This walk takes you through woodlands then follows the Basingstoke Canal past King John's Castle (13th century) to North Warnborough.
It comes back across Bartley Heath. The heath is a great place for wildlife including deer, and the resident New Forest ponies. There are also many species of flowers, butterflies and fungi.
Head towards Basingstoke from the village centre and after the railway bridge take a right down Morris Street.
At the junction with Old School Road, turn right and then left (signposted Fosters Business Park). After 10m take footpath to left and continue via track past Basingstoke Country Hotel.
Cross A30 and walk down Heather Row, over motorway and immediately left onto footpath and through trees to gravel path to your right. After 250m follow path to right, continue straight for 200m and bear left.
At the next path crossroads, take second turning (11 o'clock). Cross path through kissing gates and eventually into a field. Take path to left after 150m signposted 'to the tunnel'.
At the road, turn right. Turn down Deptford Lane and after 10m, take path on left and join canal towpath. Continue along canal passing King John's Castle. After 1.5km, pass under a road bridge.
After 300m, you pass the back entrance to the Jolly Miller pub. Continue for 100m and take footpath across the field towards the left bridge (with the pipe). Turn left and then at main road right towards roundabout.
Go straight across it down small road and continue straight on woodland path. Take path to right after 100m and follow until it crosses the motorway at a footbridge.
Carry straight on and take footpath to left about 100m after you cross under the pylon wires and head towards some open woodlands. Follow path across heath to a stile near to the Griffin Road roundabout. Turn right onto Station Road and continue to Hook centre.


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Johnny Depp's lawyer pressures Amber Heard over photo to donate as cross-examination begins
Editor's Note: Some testimonies contained graphic language and descriptions of sexual and physical assault.
juror Johnny DeppThe defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard on Monday saw pictures of her with red marks and swelling on her face after her final brawl before her divorce and heard testimony about her expertise in makeup to cover up bruises.
Hurd wrapped up her direct testimony in the Virginia court, with the third day focusing on the final months of her marriage to Depp. Later in the afternoon, his lawyers began cross-examination.
Amber Heard testifies in a defamation case brought against Johnny Depp in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., Monday, May 16, 2022.
Steve Herber/Associated Press
The trial, now in its fifth week, saw multiple photos of Heard throughout the trial, which were meant to document what she said were abused in her relationship with Depp.
However, several photos shown on Monday had not been seen by the jury before and showed the redness more clearly than previous photos.
The marks were heard when Depp threw the phone in her face.
Actor Amber Heard testifies in court in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Monday, May 16, 2022, in Fairfax, Virginia. Actor Johnny Depp is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel after writing an op-ed in Fairfax County Circuit Court in a 2018 Washington Post article calling himself a "Public Figures Representing Domestic Abuse".
The confrontation in May 2016 prompted Hurd to file for divorce two days later. A few days later, she was granted a temporary restraining order following a court hearing and was widely photographed leaving the courthouse with a visible red mark on her right cheek.
The final battle has been a key point in the couple's ongoing debate. Depp is suing Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court for defaming a December 2018 Washington Post op-ed she published as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." His lawyers said he was defamed by the article, even though it never mentioned his name.
Depp said he never hit Heard and that she was making up claims she was abused. Earlier in the trial, jurors heard officers responding to emergency calls in the final fight said Heard's face was flushed from crying, but they saw no visible bruises. Witnesses also testified that they did not see the bruises on Hurd's face in the days following the fight.
In her testimony Monday, Hurd said she did not cooperate with police responding to the couple's penthouse, and said she had very limited face-to-face interactions with officers.
She also discusses her makeup routine, using a color-correcting wheel she calls a "bruise kit" to cover up the marks on her face. She says she's learned over the years to use a green tint to cover up redness on the first day of a bruise and more orange tint as the bruise turns blue and purple.
"I don't walk around LA with a bruise," she said.
During cross-examination, Depp's attorney, Camille Vasquez, asked Heard for multiple photos of her that did not appear to show bruises, even though they were taken several days after the alleged abuse. taken during the day. Heard she used makeup to cover bruises and ice to reduce swelling.
"You should see how it looks under makeup," she said.
Vasquez also asked Hurd about her $7 million divorce settlement from Depp. Heard has pledged to donate the full amount to charity, but has so far only given a portion. She testified that since Depp sued her for $50 million, she has not been able to fulfill her promise. But during cross-examination, she admitted that she had received the full $7 million from Depp months before his lawsuit was filed.
Actor Johnny Depp looks at the courtroom gallery during his break in courtroom at Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, Monday, May 16, 2022. Depp sued ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation in Fairfax County Circuit Court in 2018 after she wrote a Washington Post op-ed calling herself a "public figure representing domestic abuse."
In her direct testimony, Heard testified that she did not want to publicly expose Depp as an abuser in court proceedings, but instead had to go to court to give testimony to obtain a restraining order, and as she left the besieged courthouse, she ate Surprised by the paparazzi.
"I just wanted to change my locks," she said of why she had to go to court to get a restraining order. "I just want a good night's sleep."
In Monday's testimony, Heard also vehemently denied Depp's allegations that she left human feces on the couple's bed after the argument. It's said the couple's teacup Yorkshire terrier, who has a history of gut issues since accidentally ingesting Depp's marijuana, made the bed.
"Absolutely not," she said of the so-called poo prank. "I don't think it's funny. I don't know what grown women do. I'm not in a prank mood."
However, Heard said Depp was fascinated by the idea of someone shitting on his bed. She said that was all he wanted to talk about in his final fight on May 21, 2016, even though Depp's mother had just died and the couple had not spoken for a month.
The pooping allegations are one of several that Depp's online fans have drawn particular attention to amid criticism of Hurd on social media.
Hurd also addressed the op-ed itself, saying that the ACLU staff, for which she served as an ambassador, wrote the first draft. She said she was happy to be a voice in the domestic violence debate and did not intend to mention Depp.
"It's not about Johnny," she said. "The only person who thinks it's about Johnny is Johnny. It's about me, and my life after Johnny."
Heard concluded her testimony by saying it was "torture" that she received daily allegations from Depp's supporters that she had lied about her abuse.
"I want to get on with my life," she said. "I want Johnny to move on. I hope he doesn't bother me."
Heard will continue to testify at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Taggedamber heardJohnny Depp
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


York-based Park Leisure has launched its biggest ever personalised marketing campaign to encourage purchases of its luxury holiday homes across its 12 UK parks.
The 10-week integrated national campaign, entitled 'Your Autumn Escape is Here', is focused around Park Leisure's new VIP experiences, inviting prospective customers to enjoy a complimentary lodge experience day.
The campaign is tailored to each park and targets an audience of over 500,000 contacts through eCRM and direct mail and will be supported by the regional sales teams based at the brand's luxury holiday home parks.
The campaign has been spearheaded by newly appointed head of marketing, Lisa Williams, who joined the business earlier this year from Nisa Retail.
She said: "The business is in a substantial growth period and we wanted to up the ante with this year's autumn campaign.
The company operates 12 parks in country and coastal settings including Northumberland, Cornwall, Lancashire, Herefordshire, North Wales and North Yorkshire.


text:
Marriott Marquis Houston
Search Program: Conference & Events
Conference 11319
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Ultrasonic Imaging and Tomography
Sunday - Tuesday 16 - 18 February 2020
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1: Photoacoustic and Flow Imaging
2: Ultrasound Signal and Image Processing
3: USCT and 3D Ultrasound
4: Ultrasound Imaging and Image Guidance: Joint Session with Conferences 11315 and 11319
5: USCT and 3D Ultrasound II
6: High Frequency Ultrasound and Acoustic Microscopy
7: Keynote and New Applications
Awards and Plenary Session
Monday Poster Session
8: Image Analysis in Ultrasound and OCT: Joint Session with Conferences 11313 and 11319
Abstract Due:
Author Notification:
Manuscript Due Date:
Brett C. Byram, Vanderbilt Univ. (United States)
Nicole V. Ruiter, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (Germany)
Mark A. Anastasio, Washington Univ. in St. Louis (United States)
Jeffrey C. Bamber, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (United Kingdom)
Johan G. Bosch, Erasmus Univ. Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Jan D'hooge, Univ. of Leuven (Belgium)
Marvin M. Doyley, Univ. of Rochester (United States)
Stanislav Y. Emelianov, The Univ. of Texas at Austin (United States)
Mostafa Fatemi, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (United States)
Aaron Fenster, Robarts Research Institute (Canada)
Jérémie Fromageau, The Institute of Cancer Research (United Kingdom)
James F. Greenleaf, Mayo Clinic (United States)
Peter E. Huthwaite, Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
Program Committee continued...
Michael Jaeger, Univ. Bern (Switzerland)
Jørgen Arendt Jensen, Technical Univ. of Denmark (Denmark)
David H. Kim, Pohang Univ. of Science and Technology (Korea, Republic of)
Cuiping Li, Delphinus Medical Technologies, Inc. (United States)
Roman G. Maev, Univ. of Windsor (Canada)
Bilal H. Malik, QT Ultrasound LLC (United States)
Stephen A. McAleavey, Univ. of Rochester (United States)
Mohammad Mehrmohammadi, Wayne State Univ. (United States)
Svetoslav I. Nikolov, BK Medical (Denmark)
Olivier Roy, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute (United States)
Kai E. Thomenius, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)
François Varray, CREATIS (France)
James W. Wiskin, QT Ultrasound LLC (United States)
Sunday 16 February Show All Abstracts
Photoacoustic and Flow Imaging
Location: Salon C
Session Chair:
Richard Bouchard, The Univ. of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. (United States)
Molecularly targeted Lipo-JICG for in vivo quantitative photoacoustic imaging
Paper 11319-1
Author(s): Cayla Wood, Chang Soo Kim, The Univ. of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. (United States); Sangheon Han, The Univ. of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. (United States); Yunfei Wen, Caterina Kaffes, The Univ. of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. (United States); Jason Cook, NanoHybrids, Inc. (United States); Anil Sood, Konstantin Sokolov, Richard Bouchard, The Univ. of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. (United States)
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Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a non-ionizing modality that provides high spatiotemporal resolution and resolves optical absorbers at depth, allowing for potential simultaneous therapy monitoring with quantitative molecular imaging. Liposome-encapsulated J-aggregates of indocyanine green (Lipo-JICG) are a PAI agent that can be antibody-targeted and provide high-contrast imaging. Mice with ovarian tumors were injected with either targeted or untargeted Lipo-JICGs and imaged on the MSOT inVision PAI system before injection and immediately, 30-min, and 1-hour post-injection. Lipo-JICG contrast in the tumor was statistically significantly higher in the targeted mice, indicating success in molecular targeting and unmixing accuracy of Lipo-JICGs in vivo.
Thermoacoustic combined tomography of abusive head trauma
Author(s): Christopher Fadden, The Pennsylvania State Univ. (United States); Krishnamoorthy Thamburaj, Mark S. Dias, PennState Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Ctr. (United States); Sri-Rajasekhar Kothapalli, The Pennsylvania State Univ. (United States)
Abusive head trauma occurs to an estimated 4 out of every 10,000 babies born each year, with a 25% mortality rate. Standard imaging of the trauma involves X-ray CT or MRI, which are not ideal for the necessary repeated imaging of abusive head trauma. Thermoacoustic combined tomography, combining ultrasound tomography, photoacoustic tomography, and radio frequency acoustic tomography is uniquely suited for imaging the skull fractures, brain swelling, subdural hematoma and subdural hygroma associated with abusive head trauma. Thermoacoustic combined tomography is a low cost alternative usable at the bedside for the necessary monitoring and diagnosis of abusive head trauma.
Wavelet-based protoacoustic signal denoising for proton range verification
Author(s): James Sohn, Emory Univ. (United States); Wei Nie, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha (United States); Stephen M. Avery, Univ. of Pennsylvania (United States); Jun Zhou, Xiaofeng Yang, Tian Liu, Emory Univ. (United States)
We proposed a wavelet-based denoising method to significantly reduce noise in collected protoacoustic signals and improve the BP identification accuracy with fewer signal averages. The average 1024 signal, which has been used in the published study, was used as the reference to identify the accurate acoustic location. We used Daubechies (db) 4 wavelet transform to decompose the collected signals to recover the useful protoacoustic signals. Our approach was able to identify the BP signal up to the average 8 signals that correspond to the dose (<1.5 Gy). This denoising technique would be useful for future 2D/3D protoacoustic imaging and make protoacoustic clinically useful for proton range verification.
Triangulation based vector flow imaging with non-steered plane waves for transverse flows
Author(s): Madhavanunni A.N., Mahesh Raveendranatha Panicker, Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad (India)
Conventional Doppler ultrasound techniques are limited to the investigation of axial flows as it is not sensitive to the transverse flow component. However, since most of the blood vessels are parallel to the skin surface, the flow is transverse and hence conventional Doppler estimates are not reliable. To tackle this, various methods like cross beam Doppler, cross-correlation methods and multi-transmit multi-receive schemes have been developed in the recent past. Most of the strategies in this regard uses plane wave which are electronically steered at different angles for insonification. In this work, the performance of a triangulation based algorithm with non-steered plane wave transmit is investigated for transverse flows. The algorithm makes a best fit out of the triangulation estimates with different receive angles so that the variability in vector estimation with the receive angles are reduced.
Coffee Break 9:40 AM - 10:10 AM
Ultrasound Signal and Image Processing
Xiaofeng Yang, The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory Univ. (United States)
Improving B-mode target size estimation using DNN Beamforming
Author(s): Adam C. Luchies, Brett C. Byram, Vanderbilt Univ. (United States)
B-mode ultrasound displays hyperechoic and hypoechoic targets as larger and smaller, respectively, compared to the true structure. A method to correct for this distortion would enable B-mode to better represent the true structure. For this work, we investigated training DNN beamformers to reduce this B-mode sizing distortion. Aperture domain DNN beamformers were trained using training data generated from simulated anechoic cysts. The DNN beamformers were trained to suppress signals originating from inside the cyst and to preserve signals originating from outside the cyst. The results suggest that DNN beamformers can be trained to reduce B-mode sizing distortions.
Guided ultrasound imaging using a deep regression network
Author(s): Jenish Maharjan, Benjamin R. Mitchell, Villanova Univ. (United States); Vincent W. S. Chan, Univ. of Toronto (Canada); Edward Kim, Drexel Univ. (United States)
In this work, we present a machine learning method to guide an ultrasound operator towards a selected area of interest. Unlike other automatic medical imaging methods, ultrasound imaging is one of the few imaging modalities where the operator's skill and training are critical in obtaining high quality images. Additionally, due to recent advances in affordability and portability of ultrasound technology, its utilization by non-experts has increased. Thus, there is a growing need for developing intelligent systems that have the ability to assist in both clinical and non-clinical scenarios. We propose a system that leverages machine learning to map real time ultrasound scans to transformation vectors that can guide a user to a target organ or anatomical structure. We present a unique training system that passively collects supervised training data from an expert sonographer and uses this data to train a deep regression network.
Deep learning radiomics for non-invasive diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules using ultrasound images
Author(s): Hui Zhou, Kun Wang, Jie Tian, Institute of Automation (China)
Background: The differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules from ultrasound (US) images remained challengeable in clinical practice. We aimed to develop and validate a highly automatic and objective diagnostic model named deep learning Radiomics of thyroid (DLRT) for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules from US images. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled US images and corresponding fine-needle aspiration biopsies from 1645 thyroid nodules. A basic convolutional neural network (CNN) model, a transfer learning model, and a newly designed model named deep learning Radiomics of thyroid (DLRT) were used for the investigation. Their diagnostic accuracy was further compared with human observers (one senior and one junior US radiologist). Results: AUCs of DLRT were 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94-0.98) and 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93-0.97) in the training and validation cohort, respectively, for the differential diagnosis
Modified Doo-Sabin modeling of the right ventricle
Author(s): Jørn Bersvendsen, GE Vingmed Ultrasound (Norway); Håkon Strand Bølviken, Univ. of Oslo (Norway); Fredrik Orderud, GE Vingmed Ultrasound (Norway); Sten Roar Snare, GE Vingmed Cardiovascular Ultrasound (Norway); Pål Brekke, Oslo Univ. Hospital (Norway); Eigil Samset, GE Vingmed Ultrasound (Norway)
The paper constructs a new mathematical model based on the Doo-Sabin model. Doo-Sabin gives smooth surfaces suited for medical modelling. The new version allows for sharp vertices and edges, so that it can model a broader variety of shapes. The paper uses the sharp Doo-Sabin to model the right heart ventricle (RV). It then compares the standard Doo-Sabin and the sharp one on modelling the RV of 16 patients, based on ultrasound images of their hearts. A ground truth established by a cardiologist is used to compare them. On average, the sharp Doo-Sabin improved 11.54% on the standard.
The accurate non-invasive staging of liver fibrosis using deep learning radiomics based on transfer learning of shear wave elastography
Paper 11319-38
Background: We developed the deep learning Radiomics of elastography (DLRE) which adopted Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based on transfer learning as a noninvasive method to assess liver fibrosis stages, which is essential for prognosis, surveillance of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. Methods: 297 patients were prospectively enrolled from 4 hospitals, and finally 1485 images were included into analysis randomly. DLRE adopted the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based on transfer learning, one of the deep learning radiomic techniques, for the automatic analysis of 2D-SWE images. This study was conducted to assess the accuracy of DLRE in comparison with 2D-SWE, transient elastography (TE), transaminase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and fibrosis index based on the four factors (FIB-4), by using liver biopsy as the gold standard. Results: AUCs of DLRE were both 0.98 for cirrhosis (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.95-0.99) and advanced fibrosis (95% CI: 0.94-0.99), which were si
Deep attentional GAN-based high-resolution ultrasound imaging
Author(s): Xiuxiu He, Yang Lei, Yingzi Liu, Zhen Tian, Tonghe Wang, Walter Curran, Tian Liu, Xiaofeng Yang, Emory Univ. (United States)
A routine 3D transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) volume is usually captured with large slice thickness (e.g. 2-5mm). Such ultrasound images with low out-of-slice resolution affect contouring and needle/seed detection in prostate brachytherapy. The purpose of this study is to develop a deep-learning-based method to construct high-resolution images from routinely captured prostate ultrasound images for brachytherapy.
Sunday/Monday Poster Viewing
Location: Salon D/E
Posters will be on display Sunday and Monday with extended viewing until 9:00 pm on Sunday. The poster session with authors in attendance will be Monday evening from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. Award winners will be identified with ribbons during the reception. Award announcement times are listed in the conference schedule.
Lunch Break 12:10 PM - 1:20 PM
USCT and 3D Ultrasound
Quantitative Breast Density (QBD) estimation with 3D transmission ultrasound and incomplete information
Author(s): James W. Wiskin, Rajni Natesan, Sam Lee, Bilal Malik, Martin Cwikla, QT Ultrasound LLC (United States)
3D Transmission with reflection ultrasound has been shown effective as a basis for quantitative assessment of breast density that is compatible with existing FDA approved methods. Presently, the use of the reflection image is important in delineation of the breast volume from the water bath. However, the reflection data/image may not be available in some scenarios due to scanner design or equipment malfunction. Furthermore, other data (such as levels of data) may be missing. The Spearman Rank coefficient for correlation of the 3D transmission and reflection ultrasound based quantitative breast density (QBD) was 93% which decreased to 91.5% when reflection image/data were removed. The Spearman r increased again to 95% when smoothing was applied to the speed and attenuation images. The results indicate that even without the reflection data information, the 3D transmission ultrasound characterization of the tissue yields QBD values commensurate with FDA approved methods.
Combining statistical shape model and principal component analysis to estimate left ventricular volume and ejection fraction
Author(s): Dawei Liu, Shusil Dangi, Rochester Institute of Technology (United States); Karl Q. Schwarz, Univ. of Rochester Medical Ctr. (United States); Cristian A. Linte, Rochester Institute of Technology (United States)
In this work we present the development of a statistical shape model (SSM) generated from a set of 13 endocardial landmarks extracted from tri-plane 2D US images and its application to rapidly and accurately estimate the LV blood pool volumes and LVEF of new patient images using multi-view 2D ultrasound. By investigating the use of the SSM with and without size normalization, we show the estimated LVEFs were within less than 2.9% and 1.1% of the ground truth values, respectively. Furthermore, the first 5 most dominant modes of variation described nearly 87% of the overall variance in the SSM.
Sound speed estimation in layered media using the angular coherence of plane waves
Author(s): Rehman Ali, Stanford Univ. (United States); Sharil Maredia, Clear Springs High School (United States); Jeremy J. Dahl, Stanford Univ. (United States)
We present a refraction-corrected sound speed reconstruction technique for layered media based on the angular coherence of plane waves. Previous work have utilized the coherence factor and full-synthetic aperture channel data to successfully estimate sound speed. However, methods for acquiring full-synthetic aperture data require a large number of transmissions, which can confound sound speed estimation due to the scatterer motion between transmit events. By replacing spatial coherence with angular coherence and applying a similar sound-speed estimation methodology, we significantly reduce acquisition time and the computational cost of sound speed estimation while maintaining the accuracy of our sound speed estimates.
Mass detection on automated breast ultrasound volume scanner using the model trained with unlabeled data
Author(s): Chisako Muramatsu, Shiga Univ. (Japan); Hironobu Kobayashi, Nagoya Central Hospital (Japan); Hiroshi Fujita, Gifu Univ. (Japan)
Breast cancer screening with mammography and ultrasonography is expected to improve sensitivity compared with mammography alone. An automated breast volume scanner (ABVS) provides the operator-independent whole breast data. However, large volumetric data in screening practice increase radiologists' workload. Therefore, our goal is to develop an automated lesion detection scheme in ABVS data. In our previous study, we proposed a mass detection scheme using convolutional neural network. One short coming is that the number of cases with lesions is small. In this study, we investigated the automatic mass detection scheme which does not require labeled data.
Clustering based quantitative breast density assessment using 3D transmission ultrasound
Author(s): Bilal H. Malik, Sanghyeb Lee, Rajni Natesan, James W. Wiskin, QT Ultrasound LLC (United States)
We present transmission ultrasound as a method to visualize and differentiate fibroglandular tissue within the breast and use an unsupervised learning-based method to quantitatively assess the respective breast density. The method includes initial separation of the breast from the surrounding water bath followed by segmentation of fibroglandular tissue from fat using fuzzy C-means classification. We apply these methods to both tissue phantoms and clinical breast images. The results demonstrate a strong correlation with both BI-RADS and Volpara assessed breast density estimates and imply that breast density as assessed by transmission ultrasound can be of significant clinical utility.
Coffee Break 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Ultrasound Imaging and Image Guidance: Joint Session with Conferences 11315 and 11319
Session Chairs:
Haichong Kai Zhang, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (United States) ;
Parvin Mousavi, Queen's Univ. (Canada)
Efficient target tracking for 3D ultrasound guided needle steering
Author(s): Guillaume Lapouge, Techniques de l'Ingénierie Médicale et de la Complexité-Info Mathématiques et Applications, Grenoble (France), Lab. d'Informatique de Robotique et de Microelectronique de Montpellier, Ctr. National de la Recherche Scientifique (France), Univ. de Montpellier (France); Jocelyne Troccaz, Univ. Grenoble Alpes (France), Techniques de l'Ingénierie Médicale et de la Complexité-Info Mathématiques et Applications, Grenoble (France), Grenoble INP (France); Philippe Poignet, Univ. de Montpellier (France), Lab. d'Informatique de Robotique et de Microelectronique de Montpellier, Ctr. National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)
3D ultrasound imaging can be used in the context of robotic needle steering to reach a physical target with a flexible, steerable needle. During the insertion, the tissue may be deformed, thus requiring to track intra-operatively the target's displacement. This paper proposes a new approach for computationally inexpensive and precise tracking of a moving target in 3D B-mode ultrasound volumes. It interconnects intensity based tracking and motion estimation algorithms. An experimental validation on ex-vivo tissue is proposed with promising tracking precision (estimated average error of 0.3mm) while significantly lowering the computational cost when compared to classical block matching based tracking.
Multi-needle detection in 3D ultrasound images using sparse dictionary learning
Author(s): Yupei Zhang, Xiuxiu He, Zhen Tian, Jiwoong Jeong, Yang Lei, Tonghe Wang, Qiulan Zeng, Ashesh B. Jani, Walter J. Curran, Pretesh Patel, Tian Liu, Xiaofeng Yang, Emory Univ. (United States)
Automatic brain structure-guided registration of pre and intra-operative 3D ultrasound for neurosurgery
Author(s): Soumya Ghose, David M. Mills, Jhimli Mitra, L. Scott Smith, Desmond T. B. Yeo, GE Global Research (United States); Alexandra J. Golby, Sarah F. Frisken, Brigham and Women's Hospital (United States); Thomas F. Foo, GE Global Research (United States)
Image guidance aids neurosurgeons in making critical clinical decisions of safe maximal resection of diseased tissue. The brain however undergoes non-linear structural deformation on account of dura opening and tumor resection. Deformable registration of pre-operative ultrasound to intra-operative ultrasound may be used in mapping of pre-operative planning MRI to intraoperative ultrasound. In this work, deformable registration of segmented brain structures in pre- and intraoperative 3D ultrasound was used to register pre- and intraoperative ultrasound. We achieve a mean target registration error of 1.43±0.8 mm when validated with 17 patients pre- and intraoperative ultrasound images of a public dataset.
A complex dual-modality kidney phantom for renal biopsy studies
Author(s): Jose Vargas, Phuc Le, Maysam Shahedi, Sarah Shahub, The Univ. of Texas at Dallas (United States); Jeffrey Gahan, Brett Johnson, The Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr. at Dallas (United States); Matthew Pfefferle, Blake O. Judson, Yasmeen Alshara, The Univ. of Texas at Dallas (United States); Qinmei Li, The Univ. of Texas at Dallas (United States), The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical Univ. (China); James D. Dormer, The Univ. of Texas at Dallas (United States); Baowei Fei, The Univ. of Texas at Dallas (United States), The Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr. at Dallas (United States)
In this paper, the goal was to develop a reliable and repeatable process to create realistic, kidney phantoms with tunable image visibility under ultrasound and CT imaging modalities for renal biopsy evaluation. The final complex kidney phantom was devised containing kidney cortex, medulla, and ureter. Simultaneously, some lesions were integrated into the phantom to mimic the presence of tumors during a biopsy. The phantoms were created and scanned by ultrasound and CT scanners and the result was a successful advancement in knowledge of materials with acoustic and impedance properties to replicate human organs for the field of image-guided interventions.
Automatic needle localization in intraoperative 3D transvaginal ultrasound images for high-dose-rate interstitial gynecologic brachytherapy
Author(s): Jessica R. Rodgers, Derek J. Gillies, Robarts Research Institute, Western Univ. (Canada); William T. Hrinivich, Johns Hopkins Univ. (United States); Igor Gyackov, Aaron Fenster, Robarts Research Institute, Western Univ. (Canada)
Gynecologic interstitial brachytherapy requires multiple needles to be precisely inserted into the tumor to deliver optimal treatment and avoid nearby healthy organs. We propose a 360° 3D transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) guidance system for visualization of needles and report on the implementation of two automatic needle segmentation algorithms to aid the localization of needles intraoperatively, enhancing the clinical utility and translation of this system. A convolutional neural network approach and a randomized 3D Hough transform-based method were developed and tested for intraoperative 2D and 3D TVUS images, respectively, allowing for immediate adjustments to needle trajectories and potentially improving implant quality.
Ring-arrayed forward-viewing ultrasound imaging system: a feasibility study
Author(s): Ryosuke Tsumura, Doua P. Vang, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (United States); Nobuhiko Hata, Brigham and Women's Hospital (United States); Haichong Zhang, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (United States)
We proposed a novel data acquisition method with a ring-arrayed transducer to enable forward-viewing US imaging for being compatible with the guidance of needle insertion. The workflow of ultrasound (US)-guided biopsy requires a physician to hold the US probe to locate the interesting area with the non-dominant hand because the dominant hand is occupied by the biopsy needle. Although 3D US imaging is an emerging alternative that provides geometrical information better and used in the needle intervention, it is not enough to perform the low-cost imaging and the co-registered guidance for the needle intervention. Therefore, there is a demand for a solution providing simple/intuitive and accurate guidance and localization of the needle to elevate the conventional US-guided biopsy.
Monday 17 February Show All Abstracts
USCT and 3D Ultrasound II
Lluis Guasch, Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
Comprehensive quantitative evaluations of reconstruction method using oil-gel-based phantom in ultrasound computed tomography
Author(s): Atsuro Suzuki, Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan)
We designed a comprehensive evaluation method including various contrast conditions using a single oil-gel-based phantom by changing the liquid (water or salt water) and temperature (15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, and 30°C). The filtered back projection (FBP) and full waveform inversion (FWI) were evaluated. The mean error of the speeds of sound in inclusions with the FBP and FWI were 17.1 ± 14.9 and 8.8 ± 10.1 [m/s], respectively. The mean percentage error of the sizes of the phantom and inclusions with the FBP and FWI were 22.5 ± 22.5% and 3.9 ± 4.3%, respectively.
Fat ray ultrasound transmission tomography: preliminary experimental results with simulated data
Author(s): Torsten Hopp, Franziska Zuch, Nicole Ruiter, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (Germany)
Incident angle-dependent gain correction for reflection images on ultrasound computed tomography
Author(s): Yushi Tsubota, Takahide Terada, Atsuro Suzuki, Wenjing Wu, Kazuhiro Yamanaka, Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan); Hiroko Yamashita, Mutsumi Nishida, Fumi Kato, Megumi Satoh, Hokkaido Univ. Hospital (Japan); Ken-ichi Kawabata, Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan)
We are performing clinical studies on breast cancer examination in Hokkaido University Hospital with an ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) system. Through these studies, some reflection images showed the intensity inhomogeneity because ultrasound wave go non-vertically into object surface. This trend increases the burden of interpretation. Therefore, we developed a calibration method to remove this heterogeneity based on the distribution of incident angle of wave which are estimated from the slope of subject surface morphologically extracted from multi-slice reflection images. By applying this correction method to clinical images, the image contrast and uniformity were successfully recovered.
Variational mode decomposition for ultrasound computed tomography
Author(s): Shanshan Wang, Liang Zeng, Hubei Univ. of Technology (China); Junjie Song, Liang Zhou, Mingyue Ding, Ming Yuchi, Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology (China)
In this paper, a preprocessing method, variational mode decomposition, is used to improve the ultrasound computed tomography image quality. The RF signals are decomposed in the frequency domain using VMD method so that the noise components can be removed. The ultrasound computed tomography image quality is enhanced using the remaining components. Validation is performed through measurement on the breast phantom. Experimental results show that the preprocessing method improved the image resolution and contrast and reduced the noises.
High Frequency Ultrasound and Acoustic Microscopy
Torsten Hopp, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (Germany)
Effects of radiation exposure on dermal collagen: A multi modal approach
Author(s): Anna Maeva, Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Jeffrey Bamber, The Institute of Cancer Research (United Kingdom), The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (United Kingdom); Inna Seviaryna, Univ. of Windsor (Canada); Colin Hopper, Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Conal Perrett, Univ. College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (United Kingdom); Laurent Bozec, Univ. of Toronto (Canada)
Intense pulsed light (IPL) is a high-intensity treatment for skin disorders and ageing. Poorly regulated and inadequately studied, we investigate IPL as a cosmetic device and its effects on collagen dermal components of skin and lab models. Ex-vivo porcine skin models were irradiated with an IPL (584 nm) at 40 J/cm2 and then characterized using AFM and PLM and US. Differences in the structure were observed between the control ex vivo tissue when compared with heavily irradiated tissue at higher IPL intensities. Ex-vivo porcine tissue demonstrated loss of D-banding and gelatinization with increasing dermal depth.
High-frequency ultrasound imaging of targeted, acoustically activated high-contrast Perfluorocarbon Nanodroplets
Author(s): Trevor Mitcham, Dmitry Nevozhay, Aaron Schwartz-Duval, Stephen Lai, Konstantin Sokolov, Richard Bouchard, The Univ. of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. (United States)
Current molecular imaging modalities face barriers to clinical implementation, providing a need for an improved clinical molecular imaging approach. We hypothesize that EGFR-targeted perfluorocarbon nanodroplets can label metastatic cells; they can then be activated (i.e., converted to a microbubble) and imaged using ultrasound in order to provide a molecular contrast agent that can inform treatment. Pulse sequences were developed for the Verasonics Vantage 128 system to activate and image dodecafluoropentane and dodecafluorohexane nanodroplets. Dodecafluoropentane nanodroplets provided 28-dB enhancement when imaged with pulse-inversion US in a tissue-mimicking environment, while dodecafluorohexane nanodroplets showed activation and subsequent recondensation, allowing for super-resolution imaging.
3D ultrasound biomicroscopy (3D-UBM) imaging of the eye for unique 3D assessment of ciliary body
Author(s): Ahmed Tahseen Minhaz, Hao Wu, Case Western Reserve Univ. (United States); Richard Helms, Univ. Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital (United States); Duriye Damla Sevgi, Cleveland Clinic (United States); Faruk Orge, Univ. Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital (United States); David L. Wilson, Case Western Reserve Univ. (United States)
We are developing a methodology for 3D assessment of ciliary body of the eye, an important but understudied tissue behind the iris opaque to optical imaging, using our new 3D ultrasound biomicroscopy (3D-UBM) imaging system. The ciliary body is important in clinical studies of glaucoma and focusing accommodation. In this preliminary study, using 3D-UBM images, we created unique en face visualizations of the ciliary processes and measured volumes and surface areas, among other biometrics, using a deep-learning semi-automated approach. This work will propel research in ciliary body assessment in clinical diagnosis of glaucoma, treatment planning, and treatment assessment.
High-resolution mapping of changes in properties in dermal collagen
Author(s): Anna Maeva, Adam Strange, Colin Hopper, Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Conal Perrett, Univ. College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (United Kingdom); Inna Seviaryna, Univ. of Windsor (Canada); Hugh Trahair, Oliver Devine, Arne Akbar, Univ. College London (United Kingdom)
Ultrasonic imaging is a non-invasive technique capable of providing high resolution qualitative and quantitative information in real-time. This, coupled with new algorithms has allowed for the extraction and evaluation of human skin tissue for medical and cosmetic applications. Here we investigate and compare its functions to that of atomic force microscopy (AFM) on young vs old epidermal and dermal collagen.
Keynote and New Applications
Brett C. Byram, Vanderbilt Univ. (United States) ;
Stroke diagnosis viability with ultrasound full-waveform inversion
Author(s): Lluis Guasch, Oscar Calderon Agudo, Carlos Cueto, Javier Cudeiro, Imperial College London (United Kingdom); Parashkev Nachev, Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Mengxing Tang, Mike Warner, Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
Rapid brain imaging is central to the diagnosis and treatment of acute neurological conditions, but existing imaging methods require large, immobile, high-power instruments that are nearly impossible to deploy outside specialized environments. Here, we present an alternative to current established neuroimaging modalities, magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray computed tomography, based on ultrasound full-waveform inversion (FWI). We demonstrate the potential of our method in differential stroke diagnosis, using an in-silico model, and show that FWI is capable of reconstructing the location, size, shape and acoustic properties of the pathology.
Validation of a mechanically-assisted 3D ultrasound scanner for urogynecological applications: preliminary results
Author(s): Golafsoun Ameri, Cosm Medical Corp. (Canada); Kevin C. Barker, Robarts Research Institute (Canada); Derek Sham, Cosm Medical Corp. (Canada); Aaron Fenster, Robarts Research Institute (Canada)
Limited view reconstructions with 3D transmission ultrasound tomography: clinical implications and quantitative accuracy
Author(s): James W. Wiskin, Bilal Malik, Mark Lenox, Nasser Pirshafiey, Rajni Natesan, John Klock, QT Ultrasound LLC (United States)
The ability to conduct 'partial field of view' scans in QT ultrasound 3D transmission ultrasound is investigated. Three scenarios are investigated: breast, whole body, and orthopedic imaging. 180 views at 2 degree intervals and 192 mm in the vertical direction were collected from the QT ultrasound™ scanner. Subsequent reconstructions were carried out with a contiguous sector of missing angles varying from 8, 16, 32, 40, 60 and 92 degrees. The difference between the corresponding images was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed and compared. It was found that a lacuna of 32 degrees did not significantly (in the clinical sense) degrade image quality. Data sparsification in the vertical direction on allowable lacuna size was also addressed. The open acquisition scenario allows us to carry out medical intervention as well as potentially decrease patient anxiety. The importance of 3D data and clinical implications are discussed.
Orthopedic and myopathic imaging with 3D transmission ultrasound tomography: experimental verification, quantitative accuracy and clinical implications
Author(s): James W. Wiskin, Bilal Malik, Veena Theendakara, Rajni Natesan, John Klock, QT Ultrasound LLC (United States)
We establish the quantitative accuracy of 3D transmission ultrasound imaging using both fresh and cadaver tissue. The inverse scattering formulation gives high resolution quantitative results even in proximity to bone. The use of fresh tissue obviates the objection that cadaverous tissue has different speed of sound (SOS) due to fixation. We report that fixation changes the SOS by 0.4% or less in fibroglandular tissue, fat and skin. The use of multiple transverse sections at varying distances from the tibio-femoral space ameliorates bias ameliorates bias. We use a 6 mm diameter ROI at 20 successive transverse levels to measure the SOS of Vastus medialis at varying distances from the tibio-femoral space and correlate to accepted literature values (1573 m/s vs 1588.4 m/s). Similar results are shown for fat (1438.7 vs 1440 m/s) and cartilage (1655.4 vs 1660 m/s). We map out regions that have no MR response, but are quantitatively imaged in 3D transmission ultrasound
Quantitative ultrasound successes: past, present, and future (Keynote Presentation)
Author(s): Michael Oelze, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology (United States)
Diagnostic ultrasound is ubiquitous in clinical practice because it is safe, portable, inexpensive, has high spatial resolution and is real time. Therefore, improving the capabilities of diagnostic ultrasound is a highly significant clinically. In this talk we will discuss different applications of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) imaging and how QUS approaches have evolved over time. Specifically, we will discuss the use of spectral-based approaches to estimate the backscatter coefficient (BSC) and attenuation slope and the use of envelope statistics to describe underlying tissue microstructure. These QUS approaches have been successful at classifying tissue state, monitoring focused ultrasound therapy, detecting early response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the automatic detection of nerves in the imaging field. We will demonstrate how QUS approaches can be incorporated on breast tomography machines, which allow an expansion of the tradeoff between spatial resolution and the variance of QUS estimates. One of the ongoing issues with QUS is the inability to properly account for losses in tissues that affect the estimates of the backscatter coefficient. We will demonstrate new calibration procedures that can improve the ability to account for tissue losses. Finally, we will discuss how machine learning approaches can further improve QUS techniques by eliminating the need for models and in some cases eliminating the need for a reference scan.
Session Plen:
Location: Salon F
Session Chairs: Metin N. Gurcan, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Ctr. (United States) and Georgia D. Tourassi, Oak Ridge National Lab. (United States)
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Award presentations
Are today's Mixed Reality experience pillars and hardware architectures well aligned with the specific needs of medical imaging and surgical guidance? (Plenary Presentation)
Author(s): Bernard C. Kress, Microsoft Corp. (United States)
Mixed Reality (MR) headsets have the potential to revolutionize the way we work, learn, communicate, and get entertained. The main pillars for MR development are wearable, visual and social comfort, as well as immersion experience. Do these pillars intersect the specific needs of medical imaging and surgical guidance applications? We will review the various challenges to implement MR hardware specifically adapted to such tasks with today's start of the art MR headset technology.
Session PSMon:
Surface-driven deformable MRI-US prostate registration using weakly-supervised deep learning
Author(s): Qiulan Zeng, Jiwoong J. Jeong, Zhen Tian, Tonghe Wang, Yang Lei, Hui Mao, Ashesh B. Jani, Pretesh Patel, Walter Curran, Tian Liu, Xiaofeng Yang, Emory Univ. (United States)
In this study, we propose an approach based on a weekly supervised method for MR-transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) image registration.
Improvements on USCT SAFT imaging by divergence compensation
Author(s): Diego A. Cardona Cardenas, Sergio Shiguemi Furuie, Univ. de São Paulo (Brazil)
Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) for reflectivity ultrasound tomography is often used in medical applications. SAFT has limitations due the low signal-to-noise ratio. To contribute to a solution, we propose a improvement called weighted-SAFT. It were used k-wave toolbox for simulation in numerical phantoms, Fast Marching Method to phase aberration correction and time of flight to calculated the SAFT weighting. The SAFT reconstructions were made using the raw received signal and, separately, the envelope signal. It is observed how the weighting SAFT leads to a more balanced distribution of intensity values throughout the image, improving its contrast. SAFT-reconstructions using the signal envelope were not good.
Random field interferometry for medical ultrasound
Author(s): Ines Elisa Ulrich, Christian Boehm, Andreas Fichtner, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
Breast cancer detection using Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) usually works with a collection of ultrasound scans that measure the pressure wavefield emitted by individual transducers. This often requires a large number of transducer pairs to obtain a good coverage of the domain of interest, and careful calibration of the transducers using reference measurements in water. We present a novel approach to obtain time-of-flight measurements between transducer pairs in an USCT aperture by applying the interferometry principle. By substituting active emitters with virtual ones, specific source imprints are eliminated, thus avoiding the need for reference measurements and calibration. Using interferometry and virtual emitters, we retrieve Green's functions between any two measurement locations, which can be used as new data for the inverse problem. The proposed method gives new perspectives to shorten the acquisition time of an entire USCT data set and to increase the data coverage.
A non-iterative approach for quantitative photoacoustic imaging by solving Poisson's equation
Author(s): Hisham Assi, Ryerson Univ. (Canada); Andrew Heinmiller, FUJIFILM VisualSonics, Inc. (Canada); Joseph C. Kumaradas, Ryerson Univ. (Canada)
Photoacoustic imaging is a hybrid imaging modality that has the advantages of the high contrast in optical imaging and the high resolution in ultrasound imaging. Quantitative photoacoustic imaging uses one or several optical wavelengths to quantify the concentration of an optical absorber which is needed for molecular and functional imaging. A medical image should, ideally, present the spatial distribution of an intrinsic property of the imaged tissue, however, the conventional photoacoustic images show the spatial distribution of the absorbed energy which depends on both the tissue absorption coefficient and the optical fluence distribution. Herein, we propose a simple improvement to photoacoustic imaging by obtaining a corrected photoacoustic image that depends only on tissue property. This is achieved by non-iteratively solving the inverse problem of light diffusion in tissue assuming that the conventional (uncorrected image) is proportional to the absorbed energy.
Weakly supervised needle detection in 3D ultrasound images with bidirectional convolutional sparse coding
Author(s): Yupei Zhang, Joseph Harms, Yang Lei, Tonghe Wang, Tian Liu, Ashesh B. Jani, Walter J. Curran, Pretesh Patel, Xiaofeng Yang, Emory Univ. (United States)
In this paper, we propose a workflow for multi-needle detection in 3D ultrasound (US) images with corresponding CT images used for weak supervision. Since the CT images do not exactly match US images, we propose a novel sparse model, dubbed Bidirectional Convolutional Sparse Coding (BiCSC), to tackle this weakly supervised problem. BiCSC aims to extract the latent features from US and CT and then build the relationship between US and CT, where the learned features from the US yield to the features from CT.
All-optical fiber ultrasound imaging system based on the photoacoustic principle
Author(s): Jingcheng Zhou, Rinkal Shah, Xu Guo, Cong Du, Xingwei Wang, Univ. of Massachusetts Lowell (United States)
This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a novel all-optical fiber ultrasound imaging system based on the photoacoustic (PA) ultrasound generation principle and Fabry-Perot interferometer principle for biomedical imaging applications. This system consists of a fiber optic ultrasound generator and a Fabry–Perot (FP) fiber sensor receiver. There are many advantages of this all-optical fiber ultrasound imaging system, such as small size, light weight, ease of use, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. This research has revealed valuable knowledge for the further study of biomedical imaging in a limited space, e.g., catheter-based intravascular imaging, tissue characterization, tissue identification, and related biomedical applications.
Quantitative evaluation of skin using high-resolution ultrasound
Author(s): Fedar Seviaryn, Gregory Schreiner, Sarah Youssef, Univ. of Windsor (Canada); Anna Maeva, Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Eugene Malyarenko, Tessonics Corp. (United States); Inna Seviaryna, Roman G. Maev, Univ. of Windsor (Canada)
High-resolution ultrasonic imaging has been increasingly used in dermatology as a complementary technique for cutaneous lesions assessment. Newly designed portable high-resolution ultrasonic imager operating at 50 MHz provides images with up to 4 mm in depth with axial resolution 50µm. Adaptive signal processing algorithms allow highlighting elements and features of the tissues. Benign melanocytic lesions, skin burns and scars have been characterized. Characterization of skin morphology and estimation the overall skin condition based on elastic modality can potentially be used for diagnostic purposes. The new device is intended to be used in medical and cosmetic dermatology.
Multi-layered phantoms mimicking skin pathologies for high-resolution ultrasound
Author(s): Inna Seviaryna, Univ. of Windsor (Canada); Shizuka Nakada, Sachiko Yoshida, Naohiro Hozumi, Toyohashi Univ. of Technology (Japan); Roman G. Maev, Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research, Univ. of Windsor (Canada)
Quickly developed medical market of high-resolution imaging requires suitable phantoms simulating characteristics of skin pathologies to develop new imaging systems and image processing algorithms. The purpose of this study was to create multilayered phantoms mimicking mechanical and acoustic properties of healthy skin and melanoma lesions for high-frequency ultrasonic imaging and quantitative assessment. Phantoms with the properties similar to human skin have been fabricated. Ultrasonic testing of phantoms was performed using scanning acoustic impedance microscope (Honda 50-SI) and hand-held skin imager. The magnitude of the sound speed and attenuation coefficient was measured to be close to those in the human tissue.
Tuesday 18 February Show All Abstracts
Image Analysis in Ultrasound and OCT: Joint Session with Conferences 11313 and 11319
Jayaram K. Udupa, Penn Medicine (United States) ;
Deep learning-based breast tumor detection and segmentation in 3D ultrasound image
Author(s): Yang Lei, Emory Univ. (United States); Jincao Yao, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (China); Xiuxiu He, Emory Univ. (United States); Dong Xu, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (China); Walter J. Curran, Tian Liu, Xiaofeng Yang, Emory Univ. (United States)
Unsupervised motion tracking of left ventricle in echocardiography
Author(s): Shawn Ahn, Kevinminh Ta, Yale Univ. (United States); Allen Lu, EchoNous Inc. (United States); John C. Stendahl, Albert J. Sinusas, James S. Duncan, Yale Univ. (United States)
Accurate motion tracking of the left ventricle is critical in detecting wall motion abnormalities in the heart after an injury such as a myocardial infarction. We propose an unsupervised motion tracking framework with physiological constraints to learn dense displacement fields between sequential pairs of 2-D B-mode echocardiography images. Current deep-learning algorithms require ground-truth or are unsuccessful in tracking motion between echocardiography images due to low SNR. We design a U-Net inspired convolutional neural network that incorporates physiological and anatomical characteristics of the heart to learn displacement estimations between a source and target image without ground-truth displacement fields. We demonstrate the performance of our model on synthetic and in vivo canine 2-D datasets by comparing it against a non-rigid registration algorithm and a shape-tracking algorithm. Our results show favorable performance of our model against both methods.
Left ventricular and atrial segmentation of 2D echocardiography with convolutional neural networks
Author(s): Joshua V. Stough, Bucknell Univ. (United States), Geisinger Health (United States); Sushravya Raghunath, John M. Pfeifer, Brandon K. Fornwalt, Christopher M. Haggerty, Geisinger Health (United States)
In this work we develop and validate a deep fully convolutional neural network architecture for the multi-structure segmentation of echocardiography, including the left ventricular endocardium and epicardium, and the left atrium. We use the recently released CAMUS echocardiography dataset. In ten-fold cross validation with data augmentation, we obtain mean Dice overlaps of 0.93, 0.95, and 0.89 on the three structures respectively, representing state of the art on this dataset. We also report agreement with reported clinical indices, including median absolute errors for left ventricular diastolic (7.4mL) and systolic volumes (4.8mL), and ejection fraction (4.1%), within previously reported inter-observer variability. These encouraging results must still be validated against large-scale independent clinical data.
Multiresolution LOGISMOS graph search for automated choroidal layer segmentation of 3D macular OCT scans
Author(s): Kyungmoo Lee, Elliott H. Sohn, Honghai Zhang, Alexis K. Warren, Andreas Wahle, S. Scott Whitmore, Milan Sonka, Michael D. Abramoff, The Univ. of Iowa (United States)
Self-fusion for OCT noise reduction
Author(s): Ipek Oguz, Joseph Malone, Yigit Atay, Yuankai K. Tao, Vanderbilt Univ. (United States)
Reducing speckle noise is an important task for improving visual and automated assessment of retinal OCT images. Traditional image/signal processing methods only offer moderate speckle reduction; deep learning methods can be more effective but require substantial training data, which may not be readily available. We present a novel self-fusion method that offers effective speckle reduction comparable to deep learning methods, but without any external training data. We present qualitative and quantitative results in a variety of datasets from fovea and optic nerve head regions, with varying SNR values for input images.
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text:
TourismTourism BoardsGlobal
Fworlando! US city received 75 million visitors in 2019
By Alastair Newport	 On May 21, 2019
Tourism officials announced recently a historic milestone for the U.S. travel industry as Orlando released news of a record-setting 75 million annual visitors in 2018. The increase of 4.2% over the prior year once again solidifies Orlando's lead position as America's most-visited destination.
"Testament to the special appeal of our destination"
Visit Orlando, the region's official destination tourism and marketing organization, shared the news as part of National Travel & Tourism Week to a gathering of more than 1,000 tourism and community leaders.
"It was another record-breaking year for Orlando with both domestic and international visitation," said Visit Orlando president and CEO George Aguel. "We saw strong gains from all of our core countries, particularly from Latin America. This success is a testament to the special appeal of our destination that continues to grow and evolve, as well as our strong commitment to strategic marketing initiatives."
Orlando reached a host of new milestones in 2018 including:
– Record number of U.S. visitors: 68.55 million (+4.1%)
– Record number of international visitors: 6.48 million (+5.4%)
– Record airline arrivals: Orlando International Airport (OIA) maintained its position as the busiest airport in Florida, with 47.7 million passengers (+6.9%)
– Record international airline arrivals: OIA's international arrivals reached 6.6 million passengers (+11.64%)
About Orlando
Home to seven of the world's top theme parks, Orlando, Theme Park Capital of the World, is the No. 1 family vacation destination and the most visited destination in the United States. An unparalleled mix of unique experiences create cherished memories for visitors, including legendary theme parks, an array of world-class water parks, entertainment venues, an award-winning food scene, shopping and nightlife. Orlando offers more lodging options than nearly any other destination in the world, from expansive resorts to uniquely themed hotels.
Visit Orlando
Visit Orlando rolls out new travel trade tools
Family & Group Travel
Research reveals keys to selling a family holiday
Orlando breaks U.S. travel record, surpassing 70 million annual visitors
Virgin Holidays opens holiday home development in Florida
Brigade Hospitality celebrates National Girl Child Day


Eliminate odours at the source with Oxygen Power.
Sanicat Active Oxygen is an unscented litter that uses unique Oxygen Power technology to attack and destroy odours at the source.
Our 100% natural mineral formula uses ultra-clumping bentonite to create a high-performance litter.
It's easy to maintain, with maximum hygiene, great absorption capacity and low dust levels.
Litters with Oxygen Power lasts twice as long.


Since the 2013 release of Docker, developers have built and deployed millions of software containers. These lightweight, componentized environments are widely deployed as part of microservices architecture. Get news on using Docker, Kubernetes and emerging container systems, as well as container-based development of cloud, web and mobile applications and microservices.


Designing an XML workspace with a guided authoring environment that is powerful, richly formatted, and supports valid content creation in an easy-to-use fashion, is quick and easy. Guide authors with custom Quick Element Toolbars, integrate simple XML based "forms", and simplify the XML author workflow.
This piece will be on display at the Museu Agbar de les Aigües in Cornellá del Vallés, Barcelona, from June 8th to 9th 2010.


Oligoclonal immunoglobulins in HIV infection.
We tested 150 patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for the presence of oligoclonal bands in serum, prompted by reports that these abnormal proteins may have prognostic significance. Sixty HIV-negative individuals from "at-risk" groups were tested along with 80 HIV-negative, healthy blood donors for the presence of these bands. All sera were tested by isoelectric focusing, because it is more sensitive for this purpose than more-conventional electrophoretic techniques. In the HIV-positive group, 61% of the sera had oligoclonal bands; in the HIV-negative "at-risk" group, 36% had bands. No bands were detectable in sera from the healthy blood-donor group. Some patients were also followed for differing periods throughout their infection, and changes in their oligoclonal banding patterns could not be correlated with disease progression. The fact that oligoclonal bands were found to be present without HIV infection in a substantial number of individuals from within the "at-risk" groups leads us to conclude that the presence of oligoclonal bands in HIV infection is of limited prognostic significance.


SoundChanger: A small program with help of which sound change from a source to a target language can be modelled with help of regular expressions. The accurracy of a set of regular expressions is automatically checked and displayed to the user.
Diffusion: A very, very simple test of agent-based simulation using Agentscript.
Test: Test the current namespace of the DIGHL-library.
SAMPA: Test a simple X-SAMPA to IPA converter.
MCH: Provides Middle Chinese readings and additional resources for Chinese character input.
TREEVIEW: Demonstrates as simple Tree-Viewer based on Newick format, using the Treelib-JS library.
If you have any questions, please me, using the email address you find at http://lingulist.de.


Handmade. 100% raw cotton, waxed chord and 925 oxidized silver hook.
Please note that: Each Caralarga is handmade with artisan techniques. Length and small detalis may vary among same models. Do not wash or dry clean. Caution! Cotton threads are flammable. Please brush with any regular comb before and after use.
This item ships 1-2 business days after placing order.


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text:
package org.freemp.droid;

/**
 * Created by recoil on 01.06.14.
 */
public final class Constants {
    public static final int TYPE_MS = 0;
    public static final int TYPE_FS = 1;
    public static final int TYPE_GM = 2;
    public static final int NUM_ITEMS = 3;
    public static final String KEY_TITLE = "title";
    public static final boolean DEBUG = true;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Lime Pulls Scooters Out of San Diego
The first e-scooter operator to come to San Diego two years ago is leaving.
Lime announced this week that it has begun removing all 4,500 of its scooters from the city.. Uber's Jump and San Francisco-based Skip, both recently left San Diego complaining about the same thing Lime has, the city's new regulations.
Last summer, the San Diego City Council approved new regulations for the scooter companies that limit speeds in tourist areas and where scooters can be parked along with fees. In December, the council voted to ban all e-scooters and e-bikes on the boardwalks from Mission Beach to La Jolla.
Lime issued this statement from its CEO, Brad Bao, "As part of our path to profitability, Lime has made the difficult decision to exit San Diego and focus our resources on markets that allow us to meet our ambitious goals for 2020. We appreciate the partnership we've enjoyed with San Diego and remain hopeful we can reintroduce Lime back into the community when the time is right."
The company also is pulling out of 11 other cities including Phoenix, San Antonio and Atlanta.
(Photo credit Getty Images)


There are a large number of Jamaica vacation packages accessible. So, in case you've gotten been scratching your head to search for the very best vacation bundle in the metropolis, learn extra. If there shall be extra vacation time after visiting the locations in your must-see list then you possibly can add secondary issues to see.
If your kids are alongside for the journey, most San Antonio trip packages offer lots to maintain them entertained. For first-timers or repeat guests, taking within the breathtaking view of Dubai from the highest of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa , is a should.
One of the city's high tourist points of interest, the Dubai Aquarium houses one hundred forty species of sea life within the huge suspended tank on the bottom flooring of the Dubai Mall. Household vacations are fun and liked by all. Significantly enthusiastic visitors could wish to make a reservation at the onsite resort or vacation village.
This could possibly be a candle-lit dinner, a dinner by the beach , special wines, candies…just about anything that makes a honeymoon package deal stand out from a daily vacation bundle. Road journeys will not be only enjoyable, but also price-efficient ways of occurring a trip with your family and loved ones.
Once you have determined if you wish to enjoy your cruise-tour vacation package, you should examine the precise cruise schedule. The majestic Dolomites, seen from Cortina 'Ampezzo, the famous holiday resort within the province of Belluno, are a superb spectacle.
For most visitors a visit to the statement deck on the 124th floor here is a must-do while within the metropolis. The Graceland Tour Bundle we had sells for 68.00 each and we had 5 folks there.
Bored with the same previous household trip? The impressive shopping malls in Dubai have nowadays transformed the us proper into a client's paradise. Actually, off-peak will be among the finest occasions to experience the Caribbean, escaping the expensive winter months with motels and bundle offers providing financial savings of as much as 50%.
Some of the least costly nations to visit today embrace Laos, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Cambodia. Palm Jumeirah has every little thing you should take pleasure in an exquisite vacation break. Despite the challenging economic system nonetheless plaguing many international locations world wide, Holiday Methods Worldwide (HSI) continues to enjoy excessive scores from Dun & Bradstreet.
Newlywed couples derive immense thrill from honeymoons in exotic locations. If you are looking for airfare and resort however would reasonably go away the meals and entertainment as much as your individual resolution when you arrive, you could have better luck on an web journey web site than you'll piecing the holiday collectively on your own.
We dream of using a private jet, touring to good places or staying inside a 5-star resort fairly than the Holiday Inn. Most of the vacation packages have preparations for decide-up on arrival, and the itinerary is kind of flexible. At this time, many come to expertise what is nice about UK seaside holidays whereas additionally enjoying lots of the points of interest the city and surrounding county has to supply.


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Home/Houses And Villas/St. Nicholas Church at Ground Zero
St. Nicholas Church at Ground Zero
Photo: Alan Karchmer for Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava is best known for his leaping bridges and soaring budgets, for his vast, bony white steel structures that evoke the high-tech ruins of the future and wreak fiscal ruin in the present. The Oculus, the $4 billion transit station and mall he designed for the World Trade Center, has become a symbol of architectural excess. Now, a few blocks away, a polished pocket project gives its reputation a dose of sobriety. The dense white nugget of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church presides over the Memorial Square from a raised platform at the southern end, and it suggests that Calatrava may have always been a religious architect disguised as a transportation engineer.
This two-story affair with a 4,200-square-foot sanctuary surrounded by a few vestibules, an upstairs office, and a small gathering place for wakes serves as an opulent replacement for the chapel that was flattened on 9/11. After two decades of argument, perseverance, litigation and fundraising, the $85 million building has become such a source of pride that the Orthodox Church has designated it a national shrine and the Greek government launched a fortune of Pentelic marble (the kind used on the Acropolis).
Saint Nicholas is the infant cousin of the Oculus, close in DNA and similar in aspiration but radically different in character. The Oculus consists of a huge steel-ribbed, glass-walled cupola vaulted above an expanse of white marble. The church has a small cupola with faceted steel ribs in translucent sheets of marble. The snowy interiors of the Oculus are brightened up with neon signs and pulsing screens. The walls of the church are enlivened with murals painted by a monk, Father Loukas of Xenophontos. The Oculus is a work of grand gestures; the church is a triumph of fine detail. The Oculus is a train station with ambitions of being a cathedral; Saint-Nicolas is content to be a small local church.
Even so, this church is a valuable object, whether you calculate the cost in elapsed years, attorney bills, construction dollars, labor hours, acres of marble, or devotional units per square foot. Calatrava gravitates toward – or generates – these slow and expensive projects, and while you can't blame him for the Archdiocese of America's desire to replace the destroyed chapel with a long-lived monument, or for his difficulties in raising money, the design challenged virtually every step of builders' habits. Sinuously curved plinths in an upstairs room, a continuous passage from wall to ceiling in the complicated stairwell, the hinges of the heavy stone doors of the iconostasis – if there was a standard way to execute each of these elements, the architects specified another. All of these bespoke details add up to a space that feels purposeful and unique rather than fussy and indulgent.
Calatrava's sketches, showing the formal development of plan and elevations.
Drawings: Santiago Calatrava
It's easy to see why religious leaders would have been thrilled with a Calatrava design that stems from ancient practices and deep-rooted conventions. The architect claims to have derived the elevation from the underlying geometries of a 10th century Hagia Sophia mosaic: The Virgin is seated on a throne with a lanky child on her lap and an emperor approaches on either side (Justinian I to her right, Constantine I to the left) bearing architectural models from Constantinople. In a series of sketches, Calatrava shows the mosaic transforming into the shape of his church: the wings of the throne elongate into towers, the robed figure generates a round-shouldered mass, and the haloed head of Mary shrinks into a cross. ornamental Greek on the roof. This progression gives a form common in the Eastern church for more than 1000 years: the cylinder surmounted by a dome inscribed in a square plan, protected by four robust towers. Calatrava invokes the Hagia Sophia and the Chora Church (both now the mosques) in Istanbul. He jumps on the Byzantine influence Saint Constance in Rome and the circular plan of Frank Lloyd Wright Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, which seems to have suggested the portal's shallow arch.
Calatrava adapted with agility to the cramped site. The procession from the narthex to the nave to the altar was compressed into a passage of only a few steps. The sanctuary can only accommodate 125 people and, against the backdrop of the World Trade Center, it is a point surrounded by giants. And yet, alone on its base, it seems deceptively bulky. The banded corner towers even seem to challenge the tall glass skyscrapers all around. Who needs height when you have personality?
Calatrava merges historical styles with idiosyncratic (from the Greek sunkratikos, meaning "mixed together") flair. He gives us a modernism without severity, a postmodernism without irony, a neoclassicism without nostalgia. The result, a few tens of meters in daylight, is strangely lumpy, a white blancmange quivering on a platter. Get closer, however, and the mass dissolves into texture and detail. Horizontal bands of white and gray marble fold like paper airplanes and bulge out into smooth convexities. Above the arched canopy, a screen made of fritted glass panels gives the facade a sawtooth surface. And above it all comes the white hump of the dome, 40 white steel ribs and 40 white stone membrane panels sandwiched between panes of glass – an echo of the 40-window cupola of Hagia Sophia. At dusk, when the lights inside shine through the marble skin, the structure loses its size and transforms into a weightless bubble. (It's not the only translucent stone building in the World Trade Center: At the other end of the plaza is the marble lightbox of REX's Perelman Performing Arts Center, still under construction.)
The interior, with murals by Fr. Loukas.
Step inside during the day and the sun seeping through the stone gives the interior a cool, chalky luminescence. The effect would be almost clinical if it weren't for the jeweled Byzantine murals of Father Loukas and a few ornately carved ornaments. A pattern of intertwining vines creeps over the columns, Greek cross-shaped holes turn marble doors into screens, and brass cruciform doorknobs make routine a sacrament. Against each wall, a double-height marble-clad steel arch, freestanding and lit from behind, resembles a hovering halo. The arches bend as they rise to meet the curve of the room, like dancers pulling back their shoulders. An efficiency fetishist might complain that they do no structural work and simply act as dressed up frames for painting and opening below. Yet all these channels, recesses and perforations suggest larger spaces nestled within the walls, a physical mystery to mimic the spiritual. A church is a microcosm, a small-scale recreation of the universe, with other miniatures nestled within. The source mosaic in Istanbul shows a portable model of Hagia Sophia; the murals here include a mini-Manhattan. Above the altar, Mary stretches out her arms across this stylized panorama, where St. Nicholas Church stands at the foot of One World Trade, dwarfing the Oculus beside it. The perspective is distorted but the statement is clear: here, in a place named for commerce, marred by violence, reconstructed in memory and surrounded by new monsters of capitalism, this little flickering candle of a building has a moral role excessive.
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Lessons in funding the basic science of quantum materials
by: Julia Klebanov
The Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative was initially approved in 2013 by the Moore Foundation's board of trustees for five years. The initiative aims to stimulate breakthroughs that fundamentally change our understanding of the organizing principles of complex matter in solid materials. In its first phase, the initiative supported experimental investigators, materials synthesis investigators and fellows, and theory centers, along with funding for equipment grants and community- building activities.
An external independent evaluation of the initiative's first phase was conducted by RTI International from June 2017 through May 2018. The evaluation assessed whether the strategies pursued by EPiQS were appropriate for achieving the desired outcomes and whether these strategies were implemented effectively. Evaluators also provided insights on the initiative's results and how these results have influenced the field of quantum materials. The evaluation integrated the findings of a panel of scientific experts who assessed the scientific impact of the initiative's first phase and identified future opportunities in the field of quantum materials.
Lessons from the external evaluation and expert panel report include:
The impact of research grants can be amplified through community-building efforts. While the majority of EPiQS grants are to individual researchers, the initiative has also supported the community through activities such as symposia and scientist exchange programs. The evaluators highlighted this as an effective approach for stimulating new collaborations and validated the idea that supporting community-building activities can help enhance the impact of individual scientists.
A novel application process, combined with a thoughtful selection criteria, can yield top grantees. Evaluators concluded that the competition and selection process for investigator awards elicited proposals that are different from research likely to be funded by federal sources, particularly in the field of quantum materials. Both successful and unsuccessful applicants for EPiQS funding commented that the proposal format and requirements challenged them to think about their research in a more creative way and submit more innovative ideas. In addition, the expert panel noted that EPiQS' review criteria identified the most potent predictors of success.
Supporting postdoctoral researchers is an effective mechanism for growing the pipeline of researchers in the field of quantum materials. EPiQS supports postdocs at theory centers as well as the postdocs working with investigators and other EPiQS PIs. The evaluators highlighted the positive effect that this approach has had on expanding opportunities for talented young researchers to enter the field of quantum materials and launch their careers. Evaluators concluded that the support that postdocs have received from the initiative has better prepared them to become the next generation of leading quantum materials researchers.
When making grants designed to provide researchers with unconstrained funding and increased flexibility, it's important to clarify expectations for research outcomes. EPiQS awards are designed to provide researchers with the flexibility and freedom to innovate, and both the evaluators and expert panel noted the significant benefits and successes afforded by this approach. However, the evaluators also found that some grantees were unsure of what the foundation expected in terms of research outcomes at the end of their award. In the future, EPiQS will take additional steps to remove ambiguities that some grantees have about these expectations.
Developing progress metrics for a basic science funding portfolio can be challenging. The evaluators identified some of the challenges involved in developing meaningful metrics for assessing the progress and impact of the initiative. Several of these challenges are due to the nature of funding basic science. For example, there is a long time-lag between EPiQS activities and their potential final outcomes, as well as difficulty determining precise attribution of outcomes to the initiative.
The external evaluation and expert panel reports were useful in identifying both successes and challenges with the initiative's work. In addition, both reports helped validate the effectiveness of the EPiQS strategies and how they have been implemented. Findings also helped inform the design of the initiative's second phase. This includes a restructured measurement framework and a decision to expand support for theorists outside of theory centers. Overall, both the evaluation and expert panel confirmed that the field of quantum materials is an important area for continued investment.
Learning physics quantum materials
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The A.G.M. was attended by 25 members. Reports on the previous year's activities were given by The Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary and were approved. Two members of the committee had not sought re-election. The officers of the committee were re-elected en bloc: Chairman - David Beesley, Vice Chairman - John Grundy, Hon. Treasurer - John Goldsmith, Hon Secretary - George Goldsmith, Committee member - Bob Butler.
As the group expands its activities, the need for more members to get involved on the Committee is urgent. If you are interested, let me know and you may wish to come to the next committee meeting to find out more.
There has been discussion regarding the possible formation of a 'sub-group' for Banbury and North of the County. We have kindly been offered accommodation to hold meetings in Banbury. If you would be interested in joining such a group, please let me know and we can, hopefully, move things forward.
This will be held as usual at The Oxford Golf Club, meet at 6.30 for a 7.00pm start. There will be a talk as detailed below, followed by the usual tea and biscuits and general discussion.
Neale Conner, Occupational Therapy Team Leader, and Anna McMullen, Physiotherapy Team Leader in Oncology, Haematology and Palliative Care at the Sobell House Hospice, Churchill Hospital, will speak about the project for which they have recently received three years of funding. The Project is to place an OT and Physiotherapist into the prostate cancer Outpatient Clinic to see patients and offer follow up at home or in the local community and to offer sign posting (as appropriate) to maximise the function of patients, their independence, quality of life, engagement in exercise, activity and prevent admission to hospital. The team is funded for a 3 year project and will start with the prostate clinic and once that is established they will offer a service to a second cancer group.
John Grundy, Dave Riley and Sarah Butler have been hard at work up-dating our web-site. There is much information about the group including dates of future meetings and links to YouTube which include several videos. These include Dave's Journey (The Radiotherapy procedure) and film of our meeting when Simon Brewster and Rose answered questions from the floor.


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Municipiul Priekule (în ) este o municipalitate din Curlanda, Letonia. Municipalitatea a fost formată în 2009 prin fuziunea parohiilor Bunka, Virga, Gramzda, Kalēti, Priekule cu orașul Priekule centrul administrativ fiind Priekule.

Vezi și
 Diviziile administrative ale Letoniei (2009)

Referințe

Letonia

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text:
Rødby, på svenska även Rödby, ligger i Lollands kommun, Danmark på Lolland. Orten har  invånare (2017) och ligger 5 kilometer nordöst om Rødbyhavn.

Rødby ligger i en platt del av Lolland, nära före detta Rødby Nor, nu uppdämd, det var tidigare en hamnstad. Sedan man på 1900-talet beslutade att dränera stora områden har en pumpstation vid Kramnitse sett till att hålla Rødby Nor och Rødby Fjord torra från vatten, inte minst för att undvika översvämningar i staden.  Det har dock inneburit att den gamla köpstaden slutligen förlorat sin direkta koppling till havet. Från tiden som hamnstad finns flera gamla magasin och livsmedelsgårdar, bl.a Willers Gård från 1729, som idag fungerar som turistbyrå. Rødby kyrka är från medeltiden och byggdes om 1632, 1728 och på 1800-talet, tornet är 38 meter högt. Från staden är det ca. 5 kilometer till hamnstaden Rødbyhavn och ca. 12 kilometer till Maribo.

Industrier på 1800-talet
Rødby hade ett rikt industriliv och under perioden 1850 - 1900 fanns de bl.a  1 boktryckeri, 3 ölbryggerier, 2 brännerier, 4 garverier, 1 kalkbränneri, 2 keramikfabriker, 2 klädesfabriker, 1 tegelbruk, 2 ullspinnerier, 1 ångkvarn , 1 maskin och vagn fabrik  "Vulcan" (130-140 arbetare) , 1 svinslakteri (aktiebolag, 16 arbetare), 1 mejeri, 1 järngjuteri.

Kända personer från Rødby
 Emil Vett
 Gutte Eriksen

Galleri

Källor

Fotnoter

Lolland
Orter i Region Själland
Lollands kommun


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Q: Recursive function returning null but on var dump returns a value I am creating a function that will return a slug based on a string entered, if a slug exists on database it will append a number with -$num, I am using codeigniter,
When I die the variable it returns the proper slug on _generate_slug it returns the correct value, but when I die on the index function it returns blank;
Here's my function
controllers/test.php
public function index()
{
  echo $this->_generate_slug('test');
}

protected function _generate_slug($string,$cntr = 0)
{
  if($cntr == 0){

        $slug = create_slug($string);

   }else{

        $slug = create_slug($string).'-'.$cntr;

   }

   if($this->test_model->slug_exist($slug)){
        $cntr++;
        $this->_generate_slug($string,$cntr);

    }else{

        return $slug;
    }
}

helpers/test.php
function create_slug($string)
{
    $slug = strtolower( $string );
    $slug = str_replace('&','and',$slug);
    $slug = preg_replace('/[%\'"``]/', '', $slug);
    $slug = preg_replace('/[^a-zA-Z0-9-]/','-',$slug);
    $slug = preg_replace("/[-]+/", "-", $slug);
    $slug = trim($slug, '-');

    return $slug;
}

A: You are getting NULL because you don't return the value in your recursion. It should be:
return $this->_generate_slug($string,$cntr);

But like it's mentioned in the comments, it's weird that you are using recursion here.
And also, I'm not familiar with the code style in CodeIgniter, but it seems a bad practice to name protected methods starting with underscore.

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