title
stringlengths 8
300
| abstract
stringlengths 0
10k
|
|---|---|
Impact of FinFET Technology Introduction in the 3T1D-DRAM Memory Cell | In this paper, the 3T1D-DRAM cell based on FinFET devices is studied as an alternative to the bulk one. We observe an improvement in its behavior when IG and SG FinFETs are properly mixed, since together they provide a relevant increase in the memory circuit retention time. Moreover, our FinFET cell shows larger variability robustness, better performance at low supply voltage, and higher tolerance to elevated temperatures. |
An investigation on the unwillingness of nodes to participate in mobile delay tolerant network routing | Message routing in mobile delay tolerant networks inherently relies on the cooperation between nodes. In most existing routing protocols, the participation of nodes in the routing process is taken as granted. However, in reality, nodes can be unwilling to participate. We first show in this paper the impact of the unwillingness of nodes to participate in existing routing protocols through a set of experiments. Results show that in the presence of even a small proportion of nodes that do not forward messages, performance is heavily degraded. We then analyze two major reasons of the unwillingness of nodes to participate, i.e., their rational behavior (also called selfishness) and their wariness of disclosing private mobility information. Our main contribution in this paper is to survey the existing related research works that overcome these two issues. We provide a classification of the existing approaches for protocols that deal with selfish behavior. We then conduct experiments to compare the performance of these strategies for preventing different types of selfish behavior. For protocols that preserve the privacy of users, we classify the existing approaches and provide an analytical comparison of their security guarantees. |
Stability considerations in liquid dosage forms extemporaneously prepared from commercially available products. | The pharmacist, both in community and hospital pharmacy practice, is often challenged with the preparation of a liquid dosage form not available commercially for paediatric patients, those adults unable to swallow tablets or capsules and patients who must receive medications via nasogastric or gastrostomy tubes. Recognising the lack of information available to healthcare professionals, a general discussion of the various parameters that may be modified in preparing these dosage forms and a tabulated summary of the dosage forms presented in the literature is described, which, although not exhaustive, will provide information on the formulation and stability of the most commonly prepared extemporaneous liquid dosage forms. An extensive survey of the literature and investigation of 83 liquid dosage forms revealed that stability considerations were of concern for only 7.2% of these liquid dosage forms, extemporaneously prepared from the following commercially available products: captopril, hydralazine hydrochloride, isoniazid, levothyroxine sodium, phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride and tetracycline hydrochloride. Inclusion of the antioxidant, sodium ascorbate in the liquid dosage form for captopril resulted in improved stability at 4 degrees C. Hydralazine hydrochloride, isoniazid and phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride were adversely affected due to interactions with excipients in the formulation, while the effect of the preservative in lowering the pH in a levothyroxine sodium mixture resulted in decreased stability. Interestingly, the instability in these formulations is primarily due to interactions between the drug substance and the excipients rather than degradation of the active pharmaceutical ingredient by standard routes such as oxidation, hydrolysis, photolysis or thermolysis. This low percentage however illustrates the low risk associated with these dosage forms investigated. It may be concluded that when considering the safety and efficacy of liquid dosage forms prepared extemporaneously, it is thus important to consider not only the stability of the drug substance but the entire formulation. |
100% accuracy in automatic face recognition. | Accurate face recognition is critical for many security applications. Current automatic face-recognition systems are defeated by natural changes in lighting and pose, which often affect face images more profoundly than changes in identity. The only system that can reliably cope with such variability is a human observer who is familiar with the faces concerned. We modeled human familiarity by using image averaging to derive stable face representations from naturally varying photographs. This simple procedure increased the accuracy of an industry standard face-recognition algorithm from 54% to 100%, bringing the robust performance of a familiar human to an automated system. |
Robust Vehicle Detection under Various Environments to Realize Road Traffic Flow Surveillance Using an Infrared Thermal Camera | To realize road traffic flow surveillance under various environments which contain poor visibility conditions, we have already proposed two vehicle detection methods using thermal images taken with an infrared thermal camera. The first method uses pattern recognition for the windshields and their surroundings to detect vehicles. However, the first method decreases the vehicle detection accuracy in winter season. To maintain high vehicle detection accuracy in all seasons, we developed the second method. The second method uses tires' thermal energy reflection areas on a road as the detection targets. The second method did not achieve high detection accuracy for vehicles on left-hand and right-hand lanes except for two center-lanes. Therefore, we have developed a new method based on the second method to increase the vehicle detection accuracy. This paper proposes the new method and shows that the detection accuracy for vehicles on all lanes is 92.1%. Therefore, by combining the first method and the new method, high vehicle detection accuracies are maintained under various environments, and road traffic flow surveillance can be realized. |
Observations about bounded languages and developmental systems | We prove that every strictly bounded language with a semilinear Parikh mapping is an EDTOL language, and use the main proofargument to establish that all finite intersections of bounded context-free languages, and also the complements of these intersections, are EDTOL languages. |
A new neonatal cortical and subcortical brain atlas: the Melbourne Children's Regional Infant Brain (M-CRIB) atlas | Investigating neonatal brain structure and function can offer valuable insights into behaviour and cognition in healthy and clinical populations; both at term age, and longitudinally in comparison with later time points. Parcellated brain atlases for adult populations are readily available, however warping infant data to adult template space is not ideal due to morphological and tissue differences between these groups. Several parcellated neonatal atlases have been developed, although there remains strong demand for manually parcellated ground truth data with detailed cortical definition. Additionally, compatibility with existing adult atlases is favourable for use in longitudinal investigations. We aimed to address these needs by replicating the widely-used Desikan-Killiany (2006) adult cortical atlas in neonates. We also aimed to extend brain coverage by complementing this cortical scheme with basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum and other subcortical segmentations. Thus, we have manually parcellated these areas volumetrically using high-resolution neonatal T2-weighted MRI scans, and initial automated and manually edited tissue classification, providing 100 regions in all. Linear and nonlinear T2-weighted structural templates were also generated. In this paper we provide manual parcellation protocols, and present the parcellated probability maps and structural templates together as the Melbourne Children's Regional Infant Brain (M-CRIB) atlas. |
Enhancement and noise reduction of very low light level images | A general method for image contrast enhancement and noise reduction is proposed in this paper. The method is developed especially for enhancing images acquired under very low light conditions where the features of images are nearly invisible and the noise is serious. By applying an improved and effective image de-haze algorithm to the inverted input image, the intensity can be amplified so that the dark areas become bright and the contrast get enhanced. Then, the joint-bilateral filter with the original green component as the edge image is introduced to suppress the noise. Experimental results validate the performance of the proposed approach. |
Relation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio with coronary artery disease severity in patients undergoing coronary angiography. | BACKGROUND
Atherosclerosis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are systemic inflammatory markers that are correlated with poor cardiovascular outcomes.
AIM
To explore the relation of NLR and PLR with severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).
METHODS
The study population consisted of 180 consecutive patients who underwent elective coronary angiography (CAG). While 100 patients (22 female, mean age: 60.6 ± 12.6 years) had abnormal CAG, 80 patients (44 female, mean age: 57.2 ± 10.9 years) had normal CAG. NLR and PLR were calculated as the ratio of neutrophil count to lymphocyte count and as the ratio of platelet count to lymphocyte count, respectively.
RESULTS
Although age distribution was similar between the two groups (p = 0.073), female gender was significantly higher in the normal CAG group (p < 0.001). Patients with abnormal CAG had significantly higher NLR and PLR when compared to patients with normal CAG (3.7 ± 2.6 vs. 2.2 ± 1.7, p < 0.001 and 125.9 ± 72.3 vs. 102.6 ± 33.8, p = 0.027, respectively). NLR and PLR were significantly correlated with SYNTAX score and GENSINI score. In logistic regression analyses, only NLR (odds ratio: 1.576, confidence interval: 1.198-2.072, p = 0.001) was an independent predictor of CAD. An NLR of 2.3 or higher predicted the CAD with a sensitivity of 66% and specificity of 70%.
CONCLUSIONS
NLR and PLR seem to be a simple method to predict severity of CAD in patients undergoing elective CAG, and it may be part of cardiovascular examination before CAG. |
Hybrid multilevel inverter with single DC source | A hybrid multilevel inverter model based on PSIM and MATLAB/SIMULINK is presented in this paper. It consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. The inverter can be used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). The co-simulation model is employed in order to take full advantage of different power electronics simulation software. Specifically, the main circuit model is developed using PSIM, and the control model is developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK. An experimental 5-level hybrid inverter is tested, which is controlled by multilevel carrier-based PWM signals. The simulation yields a good estimation for the test results of the inverter. |
The cumulative effect of long-acting bronchodilators, exercise, and inspiratory muscle training on the perception of dyspnea in patients with advanced COPD. | BACKGROUND
Dyspnea is a common complaint during daily activities in patients with advanced COPD. The mechanisms underlying dyspnea and the appropriate treatment strategies to relieve it are still not totally understood. We hypothesized that the perception of dyspnea (POD) may be modified by the accumulative effect of bronchodilator therapy, exercise, and inspiratory muscle training (IMT).
METHODS
Spirometry, submaximal exercise performance, inspiratory muscle strength and endurance, and the POD were assessed before and following three consecutive 6-week periods of therapy with a long-acting bronchodilator (LABD), the LABD plus exercise, and the LABD plus exercise plus IMT in 30 patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.
RESULTS
There was a small, statistically insignificant, increase in FEV(1) in the study group (mean [+/- SEM] increase, 1.42+/-0.3 to 1.49+/-0.4 L) following the LABD therapy period, and no additional increase following the two other periods of therapy. There was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the 6-min walk distance following the therapy period with the LABD plus exercise (mean increase, 252+/-41 to 294+/-47 m) and an additional small increase following the therapy period with the LABD plus exercise plus IMT period (mean increase, 252+/-41 to 302+/-49 m). The decrease in the POD was small and statistically not significant following the therapy periods with the LABD and the LABD plus exercise. The major and statistically significant decrease in the POD was noted following the therapy period with the LABD plus exercise plus IMT.
CONCLUSIONS
In patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, following sequential periods of therapy with the LABD, the LABD plus exercise, and the LABD plus exercise plus IMT, there is a cumulative benefit in the POD. The most significant improvement was associated with IMT and not with the LABD and exercise training. The FEV(1) was moderately increased following the therapy period with the LABD, and the addition of exercise has most affected the 6-min walk distance. |
23Na NMR study of the effect of organic osmolytes on DNA counterion atmosphere. | The effect of different organic osmolytes on the DNA counterion condensation layer has been investigated by 23Na NMR relaxation measurements. The zwitterionic compounds glycine, beta-alanine, 4-aminobutyric acid, and 6-aminocaproic acid have shown an increasing capacity to decrease the amount of sodium ions in the vicinity of the macromolecule. The experimental data have been correlated with the dielectric constant increase in their corresponding solutions and have been compared with the prediction of counterion condensation theory. Polyols (sorbitol and mannitol) did not display the same effect. These compounds largely increase the relaxation rate of sodium ions in the proximity of DNA, unlike the zwitterionic compounds. This probably results from a perturbation of the water dynamic around the macromolecule, of the primary or secondary hydration shell of the sodium nuclei involved, or both. |
Prognostic evaluation based on cortical vein score difference in stroke. | BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Multimodal imaging in acute ischemic stroke defines the extent of arterial collaterals, resultant penumbra, and associated infarct core, yet limitations abound. We identified superficial and deep venous drainage patterns that predict outcomes in patients with a proximal arterial occlusion of the anterior circulation.
METHODS
An observational study that used computed tomography (CT) angiography to detail venous drainage in a consecutive series of patients with a proximal anterior circulation arterial occlusion. The principal veins that drain the cortex (superficial middle cerebral, vein of Trolard, vein of Labbé, and basal vein of Rosenthal) and deep structures were scored with a categorical scale on the basis of degree of contrast enhancement. The Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score encompassing the interhemispheric difference of the composite scores of the veins draining the cortices (superficial middle cerebral+vein of Trolard+vein of Labbé+basal vein of Rosenthal) was analyzed with respect to 90-day modified Rankin Scale outcomes.
RESULTS
Thirty-nine patients were included in the study. A Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score of 4 to 8 accurately predicted poor outcomes (modified Rankin Scale, 3-6; odds ratio, 20.53; P<0.001). On stepwise logistic regression analyses adjusted for CT Alberta stroke program early CT score, CT angiography collateral grading and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, a Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score of 4 to 8 (odds ratio, 23.598; P=0.009) and an elevated admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (odds ratio, 1.423; P=0.023) were independent predictors of poor outcome.
CONCLUSIONS
The Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score, a novel measure of venous enhancement on CT angiography, accurately predicts clinical outcomes. Venous features on computed tomography angiography provide additional characterization of collateral perfusion and prognostication in acute ischemic stroke. |
Regression Shrinkage and Selection via the Lasso | We propose a new method for estimation in linear models. The 'lasso' minimizes the residual sum of squares subject to the sum of the absolute value of the coefficients being less than a constant. Because of the nature of this constraint it tends to produce some coefficients hat are exactly 0 and hence gives interpretable models. Our simulation studies suggest that the lasso enjoys some of the favourable properties of both subset selection and ridge regression. It produces interpretable models like subset selection and exhibits the stability of ridge regression. There is also an interesting relationship with recent work in adaptive function estimation by Donoho and Johnstone. The lasso idea is quite general and can be applied in a variety of statistical models: extensions to generalized regression models and tree-based models are briefly described. |
Effectiveness of virtual reality-based instruction on students' learning outcomes in K-12 and higher education: A meta-analysis | The purpose of this meta-analysis is to examine overall effect as well as the impact of selected instructional design principles in the context of virtual reality technology-based instruction (i.e. games, simulation, virtual worlds) in K-12 or higher education settings. A total of 13 studies (N 1⁄4 3081) in the category of games, 29 studies (N 1⁄4 2553) in the category of games, and 27 studies (N 1⁄4 2798) in the category of virtual worlds were meta-analyzed. The key inclusion criteria were that the study came from K-12 or higher education settings, used experimental or quasi-experimental research designs, and used a learning outcome measure to evaluate the effects of the virtual reality-based instruction. Results suggest games (FEM 1⁄4 0.77; REM 1⁄4 0.51), simulations (FEM 1⁄4 0.38; REM 1⁄4 0.41), and virtual worlds (FEM 1⁄4 0.36; REM 1⁄4 0.41) were effective in improving learning outcome gains. The homogeneity analysis of the effect sizes was statistically significant, indicating that the studies were different from each other. Therefore, we conducted moderator analysis using 13 variables used to code the studies. Key findings included that: games show higher learning gains than simulations and virtual worlds. For simulation studies, elaborate explanation type feedback is more suitable for declarative tasks whereas knowledge of correct response is more appropriate for procedural tasks. Students performance is enhanced when they conduct the game play individually than in a group. In addition, we found an inverse relationship between number of treatment sessions learning gains for games. With regards to the virtual world, we found that if students were repeatedly measured it deteriorates their learning outcome gains. We discuss results to highlight the importance of considering instructional design principles when designing virtual reality-based instruction. Published by Elsevier Ltd. |
LCL-filter design for grid-connected PCS using total harmonic distortion and ripple attenuation factor | This paper deals with a design method of LCL filter for grid-connected three-phase PWM voltage source inverters (VSI). By analyzing the total harmonic distortion of the current (THDi) in the inverter-side inductor and the ripple attenuation factor of the current (RAF) injected to the grid through the LCL network, the parameter of LCL can be clearly designed. The described LCL filter design method is verified by showing a good agreement between the target current THD and the actual one through simulation and experiment. |
Does the spatiotemporal distribution of tweets match the spatiotemporal distribution of flood phenomena? A study about the River Elbe Flood in June 2013 | In this paper we present a new approach to enhance information extraction from social media that relies upon the geographical relations between twitter data and flood phenomena. We use specific geographical features like hydrological data and digital elevation models to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of georeferenced twitter messages. This approach is applied to examine the River Elbe Flood in Germany in June 2013. Although recent research has shown that social media platforms like Twitter can be complementary information sources for achieving situation awareness, previous work is mostly concentrated on the classification and analysis of tweets without resorting to existing data related to the disaster, e.g. catchment borders or sensor data about river levels. Our results show that our approach based on geographical relations can help to manage the high volume and velocity of social media messages and thus can be valuable for both crisis response and preventive flood monitoring. |
Suppressed thyroid-stimulating hormone secretion in patients treated with interleukin-2 and interferon-α2b for metastatic melanoma | Recent reports suggest that combined therapy with recombinant interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN) alb may result in autoimmune-induced thyroid dysfunction. We prospectively analyzed thyroid function for 6 weeks in two groups of patients with progressive metastatic melanoma treated according to two different protocols. In group I (n =17) three treatment cycles were given, each with three weeks of subcutanous administration of rIL-2 and INF-α2b at different doses. In group 11 (n=13) the chemotherapeutic agent dacarbazine was given in addition. In group 1 three patients developed frank hyperthyroidism, which required antithyroid drug therapy in one case. Autoantibodies against thyroid microsomal antigen, thyroglobulin, and the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor were not significantly elevated in any of these patients. However, the remaining 14 patients showed a significant decrease in TSH after 6 weeks of treatment, from 1.8 ± 0.9 to 0.7 ± 0.7 μU/ml (P < 0.02). Thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine, thyroxine, free thyroxine) also increased during the observation time, but this did not parallel the drop in TSH levels. Only thyroxine increased above the upper limit of normal, while triiodothyronine and free thyroxine stayed within the normal range. In group 11, 6 of 13 patients (46%) had a decreased TSH after 6 weeks of treatment. Mean TSH was 1.5±1.4 before and 0.8 ± 0.6 μU/ml after 6 weeks and was totally suppressed in three cases. None of these patients showed ouvert hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism was not observed in either group. We conclude that treatment with rIL-2 and INF-α2b may not only be associated with autoimmune thyroiditis and hyperthyroidism but also results in suppression of TSH levels while the patients remain euthyroid. |
A review of the role of exercise and factors affecting its uptake for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not requiring renal replacement therapy. | Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a long-term progressive condition affecting 10-15% of people. The overlap of diabetes, hypertension and CKD in an aging population means that prevalence will only increase. CKD increases the risk of all-cause mortality, secondary to the elevated cardiovascular risk. It also significantly affects the patients' ability to engage in functional activities and their quality of life. The evidence base suggests that exercise has the capacity to improve symptom burden, functional ability and mental health. The majority of the patient population are pre-dialysis yet previous research has concentrated on dialysing patients. This review will focus on the patient group not requiring renal replacement therapy (non-RRT) as this is an area where further work is urgently needed. A large majority of people with CKD tend to be inactive despite emerging guidelines emphasising the positive effect of exercise for both people with chronic disease and healthy populations. This paper will review the evidence to support exercise to improve outcomes and quality of life and report on common barriers that patients experience and advocate the need for supported exercise interventions to help patients become more active and gain the potential resultant health benefits. |
A Virtual Learning Architecture Enhanced by Fog Computing and Big Data Streams | In recent years, virtual learning environments are gaining more and more momentum, considering both the technologies deployed in their support and the sheer number of terminals directly or indirectly interacting with them. This essentially means that every day, more and more smart devices play an active role in this exemplary Web of Things scenario. This digital revolution, affecting education, appears clearly intertwined with the earliest forecasts of the Internet of Things, envisioning around 50 billions heterogeneous devices and gadgets to be active by 2020, considering also the deployment of the fog computing paradigm, which moves part of the computational power to the edge of the network. Moreover, these interconnected objects are expected to produce more and more significant streams of data, themselves generated at unprecedented rates, sometimes to be analyzed almost in real time. Concerning educational environments, this translates to a new type of big data stream, which can be labeled as educational big data streams. Here, pieces of information coming from different sources (such as communications between students and instructors, as well as students’ tests, etc.) require accurate analysis and mining techniques in order to retrieve fruitful and well-timed insights from them. This article presents an overview of the current state of the art of virtual learning environments and their limitations; then, it explains the main ideas behind the paradigms of big data streams and of fog computing, in order to introduce an e-learning architecture integrating both of them. Such an action aims to enhance the ability of virtual learning environments to be closer to the needs of all the actors in an educational scenario, as demonstrated by a preliminary implementation of the envisioned architecture. We believe that the proposed big stream and fog-based educational framework may pave the way towards a better understanding of students’ educational behaviors and foster new research directions in the field. |
Use of matched historical controls to evaluate the anti-fracture efficacy of once-a-week risedronate | Placebo controls are essential to assess anti-fracture efficacy of new osteoporosis therapies, but inclusion of a placebo arm in a subsequent clinical trial may be limited by practical or ethical considerations; in these cases, use of an historical control may be appropriate. A recent active-controlled study of risedronate 35 mg once a week demonstrated that this regimen produces increases in bone mineral density (BMD) that are comparable to those seen with the risedronate 5 mg daily dose, which has proven anti-fracture efficacy. To assess the anti-fracture efficacy of this new regimen, we have analyzed the fracture data collected in an active controlled study of risedronate dosing regimens (the Once-a-Week study) using matched historical control data from previous placebo-controlled trials. Women in the Once-a-Week study were matched for age, years since menopause, BMD, and prevalent vertebral fracture status, with placebo patients in the Vertebral Efficacy of Risedronate Therapy (VERT) trials forming an historical placebo group. We also constructed an historical active treatment group from the 5 mg daily arm of the VERT trials for comparison with the 5 mg daily and 35 mg once weekly treatment groups in the Once-a-Week study. Data were obtained from the risedronate 5 mg daily group (n=480) and 35 mg once-a-week group (n=485) in the Once-a-Week study and historical control groups representing daily placebo patients (n=114, matched from 993) and risedronate 5 mg daily patients (n=120; matched from 990) in the VERT studies. Patients received calcium supplementation (1000 mg daily); vitamin D was given if baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were low. Over 1 year, new vertebral fracture risk in the 35 mg once-a-week group was reduced by 77% relative to the historical placebo group (1.2% versus 5.0%; RR 0.23; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.91, P=0.018), similar to the 1-year risk reduction observed in the VERT trials of risedronate 5 mg daily (61–65%). The incidence of new vertebral fractures in the three active treatment groups was similar: 1.7% in the historical risedronate 5 mg group, 1.5% in the risedronate 5 mg daily group from the Once-a-Week study, and 1.2% in the 35 mg once-a-week group. Risedronate 35 mg once a week appears as effective as the 5 mg daily dose in reducing the risk of new vertebral fractures in the first year of treatment. The use of appropriate historical control data provides an approach to the assessment of fracture effects in osteoporosis trials for which placebo-controlled data are not available. |
Differences in the topographic profiles of retinal thickening in eyes with and without serous macular detachment associated with diabetic macular oedema. | PURPOSE
To investigate if cases of diabetic macular oedema (DMO) associated with serous macular detachment (SMD) have a different topographic profile of retinal thickening compared with DMO cases not associated with SMD.
METHODS
Optical coherence tomography scans of 152 eyes from 152 patients with centre-involving DMO and central subfield thickness >350 µm were identified. Measurements were taken of the neural retina at the highest point of thickening within the central subfield (H) and lateral extent of retina thicker than 350 µm (W). Group means were compared between eyes with SMD and eyes without SMD.
RESULTS
SMD was present in 55 eyes (36%). H was lower in eyes with SMD than in eyes without SMD (396 µm vs 550 µm, p<0.001) while W was higher in eyes with SMD compared with eyes without SMD (4.74 mm vs 4.18 mm, p=0.011).
CONCLUSIONS
There were distinct differences in topographical profiles of retinal thickening between eyes with SMD and eyes without SMD. These findings suggest a possible mechanical basis for the pathogenesis of SMD in DMO. |
Knowledge sharing behavior in virtual communities: The relationship between trust, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations | There has been a growing interest in examining the factors that support or hinder one’s knowledge sharing behavior in the virtual communities. However, still very few studies examined them from both personal and environmental perspectives. In order to explore the knowledge sharing behaviors within the virtual communities of professional societies, this study proposed a social cognitive theory (SCT)-based model that includes knowledge sharing self-efficacy and outcome expectations for personal influences, and multidimensional trusts for environmental influences. The proposed research model was then evaluated with structural equation modeling, and confirmatory factor analysis was also applied to test if the empirical data conform to the proposed model. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
MicroRNA-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms in ocular Behcet's disease and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome. | AIM
MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) is involved in certain immune-mediated diseases. Transcription factor Ets-1 strongly affects miR-146a promoter activity and directly regulates miR-146a expression. This study was performed to investigate the association of miR-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms with Behçet's disease (BD) and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease in a Chinese Han population.
METHODS
A total of 809 patients with BD, 613 patients with VKH and 1132 normal controls were genotyped for miR-146a/rs2910164, rs57095329 and rs6864584, Ets-1/rs1128334 and rs10893872 using a PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. miR-146a expression was examined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by real-time PCR. Cytokine production by PBMCs was measured by ELISA.
RESULTS
A significantly decreased frequency of the homozygous rs2910164 CC genotype and C allele was observed in patients with BD compared with controls (pc(a)=1.24×10(-5), OR 0.61; pc(a)=1.33×10(-4), OR 0.75, respectively). MiR-146a expression in GG cases was 2.45-fold and 1.99-fold higher, respectively, than that in CC cases and GC cases. There was no association of the other four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with BD. There was also no association of these five SNPs with its main clinical features. No associations were found with the five SNPs tested or with its clinical manifestations in VKH disease. Interleukin (IL)-17, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α and IL-1β production from rs2910164 CC cases was markedly lower than that in GG cases. No effect of genotype was observed on IL-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 production and IL-8 expression was slightly higher in CC cases.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study identified a strong association of rs2910164 of miR-146a with BD in a Chinese population and decreased expression of miR-146a and certain proinflammatory cytokines in individuals carrying the CC genotype. |
Vertical display oscillation effects on forward vection and simulator sickness. | BACKGROUND
The current study investigated the effects that vertical display oscillation had on the development of both vection and simulator sickness.
METHODS
There were 16 subjects who were exposed to optic flow displays which simulated either: 1) constant velocity forward self-motion (pure radial flow); or 2) combined constant velocity forward and vertically oscillating self-motion (radial flow with vertical oscillation at one of three frequencies: 1.8, 3.7, or 7.4 Hz). During each 10-min display exposure, subjects rated the strength of their vection and eight symptoms listed on the Subjective Symptoms of Motion Sickness (SSMS) scale at 2-min intervals. Subjects also completed the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) designed by Kennedy and colleagues before and after each trial, which generated a total SSQ score and three SSQ subscores (nausea, oculomotor symptoms, and disorientation).
RESULTS
Vertically oscillating displays (mean = 5.51; SD = 2.5) were found to produce significantly stronger vection ratings than non-oscillating displays (mean = 3.56; SD = 2.1). Vertically oscillating displays (mean = 58.18; SD = 32.2) were also found to produce significantly more severe sickness (as rated by total SSQ scores) than non-oscillating displays (mean = 29.67; SD = 24.7). Both vection and sickness symptoms increased in magnitude with prolonged exposure to optic flow.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings appear to represent a special case in visual self-motion perception where high-frequency vertical oscillation both enhances vection and increases simulator sickness when it is incorporated into an optic flow display simulating constant velocity self-motion in depth. |
Time Domain Passivity Control of Haptic Interface | A patent-pending, energy-based method is presented for controlling a haptic interface system to ensure stable contact under a wide variety of operating conditions. System stability is analyzed in terms of the time-domain definition of passivity. We define a “Passivity Observer” (PO) which measures energy flow in and out of one or more subsystems in real-time software. Active behavior is indicated by a negative value of the PO at any time. We also define the “Passivity Controller” (PC), an adaptive dissipative element which, at each time sample, absorbs exactly the net energy output (if any) measured by the PO. The method is tested with simulation and implementation in the Excalibur haptic interface system. Totally stable operation was achieved under conditions such as stiffness 100 N/mm or time delays of 15 ms. The PO/PC method requires very little additional computation and does not require a dynamical model to be identified. |
When and Why are Pre-trained Word Embeddings Useful for Neural Machine Translation? | The performance of Neural Machine Translation (NMT) systems often suffers in lowresource scenarios where sufficiently largescale parallel corpora cannot be obtained. Pretrained word embeddings have proven to be invaluable for improving performance in natural language analysis tasks, which often suffer from paucity of data. However, their utility for NMT has not been extensively explored. In this work, we perform five sets of experiments that analyze when we can expect pre-trained word embeddings to help in NMT tasks. We show that such embeddings can be surprisingly effective in some cases – providing gains of up to 20 BLEU points in the most favorable setting.1 |
Reciprocal learning with task cards for teaching Basic Life Support (BLS): investigating effectiveness and the effect of instructor expertise on learning outcomes. A randomized controlled trial. | BACKGROUND
Basic Life Support (BLS) education in secondary schools and universities is often neglected or outsourced because teachers indicate not feeling competent to teach this content.
OBJECTIVE
Investigate reciprocal learning with task cards as instructional model for teaching BLS and the effect of instructor expertise in BLS on learning outcomes.
METHODS
There were 175 students (mean age = 18.9 years) randomized across a reciprocal/BLS instructor (RBI) group, a reciprocal/non-BLS instructor (RNI) group, and a traditional/BLS instructor group (TBI). In the RBI and RNI group, students were taught BLS through reciprocal learning with task cards. The instructor in the RBI group was certified in BLS by the European Resuscitation Council. In the TBI, students were taught BLS by a certified instructor according to the Belgian Red Cross instructional model. Student performance was assessed 1 day (intervention) and 3 weeks after intervention (retention).
RESULTS
At retention, significantly higher BLS performances were found in the RBI group (M = 78%), p = 0.007, ES = 0.25, and the RNI group (M = 80%), p < 0.001, Effect Size (ES) = .36, compared to the TBI (M = 73%). Significantly more students remembered and performed all BLS skills in the experimental groups at intervention and retention. No differences in BLS performance were found between the reciprocal groups. Ventilation volumes and flow rates were significantly better in the TBI at intervention and retention.
CONCLUSION
Reciprocal learning with task cards is a valuable model for teaching BLS when instructors are not experienced or skilled in BLS. |
Heinrich von Stackelberg and the diffusion of Ordoliberal economics in Franco's Spain | Economic historians regard Ordoliberalism as a school of thought whose reach was limited to Germany. Challenging this popular view, this study shows that Ordoliberalism also had considerable impact on Spanish economics during the 1940s and 1950s, despite the fact that Spain’s policy establishment favoured a State-led and predominantly antiliberal development model. This puzzling outcome was the result of the exceptional ideational entrepreneurship of Ordoliberal economist Heinrich von Stackelberg, who was a visiting professor in Madrid from 1943 until his death in 1946. His intellectual entrepreneurship in the Spanish economic profession proved to have lasting consequences, as the policy-oriented intellectuals he influenced came to occupy leading positions in academia and economic policy institutions. This paper also contributes to the empirical literature on the diffusion of economic ideas across national epistemic boundaries by highlighting the role of exceptional economists acting as carriers of new economic ideas. Finally, the study helps illuminate a critical juncture in the intellectual history of Spanish economics during the Francoist regime. |
Cost-Sensitive Semi-Supervised Support Vector Machine | In this paper, we study cost-sensitive semi-supervised learning where many of the training examples are unlabeled and different misclassification errors are associated with unequal costs. This scenario occurs in many real-world applications. For example, in some disease diagnosis, the cost of erroneously diagnosing a patient as healthy is much higher than that of diagnosing a healthy person as a patient. Also, the acquisition of labeled data requires medical diagnosis which is expensive, while the collection of unlabeled data such as basic health information is much cheaper. We propose the CS4VM (Cost-Sensitive Semi-Supervised Support Vector Machine) to address this problem. We show that the CS4VM, when given the label means of the unlabeled data, closely approximates the supervised cost-sensitive SVM that has access to the ground-truth labels of all the unlabeled data. This observation leads to an efficient algorithm which first estimates the label means and then trains the CS4VM with the plug-in label means by an efficient SVM solver. Experiments on a broad range of data sets show that the proposed method is capable of reducing the total cost and is computationally efficient. |
A Novel Airbnb Matching Scheme in Shared Economy Using Confidence and Prediction Uncertainty Analysis | As a shared economy platform, Airbnb allows customers to collaborate and guides them to hosts’ rooms. Based on the records and ratings, it attaches great significance to infer users’ satisfaction with their rooms. Several essential problems arise when evaluating satisfaction and matching. Data confidence and prediction bias influence the inference performance of the satisfaction. When two users stay in one room, their joint satisfaction also deserves particular research because of the roommate effect. In this paper, a matching model is built based on the inferred satisfaction considering confidence and prediction uncertainties. The satisfaction with the confidence uncertainty is modeled using a normalized variance of the Beta distribution. The algorithms for inferring satisfaction with the prediction uncertainties are divided into two parts: a weighted matrix factorization-based algorithm for individuals and a preference similarity-based algorithm for pairs. Two matching algorithms are proposed with constraints. Finally, extensive experiments using real-world data show the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method. |
Pattern recognition based techniques for fruit sorting : A survey | In most of the food industries, farms and fruit markets the quality sorting of the fruits is done manually; only a few automated sorting systems are developed for this. Each fruit changes its color in its life span; including stages not ripe, semi ripped, completely ripped or at the end rotten. Hence, we can predict the quality of the fruits by processing its color images and then applying pattern recognition techniques on those images. By quality of fruit we mean size, ripeness, sweetness, longetivity, diseased/ rotten etc. Some advance technologies which are used for classification of fruits are Infrared Imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Thermal Sensing, Electronic Nose sensing etc; but these are costlier as compared to color image processing and pattern recognition techniques. This paper summarizes and compares various techniques of Pattern Recognition which are used effectively for fruit sorting. All the fruits have their unique ways of ripening stages; hence the pattern recognition techniques used for one fruit does not necessarily match for the other fruit. This paper reviews the high quality research work done for the quality classification of Apples, Dates, Mangoes, Cranberry, Jatropha, Tomatoes, and some other fruits using pattern recognition techniques. KeywordsClassification & predication, Pattern Recognition, Image Processing, Fruit Quality __________________________________________________*****_________________________________________________ |
Learning an Intrinsic Image Decomposer Using Synthesized RGB-D Dataset | Intrinsic image decomposition refers to recover the albedo and shading from images, which is an ill-posed problem in signal processing. As realistic labeled data are severely lacking, it is difficult to apply learning methods in this issue. In this letter, we propose using a synthesized dataset to facilitate the solving of this problem. A physically based renderer is used to generate color images and their underlying ground-truth albedo and shading from three-dimensional models. Additionally, we render a Kinect-like noisy depth map for each instance. We utilize this synthetic dataset to train a deep neural network for intrinsic image decomposition and further fine-tune it for real-world images. Our model supports both RGB and RGB-D as input, and it employs both high-level and low-level features to avoid blurry outputs. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of our model on realistic images. |
Boron-doped diamond electrooxidation of ethyl paraben: The effect of electrolyte on by-products distribution and mechanisms. | Ethyl paraben (EP), a representative emerging pollutant of the parabens family, was subject to electrochemical oxidation over a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode. Experiments were carried out in a single-compartment cell at 10-70 mA cm-2 current density, 200-600 μg L-1 EP concentration, initial solution pH 3-9 and 0.1 M electrolyte concentration. The degradation rate is favored at increased current densities and in the presence of NaCl as the supporting electrolyte, while the pH effect is inconsiderable. For instance, the first order rate constant for the degradation of 200 μg L-1 EP at 30 mA cm-2 was 0.25, 0.1 and 0.07 min-1 with NaCl, Na2SO4 and HClO4, respectively. Degradation in secondary treated wastewater was faster than in pure water presumably due to the action of chloride ions present in the effluent. Liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS) was employed to determine major transformation by-products (TBPs). The route of EP degradation with Na2SO4 involves hydroxylation and demethylation reactions, signifying the role of electrogenerated hydroxyl radicals in the process. Twenty one TBPs were identified with NaCl as the electrolyte, including several chlorinated and non-chlorinated dimers and trimers; these findings suggest that indirect oxidation mediated by chlorine radicals and other chlorine active species also takes place. In this view, the role of the supporting electrolyte is crucial since it can influence both reaction kinetics and pathways. |
An intervention program with the aim to improve and maintain work productivity for workers with rheumatoid arthritis: design of a randomized controlled trial and cost-effectiveness study | BACKGROUND
Workers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often experience restrictions in functioning at work and participation in employment. Strategies to maintain work productivity exist, but these interventions do not involve the actual workplace. Therefore the aim of this study is to investigate the (cost)effectiveness of an intervention program at the workplace on work productivity for workers with RA.
METHODS/DESIGN
This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in specialized rheumatology treatment centers in or near Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Randomisation to either the control or the intervention group is performed at patient level. Both groups will receive care as usual by the rheumatologist, and patients in the intervention group will also take part in the intervention program. The intervention program consists of two components; integrated care, including a participatory workplace intervention. Integrated care involves a clinical occupational physician, who will act as care manager, to coordinate the care. The care manager has an intermediate role between clinical and occupational care. The participatory workplace intervention will be guided by an occupational therapist, and involves problem solving by the patient and the patients' supervisor. The aim of the workplace intervention is to achieve consensus between patient and supervisor concerning feasible solutions for the obstacles for functioning at work. Data collection will take place at baseline and after 6 and 12 months by means of a questionnaire. The primary outcome measure is work productivity, measured by hours lost from work due to presenteeism. Secondary outcome measures include sick leave, quality of life, pain and fatigue. Cost-effectiveness of the intervention program will be evaluated from the societal perspective.
DISCUSSION
Usual care of primary and outpatient health services is not aimed at improving work productivity. Therefore it is desirable to develop interventions aimed at improving functioning at work. If the intervention program will be (cost)effective, substantial improvements in work productivity might be obtained among workers with RA at lower costs. Results are expected in 2015.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NTR2886. |
Touchscreen based ordering system for restaurants | Automation has gained importance in every field of human life. But there are still some fields where more traditional methods are being employed. One such field is the ordering system in restaurants. Generally, in restaurants menu ordering system will be available in paper format from that the customer has to select the menu items and then the order is handed over to waiter who takes the corresponding order, which is a very time consuming process. In this paper we propose a fully automated ordering system in which the conventional paper based menu is replaced by a more user friendly touchscreen based menu card. The system consists of microcontroller which is interfaced with the input and output modules. The input module is the touchscreen sensor which is placed on GLCD to have graphical image display, which takes the input from the user and provides the same to the microcontroller. The output module is a RF module which is used for communication between system at table and system at ordering department. Microcontroller also displays the menu items on the GLCD. At the receiving end the selected items will be displayed on the LCD and the ordering department will note down the order received. |
Bilateral piriformis syndrome after total hip arthroplasty | We present the case of a 39-year-old man with bilateral piriformis syndrome 4 and 6 years after two cementless total hip arthroplasties, respectively. During surgical exploration, each sciatic nerve was found to be entrapped by a tense piriformis muscle and hypertrophic posterior hip capsule. The sciatic-type pain was relieved after sectioning each piriformis muscle with external neurolysis. This is the first reported case of piriformis syndrome after total hip arthroplasty. |
Railway EMI impact on train operation and environment | Several studies in Sweden have looked into railway electromagnetic interference (EMI) either to discover the source of the interference or to determine if the equipment in the system is performing properly. The movement of rolling stock along an electrified track produces certain EMI events. Transient electromagnetic fields are produced in the signalling system when the train leaves the neutral section of the overhead power line and enters the powered section. These transient EM fields are mainly produced by the engine. The track's infrastructure system has been tested for EMI events, but this phenomenon affects the surrounding environment as well, up to at least 10 meters from the track. The infrastructure is designed so that the return current from locomotives should go through the running rails, but occasionally the ground acts as a conductor, transmitting current to areas that are distant from the rail. The paper reviews the status of Swedish railways with respect to electromagnetic compatibility. This TREND project is a joint project with 7 FP EU. |
Evaluating ensemble classifiers for spam filtering | In this study, the ensemble classifier presented by Caruana, Niculescu-Mizil, Crew & Ksikes (2004) is investigated. Their ensemble approach generates thousands of models using a variety of machine learning algorithms and uses a forward stepwise selection to build robust ensembles that can be optimised to an arbitrary metric. On average, the resulting ensemble out-performs the best individual machine learning models. The classifier is implemented in the WEKA machine learning environment, which allows the results presented by the original paper to be validated and the classifier to be extended to multi-class problem domains. The behaviour of different ensemble building strategies is also investigated. The classifier is then applied to the spam filtering domain, where it is tested on three different corpora in an attempt to provide a realistic evaluation of the system. It records similar performance levels to that seen in other problem domains and out-performs individual models and the naive Bayesian filtering technique regularly used by commercial spam filtering solutions. Caruana et al.’s (2004) classifier will typically outperform the best known models in a variety of problems. |
A fast algorithm for integrating connected-component labeling and euler number computation | This paper proposes a fast algorithm for integrating connected-component labeling and Euler number computation. Based on graph theory, the Euler number of a binary image in the proposed algorithm is calculated by counting the occurrences of four patterns of the mask for processing foreground pixels in the first scan of a connected-component labeling process, where these four patterns can be found directly without any additional calculation; thus, connected-component labeling and Euler number computation can be integrated more efficiently. Moreover, when computing the Euler number, unlike other conventional algorithms, the proposed algorithm does not need to process background pixels. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is much more efficient than conventional algorithms either for calculating the Euler number alone or simultaneously calculating the Euler number and labeling connected components. |
Effectiveness of a Peer Support Programme versus Usual Care in Disease Management of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 regarding Improvement of Metabolic Control: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial | AIM
Testing the effectiveness of peer support additionally to a disease management programme (DMP) for type 2 diabetes patients.
METHODS
Unblinded cluster-randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving 49 general practices, province of Salzburg, Austria. All patients enrolled in the DMP were eligible, n = 337 participated (intervention: 148 in 19 clusters; control: 189 in 20 clusters). The peer support intervention ran over 24 months and consisted of peer supporter recruitment and training, and group meetings weekly for physical exercise and monthly for discussion of diabetes related topics.
RESULTS
At two-year follow-up, adjusted analysis revealed a nonsignificant difference in HbA1c change of 0.14% (21.97 mmol/mol) in favour of the intervention (95% CI -0.08 to 0.36%, p = 0.22). Baseline values were 7.02 ± 1.25% in the intervention and 7.08 ± 1.25 in the control group. None of the secondary outcome measures showed significant differences except for improved quality of life (EQ-5D-VAS) in controls (4.3 points on a scale of 100; 95% CI 0.08 to 8.53, p = 0.046) compared to the intervention group.
CONCLUSION
Our peer support intervention as an additional DMP component showed no significant effect on HbA1c and secondary outcome measures. Further RTCs with a longer follow-up are needed to reveal whether peer support will have clinically relevant effects.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
This trial has been registered with Current Controlled Trials Ltd. (ISRCTN10291077). |
Multimodal learning for facial expression recognition | In this paper, multimodal learning for facial expression recognition (FER) is proposed. The multimodal learning method makes the first attempt to learn the joint representation by considering the texture and landmark modality of facial images, which are complementary with each other. In order to learn the representation of each modality and the correlation and interaction between different modalities, the structured regularization (SR) is employed to enforce and learn the modality-specific sparsity and density of each modality, respectively. By introducing SR, the comprehensiveness of the facial expression is fully taken into consideration, which can not only handle the subtle expression but also perform robustly to different input of facial images. With the proposed multimodal learning network, the joint representation learning from multimodal inputs will be more suitable for FER. Experimental results on the CKþ and NVIE databases demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method. & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Liberal : Adolf A. Berle and the vision of an American era | In this, the first full-length biography of Adolf A. Berle, Jordan A. Schwarz provides a truer understanding of the vision and aspirations of early 20th-century liberalism. Two 8-page black-and-white photograph inserts. |
Unit selection in a concatenative speech synthesis system using a large speech database | One approach to the generation of natural-sounding synthesized speech waveforms is to select and concatenate units from a large speech database. Units (in the current work, phonemes) are selected to produce a natural realisation of a target phoneme sequence predicted from text which is annotated with prosodic and phonetic context information. We propose that the units in a synthesis database can be considered as a state transition network in which the state occupancy cost is the distance between a database unit and a target, and the transition cost is an estimate of the quality of concatenation of two consecutive units. This framework has many similarities to HMM-based speech recognition. A pruned Viterbi search is used to select the best units for synthesis from the database. This approach to waveform synthesis permits training from natural speech: two methods for training from speech are presented which provide weights which produce more natural speech than can be obtained by hand-tuning. |
Current review of prepubertal vaginal bleeding. | PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Prepubertal vaginal bleeding raises many concerns and evaluation and diagnosis may prove difficult for many providers. We aim to provide a comprehensive review and recent updates for those practitioners who care for these patients.
RECENT FINDINGS
Prompt management in the case of prepubertal vaginal bleeding is indicated, especially to rule out malignancy or abuse. If a child is reluctant to undergo examination, or if the extent of injury or source of bleeding cannot be determined, examination under anesthesia and vaginoscopy is recommended. Use of vaginoscopy allows for clear visualization of the vagina and cervix without distorting hymenal anatomy, as well as diagnosis and removal of a foreign body and evaluation of mucosal damage caused. In the case of sexual abuse, providers specifically trained in pediatrics need to be present, and safety of the patient should always be ensured.
SUMMARY
Careful history taking and targeted examination may lead to diagnosis in the case of prepubertal vaginal bleeding. However, in more difficult cases, practitioners should not hesitate to examine a patient in the operating room using general anesthesia to elicit the cause. Although sexual abuse and malignancy are always on the differential, most causes of bleeding are benign and easily treated. |
Dynamic Deep Neural Networks: Optimizing Accuracy-Efficiency Trade-Offs by Selective Execution | We introduce Dynamic Deep Neural Networks (DNN), a new type of feed-forward deep neural network that allows selective execution. Given an input, only a subset of DNN neurons are executed, and the particular subset is determined by the DNN itself. By pruning unnecessary computation depending on input, DNNs provide a way to improve computational efficiency. To achieve dynamic selective execution, a DNN augments a feed-forward deep neural network (directed acyclic graph of differentiable modules) with controller modules. Each controller module is a sub-network whose output is a decision that controls whether other modules can execute. A DNN is trained end to end. Both regular and controller modules in a DNN are learnable and are jointly trained to optimize both accuracy and efficiency. Such training is achieved by integrating backpropagation with reinforcement learning. With extensive experiments of various DNN architectures on image classification tasks, we demonstrate that DNNs are general and flexible, and can effectively optimize accuracyefficiency trade-offs. |
Long-term analgesic use after low-risk surgery: a retrospective cohort study. | BACKGROUND
This study evaluated the risk of long-term analgesic use after low-risk surgery in older adults not previously prescribed analgesics.
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study using linked, population-based administrative data in Ontario, Canada, from April 1, 1997, through December 31, 2008. We identified Ontario residents 66 years and older who were dispensed an opioid within 7 days of a short-stay surgery (cataract surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, transurethral resection of the prostate, or varicose vein stripping) and assessed the risk of long-term opioid use, defined as a prescription for an opioid within 60 days of the 1-year anniversary of the surgery. In a secondary analysis, we examined the risk of long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). We used multivariate logistic regression to examine the association between postsurgical use of analgesics and long-term use.
RESULTS
Among 391,139 opioid-naive patients undergoing short-stay surgery, opioids were newly prescribed to 27,636 patients (7.1%) within 7 days of being discharged from the hospital, and opioids were prescribed to 30,145 patients (7.7%) at 1 year from surgery. An increase in the use of oxycodone was found during this time (from 5.4% within 7 days to 15.9% at 1 year). In our primary analysis, patients receiving an opioid prescription within 7 days of surgery were 44% more likely to become long-term opioid users within 1 year compared with those who received no such prescription (adjusted odds ratio, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.39-1.50). In a secondary analysis, among 383,780 NSAID-naive patients undergoing short-stay surgery, NSAIDs were prescribed to 1169 patients (0.3%) within 7 days of discharge and to 30,080 patients (7.8%) at 1 year from surgery. Patients who began taking NSAIDs within 7 days of surgery were almost 4 times more likely to become long-term NSAID users compared with patients with no such prescription (adjusted odds ratio, 3.74; 95% CI, 3.27-4.28).
CONCLUSION
Prescription of analgesics immediately after ambulatory surgery occurs frequently in older adults and is associated with long-term use. |
A Database of Human Segmented Natural Images and its Application to Evaluating Segmentation Algorithms and Measuring Ecological Statistics | This paper presents a database containing ‘ground truth’ segmentations produced by humans for images of a wide variety of natural scenes. We define an error measure which quantifies the consistency between segmentations of differing granularities and find that different human segmentations of the same image are highly consistent. Use of this dataset is demonstrated in two applications: (1) evaluating the performance of segmentation algorithms and (2) measuring probability distributions associated with Gestalt grouping factors as well as statistics of image region prop- |
Synthesizable Memory Arrays Based on Logic Gates for Subthreshold Operation in IoT | This paper identifies novel directions of standard-cell-based synthesizable memory design. A compact 18T-bitcell of OR-AND-Invert (OAI) and AND-OR-Invert (AOI) logic gates is presented with bit-selective write and multiplexed read accesses. It reduces the bitcell area by 11%–40% compared to the state-of-the-art clock-gating-based D-latch schemes while avoiding custom-cell design. The improved storage density comes from the tight integration on two levels–coupling the read multiplexing within each bitcell and taking advantage of structured datapath placement in bitcell arrays by using commercial CAD tools. As measured on a 40 nm SRAM of 90 kb, the OAI/AOI-gate-based synthesizable memory features 0.4 V minimum access voltage, 30 fJ minimum read energy per bit, and a leakage power of 1.4 pW per bit at 0.3 V data retention voltage. It is ideally suited for IoT-node design operating in sub- $V_{\mathrm {t}}$ for joint dynamic energy and leakage power reduction. Further, it enables fast turn-around times by IP reuse over technology nodes with minimal (re)design effort. |
Characterization of Endogenous G-CSF and the Inverse Correlation to Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia in Patients with Breast Cancer Using Population Modeling | Neutropenia is a severe adverse-event of chemotherapeutics. Neutrophils (ANC) are mainly regulated by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). The aim was to characterize the dynamics between endogenous G-CSF and ANC over time following chemotherapy. Endogenous G-CSF and ANC were monitored in forty-nine breast cancer patients treated with sequential adjuvant 5-fluorouracil–epirubicin–cyclophosphamide and docetaxel. During treatment courses ANC was transiently decreased and was reflected in an endogenous G-CSF increase, which was well described by a semi-mechanistic model including control mechanisms; when G-CSF concentrations increased the proliferation rate increased and the bone maturation time reduced for ANC. Subsequently, ANC in the circulation increased leading to increased elimination of G-CSF. Additionally, a non-specific elimination for G-CSF was quantified. The ANC-dependent elimination contributed to 97% at baseline and 49% at an ANC of 0.1 · 109/L to the total G-CSF elimination. The integrated G-CSF–myelosuppression model captured the initial rise in endogenous G-CSF following chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and the return to baseline of G-CSF and ANC. The model supported the self-regulatory properties of the system and may be a useful tool for further characterization of the biological system and in optimization of chemotherapy treatment. |
Targeted genome modification technologies and their applications in crop improvements | Recent advances in genome engineering indicate that innovative crops developed by targeted genome modification (TGM) using site-specific nucleases (SSNs) have the potential to avoid the regulatory issues raised by genetically modified organisms. These powerful SSNs tools, comprising zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated systems, enable precise genome engineering by introducing DNA double-strand breaks that subsequently trigger DNA repair pathways involving either non-homologous end-joining or homologous recombination. Here, we review developments in genome-editing tools, summarize their applications in crop organisms, and discuss future prospects. We also highlight the ability of these tools to create non-transgenic TGM plants for next-generation crop breeding. |
Ambient Assisted Living Healthcare Frameworks, Platforms, Standards, and Quality Attributes | Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is an emerging multi-disciplinary field aiming at exploiting information and communication technologies in personal healthcare and telehealth systems for countering the effects of growing elderly population. AAL systems are developed for personalized, adaptive, and anticipatory requirements, necessitating high quality-of-service to achieve interoperability, usability, security, and accuracy. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the AAL field with a focus on healthcare frameworks, platforms, standards, and quality attributes. To achieve this, we conducted a literature survey of state-of-the-art AAL frameworks, systems and platforms to identify the essential aspects of AAL systems and investigate the critical issues from the design, technology, quality-of-service, and user experience perspectives. In addition, we conducted an email-based survey for collecting usage data and current status of contemporary AAL systems. We found that most AAL systems are confined to a limited set of features ignoring many of the essential AAL system aspects. Standards and technologies are used in a limited and isolated manner, while quality attributes are often addressed insufficiently. In conclusion, we found that more inter-organizational collaboration, user-centered studies, increased standardization efforts, and a focus on open systems is needed to achieve more interoperable and synergetic AAL solutions. |
ON A PROBLEM OF GRAPH THEORY | Let G " be a non-directed graph having n vertices, without parallel edges and slings. Let the vertices of Gn be denoted by F 1 ,. . ., Pn. Let v(P j) denote the valency of the point P i and put (0. 1) V(G,) = max v(Pj). 1ninn Let E(G.) denote the number of edges of Gn. Let H d (n, k) denote the set of all graphs Gn for which V (G n) = k and the diameter D (Gn) of which is-d, In the present paper we shall investigate the quantity (0 .2) Thus we want to determine the minimal number N such that there exists a graph having n vertices, N edges and diameter-d and the maximum of the valencies of the vertices of the graph is equal to k. To help the understanding of the problem let us consider the following interpretation. Let be given in a country n airports ; suppose we want to plan a network of direct flights between these airports so that the maximal number of airports to which a given airport can be connected by a direct flight should be equal to k (i .e. the maximum of the capacities of the airports is prescribed), further it should be possible to fly from every airport to any other by changing the plane at most d-1 times ; what is the minimal number of flights by which such a plan can be realized? For instance, if n = 7, k = 3, d= 2 we have F2 (7, 3) = 9 and the extremal graph is shown by Fig. 1. The problem of determining Fd (n, k) has been proposed and discussed recently by two of the authors (see [1]). In § 1 we give a short summary of the results of the paper [1], while in § 2 and 3 we give some new results which go beyond those of [1]. Incidentally we solve a long-standing problem about the maximal number of edges of a graph not containing a cycle of length 4. In § 4 we mention some unsolved problems. Let us mention that our problem can be formulated also in terms of 0-1 matrices as follows : Let M=(a il) be a symmetrical n by n zero-one matrix such 2 |
Linear recursion formulas of generalized focus quantities and applications | Integrability of polynomial differential system for any rational resonance ratio is studied. A new linear recursion formula for computation of generalized focus quantities and certain relation between two quantities from different definitions are given. As the applications, we discuss the generalized center conditions for two cubic Kolmogorov systems which are considered for the first time. |
H1-Histamine Receptor Affinity Predicts Short-Term Weight Gain for Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs | As a result of superior efficacy and overall tolerability, atypical antipsychotic drugs have become the treatment of choice for schizophrenia and related disorders, despite their side effects. Weight gain is a common and potentially serious complication of some antipsychotic drug therapy, and may be accompanied by hyperlipidemia, hypertension and hyperglycemia and, in some extreme cases, diabetic ketoacidosis. The molecular mechanism(s) responsible for antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain are unknown, but have been hypothesized to be because of interactions of antipsychotic drugs with several neurotransmitter receptors, including 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C serotonin receptors, H1-histamine receptors, α1- and α2-adrenergic receptors, and m3-muscarinic receptors. To determine the receptor(s) likely to be responsible for antipsychotic-drug-induced weight gain, we screened 17 typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs for binding to 12 neurotransmitter receptors. H1-histamine receptor affinities for this group of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs were significantly correlated with weight gain (Spearman ρ=−0.72; p<0.01), as were affinities for α1A adrenergic (ρ=−0.54; p<0.05), 5-HT2C (ρ=−0.49; p<0.05) and 5-HT6 receptors (ρ=−0.54; p<0.05), whereas eight other receptors' affinities were not. A principal components analysis showed that affinities at the H1, α2A, α2B, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C, and 5-HT6 receptors were most highly correlated with the first principal component, and affinities for the D2, 5-HT1A, and 5-HT7 receptors were most highly correlated with the second principal component. A discriminant functions analysis showed that affinities for the H1 and α1A receptors were most highly correlated with the discriminant function axis. The discriminant function analysis, as well as the affinity for the H1-histamine receptor alone, correctly classified 15 of the 17 drugs into two groups; those that induce weight gain and those that do not. Because centrally acting H1-histamine receptor antagonists are known to induce weight gain with chronic use, and because H1-histamine receptor affinities are positively correlated with weight gain among typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs, it is recommended that the next generation of atypical antipsychotic drugs be screened to avoid H1-histamine receptors. |
Efficient approaches for designing reversible Binary Coded Decimal adders | Reversible logic has become one of the most promising research areas in the past few decades and has found its applications in several technologies; such as low-power CMOS, nanocomputing and optical computing. This paper presents improved and efficient reversible logic implementations for Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) adder as well as Carry Skip BCD adder. It has been shown that the modified designs outperform the existing ones in terms of number of gates, number of garbage outputs, delay, and quantum cost. In order to show the efficiency of the proposed designs, lower bounds of the reversible BCD adders in terms of gates and garbage outputs are proposed as well. & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
An Eye Tracking Study on camelCase and under_score Identifier Styles | An empirical study to determine if identifier-naming conventions (i.e., camelCase and under_score) affect code comprehension is presented. An eye tracker is used to capture quantitative data from human subjects during an experiment. The intent of this study is to replicate a previous study published at ICPC 2009 (Binkley et al.) that used a timed response test method to acquire data. The use of eye-tracking equipment gives additional insight and overcomes some limitations of traditional data gathering techniques. Similarities and differences between the two studies are discussed. One main difference is that subjects were trained mainly in the underscore style and were all programmers. While results indicate no difference in accuracy between the two styles, subjects recognize identifiers in the underscore style more quickly. |
Ontology learning with complex data type for Web service clustering | Clustering Web services into functionally similar clusters is a very efficient approach to service discovery. A principal issue for clustering is computing the semantic similarity between services. Current approaches use similarity-distance measurement methods such as keyword, information-retrieval or ontology based methods. These approaches have problems that include discovering semantic characteristics, loss of semantic information and a shortage of high-quality ontologies. Further, current clustering approaches are considered only have simple data types in services' input and output. However, services that published on the web have input/ output parameter of complex data type. In this research, we propose clustering approach that considers the simple type as well as complex data type in measuring the service similarity. We use hybrid term similarity method which we proposed in our previous work to measure the similarity. We capture the semantic pattern exist in complex data types and simple data types to improve the ontology learning method. Experimental results show our clustering approach which uses complex data types in measuring similarity works efficiently. |
A compact branch-line coupler using folded microstrip lines | This paper presents a compact 3 dB Quadrature branch-line coupler using folded microstrip line geometry. Commercially available IE3D software has been used to design and simulate the structure. The proposed structure is simple and takes lesser optimization time. It has been shown that the structure provides about 43.63% compactness compared to the conventional branch line coupler. The structure, therefore, can be incorporated in the microwave circuit design where medium level compactness and faster design are preferred. |
Fructose Containing Sugars at Normal Levels of Consumption Do Not Effect Adversely Components of the Metabolic Syndrome and Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease | The objective of the current study was to explore our hypothesis that average consumption of fructose and fructose containing sugars would not increase risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the metabolic syndrome (MetS). A randomized, double blind, parallel group study was conducted where 267 individuals with BMI between 23 and 35 kg/m² consumed low fat sugar sweetened milk, daily for ten weeks as part of usual weight-maintenance diet. One group consumed 18% of calories from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), another group consumed 18% of calories from sucrose, a third group consumed 9% of calories from fructose, and the fourth group consumed 9% of calories from glucose. There was a small change in waist circumference (80.9 ± 9.5 vs. 81.5 ± 9.5 cm) in the entire cohort, as well as in total cholesterol (4.6 ± 1.0 vs. 4.7 ± 1.0 mmol/L, p < 0.01), triglycerides (TGs) (11.5 ± 6.4 vs. 12.6 ± 8.9 mmol/L, p < 0.01), and systolic (109.2 ± 10.2 vs. 106.1 ± 10.4 mmHg, p < 0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (69.8 ± 8.7 vs. 68.1 ± 9.7 mmHg, p < 0.01). The effects of commonly consumed sugars on components of the MetS and CVD risk factors are minimal, mixed and not clinically significant. |
Comprehending childhood bereavement by parental suicide: a critical review of research on outcomes, grief processes, and interventions. | The experience of bereavement by parental suicide is not well understood, as evidenced by the lack of empirically supported interventions for this underserved population. This article reviews quantitative and qualitative research on the psychopathological outcomes and thematic characteristics of childhood and adolescent suicide survivorship and moderating variables such as life stressors, stigma, the manner of communication about the suicide, and the surviving parent's functioning. The authors outline several approaches to intervention and address conceptual and methodological challenges within the field. With the ultimate goal of efficacious intervention, recommendations for future priorities and the use of unconventional research methods are offered. |
A Hybrid Cloud Approach for Secure Authorized Deduplication | Data deduplication is one of important data compression techniques for eliminating duplicate copies of repeating data, and has been widely used in cloud storage to reduce the amount of storage space and save bandwidth. To protect the confidentiality of sensitive data while supporting deduplication, the convergent encryption technique has been proposed to encrypt the data before outsourcing. To better protect data security, this paper makes the first attempt to formally address the problem of authorized data deduplication. Different from traditional deduplication systems, the differential privileges of users are further considered in duplicate check besides the data itself. We also present several new deduplication constructions supporting authorized duplicate check in a hybrid cloud architecture. Security analysis demonstrates that our scheme is secure in terms of the definitions specified in the proposed security model. As a proof of concept, we implement a prototype of our proposed authorized duplicate check scheme and conduct testbed experiments using our prototype. We show that our proposed authorized duplicate check scheme incurs minimal overhead compared to normal operations. |
Progressive Gaussian filtering using explicit likelihoods | In this paper, we introduce a new sample-based Gaussian filter. In contrast to the popular Nonlinear Kalman Filters, e.g., the UKF, we do not rely on linearizing the measurement model. Instead, we take up the Gaussian progressive filtering approach introduced by the PGF 42 but explicitly rely on likelihood functions. Progression means, we incorporate the information of a new measurement gradually into the state estimate. The advantages of this filtering method are on the one hand the avoidance of sample degeneration and on the other hand an adaptive determination of the number of likelihood evaluations required for each measurement update. By this means, less informative measurements can be processed quickly, whereas measurements containing much information automatically receive more emphasis by the filter. These properties allow the new filter to cope with the demanding problem of very narrow likelihood functions in an efficient way. |
Evaluation of 3D Feature Descriptors for Multi-modal Data Registration | We propose a framework for 2D/3D multi-modal data registration and evaluate 3D feature descriptors for registration of 3D datasets from different sources. 3D datasets of outdoor environments can be acquired using a variety of active and passive sensor technologies. Registration of these datasets into a common coordinate frame is required for subsequent modelling and visualisation. 2D images are converted into 3D structure by stereo or multiview reconstruction techniques and registered to a unified 3D domain with other datasets in a 3D world. Multi-modal datasets have different density, noise, and types of errors in geometry. This paper provides a performance benchmark for existing 3D feature descriptors across multi-modal datasets. This analysis highlights the limitations of existing 3D feature detectors and descriptors which need to be addressed for robust multi-modal data registration. We analyse and discuss the performance of existing methods in registering various types of datasets then identify future directions required to achieve robust multi-modal data registration. |
A randomized study of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in treatment-experienced HIV-1 infected adolescents. | BACKGROUND
There are few data on the safety and antiviral activity of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in HIV-1 infected adolescents.
METHODS
A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was conducted. Ninety adolescents (12 to <18 years) who were viremic while receiving antiretroviral treatment were randomized to receive TDF 300 mg (mean, 216.8 mg/m(2)) or placebo in combination with an optimized background regimen (OBR) for 48 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was time-weighted average change in plasma HIV-1 RNA from baseline at week 24
RESULTS
Eighty-seven subjects (45 TDF, 42 placebo) received the study drug. Through week 24, the median time-weighted average change in plasma HIV-1 RNA was not different between the TDF and placebo groups (-1.6 versus -1.6 log(10)copies/mL, P = 0.55). The percentages of subjects who achieved HIV-1 RNA <400 copies/mL were similar at week 24 (40.9 versus 41.5%). One fourth of subjects in the TDF and placebo groups (24.4 versus 28.6%) had at least 3 active agents in the OBR. Many subjects in both groups had baseline genotypic resistance to TDF (48.9 versus 33.3%). TDF was generally safe and well tolerated. There were no statistically significant differences in changes of renal function and bone mineral density between the 2 groups.
CONCLUSION
This study of TDF in combination with an OBR in antiretroviral-experienced adolescents did not meet its primary or secondary efficacy endpoints. The effectiveness of the OBR and baseline genotypic resistance to TDF in both groups may have confounded the efficacy findings. No clinically relevant TDF-related renal or bone toxicities were observed in this adolescent population. |
Effect of transgenic GDNF expression on gentamicin-induced cochlear and vestibular toxicity | Gentamicin administration often results in cochlear and/or vestibular hair cell loss and hearing and balance impairment. It has been demonstrated that adenovirus-mediated overexpression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) can protect cochlear hair cells against ototoxic injury. In this study, we evaluated the protective effects of adenovirus-mediated overexpression of GDNF against gentamicin ototoxicity. An adenovirus vector expressing the human GDNF gene (Ad.GDNF) was administered into the scala vestibuli as a rescue agent at the same time as gentamicin, or as a protective agent, 7 days before gentamicin administration. Animals in the Rescue group displayed hearing thresholds that were significantly better than those measured in the Gentamicin or Ad.LacZ/Gentamicin groups. In the Protection group, Ad.GDNF afforded significant preservation of utricular hair cells. The data demonstrated protection of the inner ear structure, and rescue of the inner ear structure and function against ototoxic insults. These experiments suggest that inner ear gene therapy may be developed as a clinical tool for protecting the ear against environmentally induced insults. |
Online Learning for Neural Machine Translation Post-editing | Neural machine translation has meant a revolution of the field. Nevertheless, postediting the outputs of the system is mandatory for tasks requiring high translation quality. Post-editing offers a unique opportunity for improving neural machine translation systems, using online learning techniques and treating the post-edited translations as new, fresh training data. We review classical learning methods and propose a new optimization algorithm. We thoroughly compare online learning algorithms in a post-editing scenario. Results show significant improvements in translation quality and effort reduction. |
Surgical treatment of isolated and syndromic craniosynostosis. Results and complications in 283 consecutive cases. | OBJECTIVE
To review the results and complications of the surgical treatment of craniosynostosis in 283 consecutive patients treated between 1999 and 2007.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Our series consisted of 330 procedures performed in 283 patients diagnosed with scaphocephaly (n=155), trigonocephaly (n=50), anterior plagiocephaly (n=28), occipital plagiocephaly (n=1), non-syndromic multi-suture synostosis (n=20), and with diverse craniofacial syndromes (n=32; 11 Crouzon, 11 Apert, 7 Pfeiffer, 2 Saethre-Chotzen, and 2 clover-leaf skull). We used the classification of Whitaker et al. to evaluate the surgical results. Complications of each technique and time of patients' hospitalization were also recorded. The surgeries were classified in 12 different types according to the techniques used. Type I comprised endoscopic assisted osteotomies for sagittal synostosis (42 cases). Type II included sagittal suturectomy and expanding osteotomies (46 cases). Type III encompassed procedures similar to type II but that included frontal dismantling or frontal osteotomies in scaphocephaly (59 cases). Type IV referred to complete cranial vault remodelling (holocranial dismantling) in scaphocephaly (13 cases). Type V belonged to fronto-orbital remodelling without fronto-orbital bandeau in trigonocephaly (50 cases). Type VI included fronto-orbital remodelling without fronto-orbital bandeau in plagiocephaly (14 cases). In Type VII cases of plagiocephaly with frontoorbital remodelling and fronto-orbital bandeau were comprised (14 cases). Type VIII consisted of occipital advancement in posterior plagiocephaly (1 case). Type IX included standard bilateral fronto-orbital advancement with expanding osteotomies (30 cases). Type X was used in multi-suture craniosynostosis (15 cases) and consisted of holocranial dismantling (complete cranial vault remodelling). Type XI included occipital and suboccipital craniectomies in multiple suture craniosynostosis (10 cases) and Type XII instances of fronto-orbital distraction (26 cases).
RESULTS
The mortality rate of the series was 2 out of 283 cases (0.7%). These 2 patients died one year after surgery. All complications were resolved without permanent deficit. Mean age at surgery was 6.75 months. According to Whitaker et al's classification, 191 patients were classified into Category I (67.49%), 51 into Category II (18.02%), 30 into Category III (10.6%) and 14 into Category IV (4.90%). Regarding to craniofacial conformation, 85.5 % of patients were considered as a good result and 15.5% of patients as a poor result. Of the patients with poor results, 6.36% were craniofacial syndromes, 2.12% had anterior plagiocephaly and 1.76% belonged to non-syndromic craniosynostosis. The most frequent complication was postoperative hyperthermia of undetermined origin (13.43% of the cases), followed by infection (7.5%), subcutaneous haematoma (5.3%), dural tears (5%), and CSF leakage (2.5%). The number of complications was higher in the group of re-operated patients (12.8% of all). In this subset of reoperations, infection accounted for 62.5%, dural tears for 93% and CSF leaks for 75% of the total. In regard to the surgical procedures, endoscopic assisted osteotomies presented the lowest rate of complications, followed by standard fronto-orbital advancement in multiple synostosis, trigonocephaly and plagiocephaly. The highest number of complications occurred in complete cranial vault remodelling (holocranial dismantling) in scaphocephaly and multiple synostoses and after the use of internal osteogenic distractors. Of note, are two cases of iatrogenic basal encephalocele that occurred after combined fronto-facial distraction.
CONCLUSIONS
The best results were obtained in patients with isolated craniosynostosis and the worst in cases with syndromic and multi-suture craniosynostosis. The rate and severity of complications were related to the type of surgical procedure and was higher among patients undergoing re-operations. The mean time of hospitalization was also modified by these factors. Finally, we report our considerations for the management of craniosynostosis taking into account each specific technique and the age at surgery, complication rates and the results of the whole series. |
New grouping and fitting methods for interactive overtraced sketches | This paper describes a new method for recognizing overtraced strokes to 2D geometric primitives, which are further interpreted as 2D line drawings. This method can support rapid grouping and fitting of overtraced polylines or conic curves based on the classified characteristics of each stroke during its preprocessing stage. The orientation and its endpoints of a classified stroke are used in the stroke grouping process. The grouped strokes are then fitted with 2D geometry. This method can deal with overtraced sketch strokes in both solid and dash linestyles, fit grouped polylines as a whole polyline and simply fit conic strokes without computing the direction of a stroke. It avoids losing joint information due to segmentation of a polyline into line-segments. The proposed method has been tested with our freehand sketch recognition system (FSR), which is robust and easier to use by removing some limitations embedded with most existing sketching systems which only accept non-overtraced stroke drawing. The test results showed that the proposed method can support freehand sketching based conceptual design with no limitations on drawing sequence, directions and overtraced cases while achieving a satisfactory interpretation rate. |
Bias Field Inconsistency Correction of Motion-Scattered Multislice MRI for Improved 3D Image Reconstruction | A common solution to clinical MR imaging in the presence of large anatomical motion is to use fast multislice 2D studies to reduce slice acquisition time and provide clinically usable slice data. Recently, techniques have been developed which retrospectively correct large scale 3D motion between individual slices allowing the formation of a geometrically correct 3D volume from the multiple slice stacks. One challenge, however, in the final reconstruction process is the possibility of varying intensity bias in the slice data, typically due to the motion of the anatomy relative to imaging coils. As a result, slices which cover the same region of anatomy at different times may exhibit different sensitivity. This bias field inconsistency can induce artifacts in the final 3D reconstruction that can impact both clinical interpretation of key tissue boundaries and the automated analysis of the data. Here we describe a framework to estimate and correct the bias field inconsistency in each slice collectively across all motion corrupted image slices. Experiments using synthetic and clinical data show that the proposed method reduces intensity variability in tissues and improves the distinction between key tissue types. |
Cryptanalysis of Microsoft's Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) | The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is used to secure PPP connections over TCP/IP links. In this paper we analyze Microsoft's Windows NT implementation of PPTP. We show how to break both the challenge/response authentication protocol (Microsoft CHAP) and the RC4 encryption protocol (MPPE), as well as how to attack the control channel in Microsoft's implementation. These attacks do not necessarily break PPTP, but only Microsoft's implementation of the protocol. |
Modelling the cost-effectiveness and capacity impact of changes to colposcopy referral guidelines for women with mild dyskaryosis in the UK Cervical Screening Programme. | OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the capacity implications and health economic impact of new guidelines recommending referral to colposcopy after one mild result during cervical screening rather than after two consecutive mild results.
DESIGN
A mathematical model of the country's colposcopy services and the clinical pathways from smear result through to treatment is constructed. The model incorporates national questionnaire data on referral numbers and management practices, routine data and published research results.
SETTING
All English NHS colposcopy services.
POPULATION
Women aged 25 to 64 years.
METHODS
The national average workload impact of the change in referral guidelines is predicted, and the impact in differing local circumstances is evaluated within the model. A long-term health economic model examines the resulting costs and predicted change in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Colposcopy workload implications for single mild dyskaryosis referral and cost per QALY analysis.
RESULTS
We found that single mild dyskaryosis referral implies, on average, a 21% increase in colposcopy workload for services not currently operating this policy. The health economic model predicted a cost per QALY gained as a result of the implementation of the new referral guidelines of around pound7,500.
CONCLUSIONS
Referral after one mild result will increase workload at colposcopy; however, it may be possible to counterbalance the additional workload by altering other clinical practice. The change to referral guidelines would be considered cost-effective in comparison with many interventions routinely available on the NHS. |
Power System Transient Stability Assessment Based on Big Data and the Core Vector Machine | In this paper, an online power system transient stability assessment (TSA) problem is mapped as a two-class classification problem and a novel data mining algorithm the core vector machine (CVM) is proposed to solve the problem based on phasor measurement units (PMUs) big data. First of all, an offline training, online application framework is proposed, which contained four sub-steps, namely features selection, offline training, online application, and assessment evaluation. First, 24 features are selected to present the system status. Then in the offline training procedure, the PMU big data is generated by time domain simulation, and a CVM model is trained and tested. In the online application procedure, an interface between PMU data center and feature calculation program is set up to collect real time specific PMU big data and the CVM trained is applied to the TSA problem. Last but not least, the evaluation indices are calculated. Compared with other support vector machines, the proposed CVM based assessment algorithm has the higher precision, meanwhile, it has the least time consumption and space complexity. As long as online PMU big data are received, TSA can be done simultaneously. Case studies on the IEEE New England 39-bus system, and real systems in China and the U.S., exhibit the speed and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. |
Human Pose Estimation Using Body Parts Dependent Joint Regressors | In this work, we address the problem of estimating 2d human pose from still images. Recent methods that rely on discriminatively trained deformable parts organized in a tree model have shown to be very successful in solving this task. Within such a pictorial structure framework, we address the problem of obtaining good part templates by proposing novel, non-linear joint regressors. In particular, we employ two-layered random forests as joint regressors. The first layer acts as a discriminative, independent body part classifier. The second layer takes the estimated class distributions of the first one into account and is thereby able to predict joint locations by modeling the interdependence and co-occurrence of the parts. This results in a pose estimation framework that takes dependencies between body parts already for joint localization into account and is thus able to circumvent typical ambiguities of tree structures, such as for legs and arms. In the experiments, we demonstrate that our body parts dependent joint regressors achieve a higher joint localization accuracy than tree-based state-of-the-art methods. |
Curvature-based regularization for surface approximation | We propose an energy-based framework for approximating surfaces from a cloud of point measurements corrupted by noise and outliers. Our energy assigns a tangent plane to each (noisy) data point by minimizing the squared distances to the points and the irregularity of the surface implicitly defined by the tangent planes. In order to avoid the well-known ”shrinking” bias associated with first-order surface regularization, we choose a robust smoothing term that approximates curvature of the underlying surface. In contrast to a number of recent publications estimating curvature using discrete (e.g. binary) labellings with triple-cliques we use higher-dimensional labels that allows modeling curvature with only pair-wise interactions. Hence, many standard optimization algorithms (e.g. message passing, graph cut, etc) can minimize the proposed curvature-based regularization functional. The accuracy of our approach for representing curvature is demonstrated by theoretical and empirical results on synthetic and real data sets from multiview reconstruction and stereo. |
From Vision to NLP : A Merge | The study of artificial intelligence can be simplified into one goal: trying to mimic/enhance human senses. This paper attempts to combine computer vision and natural language processing to create a question answer system. This system takes a question and an image as input and outputs a response to the answer based on how the RCNN understands the question asked. The system correlates the question with the image by leveraging attention and memory mechanisms. Mentor: Arun Chaganty |
Classification methods for activity recognition | Activity recognition is an important subject in different areas of research, like e-health and ubiquitous computing. In this paper we give an overview of recent work in the field of activity recognition from both body mounted sensors and ambient sensors. We discuss some of the differences among approaches and present guidelines for choosing a suitable approach under various circumstances. |
Chinese Social Media Reaction to Information about 42 Notifiable Infectious Diseases | This study aimed to identify what information triggered social media users' responses regarding infectious diseases. Chinese microblogs in 2012 regarding 42 infectious diseases were obtained through a keyword search in the Weiboscope database. Qualitative content analysis was performed for the posts pertinent to each keyword of the day of the year with the highest daily count. Similar posts were grouped and coded. We identified five categories of information that increased microblog traffic pertaining to infectious diseases: news of an outbreak or a case; health education/information; alternative health information/Traditional Chinese Medicine; commercial advertisement/entertainment; and social issues. News unrelated to the specified infectious diseases also led to elevated microblog traffic. Our study showcases the diverse contexts from which increased social media traffic occur. Our results will facilitate better health communication as causes underlying increased social media traffic are revealed. |
Example-Based facial animation for blend shape interpolation | This paper presents a system for example-based character animation using shape interpolation (blend shapes) generated from tracked offline facial feature. First, the subject was recorded expressing various facial expressions (happy, sad, fear, anger, surprise). The recordings were then processed and marked on specific places (feature points) on the face where certain expressions would have the most significant change (the eyes and mouth area). The facial movements, or control parameters, of the human subject are used as movement parameter for the freeform deformation blend shape interpolation. |
FoldingNet: Point Cloud Auto-Encoder via Deep Grid Deformation | Recent deep networks that directly handle points in a point set, e.g., PointNet, have been state-of-the-art for supervised learning tasks on point clouds such as classification and segmentation. In this work, a novel end-to-end deep auto-encoder is proposed to address unsupervised learning challenges on point clouds. On the encoder side, a graph-based enhancement is enforced to promote local structures on top of PointNet. Then, a novel folding-based decoder deforms a canonical 2D grid onto the underlying 3D object surface of a point cloud, achieving low reconstruction errors even for objects with delicate structures. The proposed decoder only uses about 7% parameters of a decoder with fully-connected neural networks, yet leads to a more discriminative representation that achieves higher linear SVM classification accuracy than the benchmark. In addition, the proposed decoder structure is shown, in theory, to be a generic architecture that is able to reconstruct an arbitrary point cloud from a 2D grid. Our code is available at http://www.merl.com/research/license#FoldingNet |
CHALET: Cornell House Agent Learning Environment | We present CHALET, a 3D house simulator with support for navigation and manipulation. CHALET includes 58 rooms and 10 house configuration, and allows to easily create new house and room layouts. CHALET supports a range of common household activities, including moving objects, toggling appliances, and placing objects inside closeable containers. The environment and actions available are designed to create a challenging domain to train and evaluate autonomous agents, including for tasks that combine language, vision, and planning in a dynamic environment. |
A Miniaturized Semantic Segmentation Method for Remote Sensing Image | In order to save the memory, we propose a miniaturization method for neural network to reduce the parameter quantity existed in remote sensing (RS) image semantic segmentation model. The compact convolution optimization method is first used for standard U-Net to reduce the weights quantity. With the purpose of decreasing model performance loss caused by miniaturization and based on the characteristics of remote sensing image, fewer down-samplings and improved cascade atrous convolution are then used to improve the performance of the miniaturized U-Net. Compared with U-Net, our proposed Micro-Net not only achieves 29.26 times model compression, but also basically maintains the performance unchanged on the public dataset. We provide a Keras and Tensorflow hybrid programming implementation for our model: https://github.com/Isnot2bad/Micro-Net |
Internet Privacy Concerns Confirm the Case for Intervention | yberspace is invading private space. Controversies about spam, cookies, and the clickstream are merely the tip of an iceberg. Behind them loom real-time person location technologies includ-It's small wonder that lack of public confidence is a serious impediment to the take-up rate of consumer e-commerce. The concerns are not merely about security of value, but about something much more significant: trust in the information society. Conventional thinking has been the Internet renders laws less relevant. On the contrary, this article argues that the current debates about privacy and the Internet are the harbingers of a substantial shift. Because the U.S. has held off general privacy protections for so long, it will undergo much more significant adjustments than European countries. Privacy is often thought of as a moral right or a legal right. But it's often more useful to perceive privacy as the interest that individuals have in sustaining a personal space, free from interference by other people and organizations. Personal space has multiple dimensions, in particular , privacy of the person (concerned with the integrity of the individual's body), privacy of personal behavior, privacy of personal communications , and privacy of personal data. Information privacy refers to the claims of individuals that data about themselves should generally not be available to other individuals and organizations, and that, where data is possessed by another party, the individual must be able to exercise a substantial degree of control over that data and its use. (Definitional issues are examined in [6].) Information privacy has been under increasing threat as a result of the rapid replacement of expensive physical surveillance by what I referred to in Communications over a decade ago as " dataveillance: " the systematic use of personal data systems in the investigation or monitoring of people's actions or communications [2]. Intensive data trails about each individual provide a basis for the exercise of power over I In nt te er rv ve en nt ti io on n Public confidence in matters of online privacy seemingly lessens as the Internet grows. Indeed, there is mounting evidence the necessary remedy may be a protective framework that includes (gulp) legislative provisions. |
Multiple models of Bayesian networks applied to offline recognition of Arabic handwritten city names | In this paper we address the problem of offline Arabic handwriting word recognition. Offline recognition of handwritten words is a difficult task due to the high variability and uncertainty of human writing. The majority of the recent systems are constrained by the size of the lexicon to deal with and the number of writers. In this paper, we propose an approach for multi-writers Arabic handwritten words recognition using multiple Bayesian networks. First, we cut the image in several blocks. For each block, we compute a vector of descriptors. Then, we use K-means to cluster the low-level features including Zernik and Hu moments. Finally, we apply four variants of Bayesian networks classifiers (Naïve Bayes, Tree Augmented Naïve Bayes (TAN), Forest Augmented Naïve Bayes (FAN) and DBN (dynamic bayesian network) to classify the whole image of tunisian city name. The results demonstrate FAN and DBN outperform good recognition rates. |
Content-boosted Matrix Factorization Techniques for Recommender Systems | Many businesses are using recommender systems for marketing outreach. Recommendation algorithms can be either based on content or driven by collaborative filtering. We study different ways to incorporate content information directly into the matrix factorization approach of collaborative filtering. These content-boosted matrix factorization algorithms not only improve recommendation accuracy, but also provide useful insights about the contents, as well as make recommendations more easily interpretable. |
Three-Port Series-Resonant DC–DC Converter to Interface Renewable Energy Sources With Bidirectional Load and Energy Storage Ports | In this paper, a three-port converter with three active full bridges, two series-resonant tanks, and a three-winding transformer is proposed. It uses a single power conversion stage with high-frequency link to control power flow between batteries, load, and a renewable source such as fuel cell. The converter has capabilities of bidirectional power flow in the battery and the load port. Use of series-resonance aids in high switching frequency operation with realizable component values when compared to existing three-port converter with only inductors. The converter has high efficiency due to soft-switching operation in all three bridges. Steady-state analysis of the converter is presented to determine the power flow equations, tank currents, and soft-switching region. Dynamic analysis is performed to design a closed-loop controller that will regulate the load-side port voltage and source-side port current. Design procedure for the three-port converter is explained and experimental results of a laboratory prototype are presented. |
Linked Data: Evolving the Web into a Global Data Space | The World Wide Web has enabled the creation of a global information space comprising linked documents. As the Web becomes ever more enmeshed with our daily lives, there is a growing desire for direct access to raw data not currently available on the Web or bound up in hypertext documents. Linked Data provides a publishing paradigm in which not only documents, but also data, can be a first class citizen of the Web, thereby enabling the extension of the Web with a global data space based on open standards the Web of Data. In this Synthesis lecture we provide readers with a detailed technical introduction to Linked Data. We begin by outlining the basic principles of Linked Data, including coverage of relevant aspects of Web architecture. The remainder of the text is based around two main themes the publication and consumption of Linked Data. Drawing on a practical Linked Data scenario, we provide guidance and best practices on: architectural approaches to publishing Linked Data; choosing URIs and vocabularies to identify and describe resources; deciding what data to return in a About the Book The book is published by Morgan & Claypool in the series Synthesis Lectures on the Semantic Web: Theory and Technology edited by James Hendler and Frank van Harmelen. Please cite the book as: Tom Heath and Christian Bizer (2011) Linked Data: Evolving the Web into a Global Data Space (1st edition). Synthesis Lectures on the Semantic Web: Theory and Technology, 1:1, 1-136. Morgan & Claypool. DOI: 10.2200/S00334ED1V01Y201102WBE001 ISBN: 9781608454303 (paperback) ISBN: 9781608454310 (ebook) Copyright © 2011 by Morgan & Claypool. All rights reserved. Access Options l HTML Version ¡ You are currently reading the free HTML version of the book, the most recent of which is always available at http://linkeddatabook.com/book. l PDF Version ¡ If you are a member of an organization that has licensed the Morgan & Claypool Synthesis Lectures collection, you can download the book from Morgan & Claypool. ¡ If you are not a member of an organization that has licensed the Morgan & Claypool Synthesis Lectures collection, you can buy unlimited electronic access from Morgan & Claypool for 30 US$. l Hard Copy ¡ Available from Morgan & Claypool for 35 US$. ¡ Available from Amazon US for ~28 USD. ¡ Available from Amazon UK for ~22 GBP. 페이지 1 / 87 Linked Data: Evolving the Web into a Global Data Space 2011-04-06 http://linkeddatabook.com/editions/1.0/ description of a resource on the Web; methods and frameworks for automated linking of data sets; and testing and debugging approaches for Linked Data deployments. We give an overview of existing Linked Data applications and then examine the architectures that are used to consume Linked Data from the Web, alongside existing tools and frameworks that enable these. Readers can expect to gain a rich technical understanding of Linked Data fundamentals, as the basis for application development, research or further study. |
Safety and efficacy of once-daily carvedilol vs twice-daily labetalol in mild to moderate hypertension | A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial of 8 weeks' duration was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of once-daily carvedilol with that of twice-daily labetalol in patients with essential hypertension. A total of 61 patients (13 women and 48 men) aged 26–64 years (mean ± SEM = 49.6 ± 1.3 years) were enrolled. All patients had mild to moderate hypertension, defined as diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 95–114 mmHg at the end of a 1- to 2-week single-blind placebo period. In all, 30 patients received carvedilol (25 mg once daily) and 31 received labetalol (200 mg twice daily). The initial dose could be doubled for both treatment groups at day 29 if the DBP was > 90 mm Hg on days 28 and 29. Hemodynamic parameters, including supine and standing DBP, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and heart rate (HR), were measured and safety was evaluated at baseline and at days 14, 28, and 56 at the end of the dosing interval. In all, 3 patients on carvedilol and 4 patients on labetalol required upward dose titration after 1 month. At the end of the trial, 26 of 30 carvedilol-treated patients and 27 of 31 labetalol-treated patiens (87% of each group) had a supine DBP of ⩽ 90 mm Hg. On day 56, mean decreases in supine DBP, SBP, and HR in the carvedilol group were 18.5 and 23.4 mmHg and 11 beats/min, respectively, from baseline values of 101.6 and 163.8 mmHg and 80 beats/min, respectively. Corresponding values for the labetalol group were 17.7 and 25.9 mmHg and 12 beats/min from baseline values of 101.2 and 165.8 mmHg and 79 beats/min. Decreases in all hemodynamic parameters were also measured after days 14 and 29 in both treatment groups. There were no significant differences between treatment groups at any time point. The safety profiles of both drugs were good. No severe adverse events were reported and no patient withdrew due to adverse events. In conclusion, the safety and efficacy of once-daily carvedilol (25 or 50 mg) were comparable with those of twice-daily labetalol (200 or 400 mg) in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. |
Attrition and Achievement Gaps in Online Learning | Attrition in online learning is generally higher than in traditional settings, especially in large-scale online learning environments. A systematic analysis of individual differences in attrition and performance in 20 massive open online courses (N > 67,000) revealed a geographic achievement gap and a gender achievement gap. Online learners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America scored substantially lower grades and were only half as likely to persist than those in Europe, Oceania, and Northern America. Women also exhibited lower persistence and performance than men. Yet more persistent learners were only marginally more satisfied with their achievement. The primary obstacle for most learners was finding time for the course, which was partly related to low levels of volitional control. Self-ascribed successful learners reported higher levels of goal striving, growth mindset, and feelings of social belonging than unsuccessful ones. Insights into why learners leave online courses inform models of attrition and targeted interventions to support learners achieve their goals. |
Augmented Reality Browser Survey | While mobile Augmented Reality (AR) browsers have become one of the major commercial AR application, real-world usage behaviour with this technology is still a widely unexplored area. We report on our findings from an online survey that we conducted on the topic and an analysis of mobile distribution platforms for popular Augmented Reality browsers. We found that while the usage of Augmented Reality browsers is often driven by their novelty factor, a substantial amount of long term users exists. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data showed that poor and sparse content, the user interface design or the system performances are major elements influencing the permanent usage of this technology by early adopters. |
On Realistically Attacking Tor with Website Fingerprinting | Website fingerprinting allows a local, passive observer monitoring a web-browsing client’s encrypted channel to determine her web activity. Previous attacks have shown that website fingerprinting could be a threat to anonymity networks such as Tor under laboratory conditions. However, there are significant differences between laboratory conditions and realistic conditions. First, the training data set is very similar to the testing data set under laboratory conditions, but the attacker may not be able to guarantee similarity realistically. Second, laboratory packet sequences correspond to a single page each, but for realistic packet sequences the split between pages is not obvious. Third, packet sequences may include noise, which may adversely affect website fingerprinting, but this effect has not been studied. In this paper, we tackle these three problems to bridge the gap between laboratory and realistic conditions for website fingerprinting. We show that we can maintain a fresh training set with minimal resources. We demonstrate several classification-based techniques that allow us to split full packet sequences effectively into sequences corresponding to a single page each. Although we were not able to remove noise effectively, we will show that it is difficult for users to generate sufficient background noise to disrupt website fingerprinting on Tor. With our techniques, we are able to build the first website fingerprinting system that can operate on packet sequences collected in the wild. |
A Neural Network Approach for Knowledge-Driven Response Generation | We present a novel response generation system. The system assumes the hypothesis that participants in a conversation base their response not only on previous dialog utterances but also on their background knowledge. Our model is based on a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) that is trained over concatenated sequences of comments, a Convolution Neural Network that is trained over Wikipedia sentences and a formulation that couples the two trained embeddings in a multimodal space. We create a dataset of aligned Wikipedia sentences and sequences of Reddit utterances, which we we use to train our model. Given a sequence of past utterances and a set of sentences that represent the background knowledge, our end-to-end learnable model is able to generate context-sensitive and knowledge-driven responses by leveraging the alignment of two different data sources. Our approach achieves up to 55% improvement in perplexity compared to purely sequential models based on RNNs that are trained only on sequences of utterances. |
Successful treatment of perineal necrotising fasciitis and associated pubic bone osteomyelitis with the vacuum assisted closure system | BACKGROUND
Acute necrotising fasciitis is a life-threatening condition, which requires urgent surgical intervention. Surgical debridement is invariably associated with large areas of tissue loss.
CASE PRESENTATION
We present a 58-year old woman with a past history of cervical carcinoma who presented with necrotising fasciitis of the perineum and upper thighs with associated pubic bone osteomyelitis. Following extensive debridement, a Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) system was applied to the large residual defect to facilitate skin graft application and optimise wound healing.
CONCLUSION
This case demonstrates the successful management of a complex and potentially lethal wound of the perineum with debridement, skin grafting and the VAC system. |
A Review of Methodological Approaches for the Design and Optimization of Wind Farms | This article presents a review of the state of the art of the Wind Farm Design and Optimization (WFDO) problem. The WFDO problem refers to a set of advanced planning actions needed to extremize the performance of wind farms, which may be composed of a few individual Wind Turbines (WTs) up to thousands of WTs. The WFDO problem has been investigated in different scenarios, with substantial differences in main objectives, modelling assumptions, constraints, and numerical solution methods. The aim of this paper is: (1) to present an exhaustive survey of the literature covering the full span of the subject, an analysis of the state-of-the-art models describing the performance of wind farms as well as its extensions, and the numerical approaches used to solve the problem; (2) to provide an overview of the available knowledge and recent progress in the application of such strategies to real onshore and offshore wind farms; and (3) to propose a comprehensive agenda for future research. OPEN ACCESS Energies 2014, 7 6931 |
Anorectal infection: abscess-fistula. | Anorectal abscess and fistula are among the most common diseases encountered in adults. Abscess and fistula should be considered the acute and chronic phase of the same anorectal infection. Abscesses are thought to begin as an infection in the anal glands spreading into adjacent spaces and resulting in fistulas in ~40% of cases. The treatment of an anorectal abscess is early, adequate, dependent drainage. The treatment of a fistula, although surgical in all cases, is more complex due to the possibility of fecal incontinence as a result of sphincterotomy. Primary fistulotomy and cutting setons have the same incidence of fecal incontinence depending on the complexity of the fistula. So even though the aim of a surgical procedure is to cure a fistula, conservative management short of major sphincterotomy is warranted to preserve fecal incontinence. However, trading radical surgery for conservative (nonsphincter cutting) procedures such as a draining seton, fibrin sealant, anal fistula plug, endorectal advancement flap, dermal island flap, anoplasty, and LIFT (ligation of intersphincteric fistula tract) procedure all result in more recurrence/persistence requiring repeated operations in many cases. A surgeon dealing with fistulas on a regular basis must tailor various operations to the needs of the patient depending on the complexity of the fistula encountered. |
A compact, high voltage 25 kW, 50 kHz DC-DC converter based on SiC JFETs | In the area of power electronics there is a general trend to higher power densities and efficiency. In order to continue this trend new devices, which enable high switching frequencies at higher power levels or show reduced losses at moderate switching frequencies are required. High voltage switches based on a series connection of SiC JFETs and one MOSFET in cascode connection meet these demands. For investigating the performance of the SiC based switch and its influence on the power density/efficiency a dual active bridge, which could transfer 25 kW bidirectionally between a 5 kV and a 700 V dc bus at a switching frequency of 50 kHz, is presented in this paper. There, especially the design of the high voltage/high frequency transformer and the switching as well as the static behaviour of the SiC switch is investigated in detail by simulations and experimental results in this paper. |
Semi-supervised Relational Topic Model for Weakly Annotated Image Recognition in Social Media | In this paper, we address the problem of recognizing images with weakly annotated text tags. Most previous work either cannot be applied to the scenarios where the tags are loosely related to the images, or simply take a pre-fusion at the feature level or a post-fusion at the decision level to combine the visual and textual content. Instead, we first encode the text tags as the relations among the images, and then propose a semi-supervised relational topic model (ss-RTM) to explicitly model the image content and their relations. In such way, we can efficiently leverage the loosely related tags, and build an intermediate level representation for a collection of weakly annotated images. The intermediate level representation can be regarded as a mid-level fusion of the visual and textual content, which is able to explicitly model their intrinsic relationships. Moreover, image category labels are also modeled in the ss-RTM, and recognition can be conducted without training an additional discriminative classifier. Our extensive experiments on social multimedia datasets (images+tags) demonstrated the advantages of the proposed model. |
Numerical optimisation of trawls design to improve their energy efficiency | Trawls energy efficiency is greatly affected by the drag, as well as by the swept area regarding pelagic trawls and by the swept width for bottom ones. The drag results in an increase of the energy consumption and the sweeping influences the catch. In order to reduce the drag per swept area (or width) a numerical tool dedicated to the automatic optimisation of the trawl design has been developed. Based on a finite element method model for flexible netting structures, the tool modifies step by step a reference design. For each step the best-modified design, in terms of drag per swept area (or width), is kept. Such a methodology was used in two cases: which show a 43% increase in energy efficiency regarding the pelagic trawl case and 27% for the bottom trawl one. |
Intelligent Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Improved Autonomy | This paper focuses on recent advances in the control of unmanned aerial vehicles on a single platform basis. Additionally it addresses the case when UAV assets are operating in groups or clusters intended to accomplish surveillance and reconnaissance, rescue, forest fire detection or other critical missions. The scope of the paper is to suggest challenges in UAV control for extreme performance and reliability – both of which are necessary attributes of vehicle autonomy. Intelligent control technologies aimed at stability augmentation and performance enhancement are addressed. Topics for multiple UAVs are discussed dealing with mission planning, cooperative control and vehicle cooperation when UAV teams are performing missions in urban or other environments. |
Distributed MAP Inference for Undirected Graphical Models | Graphical models have widespread uses in information extraction and natural language processing. Recent improvements in approximate inference techniques [1, 2, 3, 4] have allowed exploration of dense models over a large number of variables. These applications include coreference resolution [5, 6], relation extraction [7], and joint inference [8, 9, 10]. But as the graphs grow to web scale, even these inference techniques become infeasible, motivating the need for scalable, parallelizable solutions. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.