Search results for " processing"
showing 10 items of 7549 documents
Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of iNOS expression in human chondrocytes
2009
Chondrocytes are important for the development and maintenance of articular cartilage. However, both in osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) chondrocytes are involved in the process of cartilage degradation and synthesize important immunomodulatory mediators, including nitric oxide (NO) generated by the inducible NO synthase (iNOS). To uncover the role of iNOS in the pathomechanisms of OA and RA, we analyzed the regulation of iNOS expression using immortalized human chondrocytes as a reproducible model. In C-28/I2 chondrocytes, iNOS expression was associated with the expression of the chondrocyte phenotype. Peak induction by a cytokine cocktail occurred between 6 and 8h and dec…
Cartoon filter via adaptive abstraction
2016
We propose a non-parametric methodology to realize abstraction images.The redundant wavelet "a trous" algorithm is applied for details detection.An multi-scale circular median filter is used as a smoothing filter.The proposed algorithm is simple and fast on low-cost entry-level hardware. Abstraction in computer graphics defines a procedure that discriminates the essential information that is worth keeping. Usually details, that correspond to higher frequency components, allow to distinguish otherwise similar images. Vice versa, low frequencies are related to the main information, which are larger structures. Contours themselves may also be identified by high frequencies and separate each pi…
Rethinking the sGLOH Descriptor
2018
sGLOH (shifting GLOH) is a histogram-based keypoint descriptor that can be associated to multiple quantized rotations of the keypoint patch without any recomputation. This property can be exploited to define the best distance between two descriptor vectors, thus avoiding computing the dominant orientation. In addition, sGLOH can reject incongruous correspondences by adding a global constraint on the rotations either as an a priori knowledge or based on the data. This paper thoroughly reconsiders sGLOH and improves it in terms of robustness, speed and descriptor dimension. The revised sGLOH embeds more quantized rotations, thus yielding more correct matches. A novel fast matching scheme is a…
Case-Sensitivity of Classifiers for WSD: Complex Systems Disambiguate Tough Words Better
2007
We present a novel method for improving disambiguation accuracy by building an optimal ensemble (OE) of systems where we predict the best available system for target word using a priori case factors (e.g. amount of training per sense). We report promising results of a series of best-system prediction tests (best prediction accuracy is 0.92) and show that complex/simple systems disambiguate tough/easy words better. The method provides the following benefits: (1) higher disambiguation accuracy for virtually any base systems (current best OE yields close to 2% accuracy gain over Senseval-3 state of the art) and (2) economical way of building more effective ensembles of all types (e.g. optimal,…
Properties Augmentation of Cast Hypereutectic Al–Si Alloy Through Friction Stir Processing
2022
AbstractThe present endeavour is to augment mechanical attributes via friction stir processing (FSP) in hypereutectic aluminium–silicon castings by the means of microstructural modifications and defects reduction. Wherein, the study proceeds with mainly two approaches namely, alteration in tool revolution (TR) and the number of FSP passes. The prepared specimens were evaluated investigating volume fraction of porosities, microstructural characterizations and microhardness. Therefrom, the specimen with highest number of passes delivered most uniform properties resulting from the reduction in casting porosities and refined silicon particle uniform distribution throughout friction stir process…
Cathepsin B in Antigen-Presenting Cells Controls Mediators of the Th1 Immune Response during Leishmania major Infection
2014
Resistance and susceptibility to Leishmania major infection in the murine model is determined by the capacity of the host to mount either a protective Th1 response or a Th2 response associated with disease progression. Previous reports involving the use of cysteine cathepsin inhibitors indicated that cathepsins B (Ctsb) and L (Ctsl) play important roles in Th1/Th2 polarization during L. major infection in both susceptible and resistant mouse strains. Although it was hypothesized that these effects are a consequence of differential patterns of antigen processing, the mechanisms underlying these differences were not further investigated. Given the pivotal roles that dendritic cells and macrop…
Near-infrared imaging and structured light ranging for automatic catheter insertion
2006
Vein localization and catheter insertion constitute the first and perhaps most important phase of many medical procedures. Currently, catheterization is performed manually by trained personnel. This process can prove problematic, however, depending upon various physiological factors of the patient. We present in this paper initial work for localizing surface veins via near-infrared (NIR) imaging and structured light ranging. The eventual goal of the system is to serve as the guidance for a fully automatic (i.e., robotic) catheterization device. Our proposed system is based upon near-infrared (NIR) imaging, which has previously been shown effective in enhancing the visibility of surface vein…
Generation of soliton molecules, power regulation, regeneration and sculpting of pulse profiles within a multifunction fiber laser
2018
The work of this thesis strives to provide a solution to the persistent problem of poverty of mode-locked fiber lasers, in terms of functionality and flexibility. The thesis proposes a fiber-laser cavity having the specificity of being multifunctional. The cavity is equipped with tunable components, which provide the flexibility to realize functions ranging from the generation of pulses with complex profiles (solitons, bi-solitons, tri-solitons, etc.) up to the carving of pulse profiles, passing through the regulation of peak powers, and the regeneration of severely degraded intensity profiles. The laser cavity that we propose has the specificity of being controlled by a key component, whic…
Experimental results from Al/p-CdTe/Pt X-ray detectors
2013
Recently, Al/CdTe/Pt detectors have been proposed for the development of high resolution X-ray spectrometers. Due to the low leakage currents, these detectors allow high electric fields and the pixellization of anodes with the possibility to realize single charge carrier sensing detectors. In this work, we report on the results of electrical and spectroscopic investigations on CdTe diode detectors with Al/CdTe/Pt electrode configuration (4.1×4.1×0.75 and 4.1×4.1×2 mm3). The detectors are characterized by very low leakage currents in the reverse bias operation: 0.3 nA at 25 °C and 2.4 pA at -25 °C under a bias voltage of -1000 V. The spectroscopic performance of the detectors at both low and…
Autocatalytic cleavage of Clostridium difficile toxin B.
2007
Clostridium difficile, the causative agent of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis, possesses two main virulence factors: the large clostridial cytotoxins A and B. It has been proposed that toxin B is cleaved by a cytosolic factor of the eukaryotic target cell during its cellular uptake. Here we report that cleavage of not only toxin B, but also all other large clostridial cytotoxins, is an autocatalytic process dependent on host cytosolic inositolphosphate cofactors. A covalent inhibitor of aspartate proteases, 1,2-epoxy-3-(p-nitrophenoxy)propane, completely blocked toxin B function on cultured cells and was used to identify its catalytically active prote…