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Maurizio Mencuccini, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Josep Piñol, Lasse Loepfe, Mireia Burnat, Xavier Alvarez, et al. (2010). "A quantitative and statistically robust method for the determination of xylem conduit spatial distribution " . American Journal of Botany, 97(8), 1247–1259.
Abstract: Premise of the study: Because of their limited length, xylem conduits need to connect to each other to maintain water transport from roots to leaves. Conduit spatial distribution in a cross section plays an important role in aiding this connectivity. While indices of conduit spatial distribution already exist, they are not well defined statistically. * Methods: We used point pattern analysis to derive new spatial indices. One hundred and five cross-sectional images from different species were transformed into binary images. The resulting point patterns, based on the locations of the conduit centers-of-area, were analyzed to determine whether they departed from randomness. Conduit distribution was then modeled using a spatially explicit stochastic model. * Key results: The presence of conduit randomness, uniformity, or aggregation depended on the spatial scale of the analysis. The large majority of the images showed patterns significantly different from randomness at least at one spatial scale. A strong phylogenetic signal was detected in the spatial variables. * Conclusions: Conduit spatial arrangement has been largely conserved during evolution, especially at small spatial scales. Species in which conduits were aggregated in clusters had a lower conduit density compared to those with uniform distribution. Statistically sound spatial indices must be employed as an aid in the characterization of distributional patterns across species and in models of xylem water transport. Point pattern analysis is a very useful tool in identifying spatial patterns.
Keywords: Geyer; hydraulic conductivity; point pattern analysis; Ripley; Spatstat; vessel clusters; xylem anatomy; xylem network
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Patricia Marquez, Debora Gil, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, & Daniel Kondermann. (2013). "When Is A Confidence Measure Good Enough? " In 9th International Conference on Computer Vision Systems (Vol. 7963, pp. 344–353). Springer Link.
Abstract: Confidence estimation has recently become a hot topic in image processing and computer vision.Yet, several definitions exist of the term “confidence” which are sometimes used interchangeably. This is a position paper, in which we aim to give an overview on existing definitions,
thereby clarifying the meaning of the used terms to facilitate further research in this field. Based on these clarifications, we develop a theory to compare confidence measures with respect to their quality.
Keywords: Optical flow, confidence measure, performance evaluation
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Mariano Vazquez, Ruth Aris, Guillaume Hozeaux, R.Aubry, P.Villar, Jaume Garcia, et al. (2011). "A massively parallel computational electrophysiology model of the heart " . International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 27, 1911–1929.
Abstract: This paper presents a patient-sensitive simulation strategy capable of using the most efficient way the high-performance computational resources. The proposed strategy directly involves three different players: Computational Mechanics Scientists (CMS), Image Processing Scientists and Cardiologists, each one mastering its own expertise area within the project. This paper describes the general integrative scheme but focusing on the CMS side presents a massively parallel implementation of computational electrophysiology applied to cardiac tissue simulation. The paper covers different angles of the computational problem: equations, numerical issues, the algorithm and parallel implementation. The proposed methodology is illustrated with numerical simulations testing all the different possibilities, ranging from small domains up to very large ones. A key issue is the almost ideal scalability not only for large and complex problems but also for medium-size meshes. The explicit formulation is particularly well suited for solving this highly transient problems, with very short time-scale.
Keywords: computational electrophysiology; parallelization; finite element methods
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Sergio Vera, Miguel Angel Gonzalez Ballester, & Debora Gil. (2012). "Optimal Medial Surface Generation for Anatomical Volume Representations " In MichaelW. David and Vannier H. and H. Yoshida (Ed.), Abdominal Imaging. Computational and Clinical Applications (Vol. 7601, pp. 265–273). Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Abstract: Medial representations are a widely used technique in abdominal organ shape representation and parametrization. Those methods require good medial manifolds as a starting point. Any medial
surface used to parametrize a volume should be simple enough to allow an easy manipulation and complete enough to allow an accurate reconstruction of the volume. Obtaining good quality medial
surfaces is still a problem with current iterative thinning methods. This forces the usage of generic, pre-calculated medial templates that are adapted to the final shape at the cost of a drop in volume reconstruction.
This paper describes an operator for generation of medial structures that generates clean and complete manifolds well suited for their further use in medial representations of abdominal organ volumes. While being simpler than thinning surfaces, experiments show its high performance in volume reconstruction and preservation of medial surface main branching topology.
Keywords: Medial surface representation; volume reconstruction
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Sergio Vera, Miguel Angel Gonzalez Ballester, & Debora Gil. (2015). "A Novel Cochlear Reference Frame Based On The Laplace Equation " In 29th international Congress and Exhibition on Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (Vol. 10, pp. 1–312).
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Debora Gil, Jaume Garcia, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, & Enric Marti. (2010). "Manifold parametrization of the left ventricle for a statistical modelling of its complete anatomy " In 8th Medical Imaging (Vol. 7623, 304). SPIE.
Abstract: Distortion of Left Ventricle (LV) external anatomy is related to some dysfunctions, such as hypertrophy. The architecture of myocardial fibers determines LV electromechanical activation patterns as well as mechanics. Thus, their joined modelling would allow the design of specific interventions (such as peacemaker implantation and LV remodelling) and therapies (such as resynchronization). On one hand, accurate modelling of external anatomy requires either a dense sampling or a continuous infinite dimensional approach, which requires non-Euclidean statistics. On the other hand, computation of fiber models requires statistics on Riemannian spaces. Most approaches compute separate statistical models for external anatomy and fibers architecture. In this work we propose a general mathematical framework based on differential geometry concepts for computing a statistical model including, both, external and fiber anatomy. Our framework provides a continuous approach to external anatomy supporting standard statistics. We also provide a straightforward formula for the computation of the Riemannian fiber statistics. We have applied our methodology to the computation of complete anatomical atlas of canine hearts from diffusion tensor studies. The orientation of fibers over the average external geometry agrees with the segmental description of orientations reported in the literature.
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Enric Marti, Ferran Poveda, Antoni Gurgui, & Debora Gil. (2011). "Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos en Ingeniería Informática. Resultados y reflexiones de seis años de experiencia ".
Abstract: In this workshop a 6 years experience in Project Based Learning (PBL) in Computer Graphics, Computer Engineering course at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) is presented. We use a Moodle environment suited to manage the documentation generated in PBL. The course is organized by means of two alternative routes: a classic itinerary of lectures and test-based evaluation and another with PBL. In the PBL itinerary we explain the organization in teamgroups, homework tutoring and monitoring and evaluation guidelines for students. We provide some of the work done by students, and the results of assessment surveys carried out to students during these years. We report the evolution of our PBL itinerary in terms of, both, organization and student surveys.
The workshop aims at discussing about on the advantages and disadvantages of using these active methodologies in technical degrees such as computer engineering, in order to debate about the most suitable way of organizing PBL and assessing students learning rate.
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Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Monica Mitiko, Sergio Shiguemi, & Debora Gil. (2010). "A validation protocol for assessing cardiac phase retrieval in IntraVascular UltraSound " In Computing in Cardiology (Vol. 37, pp. 899–902). IEEE.
Abstract: A good reliable approach to cardiac triggering is of utmost importance in obtaining accurate quantitative results of atherosclerotic plaque burden from the analysis of IntraVascular UltraSound. Although, in the last years, there has been an increase in research of methods for retrospective gating, there is no general consensus in a validation protocol. Many methods are based on quality assessment of longitudinal cuts appearance and those reporting quantitative numbers do not follow a standard protocol. Such heterogeneity in validation protocols makes faithful comparison across methods a difficult task. We propose a validation protocol based on the variability of the retrieved cardiac phase and explore the capability of several quality measures for quantifying such variability. An ideal detector, suitable for its application in clinical practice, should produce stable phases. That is, it should always sample the same cardiac cycle fraction. In this context, one should measure the variability (variance) of a candidate sampling with respect a ground truth (reference) sampling, since the variance would indicate how spread we are aiming a target. In order to quantify the deviation between the sampling and the ground truth, we have considered two quality scores reported in the literature: signed distance to the closest reference sample and distance to the right of each reference sample. We have also considered the residuals of the regression line of reference against candidate sampling. The performance of the measures has been explored on a set of synthetic samplings covering different cardiac cycle fractions and variabilities. From our simulations, we conclude that the metrics related to distances are sensitive to the shift considered while the residuals are robust against fraction and variabilities as far as one can establish a pair-wise correspondence between candidate and reference. We will further investigate the impact of false positive and negative detections in experimental data.
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Jaume Garcia, Albert Andaluz, Debora Gil, & Francesc Carreras. (2010). "Decoupled External Forces in a Predictor-Corrector Segmentation Scheme for LV Contours in Tagged MR Images " In 32nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (pp. 4805–4808).
Abstract: Computation of functional regional scores requires proper identification of LV contours. On one hand, manual segmentation is robust, but it is time consuming and requires high expertise. On the other hand, the tag pattern in TMR sequences is a problem for automatic segmentation of LV boundaries. We propose a segmentation method based on a predictorcorrector (Active Contours – Shape Models) scheme. Special stress is put in the definition of the AC external forces. First, we introduce a semantic description of the LV that discriminates myocardial tissue by using texture and motion descriptors. Second, in order to ensure convergence regardless of the initial contour, the external energy is decoupled according to the orientation of the edges in the image potential. We have validated the model in terms of error in segmented contours and accuracy of regional clinical scores.
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Sergio Vera, Debora Gil, Antonio Lopez, & Miguel Angel Gonzalez Ballester. (2012). "Multilocal Creaseness Measure " . The Insight Journal, .
Abstract: This document describes the implementation using the Insight Toolkit of an algorithm for detecting creases (ridges and valleys) in N-dimensional images, based on the Local Structure Tensor of the image. In addition to the filter used to calculate the creaseness image, a filter for the computation of the structure tensor is also included in this submission.
Keywords: Ridges, Valley, Creaseness, Structure Tensor, Skeleton,
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