature in the development of regional discriminants. The most prominent and successful spectral regional discriminants have been empirically developed. This means that they must be redeveloped and reverified in each new area. As we shall show in the following, through rigorous time domain analysis such features as regional depth phases can be identified and used to discriminate. Discriminants based on such simple physical features as source depth should be transportable anywhere. In work recently completed under the treaty verification program, we have proved that such time domain discriminants do exist. In analyzing a test discrimination data set from the western U. S., we have discovered that the onset of P_n is always very similar for explosions and that few earthquakes have this unique waveform character. This information can be constructed into a simple discrimination scheme by testing the correlation of observed P_n waveform onsets with average waveforms observed from explosions. High correlations indicate explosions and low correlations earthquakes. We have also discovered that the regional phase P_g is actually composed of a sequence of sub-arrivals which correspond to successively higher orders of reverberation in the crust. In realistic crust models, the depth phases play an important role in the waveshapes of these sub-arrivals. By selecting an appropriate frequency band to analyze, we have been able to accurately model this type of data from explosions in the western United States. Over the very relevant regional distance ranges of 200 to 600 km, it appears that a discrimination procedure very similar to the one which is known to work for P_n will also be effective for P_g. We are investigating whether similar discriminants can be constructed based on the phases S_n and S_g in areas where those phases are prominent arrivals

Introduction to 2D and 3D tomographic methods based on straight line propagation: X-ray, emission and ultrasonic tomography

This paper presents the basic principles of computerized tomography (CT), and its evolution towards three dimensional (3D ) imaging . Since the modelisation of CT reconstruction relies on the Radon transform, its definition and major properties are firs t recalled. After a brief summary on conventional 2D methods, we present the imaging principles for two modalities appropriate d to this modelisation : X-Ray and emission tomography. We describe the evolution of the instrumentation for these two techniques , and emphasize the approximations introduced by a modelisation using the Radon transform taking into account the physics o f the problem . We also describe the principles of ultrasonic tomography systems, and their major differences with the two previou s technics . At last, we formulate the general problematic of 3D image reconstruction from 2D projections . We consider four classe s of reconstruction methods corresponding to the classification chosen for the synthetic presentation of methods, accompanying thi s paper.Cet article présente les principes de base de la tomographie assistée par ordinateur, ainsi que son évolution vers le tridimen - sionnel (3D) . La modélisation mathématique du problème de reconstruction tomographique s'appuie sur la transformatio n de Radon dont la définition et quelques propriétés sont rappelées . Après un bref résumé sur les méthodes conventionnelle s 2D, nous présentons les principes physiques pour deux modalités bien appropriées à cette modélisation : la tomographie de transmission par rayons X et la tomographie d'émission par rayons ,y . Nous nous attachons à décrire l'évolution de l'instru - mentation dans ces deux techniques, ainsi que les approximations introduites par une modélisation de type Transformée de Radon par rapport à la physique du problème . Nous décrivons également les principes des systèmes de tomographie ultrasonore, et leurs différences majeures par rapport aux deux techniques précédentes . Enfin, nous reprenons la problématiqu e générale des méthodes de reconstruction 3D à partir de projections 2D . Nous faisons apparaître quatre classes correspondan t au découpage choisi pour la présentation des fiches techniques accompagnant cet article

Reconstruction 3D de vaisseaux à partir d'un faible nombre de projections à l'aide de contours déformables

Un contour actif, évoluant dans un processus stochastique, est proposé pour la reconstruction en tomographie d'images binaires. Une fonction de coût, formée d'un terme d'attachement aux données tomographiques et d'une fonction de régularisation, prenant en compte les artefacts inhérents à la reconstruction, est minimisée pour trouver la solution MAP optimale, dans un cadre Bayesien. La méthode, appliquée à la reconstruction des vaisseaux sanguins, est stable. Les résultats obtenus sur des simulations bruitées et sur des acquisitions sur fantômes sont prometteurs