Errant pixels and blurry regions in a photo, whether digital or scanned, are the bane of photographers everywhere. Moreover, in vision processing research degraded photos are common and require restoration to a high-quality undegraded state. Research published this month in the International Journal of Signal and Imaging Systems Engineering could provide new insights.
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Current combination malaria therapies recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) provide adequate treatment for mild malaria, according to a Cochrane Systematic Review of the evidence. However, selected trials had high failure rates for some combinations and evidence for the effectiveness of anti-malarial therapies is lacking in some vulnerable groups.
Video from portable cameras is analyzed to calculate the distance of obstacles and predict the movements of people and cars. This information is then transformed and relayed to a blind person as a three-dimensional ‘picture’ of sound.
The concept is seemingly simple and two prototypes have been successfully tested. Laser and digital video cameras become the eyes for the blind man and see the objects and activity going on around him or her.
(Boston) - Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that patients with uncontrolled hypertension respond to treatment intensification regardless of their degree of adherence to antihypertensive medications. This study, which has been published online in Hypertension could have an immediate impact on clinical care, as it challenges a widely held assumption.
Desulfovibrio vulgaris: Scientists track chemical changes in cells as they endure extreme conditions
One of nature's most gripping feats of survival is now better understood. For the first time, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory observed the chemical changes in individual cells that enable them to survive conditions that should kill them.
A team of Rice University bioengineering students who invented a device to measure intrinsic hand muscle strength has won two prestigious honors for their patent-pending creation, PRIME. The device could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of hand injuries and neurological disorders, specifically carpal tunnel syndrome.
The OrthoIntrinsics team won first place and $10,000 at IShow, an innovation competition for graduate and undergraduate students sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Palm Desert, Calif., this June.
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have overcome a hurdle in quantum computer development, having devised* a viable way to manipulate a single "bit" in a quantum processor without disturbing the information stored in its neighbors. The approach, which makes novel use of polarized light to create "effective" magnetic fields, could bring the long-sought computers a step closer to reality.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A study comparing how two common dietary oil supplements affect body composition suggests that both oils, by themselves, can lower body fat in obese postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes.
A study of more than 64,000 pregnant women has found that miscarriage rates following amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) - two invasive procedures to detect chromosomal abnormalities and birth defects - were 1.4 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively.
The research, published in the July issue of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, also found that the number of procedures carried out by a department had a significant effect on miscarriage rates.
Salem, MA, July 6, 2009 – The Society for Vascular Nursing (SVN) has released the first in a series of guidelines being developed that will focus on the nursing care of patients with vascular disease. Working as a collective group of experts, members of SVN have developed guidelines based on the latest available evidence supporting patient care, 2009 Clinical Practice Guideline for Patients Undergoing Endovascular Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA), which appears in the June issue of the Journal of Vascular Nursing published by Elsevier.
Tiny flying machines can be used for everything from indoor surveillance to exploring collapsed buildings, but simply making smaller versions of planes and helicopters doesn't work very well. Instead, researchers at North Carolina State University are mimicking nature's small flyers – and developing robotic bats that offer increased maneuverability and performance.
San Antonio … Medical mycologists in The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) and the Department of Biology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have significantly advanced the fight against San Joaquin Valley Fever, a respiratory infection of humans, commonly called Valley Fever, which is caused by the Coccidioides fungus. For the first time, the researchers have genetically engineered a live, attenuated vaccine that successfully protects mice against Valley Fever, known in scientific circles as coccidioidomycosis.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists may be able to diagnose deep endometriosis and accurately locate lesions prior to surgery, according to a new study published in the online edition of Radiology.
"Pelvic MRI at 3 Tesla is a noninvasive technique that allows a complete examination of the pelvis," said the study's lead author, Nathalie Hottat, M.D., from the Department of Radiology at Erasme Hospital and the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium. "It accurately depicts all locations of deep endometriosis."
PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University researchers have shown that public information readily gleaned from governmental sources, commercial data bases, or online social networks can be used to routinely predict most — and sometimes all — of an individual's nine-digit Social Security number.
The number of prescriptions in Canada for cardiovascular medications has been increasing over the past decade, with a 200% increase in costs, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/press/cmaj-181-E19.pdf (www.cmaj.ca). In 2006, total costs of cardiovascular medications exceeded $5 billion, with statins accounting for almost 40% of the expenditure.