Trainable blotch detection on high resolution archive films minimizing the human interaction

Film archives are continuously in need of automatic restoration tools to accelerate the correction of film artifacts and to decrease the costs. Blotches are a common type of film degradation and their correction needs a lot of manual interaction in traditional systems due to high false detection rates and the huge amount of data of high resolution images. Blotch detectors need reliable motion estimation to avoid the false detection of uncorrupted regions. In case of erroneous detection, usually an operator has to remove the false alarms manually, which significantly decreases the efficiency of the restoration process. To reduce manual intervention, we developed a two-step false alarm reduction technique including pixel- and object-based methods as post-processing. The proposed pixel-based algorithm compensates motion, decreasing false alarms at low computational cost, while the following object based method further reduces the residual false alarms by machine learning techniques. We introduced a new quality metric for detection methods by measuring the required amount of manual work after the automatic detection. In our novel evaluation technique, the ground truth is collected from digitized archive sequences where defective pixel positions are detected in an interactive process.     

Build-operate-transfer model for infrastructure developments in Asia: reasons for successes and failures

In recent years, there has been a growing trend for governments in the Southeast Asian region to allow private participation in some major public investments, especially for infrastructure projects. Many large infrastructure projects, such as expressways and power plants, are being constructed or have been operated by private firms under a procurement system called build-operate-transfer (BOT). Under the system, the franchisee (project sponsor) is responsible for financing, construction, and operating a facility and he, in return, has been granted a right to generate revenue from the facility for a specific period. After the concession period, the facility will be transferred at no cost to the franchiser, who usually is the government. The major motivator for the BOT system is that the host government need not spend any public funding but still can provide a public facility to her people. Meanwhile, the franchisees can enjoy a high potential profit from a successful BOT project. Experience from Hong Kong has proven the benefits of the system. However, the system can be very risky potentially. The three transportation projects in Thailand, including the Second Expressway System, Don Muang Tollway and the Bangkok Elevated Transport System, have given investors a painful experience. Analyzing these successful and failing examples, this study has concluded the ingredients of a successful BOT project. They include an experienced, equitable and simple governing body and structure, an uncorrupted and honest political regime, an intact contractual agreement, a structured set of BOT regulations and legal system, a large and reliable consortium, an experienced construction organisation, and lastly, but most importantly, no intervention of politics.     

Synaptic effects of identified interneurons innervating both interneurons and pyramidal cells in the rat hippocampus

GABAergic interneurons sculpt the activity of principal cells and are themselves governed by GABAergic inputs. To determine directly some of the sources and mechanisms of this GABAergic innervation, we have used dual intracellular recordings with biocytin-filled microelectrodes and investigated synaptic interactions between pairs of interneurons in area CA1 of the adult rat hippocampus. Of four synaptically-coupled interneuron-to-interneuron cell pairs, three presynaptic cells were identified as basket cells, preferentially innervating somata and proximal dendrites of pyramidal cells, but one differing from the other two in the laminar distribution of its dendritic and axonal fields. The fourth presynaptic interneuron was located at the border between strata lacunosum moleculare and radiatum, with axon ramifying within stratum radiatum. Action potentials evoked in all four presynaptic interneurons were found to elicit fast hyperpolarizing inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (mean amplitude 0.35 +/- 0.10 mV at a membrane potential of -59 +/- 2.8 mV) in other simultaneously recorded interneurons (n=4). In addition, three of the presynaptic interneurons were also shown to produce similar postsynaptic responses in subsequently recorded pyramidal cells (n=4). Electron microscopic evaluation revealed one of the presynaptic basket cells to form 12 synaptic junctions with the perisomatic domain (seven somatic synapses and five synapses onto proximal dendritic shafts) of the postsynaptic interneuron in addition to innervating the same compartments of randomly-selected local pyramidal cells (50% somatic and 50% proximal dendritic synapses, n=12). In addition, light microscopic analysis also indicated autaptic self-innervation in basket (12 of 12) and bistratified cells (six of six). Electron microscopic investigation of one basket cell confirmed six autaptic junctions made by five of its boutons. Together, these data demonstrate that several distinct types of interneuron have divergent output to both principal cells and local interneurons of the same (basket cells) or different type. The fast synaptic effects, probably mediated by GABA in both postsynaptic interneurons and principal cells are similar. These additional sources of GABA identified here in the input to GABAergic cells could contribute to the differential temporal patterning of distinct GABAergic synaptic networks.     

Reflex sympathetic function in cortisol-induced hypertension in humans

Nine healthy male subjects underwent measurement of reflex sympathetic function, pressor responsiveness and baroreflex sensitivity to phenylephrine (PE) and glyceryltrinitrate (GTN) before (C1) and following six days of treatment (E6) with cortisol (F), 200 mg/day. Seven subjects had washout studies (W) performed at least two weeks following the end of treatment. The BP responses to head tilt, isometric exercise and mental arithmetic were unaltered by F, however, there was a significant diminution of the diastolic BP response to cold pressor stimulus (delta DBP: 19 +/- 3 vs 25 +/- 5 vs 27 +/- 5 mmHg; E6 vs C1 vs W, p < 0.05 C1 vs E6 and W). Baroreflex sensitivity to PE was increased (28 +/- 3 vs 19 +/- 2 ms/mmHg, E6 vs C1, p = 0.03). These data demonstrate that increased BP during F treatment is not attributable to increased SNS activity, and suggest that SNS activity may be decreased by F.     

Using monoclonal antibodies to characterize a sequential epitope on the group I allergen of Bermuda grass pollen

We measured the incidence of cuff retear and injury to the suprascapular nerve after mobilization and repair of a massive rotator cuff tear. Of one hundred four rotator cuff repairs performed over a 5-year period, 10 patients (7 men and 3 women, age range 22 to 68 years) had primary repairs of massive rotator cuff tears requiring cuff mobilization and an acromioplasty as their only procedure. These patients were evaluated at a mean of 2.5 years (range 2.0 to 3.0 years) after surgery. At follow-up electromyographic examination confirmed that 1 of the 10 patients had an iatrogenic suprascapular nerve injury, whereas ultrasound evaluation revealed that 2 of 10 repairs failed. Pain relief was achieved in the eight patients with intact repairs and not in the two with recurrent tears. All patients had some limitation of active motion or strength, especially in external rotation. Thus 7 of 10 patients had neither evidence of nerve injury nor recurrent rotator cuff tears yet still showed limited active motion or weakness. It appears that operative injury to the suprascapular nerve during cuff mobilization can occur, but other factors such as inadequate cuff muscle function are more frequently responsible for the poor functional outcomes seen after successful repairs of massive rotator cuff tears.     

Perceived cultural importance and actual self-importance of values in cultural identification.

Cross-cultural psychologists assume that core cultural values define to a large extent what a culture is. Typically, core values are identified through an actual self-importance approach, in which core values are those that members of the culture as a group strongly endorse. In this article, the authors propose a perceived cultural importance approach to identifying core values, in which core values are values that members of the culture as a group generally believe to be important in the culture. In 5 studies, the authors examine the utility of the perceived cultural importance approach. Results consistently showed that, compared with values of high actual self-importance, values of high perceived cultural importance play a more important role in cultural identification. These findings have important implications for conceptualizing and measuring cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)