A Programmable Model for Designing Stationary 2D Arrangements

This paper introduces a programmable method for designing stationary 2D arrangements for element textures, namely textures made of small geometric elements. These textures are ubiquitous in numerous applications of computer-aided illustration. Previous methods, whether they be example-based or layout-based, lack control and can produce a limited range of possible arrangements. Our approach targets technical artists who will design an arrangement by writing a script.These scripts are using three types of operators: partitioning operators for defining the broad-scale organization of the arrangement, mapping operators for controlling the local organization of elements, and merging operators for mixing different arrangements. These operators are designed so as to guarantee a stationary result meaning that the produced arrangements will always be repetitive. We show that this simple set of operators is sufficient to reach a much broader variety of arrangements than previous methods. Editing the script leads to predictable changes in the synthesized arrangement, which allows an easy iterative design of complex structures. Finally, our operator set is extensible and can be adapted to application-dependent needs

Discrete Texture Design Using a Programmable Approach

International audienceIn this work, we call "discrete texture" any repetitive pattern composed of small, perceivable elements. A lot of art techniques involve manual production of discrete textures, that is very expensive. We address the problem of discrete texture synthesis. Previous works introduced by-example tools: simple interfaces that allow one to draw a small texture exemplar. The tool analyses this exemplar and reproduces it on a larger scale. However, these algorithms fail to reproduce faithfully both large scale effects and local structures of elements. In contrast, our approach allows one to write the program that synthesizes the texture. We provide a set of operators that distribute points, curves or regions in the plane. We show that a large range of textures can be easily designed with our system. Additionaly, we prove that many variants of classic element distribution algorithms can be written as simple combinations of our operators

A Programmable Model for Designing Stationary 2D Arrangements

This paper introduces a programmable method for designing stationary 2D arrangements for element textures, namely textures made of small geometric elements. These textures are ubiquitous in numerous applications of computer-aided illustration. Previous methods, whether they be example-based or layout-based, lack control and can produce a limited range of possible arrangements. Our approach targets technical artists who will design an arrangement by writing a script.These scripts are using three types of operators: partitioning operators for defining the broad-scale organization of the arrangement, mapping operators for controlling the local organization of elements, and merging operators for mixing different arrangements. These operators are designed so as to guarantee a stationary result meaning that the produced arrangements will always be repetitive. We show that this simple set of operators is sufficient to reach a much broader variety of arrangements than previous methods. Editing the script leads to predictable changes in the synthesized arrangement, which allows an easy iterative design of complex structures. Finally, our operator set is extensible and can be adapted to application-dependent needs

Map Style Formalization: Rendering Techniques Extension for Cartography

International audienceCartographic design requires controllable methods and tools to produce maps that are adapted to users' needs and preferences. The formalized rules and constraints for cartographic representation come mainly from the conceptual framework of graphic semiology. Most current Geographical Information Systems (GIS) rely on the Styled Layer Descriptor and Semiology Encoding (SLD/SE) specifications which provide an XML schema describing the styling rules to be applied on geographic data to draw a map. Although this formalism is relevant for most usages in cartography, it fails to describe complex cartographic and artistic styles. In order to overcome these limitations, we propose an extension of the existing SLD/SE specifications to manage extended map stylizations, by the means of controllable expressive methods. Inspired by artistic and cartographic sources (Cassini maps, mountain maps, artistic movements, etc.), we propose to integrate into our system three main expressive methods: linear stylization, patch-based region filling and vector texture generation. We demonstrate how our pipeline allows to personalize map rendering with expressive methods in several examples

MeerKAT-64 discovers wide-spread tidal debris in the nearby NGC 7232 galaxy group

We report the discovery of large amounts of previously undetected cold neutral atomic hydrogen (H I) around the core triplet galaxies in the nearby NGC 7232 galaxy group with MeerKAT. With a physical resolution of ∼1 kpc, we detect a complex web of low-surface-brightness HI emission down to a 4σ column density level of ∼1 × 1019 cm-2 (over 44 km s-1). The newly discovered HI streams extend over ∼20 arcmin corresponding to 140 kpc in projection. This is approximately three times the HI extent of the galaxy triplet (52 kpc). The HI debris has an HI mass of ∼6.6 × 109 M⊙, more than 50 per cent of the total HI mass of the triplet. Within the galaxy triplet, NGC 7233 and NGC 7232 have lost a significant amount of HI while NGC 7232B appears to have an excess of HI. TheHI deficiency in NGC 7232 and NGC 7233 indicates that galaxÿCgalaxy interaction in the group concentrates on this galaxy pair while the other disc galaxies have visited them over time. In comparison to the AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies, we find that with regards to its total HI mass the NGC 7232/3 galaxy triplet is not HI-deficient. Despite the many interactions associated to the triplet galaxies, no HI seems to have been lost from the group (yet)

The extended H i halo of NGC 4945 as seen by MeerKAT

The State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the ‘Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa’ awarded to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; the Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities Council of the Regional Government of Andalusia and the European Regional Development Fund from the European Union; the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO); BMBF Verbundforschung; DFG Sonderforschungsbereich and the European Research Council (ERC).http://mnras.oxfordjournals.orghj2022Physic

Pitfalls in assessing stromal tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in breast cancer

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls.Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls.Peer reviewe

The extended H I halo of NGC 4945 as seen by MeerKAT

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Observations of the neutral atomic hydrogen (H I) in the nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 4945 with MeerKAT are presented. We find a large amount of halo gas, previously missed by H I observations, accounting for 6.8 per cent of the total H I mass. This is most likely gas blown into the halo by star formation. Our maps go down to a 3σ column density level of 5 × 1018 cm−2. We model the H I distribution using tilted-ring fitting techniques and find a warp on the galaxy’s approaching and receding sides. The H I in the northern side of the galaxy appears to be suppressed. This may be the result of ionization by the starburst activity in the galaxy, as suggested by a previous study. The origin of the warp is unclear but could be due to past interactions or ram pressure stripping. Broad, asymmetric H I absorption lines extending throughout the H I emission velocity channels are present towards the nuclear region of NGC 4945. Such broad lines suggest the existence of a nuclear ring moving at a high circular velocity. This is supported by the clear rotation patterns in the H I absorption velocity field. The asymmetry of the absorption spectra can be caused by outflows or inflows of gas in the nuclear region of NGC 4945. The continuum map shows small extensions on both sides of the galaxy’s major axis that might be signs of outflows resulting from the starburst activity. © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.RI acknowledges financial support from grant RTI2018-096228-B-C31 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE) and from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the ‘Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa’ awarded to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709), from the grant IAA4SKA (Ref. R18-RT-3082) from the Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities Council of the Regional Government of Andalusia and the European Regional Development Fund from the European Union. The MeerKAT telescope is operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is a facility of the National Research Foundation, an agency of the Department of Science and Innovation. This work is based upon research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. The financial assistance of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) towards this research is hereby acknowledged (www.sarao.ac.za). At Ruhr University Bochum, this research is supported by BMBF Verbundforschung grant 05A20PC4 and by DFG Sonderforschungsbereich SFB1491. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement no. 882793, project name MeerGas. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no.679627; project name FORNAX).Peer reviewe

Pitfalls in machine learning‐based assessment of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer: a report of the international immuno‐oncology biomarker working group

The clinical significance of the tumor-immune interaction in breast cancer (BC) has been well established, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have emerged as a predictive and prognostic biomarker for patients with triple-negative (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 negative) breast cancer (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. How computational assessment of TILs can complement manual TIL-assessment in trial- and daily practices is currently debated and still unclear. Recent efforts to use machine learning (ML) for the automated evaluation of TILs show promising results. We review state-of-the-art approaches and identify pitfalls and challenges by studying the root cause of ML discordances in comparison to manual TILs quantification. We categorize our findings into four main topics; (i) technical slide issues, (ii) ML and image analysis aspects, (iii) data challenges, and (iv) validation issues. The main reason for discordant assessments is the inclusion of false-positive areas or cells identified by performance on certain tissue patterns, or design choices in the computational implementation. To aid the adoption of ML in TILs assessment, we provide an in-depth discussion of ML and image analysis including validation issues that need to be considered before reliable computational reporting of TILs can be incorporated into the trial- and routine clinical management of patients with TNBC

The tale of TILs in breast cancer : a report from the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group

The advent of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in modern oncology has significantly improved survival in several cancer settings. A subgroup of women with breast cancer (BC) has immunogenic infiltration of lymphocytes with expression of programmed deathligand 1 (PD-L1). These patients may potentially benefit from ICI targeting the programmed death 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 signaling axis. The use of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as predictive and prognostic biomarkers has been under intense examination. Emerging data suggest that TILs are associated with response to both cytotoxic treatments and immunotherapy, particularly for patients with triple-negative BC. In this review from The International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group, we discuss (a) the biological understanding of TILs, (b) their analytical and clinical validity and efforts toward the clinical utility in BC, and (c) the current status of PD-L1 and TIL testing across different continents, including experiences from low-to-middle-income countries, incorporating also the view of a patient advocate. This information will help set the stage for future approaches to optimize the understanding and clinical utilization of TIL analysis in patients with BC.The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia; the Cure; the Royal Australasian College of Physicians; the NIH/NCI ; the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia Endowed Chair; the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, New York and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).www.nature.com/npjbcanceram2022Immunolog