Precise Contour Research Articles

Compreendendo as decisões judiciais a partir de modelos matemáticos

A matemática tem modelado bem os sistemas físicos apenas por não apresentar modelos únicos dos fenômenos. Aqui descrevemos quatro tipos de modelos matemáticos com grande impacto na descrição do mundo físico. Enquanto nas ciências duras estes modelos são simples instrumentos para explicar o mundo físico, quando aplicados para a realidade social perdem seus contornos precisos e transformam-se em modos de compreensão da realidade. O objetivo deste estudo é construir uma tipologia de problemas jurídicos a partir destes modelos matemáticos de maior destaque. A análise foi feita a partir de julgados extraídos de tribunais diversos a fim de correlacioná-los com as teorias suscitadas neste ensaio. Em síntese, descreve-se alguns aspectos do mundo jurídico por comparação com modelos matemáticos existentes. Por óbvio não se esgota a complexidade do direito pela redução a quatro modos de enxergá-lo.

Delivery of a Feeding Obturator in a New Born Child: A Case Report

Obturators are custom made plastic material that is made to fit the precise contour of the hard and the soft palate that extends onwards to seal off the mouth from the nasal cavity. Fabricated by an orthodontist or a prosthodontist, it requires frequent replacements as the baby grows and preferably given at 2-3 days after birth. Breastfeeding in a cleft baby is difficult although there are a few compromised techniques that are employed such as breastfeeding positions, compression technique, supplementer usage, and nipple shield alone or in combination. Once the obturator is delivered the child stops regurgitation or vomiting as the lining of the nasal cavity is protected. Breastfeeding is very essential as it also facilitates the proper development of jawbones and facial muscles and in order to do that feeding of a child since day one of birth is a very important pre-requisite that can be achieved by delivering an efficient palatal obturator.

Holistic multitask regression network for multiapplication shape regression segmentation

A holistic multitask regression approach was implemented to tackle the limitations of clinical image analysis. Standard practice requires identifying multiple anatomic structures in multiple planes from multiple anatomic regions using multiple modalities. The proposed novel holistic multitask regression network (HMR-Net) formulates organ segmentation as a multitask learning problem. Multitask learning leverages the strength of joint task problem solving from capturing task correlations. HMR-Net performs multitask regression by estimating an organ's class, regional location, and precise contour coordinates. The estimation of each coordinate point also corresponds to another regression task. HMR-Net leverages hierarchical multiscale and fused organ features to handle nonlinear relationships between image appearance and distinct organ properties. Simultaneously, holistic shape information is captured by encoding coordinate correlations. The multitask pipeline enables the capturing of holistic organ information (e.g. class, location, shape) to perform shape regression for medical image segmentation. HMR-Net was validated on eight representative datasets obtained from a total of 222 subjects. A mean average precision and dice score reaching up to 0.81 and 0.93, respectively, was achieved on the representative multiapplication database. The generalized model demonstrates comparable or superior performance compared to state-of-the-art algorithms. The high-performance accuracy demonstrates our model as an effective general framework to perform organ shape regression in multiple applications. This method was proven to provide high-contrast sensitivity to delineate even the smallest and oddly shaped organs. HMR-Net's flexible framework holds great potential in providing a fully automatic preliminary analysis for multiple types of medical images.

Minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis for closed proximal tibia fractures: A study of 30 cases

Tibial plateau fractures comprises about one percent of all fractures and complex bicondylar fractures comprise of 30% of all Tibial plateau fractures. Minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis [MIPPO] is a method of biological fixation where a plate is percutaneously inserted and fixed at a distance proximally and distally from the site of fracture. By minimal exposure, this aids in the protection of the essential fracture hematoma, minimal soft tissue dissection, avoidance of periosteal stripping and providing a sufficient fixation. So the need for the study is to assess the effectiveness of the technique in achieving fracture union, functional outcome and to know the rate of complications associated with MIPPO. The purpose of this study was to assess the results and the efficacy of MIPPO for of the proximal tibia fracture. This is a prospective study of 30 patients with tibial condylar fractures treated by minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis at Karpaga vinayaga institute of medical sciences and research center, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu. These patients were followed both clinically and radiologically after surgical fixation. A total of 30 patients with tibial condylar fracture were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 38.70±14.14 years, with 21 (70%) males and 9 (30%) females. In our study containing 30 patients operated by MIPPO, we had 66.67% had excellent result, 20% had good results, 6.67% had fair results and remaining 6.67% had poor results. In our study it was found that high velocity injuries (type IV – VI) have poorer outcome than low velocity injuries (type I-III). In this way cautious patient selection, careful preoperative planning, delicate and reasonable soft tissue and bone handling, precise contouring of plates and vigorous postoperative rehabilitation and patient education appears to be the key to success of the procedure.

A new registration algorithm of electronic portal imaging devices images based on the automatic detection of bone edges during radiotherapy

The precision and efficiency of the registration of megavolt-level electronic portal imaging devices (EPID) images with the naked eye in the orthogonal window are reduced. This study aims to develop a new registration algorithm with enhanced accuracy and efficiency. Ten setup errors with different translation and rotation were simulated with the phantom. For each error, one set of simulated computer tomography images and EPID images were acquired and registered with the traditional and the new method. The traditional method was performed by two senior physicists with the Varian Offline Review software. The new method is basing on the comparison of the precise contours of the same bone structure in the digital reconstruction radiography images and the EPID images, and the contours were fitted with an automatic edge detection algorithm based on gradient images. The average error of the new method was decreased by 44.44%, 28.33%, 49.09% in the translation of X, Y, and Z axes (The traditional vs. the new: X axes, 0.45 mm vs. 0.25 mm; Y axes, 0.75 mm vs. 0.35 mm; Z axes, 0.55 mm vs. 0.28 mm), 42.86% and 40.48% in the rotation of X and Z axes (The traditional vs. the new: X axes, 0.49° vs. 0.28°; Z axes, 0.42° vs. 0.25°), respectively. The average elapsed time in the new method was reduced by 11.14% (The traditional vs. the new: 44 s vs. 39.1 s). The new registration method has significant advantages of accuracy and efficiency compared with the traditional method.

The contours and content of the ‘creditors’ interests duty’

ABSTRACT It is well established in a number of Commonwealth jurisdictions that company directors are subject to a duty to consider the interests of creditors as the company nears insolvency. The precise contours of this duty are, however, indeterminate. Particular questions surround when the duty arises and what it requires of directors. Courts in the UK and Australia have provided different answers to these questions. This article critically examines jurisprudence from the UK and Australia and concludes that the position adopted by the England and Wales Court of Appeal is preferable.

Pull Through Marking Technique for Precise Contouring Sutures.

*Mohs and Skin Surgery Center, Skin Care Specialty Physicians, Lutherville, Maryland †Dayton Skin Surgery Center, Dayton Skin Care Specialists, Dayton, Ohio Presented at the ASDS meeting on November 10, 2016 at the Iron Surgeon Competition. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.

Contour Variability in Thyroid Eye Disease with Compressive Optic Neuropathy Treated with Radiation Therapy

PurposeFew studies have evaluated the methodology by which radiation therapy (RT) for thyroid eye disease and compressive optic neuropathy is performed. The objective of this study was to retrospectively review our experience from a radiation planning standpoint and to determine whether current treatment methods provide adequate dose to target and collateral structures. MethodsA retrospective review of 52 patients (104 orbits) with bilateral thyroid eye disease and compressive optic neuropathy treated with RT (20 Gy in 10 fractions) at our institution. RT plans were analyzed for target volumes and doses. Visual fields, color plates, and visual acuity were assessed pretreatment and at last available follow-up post RT. A standardized, anatomic contour of the retro-orbital space was applied to these retrospective plans to determine dose to the entire space, rather than the self-selected target structure. ResultsCompared with the anatomic retro-orbital space, the original contour overlapped by only 68%. Maximum and mean dose was 2134 cGy and 1910 cGy to the anatomic retro-orbital space. Consequently, 39.8% of the orbits had a mean dose <19 Gy (<17 Gy 16.4%, <18 Gy 27.6% <19 Gy 37.8%, <20 Gy 59.2%, 20-21 Gy 35.8%, >21 Gy 5%). There was no significant association of improvement in color plates (P = .07), visual fields (P = .77), and visual acuity (P = .62), based on these dose differences. When beam placement was retrospectively adjusted to include a space of 0.5 cm between the lens and the anterior beam edge, there was a 39.4% and 20.3% decrease in max and mean dose to the lens. ConclusionsWithout a standardized protocol for contouring in thyroid eye disease, target delineation was found to be rather varied, even among the same practitioner. Differences in dose to the anatomic retro-orbital space did not affect outcomes in the follow-up period. Although precise contouring of the retro-orbital space may be of little clinical consequence overall, a >0.5 cm space from the lens may significantly reduce or delay cataractogenesis.

Precision Trajectory Tracking on XY Motion Stage Using Robust Interval Type-2 Fuzzy PI Sliding Mode Control Method

Precision contour tracking is one of the most important factors used to determine product quality in a machining tool. An interval type-2 fuzzy proportional–integral (PI) sliding mode control (IT2FPISMC) system is proposed herein to control the mover position of the two-axis motion stage with optical encoder sensors for trajectory feedback. A type-2 fuzzy method that can handle rule uncertainties is developed to approach the unknown nonlinear systems. The PI term is used to approximate the discontinuous control signal and mitigate the chattering phenomenon in the presence of unmodeled system dynamics and external disturbances. The adaptive control laws are derived based on the Lyapunov theorem, such that the closed-loop stability is guaranteed, and the output tracking errors of the system asymptotically converge to zero. A non-uniform rational B-spline interpolator with high accuracy is adopted in the biaxial linear stage. Moreover, typical circular, bowknot, heart, and star reference contours are tested. The results on the average tracking error and the tracking error standard deviation are experimented and compared to illustrate the performance of our proposed method. The tracking performance obtained from the IT2FPISMC method is better than that of the conventional method. Furthermore, the proposed method can achieve robustness for tracking different reference contours in industrial applications.

Critical macro-finance: A theoretical lens

This forum contribution outlines four propositions of the critical macro-finance approach: (1) US-led financial globalization has structurally evolved around market-based finance, driven by the production of new asset classes and the Americanization of national financial systems with changing practices for producing liquidity; (2) global finance is a set of interconnected, hierarchical balance sheets, increasingly subject to time-critical liquidity; (3) credit creation in market-based finance involves new forms of money (systemic liabilities); and (4) market-based finance structurally requires a derisking state, for both systemic liabilities and for new asset classes. The precise contours of the derisking state are determined through political struggles.

Assessment of Infraorbital Nerve Parasthesia after ZMC Fracture and Its Surgical Repair

Background: Infraorbital nerve parasthesia is a very common finding after maxillofacial trauma involving zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) region. The use of computer assisted surgical protocols for managing these fractures could improve the surgical outcome and maximize the functional and esthetic reconstruction of traumatized bones with possible effect on infraorbital nerve recovery. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess infraorbital nerve parasthesia after ZMC fracture and its surgical repair. Patients and Methods: A total of 10 patients with unilateral ZMC fractures were selected from those having maxillofacial injuries at the Emergency Room of Sayed Galal University Hospital, Al-Azhar University, Cairo. Patients were divided randomly into two groups (five patients each); Group I: patients were treated with mirror imaging technique and fabrication of a steriolithographic (STL) model. Group II: patients were treated through the traditional technique without fabrication of an STL model. Results: Infraorbital nerve affection occurred in 7 patients (70%), 4 in group I and 3 in group II. Recovery of the nerve occurred at 3 months postoperatively except for only one patient from group II. Statistically, no significant difference was found between both groups. Conclusion: Although computer assisted surgery is impressive and has a remarkable role in facilitating the precise contouring and adaptation of the titanium plates / mesh needed for fracture repair, it has no evident advantages over the traditional techniques regarding infraorbital nerve recovery.

Assessment of Infraorbital Nerve Parasthesia after ZMC Fracture and Its Surgical Repair

Background: Infraorbital nerve parasthesia is a very common finding after maxillofacial trauma involving zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) region. The use of computer assisted surgical protocols for managing these fractures could improve the surgical outcome and maximize the functional and esthetic reconstruction of traumatized bones with possible effect on infraorbital nerve recovery. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess infraorbital nerve parasthesia after ZMC fracture and its surgical repair. Patients and Methods: A total of 10 patients with unilateral ZMC fractures were selected from those having maxillofacial injuries at the Emergency Room of Sayed Galal University Hospital, Al-Azhar University, Cairo. Patients were divided randomly into two groups (five patients each); Group I: patients were treated with mirror imaging technique and fabrication of a steriolithographic (STL) model. Group II: patients were treated through the traditional technique without fabrication of an STL model. Results: Infraorbital nerve affection occurred in 7 patients (70%), 4 in group I and 3 in group II. Recovery of the nerve occurred at 3 months postoperatively except for only one patient from group II. Statistically, no significant difference was found between both groups. Conclusion: Although computer assisted surgery is impressive and has a remarkable role in facilitating the precise contouring and adaptation of the titanium plates / mesh needed for fracture repair, it has no evident advantages over the traditional techniques regarding infraorbital nerve recovery.

Where is Trauma Society Heading? A book review: Toshchenko Zh.T. Obshchestvo Travmy: Mezhdu Evolyutsiei i Revolyutsiei (Opyt Teoreticheskogo i Empiricheskogo Analiza). [Society of Trauma: Between Evolution and Revolution (Experience of Theoretical and Ap

This review evaluates the monograph which follows up the cycle of seminal works on the controversial issues of social changes written by the prominent Russian sociologist — Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences RAS Zh.T. Toshchenko. His focus is on understudied aspects of the concept of a “trauma society”. This concept characterizes the situation of a specific modality, an intermediate option between the evolutionary and revolutionary paths of development. The concept of “sociology of life”, which has been repeatedly used by the author, is advantageous in terms of the theoretical understanding of this situation. Using solid statistical data, the monograph shows the apparent insufficiency of such concepts as “democratic and authoritarian path of development” when it comes to describing the evolution of any country. It is difficult to disagree with the author’s opinion, which states that these are ineffective as criteria for social progress or regression. Of undoubted interest for specialists is the typology of modern societies of trauma that is given in the work. This typology is based on the factors that have generated a socially traumatic situation. The monograph pays special attention to the manifestations of trauma in Russian society. The author’s extensive use of the results of representative empirical studies is an important advantage of the work. The monograph reveals the precise contours of an innovative academic project, which serves as a fundamental basis for further researching the complicated and poorly studied phenomenon of “society of trauma”.

Non-positive Face Chin Detection Method Based on Curve Fitting

The head recognition system needs precise contours of the face area, whereas the non-positive face color contours often contain neck areas, which will seriously affect the extraction of contour features. Therefore, the neck area in the outline of the human face needs to be removed to obtain the final facial contour. In this paper, the chin curve is fitted based on the extremum of the contour features of the left and right sides of the human chin region, and then the neck area can be removed. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can obtain the non-positive face profile without the neck.

Shape Feature Extraction Methods of Rodents in the Field Based on Machine Vision

In order to obtain the shape features of rodents from the field, a feature extraction scheme based on machine vision was proposed. We design an experimental device with a camera. The camera placed on the top of the device to get the rodent image. After thresholding rodent image based on the global value, we get the binary image, and then the morphological erosion and dilation operation are used to denoise, and the contour are detected by the 8 adjacent pixels of a point. Chain code analysis method is used to track the contour. Multi-contour tracking extraction method is used to remove the non-rodent region. Based on the shape of the rodent tail that is slenderer than the body, we split the rodent’s tail from the body on the precise contour image. The length of the tail, the length of the body, the height of the body, the proportions of the tail and the body are extract based on contour analysis. Experiments show that this method can extract shape features of rodents accurately. It can provide basic data for analyzing the life habits and population evolution of field rodents.

Citizen or consumer? Reconsidering energy citizenship

ABSTRACTThe transition to more sustainable energy systems has set about redefining the social roles and responsibilities of citizens. Implicit in this are expectations around participation, though the precise contours of what this might mean remain open. Debates around the energy transition have been skewed towards a normative construct of what it means to be a ‘good citizen’, the parameters for which are shaped by predetermined visions of statist and/or market-driven determinations of the energy systems of the future. This article argues that concepts such as ‘energy citizen’ are co-opted to reflect popular neoliberal discourses, and ignore crucial questions of unequal agency and access to resources. Paradoxically, official discourses that push responsibility for the energy transition onto the ‘citizen-as-consumer’ effectively remove agency from citizens, leaving them largely disconnected and disempowered. Consequently, energy citizenship needs to be reconceptualised to incorporate more collective and inclusive contexts for action. Considering how much energy consumption occurs in (traditionally female) domestic spheres, do conventional notions of citizenship (especially with regards to its associated rights and duties) need to be recalibrated in order for the concept to be usefully applied to the energy transition?

The other side of the Article 21(3) coin: Human rights in the Rome Statute and the limits of Article 21(3)

AbstractThe drafters of the Rome Statute sought to accord human rights a central place within the legal framework of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This was done not only through numerous provisions on the rights of the accused, victims, and witnesses, but also through the inclusion of the overarching Article 21(3) of the Rome Statute. Article 21(3) Rome Statute requires that the interpretation and application of all ICC law be consistent with internationally recognized human rights. While this provision has been employed on numerous occasions to bolster human rights protection in the ICC legal framework, it is not without its limits. In a series of decisions over the past few years, ICC judges have placed limits on the protections that can be read into the ICC legal framework on the basis of Article 21(3). Beyond stating that the ICC ‘is not a human rights court’, the decisions in question articulate no clear justification for the limitations imposed on Article 21(3). The present article analyses these decisions and identifies the underlying rationale for the Court’s approach: the principle of speciality. However, the picture is further complicated by the judges’ willingness to overlook the principle of speciality when particularly serious violations of human rights are involved. This leaves the precise contours of human rights protection in the ICC legal framework undefined.

Local-global method to predict distortion of aircraft panel caused in automated riveting process

PurposeThe riveting process is a metal forming process involving complex elastic-plastic deformation, which will induce a compressive residual stress field and cause local distortions in the connecting areas. Regarding to the aircraft panel assemblies with plenty of rivets, the global deformation is inevitable and undesired, leading difficulties to downstream assembly processes. This paper aims to present a new method for the local distortion calculation and the global deformation prediction of sheet panel assemblies during the automated riveting process.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a simplified algebraic study is presented to analyze the local distortion of single countersunk rivet joint with the consideration of the barrel-like shape of the driven head and the through-thickness variations along the rivet shank. Then, an equivalent rivet unit is proposed based on the result of the algebraic study and embedded into the global-level model for the prediction of the overall distortions of riveted panels.FindingsThe algebraic study is able to reach a more precise contour of the deformed rivet than the traditional assumption of cylindrical deformations and rapidly determine the equivalent coefficients of the riveting unit. The result also shows an industrial acceptable accuracy of the prediction for the global deformations of the double-layered panel assemblies widely used in the aircraft panel structures.Originality/valueA new local-global method for predicting the deformations of the riveted panel assembly based on the algebraic study of the local distortions is proposed to help the engineers in the early design stages or in the assembly process planning stage.

Automated retinal lesion detection via image saliency analysis.

The detection of abnormalities such as lesions or leakage from retinal images is an important health informatics task for automated early diagnosis of diabetic and malarial retinopathy or other eye diseases, in order to prevent blindness and common systematic conditions. In this work, we propose a novel retinal lesion detection method by adapting the concepts of saliency. Retinal images are first segmented as superpixels, two new saliency feature representations: uniqueness and compactness, are then derived to represent the superpixels. The pixel level saliency is then estimated from these superpixel saliency values via a bilateral filter. These extracted saliency features form a matrix for low-rank analysis to achieve saliency detection. The precise contour of a lesion is finally extracted from the generated saliency map after removing confounding structures such as blood vessels, the optic disk, and the fovea. The main novelty of this method is that it is an effective tool for detecting different abnormalities at the pixel level from different modalities of retinal images, without the need to tune parameters. To evaluate its effectiveness, we have applied our method to seven public datasets of diabetic and malarial retinopathy with four different types of lesions: exudate, hemorrhage, microaneurysms, and leakage. The evaluation was undertaken at the pixel level, lesion level, or image level according to ground truth availability in these datasets. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms existing state-of-the-art ones in applicability, effectiveness, and accuracy.

Contribuições preliminares da história universal de H.G. Wells: elementos de história socioevolucionista e da world history contemporânea

O presente artigo tem como proposta analisar a História universal, publicada em 1919 pelo escritor inglês H.G. Wells, como representante de um gênero de escrita histórica definido por Doris S. Goldstein como socioevolucionista. Esse gênero teve suas primeiras manifestações no fim do século XIX, com o início da repercussão das teorias darwinistas em algumas obras históricas, mas ganhou contornos mais precisos nas primeiras décadas do século XX, sendo o livro de Wells o mais representativo dessa historiografia. Essas primeiras manifestações foram retomadas em novas abordagens na segunda metade do século XX, com a emergência da world history, corroborada por descobertas em diversos campos das ciências naturais e mais bem fundamentada em suas aspirações de articular elementos da biologia evolutiva na análise do processo histórico. Enfim, sugerimos que, na História universal, de Wells, alguns elementos articuladores da world history estão já presentes, como a opção por uma escala temporal cósmica associada à temporalidade propriamente histórica e a crítica às fronteiras nacionais como convenções artificiais que se configuravam como empecilho ao desenvolvimento de um raciocínio histórico mais amplo e atinente a questões mundiais.