Color correction pipeline optimization for digital cameras

The processing pipeline of a digital camera converts the RAW image acquired by the sensor to a representation of the original scene that should be as faithful as possible. There are mainly two modules responsible for the color-rendering accuracy of a digital cam- era: the former is the illuminant estimation and correction module, and the latter is the color matrix transformation aimed to adapt the color response of the sensor to a standard color space. These two modules together form what may be called the color correction pipeline. We design and test new color correction pipelines that exploit different illuminant estimation and correction algorithms that are tuned and automatically selected on the basis of the image content. Since the illuminant estimation is an ill-posed problem, illuminant correction is not error-free. An adaptive color matrix transformation module is optimized, taking into account the behavior of the first module in order to alleviate the amplification of color errors. The proposed pipe- lines are tested on a publicly available dataset of RAW images. Experimental results show that exploiting the cross-talks between the modules of the pipeline can lead to a higher color-rendition accu- racy. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publica- tion, including its DOI. (DOI: 10.1117/1.JEI.22.2.023014

Evaluation of coloured nets in peach protected cultivation

The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of the radiometric properties of coloured nets on peach tree photomorphogenesis. The modification of the spectral distribution of the transmitted radiation and thus the effects on the tree vegetative and productive activity were studied. A field experimental test using coloured nets for the protection of peach trees was carried out during 2008 at the experimental farm of the University of Bari, latitude 41° 05' N. A blue net and a red net, characterised by a nominal shading factor of 40%, and a neutral net with a nominal 12% shading factor were tested. Peach trees in open field conditions were used as control. The effects of the nets on the trees growth were correlated with the radiometric properties of the nets, which were evaluated by means of laboratory tests. The red and blue nets influenced mainly the B/FR ratio: the former net decreased and the latter increased the B/FR ratio. The nets influenced the quantity as the quality of the yield. The red net increased the shoot growth of the trees more than the blue one. The nets influenced positively the fruit weight and skin colour in comparison to the open-field

BLUFF-BODIES VORTEX SHEDDING SUPRESSION BY DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATION

Vortex shedding is responsible for harmful vibrations on immersed structures and for increasing their drag coefficients. Thus vortex shedding suppression is highly interesting in order of decrease maintenance costs of standing structures and fuel costs on moving ones. Vortex shedding suppression is here achieved with the use of splitter plates by means of numerical simulations at a low Reynolds range, Re 100 and 160. For this purpose it has been used a high order finite difference method in association with a virtual boundary method, responsible for the obstacles representation. The use of this novel numerical method showed a great concordance with experimental results by means of low computational costs

TRANSIT TIME IN ITAJAÍ-AÇÚ RIVER ESTUARY

O Estuário do rio Itajaí-Açu é um estuário altamente estratificado, e apresenta durante a maior parte do ano uma proeminente cunha salina. Devido a esta característica foi possível aplicar o modelo de caixa, baseado no teorema hidrográfico de Knudsen, para se estimar o balanço salino e o tempo de trânsito das águas fluvial e marinha no estuário. Este modelo possibilita verificar o estado estático das condições de mistura no estuário e não deve ser confundido com as condições médias do estuário. Uma característica positiva deste modelo é o fato dele precisar de um numero pequeno de parâmetros, como perfil de salinidade, volume do estuário e dados de corrente, estes últimos estimados a partir de dados de descarga fluvial. Foram analisados sete dias de dados, compreendendo um ciclo completo de maré (sizígia-quadratura). Dados de velocidade vertical, estimados pelo modelo, mostraram que as condições de maré de sizígia causam um maior grau de mistura. Para confirmar isto foi definido um coeficiente de mistura dado pela razão do conteúdo de água fluvial pelo de água de mistura, o que comprovou tal padrão. Quanto ao tempo de transito, verificou-se que em situações de média descarga, cerca de 215 m3.s-1, o tempo de trânsito da água marinha foi três vezes maior do que o da água fluvial. Os valores estimados foram de 13.2 horas para a água fluvial e 50.7 horas para água marinha.The Itajaí-Açu estuary is classified as a highly stratified and presents most of the time a salt wedge. Considering this characteristic, it was used a box model, based on Knudsen hidrographic teorem, to estimate the salt balance and the transit time of fluvial and marine waters in this estuary. This model enables to verify the steady state of mixture conditions and should not be confused as the mean conditions of the estuary. A positive characteristic of this model is that it needs a small number of parameters such as salinity profiles, the estuary volume and currents data, being the latter estimated from river discharge. Seven days of data were assessed, comprising a half synodical cycle (spring-neap tide). Vertical velocities data, estimated by the model, showed that spring tide condition causes a more effective mixing. It was stated a ratio of content of fluvial water to the content of mixohaline water, which confirmed the early findings of intensification of mixing during spring tide period. The estimation of the transit time of fluvial and marine water in the estuary for medium discharge condition, ~ 215 m3.s-1, were 13.2 and 50.7 hours, respectively. It shows that the marine water spends 3 times more time in the estuary than the fluvial water

High-throughput genotyping of resilient tomato landraces to detect candidate genes involved in the response to high temperatures

The selection of tolerant varieties is a powerful strategy to ensure highly stable yield under elevated temperatures. In this paper, we report the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of 10 tomato landraces to identify the best performing under high temperatures. The phenotyping of five yield-related traits allowed us to select one genotype that exhibits highly stable yield performances in different environmental conditions. Moreover, a Genotyping-by-Sequencing approach allowed us to explore the genetic variability of the tested genotypes. The high and stable yielding landrace E42 was the most polymorphic one, with ~49% and ~47% private SNPs and InDels, respectively. The effect of 26,113 mutations on proteins’ structure was investigated and it was discovered that 37 had a high impact on the structure of 34 proteins of which some are putatively involved in responses to high temperatures. Additionally, 129 polymorphic sequences aligned against tomato wild species genomes revealed the presence in the genotype E42 of several introgressed regions deriving from S. pimpinellifolium. The position on the tomato map of genes affected by moderate and high impact mutations was also compared with that of known markers/QTLs (Quantitative Trait Loci) associated with reproductive and yield-related traits. The candidate genes/QTLs regulating heat tolerance in the selected landrace E42 could be further investigated to better understand the genetic mechanisms controlling traits for high and stable yield trait under high temperatures

Seroprevalence of ehrlichia spp., anaplasma spp., borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, and dirofilaria immitis in stray dogs, from 2016 to 2019, in southern Italy

Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBD) are an important and emerging health concern for humans and animals worldwide. The purpose of the presented study was to assess, from 2016 to 2019, the seroprevalence of CVBD agents and clarify the epidemiology of tick-borne disease in stray dogs living in the Campania Region, Southern Italy. For this purpose, blood samples were collected from January 2016 to December 2019 from 1023 dogs in authorized kennels located in the five municipalities of the Campania Region. SNAP® 4DX® from IDEXX® Laboratories was used for detection of Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), and Dirofilaria immitis antibodies. The overall seroprevalence of CVBD in stray dogs was 19.6% (95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 17.2–22.8%; 201/1023). The most common pathogen was Ehrlichia spp., with a percentage of positivity of 16.03%, followed by Anaplasma spp. with 7.8%. B. burgdorferi s.l. and D. immitis were detected in only 0.2% of dogs; co-infection was detected in 4.5% of stray dogs tested. No link was detected between the gender, age, location, and CVBD seropositivity, except for Ehrlichia spp. for which location (Avellino Province; p = 0.007) and gender (male, p = 0.002) were risk factors for seropositivity. Our results demonstrated that animals are exposed to at least one of the four etiological agents (Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., and Dirofilaria immitis) transmitted by vectors. Finally, this study highlighted the utility of serological monitoring in stray dogs, housed in kennels, given the threat posed by CVBD to animals and the zoonotic implications of these etiological agents and their vectors on human health

Turning a Digital Camera into an Absolute 2D Tele-Colorimeter

We present a simple and effective technique for absolute colorimetric camera characterization, invariant to changes in exposure/aperture and scene irradiance, suitable in a wide range of applications including image-based reflectance measurements, spectral pre-filtering and spectral upsampling for rendering, to improve colour accuracy in high dynamic range imaging. Our method requires a limited number of acquisitions, an off-the-shelf target and a commonly available projector, used as a controllable light source, other than the reflected radiance to be known. The characterized camera can be effectively used as a 2D tele-colorimeter, providing the user with an accurate estimate of the distribution of luminance and chromaticity in a scene, without requiring explicit knowledge of the incident lighting power spectra. We validate the approach by comparing our estimated absolute tristimulus values (XYZ data in cd/m 2 ) with the measurements of a professional 2D tele-colorimeter, for a set of scenes with complex geometry, spatially varying reflectance and light sources with very different spectral power distribution