Automatic identification of physical activity types and sedentary behaviors from triaxial accelerometer: laboratory-based calibrations are not enough.

PubMed

Bastian, Thomas; Maire, Aurélia; Dugas, Julien; Ataya, Abbas; Villars, Clément; Gris, Florence; Perrin, Emilie; Caritu, Yanis; Doron, Maeva; Blanc, Stéphane; Jallon, Pierre; Simon, Chantal

2015-03-15

"Objective" methods to monitor physical activity and sedentary patterns in free-living conditions are necessary to further our understanding of their impacts on health. In recent years, many software solutions capable of automatically identifying activity types from portable accelerometry data have been developed, with promising results in controlled conditions, but virtually no reports on field tests. An automatic classification algorithm initially developed using laboratory-acquired data (59 subjects engaging in a set of 24 standardized activities) to discriminate between 8 activity classes (lying, slouching, sitting, standing, walking, running, and cycling) was applied to data collected in the field. Twenty volunteers equipped with a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer performed at their own pace an activity set that included, among others, activities such as walking the streets, running, cycling, and taking the bus. Performances of the laboratory-calibrated classification algorithm were compared with those of an alternative version of the same model including field-collected data in the learning set. Despite good results in laboratory conditions, the performances of the laboratory-calibrated algorithm (assessed by confusion matrices) decreased for several activities when applied to free-living data. Recalibrating the algorithm with data closer to real-life conditions and from an independent group of subjects proved useful, especially for the detection of sedentary behaviors while in transports, thereby improving the detection of overall sitting (sensitivity: laboratory model = 24.9%; recalibrated model = 95.7%). Automatic identification methods should be developed using data acquired in free-living conditions rather than data from standardized laboratory activity sets only, and their limits carefully tested before they are used in field studies. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Automatic media-adventitia IVUS image segmentation based on sparse representation framework and dynamic directional active contour model.

PubMed

Zakeri, Fahimeh Sadat; Setarehdan, Seyed Kamaledin; Norouzi, Somayye

2017-10-01

Segmentation of the arterial wall boundaries from intravascular ultrasound images is an important image processing task in order to quantify arterial wall characteristics such as shape, area, thickness and eccentricity. Since manual segmentation of these boundaries is a laborious and time consuming procedure, many researchers attempted to develop (semi-) automatic segmentation techniques as a powerful tool for educational and clinical purposes in the past but as yet there is no any clinically approved method in the market. This paper presents a deterministic-statistical strategy for automatic media-adventitia border detection by a fourfold algorithm. First, a smoothed initial contour is extracted based on the classification in the sparse representation framework which is combined with the dynamic directional convolution vector field. Next, an active contour model is utilized for the propagation of the initial contour toward the interested borders. Finally, the extracted contour is refined in the leakage, side branch openings and calcification regions based on the image texture patterns. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by comparing the results to those manually traced borders by an expert on 312 different IVUS images obtained from four different patients. The statistical analysis of the results demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed method in the media-adventitia border detection with enough consistency in the leakage and calcification regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic 3D kidney segmentation based on shape constrained GC-OAAM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xinjian; Summers, Ronald M.; Yao, Jianhua

2011-03-01

The kidney can be classified into three main tissue types: renal cortex, renal medulla and renal pelvis (or collecting system). Dysfunction of different renal tissue types may cause different kidney diseases. Therefore, accurate and efficient segmentation of kidney into different tissue types plays a very important role in clinical research. In this paper, we propose an automatic 3D kidney segmentation method which segments the kidney into the three different tissue types: renal cortex, medulla and pelvis. The proposed method synergistically combines active appearance model (AAM), live wire (LW) and graph cut (GC) methods, GC-OAAM for short. Our method consists of two main steps. First, a pseudo 3D segmentation method is employed for kidney initialization in which the segmentation is performed slice-by-slice via a multi-object oriented active appearance model (OAAM) method. An improved iterative model refinement algorithm is proposed for the AAM optimization, which synergistically combines the AAM and LW method. Multi-object strategy is applied to help the object initialization. The 3D model constraints are applied to the initialization result. Second, the object shape information generated from the initialization step is integrated into the GC cost computation. A multi-label GC method is used to segment the kidney into cortex, medulla and pelvis. The proposed method was tested on 19 clinical arterial phase CT data sets. The preliminary results showed the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.

[Medical image segmentation based on the minimum variation snake model].

PubMed

Zhou, Changxiong; Yu, Shenglin

2007-02-01

It is difficult for traditional parametric active contour (Snake) model to deal with automatic segmentation of weak edge medical image. After analyzing snake and geometric active contour model, a minimum variation snake model was proposed and successfully applied to weak edge medical image segmentation. This proposed model replaces constant force in the balloon snake model by variable force incorporating foreground and background two regions information. It drives curve to evolve with the criterion of the minimum variation of foreground and background two regions. Experiments and results have proved that the proposed model is robust to initial contours placements and can segment weak edge medical image automatically. Besides, the testing for segmentation on the noise medical image filtered by curvature flow filter, which preserves edge features, shows a significant effect.

Automatic toilet seat lowering apparatus

DOEpatents

Guerty, Harold G.

1994-09-06

A toilet seat lowering apparatus includes a housing defining an internal cavity for receiving water from the water supply line to the toilet holding tank. A descent delay assembly of the apparatus can include a stationary dam member and a rotating dam member for dividing the internal cavity into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber and controlling the intake and evacuation of water in a delayed fashion. A descent initiator is activated when the internal cavity is filled with pressurized water and automatically begins the lowering of the toilet seat from its upright position, which lowering is also controlled by the descent delay assembly. In an alternative embodiment, the descent initiator and the descent delay assembly can be combined in a piston linked to the rotating dam member and provided with a water channel for creating a resisting pressure to the advancing piston and thereby slowing the associated descent of the toilet seat. A toilet seat lowering apparatus includes a housing defining an internal cavity for receiving water from the water supply line to the toilet holding tank. A descent delay assembly of the apparatus can include a stationary dam member and a rotating dam member for dividing the internal cavity into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber and controlling the intake and evacuation of water in a delayed fashion. A descent initiator is activated when the internal cavity is filled with pressurized water and automatically begins the lowering of the toilet seat from its upright position, which lowering is also controlled by the descent delay assembly. In an alternative embodiment, the descent initiator and the descent delay assembly can be combined in a piston linked to the rotating dam member and provided with a water channel for creating a resisting pressure to the advancing piston and thereby slowing the associated descent of the toilet seat.

Influence of automatic word reading on motor control.

PubMed

Gentilucci, M; Gangitano, M

1998-02-01

We investigated the possible influence of automatic word reading on processes of visuo-motor transformation. Six subjects were required to reach and grasp a rod on whose visible face the word 'long' or 'short' was printed. Word reading was not explicitly required. In order to induce subjects to visually analyse the object trial by trial, object position and size were randomly varied during the experimental session. The kinematics of the reaching component was affected by word presentation. Peak acceleration, peak velocity, and peak deceleration of arm were higher for the word 'long' with respect to the word 'short'. That is, during the initial movement phase subjects automatically associated the meaning of the word with the distance to be covered and activated a motor program for a farther and/or nearer object position. During the final movement phase, subjects modified the braking forces (deceleration) in order to correct the initial error. No effect of the words on the grasp component was observed. These results suggest a possible influence of cognitive functions on motor control and seem to contrast with the notion that the analyses executed in the ventral and dorsal cortical visual streams are different and independent.

Automated contour detection in X-ray left ventricular angiograms using multiview active appearance models and dynamic programming.

PubMed

Oost, Elco; Koning, Gerhard; Sonka, Milan; Oemrawsingh, Pranobe V; Reiber, Johan H C; Lelieveldt, Boudewijn P F

2006-09-01

This paper describes a new approach to the automated segmentation of X-ray left ventricular (LV) angiograms, based on active appearance models (AAMs) and dynamic programming. A coupling of shape and texture information between the end-diastolic (ED) and end-systolic (ES) frame was achieved by constructing a multiview AAM. Over-constraining of the model was compensated for by employing dynamic programming, integrating both intensity and motion features in the cost function. Two applications are compared: a semi-automatic method with manual model initialization, and a fully automatic algorithm. The first proved to be highly robust and accurate, demonstrating high clinical relevance. Based on experiments involving 70 patient data sets, the algorithm's success rate was 100% for ED and 99% for ES, with average unsigned border positioning errors of 0.68 mm for ED and 1.45 mm for ES. Calculated volumes were accurate and unbiased. The fully automatic algorithm, with intrinsically less user interaction was less robust, but showed a high potential, mostly due to a controlled gradient descent in updating the model parameters. The success rate of the fully automatic method was 91% for ED and 83% for ES, with average unsigned border positioning errors of 0.79 mm for ED and 1.55 mm for ES.

75 FR 67362 - Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Submitted for Review and Approval to the Office...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-02

... Commission also deferred the date for initial distribution of Automatic Location Identification (ALI)-capable... activating new ALI-capable handsets; deferred the date by which a carrier must achieve full penetration of ALI-capable handsets by one year; modified the manner in which the Commission defined full penetration...

Assessing the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of a behavioral-automaticity focused lifestyle intervention for African Americans with metabolic syndrome: The Pick two to Stick to protocol.

PubMed

Fritz, Heather; Brody, Aaron; Levy, Philip

2017-09-01

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) significantly increases the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Being physically active and eating a healthy diet can reduce MetS risk factors. Too frequently, however, studies report that the effects of interventions targeting those factors are not maintained once interventions are withdrawn. A potential solution to the problem is targeting behavioral automaticity (habit-development) to aid in initiation and maintenance of health-behavior changes. The Pick two to Stick To (P2S2), is an 8-week, theory-based hybrid (face-to-face/telecoaching) habit focused lifestyle intervention designed to increase healthful physical activity and dietary behavioral automaticity. The purpose of this article is to describe the rationale and protocol for evaluating the P2S2 program's feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness. Using a prospective, non-comparative design, the P2S2 program will be implemented by trained occupational therapy 'coaches' to 40 African Americans aged 40 and above with MetS recruited from the emergency department. Semi-structured interviews with participants, bi-weekly research meetings with study staff, and observations of intervention delivery will provide data for a process evaluation. Estimates of effectiveness include weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, BMI, and behavioral automaticity measures that will be collected at baseline and week 20. The P2S2 program could facilitate the development of healthful dietary and physical activity habits in an underserved population. Whether interventions aimed at changing habits can feasibly influence this automaticity, particularly for high-risk, low resource communities where other barriers exist, is not known. This pilot study, therefore, will fill an important gap, providing insight to inform subsequent trials.

Targeting Cognitive-Affective Risk Mechanisms in Stress-Precipitated Alcohol Dependence: An Integrated, Biopsychosocial Model of Automaticity, Allostasis, and Addiction

PubMed Central

Garland, Eric L.; Boettiger, Charlotte A.; Howard, Matthew O.

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a novel hypothetical model integrating formerly discrete theories of stress appraisal, neurobiological allostasis, automatic cognitive processing, and addictive behavior to elucidate how alcohol misuse and dependence are maintained and re-activated by stress. We outline a risk chain in which psychosocial stress initiates physiological arousal, perseverative cognition, and negative affect that, in turn, triggers automatized schema to compel alcohol consumption. This implicit cognitive process then leads to attentional biases toward alcohol, subjective experiences of craving, paradoxical increases in arousal and alcohol-related cognitions due to urge suppression, and palliative coping through drinking. When palliative coping relieves distress, it results in negative reinforcement conditioning that perpetuates the cycle by further sensitizing the system to future stressful encounters. This model has implications for development and implementation of innovative behavioral interventions (such as mindfulness training) that disrupt cognitive-affective mechanisms underpinning stress-precipitated dependence on alcohol. PMID:21354711

Men's sex-dominance inhibition: do men automatically refrain from sexually dominant behavior?

PubMed

Kiefer, Amy K; Sanchez, Diana T

2007-12-01

Men receive conflicting messages about their sexual roles in heterosexual relationships. Men are socialized to initiate and direct sexual activities with women; yet societal norms also proscribe the sexual domination and coercion of women. The authors test these competing hypotheses by assessing whether men inhibit the link between sex and dominance. In Studies 1a and b, using a subliminal priming procedure embedded in a lexical decision task, the authors demonstrate that men automatically suppress the concept of dominance following exposure to subliminal sex primes relative to neutral primes. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors show that men who are less likely to perceive sexual assertiveness as necessary, to refrain from dominant sexual behavior, and who do not invest in masculine gender ideals are more likely to inhibit dominant thoughts following sex primes. Implications for theories of automatic cognitive networks and gender-based sexual roles are discussed.

Automatic reference selection for quantitative EEG interpretation: identification of diffuse/localised activity and the active earlobe reference, iterative detection of the distribution of EEG rhythms.

PubMed

Wang, Bei; Wang, Xingyu; Ikeda, Akio; Nagamine, Takashi; Shibasaki, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Masatoshi

2014-01-01

EEG (Electroencephalograph) interpretation is important for the diagnosis of neurological disorders. The proper adjustment of the montage can highlight the EEG rhythm of interest and avoid false interpretation. The aim of this study was to develop an automatic reference selection method to identify a suitable reference. The results may contribute to the accurate inspection of the distribution of EEG rhythms for quantitative EEG interpretation. The method includes two pre-judgements and one iterative detection module. The diffuse case is initially identified by pre-judgement 1 when intermittent rhythmic waveforms occur over large areas along the scalp. The earlobe reference or averaged reference is adopted for the diffuse case due to the effect of the earlobe reference depending on pre-judgement 2. An iterative detection algorithm is developed for the localised case when the signal is distributed in a small area of the brain. The suitable averaged reference is finally determined based on the detected focal and distributed electrodes. The presented technique was applied to the pathological EEG recordings of nine patients. One example of the diffuse case is introduced by illustrating the results of the pre-judgements. The diffusely intermittent rhythmic slow wave is identified. The effect of active earlobe reference is analysed. Two examples of the localised case are presented, indicating the results of the iterative detection module. The focal and distributed electrodes are detected automatically during the repeating algorithm. The identification of diffuse and localised activity was satisfactory compared with the visual inspection. The EEG rhythm of interest can be highlighted using a suitable selected reference. The implementation of an automatic reference selection method is helpful to detect the distribution of an EEG rhythm, which can improve the accuracy of EEG interpretation during both visual inspection and automatic interpretation. Copyright © 2013 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methods for automatically analyzing humpback song units.

PubMed

Rickwood, Peter; Taylor, Andrew

2008-03-01

This paper presents mathematical techniques for automatically extracting and analyzing bioacoustic signals. Automatic techniques are described for isolation of target signals from background noise, extraction of features from target signals and unsupervised classification (clustering) of the target signals based on these features. The only user-provided inputs, other than raw sound, is an initial set of signal processing and control parameters. Of particular note is that the number of signal categories is determined automatically. The techniques, applied to hydrophone recordings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), produce promising initial results, suggesting that they may be of use in automated analysis of not only humpbacks, but possibly also in other bioacoustic settings where automated analysis is desirable.

Dynamic user data analysis and web composition technique using big data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soundarya, P.; Vanitha, M.; Sumaiya Thaseen, I.

2017-11-01

In the existing system, a reliable service oriented system is built which is more important when compared with the traditional standalone system in the unpredictable internet service and it also a challenging task to build reliable web service. In the proposed system, the fault tolerance is determined by using the proposed heuristic algorithm. There are two kinds of strategies active and passive strategies. The user requirement is also formulated as local and global constraints. Different services are deployed in the modification process. Two bus reservation and two train reservation services are deployed along with hotel reservation service. User can choose any one of the bus reservation and specify their destination location. If corresponding destination is not available then automatic backup service to another bus reservation system is carried. If same, the service is not available then parallel service of train reservation is initiated. Automatic hotel reservation is also initiated based on the mode and type of travel of the user.

If and SR Ca2+ release both contribute to pacemaker activity in canine sinoatrial node cells

PubMed Central

Gao, Zhan; Chen, Biyi; Joiner, Mei-ling A.; Wu, Yuejin; Guan, Xiaoqun; Koval, Olha M.; Chaudhary, Ashok K.; Cunha, Shane R.; Mohler, Peter J.; Martins, James B.; Song, Long-Sheng; Anderson, Mark E.

2010-01-01

Increasing evidence suggests that cardiac pacemaking is the result of two sinoatrial node (SAN) cell mechanisms: a ‘voltage clock’ and a Ca2+ dependent process, or ‘Ca2+ clock.’ The voltage clock initiates action potentials (APs) by SAN cell membrane potential depolarization from inward currents, of which the pacemaker current (If) is thought to be particularly important. A Ca2+ dependent process triggers APs when sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release activates inward current carried by the forward mode of the electrogenic Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX). However, these mechanisms have mostly been defined in rodents or rabbits, but are unexplored in single SAN cells from larger animals. Here, we used patch-clamp and confocal microscope techniques to explore the roles of the voltage and Ca2+ clock mechanisms in canine SAN pacemaker cells. We found that ZD7288, a selective If antagonist, significantly reduced basal automaticity and induced irregular, arrhythmia-like activity in canine SAN cells. In addition, ZD7288 impaired but did not eliminate the SAN cell rate acceleration by isoproterenol. In contrast, ryanodine significantly reduced the SAN cell acceleration by isoproterenol, while ryanodine reduction of basal automaticity was modest (∼14%) and did not reach statistical significance. Importantly, pretreatment with ryanodine eliminated SR Ca2+ release, but did not affect basal or isoproterenol-enhanced If. Taken together, these results indicate that voltage and Ca2+ dependent automaticity mechanisms coexist in canine SAN cells, and suggest If and SR Ca2+ release cooperate to determine baseline and catecholamine-dependent automaticity in isolated dog SAN cells. PMID:20380837

Restructurable VLSI Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-31

logic testing element and a concomitant testability criterion ideally suited to dynamic circuit applications and appro- priate for automatic computer...making connections automatically . PF is an experimental feature which provides users with only four different chip sizes (full, half, quarter, and eighth...initial solution is found constructively which is improved by pair-wise swapping. Results show, however, that the constructive initial sorter , which

A Smart Unconscious? Procedural Origins of Automatic Partner Attitudes in Marriage

PubMed Central

Murray, Sandra L.; Holmes, John G.; Pinkus, Rebecca T.

2010-01-01

The paper examines potential origins of automatic (i.e., unconscious) attitudes toward one’s marital partner. It tests the hypothesis that early experiences in conflict-of-interest situations predict one’s later automatic inclination to approach (or avoid) the partner. A longitudinal study linked daily experiences in conflict-of-interest situations in the initial months of new marriages to automatic evaluations of the partner assessed four years later using the Implicit Associations Test. The results revealed that partners who were initially (1) treated less responsively and (2) evidenced more self-protective and less connectedness-promoting “if-then” contingencies in their thoughts and behavior later evidenced less positive automatic partner attitudes. However, these factors did not predict changes in love, satisfaction, or explicit beliefs about the partner. The findings hint at the existence of a “smart” relationship unconscious that captures behavioral realities conscious reflection can miss. PMID:20526450

The potential role for automatic external defibrillators in palliative care units.

PubMed

Thorns, Andrew; Gannon, Craig

2003-07-01

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has received frequent attention by professionals and the public in recent times. Concerns regarding the potential harms for little chance of success have caused palliative care units (PCUs) doubts about initiating CPR. However, there appears to be a moral responsibility to offer CPR to some, carefully selected, patients. Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) have been shown to significantly increase chances of survival following CPR and are simple to use, even for non-professionals. It is argued that AEDs may increase the moral imperative on PCUs to offer CPR to certain patients and provide the basis for a necessary debate on where the border between appropriate active treatment and a disturbance to the aim of a peaceful death rests.

Monitoring groundwater and river interaction along the Hanford reach of the Columbia River

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, M.D.

1994-04-01

As an adjunct to efficient Hanford Site characterization and remediation of groundwater contamination, an automatic monitor network has been used to measure Columbia River and adjacent groundwater levels in several areas of the Hanford Site since 1991. Water levels, temperatures, and electrical conductivity measured by the automatic monitor network provided an initial database with which to calibrate models and from which to infer ground and river water interactions for site characterization and remediation activities. Measurements of the dynamic river/aquifer system have been simultaneous at 1-hr intervals, with a quality suitable for hydrologic modeling and for computer model calibration and testing.more » This report describes the equipment, procedures, and results from measurements done in 1993.« less

Development of spray guns for the application of rigid foam insulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Peter B.

1993-01-01

The paper describes the activities initiated to improve the existing spray gun system used for spraying insulating foam on the External Tank of the Space Shuttle, due to the quality variations of the applied foam noted in the past. Consideration is given to the two tasks of the project: (1) investigations of possible improvements, as an interim measure, to the spray gun currently used to apply the large acreage spray-on-foam insulation and the evaluation of other commercial equipment; and (2) the design and fabrication of a new automatic spray gun. The design and operation of the currently used Binks 43 PA spray gun are described together with several new breadboard spray guns designed and fabricated and the testing procedures developed. These new guns include the Modular Automatic Foam spray gun, the Ball Valve spray gun, and the Tapered Plug Valve (TPV) gun. As a result of tests, the TPV spray gun is recommended to replace the currently used automatic spray gun.

Improved Automatically Locking/Unlocking Orthotic Knee Joint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weddendorf, Bruce

1995-01-01

Proposed orthotic knee joint improved version of one described in "Automatically Locking/Unlocking Orthotic Knee Joint" (MFS-28633). Locks automatically upon initial application of radial force (wearer's weight) and unlocks automatically, but only when all loads (radial force and bending) relieved. Joints lock whenever wearer applies weight to knee at any joint angle between full extension and 45 degree bend. Both devices offer increased safety and convenience relative to conventional orthotic knee joints.

Automaticity in acute ischemia: Bifurcation analysis of a human ventricular model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchard, Sylvain; Jacquemet, Vincent; Vinet, Alain

2011-01-01

Acute ischemia (restriction in blood supply to part of the heart as a result of myocardial infarction) induces major changes in the electrophysiological properties of the ventricular tissue. Extracellular potassium concentration ([Ko+]) increases in the ischemic zone, leading to an elevation of the resting membrane potential that creates an “injury current” (IS) between the infarcted and the healthy zone. In addition, the lack of oxygen impairs the metabolic activity of the myocytes and decreases ATP production, thereby affecting ATP-sensitive potassium channels (IKatp). Frequent complications of myocardial infarction are tachycardia, fibrillation, and sudden cardiac death, but the mechanisms underlying their initiation are still debated. One hypothesis is that these arrhythmias may be triggered by abnormal automaticity. We investigated the effect of ischemia on myocyte automaticity by performing a comprehensive bifurcation analysis (fixed points, cycles, and their stability) of a human ventricular myocyte model [K. H. W. J. ten Tusscher and A. V. Panfilov, Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol.AJPHAP0363-613510.1152/ajpheart.00109.2006 291, H1088 (2006)] as a function of three ischemia-relevant parameters [Ko+], IS, and IKatp. In this single-cell model, we found that automatic activity was possible only in the presence of an injury current. Changes in [Ko+] and IKatp significantly altered the bifurcation structure of IS, including the occurrence of early-after depolarization. The results provide a sound basis for studying higher-dimensional tissue structures representing an ischemic heart.

Calibrating reaction rates for the CREST model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handley, Caroline A.; Christie, Michael A.

2017-01-01

The CREST reactive-burn model uses entropy-dependent reaction rates that, until now, have been manually tuned to fit shock-initiation and detonation data in hydrocode simulations. This paper describes the initial development of an automatic method for calibrating CREST reaction-rate coefficients, using particle swarm optimisation. The automatic method is applied to EDC32, to help develop the first CREST model for this conventional high explosive.

DoD Is Not Properly Monitoring the Initiation of Maintenance for Facilities at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan (REDACTED)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

fire sprinkler system during the initial construction of the RSOI facilities. The construction contract to build the RSOI...International Building Code. Compliant manual and automatic fire alarm and notification systems , portable fire extinguishers, fire sprinkler systems ...automatic fire sprinkler system that was not operational, a fire department connection that was obstructed, and a fire detection system

The use of automatic programming techniques for fault tolerant computing systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wild, C.

1985-01-01

It is conjectured that the production of software for ultra-reliable computing systems such as required by Space Station, aircraft, nuclear power plants and the like will require a high degree of automation as well as fault tolerance. In this paper, the relationship between automatic programming techniques and fault tolerant computing systems is explored. Initial efforts in the automatic synthesis of code from assertions to be used for error detection as well as the automatic generation of assertions and test cases from abstract data type specifications is outlined. Speculation on the ability to generate truly diverse designs capable of recovery from errors by exploring alternate paths in the program synthesis tree is discussed. Some initial thoughts on the use of knowledge based systems for the global detection of abnormal behavior using expectations and the goal-directed reconfiguration of resources to meet critical mission objectives are given. One of the sources of information for these systems would be the knowledge captured during the automatic programming process.

Changes in default mode network as automaticity develops in a categorization task.

PubMed

Shamloo, Farzin; Helie, Sebastien

2016-10-15

The default mode network (DMN) is a set of brain regions in which blood oxygen level dependent signal is suppressed during attentional focus on the external environment. Because automatic task processing requires less attention, development of automaticity in a rule-based categorization task may result in less deactivation and altered functional connectivity of the DMN when compared to the initial learning stage. We tested this hypothesis by re-analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging data of participants trained in rule-based categorization for over 10,000 trials (Helie et al., 2010) [12,13]. The results show that some DMN regions are deactivated in initial training but not after automaticity has developed. There is also a significant decrease in DMN deactivation after extensive practice. Seed-based functional connectivity analyses with the precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex (two important DMN regions) and Brodmann area 6 (an important region in automatic categorization) were also performed. The results show increased functional connectivity with both DMN and non-DMN regions after the development of automaticity, and a decrease in functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex. Together, these results further support the hypothesis of a strategy shift in automatic categorization and bridge the cognitive and neuroscientific conceptions of automaticity in showing that the reduced need for cognitive resources in automatic processing is accompanied by a disinhibition of the DMN and stronger functional connectivity between DMN and task-related brain regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Myocardial Iron Loading Assessment by Automatic Left Ventricle Segmentation with Morphological Operations and Geodesic Active Contour on T2* images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Yun-Gang; Ko, Jacky Kl; Shi, Lin; Guan, Yuefeng; Li, Linong; Qin, Jing; Heng, Pheng-Ann; Chu, Winnie Cw; Wang, Defeng

2015-07-01

Myocardial iron loading thalassemia patients could be identified using T2* magnetic resonance images (MRI). To quantitatively assess cardiac iron loading, we proposed an effective algorithm to segment aligned free induction decay sequential myocardium images based on morphological operations and geodesic active contour (GAC). Nine patients with thalassemia major were recruited (10 male and 16 female) to undergo a thoracic MRI scan in the short axis view. Free induction decay images were registered for T2* mapping. The GAC were utilized to segment aligned MR images with a robust initialization. Segmented myocardium regions were divided into sectors for a region-based quantification of cardiac iron loading. Our proposed automatic segmentation approach achieve a true positive rate at 84.6% and false positive rate at 53.8%. The area difference between manual and automatic segmentation was 25.5% after 1000 iterations. Results from T2* analysis indicated that regions with intensity lower than 20 ms were suffered from heavy iron loading in thalassemia major patients. The proposed method benefited from abundant edge information of the free induction decay sequential MRI. Experiment results demonstrated that the proposed method is feasible in myocardium segmentation and was clinically applicable to measure myocardium iron loading.

A Method for Extracting Suspected Parotid Lesions in CT Images using Feature-based Segmentation and Active Contours based on Stationary Wavelet Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, T. Y.; Lin, S. F.

2013-10-01

Automatic suspected lesion extraction is an important application in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). In this paper, we propose a method to automatically extract the suspected parotid regions for clinical evaluation in head and neck CT images. The suspected lesion tissues in low contrast tissue regions can be localized with feature-based segmentation (FBS) based on local texture features, and can be delineated with accuracy by modified active contour models (ACM). At first, stationary wavelet transform (SWT) is introduced. The derived wavelet coefficients are applied to derive the local features for FBS, and to generate enhanced energy maps for ACM computation. Geometric shape features (GSFs) are proposed to analyze each soft tissue region segmented by FBS; the regions with higher similarity GSFs with the lesions are extracted and the information is also applied as the initial conditions for fine delineation computation. Consequently, the suspected lesions can be automatically localized and accurately delineated for aiding clinical diagnosis. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by comparing with the results outlined by clinical experts. The experiments on 20 pathological CT data sets show that the true-positive (TP) rate on recognizing parotid lesions is about 94%, and the dimension accuracy of delineation results can also approach over 93%.

Automatic Real-Time Estimation of Plume Height and Mass Eruption Rate Using Radar Data During Explosive Volcanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arason, P.; Barsotti, S.; De'Michieli Vitturi, M.; Jónsson, S.; Arngrímsson, H.; Bergsson, B.; Pfeffer, M. A.; Petersen, G. N.; Bjornsson, H.

2016-12-01

Plume height and mass eruption rate are the principal scale parameters of explosive volcanic eruptions. Weather radars are important instruments in estimating plume height, due to their independence of daylight, weather and visibility. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) operates two fixed position C-band weather radars and two mobile X-band radars. All volcanoes in Iceland can be monitored by IMO's radar network, and during initial phases of an eruption all available radars will be set to a more detailed volcano scan. When the radar volume data is retrived at IMO-headquarters in Reykjavík, an automatic analysis is performed on the radar data above the proximity of the volcano. The plume height is automatically estimated taking into account the radar scanning strategy, beam width, and a likely reflectivity gradient at the plume top. This analysis provides a distribution of the likely plume height. The automatically determined plume height estimates from the radar data are used as input to a numerical suite that calculates the eruptive source parameters through an inversion algorithm. This is done by using the coupled system DAKOTA-PlumeMoM which solves the 1D plume model equations iteratively by varying the input values of vent radius and vertical velocity. The model accounts for the effect of wind on the plume dynamics, using atmospheric vertical profiles extracted from the ECMWF numerical weather prediction model. Finally, the resulting estimates of mass eruption rate are used to initialize the dispersal model VOL-CALPUFF to assess hazard due to tephra fallout, and communicated to London VAAC to support their modelling activity for aviation safety purposes.

Automatic tracking of wake vortices using ground-wind sensor data

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1977-01-03

Algorithms for automatic tracking of wake vortices using ground-wind anemometer : data are developed. Methods of bad-data suppression, track initiation, and : track termination are included. An effective sensor-failure detection-and identification : ...

Fully automatic left ventricular myocardial strain estimation in 2D short-axis tagged magnetic resonance imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morais, Pedro; Queirós, Sandro; Heyde, Brecht; Engvall, Jan; 'hooge, Jan D.; Vilaça, João L.

2017-09-01

Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death and frequently result in local myocardial dysfunction. Among the numerous imaging modalities available to detect these dysfunctional regions, cardiac deformation imaging through tagged magnetic resonance imaging (t-MRI) has been an attractive approach. Nevertheless, fully automatic analysis of these data sets is still challenging. In this work, we present a fully automatic framework to estimate left ventricular myocardial deformation from t-MRI. This strategy performs automatic myocardial segmentation based on B-spline explicit active surfaces, which are initialized using an annular model. A non-rigid image-registration technique is then used to assess myocardial deformation. Three experiments were set up to validate the proposed framework using a clinical database of 75 patients. First, automatic segmentation accuracy was evaluated by comparing against manual delineations at one specific cardiac phase. The proposed solution showed an average perpendicular distance error of 2.35  ±  1.21 mm and 2.27  ±  1.02 mm for the endo- and epicardium, respectively. Second, starting from either manual or automatic segmentation, myocardial tracking was performed and the resulting strain curves were compared. It is shown that the automatic segmentation adds negligible differences during the strain-estimation stage, corroborating its accuracy. Finally, segmental strain was compared with scar tissue extent determined by delay-enhanced MRI. The results proved that both strain components were able to distinguish between normal and infarct regions. Overall, the proposed framework was shown to be accurate, robust, and attractive for clinical practice, as it overcomes several limitations of a manual analysis.

NET-VISA, a Bayesian method next-generation automatic association software. Latest developments and operational assessment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Bras, Ronan; Kushida, Noriyuki; Mialle, Pierrick; Tomuta, Elena; Arora, Nimar

2017-04-01

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has been developing a Bayesian method and software to perform the key step of automatic association of seismological, hydroacoustic, and infrasound (SHI) parametric data. In our preliminary testing in the CTBTO, NET_VISA shows much better performance than its currently operating automatic association module, with a rate for automatic events matching the analyst-reviewed events increased by 10%, signifying that the percentage of missed events is lowered by 40%. Initial tests involving analysts also showed that the new software will complete the automatic bulletins of the CTBTO by adding previously missed events. Because products by the CTBTO are also widely distributed to its member States as well as throughout the seismological community, the introduction of a new technology must be carried out carefully, and the first step of operational integration is to first use NET-VISA results within the interactive analysts' software so that the analysts can check the robustness of the Bayesian approach. We report on the latest results both on the progress for automatic processing and for the initial introduction of NET-VISA results in the analyst review process

Fully automatic segmentation of the femur from 3D-CT images using primitive shape recognition and statistical shape models.

PubMed

Ben Younes, Lassad; Nakajima, Yoshikazu; Saito, Toki

2014-03-01

Femur segmentation is well established and widely used in computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. However, most of the robust segmentation methods such as statistical shape models (SSM) require human intervention to provide an initial position for the SSM. In this paper, we propose to overcome this problem and provide a fully automatic femur segmentation method for CT images based on primitive shape recognition and SSM. Femur segmentation in CT scans was performed using primitive shape recognition based on a robust algorithm such as the Hough transform and RANdom SAmple Consensus. The proposed method is divided into 3 steps: (1) detection of the femoral head as sphere and the femoral shaft as cylinder in the SSM and the CT images, (2) rigid registration between primitives of SSM and CT image to initialize the SSM into the CT image, and (3) fitting of the SSM to the CT image edge using an affine transformation followed by a nonlinear fitting. The automated method provided good results even with a high number of outliers. The difference of segmentation error between the proposed automatic initialization method and a manual initialization method is less than 1 mm. The proposed method detects primitive shape position to initialize the SSM into the target image. Based on primitive shapes, this method overcomes the problem of inter-patient variability. Moreover, the results demonstrate that our method of primitive shape recognition can be used for 3D SSM initialization to achieve fully automatic segmentation of the femur.

Active Learning for Automatic Audio Processing of Unwritten Languages (ALAPUL)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

AFRL-RH-WP-TR-2016-0074 ACTIVE LEARNING FOR AUTOMATIC AUDIO PROCESSING OF UNWRITTEN LANGUAGES (ALAPUL) Dimitra Vergyri Andreas Kathol Wen Wang...June 2015-July 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Active Learning for Automatic Audio Processing of Unwritten Languages (ALAPUL) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...5430, 27 October 2016 1. SUMMARY The goal of the project was to investigate development of an automatic spoken language processing (ASLP) system

Assessment of WMATA's Automatic Fare Collection Equipment Performance

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-01-01

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has had an Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system in operation since June 1977. The AFC system, comprised of entry/exit gates, farecard vendors, and addfare machines, initially encountered ma...

Atlas-based fuzzy connectedness segmentation and intensity nonuniformity correction applied to brain MRI.

PubMed

Zhou, Yongxin; Bai, Jing

2007-01-01

A framework that combines atlas registration, fuzzy connectedness (FC) segmentation, and parametric bias field correction (PABIC) is proposed for the automatic segmentation of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). First, the atlas is registered onto the MRI to initialize the following FC segmentation. Original techniques are proposed to estimate necessary initial parameters of FC segmentation. Further, the result of the FC segmentation is utilized to initialize a following PABIC algorithm. Finally, we re-apply the FC technique on the PABIC corrected MRI to get the final segmentation. Thus, we avoid expert human intervention and provide a fully automatic method for brain MRI segmentation. Experiments on both simulated and real MRI images demonstrate the validity of the method, as well as the limitation of the method. Being a fully automatic method, it is expected to find wide applications, such as three-dimensional visualization, radiation therapy planning, and medical database construction.

A two-dimensional air-to-air combat game - Toward an air-combat advisory system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neuman, Frank

1987-01-01

Air-to-air combat is modeled as a discrete differential game, and by constraining the game to searching for the best guidance laws from the sets of those considered for each opponent, feedback and outcome charts are obtained which can be used to turn one of the automatic opponents into an intelligent opponent against a human pilot. A one-on-one two-dimensional fully automatic, or manned versus automatic, air-to-air combat game has been designed which includes both attack and evasion alternatives for both aircraft. Guidance law selection occurs by flooding the initial-condition space with four simulated fights for each initial condition, depicting the various attack/evasion strategies for the two opponents, and recording the outcomes. For each initial condition, the minimax method from differential games is employed to determine the best choice from the available strategies.

An investigation into non-invasive physical activity recognition using smartphones.

PubMed

Kelly, Daniel; Caulfield, Brian

2012-01-01

Technology utilized to automatically monitor Activities of Daily Living (ADL) could be a key component in identifying deviations from normal functional profiles and providing feedback on interventions aimed at improving health. However, if activity recognition systems are to be implemented in real world scenarios such as health and wellness monitoring, the activity sensing modality must unobtrusively fit the human environment rather than forcing humans to adhere to sensor specific conditions. Modern smart phones represent a ubiquitous computing device which has already undergone mainstream adoption. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using a modern smartphone, with limited placement constraints, as the sensing modality for an activity recognition system. A dataset of 4 subjects performing 7 activities, using varying sensor placement conditions, is utilized to investigate this. Initial experiments show that a decision tree classifier performs activity classification with precision and recall scores of 0.75 and 0.73 respectively. More importantly, as part of this initial experiment, 3 main problems, and subsequently 3 solutions, relating to unconstrained sensor placement were identified. Using our proposed solutions, classification precision and recall scores were improved by +13% and +14.6% respectively.

Adaptation to Coriolis perturbations of voluntary body sway transfers to preprogrammed fall-recovery behavior

PubMed Central

Ventura, Joel; DiZio, Paul; Lackner, James R.

2013-01-01

In a rotating environment, goal-oriented voluntary movements are initially disrupted in trajectory and endpoint, due to movement-contingent Coriolis forces, but accuracy is regained with additional movements. We studied whether adaptation acquired in a voluntary, goal-oriented postural swaying task performed during constant-velocity counterclockwise rotation (10 RPM) carries over to recovery from falling induced using a hold and release (H&R) paradigm. In H&R, standing subjects actively resist a force applied to their chest, which when suddenly released results in a forward fall and activation of an automatic postural correction. We tested H&R postural recovery in subjects (n = 11) before and after they made voluntary fore-aft swaying movements during 20 trials of 25 s each, in a counterclockwise rotating room. Their voluntary sway about their ankles generated Coriolis forces that initially induced clockwise deviations of the intended body sway paths, but fore-aft sway was gradually restored over successive per-rotation trials, and a counterclockwise aftereffect occurred during postrotation attempts to sway fore-aft. In H&R trials, we examined the initial 10- to 150-ms periods of movement after release from the hold force, when voluntary corrections of movement path are not possible. Prerotation subjects fell directly forward, whereas postrotation their forward motion was deviated significantly counterclockwise. The postrotation deviations were in a direction consistent with an aftereffect reflecting persistence of a compensation acquired per-rotation for voluntary swaying movements. These findings show that control and adaptation mechanisms adjusting voluntary postural sway to the demands of a new force environment also influence the automatic recovery of posture. PMID:24304863

Analysis of Social Variables when an Initial Functional Analysis Indicates Automatic Reinforcement as the Maintaining Variable for Self-Injurious Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Stephanie A. Contrucci; Triggs, Mandy

2009-01-01

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) that occurs at high rates across all conditions of a functional analysis can suggest automatic or multiple functions. In the current study, we conducted a functional analysis for 1 individual with SIB. Results indicated that SIB was, at least in part, maintained by automatic reinforcement. Further analyses using…

Masked Priming Effects in Aphasia: Evidence of Altered Automatic Spreading Activation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silkes, JoAnn P.; Rogers, Margaret A.

2012-01-01

Purpose: Previous research has suggested that impairments of automatic spreading activation may underlie some aphasic language deficits. The current study further investigated the status of automatic spreading activation in individuals with aphasia as compared with typical adults. Method: Participants were 21 individuals with aphasia (12 fluent, 9…

Automatically-Activated Attitudes as Mechanisms for Message Effects: The Case of Alcohol Advertisements

PubMed Central

Goodall, Catherine E.; Slater, Michael D.

2010-01-01

Alcohol advertisements may influence impulsive, risky behaviors indirectly, via automatically-activated attitudes toward alcohol. Results from an experiment in which participants were exposed to either four alcohol advertisements, four control advertisements, or four drunk driving public service advertisements, suggested that alcohol advertisements had more measurable effects on implicit, than on explicit attitude measures. Moreover, there were significant indirect paths from alcohol advertisement exposure through automatically-activated alcohol attitudes on willingness to engage in risky alcohol-related behaviors, notably drinking and driving. A mechanism that may explain how these advertisements activate automatic, non-deliberative alcohol attitudes was investigated. Associative evidence was found supportive of an evaluative conditioning mechanism, in which positive responses to an alcohol advertisement may lead to more positive automatically-activated attitudes toward alcohol itself. PMID:21258609

Automatically-Activated Attitudes as Mechanisms for Message Effects: The Case of Alcohol Advertisements.

PubMed

Goodall, Catherine E; Slater, Michael D

2010-10-01

Alcohol advertisements may influence impulsive, risky behaviors indirectly, via automatically-activated attitudes toward alcohol. Results from an experiment in which participants were exposed to either four alcohol advertisements, four control advertisements, or four drunk driving public service advertisements, suggested that alcohol advertisements had more measurable effects on implicit, than on explicit attitude measures. Moreover, there were significant indirect paths from alcohol advertisement exposure through automatically-activated alcohol attitudes on willingness to engage in risky alcohol-related behaviors, notably drinking and driving. A mechanism that may explain how these advertisements activate automatic, non-deliberative alcohol attitudes was investigated. Associative evidence was found supportive of an evaluative conditioning mechanism, in which positive responses to an alcohol advertisement may lead to more positive automatically-activated attitudes toward alcohol itself.

Automatic cardiac LV segmentation in MRI using modified graph cuts with smoothness and interslice constraints.

PubMed

Albà, Xènia; Figueras I Ventura, Rosa M; Lekadir, Karim; Tobon-Gomez, Catalina; Hoogendoorn, Corné; Frangi, Alejandro F

2014-12-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), specifically late-enhanced MRI, is the standard clinical imaging protocol to assess cardiac viability. Segmentation of myocardial walls is a prerequisite for this assessment. Automatic and robust multisequence segmentation is required to support processing massive quantities of data. A generic rule-based framework to automatically segment the left ventricle myocardium is presented here. We use intensity information, and include shape and interslice smoothness constraints, providing robustness to subject- and study-specific changes. Our automatic initialization considers the geometrical and appearance properties of the left ventricle, as well as interslice information. The segmentation algorithm uses a decoupled, modified graph cut approach with control points, providing a good balance between flexibility and robustness. The method was evaluated on late-enhanced MRI images from a 20-patient in-house database, and on cine-MRI images from a 15-patient open access database, both using as reference manually delineated contours. Segmentation agreement, measured using the Dice coefficient, was 0.81±0.05 and 0.92±0.04 for late-enhanced MRI and cine-MRI, respectively. The method was also compared favorably to a three-dimensional Active Shape Model approach. The experimental validation with two magnetic resonance sequences demonstrates increased accuracy and versatility. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatic segmentation of the bone and extraction of the bone cartilage interface from magnetic resonance images of the knee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fripp, Jurgen; Crozier, Stuart; Warfield, Simon K.; Ourselin, Sébastien

2007-03-01

The accurate segmentation of the articular cartilages from magnetic resonance (MR) images of the knee is important for clinical studies and drug trials into conditions like osteoarthritis. Currently, segmentations are obtained using time-consuming manual or semi-automatic algorithms which have high inter- and intra-observer variabilities. This paper presents an important step towards obtaining automatic and accurate segmentations of the cartilages, namely an approach to automatically segment the bones and extract the bone-cartilage interfaces (BCI) in the knee. The segmentation is performed using three-dimensional active shape models, which are initialized using an affine registration to an atlas. The BCI are then extracted using image information and prior knowledge about the likelihood of each point belonging to the interface. The accuracy and robustness of the approach was experimentally validated using an MR database of fat suppressed spoiled gradient recall images. The (femur, tibia, patella) bone segmentation had a median Dice similarity coefficient of (0.96, 0.96, 0.89) and an average point-to-surface error of 0.16 mm on the BCI. The extracted BCI had a median surface overlap of 0.94 with the real interface, demonstrating its usefulness for subsequent cartilage segmentation or quantitative analysis.

Ionospheric Research Using Digital Ionosondes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-01

HEIGHT ANALYSIS, ARTIST 96 7.0 CHEMICAL RELEASE EXPERIMENTS AT NATAL 105 8.0 IONOSPHERIC HEATING EXPERIMENTS AT ARECIBO 114 9.0 DIGISONDE 128...Jan 82 20:30 to 12 AST 89 67 Thule 82-022 92 68 Integrated Height Characteristic Thule 82-022 93 69 ARTIST Ionogram Print 103 70 Automatic Profiles...Where Manual and Automatic Scalings Fall Within Indicated Limits 97 6a ARTIST Initialization 99 6b ARTIST Initialization 100 6c ARTIST Output 101 N

A procedure for automating CFD simulations of an inlet-bleed problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chyu, Wei J.; Rimlinger, Mark J.; Shih, Tom I.-P.

1995-01-01

A procedure was developed to improve the turn-around time for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of an inlet-bleed problem involving oblique shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions on a flat plate with bleed into a plenum through one or more circular holes. This procedure is embodied in a preprocessor called AUTOMAT. With AUTOMAT, once data for the geometry and flow conditions have been specified (either interactively or via a namelist), it will automatically generate all input files needed to perform a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes simulation of the prescribed inlet-bleed problem by using the PEGASUS and OVERFLOW codes. The input files automatically generated by AUTOMAT include those for the grid system and those for the initial and boundary conditions. The grid systems automatically generated by AUTOMAT are multi-block structured grids of the overlapping type. Results obtained by using AUTOMAT are presented to illustrate its capability.

Active contour-based visual tracking by integrating colors, shapes, and motions.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Zhou, Xue; Li, Wei; Luo, Wenhan; Zhang, Xiaoqin; Maybank, Stephen

2013-05-01

In this paper, we present a framework for active contour-based visual tracking using level sets. The main components of our framework include contour-based tracking initialization, color-based contour evolution, adaptive shape-based contour evolution for non-periodic motions, dynamic shape-based contour evolution for periodic motions, and the handling of abrupt motions. For the initialization of contour-based tracking, we develop an optical flow-based algorithm for automatically initializing contours at the first frame. For the color-based contour evolution, Markov random field theory is used to measure correlations between values of neighboring pixels for posterior probability estimation. For adaptive shape-based contour evolution, the global shape information and the local color information are combined to hierarchically evolve the contour, and a flexible shape updating model is constructed. For the dynamic shape-based contour evolution, a shape mode transition matrix is learnt to characterize the temporal correlations of object shapes. For the handling of abrupt motions, particle swarm optimization is adopted to capture the global motion which is applied to the contour in the current frame to produce an initial contour in the next frame.

Experiments on Four Different Techniques for Automatically Locating Land Vehicles - A Summary of Results

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1977-06-01

In 1975, to further the development and to refine and dmonstrate multiuser Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) application, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration and the Transportation Systems Center (TSC) initiated a two-phase program. Phase I...

The Masked Semantic Priming Effect Is Task Dependent: Reconsidering the Automatic Spreading Activation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wit, Bianca; Kinoshita, Sachiko

2015-01-01

Semantic priming effects are popularly explained in terms of an automatic spreading activation process, according to which the activation of a node in a semantic network spreads automatically to interconnected nodes, preactivating a semantically related word. It is expected from this account that semantic priming effects should be routinely…

Constraint factor graph cut-based active contour method for automated cellular image segmentation in RNAi screening.

PubMed

Chen, C; Li, H; Zhou, X; Wong, S T C

2008-05-01

Image-based, high throughput genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) experiments are increasingly carried out to facilitate the understanding of gene functions in intricate biological processes. Automated screening of such experiments generates a large number of images with great variations in image quality, which makes manual analysis unreasonably time-consuming. Therefore, effective techniques for automatic image analysis are urgently needed, in which segmentation is one of the most important steps. This paper proposes a fully automatic method for cells segmentation in genome-wide RNAi screening images. The method consists of two steps: nuclei and cytoplasm segmentation. Nuclei are extracted and labelled to initialize cytoplasm segmentation. Since the quality of RNAi image is rather poor, a novel scale-adaptive steerable filter is designed to enhance the image in order to extract long and thin protrusions on the spiky cells. Then, constraint factor GCBAC method and morphological algorithms are combined to be an integrated method to segment tight clustered cells. Compared with the results obtained by using seeded watershed and the ground truth, that is, manual labelling results by experts in RNAi screening data, our method achieves higher accuracy. Compared with active contour methods, our method consumes much less time. The positive results indicate that the proposed method can be applied in automatic image analysis of multi-channel image screening data.

Developmental Dyscalculia and Automatic Magnitudes Processing: Investigating Interference Effects between Area and Perimeter.

PubMed

Eidlin-Levy, Hili; Rubinsten, Orly

2017-01-01

The relationship between numbers and other magnitudes has been extensively investigated in the scientific literature. Here, the objectives were to examine whether two continuous magnitudes, area and perimeter, are automatically processed and whether adults with developmental dyscalculia (DD) are deficient in their ability to automatically process one or both of these magnitudes. Fifty-seven students (30 with DD and 27 with typical development) performed a novel Stroop-like task requiring estimation of one aspect (area or perimeter) while ignoring the other. In order to track possible changes in automaticity due to practice, we measured performance after initial and continuous exposure to stimuli. Similar to previous findings, current results show a significant group × congruency interaction, evident beyond exposure level or magnitude type. That is, the DD group systematically showed larger Stroop effects. However, analysis of each exposure period showed that during initial exposure to stimuli the DD group showed larger Stroop effects in the perimeter and not in the area task. In contrast, during continuous exposure to stimuli no triple interaction was evident. It is concluded that both magnitudes are automatically processed. Nevertheless, individuals with DD are deficient in inhibiting irrelevant magnitude information in general and, specifically, struggle to inhibit salient area information after initial exposure to a perimeter comparison task. Accordingly, the findings support the assumption that DD involves a deficiency in multiple cognitive components, which include domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions.

Developmental Dyscalculia and Automatic Magnitudes Processing: Investigating Interference Effects between Area and Perimeter

PubMed Central

Eidlin-Levy, Hili; Rubinsten, Orly

2017-01-01

The relationship between numbers and other magnitudes has been extensively investigated in the scientific literature. Here, the objectives were to examine whether two continuous magnitudes, area and perimeter, are automatically processed and whether adults with developmental dyscalculia (DD) are deficient in their ability to automatically process one or both of these magnitudes. Fifty-seven students (30 with DD and 27 with typical development) performed a novel Stroop-like task requiring estimation of one aspect (area or perimeter) while ignoring the other. In order to track possible changes in automaticity due to practice, we measured performance after initial and continuous exposure to stimuli. Similar to previous findings, current results show a significant group × congruency interaction, evident beyond exposure level or magnitude type. That is, the DD group systematically showed larger Stroop effects. However, analysis of each exposure period showed that during initial exposure to stimuli the DD group showed larger Stroop effects in the perimeter and not in the area task. In contrast, during continuous exposure to stimuli no triple interaction was evident. It is concluded that both magnitudes are automatically processed. Nevertheless, individuals with DD are deficient in inhibiting irrelevant magnitude information in general and, specifically, struggle to inhibit salient area information after initial exposure to a perimeter comparison task. Accordingly, the findings support the assumption that DD involves a deficiency in multiple cognitive components, which include domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions. PMID:29312066

76 FR 5563 - Initiation of Five-Year (“Sunset”) Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-01

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Initiation of Five-Year (``Sunset'') Review AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. SUMMARY... of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating a five-year review (``Sunset Review...

78 FR 39256 - Initiation of Five-Year (“Sunset”) Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-01

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Initiation of Five-Year (``Sunset'') Review AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. SUMMARY... of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating five-year reviews (``Sunset Reviews...

Priming production: Neural evidence for enhanced automatic semantic activity preceding language production in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Kuperberg, Gina R; Delaney-Busch, Nathaniel; Fanucci, Kristina; Blackford, Trevor

2018-01-01

Lexico-semantic disturbances are considered central to schizophrenia. Clinically, their clearest manifestation is in language production. However, most studies probing their underlying mechanisms have used comprehension or categorization tasks. Here, we probed automatic semantic activity prior to language production in schizophrenia using event-related potentials (ERPs). 19 people with schizophrenia and 16 demographically-matched healthy controls named target pictures that were very quickly preceded by masked prime words. To probe automatic semantic activity prior to production, we measured the N400 ERP component evoked by these targets. To determine the origin of any automatic semantic abnormalities, we manipulated the type of relationship between prime and target such that they overlapped in (a) their semantic features (semantically related, e.g. "cake" preceding a < picture of a pie >, (b) their initial phonemes (phonemically related, e.g. "stomach" preceding a < picture of a starfish >), or (c) both their semantic features and their orthographic/phonological word form (identity related, e.g. "socks" preceding a < picture of socks >). For each of these three types of relationship, the same targets were paired with unrelated prime words (counterbalanced across lists). We contrasted ERPs and naming times to each type of related target with its corresponding unrelated target. People with schizophrenia showed abnormal N400 modulation prior to naming identity related (versus unrelated) targets: whereas healthy control participants produced a smaller amplitude N400 to identity related than unrelated targets, patients showed the opposite pattern, producing a larger N400 to identity related than unrelated targets. This abnormality was specific to the identity related targets. Just like healthy control participants, people with schizophrenia produced a smaller N400 to semantically related than to unrelated targets, and showed no difference in the N400 evoked by phonemically related and unrelated targets. There were no differences between the two groups in the pattern of naming times across conditions. People with schizophrenia can show abnormal neural activity associated with automatic semantic processing prior to language production. The specificity of this abnormality to the identity related targets suggests that that, rather than arising from abnormalities of either semantic features or lexical form alone, it may stem from disruptions of mappings (connections) between the meaning of words and their form.

FIREFLY LUCIFERASE ATP ASSAY DEVELOPMENT FOR MONITORING BACTERIAL CONCENTRATIONS IN WATER SUPPLIES

EPA Science Inventory

This research program was initiated to develop a rapid, automatable system for measuring total viable microorganisms in potable drinking water supplies using the firefly luciferase ATP assay. The assay was adapted to an automatable flow system that provided comparable sensitivity...

Automatically activated shame reactions and perceived legitimacy of discrimination: A longitudinal study among people with mental illness

PubMed Central

Rüsch, Nicolas; Todd, Andrew R.; Bodenhausen, Galen V.; Olschewski, Manfred; Corrigan, Patrick W.

2009-01-01

Perceived legitimacy of discrimination shapes reactions to mental illness stigma among stigmatized individuals. We assessed deliberately endorsed versus automatic shame-related reactions to mental illness as predictors of change in perceived legitimacy of discrimination over six months among 75 people with mental illness. Automatically activated shame-related associations with mental illness were measured using the Brief Implicit Association Test, deliberately endorsed beliefs via self-report. Controlling for depression and perceived stigma, stronger baseline automatic shame-related associations, but not deliberately endorsed beliefs, predicted higher perceived legitimacy of discrimination after six months. Automatically activated shame reactions may increase vulnerability to mental illness stigma. PMID:19897173

The Automatic and Controlled Processing of Temporal and Spatial Patterns.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-02-01

Schneider, 1977; Laberge , 1973, 1975). There is a need to expand automatic processing to inputs where an event is defined by a sequence of stimuli. In this...that found by LaBerge (1973). In the LaBerge experiment, subjects were tested on both familiar and unfamiliar characters. For the familiar characters... LaBerge argued that the separate features were unitized into letters automatically. For unfamiliar characters, subjects could not initially

[Central Pattern Generators: Mechanisms of the Activity and Their Role in the Control of "Automatic" Movements].

PubMed

Arshavsky, I; Deliagina, T G; Orlovsky, G N

2015-01-01

Central pattern generators (CPGs) are a set of interconnected neurons capable of generating a basic pattern of motor output underlying "automatic" movements (breathing, locomotion, chewing, swallowing, and so on) in the absence of afferent signals from the executive motor apparatus. They can be divided into the constitutive CPGs active throughout the entire lifetime (respiratory CPGs) and conditional CPGs controlling episodic movements (locomotion, chewing, swallowing, and others). Since a motor output of CPGs is determined by their internal organization, the activities of the conditional CPGs are initiated by simple commands coming from higher centers. We describe the structural and functional organization of the locomotor CPGs in the marine mollusk Clione limacina, lamprey, frog embryo, and laboratory mammals (cat, mouse, and rat), CPGs controlling the respiratory and swallowing movements in mammals, and CPGs controlling discharges of the electric organ in the gymnotiform fish. It is shown that in all these cases, the generation of rhythmic motor output is based both on the endogenous (pacemaker) activity of specific groups of interneurons and on interneural interactions. These two interrelated mechanisms complement each other, ensuring the high reliability of CPG functionality. We discuss how the experience obtained in studying CPGs can be used to understand mechanisms of more complex functions of the brain, including its cognitive functions.

Patterns in Crew-Initiated Photography of Earth from ISS - Is Earth Observation a Salutogenic Experience?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Julie A.; Slack, Kelley J.; Olson, Valerie A.; Trenchard, Mike; Willis, Kim; Baskin, Pam; Ritsher, Jennifer Boyd

2006-01-01

To provide for the well-being of crewmembers on future exploration missions, understanding how space station crewmembers handle the inherently stressful isolation and confinement during long-duration missions is important. A recent retrospective survey of previously flown astronauts found that the most commonly reported psychologically enriching aspects of spaceflight had to do with their Perceptions of Earth. Crewmembers onboard the International Space Station (ISS) photograph Earth through the station windows. Some of these photographs are in response to requests from scientists on the ground through the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) payload. Other photographs taken by crewmembers have not been in response to these formal requests. The automatically recorded data from the camera provides a dataset that can be used to test hypotheses about factors correlated with self-initiated crewmember photography. The present study used objective in-flight data to corroborate the previous questionnaire finding and to further investigate the nature of voluntary Earth-Observation activity. We examined the distribution of photographs with respect to time, crew, and subject matter. We also determined whether the frequency fluctuated in conjunction with major mission events such as vehicle dockings, and extra-vehicular activities (EVAs, or spacewalks), relative to the norm for the relevant crew. We also examined the influence of geographic and temporal patterns on frequency of Earth photography activities. We tested the hypotheses that there would be peak photography intensity over locations of personal interest, and on weekends. From December 2001 through October 2005 (Expeditions 4-11) crewmembers took 144,180 photographs of Earth with time and date automatically recorded by the camera. Of the time-stamped photographs, 84.5% were crew-initiated, and not in response to CEO requests. Preliminary analysis indicated some phasing in patterns of photography during the course of a mission (significant quadratic and trimodal models). There was also a small but significant increase in photo activity on the weekends. In contrast, fewer photos were taken during major station events and for a period of time immediately preceding those events. Data on photography patterns presented here represent a relatively objective group-level measure of Earth observing activities on ISS. Crew Earth Observations offers a self-initiated positive activity that may be important in salutogenesis (maintenance of well-being) of astronauts on long-duration missions. Consideration should be given to developing substitute activities for crewmembers in future exploration missions where there will not be the opportunity to look at Earth, such as on long-duration transits to Mars.

Attention to Automatic Movements in Parkinson's Disease: Modified Automatic Mode in the Striatum

PubMed Central

Wu, Tao; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Hejia; Hallett, Mark; Zheng, Zheng; Chan, Piu

2015-01-01

We investigated neural correlates when attending to a movement that could be made automatically in healthy subjects and Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Subjects practiced a visuomotor association task until they could perform it automatically, and then directed their attention back to the automated task. Functional MRI was obtained during the early-learning, automatic stage, and when re-attending. In controls, attention to automatic movement induced more activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex, and rostral supplementary motor area. The motor cortex received more influence from the cortical motor association regions. In contrast, the pattern of the activity and connectivity of the striatum remained at the level of the automatic stage. In PD patients, attention enhanced activity in the DLPFC, premotor cortex, and cerebellum, but the connectivity from the putamen to the motor cortex decreased. Our findings demonstrate that, in controls, when a movement achieves the automatic stage, attention can influence the attentional networks and cortical motor association areas, but has no apparent effect on the striatum. In PD patients, attention induces a shift from the automatic mode back to the controlled pattern within the striatum. The shifting between controlled and automatic behaviors relies in part on striatal function. PMID:24925772

Masked Priming Effects in Aphasia: Evidence for Altered Automatic Spreading Activation

PubMed Central

Silkes, JoAnn P.; Rogers, Margaret A.

2015-01-01

Purpose Previous research has suggested that impairments of automatic spreading activation may underlie some aphasic language deficits. This study further investigated the status of automatic spreading activation in individuals with aphasia as compared with typical adults. Method Participants were 21 individuals with aphasia (12 fluent, 9 non-fluent) and 31 typical adults. Reaction time data were collected on a lexical decision task with masked repetition primes, assessed at 11 different interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Masked primes were used to assess automatic spreading activation without the confound of conscious processing. The various ISIs were used to assess the time to onset, and duration, of priming effects. Results The control group showed maximal priming in the 200 ms ISI condition, with significant priming at a range of ISIs surrounding that peak. Participants with both fluent and non-fluent aphasia showed maximal priming effects in the 250 ms ISI condition, and primed across a smaller range of ISIs than the control group. Conclusions Results suggest that individuals with aphasia have slowed automatic spreading activation, and impaired maintenance of activation over time, regardless of fluency classification. These findings have implications for understanding aphasic language impairment and for development of aphasia treatments designed directly address automatic language processes. PMID:22411281

Masked priming effects in aphasia: evidence of altered automatic spreading activation.

PubMed

Silkes, JoAnn P; Rogers, Margaret A

2012-12-01

Previous research has suggested that impairments of automatic spreading activation may underlie some aphasic language deficits. The current study further investigated the status of automatic spreading activation in individuals with aphasia as compared with typical adults. Participants were 21 individuals with aphasia (12 fluent, 9 nonfluent) and 31 typical adults. Reaction time data were collected on a lexical decision task with masked repetition primes, assessed at 11 different interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Masked primes were used to assess automatic spreading activation without the confound of conscious processing. The various ISIs were used to assess the time to onset and duration of priming effects. The control group showed maximal priming in the 200-ms ISI condition, with significant priming at a range of ISIs surrounding that peak. Participants with both fluent and nonfluent aphasia showed maximal priming effects in the 250-ms ISI condition and primed across a smaller range of ISIs than did the control group. Results suggest that individuals with aphasia have slowed automatic spreading activation and impaired maintenance of activation over time, regardless of fluency classification. These findings have implications for understanding aphasic language impairment and for development of aphasia treatments designed to directly address automatic language processes.

Automatic Rooftop Extraction in Stereo Imagery Using Distance and Building Shape Regularized Level Set Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, J.; Krauß, T.; d'Angelo, P.

2017-05-01

Automatic rooftop extraction is one of the most challenging problems in remote sensing image analysis. Classical 2D image processing techniques are expensive due to the high amount of features required to locate buildings. This problem can be avoided when 3D information is available. In this paper, we show how to fuse the spectral and height information of stereo imagery to achieve an efficient and robust rooftop extraction. In the first step, the digital terrain model (DTM) and in turn the normalized digital surface model (nDSM) is generated by using a newly step-edge approach. In the second step, the initial building locations and rooftop boundaries are derived by removing the low-level pixels and high-level pixels with higher probability to be trees and shadows. This boundary is then served as the initial level set function, which is further refined to fit the best possible boundaries through distance regularized level-set curve evolution. During the fitting procedure, the edge-based active contour model is adopted and implemented by using the edges indicators extracted from panchromatic image. The performance of the proposed approach is tested by using the WorldView-2 satellite data captured over Munich.

Graph-based active learning of agglomeration (GALA): a Python library to segment 2D and 3D neuroimages

PubMed Central

Nunez-Iglesias, Juan; Kennedy, Ryan; Plaza, Stephen M.; Chakraborty, Anirban; Katz, William T.

2014-01-01

The aim in high-resolution connectomics is to reconstruct complete neuronal connectivity in a tissue. Currently, the only technology capable of resolving the smallest neuronal processes is electron microscopy (EM). Thus, a common approach to network reconstruction is to perform (error-prone) automatic segmentation of EM images, followed by manual proofreading by experts to fix errors. We have developed an algorithm and software library to not only improve the accuracy of the initial automatic segmentation, but also point out the image coordinates where it is likely to have made errors. Our software, called gala (graph-based active learning of agglomeration), improves the state of the art in agglomerative image segmentation. It is implemented in Python and makes extensive use of the scientific Python stack (numpy, scipy, networkx, scikit-learn, scikit-image, and others). We present here the software architecture of the gala library, and discuss several designs that we consider would be generally useful for other segmentation packages. We also discuss the current limitations of the gala library and how we intend to address them. PMID:24772079

77 FR 5294 - Petition for Waiver of Compliance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-02

... automatic train supervision controls. This work initially includes certain tracks within PATH's Harrison... tracks, other yard tracks, and terminals as the Automatic Train Control (ATC, which is a type of PTC... the requirements of 49 CFR 235.5 to expedite successful installation of Positive Train Control (PTC...

Automatic PSO-Based Deformable Structures Markerless Tracking in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djaghloul, Haroun; Batouche, Mohammed; Jessel, Jean-Pierre

An automatic and markerless tracking method of deformable structures (digestive organs) during laparoscopic cholecystectomy intervention that uses the (PSO) behavour and the preoperative a priori knowledge is presented. The associated shape to the global best particles of the population determines a coarse representation of the targeted organ (the gallbladder) in monocular laparoscopic colored images. The swarm behavour is directed by a new fitness function to be optimized to improve the detection and tracking performance. The function is defined by a linear combination of two terms, namely, the human a priori knowledge term (H) and the particle's density term (D). Under the limits of standard (PSO) characteristics, experimental results on both synthetic and real data show the effectiveness and robustness of our method. Indeed, it outperforms existing methods without need of explicit initialization (such as active contours, deformable models and Gradient Vector Flow) on accuracy and convergence rate.

75 FR 5042 - Initiation of Five-year (“Sunset”) Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-01

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Initiation of Five-year (``Sunset... of Commerce (``the Department'') is automatically initiating a five-year review (``Sunset Review...'') is publishing concurrently with this notice its notice of Institution of Five-year Review which...

14 CFR 60.27 - Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification. 60.27 Section 60.27 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRMEN FLIGHT SIMULATION TRAINING DEVICE INITIAL AND...

14 CFR 60.27 - Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification. 60.27 Section 60.27 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRMEN FLIGHT SIMULATION TRAINING DEVICE INITIAL AND...

14 CFR 60.27 - Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification. 60.27 Section 60.27 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRMEN FLIGHT SIMULATION TRAINING DEVICE INITIAL AND...

14 CFR 60.27 - Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification. 60.27 Section 60.27 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRMEN FLIGHT SIMULATION TRAINING DEVICE INITIAL AND...

14 CFR 60.27 - Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Automatic loss of qualification and procedures for restoration of qualification. 60.27 Section 60.27 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRMEN FLIGHT SIMULATION TRAINING DEVICE INITIAL AND...

Fully automatic segmentation of femurs with medullary canal definition in high and in low resolution CT scans.

PubMed

Almeida, Diogo F; Ruben, Rui B; Folgado, João; Fernandes, Paulo R; Audenaert, Emmanuel; Verhegghe, Benedict; De Beule, Matthieu

2016-12-01

Femur segmentation can be an important tool in orthopedic surgical planning. However, in order to overcome the need of an experienced user with extensive knowledge on the techniques, segmentation should be fully automatic. In this paper a new fully automatic femur segmentation method for CT images is presented. This method is also able to define automatically the medullary canal and performs well even in low resolution CT scans. Fully automatic femoral segmentation was performed adapting a template mesh of the femoral volume to medical images. In order to achieve this, an adaptation of the active shape model (ASM) technique based on the statistical shape model (SSM) and local appearance model (LAM) of the femur with a novel initialization method was used, to drive the template mesh deformation in order to fit the in-image femoral shape in a time effective approach. With the proposed method a 98% convergence rate was achieved. For high resolution CT images group the average error is less than 1mm. For the low resolution image group the results are also accurate and the average error is less than 1.5mm. The proposed segmentation pipeline is accurate, robust and completely user free. The method is robust to patient orientation, image artifacts and poorly defined edges. The results excelled even in CT images with a significant slice thickness, i.e., above 5mm. Medullary canal segmentation increases the geometric information that can be used in orthopedic surgical planning or in finite element analysis. Copyright © 2016 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic motor activation in the executive control of action

PubMed Central

McBride, Jennifer; Boy, Frédéric; Husain, Masud; Sumner, Petroc

2012-01-01

Although executive control and automatic behavior have often been considered separate and distinct processes, there is strong emerging and convergent evidence that they may in fact be intricately interlinked. In this review, we draw together evidence showing that visual stimuli cause automatic and unconscious motor activation, and how this in turn has implications for executive control. We discuss object affordances, alien limb syndrome, the visual grasp reflex, subliminal priming, and subliminal triggering of attentional orienting. Consideration of these findings suggests automatic motor activation might form an intrinsic part of all behavior, rather than being categorically different from voluntary actions. PMID:22536177

BALANCE: Towards a Usable Pervasive Wellness Application with Accurate Activity Inference

PubMed Central

Denning, Tamara; Andrew, Adrienne; Chaudhri, Rohit; Hartung, Carl; Lester, Jonathan; Borriello, Gaetano; Duncan, Glen

2010-01-01

Technology offers the potential to objectively monitor people’s eating and activity behaviors and encourage healthier lifestyles. BALANCE is a mobile phone-based system for long term wellness management. The BALANCE system automatically detects the user’s caloric expenditure via sensor data from a Mobile Sensing Platform unit worn on the hip. Users manually enter information on foods eaten via an interface on an N95 mobile phone. Initial validation experiments measuring oxygen consumption during treadmill walking and jogging show that the system’s estimate of caloric output is within 87% of the actual value. Future work will refine and continue to evaluate the system’s efficacy and develop more robust data input and activity inference methods. PMID:20445819

Automatic inoculating apparatus. [includes movable carraige, drive motor, and swabbing motor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilkins, J. R.; Mills, S. M. (Inventor)

1974-01-01

An automatic inoculating apparatus for agar trays is described and using a simple inoculating element, such as a cotton swab or inoculating loop. The apparatus includes a movable carriage for supporting the tray to be inoculated, a drive motor for moving the tray along a trackway, and a swabbing motor for automatically swabbing the tray during the movement. An actuator motor controls lowering of the inoculating element onto the tray and lifting of the inoculating element. An electrical control system, including limit microswitches, enables automatic control of the actuator motor and return of the carriage to the initial position after inoculating is completed.

Quantification of regional fat volume in rat MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sacha, Jaroslaw P.; Cockman, Michael D.; Dufresne, Thomas E.; Trokhan, Darren

2003-05-01

Multiple initiatives in the pharmaceutical and beauty care industries are directed at identifying therapies for weight management. Body composition measurements are critical for such initiatives. Imaging technologies that can be used to measure body composition noninvasively include DXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Unlike other approaches, MRI provides the ability to perform localized measurements of fat distribution. Several factors complicate the automatic delineation of fat regions and quantification of fat volumes. These include motion artifacts, field non-uniformity, brightness and contrast variations, chemical shift misregistration, and ambiguity in delineating anatomical structures. We have developed an approach to deal practically with those challenges. The approach is implemented in a package, the Fat Volume Tool, for automatic detection of fat tissue in MR images of the rat abdomen, including automatic discrimination between abdominal and subcutaneous regions. We suppress motion artifacts using masking based on detection of implicit landmarks in the images. Adaptive object extraction is used to compensate for intensity variations. This approach enables us to perform fat tissue detection and quantification in a fully automated manner. The package can also operate in manual mode, which can be used for verification of the automatic analysis or for performing supervised segmentation. In supervised segmentation, the operator has the ability to interact with the automatic segmentation procedures to touch-up or completely overwrite intermediate segmentation steps. The operator's interventions steer the automatic segmentation steps that follow. This improves the efficiency and quality of the final segmentation. Semi-automatic segmentation tools (interactive region growing, live-wire, etc.) improve both the accuracy and throughput of the operator when working in manual mode. The quality of automatic segmentation has been evaluated by comparing the results of fully automated analysis to manual analysis of the same images. The comparison shows a high degree of correlation that validates the quality of the automatic segmentation approach.

Automatic selection of landmarks in T1-weighted head MRI with regression forests for image registration initialization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianing; Liu, Yuan; Noble, Jack H.; Dawant, Benoit M.

2017-02-01

Medical image registration establishes a correspondence between images of biological structures and it is at the core of many applications. Commonly used deformable image registration methods are dependent on a good preregistration initialization. The initialization can be performed by localizing homologous landmarks and calculating a point-based transformation between the images. The selection of landmarks is however important. In this work, we present a learning-based method to automatically find a set of robust landmarks in 3D MR image volumes of the head to initialize non-rigid transformations. To validate our method, these selected landmarks are localized in unknown image volumes and they are used to compute a smoothing thin-plate splines transformation that registers the atlas to the volumes. The transformed atlas image is then used as the preregistration initialization of an intensity-based non-rigid registration algorithm. We show that the registration accuracy of this algorithm is statistically significantly improved when using the presented registration initialization over a standard intensity-based affine registration.

Automatic segmentation of right ventricle on ultrasound images using sparse matrix transform and level set

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Xulei; Cong, Zhibin; Halig, Luma V.; Fei, Baowei

2013-03-01

An automatic framework is proposed to segment right ventricle on ultrasound images. This method can automatically segment both epicardial and endocardial boundaries from a continuous echocardiography series by combining sparse matrix transform (SMT), a training model, and a localized region based level set. First, the sparse matrix transform extracts main motion regions of myocardium as eigenimages by analyzing statistical information of these images. Second, a training model of right ventricle is registered to the extracted eigenimages in order to automatically detect the main location of the right ventricle and the corresponding transform relationship between the training model and the SMT-extracted results in the series. Third, the training model is then adjusted as an adapted initialization for the segmentation of each image in the series. Finally, based on the adapted initializations, a localized region based level set algorithm is applied to segment both epicardial and endocardial boundaries of the right ventricle from the whole series. Experimental results from real subject data validated the performance of the proposed framework in segmenting right ventricle from echocardiography. The mean Dice scores for both epicardial and endocardial boundaries are 89.1%+/-2.3% and 83.6+/-7.3%, respectively. The automatic segmentation method based on sparse matrix transform and level set can provide a useful tool for quantitative cardiac imaging.

Automated Robot Movement in the Mapped Area Using Fuzzy Logic for Wheel Chair Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siregar, B.; Efendi, S.; Ramadhana, H.; Andayani, U.; Fahmi, F.

2018-03-01

The difficulties of the disabled to move make them unable to live independently. People with disabilities need supporting device to move from place to place. For that, we proposed a solution that can help people with disabilities to move from one room to another automatically. This study aims to create a wheelchair prototype in the form of a wheeled robot as a means to learn the automatic mobilization. The fuzzy logic algorithm was used to determine motion direction based on initial position, ultrasonic sensors reading in avoiding obstacles, infrared sensors reading as a black line reader for the wheeled robot to move smooth and smartphone as a mobile controller. As a result, smartphones with the Android operating system can control the robot using Bluetooth. Here Bluetooth technology can be used to control the robot from a maximum distance of 15 meters. The proposed algorithm was able to work stable for automatic motion determination based on initial position, and also able to modernize the wheelchair movement from one room to another automatically.

Washington Camp-A New Site for TSU Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wade, Montanez A.

1997-02-01

The astronomy research program at Tennessee State University began in the Center of Excellence in Information Systems in 1988 with a grant from Marshall Space Flight Center. The initial research was to expand the investigation of Dr. D. S. Hall of Vanderbilt University on the behavior of chromospherically active (CA) stars utilizing automatic photometric telescopes (APT's)located in the southern Arizonan desert at the Smithsonian Institution's Mt. Hopkins Facility (Fred Whipple Observatory). The APT's were and are operated by Fairborn Observatory, a non-profit organization. Over the years the TSU program significantly expanded and by 1996 CASS astronomers managed four APT's at the Mt. Hopkins site: Fairborn 10-in, SAO/TSU 30- in, the Vanderbilt/TSU 16-in, and the TSU/SAO 32-in. In addition to CA star research, the program now includes observation of solar duplicates to better understand the Sun-climate connection, investigation of magnetic activity in cool stars, and verification of the existence of extra-solar planets. Observing schemes are programmed in Nashville and data are retrieved from the Arizona site via the Internet. With CASS funding TSU has under construction a 2-m automatic spectroscopic telescope (AST) and a 24-in automatic imaging telescope (AIT). Anticipating this expansion, Fairborn Observatory located a 40 acre site in Washington Camp, AZ to build its own expanded facility. This paper will present a brief history of the TSU astrophysics program including a cursory description of the research areas, the instrumentation utilized in data acquisition, and a description of the facilities.

Automated and objective action coding of facial expressions in patients with acute facial palsy.

PubMed

Haase, Daniel; Minnigerode, Laura; Volk, Gerd Fabian; Denzler, Joachim; Guntinas-Lichius, Orlando

2015-05-01

Aim of the present observational single center study was to objectively assess facial function in patients with idiopathic facial palsy with a new computer-based system that automatically recognizes action units (AUs) defined by the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Still photographs using posed facial expressions of 28 healthy subjects and of 299 patients with acute facial palsy were automatically analyzed for bilateral AU expression profiles. All palsies were graded with the House-Brackmann (HB) grading system and with the Stennert Index (SI). Changes of the AU profiles during follow-up were analyzed for 77 patients. The initial HB grading of all patients was 3.3 ± 1.2. SI at rest was 1.86 ± 1.3 and during motion 3.79 ± 4.3. Healthy subjects showed a significant AU asymmetry score of 21 ± 11 % and there was no significant difference to patients (p = 0.128). At initial examination of patients, the number of activated AUs was significantly lower on the paralyzed side than on the healthy side (p < 0.0001). The final examination for patients took place 4 ± 6 months post baseline. The number of activated AUs and the ratio between affected and healthy side increased significantly between baseline and final examination (both p < 0.0001). The asymmetry score decreased between baseline and final examination (p < 0.0001). The number of activated AUs on the healthy side did not change significantly (p = 0.779). Radical rethinking in facial grading is worthwhile: automated FACS delivers fast and objective global and regional data on facial motor function for use in clinical routine and clinical trials.

Automatic Image Registration of Multimodal Remotely Sensed Data with Global Shearlet Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, James M.; Le Moigne, Jacqueline; Harding, David J.

2015-01-01

Automatic image registration is the process of aligning two or more images of approximately the same scene with minimal human assistance. Wavelet-based automatic registration methods are standard, but sometimes are not robust to the choice of initial conditions. That is, if the images to be registered are too far apart relative to the initial guess of the algorithm, the registration algorithm does not converge or has poor accuracy, and is thus not robust. These problems occur because wavelet techniques primarily identify isotropic textural features and are less effective at identifying linear and curvilinear edge features. We integrate the recently developed mathematical construction of shearlets, which is more effective at identifying sparse anisotropic edges, with an existing automatic wavelet-based registration algorithm. Our shearlet features algorithm produces more distinct features than wavelet features algorithms; the separation of edges from textures is even stronger than with wavelets. Our algorithm computes shearlet and wavelet features for the images to be registered, then performs least squares minimization on these features to compute a registration transformation. Our algorithm is two-staged and multiresolution in nature. First, a cascade of shearlet features is used to provide a robust, though approximate, registration. This is then refined by registering with a cascade of wavelet features. Experiments across a variety of image classes show an improved robustness to initial conditions, when compared to wavelet features alone.

Automatic Image Registration of Multi-Modal Remotely Sensed Data with Global Shearlet Features

PubMed Central

Murphy, James M.; Le Moigne, Jacqueline; Harding, David J.

2017-01-01

Automatic image registration is the process of aligning two or more images of approximately the same scene with minimal human assistance. Wavelet-based automatic registration methods are standard, but sometimes are not robust to the choice of initial conditions. That is, if the images to be registered are too far apart relative to the initial guess of the algorithm, the registration algorithm does not converge or has poor accuracy, and is thus not robust. These problems occur because wavelet techniques primarily identify isotropic textural features and are less effective at identifying linear and curvilinear edge features. We integrate the recently developed mathematical construction of shearlets, which is more effective at identifying sparse anisotropic edges, with an existing automatic wavelet-based registration algorithm. Our shearlet features algorithm produces more distinct features than wavelet features algorithms; the separation of edges from textures is even stronger than with wavelets. Our algorithm computes shearlet and wavelet features for the images to be registered, then performs least squares minimization on these features to compute a registration transformation. Our algorithm is two-staged and multiresolution in nature. First, a cascade of shearlet features is used to provide a robust, though approximate, registration. This is then refined by registering with a cascade of wavelet features. Experiments across a variety of image classes show an improved robustness to initial conditions, when compared to wavelet features alone. PMID:29123329

Accuracy of two root canal length measurement devices integrated into rotary endodontic motors when removing gutta-percha from root-filled teeth.

PubMed

Uzun, O; Topuz, O; Tinaz, C; Nekoofar, M H; Dummer, P M H

2008-09-01

To evaluate ex vivo the accuracy of the integrated electronic root canal length measurement devices within TCM Endo V and Tri Auto ZX motors whilst removing gutta-percha and sealer from filled root canals. Forty freshly extracted maxillary and mandibular incisor teeth with mature apices were selected. Following access cavity preparation, the length of the root canals were measured visually 0.5 mm short of the major foramen (TL). The canals were prepared using the HERO 642 system and then filled with gutta-percha and AH26 sealer using a lateral compaction technique. After 7 days the coronal temporary filling was removed and the roots mounted in an alginate experimental model. The roots were then randomly divided in two groups. The access cavities were filled with chloroform to soften the gutta-percha and allow its penetration using the Tri Auto ZX and the TCM Endo V devices in groups 1 and 2, respectively. The 'automatic apical reverse function' (ARL) of both devices was set to start at the 0.5 setting and the rotary instrument inserted inside the root canal until a beeping sound was heard and the rotation of the file stopped automatically. Once the auto reverse function had been initiated, the foot pedal of the motor was inactivated and the rubber stop placed against the reference point. The distance between the file tip and rubber stop was measured using a digital calliper to 0.01 mm accuracy (ARL). Then, a size 20, 0.02 taper instrument was attached to each device and inserted into the root canals without rotary motion until the integrated ERCLMDs positioned the instrument tips at the 0.5 setting as suggested by the devices. This length was again measured using a digital calliper (EL). The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to investigate statistical differences between the true canal length and those indicated by the two devices when used in 'automatic ARL and when inserted passively (EL). In the presence of gutta-percha, sealer and chloroform, the auto-reverse function for the Tri Auto ZX and TCM Endo V, set to start at 0.5 level, was initiated beyond the foramen in 60% and 95% of the samples, respectively during active (rotary) penetration of the instruments. There was a statistically significant difference between the devices for the mean discrepancies between the length at which the auto reverse function was initiated and the true length (P < 0.001). Electronic detection of the apical terminus when the instruments were introduced passively (not rotating) was beyond the foramen in 20% and 37% of cases in the Tri Auto ZX group and the TCM Endo V group, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the devices for the mean discrepancies between the electronically determined (passive) length and true length (P < 0.01). The auto reverse function of the Tri Auto ZX and TCM Endo V devices, set to start at 0.5 level, were initiated beyond the foramen in the majority of root-filled teeth during active (rotating) penetration of root filling material. Thus, this automatic function must be used with caution when removing gutta-percha root fillings. There were significant differences between the accuracy of measurements in active (rotating) and passive (not-rotating) modes; both devices were more accurate when used in passive mode. However, the Tri Auto ZX was significantly more accurate in a greater proportion of cases.

A new code for automatic detection and analysis of the lineament patterns for geophysical and geological purposes (ADALGEO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soto-Pinto, C.; Arellano-Baeza, A.; Sánchez, G.

2013-08-01

We present a new numerical method for automatic detection and analysis of changes in lineament patterns caused by seismic and volcanic activities. The method is implemented as a series of modules: (i) normalization of the image contrast, (ii) extraction of small linear features (stripes) through convolution of the part of the image in the vicinity of each pixel with a circular mask or through Canny algorithm, and (iii) posterior detection of main lineaments using the Hough transform. We demonstrate that our code reliably detects changes in the lineament patterns related to the stress evolution in the Earth's crust: specifically, a significant number of new lineaments appear approximately one month before an earthquake, while one month after the earthquake the lineament configuration returns to its initial state. Application of our software to the deformations caused by volcanic activity yields the opposite results: the number of lineaments decreases with the onset of microseismicity. This discrepancy can be explained assuming that the plate tectonic earthquakes are caused by the compression and accumulation of stress in the Earth's crust due to subduction of tectonic plates, whereas in the case of volcanic activity we deal with the inflation of a volcano edifice due to elevation of pressure and magma intrusion and the resulting stretching of the surface.

A new fractional order derivative based active contour model for colon wall segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Bo; Li, Lihong C.; Wang, Huafeng; Wei, Xinzhou; Huang, Shan; Chen, Wensheng; Liang, Zhengrong

2018-02-01

Segmentation of colon wall plays an important role in advancing computed tomographic colonography (CTC) toward a screening modality. Due to the low contrast of CT attenuation around colon wall, accurate segmentation of the boundary of both inner and outer wall is very challenging. In this paper, based on the geodesic active contour model, we develop a new model for colon wall segmentation. First, tagged materials in CTC images were automatically removed via a partial volume (PV) based electronic colon cleansing (ECC) strategy. We then present a new fractional order derivative based active contour model to segment the volumetric colon wall from the cleansed CTC images. In this model, the regionbased Chan-Vese model is incorporated as an energy term to the whole model so that not only edge/gradient information but also region/volume information is taken into account in the segmentation process. Furthermore, a fractional order differentiation derivative energy term is also developed in the new model to preserve the low frequency information and improve the noise immunity of the new segmentation model. The proposed colon wall segmentation approach was validated on 16 patient CTC scans. Experimental results indicate that the present scheme is very promising towards automatically segmenting colon wall, thus facilitating computer aided detection of initial colonic polyp candidates via CTC.

Cyberspace security system

DOEpatents

Abercrombie, Robert K; Sheldon, Frederick T; Ferragut, Erik M

2014-06-24

A system evaluates reliability, performance and/or safety by automatically assessing the targeted system's requirements. A cost metric quantifies the impact of failures as a function of failure cost per unit of time. The metrics or measurements may render real-time (or near real-time) outcomes by initiating active response against one or more high ranked threats. The system may support or may be executed in many domains including physical domains, cyber security domains, cyber-physical domains, infrastructure domains, etc. or any other domains that are subject to a threat or a loss.

The Moon Village Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messina, Piero; Foing, Bernard H.; Hufenbach, Bernhard; Haignere, Claudie; Schrogl, Kai-Uwe

2016-07-01

The "Moon Village" concept Space exploration is anchored in the International Space Station and in the current and future automatic and planetary automatic and robotic missions that pave the way for future long-term exploration objectives. The Moon represents a prime choice for scientific, operational and programmatic reasons and could be the enterprise that federates all interested Nations. On these considerations ESA is currently elaborating the concept of a Moon Village as an ensemble where multiple users can carry out multiple activities. The Moon Village has the ambition to serve a number of objectives that have proven to be of interest (including astronomy, fundamental research, resources management, moon science, etc. ) to the space community and should be the catalyst of new alliances between public and private entities including non-space industries. Additionally the Moon Village should provide a strong inspirational and education tool for the younger generations . The Moon Village will rely both on automatic, robotic and human-tendered structures to achieve sustainable moon surface operations serving multiple purposes on an open-architecture basis. This Europe-inspired initiative should rally all communities (across scientific disciplines, nations, industries) and make it to the top of the political agendas as a the scientific and technological undertaking but also political and inspirational endeavour of the XXI century. The current reflections are of course based on the current activities and plans on board the ISS and the discussion held in international fora such as the ISECG. The paper will present the status of these reflections, also in view of the ESA Council at Ministerial Level 2016, and will give an overview of the on-going activities being carried out to enable the vision of a Moon Village.

An analysis of automatic human detection and tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demuth, Philipe R.; Cosmo, Daniel L.; Ciarelli, Patrick M.

2015-12-01

This paper presents an automatic method to detect and follow people on video streams. This method uses two techniques to determine the initial position of the person at the beginning of the video file: one based on optical flow and the other one based on Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG). After defining the initial bounding box, tracking is done using four different trackers: Median Flow tracker, TLD tracker, Mean Shift tracker and a modified version of the Mean Shift tracker using HSV color space. The results of the methods presented in this paper are then compared at the end of the paper.

Whole vertebral bone segmentation method with a statistical intensity-shape model based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanaoka, Shouhei; Fritscher, Karl; Schuler, Benedikt; Masutani, Yoshitaka; Hayashi, Naoto; Ohtomo, Kuni; Schubert, Rainer

2011-03-01

An automatic segmentation algorithm for the vertebrae in human body CT images is presented. Especially we focused on constructing and utilizing 4 different statistical intensity-shape combined models for the cervical, upper / lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, respectively. For this purpose, two previously reported methods were combined: a deformable model-based initial segmentation method and a statistical shape-intensity model-based precise segmentation method. The former is used as a pre-processing to detect the position and orientation of each vertebra, which determines the initial condition for the latter precise segmentation method. The precise segmentation method needs prior knowledge on both the intensities and the shapes of the objects. After PCA analysis of such shape-intensity expressions obtained from training image sets, vertebrae were parametrically modeled as a linear combination of the principal component vectors. The segmentation of each target vertebra was performed as fitting of this parametric model to the target image by maximum a posteriori estimation, combined with the geodesic active contour method. In the experimental result by using 10 cases, the initial segmentation was successful in 6 cases and only partially failed in 4 cases (2 in the cervical area and 2 in the lumbo-sacral). In the precise segmentation, the mean error distances were 2.078, 1.416, 0.777, 0.939 mm for cervical, upper and lower thoracic, lumbar spines, respectively. In conclusion, our automatic segmentation algorithm for the vertebrae in human body CT images showed a fair performance for cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae.

What Automaticity Deficit? Activation of Lexical Information by Readers with Dyslexia in a Rapid Automatized Naming Stroop-Switch Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Manon W.; Snowling, Margaret J.; Moll, Kristina

2016-01-01

Reading fluency is often predicted by rapid automatized naming (RAN) speed, which as the name implies, measures the automaticity with which familiar stimuli (e.g., letters) can be retrieved and named. Readers with dyslexia are considered to have less "automatized" access to lexical information, reflected in longer RAN times compared with…

Assisting People with Developmental Disabilities to Improve Pointing Efficiency with an Automatic Pointing Assistive Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Hsu, Nai-Yun; Shih, Ching-Tien

2009-01-01

This study evaluated whether two children with developmental disabilities would be able to improve their pointing performance through an Automatic Pointing Assistive Program (APAP) and a newly developed mouse driver (i.e. a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, and is able to intercept mouse click action). Initially, both participants…

Automatic firearm class identification from cartridge cases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamalakannan, Sridharan; Mann, Christopher J.; Bingham, Philip R.; Karnowski, Thomas P.; Gleason, Shaun S.

2011-03-01

We present a machine vision system for automatic identification of the class of firearms by extracting and analyzing two significant properties from spent cartridge cases, namely the Firing Pin Impression (FPI) and the Firing Pin Aperture Outline (FPAO). Within the framework of the proposed machine vision system, a white light interferometer is employed to image the head of the spent cartridge cases. As a first step of the algorithmic procedure, the Primer Surface Area (PSA) is detected using a circular Hough transform. Once the PSA is detected, a customized statistical region-based parametric active contour model is initialized around the center of the PSA and evolved to segment the FPI. Subsequently, the scaled version of the segmented FPI is used to initialize a customized Mumford-Shah based level set model in order to segment the FPAO. Once the shapes of FPI and FPAO are extracted, a shape-based level set method is used in order to compare these extracted shapes to an annotated dataset of FPIs and FPAOs from varied firearm types. A total of 74 cartridge case images non-uniformly distributed over five different firearms are processed using the aforementioned scheme and the promising nature of the results (95% classification accuracy) demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.

Design of Complex BPF with Automatic Digital Tuning Circuit for Low-IF Receivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kondo, Hideaki; Sawada, Masaru; Murakami, Norio; Masui, Shoichi

This paper describes the architecture and implementations of an automatic digital tuning circuit for a complex bandpass filter (BPF) in a low-power and low-cost transceiver for applications such as personal authentication and wireless sensor network systems. The architectural design analysis demonstrates that an active RC filter in a low-IF architecture can be at least 47.7% smaller in area than a conventional gm-C filter; in addition, it features a simple implementation of an associated tuning circuit. The principle of simultaneous tuning of both the center frequency and bandwidth through calibration of a capacitor array is illustrated as based on an analysis of filter characteristics, and a scalable automatic digital tuning circuit with simple analog blocks and control logic having only 835 gates is introduced. The developed capacitor tuning technique can achieve a tuning error of less than ±3.5% and lower a peaking in the passband filter characteristics. An experimental complex BPF using 0.18µm CMOS technology can successfully reduce the tuning error from an initial value of -20% to less than ±2.5% after tuning. The filter block dimensions are 1.22mm × 1.01mm; and in measurement results of the developed complex BPF with the automatic digital tuning circuit, current consumption is 705µA and the image rejection ratio is 40.3dB. Complete evaluation of the BPF indicates that this technique can be applied to low-power, low-cost transceivers.

Online automatic tuning and control for fed-batch cultivation

PubMed Central

van Straten, Gerrit; van der Pol, Leo A.; van Boxtel, Anton J. B.

2007-01-01

Performance of controllers applied in biotechnological production is often below expectation. Online automatic tuning has the capability to improve control performance by adjusting control parameters. This work presents automatic tuning approaches for model reference specific growth rate control during fed-batch cultivation. The approaches are direct methods that use the error between observed specific growth rate and its set point; systematic perturbations of the cultivation are not necessary. Two automatic tuning methods proved to be efficient, in which the adaptation rate is based on a combination of the error, squared error and integral error. These methods are relatively simple and robust against disturbances, parameter uncertainties, and initialization errors. Application of the specific growth rate controller yields a stable system. The controller and automatic tuning methods are qualified by simulations and laboratory experiments with Bordetella pertussis. PMID:18157554

Shape based segmentation of MRIs of the bones in the knee using phase and intensity information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fripp, Jurgen; Bourgeat, Pierrick; Crozier, Stuart; Ourselin, Sébastien

2007-03-01

The segmentation of the bones from MR images is useful for performing subsequent segmentation and quantitative measurements of cartilage tissue. In this paper, we present a shape based segmentation scheme for the bones that uses texture features derived from the phase and intensity information in the complex MR image. The phase can provide additional information about the tissue interfaces, but due to the phase unwrapping problem, this information is usually discarded. By using a Gabor filter bank on the complex MR image, texture features (including phase) can be extracted without requiring phase unwrapping. These texture features are then analyzed using a support vector machine classifier to obtain probability tissue matches. The segmentation of the bone is fully automatic and performed using a 3D active shape model based approach driven using gradient and texture information. The 3D active shape model is automatically initialized using a robust affine registration. The approach is validated using a database of 18 FLASH MR images that are manually segmented, with an average segmentation overlap (Dice similarity coefficient) of 0.92 compared to 0.9 obtained using the classifier only.

Quality of life and sexuality issues in aging women.

PubMed

Birkhäuser, M H

2009-01-01

Quality of life may decrease after menopause. Hormone replacement therapy remains the first-line and most effective treatment for menopausal symptoms and improvement of low quality of life due to estrogen deficiency. The decrease of health-related quality of life in women suffering from cardiovascular disease may be superimposed on the decrease of quality of life induced by menopause itself. Postmenopausal women with acute cardiovascular disease have a significantly higher probability of death than men of the same age. Quality of life predicts long-term mortality. A myocardial infarction does not automatically interdict sexual activity. The Princeton guidelines classify patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases in three categories. Most patients belong to the low-risk category. In general, these patients can be safely encouraged to initiate or resume sexual activity or to receive treatment for sexual dysfunction. Patients at intermediate (or indeterminate) levels of risk should further receive cardiologic evaluation to be classified into either the low- or high-risk group. Patients in the high-risk category have to be stabilized by specific treatment for their cardiac condition before resumption of sexual activity, or initiation of treatment for sexual dysfunction.

Cognitive-Affective Dimensions of Female Orgasm: The Role of Automatic Thoughts and Affect During Sexual Activity.

PubMed

Tavares, Inês M; Laan, Ellen T M; Nobre, Pedro J

2017-06-01

Cognitive-affective factors contribute to female sexual dysfunctions, defined as clinically significant difficulties in the ability to respond sexually or to experience sexual pleasure. Automatic thoughts and affect presented during sexual activity are acknowledged as maintenance factors for these difficulties. However, there is a lack of studies on the influence of these cognitive-affective dimensions regarding female orgasm. To assess the role of automatic thoughts and affect during sexual activity in predicting female orgasm occurrence and to investigate the mediator role of these variables in the relation between sexual activity and orgasm occurrence. Nine hundred twenty-six sexually active heterosexual premenopausal women reported on frequency of sexual activities and frequency of orgasm occurrence, cognitive factors, and social desirability. Participants completed the Sexual Modes Questionnaire-Automatic Thoughts Subscale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Socially Desirable Response Set. Multiple linear regressions and mediation analyses were performed, controlling for the effect of covariates such as social desirability, sociodemographic and medical characteristics, and relationship factors. The main outcome measurement was orgasm frequency as predicted and mediated by automatic thoughts and affect experienced during sexual activities. The presence of failure thoughts and lack of erotic thoughts during sexual activity significantly and negatively predicted female orgasm, whereas positive affect experienced during sexual activity significantly and positively predicted female orgasm. Moreover, negative automatic thoughts and positive affect during sexual activity were found to mediate the relation between sexual activity and female orgasm occurrence. These data suggest that the cognitive aspects of sexual involvement are critical to enhancing female orgasm experience and can aid the development of strategies that contemplate the central role of automatic thoughts and of positive emotions experienced during sexual activity. Data were not collected face to face, which constitutes a strength of this study, because it is known that social desirability is lower in self-administered online questionnaires compared with traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaires, particularly for more sensitive sexual issues. The fact that the sample was composed of heterosexual, premenopausal, and relatively young women demands some caution regarding generalization of the present results. The findings support the contribution of cognitive and affective factors to female orgasmic functioning. It is recommended that future research confirm these findings with other samples, particularly clinical samples of women with orgasmic difficulties. Tavares IM, Laan ETM, Nobre PJ. Cognitive-Affective Dimensions of Female Orgasm: The Role of Automatic Thoughts and Affect During Sexual Activity. J Sex Med 2017;14:818-828. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Striving to be known by significant others: automatic activation of self-verification goals in relationship contexts.

PubMed

Kraus, Michael W; Chen, Serena

2009-07-01

Extending research on the automatic activation of goals associated with significant others, the authors hypothesized that self-verification goals typically pursued with significant others are automatically elicited when a significant-other representation is activated. Supporting this hypothesis, the activation of a significant-other representation through priming (Experiments 1 and 3) or through a transference encounter (Experiment 2) led participants to seek feedback that verifies their preexisting self-views. Specifically, significant-other primed participants desired self-verifying feedback, in general (Experiment 1), from an upcoming interaction partner (Experiment 2), and relative to acquaintance-primed participants and favorable feedback (Experiment 3). Finally, self-verification goals were activated, especially for relational self-views deemed high in importance to participants' self-concepts (Experiment 2) and held with high certainty (Experiment 3). Implications for research on self-evaluative goals, the relational self, and the automatic goal activation literature are discussed, as are consequences for close relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Pre-Session Satiation as a Treatment for Stereotypy During Group Activities.

PubMed

Rispoli, Mandy; Camargo, Síglia Hoher; Neely, Leslie; Gerow, Stephanie; Lang, Russell; Goodwyn, Fara; Ninci, Jennifer

2014-05-01

Individuals with developmental disabilities may engage in automatically reinforced behaviors that may interfere with learning opportunities. Manipulation of motivating operations has been shown to reduce automatically maintained behavior in some individuals. Considering behavioral indicators of satiation may assist in identifying the point at which an abolishing operation has begun to effect behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of pre-session satiation of automatic reinforcement on subsequent levels of stereotypy and activity engagement during group activities for three males ages 5 to 13 years with developmental disabilities. Following functional analyses with analogue conditions, an alternating treatment design compared a pre-session access to stereotypy condition with a no-pre-session access condition prior to group activity sessions. Results indicated that pre-session satiation of the putative reinforcer produced by stereotypy was effective in decreasing stereotypy and increasing activity engagement during subsequent group activities for all participants. These findings add to the literature supporting the effectiveness of abolishing operations to decrease automatically maintained stereotypy. © The Author(s) 2013.

National Highway Safety Administration. Automatic collision notice field test summary.

PubMed

2001-10-01

From 1995 to 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsored an initiative to create and operate an Automatic Collision Notification (ACN) system on a demonstration basis in a rural area to provide faster and smarter emergency medical responses and in an attempt to save lives and reduce disabilities from injuries. This article is a brief summary of that demonstration.

Automatic Color Sorting of Hardwood Edge-Glued Panel Parts

Treesearch

D. Earl Kline; Richard Conners; Qiang Lu; Philip A. Araman

1997-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color sorting system for red oak edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "best" color, and sorts the part into one of a number of color classes at plant production speeds. Initial test results show that the system generated over...

Assisting People with Multiple Disabilities by Improving Their Computer Pointing Efficiency with an Automatic Target Acquisition Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Shih, Ching-Tien; Peng, Chin-Ling

2011-01-01

This study evaluated whether two people with multiple disabilities would be able to improve their pointing performance through an Automatic Target Acquisition Program (ATAP) and a newly developed mouse driver (i.e. a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, and is able to monitor mouse movement and intercept click action). Initially, both…

16 CFR 3.52 - Appeal from initial decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Appeal from initial decision. 3.52 Section 3.52 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ORGANIZATION, PROCEDURES AND RULES OF PRACTICE RULES OF PRACTICE FOR ADJUDICATIVE PROCEEDINGS Decision § 3.52 Appeal from initial decision. (a) Automatic review of cases in which the Commission sough...

Toward a noninvasive automatic seizure control system in rats with transcranial focal stimulations via tripolar concentric ring electrodes

PubMed Central

Makeyev, Oleksandr; Liu, Xiang; Luna-Munguía, Hiram; Rogel-Salazar, Gabriela; Mucio-Ramirez, Samuel; Liu, Yuhong; Sun, Yan L.; Kay, Steven M.; Besio, Walter G.

2012-01-01

Epilepsy affects approximately one percent of the world population. Antiepileptic drugs are ineffective in approximately 30% of patients and have side effects. We are developing a noninvasive, or minimally invasive, transcranial focal electrical stimulation system through our novel tripolar concentric ring electrodes to control seizures. In this study we demonstrate feasibility of an automatic seizure control system in rats with pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures through single and multiple stimulations. These stimulations are automatically triggered by a real-time electrographic seizure activity detector based on a disjunctive combination of detections from a cumulative sum algorithm and a generalized likelihood ratio test. An average seizure onset detection accuracy of 76.14% was obtained for the test set (n = 13). Detection of electrographic seizure activity was accomplished in advance of the early behavioral seizure activity in 76.92% of the cases. Automatically triggered stimulation significantly (p = 0.001) reduced the electrographic seizure activity power in the once stimulated group compared to controls in 70% of the cases. To the best of our knowledge this is the first closed-loop automatic seizure control system based on noninvasive electrical brain stimulation using tripolar concentric ring electrode electrographic seizure activity as feedback. PMID:22772373

Toward a noninvasive automatic seizure control system in rats with transcranial focal stimulations via tripolar concentric ring electrodes.

PubMed

Makeyev, Oleksandr; Liu, Xiang; Luna-Munguía, Hiram; Rogel-Salazar, Gabriela; Mucio-Ramirez, Samuel; Liu, Yuhong; Sun, Yan L; Kay, Steven M; Besio, Walter G

2012-07-01

Epilepsy affects approximately 1% of the world population. Antiepileptic drugs are ineffective in approximately 30% of patients and have side effects. We are developing a noninvasive, or minimally invasive, transcranial focal electrical stimulation system through our novel tripolar concentric ring electrodes to control seizures. In this study, we demonstrate feasibility of an automatic seizure control system in rats with pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures through single and multiple stimulations. These stimulations are automatically triggered by a real-time electrographic seizure activity detector based on a disjunctive combination of detections from a cumulative sum algorithm and a generalized likelihood ratio test. An average seizure onset detection accuracy of 76.14% was obtained for the test set (n = 13). Detection of electrographic seizure activity was accomplished in advance of the early behavioral seizure activity in 76.92% of the cases. Automatically triggered stimulation significantly (p = 0.001) reduced the electrographic seizure activity power in the once stimulated group compared to controls in 70% of the cases. To the best of our knowledge this is the first closed-loop automatic seizure control system based on noninvasive electrical brain stimulation using tripolar concentric ring electrode electrographic seizure activity as feedback.

Reward Value-Contingent Changes of Visual Responses in the Primate Caudate Tail Associated with a Visuomotor Skill

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyoung F.; Hikosaka, Okihide

2013-01-01

A goal-directed action aiming at an incentive outcome, if repeated, becomes a skill that may be initiated automatically. We now report that the tail of the caudate nucleus (CDt) may serve to control a visuomotor skill. Monkeys looked at many fractal objects, half of which were always associated with a large reward (high-valued objects) and the other half with a small reward (low-valued objects). After several daily sessions, they developed a gaze bias, looking at high-valued objects even when no reward was associated. CDt neurons developed a response bias, typically showing stronger responses to high-valued objects. In contrast, their responses showed no change when object values were reversed frequently, although monkeys showed a strong gaze bias, looking at high-valued objects in a goal-directed manner. The biased activity of CDt neurons may be transmitted to the oculomotor region so that animals can choose high-valued objects automatically based on stable reward experiences. PMID:23825426

Automatic Synthetic Aperture Radar based oil spill detection and performance estimation via a semi-automatic operational service benchmark.

PubMed

Singha, Suman; Vespe, Michele; Trieschmann, Olaf

2013-08-15

Today the health of ocean is in danger as it was never before mainly due to man-made pollutions. Operational activities show regular occurrence of accidental and deliberate oil spill in European waters. Since the areas covered by oil spills are usually large, satellite remote sensing particularly Synthetic Aperture Radar represents an effective option for operational oil spill detection. This paper describes the development of a fully automated approach for oil spill detection from SAR. Total of 41 feature parameters extracted from each segmented dark spot for oil spill and 'look-alike' classification and ranked according to their importance. The classification algorithm is based on a two-stage processing that combines classification tree analysis and fuzzy logic. An initial evaluation of this methodology on a large dataset has been carried out and degree of agreement between results from proposed algorithm and human analyst was estimated between 85% and 93% respectively for ENVISAT and RADARSAT. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a high-resolution automatic digital (urine/electrolytes) flow volume and rate measurement system of miniature size

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, F. F.

1975-01-01

To aid in the quantitative analysis of man's physiological rhythms, a flowmeter to measure circadian patterns of electrolyte excretion during various environmental stresses was developed. One initial flowmeter was designed and fabricated, the sensor of which is the approximate size of a wristwatch. The detector section includes a special type of dielectric integrating type sensor which automatically controls, activates, and deactivates the flow sensor data output by determining the presence or absence of fluid flow in the system, including operation under zero-G conditions. The detector also provides qualitative data on the composition of the fluid. A compact electronic system was developed to indicate flow rate as well as total volume per release or the cumulative volume of several releases in digital/analog forms suitable for readout or telemetry. A suitable data readout instrument is also provided. Calibration and statistical analyses of the performance functions required of the flowmeter were also conducted.

Automatic vasculature identification in coronary angiograms by adaptive geometrical tracking.

PubMed

Xiao, Ruoxiu; Yang, Jian; Goyal, Mahima; Liu, Yue; Wang, Yongtian

2013-01-01

As the uneven distribution of contrast agents and the perspective projection principle of X-ray, the vasculatures in angiographic image are with low contrast and are generally superposed with other organic tissues; therefore, it is very difficult to identify the vasculature and quantitatively estimate the blood flow directly from angiographic images. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic algorithm named adaptive geometrical vessel tracking (AGVT) for coronary artery identification in X-ray angiograms. Initially, the ridge enhancement (RE) image is obtained utilizing multiscale Hessian information. Then, automatic initialization procedures including seed points detection, and initial directions determination are performed on the RE image. The extracted ridge points can be adjusted to the geometrical centerline points adaptively through diameter estimation. Bifurcations are identified by discriminating connecting relationship of the tracked ridge points. Finally, all the tracked centerlines are merged and smoothed by classifying the connecting components on the vascular structures. Synthetic angiographic images and clinical angiograms are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm is compared with other two vascular tracking techniques in terms of the efficiency and accuracy, which demonstrate successful applications of the proposed segmentation and extraction scheme in vasculature identification.

Tracking fuzzy borders using geodesic curves with application to liver segmentation on planning CT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yuan, Yading, E-mail: yading.yuan@mssm.edu; Chao, Ming; Sheu, Ren-Dih

Purpose: This work aims to develop a robust and efficient method to track the fuzzy borders between liver and the abutted organs where automatic liver segmentation usually suffers, and to investigate its applications in automatic liver segmentation on noncontrast-enhanced planning computed tomography (CT) images. Methods: In order to track the fuzzy liver–chestwall and liver–heart borders where oversegmentation is often found, a starting point and an ending point were first identified on the coronal view images; the fuzzy border was then determined as a geodesic curve constructed by minimizing the gradient-weighted path length between these two points near the fuzzy border.more » The minimization of path length was numerically solved by fast-marching method. The resultant fuzzy borders were incorporated into the authors’ automatic segmentation scheme, in which the liver was initially estimated by a patient-specific adaptive thresholding and then refined by a geodesic active contour model. By using planning CT images of 15 liver patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy, the liver contours extracted by the proposed computerized scheme were compared with those manually delineated by a radiation oncologist. Results: The proposed automatic liver segmentation method yielded an average Dice similarity coefficient of 0.930 ± 0.015, whereas it was 0.912 ± 0.020 if the fuzzy border tracking was not used. The application of fuzzy border tracking was found to significantly improve the segmentation performance. The mean liver volume obtained by the proposed method was 1727 cm{sup 3}, whereas it was 1719 cm{sup 3} for manual-outlined volumes. The computer-generated liver volumes achieved excellent agreement with manual-outlined volumes with correlation coefficient of 0.98. Conclusions: The proposed method was shown to provide accurate segmentation for liver in the planning CT images where contrast agent is not applied. The authors’ results also clearly demonstrated that the application of tracking the fuzzy borders could significantly reduce contour leakage during active contour evolution.« less

Automatic mathematical modeling for space application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Caroline K.

1987-01-01

A methodology for automatic mathematical modeling is described. The major objective is to create a very friendly environment for engineers to design, maintain and verify their model and also automatically convert the mathematical model into FORTRAN code for conventional computation. A demonstration program was designed for modeling the Space Shuttle Main Engine simulation mathematical model called Propulsion System Automatic Modeling (PSAM). PSAM provides a very friendly and well organized environment for engineers to build a knowledge base for base equations and general information. PSAM contains an initial set of component process elements for the Space Shuttle Main Engine simulation and a questionnaire that allows the engineer to answer a set of questions to specify a particular model. PSAM is then able to automatically generate the model and the FORTRAN code. A future goal is to download the FORTRAN code to the VAX/VMS system for conventional computation.

a Method for the Seamlines Network Automatic Selection Based on Building Vector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, P.; Dong, Y.; Hu, Y.; Li, X.; Tan, P.

2018-04-01

In order to improve the efficiency of large scale orthophoto production of city, this paper presents a method for automatic selection of seamlines network in large scale orthophoto based on the buildings' vector. Firstly, a simple model of the building is built by combining building's vector, height and DEM, and the imaging area of the building on single DOM is obtained. Then, the initial Voronoi network of the measurement area is automatically generated based on the positions of the bottom of all images. Finally, the final seamlines network is obtained by optimizing all nodes and seamlines in the network automatically based on the imaging areas of the buildings. The experimental results show that the proposed method can not only get around the building seamlines network quickly, but also remain the Voronoi network' characteristics of projection distortion minimum theory, which can solve the problem of automatic selection of orthophoto seamlines network in image mosaicking effectively.

Eliminating the Simon Effect by Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theeuwes, Marijke; Liefooghe, Baptist; De Houwer, Jan

2014-01-01

A growing body of research demonstrates that instructions can elicit automatic response activations. The results of the present study indicate that instruction-based response activations can also counteract automatic response activations based on long-term associations. To this end, we focused on the Simon effect, which is the observation that…

Oriented active shape models.

PubMed

Liu, Jiamin; Udupa, Jayaram K

2009-04-01

Active shape models (ASM) are widely employed for recognizing anatomic structures and for delineating them in medical images. In this paper, a novel strategy called oriented active shape models (OASM) is presented in an attempt to overcome the following five limitations of ASM: 1) lower delineation accuracy, 2) the requirement of a large number of landmarks, 3) sensitivity to search range, 4) sensitivity to initialization, and 5) inability to fully exploit the specific information present in the given image to be segmented. OASM effectively combines the rich statistical shape information embodied in ASM with the boundary orientedness property and the globally optimal delineation capability of the live wire methodology of boundary segmentation. The latter characteristics allow live wire to effectively separate an object boundary from other nonobject boundaries with similar properties especially when they come very close in the image domain. The approach leads to a two-level dynamic programming method, wherein the first level corresponds to boundary recognition and the second level corresponds to boundary delineation, and to an effective automatic initialization method. The method outputs a globally optimal boundary that agrees with the shape model if the recognition step is successful in bringing the model close to the boundary in the image. Extensive evaluation experiments have been conducted by utilizing 40 image (magnetic resonance and computed tomography) data sets in each of five different application areas for segmenting breast, liver, bones of the foot, and cervical vertebrae of the spine. Comparisons are made between OASM and ASM based on precision, accuracy, and efficiency of segmentation. Accuracy is assessed using both region-based false positive and false negative measures and boundary-based distance measures. The results indicate the following: 1) The accuracy of segmentation via OASM is considerably better than that of ASM; 2) The number of landmarks can be reduced by a factor of 3 in OASM over that in ASM; 3) OASM becomes largely independent of search range and initialization becomes automatic. All three benefits of OASM ensue mainly from the severe constraints brought in by the boundary-orientedness property of live wire and the globally optimal solution found by the 2-level dynamic programming algorithm.

Using Activity-Related Behavioural Features towards More Effective Automatic Stress Detection

PubMed Central

Giakoumis, Dimitris; Drosou, Anastasios; Cipresso, Pietro; Tzovaras, Dimitrios; Hassapis, George; Gaggioli, Andrea; Riva, Giuseppe

2012-01-01

This paper introduces activity-related behavioural features that can be automatically extracted from a computer system, with the aim to increase the effectiveness of automatic stress detection. The proposed features are based on processing of appropriate video and accelerometer recordings taken from the monitored subjects. For the purposes of the present study, an experiment was conducted that utilized a stress-induction protocol based on the stroop colour word test. Video, accelerometer and biosignal (Electrocardiogram and Galvanic Skin Response) recordings were collected from nineteen participants. Then, an explorative study was conducted by following a methodology mainly based on spatiotemporal descriptors (Motion History Images) that are extracted from video sequences. A large set of activity-related behavioural features, potentially useful for automatic stress detection, were proposed and examined. Experimental evaluation showed that several of these behavioural features significantly correlate to self-reported stress. Moreover, it was found that the use of the proposed features can significantly enhance the performance of typical automatic stress detection systems, commonly based on biosignal processing. PMID:23028461

The Development of the Mental Representations of the Magnitude of Fractions

PubMed Central

Gabriel, Florence C.; Szucs, Denes; Content, Alain

2013-01-01

We investigated the development of the mental representation of the magnitude of fractions during the initial stages of fraction learning in grade 5, 6 and 7 children as well as in adults. We examined the activation of global fraction magnitude in a numerical comparison task and a matching task. There were global distance effects in the comparison task, but not in the matching task. This suggests that the activation of the global magnitude representation of fractions is not automatic in all tasks involving magnitude judgments. The slope of the global distance effect increased during early fraction learning and declined by adulthood, demonstrating that the development of the fraction global distance effect differs from that of the integer distance effect. PMID:24236169

[Effect of alcohol intake on the ability to pilot aircraft].

PubMed

Ushakov, I B; Egorov, S V

1996-01-01

During the initial 4 hours after alcohol intake at a dose of 1.9 g/kg aircraft operators displayed disturbances in the psychic processes and functions responsible for each (from information reception and processing up to decision-making and building-up the controlling actions) structural elements in their activity resulting in considerable limitation or a complete failure to pilot aircraft. Main disorders included inability to correctly analyse flight situation and loss of skills to automatically control simulator, a sudden depletion of psychophysiological reserves and deterioration of operator's reliability. Less elaborated professional skills appear to be the most vulnerable.

AMPLITUDE DISCRIMINATOR HAVING SEPARATE TRIGGERING AND RECOVERY CONTROLS UTILIZING AUTOMATIC TRIGGERING

DOEpatents

Chase, R.L.

1962-01-23

A transistorized amplitude discriminator circuit is described in which the initial triggering sensitivity and the recovery threshold are separately adjustable in a convenient manner. The discriminator is provided with two independent bias components, one of which is for circuit hysteresis (recovery) and one of which is for trigger threshold level. A switching circuit is provided to remove the second bias component upon activation of the trigger so that the recovery threshold is always at the point where the trailing edge of the input signal pulse goes through zero or other desired value. (AEC)

Automatic Segmentation of the Cortical Grey and White Matter in MRI Using a Region-Growing Approach Based on Anatomical Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasserthal, Christian; Engel, Karin; Rink, Karsten; Brechmann, Andr'e.

We propose an automatic procedure for the correct segmentation of grey and white matter in MR data sets of the human brain. Our method exploits general anatomical knowledge for the initial segmentation and for the subsequent refinement of the estimation of the cortical grey matter. Our results are comparable to manual segmentations.

SU-F-T-342: Dosimetric Constraint Prediction Guided Automatic Mulit-Objective Optimization for Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Song, T; Zhou, L; Li, Y

Purpose: For intensity modulated radiotherapy, the plan optimization is time consuming with difficulties of selecting objectives and constraints, and their relative weights. A fast and automatic multi-objective optimization algorithm with abilities to predict optimal constraints and manager their trade-offs can help to solve this problem. Our purpose is to develop such a framework and algorithm for a general inverse planning. Methods: There are three main components contained in this proposed multi-objective optimization framework: prediction of initial dosimetric constraints, further adjustment of constraints and plan optimization. We firstly use our previously developed in-house geometry-dosimetry correlation model to predict the optimal patient-specificmore » dosimetric endpoints, and treat them as initial dosimetric constraints. Secondly, we build an endpoint(organ) priority list and a constraint adjustment rule to repeatedly tune these constraints from their initial values, until every single endpoint has no room for further improvement. Lastly, we implement a voxel-independent based FMO algorithm for optimization. During the optimization, a model for tuning these voxel weighting factors respecting to constraints is created. For framework and algorithm evaluation, we randomly selected 20 IMRT prostate cases from the clinic and compared them with our automatic generated plans, in both the efficiency and plan quality. Results: For each evaluated plan, the proposed multi-objective framework could run fluently and automatically. The voxel weighting factor iteration time varied from 10 to 30 under an updated constraint, and the constraint tuning time varied from 20 to 30 for every case until no more stricter constraint is allowed. The average total costing time for the whole optimization procedure is ∼30mins. By comparing the DVHs, better OAR dose sparing could be observed in automatic generated plan, for 13 out of the 20 cases, while others are with competitive results. Conclusion: We have successfully developed a fast and automatic multi-objective optimization for intensity modulated radiotherapy. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 81571771)« less

Arc-starting aid for GTA welding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whiffen, E. L.

1977-01-01

Three-in-one handtool combining arc-gap gage, electrode tip sander, and electrode projection gate, effectively improves initiation on gas tungsten arc (GTA), automatic skate-welding machines. Device effects ease in polishing electrode tips and setting exactly initial arc gap before each weld pass.

Towards parsimony in habit measurement: Testing the convergent and predictive validity of an automaticity subscale of the Self-Report Habit Index

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The twelve-item Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) is the most popular measure of energy-balance related habits. This measure characterises habit by automatic activation, behavioural frequency, and relevance to self-identity. Previous empirical research suggests that the SRHI may be abbreviated with no losses in reliability or predictive utility. Drawing on recent theorising suggesting that automaticity is the ‘active ingredient’ of habit-behaviour relationships, we tested whether an automaticity-specific SRHI subscale could capture habit-based behaviour patterns in self-report data. Methods A content validity task was undertaken to identify a subset of automaticity indicators within the SRHI. The reliability, convergent validity and predictive validity of the automaticity item subset was subsequently tested in secondary analyses of all previous SRHI applications, identified via systematic review, and in primary analyses of four raw datasets relating to energy‐balance relevant behaviours (inactive travel, active travel, snacking, and alcohol consumption). Results A four-item automaticity subscale (the ‘Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index’; ‘SRBAI’) was found to be reliable and sensitive to two hypothesised effects of habit on behaviour: a habit-behaviour correlation, and a moderating effect of habit on the intention-behaviour relationship. Conclusion The SRBAI offers a parsimonious measure that adequately captures habitual behaviour patterns. The SRBAI may be of particular utility in predicting future behaviour and in studies tracking habit formation or disruption. PMID:22935297

When teens don't wait: encouraging contraception.

PubMed

1990-01-01

Sexually active teenagers must be diligently encouraged to use contraceptives to reduce early unintended pregnancy. Public awareness of this problem has grown and the debate about how to stop has also grown. Delaying the initiation of sexual activity is seen as the only acceptable method by some, but abstinence will not help reduce early unintended pregnancy in already sexually active teenagers. Strategies must be developed to reach these teenagers with contraception, parenting, adoption, or abortion for when contraception fails. Wide spread sexual activity is the reality of the current era. Parents and teenagers must be provided a variety of strategies that reflect the diverse value system of the current era. Efforts to encourage contraception among adolescents that are successful presuppose that strong, effective family planning services are widely available. In order to create a positive climate for adolescents to fully adopt and use a regimen of contraceptive care automatically implies that such services are acceptable and accessible to the teenagers.

Perceiving pain in others: validation of a dual processing model.

PubMed

McCrystal, Kalie N; Craig, Kenneth D; Versloot, Judith; Fashler, Samantha R; Jones, Daniel N

2011-05-01

Accurate perception of another person's painful distress would appear to be accomplished through sensitivity to both automatic (unintentional, reflexive) and controlled (intentional, purposive) behavioural expression. We examined whether observers would construe diverse behavioural cues as falling within these domains, consistent with cognitive neuroscience findings describing activation of both automatic and controlled neuroregulatory processes. Using online survey methodology, 308 research participants rated behavioural cues as "goal directed vs. non-goal directed," "conscious vs. unconscious," "uncontrolled vs. controlled," "fast vs. slow," "intentional (deliberate) vs. unintentional," "stimulus driven (obligatory) vs. self driven," and "requiring contemplation vs. not requiring contemplation." The behavioural cues were the 39 items provided by the PROMIS pain behaviour bank, constructed to be representative of the diverse possibilities for pain expression. Inter-item correlations among rating scales provided evidence of sufficient internal consistency justifying a single score on an automatic/controlled dimension (excluding the inconsistent fast vs. slow scale). An initial exploratory factor analysis on 151 participant data sets yielded factors consistent with "controlled" and "automatic" actions, as well as behaviours characterized as "ambiguous." A confirmatory factor analysis using the remaining 151 data sets replicated EFA findings, supporting theoretical predictions that observers would distinguish immediate, reflexive, and spontaneous reactions (primarily facial expression and paralinguistic features of speech) from purposeful and controlled expression (verbal behaviour, instrumental behaviour requiring ongoing, integrated responses). There are implicit dispositions to organize cues signaling pain in others into the well-defined categories predicted by dual process theory. Copyright © 2011 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automatic segmentation of right ventricular ultrasound images using sparse matrix transform and a level set

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Xulei; Cong, Zhibin; Fei, Baowei

2013-11-01

An automatic segmentation framework is proposed to segment the right ventricle (RV) in echocardiographic images. The method can automatically segment both epicardial and endocardial boundaries from a continuous echocardiography series by combining sparse matrix transform, a training model, and a localized region-based level set. First, the sparse matrix transform extracts main motion regions of the myocardium as eigen-images by analyzing the statistical information of the images. Second, an RV training model is registered to the eigen-images in order to locate the position of the RV. Third, the training model is adjusted and then serves as an optimized initialization for the segmentation of each image. Finally, based on the initializations, a localized, region-based level set algorithm is applied to segment both epicardial and endocardial boundaries in each echocardiograph. Three evaluation methods were used to validate the performance of the segmentation framework. The Dice coefficient measures the overall agreement between the manual and automatic segmentation. The absolute distance and the Hausdorff distance between the boundaries from manual and automatic segmentation were used to measure the accuracy of the segmentation. Ultrasound images of human subjects were used for validation. For the epicardial and endocardial boundaries, the Dice coefficients were 90.8 ± 1.7% and 87.3 ± 1.9%, the absolute distances were 2.0 ± 0.42 mm and 1.79 ± 0.45 mm, and the Hausdorff distances were 6.86 ± 1.71 mm and 7.02 ± 1.17 mm, respectively. The automatic segmentation method based on a sparse matrix transform and level set can provide a useful tool for quantitative cardiac imaging.

Automatic Near-Real-Time Image Processing Chain for Very High Resolution Optical Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostir, K.; Cotar, K.; Marsetic, A.; Pehani, P.; Perse, M.; Zaksek, K.; Zaletelj, J.; Rodic, T.

2015-04-01

In response to the increasing need for automatic and fast satellite image processing SPACE-SI has developed and implemented a fully automatic image processing chain STORM that performs all processing steps from sensor-corrected optical images (level 1) to web-delivered map-ready images and products without operator's intervention. Initial development was tailored to high resolution RapidEye images, and all crucial and most challenging parts of the planned full processing chain were developed: module for automatic image orthorectification based on a physical sensor model and supported by the algorithm for automatic detection of ground control points (GCPs); atmospheric correction module, topographic corrections module that combines physical approach with Minnaert method and utilizing anisotropic illumination model; and modules for high level products generation. Various parts of the chain were implemented also for WorldView-2, THEOS, Pleiades, SPOT 6, Landsat 5-8, and PROBA-V. Support of full-frame sensor currently in development by SPACE-SI is in plan. The proposed paper focuses on the adaptation of the STORM processing chain to very high resolution multispectral images. The development concentrated on the sub-module for automatic detection of GCPs. The initially implemented two-step algorithm that worked only with rasterized vector roads and delivered GCPs with sub-pixel accuracy for the RapidEye images, was improved with the introduction of a third step: super-fine positioning of each GCP based on a reference raster chip. The added step exploits the high spatial resolution of the reference raster to improve the final matching results and to achieve pixel accuracy also on very high resolution optical satellite data.

On the Automaticity of the Evaluative Priming Effect in the Valent/Non-Valent Categorization Task

PubMed Central

Spruyt, Adriaan; Tibboel, Helen

2015-01-01

It has previously been argued (a) that automatic evaluative stimulus processing is critically dependent upon feature-specific attention allocation and (b) that evaluative priming effects can arise in the absence of dimensional overlap between the prime set and the response set. In line with both claims, research conducted at our lab revealed that the evaluative priming effect replicates in the valent/non-valent categorization task. This research was criticized, however, because non-automatic, strategic processes may have contributed to the emergence of this effect. We now report the results of a replication study in which the operation of non-automatic, strategic processes was controlled for. A clear-cut evaluative priming effect emerged, thus supporting initial claims concerning feature-specific attention allocation and dimensional overlap. PMID:25803444

On the automaticity of the evaluative priming effect in the valent/non-valent categorization task.

PubMed

Spruyt, Adriaan; Tibboel, Helen

2015-01-01

It has previously been argued (a) that automatic evaluative stimulus processing is critically dependent upon feature-specific attention allocation and (b) that evaluative priming effects can arise in the absence of dimensional overlap between the prime set and the response set. In line with both claims, research conducted at our lab revealed that the evaluative priming effect replicates in the valent/non-valent categorization task. This research was criticized, however, because non-automatic, strategic processes may have contributed to the emergence of this effect. We now report the results of a replication study in which the operation of non-automatic, strategic processes was controlled for. A clear-cut evaluative priming effect emerged, thus supporting initial claims concerning feature-specific attention allocation and dimensional overlap.

Agent Architecture for Aviation Data Integration System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulkarni, Deepak; Wang, Yao; Windrem, May; Patel, Hemil; Wei, Mei

2004-01-01

This paper describes the proposed agent-based architecture of the Aviation Data Integration System (ADIS). ADIS is a software system that provides integrated heterogeneous data to support aviation problem-solving activities. Examples of aviation problem-solving activities include engineering troubleshooting, incident and accident investigation, routine flight operations monitoring, safety assessment, maintenance procedure debugging, and training assessment. A wide variety of information is typically referenced when engaging in these activities. Some of this information includes flight recorder data, Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) reports, Jeppesen charts, weather data, air traffic control information, safety reports, and runway visual range data. Such wide-ranging information cannot be found in any single unified information source. Therefore, this information must be actively collected, assembled, and presented in a manner that supports the users problem-solving activities. This information integration task is non-trivial and presents a variety of technical challenges. ADIS has been developed to do this task and it permits integration of weather, RVR, radar data, and Jeppesen charts with flight data. ADIS has been implemented and used by several airlines FOQA teams. The initial feedback from airlines is that such a system is very useful in FOQA analysis. Based on the feedback from the initial deployment, we are developing a new version of the system that would make further progress in achieving following goals of our project.

Best Practices & Outstanding Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Training, 2011

2011-01-01

In this article, "Training" editors recognize innovative and successful learning and development programs and practices. They share best practices from Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Farmers Insurance Group, FedEx Express, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Oakwood Temporary Housing. They also present the outstanding initiatives of EMD Serono,…

Automatic selection of landmarks in T1-weighted head MRI with regression forests for image registration initialization.

PubMed

Wang, Jianing; Liu, Yuan; Noble, Jack H; Dawant, Benoit M

2017-10-01

Medical image registration establishes a correspondence between images of biological structures, and it is at the core of many applications. Commonly used deformable image registration methods depend on a good preregistration initialization. We develop a learning-based method to automatically find a set of robust landmarks in three-dimensional MR image volumes of the head. These landmarks are then used to compute a thin plate spline-based initialization transformation. The process involves two steps: (1) identifying a set of landmarks that can be reliably localized in the images and (2) selecting among them the subset that leads to a good initial transformation. To validate our method, we use it to initialize five well-established deformable registration algorithms that are subsequently used to register an atlas to MR images of the head. We compare our proposed initialization method with a standard approach that involves estimating an affine transformation with an intensity-based approach. We show that for all five registration algorithms the final registration results are statistically better when they are initialized with the method that we propose than when a standard approach is used. The technique that we propose is generic and could be used to initialize nonrigid registration algorithms for other applications.

Automatic Earthquake Detection by Active Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergen, K.; Beroza, G. C.

2017-12-01

In recent years, advances in machine learning have transformed fields such as image recognition, natural language processing and recommender systems. Many of these performance gains have relied on the availability of large, labeled data sets to train high-accuracy models; labeled data sets are those for which each sample includes a target class label, such as waveforms tagged as either earthquakes or noise. Earthquake seismologists are increasingly leveraging machine learning and data mining techniques to detect and analyze weak earthquake signals in large seismic data sets. One of the challenges in applying machine learning to seismic data sets is the limited labeled data problem; learning algorithms need to be given examples of earthquake waveforms, but the number of known events, taken from earthquake catalogs, may be insufficient to build an accurate detector. Furthermore, earthquake catalogs are known to be incomplete, resulting in training data that may be biased towards larger events and contain inaccurate labels. This challenge is compounded by the class imbalance problem; the events of interest, earthquakes, are infrequent relative to noise in continuous data sets, and many learning algorithms perform poorly on rare classes. In this work, we investigate the use of active learning for automatic earthquake detection. Active learning is a type of semi-supervised machine learning that uses a human-in-the-loop approach to strategically supplement a small initial training set. The learning algorithm incorporates domain expertise through interaction between a human expert and the algorithm, with the algorithm actively posing queries to the user to improve detection performance. We demonstrate the potential of active machine learning to improve earthquake detection performance with limited available training data.

Automatic Activation of Sounds by Letters Occurs Early in Development but Is Not Impaired in Children with Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clayton, Francina J.; Hulme, Charles

2018-01-01

The automatic letter-sound integration hypothesis proposes that the decoding difficulties seen in dyslexia arise from a specific deficit in establishing automatic letter-sound associations. We report the findings of 2 studies in which we used a priming task to assess automatic letter-sound integration. In Study 1, children between 5 and 7 years of…

Image Understanding Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-30

to perform a variety of local arithmetic operations. Our initial task will be to use it for computing 5X5 convolutions common to many low level...report presents the results of applying our relaxation based scene matching systein I1] to a new domain - automatic matching of pairs of images. The task...objects (corners of buildings) within the large image. But we did demonstrate the ability of our system to automatically segment, describe, and match

Image Based Hair Segmentation Algorithm for the Application of Automatic Facial Caricature Synthesis

PubMed Central

Peng, Zhenyun; Zhang, Yaohui

2014-01-01

Hair is a salient feature in human face region and are one of the important cues for face analysis. Accurate detection and presentation of hair region is one of the key components for automatic synthesis of human facial caricature. In this paper, an automatic hair detection algorithm for the application of automatic synthesis of facial caricature based on a single image is proposed. Firstly, hair regions in training images are labeled manually and then the hair position prior distributions and hair color likelihood distribution function are estimated from these labels efficiently. Secondly, the energy function of the test image is constructed according to the estimated prior distributions of hair location and hair color likelihood. This energy function is further optimized according to graph cuts technique and initial hair region is obtained. Finally, K-means algorithm and image postprocessing techniques are applied to the initial hair region so that the final hair region can be segmented precisely. Experimental results show that the average processing time for each image is about 280 ms and the average hair region detection accuracy is above 90%. The proposed algorithm is applied to a facial caricature synthesis system. Experiments proved that with our proposed hair segmentation algorithm the facial caricatures are vivid and satisfying. PMID:24592182

Software for Planning Scientific Activities on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ai-Chang, Mitchell; Bresina, John; Jonsson, Ari; Hsu, Jennifer; Kanefsky, Bob; Morris, Paul; Rajan, Kanna; Yglesias, Jeffrey; Charest, Len; Maldague, Pierre

2003-01-01

Mixed-Initiative Activity Plan Generator (MAPGEN) is a ground-based computer program for planning and scheduling the scientific activities of instrumented exploratory robotic vehicles, within the limitations of available resources onboard the vehicle. MAPGEN is a combination of two prior software systems: (1) an activity-planning program, APGEN, developed at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and (2) the Europa planner/scheduler from NASA Ames Research Center. MAPGEN performs all of the following functions: Automatic generation of plans and schedules for scientific and engineering activities; Testing of hypotheses (or what-if analyses of various scenarios); Editing of plans; Computation and analysis of resources; and Enforcement and maintenance of constraints, including resolution of temporal and resource conflicts among planned activities. MAPGEN can be used in either of two modes: one in which the planner/scheduler is turned off and only the basic APGEN functionality is utilized, or one in which both component programs are used to obtain the full planning, scheduling, and constraint-maintenance functionality.

MeSH indexing based on automatically generated summaries.

PubMed

Jimeno-Yepes, Antonio J; Plaza, Laura; Mork, James G; Aronson, Alan R; Díaz, Alberto

2013-06-26

MEDLINE citations are manually indexed at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) using as reference the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary. For this task, the human indexers read the full text of the article. Due to the growth of MEDLINE, the NLM Indexing Initiative explores indexing methodologies that can support the task of the indexers. Medical Text Indexer (MTI) is a tool developed by the NLM Indexing Initiative to provide MeSH indexing recommendations to indexers. Currently, the input to MTI is MEDLINE citations, title and abstract only. Previous work has shown that using full text as input to MTI increases recall, but decreases precision sharply. We propose using summaries generated automatically from the full text for the input to MTI to use in the task of suggesting MeSH headings to indexers. Summaries distill the most salient information from the full text, which might increase the coverage of automatic indexing approaches based on MEDLINE. We hypothesize that if the results were good enough, manual indexers could possibly use automatic summaries instead of the full texts, along with the recommendations of MTI, to speed up the process while maintaining high quality of indexing results. We have generated summaries of different lengths using two different summarizers, and evaluated the MTI indexing on the summaries using different algorithms: MTI, individual MTI components, and machine learning. The results are compared to those of full text articles and MEDLINE citations. Our results show that automatically generated summaries achieve similar recall but higher precision compared to full text articles. Compared to MEDLINE citations, summaries achieve higher recall but lower precision. Our results show that automatic summaries produce better indexing than full text articles. Summaries produce similar recall to full text but much better precision, which seems to indicate that automatic summaries can efficiently capture the most important contents within the original articles. The combination of MEDLINE citations and automatically generated summaries could improve the recommendations suggested by MTI. On the other hand, indexing performance might be dependent on the MeSH heading being indexed. Summarization techniques could thus be considered as a feature selection algorithm that might have to be tuned individually for each MeSH heading.

Automatic identification of artifacts in electrodermal activity data.

PubMed

Taylor, Sara; Jaques, Natasha; Chen, Weixuan; Fedor, Szymon; Sano, Akane; Picard, Rosalind

2015-01-01

Recently, wearable devices have allowed for long term, ambulatory measurement of electrodermal activity (EDA). Despite the fact that ambulatory recording can be noisy, and recording artifacts can easily be mistaken for a physiological response during analysis, to date there is no automatic method for detecting artifacts. This paper describes the development of a machine learning algorithm for automatically detecting EDA artifacts, and provides an empirical evaluation of classification performance. We have encoded our results into a freely available web-based tool for artifact and peak detection.

Automatic low-order aberrations compensator for a conduction-cooled end-pumped solid-state zigzag slab laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Xin; Dong, Lizhi; Lai, Boheng; Yang, Ping; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Xun; Liu, Yong; Tang, Guomao; Xu, Bing

2017-11-01

In order to solve the problem of large low-order aberrations with solid-state zigzag slab lasers, an automatic compensator has been developed in this paper. In this compensator, three lenses are mounted on a motorized rail, whose positions can be obtained using ray tracing method based on the beam parameters detected by a wave-front sensor. The initial peak to valley (PV) values of the wave-front range up to several tens of microns. Both simulated and experimental results show that the PV values of the wave-front can be reduced to around 1 . 6 μm with the proposed automatic compensator.

[Sinus rhythm: mechanisms and function].

PubMed

Lerebours, Guy

2007-01-01

The normal cardiac rhythm originates in a specialized region of the heart, the sinus node that is part of the nodal tissue. The rhythmic, impulse initiation of sinus node pacemaker cells results from a spontaneous diastolic depolarization that is initiated immediately after repolarization of the preceding actions potential. This slow diastolic depolarisation is typical of automatic cells and essential to their function. Several currents are involved in this diastolic depolarisation: a hyperpolarization activated inward current, termed "pacemaker" I(f) current, two Ca2+ currents (a L type and a T type), a delayed K+ current and a Na/Ca exchange current. The frequency of the automatic discharge is the main determinant of heart rate. However the sinus node activity is regulated by adrenergic and cholinergic neurotransmitters. Acetylcholine provokes the hyperpolarization of pacemaker cells and decreases the speed of the spontaneous diastolic depolarisation, thus slowing the sinus rate. Catecholamines lead to sinus tachycardia by increasing the diastolic depolarisation speed. In normal conditions, the observed resting heart rate is lower than the intrinsic frequency of the sinus node due to a "predominance" of the vagal tone. Neural regulation of the heart rate aims at meeting the metabolic needs of the tissues through a varying blood flow. Differences between diurnal and nocturnal mean heart rates are accounted for by neural influences. During the night, the increased vagal tone results in decreased heart rate. The exercise-induced tachycardia results from the sympathetic stimulation. It allows more blood to reach skeletal muscles, and as a consequence an increased supply of oxygen and nutrients. Compared to the variety of clinical arrhythmias, sinus rhythm is the basis for optimal exercise capacity and quality of life.

Gait post-stroke: Pathophysiology and rehabilitation strategies.

PubMed

Beyaert, C; Vasa, R; Frykberg, G E

2015-11-01

We reviewed neural control and biomechanical description of gait in both non-disabled and post-stroke subjects. In addition, we reviewed most of the gait rehabilitation strategies currently in use or in development and observed their principles in relation to recent pathophysiology of post-stroke gait. In both non-disabled and post-stroke subjects, motor control is organized on a task-oriented basis using a common set of a few muscle modules to simultaneously achieve body support, balance control, and forward progression during gait. Hemiparesis following stroke is due to disruption of descending neural pathways, usually with no direct lesion of the brainstem and cerebellar structures involved in motor automatic processes. Post-stroke, improvements of motor activities including standing and locomotion are variable but are typically characterized by a common postural behaviour which involves the unaffected side more for body support and balance control, likely in response to initial muscle weakness of the affected side. Various rehabilitation strategies are regularly used or in development, targeting muscle activity, postural and gait tasks, using more or less high-technology equipment. Reduced walking speed often improves with time and with various rehabilitation strategies, but asymmetric postural behaviour during standing and walking is often reinforced, maintained, or only transitorily decreased. This asymmetric compensatory postural behaviour appears to be robust, driven by support and balance tasks maintaining the predominant use of the unaffected side over the initially impaired affected side. Based on these elements, stroke rehabilitation including affected muscle strengthening and often stretching would first need to correct the postural asymmetric pattern by exploiting postural automatic processes in various particular motor tasks secondarily beneficial to gait. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Processing of Intentional and Automatic Number Magnitudes in Children Born Prematurely: Evidence From fMRI

PubMed Central

Klein, Elise; Moeller, Korbinian; Kiechl-Kohlendorfer, Ursula; Kremser, Christian; Starke, Marc; Cohen Kadosh, Roi; Pupp-Peglow, Ulrike; Schocke, Michael; Kaufmann, Liane

2014-01-01

This study examined the neural correlates of intentional and automatic number processing (indexed by number comparison and physical Stroop task, respectively) in 6- and 7-year-old children born prematurely. Behavioral results revealed significant numerical distance and size congruity effects. Imaging results disclosed (1) largely overlapping fronto-parietal activation for intentional and automatic number processing, (2) a frontal to parietal shift of activation upon considering the risk factors gestational age and birth weight, and (3) a task-specific link between math proficiency and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal within distinct regions of the parietal lobes—indicating commonalities but also specificities of intentional and automatic number processing. PMID:25090014

30 CFR 7.103 - Safety system control test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... sensors which will automatically activate the safety shutdown system and stop the engine before the... the temperature sensor in the exhaust gas stream which will automatically activate the safety shutdown... using a wet exhaust conditioner, determine the effectiveness of the temperature sensor in the exhaust...

30 CFR 7.103 - Safety system control test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... sensors which will automatically activate the safety shutdown system and stop the engine before the... the temperature sensor in the exhaust gas stream which will automatically activate the safety shutdown... using a wet exhaust conditioner, determine the effectiveness of the temperature sensor in the exhaust...

30 CFR 7.103 - Safety system control test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... sensors which will automatically activate the safety shutdown system and stop the engine before the... the temperature sensor in the exhaust gas stream which will automatically activate the safety shutdown... using a wet exhaust conditioner, determine the effectiveness of the temperature sensor in the exhaust...

Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions.

PubMed

Travis, Fred; Shear, Jonathan

2010-12-01

This paper proposes a third meditation-category--automatic self-transcending--to extend the dichotomy of focused attention and open monitoring proposed by Lutz. Automatic self-transcending includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. This contrasts with focused attention, which keeps attention focused on an object; and open monitoring, which keeps attention involved in the monitoring process. Each category was assigned EEG bands, based on reported brain patterns during mental tasks, and meditations were categorized based on their reported EEG. Focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions. Open monitoring, characterized by theta activity, included meditations from Buddhist, Chinese, and Vedic traditions. Automatic self-transcending, characterized by alpha1 activity, included meditations from Vedic and Chinese traditions. Between categories, the included meditations differed in focus, subject/object relation, and procedures. These findings shed light on the common mistake of averaging meditations together to determine mechanisms or clinical effects. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic human body modeling for vision-based motion capture system using B-spline parameterization of the silhouette

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaume-i-Capó, Antoni; Varona, Javier; González-Hidalgo, Manuel; Mas, Ramon; Perales, Francisco J.

2012-02-01

Human motion capture has a wide variety of applications, and in vision-based motion capture systems a major issue is the human body model and its initialization. We present a computer vision algorithm for building a human body model skeleton in an automatic way. The algorithm is based on the analysis of the human shape. We decompose the body into its main parts by computing the curvature of a B-spline parameterization of the human contour. This algorithm has been applied in a context where the user is standing in front of a camera stereo pair. The process is completed after the user assumes a predefined initial posture so as to identify the main joints and construct the human model. Using this model, the initialization problem of a vision-based markerless motion capture system of the human body is solved.

Learning Computational Models of Video Memorability from fMRI Brain Imaging.

PubMed

Han, Junwei; Chen, Changyuan; Shao, Ling; Hu, Xintao; Han, Jungong; Liu, Tianming

2015-08-01

Generally, various visual media are unequally memorable by the human brain. This paper looks into a new direction of modeling the memorability of video clips and automatically predicting how memorable they are by learning from brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We propose a novel computational framework by integrating the power of low-level audiovisual features and brain activity decoding via fMRI. Initially, a user study experiment is performed to create a ground truth database for measuring video memorability and a set of effective low-level audiovisual features is examined in this database. Then, human subjects' brain fMRI data are obtained when they are watching the video clips. The fMRI-derived features that convey the brain activity of memorizing videos are extracted using a universal brain reference system. Finally, due to the fact that fMRI scanning is expensive and time-consuming, a computational model is learned on our benchmark dataset with the objective of maximizing the correlation between the low-level audiovisual features and the fMRI-derived features using joint subspace learning. The learned model can then automatically predict the memorability of videos without fMRI scans. Evaluations on publically available image and video databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Does gaze cueing produce automatic response activation: a lateralized readiness potential (LRP) study.

PubMed

Vainio, L; Heimola, M; Heino, H; Iljin, I; Laamanen, P; Seesjärvi, E; Paavilainen, P

2014-05-01

Previous research has shown that gaze cues facilitate responses to an upcoming target if the target location is compatible with the direction of the cue. Similar cueing effects have also been observed with central arrow cues. Both of these cueing effects have been attributed to a reflexive orienting of attention triggered by the cue. In addition, orienting of attention has been proposed to result in a partial response activation of the corresponding hand that, in turn, can be observed in the lateralized readiness potential (LRP), an electrophysiological indicator of automatic hand-motor response preparation. For instance, a central arrow cue has been observed to produce automatic hand-motor activation as indicated by the LRPs. The present study investigated whether gaze cues could also produce similar activation patterns in LRP. Although the standard gaze cueing effect was observed in the behavioural data, the LRP data did not reveal any consistent automatic hand-motor activation. The study suggests that motor processes associated with gaze cueing effect may operate exclusively at the level of oculomotor programming. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic evaluations and exercise setting preference in frequent exercisers.

PubMed

Antoniewicz, Franziska; Brand, Ralf

2014-12-01

The goals of this study were to test whether exercise-related stimuli can elicit automatic evaluative responses and whether automatic evaluations reflect exercise setting preference in highly active exercisers. An adapted version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure was employed. Seventy-two highly active exercisers (26 years ± 9.03; 43% female) were subliminally primed (7 ms) with pictures depicting typical fitness center scenarios or gray rectangles (control primes). After each prime, participants consciously evaluated the "pleasantness" of a Chinese symbol. Controlled evaluations were measured with a questionnaire and were more positive in participants who regularly visited fitness centers than in those who reported avoiding this exercise setting. Only center exercisers gave automatic positive evaluations of the fitness center setting (partial eta squared = .08). It is proposed that a subliminal Affect Misattribution Procedure paradigm can elicit automatic evaluations to exercising and that, in highly active exercisers, these evaluations play a role in decisions about the exercise setting rather than the amounts of physical exercise. Findings are interpreted in terms of a dual systems theory of social information processing and behavior.

Towards the Real-Time Evaluation of Collaborative Activities: Integration of an Automatic Rater of Collaboration Quality in the Classroom from the Teacher's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chounta, Irene-Angelica; Avouris, Nikolaos

2016-01-01

This paper presents the integration of a real time evaluation method of collaboration quality in a monitoring application that supports teachers in class orchestration. The method is implemented as an automatic rater of collaboration quality and studied in a real time scenario of use. We argue that automatic and semi-automatic methods which…

Kindergarten to College (K2C): A First-in-the-Nation Initiative to Set All Kindergartners on the Path to College. Asset Building Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Leigh; Stuhldreher, Anne

2011-01-01

In the Spring of 2011, the City of San Francisco automatically opened college savings accounts for over 1,000 San Francisco Kindergartners. The City also "seeded" every account with an initial deposit of $50. The account openings marked the official launch of San Francisco's Kindergarten to College initiative, or "K2C." This initiative, the first…

Neural correlates of economic value and valuation context: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Tyson-Carr, John; Kokmotou, Katerina; Soto, Vicente; Cook, Stephanie; Fallon, Nicholas; Giesbrecht, Timo; Stancak, Andrej

2018-05-01

The value of environmental cues and internal states is continuously evaluated by the human brain, and it is this subjective value that largely guides decision making. The present study aimed to investigate the initial value attribution process, specifically the spatiotemporal activation patterns associated with values and valuation context, using electroencephalographic event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants completed a stimulus rating task in which everyday household items marketed up to a price of £4 were evaluated with respect to their desirability or material properties. The subjective values of items were evaluated as willingness to pay (WTP) in a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak auction. On the basis of the individual's subjective WTP values, the stimuli were divided into high- and low-value items. Source dipole modeling was applied to estimate the cortical sources underlying ERP components modulated by subjective values (high vs. low WTP) and the evaluation condition (value-relevant vs. value-irrelevant judgments). Low-WTP items and value-relevant judgments both led to a more pronounced N2 visual evoked potential at right frontal scalp electrodes. Source activity in right anterior insula and left orbitofrontal cortex was larger for low vs. high WTP at ∼200 ms. At a similar latency, source activity in right anterior insula and right parahippocampal gyrus was larger for value-relevant vs. value-irrelevant judgments. A stronger response for low- than high-value items in anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex appears to reflect aversion to low-valued item acquisition, which in an auction experiment would be perceived as a relative loss. This initial low-value bias occurs automatically irrespective of the valuation context. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We demonstrate the spatiotemporal characteristics of the brain valuation process using event-related potentials and willingness to pay as a measure of subjective value. The N2 component resolves values of objects with a bias toward low-value items. The value-related changes of the N2 component are part of an automatic valuation process.

75 FR 56662 - Proposed Information Collection (Application for Authority To Close Loans on an Automatic Basis...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-16

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0252] Proposed Information Collection (Application for Authority To Close Loans on an Automatic Basis--Nonsupervised Lenders) Activity: Comment... on an automatic basis. DATES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed collection of...

78 FR 46419 - Proposed Information Collection (Application for Authority To Close Loans on an Automatic Basis...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-31

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS [OMB Control No. 2900-0252] Proposed Information Collection (Application for Authority To Close Loans on an Automatic Basis--Nonsupervised Lenders) Activity: Comment... solicits comments for information needed to authorize nonsupervised lenders to close loans on an automatic...

Automatic Recommendations for E-Learning Personalization Based on Web Usage Mining Techniques and Information Retrieval

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khribi, Mohamed Koutheair; Jemni, Mohamed; Nasraoui, Olfa

2009-01-01

In this paper, we describe an automatic personalization approach aiming to provide online automatic recommendations for active learners without requiring their explicit feedback. Recommended learning resources are computed based on the current learner's recent navigation history, as well as exploiting similarities and dissimilarities among…

Do Bilinguals Automatically Activate Their Native Language When They Are Not Using It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa, Albert; Pannunzi, Mario; Deco, Gustavo; Pickering, Martin J.

2017-01-01

Most models of lexical access assume that bilingual speakers activate their two languages even when they are in a context in which only one language is used. A critical piece of evidence used to support this notion is the observation that a given word automatically activates its translation equivalent in the other language. Here, we argue that…

Activity classification using realistic data from wearable sensors.

PubMed

Pärkkä, Juha; Ermes, Miikka; Korpipää, Panu; Mäntyjärvi, Jani; Peltola, Johannes; Korhonen, Ilkka

2006-01-01

Automatic classification of everyday activities can be used for promotion of health-enhancing physical activities and a healthier lifestyle. In this paper, methods used for classification of everyday activities like walking, running, and cycling are described. The aim of the study was to find out how to recognize activities, which sensors are useful and what kind of signal processing and classification is required. A large and realistic data library of sensor data was collected. Sixteen test persons took part in the data collection, resulting in approximately 31 h of annotated, 35-channel data recorded in an everyday environment. The test persons carried a set of wearable sensors while performing several activities during the 2-h measurement session. Classification results of three classifiers are shown: custom decision tree, automatically generated decision tree, and artificial neural network. The classification accuracies using leave-one-subject-out cross validation range from 58 to 97% for custom decision tree classifier, from 56 to 97% for automatically generated decision tree, and from 22 to 96% for artificial neural network. Total classification accuracy is 82 % for custom decision tree classifier, 86% for automatically generated decision tree, and 82% for artificial neural network.

Automatic Design of a Maglev Controller in State Space

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-01

Design of a Maglev Controller in State Space Feng Zhao Richard Thornton Abstract We describe the automatic synthesis of a global nonlinear controller for...the global switching points of the controller is presented. The synthesized control system can stabilize the maglev vehicle with large initial displace...NUMBERS Automation Desing of a Maglev Controller in State Space N00014-89-J-3202 MIP-9001651 6. AUTHOR(S) Feng Zhao and Richard Thornton 7. PERFORMING

Investigating the Relationship between Stable Personality Characteristics and Automatic Imitation

PubMed Central

Butler, Emily E.; Ward, Robert; Ramsey, Richard

2015-01-01

Automatic imitation is a cornerstone of nonverbal communication that fosters rapport between interaction partners. Recent research has suggested that stable dimensions of personality are antecedents to automatic imitation, but the empirical evidence linking imitation with personality traits is restricted to a few studies with modest sample sizes. Additionally, atypical imitation has been documented in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, but the mechanisms underpinning these behavioural profiles remain unclear. Using a larger sample than prior studies (N=243), the current study tested whether performance on a computer-based automatic imitation task could be predicted by personality traits associated with social behaviour (extraversion and agreeableness) and with disorders of social cognition (autistic-like and schizotypal traits). Further personality traits (narcissism and empathy) were assessed in a subsample of participants (N=57). Multiple regression analyses showed that personality measures did not predict automatic imitation. In addition, using a similar analytical approach to prior studies, no differences in imitation performance emerged when only the highest and lowest 20 participants on each trait variable were compared. These data weaken support for the view that stable personality traits are antecedents to automatic imitation and that neural mechanisms thought to support automatic imitation, such as the mirror neuron system, are dysfunctional in autism spectrum disorders or schizophrenia. In sum, the impact that personality variables have on automatic imitation is less universal than initial reports suggest. PMID:26079137

Investigating the Relationship between Stable Personality Characteristics and Automatic Imitation.

PubMed

Butler, Emily E; Ward, Robert; Ramsey, Richard

2015-01-01

Automatic imitation is a cornerstone of nonverbal communication that fosters rapport between interaction partners. Recent research has suggested that stable dimensions of personality are antecedents to automatic imitation, but the empirical evidence linking imitation with personality traits is restricted to a few studies with modest sample sizes. Additionally, atypical imitation has been documented in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, but the mechanisms underpinning these behavioural profiles remain unclear. Using a larger sample than prior studies (N=243), the current study tested whether performance on a computer-based automatic imitation task could be predicted by personality traits associated with social behaviour (extraversion and agreeableness) and with disorders of social cognition (autistic-like and schizotypal traits). Further personality traits (narcissism and empathy) were assessed in a subsample of participants (N=57). Multiple regression analyses showed that personality measures did not predict automatic imitation. In addition, using a similar analytical approach to prior studies, no differences in imitation performance emerged when only the highest and lowest 20 participants on each trait variable were compared. These data weaken support for the view that stable personality traits are antecedents to automatic imitation and that neural mechanisms thought to support automatic imitation, such as the mirror neuron system, are dysfunctional in autism spectrum disorders or schizophrenia. In sum, the impact that personality variables have on automatic imitation is less universal than initial reports suggest.

Applying the Quadruple Process Model to Evaluate Change in Implicit Attitudinal Responses During Therapy for Panic Disorder

PubMed Central

Clerkin, Elise M.; Fisher, Christopher R.; Sherman, Jeffrey W.; Teachman, Bethany A.

2013-01-01

Objective This study explored the automatic and controlled processes that may influence performance on an implicit measure across cognitive-behavioral group therapy for panic disorder. Method The Quadruple Process model was applied to error scores from an Implicit Association Test evaluating associations between the concepts Me (vs. Not Me) + Calm (vs. Panicked) to evaluate four distinct processes: Association Activation, Detection, Guessing, and Overcoming Bias. Parameter estimates were calculated in the panic group (n=28) across each treatment session where the IAT was administered, and at matched times when the IAT was completed in the healthy control group (n=31). Results Association Activation for Me + Calm became stronger over treatment for participants in the panic group, demonstrating that it is possible to change automatically activated associations in memory (vs. simply overriding those associations) in a clinical sample via therapy. As well, the Guessing bias toward the calm category increased over treatment for participants in the panic group. Conclusions This research evaluates key tenets about the role of automatic processing in cognitive models of anxiety, and emphasizes the viability of changing the actual activation of automatic associations in the context of treatment, versus only changing a person’s ability to use reflective processing to overcome biased automatic processing. PMID:24275066

Automatic Activation of Exercise and Sedentary Stereotypes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berry, Tanya; Spence, John C.

2009-01-01

We examined the automatic activation of "sedentary" and "exerciser" stereotypes using a social prime Stroop task. Results showed significantly slower response times between the exercise words and the exercise control words and between the sedentary words and the exercise control words when preceded by an attractive exerciser prime. Words preceded…

Information Robots and Manipulators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katys, G. P.; And Others

In the modern concept a robot is a complex automatic cybernetics system capable of executing various operations in the sphere of human activity and in various respects combining the imitative capacity of the physical and mental activity of man. They are a class of automatic information systems intended for search, collection, processing, and…

Persistence of improvements in postural strategies following motor control training in people with recurrent low back pain.

PubMed

Tsao, Henry; Hodges, Paul W

2008-08-01

This study investigated long-term effects of training on postural control using the model of deficits in activation of transversus abdominis (TrA) in people with recurrent low back pain (LBP). Nine volunteers with LBP attended four sessions for assessment and/or training (initial, two weeks, four weeks and six months). Training of repeated isolated voluntary TrA contractions were performed at the initial and two-week session with feedback from real-time ultrasound imaging. Home program involved training twice daily for four weeks. Electromyographic activity (EMG) of trunk and deltoid muscles was recorded with surface and fine-wire electrodes. Rapid arm movement and walking were performed at each session, and immediately after training on the first two sessions. Onset of trunk muscle activation relative to prime mover deltoid during arm movements, and the coefficient of variation (CV) of EMG during averaged gait cycle were calculated. Over four weeks of training, onset of TrA EMG was earlier during arm movements and CV of TrA EMG was reduced (consistent with more sustained EMG activity). Changes were retained at six months follow-up (p<0.05). These results show persistence of motor control changes following training and demonstrate that this training approach leads to motor learning of automatic postural control strategies.

Grammar-Supported 3d Indoor Reconstruction from Point Clouds for As-Built Bim

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, S.; Peter, M.; Fritsch, D.

2015-03-01

The paper presents a grammar-based approach for the robust automatic reconstruction of 3D interiors from raw point clouds. The core of the approach is a 3D indoor grammar which is an extension of our previously published grammar concept for the modeling of 2D floor plans. The grammar allows for the modeling of buildings whose horizontal, continuous floors are traversed by hallways providing access to the rooms as it is the case for most office buildings or public buildings like schools, hospitals or hotels. The grammar is designed in such way that it can be embedded in an iterative automatic learning process providing a seamless transition from LOD3 to LOD4 building models. Starting from an initial low-level grammar, automatically derived from the window representations of an available LOD3 building model, hypotheses about indoor geometries can be generated. The hypothesized indoor geometries are checked against observation data - here 3D point clouds - collected in the interior of the building. The verified and accepted geometries form the basis for an automatic update of the initial grammar. By this, the knowledge content of the initial grammar is enriched, leading to a grammar with increased quality. This higher-level grammar can then be applied to predict realistic geometries to building parts where only sparse observation data are available. Thus, our approach allows for the robust generation of complete 3D indoor models whose quality can be improved continuously as soon as new observation data are fed into the grammar-based reconstruction process. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated based on a real-world example.

Theta oscillations locked to intended actions rhythmically modulate perception.

PubMed

Tomassini, Alice; Ambrogioni, Luca; Medendorp, W Pieter; Maris, Eric

2017-07-07

Ongoing brain oscillations are known to influence perception, and to be reset by exogenous stimulations. Voluntary action is also accompanied by prominent rhythmic activity, and recent behavioral evidence suggests that this might be coupled with perception. Here, we reveal the neurophysiological underpinnings of this sensorimotor coupling in humans. We link the trial-by-trial dynamics of EEG oscillatory activity during movement preparation to the corresponding dynamics in perception, for two unrelated visual and motor tasks. The phase of theta oscillations (~4 Hz) predicts perceptual performance, even >1 s before movement. Moreover, theta oscillations are phase-locked to the onset of the movement. Remarkably, the alignment of theta phase and its perceptual relevance unfold with similar non-monotonic profiles, suggesting their relatedness. The present work shows that perception and movement initiation are automatically synchronized since the early stages of motor planning through neuronal oscillatory activity in the theta range.

Intended actions and unexpected outcomes: automatic and controlled processing in a rapid motor task

PubMed Central

Cheyne, Douglas O.; Ferrari, Paul; Cheyne, James A.

2012-01-01

Human action involves a combination of controlled and automatic behavior. These processes may interact in tasks requiring rapid response selection or inhibition, where temporal constraints preclude timely intervention by conscious, controlled processes over automatized prepotent responses. Such contexts tend to produce frequent errors, but also rapidly executed correct responses, both of which may sometimes be perceived as surprising, unintended, or “automatic”. In order to identify neural processes underlying these two aspects of cognitive control, we measured neuromagnetic brain activity in 12 right-handed subjects during manual responses to rapidly presented digits, with an infrequent target digit that required switching response hand (bimanual task) or response finger (unimanual task). Automaticity of responding was evidenced by response speeding (shorter response times) prior to both failed and fast correct switches. Consistent with this automaticity interpretation of fast correct switches, we observed bilateral motor preparation, as indexed by suppression of beta band (15–30 Hz) oscillations in motor cortex, prior to processing of the switch cue in the bimanual task. In contrast, right frontal theta activity (4–8 Hz) accompanying correct switch responses began after cue onset, suggesting that it reflected controlled inhibition of the default response. Further, this activity was reduced on fast correct switch trials suggesting a more automatic mode of inhibitory control. We also observed post-movement (event-related negativity) ERN-like responses and theta band increases in medial and anterior frontal regions that were significantly larger on error trials, and may reflect a combination of error and delayed inhibitory signals. We conclude that both automatic and controlled processes are engaged in parallel during rapid motor tasks, and that the relative strength and timing of these processes may underlie both optimal task performance and subjective experiences of automaticity or control. PMID:22912612

ActiveSeismoPick3D - automatic first arrival determination for large active seismic arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paffrath, Marcel; Küperkoch, Ludger; Wehling-Benatelli, Sebastian; Friederich, Wolfgang

2016-04-01

We developed a tool for automatic determination of first arrivals in active seismic data based on an approach, that utilises higher order statistics (HOS) and the Akaike information criterion (AIC), commonly used in seismology, but not in active seismics. Automatic picking is highly desirable in active seismics as the number of data provided by large seismic arrays rapidly exceeds of what an analyst can evaluate in a reasonable amount of time. To bring the functionality of automatic phase picking into the context of active data, the software package ActiveSeismoPick3D was developed in Python. It uses a modified algorithm for the determination of first arrivals which searches for the HOS maximum in unfiltered data. Additionally, it offers tools for manual quality control and postprocessing, e.g. various visualisation and repicking functionalities. For flexibility, the tool also includes methods for the preparation of geometry information of large seismic arrays and improved interfaces to the Fast Marching Tomography Package (FMTOMO), which can be used for the prediction of travel times and inversion for subsurface properties. Output files are generated in the VTK format, allowing the 3D visualization of e.g. the inversion results. As a test case, a data set consisting of 9216 traces from 64 shots was gathered, recorded at 144 receivers deployed in a regular 2D array of a size of 100 x 100 m. ActiveSeismoPick3D automatically checks the determined first arrivals by a dynamic signal to noise ratio threshold. From the data a 3D model of the subsurface was generated using the export functionality of the package and FMTOMO.

12 CFR 7.1018 - Automatic payment plan account.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Automatic payment plan account. 7.1018 Section 7.1018 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BANK ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS Bank Powers § 7.1018 Automatic payment plan account. A national bank may, for the benefit and...

77 FR 5058 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Automatic...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-01

... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Automatic Fire Sensor and Warning Devices Systems; Examination and..., ``Automatic Fire Sensor and Warning Devices Systems,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review... and warning device systems are maintained and calibrated in order to function properly at all times...

Count Me In! on the Automaticity of Numerosity Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naparstek, Sharon; Henik, Avishai

2010-01-01

Extraction of numerosity (i.e., enumeration) is an essential component of mathematical abilities. The current study asked how automatic is the processing of numerosity and whether automatic activation is task dependent. Participants were presented with displays containing a variable number of digits and were asked to pay attention to the number of…

Automatic processes in at-risk adolescents: the role of alcohol-approach tendencies and response inhibition in drinking behavior.

PubMed

Peeters, Margot; Wiers, Reinout W; Monshouwer, Karin; van de Schoot, Rens; Janssen, Tim; Vollebergh, Wilma A M

2012-11-01

This study examined the association between automatic processes and drinking behavior in relation to individual differences in response inhibition in young adolescents who had just started drinking. It was hypothesized that strong automatic behavioral tendencies toward alcohol-related stimuli (alcohol-approach bias) were associated with higher levels of alcohol use, especially amongst adolescents with relatively weak inhibition skills. To test this hypothesis structural equation analyses (standard error of mean) were performed using a zero inflated Poisson (ZIP) model. A well-known problem in studying risk behavior is the low incidence rate resulting in a zero dominated distribution. A ZIP-model accounts for non-normality of the data. Adolescents were selected from secondary Special Education schools (a risk group for the development of substance use problems). Participants were 374 adolescents (mean age of M = 13.6 years). Adolescents completed the alcohol approach avoidance task (a-AAT), the Stroop colour naming task (Stroop) and a questionnaire that assessed alcohol use. The ZIP-model established stronger alcohol-approach tendencies for adolescent drinkers (P < 0.01) and the interaction revealed a stronger effect of alcohol-approach tendencies on alcohol use in the absence of good inhibition skills (P < 0.05). Automatically-activated cognitive processes are associated with the drinking behavior of young, at-risk adolescents. It appears that alcohol-approach tendencies are formed shortly after the initiation of drinking and particularly affect the drinking behavior of adolescents with relatively weak inhibition skills. Implications for the prevention of problem drinking in adolescents are discussed. © 2012 The Authors. Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.

New automatic mode of visualizing the colon via Cine CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udupa, Jayaram K.; Odhner, Dewey; Eisenberg, Harvey C.

2001-05-01

Methods of visualizing the inner colonic wall by using CT images has actively been pursued in recent years in an attempt to eventually replace conventional colonoscopic examination. In spite of impressive progress in this direction, there are still several problems, which need satisfactory solutions. Among these, we address three problems in this paper: segmentation, coverage, and speed of rendering. Instead of thresholding, we utilize the fuzzy connectedness framework to segment the colonic wall. Instead of the endoscopic viewing mode and various mapping techniques, we utilize the central line through the colon to generate automatically viewing directions that are enface with respect to the colon wall, thereby avoiding blind spots in viewing. We utilize some modifications of the ultra fast shell rendering framework to ensure fast rendering speed. The combined effect of these developments is that a colon study requires an initial 5 minutes of operator time plus an additional 5 minutes of computational time and subsequently enface renditions are created in real time (15 frames/sec) on a 1 GHz Pentium PC under the Linux operating system.

A Complete System for Automatic Extraction of Left Ventricular Myocardium From CT Images Using Shape Segmentation and Contour Evolution

PubMed Central

Zhu, Liangjia; Gao, Yi; Appia, Vikram; Yezzi, Anthony; Arepalli, Chesnal; Faber, Tracy; Stillman, Arthur; Tannenbaum, Allen

2014-01-01

The left ventricular myocardium plays a key role in the entire circulation system and an automatic delineation of the myocardium is a prerequisite for most of the subsequent functional analysis. In this paper, we present a complete system for an automatic segmentation of the left ventricular myocardium from cardiac computed tomography (CT) images using the shape information from images to be segmented. The system follows a coarse-to-fine strategy by first localizing the left ventricle and then deforming the myocardial surfaces of the left ventricle to refine the segmentation. In particular, the blood pool of a CT image is extracted and represented as a triangulated surface. Then, the left ventricle is localized as a salient component on this surface using geometric and anatomical characteristics. After that, the myocardial surfaces are initialized from the localization result and evolved by applying forces from the image intensities with a constraint based on the initial myocardial surface locations. The proposed framework has been validated on 34-human and 12-pig CT images, and the robustness and accuracy are demonstrated. PMID:24723531

The Lick-Gaertner automatic measuring system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vasilevskis, S.; Popov, W. A.

1971-01-01

The Lick-Gaertner automatic equipment has been designed mainly for the measurement of stellar proper motions with reference to galaxies, and consists of two main components: the survey machine and the automatic measuring engine. The survey machine is used for initial inspection and selection of objects for subsequent measurement. Two plates, up to 17 x 17 inches each, are surveyed simultaneously by means of projection on a screen. The approximate positions of objects selected are measured by two optical screws: helical lines cut through an aluminum coating on glass cylinders. These approximate coordinates to a precision of the order of 0.03mm are transmitted to a card punch by encoders connected with the cylinders.

Emotion potentiates response activation and inhibition in masked priming

PubMed Central

Bocanegra, Bruno R.; Zeelenberg, René

2012-01-01

Previous studies have shown that emotion can have 2-fold effects on perception. At the object-level, emotional stimuli benefit from a stimulus-specific boost in visual attention at the relative expense of competing stimuli. At the visual feature-level, recent findings indicate that emotion may inhibit the processing of small visual details and facilitate the processing of coarse visual features. In the present study, we investigated whether emotion can boost the activation and inhibition of automatic motor responses that are generated prior to overt perception. To investigate this, we tested whether an emotional cue affects covert motor responses in a masked priming task. We used a masked priming paradigm in which participants responded to target arrows that were preceded by invisible congruent or incongruent prime arrows. In the standard paradigm, participants react faster, and commit fewer errors responding to the directionality of target arrows, when they are preceded by congruent vs. incongruent masked prime arrows (positive congruency effect, PCE). However, as prime-target SOAs increase, this effect reverses (negative congruency effect, NCE). These findings have been explained as evidence for an initial activation and a subsequent inhibition of a partial response elicited by the masked prime arrow. Our results show that the presentation of fearful face cues, compared to neutral face cues, increased the size of both the PCE and NCE, despite the fact that the primes were invisible. This is the first demonstration that emotion prepares an individual's visuomotor system for automatic activation and inhibition of motor responses in the absence of visual awareness. PMID:23162447

Emotion potentiates response activation and inhibition in masked priming.

PubMed

Bocanegra, Bruno R; Zeelenberg, René

2012-01-01

Previous studies have shown that emotion can have 2-fold effects on perception. At the object-level, emotional stimuli benefit from a stimulus-specific boost in visual attention at the relative expense of competing stimuli. At the visual feature-level, recent findings indicate that emotion may inhibit the processing of small visual details and facilitate the processing of coarse visual features. In the present study, we investigated whether emotion can boost the activation and inhibition of automatic motor responses that are generated prior to overt perception. To investigate this, we tested whether an emotional cue affects covert motor responses in a masked priming task. We used a masked priming paradigm in which participants responded to target arrows that were preceded by invisible congruent or incongruent prime arrows. In the standard paradigm, participants react faster, and commit fewer errors responding to the directionality of target arrows, when they are preceded by congruent vs. incongruent masked prime arrows (positive congruency effect, PCE). However, as prime-target SOAs increase, this effect reverses (negative congruency effect, NCE). These findings have been explained as evidence for an initial activation and a subsequent inhibition of a partial response elicited by the masked prime arrow. Our results show that the presentation of fearful face cues, compared to neutral face cues, increased the size of both the PCE and NCE, despite the fact that the primes were invisible. This is the first demonstration that emotion prepares an individual's visuomotor system for automatic activation and inhibition of motor responses in the absence of visual awareness.

Thermal monitoring of hydrothermal activity by permanent infrared automatic stations: Results obtained at Solfatara di Pozzuoli, Campi Flegrei (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiodini, G.; Vilardo, G.; Augusti, V.; Granieri, D.; Caliro, S.; Minopoli, C.; Terranova, C.

2007-12-01

A permanent automatic infrared (IR) station was installed at Solfatara crater, the most active zone of Campi Flegrei caldera. After a positive in situ calibration of the IR camera, we analyze 2175 thermal IR images of the same scene from 2004 to 2007. The scene includes a portion of the steam heated hot soils of Solfatara. The experiment was initiated to detect and quantify temperature changes of the shallow thermal structure of a quiescent volcano such as Solfatara over long periods. Ambient temperature is the main parameter affecting IR temperatures, while air humidity and rain control image quality. A geometric correction of the images was necessary to remove the effects of slow movement of the camera. After a suitable correction the images give a reliable and detailed picture of the temperature changes, over the period October 2004 to January 2007, which suggests that origin of the changes were linked to anthropogenic activity, vegetation growth, and the increase of the flux of hydrothermal fluids in the area of the hottest fumaroles. Two positive temperature anomalies were registered after the occurrence of two seismic swarms which affected the hydrothermal system of Solfatara in October 2005 and October 2006. It is worth noting that these signs were detected in a system characterized by a low level of activity with respect to systems affected by real volcanic crisis where more spectacular results will be expected. Results of the experiment show that this kind of monitoring system can be a suitable tool for volcanic surveillance.

Triggers and Anatomical Substrates in the Genesis and Perpetuation of Atrial Fibrillation

PubMed Central

Sánchez-Quintana, Damián; López-Mínguez, José Ramón; Pizarro, Gonzalo; Murillo, Margarita; Cabrera, José Angel

2012-01-01

The definition of atrial fibrillation (AF) as a functional electrical disorder does not reflect the significant underlying structural abnormalities. Atrial and Pulmonary Vein (PV) muscle sleeve microstructural remodeling is present, and establishes a vulnerable substrate for AF maintenance. In spite of an incomplete understanding of the anatomo-functional basis for AF, current evidence demonstrates that this arrhythmia usually requires a trigger for initiation and a vulnerable electrophysiological and/or anatomical substrate for maintenance. It is still unclear whether the trigger mechanisms include focal enhanced automaticity, triggered activity and/or micro re-entry from myocardial tissue. Initiation of AF can be favored by both parasympathetic and sympathetic stimulation, which also seem to play a role in maintaining AF. Finally, evolving clinical evidence demonstrates that inflammation is associated with new-onset and recurrent AF through a mechanism that possibly involves cellular degeneration, apoptosis, and subsequent atrial fibrosis. PMID:22920484

The Social Identity Model of Cessation Maintenance: formulation and initial evidence.

PubMed

Frings, Daniel; Albery, Ian P

2015-05-01

Group therapy can be highly influential in helping addicts (individuals presenting with problematic addictive behaviors) achieve and maintain cessation. The efficacy of such groups can be understood by the effects they have on members' social identity and also through associated group processes. The current paper introduces the Social Identity Model of Cessation Maintenance (SIMCM). The SIMCM outlines how a number of processes (including self/collective efficacy and esteem, normative structure and social support and control) may affect cessation maintenance. It also provides a framework to make predictions about how automatic and/or implicit processes influence the activation of addiction relevant identities through cognitive accessibility and complexity in particular. A review of initial empirical evidence supporting some of the key specified relationships is provided, along with potential applications in therapy settings. Insights into how SIMCM could be generalized beyond treatment contexts and avenues for future research are outlined. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional face pose detection and tracking using monocular videos: tool and application.

PubMed

Dornaika, Fadi; Raducanu, Bogdan

2009-08-01

Recently, we have proposed a real-time tracker that simultaneously tracks the 3-D head pose and facial actions in monocular video sequences that can be provided by low quality cameras. This paper has two main contributions. First, we propose an automatic 3-D face pose initialization scheme for the real-time tracker by adopting a 2-D face detector and an eigenface system. Second, we use the proposed methods-the initialization and tracking-for enhancing the human-machine interaction functionality of an AIBO robot. More precisely, we show how the orientation of the robot's camera (or any active vision system) can be controlled through the estimation of the user's head pose. Applications based on head-pose imitation such as telepresence, virtual reality, and video games can directly exploit the proposed techniques. Experiments on real videos confirm the robustness and usefulness of the proposed methods.

Initial design and evaluation of automatic restructurable flight control system concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weiss, J. L.; Looze, D. P.; Eterno, J. S.; Grunberg, D. B.

1986-01-01

Results of efforts to develop automatic control design procedures for restructurable aircraft control systems is presented. The restructurable aircraft control problem involves designing a fault tolerance control system which can accommodate a wide variety of unanticipated aircraft failure. Under NASA sponsorship, many of the technologies which make such a system possible were developed and tested. Future work will focus on developing a methodology for integrating these technologies and demonstration of a complete system.

Manifold learning for automatically predicting articular cartilage morphology in the knee with data from the osteoarthritis initiative (OAI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donoghue, C.; Rao, A.; Bull, A. M. J.; Rueckert, D.

2011-03-01

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative, debilitating disease with a large socio-economic impact. This study looks to manifold learning as an automatic approach to harness the plethora of data provided by the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI). We construct several Laplacian Eigenmap embeddings of articular cartilage appearance from MR images of the knee using multiple MR sequences. A region of interest (ROI) defined as the weight bearing medial femur is automatically located in all images through non-rigid registration. A pairwise intensity based similarity measure is computed between all images, resulting in a fully connected graph, where each vertex represents an image and the weight of edges is the similarity measure. Spectral analysis is then applied to these pairwise similarities, which acts to reduce the dimensionality non-linearly and embeds these images in a manifold representation. In the manifold space, images that are close to each other are considered to be more "similar" than those far away. In the experiment presented here we use manifold learning to automatically predict the morphological changes in the articular cartilage by using the co-ordinates of the images in the manifold as independent variables for multiple linear regression. In the study presented here five manifolds are generated from five sequences of 390 distinct knees. We find statistically significant correlations (up to R2 = 0.75), between our predictors and the results presented in the literature.

Closing the Loop on Critical Care Life Support for Military en route Care Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

pig’s blood volume. Resuscitation was then initiated by turning on the autocontrol software which ran on an external computer which was receiving mean...that initiated the occlusion alarm. When the occlusion was released, the autocontrol resumed automatically and restored the blood pressure once again

Research in interactive scene analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tenenbaum, J. M.; Garvey, T. D.; Weyl, S. A.; Wolf, H. C.

1975-01-01

An interactive scene interpretation system (ISIS) was developed as a tool for constructing and experimenting with man-machine and automatic scene analysis methods tailored for particular image domains. A recently developed region analysis subsystem based on the paradigm of Brice and Fennema is described. Using this subsystem a series of experiments was conducted to determine good criteria for initially partitioning a scene into atomic regions and for merging these regions into a final partition of the scene along object boundaries. Semantic (problem-dependent) knowledge is essential for complete, correct partitions of complex real-world scenes. An interactive approach to semantic scene segmentation was developed and demonstrated on both landscape and indoor scenes. This approach provides a reasonable methodology for segmenting scenes that cannot be processed completely automatically, and is a promising basis for a future automatic system. A program is described that can automatically generate strategies for finding specific objects in a scene based on manually designated pictorial examples.

Exploratory field trial of motorcycle autonomous emergency braking (MAEB): Considerations on the acceptability of unexpected automatic decelerations.

PubMed

Savino, Giovanni; Pierini, Marco; Thompson, Jason; Fitzharris, Michael; Lenné, Michael G

2016-11-16

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) acts to slow down a vehicle when an unavoidable impending collision is detected. In addition to documented benefits when applied to passenger cars, AEB has also shown potential when applied to motorcycles (MAEB). However, the feasibility of MAEB as practically applied to motorcycles in the real world is not well understood. In this study we performed a field trial involving 16 riders on a test motorcycle subjected to automatic decelerations, thus simulating MAEB activation. The tests were conducted along a rectilinear path at nominal speed of 40 km/h and with mean deceleration of 0.15 g (15% of full braking) deployed at random times. Riders were also exposed to one final undeclared brake activation with the aim of providing genuinely unexpected automatic braking events. Participants were consistently able to manage automatic decelerations of the vehicle with minor to moderate effort. Results of undeclared activations were consistent with those of standard runs. This study demonstrated the feasibility of a moderate automatic deceleration in a scenario of motorcycle travelling in a straight path, supporting the notion that the application of AEB on motorcycles is practicable. Furthermore, the proposed field trial can be used as a reference for future regulation or consumer tests in order to address safety and acceptability of unexpected automatic decelerations on a motorcycle.

Automatized smoking-related action schemata are reflected by reduced fMRI activity in sensorimotor brain regions of smokers.

PubMed

Isik, Ayse Ilkay; Naumer, Marcus J; Kaiser, Jochen; Buschenlange, Christian; Wiesmann, Sandro; Czoschke, Stefan; Yalachkov, Yavor

2017-01-01

In the later stages of addiction, automatized processes play a prominent role in guiding drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior. However, little is known about the neural correlates of automatized drug-taking skills and drug-related action knowledge in humans. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while smokers and non-smokers performed an orientation affordance task, where compatibility between the hand used for a behavioral response and the spatial orientation of a priming stimulus leads to shorter reaction times resulting from activation of the corresponding motor representations. While non-smokers exhibited this behavioral effect only for control objects, smokers showed the affordance effect for both control and smoking-related objects. Furthermore, smokers exhibited reduced fMRI activation for smoking-related as compared to control objects for compatible stimulus-response pairings in a sensorimotor brain network consisting of the right primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, middle occipital gyrus, left fusiform gyrus and bilateral cingulate gyrus. In the incompatible condition, we found higher fMRI activation in smokers for smoking-related as compared to control objects in the right primary motor cortex, cingulate gyrus, and left fusiform gyrus. This suggests that the activation and performance of deeply embedded, automatized drug-taking schemata employ less brain resources. This might reduce the threshold for relapsing in individuals trying to abstain from smoking. In contrast, the interruption or modification of already triggered automatized action representations require increased neural resources.

Segmenting the Femoral Head and Acetabulum in the Hip Joint Automatically Using a Multi-Step Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ji; Cheng, Yuanzhi; Fu, Yili; Zhou, Shengjun; Tamura, Shinichi

We describe a multi-step approach for automatic segmentation of the femoral head and the acetabulum in the hip joint from three dimensional (3D) CT images. Our segmentation method consists of the following steps: 1) construction of the valley-emphasized image by subtracting valleys from the original images; 2) initial segmentation of the bone regions by using conventional techniques including the initial threshold and binary morphological operations from the valley-emphasized image; 3) further segmentation of the bone regions by using the iterative adaptive classification with the initial segmentation result; 4) detection of the rough bone boundaries based on the segmented bone regions; 5) 3D reconstruction of the bone surface using the rough bone boundaries obtained in step 4) by a network of triangles; 6) correction of all vertices of the 3D bone surface based on the normal direction of vertices; 7) adjustment of the bone surface based on the corrected vertices. We evaluated our approach on 35 CT patient data sets. Our experimental results show that our segmentation algorithm is more accurate and robust against noise than other conventional approaches for automatic segmentation of the femoral head and the acetabulum. Average root-mean-square (RMS) distance from manual reference segmentations created by experienced users was approximately 0.68mm (in-plane resolution of the CT data).

Automatic Extraction of Metadata from Scientific Publications for CRIS Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kovacevic, Aleksandar; Ivanovic, Dragan; Milosavljevic, Branko; Konjovic, Zora; Surla, Dusan

2011-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to develop a system for automatic extraction of metadata from scientific papers in PDF format for the information system for monitoring the scientific research activity of the University of Novi Sad (CRIS UNS). Design/methodology/approach: The system is based on machine learning and performs automatic extraction…

Automatic initialization and quality control of large-scale cardiac MRI segmentations.

PubMed

Albà, Xènia; Lekadir, Karim; Pereañez, Marco; Medrano-Gracia, Pau; Young, Alistair A; Frangi, Alejandro F

2018-01-01

Continuous advances in imaging technologies enable ever more comprehensive phenotyping of human anatomy and physiology. Concomitant reduction of imaging costs has resulted in widespread use of imaging in large clinical trials and population imaging studies. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), in particular, offers one-stop-shop multidimensional biomarkers of cardiovascular physiology and pathology. A wide range of analysis methods offer sophisticated cardiac image assessment and quantification for clinical and research studies. However, most methods have only been evaluated on relatively small databases often not accessible for open and fair benchmarking. Consequently, published performance indices are not directly comparable across studies and their translation and scalability to large clinical trials or population imaging cohorts is uncertain. Most existing techniques still rely on considerable manual intervention for the initialization and quality control of the segmentation process, becoming prohibitive when dealing with thousands of images. The contributions of this paper are three-fold. First, we propose a fully automatic method for initializing cardiac MRI segmentation, by using image features and random forests regression to predict an initial position of the heart and key anatomical landmarks in an MRI volume. In processing a full imaging database, the technique predicts the optimal corrective displacements and positions in relation to the initial rough intersections of the long and short axis images. Second, we introduce for the first time a quality control measure capable of identifying incorrect cardiac segmentations with no visual assessment. The method uses statistical, pattern and fractal descriptors in a random forest classifier to detect failures to be corrected or removed from subsequent statistical analysis. Finally, we validate these new techniques within a full pipeline for cardiac segmentation applicable to large-scale cardiac MRI databases. The results obtained based on over 1200 cases from the Cardiac Atlas Project show the promise of fully automatic initialization and quality control for population studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MeSH indexing based on automatically generated summaries

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background MEDLINE citations are manually indexed at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) using as reference the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary. For this task, the human indexers read the full text of the article. Due to the growth of MEDLINE, the NLM Indexing Initiative explores indexing methodologies that can support the task of the indexers. Medical Text Indexer (MTI) is a tool developed by the NLM Indexing Initiative to provide MeSH indexing recommendations to indexers. Currently, the input to MTI is MEDLINE citations, title and abstract only. Previous work has shown that using full text as input to MTI increases recall, but decreases precision sharply. We propose using summaries generated automatically from the full text for the input to MTI to use in the task of suggesting MeSH headings to indexers. Summaries distill the most salient information from the full text, which might increase the coverage of automatic indexing approaches based on MEDLINE. We hypothesize that if the results were good enough, manual indexers could possibly use automatic summaries instead of the full texts, along with the recommendations of MTI, to speed up the process while maintaining high quality of indexing results. Results We have generated summaries of different lengths using two different summarizers, and evaluated the MTI indexing on the summaries using different algorithms: MTI, individual MTI components, and machine learning. The results are compared to those of full text articles and MEDLINE citations. Our results show that automatically generated summaries achieve similar recall but higher precision compared to full text articles. Compared to MEDLINE citations, summaries achieve higher recall but lower precision. Conclusions Our results show that automatic summaries produce better indexing than full text articles. Summaries produce similar recall to full text but much better precision, which seems to indicate that automatic summaries can efficiently capture the most important contents within the original articles. The combination of MEDLINE citations and automatically generated summaries could improve the recommendations suggested by MTI. On the other hand, indexing performance might be dependent on the MeSH heading being indexed. Summarization techniques could thus be considered as a feature selection algorithm that might have to be tuned individually for each MeSH heading. PMID:23802936

Applying the Quadruple Process model to evaluate change in implicit attitudinal responses during therapy for panic disorder.

PubMed

Clerkin, Elise M; Fisher, Christopher R; Sherman, Jeffrey W; Teachman, Bethany A

2014-01-01

This study explored the automatic and controlled processes that may influence performance on an implicit measure across cognitive-behavioral group therapy for panic disorder. The Quadruple Process model was applied to error scores from an Implicit Association Test evaluating associations between the concepts Me (vs. Not Me) + Calm (vs. Panicked) to evaluate four distinct processes: Association Activation, Detection, Guessing, and Overcoming Bias. Parameter estimates were calculated in the panic group (n = 28) across each treatment session where the IAT was administered, and at matched times when the IAT was completed in the healthy control group (n = 31). Association Activation for Me + Calm became stronger over treatment for participants in the panic group, demonstrating that it is possible to change automatically activated associations in memory (vs. simply overriding those associations) in a clinical sample via therapy. As well, the Guessing bias toward the calm category increased over treatment for participants in the panic group. This research evaluates key tenets about the role of automatic processing in cognitive models of anxiety, and emphasizes the viability of changing the actual activation of automatic associations in the context of treatment, versus only changing a person's ability to use reflective processing to overcome biased automatic processing. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attention and reach-to-grasp movements in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Lu, Cathy; Bharmal, Aamir; Kiss, Zelma H; Suchowersky, Oksana; Haffenden, Angela M

2010-08-01

The role of attention in grasping movements directed at common objects has not been examined in Parkinson's disease (PD), though these movements are critical to activities of daily living. Our primary objective was to determine whether patients with PD demonstrate automaticity in grasping movements directed toward common objects. Automaticity is assumed when tasks can be performed with little or no interference from concurrent tasks. Grasping performance in three patient groups (newly diagnosed, moderate, and advanced/surgically treated PD) on and off of their medication or deep brain stimulation was compared to performance in an age-matched control group. Automaticity was demonstrated by the absence of a decrement in grasping performance when attention was consumed by a concurrent spatial-visualization task. Only the control group and newly diagnosed PD group demonstrated automaticity in their grasping movements. The moderate and advanced PD groups did not demonstrate automaticity. Furthermore, the well-known effects of pharmacotherapy and surgical intervention on movement speed and muscle activation patterns did not appear to reduce the impact of attention-demanding tasks on grasping movements in those with moderate to advanced PD. By the moderate stage of PD, grasping is an attention-demanding process; this change is not ameliorated by dopaminergic or surgical treatments. These findings have important implications for activities of daily living, as devoting attention to the simplest of daily tasks would interfere with complex activities and potentially exacerbate fatigue.

The busy social brain: evidence for automaticity and control in the neural systems supporting social cognition and action understanding.

PubMed

Spunt, Robert P; Lieberman, Matthew D

2013-01-01

Much social-cognitive processing is believed to occur automatically; however, the relative automaticity of the brain systems underlying social cognition remains largely undetermined. We used functional MRI to test for automaticity in the functioning of two brain systems that research has indicated are important for understanding other people's behavior: the mirror neuron system and the mentalizing system. Participants remembered either easy phone numbers (low cognitive load) or difficult phone numbers (high cognitive load) while observing actions after adopting one of four comprehension goals. For all four goals, mirror neuron system activation showed relatively little evidence of modulation by load; in contrast, the association of mentalizing system activation with the goal of inferring the actor's mental state was extinguished by increased cognitive load. These results support a dual-process model of the brain systems underlying action understanding and social cognition; the mirror neuron system supports automatic behavior identification, and the mentalizing system supports controlled social causal attribution.

How does the 'rest-self overlap' mediate the qualitative and automatic features of self-reference?

PubMed

Northoff, Georg

2016-01-01

The target article points out the qualitative and automatic features of self-reference while leaving open the underlying neural mechanisms. Based on empirical evidence about rest-self overlap and rest-stimulus interaction being special for self-related stimuli, I postulate that the resting state shows self-specific organization. The resting state's self-specific organization may be encoded by activity balances between different networks which in turn predispose the qualitative features of subsequent self-related stimulus-induced activity in, for instance, SAN as well as the automatic features of self-reference effects.

Automatic Cell Segmentation in Fluorescence Images of Confluent Cell Monolayers Using Multi-object Geometric Deformable Model.

PubMed

Yang, Zhen; Bogovic, John A; Carass, Aaron; Ye, Mao; Searson, Peter C; Prince, Jerry L

2013-03-13

With the rapid development of microscopy for cell imaging, there is a strong and growing demand for image analysis software to quantitatively study cell morphology. Automatic cell segmentation is an important step in image analysis. Despite substantial progress, there is still a need to improve the accuracy, efficiency, and adaptability to different cell morphologies. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic method for segmenting cells in fluorescence images of confluent cell monolayers. This method addresses several challenges through a combination of ideas. 1) It realizes a fully automatic segmentation process by first detecting the cell nuclei as initial seeds and then using a multi-object geometric deformable model (MGDM) for final segmentation. 2) To deal with different defects in the fluorescence images, the cell junctions are enhanced by applying an order-statistic filter and principal curvature based image operator. 3) The final segmentation using MGDM promotes robust and accurate segmentation results, and guarantees no overlaps and gaps between neighboring cells. The automatic segmentation results are compared with manually delineated cells, and the average Dice coefficient over all distinguishable cells is 0.88.

Audio signal processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hymer, R. L.

1970-01-01

System provides automatic volume control for an audio amplifier or a voice communication system without introducing noise surges during pauses in the input, and without losing the initial signal when the input resumes.

Expert system for generating initial layouts of zoom systems with multiple moving lens groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xuemin; Wang, Yongtian; Hao, Qun; Sasián, José M.

2005-01-01

An expert system is developed for the automatic generation of initial layouts for the design of zoom systems with multiple moving lens groups. The Gaussian parameters of the zoom system are optimized using the damped-least-squares method to achieve smooth zoom cam curves, with the f-number of each lens group in the zoom system constrained to a rational value. Then each lens group is selected automatically from a database according to its range of f-number, field of view, and magnification ratio as it is used in the zoom system. The lens group database is established from the results of analyzing thousands of zoom lens patents. Design examples are given, which show that the scheme is a practical approach to generate starting points for zoom lens design.

Design of an anti-Rician-fading modem for mobile satellite communication systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kojima, Toshiharu; Ishizu, Fumio; Miyake, Makoto; Murakami, Keishi; Fujino, Tadashi

1995-01-01

To design a demodulator applicable to mobile satellite communication systems using differential phase shift keying modulation, we have developed key technologies including an anti-Rician-fading demodulation scheme, an initial acquisition scheme, automatic gain control (AGC), automatic frequency control (AFC), and bit timing recovery (BTR). Using these technologies, we have developed one-chip digital signal processor (DSP) modem for mobile terminal, which is compact, of light weight, and of low power consumption. Results of performance test show that the developed DSP modem achieves good performance in terms of bit error ratio in mobile satellite communication environment, i.e., Rician fading channel. It is also shown that the initial acquisition scheme acquires received signal rapidly even if the carrier-to-noise power ratio (CNR) of the received signal is considerably low.

A repeated-measures analysis of the effects of soft tissues on wrist range of motion in the extant phylogenetic bracket of dinosaurs: Implications for the functional origins of an automatic wrist folding mechanism in Crocodilia.

PubMed

Hutson, Joel David; Hutson, Kelda Nadine

2014-07-01

A recent study hypothesized that avian-like wrist folding in quadrupedal dinosaurs could have aided their distinctive style of locomotion with semi-pronated and therefore medially facing palms. However, soft tissues that automatically guide avian wrist folding rarely fossilize, and automatic wrist folding of unknown function in extant crocodilians has not been used to test this hypothesis. Therefore, an investigation of the relative contributions of soft tissues to wrist range of motion (ROM) in the extant phylogenetic bracket of dinosaurs, and the quadrupedal function of crocodilian wrist folding, could inform these questions. Here, we repeatedly measured wrist ROM in degrees through fully fleshed, skinned, minus muscles/tendons, minus ligaments, and skeletonized stages in the American alligator Alligator mississippiensis and the ostrich Struthio camelus. The effects of dissection treatment and observer were statistically significant for alligator wrist folding and ostrich wrist flexion, but not ostrich wrist folding. Final skeletonized wrist folding ROM was higher than (ostrich) or equivalent to (alligator) initial fully fleshed ROM, while final ROM was lower than initial ROM for ostrich wrist flexion. These findings suggest that, unlike the hinge/ball and socket-type elbow and shoulder joints in these archosaurs, ROM within gliding/planar diarthrotic joints is more restricted to the extent of articular surfaces. The alligator data indicate that the crocodilian wrist mechanism functions to automatically lock their semi-pronated palms into a rigid column, which supports the hypothesis that this palmar orientation necessitated soft tissue stiffening mechanisms in certain dinosaurs, although ROM-restricted articulations argue against the presence of an extensive automatic mechanism. Anat Rec, 297:1228-1249, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analysis of automated quantification of motor activity in REM sleep behaviour disorder.

PubMed

Frandsen, Rune; Nikolic, Miki; Zoetmulder, Marielle; Kempfner, Lykke; Jennum, Poul

2015-10-01

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is characterized by dream enactment and REM sleep without atonia. Atonia is evaluated on the basis of visual criteria, but there is a need for more objective, quantitative measurements. We aimed to define and optimize a method for establishing baseline and all other parameters in automatic quantifying submental motor activity during REM sleep. We analysed the electromyographic activity of the submental muscle in polysomnographs of 29 patients with idiopathic RBD (iRBD), 29 controls and 43 Parkinson's (PD) patients. Six adjustable parameters for motor activity were defined. Motor activity was detected and quantified automatically. The optimal parameters for separating RBD patients from controls were investigated by identifying the greatest area under the receiver operating curve from a total of 648 possible combinations. The optimal parameters were validated on PD patients. Automatic baseline estimation improved characterization of atonia during REM sleep, as it eliminates inter/intra-observer variability and can be standardized across diagnostic centres. We found an optimized method for quantifying motor activity during REM sleep. The method was stable and can be used to differentiate RBD from controls and to quantify motor activity during REM sleep in patients with neurodegeneration. No control had more than 30% of REM sleep with increased motor activity; patients with known RBD had as low activity as 4.5%. We developed and applied a sensitive, quantitative, automatic algorithm to evaluate loss of atonia in RBD patients. © 2015 European Sleep Research Society.

Relatedness Proportion Effects in Semantic Categorization: Reconsidering the Automatic Spreading Activation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wit, Bianca; Kinoshita, Sachiko

2014-01-01

Semantic priming effects at a short prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony are commonly explained in terms of an automatic spreading activation process. According to this view, the proportion of related trials should have no impact on the size of the semantic priming effect. Using a semantic categorization task ("Is this a living…

A flight-test evaluation of a go-around control system for a twin engine powered-lift STOL airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, D. M.; Hardy, G. H.

1983-01-01

An automatic go-around control system was evaluated on the Augmentor Wing Jet Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Research Airplane (AWJSRA) as part of a study of an automatic landing system for a powered-lift STOL airplane. The results of the evaluation indicate that the go-around control system can successfully transition the airplane to a climb configuration from any initiation point during the glide-slope track or the flare maneuver prior to touchdown.

Theoretical Analysis of the Longitudinal Behavior of an Automatically Controlled Supersonic Interceptor During the Attack Phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gates, Ordway B., Jr.; Woodling, C. H.

1959-01-01

Theoretical analysis of the longitudinal behavior of an automatically controlled supersonic interceptor during the attack phase against a nonmaneuvering target is presented. Control of the interceptor's flight path is obtained by use of a pitch rate command system. Topics lift, and pitching moment, effects of initial tracking errors, discussion of normal acceleration limited, limitations of control surface rate and deflection, and effects of neglecting forward velocity changes of interceptor during attack phase.

An automatic method of brain tumor segmentation from MRI volume based on the symmetry of brain and level set method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaobing; Qiu, Tianshuang; Lebonvallet, Stephane; Ruan, Su

2010-02-01

This paper presents a brain tumor segmentation method which automatically segments tumors from human brain MRI image volume. The presented model is based on the symmetry of human brain and level set method. Firstly, the midsagittal plane of an MRI volume is searched, the slices with potential tumor of the volume are checked out according to their symmetries, and an initial boundary of the tumor in the slice, in which the tumor is in the largest size, is determined meanwhile by watershed and morphological algorithms; Secondly, the level set method is applied to the initial boundary to drive the curve evolving and stopping to the appropriate tumor boundary; Lastly, the tumor boundary is projected one by one to its adjacent slices as initial boundaries through the volume for the whole tumor. The experiment results are compared with hand tracking of the expert and show relatively good accordance between both.

Understanding the role of injury/illness sensitivity and anxiety sensitivity in (automatic) pain processing: an examination using the extrinsic affective simon task.

PubMed

Vancleef, Linda M G; Peters, Madelon L; Gilissen, Susan M P; De Jong, Peter J

2007-07-01

Three fundamental fears are assumed to underlie psychopathology: Anxiety Sensitivity (AS), Injury/illness sensitivity (IS), and Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE). Both AS and IS may form risk factors for the development and exacerbation of chronic pain. The current research examines the relation between these fears and automatic threat appraisal for pain-related stimuli. Study 1 (n=48) additionally examined content-specific associations of AS and FNE with the automatic threat appraisal of, respectively, panic and social evaluative cues. Study 2 (n=60) additionally focused on the association of IS and AS with the engagement in health protecting behavior, and the use of health care services. Both studies found evidence for an automatic threat appraisal of aversive stimuli. Study 2 demonstrated a positive association between the automatic threat appraisal for pain-related stimuli and individuals' IS levels. IS was found to be the single best predictor of the tendency to engage in health protecting behavior, whereas AS was the single best predictor of the reported use of health care services. This study contributes to the field of knowledge on putative risk factors for chronic pain. Results demonstrate an automatic threat appraisal toward pain-related stimuli that is related to vulnerability traits for pain. This automatic threat appraisal might initiate relatively spontaneous (nonstrategic) pain-maintaining behavioral responses.

Automatic metastatic brain tumor segmentation for stereotactic radiosurgery applications.

PubMed

Liu, Yan; Stojadinovic, Strahinja; Hrycushko, Brian; Wardak, Zabi; Lu, Weiguo; Yan, Yulong; Jiang, Steve B; Timmerman, Robert; Abdulrahman, Ramzi; Nedzi, Lucien; Gu, Xuejun

2016-12-21

The objective of this study is to develop an automatic segmentation strategy for efficient and accurate metastatic brain tumor delineation on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1c) magnetic resonance images (MRI) for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) applications. The proposed four-step automatic brain metastases segmentation strategy is comprised of pre-processing, initial contouring, contour evolution, and contour triage. First, T1c brain images are preprocessed to remove the skull. Second, an initial tumor contour is created using a multi-scaled adaptive threshold-based bounding box and a super-voxel clustering technique. Third, the initial contours are evolved to the tumor boundary using a regional active contour technique. Fourth, all detected false-positive contours are removed with geometric characterization. The segmentation process was validated on a realistic virtual phantom containing Gaussian or Rician noise. For each type of noise distribution, five different noise levels were tested. Twenty-one cases from the multimodal brain tumor image segmentation (BRATS) challenge dataset and fifteen clinical metastases cases were also included in validation. Segmentation performance was quantified by the Dice coefficient (DC), normalized mutual information (NMI), structural similarity (SSIM), Hausdorff distance (HD), mean value of surface-to-surface distance (MSSD) and standard deviation of surface-to-surface distance (SDSSD). In the numerical phantom study, the evaluation yielded a DC of 0.98  ±  0.01, an NMI of 0.97  ±  0.01, an SSIM of 0.999  ±  0.001, an HD of 2.2  ±  0.8 mm, an MSSD of 0.1  ±  0.1 mm, and an SDSSD of 0.3  ±  0.1 mm. The validation on the BRATS data resulted in a DC of 0.89  ±  0.08, which outperform the BRATS challenge algorithms. Evaluation on clinical datasets gave a DC of 0.86  ±  0.09, an NMI of 0.80  ±  0.11, an SSIM of 0.999  ±  0.001, an HD of 8.8  ±  12.6 mm, an MSSD of 1.5  ±  3.2 mm, and an SDSSD of 1.8  ±  3.4 mm when comparing to the physician drawn ground truth. The result indicated that the developed automatic segmentation strategy yielded accurate brain tumor delineation and presented as a useful clinical tool for SRS applications.

Automatic metastatic brain tumor segmentation for stereotactic radiosurgery applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yan; Stojadinovic, Strahinja; Hrycushko, Brian; Wardak, Zabi; Lu, Weiguo; Yan, Yulong; Jiang, Steve B.; Timmerman, Robert; Abdulrahman, Ramzi; Nedzi, Lucien; Gu, Xuejun

2016-12-01

The objective of this study is to develop an automatic segmentation strategy for efficient and accurate metastatic brain tumor delineation on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1c) magnetic resonance images (MRI) for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) applications. The proposed four-step automatic brain metastases segmentation strategy is comprised of pre-processing, initial contouring, contour evolution, and contour triage. First, T1c brain images are preprocessed to remove the skull. Second, an initial tumor contour is created using a multi-scaled adaptive threshold-based bounding box and a super-voxel clustering technique. Third, the initial contours are evolved to the tumor boundary using a regional active contour technique. Fourth, all detected false-positive contours are removed with geometric characterization. The segmentation process was validated on a realistic virtual phantom containing Gaussian or Rician noise. For each type of noise distribution, five different noise levels were tested. Twenty-one cases from the multimodal brain tumor image segmentation (BRATS) challenge dataset and fifteen clinical metastases cases were also included in validation. Segmentation performance was quantified by the Dice coefficient (DC), normalized mutual information (NMI), structural similarity (SSIM), Hausdorff distance (HD), mean value of surface-to-surface distance (MSSD) and standard deviation of surface-to-surface distance (SDSSD). In the numerical phantom study, the evaluation yielded a DC of 0.98  ±  0.01, an NMI of 0.97  ±  0.01, an SSIM of 0.999  ±  0.001, an HD of 2.2  ±  0.8 mm, an MSSD of 0.1  ±  0.1 mm, and an SDSSD of 0.3  ±  0.1 mm. The validation on the BRATS data resulted in a DC of 0.89  ±  0.08, which outperform the BRATS challenge algorithms. Evaluation on clinical datasets gave a DC of 0.86  ±  0.09, an NMI of 0.80  ±  0.11, an SSIM of 0.999  ±  0.001, an HD of 8.8  ±  12.6 mm, an MSSD of 1.5  ±  3.2 mm, and an SDSSD of 1.8  ±  3.4 mm when comparing to the physician drawn ground truth. The result indicated that the developed automatic segmentation strategy yielded accurate brain tumor delineation and presented as a useful clinical tool for SRS applications.

[Study on Intelligent Automatic Tracking Radiation Protection Curtain].

PubMed

Zhao, Longyang; Han, Jindong; Ou, Minjian; Chen, Jinlong

2015-09-01

In order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional X-ray inspection taking passive protection mode, this paper combines the automatic control technology, puts forward a kind of active protection X-ray equipment. The device of automatic detection of patients receiving X-ray irradiation part, intelligent adjustment in patients and shooting device between automatic tracking radiation protection device height. The device has the advantages of automatic adjustment, anti-radiation device, reduce the height of non-irradiated area X-ray radiation and improve the work efficiency. Testing by the professional organization, the device can decrease more than 90% of X-ray dose for patients with non-irradiated area.

Cauchy problem with general discontinuous initial data along a smooth curve for 2-d Euler system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shuxing; Li, Dening

2014-09-01

We study the Cauchy problems for the isentropic 2-d Euler system with discontinuous initial data along a smooth curve. All three singularities are present in the solution: shock wave, rarefaction wave and contact discontinuity. We show that the usual restrictive high order compatibility conditions for the initial data are automatically satisfied. The local existence of piecewise smooth solution containing all three waves is established.

14 CFR 23.57 - Takeoff path.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... speed not less than VR. However, landing gear retraction must not be initiated until the airplane is...) Except for gear retraction and automatic propeller feathering, the airplane configuration must not be...

14 CFR 23.57 - Takeoff path.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... speed not less than VR. However, landing gear retraction must not be initiated until the airplane is...) Except for gear retraction and automatic propeller feathering, the airplane configuration must not be...

14 CFR 23.57 - Takeoff path.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... speed not less than VR. However, landing gear retraction must not be initiated until the airplane is...) Except for gear retraction and automatic propeller feathering, the airplane configuration must not be...

14 CFR 23.57 - Takeoff path.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... speed not less than VR. However, landing gear retraction must not be initiated until the airplane is...) Except for gear retraction and automatic propeller feathering, the airplane configuration must not be...

Enhanced Automatic Question Creator--EAQC: Concept, Development and Evaluation of an Automatic Test Item Creation Tool to Foster Modern e-Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutl, Christian; Lankmayr, Klaus; Weinhofer, Joachim; Hofler, Margit

2011-01-01

Research in automated creation of test items for assessment purposes became increasingly important during the recent years. Due to automatic question creation it is possible to support personalized and self-directed learning activities by preparing appropriate and individualized test items quite easily with relatively little effort or even fully…

Die Starter: A New System to Manage Early Feasibility in Sheet Metal Forming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narainen, Rodrigue; Porzner, Harald

2016-08-01

Die Starter, a new system developed by ESI Group, allows the user to drastically reduce the number of iterations during the early tool process feasibility. This innovative system automatically designs the first quick die face, generating binder and addendum surfaces (NURBS surfaces) by taking account the full die process. Die Starter also improves the initial die face based on feasibility criteria (avoiding splits, wrinkles) by automatically generating the geometrical modifications of the binder and addendum and the bead restraining forces with minimal material usage. This paper presents a description of the new system and the methodology of Die Starter. Some industrial examples are presented from the part geometry to final die face including automatic developed flanges, part on binder and inner binder.

Mismatch negativity results from bilateral asymmetric dipole sources in the frontal and temporal lobes.

PubMed

Jemel, Boutheina; Achenbach, Christiane; Müller, Bernhard W; Röpcke, Bernd; Oades, Robert D

2002-01-01

The event-related potential (ERP) reflecting auditory change detection (mismatch negativity, MMN) registers automatic selective processing of a deviant sound with respect to a working memory template resulting from a series of standard sounds. Controversy remains whether MMN can be generated in the frontal as well as the temporal cortex. Our aim was to see if frontal as well as temporal lobe dipoles could explain MMN recorded after pitch-deviants (Pd-MMN) and duration deviants (Dd-MMN). EEG recordings were taken from 32 sites in 14 healthy subjects during a passive 3-tone oddball presented during a simple visual discrimination and an active auditory discrimination condition. Both conditions were repeated after one month. The Pd-MMN was larger, peaked earlier and correlated better between sessions than the Dd-MMN. Two dipoles in the auditory cortex and two in the frontal lobe (left cingulate and right inferior frontal cortex) were found to be similarly placed for Pd- and Dd-MMN, and were well replicated on retest. This study confirms interactions between activity generated in the frontal and auditory temporal cortices in automatic attention-like processes that resemble initial brain imaging reports of unconscious visual change detection. The lack of interference between sessions shows that the situation is likely to be sensitive to treatment or illness effects on fronto-temporal interactions involving repeated measures.

Measuring the Complexity of Treatment for Challenging Behavior using the Treatment Intensity Rating Form.

PubMed

Zarcone, Jennifer; Hagopian, Louis; Ninci, Jennifer; McKay, Chloe; Bonner, Andrew; Dillon, Christopher; Hausman, Nicole

2016-01-01

The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a tool to measure the complexity and intensity of psychotropic medication interventions, behavioral interventions, and issues related to crisis management for challenging behavior using a standardized rating form. The Treatment Intensity Rating Form (TIRF) is a 10-item scale with three categories: pharmacological interventions, behavior supports, and protective equipment. In a retrospective review we examined the final treatment recommendations for 74 individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) based on psychiatric and behavioral notes and reports. We also compared whether TIRF scores differed across individuals for whom SIB was maintained by social reinforcement (e.g., to access attention or toys/activities, or escape from tasks) versus those for whom SIB was maintained by automatic reinforcement (e.g., occurs independent of social variables, and is presumed to be maintained by sensory reinforcement). The TIRF was demonstrated to have strong inter-rater reliability (98%) and appears to have good face validity. As hypothesized, individuals with SIB maintained by automatic reinforcement had significantly more medication trials (p=0.0005) and required more protective equipment than individuals with SIB maintained by social reinforcement (p=0.0002). Antidepressant medication was used more often with individuals with automatically reinforced SIB, although antipsychotics and anticonvulsants were also commonly used across both groups. Findings provide initial support for the TIRF's reliability, and face validity as a measure the level of complexity of medical and behavioral treatment plans - although additional research is needed to fully evaluate its psychometric properties.

Automatic interpretation and writing report of the adult waking electroencephalogram.

PubMed

Shibasaki, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Masatoshi; Sugi, Takenao; Nishida, Shigeto; Nagamine, Takashi; Ikeda, Akio

2014-06-01

Automatic interpretation of the EEG has so far been faced with significant difficulties because of a large amount of spatial as well as temporal information contained in the EEG, continuous fluctuation of the background activity depending on changes in the subject's vigilance and attention level, the occurrence of paroxysmal activities such as spikes and spike-and-slow-waves, contamination of the EEG with a variety of artefacts and the use of different recording electrodes and montages. Therefore, previous attempts of automatic EEG interpretation have been focussed only on a specific EEG feature such as paroxysmal abnormalities, delta waves, sleep stages and artefact detection. As a result of a long-standing cooperation between clinical neurophysiologists and system engineers, we report for the first time on a comprehensive, computer-assisted, automatic interpretation of the adult waking EEG. This system analyses the background activity, intermittent abnormalities, artefacts and the level of vigilance and attention of the subject, and automatically presents its report in written form. Besides, it also detects paroxysmal abnormalities and evaluates the effects of intermittent photic stimulation and hyperventilation on the EEG. This system of automatic EEG interpretation was formed by adopting the strategy that the qualified EEGers employ for the systematic visual inspection. This system can be used as a supplementary tool for the EEGer's visual inspection, and for educating EEG trainees and EEG technicians. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transmit: An Advanced Traffic Management System

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-11-27

TRANSCOM'S SYSTEM FOR MANAGING INCIDENTS AND TRAFFIC, KNOWN AS TRANSMIT, WAS INITIATED TO ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF USING AUTOMATIC VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION (AVI) EQUIPMENT FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND SURVEILLANCE APPLICATIONS. AVI TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS...

Driver Behavioral Changes through Interactions with an Automatic Brake System for Collision Avoidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itoh, Makoto; Fujiwara, Yusuke; Inagaki, Toshiyuki

This paper discusses driver's behavioral changes as a result of driver's use of an automatic brake system for preventing a rear-end collision from occurring. Three types of automatic brake systems are investigated in this study. Type 1 brake system applies a strong automatic brake when a collision is very imminent. Type 2 brake system initiates brake operation softly when a rear-end crash may be anticipated. Types 1 and 2 are for avoidance of a collision. Type 3 brake system, on the other hand, applies a strong automatic brake to reduce the damage when a collision can not be avoided. An experiment was conducted with a driving simulator in order to analyze the driver's possible behavioral changes. The results showed that the time headway (THW) during car following phase was reduced by use of an automatic brake system of any type. The inverse of time to collision (TTC), which is an index of the driver's brake timing, increased by use of Type 1 brake system when the deceleration rate of the lead vehicle was relatively low. However, the brake timing did not change when the drivers used Type 2 or 3 brake system. As a whole, dangerous behavioral changes, such as overreliance on a brake system, were not observed for either type of brake system.

Research into automatic recognition of joints in human symmetrical movements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Yifang; Li, Zhiyu

2008-03-01

High speed photography is a major means of collecting data from human body movement. It enables the automatic identification of joints, which brings great significance to the research, treatment and recovery of injuries, the analysis to the diagnosis of sport techniques and the ergonomics. According to the features that when the adjacent joints of human body are in planetary motion, their distance remains the same, and according to the human body joint movement laws (such as the territory of the articular anatomy and the kinematic features), a new approach is introduced to process the image thresholding of joints filmed by the high speed camera, to automatically identify the joints and to automatically trace the joint points (by labeling markers at the joints). Based upon the closure of marking points, automatic identification can be achieved through thresholding treatment. Due to the screening frequency and the laws of human segment movement, when the marking points have been initialized, their automatic tracking can be achieved with the progressive sequential images.Then the testing results, the data from three-dimensional force platform and the characteristics that human body segment will only rotate around the closer ending segment when the segment has no boding force and only valid to the conservative force all tell that after being analyzed kinematically, the approach is approved to be valid.

SVGA AMOLED with world's highest pixel pitch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prache, Olivier; Wacyk, Ihor

2006-05-01

We present the design and early evaluation results of the world's highest pixel pitch full-color 800x3x600- pixel, active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) color microdisplay for consumer and environmentally demanding applications. The design premises were aimed at improving small area uniformity as well as reducing the pixel size while expanding the functionality found in existing eMagin Corporations' microdisplay products without incurring any power consumption degradation when compared to existing OLED microdisplays produced by eMagin. The initial results of the first silicon prototype presented here demonstrate compliance with all major objectives as well as the validation of a new adaptive gamma correction technique that can operate automatically over temperature.

BIRI: a new approach for automatically discovering and indexing available public bioinformatics resources from the literature.

PubMed

de la Calle, Guillermo; García-Remesal, Miguel; Chiesa, Stefano; de la Iglesia, Diana; Maojo, Victor

2009-10-07

The rapid evolution of Internet technologies and the collaborative approaches that dominate the field have stimulated the development of numerous bioinformatics resources. To address this new framework, several initiatives have tried to organize these services and resources. In this paper, we present the BioInformatics Resource Inventory (BIRI), a new approach for automatically discovering and indexing available public bioinformatics resources using information extracted from the scientific literature. The index generated can be automatically updated by adding additional manuscripts describing new resources. We have developed web services and applications to test and validate our approach. It has not been designed to replace current indexes but to extend their capabilities with richer functionalities. We developed a web service to provide a set of high-level query primitives to access the index. The web service can be used by third-party web services or web-based applications. To test the web service, we created a pilot web application to access a preliminary knowledge base of resources. We tested our tool using an initial set of 400 abstracts. Almost 90% of the resources described in the abstracts were correctly classified. More than 500 descriptions of functionalities were extracted. These experiments suggest the feasibility of our approach for automatically discovering and indexing current and future bioinformatics resources. Given the domain-independent characteristics of this tool, it is currently being applied by the authors in other areas, such as medical nanoinformatics. BIRI is available at http://edelman.dia.fi.upm.es/biri/.

Cognitive predictors and moderators of winter depression treatment outcomes in cognitive-behavioral therapy vs. light therapy.

PubMed

Sitnikov, Lilya; Rohan, Kelly J; Evans, Maggie; Mahon, Jennifer N; Nillni, Yael I

2013-12-01

There is no empirical basis for determining which seasonal affective disorder (SAD) patients are best suited for what type of treatment. Using data from a parent clinical trial comparing light therapy (LT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and their combination (CBT + LT) for SAD, we constructed hierarchical linear regression models to explore baseline cognitive vulnerability constructs (i.e., dysfunctional attitudes, negative automatic thoughts, response styles) as prognostic and prescriptive factors of acute and next winter depression outcomes. Cognitive constructs did not predict or moderate acute treatment outcomes. Baseline dysfunctional attitudes and negative automatic thoughts were prescriptive of next winter treatment outcomes. Participants with higher baseline levels of dysfunctional attitudes and negative automatic thoughts had less severe depression the next winter if treated with CBT than if treated with LT. In addition, participants randomized to solo LT who scored at or above the sample mean on these cognitive measures at baseline had more severe depressive symptoms the next winter relative to those who scored below the mean. Baseline dysfunctional attitudes and negative automatic thoughts did not predict treatment outcomes in participants assigned to solo CBT or CBT + LT. Therefore, SAD patients with extremely rigid cognitions did not fare as well in the subsequent winter if treated initially with solo LT. Such patients may be better suited for initial treatment with CBT, which directly targets cognitive vulnerability processes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health smart home for elders - a tool for automatic recognition of activities of daily living.

PubMed

Le, Xuan Hoa Binh; Di Mascolo, Maria; Gouin, Alexia; Noury, Norbert

2008-01-01

Elders live preferently in their own home, but with aging comes the loss of autonomy and associated risks. In order to help them live longer in safe conditions, we need a tool to automatically detect their loss of autonomy by assessing the degree of performance of activities of daily living. This article presents an approach enabling the activities recognition of an elder living alone in a home equipped with noninvasive sensors.

New approaches for measuring changes in the cortical surface using an automatic reconstruction algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Dzung L.; Han, Xiao; Rettmann, Maryam E.; Xu, Chenyang; Tosun, Duygu; Resnick, Susan; Prince, Jerry L.

2002-05-01

In previous work, the authors presented a multi-stage procedure for the semi-automatic reconstruction of the cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images. This method suffered from several disadvantages. First, the tissue classification algorithm used can be sensitive to noise within the image. Second, manual interaction was required for masking out undesired regions of the brain image, such as the ventricles and putamen. Third, iterated median filters were used to perform a topology correction on the initial cortical surface, resulting in an overly smoothed initial surface. Finally, the deformable surface used to converge to the cortex had difficulty capturing narrow gyri. In this work, all four disadvantages of the procedure have been addressed. A more robust tissue classification algorithm is employed and the manual masking step is replaced by an automatic method involving level set deformable models. Instead of iterated median filters, an algorithm developed specifically for topology correction is used. The last disadvantage is addressed using an algorithm that artificially separates adjacent sulcal banks. The new procedure is more automated but also more accurate than the previous one. Its utility is demonstrated by performing a preliminary study on data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Automatic and user-centric approaches to video summary evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taskiran, Cuneyt M.; Bentley, Frank

2007-01-01

Automatic video summarization has become an active research topic in content-based video processing. However, not much emphasis has been placed on developing rigorous summary evaluation methods and developing summarization systems based on a clear understanding of user needs, obtained through user centered design. In this paper we address these two topics and propose an automatic video summary evaluation algorithm adapted from teh text summarization domain.

Automation system for measurement of gamma-ray spectra of induced activity for multi-element high volume neutron activation analysis at the reactor IBR-2 of Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics at the joint institute for nuclear research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlov, S. S.; Dmitriev, A. Yu.; Chepurchenko, I. A.; Frontasyeva, M. V.

2014-11-01

The automation system for measurement of induced activity of gamma-ray spectra for multi-element high volume neutron activation analysis (NAA) was designed, developed and implemented at the reactor IBR-2 at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics. The system consists of three devices of automatic sample changers for three Canberra HPGe detector-based gamma spectrometry systems. Each sample changer consists of two-axis of linear positioning module M202A by DriveSet company and disk with 45 slots for containers with samples. Control of automatic sample changer is performed by the Xemo S360U controller by Systec company. Positioning accuracy can reach 0.1 mm. Special software performs automatic changing of samples and measurement of gamma spectra at constant interaction with the NAA database.

Assessing the effects of automatically delivered stimulation on the use of simple exercise tools by students with multiple disabilities.

PubMed

Lancioni, Giulio E; Singh, Nirbhay N; O'Reilly, Mark F; Oliva, Doretta; Campodonico, Francesca; Groeneweg, Jop

2003-01-01

We assessed the effects of automatically delivered stimulation on the activity level and mood (indices of happiness) of three students with multiple disabilities during their use of a stepper and a stationary bicycle. The stimulation involved a pool of favorite stimulus events that were delivered automatically, through an electronic control system, while the students were active in using the aforementioned exercise tools. Data showed that stimulation had an overall positive impact, but this was not evident on both measures (i.e., level of activity and indices of happiness) or with both exercise tools across students. These findings are discussed in relation to the outcome of an earlier study in the area by the same authors and in terms of practical implications for daily contexts.

Development of Lightning Observation Network in the Western Pacific Region for the Intensity Prediction of Severe Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, M.; Takahashi, Y.; Yamashita, K.; Kubota, H.; Hamada, J. I.; Momota, E.; Marciano, J. J.

2017-12-01

Lightning activity represents the thunderstorm activity, that is, the precipitation and/or updraft intensity and area. Thunderstorm activity is also an important parameter in terms of the energy inputs from the ocean to the atmosphere inside tropical cyclone, which is one of severe weather events. Recent studies suggest that it is possible to predict the maximum wind velocity and minimum pressure near the center of the tropical cyclone by one or two days before if we monitor the lightning activities in the tropical cyclone. Many countries in the western Pacific region suffer from the attack of tropical cyclone (typhoon) and have a strong demand to predict the intensity development of typhoons. Thus, we started developing a new lightning observation system and installing the observation system at Guam, Palau, and Manila in the Philippines from this summer. The lightning observation system consists of a VLF sensor detecting lightning-excited electromagnetic waves in the frequency range of 1-5 kHz, an automatic data-processing unit, solar panels, and batteries. Lightning-excited pulse signals detected by the VLF sensor are automatically analyzed by the data-processing unit, and only the extracted information of the trigger time and pulse amplitude is transmitted to a data server via the 3G data communications. In addition, we are now developing an upgraded lightning and weather observation system, which will be installed at 50 automated weather stations in Metro Manila and 10 radar sites in the Philippines under the 5-year project (SATREPS) scheme. At the presentation, we will show the initial results derived from the lightning observation system in detail and will show the detailed future plan of the SATREPS project.

Automatic Scheduling and Planning (ASAP) in future ground control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matlin, Sam

1988-01-01

This report describes two complementary approaches to the problem of space mission planning and scheduling. The first is an Expert System or Knowledge-Based System for automatically resolving most of the activity conflicts in a candidate plan. The second is an Interactive Graphics Decision Aid to assist the operator in manually resolving the residual conflicts which are beyond the scope of the Expert System. The two system designs are consistent with future ground control station activity requirements, support activity timing constraints, resource limits and activity priority guidelines.

Permanent 3D laser scanning system for an active landslide in Gresten (Austria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canli, Ekrem; Höfle, Bernhard; Hämmerle, Martin; Benni, Thiebes; Glade, Thomas

2015-04-01

Terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) have widely been used for high spatial resolution data acquisition of topographic features and geomorphic analyses. Existing applications encompass different landslides including rockfall, translational or rotational landslides, debris flow, but also coastal cliff erosion, braided river evolution or river bank erosion. The main advantages of TLS are (a) the high spatial sampling density of XYZ-measurements (e.g. 1 point every 2-3 mm at 10 m distance), particularly in comparison with the low data density monitoring techniques such as GNSS or total stations, (b) the millimeter accuracy and precision of the range measurement to centimeter accuracy of the final DEM, and (c) the highly dense area-wide scanning that enables to look through vegetation and to measure bare ground. One of its main constraints is the temporal resolution of acquired data due to labor costs and time requirements for field campaigns. Thus, repetition measurements are generally performed only episodically. However, for an increased scientific understanding of the processes as well as for early warning purposes, we present a novel permanent 3D monitoring setup to increase the temporal resolution of TLS measurements. This accounts for different potential monitoring deliverables such as volumetric calculations, spatio-temporal movement patterns, predictions and even alerting. This system was installed at the active Salcher landslide in Gresten (Austria) that is situated in the transition zone of the Gresten Klippenbelt (Helvetic) and the Flyschzone (Penninic). The characteristic lithofacies are the Gresten Beds of Early Jurassic age that are covered by a sequence of marly and silty beds with intercalated sandy limestones. Permanent data acquisition can be implemented into our workflow with any long-range TLS system offering fully automated capturing. We utilize an Optech ILRIS-3D scanner. The time interval between two scans is currently set to 24 hours, but can be set as low as a full scan requires. The field of view (FoV) from the fixed scanner position covers most of the active landslide surface (with a maximum distance of 300 m). To initiate the scan acquisition, command line tools are run automatically on an attached notebook computer in the given time interval. The acquired 3D point cloud (including signal intensity recordings) are then sent to a server via automatic internet transfer. Each new point cloud is automatically compared with an initial 'zero' survey. Furthermore, highly detailed reference surveys are performed several times per year with the most recent Riegl VZ-6000 scanner from multiple scan positions in order to provide high quality independent ground truth. The change detection is carried out by fully automatic batch processing without the need for manual interaction. One of the applied change detection approaches is the M3C2 algorithm (Multiscale Model to Model Cloud Comparison) which is available as open source software. The field site in Gresten also contains different other monitoring systems such as inclinometers and piezometers that complement in the interpretation of the obtained TLS data. Future analysis will include the combination of surface movement with subsurface hydrology as well as with climatic data obtained from an on-site climatic station.

The Infrared Automatic Mass Screening (IRAMS) System For Printed Circuit Board Fault Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugo, Perry W.

1987-05-01

Office of the Program Manager for TMDE (OPM TMDE) has initiated a program to develop techniques for evaluating the performance of printed circuit boards (PCB's) using infrared thermal imaging. It is OPM TMDE's expectation that the standard thermal profile (STP) will become the basis for the future rapid automatic detection and isolation of gross failure mechanisms on units under test (UUT's). To accomplish this OPM TMDE has purchased two Infrared Automatic Mass Screening ( I RAMS) systems which are scheduled for delivery in 1987. The IRAMS system combines a high resolution infrared thermal imager with a test bench and diagnostic computer hardware and software. Its purpose is to rapidly and automatically compare the thermal profiles of a UUT with the STP of that unit, recalled from memory, in order to detect thermally responsive failure mechanisms in PCB's. This paper will review the IRAMS performance requirements, outline the plan for implementing the two systems and report on progress to date.

A new method for the automatic interpretation of Schlumberger and Wenner sounding curves

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zohdy, A.A.R.

1989-01-01

A fast iterative method for the automatic interpretation of Schlumberger and Wenner sounding curves is based on obtaining interpreted depths and resistivities from shifted electrode spacings and adjusted apparent resistivities, respectively. The method is fully automatic. It does not require an initial guess of the number of layers, their thicknesses, or their resistivities; and it does not require extrapolation of incomplete sounding curves. The number of layers in the interpreted model equals the number of digitized points on the sounding curve. The resulting multilayer model is always well-behaved with no thin layers of unusually high or unusually low resistivities. For noisy data, interpretation is done in two sets of iterations (two passes). Anomalous layers, created because of noise in the first pass, are eliminated in the second pass. Such layers are eliminated by considering the best-fitting curve from the first pass to be a smoothed version of the observed curve and automatically reinterpreting it (second pass). The application of the method is illustrated by several examples. -Author

An Automatic Video Meteor Observation Using UFO Capture at the Showa Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujiwara, Y.; Nakamura, T.; Ejiri, M.; Suzuki, H.

2012-05-01

The goal of our study is to clarify meteor activities in the southern hemi-sphere by continuous optical observations with video cameras with automatic meteor detection and recording at Syowa station, Antarctica.

Automatic Clustering of Rolling Element Bearings Defects with Artificial Neural Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonini, M.; Faglia, R.; Pedersoli, M.; Tiboni, M.

2006-06-01

The paper presents the optimization of a methodology for automatic clustering based on Artificial Neural Networks to detect the presence of defects in rolling bearings. The research activity was developed in co-operation with an Italian company which is expert in the production of water pumps for automotive use (Industrie Saleri Italo). The final goal of the work is to develop a system for the automatic control of the pumps, at the end of the production line. In this viewpoint, we are gradually considering the main elements of the water pump, which can cause malfunctioning. The first elements we have considered are the rolling bearing, a very critic component for the system. The experimental activity is based on the vibration measuring of rolling bearings opportunely damaged; vibration signals are in the second phase elaborated; the third and last phase is an automatic clustering. Different signal elaboration techniques are compared to optimize the methodology.

Application of a movable active vibration control system on a floating raft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Mak, Cheuk Ming

2018-02-01

This paper presents a theoretical study of an inertial actuator connected to an accelerometer by a local feedback loop for active vibration control on a floating raft. On the criterion of the minimum power transmission from the vibratory machines to the flexible foundation in the floating raft, the best mounting positions for the inertial actuator on the intermediate mass of the floating raft are investigated. Simulation results indicate that the best mounting positions for the inertial actuator vary with frequency. To control time-varying excitations of vibratory machines on a floating raft effectively, an automatic control system based on real-time measurement of a cost function and automatically searching the best mounting position of the inertial actuator is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that an automatic control system is proposed to move an actuator automatically for controlling a time-varying excitation.

Automatic initialization for 3D bone registration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foroughi, Pezhman; Taylor, Russell H.; Fichtinger, Gabor

2008-03-01

In image-guided bone surgery, sample points collected from the surface of the bone are registered to the preoperative CT model using well-known registration methods such as Iterative Closest Point (ICP). These techniques are generally very sensitive to the initial alignment of the datasets. Poor initialization significantly increases the chances of getting trapped local minima. In order to reduce the risk of local minima, the registration is manually initialized by locating the sample points close to the corresponding points on the CT model. In this paper, we present an automatic initialization method that aligns the sample points collected from the surface of pelvis with CT model of the pelvis. The main idea is to exploit a mean shape of pelvis created from a large number of CT scans as the prior knowledge to guide the initial alignment. The mean shape is constant for all registrations and facilitates the inclusion of application-specific information into the registration process. The CT model is first aligned with the mean shape using the bilateral symmetry of the pelvis and the similarity of multiple projections. The surface points collected using ultrasound are then aligned with the pelvis mean shape. This will, in turn, lead to initial alignment of the sample points with the CT model. The experiments using a dry pelvis and two cadavers show that the method can align the randomly dislocated datasets close enough for successful registration. The standard ICP has been used for final registration of datasets.

Automatic controls and regulators: A compilation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Devices, methods, and techniques for control and regulation of the mechanical/physical functions involved in implementing the space program are discussed. Section one deals with automatic controls considered to be, essentially, start-stop operations or those holding the activity in a desired constraint. Devices that may be used to regulate activities within desired ranges or subject them to predetermined changes are dealt with in section two.

Installation of automatic control at experimental breeder reactor II

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Larson, H.A.; Booty, W.F.; Chick, D.R.

1985-08-01

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) has been modified to permit automatic control capability. Necessary mechanical and electrical changes were made on a regular control rod position; motor, gears, and controller were replaced. A digital computer system was installed that has the programming capability for varied power profiles. The modifications permit transient testing at EBR-II. Experiments were run that increased power linearly as much as 4 MW/s (16% of initial power of 25 MW(thermal)/s), held power constant, and decreased power at a rate no slower than the increase rate. Thus the performance of the automatic control algorithm, the mechanical andmore » electrical control equipment, and the qualifications of the driver fuel for future power change experiments were all demonstrated.« less

Human Activity Recognition from Body Sensor Data using Deep Learning.

PubMed

Hassan, Mohammad Mehedi; Huda, Shamsul; Uddin, Md Zia; Almogren, Ahmad; Alrubaian, Majed

2018-04-16

In recent years, human activity recognition from body sensor data or wearable sensor data has become a considerable research attention from academia and health industry. This research can be useful for various e-health applications such as monitoring elderly and physical impaired people at Smart home to improve their rehabilitation processes. However, it is not easy to accurately and automatically recognize physical human activity through wearable sensors due to the complexity and variety of body activities. In this paper, we address the human activity recognition problem as a classification problem using wearable body sensor data. In particular, we propose to utilize a Deep Belief Network (DBN) model for successful human activity recognition. First, we extract the important initial features from the raw body sensor data. Then, a kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) are performed to further process the features and make them more robust to be useful for fast activity recognition. Finally, the DBN is trained by these features. Various experiments were performed on a real-world wearable sensor dataset to verify the effectiveness of the deep learning algorithm. The results show that the proposed DBN outperformed other algorithms and achieves satisfactory activity recognition performance.

Automated segmentation of myocardial scar in late enhancement MRI using combined intensity and spatial information.

PubMed

Tao, Qian; Milles, Julien; Zeppenfeld, Katja; Lamb, Hildo J; Bax, Jeroen J; Reiber, Johan H C; van der Geest, Rob J

2010-08-01

Accurate assessment of the size and distribution of a myocardial infarction (MI) from late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) MRI is of significant prognostic value for postinfarction patients. In this paper, an automatic MI identification method combining both intensity and spatial information is presented in a clear framework of (i) initialization, (ii) false acceptance removal, and (iii) false rejection removal. The method was validated on LGE MR images of 20 chronic postinfarction patients, using manually traced MI contours from two independent observers as reference. Good agreement was observed between automatic and manual MI identification. Validation results showed that the average Dice indices, which describe the percentage of overlap between two regions, were 0.83 +/- 0.07 and 0.79 +/- 0.08 between the automatic identification and the manual tracing from observer 1 and observer 2, and the errors in estimated infarct percentage were 0.0 +/- 1.9% and 3.8 +/- 4.7% compared with observer 1 and observer 2. The difference between the automatic method and manual tracing is in the order of interobserver variation. In conclusion, the developed automatic method is accurate and robust in MI delineation, providing an objective tool for quantitative assessment of MI in LGE MR imaging.

Terminal area automatic navigation, guidance and control research using the Microwave Landing System (MLS). Part 5: Design and development of a Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS) for steep final approach using modern control techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.

1983-01-01

The design and development of a 3-D Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS) for the Terminal Configured Vehicle (TCV) Research Aircraft, a B-737-100 is described. The system was designed using sampled data Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LOG) methods, resulting in a direct digital design with a modern control structure which consists of a Kalman filter followed by a control gain matrix, all operating at 10 Hz. DIALS uses Microwave Landing System (MLS) position, body-mounted accelerometers, as well as on-board sensors usually available on commercial aircraft, but does not use inertial platforms. The phases of the final approach considered are the localizer and glideslope capture which may be performed simultaneously, localizer and steep glideslope track or hold, crab/decrab and flare to touchdown. DIALS captures, tracks and flares from steep glideslopes ranging from 2.5 deg to 5.5 deg, selected prior to glideslope capture. Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System is the first modern control design automatic landing system successfully flight tested. The results of an initial nonlinear simulation are presented here.

Automatic segmentation of the prostate on CT images using deep learning and multi-atlas fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Ling; Guo, Rongrong; Zhang, Guoyi; Tade, Funmilayo; Schuster, David M.; Nieh, Peter; Master, Viraj; Fei, Baowei

2017-02-01

Automatic segmentation of the prostate on CT images has many applications in prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy. However, prostate CT image segmentation is challenging because of the low contrast of soft tissue on CT images. In this paper, we propose an automatic segmentation method by combining a deep learning method and multi-atlas refinement. First, instead of segmenting the whole image, we extract the region of interesting (ROI) to delete irrelevant regions. Then, we use the convolutional neural networks (CNN) to learn the deep features for distinguishing the prostate pixels from the non-prostate pixels in order to obtain the preliminary segmentation results. CNN can automatically learn the deep features adapting to the data, which are different from some handcrafted features. Finally, we select some similar atlases to refine the initial segmentation results. The proposed method has been evaluated on a dataset of 92 prostate CT images. Experimental results show that our method achieved a Dice similarity coefficient of 86.80% as compared to the manual segmentation. The deep learning based method can provide a useful tool for automatic segmentation of the prostate on CT images and thus can have a variety of clinical applications.

Simple Automatic File Exchange (SAFE) to Support Low-Cost Spacecraft Operation via the Internet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, Paul; Repaci, Max; Sames, David

1998-01-01

Various issues associated with Simple Automatic File Exchange (SAFE) are presented in viewgraph form. Specific topics include: 1) Packet telemetry, Internet IP networks and cost reduction; 2) Basic functions and technical features of SAFE; 3) Project goals, including low-cost satellite transmission to data centers to be distributed via an Internet; 4) Operations with a replicated file protocol; 5) File exchange operation; 6) Ground stations as gateways; 7) Lessons learned from demonstrations and tests with SAFE; and 8) Feedback and future initiatives.

Commutated automatic gain control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yost, S. R.

1982-01-01

The commutated automatic gain control (AGC) system was designed and built for the prototype Loran-C receiver is discussed. The current version of the prototype receiver, the Mini L-80, was tested initially in 1980. The receiver uses a super jolt microcomputer to control a memory aided phase loop (MAPLL). The microcomputer also controls the input/output, latitude/longitude conversion, and the recently added AGC system. The AGC control adjusts the level of each station signal, such that the early portion of each envelope rise is about at the same amplitude in the receiver envelope detector.

A Personalized Health Information Retrieval System

PubMed Central

Wang, Yunli; Liu, Zhenkai

2005-01-01

Consumers face barriers when seeking health information on the Internet. A Personalized Health Information Retrieval System (PHIRS) is proposed to recommend health information for consumers. The system consists of four modules: (1) User modeling module captures user’s preference and health interests; (2) Automatic quality filtering module identifies high quality health information; (3) Automatic text difficulty rating module classifies health information into professional or patient educational materials; and (4) User profile matching module tailors health information for individuals. The initial results show that PHIRS could assist consumers with simple search strategies. PMID:16779435

Testing & Evaluation of Close-Range SAR for Monitoring & Automatically Detecting Pavement Conditions

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

This report summarizes activities in support of the DOT contract on Testing & Evaluating Close-Range SAR for Monitoring & Automatically Detecting Pavement Conditions & Improve Visual Inspection Procedures. The work of this project was performed by Dr...

Triggers of sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia differ among patients with varying etiologies of left ventricular dysfunction.

PubMed

Rosman, Jonathan; Hanon, Sam; Shapiro, Michael; Evans, Steven J; Schweitzer, Paul

2006-04-01

The mechanisms underlying the initiation of sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) have not been fully elucidated. The extent to which reentry, abnormal automaticity, and triggered activity play a role in VT differs depending on the etiology of left ventricular dysfunction. By analyzing electrograms from implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), we sought to determine whether there were differences in VT initiation patterns between patients with ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. We analyzed ICD electrograms in patients with ejection fractions < 40% who had sustained VT over a 27-month period. The trigger for VT onset was classified as a ventricular premature beat (VPB), supraventricular tachycardia, or of "sudden onset." The baseline cycle length, VT cycle length, coupling interval, and prematurity ratio were recorded for each event. The prematurity ratio was calculated as the coupling interval of the VT initiator divided by the baseline cycle length. Sixty-three VT events in 14 patients met the inclusion criteria. A VPB initiated the VT in 58 episodes (92%), 1 episode (2%) was initiated by a supraventricular tachycardia, and 4 episodes (6%) were sudden onset. The prematurity ratio was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (0.751 +/- 0.068) as compared to patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy (0.604 +/- 0.139). VPBs initiated most sustained VT episodes. A significantly higher prematurity ratio was observed in the ischemic heart disease group. This may represent different mechanisms of VT initiation in patients with ischemic versus nonischemic heart disease.

Modeling Off-Nominal Behavior in SysML

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Day, John C.; Donahue, Kenneth; Ingham, Michel; Kadesch, Alex; Kennedy, Andrew K.; Post, Ethan

2012-01-01

Specification and development of fault management functionality in systems is performed in an ad hoc way - more of an art than a science. Improvements to system reliability, availability, safety and resilience will be limited without infusion of additional formality into the practice of fault management. Key to the formalization of fault management is a precise representation of off-nominal behavior. Using the upcoming Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission for source material, we have modeled the off-nominal behavior of the SMAP system during its initial spin-up activity, using the System Modeling Language (SysML). In the course of developing these models, we have developed generic patterns for capturing off-nominal behavior in SysML. We show how these patterns provide useful ways of reasoning about the system (e.g., checking for completeness and effectiveness) and allow the automatic generation of typical artifacts (e.g., success trees and FMECAs) used in system analyses.

Single-digit Arabic numbers do not automatically activate magnitude representations in adults or in children: Evidence from the symbolic same–different task☆

PubMed Central

Wong, Becky; Szücs, Dénes

2013-01-01

We investigated whether the mere presentation of single-digit Arabic numbers activates their magnitude representations using a visually-presented symbolic same–different task for 20 adults and 15 children. Participants saw two single-digit Arabic numbers on a screen and judged whether the numbers were the same or different. We examined whether reaction time in this task was primarily driven by (objective or subjective) perceptual similarity, or by the numerical difference between the two digits. We reasoned that, if Arabic numbers automatically activate magnitude representations, a numerical function would best predict reaction time; but if Arabic numbers do not automatically activate magnitude representations, a perceptual function would best predict reaction time. Linear regressions revealed that a perceptual function, specifically, subjective visual similarity, was the best and only significant predictor of reaction time in adults and in children. These data strongly suggest that, in this task, single-digit Arabic numbers do not necessarily automatically activate magnitude representations in adults or in children. As the first study to date to explicitly study the developmental importance of perceptual factors in the symbolic same–different task, we found no significant differences between adults and children in their reliance on perceptual information in this task. Based on our findings, we propose that visual properties may play a key role in symbolic number judgements. PMID:24076332

Neural Signatures of Controlled and Automatic Retrieval Processes in Memory-based Decision-making.

PubMed

Khader, Patrick H; Pachur, Thorsten; Weber, Lilian A E; Jost, Kerstin

2016-01-01

Decision-making often requires retrieval from memory. Drawing on the neural ACT-R theory [Anderson, J. R., Fincham, J. M., Qin, Y., & Stocco, A. A central circuit of the mind. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 136-143, 2008] and other neural models of memory, we delineated the neural signatures of two fundamental retrieval aspects during decision-making: automatic and controlled activation of memory representations. To disentangle these processes, we combined a paradigm developed to examine neural correlates of selective and sequential memory retrieval in decision-making with a manipulation of associative fan (i.e., the decision options were associated with one, two, or three attributes). The results show that both the automatic activation of all attributes associated with a decision option and the controlled sequential retrieval of specific attributes can be traced in material-specific brain areas. Moreover, the two facets of memory retrieval were associated with distinct activation patterns within the frontoparietal network: The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was found to reflect increasing retrieval effort during both automatic and controlled activation of attributes. In contrast, the superior parietal cortex only responded to controlled retrieval, arguably reflecting the sequential updating of attribute information in working memory. This dissociation in activation pattern is consistent with ACT-R and constitutes an important step toward a neural model of the retrieval dynamics involved in memory-based decision-making.

Automatic segmentation for brain MR images via a convex optimized segmentation and bias field correction coupled model.

PubMed

Chen, Yunjie; Zhao, Bo; Zhang, Jianwei; Zheng, Yuhui

2014-09-01

Accurate segmentation of magnetic resonance (MR) images remains challenging mainly due to the intensity inhomogeneity, which is also commonly known as bias field. Recently active contour models with geometric information constraint have been applied, however, most of them deal with the bias field by using a necessary pre-processing step before segmentation of MR data. This paper presents a novel automatic variational method, which can segment brain MR images meanwhile correcting the bias field when segmenting images with high intensity inhomogeneities. We first define a function for clustering the image pixels in a smaller neighborhood. The cluster centers in this objective function have a multiplicative factor that estimates the bias within the neighborhood. In order to reduce the effect of the noise, the local intensity variations are described by the Gaussian distributions with different means and variances. Then, the objective functions are integrated over the entire domain. In order to obtain the global optimal and make the results independent of the initialization of the algorithm, we reconstructed the energy function to be convex and calculated it by using the Split Bregman theory. A salient advantage of our method is that its result is independent of initialization, which allows robust and fully automated application. Our method is able to estimate the bias of quite general profiles, even in 7T MR images. Moreover, our model can also distinguish regions with similar intensity distribution with different variances. The proposed method has been rigorously validated with images acquired on variety of imaging modalities with promising results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A concurrent computer aided detection (CAD) tool for articular cartilage disease of the knee on MR imaging using active shape models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramakrishna, Bharath; Saiprasad, Ganesh; Safdar, Nabile; Siddiqui, Khan; Chang, Chein-I.; Siegel, Eliot

2008-03-01

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and a major cause of morbidity affecting millions of adults in the US and world wide. In the knee, OA begins with the degeneration of joint articular cartilage, eventually resulting in the femur and tibia coming in contact, and leading to severe pain and stiffness. There has been extensive research examining 3D MR imaging sequences and automatic/semi-automatic techniques for 2D/3D articular cartilage extraction. However, in routine clinical practice the most popular technique still remain radiographic examination and qualitative assessment of the joint space. This may be in large part because of a lack of tools that can provide clinically relevant diagnosis in adjunct (in near real time fashion) with the radiologist and which can serve the needs of the radiologists and reduce inter-observer variation. Our work aims to fill this void by developing a CAD application that can generate clinically relevant diagnosis of the articular cartilage damage in near real time fashion. The algorithm features a 2D Active Shape Model (ASM) for modeling the bone-cartilage interface on all the slices of a Double Echo Steady State (DESS) MR sequence, followed by measurement of the cartilage thickness from the surface of the bone, and finally by the identification of regions of abnormal thinness and focal/degenerative lesions. A preliminary evaluation of CAD tool was carried out on 10 cases taken from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) database. When compared with 2 board-certified musculoskeletal radiologists, the automatic CAD application was able to get segmentation/thickness maps in little over 60 seconds for all of the cases. This observation poses interesting possibilities for increasing radiologist productivity and confidence, improving patient outcomes, and applying more sophisticated CAD algorithms to routine orthopedic imaging tasks.

Experience in connecting the power generating units of thermal power plants to automatic secondary frequency regulation within the united power system of Russia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhukov, A. V.; Komarov, A. N.; Safronov, A. N.

The principles of central control of the power generating units of thermal power plants by automatic secondary frequency and active power overcurrent regulation systems, and the algorithms for interactions between automatic power control systems for the power production units in thermal power plants and centralized systems for automatic frequency and power regulation, are discussed. The order of switching the power generating units of thermal power plants over to control by a centralized system for automatic frequency and power regulation and by the Central Coordinating System for automatic frequency and power regulation is presented. The results of full-scale system tests ofmore » the control of power generating units of the Kirishskaya, Stavropol, and Perm GRES (State Regional Electric Power Plants) by the Central Coordinating System for automatic frequency and power regulation at the United Power System of Russia on September 23-25, 2008, are reported.« less

Applying Independent Verification and Validation to Automatic Test Equipment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calhoun, Cynthia C.

1997-01-01

This paper describes a general overview of applying Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) to Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). The overview is not inclusive of all IV&V activities that can occur or of all development and maintenance items that can be validated and verified, during the IV&V process. A sampling of possible IV&V activities that can occur within each phase of the ATE life cycle are described.

25 CFR 115.428 - Will you automatically receive all of your trust funds when you reach the age of 18?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Will you automatically receive all of your trust funds when you reach the age of 18? 115.428 Section 115.428 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES TRUST FUNDS FOR TRIBES AND INDIVIDUAL INDIANS IIM Accounts: Minors § 115.428 Will you automatically receive all of...

Automatic detection of multiple UXO-like targets using magnetic anomaly inversion and self-adaptive fuzzy c-means clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Gang; Zhang, Yingtang; Fan, Hongbo; Ren, Guoquan; Li, Zhining

2017-12-01

We have developed a method for automatically detecting UXO-like targets based on magnetic anomaly inversion and self-adaptive fuzzy c-means clustering. Magnetic anomaly inversion methods are used to estimate the initial locations of multiple UXO-like sources. Although these initial locations have some errors with respect to the real positions, they form dense clouds around the actual positions of the magnetic sources. Then we use the self-adaptive fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm to cluster these initial locations. The estimated number of cluster centroids represents the number of targets and the cluster centroids are regarded as the locations of magnetic targets. Effectiveness of the method has been demonstrated using synthetic datasets. Computational results show that the proposed method can be applied to the case of several UXO-like targets that are randomly scattered within in a confined, shallow subsurface, volume. A field test was carried out to test the validity of the proposed method and the experimental results show that the prearranged magnets can be detected unambiguously and located precisely.

Semi-automatic 2D-to-3D conversion of human-centered videos enhanced by age and gender estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fard, Mani B.; Bayazit, Ulug

2014-01-01

In this work, we propose a feasible 3D video generation method to enable high quality visual perception using a monocular uncalibrated camera. Anthropometric distances between face standard landmarks are approximated based on the person's age and gender. These measurements are used in a 2-stage approach to facilitate the construction of binocular stereo images. Specifically, one view of the background is registered in initial stage of video shooting. It is followed by an automatically guided displacement of the camera toward its secondary position. At the secondary position the real-time capturing is started and the foreground (viewed person) region is extracted for each frame. After an accurate parallax estimation the extracted foreground is placed in front of the background image that was captured at the initial position. So the constructed full view of the initial position combined with the view of the secondary (current) position, form the complete binocular pairs during real-time video shooting. The subjective evaluation results present a competent depth perception quality through the proposed system.

A consistent and uniform research earthquake catalog for the AlpArray region: preliminary results.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molinari, I.; Bagagli, M.; Kissling, E. H.; Diehl, T.; Clinton, J. F.; Giardini, D.; Wiemer, S.

2017-12-01

The AlpArray initiative (www.alparray.ethz.ch) is a large-scale European collaboration ( 50 institutes involved) to study the entire Alpine orogen at high resolution with a variety of geoscientific methods. AlpArray provides unprecedentedly uniform station coverage for the region with more than 650 broadband seismic stations, 300 of which are temporary. The AlpArray Seismic Network (AASN) is a joint effort of 25 institutes from 10 nations, operates since January 2016 and is expected to continue until the end of 2018. In this study, we establish a uniform earthquake catalogue for the Greater Alpine region during the operation period of the AASN with a aimed completeness of M2.5. The catalog has two main goals: 1) calculation of consistent and precise hypocenter locations 2) provide preliminary but uniform magnitude calculations across the region. The procedure is based on automatic high-quality P- and S-wave pickers, providing consistent phase arrival times in combination with a picking quality assessment. First, we detect all events in the region in 2016/2017 using an STA/LTA based detector. Among the detected events, we select 50 geographically homogeneously distributed events with magnitudes ≥2.5 representative for the entire catalog. We manually pick the selected events to establish a consistent P- and S-phase reference data set, including arrival-time time uncertainties. The reference data, are used to adjust the automatic pickers and to assess their performance. In a first iteration, a simple P-picker algorithm is applied to the entire dataset, providing initial picks for the advanced MannekenPix (MPX) algorithm. In a second iteration, the MPX picker provides consistent and reliable automatic first arrival P picks together with a pick-quality estimate. The derived automatic P picks are then used as initial values for a multi-component S-phase picking algorithm. Subsequently, automatic picks of all well-locatable earthquakes will be considered to calculate final minimum 1D P and S velocity models for the region with appropriate stations corrections. Finally, all the events are relocated with the NonLinLoc algorithm in combination with the updated 1D models. The proposed procedure represents the first step towards uniform earthquake catalog for the entire greater Alpine region using the AASN.

Automatic initial and final segmentation in cleft palate speech of Mandarin speakers

PubMed Central

Liu, Yin; Yin, Heng; Zhang, Junpeng; Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Jiang

2017-01-01

The speech unit segmentation is an important pre-processing step in the analysis of cleft palate speech. In Mandarin, one syllable is composed of two parts: initial and final. In cleft palate speech, the resonance disorders occur at the finals and the voiced initials, while the articulation disorders occur at the unvoiced initials. Thus, the initials and finals are the minimum speech units, which could reflect the characteristics of cleft palate speech disorders. In this work, an automatic initial/final segmentation method is proposed. It is an important preprocessing step in cleft palate speech signal processing. The tested cleft palate speech utterances are collected from the Cleft Palate Speech Treatment Center in the Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, which has the largest cleft palate patients in China. The cleft palate speech data includes 824 speech segments, and the control samples contain 228 speech segments. The syllables are extracted from the speech utterances firstly. The proposed syllable extraction method avoids the training stage, and achieves a good performance for both voiced and unvoiced speech. Then, the syllables are classified into with “quasi-unvoiced” or with “quasi-voiced” initials. Respective initial/final segmentation methods are proposed to these two types of syllables. Moreover, a two-step segmentation method is proposed. The rough locations of syllable and initial/final boundaries are refined in the second segmentation step, in order to improve the robustness of segmentation accuracy. The experiments show that the initial/final segmentation accuracies for syllables with quasi-unvoiced initials are higher than quasi-voiced initials. For the cleft palate speech, the mean time error is 4.4ms for syllables with quasi-unvoiced initials, and 25.7ms for syllables with quasi-voiced initials, and the correct segmentation accuracy P30 for all the syllables is 91.69%. For the control samples, P30 for all the syllables is 91.24%. PMID:28926572

Automatic initial and final segmentation in cleft palate speech of Mandarin speakers.

PubMed

He, Ling; Liu, Yin; Yin, Heng; Zhang, Junpeng; Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Jiang

2017-01-01

The speech unit segmentation is an important pre-processing step in the analysis of cleft palate speech. In Mandarin, one syllable is composed of two parts: initial and final. In cleft palate speech, the resonance disorders occur at the finals and the voiced initials, while the articulation disorders occur at the unvoiced initials. Thus, the initials and finals are the minimum speech units, which could reflect the characteristics of cleft palate speech disorders. In this work, an automatic initial/final segmentation method is proposed. It is an important preprocessing step in cleft palate speech signal processing. The tested cleft palate speech utterances are collected from the Cleft Palate Speech Treatment Center in the Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, which has the largest cleft palate patients in China. The cleft palate speech data includes 824 speech segments, and the control samples contain 228 speech segments. The syllables are extracted from the speech utterances firstly. The proposed syllable extraction method avoids the training stage, and achieves a good performance for both voiced and unvoiced speech. Then, the syllables are classified into with "quasi-unvoiced" or with "quasi-voiced" initials. Respective initial/final segmentation methods are proposed to these two types of syllables. Moreover, a two-step segmentation method is proposed. The rough locations of syllable and initial/final boundaries are refined in the second segmentation step, in order to improve the robustness of segmentation accuracy. The experiments show that the initial/final segmentation accuracies for syllables with quasi-unvoiced initials are higher than quasi-voiced initials. For the cleft palate speech, the mean time error is 4.4ms for syllables with quasi-unvoiced initials, and 25.7ms for syllables with quasi-voiced initials, and the correct segmentation accuracy P30 for all the syllables is 91.69%. For the control samples, P30 for all the syllables is 91.24%.

ITS procurement : analysis and recommendations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1994-01-01

Virginia has met with a variety of difficulties and delays in its procurement of intelligent transportation systems, components, and studies. The Fastoll Automatic Toll System was initiated in 1987, and construction has still not begun. It has been t...

Adaptive artificial neural network for autonomous robot control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arras, Michael K.; Protzel, Peter W.; Palumbo, Daniel L.

1992-01-01

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include: neural network controller for robot arm positioning with visual feedback; initial training of the arm; automatic recovery from cumulative fault scenarios; and error reduction by iterative fine movements.

BgCut: automatic ship detection from UAV images.

PubMed

Xu, Chao; Zhang, Dongping; Zhang, Zhengning; Feng, Zhiyong

2014-01-01

Ship detection in static UAV aerial images is a fundamental challenge in sea target detection and precise positioning. In this paper, an improved universal background model based on Grabcut algorithm is proposed to segment foreground objects from sea automatically. First, a sea template library including images in different natural conditions is built to provide an initial template to the model. Then the background trimap is obtained by combing some templates matching with region growing algorithm. The output trimap initializes Grabcut background instead of manual intervention and the process of segmentation without iteration. The effectiveness of our proposed model is demonstrated by extensive experiments on a certain area of real UAV aerial images by an airborne Canon 5D Mark. The proposed algorithm is not only adaptive but also with good segmentation. Furthermore, the model in this paper can be well applied in the automated processing of industrial images for related researches.

BgCut: Automatic Ship Detection from UAV Images

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhengning; Feng, Zhiyong

2014-01-01

Ship detection in static UAV aerial images is a fundamental challenge in sea target detection and precise positioning. In this paper, an improved universal background model based on Grabcut algorithm is proposed to segment foreground objects from sea automatically. First, a sea template library including images in different natural conditions is built to provide an initial template to the model. Then the background trimap is obtained by combing some templates matching with region growing algorithm. The output trimap initializes Grabcut background instead of manual intervention and the process of segmentation without iteration. The effectiveness of our proposed model is demonstrated by extensive experiments on a certain area of real UAV aerial images by an airborne Canon 5D Mark. The proposed algorithm is not only adaptive but also with good segmentation. Furthermore, the model in this paper can be well applied in the automated processing of industrial images for related researches. PMID:24977182

Initial dynamics of the EKG during an electrical defibrillation of the heart

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bikov, I. I.; Chebotarov, Y. P.; Nikolaev, V. G.

1980-01-01

In tests on 11 mature dogs, immobilized by means of an automatic blocking and synchronization system, artefact free EKG were obtained, beginning 0.04-0.06 sec after passage of a defibrillating current. Different versions of the start of fibrillation were noted, in application of the defibrillating stimulus in the early phase of the cardiac cycle. A swinging phenomenon, increasing amplitude, of fibrillation was noted for 0.4-1.5 sec after delivery of a subthreshold stimulus. Conditions for a positive outcome of repeated defibrillation were found, and a relationship was noted between the configuration of the exciting process with respect to the lines of force of the defibrillating current and the defibrillation threshold. It was shown that the initial EKG dynamics after defibrillation is based on a gradual shift of the pacemaker from the myocardium of the ventricles to the sinus node, through phases of atrioventricular and atrial automatism.

Global quasi-linearization (GQL) versus QSSA for a hydrogen-air auto-ignition problem.

PubMed

Yu, Chunkan; Bykov, Viatcheslav; Maas, Ulrich

2018-04-25

A recently developed automatic reduction method for systems of chemical kinetics, the so-called Global Quasi-Linearization (GQL) method, has been implemented to study and reduce the dimensions of a homogeneous combustion system. The results of application of the GQL and the Quasi-Steady State Assumption (QSSA) are compared. A number of drawbacks of the QSSA are discussed, i.e. the selection criteria of QSS-species and its sensitivity to system parameters, initial conditions, etc. To overcome these drawbacks, the GQL approach has been developed as a robust, automatic and scaling invariant method for a global analysis of the system timescale hierarchy and subsequent model reduction. In this work the auto-ignition problem of the hydrogen-air system is considered in a wide range of system parameters and initial conditions. The potential of the suggested approach to overcome most of the drawbacks of the standard approaches is illustrated.

Automatic joint alignment measurements in pre- and post-operative long leg standing radiographs.

PubMed

Goossen, A; Weber, G M; Dries, S P M

2012-01-01

For diagnosis or treatment assessment of knee joint osteoarthritis it is required to measure bone morphometry from radiographic images. We propose a method for automatic measurement of joint alignment from pre-operative as well as post-operative radiographs. In a two step approach we first detect and segment any implants or other artificial objects within the image. We exploit physical characteristics and avoid prior shape information to cope with the vast amount of implant types. Subsequently, we exploit the implant delineations to adapt the initialization and adaptation phase of a dedicated bone segmentation scheme using deformable template models. Implant and bone contours are fused to derive the final joint segmentation and thus the alignment measurements. We evaluated our method on clinical long leg radiographs and compared both the initialization rate, corresponding to the number of images successfully processed by the proposed algorithm, and the accuracy of the alignment measurement. Ground truth has been generated by an experienced orthopedic surgeon. For comparison a second reader reevaluated the measurements. Experiments on two sets of 70 and 120 digital radiographs show that 92% of the joints could be processed automatically and the derived measurements of the automatic method are comparable to a human reader for pre-operative as well as post-operative images with a typical error of 0.7° and correlations of r = 0.82 to r = 0.99 with the ground truth. The proposed method allows deriving objective measures of joint alignment from clinical radiographs. Its accuracy and precision are on par with a human reader for all evaluated measurements.

When the brain changes its mind: Oscillatory dynamics of conflict processing and response switching in a flanker task during alcohol challenge.

PubMed

Beaton, Lauren E; Azma, Sheeva; Marinkovic, Ksenija

2018-01-01

Despite the subjective experience of being in full and deliberate control of our actions, our daily routines rely on a continuous and interactive engagement of sensory evaluation and response preparation streams. They unfold automatically and unconsciously and are seamlessly integrated with cognitive control which is mobilized by stimuli that evoke ambiguity or response conflict. Methods with high spatio-temporal sensitivity are needed to provide insight into the interplay between automatic and controlled processing. This study used anatomically-constrained MEG to examine the underlying neural dynamics in a flanker task that manipulated S-R incongruity at the stimulus (SI) and response levels (RI). Though irrelevant, flankers evoked automatic preparation of motor plans which had to be suppressed and reversed following the target presentation on RI trials. Event-related source power estimates in beta (15-25 Hz) frequency band in the sensorimotor cortex tracked motor preparation and response in real time and revealed switching from the incorrectly-primed to the correctly-responding hemisphere. In contrast, theta oscillations (4-7 Hz) were sensitive to the levels of incongruity as the medial and ventrolateral frontal cortices were especially activated by response conflict. These two areas are key to cognitive control and their integrated contributions to response inhibition and switching were revealed by phase-locked co-oscillations. These processes were pharmacologically manipulated with a moderate alcohol beverage or a placebo administered to healthy social drinkers. Alcohol selectively decreased accuracy to response conflict. It strongly attenuated theta oscillations during decision making and partly re-sculpted relative contributions of the frontal network without affecting the motor switching process subserved by beta band. Our results indicate that motor preparation is initiated automatically even when counterproductive but that it is monitored and regulated by the prefrontal cognitive control processes under conflict. They further confirm that the regulative top-down functions are particularly vulnerable to alcohol intoxication.

When the brain changes its mind: Oscillatory dynamics of conflict processing and response switching in a flanker task during alcohol challenge

PubMed Central

Beaton, Lauren E.; Azma, Sheeva; Marinkovic, Ksenija

2018-01-01

Despite the subjective experience of being in full and deliberate control of our actions, our daily routines rely on a continuous and interactive engagement of sensory evaluation and response preparation streams. They unfold automatically and unconsciously and are seamlessly integrated with cognitive control which is mobilized by stimuli that evoke ambiguity or response conflict. Methods with high spatio-temporal sensitivity are needed to provide insight into the interplay between automatic and controlled processing. This study used anatomically-constrained MEG to examine the underlying neural dynamics in a flanker task that manipulated S-R incongruity at the stimulus (SI) and response levels (RI). Though irrelevant, flankers evoked automatic preparation of motor plans which had to be suppressed and reversed following the target presentation on RI trials. Event-related source power estimates in beta (15–25 Hz) frequency band in the sensorimotor cortex tracked motor preparation and response in real time and revealed switching from the incorrectly-primed to the correctly-responding hemisphere. In contrast, theta oscillations (4–7 Hz) were sensitive to the levels of incongruity as the medial and ventrolateral frontal cortices were especially activated by response conflict. These two areas are key to cognitive control and their integrated contributions to response inhibition and switching were revealed by phase-locked co-oscillations. These processes were pharmacologically manipulated with a moderate alcohol beverage or a placebo administered to healthy social drinkers. Alcohol selectively decreased accuracy to response conflict. It strongly attenuated theta oscillations during decision making and partly re-sculpted relative contributions of the frontal network without affecting the motor switching process subserved by beta band. Our results indicate that motor preparation is initiated automatically even when counterproductive but that it is monitored and regulated by the prefrontal cognitive control processes under conflict. They further confirm that the regulative top-down functions are particularly vulnerable to alcohol intoxication. PMID:29329355

[Sudden cardiac death out of the hospital and early defibrillation].

PubMed

Marín-Huerta, E; Peinado, R; Asso, A; Loma, A; Villacastín, J P; Muñiz, J; Brugada, J

2000-06-01

Since most sudden cardiac death victims show neither symptoms before the event nor other signs or risk factors that would have identified them as a high risk population before their cardiac arrest, emergency out-of-hospital medical services must be improved in order to obtain a higher survival in these patients. Early defibrillation is an essential part of the chain of survival that also includes the early identification of the victim, activation of the emergency medical system, immediate arrival of trained personnel who can perform basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation and early initiation of advanced cardiac life support that would raise the survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest victims. Many studies have demonstrated the enormous importance of early defibrillation in patients with a cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. The most important predictor of survival in these individuals is the time that elapses until electric defibrillation, the longer the time to defbrillation the lower the number of patients who are eventually discharged. Multiple studies have demonstrated that automatic external defibrillation will reduce the time elapsed to defibrillation and thus improve survival. For these reason, public access defibrillation to allow the use of automatic external defibrillators by minimally trained members of the lay public, has received increasing interest on the part of a groving number of companies, cities or countries. The automatic external defibrillaton, as performed by a lay person is being investigated. The liberalization of its application, if is demonstrated to be effective, will need to be accompanied by legal measures to endorse it and appropriate health education, probably during secondary education.

Measuring the Complexity of Treatment for Challenging Behavior using the Treatment Intensity Rating Form

PubMed Central

Zarcone, Jennifer; Hagopian, Louis; Ninci, Jennifer; McKay, Chloe; Bonner, Andrew; Dillon, Christopher; Hausman, Nicole

2016-01-01

Objectives The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a tool to measure the complexity and intensity of psychotropic medication interventions, behavioral interventions, and issues related to crisis management for challenging behavior using a standardized rating form. Method The Treatment Intensity Rating Form (TIRF) is a 10-item scale with three categories: pharmacological interventions, behavior supports, and protective equipment. In a retrospective review we examined the final treatment recommendations for 74 individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) based on psychiatric and behavioral notes and reports. We also compared whether TIRF scores differed across individuals for whom SIB was maintained by social reinforcement (e.g., to access attention or toys/activities, or escape from tasks) versus those for whom SIB was maintained by automatic reinforcement (e.g., occurs independent of social variables, and is presumed to be maintained by sensory reinforcement). Results The TIRF was demonstrated to have strong inter-rater reliability (98%) and appears to have good face validity. As hypothesized, individuals with SIB maintained by automatic reinforcement had significantly more medication trials (p=0.0005) and required more protective equipment than individuals with SIB maintained by social reinforcement (p=0.0002). Antidepressant medication was used more often with individuals with automatically reinforced SIB, although antipsychotics and anticonvulsants were also commonly used across both groups. Conclusion Findings provide initial support for the TIRF’s reliability, and face validity as a measure the level of complexity of medical and behavioral treatment plans - although additional research is needed to fully evaluate its psychometric properties. PMID:27917287

Exoskeletal meal assistance system (EMAS II) for progressive muscle dystrophy patient.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Yasuhisa; Oura, Saori

2011-01-01

This paper introduces a 4-DOFs exoskeletal meal assistance system (EMAS II) for progressive muscle dystrophy patient. It is generally better for the patient to use his/her hands by himself in daily life because active works maintain level of residual functions, health and initiative of him/her. The EMAS II that has a new joystick-type user interface device and three-DOFs on a shoulder part is enhanced for an easier operation and more comfortable support on eating, as the succeeding model of the previous system that has two-DOFs on a shoulder. In order to control the 4-DOFs system by the simple user interface device, the EMAS II simulates upper limb motion patterns of a healthy person. The motion patterns are modeled by extracting correlations between the height of a user's wrist joint and that of the user's elbow joint at the table. Moreover, the EMAS II automatically brings user's hand up to his/her mouth or back to a table when he/she pushes a preset switch on the interface device. Therefore a user has only to control a position of his/her wrist to pick or scoop foods and then flip the switch to start automatic mode, while a height of the elbow joint is automatically controlled by the EMAS II itself. The results of experiments, where a healthy subject regarded as a muscle dystrophy patient eats a meal with EMAS II, show that the subject finished her meal in a natural way in 18 minutes 40 seconds which was within a recommended time of 30 minutes. © 2011 IEEE

Visual attention modulates brain activation to angry voices.

PubMed

Mothes-Lasch, Martin; Mentzel, Hans-Joachim; Miltner, Wolfgang H R; Straube, Thomas

2011-06-29

In accordance with influential models proposing prioritized processing of threat, previous studies have shown automatic brain responses to angry prosody in the amygdala and the auditory cortex under auditory distraction conditions. However, it is unknown whether the automatic processing of angry prosody is also observed during cross-modal distraction. The current fMRI study investigated brain responses to angry versus neutral prosodic stimuli during visual distraction. During scanning, participants were exposed to angry or neutral prosodic stimuli while visual symbols were displayed simultaneously. By means of task requirements, participants either attended to the voices or to the visual stimuli. While the auditory task revealed pronounced activation in the auditory cortex and amygdala to angry versus neutral prosody, this effect was absent during the visual task. Thus, our results show a limitation of the automaticity of the activation of the amygdala and auditory cortex to angry prosody. The activation of these areas to threat-related voices depends on modality-specific attention.

RDFBuilder: a tool to automatically build RDF-based interfaces for MAGE-OM microarray data sources.

PubMed

Anguita, Alberto; Martin, Luis; Garcia-Remesal, Miguel; Maojo, Victor

2013-07-01

This paper presents RDFBuilder, a tool that enables RDF-based access to MAGE-ML-compliant microarray databases. We have developed a system that automatically transforms the MAGE-OM model and microarray data stored in the ArrayExpress database into RDF format. Additionally, the system automatically enables a SPARQL endpoint. This allows users to execute SPARQL queries for retrieving microarray data, either from specific experiments or from more than one experiment at a time. Our system optimizes response times by caching and reusing information from previous queries. In this paper, we describe our methods for achieving this transformation. We show that our approach is complementary to other existing initiatives, such as Bio2RDF, for accessing and retrieving data from the ArrayExpress database. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic pelvis segmentation from x-ray images of a mouse model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al Okashi, Omar M.; Du, Hongbo; Al-Assam, Hisham

2017-05-01

The automatic detection and quantification of skeletal structures has a variety of different applications for biological research. Accurate segmentation of the pelvis from X-ray images of mice in a high-throughput project such as the Mouse Genomes Project not only saves time and cost but also helps achieving an unbiased quantitative analysis within the phenotyping pipeline. This paper proposes an automatic solution for pelvis segmentation based on structural and orientation properties of the pelvis in X-ray images. The solution consists of three stages including pre-processing image to extract pelvis area, initial pelvis mask preparation and final pelvis segmentation. Experimental results on a set of 100 X-ray images showed consistent performance of the algorithm. The automated solution overcomes the weaknesses of a manual annotation procedure where intra- and inter-observer variations cannot be avoided.

Periodic, On-Demand, and User-Specified Information Reconciliation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kolano, Paul

2007-01-01

Automated sequence generation (autogen) signifies both a process and software used to automatically generate sequences of commands to operate various spacecraft. Autogen requires fewer workers than are needed for older manual sequence-generation processes and reduces sequence-generation times from weeks to minutes. The autogen software comprises the autogen script plus the Activity Plan Generator (APGEN) program. APGEN can be used for planning missions and command sequences. APGEN includes a graphical user interface that facilitates scheduling of activities on a time line and affords a capability to automatically expand, decompose, and schedule activities.

Automated segmentation and analysis of normal and osteoarthritic knee menisci from magnetic resonance images--data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

PubMed

Paproki, A; Engstrom, C; Chandra, S S; Neubert, A; Fripp, J; Crozier, S

2014-09-01

To validate an automatic scheme for the segmentation and quantitative analysis of the medial meniscus (MM) and lateral meniscus (LM) in magnetic resonance (MR) images of the knee. We analysed sagittal water-excited double-echo steady-state MR images of the knee from a subset of the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) cohort. The MM and LM were automatically segmented in the MR images based on a deformable model approach. Quantitative parameters including volume, subluxation and tibial-coverage were automatically calculated for comparison (Wilcoxon tests) between knees with variable radiographic osteoarthritis (rOA), medial and lateral joint space narrowing (mJSN, lJSN) and pain. Automatic segmentations and estimated parameters were evaluated for accuracy using manual delineations of the menisci in 88 pathological knee MR examinations at baseline and 12 months time-points. The median (95% confidence-interval (CI)) Dice similarity index (DSI) (2 ∗|Auto ∩ Manual|/(|Auto|+|Manual|)∗ 100) between manual and automated segmentations for the MM and LM volumes were 78.3% (75.0-78.7), 83.9% (82.1-83.9) at baseline and 75.3% (72.8-76.9), 83.0% (81.6-83.5) at 12 months. Pearson coefficients between automatic and manual segmentation parameters ranged from r = 0.70 to r = 0.92. MM in rOA/mJSN knees had significantly greater subluxation and smaller tibial-coverage than no-rOA/no-mJSN knees. LM in rOA knees had significantly greater volumes and tibial-coverage than no-rOA knees. Our automated method successfully segmented the menisci in normal and osteoarthritic knee MR images and detected meaningful morphological differences with respect to rOA and joint space narrowing (JSN). Our approach will facilitate analyses of the menisci in prospective MR cohorts such as the OAI for investigations into pathophysiological changes occurring in early osteoarthritis (OA) development. Copyright © 2014 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We Canwatch It For You Wholesale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipton, Alan J.

This chapter provides an introduction to video analytics—a branch of computer vision technology that deals with automatic detection of activities and events in surveillance video feeds. Initial applications focused on the security and surveillance space, but as the technology improves it is rapidly finding a home in many other application areas. This chapter looks at some of those spaces, the requirements they impose on video analytics systems, and provides an example architecture and set of technology components to meet those requirements. This exemplary system is put through its paces to see how it stacks up in an embedded environment. Finally, we explore the future of video analytics and examine some of the market requirements that are driving breakthroughs in both video analytics and processor platform technology alike.

Automatic detection and notification of "wrong patient-wrong location'' errors in the operating room.

PubMed

Sandberg, Warren S; Häkkinen, Matti; Egan, Marie; Curran, Paige K; Fairbrother, Pamela; Choquette, Ken; Daily, Bethany; Sarkka, Jukka-Pekka; Rattner, David

2005-09-01

When procedures and processes to assure patient location based on human performance do not work as expected, patients are brought incrementally closer to a possible "wrong patient-wrong procedure'' error. We developed a system for automated patient location monitoring and management. Real-time data from an active infrared/radio frequency identification tracking system provides patient location data that are robust and can be compared with an "expected process'' model to automatically flag wrong-location events as soon as they occur. The system also generates messages that are automatically sent to process managers via the hospital paging system, thus creating an active alerting function to annunciate errors. We deployed the system to detect and annunciate "patient-in-wrong-OR'' events. The system detected all "wrong-operating room (OR)'' events, and all "wrong-OR'' locations were correctly assigned within 0.50+/-0.28 minutes (mean+/-SD). This corresponded to the measured latency of the tracking system. All wrong-OR events were correctly annunciated via the paging function. This experiment demonstrates that current technology can automatically collect sufficient data to remotely monitor patient flow through a hospital, provide decision support based on predefined rules, and automatically notify stakeholders of errors.

Evaluation of an improved technique for lumen path definition and lumen segmentation of atherosclerotic vessels in CT angiography.

PubMed

van Velsen, Evert F S; Niessen, Wiro J; de Weert, Thomas T; de Monyé, Cécile; van der Lugt, Aad; Meijering, Erik; Stokking, Rik

2007-07-01

Vessel image analysis is crucial when considering therapeutical options for (cardio-) vascular diseases. Our method, VAMPIRE (Vascular Analysis using Multiscale Paths Inferred from Ridges and Edges), involves two parts: a user defines a start- and endpoint upon which a lumen path is automatically defined, and which is used for initialization; the automatic segmentation of the vessel lumen on computed tomographic angiography (CTA) images. Both parts are based on the detection of vessel-like structures by analyzing intensity, edge, and ridge information. A multi-observer evaluation study was performed to compare VAMPIRE with a conventional method on the CTA data of 15 patients with carotid artery stenosis. In addition to the start- and endpoint, the two radiologists required on average 2.5 (SD: 1.9) additional points to define a lumen path when using the conventional method, and 0.1 (SD: 0.3) when using VAMPIRE. The segmentation results were quantitatively evaluated using Similarity Indices, which were slightly lower between VAMPIRE and the two radiologists (respectively 0.90 and 0.88) compared with the Similarity Index between the radiologists (0.92). The evaluation shows that the improved definition of a lumen path requires minimal user interaction, and that using this path as initialization leads to good automatic lumen segmentation results.

Automatic Segmenting Structures in MRI's Based on Texture Analysis and Fuzzy Logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaur, Mandeep; Rattan, Munish; Singh, Pushpinder

2017-12-01

The purpose of this paper is to present the variational method for geometric contours which helps the level set function remain close to the sign distance function, therefor it remove the need of expensive re-initialization procedure and thus, level set method is applied on magnetic resonance images (MRI) to track the irregularities in them as medical imaging plays a substantial part in the treatment, therapy and diagnosis of various organs, tumors and various abnormalities. It favors the patient with more speedy and decisive disease controlling with lesser side effects. The geometrical shape, the tumor's size and tissue's abnormal growth can be calculated by the segmentation of that particular image. It is still a great challenge for the researchers to tackle with an automatic segmentation in the medical imaging. Based on the texture analysis, different images are processed by optimization of level set segmentation. Traditionally, optimization was manual for every image where each parameter is selected one after another. By applying fuzzy logic, the segmentation of image is correlated based on texture features, to make it automatic and more effective. There is no initialization of parameters and it works like an intelligent system. It segments the different MRI images without tuning the level set parameters and give optimized results for all MRI's.

Automatic rice crop height measurement using a field server and digital image processing.

PubMed

Sritarapipat, Tanakorn; Rakwatin, Preesan; Kasetkasem, Teerasit

2014-01-07

Rice crop height is an important agronomic trait linked to plant type and yield potential. This research developed an automatic image processing technique to detect rice crop height based on images taken by a digital camera attached to a field server. The camera acquires rice paddy images daily at a consistent time of day. The images include the rice plants and a marker bar used to provide a height reference. The rice crop height can be indirectly measured from the images by measuring the height of the marker bar compared to the height of the initial marker bar. Four digital image processing steps are employed to automatically measure the rice crop height: band selection, filtering, thresholding, and height measurement. Band selection is used to remove redundant features. Filtering extracts significant features of the marker bar. The thresholding method is applied to separate objects and boundaries of the marker bar versus other areas. The marker bar is detected and compared with the initial marker bar to measure the rice crop height. Our experiment used a field server with a digital camera to continuously monitor a rice field located in Suphanburi Province, Thailand. The experimental results show that the proposed method measures rice crop height effectively, with no human intervention required.

Active suppression of distractors that match the contents of visual working memory.

PubMed

Sawaki, Risa; Luck, Steven J

2011-08-01

The biased competition theory proposes that items matching the contents of visual working memory will automatically have an advantage in the competition for attention. However, evidence for an automatic effect has been mixed, perhaps because the memory-driven attentional bias can be overcome by top-down suppression. To test this hypothesis, the Pd component of the event-related potential waveform was used as a marker of attentional suppression. While observers maintained a color in working memory, task-irrelevant probe arrays were presented that contained an item matching the color being held in memory. We found that the memory-matching probe elicited a Pd component, indicating that it was being actively suppressed. This result suggests that sensory inputs matching the information being held in visual working memory are automatically detected and generate an "attend-to-me" signal, but this signal can be overridden by an active suppression mechanism to prevent the actual capture of attention.

Validation of automatic landmark identification for atlas-based segmentation for radiation treatment planning of the head-and-neck region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leavens, Claudia; Vik, Torbjørn; Schulz, Heinrich; Allaire, Stéphane; Kim, John; Dawson, Laura; O'Sullivan, Brian; Breen, Stephen; Jaffray, David; Pekar, Vladimir

2008-03-01

Manual contouring of target volumes and organs at risk in radiation therapy is extremely time-consuming, in particular for treating the head-and-neck area, where a single patient treatment plan can take several hours to contour. As radiation treatment delivery moves towards adaptive treatment, the need for more efficient segmentation techniques will increase. We are developing a method for automatic model-based segmentation of the head and neck. This process can be broken down into three main steps: i) automatic landmark identification in the image dataset of interest, ii) automatic landmark-based initialization of deformable surface models to the patient image dataset, and iii) adaptation of the deformable models to the patient-specific anatomical boundaries of interest. In this paper, we focus on the validation of the first step of this method, quantifying the results of our automatic landmark identification method. We use an image atlas formed by applying thin-plate spline (TPS) interpolation to ten atlas datasets, using 27 manually identified landmarks in each atlas/training dataset. The principal variation modes returned by principal component analysis (PCA) of the landmark positions were used by an automatic registration algorithm, which sought the corresponding landmarks in the clinical dataset of interest using a controlled random search algorithm. Applying a run time of 60 seconds to the random search, a root mean square (rms) distance to the ground-truth landmark position of 9.5 +/- 0.6 mm was calculated for the identified landmarks. Automatic segmentation of the brain, mandible and brain stem, using the detected landmarks, is demonstrated.

Stable and variable affordances are both automatic and flexible

PubMed Central

Borghi, Anna M.; Riggio, Lucia

2015-01-01

The mere observation of pictures or words referring to manipulable objects is sufficient to evoke their affordances since objects and their nouns elicit components of appropriate motor programs associated with object interaction. While nobody doubts that objects actually evoke motor information, the degree of automaticity of this activation has been recently disputed. Recent evidence has indeed revealed that affordances activation is flexibly modulated by the task and by the physical and social context. It is therefore crucial to understand whether these results challenge previous evidence showing that motor information is activated independently from the task. The context and the task can indeed act as an early or late filter. We will review recent data consistent with the notion that objects automatically elicit multiple affordances and that top-down processes select among them probably inhibiting motor information that is not consistent with behavior goals. We will therefore argue that automaticity and flexibility of affordances are not in conflict. We will also discuss how language can incorporate affordances showing similarities, but also differences, between the motor information elicited by vision and language. Finally we will show how the distinction between stable and variable affordances can accommodate all these effects. PMID:26150778

Automatic facial mimicry in response to dynamic emotional stimuli in five-month-old infants.

PubMed

Isomura, Tomoko; Nakano, Tamami

2016-12-14

Human adults automatically mimic others' emotional expressions, which is believed to contribute to sharing emotions with others. Although this behaviour appears fundamental to social reciprocity, little is known about its developmental process. Therefore, we examined whether infants show automatic facial mimicry in response to others' emotional expressions. Facial electromyographic activity over the corrugator supercilii (brow) and zygomaticus major (cheek) of four- to five-month-old infants was measured while they viewed dynamic clips presenting audiovisual, visual and auditory emotions. The audiovisual bimodal emotion stimuli were a display of a laughing/crying facial expression with an emotionally congruent vocalization, whereas the visual/auditory unimodal emotion stimuli displayed those emotional faces/vocalizations paired with a neutral vocalization/face, respectively. Increased activation of the corrugator supercilii muscle in response to audiovisual cries and the zygomaticus major in response to audiovisual laughter were observed between 500 and 1000 ms after stimulus onset, which clearly suggests rapid facial mimicry. By contrast, both visual and auditory unimodal emotion stimuli did not activate the infants' corresponding muscles. These results revealed that automatic facial mimicry is present as early as five months of age, when multimodal emotional information is present. © 2016 The Author(s).

Automatic Artifact Removal from Electroencephalogram Data Based on A Priori Artifact Information.

PubMed

Zhang, Chi; Tong, Li; Zeng, Ying; Jiang, Jingfang; Bu, Haibing; Yan, Bin; Li, Jianxin

2015-01-01

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is susceptible to various nonneural physiological artifacts. Automatic artifact removal from EEG data remains a key challenge for extracting relevant information from brain activities. To adapt to variable subjects and EEG acquisition environments, this paper presents an automatic online artifact removal method based on a priori artifact information. The combination of discrete wavelet transform and independent component analysis (ICA), wavelet-ICA, was utilized to separate artifact components. The artifact components were then automatically identified using a priori artifact information, which was acquired in advance. Subsequently, signal reconstruction without artifact components was performed to obtain artifact-free signals. The results showed that, using this automatic online artifact removal method, there were statistical significant improvements of the classification accuracies in both two experiments, namely, motor imagery and emotion recognition.

Automatic Artifact Removal from Electroencephalogram Data Based on A Priori Artifact Information

PubMed Central

Zhang, Chi; Tong, Li; Zeng, Ying; Jiang, Jingfang; Bu, Haibing; Li, Jianxin

2015-01-01

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is susceptible to various nonneural physiological artifacts. Automatic artifact removal from EEG data remains a key challenge for extracting relevant information from brain activities. To adapt to variable subjects and EEG acquisition environments, this paper presents an automatic online artifact removal method based on a priori artifact information. The combination of discrete wavelet transform and independent component analysis (ICA), wavelet-ICA, was utilized to separate artifact components. The artifact components were then automatically identified using a priori artifact information, which was acquired in advance. Subsequently, signal reconstruction without artifact components was performed to obtain artifact-free signals. The results showed that, using this automatic online artifact removal method, there were statistical significant improvements of the classification accuracies in both two experiments, namely, motor imagery and emotion recognition. PMID:26380294

Development of a microcontroller-based automatic control system for the electrohydraulic total artificial heart.

PubMed

Kim, H C; Khanwilkar, P S; Bearnson, G B; Olsen, D B

1997-01-01

An automatic physiological control system for the actively filled, alternately pumped ventricles of the volumetrically coupled, electrohydraulic total artificial heart (EHTAH) was developed for long-term use. The automatic control system must ensure that the device: 1) maintains a physiological response of cardiac output, 2) compensates for an nonphysiological condition, and 3) is stable, reliable, and operates at a high power efficiency. The developed automatic control system met these requirements both in vitro, in week-long continuous mock circulation tests, and in vivo, in acute open-chested animals (calves). Satisfactory results were also obtained in a series of chronic animal experiments, including 21 days of continuous operation of the fully automatic control mode, and 138 days of operation in a manual mode, in a 159-day calf implant.

Effect of task demands on dual coding of pictorial stimuli.

PubMed

Babbitt, B C

1982-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that verbal labeling of a picture does not occur automatically. Although several experiments using paired-associate tasks produced little evidence indicating the use of a verbal code with picture stimuli, the tasks were probably not sensitive to whether the codes were activated initially. It is possible that verbal labels were activated at input, but not used later in performing the tasks. The present experiment used a color-naming interference task in order to assess, with a more sensitive measure, the amount of verbal coding occurring in response to word or picture input. Subjects named the color of ink in which words were printed following either word or picture input. If verbal labeling of the input occurs, then latency of color naming should increase when the input item and color-naming word are related. The results provided substantial evidence of such verbal activation when the input items were words. However, the presence of verbal activation with picture input was a function of task demands. Activation occurred when a recall memory test was used, but not when a recognition memory test was used. The results support the conclusion that name information (labels) need not be activated during presentation of visual stimuli.

Secure web-based invocation of large-scale plasma simulation codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimitrov, D. A.; Busby, R.; Exby, J.; Bruhwiler, D. L.; Cary, J. R.

2004-12-01

We present our design and initial implementation of a web-based system for running, both in parallel and serial, Particle-In-Cell (PIC) codes for plasma simulations with automatic post processing and generation of visual diagnostics.

Parallel three-dimensional magnetotelluric inversion using adaptive finite-element method. Part I: theory and synthetic study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grayver, Alexander V.

2015-07-01

This paper presents a distributed magnetotelluric inversion scheme based on adaptive finite-element method (FEM). The key novel aspect of the introduced algorithm is the use of automatic mesh refinement techniques for both forward and inverse modelling. These techniques alleviate tedious and subjective procedure of choosing a suitable model parametrization. To avoid overparametrization, meshes for forward and inverse problems were decoupled. For calculation of accurate electromagnetic (EM) responses, automatic mesh refinement algorithm based on a goal-oriented error estimator has been adopted. For further efficiency gain, EM fields for each frequency were calculated using independent meshes in order to account for substantially different spatial behaviour of the fields over a wide range of frequencies. An automatic approach for efficient initial mesh design in inverse problems based on linearized model resolution matrix was developed. To make this algorithm suitable for large-scale problems, it was proposed to use a low-rank approximation of the linearized model resolution matrix. In order to fill a gap between initial and true model complexities and resolve emerging 3-D structures better, an algorithm for adaptive inverse mesh refinement was derived. Within this algorithm, spatial variations of the imaged parameter are calculated and mesh is refined in the neighborhoods of points with the largest variations. A series of numerical tests were performed to demonstrate the utility of the presented algorithms. Adaptive mesh refinement based on the model resolution estimates provides an efficient tool to derive initial meshes which account for arbitrary survey layouts, data types, frequency content and measurement uncertainties. Furthermore, the algorithm is capable to deliver meshes suitable to resolve features on multiple scales while keeping number of unknowns low. However, such meshes exhibit dependency on an initial model guess. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the adaptive mesh refinement can be particularly efficient in resolving complex shapes. The implemented inversion scheme was able to resolve a hemisphere object with sufficient resolution starting from a coarse discretization and refining mesh adaptively in a fully automatic process. The code is able to harness the computational power of modern distributed platforms and is shown to work with models consisting of millions of degrees of freedom. Significant computational savings were achieved by using locally refined decoupled meshes.

The prescription pickup lag, an automatic prescription refill program, and community pharmacy operations.

PubMed

Lester, Corey A; Chui, Michelle A

2016-01-01

To determine the effect of an automatic prescription refill program on the prescription pickup lag in community pharmacy. A post-only quasi-experimental design comparing automatic and manual refill prescription cohorts for each of the 3 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid medication adherence metrics. A 29-store community pharmacy chain in the Midwest. Community-dwelling patients over the age of 65 years receiving prescription medications included in the statin, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system antagonist, or non-insulin diabetes adherence metrics. An automatic prescription refill program that initiated prescription refills on a standardized, recurrent basis, eliminating the need for patients to phone in or drop off prescription refills. The prescription pickup lag, defined as the number of days between a prescription being adjudicated in the pharmacy and the prescription being picked up by the patient. A total of 37,207 prescription fills were examined. There were 20.5%, 22.4%, and 23.3% of patients enrolled in the automatic prescription refill program for the statin, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system antagonist, and diabetes adherence metrics, respectively. Prescriptions in the automatic prescription refill cohorts experienced a median pickup lag of 7 days compared with 1 day for the manual refill prescriptions. 35.2% of all manual refill prescriptions had a pickup lag of 0 days compared with 13% for automatic refills. However, 15.4% of automatic prescription refills had a pickup lag of greater than 14 days, compared with 4.8% of manual refills. Prescriptions in the automatic prescription refill programs were associated with a significantly longer amount of time in the pharmacy before being picked up by the patient. This increased pickup lag may contribute positively by smoothing out workload demands of pharmacy staff, but may contribute negatively owing to an increased amount of rework and greater inventory requirements. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Automatic mechanical chest compression during helicopter transportation].

PubMed

Kyrval, Helle S; Ahmad, Khalil

2010-11-15

We describe a case story with a drowned, hypothermic trauma patient treated with an automatic mechanical chest compression device during helicopter transportation to a trauma center. After falling from a 25 meter high bridge into 2 °C water, she was rescued lifeless 17 minutes later. Advanced life support was initiated. During transport by a rescue helicopter, chest compressions were effectively provided by Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System (LUCAS). Upon arrival to a trauma centre approx. 60 minutes later, the patient was treated with extracorporal circulation and rewarmed. She was eventually discharged to her home with minor loss of cerebral function.

Automatic control of a negative ion source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saadatmand, K.; Sredniawski, J.; Solensten, L.

1989-04-01

A CAMAC based control architecture is devised for a Berkeley-type H - volume ion source [1]. The architecture employs three 80386 TM PCs. One PC is dedicated to control and monitoring of source operation. The other PC functions with digitizers to provide data acquisition of waveforms. The third PC is used for off-line analysis. Initially, operation of the source was put under remote computer control (supervisory). This was followed by development of an automated startup procedure. Finally, a study of the physics of operation is now underway to establish a data base from which automatic beam optimization can be derived.

Automation of the Image Analysis for Thermographic Inspection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plotnikov, Yuri A.; Winfree, William P.

1998-01-01

Several data processing procedures for the pulse thermal inspection require preliminary determination of an unflawed region. Typically, an initial analysis of the thermal images is performed by an operator to determine the locations of unflawed and the defective areas. In the present work an algorithm is developed for automatically determining a reference point corresponding to an unflawed region. Results are obtained for defects which are arbitrarily located in the inspection region. A comparison is presented of the distributions of derived values with right and wrong localization of the reference point. Different algorithms of automatic determination of the reference point are compared.

Theoretical Study of Various Airplane Motions After Initial Disturbance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haus, FR

1938-01-01

The present investigation may be considered as preliminary to the study of automatic stabilizers. We have sought to determine first how an airplane of average characteristics reacts against the principal disturbances it may encounter. Without entering into the general study of automatic stabilizers, the present work suggests the idea of a stabilizer whose sensitive member would be a wind vane or pressure plate. The elements considered as variable were the coefficients of static stability - that is, the derivatives of the coefficients of the moments with respect to the angles of attack and of yaw; these angles may be determined by the vanes.

A dual growing method for the automatic extraction of individual trees from mobile laser scanning data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Lin; Li, Dalin; Zhu, Haihong; Li, You

2016-10-01

Street trees interlaced with other objects in cluttered point clouds of urban scenes inhibit the automatic extraction of individual trees. This paper proposes a method for the automatic extraction of individual trees from mobile laser scanning data, according to the general constitution of trees. Two components of each individual tree - a trunk and a crown can be extracted by the dual growing method. This method consists of coarse classification, through which most of artifacts are removed; the automatic selection of appropriate seeds for individual trees, by which the common manual initial setting is avoided; a dual growing process that separates one tree from others by circumscribing a trunk in an adaptive growing radius and segmenting a crown in constrained growing regions; and a refining process that draws a singular trunk from the interlaced other objects. The method is verified by two datasets with over 98% completeness and over 96% correctness. The low mean absolute percentage errors in capturing the morphological parameters of individual trees indicate that this method can output individual trees with high precision.

Automatic Cataract Hardness Classification Ex Vivo by Ultrasound Techniques.

PubMed

Caixinha, Miguel; Santos, Mário; Santos, Jaime

2016-04-01

To demonstrate the feasibility of a new methodology for cataract hardness characterization and automatic classification using ultrasound techniques, different cataract degrees were induced in 210 porcine lenses. A 25-MHz ultrasound transducer was used to obtain acoustical parameters (velocity and attenuation) and backscattering signals. B-Scan and parametric Nakagami images were constructed. Ninety-seven parameters were extracted and subjected to a Principal Component Analysis. Bayes, K-Nearest-Neighbours, Fisher Linear Discriminant and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers were used to automatically classify the different cataract severities. Statistically significant increases with cataract formation were found for velocity, attenuation, mean brightness intensity of the B-Scan images and mean Nakagami m parameter (p < 0.01). The four classifiers showed a good performance for healthy versus cataractous lenses (F-measure ≥ 92.68%), while for initial versus severe cataracts the SVM classifier showed the higher performance (90.62%). The results showed that ultrasound techniques can be used for non-invasive cataract hardness characterization and automatic classification. Copyright © 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hall, Mary

2014-09-19

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems has high priority within DOE SC. As we look to the future, achieving expected levels of performance on high-end com-puting (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing archi-tectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, PERI has implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineering of high profile applications. The PERI performance modeling and prediction activity is developing and refining performance models, significantly reducing the cost of collecting the data upon whichmore » the models are based, and increasing model fidelity, speed and generality. Our primary research activity is automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity is spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and is based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which has automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other re-cent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our third major component is application en-gagement, to which we are devoting approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with Sci-DAC-2 applications. This last activity not only helps DOE scientists meet their near-term per-formance goals, but also helps keep PERI research focused on the real challenges facing DOE computational scientists as they enter the Petascale Era.« less

Single-digit Arabic numbers do not automatically activate magnitude representations in adults or in children: evidence from the symbolic same-different task.

PubMed

Wong, Becky; Szücs, Dénes

2013-11-01

We investigated whether the mere presentation of single-digit Arabic numbers activates their magnitude representations using a visually-presented symbolic same-different task for 20 adults and 15 children. Participants saw two single-digit Arabic numbers on a screen and judged whether the numbers were the same or different. We examined whether reaction time in this task was primarily driven by (objective or subjective) perceptual similarity, or by the numerical difference between the two digits. We reasoned that, if Arabic numbers automatically activate magnitude representations, a numerical function would best predict reaction time; but if Arabic numbers do not automatically activate magnitude representations, a perceptual function would best predict reaction time. Linear regressions revealed that a perceptual function, specifically, subjective visual similarity, was the best and only significant predictor of reaction time in adults and in children. These data strongly suggest that, in this task, single-digit Arabic numbers do not necessarily automatically activate magnitude representations in adults or in children. As the first study to date to explicitly study the developmental importance of perceptual factors in the symbolic same-different task, we found no significant differences between adults and children in their reliance on perceptual information in this task. Based on our findings, we propose that visual properties may play a key role in symbolic number judgements. © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Day, night and all-weather security surveillance automation synergy from combining two powerful technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morellas, Vassilios; Johnson, Andrew; Johnston, Chris

2006-07-01

Thermal imaging is rightfully a real-world technology proven to bring confidence to daytime, night-time and all weather security surveillance. Automatic image processing intrusion detection algorithms are also a real world technology proven to bring confidence to system surveillance security solutions. Together, day, night and all weather video imagery sensors and automated intrusion detection software systems create the real power to protect early against crime, providing real-time global homeland protection, rather than simply being able to monitor and record activities for post event analysis. These solutions, whether providing automatic security system surveillance at airports (to automatically detect unauthorized aircraft takeoff andmore » landing activities) or at high risk private, public or government facilities (to automatically detect unauthorized people or vehicle intrusion activities) are on the move to provide end users the power to protect people, capital equipment and intellectual property against acts of vandalism and terrorism. As with any technology, infrared sensors and automatic image intrusion detection systems for global homeland security protection have clear technological strengths and limitations compared to other more common day and night vision technologies or more traditional manual man-in-the-loop intrusion detection security systems. This paper addresses these strength and limitation capabilities. False Alarm (FAR) and False Positive Rate (FPR) is an example of some of the key customer system acceptability metrics and Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference (NETD) and Minimum Resolvable Temperature are examples of some of the sensor level performance acceptability metrics. (authors)« less

Automatic polymerase chain reaction product detection system for food safety monitoring using zinc finger protein fused to luciferase.

PubMed

Yoshida, Wataru; Kezuka, Aki; Murakami, Yoshiyuki; Lee, Jinhee; Abe, Koichi; Motoki, Hiroaki; Matsuo, Takafumi; Shimura, Nobuaki; Noda, Mamoru; Igimi, Shizunobu; Ikebukuro, Kazunori

2013-11-01

An automatic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product detection system for food safety monitoring using zinc finger (ZF) protein fused to luciferase was developed. ZF protein fused to luciferase specifically binds to target double stranded DNA sequence and has luciferase enzymatic activity. Therefore, PCR products that comprise ZF protein recognition sequence can be detected by measuring the luciferase activity of the fusion protein. We previously reported that PCR products from Legionella pneumophila and Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157 genomic DNA were detected by Zif268, a natural ZF protein, fused to luciferase. In this study, Zif268-luciferase was applied to detect the presence of Salmonella and coliforms. Moreover, an artificial zinc finger protein (B2) fused to luciferase was constructed for a Norovirus detection system. In the luciferase activity detection assay, several bound/free separation process is required. Therefore, an analyzer that automatically performed the bound/free separation process was developed to detect PCR products using the ZF-luciferase fusion protein. By means of the automatic analyzer with ZF-luciferase fusion protein, target pathogenic genomes were specifically detected in the presence of other pathogenic genomes. Moreover, we succeeded in the detection of 10 copies of E. coli BL21 without extraction of genomic DNA by the automatic analyzer and E. coli was detected with a logarithmic dependency in the range of 1.0×10 to 1.0×10(6) copies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

14 CFR 29.672 - Stability augmentation, automatic, and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 29.672 Stability augmentation, automatic, and power-operated systems. If the... unsafe condition if the pilot is unaware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control...

14 CFR 27.672 - Stability augmentation, automatic, and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction Control Systems § 27.672 Stability augmentation, automatic, and power-operated systems. If the... unsafe condition if the pilot is unaware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control...

Sexual Modes Questionnaire (SMQ): Translation and Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Automatic Thought Scale.

PubMed

Nimbi, Filippo Maria; Tripodi, Francesca; Simonelli, Chiara; Nobre, Pedro

2018-03-01

The Sexual Modes Questionnaire (SMQ) is a validated and widespread used tool to assess the association among negative automatic thoughts, emotions, and sexual response during sexual activity in men and women. To test the psychometric characteristics of the Italian version of the SMQ focusing on the Automatic Thoughts subscale (SMQ-AT). After linguistic translation, the psychometric properties (internal consistency, construct, and discriminant validity) were evaluated. 1,051 participants (425 men and 626 women, 776 healthy and 275 clinical groups complaining about sexual problems) participated in the present study. 2 confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the fit of the original factor structures of the SMQ versions. In addition, 2 principal component analyses were performed to highlight 2 new factorial structures that were further validated with confirmatory factor analyses. Cronbach α and composite reliability were used as internal consistency measures and differences between clinical and control groups were run to test the discriminant validity for the male and female versions. The associations with emotions and sexual functioning measures also are reported. Principal component analyses identified 5 factors in the male version: erection concerns thoughts, lack of erotic thoughts, age- and body-related thoughts, negative thoughts toward sex, and worries about partner's evaluation and failure anticipation thoughts. In the female version 6 factors were found: sexual abuse thoughts, lack of erotic thoughts, low self-body image thoughts, failure and disengagement thoughts, sexual passivity and control, and partner's lack of affection. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the adequacy of the factor structure for men and women. Moreover, the SMQ showed a strong association with emotional response and sexual functioning, differentiating between clinical and control groups. This measure is useful to evaluate patients and design interventions focused on negative automatic thoughts during sexual activity and to develop multicultural research. This study reports on the translation and validation of the Italian version of a clinically useful and widely used measure (assessing automatic thoughts during sexual activity). Limits regarding sampling technique and use of the Automatic Thoughts subscale are discussed in the article. The present findings support the validity and the internal consistency of the Italian version of the SMQ-AT and allow the assessment of negative automatic thoughts during sexual activity for clinical and research purposes. Nimbi FM, Tripodi F, Simonelli C, Nobre P. Sexual Modes Questionnaire (SMQ): Translation and Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Automatic Thought Scale. J Sex Med 2018;15:396-409. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Trust, control strategies and allocation of function in human-machine systems.

PubMed

Lee, J; Moray, N

1992-10-01

As automated controllers supplant human intervention in controlling complex systems, the operators' role often changes from that of an active controller to that of a supervisory controller. Acting as supervisors, operators can choose between automatic and manual control. Improperly allocating function between automatic and manual control can have negative consequences for the performance of a system. Previous research suggests that the decision to perform the job manually or automatically depends, in part, upon the trust the operators invest in the automatic controllers. This paper reports an experiment to characterize the changes in operators' trust during an interaction with a semi-automatic pasteurization plant, and investigates the relationship between changes in operators' control strategies and trust. A regression model identifies the causes of changes in trust, and a 'trust transfer function' is developed using time series analysis to describe the dynamics of trust. Based on a detailed analysis of operators' strategies in response to system faults we suggest a model for the choice between manual and automatic control, based on trust in automatic controllers and self-confidence in the ability to control the system manually.

Integrated corridor management transit vehicle real-time data demonstration: Dallas case study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-12-01

As part of the U.S. Department of Transportations Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Initiative, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) purchased new automatic passenger counter (APC) technology for its Red and Orange line light rail vehicles to provi...

Automatic control of arterial carbon dioxide tension in mechanically ventilated patients.

PubMed

Fernando, Tyrone; Cade, John; Packer, John

2002-12-01

This paper presents a method of controlling the arterial carbon dioxide tension of patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Controlling of the CO2 tension is achieved by regulating the ventilator initiated breath frequency and also volume per breath.

WE-A-17A-06: Evaluation of An Automatic Interstitial Catheter Digitization Algorithm That Reduces Treatment Planning Time and Provide Means for Adaptive Re-Planning in HDR Brachytherapy of Gynecologic Cancers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dise, J; Liang, X; Lin, L

Purpose: To evaluate an automatic interstitial catheter digitization algorithm that reduces treatment planning time and provide means for adaptive re-planning in HDR Brachytherapy of Gynecologic Cancers. Methods: The semi-automatic catheter digitization tool utilizes a region growing algorithm in conjunction with a spline model of the catheters. The CT images were first pre-processed to enhance the contrast between the catheters and soft tissue. Several seed locations were selected in each catheter for the region growing algorithm. The spline model of the catheters assisted in the region growing by preventing inter-catheter cross-over caused by air or metal artifacts. Source dwell positions frommore » day one CT scans were applied to subsequent CTs and forward calculated using the automatically digitized catheter positions. This method was applied to 10 patients who had received HDR interstitial brachytherapy on an IRB approved image-guided radiation therapy protocol. The prescribed dose was 18.75 or 20 Gy delivered in 5 fractions, twice daily, over 3 consecutive days. Dosimetric comparisons were made between automatic and manual digitization on day two CTs. Results: The region growing algorithm, assisted by the spline model of the catheters, was able to digitize all catheters. The difference between automatic and manually digitized positions was 0.8±0.3 mm. The digitization time ranged from 34 minutes to 43 minutes with a mean digitization time of 37 minutes. The bulk of the time was spent on manual selection of initial seed positions and spline parameter adjustments. There was no significance difference in dosimetric parameters between the automatic and manually digitized plans. D90% to the CTV was 91.5±4.4% for the manual digitization versus 91.4±4.4% for the automatic digitization (p=0.56). Conclusion: A region growing algorithm was developed to semi-automatically digitize interstitial catheters in HDR brachytherapy using the Syed-Neblett template. This automatic digitization tool was shown to be accurate compared to manual digitization.« less

Automated feature detection and identification in digital point-ordered signals

DOEpatents

Oppenlander, Jane E.; Loomis, Kent C.; Brudnoy, David M.; Levy, Arthur J.

1998-01-01

A computer-based automated method to detect and identify features in digital point-ordered signals. The method is used for processing of non-destructive test signals, such as eddy current signals obtained from calibration standards. The signals are first automatically processed to remove noise and to determine a baseline. Next, features are detected in the signals using mathematical morphology filters. Finally, verification of the features is made using an expert system of pattern recognition methods and geometric criteria. The method has the advantage that standard features can be, located without prior knowledge of the number or sequence of the features. Further advantages are that standard features can be differentiated from irrelevant signal features such as noise, and detected features are automatically verified by parameters extracted from the signals. The method proceeds fully automatically without initial operator set-up and without subjective operator feature judgement.

Army gas-cooled reactor systems program. Preliminary design report off-normal scram system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bushnell, W.H.; Malmstrom, S.A.

1965-06-01

The maximum allowable ML-1 fuel element cladding (hot spot) temperature is established by ANTS 201 at 1750/sup 0/F. The existing ML-1 design makes no provision for automatic scram when this limit is reached. Operating experience has indicated a requirement for such an automatic system during plant startup and a revised hot spot envelope (generated during conceptual design of the scram system) established the desirability of extending this protection to operation at full power conditions. It was also determined that the scram system should include circuitry to initiate an automatic scram if reactor ..delta..T exceeded 450/sup 0/F (the limit established inmore » ANTS 201) and if reactor power exceeded 6 kw(t) without coolant flow in the main loop. The preliminary design of the scram system (designated off-normal scram system) which will provide the required protection is described.« less

Automatic Learning of Fine Operating Rules for Online Power System Security Control.

PubMed

Sun, Hongbin; Zhao, Feng; Wang, Hao; Wang, Kang; Jiang, Weiyong; Guo, Qinglai; Zhang, Boming; Wehenkel, Louis

2016-08-01

Fine operating rules for security control and an automatic system for their online discovery were developed to adapt to the development of smart grids. The automatic system uses the real-time system state to determine critical flowgates, and then a continuation power flow-based security analysis is used to compute the initial transfer capability of critical flowgates. Next, the system applies the Monte Carlo simulations to expected short-term operating condition changes, feature selection, and a linear least squares fitting of the fine operating rules. The proposed system was validated both on an academic test system and on a provincial power system in China. The results indicated that the derived rules provide accuracy and good interpretability and are suitable for real-time power system security control. The use of high-performance computing systems enables these fine operating rules to be refreshed online every 15 min.

Localization accuracy from automatic and semi-automatic rigid registration of locally-advanced lung cancer targets during image-guided radiation therapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robertson, Scott P.; Weiss, Elisabeth; Hugo, Geoffrey D.

2012-01-15

Purpose: To evaluate localization accuracy resulting from rigid registration of locally-advanced lung cancer targets using fully automatic and semi-automatic protocols for image-guided radiation therapy. Methods: Seventeen lung cancer patients, fourteen also presenting with involved lymph nodes, received computed tomography (CT) scans once per week throughout treatment under active breathing control. A physician contoured both lung and lymph node targets for all weekly scans. Various automatic and semi-automatic rigid registration techniques were then performed for both individual and simultaneous alignments of the primary gross tumor volume (GTV{sub P}) and involved lymph nodes (GTV{sub LN}) to simulate the localization process in image-guidedmore » radiation therapy. Techniques included ''standard'' (direct registration of weekly images to a planning CT), ''seeded'' (manual prealignment of targets to guide standard registration), ''transitive-based'' (alignment of pretreatment and planning CTs through one or more intermediate images), and ''rereferenced'' (designation of a new reference image for registration). Localization error (LE) was assessed as the residual centroid and border distances between targets from planning and weekly CTs after registration. Results: Initial bony alignment resulted in centroid LE of 7.3 {+-} 5.4 mm and 5.4 {+-} 3.4 mm for the GTV{sub P} and GTV{sub LN}, respectively. Compared to bony alignment, transitive-based and seeded registrations significantly reduced GTV{sub P} centroid LE to 4.7 {+-} 3.7 mm (p = 0.011) and 4.3 {+-} 2.5 mm (p < 1 x 10{sup -3}), respectively, but the smallest GTV{sub P} LE of 2.4 {+-} 2.1 mm was provided by rereferenced registration (p < 1 x 10{sup -6}). Standard registration significantly reduced GTV{sub LN} centroid LE to 3.2 {+-} 2.5 mm (p < 1 x 10{sup -3}) compared to bony alignment, with little additional gain offered by the other registration techniques. For simultaneous target alignment, centroid LE as low as 3.9 {+-} 2.7 mm and 3.8 {+-} 2.3 mm were achieved for the GTV{sub P} and GTV{sub LN}, respectively, using rereferenced registration. Conclusions: Target shape, volume, and configuration changes during radiation therapy limited the accuracy of standard rigid registration for image-guided localization in locally-advanced lung cancer. Significant error reductions were possible using other rigid registration techniques, with LE approaching the lower limit imposed by interfraction target variability throughout treatment.« less

Very Portable Remote Automatic Weather Stations

Treesearch

John R. Warren

1987-01-01

Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) were introduced to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management field units in 1978 following development, test, and evaluation activities conducted jointly by the two agencies. The original configuration was designed for semi-permanent installation. Subsequently, a need for a more portable RAWS was expressed, and one was...

New low-level a-c amplifier provides adjustable noise cancellation and automatic temperature compensation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, J. R., Jr.

1964-01-01

Circuit utilizing a transistorized differential amplifier is developed for biomedical use. This low voltage operating circuit provides adjustable cancellation at the input for unbalanced noise signals, and automatic temperature compensation is accomplished by a single active element across the input-output ends.

On the question of the necessity of implementation of automatic control systems in timber industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khasanov, E. R.; Zelenkov, P. V.; Petrosyan, M. O.; Murygin, A. V.; Laptenor, V. D.

2016-04-01

The paper considers the necessity of implementation of automatic control systems on the level of forest farms management and timber industry. Main areas of activity, which currently subjected to automation, are revealed. Objectives, which solved by implementation of APCS, are identified.

14 CFR 25.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.672 Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems. If the... the pilot were not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control systems. (b...

14 CFR 25.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.672 Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems. If the... the pilot were not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control systems. (b...

14 CFR 25.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.672 Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems. If the... the pilot were not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control systems. (b...

14 CFR 25.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 25.672 Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems. If the... the pilot were not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control systems. (b...

Automatic mental associations predict future choices of undecided decision-makers.

PubMed

Galdi, Silvia; Arcuri, Luciano; Gawronski, Bertram

2008-08-22

Common wisdom holds that choice decisions are based on conscious deliberations of the available information about choice options. On the basis of recent insights about unconscious influences on information processing, we tested whether automatic mental associations of undecided individuals bias future choices in a manner such that these choices reflect the evaluations implied by earlier automatic associations. With the use of a computer-based, speeded categorization task to assess automatic mental associations (i.e., associations that are activated unintentionally, difficult to control, and not necessarily endorsed at a conscious level) and self-report measures to assess consciously endorsed beliefs and choice preferences, automatic associations of undecided participants predicted changes in consciously reported beliefs and future choices over a period of 1 week. Conversely, for decided participants, consciously reported beliefs predicted changes in automatic associations and future choices over the same period. These results indicate that decision-makers sometimes have already made up their mind at an unconscious level, even when they consciously indicate that they are still undecided.

Basic investigation of the laminated alginate impression technique: Setting time, permanent deformation, elastic deformation, consistency, and tensile bond strength tests.

PubMed

Kitamura, Aya; Kawai, Yasuhiko

2015-01-01

Laminated alginate impression for edentulous is simple and time efficient compared to border molding technique. The purpose of this study was to examine clinical applicability of the laminated alginate impression, by measuring the effects of different Water/Powder (W/P) and mixing methods, and different bonding methods in the secondary impression of alginate impression. Three W/P: manufacturer-designated mixing water amount (standard), 1.5-fold (1.5×) and 1.75-fold (1.75×) water amount were mixed by manual and automatic mixing methods. Initial and complete setting time, permanent and elastic deformation, and consistency of the secondary impression were investigated (n=10). Additionally, tensile bond strength between the primary and secondary impression were measured in the following surface treatment; air blow only (A), surface baking (B), and alginate impression material bonding agent (ALGI-BOND: AB) (n=12). Initial setting times significantly shortened with automatic mixing for all W/P (p<0.05). The permanent deformation decreased and elastic deformation increased as high W/P, regardless of the mixing method. Elastic deformation significantly reduced in 1.5× and 1.75× with automatic mixing (p<0.05). All of these properties resulted within JIS standards. For all W/P, AB showed a significantly high bonding strength as compared to A and B (p<0.01). The increase of mixing water, 1.5× and 1.75×, resulted within JIS standards in setting time, suggesting its applicability in clinical setting. The use of automatic mixing device decreased elastic strain and shortening of the curing time. For the secondary impression application of adhesives on the primary impression gives secure adhesion. Copyright © 2014 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Manifestation of the synergetic mechanism in the implementation of automatic processing of scientific documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chizhacovsky, Valentin; Popescu, Anatol N.; Russu, Vladimir

2005-02-01

This article is dedicated to the problem of the presence in the natural language and in the cognitive-verbal human activity of an interior mechanisms of reproduction and self regulation which will help us solve problem by the automatic documents. We have attributed to these mechanisms the property of being synergetic. The above expressed thought has been confirmed at the implementation of the automatic processing of scientific articles, published in the German specialized magazine "Wasserwirtschaft-Wassertechnik-WWT", which we have addressed to the sub subject field "Abwasser" (waste water). By dividing the implementation of our task in many consequent stages and sub stages we have obtained the possibilities to create the conditions which favored the manifestation of the needed linguistic synergetic activities.

Automatic sleep stage classification using two-channel electro-oculography.

PubMed

Virkkala, Jussi; Hasan, Joel; Värri, Alpo; Himanen, Sari-Leena; Müller, Kiti

2007-10-15

An automatic method for the classification of wakefulness and sleep stages SREM, S1, S2 and SWS was developed based on our two previous studies. The method is based on a two-channel electro-oculography (EOG) referenced to the left mastoid (M1). Synchronous electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in S2 and SWS was detected by calculating cross-correlation and peak-to-peak amplitude difference in the 0.5-6 Hz band between the two EOG channels. An automatic slow eye-movement (SEM) estimation was used to indicate wakefulness, SREM and S1. Beta power 18-30 Hz and alpha power 8-12 Hz was also used for wakefulness detection. Synchronous 1.5-6 Hz EEG activity and absence of large eye movements was used for S1 separation from SREM. Simple smoothing rules were also applied. Sleep EEG, EOG and EMG were recorded from 265 subjects. The system was tuned using data from 132 training subjects and then applied to data from 131 validation subjects that were different to the training subjects. Cohen's Kappa between the visual and the developed new automatic scoring in separating 30s wakefulness, SREM, S1, S2 and SWS epochs was substantial 0.62 with epoch by epoch agreement of 72%. With automatic subject specific alpha thresholds for offline applications results improved to 0.63 and 73%. The automatic method can be further developed and applied for ambulatory sleep recordings by using only four disposable, self-adhesive and self-applicable electrodes.

A novel fully automatic scheme for fiducial marker-based alignment in electron tomography.

PubMed

Han, Renmin; Wang, Liansan; Liu, Zhiyong; Sun, Fei; Zhang, Fa

2015-12-01

Although the topic of fiducial marker-based alignment in electron tomography (ET) has been widely discussed for decades, alignment without human intervention remains a difficult problem. Specifically, the emergence of subtomogram averaging has increased the demand for batch processing during tomographic reconstruction; fully automatic fiducial marker-based alignment is the main technique in this process. However, the lack of an accurate method for detecting and tracking fiducial markers precludes fully automatic alignment. In this paper, we present a novel, fully automatic alignment scheme for ET. Our scheme has two main contributions: First, we present a series of algorithms to ensure a high recognition rate and precise localization during the detection of fiducial markers. Our proposed solution reduces fiducial marker detection to a sampling and classification problem and further introduces an algorithm to solve the parameter dependence of marker diameter and marker number. Second, we propose a novel algorithm to solve the tracking of fiducial markers by reducing the tracking problem to an incomplete point set registration problem. Because a global optimization of a point set registration occurs, the result of our tracking is independent of the initial image position in the tilt series, allowing for the robust tracking of fiducial markers without pre-alignment. The experimental results indicate that our method can achieve an accurate tracking, almost identical to the current best one in IMOD with half automatic scheme. Furthermore, our scheme is fully automatic, depends on fewer parameters (only requires a gross value of the marker diameter) and does not require any manual interaction, providing the possibility of automatic batch processing of electron tomographic reconstruction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic recognition of postural allocations.

PubMed

Sazonov, Edward; Krishnamurthy, Vidya; Makeyev, Oleksandr; Browning, Ray; Schutz, Yves; Hill, James

2007-01-01

A significant part of daily energy expenditure may be attributed to non-exercise activity thermogenesis and exercise activity thermogenesis. Automatic recognition of postural allocations such as standing or sitting can be used in behavioral modification programs aimed at minimizing static postures. In this paper we propose a shoe-based device and related pattern recognition methodology for recognition of postural allocations. Inexpensive technology allows implementation of this methodology as a part of footwear. The experimental results suggest high efficiency and reliability of the proposed approach.

[The present status and development of thermal control system of spacesuits for extravehicular activity].

PubMed

Zhao, C Y; Sun, J B; Yuan, X G

1999-04-01

With the extension of extravehicular activity (EVA) duration, the need for more effective thermal control of EVA spacesuits is required. The specific schemes investigated in heat sink system for EVA are discussed, including radiator, ice storage, metal hydride heat pump, phase-change storage/radiator and sublimator. The importance and requirements of automatic thermal control for EVA are also discussed. Existed automatic thermal control for EVA are reviewed. Prospects of further developments of thermal control of spacesuits for EVA are proposed.

Computer-based radiological longitudinal evaluation of meningiomas following stereotactic radiosurgery.

PubMed

Shimol, Eli Ben; Joskowicz, Leo; Eliahou, Ruth; Shoshan, Yigal

2018-02-01

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a common treatment for intracranial meningiomas. SRS is planned on a pre-therapy gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI scan (Gd-T1w MRI) in which the meningioma contours have been delineated. Post-SRS therapy serial Gd-T1w MRI scans are then acquired for longitudinal treatment evaluation. Accurate tumor volume change quantification is required for treatment efficacy evaluation and for treatment continuation. We present a new algorithm for the automatic segmentation and volumetric assessment of meningioma in post-therapy Gd-T1w MRI scans. The inputs are the pre- and post-therapy Gd-T1w MRI scans and the meningioma delineation in the pre-therapy scan. The output is the meningioma delineations and volumes in the post-therapy scan. The algorithm uses the pre-therapy scan and its meningioma delineation to initialize an extended Chan-Vese active contour method and as a strong patient-specific intensity and shape prior for the post-therapy scan meningioma segmentation. The algorithm is automatic, obviates the need for independent tumor localization and segmentation initialization, and incorporates the same tumor delineation criteria in both the pre- and post-therapy scans. Our experimental results on retrospective pre- and post-therapy scans with a total of 32 meningiomas with volume ranges 0.4-26.5 cm[Formula: see text] yield a Dice coefficient of [Formula: see text]% with respect to ground-truth delineations in post-therapy scans created by two clinicians. These results indicate a high correspondence to the ground-truth delineations. Our algorithm yields more reliable and accurate tumor volume change measurements than other stand-alone segmentation methods. It may be a useful tool for quantitative meningioma prognosis evaluation after SRS.

Temperature control during therapeutic hypothermia for newborn encephalopathy using different Blanketrol devices.

PubMed

Laptook, Abbot R; Kilbride, Howard; Shepherd, Edward; McDonald, Scott A; Shankaran, Seetha; Truog, William; Das, Abhik; Higgins, Rosemary D

2014-12-01

Therapeutic hypothermia improves the survival and neurodevelopmental outcome of infants with newborn encephalopathy of a hypoxic-ischemic origin. The NICHD Neonatal Research Network (NRN) Whole Body Cooling trial used the Cincinnati Sub-Zero Blanketrol II to achieve therapeutic hypothermia. The Blanketrol III is now available and provides additional cooling modes that may result in better temperature control. This report is a retrospective comparison of infants undergoing hypothermia using two different cooling modes of the Blanketrol device. Infants from the NRN trial were cooled with the Blanketrol II using the Automatic control mode (B2 cohort) and were compared with infants from two new NRN centers that adopted the NRN protocol and used the Blanketrol III in a gradient mode (B3 cohort). The primary outcome was the percent time the esophageal temperature stayed between 33°C and 34°C (target 33.5°C) during maintenance of hypothermia. Cohorts had similar birth weight, gestational age, and level of encephalopathy at the initiation of therapy. Baseline esophageal temperature differed between groups (36.6°C ± 1.0°C for B2 vs. 33.9°C ± 1.2°C for B3, p<0.0001) reflecting the practice of passive cooling during transport prior to initiation of active device cooling in the B3 cohort. This difference prevented comparison of temperatures during induction of hypothermia. During maintenance of hypothermia the mean and standard deviation of the percent time between 33°C and 34°C was similar for B2 compared to B3 cohorts (94.8% ± 0.1% vs. 95.8% ± 0.1%, respectively). Both the automatic and gradient control modes of the Blanketrol devices appear comparable in maintaining esophageal temperature within the target range during maintenance of therapeutic hypothermia.

Over-imitation is not automatic: context sensitivity in children's overimitation and action interpretation of causally irrelevant actions.

PubMed

Keupp, Stefanie; Behne, Tanya; Zachow, Joanna; Kasbohm, Alina; Rakoczy, Hannes

2015-02-01

Recent research has documented the robust tendency of children to "over-imitate," that is, to copy causally irrelevant action elements in goal-directed action sequences. Different explanations for over-imitation have been proposed. Causal accounts claim that children mistakenly perceive such action elements as causally relevant and, therefore, imitate them. Affiliation accounts claim that children over-imitate to affiliate with the model. Normative accounts claim that children conceive of causally irrelevant actions as essential parts of an overarching conventional activity. These different accounts generally hold the same predictions regarding children's imitative response. However, it is possible to distinguish between them when one considers additional parameters. The normative account predicts wide-ranging flexibility with regard to action interpretation and the occurrence of over-imitation. First, it predicts spontaneous protest against norm violators who omit the causally irrelevant actions. Second, children should perform the causally irrelevant actions less frequently, and criticize others less frequently for omitting them, when the actions take place in a different context from the one of the initial demonstration. Such flexibility is not predicted by causal accounts and is predicted for only a limited range of contexts by affiliation accounts. Study 1 investigated children's own imitative response and found less over-imitation when children acted in a different context from when they acted in the same context as the initial demonstration. In Study 2, children criticized a puppet less frequently for omitting irrelevant actions when the puppet acted in a different context. The results support the notion that over-imitation is not an automatic and inflexible phenomenon. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Temperature Control During Therapeutic Hypothermia for Newborn Encephalopathy Using Different Blanketrol Devices

PubMed Central

Kilbride, Howard; Shepherd, Edward; McDonald, Scott A.; Shankaran, Seetha; Truog, William; Das, Abhik; Higgins, Rosemary D.

2014-01-01

Therapeutic hypothermia improves the survival and neurodevelopmental outcome of infants with newborn encephalopathy of a hypoxic-ischemic origin. The NICHD Neonatal Research Network (NRN) Whole Body Cooling trial used the Cincinnati Sub-Zero Blanketrol II to achieve therapeutic hypothermia. The Blanketrol III is now available and provides additional cooling modes that may result in better temperature control. This report is a retrospective comparison of infants undergoing hypothermia using two different cooling modes of the Blanketrol device. Infants from the NRN trial were cooled with the Blanketrol II using the Automatic control mode (B2 cohort) and were compared with infants from two new NRN centers that adopted the NRN protocol and used the Blanketrol III in a gradient mode (B3 cohort). The primary outcome was the percent time the esophageal temperature stayed between 33°C and 34°C (target 33.5°C) during maintenance of hypothermia. Cohorts had similar birth weight, gestational age, and level of encephalopathy at the initiation of therapy. Baseline esophageal temperature differed between groups (36.6°C±1.0°C for B2 vs. 33.9°C±1.2°C for B3, p<0.0001) reflecting the practice of passive cooling during transport prior to initiation of active device cooling in the B3 cohort. This difference prevented comparison of temperatures during induction of hypothermia. During maintenance of hypothermia the mean and standard deviation of the percent time between 33°C and 34°C was similar for B2 compared to B3 cohorts (94.8%±0.1% vs. 95.8%±0.1%, respectively). Both the automatic and gradient control modes of the Blanketrol devices appear comparable in maintaining esophageal temperature within the target range during maintenance of therapeutic hypothermia. PMID:25285767

Modular Expression Language for Ordinary Differential Equation Editing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blake, Robert C.

MELODEEis a system for describing systems of initial value problem ordinary differential equations, and a compiler for the language that produces optimized code to integrate the differential equations. Features include rational polynomial approximation for expensive functions and automatic differentiation for symbolic jacobians

Fully automatic detection of salient features in 3-d transesophageal images.

PubMed

Curiale, Ariel H; Haak, Alexander; Vegas-Sánchez-Ferrero, Gonzalo; Ren, Ben; Aja-Fernández, Santiago; Bosch, Johan G

2014-12-01

Most automated segmentation approaches to the mitral valve and left ventricle in 3-D echocardiography require a manual initialization. In this article, we propose a fully automatic scheme to initialize a multicavity segmentation approach in 3-D transesophageal echocardiography by detecting the left ventricle long axis, the mitral valve and the aortic valve location. Our approach uses a probabilistic and structural tissue classification to find structures such as the mitral and aortic valves; the Hough transform for circles to find the center of the left ventricle; and multidimensional dynamic programming to find the best position for the left ventricle long axis. For accuracy and agreement assessment, the proposed method was evaluated in 19 patients with respect to manual landmarks and as initialization of a multicavity segmentation approach for the left ventricle, the right ventricle, the left atrium, the right atrium and the aorta. The segmentation results revealed no statistically significant differences between manual and automated initialization in a paired t-test (p > 0.05). Additionally, small biases between manual and automated initialization were detected in the Bland-Altman analysis (bias, variance) for the left ventricle (-0.04, 0.10); right ventricle (-0.07, 0.18); left atrium (-0.01, 0.03); right atrium (-0.04, 0.13); and aorta (-0.05, 0.14). These results indicate that the proposed approach provides robust and accurate detection to initialize a multicavity segmentation approach without any user interaction. Copyright © 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

3D registration of surfaces for change detection in medical images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Elizabeth; van der Stelt, Paul F.; Dunn, Stanley M.

1997-04-01

Spatial registration of data sets is essential for quantifying changes that take place over time in cases where the position of a patient with respect to the sensor has been altered. Changes within the region of interest can be problematic for automatic methods of registration. This research addresses the problem of automatic 3D registration of surfaces derived from serial, single-modality images for the purpose of quantifying changes over time. The registration algorithm utilizes motion-invariant, curvature- based geometric properties to derive an approximation to an initial rigid transformation to align two image sets. Following the initial registration, changed portions of the surface are detected and excluded before refining the transformation parameters. The performance of the algorithm was tested using simulation experiments. To quantitatively assess the registration, random noise at various levels, known rigid motion transformations, and analytically-defined volume changes were applied to the initial surface data acquired from models of teeth. These simulation experiments demonstrated that the calculated transformation parameters were accurate to within 1.2 percent of the total applied rotation and 2.9 percent of the total applied translation, even at the highest applied noise levels and simulated wear values.

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lucas, Robert

2013-04-20

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems had high priority within DOE SC at the start of the second phase of the SciDAC program, SciDAC-2, as it continues to do so today. Achieving expected levels of performance on high-end computing (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing architectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, the University of Southern California?s Information Sciences Institute organized the Performance Engineering Research Institute (PERI). PERI implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineeringmore » of high profile applications. Within PERI, USC?s primary research activity was automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity was spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and was based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other recent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our other major component was application engagement, to which we devoted approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with SciDAC-2 applications. This report is a summary of the overall results of the USC PERI effort.« less

Retina Image Vessel Segmentation Using a Hybrid CGLI Level Set Method

PubMed Central

Chen, Meizhu; Li, Jichun; Zhang, Encai

2017-01-01

As a nonintrusive method, the retina imaging provides us with a better way for the diagnosis of ophthalmologic diseases. Extracting the vessel profile automatically from the retina image is an important step in analyzing retina images. A novel hybrid active contour model is proposed to segment the fundus image automatically in this paper. It combines the signed pressure force function introduced by the Selective Binary and Gaussian Filtering Regularized Level Set (SBGFRLS) model with the local intensity property introduced by the Local Binary fitting (LBF) model to overcome the difficulty of the low contrast in segmentation process. It is more robust to the initial condition than the traditional methods and is easily implemented compared to the supervised vessel extraction methods. Proposed segmentation method was evaluated on two public datasets, DRIVE (Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction) and STARE (Structured Analysis of the Retina) (the average accuracy of 0.9390 with 0.7358 sensitivity and 0.9680 specificity on DRIVE datasets and average accuracy of 0.9409 with 0.7449 sensitivity and 0.9690 specificity on STARE datasets). The experimental results show that our method is effective and our method is also robust to some kinds of pathology images compared with the traditional level set methods. PMID:28840122

Optimized spatio-temporal descriptors for real-time fall detection: comparison of support vector machine and Adaboost-based classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charfi, Imen; Miteran, Johel; Dubois, Julien; Atri, Mohamed; Tourki, Rached

2013-10-01

We propose a supervised approach to detect falls in a home environment using an optimized descriptor adapted to real-time tasks. We introduce a realistic dataset of 222 videos, a new metric allowing evaluation of fall detection performance in a video stream, and an automatically optimized set of spatio-temporal descriptors which fed a supervised classifier. We build the initial spatio-temporal descriptor named STHF using several combinations of transformations of geometrical features (height and width of human body bounding box, the user's trajectory with her/his orientation, projection histograms, and moments of orders 0, 1, and 2). We study the combinations of usual transformations of the features (Fourier transform, wavelet transform, first and second derivatives), and we show experimentally that it is possible to achieve high performance using support vector machine and Adaboost classifiers. Automatic feature selection allows to show that the best tradeoff between classification performance and processing time is obtained by combining the original low-level features with their first derivative. Hence, we evaluate the robustness of the fall detection regarding location changes. We propose a realistic and pragmatic protocol that enables performance to be improved by updating the training in the current location with normal activities records.

A new tool for rapid and automatic estimation of earthquake source parameters and generation of seismic bulletins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zollo, Aldo

2016-04-01

RISS S.r.l. is a Spin-off company recently born from the initiative of the research group constituting the Seismology Laboratory of the Department of Physics of the University of Naples Federico II. RISS is an innovative start-up, based on the decade-long experience in earthquake monitoring systems and seismic data analysis of its members and has the major goal to transform the most recent innovations of the scientific research into technological products and prototypes. With this aim, RISS has recently started the development of a new software, which is an elegant solution to manage and analyse seismic data and to create automatic earthquake bulletins. The software has been initially developed to manage data recorded at the ISNet network (Irpinia Seismic Network), which is a network of seismic stations deployed in Southern Apennines along the active fault system responsible for the 1980, November 23, MS 6.9 Irpinia earthquake. The software, however, is fully exportable and can be used to manage data from different networks, with any kind of station geometry or network configuration and is able to provide reliable estimates of earthquake source parameters, whichever is the background seismicity level of the area of interest. Here we present the real-time automated procedures and the analyses performed by the software package, which is essentially a chain of different modules, each of them aimed at the automatic computation of a specific source parameter. The P-wave arrival times are first detected on the real-time streaming of data and then the software performs the phase association and earthquake binding. As soon as an event is automatically detected by the binder, the earthquake location coordinates and the origin time are rapidly estimated, using a probabilistic, non-linear, exploration algorithm. Then, the software is able to automatically provide three different magnitude estimates. First, the local magnitude (Ml) is computed, using the peak-to-peak amplitude of the equivalent Wood-Anderson displacement recordings. The moment magnitude (Mw) is then estimated from the inversion of displacement spectra. The duration magnitude (Md) is rapidly computed, based on a simple and automatic measurement of the seismic wave coda duration. Starting from the magnitude estimates, other relevant pieces of information are also computed, such as the corner frequency, the seismic moment, the source radius and the seismic energy. The ground-shaking maps on a Google map are produced, for peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV) and instrumental intensity (in SHAKEMAP® format), or a plot of the measured peak ground values. Furthermore, based on a specific decisional scheme, the automatic discrimination between local earthquakes occurred within the network and regional/teleseismic events occurred outside the network is performed. Finally, for largest events, if a consistent number of P-wave polarity reading are available, the focal mechanism is also computed. For each event, all of the available pieces of information are stored in a local database and the results of the automatic analyses are published on an interactive web page. "The Bulletin" shows a map with event location and stations, as well as a table listing all the events, with the associated parameters. The catalogue fields are the event ID, the origin date and time, latitude, longitude, depth, Ml, Mw, Md, the number of triggered stations, the S-displacement spectra, and shaking maps. Some of these entries also provide additional information, such as the focal mechanism (when available). The picked traces are uploaded in the database and from the web interface of the Bulletin the traces can be download for more specific analysis. This innovative software represents a smart solution, with a friendly and interactive interface, for high-level analysis of seismic data analysis and it may represent a relevant tool not only for seismologists, but also for non-expert external users who are interested in the seismological data. The software is a valid tool for the automatic analysis of the background seismicity at different time scales and can be a relevant tool for the monitoring of both natural and induced seismicity.

Personalization algorithm for real-time activity recognition using PDA, wireless motion bands, and binary decision tree.

PubMed

Pärkkä, Juha; Cluitmans, Luc; Ermes, Miikka

2010-09-01

Inactive and sedentary lifestyle is a major problem in many industrialized countries today. Automatic recognition of type of physical activity can be used to show the user the distribution of his daily activities and to motivate him into more active lifestyle. In this study, an automatic activity-recognition system consisting of wireless motion bands and a PDA is evaluated. The system classifies raw sensor data into activity types online. It uses a decision tree classifier, which has low computational cost and low battery consumption. The classifier parameters can be personalized online by performing a short bout of an activity and by telling the system which activity is being performed. Data were collected with seven volunteers during five everyday activities: lying, sitting/standing, walking, running, and cycling. The online system can detect these activities with overall 86.6% accuracy and with 94.0% accuracy after classifier personalization.

Cardiorespiratory concerns shape brain responses during automatic panic-related scene processing in patients with panic disorder

PubMed Central

Feldker, Katharina; Heitmann, Carina Yvonne; Neumeister, Paula; Brinkmann, Leonie; Bruchmann, Maximillan; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Straube, Thomas

2018-01-01

Background Increased automatic processing of threat-related stimuli has been proposed as a key element in panic disorder. Little is known about the neural basis of automatic processing, in particular to task-irrelevant, panic-related, ecologically valid stimuli, or about the association between brain activation and symptomatology in patients with panic disorder. Methods The present event-related functional MRI (fMRI) study compared brain responses to task-irrelevant, panic-related and neutral visual stimuli in medication-free patients with panic disorder and healthy controls. Panic-related and neutral scenes were presented while participants performed a spatially non-overlapping bar orientation task. Correlation analyses investigated the association between brain responses and panic-related aspects of symptomatology, measured using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). Results We included 26 patients with panic disorder and 26 heatlhy controls in our analysis. Compared with controls, patients with panic disorder showed elevated activation in the amygdala, brainstem, thalamus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and midcingulate cortex in response to panic-related versus neutral task-irrelevant stimuli. Furthermore, fear of cardiovascular symptoms (a subcomponent of the ASI) was associated with insula activation, whereas fear of respiratory symptoms was associated with brainstem hyperactivation in patients with panic disorder. Limitations The additional implementation of measures of autonomic activation, such as pupil diameter, heart rate, or electrodermal activity, would have been informative during the fMRI scan as well as during the rating procedure. Conclusion Results reveal a neural network involved in the processing of panic-related distractor stimuli in patients with panic disorder and suggest an automatic weighting of panic-related information depending on the magnitude of cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms. Insula and brainstem activations show function-related associations with specific components of panic symptomatology. PMID:29252163

Cardiorespiratory concerns shape brain responses during automatic panic-related scene processing in patients with panic disorder.

PubMed

Feldker, Katharina; Heitmann, Carina Yvonne; Neumeister, Paula; Brinkmann, Leonie; Bruchmann, Maximillan; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Straube, Thomas

2018-01-01

Increased automatic processing of threat-related stimuli has been proposed as a key element in panic disorder. Little is known about the neural basis of automatic processing, in particular to task-irrelevant, panic-related, ecologically valid stimuli, or about the association between brain activation and symptomatology in patients with panic disorder. The present event-related functional MRI (fMRI) study compared brain responses to task-irrelevant, panic-related and neutral visual stimuli in medication-free patients with panic disorder and healthy controls. Panic-related and neutral scenes were presented while participants performed a spatially nonoverlapping bar orientation task. Correlation analyses investigated the association between brain responses and panic-related aspects of symptomatology, measured using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). We included 26 patients with panic disorder and 26 heatlhy controls in our analysis. Compared with controls, patients with panic disorder showed elevated activation in the amygdala, brainstem, thalamus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and midcingulate cortex in response to panic-related versus neutral task-irrelevant stimuli. Furthermore, fear of cardiovascular symptoms (a subcomponent of the ASI) was associated with insula activation, whereas fear of respiratory symptoms was associated with brainstem hyperactivation in patients with panic disorder. The additional implementation of measures of autonomic activation, such as pupil diameter, heart rate, or electrodermal activity, would have been informative during the fMRI scan as well as during the rating procedure. Results reveal a neural network involved in the processing of panic-related distractor stimuli in patients with panic disorder and suggest an automatic weighting of panic-related information depending on the magnitude of cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms. Insula and brainstem activations show function-related associations with specific components of panic symptomatology.

Cardiorespiratory concerns shape brain responses during automatic panic-related scene processing in patients with panic disorder.

PubMed

Feldker, Katharina; Heitmann, Carina Yvonne; Neumeister, Paula; Brinkmann, Leonie; Bruchmann, Maximillan; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Straube, Thomas

2017-09-26

Increased automatic processing of threat-related stimuli has been proposed as a key element in panic disorder. Little is known about the neural basis of automatic processing, in particular to task-irrelevant, panic-related, ecologically valid stimuli, or about the association between brain activation and symptomatology in patients with panic disorder. The present event-related fMRI study compared brain responses to task-irrelevant, panic-related and neutral visual stimuli in medication-free patients with panic disorder and healthy controls. Panic-related and neutral scenes were presented while participants performed a spatially nonoverlapping bar orientation task. Correlation analyses investigated the association between brain responses and panic-related aspects of symptomatology, measured using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). We included 26 patients with panic disorder and 26 heatlhy controls in our analysis. Compared with controls, patients with panic disorder showed elevated activation in the amygdala, brainstem, thalamus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and midcingulate cortex in response to panic-related versus neutral task-irrelevant stimuli. Furthermore, fear of cardiovascular symptoms (a subcomponent of the ASI) was associated with insula activation, whereas fear of respiratory symptoms was associated with brainstem hyperactivation in patients with panic disorder. The additional implementation of measures of autonomic activation, such as pupil diameter, heart rate, or electrodermal activity, would have been informative during the fMRI scan as well as during the rating procedure. Results reveal a neural network involved in the processing of panic-related distractor stimuli in patients with panic disorder and suggest an automatic weighting of panic-related information depending on the magnitude of cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms. Insula and brainstem activations show function-related associations with specific components of panic symptomatology.

The dorsal medial frontal cortex mediates automatic motor inhibition in uncertain contexts: evidence from combined fMRI and EEG studies.

PubMed

Albares, Marion; Lio, Guillaume; Criaud, Marion; Anton, Jean-Luc; Desmurget, Michel; Boulinguez, Philippe

2014-11-01

Response inhibition is commonly thought to rely on voluntary, reactive, selective, and relatively slow prefrontal mechanisms. In contrast, we suggest here that response inhibition is achieved automatically, nonselectively, within very short delays in uncertain environments. We modified a classical go/nogo protocol to probe context-dependent inhibitory mechanisms. Because no single neuroimaging method can definitely disentangle neural excitation and inhibition, we combined fMRI and EEG recordings in healthy humans. Any stimulus (go or nogo) presented in an uncertain context requiring action restraint was found to evoke activity changes in the supplementary motor complex (SMC) with respect to a control condition in which no response inhibition was required. These changes included: (1) An increase in event-related BOLD activity, (2) an attenuation of the early (170 ms) event related potential generated by a single, consistent source isolated by advanced blind source separation, and (3) an increase in the evoked-EEG Alpha power of this source. Considered together, these results suggest that the BOLD signal evoked by any stimulus in the SMC when the situation is unpredictable can be driven by automatic, nonselective, context-dependent inhibitory activities. This finding reveals the paradoxical mechanisms by which voluntary control of action may be achieved. The ability to provide controlled responses in unpredictable environments would require setting-up the automatic self-inhibitory circuitry within the SMC. Conversely, enabling automatic behavior when the environment becomes predictable would require top-down control to deactivate anticipatorily and temporarily the inhibitory set. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Alignment effects in beer mugs: Automatic action activation or response competition?

PubMed

Roest, Sander A; Pecher, Diane; Naeije, Lilian; Zeelenberg, René

2016-08-01

Responses to objects with a graspable handle are faster when the response hand and handle orientation are aligned (e.g., a key press with the right hand is required and the object handle is oriented to the right) than when they are not aligned. This effect could be explained by automatic activation of specific motor programs when an object is viewed. Alternatively, the effect could be explained by competition at the response level. Participants performed a reach-and-grasp or reach-and-button-press action with their left or right hand in response to the color of a beer mug. The alignment effect did not vary as a function of the type of action. In addition, the alignment effect disappeared in a go/no-go version of the task. The same results were obtained when participants made upright/inverted decisions, so that object shape was task-relevant. Our results indicate that alignment effects are not due to automatic motor activation of the left or right limb.

Measuring exertion time, duty cycle and hand activity level for industrial tasks using computer vision.

PubMed

Akkas, Oguz; Lee, Cheng Hsien; Hu, Yu Hen; Harris Adamson, Carisa; Rempel, David; Radwin, Robert G

2017-12-01

Two computer vision algorithms were developed to automatically estimate exertion time, duty cycle (DC) and hand activity level (HAL) from videos of workers performing 50 industrial tasks. The average DC difference between manual frame-by-frame analysis and the computer vision DC was -5.8% for the Decision Tree (DT) algorithm, and 1.4% for the Feature Vector Training (FVT) algorithm. The average HAL difference was 0.5 for the DT algorithm and 0.3 for the FVT algorithm. A sensitivity analysis, conducted to examine the influence that deviations in DC have on HAL, found it remained unaffected when DC error was less than 5%. Thus, a DC error less than 10% will impact HAL less than 0.5 HAL, which is negligible. Automatic computer vision HAL estimates were therefore comparable to manual frame-by-frame estimates. Practitioner Summary: Computer vision was used to automatically estimate exertion time, duty cycle and hand activity level from videos of workers performing industrial tasks.

Active suppression of distractors that match the contents of visual working memory

PubMed Central

Sawaki, Risa; Luck, Steven J.

2011-01-01

The biased competition theory proposes that items matching the contents of visual working memory will automatically have an advantage in the competition for attention. However, evidence for an automatic effect has been mixed, perhaps because the memory-driven attentional bias can be overcome by top-down suppression. To test this hypothesis, the Pd component of the event-related potential waveform was used as a marker of attentional suppression. While observers maintained a color in working memory, task-irrelevant probe arrays were presented that contained an item matching the color being held in memory. We found that the memory-matching probe elicited a Pd component, indicating that it was being actively suppressed. This result suggests that sensory inputs matching the information being held in visual working memory are automatically detected and generate an “attend-to-me” signal, but this signal can be overridden by an active suppression mechanism to prevent the actual capture of attention. PMID:22053147

Mood volatility with rumination but neither attentional nor interpretation biases in chronic fatigue syndrome.

PubMed

Martin, Maryanne; Alexeeva, Iana

2010-11-01

This study tested whether (1) chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) individuals have a bias in the initial orientation of attention to illness-related information, which is enhanced by rumination. (2) CFS individuals have an illness interpretation bias (IB) in their early automatic processing of ambiguous information. (3) CFS individuals experience a greater degree of mood fluctuation following rumination and distraction inductions. Thirty-three CFS participants who had received a medical practitioner's diagnosis of CFS were compared to 33 healthy matched controls on an exogenous cueing task and a lexical decision task. All participants underwent either a rumination or distraction induction. They then completed an exogenous cueing task to assess bias to illness and social threat compared with neutral stimuli, as well as a lexical decision task to assess their interpretation of ambiguous words having illness, social threat, or neutral interpretations. Reaction time data revealed that CFS individuals did not have an attentional bias (AB) in the initial orientation of attention to illness-related material. Nor was there an IB towards illness in CFS individual's automatic response to ambiguous information. However, as hypothesized, CFS individuals showed a greater degree of mood fluctuation following the rumination/distraction induction. Rumination and distraction lead to greater mood volatility in CFS individuals than in controls, but not to attentional nor interpretation biases in the early automatic stages of information processing in CFS individuals.

Automatic image registration performance for two different CBCT systems; variation with imaging dose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barber, J.; Sykes, J. R.; Holloway, L.; Thwaites, D. I.

2014-03-01

The performance of an automatic image registration algorithm was compared on image sets collected with two commercial CBCT systems, and the relationship with imaging dose was explored. CBCT images of a CIRS Virtually Human Male Pelvis phantom (VHMP) were collected on Varian TrueBeam/OBI and Elekta Synergy/XVI linear accelerators, across a range of mAs settings. Each CBCT image was registered 100 times, with random initial offsets introduced. Image registration was performed using the grey value correlation ratio algorithm in the Elekta XVI software, to a mask of the prostate volume with 5 mm expansion. Residual registration errors were calculated after correcting for the initial introduced phantom set-up error. Registration performance with the OBI images was similar to that of XVI. There was a clear dependence on imaging dose for the XVI images with residual errors increasing below 4mGy. It was not possible to acquire images with doses lower than ~5mGy with the OBI system and no evidence of reduced performance was observed at this dose. Registration failures (maximum target registration error > 3.6 mm on the surface of a 30mm sphere) occurred in 5% to 9% of registrations except for the lowest dose XVI scan (31%). The uncertainty in automatic image registration with both OBI and XVI images was found to be adequate for clinical use within a normal range of acquisition settings.

Mining Patients' Narratives in Social Media for Pharmacovigilance: Adverse Effects and Misuse of Methylphenidate.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaoyi; Faviez, Carole; Schuck, Stéphane; Lillo-Le-Louët, Agnès; Texier, Nathalie; Dahamna, Badisse; Huot, Charles; Foulquié, Pierre; Pereira, Suzanne; Leroux, Vincent; Karapetiantz, Pierre; Guenegou-Arnoux, Armelle; Katsahian, Sandrine; Bousquet, Cédric; Burgun, Anita

2018-01-01

Background: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have recognized social media as a new data source to strengthen their activities regarding drug safety. Objective: Our objective in the ADR-PRISM project was to provide text mining and visualization tools to explore a corpus of posts extracted from social media. We evaluated this approach on a corpus of 21 million posts from five patient forums, and conducted a qualitative analysis of the data available on methylphenidate in this corpus. Methods: We applied text mining methods based on named entity recognition and relation extraction in the corpus, followed by signal detection using proportional reporting ratio (PRR). We also used topic modeling based on the Correlated Topic Model to obtain the list of the matics in the corpus and classify the messages based on their topics. Results: We automatically identified 3443 posts about methylphenidate published between 2007 and 2016, among which 61 adverse drug reactions (ADR) were automatically detected. Two pharmacovigilance experts evaluated manually the quality of automatic identification, and a f-measure of 0.57 was reached. Patient's reports were mainly neuro-psychiatric effects. Applying PRR, 67% of the ADRs were signals, including most of the neuro-psychiatric symptoms but also palpitations. Topic modeling showed that the most represented topics were related to Childhood and Treatment initiation , but also Side effects . Cases of misuse were also identified in this corpus, including recreational use and abuse. Conclusion: Named entity recognition combined with signal detection and topic modeling have demonstrated their complementarity in mining social media data. An in-depth analysis focused on methylphenidate showed that this approach was able to detect potential signals and to provide better understanding of patients' behaviors regarding drugs, including misuse.

The Decision to Engage Cognitive Control Is Driven by Expected Reward-Value: Neural and Behavioral Evidence

PubMed Central

Dixon, Matthew L.; Christoff, Kalina

2012-01-01

Cognitive control is a fundamental skill reflecting the active use of task-rules to guide behavior and suppress inappropriate automatic responses. Prior work has traditionally used paradigms in which subjects are told when to engage cognitive control. Thus, surprisingly little is known about the factors that influence individuals' initial decision of whether or not to act in a reflective, rule-based manner. To examine this, we took three classic cognitive control tasks (Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Go/No-Go task) and created novel ‘free-choice’ versions in which human subjects were free to select an automatic, pre-potent action, or an action requiring rule-based cognitive control, and earned varying amounts of money based on their choices. Our findings demonstrated that subjects' decision to engage cognitive control was driven by an explicit representation of monetary rewards expected to be obtained from rule-use. Subjects rarely engaged cognitive control when the expected outcome was of equal or lesser value as compared to the value of the automatic response, but frequently engaged cognitive control when it was expected to yield a larger monetary outcome. Additionally, we exploited fMRI-adaptation to show that the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) represents associations between rules and expected reward outcomes. Together, these findings suggest that individuals are more likely to act in a reflective, rule-based manner when they expect that it will result in a desired outcome. Thus, choosing to exert cognitive control is not simply a matter of reason and willpower, but rather, conforms to standard mechanisms of value-based decision making. Finally, in contrast to current models of LPFC function, our results suggest that the LPFC plays a direct role in representing motivational incentives. PMID:23284730

Status and plans of the Department of the Interior EROS program

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1975-01-01

The Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Program of the Department of the Interior has been actively participating in the LANDSAT (formerly ERTS) program and other investigations with remotely sensed data. A large number of applications have been demonstrated that can assist in the discovery of nonrenewable resources, monitoring areal extent of renewable resources, monitoring environmental change, and in providing repetitive data for planimetric revision of small-scale maps and maps showing land cover classes. A new and potentially revolutionary approach, that of "automated cartography," has been initiated through the versatile nature of the data available from LANDSAT. "Automated cartography" as used here refers to the ability to automatically extract land cover classes and relate these classes to geographic position.

Automatic Detection of Student Mental Models during Prior Knowledge Activation in MetaTutor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rus, Vasile; Lintean, Mihai; Azevedo, Roger

2009-01-01

This paper presents several methods to automatically detecting students' mental models in MetaTutor, an intelligent tutoring system that teaches students self-regulatory processes during learning of complex science topics. In particular, we focus on detecting students' mental models based on student-generated paragraphs during prior knowledge…

An automatic lightning detection and photographic system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wojtasinski, R. J.; Holley, L. D.; Gray, J. L.; Hoover, R. B.

1973-01-01

Conventional 35-mm camera is activated by an electronic signal every time lightning strikes in general vicinity. Electronic circuit detects lightning by means of antenna which picks up atmospheric radio disturbances. Camera is equipped with fish-eye lense, automatic shutter advance, and small 24-hour clock to indicate time when exposures are made.

The Eras and Trends of Automatic Short Answer Grading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrows, Steven; Gurevych, Iryna; Stein, Benno

2015-01-01

Automatic short answer grading (ASAG) is the task of assessing short natural language responses to objective questions using computational methods. The active research in this field has increased enormously of late with over 80 papers fitting a definition of ASAG. However, the past efforts have generally been ad-hoc and non-comparable until…

Automatization and Orthographic Development in Second Language Visual Word Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kida, Shusaku

2016-01-01

The present study investigated second language (L2) learners' acquisition of automatic word recognition and the development of L2 orthographic representation in the mental lexicon. Participants in the study were Japanese university students enrolled in a compulsory course involving a weekly 30-minute sustained silent reading (SSR) activity with…

14 CFR 23.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 23.672 Stability augmentation and automatic... systems must not activate the control system. (b) The design of the stability augmentation system or of... thereof, or by overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls in the normal sense. (c) It must...

14 CFR 23.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 23.672 Stability augmentation and automatic... systems must not activate the control system. (b) The design of the stability augmentation system or of... thereof, or by overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls in the normal sense. (c) It must...

14 CFR 23.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 23.672 Stability augmentation and automatic... systems must not activate the control system. (b) The design of the stability augmentation system or of... thereof, or by overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls in the normal sense. (c) It must...

14 CFR 23.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 23.672 Stability augmentation and automatic... systems must not activate the control system. (b) The design of the stability augmentation system or of... thereof, or by overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls in the normal sense. (c) It must...

14 CFR 23.672 - Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction Control Systems § 23.672 Stability augmentation and automatic... systems must not activate the control system. (b) The design of the stability augmentation system or of... thereof, or by overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls in the normal sense. (c) It must...

Automatic System for Producing and Distributing Lecture Recordings and Livestreams Using Opencast Matterhorn

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jonach, Rafael; Ebner, Martin; Grigoriadis, Ypatios

2015-01-01

Lectures of courses at universities are increasingly being recorded and offered through various distribution channels to support students' learning activities. This research work aims to create an automatic system for producing and distributing high quality lecture recordings. Opencast Matterhorn is an open source platform for automated video…

Automatic sweep circuit

DOEpatents

Keefe, Donald J.

1980-01-01

An automatically sweeping circuit for searching for an evoked response in an output signal in time with respect to a trigger input. Digital counters are used to activate a detector at precise intervals, and monitoring is repeated for statistical accuracy. If the response is not found then a different time window is examined until the signal is found.

Automatic Generation and Ranking of Questions for Critical Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Ming; Calvo, Rafael A.; Rus, Vasile

2014-01-01

Critical review skill is one important aspect of academic writing. Generic trigger questions have been widely used to support this activity. When students have a concrete topic in mind, trigger questions are less effective if they are too general. This article presents a learning-to-rank based system which automatically generates specific trigger…

Fuel-conservative guidance system for powered-lift aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, H.; Mclean, J. D.

1979-01-01

A concept for automatic terminal area guidance, comprising two modes of operation, was developed and evaluated in flight tests. In the predictive mode, fuel efficient approach trajectories are synthesized in fast time. In the tracking mode, the synthesized trajectories are reconstructed and tracked automatically. An energy rate performance model derived from the lift, drag, and propulsion system characteristics of the aircraft is used in the synthesis algorithm. The method optimizes the trajectory for the initial aircraft position and wind and temperature profiles encountered during each landing approach. The design theory and the results of simulations and flight tests using the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft are described.

CREKID: A computer code for transient, gas-phase combustion of kinetics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pratt, D. T.; Radhakrishnan, K.

1984-01-01

A new algorithm was developed for fast, automatic integration of chemical kinetic rate equations describing homogeneous, gas-phase combustion at constant pressure. Particular attention is paid to the distinguishing physical and computational characteristics of the induction, heat-release and equilibration regimes. The two-part predictor-corrector algorithm, based on an exponentially-fitted trapezoidal rule, includes filtering of ill-posed initial conditions, automatic selection of Newton-Jacobi or Newton iteration for convergence to achieve maximum computational efficiency while observing a prescribed error tolerance. The new algorithm was found to compare favorably with LSODE on two representative test problems drawn from combustion kinetics.

45 CFR 205.37 - Responsibilities of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Processing and Information Retrieval System Guide. The initial advance automatic data processing planning... description of the proposed statewide management system, including the description of information flows, input..., review, assess, and inspect the planning, design, and operation of, statewide management information...

45 CFR 205.37 - Responsibilities of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Application Processing and Information Retrieval System Guide. The initial advance automatic data processing... description of the proposed statewide management system, including the description of information flows, input..., review, assess, and inspect the planning, design, and operation of, statewide management information...

45 CFR 205.37 - Responsibilities of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Application Processing and Information Retrieval System Guide. The initial advance automatic data processing... description of the proposed statewide management system, including the description of information flows, input..., review, assess, and inspect the planning, design, and operation of, statewide management information...

A Proposed Operational Concept for the Defense Communications Operations Support System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-01

Artificial Intelligence AMA Automatic Message Accounting AMIE AUTODIN Management Index System AMPE Automated Message Processing Exchange ANCS AUTOVON Network...Support IMPRESS Inpact/Restoral System INFORM Information Retrieval System 1OC Initial Operational Capability IRU Intellegent Remote Unit I-S/A AMPE

24 CFR 582.315 - Occupancy agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2014-04-01 2013-04-01 true Occupancy agreements. 582.315... agreements. (a) Initial occupancy agreement. Participants must enter into an occupancy agreement for a term of at least one month. The occupancy agreement must be automatically renewable upon expiration...

Corrugator activity confirms immediate negative affect in surprise

PubMed Central

Topolinski, Sascha; Strack, Fritz

2015-01-01

The emotion of surprise entails a complex of immediate responses, such as cognitive interruption, attention allocation to, and more systematic processing of the surprising stimulus. All these processes serve the ultimate function to increase processing depth and thus cognitively master the surprising stimulus. The present account introduces phasic negative affect as the underlying mechanism responsible for this switch in operating mode. Surprising stimuli are schema-discrepant and thus entail cognitive disfluency, which elicits immediate negative affect. This affect in turn works like a phasic cognitive tuning switching the current processing mode from more automatic and heuristic to more systematic and reflective processing. Directly testing the initial elicitation of negative affect by surprising events, the present experiment presented high and low surprising neutral trivia statements to N = 28 participants while assessing their spontaneous facial expressions via facial electromyography. High compared to low surprising trivia elicited higher corrugator activity, indicative of negative affect and mental effort, while leaving zygomaticus (positive affect) and frontalis (cultural surprise expression) activity unaffected. Future research shall investigate the mediating role of negative affect in eliciting surprise-related outcomes. PMID:25762956

Corrugator activity confirms immediate negative affect in surprise.

PubMed

Topolinski, Sascha; Strack, Fritz

2015-01-01

The emotion of surprise entails a complex of immediate responses, such as cognitive interruption, attention allocation to, and more systematic processing of the surprising stimulus. All these processes serve the ultimate function to increase processing depth and thus cognitively master the surprising stimulus. The present account introduces phasic negative affect as the underlying mechanism responsible for this switch in operating mode. Surprising stimuli are schema-discrepant and thus entail cognitive disfluency, which elicits immediate negative affect. This affect in turn works like a phasic cognitive tuning switching the current processing mode from more automatic and heuristic to more systematic and reflective processing. Directly testing the initial elicitation of negative affect by surprising events, the present experiment presented high and low surprising neutral trivia statements to N = 28 participants while assessing their spontaneous facial expressions via facial electromyography. High compared to low surprising trivia elicited higher corrugator activity, indicative of negative affect and mental effort, while leaving zygomaticus (positive affect) and frontalis (cultural surprise expression) activity unaffected. Future research shall investigate the mediating role of negative affect in eliciting surprise-related outcomes.

Parental smoking and children's attention to smoking cues.

PubMed

Lochbuehler, Kirsten; Otten, Roy; Voogd, Hubert; Engels, Rutger C M E

2012-07-01

Research has shown that children with smoking parents are more likely to initiate smoking than children with non-smoking parents. So far, these effects have been explained through genetic factors, modelling and norm-setting processes. However, it is also possible that parental smoking affects smoking initiation through automatic cognitive processes. Therefore, we examined whether children with a smoking parent focus longer, faster and more often on smoking cues. The children were given two movie clips to watch, during which their attention to smoking cues was assessed with eye-tracking technology. Results showed that children with a smoking parent focused more often and longer on smoking cues compared with children with non-smoking parents. No correlations between attentional bias and explicit smoking cognitions were found. In conclusion, results suggest that parental smoking affects children's attention to smoking cues. These findings may indicate that parental smoking instigates automatic cognitive processes in children who have not experimented with smoking, and possibly even before explicit smoking cognitions become more favourable.

Improvement in automatic postural coordination following alexander technique lessons in a person with low back pain.

PubMed

Cacciatore, Timothy W; Horak, Fay B; Henry, Sharon M

2005-06-01

The relationship between abnormal postural coordination and back pain is unclear. The Alexander Technique (AT) aims to improve postural coordination by using conscious processes to alter automatic postural coordination and ongoing muscular activity, and it has been reported to reduce low back pain. This case report describes the use of the AT with a client with low back pain and the observed changes in automatic postural responses and back pain. The client was a 49-year-old woman with a 25-year history of left-sided, idiopathic, lumbrosacral back pain. Automatic postural coordination was measured using a force plate during horizontal platform translations and one-legged standing. The client was tested monthly for 4 months before AT lessons and for 3 months after lessons. Before lessons, she consistently had laterally asymmetric automatic postural responses to translations. After AT lessons, the magnitude and asymmetry of her responses and balance improved and her low back pain decreased. Further research is warranted to study whether AT lessons improve low back pain-associated abnormalities in automatic postural coordination and whether improving automatic postural coordination helps to reduce low back pain.

Automatic activation of alcohol cues by child maltreatment related words: a replication attempt in a different treatment setting.

PubMed

Potthast, Nadine; Neuner, Frank; Catani, Claudia

2017-01-03

A growing body of research attempts to clarify the underlying mechanisms of the association between emotional maltreatment and alcohol dependence (AD). In a preceding study, we found considerable support for a specific priming effect in subjects with AD and emotional abuse experiences receiving alcohol rehabilitation treatment. We concluded that maltreatment related cues can automatically activate an associative memory network comprising cues eliciting craving as well as alcohol-related responses. Generalizability of the results to other treatment settings remains unclear because of considerable differences in German treatment settings as well as insufficiently clarified influences of selection effects. As replication studies in other settings are necessary, the current study aimed to replicate the specific priming effect in a qualified detoxification sample. 22 AD subjects (n = 10 with emotional abuse vs. n = 12 without emotional abuse) participated in a priming experiment. Comparison data from 34 healthy control subjects were derived from the prior study. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find a specific priming effect. We could not replicate the result of an automatic network activation by maltreatment related words in a sample of subjects with AD and emotional abuse experiences receiving qualified detoxification treatment. This discrepancy might be attributed to reasons related to treatment settings as well as to methodological limitations. Future work is required to determine the generalizability of the specific priming effect before valid conclusions regarding automatic activation can be drawn.

Creation of an In vivo cytosensor using engineered mesangial cells. Automatic sensing of glomerular inflammation controls transgene activity.

PubMed

Kitamura, M; Kawachi, H

1997-09-15

Automatic control over exogenous gene expression in response to the activity of disease is a crucial hurdle for gene transfer-based therapies. Towards achieving this goal, we created a "cytosensor" that perceives local inflammatory states and subsequently regulates foreign gene expression. alpha-Smooth muscle actin is known to be expressed in glomerular mesangial cells exclusively in pathologic situations. CArG box element, the crucial regulatory sequence of the alpha-smooth muscle actin promoter, was used as a sensor for glomerular inflammation. Rat mesangial cells were stably transfected with an expression plasmid that introduces a beta-galactosidase gene under the control of CArG box elements. In vitro, the established cells expressed beta-galactosidase exclusively after stimulation with serum. To examine whether the cells are able to automatically control transgene activity in vivo, serum-stimulated or unstimulated cells were transferred into normal rat glomeruli or glomeruli subjected to anti-Thy 1 glomerulonephritis. When stimulated cells were transferred into the normal glomeruli, beta-galactosidase expression was switched off in vivo within 3 d. In contrast, when unstimulated cells were transferred into the nephritic glomeruli, transgene expression was substantially induced. These data indicate the feasibility of using the CArG box element as a molecular sensor for glomerular injury. In the context of advanced forms of gene therapy, this approach provides a novel concept for automatic regulation of local transgene expression where the transgene is required to be activated during inflammation and deactivated when the inflammation has subsided.

Human Activity Recognition in AAL Environments Using Random Projections.

PubMed

Damaševičius, Robertas; Vasiljevas, Mindaugas; Šalkevičius, Justas; Woźniak, Marcin

2016-01-01

Automatic human activity recognition systems aim to capture the state of the user and its environment by exploiting heterogeneous sensors attached to the subject's body and permit continuous monitoring of numerous physiological signals reflecting the state of human actions. Successful identification of human activities can be immensely useful in healthcare applications for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), for automatic and intelligent activity monitoring systems developed for elderly and disabled people. In this paper, we propose the method for activity recognition and subject identification based on random projections from high-dimensional feature space to low-dimensional projection space, where the classes are separated using the Jaccard distance between probability density functions of projected data. Two HAR domain tasks are considered: activity identification and subject identification. The experimental results using the proposed method with Human Activity Dataset (HAD) data are presented.

Human Activity Recognition in AAL Environments Using Random Projections

PubMed Central

Damaševičius, Robertas; Vasiljevas, Mindaugas; Šalkevičius, Justas; Woźniak, Marcin

2016-01-01

Automatic human activity recognition systems aim to capture the state of the user and its environment by exploiting heterogeneous sensors attached to the subject's body and permit continuous monitoring of numerous physiological signals reflecting the state of human actions. Successful identification of human activities can be immensely useful in healthcare applications for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), for automatic and intelligent activity monitoring systems developed for elderly and disabled people. In this paper, we propose the method for activity recognition and subject identification based on random projections from high-dimensional feature space to low-dimensional projection space, where the classes are separated using the Jaccard distance between probability density functions of projected data. Two HAR domain tasks are considered: activity identification and subject identification. The experimental results using the proposed method with Human Activity Dataset (HAD) data are presented. PMID:27413392

Automated regional analysis of B-mode ultrasound images of skeletal muscle movement

PubMed Central

Darby, John; Costen, Nicholas; Loram, Ian D.

2012-01-01

To understand the functional significance of skeletal muscle anatomy, a method of quantifying local shape changes in different tissue structures during dynamic tasks is required. Taking advantage of the good spatial and temporal resolution of B-mode ultrasound imaging, we describe a method of automatically segmenting images into fascicle and aponeurosis regions and tracking movement of features, independently, in localized portions of each tissue. Ultrasound images (25 Hz) of the medial gastrocnemius muscle were collected from eight participants during ankle joint rotation (2° and 20°), isometric contractions (1, 5, and 50 Nm), and deep knee bends. A Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi feature tracker was used to identify and track any distinctive and persistent features within the image sequences. A velocity field representation of local movement was then found and subdivided between fascicle and aponeurosis regions using segmentations from a multiresolution active shape model (ASM). Movement in each region was quantified by interpolating the effect of the fields on a set of probes. ASM segmentation results were compared with hand-labeled data, while aponeurosis and fascicle movement were compared with results from a previously documented cross-correlation approach. ASM provided good image segmentations (<1 mm average error), with fully automatic initialization possible in sequences from seven participants. Feature tracking provided similar length change results to the cross-correlation approach for small movements, while outperforming it in larger movements. The proposed method provides the potential to distinguish between active and passive changes in muscle shape and model strain distributions during different movements/conditions and quantify nonhomogeneous strain along aponeuroses. PMID:22033532

On the interdependence of cognition and emotion

PubMed Central

Storbeck, Justin; Clore, Gerald L.

2008-01-01

Affect and cognition have long been treated as independent entities, but in the current review we suggest that affect and cognition are in fact highly interdependent. We open the article by discussing three classic views for the independence of affect. These are (i) the affective independence hypothesis, that emotion is processed independently from cognition, (ii) the affective primacy hypothesis, that evaluative processing precedes semantic processing, and (iii) the affective automaticity hypothesis, that affectively potent stimuli commandeer attention and evaluation is automatic. We argue that affect is not independent from cognition, that affect is not primary to cognition, nor is affect automatically elicited. The second half of the paper discusses several instances of how affect influences cognition. We review experiments showing affective involvement in perception, semantic activation, and attitude activation. We conclude that one function of affect is to regulate cognitive processing. PMID:18458789

On the role of conflict and control in social cognition: event-related brain potential investigations.

PubMed

Bartholow, Bruce D

2010-03-01

Numerous social-cognitive models posit that social behavior largely is driven by links between constructs in long-term memory that automatically become activated when relevant stimuli are encountered. Various response biases have been understood in terms of the influence of such "implicit" processes on behavior. This article reviews event-related potential (ERP) studies investigating the role played by cognitive control and conflict resolution processes in social-cognitive phenomena typically deemed automatic. Neurocognitive responses associated with response activation and conflict often are sensitive to the same stimulus manipulations that produce differential behavioral responses on social-cognitive tasks and that often are attributed to the role of automatic associations. Findings are discussed in the context of an overarching social cognitive neuroscience model in which physiological data are used to constrain social-cognitive theories.

Inexpensive automated paging system for use at remote research sites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sargent, S.L.; Dey, W.S.; Keefer, D.A.

1998-01-01

The use of a flow-activated automatic sampler at a remote research site required personnel to periodically visit the site to collect samples and reset the automatic sampler. To reduce site visits, a cellular telephone was modified for activation by a datalogger. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use and benefit of the modified telephone. Both the power switch and the speed-dial button on the telephone were bypassed and wired to a relay driver. The datalogger was programmed to compare values of a monitored environmental parameter with a target value. When the target value was reached or exceeded, the datalogger pulsed a relay driver, activating power to the telephone. A separate relay activated the speed dial, dialing the number of a tone-only pager. The use of this system has saved time and reduced travel costs by reducing the number of trips to the site, without the loss of any data.The use of a flow-activated automatic sampler at a remote research site required personnel to periodically visit the site to collect samples and reset the automatic sampler. To reduce site visits, a cellular telephone was modified for activation by a datalogger. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use and benefit of the modified telephone. Both the power switch and the speed-dial button on the telephone were bypassed and wired to a relay driver. The datalogger was programmed to compare values of a monitored environmental parameter with a target value. When the target value was reached or exceeded, the datalogger pulsed a relay driver, activating power to the telephone. A separate relay activated the speed dial, dialing the number of a tone-only pager. The use of this system has saved time and reduced travel costs by reducing the number of trips to the site, without the loss of any data.

Automatic activation of exercise and sedentary stereotypes.

PubMed

Berry, Tanya; Spence, John C

2009-09-01

We examined the automatic activation of "sedentary" and "exerciser" stereotypes using a social prime Stroop task. Results showed significantly slower response times between the exercise words and the exercise control words and between the sedentary words and the exercise control words when preceded by an attractive exerciser prime. Words preceded by a normal-weight exerciser prime showed significantly slower response times for sedentary words over sedentary control words and exercise words. An overweight sedentary prime resulted in significantly slower response times for sedentary words over exercise words and exercise control words. These results highlight the need for increased awareness of how active and sedentary lifestyles are portrayed in the media.

Complete unconscious control: Using (in)action primes to demonstrate completely unconscious activation of inhibitory control mechanisms

PubMed Central

Hepler, Justin; Albarracin, Dolores

2018-01-01

Although robust evidence indicates that action initiation can occur unconsciously and unintentionally, the literature on action inhibition suggests that inhibition requires both conscious thought and intentionality. In prior research demonstrating automatic inhibition in response to unconsciously processed stimuli, the unconscious stimuli had previously been consciously associated with an inhibitory response within the context of the experiment, and participants had consciously formed a goal to activate inhibition processes when presented with the stimuli (because task instructions required participants to engage in inhibition when the stimuli occurred). Therefore, prior work suggests that some amount of conscious thought and intentionality are required for inhibitory control. In the present research, we recorded event-related potentials during two go/no-go experiments in which participants were subliminally primed with general action/inaction concepts that had never been consciously associated with task-specific responses. We provide the first demonstration that inhibitory control processes can be modulated completely unconsciously and unintentionally. PMID:23747649

Simulation and ground testing with the Advanced Video Guidance Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T.; Johnston, Albert S.; Bryan, Thomas C.; Book, Michael L.

2005-01-01

The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS), an active sensor system that provides near-range 6-degree-of-freedom sensor data, has been developed as part of an automatic rendezvous and docking system for the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART). The sensor determines the relative positions and attitudes between the active sensor and the passive target at ranges up to 300 meters. The AVGS uses laser diodes to illuminate retro-reflectors in the target, a solid-state imager to detect the light returned from the target, and image capture electronics and a digital signal processor to convert the video information into the relative positions and attitudes. The development of the sensor, through initial prototypes, final prototypes, and three flight units, has required a great deal of testing at every phase, and the different types of testing, their effectiveness, and their results, are presented in this paper, focusing on the testing of the flight units. Testing has improved the sensor's performance.

Decision-support information system to manage mass casualty incidents at a level 1 trauma center.

PubMed

Bar-El, Yaron; Tzafrir, Sara; Tzipori, Idan; Utitz, Liora; Halberthal, Michael; Beyar, Rafael; Reisner, Shimon

2013-12-01

Mass casualty incidents are probably the greatest challenge to a hospital. When such an event occurs, hospitals are required to instantly switch from their routine activity to conditions of great uncertainty and confront needs that exceed resources. We describe an information system that was uniquely designed for managing mass casualty events. The web-based system is activated when a mass casualty event is declared; it displays relevant operating procedures, checklists, and a log book. The system automatically or semiautomatically initiates phone calls and public address announcements. It collects real-time data from computerized clinical and administrative systems in the hospital, and presents them to the managing team in a clear graphic display. It also generates periodic reports and summaries of available or scarce resources that are sent to predefined recipients. When the system was tested in a nationwide exercise, it proved to be an invaluable tool for informed decision making in demanding and overwhelming situations such as mass casualty events.

Representation of economic preferences in the structure and function of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

Fermin, Alan S. R.; Sakagami, Masamichi; Kiyonari, Toko; Li, Yang; Matsumoto, Yoshie; Yamagishi, Toshio

2016-01-01

Social value orientations (SVOs) are economic preferences for the distribution of resources – prosocial individuals are more cooperative and egalitarian than are proselfs. Despite the social and economic implications of SVOs, no systematic studies have examined their neural correlates. We investigated the amygdala and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) structures and functions in prosocials and proselfs by functional magnetic resonance imaging and evaluated cooperative behavior in the Prisoner’s Dilemma game. We found for the first time that amygdala volume was larger in prosocials and positively correlated with cooperation, while DLPFC volume was larger in proselfs and negatively correlated with cooperation. Proselfs’ decisions were marked by strong DLPFC and weak amygdala activity, and prosocials’ decisions were marked by strong amygdala activity, with the DLPFC signal increasing only in defection. Our findings suggest that proselfs’ decisions are controlled by DLPFC-mediated deliberative processes, while prosocials’ decisions are initially guided by automatic amygdala processes. PMID:26876988

3D Filament Network Segmentation with Multiple Active Contours

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ting; Vavylonis, Dimitrios; Huang, Xiaolei

2014-03-01

Fluorescence microscopy is frequently used to study two and three dimensional network structures formed by cytoskeletal polymer fibers such as actin filaments and microtubules. While these cytoskeletal structures are often dilute enough to allow imaging of individual filaments or bundles of them, quantitative analysis of these images is challenging. To facilitate quantitative, reproducible and objective analysis of the image data, we developed a semi-automated method to extract actin networks and retrieve their topology in 3D. Our method uses multiple Stretching Open Active Contours (SOACs) that are automatically initialized at image intensity ridges and then evolve along the centerlines of filaments in the network. SOACs can merge, stop at junctions, and reconfigure with others to allow smooth crossing at junctions of filaments. The proposed approach is generally applicable to images of curvilinear networks with low SNR. We demonstrate its potential by extracting the centerlines of synthetic meshwork images, actin networks in 2D TIRF Microscopy images, and 3D actin cable meshworks of live fission yeast cells imaged by spinning disk confocal microscopy.

Automatic segmentation of coronary arteries from computed tomography angiography data cloud using optimal thresholding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, Muhammad Ahsan; Zai, Sammer; Moon, Young Shik

2017-01-01

Manual analysis of the bulk data generated by computed tomography angiography (CTA) is time consuming, and interpretation of such data requires previous knowledge and expertise of the radiologist. Therefore, an automatic method that can isolate the coronary arteries from a given CTA dataset is required. We present an automatic yet effective segmentation method to delineate the coronary arteries from a three-dimensional CTA data cloud. Instead of a region growing process, which is usually time consuming and prone to leakages, the method is based on the optimal thresholding, which is applied globally on the Hessian-based vesselness measure in a localized way (slice by slice) to track the coronaries carefully to their distal ends. Moreover, to make the process automatic, we detect the aorta using the Hough transform technique. The proposed segmentation method is independent of the starting point to initiate its process and is fast in the sense that coronary arteries are obtained without any preprocessing or postprocessing steps. We used 12 real clinical datasets to show the efficiency and accuracy of the presented method. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method achieves 95% average accuracy.

[Automatic Sleep Stage Classification Based on an Improved K-means Clustering Algorithm].

PubMed

Xiao, Shuyuan; Wang, Bei; Zhang, Jian; Zhang, Qunfeng; Zou, Junzhong

2016-10-01

Sleep stage scoring is a hotspot in the field of medicine and neuroscience.Visual inspection of sleep is laborious and the results may be subjective to different clinicians.Automatic sleep stage classification algorithm can be used to reduce the manual workload.However,there are still limitations when it encounters complicated and changeable clinical cases.The purpose of this paper is to develop an automatic sleep staging algorithm based on the characteristics of actual sleep data.In the proposed improved K-means clustering algorithm,points were selected as the initial centers by using a concept of density to avoid the randomness of the original K-means algorithm.Meanwhile,the cluster centers were updated according to the‘Three-Sigma Rule’during the iteration to abate the influence of the outliers.The proposed method was tested and analyzed on the overnight sleep data of the healthy persons and patients with sleep disorders after continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP)treatment.The automatic sleep stage classification results were compared with the visual inspection by qualified clinicians and the averaged accuracy reached 76%.With the analysis of morphological diversity of sleep data,it was proved that the proposed improved K-means algorithm was feasible and valid for clinical practice.

A new fast scanning system for the measurement of large angle tracks in nuclear emulsions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandrov, A.; Buonaura, A.; Consiglio, L.; D'Ambrosio, N.; De Lellis, G.; Di Crescenzo, A.; Di Marco, N.; Galati, G.; Lauria, A.; Montesi, M. C.; Pupilli, F.; Shchedrina, T.; Tioukov, V.; Vladymyrov, M.

2015-11-01

Nuclear emulsions have been widely used in particle physics to identify new particles through the observation of their decays thanks to their unique spatial resolution. Nevertheless, before the advent of automatic scanning systems, the emulsion analysis was very demanding in terms of well trained manpower. Due to this reason, they were gradually replaced by electronic detectors, until the '90s, when automatic microscopes started to be developed in Japan and in Europe. Automatic scanning was essential to conceive large scale emulsion-based neutrino experiments like CHORUS, DONUT and OPERA. Standard scanning systems have been initially designed to recognize tracks within a limited angular acceptance (θ lesssim 30°) where θ is the track angle with respect to a line perpendicular to the emulsion plane. In this paper we describe the implementation of a novel fast automatic scanning system aimed at extending the track recognition to the full angular range and improving the present scanning speed. Indeed, nuclear emulsions do not have any intrinsic limit to detect particle direction. Such improvement opens new perspectives to use nuclear emulsions in several fields in addition to large scale neutrino experiments, like muon radiography, medical applications and dark matter directional detection.

Automatic Determination of the Conic Coronal Mass Ejection Model Parameters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pulkkinen, A.; Oates, T.; Taktakishvili, A.

2009-01-01

Characterization of the three-dimensional structure of solar transients using incomplete plane of sky data is a difficult problem whose solutions have potential for societal benefit in terms of space weather applications. In this paper transients are characterized in three dimensions by means of conic coronal mass ejection (CME) approximation. A novel method for the automatic determination of cone model parameters from observed halo CMEs is introduced. The method uses both standard image processing techniques to extract the CME mass from white-light coronagraph images and a novel inversion routine providing the final cone parameters. A bootstrap technique is used to provide model parameter distributions. When combined with heliospheric modeling, the cone model parameter distributions will provide direct means for ensemble predictions of transient propagation in the heliosphere. An initial validation of the automatic method is carried by comparison to manually determined cone model parameters. It is shown using 14 halo CME events that there is reasonable agreement, especially between the heliocentric locations of the cones derived with the two methods. It is argued that both the heliocentric locations and the opening half-angles of the automatically determined cones may be more realistic than those obtained from the manual analysis

INITIAL APPL;ICATION OF THE ADAPTIVE GRID AIR POLLUTION MODEL

EPA Science Inventory

The paper discusses an adaptive-grid algorithm used in air pollution models. The algorithm reduces errors related to insufficient grid resolution by automatically refining the grid scales in regions of high interest. Meanwhile the grid scales are coarsened in other parts of the d...

Predictors of Mental Health Symptoms, Automatic Thoughts, and Self-Esteem Among University Students.

PubMed

Hiçdurmaz, Duygu; İnci, Figen; Karahan, Sevilay

2017-01-01

University youth is a risk group regarding mental health, and many mental health problems are frequent in this group. Sociodemographic factors such as level of income and familial factors such as relationship with father are reported to be associated with mental health symptoms, automatic thoughts, and self-esteem. Also, there are interrelations between mental health problems, automatic thoughts, and self-esteem. The extent of predictive effect of each of these variables on automatic thoughts, self-esteem, and mental health symptoms is not known. We aimed to determine the predictive factors of mental health symptoms, automatic thoughts, and self-esteem in university students. Participants were 530 students enrolled at a university in Turkey, during 2014-2015 academic year. Data were collected using the student information form, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Mental health symptoms, self-esteem, perception of the relationship with the father, and level of income as a student significantly predicted automatic thoughts. Automatic thoughts, mental health symptoms, participation in family decisions, and age had significant predictive effects on self-esteem. Finally, automatic thoughts, self-esteem, age, and perception of the relationship with the father had significant predictive effects on mental health symptoms. The predictive factors revealed in our study provide important information to practitioners and researchers by showing the elements that need to be screened for mental health of university students and issues that need to be included in counseling activities.

The effect of word prediction settings (frequency of use) on text input speed in persons with cervical spinal cord injury: a prospective study.

PubMed

Pouplin, Samuel; Roche, Nicolas; Antoine, Jean-Yves; Vaugier, Isabelle; Pottier, Sandra; Figere, Marjorie; Bensmail, Djamel

2017-06-01

To determine whether activation of the frequency of use and automatic learning parameters of word prediction software has an impact on text input speed. Forty-five participants with cervical spinal cord injury between C4 and C8 Asia A or B accepted to participate to this study. Participants were separated in two groups: a high lesion group for participants with lesion level is at or above C5 Asia AIS A or B and a low lesion group for participants with lesion is between C6 and C8 Asia AIS A or B. A single evaluation session was carried out for each participant. Text input speed was evaluated during three copying tasks: • without word prediction software (WITHOUT condition) • with automatic learning of words and frequency of use deactivated (NOT_ACTIV condition) • with automatic learning of words and frequency of use activated (ACTIV condition) Results: Text input speed was significantly higher in the WITHOUT than the NOT_ACTIV (p< 0.001) or ACTIV conditions (p = 0.02) for participants with low lesions. Text input speed was significantly higher in the ACTIV than in the NOT_ACTIV (p = 0.002) or WITHOUT (p < 0.001) conditions for participants with high lesions. Use of word prediction software with the activation of frequency of use and automatic learning increased text input speed in participants with high-level tetraplegia. For participants with low-level tetraplegia, the use of word prediction software with frequency of use and automatic learning activated only decreased the number of errors. Implications in rehabilitation   Access to technology can be difficult for persons with disabilities such as cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Several methods have been developed to increase text input speed such as word prediction software.This study show that parameter of word prediction software (frequency of use) affected text input speed in persons with cervical SCI and differed according to the level of the lesion. • For persons with high-level lesion, our results suggest that this parameter must be activated so that text input speed is increased. • For persons with low lesion group, this parameter must be activated so that the numbers of errors are decreased. • In all cases, the activation of the parameter of frequency of use is essential in order to improve the efficiency of the word prediction software. • Health-related professionals should use these results in their clinical practice for better results and therefore better patients 'satisfaction.

Proceeding of the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (1st, Roanoke, Virginia, June 24-28, 2001).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY.

Papers in this Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (Roanoke, Virginia, June 24-28, 2001) discuss: automatic genre analysis; text categorization; automated name authority control; automatic event generation; linked active content; designing e-books for legal research; metadata harvesting; mapping the…

Application of semi-active RFID power meter in automatic verification pipeline and intelligent storage system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiangqun; Huang, Rui; Shen, Liman; chen, Hao; Xiong, Dezhi; Xiao, Xiangqi; Liu, Mouhai; Xu, Renheng

2018-03-01

In this paper, the semi-active RFID watt-hour meter is applied to automatic test lines and intelligent warehouse management, from the transmission system, test system and auxiliary system, monitoring system, realize the scheduling of watt-hour meter, binding, control and data exchange, and other functions, make its more accurate positioning, high efficiency of management, update the data quickly, all the information at a glance. Effectively improve the quality, efficiency and automation of verification, and realize more efficient data management and warehouse management.

Health smart home: towards an assistant tool for automatic assessment of the dependence of elders.

PubMed

Le, Xuan Hoa Binh; Di Mascolo, Maria; Gouin, Alexia; Noury, Norbert

2007-01-01

In order to help elders living alone to age in place independently and safely, it can be useful to have an assistant tool that can automatically assess their dependence and issue an alert if there is any loss of autonomy. The dependence can be assessed by the degree of performance, by the elders, of activities of daily living. This article presents an approach enabling the activity recognition for an elder living alone in a Health Smart Home equipped with noninvasive sensors.

An automatic method to detect and track the glottal gap from high speed videoendoscopic images.

PubMed

Andrade-Miranda, Gustavo; Godino-Llorente, Juan I; Moro-Velázquez, Laureano; Gómez-García, Jorge Andrés

2015-10-29

The image-based analysis of the vocal folds vibration plays an important role in the diagnosis of voice disorders. The analysis is based not only on the direct observation of the video sequences, but also in an objective characterization of the phonation process by means of features extracted from the recorded images. However, such analysis is based on a previous accurate identification of the glottal gap, which is the most challenging step for a further automatic assessment of the vocal folds vibration. In this work, a complete framework to automatically segment and track the glottal area (or glottal gap) is proposed. The algorithm identifies a region of interest that is adapted along time, and combine active contours and watershed transform for the final delineation of the glottis and also an automatic procedure for synthesize different videokymograms is proposed. Thanks to the ROI implementation, our technique is robust to the camera shifting and also the objective test proved the effectiveness and performance of the approach in the most challenging scenarios that it is when exist an inappropriate closure of the vocal folds. The novelties of the proposed algorithm relies on the used of temporal information for identify an adaptive ROI and the use of watershed merging combined with active contours for the glottis delimitation. Additionally, an automatic procedure for synthesize multiline VKG by the identification of the glottal main axis is developed.

Automated assessment of cognitive health using smart home technologies.

PubMed

Dawadi, Prafulla N; Cook, Diane J; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen; Parsey, Carolyn

2013-01-01

The goal of this work is to develop intelligent systems to monitor the wellbeing of individuals in their home environments. This paper introduces a machine learning-based method to automatically predict activity quality in smart homes and automatically assess cognitive health based on activity quality. This paper describes an automated framework to extract set of features from smart home sensors data that reflects the activity performance or ability of an individual to complete an activity which can be input to machine learning algorithms. Output from learning algorithms including principal component analysis, support vector machine, and logistic regression algorithms are used to quantify activity quality for a complex set of smart home activities and predict cognitive health of participants. Smart home activity data was gathered from volunteer participants (n=263) who performed a complex set of activities in our smart home testbed. We compare our automated activity quality prediction and cognitive health prediction with direct observation scores and health assessment obtained from neuropsychologists. With all samples included, we obtained statistically significant correlation (r=0.54) between direct observation scores and predicted activity quality. Similarly, using a support vector machine classifier, we obtained reasonable classification accuracy (area under the ROC curve=0.80, g-mean=0.73) in classifying participants into two different cognitive classes, dementia and cognitive healthy. The results suggest that it is possible to automatically quantify the task quality of smart home activities and perform limited assessment of the cognitive health of individual if smart home activities are properly chosen and learning algorithms are appropriately trained.

Automated Assessment of Cognitive Health Using Smart Home Technologies

PubMed Central

Dawadi, Prafulla N.; Cook, Diane J.; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen; Parsey, Carolyn

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND The goal of this work is to develop intelligent systems to monitor the well being of individuals in their home environments. OBJECTIVE This paper introduces a machine learning-based method to automatically predict activity quality in smart homes and automatically assess cognitive health based on activity quality. METHODS This paper describes an automated framework to extract set of features from smart home sensors data that reflects the activity performance or ability of an individual to complete an activity which can be input to machine learning algorithms. Output from learning algorithms including principal component analysis, support vector machine, and logistic regression algorithms are used to quantify activity quality for a complex set of smart home activities and predict cognitive health of participants. RESULTS Smart home activity data was gathered from volunteer participants (n=263) who performed a complex set of activities in our smart home testbed. We compare our automated activity quality prediction and cognitive health prediction with direct observation scores and health assessment obtained from neuropsychologists. With all samples included, we obtained statistically significant correlation (r=0.54) between direct observation scores and predicted activity quality. Similarly, using a support vector machine classifier, we obtained reasonable classification accuracy (area under the ROC curve = 0.80, g-mean = 0.73) in classifying participants into two different cognitive classes, dementia and cognitive healthy. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that it is possible to automatically quantify the task quality of smart home activities and perform limited assessment of the cognitive health of individual if smart home activities are properly chosen and learning algorithms are appropriately trained. PMID:23949177

MUG-OBS - Multiparameter Geophysical Ocean Bottom System : a new instrumental approach to monitor earthquakes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hello, Y.; Yegikyan, M.; Charvis, P.; Verfaillie, R.; Philippe, O.

2015-12-01

There are several attempts to monitor real time seismic activity, using regional scale wired nodes, such as Neptune in Canada and in the U.S, Antares in France or DONET in Japan.On another hand there are also initiatives in deploying repeatedly OBS array like during the amphibious Cascadia Initiative (four 1-year deployments), the Japanese Pacific Array (broadband OBSs "ocean-bottom broadband dispersion survey" with 2-years autonomy), the Obsismer program in the French Lesser Antilles (eight 6-months deployments) and the Osisec program in Ecuador (four 6-months deployments). These OBSs are autonomous, they are self-recovered or recovered using an ROV. These systems are costly including ship time, and require to recover the OBS before to start working on data.Among the most recent alternative we developed a 3-years autonomy OBS equipped with a Nanometrics Trillium 120 s, a triaxial accelerometer, a differential, an absolute pressure gauge, and a hydrophone. MUG-OBS is a free falling instrument rated down to 6000 m. The installation of the sensor is monitored by acoustic commands from the surface and a health bulletin with data checking is recovered by acoustic during the installation. The major innovation is that it is possible to recover the data any time on demand (regularly every 6-months or after a seismic crisis) utilizing one of the 6 data-shuttles released from the surface by acoustic command using a one day fast cruise boat of opportunity. Since sensors stayed at the same location for 3 years (when an OBS is redeployed on the same site, it will not land in the same place), it is a perfect tool to monitor slow seismic events, background seismic activity and aftershock distribution. Clock, drift measurement and GPS localization is automatic when the shuttle reaches the surface. A new version is being developed; for remote areas, shuttles released automatically and a seismic events bulletin is transmitted. Selected data can be recovered by two- way Iridium satellite communication. After a period of 3 years the main station is ­self-recovered by acoustic.

Placental fetal stem segmentation in a sequence of histology images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Athavale, Prashant; Vese, Luminita A.

2012-02-01

Recent research in perinatal pathology argues that analyzing properties of the placenta may reveal important information on how certain diseases progress. One important property is the structure of the placental fetal stems. Analysis of the fetal stems in a placenta could be useful in the study and diagnosis of some diseases like autism. To study the fetal stem structure effectively, we need to automatically and accurately track fetal stems through a sequence of digitized hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained histology slides. There are many problems in successfully achieving this goal. A few of the problems are: large size of images, misalignment of the consecutive H&E slides, unpredictable inaccuracies of manual tracing, very complicated texture patterns of various tissue types without clear characteristics, just to name a few. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm to achieve automatic tracing of the fetal stem in a sequence of H&E images, based on an inaccurate manual segmentation of a fetal stem in one of the images. This algorithm combines global affine registration, local non-affine registration and a novel 'dynamic' version of the active contours model without edges. We first use global affine image registration of all the images based on displacement, scaling and rotation. This gives us approximate location of the corresponding fetal stem in the image that needs to be traced. We then use the affine registration algorithm "locally" near this location. At this point, we use a fast non-affine registration based on L2-similarity measure and diffusion regularization to get a better location of the fetal stem. Finally, we have to take into account inaccuracies in the initial tracing. This is achieved through a novel dynamic version of the active contours model without edges where the coefficients of the fitting terms are computed iteratively to ensure that we obtain a unique stem in the segmentation. The segmentation thus obtained can then be used as an initial guess to obtain segmentation in the rest of the images in the sequence. This constitutes an important step in the extraction and understanding of the fetal stem vasculature.

Smartphone data as an electronic biomarker of illness activity in bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Faurholt-Jepsen, Maria; Vinberg, Maj; Frost, Mads; Christensen, Ellen Margrethe; Bardram, Jakob E; Kessing, Lars Vedel

2015-11-01

Objective methods are lacking for continuous monitoring of illness activity in bipolar disorder. Smartphones offer unique opportunities for continuous monitoring and automatic collection of real-time data. The objectives of the paper were to test the hypotheses that (i) daily electronic self-monitored data and (ii) automatically generated objective data collected using smartphones correlate with clinical ratings of depressive and manic symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder. Software for smartphones (the MONARCA I system) that collects automatically generated objective data and self-monitored data on illness activity in patients with bipolar disorder was developed by the authors. A total of 61 patients aged 18-60 years and with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder according to ICD-10 used the MONARCA I system for six months. Depressive and manic symptoms were assessed monthly using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17-item (HDRS-17) and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), respectively. Data are representative of over 400 clinical ratings. Analyses were computed using linear mixed-effect regression models allowing for both between individual variation and within individual variation over time. Analyses showed significant positive correlations between the duration of incoming and outgoing calls/day and scores on the HDRS-17, and significant positive correlations between the number and duration of incoming calls/day and scores on the YMRS; the number of and duration of outgoing calls/day and scores on the YMRS; and the number of outgoing text messages/day and scores on the YMRS. Analyses showed significant negative correlations between self-monitored data (i.e., mood and activity) and scores on the HDRS-17, and significant positive correlations between self-monitored data (i.e., mood and activity) and scores on the YMRS. Finally, the automatically generated objective data were able to discriminate between affective states. Automatically generated objective data and self-monitored data collected using smartphones correlate with clinically rated depressive and manic symptoms and differ between affective states in patients with bipolar disorder. Smartphone apps represent an easy and objective way to monitor illness activity with real-time data in bipolar disorder and may serve as an electronic biomarker of illness activity. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Re-Examining the Automaticity and Directionality of the Activation of the Spatial-Valence "Good is Up" Metaphoric Association

PubMed Central

Huang, Yanli; Tse, Chi-Shing

2015-01-01

According to the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, people understand abstract concepts depending on the activation of more concrete concepts, but not vice versa. The present research aims to investigate the role of directionality and automaticity regarding the activation of the conceptual metaphor “good is up”. Experiment 1 tested the automaticity of the spatial-to-valence metaphoric congruency effect by having participants judge the valence of a positive or negative word that appeared either at the top or at the bottom of the screen. They performed the task concurrently with a 6-digit verbal rehearsal task in the working-memory-load (WML) blocks and without this task in the non-WML blocks. The spatial-to-valence metaphoric congruency effect occurred for the positive words in the non-WML blocks (i.e., positive words are judged more quickly when they appeared at the top than at the bottom of the screen), but not in the WML blocks, suggesting that this metaphoric association might not be activated automatically. Experiments 2-6 investigated the valence-to-spatial metaphoric association and its automaticity. Participants processed a positive or negative prime, which appeared at the center of the screen, and then identified a letter (p/q) that subsequently appeared at the top or bottom of the screen. The valence-to-spatial metaphoric congruency effect did not occur in the WML (6-digit verbal rehearsal) or non-WML blocks, whether response modality to the prime was key-press or vocal, or whether the prime was a word or a picture. The effect only unexpectedly occurred when the task was simultaneously performed with a 4-dot-position visuospatial rehearsal task. Nevertheless, the data collapsed across multiple experiments showed a null valence-to-spatial metaphoric congruency effect, suggesting the absence of the valence-to-spatial metaphoric association in general. The implications of the current findings for the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and its alternatives are discussed. PMID:25867748

NASA grievance system: Employee handbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

This revised handbook updates the minimum provisions of the agency-wide Grievance System and applies to NASA Headquarters and field installations. All grievances initiated on or after June 15, 1981, will be processed under these provisions. NASA recognizes and endorses the importance of bringing to light and adjusting grievances promptly and of treating all employees reasonably and fairly. Achieving these objectives requires great competence, mature judgment, and true willingness to reach a satisfactory solution. Provisions of the NASA Grievance System are directed to this purpose. Grievances and misunderstandings can arise in almost any working situation. It follows then that an employee's initiation of a grievance in good faith should not cast any reflection on the employee's standing with his or her supervisor or loyalty and importance to the organization. At the same time, the initiation of a grievance should not automatically be considered as a reflection on the employee's supervisor or on the general management of the activity. This handbook should be used in conjunction with Office of Personnel Management regulations in 5 CFR Part 771 and Chapter 771 of the Federal Personnel Manual. Installations may issue implementing instructions, e.g. specifying when fact-finding is required or when an unresolved grievance must be referred to a higher level of authority.

An investigation of phonology and orthography in spoken-word recognition.

PubMed

Slowiaczek, Louisa M; Soltano, Emily G; Wieting, Shani J; Bishop, Karyn L

2003-02-01

The possible influence of initial phonological and/or orthographic information on spoken-word processing was examined in six experiments modelled after and extending the work Jakimik, Cole, and Rudnicky (1985). Following Jakimik et al., Experiment 1 used polysyllabic primes with monosyllabic targets (e.g., BUCKLE-BUCK/[symbol: see text]; MYSTERY-MISS,/[symbol: see text]). Experiments 2, 3, and 4 used polysyllabic primes and polysyllabic targets whose initial syllables shared phonological information (e.g., NUISANCE-NOODLE,/[symbol: see text]), orthographic information (e.g., RATIO-RATIFY,/[symbol: see text]), both (e.g., FUNNEL-FUNNY,/[symbol: see text]), or were unrelated (e.g., SERMON-NOODLE,/[symbol: see text]). Participants engaged in a lexical decision (Experiments 1, 3, and 4) or a shadowing (Experiment 2) task with a single-trial (Experiments 2 and 3) or subsequent-trial (Experiments 1 and 4) priming procedure. Experiment 5 tested primes and targets that varied in the number of shared graphemes while holding shared phonemes constant at one. Experiment 6 used the procedures of Experiment 2 but a low proportion of related trials. Results revealed that response times were facilitated for prime-target pairs that shared initial phonological and orthographic information. These results were confirmed under conditions when strategic processing was greatly reduced suggesting that phonological and orthographic information is automatically activated during spoken-word processing.

An Initial Design of ISO 19152:2012 LADM Based Valuation and Taxation Data Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Çağdaş, V.; Kara, A.; van Oosterom, P.; Lemmen, C.; Işıkdağ, Ü.; Kathmann, R.; Stubkjær, E.

2016-10-01

A fiscal registry or database is supposed to record geometric, legal, physical, economic, and environmental characteristics in relation to property units, which are subject to immovable property valuation and taxation. Apart from procedural standards, there is no internationally accepted data standard that defines the semantics of fiscal databases. The ISO 19152:2012 Land Administration Domain Model (LADM), as an international land administration standard focuses on legal requirements, but considers out of scope specifications of external information systems including valuation and taxation databases. However, it provides a formalism which allows for an extension that responds to the fiscal requirements. This paper introduces an initial version of a LADM - Fiscal Extension Module for the specification of databases used in immovable property valuation and taxation. The extension module is designed to facilitate all stages of immovable property taxation, namely the identification of properties and taxpayers, assessment of properties through single or mass appraisal procedures, automatic generation of sales statistics, and the management of tax collection, dealing with arrears and appeals. It is expected that the initial version will be refined through further activities held by a possible joint working group under FIG Commission 7 (Cadastre and Land Management) and FIG Commission 9 (Valuation and the Management of Real Estate) in collaboration with other relevant international bodies.

Hybrid tracking and control system for computer-aided retinal surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, R. D.; Wright, Cameron H. G.; Rylander, Henry G., III; Welch, Ashley J.; Barrett, Steven F.

1996-05-01

We describe initial experimental results of a new hybrid digital and analog design for retinal tracking and laser beam control. Initial results demonstrate tracking rates which exceed the equivalent of 50 degrees per second in the eye, with automatic lesion pattern creation and robust loss of lock detection. Robotically assisted laser surgery to treat conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and retinal tears can now be realized under clinical conditions with requisite safety using standard video hardware and inexpensive optical components.

Automatic start control for a three-phase electric motor using infrared sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Echenique Lima, Mario; Ramírez Arenas, Francisco; Rodríguez Pedroza, Griselda

2006-02-01

We introduce equipment for the automatic activation of a three-phase electric motor (1Hp, 3A, 240V AC) using 2 infrared sensors monitored by a Microchip microcontroller PIC16F62x@4Mhz for the control of a filling system. This project was carried out to Fabrica de Chocolates y Dulces Costanzo, where the automatization of cacao grain supply was required for a machine in charge of cleaning the cacao from its rind. This process demanded the monitoring of the filling level to avoid the spill of toasted cacao.

Is Analytic Information Processing a Feature of Expertise in Medicine?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Kevin; Rikers, Remy M.; Schmidt, Henk G.

2008-01-01

Diagnosing begins by generating an initial diagnostic hypothesis by automatic information processing. Information processing may stop here if the hypothesis is accepted, or analytical processing may be used to refine the hypothesis. This description portrays analytic processing as an optional extra in information processing, leading us to…

45 CFR 79.41 - Stay pending appeal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Stay pending appeal. 79.41 Section 79.41 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL REMEDIES § 79.41 Stay pending appeal. (a) An initial decision is stayed automatically pending disposition of a...

6 CFR 13.41 - Stay pending appeal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 6 Domestic Security 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Stay pending appeal. 13.41 Section 13.41 Domestic Security DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL REMEDIES § 13.41 Stay pending appeal. (a) An Initial Decision is stayed automatically pending disposition of a...

76 FR 50145 - Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedures for Residential Clothes Dryers

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-12

... EERE-2011-BT-TP-0054] RIN 1904-AC63 Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedures for Residential...: Request for information. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated a test procedure... clothes dryer test procedure. DOE will address the issues surrounding testing of automatic cycle...

40 CFR 61.271 - Emission standard.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... provide a projection below the liquid surface. Except for automatic bleeder vents, rim space vents, roof... floating roof means a cover that rests on the liquid surface (but not necessarily in complete contact with... floating on the liquid surface at all times, except during initial fill and during those intervals when the...

40 CFR 61.271 - Emission standard.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... provide a projection below the liquid surface. Except for automatic bleeder vents, rim space vents, roof... floating roof means a cover that rests on the liquid surface (but not necessarily in complete contact with... floating on the liquid surface at all times, except during initial fill and during those intervals when the...

Pattern-Based Extraction of Argumentation from the Scientific Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Elizabeth K.

2010-01-01

As the number of publications in the biomedical field continues its exponential increase, techniques for automatically summarizing information from this body of literature have become more diverse. In addition, the targets of summarization have become more subtle; initial work focused on extracting the factual assertions from full-text papers,…

Preclinical Biokinetic Modelling of Tc-99m Radiophamaceuticals Obtained from Semi-Automatic Image Processing.

PubMed

Cornejo-Aragón, Luz G; Santos-Cuevas, Clara L; Ocampo-García, Blanca E; Chairez-Oria, Isaac; Diaz-Nieto, Lorenza; García-Quiroz, Janice

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a semi automatic image processing algorithm (AIPA) based on the simultaneous information provided by X-ray and radioisotopic images to determine the biokinetic models of Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals from quantification of image radiation activity in murine models. These radioisotopic images were obtained by a CCD (charge couple device) camera coupled to an ultrathin phosphorous screen in a preclinical multimodal imaging system (Xtreme, Bruker). The AIPA consisted of different image processing methods for background, scattering and attenuation correction on the activity quantification. A set of parametric identification algorithms was used to obtain the biokinetic models that characterize the interaction between different tissues and the radiopharmaceuticals considered in the study. The set of biokinetic models corresponded to the Tc-99m biodistribution observed in different ex vivo studies. This fact confirmed the contribution of the semi-automatic image processing technique developed in this study.

[Alexithymia and automatic activation of emotional-evaluative information].

PubMed

Suslow, T; Arolt, V; Junghanns, K

1998-05-01

The emotional valence of stimuli seems to be stored in the associative network and is automatically activated on the mere observation of a stimulus. A principal characteristic of alexithymia represents the difficulty to symbolize emotions verbally. The present study examines the relationship between the dimensions of the alexithymia construct and emotional priming effects in a word-word paradigma. The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was administered to 32 subjects along with two word reading tasks as measures of emotional and semantic priming effects. The subscale "difficulty describing feelings" correlated as expected negatively with the negative inhibition effect. The subscale "externally oriented thinking" tended to correlate negatively with the negative facilitation effect. Thus, these dimensions of alexithymia are inversely related to the degree of automatic emotional priming. In summary, there is evidence for an impaired structural integration of emotion and language in persons with difficulties in describing feelings. Poor "symbolization" of emotions in alexithymia is discussed from a cognitive perspective.

Automatización de la adquisición de campos planos de cielo durante el atardecer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Areal, M. B.; Acosta, J. A.; Buccino, A. P.; Perna, P.; Areso, O.; Mauas, P.

2016-08-01

Since 2009, the Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio keeps in development an optical observatory mainly aimed to the detection of extrasolar planets and the monitoring of stellar activity. In this framework, the telescopes Meade LX200 16 Horacio Ghielmetti in the Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, and MATE (Magnetic Activity and Transiting Exoplanets) in the Estación de Altura at the Observatorio Astronomico Felix Aguilar were assembled. Both telescopes can operate automatically through all night, which generates a massive volume of data. Because of this, it becomes essential the automatization of the acquisition and analysis of the regular observations as well as the calibration images; in particular the flat fields. In this work a method to simplify and automatize the acquisition of these images was developed. This method uses the luminosity values of the sky, registered by a weather station located next to the observation site.

Automatic Setting Procedure for Exoskeleton-Assisted Overground Gait: Proof of Concept on Stroke Population

PubMed Central

Gandolla, Marta; Guanziroli, Eleonora; D'Angelo, Andrea; Cannaviello, Giovanni; Molteni, Franco; Pedrocchi, Alessandra

2018-01-01

Stroke-related locomotor impairments are often associated with abnormal timing and intensity of recruitment of the affected and non-affected lower limb muscles. Restoring the proper lower limbs muscles activation is a key factor to facilitate recovery of gait capacity and performance, and to reduce maladaptive plasticity. Ekso is a wearable powered exoskeleton robot able to support over-ground gait training. The user controls the exoskeleton by triggering each single step during the gait cycle. The fine-tuning of the exoskeleton control system is crucial—it is set according to the residual functional abilities of the patient, and it needs to ensure lower limbs powered gait to be the most physiological as possible. This work focuses on the definition of an automatic calibration procedure able to detect the best Ekso setting for each patient. EMG activity has been recorded from Tibialis Anterior, Soleus, Rectus Femoris, and Semitendinosus muscles in a group of 7 healthy controls and 13 neurological patients. EMG signals have been processed so to obtain muscles activation patterns. The mean muscular activation pattern derived from the controls cohort has been set as reference. The developed automatic calibration procedure requires the patient to perform overground walking trials supported by the exoskeleton while changing parameters setting. The Gait Metric index is calculated for each trial, where the closer the performance is to the normative muscular activation pattern, in terms of both relative amplitude and timing, the higher the Gait Metric index is. The trial with the best Gait Metric index corresponds to the best parameters set. It has to be noted that the automatic computational calibration procedure is based on the same number of overground walking trials, and the same experimental set-up as in the current manual calibration procedure. The proposed approach allows supporting the rehabilitation team in the setting procedure. It has been demonstrated to be robust, and to be in agreement with the current gold standard (i.e., manual calibration performed by an expert engineer). The use of a graphical user interface is a promising tool for the effective use of an automatic procedure in a clinical context. PMID:29615890

Automatic Setting Procedure for Exoskeleton-Assisted Overground Gait: Proof of Concept on Stroke Population.

PubMed

Gandolla, Marta; Guanziroli, Eleonora; D'Angelo, Andrea; Cannaviello, Giovanni; Molteni, Franco; Pedrocchi, Alessandra

2018-01-01

Stroke-related locomotor impairments are often associated with abnormal timing and intensity of recruitment of the affected and non-affected lower limb muscles. Restoring the proper lower limbs muscles activation is a key factor to facilitate recovery of gait capacity and performance, and to reduce maladaptive plasticity. Ekso is a wearable powered exoskeleton robot able to support over-ground gait training. The user controls the exoskeleton by triggering each single step during the gait cycle. The fine-tuning of the exoskeleton control system is crucial-it is set according to the residual functional abilities of the patient, and it needs to ensure lower limbs powered gait to be the most physiological as possible. This work focuses on the definition of an automatic calibration procedure able to detect the best Ekso setting for each patient. EMG activity has been recorded from Tibialis Anterior, Soleus, Rectus Femoris, and Semitendinosus muscles in a group of 7 healthy controls and 13 neurological patients. EMG signals have been processed so to obtain muscles activation patterns. The mean muscular activation pattern derived from the controls cohort has been set as reference. The developed automatic calibration procedure requires the patient to perform overground walking trials supported by the exoskeleton while changing parameters setting. The Gait Metric index is calculated for each trial, where the closer the performance is to the normative muscular activation pattern, in terms of both relative amplitude and timing, the higher the Gait Metric index is. The trial with the best Gait Metric index corresponds to the best parameters set. It has to be noted that the automatic computational calibration procedure is based on the same number of overground walking trials, and the same experimental set-up as in the current manual calibration procedure. The proposed approach allows supporting the rehabilitation team in the setting procedure. It has been demonstrated to be robust, and to be in agreement with the current gold standard (i.e., manual calibration performed by an expert engineer). The use of a graphical user interface is a promising tool for the effective use of an automatic procedure in a clinical context.

Automatic knee cartilage delineation using inheritable segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dries, Sebastian P. M.; Pekar, Vladimir; Bystrov, Daniel; Heese, Harald S.; Blaffert, Thomas; Bos, Clemens; van Muiswinkel, Arianne M. C.

2008-03-01

We present a fully automatic method for segmentation of knee joint cartilage from fat suppressed MRI. The method first applies 3-D model-based segmentation technology, which allows to reliably segment the femur, patella, and tibia by iterative adaptation of the model according to image gradients. Thin plate spline interpolation is used in the next step to position deformable cartilage models for each of the three bones with reference to the segmented bone models. After initialization, the cartilage models are fine adjusted by automatic iterative adaptation to image data based on gray value gradients. The method has been validated on a collection of 8 (3 left, 5 right) fat suppressed datasets and demonstrated the sensitivity of 83+/-6% compared to manual segmentation on a per voxel basis as primary endpoint. Gross cartilage volume measurement yielded an average error of 9+/-7% as secondary endpoint. For cartilage being a thin structure, already small deviations in distance result in large errors on a per voxel basis, rendering the primary endpoint a hard criterion.

Intelligent automated surface grid generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yao, Ke-Thia; Gelsey, Andrew

1995-01-01

The goal of our research is to produce a flexible, general grid generator for automated use by other programs, such as numerical optimizers. The current trend in the gridding field is toward interactive gridding. Interactive gridding more readily taps into the spatial reasoning abilities of the human user through the use of a graphical interface with a mouse. However, a sometimes fruitful approach to generating new designs is to apply an optimizer with shape modification operators to improve an initial design. In order for this approach to be useful, the optimizer must be able to automatically grid and evaluate the candidate designs. This paper describes and intelligent gridder that is capable of analyzing the topology of the spatial domain and predicting approximate physical behaviors based on the geometry of the spatial domain to automatically generate grids for computational fluid dynamics simulators. Typically gridding programs are given a partitioning of the spatial domain to assist the gridder. Our gridder is capable of performing this partitioning. This enables the gridder to automatically grid spatial domains of wide range of configurations.

The development of a practical pipe auto-routing system in a shipbuilding CAD environment using network optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Shin-Hyung; Ruy, Won-Sun; Jang, Beom Seon

2013-09-01

An automatic pipe routing system is proposed and implemented. Generally, the pipe routing design as a part of the shipbuilding process requires a considerable number of man hours due to the complexity which comes from physical and operational constraints and the crucial influence on outfitting construction productivity. Therefore, the automation of pipe routing design operations and processes has always been one of the most important goals for improvements in shipbuilding design. The proposed system is applied to a pipe routing design in the engine room space of a commercial ship. The effectiveness of this system is verified as a reasonable form of support for pipe routing design jobs. The automatic routing result of this system can serve as a good basis model in the initial stages of pipe routing design, allowing the designer to reduce their design lead time significantly. As a result, the design productivity overall can be improved with this automatic pipe routing system

Fast Appearance Modeling for Automatic Primary Video Object Segmentation.

PubMed

Yang, Jiong; Price, Brian; Shen, Xiaohui; Lin, Zhe; Yuan, Junsong

2016-02-01

Automatic segmentation of the primary object in a video clip is a challenging problem as there is no prior knowledge of the primary object. Most existing techniques thus adapt an iterative approach for foreground and background appearance modeling, i.e., fix the appearance model while optimizing the segmentation and fix the segmentation while optimizing the appearance model. However, these approaches may rely on good initialization and can be easily trapped in local optimal. In addition, they are usually time consuming for analyzing videos. To address these limitations, we propose a novel and efficient appearance modeling technique for automatic primary video object segmentation in the Markov random field (MRF) framework. It embeds the appearance constraint as auxiliary nodes and edges in the MRF structure, and can optimize both the segmentation and appearance model parameters simultaneously in one graph cut. The extensive experimental evaluations validate the superiority of the proposed approach over the state-of-the-art methods, in both efficiency and effectiveness.

Toward image phylogeny forests: automatically recovering semantically similar image relationships.

PubMed

Dias, Zanoni; Goldenstein, Siome; Rocha, Anderson

2013-09-10

In the past few years, several near-duplicate detection methods appeared in the literature to identify the cohabiting versions of a given document online. Following this trend, there are some initial attempts to go beyond the detection task, and look into the structure of evolution within a set of related images overtime. In this paper, we aim at automatically identify the structure of relationships underlying the images, correctly reconstruct their past history and ancestry information, and group them in distinct trees of processing history. We introduce a new algorithm that automatically handles sets of images comprising different related images, and outputs the phylogeny trees (also known as a forest) associated with them. Image phylogeny algorithms have many applications such as finding the first image within a set posted online (useful for tracking copyright infringement perpetrators), hint at child pornography content creators, and narrowing down a list of suspects for online harassment using photographs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic creation of three-dimensional avatars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villa-Uriol, Maria-Cruz; Sainz, Miguel; Kuester, Falko; Bagherzadeh, Nader

2003-01-01

Highly accurate avatars of humans promise a new level of realism in engineering and entertainment applications, including areas such as computer animated movies, computer game development interactive virtual environments and tele-presence. In order to provide high-quality avatars, new techniques for the automatic acquisition and creation are required. A framework for the capture and construction of arbitrary avatars from image data is presented in this paper. Avatars are automatically reconstructed from multiple static images of a human subject by utilizing image information to reshape a synthetic three-dimensional articulated reference model. A pipeline is presented that combines a set of hardware-accelerated stages into one seamless system. Primary stages in this pipeline include pose estimation, skeleton fitting, body part segmentation, geometry construction and coloring, leading to avatars that can be animated and included into interactive environments. The presented system removes traditional constraints in the initial pose of the captured subject by using silhouette-based modification techniques in combination with a reference model. Results can be obtained in near-real time with very limited user intervention.

Automatic portion estimation and visual refinement in mobile dietary assessment

PubMed Central

Woo, Insoo; Otsmo, Karl; Kim, SungYe; Ebert, David S.; Delp, Edward J.; Boushey, Carol J.

2011-01-01

As concern for obesity grows, the need for automated and accurate methods to monitor nutrient intake becomes essential as dietary intake provides a valuable basis for managing dietary imbalance. Moreover, as mobile devices with built-in cameras have become ubiquitous, one potential means of monitoring dietary intake is photographing meals using mobile devices and having an automatic estimate of the nutrient contents returned. One of the challenging problems of the image-based dietary assessment is the accurate estimation of food portion size from a photograph taken with a mobile digital camera. In this work, we describe a method to automatically calculate portion size of a variety of foods through volume estimation using an image. These “portion volumes” utilize camera parameter estimation and model reconstruction to determine the volume of food items, from which nutritional content is then extrapolated. In this paper, we describe our initial results of accuracy evaluation using real and simulated meal images and demonstrate the potential of our approach. PMID:22242198

Automatic variable selection method and a comparison for quantitative analysis in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Fajie; Fu, Xiao; Jiang, Jiajia; Huang, Tingting; Ma, Ling; Zhang, Cong

2018-05-01

In this work, an automatic variable selection method for quantitative analysis of soil samples using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is proposed, which is based on full spectrum correction (FSC) and modified iterative predictor weighting-partial least squares (mIPW-PLS). The method features automatic selection without artificial processes. To illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the method, a comparison with genetic algorithm (GA) and successive projections algorithm (SPA) for different elements (copper, barium and chromium) detection in soil was implemented. The experimental results showed that all the three methods could accomplish variable selection effectively, among which FSC-mIPW-PLS required significantly shorter computation time (12 s approximately for 40,000 initial variables) than the others. Moreover, improved quantification models were got with variable selection approaches. The root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of models utilizing the new method were 27.47 (copper), 37.15 (barium) and 39.70 (chromium) mg/kg, which showed comparable prediction effect with GA and SPA.

Automatic portion estimation and visual refinement in mobile dietary assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woo, Insoo; Otsmo, Karl; Kim, SungYe; Ebert, David S.; Delp, Edward J.; Boushey, Carol J.

2010-01-01

As concern for obesity grows, the need for automated and accurate methods to monitor nutrient intake becomes essential as dietary intake provides a valuable basis for managing dietary imbalance. Moreover, as mobile devices with built-in cameras have become ubiquitous, one potential means of monitoring dietary intake is photographing meals using mobile devices and having an automatic estimate of the nutrient contents returned. One of the challenging problems of the image-based dietary assessment is the accurate estimation of food portion size from a photograph taken with a mobile digital camera. In this work, we describe a method to automatically calculate portion size of a variety of foods through volume estimation using an image. These "portion volumes" utilize camera parameter estimation and model reconstruction to determine the volume of food items, from which nutritional content is then extrapolated. In this paper, we describe our initial results of accuracy evaluation using real and simulated meal images and demonstrate the potential of our approach.

Oscillatory brain dynamics associated with the automatic processing of emotion in words.

PubMed

Wang, Lin; Bastiaansen, Marcel

2014-10-01

This study examines the automaticity of processing the emotional aspects of words, and characterizes the oscillatory brain dynamics that accompany this automatic processing. Participants read emotionally negative, neutral and positive nouns while performing a color detection task in which only perceptual-level analysis was required. Event-related potentials and time frequency representations were computed from the concurrently measured EEG. Negative words elicited a larger P2 and a larger late positivity than positive and neutral words, indicating deeper semantic/evaluative processing of negative words. In addition, sustained alpha power suppressions were found for the emotional compared to neutral words, in the time range from 500 to 1000ms post-stimulus. These results suggest that sustained attention was allocated to the emotional words, whereas the attention allocated to the neutral words was released after an initial analysis. This seems to hold even when the emotional content of the words is task-irrelevant. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotions during sexual activity: differences between sexually functional and dysfunctional men and women.

PubMed

Nobre, Pedro J; Pinto-Gouveia, José

2006-08-01

The present study investigated the differences in emotional response to automatic thoughts presented during sexual activity between sexually functional and dysfunctional men and women. A total of 376 participants (160 women and 120 men without sexual problems and 47 women and 49 men with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of sexual dysfunction) completed the Sexual Modes Questionnaire (SMQ male and female versions; P. J. Nobre & J. Pinto-Gouveia, 2000) and measures of sexual functioning: The International Index of Sexual Function (IIEF; R. C. Rosen et al., 1997), and The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; R. C. Rosen et al., 2000). The SMQ is a combined measure constituted by three interdependent subscales: Automatic Thought subscale (AT), Emotional Response subscale (ER), and Sexual Response subscale (SR). Emotions were assessed by the ER subscale, where participants endorsed emotional reactions (worry, sadness, disillusion, fear, guilt, shame, anger, hurt, pleasure, satisfaction) to a list of automatic thoughts (AT subscale) that may occur during sexual activity. Results showed that both men and women with sexual dysfunction had significantly less positive emotional reactions to automatic thoughts during sexual activity. Sexually dysfunctional men had significantly more emotions of sadness, disillusion, and fear, and less pleasure and satisfaction, compared to men without sexual problems. Women with sexual dysfunction had significantly less pleasure and satisfaction, and more sadness, disillusion, guilt, and anger. Findings were congruent with recent studies indicating that emotions related to depressed affect (sadness, disillusion, lack of pleasure) as opposed to negative emotions (mostly related to anxiety) were stronger correlates of sexual dysfunction.

Fuel-conservative guidance system for powered-lift aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, H.; Mclean, J. D.

1979-01-01

A concept for automatic terminal-area guidance, comprising two modes of operation, has been developed and evaluated in flight tests. In the first or predictive mode, fuel-efficient approach trajectories are synthesized in fast time. In the second or tracking mode, the synthesized trajectories are reconstructed and tracked automatically. An energy rate performance model derived from the lift, drag, and propulsion-system characteristics of the aircraft is used in the synthesis algorithm. The method optimizes the trajectory for the initial aircraft position and wind and temperature profiles encountered during each landing approach. The paper describes the design theory and discusses the results of simulations and flight tests using the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft.

Design automation techniques for custom LSI arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feller, A.

1975-01-01

The standard cell design automation technique is described as an approach for generating random logic PMOS, CMOS or CMOS/SOS custom large scale integration arrays with low initial nonrecurring costs and quick turnaround time or design cycle. The system is composed of predesigned circuit functions or cells and computer programs capable of automatic placement and interconnection of the cells in accordance with an input data net list. The program generates a set of instructions to drive an automatic precision artwork generator. A series of support design automation and simulation programs are described, including programs for verifying correctness of the logic on the arrays, performing dc and dynamic analysis of MOS devices, and generating test sequences.

Particle swarm optimization applied to automatic lens design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Hua

2011-06-01

This paper describes a novel application of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique to lens design. A mathematical model is constructed, and merit functions in an optical system are employed as fitness functions, which combined radiuses of curvature, thicknesses among lens surfaces and refractive indices regarding an optical system. By using this function, the aberration correction is carried out. A design example using PSO is given. Results show that PSO as optical design tools is practical and powerful, and this method is no longer dependent on the lens initial structure and can arbitrarily create search ranges of structural parameters of a lens system, which is an important step towards automatic design with artificial intelligence.

An integrated exhaust gas analysis system with self-contained data processing and automatic calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, R. C.; Summers, R. L.

1981-01-01

An integrated gas analysis system designed to operate in automatic, semiautomatic, and manual modes from a remote control panel is described. The system measures the carbon monoxide, oxygen, water vapor, total hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen. A pull through design provides increased reliability and eliminates the need for manual flow rate adjustment and pressure correction. The system contains two microprocessors to range the analyzers, calibrate the system, process the raw data to units of concentration, and provides information to the facility research computer and to the operator through terminal and the control panels. After initial setup, the system operates for several hours without significant operator attention.

Application of the concept of dynamic trim control and nonlinear system inverses to automatic control of a vertical attitude takeoff and landing aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, G. A.; Meyer, G.

1981-01-01

A full envelope automatic flight control system based on nonlinear inverse systems concepts has been applied to a vertical attitude takeoff and landing (VATOL) fighter aircraft. A new method for using an airborne digital aircraft model to perform the inversion of a nonlinear aircraft model is presented together with the results of a simulation study of the nonlinear inverse system concept for the vertical-attitude hover mode. The system response to maneuver commands in the vertical attitude was found to be excellent; and recovery from large initial offsets and large disturbances was found to be very satisfactory.

Automatic multi-organ segmentation using learning-based segmentation and level set optimization.

PubMed

Kohlberger, Timo; Sofka, Michal; Zhang, Jingdan; Birkbeck, Neil; Wetzl, Jens; Kaftan, Jens; Declerck, Jérôme; Zhou, S Kevin

2011-01-01

We present a novel generic segmentation system for the fully automatic multi-organ segmentation from CT medical images. Thereby we combine the advantages of learning-based approaches on point cloud-based shape representation, such a speed, robustness, point correspondences, with those of PDE-optimization-based level set approaches, such as high accuracy and the straightforward prevention of segment overlaps. In a benchmark on 10-100 annotated datasets for the liver, the lungs, and the kidneys we show that the proposed system yields segmentation accuracies of 1.17-2.89 mm average surface errors. Thereby the level set segmentation (which is initialized by the learning-based segmentations) contributes with an 20%-40% increase in accuracy.

Automatic lung nodule matching for the follow-up in temporal chest CT scans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Helen; Lee, Jeongjin; Shin, Yeong Gil

2006-03-01

We propose a fast and robust registration method for matching lung nodules of temporal chest CT scans. Our method is composed of four stages. First, the lungs are extracted from chest CT scans by the automatic segmentation method. Second, the gross translational mismatch is corrected by the optimal cube registration. This initial registration does not require extracting any anatomical landmarks. Third, initial alignment is step by step refined by the iterative surface registration. To evaluate the distance measure between surface boundary points, a 3D distance map is generated by the narrow-band distance propagation, which drives fast and robust convergence to the optimal location. Fourth, nodule correspondences are established by the pairs with the smallest Euclidean distances. The results of pulmonary nodule alignment of twenty patients are reported on a per-center-of mass point basis using the average Euclidean distance (AED) error between corresponding nodules of initial and follow-up scans. The average AED error of twenty patients is significantly reduced to 4.7mm from 30.0mm by our registration. Experimental results show that our registration method aligns the lung nodules much faster than the conventional ones using a distance measure. Accurate and fast result of our method would be more useful for the radiologist's evaluation of pulmonary nodules on chest CT scans.

Automatic Activation of Phonological Code during Visual Word Recognition in Children: A Masked Priming Study in Grades 3 and 5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sauval, Karinne; Perre, Laetitia; Casalis, Séverine

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate the development of automatic phonological processes involved in visual word recognition during reading acquisition in French. A visual masked priming lexical decision experiment was carried out with third, fifth graders and adult skilled readers. Three different types of partial overlap between the prime and…

Towards an Automatic Classification System for Supporting the Development of Critical Reflective Skills in L2 Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Gary

2017-01-01

This study aimed to develop an automatic classification system, namely ACTIVE, for generating immediate and individualised feedback on students' reflective entries about their second language (L2) learning experiences. It also aimed to explore students' attitudes towards using the system to support the development of their reflective skills in L2…

Exploring the Developmental Changes in Automatic Two-Digit Number Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Winnie Wai Lan; Au, Terry K.; Tang, Joey

2011-01-01

Even when two-digit numbers are irrelevant to the task at hand, adults process them. Do children process numbers automatically, and if so, what kind of information is activated? In a novel dot-number Stroop task, children (Grades 1-5) and adults were shown two different two-digit numbers made up of dots. Participants were asked to select the…

Acquisition of automatic imitation is sensitive to sensorimotor contingency.

PubMed

Cook, Richard; Press, Clare; Dickinson, Anthony; Heyes, Cecilia

2010-08-01

The associative sequence learning model proposes that the development of the mirror system depends on the same mechanisms of associative learning that mediate Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. To test this model, two experiments used the reduction of automatic imitation through incompatible sensorimotor training to assess whether mirror system plasticity is sensitive to contingency (i.e., the extent to which activation of one representation predicts activation of another). In Experiment 1, residual automatic imitation was measured following incompatible training in which the action stimulus was a perfect predictor of the response (contingent) or not at all predictive of the response (noncontingent). A contingency effect was observed: There was less automatic imitation indicative of more learning in the contingent group. Experiment 2 replicated this contingency effect and showed that, as predicted by associative learning theory, it can be abolished by signaling trials in which the response occurs in the absence of an action stimulus. These findings support the view that mirror system development depends on associative learning and indicate that this learning is not purely Hebbian. If this is correct, associative learning theory could be used to explain, predict, and intervene in mirror system development.

[Evaluation of the electromyography activity of pelvic floor muscle during postural exercises using the Wii Fit Plus©. Analysis and perspectives in rehabilitation].

PubMed

Steenstrup, B; Giralte, F; Bakker, E; Grise, P

2014-12-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of postural awareness by using the Wii Fit Plus© on the quality of the baseline (automatic) activity of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) measured by intravaginal surface electromyography (sEMG). Four healthy continent female subjects, all able to perform a voluntary contraction, undertook 2 sets of 3 various exercises offered by the software Wii Fit Plus© using the Wii balance board© (WBB): one set without any visual control and the second set with postural control and sEMG visual feedback. Simultaneously, we recorded the sEMG activity of the PFM. Mean baseline activity of PFM in standing position at start was 2.87 mV, at submaximal voluntary contraction the sEMG activity raised at a mean of 14.43 mV (7.87-21.89). In the first set of exercises on the WBB without any visual feedback, the automatic activity of the PFM increased from 2.87 mV to 8.75 mV (7.96-9.59). In the second set, with visual postural and sEMG control, mean baseline sEMG activity even raised at 11.39 mV (10.17-11.58). Among women able of a voluntary contraction of PFM, visualisation of posture with the help of the WBB and of sEMG activity of the PFM during static and dynamic Wii Fit Plus© activities, may improve the automatic activation of the PFMs. 4. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Difficulty identifying feelings and automatic activation in the fusiform gyrus in response to facial emotion.

PubMed

Eichmann, Mischa; Kugel, Harald; Suslow, Thomas

2008-12-01

Difficulties in identifying and differentiating one's emotions are a central characteristic of alexithymia. In the present study, automatic activation of the fusiform gyrus to facial emotion was investigated as a function of alexithymia as assessed by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. During 3 Tesla fMRI scanning, pictures of faces bearing sad, happy, and neutral expressions masked by neutral faces were presented to 22 healthy adults who also responded to the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The fusiform gyrus was selected as the region of interest, and voxel values of this region were extracted, summarized as means, and tested among the different conditions (sad, happy, and neutral faces). Masked sad facial emotions were associated with greater bilateral activation of the fusiform gyrus than masked neutral faces. The subscale, Difficulty Identifying Feelings, was negatively correlated with the neural response of the fusiform gyrus to masked sad faces. The correlation results suggest that automatic hyporesponsiveness of the fusiform gyrus to negative emotion stimuli may reflect problems in recognizing one's emotions in everyday life.

Automatic localization of landmark sets in head CT images with regression forests for image registration initialization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Dongqing; Liu, Yuan; Noble, Jack H.; Dawant, Benoit M.

2016-03-01

Cochlear Implants (CIs) are electrode arrays that are surgically inserted into the cochlea. Individual contacts stimulate frequency-mapped nerve endings thus replacing the natural electro-mechanical transduction mechanism. CIs are programmed post-operatively by audiologists but this is currently done using behavioral tests without imaging information that permits relating electrode position to inner ear anatomy. We have recently developed a series of image processing steps that permit the segmentation of the inner ear anatomy and the localization of individual contacts. We have proposed a new programming strategy that uses this information and we have shown in a study with 68 participants that 78% of long term recipients preferred the programming parameters determined with this new strategy. A limiting factor to the large scale evaluation and deployment of our technique is the amount of user interaction still required in some of the steps used in our sequence of image processing algorithms. One such step is the rough registration of an atlas to target volumes prior to the use of automated intensity-based algorithms when the target volumes have very different fields of view and orientations. In this paper we propose a solution to this problem. It relies on a random forest-based approach to automatically localize a series of landmarks. Our results obtained from 83 images with 132 registration tasks show that automatic initialization of an intensity-based algorithm proves to be a reliable technique to replace the manual step.

Clinical experience with a computer-aided diagnosis system for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules at spiral CT of the chest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wormanns, Dag; Fiebich, Martin; Saidi, Mustafa; Diederich, Stefan; Heindel, Walter

2001-05-01

The purpose of the study was to evaluate a computer aided diagnosis (CAD) workstation with automatic detection of pulmonary nodules at low-dose spiral CT in a clinical setting for early detection of lung cancer. Two radiologists in consensus reported 88 consecutive spiral CT examinations. All examinations were reviewed using a UNIX-based CAD workstation with a self-developed algorithm for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules. The algorithm was designed to detect nodules with at least 5 mm diameter. The results of automatic nodule detection were compared to the consensus reporting of two radiologists as gold standard. Additional CAD findings were regarded as nodules initially missed by the radiologists or as false positive results. A total of 153 nodules were detected with all modalities (diameter: 85 nodules <5mm, 63 nodules 5-9 mm, 5 nodules >= 10 mm). Reasons for failure of automatic nodule detection were assessed. Sensitivity of radiologists for nodules >=5 mm was 85%, sensitivity of CAD was 38%. For nodules >=5 mm without pleural contact sensitivity was 84% for radiologists at 45% for CAD. CAD detected 15 (10%) nodules not mentioned in the radiologist's report but representing real nodules, among them 10 (15%) nodules with a diameter $GREW5 mm. Reasons for nodules missed by CAD include: exclusion because of morphological features during region analysis (33%), nodule density below the detection threshold (26%), pleural contact (33%), segmentation errors (5%) and other reasons (2%). CAD improves detection of pulmonary nodules at spiral CT significantly and is a valuable second opinion in a clinical setting for lung cancer screening. Optimization of region analysis and an appropriate density threshold have a potential for further improvement of automatic nodule detection.

Automatic attentional orienting to other people's gaze in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Langdon, Robyn; Seymour, Kiley; Williams, Tracey; Ward, Philip B

2017-08-01

Explicit tests of social cognition have revealed pervasive deficits in schizophrenia. Less is known of automatic social cognition in schizophrenia. We used a spatial orienting task to investigate automatic shifts of attention cued by another person's eye gaze in 29 patients and 28 controls. Central photographic images of a face with eyes shifted left or right, or looking straight ahead, preceded targets that appeared left or right of the cue. To examine automatic effects, cue direction was non-predictive of target location. Cue-target intervals were 100, 300, and 800 ms. In non-social control trials, arrows replaced eye-gaze cues. Both groups showed automatic attentional orienting indexed by faster reaction times (RTs) when arrows were congruent with target location across all cue-target intervals. Similar congruency effects were seen for eye-shift cues at 300 and 800 ms intervals, but patients showed significantly larger congruency effects at 800 ms, which were driven by delayed responses to incongruent target locations. At short 100-ms cue-target intervals, neither group showed faster RTs for congruent than for incongruent eye-shift cues, but patients were significantly slower to detect targets after direct-gaze cues. These findings conflict with previous studies using schematic line drawings of eye-shifts that have found automatic attentional orienting to be reduced in schizophrenia. Instead, our data indicate that patients display abnormalities in responding to gaze direction at various stages of gaze processing-reflected by a stronger preferential capture of attention by another person's direct eye contact at initial stages of gaze processing and difficulties disengaging from a gazed-at location once shared attention is established.

Automatic localization of the da Vinci surgical instrument tips in 3-D transrectal ultrasound.

PubMed

Mohareri, Omid; Ramezani, Mahdi; Adebar, Troy K; Abolmaesumi, Purang; Salcudean, Septimiu E

2013-09-01

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) using the da Vinci surgical system is the current state-of-the-art treatment option for clinically confined prostate cancer. Given the limited field of view of the surgical site in RALRP, several groups have proposed the integration of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging in the surgical workflow to assist with accurate resection of the prostate and the sparing of the neurovascular bundles (NVBs). We previously introduced a robotic TRUS manipulator and a method for automatically tracking da Vinci surgical instruments with the TRUS imaging plane, in order to facilitate the integration of intraoperative TRUS in RALRP. Rapid and automatic registration of the kinematic frames of the da Vinci surgical system and the robotic TRUS probe manipulator is a critical component of the instrument tracking system. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic registration technique based on automatic 3-D TRUS localization of robot instrument tips pressed against the air-tissue boundary anterior to the prostate. The detection approach uses a multiscale filtering technique to identify and localize surgical instrument tips in the TRUS volume, and could also be used to detect other surface fiducials in 3-D ultrasound. Experiments have been performed using a tissue phantom and two ex vivo tissue samples to show the feasibility of the proposed methods. Also, an initial in vivo evaluation of the system has been carried out on a live anaesthetized dog with a da Vinci Si surgical system and a target registration error (defined as the root mean square distance of corresponding points after registration) of 2.68 mm has been achieved. Results show this method's accuracy and consistency for automatic registration of TRUS images to the da Vinci surgical system.

The transition to increased automaticity during finger sequence learning in adult males who stutter.

PubMed

Smits-Bandstra, Sarah; De Nil, Luc; Rochon, Elizabeth

2006-01-01

The present study compared the automaticity levels of persons who stutter (PWS) and persons who do not stutter (PNS) on a practiced finger sequencing task under dual task conditions. Automaticity was defined as the amount of attention required for task performance. Twelve PWS and 12 control subjects practiced finger tapping sequences under single and then dual task conditions. Control subjects performed the sequencing task significantly faster and less variably under single versus dual task conditions while PWS' performance was consistently slow and variable (comparable to the dual task performance of control subjects) under both conditions. Control subjects were significantly more accurate on a colour recognition distracter task than PWS under dual task conditions. These results suggested that control subjects transitioned to quick, accurate and increasingly automatic performance on the sequencing task after practice, while PWS did not. Because most stuttering treatment programs for adults include practice and automatization of new motor speech skills, findings of this finger sequencing study and future studies of speech sequence learning may have important implications for how to maximize stuttering treatment effectiveness. As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to: (1) Define automaticity and explain the importance of dual task paradigms to investigate automaticity; (2) Relate the proposed relationship between motor learning and automaticity as stated by the authors; (3) Summarize the reviewed literature concerning the performance of PWS on dual tasks; and (4) Explain why the ability to transition to automaticity during motor learning may have important clinical implications for stuttering treatment effectiveness.

Automatic spacecraft detumbling by internal mass motion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, T. L.; Kaplan, M. H.

1974-01-01

In the operation of future manned space vehicles, there will always be a finite probability that an accident will occur which results in uncontrolled tumbling of a craft. Hard docking by a manned rescue vehicle is not acceptable because of the hazardous environment to which rescue crewmen would be exposed and excessive maneuvering accelerations during docking operations. A movable-mass control concept, which is activated upon initiation of tumbling and is autonomous, can convert tumbling motion into simple spin. The complete equations of motion for an asymmetric rigid spacecraft containing a movable mass are presented, and appropriate control law and system parameters are selected to minimize kinetic energy, resulting in simple spin about the major principal axis. Simulations indicate that for a large space station experiencing a collision, which results in tumbling, a 1% movable mass is capable of stabilizing motion in 2 hr.

The system neurophysiological basis of non-adaptive cognitive control: Inhibition of implicit learning mediated by right prefrontal regions.

PubMed

Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Steenbergen, Laura; Colzato, Lorenza; Beste, Christian

2016-12-01

Cognitive control is adaptive in the sense that it inhibits automatic processes to optimize goal-directed behavior, but high levels of control may also have detrimental effects in case they suppress beneficial automatisms. Until now, the system neurophysiological mechanisms and functional neuroanatomy underlying these adverse effects of cognitive control have remained elusive. This question was examined by analyzing the automatic exploitation of a beneficial implicit predictive feature under conditions of high versus low cognitive control demands, combining event-related potentials (ERPs) and source localization. It was found that cognitive control prohibits the beneficial automatic exploitation of additional implicit information when task demands are high. Bottom-up perceptual and attentional selection processes (P1 and N1 ERPs) are not modulated by this, but the automatic exploitation of beneficial predictive information in case of low cognitive control demands was associated with larger response-locked P3 amplitudes and stronger activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG, BA47). This suggests that the rIFG plays a key role in the detection of relevant task cues, the exploitation of alternative task sets, and the automatic (bottom-up) implementation and reprogramming of action plans. Moreover, N450 amplitudes were larger under high cognitive control demands, which was associated with activity differences in the right medial frontal gyrus (BA9). This most likely reflects a stronger exploitation of explicit task sets which hinders the exploration of the implicit beneficial information in case of high cognitive control demands. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4511-4522, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An initial investigation of associations between dopamine-linked genetic variation and smoking motives in African Americans.

PubMed

Bidwell, L C; McGeary, J E; Gray, J C; Palmer, R H C; Knopik, V S; MacKillop, J

2015-11-01

Nicotine dependence (ND) is a heterogeneous phenotype with complex genetic influences that may vary across ethnicities. The use of intermediate phenotypes may clarify genetic influences and reveal specific etiological pathways. Prior work in European Americans has found that the four Primary Dependence Motives (PDM) subscales (Automaticity, Craving, Loss of Control, and Tolerance) of the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Motives represent core features of nicotine dependence and are promising intermediate phenotypes for understanding genetic pathways to ND. However, no studies have examined PDM as an intermediate phenotype in African American smokers, an ethnic population that displays unique patterns of smoking and genetic variation. In the current study, 268 African American daily smokers completed a phenotypic assessment and provided a sample of DNA. Associations among haplotypes in the NCAM1-TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2 gene cluster, a dopamine-related gene region associated with ND, PDM intermediate phenotypes, and ND were examined. Dopamine-related genetic variation in the DBH and COMT genes was also considered on an exploratory basis. Mediational analysis was used to test the indirect pathway from genetic variation to smoking motives to nicotine dependence. NCAM1-TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2 region variation was significantly associated with the Automaticity subscale and, further, Automaticity significantly mediated associations among NCAM1-TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2 cluster variants and ND. DBH was also significantly associated with Automaticity, Craving, and Tolerance; Automaticity and Tolerance also served as mediators of the DBH-ND relationship. These results suggest that PDM, Automaticity in particular, may be a viable intermediate phenotype for understanding dopamine-related genetic influences on ND in African American smokers. Findings support a model in which putatively dopaminergic variants exert influence on ND through an effect on patterns of automatic routinized smoking. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic Locking of Laser Frequency to an Absorption Peak

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koch, Grady J.

2006-01-01

An electronic system adjusts the frequency of a tunable laser, eventually locking the frequency to a peak in the optical absorption spectrum of a gas (or of a Fabry-Perot cavity that has an absorption peak like that of a gas). This system was developed to enable precise locking of the frequency of a laser used in differential absorption LIDAR measurements of trace atmospheric gases. This system also has great commercial potential as a prototype of means for precise control of frequencies of lasers in future dense wavelength-division-multiplexing optical communications systems. The operation of this system is completely automatic: Unlike in the operation of some prior laser-frequency-locking systems, there is ordinarily no need for a human operator to adjust the frequency manually to an initial value close enough to the peak to enable automatic locking to take over. Instead, this system also automatically performs the initial adjustment. The system (see Figure 1) is based on a concept of (1) initially modulating the laser frequency to sweep it through a spectral range that includes the desired absorption peak, (2) determining the derivative of the absorption peak with respect to the laser frequency for use as an error signal, (3) identifying the desired frequency [at the very top (which is also the middle) of the peak] as the frequency where the derivative goes to zero, and (4) thereafter keeping the frequency within a locking range and adjusting the frequency as needed to keep the derivative (the error signal) as close as possible to zero. More specifically, the system utilizes the fact that in addition to a zero crossing at the top of the absorption peak, the error signal also closely approximates a straight line in the vicinity of the zero crossing (see Figure 2). This vicinity is the locking range because the linearity of the error signal in this range makes it useful as a source of feedback for a proportional + integral + derivative control scheme that constantly adjusts the frequency in an effort to drive the error to zero. When the laser frequency deviates from the midpeak value but remains within the locking range, the magnitude and sign of the error signal indicate the amount of detuning and the control circuitry adjusts the frequency by what it estimates to be the negative of this amount in an effort to bring the error to zero.

Retrieval, automaticity, vocabulary elaboration, orthography (RAVE-O): a comprehensive, fluency-based reading intervention program.

PubMed

Wolf, M; Miller, L; Donnelly, K

2000-01-01

The most important implication of the double-deficit hypothesis (Wolf & Bowers, in this issue) concerns a new emphasis on fluency and automaticity in intervention for children with developmental reading disabilities. The RAVE-O (Retrieval, Automaticity, Vocabulary Elaboration, Orthography) program is an experimental, fluency-based approach to reading intervention that is designed to accompany a phonological analysis program. In an effort to address multiple possible sources of dysfluency in readers with disabilities, the program involves comprehensive emphases both on fluency in word attack, word identification, and comprehension and on automaticity in underlying componential processes (e.g., phonological, orthographic, semantic, and lexical retrieval skills). The goals, theoretical principles, and applied activities of the RAVE-O curriculum are described with particular stress on facilitating the development of rapid orthographic pattern recognition and on changing children's attitudes toward language.

Do the Contents of Visual Working Memory Automatically Influence Attentional Selection During Visual Search?

PubMed Central

Woodman, Geoffrey F.; Luck, Steven J.

2007-01-01

In many theories of cognition, researchers propose that working memory and perception operate interactively. For example, in previous studies researchers have suggested that sensory inputs matching the contents of working memory will have an automatic advantage in the competition for processing resources. The authors tested this hypothesis by requiring observers to perform a visual search task while concurrently maintaining object representations in visual working memory. The hypothesis that working memory activation produces a simple but uncontrollable bias signal leads to the prediction that items matching the contents of working memory will automatically capture attention. However, no evidence for automatic attentional capture was obtained; instead, the participants avoided attending to these items. Thus, the contents of working memory can be used in a flexible manner for facilitation or inhibition of processing. PMID:17469973

Do the contents of visual working memory automatically influence attentional selection during visual search?

PubMed

Woodman, Geoffrey F; Luck, Steven J

2007-04-01

In many theories of cognition, researchers propose that working memory and perception operate interactively. For example, in previous studies researchers have suggested that sensory inputs matching the contents of working memory will have an automatic advantage in the competition for processing resources. The authors tested this hypothesis by requiring observers to perform a visual search task while concurrently maintaining object representations in visual working memory. The hypothesis that working memory activation produces a simple but uncontrollable bias signal leads to the prediction that items matching the contents of working memory will automatically capture attention. However, no evidence for automatic attentional capture was obtained; instead, the participants avoided attending to these items. Thus, the contents of working memory can be used in a flexible manner for facilitation or inhibition of processing.

Using a neural network approach and time series data from an international monitoring station in the Yellow Sea for modeling marine ecosystems.

PubMed

Zhang, Yingying; Wang, Juncheng; Vorontsov, A M; Hou, Guangli; Nikanorova, M N; Wang, Hongliang

2014-01-01

The international marine ecological safety monitoring demonstration station in the Yellow Sea was developed as a collaborative project between China and Russia. It is a nonprofit technical workstation designed as a facility for marine scientific research for public welfare. By undertaking long-term monitoring of the marine environment and automatic data collection, this station will provide valuable information for marine ecological protection and disaster prevention and reduction. The results of some initial research by scientists at the research station into predictive modeling of marine ecological environments and early warning are described in this paper. Marine ecological processes are influenced by many factors including hydrological and meteorological conditions, biological factors, and human activities. Consequently, it is very difficult to incorporate all these influences and their interactions in a deterministic or analysis model. A prediction model integrating a time series prediction approach with neural network nonlinear modeling is proposed for marine ecological parameters. The model explores the natural fluctuations in marine ecological parameters by learning from the latest observed data automatically, and then predicting future values of the parameter. The model is updated in a "rolling" fashion with new observed data from the monitoring station. Prediction experiments results showed that the neural network prediction model based on time series data is effective for marine ecological prediction and can be used for the development of early warning systems.

On the automatic activation of attitudes: a quarter century of evaluative priming research.

PubMed

Herring, David R; White, Katherine R; Jabeen, Linsa N; Hinojos, Michelle; Terrazas, Gabriela; Reyes, Stephanie M; Taylor, Jennifer H; Crites, Stephen L

2013-09-01

Evaluation is a fundamental concept in psychological science. Limitations of self-report measures of evaluation led to an explosion of research on implicit measures of evaluation. One of the oldest and most frequently used implicit measurement paradigms is the evaluative priming paradigm developed by Fazio, Sanbonmatsu, Powell, and Kardes (1986). This paradigm has received extensive attention in psychology and is used to investigate numerous phenomena ranging from prejudice to depression. The current review provides a meta-analysis of a quarter century of evaluative priming research: 73 studies yielding 125 independent effect sizes from 5,367 participants. Because judgments people make in evaluative priming paradigms can be used to tease apart underlying processes, this meta-analysis examined the impact of different judgments to test the classic encoding and response perspectives of evaluative priming. As expected, evidence for automatic evaluation was found, but the results did not exclusively support either of the classic perspectives. Results suggest that both encoding and response processes likely contribute to evaluative priming but are more nuanced than initially conceptualized by the classic perspectives. Additionally, there were a number of unexpected findings that influenced evaluative priming such as segmenting trials into discrete blocks. We argue that many of the findings of this meta-analysis can be explained with 2 recent evaluative priming perspectives: the attentional sensitization/feature-specific attention allocation and evaluation window perspectives. (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Intelligent surgical laser system configuration and software implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsueh, Chi-Fu T.; Bille, Josef F.

1992-06-01

An intelligent surgical laser system, which can help the ophthalmologist to achieve higher precision and control during their procedures, has been developed by ISL as model CLS 4001. In addition to the laser and laser delivery system, the system is also equipped with a vision system (IPU), robotics motion control (MCU), and a tracking closed loop system (ETS) that tracks the eye in three dimensions (X, Y and Z). The initial patient setup is computer controlled with guidance from the vision system. The tracking system is automatically engaged when the target is in position. A multi-level tracking system is developed by integrating our vision and tracking systems which have been able to maintain our laser beam precisely on target. The capabilities of the automatic eye setup and the tracking in three dimensions provides for improved accuracy and measurement repeatability. The system is operated through the Surgical Control Unit (SCU). The SCU communicates with the IPU and the MCU through both ethernet and RS232. Various scanning pattern (i.e., line, curve, circle, spiral, etc.) can be selected with given parameters. When a warning is activated, a voice message is played that will normally require a panel touch acknowledgement. The reliability of the system is ensured in three levels: (1) hardware, (2) software real time monitoring, and (3) user. The system is currently under clinical validation.

Automatic Phase Picker for Local and Teleseismic Events Using Wavelet Transform and Simulated Annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaillot, P.; Bardaine, T.; Lyon-Caen, H.

2004-12-01

Since recent years, various automatic phase pickers based on the wavelet transform have been developed. The main motivation for using wavelet transform is that they are excellent at finding the characteristics of transient signals, they have good time resolution at all periods, and they are easy to program for fast execution. Thus, the time-scale properties and flexibility of the wavelets allow detection of P and S phases in a broad frequency range making their utilization possible in various context. However, the direct application of an automatic picking program in a different context/network than the one for which it has been initially developed is quickly tedious. In fact, independently of the strategy involved in automatic picking algorithms (window average, autoregressive, beamforming, optimization filtering, neuronal network), all developed algorithms use different parameters that depend on the objective of the seismological study, the region and the seismological network. Classically, these parameters are manually defined by trial-error or calibrated learning stage. In order to facilitate this laborious process, we have developed an automated method that provide optimal parameters for the picking programs. The set of parameters can be explored using simulated annealing which is a generic name for a family of optimization algorithms based on the principle of stochastic relaxation. The optimization process amounts to systematically modifying an initial realization so as to decrease the value of the objective function, getting the realization acceptably close to the target statistics. Different formulations of the optimization problem (objective function) are discussed using (1) world seismicity data recorded by the French national seismic monitoring network (ReNass), (2) regional seismicity data recorded in the framework of the Corinth Rift Laboratory (CRL) experiment, (3) induced seismicity data from the gas field of Lacq (Western Pyrenees), and (4) micro-seismicity data from glacier monitoring. The developed method is discussed and tested using our wavelet version of the standard STA-LTA algorithm.

SU-E-J-29: Automatic Image Registration Performance of Three IGRT Systems for Prostate Radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barber, J; University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW; Sykes, J

Purpose: To compare the performance of an automatic image registration algorithm on image sets collected on three commercial image guidance systems, and explore its relationship with imaging parameters such as dose and sharpness. Methods: Images of a CIRS Virtually Human Male Pelvis phantom (VHMP) were collected on the CBCT systems of Varian TrueBeam/OBI and Elekta Synergy/XVI linear accelerators, across a range of mAs settings; and MVCT on a Tomotherapy Hi-ART accelerator with a range of pitch. Using the 6D correlation ratio algorithm of XVI, each image was registered to a mask of the prostate volume with a 5 mm expansion.more » Registrations were repeated 100 times, with random initial offsets introduced to simulate daily matching. Residual registration errors were calculated by correcting for the initial phantom set-up error. Automatic registration was also repeated after reconstructing images with different sharpness filters. Results: All three systems showed good registration performance, with residual translations <0.5mm (1σ) for typical clinical dose and reconstruction settings. Residual rotational error had larger range, with 0.8°, 1.2° and 1.9° for 1σ in XVI, OBI and Tomotherapy respectively. The registration accuracy of XVI images showed a strong dependence on imaging dose, particularly below 4mGy. No evidence of reduced performance was observed at the lowest dose settings for OBI and Tomotherapy, but these were above 4mGy. Registration failures (maximum target registration error > 3.6 mm on the surface of a 30mm sphere) occurred in 5% to 10% of registrations. Changing the sharpness of image reconstruction had no significant effect on registration performance. Conclusions: Using the present automatic image registration algorithm, all IGRT systems tested provided satisfactory registrations for clinical use, within a normal range of acquisition settings.« less

Finite element modelling and updating of a lively footbridge: The complete process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Živanović, Stana; Pavic, Aleksandar; Reynolds, Paul

2007-03-01

The finite element (FE) model updating technology was originally developed in the aerospace and mechanical engineering disciplines to automatically update numerical models of structures to match their experimentally measured counterparts. The process of updating identifies the drawbacks in the FE modelling and the updated FE model could be used to produce more reliable results in further dynamic analysis. In the last decade, the updating technology has been introduced into civil structural engineering. It can serve as an advanced tool for getting reliable modal properties of large structures. The updating process has four key phases: initial FE modelling, modal testing, manual model tuning and automatic updating (conducted using specialist software). However, the published literature does not connect well these phases, although this is crucial when implementing the updating technology. This paper therefore aims to clarify the importance of this linking and to describe the complete model updating process as applicable in civil structural engineering. The complete process consisting the four phases is outlined and brief theory is presented as appropriate. Then, the procedure is implemented on a lively steel box girder footbridge. It was found that even a very detailed initial FE model underestimated the natural frequencies of all seven experimentally identified modes of vibration, with the maximum error being almost 30%. Manual FE model tuning by trial and error found that flexible supports in the longitudinal direction should be introduced at the girder ends to improve correlation between the measured and FE-calculated modes. This significantly reduced the maximum frequency error to only 4%. It was demonstrated that only then could the FE model be automatically updated in a meaningful way. The automatic updating was successfully conducted by updating 22 uncertain structural parameters. Finally, a physical interpretation of all parameter changes is discussed. This interpretation is often missing in the published literature. It was found that the composite slabs were less stiff than originally assumed and that the asphalt layer contributed considerably to the deck stiffness.

A novel image toggle tool for comparison of serial mammograms: automatic density normalization and alignment-development of the tool and initial experience.

PubMed

Honda, Satoshi; Tsunoda, Hiroko; Fukuda, Wataru; Saida, Yukihisa

2014-12-01

The purpose is to develop a new image toggle tool with automatic density normalization (ADN) and automatic alignment (AA) for comparing serial digital mammograms (DMGs). We developed an ADN and AA process to compare the images of serial DMGs. In image density normalization, a linear interpolation was applied by taking two points of high- and low-brightness areas. The alignment was calculated by determining the point of the greatest correlation while shifting the alignment between the current and prior images. These processes were performed on a PC with a 3.20-GHz Xeon processor and 8 GB of main memory. We selected 12 suspected breast cancer patients who had undergone screening DMGs in the past. Automatic processing was retrospectively performed on these images. Two radiologists subjectively evaluated them. The process of the developed algorithm took approximately 1 s per image. In our preliminary experience, two images could not be aligned approximately. When they were aligned, image toggling allowed detection of differences between examinations easily. We developed a new tool to facilitate comparative reading of DMGs on a mammography viewing system. Using this tool for toggling comparisons might improve the interpretation efficiency of serial DMGs.

Dissociable changes in functional network topology underlie early category learning and development of automaticity

PubMed Central

Soto, Fabian A.; Bassett, Danielle S.; Ashby, F. Gregory

2016-01-01

Recent work has shown that multimodal association areas–including frontal, temporal and parietal cortex–are focal points of functional network reconfiguration during human learning and performance of cognitive tasks. On the other hand, neurocomputational theories of category learning suggest that the basal ganglia and related subcortical structures are focal points of functional network reconfiguration during early learning of some categorization tasks, but become less so with the development of automatic categorization performance. Using a combination of network science and multilevel regression, we explore how changes in the connectivity of small brain regions can predict behavioral changes during training in a visual categorization task. We find that initial category learning, as indexed by changes in accuracy, is predicted by increasingly efficient integrative processing in subcortical areas, with higher functional specialization, more efficient integration across modules, but a lower cost in terms of redundancy of information processing. The development of automaticity, as indexed by changes in the speed of correct responses, was predicted by lower clustering (particularly in subcortical areas), higher strength (highest in cortical areas) and higher betweenness centrality. By combining neurocomputational theories and network scientific methods, these results synthesize the dissociative roles of multimodal association areas and subcortical structures in the development of automaticity during category learning. PMID:27453156

Automatic mathematical modeling for real time simulation system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Caroline; Purinton, Steve

1988-01-01

A methodology for automatic mathematical modeling and generating simulation models is described. The models will be verified by running in a test environment using standard profiles with the results compared against known results. The major objective is to create a user friendly environment for engineers to design, maintain, and verify their model and also automatically convert the mathematical model into conventional code for conventional computation. A demonstration program was designed for modeling the Space Shuttle Main Engine Simulation. It is written in LISP and MACSYMA and runs on a Symbolic 3670 Lisp Machine. The program provides a very friendly and well organized environment for engineers to build a knowledge base for base equations and general information. It contains an initial set of component process elements for the Space Shuttle Main Engine Simulation and a questionnaire that allows the engineer to answer a set of questions to specify a particular model. The system is then able to automatically generate the model and FORTRAN code. The future goal which is under construction is to download the FORTRAN code to VAX/VMS system for conventional computation. The SSME mathematical model will be verified in a test environment and the solution compared with the real data profile. The use of artificial intelligence techniques has shown that the process of the simulation modeling can be simplified.

Algorithm for automatic forced spirometry quality assessment: technological developments.

PubMed

Melia, Umberto; Burgos, Felip; Vallverdú, Montserrat; Velickovski, Filip; Lluch-Ariet, Magí; Roca, Josep; Caminal, Pere

2014-01-01

We hypothesized that the implementation of automatic real-time assessment of quality of forced spirometry (FS) may significantly enhance the potential for extensive deployment of a FS program in the community. Recent studies have demonstrated that the application of quality criteria defined by the ATS/ERS (American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society) in commercially available equipment with automatic quality assessment can be markedly improved. To this end, an algorithm for assessing quality of FS automatically was reported. The current research describes the mathematical developments of the algorithm. An innovative analysis of the shape of the spirometric curve, adding 23 new metrics to the traditional 4 recommended by ATS/ERS, was done. The algorithm was created through a two-step iterative process including: (1) an initial version using the standard FS curves recommended by the ATS; and, (2) a refined version using curves from patients. In each of these steps the results were assessed against one expert's opinion. Finally, an independent set of FS curves from 291 patients was used for validation purposes. The novel mathematical approach to characterize the FS curves led to appropriate FS classification with high specificity (95%) and sensitivity (96%). The results constitute the basis for a successful transfer of FS testing to non-specialized professionals in the community.

Instinctive analytics for coalition operations (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Mel, Geeth R.; La Porta, Thomas; Pham, Tien; Pearson, Gavin

2017-05-01

The success of future military coalition operations—be they combat or humanitarian—will increasingly depend on a system's ability to share data and processing services (e.g. aggregation, summarization, fusion), and automatically compose services in support of complex tasks at the network edge. We call such an infrastructure instinctive—i.e., an infrastructure that reacts instinctively to address the analytics task at hand. However, developing such an infrastructure is made complex for the coalition environment due to its dynamism both in terms of user requirements and service availability. In order to address the above challenge, in this paper, we highlight our research vision and sketch some initial solutions into the problem domain. Specifically, we propose means to (1) automatically infer formal task requirements from mission specifications; (2) discover data, services, and their features automatically to satisfy the identified requirements; (3) create and augment shared domain models automatically; (4) efficiently offload services to the network edge and across coalition boundaries adhering to their computational properties and costs; and (5) optimally allocate and adjust services while respecting the constraints of operating environment and service fit. We envision that the research will result in a framework which enables self-description, discover, and assemble capabilities to both data and services in support of coalition mission goals.

Set Up of an Automatic Water Quality Sampling System in Irrigation Agriculture

PubMed Central

Heinz, Emanuel; Kraft, Philipp; Buchen, Caroline; Frede, Hans-Georg; Aquino, Eugenio; Breuer, Lutz

2014-01-01

We have developed a high-resolution automatic sampling system for continuous in situ measurements of stable water isotopic composition and nitrogen solutes along with hydrological information. The system facilitates concurrent monitoring of a large number of water and nutrient fluxes (ground, surface, irrigation and rain water) in irrigated agriculture. For this purpose we couple an automatic sampling system with a Wavelength-Scanned Cavity Ring Down Spectrometry System (WS-CRDS) for stable water isotope analysis (δ2H and δ18O), a reagentless hyperspectral UV photometer (ProPS) for monitoring nitrate content and various water level sensors for hydrometric information. The automatic sampling system consists of different sampling stations equipped with pumps, a switch cabinet for valve and pump control and a computer operating the system. The complete system is operated via internet-based control software, allowing supervision from nearly anywhere. The system is currently set up at the International Rice Research Institute (Los Baños, The Philippines) in a diversified rice growing system to continuously monitor water and nutrient fluxes. Here we present the system's technical set-up and provide initial proof-of-concept with results for the isotopic composition of different water sources and nitrate values from the 2012 dry season. PMID:24366178

Autonomously generating operations sequences for a Mars Rover using AI-based planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherwood, Rob; Mishkin, Andrew; Estlin, Tara; Chien, Steve; Backes, Paul; Cooper, Brian; Maxwell, Scott; Rabideau, Gregg

2001-01-01

This paper discusses a proof-of-concept prototype for ground-based automatic generation of validated rover command sequences from highlevel science and engineering activities. This prototype is based on ASPEN, the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) based planning and scheduling system will automatically generate a command sequence that will execute within resource constraints and satisfy flight rules.