Joint Blind Motion Deblurring and Depth Estimation of Light Field

Removing camera motion blur from a single light field is a challenging task since it is highly ill-posed inverse problem. The problem becomes even worse when blur kernel varies spatially due to scene depth variation and high-order camera motion. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm to estimate all blur model variables jointly, including latent sub-aperture image, camera motion, and scene depth from the blurred 4D light field. Exploiting multi-view nature of a light field relieves the inverse property of the optimization by utilizing strong depth cues and multi-view blur observation. The proposed joint estimation achieves high quality light field deblurring and depth estimation simultaneously under arbitrary 6-DOF camera motion and unconstrained scene depth. Intensive experiment on real and synthetic blurred light field confirms that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art light field deblurring and depth estimation methods

NBSymple, a double parallel, symplectic N-body code running on Graphic Processing Units

We present and discuss the characteristics and performances, both in term of computational speed and precision, of a numerical code which numerically integrates the equation of motions of N 'particles' interacting via Newtonian gravitation and move in an external galactic smooth field. The force evaluation on every particle is done by mean of direct summation of the contribution of all the other system's particle, avoiding truncation error. The time integration is done with second-order and sixth-order symplectic schemes. The code, NBSymple, has been parallelized twice, by mean of the Computer Unified Device Architecture to make the all-pair force evaluation as fast as possible on high-performance Graphic Processing Units NVIDIA TESLA C 1060, while the O(N) computations are distributed on various CPUs by mean of OpenMP Application Program. The code works both in single precision floating point arithmetics or in double precision. The use of single precision allows the use at best of the GPU performances but, of course, limits the precision of simulation in some critical situations. We find a good compromise in using a software reconstruction of double precision for those variables that are most critical for the overall precision of the code. The code is available on the web site astrowww.phys.uniroma1.it/dolcetta/nbsymple.htmlComment: Paper composed by 29 pages, including 9 figures. Submitted to New Astronomy

Fine Scale Nest Site Selection of Greater Sage-Grouse In The Centennial Valley, Montana

The purpose of this study was to determine fine scale nest site selection of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Centennial Valley, MT. A total of ninety nests were found during 2014-2015 using radio-collared sage-grouse. Vegetation surveys were conducted at nests and random sites that measured the nest shrub and the cover available within 3m of the nest. Length of the branch over the nest (Lgth.LB), average axis width of the nest shrub (AvgAxis), lateral cover of the nest shrub (LCShrub), aerial cover of the nest shrub (ACShrub), and height of the lower branch over the nest (Ht.LB) were the habitat variables that received the most support. All habitat variables that were included in the top model were nest shrub morphological characteristics and cover provided by the nest shrub. Therefore, there is strong support that sage-grouse in the Centennial Valley are selecting nest sites based on the morphology of the nest shrub and the cover provided by that nest shrub. None of the habitat variables associated with herbaceous cover received much support for inclusion in our models. On average, residual cover (i.e. grass from previous year) provided concealment for only 4% of the nest bowl. The relative probability of a shrub being selected for a nest site is maximized when Lgth.LB >75cm long, AvgAxis >130cm wide, LCShrub >80%, and ACShrub > 70%. Managers should focus on conserving mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) and three-tip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita) habitats because they were more likely to meet those shrub characteristics

Deep Depth From Focus

Depth from focus (DFF) is one of the classical ill-posed inverse problems in computer vision. Most approaches recover the depth at each pixel based on the focal setting which exhibits maximal sharpness. Yet, it is not obvious how to reliably estimate the sharpness level, particularly in low-textured areas. In this paper, we propose `Deep Depth From Focus (DDFF)' as the first end-to-end learning approach to this problem. One of the main challenges we face is the hunger for data of deep neural networks. In order to obtain a significant amount of focal stacks with corresponding groundtruth depth, we propose to leverage a light-field camera with a co-calibrated RGB-D sensor. This allows us to digitally create focal stacks of varying sizes. Compared to existing benchmarks our dataset is 25 times larger, enabling the use of machine learning for this inverse problem. We compare our results with state-of-the-art DFF methods and we also analyze the effect of several key deep architectural components. These experiments show that our proposed method `DDFFNet' achieves state-of-the-art performance in all scenes, reducing depth error by more than 75% compared to the classical DFF methods.Comment: accepted to Asian Conference on Computer Vision (ACCV) 201

Hyperpolarized 13C Spectroscopic Evaluation of Oxidative Stress in a Rodent Model of Steatohepatitis.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become highly prevalent, now considered the most common liver disease in the western world. Approximately one-third of patients with NASH develop non-alchoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), histologically defined by lobular and portal inflammation, and accompanied by marked oxidative stress. Patients with NASH are at increased risk for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and diagnosis currently requires invasive biopsy. In animal models of NASH, particularly the methionine-choline deficient (MCD) model, profound changes are seen in redox enzymes and key intracellular antioxidants. To study antioxidant status in NASH non-invasively, we applied the redox probe hyperpolarized [1-13C] dehydroascorbic acid (HP DHA), which is reduced to Vitamin C (VitC) rapidly in the normal liver. In MCD mice, we observed a significant decrease in HP DHA to VitC conversion that accompanied hepatic fat deposition. When these animals were subsequently placed on a normal diet, resonance ratios reverted to those seen in control mice. These findings suggest that HP DHA, a potentially clinically translatable imaging agent, holds special promise in imaging NASH and other metabolic syndromes, to monitor disease progression and response to targeted therapies

Elevated Tumor Lactate and Efflux in High-grade Prostate Cancer demonstrated by Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Prostate Tissue Slice Cultures.

Non-invasive assessment of the biological aggressiveness of prostate cancer (PCa) is needed for men with localized disease. Hyperpolarized (HP) 13C magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy is a powerful approach to image metabolism, specifically the conversion of HP [1-13C]pyruvate to [1-13C]lactate, catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Significant increase in tumor lactate was measured in high-grade PCa relative to benign and low-grade cancer, suggesting that HP 13C MR could distinguish low-risk (Gleason score ≤3 + 4) from high-risk (Gleason score ≥4 + 3) PCa. To test this and the ability of HP 13C MR to detect these metabolic changes, we cultured prostate tissues in an MR-compatible bioreactor under continuous perfusion. 31P spectra demonstrated good viability and dynamic HP 13C-pyruvate MR demonstrated that high-grade PCa had significantly increased lactate efflux compared to low-grade PCa and benign prostate tissue. These metabolic differences are attributed to significantly increased LDHA expression and LDH activity, as well as significantly increased monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) expression in high- versus low- grade PCa. Moreover, lactate efflux, LDH activity, and MCT4 expression were not different between low-grade PCa and benign prostate tissues, indicating that these metabolic alterations are specific for high-grade disease. These distinctive metabolic alterations can be used to differentiate high-grade PCa from low-grade PCa and benign prostate tissues using clinically translatable HP [1-13C]pyruvate MR

And in the Darkness Bind Them: Equatorial Rings, B[e] Supergiants, and the Waists of Bipolar Nebulae

We report the discovery of two new circumstellar ring nebulae in the western Carina Nebula. The brighter object, SBW1, resembles a lidless staring eye and encircles a B1.5 Iab supergiant. Its size is identical to the inner ring around SN1987A, but SBW1's low N abundance indicates that the star didn't pass through a RSG phase. The fainter object, SBW2, is a more distorted ring, is N-rich, and has a central star that seems to be invisible. We discuss these two new nebulae in context with rings around SN1987A, Sher25, HD168625, RY Scuti, WeBo1, SuWt2, and others. The ring bearers fall into two groups: Five rings surround hot supergiants, and all except for the one known binary are carbon copies of the ring around SN1987A. We propose a link between these rings and B[e] supergiants, where the rings derive from the same material in an earlier B[e] phase. The remaining four rings surround evolved intermediate-mass stars; all members of this ring fellowship are close binaries, hinting that binary interactions govern the forging of such rings. We estimate that there may be several thousand more dark rings in the Galaxy, but we are scarcely aware of their existence due to selection effects. The lower-mass objects might be the equatorial density enhancements often invoked to bind the waists of bipolar PNe.Comment: AJ accepted, 27 page

Patenting and licensing of university research: promoting innovation or undermining academic values?

Since the 1980s in the US and the 1990s in Europe, patenting and licensing activities by universities have massively increased. This is strongly encouraged by governments throughout the Western world. Many regard academic patenting as essential to achieve 'knowledge transfer' from academia to industry. This trend has far-reaching consequences for access to the fruits of academic research and so the question arises whether the current policies are indeed promoting innovation or whether they are instead a symptom of a pro-intellectual property (IP) culture which is blind to adverse effects. Addressing this question requires both empirical analysis (how real is the link between academic patenting and licensing and 'development' of academic research by industry?) and normative assessment (which justifications are given for the current policies and to what extent do they threaten important academic values?). After illustrating the major rise of academic patenting and licensing in the US and Europe and commenting on the increasing trend of 'upstream' patenting and the focus on exclusive as opposed to non-exclusive licences, this paper will discuss five negative effects of these trends. Subsequently, the question as to why policymakers seem to ignore these adverse effects will be addressed. Finally, a number of proposals for improving university policies will be made

Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics

In this manuscript, I introduce and describe the work of mathematicians and mathematics educators in the group Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE Math or TPSE, pronounced "tipsy", for short). TPSE aims to coordinate and drive constructive change in education in the mathematical sciences at two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities across the nation. It seeks to build on the successes of the entire mathematical sciences community. This manuscript reviews the events that led to the founding of TPSE Math and articulates its vision and mission. In its first phase with national events, TPSE found broad consensus with the mathematical sciences community on the challenges facing the community. Learning from educational transformations experiences in other scientific fields, and with the support of the Mathematical Advisory Group of 34 mathematical sciences department chairs and leaders, TPSE moves into a second phase focused on action. This is a snapshot in time, and TPSE's ongoing activities will continue to be documented and disseminated. The piece concludes with a reflection of the impact that my involvement in this work has had on my career.Comment: 17 page