86,829 research outputs found

    3D measurements in conventional X-ray imaging with RGB-D sensors

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    [EN] A method for deriving 3D internal information in conventional X-ray settings is presented. It is based on the combination of a pair of radiographs from a patient and it avoids the use of X-ray-opaque fiducials and external reference structures. To achieve this goal, we augment an ordinary X-ray device with a consumer RGB-D camera. The patient' s rotation around the craniocaudal axis is tracked relative to this camera thanks to the depth information provided and the application of a modern surface-mapping algorithm. The measured spatial information is then translated to the reference frame of the X-ray imaging system. By using the intrinsic parameters of the diagnostic equipment, epipolar geometry, and X-ray images of the patient at different angles, 3D internal positions can be obtained. Both the RGB-D and Xray instruments are first geometrically calibrated to find their joint spatial transformation. The proposed method is applied to three rotating phantoms. The first two consist of an anthropomorphic head and a torso, which are filled with spherical lead bearings at precise locations. The third one is made of simple foam and has metal needles of several known lengths embedded in it. The results show that it is possible to resolve anatomical positions and lengths with a millimetric level of precision. With the proposed approach, internal 3D reconstructed coordinates and distances can be provided to the physician. It also contributes to reducing the invasiveness of ordinary X-ray environments and can replace other types of clinical explorations that are mainly aimed at measuring or geometrically relating elements that are present inside the patient's body.(C) 2017 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors would like to thank the Radiation Oncology Department of the Physics Section at La Fe Hospital for the anthropomorphic phantom used in this work and Jose Manuel Monserrate (Instituto de Física Corpuscular) for his contribution in the development of the calibration frame shown in Fig. 3. This research has the support of Information Storage S.L., University of Valencia (grant CPI-15-170), CSD-2007-00042 Con solider Ingenio CPAN (grant CPAN-13TR01), IFIC (Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence SEV20140398) as well as the support of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Tourism (grant TSI1001012013019).Albiol Colomer, F.; Corbi, A.; Albiol Colomer, A. (2017). 3D measurements in conventional X-ray imaging with RGB-D sensors. Medical Engineering & Physics. 42:73-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medengphy.2017.01.024S73794

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Monitoring pollution to protect vulnerable people in outdoor environment

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    Slow Onset Disasters (SLODs), especially air pollution, have a severe negative effect on residents’ lives, especially the vulnerable groups. Therefore, constant measurement of air quality factors and Particular Matters (PMs) can help take precautionary actions and mitigate the disease risks. PMs are conventionally measured by stationary monitors, which are not homogeneously distributed. Therefore, this research aims to propose a personal portable PM measuring device installed in multiple urban locations to record real-time data on PM concentration and monitor the air quality measures efficiently. The area near the department of Architecture, Built environment and Construction Engineering of Politecnico di Milano was selected as a case study

    X-ray imaging virtual online laboratory for engineering undergraduates

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    Distance learning engineering students (as well as those in face-to-face settings) should acquire a basic background in radiation-matter interaction physics (usually in the first semesters). Some students in this group may feel some degree of aversion towards these types of pure science-related subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc). In online learning scenarios, the average student is already an adult (37 years old or above) and may see no particular application of the aforementioned courses in their current or future professional life. Besides this, online institutions tend to lean too much on applet-based simulations. Although they may shed some light on the theory associated with the studied physical processes, these animated and interactive examples also seem to be ' stripped down' versions of the real events, and are felt to be disconnected from current scientific environments and engineering settings. For this reason, we describe a novel virtual lab approach to teach the basics of the low-energy interactions present in average x-ray settings. It combines real scientific simulation frameworks with modern computing techniques such as virtualization, cloud infrastructures, containers, networking and shared collaboration environments. It also fosters the use of hugely demanded development tools and programming languages and addresses the fundamentals of digital radiography and the linked electronic standards for image storage and transmission. With this mixed approach, blending scientific concepts, healthcare and state-of-the-art software solutions, our virtual labs have proven (over a period of five academic terms) to be both very attractive to and pedagogically successful (technically, and scientifically) for online engineering undergraduates. For the sake of completeness, we also propose a hands-on activity that mimics the geometrical peculiarities of x-ray rooms with the help of visible light and cheap materials.Peer reviewe

    Geometrical Calibration of X-Ray Imaging With RGB Cameras for 3D Reconstruction

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    (c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.We present a methodology to recover the geometrical calibration of conventional X-ray settings with the help of an ordinary video camera and visible fiducials that are present in the scene. After calibration, equivalent points of interest can be easily identifiable with the help of the epipolar geometry. The same procedure also allows the measurement of real anatomic lengths and angles and obtains accurate 3D locations from image points. Our approach completely eliminates the need for X-ray-opaque reference marks (and necessary supporting frames) which can sometimes be invasive for the patient, occlude the radiographic picture, and end up projected outside the imaging sensor area in oblique protocols. Two possible frameworks are envisioned: a spatially shifting X-ray anode around the patient/object and a moving patient that moves/rotates while the imaging system remains fixed. As a proof of concept, experiences with a device under test (DUT), an anthropomorphic phantom and a real brachytherapy session have been carried out. The results show that it is possible to identify common points with a proper level of accuracy and retrieve three-dimensional locations, lengths and shapes with a millimetric level of precision. The presented approach is simple and compatible with both current and legacy widespread diagnostic X-ray imaging deployments and it can represent a good and inexpensive alternative to other radiological modalities like CT.This work was carried out with the support of Information Storage S.L., University of Valencia (grant #CPI-15-170), CSD2007-00042 Consolider Ingenio CPAN (grant #CPAN13-TR01) as well as with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (Grant TSI-100101-2013-019).Albiol Colomer, F.; Corbi, A.; Albiol Colomer, A. (2016). Geometrical Calibration of X-Ray Imaging With RGB Cameras for 3D Reconstruction. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. 35(8):1952-1961. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMI.2016.2540929S1952196135

    [Newspaper Clipping: Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin #1]

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    Newspaper article titled "Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin." The article states that author Richard J. Whalen concluded "that there is circumstantial evidence to support the theory of a second assassin in the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.

    Also By The Same Author: AKTiveAuthor, a Citation Graph Approach to Name Disambiguation

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    The desire for definitive data and the semantic web drive for inference over heterogeneous data sources requires co-reference resolution to be performed on those data. In particular, name disambiguation is required to allow accurate publication lists, citation counts and impact measures to be determined. This paper describes a graph-based approach to author disambiguation on large-scale citation networks. Using self-citation, co-authorship and document source analyses, AKTiveAuthor clusters papers, achieving precision of 0.997 and recall of 0.818 over a test group of eight surname clusters

    John F. Kennedy telegram to Roosevelt

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    Jersey Homesteads (later the Borough of Roosevelt) was established in the 1930s as an agro-industrial cooperative community. It was established specifically for urban Jewish garment workers, many of whom had emigrated from Europe. President John F. Kennedy sent a telegram to the citizens of Roosevelt, New Jersey, apologizing for not being able to attend the memorial dedication in honor of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (Jersey Homesteads became Roosevelt in 1945 in honor of the president.) President Kennedy expressed his gratitude to the people of Roosevelt for constructing the memorial, and commented that it will serve as a constant reminder of Roosevelt's good works

    Logarithmic variance profiles and the corresponding f-1 spectra of temperature fluctuations in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

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    We report experimental results for the temperature variance 2(z) and the corresponding frequency spectra P(f) in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RBC) in a cylindrical sample of aspect ratioT= D/L = 1:00 (D = 1:12 m is the diameter and L = 1:12 m the height). The measurements were conducted in the Rayleigh-number range 1011 < Ra < 1:35 1014 and Pr ' 0:8. For Ra = 1:35x1014, 2(z) could be described well by a logarithmic dependence on the vertical position z in a range of z 1 < z < z 2 with z 1 ' 70 and z 2 = 0:1L. Here L=(2Nu) is the thickness of a thin thermal sublayer adjacent to the horizontal plate where the heat flux (denoted by the Nusselt number Nu) is carried mostly by thermal diffusion. In the log layer, we found that the temperature spectra had a significant frequency range over which P(f) f with close to 1. As Ra decreased, increased so that the log layer became thinner. At Ra = 2:05 1011, z 2 < z 1 and therefore there was no range for a log layer. Correspondingly, the temperature spectrum near the horizontal plate did not have the f1 scaling form either

    Maine author Franklin F. Gould recalls his first glimpse of the outside world

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    Maine author Franklin F. Gould recalls his first glimpse of the outside world as he relates how, as a young farm boy in the late 1800\u27s, he drove his father\u27s horses on an errand to an icebound river
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