Learning to generate three dimensional (3D) point clouds from a single image remains a challenging task. Numerous approaches with encoder–decoder architectures have been proposed. However, these ...methods are hard to realize structured reconstructions and usually lack constraints on the local structures of 3D objects. AtlasNet as a representative model of 3D reconstruction consists of many branches, and each branch is a neural network used to reconstruct one local patch of a 3D object. However, the neural networks in AtlasNet and the patches of 3D objects are not in one-to-one correspondence before training. This case is not conducive to adding some reconstruction constraints to the local structures of 3D objects. Based on the architecture of AtlasNet, we propose Part-Wise AtlasNet in which each neural network is only responsible for reconstructing one specific part of a 3D object. This kind of restriction facilitates imposition of several local constraints on the final reconstruction loss, hence better recovering 3D objects with finer local structures. Both the qualitative results and quantitative analysis show that the variants of the proposed method with the local reconstruction losses generate structured point clouds with a higher visual quality and achieve better performance than other methods in 3D point cloud generation from a single image.
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•Part-Wise AtlasNet was proposed to reconstruct the structured point cloud from a single image.•Part-Wise AtlasNet can reconstruct the local parts that correspond well to those of the ground truth.•The variants of Part-Wise AtlasNet with local reconstruction losses achieve competitive performance in 3D object reconstruction.
War does not stop when the armed conflict ends. This compelling eyewitness account of a key political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2007 demonstrates how interventions from foreign powers to ...end armed conflict can create new forms of conflict that are not only as determined and resilient, but can lead groups to challenge the power of fragile states through political and legal means. Countering such challenges is an integral but often ignored part of peace processes. How do these nonviolent wars evolve? How can the power of fragile states be challenged through nonviolent means in the aftermath of armed conflict? And what is the role of diplomacy in countering such challenges? This book offers key insights for policy makers dealing with fragile states who seek answers to such questions.
Deep learning has attracted rapidly increasing attention in the field of tomographic image reconstruction, especially for CT, MRI, PET/SPECT, ultrasound and optical imaging. Among various topics, ...sparse-view CT remains a challenge which targets a decent image reconstruction from very few projections. To address this challenge, in this article we propose a Dual-domain Residual-based Optimization NEtwork (DRONE). DRONE consists of three modules respectively for embedding, refinement, and awareness. In the embedding module, a sparse sinogram is first extended. Then, sparse-view artifacts are effectively suppressed in the image domain. After that, the refinement module recovers image details in the residual data and image domains synergistically. Finally, the results from the embedding and refinement modules in the data and image domains are regularized for optimized image quality in the awareness module, which ensures the consistency between measurements and images with the kernel awareness of compressed sensing. The DRONE network is trained, validated, and tested on preclinical and clinical datasets, demonstrating its merits in edge preservation, feature recovery, and reconstruction accuracy.
The effect of body mass index (BMI) on complication rates in prepectoral implant-based breast reconstruction is not well established. The purpose of this study was to compare complication rates ...between different BMI groups in subpectoral and prepectoral reconstruction.
A single-surgeon, 4-year, retrospective review was performed of consecutive prosthetic breast reconstructions. During this time, the senior author's practice shifted from a subpectoral to prepectoral technique. Patients were stratified into BMI subgroups (<25, 25-35, and >35 kg/m2) and complication rates were analyzed. A survey was administered to blinded medical personnel and patients comparing esthetic results.
Implant-based reconstructions were performed in 195 patients (103 subpectoral and 92 prepectoral). No significant difference in major complication rate was observed between techniques. Among patients with BMI greater than 35 kg/m2, implant exposure occurred at a significantly higher rate in the prepectoral group (P = 0.04). In patients with BMI greater than 25 kg/m2, minor asymmetry was more prevalent with prepectoral reconstruction (12.3% vs 0%; P = 0.02). Regardless of technique, the odds of reoperation increased by 7% per point increase in BMI, although this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.07; odds ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.15).A total of 66 survey responses were received. Physicians rated esthetic results more positively than patients did. Patients with a BMI of less than 25 kg/m2 were rated better than other BMI groups in nearly all categories. The position of submuscular reconstruction was rated significantly better than prepectoral.
There is a trend toward higher complication rates in prepectoral versus subpectoral breast reconstruction with increasing BMI. Nonetheless, the technique appears to be safe, with comparable clinical and cosmetic results.
Abstract
This letter develops a novel fixed-time stable neurodynamic flow (FTSNF) implemented in a dynamical system for solving the nonconvex, nonsmooth model L1-β2, β∈0,1 to recover a sparse signal. ...FTSNF is composed of many neuron-like elements running in parallel. It is very efficient and has provable fixed-time convergence. First, a closed-form solution of the proximal operator to model L1-β2, β∈0,1 is presented based on the classic soft thresholding of the L1-norm. Next, the proposed FTSNF is proven to have a fixed-time convergence property without additional assumptions on the convexity and strong monotonicity of the objective functions. In addition, we show that FTSNF can be transformed into other proximal neurodynamic flows that have exponential and finite-time convergence properties. The simulation results of sparse signal recovery verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed FTSNF.
There is extensive discussion in current Just War literature about the normative principles which should govern the initiation of war (jus ad bellum) and also the conduct of war (jus in bello), but ...this is the first book to treat the important and difficult issue of justice after the end of war. Larry May examines the normative principles which should govern post-war practices such as reparations, restitution, reconciliation, retribution, rebuilding, proportionality and the Responsibility to Protect. He discusses the emerging international law literature on transitional justice and the problem of moving from a position of war and possible mass atrocity to a position of peace and reconciliation. He questions the Just War tradition, arguing that contingent pacifism is most in keeping with normative principles after war ends. His discussion is richly illustrated with contemporary examples and will be of interest to students of political and legal philosophy, law and military studies.
Human faces are remarkably similar in global properties, including size, aspect ratio, and location of main features, but can vary considerably in details across individuals, gender, race, or due to ...facial expression. We propose a novel method for 3D shape recovery of faces that exploits the similarity of faces. Our method obtains as input a single image and uses a mere single 3D reference model of a different person's face. Classical reconstruction methods from single images, i.e., shape-from-shading, require knowledge of the reflectance properties and lighting as well as depth values for boundary conditions. Recent methods circumvent these requirements by representing input faces as combinations (of hundreds) of stored 3D models. We propose instead to use the input image as a guide to "mold" a single reference model to reach a reconstruction of the sought 3D shape. Our method assumes Lambertian reflectance and uses harmonic representations of lighting. It has been tested on images taken under controlled viewing conditions as well as on uncontrolled images downloaded from the Internet, demonstrating its accuracy and robustness under a variety of imaging conditions and overcoming significant differences in shape between the input and reference individuals including differences in facial expressions, gender, and race.
How does a city and a nation deal with a legacy of perpetrating atrocity? How are contemporary identities negotiated and shaped in the face of concrete reminders of a past that most wish they did not ...have?
Difficult Heritage focuses on the case of Nuremberg – a city whose name is indelibly linked with Nazism – to explore these questions and their implications. Using an original in-depth research, using archival, interview and ethnographic sources, it provides not only fascinating new material and perspectives, but also more general original theorizing of the relationship between heritage, identity and material culture.
The book looks at how Nuremberg has dealt with its Nazi past post-1945. It focuses especially, but not exclusively, on the city’s architectural heritage, in particular, the former Nazi party rally grounds, on which the Nuremburg rallies were staged. The book draws on original sources, such as city council debates and interviews, to chart a lively picture of debate, action and inaction in relation to this site and significant others, in Nuremberg and elsewhere. In doing so, Difficult Heritage seeks to highlight changes over time in the ways in which the Nazi past has been dealt with in Germany, and the underlying cultural assumptions, motivations and sources of friction involved.
Whilst referencing wider debates and giving examples of what was happening elsewhere in Germany and beyond, Difficult Heritage provides a rich in-depth account of this most fascinating of cases. It also engages in comparative reflection on developments underway elsewhere in order to contextualize what was happening in Nuremberg and to show similarities to and differences from the ways in which other ‘difficult heritages’ have been dealt with elsewhere. By doing so, the author offers an informed perspective on ways of dealing with difficult heritage, today and in the future, discussing innovative museological, educational and artistic practice.
"Sharon Macdonald deftly handles this complex terrain, offering a sophisticated theoretical analysis based on a well-grounded ethnographic study. In other words, this book is an exceptional piece of anthropology." - Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh , Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Current Anthropology , Volume 51, Number 3, June 2010
1. Negotiating Difficult Heritage: Introduction 2. Building Heritage: Words in Stone? 3. Demolition, Cleansing and Moving On 4. Preservation, Profanation and Image-Management 5. Accompanied Witnessing: Education, Art and Alibis 6. Cosmopolitan Memory in the City of Human Rights 7. Negotiating on the Ground(s): Guided Tours of Nazi Heritage 8. Visting Difficult Heritage 9. Unsettling Difficult Heritage
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