Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Master of Science / Food Science Institute -- Human Nutrition / Delores H. Chambers / This research aimed to determine the sensory characteristics of commercially-available plain yogurts and examine how three "more sustainable" prototypes compared. Three experimental non-fat set-style yogurts were provided – one control and two samples that differed in fermentation time. These shortened fermentation times could result in energy reductions and potentially substantiate a “sustainable” marketing claim, a concept gaining traction with consumers. Twenty-six commercially-available yogurts varying in percent milk fat, milk type (organic or conventional), and processing (set-style, stirred, or strained/Greek-style) were also included. Using descriptive sensory analysis, a six-person highly-trained panel scored the intensity of 25 flavor, six texture, four mouth feel, and two mouth coating attributes on a 15-point numerical scale. Three replications were conducted, and all samples were tested at least 10 days prior to the end of their shelf-lives. The samples differed for 19 flavor and all texture, mouth feel, and mouth coating attributes. Cluster analysis indicated approximately seven flavor and five texture (texture, mouth feel, and mouth coating combined) clusters, resulting in 15 unique combinations of flavor and texture. Although no legal definitions exist for “sustainable,” the prototypes’ sensory characteristics were comparable to those of top-selling yogurts indicating potential market viability. This research also demonstrated potential growth opportunities. Despite the current diversity, several combinations of flavor and texture were not represented.

The overall clinical motivation of this thesis is to differentiate between the different stages of liver disease stratifying into: no disease, mild disease, and severe fibrosis using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). As a related aim, we seek to differentiate as much as possible pericellular and nonpericellular fibrosis. This latter is clinically important, but currently no method exists that is able to perform this. Quickly, we realised that these aims push low level image analysis beyond their current bounds and so a great deal of the thesis is dedicated to extending such techniques before they can be applied. To work on the most fundamental low level image analysis concepts and algorithms we choose one of the most recent developments, namely continuous intrinsic dimensionality (ciD), which allows the continuous classification of homogeneous patches from 1D structures to intrinsically 2D structures. We show that the current formalism has several fundamental limitations and we propose a number of developments to improve on these. We re-evaluated feature energy statistics that were originally proposed in ciD, and additionally we examined the confidence one may have in stateof- the-art methods to estimate the orientation of features. We show that new statistical methods are required for feature energy, and that orientation predictability is more important than correctness of the estimation. This evaluation led us to the monogenic signal local orientation. Analysis of feature or texture energy is also a main contribution of this thesis. Within this framework we propose the Riesz-weighted phase congruency model. This is able to detect internal texture structures but it is not capable of delineating boundaries. Nevertheless, it proves an appropriate basis for texture quantification. Finally, we show that in contrast to using the standard established Kovesi approach, the developed texture measure leads to good results on the suboptimal T1w MRI liver image staging images. We show that we are able to differentiate automatically between the separate disease scores and between pericellular and non-pericellular fibrosis.

Texture can be broadly stated as spatial variation of image intensities. Texture analysis and classification is a well researched area for its importance to many computer vision applications. Consequently, much research has focussed on deriving powerful and efficient texture descriptors. Local binary patterns (LBP) and its variants are simple yet powerful texture descriptors. LBP features describe the texture neighbourhood of a pixel using simple comparison operators, and are often calculated based on varying neighbourhood radii to provide multi-resolution texture descriptions. A comprehensive evaluation of different LBP variants on a common benchmark dataset is missing in the literature. This thesis presents the performance for different LBP variants on texture classification and retrieval tasks. The results show that multi-scale local binary pattern variance (LBPV) gives the best performance over eight benchmarked datasets. Furthermore, improvements to the Dominant LBP (D-LBP) by ranking dominant patterns over complete training set and Compound LBP (CM-LBP) by considering 16 bits binary codes are suggested which are shown to outperform their original counterparts. The main contribution of the thesis is the introduction of multi-dimensional LBP features, which preserve the relationships between different scales by building a multi-dimensional histogram. The results on benchmarked classification and retrieval datasets clearly show that the multi-dimensional LBP (MD-LBP) improves the results compared to conventional multi-scale LBP. The same principle is applied to LBPV (MD-LBPV), again leading to improved performance. The proposed variants result in relatively large feature lengths which is addressed using three different feature length reduction techniques. Principle component analysis (PCA) is shown to give the best performance when the feature length is reduced to match that of conventional multi-scale LBP. The proposed multi-dimensional LBP variants are applied for medical image analysis application. The first application is nailfold capillary (NC) image classification. Performance of MD-LBPV on NC images is highest, whereas for second application, HEp-2 cell classification, performance of MD-LBP is highest. It is observed that the proposed texture descriptors gives improved texture classification accuracy.

The building blocks of a sedimentary system are essential inputs into studies of reservoir character and comparisons with other sedimentary systems. Yet, our current knowledge of the building blocks of deep water slope channel deposits is still largely speculative. A quantitative approach has been utilised in order to analyse a host of lithological data and objectively identify these sedimentary components. The laterally-extensive and gently-dipping continental slope deposits of the San Fernando Channel System, Baja California, provide the required control on sub-seismic-scale temporal and lateral variations of lithofacies and 3D architecture. High resolution photo-panoramas (with better than 2mm accuracy) of the prominent conglomeratic component of the succession were collected from various key parts of the outcrop. Image analysis of segments extracted from the photo-panoramas generates key parameters for comparison of texture and fabric of conglomerates, such as clast to matrix ratio, major axis length and relative orientation. Statistical analysis of these data enabled the erection of an objective lithofacies scheme for the gravel fraction, the grouping of lithofacies into objectively-defined assemblages, and the establishment of models for the lateral and stratigraphic distributions of these assemblages. 12 lithofacies were objectively identified through hierarchical cluster analysis of 4 quantitative lithological parameters. Statistical analyses indicate significant differences in diversity in the lithofacies assemblages between the early and later parts (termed Stage 1 and Stage 2) of a channel complex set (sensu Sprague, et al., 2002), and to a lesser extent between marginal and axial parts of the system. These can be related to spatial differences and temporal changes in the nature of the turbidity currents flowing through the channel system. Gravelly units become more organised and less diverse with time in one CCS, and each successive CCS more organised at earlier stratigraphic levels than the next, except for the last CCS which is interpreted as influenced by a tectonic paroxysm. These seemingly autocyclic changes in organisation are interpreted as process-responses to changes in equilibrium profile as the nature of confinement changes with the infilling of an initial erosional confinement, to confinement by a master levee and gradual infilling through the evolution of each CCS.

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Zoology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

<p>Den här rapporten innehåller information om hur jag har gått till väga i mitt examensarbete, som har bestått i att utforma två broschyrer och tre skyltar till ett kopparverk i Riddarhyttan. I rapporten redogör jag för hur jag har gått tillväga vid utformningen av mitt arbete, de teoretiska utgångspunkterna som ligger till grund för utformningen samt det slutgiltiga resultatet.</p><p>Bakgrunden till uppgiften är att den befintliga broschyren är, enligt min uppdragsgivare Mona Kärner Eliasson, väldigt jobbig att läsa med svåra facktermer och dåligt utförd layout. De har även tidigare funnits ett skyltsystem som de var tvungna att ta ned för att det var i dåligt skicka och det var även svårt att förstå och hänga med i texterna.</p><p>Vid utformningen av de nya informationsmaterialen har jag både utgått från min uppdragsgivares önskemål så väl som de teoretiska erfarenheterna som jag har fått från böcker och min utbildning inom informationsdesign. Jag började med att titta på broschyren som redan fanns på plats vid kopparverket, och därefter inledde jag mitt arbete med att söka information om och bilder på kopparverket. Jag ringde även runt till olika myndigheter för att få mer information om vilka lagar och regler jag var tvungen att följa i mitt arbete. Jag sökte i olika litteraturer för att få mer kunskap om hur man utformar lättlästa och effektiva budskap. Därefter började mitt arbete med att utforma informationsmaterialen. Under arbetets gång gjorde jag tre utprovningar, en på vardera broschyr och en på skyltarna. Därefter skedde förändringar där det behövdes, innan informationsmaterialen var färdiga.</p>

Rice flour possesses functional properties in enhancing texture and whiteness. This study was carried out to evaluate rice flour as a functional ingredient for premium crabstick and to develop a commercially viable recipe for premium crabstick. Crabstick pastes were formulated with constant surimi (42%) and combined rice flour and starch (8%) concentrations. Rice flour concentration was varied (0, 1, 3, and 5%) in order to evaluate changes in physicochemical properties of crabstick pastes. The physical properties of cooked gels were measured during refrigerated and frozen storage. Rice pastes with various concentrations of rice flour (5 to 40%) mixed in water, demonstrated similar patterns for differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with endothermic peaks at around 63.5°C. During refrigerated storage up to 21 days, gel strength increased gradually, while cohesiveness was not significantly changed (P>0.05). At 1% rice flour addition, fracture gel properties during 21 days of refrigerated storage showed optimum results. During frozen storage, water retention ability (WRA) gradually decreased as freeze-thaw (F/T) cycles were extended. However, the water loss was minimized as rice flour concentration increased. Two different crabstick samples (control and 1% rice flour) demonstrated no significant difference (P>0.05) in gel hardness and cohesiveness, respectively. Rice flour (1%) can, therefore, be used to replace various starches as a functional ingredient in premium crabstick formulations. / Graduation date: 2012

Global illumination algorithms are used to render photorealistic images of 3D scenes taking into account both direct lighting from the light source and light reflected from other surfaces in the scene. Algorithms based on computing radiosity were among the first to be used to calculate indirect lighting, although they make assumptions that work only for diffusely reflecting surfaces. The classic radiosity approach divides a scene into multiple patches and generates a linear system of equations which, when solved, gives the values for the radiosity leaving each patch. This process can require extensive calculations and is therefore very slow. An alternative to solving a large system of equations is to use a Monte Carlo method of random sampling. In this approach, a large number of rays are shot from each patch into its surroundings and the irradiance values obtained from these rays are averaged to obtain a close approximation to the real value. <br /><br /> This thesis proposes the use of a Monte Carlo method to generate radiosity texture maps on graphics hardware. By storing the radiosity values in textures, they are immediately available for rendering, making this algorithm useful for interactive implementations. We have built a framework to run this algorithm and using current graphics cards (NV6800 or higher) it is possible to execute it almost interactively for simple scenes and within relatively low times for more complex scenes.