WorldWideScience

Sample records for gray scale images

  1. Fuzzy Matching Based on Gray-scale Difference for Quantum Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, GaoFeng; Zhou, Ri-Gui; Liu, XingAo; Hu, WenWen; Luo, Jia

    2018-05-01

    Quantum image processing has recently emerged as an essential problem in practical tasks, e.g. real-time image matching. Previous studies have shown that the superposition and entanglement of quantum can greatly improve the efficiency of complex image processing. In this paper, a fuzzy quantum image matching scheme based on gray-scale difference is proposed to find out the target region in a reference image, which is very similar to the template image. Firstly, we employ the proposed enhanced quantum representation (NEQR) to store digital images. Then some certain quantum operations are used to evaluate the gray-scale difference between two quantum images by thresholding. If all of the obtained gray-scale differences are not greater than the threshold value, it indicates a successful fuzzy matching of quantum images. Theoretical analysis and experiments show that the proposed scheme performs fuzzy matching at a low cost and also enables exponentially significant speedup via quantum parallel computation.

  2. MIA - a free and open source software for gray scale medical image analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Wöllny, Gert; Kellman, Peter; Ledesma Carbayo, María Jesús; Skinner, Matthew M.; Hublin, Jean-Jaques; Hierl, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Background Gray scale images make the bulk of data in bio-medical image analysis, and hence, the main focus of many image processing tasks lies in the processing of these monochrome images. With ever improving acquisition devices, spatial and temporal image resolution increases, and data sets become very large. Various image processing frameworks exists that make the development of new algorithms easy by using high level programming languages or visual programming. These frameworks are also a...

  3. The FBI wavelet/scalar quantization standard for gray-scale fingerprint image compression

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bradley, J.N.; Brislawn, C.M. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Hopper, T. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC (United States)

    1993-05-01

    The FBI has recently adopted a standard for the compression of digitized 8-bit gray-scale fingerprint images. The standard is based on scalar quantization of a 64-subband discrete wavelet transform decomposition of the images, followed by Huffman coding. Novel features of the algorithm include the use of symmetric boundary conditions for transforming finite-length signals and a subband decomposition tailored for fingerprint images scanned at 500 dpi. The standard is intended for use in conjunction with ANSI/NBS-CLS 1-1993, American National Standard Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information, and the FBI`s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

  4. Relationship between Hounsfield Unit in CT Scan and Gray Scale in CBCT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahmineh Razi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and aims. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT is an imaging system which has many advantages over computed tomography (CT. In CT scan, Hounsfield Unit (HU is proportional to the degree of x-ray attenuation by the tissue. In CBCT, the degree of x-ray attenuation is shown by gray scale (voxel value. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between gray scale in CBCT and Hounsfield Unit (HU in CT scan. Materials and methods. In this descriptive study, the head of a sheep was scanned with 3 CBCT and one medical CT scanner. Gray scales and HUs were detected on images. Reconstructed data were analyzed to investigate relationship between CBCT gray scales and HUs. Results. A strong correlation between gray scales of CBCT and HUs of CT scan was determined. Conclusion. Considering the fact that gray scale in CBCT is the criteria in measurement of bone density before implant treatments, it is recommended because of the lower dose and cost compared to CT scan.

  5. The FBI wavelet/scalar quantization standard for gray-scale fingerprint image compression

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bradley, J.N.; Brislawn, C.M. (Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)); Hopper, T. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC (United States))

    1993-01-01

    The FBI has recently adopted a standard for the compression of digitized 8-bit gray-scale fingerprint images. The standard is based on scalar quantization of a 64-subband discrete wavelet transform decomposition of the images, followed by Huffman coding. Novel features of the algorithm include the use of symmetric boundary conditions for transforming finite-length signals and a subband decomposition tailored for fingerprint images scanned at 500 dpi. The standard is intended for use in conjunction with ANSI/NBS-CLS 1-1993, American National Standard Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint Information, and the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

  6. Comparison of 12-bit and 8-bit gray scale resolution in MR imaging of the CNS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, H.J.; Bakke, S.J.; Smevik, B.; Hald, J.K.; Moen, G.; Rudenhed, B.; Abildgaard, A.

    1992-01-01

    A reduction in gray scale resolution of digital images from 12 to 8 bits per pixel usually means halving the storage space needed for the images. Theoretically, important diagnostic information may be lost in the process. We compared the sensitivity and specificity achieved by 4 radiologists in reading laser-printed films of original 12-bit MR images and cathode ray tube displays of the same images which had been compressed to 8 bits per pixel using a specially developed computer program. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves showed no significant differences between film reading and screen reading. A paired 2-tailed t-test, applied on the data for actually positive cases, showed that the combined, average performance of the reviewers was significantly better at screen reading than at film reading. No such differences were found for actually negative cases. Some individual differences were found, but it is concluded that gray scale resolution of MR images may be reduced from 12 to 8 bits per pixel without any significant reduction in diagnostic information. (orig.)

  7. Low gray scale values of computerized images of carotid plaques associated with increased levels of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and with increased plaque lipid content

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grønholdt, Marie-Louise M.; Nordestgaard, Børge; Weibe, Britt M.

    1997-01-01

    Relatioin between low gray scale values in computerized images of carotid plaques and 1) plasma levels of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and 2) plaque lipid content......Relatioin between low gray scale values in computerized images of carotid plaques and 1) plasma levels of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and 2) plaque lipid content...

  8. Analysis on imaging features of mammography in computer radiography and investigation on gray scale transform and energy subtraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Shuli

    2003-01-01

    In this dissertation, a novel transform method based on human visual response features for gray scale mammographic imaging in computer radiography (CR) is presented. The parameters for imaging quality on CR imaging for mammography were investigated experimentally. In addition, methods for image energy subtraction and a novel method of image registration for mammography of CR imaging are presented. Because the images are viewed and investigated by humans, the method of displaying differences in gray scale images is more convenient if the gray scale differences are displayed in a manner commensurate with human visual response principles. Through transformation of image gray scale with this method, the contrast of the image will be enhanced and the capability for humans to extract the useful information from the image will be increased. Tumors and microcalcifications are displayed in a form for humans to view more simply after transforming the image. The method is theoretically and experimentally investigated. Through measurement of the parameters of a geometrically blurred image, MTF, DQE, and ROC on CR imaging, and also comparison with the imaging quality of screen-film systems, the results indicate that CR imaging qualities in DQE and ROC are better than those of screen-film systems. In geometric blur of the image and MTF, the differences in image quality between CR and the screen-film system are very small. The results suggest that the CR system can replace the screen-film system for mammography imaging. In addition, the results show that the optimal imaging energy for CR mammography is about 24 kV. This condition indicates that the imaging energy of the CR system is lower than that of the screen-film system and, therefore, the x-ray dose to the patient for mammography with the CR system is lower than that with the screen-film system. Based on the difference of penetrability of x ray with different wavelength, and the fact that the part of the x-ray beam will pass

  9. A Parallel Algorithm for Connected Component Labelling of Gray-scale Images on Homogeneous Multicore Architectures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niknam, Mehdi; Thulasiraman, Parimala; Camorlinga, Sergio

    2010-01-01

    Connected component labelling is an essential step in image processing. We provide a parallel version of Suzuki's sequential connected component algorithm in order to speed up the labelling process. Also, we modify the algorithm to enable labelling gray-scale images. Due to the data dependencies in the algorithm we used a method similar to pipeline to exploit parallelism. The parallel algorithm method achieved a speedup of 2.5 for image size of 256 x 256 pixels using 4 processing threads.

  10. QR code based noise-free optical encryption and decryption of a gray scale image

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiao, Shuming; Zou, Wenbin; Li, Xia

    2017-03-01

    In optical encryption systems, speckle noise is one major challenge in obtaining high quality decrypted images. This problem can be addressed by employing a QR code based noise-free scheme. Previous works have been conducted for optically encrypting a few characters or a short expression employing QR codes. This paper proposes a practical scheme for optically encrypting and decrypting a gray-scale image based on QR codes for the first time. The proposed scheme is compatible with common QR code generators and readers. Numerical simulation results reveal the proposed method can encrypt and decrypt an input image correctly.

  11. Histogram-based adaptive gray level scaling for texture feature classification of colorectal polyps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomeroy, Marc; Lu, Hongbing; Pickhardt, Perry J.; Liang, Zhengrong

    2018-02-01

    Texture features have played an ever increasing role in computer aided detection (CADe) and diagnosis (CADx) methods since their inception. Texture features are often used as a method of false positive reduction for CADe packages, especially for detecting colorectal polyps and distinguishing them from falsely tagged residual stool and healthy colon wall folds. While texture features have shown great success there, the performance of texture features for CADx have lagged behind primarily because of the more similar features among different polyps types. In this paper, we present an adaptive gray level scaling and compare it to the conventional equal-spacing of gray level bins. We use a dataset taken from computed tomography colonography patients, with 392 polyp regions of interest (ROIs) identified and have a confirmed diagnosis through pathology. Using the histogram information from the entire ROI dataset, we generate the gray level bins such that each bin contains roughly the same number of voxels Each image ROI is the scaled down to two different numbers of gray levels, using both an equal spacing of Hounsfield units for each bin, and our adaptive method. We compute a set of texture features from the scaled images including 30 gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features and 11 gray level run length matrix (GLRLM) features. Using a random forest classifier to distinguish between hyperplastic polyps and all others (adenomas and adenocarcinomas), we find that the adaptive gray level scaling can improve performance based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve by up to 4.6%.

  12. MIA - A free and open source software for gray scale medical image analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wollny, Gert; Kellman, Peter; Ledesma-Carbayo, María-Jesus; Skinner, Matthew M; Hublin, Jean-Jaques; Hierl, Thomas

    2013-10-11

    Gray scale images make the bulk of data in bio-medical image analysis, and hence, the main focus of many image processing tasks lies in the processing of these monochrome images. With ever improving acquisition devices, spatial and temporal image resolution increases, and data sets become very large.Various image processing frameworks exists that make the development of new algorithms easy by using high level programming languages or visual programming. These frameworks are also accessable to researchers that have no background or little in software development because they take care of otherwise complex tasks. Specifically, the management of working memory is taken care of automatically, usually at the price of requiring more it. As a result, processing large data sets with these tools becomes increasingly difficult on work station class computers.One alternative to using these high level processing tools is the development of new algorithms in a languages like C++, that gives the developer full control over how memory is handled, but the resulting workflow for the prototyping of new algorithms is rather time intensive, and also not appropriate for a researcher with little or no knowledge in software development.Another alternative is in using command line tools that run image processing tasks, use the hard disk to store intermediate results, and provide automation by using shell scripts. Although not as convenient as, e.g. visual programming, this approach is still accessable to researchers without a background in computer science. However, only few tools exist that provide this kind of processing interface, they are usually quite task specific, and don't provide an clear approach when one wants to shape a new command line tool from a prototype shell script. The proposed framework, MIA, provides a combination of command line tools, plug-ins, and libraries that make it possible to run image processing tasks interactively in a command shell and to prototype by

  13. Histogram and gray level co-occurrence matrix on gray-scale ultrasound images for diagnosing lymphocytic thyroiditis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Young Gyung; Yoo, Jaeheung; Kwon, Hyeong Ju; Hong, Jung Hwa; Lee, Hye Sun; Yoon, Jung Hyun; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Moon, Hee Jung; Han, Kyunghwa; Kwak, Jin Young

    2016-08-01

    The objective of the study was to evaluate whether texture analysis using histogram and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) parameters can help clinicians diagnose lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) and differentiate LT according to pathologic grade. The background thyroid pathology of 441 patients was classified into no evidence of LT, chronic LT (CLT), and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). Histogram and GLCM parameters were extracted from the regions of interest on ultrasound. The diagnostic performances of the parameters for diagnosing and differentiating LT were calculated. Of the histogram and GLCM parameters, the mean on histogram had the highest Az (0.63) and VUS (0.303). As the degrees of LT increased, the mean decreased and the standard deviation and entropy increased. The mean on histogram from gray-scale ultrasound showed the best diagnostic performance as a single parameter in differentiating LT according to pathologic grade as well as in diagnosing LT. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Hand Vein Images Enhancement Based on Local Gray-level Information Histogram

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Wang

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on the Histogram equalization theory, this paper presents a novel concept of histogram to realize the contrast enhancement of hand vein images, avoiding the lost of topological vein structure or importing the fake vein information. Firstly, we propose the concept of gray-level information histogram, the fundamental characteristic of which is that the amplitudes of the components can objectively reflect the contribution of the gray levels and information to the representation of image information. Then, we propose the histogram equalization method that is composed of an automatic histogram separation module and an intensity transformation module, and the histogram separation module is a combination of the proposed prompt multiple threshold procedure and an optimum peak signal-to-noise (PSNR calculation to separate the histogram into small-scale detail, the use of the intensity transformation module can enhance the vein images with vein topological structure and gray information preservation for each generated sub-histogram. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve extremely good contrast enhancement effect.

  15. Computer-aided mass detection in mammography: False positive reduction via gray-scale invariant ranklet texture features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masotti, Matteo; Lanconelli, Nico; Campanini, Renato

    2009-01-01

    In this work, gray-scale invariant ranklet texture features are proposed for false positive reduction (FPR) in computer-aided detection (CAD) of breast masses. Two main considerations are at the basis of this proposal. First, false positive (FP) marks surviving our previous CAD system seem to be characterized by specific texture properties that can be used to discriminate them from masses. Second, our previous CAD system achieves invariance to linear/nonlinear monotonic gray-scale transformations by encoding regions of interest into ranklet images through the ranklet transform, an image transformation similar to the wavelet transform, yet dealing with pixels' ranks rather than with their gray-scale values. Therefore, the new FPR approach proposed herein defines a set of texture features which are calculated directly from the ranklet images corresponding to the regions of interest surviving our previous CAD system, hence, ranklet texture features; then, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier is used for discrimination. As a result of this approach, texture-based information is used to discriminate FP marks surviving our previous CAD system; at the same time, invariance to linear/nonlinear monotonic gray-scale transformations of the new CAD system is guaranteed, as ranklet texture features are calculated from ranklet images that have this property themselves by construction. To emphasize the gray-scale invariance of both the previous and new CAD systems, training and testing are carried out without any in-between parameters' adjustment on mammograms having different gray-scale dynamics; in particular, training is carried out on analog digitized mammograms taken from a publicly available digital database, whereas testing is performed on full-field digital mammograms taken from an in-house database. Free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curve analysis of the two CAD systems demonstrates that the new approach achieves a higher reduction of FP marks

  16. Intra- and interobserver reliability of gray scale/dynamic range evaluation of ultrasonography using a standardized phantom

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Song; Choi, Joon Il; Park, Michael Yong; Yeo, Dong Myung; Byun, Jae Young; Jung, Seung Eun; Rha, Sung Eun; Oh, Soon Nam; Lee, Young Joon

    2014-01-01

    To evaluate intra- and interobserver reliability of the gray scale/dynamic range of the phantom image evaluation of ultrasonography using a standardized phantom, and to assess the effect of interactive education on the reliability. Three radiologists (a resident, and two board-certified radiologists with 2 and 7 years of experience in evaluating ultrasound phantom images) performed the gray scale/dynamic range test for an ultrasound machine using a standardized phantom. They scored the number of visible cylindrical structures of varying degrees of brightness and made a pass or fail decision. First, they scored 49 phantom images twice from a 2010 survey with limited knowledge of phantom images. After this, the radiologists underwent two hours of interactive education for the phantom images and scored another 91 phantom images from a 2011 survey twice. Intra- and interobserver reliability before and after the interactive education session were analyzed using K analyses. Before education, the K-value for intraobserver reliability for the radiologist with 7 years of experience, 2 years of experience, and the resident was 0.386, 0.469, and 0.465, respectively. After education, the K-values were improved (0.823, 0.611, and 0.711, respectively). For interobserver reliability, the K-value was also better after the education for the 3 participants (0.067, 0.002, and 0.547 before education; 0.635, 0.667, and 0.616 after education, respectively). The intra- and interobserver reliability of the gray scale/dynamic range was fair to substantial. Interactive education can improve reliability. For more reliable results, double- checking of phantom images by multiple reviewers is recommended.

  17. Underwater Image Enhancement by Adaptive Gray World and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    WONG, S.-L.

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Most underwater images tend to be dominated by a single color cast. This paper presents a solution to remove the color cast and improve the contrast in underwater images. However, after the removal of the color cast using Gray World (GW method, the resultant image is not visually pleasing. Hence, we propose an integrated approach using Adaptive GW (AGW and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization (DHE that operate in parallel. The AGW is applied to remove the color cast while DHE is used to improve the contrast of the underwater image. The outputs of both chromaticity components of AGW and intensity components of DHE are combined to form the enhanced image. The results of the proposed method are compared with three existing methods using qualitative and quantitative measures. The proposed method increased the visibility of underwater images and in most cases produces better quantitative scores when compared to the three existing methods.

  18. Determining the Number of Colors or Gray Levels in an Image Using Approximate Bayes Factors: The Pseudolikelihood Information Criterion (PLIC)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Stanford, Derek C; Raftery, Adrian E

    2001-01-01

    .... This is motivated by medical and satellite image segmentation, and may also be useful for color and gray scale image quantization, the display and storage of computer-generated holograms, and the use...

  19. Currency recognition using a smartphone: Comparison between color SIFT and gray scale SIFT algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iyad Abu Doush

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Banknote recognition means classifying the currency (coin and paper to the correct class. In this paper, we developed a dataset for Jordanian currency. After that we applied automatic mobile recognition system using a smartphone on the dataset using scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT algorithm. This is the first attempt, to the best of the authors knowledge, to recognize both coins and paper banknotes on a smartphone using SIFT algorithm. SIFT has been developed to be the most robust and efficient local invariant feature descriptor. Color provides significant information and important values in the object description process and matching tasks. Many objects cannot be classified correctly without their color features. We compared between two approaches colored local invariant feature descriptor (color SIFT approach and gray image local invariant feature descriptor (gray SIFT approach. The evaluation results show that the color SIFT approach outperforms the gray SIFT approach in terms of processing time and accuracy.

  20. Differences in quantitative assessment of myocardial scar and gray zone by LGE-CMR imaging using established gray zone protocols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mesubi, Olurotimi; Ego-Osuala, Kelechi; Jeudy, Jean; Purtilo, James; Synowski, Stephen; Abutaleb, Ameer; Niekoop, Michelle; Abdulghani, Mohammed; Asoglu, Ramazan; See, Vincent; Saliaris, Anastasios; Shorofsky, Stephen; Dickfeld, Timm

    2015-02-01

    Late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) imaging is the gold standard for myocardial scar evaluation. Heterogeneous areas of scar ('gray zone'), may serve as arrhythmogenic substrate. Various gray zone protocols have been correlated to clinical outcomes and ventricular tachycardia channels. This study assessed the quantitative differences in gray zone and scar core sizes as defined by previously validated signal intensity (SI) threshold algorithms. High quality LGE-CMR images performed in 41 cardiomyopathy patients [ischemic (33) or non-ischemic (8)] were analyzed using previously validated SI threshold methods [Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM), n-standard deviation (NSD) and modified-FWHM]. Myocardial scar was defined as scar core and gray zone using SI thresholds based on these methods. Scar core, gray zone and total scar sizes were then computed and compared among these models. The median gray zone mass was 2-3 times larger with FWHM (15 g, IQR: 8-26 g) compared to NSD or modified-FWHM (5 g, IQR: 3-9 g; and 8 g. IQR: 6-12 g respectively, p zone extent (percentage of total scar that was gray zone) also varied significantly among the three methods, 51 % (IQR: 42-61 %), 17 % (IQR: 11-21 %) versus 38 % (IQR: 33-43 %) for FWHM, NSD and modified-FWHM respectively (p zone and scar core. Infarct core and total myocardial scar mass also differ using these methods. Further evaluation of the most accurate quantification method is needed.

  1. CNNs flag recognition preprocessing scheme based on gray scale stretching and local binary pattern

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Qian; Qu, Zhiyi; Hao, Kun

    2017-07-01

    Flag is a rather special recognition target in image recognition because of its non-rigid features with the location, scale and rotation characteristics. The location change can be handled well by the depth learning algorithm Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), but the scale and rotation changes are quite a challenge for CNNs. Since it has good rotation and gray scale invariance, the local binary pattern (LBP) is combined with grayscale stretching and CNNs to make LBP and grayscale stretching as CNNs pretreatment, which can not only significantly improve the efficiency of flag recognition, but can also evaluate the recognition effect through ROC, accuracy, MSE and quality factor.

  2. Application of cone beam computed tomography gray scale values in the diagnosis of cysts and tumors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aarfa Nasim

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Studies have unveiled that in CBCT the degree of x-ray attenuation is shown by gray scale (voxel value that is used in determining the pathologic lesion. Gray value is to assess the density or quality of bone and the density varies depending on radiation attenuation. CBCT gray values are considered approximate values and its measurement allows differentiation of soft tissue and fluid with that of hard tissue. Aim and Objective: We aimed to evaluate the application of CBCT gray scale value of cysts and tumors to assess the difference of bony changes and to determine the significance in diagnosing the contents of the lesions. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the department of Oral Medicine and Radiology. Patient clinically diagnosed either with cysts or tumors over a period of 18 months were included in the study. The gray scale reading was taken and radiological diagnosis was made which was further compared with the histopathological report of cysts and tumors. Results: CBCT gray scale value was found to be effective and superior to conventional radiographic tool and more useful in diagnosing the nature of cysts and tumors pre-operatively. Conclusion: CBCT gray value can be considered as a major tool in diagnosis of cyst and tumor and other soft or hard tissue lesion without any microscopic evaluation. CBCT gray scale measurement is superior to conventional intraoral radiographic methods for diagnosing the nature of lytic lesion of jaw.

  3. A Fixed-Pattern Noise Correction Method Based on Gray Value Compensation for TDI CMOS Image Sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhenwang; Xu, Jiangtao; Wang, Xinlei; Nie, Kaiming; Jin, Weimin

    2015-09-16

    In order to eliminate the fixed-pattern noise (FPN) in the output image of time-delay-integration CMOS image sensor (TDI-CIS), a FPN correction method based on gray value compensation is proposed. One hundred images are first captured under uniform illumination. Then, row FPN (RFPN) and column FPN (CFPN) are estimated based on the row-mean vector and column-mean vector of all collected images, respectively. Finally, RFPN are corrected by adding the estimated RFPN gray value to the original gray values of pixels in the corresponding row, and CFPN are corrected by subtracting the estimated CFPN gray value from the original gray values of pixels in the corresponding column. Experimental results based on a 128-stage TDI-CIS show that, after correcting the FPN in the image captured under uniform illumination with the proposed method, the standard-deviation of row-mean vector decreases from 5.6798 to 0.4214 LSB, and the standard-deviation of column-mean vector decreases from 15.2080 to 13.4623 LSB. Both kinds of FPN in the real images captured by TDI-CIS are eliminated effectively with the proposed method.

  4. Enhancement of image contrast in linacgram through image processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suh, Hyun Suk; Shin, Hyun Kyo; Lee, Re Na

    2000-01-01

    Conventional radiation therapy portal images gives low contrast images. The purpose of this study was to enhance image contrast of a linacgram by developing a low--cost image processing method. Chest linacgram was obtained by irradiating humanoid phantom and scanned using Diagnostic-Pro scanner for image processing. Several types of scan method were used in scanning. These include optical density scan, histogram equalized scan, linear histogram based scan, linear histogram independent scan, linear optical density scan, logarithmic scan, and power square root scan. The histogram distribution of the scanned images were plotted and the ranges of the gray scale were compared among various scan types. The scanned images were then transformed to the gray window by pallette fitting method and the contrast of the reprocessed portal images were evaluated for image improvement. Portal images of patients were also taken at various anatomic sites and the images were processed by Gray Scale Expansion (GSE) method. The patient images were analyzed to examine the feasibility of using the GSE technique in clinic. The histogram distribution showed that minimum and maximum gray scale ranges of 3192 and 21940 were obtained when the image was scanned using logarithmic method and square root method, respectively. Out of 256 gray scale, only 7 to 30% of the steps were used. After expanding the gray scale to full range, contrast of the portal images were improved. Experiment performed with patient image showed that improved identification of organs were achieved by GSE in portal images of knee joint, head and neck, lung, and pelvis. Phantom study demonstrated that the GSE technique improved image contrast of a linacgram. This indicates that the decrease in image quality resulting from the dual exposure, could be improved by expanding the gray scale. As a result, the improved technique will make it possible to compare the digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) and simulation image for

  5. Local gray level S-curve transformation - A generalized contrast enhancement technique for medical images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandhamal, Akash; Talbar, Sanjay; Gajre, Suhas; Hani, Ahmad Fadzil M; Kumar, Dileep

    2017-04-01

    Most medical images suffer from inadequate contrast and brightness, which leads to blurred or weak edges (low contrast) between adjacent tissues resulting in poor segmentation and errors in classification of tissues. Thus, contrast enhancement to improve visual information is extremely important in the development of computational approaches for obtaining quantitative measurements from medical images. In this research, a contrast enhancement algorithm that applies gray-level S-curve transformation technique locally in medical images obtained from various modalities is investigated. The S-curve transformation is an extended gray level transformation technique that results into a curve similar to a sigmoid function through a pixel to pixel transformation. This curve essentially increases the difference between minimum and maximum gray values and the image gradient, locally thereby, strengthening edges between adjacent tissues. The performance of the proposed technique is determined by measuring several parameters namely, edge content (improvement in image gradient), enhancement measure (degree of contrast enhancement), absolute mean brightness error (luminance distortion caused by the enhancement), and feature similarity index measure (preservation of the original image features). Based on medical image datasets comprising 1937 images from various modalities such as ultrasound, mammograms, fluorescent images, fundus, X-ray radiographs and MR images, it is found that the local gray-level S-curve transformation outperforms existing techniques in terms of improved contrast and brightness, resulting in clear and strong edges between adjacent tissues. The proposed technique can be used as a preprocessing tool for effective segmentation and classification of tissue structures in medical images. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Spinal Cord Gray Matter Atrophy in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paquin, M-Ê; El Mendili, M M; Gros, C; Dupont, S M; Cohen-Adad, J; Pradat, P-F

    2018-01-01

    There is an emerging need for biomarkers to better categorize clinical phenotypes and predict progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This study aimed to quantify cervical spinal gray matter atrophy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and investigate its association with clinical disability at baseline and after 1 year. Twenty-nine patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 22 healthy controls were scanned with 3T MR imaging. Standard functional scale was recorded at the time of MR imaging and after 1 year. MR imaging data were processed automatically to measure the spinal cord, gray matter, and white matter cross-sectional areas. A statistical analysis assessed the difference in cross-sectional areas between patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and controls, correlations between spinal cord and gray matter atrophy to clinical disability at baseline and at 1 year, and prediction of clinical disability at 1 year. Gray matter atrophy was more sensitive to discriminate patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis from controls ( P = .004) compared with spinal cord atrophy ( P = .02). Gray matter and spinal cord cross-sectional areas showed good correlations with clinical scores at baseline ( R = 0.56 for gray matter and R = 0.55 for spinal cord; P amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. © 2018 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

  7. An allometric scaling law between gray matter and white matter of cerebral cortex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He Jihuan

    2006-01-01

    An allometric scaling relationship between cortical white and gray volumes is derived from a general model that describes brain's remarkable efficiency and prodigious communications between brain areas. The model assumes that (1) a cell's metabolic rate depends upon cell's surface; (2) the overall basal metabolic rates of brain areas depend upon their fractal structures; (3) differential brain areas have same basal metabolic rate at slow wave sleep. The obtained allometric exponent scaling white matter to gray matter is 1.2, which is very much close to Zhang and Sejnowski's observation data

  8. 3D shape recovery from image focus using gray level co-occurrence matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmood, Fahad; Munir, Umair; Mehmood, Fahad; Iqbal, Javaid

    2018-04-01

    Recovering a precise and accurate 3-D shape of the target object utilizing robust 3-D shape recovery algorithm is an ultimate objective of computer vision community. Focus measure algorithm plays an important role in this architecture which convert the color values of each pixel of the acquired 2-D image dataset into corresponding focus values. After convolving the focus measure filter with the input 2-D image dataset, a 3-D shape recovery approach is applied which will recover the depth map. In this document, we are concerned with proposing Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix along with its statistical features for computing the focus information of the image dataset. The Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix quantifies the texture present in the image using statistical features and then applies joint probability distributive function of the gray level pairs of the input image. Finally, we quantify the focus value of the input image using Gaussian Mixture Model. Due to its little computational complexity, sharp focus measure curve, robust to random noise sources and accuracy, it is considered as superior alternative to most of recently proposed 3-D shape recovery approaches. This algorithm is deeply investigated on real image sequences and synthetic image dataset. The efficiency of the proposed scheme is also compared with the state of art 3-D shape recovery approaches. Finally, by means of two global statistical measures, root mean square error and correlation, we claim that this approach -in spite of simplicity generates accurate results.

  9. Document image binarization using "multi-scale" predefined filters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saabni, Raid M.

    2018-04-01

    Reading text or searching for key words within a historical document is a very challenging task. one of the first steps of the complete task is binarization, where we separate foreground such as text, figures and drawings from the background. Successful results of this important step in many cases can determine next steps to success or failure, therefore it is very vital to the success of the complete task of reading and analyzing the content of a document image. Generally, historical documents images are of poor quality due to their storage condition and degradation over time, which mostly cause to varying contrasts, stains, dirt and seeping ink from reverse side. In this paper, we use banks of anisotropic predefined filters in different scales and orientations to develop a binarization method for degraded documents and manuscripts. Using the fact, that handwritten strokes may follow different scales and orientations, we use predefined sets of filter banks having various scales, weights, and orientations to seek a compact set of filters and weights in order to generate diffrent layers of foregrounds and background. Results of convolving these fiters on the gray level image locally, weighted and accumulated to enhance the original image. Based on the different layers, seeds of components in the gray level image and a learning process, we present an improved binarization algorithm to separate the background from layers of foreground. Different layers of foreground which may be caused by seeping ink, degradation or other factors are also separated from the real foreground in a second phase. Promising experimental results were obtained on the DIBCO2011 , DIBCO2013 and H-DIBCO2016 data sets and a collection of images taken from real historical documents.

  10. LSB-based Steganography Using Reflected Gray Code for Color Quantum Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Panchi; Lu, Aiping

    2018-02-01

    At present, the classical least-significant-bit (LSB) based image steganography has been extended to quantum image processing. For the existing LSB-based quantum image steganography schemes, the embedding capacity is no more than 3 bits per pixel. Therefore, it is meaningful to study how to improve the embedding capacity of quantum image steganography. This work presents a novel LSB-based steganography using reflected Gray code for colored quantum images, and the embedding capacity of this scheme is up to 4 bits per pixel. In proposed scheme, the secret qubit sequence is considered as a sequence of 4-bit segments. For the four bits in each segment, the first bit is embedded in the second LSB of B channel of the cover image, and and the remaining three bits are embedded in LSB of RGB channels of each color pixel simultaneously using reflected-Gray code to determine the embedded bit from secret information. Following the transforming rule, the LSB of stego-image are not always same as the secret bits and the differences are up to almost 50%. Experimental results confirm that the proposed scheme shows good performance and outperforms the previous ones currently found in the literature in terms of embedding capacity.

  11. Hepatic hemangiomas: spectrum of US appearances on gray-scale, power doppler, and contrast-enhanced US

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kyoung Won; Kim, Tae Kyoung; Han Joon Koo; Kim, Ah Young; Lee, Hyun Ju; Park, Seong Ho; Kim, Young Hoon; Choi, Byung Ihn

    2000-01-01

    Because US plays a key role in the initial evaluation of hepatic hemangiomas, knowledge of the entire spectrum of US appearances of these tumors is important. Most hemangiomas have a distinctive US appearance, and even with those with atypical appearances on conventional gray-scale US, specific diagnoses can be made using pulse-inversion harmonic US with contrast agents. In this essay, we review the spectrum of US appearances of hepatic hemangiomas on conventional gray-scale, power Doppler, and pulse-inversion harmonic US with contrast agents. (author)

  12. Contrast Enhancement Method Based on Gray and Its Distance Double-Weighting Histogram Equalization for 3D CT Images of PCBs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Zeng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT is a new detection method for 3D nondestructive testing of printed circuit boards (PCBs. However, the obtained 3D image of PCBs exhibits low contrast because of several factors, such as the occurrence of metal artifacts and beam hardening, during the process of CBCT imaging. Histogram equalization (HE algorithms cannot effectively extend the gray difference between a substrate and a metal in 3D CT images of PCBs, and the reinforcing effects are insignificant. To address this shortcoming, this study proposes an image enhancement algorithm based on gray and its distance double-weighting HE. Considering the characteristics of 3D CT images of PCBs, the proposed algorithm uses gray and its distance double-weighting strategy to change the form of the original image histogram distribution, suppresses the grayscale of a nonmetallic substrate, and expands the grayscale of wires and other metals. The proposed algorithm also enhances the gray difference between a substrate and a metal and highlights metallic materials. The proposed algorithm can enhance the gray value of wires and other metals in 3D CT images of PCBs. It applies enhancement strategies of changing gray and its distance double-weighting mechanism to adapt to this particular purpose. The flexibility and advantages of the proposed algorithm are confirmed by analyses and experimental results.

  13. MR imaging of heterotopic gray matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kryst-Widzgowska, T.; Kozlowski, P.; Poniatowska, R.

    1994-01-01

    Six patients with heterotopic gray matter were evaluated with MR. 5 patients had history of seizures. 4 cases were suspected of the cerebral tumor. In the MR examination areas of heterotopic gray matter were found along the posterior horn of the lateral ventricle on the one side in 4 cases and bilateraly in 2 cases. In 3 cases another brain abnormalities were also detected including: hypoplasia of corpus callosum, hypoplasia of brain hemisphere, cavum septi pellucidi. MR is a modality of choice in the assessment of abnormal gray matter migration. (author)

  14. Three-dimensional volumetric gray-scale uterine cervix histogram prediction of days to delivery in full term pregnancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ji Youn; Kim, Hai-Joong; Hahn, Meong Hi; Jeon, Hye Jin; Cho, Geum Joon; Hong, Sun Chul; Oh, Min Jeong

    2013-09-01

    Our aim was to figure out whether volumetric gray-scale histogram difference between anterior and posterior cervix can indicate the extent of cervical consistency. We collected data of 95 patients who were appropriate for vaginal delivery with 36th to 37th weeks of gestational age from September 2010 to October 2011 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University Ansan Hospital. Patients were excluded who had one of the followings: Cesarean section, labor induction, premature rupture of membrane. Thirty-four patients were finally enrolled. The patients underwent evaluation of the cervix through Bishop score, cervical length, cervical volume, three-dimensional (3D) cervical volumetric gray-scale histogram. The interval days from the cervix evaluation to the delivery day were counted. We compared to 3D cervical volumetric gray-scale histogram, Bishop score, cervical length, cervical volume with interval days from the evaluation of the cervix to the delivery. Gray-scale histogram difference between anterior and posterior cervix was significantly correlated to days to delivery. Its correlation coefficient (R) was 0.500 (P = 0.003). The cervical length was significantly related to the days to delivery. The correlation coefficient (R) and P-value between them were 0.421 and 0.013. However, anterior lip histogram, posterior lip histogram, total cervical volume, Bishop score were not associated with days to delivery (P >0.05). By using gray-scale histogram difference between anterior and posterior cervix and cervical length correlated with the days to delivery. These methods can be utilized to better help predict a cervical consistency.

  15. Diffusion-tensor MR imaging of gray and white matter development during normal human brain maturation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, Pratik; Miller, Jeffrey H; Shimony, Joshua S; Philip, Joseph V; Nehra, Deepika; Snyder, Abraham Z; Conturo, Thomas E; Neil, Jeffrey J; McKinstry, Robert C

    2002-10-01

    Conventional MR imaging findings of human brain development are thought to result from decreasing water content, increasing macromolecular concentration, and myelination. We use diffusion-tensor MR imaging to test theoretical models that incorporate hypotheses regarding how these maturational processes influence water diffusion in developing gray and white matter. Experimental data were derived from diffusion-tensor imaging of 167 participants, ages 31 gestational weeks to 11 postnatal years. An isotropic diffusion model was applied to the gray matter of the basal ganglia and thalamus. A model that assumes changes in the magnitude of diffusion while maintaining cylindrically symmetric anisotropy was applied to the white matter of the corpus callosum and internal capsule. Deviations of the diffusion tensor from the ideal model predictions, due to measurement noise, were estimated by using Monte Carlo simulations. Developing gray matter of the basal ganglia and developing white matter of the internal capsule and corpus callosum largely conformed to theory, with only small departures from model predictions in older children. However, data from the thalamus substantially diverged from predicted values, with progressively larger deviations from the model with increasing participant age. Changes in water diffusion during maturation of central gray and white matter structures can largely be explained by theoretical models incorporating simple assumptions regarding the influence of brain water content and myelination, although deviations from theory increase as the brain matures. Diffusion-tensor MR imaging is a powerful method for studying the process of brain development, with both scientific and clinical applications.

  16. Granulomatous Prostatitis: Gray-scale Transrectal Ultrasonography and Color Doppler Ultrasonography Findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Hyoung Jung; Lim, Joo Won; Lee, Dong Ho; Ko, Young Tae; Kim, Eui Jong [Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2007-12-15

    We report here three cases of granulomatous prostatitis. All cases were confirmed by a transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided core biopsy of the prostate. Two cases received intravesical BCG therapy for a bladder tumor, and one case had no known predisposing condition. Gray-scale TRUS showed low echoic nodules in the outer gland in all cases. Color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) showed several dot-like blood flows within the low echoic nodules in two cases and several dot-like blood flows and short linear blood flows within the low echoic nodules in one case. Gray-scale TRUS findings of granulomatous prostatitis are similar to findings of prostate cancer. On CDUS, several dot-like blood flows or short linear blood flows were noted within the low echoic nodules in patients with granulomatous prostatitis. If low echoic nodules with dot-like or short linear blood flows are noted in patients with genitourinary tract tuberculosis or previous BCG therapy, granulomatous prostatitis should be included in the differential diagnosis. However, a prostatic biopsy is required for a final diagnosis

  17. Optimal voxel size for measuring global gray and white matter proton metabolite concentrations using chemical shift imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hanson, Lars Peter Grüner; Adalsteinsson, E; Pfefferbaum, A

    2000-01-01

    Quantification of gray and white matter levels of spectroscopically visible metabolites can provide important insights into brain development and pathological conditions. Chemical shift imaging offers a gain in efficiency for estimation of global gray and white matter metabolite concentrations co...

  18. SU-E-I-100: Heterogeneity Studying for Primary and Lymphoma Tumors by Using Multi-Scale Image Texture Analysis with PET-CT Images

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Dengwang [Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong Province (China); Wang, Qinfen [Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong (China); Li, H; Chen, J [Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan, Shandong (China)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this research is studying tumor heterogeneity of the primary and lymphoma by using multi-scale texture analysis with PET-CT images, where the tumor heterogeneity is expressed by texture features. Methods: Datasets were collected from 12 lung cancer patients, and both of primary and lymphoma tumors were detected with all these patients. All patients underwent whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT scan before treatment.The regions of interest (ROI) of primary and lymphoma tumor were contoured by experienced clinical doctors. Then the ROI of primary and lymphoma tumor is extracted automatically by using Matlab software. According to the geometry size of contour structure, the images of tumor are decomposed by multi-scale method.Wavelet transform was performed on ROI structures within images by L layers sampling, and then wavelet sub-bands which have the same size of the original image are obtained. The number of sub-bands is 3L+1.The gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is calculated within different sub-bands, thenenergy, inertia, correlation and gray in-homogeneity were extracted from GLCM.Finally, heterogeneity statistical analysis was studied for primary and lymphoma tumor using the texture features. Results: Energy, inertia, correlation and gray in-homogeneity are calculated with our experiments for heterogeneity statistical analysis.Energy for primary and lymphomatumor is equal with the same patient, while gray in-homogeneity and inertia of primaryare 2.59595±0.00855, 0.6439±0.0007 respectively. Gray in-homogeneity and inertia of lymphoma are 2.60115±0.00635, 0.64435±0.00055 respectively. The experiments showed that the volume of lymphoma is smaller than primary tumor, but thegray in-homogeneity and inertia were higher than primary tumor with the same patient, and the correlation with lymphoma tumors is zero, while the correlation with primary tumor isslightly strong. Conclusion: This studying showed that there were effective heterogeneity

  19. Improving the Calibration of Image Sensors Based on IOFBs, Using Differential Gray-Code Space Encoding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Luna Vázquez

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a fast calibration method to determine the transfer function for spatial correspondences in image transmission devices with Incoherent Optical Fiber Bundles (IOFBs, by performing a scan of the input, using differential patterns generated from a Gray code (Differential Gray-Code Space Encoding, DGSE. The results demonstrate that this technique provides a noticeable reduction in processing time and better quality of the reconstructed image compared to other, previously employed techniques, such as point or fringe scanning, or even other known space encoding techniques.

  20. Local Directional Probability Optimization for Quantification of Blurred Gray/White Matter Junction in Magnetic Resonance Image

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxia Qu

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The blurred gray/white matter junction is an important feature of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD lesions. FCD is the main cause of epilepsy and can be detected through magnetic resonance (MR imaging. Several earlier studies have focused on computing the gradient magnitude of the MR image and used the resulting map to model the blurred gray/white matter junction. However, gradient magnitude cannot quantify the blurred gray/white matter junction. Therefore, we proposed a novel algorithm called local directional probability optimization (LDPO for detecting and quantifying the width of the gray/white matter boundary (GWB within the lesional areas. The proposed LDPO method mainly consists of the following three stages: (1 introduction of a hidden Markov random field-expectation-maximization algorithm to compute the probability images of brain tissues in order to obtain the GWB region; (2 generation of local directions from gray matter (GM to white matter (WM passing through the GWB, considering the GWB to be an electric potential field; (3 determination of the optimal local directions for any given voxel of GWB, based on iterative searching of the neighborhood. This was then used to measure the width of the GWB. The proposed LDPO method was tested on real MR images of patients with FCD lesions. The results indicated that the LDPO method could quantify the GWB width. On the GWB width map, the width of the blurred GWB in the lesional region was observed to be greater than that in the non-lesional regions. The proposed GWB width map produced higher F-scores in terms of detecting the blurred GWB within the FCD lesional region as compared to that of FCD feature maps, indicating better trade-off between precision and recall.

  1. Image editing with Adobe Photoshop 6.0.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caruso, Ronald D; Postel, Gregory C

    2002-01-01

    The authors introduce Photoshop 6.0 for radiologists and demonstrate basic techniques of editing gray-scale cross-sectional images intended for publication and for incorporation into computerized presentations. For basic editing of gray-scale cross-sectional images, the Tools palette and the History/Actions palette pair should be displayed. The History palette may be used to undo a step or series of steps. The Actions palette is a menu of user-defined macros that save time by automating an action or series of actions. Converting an image to 8-bit gray scale is the first editing function. Cropping is the next action. Both decrease file size. Use of the smallest file size necessary for the purpose at hand is recommended. Final file size for gray-scale cross-sectional neuroradiologic images (8-bit, single-layer TIFF [tagged image file format] at 300 pixels per inch) intended for publication varies from about 700 Kbytes to 3 Mbytes. Final file size for incorporation into computerized presentations is about 10-100 Kbytes (8-bit, single-layer, gray-scale, high-quality JPEG [Joint Photographic Experts Group]), depending on source and intended use. Editing and annotating images before they are inserted into presentation software is highly recommended, both for convenience and flexibility. Radiologists should find that image editing can be carried out very rapidly once the basic steps are learned and automated. Copyright RSNA, 2002

  2. Image Processing for Binarization Enhancement via Fuzzy Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dominguez, Jesus A. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    A technique for enhancing a gray-scale image to improve conversions of the image to binary employs fuzzy reasoning. In the technique, pixels in the image are analyzed by comparing the pixel's gray scale value, which is indicative of its relative brightness, to the values of pixels immediately surrounding the selected pixel. The degree to which each pixel in the image differs in value from the values of surrounding pixels is employed as the variable in a fuzzy reasoning-based analysis that determines an appropriate amount by which the selected pixel's value should be adjusted to reduce vagueness and ambiguity in the image and improve retention of information during binarization of the enhanced gray-scale image.

  3. A comparison of methods to evaluate gray scale response of tomosynthesis systems using a software breast phantom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sousa, Maria A. Z.; Bakic, Predrag R.; Schiabel, Homero; Maidment, Andrew D. A.

    2017-03-01

    Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) has been shown to be an effective imaging tool for breast cancer diagnosis as it provides three-dimensional images of the breast with minimal tissue overlap. The quality of the reconstructed image depends on many factors that can be assessed using uniform or realistic phantoms. In this paper, we created four models of phantoms using an anthropomorphic software breast phantom and compared four methods to evaluate the gray scale response in terms of the contrast, noise and detectability of adipose and glandular tissues binarized according to phantom ground truth. For each method, circular regions of interest (ROIs) were selected with various sizes, quantity and positions inside a square area in the phantom. We also estimated the percent density of the simulated breast and the capability of distinguishing both tissues by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results shows a sensitivity of the methods to the ROI size, placement and to the slices considered.

  4. [A voxel-based morphometric analysis of brain gray matter in online game addicts].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Chuan-bo; Qian, Ruo-bing; Fu, Xian-ming; Lin, Bin; Ji, Xue-bing; Niu, Chao-shi; Wang, Ye-han

    2012-12-04

    To explore the possible brain mechanism of online game addiction (OGA) in terms of brain morphology through voxel-based morphometric (VBM) analysis. Seventeen subjects with OGA and 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC group) were recruited from Department of Psychology at our hospital during February-December 2011. The internet addiction scale (IAS) was used to measure the degree of OGA tendency. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed to acquire 3-dimensional T1-weighted images. And FSL 4.1 software was employed to confirm regional gray matter volume changes. For the regions where OGA subjects showed significantly different gray matter volumes from the controls, the gray matter volumes of these areas were extracted, averaged and regressed against the scores of IAS. The OGA group had lower gray matter volume in left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), bilateral insula (INS), left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and left supplementary motor area (SMA). Gray matter volumes of left OFC and bilateral INS showed a negative correlation with the scores of IAS (r = -0.65, r = -0.78, P online game addicts and they may be correlated with the occurrence and maintenance of OGA.

  5. Low contrast detectability for color patterns variation of display images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogura, Akio

    1998-01-01

    In recent years, the radionuclide images are acquired in digital form and displayed with false colors for signal intensity. This color scales for signal intensity have various patterns. In this study, low contrast detectability was compared the performance of gray scale cording with three color scales: the hot color scale, prism color scale and stripe color scale. SPECT images of brain phantom were displayed using four color patterns. These printed images and display images were evaluated with ROC analysis. Display images were indicated higher detectability than printed images. The hot scale and gray scale images indicated better Az of ROC than prism scale images because the prism scale images showed higher false positive rate. (author)

  6. Comparison between a new computer program and the reference software for gray-scale median analysis of atherosclerotic carotid plaques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casella, Ivan Benaduce; Fukushima, Rodrigo Bono; Marques, Anita Battistini de Azevedo; Cury, Marcus Vinícius Martins; Presti, Calógero

    2015-03-01

    To compare a new dedicated software program and Adobe Photoshop for gray-scale median (GSM) analysis of B-mode images of carotid plaques. A series of 42 carotid plaques generating ≥50% diameter stenosis was evaluated by a single observer. The best segment for visualization of internal carotid artery plaque was identified on a single longitudinal view and images were recorded in JPEG format. Plaque analysis was performed by both programs. After normalization of image intensity (blood = 0, adventitial layer = 190), histograms were obtained after manual delineation of plaque. Results were compared with nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test and Kendall tau-b correlation analysis. GSM ranged from 00 to 100 with Adobe Photoshop and from 00 to 96 with IMTPC, with a high grade of similarity between image pairs, and a highly significant correlation (R = 0.94, p < .0001). IMTPC software appears suitable for the GSM analysis of carotid plaques. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Correlation among body height, intelligence, and brain gray matter volume in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taki, Yasuyuki; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sassa, Yuko; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nouchi, Rui; Wu, Kai; Fukuda, Hiroshi; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2012-01-16

    A significant positive correlation between height and intelligence has been demonstrated in children. Additionally, intelligence has been associated with the volume of gray matter in the brains of children. Based on these correlations, we analyzed the correlation among height, full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) and gray matter volume applying voxel-based morphometry using data from the brain magnetic resonance images of 160 healthy children aged 5-18 years of age. As a result, body height was significantly positively correlated with brain gray matter volume. Additionally, the regional gray matter volume of several regions such as the bilateral prefrontal cortices, temporoparietal region, and cerebellum was significantly positively correlated with body height and that the gray matter volume of several of these regions was also significantly positively correlated with full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) scores after adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Our results demonstrate that gray and white matter volume may mediate the correlation between body height and intelligence in healthy children. Additionally, the correlations among gray and white matter volume, height, and intelligence may be at least partially explained by the effect of insulin-like growth factor-1 and growth hormones. Given the importance of the effect of environmental factors, especially nutrition, on height, IQ, and gray matter volume, the present results stress the importance of nutrition during childhood for the healthy maturation of body and brain. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. A novel quantum LSB-based steganography method using the Gray code for colored quantum images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidari, Shahrokh; Farzadnia, Ehsan

    2017-10-01

    As one of the prevalent data-hiding techniques, steganography is defined as the act of concealing secret information in a cover multimedia encompassing text, image, video and audio, imperceptibly, in order to perform interaction between the sender and the receiver in which nobody except the receiver can figure out the secret data. In this approach a quantum LSB-based steganography method utilizing the Gray code for quantum RGB images is investigated. This method uses the Gray code to accommodate two secret qubits in 3 LSBs of each pixel simultaneously according to reference tables. Experimental consequences which are analyzed in MATLAB environment, exhibit that the present schema shows good performance and also it is more secure and applicable than the previous one currently found in the literature.

  9. [Research on K-means clustering segmentation method for MRI brain image based on selecting multi-peaks in gray histogram].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Zhaoxue; Yu, Haizhong; Chen, Hao

    2013-12-01

    To solve the problem of traditional K-means clustering in which initial clustering centers are selected randomly, we proposed a new K-means segmentation algorithm based on robustly selecting 'peaks' standing for White Matter, Gray Matter and Cerebrospinal Fluid in multi-peaks gray histogram of MRI brain image. The new algorithm takes gray value of selected histogram 'peaks' as the initial K-means clustering center and can segment the MRI brain image into three parts of tissue more effectively, accurately, steadily and successfully. Massive experiments have proved that the proposed algorithm can overcome many shortcomings caused by traditional K-means clustering method such as low efficiency, veracity, robustness and time consuming. The histogram 'peak' selecting idea of the proposed segmentootion method is of more universal availability.

  10. Computed gray levels in multislice and cone-beam computed tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azeredo, Fabiane; de Menezes, Luciane Macedo; Enciso, Reyes; Weissheimer, Andre; de Oliveira, Rogério Belle

    2013-07-01

    Gray level is the range of shades of gray in the pixels, representing the x-ray attenuation coefficient that allows for tissue density assessments in computed tomography (CT). An in-vitro study was performed to investigate the relationship between computed gray levels in 3 cone-beam CT (CBCT) scanners and 1 multislice spiral CT device using 5 software programs. Six materials (air, water, wax, acrylic, plaster, and gutta-percha) were scanned with the CBCT and CT scanners, and the computed gray levels for each material at predetermined points were measured with OsiriX Medical Imaging software (Geneva, Switzerland), OnDemand3D (CyberMed International, Seoul, Korea), E-Film (Merge Healthcare, Milwaukee, Wis), Dolphin Imaging (Dolphin Imaging & Management Solutions, Chatsworth, Calif), and InVivo Dental Software (Anatomage, San Jose, Calif). The repeatability of these measurements was calculated with intraclass correlation coefficients, and the gray levels were averaged to represent each material. Repeated analysis of variance tests were used to assess the differences in gray levels among scanners and materials. There were no differences in mean gray levels with the different software programs. There were significant differences in gray levels between scanners for each material evaluated (P <0.001). The software programs were reliable and had no influence on the CT and CBCT gray level measurements. However, the gray levels might have discrepancies when different CT and CBCT scanners are used. Therefore, caution is essential when interpreting or evaluating CBCT images because of the significant differences in gray levels between different CBCT scanners, and between CBCT and CT values. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Automatic adjustment of display window (gray-level condition) for MR images using neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohhashi, Akinami; Nambu, Kyojiro.

    1992-01-01

    We have developed a system to automatically adjust the display window width and level (WWL) for MR images using neural networks. There were three main points in the development of our system as follows: 1) We defined an index for the clarity of a displayed image, and called 'EW'. EW is a quantitative measure of the clarity of an image displayed in a certain WWL, and can be derived from the difference between gray-level with the WWL adjusted by a human expert and with a certain WWL. 2) We extracted a group of six features from a gray-level histogram of a displayed image. We designed two neural networks which are able to learn the relationship between these features and the desired output (teaching signal), 'EQ', which is normalized to 0 to 1.0 from EW. Two neural networks were used to share the patterns to be learned; one learns a variety of patterns with less accuracy, and the other learns similar patterns with accuracy. Learning was performed using a back-propagation method. As a result, the neural networks after learning are able to provide a quantitative measure, 'Q', of the clarity of images displayed in the designated WWL. 3) Using the 'Hill climbing' method, we have been able to determine the best possible WWL for a displaying image. We have tested this technique for MR brain images. The results show that this system can adjust WWL comparable to that adjusted by a human expert for the majority of test images. The neural network is effective for the automatic adjustment of the display window for MR images. We are now studying the application of this method to MR images of another regions. (author)

  12. GRAY CNVUFAC, Black-Body Radiation View Factors with Self-Shadowing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, R.L.

    1991-01-01

    Description of program or function: CNVUFAC, the General Dynamics heat-transfer radiation view program, was adapted for use on the LLNL computer system. The input and output were modified, and a node incrementing logic added for compatibility with TRUMP (NESC 771) thermal analyzer and related codes. The program performs the multiple integration necessary to evaluate the geometric black-body radiation node to node view factors. CNVUFAC uses an elemental area summation scheme to evaluate the multiple integrals. The program permits shadowing and self-shadowing. The basic configuration shapes that can be considered are cylinders, cones, spheres, ellipsoids, flat plates, disks, toroids, and polynomials of revolution. Portions of these shapes can also be considered. Card-image output containing node number and view factor information is generated for input to GRAY, a related code. GRAY performs the matrix manipulations necessary to convert black-body radiation heat-transfer view factors to gray-body view factors as required by thermal analyzer codes. The black-body view factors contain only geometric relationships. GRAY allows the effects of multiple gray-body reflections to be included. The resulting effective gray-body view factors can then be used with the corresponding fourth-power temperature differences to obtain the net radiative heat flux. GRAY accepts a matrix input or the card-image output generated by CNVUFAC. The resulting card-image GRAY output is in a form usable by TRUMP

  13. Gray matter alterations and correlation of nutritional intake with the gray matter volume in prediabetes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Yi-Cheng; Lai, Chien-Han; Wu, Yu-Te; Yang, Shwu-Huey

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The neurophysiology of prediabetes plays an important role in preventive medicine. The dysregulation of glucose metabolism is likely linked to changes in neuron-related gray matter. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate gray matter alterations in medication-naive prediabetic patients. We expected to find alterations in the gray matter of prediabetic patients. A total of 64 prediabetic patients and 54 controls were enrolled. All subjects received T1 scans using a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging machine. Subjects also completed nutritional intake records at the 24-hour and 3-day time points to determine their carbohydrate, protein, fat, and total calorie intake. We utilized optimized voxel-based morphometry to estimate the gray matter differences between the patients and controls. In addition, the preprandial serum glucose level and the carbohydrate, protein, fat, and total calorie intake levels were tested to determine whether these parameters were correlated with the gray matter volume. Prediabetic patients had lower gray matter volumes than controls in the right anterior cingulate gyrus, right posterior cingulate gyrus, left insula, left super temporal gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus (corrected P prediabetic patients. PMID:27336893

  14. Sea-land segmentation for infrared remote sensing images based on superpixels and multi-scale features

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Sen; Zou, Zhengxia; Liu, Dunge; Xia, Zhenghuan; Shi, Zhenwei

    2018-06-01

    Sea-land segmentation is a key step for the information processing of ocean remote sensing images. Traditional sea-land segmentation algorithms ignore the local similarity prior of sea and land, and thus fail in complex scenarios. In this paper, we propose a new sea-land segmentation method for infrared remote sensing images to tackle the problem based on superpixels and multi-scale features. Considering the connectivity and local similarity of sea or land, we interpret the sea-land segmentation task in view of superpixels rather than pixels, where similar pixels are clustered and the local similarity are explored. Moreover, the multi-scale features are elaborately designed, comprising of gray histogram and multi-scale total variation. Experimental results on infrared bands of Landsat-8 satellite images demonstrate that the proposed method can obtain more accurate and more robust sea-land segmentation results than the traditional algorithms.

  15. Cognitive Implications of Deep Gray Matter Iron in Multiple Sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujiwara, E; Kmech, J A; Cobzas, D; Sun, H; Seres, P; Blevins, G; Wilman, A H

    2017-05-01

    Deep gray matter iron accumulation is increasingly recognized in association with multiple sclerosis and can be measured in vivo with MR imaging. The cognitive implications of this pathology are not well-understood, especially vis-à-vis deep gray matter atrophy. Our aim was to investigate the relationships between cognition and deep gray matter iron in MS by using 2 MR imaging-based iron-susceptibility measures. Forty patients with multiple sclerosis (relapsing-remitting, n = 16; progressive, n = 24) and 27 healthy controls were imaged at 4.7T by using the transverse relaxation rate and quantitative susceptibility mapping. The transverse relaxation rate and quantitative susceptibility mapping values and volumes (atrophy) of the caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and thalamus were determined by multiatlas segmentation. Cognition was assessed with the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests. Relationships between cognition and deep gray matter iron were examined by hierarchic regressions. Compared with controls, patients showed reduced memory ( P processing speed ( P = .02) and smaller putamen ( P deep gray matter iron accumulation in the current multiple sclerosis cohort. Atrophy and iron accumulation in deep gray matter both have negative but separable relationships to cognition in multiple sclerosis. © 2017 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

  16. Emerging factors associated with the decline of a gray fox population and multi-scale land cover associations of mesopredators in the Chicago metropolitan area.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Willingham, Alison N.; /Ohio State U.

    2008-01-01

    Statewide surveys of furbearers in Illinois indicate gray (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and red (Vulpes vulpes) foxes have experienced substantial declines in relative abundance, whereas other species such as raccoons (Procyon lotor) and coyotes (Canis latrans) have exhibited dramatic increases during the same time period. The cause of the declines of gray and red foxes has not been identified, and the current status of gray foxes remains uncertain. Therefore, I conducted a large-scale predator survey and tracked radiocollared gray foxes from 2004 to 2007 in order to determine the distribution, survival, cause-specific mortality sources and land cover associations of gray foxes in an urbanized region of northeastern Illinois, and examined the relationships between the occurrence of gray fox and the presence other species of mesopredators, specifically coyotes and raccoons. Although generalist mesopredators are common and can reach high densities in many urban areas their urban ecology is poorly understood due to their secretive nature and wariness of humans. Understanding how mesopredators utilize urbanized landscapes can be useful in the management and control of disease outbreaks, mitigation of nuisance wildlife issues, and gaining insight into how mesopredators shape wildlife communities in highly fragmented areas. I examined habitat associations of raccoons, opossums (Didelphis virginiana), domestic cats (Felis catus), coyotes, foxes (gray and red), and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) at multiple spatial scales in an urban environment. Gray fox occurrence was rare and widely dispersed, and survival estimates were similar to other studies. Gray fox occurrence was negatively associated with natural and semi-natural land cover types. Fox home range size increased with increasing urban development suggesting that foxes may be negatively influenced by urbanization. Gray fox occurrence was not associated with coyote or raccoon presence. However, spatial avoidance and

  17. Gray-scale contrast-enhanced utrasonography in detecting sentinel lymph nodes: An animal study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Yuexiang; Cheng Zhigang; Li Junlai; Tang Jie

    2010-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the usefulness of gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for detecting sentinel lymph nodes. Methods: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was performed in five normal dogs (four female and one male) after subcutaneous administration of a sonographic contrast agent (Sonovue, Bracco, Milan, Italy). Four distinct regions in each animal were examined. After contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, 0.8 ml of blue dye was injected into the same location as Sonovue and the sentinel lymph nodes were detected by surgical dissection. The findings of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography were compared with those of the blue dye. Results: Twenty-one sentinel lymph nodes were detected by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography while 23 were identified by blue dye with surgical dissection. Compared with the blue dye, the detection rate of enhanced ultrasonography for the sentinel lymph nodes is 91.3% (21/23). Two patterns of enhancement in the sentinel lymph nodes were observed: complete enhancement (5 sentinel lymph nodes) and partial enhancement (16 sentinel lymph nodes). The lymphatic channels were demonstrated as hyperechoic linear structures leading from the injection site and could be readily followed to their sentinel lymph nodes. Histopathologic examination showed proliferation of lymphatic follicles or lymphatic sinus in partial enhanced sentinel lymph nodes while normal lymphatic tissue was demonstrated in completely enhanced sentinel lymph nodes. Conclusions: Sonovue combined with gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasonography may provide a feasible method for detecting sentinel lymph nodes.

  18. Evaluation of Subependymal Gray Matter Heterotopias on Fetal MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagaraj, U D; Peiro, J L; Bierbrauer, K S; Kline-Fath, B M

    2016-04-01

    Subependymal grey matter heterotopias are seen in a high proportion of children with Chiari II malformation and are potentially clinically relevant. However, despite its growing use, there is little in the literature describing its detection on fetal MRI. Our aim was to evaluate the accuracy in diagnosing subependymal gray matter heterotopias in fetuses with spinal dysraphism on fetal MR imaging. This study is a retrospective analysis of 203 fetal MRIs performed at a single institution for spinal dysraphism during a 10-year period. Corresponding obstetric sonography, postnatal imaging, and clinical/operative reports were reviewed. Of the fetal MRIs reviewed, 95 fetuses were included in our analysis; 23.2% (22/95) were suspected of having subependymal gray matter heterotopias on fetal MR imaging prospectively. However, only 50% (11/22) of these cases were confirmed on postnatal brain MR imaging. On postnatal brain MR imaging, 28.4% (27/95) demonstrated imaging findings consistent with subependymal gray matter heterotopia. Only 40.7% (11/27) of these cases were prospectively diagnosed on fetal MR imaging. Fetal MR imaging is limited in its ability to identify subependymal gray matter heterotopias in fetuses with spinal dysraphism. It is believed that this limitation relates to a combination of factors, including artifacts from fetal motion, the very small size of fetal neuroanatomy, differences in imaging techniques, and, possibly, irregularity related to denudation of the ependyma/subependyma in the presence of spinal dysraphism and/or stretching of the germinal matrix in ventriculomegaly. © 2016 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

  19. A Simple and Robust Gray Image Encryption Scheme Using Chaotic Logistic Map and Artificial Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adelaïde Nicole Kengnou Telem

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A robust gray image encryption scheme using chaotic logistic map and artificial neural network (ANN is introduced. In the proposed method, an external secret key is used to derive the initial conditions for the logistic chaotic maps which are employed to generate weights and biases matrices of the multilayer perceptron (MLP. During the learning process with the backpropagation algorithm, ANN determines the weight matrix of the connections. The plain image is divided into four subimages which are used for the first diffusion stage. The subimages obtained previously are divided into the square subimage blocks. In the next stage, different initial conditions are employed to generate a key stream which will be used for permutation and diffusion of the subimage blocks. Some security analyses such as entropy analysis, statistical analysis, and key sensitivity analysis are given to demonstrate the key space of the proposed algorithm which is large enough to make brute force attacks infeasible. Computing validation using experimental data with several gray images has been carried out with detailed numerical analysis, in order to validate the high security of the proposed encryption scheme.

  20. Gray Matter Concentration Abnormality in Brains of Narcolepsy Patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joo, Eun Yeon; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Sung Tae; Hong, Seung Bong [Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2009-12-15

    To investigate gray matter concentration changes in the brains of narcoleptic patients. Twenty-nine narcoleptic patient with cataplexy and 29 age and sex-matched normal subjects (mean age, 31 years old) underwent volumetric MRIs. The MRIs were spatially normalized to a standard T1 template and subdivided into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These segmented images were then smoothed using a 12-mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) isotropic Gaussian kernel. An optimized voxel-based morphometry protocol was used to analyze brain tissue concentrations using SPM2 (statistical parametric mapping). A one-way analysis of variance was applied to the concentration analysis of gray matter images. Narcoleptics with cataplexy showed reduced gray matter concentration in bilateral thalami, left gyrus rectus, bilateral frontopolar gyri, bilateral short insular gyri, bilateral superior frontal gyri, and right superior temporal and left inferior temporal gyri compared to normal subjects (uncorrected p < 0.001). Furthermore, small volume correction revealed gray matter concentration reduction in bilateral nuclei accumbens, hypothalami, and thalami (false discovery rate corrected p < 0.05). Gray matter concentration reductions were observed in brain regions related to excessive daytime sleepiness, cognition, attention, and memory in narcoleptics with cataplexy

  1. Gray Matter Concentration Abnormality in Brains of Narcolepsy Patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joo, Eun Yeon; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Sung Tae; Hong, Seung Bong

    2009-01-01

    To investigate gray matter concentration changes in the brains of narcoleptic patients. Twenty-nine narcoleptic patient with cataplexy and 29 age and sex-matched normal subjects (mean age, 31 years old) underwent volumetric MRIs. The MRIs were spatially normalized to a standard T1 template and subdivided into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These segmented images were then smoothed using a 12-mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) isotropic Gaussian kernel. An optimized voxel-based morphometry protocol was used to analyze brain tissue concentrations using SPM2 (statistical parametric mapping). A one-way analysis of variance was applied to the concentration analysis of gray matter images. Narcoleptics with cataplexy showed reduced gray matter concentration in bilateral thalami, left gyrus rectus, bilateral frontopolar gyri, bilateral short insular gyri, bilateral superior frontal gyri, and right superior temporal and left inferior temporal gyri compared to normal subjects (uncorrected p < 0.001). Furthermore, small volume correction revealed gray matter concentration reduction in bilateral nuclei accumbens, hypothalami, and thalami (false discovery rate corrected p < 0.05). Gray matter concentration reductions were observed in brain regions related to excessive daytime sleepiness, cognition, attention, and memory in narcoleptics with cataplexy

  2. Gray Matter Is Targeted in First-Attack Multiple Sclerosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schutzer, Steven E.; Angel, Thomas E.; Liu, Tao; Schepmoes, Athena A.; Xie, Fang; Bergquist, Jonas P.; Vecsei, Lazlo' ; Zadori, Denes; Camp, David G.; Holland, Bart K.; Smith, Richard D.; Coyle, Patricia K.

    2013-09-10

    The cause of multiple sclerosis (MS), its driving pathogenesis at the earliest stages, and what factors allow the first clinical attack to manifest remain unknown. Some imaging studies suggest gray rather than white matter may be involved early, and some postulate this may be predictive of developing MS. Other imaging studies are in conflict. To determine if there was objective molecular evidence of gray matter involvement in early MS we used high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of first-attack MS patients (two independent groups) compared to established relapsing remitting (RR) MS and controls. We found that the CSF proteins in first-attack patients were differentially enriched for gray matter components (axon, neuron, synapse). Myelin components did not distinguish these groups. The results support that gray matter dysfunction is involved early in MS, and also may be integral for the initial clinical presentation.

  3. Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weng, Chuan-Bo, E-mail: send007@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); School of Neurosurgery, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishang Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032 (China); Qian, Ruo-Bing, E-mail: rehomail@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Fu, Xian-Ming, E-mail: 506537677@qq.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Lin, Bin, E-mail: 274722758@qq.com [School of Neurosurgery, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishang Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032 (China); Han, Xiao-Peng, E-mail: hanxiaopeng@163.com [Department of Psychology, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Niu, Chao-Shi, E-mail: niuchaoshi@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Wang, Ye-Han, E-mail: wangyehan@163.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China); Anhui Provincial Institute of Stereotactic Neurosurgery, 9 Lujiang Road, Hefei, Ahui Province 230001 (China)

    2013-08-15

    Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA.

  4. Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weng, Chuan-Bo; Qian, Ruo-Bing; Fu, Xian-Ming; Lin, Bin; Han, Xiao-Peng; Niu, Chao-Shi; Wang, Ye-Han

    2013-01-01

    Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA

  5. Gray matter and white matter abnormalities in online game addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Chuan-Bo; Qian, Ruo-Bing; Fu, Xian-Ming; Lin, Bin; Han, Xiao-Peng; Niu, Chao-Shi; Wang, Ye-Han

    2013-08-01

    Online game addiction (OGA) has attracted greater attention as a serious public mental health issue. However, there are only a few brain magnetic resonance imaging studies on brain structure about OGA. In the current study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the microstructural changes in OGA and assessed the relationship between these morphology changes and the Young's Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) scores within the OGA group. Compared with healthy subjects, OGA individuals showed significant gray matter atrophy in the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula, and right supplementary motor area. According to TBSS analysis, OGA subjects had significantly reduced FA in the right genu of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe white matter, and right external capsule. Gray matter volumes (GMV) of the right orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral insula and FA values of the right external capsule were significantly positively correlated with the YIAS scores in the OGA subjects. Our findings suggested that microstructure abnormalities of gray and white matter were present in OGA subjects. This finding may provide more insights into the understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of OGA. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The ``gray cortex``: an early sign of stress fracture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mulligan, M.E. [Dept. of Radiology, Univ. of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD (United States)

    1995-04-01

    The purpose of this report is to describe an early radiographic sign of stress fracture, the ``gray cortex.`` The imaging findings in three patients with tibial stress fractures were reviewed. The ``gray cortex`` sign was evident on the initial conventional radiographs in all three cases. It was prospectively reported as a sign of stress fracture in two patients and was evident on the initial radiographs (taken elsewhere) of the third patient, who was referred for additional workup of a possible neoplasm. Special imaging studies (technetium-99m bone scan, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging) confirmed the diagnosis in all three cases. (orig.)

  7. The ''gray cortex'': an early sign of stress fracture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mulligan, M.E.

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of this report is to describe an early radiographic sign of stress fracture, the ''gray cortex.'' The imaging findings in three patients with tibial stress fractures were reviewed. The ''gray cortex'' sign was evident on the initial conventional radiographs in all three cases. It was prospectively reported as a sign of stress fracture in two patients and was evident on the initial radiographs (taken elsewhere) of the third patient, who was referred for additional workup of a possible neoplasm. Special imaging studies (technetium-99m bone scan, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging) confirmed the diagnosis in all three cases. (orig.)

  8. Fast processing of foreign fiber images by image blocking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yutao Wu

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available In the textile industry, it is always the case that cotton products are constitutive of many types of foreign fibers which affect the overall quality of cotton products. As the foundation of the foreign fiber automated inspection, image process exerts a critical impact on the process of foreign fiber identification. This paper presents a new approach for the fast processing of foreign fiber images. This approach includes five main steps, image block, image pre-decision, image background extraction, image enhancement and segmentation, and image connection. At first, the captured color images were transformed into gray-scale images; followed by the inversion of gray-scale of the transformed images ; then the whole image was divided into several blocks. Thereafter, the subsequent step is to judge which image block contains the target foreign fiber image through image pre-decision. Then we segment the image block via OSTU which possibly contains target images after background eradication and image strengthening. Finally, we connect those relevant segmented image blocks to get an intact and clear foreign fiber target image. The experimental result shows that this method of segmentation has the advantage of accuracy and speed over the other segmentation methods. On the other hand, this method also connects the target image that produce fractures therefore getting an intact and clear foreign fiber target image.

  9. Structure of the medical digital image

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baltadzhiev, D.

    1997-01-01

    In up-to-date medical practice diagnostic imaging techniques are the most powerful tools available to clinicians. The modern medical equipment is entirely based on digital technology. In this article the principle of generating medical images is presented. The concept for gray scale where medical images are commonly presented is described. The patterns of gray images transformation into colour scale are likewise outlined. Basic notions from medical imaging terminology such as image matrix, pixel, spatial and contrast resolution power, bit, byte and the like are explained. Also an example is given of how the binary system treats images. On the basis of digital technology the obtained medical images lend themselves readily to additional processing, reconstruction (including 3D) and storage for subsequent utilization. The ceaseless progress of computerized communications promote easy and prompt access for clinicians to the diagnostic images needed as well as realization of expert consultations by teleconference contact (author)

  10. Ultrasound Imaging and its modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2002-01-01

    Modern medical ultrasound scanners are used for imaging nearly all soft tissue structures in the body. The anatomy can be studied from gray-scale B-mode images, where the reflectivity and scattering strength of the tissues are displayed. The imaging is performed in real time with 20 to 100 images...

  11. Utilization of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator in a gray scale detour phase method for Fourier holograms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makey, Ghaith; El-Daher, Moustafa Sayem; Al-Shufi, Kanj

    2012-11-10

    This paper introduces a new modification for the well-known binary detour phase method, which is largely used to represent Fourier holograms; the modification utilizes gray scale level control provided by a liquid crystal spatial light modulator to improve the traditional binary detour phase. Results are shown by both simulation and experiment.

  12. Normal gray and white matter volume after weight restoration in adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lázaro, Luisa; Andrés, Susana; Calvo, Anna; Cullell, Clàudia; Moreno, Elena; Plana, M Teresa; Falcón, Carles; Bargalló, Núria; Castro-Fornieles, Josefina

    2013-12-01

    The aim of this study was to determine whether treated, weight-stabilized adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) present brain volume differences in comparison with healthy controls. Thirty-five adolescents with weight-recovered AN and 17 healthy controls were assessed by means of psychopathology scales and magnetic resonance imaging. Axial three-dimensional T1-weighted images were obtained in a 1.5 Tesla scanner and analyzed using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM). There were no significant differences between controls and weight-stabilized AN patients with regard to global volumes of either gray or white brain matter, or in the regional VBM study. Differences were not significant between patients with psychopharmacological treatment and without, between those with amenorrhea and without, as well as between patients with restrictive versus purgative AN. The present findings reveal no global or regional gray or white matter abnormalities in this sample of adolescents following weight restoration. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  13. Interpretations of NMR images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi, J.Z.; McFarland, W.D.; Chen, S.S.; Sadhu, V.K.

    1986-01-01

    Two color display schemes are generally considered in medical images: pseudo-color and color composite. Psuedo-color technique maps the intensity means of a single monochrome image into a three dimensional color space, the gray level is thus replaced by the assigned color. Such a psuedo-color assignment is somewhat arbitrary but may be advantageous if the monochrome image is composed of simple intensity patterns. A good example of psuedo-color application is in nuclear medicine: The change of gray levels can be simply determined and the isocounts from two regions with different surroundings can be readily recognized. However, the use of psuedo-color in CT or MR imaging is controversial because it does not give additional information and may exaggerate insignificant gray scale differences. The color composite technique maps three parametric image data into a three dimensional color space, and thus three monochrome images are merged to form a single color image. The color composite technique increases the number of ways information can be displayed and provides both quantitative and qualitative data about the object or event represented. This paper describes the application of color composite in NMR images

  14. Clinical and Morphological Aspects of Gray Matter Heterotopia Type Developmental Malformations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zając-Mnich, Monika; Kostkiewicz, Agnieszka; Guz, Wiesław; Dziurzyńska-Białek, Ewa; Solińska, Anna; Stopa, Joanna; Kucharska-Miąsik, Iwona

    2014-01-01

    Gray matter heterotopia (GMH) is a malformation of the central nervous system characterized by interruption of normal neuroblasts migration between the 7 th and 16 th week of fetal development. The aim of the study was the analysis of clinical symptoms, prevalence rate and the most common concurrent central nervous system (CNS) developmental disorders as well as assessment of characteristic morphological changes of gray matter heterotopia in children hospitalized in our institution between the year 2001 and 2012. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients’ data who were hospitalized in our institution between the year 2001 and 2012. We assessed clinical data and imaging exams in children diagnosed with gray matter heterotopia confirmed in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). GMH occurred in 26 children hospitalized in our institution between the year 2001 and 2012. Among children with gray matter heterotopia most common clinical symptoms were: epilepsy, intellectual disability and hemiparesis. The commonest location of heterotopic gray matter were fronto-parietal areas of brain parenchyma, mostly subependymal region. Gray matter heterotopia occurred with other developmental disorders of the central nervous system rather than solely and in most cases it was bilateral. Schizencephaly and abnormalities of the corpus callosum were the most often developmental disorders accompanying GMH. 1. Subependymal gray matter heterotopia was more common than subcortical GMH. Subependymal GMH showed tendency to localize in the region of the bodies of the lateral ventricles. The least common was laminar GMH. 2. Gray matter heterotopia occurred more often with other developmental disorders of the central nervous system rather than solely. The most frequent concurrent disorders of the central nervous system were: schizencephaly, developmental abnormalities of the corpus callosum, arachnoid cyst, abnormalities of the septum pellucidum and the fornix. 3. GMH foci were more often

  15. Longitudinal Study of Gray Matter Changes in Parkinson Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, X; Liang, P; Li, Y; Shi, L; Wang, D; Li, K

    2015-12-01

    The pathology of Parkinson disease leads to morphological brain volume changes. So far, the progressive gray matter volume change across time specific to patients with Parkinson disease compared controls remains unclear. Our aim was to investigate the pattern of gray matter changes in patients with Parkinson disease and to explore the progressive gray matter volume change specific to patients with Parkinson disease with disease progression by using voxel-based morphometry analysis. Longitudinal cognitive assessment and structural MR imaging of 89 patients with Parkinson disease (62 men) and 55 healthy controls (33 men) were from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative data base, including the initial baseline and 12-month follow-up data. Two-way analysis of covariance was performed with covariates of age, sex, years of education, imaging data from multiple centers, and total intracranial volume by using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra tool from SPM8 software. Gray matter volume changes for patients with Parkinson disease were detected with decreased gray matter volume in the frontotemporoparietal areas and the bilateral caudate, with increased gray matter volume in the bilateral limbic/paralimbic areas, medial globus pallidus/putamen, and the right occipital cortex compared with healthy controls. Progressive gray matter volume decrease in the bilateral caudate was found for both patients with Parkinson disease and healthy controls, and this caudate volume was positively associated with cognitive ability for both groups. The progressive gray matter volume increase specific to the patients with Parkinson disease was identified close to the left ventral lateral nucleus of thalamus, and a positive relationship was found between the thalamic volume and the tremor scores in a subgroup with tremor-dominant patients with Parkinson disease. The observed progressive changes in gray matter volume in Parkinson disease may provide

  16. Gray matter heterotopias: MR and clinical features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moon, Tae Myung; Yoon, Jeong Hee; Chung, Chun Phil

    1995-01-01

    To evaluate types of gray matter heterotopias, associated brain anomalies, and its correlation with the patterns of seizure. We evaluated retrospectively 19 patients (male:female=10:9, mean age 21 years) with gray matter heterotopias on brain MRI. Using 1.0T superconducting MR unit, spin echo T1-, proton -density and T2-weighted images in axial, coronal and sagittal planes were obtained. Types of gray matter heterotopias were single subependymal in four patients, multiple subependymal in one, focal subcortical in eight, diffuse subcortical in two, mixed multiple subependymal and focal subcortical in four. Associated anomalies were seen in 11 patients: other neuronal migration anomalies in eight patients, corpus callosum agenesis in two, and combined holoprosencephaly and Dandy-Walker malformation in one. Fifteen patients had seizure. The patterns of seizure were not correlated with the types of heterotopias. In addition to subependymal, focal subcortical, and diffuse subcortical types, gray matter heterotopias included mixed variant of multiple subependymal and subcortical type. Schizencephaly was the most common form of accompanying anomalies, and patterns of seizure were not correlated with types of gray matter heterotopias, even though main clinical manifestation was seizure

  17. Digital image processing for real-time neutron radiography and its applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujine, Shigenori

    1989-01-01

    The present paper describes several digital image processing approaches for the real-time neutron radiography (neutron television-NTV), such as image integration, adaptive smoothing and image enhancement, which have beneficial effects on image improvements, and also describes how to use these techniques for applications. Details invisible in direct images of NTV are able to be revealed by digital image processing, such as reversed image, gray level correction, gray scale transformation, contoured image, subtraction technique, pseudo color display and so on. For real-time application a contouring operation and an averaging approach can also be utilized effectively. (author)

  18. Prefrontal gray matter volume mediates genetic risks for obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opel, N; Redlich, R; Kaehler, C; Grotegerd, D; Dohm, K; Heindel, W; Kugel, H; Thalamuthu, A; Koutsouleris, N; Arolt, V; Teuber, A; Wersching, H; Baune, B T; Berger, K; Dannlowski, U

    2017-05-01

    Genetic and neuroimaging research has identified neurobiological correlates of obesity. However, evidence for an integrated model of genetic risk and brain structural alterations in the pathophysiology of obesity is still absent. Here we investigated the relationship between polygenic risk for obesity, gray matter structure and body mass index (BMI) by the use of univariate and multivariate analyses in two large, independent cohorts (n=330 and n=347). Higher BMI and higher polygenic risk for obesity were significantly associated with medial prefrontal gray matter decrease, and prefrontal gray matter was further shown to significantly mediate the effect of polygenic risk for obesity on BMI in both samples. Building on this, the successful individualized prediction of BMI by means of multivariate pattern classification algorithms trained on whole-brain imaging data and external validations in the second cohort points to potential clinical applications of this imaging trait marker.

  19. Image quality at synthetic brain magnetic resonance imaging in children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, So Mi; Cho, Seung Hyun; Kim, Won Hwa; Kim, Hye Jung [Kyungpook National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Young Hun; Cheon, Jung-Eun; Kim, In-One [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Hyun-Hae [Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); You, Sun-Kyoung [Chungnam National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sook-Hyun [Kyungpook National University Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Moon Jung [GE Healthcare, MR Applications and Workflow, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-11-15

    The clinical application of the multi-echo, multi-delay technique of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generates multiple sequences in a single acquisition but has mainly been used in adults. To evaluate the image quality of synthetic brain MR in children compared with that of conventional images. Twenty-nine children (median age: 6 years, range: 0-16 years) underwent synthetic and conventional imaging. Synthetic (T2-weighted, T1-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery [FLAIR]) images with settings matching those of the conventional images were generated. The overall image quality, gray/white matter differentiation, lesion conspicuity and image degradations were rated on a 5-point scale. The relative contrasts were assessed quantitatively and acquisition times for the two imaging techniques were compared. Synthetic images were inferior due to more pronounced image degradations; however, there were no significant differences for T1- and T2-weighted images in children <2 years old. The quality of T1- and T2-weighted images were within the diagnostically acceptable range. FLAIR images showed greatly reduced quality. Gray/white matter differentiation was comparable or better in synthetic T1- and T2-weighted images, but poorer in FLAIR images. There was no effect on lesion conspicuity. Synthetic images had equal or greater relative contrast. Acquisition time was approximately two-thirds of that for conventional sequences. Synthetic T1- and T2-weighted images were diagnostically acceptable, but synthetic FLAIR images were not. Lesion conspicuity and gray/white matter differentiation were comparable to conventional MRI. (orig.)

  20. Example-Based Image Colorization Using Locality Consistent Sparse Representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bo Li; Fuchen Zhao; Zhuo Su; Xiangguo Liang; Yu-Kun Lai; Rosin, Paul L

    2017-11-01

    Image colorization aims to produce a natural looking color image from a given gray-scale image, which remains a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a novel example-based image colorization method exploiting a new locality consistent sparse representation. Given a single reference color image, our method automatically colorizes the target gray-scale image by sparse pursuit. For efficiency and robustness, our method operates at the superpixel level. We extract low-level intensity features, mid-level texture features, and high-level semantic features for each superpixel, which are then concatenated to form its descriptor. The collection of feature vectors for all the superpixels from the reference image composes the dictionary. We formulate colorization of target superpixels as a dictionary-based sparse reconstruction problem. Inspired by the observation that superpixels with similar spatial location and/or feature representation are likely to match spatially close regions from the reference image, we further introduce a locality promoting regularization term into the energy formulation, which substantially improves the matching consistency and subsequent colorization results. Target superpixels are colorized based on the chrominance information from the dominant reference superpixels. Finally, to further improve coherence while preserving sharpness, we develop a new edge-preserving filter for chrominance channels with the guidance from the target gray-scale image. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on sparse pursuit image colorization from single reference images. Experimental results demonstrate that our colorization method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods, both visually and quantitatively using a user study.

  1. Reconstructing the CT number array from gray-level images and its application in PACS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xu; Zhuang, Tian-ge; Wu, Wei

    2001-08-01

    Although DICOM compliant computed tomography has been prevailing in medical fields nowadays, there are some incompliant ones, from which we could hardly get the raw data and make an apropos interpretation due to the proprietary image format. Under such condition, one usually uses frame grabbers to capture CT images, the results of which could not be freely adjusted by radiologists as the original CT number array could. To alleviate the inflexibility, a new method is presented in this paper to reconstruct the array of CT number from several gray-level images acquired under different window settings. Its feasibility is investigated and a few tips are put forward to correct the errors caused respectively by 'Border Effect' and some hardware problems. The accuracy analysis proves it a good substitution for original CT number array acquisition. And this method has already been successfully used in our newly developing PACS and accepted by the radiologists in clinical use.

  2. Color Processing using Max-trees : A Comparison on Image Compression

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tushabe, Florence; Wilkinson, M.H.F.

    2012-01-01

    This paper proposes a new method of processing color images using mathematical morphology techniques. It adapts the Max-tree image representation to accommodate color and other vectorial images. The proposed method introduces three new ways of transforming the color image into a gray scale image

  3. Imaging of olfactory bulb and gray matter volumes in brain areas associated with olfactory function in patients with Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Shun; Tan, Hong-yu; Wu, Zhuo-hua; Sun, Chong-peng; He, Jian-xun; Li, Xin-chun; Shao, Ming

    2014-01-01

    We explored if magnetic resonance imaging sequences might aid in the clinical differential diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). We measured the volumes of the olfactory bulb, the olfactory tract, and olfaction-associated cortical gray matter in 20 IPD patients, 14 MSA patients, and 12 normal subjects, using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging sequences in combination with voxel-based statistical analysis. We found that, compared to normal subjects and MSA patients, the volumes of the olfactory bulb and tract were significantly reduced in IPD patients. The gray matter volume of IPD patients decreased in the following order: the olfactory area to the right of the piriform cortex, the right amygdala, the left entorhinal cortex, and the left occipital lobe. Further, the total olfactory bulb volume of IPD patients was associated with the duration of disease. The entorhinal cortical gray matter volume was negatively associated with the UPDRS III score. Conclusion: Structural volumes measured by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging may potentially be used for differential diagnosis of IPD from MSA

  4. Imaging of olfactory bulb and gray matter volumes in brain areas associated with olfactory function in patients with Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Shun, E-mail: shchen_2013@163.com [Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China); Tan, Hong-yu, E-mail: honhyutan@21cn.com [Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China); Wu, Zhuo-hua, E-mail: zhh88@126.com [Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China); Sun, Chong-peng, E-mail: Suncp2002@gmail.com [Imaging Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China); He, Jian-xun, E-mail: xundog@163.com [Imaging Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China); Li, Xin-chun, E-mail: xinchunli@163.com [Imaging Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China); Shao, Ming, E-mail: yimshao@126.com [Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College (China)

    2014-03-15

    We explored if magnetic resonance imaging sequences might aid in the clinical differential diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). We measured the volumes of the olfactory bulb, the olfactory tract, and olfaction-associated cortical gray matter in 20 IPD patients, 14 MSA patients, and 12 normal subjects, using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging sequences in combination with voxel-based statistical analysis. We found that, compared to normal subjects and MSA patients, the volumes of the olfactory bulb and tract were significantly reduced in IPD patients. The gray matter volume of IPD patients decreased in the following order: the olfactory area to the right of the piriform cortex, the right amygdala, the left entorhinal cortex, and the left occipital lobe. Further, the total olfactory bulb volume of IPD patients was associated with the duration of disease. The entorhinal cortical gray matter volume was negatively associated with the UPDRS III score. Conclusion: Structural volumes measured by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging may potentially be used for differential diagnosis of IPD from MSA.

  5. Medial frontal white and gray matter contributions to general intelligence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toshiyuki Ohtani

    Full Text Available The medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC are part of a wider neural network that plays an important role in general intelligence and executive function. We used structural brain imaging to quantify magnetic resonance gray matter volume and diffusion tensor white matter integrity of the mOFC-rACC network in 26 healthy participants who also completed neuropsychological tests of intellectual abilities and executive function. Stochastic tractography, the most effective Diffusion Tensor Imaging method for examining white matter connections between adjacent gray matter regions, was employed to assess the integrity of mOFC-rACC pathways. Fractional anisotropy (FA, which reflects the integrity of white matter connections, was calculated. Results indicated that higher intelligence correlated with greater gray matter volumes for both mOFC and rACC, as well as with increased FA for left posterior mOFC-rACC connectivity. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that DTI-derived FA of left posterior mOFC-rACC uniquely accounted for 29%-34% of the variance in IQ, in comparison to 11%-16% uniquely explained by gray matter volume of the left rACC. Together, left rACC gray matter volume and white matter connectivity between left posterior mOFC and rACC accounted for up to 50% of the variance in general intelligence. This study is to our knowledge the first to examine white matter connectivity between OFC and ACC, two gray matter regions of interests that are very close in physical proximity, and underscores the important independent contributions of variations in rACC gray matter volume and mOFC-rACC white matter connectivity to individual differences in general intelligence.

  6. Correlation between white matter damage and gray matter lesions in multiple sclerosis patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xue-mei Han

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available We observed the characteristics of white matter fibers and gray matter in multiple sclerosis patients, to identify changes in diffusion tensor imaging fractional anisotropy values following white matter fiber injury. We analyzed the correlation between fractional anisotropy values and changes in whole-brain gray matter volume. The participants included 20 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and 20 healthy volunteers as controls. All subjects underwent head magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Our results revealed that fractional anisotropy values decreased and gray matter volumes were reduced in the genu and splenium of corpus callosum, left anterior thalamic radiation, hippocampus, uncinate fasciculus, right corticospinal tract, bilateral cingulate gyri, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus in multiple sclerosis patients. Gray matter volumes were significantly different between the two groups in the right frontal lobe (superior frontal, middle frontal, precentral, and orbital gyri, right parietal lobe (postcentral and inferior parietal gyri, right temporal lobe (caudate nucleus, right occipital lobe (middle occipital gyrus, right insula, right parahippocampal gyrus, and left cingulate gyrus. The voxel sizes of atrophic gray matter positively correlated with fractional anisotropy values in white matter association fibers in the patient group. These findings suggest that white matter fiber bundles are extensively injured in multiple sclerosis patients. The main areas of gray matter atrophy in multiple sclerosis are the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, caudate nucleus, parahippocampal gyrus, and cingulate gyrus. Gray matter atrophy is strongly associated with white matter injury in multiple sclerosis patients, particularly with injury to association fibers.

  7. Colorization and automated segmentation of human T2 MR brain images for characterization of soft tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Attique

    Full Text Available Characterization of tissues like brain by using magnetic resonance (MR images and colorization of the gray scale image has been reported in the literature, along with the advantages and drawbacks. Here, we present two independent methods; (i a novel colorization method to underscore the variability in brain MR images, indicative of the underlying physical density of bio tissue, (ii a segmentation method (both hard and soft segmentation to characterize gray brain MR images. The segmented images are then transformed into color using the above-mentioned colorization method, yielding promising results for manual tracing. Our color transformation incorporates the voxel classification by matching the luminance of voxels of the source MR image and provided color image by measuring the distance between them. The segmentation method is based on single-phase clustering for 2D and 3D image segmentation with a new auto centroid selection method, which divides the image into three distinct regions (gray matter (GM, white matter (WM, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF using prior anatomical knowledge. Results have been successfully validated on human T2-weighted (T2 brain MR images. The proposed method can be potentially applied to gray-scale images from other imaging modalities, in bringing out additional diagnostic tissue information contained in the colorized image processing approach as described.

  8. Graphical user interface to optimize image contrast parameters used in object segmentation - biomed 2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Jeffrey R; Barrett, Steven F

    2009-01-01

    Image segmentation is the process of isolating distinct objects within an image. Computer algorithms have been developed to aid in the process of object segmentation, but a completely autonomous segmentation algorithm has yet to be developed [1]. This is because computers do not have the capability to understand images and recognize complex objects within the image. However, computer segmentation methods [2], requiring user input, have been developed to quickly segment objects in serial sectioned images, such as magnetic resonance images (MRI) and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) images. In these cases, the segmentation process becomes a powerful tool in visualizing the 3D nature of an object. The user input is an important part of improving the performance of many segmentation methods. A double threshold segmentation method has been investigated [3] to separate objects in gray scaled images, where the gray level of the object is among the gray levels of the background. In order to best determine the threshold values for this segmentation method the image must be manipulated for optimal contrast. The same is true of other segmentation and edge detection methods as well. Typically, the better the image contrast, the better the segmentation results. This paper describes a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the user to easily change image contrast parameters that will optimize the performance of subsequent object segmentation. This approach makes use of the fact that the human brain is extremely effective in object recognition and understanding. The GUI provides the user with the ability to define the gray scale range of the object of interest. These lower and upper bounds of this range are used in a histogram stretching process to improve image contrast. Also, the user can interactively modify the gamma correction factor that provides a non-linear distribution of gray scale values, while observing the corresponding changes to the image. This

  9. The effects of gray scale image processing on digital mammography interpretation performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Elodia B; Pisano, Etta D; Zeng, Donglin; Muller, Keith; Aylward, Stephen R; Park, Sungwook; Kuzmiak, Cherie; Koomen, Marcia; Pavic, Dag; Walsh, Ruth; Baker, Jay; Gimenez, Edgardo I; Freimanis, Rita

    2005-05-01

    To determine the effects of three image-processing algorithms on diagnostic accuracy of digital mammography in comparison with conventional screen-film mammography. A total of 201 cases consisting of nonprocessed soft copy versions of the digital mammograms acquired from GE, Fischer, and Trex digital mammography systems (1997-1999) and conventional screen-film mammograms of the same patients were interpreted by nine radiologists. The raw digital data were processed with each of three different image-processing algorithms creating three presentations-manufacturer's default (applied and laser printed to film by each of the manufacturers), MUSICA, and PLAHE-were presented in soft copy display. There were three radiologists per presentation. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for GE digital mass cases was worse than screen-film for all digital presentations. The area under the receiver operating characteristic for Trex digital mass cases was better, but only with images processed with the manufacturer's default algorithm. Sensitivity for GE digital mass cases was worse than screen film for all digital presentations. Specificity for Fischer digital calcifications cases was worse than screen film for images processed in default and PLAHE algorithms. Specificity for Trex digital calcifications cases was worse than screen film for images processed with MUSICA. Specific image-processing algorithms may be necessary for optimal presentation for interpretation based on machine and lesion type.

  10. MR imaging of heterotopic gray matter; Heterotopia istoty szarej mozgu w obrazie MR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kryst-Widzgowska, T.; Kozlowski, P.; Poniatowska, R. [Instytut Psychiatrii i Neurologii, Warsaw (Poland)

    1994-12-31

    Six patients with heterotopic gray matter were evaluated with MR. 5 patients had history of seizures. 4 cases were suspected of the cerebral tumor. In the MR examination areas of heterotopic gray matter were found along the posterior horn of the lateral ventricle on the one side in 4 cases and bilateraly in 2 cases. In 3 cases another brain abnormalities were also detected including: hypoplasia of corpus callosum, hypoplasia of brain hemisphere, cavum septi pellucidi. MR is a modality of choice in the assessment of abnormal gray matter migration. (author). 6 refs, 4 figs.

  11. Regional gray matter correlates of vocational interests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schroeder, David H; Haier, Richard J; Tang, Cheuk Ying

    2012-05-16

    Previous studies have identified brain areas related to cognitive abilities and personality, respectively. In this exploratory study, we extend the application of modern neuroimaging techniques to another area of individual differences, vocational interests, and relate the results to an earlier study of cognitive abilities salient for vocations. First, we examined the psychometric relationships between vocational interests and abilities in a large sample. The primary relationships between those domains were between Investigative (scientific) interests and general intelligence and between Realistic ("blue-collar") interests and spatial ability. Then, using MRI and voxel-based morphometry, we investigated the relationships between regional gray matter volume and vocational interests. Specific clusters of gray matter were found to be correlated with Investigative and Realistic interests. Overlap analyses indicated some common brain areas between the correlates of Investigative interests and general intelligence and between the correlates of Realistic interests and spatial ability. Two of six vocational-interest scales show substantial relationships with regional gray matter volume. The overlap between the brain correlates of these scales and cognitive-ability factors suggest there are relationships between individual differences in brain structure and vocations.

  12. Image matching for digital close-range stereo photogrammetry based on constraints of Delaunay triangulated network and epipolar-line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, K.; Sheng, Y. H.; Li, Y. Q.; Han, B.; Liang, Ch.; Sha, W.

    2006-10-01

    In the field of digital photogrammetry and computer vision, the determination of conjugate points in a stereo image pair, referred to as "image matching," is the critical step to realize automatic surveying and recognition. Traditional matching methods encounter some problems in the digital close-range stereo photogrammetry, because the change of gray-scale or texture is not obvious in the close-range stereo images. The main shortcoming of traditional matching methods is that geometric information of matching points is not fully used, which will lead to wrong matching results in regions with poor texture. To fully use the geometry and gray-scale information, a new stereo image matching algorithm is proposed in this paper considering the characteristics of digital close-range photogrammetry. Compared with the traditional matching method, the new algorithm has three improvements on image matching. Firstly, shape factor, fuzzy maths and gray-scale projection are introduced into the design of synthetical matching measure. Secondly, the topology connecting relations of matching points in Delaunay triangulated network and epipolar-line are used to decide matching order and narrow the searching scope of conjugate point of the matching point. Lastly, the theory of parameter adjustment with constraint is introduced into least square image matching to carry out subpixel level matching under epipolar-line constraint. The new algorithm is applied to actual stereo images of a building taken by digital close-range photogrammetric system. The experimental result shows that the algorithm has a higher matching speed and matching accuracy than pyramid image matching algorithm based on gray-scale correlation.

  13. Voxel-Based Morphometry and fMRI Revealed Differences in Brain Gray Matter in Breastfed and Milk Formula-Fed Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ou, X; Andres, A; Pivik, R T; Cleves, M A; Snow, J H; Ding, Z; Badger, T M

    2016-04-01

    Infant diets may have significant impact on brain development in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate brain gray matter structure and function in 8-year-old children who were predominantly breastfed or fed cow's milk formula as infants. Forty-two healthy children (breastfed: n = 22, 10 boys and 12 girls; cow's milk formula: n = 20, 10 boys and 10 girls) were studied by using structural MR imaging (3D T1-weighted imaging) and blood oxygen level-dependent fMRI (while performing tasks involving visual perception and language functions). They were also administered standardized tests evaluating intelligence (Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales) and language skills (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals). Total brain gray matter volume did not differ between the breastfed and cow's milk formula groups. However, breastfed children had significantly higher (P left inferior temporal lobe and left superior parietal lobe compared with cow's milk formula-fed children. Breastfed children showed significantly more brain activation in the right frontal and left/right temporal lobes on fMRI when processing the perception task and in the left temporal/occipital lobe when processing the visual language task than cow's milk formula-fed children. The imaging findings were associated with significantly better performance for breastfed than cow's milk formula-fed children on both tasks. Our findings indicated greater regional gray matter development and better regional gray matter function in breastfed than cow's milk formula-fed children at 8 years of age and suggested that infant diets may have long-term influences on brain development in children. © 2016 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

  14. Regional Gray Matter Volume Deficits in Adolescents with First-Episode Psychosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janssen, Joost; Parellada, Mara; Moreno, Dolores; Graell, Montserrat; Fraguas, David; Zabala, Arantzazu; Vazquez, Veronica Garcia; Desco, Manuel; Arango, Celso

    2008-01-01

    The regional gray matter volumes of adolescents with first-episode psychosis are compared with those of a control group. Magnetic resonance imaging was conducted on 70 patients with early onset FEP and on 51 individuals without FEP. Findings revealed that volume deficits in the left medial frontal gray matter were common in individuals with…

  15. Study of the Gray Scale, Polychromatic, Distortion Invariant Neural Networks Using the Ipa Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uang, Chii-Maw

    Research in the optical neural network field is primarily motivated by the fact that humans recognize objects better than the conventional digital computers and the massively parallel inherent nature of optics. This research represents a continuous effort during the past several years in the exploitation of using neurocomputing for pattern recognition. Based on the interpattern association (IPA) model and Hamming net model, many new systems and applications are introduced. A gray level discrete associative memory that is based on object decomposition/composition is proposed for recognizing gray-level patterns. This technique extends the processing ability from the binary mode to gray-level mode, and thus the information capacity is increased. Two polychromatic optical neural networks using color liquid crystal television (LCTV) panels for color pattern recognition are introduced. By introducing a color encoding technique in conjunction with the interpattern associative algorithm, a color associative memory was realized. Based on the color decomposition and composition technique, a color exemplar-based Hamming net was built for color image classification. A shift-invariant neural network is presented through use of the translation invariant property of the modulus of the Fourier transformation and the hetero-associative interpattern association (IPA) memory. To extract the main features, a quadrantal sampling method is used to sampled data and then replace the training patterns. Using the concept of hetero-associative memory to recall the distorted object. A shift and rotation invariant neural network using an interpattern hetero-association (IHA) model is presented. To preserve the shift and rotation invariant properties, a set of binarized-encoded circular harmonic expansion (CHE) functions at the Fourier domain is used as the training set. We use the shift and symmetric properties of the modulus of the Fourier spectrum to avoid the problem of centering the CHE

  16. Wavelet/scalar quantization compression standard for fingerprint images

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brislawn, C.M.

    1996-06-12

    US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently formulated a national standard for digitization and compression of gray-scale fingerprint images. Fingerprints are scanned at a spatial resolution of 500 dots per inch, with 8 bits of gray-scale resolution. The compression algorithm for the resulting digital images is based on adaptive uniform scalar quantization of a discrete wavelet transform subband decomposition (wavelet/scalar quantization method). The FBI standard produces archival-quality images at compression ratios of around 15 to 1 and will allow the current database of paper fingerprint cards to be replaced by digital imagery. The compression standard specifies a class of potential encoders and a universal decoder with sufficient generality to reconstruct compressed images produced by any compliant encoder, allowing flexibility for future improvements in encoder technology. A compliance testing program is also being implemented to ensure high standards of image quality and interchangeability of data between different implementations.

  17. LSB-Based Steganography Using Reflected Gray Code

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chang-Chu; Chang, Chin-Chen

    Steganography aims to hide secret data into an innocuous cover-medium for transmission and to make the attacker cannot recognize the presence of secret data easily. Even the stego-medium is captured by the eavesdropper, the slight distortion is hard to be detected. The LSB-based data hiding is one of the steganographic methods, used to embed the secret data into the least significant bits of the pixel values in a cover image. In this paper, we propose an LSB-based scheme using reflected-Gray code, which can be applied to determine the embedded bit from secret information. Following the transforming rule, the LSBs of stego-image are not always equal to the secret bits and the experiment shows that the differences are up to almost 50%. According to the mathematical deduction and experimental results, the proposed scheme has the same image quality and payload as the simple LSB substitution scheme. In fact, our proposed data hiding scheme in the case of G1 (one bit Gray code) system is equivalent to the simple LSB substitution scheme.

  18. Optimized VBM in patients with Alzheimer's disease: gray matter loss and its correlation with cognitive function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Seon Hyeong; Moon, Won Jin; Chung, Eun Chul; Lee, Min Hee; Roh, Hong Gee; Park, Kwang Bo; Na, Duck Ryul

    2005-01-01

    To investigate the regional changes in gray matter volume by using optimized voxel based morphometry in the whole brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to determine its correlation with cognitive function. Nineteen patients with AD (mean mini mental state examination (MMSE) score = 20.4) and 19 age-matched control subjects (mean MMSE score 29) participated in this prospective study. T1-weighted 3D-SPGR scans were obtained for each subject. These T1-weighted images were spatially normalized into study-specific T1 template and segmented into gray matter, white matter and CSF. After the images were modulated and smoothed, all of the gray matter images were compared with control images by using voxel-wise statistical parametric test (two-sample-test). In patients with AD, total gray matter volume was significantly smaller than normal control (552 ± 39 mL vs. 632 ± 51 mL, ρ 0.001). Significant gray matter loss was seen in both the hippocampus and amygdala complexs, and the parahippocampi and frontoparietal cortices (ρ < 0.01, family wise error corrected). Left cerebral atrophy was more prominent than the right. Loss of gray matter volume in both the superior frontal gyri and left inferior temporal gyrus had a strong correlation with lower MMSE score. Optimized VBM was able to visualize pathologic changes of AD in vivo. In AD there was widespread gray matter volume loss in the frontoparietal lobes as well as the medial temporal lobes and had a strong correlation between volume loss of specific cortical areas and MMSE score

  19. Mapping Gray Matter Development: Implications for Typical Development and Vulnerability to Psychopathology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gogtay, Nitin; Thompson, Paul M.

    2010-01-01

    Recent studies with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have scanned large numbers of children and adolescents repeatedly over time, as their brains develop, tracking volumetric changes in gray and white matter in remarkable detail. Focusing on gray matter changes specifically, here we explain how earlier studies using lobar volumes of specific…

  20. The suitability of gray-scale electronic readers for dermatology journals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jae Eun; Kim, Dai Hyun; Seo, Soo Hong; Kye, Young Chul; Ahn, Hyo Hyun

    2014-12-01

    The rapid development of information and communication technology has replaced traditional books by electronic versions. Most print dermatology journals have been replaced with electronic journals (e-journals), which are readily used by clinicians and medical students. The objectives of this study were to determine whether e-readers are appropriate for reading dermatology journals, to conduct an attitude study of both medical personnel and students, and to find a way of improving e-book use in the field of dermatology. All articles in the Korean Journal of Dermatology published from January 2010 to December 2010 were utilized in this study. Dermatology house officers, student trainees in their fourth year of medical school, and interns at Korea University Medical Center participated in the study. After reading the articles with Kindle 2, their impressions and evaluations were recorded using a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale. The results demonstrated that gray-scale e-readers might not be suitable for reading dermatology journals, especially for case reports compared to the original articles. Only three of the thirty-one respondents preferred e-readers to printed papers. The most common suggestions from respondents to encourage usage of e-books in the field of dermatology were the introduction of a color display, followed by the use of a touch screen system, a cheaper price, and ready-to-print capabilities. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that current e-readers might not be suitable for reading dermatology journals. However, they may be utilized in selected situations according to the type and topic of the papers.

  1. Second order statistical analysis of US image texture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanzi, F.; Novario, R.

    1999-01-01

    The study reports the sonographic image texture of the neonatal heart in different stages of development by calculating numerical parameters extracted from the gray scale co-occurrence matrix. To show pixel values differences and enhance texture structure, images were equalized and then the gray level range was reduced to 16 to allow sufficiently high occupancy frequency of the co-occurrence matrix. Differences are so little significant that they may be due to different factors affecting image texture and the variability introduced by manual ROI positioning; therefore no definitive conclusions can be drawn as to considering this kind of analysis capable of discriminating different stages of myocardial development [it

  2. Comparison of liquid crystal display monitors calibrated with gray-scale standard display function and with γ 2.2 and iPad: observer performance in detection of cerebral infarction on brain CT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimura, Kumiko; Nihashi, Takashi; Ikeda, Mitsuru; Ando, Yoshio; Kawai, Hisashi; Kawakami, Kenichi; Kimura, Reiko; Okada, Yumiko; Okochi, Yoshiyuki; Ota, Naotoshi; Tsuchiya, Kenichi; Naganawa, Shinji

    2013-06-01

    The purpose of the study was to compare observer performance in the detection of cerebral infarction on a brain CT using medical-grade liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors calibrated with the gray-scale standard display function and with γ 2.2 and using an iPad with a simulated screen setting. We amassed 97 sample sets, from 47 patients with proven cerebral infarction and 50 healthy control subjects. Nine radiologists independently assessed brain CT on a gray-scale standard display function LCD, a γ 2.2 LCD, and an iPad in random order over 4-week intervals. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed by using the continuous scale, and the area under the ROC curve (A(z)) was calculated for each monitor. The A(z) values for gray-scale standard display function LCD, γ 2.2 LCD, and iPad were 0.875, 0.884, and 0.839, respectively. The difference among the three monitors was very small. There was no significant difference between gray-scale standard display function LCD and γ 2.2 LCD. However, the A(z) value was statistically significantly smaller for the iPad than the γ 2.2 LCD (p iPad was poorer than that using the other LCDs, the difference was small. Therefore, the iPad could not substitute for other LCD monitors. However, owing to the promising potential advantages of tablet PCs, such as portability, further examination is needed into the clinical use of tablet PCs.

  3. Image scaling curve generation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2012-01-01

    The present invention relates to a method of generating an image scaling curve, where local saliency is detected in a received image. The detected local saliency is then accumulated in the first direction. A final scaling curve is derived from the detected local saliency and the image is then

  4. Image scaling curve generation.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2011-01-01

    The present invention relates to a method of generating an image scaling curve, where local saliency is detected in a received image. The detected local saliency is then accumulated in the first direction. A final scaling curve is derived from the detected local saliency and the image is then

  5. Blood oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging for detecting pathological patterns in patients with lupus nephritis: a preliminary study using gray-level co-occurrence matrix analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Huilan; Jia, Junya; Li, Dong; Wei, Li; Shang, Wenya; Zheng, Zhenfeng

    2018-01-01

    Objective Blood oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD MRI) is a noninvasive technique useful in patients with renal disease. The current study was performed to determine whether BOLD MRI can contribute to the diagnosis of renal pathological patterns. Methods BOLD MRI was used to obtain functional magnetic resonance parameter R2* values. Gray-level co-occurrence matrixes (GLCMs) were generated for gray-scale maps. Several GLCM parameters were calculated and used to construct algorithmic models for renal pathological patterns. Results Histopathology and BOLD MRI were used to examine 12 patients. Two GLCM parameters, including correlation and energy, revealed differences among four groups of renal pathological patterns. Four Fisher's linear discriminant formulas were constructed using two variables, including the correlation at 45° and correlation at 90°. A cross-validation test showed that the formulas correctly predicted 28 of 36 samples, and the rate of correct prediction was 77.8%. Conclusions Differences in the texture characteristics of BOLD MRI in patients with lupus nephritis may be detected by GLCM analysis. Discriminant formulas constructed using GLCM parameters may facilitate prediction of renal pathological patterns.

  6. Multimodal MEMPRAGE, FLAIR, and R2* Segmentation to Resolve Dura and Vessels from Cortical Gray Matter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Viviani

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available While widely in use in automated segmentation approaches for the detection of group differences or of changes associated with continuous predictors in gray matter volume, T1-weighted images are known to represent dura and cortical vessels with signal intensities similar to those of gray matter. By considering multiple signal sources at once, multimodal segmentation approaches may be able to resolve these different tissue classes and address this potential confound. We explored here the simultaneous use of FLAIR and apparent transverse relaxation rates (a signal related to T2* relaxation maps and having similar contrast with T1-weighted images. Relative to T1-weighted images alone, multimodal segmentation had marked positive effects on 1. the separation of gray matter from dura, 2. the exclusion of vessels from the gray matter compartment, and 3. the contrast with extracerebral connective tissue. While obtainable together with the T1-weighted images without increasing scanning times, apparent transverse relaxation rates were less effective than added FLAIR images in providing the above mentioned advantages. FLAIR images also improved the detection of cortical matter in areas prone to susceptibility artifacts in standard MPRAGE T1-weighted images, while the addition of transverse relaxation maps exacerbated the effect of these artifacts on segmentation. Our results confirm that standard MPRAGE segmentation may overestimate gray matter volume by wrongly assigning vessels and dura to this compartment and show that multimodal approaches may greatly improve the specificity of cortical segmentation. Since multimodal segmentation is easily implemented, these benefits are immediately available to studies focusing on translational applications of structural imaging.

  7. H-1 chemical shift imaging of the brain in guanidino methyltransferase deficiency, a creatine deficiency syndrome; guanidinoacetate accumulation in the gray matter

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sijens, PE; Verbruggen, KT; Meiners, LC; Soorani-Lunsing, RJ; Rake, JP; Oudkerk, M

    MR spectroscopy results in a mild case of guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency are presented. The approach differs from previous MRS studies in the acquisition of a chemical shift imaging spectral map showing gray and white matter with the corresponding spectra in one overview. MR

  8. Henry Gray, plagiarist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, Ruth

    2016-03-01

    The first edition of Anatomy Descriptive and Surgical (1858) was greeted with accolades, but also provoked serious controversy concerning Henry Gray's failure to acknowledge the work of earlier anatomists. A review in the Medical Times (1859) accused Gray of intellectual theft. The journal took the unusual step of substantiating its indictment by publishing twenty parallel texts from Gray and from a pre-existing textbook, Quain's Anatomy. At the recent "Vesalius Continuum" conference in Zakynthos, Greece (2014) Professor Brion Benninger disputed the theft by announcing from the floor the results of a computer analysis of both texts, which he reported exonerated Gray by revealing no evidence of plagiarism. The analysis has not been forthcoming, however, despite requests. Here the historian of Gray's Anatomy supplements the argument set out in the Medical Times 150 years ago with data suggesting unwelcome personality traits in Henry Gray, and demonstrating the utility of others' work to his professional advancement. Fair dealing in the world of anatomy and indeed the genuineness of the lustre of medical fame are important matters, but whether quantitative evidence has anything to add to the discussion concerning Gray's probity can be assessed only if Benninger makes public his computer analysis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Experimentally induced acute uric acid nephropathy in rabbits: Findings of high resolution gray scale and doppler ultrasonographies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Ik; Chung, Soo Young; Lee, Kyung Won; Kim, Hong Dae; Ko, Eun Young; Won, Mi Sook; Noh, Jung Woo [Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Moon Hyang [Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2001-12-15

    To evaluate changes of the high-resolution (HR) gray scale and doppler ultrasonographic (US) characteristics of experimentally induced acute uric acid (UA) nephropathy in rabbits. Acute UA nephropathy was induced in ten rabbits using supersaturated lithium carbonate solution. The rabbits were divided in two groups. Group I consisted of five rabbits, and they were injected with a single dose of 150 ml of saturated UA over one hour. During tis period, serial US studies of the kidneys of these rabbits were performed every ten minutes. Group II consisted of the remaining five rabbits, and three injections of 50 ml of saturated UA solution were given on the first, fifth and eight day and follow-up was done upto twenty fifth day. Sequential HR and Doppler US, renal biopsy and blood sampling were performed on day 1, 5, 8, 21, and 25 in the group II rabbits. In group I, HR and Doppler US examination revealed the normal resistive index without significant abnormality. On the other hand, US studies of group II showed poor renal corticomedullary differentiation, decreased renal blood flow and elevated resistive index. There was statistically significant correlation among US findings, histologic characteristics and chemical index (BUN, creatinine) of renal function. In addition, sequentially increased size and volume of the kidney were noted in both groups. HR gray scale and doppler US characteristics of experimentally induced acute UA nephropathy in rabbits were similar to those of acute renal failure caused by other well-known causes.

  10. Experimentally induced acute uric acid nephropathy in rabbits: Findings of high resolution gray scale and doppler ultrasonographies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Ik; Chung, Soo Young; Lee, Kyung Won; Kim, Hong Dae; Ko, Eun Young; Won, Mi Sook; Noh, Jung Woo; Park, Moon Hyang

    2001-01-01

    To evaluate changes of the high-resolution (HR) gray scale and doppler ultrasonographic (US) characteristics of experimentally induced acute uric acid (UA) nephropathy in rabbits. Acute UA nephropathy was induced in ten rabbits using supersaturated lithium carbonate solution. The rabbits were divided in two groups. Group I consisted of five rabbits, and they were injected with a single dose of 150 ml of saturated UA over one hour. During tis period, serial US studies of the kidneys of these rabbits were performed every ten minutes. Group II consisted of the remaining five rabbits, and three injections of 50 ml of saturated UA solution were given on the first, fifth and eight day and follow-up was done upto twenty fifth day. Sequential HR and Doppler US, renal biopsy and blood sampling were performed on day 1, 5, 8, 21, and 25 in the group II rabbits. In group I, HR and Doppler US examination revealed the normal resistive index without significant abnormality. On the other hand, US studies of group II showed poor renal corticomedullary differentiation, decreased renal blood flow and elevated resistive index. There was statistically significant correlation among US findings, histologic characteristics and chemical index (BUN, creatinine) of renal function. In addition, sequentially increased size and volume of the kidney were noted in both groups. HR gray scale and doppler US characteristics of experimentally induced acute UA nephropathy in rabbits were similar to those of acute renal failure caused by other well-known causes.

  11. A 1,000 Frames/s Programmable Vision Chip with Variable Resolution and Row-Pixel-Mixed Parallel Image Processors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nanjian Wu

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available A programmable vision chip with variable resolution and row-pixel-mixed parallel image processors is presented. The chip consists of a CMOS sensor array, with row-parallel 6-bit Algorithmic ADCs, row-parallel gray-scale image processors, pixel-parallel SIMD Processing Element (PE array, and instruction controller. The resolution of the image in the chip is variable: high resolution for a focused area and low resolution for general view. It implements gray-scale and binary mathematical morphology algorithms in series to carry out low-level and mid-level image processing and sends out features of the image for various applications. It can perform image processing at over 1,000 frames/s (fps. A prototype chip with 64 × 64 pixels resolution and 6-bit gray-scale image is fabricated in 0.18 mm Standard CMOS process. The area size of chip is 1.5 mm × 3.5 mm. Each pixel size is 9.5 μm × 9.5 μm and each processing element size is 23 μm × 29 μm. The experiment results demonstrate that the chip can perform low-level and mid-level image processing and it can be applied in the real-time vision applications, such as high speed target tracking.

  12. Hot Spots Detection of Operating PV Arrays through IR Thermal Image Using Method Based on Curve Fitting of Gray Histogram

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiang Lin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The overall efficiency of PV arrays is affected by hot spots which should be detected and diagnosed by applying responsible monitoring techniques. The method using the IR thermal image to detect hot spots has been studied as a direct, noncontact, nondestructive technique. However, IR thermal images suffer from relatively high stochastic noise and non-uniformity clutter, so the conventional methods of image processing are not effective. The paper proposes a method to detect hotspots based on curve fitting of gray histogram. The result of MATLAB simulation proves the method proposed in the paper is effective to detect the hot spots suppressing the noise generated during the process of image acquisition.

  13. Gray and white matter asymmetries in healthy individuals aged 21-29 years: a voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takao, Hidemasa; Abe, Osamu; Yamasue, Hidenori; Aoki, Shigeki; Sasaki, Hiroki; Kasai, Kiyoto; Yoshioka, Naoki; Ohtomo, Kuni

    2011-10-01

    The hemispheres of the human brain are functionally and structurally asymmetric. The study of structural asymmetries provides important clues to the neuroanatomical basis of lateralized brain functions. Previous studies have demonstrated age-related changes in morphology and diffusion properties of brain tissue. In this study, we simultaneously explored gray and white matter asymmetry using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 109 young healthy individuals (58 females and 51 males). To eliminate the potential confounding effects of aging and handedness, we restricted the study to right-handed subjects aged 21-29 years. VBM and voxel-based analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) maps derived from DTI revealed a number of gray matter volume asymmetries (including the right frontal and left occipital petalias and leftward asymmetry of the planum temporale) and white matter FA asymmetries (including leftward asymmetry of the arcuate fasciculus, cingulum, and corticospinal tract). There was no significant effect of sex on gray and white matter asymmetry. Leftward volume asymmetry of the planum temporale and leftward FA asymmetry of the arcuate fasciculus were simultaneously demonstrated. Post hoc analysis showed that the gray matter volume of the planum temporale and FA of the arcuate fasciculus were positively related (Pearson correlation coefficient, 0.43; P < 0.0001). The results of our study demonstrate gray and white matter asymmetry in right-handed healthy young adults and suggest that leftward volume asymmetry of the planum temporale and leftward FA asymmetry of the arcuate fasciculus may be related. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  14. Generalized image contrast enhancement technique based on Heinemann contrast discrimination model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hong; Nodine, Calvin F.

    1994-03-01

    This paper presents a generalized image contrast enhancement technique which equalizes perceived brightness based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model. This is a modified algorithm which presents an improvement over the previous study by Mokrane in its mathematically proven existence of a unique solution and in its easily tunable parameterization. The model uses a log-log representation of contrast luminosity between targets and the surround in a fixed luminosity background setting. The algorithm consists of two nonlinear gray-scale mapping functions which have seven parameters, two of which are adjustable Heinemann constants. Another parameter is the background gray level. The remaining four parameters are nonlinear functions of gray scale distribution of the image, and can be uniquely determined once the previous three are given. Tests have been carried out to examine the effectiveness of the algorithm for increasing the overall contrast of images. It can be demonstrated that the generalized algorithm provides better contrast enhancement than histogram equalization. In fact, the histogram equalization technique is a special case of the proposed mapping.

  15. Multifractal analysis of 2D gray soil images

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Torres, Ivan; Losada, Juan Carlos; Heck, Richard; Tarquis, Ana M.

    2015-04-01

    Soil Images. Nonlinear Process in Geophysics, 15, 881-891, 2008. Tarquis, A.M., R.J. Heck, D. Andina, A. Alvarez and J.M. Antón. Multifractal analysis and thresholding of 3D soil images. Ecological Complexity, 6, 230-239, 2009. Tarquis, A.M.; D. Giménez, A. Saa, M.C. Díaz. and J.M. Gascó. Scaling and Multiscaling of Soil Pore Systems Determined by Image Analysis. Scaling Methods in Soil Systems. Pachepsky, Radcliffe and Selim Eds., 19-33, 2003. CRC Press, Boca Ratón, Florida. Acknowledgements First author acknowledges the financial support obtained from Soil Imaging Laboratory (University of Gueplh, Canada) in 2014.

  16. A new combined technique for automatic contrast enhancement of digital images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail A. Humied

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Some low contrast images have certain characteristics makes it difficult to use traditional methods to improve it. An example of these characteristics, that the amplitudes of images histogram components are very high at one location on the gray scale and very small in the rest of the gray scale. In the present paper, a new method is described. It can deal with such cases. The proposed method is a combination of Histogram Equalization (HE and Fast Gray-Level Grouping (FGLG. The basic procedure of this method is segments the original histogram of a low contrast image into two sub-histograms according to the location of the highest amplitude of the histogram components, and achieving contrast enhancement by equalizing the left segment of the histogram components using (HE technique and using (FGLG technique to equalize the right segment of this histogram components. The results have shown that the proposed method does not only produce better results than each individual contrast enhancement technique, but it is also fully automated. Moreover, it is applicable to a broad variety of images that satisfy the properties mentioned above and suffer from low contrast.

  17. Evaluation of computer imaging technique for predicting the SPAD readings in potato leaves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.S. Borhan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Facilitating non-contact measurement, a computer-imaging system was devised and evaluated to predict the chlorophyll content in potato leaves. A charge-coupled device (CCD camera paired with two optical filters and light chamber was used to acquire green (550 ± 40 nm and red band (700 ± 40 nm images from the same leaf. Potato leaves from 15 plants differing in coloration (green to yellow and age were selected for this study. Histogram based image features, such as mean and variances of green and red band images, were extracted from the histogram. Regression analyses demonstrated that the variations in SPAD meter reading could be explained by the mean gray and variances of gray scale values. The fitted least square models based on the mean gray scale levels were inversely related to the chlorophyll content of the potato leaf with a R2 of 0.87 using a green band image and with an R2 of 0.79 using a red band image. With the extracted four image features, the developed multiple linear regression model predicted the chlorophyll content with a high R2 of 0.88. The multiple regression model (using all features provided an average prediction accuracy of 85.08% and a maximum accuracy of 99.8%. The prediction model using only mean gray value of red band showed an average accuracy of 81.6% with a maximum accuracy of 99.14%. Keywords: Computer imaging, Chlorophyll, SPAD meter, Regression, Prediction accuracy

  18. Late effects of high-dose adjuvant chemotherapy on white and gray matter in breast cancer survivors: Converging results from multimodal magnetic resonance imaging

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Ruiter, Michiel B.; Reneman, Liesbeth; Boogerd, Willem; Veltman, Dick J.; Caan, Matthan; Douaud, Gwenaëlle; Lavini, Cristina; Linn, Sabine C.; Boven, Epie; van Dam, Frits S. A. M.; Schagen, Sanne B.

    2012-01-01

    The neural substrate underlying cognitive impairments after chemotherapy is largely unknown. Here, we investigated very late (>9 years) effects of adjuvant high-dose chemotherapy on brain white and gray matter in primary breast cancer survivors (n = 17) with multimodal magnetic resonance imaging

  19. Gray Scale Operation Of A Multichannel Optical Convolver Using The Semetex Magnetooptic Spatial Light Modulator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jeffrey A.; Day, Timothy; Lilly, Roger A.; Taber, Donald B.; Liu, Hua-Kuang; Davis, J. A.; Day, T.; Lilly, R. A.; Taber, D. B.; Liu, H.-K.

    1988-02-01

    We present a new multichannel optical correlator/convolver architecture which uses an acoustooptic light modulator (AOLM) for the input channel and a Semetex magnetooptic spatial light modulator (MOSLM) for the set of parallel reference channels. Details of the anamorphic optical system are discussed. Experimental results illustrate use of the system as a convolver for performing digital multiplication by analog convolution (DMAC). A limited gray scale capability for data stored by the MOSLM is demonstrated by implementing this DMAC algorithm with trinary logic. Use of the MOSLM allows the number of parallel channels for the convolver to be increased significantly compared with previously reported techniques while retaining the capability for updating both channels at high speeds.

  20. COLOUR IMAGE ENHANCEMENT BASED ON HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION

    OpenAIRE

    Kanika Kapoor and Shaveta Arora

    2015-01-01

    Histogram equalization is a nonlinear technique for adjusting the contrast of an image using its histogram. It increases the brightness of a gray scale image which is different from the mean brightness of the original image. There are various types of Histogram equalization techniques like Histogram Equalization, Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization, Brightness Preserving Bi Histogram Equalization, Dualistic Sub Image Histogram Equalization, Minimum Mean Brightness Error Bi Histog...

  1. SD LMS L-Filters for Filtration of Gray Level Images in Timespatial Domain Based on GLCM Features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Hudec

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the new kind of adaptive signal-dependent LMS L-filter for suppression of a mixed noise in greyscale images is developed. It is based on the texture parameter measurement as modification of spatial impulse detector structure. Moreover, the one of GLCM (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix features, namely, the contrast or inertia adjusted by threshold as switch between partial filters is utilised. Finally, at the positions of partial filters the adaptive LMS versions of L-filters are chosen.

  2. Optimized VBM in patients with Alzheimer's disease: gray matter loss and its correlation with cognitive function

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Seon Hyeong; Moon, Won Jin; Chung, Eun Chul; Lee, Min Hee; Roh, Hong Gee; Park, Kwang Bo; Na, Duck Ryul [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2005-11-15

    To investigate the regional changes in gray matter volume by using optimized voxel based morphometry in the whole brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to determine its correlation with cognitive function. Nineteen patients with AD (mean mini mental state examination (MMSE) score = 20.4) and 19 age-matched control subjects (mean MMSE score 29) participated in this prospective study. T1-weighted 3D-SPGR scans were obtained for each subject. These T1-weighted images were spatially normalized into study-specific T1 template and segmented into gray matter, white matter and CSF. After the images were modulated and smoothed, all of the gray matter images were compared with control images by using voxel-wise statistical parametric test (two-sample-test). In patients with AD, total gray matter volume was significantly smaller than normal control (552 {+-} 39 mL vs. 632 {+-} 51 mL, {rho} 0.001). Significant gray matter loss was seen in both the hippocampus and amygdala complexs, and the parahippocampi and frontoparietal cortices ({rho} < 0.01, family wise error corrected). Left cerebral atrophy was more prominent than the right. Loss of gray matter volume in both the superior frontal gyri and left inferior temporal gyrus had a strong correlation with lower MMSE score. Optimized VBM was able to visualize pathologic changes of AD in vivo. In AD there was widespread gray matter volume loss in the frontoparietal lobes as well as the medial temporal lobes and had a strong correlation between volume loss of specific cortical areas and MMSE score.

  3. Page segmentation and text extraction from gray-scale images in microfilm format

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Qing; Tan, Chew Lim

    2000-12-01

    The paper deals with a suitably designed system that is being used to separate textual regions from graphics regions and locate textual data from textured background. We presented a method based on edge detection to automatically locate text in some noise infected grayscale newspaper images with microfilm format. The algorithm first finds the appropriate edges of textual region using Canny edge detector, and then by edge merging it makes use of edge features to do block segmentation and classification, afterwards feature aided connected component analysis was used to group homogeneous textual regions together within the scope of its bounding box. We can obtain an efficient block segmentation with reduced memory size by introducing the TLC. The proposed method has been used to locate text in a group of newspaper images with multiple page layout. Initial results are encouraging, we would expand the experiment data to over 300 microfilm images with different layout structures, promising result is anticipated with corresponding modification on the prototype of former algorithm to make it more robust and suitable to different cases.

  4. The Lunula: An ultrasound imaging approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Soo Jung; Shin, Myung Jin; Kim, Sung Moon; Ahn, Joong Mo

    2001-01-01

    The lunula is the white, half-moon-shaped area seen on some, but not all nails. Usually the lunula is the topographic marker of the distal part of the nail matrix, and known to have the ability of nail production. Ultrasonographic imaging of the lunula has not been reported before. This study was undertaken to demonstrate normal ultrasonographic features of the lunula. Ultrasonographic examination of the lunula was performed in the right thumb of 20 healthy volunteers (10M, 10F, mean age 30, range 26-36 years) with a real-time, high-resolution ultrasound unit (Sequoia 512, Acuson, Mountain view, CA, USA) with 8-15 MHz linear transducers. Gray scale color, and special Doppler imagings were performed with longitudinal scanning. The lunula was not seen inspection in three of the 20 volunteers. The mean size of the lunula in the other 17 volumteen was 3.31 ± 1.24 mm (range 2-6.2 mm). Gray scale ultrasound imaging showed the lunula; ovoid shaped hypo-echoic zone in proximal fingernail in 18 of 20 volunteers (mean size, 6.74 ± 0.98 mm, range 5-8.8 mm). In two of 20 volunteers, the lunula was indistinct on gray scale ultrasound examination. However, all lunula were identifiable on color Doppler imaging by detecting vascularity within the lunula. Spectral wave pattern of the lunula was a bi-directional pulsatile wave. Peak velocity was within 5-15 m/sec (mean 8 m/sec). The lunula is identifiable on ultrasound examination as a hyper-vascular, ovoid shaped, hypo-echoic zone in proximal fingernail. This normal structure should not be misinterpreted as an abnormal sub-ungual lesion.

  5. Deep gray matter demyelination detected by magnetization transfer ratio in the cuprizone model.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sveinung Fjær

    Full Text Available In multiple sclerosis (MS, the correlation between lesion load on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and clinical disability is weak. This clinico-radiological paradox might partly be due to the low sensitivity of conventional MRI to detect gray matter demyelination. Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR has previously been shown to detect white matter demyelination in mice. In this study, we investigated whether MTR can detect gray matter demyelination in cuprizone exposed mice. A total of 54 female C57BL/6 mice were split into one control group ( and eight cuprizone exposed groups ([Formula: see text]. The mice were exposed to [Formula: see text] (w/w cuprizone for up to six weeks. MTR images were obtained at a 7 Tesla Bruker MR-scanner before cuprizone exposure, weekly for six weeks during cuprizone exposure, and once two weeks after termination of cuprizone exposure. Immunohistochemistry staining for myelin (anti-Proteolopid Protein and oligodendrocytes (anti-Neurite Outgrowth Inhibitor Protein A was obtained after each weekly scanning. Rates of MTR change and correlations between MTR values and histological findings were calculated in five brain regions. In the corpus callosum and the deep gray matter a significant rate of MTR value decrease was found, [Formula: see text] per week ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] per week ([Formula: see text] respectively. The MTR values correlated to myelin loss as evaluated by immunohistochemistry (Corpus callosum: [Formula: see text]. Deep gray matter: [Formula: see text], but did not correlate to oligodendrocyte density. Significant results were not found in the cerebellum, the olfactory bulb or the cerebral cortex. This study shows that MTR can be used to detect demyelination in the deep gray matter, which is of particular interest for imaging of patients with MS, as deep gray matter demyelination is common in MS, and is not easily detected on conventional clinical MRI.

  6. Automatic anatomically selective image enhancement in digital chest radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sezan, M.I.; Minerbo, G.N.; Schaetzing, R.

    1989-01-01

    The authors develop a technique for automatic anatomically selective enhancement of digital chest radiographs. Anatomically selective enhancement is motivated by the desire to simultaneously meet the different enhancement requirements of the lung field and the mediastinum. A recent peak detection algorithm and a set of rules are applied to the image histogram to determine automatically a gray-level threshold between the lung field and mediastinum. The gray-level threshold facilitates anatomically selective gray-scale modification and/or unsharp masking. Further, in an attempt to suppress possible white-band or black-band artifacts due to unsharp masking at sharp edges, local-contrast adaptivity is incorporated into anatomically selective unsharp masking by designing an anatomy-sensitive emphasis parameter which varies asymmetrically with positive and negative values of the local image contrast

  7. Use of gray-scale ultrasonography in the diagnosis of reproductive disease in the bitch: 18 cases (1981-1984)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poffenbarger, E.M.; Feeney, D.A.

    1986-01-01

    Gray-scale ultrasonography was utilized in addition to radiography in the diagnosis of reproductive disease in 18 bitches. In 72% of the cases, ultrasonography was considered diagnostic because it revealed information on organ architecture, relationships of radiographically silhouetting soft tissue structures, and fetal viability that was unobtainable by radiography alone. In the remainder of the cases, ultrasonography was contributory to the diagnostic process by supporting the clinical and radiographic diagnoses. The benefits of ultrasonography are discussed, as is the ultrasonographic appearance of a variety of reproductive tract diseases

  8. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EDGE BASED LSB MATCHING STEGANOGRAPHY FOR COLOR IMAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.J. Umbarkar

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Steganography is a very pivotal technique mainly used for covert transfer of information over a covert communication channel. This paper proposes a significant comparative study of the spatial LSB domain technique that focuses on sharper edges of the color as well as gray scale images for the purpose of data hiding and hides secret message first in sharper edge regions and then in smooth regions of the image. Message embedding depends on content of the image and message size. The experimental results illustrate that, for low embedding rate the method hides the message in sharp edges of cover image to get better stego image visualization quality. For high embedding rate, smooth regions and edges of the cover image are used for the purpose of data hiding. In this steganography method, color image and textured kind of image preserves better visual quality of stego image. The novelty of the comparative study is that, it helps to analyze the efficiency and performance of the method as it gives better results because it directly works on color images instead of converting to gray scale image.

  9. Examining the effect of psychopathic traits on gray matter volume in a community substance abuse sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cope, Lora M; Shane, Matthew S; Segall, Judith M; Nyalakanti, Prashanth K; Stevens, Michael C; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Calhoun, Vince D; Kiehl, Kent A

    2012-11-30

    Psychopathy is believed to be associated with brain abnormalities in both paralimbic (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex, insula, temporal pole, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate) and limbic (i.e., amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate) regions. Recent structural imaging studies in both community and prison samples are beginning to support this view. Sixty-six participants, recruited from community corrections centers, were administered the Hare psychopathy checklist-revised (PCL-R), and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry was used to test the hypothesis that psychopathic traits would be associated with gray matter reductions in limbic and paralimbic regions. Effects of lifetime drug and alcohol use on gray matter volume were covaried. Psychopathic traits were negatively associated with gray matter volumes in right insula and right hippocampus. Additionally, psychopathic traits were positively associated with gray matter volumes in bilateral orbital frontal cortex and right anterior cingulate. Exploratory regression analyses indicated that gray matter volumes within right hippocampus and left orbital frontal cortex combined to explain 21.8% of the variance in psychopathy scores. These results support the notion that psychopathic traits are associated with abnormal limbic and paralimbic gray matter volume. Furthermore, gray matter increases in areas shown to be functionally impaired suggest that the structure-function relationship may be more nuanced than previously thought. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Multi-image encryption based on synchronization of chaotic lasers and iris authentication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banerjee, Santo; Mukhopadhyay, Sumona; Rondoni, Lamberto

    2012-07-01

    A new technique of transmitting encrypted combinations of gray scaled and chromatic images using chaotic lasers derived from Maxwell-Bloch's equations has been proposed. This novel scheme utilizes the general method of solution of a set of linear equations to transmit similar sized heterogeneous images which are a combination of monochrome and chromatic images. The chaos encrypted gray scaled images are concatenated along the three color planes resulting in color images. These are then transmitted over a secure channel along with a cover image which is an iris scan. The entire cryptology is augmented with an iris-based authentication scheme. The secret messages are retrieved once the authentication is successful. The objective of our work is briefly outlined as (a) the biometric information is the iris which is encrypted before transmission, (b) the iris is used for personal identification and verifying for message integrity, (c) the information is transmitted securely which are colored images resulting from a combination of gray images, (d) each of the images transmitted are encrypted through chaos based cryptography, (e) these encrypted multiple images are then coupled with the iris through linear combination of images before being communicated over the network. The several layers of encryption together with the ergodicity and randomness of chaos render enough confusion and diffusion properties which guarantee a fool-proof approach in achieving secure communication as demonstrated by exhaustive statistical methods. The result is vital from the perspective of opening a fundamental new dimension in multiplexing and simultaneous transmission of several monochromatic and chromatic images along with biometry based authentication and cryptography.

  11. Alexithymia is related to differences in gray matter volume: a voxel-based morphometry study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihme, Klas; Dannlowski, Udo; Lichev, Vladimir; Stuhrmann, Anja; Grotegerd, Dominik; Rosenberg, Nicole; Kugel, Harald; Heindel, Walter; Arolt, Volker; Kersting, Anette; Suslow, Thomas

    2013-01-23

    Alexithymia has been characterized as the inability to identify and describe feelings. Functional imaging studies have revealed that alexithymia is linked to reactivity changes in emotion- and face-processing-relevant brain areas. In this respect, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, anterior insula and fusiform gyrus (FFG) have been consistently reported. However, it remains to be clarified whether alexithymia is also associated with structural differences. Voxel-based morphometry on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images was used to investigate gray matter volume in 17 high alexithymics (HA) and 17 gender-matched low alexithymics (LA), which were selected from a sample of 161 healthy volunteers on basis of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Data were analyzed as statistic parametric maps for the comparisons LA>HA and HA>LA in a priori determined regions of interests (ROIs), i.e., ACC, amygdala, anterior insula and FFG. Moreover, an exploratory whole brain analysis was accomplished. For the contrast LA>HA, significant clusters were detected in the ACC, left amygdala and left anterior insula. Additionally, the whole brain analysis revealed volume differences in the left middle temporal gyrus. No significant differences were found for the comparison HA>LA. Our findings suggest that high compared to low alexithymics show less gray matter volume in several emotion-relevant brain areas. These structural differences might contribute to the functional alterations found in previous imaging studies in alexithymia. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Gender classification from face images by using local binary pattern and gray-level co-occurrence matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzbaş, Betül; Arslan, Ahmet

    2018-04-01

    Gender is an important step for human computer interactive processes and identification. Human face image is one of the important sources to determine gender. In the present study, gender classification is performed automatically from facial images. In order to classify gender, we propose a combination of features that have been extracted face, eye and lip regions by using a hybrid method of Local Binary Pattern and Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix. The features have been extracted from automatically obtained face, eye and lip regions. All of the extracted features have been combined and given as input parameters to classification methods (Support Vector Machine, Artificial Neural Networks, Naive Bayes and k-Nearest Neighbor methods) for gender classification. The Nottingham Scan face database that consists of the frontal face images of 100 people (50 male and 50 female) is used for this purpose. As the result of the experimental studies, the highest success rate has been achieved as 98% by using Support Vector Machine. The experimental results illustrate the efficacy of our proposed method.

  13. A Gray-code-based color image representation method using TSNAM%TSNAM彩色图像的格雷码表示

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    郑运平; 张佳婧

    2012-01-01

    为了提高彩色图像模式的表示效率,借助于三角形和正方形布局问题的思想,将格雷码和位平面分解方法应用到彩色图像的三角形和正方形NAM表示方法(TSNAM)中,提出了一种基于格雷码的TSNAM彩色图像表示方法(GTSNAM).给出了GTSNAM表示算法的形式化描述,并对其存储结构、总数据量和时空复杂性进行了分析.理论分析和实验结果表明,与最新提出的TSNAM表示方法和经典的线性四元树(LQT)表示方法相比,GTSNAM表示方法具有更少的子模式数(或节点数),能够更有效地减少数据存储空间,因而是一种有效的彩色图像表示方法.%Inspired by an idea obtained from the triangle and the square packing problems, a new Gray-code-based color image representation method using a non-symmetry and anti-packing pattern representation model with the triangle and the square subpatterns (TSNAM) , also called the GTSNAM representation method, was proposed to improve the representation efficiency of color images by applying the Gray code and the bit-plane decomposition method. Also, a concrete algorithm of GTSNAM for color images was presented, and the storage structure, the total data amount, and the time and space complexities of the proposed algorithm were analyzed. By comparing the GTSNAM algorithm with those of the classic linear quadtree (LQT) and the latest TSNAM, which is not based on the Gray code, the theoretical and experimental results show that the former can greatly reduce the number of subpatterns or nodes and simultaneously save the storage space much more effectively than the latter ones. The GTSNAM algorithm is therefore shown to be a better method to represent color images.

  14. Determining Surface Infiltration Rate of Permeable Pavements with Digital Imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caterina Valeo

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Cell phone images of pervious pavement surfaces were used to explore relationships between surface infiltration rates (SIR measured using the ASTM C1701 standard test and using a simple falling head test. A fiber-reinforced porous asphalt surface and a highly permeable material comprised of stone, rubber and a polymer binder (Porous Pave were tested. Images taken with a high-resolution cellphone camera were acquired as JPEG files and converted to gray scale images in Matlab® for analysis. The distribution of gray levels was compared to the surface infiltration rates obtained for both pavements with attention given to the mean of the distribution. Investigation into the relationships between mean SIR and parameters determined from the gray level distribution produced in the image analysis revealed that mean SIR measured in both pavements were proportional to the inverse of the mean of the distribution. The relationships produced a coefficient of determination over 85% using both the ASTM and the falling head test in the porous asphalt surface. SIR measurements determined with the ASTM method were highly correlated with the inverse mean of the distribution of gray levels in the Porous Pave material as well, producing coefficients of determination of over 90% and Kendall’s tau-b of roughly 70% for nonparametric data.

  15. Application of Color Transformation Techniques in Pediatric Spinal Cord MR Images: Typically Developing and Spinal Cord Injury Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alizadeh, Mahdi; Shah, Pallav; Conklin, Chris J; Middleton, Devon M; Saksena, Sona; Flanders, Adam E; Krisa, Laura; Mulcahey, M J; Faro, Scott H; Mohamed, Feroze B

    2018-01-16

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate an improved and reliable visualization method for pediatric spinal cord MR images in healthy subjects and patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). A total of 15 pediatric volunteers (10 healthy subjects and 5 subjects with cervical SCI) with a mean age of 11.41 years (range 8-16 years) were recruited and scanned using a 3.0T Siemens Verio MR scanner. T2-weighted axial images were acquired covering entire cervical spinal cord level C1 to C7. These gray-scale images were then converted to color images by using five different techniques including hue-saturation-value (HSV), rainbow, red-green-blue (RGB), and two enhanced RGB techniques using automated contrast stretching and intensity inhomogeneity correction. Performance of these techniques was scored visually by two neuroradiologists within three selected cervical spinal cord intervertebral disk levels (C2-C3, C4-C5, and C6-C7) and quantified using signal to noise ratio (SNR) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR). Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the color images shows consistent improvement across all the healthy and SCI subjects over conventional gray-scale T2-weighted gradient echo (GRE) images. Inter-observer reliability test showed moderate to strong intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficients in the proposed techniques (ICC > 0.73). The results suggest that the color images could be used for quantification and enhanced visualization of the spinal cord structures in addition to the conventional gray-scale images. This would immensely help towards improved delineation of the gray/white and CSF structures and further aid towards accurate manual or automatic drawings of region of interests (ROIs).

  16. An enhanced fractal image denoising algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Jian; Ye Zhongxing; Zou Yuru; Ye Ruisong

    2008-01-01

    In recent years, there has been a significant development in image denoising using fractal-based method. This paper presents an enhanced fractal predictive denoising algorithm for denoising the images corrupted by an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) by using quadratic gray-level function. Meanwhile, a quantization method for the fractal gray-level coefficients of the quadratic function is proposed to strictly guarantee the contractivity requirement of the enhanced fractal coding, and in terms of the quality of the fractal representation measured by PSNR, the enhanced fractal image coding using quadratic gray-level function generally performs better than the standard fractal coding using linear gray-level function. Based on this enhanced fractal coding, the enhanced fractal image denoising is implemented by estimating the fractal gray-level coefficients of the quadratic function of the noiseless image from its noisy observation. Experimental results show that, compared with other standard fractal-based image denoising schemes using linear gray-level function, the enhanced fractal denoising algorithm can improve the quality of the restored image efficiently

  17. Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment Final Report 2006.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    May, Christopher W.; McGrath, Kathleen E.; Geist, David R. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Abbe, Timothy; Barton, Chase [Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc.

    2008-02-04

    The Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment was funded to address degradation and loss of spawning habitat for chum salmon (Onchorhynchus keta) and fall Chinook salmon (Onchoryhnchus tshawytscha). In 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed lower Columbia River chum salmon as a threatened Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The Grays River watershed is one of two remaining significant chum salmon spawning locations in this ESU. Runs of Grays River chum and Chinook salmon have declined significantly during the past century, largely because of damage to spawning habitat associated with timber harvest and agriculture in the watershed. In addition, approximately 20-25% of the then-remaining chum salmon spawning habitat was lost during a 1999 channel avulsion that destroyed an important artificial spawning channel operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Although the lack of stable, high-quality spawning habitat is considered the primary physical limitation on Grays River chum salmon production today, few data are available to guide watershed management and channel restoration activities. The objectives of the Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment project were to (1) perform a comprehensive watershed and biological analysis, including hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological assessments; (2) develop a prioritized list of actions that protect and restore critical chum and Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the Grays River based on comprehensive geomorphic, hydrologic, and stream channel assessments; and (3) gain a better understanding of chum and Chinook salmon habitat requirements and survival within the lower Columbia River and the Grays River. The watershed-based approach to river ecosystem restoration relies on a conceptual framework that describes general relationships between natural landscape characteristics, watershed-scale habitat-forming processes, aquatic

  18. Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment, 2006 Final Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    May, Christopher; Geist, David [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

    2007-04-01

    The Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment was funded to address degradation and loss of spawning habitat for chum salmon (Onchorhynchus keta) and fall Chinook salmon (Onchoryhnchus tshawytscha). In 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed lower Columbia River chum salmon as a threatened Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The Grays River watershed is one of two remaining significant chum salmon spawning locations in this ESU. Runs of Grays River chum and Chinook salmon have declined significantly during the past century, largely because of damage to spawning habitat associated with timber harvest and agriculture in the watershed. In addition, approximately 20-25% of the then-remaining chum salmon spawning habitat was lost during a 1999 channel avulsion that destroyed an important artificial spawning channel operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Although the lack of stable, high-quality spawning habitat is considered the primary physical limitation on Grays River chum salmon production today, few data are available to guide watershed management and channel restoration activities. The objectives of the Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment project were to (1) perform a comprehensive watershed and biological analysis, including hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological assessments; (2) develop a prioritized list of actions that protect and restore critical chum and Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the Grays River based on comprehensive geomorphic, hydrologic, and stream channel assessments; and (3) gain a better understanding of chum and Chinook salmon habitat requirements and survival within the lower Columbia River and the Grays River. The watershed-based approach to river ecosystem restoration relies on a conceptual framework that describes general relationships between natural landscape characteristics, watershed-scale habitat-forming processes, aquatic

  19. Volumetric image processing: A new technique for three-dimensional imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fishman, E.K.; Drebin, B.; Magid, D.; St Ville, J.A.; Zerhouni, E.A.; Siegelman, S.S.; Ney, D.R.

    1986-01-01

    Volumetric three-dimensional (3D) image processing was performed on CT scans of 25 normal hips, and image quality and potential diagnostic applications were assessed. In contrast to surface detection 3D techniques, volumetric processing preserves every pixel of transaxial CT data, replacing the gray scale with transparent ''gels'' and shading. Anatomically, accurate 3D images can be rotated and manipulated in real time, including simulated tissue layer ''peeling'' and mock surgery or disarticulation. This pilot study suggests that volumetric rendering is a major advance in signal processing of medical image data, producing a high quality, uniquely maneuverable image that is useful for fracture interpretation, soft-tissue analysis, surgical planning, and surgical rehearsal

  20. Effect of Heating Time on Hardness Properties of Laser Clad Gray Cast Iron Surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norhafzan, B.; Aqida, S. N.; Mifthal, F.; Zulhishamuddin, A. R.; Ismail, I.

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents effect of heating time on cladded gray cast iron. In this study, the effect of heating time on cladded gray cast iron and melted gray cast iron were analysed. The gray cast iron sample were added with mixed Mo-Cr powder using laser cladding technique. The mixed Mo and Cr powder was pre-placed on gray cast iron surface. Modified layer were sectioned using diamond blade cutter and polish using SiC abrasive paper before heated. Sample was heated in furnace for 15, 30 and 45 minutes at 650 °C and cool down in room temperature. Metallographic study was conduct using inverted microscope while surface hardness properties were tested using Wilson hardness test with Vickers scale. Results for metallographic study showed graphite flakes within matrix of pearlite. The surface hardness for modified layer decreased when increased heating time process. These findings are significant to structure stability of laser cladded gray cast iron with different heating times.

  1. Image Mosaic Techniques OptimizationUsing Wavelet

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHOUAn-qi; CUILi

    2014-01-01

    This essay concentrates on two key procedures of image mosaic——image registration and imagefusion.Becauseof the character of geometric transformation invariance of edge points, wecalculate the angle difference of the direction vector ofedge points in different images anddraw an angle difference histogramto adjust the rotationproblem. Through this way, algorithm based on gray information is expandedandcan be used in images withdisplacementand rotation. Inthe term of image fusion, wavelet multi-scale analysis is used to fuse spliced images. In order to choose the best method of imagefusion,weevaluate the results of different methods of image fusion by cross entropy.

  2. The scheme and implementing of workstation configuration for medical imaging information system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tao Yonghao; Miao Jingtao

    2002-01-01

    Objective: To discuss the scheme and implementing for workstation configuration of medical imaging information system which would be adapted to the practice situation of China. Methods: The workstations were logically divided into PACS workstations and RIS workstations, the former applied to three kinds of diagnostic practice: the small matrix images, large matrix images, and high resolution gray scale display application, and the latter consisted of many different models which depended upon the usage and function process. Results: A dual screen configuration for image diagnostic workstation integrated the image viewing and reporting procedure physically, while the small matrix images as CT or MR were operated on 17 in (1 in = 2.54 cm) color monitors, the conventional X-ray diagnostic procedure was implemented based on 21 in color monitors or portrait format gray scale 2 K by 2.5 K monitors. All other RIS workstations not involved in image process were set up with a common PC configuration. Conclusion: The essential principle for designing a workstation scheme of medical imaging information system should satisfy the basic requirements of medical image diagnosis and fit into the available investment situation

  3. Efficient 2-D DCT Computation from an Image Representation Point of View

    OpenAIRE

    Papakostas, G.A.; Koulouriotis, D.E.; Karakasis, E.G.

    2009-01-01

    A novel methodology that ensures the computation of 2-D DCT coefficients in gray-scale images as well as in binary ones, with high computation rates, was presented in the previous sections. Through a new image representation scheme, called ISR (Image Slice Representation) the 2-D DCT coefficients can be computed in significantly reduced time, with the same accuracy.

  4. MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (MQ-1C Gray Eagle)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Range Finder /Laser Designator, Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator, communications relay, and Hellfire Missiles. Ground equipment...equipment strength . Each Gray Eagle company will consist of 125 soldiers within the Divisional CAB and the NTC. Each unit will have three identical...will bring these companies to full Gray Eagle System equipment strength . Each Gray Eagle company will consist of 125 soldiers within the divisional

  5. Gray Matter Volume Reduction Is Associated with Cognitive Impairment in Neuromyelitis Optica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Q; Zhang, N; Qin, W; Li, Y; Fu, Y; Li, T; Shao, J; Yang, L; Shi, F-D; Yu, C

    2015-10-01

    Whether gray matter impairment occurs in neuromyelitis optica is a matter of ongoing debate, and the association of gray matter impairment with cognitive deficits remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate gray matter volume reductions and their association with cognitive decline in patients with neuromyelitis optica. This study included 50 patients with neuromyelitis optica and 50 sex-, age-, handedness-, and education-matched healthy subjects who underwent high-resolution structural MR imaging examinations and a battery of cognitive assessments. Gray matter volume and cognitive differences were compared between the 2 groups. The correlations of the regional gray matter volume with cognitive scores and clinical variables were explored in the patients with neuromyelitis optica. Compared with healthy controls (635.9 ± 51.18 mL), patients with neuromyelitis optica (602.8 ± 51.03 mL) had a 5.21% decrease in the mean gray matter volume of the whole brain (P optica affected the frontal and temporal cortices and the right thalamus (false discovery rate correction, P optica (Alphasim correction, P optica had impairments in memory, information processing speed, and verbal fluency (P optica and is associated with cognitive impairment and disease severity in this group. © 2015 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

  6. Generalized probabilistic scale space for image restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Alexander; Mishra, Akshaya K

    2010-10-01

    A novel generalized sampling-based probabilistic scale space theory is proposed for image restoration. We explore extending the definition of scale space to better account for both noise and observation models, which is important for producing accurately restored images. A new class of scale-space realizations based on sampling and probability theory is introduced to realize this extended definition in the context of image restoration. Experimental results using 2-D images show that generalized sampling-based probabilistic scale-space theory can be used to produce more accurate restored images when compared with state-of-the-art scale-space formulations, particularly under situations characterized by low signal-to-noise ratios and image degradation.

  7. White and gray matter abnormalities in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder: a diffusion-tensor imaging and voxel-based morphometry study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherfler, Christoph; Frauscher, Birgit; Schocke, Michael; Iranzo, Alex; Gschliesser, Viola; Seppi, Klaus; Santamaria, Joan; Tolosa, Eduardo; Högl, Birgit; Poewe, Werner

    2011-02-01

    We applied diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) including measurements of mean diffusivity (MD), a parameter of brain tissue integrity, fractional anisotropy (FA), a parameter of neuronal fiber integrity, as well as voxel-based morphometry (VBM), a measure of gray and white matter volume, to detect brain tissue changes in patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in 26 patients with iRBD (mean disease duration, 9.2 ± 6.4 years) and 14 age-matched healthy control subjects. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) was applied to objectively identify focal changes of MRI parameters throughout the entire brain volume. SPM localized significant decreases of FA in the tegmentum of the midbrain and rostral pons and increases of MD within the pontine reticular formation overlapping with a cluster of decreased FA in the midbrain (p < 0.001). VBM revealed increases of gray matter densities in both hippocampi of iRBD patients (p < 0.001). The observed changes in the pontomesencephalic brainstem localized 2 areas harboring key neuronal circuits believed to be involved in the regulation of REM sleep and overlap with areas of structural brainstem damage causing symptomatic RBD in humans. Bilateral increases in gray matter density of the hippocampus suggest functional neuronal reorganization in this brain area in iRBD. This study indicates that DTI detects distinct structural brainstem tissue abnormalities in iRBD in the regions where REM is modulated. Further studies should explore the relationship between MRI pathology and the risk of patients with iRBD of developing alpha-synuclein-related neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson disease. Copyright © 2010 American Neurological Association.

  8. Gray matter network disruptions and amyloid beta in cognitively normal adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tijms, Betty M; Kate, Mara Ten; Wink, Alle Meije; Visser, Pieter Jelle; Ecay, Mirian; Clerigue, Montserrat; Estanga, Ainara; Garcia Sebastian, Maite; Izagirre, Andrea; Villanua, Jorge; Martinez Lage, Pablo; van der Flier, Wiesje M; Scheltens, Philip; Sanz Arigita, Ernesto; Barkhof, Frederik

    2016-01-01

    Gray matter networks are disrupted in Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is unclear when these disruptions start during the development of AD. Amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ42) is among the earliest changes in AD. We studied, in cognitively healthy adults, the relationship between Aβ42 levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and single-subject cortical gray matter network measures. Single-subject gray matter networks were extracted from structural magnetic resonance imaging scans in a sample of cognitively healthy adults (N = 185; age range 39-79, mini-mental state examination >25, N = 12 showed abnormal Aβ42 level and for 90 anatomical areas. Associations between continuous Aβ42 CSF levels and single-subject cortical gray matter network measures were tested. Smoothing splines were used to determine whether a linear or nonlinear relationship gave a better fit to the data. Lower Aβ42 CSF levels were linearly associated at whole brain level with lower connectivity density, and nonlinearly with lower clustering values and higher path length values, which is indicative of a less-efficient network organization. These relationships were specific to medial temporal areas, precuneus, and the middle frontal gyrus (all p levels can be related to gray matter networks disruptions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Illuminant direction estimation for a single image based on local region complexity analysis and average gray value.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Jizheng; Mao, Xia; Chen, Lijiang; Xue, Yuli; Compare, Angelo

    2014-01-10

    Illuminant direction estimation is an important research issue in the field of image processing. Due to low cost for getting texture information from a single image, it is worthwhile to estimate illuminant direction by employing scenario texture information. This paper proposes a novel computation method to estimate illuminant direction on both color outdoor images and the extended Yale face database B. In our paper, the luminance component is separated from the resized YCbCr image and its edges are detected with the Canny edge detector. Then, we divide the binary edge image into 16 local regions and calculate the edge level percentage in each of them. Afterward, we use the edge level percentage to analyze the complexity of each local region included in the luminance component. Finally, according to the error function between the measured intensity and the calculated intensity, and the constraint function for an infinite light source model, we calculate the illuminant directions of the luminance component's three local regions, which meet the requirements of lower complexity and larger average gray value, and synthesize them as the final illuminant direction. Unlike previous works, the proposed method requires neither all of the information of the image nor the texture that is included in the training set. Experimental results show that the proposed method works better at the correct rate and execution time than the existing ones.

  10. Store Image: Scale implementation Part 3

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronel du Preez

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper is the final in the three-part series regarding store image. The purposes of this article are to (1 implement the developed scale to assess whether it illustrates acceptable psychometric properties of reliability and validity, (2 assess the model fit of the developed scale and (3 formulate recommendations for future research. Results indicated that the Apparel Store Image Scale (ASIS show acceptable reliability and model fit. A refined definition of store image was proposed together with a Final Model of Apparel Store Image. Recommendations for future research are made.

  11. Parallel implementation of Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrices and Haralick texture features on cell architecture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shahbahrami, A.; Pham, T.A.; Bertels, K.L.M.

    2011-01-01

    Texture features extraction algorithms are key functions in various image processing applications such as medical images, remote sensing, and content-based image retrieval. The most common way to extract texture features is the use of Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrices (GLCMs). The GLCM contains the

  12. Generalized image contrast enhancement technique based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hong; Nodine, Calvin F.

    1996-07-01

    This paper presents a generalized image contrast enhancement technique, which equalizes the perceived brightness distribution based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model. It is based on the mathematically proven existence of a unique solution to a nonlinear equation, and is formulated with easily tunable parameters. The model uses a two-step log-log representation of luminance contrast between targets and surround in a luminous background setting. The algorithm consists of two nonlinear gray scale mapping functions that have seven parameters, two of which are adjustable Heinemann constants. Another parameter is the background gray level. The remaining four parameters are nonlinear functions of the gray-level distribution of the given image, and can be uniquely determined once the previous three are set. Tests have been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm for increasing the overall contrast of radiology images. The traditional histogram equalization can be reinterpreted as an image enhancement technique based on the knowledge of human contrast perception. In fact, it is a special case of the proposed algorithm.

  13. Optimal Scale Edge Detection Utilizing Noise within Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adnan Khashman

    2003-04-01

    Full Text Available Edge detection techniques have common problems that include poor edge detection in low contrast images, speed of recognition and high computational cost. An efficient solution to the edge detection of objects in low to high contrast images is scale space analysis. However, this approach is time consuming and computationally expensive. These expenses can be marginally reduced if an optimal scale is found in scale space edge detection. This paper presents a new approach to detecting objects within images using noise within the images. The novel idea is based on selecting one optimal scale for the entire image at which scale space edge detection can be applied. The selection of an ideal scale is based on the hypothesis that "the optimal edge detection scale (ideal scale depends on the noise within an image". This paper aims at providing the experimental evidence on the relationship between the optimal scale and the noise within images.

  14. Simultaneous measurement of particle velocity and size based on gray difference and autocorrelation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    The gray of two images of a same particle taken by a digital camera with different exposure times is different too. Based on the gray difference of particle images in a double-exposed photo and autocorrelation processing of digital images,this paper proposes a method for measuring particle velocities and sizes simultaneously. This paper also introduces the theoretical foundation of this method,the process of particle imaging and image processing,and the simultaneous measurement of velocity and size of a low speed flow field with 35 μm and 75 μm standard particles. The graphical measurement results can really reflect the flow characteristics of the flow field. In addition,although the measured velocity and size histograms of these two kinds of standard particles are slightly wider than the theoretical ones,they are all still similar to the normal distribution,and the peak velocities and diameters of the histograms are consistent with the default values. Therefore,this measurement method is capable of providing moderate measurement accuracy,and it can be further developed for high-speed flow field measurements.

  15. MASTICATORY MUSCLE MYOSITIS IN A GRAY WOLF (CANIS LUPUS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Marc; Glass, Eric N; Castro, Fernando A; Miller, Andrew D; de Lahunta, Alexander

    2017-03-01

    A 10-yr-old male, neutered gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) was presented for atrophy of the temporalis and masseter muscles. Clinical signs and magnetic resonance imaging were consistent with a myopathy. Positive serology for antibody titers directed against Type 2M myofibers, and the observation of a mixed mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltrate along with eosinophils and neutrophils within the temporalis muscle, were diagnostic for masticatory muscle myositis. Importantly, protozoal myositis was excluded based on other clinicopathologic data. The case highlights the potential for immune-mediated polymyositis in canids other than the domesticated dog ( Canis lupus familaris). Additionally, awareness of a diet in which raw meat is used should prompt a thorough investigation for an underlying infectious myositis in the gray wolf.

  16. Detection of pre-symptomatic rose powdery-mildew and gray-mold diseases based on thermal vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jafari, M.; Minaei, S.; Safaie, N.

    2017-09-01

    Roses are the most important plants in ornamental horticulture. Roses are susceptible to a number of phytopathogenic diseases. Among the most serious diseases of rose, powdery mildew (Podosphaera pannosa var. rosae) and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) are widespread which require considerable attention. In this study, the potential of implementing thermal imaging to detect the pre-symptomatic appearance of these fungal diseases was investigated. Effects of powdery mildew and gray mold diseases on rose plants (Rosa hybrida L.) were examined by two experiments conducted in a growth chamber. To classify the healthy and infected plants, feature selection was carried out and the best extracted thermal features with the largest linguistic hedge values were chosen. Two neuro-fuzzy classifiers were trained to distinguish between the healthy and infected plants. Best estimation rates of 92.55% and 92.3% were achieved in training and testing the classifier with 8 clusters in order to identify the leaves infected with powdery mildew. In addition, the best estimation rates of 97.5% and 92.59% were achieved in training and testing the classifier with 4 clusters to identify the gray mold disease on flowers. Performance of the designed neuro-fuzzy classifiers were evaluated with the thermal images captured using an automatic imaging setup. Best correct estimation rates of 69% and 80% were achieved (on the second day post-inoculation) for pre-symptomatic appearance detection of powdery mildew and gray mold diseases, respectively.

  17. Digital image display system for emergency room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murry, R.C.; Lane, T.J.; Miax, L.S.

    1989-01-01

    This paper reports on a digital image display system for the emergency room (ER) in a major trauma hospital. Its objective is to reduce radiographic image delivery time to a busy ER while simultaneously providing a multimodality capability. Image storage, retrieval, and display will also be facilitated with this system. The system's backbone is a token-ring network of RISC and personal computers. The display terminals are higher- function RISC computers with 1,024 2 color or gray-scale monitors. The PCs serve as administrative terminals. Nuclear medicine, CT, MR, and digitized film images are transferred to the image display system

  18. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based assessment of gray matter loss in medial temporal lobe epilepsy; comparison with FDG PET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Hye Jin; Lee, Ho Young; Lee, Jae Sung; Kang, Eun Joo; Lee, Sang Gun; Chang, Kee Hyun; Lee, Dong Soo

    2004-01-01

    The aims of this study were to find brain regions in which gray matter volume was reduced and to show the capability of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis for lateralizing epileptogenic zones in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). The findings were compared with fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). MR T1-weighted images of 12 left mTLE and 11 right mTLE patients were compared with those of 37 normal controls. Images were transformed to standard MNI space and averaged in order to create study-specific brain template. Each image was normalized to this local template and brain tissues were segmented. Modulation VBM analysis was performed in order to observe gray matter volume change. Gray matter was smoothed with a Gaussian kernel. After these preprocessing, statistical analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping software (SPM99). FDG PET images were compared with those of 22 normal controls using SPM. Gray matter volume was significantly reduced in the left amygdala and hippocampus in left mTLE. In addition, volume of cerebellum, anterior cingulate, and fusiform gyrus in both sides and left insula was reduced. In right mTLE, volume was reduced significantly in right hippocampus. In contrast, FDG uptake was decreased in broad areas of left or right temporal lobes in left TLE and right TLE, respectively. Gray matter loss was found in the ipsilateral hippocampus by modulation VBM analysis in medial temporal lobe epilepsy. This VBM analysis might be useful in lateralizing the epileptogenic zones in medial temporal lobe epilepsy, while SPM analysis of FDG PET disclosed hypometabolic epileptogenic zones

  19. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based assessment of gray matter loss in medial temporal lobe epilepsy; comparison with FDG PET

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Hye Jin; Lee, Ho Young; Lee, Jae Sung; Kang, Eun Joo; Lee, Sang Gun; Chang, Kee Hyun; Lee, Dong Soo [College of Medicine, Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2004-02-01

    The aims of this study were to find brain regions in which gray matter volume was reduced and to show the capability of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis for lateralizing epileptogenic zones in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). The findings were compared with fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). MR T1-weighted images of 12 left mTLE and 11 right mTLE patients were compared with those of 37 normal controls. Images were transformed to standard MNI space and averaged in order to create study-specific brain template. Each image was normalized to this local template and brain tissues were segmented. Modulation VBM analysis was performed in order to observe gray matter volume change. Gray matter was smoothed with a Gaussian kernel. After these preprocessing, statistical analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping software (SPM99). FDG PET images were compared with those of 22 normal controls using SPM. Gray matter volume was significantly reduced in the left amygdala and hippocampus in left mTLE. In addition, volume of cerebellum, anterior cingulate, and fusiform gyrus in both sides and left insula was reduced. In right mTLE, volume was reduced significantly in right hippocampus. In contrast, FDG uptake was decreased in broad areas of left or right temporal lobes in left TLE and right TLE, respectively. Gray matter loss was found in the ipsilateral hippocampus by modulation VBM analysis in medial temporal lobe epilepsy. This VBM analysis might be useful in lateralizing the epileptogenic zones in medial temporal lobe epilepsy, while SPM analysis of FDG PET disclosed hypometabolic epileptogenic zones.

  20. Cerebral and cerebellar gray matter reduction in first-episode patients with major depressive disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng Jing, E-mail: ppengjjing@sina.com.cn [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45, Chang-Chun St, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053 (China); Liu Jiangtao, E-mail: Liujiangtao813@sina.com [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45, Chang-Chun St, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053 (China); Nie Binbin, E-mail: niebb@ihep.ac.cn [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 918, Yu-Quan St, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049 (China); Li Yang, E-mail: Liyang2007428@hotmail.com [Department of Psychiatry, Anding Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 5, An Kang Hutong, Deshengmen wai, Xicheng District, Beijing 100088 (China); Shan Baoci, E-mail: shanbc@ihep.ac.cn [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 918, Yu-Quan St, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049 (China); Wang Gang, E-mail: gangwang@gmail.com [Department of Psychiatry, Anding Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 5, An Kang Hutong, Deshengmen wai, Xicheng District, Beijing 100088 (China); Li Kuncheng, E-mail: likuncheng1955@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No. 45, Chang-Chun St, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053 (China)

    2011-11-15

    Purpose: To investigate cerebral and cerebellar gray matter abnormalities in patients with first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD). Materials and methods: We examined the structural difference in regional gray matter density (GMD) between 22 first-episode MDD patients and 30 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls by optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Compared with healthy controls, MDD patients showed decreased GMD in the right medial and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral temporal pole, right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral anterior insular cortex, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left cerebellum. In addition, in MDD patients, there was a negative correlation between GMD values of the right DLPFC and the score of the depression rating scale. Conclusions: Our findings provided additional support for the involvement of limbic-cortical circuits in the pathophysiology of MDD and preliminary evidence that a defect involving the cerebellum may also be implicated.

  1. Cerebral and cerebellar gray matter reduction in first-episode patients with major depressive disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng Jing; Liu Jiangtao; Nie Binbin; Li Yang; Shan Baoci; Wang Gang; Li Kuncheng

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate cerebral and cerebellar gray matter abnormalities in patients with first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD). Materials and methods: We examined the structural difference in regional gray matter density (GMD) between 22 first-episode MDD patients and 30 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls by optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Compared with healthy controls, MDD patients showed decreased GMD in the right medial and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral temporal pole, right superior temporal gyrus, bilateral anterior insular cortex, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left cerebellum. In addition, in MDD patients, there was a negative correlation between GMD values of the right DLPFC and the score of the depression rating scale. Conclusions: Our findings provided additional support for the involvement of limbic-cortical circuits in the pathophysiology of MDD and preliminary evidence that a defect involving the cerebellum may also be implicated.

  2. Neurilemmoma of the glans penis: ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging findings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Dae Chul; Hwang, Sung Il; Jung, Sung Il; Kim, Sun Ho; Kim, Seung Hyup

    2006-01-01

    Neurilemmoma of the glans penis is rare, and no imaging findings have been reported. A case of neurilemmoma of the glans penis is presented. Ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined small mass in the glans penis. The mass appeared hypoechoic on gray-scale US and hypervascular on color Doppler US. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed high signal intensity of the mass on a T2-weighted image and strong enhancement on a contrast-enhanced T1-weighted image.

  3. "Mr. Database" : Jim Gray and the History of Database Technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanwahr, Nils C

    2017-12-01

    Although the widespread use of the term "Big Data" is comparatively recent, it invokes a phenomenon in the developments of database technology with distinct historical contexts. The database engineer Jim Gray, known as "Mr. Database" in Silicon Valley before his disappearance at sea in 2007, was involved in many of the crucial developments since the 1970s that constitute the foundation of exceedingly large and distributed databases. Jim Gray was involved in the development of relational database systems based on the concepts of Edgar F. Codd at IBM in the 1970s before he went on to develop principles of Transaction Processing that enable the parallel and highly distributed performance of databases today. He was also involved in creating forums for discourse between academia and industry, which influenced industry performance standards as well as database research agendas. As a co-founder of the San Francisco branch of Microsoft Research, Gray increasingly turned toward scientific applications of database technologies, e. g. leading the TerraServer project, an online database of satellite images. Inspired by Vannevar Bush's idea of the memex, Gray laid out his vision of a Personal Memex as well as a World Memex, eventually postulating a new era of data-based scientific discovery termed "Fourth Paradigm Science". This article gives an overview of Gray's contributions to the development of database technology as well as his research agendas and shows that central notions of Big Data have been occupying database engineers for much longer than the actual term has been in use.

  4. The wavelet/scalar quantization compression standard for digital fingerprint images

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bradley, J.N.; Brislawn, C.M.

    1994-04-01

    A new digital image compression standard has been adopted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for use on digitized gray-scale fingerprint images. The algorithm is based on adaptive uniform scalar quantization of a discrete wavelet transform image decomposition and is referred to as the wavelet/scalar quantization standard. The standard produces archival quality images at compression ratios of around 20:1 and will allow the FBI to replace their current database of paper fingerprint cards with digital imagery.

  5. The Internet And Gray Marketing

    OpenAIRE

    Soumava Bandyopadhyay

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this conceptual paper is to investigate the nature, extent, and outcomes of gray marketing on the Internet.  We examined the current state of Internet-based gray marketing in several product categories and found the phenomenon to be on the rise.  Next, we developed a series of propositions to address evolving trends in online gray marketing, regarding actions of intermediaries and manufacturers, response by consumers, and outcomes on marketing strategy.

  6. Brain gray matter structural network in myotonic dystrophy type 1.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atsuhiko Sugiyama

    Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate abnormalities in structural covariance network constructed from gray matter volume in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1 patients by using graph theoretical analysis for further clarification of the underlying mechanisms of central nervous system involvement. Twenty-eight DM1 patients (4 childhood onset, 10 juvenile onset, 14 adult onset, excluding three cases from 31 consecutive patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging in a certain period, and 28 age- and sex- matched healthy control subjects were included in this study. The normalized gray matter images of both groups were subjected to voxel based morphometry (VBM and Graph Analysis Toolbox for graph theoretical analysis. VBM revealed extensive gray matter atrophy in DM1 patients, including cortical and subcortical structures. On graph theoretical analysis, there were no significant differences between DM1 and control groups in terms of the global measures of connectivity. Betweenness centrality was increased in several regions including the left fusiform gyrus, whereas it was decreased in the right striatum. The absence of significant differences between the groups in global network measurements on graph theoretical analysis is consistent with the fact that the general cognitive function is preserved in DM1 patients. In DM1 patients, increased connectivity in the left fusiform gyrus and decreased connectivity in the right striatum might be associated with impairment in face perception and theory of mind, and schizotypal-paranoid personality traits, respectively.

  7. 3D Measurement Technology by Structured Light Using Stripe-Edge-Based Gray Code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, H B; Chen, Y; Wu, M Y; Guan, C R; Yu, X Y

    2006-01-01

    The key problem of 3D vision measurement using triangle method based on structured light is to acquiring projecting angle of projecting light accurately. In order to acquire projecting angle thereby determine the corresponding relationship between sampling point and image point, method for encoding and decoding structured light based on stripe edge of Gray code is presented. The method encoded with Gray code stripe and decoded with stripe edge acquired by sub-pixel technology instead of pixel centre, so latter one-bit decoding error was removed. Accuracy of image sampling point location and correspondence between image sampling point and object sampling point achieved sub-pixel degree. In addition, measurement error caused by dividing projecting angle irregularly by even-width encoding stripe was analysed and corrected. Encoding and decoding principle and decoding equations were described. Finally, 3dsmax and Matlab software were used to simulate measurement system and reconstruct measured surface. Indicated by experimental results, measurement error is about 0.05%

  8. Substance use and regional gray matter volume in individuals at high risk of psychosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, James M; Bhattacharyya, Sagnik; Barker, Gareth J; McGuire, Philip K

    2012-02-01

    Individuals with an at risk mental state (ARMS) are at greatly increased risk of developing a psychotic illness. Risk of transition to psychosis is associated with regionally reduced cortical gray matter volume. There has been considerable interest in the interaction between psychosis risk and substance use. In this study we investigate the relationship between alcohol, cannabis and nicotine use with gray matter volume in ARMS subjects and healthy volunteers. Twenty seven ARMS subjects and 27 healthy volunteers took part in the study. All subjects underwent volumetric MRI imaging. The relationship between regional gray matter volume and cannabis use, smoking, and alcohol use in controls and ARMS subjects was analysed using voxel-based morphometry. In any region where a significant relationship with drug was present, data were analysed to determine if there was any group difference in this relationship. Alcohol intake was inversely correlated with gray matter volume in cerebellum, cannabis intake was use was inversely correlated with gray matter volume in prefrontal cortex and tobacco intake was inversely correlated with gray matter volume in left temporal cortex. There were no significant interactions by group in any region. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis of increased susceptibility to harmful effects of drugs and alcohol on regional gray matter in ARMS subjects. However, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis at low to moderate intake may be associated with lower gray matter in both ARMS subjects and healthy volunteers-possibly representing low-level cortical damage or change in neural plasticity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. An algorithm for automatic detection of chromosome aberrations induced by radiation using features of gray level profile across the main axis of chromosome image

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawashima, Hironao; Imai, Katsuhiro; Fukuoka, Hideya; Yamamoto, Mikio; Hayata, Isamu.

    1990-01-01

    A simple algorithm for detecting chromosome aberrations induced by radiation is developed. Microscopic images of conventional Giemsa stained chromosomes of rearranged chromosomes (abnormal chromosomes) including dicentric chromosomes, ordinary acentric fragments, small acentric fragments, and acentric rings are used as samples. Variation of width along the main axis and gray level profile across the main axis of the chromosome image are used as features for classification. In 7 microscopic images which include 257 single chromosomes, 90.0% (231 chromosomes) are correctly classified into 6 categories and 23 of 26 abnormal chromosomes are correctly identified. As a result of discrimination between a normal and an abnormal chromosome, 95.3% of abnormal chromosomes are detected. (author)

  10. Differential regional gray matter volumes in patients with on-line game addiction and professional gamers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Doug Hyun; Lyoo, In Kyoon; Renshaw, Perry F.

    2015-01-01

    Patients with on-line game addiction (POGA) and professional video game players play video games for extended periods of time, but experience very different consequences for their on-line game play. Brain regions consisting of anterior cingulate, thalamus and occpito-temporal areas may increase the likelihood of becoming a pro-gamer or POGA. Twenty POGA, seventeen pro-gamers, and eighteen healthy comparison subjects (HC) were recruited. All magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on a 1.5 Tesla Espree MRI scanner (SIEMENS, Erlangen, Germany). Voxel-wise comparisons of gray matter volume were performed between the groups using the two-sample t-test with statistical parametric mapping (SPM5). Compared to HC, the POGA group showed increased impulsiveness and perseverative errors, and volume in left thalamus gray matter, but decreased gray matter volume in both inferior temporal gyri, right middle occipital gyrus, and left inferior occipital gyrus, compared with HC. Pro-gamers showed increased gray matter volume in left cingulate gyrus, but decreased gray matter volume in left middle occipital gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus compared with HC. Additionally, the pro-gamer group showed increased gray matter volume in left cingulate gyrus and decreased left thalamus gray matter volume compared with the POGA group. The current study suggests that increased gray matter volumes of the left cingulate gyrus in pro-gamers and of the left thalamus in POGA may contribute to the different clinical characteristics of pro-gamers and POGA. PMID:22277302

  11. New second-order difference algorithm for image segmentation based on cellular neural networks (CNNs)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Shukai; Mo, Yu L.

    2001-09-01

    Image segmentation is one of the most important operations in many image analysis problems, which is the process that subdivides an image into its constituents and extracts those parts of interest. In this paper, we present a new second order difference gray-scale image segmentation algorithm based on cellular neural networks. A 3x3 CNN cloning template is applied, which can make smooth processing and has a good ability to deal with the conflict between the capability of noise resistance and the edge detection of complex shapes. We use second order difference operator to calculate the coefficients of the control template, which are not constant but rather depend on the input gray-scale values. It is similar to Contour Extraction CNN in construction, but there are some different in algorithm. The result of experiment shows that the second order difference CNN has a good capability in edge detection. It is better than Contour Extraction CNN in detail detection and more effective than the Laplacian of Gauss (LOG) algorithm.

  12. [Determination of the daily changes curve of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere by digital imaging colorimetry method].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Chuan-Xiao; Sun, Xiang-Ying; Liu, Bin

    2009-06-01

    From the digital images of the red complex which resulted in the interaction of nitrite with N-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine dihydrochloride and P-Aminobenzene sulfonic acid, it could be seen that the solution colors obviously increased with increasing the concentration of nitrite ion. The JPEG format of the digital images was transformed into gray-scale format by origin 7.0 software, and the gray values were measured with scion image software. It could be seen that the gray values of the digital image obviously increased with increasing the concentration of nitrite ion, too. Thus a novel digital imaging colorimetric (DIC) method to determine nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) contents in air was developed. Based on the red, green and blue (RGB) tricolor theory, the principle of the digital imaging colorimetric method and the influential factors on digital imaging were discussed. The present method was successfully applied to the determination of the daily changes curve of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere and NO2- in synthetic samples with the recovery of 97.3%-104.0%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 5.0%. The results of the determination were consistent with those obtained by spectrophotometric method.

  13. Gray matter alterations and correlation of nutritional intake with the gray matter volume in prediabetes

    OpenAIRE

    Hou, Yi-Cheng; Lai, Chien-Han; Wu, Yu-Te; Yang, Shwu-Huey

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The neurophysiology of prediabetes plays an important role in preventive medicine. The dysregulation of glucose metabolism is likely linked to changes in neuron-related gray matter. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate gray matter alterations in medication-naive prediabetic patients. We expected to find alterations in the gray matter of prediabetic patients. A total of 64 prediabetic patients and 54 controls were enrolled. All subjects received T1 scans using a 3-T magnet...

  14. Changes in the white-gray matter density difference in computed tomography associated with maturation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuchiya, Setsuko; Maruyama, Hiroshi; Maruyama, Kazuko

    1980-01-01

    The attenuation of the x-ray beam in infantile brain tissue is markedly lower than in adults, so the CT image in infants, particularly in the newborn, seems to indicate demyelinating diseases. Therefore, the evaluation of nonpathological scans of infants and adults was performed in order to establish baseline numerical data on white and gray matter differentiation associated with maturation. One hundred and nine normal cases with no motion artifacts were selected. The age distribution was from 39 weeks to 40 years, as shown in Fig. 1. The Hitachi CT-H 250 tomograph was used for all the patient scans. The x-ray tube was operated at 120 kV and 30 mA. The thickness of each slice was 10 mm. The patients were scanned parallel with the canthomeatal line. The CT numbers are displayed on the EMI scale, in which water is zero and bone is +500. The mean CT numbers and the standard deviation were calculated by means of a computer on a horizontal plane through the pineal body; the following regions were selected for computation: White matter: preventricular frontal area. 44 mm 2 (36 pixels). Gray matter: head of the caudate nucleus and the thalamus. 24 mm 2 (20 pixels). The mean CT number for white matter was 13.5 +- 0.5 in the newborn and 16.8 +- 0.4 in adults. These numbers increased very rapidly during the 2nd month after birth and reached the adult value by 13 years. On the other hand, the mean CT number for gray matter was 15.6 +- 0.6 in the newborn and 19.7 +- 0.4 in adults. These numbers increased only gradually after birth and reached maximum value at 20 years, These results are probably due to a decrease in the water content per unit of volume and an increase in brain solids (protein, RNA and myelin) rather than to a decrease in the extracellular space associated with maturation. The difference between the average white and gray value was also studied. The white-gray difference was lowest (1.6 units) at 2 months and highest (2.9 units) in adults. (author)

  15. Attention and Regional Gray Matter Development in Very Preterm Children at Age 12 Years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lean, Rachel E; Melzer, Tracy R; Bora, Samudragupta; Watts, Richard; Woodward, Lianne J

    2017-08-01

    This study examines the selective, sustained, and executive attention abilities of very preterm (VPT) born children in relation to concurrent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of regional gray matter development at age 12 years. A regional cohort of 110 VPT (≤32 weeks gestation) and 113 full term (FT) born children were assessed at corrected age 12 years on the Test of Everyday Attention-Children. They also had a structural MRI scan that was subsequently analyzed using voxel-based morphometry to quantify regional between-group differences in cerebral gray matter development, which were then related to attention measures using multivariate methods. VPT children obtained similar selective (p=.85), but poorer sustained (p=.02) and executive attention (p=.01) scores than FT children. VPT children were also characterized by reduced gray matter in the bilateral parietal, temporal, prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, bilateral thalami, and left hippocampus; and increased gray matter in the occipital and anterior cingulate cortices (family-wise error-corrected pregional gray matter development appear to contribute, at least in part, to the poorer attentional performance of VPT children at school age. (JINS, 2017, 23, 539-550).

  16. Regional gray matter abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia determined with optimized voxel-based morphometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, XiaoJuan; Yao, Li; Jin, Zhen; Chen, Kewei

    2006-03-01

    This study examined regional gray matter abnormalities across the whole brain in 19 patients with schizophrenia (12 males and 7 females), comparing with 11 normal volunteers (7 males and 4 females). The customized brain templates were created in order to improve spatial normalization and segmentation. Then automated preprocessing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was conducted using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM). The statistical voxel based analysis was implemented in terms of two-sample t-test model. Compared with normal controls, regional gray matter concentration in patients with schizophrenia was significantly reduced in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral middle frontal and inferior frontal gyrus, right insula, precentral and parahippocampal areas, left thalamus and hypothalamus as well as, however, significant increases in gray matter concentration were not observed across the whole brain in the patients. This study confirms and extends some earlier findings on gray matter abnormalities in schizophrenic patients. Previous behavior and fMRI researches on schizophrenia have suggested that cognitive capacity decreased and self-conscious weakened in schizophrenic patients. These regional gray matter abnormalities determined through structural MRI with optimized VBM may be potential anatomic underpinnings of schizophrenia.

  17. In Vivo Evidence of Reduced Integrity of the Gray-White Matter Boundary in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Derek Sayre; Avino, Thomas A; Gudbrandsen, Maria; Daly, Eileen; Marquand, Andre; Murphy, Clodagh M; Lai, Meng-Chuan; Lombardo, Michael V; Ruigrok, Amber N V; Williams, Steven C; Bullmore, Edward T; The Mrc Aims Consortium; Suckling, John; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Craig, Michael C; Murphy, Declan G M; Ecker, Christine

    2017-02-01

    Atypical cortical organization and reduced integrity of the gray-white matter boundary have been reported by postmortem studies in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there are no in vivo studies that examine these particular features of cortical organization in ASD. Hence, we used structural magnetic resonance imaging to examine differences in tissue contrast between gray and white matter in 98 adults with ASD and 98 typically developing controls, to test the hypothesis that individuals with ASD have significantly reduced tissue contrast. More specifically, we examined contrast as a percentage between gray and white matter tissue signal intensities (GWPC) sampled at the gray-white matter boundary, and across different cortical layers. We found that individuals with ASD had significantly reduced GWPC in several clusters throughout the cortex (cluster, P gray-white matter interface, which indicates a less distinct gray-white matter boundary in ASD. Our in vivo findings of reduced GWPC in ASD are therefore consistent with prior postmortem findings of a less well-defined gray-white matter boundary in ASD. Taken together, these results indicate that GWPC might be utilized as an in vivo proxy measure of atypical cortical microstructural organization in future studies. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  18. The correlation between emotional intelligence and gray matter volume in university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Yafei; Zhang, Qinglin; Li, Wenfu; Wei, Dongtao; Qiao, Lei; Qiu, Jiang; Hitchman, Glenn; Liu, Yijun

    2014-11-01

    A number of recent studies have investigated the neurological substrates of emotional intelligence (EI), but none of them have considered the neural correlates of EI that are measured using the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Scale (SSREIS). This scale was developed based on the EI model of Salovey and Mayer (1990). In the present study, SSREIS was adopted to estimate EI. Meanwhile, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) were used to evaluate the gray matter volume (GMV) of 328 university students. Results found positive correlations between Monitor of Emotions and VBM measurements in the insula and orbitofrontal cortex. In addition, Utilization of Emotions was positively correlated with the GMV in the parahippocampal gyrus, but was negatively correlated with the VBM measurements in the fusiform gyrus and middle temporal gyrus. Furthermore, Social Ability had volume correlates in the vermis. These findings indicate that the neural correlates of the EI model, which primarily focuses on the abilities of individuals to appraise and express emotions, can also regulate and utilize emotions to solve problems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Image recognition of shape defects in hot steel rolling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Balmashnova, E.; Bruurmijn, L.C.M.; Dissanayake, R.; Duits, R.; Kampmeijer, L.; Noorden, van T.L.; Boon, M.A.A.

    2013-01-01

    A frequently occurring issue in hot rolling of steel is so-called tail pinching. Prominent features of a pinched tail are ripple-like defects and a pointed tail. In this report two algorithms are presented to detect those features accurately in 2D gray scale images of steel strips. The two ripple

  20. Surface-based reconstruction and diffusion MRI in the assessment of gray and white matter damage in multiple sclerosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caffini, Matteo; Bergsland, Niels; LaganÃ, Marcella; Tavazzi, Eleonora; Tortorella, Paola; Rovaris, Marco; Baselli, Giuseppe

    2014-03-01

    Despite advances in the application of nonconventional MRI techniques in furthering the understanding of multiple sclerosis pathogenic mechanisms, there are still many unanswered questions, such as the relationship between gray and white matter damage. We applied a combination of advanced surface-based reconstruction and diffusion tensor imaging techniques to address this issue. We found significant relationships between white matter tract integrity indices and corresponding cortical structures. Our results suggest a direct link between damage in white and gray matter and contribute to the notion of gray matter loss relating to clinical disability.

  1. A combination chaotic system and application in color image encryption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parvaz, R.; Zarebnia, M.

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, by using Logistic, Sine and Tent systems we define a combination chaotic system. Some properties of the chaotic system are studied by using figures and numerical results. A color image encryption algorithm is introduced based on new chaotic system. Also this encryption algorithm can be used for gray scale or binary images. The experimental results of the encryption algorithm show that the encryption algorithm is secure and practical.

  2. Image Denoising And Segmentation Approchto Detect Tumor From BRAINMRI Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shanta Rangaswamy

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The detection of the Brain Tumor is a challenging problem, due to the structure of the Tumor cells in the brain. This project presents a systematic method that enhances the detection of brain tumor cells and to analyze functional structures by training and classification of the samples in SVM and tumor cell segmentation of the sample using DWT algorithm. From the input MRI Images collected, first noise is removed from MRI images by applying wiener filtering technique. In image enhancement phase, all the color components of MRI Images will be converted into gray scale image and make the edges clear in the image to get better identification and improvised quality of the image. In the segmentation phase, DWT on MRI Image to segment the grey-scale image is performed. During the post-processing, classification of tumor is performed by using SVM classifier. Wiener Filter, DWT, SVM Segmentation strategies were used to find and group the tumor position in the MRI filtered picture respectively. An essential perception in this work is that multi arrange approach utilizes various leveled classification strategy which supports execution altogether. This technique diminishes the computational complexity quality in time and memory. This classification strategy works accurately on all images and have achieved the accuracy of 93%.

  3. Henry Gray's Anatomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearce, J M S

    2009-04-01

    Little is generally known of Henry Gray, the author of Gray's Anatomy, and even less of his colleague Henry Vandyke Carter, who played a vital role in the dissections and illustrations leading to the production of the first volume in 1859. This essay attempts to sketch briefly the salient, know aspects of these two men and their divergent careers. It traces succinctly the subsequent fate of the unique anatomy book that has influenced and instructed almost every student of medicine. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  4. Role of tissue harmonic imaging in characterization of cystic renallesions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohammed, A.; Sandhu, Manavjit S.; Lal, A.; Sodhi, Kushaljit S.; Sud, K.; Kohli, Harbir S.

    2008-01-01

    Objective was to determine the utility of tissue harmonic imaging inevaluating cystic renal lesions and to compare these findings withconventional ultrasound guidance (USG) and CT. Thirty patients, detected withcystic renal lesions on routine USG (over a period of 18 months from July2004 to December 2005) at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education andResearch Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India) were included in this study. Allpatients underwent a conventional gray scale ultrasound study (GSI), followedby tissue harmonic imaging (THI) sonography on the same machine (advancetechnology limited high definition imaging 5000). Computed tomography ofabdomen was carried out within one week of the ultrasound examinations. Allimages were evaluated for size, number and location of lesions. The findingsof THI sonography, conventional USG and CT of abdomen were recorded in theirrespective proformas. The images obtained by GSI, THI and contrast enhancedCT were also evaluated for image, quality, lesion conspicuity and fluid-soliddifferentiation. Tissue harmonic imaging showed better image quality in 27 of34 lesions, improvement in lesion conspicuity was found in 27 of 34 cysticlesions and an improved solid-fluid differentiation in 30 of 34 lesions whencompared to GSI. The THI provided additional information as compared to GSIin 8 patients. The grading of CT scan was significantly higher in overallimage quality (p=0.007) and lesion conspicuity (p=0.004), but wasnon-significant for fluid-solid differentiation (p=0.23). Tissue harmonicimaging provides better image quality, lesion delineation and superiorcharacterization than conventional gray scale sonography. (author)

  5. Differential regional gray matter volumes in patients with on-line game addiction and professional gamers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Doug Hyun; Lyoo, In Kyoon; Renshaw, Perry F

    2012-04-01

    Patients with on-line game addiction (POGA) and professional video game players play video games for extended periods of time, but experience very different consequences for their on-line game play. Brain regions consisting of anterior cingulate, thalamus and occpito-temporal areas may increase the likelihood of becoming a pro-gamer or POGA. Twenty POGA, seventeen pro-gamers, and eighteen healthy comparison subjects (HC) were recruited. All magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on a 1.5 Tesla Espree MRI scanner (SIEMENS, Erlangen, Germany). Voxel-wise comparisons of gray matter volume were performed between the groups using the two-sample t-test with statistical parametric mapping (SPM5). Compared to HC, the POGA group showed increased impulsiveness and perseverative errors, and volume in left thalamus gray matter, but decreased gray matter volume in both inferior temporal gyri, right middle occipital gyrus, and left inferior occipital gyrus, compared with HC. Pro-gamers showed increased gray matter volume in left cingulate gyrus, but decreased gray matter volume in left middle occipital gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus compared with HC. Additionally, the pro-gamer group showed increased gray matter volume in left cingulate gyrus and decreased left thalamus gray matter volume compared with the POGA group. The current study suggests that increased gray matter volumes of the left cingulate gyrus in pro-gamers and of the left thalamus in POGA may contribute to the different clinical characteristics of pro-gamers and POGA. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Halftone Coding with JBIG2

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martins, Bo; Forchhammer, Søren

    2000-01-01

    of a halftone pattern dictionary.The decoder first decodes the gray-scale image. Then for each gray-scale pixel looks up the corresponding halftonepattern in the dictionary and places it in the reconstruction bitmap at the position corresponding to the gray-scale pixel. The coding method is inherently lossy......The emerging international standard for compression of bilevel images and bi-level documents, JBIG2,provides a mode dedicated for lossy coding of halftones. The encoding procedure involves descreening of the bi-levelimage into gray-scale, encoding of the gray-scale image, and construction...... and care must be taken to avoid introducing artifacts in the reconstructed image. We describe how to apply this coding method for halftones created by periodic ordered dithering, by clustered dot screening (offset printing), and by techniques which in effect dithers with blue noise, e.g., error diffusion...

  7. Novel inspection of welded joint microstructure using magneto-optical imaging technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Xiang-dong; Li Zheng-wen; You De-yong; Katayama, Seiji

    2017-01-01

    A novel method for measuring differences of microstructure by advanced use of the Faraday magneto-optical effect is proposed. Two groups of YAG laser welds on Q235 have been investigated in order to compare MO imaging and traditional methods. Microstructure images have been compared with MO images, and MO diagrams display different colors and gray scales for the base metal, the weld zone, and the heat affected zone. Experimental results indicate that the welded joint microstructure can be inspected by MO imaging without metallographic preparation. (paper)

  8. Occipital Lobe Gray Matter Volume in Male Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia: A Quantitative MRI Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onitsuka, Toshiaki; McCarley, Robert W.; Kuroki, Noriomi; Dickey, Chandlee C.; Kubicki, Marek; Demeo, Susan S.; Frumin, Melissa; Kikinis, Ron; Jolesz, Ferenc A.; Shenton, Martha E.

    2008-01-01

    Schizophrenia is characterized by deficits in cognition as well as visual perception. There have, however, been few magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the occipital lobe as an anatomically defined region of interest in schizophrenia. To examine whether or not patients with chronic schizophrenia show occipital lobe volume abnormalities, we measured gray matter volumes for both the primary visual area (PVA) and the visual association areas (VAA) using MRI based neuroanatomical landmarks and three-dimensional information. PVA and VAA gray matter volumes were measured using high-spatial resolution MRI in 25 male patients diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia and in 28 male normal controls. Chronic schizophrenia patients showed reduced bilateral VAA gray matter volume (11%), compared with normal controls, whereas patients showed no group difference in PVA gray matter volume. These results suggest that reduced bilateral VAA may be a neurobiological substrate of some of the deficits observed in early visual processing in schizophrenia. PMID:17350226

  9. Gray model prediction of the sea wall profile survey in the first process of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zang Deyan

    1998-01-01

    Based on gray system theory, the information about deformation observation of the first stage Qinshan nuclear power plant is analysed and predicted as well. The gray system theory is applied to engineering prediction and a large-scale building deformation observation. It is convenient to apply the model and it a has high degree of accuracy

  10. Properties of Brownian Image Models in Scale-Space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup

    2003-01-01

    Brownian images) will be discussed in relation to linear scale-space theory, and it will be shown empirically that the second order statistics of natural images mapped into jet space may, within some scale interval, be modeled by the Brownian image model. This is consistent with the 1/f 2 power spectrum...... law that apparently governs natural images. Furthermore, the distribution of Brownian images mapped into jet space is Gaussian and an analytical expression can be derived for the covariance matrix of Brownian images in jet space. This matrix is also a good approximation of the covariance matrix......In this paper it is argued that the Brownian image model is the least committed, scale invariant, statistical image model which describes the second order statistics of natural images. Various properties of three different types of Gaussian image models (white noise, Brownian and fractional...

  11. Terahertz composite imaging method

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    QIAO Xiaoli; REN Jiaojiao; ZHANG Dandan; CAO Guohua; LI Lijuan; ZHANG Xinming

    2017-01-01

    In order to improve the imaging quality of terahertz(THz) spectroscopy, Terahertz Composite Imaging Method(TCIM) is proposed. The traditional methods of improving THz spectroscopy image quality are mainly from the aspects of de-noising and image enhancement. TCIM breaks through this limitation. A set of images, reconstructed in a single data collection, can be utilized to construct two kinds of composite images. One algorithm, called Function Superposition Imaging Algorithm(FSIA), is to construct a new gray image utilizing multiple gray images through a certain function. The features of the Region Of Interest (ROI) are more obvious after operating, and it has capability of merging ROIs in multiple images. The other, called Multi-characteristics Pseudo-color Imaging Algorithm(McPcIA), is to construct a pseudo-color image by combining multiple reconstructed gray images in a single data collection. The features of ROI are enhanced by color differences. Two algorithms can not only improve the contrast of ROIs, but also increase the amount of information resulting in analysis convenience. The experimental results show that TCIM is a simple and effective tool for THz spectroscopy image analysis.

  12. Multi-Scale Pattern Recognition for Image Classification and Segmentation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Li, Y.

    2013-01-01

    Scale is an important parameter of images. Different objects or image structures (e.g. edges and corners) can appear at different scales and each is meaningful only over a limited range of scales. Multi-scale analysis has been widely used in image processing and computer vision, serving as the basis

  13. Scaling images using their background ratio. An application in statistical comparisons of images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalemis, A; Binnie, D; Bailey, D L; Flower, M A; Ott, R J

    2003-01-01

    Comparison of two medical images often requires image scaling as a pre-processing step. This is usually done with the scaling-to-the-mean or scaling-to-the-maximum techniques which, under certain circumstances, in quantitative applications may contribute a significant amount of bias. In this paper, we present a simple scaling method which assumes only that the most predominant values in the corresponding images belong to their background structure. The ratio of the two images to be compared is calculated and its frequency histogram is plotted. The scaling factor is given by the position of the peak in this histogram which belongs to the background structure. The method was tested against the traditional scaling-to-the-mean technique on simulated planar gamma-camera images which were compared using pixelwise statistical parametric tests. Both sensitivity and specificity for each condition were measured over a range of different contrasts and sizes of inhomogeneity for the two scaling techniques. The new method was found to preserve sensitivity in all cases while the traditional technique resulted in significant degradation of sensitivity in certain cases

  14. Scaling images using their background ratio. An application in statistical comparisons of images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalemis, A; Binnie, D; Bailey, D L; Flower, M A; Ott, R J

    2003-06-07

    Comparison of two medical images often requires image scaling as a pre-processing step. This is usually done with the scaling-to-the-mean or scaling-to-the-maximum techniques which, under certain circumstances, in quantitative applications may contribute a significant amount of bias. In this paper, we present a simple scaling method which assumes only that the most predominant values in the corresponding images belong to their background structure. The ratio of the two images to be compared is calculated and its frequency histogram is plotted. The scaling factor is given by the position of the peak in this histogram which belongs to the background structure. The method was tested against the traditional scaling-to-the-mean technique on simulated planar gamma-camera images which were compared using pixelwise statistical parametric tests. Both sensitivity and specificity for each condition were measured over a range of different contrasts and sizes of inhomogeneity for the two scaling techniques. The new method was found to preserve sensitivity in all cases while the traditional technique resulted in significant degradation of sensitivity in certain cases.

  15. Optimized lighting method of applying shaped-function signal for increasing the dynamic range of LED-multispectral imaging system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xue; Hu, Yajia; Li, Gang; Lin, Ling

    2018-02-01

    This paper proposes an optimized lighting method of applying a shaped-function signal for increasing the dynamic range of light emitting diode (LED)-multispectral imaging system. The optimized lighting method is based on the linear response zone of the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) and the spectral response of the camera. The auxiliary light at a higher sensitivity-camera area is introduced to increase the A/D quantization levels that are within the linear response zone of ADC and improve the signal-to-noise ratio. The active light is modulated by the shaped-function signal to improve the gray-scale resolution of the image. And the auxiliary light is modulated by the constant intensity signal, which is easy to acquire the images under the active light irradiation. The least square method is employed to precisely extract the desired images. One wavelength in multispectral imaging based on LED illumination was taken as an example. It has been proven by experiments that the gray-scale resolution and the accuracy of information of the images acquired by the proposed method were both significantly improved. The optimum method opens up avenues for the hyperspectral imaging of biological tissue.

  16. Regional gray matter growth, sexual dimorphism, and cerebral asymmetry in the neonatal brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilmore, John H; Lin, Weili; Prastawa, Marcel W; Looney, Christopher B; Vetsa, Y Sampath K; Knickmeyer, Rebecca C; Evans, Dianne D; Smith, J Keith; Hamer, Robert M; Lieberman, Jeffrey A; Gerig, Guido

    2007-02-07

    Although there has been recent interest in the study of childhood and adolescent brain development, very little is known about normal brain development in the first few months of life. In older children, there are regional differences in cortical gray matter development, whereas cortical gray and white matter growth after birth has not been studied to a great extent. The adult human brain is also characterized by cerebral asymmetries and sexual dimorphisms, although very little is known about how these asymmetries and dimorphisms develop. We used magnetic resonance imaging and an automatic segmentation methodology to study brain structure in 74 neonates in the first few weeks after birth. We found robust cortical gray matter growth compared with white matter growth, with occipital regions growing much faster than prefrontal regions. Sexual dimorphism is present at birth, with males having larger total brain cortical gray and white matter volumes than females. In contrast to adults and older children, the left hemisphere is larger than the right hemisphere, and the normal pattern of fronto-occipital asymmetry described in older children and adults is not present. Regional differences in cortical gray matter growth are likely related to differential maturation of sensory and motor systems compared with prefrontal executive function after birth. These findings also indicate that whereas some adult patterns of sexual dimorphism and cerebral asymmetries are present at birth, others develop after birth.

  17. Behavioral correlates of changes in hippocampal gray matter structure during acquisition of foreign vocabulary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellander, Martin; Berggren, Rasmus; Mårtensson, Johan; Brehmer, Yvonne; Wenger, Elisabeth; Li, Tie-Qiang; Bodammer, Nils C; Shing, Yee-Lee; Werkle-Bergner, Markus; Lövdén, Martin

    2016-05-01

    Experience can affect human gray matter volume. The behavioral correlates of individual differences in such brain changes are not well understood. In a group of Swedish individuals studying Italian as a foreign language, we investigated associations among time spent studying, acquired vocabulary, baseline performance on memory tasks, and gray matter changes. As a way of studying episodic memory training, the language learning focused on acquiring foreign vocabulary and lasted for 10weeks. T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive testing were performed before and after the studies. Learning behavior was monitored via participants' use of a smartphone application dedicated to the study of vocabulary. A whole-brain analysis showed larger changes in gray matter structure of the right hippocampus in the experimental group (N=33) compared to an active control group (N=23). A first path analyses revealed that time spent studying rather than acquired knowledge significantly predicted change in gray matter structure. However, this association was not significant when adding performance on baseline memory measures into the model, instead only the participants' performance on a short-term memory task with highly similar distractors predicted the change. This measure may tap similar individual difference factors as those involved in gray matter plasticity of the hippocampus. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Gray whale distribution relative to benthic invertebrate biomass and abundance: Northeastern Chukchi Sea 2009-2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brower, Amelia A.; Ferguson, Megan C.; Schonberg, Susan V.; Jewett, Stephen C.; Clarke, Janet T.

    2017-10-01

    The shallow continental shelf waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas are the northernmost foraging grounds of North Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus). Benthic amphipods are considered the primary prey of gray whales in these waters, although no comprehensive quantitative analysis has been performed to support this assumption. Gray whale relative abundance, distribution, and behavior in the northeastern Chukchi Sea (69°-72°N, 155-169°W) were documented during aerial surveys in June-October 2009-2012. Concurrently, vessel-based benthic infaunal sampling was conducted in the area in July-August 2009-10, September 2011, and August 2012. Gray whales were seen in the study area each month that surveys were conducted, with the majority of whales feeding. Statistical analyses confirm that the highest densities of feeding gray whales were associated with high benthic amphipod abundance, primarily within 70 km of shore from Point Barrow to Icy Cape, in water whales were not seen in 40-km×40-km cells containing benthic sampling stations with 85 m-2 or fewer amphipods. Continuing broad-scale aerial surveys in the Chukchi Sea and prey sampling near feeding gray whales will be an important means to monitor and document ongoing and predicted ecosystem changes.

  19. RATIO_TOOL - SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTING IMAGE RATIOS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yates, G. L.

    1994-01-01

    Geological studies analyze spectral data in order to gain information on surface materials. RATIO_TOOL is an interactive program for viewing and analyzing large multispectral image data sets that have been created by an imaging spectrometer. While the standard approach to classification of multispectral data is to match the spectrum for each input pixel against a library of known mineral spectra, RATIO_TOOL uses ratios of spectral bands in order to spot significant areas of interest within a multispectral image. Each image band can be viewed iteratively, or a selected image band of the data set can be requested and displayed. When the image ratios are computed, the result is displayed as a gray scale image. At this point a histogram option helps in viewing the distribution of values. A thresholding option can then be used to segment the ratio image result into two to four classes. The segmented image is then color coded to indicate threshold classes and displayed alongside the gray scale image. RATIO_TOOL is written in C language for Sun series computers running SunOS 4.0 and later. It requires the XView toolkit and the OpenWindows window manager (version 2.0 or 3.0). The XView toolkit is distributed with Open Windows. A color monitor is also required. The standard distribution medium for RATIO_TOOL is a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format. An electronic copy of the documentation is included on the program media. RATIO_TOOL was developed in 1992 and is a copyrighted work with all copyright vested in NASA. Sun, SunOS, and OpenWindows are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.

  20. Automatic Semiconductor Wafer Image Segmentation for Defect Detection Using Multilevel Thresholding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saad N.H.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Quality control is one of important process in semiconductor manufacturing. A lot of issues trying to be solved in semiconductor manufacturing industry regarding the rate of production with respect to time. In most semiconductor assemblies, a lot of wafers from various processes in semiconductor wafer manufacturing need to be inspected manually using human experts and this process required full concentration of the operators. This human inspection procedure, however, is time consuming and highly subjective. In order to overcome this problem, implementation of machine vision will be the best solution. This paper presents automatic defect segmentation of semiconductor wafer image based on multilevel thresholding algorithm which can be further adopted in machine vision system. In this work, the defect image which is in RGB image at first is converted to the gray scale image. Median filtering then is implemented to enhance the gray scale image. Then the modified multilevel thresholding algorithm is performed to the enhanced image. The algorithm worked in three main stages which are determination of the peak location of the histogram, segmentation the histogram between the peak and determination of first global minimum of histogram that correspond to the threshold value of the image. The proposed approach is being evaluated using defected wafer images. The experimental results shown that it can be used to segment the defect correctly and outperformed other thresholding technique such as Otsu and iterative thresholding.

  1. Improved Wallis Dodging Algorithm for Large-Scale Super-Resolution Reconstruction Remote Sensing Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chong Fan

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A sub-block algorithm is usually applied in the super-resolution (SR reconstruction of images because of limitations in computer memory. However, the sub-block SR images can hardly achieve a seamless image mosaicking because of the uneven distribution of brightness and contrast among these sub-blocks. An effectively improved weighted Wallis dodging algorithm is proposed, aiming at the characteristic that SR reconstructed images are gray images with the same size and overlapping region. This algorithm can achieve consistency of image brightness and contrast. Meanwhile, a weighted adjustment sequence is presented to avoid the spatial propagation and accumulation of errors and the loss of image information caused by excessive computation. A seam line elimination method can share the partial dislocation in the seam line to the entire overlapping region with a smooth transition effect. Subsequently, the improved method is employed to remove the uneven illumination for 900 SR reconstructed images of ZY-3. Then, the overlapping image mosaic method is adopted to accomplish a seamless image mosaic based on the optimal seam line.

  2. Cost Comparison of Conventional Gray Combined Sewer Overflow Control Infrastructure versus a Green/Gray Combination

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper outlines a life-cycle cost analysis comparing a green (rain gardens) and gray (tunnels) infrastructure combination to a gray-only option to control combined sewer overflow in the Turkey Creek Combined Sewer Overflow Basin, in Kansas City, MO. The plan area of this Bas...

  3. High-resolution electron microscope image analysis approach for superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, J.; Lu, F.; Jia, C.; Hua, Z.

    1991-01-01

    In this paper, an HREM (High-resolution electron microscope) image analysis approach has been developed. The image filtering, segmentation and particles extraction based on gray-scale mathematical morphological operations, are performed on the original HREM image. The final image is a pseudocolor image, with the background removed, relatively uniform brightness, filtered slanting elongation, regular shape for every kind of particle, and particle boundaries that no longer touch each other so that the superconducting material structure can be shown clearly

  4. Nonlinear defect localized modes and composite gray and anti-gray solitons in one-dimensional waveguide arrays with dual-flip defects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yan; Guan, Yefeng; Li, Hai; Luo, Zhihuan; Mai, Zhijie

    2017-08-01

    We study families of stationary nonlinear localized modes and composite gray and anti-gray solitons in a one-dimensional linear waveguide array with dual phase-flip nonlinear point defects. Unstaggered fundamental and dipole bright modes are studied when the defect nonlinearity is self-focusing. For the fundamental modes, symmetric and asymmetric nonlinear modes are found. Their stable areas are studied using different defect coefficients and their total power. For the nonlinear dipole modes, the stability conditions of this type of mode are also identified by different defect coefficients and the total power. When the defect nonlinearity is replaced by the self-defocusing one, staggered fundamental and dipole bright modes are created. Finally, if we replace the linear waveguide with a full nonlinear waveguide, a new type of gray and anti-gray solitons, which are constructed by a kink and anti-kink pair, can be supported by such dual phase-flip defects. In contrast to the usual gray and anti-gray solitons formed by a single kink, their backgrounds on either side of the gray hole or bright hump have the same phase.

  5. Learning scale-variant and scale-invariant features for deep image classification

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Noord, Nanne; Postma, Eric

    Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) require large image corpora to be trained on classification tasks. The variation in image resolutions, sizes of objects and patterns depicted, and image scales, hampers CNN training and performance, because the task-relevant information varies over spatial

  6. Implementation of the Midway Image Equalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thierry Guillemot

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present the detailed algorithm of the Midway Image Equalization giving to a pair of images the same histogram while maintaining as much as possible their previous gray dynamics. The midway equalization is primarily designed for gray level images, but can be applied channel-wise to color images. This method is easy to implement, fast to compute, fully automatic and requires no parameter.

  7. Different regional gray matter loss in recent onset PTSD and non PTSD after a single prolonged trauma exposure.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunchun Chen

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Gray matter loss in the limbic structures was found in recent onset post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD patients. In the present study, we measured regional gray matter volume in trauma survivors to verify the hypothesis that stress may cause different regional gray matter loss in trauma survivors with and without recent onset PTSD. METHOD: High resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI were obtained from coal mine flood disaster survivors with (n = 10 and without (n = 10 recent onset PTSD and 20 no trauma exposed normal controls. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM method was used to measure the regional gray matter volume in three groups, the correlations of PTSD symptom severities with the gray matter volume in trauma survivors were also analyzed by multiple regression. RESULTS: Compared with normal controls, recent onset PTSD patients had smaller gray matter volume in left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, and non PTSD subjects had smaller gray matter volume in the right pulvinar and left pallidum. The gray matter volume of the trauma survivors correlated negatively with CAPS scores in the right frontal lobe, left anterior and middle cingulate cortex, bilateral cuneus cortex, right middle occipital lobe, while in the recent onset PTSD, the gray matter volume correlated negatively with CAPS scores in bilateral superior medial frontal lobe and right ACC. CONCLUSION: The present study identified gray matter loss in different regions in recent onset PTSD and non PTSD after a single prolonged trauma exposure. The gray matter volume of left dorsal ACC associated with the development of PTSD, while the gray matter volume of right pulvinar and left pallidum associated with the response to the severe stress. The atrophy of the frontal and limbic cortices predicts the symptom severities of the PTSD.

  8. Why Does Hair Turn Gray?

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... out, but people with naturally lighter hair are just as likely to go gray. From the time a person notices a few gray hairs, it may take more than 10 years for all of that person's hair to turn ... really believe that this happens. Just in case, try not to freak out your ...

  9. Novel Amdovirus in Gray Foxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Linlin; Pesavento, Patricia A.; Woods, Leslie; Clifford, Deana L.; Luff, Jennifer; Wang, Chunlin

    2011-01-01

    We used viral metagenomics to identify a novel parvovirus in tissues of a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). Nearly full genome characterization and phylogenetic analyses showed this parvovirus (provisionally named gray fox amdovirus) to be distantly related to Aleutian mink disease virus, representing the second viral species in the Amdovirus genus. PMID:22000359

  10. Eileen Gray: a child of Japonism?

    OpenAIRE

    Starr, Ruth

    2008-01-01

    Exhibited at the Glucksman Memorial Symposium on June 12th 2008 My interest is in Gray's lacquer work and the influences on that work in the context of nineteenth-century fashion of Japonisme. Gray (1878-1976) had an appreciation of the Japanese characteristics of lacquer - perhaps absorbed from private and public Irish collections of Japanese art. Gray also had a twenty-year working collaboration with Seizo Sugawara (1884-1937) from Jahoji, Japan - a town famous for its lacquer work. Suga...

  11. Gray matter morphological anomalies in the cerebellar vermis in first-episode schizophrenia patients with cognitive deficits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jingjuan; Zhou, Li; Cui, Chunlei; Liu, Zhening; Lu, Jie

    2017-11-22

    Cognitive deficits are a core feature of early schizophrenia. However, the pathological foundations underlying cognitive deficits are still unknown. The present study examined the association between gray matter density and cognitive deficits in first-episode schizophrenia. Structural magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was performed in 34 first-episode schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls. Patients were divided into two subgroups according to working memory task performance. The three groups were well matched for age, gender, and education, and the two patient groups were also further matched for diagnosis, duration of illness, and antipsychotic treatment. Voxel-based morphometric analysis was performed to estimate changes in gray matter density in first-episode schizophrenia patients with cognitive deficits. The relationships between gray matter density and clinical outcomes were explored. Patients with cognitive deficits were found to have reduced gray matter density in the vermis and tonsil of cerebellum compared with patients without cognitive deficits and healthy controls, decreased gray matter density in left supplementary motor area, bilateral precentral gyrus compared with patients without cognitive deficits. Classifier results showed GMD in cerebellar vermis tonsil cluster could differentiate SZ-CD from controls, left supplementary motor area cluster could differentiate SZ-CD from SZ-NCD. Gray matter density values of the cerebellar vermis cluster in patients groups were positively correlated with cognitive severity. Decreased gray matter density in the vermis and tonsil of cerebellum may underlie early psychosis and serve as a candidate biomarker for schizophrenia with cognitive deficits.

  12. Multi-scale glycemic variability: a link to gray matter atrophy and cognitive decline in type 2 diabetes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xingran Cui

    Full Text Available Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM accelerates brain aging and cognitive decline. Complex interactions between hyperglycemia, glycemic variability and brain aging remain unresolved. This study investigated the relationship between glycemic variability at multiple time scales, brain volumes and cognition in type 2 DM.Forty-three older adults with and 26 without type 2 DM completed 72-hour continuous glucose monitoring, cognitive tests and anatomical MRI. We described a new analysis of continuous glucose monitoring, termed Multi-Scale glycemic variability (Multi-Scale GV, to examine glycemic variability at multiple time scales. Specifically, Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition was used to identify five unique ultradian glycemic variability cycles (GVC1-5 that modulate serum glucose with periods ranging from 0.5-12 hrs.Type 2 DM subjects demonstrated greater variability in GVC3-5 (period 2.0-12 hrs than controls (P<0.0001, during the day as well as during the night. Multi-Scale GV was related to conventional markers of glycemic variability (e.g. standard deviation and mean glycemic excursions, but demonstrated greater sensitivity and specificity to conventional markers, and was associated with worse long-term glycemic control (e.g. fasting glucose and HbA1c. Across all subjects, those with greater glycemic variability within higher frequency cycles (GVC1-3; 0.5-2.0 hrs had less gray matter within the limbic system and temporo-parietal lobes (e.g. cingulum, insular, hippocampus, and exhibited worse cognitive performance. Specifically within those with type 2 DM, greater glycemic variability in GVC2-3 was associated with worse learning and memory scores. Greater variability in GVC5 was associated with longer DM duration and more depression. These relationships were independent of HbA1c and hypoglycemic episodes.Type 2 DM is associated with dysregulation of glycemic variability over multiple scales of time. These time-scale-dependent glycemic fluctuations

  13. Obesity Associated Cerebral Gray and White Matter Alterations Are Interrelated in the Female Brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karsten Mueller

    Full Text Available Obesity is known to affect the brain's gray matter (GM and white matter (WM structure but the interrelationship of such changes remains unclear. Here we used T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI in combination with voxel-based morphometry (VBM and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS to assess the relationship between obesity-associated alterations of gray matter density (GMD and anisotropic water diffusion in WM, respectively. In a small cohort of lean to obese women, we confirmed previous reports of obesity-associated alterations of GMD in brain regions involved in executive control (i.e., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, DLPFC and habit learning (i.e., dorsal striatum. Gray matter density alterations of the DLPFC were negatively correlated with radial diffusivity in the entire corpus callosum. Within the genu of the corpus callosum we found a positive correlation with axial diffusivity. In posterior region and inferior areas of the body of the corpus callosum, axial diffusivity correlated negatively with altered GMD in the dorsal striatum. These findings suggest that, in women, obesity-related alterations of GMD in brain regions involved in executive control and habit learning might relate to alterations of associated WM fiber bundles within the corpus callosum.

  14. Patient dose, gray level and exposure index with a computed radiography system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, T. R.; Yoshimura, E. M.

    2014-02-01

    Computed radiography (CR) is gradually replacing conventional screen-film system in Brazil. To assess image quality, manufactures provide the calculation of an exposure index through the acquisition software of the CR system. The objective of this study is to verify if the CR image can be used as an evaluator of patient absorbed dose too, through a relationship between the entrance skin dose and the exposure index or the gray level values obtained in the image. The CR system used for this study (Agfa model 30-X with NX acquisition software) calculates an exposure index called Log of the Median (lgM), related to the absorbed dose to the IP. The lgM value depends on the average gray level (called Scan Average Level (SAL)) of the segmented pixel value histogram of the whole image. A Rando male phantom was used to simulate a human body (chest and head), and was irradiated with an X-ray equipment, using usual radiologic techniques for chest exams. Thermoluminescent dosimeters (LiF, TLD100) were used to evaluate entrance skin dose and exit dose. The results showed a logarithm relation between entrance dose and SAL in the image center, regardless of the beam filtration. The exposure index varies linearly with the entrance dose, but the angular coefficient is beam quality dependent. We conclude that, with an adequate calibration, the CR system can be used to evaluate the patient absorbed dose.

  15. Advanced gray rod control assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drudy, Keith J; Carlson, William R; Conner, Michael E; Goldenfield, Mark; Hone, Michael J; Long, Jr., Carroll J; Parkinson, Jerod; Pomirleanu, Radu O

    2013-09-17

    An advanced gray rod control assembly (GRCA) for a nuclear reactor. The GRCA provides controlled insertion of gray rod assemblies into the reactor, thereby controlling the rate of power produced by the reactor and providing reactivity control at full power. Each gray rod assembly includes an elongated tubular member, a primary neutron-absorber disposed within the tubular member said neutron-absorber comprising an absorber material, preferably tungsten, having a 2200 m/s neutron absorption microscopic capture cross-section of from 10 to 30 barns. An internal support tube can be positioned between the primary absorber and the tubular member as a secondary absorber to enhance neutron absorption, absorber depletion, assembly weight, and assembly heat transfer characteristics.

  16. Restriction Spectrum Imaging As a Potential Measure of Cortical Neurite Density in Autism

    OpenAIRE

    Carper, Ruth A.; Treiber, Jeffrey M.; White, Nathan S.; Kohli, Jiwandeep S.; M?ller, Ralph-Axel

    2017-01-01

    Autism postmortem studies have shown various cytoarchitectural anomalies in cortical and limbic areas including increased cell packing density, laminar disorganization, and narrowed minicolumns. However, there is little evidence on dendritic and axonal organization in ASD. Recent imaging techniques have the potential for non-invasive, in vivo studies of small-scale structure in the human brain, including gray matter. Here, Restriction Spectrum Imaging (RSI), a multi-shell diffusion-weighted i...

  17. Breakfast staple types affect brain gray matter volume and cognitive function in healthy children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasuyuki Taki

    Full Text Available Childhood diet is important for brain development. Furthermore, the quality of breakfast is thought to affect the cognitive functioning of well-nourished children. To analyze the relationship among breakfast staple type, gray matter volume, and intelligence quotient (IQ in 290 healthy children, we used magnetic resonance images and applied voxel-based morphometry. We divided subjects into rice, bread, and both groups according to their breakfast staple. We showed that the rice group had a significantly larger gray matter ratio (gray matter volume percentage divided by intracranial volume and significantly larger regional gray matter volumes of several regions, including the left superior temporal gyrus. The bread group had significantly larger regional gray and white matter volumes of several regions, including the right frontoparietal region. The perceptual organization index (POI; IQ subcomponent of the rice group was significantly higher than that of the bread group. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender, intracranial volume, socioeconomic status, average weekly frequency of having breakfast, and number of side dishes eaten for breakfast. Although several factors may have affected the results, one possible mechanism underlying the difference between the bread and the rice groups may be the difference in the glycemic index (GI of these two substances; foods with a low GI are associated with less blood-glucose fluctuation than are those with a high GI. Our study suggests that breakfast staple type affects brain gray and white matter volumes and cognitive function in healthy children; therefore, a diet of optimal nutrition is important for brain maturation during childhood and adolescence.

  18. Breakfast staple types affect brain gray matter volume and cognitive function in healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taki, Yasuyuki; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sassa, Yuko; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2010-12-08

    Childhood diet is important for brain development. Furthermore, the quality of breakfast is thought to affect the cognitive functioning of well-nourished children. To analyze the relationship among breakfast staple type, gray matter volume, and intelligence quotient (IQ) in 290 healthy children, we used magnetic resonance images and applied voxel-based morphometry. We divided subjects into rice, bread, and both groups according to their breakfast staple. We showed that the rice group had a significantly larger gray matter ratio (gray matter volume percentage divided by intracranial volume) and significantly larger regional gray matter volumes of several regions, including the left superior temporal gyrus. The bread group had significantly larger regional gray and white matter volumes of several regions, including the right frontoparietal region. The perceptual organization index (POI; IQ subcomponent) of the rice group was significantly higher than that of the bread group. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender, intracranial volume, socioeconomic status, average weekly frequency of having breakfast, and number of side dishes eaten for breakfast. Although several factors may have affected the results, one possible mechanism underlying the difference between the bread and the rice groups may be the difference in the glycemic index (GI) of these two substances; foods with a low GI are associated with less blood-glucose fluctuation than are those with a high GI. Our study suggests that breakfast staple type affects brain gray and white matter volumes and cognitive function in healthy children; therefore, a diet of optimal nutrition is important for brain maturation during childhood and adolescence.

  19. TVR-DART: A More Robust Algorithm for Discrete Tomography From Limited Projection Data With Automated Gray Value Estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiaodong Zhuge; Palenstijn, Willem Jan; Batenburg, Kees Joost

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel iterative reconstruction algorithm for discrete tomography (DT) named total variation regularized discrete algebraic reconstruction technique (TVR-DART) with automated gray value estimation. This algorithm is more robust and automated than the original DART algorithm, and is aimed at imaging of objects consisting of only a few different material compositions, each corresponding to a different gray value in the reconstruction. By exploiting two types of prior knowledge of the scanned object simultaneously, TVR-DART solves the discrete reconstruction problem within an optimization framework inspired by compressive sensing to steer the current reconstruction toward a solution with the specified number of discrete gray values. The gray values and the thresholds are estimated as the reconstruction improves through iterations. Extensive experiments from simulated data, experimental μCT, and electron tomography data sets show that TVR-DART is capable of providing more accurate reconstruction than existing algorithms under noisy conditions from a small number of projection images and/or from a small angular range. Furthermore, the new algorithm requires less effort on parameter tuning compared with the original DART algorithm. With TVR-DART, we aim to provide the tomography society with an easy-to-use and robust algorithm for DT.

  20. Mammography image compression using Wavelet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azuhar Ripin; Md Saion Salikin; Wan Hazlinda Ismail; Asmaliza Hashim; Norriza Md Isa

    2004-01-01

    Image compression plays an important role in many applications like medical imaging, televideo conferencing, remote sensing, document and facsimile transmission, which depend on the efficient manipulation, storage, and transmission of binary, gray scale, or color images. In Medical imaging application such Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACs), the image size or image stream size is too large and requires a large amount of storage space or high bandwidth for communication. Image compression techniques are divided into two categories namely lossy and lossless data compression. Wavelet method used in this project is a lossless compression method. In this method, the exact original mammography image data can be recovered. In this project, mammography images are digitized by using Vider Sierra Plus digitizer. The digitized images are compressed by using this wavelet image compression technique. Interactive Data Language (IDLs) numerical and visualization software is used to perform all of the calculations, to generate and display all of the compressed images. Results of this project are presented in this paper. (Author)

  1. Probabilities for profitable fungicide use against gray leaf spot in hybrid maize.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munkvold, G P; Martinson, C A; Shriver, J M; Dixon, P M

    2001-05-01

    ABSTRACT Gray leaf spot, caused by the fungus Cercospora zeae-maydis, causes considerable yield losses in hybrid maize grown in the north-central United States and elsewhere. Nonchemical management tactics have not adequately prevented these losses. The probability of profitably using fungicide application as a management tool for gray leaf spot was evaluated in 10 field experiments under conditions of natural inoculum in Iowa. Gray leaf spot severity in untreated control plots ranged from 2.6 to 72.8% for the ear leaf and from 3.0 to 7.7 (1 to 9 scale) for whole-plot ratings. In each experiment, fungicide applications with propiconazole or mancozeb significantly reduced gray leaf spot severity. Fungicide treatment significantly (P gray leaf spot severity and yield. We used a Bayesian inference method to calculate for each experiment the probability of achieving a positive net return with one or two propiconazole applications, based on the mean yields and standard deviations for treated and untreated plots, the price of grain, and the costs of the fungicide applications. For one application, the probability ranged from approximately 0.06 to more than 0.99, and exceeded 0.50 in six of nine scenarios (specific experiment/hybrid). The highest probabilities occurred in the 1995 experiments with the most susceptible hybrid. Probabilities were almost always higher for a single application of propiconazole than for two applications. These results indicate that a single application of propiconazole frequently can be profitable for gray leaf spot management in Iowa, but the probability of a profitable application is strongly influenced by hybrid susceptibility. The calculation of probabilities for positive net returns was more informative than mean separation in terms of assessing the economic success of the fungicide applications.

  2. Gray literature: An important resource in systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paez, Arsenio

    2017-08-01

    Systematic reviews aide the analysis and dissemination of evidence, using rigorous and transparent methods to generate empirically attained answers to focused research questions. Identifying all evidence relevant to the research questions is an essential component, and challenge, of systematic reviews. Gray literature, or evidence not published in commercial publications, can make important contributions to a systematic review. Gray literature can include academic papers, including theses and dissertations, research and committee reports, government reports, conference papers, and ongoing research, among others. It may provide data not found within commercially published literature, providing an important forum for disseminating studies with null or negative results that might not otherwise be disseminated. Gray literature may thusly reduce publication bias, increase reviews' comprehensiveness and timeliness, and foster a balanced picture of available evidence. Gray literature's diverse formats and audiences can present a significant challenge in a systematic search for evidence. However, the benefits of including gray literature may far outweigh the cost in time and resource needed to search for it, and it is important for it to be included in a systematic review or review of evidence. A carefully thought out gray literature search strategy may be an invaluable component of a systematic review. This narrative review provides guidance about the benefits of including gray literature in a systematic review, and sources for searching through gray literature. An illustrative example of a search for evidence within gray literature sources is presented to highlight the potential contributions of such a search to a systematic review. Benefits and challenges of gray literature search methods are discussed, and recommendations made. © 2017 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  3. Grays River Watershed Geomorphic Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Geist, David R

    2005-04-30

    This investigation, completed for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is part of the Grays River Watershed and Biological Assessment commissioned by Bonneville Power Administration under project number 2003-013-00 to assess impacts on salmon habitat in the upper Grays River watershed and present recommendations for habitat improvement. This report presents the findings of the geomorphic assessment and is intended to support the overall PNNL project by evaluating the following: The effects of historical and current land use practices on erosion and sedimentation within the channel network The ways in which these effects have influenced the sediment budget of the upper watershed The resulting responses in the main stem Grays River upstream of State Highway 4 The past and future implications for salmon habitat.

  4. A fast color image enhancement algorithm based on Max Intensity Channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Wei; Han, Long; Guo, Baolong; Jia, Wenyan; Sun, Mingui

    2014-03-01

    In this paper, we extend image enhancement techniques based on the retinex theory imitating human visual perception of scenes containing high illumination variations. This extension achieves simultaneous dynamic range modification, color consistency, and lightness rendition without multi-scale Gaussian filtering which has a certain halo effect. The reflection component is analyzed based on the illumination and reflection imaging model. A new prior named Max Intensity Channel (MIC) is implemented assuming that the reflections of some points in the scene are very high in at least one color channel. Using this prior, the illumination of the scene is obtained directly by performing a gray-scale closing operation and a fast cross-bilateral filtering on the MIC of the input color image. Consequently, the reflection component of each RGB color channel can be determined from the illumination and reflection imaging model. The proposed algorithm estimates the illumination component which is relatively smooth and maintains the edge details in different regions. A satisfactory color rendition is achieved for a class of images that do not satisfy the gray-world assumption implicit to the theoretical foundation of the retinex. Experiments are carried out to compare the new method with several spatial and transform domain methods. Our results indicate that the new method is superior in enhancement applications, improves computation speed, and performs well for images with high illumination variations than other methods. Further comparisons of images from National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a wearable camera eButton have shown a high performance of the new method with better color restoration and preservation of image details.

  5. Volume changes of whole brain gray matter in pediatric patients with Tourette syndrome: evidence from voxel-based morphometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Yue; Peng Yun; Gao Peiyi; Nie Binbin; Lu Chuankai; Zhang Liping; Ji Zhiying; Yin Guangheng; Yu Tong; Shan Baoci

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: To identify the related abnormalities of gray matter in pediatric patients with Tourette syndrome (TS) by using the optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Methods: Three dimensional T 1 WI was acquired in 31 TS children (28 boys, 3 girts, mean age 8 years, range 4-15 years) and 50 age- and sex-matched controls on a 1.5 Tesla Philips scanner. Images were pre-processed and analyzed using a version of VBM 2 in SPM 2. The whole brain gray matter volume was compared between the study and control group by using t-test. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used for analyzing the correlation between the change of grey matter volume within each brain region (mm 3 ) and YGTSS score and course of disease of TS patients. Statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS 13.0. Results: Using VBM, significant increases in gray matter volumes in left superior parietal lobule, right cerebellar hemisphere and left parahippocampal gyrus were detected in TS patients, and the volume changes were 4059, 2126 and 84 mm 3 (t=3.93, 3.71, 3.58, P<0.05) respectively. Compared to the control group, decreased grey matter volumes were found in medulla and left pons, and the volume changes were 213 and 117 mm 3 (t=3.53, 3.48, P<0.05)respectively. Tic severity was not correlated with any volume changes of gray matter in brain (P>0.05, a small volume correction, KE ≥ 10 voxel). Tic course was negatively correlated with the gray matter volume of left parahippocampal gyrus (Beta =-0.391, P=0.039). Conclusions: Using VBM technique, the gray matter abnormalities can be revealed in TS patients without obvious lesions on conventional MR imaging. The increasing volume of temporal and parietal lobes and cerebellar may be an adaptive anatomical change in response to experiential demand. The gray matter volume of the parahippocampal gyrus may be used as one potential objective index for evaluating the prognosis of TS. (authors)

  6. Structured Light Based 3d Scanning for Specular Surface by the Combination of Gray Code and Phase Shifting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yujia; Yilmaz, Alper

    2016-06-01

    Surface reconstruction using coded structured light is considered one of the most reliable techniques for high-quality 3D scanning. With a calibrated projector-camera stereo system, a light pattern is projected onto the scene and imaged by the camera. Correspondences between projected and recovered patterns are computed in the decoding process, which is used to generate 3D point cloud of the surface. However, the indirect illumination effects on the surface, such as subsurface scattering and interreflections, will raise the difficulties in reconstruction. In this paper, we apply maximum min-SW gray code to reduce the indirect illumination effects of the specular surface. We also analysis the errors when comparing the maximum min-SW gray code and the conventional gray code, which justifies that the maximum min-SW gray code has significant superiority to reduce the indirect illumination effects. To achieve sub-pixel accuracy, we project high frequency sinusoidal patterns onto the scene simultaneously. But for specular surface, the high frequency patterns are susceptible to decoding errors. Incorrect decoding of high frequency patterns will result in a loss of depth resolution. Our method to resolve this problem is combining the low frequency maximum min-SW gray code and the high frequency phase shifting code, which achieves dense 3D reconstruction for specular surface. Our contributions include: (i) A complete setup of the structured light based 3D scanning system; (ii) A novel combination technique of the maximum min-SW gray code and phase shifting code. First, phase shifting decoding with sub-pixel accuracy. Then, the maximum min-SW gray code is used to resolve the ambiguity resolution. According to the experimental results and data analysis, our structured light based 3D scanning system enables high quality dense reconstruction of scenes with a small number of images. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons are performed to extract the advantages of our new

  7. The robustness of DLP hyperspectral imaging for clinical and surgical utility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuzak, Karel J.; Wehner, Eleanor; Rao, Shekar; Litorja, Maritoni; Allen, David W.; Singer, Mike; Purdue, Gary; Ufret-Vincenty, Rafael; White, Jonathan; Cadeddu, Jeffrey; Livingston, Edward

    2010-02-01

    Utilizing seed funding from Texas Instruments, a DLP (R)Hyperspectral Imaging system was developed by integrating a focal-plane array, FPA, detector with a DLP based spectrally tunable illumination source. Software is used to synchronize FPA with DLP hardware for collecting spectroscopic images as well as running novel illumination schemes and chemometric deconvolution methods for producing gray scale or color encoded images visualizing molecular constituents at video rate. Optical spectra and spectroscopic image data of a variety of live human organs and diseased tissue collected from patients during surgical procedures and clinical visits being cataloged for a database will be presented.

  8. Louis Harold Gray (1905-1965)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomljenovic, I.

    2003-01-01

    15th CGPM (Conference General de Poids et Mesures) conference of 1975 accepted gray (Gy) as the unit of absorbed dose in honour of British physicist and radiation biologist Louis Harold Gray. This unit is a part of the SI system for units and measures. The idea of the article is to give a closer look into the life and work of this great scientist. (author)

  9. A Hybrid Soft-computing Method for Image Analysis of Digital Plantar Scanners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razjouyan, Javad; Khayat, Omid; Siahi, Mehdi; Mansouri, Ali Alizadeh

    2013-01-01

    Digital foot scanners have been developed in recent years to yield anthropometrists digital image of insole with pressure distribution and anthropometric information. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm containing gray level spatial correlation (GLSC) histogram and Shanbag entropy is presented for analysis of scanned foot images. An evolutionary algorithm is also employed to find the optimum parameters of GLSC and transform function of the membership values. Resulting binary images as the thresholded images are undergone anthropometric measurements taking in to account the scale factor of pixel size to metric scale. The proposed method is finally applied to plantar images obtained through scanning feet of randomly selected subjects by a foot scanner system as our experimental setup described in the paper. Running computation time and the effects of GLSC parameters are investigated in the simulation results.

  10. Gray QB-sing-faced version 2 (SF2) open environment test report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Plummer, J. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Immel, D. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Bobbitt, J. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Negron, M. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)

    2015-02-16

    This report details the design upgrades incorporated into the new version of the GrayQbTM SF2 device and the characterization testing of this upgraded device. Results from controlled characterization testing in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) R&D Engineering Imaging and Radiation Lab (IRL) and the Savannah River Site (SRS) Health Physics Instrument Calibration Laboratory (HPICL) is presented, as well as results from the open environment field testing performed in the E-Area Low Level Waste Storage Area. Resultant images presented in this report were generated using the SRNL developed Radiation Analyzer (RAzerTM) software program which overlays the radiation contour images onto the visual image of the location being surveyed.

  11. Image scale measurement with correlation filters in a volume holographic optical correlator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Tianxiang; Cao, Liangcai; He, Qingsheng; Jin, Guofan

    2013-08-01

    A search engine containing various target images or different part of a large scene area is of great use for many applications, including object detection, biometric recognition, and image registration. The input image captured in realtime is compared with all the template images in the search engine. A volume holographic correlator is one type of these search engines. It performs thousands of comparisons among the images at a super high speed, with the correlation task accomplishing mainly in optics. However, the inputted target image always contains scale variation to the filtering template images. At the time, the correlation values cannot properly reflect the similarity of the images. It is essential to estimate and eliminate the scale variation of the inputted target image. There are three domains for performing the scale measurement, as spatial, spectral and time domains. Most methods dealing with the scale factor are based on the spatial or the spectral domains. In this paper, a method with the time domain is proposed to measure the scale factor of the input image. It is called a time-sequential scaled method. The method utilizes the relationship between the scale variation and the correlation value of two images. It sends a few artificially scaled input images to compare with the template images. The correlation value increases and decreases with the increasing of the scale factor at the intervals of 0.8~1 and 1~1.2, respectively. The original scale of the input image can be measured by estimating the largest correlation value through correlating the artificially scaled input image with the template images. The measurement range for the scale can be 0.8~4.8. Scale factor beyond 1.2 is measured by scaling the input image at the factor of 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4, correlating the artificially scaled input image with the template images, and estimating the new corresponding scale factor inside 0.8~1.2.

  12. Antecedents of Gray Divorce: A Life Course Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, I-Fen; Brown, Susan L; Wright, Matthew R; Hammersmith, Anna M

    2016-12-16

    Increasingly, older adults are experiencing divorce, yet little is known about the risk factors associated with divorce after age 50 (termed "gray divorce"). Guided by a life course perspective, our study examined whether key later life turning points are related to gray divorce. We used data from the 1998-2012 Health and Retirement Study to conduct a prospective, couple-level discrete-time event history analysis of the antecedents of gray divorce. Our models incorporated key turning points (empty nest, retirement, and poor health) as well as demographic characteristics and economic resources. Contrary to our expectations, the onset of an empty nest, the wife's or husband's retirement, and the wife's or husband's chronic conditions were unrelated to the likelihood of gray divorce. Rather, factors traditionally associated with divorce among younger adults were also salient for older adults. Marital duration, marital quality, home ownership, and wealth were negatively related to the risk of gray divorce. Gray divorce is especially likely to occur among couples who are socially and economically disadvantaged, raising new questions about the consequences of gray divorce for individual health and well-being. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Segmentation of brain parenchymal regions into gray matter and white matter with Alzheimer's disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tokunaga, Chiaki; Yoshiura, Takashi; Yamashita, Yasuo; Magome, Taiki; Honda, Hiroshi; Arimura, Hidetaka; Toyofuku, Fukai; Ohki, Masafumi

    2010-01-01

    It is very difficult and time consuming for neuroradiologists to estimate the degree of cerebral atrophy based on the volume of cortical regions etc. Our purpose of this study was to develop an automated segmentation of the brain parenchyma into gray and white matter regions with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted MR images. Our proposed method consisted of extraction of a brain parenchymal region based on a brain model matching and segmentation of the brain parenchyma into gray and white matter regions based on a fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm. We applied our proposed method to MR images of the whole brains obtained from 9 cases, including 4 clinically AD cases and 5 control cases. The mean volume percentage of a cortical region (41.7%) to a brain parenchymal region in AD patients was smaller than that (45.2%) in the control subjects (p=0.000462). (author)

  14. The effect of illumination on gray color

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriele Sperandio

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The present study explored the perceptual process of integration of luminance information in the production of the gray color of an object placed in an environment viewed from a window. The mean luminance of the object was varied for each mean luminance of the environment. Participants matched the gray color of the object with that of Munsell chips in a viewing box. The results show that the Munsell values so obtained are linear measures of gray color. The results support the possibility that the gray color of the object derives from an additive integration of the information about mean luminance of the object and about mean luminance of the environment, with the weights of this information varying with the mean luminances.

  15. Gray Matter Hypertrophy and Thickening with Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Middle-aged and Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baril, Andrée-Ann; Gagnon, Katia; Brayet, Pauline; Montplaisir, Jacques; De Beaumont, Louis; Carrier, Julie; Lafond, Chantal; L'Heureux, Francis; Gagnon, Jean-François; Gosselin, Nadia

    2017-06-01

    Obstructive sleep apnea causes intermittent hypoxemia, hemodynamic fluctuations, and sleep fragmentation, all of which could damage cerebral gray matter that can be indirectly assessed by neuroimaging. To investigate whether markers of obstructive sleep apnea severity are associated with gray matter changes among middle-aged and older individuals. Seventy-one subjects (ages, 55-76 yr; apnea-hypopnea index, 0.2-96.6 events/h) were evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging. Two techniques were used: (1) voxel-based morphometry, which measures gray matter volume and concentration; and (2) FreeSurfer (an open source software suite) automated segmentation, which estimates the volume of predefined cortical/subcortical regions and cortical thickness. Regression analyses were performed between gray matter characteristics and markers of obstructive sleep apnea severity (hypoxemia, respiratory disturbances, and sleep fragmentation). Subjects had few symptoms, that is, sleepiness, depression, anxiety, and cognitive deficits. Although no association was found with voxel-based morphometry, FreeSurfer revealed increased gray matter with obstructive sleep apnea. Higher levels of hypoxemia correlated with increased volume and thickness of the left lateral prefrontal cortex as well as increased thickness of the right frontal pole, the right lateral parietal lobules, and the left posterior cingulate cortex. Respiratory disturbances positively correlated with right amygdala volume, and more severe sleep fragmentation was associated with increased thickness of the right inferior frontal gyrus. Gray matter hypertrophy and thickening were associated with hypoxemia, respiratory disturbances, and sleep fragmentation. These structural changes in a group of middle-aged and older individuals may represent adaptive/reactive brain mechanisms attributed to a presymptomatic stage of obstructive sleep apnea.

  16. A comparison of subtracted images from dental subtraction programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Won Jeong

    2002-01-01

    To compare the standard deviation of gray levels on digital subtracted images obtained by different dental subtraction programs. Paired periapical films were taken at the lower premolar and molar areas of the phantoms involving human mandible. The bite registration group used Rinn XCP equipment and bite registration material, based on polyvinyl siloxane, for standardization. The no bite registration group used only Rinn XCP equipment. The periapical film images were digitized at 1200 dpi resolution and 256 gray levels by a flat bed scanner with transparency unit. Dental digital subtraction programs used for this study were Subtractor (Biomedisys Co., Korea) and Emago (Oral Diagnostic Systems, The Netherlands). To measure the similarities between the subtracted images, the standard deviations of the gray levels were obtained using a histogram of subtracted images, which were then analyzed statistically. Subtracted images obtained by using the Emago program without manual selection of corresponding points showed the lowest standard deviation of gray levels (p<0.01). And the standard deviation of gray levels was lower in subtracted images in the group of a bite registration than in the group of no use of bite registration (p<0.01). Digital radiographic subtraction without manual selection of reference points was found to be a convenient and superior method.

  17. Female adolescents with severe substance and conduct problems have substantially less brain gray matter volume.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manish S Dalwani

    Full Text Available Structural neuroimaging studies have demonstrated lower regional gray matter volume in adolescents with severe substance and conduct problems. These research studies, including ours, have generally focused on male-only or mixed-sex samples of adolescents with conduct and/or substance problems. Here we compare gray matter volume between female adolescents with severe substance and conduct problems and female healthy controls of similar ages.Female adolescents with severe substance and conduct problems will show significantly less gray matter volume in frontal regions critical to inhibition (i.e. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, conflict processing (i.e., anterior cingulate, valuation of expected outcomes (i.e., medial orbitofrontal cortex and the dopamine reward system (i.e. striatum.We conducted whole-brain voxel-based morphometric comparison of structural MR images of 22 patients (14-18 years with severe substance and conduct problems and 21 controls of similar age using statistical parametric mapping (SPM and voxel-based morphometric (VBM8 toolbox. We tested group differences in regional gray matter volume with analyses of covariance, adjusting for age and IQ at p<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons at whole-brain cluster-level threshold.Female adolescents with severe substance and conduct problems compared to controls showed significantly less gray matter volume in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, bilateral somatosensory cortex, left supramarginal gyrus, and bilateral angular gyrus. Considering the entire brain, patients had 9.5% less overall gray matter volume compared to controls.Female adolescents with severe substance and conduct problems in comparison to similarly aged female healthy controls showed substantially lower gray matter volume in brain regions involved in inhibition, conflict processing, valuation

  18. GRay: A MASSIVELY PARALLEL GPU-BASED CODE FOR RAY TRACING IN RELATIVISTIC SPACETIMES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chan, Chi-kwan; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Özel, Feryal [Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

    2013-11-01

    We introduce GRay, a massively parallel integrator designed to trace the trajectories of billions of photons in a curved spacetime. This graphics-processing-unit (GPU)-based integrator employs the stream processing paradigm, is implemented in CUDA C/C++, and runs on nVidia graphics cards. The peak performance of GRay using single-precision floating-point arithmetic on a single GPU exceeds 300 GFLOP (or 1 ns per photon per time step). For a realistic problem, where the peak performance cannot be reached, GRay is two orders of magnitude faster than existing central-processing-unit-based ray-tracing codes. This performance enhancement allows more effective searches of large parameter spaces when comparing theoretical predictions of images, spectra, and light curves from the vicinities of compact objects to observations. GRay can also perform on-the-fly ray tracing within general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic algorithms that simulate accretion flows around compact objects. Making use of this algorithm, we calculate the properties of the shadows of Kerr black holes and the photon rings that surround them. We also provide accurate fitting formulae of their dependencies on black hole spin and observer inclination, which can be used to interpret upcoming observations of the black holes at the center of the Milky Way, as well as M87, with the Event Horizon Telescope.

  19. Large-scale retrieval for medical image analytics: A comprehensive review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhongyu; Zhang, Xiaofan; Müller, Henning; Zhang, Shaoting

    2018-01-01

    Over the past decades, medical image analytics was greatly facilitated by the explosion of digital imaging techniques, where huge amounts of medical images were produced with ever-increasing quality and diversity. However, conventional methods for analyzing medical images have achieved limited success, as they are not capable to tackle the huge amount of image data. In this paper, we review state-of-the-art approaches for large-scale medical image analysis, which are mainly based on recent advances in computer vision, machine learning and information retrieval. Specifically, we first present the general pipeline of large-scale retrieval, summarize the challenges/opportunities of medical image analytics on a large-scale. Then, we provide a comprehensive review of algorithms and techniques relevant to major processes in the pipeline, including feature representation, feature indexing, searching, etc. On the basis of existing work, we introduce the evaluation protocols and multiple applications of large-scale medical image retrieval, with a variety of exploratory and diagnostic scenarios. Finally, we discuss future directions of large-scale retrieval, which can further improve the performance of medical image analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Increased rCBF in gray matter heterotopias detected by SPECT using 99mTc hexamethyl-propylenamine oxime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henkes, H.; Klinikum Rudolf Virchow, Berlin; Hosten, N.; Cordes, M.; Neumann, K.; Hansen, M.L.

    1991-01-01

    Imaging findings of morphology and regional cerebral blood flow in two patients suffering from epileptic seizures are presented. CT and MRI revealed heterotopic gray matter as a probable structural correlate, causing the seizure disorder. 99m Tc hexamethyl-propylenamine oxime (HM-PAO) SPECT demonstrated focally increased regional cerebral blood flow in both patients in the areas of their heterotopic lesions. Heterotopic and orthotopic gray matter seem to have similar features in terms of regional perfusion. A focally increased brain perfusion in interictal epileptic patients may indicate an underlying migration anomaly. (orig.)

  1. Atrophy of gray and white matters in the brain during aging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeda, Shumpei; Matsuzawa, Taiju; Ito, Hisao.

    1984-01-01

    We studied atrophy of gray and white matter during aging in 57 males and 44 females with no neurological disturbances using x-ray computed tomography. The ages ranged from 12 to 80 years. Brain atrophy was expressed as brain volume index: 100% x [(brain volume/cranial cavity volume) in individual subjects]/[(brain volume/cranial cavity volume) in normal subjects of 20-39 years]. Atrophy of gray and white matter volume was expressed as gray and white matter volume indices: 100% x (apparent gray or white matter volume index in individual subjects)/(apparent gray or white matter volume index in normal subjects whose brain volume index was greater than 98%), where apparent gray and white matter volume indices were expressed as 100% x [(gray or white matter volume/cranial cavity volume) in individual subjects]/[(gray or white matter volume/cranial cavity volume) in normal subjects of 20-39 years]. Both the gray and white matter volume indices changed proportionally to the brain volume index (p<0.001). As the brain atrophy advanced, the gray matter volume index decreased more than the white matter volume index (P<0.001). Decrease in the gray and white matter volume indices was statistically significant only in seventies (P<0.002 for gray matter, P<0.05 for white matter). (author)

  2. Set-Shifting Ability Is Associated with Gray Matter Volume in Older People with Mild Cognitive Impairment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kota Tsutsumimoto

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aims: An understanding of the association between gray matter volume and executive functioning could provide strategies to reduce dementia risk in older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI. Methods: In a cross-sectional analysis, we assessed executive functioning in 83 older people with MCI using three standard neuropsychological tests: set shifting (difference between Trail Making Test Parts B and A, working memory (difference between Digit Span forward and backward from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV, and selective attention/response inhibition (difference between the second and third conditions of the color- and picture-word Stroop test. Gray matter volume was computed from brain MRIs and SIENAX from FSL software. Results: Gray matter volume was significantly associated with set-shifting performance after accounting for age, gender, body mass index, education, and global cognition (standardized β = -0.376, p = 0.001, but not with working memory or selective attention/response inhibition. Conclusion: The executive function of set-shifting ability was correlated with gray matter volume in older people with MCI.

  3. Image processor of model-based vision system for assembly robots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moribe, H.; Nakano, M.; Kuno, T.; Hasegawa, J.

    1987-01-01

    A special purpose image preprocessor for the visual system of assembly robots has been developed. The main function unit is composed of lookup tables to utilize the advantage of semiconductor memory for large scale integration, high speed and low price. More than one unit may be operated in parallel since it is designed on the standard IEEE 796 bus. The operation time of the preprocessor in line segment extraction is usually 200 ms per 500 segments, though it differs according to the complexity of scene image. The gray-scale visual system supported by the model-based analysis program using the extracted line segments recognizes partially visible or overlapping industrial workpieces, and detects these locations and orientations

  4. A NDVI assisted remote sensing image adaptive scale segmentation method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hong; Shen, Jinxiang; Ma, Yanmei

    2018-03-01

    Multiscale segmentation of images can effectively form boundaries of different objects with different scales. However, for the remote sensing image which widely coverage with complicated ground objects, the number of suitable segmentation scales, and each of the scale size is still difficult to be accurately determined, which severely restricts the rapid information extraction of the remote sensing image. A great deal of experiments showed that the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) can effectively express the spectral characteristics of a variety of ground objects in remote sensing images. This paper presents a method using NDVI assisted adaptive segmentation of remote sensing images, which segment the local area by using NDVI similarity threshold to iteratively select segmentation scales. According to the different regions which consist of different targets, different segmentation scale boundaries could be created. The experimental results showed that the adaptive segmentation method based on NDVI can effectively create the objects boundaries for different ground objects of remote sensing images.

  5. A Hybrid Soft-computing Method for Image Analysis of Digital Plantar Scanners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razjouyan, Javad; Khayat, Omid; Siahi, Mehdi; Mansouri, Ali Alizadeh

    2013-01-01

    Digital foot scanners have been developed in recent years to yield anthropometrists digital image of insole with pressure distribution and anthropometric information. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm containing gray level spatial correlation (GLSC) histogram and Shanbag entropy is presented for analysis of scanned foot images. An evolutionary algorithm is also employed to find the optimum parameters of GLSC and transform function of the membership values. Resulting binary images as the thresholded images are undergone anthropometric measurements taking in to account the scale factor of pixel size to metric scale. The proposed method is finally applied to plantar images obtained through scanning feet of randomly selected subjects by a foot scanner system as our experimental setup described in the paper. Running computation time and the effects of GLSC parameters are investigated in the simulation results. PMID:24083133

  6. Investigation of the alteration of gray matter volume in children with mental retardation with the optimal voxel-based morphometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuan Xinyu; Xie Sheng; Xiao Jiangxi; Zhang Yuanzhe; Jiang Xuexiang; Jin Chunhua; Bai Zhenhua; Yi Xiaoli

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To detect brain structural difference between children with unexplained mental retardation and children with typically normal development. Methods: The high-resolution magnetic MR imaging were obtained from 21 children with unexplained mental retardation and 30 age-matched control children without intellectual disabilities. Voxel-based morphometry analysis with an optimization of spatial segmentation and normalization procedures were applied to compare differences of gray matter volume between the two groups. The total and regional gray matter volume were compared between the two groups with independent t test. Meanwhile, correlation was conducted to analyze the relationship between the total gray matter volume and intelligence quotient (IQ) with partial correlation test. Results: The total gray matter volume was significantly increased in the mental retardation children (1.012±0.079) × 10 6 mm 3 ] in relative to the controls [(0.956±0.059)×10 6 mm 3 , t=-2.80, P 0.05). Conclusions: VBM would detect the gray matter abnormalities that were not founded in routine MR scanning. The increase of gray matter volume in the frontal-thalamus network might indicate the delayed maturation of the brain development. This might be one of the causations of' mental retardation in children. (authors)

  7. Real-time spatial compound imaging improves reproducibility in evaluation of atherosclerotic carotid plaque

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kofoed, Steen Christian; Grønholdt, Marie-Louise M.; Wilhjelm, Jens E.

    2001-01-01

    . The interobserver variation of the gray scale median value (GSM) for conventional technique ranged from -32 to +20 and from -6 to +6 for compound. Likewise, the coefficient of repeatability for the GSM value was 13 for conventional imaging and three for compound imaging, and interobserver variation for the GSM...... value for the overlapping area was 34% and 9% for conventional and compound technique. In conclusion, compound imaging improves intra- and interobserver agreement and reduces interobserver variation in the GSM value in a clinical setting. (C) 2001 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology....

  8. Objective analysis of image quality of video image capture systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowberg, Alan H.

    1990-07-01

    As Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) technology has matured, video image capture has become a common way of capturing digital images from many modalities. While digital interfaces, such as those which use the ACR/NEMA standard, will become more common in the future, and are preferred because of the accuracy of image transfer, video image capture will be the dominant method in the short term, and may continue to be used for some time because of the low cost and high speed often associated with such devices. Currently, virtually all installed systems use methods of digitizing the video signal that is produced for display on the scanner viewing console itself. A series of digital test images have been developed for display on either a GE CT9800 or a GE Signa MRI scanner. These images have been captured with each of five commercially available image capture systems, and the resultant images digitally transferred on floppy disk to a PC1286 computer containing Optimast' image analysis software. Here the images can be displayed in a comparative manner for visual evaluation, in addition to being analyzed statistically. Each of the images have been designed to support certain tests, including noise, accuracy, linearity, gray scale range, stability, slew rate, and pixel alignment. These image capture systems vary widely in these characteristics, in addition to the presence or absence of other artifacts, such as shading and moire pattern. Other accessories such as video distribution amplifiers and noise filters can also add or modify artifacts seen in the captured images, often giving unusual results. Each image is described, together with the tests which were performed using them. One image contains alternating black and white lines, each one pixel wide, after equilibration strips ten pixels wide. While some systems have a slew rate fast enough to track this correctly, others blur it to an average shade of gray, and do not resolve the lines, or give

  9. Reproducibility of F18-FDG PET radiomic features for different cervical tumor segmentation methods, gray-level discretization, and reconstruction algorithms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altazi, Baderaldeen A; Zhang, Geoffrey G; Fernandez, Daniel C; Montejo, Michael E; Hunt, Dylan; Werner, Joan; Biagioli, Matthew C; Moros, Eduardo G

    2017-11-01

    Site-specific investigations of the role of radiomics in cancer diagnosis and therapy are emerging. We evaluated the reproducibility of radiomic features extracted from 18 Flourine-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) PET images for three parameters: manual versus computer-aided segmentation methods, gray-level discretization, and PET image reconstruction algorithms. Our cohort consisted of pretreatment PET/CT scans from 88 cervical cancer patients. Two board-certified radiation oncologists manually segmented the metabolic tumor volume (MTV 1 and MTV 2 ) for each patient. For comparison, we used a graphical-based method to generate semiautomated segmented volumes (GBSV). To address any perturbations in radiomic feature values, we down-sampled the tumor volumes into three gray-levels: 32, 64, and 128 from the original gray-level of 256. Finally, we analyzed the effect on radiomic features on PET images of eight patients due to four PET 3D-reconstruction algorithms: maximum likelihood-ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) iterative reconstruction (IR) method, fourier rebinning-ML-OSEM (FOREIR), FORE-filtered back projection (FOREFBP), and 3D-Reprojection (3DRP) analytical method. We extracted 79 features from all segmentation method, gray-levels of down-sampled volumes, and PET reconstruction algorithms. The features were extracted using gray-level co-occurrence matrices (GLCM), gray-level size zone matrices (GLSZM), gray-level run-length matrices (GLRLM), neighborhood gray-tone difference matrices (NGTDM), shape-based features (SF), and intensity histogram features (IHF). We computed the Dice coefficient between each MTV and GBSV to measure segmentation accuracy. Coefficient values close to one indicate high agreement, and values close to zero indicate low agreement. We evaluated the effect on radiomic features by calculating the mean percentage differences (d¯) between feature values measured from each pair of parameter elements (i.e. segmentation methods: MTV

  10. A REGION-BASED MULTI-SCALE APPROACH FOR OBJECT-BASED IMAGE ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Kavzoglu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Within the last two decades, object-based image analysis (OBIA considering objects (i.e. groups of pixels instead of pixels has gained popularity and attracted increasing interest. The most important stage of the OBIA is image segmentation that groups spectrally similar adjacent pixels considering not only the spectral features but also spatial and textural features. Although there are several parameters (scale, shape, compactness and band weights to be set by the analyst, scale parameter stands out the most important parameter in segmentation process. Estimating optimal scale parameter is crucially important to increase the classification accuracy that depends on image resolution, image object size and characteristics of the study area. In this study, two scale-selection strategies were implemented in the image segmentation process using pan-sharped Qickbird-2 image. The first strategy estimates optimal scale parameters for the eight sub-regions. For this purpose, the local variance/rate of change (LV-RoC graphs produced by the ESP-2 tool were analysed to determine fine, moderate and coarse scales for each region. In the second strategy, the image was segmented using the three candidate scale values (fine, moderate, coarse determined from the LV-RoC graph calculated for whole image. The nearest neighbour classifier was applied in all segmentation experiments and equal number of pixels was randomly selected to calculate accuracy metrics (overall accuracy and kappa coefficient. Comparison of region-based and image-based segmentation was carried out on the classified images and found that region-based multi-scale OBIA produced significantly more accurate results than image-based single-scale OBIA. The difference in classification accuracy reached to 10% in terms of overall accuracy.

  11. VARIETY OF GRAY-SCALE SONOGRAPHIC APPEARANCE OF UNTREATED LIVER METASTASES ALI HADIDI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALI HADIDI

    1982-07-01

    Full Text Available Encountered wit h b izarre patterns o f l i v e r metas t a s es dec l i ned our accuracy rate s o the humi liation o f mist ake s motivated me to re-assess t he value o f hepatic sonography in patients s u spe c t ed o f having metastatic l i ver neoplasms . 43 pat ients , who had no t recieved any prior the r a phy , had been studied by gray-scale ult r a s ound . The echographic evidence i n accordance with o ur e x p e r ~ e n ce can be categorized as fo l l ows : I l a rge echo g enic or ~c ho poor area , II d iscrete masse s wi t.h high-level e c hoes spreaded t hroughout a lobe o f the l i ve r , III e cho f ree mass with i r regular mar q i.n , r .J d i f f use a lterat ion of the homogeneous e cho pattern of t he liver , V Bull ' s - eye ,VI abscess like,VII sol id echogenic mass vei th a centra l hyperechoic hor izontal l i ne , VIII echogenic mass ".;i t;l two l a t eral hypo e choic marg i n s, rX isodense e chog eni c a r ea bounded by an hypoechoic c i r c l e . The f e at u r e s seen i n l iver ultra sonography of t he entire pat t e r ns , a nd those s e en as new c r i teria are presented ~

  12. Shear wave elastography of thyroid nodules for the prediction of malignancy in a large scale study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Ah Young; Son, Eun Ju [Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Han, Kyunghwa [Biostatistics Collaboration Unit, Gangnam Medical Research Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Youk, Ji Hyun [Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jeong-Ah, E-mail: chrismd@hanmail.net [Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Cheong Soo [Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-03-15

    Highlights: •Elasticity indices of malignant thyroid nodules were higher than those of benign. •High elasticity indices were the independent predictors of thyroid malignancy. •SWE evaluation could be useful as adjunctive tool for thyroid cancer diagnosis. -- Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study is to validate the usefulness of shear wave elastography (SWE) in predicting thyroid malignancy with a large-scale quantitative SWE data. Methods: This restrospective study included 476 thyroid nodules in 453 patients who underwent gray-scale US and SWE before US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (US-FNA) or surgical excision were included. Gray-scale findings and SWE elasticity indices (EIs) were retrospectively reviewed and compared between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The optimal cut-off values of EIs for predicting malignancy were determined. The diagnostic performances of gray-scale US and SWE for predicting malignancy were analyzed. The diagnostic performance was compared between the gray-scale US findings only and the combined use of gray-scale US findings with SWEs. Results: All EIs of malignant thyroid nodules were significantly higher than those of benign nodules (p ≤ .001). The optimal cut-off value of each EI for predicting malignancy was 85.2 kPa of E{sub mean}, 94.0 kPa of E{sub max}, 54.0 kPa of E{sub min}. E{sub mean} (OR 3.071, p = .005) and E{sub max} (OR 3.015, p = .003) were the independent predictors of thyroid malignancy. Combined use of gray-scale US findings and each EI showed elevated sensitivity (95.0–95.5% vs 92.9%, p ≤ .005) and AUC (0.820–0.834 vs 0.769, p ≤ .005) for predicting malignancy, compared with the use of only gray-scale US findings. Conclusions: Quantitative parameters of SWE were the independent predictors of thyroid malignancy and SWE evaluation combined with gray-scale US was adjunctive to the diagnostic performance of gray-scale US for predicting thyroid malignancy.

  13. Shear wave elastography of thyroid nodules for the prediction of malignancy in a large scale study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Ah Young; Son, Eun Ju; Han, Kyunghwa; Youk, Ji Hyun; Kim, Jeong-Ah; Park, Cheong Soo

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: •Elasticity indices of malignant thyroid nodules were higher than those of benign. •High elasticity indices were the independent predictors of thyroid malignancy. •SWE evaluation could be useful as adjunctive tool for thyroid cancer diagnosis. -- Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study is to validate the usefulness of shear wave elastography (SWE) in predicting thyroid malignancy with a large-scale quantitative SWE data. Methods: This restrospective study included 476 thyroid nodules in 453 patients who underwent gray-scale US and SWE before US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (US-FNA) or surgical excision were included. Gray-scale findings and SWE elasticity indices (EIs) were retrospectively reviewed and compared between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The optimal cut-off values of EIs for predicting malignancy were determined. The diagnostic performances of gray-scale US and SWE for predicting malignancy were analyzed. The diagnostic performance was compared between the gray-scale US findings only and the combined use of gray-scale US findings with SWEs. Results: All EIs of malignant thyroid nodules were significantly higher than those of benign nodules (p ≤ .001). The optimal cut-off value of each EI for predicting malignancy was 85.2 kPa of E mean , 94.0 kPa of E max , 54.0 kPa of E min . E mean (OR 3.071, p = .005) and E max (OR 3.015, p = .003) were the independent predictors of thyroid malignancy. Combined use of gray-scale US findings and each EI showed elevated sensitivity (95.0–95.5% vs 92.9%, p ≤ .005) and AUC (0.820–0.834 vs 0.769, p ≤ .005) for predicting malignancy, compared with the use of only gray-scale US findings. Conclusions: Quantitative parameters of SWE were the independent predictors of thyroid malignancy and SWE evaluation combined with gray-scale US was adjunctive to the diagnostic performance of gray-scale US for predicting thyroid malignancy

  14. Multi-sparse dictionary colorization algorithm based on the feature classification and detail enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Dan; Bai, Lianfa; Zhang, Yi; Han, Jing

    2018-02-01

    For the problems of missing details and performance of the colorization based on sparse representation, we propose a conceptual model framework for colorizing gray-scale images, and then a multi-sparse dictionary colorization algorithm based on the feature classification and detail enhancement (CEMDC) is proposed based on this framework. The algorithm can achieve a natural colorized effect for a gray-scale image, and it is consistent with the human vision. First, the algorithm establishes a multi-sparse dictionary classification colorization model. Then, to improve the accuracy rate of the classification, the corresponding local constraint algorithm is proposed. Finally, we propose a detail enhancement based on Laplacian Pyramid, which is effective in solving the problem of missing details and improving the speed of image colorization. In addition, the algorithm not only realizes the colorization of the visual gray-scale image, but also can be applied to the other areas, such as color transfer between color images, colorizing gray fusion images, and infrared images.

  15. The FBI compression standard for digitized fingerprint images

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brislawn, C.M.; Bradley, J.N. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Onyshczak, R.J. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Hopper, T. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC (United States)

    1996-10-01

    The FBI has formulated national standards for digitization and compression of gray-scale fingerprint images. The compression algorithm for the digitized images is based on adaptive uniform scalar quantization of a discrete wavelet transform subband decomposition, a technique referred to as the wavelet/scalar quantization method. The algorithm produces archival-quality images at compression ratios of around 15 to 1 and will allow the current database of paper fingerprint cards to be replaced by digital imagery. A compliance testing program is also being implemented to ensure high standards of image quality and interchangeability of data between different implementations. We will review the current status of the FBI standard, including the compliance testing process and the details of the first-generation encoder.

  16. Global and regional associations of smaller cerebral gray and white matter volumes with gait in older people.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele L Callisaya

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Gait impairments increase with advancing age and can lead to falls and loss of independence. Brain atrophy also occurs in older age and may contribute to gait decline. We aimed to investigate global and regional relationships of cerebral gray and white matter volumes with gait speed, and its determinants step length and cadence, in older people. METHODS: In a population-based study, participants aged >60 years without Parkinson's disease or brain infarcts underwent magnetic resonance imaging and gait measurements using a computerized walkway. Linear regression was used to study associations of total gray and white matter volumes with gait, adjusting for each other, age, sex, height and white matter hyperintensity volume. Other covariates considered in analyses included weight and vascular disease history. Voxel-based morphometry was used to study regional relationships of gray and white matter with gait. RESULTS: There were 305 participants, mean age 71.4 (6.9 years, 54% male, mean gait speed 1.16 (0.22 m/s. Smaller total gray matter volume was independently associated with poorer gait speed (p = 0.001 and step length (p<0.001, but not cadence. Smaller volumes of cortical and subcortical gray matter in bilateral regions important for motor control, vision, perception and memory were independently associated with slower gait speed and shorter steps. No global or regional associations were observed between white matter volume and gait independent of gray matter volume, white matter hyperintensity volume and other covariates. CONCLUSION: Smaller gray matter volume in bilaterally distributed brain networks serving motor control was associated with slower gait speed and step length, but not cadence.

  17. Two-dimensional DFA scaling analysis applied to encrypted images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vargas-Olmos, C.; Murguía, J. S.; Ramírez-Torres, M. T.; Mejía Carlos, M.; Rosu, H. C.; González-Aguilar, H.

    2015-01-01

    The technique of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) has been widely used to unveil scaling properties of many different signals. In this paper, we determine scaling properties in the encrypted images by means of a two-dimensional DFA approach. To carry out the image encryption, we use an enhanced cryptosystem based on a rule-90 cellular automaton and we compare the results obtained with its unmodified version and the encryption system AES. The numerical results show that the encrypted images present a persistent behavior which is close to that of the 1/f-noise. These results point to the possibility that the DFA scaling exponent can be used to measure the quality of the encrypted image content.

  18. Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Heterotopia: Changes of Fractional Anisotropy during Radial Migration of Neurons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jinna

    2010-01-01

    Purpose Diffusion tensor imaging provides better understanding of pathophysiology of congenital anomalies, involving central nervous system. This study was aimed to specify the pathogenetic mechanism of heterotopia, proved by diffusion tensor imaging, and establish new findings of heterotopia on fractional anisotropy maps. Materials and Methods Diffusion-weighted imaging data from 11 patients (M : F = 7 : 4, aged from 1 to 22 years, mean = 12.3 years) who visited the epilepsy clinic and received a routine seizure protocol MRI exam were retrospectively analyzed. Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were generated from diffusion tensor imaging of 11 patients with heterotopia. Regions of interests (ROI) were placed in cerebral cortex, heterotopic gray matter and deep gray matter, including putamen. ANOVA analysis was performed for comparison of different gray matter tissues. Results Heterotopic gray matter showed signal intensities similar to normal gray matter on T1 and T2 weighted MRI. The measured FA of heterotopic gray matter was higher than that of cortical gray matter (0.236 ± 0.011 vs. 0.169 ± 0.015, p < 0.01, one way ANOVA), and slightly lower than that of deep gray matter (0.236 ± 0.011 vs. 0.259 ± 0.016, p < 0.01). Conclusion Increased FA of heterotopic gray matter suggests arrested neuron during radial migration and provides better understanding of neurodevelopment. PMID:20499428

  19. Voxel-based morphometry and automated lobar volumetry: The trade-off between spatial scale and statistical correction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voormolen, Eduard H.J.; Wei, Corie; Chow, Eva W.C.; Bassett, Anne S.; Mikulis, David J.; Crawley, Adrian P.

    2011-01-01

    Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and automated lobar region of interest (ROI) volumetry are comprehensive and fast methods to detect differences in overall brain anatomy on magnetic resonance images. However, VBM and automated lobar ROI volumetry have detected dissimilar gray matter differences within identical image sets in our own experience and in previous reports. To gain more insight into how diverging results arise and to attempt to establish whether one method is superior to the other, we investigated how differences in spatial scale and in the need to statistically correct for multiple spatial comparisons influence the relative sensitivity of either technique to group differences in gray matter volumes. We assessed the performance of both techniques on a small dataset containing simulated gray matter deficits and additionally on a dataset of 22q11-deletion syndrome patients with schizophrenia (22q11DS-SZ) vs. matched controls. VBM was more sensitive to simulated focal deficits compared to automated ROI volumetry, and could detect global cortical deficits equally well. Moreover, theoretical calculations of VBM and ROI detection sensitivities to focal deficits showed that at increasing ROI size, ROI volumetry suffers more from loss in sensitivity than VBM. Furthermore, VBM and automated ROI found corresponding GM deficits in 22q11DS-SZ patients, except in the parietal lobe. Here, automated lobar ROI volumetry found a significant deficit only after a smaller subregion of interest was employed. Thus, sensitivity to focal differences is impaired relatively more by averaging over larger volumes in automated ROI methods than by the correction for multiple comparisons in VBM. These findings indicate that VBM is to be preferred over automated lobar-scale ROI volumetry for assessing gray matter volume differences between groups. PMID:19619660

  20. Behavioral Inhibition System activity is associated with increased amygdala and hippocampal gray matter volume: A voxel-based morphometry study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrós-Loscertales, A; Meseguer, V; Sanjuán, A; Belloch, V; Parcet, M A; Torrubia, R; Avila, C

    2006-11-15

    Recent research has examined anxiety and hyperactivity in the amygdala and the anterior hippocampus while processing aversive stimuli. In order to determine whether these functional differences have a structural basis, optimized voxel-based morphometry was used to study the relationship between gray matter concentration in the brain and scores on a Behavioral Inhibition System measure (the Sensitivity to Punishment scale) in a sample of 63 male undergraduates. Results showed a positive correlation between Sensitivity to Punishment scores and gray matter volume in the amygdala and the hippocampal formation, that is, in areas that Gray, J.A., and McNaughton, N.J. (2000). The neuropsychology of anxiety. Oxford: Oxford Medical Publications. associated with the Behavioral Inhibition System.

  1. Low-Speed Fingerprint Image Capture System User`s Guide, June 1, 1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whitus, B.R.; Goddard, J.S.; Jatko, W.B.; Manges, W.W.; Treece, D.A.

    1993-06-01

    The Low-Speed Fingerprint Image Capture System (LS-FICS) uses a Sun workstation controlling a Lenzar ElectroOptics Opacity 1000 imaging system to digitize fingerprint card images to support the Federal Bureau of Investigation`s (FBI`s) Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) program. The system also supports the operations performed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory- (ORNL-) developed Image Transmission Network (ITN) prototype card scanning system. The input to the system is a single FBI fingerprint card of the agreed-upon standard format and a user-specified identification number. The output is a file formatted to be compatible with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) draft standard for fingerprint data exchange dated June 10, 1992. These NIST compatible files contain the required print and text images. The LS-FICS is designed to provide the FBI with the capability of scanning fingerprint cards into a digital format. The FBI will replicate the system to generate a data base of test images. The Host Workstation contains the image data paths and the compression algorithm. A local area network interface, disk storage, and tape drive are used for the image storage and retrieval, and the Lenzar Opacity 1000 scanner is used to acquire the image. The scanner is capable of resolving 500 pixels/in. in both x and y directions. The print images are maintained in full 8-bit gray scale and compressed with an FBI-approved wavelet-based compression algorithm. The text fields are downsampled to 250 pixels/in. and 2-bit gray scale. The text images are then compressed using a lossless Huffman coding scheme. The text fields retrieved from the output files are easily interpreted when displayed on the screen. Detailed procedures are provided for system calibration and operation. Software tools are provided to verify proper system operation.

  2. Dichromatic Gray Pixel for Camera-agnostic Color Constancy

    OpenAIRE

    Qian, Yanlin; Chen, Ke; Nikkanen, Jarno; Kämäräinen, Joni-Kristian; Matas, Jiri

    2018-01-01

    We propose a novel statistical color constancy method, especially suitable for the Camera-agnostic Color Constancy, i.e. the scenario where nothing is known a priori about the capturing devices. The method, called Dichromatic Gray Pixel, or DGP, relies on a novel gray pixel detection algorithm derived using the Dichromatic Reflection Model. DGP is suitable for camera-agnostic color constancy since varying devices are set to make achromatic pixels look gray under standard neutral illumination....

  3. Solving the problem of imaging resolution: stochastic multi-scale image fusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karsanina, Marina; Mallants, Dirk; Gilyazetdinova, Dina; Gerke, Kiril

    2016-04-01

    Structural features of porous materials define the majority of its physical properties, including water infiltration and redistribution, multi-phase flow (e.g. simultaneous water/air flow, gas exchange between biologically active soil root zone and atmosphere, etc.) and solute transport. To characterize soil and rock microstructure X-ray microtomography is extremely useful. However, as any other imaging technique, this one also has a significant drawback - a trade-off between sample size and resolution. The latter is a significant problem for multi-scale complex structures, especially such as soils and carbonates. Other imaging techniques, for example, SEM/FIB-SEM or X-ray macrotomography can be helpful in obtaining higher resolution or wider field of view. The ultimate goal is to create a single dataset containing information from all scales or to characterize such multi-scale structure. In this contribution we demonstrate a general solution for merging multiscale categorical spatial data into a single dataset using stochastic reconstructions with rescaled correlation functions. The versatility of the method is demonstrated by merging three images representing macro, micro and nanoscale spatial information on porous media structure. Images obtained by X-ray microtomography and scanning electron microscopy were fused into a single image with predefined resolution. The methodology is sufficiently generic for implementation of other stochastic reconstruction techniques, any number of scales, any number of material phases, and any number of images for a given scale. The methodology can be further used to assess effective properties of fused porous media images or to compress voluminous spatial datasets for efficient data storage. Potential practical applications of this method are abundant in soil science, hydrology and petroleum engineering, as well as other geosciences. This work was partially supported by RSF grant 14-17-00658 (X-ray microtomography study of shale

  4. Optical images of quasars and radio galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchings, J. B.; Johnson, I.; Pyke, R.

    1988-04-01

    Matched contour plots and gray-scale diagrams are presented for 54 radio quasars or radio galaxies of redshift 0.1-0.6, observed with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. All except four were recorded on the RCA1 CCD chip; four were summed from several photographic exposures behind an image tube. All except nine of the objects form the principal data base used by Hutchings (1987). Detailed comments are given on all objects, and some further measures of the objects and their companions.

  5. Magnetic resonance imaging of the temporomandibular joint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nah, Kyung Soo

    1999-01-01

    To find out the best imaging parameters for the diagnosis of disc in MRI imaging. Compare the diagnostic quality of the disc among the T1, PD and T2 images of same patients (12 joints, 223 images) by visual (I-IV grades) and gray level measurement (pre- and infra-discal area) method. PD images showed best results with 43.7% of the images belonging to grade III (good) and with statistically significant higher difference of the gray levels at pre- and infra-discal areas. But there were no grade IV (excellent) images. PD images are best method among T1, PD and T2 images in diagnosing the disc but since there were no excellent images further imaging parameters should be studied for better images.

  6. Assessing the disturbance potential of small unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS on gray seals (Halichoerus grypus at breeding colonies in Nova Scotia, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lauren Arona

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The use of small unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS for ecological studies and wildlife population assessments is increasing. These methods can provide significant benefits in terms of costs and reductions in human risk, but little is known if UAS-based approaches cause disturbance of animals during operations. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a series of UAS flights at gray seal breeding colonies on Hay and Saddle Islands in Nova Scotia, Canada. Using a small fixed-wing UAS, we assessed both immediate and short-term effects of surveys using sequential image analysis and between-flight seal counts in ten, 50 m2 random quadrats at each colony. Counts of adult gray seals and young-of-the-year animals between first and second flights revealed no changes in abundance in quadrats (matched pair t-test p > 0.69 and slopes approaching 1 for linear regression comparisons (r2 > 0.80. Sequential image analysis revealed no changes in orientation or posture of imaged animals. We also assessed the acoustic properties of the small UAS in relation to low ambient noise conditions using sound equivalent level (Leq measurements with a calibrated U-MIK 1 and a 1/3 octave band soundscape approach. The results of Leq measurements indicate that small fixed-wing UAS are quiet, with most energy above 160 Hz, and that levels across 1/3 octave bands do not greatly exceed ambient acoustic measurements in a quiet field during operations at standard survey altitudes. As such, this platform is unlikely to acoustically disturb gray seals at breeding colonies during population surveys. The results of the present study indicate that the effects of small fixed-wing UAS on gray seals at breeding colonies are negligible, and that fixed-wing UAS-based approaches should be considered amongst best practices for assessing gray seal colonies.

  7. Lung tumor reproducibility with active breath control (ABC) in image-guided radiotherapy based on cone-beam computed tomography with two registration methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xin; Zhong Renming; Bai Sen; Xu Qingfeng; Zhao Yaqin; Wang Jin; Jiang Xiaoqin; Shen Yali; Xu Feng; Wei Yuquan

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: To study the inter- and intrafraction tumor reproducibility with active breath control (ABC) utilizing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), and compare validity of registration with two different regions of interest (ROI). Methods and materials: Thirty-one lung tumors in 19 patients received conventional or stereotactic body radiotherapy with ABC. During each treatment, patients had three CBCT scanned before and after online position correction and after treatment. These CBCT images were aligned to the planning CT using the gray scale registration of tumor and bony registration of the thorax, and tumor position uncertainties were then determined. Results: The interfraction systematic and random translation errors in the left-right (LR), superior-inferior (SI) and anterior-posterior (AP) directions were 3.6, 4.8, and 2.9 mm; 2.5, 4.5, and 3.5 mm, respectively, with gray scale alignment; 1.9, 4.3, 2.0 mm and 2.5, 4.4, 2.9 mm, respectively, with bony alignment. The interfraction systematic and random rotation errors with gray scale and bony alignment groups ranged from 1.4 o to 3.0 o and 0.8 o to 2.3 o , respectively. The intrafraction systematic and random errors with gray scale registration in LR, SI, AP directions were 0.9, 2.0, 1.8 mm and 1.5, 1.7, 2.9 mm, respectively, for translation; 1.5 o , 0.9 o , 1.0 o and 1.2 o , 2.2 o , 1.8 o , respectively, for rotation. The translational errors in SI direction with bony alignment were significantly larger than that of gray scale (p < 0.05). Conclusions: With CBCT guided online correction the interfraction positioning errors can be markedly reduced. The intrafraction errors were not diminished by the use of ABC. Rotation errors were not very remarkable both inter- and intrafraction. Gray scale alignment of tumor may provide a better registration in SI direction.

  8. Multi scales based sparse matrix spectral clustering image segmentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhongmin; Chen, Zhicai; Li, Zhanming; Hu, Wenjin

    2018-04-01

    In image segmentation, spectral clustering algorithms have to adopt the appropriate scaling parameter to calculate the similarity matrix between the pixels, which may have a great impact on the clustering result. Moreover, when the number of data instance is large, computational complexity and memory use of the algorithm will greatly increase. To solve these two problems, we proposed a new spectral clustering image segmentation algorithm based on multi scales and sparse matrix. We devised a new feature extraction method at first, then extracted the features of image on different scales, at last, using the feature information to construct sparse similarity matrix which can improve the operation efficiency. Compared with traditional spectral clustering algorithm, image segmentation experimental results show our algorithm have better degree of accuracy and robustness.

  9. Gray and white matter distribution in dyslexia: a VBM study of superior temporal gyrus asymmetry.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjorie Dole

    Full Text Available In the present study, we investigated brain morphological signatures of dyslexia by using a voxel-based asymmetry analysis. Dyslexia is a developmental disorder that affects the acquisition of reading and spelling abilities and is associated with a phonological deficit. Speech perception disabilities have been associated with this deficit, particularly when listening conditions are challenging, such as in noisy environments. These deficits are associated with known neurophysiological correlates, such as a reduction in the functional activation or a modification of functional asymmetry in the cortical regions involved in speech processing, such as the bilateral superior temporal areas. These functional deficits have been associated with macroscopic morphological abnormalities, which potentially include a reduction in gray and white matter volumes, combined with modifications of the leftward asymmetry along the perisylvian areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate gray/white matter distribution asymmetries in dyslexic adults using automated image processing derived from the voxel-based morphometry technique. Correlations with speech-in-noise perception abilities were also investigated. The results confirmed the presence of gray matter distribution abnormalities in the superior temporal gyrus (STG and the superior temporal Sulcus (STS in individuals with dyslexia. Specifically, the gray matter of adults with dyslexia was symmetrically distributed over one particular region of the STS, the temporal voice area, whereas normal readers showed a clear rightward gray matter asymmetry in this area. We also identified a region in the left posterior STG in which the white matter distribution asymmetry was correlated to speech-in-noise comprehension abilities in dyslexic adults. These results provide further information concerning the morphological alterations observed in dyslexia, revealing the presence of both gray and white matter distribution

  10. Gray and white matter distribution in dyslexia: a VBM study of superior temporal gyrus asymmetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dole, Marjorie; Meunier, Fanny; Hoen, Michel

    2013-01-01

    In the present study, we investigated brain morphological signatures of dyslexia by using a voxel-based asymmetry analysis. Dyslexia is a developmental disorder that affects the acquisition of reading and spelling abilities and is associated with a phonological deficit. Speech perception disabilities have been associated with this deficit, particularly when listening conditions are challenging, such as in noisy environments. These deficits are associated with known neurophysiological correlates, such as a reduction in the functional activation or a modification of functional asymmetry in the cortical regions involved in speech processing, such as the bilateral superior temporal areas. These functional deficits have been associated with macroscopic morphological abnormalities, which potentially include a reduction in gray and white matter volumes, combined with modifications of the leftward asymmetry along the perisylvian areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate gray/white matter distribution asymmetries in dyslexic adults using automated image processing derived from the voxel-based morphometry technique. Correlations with speech-in-noise perception abilities were also investigated. The results confirmed the presence of gray matter distribution abnormalities in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the superior temporal Sulcus (STS) in individuals with dyslexia. Specifically, the gray matter of adults with dyslexia was symmetrically distributed over one particular region of the STS, the temporal voice area, whereas normal readers showed a clear rightward gray matter asymmetry in this area. We also identified a region in the left posterior STG in which the white matter distribution asymmetry was correlated to speech-in-noise comprehension abilities in dyslexic adults. These results provide further information concerning the morphological alterations observed in dyslexia, revealing the presence of both gray and white matter distribution anomalies and the

  11. Structural brain abnormalities in women with subclinical depression, as revealed by voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayakawa, Yayoi K; Sasaki, Hiroki; Takao, Hidemasa; Mori, Harushi; Hayashi, Naoto; Kunimatsu, Akira; Aoki, Shigeki; Ohtomo, Kuni

    2013-01-25

    Brain structural changes accompany major depressive disorder, but whether subclinical depression is accompanied by similar changes in brain volume and white matter integrity is unknown. By using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of the gray matter and tract-specific analysis based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the white matter, we explored the extent to which abnormalities could be identified in specific brain structures of healthy adults with subclinical depression. The subjects were 21 community-dwelling adults with subclinical depression, as measured by their Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores. They were not demented and had no neurological or psychiatric history. We collected brain magnetic resonance images of the patients and of 21 matched control subjects, and we used VBM to analyze the differences in regional gray matter volume between the two groups. Moreover, we examined the white matter integrity by using tract-specific analysis based on the gray matter volume changes revealed by VBM. VBM revealed that the volumes of both anterior cingulate gyri and the right rectal gyrus were smaller in subclinically depressed women than in control women. Calculation of DTI measures in the anterior cingulum bundle revealed a positive correlation between CES-D scale score and radial diffusivity in the right anterior cingulum in subclinically depressed women. The small sample size limits the stability of the reported findings. Gray matter volume reduction and white matter integrity change in specific frontal brain regions may be associated with depressive symptoms in women, even at a subclinical level. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Using Imagers for Scaling Ecological Observations

    OpenAIRE

    Graham, Eric; Hicks, John; Riordan, Erin; Wang, Eric; Yuen, Eric

    2009-01-01

    Stationary and mobile ground-based cameras can be used to scale ecological observations, relating pixel information in images to in situ measurements. Currently there are four CENS projects that involve using cameras for scaling ecological observations: 1. Scaling from one individual to the landscape. Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras can be zoomed in on a tight focus on individual plants and parts of individuals and then zoomed out to get a landscape view, composed of the same and similar species. 2...

  13. MR imaging of hypoglycemic encephalopathy: lesion distribution and prognosis prediction by diffusion-weighted imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ma, Jeong-Hyun; Kim, Young-Joo; Yoo, Won-Jong; Ihn, Yon-Kwon; Kim, Jee-Young; Kim, Bum-Soo [The Catholic University of Korea, Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, Uijongbu, Kyunggi-do (Korea); Song, Ha-Hun [Cheju Halla General Hospital, Department of Radiology, Jeju (Korea)

    2009-10-15

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the patterns of hypoglycemic encephalopathy on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the relationship between the imaging patterns and clinical outcomes. This retrospective study included 17 consecutive patients that had hypoglycemic encephalopathy with DWI abnormalities. The topographic distributions of the DWI abnormalities of the cortex, deep gray matter, and white matter structures were assessed. In addition, possible correlation between the patterns of brain injury on DWI and clinical outcomes was investigated. There were three patterns of DWI abnormalities: involvement of both gray and white matter (n=8), selective involvement of gray matter (n=4), and selective involvement of white matter (n=5). There was no significant difference in the initial blood glucose levels among patients for each of the imaging patterns. Most patients (16/17) had bilateral symmetrical abnormalities. Among patients with bilateral symmetrical gray and/or white matter injuries, one had moderate to severe disability and 14 remained in a persistent vegetative state. The two patients with a focal unilateral white matter abnormality and a localized splenial abnormality recovered without neurological deficits. The results of this study showed that white matter was more sensitive to hypoglycemia than previously thought and there was no specific association between the patterns of injury and clinical outcomes whether the cerebral cortex, deep gray matter, and/or white matter were affected. Diffuse and extensive injury observed on the DWI predicts a poor neurologic outcome in patients with hypoglycemic injuries. (orig.)

  14. Microstructural abnormalities in white and gray matter in obese adolescents with and without type 2 diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arie Nouwen

    Full Text Available Aims/hypotheses: In adults, type 2 diabetes and obesity have been associated with structural brain changes, even in the absence of dementia. Some evidence suggested similar changes in adolescents with type 2 diabetes but comparisons with a non-obese control group have been lacking. The aim of the current study was to examine differences in microstructure of gray and white matter between adolescents with type 2 diabetes, obese adolescents and healthy weight adolescents. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from 15 adolescents with type 2 diabetes, 21 obese adolescents and 22 healthy weight controls. Volumetric differences in the gray matter between the three groups were examined using voxel based morphology, while tract based spatial statistics was used to examine differences in the microstructure of the white matter. Results: Adolescents with type 2 diabetes and obese adolescents had reduced gray matter volume in the right hippocampus, left putamen and caudate, bilateral amygdala and left thalamus compared to healthy weight controls. Type 2 diabetes was also associated with significant regional changes in fractional anisotropy within the corpus callosum, fornix, left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, left uncinate, left internal and external capsule. Fractional anisotropy reductions within these tracts were explained by increased radial diffusivity, which may suggest demyelination of white matter tracts. Mean diffusivity and axial diffusivity did not differ between the groups. Conclusion/interpretation: Our data shows that adolescent obesity alone results in reduced gray matter volume and that adolescent type 2 diabetes is associated with both white and gray matter abnormalities. Keywords: Type 2 diabetes, Obesity, White matter, Gray matter, Demyelination

  15. The association of cognitive impairment with gray matter atrophy and cortical lesion load in clinically isolated syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diker, Sevda; Has, Arzu Ceylan; Kurne, Aslı; Göçmen, Rahşan; Oğuz, Kader Karlı; Karabudak, Rana

    2016-11-01

    Multiple sclerosis can impair cognition from the early stages and has been shown to be associated with gray matter damage in addition to white matter pathology. To investigate the profile of cognitive impairment in clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), and the contribution of cortical inflammation, cortical and deep gray matter atrophy, and white matter lesions to cognitive decline. Thirty patients with clinically isolated syndrome and twenty demographically- matched healthy controls underwent neuropsychologic assessment through the Rao Brief Repeatable Battery, and brain magnetic resonance imaging with double inversion recovery using a 3T scanner. Patients with clinically isolated syndrome performed significantly worse than healthy controls on tests that evaluated verbal memory, visuospatial learning and memory, and verbal fluency. Significant deep gray matter atrophy was found in the patients but cortical volume was not lower than the controls. Visual memory tests correlated with the volume of the hippocampus, cerebral white matter and deep gray matter structures and with cerebellar cortical atrophy. Cortical or white matter lesion load did not affect cognitive test results. In our patients with CIS, it was shown that cognitive impairment was mainly related to cerebral white matter, cerebellar cortical and deep gray matter atrophy, but not with cortical inflammation, at least in the early stage of disease. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Synthesizing monochromatic 3-D images by multiple-exposure rainbow holography with vertical area-partition approach

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    翟宏琛; 王明伟; 刘福民; 母国光

    2002-01-01

    We report for the first time the theoretical analysis and experimental results of a white-light reconstructed monochromatic 3-D image synthesizing tomograms by multiple rainbow holo-graphy with vertical-area partition (VAP) approach. The theoretical and experimental results show that 3-D monochromatic image can be synthesized by recording the master hologram by VAP ap-proach without any distortions either in gray scale or in geometrical position. A 3-D monochromatic image synthesized from a series of medical tomograms is presented in this paper for the first time.

  17. Single Image Super-Resolution Based on Multi-Scale Competitive Convolutional Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Xiaofeng; Qu, Xiaobo; He, Yifan; Guo, Di

    2018-03-06

    Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are successful in single-image super-resolution. Traditional CNNs are limited to exploit multi-scale contextual information for image reconstruction due to the fixed convolutional kernel in their building modules. To restore various scales of image details, we enhance the multi-scale inference capability of CNNs by introducing competition among multi-scale convolutional filters, and build up a shallow network under limited computational resources. The proposed network has the following two advantages: (1) the multi-scale convolutional kernel provides the multi-context for image super-resolution, and (2) the maximum competitive strategy adaptively chooses the optimal scale of information for image reconstruction. Our experimental results on image super-resolution show that the performance of the proposed network outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

  18. MRI Texture Analysis Reveals Deep Gray Nuclei Damage in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Albuquerque, Milena; Anjos, Lara G V; Maia Tavares de Andrade, Helen; de Oliveira, Márcia S; Castellano, Gabriela; Junqueira Ribeiro de Rezende, Thiago; Nucci, Anamarli; França Junior, Marcondes Cavalcante

    2016-01-01

    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by extensive corticospinal damage, but extrapyramidal involvement is suggested in pathological studies. Texture analysis (TA) is an image processing technique that evaluates the distribution of gray levels between pixels in a given region of interest (ROI). It provides quantitative data and has been employed in several neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we used TA to investigate possible deep gray nuclei (DGN) abnormalities in a cohort of ALS patients. Thirty-two ALS patients and 32 healthy controls underwent MRI in a 3T scanner. The T1 volumetric sequence was used for DGN segmentation and extraction of 11 texture parameters using the MaZda software. Statistical analyses were performed using the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test, with a significance level set at α = 0.025 (FDR-corrected) for TA. Patients had significantly higher values for the parameter correlation (CO) in both thalami and in the right caudate nucleus compared to healthy controls. Also, the parameter Inverse Difference Moment or Homogeneity (IDM) presented significantly smaller values in the ALS group in both thalami. TA of T1 weighted images revealed DGN alterations in patients with ALS, namely in the thalami and caudate nuclei. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

  19. Developing and validating a psychometric scale for image quality assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mraity, H.; England, A.; Hogg, P.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: Using AP pelvis as a catalyst, this paper explains how a psychometric scale for image quality assessment can be created using Bandura's theory for self-efficacy. Background: Establishing an accurate diagnosis is highly dependent upon the quality of the radiographic image. Image quality, as a construct (i.e. set of attributes that makes up the image quality), continues to play an essential role in the field of diagnostic radiography. The process of assessing image quality can be facilitated by using criteria, such as the European Commission (EC) guidelines for quality criteria as published in 1996. However, with the advent of new technology (Computed Radiography and Digital Radiography), some of the EC criteria may no longer be suitable for assessing the visual quality of a digital radiographic image. Moreover, a lack of validated visual image quality scales in the literature can also lead to significant variations in image quality evaluation. Creating and validating visual image quality scales, using a robust methodology, could reduce variability and improve the validity and reliability of perceptual image quality evaluations

  20. A whole-brain gray and white matter analysis in children with 45XO karyotype Turner syndrome: voxel-based morphometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Qiuling; Zhang Zhixin; Cheng Pangui; Xie Sheng; Liu Xiwei; Pan Hui; Li Kang; Zhang Jiaying; Gong Gaolang

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To detect the structural changes of cerebral gray and white matter in children of monosomy Turner syndrome (TS) by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Methods: Nine children 45XO karyotype TS and 20 age-matched control girls were recruited in this study. Wechsler intelligence scale for children was used to obtain their intelligence quotients (IQ). High-resolution magnetic MR imaging was performed in TS children and control girls to collect the whole brain structural data. The data were analyzed by VBM based on SPM 8 to compare the volume of gray and white matter between the TS children and normal controls by using covariance analysis. Results: The IQ of TS children was 81 ± 13, and the IQ of the controls was 109 ± 16. Statistical analysis revealed significant difference of IQ between the two groups (t = -4.70, P < 0.05). Compared with normal controls, TS children showed significantly decreased volume (numbers of voxel in clusters were 631, 525, 520, t = 3.95, 3.50, 3.36, P < 0.05, FWE-corrected) in the gray matter of the right superior parietal lobule, postcentral gyrus, precuneus lobule, calcarine, cuneus cortices, as well as the left middle and inferior occipital lobe. However, the volume of the bilateral supplemental motor area and the medial superior frontal lobes, the right middle cingulum, the left superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyri were increased in the TS children compared to the controls. The left fusiform, the left parahippocampus, the left hippocampus and the left cerebellum were also enlarged in TS children (numbers of voxel in clusters were 2082, 974, 1708, 588, 579, t = 5.45, 4.59, 4.40, 4.29, 3.55, P < 0.05, FWE-corrected). White matter regions in the left postcentral gyrus and inferior parietal lobule showed significantly reduced volume (voxel number 957, t = 5.85, P < 0.05, FWE-corrected). Conclusion: Children with monosomy TS show abnormal gray and white matter volumes in some brain regions, which may be involved in the

  1. Modification of grey scale in computer tomographic images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hemmingsson, A.; Jung, B.

    1980-01-01

    Optimum perception of minute but relevant attenuation differences in CT images often requires display window settings so narrow that a considerable fraction of the image appears completely black or white and consequently without structure. In order to improve the display characteristics two principles of grey scale modification are presented. In one method the pixel contents are displayed unchanged within a selectable attenuation band but moved towards the limits of the band for pixels that are outside it. In the other the grey scale is arranged to a constant number of pixels per grey scale interval. (Auth.)

  2. A novel chaos-based image encryption scheme with an efficient permutation-diffusion mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Ruisong

    2011-10-01

    This paper proposes a novel chaos-based image encryption scheme with an efficient permutation-diffusion mechanism, in which permuting the positions of image pixels incorporates with changing the gray values of image pixels to confuse the relationship between cipher-image and plain-image. In the permutation process, a generalized Arnold map is utilized to generate one chaotic orbit used to get two index order sequences for the permutation of image pixel positions; in the diffusion process, a generalized Arnold map and a generalized Bernoulli shift map are employed to yield two pseudo-random gray value sequences for a two-way diffusion of gray values. The yielded gray value sequences are not only sensitive to the control parameters and initial conditions of the considered chaotic maps, but also strongly depend on the plain-image processed, therefore the proposed scheme can resist statistical attack, differential attack, known-plaintext as well as chosen-plaintext attack. Experimental results are carried out with detailed analysis to demonstrate that the proposed image encryption scheme possesses large key space to resist brute-force attack as well.

  3. A New Approach for Deep Gray Matter Analysis Using Partial-Volume Estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnier, Guillaume; Kober, Tobias; Schluep, Myriam; Du Pasquier, Renaud; Krueger, Gunnar; Meuli, Reto; Granziera, Cristina; Roche, Alexis

    2016-01-01

    The existence of partial volume effects in brain MR images makes it challenging to understand physio-pathological alterations underlying signal changes due to pathology across groups of healthy subjects and patients. In this study, we implement a new approach to disentangle gray and white matter alterations in the thalamus and the basal ganglia. The proposed method was applied to a cohort of early multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy subjects to evaluate tissue-specific alterations related to diffuse inflammatory or neurodegenerative processes. Forty-three relapsing-remitting MS patients and nineteen healthy controls underwent 3T MRI including: (i) fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, double inversion recovery, magnetization-prepared gradient echo for lesion count, and (ii) T1 relaxometry. We applied a partial volume estimation algorithm to T1 relaxometry maps to gray and white matter local concentrations as well as T1 values characteristic of gray and white matter in the thalamus and the basal ganglia. Statistical tests were performed to compare groups in terms of both global T1 values, tissue characteristic T1 values, and tissue concentrations. Significant increases in global T1 values were observed in the thalamus (p = 0.038) and the putamen (p = 0.026) in RRMS patients compared to HC. In the Thalamus, the T1 increase was associated with a significant increase in gray matter characteristic T1 (p = 0.0016) with no significant effect in white matter. The presented methodology provides additional information to standard MR signal averaging approaches that holds promise to identify the presence and nature of diffuse pathology in neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.

  4. Early Childhood Depression and Alterations in the Trajectory of Gray Matter Maturation in Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luby, Joan L; Belden, Andy C; Jackson, Joshua J; Lessov-Schlaggar, Christina N; Harms, Michael P; Tillman, Rebecca; Botteron, Kelly; Whalen, Diana; Barch, Deanna M

    2016-01-01

    The trajectory of cortical gray matter development in childhood has been characterized by early neurogenesis and volume increase, peaking at puberty followed by selective elimination and myelination, resulting in volume loss and thinning. This inverted U-shaped trajectory, as well as cortical thickness, has been associated with cognitive and emotional function. Synaptic pruning-based volume decline has been related to experience-dependent plasticity in animals. To date, there have been no data to inform whether and how childhood depression might be associated with this trajectory. To examine the effects of early childhood depression, from the preschool age to the school age period, on cortical gray matter development measured across 3 waves of neuroimaging from late school age to early adolescence. Data were collected in an academic research setting from September 22, 2003, to December 13, 2014, on 193 children aged 3 to 6 years from the St Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area who were observed for up to 11 years in a longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging study of childhood depression. Multilevel modeling was applied to explore the association between the number of childhood depression symptoms and prior diagnosis of major depressive disorder and the trajectory of gray matter change across 3 scan waves. Data analysis was conducted from October 29, 2014, to September 28, 2015. Volume, thickness, and surface area of cortical gray matter measured using structural magnetic resonance imaging at 3 scan waves. Of the 193 children, 90 had a diagnosis of major depressive disorder; 116 children had 3 full waves of neuroimaging scans. Findings demonstrated marked alterations in cortical gray matter volume loss (slope estimate, -0.93 cm³; 95% CI, -1.75 to -0.10 cm³ per scan wave) and thinning (slope estimate, -0.0044 mm; 95% CI, -0.0077 to -0.0012 mm per scan wave) associated with experiencing an episode of major depressive disorder before the first magnetic resonance

  5. Influence of the gray gases number in the weighted sum of gray gases model on the radiative heat exchange calculation inside pulverized coal-fired furnaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Crnomarković Nenad Đ.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The influence of the number of gray gases in the weighted sum in the gray gases model on the calculation of the radiative heat transfer is discussed in the paper. A computer code which solved the set of equations of the mathematical model describing the reactive two-phase turbulent flow with radiative heat exchange and with thermal equilibrium between phases inside the pulverized coal-fired furnace was used. Gas-phase radiative properties were determined by the simple gray gas model and two combinations of the weighted sum of the gray gases models: one gray gas plus a clear gas and two gray gases plus a clear gas. Investigation was carried out for two values of the total extinction coefficient of the dispersed phase, for the clean furnace walls and furnace walls covered by an ash layer deposit, and for three levels of the approximation accuracy of the weighting coefficients. The influence of the number of gray gases was analyzed through the relative differences of the wall fluxes, wall temperatures, medium temperatures, and heat transfer rate through all furnace walls. The investigation showed that there were conditions of the numerical investigations for which the relative differences of the variables describing the radiative heat exchange decrease with the increase in the number of gray gases. The results of this investigation show that if the weighted sum of the gray gases model is used, the complexity of the computer code and calculation time can be reduced by optimizing the number of gray gases. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR-33018: Increase in energy and ecology efficiency of processes in pulverized coal-fired furnace and optimization of utility steam boiler air preheater by using in-house developed software tools

  6. Imaging in pancreatic transplants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heller, Matthew T; Bhargava, Puneet

    2014-01-01

    Pancreatic transplantation, performed alone or in conjunction with kidney transplantation, is an effective treatment for advanced type I diabetes mellitus and select patients with type II diabetes mellitus. Following advancements in surgical technique, postoperative management, and immunosuppression, pancreatic transplantation has significantly improved the length and quality of life for patients suffering from pancreatic dysfunction. While computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have more limited utility, ultrasound is the preferred initial imaging modality to evaluate the transplanted pancreas; gray-scale assesses the parenchyma and fluid collections, while Doppler interrogation assesses vascular flow and viability. Ultrasound is also useful to guide percutaneous interventions for the transplanted pancreas. With knowledge of the surgical anatomy and common complications, the abdominal radiologist plays a central role in the perioperative and postoperative evaluation of the transplanted pancreas

  7. Optical images of quasars and radio galaxies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hutchings, J.B.; Johnson, I.; Pyke, R.

    1988-04-01

    Matched contour plots and gray-scale diagrams are presented for 54 radio quasars or radio galaxies of redshift 0.1-0.6, observed with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. All except four were recorded on the RCA1 CCD chip; four were summed from several photographic exposures behind an image tube. All except nine of the objects form the principal data base used by Hutchings (1987). Detailed comments are given on all objects, and some further measures of the objects and their companions. 12 references.

  8. Optical images of quasars and radio galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutchings, J.B.; Johnson, I.; Pyke, R.

    1988-01-01

    Matched contour plots and gray-scale diagrams are presented for 54 radio quasars or radio galaxies of redshift 0.1-0.6, observed with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. All except four were recorded on the RCA1 CCD chip; four were summed from several photographic exposures behind an image tube. All except nine of the objects form the principal data base used by Hutchings (1987). Detailed comments are given on all objects, and some further measures of the objects and their companions. 12 references

  9. Black and gray Helmholtz-Kerr soliton refraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanchez-Curto, Julio; Chamorro-Posada, Pedro; McDonald, Graham S.

    2011-01-01

    Refraction of black and gray solitons at boundaries separating different defocusing Kerr media is analyzed within a Helmholtz framework. A universal nonlinear Snell's law is derived that describes gray soliton refraction, in addition to capturing the behavior of bright and black Kerr solitons at interfaces. Key regimes, defined by beam and interface characteristics, are identified, and predictions are verified by full numerical simulations. The existence of a unique total nonrefraction angle for gray solitons is reported; both internal and external refraction at a single interface is shown possible (dependent only on incidence angle). This, in turn, leads to the proposal of positive or negative lensing operations on soliton arrays at planar boundaries.

  10. Intrinsic gray-matter connectivity of the brain in adults with autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ecker, Christine; Ronan, Lisa; Feng, Yue; Daly, Eileen; Murphy, Clodagh; Ginestet, Cedric E; Brammer, Michael; Fletcher, Paul C; Bullmore, Edward T; Suckling, John; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Williams, Steve; Loth, Eva; Murphy, Declan G M

    2013-08-06

    Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions that are accompanied by atypical brain connectivity. So far, in vivo evidence for atypical structural brain connectivity in ASD has mainly been based on neuroimaging studies of cortical white matter. However, genetic studies suggest that abnormal connectivity in ASD may also affect neural connections within the cortical gray matter. Such intrinsic gray-matter connections are inherently more difficult to describe in vivo but may be inferred from a variety of surface-based geometric features that can be measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Here, we present a neuroimaging study that examines the intrinsic cortico-cortical connectivity of the brain in ASD using measures of "cortical separation distances" to assess the global and local intrinsic "wiring costs" of the cortex (i.e., estimated length of horizontal connections required to wire the cortex within the cortical sheet). In a sample of 68 adults with ASD and matched controls, we observed significantly reduced intrinsic wiring costs of cortex in ASD, both globally and locally. Differences in global and local wiring cost were predominantly observed in fronto-temporal regions and also significantly predicted the severity of social and repetitive symptoms (respectively). Our study confirms that atypical cortico-cortical "connectivity" in ASD is not restricted to the development of white-matter connections but may also affect the intrinsic gray-matter architecture (and connectivity) within the cortical sheet. Thus, the atypical connectivity of the brain in ASD is complex, affecting both gray and white matter, and forms part of the core neural substrates underlying autistic symptoms.

  11. Style and non-style in anatomical illustration: From Renaissance Humanism to Henry Gray.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Martin

    2010-02-01

    Style is a familiar category for the analysis of art. It is less so in the history of anatomical illustration. The great Renaissance and Baroque picture books of anatomy illustrated with stylish woodcuts and engravings, such as those by Charles Estienne, Andreas Vesalius and Govard Bidloo, showed figures in dramatic action in keeping with philosophical and theological ideas about human nature. Parallels can be found in paintings of the period, such as those by Titian, Michelangelo and Hans Baldung Grien. The anatomists also claimed to portray the body in an objective manner, and showed themselves as heroes of the discovery of human knowledge. Rembrandt's painting of Dr Nicholas Tulp is the best-known image of the anatomist as hero. The British empirical tradition in the 18th century saw William Cheselden and William Hunter working with techniques of representation that were intended to guarantee detailed realism. The ambition to portray forms life-size led to massive volumes, such as those by Antonio Mascagni. John Bell, the Scottish anatomist, criticized the size and pretensions of the earlier books and argued for a plain style adapted to the needs of teaching and surgery. Henry Gray's famous Anatomy of 1858, illustrated by Henry Vandyke Carter, aspired to a simple descriptive mode of functional representation that avoided stylishness, resulting in a style of its own. Successive editions of Gray progressively saw the replacement of Gray's method and of all his illustrations. The 150th anniversary edition, edited by Susan Standring, radically re-thinks the role of Gray's book within the teaching of medicine.

  12. Quantum watermarking scheme through Arnold scrambling and LSB steganography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Ri-Gui; Hu, Wenwen; Fan, Ping

    2017-09-01

    Based on the NEQR of quantum images, a new quantum gray-scale image watermarking scheme is proposed through Arnold scrambling and least significant bit (LSB) steganography. The sizes of the carrier image and the watermark image are assumed to be 2n× 2n and n× n, respectively. Firstly, a classical n× n sized watermark image with 8-bit gray scale is expanded to a 2n× 2n sized image with 2-bit gray scale. Secondly, through the module of PA-MOD N, the expanded watermark image is scrambled to a meaningless image by the Arnold transform. Then, the expanded scrambled image is embedded into the carrier image by the steganography method of LSB. Finally, the time complexity analysis is given. The simulation experiment results show that our quantum circuit has lower time complexity, and the proposed watermarking scheme is superior to others.

  13. Haralick texture features from apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) MRI images depend on imaging and pre-processing parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brynolfsson, Patrik; Nilsson, David; Torheim, Turid; Asklund, Thomas; Karlsson, Camilla Thellenberg; Trygg, Johan; Nyholm, Tufve; Garpebring, Anders

    2017-06-22

    In recent years, texture analysis of medical images has become increasingly popular in studies investigating diagnosis, classification and treatment response assessment of cancerous disease. Despite numerous applications in oncology and medical imaging in general, there is no consensus regarding texture analysis workflow, or reporting of parameter settings crucial for replication of results. The aim of this study was to assess how sensitive Haralick texture features of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) MR images are to changes in five parameters related to image acquisition and pre-processing: noise, resolution, how the ADC map is constructed, the choice of quantization method, and the number of gray levels in the quantized image. We found that noise, resolution, choice of quantization method and the number of gray levels in the quantized images had a significant influence on most texture features, and that the effect size varied between different features. Different methods for constructing the ADC maps did not have an impact on any texture feature. Based on our results, we recommend using images with similar resolutions and noise levels, using one quantization method, and the same number of gray levels in all quantized images, to make meaningful comparisons of texture feature results between different subjects.

  14. Altered Gray Matter Volume and Resting-State Connectivity in Individuals With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Voxel-Based Morphometry and Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seok, Ji-Woo; Sohn, Jin-Hun

    2018-01-01

    Neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) have been accumulating due to growing concerns regarding the psychological and social problems associated with Internet use. However, relatively little is known about the brain characteristics underlying IGD, such as the associated functional connectivity and structure. The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in gray matter (GM) volume and functional connectivity during resting state in individuals with IGD using voxel-based morphometry and a resting-state connectivity analysis. The participants included 20 individuals with IGD and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Resting-state functional and structural images were acquired for all participants using 3 T magnetic resonance imaging. We also measured the severity of IGD and impulsivity using psychological scales. The results show that IGD severity was positively correlated with GM volume in the left caudate (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons), and negatively associated with functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right middle frontal gyrus (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). This study demonstrates that IGD is associated with neuroanatomical changes in the right middle frontal cortex and the left caudate. These are important brain regions for reward and cognitive control processes, and structural and functional abnormalities in these regions have been reported for other addictions, such as substance abuse and pathological gambling. The findings suggest that structural deficits and resting-state functional impairments in the frontostriatal network may be associated with IGD and provide new insights into the underlying neural mechanisms of IGD. PMID:29636704

  15. Altered Gray Matter Volume and Resting-State Connectivity in Individuals With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Voxel-Based Morphometry and Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ji-Woo Seok

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD have been accumulating due to growing concerns regarding the psychological and social problems associated with Internet use. However, relatively little is known about the brain characteristics underlying IGD, such as the associated functional connectivity and structure. The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in gray matter (GM volume and functional connectivity during resting state in individuals with IGD using voxel-based morphometry and a resting-state connectivity analysis. The participants included 20 individuals with IGD and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Resting-state functional and structural images were acquired for all participants using 3 T magnetic resonance imaging. We also measured the severity of IGD and impulsivity using psychological scales. The results show that IGD severity was positively correlated with GM volume in the left caudate (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons, and negatively associated with functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right middle frontal gyrus (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons. This study demonstrates that IGD is associated with neuroanatomical changes in the right middle frontal cortex and the left caudate. These are important brain regions for reward and cognitive control processes, and structural and functional abnormalities in these regions have been reported for other addictions, such as substance abuse and pathological gambling. The findings suggest that structural deficits and resting-state functional impairments in the frontostriatal network may be associated with IGD and provide new insights into the underlying neural mechanisms of IGD.

  16. The Effect of Illumination on Gray Color

    Science.gov (United States)

    Da Pos, Osvaldo; Baratella, Linda; Sperandio, Gabriele

    2010-01-01

    The present study explored the perceptual process of integration of luminance information in the production of the gray color of an object placed in an environment viewed from a window. The mean luminance of the object was varied for each mean luminance of the environment. Participants matched the gray color of the object with that of Munsell…

  17. SU-E-J-248: Comparative Study of Two Image Registration for Image-Guided Radiation Therapy in Esophageal Cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shang, K; Wang, J; Liu, D; Li, R; Cao, Y; Chi, Z [The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, CN, Shijiazhuang, Hebei (China)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is one of the major treatment of esophageal cancer. Gray value registration and bone registration are two kinds of image registration, the purpose of this work is to compare which one is more suitable for esophageal cancer patients. Methods: Twenty three esophageal patients were treated by Elekta Synergy, CBCT images were acquired and automatically registered to planning kilovoltage CT scans according to gray value or bone registration. The setup errors were measured in the X, Y and Z axis, respectively. Two kinds of setup errors were analysed by matching T test statistical method. Results: Four hundred and five groups of CBCT images were available and the systematic and random setup errors (cm) in X, Y, Z directions were 0.35, 0.63, 0.29 and 0.31, 0.53, 0.21 with gray value registration, while 0.37, 0.64, 0.26 and 0.32, 0.55, 0.20 with bone registration, respectively. Compared with bone registration and gray value registration, the setup errors in X and Z axis have significant differences. In Y axis, both measurement comparison results of T value is 0.256 (P value > 0.05); In X axis, the T value is 5.287(P value < 0.05); In Z axis, the T value is −5.138 (P value < 0.05). Conclusion: Gray value registration is recommended in image-guided radiotherapy for esophageal cancer and the other thoracic tumors. Manual registration could be applied when it is necessary. Bone registration is more suitable for the head tumor and pelvic tumor department where composed of redundant interconnected and immobile bone tissue.

  18. Development of multi-dimensional body image scale for malaysian female adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, Yit Siew; Taib, Mohd Nasir Mohd; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Khor, Geok Lin

    2008-01-01

    The present study was conducted to develop a Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents. Data were collected among 328 female adolescents from a secondary school in Kuantan district, state of Pahang, Malaysia by using a self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. The self-administered questionnaire comprised multiple measures of body image, Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965). The 152 items from selected multiple measures of body image were examined through factor analysis and for internal consistency. Correlations between Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale and body mass index (BMI), risk of eating disorders and self-esteem were assessed for construct validity. A seven factor model of a 62-item Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents with construct validity and good internal consistency was developed. The scale encompasses 1) preoccupation with thinness and dieting behavior, 2) appearance and body satisfaction, 3) body importance, 4) muscle increasing behavior, 5) extreme dieting behavior, 6) appearance importance, and 7) perception of size and shape dimensions. Besides, a multidimensional body image composite score was proposed to screen negative body image risk in female adolescents. The result found body image was correlated with BMI, risk of eating disorders and self-esteem in female adolescents. In short, the present study supports a multi-dimensional concept for body image and provides a new insight into its multi-dimensionality in Malaysian female adolescents with preliminary validity and reliability of the scale. The Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale can be used to identify female adolescents who are potentially at risk of developing body image disturbance through future intervention programs.

  19. Lossless Image Compression Based on Multiple-Tables Arithmetic Coding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rung-Ching Chen

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is intended to present a lossless image compression method based on multiple-tables arithmetic coding (MTAC method to encode a gray-level image f. First, the MTAC method employs a median edge detector (MED to reduce the entropy rate of f. The gray levels of two adjacent pixels in an image are usually similar. A base-switching transformation approach is then used to reduce the spatial redundancy of the image. The gray levels of some pixels in an image are more common than those of others. Finally, the arithmetic encoding method is applied to reduce the coding redundancy of the image. To promote high performance of the arithmetic encoding method, the MTAC method first classifies the data and then encodes each cluster of data using a distinct code table. The experimental results show that, in most cases, the MTAC method provides a higher efficiency in use of storage space than the lossless JPEG2000 does.

  20. Severe maxillary osteomyelitis in a Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber-Meyer, Shannon

    2012-01-01

    Dental injuries to or abnormalities in functionally important teeth and associated bones in predators may significantly reduce the ability to kill and consume prey (Lazar et al. 2009). This impairment is likely exacerbated in coursing predators, such as Gray Wolves, that bite and hold onto fleeing and kicking prey with their teeth. Damage to carnassials (upper fourth premolar, P4, and lower first molar, M1) and associated bones in Gray Wolves may especially inhibit the consumption of prey because these teeth slice meat and crush bone. Here I report maxillary osteomyelitis involving the carnassials in a wild Gray Wolf from northeastern Minnesota of such severity that I hypothesize it ultimately caused the Gray Wolf to starve to death.

  1. Parental Praise Correlates with Posterior Insular Cortex Gray Matter Volume in Children and Adolescents.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Izumi Matsudaira

    Full Text Available A positive parenting style affects psychological and cognitive development in children. Neuroimaging studies revealed that a positive parenting style influenced brain structure in children. Parental praise is a concrete behavior observed in positive parenting. Although previous psychological studies revealed a positive effect of parental praise on children, little is known about the relationship between parental praise and brain structure in children. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether there was a correlation between the parental attitude towards praising their child and gray matter volume in the children (116 boys and 109 girls; mean age, 10.6 years old. We examined the correlation between regional gray matter volume and parental praise using voxel-based morphometry (VBM following magnetic resonance imaging (MRI. In addition, to confirm the positive effects of parental praise, we analyzed the correlation between the frequency of parental praise and personality traits in children. We showed that the parental attitude towards praising their child was significantly and positively correlated with the gray matter volume of the left posterior insular cortex in children. Moreover, we found a significant positive correlation between parental attitude towards praising their child and the personality traits of conscientiousness and openness to experience in the children. Prior studies said that gray matter volume in the posterior insula was correlated with empathy, and the functional connectivity between this area and the amygdala was associated with emotional regulation. Furthermore, the posterior insula relates to auditory function, and therefore, was likely involved in the processing of parental praise. Considering the possibility of experience-dependent plasticity, frequent parental praise would lead to increased posterior insular gray matter volume in children. Our study is the first to elucidate the relationship between

  2. ITERATION FREE FRACTAL COMPRESSION USING GENETIC ALGORITHM FOR STILL COLOUR IMAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.R. Nadira Banu Kamal

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The storage requirements for images can be excessive, if true color and a high-perceived image quality are desired. An RGB image may be viewed as a stack of three gray-scale images that when fed into the red, green and blue inputs of a color monitor, produce a color image on the screen. The abnormal size of many images leads to long, costly, transmission times. Hence, an iteration free fractal algorithm is proposed in this research paper to design an efficient search of the domain pools for colour image compression using Genetic Algorithm (GA. The proposed methodology reduces the coding process time and intensive computation tasks. Parameters such as image quality, compression ratio and coding time are analyzed. It is observed that the proposed method achieves excellent performance in image quality with reduction in storage space.

  3. Gray matter perfusion correlates with disease severity in ALS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rule, Randall R; Schuff, Norbert; Miller, Robert G; Weiner, Michael W

    2010-03-09

    The goal of this study is to determine if regional brain perfusion, as measured by arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI, is correlated with clinical measures of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease severity. The presence of such a relationship would indicate a possible role for ASL perfusion as a marker of disease severity and upper motor neuron involvement in ALS. Disease severity was assessed in 16 subjects with ALS (age 54 +/- 11) using the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS) and the pulmonary function measure, forced vital capacity (FVC). Upper motor neuron involvement was assessed by testing rapid tapping of the fingers and feet. Magnetic resonance perfusion images were coregistered with structural T1-weighted MRI, corrected for partial volume effects using the structural images and normalized to a study-specific atlas. Correlations between perfusion and ALS disease severity were analyzed, using statistical parametric mapping, and including age as a factor. Analyses were adjusted for multiple clusters. ALS severity, as measured by the ALSFRS and FVC, was correlated with gray matter perfusion. This correlation was predominantly observed in the hemisphere contralateral to the more affected limbs. ALSFRS scores correlated with perfusion in the contralateral frontal and parietal lobe (p frontal lobe (p frontal lobe (p Upper motor neuron involvement, as measured by rapid finger tapping, correlated bilaterally with perfusion in the middle cingulate gyrus (p < 0.001). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) severity is correlated with brain perfusion as measured by arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion. This correlation appears to be independent of brain atrophy. ASL perfusion may be a useful tool for monitoring disease progression and assessing treatment effects in ALS.

  4. An automatic extraction algorithm of three dimensional shape of brain parenchyma from MR images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matozaki, Takeshi

    2000-01-01

    For the simulation of surgical operations, the extraction of the selected region using MR images is useful. However, this segmentation requires a high level of skill and experience from the technicians. We have developed an unique automatic extraction algorithm for extracting three dimensional brain parenchyma using MR head images. It is named the ''three dimensional gray scale clumsy painter method''. In this method, a template having the shape of a pseudo-circle, a so called clumsy painter (CP), moves along the contour of the selected region and extracts the region surrounded by the contour. This method has advantages compared with the morphological filtering and the region growing method. Previously, this method was applied to binary images, but there were some problems in that the results of the extractions were varied by the value of the threshold level. We introduced gray level information of images to decide the threshold, and depend upon the change of image density between the brain parenchyma and CSF. We decided the threshold level by the vector of a map of templates, and changed the map according to the change of image density. As a result, the over extracted ratio was improved by 36%, and the under extracted ratio was improved by 20%. (author)

  5. Premature graying of hair: An independent risk marker for coronary ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The presence of premature graying of hair was associated with 3.24 times the risk of CAD on multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The presence of premature graying of hair was associated with an increased risk of CAD in young smokers. Premature graying of hair can be used as preliminary evidence by ...

  6. Normalization of similarity-based individual brain networks from gray matter MRI and its association with neurodevelopment in infants with intrauterine growth restriction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batalle, Dafnis; Muñoz-Moreno, Emma; Figueras, Francesc; Bargallo, Nuria; Eixarch, Elisenda; Gratacos, Eduard

    2013-12-01

    Obtaining individual biomarkers for the prediction of altered neurological outcome is a challenge of modern medicine and neuroscience. Connectomics based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) stands as a good candidate to exhaustively extract information from MRI by integrating the information obtained in a few network features that can be used as individual biomarkers of neurological outcome. However, this approach typically requires the use of diffusion and/or functional MRI to extract individual brain networks, which require high acquisition times and present an extreme sensitivity to motion artifacts, critical problems when scanning fetuses and infants. Extraction of individual networks based on morphological similarity from gray matter is a new approach that benefits from the power of graph theory analysis to describe gray matter morphology as a large-scale morphological network from a typical clinical anatomic acquisition such as T1-weighted MRI. In the present paper we propose a methodology to normalize these large-scale morphological networks to a brain network with standardized size based on a parcellation scheme. The proposed methodology was applied to reconstruct individual brain networks of 63 one-year-old infants, 41 infants with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and 22 controls, showing altered network features in the IUGR group, and their association with neurodevelopmental outcome at two years of age by means of ordinal regression analysis of the network features obtained with Bayley Scale for Infant and Toddler Development, third edition. Although it must be more widely assessed, this methodology stands as a good candidate for the development of biomarkers for altered neurodevelopment in the pediatric population. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Strategy for magnetic resonance imaging of the head: results of a semi-empirical model. Part 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Droege, R.T.; Wiener, S.N.; Rzeszotarski, M.S.

    1984-01-01

    This paper is an introduction to lesion detection problems of MR. A mathematical model previously developed for normal anatomy has been extended to predict the appearance of any hypothetical lesion in magnetic (MR) images of the head. The model is applied to selected clinical images to demonstrate the loss of lesion visibility attributable to ''crossover'' and ''boundary effect.'' The model is also used to explain the origins of these problems, and to demonstrate that appropriate gray-scale manipulations can remedy these problems

  8. An FPGA-based heterogeneous image fusion system design method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Le; Lin, Yu-chi; Chen, Yan-hua; Zhao, Mei-rong

    2011-08-01

    Taking the advantages of FPGA's low cost and compact structure, an FPGA-based heterogeneous image fusion platform is established in this study. Altera's Cyclone IV series FPGA is adopted as the core processor of the platform, and the visible light CCD camera and infrared thermal imager are used as the image-capturing device in order to obtain dualchannel heterogeneous video images. Tailor-made image fusion algorithms such as gray-scale weighted averaging, maximum selection and minimum selection methods are analyzed and compared. VHDL language and the synchronous design method are utilized to perform a reliable RTL-level description. Altera's Quartus II 9.0 software is applied to simulate and implement the algorithm modules. The contrast experiments of various fusion algorithms show that, preferably image quality of the heterogeneous image fusion can be obtained on top of the proposed system. The applied range of the different fusion algorithms is also discussed.

  9. SNAPSHOT SPECTRAL AND COLOR IMAGING USING A REGULAR DIGITAL CAMERA WITH A MONOCHROMATIC IMAGE SENSOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Hauser

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Spectral imaging (SI refers to the acquisition of the three-dimensional (3D spectral cube of spatial and spectral data of a source object at a limited number of wavelengths in a given wavelength range. Snapshot spectral imaging (SSI refers to the instantaneous acquisition (in a single shot of the spectral cube, a process suitable for fast changing objects. Known SSI devices exhibit large total track length (TTL, weight and production costs and relatively low optical throughput. We present a simple SSI camera based on a regular digital camera with (i an added diffusing and dispersing phase-only static optical element at the entrance pupil (diffuser and (ii tailored compressed sensing (CS methods for digital processing of the diffused and dispersed (DD image recorded on the image sensor. The diffuser is designed to mix the spectral cube data spectrally and spatially and thus to enable convergence in its reconstruction by CS-based algorithms. In addition to performing SSI, this SSI camera is capable to perform color imaging using a monochromatic or gray-scale image sensor without color filter arrays.

  10. Intelligent Design of Nano-Scale Molecular Imaging Agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takeaki Ozawa

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Visual representation and quantification of biological processes at the cellular and subcellular levels within living subjects are gaining great interest in life science to address frontier issues in pathology and physiology. As intact living subjects do not emit any optical signature, visual representation usually exploits nano-scale imaging agents as the source of image contrast. Many imaging agents have been developed for this purpose, some of which exert nonspecific, passive, and physical interaction with a target. Current research interest in molecular imaging has mainly shifted to fabrication of smartly integrated, specific, and versatile agents that emit fluorescence or luminescence as an optical readout. These agents include luminescent quantum dots (QDs, biofunctional antibodies, and multifunctional nanoparticles. Furthermore, genetically encoded nano-imaging agents embedding fluorescent proteins or luciferases are now gaining popularity. These agents are generated by integrative design of the components, such as luciferase, flexible linker, and receptor to exert a specific on–off switching in the complex context of living subjects. In the present review, we provide an overview of the basic concepts, smart design, and practical contribution of recent nano-scale imaging agents, especially with respect to genetically encoded imaging agents.

  11. Classification of high-resolution remote sensing images based on multi-scale superposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jinliang; Gao, Wenjie; Liu, Guangjie

    2017-07-01

    Landscape structures and process on different scale show different characteristics. In the study of specific target landmarks, the most appropriate scale for images can be attained by scale conversion, which improves the accuracy and efficiency of feature identification and classification. In this paper, the authors carried out experiments on multi-scale classification by taking the Shangri-la area in the north-western Yunnan province as the research area and the images from SPOT5 HRG and GF-1 Satellite as date sources. Firstly, the authors upscaled the two images by cubic convolution, and calculated the optimal scale for different objects on the earth shown in images by variation functions. Then the authors conducted multi-scale superposition classification on it by Maximum Likelyhood, and evaluated the classification accuracy. The results indicates that: (1) for most of the object on the earth, the optimal scale appears in the bigger scale instead of the original one. To be specific, water has the biggest optimal scale, i.e. around 25-30m; farmland, grassland, brushwood, roads, settlement places and woodland follows with 20-24m. The optimal scale for shades and flood land is basically as the same as the original one, i.e. 8m and 10m respectively. (2) Regarding the classification of the multi-scale superposed images, the overall accuracy of the ones from SPOT5 HRG and GF-1 Satellite is 12.84% and 14.76% higher than that of the original multi-spectral images, respectively, and Kappa coefficient is 0.1306 and 0.1419 higher, respectively. Hence, the multi-scale superposition classification which was applied in the research area can enhance the classification accuracy of remote sensing images .

  12. Characteristics of gray matter morphological change in Parkinson's disease patients with semantic abstract reasoning deficits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Li; Nie, Kun; Zhao, Xin; Feng, Shujun; Xie, Sifen; He, Xuetao; Ma, Guixian; Wang, Limin; Huang, Zhiheng; Huang, Biao; Zhang, Yuhu; Wang, Lijuan

    2018-04-23

    Semantic abstract reasoning(SAR) is an important executive domain that is involved in semantic information processing and enables one to make sense of the attributes of objects, facts and concepts in the world. We sought to investigate whether Parkinson's disease subjects(PDs) have difficulty in SAR and to examine the associated pattern of gray matter morphological changes. Eighty-six PDs and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. PDs were grouped into PD subjects with Similarities preservation(PDSP, n = 62) and PD subjects with Similarities impairment(PDSI, n = 24)according to their performance on the Similarities subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Brain structural images were captured with a 3T MRI scanner. Surface-based investigation of cortical thickness and automated segmentation of deep gray matter were conducted using FreeSurfer software. PDs performed notably worse on the Similarities test than controls(F = 13.56, P < 0.001).In the PDSI group, cortical thinning associated with Similarities scores was found in the left superior frontal, left superior parietal and left rostral middle frontal regions. Notable atrophy of the bilateral hippocampi was observed, but only the right hippocampus volume was positively correlated with the Similarities scores of the PDSI group. PDs have difficulty in SAR, and this limitation may be associated with impaired conceptual abstraction and generalization along with semantic memory deficits. Cortical thinning in the left frontal and parietal regions and atrophy in the right hippocampus may explain these impairments among Chinese PDs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Comparative analysis of different methods for image enhancement

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    吴笑峰; 胡仕刚; 赵瑾; 李志明; 李劲; 唐志军; 席在芳

    2014-01-01

    Image enhancement technology plays a very important role to improve image quality in image processing. By enhancing some information and restraining other information selectively, it can improve image visual effect. The objective of this work is to implement the image enhancement to gray scale images using different techniques. After the fundamental methods of image enhancement processing are demonstrated, image enhancement algorithms based on space and frequency domains are systematically investigated and compared. The advantage and defect of the above-mentioned algorithms are analyzed. The algorithms of wavelet based image enhancement are also deduced and generalized. Wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM) is a method for detecting the fractal dimension of a signal, it is well used for image enhancement. The image techniques are compared by using the mean (μ), standard deviation (s), mean square error (MSE) and PSNR (peak signal to noise ratio). A group of experimental results demonstrate that the image enhancement algorithm based on wavelet transform is effective for image de-noising and enhancement. Wavelet transform modulus maxima method is one of the best methods for image enhancement.

  14. Differentiating Patients with Parkinson's Disease from Normal Controls Using Gray Matter in the Cerebellum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Ling-Li; Xie, Liang; Shen, Hui; Luo, Zhiguo; Fang, Peng; Hou, Yanan; Tang, Beisha; Wu, Tao; Hu, Dewen

    2017-02-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in the world. Previous studies have focused on the basal ganglia and cerebral cortices. To date, the cerebellum has not been systematically investigated in patients with PD. In the current study, 45 probable PD patients and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, and we used support vector machines combining with voxel-based morphometry to explore the cerebellar structural changes in the probable PD patients relative to healthy controls. The results revealed that the gray matter alterations were primarily located within the cerebellar Crus I, implying a possible important role of this region in PD. Furthermore, the gray matter alterations in the cerebellum could differentiate the probable PD patients from healthy controls with accuracies of more than 95 % (p cerebellum in the clinical diagnosis of PD.

  15. Large-Scale medical image analytics: Recent methodologies, applications and Future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shaoting; Metaxas, Dimitris

    2016-10-01

    Despite the ever-increasing amount and complexity of annotated medical image data, the development of large-scale medical image analysis algorithms has not kept pace with the need for methods that bridge the semantic gap between images and diagnoses. The goal of this position paper is to discuss and explore innovative and large-scale data science techniques in medical image analytics, which will benefit clinical decision-making and facilitate efficient medical data management. Particularly, we advocate that the scale of image retrieval systems should be significantly increased at which interactive systems can be effective for knowledge discovery in potentially large databases of medical images. For clinical relevance, such systems should return results in real-time, incorporate expert feedback, and be able to cope with the size, quality, and variety of the medical images and their associated metadata for a particular domain. The design, development, and testing of the such framework can significantly impact interactive mining in medical image databases that are growing rapidly in size and complexity and enable novel methods of analysis at much larger scales in an efficient, integrated fashion. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Multivariate imaging-genetics study of MRI gray matter volume and SNPs reveals biological pathways correlated with brain structural differences in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabin Khadka

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder affecting children, adolescents, and adults. Its etiology is not well-understood, but it is increasingly believed to result from diverse pathophysiologies that affect the structure and function of specific brain circuits. Although one of the best-studied neurobiological abnormalities in ADHD is reduced fronto-striatal-cerebellar gray matter volume, its specific genetic correlates are largely unknown. Methods: In this study, T1-weighted MR images of brain structure were collected from 198 adolescents (63 ADHD-diagnosed. A multivariate parallel independent component analysis technique (Para-ICA identified imaging-genetic relationships between regional gray matter volume and single nucleotide polymorphism data. Results: Para-ICA analyses extracted 14 components from genetic data and 9 from MR data. An iterative cross-validation using randomly-chosen sub-samples indicated acceptable stability of these ICA solutions. A series of partial correlation analyses controlling for age, sex, and ethnicity revealed two genotype-phenotype component pairs significantly differed between ADHD and non-ADHD groups, after a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. The brain phenotype component not only included structures frequently found to have abnormally low volume in previous ADHD studies, but was also significantly associated with ADHD differences in symptom severity and performance on cognitive tests frequently found to be impaired in patients diagnosed with the disorder. Pathway analysis of the genotype component identified several different biological pathways linked to these structural abnormalities in ADHD. Conclusions: Some of these pathways implicate well-known dopaminergic neurotransmission and neurodevelopment hypothesized to be abnormal in ADHD. Other more recently implicated pathways included glutamatergic and GABA-eric physiological systems

  17. Graphics-Printing Program For The HP Paintjet Printer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkins, Victor R.

    1993-01-01

    IMPRINT utility computer program developed to print graphics specified in raster files by use of Hewlett-Packard Paintjet(TM) color printer. Reads bit-mapped images from files on UNIX-based graphics workstation and prints out three different types of images: wire-frame images, solid-color images, and gray-scale images. Wire-frame images are in continuous tone or, in case of low resolution, in random gray scale. In case of color images, IMPRINT also prints by use of default palette of solid colors. Written in C language.

  18. Nondestructive chemical imaging of wood at the micro-scale: advanced technology to complement macro-scale evaluations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbara L. Illman; Julia Sedlmair; Miriam Unger; Carol Hirschmugl

    2013-01-01

    Chemical images help understanding of wood properties, durability, and cell wall deconstruction for conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels, nanocellulose and other value added chemicals in forest biorefineries. We describe here a new method for nondestructive chemical imaging of wood and wood-based materials at the micro-scale to complement macro-scale methods based...

  19. Ultrasound analysis of gray-scale median value of carotid plaques is a useful reference index for cerebro-cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariyoshi, Kyoko; Okuya, Shigeru; Kunitsugu, Ichiro; Matsunaga, Kimie; Nagao, Yuko; Nomiyama, Ryuta; Takeda, Komei; Tanizawa, Yukio

    2015-01-01

    Measurements of plaque echogenicity, the gray-scale median (GSM), were shown to correlate inversely with risk factors for cerebro-cardiovascular disease (CVD). The eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)/arachidonic acid (AA) ratio is a potential predictor of CVD risk. In the present study, we assessed the usefulness of carotid plaque GSM values and EPA/AA ratios in atherosclerotic diabetics. A total of 84 type 2 diabetics with carotid artery plaques were enrolled. On admission, platelet aggregation and lipid profiles, including EPA and AA, were examined. Using ultrasound, mean intima media thickness and plaque score were measured in carotid arteries. Plaque echogenicity was evaluated using computer-assisted quantification of GSM. The patients were then further observed for approximately 3 years. Gray-scale median was found to be a good marker of CVD events. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, GSM <32 and plaque score ≥5 were significantly associated with past history and onset of CVD during the follow-up period, the odds ratios being 7.730 (P = 0.014) and 4.601 (P = 0.046), respectively. EPA/AA showed a significant correlation with GSM (P = 0.012) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.039), and an inverse correlation with platelet aggregation (P = 0.046) and triglyceride (P = 0.020). Although most patients with CVD had both low GSM and low EPA/AA values, an association of EPA/AA with CVD events could not be statistically confirmed. The present results suggest the GSM value to be useful as a reference index for CVD events in high-risk atherosclerotic diabetics. Associations of the EPA/AA ratio with known CVD risk factors warrant a larger and more extensive study to show the usefulness of this parameter.

  20. Diffuse Decreased Gray Matter in Patients with Idiopathic Craniocervical Dystonia: a Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camila Callegari Piccinin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Recent studies have addressed the role of structures other than the basal ganglia in the pathophysiology of craniocervical dystonia. Neuroimaging studies have attempted to identify structural abnormalities in craniocervical dystonia but a clear pattern of alteration has not been established. We performed whole brain evaluation using voxel-based morphometry to identify patterns of gray matter changes in craniocervical dystonia.Methods: We compared 27 patients with craniocervical dystonia matched in age and gender to 54 healthy controls. Voxel-based morphometry was used to compare gray matter volumes. We created a two-sample t-test corrected for subjects’ age and we tested with a level of significance of p<0.001 and false discovery rate correction (p<0.05. Results: Voxel-based morphometry demonstrated significant reductions of gray matter using p<0.001 in the cerebellar vermis IV/V, bilaterally in the superior frontal gyrus, precuneus, anterior cingulate and paracingulate, insular cortex, lingual gyrus and calcarine fissure; in the left hemisphere in the supplemementary motor area (SMA, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus, temporal pole, supramarginal gyrus, rolandic operculum , hippocampus, middle occipital gyrus, cerebellar lobules IV/V, superior and middle temporal gyri; in the right hemisphere, the middle cingulate and precentral gyrus. Our study did not report any significant result using the false discovery rate correction. We also detected correlations between gray matter volume and age, disease duration, duration of botulinum toxin treatment and the Marsden-Fahn dystonia scale scores.Conclusions: We detected large clusters of gray matter changes chiefly in structures primarily involved in sensorimotor integration, motor planning, visuospatial function and emotional processing.

  1. Hybrid of two-photon microscopy and optical multimodality imaging for multi-scale imaging of small animals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tianmeng; Hui, Hui; Ma, He; Yang, Xin; Tian, Jie

    2018-02-01

    Non-invasive imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical multimodality imaging methods, are commonly used for diagnosing and supervising the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These in vivo imaging methods can provide morphology changes information of IBD in macro-scale. However, it is difficult to investigate the intestinal wall in molecular and cellular level. State-of-art light-sheet and two-photon microscopy have the ability to acquire the changes for IBD in micro-scale. The aim of this work is to evaluate the size of the enterocoel and the thickness of colon wall using both MRI for in vivo imaging, and light-sheet and two-photon microscope for in vitro imaging. C57BL/6 mice were received 3.5% Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in the drinking water for 5 days to build IBD model. Mice were imaged with MRI on days 0, 6 to observe colitis progression. After MRI imaging, the mice were sacrificed to take colons for tissue clearing. Then, light-sheet and two-photon microscopies are used for in vitro imaging of the cleared samples. The experimental group showed symptoms of bloody stools, sluggishness and weight loss. It showed that the colon wall was thicker while the enterocoel was narrower compare to control group. The more details are observed using light-sheet and two-photon microscope. It is demonstrated that hybrid of MRI in macro-scale and light-sheet and two-photon microscopy in micro-scale imaging is feasible for colon inflammation diagnosing and supervising.

  2. Relationship between aging and T1 relaxation time in deep gray matter: A voxel-based analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okubo, Gosuke; Okada, Tomohisa; Yamamoto, Akira; Fushimi, Yasutaka; Okada, Tsutomu; Murata, Katsutoshi; Togashi, Kaori

    2017-09-01

    To investigate age-related changes in T 1 relaxation time in deep gray matter structures in healthy volunteers using magnetization-prepared 2 rapid acquisition gradient echoes (MP2RAGE). In all, 70 healthy volunteers (aged 20-76, mean age 42.6 years) were scanned at 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A MP2RAGE sequence was employed to quantify T 1 relaxation times. After the spatial normalization of T 1 maps with the diffeomorphic anatomical registration using the exponentiated Lie algebra algorithm, voxel-based regression analysis was conducted. In addition, linear and quadratic regression analyses of regions of interest (ROIs) were also performed. With aging, voxel-based analysis (VBA) revealed significant T 1 value decreases in the ventral-inferior putamen, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala, whereas T 1 values significantly increased in the thalamus and white matter as well (P time vary by location in deep gray matter. 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;46:724-731. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  3. QCA Gray Code Converter Circuits Using LTEx Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, Chiradeep; Panda, Saradindu; Mukhopadhyay, Asish Kumar; Maji, Bansibadan

    2018-04-01

    The Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is the prominent paradigm of nanotechnology considered to continue the computation at deep sub-micron regime. The QCA realizations of several multilevel circuit of arithmetic logic unit have been introduced in the recent years. However, as high fan-in Binary to Gray (B2G) and Gray to Binary (G2B) Converters exist in the processor based architecture, no attention has been paid towards the QCA instantiation of the Gray Code Converters which are anticipated to be used in 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit or even more bit addressable machines of Gray Code Addressing schemes. In this work the two-input Layered T module is presented to exploit the operation of an Exclusive-OR Gate (namely LTEx module) as an elemental block. The "defect-tolerant analysis" of the two-input LTEx module has been analyzed to establish the scalability and reproducibility of the LTEx module in the complex circuits. The novel formulations exploiting the operability of the LTEx module have been proposed to instantiate area-delay efficient B2G and G2B Converters which can be exclusively used in Gray Code Addressing schemes. Moreover this work formulates the QCA design metrics such as O-Cost, Effective area, Delay and Cost α for the n-bit converter layouts.

  4. Adobe Photoshop images software in the verification of radiation portal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ouyang Shuigen; Wang Xiaohu; Liu Zhiqiang; Wei Xiyi; Qi Yong

    2010-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the value of Adobe Photoshop images software in the verification of radiation portal. Methods: The portal and simulation films or CT reconstruction images were imported into computer using a scanner. The image size, gray scale and contrast scale were adjusted with Adobe Photoshop images software, then image registration and measurement were completed. Results: By the comparison between portal image and simulation image, the set-up errors in right-left, superior-inferior and anterior-posterior directions were (1.11 ± 1.37) mm, (1.33 ± 1.25) mm and (0.83±0.79) mm in the head and neck;(1.44±1.03) mm,(1.6±1.52) mm and (1.34±1.17) mm in the thorax;(1.53±0.86) mm, (1.83 ± 1.19) mm and (1.67 ± 0.68)mm in the abdomen; (1.93 ± I. 83) mm, (1.59 ± 1.07)mm and (0.85 ± 0.72)mm in the pelvic cavity. Conclusions: Accurate radiation portal verification and position measurement can be completed by using Adobe Photoshop, which is a simple, safe and reliable method. (authors)

  5. A Multi-Model Stereo Similarity Function Based on Monogenic Signal Analysis in Poisson Scale Space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinjun Li

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available A stereo similarity function based on local multi-model monogenic image feature descriptors (LMFD is proposed to match interest points and estimate disparity map for stereo images. Local multi-model monogenic image features include local orientation and instantaneous phase of the gray monogenic signal, local color phase of the color monogenic signal, and local mean colors in the multiscale color monogenic signal framework. The gray monogenic signal, which is the extension of analytic signal to gray level image using Dirac operator and Laplace equation, consists of local amplitude, local orientation, and instantaneous phase of 2D image signal. The color monogenic signal is the extension of monogenic signal to color image based on Clifford algebras. The local color phase can be estimated by computing geometric product between the color monogenic signal and a unit reference vector in RGB color space. Experiment results on the synthetic and natural stereo images show the performance of the proposed approach.

  6. Imaging evaluation of fetal vascular anomalies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calvo-Garcia, Maria A.; Kline-Fath, Beth M.; Koch, Bernadette L.; Laor, Tal [MLC 5031 Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Adams, Denise M. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics and Hemangioma and Vascular Malformation Center, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Gupta, Anita [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pathology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Lim, Foong-Yen [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Pediatric Surgery and Fetal Center of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

    2015-08-15

    Vascular anomalies can be detected in utero and should be considered in the setting of solid, mixed or cystic lesions in the fetus. Evaluation of the gray-scale and color Doppler US and MRI characteristics can guide diagnosis. We present a case-based pictorial essay to illustrate the prenatal imaging characteristics in 11 pregnancies with vascular malformations (5 lymphatic malformations, 2 Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, 1 venous-lymphatic malformation, 1 Parkes-Weber syndrome) and vascular tumors (1 congenital hemangioma, 1 kaposiform hemangioendothelioma). Concordance between prenatal and postnatal diagnoses is analyzed, with further discussion regarding potential pitfalls in identification. (orig.)

  7. Imaging evaluation of fetal vascular anomalies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calvo-Garcia, Maria A.; Kline-Fath, Beth M.; Koch, Bernadette L.; Laor, Tal; Adams, Denise M.; Gupta, Anita; Lim, Foong-Yen

    2015-01-01

    Vascular anomalies can be detected in utero and should be considered in the setting of solid, mixed or cystic lesions in the fetus. Evaluation of the gray-scale and color Doppler US and MRI characteristics can guide diagnosis. We present a case-based pictorial essay to illustrate the prenatal imaging characteristics in 11 pregnancies with vascular malformations (5 lymphatic malformations, 2 Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, 1 venous-lymphatic malformation, 1 Parkes-Weber syndrome) and vascular tumors (1 congenital hemangioma, 1 kaposiform hemangioendothelioma). Concordance between prenatal and postnatal diagnoses is analyzed, with further discussion regarding potential pitfalls in identification. (orig.)

  8. Color correction with blind image restoration based on multiple images using a low-rank model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dong; Xie, Xudong; Lam, Kin-Man

    2014-03-01

    We present a method that can handle the color correction of multiple photographs with blind image restoration simultaneously and automatically. We prove that the local colors of a set of images of the same scene exhibit the low-rank property locally both before and after a color-correction operation. This property allows us to correct all kinds of errors in an image under a low-rank matrix model without particular priors or assumptions. The possible errors may be caused by changes of viewpoint, large illumination variations, gross pixel corruptions, partial occlusions, etc. Furthermore, a new iterative soft-segmentation method is proposed for local color transfer using color influence maps. Due to the fact that the correct color information and the spatial information of images can be recovered using the low-rank model, more precise color correction and many other image-restoration tasks-including image denoising, image deblurring, and gray-scale image colorizing-can be performed simultaneously. Experiments have verified that our method can achieve consistent and promising results on uncontrolled real photographs acquired from the Internet and that it outperforms current state-of-the-art methods.

  9. Derivative-based scale invariant image feature detector with error resilience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mainali, Pradip; Lafruit, Gauthier; Tack, Klaas; Van Gool, Luc; Lauwereins, Rudy

    2014-05-01

    We present a novel scale-invariant image feature detection algorithm (D-SIFER) using a newly proposed scale-space optimal 10th-order Gaussian derivative (GDO-10) filter, which reaches the jointly optimal Heisenberg's uncertainty of its impulse response in scale and space simultaneously (i.e., we minimize the maximum of the two moments). The D-SIFER algorithm using this filter leads to an outstanding quality of image feature detection, with a factor of three quality improvement over state-of-the-art scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) and speeded up robust features (SURF) methods that use the second-order Gaussian derivative filters. To reach low computational complexity, we also present a technique approximating the GDO-10 filters with a fixed-length implementation, which is independent of the scale. The final approximation error remains far below the noise margin, providing constant time, low cost, but nevertheless high-quality feature detection and registration capabilities. D-SIFER is validated on a real-life hyperspectral image registration application, precisely aligning up to hundreds of successive narrowband color images, despite their strong artifacts (blurring, low-light noise) typically occurring in such delicate optical system setups.

  10. Paulette Gray, Ph.D.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paulette S. Gray, Ph.D. is the Director for the Division of Extramural Activities (DEA). As the director of the division, she is responsible for the overall scientific, fiscal, and administrative management of the division, including broad strategic planning, development, implementation, and evaluation.

  11. Effect of Experimental Thyrotoxicosis on Brain Gray Matter: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Göbel, Anna; Heldmann, Marcus; Göttlich, Martin; Dirk, Anna-Luise; Brabant, Georg; Münte, Thomas F

    2015-09-01

    Hyper-as well hypothyroidism have an effect on behavior and brain function. Moreover, during development thyroid hormones influence brain structure. This study aimed to demonstrate an effect of experimentally induced hyperthyroidism on brain gray matter in healthy adult humans. High-resolution 3D T1-weighted images were acquired in 29 healthy young subjects prior to as well as after receiving 250 µg of T4 per day for 8 weeks. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was performed using Statistical Parametric Mapping 8 (SPM8). Laboratory testing confirmed the induction of hyperthyroidism. In the hyperthyroid condition, gray matter volumes were increased in the right posterior cerebellum (lobule VI) and decreased in the bilateral visual cortex and anterior cerebellum (lobules I-IV) compared to the euthyroid condition. Our study provides evidence that short periods of hyperthyroidism induce distinct alterations in brain structures of cerebellar regions that have been associated with sensorimotor functions as well as working memory in the literature.

  12. Generative complexity of Gray-Scott model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adamatzky, Andrew

    2018-03-01

    In the Gray-Scott reaction-diffusion system one reactant is constantly fed in the system, another reactant is reproduced by consuming the supplied reactant and also converted to an inert product. The rate of feeding one reactant in the system and the rate of removing another reactant from the system determine configurations of concentration profiles: stripes, spots, waves. We calculate the generative complexity-a morphological complexity of concentration profiles grown from a point-wise perturbation of the medium-of the Gray-Scott system for a range of the feeding and removal rates. The morphological complexity is evaluated using Shannon entropy, Simpson diversity, approximation of Lempel-Ziv complexity, and expressivity (Shannon entropy divided by space-filling). We analyse behaviour of the systems with highest values of the generative morphological complexity and show that the Gray-Scott systems expressing highest levels of the complexity are composed of the wave-fragments (similar to wave-fragments in sub-excitable media) and travelling localisations (similar to quasi-dissipative solitons and gliders in Conway's Game of Life).

  13. Adaptive Spot Detection With Optimal Scale Selection in Fluorescence Microscopy Images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basset, Antoine; Boulanger, Jérôme; Salamero, Jean; Bouthemy, Patrick; Kervrann, Charles

    2015-11-01

    Accurately detecting subcellular particles in fluorescence microscopy is of primary interest for further quantitative analysis such as counting, tracking, or classification. Our primary goal is to segment vesicles likely to share nearly the same size in fluorescence microscopy images. Our method termed adaptive thresholding of Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) images with autoselected scale (ATLAS) automatically selects the optimal scale corresponding to the most frequent spot size in the image. Four criteria are proposed and compared to determine the optimal scale in a scale-space framework. Then, the segmentation stage amounts to thresholding the LoG of the intensity image. In contrast to other methods, the threshold is locally adapted given a probability of false alarm (PFA) specified by the user for the whole set of images to be processed. The local threshold is automatically derived from the PFA value and local image statistics estimated in a window whose size is not a critical parameter. We also propose a new data set for benchmarking, consisting of six collections of one hundred images each, which exploits backgrounds extracted from real microscopy images. We have carried out an extensive comparative evaluation on several data sets with ground-truth, which demonstrates that ATLAS outperforms existing methods. ATLAS does not need any fine parameter tuning and requires very low computation time. Convincing results are also reported on real total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy images.

  14. Evaluation of Accelerated Graphitic Corrosion Test of Gray Cast Iron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jeong Hyeon; Hong, Jong Dae; Chang Heui; Na, Kyung Hwan; Lee, Jae Gon

    2011-01-01

    In operating nuclear power plants, gray cast iron is commonly used as materials for various non-safety system components including pipes in fire water system, valve bodies, bonnets, and pump castings. In such locations, operating condition does not require alloy steels with excellent mechanical properties. But, a few corrosion related degradation, or graphitic corrosion is frequently occurred to gray cast iron during the long-term operation in nuclear power plant. Graphitic corrosion is selective leaching of iron from gray cast iron, where iron gets removed and graphite grains remain intact. In U.S.A., one-time visual inspection and hardness measurement are required from regulatory body to detect the graphitic corrosion for the life extension evaluation of the operating nuclear power plant. In this study, experiments were conducted to make accelerated graphitic corrosion of gray cast iron using electrochemical method, and hardness was measured for the specimens to establish the correlation between degree of graphitic corrosion and surface hardness of gray cast iron

  15. The Gray whale: Eschrichtius robustus

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Jones, Mary Lou; Leatherwood, Stephen; Swartz, Steven L

    1984-01-01

    .... Section II documents historical aspects of gray whale exploitation and the economic importance of these whales to humans, beginning with aboriginal societies in Asia and North America, and leading...

  16. Decreased gray matter volume of the medial orbitofrontal cortex in panic disorder with agoraphobia: a preliminary study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Na, Kyoung-Sae; Ham, Byung-Joo; Lee, Min-Soo; Kim, Leen; Kim, Yong-Ku; Lee, Heon-Jeong; Yoon, Ho-Kyoung

    2013-08-01

    Patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) have clinical symptoms such as the fear of being outside or of open spaces from which escape would be difficult. Although recent neurobiological studies have suggested that fear conditioning and extinction are associated with PDA, no study has examined the possible structural abnormalities in patients with PDA. This preliminary study compares the gray matter volume among patients with PDA, those with panic disorder without agoraphobia (PDW), and healthy controls (HC) using high-resolution 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Compared with HC, patients with PDA showed decreased gray matter volume in their left medial orbitofrontal gyrus. However, differences were not found in the gray matter volumes of patients with PDW and whole panic disorder compared with HC. These findings suggest that the phobic avoidance found in patients with PDA arise from abnormalities in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, which plays an important role in fear extinction. Future studies should investigate the neuroanatomical substrates of PDA and distinguish them from those of PDW. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Gray matter abnormalities in Internet addiction: A voxel-based morphometry study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Yan; Lin Fuchun; Du Yasong; Qin Lingdi; Zhao Zhimin; Xu Jianrong; Lei Hao

    2011-01-01

    Background: This study aims to investigate brain gray matter density (GMD) changes in adolescents with Internet addiction (IA) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis on high-resolution T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance images. Methods: Eighteen IA adolescents and 15 age- and gender-matched healthy controls took part in this study. High-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on the two groups. VBM analysis was used to compare the GMD between the two groups. Results: Compared with healthy controls, IA adolescents had lower GMD in the left anterior cingulate cortex, left posterior cingulate cortex, left insula, and left lingual gyrus. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that brain structural changes were present in IA adolescents, and this finding may provide a new insight into the pathogenesis of IA.

  18. Gray matter abnormalities in Internet addiction: A voxel-based morphometry study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou Yan, E-mail: clare1475@hotmail.com [Department of Radiology, RenJi Hospital, Jiao Tong University Medical School, Shanghai 200127 (China); Lin Fuchun, E-mail: fclin@wipm.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China); Du Yasong, E-mail: yasongdu@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030 (China); Qin Lingdi, E-mail: flyingfool838@hotmail.com [Department of Radiology, RenJi Hospital, Jiao Tong University Medical School, Shanghai 200127 (China); Zhao Zhimin, E-mail: zmzsky@163.com [Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030 (China); Xu Jianrong, E-mail: xujianr@hotmail.com [Department of Radiology, RenJi Hospital, Jiao Tong University Medical School, Shanghai 200127 (China); Lei Hao, E-mail: leihao@wipm.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China)

    2011-07-15

    Background: This study aims to investigate brain gray matter density (GMD) changes in adolescents with Internet addiction (IA) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis on high-resolution T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance images. Methods: Eighteen IA adolescents and 15 age- and gender-matched healthy controls took part in this study. High-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on the two groups. VBM analysis was used to compare the GMD between the two groups. Results: Compared with healthy controls, IA adolescents had lower GMD in the left anterior cingulate cortex, left posterior cingulate cortex, left insula, and left lingual gyrus. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that brain structural changes were present in IA adolescents, and this finding may provide a new insight into the pathogenesis of IA.

  19. Mechanical Aqueous Alteration Dominates Textures of Gale Crater Rocks: Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aileen Yingst, R.; Minitti, Michelle; Edgett, Kenneth; McBride, Marie; Stack, Kathryn

    2015-04-01

    The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) acquired sub-mm/pixel scale color images of over 70 individual rocks and outcrops during Curiosity's first year on Mars, permitting the study of textures down to the distinction between silt and very fine sand. We group imaged rock textures into classes based on their grain size, sorting, matrix characteristics, and abundance of pores. Because the recent campaign at Pahrump Hills acquired many more MAHLI images than elsewhere along the rover traverse [6], textural analysis there is more detailed and thus types observed there are sub-divided. Mudstones: These rocks contain framework grains smaller than the highest resolution MAHLI images (16 μm/pixel), and thus are interpreted to consist of grains that are silt-sized or smaller. Some rocks contain nodules, sulfate veins, and Mg-enriched erosionally-resistant ridges. The Pahrump Hills region contains mudstones of at least four different sub-textures: recessive massive, recessive parallel-laminated, resistant laminated-to-massive, and resistant cross-stratified. Recessive mudstones are slope-forming; parallel-laminated recessive mudstones display mm-scale parallel (and in some cases rhythmic) lamination that extends laterally for many meters, and are interbedded with recessive massive mudstones. Coarse cm- to mm-scale laminae appear within resistant mudstones though some portions are more massive; laminae tend to be traceable for cm to meters. Well-sorted sandstones: Rocks in this class are made of gray, fine-to-medium sand and exhibit little to no porosity. Two examples of this class show fine lineations with sub-mm spacing. Aillik, a target in the Shaler outcrop, shows abundant cross-lamination. The Pahrump Hills region contains a sub-texture of well-sorted, very fine to fine-grained cross-stratified sandstone at the dune and ripple-scale. Poorly-sorted sandstones. This class is subdivided into two sub-classes: rounded, coarse-to-very coarse sand grains of variable colors and

  20. Perceptual security of encrypted images based on wavelet scaling analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vargas-Olmos, C.; Murguía, J. S.; Ramírez-Torres, M. T.; Mejía Carlos, M.; Rosu, H. C.; González-Aguilar, H.

    2016-08-01

    The scaling behavior of the pixel fluctuations of encrypted images is evaluated by using the detrended fluctuation analysis based on wavelets, a modern technique that has been successfully used recently for a wide range of natural phenomena and technological processes. As encryption algorithms, we use the Advanced Encryption System (AES) in RBT mode and two versions of a cryptosystem based on cellular automata, with the encryption process applied both fully and partially by selecting different bitplanes. In all cases, the results show that the encrypted images in which no understandable information can be visually appreciated and whose pixels look totally random present a persistent scaling behavior with the scaling exponent α close to 0.5, implying no correlation between pixels when the DFA with wavelets is applied. This suggests that the scaling exponents of the encrypted images can be used as a perceptual security criterion in the sense that when their values are close to 0.5 (the white noise value) the encrypted images are more secure also from the perceptual point of view.

  1. Human Body Image Edge Detection Based on Wavelet Transform

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李勇; 付小莉

    2003-01-01

    Human dresses are different in thousands way.Human body image signals have big noise, a poor light and shade contrast and a narrow range of gray gradation distribution. The application of a traditional grads method or gray method to detect human body image edges can't obtain satisfactory results because of false detections and missed detections. According to tte peculiarity of human body image, dyadic wavelet transform of cubic spline is successfully applied to detect the face and profile edges of human body image and Mallat algorithm is used in the wavelet decomposition in this paper.

  2. PET MRI Coregistration in Intractable Epilepsy and Gray Matter Heterotopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seniaray, Nikhil; Jain, Anuj

    2017-03-01

    A 25-year-old woman with intractable seizures underwent FDG PET/MRI for seizure focus localization. MRI demonstrated bilateral carpetlike nodular subependymal gray matter and asymmetrical focal dilatation in the right temporal horn. PET/MRI showed increased FDG within subependymal gray matter with significant hypometabolism in right anterior temporal lobe. EEG and ictal semiology confirmed the right temporal seizure origin. This case highlights the importance of identification of gray matter heterotopia on FDG PET/MRI.

  3. Efficiency of quantitative echogenicity for investigating supraspinatus tendinopathy by the gray-level histogram of two ultrasound devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Jiun-Cheng; Chen, Po-Han; Huang, Kuo-Chin; Tsai, Yao-Hung; Hsu, Wei-Hsiu

    2017-10-01

    The gray-level histogram of ultrasound is a promising tool for scanning the hypoechogenic appearance of supraspinatus tendinopathy, and the aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the gray-level value of the supraspinatus tendon in the painful shoulder has a lower value on B-mode images even though in different ultrasound devices. Sixty-seven patients who had unilateral shoulder pain with rotator cuff tendinopathy underwent bilateral shoulder ultrasonography, and we compared the mean gray-level values of painful shoulders and contralateral shoulders without any pain in each patient using two ultrasound devices. The echogenicity ratio (symptomatic/asymptomatic side) of two ultrasound devices was compared. A significant difference existed between the symptomatic shoulder and contralateral asymptomatic shoulder (p level value measurements of each device. The symptomatic-to-asymptomatic tendon echogenicity ratio of device A was 0.919 ± 0.090 in the transverse plane and 0.937 ± 0.081 in the longitudinal plane, and the echogenicity ratio of device B was 0.899 ± 0.113 in the transverse plane and 0.940 ± 0.113 in the longitudinal plane. The decline of the mean gray-level value and the echogenicity ratio of the supraspinatus tendon in the painful shoulder may be utilized as a useful sonographic reference of unilateral rotator cuff lesions. Diagnostic level III.

  4. Lower gray matter density and functional connectivity in the anterior insula in smokers compared with never smokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoeckel, Luke E; Chai, Xiaoqian J; Zhang, Jiahe; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Evins, A Eden

    2016-07-01

    Although nicotine addiction is characterized by both structural and functional abnormalities in brain networks involved in salience and cognitive control, few studies have integrated these data to understand how these abnormalities may support addiction. This study aimed to (1) evaluate gray matter density and functional connectivity of the anterior insula in cigarette smokers and never smokers and (2) characterize how differences in these measures were related to smoking behavior. We compared structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (gray matter density via voxel-based morphometry) and seed-based functional connectivity MRI data in 16 minimally deprived smokers and 16 matched never smokers. Compared with controls, smokers had lower gray matter density in left anterior insula extending into inferior frontal and temporal cortex. Gray matter density in this region was inversely correlated with cigarettes smoked per day. Smokers exhibited negative functional connectivity (anti-correlation) between the anterior insula and regions involved in cognitive control (left lPFC) and semantic processing/emotion regulation (lateral temporal cortex), whereas controls exhibited positive connectivity between these regions. There were differences in the anterior insula, a central region in the brain's salience network, when comparing both volumetric and functional connectivity data between cigarette smokers and never smokers. Volumetric data, but not the functional connectivity data, were also associated with an aspect of smoking behavior (daily cigarettes smoked). © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  5. Uniformity and Deviation of Intra-axonal Cross-sectional Area Coverage of the Gray-to-White Matter Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Sommer

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI is a compelling tool for investigating the structure and geometry of brain tissue based on indirect measurement of the diffusion anisotropy of water. Recent developments in global top-down tractogram optimizations enable the estimation of streamline weights, which characterize the connection between gray matter areas. In this work, the intra-axonal cross-sectional area coverage of the gray-to-white matter interface was examined by intersecting tractography streamlines with cortical regions of interest. The area coverage is the ratio of streamline weights divided by the surface area at the gray-to-white matter interface and assesses the estimated percentage which is covered by intra-axonal space. A high correlation (r = 0.935 between streamline weights and the cortical surface area was found across all regions of interest in all subjects. The variance across different cortical regions exhibits similarities to myelin maps. Additionally, we examined the effect of different diffusion gradient subsets at a lower, clinically feasible spatial resolution. Subsampling of the initial high-resolution diffusion dataset did not alter the tendency of the area coverage at the gray-to-white matter interface across cortical areas and subjects. However, single-shell acquisition schemes with lower b-values lead to a steady increase in area coverage in comparison to the full acquisition scheme at high resolution.

  6. Real-time single image dehazing based on dark channel prior theory and guided filtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zan

    2017-10-01

    Images and videos taken outside the foggy day are serious degraded. In order to restore degraded image taken in foggy day and overcome traditional Dark Channel prior algorithms problems of remnant fog in edge, we propose a new dehazing method.We first find the fog area in the dark primary color map to obtain the estimated value of the transmittance using quadratic tree. Then we regard the gray-scale image after guided filtering as atmospheric light map and remove haze based on it. Box processing and image down sampling technology are also used to improve the processing speed. Finally, the atmospheric light scattering model is used to restore the image. A plenty of experiments show that algorithm is effective, efficient and has a wide range of application.

  7. Progressive gray matter reduction of the superior temporal gyrus during transition to psychosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Tsutomu; Wood, Stephen J; Yung, Alison R; Soulsby, Bridget; McGorry, Patrick D; Suzuki, Michio; Kawasaki, Yasuhiro; Phillips, Lisa J; Velakoulis, Dennis; Pantelis, Christos

    2009-04-01

    Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown progressive gray matter reduction in the superior temporal gyrus during the earliest phases of schizophrenia. It is unknown whether these progressive processes predate the onset of psychosis. To examine gray matter reduction of the superior temporal gyrus over time in individuals at risk for psychosis and in patients with first-episode psychosis. Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons. Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation Clinic and Early Psychosis Preventions and Intervention Centre. Thirty-five ultrahigh-risk individuals (of whom 12 later developed psychosis [UHRP] and 23 did not [UHRNP]), 23 patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP), and 22 control subjects recruited from the community. Volumes of superior temporal subregions (planum polare, Heschl gyrus, planum temporale, and rostral and caudal regions) were measured at baseline and follow-up (mean, 1.8 years) and were compared across groups. In cross-sectional comparisons, only the FEP group had significantly smaller planum temporale and caudal superior temporal gyrus than other groups at baseline, whereas male UHRP subjects also had a smaller planum temporale than controls at follow-up. In longitudinal comparison, UHRP and FEP patients showed significant gray matter reduction (approximately 2%-6% per year) in the planum polare, planum temporale, and caudal region compared with controls and/or UHRNP subjects. The FEP patients also exhibited progressive gray matter loss in the left Heschl gyrus (3.0% per year) and rostral region (3.8% per year), which were correlated with the severity of delusions at follow-up. A progressive process in the superior temporal gyrus precedes the first expression of florid psychosis. These findings have important implications for underlying neurobiologic features of emerging psychotic disorders and emphasize the importance of early intervention during or before the first episode of psychosis.

  8. Large scale fusion of gray matter and resting-state functional MRI reveals common and shared biological markers across the psychosis spectrum in the B-SNIP cohort

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng eWang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available To investigate whether aberrant interactions between brain structure and function present similarly or differently across probands with psychotic illnesses (schizophrenia (SZ, schizoaffective disorder (SAD, and bipolar I disorder with psychosis (BP and whether these deficits are shared with their first-degree non-psychotic relatives. A total of 1199 subjects were assessed, including 220 SZ, 147 SAD, 180 psychotic BP, 150 first-degree relatives of SZ, 126 SAD relatives, 134 BP relatives and 242 healthy controls. All subjects underwent structural MRI (sMRI and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI scanning. Joint independent analysis (jICA was used to fuse sMRI gray matter (GM and rs-fMRI amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF data to identify the relationship between the two modalities. Joint ICA revealed two significantly fused components. The association between functional brain alteration in a prefrontal-striatal-thalamic-cerebellar network and structural abnormalities in the default mode network (DMN was found to be common across psychotic diagnoses and correlated with cognitive function, social function and Schizo-Bipolar Scale (SBS scores. The fused alteration in the temporal lobe was unique to SZ and SAD. The above effects were not seen in any relative group (including those with cluster-A personality. Using a multivariate fused approach involving two widely used imaging markers we demonstrate both shared and distinct biological traits across the psychosis spectrum. Further, our results suggest that the above traits are psychosis biomarkers rather than endophenotypes.

  9. Iso-precision scaling of digitized mammograms to facilitate image analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karssmeijer, N.; van Erning, L.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on a 12 bit CCD camera equipped with a linear sensor of 4096 photodiodes which is used to digitize conventional mammographic films. An iso-precision conversion of the pixel values is preformed to transform the image data to a scale on which the image noise is equal at each level. For this purpose film noise and digitization noise have been determined as a function of optical density and pixel size. It appears that only at high optical densities digitization noise is comparable to or larger than film noise. The quantization error caused by compression of images recorded with 12 bits per pixel to 8 bit images by an iso-precision conversion has been calculated as a function of the number of quantization levels. For mammograms digitized in a 4096 2 matrix the additional error caused by such a scale transform is only about 1.5 percent. An iso-precision scale transform can be advantageous when automated procedures for quantitative image analysis are developed. Especially when detection of signals in noise is aimed at, a constant noise level over the whole pixel value range is very convenient. This is demonstrated by applying local thresholding to detect small microcalcifications. Results are compared to those obtained by using logarithmic or linearized scales

  10. Subjective assessment of impairment in scale-space-coded images

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ridder, de H.; Majoor, G.M.M.

    1988-01-01

    Direct category scaling and a scaling procedure in accordance with Functional Measurement Theory (Anderson, 1982) have been used to assess impairment in scale-space-coded illlages, displayed on a black-and-white TV monitor. The image of a complex scene was passed through a Gaussian filter of limited

  11. A study on cognitive impairment and gray matter volume abnormalities in silent cerebral infarction patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Luo, Wei; Wei, Xiaofeng; Li, Mengxiong [The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Jingzhou, Hubei (China); Jiang, Xun [Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Wuhan, Hubei (China); Li, Shanshan [JingZhou City Central Blood Bank, Jingzhou, Hubei (China)

    2015-08-15

    The relationship between silent cerebral infarction (SCI) and the integrity of cognitive function is unknown. We intended to investigate whether cognitive impairment is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the SCI patients. Sixty-two patients with SCI and 62 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were evaluated with P300 test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS). Whole brain high-resolution T1-weighted images were processed with SPM12b software and analyzed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Correlation analysis was performed between the GMV and the scores of MoCA Scale, P300 latency, P300 amplitude, HAMA, HDRS, age, and educational level. The brains of the SCI patients have a significant reduction in GMV in the left superior and inferior frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral hippocampus gyrus (p < 0.01, FDR correction). No significant increase of GMV was detected. The GMV of their frontal and temporal lobes is positively correlated with the score of MoCA scale and P300 amplitude (r ≥ 0.62, p < 0.01). The GMV of frontal, temporal, and hippocampus is negatively correlated with P300 latency (r ≤ -0.71, p < 0.05). No significant correlation between the GMV of abnormal brain regions and another two clinical characteristics was found. SCI patients have impaired cognitive function and reduced GMV compared to the HC subjects. The neuropathological basis of such cognitive deficits in SCI patients might be a reduced GMV. (orig.)

  12. A study on cognitive impairment and gray matter volume abnormalities in silent cerebral infarction patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luo, Wei; Wei, Xiaofeng; Li, Mengxiong; Jiang, Xun; Li, Shanshan

    2015-01-01

    The relationship between silent cerebral infarction (SCI) and the integrity of cognitive function is unknown. We intended to investigate whether cognitive impairment is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the SCI patients. Sixty-two patients with SCI and 62 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were evaluated with P300 test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS). Whole brain high-resolution T1-weighted images were processed with SPM12b software and analyzed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Correlation analysis was performed between the GMV and the scores of MoCA Scale, P300 latency, P300 amplitude, HAMA, HDRS, age, and educational level. The brains of the SCI patients have a significant reduction in GMV in the left superior and inferior frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral hippocampus gyrus (p < 0.01, FDR correction). No significant increase of GMV was detected. The GMV of their frontal and temporal lobes is positively correlated with the score of MoCA scale and P300 amplitude (r ≥ 0.62, p < 0.01). The GMV of frontal, temporal, and hippocampus is negatively correlated with P300 latency (r ≤ -0.71, p < 0.05). No significant correlation between the GMV of abnormal brain regions and another two clinical characteristics was found. SCI patients have impaired cognitive function and reduced GMV compared to the HC subjects. The neuropathological basis of such cognitive deficits in SCI patients might be a reduced GMV. (orig.)

  13. An Integrated Environmental Assessment of Green and Gray Infrastructure Strategies for Robust Decision Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casal-Campos, Arturo; Fu, Guangtao; Butler, David; Moore, Andrew

    2015-07-21

    The robustness of a range of watershed-scale "green" and "gray" drainage strategies in the future is explored through comprehensive modeling of a fully integrated urban wastewater system case. Four socio-economic future scenarios, defined by parameters affecting the environmental performance of the system, are proposed to account for the uncertain variability of conditions in the year 2050. A regret-based approach is applied to assess the relative performance of strategies in multiple impact categories (environmental, economic, and social) as well as to evaluate their robustness across future scenarios. The concept of regret proves useful in identifying performance trade-offs and recognizing states of the world most critical to decisions. The study highlights the robustness of green strategies (particularly rain gardens, resulting in half the regret of most options) over end-of-pipe gray alternatives (surface water separation or sewer and storage rehabilitation), which may be costly (on average, 25% of the total regret of these options) and tend to focus on sewer flooding and CSO alleviation while compromising on downstream system performance (this accounts for around 50% of their total regret). Trade-offs and scenario regrets observed in the analysis suggest that the combination of green and gray strategies may still offer further potential for robustness.

  14. Front-end vision and multi-scale image analysis multi-scale computer vision theory and applications, written in Mathematica

    CERN Document Server

    Romeny, Bart M Haar

    2008-01-01

    Front-End Vision and Multi-Scale Image Analysis is a tutorial in multi-scale methods for computer vision and image processing. It builds on the cross fertilization between human visual perception and multi-scale computer vision (`scale-space') theory and applications. The multi-scale strategies recognized in the first stages of the human visual system are carefully examined, and taken as inspiration for the many geometric methods discussed. All chapters are written in Mathematica, a spectacular high-level language for symbolic and numerical manipulations. The book presents a new and effective

  15. Influence of soft tissues on mandibular gray scale levels Influência dos tecidos moles sobre os níveis de cinza mandibulares

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Henrique Couto Souza

    2004-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to analyze the gray levels, expressed in pixels, of the mandibular retromolar region, with regard to the influence of muscular and fat soft tissues near this region. Fifteen dry mandibles were X-rayed with the presence of soft tissue simulators. The radiographs were digitized and evaluated by Digora® software. A one cm thick layer of wax was used as a simulator of the muscular soft tissue. Animal fat samples of different thicknesses - 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 cm - were used as a simulator of the fat soft tissue. Results showed that the fat soft tissue simulator influenced the gray level values in pixels of the mandibular retromolar region when analyzed in different thicknesses using the Digora® digitized image software.O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de analisar os níveis de cinza, expressos em "pixels", da região retromolar mandibular, considerando a influência dos tecidos moles muscular e, principalmente, adiposo adjacentes a essa região. Para o estudo, 15 mandíbulas secas foram tecnicamente radiografadas, sendo que as radiografias obtidas foram escaneadas e avaliadas pelo programa de imagens digitalizadas Digora®. Como simuladores dos tecidos muscular e adiposo, foram utilizadas cera utilidade na espessura de 1,0 cm e amostras de gordura animal em espessuras diferentes de 0,5; 1,0; 1,5 e 2,0 cm. Os resultados mostraram que o tecido adiposo foi capaz de influenciar a análise dos valores de níveis de cinza em "pixels" da região retromolar mandibular quando estudado em espessuras diferentes pelo programa de imagens digitalizadas Digora®.

  16. A Simple Encryption Algorithm for Quantum Color Image

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Panchi; Zhao, Ya

    2017-06-01

    In this paper, a simple encryption scheme for quantum color image is proposed. Firstly, a color image is transformed into a quantum superposition state by employing NEQR (novel enhanced quantum representation), where the R,G,B values of every pixel in a 24-bit RGB true color image are represented by 24 single-qubit basic states, and each value has 8 qubits. Then, these 24 qubits are respectively transformed from a basic state into a balanced superposition state by employed the controlled rotation gates. At this time, the gray-scale values of R, G, B of every pixel are in a balanced superposition of 224 multi-qubits basic states. After measuring, the whole image is an uniform white noise, which does not provide any information. Decryption is the reverse process of encryption. The experimental results on the classical computer show that the proposed encryption scheme has better security.

  17. Gray matter anomalies in pedophiles with and without a history of child sexual offending

    OpenAIRE

    Schiffer, B; Amelung, T; Pohl, A; Kaergel, C; Tenbergen, G; Gerwinn, H; Mohnke, S; Massau, C; Matthias, W; Wei?, S; Marr, V; Beier, K M; Walter, M; Ponseti, J; Kr?ger, T H C

    2017-01-01

    Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder that is inter-related with but distinct from child sexual offending (CSO). Neural alterations reportedly contribute to both pedophilia and CSO, but until now, no study has distinguished the brain structural anomalies associated with pedophilia from those specifically associated with CSO in pedophilic men. Using high-resolution T1-weighted brain images and voxel-based morphometry, we analyzed the gray matter (GM) volume of the following 219 men recruited at...

  18. X-ray backscatter imaging with a spiral scanner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bossi, R.H.; Cline, J.L.; Friddell, K.D.

    1989-01-01

    X-ray backscatter imaging allows radiographic inspections to be performed with access to only one side of the object. A collimated beam of radiation striking an object will scatter x-rays by Compton scatter and x-ray fluorescence. A detector located on the source side of the part will measure the backscatter signal. By plotting signal strength as gray scale intensity vs. beam position on the object, an image of the object can be constructed. A novel approach to the motion of the collimated incident beam is a spiral scanner. The spiral scanner approach, described in this paper, can image an area of an object without the synchronized motion of the object or detector, required by other backscatter imaging techniques. X-ray backscatter is particularly useful for flaw detection in light element materials such as composites. The ease of operation and the ability to operate non-contact from one side of an object make x-ray backscatter imaging of increasing interest to industrial inspection problems

  19. Influence of parameter settings in voxel-based morphometry 8. Using DARTEL and region-of-interest on reproducibility in gray matter volumetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goto, M; Abe, O; Aoki, S; Hayashi, N; Miyati, T; Takao, H; Matsuda, H; Yamashita, F; Iwatsubo, T; Mori, H; Kunimatsu, A; Ino, K; Yano, K; Ohtomo, K

    2015-01-01

    To investigate whether reproducibility of gray matter volumetry is influenced by parameter settings for VBM 8 using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra (DARTEL) with region-of-interest (ROI) analyses. We prepared three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance images (3D-T1WIs) of 21 healthy subjects. All subjects were imaged with each of five MRI systems. Voxel-based morphometry 8 (VBM 8) and WFU PickAtlas software were used for gray matter volumetry. The bilateral ROI labels used were those provided as default settings with the software: Frontal Lobe, Hippocampus, Occipital Lobe, Orbital Gyrus, Parietal Lobe, Putamen, and Temporal Lobe. All 3D-T1WIs were segmented to gray matter with six parameters of VBM 8, with each parameter having between three and eight selectable levels. Reproducibility was evaluated as the standard deviation (mm³) of measured values for the five MRI systems. Reproducibility was influenced by 'Bias regularization (BiasR)', 'Bias FWHM', and 'De-noising filter' settings, but not by 'MRF weighting', 'Sampling distance', or 'Warping regularization' settings. Reproducibility in BiasR was influenced by ROI. Superior reproducibility was observed in Frontal Lobe with the BiasR1 setting, and in Hippocampus, Parietal Lobe, and Putamen with the BiasR3*, BiasR1, and BiasR5 settings, respectively. Reproducibility of gray matter volumetry was influenced by parameter settings in VBM 8 using DARTEL and ROI. In multi-center studies, the use of appropriate settings in VBM 8 with DARTEL results in reduced scanner effect.

  20. Abnormal gray matter volume and impulsivity in young adults with Internet gaming disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Deokjong; Namkoong, Kee; Lee, Junghan; Jung, Young-Chul

    2017-09-08

    Reduced executive control is one of the central components of model on the development and maintenance of Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Among the various executive control problems, high impulsivity has consistently been associated with IGD. We performed voxel-based morphometric analysis with diffeomorphic anatomical registration by using an exponentiated Lie algebra algorithm (DARTEL) to investigate the relationship of gray matter abnormalities to impulsivity in IGD. Thirty-one young male adults whose excessive Internet gaming began in early adolescence, and 30 age-matched male healthy controls were examined. IGD subjects showed smaller gray matter volume (GMV) in brain regions implicated in executive control, such as the anterior cingulate cortex and the supplementary motor area. The GMVs in the anterior cingulate cortex and the supplementary motor area were negatively correlated with self-reporting scales of impulsiveness. IGD subjects also exhibited smaller GMV in lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices comprising the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the left inferior parietal lobule when compared with healthy controls. The GMVs in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were negatively correlated with lifetime usage of Internet gaming. These findings suggest that gray matter abnormalities in areas related to executive control may contribute to high impulsivity of young adults with IGD. Furthermore, alterations in the prefrontal cortex were related with long-term excessive Internet gaming during adolescence. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  1. The method for detecting small lesions in medical image based on sliding window

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Guilai; Jiao, Yuan

    2016-10-01

    At present, the research on computer-aided diagnosis includes the sample image segmentation, extracting visual features, generating the classification model by learning, and according to the model generated to classify and judge the inspected images. However, this method has a large scale of calculation and speed is slow. And because medical images are usually low contrast, when the traditional image segmentation method is applied to the medical image, there is a complete failure. As soon as possible to find the region of interest, improve detection speed, this topic attempts to introduce the current popular visual attention model into small lesions detection. However, Itti model is mainly for natural images. But the effect is not ideal when it is used to medical images which usually are gray images. Especially in the early stages of some cancers, the focus of a disease in the whole image is not the most significant region and sometimes is very difficult to be found. But these lesions are prominent in the local areas. This paper proposes a visual attention mechanism based on sliding window, and use sliding window to calculate the significance of a local area. Combined with the characteristics of the lesion, select the features of gray, entropy, corner and edge to generate a saliency map. Then the significant region is segmented and distinguished. This method reduces the difficulty of image segmentation, and improves the detection accuracy of small lesions, and it has great significance to early discovery, early diagnosis and treatment of cancers.

  2. Serum vitamin D and hippocampal gray matter volume in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shivakumar, Venkataram; Kalmady, Sunil V; Amaresha, Anekal C; Jose, Dania; Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C; Agarwal, Sri Mahavir; Joseph, Boban; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; Ravi, Vasanthapuram; Keshavan, Matcheri S; Gangadhar, Bangalore N

    2015-08-30

    Disparate lines of evidence including epidemiological and case-control studies have increasingly implicated vitamin D in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to dysfunction of the hippocampus--a brain region hypothesized to be critically involved in schizophrenia. In this study, we examined for potential association between serum vitamin D level and hippocampal gray matter volume in antipsychotic-naïve or antipsychotic-free schizophrenia patients (n = 35). Serum vitamin D level was estimated using 25-OH vitamin D immunoassay. Optimized voxel-based morphometry was used to analyze 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (1-mm slice thickness). Ninety-seven percent of the schizophrenia patients (n = 34) had sub-optimal levels of serum vitamin D (83%, deficiency; 14%, insufficiency). A significant positive correlation was seen between vitamin D and regional gray matter volume in the right hippocampus after controlling for age, years of education and total intracranial volume (Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinates: x = 35, y = -18, z = -8; t = 4.34 pFWE(Corrected) = 0.018). These observations support a potential role of vitamin D deficiency in mediating hippocampal volume deficits, possibly through neurotrophic, neuroimmunomodulatory and glutamatergic effects. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Gray/White Matter Contrast in Parkinson’s Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carme Uribe

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Gray/white matter contrast (GWC decreases with aging and has been found to be a useful MRI biomarker in Alzheimer’s disease (AD, but its utility in Parkinson’s disease (PD patients has not been investigated. The aims of the study were to test whether GWC is sensitive to aging changes in PD patients, if PD patients differ from healthy controls (HCs in GWC, and whether the use of GWC data would improve the sensitivity of cortical thickness analyses to differentiate PD patients from controls. Using T1-weighted structural images, we obtained individual cortical thickness and GWC values from a sample of 90 PD patients and 27 controls. Images were processed with the automated FreeSurfer stream. GWC was computed by dividing the white matter (WM by the gray matter (GM values and projecting the ratios onto a common surface. The sample characteristics were: 52 patients and 14 controls were males; mean age of 64.4 ± 10.6 years in PD and 64.7 ± 8.6 years in controls; 8.0 ± 5.6 years of disease evolution; 15.6 ± 9.8 UPDRS; and a range of 1.5–3 in Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y stage. In both PD and controls we observed significant correlations between GWC and age involving almost the entire cortex. When applying a stringent cluster-forming threshold of p < 0.0001, the correlation between GWC and age also involved the entire cortex in the PD group; in the control group, the correlation was found in the parahippocampal gyrus and widespread frontal and parietal areas. The GWC of PD patients did not differ from controls’, whereas cortical thickness analyses showed thinning in temporal and parietal cortices in the PD group. Cortical thinning remained unchanged after adjusting for GWC. GWC is a very sensitive measure for detecting aging effects, but did not provide additional information over other parameters of atrophy in PD.

  4. Image-based Exploration of Large-Scale Pathline Fields

    KAUST Repository

    Nagoor, Omniah H.

    2014-05-27

    While real-time applications are nowadays routinely used in visualizing large nu- merical simulations and volumes, handling these large-scale datasets requires high-end graphics clusters or supercomputers to process and visualize them. However, not all users have access to powerful clusters. Therefore, it is challenging to come up with a visualization approach that provides insight to large-scale datasets on a single com- puter. Explorable images (EI) is one of the methods that allows users to handle large data on a single workstation. Although it is a view-dependent method, it combines both exploration and modification of visual aspects without re-accessing the original huge data. In this thesis, we propose a novel image-based method that applies the concept of EI in visualizing large flow-field pathlines data. The goal of our work is to provide an optimized image-based method, which scales well with the dataset size. Our approach is based on constructing a per-pixel linked list data structure in which each pixel contains a list of pathlines segments. With this view-dependent method it is possible to filter, color-code and explore large-scale flow data in real-time. In addition, optimization techniques such as early-ray termination and deferred shading are applied, which further improves the performance and scalability of our approach.

  5. Dance and music share gray matter structural correlates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karpati, Falisha J; Giacosa, Chiara; Foster, Nicholas E V; Penhune, Virginia B; Hyde, Krista L

    2017-02-15

    Intensive practise of sensorimotor skills, such as music and dance, is associated with brain structural plasticity. While the neural correlates of music have been well-investigated, less is known about the neural correlates of dance. Additionally, the gray matter structural correlates of dance versus music training have not yet been directly compared. The objectives of the present study were to compare gray matter structure as measured by surface- and voxel-based morphometry between expert dancers, expert musicians and untrained controls, as well as to correlate gray matter structure with performance on dance- and music-related tasks. Dancers and musicians were found to have increased cortical thickness compared to controls in superior temporal regions. Gray matter structure in the superior temporal gyrus was also correlated with performance on dance imitation, rhythm synchronization and melody discrimination tasks. These results suggest that superior temporal regions are important in both dance- and music-related skills and may be affected similarly by both types of long-term intensive training. This work advances knowledge of the neural correlates of dance and music, as well as training-associated brain plasticity in general. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. X-ray Tomography and Chemical Imaging within Butterfly Wing Scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Jianhua; Lee Yaochang; Tang, M.-T.; Song Yenfang

    2007-01-01

    The rainbow like color of butterfly wings is associated with the internal and surface structures of the wing scales. While the photonic structure of the scales is believed to diffract specific lights at different angle, there is no adequate probe directly answering the 3-D structures with sufficient spatial resolution. The NSRRC nano-transmission x-ray microscope (nTXM) with tens nanometers spatial resolution is able to image biological specimens without artifacts usually introduced in sophisticated sample staining processes. With the intrinsic deep penetration of x-rays, the nTXM is capable of nondestructively investigating the internal structures of fragile and soft samples. In this study, we imaged the structure of butterfly wing scales in 3-D view with 60 nm spatial resolution. In addition, synchrotron-radiation-based Fourier transform Infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy was employed to analyze the chemical components with spatial information of the butterfly wing scales. Based on the infrared spectral images, we suggest that the major components of scale structure were rich in protein and polysaccharide

  7. 75 FR 68756 - Eastern North Pacific Gray Whale; Notice of Petition Availability

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-09

    ... North Pacific Gray Whale; Notice of Petition Availability AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service... petition to designate the Eastern North Pacific population of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) as a... Eastern North Pacific gray whales is available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.nmfs...

  8. Niobium in gray cast iron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castello Branco, C.H.; Beckert, E.A.

    1984-03-01

    The potential for utilization of niobium in gray cast iron is appraised and reviewed. Experiments described in literature indicate that niobium provides structural refinement of the eutectic cells and also promotes pearlite formation. (Author) [pt

  9. Gray matter deficits and altered resting-state connectivity in the superior temporal gyrus among individuals with problematic hypersexual behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seok, Ji-Woo; Sohn, Jin-Hun

    2018-04-01

    Neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of hypersexual disorder have been accumulating, yet alternations in brain structures and functional connectivity in individuals with problematic hypersexual behavior (PHB) has only recently been studied. This study aimed to investigate gray matter deficits and resting-state abnormalities in individuals with PHB using voxel-based morphometry and resting-state connectivity analysis. Seventeen individuals with PHB and 19 age-matched healthy controls participated in this study. Gray matter volume of the brain and resting-state connectivity were measured using 3T magnetic resonance imaging. Compared to healthy subjects, individuals with PHB had significant reductions in gray matter volume in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right middle temporal gyrus. Individuals with PHB also exhibited a decrease in resting-state functional connectivity between the left STG and left precuneus and between the left STG and right caudate. The gray matter volume of the left STG and its resting-state functional connectivity with the right caudate both showed significant negative correlations with the severity of PHB. The findings suggest that structural deficits and resting-state functional impairments in the left STG might be linked to PHB and provide new insights into the underlying neural mechanisms of PHB. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Automated detection of regions of interest for tissue microarray experiments: an image texture analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karaçali, Bilge; Tözeren, Aydin

    2007-01-01

    Recent research with tissue microarrays led to a rapid progress toward quantifying the expressions of large sets of biomarkers in normal and diseased tissue. However, standard procedures for sampling tissue for molecular profiling have not yet been established. This study presents a high throughput analysis of texture heterogeneity on breast tissue images for the purpose of identifying regions of interest in the tissue for molecular profiling via tissue microarray technology. Image texture of breast histology slides was described in terms of three parameters: the percentage of area occupied in an image block by chromatin (B), percentage occupied by stroma-like regions (P), and a statistical heterogeneity index H commonly used in image analysis. Texture parameters were defined and computed for each of the thousands of image blocks in our dataset using both the gray scale and color segmentation. The image blocks were then classified into three categories using the texture feature parameters in a novel statistical learning algorithm. These categories are as follows: image blocks specific to normal breast tissue, blocks specific to cancerous tissue, and those image blocks that are non-specific to normal and disease states. Gray scale and color segmentation techniques led to identification of same regions in histology slides as cancer-specific. Moreover the image blocks identified as cancer-specific belonged to those cell crowded regions in whole section image slides that were marked by two pathologists as regions of interest for further histological studies. These results indicate the high efficiency of our automated method for identifying pathologic regions of interest on histology slides. Automation of critical region identification will help minimize the inter-rater variability among different raters (pathologists) as hundreds of tumors that are used to develop an array have typically been evaluated (graded) by different pathologists. The region of interest

  11. Imaging Findings Associated with Cognitive Performance in Primary Lateral Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Avner Meoded

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Executive dysfunction occurs in many patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, but it has not been well studied in primary lateral sclerosis (PLS. The aims of this study were to (1 compare cognitive function in PLS to that in ALS patients, (2 explore the relationship between performance on specific cognitive tests and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI metrics of white matter tracts and gray matter volumes, and (3 compare DTI metrics in patients with and without cognitive and behavioral changes. Methods: The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS, the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS-2, and other behavior and mood scales were administered to 25 ALS patients and 25 PLS patients. Seventeen of the PLS patients, 13 of the ALS patients, and 17 healthy controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and DTI. Atlas-based analysis using MRI Studio software was used to measure fractional anisotropy, and axial and radial diffusivity of selected white matter tracts. Voxel-based morphometry was used to assess gray matter volumes. The relationship between diffusion properties of selected association and commissural white matter and performance on executive function and memory tests was explored using a linear regression model. Results: More ALS than PLS patients had abnormal scores on the DRS-2. DRS-2 and D-KEFS scores were related to DTI metrics in several long association tracts and the callosum. Reduced gray matter volumes in motor and perirolandic areas were not associated with cognitive scores. Conclusion: The changes in diffusion metrics of white matter long association tracts suggest that the loss of integrity of the networks connecting fronto-temporal areas to parietal and occipital areas contributes to cognitive impairment.

  12. GrayQbTM Single-Faced Version 2 (SF2) Hanford Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF) deployment report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Plummer, J. R. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Immel, D. M. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Serrato, M. G. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Dalmaso, M. J. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Shull, D. J. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)

    2015-11-18

    The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in partnership with CH2M Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) deployed the GrayQbTM SF2 radiation imaging device at the Hanford Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF) to assist in the radiological characterization of the canyon. The deployment goal was to locate radiological contamination hot spots in the PRF canyon, where pencil tanks were removed and decontamination/debris removal operations are on-going, to support the CHPRC facility decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) effort. The PRF canyon D&D effort supports completion of the CHPRC Plutonium Finishing Plant Decommissioning Project. The GrayQbTM SF2 (Single Faced Version 2) is a non-destructive examination device developed by SRNL to generate radiation contour maps showing source locations and relative radiological levels present in the area under examination. The Hanford PRF GrayQbTM Deployment was sponsored by CH2M Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) through the DOE Richland Operations Office, Inter-Entity Work Order (IEWO), DOE-RL IEWO- M0SR900210.

  13. Detecting Multi-scale Structures in Chandra Images of Centaurus A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karovska, M.; Fabbiano, G.; Elvis, M. S.; Evans, I. N.; Kim, D. W.; Prestwich, A. H.; Schwartz, D. A.; Murray, S. S.; Forman, W.; Jones, C.; Kraft, R. P.; Isobe, T.; Cui, W.; Schreier, E. J.

    1999-12-01

    Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is a giant early-type galaxy with a merger history, containing the nearest radio-bright AGN. Recent Chandra High Resolution Camera (HRC) observations of Cen A reveal X-ray multi-scale structures in this object with unprecedented detail and clarity. We show the results of an analysis of the Chandra data with smoothing and edge enhancement techniques that allow us to enhance and quantify the multi-scale structures present in the HRC images. These techniques include an adaptive smoothing algorithm (Ebeling et al 1999), and a multi-directional gradient detection algorithm (Karovska et al 1994). The Ebeling et al adaptive smoothing algorithm, which is incorporated in the CXC analysis s/w package, is a powerful tool for smoothing images containing complex structures at various spatial scales. The adaptively smoothed images of Centaurus A show simultaneously the high-angular resolution bright structures at scales as small as an arcsecond and the extended faint structures as large as several arc minutes. The large scale structures suggest complex symmetry, including a component possibly associated with the inner radio lobes (as suggested by the ROSAT HRI data, Dobereiner et al 1996), and a separate component with an orthogonal symmetry that may be associated with the galaxy as a whole. The dust lane and the x-ray ridges are very clearly visible. The adaptively smoothed images and the edge-enhanced images also suggest several filamentary features including a large filament-like structure extending as far as about 5 arcminutes to North-West.

  14. Value of contrast-enhanced sonographic micro flow imaging for prostate cancer detection with t-PSA level of 4–10 ng/mL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Yi-Fen; Li, Feng-Hua; Xie, Shao-Wei; Xia, Jian-Guo; Fang, Hua; Li, Hong-Li

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: To compare the efficiency of contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic micro flow imaging (MFI) with conventional transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in detecting prostate cancer with serum total prostate-specific antigen (t-PSA) of 4.0–10.0 ng/mL. To evaluate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic MFI in detecting prostate cancer with t-PSA in diagnostic gray zone. Methods: 47 patients with t-PSA 4.0–10.0 ng/mL underwent gray scale, power Doppler TRUS and MFI examinations before ultrasound guided biopsies. Biopsies were performed at twelve sites in the base, the mid-gland and the apex of the prostate in each patient, when there was no abnormal ultrasound finding. When an abnormality was present at MFI, the biopsy specimen from the corresponding site was directed toward the abnormal finding. With histological results of prostate biopsy as reference standards, we assessed the cancer detection of these three methods. Results: 564 specimens were collected in this study, in which 101 were prostate cancer confirmed histologically. 152 of 564 specimens were demonstrated abnormal on MFI images, in which 71 were malignant and 81 were benign confirmed histologically. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for MFI in detecting prostate caner were 70.3%, 82.5%, 80.3%, 46.7% and 92.7%, respectively. The sensitivity and NPV for MFI were significantly better than gray scale (38.6%, 86.9%) and power Doppler (32.7%, 86.0%) (P < 0.001) TRUS. Conclusions: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic MFI could significantly improve the detection rate of prostate cancer with t-PSA in diagnostic gray zone (4–10 ng/mL) than conventional ultrasound.

  15. Early gray-matter and white-matter concentration in infancy predict later language skills: a whole brain voxel-based morphometry study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deniz Can, Dilara; Richards, Todd; Kuhl, Patricia K

    2013-01-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans were obtained from 19 infants at 7 months. Expressive and receptive language performance was assessed at 12 months. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) identified brain regions where gray-matter and white-matter concentrations at 7 months correlated significantly with children's language scores at 12 months. Early gray-matter concentration in the right cerebellum, early white-matter concentration in the right cerebellum, and early white-matter concentration in the left posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC)/cerebral peduncle were positively and strongly associated with infants' receptive language ability at 12 months. Early gray-matter concentration in the right hippocampus was positively and strongly correlated with infants' expressive language ability at 12 months. Our results suggest that the cerebellum, PLIC/cerebral peduncle, and the hippocampus may be associated with early language development. Potential links between these structural predictors and infants' linguistic functions are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. A Study on the Improvement of Digital Periapical Images using Image Interpolation Methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Nam Kyu; Koh, Kwang Joon

    1998-01-01

    Image resampling is of particular interest in digital radiology. When resampling an image to a new set of coordinate, there appears blocking artifacts and image changes. To enhance image quality, interpolation algorithms have been used. Resampling is used to increase the number of points in an image to improve its appearance for display. The process of interpolation is fitting a continuous function to the discrete points in the digital image. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the seven interpolation functions when image resampling in digital periapical images. The images were obtained by Digora, CDR and scanning of Ektaspeed plus periapical radiograms on the dry skull and human subject. The subjects were exposed to intraoral X-ray machine at 60 kVp and 70 kVp with exposure time varying between 0.01 and 0.50 second. To determine which interpolation method would provide the better image, seven functions were compared ; (1) nearest neighbor (2) linear (3) non-linear (4) facet model (5) cubic convolution (6) cubic spline (7) gray segment expansion. And resampled images were compared in terms of SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) and MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) coefficient value. The obtained results were as follows ; 1. The highest SNR value (75.96 dB) was obtained with cubic convolution method and the lowest SNR value (72.44 dB) was obtained with facet model method among seven interpolation methods. 2. There were significant differences of SNR values among CDR, Digora and film scan (P 0.05). 4. There were significant differences of MTF coefficient values between linear interpolation method and the other six interpolation methods (P<0.05). 5. The speed of computation time was the fastest with nearest neighbor method and the slowest with non-linear method. 6. The better image was obtained with cubic convolution, cubic spline and gray segment method in ROC analysis. 7. The better sharpness of edge was obtained with gray segment expansion method

  17. Off-line data processing and display for computed tomographic images (EMI brain)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takizawa, Masaomi; Maruyama, Kiyoshi; Yano, Kesato; Takenaka, Eiichi.

    1978-01-01

    Processing and multi-format display for the CT (EMI) scan data have been tried by using an off-line small computer and an analog memory. Four or six CT images after processing are displayed on the CRT by a small computer with a 16 kilo-words core memory and an analog memory. Multi-format display of the CT image can be selected as follows; multi-slice display, continuative multi-window display, separate multi-window display, and multi-window level display. Electronic zooming for the real size viewing can give magnified CT image with one of displayed images if necessary. Image substraction, edge enhancement, smoothing, non-linear gray scale display, and synthesized image for the plane tomography reconstracted by the normal CT scan data, have been tried by the off-line data processing. A possibility for an effective application of the data base with CT image was obtained by these trials. (auth.)

  18. Detection of large-scale concentric gravity waves from a Chinese airglow imager network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Chang; Yue, Jia; Xu, Jiyao; Yuan, Wei; Li, Qinzeng; Liu, Xiao

    2018-06-01

    Concentric gravity waves (CGWs) contain a broad spectrum of horizontal wavelengths and periods due to their instantaneous localized sources (e.g., deep convection, volcanic eruptions, or earthquake, etc.). However, it is difficult to observe large-scale gravity waves of >100 km wavelength from the ground for the limited field of view of a single camera and local bad weather. Previously, complete large-scale CGW imagery could only be captured by satellite observations. In the present study, we developed a novel method that uses assembling separate images and applying low-pass filtering to obtain temporal and spatial information about complete large-scale CGWs from a network of all-sky airglow imagers. Coordinated observations from five all-sky airglow imagers in Northern China were assembled and processed to study large-scale CGWs over a wide area (1800 km × 1 400 km), focusing on the same two CGW events as Xu et al. (2015). Our algorithms yielded images of large-scale CGWs by filtering out the small-scale CGWs. The wavelengths, wave speeds, and periods of CGWs were measured from a sequence of consecutive assembled images. Overall, the assembling and low-pass filtering algorithms can expand the airglow imager network to its full capacity regarding the detection of large-scale gravity waves.

  19. MR imaging of the developing brain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chi, T.L.; Oh, C.H.; Medina, L.R.; Bello, J.A.; Khandji, A.G.; Hilal, S.K.; Paviakis, S.G.

    1987-01-01

    MR imaging is an excellent modality for the study of normal developments as well as pathologic derangements of cerebrospinal fluid flow and myelin formation. The authors studied children less than 3 years old using a single-echo technique at 1.5 T. T1 and T2 values for the gray and white matter were measured. The signal intensity and the measured T2 values of the white matter were higher than those of the gray matter at term until 8 or 9 months of age. In patients with hydrocephalus, the gray/white matter contrast on the T2-weighted images was not altered, but he measured T2 values were prolonged, probably reflecting diffuse brain edema. The T2 values are presented graphically showing the normal range of variations. In children whose values fall outside the range, alterations of brain water content or a dysmyelination process should be suspected

  20. Data compression of scanned halftone images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Forchhammer, Søren; Jensen, Kim S.

    1994-01-01

    with the halftone grid, and converted to a gray level representation. A new digital description of (halftone) grids has been developed for this purpose. The gray level values are coded according to a scheme based on states derived from a segmentation of gray values. To enable real-time processing of high resolution...... scanner output, the coding has been parallelized and implemented on a transputer system. For comparison, the test image was coded using existing (lossless) methods giving compression rates of 2-7. The best of these, a combination of predictive and binary arithmetic coding was modified and optimized...

  1. Multi-scale learning based segmentation of glands in digital colonrectal pathology images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yi; Liu, William; Arjun, Shipra; Zhu, Liangjia; Ratner, Vadim; Kurc, Tahsin; Saltz, Joel; Tannenbaum, Allen

    2016-02-01

    Digital histopathological images provide detailed spatial information of the tissue at micrometer resolution. Among the available contents in the pathology images, meso-scale information, such as the gland morphology, texture, and distribution, are useful diagnostic features. In this work, focusing on the colon-rectal cancer tissue samples, we propose a multi-scale learning based segmentation scheme for the glands in the colon-rectal digital pathology slides. The algorithm learns the gland and non-gland textures from a set of training images in various scales through a sparse dictionary representation. After the learning step, the dictionaries are used collectively to perform the classification and segmentation for the new image.

  2. Changes in gray matter volume after microsurgical lumbar discectomy: A longitudinal analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael eLuchtmann

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available People around the world suffer chronic lower back pain. Because spine imaging often does not explain the degree of perceived pain reported by patients, the role of the processing of nociceptor signals in the brain as the basis of pain perception is gaining increased attention. Modern neuroimaging techniques (including functional and morphometric methods have produced results that suggest which brain areas may play a crucial role in the perception of acute and chronic pain. In this study, we examined twelve patients with chronic low back pain and sciatica, both resulting from lumbar disc herniation. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI of the brain was performed one day prior to and about four weeks after microsurgical lumbar discectomy. The subsequent MRI revealed an increase in gray matter volume in the basal ganglia but a decrease in volume in the hippocampus, which suggests the complexity of the network that involves movement, pain processing, and aspects of memory. Interestingly, volume changes in the hippocampus were significantly correlated to preoperative pain intensity but not to the duration of chronic pain. Mapping structural changes of the brain that result from lumbar disc herniation has the potential to enhance our understanding of the neuropathology of chronic low back pain and sciatica and therefore may help to optimize the decisions we make about conservative and surgical treatments in the future. The possibility of illuminating more of the details of central pain processing in lumbar disc herniation, as well as the accompanying personal and economic impact of pain relief worldwide, calls for future large-scale clinical studies.

  3. Monitoring machining conditions by infrared images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borelli, Joao E.; Gonzaga Trabasso, Luis; Gonzaga, Adilson; Coelho, Reginaldo T.

    2001-03-01

    During machining process the knowledge of the temperature is the most important factor in tool analysis. It allows to control main factors that influence tool use, life time and waste. The temperature in the contact area between the piece and the tool is resulting from the material removal in cutting operation and it is too difficult to be obtained because the tool and the work piece are in motion. One way to measure the temperature in this situation is detecting the infrared radiation. This work presents a new methodology for diagnosis and monitoring of machining processes with the use of infrared images. The infrared image provides a map in gray tones of the elements in the process: tool, work piece and chips. Each gray tone in the image corresponds to a certain temperature for each one of those materials and the relationship between the gray tones and the temperature is gotten by the previous of infrared camera calibration. The system developed in this work uses an infrared camera, a frame grabber board and a software composed of three modules. The first module makes the image acquisition and processing. The second module makes the feature image extraction and performs the feature vector. Finally, the third module uses fuzzy logic to evaluate the feature vector and supplies the tool state diagnostic as output.

  4. New algorithm for detecting smaller retinal blood vessels in fundus images

    Science.gov (United States)

    LeAnder, Robert; Bidari, Praveen I.; Mohammed, Tauseef A.; Das, Moumita; Umbaugh, Scott E.

    2010-03-01

    About 4.1 million Americans suffer from diabetic retinopathy. To help automatically diagnose various stages of the disease, a new blood-vessel-segmentation algorithm based on spatial high-pass filtering was developed to automatically segment blood vessels, including the smaller ones, with low noise. Methods: Image database: Forty, 584 x 565-pixel images were collected from the DRIVE image database. Preprocessing: Green-band extraction was used to obtain better contrast, which facilitated better visualization of retinal blood vessels. A spatial highpass filter of mask-size 11 was applied. A histogram stretch was performed to enhance contrast. A median filter was applied to mitigate noise. At this point, the gray-scale image was converted to a binary image using a binary thresholding operation. Then, a NOT operation was performed by gray-level value inversion between 0 and 255. Postprocessing: The resulting image was AND-ed with its corresponding ring mask to remove the outer-ring (lens-edge) artifact. At this point, the above algorithm steps had extracted most of the major and minor vessels, with some intersections and bifurcations missing. Vessel segments were reintegrated using the Hough transform. Results: After applying the Hough transform, both the average peak SNR and the RMS error improved by 10%. Pratt's Figure of Merit (PFM) was decreased by 6%. Those averages were better than [1] by 10-30%. Conclusions: The new algorithm successfully preserved the details of smaller blood vessels and should prove successful as a segmentation step for automatically identifying diseases that affect retinal blood vessels.

  5. Towards Portable Large-Scale Image Processing with High-Performance Computing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huo, Yuankai; Blaber, Justin; Damon, Stephen M; Boyd, Brian D; Bao, Shunxing; Parvathaneni, Prasanna; Noguera, Camilo Bermudez; Chaganti, Shikha; Nath, Vishwesh; Greer, Jasmine M; Lyu, Ilwoo; French, William R; Newton, Allen T; Rogers, Baxter P; Landman, Bennett A

    2018-05-03

    High-throughput, large-scale medical image computing demands tight integration of high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure for data storage, job distribution, and image processing. The Vanderbilt University Institute for Imaging Science (VUIIS) Center for Computational Imaging (CCI) has constructed a large-scale image storage and processing infrastructure that is composed of (1) a large-scale image database using the eXtensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit (XNAT), (2) a content-aware job scheduling platform using the Distributed Automation for XNAT pipeline automation tool (DAX), and (3) a wide variety of encapsulated image processing pipelines called "spiders." The VUIIS CCI medical image data storage and processing infrastructure have housed and processed nearly half-million medical image volumes with Vanderbilt Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education (ACCRE), which is the HPC facility at the Vanderbilt University. The initial deployment was natively deployed (i.e., direct installations on a bare-metal server) within the ACCRE hardware and software environments, which lead to issues of portability and sustainability. First, it could be laborious to deploy the entire VUIIS CCI medical image data storage and processing infrastructure to another HPC center with varying hardware infrastructure, library availability, and software permission policies. Second, the spiders were not developed in an isolated manner, which has led to software dependency issues during system upgrades or remote software installation. To address such issues, herein, we describe recent innovations using containerization techniques with XNAT/DAX which are used to isolate the VUIIS CCI medical image data storage and processing infrastructure from the underlying hardware and software environments. The newly presented XNAT/DAX solution has the following new features: (1) multi-level portability from system level to the application level, (2) flexible and dynamic software

  6. Use of a Cutaneous Body Image (CBI) scale to evaluate self perception of body image in acne vulgaris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amr, Mostafa; Kaliyadan, Feroze; Shams, Tarek

    2014-01-01

    Skin disorders such as acne, which have significant cosmetic implications, can affect the self-perception of cutaneous body image. There are many scales which measure self-perception of cutaneous body image. We evaluated the use of a simple Cutaneous Body Image (CBI) scale to assess self-perception of body image in a sample of young Arab patients affected with acne. A total of 70 patients with acne answered the CBI questionnaire. The CBI score was correlated with the severity of acne and acne scarring, gender, and history of retinoids use. There was no statistically significant correlation between CBI and the other parameters - gender, acne/acne scarring severity, and use of retinoids. Our study suggests that cutaneous body image perception in Arab patients with acne was not dependent on variables like gender and severity of acne or acne scarring. A simple CBI scale alone is not a sufficiently reliable tool to assess self-perception of body image in patients with acne vulgaris.

  7. Gray rod for a nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Francis, T.A.; Cerni, Samuel.

    1986-01-01

    The invention relates to an improved gray rod for insertion in a nuclear fuel assembly having an array of fuel rods. The gray rod includes a thin-walled cladding tube a first longitudinal section of which is positioned within, and a second longitudinal section of which is positioned essentially without, the array of fuel rods when the gray rod is inserted in the fuel assembly. The first longitudinal section defines a pellet-receiving space having detained therein a stack of annular pellets with an outer diameter sufficient to lend radial support to the wall of the first longitudinal tube section. The second longitudinal section defines a hollow space devoid of pellets and having means to resist radial collapse under external pressure. This means may be a partially compressed spiral spring which serves the dual purpose of retaining the stack of pellets in the pellet-receiving space and of lending radial support to the wall of the second longitudinal tube section or it may be holes through the wall to allow pressure equalisation. The cladding tube is composed of stainless-steel material having a low neutron-capture cross-section, and the annular pellets preferably being composed of Zircaloy or Zirconia material. (author)

  8. Altered Gray Matter Volume and White Matter Integrity in College Students with Mobile Phone Dependence

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Yongming; Zou, Zhiling; Song, Hongwen; Xu, Xiaodan; Wang, Huijun; d?Oleire Uquillas, Federico; Huang, Xiting

    2016-01-01

    Mobile phone dependence (MPD) is a behavioral addiction that has become an increasing public mental health issue. While previous research has explored some of the factors that may predict MPD, the underlying neural mechanisms of MPD have not been investigated yet. The current study aimed to explore the microstructural variations associated with MPD as measured with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter (WM) integrity [four indices: fractional ...

  9. Image quality (IQ) guided multispectral image compression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yufeng; Chen, Genshe; Wang, Zhonghai; Blasch, Erik

    2016-05-01

    Image compression is necessary for data transportation, which saves both transferring time and storage space. In this paper, we focus on our discussion on lossy compression. There are many standard image formats and corresponding compression algorithms, for examples, JPEG (DCT -- discrete cosine transform), JPEG 2000 (DWT -- discrete wavelet transform), BPG (better portable graphics) and TIFF (LZW -- Lempel-Ziv-Welch). The image quality (IQ) of decompressed image will be measured by numerical metrics such as root mean square error (RMSE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and structural Similarity (SSIM) Index. Given an image and a specified IQ, we will investigate how to select a compression method and its parameters to achieve an expected compression. Our scenario consists of 3 steps. The first step is to compress a set of interested images by varying parameters and compute their IQs for each compression method. The second step is to create several regression models per compression method after analyzing the IQ-measurement versus compression-parameter from a number of compressed images. The third step is to compress the given image with the specified IQ using the selected compression method (JPEG, JPEG2000, BPG, or TIFF) according to the regressed models. The IQ may be specified by a compression ratio (e.g., 100), then we will select the compression method of the highest IQ (SSIM, or PSNR). Or the IQ may be specified by a IQ metric (e.g., SSIM = 0.8, or PSNR = 50), then we will select the compression method of the highest compression ratio. Our experiments tested on thermal (long-wave infrared) images (in gray scales) showed very promising results.

  10. Comparative study of digital laser film and analog paper image recordings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, K.R.; Cox, G.G.; Templeton, A.W.; Preston, D.F.; Anderson, W.H.; Hensley, K.S.; Dwyer, S.J.

    1987-01-01

    The increase in the use of various imaging modalities demands higher quality and more efficacious analog image recordings. Laser electronic recordings with digital array prints of 4,000 x 5,000 x 12 bits obtained using laser-sensitive film or paper are being evaluated. Dry silver paper recordings are being improved and evaluated. High-resolution paper dot printers are being studied to determine their gray-scale capabilities. The authors evaluated the image quality, costs, clinical utilization, and acceptability of CT scans, MR images, digital subtraction angiograms, digital radiographs, and radionuclide scans recorded by seven different printers (three laser, three silver paper, and one dot) and compared the same features in conventional film recording. This exhibit outlines the technical developments and instrumentation of digital laser film and analog paper recorders and presents the results of the study

  11. Morphometric analysis of gray matter integrity in individuals with early-treated phenylketonuria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christ, Shawn E; Price, Mason H; Bodner, Kimberly E; Saville, Christopher; Moffitt, Amanda J; Peck, Dawn

    2016-05-01

    The most widely-reported neurologic finding in individuals with early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU) is abnormality in the white matter of the brain. In contrast, much less is known regarding the impact of PKU on cortical gray matter (GM) structures. Presently, we applied advanced morphometric methods to the analysis of high-resolution structural MRI images from a sample of 19 individuals with early-treated PKU and an age- and gender-matched comparison group of 22 healthy individuals without PKU. Data analysis revealed decreased GM volume in parietal cortex for the PKU group compared with the non-PKU group. A similar trend was observed for occipital GM volume. There was no evidence of group-related differences in frontal or temporal GM volume. Within the PKU group, we also found a significant relationship between blood phenylalanine levels and GM volume for select posterior cortical sub-regions. Taken together with previous research on white matter and gray matter abnormalities in PKU, the present findings point to the posterior cortices as the primary site of neurostructural changes related to early-treated PKU. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Effects of attenuation and scatter corrections in cat brain PET images using microPET R4 scanner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jin Su; Lee, Jae Sung; Lee, Jong Jin

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the effects of attenuation correction (AC) and scatter correction (SC) on the quantification of PET count rates. To assess the effects of AC and SC, 18 F-FDG PET images of phantom and cat brain were acquired using microPET R4 scanner. Thirty-minute transmission images using 68 Ge source and emission images after injection of FDG were acquired. PET images were reconstructed using. 2D OSEM. AC and SC were applied. Regional count rates were measured using ROls drawn on cerebral cortex including frontal, parietal, and latral temporal lobes and deep gray matter including head of caudate nucleus, putamen and thalamus for pre- and post-AC and SC images. The count rates were then normalized with the injected dose per body weight. To assess the effects of AC, count ratio of 'deep gray matter/cerebral cortex' was calculated. To assess the effects of SC, ROls were also drawn on the gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM), and contrast between them ((GM-WM)/GM) was measured. After the AC, count ratio of 'deep gray matter/cerebral cortex' was increased by 17±7%. After the SC, contrast was also increased by 12±3%. Relative count of deep gray matter and contrast between gray and white matters were increased after AC and SC, suggesting that the AC would be critical for the quantitative analysis of cat brain PET data

  13. A tensor based morphometry study of longitudinal gray matter contraction in FTD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brambati, Simona M.; Renda, Natasha C.; Rankin, Katherine P.; Rosen, Howard J.; Seeley, William W.; Ashburner, John; Weiner, Michael W.; Miller, Bruce L.; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa

    2008-01-01

    Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive behavioural abnormalities and frontotemporal atrophy. Here we used tensor based morphometry (TBM) to identify regions of longitudinal progression of gray matter atrophy in FTD compared to controls. T1-weighted MRI images were acquired at presentation and 1-year follow-up from 12 patients with mild to moderate FTD and 12 healthy controls. Using TBM as implemented in SPM2, a voxel-wise estimation of regional tissue volume change was derived from the deformation field required to warp a subject’s late to early anatomical images. A whole brain analysis was performed, in which a level of significance of pBased on prior studies, a region of interest (ROI) analysis was also performed, including in the search area bilateral medial and orbital frontal regions, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, amygdala and hippocampus. Within this ROI a level of significance of p<0.001 uncorrected was accepted. In the whole brain analysis, the anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri were the only regions that showed significant atrophy change over 1 year. In the ROI analysis, the left ventro-medial frontal cortex, right medial superior frontal gyrus, anterior insulae and left amygdala/hippocampus showed significant longitudinal changes. In conclusion, limbic and paralimbic regions showed detectable gray matter contraction over 1 year in FTD, confirming the susceptibility of these regions to the disease and the consistency with their putative role in causing typical presenting behaviours. These results suggest that TBM might be useful in tracking progression of regional atrophy in FTD. PMID:17350290

  14. Development and validation of a psychometric scale for assessing PA chest image quality: A pilot study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mraity, H.; England, A.; Akhtar, I.; Aslam, A.; De Lange, R.; Momoniat, H.; Nicoulaz, S.; Ribeiro, A.; Mazhir, S.; Hogg, P.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To develop and validate a psychometric scale for assessing image quality perception for chest X-ray images. Methods: Bandura's theory was used to guide scale development. A review of the literature was undertaken to identify items/factors which could be used to evaluate image quality using a perceptual approach. A draft scale was then created (22 items) and presented to a focus group (student and qualified radiographers). Within the focus group the draft scale was discussed and modified. A series of seven postero-anterior chest images were generated using a phantom with a range of image qualities. Image quality perception was confirmed for the seven images using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR 17.2–36.5). Participants (student and qualified radiographers and radiology trainees) were then invited to independently score each of the seven images using the draft image quality perception scale. Cronbach alpha was used to test interval reliability. Results: Fifty three participants used the scale to grade image quality perception on each of the seven images. Aggregated mean scale score increased with increasing SNR from 42.1 to 87.7 (r = 0.98, P < 0.001). For each of the 22 individual scale items there was clear differentiation of low, mid and high quality images. A Cronbach alpha coefficient of >0.7 was obtained across each of the seven images. Conclusion: This study represents the first development of a chest image quality perception scale based on Bandura's theory. There was excellent correlation between the image quality perception scores derived using the scale and the SNR. Further research will involve a more detailed item and factor analysis

  15. Tsenseerimata Dorian Gray? / Udo Uibo

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Uibo, Udo, 1956-

    2011-01-01

    Harvardi ülikooli kirjastus üllitas 2011. a. kevadel Oscar Wilde'i ainsaks jäänud romaani "Dorian Gray portree" esialgse versiooni, mis on varustatud toimetaja Nicholas Frankeli põhjalike kommentaaridega ja kus eessõna manifesteerib jõuliselt autori esteetilisi vaateid

  16. Large-Scale Image Analytics Using Deep Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganguly, S.; Nemani, R. R.; Basu, S.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Michaelis, A.; Votava, P.

    2014-12-01

    High resolution land cover classification maps are needed to increase the accuracy of current Land ecosystem and climate model outputs. Limited studies are in place that demonstrates the state-of-the-art in deriving very high resolution (VHR) land cover products. In addition, most methods heavily rely on commercial softwares that are difficult to scale given the region of study (e.g. continents to globe). Complexities in present approaches relate to (a) scalability of the algorithm, (b) large image data processing (compute and memory intensive), (c) computational cost, (d) massively parallel architecture, and (e) machine learning automation. In addition, VHR satellite datasets are of the order of terabytes and features extracted from these datasets are of the order of petabytes. In our present study, we have acquired the National Agricultural Imaging Program (NAIP) dataset for the Continental United States at a spatial resolution of 1-m. This data comes as image tiles (a total of quarter million image scenes with ~60 million pixels) and has a total size of ~100 terabytes for a single acquisition. Features extracted from the entire dataset would amount to ~8-10 petabytes. In our proposed approach, we have implemented a novel semi-automated machine learning algorithm rooted on the principles of "deep learning" to delineate the percentage of tree cover. In order to perform image analytics in such a granular system, it is mandatory to devise an intelligent archiving and query system for image retrieval, file structuring, metadata processing and filtering of all available image scenes. Using the Open NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) initiative, which is a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), we have developed an end-to-end architecture for designing the database and the deep belief network (following the distbelief computing model) to solve a grand challenge of scaling this process across quarter million NAIP tiles that cover the entire Continental United States. The

  17. Gray-white matter and cerebrospinal fluid volume differences in children with Specific Language Impairment and/or Reading Disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girbau-Massana, Dolors; Garcia-Marti, Gracian; Marti-Bonmati, Luis; Schwartz, Richard G

    2014-04-01

    We studied gray-white matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) alterations that may be critical for language, through an optimized voxel-based morphometry evaluation in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), compared to Typical Language Development (TLD). Ten children with SLI (8;5-10;9) and 14 children with TLD (8;2-11;8) participated. They received a comprehensive language and reading test battery. We also analyzed a subgroup of six children with SLI+RD (Reading Disability). Brain images from 3-Tesla MRIs were analyzed with intelligence, age, gender, and total intracranial volume as covariates. Children with SLI or SLI+RD exhibited a significant lower overall gray matter volume than children with TLD. Particularly, children with SLI showed a significantly lower volume of gray matter compared to children with TLD in the right postcentral parietal gyrus (BA4), and left and right medial occipital gyri (BA19). The group with SLI also exhibited a significantly greater volume of gray matter in the right superior occipital gyrus (BA19), which may reflect a brain reorganization to compensate for their lower volumes at medial occipital gyri. Children with SLI+RD, compared to children with TLD, showed a significantly lower volume of: (a) gray matter in the right postcentral parietal gyrus; and (b) white matter in the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (RILF), which interconnects the temporal and occipital lobes. Children with TLD exhibited a significantly lower CSF volume than children with SLI and children with SLI+RD respectively, who had somewhat smaller volumes of gray matter allowing for more CSF volume. The significant lower gray matter volume at the right postcentral parietal gyrus and greater cerebrospinal fluid volume may prove to be unique markers for SLI. We discuss the association of poor knowledge/visual representations and language input to brain development. Our comorbid study showed that a significant lower volume of white matter in the right

  18. Sexual dimorphism of Broca's region: More gray matter in female brains in Brodmann areas 44 and 45.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurth, Florian; Jancke, Lutz; Luders, Eileen

    2017-01-02

    Although a sexual dimorphism in brain structure is generally well established, evidence for sex differences in Brodmann areas (BA) 44 and 45 is inconclusive. This may be due to the difficulty of accurately defining BA 44 and BA 45 in magnetic resonance images, given that these regions are variable in their location and extent and that they do not match well with macroanatomic landmarks. Here we set out to test for possible sex differences in the local gray matter of BA 44/45 by integrating imaging-based signal intensities with cytoarchitectonically defined tissue probabilities in a sample of 50 male and 50 female subjects. In addition to testing for sex differences with respect to left- and right-hemispheric measures of BA 44/45, we also assessed possible sex differences in BA 44/45 asymmetry. Our analyses revealed significantly larger gray matter volumes in females compared with males for BA 44 and BA 45 bilaterally. However, there was a lack of significant sex differences in BA 44/45 asymmetry. These results corroborate reports of a language-related female superiority, particularly with respect to verbal fluency and verbal memory tasks. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Multi-Scale Pixel-Based Image Fusion Using Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveed ur Rehman

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available A novel scheme to perform the fusion of multiple images using the multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD algorithm is proposed. Standard multi-scale fusion techniques make a priori assumptions regarding input data, whereas standard univariate empirical mode decomposition (EMD-based fusion techniques suffer from inherent mode mixing and mode misalignment issues, characterized respectively by either a single intrinsic mode function (IMF containing multiple scales or the same indexed IMFs corresponding to multiple input images carrying different frequency information. We show that MEMD overcomes these problems by being fully data adaptive and by aligning common frequency scales from multiple channels, thus enabling their comparison at a pixel level and subsequent fusion at multiple data scales. We then demonstrate the potential of the proposed scheme on a large dataset of real-world multi-exposure and multi-focus images and compare the results against those obtained from standard fusion algorithms, including the principal component analysis (PCA, discrete wavelet transform (DWT and non-subsampled contourlet transform (NCT. A variety of image fusion quality measures are employed for the objective evaluation of the proposed method. We also report the results of a hypothesis testing approach on our large image dataset to identify statistically-significant performance differences.

  20. Gene x Disease Interaction on Orbitofrontal Gray Matter in Cocaine Addiction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alia-Klein, N.; Parvaz, M.A.; Woicik, P.A.; Konova, A.B.; Maloney, T.; Shumay, E.; Wang, R.; Telang, F.; Biegon, A.; Wang, G.-J.; Fowler, J.S.; Tomasi, D.; Volkow, N.D.; Goldstein, R.Z.

    2011-01-01

    Long-term cocaine use has been associated with structural deficits in brain regions having dopamine-receptive neurons. However, the concomitant use of other drugs and common genetic variability in monoamine regulation present additional structural variability. The objective is to examine variations in gray matter volume (GMV) as a function of lifetime drug use and the genotype of the monoamine oxidase A gene, MAOA, in men with cocaine use disorders (CUD) and healthy male controls. Forty individuals with CUD and 42 controls who underwent magnetic resonance imaging to assess GMV and were genotyped for the MAOA polymorphism (categorized as high- and low-repeat alleles). The impact of cocaine addiction on GMV, tested by (1) comparing the CUD group with controls, (2) testing diagnosis x MAOA interactions, and (3) correlating GMV with lifetime cocaine, alcohol, and cigarette smoking, and testing their unique contribution to GMV beyond other factors. The results are: (1) Individuals with CUD had reductions in GMV in the orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and temporal cortex and the hippocampus compared with controls; (2) The orbitofrontal cortex reductions were uniquely driven by CUD with low- MAOA genotype and by lifetime cocaine use; and (3) The GMV in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus was driven by lifetime alcohol use beyond the genotype and other pertinent variables. Long-term cocaine users with the low-repeat MAOA allele have enhanced sensitivity to gray matter loss, specifically in the orbitofrontal cortex, indicating that this genotype may exacerbate the deleterious effects of cocaine in the brain. In addition, long-term alcohol use is a major contributor to gray matter loss in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and is likely to further impair executive function and learning in cocaine addiction.

  1. Gene x Disease Interaction on Orbitofrontal Gray Matter in Cocaine Addiction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alia-Klein, N.; Alia-Klein, N.; Parvaz, M.A.; Woicik, P.A.; Konova, A.B.; Maloney, T.; Shumay, E.; Wang, R.; Telang, F.; Biegon, A.; Wang, G.-J.; Fowler, J.S.; Tomasi, D.; Volkow, N.D.; Goldstein, R.Z.

    2011-03-07

    Long-term cocaine use has been associated with structural deficits in brain regions having dopamine-receptive neurons. However, the concomitant use of other drugs and common genetic variability in monoamine regulation present additional structural variability. The objective is to examine variations in gray matter volume (GMV) as a function of lifetime drug use and the genotype of the monoamine oxidase A gene, MAOA, in men with cocaine use disorders (CUD) and healthy male controls. Forty individuals with CUD and 42 controls who underwent magnetic resonance imaging to assess GMV and were genotyped for the MAOA polymorphism (categorized as high- and low-repeat alleles). The impact of cocaine addiction on GMV, tested by (1) comparing the CUD group with controls, (2) testing diagnosis x MAOA interactions, and (3) correlating GMV with lifetime cocaine, alcohol, and cigarette smoking, and testing their unique contribution to GMV beyond other factors. The results are: (1) Individuals with CUD had reductions in GMV in the orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and temporal cortex and the hippocampus compared with controls; (2) The orbitofrontal cortex reductions were uniquely driven by CUD with low- MAOA genotype and by lifetime cocaine use; and (3) The GMV in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus was driven by lifetime alcohol use beyond the genotype and other pertinent variables. Long-term cocaine users with the low-repeat MAOA allele have enhanced sensitivity to gray matter loss, specifically in the orbitofrontal cortex, indicating that this genotype may exacerbate the deleterious effects of cocaine in the brain. In addition, long-term alcohol use is a major contributor to gray matter loss in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and is likely to further impair executive function and learning in cocaine addiction.

  2. Long-term meditation is associated with increased gray matter density in the brain stem

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard-Poulsen, Peter; Beek, Martijn van; Skewes, Joshua

    2009-01-01

    density in lower brain stem regions of experienced meditators compared with age-matched nonmeditators. Our findings show that long-term practitioners of meditation have structural differences in brainstem regions concerned with cardiorespiratory control. This could account for some......Extensive practice involving sustained attention can lead to changes in brain structure. Here, we report evidence of structural differences in the lower brainstem of participants engaged in the long-term practice of meditation. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we observed higher gray matter...

  3. Regional gray matter density is associated with achievement motivation: evidence from voxel-based morphometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Nouchi, Rui; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto; Yokoyama, Ryoichi; Iizuka, Kunio; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Nakagawa, Seishu; Kunitoki, Keiko; Sassa, Yuko; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2014-01-01

    Achievement motivation can be defined as a recurrent need to improve one's past performance. Despite previous functional imaging studies on motivation-related functional activation, the relationship between regional gray matter (rGM) morphology and achievement motivation has never been investigated. We used voxel-based morphometry and a questionnaire (achievement motivation scale) to measure individual achievement motivation and investigated the association between rGM density (rGMD) and achievement motivation [self-fulfillment achievement motivation (SFAM) and competitive achievement motivation (CAM) across the brain in healthy young adults (age 21.0 ± 1.8 years, men (n = 94), women (n = 91)]. SFAM and rGMD significantly and negatively correlated in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). CAM and rGMD significantly and positively correlated in the right putamen, insula, and precuneus. These results suggest that the brain areas that play central roles in externally modulated motivation (OFC and putamen) also contribute to SFAM and CAM, respectively, but in different ways. Furthermore, the brain areas in which rGMD correlated with CAM are related to cognitive processes associated with distressing emotions and social cognition, and these cognitive processes may characterize CAM.

  4. Middle and Inferior Temporal Gyrus Gray Matter Volume Abnormalities in First-Episode Schizophrenia: An MRI Study

    OpenAIRE

    Kuroki, Noriomi; Shenton, Martha Elizabeth; Salisbury, Dean; Hirayasu, Yoshio; Onitsuka, Toshiaki; Ersner-Hershfield, Hal; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah; Kikinis, Ron; Jolesz, Ferenc A.; McCarley, Robert William

    2006-01-01

    Objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of schizophrenia reveal temporal lobe structural brain abnormalities in the superior temporal gyrus and the amygdala-hippocampal complex. However, the middle and inferior temporal gyri have received little investigation, especially in first-episode schizophrenia. Method: High-spatial-resolution MRI was used to measure gray matter volume in the inferior, middle, and superior temporal gyri in 20 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 20 pa...

  5. Texture Feature Analysis for Different Resolution Level of Kidney Ultrasound Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kairuddin, Wan Nur Hafsha Wan; Mahmud, Wan Mahani Hafizah Wan

    2017-08-01

    Image feature extraction is a technique to identify the characteristic of the image. The objective of this work is to discover the texture features that best describe a tissue characteristic of a healthy kidney from ultrasound (US) image. Three ultrasound machines that have different specifications are used in order to get a different quality (different resolution) of the image. Initially, the acquired images are pre-processed to de-noise the speckle to ensure the image preserve the pixels in a region of interest (ROI) for further extraction. Gaussian Low- pass Filter is chosen as the filtering method in this work. 150 of enhanced images then are segmented by creating a foreground and background of image where the mask is created to eliminate some unwanted intensity values. Statistical based texture features method is used namely Intensity Histogram (IH), Gray-Level Co-Occurance Matrix (GLCM) and Gray-level run-length matrix (GLRLM).This method is depends on the spatial distribution of intensity values or gray levels in the kidney region. By using One-Way ANOVA in SPSS, the result indicated that three features (Contrast, Difference Variance and Inverse Difference Moment Normalized) from GLCM are not statistically significant; this concludes that these three features describe a healthy kidney characteristics regardless of the ultrasound image quality.

  6. Studying time of flight imaging through scattering media across multiple size scales (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velten, Andreas

    2017-05-01

    Light scattering is a primary obstacle to optical imaging in a variety of different environments and across many size and time scales. Scattering complicates imaging on large scales when imaging through the atmosphere when imaging from airborne or space borne platforms, through marine fog, or through fog and dust in vehicle navigation, for example in self driving cars. On smaller scales, scattering is the major obstacle when imaging through human tissue in biomedical applications. Despite the large variety of participating materials and size scales, light transport in all these environments is usually described with very similar scattering models that are defined by the same small set of parameters, including scattering and absorption length and phase function. We attempt a study of scattering and methods of imaging through scattering across different scales and media, particularly with respect to the use of time of flight information. We can show that using time of flight, in addition to spatial information, provides distinct advantages in scattering environments. By performing a comparative study of scattering across scales and media, we are able to suggest scale models for scattering environments to aid lab research. We also can transfer knowledge and methodology between different fields.

  7. Distributed Component Forests : Hierarchical Image Representations Suitable for Tera-Scale Images

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilkinson, M.H.F.; Gazagnes, Simon; Suen, Ching Y.

    2018-01-01

    The standard representations know as component trees, used in morphological connected attribute filtering and multi-scale analysis, are unsuitable for cases in which either the image itself, or the tree do not fit in the memory of a single compute node. Recently, a new structure has been developed

  8. Chapter 16. Conservation status of great gray owls in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory D. Hayward

    1994-01-01

    Previous chapters outlined the biology and ecology of great gray owls as well as the ecology of this species in the western United States. That technical review provides the basis to assess the current conservation status of great gray owls in the United States. Are populations of great gray owls in the United States currently threatened? Are current land management...

  9. Optical image security using Stokes polarimetry of spatially variant polarized beam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatima, Areeba; Nishchal, Naveen K.

    2018-06-01

    We propose a novel security scheme that uses vector beam characterized by the spatially variant polarization distribution. A vector beam is so generated that its helical components carry tailored phases corresponding to the image/images that is/are to be encrypted. The tailoring of phase has been done by employing the modified Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm for phase retrieval. Stokes parameters for the final vector beam is evaluated and is used to construct the ciphertext and one of the keys. The advantage of the proposed scheme is that it generates real ciphertext and keys which are easier to transmit and store than complex quantities. Moreover, the known plaintext attack is not applicable to this system. As a proof-of-concept, simulation results have been presented for securing single and double gray-scale images.

  10. Brain MR image segmentation using NAMS in pseudo-color.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hua; Chen, Chuanbo; Fang, Shaohong; Zhao, Shengrong

    2017-12-01

    Image segmentation plays a crucial role in various biomedical applications. In general, the segmentation of brain Magnetic Resonance (MR) images is mainly used to represent the image with several homogeneous regions instead of pixels for surgical analyzing and planning. This paper proposes a new approach for segmenting MR brain images by using pseudo-color based segmentation with Non-symmetry and Anti-packing Model with Squares (NAMS). First of all, the NAMS model is presented. The model can represent the image with sub-patterns to keep the image content and largely reduce the data redundancy. Second, the key idea is proposed that convert the original gray-scale brain MR image into a pseudo-colored image and then segment the pseudo-colored image with NAMS model. The pseudo-colored image can enhance the color contrast in different tissues in brain MR images, which can improve the precision of segmentation as well as directly visual perceptional distinction. Experimental results indicate that compared with other brain MR image segmentation methods, the proposed NAMS based pseudo-color segmentation method performs more excellent in not only segmenting precisely but also saving storage.

  11. Gray economy in Serbia in light of tendencies in European countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madžar Lidija

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The gray economy presents the sum of all economic activities over which the modern state has no control, that is, which are on the edge of the law in the so-called grey zone. It is also the part of the economy not covered by official statistics. Therefore, the gray economy is not subject to taxation and does not contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP of the country. The aim of this paper is to present a detailed analysis of the causes and effects of this phenomenon. The paper also emphasizes the great importance of its suppression and control in modern economies. Illegal and partially legal forms of the gray economy cause tax evasion and avoiding the social security contribution payment, disrespect of valid labor standards, avoiding legal business as well as the emergence of market and structural distortions. In this paper, the problem of assessment of the gray economy is viewed through the direct and indirect measurement methods. In addition to the advantages and disadvantages, the causes of this phenomenon are set out in detail. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of ten year data on the gray economy in European countries, with concrete measures to deal with this phenomenon. The unfavorable situation of Serbian gray economy, which is worse than the European and regional average, is presented at the end of this paper.

  12. Neural network based multiscale image restoration approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Castro, Ana Paula A.; da Silva, José D. S.

    2007-02-01

    This paper describes a neural network based multiscale image restoration approach. Multilayer perceptrons are trained with artificial images of degraded gray level circles, in an attempt to make the neural network learn inherent space relations of the degraded pixels. The present approach simulates the degradation by a low pass Gaussian filter blurring operation and the addition of noise to the pixels at pre-established rates. The training process considers the degraded image as input and the non-degraded image as output for the supervised learning process. The neural network thus performs an inverse operation by recovering a quasi non-degraded image in terms of least squared. The main difference of the approach to existing ones relies on the fact that the space relations are taken from different scales, thus providing relational space data to the neural network. The approach is an attempt to come up with a simple method that leads to an optimum solution to the problem. Considering different window sizes around a pixel simulates the multiscale operation. In the generalization phase the neural network is exposed to indoor, outdoor, and satellite degraded images following the same steps use for the artificial circle image.

  13. A method for evaluating image quality of monochrome and color displays based on luminance by use of a commercially available color digital camera

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tokurei, Shogo, E-mail: shogo.tokurei@gmail.com, E-mail: junjim@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan and Department of Radiology, Yamaguchi University Hospital, 1-1-1 Minamikogushi, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8505 (Japan); Morishita, Junji, E-mail: shogo.tokurei@gmail.com, E-mail: junjim@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Fukuoka 812-8582 (Japan)

    2015-08-15

    Purpose: The aim of this study is to propose a method for the quantitative evaluation of image quality of both monochrome and color liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) using a commercially available color digital camera. Methods: The intensities of the unprocessed red (R), green (G), and blue (B) signals of a camera vary depending on the spectral sensitivity of the image sensor used in the camera. For consistent evaluation of image quality for both monochrome and color LCDs, the unprocessed RGB signals of the camera were converted into gray scale signals that corresponded to the luminance of the LCD. Gray scale signals for the monochrome LCD were evaluated by using only the green channel signals of the camera. For the color LCD, the RGB signals of the camera were converted into gray scale signals by employing weighting factors (WFs) for each RGB channel. A line image displayed on the color LCD was simulated on the monochrome LCD by using a software application for subpixel driving in order to verify the WF-based conversion method. Furthermore, the results obtained by different types of commercially available color cameras and a photometric camera were compared to examine the consistency of the authors’ method. Finally, image quality for both the monochrome and color LCDs was assessed by measuring modulation transfer functions (MTFs) and Wiener spectra (WS). Results: The authors’ results demonstrated that the proposed method for calibrating the spectral sensitivity of the camera resulted in a consistent and reliable evaluation of the luminance of monochrome and color LCDs. The MTFs and WS showed different characteristics for the two LCD types owing to difference in the subpixel structure. The MTF in the vertical direction of the color LCD was superior to that of the monochrome LCD, although the WS in the vertical direction of the color LCD was inferior to that of the monochrome LCD as a result of luminance fluctuations in RGB subpixels. Conclusions: The authors

  14. A storage and display method for radioisotope imaging using scan conversion memory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takizawa, Masaomi; Kobayashi, Toshio; Nakanishi, Fumiko; Suzuki, Shigeo; Miyabayashi, Hiroyasu

    1975-01-01

    The scan conversion memory (SCM) has been applied to a method for the storage and display of radioisotope images. Scan data were fed into SCM as pulse signals with X and Y axis from the scinti-scanner or the scinti-camera. The electric charge on the SCM target is directly proportional to the pulse density. A TV display was executed immediately after the recording of a radioisotope image. If necessary, a seven additive color display to the image density could be obtained by a simple color slicer, and the image could be hard-copied by a video hard-copy printer. Characteristics of the SCM were experimentally clarified as follows: the practical resolution was 700 line/TV; ten levels gray scale were discriminated on the video monitor, the uniformity, measured by an oscilloscope was less than 20%, and dead time of the pulse interval at full scale signal was 5 μ sec. In their representation, the SCM scintigrams were observed as closely resembling conventional film scintigrams. Superimposed imaging of an X-ray picture and a radioisotope image can be realized by using the SCM, for an increase in anatomical localization on reading images. The SCM scintigram can be applied rapidly and can be the viewer of radioisotope imaging. (auth.)

  15. New false color mapping for image fusion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Toet, A.; Walraven, J.

    1996-01-01

    A pixel based colour mapping algorithm is presented that produces a fused false colour rendering of two gray level images representing different sensor modalities. The result-ing fused false colour images have a higher information content than each of the original images and retain sensor-specific

  16. Imaging the functional connectivity of the Periaqueductal Gray during genuine and sham electroacupuncture treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tu Peichi

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Electroacupuncture (EA is currently one of the most popular acupuncture modalities. However, the continuous stimulation characteristic of EA treatment presents challenges to the use of conventional functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI approaches for the investigation of neural mechanisms mediating treatment response because of the requirement for brief and intermittent stimuli in event related or block designed task paradigms. A relatively new analysis method, functional connectivity fMRI (fcMRI, has great potential for studying continuous treatment modalities such as EA. In a previous study, we found that, compared with sham acupuncture, EA can significantly reduce Periaqueductal Gray (PAG activity when subsequently evoked by experimental pain. Given the PAG's important role in mediating acupuncture analgesia, in this study we investigated functional connectivity with the area of the PAG we previously identified and how that connectivity was affected by genuine and sham EA. Results Forty-eight subjects, who were randomly assigned to receive either genuine or sham EA paired with either a high or low expectancy manipulation, completed the study. Direct comparison of each treatment mode's functional connectivity revealed: significantly greater connectivity between the PAG, left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC, and precuneus for the contrast of genuine minus sham; significantly greater connectivity between the PAG and right anterior insula for the contrast of sham minus genuine; no significant differences in connectivity between different contrasts of the two expectancy levels. Conclusions Our findings indicate the intrinsic functional connectivity changes among key brain regions in the pain matrix and default mode network during genuine EA compared with sham EA. We speculate that continuous genuine EA stimulation can modify the coupling of spontaneous activity in brain regions that play a role in modulating pain

  17. Optimization-Based Image Segmentation by Genetic Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosenberger C

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Many works in the literature focus on the definition of evaluation metrics and criteria that enable to quantify the performance of an image processing algorithm. These evaluation criteria can be used to define new image processing algorithms by optimizing them. In this paper, we propose a general scheme to segment images by a genetic algorithm. The developed method uses an evaluation criterion which quantifies the quality of an image segmentation result. The proposed segmentation method can integrate a local ground truth when it is available in order to set the desired level of precision of the final result. A genetic algorithm is then used in order to determine the best combination of information extracted by the selected criterion. Then, we show that this approach can either be applied for gray-levels or multicomponents images in a supervised context or in an unsupervised one. Last, we show the efficiency of the proposed method through some experimental results on several gray-levels and multicomponents images.

  18. Optimization-Based Image Segmentation by Genetic Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Laurent

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Many works in the literature focus on the definition of evaluation metrics and criteria that enable to quantify the performance of an image processing algorithm. These evaluation criteria can be used to define new image processing algorithms by optimizing them. In this paper, we propose a general scheme to segment images by a genetic algorithm. The developed method uses an evaluation criterion which quantifies the quality of an image segmentation result. The proposed segmentation method can integrate a local ground truth when it is available in order to set the desired level of precision of the final result. A genetic algorithm is then used in order to determine the best combination of information extracted by the selected criterion. Then, we show that this approach can either be applied for gray-levels or multicomponents images in a supervised context or in an unsupervised one. Last, we show the efficiency of the proposed method through some experimental results on several gray-levels and multicomponents images.

  19. [Surface electromyography signal classification using gray system theory].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Hongbo; Ma, Congbin; Wang, Zhizhong; Huang, Hai

    2004-12-01

    A new method based on gray correlation was introduced to improve the identification rate in artificial limb. The electromyography (EMG) signal was first transformed into time-frequency domain by wavelet transform. Singular value decomposition (SVD) was then used to extract feature vector from the wavelet coefficient for pattern recognition. The decision was made according to the maximum gray correlation coefficient. Compared with neural network recognition, this robust method has an almost equivalent recognition rate but much lower computation costs and less training samples.

  20. Large-Scale Partial-Duplicate Image Retrieval and Its Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-23

    tree based image retrieval , a semantic-aware co-indexing algorithm is proposed to jointly embed two strong cues into the inverted indexes: 1) local...based image retrieval , a semantic-aware co-indexing algorithm is proposed to jointly embed two strong cues into the inverted indexes: 1) local...Distribution Unlimited UU UU UU UU 23-04-2016 23-Jan-2012 22-Jan-2016 Final Report: Large-Scale Partial-Duplicate Image Retrieval and Its Applications

  1. Laboratory Characterization of Gray Masonry Concrete

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Williams, Erin M; Akers, Stephen A; Reed, Paul A

    2007-01-01

    Personnel of the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, conducted a laboratory investigation to characterize the strength and constitutive property behavior of a gray masonry concrete...

  2. Increased gray matter volume in the right angular and posterior parahippocampal gyri in loving-kindness meditators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Mei-Kei; Chan, Chetwyn C H; Yin, Jing; Lee, Chack-Fan; So, Kwok-Fai; Lee, Tatia M C

    2013-01-01

    Previous voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies have revealed that meditation is associated with structural brain changes in regions underlying cognitive processes that are required for attention or mindfulness during meditation. This VBM study examined brain changes related to the practice of an emotion-oriented meditation: loving-kindness meditation (LKM). A 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner captured images of the brain structures of 25 men, 10 of whom had practiced LKM in the Theravada tradition for at least 5 years. Compared with novices, more gray matter volume was detected in the right angular and posterior parahippocampal gyri in LKM experts. The right angular gyrus has not been previously reported to have structural differences associated with meditation, and its specific role in mind and cognitive empathy theory suggests the uniqueness of this finding for LKM practice. These regions are important for affective regulation associated with empathic response, anxiety and mood. At the same time, gray matter volume in the left temporal lobe in the LKM experts appeared to be greater, an observation that has also been reported in previous MRI meditation studies on meditation styles other than LKM. Overall, the findings of our study suggest that experience in LKM may influence brain structures associated with affective regulation.

  3. An alternative to scale-space representation for extracting local features in image recognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Hans Jørgen; Nguyen, Phuong Giang

    2012-01-01

    In image recognition, the common approach for extracting local features using a scale-space representation has usually three main steps; first interest points are extracted at different scales, next from a patch around each interest point the rotation is calculated with corresponding orientation...... and compensation, and finally a descriptor is computed for the derived patch (i.e. feature of the patch). To avoid the memory and computational intensive process of constructing the scale-space, we use a method where no scale-space is required This is done by dividing the given image into a number of triangles...... with sizes dependent on the content of the image, at the location of each triangle. In this paper, we will demonstrate that by rotation of the interest regions at the triangles it is possible in grey scale images to achieve a recognition precision comparable with that of MOPS. The test of the proposed method...

  4. Gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus parasite diversity in central Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norma Hernández-Camacho

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Mexico has a long history of parasitological studies in communities of vertebrates. However, the mega diversity of the country makes fauna inventories an ongoing priority. Presently, there is little published on the parasite fauna of gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus Schereber, 1775 and this study provides new records of parasites for gray foxes in central Mexico. It is a continuation of a series of previous parasitological studies conducted with this carnivore in Mexico from 2003 to the present. A total of 24 foxes in the Parque Nacional El Cimatario (PANEC were trapped, anaesthetized, and parasites recovered. The species found were Dirofilaria immitis, Ctenocephalides canis, C. felis, Euhoplopsillus glacialis affinis (first report for gray foxes in Mexico Pulex simulants, and Ixodes sp. Three additional gray fox carcasses were necropsied and the parasites collected were adult nematodes Physaloptera praeputialis and Toxocara canis. The intensive study of the gray fox population selected for the 2013–2015 recent period allowed for a two-fold increase in the number of parasite species recorded for this carnivore since 2003 (nine to 18 parasite species, mainly recording parasitic arthropods, Dirofilaria immitis filariae and adult nematodes. The parasite species recorded are generalists that can survive in anthropic environments; which is characteristic of the present ecological scenario in central Mexico. The close proximity of the PANEC to the city of Santiago de Queretaro suggests possible parasite transmission between the foxes and domestic and feral dogs. Furthermore, packs of feral dogs in the PANEC might have altered habitat use by foxes, with possible impacts on transmission.

  5. LFNet: A Novel Bidirectional Recurrent Convolutional Neural Network for Light-Field Image Super-Resolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yunlong; Liu, Fei; Zhang, Kunbo; Hou, Guangqi; Sun, Zhenan; Tan, Tieniu

    2018-09-01

    The low spatial resolution of light-field image poses significant difficulties in exploiting its advantage. To mitigate the dependency of accurate depth or disparity information as priors for light-field image super-resolution, we propose an implicitly multi-scale fusion scheme to accumulate contextual information from multiple scales for super-resolution reconstruction. The implicitly multi-scale fusion scheme is then incorporated into bidirectional recurrent convolutional neural network, which aims to iteratively model spatial relations between horizontally or vertically adjacent sub-aperture images of light-field data. Within the network, the recurrent convolutions are modified to be more effective and flexible in modeling the spatial correlations between neighboring views. A horizontal sub-network and a vertical sub-network of the same network structure are ensembled for final outputs via stacked generalization. Experimental results on synthetic and real-world data sets demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods by a large margin in peak signal-to-noise ratio and gray-scale structural similarity indexes, which also achieves superior quality for human visual systems. Furthermore, the proposed method can enhance the performance of light field applications such as depth estimation.

  6. Segmentation by Large Scale Hypothesis Testing - Segmentation as Outlier Detection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Darkner, Sune; Dahl, Anders Lindbjerg; Larsen, Rasmus

    2010-01-01

    a microscope and we show how the method can handle transparent particles with significant glare point. The method generalizes to other problems. THis is illustrated by applying the method to camera calibration images and MRI of the midsagittal plane for gray and white matter separation and segmentation......We propose a novel and efficient way of performing local image segmentation. For many applications a threshold of pixel intensities is sufficient but determine the appropriate threshold value can be difficult. In cases with large global intensity variation the threshold value has to be adapted...... locally. We propose a method based on large scale hypothesis testing with a consistent method for selecting an appropriate threshold for the given data. By estimating the background distribution we characterize the segment of interest as a set of outliers with a certain probability based on the estimated...

  7. THE CORROSION BEHAVIOR AND WEAR RESISTANCE OF GRAY CAST IRON

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina F. Kadhim

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Gray cast iron has many applications as pipes , pumps and valve bodies where it has influenced by heat and contact with other solutions . This research has studied the corrosion behavior and Vickers hardness of gray cast iron by immersion in four strong alkaline solutions (NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH2, LiOHwith three concentrations (1%,2%,3% of each solution. Dry sliding wear has carried out before and after the heat treatments (stress relief ,normalizing, hardening and tempering. In this work ,maximum wear strength has obtained at tempered gray cast iron and minimum corrosion rate has obtained in LiOH solution by forming protective white visible oxide layer.

  8. CNS involvement in primary Sjogren Syndrome: assessment of gray and white matter changes with MRI and voxel-based morphometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzarouchi, Loukia C; Tsifetaki, Niki; Konitsiotis, Spyridon; Zikou, Anastasia; Astrakas, Loukas; Drosos, Alexandros; Argyropoulou, Maria I

    2011-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate with MRI the involvement of gray matter and white matter structures in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome. Fifty-three patients with primary Sjögren syndrome, 18 age- and disease duration-matched patients with systemic sclerosis, and 35 age-matched control subjects were examined for differences in white matter hyperintensities (WMHIs) detected on FLAIR MR images. Differences in brain volume between patients with primary Sjögren syndrome and controls were studied by application of voxel-based morphometry to a 3D T1-weighted sequence. WMHIs were observed in 38 of the 53 patients with primary Sjögren syndrome, six of 18 patients with systemic sclerosis, and 17 of 35 controls. The numbers of WMHIs 2 mm or larger and the number smaller than 2 mm were higher in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome than in controls (≥ 2 mm, p = 0.004; syndrome patients and that in systemic sclerosis patients. After control for age, a positive relation was found between disease duration and total number of WMHIs (p = 0.037) and number of WMHIs 2 mm or larger (p = 0.023) in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome. In comparison with the controls, patients with primary Sjögren syndrome had decreased gray matter volume in the cortex, deep gray matter, and cerebellum. Associated loss of white matter volume was observed in areas corresponding to gray matter atrophy and in the corpus callosum (p syndrome have WMHIs and gray and white matter atrophy, probably related to cerebral vasculitis.

  9. Association between exercise habits and subcortical gray matter volumes in healthy elderly people: A population-based study in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Mikie; Wada-Isoe, Kenji; Yamashita, Fumio; Nakashita, Satoko; Kishi, Masafumi; Tanaka, Kenichiro; Yamawaki, Mika; Nakashima, Kenji

    2017-06-01

    The relationship between exercise and subcortical gray matter volume is not well understood in the elderly population, although reports indicate that exercise may prevent cortical gray matter atrophy. To elucidate this association in the elderly, we measured subcortical gray matter volume and correlated this with volumes to exercise habits in a community-based cohort study in Japan. Subjects without mild cognitive impairment or dementia (n = 280, 35% male, mean age 73.1 ± 5.9 years) were evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), an exercise habit questionnaire, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Subcortical gray matter volume was compared between groups based on the presence/absence of exercise habits. The MMSE was re-administered 3 years after the baseline examination. Ninety-one subjects (32.5%) reported exercise habits (exercise group), and 189 subjects (67.5%) reported no exercise habits (non-exercise group). Volumetric analysis revealed that the volumes in the exercise group were greater in the left hippocampus (p = 0.042) and bilateral nucleus accumbens (left, p = 0.047; right, p = 0.007) compared to those of the non-exercise group. Among the 195 subjects who received a follow-up MMSE examination, the normalized intra-cranial volumes of the left nucleus accumbens (p = 0.004) and right amygdala (p = 0.014)showed significant association with a decline in the follow-up MMSE score. Subjects with exercise habits show larger subcortical gray matter volumes than subjects without exercise habits in community-dwelling elderly subjects in Japan. Specifically, the volume of the nucleus accumbens correlates with both exercise habits and cognitive preservation.

  10. Standardizing display conditions of diffusion-weighted images using concurrent b0 images. A multi-vendor multi-institutional study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Makoto; Ida, Masahiro; Yamada, Kei; Watanabe, Yoshiyuki; Matsui, Mieko

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to establish a practical method that uses concurrent b0 images to standardize the display conditions for diffusion-weighted images (DWI) that vary among institutions and interpreters. Using identical parameters, we obtained DWI for 12 healthy volunteers at 4 institutions using 4 MRI scanners from 3 vendors. Three operators manually set the window width for the images equal to the signal intensity of the normal-appearing thalamus on b0 images and set the window level at half and then exported the images to 8-bit gray-scale images. We calculated the mean pixel values of the brain objects in the images and examined the variation among scanners, operators, and subjects. Following our method, the DWI of the 12 subjects obtained using the 4 different scanners had nearly identical contrast and brightness. The mean pixel values of the brain on the exported images among the operators and subjects were not significantly different, but we found a slight, significant difference among the scanners. Determining DWI display conditions by using b0 images is a simple and practical method to standardize window width and level for evaluating diffusion abnormalities and decreasing variation among institutions and operators. (author)

  11. Larger mid-dorsolateral prefrontal gray matter volume in young binge drinkers revealed by voxel-based morphometry.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia Doallo

    Full Text Available Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is a high prevalent pattern of alcohol consumption among young people in several countries. Despite increasing evidence that binge drinking is associated with impairments in executive aspects of working memory (i.e. self-ordered working memory, processes known to depend on the mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann areas 46 and 9, less is known about the impact of binge drinking on prefrontal gray matter integrity. Here, we investigated the effects of binge drinking on gray matter volume of mid- dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in youths. We used voxel-based morphometry on the structural magnetic resonance images of subjects reporting a persistent (at least three years binge drinking pattern of alcohol use (n = 11; age 22.43 ± 1.03 and control subjects (n = 21; age 22.18 ± 1.08 to measure differences in gray matter volume between both groups. In a region of interest analysis of the mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, after co-varying for age and gender, we observed significantly larger gray matter volume in the left mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann areas 46 and 9 in binge drinkers in comparison with control subjects. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between left mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume and Self-Ordered Pointing Test (SOPT total errors score in binge drinkers. The left mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume also correlated with the quantity and speed of alcohol intake. These findings indicate that a repeated exposure to alcohol -that does not meet criteria for alcohol dependence- throughout post-adolescent years and young adulthood is linked with structural anomalies in mid-dorsolateral prefrontal regions critically involved in executive aspects of working memory.

  12. Deep multi-scale convolutional neural network for hyperspectral image classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Feng-zhe; Yang, Xia

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, we proposed a multi-scale convolutional neural network for hyperspectral image classification task. Firstly, compared with conventional convolution, we utilize multi-scale convolutions, which possess larger respective fields, to extract spectral features of hyperspectral image. We design a deep neural network with a multi-scale convolution layer which contains 3 different convolution kernel sizes. Secondly, to avoid overfitting of deep neural network, dropout is utilized, which randomly sleeps neurons, contributing to improve the classification accuracy a bit. In addition, new skills like ReLU in deep learning is utilized in this paper. We conduct experiments on University of Pavia and Salinas datasets, and obtained better classification accuracy compared with other methods.

  13. Linear and curvilinear correlations of brain gray matter volume and density with age using voxel-based morphometry with the Akaike information criterion in 291 healthy children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taki, Yasuyuki; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Thyreau, Benjamin; Sassa, Yuko; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Wu, Kai; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nouchi, Rui; Asano, Michiko; Asano, Kohei; Fukuda, Hiroshi; Kawashima, Ryuta

    2013-08-01

    We examined linear and curvilinear correlations of gray matter volume and density in cortical and subcortical gray matter with age using magnetic resonance images (MRI) in a large number of healthy children. We applied voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and region-of-interest (ROI) analyses with the Akaike information criterion (AIC), which was used to determine the best-fit model by selecting which predictor terms should be included. We collected data on brain structural MRI in 291 healthy children aged 5-18 years. Structural MRI data were segmented and normalized using a custom template by applying the diffeomorphic anatomical registration using exponentiated lie algebra (DARTEL) procedure. Next, we analyzed the correlations of gray matter volume and density with age in VBM with AIC by estimating linear, quadratic, and cubic polynomial functions. Several regions such as the prefrontal cortex, the precentral gyrus, and cerebellum showed significant linear or curvilinear correlations between gray matter volume and age on an increasing trajectory, and between gray matter density and age on a decreasing trajectory in VBM and ROI analyses with AIC. Because the trajectory of gray matter volume and density with age suggests the progress of brain maturation, our results may contribute to clarifying brain maturation in healthy children from the viewpoint of brain structure. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. VisualRank: applying PageRank to large-scale image search.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing, Yushi; Baluja, Shumeet

    2008-11-01

    Because of the relative ease in understanding and processing text, commercial image-search systems often rely on techniques that are largely indistinguishable from text-search. Recently, academic studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of employing image-based features to provide alternative or additional signals. However, it remains uncertain whether such techniques will generalize to a large number of popular web queries, and whether the potential improvement to search quality warrants the additional computational cost. In this work, we cast the image-ranking problem into the task of identifying "authority" nodes on an inferred visual similarity graph and propose VisualRank to analyze the visual link structures among images. The images found to be "authorities" are chosen as those that answer the image-queries well. To understand the performance of such an approach in a real system, we conducted a series of large-scale experiments based on the task of retrieving images for 2000 of the most popular products queries. Our experimental results show significant improvement, in terms of user satisfaction and relevancy, in comparison to the most recent Google Image Search results. Maintaining modest computational cost is vital to ensuring that this procedure can be used in practice; we describe the techniques required to make this system practical for large scale deployment in commercial search engines.

  15. Quantitative analysis of geomorphic processes using satellite image data at different scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, R. S., Jr.

    1985-01-01

    When aerial and satellite photographs and images are used in the quantitative analysis of geomorphic processes, either through direct observation of active processes or by analysis of landforms resulting from inferred active or dormant processes, a number of limitations in the use of such data must be considered. Active geomorphic processes work at different scales and rates. Therefore, the capability of imaging an active or dormant process depends primarily on the scale of the process and the spatial-resolution characteristic of the imaging system. Scale is an important factor in recording continuous and discontinuous active geomorphic processes, because what is not recorded will not be considered or even suspected in the analysis of orbital images. If the geomorphic process of landform change caused by the process is less than 200 m in x to y dimension, then it will not be recorded. Although the scale factor is critical, in the recording of discontinuous active geomorphic processes, the repeat interval of orbital-image acquisition of a planetary surface also is a consideration in order to capture a recurring short-lived geomorphic process or to record changes caused by either a continuous or a discontinuous geomorphic process.

  16. Scale-space for empty catheter segmentation in PCI fluoroscopic images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacchuwar, Ketan; Cousty, Jean; Vaillant, Régis; Najman, Laurent

    2017-07-01

    In this article, we present a method for empty guiding catheter segmentation in fluoroscopic X-ray images. The guiding catheter, being a commonly visible landmark, its segmentation is an important and a difficult brick for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) procedure modeling. In number of clinical situations, the catheter is empty and appears as a low contrasted structure with two parallel and partially disconnected edges. To segment it, we work on the level-set scale-space of image, the min tree, to extract curve blobs. We then propose a novel structural scale-space, a hierarchy built on these curve blobs. The deep connected component, i.e. the cluster of curve blobs on this hierarchy, that maximizes the likelihood to be an empty catheter is retained as final segmentation. We evaluate the performance of the algorithm on a database of 1250 fluoroscopic images from 6 patients. As a result, we obtain very good qualitative and quantitative segmentation performance, with mean precision and recall of 80.48 and 63.04% respectively. We develop a novel structural scale-space to segment a structured object, the empty catheter, in challenging situations where the information content is very sparse in the images. Fully-automatic empty catheter segmentation in X-ray fluoroscopic images is an important and preliminary step in PCI procedure modeling, as it aids in tagging the arrival and removal location of other interventional tools.

  17. Auto-Scaling of Geo-Based Image Processing in an OpenStack Cloud Computing Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanggoo Kang

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing is a base platform for the distribution of large volumes of data and high-performance image processing on the Web. Despite wide applications in Web-based services and their many benefits, geo-spatial applications based on cloud computing technology are still developing. Auto-scaling realizes automatic scalability, i.e., the scale-out and scale-in processing of virtual servers in a cloud computing environment. This study investigates the applicability of auto-scaling to geo-based image processing algorithms by comparing the performance of a single virtual server and multiple auto-scaled virtual servers under identical experimental conditions. In this study, the cloud computing environment is built with OpenStack, and four algorithms from the Orfeo toolbox are used for practical geo-based image processing experiments. The auto-scaling results from all experimental performance tests demonstrate applicable significance with respect to cloud utilization concerning response time. Auto-scaling contributes to the development of web-based satellite image application services using cloud-based technologies.

  18. Changes in lactate dehydrogenase are associated with central gray matter lesions in newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yum, Sook Kyung; Moon, Cheong-Jun; Youn, Young-Ah; Sung, In Kyung

    2017-05-01

    Biomarkers may predict neurological prognosis in infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). We evaluated the relationship between serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which predicts neurodevelopmental outcomes, in order to assess whether LDH levels are similarly predictive. Medical records were reviewed for infants with HIE and LDH levels were assessed on the first (LDH 1 ) and third (LDH 3 ) days following birth. Receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained in relation to central gray matter hypoxic-ischemic lesions. Of 92 patients, 52 (56.5%) had hypoxic-ischemic lesions on brain MRI, and 21 of these infants (40.4%) had central gray matter lesions. LDH 1 and LDH 3 did not differ; however, the percentage change (ΔLDH%) was significantly higher in infants with central gray matter lesions (36.9% versus 6.6%, p = 0.006). With cutoffs of 187 (IU/L, ΔLDH) and 19.4 (%, ΔLDH%), the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 71.4, 69.0, 40.5 and 89.1%, respectively. The relative risk was 5.57 (p = 0.001). Changes in serum LDH may be a useful biomarker for predicting future neurodevelopmental prognosis in infants with HIE.

  19. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of intracranial chordomas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fukuda, Teruo; Inoue, Yuichi; Shakudo, Miyuki and others

    1988-03-01

    MR images of 5 patients with intracranial chordoma were evaluated and compared with those of other clival lesions (1 clival osteomyelitis, 1 metastatic clival tumor, 3 clival meningiomas). The MR examination was performed using a 0.5 T superconductive magnet, with approximately 10 mm section thickness, one average and a 256 x 256 matrix. T1 weighted images were obtainned by inversion recovery (IR) with TR 2100 - 2500 msec, TI 600 msec and TE 40 msec. T2 weighted images were obtained by spin echo pulse sequence with TR 1800 - 2500 msec and TE 120 msec (long SE). In several cases, the spin echo pulse sequences with TR 1000 msec and TE 40 msec (short SE) were also done. Multiplaned images were obtained. Four of 5 intracranial chordomas were low in intensity compared to cerebral gray matter on T1 weighted images, and all of 5 chordomas were as high in intensity as cerebrospinal fluid or higher than that of cerebrospinal fluid on T2 weighted images. Clival fatty marrow is high intensity on T1 weighted images. Clival involvement by a tumor was a clearly demonstrated as disappearance of this high intensity in all cases. In two cases, the tumor extended to the retropharyngeal space and this was detected clearly on short SE image. Although clival fatty marrow was disappeared, osteomyelitis and metastatic tumor in clivus were iso-intense to cerebral gray matter on both T1 and T2 weighted images. All of 3 clival meningiomas showed iso-intensity to cerebral gray matter on T1 weighted images and slightly high intensity to brain on T2 weighted images, and clival fatty marrow was normal in all 3 cases. Although our experiences are limited in number, intracranial chordoma appeared to be differentiated from other clival lesions.

  20. Life-cycle Economic and Environmental Effects of Green, Gray and Hybrid Stormwater Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes-Draut, J. R.; Taptich, M. N.; Horvath, A.

    2016-12-01

    Cities throughout the U.S. are seeking efficient ways to manage stormwater for many reasons, including flood control, pollution management, water supply augmentation and to prepare for a changing climate. Traditionally, cities have relied primarily on gray infrastructure, namely sewers, storage and treatment facilities. In these systems, urban runoff, its volume increasing as impervious surfaces expand, is channeled to a wastewater plant where it is mixed with raw sewage prior to treatment or it is discharged, generally untreated, to local water bodies. These facilities are inflexible and expensive to build and maintain. Many systems are deteriorating and/or approaching, if not exceeding, their design capacity. Increasingly, more innovative approaches that integrate stormwater management into the natural environment and that make sense at both local and regional scales are sought. Identifying the best stormwater solution will require evaluating the life-cycle economic costs associated with these alternatives, including costs associated with construction, operation, and maintenance including regulatory and permitting costs, financing, as well as other indirect costs (e.g., avoided wastewater processing or system capacity expansion, increased property value) and non-economic co-benefits (i.e, aesthetics, habitat provision). Beyond conventional life-cycle costing, applying life-cycle assessment (LCA) will contribute to more holistic and sustainable decision-making. LCA can be used to quantitatively track energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental effects associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining green and gray infrastructure, including supply chain contributions. We will present the current state of knowledge for implementing life-cycle costing and LCA into stormwater management decisions for green, gray and hybrid infrastructure.

  1. Significance of perceptually relevant image decolorization for scene classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viswanathan, Sowmya; Divakaran, Govind; Soman, Kutti Padanyl

    2017-11-01

    Color images contain luminance and chrominance components representing the intensity and color information, respectively. The objective of this paper is to show the significance of incorporating chrominance information to the task of scene classification. An improved color-to-grayscale image conversion algorithm that effectively incorporates chrominance information is proposed using the color-to-gray structure similarity index and singular value decomposition to improve the perceptual quality of the converted grayscale images. The experimental results based on an image quality assessment for image decolorization and its success rate (using the Cadik and COLOR250 datasets) show that the proposed image decolorization technique performs better than eight existing benchmark algorithms for image decolorization. In the second part of the paper, the effectiveness of incorporating the chrominance component for scene classification tasks is demonstrated using a deep belief network-based image classification system developed using dense scale-invariant feature transforms. The amount of chrominance information incorporated into the proposed image decolorization technique is confirmed with the improvement to the overall scene classification accuracy. Moreover, the overall scene classification performance improved by combining the models obtained using the proposed method and conventional decolorization methods.

  2. The Picture of Dorian Gray

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilde, Oscar

    2005-01-01

    On its first publication The Picture of Dorian Gray was regarded as dangerously modern in its depiction of fin-de-sicle decadence. In this updated version of the Faust story, the tempter is Lord Henry Wotton, who lives selfishly for amoral pleasure; Dorian's good angel is the portrait painter Basil

  3. A rapid automatic analyzer and its methodology for effective bentonite content based on image recognition technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Long

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Fast and accurate determination of effective bentonite content in used clay bonded sand is very important for selecting the correct mixing ratio and mixing process to obtain high-performance molding sand. Currently, the effective bentonite content is determined by testing the ethylene blue absorbed in used clay bonded sand, which is usually a manual operation with some disadvantages including complicated process, long testing time and low accuracy. A rapid automatic analyzer of the effective bentonite content in used clay bonded sand was developed based on image recognition technology. The instrument consists of auto stirring, auto liquid removal, auto titration, step-rotation and image acquisition components, and processor. The principle of the image recognition method is first to decompose the color images into three-channel gray images based on the photosensitive degree difference of the light blue and dark blue in the three channels of red, green and blue, then to make the gray values subtraction calculation and gray level transformation of the gray images, and finally, to extract the outer circle light blue halo and the inner circle blue spot and calculate their area ratio. The titration process can be judged to reach the end-point while the area ratio is higher than the setting value.

  4. Gray Zone Legislation and Activities: Evaluating the Orchestration of Convergence Within the Gray Zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-06-01

    The Agency and the Hill (Government Printing Office, 2008), 8. 16 Lowenthal, Intelligence . 17 Marshall Erwin, Covert Action: Legislative Background...military and intelligence activities within the Gray Zone and what directs their convergence. More specifically, the author analyzes the...determining convergence or divergence. In the end, classical military theory directs the convergence and divergence of military and intelligence activities

  5. A Voxel Based Morphometry Study of Brain Gray Matter Volumes in Juvenile Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayarajan, Rajan Nishanth; Agarwal, Sri Mahavir; Viswanath, Biju; Kalmady, Sunil V; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; Srinath, Shoba; Chandrashekar, C R; Janardhan Reddy, Y C

    2015-01-01

    Adult patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have been shown to have gray matter (GM) volume differences from healthy controls in multiple regions - the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial frontal gyri (MFG), striatum, thalamus, and superior parietal lobule. However, there is paucity of data with regard to juvenile OCD. Hence, we examined GM volume differences between juvenile OCD patients and matched healthy controls using voxel based morphometry (VBM) with the above apriori regions of interest. Fifteen right handed juvenile patients with OCD and age- sex- handedness- matched healthy controls were recruited after administering the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-KID and the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, and scanned using a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner. VBM methodology was followed. In comparison with healthy controls, patients had significantly smaller GM volumes in left ACC. YBOCS total score (current) showed significant negative correlation with GM volumes in bilateral OFC, and left superior parietal lobule. These findings while reiterating the important role of the orbito-fronto-striatal circuitry, also implicate in the parietal lobe - especially the superior parietal lobule as an important structure involved in the pathogenesis of OCD.

  6. Wave-splitting in the bistable Gray-Scott model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, K.E.; Mazin, W.; Mosekilde, Erik

    1996-01-01

    The Gray-Scott model describes a chemical reaction in which an activator species grows autocatalytically on a continuously fed substrate. For certain feed rates and activator life times the model shows the coexistence of two homogeneous steady states. The blue state, where the activator concentra......The Gray-Scott model describes a chemical reaction in which an activator species grows autocatalytically on a continuously fed substrate. For certain feed rates and activator life times the model shows the coexistence of two homogeneous steady states. The blue state, where the activator...

  7. AUTOMATIC MULTILEVEL IMAGE SEGMENTATION BASED ON FUZZY REASONING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang Tang

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available An automatic multilevel image segmentation method based on sup-star fuzzy reasoning (SSFR is presented. Using the well-known sup-star fuzzy reasoning technique, the proposed algorithm combines the global statistical information implied in the histogram with the local information represented by the fuzzy sets of gray-levels, and aggregates all the gray-levels into several classes characterized by the local maximum values of the histogram. The presented method has the merits of determining the number of the segmentation classes automatically, and avoiding to calculating thresholds of segmentation. Emulating and real image segmentation experiments demonstrate that the SSFR is effective.

  8. The weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model for arbitrary solution methods in radiative transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Modest, M.F.

    1991-01-01

    In this paper the weighted-sum-of-gray-gases approach for radiative transfer in non-gray participating media, first developed by Hottel in the context of the zonal method, has been shown to be applicable to the general radiative equation of transfer. Within the limits of the weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model (non-scattering media within a black-walled enclosure) any non-gray radiation problem can be solved by any desired solution method after replacing the medium by an equivalent small number of gray media with constant absorption coefficients. Some examples are presented for isothermal media and media at radiative equilibrium, using the exact integral equations as well as the popular P-1 approximation of the equivalent gray media solution. The results demonstrate the equivalency of the method with the quadrature of spectral results, as well as the tremendous computer times savings (by a minimum of 95%) which are achieved

  9. 76 FR 63824 - Research Area Within Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-14

    .... 070726412-1300-02] RIN 0648-AV88 Research Area Within Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary AGENCY: Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA... Administration (NOAA) is creating a research area within Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS, or...

  10. Ns-scaled time-gated fluorescence lifetime imaging for forensic document examination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Xin; Wang, Xinwei; Zhou, Yan

    2018-01-01

    A method of ns-scaled time-gated fluorescence lifetime imaging (TFLI) is proposed to distinguish different fluorescent substances in forensic document examination. Compared with Video Spectral Comparator (VSC) which can examine fluorescence intensity images only, TFLI can detect questioned documents like falsification or alteration. TFLI system can enhance weak signal by accumulation method. The two fluorescence intensity images of the interval delay time tg are acquired by ICCD and fitted into fluorescence lifetime image. The lifetimes of fluorescence substances are represented by different colors, which make it easy to detect the fluorescent substances and the sequence of handwritings. It proves that TFLI is a powerful tool for forensic document examination. Furthermore, the advantages of TFLI system are ns-scaled precision preservation and powerful capture capability.

  11. Unsupervised Performance Evaluation of Image Segmentation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chabrier Sebastien

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We present in this paper a study of unsupervised evaluation criteria that enable the quantification of the quality of an image segmentation result. These evaluation criteria compute some statistics for each region or class in a segmentation result. Such an evaluation criterion can be useful for different applications: the comparison of segmentation results, the automatic choice of the best fitted parameters of a segmentation method for a given image, or the definition of new segmentation methods by optimization. We first present the state of art of unsupervised evaluation, and then, we compare six unsupervised evaluation criteria. For this comparative study, we use a database composed of 8400 synthetic gray-level images segmented in four different ways. Vinet's measure (correct classification rate is used as an objective criterion to compare the behavior of the different criteria. Finally, we present the experimental results on the segmentation evaluation of a few gray-level natural images.

  12. A three-dimensional stereotaxic atlas of the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majka, Piotr; Chlodzinska, Natalia; Turlejski, Krzysztof; Banasik, Tomasz; Djavadian, Ruzanna L; Węglarz, Władysław P; Wójcik, Daniel K

    2018-05-01

    The gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) is a small marsupial gaining recognition as a laboratory animal in biomedical research. Despite numerous studies on opossum neuroanatomy, a consistent and comprehensive neuroanatomical reference for this species is still missing. Here we present the first three-dimensional, multimodal atlas of the Monodelphis opossum brain. It is based on four complementary imaging modalities: high resolution ex vivo magnetic resonance images, micro-computed tomography scans of the cranium, images of the face of the cutting block, and series of sections stained with the Nissl method and for myelinated fibers. Individual imaging modalities were reconstructed into a three-dimensional form and then registered to the MR image by means of affine and deformable registration routines. Based on a superimposition of the 3D images, 113 anatomical structures were demarcated and the volumes of individual regions were measured. The stereotaxic coordinate system was defined using a set of cranial landmarks: interaural line, bregma, and lambda, which allows for easy expression of any location within the brain with respect to the skull. The atlas is released under the Creative Commons license and available through various digital atlasing web services.

  13. Protective Effect of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA Allele DRB1*13:02 on Age-Related Brain Gray Matter Volume Reduction in Healthy Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa M. James

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Reduction of brain volume (brain atrophy during healthy brain aging is well documented and dependent on genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Here we investigated the possible dependence of brain gray matter volume reduction in the absence of the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA allele DRB1*13:02 which prevents brain atrophy in Gulf War Illness (James et al., 2017. Methods: Seventy-one cognitively healthy women (32–69 years old underwent a structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI scan to measure the volumes of total gray matter, cerebrocortical gray matter, and subcortical gray matter. Participants were assigned to two groups, depending on whether they lacked the DRB1*13:02 allele (No DRB1*13:02 group, N = 60 or carried the DRB1*13:02 allele (N = 11. We assessed the change of brain gray matter volume with age in each group by performing a linear regression where the brain volume (adjusted for total intracranial volume was the dependent variable and age was the independent variable. Findings: In the No DRB1*13:02 group, the volumes of total gray matter, cerebrocortical gray matter, and subcortical gray matter were reduced highly significantly. In contrast, none of these volumes showed a statistically significant reduction with age in the DRB1*13:02 group. Interpretation: These findings document the protective effect of DRB1*13:02 on age-dependent reduction of brain gray matter in healthy individuals. Since the role of this allele is to connect to matching epitopes of external antigens for the subsequent production of antibodies and elimination of the offending antigen, we hypothesize that its protective effect may be due to the successful elimination of such antigens to which we are exposed during the lifespan, antigens that otherwise would persist causing gradual brain atrophy. In addition, we consider a possible beneficial role of DRB1*13:02 attributed to its binding to cathepsin S, a known harmful substance in brain

  14. Multi-scale imaging and elastic simulation of carbonates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faisal, Titly Farhana; Awedalkarim, Ahmed; Jouini, Mohamed Soufiane; Jouiad, Mustapha; Chevalier, Sylvie; Sassi, Mohamed

    2016-05-01

    for this current unresolved phase is important. In this work we take a multi-scale imaging approach by first extracting a smaller 0.5" core and scanning at approx 13 µm, then further extracting a 5mm diameter core scanned at 5 μm. From this last scale, region of interests (containing unresolved areas) are identified for scanning at higher resolutions using Focalised Ion Beam (FIB/SEM) scanning technique reaching 50 nm resolution. Numerical simulation is run on such a small unresolved section to obtain a better estimate of the effective moduli which is then used as input for simulations performed using CT-images. Results are compared with expeirmental acoustic test moduli obtained also at two scales: 1.5" and 0.5" diameter cores.

  15. Tetrahedral gray code for visualization of genome information.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natsuhiro Ichinose

    Full Text Available We propose a tetrahedral Gray code that facilitates visualization of genome information on the surfaces of a tetrahedron, where the relative abundance of each [Formula: see text]-mer in the genomic sequence is represented by a color of the corresponding cell of a triangular lattice. For biological significance, the code is designed such that the [Formula: see text]-mers corresponding to any adjacent pair of cells differ from each other by only one nucleotide. We present a simple procedure to draw such a pattern on the development surfaces of a tetrahedron. The thus constructed tetrahedral Gray code can demonstrate evolutionary conservation and variation of the genome information of many organisms at a glance. We also apply the tetrahedral Gray code to the honey bee (Apis mellifera genome to analyze its methylation structure. The results indicate that the honey bee genome exhibits CpG overrepresentation in spite of its methylation ability and that two conserved motifs, CTCGAG and CGCGCG, in the unmethylated regions are responsible for the overrepresentation of CpG.

  16. Habitat selection and diurnal refugia of gray foxes in southwestern Georgia, USA.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas R Deuel

    Full Text Available Understanding habitat selection of gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus is essential to evaluate their potential response to changes in land use and predator communities. Few studies have evaluated temporal habitat selection or explicitly identified habitats used by gray foxes for diurnal refugia. We used GPS collars to obtain location data for 34 gray foxes (20 males and 14 females from February 2014 to December 2015 to evaluate temporal (seasonal and diel habitat selection and selection of diurnal refugia in southwestern Georgia, USA. We analyzed habitat selection at 2 levels, selection of a core area within the home range and selection of locations within the home range. Habitat selection was non-random (P 0.05. Hardwoods, human use (i.e., areas associated with regular human activity such as buildings, lawns, parking areas, etc., and roads were selected (P 0.05. Selection of habitats for diurnal refugia did not vary seasonally or by sex (P > 0.05, with foxes selecting (P < 0.05 areas near hardwood forests, roads, agriculture, human use, pastures/food plots, and shrub scrub habitats. Gray foxes were observed on the ground while resting, and we found no evidence of gray foxes diurnally resting in trees. Our results suggest that on our study area, gray foxes are an edge species that prefer forests with a hardwood component in areas near human use and roads.

  17. MULTI-SCALE SEGMENTATION OF HIGH RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING IMAGES BY INTEGRATING MULTIPLE FEATURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Di

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Most of multi-scale segmentation algorithms are not aiming at high resolution remote sensing images and have difficulty to communicate and use layers’ information. In view of them, we proposes a method of multi-scale segmentation of high resolution remote sensing images by integrating multiple features. First, Canny operator is used to extract edge information, and then band weighted distance function is built to obtain the edge weight. According to the criterion, the initial segmentation objects of color images can be gained by Kruskal minimum spanning tree algorithm. Finally segmentation images are got by the adaptive rule of Mumford–Shah region merging combination with spectral and texture information. The proposed method is evaluated precisely using analog images and ZY-3 satellite images through quantitative and qualitative analysis. The experimental results show that the multi-scale segmentation of high resolution remote sensing images by integrating multiple features outperformed the software eCognition fractal network evolution algorithm (highest-resolution network evolution that FNEA on the accuracy and slightly inferior to FNEA on the efficiency.

  18. 基于多尺度区间插值小波法的牛肉图像中大理石花纹分割%Application of multi-scale interval interpolation wavelet in beef image of marbling segmentation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    张彦娥; 魏颖慧; 梅树立; 朱梦婷

    2016-01-01

    The richness of the marbling in beef, as an important index of beef quality, can be used to characterize the beef fat content. In particular, the area ratio of marbling, big fat density, and small fat density are the main indicators for most existing beef grade determination. Researchers have investigated that computer vision and image processing is applicable to the automatic grading of beef marbling, and thus plays a great role in promoting the development of the beef industry. However, images may be polluted when experiencing acquisition, transmitting and other processing. Consequently, the quality of the images may be reduced, and thereby, more uncertainties emerge. Importantly, the texture of the beef marbling image becomes blurred and texture contour is not clear. It will further affect the subsequent procedures of texture segmentation and extraction. Therefore, it is necessary to use the de-noising method with better edge preserving property to keep the edge and texture information of the image. In this study, we aimed to use the method of multi-scale interval interpolation wavelet to de-noise images, and thereby to smooth the gray values to segment and extract the regions of beef muscle, large and small fat particles from the beef marbling image. Here, we used the method of multi-scale interval interpolation wavelet to solve the partial differential equation, thus to de-noise images. Specifically, from this method, the edge-preserving smoothing for different object area can be realized, so that the texture and edge of beef marble were made more clearly. In addition, in this method, we chose the external collocation points adaptively, thus the computational efficiency can be greatly improved. In particular, extension method based on Center Similarity Transformation can be used to solve the boundary effect effectively. Firstly, on the basis of the objective evaluation index of the image, the PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) mean value of the image de

  19. Focal Gray Matter Plasticity as a Function of Long Duration Bedrest: Preliminary Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koppelmans, V.; Erdeniz, B.; De Dios, Y. E.; Wood, S. J.; Reuter-Lorenz, P. A.; Kofman, I.; Bloomberg, J. J.; Mulavara, A. P.; Seidler, R. D.

    2014-01-01

    Long duration spaceflight (i.e., 22 days or longer) has been associated with changes in sensorimotor systems, resulting in difficulties that astronauts experience with posture control, locomotion, and manual control. It is unknown whether and how spaceflight impacts sensorimotor brain structure and function, and whether such changes may potentially underlie behavioral effects. Long duration head down tilt bed rest has been used repeatedly as an exclusionary analog to study microgravity effects on the sensorimotor system [1]. Bed rest mimics microgravity in body unloading and bodily fluid shifts. We are currently testing sensorimotor function, brain structure, and brain function pre and post a 70-day bed rest period. We will acquire the same measures on NASA crewmembers starting in 2014. Here we present the results of the first eight bed rest subjects. Subjects were assessed at 12 and 7 days before-, at 7, 30, and 70 days in-, and at 8 and 12 days post 70 days of bed rest at the NASA bed rest facility, UTMB, Galveston, TX, USA. At each time point structural MRI scans (i.e., high resolution T1-weighted imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)) were obtained using a 3T Siemens scanner. Focal changes over time in gray matter density were assessed using the voxel based morphometry 8 (VBM8) toolbox under SPM. Focal changes in white matter microstructural integrity were assessed using tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) as part of the FMRIB software library (FSL). TBSS registers all DTI scans to standard space. It subsequently creates a study specific white matter skeleton of the major white matter tracts. Non-parametric permutation based t-tests and ANOVA's were used for voxel-wise comparison of the skeletons. For both VBM and TBSS, comparison of the two pre bed rest measurements did not show significant differences. VBM analysis revealed decreased gray matter density in bilateral areas including the frontal medial cortex, the insular cortex and the caudate nucleus

  20. Computerized image analysis: estimation of breast density on mammograms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chuan; Chan, Heang-Ping; Petrick, Nicholas; Sahiner, Berkman; Helvie, Mark A.; Roubidoux, Marilyn A.; Hadjiiski, Lubomir M.; Goodsitt, Mitchell M.

    2000-06-01

    An automated image analysis tool is being developed for estimation of mammographic breast density, which may be useful for risk estimation or for monitoring breast density change in a prevention or intervention program. A mammogram is digitized using a laser scanner and the resolution is reduced to a pixel size of 0.8 mm X 0.8 mm. Breast density analysis is performed in three stages. First, the breast region is segmented from the surrounding background by an automated breast boundary-tracking algorithm. Second, an adaptive dynamic range compression technique is applied to the breast image to reduce the range of the gray level distribution in the low frequency background and to enhance the differences in the characteristic features of the gray level histogram for breasts of different densities. Third, rule-based classification is used to classify the breast images into several classes according to the characteristic features of their gray level histogram. For each image, a gray level threshold is automatically determined to segment the dense tissue from the breast region. The area of segmented dense tissue as a percentage of the breast area is then estimated. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the interobserver variation of breast density estimation by two experienced radiologists using BI-RADS lexicon. The radiologists' visually estimated percent breast densities were compared with the computer's calculation. The results demonstrate the feasibility of estimating mammographic breast density using computer vision techniques and its potential to improve the accuracy and reproducibility in comparison with the subjective visual assessment by radiologists.

  1. Evaluation of deep gray matter volume, cortical thickness and white matter integrity in patients with typical absence epilepsy: a study using voxelwise-based techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Correa, D.G.; Ventura, N.; Tukamoto, G.; Gasparetto, E.L. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Clinica de Diagnostico por Imagem (CDPI), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Zimmermann, N. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Department of Psychology, Porto Alegre (Brazil); Doring, T.M. [Clinica de Diagnostico por Imagem (CDPI), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Leme, J.; Pereira, M. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Andrea, I. d' ; Rego, C.; Alves-Leon, S.V. [Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

    2017-03-15

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the cortical thickness and the volume of deep gray matter structures, measured from 3D T1-weighted gradient echo imaging, and white matter integrity, by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with typical absence epilepsy (AE). Patients (n = 19) with typical childhood AE and juvenile AE, currently taking antiepileptic medication, were compared with control subjects (n = 19), matched for gender and age. 3D T1 magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo-weighted imaging and DTI along 30 noncolinear directions were performed using a 1.5-T MR scanner. FreeSurfer was used to perform cortical volumetric reconstruction and segmentation of deep gray matter structures. For tract-based spatial statistics analysis of DTI, a white matter skeleton was created, along with a permutation-based inference with 5000 permutations. A threshold of p < 0.05 was used to identify abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA). The mean, radial, and axial diffusivities were also projected onto the mean FA skeleton. Patients with AE presented decreased FA and increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity values in the genu and the body of the corpus callosum and right anterior corona radiata, as well as decreased axial diffusivity in the left posterior thalamic radiation, inferior cerebellar peduncle, right cerebral peduncle, and right corticospinal tract. However, there were no significant differences in cortical thickness or deep gray matter structure volumes between patients with AE and controls. Abnormalities found in white matter integrity may help to better understand the pathophysiology of AE and optimize diagnosis and treatment strategies. (orig.)

  2. Evaluation of deep gray matter volume, cortical thickness and white matter integrity in patients with typical absence epilepsy: a study using voxelwise-based techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Correa, D.G.; Ventura, N.; Tukamoto, G.; Gasparetto, E.L.; Zimmermann, N.; Doring, T.M.; Leme, J.; Pereira, M.; Andrea, I. d'; Rego, C.; Alves-Leon, S.V.

    2017-01-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the cortical thickness and the volume of deep gray matter structures, measured from 3D T1-weighted gradient echo imaging, and white matter integrity, by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with typical absence epilepsy (AE). Patients (n = 19) with typical childhood AE and juvenile AE, currently taking antiepileptic medication, were compared with control subjects (n = 19), matched for gender and age. 3D T1 magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo-weighted imaging and DTI along 30 noncolinear directions were performed using a 1.5-T MR scanner. FreeSurfer was used to perform cortical volumetric reconstruction and segmentation of deep gray matter structures. For tract-based spatial statistics analysis of DTI, a white matter skeleton was created, along with a permutation-based inference with 5000 permutations. A threshold of p < 0.05 was used to identify abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA). The mean, radial, and axial diffusivities were also projected onto the mean FA skeleton. Patients with AE presented decreased FA and increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity values in the genu and the body of the corpus callosum and right anterior corona radiata, as well as decreased axial diffusivity in the left posterior thalamic radiation, inferior cerebellar peduncle, right cerebral peduncle, and right corticospinal tract. However, there were no significant differences in cortical thickness or deep gray matter structure volumes between patients with AE and controls. Abnormalities found in white matter integrity may help to better understand the pathophysiology of AE and optimize diagnosis and treatment strategies. (orig.)

  3. DTI and VBM reveal white matter changes without associated gray matter changes in patients with idiopathic restless legs syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belke, Marcus; Heverhagen, Johannes T; Keil, Boris; Rosenow, Felix; Oertel, Wolfgang H; Stiasny-Kolster, Karin; Knake, Susanne; Menzler, Katja

    2015-01-01

    Background and Purpose We evaluated cerebral white and gray matter changes in patients with iRLS in order to shed light on the pathophysiology of this disease. Methods Twelve patients with iRLS were compared to 12 age- and sex-matched controls using whole-head diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) techniques. Evaluation of the DTI scans included the voxelwise analysis of the fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD). Results Diffusion tensor imaging revealed areas of altered FA in subcortical white matter bilaterally, mainly in temporal regions as well as in the right internal capsule, the pons, and the right cerebellum. These changes overlapped with changes in RD. Voxel-based morphometry did not reveal any gray matter alterations. Conclusions We showed altered diffusion properties in several white matter regions in patients with iRLS. White matter changes could mainly be attributed to changes in RD, a parameter thought to reflect altered myelination. Areas with altered white matter microstructure included areas in the internal capsule which include the corticospinal tract to the lower limbs, thereby supporting studies that suggest changes in sensorimotor pathways associated with RLS. PMID:26442748

  4. Auditory Short-Term Memory Capacity Correlates with Gray Matter Density in the Left Posterior STS in Cognitively Normal and Dyslexic Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, Fiona M.; Ramsden, Sue; Ellis, Caroline; Burnett, Stephanie; Megnin, Odette; Catmur, Caroline; Schofield, Tom M.; Leff, Alex P.; Price, Cathy J.

    2011-01-01

    A central feature of auditory STM is its item-limited processing capacity. We investigated whether auditory STM capacity correlated with regional gray and white matter in the structural MRI images from 74 healthy adults, 40 of whom had a prior diagnosis of developmental dyslexia whereas 34 had no history of any cognitive impairment. Using…

  5. Entorhinal cortex volume measured with 3T MRI is positively correlated with the Wechsler memory scale-revised logical/verbal memory score for healthy subjects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goto, Masami; Abe, Osamu; Takao, Hidemasa; Inano, Sachiko; Mori, Harushi; Kunimatsu, Akira; Ohtomo, Kuni; Miyati, Tosiaki; Yoshikawa, Takeharu; Hayashi, Naoto; Kabasawa, Hiroyuki; Aoki, Shigeki; Ino, Kenji; Iida, Kyouhito; Yano, Keiichi

    2011-01-01

    Previous studies revealed a correlation between local brain volume and cognitive function. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between local gray matter volume and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) logical/verbal memory (WMS-R-verbal) score in healthy adults using a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance scanner and voxel-based morphometry (VBM). T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were obtained in 1,169 healthy adults. The T1-weighted images in native space were bias-corrected, spatially normalized, and segmented into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid images with Statistical Parametric Mapping 5. To investigate regionally the specific effects of the WMS-R-verbal score on the gray matter images, simple regression analysis was performed by VBM treating age, total intracranial volume, and gender as confounding covariates. A P value of less than 0.05 corrected with false discovery rate in voxel difference was considered to be statistically significant. Our study showed a significant positive correlation between the WMS-R-verbal score and the bilateral entorhinal cortex volume. In the right entorhinal, T value is 4.75, and the size of the clusters is 155 voxels. In the left entorhinal, T value is 4.08, and the size of the clusters is 23 voxels. A significant negative correlation was not found. To our knowledge, this is the first VBM study showing that entorhinal cortex volume is positively correlated with the WMS-R-verbal score for healthy subjects. Therefore, in our structural neuroimaging study, we add evidence to the hypothesis that the entorhinal cortex is involved in verbal memory processing. (orig.)

  6. Entorhinal cortex volume measured with 3T MRI is positively correlated with the Wechsler memory scale-revised logical/verbal memory score for healthy subjects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goto, Masami [University of Tokyo Hospital, Department of Radiological Technology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan); Kanazawa University, Tsunomatyou, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa (Japan); Abe, Osamu; Takao, Hidemasa; Inano, Sachiko; Mori, Harushi; Kunimatsu, Akira; Ohtomo, Kuni [University of Tokyo Hospital, Department of Radiology, Tokyo (Japan); Miyati, Tosiaki [Kanazawa University, Tsunomatyou, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa (Japan); Yoshikawa, Takeharu; Hayashi, Naoto [University of Tokyo Hospital, Department of Computational Diagnostic Radiology and Preventive Medicine, Tokyo (Japan); Kabasawa, Hiroyuki [GE Healthcare, Japan Applied Science Laboratory, Hino (Japan); Aoki, Shigeki [Juntendo University, Department of Radiology, Tokyo (Japan); Ino, Kenji; Iida, Kyouhito; Yano, Keiichi [University of Tokyo Hospital, Department of Radiological Technology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan)

    2011-08-15

    Previous studies revealed a correlation between local brain volume and cognitive function. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between local gray matter volume and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) logical/verbal memory (WMS-R-verbal) score in healthy adults using a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance scanner and voxel-based morphometry (VBM). T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were obtained in 1,169 healthy adults. The T1-weighted images in native space were bias-corrected, spatially normalized, and segmented into gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid images with Statistical Parametric Mapping 5. To investigate regionally the specific effects of the WMS-R-verbal score on the gray matter images, simple regression analysis was performed by VBM treating age, total intracranial volume, and gender as confounding covariates. A P value of less than 0.05 corrected with false discovery rate in voxel difference was considered to be statistically significant. Our study showed a significant positive correlation between the WMS-R-verbal score and the bilateral entorhinal cortex volume. In the right entorhinal, T value is 4.75, and the size of the clusters is 155 voxels. In the left entorhinal, T value is 4.08, and the size of the clusters is 23 voxels. A significant negative correlation was not found. To our knowledge, this is the first VBM study showing that entorhinal cortex volume is positively correlated with the WMS-R-verbal score for healthy subjects. Therefore, in our structural neuroimaging study, we add evidence to the hypothesis that the entorhinal cortex is involved in verbal memory processing. (orig.)

  7. Development of a body image scale for Brazilian women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catiane Souza

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Body image is an important parameter of body satisfaction and needs to be evaluated with instruments developed and validated for a specific population. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale to assess body image in Brazilian women. A scale consisting of 11 silhouettes was prepared. Content validation was performed by seven experts from different health areas. To assess repeatability (two consecutive assessments and reproducibility (reassessment after one week, an intentional sample stratified into four groups according to the characterization of Brazilian women regarding nutritional status was selected. Participants were 125 women aged 18-55 years and body mass index (BMI between 18.5 and 38.6 kg/m2. The Kappa coefficient (k was used to assess repeatability and reproducibility, considering the isolated responses of the current body, ideal body and the difference between them, assumed as satisfactory when k≥0.6. For all trials, α=0.05. During the content validation phase, the instrument developed was changed following the evaluators’ suggestions and it was considered very suitable by six of seven evaluators. The Kappa coefficient was good in isolated issues and in the difference between them in both repeatability and reproducibility. The Body Image Scale was considered a valid content, with good repeatability and reproducibility. Considering the instrument as low cost and of rapid implementation/evaluation, it may be used to evaluate the body image of Brazilian women with BMI between 18.5 and 38.6 kg/m2, in different contexts.

  8. Semi-automated uranium analysis by a modified Davies--Gray procedure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swanson, G.C.

    1977-01-01

    To rapidly and reliably determine uranium in fuel materials a semi-automated implementation of the Davies-Gray uranium titration was developed. The Davies-Gray method is essentially a three step procedure. First uranium is reduced quantitatively from +6 valence to +4 valence by excess of iron (II) in strong phosphoric acid in the absence of nitrite. Prior to the uranium reduction nitrite is destroyed by addition of sulfamic acid. In the second step iron (II) is selectively oxidized to iron (III) by nitric acid in the presence of Mo (VI) catalyst. Finally after dilution to reduce phosphate concentration, the uranium is titrated to U (VI) by standard dichromate. The original sluggish colorimetric endpoint determination used by Davies and Gray is seldom used since New Brunswick Laboratory discovered that addition of vanadium (IV) just prior to titration sufficiently improves reaction rate to allow a potentiometric endpoint determination. One of the advantages of the Davies-Gray uranium titration is that it is quite specific for uranium, most common impurity elements do not interfere with the analysis, and specifically high levels of Pu, Th, and Fe are tolerated

  9. Improved Seam-Line Searching Algorithm for UAV Image Mosaic with Optical Flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Weilong; Guo, Bingxuan; Li, Ming; Liao, Xuan; Li, Wenzhuo

    2018-04-16

    Ghosting and seams are two major challenges in creating unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) image mosaic. In response to these problems, this paper proposes an improved method for UAV image seam-line searching. First, an image matching algorithm is used to extract and match the features of adjacent images, so that they can be transformed into the same coordinate system. Then, the gray scale difference, the gradient minimum, and the optical flow value of pixels in adjacent image overlapped area in a neighborhood are calculated, which can be applied to creating an energy function for seam-line searching. Based on that, an improved dynamic programming algorithm is proposed to search the optimal seam-lines to complete the UAV image mosaic. This algorithm adopts a more adaptive energy aggregation and traversal strategy, which can find a more ideal splicing path for adjacent UAV images and avoid the ground objects better. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the problems of ghosting and seams in the panoramic UAV images.

  10. A virtual image chain for perceived image quality of medical display

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchessoux, Cédric; Jung, Jürgen

    2006-03-01

    This paper describes a virtual image chain for medical display (project VICTOR: granted in the 5th framework program by European commission). The chain starts from raw data of an image digitizer (CR, DR) or synthetic patterns and covers image enhancement (MUSICA by Agfa) and both display possibilities, hardcopy (film on viewing box) and softcopy (monitor). Key feature of the chain is a complete image wise approach. A first prototype is implemented in an object-oriented software platform. The display chain consists of several modules. Raw images are either taken from scanners (CR-DR) or from a pattern generator, in which characteristics of DR- CR systems are introduced by their MTF and their dose-dependent Poisson noise. The image undergoes image enhancement and comes to display. For soft display, color and monochrome monitors are used in the simulation. The image is down-sampled. The non-linear response of a color monitor is taken into account by the GOG or S-curve model, whereas the Standard Gray-Scale-Display-Function (DICOM) is used for monochrome display. The MTF of the monitor is applied on the image in intensity levels. For hardcopy display, the combination of film, printer, lightbox and viewing condition is modeled. The image is up-sampled and the DICOM-GSDF or a Kanamori Look-Up-Table is applied. An anisotropic model for the MTF of the printer is applied on the image in intensity levels. The density-dependent color (XYZ) of the hardcopy film is introduced by Look-Up-tables. Finally a Human Visual System Model is applied to the intensity images (XYZ in terms of cd/m2) in order to eliminate nonvisible differences. Comparison leads to visible differences, which are quantified by higher order image quality metrics. A specific image viewer is used for the visualization of the intensity image and the visual difference maps.

  11. Image Correlation Pattern Optimization for Micro-Scale In-Situ Strain Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bomarito, G. F.; Hochhalter, J. D.; Cannon, A. H.

    2016-01-01

    The accuracy and precision of digital image correlation (DIC) is a function of three primary ingredients: image acquisition, image analysis, and the subject of the image. Development of the first two (i.e. image acquisition techniques and image correlation algorithms) has led to widespread use of DIC; however, fewer developments have been focused on the third ingredient. Typically, subjects of DIC images are mechanical specimens with either a natural surface pattern or a pattern applied to the surface. Research in the area of DIC patterns has primarily been aimed at identifying which surface patterns are best suited for DIC, by comparing patterns to each other. Because the easiest and most widespread methods of applying patterns have a high degree of randomness associated with them (e.g., airbrush, spray paint, particle decoration, etc.), less effort has been spent on exact construction of ideal patterns. With the development of patterning techniques such as microstamping and lithography, patterns can be applied to a specimen pixel by pixel from a patterned image. In these cases, especially because the patterns are reused many times, an optimal pattern is sought such that error introduced into DIC from the pattern is minimized. DIC consists of tracking the motion of an array of nodes from a reference image to a deformed image. Every pixel in the images has an associated intensity (grayscale) value, with discretization depending on the bit depth of the image. Because individual pixel matching by intensity value yields a non-unique scale-dependent problem, subsets around each node are used for identification. A correlation criteria is used to find the best match of a particular subset of a reference image within a deformed image. The reader is referred to references for enumerations of typical correlation criteria. As illustrated by Schreier and Sutton and Lu and Cary systematic errors can be introduced by representing the underlying deformation with under

  12. Perceptual distortion analysis of color image VQ-based coding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charrier, Christophe; Knoblauch, Kenneth; Cherifi, Hocine

    1997-04-01

    It is generally accepted that a RGB color image can be easily encoded by using a gray-scale compression technique on each of the three color planes. Such an approach, however, fails to take into account correlations existing between color planes and perceptual factors. We evaluated several linear and non-linear color spaces, some introduced by the CIE, compressed with the vector quantization technique for minimum perceptual distortion. To study these distortions, we measured contrast and luminance of the video framebuffer, to precisely control color. We then obtained psychophysical judgements to measure how well these methods work to minimize perceptual distortion in a variety of color space.

  13. Lack of gender effects on gray matter volumes in adolescent generalized anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Mei; Yang, Fan; Zhang, Yan; He, Zhong; Su, Linyan; Li, Lingjiang

    2014-02-01

    Previous epidemiological and clinical studies have reported gender differences in prevalence and clinical features of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Such gender differences in clinical phenomenology suggest that the underlying neural circuitry of GAD could also be different in males and females. This study aimed to explore the possible gender effect on gray matter volumes in adolescents with GAD. Twenty-six adolescent GAD patients and 25 healthy controls participated and underwent high-resolution structural magnetic resonance scans. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate gray matter alterations. Our study revealed a significant diagnosis main effect in the right putamen, with larger gray matter volumes in GAD patients compared to healthy controls, and a significant gender main effect in the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, with larger gray matter volumes in males compared to females. No gender-by-diagnosis interaction effect was found in this study. The relatively small sample size in this study might result in a lack of power to demonstrate gender effects on brain structure in GAD. The results suggested that there are differences in gray matter volumes between males and females, but gray matter volumes in GAD are not influenced by gender. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

  14. Large-Scale Multi-Resolution Representations for Accurate Interactive Image and Volume Operations

    KAUST Repository

    Sicat, Ronell B.

    2015-11-25

    The resolutions of acquired image and volume data are ever increasing. However, the resolutions of commodity display devices remain limited. This leads to an increasing gap between data and display resolutions. To bridge this gap, the standard approach is to employ output-sensitive operations on multi-resolution data representations. Output-sensitive operations facilitate interactive applications since their required computations are proportional only to the size of the data that is visible, i.e., the output, and not the full size of the input. Multi-resolution representations, such as image mipmaps, and volume octrees, are crucial in providing these operations direct access to any subset of the data at any resolution corresponding to the output. Despite its widespread use, this standard approach has some shortcomings in three important application areas, namely non-linear image operations, multi-resolution volume rendering, and large-scale image exploration. This dissertation presents new multi-resolution representations for large-scale images and volumes that address these shortcomings. Standard multi-resolution representations require low-pass pre-filtering for anti- aliasing. However, linear pre-filters do not commute with non-linear operations. This becomes problematic when applying non-linear operations directly to any coarse resolution levels in standard representations. Particularly, this leads to inaccurate output when applying non-linear image operations, e.g., color mapping and detail-aware filters, to multi-resolution images. Similarly, in multi-resolution volume rendering, this leads to inconsistency artifacts which manifest as erroneous differences in rendering outputs across resolution levels. To address these issues, we introduce the sparse pdf maps and sparse pdf volumes representations for large-scale images and volumes, respectively. These representations sparsely encode continuous probability density functions (pdfs) of multi-resolution pixel

  15. Multi-scale image segmentation method with visual saliency constraints and its application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yan; Yu, Jie; Sun, Kaimin

    2018-03-01

    Object-based image analysis method has many advantages over pixel-based methods, so it is one of the current research hotspots. It is very important to get the image objects by multi-scale image segmentation in order to carry out object-based image analysis. The current popular image segmentation methods mainly share the bottom-up segmentation principle, which is simple to realize and the object boundaries obtained are accurate. However, the macro statistical characteristics of the image areas are difficult to be taken into account, and fragmented segmentation (or over-segmentation) results are difficult to avoid. In addition, when it comes to information extraction, target recognition and other applications, image targets are not equally important, i.e., some specific targets or target groups with particular features worth more attention than the others. To avoid the problem of over-segmentation and highlight the targets of interest, this paper proposes a multi-scale image segmentation method with visually saliency graph constraints. Visual saliency theory and the typical feature extraction method are adopted to obtain the visual saliency information, especially the macroscopic information to be analyzed. The visual saliency information is used as a distribution map of homogeneity weight, where each pixel is given a weight. This weight acts as one of the merging constraints in the multi- scale image segmentation. As a result, pixels that macroscopically belong to the same object but are locally different can be more likely assigned to one same object. In addition, due to the constraint of visual saliency model, the constraint ability over local-macroscopic characteristics can be well controlled during the segmentation process based on different objects. These controls will improve the completeness of visually saliency areas in the segmentation results while diluting the controlling effect for non- saliency background areas. Experiments show that this method works

  16. Gray Matter Atrophy within the Default Mode Network of Fibromyalgia: A Meta-Analysis of Voxel-Based Morphometry Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chemin Lin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the years, studies have demonstrated morphological changes in the brain of fibromyalgia (FMS. We aimed to conduct a coordinate-based meta-analytic research through systemic review on voxel-based morphometry (VBM imaging results to identify consistent gray matter (GM difference between FMS patients and healthy subjects. We performed a comprehensive literature search in PubMed (January 2000–December 2015 and included six VBM publication on FMS. Stereotactic data were extracted from 180 patients of FMS and 123 healthy controls. By means of activation likelihood estimation (ALE technique, regional GM reduction in left medial prefrontal cortex and right dorsal posterior cingulate cortex was identified. Both regions are within the default mode network. In conclusion, the gray matter deficit is related to the both affective and nonaffective components of pain processing. This result also provided the neuroanatomical correlates for emotional and cognitive symptoms in FMS.

  17. Conventional vs  invert-grayscale X-ray for diagnosis of pneumothorax in the emergency setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musalar, Ekrem; Ekinci, Salih; Ünek, Orkun; Arş, Eda; Eren, Hakan Şevki; Gürses, Bengi; Aktaş, Can

    2017-09-01

    Pneumothorax is a pathologic condition in which air is accumulated between the visceral and parietal pleura. After clinical suspicion, in order to diagnose the severity of the condition, imaging is necessary. By using the help of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) direct conventional X-rays are converted to gray-scale and this has become a preferred method among many physicians. Our study design was a case-control study with cross-over design study. Posterior-anterior chest X-rays of patients were evaluated for pneumothorax by 10 expert physicians with at least 3years of experience and who have used inverted gray-scale posterior anterior chest X-ray for diagnosing pneumothorax. The study included posterior anterior chest X-ray images of 268 patients of which 106 were diagnosed with spontaneous pneumothorax and 162 patients used as a control group. The sensitivity of Digital-conventional X-rays was found to be higher than that of inverted gray-scale images (95% CI (2,08-5,04), ppneumothorax. Prospective studies should be performed where diagnostic potency of inverted gray-scale radiograms is tested against gold standard chest CT. Further research should compare inverted grayscale to lung ultrasound to assess them as alternatives prior to CT. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Default-mode network and deep gray-matter analysis in neuromyelitis optica patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rueda-Lopes, Fernanda C; Pessôa, Fernanda M C; Tukamoto, Gustavo; Malfetano, Fabíola Rachid; Scherpenhuijzen, Simone Batista; Alves-Leon, Soniza; Gasparetto, Emerson L

    2018-02-20

    The aim of our study was to detect functional changes in default-mode network of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance images and the evaluation of subcortical gray-matter structures volumes. NMO patients (n=28) and controls patients (n=19) were enrolled. We used the integrated registration and segmentation tool, part of FMRIB's Software Library (FSL) to segment subcortical structures including the thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, hippocampus and amygdalae. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance images were post-processed using the Multivariate Exploratory Linear Optimized Decomposition into Independent Components, also part of FSL. Average Z-values extracted from the default-mode network were compared between patients and controls using t-tests (P values default-mode network of patients compared to controls, notably in the precuneus and right hippocampus (corrected Pdefault-mode network. The hyperactivity of certain default-mode network areas may reflect cortical compensation for subtle structural damage in NMO patients. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  19. Regional brain gray and white matter changes in perinatally HIV-infected adolescents☆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarma, Manoj K.; Nagarajan, Rajakumar; Keller, Margaret A.; Kumar, Rajesh; Nielsen-Saines, Karin; Michalik, David E.; Deville, Jaime; Church, Joseph A.; Thomas, M. Albert

    2013-01-01

    Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy (ART), perinatally infected HIV remains a major health problem worldwide. Although advance neuroimaging studies have investigated structural brain changes in HIV-infected adults, regional gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume changes have not been reported in perinatally HIV-infected adolescents and young adults. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated regional GM and WM changes in 16 HIV-infected youths receiving ART (age 17.0 ± 2.9 years) compared with age-matched 14 healthy controls (age 16.3 ± 2.3 years) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based high-resolution T1-weighted images with voxel based morphometry (VBM) analyses. White matter atrophy appeared in perinatally HIV-infected youths in brain areas including the bilateral posterior corpus callosum (CC), bilateral external capsule, bilateral ventral temporal WM, mid cerebral peduncles, and basal pons over controls. Gray matter volume increase was observed in HIV-infected youths for several regions including the left superior frontal gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, gyrus rectus, right mid cingulum, parahippocampal gyrus, bilateral inferior temporal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus compared with controls. Global WM and GM volumes did not differ significantly between groups. These results indicate WM injury in perinatally HIV-infected youths, but the interpretation of the GM results, which appeared as increased regional volumes, is not clear. Further longitudinal studies are needed to clarify if our results represent active ongoing brain infection or toxicity from HIV treatment resulting in neuronal cell swelling and regional increased GM volume. Our findings suggest that assessment of regional GM and WM volume changes, based on VBM procedures, may be an additional measure to assess brain integrity in HIV-infected youths and to evaluate success of current ART therapy for efficacy in the brain. PMID:24380059

  20. Regional brain gray and white matter changes in perinatally HIV-infected adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manoj K. Sarma

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy (ART, perinatally infected HIV remains a major health problem worldwide. Although advance neuroimaging studies have investigated structural brain changes in HIV-infected adults, regional gray matter (GM and white matter (WM volume changes have not been reported in perinatally HIV-infected adolescents and young adults. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated regional GM and WM changes in 16 HIV-infected youths receiving ART (age 17.0 ± 2.9 years compared with age-matched 14 healthy controls (age 16.3 ± 2.3 years using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI-based high-resolution T1-weighted images with voxel based morphometry (VBM analyses. White matter atrophy appeared in perinatally HIV-infected youths in brain areas including the bilateral posterior corpus callosum (CC, bilateral external capsule, bilateral ventral temporal WM, mid cerebral peduncles, and basal pons over controls. Gray matter volume increase was observed in HIV-infected youths for several regions including the left superior frontal gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, gyrus rectus, right mid cingulum, parahippocampal gyrus, bilateral inferior temporal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus compared with controls. Global WM and GM volumes did not differ significantly between groups. These results indicate WM injury in perinatally HIV-infected youths, but the interpretation of the GM results, which appeared as increased regional volumes, is not clear. Further longitudinal studies are needed to clarify if our results represent active ongoing brain infection or toxicity from HIV treatment resulting in neuronal cell swelling and regional increased GM volume. Our findings suggest that assessment of regional GM and WM volume changes, based on VBM procedures, may be an additional measure to assess brain integrity in HIV-infected youths and to evaluate success of current ART therapy for efficacy in the brain.

  1. A new on-board imaging treatment technique for palliative and emergency treatments in radiation oncology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Held, Mareike

    2016-01-01

    This dissertation focuses on the use of on-board imaging systems as the basis for treatment planning, presenting an additional application for on-board images. A clinical workflow is developed to simulate, plan, and deliver a simple radiation oncology treatment rapidly, using 3D patient scans. The work focuses on an on-line dose planning and delivery process based on on-board images entirely performed with the patient set up on the treatment couch of the linear accelerator. This potentially reduces the time between patient simulation and treatment to about 30 minutes. The basis for correct dose calculation is the accurate image gray scale to tissue density calibration. The gray scale, which is defined in CT Numbers, is dependent on the energy spectrum of the beam. Therefore, an understanding of the physics characteristics of each on-board system is required to evaluate the impact on image quality, especially regarding the underlying cause of image noise, contrast, and non-uniformity. Modern on-board imaging systems, including kV and megavoltage (MV) cone beam (CB) CT as well as MV CT, are characterized in terms of image quality and stability. A library of phantom and patient CT images is used to evaluate the dose calculation accuracy for the on-board images. The dose calculation objective is to stay within 5% local dose differences compared to standard kV CT dose planning. The objective is met in many treatment cases. However, dose calculation accuracy depends on the anatomical treatment site. While on-board CT-based treatments of the head and extremities are predictable within 5% on all systems, lung tissue and air cavities may create local dose discrepancies of more than 5%. The image quality varies between the tested units. Consequently, the CT number-to-density calibration is defined independently for each system. In case of some imaging systems, the CT numbers of the images are dependent on the protocol used for on-board imaging, which defines the imaging dose

  2. A new on-board imaging treatment technique for palliative and emergency treatments in radiation oncology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Held, Mareike

    2016-03-23

    This dissertation focuses on the use of on-board imaging systems as the basis for treatment planning, presenting an additional application for on-board images. A clinical workflow is developed to simulate, plan, and deliver a simple radiation oncology treatment rapidly, using 3D patient scans. The work focuses on an on-line dose planning and delivery process based on on-board images entirely performed with the patient set up on the treatment couch of the linear accelerator. This potentially reduces the time between patient simulation and treatment to about 30 minutes. The basis for correct dose calculation is the accurate image gray scale to tissue density calibration. The gray scale, which is defined in CT Numbers, is dependent on the energy spectrum of the beam. Therefore, an understanding of the physics characteristics of each on-board system is required to evaluate the impact on image quality, especially regarding the underlying cause of image noise, contrast, and non-uniformity. Modern on-board imaging systems, including kV and megavoltage (MV) cone beam (CB) CT as well as MV CT, are characterized in terms of image quality and stability. A library of phantom and patient CT images is used to evaluate the dose calculation accuracy for the on-board images. The dose calculation objective is to stay within 5% local dose differences compared to standard kV CT dose planning. The objective is met in many treatment cases. However, dose calculation accuracy depends on the anatomical treatment site. While on-board CT-based treatments of the head and extremities are predictable within 5% on all systems, lung tissue and air cavities may create local dose discrepancies of more than 5%. The image quality varies between the tested units. Consequently, the CT number-to-density calibration is defined independently for each system. In case of some imaging systems, the CT numbers of the images are dependent on the protocol used for on-board imaging, which defines the imaging dose

  3. Multi-scale and multi-orientation medical image analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haar Romenij, ter B.M.; Deserno, T.M.

    2011-01-01

    Inspired by multi-scale and multi-orientation mechanisms recognized in the first stages of our visual system, this chapter gives a tutorial overview of the basic principles. Images are discrete, measured data. The optimal aperture for an observation with as little artefacts as possible, is derived

  4. The role of gray and white matter segmentation in quantitative proton MR spectroscopic imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tal, Assaf; Kirov, Ivan I; Grossman, Robert I; Gonen, Oded

    2012-12-01

    Since the brain's gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) metabolite concentrations differ, their partial volumes can vary the voxel's ¹H MR spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) signal, reducing sensitivity to changes. While single-voxel ¹H-MRS cannot differentiate between WM and GM signals, partial volume correction is feasible by MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) using segmentation of the MRI acquired for VOI placement. To determine the magnitude of this effect on metabolic quantification, we segmented a 1-mm³ resolution MRI into GM, WM and CSF masks that were co-registered with the MRSI grid to yield their partial volumes in approximately every 1 cm³ spectroscopic voxel. Each voxel then provided one equation with two unknowns: its i- metabolite's GM and WM concentrations C(i) (GM) , C(i) (WM) . With the voxels' GM and WM volumes as independent coefficients, the over-determined system of equations was solved for the global averaged C(i) (GM) and C(i) (WM) . Trading off local concentration differences offers three advantages: (i) higher sensitivity due to combined data from many voxels; (ii) improved specificity to WM versus GM changes; and (iii) reduced susceptibility to partial volume effects. These improvements made no additional demands on the protocol, measurement time or hardware. Applying this approach to 18 volunteered 3D MRSI sets of 480 voxels each yielded N-acetylaspartate, creatine, choline and myo-inositol C(i) (GM) concentrations of 8.5 ± 0.7, 6.9 ± 0.6, 1.2 ± 0.2, 5.3 ± 0.6 mM, respectively, and C(i) (WM) concentrations of 7.7 ± 0.6, 4.9 ± 0.5, 1.4 ± 0.1 and 4.4 ± 0.6mM, respectively. We showed that unaccounted voxel WM or GM partial volume can vary absolute quantification by 5-10% (more for ratios), which can often double the sample size required to establish statistical significance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. Accuracy of Gray-scale and Three-dimensional Power Doppler ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    and Gynecology, Ahmadi Kuwait Oil Company Hospital, Ahmadi, Kuwait ... Subjects and Methods: Fifty pregnant women ≥28 weeks' gestation with suspected MAP were ... and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as the author is credited and the ... 3D power Doppler images were analyzed using virtual organ.

  6. A special designed library for medical imaging applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lymberopoulos, D.; Kotsopoulos, S.; Zoupas, V.; Yoldassis, N.; Spyropoulos, C.

    1994-01-01

    The present paper deals with a sophisticated and flexible library of medical purpose image processing routines. It contains modules for simple as well as advanced gray or colour image processing. This library offers powerful features for medical image processing and analysis applications, thus providing the physician with a means of analyzing and estimating medical images in order to accomplish their diagnostic procedures

  7. Statistical-techniques-based computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) using texture feature analysis: application in computed tomography (CT) imaging to fatty liver disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, Woon-Kwan; Park, Hyong-Hu; Im, In-Chul; Lee, Jae-Seung; Goo, Eun-Hoe; Dong, Kyung-Rae

    2012-01-01

    This paper proposes a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system based on texture feature analysis and statistical wavelet transformation technology to diagnose fatty liver disease with computed tomography (CT) imaging. In the target image, a wavelet transformation was performed for each lesion area to set the region of analysis (ROA, window size: 50 x 50 pixels) and define the texture feature of a pixel. Based on the extracted texture feature values, six parameters (average gray level, average contrast, relative smoothness, skewness, uniformity, and entropy) were determined to calculate the recognition rate for a fatty liver. In addition, a multivariate analysis of the variance (MANOVA) method was used to perform a discriminant analysis to verify the significance of the extracted texture feature values and the recognition rate for a fatty liver. According to the results, each texture feature value was significant for a comparison of the recognition rate for a fatty liver (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the F-value, which was used as a scale for the difference in recognition rates, was highest in the average gray level, relatively high in the skewness and the entropy, and relatively low in the uniformity, the relative smoothness and the average contrast. The recognition rate for a fatty liver had the same scale as that for the F-value, showing 100% (average gray level) at the maximum and 80% (average contrast) at the minimum. Therefore, the recognition rate is believed to be a useful clinical value for the automatic detection and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) using the texture feature value. Nevertheless, further study on various diseases and singular diseases will be needed in the future.

  8. Gray's BIS/BAS dimensions in non-comorbid, non-medicated social anxiety disorder.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morgan, B.E.; Honk, J. van; Hermans, E.J.; Scholten, M.R.; Stein, D.J.; Kahn, R.S.

    2009-01-01

    Gray's behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation (BIS/BAS) neural systems model has led to research on approach and withdrawal as the two most fundamental dimensions of affective behaviour, and their role in psychopathology. Although Gray proposed the BIS as the neurological basis of

  9. A Novel Approach of Cardiac Segmentation In CT Image Based On Spline Interpolation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Yuan; Ma Pengcheng

    2011-01-01

    Organ segmentation in CT images is the basis of organ model reconstruction, thus precisely detecting and extracting the organ boundary are keys for reconstruction. In CT image the cardiac are often adjacent to the surrounding tissues and gray gradient between them is too slight, which cause the difficulty of applying classical segmentation method. We proposed a novel algorithm for cardiac segmentation in CT images in this paper, which combines the gray gradient methods and the B-spline interpolation. This algorithm can perfectly detect the boundaries of cardiac, at the same time it could well keep the timeliness because of the automatic processing.

  10. 76 FR 78240 - Gray Portland Cement and Clinker From Japan: Continuation of Antidumping Duty Order

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [A-588-815] Gray Portland Cement and... Department) initiated the third sunset review of the antidumping duty order on gray portland cement and... of the antidumping duty order on gray portland cement and clinker from Japan would likely lead to...

  11. Gray divorce: Explaining midlife marital splits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowley, Jocelyn Elise

    2017-12-06

    Recent research suggests that one out of every four divorces in the United States is now "gray," meaning that at least one half of the couple has reached the age of 50 when the marriage breaks down. To understand why this age group-the Baby Boomer generation-is splitting up, this study conducted 40 in-depth, semistructured interviews with men and 40 with women who have experienced a gray divorce in their lifetimes. Respondents' beliefs in an expressive individualistic model of marriage, where partnerships are only valuable if they help individuals achieve personal growth, were compared against their potential adherence to what I call a commitment-based model of marriage, where binding, romantic love holds couples together unless there is severe relationship strain. The results demonstrated that the commitment-based model most strongly governs marriage and the decision to divorce among Baby Boomers for both sexes, although some specific reasons for divorce differ for men and women.

  12. Relationship between personality and gray matter volume in healthy young adults: a voxel-based morphometric study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fengmei Lu

    Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the neurostructural foundations of the human personality in young adults. High-resolution structural T1-weighted MR images of 71 healthy young individuals were processed using voxel-based morphometric (VBM approach. Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify the associations between personality traits and gray matter volume (GMV. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised, Short Scale for Chinese was chosen to assess the personality traits. This scale includes four dimensions, namely, extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and lie. Particularly, we studied on two dimensions (extraversion and neuroticism of Eysenck's personality. Our results showed that extraversion was negatively correlated with GMV of the bilateral amygdala, the bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, the right middle temporal gyrus, and the left superior frontal gyrus, all of which are involved in emotional and social cognitive processes. These results might suggest an association between extraversion and affective processing. In addition, a positive correlation was detected between neuroticism and GMV of the right cerebellum, a key brain region for negative affect coordination. Meanwhile, a negative association was revealed between GMV of the left superior frontal gyrus and neuroticism. These results may prove that neuroticism is related to several brain regions involved in regulating negative emotions. Based on those findings, we concluded that brain regions involved in social cognition and affective process accounted for modulation and shaping of personality traits among young individuals. Results of this study may serve as a basis for elucidating the anatomical factors of personality.

  13. Albinism in the Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) and other owls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pentti Alaja; Heimo Mikkola

    1997-01-01

    An incomplete albino Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) was observed in Vesanto and Kajaani, Finland, 1994-1995. The literature pertaining to albinism in owls indicates that total and incomplete albinism has only been reported in 13 different owl species, the Great Gray Owl being the only species with more than five records. Thus six to seven incomplete...

  14. Non-gray gas radiation effect on mixed convection in lid driven square cavity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cherifi, Mohammed, E-mail: production1998@yahoo.fr; Benbrik, Abderrahmane, E-mail: abenbrik@umbb.dz; Laouar-Meftah, Siham, E-mail: laouarmeftah@gmail.com [M’Hamed Bougara University, Faculty of Hydrocarbons and Chemistry, 35000 Boumerdes (Algeria); Lemonnier, Denis, E-mail: denis.lemonnier@ensma.fr [Institut Pprime, CNRS, ENSMA, University of Poitiers, Poitiers Futuroscope (France)

    2016-06-02

    A numerical study is performed to investigate the effect of non-gray radiation on mixed convection in a vertical two sided lid driven square cavity filled with air-H{sub 2}O-CO{sub 2} gas mixture. The vertical moving walls of the enclosure are maintained at two different but uniform temperatures. The horizontal walls are thermally insulated and considered as adiabatic walls. The governing differential equations are solved by a finite-volume method and the SIMPLE algorithm was adopted to solve the pressure–velocity coupling. The radiative transfer equation (RTE) is solved by the discrete ordinates method (DOM). The spectral line weighted sum of gray gases model (SLW) is used to account for non-gray radiation properties. Simulations are performed in configurations where thermal and shear forces induce cooperating buoyancy forces. Streamlines, isotherms, and Nusselt number are analyzed for three different values of Richardson’s number (from 0.1 to 10) and by considering three different medium (transparent medium, gray medium using the Planck mean absorption coefficient, and non-gray medium assumption).

  15. Tile-Based Semisupervised Classification of Large-Scale VHR Remote Sensing Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haikel Alhichri

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the problem of the classification of large-scale very high-resolution (VHR remote sensing (RS images in a semisupervised scenario, where we have a limited training set (less than ten training samples per class. Typical pixel-based classification methods are unfeasible for large-scale VHR images. Thus, as a practical and efficient solution, we propose to subdivide the large image into a grid of tiles and then classify the tiles instead of classifying pixels. Our proposed method uses the power of a pretrained convolutional neural network (CNN to first extract descriptive features from each tile. Next, a neural network classifier (composed of 2 fully connected layers is trained in a semisupervised fashion and used to classify all remaining tiles in the image. This basically presents a coarse classification of the image, which is sufficient for many RS application. The second contribution deals with the employment of the semisupervised learning to improve the classification accuracy. We present a novel semisupervised approach which exploits both the spectral and spatial relationships embedded in the remaining unlabelled tiles. In particular, we embed a spectral graph Laplacian in the hidden layer of the neural network. In addition, we apply regularization of the output labels using a spatial graph Laplacian and the random Walker algorithm. Experimental results obtained by testing the method on two large-scale images acquired by the IKONOS2 sensor reveal promising capabilities of this method in terms of classification accuracy even with less than ten training samples per class.

  16. Linked alterations in gray and white matter morphology in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: A multimodal brain imaging study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takashi Itahashi

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Growing evidence suggests that a broad range of behavioral anomalies in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD can be linked with morphological and functional alterations in the brain. However, the neuroanatomical underpinnings of ASD have been investigated using either structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI or diffusion tensor imaging (DTI, and the relationships between abnormalities revealed by these two modalities remain unclear. This study applied a multimodal data-fusion method, known as linked independent component analysis (ICA, to a set of structural MRI and DTI data acquired from 46 adult males with ASD and 46 matched controls in order to elucidate associations between different aspects of atypical neuroanatomy of ASD. Linked ICA identified two composite components that showed significant between-group differences, one of which was significantly correlated with age. In the other component, participants with ASD showed decreased gray matter (GM volumes in multiple regions, including the bilateral fusiform gyri, bilateral orbitofrontal cortices, and bilateral pre- and post-central gyri. These GM changes were linked with a pattern of decreased fractional anisotropy (FA in several white matter tracts, such as the bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculi, bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi, and bilateral corticospinal tracts. Furthermore, unimodal analysis for DTI data revealed significant reductions of FA along with increased mean diffusivity in those tracts for ASD, providing further evidence of disrupted anatomical connectivity. Taken together, our findings suggest that, in ASD, alterations in different aspects of brain morphology may co-occur in specific brain networks, providing a comprehensive view for understanding the neuroanatomy of this disorder.

  17. Correspondence Between Aberrant Intrinsic Network Connectivity and Gray-Matter Volume in the Ventral Brain of Preterm Born Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bäuml, Josef G; Daamen, Marcel; Meng, Chun; Neitzel, Julia; Scheef, Lukas; Jaekel, Julia; Busch, Barbara; Baumann, Nicole; Bartmann, Peter; Wolke, Dieter; Boecker, Henning; Wohlschläger, Afra M; Sorg, Christian

    2015-11-01

    Widespread brain changes are present in preterm born infants, adolescents, and even adults. While neurobiological models of prematurity facilitate powerful explanations for the adverse effects of preterm birth on the developing brain at microscale, convincing linking principles at large-scale level to explain the widespread nature of brain changes are still missing. We investigated effects of preterm birth on the brain's large-scale intrinsic networks and their relation to brain structure in preterm born adults. In 95 preterm and 83 full-term born adults, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging at-rest was used to analyze both voxel-based morphometry and spatial patterns of functional connectivity in ongoing blood oxygenation level-dependent activity. Differences in intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) were found in cortical and subcortical networks. Structural differences were located in subcortical, temporal, and cingulate areas. Critically, for preterm born adults, iFC-network differences were overlapping and correlating with aberrant regional gray-matter (GM) volume specifically in subcortical and temporal areas. Overlapping changes were predicted by prematurity and in particular by neonatal medical complications. These results provide evidence that preterm birth has long-lasting effects on functional connectivity of intrinsic networks, and these changes are specifically related to structural alterations in ventral brain GM. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. Self-scaling minority carrier lifetime imaging using periodically modulated electroluminescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kropp, Timo; Berner, Marcel; Werner, Jürgen H.

    2017-11-01

    We present a straightforward self-scaling imaging technique to extract the effective minority carrier lifetime image of silicon solar cells using periodically modulated electroluminescence. This novel modulation technique overcomes main limiting factors linked to camera integration time. Our approach is based on comparing three luminescence images taken during current modulation. One image is taken while periodically injecting excess charge carriers with a pulsed current stimulation followed by an open-circuit luminescence decay. A second image with the same injection profile is taken while additionally extracting excess charge carriers at the falling edge, accelerating the luminescence decay. Both images are normalized to a steady-state image. The camera integration time is several orders of magnitude longer than the modulation period length, and no synchronization of image acquisition is needed. The intensity difference between both modulated images is used for determining a calibration factor to convert the steady-state image into the effective minority carrier lifetime image: Our modulation method enables carrier lifetime images completely independent of the image integration time. First carrier lifetime images show good agreement with data from time resolved electroluminescence.

  19. Gray matter changes in right superior temporal gyrus in criminal psychopaths. Evidence from voxel-based morphometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Jürgen L; Gänssbauer, Susanne; Sommer, Monika; Döhnel, Katrin; Weber, Tatjana; Schmidt-Wilcke, Tobias; Hajak, Göran

    2008-08-30

    "Psychopathy" according to the PCL-R describes a specific subgroup of antisocial personality disorder with a high risk for criminal relapses. Lesion and imaging studies point towards frontal or temporal brain regions connected with disturbed social behavior, antisocial personality disorder (APD) and psychopathy. Morphologically, some studies described a reduced prefrontal brain volume, whereas others reported on temporal lobe atrophy. To further investigate whether participants with psychopathy according to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised Version (PCL-R) show abnormalities in brain structure, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate region-specific changes in gray matter in 17 forensic male inpatients with high PCL-R scores (PCL-R>28) and 17 male control subjects with low PCL-R scores (PCLright superior temporal gyrus. This is the first study to show that psychopathy is associated with a decrease in gray matter in both frontal and temporal brain regions, in particular in the right superior temporal gyrus, supporting the hypothesis that a disturbed frontotemporal network is critically involved in the pathogenesis of psychopathy.

  20. Exposing asymmetric gray matter vulnerability in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Matthew S; Pannek, Kerstin; Coulthard, Alan; McCombe, Pamela A; Rose, Stephen E; Henderson, Robert D

    2015-01-01

    Limb weakness in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is typically asymmetric. Previous studies have identified an effect of limb dominance on onset and spread of weakness, however relative atrophy of dominant and non-dominant brain regions has not been investigated. Our objective was to use voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to explore gray matter (GM) asymmetry in ALS, in the context of limb dominance. 30 ALS subjects were matched with 17 healthy controls. All subjects were right-handed. Each underwent a structural MRI sequence, from which GM segmentations were generated. Patterns of GM atrophy were assessed in ALS subjects with first weakness in a right-sided limb (n = 15) or left-sided limb (n = 15). Within each group, a voxelwise comparison was also performed between native and mirror GM images, to identify regions of hemispheric GM asymmetry. Subjects with ALS showed disproportionate atrophy of the dominant (left) motor cortex hand area, irrespective of the side of first limb weakness (p protocol, contrasting native and mirror images, was able to more sensitively detect asymmetric GM pathology in a small cohort, compared with standard methods. These findings indicate particular vulnerability of dominant upper limb representation in ALS, supporting previous clinical studies, and with implications for cortical organisation and selective vulnerability.