Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Segmentation, recalage et reconstruction 3D de données. Traitement d'images médicales et industrielles.

Le travail de recherche relate dans ce manuscrit presente mes activites en traitement d'images que j'ai menees successivement dans trois organismes, a savoir le Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Image, de l'Informatique et de la Teledetection (LSIIT, UMR CNRS/Universite Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg), l'Institut fur Techno- und Wirtschaftsmathematik'' (Fraunhofer Institut, Kaiserslautern, Allemagne) et le Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy (CRAN, UMR CNRS/Nancy Universite). D'un point de vue scientifique, mes principales activites en traitement d'images concernent la segmentation d'images dont le contenu, relativement complexe, requiert des algorithmes utilisant des connaissances a priori liees aux objets a segmenter (contours actifs, methode s'inspirant de la transformee de Hough. Le recalage de donnee 2D ou 3D et monomodales ou multimodales est un autre aspect scientifique caracterisant le travail decrit ici. Ces themes de recherche, ainsi que des methodes de reconstruction et/ou de superposition de donnees 3D ont conduit a des solutions originales dans le cadre de problemes industriels (reconstruction 3D de pieces manufacturees pour une mesure dimensionnelle et classification de surfaces en fonction de leur teinte et texture) ou medicaux (diagnostic precoce du cancer du sein via la reconstruction du foyer de microcalcifications, positionnement de patients en radiotherapie intra crânienne par recalage 3D multimodal, aide au diagnostic de maladies cardio-vasculaires par la superposition de donnees multimodales et detection du cancer de la vessie par mosaiquage d'images).
Uma abordagem evolutiva para geração automática de turnos completos em torneios

This paper presents contributions to the solution of assignment problems, more precisely to the generation of a complete set of rounds in tournaments. It represents a practical problem of high interest, being characterized by feasibility aspects and a combinatorial explosion of solution candidates. In this case, the direct actuation of an expert and the use of conventional search tools generally guide to unsatisfactory results. The proposed solution strategy is based on the joint application of evolutionary computation, local search and restriction-based optimization. Although other evolutionary approaches have already been proposed in the literature, the one considered here innovates, since it suggests a compact genetic codification in conjunction with an algorithm to expand the code. When compared with the solutions already implemented to deal with real-world assignment problems, the ones obtained from the solution strategy proposed in this work presented better performance and the required amount of computational resource to produce the solution is reasonable. The joint application of evolutionary computation, local search and restriction-based optimization may be extended to deal with other assignment problems, assuming the existence of a compact genetic codification and the availability of an algorithm for restriction-based optimization.
Genes encoding enzymes of the lignin biosynthesis pathway in Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus ESTs libraries were screened for genes involved in lignin biosynthesis. This search was performed under the perspective of recent revisions on the monolignols biosynthetic pathway. Eucalyptus orthologues of all genes of the phenylpropanoid pathway leading to lignin biosynthesis reported in other plant species were identified. A library made with mRNAs extracted from wood was enriched for genes involved in lignin biosynthesis and allowed to infer the isoforms of each gene family that play a major role in wood lignin formation. Analysis of the wood library suggests that, besides the enzymes of the phenylpropanoids pathway, chitinases, laccases, and dirigent proteins are also important for lignification. Colocalization of several enzymes on the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, as predicted by amino acid sequence analysis, supports the existence of metabolic channeling in the phenylpropanoid pathway. This study establishes a framework for future investigations on gene expression level, protein expression and enzymatic assays, sequence polymorphisms, and genetic engineering.
Delays in photonic reservoir computing with semiconductor optical amplifiers

Reservoir Computing is a methodology coming from the field of machine learning and neural networks that has been successfully used in pattern classification problems. We have investigated with simulations a network of coupled semiconductor optical amplifiers as an integrated photonic reservoir on a benchmark speech recognition task. In spite of the differences with classical software reservoir models, the performance of our photonic reservoir is comparable to that of conventional implementations with the same number of nodes. It performs even better when the most important parameter, the amount of delay in the interconnections, is tuned to its optimal value.
Digital Steganalysis: Review on Recent Approaches

Steganography is the art and science of secret communication, aiming to conceal the existence of a communication, which has been used in military, and perhaps terrorists. Steganography in the modern day sense of the word usually refers to information or a file that has been concealed inside a digital Picture, Video or Audio file. In steganography, the actual information is not maintained in its original format and thereby it is converted into an alternative equivalent multimedia file like image, video or audio, which in turn is being hidden within another object. Information Security is becoming an inseparable part of Data Communication. In order to address this Information Security, Steganography plays an important role. The digital media steganalysis is divided into three domains, which are image steganalysis, audio steganalysis, and video steganalysis. DNA sequences possess some interesting properties, which can be utilized to hide data. This paper is a review of the recent steganography techniques and utilization of DNA sequence appeared in the literature.
Oxidative Depolymerization of Lignin Using Supported Niobium Catalysts

Valorization of lignin into aromatics has driven researchers for decades. In this research, niobium was deposited on oyster shells (OSNC) and carbon rods (CRNC) and tested as a catalyst for depolymerization of lignin. Catalysts (2%, 5%, and 8% loading) were synthesized via wet impregnation. Batch experiments were performed at 95 °C, using 8 g of lignin, and 1 g of catalyst. Our research indicates that niobium supported catalysts are effective in partial oxidation of lignin. Maximum vanillin concentration for OSNC was found to be 86.25 mg L−1 (0.1 wt%) at 5% niobium whereas, as for CRNC, maximum vanillin concentration was found to be 139.40 mg L−1 (0.17 wt%) at 2% niobium loading. Addition of hydrogen peroxide into the batch reactor decreased the concentration of vanillin production.
Model Predictive Control for Block-oriented Nonlinear Systems with Input Constraints

In process industry, there exist many systems which can be approximated by block-oriented nonlinear models, including Hammerstein and Wiener models. Hammerstein model consists of the cascade connection of a static (memoryless) nonlinear block followed by a dynamic linear block while Wiener model the reverse. Moreover, these systems are usually subjected to input constraints, which makes the control of block-oriented nonlinearities challenging. In this chapter, a Multi-Channel Identification Algorithm (MCIA) for Hammerstein systems is first proposed, in which the coefficient parameters are identified by least squares estimation (LSE) together with singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. Compared with traditional single-channel identification algorithms, the present method can enhance the approximation accuracy remarkably, and provide consistent estimates even in the presence of colored output noises under relatively weak assumptions on the persistent excitation (PE) condition of the inputs. Then, to facilitate the following controller design, the aforementioned MCIA is converted into a Two Stage Single-Channel Identification Algorithm (TS-SCIA), which preserves most of the advantages of MCIA. With this TS-SCIA as the inner model, a dual-mode Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) algorithm is developed. In detail, over a finite horizon, an optimal input profile found by solving a open-loop optimal control problem drives the nonlinear system state into the terminal invariant set, afterwards a linear output-feedback controller steer the state to the origin asymptotically. In contrast to the traditional algorithms, the presentmethod has amaximal stable region, a better steady-state performance and a lower computational complexity. Finally, a case study on a heat exchanger is presented to show the efficiency of both the identification and the control algorithms. On the other hand, for Wiener systems with input constraints, since most of the existing control algorithms cannot guarantee to have sufficiently large regions of asymptotic stability, we adopted a subspace method to separate the nonlinear and linear blocks in a constrained multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) Wiener system and then developed a novel dual-mode
Platforms for the Internet of Things : An Analysis of Existing Solutions

The Internet of Things (IoT) gets real. Already today, there are more connected devices than humans. In order to leverage this trend, platforms are required to enable building and operating of applications. In contrary, there is hardly any systematic research available that evaluates the capabilities of existing IoT platforms. This paper contributes to the understanding of the current IoT platform landscape (1) by reviewing six selected commercial IoT platforms, and (2) by inducing an architectural model which depicts the main building blocks of an IoT platform in a comprehensive way.
Evolut ion of mammal ian social s tructure

Social groups may be viewed as collections of individuals exhibiting nonindependent behavior and organized in a cooperative manner. The evolutionary advantage of social behavior to individuals must be measured in its relativity to other potential behaviors, the scale of competitive interactions, and under a variety of environmental and genetic constraints. A primary tenet of social evolution is tha t coancestry will promote the genes of related individuals. High values of coancestry, however, do not necessarily t ransla te into evolutionary advantage unless the primary competitive interactions occur among the groups. Coancestry is affected by the breeding tactics within and rates of genetic exchange among social groups. Low rates of exchange among groups, regardless of breeding tactics, may result in high values for intragroup coancestry but may lead to inbreeding depression in progeny. Likewise, breeding tactics such as polygyny, may not impart any long-lasting evolutionary advantage if genetic exchange ra tes are high. The evolution of social organizations typified by different breeding and migration strategies is evaluated to determine the conditions necessary for various tactics to result in genetic contributions by individuals equal to those of monogamous mating systems. The models show tha t breeding and dispersal tactics have probably evolved in concert and predict tha t social groups which are characterized by strong gene correlations are likely to exhibit relatively low group advantage for progeny survival and breeding. There is little impetus for high gene correlations to accrue in situations where group advantage is very high relative to monogamous systems.
The impact of EU`s policies on democratisation in Sub-SaharaAfrica

The following ba-thesis present the results of efforts trying to develop a stock-check of those EU´s policies which try to promote democracy in Sub-Sahara Africa and the effects of further EU policies influencing processes of democratisation in Sub-Sahara Africa. Therefore the researcher is focussing not only on the immediate international promotion of democracy by the European Union; he is also faced with the need to take into account those policies which are influencing democratisation in Sub-Sahara Africa in a mediate way. Democracy and the protection of human rights have already been declared goals of western donors´ foreign policies during the time of the cold war - however these goals have been subordinated as less important policies with regard to the global competition between communism and capitalism.
Contemporary evolution caused by fisheries

Evolutionary change is occurring within tens of generations or fewer in nature. This contemporary evolution is commonly caused by human activities, as they alter the selective pressures that the populations experience. Human harvesting activities (plant gathering, hunting and fishing) are imposing particularly high selective pressure on natural populations and thus, inducing great changes in the populations. In the case of fishing, the selection is commonly imposed on size, as large fish are more valuable commercially. However, fishing can also be selective on other traits, such as behaviour, morphology, sex, etc. Thus, theoretically fishing can cause evolutionary change in the exploited populations, which may not only affect population viability, but also productivity for fisheries. Exploited stocks are experiencing phenotypic change in life history traits, mainly age and size at maturation, growth, and fecundity. These observed changes occurred in the expected direction if fishing would be causing evolutionary change, referred to as fisheries-induced evolution (FIE). Evidence for FIE is accumulating from three different research areas, theoretical modelling, empirical evidence from the field, and experimental studies. Each one of these areas of research has contributed to establishing the current knowledge on FIE. However, it is still not clear whether the changes observed have a genetic basis, whether fishing selectivity is the main driver, and whether the changes are occurring at a fast enough pace to be considered in fisheries management plans. This thesis contributes to clarifying some of these questions using an experimental approach. Most evidence for FIE comes from analysing field data using the Probabilistic Maturation Reaction Norm (PMRN) approach. This method infers genetic change from phenotypic data, but its approach has been questioned. Chapter I is an experimental evaluation of the PMRN. We estimated PMRN from male guppies differing in growth rate and the social environment they were reared in. We found that the PMRN could not completely account for these environmental effects, but the PMRN method performed better when a measurement of maturation closer to the maturation decision (initiation of maturation, rather than completion) was considered. Moreover, the analyses of empirical data have focused on studying the effect of size-selectivity on maturation schedules, as this is the data readily available. Thus, the assessment of other effects of fishing selectivity has been scarce. Chapter II shows that fishing has potential to cause selection on traits other than size and
Comparison of the efficiencies of two TR-FRET methods to detect in vitro natural and synthesized inhibitors of the Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway

Numerous types of cancer operate through the deregulation of the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. It is therefore of importance to design and synthesize inhibitors of this pathway. Consequently, we have developed several tests to measure in vitro the effect of inhibitors on the activity of the complete cascade Raf-1/MEK/ERK and also on the activities of Raf-1, MEK, and ERK individually. We present here the results obtained with two time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) methods by comparison with a classical radioactivity method and experimental data found in literature. The capability of a series of optimized assays to detect different types of inhibitors is evaluated and discussed. Keywords: Raf/MEK/ERK cascade, inhibitors of Raf-1, MEK, and ERK, PEBP/RKIP, phosphocellulose filter binding assay, time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer
An Examination of Social Physique Anxiety with Regard to Sex and Level of Sport Involvement

An Examination of Social Physique Anxiety with Regard to Sex and Level of Sport Involvement The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in social physique anxiety among competitive athletes, exercisers and non-exercisers. The present study was also aimed to examine the sex differences in social physique anxiety between men and women. Two hundred and fifty-five exercisers, 261 competitive athletes and 350 non-exercisers voluntarily participated in this study. Social Physique Anxiety Scale (Hart, Leary and Rejeski, 1989) was used as the measure of social physique anxiety. Results of the present study indicated significant differences in social physique anxiety with regard to sex and level of sport involvement. Men had lower scores on social physique anxiety than women, and competitive athletes and exercisers had lower social physique anxiety scores than non-exercisers. Social physique anxiety of males and females did not differ with regard to level of sport involvement.
An Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares Algorithm for Sparse Regularization

We present a new algorithm and the corresponding convergence analysis for the regularization of linear inverse problems with sparsity constraints, applied to a new generalized sparsity promoting functional. The algorithm is based on the idea of iteratively reweighted least squares, reducing the minimization at every iteration step to that of a functional including only ‘2-norms. This amounts to smoothing of the absolute value function that appears in the generalized sparsity promoting penalty we consider, with the smoothing becoming iteratively less pronounced. We demonstrate that the sequence of iterates of our algorithm converges to a limit that minimizes the original functional.
Unobtrusive Health Screening on an Intelligent Toilet Seat

Home monitoring is a promising way to improve the quality of medical care in an ageing society. To circumvent the problem that especially demented patients may forget or be stressed by the use of medical devices at home, monitoring devices should be embedded in objects of daily life to check the patient’s health status whenever possible, without any interaction with the patient him/herself. This paper presents an intelligent toilet performing an unobtrusive health check when a person sits down. A variety of physical, electro-physical and urine parameters are analysed. This paper takes electrocardiogram and bioimpedance spectroscopy measurements and shows the practicability of measuring them on a toilet seat.
BACTERIAL ( FREE LIVING AND PARTICLE BOUND ) CELL-SIZE IN THE SURFACE WATERS OF RIVER CAUVERY AND ITS UPSTREAM TRIBUTARIES IN KARNATAKA STATE , INDIA

Cell-size here refers to mean length, as only the lengths of bacterial cells were measured in this study. Cell breadths were not measured, hence calculation of biovolume and biomass was not possible. In this study, the mean cell-lengths of heterotrophic bacterioplankton as well as their relation with environmental (water-quality) variables were analyzed for two years in the main river Cauvery and its four important upstream tributaries from February 2000 to January 2002. The initial hypothesis that all the five water courses have similar bacterial mean cell-lengths was rejected, because mean cell-lengths of free living and particle bound planktonic bacteria was more and was also significantly different in the river Lakshmanatheertha, when compared to the other four water courses studied. Season-wise grouped data revealed that, the mean cell-length of free-living bacteria was significantly less in winter season as compared to rainy and summer seasons during the second year of study only in the river Lakshmanatheertha. A correlation (r) analysis between the mean cell-lengths of heterotrophic bacteria and environmental (water-quality) variables revealed significant relations. Also with the help of regression analysis (r) the effect of some important environmental variables on the mean cell-length of heterotrophic bacteria has been discussed in the light of recent investigations in the field of fresh water microbial ecology.
Performance Analysis of a DTC and SVM Based Field-Orientation Control Induction Motor Drive

This study presents a performance analysis of two most popular control strategies for Induction Motor (IM) drives: direct torque control (DTC) and space vector modulation (SVM) strategies. The performance analysis is done by applying field-orientation control (FOC) technique because of its good dynamic response. The theoretical principle, simulation results are discussed to study the dynamic performances of the drive system for individual control strategies using actual parameters of induction motor. A closed loop PI controller scheme has been used. The main purpose of this study is to minimize ripple in torque response curve and to achieve quick speed response as well as to investigate the condition for optimum performance of induction motor drive. Depending on the simulation results this study also presents a detailed comparison between direct torque control and space vector modulation based field-orientation control method for the induction motor drive.
PHYSICAL LIMNOLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF TWO CIRCUM-NEUTRAL PH MINE PIT LAKES IN NE WASHINGTON 1

Limnologic and water chemistry data from Echo Bay Mineral's Key West and Equinox Resources' Van Stone mines were collected between August, 2000 and September, 2001. Pit lake elevations, areas and depths are 1,318 and 1,050 m; 1.1 and 1.9 ha; and 28 and 31 m, respectively. Depth profiles of temperature, pH, specific conductivity, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and dissolved oxygen were collected on a monthly basis during this period. Results indicate that both water bodies are oligotrophic and dimictic, experiencing complete mixing during the spring and fall. Seasonal water temperatures range between near 0° and 22° C and ice covers the lakes approximately 5 months per year. Thermal stratification becomes well developed in both water columns during late summer. The dissolved oxygen profile at Key West is clinograde, ranging from 8-10 mg/l at the surface to 1-2 mg/l at total depth, except during turnover. Van Stone displays an orthograde oxygen profile with relatively high concentrations (>6 mg/l) at lake bottom through out the year. Values for pH tend to fall with depth in both lakes. Waters in Key West and Van Stone pits are slightly alkaline (7-8.5), calcium-sulfate types. TDS concentrations average 628 mg/l at Key West and 386 mg/l at Van Stone; likewise sulfate currently averages about 336 mg/l and 138 mg/l, respectively. Metal concentrations are low in both waters. Contrary to expectation, sulfate concentrations in Key West lake waters have decreased over time, despite abundant sulfide minerals in the pit wall. Also unanticipated, were diminished concentrations of dissolved zinc, arsenic, molybdenum, antimony and selenium concentrations in the oxygen deficient hypolimnion at Key West. The observations and empirical data from Key West and Van Stone pit lakes are useful for, and should be considered, when developing, calibrating, and validating water quality models for circum-neutral mine pit lakes in temperate climates.