Image Segmentation has historically been a difficult part of Image Analysis in Infrared Imaging. Solutions include using a low-emissivity or cold material as a background or using a separate visual camera to perform image analysis tasks such as with the FLIR One. The proposed method utilises Stereophotogrammetry to obtain a depth map which is subsequently refined and segmented into fore- and background to give an accurate depiction of the object being imaged. The resulting 3D model can then be viewed on a computer for further analysis.

There are cooling products available for relieving the pain of minor sports injuries, in muscles, tendons, joints, strains, sprains and knocks. These products are based on ice, gel and cold patches. In order to quantify objectively the effect of each type of those products thermal imaging was used. This monitoring method is suitable to quantify quickly large regions of interest in skin areas over time through the thermal radiation perceived by thermal camera sensors. All recorded images were taken in a controlled environment and following a standard capture protocol in terms of subject, equipment and examination room preparation and procedure of conduction the examination. Two experiments were performed. The obtained results demonstrate that quantitative thermal imaging is a simple and objective tool for evaluating topical cooling treatments. However, it is important to assess the emissivity of any applied substance, which could have a significant effect on temperature measurement by remote sensing.

Medical infrared (IR) images are, like other medical images, sensitive to noise, which affects directly the temperature measurement of the subject. There are several noise removal techniques that have good performance on digital images, but may produce different temperature readings on thermal images. Hundred and twenty different noisy images were selected from a database and after being processed with several noise removal techniques, the result was statistically analyzed using the standard parameters: maximum, minimum and mean temperature, standard deviation of same region of interest, root mean square error, signal to noise ratio, cross correlation coefficient. In the end, all techniques were compared and graded according with the results. This investigation shows that all techniques produce different results, the recommended method for improving medical thermal images are the Median, Mean and Wiener filters. Results however suggest that noise filtering should only be applied when specifically needed.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is a set of occupational syndromes that causes a loose group of conditions resulting from overuse of a tool or other activity that requires repeated movements. RSI needs an accurate quantitative and objective diagnostic test to aid clinicians in the judgment of the degree of injury and assess the adequate treatment, and to provide a permanent evidence record of the degree of injury. Medical thermography was used with a mechanical provocation test involving a computer keyboard typing exercise, which was followed by a thermal provocation of the hand. In order to assess the peripheral temperature changes of the hand, a computational model was developed and the images were standardized and analyzed. The proposed method is objective and repeatable, can provide information of the evolutionary stage of the condition. It was possible to discriminate between controls and patients (p<0.05). Medical thermal imaging can be used as complementary diagnostic tool to provide evidence of occupational condition affecting upper limbs in support to medical history in medico-legal liabilities.

In this paper we propose a novel method for acquiring stereo images using the Unreal Development Kit. Our method permits the creation and capture of virtual stereo scenes in a carefully controlled environment. Stereo image pairs produced by the system can subsequently be used for testing stereo matching algorithms and a large variety of computer vision techniques. Compared to a physical stereo camera setup this virtual method provides significantly finer and a better quantitative control over all variables involved in image acquisition ranging from camera parameters to specific detail of object materials such as texture, colour and reflectiveness including their behaviour under different lighting conditions. This is illustrated in this paper by comparing images produced via this method to those captured with physical stereo cameras in stereo matching tests using OpenCV algorithms.

This paper describes the investigation of a new 3D capture method for acquiring and subsequent forensic analysis of bite mark injuries on human skin. When documenting bite marks with standard 2D cameras errors in photographic technique can occur if best practice is not followed. Subsequent forensic analysis of the mark is problematic when a 3D structure is recorded into a 2D space. Although strict guidelines (BAFO) exist, these are time-consuming to follow and, due to their complexity, may produce errors. A 3D image capture and processing system might avoid the problems resulting from the 2D reduction process, simplifying the guidelines and reducing errors. Proposed Solution: a series of experiments are described in this paper to demonstrate that the potential of a 3D system might produce suitable results. The experiments tested precision and accuracy of the traditional 2D and 3D methods. A 3D image capture device minimises the amount of angular distortion, therefore such a system has the potential to create more robust forensic evidence for use in courts. A first set of experiments tested and demonstrated which method of forensic analysis creates the least amount of intra-operator error. A second set tested and demonstrated which method of image capture creates the least amount of inter-operator error and visual distortion. In a third set the effects of angular distortion on 2D and 3D methods of image capture were evaluated.

Over the past 20 years, several expeditions were made to northern Chile to collect populations of wild tomatoes ( Solanum chilense, S. peruvianum ) and allied nightshades ( S. lycopersicoides, S. sitiens ), and obtain information about their geographic distribution, ecology and reproductive biology. Restricted mainly to drainages of the Andean and the coastal cordillera, populations are geographically fragmented. The two nightshade species are rare and threatened by human activities. Adaptation to extreme aridity and soil salinity are evident in S. chilense and S. sitiens (the latter exhibits several xerophytic traits not seen in the tomatoes) and to low temperatures in S. lycopersicoides and S. chilense. All tested accessions are self-incompatible, with the exception of one S. peruvianum population collected at the southern limit of its distribution. Several distinguishing reproductive traits—anther color, attachment, and dehiscence, pollen size, and flower scent—suggest S. sitiens and S. lycopersicoides attract different pollinators than S. chilense and S. peruvianum . The four Solanum spp. native or endemic to Chile provide a variety of novel traits which, through hybridization and introgression with cultivated tomato, could facilitate development of improved varieties, as well as research on a variety of basic topics, including plant-pollinator interactions, abiotic stress responses, and evolution of reproductive barriers.

In the processes of plant domestication and variety development, some traits are under direct selection, while others may be introduced by indirect selection or linkage. In the cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum = Solanum lycopersicum), and all other Solanaceae examined, chloroplasts are normally absent from subepidermal and mesophyll cells surrounding the leaf veins, and thus, veins appear clear upon subillumination. The tomato mutant obscuravenosa (obv), in contrast, contains chloroplasts in cells around the vein, and thus, veins appear as dark as the surrounding leaf tissue. Among tomato cultivars, the obv allele is common in processing varieties bred for mechanical harvest, but is otherwise rare. We traced the source of obv in processing tomatoes to the cultivar Earliana, released in the 1920s. The obv locus was mapped to chromosome 5, bin 5G, using introgression lines containing single chromosome segments from the wild species L. pennellii. This region also contains a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for plant height, pht5.4, which cosegregated with SP5G, a paralog of self-pruning (sp), the gene that controls the switch between determinate and indeterminate growth in tomato. The pht5.4 QTL was partially dominant and associated with a reduced percentage of red fruit at harvest. Our data suggest that the prevalence of obv in nearly all processing varieties may have resulted from its tight linkage to a QTL conferring a more compact, and horticulturally desirable, plant habit.

Infrared thermal imaging was first made available to medicine in the early 1960's. Despite a large number of research publications on the clinical application of the technique, the images have been largely qualitative. This is in part due to the imaging technology itself, and the problem of data exchange between different medical users, with different hardware. An Anglo Polish collaborative study was set up in 2001 to identify and resolve the sources of error and problems in medical thermal imaging. Standardisation of the patient preparation, imaging hardware, image capture and analysis has been studied and developed by the group. A network of specialist centres in Europe is planned to work to establish the first digital reference atlas of quantifiable images of the normal healthy human body. Further processing techniques can then be used to classify abnormalities found in disease states. The follow up of drug treatment has been successfully monitored in clinical trials with quantitative thermal imaging. The collection of normal reference images is in progress. This paper specifies the areas found to be the source of unwanted variables, and the protocols to overcome them.

Antioxidants present in fruits and vegetables may help prevent some chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and heart disease. Tomatoes provide a major contribution to human dietary nutrition because of their widespread consumption in fresh and processed forms. A tomato introgression line population that combines single chromosomal segments introgressed from the wild, green fruited species Lycopersicon pennellii in the background of the domesticated tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum, was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for nutritional and antioxidant contents. The concentration of ascorbic acid, total phenolics, lycopene and β-carotene, and the total antioxidant capacity of the water-soluble fraction (TACW) were measured in the ripe fruits. A total of 20 QTL were identified, including five for TACW (ao), six for ascorbic acid (aa), and nine for total phenolics (phe). Some of these QTL (ao6-2, ao6-3, ao7-2, ao10-1, aa12-4, phe6-2, and phe7-4) increased levels as compared to the parental line L. esculentum. For lycopene content, we detected four QTL, but none increased levels relative to L. esculentum. The two QTL (bc6-2 and bc6-3) detected for β-carotene increased its levels. The traits studied displayed a strong environmental interaction as only 35% of the water-soluble antioxidant QTL (including TACW, ascorbic, and phenolic contents) were consistent over at least two seasons. Also, only two QTL for phenolics were observed when plants were grown in the greenhouse and none was detected for ascorbic or TACW. The analysis demonstrates that the introgression of wild germplasm may improve the nutritional quality of tomatoes; however regulation appears to be complex with strong environmental effects.

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) accession LA1996 with the Anthocyanin fruit (Aft) gene has dark green foliage, elevated anthocyanin expression in the hypocotyls of seedlings, and anthocyanin in the skin and outer pericarp tissues of the fruit. Interest in the health benefits and antioxidant capacity of anthocyanins led to this study of the genetic potential for increased levels of this important class of phytonutrients in tomato fruit. In order to conform to tomato gene nomenclature rules, we propose changing the symbol Af for Anthocyanin fruit to Aft. Segregation ratios of anthocyanin expression in F(2) and BC(1) populations of a cross between the processing tomato UC82B and LA1996 were consistent with a single dominant gene hypothesis. Anthocyanin expression was reduced in backcross populations compared to F(2 )populations. Anthocyanin concentration, as measured by the pH differential method, of pigment-rich pericarp and skin tissues from LA1996 was estimated to be 20.6 mg/100 g and 66.5 mg/100 g, respectively. Anthocyanidin composition was characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fruit of accession LA1996 contained predominantly petunidin, followed by malvidin and delphinidinin. Lycopene, beta-carotene, phytoene, and phytofluene levels were similar to those of normal tomatoes and lower than those found in high pigment tomatoes.

Continued and mounting evidence of the health benefits provided by carotenoid and anthocyanin pigments has increased public interest in dietary sources of these important phytonutrients. Tomatoes ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) are the primary dietary contributor of lycopene and an important source of beta-carotene. A collection of tomatoes containing the genes hp-1 , dg , ogc , Ip , B and Af that are known to affect carotenoid and anthocyanin levels have been analyzed using HPLC. Levels of lycopene, beta-carotene, phytoene, and phytofluene have been determined in these accessions. Accession LA 3005, containing the dg gene, had the highest lycopene levels of the accessions analyzed (14 mg/100 g fresh wt.). A rapid HPLC method for quantitation of carotenoid levels from tomato fruit has been developed. “Heirloom” black and purple tomatoes have also been included in the accessions analyzed and have carotenoid levels comparable to cultivated red tomatoes. Anthocyanin presence has been confirmed only in the accessions LA 1996 ( Af ) and in some fruit of segregating plants from LA 3668 ( Abg ). Total monomeric anthocyanin content of LA 1996 as measured by the pH differential method is estimated to be 5.6 mg/100 g in the outer pericarp tissues and 18.6 mg/100 g in the skin tissue.