3D morphable model fitting for low-resolution facial images

This paper proposes a new algorithm for fitting a 3D morphable face model on low-resolution (LR) facial images. We analyse the criterion commonly used by the main fitting algorithms and by comparing with an image formation model, show that this criterion is only valid if the resolution of the input image is high. We then derive an imaging model to describe the process of LR image formation given the 3D model. Finally, we use this imaging model to improve the fitting criterion. Experimental results show that our algorithm significantly improves fitting results on LR images and yields similar parameters to those that would have been obtained if the input image had a higher resolution. We also show that our algorithm can be used for face recognition in low-resolutions where the conventional fitting algorithms fail

A Multiresolution 3D Morphable Face Model and Fitting Framework

3D Morphable Face Models are a powerful tool in computer vision. They consists of a PCA model of face shape and colour information and allow to reconstruct a 3D face from a single 2D image. 3D Morphable Face Models are used for 3D head pose estimation, face analysis, face recognition, and, more recently, facial landmark detection and tracking. However, they are not as widely used as 2D methods - the process of building and using a 3D model is much more involved. In this paper, we present the Surrey Face Model, a multi-resolution 3D Morphable Model that we make available to the public for non-commercial purposes. The model contains different mesh resolution levels and landmark point annotations as well as metadata for texture remapping. Accompanying the model is a lightweight open-source C++ library designed with simplicity and ease of integration as its foremost goals. In addition to basic functionality, it contains pose estimation and face frontalisation algorithms. With the tools presented in this paper, we aim to close two gaps. First, by offering different model resolution levels and fast fitting functionality, we enable the use of a 3D Morphable Model in time-critical applications like tracking. Second, the software library makes it easy for the community to adopt the 3D Morphable Face Model in their research, and it offers a public place for collaboration

Strategies to augment non-immune system based defence mechanisms against gastrointestinal diseases in pigs

AbstractOur study addresses the first two weeks of the weaning period of piglets during which stressful physiological and environmental conditions experienced by the animals can promote the proliferation of pathogens in the digestive tract. The aim of the study was to identify new feeding strategies that result in boosting the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota of piglets and improve growth performance, reducing the negative impact of weaning. In order to identify a new synbiotic combination, 12 new putative probiotic strains of Bifidobacterium spp. and three non-digestible oligosaccharides [NDO] were screened in newly weaned piglets. The ability to increase the level of autochthonous bifidobacteria and improve growth performance were assessed. Bifidobacteria strains with a similar ability to develop in the hindgut showed a different effect on piglet performance depending on the dose in which they were provided. Our data support the idea that the presence of fructo-oligosaccharides would stimulate the occurrence of bifidobacteria in the caecum. It was shown that dietary intake of nitrate can generate salivary nitrite, which in turn is acidified in the stomach and could have antimicrobial activity against swallowed pathogens. The efficacy of the resulting synbiotic formula was improved by adding nitrate as antimicrobial. To enhance probiotic survival during gastric transit, a novel technology of microencapsulation was developed and applied to bacteria. The final synbiotic, containing the strain RA 18 of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis [1011cfu/day], the prebiotic Actilight® [4% of the diet], and nitrate [150mg KNO3/kg feed/day] was tested in organic weaned piglets reared under field conditions. Results show that the strain Ra 18 had a probiotic effect in organic weaned piglets, as it colonized and remained detectable in faecal samples until two weeks after addition. The use of our synbiotic formula improved weight gain, feed efficiency and health status of the weaned piglets