PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF HDR TONE MAPPING OPERATORS FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE

[EN] The ability of High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging to capture the full range of lighting in a scene has led to an increasing interest in its use for Cultural Heritage (CH) applications. Photogrammetric techniques allow the semi-automatic production of 3D models from a sequence of images. Current photogrammetric methods are not always effective in reconstructing objects under harsh lighting conditions, as significant geometric details may not have been captured accurately in under- and over-exposed regions of the images. HDR imaging offers the possibility to overcome this limitation. In this paper we evaluate four different HDR tone-mapping operators (TMOs) that have been used to convert raw HDR images into a format suitable for state-of-the-art photogrammetric algorithms, and in particular keypoint detection techniques. The evaluation criteria used are the number of keypoints and the number of valid matches achieved. The comparison considers two local and two global TMOs.Suma, R.; Stavropoulou, G.; Stathopoulou, E.; Van Gool, L.; Georgopoulos, A.; Chalmers, A. (2016). PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF HDR TONE MAPPING OPERATORS FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE. En 8th International congress on archaeology, computer graphics, cultural heritage and innovation. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 343-347. https://doi.org/10.4995/arqueologica8.2015.3582OCS34334

Evaluation of the effectiveness of HDR tone-mapping operators for photogrammetric applications

[EN] The ability of High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging to capture the full range of lighting in a scene has meant that it is being increasingly used for Cultural Heritage (CH) applications. Photogrammetric techniques allow the semi-automatic production of 3D models from a sequence of images. Current photogrammetric methods are not always effective in reconstructing images under harsh lighting conditions, as significant geometric details may not have been captured accurately within under- and over-exposed regions of the image. HDR imaging offers the possibility to overcome this limitation, however the HDR images need to be tone mapped before they can be used within existing photogrammetric algorithms. In this paper we evaluate four different HDR tone-mapping operators (TMOs) that have been used to convert raw HDR images into a format suitable for state-of-the-art algorithms, and in particular keypoint detection techniques. The evaluation criteria used are the number of keypoints, the number of valid matches achieved and the repeatability rate. The comparison considers two local and two global TMOs. HDR data from four CH sites were used: Kaisariani Monastery (Greece), Asinou Church (Cyprus), Château des Baux (France) and Buonconsiglio Castle (Italy).We would like to thank Kurt Debattista, Timothy Bradley, Ratnajit Mukherjee, Diego Bellido Castañeda and TomBashford Rogers for their suggestions, help and encouragement. We would like to thank the hosting institutions: 3D Optical Metrology Group, FBK (Trento, Italy) and UMR 3495 MAP CNRS/MCC (Marseille, France), for their support during the data acquisition campaigns. This project has received funding from the European Union’s 7 th Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No. 608013, titled “ITN-DCH: Initial Training Network for Digital Cultural Heritage: Projecting our Past to the Future”.Suma, R.; Stavropoulou, G.; Stathopoulou, EK.; Van Gool, L.; Georgopoulos, A.; Chalmers, A. (2016). Evaluation of the effectiveness of HDR tone-mapping operators for photogrammetric applications. Virtual Archaeology Review. 7(15):54-66. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2016.6319SWORD546671

Assessing Patients’ Needs in Greek Intensive Care Units. Validation of a Respiratory Patient Satisfaction Scale

Respiratory patients constitute a specific and large category of patients hospitalized in Greek Intensive Care Units (ICUs). These patients have specific needs which differ significantly from other groups of patients treated in general ICUs. Assessing the needs and satisfaction levels of respiratory patients is a crucial issue, related to the quality of care provided in ICU.  Many questionnaires have been developed to measure patient satisfaction or patient needs. However, no previous attempt has been made to develop an instrument focused on respiratory patient needs with the appropriate psychometric properties. The aim of this study was to describe the development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Respiratory Patient Satisfaction Scale, and its validity and reliability, by ICU respiratory patients’ satisfaction.Τhe questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 ICU respiratory patients to identify problems of wording or length of the instrument. Based on feedback, the wording was adjusted and certain items were combined. A new convenience sample of 164 ICU respiratory patients then performed a test-retest of the questionnaire. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach alpha coefficients and stability of items was evaluated through test and retest comparison and expressed through intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The internal consistency reliability coefficients exceed the minimum 0.50 for Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. An exploratory factor analysis revealed seventeen factors, explaining 74.5% of the variability. Respiratory Patient Satisfaction Scale found to be a comprehensive instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties. The results from this study would serve as references for continuous improvement in intensive care practice helping all patients hospitalized in Greek ICUs and not only the respiratory patients. Keywords: Respiratory patients, Intensive Care Unit, Patient Satisfaction Scale, Validation,   Quality care. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-17-01 Publication date:June 30th 202

Propolis Extracts Inhibit UV-Induced Photodamage in Human Experimental In Vitro Skin Models

The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidant, photoprotective, and antiaging effects of Greek propolis. Propolis was subjected to n-heptane or methanol extraction. Total phenolic/flavonoid content and antioxidant potential were determined in the extracts. Promising extracts were evaluated for their cytoprotective properties using human immortalized keratinocyte (HaCaT) or reconstituted human skin tissue following exposure to UVB. Assessment of cytotoxicity, DNA damage, oxidative status, and gene/protein expression levels of various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were performed. The propolis methanolic fractions exhibited higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents and significant in vitro antioxidant activity. Incubation of HaCaT cells with certain methanolic extracts significantly decreased the formation of DNA strand breaks following exposure to UVB and attenuated UVB-induced decrease in cell viability. The extracts had no remarkable effect on the total antioxidant status, but significantly lowered total protein carbonyl content used as a marker for protein oxidation in HaCaT cells. MMP-1, -3, -7, and -9, monitored as endpoints of antiaging efficacy, were significantly reduced by propolis following UVB exposure in a model of reconstituted skin tissue. In conclusion, propolis protects against the oxidative and photodamaging effects of UVB and could be further explored as a promising agent for developing natural antiaging strategies

Genome-Wide Association Study in BRCA1 Mutation Carriers Identifies Novel Loci Associated with Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk

BRCA1-associated breast and ovarian cancer risks can be modified by common genetic variants. To identify further cancer risk-modifying loci, we performed a multi-stage GWAS of 11,705 BRCA1 carriers (of whom 5,920 were diagnosed with breast and 1,839 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer), with a further replication in an additional sample of 2,646 BRCA1 carriers. We identified a novel breast cancer risk modifier locus at 1q32 for BRCA1 carriers (rs2290854, P = 2.7×10-8, HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.20). In addition, we identified two novel ovarian cancer risk modifier loci: 17q21.31 (rs17631303, P = 1.4×10-8, HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38) and 4q32.3 (rs4691139, P = 3.4×10-8, HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38). The 4q32.3 locus was not associated with ovarian cancer risk in the general population or BRCA2 carriers, suggesting a BRCA1-specific associat