Variational methods and its applications to computer vision

Many computer vision applications such as image segmentation can be formulated in a ''variational'' way as energy minimization problems. Unfortunately, the computational task of minimizing these energies is usually difficult as it generally involves non convex functions in a space with thousands of dimensions and often the associated combinatorial problems are NP-hard to solve. Furthermore, they are ill-posed inverse problems and therefore are extremely sensitive to perturbations (e.g. noise). For this reason in order to compute a physically reliable approximation from given noisy data, it is necessary to incorporate into the mathematical model appropriate regularizations that require complex computations. The main aim of this work is to describe variational segmentation methods that are particularly effective for curvilinear structures. Due to their complex geometry, classical regularization techniques cannot be adopted because they lead to the loss of most of low contrasted details. In contrast, the proposed method not only better preserves curvilinear structures, but also reconnects some parts that may have been disconnected by noise. Moreover, it can be easily extensible to graphs and successfully applied to different types of data such as medical imagery (i.e. vessels, hearth coronaries etc), material samples (i.e. concrete) and satellite signals (i.e. streets, rivers etc.). In particular, we will show results and performances about an implementation targeting new generation of High Performance Computing (HPC) architectures where different types of coprocessors cooperate. The involved dataset consists of approximately 200 images of cracks, captured in three different tunnels by a robotic machine designed for the European ROBO-SPECT project.Open Acces

Análise da produção do conhecimento em processo de enfermagem: estudo exploratório-descritivo

Estudo descritivo-exploratório que objetiva analisar a produção do conhecimento em processo de enfermagemcom base nas dissertações de mestrado e teses de doutorado defendidas nos programas de pós-graduação emenfermagem do Brasil, por meio dos relatórios do Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas em Enfermagem (CEPEn) de1972 a 2007 e diagnosticar as publicações em bases de dados indexadas. Encontrou-se 122 dissertações de mestrado,com 42 publicações, 26 teses de doutorado, com 15 publicações. Verificou-se maior publicação a partir de 2000,sendo a pesquisa qualitativa mais prevalente. A tendência temática mais evidenciada foi assistência de enfermagem,sendo o levantamento e validação de diagnóstico de enfermagem e todas as fases do processo os assuntos maisabordados. Existem lacunas nas publicações sobre o tema, sobretudo no levantamento da produção do conhecimento.Pesquisas que analisem esta interface possivelmente podem qualificar a implementação do processo deenfermagem

Spirometry reference equations for central European populations from school age to old age.

Spirometry reference values are important for the interpretation of spirometry results. Reference values should be updated regularly, derived from a population as similar to the population for which they are to be used and span across all ages. Such spirometry reference equations are currently lacking for central European populations. To develop spirometry reference equations for central European populations between 8 and 90 years of age. We used data collected between January 1993 and December 2010 from a central European population. The data was modelled using "Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape" (GAMLSS). The spirometry reference equations were derived from 118'891 individuals consisting of 60'624 (51%) females and 58'267 (49%) males. Altogether, there were 18'211 (15.3%) children under the age of 18 years. We developed spirometry reference equations for a central European population between 8 and 90 years of age that can be implemented in a wide range of clinical settings

A New Genetic Risk Score to Predict the Outcome of Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated With First-Line Exemestane: Results From a Prospective Study

Currently there are no reliable biomarkers to predict outcome of exemestane treatment. We designed a prospective study to investigate whether constitutive genetic background might affect response to therapy. In a population of 302 advanced breast cancer patients treated with exemestane we showed that a 5-polymorphism-based genetic score could be used to identify patients with different risks of progression and death.Introduction: Approximately 50% of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients treated with first-line exemestane do not show objective response and currently there are no reliable biomarkers to predict the outcome of patients using this therapy. The constitutive genetic background might be responsible for differences in the outcome of exemestane-treated patients. We designed a prospective study to investigate the role of germ line polymorphisms as biomarkers of survival. Patients and Methods: Three hundred two locally advanced or MBC patients treated with first-line exemestane were genotyped for 74 germ line polymorphisms in 39 candidate genes involved in drug activity, hormone balance, DNA replication and repair, and cell signaling pathways. Associations with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were tested with multivariate Cox regression. Bootstrap resampling was used as an internal assessment of results reproducibility. Results: Cytochrome P450 19A1-rs10046TC/CC, solute carrier organic anion transporter 1B1-rs4149056TT, adenosine triphosphate binding cassette subfamily G member 2-rs2046134GG, fibroblast growth factor receptor-4-rs351855TT, and X-ray repair cross complementing 3-rs861539TT were significantly associated with PFS and then combined into a risk score (0-1, 2, 3, or 4-6 risk points). Patients with the highest risk score (4-6 risk points) compared with ones with the lowest score (0-1 risk points) had a median PFS of 10 months versus 26.3 months (adjusted hazard ratio [AdjHR], 3.12 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.18-4.48]; P < .001) and a median OS of 38.9 months versus 63.0 months (AdjHR, 2.41 [95% CI, 1.22-4.79], P = .012), respectively. Conclusion: In this study we defined a score including 5 polymorphisms to stratify patients for PFS and OS. This score, if validated, might be translated to personalize locally advanced or MBC patient treatment and management

Covid-19 And Rheumatic Autoimmune Systemic Diseases: Role of Pre-Existing Lung Involvement and Ongoing Treatments

The Covid-19 pandemic may have a deleterious impact on patients with autoimmune systemic diseases (ASD) due to their deep immune-system alterations

Geographical heterogeneity of clinical and serological phenotypes of systemic sclerosis observed at tertiary referral centres. The experience of the Italian SIR-SPRING registry and review of the world literature

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by a complex etiopathogenesis encompassing both host genetic and environmental -infectious/toxic- factors responsible for altered fibrogenesis and diffuse microangiopathy. A wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes may be observed in patients' populations from different geographical areas. We investigated the prevalence of specific clinical and serological phenotypes in patients with definite SSc enrolled at tertiary referral centres in different Italian geographical macro-areas. The observed findings were compared with those reported in the world literature.Materials and methods: The clinical features of 1538 patients (161 M, 10.5%; mean age 59.8 +/- 26.9 yrs.; mean disease duration 8.9 +/- 7.7 yrs) with definite SSc recruited in 38 tertiary referral centres of the SPRING (Systemic sclerosis Progression INvestiGation Group) registry promoted by Italian Society of Rheumatology (SIR) were obtained and clustered according to Italian geographical macroareas.Results: Patients living in Southern Italy were characterized by more severe clinical and/or serological SSc phenotypes compared to those in Northern and Central Italy; namely, they show increased percentages of diffuse cutaneous SSc, digital ulcers, sicca syndrome, muscle involvement, arthritis, cardiopulmonary symptoms, interstitial lung involvement at HRCT, as well increased prevalence of serum anti-Scl70 autoantibodies. In the same SSc population immunusppressive drugs were frequently employed. The review of the literature underlined the geographical heterogeneity of SSc phenotypes, even if the observed findings are scarcely comparable due to the variability of methodological approaches.Conclusion: The phenotypical differences among SSc patients' subgroups from Italian macro-areas might be correlated to genetic/environmental co-factors, and possibly to a not equally distributed national network of information and healthcare facilities

Research and Design of a Routing Protocol in Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks

无线传感器网络，作为全球未来十大技术之一，集成了传感器技术、嵌入式计算技术、分布式信息处理和自组织网技术，可实时感知、采集、处理、传输网络分布区域内的各种信息数据，在军事国防、生物医疗、环境监测、抢险救灾、防恐反恐、危险区域远程控制等领域具有十分广阔的应用前景。 本文研究分析了无线传感器网络的已有路由协议，并针对大规模的无线传感器网络设计了一种树状路由协议，它根据节点地址信息来形成路由，从而简化了复杂繁冗的路由表查找和维护，节省了不必要的开销，提高了路由效率，实现了快速有效的数据传输。 为支持此路由协议本文提出了一种自适应动态地址分配算——ADAR（AdaptiveDynamicAddre...As one of the ten high technologies in the future, wireless sensor network, which is the integration of micro-sensors, embedded computing, modern network and Ad Hoc technologies, can apperceive, collect, process and transmit various information data within the region. It can be used in military defense, biomedical, environmental monitoring, disaster relief, counter-terrorism, remote control of haz...学位：工学硕士院系专业：信息科学与技术学院通信工程系_通信与信息系统学号：2332007115216

Air transport of patients: analysis of scientific knowledge

This bibliographic research aimed to characterize scientific production on air patient transport in indexed databases. Eighty-three references were found, 76 in Medline, between 1997 and 2009, and four in Lilacs, between 1999 and 2007. More publications were found in 2001 and qualitative studies were the most prevalent. The most evident thematic tendency in Lilacs was education and research, against air transport nursing in Medline. The lack of regulation on nurse's tasks on board is highlighted, as well as the importance of including contents on aerospace nursing in undergraduate and graduate courses. Many gaps remain in knowledge production about the theme. Research analyzing this interface qualifies aerospace nursing care.Pesquisa bibliográfica, cujo objetivo foi caracterizar a produção científica acerca do transporte aéreo de pacientes, em bases de dados indexadas. Encontrou-se 83 referências, 76 na Medline, entre 1997 a 2009, e quatro na Lilacs, de 1999 a 2007. Verificou-se maior publicação em 2001, sendo a pesquisa qualitativa mais prevalente. A tendência temática mais evidenciada na Lilacs foi educação e pesquisa. Na Medline foi cuidado de enfermagem no transporte aéreo. Destaca-se escassa regulamentação no que se refere as atribuições do enfermeiro de bordo e a importância da inclusão do conteúdo de enfermagem aeroespacial nos cursos de graduação e pós-graduação. Existem ainda muitas lacunas na produção de conhecimento sobre o tema. Pesquisas que analisem esta interface, qualificam o cuidado de enfermagem aeroespacial.Investigación bibliográfica con objeto de caracterizar la producción científica acerca del transporte aéreo de pacientes en bases de datos indexadas. Fueron encontradas 83 referencias, 76 en Medline, entre 1997 y 2009, y cuatro en Lilacs, de 1999 a 2007. Fue verificada mayor publicación en 2001, con mayor prevalencia de la investigación cualitativa. La tendencia temática más evidenciada en Lilacs fue educación e investigación. En Medline fue cuidado de enfermería en el transporte aéreo. Se destaca escasa reglamentación respecto a las atribuciones del enfermero de bordo y la importancia de la inclusión del contenido de enfermería aeroespacial en los cursos de pregrado y postgrado. Todavía existen muchas lagunas en la producción de conocimiento sobre el tema. Investigaciones que analicen esta interfaz cualifican el cuidado de enfermería aeroespacial.1127113

Transporte aéreo de pacientes: análise do conhecimento científico

Pesquisa bibliográfica, cujo objetivo foi caracterizar a produção científica acerca do transporte aéreo de pacientes, em bases de dados indexadas. Encontrou-se 83 referências, 76 na Medline, entre 1997 a 2009, e quatro na Lilacs, de 1999 a 2007. Verificou-se maior publicação em 2001, sendo a pesquisa qualitativa mais prevalente. A tendência temática mais evidenciada na Lilacs foi educação e pesquisa. Na Medline foi cuidado de enfermagem no transporte aéreo. Destaca-se escassa regulamentação no que se refere as atribuições do enfermeiro de bordo e a importância da inclusão do conteúdo de enfermagem aeroespacial nos cursos de graduação e pós-graduação. Existem ainda muitas lacunas na produção de conhecimento sobre o tema. Pesquisas que analisem esta interface, qualificam o cuidado de enfermagem aeroespacial