Architecture for enhancing video analysis results using complementary resources

In this paper we present different sources of information complementary to audio-visual (A/V) streams and propose their usage for enriching A/V data with semantic concepts in order to bridge the gap between low-level video analysis and high-level analysis. Our aim is to extract cross-media feature descriptors from semantically enriched and aligned resources so as to detect finer-grained events in video. We introduce an architecture for complementary resources analysis and discuss domain dependency aspects of this approach connected to our initial domain of soccer broadcasts

An architecture for mining resources complementary to audio-visual streams

In this paper we attempt to characterize resources of information complementary to audio-visual (A/V) streams and propose their usage for enriching A/V data with semantic concepts in order to bridge the gap between low-level video detectors and high-level analysis. Our aim is to extract cross-media feature descriptors from semantically enriched and aligned resources so as to detect finer-grained events in video.We introduce an architecture for complementary resource analysis and discuss domain dependency aspects of this approach related to our domain of soccer broadcasts

Taurine blunts doxorubicin cardiotoxicity: chronic and acute effects

Aim. To study the functional statement of the isolated heart inherent to doxorubicin cardiotoxicity under the chronic and acute action of taurine. Material and methods. Doxorubicin (Dx) cardiotoxicity manifested by heart failure development was reproduced classically by anthracycline i/p administration in rats in cumulative dose of 16 mg/kg (4 mg/kg four times during 2 weeks) – Dx series. Series with chronic action of taurine (Tr) included rats receiving this aminoacid daily per os during Dx administration (100 mg/kg) – Dx + Tr series. Rats of both series were sacrificed by euthanasia and the isolated heart was perfused by Krebs solution according to Langendorff (isovolumic heart) and Neely-Rovetto (working heart) methods in conditions of diverse hemodynamic and neuroendocrine efforts applying. Acute action of taurine was studied during its infusion in the perfusate of isolated hearts in final concentration of 40 µM. The hearts of intact rats constituted the control series. Results. Chronic action of taurine has identified certain important functional benefits, the most important being underlined beneath. The first, taurine reversed the negative inotropic effect of isolated heart on endothelin-1 (ET-1) action (10-7 M), detected in Dx series and manifested by both systolic pressure of left ventricle (LV) and cardiac output fall by about 9,1%. Taurine assured increase of these indices during ET-1 stimulation. The second, Tr notably improved both isovolumic relaxation and contraction of myocardium exhibited by significant enhancement of Veragut index (118,6 ± 9,6 vs 94,8 ± 6,5 1/sec), +dP/dPmax (8389 ± 445 vs 7216 ± 363 mm Hg/sec) and -dP/dTmax (7526 ±  378 vs 5684 ± 322 mm Hg/sec) during efforts with volume and resistance. The third, Tr significantly decreased LV end diastolic pressure (LVSDP) when coronary pressure of isovolumic heart elevated by 50% (from 80 up to 120 cm H20 column): 16,2 ± 1,2 vs 18,8 ± 1,4 mm Hg. Acute Tr action manifested by: (i) significant LVSDP diminution during 30 min of ischemia (52,4 ± 3,1 vs 63,7 ± 4,4 mm Hg) and on 45th min of reperfusion (18,3 ± 1,3 vs 22,8 ± 1,4 mm Hg), (ii) increased time of LV extrasystole appearance when the glucose content of Krebs solution was reduced by 50% (28,6 ± 2,8 vs 22,5 ± 2,4 min), and (iii) increased time of LV tachyarrhythmia appearance when the potassium content of Krebs solution raised up to 6,5 meq/L (9,2 ± 0,5 vs 6,9 ± 0,3 min). Conclusion. Taurine, a natural calcium modulator of the heart, notably improves functional reserves of the myocardium exposed to cardiotoxic action of Dx, and could be seen as a relevant remedy of primary and secondary prophylaxis of Dx induced heart failure in oncologic patients

K-Space at TRECVID 2008

In this paper we describe K-Space’s participation in TRECVid 2008 in the interactive search task. For 2008 the K-Space group performed one of the largest interactive video information retrieval experiments conducted in a laboratory setting. We had three institutions participating in a multi-site multi-system experiment. In total 36 users participated, 12 each from Dublin City University (DCU, Ireland), University of Glasgow (GU, Scotland) and Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica (CWI, the Netherlands). Three user interfaces were developed, two from DCU which were also used in 2007 as well as an interface from GU. All interfaces leveraged the same search service. Using a latin squares arrangement, each user conducted 12 topics, leading in total to 6 runs per site, 18 in total. We officially submitted for evaluation 3 of these runs to NIST with an additional expert run using a 4th system. Our submitted runs performed around the median. In this paper we will present an overview of the search system utilized, the experimental setup and a preliminary analysis of our results

Interlaboratory study on Sb2S3 interplay between structure, dielectric function, and morphous-to-crystalline phase change for photonics

Antimony sulfide, Sb2S3, is interesting as the phase-change material for applications requiring high transmission from the visible to telecom wavelengths, with its band gap tunable from 2.2 to 1.6 eV, depending on the amorphous and crystalline phase. Here we present results from an interlaboratory study on the interplay between the structural change and resulting optical contrast during the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation triggered both thermally and optically. By statistical analysis of Raman and ellipsometric spectroscopic data, we have identified two regimes of crystallization, namely 250_C % T < 300_C, resulting in Type-I spherulitic crystallization yielding an optical contrast Dn _ 0.4, and 300 % T < 350 _ C, yielding Type-II crystallization bended spherulitic structure with different dielectric function and optical contrast Dn _ 0.2 below 1.5 eV. Based on our findings, applications of on-chip reconfigurable nanophotonic phase modulators and of a reconfigurable high-refractive-index core/phase-change shell nanoantenna are designed and proposed.The authors acknowledge the support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (No 899598 - PHEMTRONICS)

The Fermi Large Area Telescope on Orbit: Event Classification, Instrument Response Functions, and Calibration

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view, high-energy -ray telescope, covering the energy range from 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. During the first years of the mission the LAT team has gained considerable insight into the in-flight performance of the instrument. Accordingly, we have updated the analysis used to reduce LAT data for public release as well as the Instrument Response Functions (IRFs), the description of the instrument performance provided for data analysis. In this paper we describe the effects that motivated these updates. Furthermore, we discuss how we originally derived IRFs from Monte Carlo simulations and later corrected those IRFs for discrepancies observed between flight and simulated data. We also give details of the validations performed using flight data and quantify the residual uncertainties in the IRFs. Finally, we describe techniques the LAT team has developed to propagate those uncertainties into estimates of the systematic errors on common measurements such as fluxes and spectra of astrophysical sources

Spectroscopic ellipsometry and polarimetry for materials and systems analysis at the nanometer scale: state-of-the-art, potential, and perspectives

This paper discusses the fundamentals, applications, potential, limitations, and future perspectives of polarized light reflection techniques for the characterization of materials and related systems and devices at the nanoscale. These techniques include spectroscopic ellipsometry, polarimetry, and reflectance anisotropy. We give an overview of the various ellipsometry strategies for the measurement and analysis of nanometric films, metal nanoparticles and nanowires, semiconductor nanocrystals, and submicron periodic structures. We show that ellipsometry is capable of more than the determination of thickness and optical properties, and it can be exploited to gain information about process control, geometry factors, anisotropy, defects, and quantum confinement effects of nanostructures