Multiresolution analysis using wavelet, ridgelet, and curvelet transforms for medical image segmentation

Copyright @ 2011 Shadi AlZubi et al. This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.The experimental study presented in this paper is aimed at the development of an automatic image segmentation system for classifying region of interest (ROI) in medical images which are obtained from different medical scanners such as PET, CT, or MRI. Multiresolution analysis (MRA) using wavelet, ridgelet, and curvelet transforms has been used in the proposed segmentation system. It is particularly a challenging task to classify cancers in human organs in scanners output using shape or gray-level information; organs shape changes throw different slices in medical stack and the gray-level intensity overlap in soft tissues. Curvelet transform is a new extension of wavelet and ridgelet transforms which aims to deal with interesting phenomena occurring along curves. Curvelet transforms has been tested on medical data sets, and results are compared with those obtained from the other transforms. Tests indicate that using curvelet significantly improves the classification of abnormal tissues in the scans and reduce the surrounding noise

A Novel User Pairing Scheme for Functional Decode-and-Forward Multi-way Relay Network

In this paper, we consider a functional decode and forward (FDF) multi-way relay network (MWRN) where a common user facilitates each user in the network to obtain messages from all other users. We propose a novel user pairing scheme, which is based on the principle of selecting a common user with the best average channel gain. This allows the user with the best channel conditions to contribute to the overall system performance. Assuming lattice code based transmissions, we derive upper bounds on the average common rate and the average sum rate with the proposed pairing scheme. Considering M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation with square constellation as a special case of lattice code transmission, we derive asymptotic average symbol error rate (SER) of the MWRN. We show that in terms of the achievable rates, the proposed pairing scheme outperforms the existing pairing schemes under a wide range of channel scenarios. The proposed pairing scheme also has lower average SER compared to existing schemes. We show that overall, the MWRN performance with the proposed pairing scheme is more robust, compared to existing pairing schemes, especially under worst case channel conditions when majority of users have poor average channel gains.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures, submitted for journal publicatio

Health Adjusted GDP (HAGDP) Measures of the Relationship Between Economic Growth, Health Outcomes and Social Welfare

Welfare economic analysis of health issues and policies can provide well balanced orderings of the state of the economy. This paper provides an innovative framework for welfare economic analysis of the relationships between economic growth, health outcomes and social welfare for both a developing and a developed country. Economic growth can increase health outcomes and social welfare but its influence is limited by biological laws. Further, achieving economic growth may have negative externalities which reduce health outcomes (particularly when biological health limits are reached). A new health adjusted GDP indicator to investigate the relationship between economic growth, health outcomes and social welfare in both a developing and developed country using social choice perspectives is developed in this paper. This new approach to social welfare analysis is also based on cost-benefit analysis and systems analysis and is called the social choice approach. The importance of good health is crucial when determining social welfare. The major limitation of many health-based indicators is that they can fail to adequately consider social welfare issues, such as equity and efficiency. Social choice theory allows optimal health outcomes to be fully considered in terms of equity and efficiency when determining the impact of economic growth on social welfare. Social choice theory incorporates the various “social concerns” that are not adequately captured using individual preference satisfaction techniques. This paper analyses the health outcomes resulting from economic growth (costs and benefits) using Thailand and Australia as case studies, from 1975 to 1999. Two health adjusted gross domestic product (HAGDP) indices are prepared in this paper by adjusting GDP to reflect the social welfare impacts of achieving economic growth on health outcomes.

Crossing the Valley of Death - An integrated framework and a value chain for emerging technologies

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) via the DOI in this record.The paper develops an integrated technology-push and market-pull framework, and a value chain model for crossing the Valley of Death (VOD-the gap between laboratory and market) for emerging technologies, based on primary and secondary data analyses and a survey conducted on European research and development projects. The study uses a case of micro and nanomanufacturing technology (MNT) and confirms the existence of the VOD through the survey data analysis. A mixed-methods approach was adopted which investigated the business and technical challenges to the commercialization of MNT. A notable finding is that the emerging MNT often does not have a direct link with market demand and the result suggests that an intermediary role between advanced technology and market demand should be integrated to act as coordinator for overcoming the VOD. The paper also examines how an intermediary is crucial to escape the VOD, within the value chain of the interdependent relationships between actors

Advanced logic gates for ultrafast network interchanges

By overcoming speed bottlenecks from electronic switching as well as optical/electronic conversions, all‐optical logic gates can permit further exploitation of the nearly 40 THz of bandwidth available from optical fibers. We focus on the use of optical solitons and all‐optical logic gates to implement ultrafast ‘‘interchanges’’ or switching nodes on packet networks with speeds of 100 Gbit/s or greater. For example, all‐optical logic gates have been demonstrated with speeds up to 200 Gbit/s, and they may be used to decide whether to add or drop a data packet. The overall goal of our effort is to demonstrate the key enabling technologies and their combination for header processing in 100 Gbit/s, time‐division‐multiplexed, packed switched networks. Soliton‐based fiber logic gates are studied with the goal of combining attractive features of soliton‐dragging logic gates, nonlinear loop mirrors, and erbium‐doped fiber amplifiers to design logic gates with optimum switching energy, contrast ratio, and timing sensitivity. First, the experimental and numerical work studies low‐latency soliton logic gates based on frequency shifts associated with cross‐phase modulation. In preliminary experiments, switching in 15 m long low‐birefringent fibers has been demonstrated with a contrast ratio of 2.73:1. Using dispersion‐shifted fiber in the gate should lower the switching energy and improve the contrast ratio. Next, the low‐birefringent fiber can be cross‐spliced and wrapped into a nonlinear optical loop mirror to take advantage of mechanisms from both soliton dragging and loop mirrors. The resulting device can have low switching energy and a timing window that results from a combination of soliton dragging and the loop mirror mechanisms.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87474/2/605_1.pd

Patent Information Retrieval: Approaching a Method and Analyzing Nanotechnology Patent Collaborations

ArticleThis is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Many challenges still remain in the processing of explicit technological knowledge documents such as patents. Given the limitations and drawbacks of the existing approaches, this research sets out to develop an improved method for searching patent databases and extracting patent information to increase the efficiency and reliability of nanotechnology patent information retrieval process and to empirically analyse patent collaboration. A tech-mining method was applied and the subsequent analysis was performed using Thomson data analyser software. The findings show that nations such as Korea and Japan are highly collaborative in sharing technological knowledge across academic and corporate organisations within their national boundaries, and China presents, in some cases, a great illustration of effective patent collaboration and co-inventorship. This study also analyses key patent strengths by country, organisation and technology