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OHCHR > English > Your Human Rights > Racism > SRRacism > Thematic report on Racial discrimination in the context of citizenship, nationality and immigration
Racial discrimination in the context of nationality, citizenship and immigration: Report
The Special Rapporteur's 2018 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council is now online.
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism
View report: A/HRC/38/52
Additional Recommendations
The Special Rapporteur dedicated her first thematic report to the topic of racial discrimination in the context of laws, policies and practices concerning citizenship, nationality and immigration.
The report reviews contemporary racist and xenophobic ideologies as well as institutionalized laws, policies and practices, which together have a racially discriminatory effect on individuals' and groups' access to citizenship, nationality and immigration status.
The report also draws attention to how ethno-nationalists and other groups manipulate anxieties about national security and economic prosperity to advance racist and xenophobic policies against indigenous peoples, non-nationals and other minority groups.
The report urges Member States to comply with international human rights standards in implementing laws and policies regarding citizenship, nationality, and immigration and fulfil their obligations to achieve substantive racial equality.
The report was presented at the 38th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
To inform her report, the Special Rapporteur invited relevant stakeholders (including national and international non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions, States, inter-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and entities, activists and academics) to provide inputs and share their views.
Submissions received
European Commission and European External Action services
UNHCR Representation in Ukraine
Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR)
Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL)
Citizens' Watch
Engy Abdelkader (JD, LLM)
International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
Joint submission by the European Network on Statelessness, the Institute for Statelessness and Inclusion and the European Roma Rights Centre
Joint submission by the International Association Against Torture and the December 12th Movement
Latvian Human Rights Committee
María Elena Bedoya Muriel (abogada)
Movimiento Socio Cultural para los trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA)
Submissions from States
About Special Procedures
Submitting complaints
About country visits
Current mandate holder
Annual thematic reports
Reports on the Glorification of Nazism
Country visits
Communications Toolkit (English / French)
Comments on legislation and policy
Recent thematic reports
Racial discrimination and emerging digital technologies (2020)
Reparations for colonialism and slavery (2019)
Natural resource extractivism and racial equality (2019)
The threat of nationalist populism (2018)
Racial discrimination in the context of citizenship, nationality and immigration (2018)
Ms. E. Tendayi Achiume
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Email: racism@ohchr.org
Others involved
Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
International Decade for People of African Descent
Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
The Ad Hoc Committee on the elaboration of complementary standards
Intergovernmental Working group on the Effective implementation and Follow-up to the Durban declaration and Programme of Action
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteurship on the rights of persons of African descent and on racial discrimination
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)


Nora: One of a kind Unicorn doll. Each doll is lovingly sewn from unbleached cotton calico, stuffed with natural wool. Hair, clothes and features are made from largely natural fibres including, cotton, wool, silk and linen. It is possible to purchase changes of outfit and accessories for your magical friend.
Suitable for loving adventures with gentle friends who no longer put their toys in their mouth. Or as a nursery decoration.


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At first glance, Courtney Kerr is quickly recognized for her larger than life personal style: It's playful, fun, & full of her sassy personality. Since a young age, this outspoken Dallasite has spent most of her life eating, sleeping, and breathing fashion…so much so that she has dedicated her life to chronicling her fabulous style & taste on her well known blog "What Courtney Wore," which has transitioned into an online magazine, "KERRently." From her style do's & don'ts, to her unfiltered look on life, Kerr's unique take on style is one that readers certainly find as a breath of fresh air.
Courtney's life took an interesting turn when she was cast on Bravo's 2011 docudrama, "Most Eligible Dallas," which eventually led to a 2013 spinoff show, "Courtney Loves Dallas." Female viewers were eager to know everything about Courtney's wardrobe, which was her lightbulb moment to leave her longtime, successful career as a retail shopgirl and venture into the world of style blogging. In addition to style expert & tastemaker, Kerr has also added talk show host to her resume. For two years, Dallas woke up to her every morning on the panel of opinionated women on KTXD's 2-hour morning show, "The Broadcast." In 2014, CBS Radio also scooped up Courtney to co-host afternoon drive show, "UNcorked with Leigh Ann & Courtney Kerr," which airs on their Dallas hot adult contemporary station, 103.7 KVIL. The ladies, who have the ONLY all female drive home show in the country, discuss everything from celebrity gossip, to relationships & sex, and everything in between. In January of 2016, "UNcorked" went nationally syndicated and began as a weekly online podcast for Play.It.
After 5 years of juggling it all & going 100mph in designer heels, Courtney recognized that it was time to elevate "What Courtney Wore" into a online magazine, appropriately named "KERRently." She knew there was no way she could add this to her already full plate, so she looked to longtime assistant, Shannon Russo, to be her right hand gal and Director of Operations. The duo spent months brainstorming about how they could create an online magazine that still embodied Courtney's personal style, but also added curated elements of her day to day life including beauty, living, and travel. In January 2016, "KERRently" was launched.
Courtney, 36, resides in a fashionably decorated Dallas high-rise, and when she isn't playing dress up in her closet or thinking of her next sarcastic one-liner, she can be found eating tex-mex, drinking dirty martinis, traveling the world, or playing fetch with her four-legged best friend, a female rescue pit bull who is appropriately named "Fancy."
It's safe to say that it's a zoo around the KERRently offices and it's quite shocking that anything ever gets done! Fancy, who eats gluten free & is quite particular about the temperature of her water, is about as lazy as it gets! She enjoys the lap of luxury & sleeps every night at the foot of Courtney's bed on a faux fur blanket. Fancy despises getting wet, hates playing in the mud, & will unapologetically stare at you with her signature "one ear flop" until you acknowledge her cuteness. A sucker for a kiss, she's quite the licker, & isn't afraid of public displays of affection. But be careful…if you let her get too close you'll be picking white fur off your clothes for the rest of your life! Thankfully, Courtney has a lint roller in every drawer! #AdoptDontShop

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Louise Sorel
Louise Sorel (Howard Wise/JPI)
Character ProfileVivian AlamainActor ProfileLouise Sorel
Louise Sorel (Vivian Alamain on Days of Our Lives)
Current Character: Vivian Alamain
Birthplace: Born in New York, New York, USA
Marital Status: Single (Divorced)
Louise Sorel, an award winning actress is the daughter of now deceased parents, producer, Albert J. Cohen and actress/pianist Jeanne Sorel.
Louise Sorel was born in New York, New York, where she studied acting at New York City's prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner. She has since appeared in various television series over the years, in film and on stage, where she got her start.
Days of Our Lives- Vivian Alamain (September 2009- September 2011)
Passions- (2004)
Port Charles- Donatella Stewart (2000)
Days of Our Lives- Vivian Alamain (1992-2000)
Santa Barbara- Augusta Lockridge (1984-1991)
Knots Landing- Bess Riker (1982)
Ladies' Man- (1980-1981)
The Incredible Hulk- Dr. Renee DuBois (1979)
Charlie's Angels- Lily (1979)
Quincy M.E. - Harriet Crawford (1977)
Kojak- Janice Maclay/Vicky Brewer (1974-1977)
The Don Rickles Show- Barbara Robinson (1972)
Star Trek- Rayna (1969)
Bonanza- Marie (1965)
The Nurses - Actress (1965)
Dr. Kildare - Eloise Ruiz 1964
Soap Opera Digest Award Won, Outstanding Female Scene Stealer for Days of Our Lives (1999)
Soap Opera Digest Award Won, Outstanding Female Showstopper for Days of Our Lives (1997)
Soap Opera Digest Award Won, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Days of Our Lives (1996)
Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Female Scene Stealer for Days of Our Lives (1995)
Soap Opera Digest Award Won Outstanding Villain/Villainess for Days of Our Lives (1994)
Soap Opera Digest Award Nominated Outstanding Villain/Villainess for Days of Our Lives (1993)
Soap Opera Digest Award Nominated Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role on a Daytime Serial for Santa Barbara (1986)
Soap Opera Digest Award Nominated, Outstanding Comic Relief Role on a Daytime Serial for Santa Barbara (1986)


What do you get from working with me?
Tailored For Your Business: My speciality is creating tailored strategies for each client. I'll take care of your daily social media presence. No more spending time trying tons of different stuff: with me you'll get more results because the focus is on what matters.
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I prefer to work on a long-term basis and offer discounted rates.


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New This Fall !!
30 years and 3 Unique Experiences
"My job as the owner of an equestrian centre and the instructor of University of Guelph horse course is to read the tea leaves" says Kathy Fremes. "I'm not sure what the role of horses will be 50 years from now but in the three decades of running my farm I've seen a lot of change."
In honor of our 30th anniversary I'm am launching three experiential offerings to patrons who ride horses here, come for rider retreats or attend any of the Country Hill Cooks classes. "Even if you aren't a regular, one of these ideas may tempt to come and discover the countryside, near Toronto. It is an easy under an hour drive and you're a world away."
"First we offer a look at the past to predict the future, and I am proud to offer an archeological dig opportunity for those who love a mystery."
1. Release Your Inner Indiana Jones
"I don't know what it is except that appears to be a foundation for a shelter and has been there a long time, longer than I've owned this property and probably longer than the Miller's did who were the first homesteader," says Kathy Fremes about a stone wall, featuring two entrances to a 25-foot by 15-foot plateau of a dwelling, complete with steps.
Archeology digs in Stouffville have revealed 9,000-year-old artifacts (stone arrowheads) that once belonged to nomadic hunters who camped out for short periods to bag their game before moving on. "I think that this site may have fit in with the ancient history of this area," says Fremes, "Even today, it is clear that the structure is built into the side of hill, like a hunter's blind, that overlooks an area west of it where deer graze after watering in the nearby creek." It is yours to discover and all the archeological tools you will need are provided. Access to the site is by foot or horse and is short trek from the farmhouse. Come and explore for yourself this pristine site. Discover the mystery of this early stone structure.
2. Unplug and Unwind in Log Cabin on 'Walden' Pond
You don't have to go to Massachusetts to experience the serenity that Thoreau did on Walden but there is a regeneration that is only felt when one strips down to the essentials. There is an acre-spring-fed pond on my property that gives its occupant the same transcendental experience one comes from being alone with ones' thoughts. The secluded cabin houses a comfortable cot with soft linens, indoor and outdoor lunge chair, ideal for reading, and a simple solar light. Delicious meals can be served in the farmhouse and are full of fresh garden ingredients.
"It's a simple, cabin that is fronts on my pond that you can swim in or catch fish, but the main attraction for most is to read, reflect, paint, photograph and write," says Kathy. You are close enough to use all the modern amenities if you wish. But access to the cabin is by foot through a hidden garden path or by the waterfront. "Oh, yes, there is a canoe that you can access so BYOPFD (bring your own personal flotation device😊"
3. What can a Horse Tell You About You?
Dale Carnegie move over! The new and best instructor on how to win friends and influence people is the horse. Through Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) you can develop a greater awareness of yourself and others, and skills to successfully handle challenging situations, and direct people to a common goal. Corporate executives are fine honing their leadership skills and discovering their inner strengths and weakness by interacting with horses, and they don't even put a foot in the stirrup. These retreats have become very popular.
"I am excited about EAL for individuals at Country Hill Farm," says Fremes. "The future of horses depends on redefining their traditional roles as transporters. From their current roles in recreation, sport and racing, to their emerging roles to intuitively instruct and reflect our emotions. Horses offer an immediate feedback of our emotions, energy and influences. Horses don't lie," says Kathy. "You can't move a 1200-pound animal unless it trusts you and agrees to accept you as their leader."
"But you don't have to come with your work mates to take advantage of our EAL courses," says Kathy. "We are one of the very few facilities that will conduct these classes one-one-one and you'd be surprised what horses can tell you about your management and interpersonal style! Be a better partner, parent, or employer by stepping into our stable!"
By admin|Facility, Uncategorized|0 Comments
Need a ride? Country Hill Riders Carpools…
Want to ride a horse? If you're from GTA and have no wheels, no problem! Our barn has always been very accessible by Go Train/Bus, with a shuttle service, but now there is no reason not to ride a horse where it should be ridden—where it lives! And that's country that's close to the city—in Stouffville.
Now Country Hill Farm has a our FB has a site for ride sharing, aptly called Country Hill Farm Riders. The horse farm has won two environment awards of excellence and now its riders are also doing their part for a cleaner environment by ride sharing. So like us on FB and come up and see us soon. We have acres to hacking so escape the city in less than an hour!
And no, you don't need to know how to ride a horse to do this activity…
"Some of my friends are race riders and pound for pound they are one of the strongest athletes, but also the least flexible," said Kathy Fremes, an EC certified competition coach who began practicing yoga in her teens. Whatever your discipline—English or Western—this is an activity that can produce desirable qualities for riders such as suppleness, body awareness, balance, alignment, flexibility and relaxation. The last quality is probably the most important one for people taking up horseback riding for the first time.
Like yoga done on a mat, the rider needs little equipment except a riding helmet, comfortable clothing, and a boot with a heel. And for those who are embarking on the sport and don't own a helmet one is supplied and there is no need to buy fancy riding boots because all our saddle have safety stirrups.
A travel destination piece about Middleburg, Virginia spa ran recently in the Globe and Mail and it mentioned that yoga was offered on horseback. But the good news is you get the same experience close to home. "I find that once people try it, they are surprised to see how easy it can be—it's relaxing and beneficial for new or nervous riders or even for those who have never been on a horse before!," says Kathy.
This environmental award-winning horse farm offers the ideal place to decompress and it's only a quick 40-minute drive northeast of Toronto or take the Go train/bus to Stouffville from TO and ask for the shuttle service from the station to the farm. Consider a rejuvenating retreat to Country Hill Farm in Stouffville soon–or ask for a yoga session to be booked into a custom rider retreat vacation (minimum 2 night's stay).
By admin|Coaching, Uncategorized|0 Comments
I was thrilled and honoured to be the only horse person to receive this prestigious award twice!" say Kathy Fremes, owner-manager-coach-educator at Country Hill Farm. "I didn't realize until the award was present on Friday that I had taught over 300 students about horse husbandry and land stewardship through the University of Guelph course and more, if you include the students I coach here at my farm and those that come to me to be mentored for their professional goals—to become EC certified Instructors of Beginners and Competition Coaches.
It just goes to show you how the environment has moved to center stage in our industry and that's a change that I applaud!
Kathy Fremes
Owner-Manager-Competition Coach (EC 3 star)
Mentor and Coach Developer
Country Hill Farm
Instructor, University of Guelph
Young and mature rides can pack more riding into this year by part boarding one of CHF's school master–from steady ponies for tots, ponies who jump courses like the big guys, to larger safe and sound mounts that will suit more mature members of your family. Both English and Western disciplines available.
Contact Kathy Fremes to find your match today!
By admin|Boarding, Uncategorized|0 Comments
Some of the satisfied riders and their mounts who attended Who'll Again Farm's Invitational for Country Hill Farm's equestrians, many of which had just "survived" a rider level boot camp held at CHF.
Congratulations to all–clear rounds and great times and a great time was had by all!
This event was a warm up for some rider-horse combinations for the Phillip Dutton Clinic in August.
Country Hill Cooks! is combining culinary experiences with riders coming for retreats this summer. This is just a sample of the food served up at the most recent combined retreat.
Let our pony Splash show you the ins and outs of driving. If you are an equestrian you will benefit from the knowledge of drivers—the exact use and finesse of the voice, hands and whip. If you've never ridden, then driving is a great way to become acquainted with the ways of the horse. Splash is game. He is a small pony but a complete professional. You can learn the basics in a safe environment.
This is an old but upcoming sport that intrigues many because of its relevance to the history of transportation and it's elegant. It's addictive….when you see that pony trotting forward, pound-for-pound, stronger than a horse; you will be at a loss for words to describe the feeling. Pony Power!!! Drive On!!!! Suddenly you are transported to your youth and it is exhilarating. Come drive with me.
Students at the athletics focused Bill Crothers Secondary School in Unionville are saddling up with a new equestrian team, thanks to the vision of a teacher who loves horses and a local stable that was willing to give this new concept a try.
The team was officially formed last fall and students have been bussed every other week since then for riding lessons at Country Hill Farm in Goodwood, which is operated by Kathy Fremes.
"The creation and planning of the team has been a dream and project of mine since we opened Bill Crothers Secondary School in 2008 and we were finally able to get it off the ground this past September," says Nicole Lazier, the equestrian team coach and founder.
But as she discovered, finding a stable that met the requirements set out by the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA), which sets criteria provincially that school sports must meet, proved to be challenging.
"The hardest part was finding a barn. That was the biggest challenge," says Lazier. "It took a lot of time and careful planning to line everything up, but Kathy was the key piece to actually have it realized and get it going. The barn was really the key factor in everything in order for the participation of the students to happen."
To help Lazier narrow down her search for a stable, she looked to the Ontario Equestrian Federation's Horse Facilities Advisory Council to find member stables that meet a minimum standard of rider and horse safety and equine care, as set out by the program.
"I approached Kathy in July to be the coach of the team and to have her facility to be the barn where our program would run because it met all the guidelines required for a school program to run," says Lazier. "I knew her business practices were honest, professional and that she had a wonderful facility with sound, quiet horses that would be ideal for students to learn on. She also had many years of experience behind her as a coach and an excellent reputation as a coach in the community."
While the number of riders varies depending on student schedules, there are about 20 riders ranging from beginner to advanced who come out ride.
"I'm honoured to be involved in it," says Fremes. "These kind of pilot programs are excellent in introducing people to the sport."
In addition to the time they spend in the saddle, the equestrian team meets weekly and is also active with lunch and learn educational sessions, guest speakers, social events and team building exercises. Lazier set the team up in such a way that riders who have their own horses but may not have time to ride with the team can still take part through activities outside the stable.
"The ultimate goal for kids who are beginner riders is just to give them the chance to explore riding and all that it offers," she says. "For the advanced riders it gives them an opportunity to be part of the school environment – to give them a sense of belonging and a partnership with Bill Crothers Secondary School."
While the equestrian team is still in its infancy, a schooling show is already being planned for the spring. Lazier dreams that, someday, the school teammight even compete on a show circuit.
"Is competition our end goal? Not really," says Lazier. "It's more to just instill the love of equestrian and expose them to the sport of equestrian as an Olympic sport, but also as a pleasure sport you can enjoy for life."
To read more, please visit WHOA and read High School Students Horse Around


The American Heart Association provides educational materials about hypertension and other heart disease risk factors. This national voluntary health agency's mission is to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. The website provides general information about stroke, including educational information, news, research, health programs, and dietary information.


There is only one word to describe Shaun McKay's full part and that is WOW! looks like ridiculous powder drops don't bother him.
This part is well worth a watch.
Brits on Board – new video series dropping next week.
Next articleNick Motture- Best Season Edit Ever?


Sept. 2014 New York Fashion Week, Subway Challenge.
Feb 2014 NYFW "MFNY Walk Off"
Fashion Week NYC (Warren Street) Manhattan.
Feb 2014 City University of New York students visit IQTEST Studio.
Using factory off-cut fabric as a resource to make garments!
HAVING SOMETHING UNIQUE CAN BE FUN!!
IQTEST items are all unique and one of a kind it is build into the process of making garments with salvaged fabric!! one item at a time to large orders we can deliver that one of a kind experience.
IQTEST Garments are designed to be fun and wearable. The garments are playful and and bring the child/youth out of you at any age.
The dresses are all one of a kind and full of fun fabrics, colors and textures. The dresses are made with new salvaged fabrics and are completely ECO FRIENDLY!
The Mens Wear is Fun uplifting and ENERGY FULL, thesegarments will have you pumped full of energy, probably having you jumping up and down at some point while wearing them!!
The Tee Shirts are SUPER FUN!! They are all still one of a kind!! They can be batch ordered and mass produced if you desire! These Tee shirts make children laugh and giggle! Make adults excited and happy! They are FUNNY and FUN!!!
IQTEST garments are made with fabrics that are collected from garment cutting factories. The fabric is what the mass producing designers throw away. The fabric is salvaged to keep it from the landfills.
It is important to think about the value of items beyond the usual uses. If one looks for potentials beyond the original purpose, lots of resources exist not wastes.
Look at the statistics of how much fabric gets thrown away!
IQTEST is focused on raising awareness about the environmental impact of the mass disposal of textiles. 28 million tons of fabric reaches the landfills each year. No environmental laws are in effect to control what the companies do with fabric waste.
Cutting factory excess fabric that is usually thrown away is a valuable resource not garbage!
If designers will look more closely at the fabric remaining after they layout their their primary designs, they can take the process to a next level and design from the remaining fabric. I have made many garments from the pieces that were thrown away, I didn't even have to change the shapes to make a stylish wearable garment. If designers will take the time to explore vertical off cut scraps and design from that they will create lest waste and make more garments.
One of a kind Garments made from factory waste!
Each IQTEST garment is made by hand and is unique. Many of the pieces have original artwork on them. Hand drawn images made with nontoxic screen print ink.


This property for sale in Oregon County Missouri offers a 640 ACRE RANCH, FARM, RECREATIONAL area, and/or HUNTING property listed at ONLY $1,562 an acre.
Highlights of the property include the Artesian spring, year round underground running stream access pool, and the 1.5 miles of the upper Warm Fork River- both sides of river. Additional highlights are the 13 fenced fields, frost free cattle waterers, and a working corral with a load-out chute and a 425 ft well with 25 GPM flow and underground wiring. This ranch includes 8 miles of interior pasture fencing and 26 gates and gaps. Also featured are the 325 acres seeded in Fescue, Caucasian blue stem, and red & white clover. There are also areas available for hay fields.
This property offers several home sites with magnificent views of the Ozarks. There are Native American Indian seasonal campsites with artifacts. Also, there is marketable timber such as mature pine, oak, and walnut timber on the property.


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\section{Introduction}

Deformable registration, or nonlinear image alignment, is a fundamental tool in medical imaging. Registration models find correspondences between a set of images and derive a geometric transformation to align them. Most algorithmic and deep learning-based methods solve the registration problem by the minimization of a loss function, consisting of a similarity metric and a regularization term ensuring smoothness of the transformation. The similarity metric is essential to the optimization; it judges the quality of the match between registered images and has a strong influence on the result.

Pixel-based similarity metrics like euclidean distance and patch-wise cross-correlation are well explored within algorithmic~\cite{Avants2011, Avants2008, faisalBeg2005, Rueckert1999, thirion1998, Vercauteren2007} and deep learning based~\cite{Alven2019, balakrishnan2019voxel, dalca2018unsuperiveddiff, Dalca2019, DeVos2019, Liu2019, Lee2019a, Hu2019, Hu2019a, Yang2017, Xu2019} image registration.
These metrics assume that if the image intensities are aligned, or strongly correlated, the images are well aligned. Each choice of metric adds additional assumptions on the characteristics of the specific dataset. Thus, a common methodological approach is to trial registration models with multiple different pixel-based metrics, and choose the metric performing best on the dataset \cite{balakrishnan2019voxel, Hu2019}.

The shortcomings of pixel-based similarity metrics, such as blur in the generated images, have been studied substantially in the image generation community \cite{hou2017deep, Zhang2018} and have been superseded by deep similarity metrics approximating human visual perception. Here, features are extracted from neural networks pre-trained on image-classification tasks~\cite{deng2009imagenet}. Performance can further be improved by fine-tuning the features to human perception \cite{Czolbe2020, Zhang2018}, leading to generative models that produce photo-realistic images.
We propose to apply deep similarity metrics within image registration to achieve a similar increase of performance for registration models.

\paragraph{Contribution} We propose a data-driven similarity metric for image registration based on the alignment of semantic features. We explore both unsupervised (using auto-encoders) and semi-supervised methods (using a segmentation model) to learn filters of semantic importance to the dataset. We use the learned features to construct a similarity metric used for training a registration model, and validate our approach on three biomedical datasets of different image modalities and applications. Across all datasets, our method achieves consistently high registration accuracy, outperforming even metrics utilizing supervised information on two out of three datasets, while yielding an inconclusive result on the third one. Our models learn to ignore noisy image patches, leading to smoother transformations on low-quality data.

\section{Background \& related work} \label{sec:background}

\paragraph{Image registration}

Most image registration frameworks model the problem as finding a transformation $\ensuremath{\Phi} \colon \ensuremath{\Omega} \to \ensuremath{\Omega}$ that aligns a moving image $\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \colon \ensuremath{\Omega} \to \mathbb{R}$ to a fixed image $\ensuremath{\mathbf{J}} \colon \ensuremath{\Omega} \to \mathbb{R}$. The morphed source image, obtained by applying the transformation, is expressed by function composition as $\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}$. The domain $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ denotes the set of all coordinates $\ensuremath{\mathbf{x}} \in \mathbb{R}^d$ within the image\footnote{While the domain $\ensuremath{\Omega}$ is continuous in $\mathbb{R}^d$, recorded images and computations thereon are discrete. For simplicity of notation, we denote both the continuous and discrete domain as $\ensuremath{\Omega}$. We implement $\sum_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}} \in \ensuremath{\Omega}}$ as a vectorized operation over the discrete pixel/voxel-coordinates and calculate $|\ensuremath{\Omega}|$ as the total count of discrete pixels/voxels of the image. The transformation $\ensuremath{\Phi}$ is implemented as a map from a discrete domain to a continuous one, and the sampling of continuous points from a discrete image is implemented via bi-/tri-linear interpolation.}. Images record intensity at discrete pixel-coordinates $\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}$ but can be viewed as a continuous function by interpolation.

The transformation is found through iterative algorithms \cite{Avants2008, faisalBeg2005, Rueckert1999, thirion1998, Vercauteren2007}, or predicted with learning based techniques \cite{balakrishnan2019voxel, dalca2018unsuperiveddiff, DeVos2019, Liu2019, Lee2019a, Hu2019a, Yang2017, Xu2019}. In both cases, the optimal transformation is found by minimization of a similarity measure $\ensuremath{D}$ and a $\lambda$-weighted regularizer $\ensuremath{R}$, expressed via the loss function
\begin{equation} \label{eq:reg-loss}
\ensuremath{L}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}, \ensuremath{\Phi}) = \ensuremath{D}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}) + \lambda \ensuremath{R}(\ensuremath{\Phi}) \enspace .
\end{equation}
As many non-linear transformation models are over-parametrized and have multiple minima, regularization is necessary. Smooth transformation fields, that avoid folds or gaps, are assumed to be physically plausible and encouraged by the regularizer. We use the \textit{diffusion regularizer} throughout this paper, which is defined as
\begin{equation}  \label{eq:diffusion-regularizer}
\ensuremath{\Phi}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}) = \ensuremath{\mathbf{p}} + \ensuremath{\mathbf{u}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}) , \enspace\ensuremath{R}(\ensuremath{\Phi}) = \sum_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}} \in \ensuremath{\Omega}} \Vert \nabla \ensuremath{\mathbf{u}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}) \Vert^2 \enspace ,
\end{equation}
with the gradient of the displacement field $\nabla \ensuremath{\mathbf{u}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}})$ approximated via finite differences.

\paragraph{Similarity metrics for image registration}
Denote by $\ensuremath{D}$ the (dis-)similarity between the morphed moving image $\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}$ and the fixed image $\ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}$. Pixel-based  metrics are well explored within algorithmic image registration, a comparative evaluation is given by \citet{Avants2011}. We briefly recall the two most popular choices, \textit{mean squared error} ($\mse$) and \textit{normalized cross correlation} ($\ncc$).
The pixel-wise MSE is intuitive and computationally efficient. It is derived from maximizing the negative log-likelihood of a Gaussian normal distribution, making it an appropriate choice under the assumption of Gaussian noise. On a grid of discrete points $\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}$ from domain $\ensuremath{\Omega}$, the $\mse$ is defined as $\mse(\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}) = \frac{1}{|\ensuremath{\Omega}|} \sum_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}} \in \ensuremath{\Omega}}  \Vert \ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}) - \ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}) \Vert^2$.

Patch-wise normalized cross correlation is robust to variations in brightness and contrast, making it a popular choice for images recorded with different acquisition tools and protocols, or even across image modalities. For two image patches $\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}$, represented as column-vectors of length $N$ with patch-wise means $\bar{\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}}, \bar{\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}}$ and variance $\sigma^2_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}}, \sigma^2_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}}$, it is defined as
\begin{equation} \label{eq:ncc}
\ncc_{\text{patch}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}) = \sum_{n=1}^{N} \frac{(\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}_n - \bar{\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}}) (\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}_n - \bar{\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}})}{\sigma_\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}} \sigma_\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}} \enspace .
\end{equation}
The Patch-wise similarities are then averaged over the image \cite{gee1993elastically, Avants2008}.
Note that an alternative, computationally efficient variant of $\ncc$  is sometimes used in image registration \cite{Avants2011}. If annotations are available, these unsupervised similarity measures can be extended by a \textit{supervised} component to measure both intensity differences and the alignment of annotated label maps \cite{balakrishnan2019voxel}.

\paragraph{Learned similarity metrics for image registration}

While deep-learning-based image registration has received much interest recently, similarity metrics utilizing the compositional and data-driven advantages of neural networks remain under-explored. Some current works explore how to incorporate scale-space into learned registration models, but similarity metrics remain pixel-based \cite{Hu2019, Li2018}. Learned similarity metrics are proposed by \citet{Haskins2019a} and \citet{Krebs2017}, but both approaches require ground truth registration maps, which are either synthetically generated or manually created by a medical expert. \citet{Lee2019a} propose to learn annotated structures of interest as part of the registration model to aid alignment, but the method discards sub-regional and non-annotated structures.

Learned common data representations and similarity metrics are frequently used in multi-modal image registration \cite{Heinrich2012,Chen2016,Simonovsky2016,Pielawski2020a}. While these approaches learn common representations from well-aligned images of multiple modalities, we aim to find a semantically augmented representation of images of a single modality.

\section{Method}

\paragraph{A discussion of NCC}
Our design of a semantic similarity metric starts by examining the popular $\ncc$ metric. We see that $\ncc$ between image patches $\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}$ and $\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}$ is equivalent to the cosine-similarity between the corresponding mean-centered vectors $f(\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}) = \ensuremath{\mathbf{A}} - \bar{\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}}$ and $f(\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}) = \ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}- \bar{\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}}$:
\begin{equation}\label{eq:ncc_with_cossim}
\ncc_{\text{patch}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}) =  \frac{ \big< f(\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}}), f(\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}) \big>}{\Vert f(\ensuremath{\mathbf{A}})\Vert \Vert f(\ensuremath{\mathbf{B}}) \Vert}\enspace,
\end{equation}
with scalar product $\langle \cdot , \cdot \rangle$ and euclidean norm $\Vert \cdot \Vert$ . Thus, an alternative interpretation of the $\ncc$ similarity measure is the cosine-similarity between two feature descriptors in a high-dimensional space. The descriptor is given by the intensity values of a centered image patch centered at a pixel~$\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}$. We will construct a similar metric, using semantic feature descriptors instead.

\paragraph{A semantic similarity metric for image registration}
To align areas of similar semantic value, we propose a similarity metric based on the agreement of semantic feature representations of two images. Semantic feature maps are obtained by a \textit{feature extractor}, which is pre-trained on a surrogate task. To capture alignment of both localized, concrete features, and global, abstract ones, we calculate the similarity at multiple layers of abstraction. Given a set of feature-extracting functions $F^l \colon \mathbb{R}^{\ensuremath{\Omega} \times C} \to \mathbb{R}^{\ensuremath{\Omega}_l \times C_l}$ for $L$ layers, we define
\begin{align}
\deepsim(\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}) = \frac{1}{L} \sum_{l=1}^{L} \frac{1}{| \ensuremath{\Omega}_l |} \sum_{{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}} \in \ensuremath{\Omega}_l}
\frac{\big< F^l_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}), F^l_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{J}})\big>}{\Vert  F^l_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}) \Vert \Vert  F^l_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}) \Vert} \enspace ,
\end{align}
where $F^l_{\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}}(\ensuremath{\mathbf{J}})$ denotes the $l^{th}$ layer feature extractor applied to image $\ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}$, at spatial coordinate $\ensuremath{\mathbf{p}}$. It is a vector of $C_l$ output channels, and the spatial size of the $l^{th}$ feature map is denoted by $| \ensuremath{\Omega}_l |$.

Similarly to $\ncc$, the neighborhood of the pixel is considered in the metric, as we compose $F^l$ of convolutional filters with increasing receptive area of the composition. In contrast, it is not necessary to zero-mean the feature descriptors, as the semantic feature representations are trained to be robust to variances in image brightness present in the training data.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\def0.9 \linewidth{0.9 \linewidth}
	\input{images/model.eps_tex}
	\caption{Two-step training: First, the feature extractor (yellow) is trained. We test both a segmentation model, and an auto-encoder. Next, the feature extractor weights are frozen and used in the loss computation of the registration network (blue).}
	\label{fig:model}
\end{figure}

\paragraph{Feature extraction}
To aid registration, the functions $F^l(\cdot)$ should extract features of semantic relevance for the registration task, while ignoring noise and artifacts. We extract features from the encoding branch of networks trained on two surrogate tasks.

First, if segmentation masks are available, we can learn features on a supplementary segmentation task. Segmentation models excel at learning relevant kernels for the data while attaining invariance towards non-predictive features like noise, but require an annotated dataset for training.  We denote the proposed similarity metric with feature extractors conditioned on this task as $\deepsimseg$.

Second, we can learn an abstract feature representation of the dataset in an unsupervised setting with auto-encoders. Auto-encoders learn efficient data encoding by training the network to ignore signal noise. A benefit of this approach is that no additional annotations are required.  While variational methods for encoding tasks have several advantages, we choose a deterministic auto-encoder for its simplicity and lack of hyperparameters. We denote the similarity metric with feature extractors conditioned on this task as $\deepsimae$.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\subfigure[Qualitative comparison]
	{
		\label{fig:a}
		\begin{tikzpicture}

		\node[anchor=south west,inner sep=0] (image) at (0,0) {%
			\includegraphics[width=0.832\textwidth]{images/img_sample}
		};
		\draw (7.97,4.71) -- (9.46,4.71) -- (9.46,3.2) -- (7.97,3.2) -- (7.97,4.71);		\node[align=center, scale=0.75] at (8.715,3.955) { N/A for \\ 3D Data};
		\end{tikzpicture}
	}
	\subfigure[Detail view]
	{
		\label{fig:samples_detail}
		\includegraphics[width=.135\textwidth]{images/img_sample_detail.pdf}
	}
	\caption{Left: Qualitative comparison of registration models. Rows: Datasets Brain-MRI, Platelet-EM, PhC-U373. Columns 3-8: Registration models trained with various similarity metrics. Right: Detail view of highlighted noisy background areas on the Platelet-EM dataset. Select segmentation classes annotated in color. The transformation is visualized by morphed grid-lines. }
	\label{fig:samples}
\end{figure}

\newpage
\section{Experiments}

\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{0.5\textwidth}
\includegraphics[width=1\linewidth]{images/hparam}
\caption{Hyperparameter tuning. For each model, we select the regularizer weighting factor $\lambda$ with the highest validation mean dice overlap for further evaluation. Color scheme follows Figure~\ref{fig:testscore}.}
\label{fig:hparams}
\end{wrapfigure}

We empirically compare registration models trained with the unsupervised $\deepsimae$ and semi-supervised $\deepsimseg$ to the baselines $\mse$, $\ncc$, $\nccsup$ ($\ncc$ with supervised information), and $\vgg$ (a VGG-net based deep similarity metric from image generation). Our implementation of the baseline methods follows \citet{Avants2011}, \citet{balakrishnan2019voxel}, and \citet{hou2017deep}.

As our goal is not to advance the state of the art for any particular registration task, but instead to explore the value of our loss-function in a generic setting, we use well-established 2D and 3D U-Net \cite{Ronneberger2015} architectures for both registration and segmentation models, sketched in Figure~\ref{fig:model}. For the auto-encoder task, we use the same architecture, but without the shortcut connections. Each network consists of three encoder and decoder stages. Each stage consists of one batch normalization \cite{Ioffe2015}, two convolutional, and one dropout layer \cite{Gal2016}. After the final decoder step, we smooth the model output with three more convolutional layers. We experimented with deeper architectures but found they do not increase performance. The activation function is LeakyReLu throughout the network, Softmax for the final layer of the segmentation network, Sigmoid for the final layer of the auto-encoder, and linear for the final layer of the registration network. The stages have $64, 128, 256$ channels for 2d datasets, and $32, 64, 128$ channels for 3d.

The segmentation model is trained with a cross-entropy loss function, the auto-encoder with the mean squared error, and the registration network with the loss given by Eq.~\ref{eq:reg-loss}. The optimization algorithm for all models is ADAM \cite{Kingma2015}, the initial learning rate is $10^{-4}$, decreasing by a factor of $10$ each time the validation loss plateaus. All models are trained until convergence. Due to the large 3D volumes involved, the choice of batch-size is often limited by available memory. We sum gradients over multiple passes to arrive at effective batch-sizes of 3-5 samples. The hyperparameter $\lambda$ is tuned for each model independently on the validation set, we plot the validation score of tested values in Figure~\ref{fig:hparams}.

To show that our approach applies to a variety of registration tasks, we validate it on three 2D and 3D datasets of different modalities: 4000 T1-weighted \textit{Brain-MRI} scans \cite{di2014autism, lamontagne2019oasis}, 74 slices of human blood cells of the \textit{Platelet-EM} dataset \cite{Quay2018}, and 230 time-steps of the cell-tracking video \textit{PhC-U373} \cite{Ulman2014, Ulman2017}. All datasets are pre-aligned through affine transformations and split into train, validation, and test sections. We augment each pair of images with random affine transformations during training.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{images/test_score}
\caption{Mean dice overlap of registration models on the test set. Baselines in shades of blue, ours in red. Label of the best metric in bold, 2nd best black, others in grey. Boxplot with median, quartiles, deciles and outliers.}
\label{fig:testscore}
\end{figure}
\begin{table}[]
	\centering
	\begingroup
	\setlength{\tabcolsep}{5pt}
	\begin{tabular}{@{}llrrrrrrrr@{}}
		\toprule[0.1em]
		Dataset                      & \multicolumn{1}{c}{Method} & \multicolumn{8}{c}{Baseline}                                                                                \\ \cmidrule(r){1-1} \cmidrule(lr){2-2} \cmidrule(l){3-10}
		&                              & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$\mse$}                        & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$\ncc$}                        & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$\ncc_{\text{sup}}$}           & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$\vgg$}                        \\ \cmidrule(lr){3-4} \cmidrule(lr){5-6} \cmidrule(lr){7-8} \cmidrule(l){9-10}
		&                              & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$p$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$d$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$p$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$d$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$p$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$d$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$p$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$d$} \\ \addlinespace
		\multirow{2}{*}{Brain-MRI}                    & $\deepsimae$       & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.14$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.43$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.10$                  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{--}                & \multicolumn{1}{c}{--}                   \\
		& $\deepsimseg$      & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.30$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.60$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.25$                  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{--}                & \multicolumn{1}{c}{--}                \\ \addlinespace
		\multirow{2}{*}{Platelet-EM} & $\deepsimae$       & $\color{grey} 0.016$                 & $ 0.12$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $1.14$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.51$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $1.06$                  \\
		& $\deepsimseg$      & $\color{grey} 0.034$                 & $0.10$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $1.12$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.49$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $1.04$                  \\ \addlinespace
		\multirow{2}{*}{PhC-U373}    & $\deepsimae$       & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.10$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.11$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $\color{grey} -0.06$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $\color{grey} -0.05$                  \\
		& $\deepsimseg$      & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.12$                  & $<\!0.001$                 & $0.13$                  & $0.002$                 & $\color{grey} -0.03$                  & $\color{grey} 0.003$                 & $\color{grey} -0.02$                  \\ \bottomrule[0.1em]
	\end{tabular}
	\endgroup
	\caption{Results of the statistical significance test, performed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired samples. Effect size measured with Cohen's d. Statistically insignificant results (significance level 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected to $p>0.002$) and very small effect sizes ($|d| <0.1$) in grey.}
	\label{tab:statistical-tests}
\end{table}

\section{Results}
\paragraph{Registration accuracy}
We measure the mean S{\o}rensen Dice coefficient on the unseen test-set in Figure~\ref{fig:testscore}. Statistical significance testing of the results is performed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired samples. A significance level of $5\%$ gives Bonferroni-adjusted significance threshold $p=0.002$. We further measure the effect size with Cohen's d and show the results in Table \ref{tab:statistical-tests}.
Models trained with our proposed $\deepsimae$ and $\deepsimseg$ outperform all baselines on the Brain-MRI and Platelet-EM datasets, with strong statistical significance and effect size. On the \mbox{PhC-U373} dataset, all models achieve high dice-overlaps of $>0.97$.

We monitor the mean dice overlap during training. The training accuracy is, with few exceptions, similar to the test accuracy, indicating that results generalize well. The empirical convergence speeds of the tested metrics differ. We observe that the $\deepsimseg$ converges faster than the baselines, especially in the first few epochs of training. See appendix \ref{appendix:convergence} for a convergence plot.

\paragraph{Qualitative examples \& transformation grids}
We plot the fixed and moving images $\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}}, \ensuremath{\mathbf{J}}$ and the morphed image $\ensuremath{\mathbf{I}} \circ \ensuremath{\Phi}$ for each similarity metric model along with a more detailed view of a noisy patch of the Platelet-EM dataset in Figure~\ref{fig:samples}, and perform a quantitative analysis of the transformation in Appendix~\ref{appendix:transformation}. On models trained with the baselines, we find strongly distorted transformation fields in noisy areas of the images. In particular, models trained with $\ncc$ and $\ncc_{\text{sup}}$ produce very irregular transformations, despite careful tuning of the regularization-hyper-parameter. The model trained by $\deepsimseg$ is more invariant towards noise.

\paragraph{Anatomical regions}
The Brain-MRI dataset is annotated with the anatomical regions of the brain. We plot the dice overlap per region in a boxplot in Figure~\ref{fig:test_score_per_class_brain}, and highlight regions where both of our metrics perform better than all baselines bold. Baseline methods (blue) perform very similar, despite $\ncc_{\text{sup}}$ as a supervised metric requiring more information over the unsupervised $\mse$ and $\ncc$.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=1\linewidth]{images/test_score_per_class_brain-mri}
	\caption{Dice overlaps of the anatomical regions of the Brain-MRI dataset. Baselines in shades of blue, our methods in red. Bold labels for regions where \textit{both} of our methods score higher than all baselines. We combined labels of the left and right brain hemispheres into a single class. The boxplot shows median, quartiles, deciles and outliers.}
	\label{fig:test_score_per_class_brain}
\end{figure}

\section{Discussion \& Conclusion}
Registration models trained with $\deepsim$ achieve high registration accuracy across datasets, allowing improved downstream analysis and diagnosis.
Its consistency makes testing multiple traditional metrics unnecessary; instead of empirically determining whether $\mse$ or $\ncc$ captures the characteristics of a data-set best, we can use $\deepsim$ to learn the relevant features from the data.

Our experiments show that the availability of annotated anatomical regions can help in learning semantic features, but is not a necessity. Gains in performance in deep learning often require large, annotated datasets, which are expensive and time-consuming to obtain in biomedical settings. The feature extractor of $\deepsimae$ was trained on the unsupervised autoencoding task, requiring no additional data aside from the intensity images to be registered. It performed similarly to the semi-supervised $\deepsimseg$ on two of the three datasets and outperformed the baselines.

The analysis of noisy patches in Figure~\ref{fig:samples} and Appendix~\ref{appendix:transformation} highlights a learned invariance to noise. The pixel-based similarity metrics are distracted by artifacts, leading to overly-detailed transformation fields. Models trained with $\deepsim$ do not show this problem. While smoother transformation fields can be obtained for all metrics by strengthening the regularizer, this would negatively impact the registration accuracy of anatomically significant regions. Accurate registration of noisy, low-quality images allows for shorter acquisition time and reduced radiation dose in medical applications.

A weakness of $\deepsim$ is the need to train a separate model for feature extraction. The design, training, and testing of a second model takes additional resources, and the presented approach necessitates a dataset to train the feature extractor with. In the context of deep learning-based registration, $\deepsimae$ requires no additional data to what is required to train the registration model, while $\deepsimseg$ requires additional label maps. Compared to algorithmic registration methods, which optimize the registration map for each pair of input images separately, any deep-learning approach requires additional data.

$\deepsim$ is a general metric, applicable to image registration tasks of all modalities and anatomies. Beyond the presented datasets, our good results in the presence of noise let us hope that $\deepsim$ will improve registration accuracy in domains such as low dose CT, ultrasound, or microscopy, where details are often hard to identify, and image quality is poor. We further emphasize that the application of $\deepsim$ is limited neither to deep learning nor to image registration. In Algorithmic image registration, a similarity-based loss is minimized via gradient descent-based methods. $\deepsim$ can be applied to drive algorithmic methods, improving their performance by aligning deep, semantic feature embeddings. Similarly, $\deepsim$ could be used for other image regression tasks, such as image synthesis, -translation, or -reconstruction.

\newpage
\midlacknowledgments{This work was funded in part by the Novo Nordisk Foundation through the Center for Basic Machine Learning Research in Life Science (grant no. 0062606), and in part through the Lundbeck Foundation (grant no. R218-2016-883). We further thank Matthew Quay, the Cell Tracking Challenge, and the Cancer Imaging Archive for the provision of the datasets.}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Highland Park Planet (http://highlandparkplanet.org/2015/07/02/hp-planning-board-will-consider-significant-zoning-change-for-residential-district/)
HP Planning Board will consider significant zoning change for residential district
By Admin 2 | July 2, 2015
The Highland Park Planning Board, at its Thursday, July 7, 7:30 p.m. meeting will consider the adoption of an ordinance that introduces "Floor Area Ratio (FAR)" as a defining factor for allowable building size in relation to lot size for residential construction. The new ordinance essentially would have the effect of reducing the bulk of a residential structure relative to the size of the lot.
FAR is the total building area divided by total lot area. Current zoning, identifies an allowable 2.5 story home with a footprint of 1,500 square feet allowed on a 4,999 square foot lot, or a structure whose total building area is 75 percent of the lot area, equivalent to an FAR of .75.
In the proposed ordinance, the FAR for the residential district known as the "RA" zone is .50 on a lot size of 4,999 square feet. Floor Area Ratio is a common factor used in planning and zoning throughout the state. The ratios proposed are in keeping with Middlesex County towns, such as Westfield and Plainsboro.
Mr. Philip George is the Highland Park Town Council Member, who is the liaison to the Highland Park Residential Reconstruction Ordinance Revision Group that is proposing the ordinance. He noted that the reason for pursuing such an ordinance is because of the aging housing stock and the intent to accommodate renovations and replacements while maintaining the character of Highland Park communities and neighborhoods. "The FAR formula is scalable and eliminates the one size fits all approach to zoning," Mr. George said.
To this end, the adoption of "Ordinance 15" proposes significant changes to the Highland Park Land Use Ordinance Chapter 230 that defines allowable building size and bulk. The current zoning ordinance limits the footprint of a single-family home in an RA district on a 4,999 square foot lot to 1,500 square feet. An owner is then permitted to construct a 2.5 story home to a maximum of 3,750 square feet. This limited square footage does not include breezeways, open porches or decks that may be added as long as the amount of impervious surface does not exceed that which is allowable.
In contrast, under the proposed ordinance, a single-family home in the RA district on a 4,999 square foot lot, while still allowing up to 1,500 square foot for building footprint and up to 2.5 stories, at an FAR of .50 limits the total building area to 2,500 square feet. Breezeways, open porches, garages, carports and decks would be included in the calculation of building area under the new ordinance. These amenities could not be added beyond the maximum allowable building area of 2,500 square feet. The impact of the proposed ordinance increases with lot size.
The proposed ordinance also includes refinements to the definition of basement and cellar space as well as attic space to more clearly define what constitutes a habitable attic or basement/ cellar and when these areas must be calculated as part of the building are for purposes of FAR. Finally, the proposed ordinance reduces the allowable maximum building height from 35 feet to 32 feet. However the definition of "building height" is redefined and may mitigate the potential impact. The proposed ordinance does provide criteria under which an exception to the new FAR regulations may be made.
Stop & Shop Has Special Hours for Seniors and Other HP Retailers Make Special Effort to Serve Community
Beginning Thursday, March 19th, all Stop & Shop stores, including Highland Park's Raritan Avenue store, will open earlier at 6 a.m. and designate the timeframe from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. as reserved for serving those customers who are age 60 and older. "Now, more than ever, it's important we come together as a community to support each other during challenging times.
A New Solar Farm in Highland Park Highlights the Potential of Energy Storage Batteries
HP's Human Relations Commission Responds to the Recent Spate of Anti-Semitic Events
View all Local News Articles →
High speed police chase leads to drug arrest in quiet residential neighborhood
Happy Birthday, United States of America


Charlotte, North Carolina is the second largest city in the southeast and one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. With museums, parks, sports teams, great dining and shopping, it's no wonder. There's lots to do in Charlotte for families. Whether you are a native Charlottean, one of the thousands of transplants, or just visiting, we hope you will love exploring the history, diversity, culture and beauty of the Queen City.
If you somehow get bored in Charlotte, you can always head to nearby Asheville, NC. We've got the scoop on things to do with kids in Asheville too.
7. Stay the night or get a day pass at the indoor water park resort Great Wolf Lodge, AKA Las Vegas for kids!
Practicing levitation (and learning physics) at Discovery Place Museum.
Cooling off in the waterfall fountains at Romare Bearden Park.
42. Meet exotic animals at Lazy 5 Ranch.
45. Visit Fan Fest at the Belk Bowl, even if you don't attend the game.
47. Enjoy fun and music at Romare Fest.
Playful fountain in Wells Fargo Plaza.
56. Kick off the weekend at Food Truck Friday in the South End.
Artful programs introduce modern art to kids at the Bechtler Museum.
Kids love to splash in the fish fountain.
See all our city guides for more family adventures.


If you have nothing else to do this summer and you want to have a new thrill to experience, you should enlist yourself in a scuba diving adventure. Having some experiences about scuba diving will allow you to see if you may have some talent on the sport. What you have to do this time is to end up getting individual lessons from a scuba diving class. In the event that you need to go to the enrollment, you have to search for a club that will present to you the most essential things to ace scuba diving. Scuba jumping is a hard task for beginners. You would want to avoid some difficulties on the actual diving event so you have to involve yourself in scuba diving.
It is essential for you to search for a club that is prepared to acknowledge you as a part of their scuba diving class. You should see that these diving clubs should have activities that might interest you. When you are an individual from a club, it will be sensible for you to truly take after the instruction. You have to attend the classes in a way that in these classes, you will know how to use the scuba diving lessons. Scuba diving classes will really help you. Before going underwater, you should really make sure that you have undergone scuba diving lessons and you have become very accustomed in being submerged in water.
You should try your best to be amiable and friendly towards the individuals whom you will be joining in the lessons so you will have a better experience. You should be able to get some really good learnings and insights from your friends who have also tried some scuba diving lessons before. Once you have gotten that into the bag, you will have the ability to get with them when you have free time outside scuba diving class lessons so that you will have discussions about scuba diving, too. It will go well for you to involve yourself in such activity because it will allow you not only to appreciate the nature underwater but to also make you ponder to make ways in order to save the environment, especially underwater.


text:
Current students > Campus life > Sports and fitness > Intervarsity competitions
Intervarsity competitions
Swinburne students participate in The Nationals and other sporting competitions run by UniSport Australia. They have 42 member universities and around a million students, so competition is lively!
Sign up for The Nationals Div 2 is open now for registrations
Swinburne Student Life facilitates Swinburne's entries into national intervarsity events, including:
Nationals: Division 1 and Division 2: (Formerly UniGames) The Nationals are the premier sporting competitions for university students, which is administered by UniSport Australia. Swinburne will be participating in a variety of sports across both Division 1 and 2; please visit the website and email sport@swin.edu.au to speak to a Clubs & Sport Officer about getting involved.
Indigenous Games: The Indigenous Games is a festival of sport administered by Australian University Sport, which sees teams compete in Basketball, Netball, Touch Football and Volleyball throughout the week.
Various National events: Other Nationals for sports include distance running, surfing, rowing, 3x3 basketball and T20 cricket.
You can find out more about these events and all Swinburne sports clubs, by visiting the Swinburne Student Life portal or by getting in touch with a Swinburne Student Life Clubs and Sport Officer via sport@swin.edu.au
CALL SWINBURNE STUDENT LIFE SPORT
EMAIL SWINBURNE STUDENT LIFE SPORT
Sports clubs and societies
Nearby sporting facilities
Elite athletes at Swinburne
Community events and UniHub
Events for international students
Last updated: Tuesday, 04-Sep-2018 10:38:35 EST


Arriving December 7th on DVD and digital formats is the new documentary "New Wave: Dare To Be Different." The film is about the story of one of the most influential radio stations in America, WLIR in Long Island, NY. While not being able to compete with the country-wide radio stations of its time, WLIR took a risk and starting playing the music of some underground rock bands at the time, like U2, Talking Heads and R.E.M, just to name a few from a long, long list of artists.
Director Ellen Goldfarb uses classic new footage and videos, mixed with recent interviews about everyone praising the radio station, in order to tell a modern story of David vs. Goliath. In 1982, the station changed their format, which switched from playing music by classic pop acts like The Beatles and The Monkees, to music by new wave rockers like Billy Idol and The Pretenders. New interviews with artists like Idol, Thomas Dolby and Dave Wakeling, along with former WLIR DJs explained that their popularity came about by what the BBC was not playing on their radio stations. It allowed for this small radio station to invite the second coming of the British Invasion.
This station was one of the first in the U.S. to play songs by then unknown artists like Blondie, Madonna, Prince and even started to blur the lines between rock, pop and new wave music. Hearing the stories first hand from those who worked at the radio station is priceless. The music that WLIR was playing on the radio started spilling into the club scene in the '80's and life was good for everyone involved, that was until the station was forced to shut down in 1987.
This film is also a great reminder as to how important radio was during the '80's decade and how it help many of today's popular bands break through into the mainstream. To find out more about this new documentary "New Wave: Dare To Be Different," please visit newwavedaretobedifferent.com.


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Bioavailability, Potency of Theacrine Enhanced When Combined with Caffeine, Study Suggests
The study established that, not only does the combination of Compound Solutions' TeaCrine theacrine and caffeine enhance theacrine's potency, it is also safe, with heart rate and blood pressure unaffected by co-administration.
A new eight-subject human, clinical trial found that TeaCrine, Compound Solutions Inc.'s (Carlsbad, CA) patented theacrine ingredient, shows greater bioavailability and potency when consumed with caffeine than when consumed alone. In this study, researchers sought to determine whether any pharmacodynamic interaction existed between theacrine and caffeine. The study,1 which was published in the Journal of Caffeine Research and conducted at the University of Tennessee and the University of Memphis, established that, not only does the combination of theacrine and caffeine enhance theacrine's potency, it is also safe, with heart rate and blood pressure unaffected by co-administration.
Theacrine is the purine alkaloid found in the leaves of the Camellia kucha plant, and in cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum). As Nutritional Outlook has previously reported, theacrine is said to help boost energy without the "crash" associated with ingredients like caffeine. According to the Matt Titlow, CEO, Compound Solutions, TeaCrine is a "mainstay in one of the most innovative categories in all of dietary supplements-sports nutrition."
In the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, eight healthy adults were given either TeaCrine theacrine (25 or 125 mg), caffeine (150 mg), or a combination of theacrine (125 mg) and caffeine (150 mg). The study authors collected blood samples over a period of 24 hours, after which they analyzed the samples using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for theacrine, caffeine, and paraxanthine. Specifically, the researchers recorded such pharmacodynamics markers as heart rate and blood pressure, in order to establish the safety of the combination.
After analyzing participants' blood samples, researchers discovered that, while theacrine had no impact on caffeine pharmacokinetics, the combination of caffeine and theacrine led to increased theacrine exposure, or enhanced bioavailability. Further, the co-administration of caffeine and theacrine "increased maximum plasma concentration and area under the curve of theacrine without altering theacrine half-life." Finally, no differences in heart rate and blood pressure between the treatment groups were recorded.
Of the study results, Titlow said: "We're proud to prove clinically what many have noted anecdotally: caffeine and TeaCrine are a complementary, dynamic combination." Though TeaCrine has primarily been a fixture in the sports nutrition category thus far, Titlow said that it has potential for future use in other sectors as well. "TeaCrine can do much more, and the next five months will demonstrate a very significant expansion into the gaming/e-sports, cognitive performance, energy drink, and biohacking categories, he said. "The TeaCrine-caffeine combination is becoming foundational in the energy and focus categories."
He H et al., "Assessment of the drug-drug interaction potential between theacrine and caffeine." Journal of Caffeine Research. Published online July, 2017.


Federal Road Safety Corps has urged travelers and road users to use its toll-free one-two-two line to report any urgent negative development on roads.
Enugu Zonal Commander of the FRSC, Samuel Obayemi, who is in-charge of Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States, gave the advice while speaking in Enugu today.
Obayemi noted that the toll-free line should be used to get to FRSC National Operations Control Centre Abuja, where assistance can be received for any issue on the roads in the country, including accidents, reckless driving or misconduct by FRSC official.


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Police find sawed off shot gun in PG
1 dead, 5 injured in fatal road traffic accident
The Ashcroft/U.H.S. Political Football
Published by [email protected] at December 3, 2017
Posted: Sunday, December 3, 2017. 11:05 am CST.
By Richard Harrison:
"A release from the Belize Bank makes the point that both the Privy Council and the LCIA have ruled that the loan note did not violate the Finance and Audit Act. Here is my view…the government guaranteed a loan for $33 million and when the original creditor (UHS) defaulted, the Bank collected from government and did not hand over the hospital to the government but instead sold the hospital for another $39M to Health Care Partners. This is what the Belize Bank needs to explain to me before I can accept that government should pay for a hospital it does not own. How can you collect from the guarantor and still remain with the collateral? Belize Bank was part of a corrupt deal and now wants taxpayers to pay. Lie there and die there is what I say!!!" ~ Hon. John Saldivar, FB comment , Nov 29, 2017
"Let's set the record straight. The first person who made the decision not to pay the Belize Bank was Said Musa. In 2007 when Belize Bank demanded payment it was Said Musa who decided not to pay until the the Association of Concerned Belizeans (ACB) case was concluded. You see, if you can remember, the ACB had asked the Supreme Court to declare the Loan Note unlawful. Therefore then, when the UDP came to power in 2008, the Said Musa government had already suspended payment until the Supreme Court made a ruling on the validity of the Loan Note. It was in that intervening period before the UDP came to power that Said Musa secretly diverted grant funds to settle this private debt while the ACB Case was still pending.
Then the Supreme Court ruled that the Loan Note was invalid. Should Hon. Dean Barrow have paid then? Then Ashcroft appealed and in March of this year 2017 the Appeals Court said the Loan Note was invalid. Should Hon. Dean Barrow have paid then? The truth is that the increase from 33M to 90M is not Hon. Dean Barrow's fault as some are saying. Check the time-line I just outlined. At no point would it have been acceptable for Hon. Dean Barrow to pay especially since it was Said Musa who initially said that he would wait for the Court's decision before paying. Chamber of Commerce is exposing it's bias or ignorance in suggesting that UDP caused this debt to balloon." ~ Hon. John Saldivar, FB comment, Nov 30, 2017
In the first statement, the Hon. John Saldivar is accusing the Belize Bank (Ashcroft) of daylight robbery…., low down, white collar criminality. Would the CCJ be so naïve, delinquent or negligent to cast judgment in favor of such outright criminality?
In the second statement, he is trying to put the blame on ex-Prime Minister Said Musa for the ballooning of the debt from $33 million to $90 million.
The secret guarantee Musa gave for the UHS loan from Belize Bank is most despicable, to say the least….his diversion of grant funds from Venezuela and Taiwan, with intent to cancel the loan, added to the wrong that he did. The argument that those grant funds were not Belize tax payers money does not make it right…nothing comes for free…and all grant funds are tied to political and economic interests for which every Belizean tax payer pays a price. Grants made to the people of Belize are not intended for politicians to use as they see fit…they are for the general good of ALL the people of Belize….not to pay off the debts of private interests.
However, the Barrow government was elected to correct the wrongs of the previous government….not to exacerbate, perpetuate and propagate them.
They have betrayed the people….in no uncertain terms….by allowing this debt to balloon by 170% over the course of their 10 long years in government.
PM Barrow went into government in 2008 with massive support from the people, based on his promise to curb corruption….to fix the many things that the people saw was going wrong during the Musa administration. He thumped his chest with egotistic power….and used the veil of nationalism and patriotism to take private property by force. His apologists cheered him on.
I was one of the very few who went against that wave…I fundamentally believe that taking private property by force is not the way of democratic, fair-minded, peace-loving people…and that the government has the right to increase taxes if it believes it is not getting a fair share of any business…it does not have to take any business by force.
He caused his family and close allies to become rotten rich by diverting public resources through litigation (that is their business)….going up and down to court….all over the world….losing more and more of Belizean tax payers money, every step of the way.
This practice of government taking private property without paying is as old as the hills….many Belizeans have had their properties taken away, without compensation…..many have had to close their businesses because their licenses were revoked/modified….their development concession not renewed….or any other "politically dependent privilege" that the politicos can pull, if and when an investor falls out of favor with them….or is from the wrong political party….or refuses to meet a demand for political contribution.
I am no apologist for Mr Ashcroft…..he seems to be quite capable of defending himself….and I know that he is in deep with the leadership of both the red and blue parties…pillow talk they call it…regardless of all the public rhetoric. They are arch-enemies by day…and share pillow at night.
However, the lawyers that run the Government of Belize since 1993 started playing games with Mr Ashcroft….they tried to ambush him with offshore banking, IBC registry, marine registry, intellectual rights registry, telecommunications, commercial banking….they tried to become Ashcroft themselves….so he started playing games with them too….and he is most unrelenting….and has the resources to take his case to international courts if necessary….forcing the government to live up to its contracts….contracts which he cannot sign for himself….they have to be signed by Belize Government officials. Those contracts are not Musa contracts….nor Barrow contracts…nor Esquivel or Price contracts….they are Government of Belize contracts.
Now…if those contracts were made by officers of the Belize Government without regard for the laws of Belize….is there no law under which they can be penalized? And if there is no such law….should not PM Barrow be rushing to parliament with new laws and revised laws to close those loop holes so that no other officer of the Belize Government can legally sign such secret, unfavorable agreements without severe penalty? Do you see him doing that? NO!! He is playing politics while allowing the rules of the game to remain the same….after all, it is not costing him, his family nor his close allies…indeed they all benefit from it….including Mr. Ashcroft, who for all intents and purposes is a close family "friend" of the Barrows and many of the political elite in Belize….of both the red and blue persuasions.
To Belizean investors, small, medium and large, who have lost from Government of Belize decisions to take their property or destroy their businesses, without compensation…all for personal or political reasons…the actions of Mr Ashcroft to defend his rights should embolden all of us…to start to take action when the government do those things to us. I have heard Belizean investors who have lost much even talk about causing harm to politicians and their families…but that is responding to wrong with wrong. The fact that the courts are upholding the law…and allowing private investors to defend themselves against wayward and corrupt governments…should be a consolation….even an encouragement….for private investors to use that recourse to defend their rights….instead of resorting to malicious, violent action to take revenge….instead of to regain what is rightfully theirs. Many private investors are so small in scale…and the cost of legal defense is so high…and most of the good lawyers are beholden to the status quo…that the battle seems impossible….which is why so many just roll over and die, literally.
So should the Government of Belize pay the $90 million UHS order of the Caribbean Court of Justice, the highest court in the land?
If the past is any predictor of the future….Belize would only continue bleeding from litigation if it refuses to pay. Belize needs to take its challenges out of the hands of lawyers. Cut the crap short.
There must be a way how the Government can tax the UHS over a long haul to regain some of its losses. It should not seek to own shares in a private company, especially if unprofitable and loaded with debt, if it can avoid doing so.
Are there more lawsuits from Ashcroft in the pipeline? If so, what are they related to? And what are the total claims?
It is my opinion that the Government of Belize should unwind itself from any and all insider deals with Mr. Ashcroft….he should be treated fairly as any other investor in Belize….without fear or favor….after all, the Government of Belize has the right of taxation. Any claims by Mr Ashcroft that are legitimate should be bundled and a payment plan agreed to….stop the hemorrhage.
No egotistic thumping of chests will make those bills go away.
Whosoever cannot see that this entire soap opera starring the PUDP leadership and Mr. Ashcroft is simply a political football being played at the cost of the Belizean tax payer is simply naïve, delinquent, negligent…or downright daft!
Belize most urgently needs wholesale tax reform….competition law….anti-trust law….government procurement law…and laws that make it unrewarding for government officials to sign secret, unfavorable guarantees on behalf of private businesses.
Let us get on with the business of building Belize. Enough of the games and soap opera!
Long live Belize! Free!…Democratic!…Prosperous!
The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Breaking Belize News.
This article was written by Richard Harrison, Belizean investor in production and services businesses in Belize. He holds a Master's in Business Administration degree from Lancaster University.


Algeria possesses a great architectural experience.
In that sense, we can find a great diversity of traditional architectural model, which mainly varies according environmental and geographical factors (situation).
These very models are actually, the expression of local architecture realised with local building materials and techniques, reflecting thus, a restrained culture and way of life.
Djilali Benamrane. – C.R.E.A. 1980.
– Exode rurale en Algérie.
– Planification et développement en Algérie – 63/82 - .
– La question du logement à Alger.
M.E.S.R.S. – O.N.R.S. – 1977.
- Different articles from News-paper.


Using the Steak Lover Rewards Program is a great way to save money on future purchases at Omaha Steaks. Signing up is easy: just use an email address, and discounts and special offers will start showing up. Reward points can be earned in a variety of ways; from referrals, to linking up Facebook and Twitter; and of course the purchase of delicious Omaha Steaks.
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Abellio Greater Anglia has today confirmed that it is to install a new, modern customer information screen at Needham Market station in Suffolk.
Needham Market is on the Ipswich to Cambridge / Peterborough line and currently information concerning train running is provided via a TV monitor style information screen. This is now to be upgraded to a new style flat screen version with much clearer information available for customers from this more modern equipment.
Abellio Greater Anglia has already improved signage at the station to make it clearer for passengers when any rail replacement bus services are operating and confirmation that the customer information screen is being modernised will help in further improving train running information for passengers.
Local stakeholders have today been informed of the plans to upgrade the customer information screen and the work will now be programmed for installation to take place in the coming months.


This week, the Laura Suprenant Photography team (which comprises of me and sometimes my husband) have been shooting portraits in their HOME studio! Yes, that's right, a photography studio, in my home. And yes, it is as exciting as it sounds. Finally, we have a large space with tools and lights and white walls and enough natural light to make you swoon. The studio is a work in progress, evolving more and more as we continue to do photoshoots. Keep checking in to see our progress!


If lawn trimming and general yard care are the basics, then professional masonry work is what will take your property to a higher level. Working with both residential and commercial clients, Mario Forgione Landscaping offers a full array of masonry services, ranging from simple home walkway construction to intricate design implementation for apartment complexes with retaining walls, pool areas, and patios.
Our Hardscaping Team is extremely knowledgeable and will help you from start to finish. In addition to providing invaluable advice in the design stage, we'll also bring our talents when it comes time for execution. With Mario Forgione Landscaping, you can expect the kind of masonry work that redefines you outdoor and adds value to your property. Feel free to ask Mario to show you some of our many masonry projects completed in your neighborhood.


Audiophiles are a strange breed: here are a bunch of folk who'll A concept album based around a man's psychological breakdown, The. Toko CD Musik Online untuk pecinta Audiophiles. Seluruh koleksi kami adalah rekaman high end dengan resolusi dan kualitas yang mampu memuaskan. Audiophile Reference Recordings - Australia's only audiophile music store specialising in audiophile STS Test Demo CD - STS Master Recordings - Vol 3.
Arguably the poster album for shoegaze, Loveless is a masterpiece Can you really call yourself an audiophile if you don't own a copy of Wish. Products 1 - 20 of Online Store selling Worldwide audiophile music CD, XRCD, HDCD, SACD, Vinyl. Please correct me if I'm wrong but aren't CDs 16/44? I thought audiophiles would want something like 24/96 or better? While I'm on the.


Viewer Discretion Advised: Working around death, it's easy for me to forget that what I view as an interesting historical fact is considered grotesque by most accounts. This little fact might fit under that "grotesque" category. In fact, my mother said it made her want to barf. So, fair warning. Don't proceed IF the morbid piques your gag reflex instead of your curiosity.
This is a real thing (as you can see from the picture below). And, yes, it's rather morbid.
If you want to make your own necropants (literally; nábrók), you have to get permission from a living man to use his skin after his death.
After he has been buried, you must dig up his body and flay the skin of the corpse in one piece from the waist down. As soon as you step into the pants, they will stick to your own skin. A coin must be stolen from a poor widow and placed in the scrotum along with the magical sign, nábrókarstafur, written on a piece of paper. Consequently, the coin will draw money into the scrotum so that it will never be empty, as long as the original coin is not removed. To ensure salvation, the owner has to convince someone else to take ownership of the pants and step into each leg as soon as he gets out of it. The necropants will thus keep the money-gathering nature for generations.
Imagine that Bob believes that necropants will bring him wealth. Imagine that Bob asks his buddy Rich, who's dying from dysentery, for his skin.
BEAR WITH ME AS I TURN TO MY PHILOSOPHICAL DARK SIDE: What I find interesting is how necropants must have seemed like an entirely logical way to gain wealth to whoever used them. I mean, you'd really have to believe in something to wear the skin of your friend and stick money in his scrotum. It was logical because they believed in an unseen world that controls and dictates the seen world.
And before we judge Bob, or the person who gives money to televangelists, it's important to remember that we all throw money at things that don't make sense. Bottled water for example. How is bottled water a multi-billion dollar industry? Because our culture values convenience above and beyond most other considerations, including the environment. Or, leather. We wear the skin of dead animals because we think it's fashionable, protective, etc., when we know that there are better, more cost-effective, more durable materials than leather (that examples a little too close to home).
In some weird way, we all wear necropants. So, yes. Necropants are weird. But we all do weird things with our money. And most of us do weird things to try and get money.
This entry was posted by Caleb Wilde on August 3, 2018 at 12:48 pm, and is filed under Aggregate Death. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.


When you need the utmost convenience while in Pattaya, booking a room at a hotel close to the airport is the best bet. You are able to grab your gear from baggage claim and check into your room before your fellow passengers even leave the airport. Plus, you don't have to worry about paying for a taxi, or trying to follow directions in a place you aren't familiar with. Making your way through Pattayacould be intimidating for someone new to the area. Reserving a stay at a Pattaya airport hotel washes all the troubles away, whether you are making Pattaya one leg of your yearly vacation like the hundreds of travelers who visited over the past year, brought the whole family along, or are in town for business.
It isn't difficult to see why Pattaya has catapulted 1981 spots over the past year in our popularity rankings. Let the Expedia team help get you to Pattayafor a getaway from your 9-to-5. After you freshen up at your hotel, you can take a dive into Pattaya's dynamic nightlife, spectacular dining scene, and shopping options. Everything you'll need for a restful stay is right in your room, from extra pillows if you need to take a quick nap after a long flight, or piping hot complementary coffee if you are taking the overnight flight. You'll most likely be more than ready to relax for a while in your comfortable room after your travel day to Pattaya Airpark (PYX) or time discovering the greater Pattaya area.
Plan your next holiday at one of Expedia's Pattaya airport hotels. Pattaya has witnessed an uptick in tourism over the past year. Now is your chance to visit, before the rest of the world discovers this hidden secret!