The existing efforts in computer assisted semen analysis have been focused on high speed imaging and automated image analysis of sperm motility. This results in a large amount of data, and it is extremely challenging for both clinical scientists and researchers to interpret, compare and correlate the multidimensional and time-varying measurements captured from video data. In this work, we use glyphs to encode a collection of numerical measurements taken at a regular interval and to summarize spatio-temporal motion characteristics using static visual representations. The design of the glyphs addresses the needs for (a) encoding some 20 variables using separable visual channels, (b) supporting scientific observation of the interrelationships between different measurements and comparison between different sperm cells and their flagella, and (c) facilitating the learning of the encoding scheme by making use of appropriate visual abstractions and metaphors. As a case study, we focus this work on video visualization for computer-aided semen analysis, which has a broad impact on both biological sciences and medical healthcare. We demonstrate that glyph-based visualization can serve as a means of external memorization of video data as well as an overview of a large set of spatiotemporal measurements. It enables domain scientists to make scientific observation in a cost-effective manner by reducing the burden of viewing videos repeatedly, while providing them with a new visual representation for conveying semen statistics.

Abstract The majority of display devices used in visualization are 2D displays. Inevitably, it is often necessary to overlay one piece of visual information on top of another, especially in applications such as multi‐field visualization and geo‐spatial information visualization. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for studying the mechanisms for overlaying multiple pieces of visual information while allowing users to recover occluded information. We adopt the term ‘multiplexing’ from tele‐ and data communication to encompass all such overlapping mechanisms. We establish 10 categories of visual multiplexing mechanisms. We draw support evidence from both perception literature and existing works in visualization to support this conceptual framework. We examine the relationships between multiplexing and information theoretic measures. This new conceptual categorization provides the much‐needed theory of visualization with an integral component.

Abstract In this paper, we present a user‐centered design study on poetry visualization. We develop a rule‐based solution to address the conflicting needs for maintaining the flexibility of visualizing a large set of poetic variables and for reducing the tedium and cognitive load in interacting with the visual mapping control panel. We adopt Munzner's nested design model to maintain high‐level interactions with the end users in a closed loop. In addition, we examine three design options for alleviating the difficulty in visualizing poems latitudinally. We present several example uses of poetry visualization in scholarly research on poetry.

Abstract In this paper, we present a novel visualization technique for assisting the observation and analysis of algorithmic complexity. In comparison with conventional line graphs, this new technique is not sensitive to the units of measurement, allowing multivariate data series of different physical qualities (e.g., time, space and energy) to be juxtaposed together conveniently and consistently. It supports multivariate visualization as well as uncertainty visualization. It enables users to focus on algorithm categorization by complexity classes, while reducing visual impact caused by constants and algorithmic components that are insignificant to complexity analysis. It provides an effective means for observing the algorithmic complexity of programs with a mixture of algorithms and black‐box software through visualization. Through two case studies, we demonstrate the effectiveness of complexity plots in complexity analysis in research, education and application.

The "Virtual Research Environment for Cancer Imaging" project aims to support image processing researchers and clinicians by providing a framework for sharing images and algorithms. In this paper we present the system developed to date which has focused on sharing and managing DICOM images using Microsoft's Share Point 2010. The system allows configuring the metadata to be extracted from the DICOM tags to meet requirements from both set of users: imaging researchers and clinicians. We present the work conducted to allow sharing algorithms as scientific workflows through the use of the Trident Workflow Workbench and the initial library of activities and workflows created for one of the most popular image processing toolkits among imaging researchers, the Insight Toolkit.

In multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings for colorectal and liver cancer, each patient case is reviewed while evidence, including digital image scans such as MRI and PET/CT, is presented by clinicians. Currently these images are projected onto a wall, limiting clinician interaction. While multi-touch and interactive tabletops have been used to enhance collaboration in various scenarios, some aspects such as image quality and touch resolution need to be evaluated in this particular scenario. In this paper we present the results of work conducted to test the suitability of using a DiamondTouch tabletop, a multi-touch and multi-user surface, in MDT meetings to enhance clinician interaction.

Image analysis researchers would benefit considerably by sharing and reusing image processing algorithms. We consider some of the issues that researchers face in trying to provide algorithms in a shareable and reusable form illustrating our approach in the context of medical imaging needs and workflow for colorectal cancer. We consider the use of workflow as a model for developing and reusing components of medical imaging and specifically we consider a solution built using .Net and Windows Workflow Foundation.

There are various issues that limit the development and deployment of new software solutions in cancer image analysis research. In this paper we discuss some of these and propose a framework design based on cloud computing concepts, Microsoft technologies, existing middleware and imaging toolkits. Furthermore, we address some of these issues by introducing collaborative visual tools for visual input data and multi-user interactions.

This paper presents work undertaken to integrate the future UK national Shibboleth infrastructure with the UK's National Grid Service (NGS). Our work, ShibGrid, provides both transparent authentication for portal based Grid access and a credential transformation service for users of other Grid access methods. The ShibGrid support for portal-based transparent Grid authentication is provided as a set of standards-based drop-in modules which can be used with any project portal as well as the NGS project in which they are initially deployed. The ShibGrid architecture requires no changes to the UK national Shibboleth authentication infrastructure or the NGS security infrastructure and provides access for users both with and without UK e-Science certificates. In addition to presenting both the architecture of Shib- Grid and its implementation, we additionally place the ShibGrid project within the context of other efforts to integrate Shibboleth with Grids.

Abstract The U.K. e‐Science Programme is a £250 million, five‐year initiative which has funded over 100 projects. These application‐led projects are underpinned by an emerging set of core middleware services that allow the coordinated, collaborative use of distributed resources. This set of middleware services runs on top of the research network and beneath the applications we call the ‘Grid’. Grid middleware is currently in transition from pre‐Web Service versions to a new version based on Web Services. Unfortunately, only a very basic set of Web Services embodied in the Web Services Interoperability proposal, WS‐I, are agreed by most IT companies. IBM and others have submitted proposals for Web Services for Grids—the Web Services ResourceFramework and Web Services Notification specifications—to the OASIS organization for standardization. This process could take up to 12 months from March 2004 and the specifications are subject to debate and potentially significant changes. Since several significant U.K. e‐Science projects come to an end before the end of this process, the U.K. needs to develop a strategy that will protect the U.K.'s investment in Grid middleware by informing the Open Middleware Infrastructure Institute's (OMII) roadmap and U.K. middleware repository in Southampton. This paper sets out an evolutionary roadmap that will allow us to capture generic middleware components from projects in a form that will facilitate migration or interoperability with the emerging Grid Web Services standards and with ongoing OGSA developments. In this paper we therefore define a set of Web Services specifications, which we call ‘WS‐I+’ to reflect the fact that this is a larger set than currently accepted by WS‐I, that we believe will enable us to achieve the twin goals of capturing these components and facilitating migration to future standards. We believe that the extra Web Services specifications we have included in WS‐I+ are both helpful in building e‐Science Grids and likely to be widely accepted. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

MATLAB is the most popular scientific computing environment available on uniprocessors today. Unfortunately, no such environment is currently available for multiprocessors. MultiMATLAB [1] is a general extension of the MATLAB environment to any distributed memory multiprocessors. This paper presents a new MultiMATLAB system designed to provide high-performance on multiprocessors while maintaining the functionality and usability of the MATLAB environment. This system will enable users to access high-performance parallel routines from within the MATLAB environment, to extend the environment with new parallel routines, and to use these routines to develop parallel applications with the MATLAB language. We discuss a general MultiMATLAB architecture, present two implementations based upon the MPI communication standard [2], and demonstrate the use of this system. Preliminary results indicate that the MultiMATLAB system can offer the full performance of the underlying multiprocessor to the MATLAB environment.