Exploration of Learned Lifting-Based Transform Structures for Fully Scalable and Accessible Wavelet-Like Image Compression.

This paper provides a comprehensive study on features and performance of different ways to incorporate neural networks into lifting-based wavelet-like transforms, within the context of fully scalable and accessible image compression. Specifically, we explore different arrangements of lifting steps, as well as various network architectures for learned lifting operators. Moreover, we examine the impact of the number of learned lifting steps, the number of channels, the number of layers and the support of kernels in each learned lifting operator.

Prognostic value of total, free and lipoprotein fraction-bound plasma mitotane levels in advanced adrenocortical carcinoma: a prospective study of the ENDOCAN-COMETE-Cancer network.

Purpose: Mitotane is the only approved treatment for metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Monitoring plasma levels is recommended, but its predictive value is insufficient.

Methods: This prospective study of the French ENDOCAN-COMETE network aimed to investigate the prognostic role of plasma mitotane levels pharmacokinetics and free or bound to lipoprotein fraction measurements during six consecutive months.

Unlocking the potential of biofilm-forming plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria for growth and yield enhancement in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) boost crop yields and reduce environmental pressures through biofilm formation in natural climates. Recently, biofilm-based root colonization by these microorganisms has emerged as a promising strategy for agricultural enhancement. The current work aims to characterize biofilm-forming rhizobacteria for wheat growth and yield enhancement.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for characterization of filtrates of blood serum samples from patients with tuberculosis obtained by 50 kDa filtration devices.

The ability of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to generate spectroscopic fingerprints has made it an emerging tool for biomedical applications. The objective of this study is to confirm the potential use of Raman spectroscopy for early disease diagnosis based on blood serum. In this study, a total of sixty blood serum samples, consisting of forty from diseased patients and twenty (controls) from healthy individuals, was used.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for the characterization of bacterial pellets of infected by bacteriophage.

Drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria are a major cause of infectious diseases in the world and they have become a major threat through the reduced efficacy of developed antibiotics. This issue can be addressed by using bacteriophages, which can kill lethal bacteria and prevent them from causing infections. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a promising technique for studying the degradation of infectious bacteria by the interaction of bacteriophages to break the vicious cycle of drug-resistant bacteria and help to develop chemotherapy-independent remedial strategies.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for characterization of supernatant samples of biofilm forming bacterial strains.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is considered major cause of nosocomial infections. Its pathogenicity is mainly due to the ability to form biofilms on different surfaces, particularly indwelling medical devices. This bacterium consists of different strains consisting of non, medium and strong biofilm forming ones.

Modality-dependent distortion effects of temporal frequency on time perception.

Time perception has been known to depend on the temporal frequency of the stimulus. Previously, the effect of temporal frequency modulation was assumed to be monotonically lengthening or shortening. However, this study shows that temporal frequency affects time perception in a non-monotonic and modality-dependent manner.

JPEG 2000 Extensions for Scalable Coding of Discontinuous Media.

In this paper we propose novel extensions to JPEG 2000 for the coding of discontinuous media which includes piecewise smooth imagery such as depth maps and optical flows. These extensions use breakpoints to model discontinuity boundary geometry and apply a breakpoint dependent Discrete Wavelet Transform (BP-DWT) to the input imagery. The highly scalable and accessible coding features provided by the JPEG 2000 compression framework are preserved by our proposed extensions, with the breakpoint and transform components encoded as independent bit streams that can be progressively decoded.

Efficacy of subcutaneous Levothyroxine in a case of refractory hypothyroidism: A case report.

Rationale: Daily oral synthetic levothyroxine (LT4) is the main treatment for hypothyroidism, which, in most cases, allows the regression of symptoms and the normalization of the thyroid function. However, rarely, despite a high dose of oral LT4, hypothyroidism persists and is called refractory hypothyroidism. Intravenous or intramuscular treatment is then often necessary.

Screening for Prognostic Biomarkers in Metastatic Adrenocortical Carcinoma by Tissue Micro Arrays Analysis Identifies P53 as an Independent Prognostic Marker of Overall Survival.

Advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has poor but heterogeneous prognosis. Apart from Ki67 index, no prognostic or predictive biomarker has been validated in advanced ACC, so far. We aimed at analyzing expression of a large panel of proteins involved in known altered pathways in ACC (cell cycle, Wnt/ß-catenin, methylation) to identify and prioritize potential prognostic or predictive parameters metastatic ACC population.

Graph Laplacian Regularization for Robust Optical Flow Estimation.

This paper proposes graph Laplacian regularization for robust estimation of optical flow. First, we analyze the spectral properties of dense graph Laplacians and show that dense graphs achieve a better trade-off between preserving flow discontinuities and filtering noise, compared with the usual Laplacian. Using this analysis, we then propose a robust optical flow estimation method based on Gaussian graph Laplacians.

Potentiation of mitotane action by rosuvastatin: New insights for adrenocortical carcinoma management.

Mitotane (also termed o,p'‑DDD) is the most effective therapy for advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Mitotane‑induced dyslipidemia is treated with statins. Mitotane and statins are known to exert anti‑proliferative effects in vitro; however, the effects of statins have never been directly evaluated in patients with ACC and ACC cells, at least to the best of our knowledge.

Illumination Estimation and Compensation of Low Frame Rate Video Sequences for Wavelet-Based Video Compression.

In this paper, we are interested in the compression of image sets or video with considerable changes in illumination. We develop a framework to decompose frames into illumination fields and texture in order to achieve sparser representations of frames which is beneficial for compression. Illumination variations or contrast ratio factors among frames are described by a full resolution multiplicative field.

Base-Anchored Model for Highly Scalable and Accessible Compression of Multiview Imagery.

We present a compression scheme for multiview imagery that facilitates high scalability and accessibility of the compressed content. Our scheme relies upon constructing at a single base view, a disparity model for a group of views, and then utilizing this base-anchored model to infer disparity at all views belonging to the group. We employ a hierarchical disparity-compensated inter-view transform where the corresponding analysis and synthesis filters are applied along the geometric flows defined by the base-anchored disparity model.

COGL: Coefficient Graph Laplacians for Optimized JPEG Image Decoding.

We address the problem of decoding joint photographic experts group (JPEG)-encoded images with less visual artifacts. We view the decoding task as an ill-posed inverse problem and find a regularized solution using a convex, graph Laplacian-regularized model. Since the resulting problem is non-smooth and entails non-local regularization, we use fast high-dimensional Gaussian filtering techniques with the proximal gradient descent method to solve our convex problem efficiently.

Pituitary apoplexy and rivaroxaban.

Pituitary apoplexy (PA), defined by the occurrence of a massive hemorrhagic necrotic rearrangement within a pituitary adenoma, is rare. Its occurrence can be associated with certain risk factors, including anticoagulation. We report the first case of PA with rivaroxaban which is one of the new oral anticoagulants: a 73 year-old patient presenting with severe headache and visual field deterioration.

Motion Estimation Based on Mutual Information and Adaptive Multi-Scale Thresholding.

This paper proposes a new method of calculating a matching metric for motion estimation. The proposed method splits the information in the source images into multiple scale and orientation subbands, reduces the subband values to a binary representation via an adaptive thresholding algorithm, and uses mutual information to model the similarity of corresponding square windows in each image. A moving window strategy is applied to recover a dense estimated motion field whose properties are explored.

Flexible synthesis of video frames based on motion hints.

In this paper, we propose the use of "motion hints" to produce interframe predictions. A motion hint is a loose and global description of motion that can be communicated using metadata; it describes a continuous and invertible motion model over multiple frames, spatially overlapping other motion hints. A motion hint provides a reasonably accurate description of motion but only a loose description of where it is applicable; it is the task of the client to identify the exact locations where this motion model is applicable.

Nonlinear transform for robust dense block-based motion estimation.

We present a noniterative multiresolution motion estimation strategy, involving block-based comparisons in each detail band of a Laplacian pyramid. A novel matching score is developed and analyzed. The proposed matching score is based on a class of nonlinear transformations of Laplacian detail bands, yielding 1-bit or 2-bit representations.

JPEG2000-based scalable interactive video (JSIV) with motion compensation.

In a recent work, the authors proposed a novel paradigm for interactive video streaming and coined the term JPEG2000-Based Scalable Interactive Video (JSIV) for it. In this work, we investigate JSIV when motion compensation is employed to improve prediction, something that was intentionally left out in our earlier treatment. JSIV relies on three concepts: storing the video sequence as independent JPEG2000 frames to provide quality and spatial resolution scalability, prediction and conditional replenishment of code-blocks to exploit inter-frame redundancy, and loosely coupled server and client policies in which a server optimally selects the number of quality layers for each code-block transmitted and a client makes the most of the received (distorted) frames.

JPEG2000-based scalable interactive video (JSIV).

We propose a novel paradigm for interactive video streaming and we coin the term JPEG2000-based scalable interactive video (JSIV) for it. JSIV utilizes JPEG2000 to independently compress the original video sequence frames and provide for quality and spatial resolution scalability. To exploit interframe redundancy, JSIV utilizes prediction and conditional replenishment of code-blocks aided by a server policy that optimally selects the number of quality layer for each code-block transmitted and a client policy that makes most of the received (distorted) frames.

Fracture surface characterization of clinically failed all-ceramic crowns.

The goal of this study was to establish a protocol for the retrieval and fractographic analysis of failed restorations, and to compare the fracture surface features of clinically failed ceramic restorations and with those of controlled laboratory test specimens fabricated from the same materials. Ten fractured Dicor crowns and 12 fractured Cerestore crows were retrieved and analyzed. Optical microscopy of the failed crowns revealed that the critical segments of nine of the 10 (90%) Dicor crowns and nine of the 12 (75%) Cerestore crowns were acceptable for fractographic analysis.