<p>Many lakes, coastal zones and oceans are directly or indirectly influenced by human activities. Through the outlet of a vast amount of substances in the air and water, we are changing the natural conditions on local and global levels. </p><p>Remote sensing sensors, on satellites or airplanes, can collect image data, providing the user with information about the depicted area, object or phenomenon. Three different applications are discussed in this thesis. In the first part, we have used a bio-optical model to derive information about water quality parameters from remote sensing data collected over Swedish lakes. In the second part, remote sensing data have been used to locate and map wastewater plumes from pulp and paper industries along the east coast of Sweden. Finally, in the third part, we have investigated to what extent satellite data can be used to monitor coral reefs and detect coral bleaching. </p><p>Regardless of application, it is important to understand the limitations of this technique. The available sensors are different and limited in terms of their spatial, spectral, radiometric and temporal resolution. We are also limited with respect to the objects we are monitoring, as the concentration of some substances is too low or the objects are too small, to be identified from space. However, this technique gives us a possibility to monitor our environment, in this case the aquatic environment, with a superior spatial coverage. Other advantages with remote sensing are the possibility of getting updated information and that the data is collected and distributed in digital form and therefore can be processed using computers.</p>

<p>Image analysis can provide genetic as well as protein level information from fluorescence stained fixed or living cells without loosing tissue morphology. Analysis of spatial, spectral, and temporal distribution of fluorescence can reveal important information on the single cell level. This is in contrast to most other methods for cell analysis, which do not account for inter-cellular variation. Flow cytometry enables single-cell analysis, but tissue morphology is lost in the process, and temporal events cannot be observed.</p><p>The need for reproducibility, speed and accuracy calls for computerized methods for cell image analysis, i.e., digital image cytometry, which is the topic of this thesis.</p><p>Algorithms for cell-based screening are presented and applied to evaluate the effect of insulin on translocation events in single cells. This type of algorithms could be the basis for high-throughput drug screening systems, and have been developed in close cooperation with biomedical industry.</p><p>Image based studies of cell cycle proteins in cultured cells and tissue sections show that cyclin A has a well preserved expression pattern while the expression pattern of cyclin E is disturbed in tumors. The results indicate that analysis of cyclin E expression provides additional valuable information for cancer prognosis, not visible by standard tumor grading techniques.</p><p>Complex chains of events and interactions can be visualized by simultaneous staining of different proteins involved in a process. A combination of image analysis and staining procedures that allow sequential staining and visualization of large numbers of different antigens in single cells is presented. Preliminary results show that at least six different antigens can be stained in the same set of cells.</p><p>All image cytometry requires robust segmentation techniques. Clustered objects, background variation, as well as internal intensity variations complicate the segmentation of cells in tissue. Algorithms for segmentation of 2D and 3D images of cell nuclei in tissue by combining intensity, shape, and gradient information are presented.</p><p>The algorithms and applications presented show that fast, robust, and automatic digital image cytometry can increase the throughput and power of image based single cell analysis.</p>

This thesis focuses on the development of methods for fusion of information from medical brain scans. The concept of medical image fusion refers to the process of extracting and utilising information from several scans simultaneously in the analysis and diagnosis of patients. One very important part of the fusion process is the image registration, which is used to find a mapping or transformation of points from one image to the corresponding points in another image. This can, for example, be used to correct for relative movements between patient examinations, thus, making direct comparisons between different scans possible. Furthermore, the registration can be used to map images from different individuals into a common standard anatomy. This is important, since it enables comparisons between the individuals and also between whole groups of individuals. In the thesis, both methods to be used for registration between scans from the same individual and for scans from different individuals are presented. Another part of the thesis is directed towards analysis of brain scans. Most of the methods are based on a computerised brain atlas, which defines a standardised mapping of the brain into sub-regions. These regions are either anatomical or functional and can be used for a more detailed analysis of the brain scan. The presented methods cover general methods for comparisons of single patients with groups of individuals, methods for feature calculations from brain atlas defined regions, and methods for extraction of more advanced features for automatic classification of brain scans. Furthermore, image visualisation is always an important part in medical imaging. This is because the constantly increasing amount of medical information demands more advanced visualisation techniques to enhance and aid the interpretation of the data. The methods presented in this thesis are focused on combined visualisation of multiple brain scans, which is useful when scans expressing different types of information are available. For instance, a combined visualisation can be helpful to detect anatomical regions of specific functional importance in the brain.

This thesis presents work in digital image cytometry applied to fluorescence microscope images of cultivated cells. Focus has been on the development and compilation of robust image analysis tools, enabling quantitative measurements of various properties of cells and cell structures. A significant part of the work has consisted of developing robust segmentation methods for fluorescently labelled cells. This, in combination with effort applied in the areas of feature extraction and statistical data analysis, has enabled the compilation of a complete chain of processing steps to produce a system capable of performing fully automatic segmentation and classification of fluorescently labelled cells according to their level of activation. Two sequences of processing steps, both leading to automatic cytoplasm segmentation of fluorescence microscopy cell images are presented. In one of the sequences, an additional image of the nuclei of the cells is segmented. The nuclei are then used as seeds for the segmentation of the cytoplasm image. This solves the problem of over-segmentation of the cytoplasms in an efficient way. The other sequence uses merge and split algorithms on the cytoplasm image, in conjunction with statistical analysis of descriptive features. This analysis is used in a feedback system to improve the segmentation performance, and to give an overall quality measure of the segmentation. A classification method that separates individual cells into three classes, depending on their level of activation, is described. The method is based on analysis of time series of images. Using both general purpose features and carefully designed problem specific features, in combination with a floating feature selection procedure, a Bayesian classifier is built. Evaluation showed that the performance of the fully automatic classification procedure was very close to the performance of skilled manual classification. A novel method for performing estimation of intensity nonuniformites of microscope images is presented. Methods to solve many other problems related to image analysis of cell images are discussed and evaluated. All methods presented in this work are applicable to real-world situations. The two main projects of the thesis work have been performed in close cooperation with and according to demands of the biomedical industry.

Many lakes, coastal zones and oceans are directly or indirectly influenced by human activities. Through the outlet of a vast amount of substances in the air and water, we are changing the natural conditions on local and global levels. Remote sensing sensors, on satellites or airplanes, can collect image data, providing the user with information about the depicted area, object or phenomenon. Three different applications are discussed in this thesis. In the first part, we have used a bio-optical model to derive information about water quality parameters from remote sensing data collected over Swedish lakes. In the second part, remote sensing data have been used to locate and map wastewater plumes from pulp and paper industries along the east coast of Sweden. Finally, in the third part, we have investigated to what extent satellite data can be used to monitor coral reefs and detect coral bleaching. Regardless of application, it is important to understand the limitations of this technique. The available sensors are different and limited in terms of their spatial, spectral, radiometric and temporal resolution. We are also limited with respect to the objects we are monitoring, as the concentration of some substances is too low or the objects are too small, to be identified from space. However, this technique gives us a possibility to monitor our environment, in this case the aquatic environment, with a superior spatial coverage. Other advantages with remote sensing are the possibility of getting updated information and that the data is collected and distributed in digital form and therefore can be processed using computers.

Geotextile and geomembrane sheets are typically used as a composite system rather than as a stand-alone solution because of their complementary properties of permeability and stiffness. Previous researchers have focused on the large-scale interaction of fiber-texture interfaces while the micromechanical behavior of the internal geotextile structure has received limited attention. Characterizing the variation in the arrangement and distribution of filaments/voids is essential to understanding the micro-scale mechanisms of nonwoven fabrics interacting with counterface materials. This presentation summarizes the results from a study that examined the micromechanical mechanisms involved at needle-punched nonwoven geotextile-textured HDPE geomembrane interfaces and relates the results to the observed macro-scale response. A large displacement direct interface shear device was developed and used in this study to reduce the system errors that often occur with conventional shear devices and to allow internal geotextile strains to occur during shear. Complimentary numerical modeling was undertaken to study interface response. An advanced image analysis technique was applied to allow the evolution of the filament microstructure under various boundary and load conditions to be quantified. The different phases within the geosynthetic interface zone were detected from images captured using high-resolution optical microscopy. The changes of geotextile inner structures were statistically quantified in terms of inter-filament distance changes as well as the local void ratio and inscribing void size distributions. The tensile response of single filaments was measured using a helium neon deflectometer and these measurements were used to evaluate the shear induced filament strain. The study provides insight into the combined role of geomembrane surface topography and geotextile filament structure on macro-scale geosynthetic interface response.

No description available.

No description available.

A controlled laboratory experiment was undertaken to simulate varying swash zone characteristics and sensor-target geometry found in digital images collected by ARGUS coastal imaging systems. Using a hyperspectral sensor, reflectance data were integrated over the respective red, blue and green wavelengths corresponding to a standard ARGUS video imaging sensor. The dominant swash zone parameters affecting shoreline detection were found to be the presence or absence of surface foam, site-specific sediment characteristics (especially colour), and water depth. Winter versus summer solar elevation and the sensor zenith were also found to affect the cross-shore location of the detected waterline. With this new information, site- and time-specific corrections can be applied to coastal digital imagery, to improve the confidence of shoreline detection.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Computer Science, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66).