Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) System for Ancient Documentary Artefacts

This tutorial summarises our uses of reflectance transformation imaging in archaeological contexts. It introduces the UK AHRC funded project reflectance Transformation Imaging for Anciant Documentary Artefacts and demonstrates imaging methodologies

Visitor Movement and Tracking Techniques. A Visitor-Sourced Methodology for the Interpretation of Archaeological Sites

This paper describes on-going research investigating movement and behaviour patterns of visitors in archaeological sites as a way of informing interpretive planning. A critical point of this study was the development of a hybrid methodology for collecting and assessing data on visitor movement around archaeological sites and of the things that visitors value the most during their visit. This paper demonstrates the methodology developed mainly at Gournia, a Minoan archaeological site of eastern Crete in Greece. Apart from recognised forms of observation and the collection of qualitative data, technologies such as Geographical Positioning System body tracking, geo-tagging and applications of Geographical Information Systems were employed. The interpretation of the processed data provided a better insight and an overview of the site's affordances for movement and as well as the weaknesses of the current interpretation infrastructure. Additionally, the methodology extends to a visitor-sourced approach to reveal the site's ‘hot spots’ by combining hotspot analysis with a thematic analysis of the geo-tagged images captured by visitors

Quantitative coronary CT angiography: absolute lumen sizing rather than %stenosis predicts hemodynamically relevant stenosis

This full day tutorial will use lectures and demonstrations from leading researchers and museum practitioners to present the principles and practices for robust photography-based digital techniques in museum contexts. The tutorial will present many examples of existing and cutting-edge uses of photography-based imaging including Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), Algorithmic Rendering (AR), camera calibration, and methods of imaged-based generation of textured 3D geometry. The tutorial will also explore a framework for Leading museums are now adopting the more mature members of this family of robust digital imaging practices. These practices are part of the emerging science known as Computational Photography (CP). The imaging family’s common feature is the purpose-driven selective extraction of information from sequences of standard digital photographs. The information is extracted from the photographic sequences by computer algorithms. The extracted information is then integrated into a new digital representations containing knowledge not present in the original photogs, examined either alone or sequentially. The tutorial will examine strategies that promote widespread museum adoption of empirical acquisition technologies, generate scientifically reliable digital representations that are ‘born archival’, assist this knowledge’s long-term digital preservation, enable its future reuse for novel purposes, aid the physical conservation of the digitally represented museum materials, and enable public access and research

Reflectance transformation imaging systems for ancient documentary artefacts

This paper discusses the interim results of the AHRC RTISAD project. The project has developed and tested a range of techniques for gathering and processing reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) data. It has also assembled a detailed understanding of the breadth of RTI practice. Over the past decade the range of applications and algorithms in the broad domain of RTI has increased markedly, with current working addressing issues such as large resolution capture, 3D RTI, annotation, enhancement amongst others. Capture of RTI datasets has begun to occur in all aspects of cultural heritage and elsewhere. This has in turn prompted the development of policies and methods for managing and integrating the large quantities of data produced. The paper describes these techniques and issues in the context of a range of artefacts, including painted Roman and Neolithic surfaces, examples of ancient documents in a variety of forms, and archaeological datasets from Herculaneum, Çatalhöyük, Abydos and elsewhere. The paper also identifies on-going software development work of value to the broad EVA community and proposes further enhancements

Formal and informal analysis of rendered space: the Basilica Portuense

Digital archaeological analyses of space have proceeded traditionally from two distinct perspectives. First, there has been a phenomenological appraisal of computer-graphic-modeled geometry and, second, a formal analysis of the surviving spaces and extrapolations from them. The former approach encompasses work on the visualization of raw geometric data captured through techniques such as laser scanning and photogrammetry. In addition, it has critiqued the processes and interfaces within which extrapolations from these data take place-namely, the construction of increasingly sophisticated graphical simulations in software such as 3ds Max, Maya, and Vue Infinite. Finally, it draws on the ability of such software and interactive visualization tools to stimulate new interpretations through interaction with the visualized geometry. This virtual phenomenology in turn has been seen to be significantly enhanced by an emphasis on physical realism (Chalmers, 2002), but it has not been without its critics (Lock, 2003). The use of physically realistic techniques facilitates the second, formal analytical approach by extending methodologies primarily stimulated by the architectural community to enable comparisons between built architecture (and their resulting spatial interactions), to evaluate their robusticity through stochastic methods, and to predict and analyze physical factors such as lighting in architectural designs. However, the novel research in physical (or “predictive”) rendering is primarily constrained to the domain of computer graphics (Wilkie et al., 2009) and remains to be explored in depth in archaeological research. This chapter begins to explore their potential

Intermittent versus continuous cyproterone acetate in bone metastatic prostate cancer: results of a randomized trial

To compare intermittent treatment (IT) versus continuous treatment (CT) using cyproterone acetate (CPA) in bone metastatic prostate cancer patients, we conducted an open-label, multicenter randomized trial. Continuous androgen deprivation therapy is the standard treatment in metastatic prostate cancer. Intermittent treatment might maintain efficacy while toxicity and costs are reduced. Patients received CPA 100 mg tid in the prephase. Patients with a PSA decline of a parts per thousand yen90 % or PSA < 4 ng/ml were randomized. If patients were progressive, LHRH analogues were added. Primary end point was time to PSA progression. A total of 366 patients were recruited; 258 reached a good response after 3 or 6 months and were randomized. A total of 131 patients randomized to IT and 127 to CT. Patients on IT had an average of 1.7 episodes on CPA, before LHRH analogues were started. The mean time without treatment in IT was 463 days versus 422 days on treatment. There were statistical significant differences between IT and CT in 3 of the 5 functional scales of EORTC QLQ C 30; however, the clinical relevance of this finding appears modest. Symptom and potency scales showed significant advantages for IT. There were no differences in time to PSA progression on CPA, time to PSA and/or clinical progression on LHRH analogues and time to cancer-specific and overall survival. IT by CPA is associated with less symptoms and modest advantages in QOL domains. There were no differences in time to PSA progression, clinical progression or survival