Autonomous GPS/INS navigation experiment for Space Transfer Vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Upadhyay, Triveni N.; Cotterill, Stephen; Deaton, A. W.

1993-07-01

An experiment to validate the concept of developing an autonomous integrated spacecraft navigation system using on board Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) measurements is described. The feasibility of integrating GPS measurements with INS measurements to provide a total improvement in spacecraft navigation performance, i.e. improvement in position, velocity and attitude information, was previously demonstrated. An important aspect of this research is the automatic real time reconfiguration capability of the system designed to respond to changes in a spacecraft mission under the control of an expert system.

Category (CAT) IIIb Level 1 Test Plan for Global Positioning System (GPS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-01

applications. CAT 11Tb is defined in Advisory Circular ( AC ) 120-28C [1] as "a precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height (DH), or...2) FAA AC 20-57A (Automatic Landing Systems) [31, AC 120-28C (Criteria for Approval of CAT III Landing Weather Minima) [I] and the FAA tunnel-in...AD-A274 098I I~II l~iiUIRII 11111ilIII2 DOT/FAA/RD-93/21 Category ( CAT ) IIb Level 1 MTR 93W0000102 Research and Test Plan for Global Development

Strategic planning of developing automatic optical inspection (AOI) technologies in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, K. C.; Hsu, C.

2005-01-01

In most domestic hi-tech industries in Taiwan, the automatic optical inspection (AOI) equipment is mostly imported. In view of the required specifications, AOI consists of the integration of mechanical-electrical-optical-information technologies. In the past two decades, traditional industries have lost their competitiveness due to the low profit rate. It is possible to promote a new AOI industry in Taiwan through the integration of its strong background in mechatronic technology in positioning stages with the optical image processing techniques. The market requirements are huge not only in domestic need but also in global need. This is the main reason to promote the AOI research for the coming years in Taiwan. Focused industrial applications will be in IC, PCB, LCD, communication, and MEMS parts. This paper will analyze the domestic and global AOI equipment market, summarize the necessary fish bone technology diagrams, survey the actual industrial needs, and propose the strategic plan to be promoted in Taiwan.

Traffic-Light-Preemption Vehicle-Transponder Software Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bachelder, Aaron; Foster, Conrad

2005-01-01

A prototype wireless data-communication and control system automatically modifies the switching of traffic lights to give priority to emergency vehicles. The system, which was reported in several NASA Tech Briefs articles at earlier stages of development, includes a transponder on each emergency vehicle, a monitoring and control unit (an intersection controller) at each intersection equipped with traffic lights, and a central monitoring subsystem. An essential component of the system is a software module executed by a microcontroller in each transponder. This module integrates and broadcasts data on the position, velocity, acceleration, and emergency status of the vehicle. The position, velocity, and acceleration data are derived partly from the Global Positioning System, partly from deductive reckoning, and partly from a diagnostic computer aboard the vehicle. The software module also monitors similar broadcasts from other vehicles and from intersection controllers, informs the driver of which intersections it controls, and generates visible and audible alerts to inform the driver of any other emergency vehicles that are close enough to create a potential hazard. The execution of the software module can be monitored remotely and the module can be upgraded remotely and, hence, automatically

Differential GPS/inertial navigation approach/landing flight test results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, Scott; Schipper, Brian; Vallot, Larry; Parker, Nigel; Spitzer, Cary

1992-01-01

In November of 1990 a joint Honeywell/NASA-Langley differential GPS/inertial flight test was conducted at Wallops Island, Virginia. The test objective was to acquire a system performance database and demonstrate automatic landing using an integrated differential GPS/INS (Global Positioning System/inertial navigation system) with barometric and radar altimeters. The flight test effort exceeded program objectives with over 120 landings, 36 of which were fully automatic differential GPS/inertial landings. Flight test results obtained from post-flight data analysis are discussed. These results include characteristics of differential GPS/inertial error, using the Wallops Island Laser Tracker as a reference. Data on the magnitude of the differential corrections and vertical channel performance with and without radar altimeter augmentation are provided.

Measuring and forecasting great tsunamis by GNSS-based vertical positioning of multiple ships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inazu, D.; Waseda, T.; Hibiya, T.; Ohta, Y.

2016-12-01

Vertical ship positioning by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) was investigated for measuring and forecasting great tsunamis. We first examined existing GNSS vertical position data of a navigating vessel. The result indicated that by using the kinematic Precise Point Positioning (PPP) method, tsunamis greater than 10^-1 m can be detected from the vertical position of the ship. Based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, tens of cargo ships and tankers are regularly identified navigating over the Nankai Trough, southwest of Japan. We then assumed that a future Nankai Trough great earthquake tsunami will be observed by ships at locations based on AIS data. The tsunami forecast capability by these virtual offshore tsunami measurements was examined. A conventional Green's function based inversion was used to determine the initial tsunami height distribution. Tsunami forecast tests over the Nankai Trough were carried out using simulated tsunami data of the vertical positions of multiple cargo ships/tankers on a certain day, and of the currently operating observations by deep-sea pressure gauges and Global Positioning System (GPS) buoys. The forecast capability of ship-based tsunami height measurements alone was shown to be comparable to or better than that using the existing offshore observations.

Automatic and objective oral cancer diagnosis by Raman spectroscopic detection of keratin with multivariate curve resolution analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Po-Hsiung; Shimada, Rintaro; Yabumoto, Sohshi; Okajima, Hajime; Ando, Masahiro; Chang, Chiou-Tzu; Lee, Li-Tzu; Wong, Yong-Kie; Chiou, Arthur; Hamaguchi, Hiro-O.

2016-01-01

We have developed an automatic and objective method for detecting human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissues with Raman microspectroscopy. We measure 196 independent Raman spectra from 196 different points of one oral tissue sample and globally analyze these spectra using a Multivariate Curve Resolution (MCR) analysis. Discrimination of OSCC tissues is automatically and objectively made by spectral matching comparison of the MCR decomposed Raman spectra and the standard Raman spectrum of keratin, a well-established molecular marker of OSCC. We use a total of 24 tissue samples, 10 OSCC and 10 normal tissues from the same 10 patients, 3 OSCC and 1 normal tissues from different patients. Following the newly developed protocol presented here, we have been able to detect OSCC tissues with 77 to 92% sensitivity (depending on how to define positivity) and 100% specificity. The present approach lends itself to a reliable clinical diagnosis of OSCC substantiated by the “molecular fingerprint” of keratin.

Global Positioning System Synchronized Active Light Autonomous Docking System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T. (Inventor); Book, Michael L. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor); Bell, Joseph L. (Inventor)

1996-01-01

A Global Positioning System Synchronized Active Light Autonomous Docking System (GPSSALADS) for automatically docking a chase vehicle with a target vehicle comprising at least one active light emitting target which is operatively attached to the target vehicle. The target includes a three-dimensional array of concomitantly flashing lights which flash at a controlled common frequency. The GPSSALADS further comprises a visual tracking sensor operatively attached to the chase vehicle for detecting and tracking the target vehicle. Its performance is synchronized with the flash frequency of the lights by a synchronization means which is comprised of first and second internal clocks operatively connected to the active light target and visual tracking sensor, respectively, for providing timing control signals thereto, respectively. The synchronization means further includes first and second Global Positioning System receivers operatively connected to the first and second internal clocks, respectively, for repeatedly providing simultaneous synchronization pulses to the internal clocks, respectively. In addition, the GPSSALADS includes a docking process controller means which is operatively attached to the chase vehicle and is responsive to the visual tracking sensor for producing commands for the guidance and propulsion system of the chase vehicle.

Global Positioning System Synchronized Active Light Autonomous Docking System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard (Inventor)

1994-01-01

A Global Positioning System Synchronized Active Light Autonomous Docking System (GPSSALADS) for automatically docking a chase vehicle with a target vehicle comprises at least one active light emitting target which is operatively attached to the target vehicle. The target includes a three-dimensional array of concomitantly flashing lights which flash at a controlled common frequency. The GPSSALADS further comprises a visual tracking sensor operatively attached to the chase vehicle for detecting and tracking the target vehicle. Its performance is synchronized with the flash frequency of the lights by a synchronization means which is comprised of first and second internal clocks operatively connected to the active light target and visual tracking sensor, respectively, for providing timing control signals thereto, respectively. The synchronization means further includes first and second Global Positioning System receivers operatively connected to the first and second internal clocks, respectively, for repeatedly providing simultaneous synchronization pulses to the internal clocks, respectively. In addition, the GPSSALADS includes a docking process controller means which is operatively attached to the chase vehicle and is responsive to the visual tracking sensor for producing commands for the guidance and propulsion system of the chase vehicle.

An automatic editing algorithm for GPS data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blewitt, Geoffrey

1990-01-01

An algorithm has been developed to edit automatically Global Positioning System data such that outlier deletion, cycle slip identification, and correction are independent of clock instability, selective availability, receiver-satellite kinematics, and tropospheric conditions. This algorithm, called TurboEdit, operates on undifferenced, dual frequency carrier phase data, and requires the use of P code pseudorange data and a smoothly varying ionospheric electron content. TurboEdit was tested on the large data set from the CASA Uno experiment, which contained over 2500 cycle slips.Analyst intervention was required on 1 percent of the station-satellite passes, almost all of these problems being due to difficulties in extrapolating variations in the ionospheric delay. The algorithm is presently being adapted for real time data editing in the Rogue receiver for continuous monitoring applications.

Demonstration of Advanced Geophysics and Classification Methods on Munitions Response Sites: Closed Castner Range Fort Bliss, TX

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

Program ft foot/feet GPS Global Positioning System HE High Explosive ID Identification IDA Institute for Defense Analysis IMU Inertial Measurement Unit ISO...were replaced with two ski-shaped runners, and a new mount above the array was used to hold the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Trimble R8 Real...to collect a cued data measurement (Figure 9). The instrument’s pitch, roll , and yaw angles automatically were measured by the IMU. These angles and

Marine Seismic System At-Sea-Test Deployment Operation

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-09

ton crane can handle deck loads. An early version Deloo type ASK ( Automatic Stationkeeping) system is used to maintain position over a deployed short...b --- 00 - Ir RPT 006-007EV "A 126283 [ I iMIIE SEISMIC SYSTEM I AT-SEA-TEST DEP OYiN OFERATION I GLOBAL MARINE DEVELOPMENT INC 2302 Martin Street...Seismic System At-Sea-Test Deployment Operation 6. PERFORNING *o. REPORT NUMOER IPT 006-007 7. AUTNMORI) O. CONTRACT Ol GRANT NUMOERIa iR. Wallerstedt

Sensor Architecture and Task Classification for Agricultural Vehicles and Environments

PubMed Central

Rovira-Más, Francisco

2010-01-01

The long time wish of endowing agricultural vehicles with an increasing degree of autonomy is becoming a reality thanks to two crucial facts: the broad diffusion of global positioning satellite systems and the inexorable progress of computers and electronics. Agricultural vehicles are currently the only self-propelled ground machines commonly integrating commercial automatic navigation systems. Farm equipment manufacturers and satellite-based navigation system providers, in a joint effort, have pushed this technology to unprecedented heights; yet there are many unresolved issues and an unlimited potential still to uncover. The complexity inherent to intelligent vehicles is rooted in the selection and coordination of the optimum sensors, the computer reasoning techniques to process the acquired data, and the resulting control strategies for automatic actuators. The advantageous design of the network of onboard sensors is necessary for the future deployment of advanced agricultural vehicles. This article analyzes a variety of typical environments and situations encountered in agricultural fields, and proposes a sensor architecture especially adapted to cope with them. The strategy proposed groups sensors into four specific subsystems: global localization, feedback control and vehicle pose, non-visual monitoring, and local perception. The designed architecture responds to vital vehicle tasks classified within three layers devoted to safety, operative information, and automatic actuation. The success of this architecture, implemented and tested in various agricultural vehicles over the last decade, rests on its capacity to integrate redundancy and incorporate new technologies in a practical way. PMID:22163522

Sensor architecture and task classification for agricultural vehicles and environments.

PubMed

Rovira-Más, Francisco

2010-01-01

The long time wish of endowing agricultural vehicles with an increasing degree of autonomy is becoming a reality thanks to two crucial facts: the broad diffusion of global positioning satellite systems and the inexorable progress of computers and electronics. Agricultural vehicles are currently the only self-propelled ground machines commonly integrating commercial automatic navigation systems. Farm equipment manufacturers and satellite-based navigation system providers, in a joint effort, have pushed this technology to unprecedented heights; yet there are many unresolved issues and an unlimited potential still to uncover. The complexity inherent to intelligent vehicles is rooted in the selection and coordination of the optimum sensors, the computer reasoning techniques to process the acquired data, and the resulting control strategies for automatic actuators. The advantageous design of the network of onboard sensors is necessary for the future deployment of advanced agricultural vehicles. This article analyzes a variety of typical environments and situations encountered in agricultural fields, and proposes a sensor architecture especially adapted to cope with them. The strategy proposed groups sensors into four specific subsystems: global localization, feedback control and vehicle pose, non-visual monitoring, and local perception. The designed architecture responds to vital vehicle tasks classified within three layers devoted to safety, operative information, and automatic actuation. The success of this architecture, implemented and tested in various agricultural vehicles over the last decade, rests on its capacity to integrate redundancy and incorporate new technologies in a practical way.

Automatic classification for mammogram backgrounds based on bi-rads complexity definition and on a multi content analysis framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jie; Besnehard, Quentin; Marchessoux, Cédric

2011-03-01

Clinical studies for the validation of new medical imaging devices require hundreds of images. An important step in creating and tuning the study protocol is the classification of images into "difficult" and "easy" cases. This consists of classifying the image based on features like the complexity of the background, the visibility of the disease (lesions). Therefore, an automatic medical background classification tool for mammograms would help for such clinical studies. This classification tool is based on a multi-content analysis framework (MCA) which was firstly developed to recognize image content of computer screen shots. With the implementation of new texture features and a defined breast density scale, the MCA framework is able to automatically classify digital mammograms with a satisfying accuracy. BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting Data System) density scale is used for grouping the mammograms, which standardizes the mammography reporting terminology and assessment and recommendation categories. Selected features are input into a decision tree classification scheme in MCA framework, which is the so called "weak classifier" (any classifier with a global error rate below 50%). With the AdaBoost iteration algorithm, these "weak classifiers" are combined into a "strong classifier" (a classifier with a low global error rate) for classifying one category. The results of classification for one "strong classifier" show the good accuracy with the high true positive rates. For the four categories the results are: TP=90.38%, TN=67.88%, FP=32.12% and FN =9.62%.

Neural-network classifiers for automatic real-world aerial image recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenberg, Shlomo; Guterman, Hugo

1996-08-01

We describe the application of the multilayer perceptron (MLP) network and a version of the adaptive resonance theory version 2-A (ART 2-A) network to the problem of automatic aerial image recognition (AAIR). The classification of aerial images, independent of their positions and orientations, is required for automatic tracking and target recognition. Invariance is achieved by the use of different invariant feature spaces in combination with supervised and unsupervised neural networks. The performance of neural-network-based classifiers in conjunction with several types of invariant AAIR global features, such as the Fourier-transform space, Zernike moments, central moments, and polar transforms, are examined. The advantages of this approach are discussed. The performance of the MLP network is compared with that of a classical correlator. The MLP neural-network correlator outperformed the binary phase-only filter (BPOF) correlator. It was found that the ART 2-A distinguished itself with its speed and its low number of required training vectors. However, only the MLP classifier was able to deal with a combination of shift and rotation geometric distortions.

Neural-network classifiers for automatic real-world aerial image recognition.

PubMed

Greenberg, S; Guterman, H

1996-08-10

We describe the application of the multilayer perceptron (MLP) network and a version of the adaptive resonance theory version 2-A (ART 2-A) network to the problem of automatic aerial image recognition (AAIR). The classification of aerial images, independent of their positions and orientations, is required for automatic tracking and target recognition. Invariance is achieved by the use of different invariant feature spaces in combination with supervised and unsupervised neural networks. The performance of neural-network-based classifiers in conjunction with several types of invariant AAIR global features, such as the Fourier-transform space, Zernike moments, central moments, and polar transforms, are examined. The advantages of this approach are discussed. The performance of the MLP network is compared with that of a classical correlator. The MLP neural-network correlator outperformed the binary phase-only filter (BPOF) correlator. It was found that the ART 2-A distinguished itself with its speed and its low number of required training vectors. However, only the MLP classifier was able to deal with a combination of shift and rotation geometric distortions.

Production and Uses of Multi-Decade Geodetic Earth Science Data Records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bock, Y.; Kedar, S.; Moore, A. W.; Fang, P.; Liu, Z.; Sullivan, A.; Argus, D. F.; Jiang, S.; Marshall, S. T.

2017-12-01

The Solid Earth Science ESDR System (SESES) project funded under the NASA MEaSUREs program produces and disseminates mature, long-term, calibrated and validated, GNSS based Earth Science Data Records (ESDRs) that encompass multiple diverse areas of interest in Earth Science, such as tectonic motion, transient slip and earthquake dynamics, as well as meteorology, climate, and hydrology. The ESDRs now span twenty-five years for the earliest stations and today are available for thousands of global and regional stations. Using a unified metadata database and a combination of GNSS solutions generated by two independent analysis centers, the project currently produces four long-term ESDR's: Geodetic Displacement Time Series: Daily, combined, cleaned and filtered, GIPSY and GAMIT long-term time series of continuous GPS station positions (global and regional) in the latest version of ITRF, automatically updated weekly. Geodetic Velocities: Weekly updated velocity field + velocity field histories in various reference frames; compendium of all model parameters including earthquake catalog, coseismic offsets, and postseismic model parameters (exponential or logarithmic). Troposphere Delay Time Series: Long-term time series of troposphere delay (30-min resolution) at geodetic stations, necessarily estimated during position time series production and automatically updated weekly. Seismogeodetic records for historic earthquakes: High-rate broadband displacement and seismic velocity time series combining 1 Hz GPS displacements and 100 Hz accelerometer data for select large earthquakes and collocated cGPS and seismic instruments from regional networks. We present several recent notable examples of the ESDR's usage: A transient slip study that uses the combined position time series to unravel "tremor-less" slow tectonic transient events. Fault geometry determination from geodetic slip rates. Changes in water resources across California's physiographic provinces at a spatial resolution of 75 km. Retrospective study of a southern California summer monsoon event.

Cognitions as mediators in the relationship between self-compassion and affect

PubMed Central

Arimitsu, Kohki; Hofmann, Stefan G.

2014-01-01

Previous studies suggest that self-compassion is related to numerous facets of mental health, but the role of cognitions in this relationship remains unknown. To examine the mediating role of cognitions in the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction when controlling for self-esteem in Japanese people, we conducted two studies. Study 1 (N = 231) examined the relationship between self-compassion and affect by modeling negative automatic thoughts as a mediator; Study 2 (N = 233) tested whether positive and negative automatic thoughts meditate this relationship. Results suggested that both self-compassion and self-esteem increased positive automatic thoughts and decreased trait anxiety, whereas only self-esteem increased life satisfaction and decreased depression directly. Positive automatic thoughts increased life satisfaction and decreased depression and trait anxiety, and positive automatic thoughts mediated the relationship between self-compassion and negative affect. These findings suggest that both positive and negative automatic thoughts mediate the relationship between self-compassion and affect in Japanese people. PMID:25395717

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.

Optimized graph-based mosaicking for virtual microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steckhan, Dirk G.; Wittenberg, Thomas

2009-02-01

Virtual microscopy has the potential to partially replace traditional microscopy. For virtualization, the slide is scanned once by a fully automatized robotic microscope and saved digitally. Typically, such a scan results in several hundreds to thousands of fields of view. Since robotic stages have positioning errors, these fields of view have to be registered locally and globally in an additional step. In this work we propose a new global mosaicking method for the creation of virtual slides based on sub-pixel exact phase correlation for local alignment in combination with Prim's minimum spanning tree algorithm for global alignment. Our algorithm allows for a robust reproduction of the original slide even in the presence of views with little to no information content. This makes it especially suitable for the mosaicking of cervical smears. These smears often exhibit large empty areas, which do not contain enough information for common stitching approaches.

A hierarchical structure for automatic meshing and adaptive FEM analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kela, Ajay; Saxena, Mukul; Perucchio, Renato

1987-01-01

A new algorithm for generating automatically, from solid models of mechanical parts, finite element meshes that are organized as spatially addressable quaternary trees (for 2-D work) or octal trees (for 3-D work) is discussed. Because such meshes are inherently hierarchical as well as spatially addressable, they permit efficient substructuring techniques to be used for both global analysis and incremental remeshing and reanalysis. The global and incremental techniques are summarized and some results from an experimental closed loop 2-D system in which meshing, analysis, error evaluation, and remeshing and reanalysis are done automatically and adaptively are presented. The implementation of 3-D work is briefly discussed.

Automatic bone detection and soft tissue aware ultrasound-CT registration for computer-aided orthopedic surgery.

PubMed

Wein, Wolfgang; Karamalis, Athanasios; Baumgartner, Adrian; Navab, Nassir

2015-06-01

The transfer of preoperative CT data into the tracking system coordinates within an operating room is of high interest for computer-aided orthopedic surgery. In this work, we introduce a solution for intra-operative ultrasound-CT registration of bones. We have developed methods for fully automatic real-time bone detection in ultrasound images and global automatic registration to CT. The bone detection algorithm uses a novel bone-specific feature descriptor and was thoroughly evaluated on both in-vivo and ex-vivo data. A global optimization strategy aligns the bone surface, followed by a soft tissue aware intensity-based registration to provide higher local registration accuracy. We evaluated the system on femur, tibia and fibula anatomy in a cadaver study with human legs, where magnetically tracked bone markers were implanted to yield ground truth information. An overall median system error of 3.7 mm was achieved on 11 datasets. Global and fully automatic registration of bones aquired with ultrasound to CT is feasible, with bone detection and tracking operating in real time for immediate feedback to the surgeon.

Comparison of Three Wind Measuring Systems for Flight Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teets, Edward H., Jr.; Harvey, Philip O.

2000-01-01

A preliminary field test of the accuracy of wind velocity measurements obtained using global positioning system-tracked rawinsonde balloons has been performed. Wind comparisons have been conducted using global positioning system (GPS) and radio automatic theodolite sounder (RATS) rawinsondes and a high-precision range instrumentation radar-tracked reflector. Wind velocity differences between the GPS rawinsondes and the radar were significantly less than between the RATS rawinsondes and the radar. These limited test results indicate a root-mean-square wind velocity difference from 4.98 kn (2.56 m/sec) for the radar and RATS to 1.09 kn (0.56 m/sec) for the radar and GPS. Differences are influenced by user reporting requirements, data processing techniques, and the inherent tracking accuracies of the system. This brief field test indicates that the GPS sounding system tracking data are more precise than the RATS system. When high-resolution wind data are needed, use of GPS rawinsonde systems can reduce the burden on range radar operations.

High resolution upgrade of the ATF damping ring BPM system

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

Terunuma, N.; Urakawa, J.; /KEK, Tsukuba

2008-05-01

A beam position monitor (BPM) upgrade at the KEK Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) damping ring has been accomplished in its first stage, carried out by a KEK/FNAL/SLAC collaboration under the umbrella of the global ILC R&D effort. The upgrade consists of a high resolution, high reproducibility read-out system, based on analog and digital downconversion techniques, digital signal processing, and also tests a new automatic gain error correction schema. The technical concept and realization, as well as preliminary results of beam studies are presented.

Computational methods for global/local analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ransom, Jonathan B.; Mccleary, Susan L.; Aminpour, Mohammad A.; Knight, Norman F., Jr.

1992-01-01

Computational methods for global/local analysis of structures which include both uncoupled and coupled methods are described. In addition, global/local analysis methodology for automatic refinement of incompatible global and local finite element models is developed. Representative structural analysis problems are presented to demonstrate the global/local analysis methods.

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

Lighting design for globally illuminated volume rendering.

PubMed

Zhang, Yubo; Ma, Kwan-Liu

2013-12-01

With the evolution of graphics hardware, high quality global illumination becomes available for real-time volume rendering. Compared to local illumination, global illumination can produce realistic shading effects which are closer to real world scenes, and has proven useful for enhancing volume data visualization to enable better depth and shape perception. However, setting up optimal lighting could be a nontrivial task for average users. There were lighting design works for volume visualization but they did not consider global light transportation. In this paper, we present a lighting design method for volume visualization employing global illumination. The resulting system takes into account view and transfer-function dependent content of the volume data to automatically generate an optimized three-point lighting environment. Our method fully exploits the back light which is not used by previous volume visualization systems. By also including global shadow and multiple scattering, our lighting system can effectively enhance the depth and shape perception of volumetric features of interest. In addition, we propose an automatic tone mapping operator which recovers visual details from overexposed areas while maintaining sufficient contrast in the dark areas. We show that our method is effective for visualizing volume datasets with complex structures. The structural information is more clearly and correctly presented under the automatically generated light sources.

Individual differences in automatic emotion regulation affect the asymmetry of the LPP component.

PubMed

Zhang, Jing; Zhou, Renlai

2014-01-01

The main goal of this study was to investigate how automatic emotion regulation altered the hemispheric asymmetry of ERPs elicited by emotion processing. We examined the effect of individual differences in automatic emotion regulation on the late positive potential (LPP) when participants were viewing blocks of positive high arousal, positive low arousal, negative high arousal and negative low arousal pictures from International affect picture system (IAPS). Two participant groups were categorized by the Emotion Regulation-Implicit Association Test which has been used in previous research to identify two groups of participants with automatic emotion control and with automatic emotion express. The main finding was that automatic emotion express group showed a right dominance of the LPP component at posterior electrodes, especially in high arousal conditions. But no right dominance of the LPP component was observed for automatic emotion control group. We also found the group with automatic emotion control showed no differences in the right posterior LPP amplitude between high- and low-arousal emotion conditions, while the participants with automatic emotion express showed larger LPP amplitude in the right posterior in high-arousal conditions compared to low-arousal conditions. This result suggested that AER (Automatic emotion regulation) modulated the hemispheric asymmetry of LPP on posterior electrodes and supported the right hemisphere hypothesis.

Automatic luminous reflections detector using global threshold with increased luminosity contrast in images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Ricardo Petri; Naozuka, Gustavo Taiji; Mastelini, Saulo Martiello; Felinto, Alan Salvany

2018-01-01

The incidence of luminous reflections (LR) in captured images can interfere with the color of the affected regions. These regions tend to oversaturate, becoming whitish and, consequently, losing the original color information of the scene. Decision processes that employ images acquired from digital cameras can be impaired by the LR incidence. Such applications include real-time video surgeries, facial, and ocular recognition. This work proposes an algorithm called contrast enhancement of potential LR regions, which is a preprocessing to increase the contrast of potential LR regions, in order to improve the performance of automatic LR detectors. In addition, three automatic detectors were compared with and without the employment of our preprocessing method. The first one is a technique already consolidated in the literature called the Chang-Tseng threshold. We propose two automatic detectors called adapted histogram peak and global threshold. We employed four performance metrics to evaluate the detectors, namely, accuracy, precision, exactitude, and root mean square error. The exactitude metric is developed by this work. Thus, a manually defined reference model was created. The global threshold detector combined with our preprocessing method presented the best results, with an average exactitude rate of 82.47%.

Automatic Matching of Large Scale Images and Terrestrial LIDAR Based on App Synergy of Mobile Phone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, G.; Hu, C.

2018-04-01

The digitalization of Cultural Heritage based on ground laser scanning technology has been widely applied. High-precision scanning and high-resolution photography of cultural relics are the main methods of data acquisition. The reconstruction with the complete point cloud and high-resolution image requires the matching of image and point cloud, the acquisition of the homonym feature points, the data registration, etc. However, the one-to-one correspondence between image and corresponding point cloud depends on inefficient manual search. The effective classify and management of a large number of image and the matching of large image and corresponding point cloud will be the focus of the research. In this paper, we propose automatic matching of large scale images and terrestrial LiDAR based on APP synergy of mobile phone. Firstly, we develop an APP based on Android, take pictures and record related information of classification. Secondly, all the images are automatically grouped with the recorded information. Thirdly, the matching algorithm is used to match the global and local image. According to the one-to-one correspondence between the global image and the point cloud reflection intensity image, the automatic matching of the image and its corresponding laser radar point cloud is realized. Finally, the mapping relationship between global image, local image and intensity image is established according to homonym feature point. So we can establish the data structure of the global image, the local image in the global image, the local image corresponding point cloud, and carry on the visualization management and query of image.

Improve wildlife species tracking—Implementing an enhanced global positioning system data management system for California condors

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waltermire, Robert G.; Emmerich, Christopher U.; Mendenhall, Laura C.; Bohrer, Gil; Weinzierl, Rolf P.; McGann, Andrew J.; Lineback, Pat K.; Kern, Tim J.; Douglas, David C.

2016-05-03

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff in the Pacific Southwest Region and at the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex requested technical assistance to improve their global positioning system (GPS) data acquisition, management, and archive in support of the California Condor Recovery Program. The USFWS deployed and maintained GPS units on individual Gymnogyps californianus (California condor) in support of long-term research and daily operational monitoring and management of California condors. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obtained funding through the Science Support Program to provide coordination among project participants, provide GPS Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) transmitters for testing, and compare GSM/GPS with existing Argos satellite GPS technology. The USFWS staff worked with private companies to design, develop, and fit condors with GSM/GPS transmitters. The Movebank organization, an online database of animal tracking data, coordinated with each of these companies to automatically stream their GPS data into Movebank servers and coordinated with USFWS to improve Movebank software for managing transmitter data, including proofing/error checking of incoming GPS data. The USGS arranged to pull raw GPS data from Movebank into the USGS California Condor Management and Analysis Portal (CCMAP) (https://my.usgs.gov/ccmap) for production and dissemination of a daily map of condor movements including various automated alerts. Further, the USGS developed an automatic archiving system for pulling raw and proofed Movebank data into USGS ScienceBase to comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. This improved data management system requires minimal manual intervention resulting in more efficient data flow from GPS data capture to archive status. As a result of the project’s success, Pinnacles National Park and the Ventana Wildlife Society California condor programs became partners and adopted the same workflow, tracking, and data archive system. This GPS tracking data management model and workflow should be applicable and beneficial to other wildlife tracking programs.

Automatic evaluation of the Valsalva sinuses from cine-MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanchard, Cédric; Sliwa, Tadeusz; Lalande, Alain; Mohan, Pauliah; Bouchot, Olivier; Voisin, Yvon

2011-03-01

MRI appears to be particularly attractive for the study of the Sinuses of Valsalva (SV), however there is no global consensus on their suitable measurements. In this paper, we propose a new method, based on the mathematical morphology and combining a numerical geodesic reconstruction with an area estimation, to automatically evaluate the SV from a cine-MRI in a cross-sectional orientation. It consists in the extraction of the shape of the SV, the detection of relevant points (commissures, cusps and the centre of the SV), the measurement of relevant distances and in a classification of the valve as bicuspid or tricuspid by a metric evaluation of the SV. Our method was tested on 23 patient examinations and radii calculations were compared with a manual measurement. The classification of the valve as tricuspid or bicuspid was correct for all the cases. Moreover, there are an excellent correlation and an excellent concordance between manual and automatic measurements for images at diastolic phase (r= 0.97; y = x - 0.02; p=NS; mean of differences = -0.1 mm; standard deviation of differences = 2.3 mm) and at systolic phase (r= 0.96; y = 0.97 x + 0.80; p=NS ; mean of differences = -0.1 mm; standard deviation of differences = 2.4 mm). The cross-sectional orientation of the image acquisition plane conjugated with our automatic method provides a reliable morphometric evaluation of the SV, based on the automatic location of the centre of the SV, the commissure and the cusp positions. Measurements of distances between relevant points allow a precise evaluation of the SV.

[Application of automatic photography in Schistosoma japonicum miracidium hatching experiments].

PubMed

Ming-Li, Zhou; Ai-Ling, Cai; Xue-Feng, Wang

2016-05-20

To explore the value of automatic photography in the observation of results of Schistosoma japonicum miracidium hatching experiments. Some fresh S. japonicum eggs were added into cow feces, and the samples of feces were divided into a low infested experimental group and a high infested group (40 samples each group). In addition, there was a negative control group with 40 samples of cow feces without S. japonicum eggs. The conventional nylon bag S. japonicum miracidium hatching experiments were performed. The process was observed with the method of flashlight and magnifying glass combined with automatic video (automatic photography method), and, at the same time, with the naked eye observation method. The results were compared. In the low infested group, the miracidium positive detection rates were 57.5% and 85.0% by the naked eye observation method and automatic photography method, respectively ( χ 2 = 11.723, P < 0.05). In the high infested group, the positive detection rates were 97.5% and 100% by the naked eye observation method and automatic photography method, respectively ( χ 2 = 1.253, P > 0.05). In the two infested groups, the average positive detection rates were 77.5% and 92.5% by the naked eye observation method and automatic photography method, respectively ( χ 2 = 6.894, P < 0.05). The automatic photography can effectively improve the positive detection rate in the S. japonicum miracidium hatching experiments.

Design and flight test of a differential GPS/inertial navigation system for approach/landing guidance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vallot, Lawrence; Snyder, Scott; Schipper, Brian; Parker, Nigel; Spitzer, Cary

1991-01-01

NASA-Langley has conducted a flight test program evaluating a differential GPS/inertial navigation system's (DGPS/INS) utility as an approach/landing aid. The DGPS/INS airborne and ground components are based on off-the-shelf transport aircraft avionics, namely a global positioning/inertial reference unit (GPIRU) and two GPS sensor units (GPSSUs). Systematic GPS errors are measured by the ground GPSSU and transmitted to the aircraft GPIRU, allowing the errors to be eliminated or greatly reduced in the airborne equipment. Over 120 landings were flown; 36 of these were fully automatic DGPS/INS landings.

Automatic image enhancement based on multi-scale image decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Lu; Wu, Zhuangzhi; Pei, Luo; Long, Xiong

2014-01-01

In image processing and computational photography, automatic image enhancement is one of the long-range objectives. Recently the automatic image enhancement methods not only take account of the globe semantics, like correct color hue and brightness imbalances, but also the local content of the image, such as human face and sky of landscape. In this paper we describe a new scheme for automatic image enhancement that considers both global semantics and local content of image. Our automatic image enhancement method employs the multi-scale edge-aware image decomposition approach to detect the underexposure regions and enhance the detail of the salient content. The experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach compared to existing automatic enhancement methods.

Automatic Positioning System of Small Agricultural Robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Momot, M. V.; Proskokov, A. V.; Natalchenko, A. S.; Biktimirov, A. S.

2016-08-01

The present article discusses automatic positioning systems of agricultural robots used in field works. The existing solutions in this area have been analyzed. The article proposes an original solution, which is easy to implement and is characterized by high- accuracy positioning.

Integrating different tracking systems in football: multiple camera semi-automatic system, local position measurement and GPS technologies.

PubMed

Buchheit, Martin; Allen, Adam; Poon, Tsz Kit; Modonutti, Mattia; Gregson, Warren; Di Salvo, Valter

2014-12-01

Abstract During the past decade substantial development of computer-aided tracking technology has occurred. Therefore, we aimed to provide calibration equations to allow the interchangeability of different tracking technologies used in soccer. Eighty-two highly trained soccer players (U14-U17) were monitored during training and one match. Player activity was collected simultaneously with a semi-automatic multiple-camera (Prozone), local position measurement (LPM) technology (Inmotio) and two global positioning systems (GPSports and VX). Data were analysed with respect to three different field dimensions (small, <30 m 2 to full-pitch, match). Variables provided by the systems were compared, and calibration equations (linear regression models) between each system were calculated for each field dimension. Most metrics differed between the 4 systems with the magnitude of the differences dependant on both pitch size and the variable of interest. Trivial-to-small between-system differences in total distance were noted. However, high-intensity running distance (>14.4 km · h -1 ) was slightly-to-moderately greater when tracked with Prozone, and accelerations, small-to-very largely greater with LPM. For most of the equations, the typical error of the estimate was of a moderate magnitude. Interchangeability of the different tracking systems is possible with the provided equations, but care is required given their moderate typical error of the estimate.

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

Sun, Rongyu; Zhao, Changyin; Zhang, Xiaoxiang, E-mail: cyzhao@pmo.ac.cn

The data reduction method for optical space debris observations has many similarities with the one adopted for surveying near-Earth objects; however, due to several specific issues, the image degradation is particularly critical, which makes it difficult to obtain precise astrometry. An automatic image reconstruction method was developed to improve the astrometry precision for space debris, based on the mathematical morphology operator. Variable structural elements along multiple directions are adopted for image transformation, and then all the resultant images are stacked to obtain a final result. To investigate its efficiency, trial observations are made with Global Positioning System satellites and themore » astrometry accuracy improvement is obtained by comparison with the reference positions. The results of our experiments indicate that the influence of degradation in astrometric CCD images is reduced, and the position accuracy of both objects and stellar stars is improved distinctly. Our technique will contribute significantly to optical data reduction and high-order precision astrometry for space debris.« less

Forward Model Studies of Water Vapor Using Scanning Microwave Radiometers, Global Positioning System, and Radiosondes during the Cloudiness Intercomparison Experiment

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

Mattioli, Vinia; Westwater, Ed R.; Gutman, S.

2005-05-01

Brightness temperatures computed from five absorption models and radiosonde observations were analyzed by comparing them with measurements from three microwave radiometers at 23.8 and 31.4 GHz. Data were obtained during the Cloudiness Inter-Comparison experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's (ARM) site in North-Central Oklahoma in 2003. The radiometers were calibrated using two procedures, the so-called instantaneous ?tipcal? method and an automatic self-calibration algorithm. Measurements from the radiometers were in agreement, with less than a 0.4-K difference during clear skies, when the instantaneous method was applied. Brightness temperatures from the radiometer and the radiosonde showed anmore » agreement of less than 0.55 K when the most recent absorption models were considered. Precipitable water vapor (PWV) computed from the radiometers were also compared to the PWV derived from a Global Positioning System station that operates at the ARM site. The instruments agree to within 0.1 cm in PWV retrieval.« less

Reduction of false-positive recalls using a computerized mammographic image feature analysis scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Maxine; Pu, Jiantao; Zheng, Bin

2014-08-01

The high false-positive recall rate is one of the major dilemmas that significantly reduce the efficacy of screening mammography, which harms a large fraction of women and increases healthcare cost. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of helping reduce false-positive recalls by developing a new computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) scheme based on the analysis of global mammographic texture and density features computed from four-view images. Our database includes full-field digital mammography (FFDM) images acquired from 1052 recalled women (669 positive for cancer and 383 benign). Each case has four images: two craniocaudal (CC) and two mediolateral oblique (MLO) views. Our CAD scheme first computed global texture features related to the mammographic density distribution on the segmented breast regions of four images. Second, the computed features were given to two artificial neural network (ANN) classifiers that were separately trained and tested in a ten-fold cross-validation scheme on CC and MLO view images, respectively. Finally, two ANN classification scores were combined using a new adaptive scoring fusion method that automatically determined the optimal weights to assign to both views. CAD performance was tested using the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The AUC = 0.793  ±  0.026 was obtained for this four-view CAD scheme, which was significantly higher at the 5% significance level than the AUCs achieved when using only CC (p = 0.025) or MLO (p = 0.0004) view images, respectively. This study demonstrates that a quantitative assessment of global mammographic image texture and density features could provide useful and/or supplementary information to classify between malignant and benign cases among the recalled cases, which may eventually help reduce the false-positive recall rate in screening mammography.

Automated quantification of proliferation with automated hot-spot selection in phosphohistone H3/MART1 dual-stained stage I/II melanoma.

PubMed

Nielsen, Patricia Switten; Riber-Hansen, Rikke; Schmidt, Henrik; Steiniche, Torben

2016-04-09

Staging of melanoma includes quantification of a proliferation index, i.e., presumed melanocytic mitoses of H&E stains are counted manually in hot spots. Yet, its reproducibility and prognostic impact increases by immunohistochemical dual staining for phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) and MART1, which also may enable fully automated quantification by image analysis. To ensure manageable workloads and repeatable measurements in modern pathology, the study aimed to present an automated quantification of proliferation with automated hot-spot selection in PHH3/MART1-stained melanomas. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 153 consecutive stage I/II melanoma patients was immunohistochemically dual-stained for PHH3 and MART1. Whole slide images were captured, and the number of PHH3/MART1-positive cells was manually and automatically counted in the global tumor area and in a manually and automatically selected hot spot, i.e., a fixed 1-mm(2) square. Bland-Altman plots and hypothesis tests compared manual and automated procedures, and the Cox proportional hazards model established their prognostic impact. The mean difference between manual and automated global counts was 2.9 cells/mm(2) (P = 0.0071) and 0.23 cells per hot spot (P = 0.96) for automated counts in manually and automatically selected hot spots. In 77 % of cases, manual and automated hot spots overlapped. Fully manual hot-spot counts yielded the highest prognostic performance with an adjusted hazard ratio of 5.5 (95 % CI, 1.3-24, P = 0.024) as opposed to 1.3 (95 % CI, 0.61-2.9, P = 0.47) for automated counts with automated hot spots. The automated index and automated hot-spot selection were highly correlated to their manual counterpart, but altogether their prognostic impact was noticeably reduced. Because correct recognition of only one PHH3/MART1-positive cell seems important, extremely high sensitivity and specificity of the algorithm is required for prognostic purposes. Thus, automated analysis may still aid and improve the pathologists' detection of mitoses in melanoma and possibly other malignancies.

Relative Panoramic Camera Position Estimation for Image-Based Virtual Reality Networks in Indoor Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakagawa, M.; Akano, K.; Kobayashi, T.; Sekiguchi, Y.

2017-09-01

Image-based virtual reality (VR) is a virtual space generated with panoramic images projected onto a primitive model. In imagebased VR, realistic VR scenes can be generated with lower rendering cost, and network data can be described as relationships among VR scenes. The camera network data are generated manually or by an automated procedure using camera position and rotation data. When panoramic images are acquired in indoor environments, network data should be generated without Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) positioning data. Thus, we focused on image-based VR generation using a panoramic camera in indoor environments. We propose a methodology to automate network data generation using panoramic images for an image-based VR space. We verified and evaluated our methodology through five experiments in indoor environments, including a corridor, elevator hall, room, and stairs. We confirmed that our methodology can automatically reconstruct network data using panoramic images for image-based VR in indoor environments without GNSS position data.

Generating Impact Maps from Automatically Detected Bomb Craters in Aerial Wartime Images Using Marked Point Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruse, Christian; Rottensteiner, Franz; Hoberg, Thorsten; Ziems, Marcel; Rebke, Julia; Heipke, Christian

2018-04-01

The aftermath of wartime attacks is often felt long after the war ended, as numerous unexploded bombs may still exist in the ground. Typically, such areas are documented in so-called impact maps which are based on the detection of bomb craters. This paper proposes a method for the automatic detection of bomb craters in aerial wartime images that were taken during the Second World War. The object model for the bomb craters is represented by ellipses. A probabilistic approach based on marked point processes determines the most likely configuration of objects within the scene. Adding and removing new objects to and from the current configuration, respectively, changing their positions and modifying the ellipse parameters randomly creates new object configurations. Each configuration is evaluated using an energy function. High gradient magnitudes along the border of the ellipse are favored and overlapping ellipses are penalized. Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling in combination with simulated annealing provides the global energy optimum, which describes the conformance with a predefined model. For generating the impact map a probability map is defined which is created from the automatic detections via kernel density estimation. By setting a threshold, areas around the detections are classified as contaminated or uncontaminated sites, respectively. Our results show the general potential of the method for the automatic detection of bomb craters and its automated generation of an impact map in a heterogeneous image stock.

Automatic alignment of pre- and post-interventional liver CT images for assessment of radiofrequency ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieder, Christian; Wirtz, Stefan; Strehlow, Jan; Zidowitz, Stephan; Bruners, Philipp; Isfort, Peter; Mahnken, Andreas H.; Peitgen, Heinz-Otto

2012-02-01

Image-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is becoming a standard procedure for minimally invasive tumor treatment in clinical practice. To verify the treatment success of the therapy, reliable post-interventional assessment of the ablation zone (coagulation) is essential. Typically, pre- and post-interventional CT images have to be aligned to compare the shape, size, and position of tumor and coagulation zone. In this work, we present an automatic workflow for masking liver tissue, enabling a rigid registration algorithm to perform at least as accurate as experienced medical experts. To minimize the effect of global liver deformations, the registration is computed in a local region of interest around the pre-interventional lesion and post-interventional coagulation necrosis. A registration mask excluding lesions and neighboring organs is calculated to prevent the registration algorithm from matching both lesion shapes instead of the surrounding liver anatomy. As an initial registration step, the centers of gravity from both lesions are aligned automatically. The subsequent rigid registration method is based on the Local Cross Correlation (LCC) similarity measure and Newton-type optimization. To assess the accuracy of our method, 41 RFA cases are registered and compared with the manually aligned cases from four medical experts. Furthermore, the registration results are compared with ground truth transformations based on averaged anatomical landmark pairs. In the evaluation, we show that our method allows to automatic alignment of the data sets with equal accuracy as medical experts, but requiring significancy less time consumption and variability.

On the meaning of meaning when being mean: commentary on Berkowitz's "on the consideration of automatic as well as controlled psychological processes in aggression".

PubMed

Dodge, Kenneth A

2008-01-01

Berkowitz (this issue) makes a cogent case for his cognitive neo-associationist (CNA) model that some aggressive behaviors occur automatically, emotionally, and through conditioned association with other stimuli. He also proposes that they can occur without "processing," that is, without meaning. He contrasts his position with that of social information processing (SIP) models, which he casts as positing only controlled processing mechanisms for aggressive behavior. However, both CNA and SIP models posit automatic as well as controlled processes in aggressive behavior. Most aggressive behaviors occur through automatic processes, which are nonetheless rule governed. SIP models differ from the CNA model in asserting the essential role of meaning (often through nonconscious, automatic, and emotional processes) in mediating the link between a stimulus and an angry aggressive behavioral response. Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Examination of a cognitive model of stress, burnout, and intention to resign for Japanese nurses.

PubMed

Ohue, Takashi; Moriyama, Michiko; Nakaya, Takashi

2011-06-01

A reduction in burnout is required to decrease the voluntary turnover of nurses. This study was carried out with the aim of establishing a cognitive model of stress, burnout, and intention to resign for nurses. A questionnaire survey was administered to 336 nurses (27 male and 309 female) who had worked for ≤5 years at a hospital with multiple departments. The survey included an evaluation of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), stress (Nursing Job Stressor Scale), automatic thoughts (Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised), and irrational beliefs (Japanese Irrational Belief Test), in addition to the intention to resign. The stressors that affected burnout in the nurses included conflict with other nursing staff, nursing role conflict, qualitative workload, quantitative workload, and conflict with patients. The irrational beliefs that were related to burnout included dependence, problem avoidance, and helplessness. In order to examine the automatic thoughts affecting burnout, groups with low and high negative automatic thoughts and low and high positive automatic thoughts were established. A two-way ANOVA showed a significant interaction of these factors with emotional exhaustion, but no significant interaction with depersonalization and a personal sense of accomplishment. Only the major effect was significant. The final model showed a process of "stressor → irrational beliefs → negative automatic thoughts/positive automatic thoughts → burnout". In addition, a relationship between burnout and an intention to resign was shown. These results suggest that stress and burnout in nurses might be prevented and that the number of nurses who leave their position could be decreased by changing irrational beliefs to rational beliefs, decreasing negative automatic thoughts, and facilitating positive automatic thoughts. © 2010 The Authors. Japan Journal of Nursing Science © 2010 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

Automatic registration of fused lidar/digital imagery (texel images) for three-dimensional image creation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budge, Scott E.; Badamikar, Neeraj S.; Xie, Xuan

2015-03-01

Several photogrammetry-based methods have been proposed that the derive three-dimensional (3-D) information from digital images from different perspectives, and lidar-based methods have been proposed that merge lidar point clouds and texture the merged point clouds with digital imagery. Image registration alone has difficulty with smooth regions with low contrast, whereas point cloud merging alone has difficulty with outliers and a lack of proper convergence in the merging process. This paper presents a method to create 3-D images that uses the unique properties of texel images (pixel-fused lidar and digital imagery) to improve the quality and robustness of fused 3-D images. The proposed method uses both image processing and point-cloud merging to combine texel images in an iterative technique. Since the digital image pixels and the lidar 3-D points are fused at the sensor level, more accurate 3-D images are generated because registration of image data automatically improves the merging of the point clouds, and vice versa. Examples illustrate the value of this method over other methods. The proposed method also includes modifications for the situation where an estimate of position and attitude of the sensor is known, when obtained from low-cost global positioning systems and inertial measurement units sensors.

The relationship between parents' and children's automatic thoughts in a college student sample.

PubMed

Donnelly, Reesa; Renk, Kimberly; Sims, Valerie K; McGuire, Jack

2011-04-01

Research demonstrates the importance of early social interactions in the development of schemas and automatic thoughts. It does not appear, however, that the existing research examines intergenerational correlations in automatic thoughts. As a result, this study explores the relationship between the automatic thoughts of parents and those of their college-age children in a sample of 252 college students and their mothers and fathers. Results of this study suggest that there are significant relationships between parents' and college students' positive automatic thoughts. Different trends by gender also are noted in the relationships among variables for male and female college students with their mothers and fathers. Further, mothers' positive ATs predicted the positive ATs of their college students, with mothers' ratings of their own communication with their college students mediating partially this relationship. Finally, college students' anxiety and self-esteem is predicted significantly by their mothers' anxiety and self-esteem (respectively) as well as their own positive and negative ATs. These findings suggest the possibility that ATs play a role in the intergenerational transmission of certain domains of psychological functioning.

Lessons Learned from Two Years of On-Orbit Global Positioning System Experience on International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gomez, Susan F.; Lammers, Michael L.

2004-01-01

The Global Positioning System Subsystem (GPS) for International Space Station (ISS) was activated April 12,2002 following the installation of the SO truss segment that included the GPS antennas on Shuttle mission STS-110. The ISS GPS receiver became the primary source for position, velocity, and attitude information for ISS two days after activation. The GPS receiver also provides a time reference for manual control of ISS time, and will be used for automatic time updates after problems are resolved with the output from the receiver. After two years of on-orbit experience, the GPS continues to be used as the primary navigation source for ISS; however, enough problems have surfaced that the firmware in the GPS attitude code has had to be totally rewritten and new algorithms developed, the firmware that processed the time output from the GPS receiver had to be rewritten, while the GPS navigation code has had minor revisions. The factors contributing to the delivery of a GPS receiver for use on ISS that requires extensive operator intervention to function are discussed. Observations from two years worth of GPS solutions will also be discussed. The technical solutions to the anomalous GPS receiver behavior will be discussed.

Generating Ground Reference Data for a Global Impervious Surface Survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.; De Colstoun, Eric Brown; Wolfe, Robert E.; Tan, Bin; Huang, Chengquan

2012-01-01

We are developing an approach for generating ground reference data in support of a project to produce a 30m impervious cover data set of the entire Earth for the years 2000 and 2010 based on the Landsat Global Land Survey (GLS) data set. Since sufficient ground reference data for training and validation is not available from ground surveys, we are developing an interactive tool, called HSegLearn, to facilitate the photo-interpretation of 1 to 2 m spatial resolution imagery data, which we will use to generate the needed ground reference data at 30m. Through the submission of selected region objects and positive or negative examples of impervious surfaces, HSegLearn enables an analyst to automatically select groups of spectrally similar objects from a hierarchical set of image segmentations produced by the HSeg image segmentation program at an appropriate level of segmentation detail, and label these region objects as either impervious or nonimpervious.

Automatic attention to emotional stimuli: neural correlates.

PubMed

Carretié, Luis; Hinojosa, José A; Martín-Loeches, Manuel; Mercado, Francisco; Tapia, Manuel

2004-08-01

We investigated the capability of emotional and nonemotional visual stimulation to capture automatic attention, an aspect of the interaction between cognitive and emotional processes that has received scant attention from researchers. Event-related potentials were recorded from 37 subjects using a 60-electrode array, and were submitted to temporal and spatial principal component analyses to detect and quantify the main components, and to source localization software (LORETA) to determine their spatial origin. Stimuli capturing automatic attention were of three types: emotionally positive, emotionally negative, and nonemotional pictures. Results suggest that initially (P1: 105 msec after stimulus), automatic attention is captured by negative pictures, and not by positive or nonemotional ones. Later (P2: 180 msec), automatic attention remains captured by negative pictures, but also by positive ones. Finally (N2: 240 msec), attention is captured only by positive and nonemotional stimuli. Anatomically, this sequence is characterized by decreasing activation of the visual association cortex (VAC) and by the growing involvement, from dorsal to ventral areas, of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Analyses suggest that the ACC and not the VAC is responsible for experimental effects described above. Intensity, latency, and location of neural activity related to automatic attention thus depend clearly on the stimulus emotional content and on its associated biological importance. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Automatic 3D liver segmentation based on deep learning and globally optimized surface evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Peijun; Wu, Fa; Peng, Jialin; Liang, Ping; Kong, Dexing

2016-12-01

The detection and delineation of the liver from abdominal 3D computed tomography (CT) images are fundamental tasks in computer-assisted liver surgery planning. However, automatic and accurate segmentation, especially liver detection, remains challenging due to complex backgrounds, ambiguous boundaries, heterogeneous appearances and highly varied shapes of the liver. To address these difficulties, we propose an automatic segmentation framework based on 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) and globally optimized surface evolution. First, a deep 3D CNN is trained to learn a subject-specific probability map of the liver, which gives the initial surface and acts as a shape prior in the following segmentation step. Then, both global and local appearance information from the prior segmentation are adaptively incorporated into a segmentation model, which is globally optimized in a surface evolution way. The proposed method has been validated on 42 CT images from the public Sliver07 database and local hospitals. On the Sliver07 online testing set, the proposed method can achieve an overall score of 80.3+/- 4.5 , yielding a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 97.25+/- 0.65 % , and an average symmetric surface distance of 0.84+/- 0.25 mm. The quantitative validations and comparisons show that the proposed method is accurate and effective for clinical application.

Automatic detection of Floating Ice at Antarctic Continental Margin from Remotely Sensed Image with Object-oriented Matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Z.

2011-12-01

Changes in ice sheet and floating ices around that have great significance for global change research. In the context of global warming, rapidly changing of Antarctic continental margin, caving of ice shelves, movement of iceberg are all closely related to climate change and ocean circulation. Using automatic change detection technology to rapid positioning the melting Region of Polar ice sheet and the location of ice drift would not only strong support for Global Change Research but also lay the foundation for establishing early warning mechanism for melting of the polar ice and Ice displacement. This paper proposed an automatic change detection method using object-based segmentation technology. The process includes three parts: ice extraction using image segmentation, object-baed ice tracking, change detection based on similarity matching. An approach based on similarity matching of eigenvector is proposed in this paper, which used area, perimeter, Hausdorff distance, contour, shape and other information of each ice-object. Different time of LANDSAT ETM+ data, Chinese environment disaster satellite HJ1B date, MODIS 1B date are used to detect changes of Floating ice at Antarctic continental margin respectively. We select different time of ETM+ data(January 7, 2003 and January 16, 2003) with the area around Antarctic continental margin near the Lazarev Bay, which is from 70.27454853 degrees south latitude, longitude 12.38573410 degrees to 71.44474167 degrees south latitude, longitude 10.39252222 degrees,included 11628 sq km of Antarctic continental margin area, as a sample. Then we can obtain the area of floating ices reduced 371km2, and the number of them reduced 402 during the time. In addition, the changes of all the floating ices around the margin region of Antarctic within 1200 km are detected using MODIS 1B data. During the time from January 1, 2008 to January 7, 2008, the floating ice area decreased by 21644732 km2, and the number of them reduced by 83080. The results show that the object-based information extraction algorithm can obtain more precise details of a single object, while the change detection method based on similarity matching can effectively tracking the change of floating ice.

Automatic and controlled attentional orienting in the elderly: A dual-process view of the positivity effect.

PubMed

Gronchi, G; Righi, S; Pierguidi, L; Giovannelli, F; Murasecco, I; Viggiano, M P

2018-04-01

The positivity effect in the elderly consists of an attentional preference for positive information as well as avoidance of negative information. Extant theories predict either that the positivity effect depends on controlled attentional processes (socio-emotional selectivity theory), or on an automatic gating selection mechanism (dynamic integration theory). This study examined the role of automatic and controlled attention in the positivity effect. Two dot-probe tasks (with the duration of the stimuli lasting 100 ms and 500 ms, respectively) were employed to compare the attentional bias of 35 elderly people to that of 35 young adults. The stimuli used were expressive faces displaying neutral, disgusted, fearful, and happy expressions. In comparison to young people, the elderly allocated more attention to happy faces at 100 ms and they tended to avoid fearful faces at 500 ms. The findings are not predicted by either theory taken alone, but support the hypothesis that the positivity effect in the elderly is driven by two different processes: an automatic attention bias toward positive stimuli, and a controlled mechanism that diverts attention away from negative stimuli. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automatic approach to deriving fuzzy slope positions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Liang-Jun; Zhu, A.-Xing; Qin, Cheng-Zhi; Liu, Jun-Zhi

2018-03-01

Fuzzy characterization of slope positions is important for geographic modeling. Most of the existing fuzzy classification-based methods for fuzzy characterization require extensive user intervention in data preparation and parameter setting, which is tedious and time-consuming. This paper presents an automatic approach to overcoming these limitations in the prototype-based inference method for deriving fuzzy membership value (or similarity) to slope positions. The key contribution is a procedure for finding the typical locations and setting the fuzzy inference parameters for each slope position type. Instead of being determined totally by users in the prototype-based inference method, in the proposed approach the typical locations and fuzzy inference parameters for each slope position type are automatically determined by a rule set based on prior domain knowledge and the frequency distributions of topographic attributes. Furthermore, the preparation of topographic attributes (e.g., slope gradient, curvature, and relative position index) is automated, so the proposed automatic approach has only one necessary input, i.e., the gridded digital elevation model of the study area. All compute-intensive algorithms in the proposed approach were speeded up by parallel computing. Two study cases were provided to demonstrate that this approach can properly, conveniently and quickly derive the fuzzy slope positions.

Perspective taking combats automatic expressions of racial bias.

PubMed

Todd, Andrew R; Bodenhausen, Galen V; Richeson, Jennifer A; Galinsky, Adam D

2011-06-01

Five experiments investigated the hypothesis that perspective taking--actively contemplating others' psychological experiences--attenuates automatic expressions of racial bias. Across the first 3 experiments, participants who adopted the perspective of a Black target in an initial context subsequently exhibited more positive automatic interracial evaluations, with changes in automatic evaluations mediating the effect of perspective taking on more deliberate interracial evaluations. Furthermore, unlike other bias-reduction strategies, the interracial positivity resulting from perspective taking was accompanied by increased salience of racial inequalities (Experiment 3). Perspective taking also produced stronger approach-oriented action tendencies toward Blacks (but not Whites; Experiment 4). A final experiment revealed that face-to-face interactions with perspective takers were rated more positively by Black interaction partners than were interactions with nonperspective takers--a relationship that was mediated by perspective takers' increased approach-oriented nonverbal behaviors (as rated by objective, third-party observers). These findings indicate that perspective taking can combat automatic expressions of racial biases without simultaneously decreasing sensitivity to ongoing racial disparities. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Using temporal ICA to selectively remove global noise while preserving global signal in functional MRI data.

PubMed

Glasser, Matthew F; Coalson, Timothy S; Bijsterbosch, Janine D; Harrison, Samuel J; Harms, Michael P; Anticevic, Alan; Van Essen, David C; Smith, Stephen M

2018-06-02

Temporal fluctuations in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) have been profitably used to study brain activity and connectivity for over two decades. Unfortunately, fMRI data also contain structured temporal "noise" from a variety of sources, including subject motion, subject physiology, and the MRI equipment. Recently, methods have been developed to automatically and selectively remove spatially specific structured noise from fMRI data using spatial Independent Components Analysis (ICA) and machine learning classifiers. Spatial ICA is particularly effective at removing spatially specific structured noise from high temporal and spatial resolution fMRI data of the type acquired by the Human Connectome Project and similar studies. However, spatial ICA is mathematically, by design, unable to separate spatially widespread "global" structured noise from fMRI data (e.g., blood flow modulations from subject respiration). No methods currently exist to selectively and completely remove global structured noise while retaining the global signal from neural activity. This has left the field in a quandary-to do or not to do global signal regression-given that both choices have substantial downsides. Here we show that temporal ICA can selectively segregate and remove global structured noise while retaining global neural signal in both task-based and resting state fMRI data. We compare the results before and after temporal ICA cleanup to those from global signal regression and show that temporal ICA cleanup removes the global positive biases caused by global physiological noise without inducing the network-specific negative biases of global signal regression. We believe that temporal ICA cleanup provides a "best of both worlds" solution to the global signal and global noise dilemma and that temporal ICA itself unlocks interesting neurobiological insights from fMRI data. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detection of artery interfaces: a real-time system and its clinical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faita, Francesco; Gemignani, Vincenzo; Bianchini, Elisabetta; Giannarelli, Chiara; Ghiadoni, Lorenzo; Demi, Marcello

2008-03-01

Analyzing the artery mechanics is a crucial issue because of its close relationship with several cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension and diabetes. Moreover, most of the work can be carried out by analyzing image sequences obtained with ultrasounds, that is with a non-invasive technique which allows a real-time visualization of the observed structures. For this reason, therefore, an accurate temporal localization of the main vessel interfaces becomes a central task for which the manual approach should be avoided since such a method is rather unreliable and time consuming. Real-time automatic systems are advantageously used to automatically locate the arterial interfaces. The automatic measurement reduces the inter/intra-observer variability with respect to the manual measurement which unavoidably depends on the experience of the operator. The real-time visual feedback, moreover, guides physicians when looking for the best position of the ultrasound probe, thus increasing the global robustness of the system. The automatic system which we developed is a stand-alone video processing system which acquires the analog video signal from the ultrasound equipment, performs all the measurements and shows the results in real-time. The localization algorithm of the artery tunics is based on a new mathematical operator (the first order absolute moment) and on a pattern recognition approach. Various clinical applications have been developed on board and validated through a comparison with gold-standard techniques: the assessment of intima-media thickness, the arterial distension, the flow-mediated dilation and the pulse wave velocity. With this paper, the results obtained on clinical trials are presented.

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.

Validation of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) Among Mainland Chinese Students in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Pan, Jia-Yan; Ye, Shengquan; Ng, Petrus

2016-01-01

The present study validated the combined version of the 8-item Automatic Thought Questionnaire (ATQ) and 10 positive items from the ATQ-revised among Chinese university students. A total of 412 Mainland Chinese university students were recruited in Hong Kong by an online survey. A 14-item Chinese ATQ was derived via item analysis. Satisfactory internal consistency reliability and good split-half reliability were obtained. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a 3-correlated-factor solution for the Chinese ATQ: negative thought, positive thought (emotional), and positive thought (cognitive). The negative ATQ subscale score was positively correlated with negative affect, and negatively correlated with positive affect and life satisfaction. The two positive ATQ subscale scores were negatively correlated with negative affect, and positively correlated with positive affect and life satisfaction. The 14-item ATQ is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring automatic thoughts in the Chinese context of Hong Kong. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An automatic pellet dispenser for precise control of feeding topography in granivorous birds

PubMed Central

Berkhoudt, H.; Van Der Reijden, D.; Heijmans, M.

1987-01-01

Design and construction of an automatic pellet dispenser for granivorous birds are described. The dispenser permits rapid pneumatic delivery of pellets (five pellets per second maximum) to one controlled position and does not interfere with simultaneous electrophysiological recording. In addition, the device continuously indicates presence or absence of a pellet in the delivery position. This automatic dispenser proved very effective in our studies of stereotyped topographies of feeding in granivorous birds, such as pigeons and chickens. PMID:16812503

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

Automation of Precise Time Reference Stations (PTRS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wheeler, P. J.

1985-04-01

The U.S. Naval Observatory is presently engaged in a program of automating precise time stations (PTS) and precise time reference stations (PTBS) by using a versatile mini-computer controlled data acquisition system (DAS). The data acquisition system is configured to monitor locally available PTTI signals such as LORAN-C, OMEGA, and/or the Global Positioning System. In addition, the DAS performs local standard intercomparison. Computer telephone communications provide automatic data transfer to the Naval Observatory. Subsequently, after analysis of the data, results and information can be sent back to the precise time reference station to provide automatic control of remote station timing. The DAS configuration is designed around state of the art standard industrial high reliability modules. The system integration and software are standardized but allow considerable flexibility to satisfy special local requirements such as stability measurements, performance evaluation and printing of messages and certificates. The DAS operates completely independently and may be queried or controlled at any time with a computer or terminal device (control is protected for use by authorized personnel only). Such DAS equipped PTS are operational in Hawaii, California, Texas and Florida.

Automatic contact in DYNA3D for vehicle crashworthiness

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

Whirley, R.G.; Engelmann, B.E.

1993-07-15

This paper presents a new formulation for the automatic definition and treatment of mechanical contact in explicit nonlinear finite element analysis. Automatic contact offers the benefits of significantly reduced model construction time and fewer opportunities for user error, but faces significant challenges in reliability and computational costs. This paper discusses in detail a new four-step automatic contact algorithm. Key aspects of the proposed method include automatic identification of adjacent and opposite surfaces in the global search phase, and the use of a smoothly varying surface normal which allows a consistent treatment of shell intersection and corner contact conditions without ad-hocmore » rules. The paper concludes with three examples which illustrate the performance of the newly proposed algorithm in the public DYNA3D code.« less

Psychometric Properties of the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingram, Rick E.; And Others

1995-01-01

Original data and other studies using the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATP-Q) show that the reliability and norms of the instrument appear stable and that the ATP-Q is inversely associated with negative affective states but unrelated to conditions such as medical condition not accompanied by psychological distress. (SLD)

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.

Improved automatic adjustment of density and contrast in FCR system using neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeo, Hideya; Nakajima, Nobuyoshi; Ishida, Masamitsu; Kato, Hisatoyo

1994-05-01

FCR system has an automatic adjustment of image density and contrast by analyzing the histogram of image data in the radiation field. Advanced image recognition methods proposed in this paper can improve the automatic adjustment performance, in which neural network technology is used. There are two methods. Both methods are basically used 3-layer neural network with back propagation. The image data are directly input to the input-layer in one method and the histogram data is input in the other method. The former is effective to the imaging menu such as shoulder joint in which the position of interest region occupied on the histogram changes by difference of positioning and the latter is effective to the imaging menu such as chest-pediatrics in which the histogram shape changes by difference of positioning. We experimentally confirm the validity of these methods (about the automatic adjustment performance) as compared with the conventional histogram analysis methods.

Flight demonstration of integrated airport surface automation concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Denise R.; Young, Steven D.

1995-01-01

A flight demonstration was conducted to address airport surface movement area capacity issues by providing pilots with enhanced situational awareness information. The demonstration showed an integration of several technologies to government and industry representatives. These technologies consisted of an electronic moving map display in the cockpit, a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) receiver, a high speed VHF data link, an ASDE-3 radar, and the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS). Aircraft identification was presented to an air traffic controller on AMASS. The onboard electronic map included the display of taxi routes, hold instructions, and clearances, which were sent to the aircraft via data link by the controller. The map also displayed the positions of other traffic and warning information, which were sent to the aircraft automatically from the ASDE-3/AMASS system. This paper describes the flight demonstration in detail, along with preliminary results.

NASA Research For Instrument Approaches To Closely Spaced Parallel Runways

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elliott, Dawn M.; Perry, R. Brad

2000-01-01

Within the NASA Aviation Systems Capacity Program, the Terminal Area Productivity (TAP) Project is addressing airport capacity enhancements during instrument meteorological condition (IMC). The Airborne Information for Lateral Spacing (AILS) research within TAP has focused on an airborne centered approach for independent instrument approaches to closely spaced parallel runways using Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technologies. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), working in partnership with Honeywell, Inc., completed in AILS simulation study, flight test, and demonstration in 1999 examining normal approaches and potential collision scenarios to runways with separation distances of 3,400 and 2,500 feet. The results of the flight test and demonstration validate the simulation study.

Cellular Telephones Measure Activity and Lifespace in Community-Dwelling Adults: Proof of Principle

PubMed Central

Schenk, Ana Katrin; Witbrodt, Bradley C.; Hoarty, Carrie A.; Carlson, Richard H.; Goulding, Evan H.; Potter, Jane F.; Bonasera, Stephen J.

2011-01-01

OBJECTIVES To describe a system that uses off-the-shelf sensor and telecommunication technologies to continuously measure individual lifespace and activity levels in a novel way. DESIGN Proof of concept involving three field trials of 30, 30, and 21 days. SETTING Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan and surrounding rural region. PARTICIPANTS Three participants (48-year-old man, 33-year-old woman, and 27-year-old male), none with any functional limitations. MEASUREMENTS Cellular telephones were used to detect in-home position and in-community location and to measure physical activity. Within the home, cellular telephones and Bluetooth transmitters (beacons) were used to locate participants at room-level resolution. Outside the home, the same cellular telephones and global positioning system (GPS) technology were used to locate participants at a community-level resolution. Physical activity was simultaneously measured using the cellular telephone accelerometer. RESULTS This approach had face validity to measure activity and lifespace. More importantly, this system could measure the spatial and temporal organization of these metrics. For example, an individual’s lifespace was automatically calculated across multiple time intervals. Behavioral time budgets showing how people allocate time to specific regions within the home were also automatically generated. CONCLUSION Mobile monitoring shows much promise as an easily deployed system to quantify activity and lifespace, important indicators of function, in community-dwelling adults. PMID:21288235

Realization of the ergonomics design and automatic control of the fundus cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Chi-liang; Xiao, Ze-xin; Deng, Shi-chao; Yu, Xin-ye

2012-12-01

The principles of ergonomics design in fundus cameras should be extending the agreeableness by automatic control. Firstly, a 3D positional numerical control system is designed for positioning the eye pupils of the patients who are doing fundus examinations. This system consists of a electronically controlled chin bracket for moving up and down, a lateral movement of binocular with the detector and the automatic refocusing of the edges of the eye pupils. Secondly, an auto-focusing device for the object plane of patient's fundus is designed, which collects the patient's fundus images automatically whether their eyes is ametropic or not. Finally, a moving visual target is developed for expanding the fields of the fundus images.

A semi-automatic traffic sign detection, classification, and positioning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creusen, I. M.; Hazelhoff, L.; de With, P. H. N.

2012-01-01

The availability of large-scale databases containing street-level panoramic images offers the possibility to perform semi-automatic surveying of real-world objects such as traffic signs. These inventories can be performed significantly more efficiently than using conventional methods. Governmental agencies are interested in these inventories for maintenance and safety reasons. This paper introduces a complete semi-automatic traffic sign inventory system. The system consists of several components. First, a detection algorithm locates the 2D position of the traffic signs in the panoramic images. Second, a classification algorithm is used to identify the traffic sign. Third, the 3D position of the traffic sign is calculated using the GPS position of the photographs. Finally, the results are listed in a table for quick inspection and are also visualized in a web browser.

Affective Evaluations of Exercising: The Role of Automatic-Reflective Evaluation Discrepancy.

PubMed

Brand, Ralf; Antoniewicz, Franziska

2016-12-01

Sometimes our automatic evaluations do not correspond well with those we can reflect on and articulate. We present a novel approach to the assessment of automatic and reflective affective evaluations of exercising. Based on the assumptions of the associative-propositional processes in evaluation model, we measured participants' automatic evaluations of exercise and then shared this information with them, asked them to reflect on it and rate eventual discrepancy between their reflective evaluation and the assessment of their automatic evaluation. We found that mismatch between self-reported ideal exercise frequency and actual exercise frequency over the previous 14 weeks could be regressed on the discrepancy between a relatively negative automatic and a more positive reflective evaluation. This study illustrates the potential of a dual-process approach to the measurement of evaluative responses and suggests that mistrusting one's negative spontaneous reaction to exercise and asserting a very positive reflective evaluation instead leads to the adoption of inflated exercise goals.

The universal and automatic association between brightness and positivity.

PubMed

Specker, Eva; Leder, Helmut; Rosenberg, Raphael; Hegelmaier, Lisa Mira; Brinkmann, Hanna; Mikuni, Jan; Kawabata, Hideaki

2018-05-01

The present study investigates the hypothesis that brightness of colors is associated with positivity, postulating that this is an automatic and universal effect. The Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) was used in all studies. Study 1 used color patches varying on brightness, Study 2 used achromatic stimuli to eliminate the potential confounding effects of hue and saturation. Study 3 replicated Study 2 in a different cultural context (Japan vs. Austria), both studies also included a measure of explicit association. All studies confirmed the hypothesis that brightness is associated with positivity, at a significance level of p < .001 and Cohen's D varying from 0.90 to 3.99. Study 1-3 provided support for the notion that this is an automatic effect. Additionally, Study 2 and Study 3 showed that people also have an explicit association of brightness with positivity. However, as expected, our results also show that the implicit association was stronger than the explicit association. Study 3 shows clear support for the universality of our effects. In sum, our results support the idea that brightness is associated with positivity and that these associations are automatic and universal. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automatic HDL firmware generation for FPGA-based reconfigurable measurement and control systems with mezzanines in FMC standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojenski, Andrzej; Kasprowicz, Grzegorz; Pozniak, Krzysztof T.; Romaniuk, Ryszard

2013-10-01

The paper describes a concept of automatic firmware generation for reconfigurable measurement systems, which uses FPGA devices and measurement cards in FMC standard. Following sections are described in details: automatic HDL code generation for FPGA devices, automatic communication interfaces implementation, HDL drivers for measurement cards, automatic serial connection between multiple measurement backplane boards, automatic build of memory map (address space), automatic generated firmware management. Presented solutions are required in many advanced measurement systems, like Beam Position Monitors or GEM detectors. This work is a part of a wider project for automatic firmware generation and management of reconfigurable systems. Solutions presented in this paper are based on previous publication in SPIE.

Terminal Sliding Mode Tracking Controller Design for Automatic Guided Vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hongbin

2018-03-01

Based on sliding mode variable structure control theory, the path tracking problem of automatic guided vehicle is studied, proposed a controller design method based on the terminal sliding mode. First of all, through analyzing the characteristics of the automatic guided vehicle movement, the kinematics model is presented. Then to improve the traditional expression of terminal sliding mode, design a nonlinear sliding mode which the convergence speed is faster than the former, verified by theoretical analysis, the design of sliding mode is steady and fast convergence in the limited time. Finally combining Lyapunov method to design the tracking control law of automatic guided vehicle, the controller can make the automatic guided vehicle track the desired trajectory in the global sense as well as in finite time. The simulation results verify the correctness and effectiveness of the control law.

Global HRSC Image Mosaics of Mars: Dodging for High-Pass Filtering, Combined with Low-Pass-Filtered OMEGA Mosaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuire, P. C.; Walter, S. H. G.; van Gasselt, S.; Dumke, A.; Dunker, T.; Gross, C.; Michael, G.; Wendt, L.; Audouard, J.; Ody, A.; Poulet, F.

2014-07-01

We discuss our approach towards automatically mosaicking hundreds of the HRSC panchromatic or RGB images together. Our best results consist of adding a high-pass-filtered HRSC mosaic to a low-pass-filtered OMEGA global mosaic.

Motorization of a surgical microscope for intra-operative navigation and intuitive control.

PubMed

Finke, M; Schweikard, A

2010-09-01

During surgical procedures, various medical systems, e.g. microscope or C-arm, are used. Their precise and repeatable manual positioning can be very cumbersome and interrupts the surgeon's work flow. Robotized systems can assist the surgeon but they require suitable kinematics and control. However, positioning must be fast, flexible and intuitive. We describe a fully motorized surgical microscope. Hardware components as well as implemented applications are specified. The kinematic equations are described and a novel control concept is proposed. Our microscope combines fast manual handling with accurate, automatic positioning. Intuitive control is provided by a small remote control mounted to one of the surgical instruments. Positioning accuracy and repeatability are < 1 mm and vibrations caused by automatic movements fade away in about 1 s. The robotic system assists the surgeon, so that he can position the microscope precisely and repeatedly without interrupting the clinical workflow. The combination of manual und automatic control guarantees fast and flexible positioning during surgical procedures. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SU-E-J-15: Automatically Detect Patient Treatment Position and Orientation in KV Portal Images

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

Qiu, J; Yang, D

2015-06-15

Purpose: In the course of radiation therapy, the complex information processing workflow will Result in potential errors, such as incorrect or inaccurate patient setups. With automatic image check and patient identification, such errors could be effectively reduced. For this purpose, we developed a simple and rapid image processing method, to automatically detect the patient position and orientation in 2D portal images, so to allow automatic check of positions and orientations for patient daily RT treatments. Methods: Based on the principle of portal image formation, a set of whole body DRR images were reconstructed from multiple whole body CT volume datasets,more » and fused together to be used as the matching template. To identify the patient setup position and orientation shown in a 2D portal image, the 2D portal image was preprocessed (contrast enhancement, down-sampling and couch table detection), then matched to the template image so to identify the laterality (left or right), position, orientation and treatment site. Results: Five day’s clinical qualified portal images were gathered randomly, then were processed by the automatic detection and matching method without any additional information. The detection results were visually checked by physicists. 182 images were correct detection in a total of 200kV portal images. The correct rate was 91%. Conclusion: The proposed method can detect patient setup and orientation quickly and automatically. It only requires the image intensity information in KV portal images. This method can be useful in the framework of Electronic Chart Check (ECCK) to reduce the potential errors in workflow of radiation therapy and so to improve patient safety. In addition, the auto-detection results, as the patient treatment site position and patient orientation, could be useful to guide the sequential image processing procedures, e.g. verification of patient daily setup accuracy. This work was partially supported by research grant from Varian Medical System.« less

Online service for monitoring the ionosphere based on data from the global navigation satellite system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleshin, I. M.; Alpatov, V. V.; Vasil'ev, A. E.; Burguchev, S. S.; Kholodkov, K. I.; Budnikov, P. A.; Molodtsov, D. A.; Koryagin, V. N.; Perederin, F. V.

2014-07-01

A service is described that makes possible the effective construction of a three-dimensional ionospheric model based on the data of ground receivers of signals from global navigation satellite positioning systems (GNSS). The obtained image has a high resolution, mainly because data from the IPG GNSS network of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet) are used. A specially developed format and its implementation in the form of SQL structures are used to collect, transmit, and store data. The method of high-altitude radio tomography is used to construct the three-dimensional model. The operation of all system components (from registration point organization to the procedure for constructing the electron density three-dimensional distribution and publication of the total electron content map on the Internet) has been described in detail. The three-dimensional image of the ionosphere, obtained automatically, is compared with the ionosonde measurements, calculated using the two-dimensional low-altitude tomography method and averaged by the ionospheric model.

Automatic Syllabification in English: A Comparison of Different Algorithms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchand, Yannick; Adsett, Connie R.; Damper, Robert I.

2009-01-01

Automatic syllabification of words is challenging, not least because the syllable is not easy to define precisely. Consequently, no accepted standard algorithm for automatic syllabification exists. There are two broad approaches: rule-based and data-driven. The rule-based method effectively embodies some theoretical position regarding the…

An effective automatic procedure for testing parameter identifiability of HIV/AIDS models.

PubMed

Saccomani, Maria Pia

2011-08-01

Realistic HIV models tend to be rather complex and many recent models proposed in the literature could not yet be analyzed by traditional identifiability testing techniques. In this paper, we check a priori global identifiability of some of these nonlinear HIV models taken from the recent literature, by using a differential algebra algorithm based on previous work of the author. The algorithm is implemented in a software tool, called DAISY (Differential Algebra for Identifiability of SYstems), which has been recently released (DAISY is freely available on the web site http://www.dei.unipd.it/~pia/ ). The software can be used to automatically check global identifiability of (linear and) nonlinear models described by polynomial or rational differential equations, thus providing a general and reliable tool to test global identifiability of several HIV models proposed in the literature. It can be used by researchers with a minimum of mathematical background.

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 Sea Bird Detection from High Resolution Aerial Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mader, S.; Grenzdörffer, G. J.

2016-06-01

Great efforts are presently taken in the scientific community to develop computerized and (fully) automated image processing methods allowing for an efficient and automatic monitoring of sea birds and marine mammals in ever-growing amounts of aerial imagery. Currently the major part of the processing, however, is still conducted by especially trained professionals, visually examining the images and detecting and classifying the requested subjects. This is a very tedious task, particularly when the rate of void images regularly exceeds the mark of 90%. In the content of this contribution we will present our work aiming to support the processing of aerial images by modern methods from the field of image processing. We will especially focus on the combination of local, region-based feature detection and piecewise global image segmentation for automatic detection of different sea bird species. Large image dimensions resulting from the use of medium and large-format digital cameras in aerial surveys inhibit the applicability of image processing methods based on global operations. In order to efficiently handle those image sizes and to nevertheless take advantage of globally operating segmentation algorithms, we will describe the combined usage of a simple performant feature detector based on local operations on the original image with a complex global segmentation algorithm operating on extracted sub-images. The resulting exact segmentation of possible candidates then serves as a basis for the determination of feature vectors for subsequent elimination of false candidates and for classification tasks.

Target recognition based on convolutional neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Liqiang; Wang, Xin; Xi, Fubiao; Dong, Jian

2017-11-01

One of the important part of object target recognition is the feature extraction, which can be classified into feature extraction and automatic feature extraction. The traditional neural network is one of the automatic feature extraction methods, while it causes high possibility of over-fitting due to the global connection. The deep learning algorithm used in this paper is a hierarchical automatic feature extraction method, trained with the layer-by-layer convolutional neural network (CNN), which can extract the features from lower layers to higher layers. The features are more discriminative and it is beneficial to the object target recognition.

Towards SWOT data assimilation for hydrology : automatic calibration of global flow routing model parameters in the Amazon basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mouffe, M.; Getirana, A.; Ricci, S. M.; Lion, C.; Biancamaria, S.; Boone, A.; Mognard, N. M.; Rogel, P.

2011-12-01

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is a swath mapping radar interferometer that will provide global measurements of water surface elevation (WSE). The revisit time depends upon latitude and varies from two (low latitudes) to ten (high latitudes) per 22-day orbit repeat period. The high resolution and the global coverage of the SWOT data open the way for new hydrology studies. Here, the aim is to investigate the use of virtually generated SWOT data to improve discharge simulation using data assimilation techniques. In the framework of the SWOT virtual mission (VM), this study presents the first results of the automatic calibration of a global flow routing (GFR) scheme using SWOT VM measurements for the Amazon basin. The Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP) is used along with the MOCOM-UA multi-criteria global optimization algorithm. HyMAP has a 0.25-degree spatial resolution and runs at the daily time step to simulate discharge, water levels and floodplains. The surface runoff and baseflow drainage derived from the Interactions Sol-Biosphère-Atmosphère (ISBA) model are used as inputs for HyMAP. Previous works showed that the use of ENVISAT data enables the reduction of the uncertainty on some of the hydrological model parameters, such as river width and depth, Manning roughness coefficient and groundwater time delay. In the framework of the SWOT preparation work, the automatic calibration procedure was applied using SWOT VM measurements. For this Observing System Experiment (OSE), the synthetical data were obtained applying an instrument simulator (representing realistic SWOT errors) for one hydrological year to HYMAP simulated WSE using a "true" set of parameters. Only pixels representing rivers larger than 100 meters within the Amazon basin are considered to produce SWOT VM measurements. The automatic calibration procedure leads to the estimation of optimal parametersminimizing objective functions that formulate the difference between SWOT observations and modeled WSE using a perturbed set of parameters. Different formulations of the objective function were used, especially to account for SWOT observation errors, as well as various sets of calibration parameters.

Automatic affective processing impairments in patients with deficit syndrome schizophrenia.

PubMed

Strauss, Gregory P; Allen, Daniel N; Duke, Lisa A; Ross, Sylvia A; Schwartz, Jason

2008-07-01

Affective impairments were examined in patients with and without deficit syndrome schizophrenia. Two Emotional Stroop tasks designed to measure automatic processing of emotional information were administered to deficit (n=15) and non-deficit syndrome (n=26) schizophrenia patients classified according to the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome, and matched non-patient control subjects (n=22). In comparison to non-deficit patients and controls, deficit syndrome patients demonstrated a lack of attention bias for positive information, and an elevated attentional lingering effect for negative information. These findings suggest that positive information fails to automatically capture attention of deficit syndrome patients, and that when negative information captures attention, it produces difficulty in disengagement Attentional abnormalities were significantly correlated with negative symptoms, such that more severe symptoms were associated with less attention bias for positive emotion and a greater lingering effect for negative information. Results are generally consistent with a mood-congruent processing abnormality and suggest that impaired automatic processing may be core to diminished emotional experience symptoms exhibited in deficit syndrome patients.

Capturing the Interpersonal Implications of Evolved Preferences? Frequency of Sex Shapes Automatic, but Not Explicit, Partner Evaluations.

PubMed

Hicks, Lindsey L; McNulty, James K; Meltzer, Andrea L; Olson, Michael A

2016-06-01

A strong predisposition to engage in sexual intercourse likely evolved in humans because sex is crucial to reproduction. Given that meeting interpersonal preferences tends to promote positive relationship evaluations, sex within a relationship should be positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Nevertheless, prior research has been inconclusive in demonstrating such a link, with longitudinal and experimental studies showing no association between sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction. Crucially, though, all prior research has utilized explicit reports of satisfaction, which reflect deliberative processes that may override the more automatic implications of phylogenetically older evolved preferences. Accordingly, capturing the implications of sexual frequency for relationship evaluations may require implicit measurements that bypass deliberative reasoning. Consistent with this idea, one cross-sectional and one 3-year study of newlywed couples revealed a positive association between sexual frequency and automatic partner evaluations but not explicit satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of automatic measurements to understanding interpersonal relationships. © The Author(s) 2016.

Capturing the Interpersonal Implications of Evolved Preferences? Frequency of Sex Shapes Automatic, But Not Explicit, Partner Evaluations

PubMed Central

Hicks, Lindsey L.; McNulty, James K.; Meltzer, Andrea L.; Olson, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Sex is crucial to reproduction, and thus humans likely evolved a strong predisposition to engage in sexual intercourse. Given that meeting interpersonal preferences tends to promote positive relationship evaluations, sex within a relationship should be positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Nevertheless, prior research has been inconclusive in demonstrating such a link, with longitudinal and experimental studies showing no association between sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction. Crucially, though, all prior research has utilized explicit reports of satisfaction, which reflect deliberative processes that may override the more automatic implications of phylogenetically older evolved preferences. Accordingly, capturing the implications of sexual frequency for relationship evaluations may require implicit measurements that bypass deliberative reasoning. Consistent with this idea, one cross-sectional and one three-year study of newlywed couples revealed a positive association between sexual frequency and automatic partner evaluations but not explicit satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of automatic measurements to understanding interpersonal relationships. (150 words) PMID:27084851

Global Crop Yields, Climatic Trends and Technology Enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najafi, E.; Devineni, N.; Khanbilvardi, R.; Kogan, F.

2016-12-01

During the last decades the global agricultural production has soared up and technology enhancement is still making positive contribution to yield growth. However, continuing population, water crisis, deforestation and climate change threaten the global food security. Attempts to predict food availability in the future around the world can be partly understood from the impact of changes to date. A new multilevel model for yield prediction at the country scale using climate covariates and technology trend is presented in this paper. The structural relationships between average yield and climate attributes as well as trends are estimated simultaneously. All countries are modeled in a single multilevel model with partial pooling and/or clustering to automatically group and reduce estimation uncertainties. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Geopotential height (GPH), historical CO2 level and time-trend as a relatively reliable approximation of technology measurement are used as predictors to estimate annual agricultural crop yields for each country from 1961 to 2007. Results show that these indicators can explain the variability in historical crop yields for most of the countries and the model performs well under out-of-sample verifications.

The influence of the region of interest width on two-dimensional speckle tracking-based measurements of strain and strain rate.

PubMed

Spriestersbach, Hendrik; Oh-Icí, Darach; Schmitt, Boris; Berger, Felix; Schmitz, Lothar

2015-01-01

There are significant variations in the published normal values of two-dimensional speckle tracking-derived strain and strain rate. These occur even when authors use the same software. To measure strain, the operator creates a region of interest (ROI) to define the myocardium to be analyzed. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that measurements vary significantly with the chosen ROI width. In 20 healthy subjects (11 males, mean age 17.6 ± 6.18 years) an apical four-chamber view (4CH) and parasternal short-axis view (SAX) were analyzed. Initially ROI width was set automatically by the software. Two subsequent measurements were obtained from each cine loop by choosing the ROI width one step narrower and one step wider than the automatic ROI width. The mean differences between the measurements of narrower and automatic ROI and between automatic and wider ROI were -1.8 ± 0.7% and -0.9 ± 0.5% for global longitudinal strain (SL), -2.2 ± 0.6% and -1.7 ± 0.7% for global circumferential strain (SC), -0.10 ± 0.06/sec and -0.07 ± 0.06/sec for global longitudinal strain rate (SrL), and -0.15 ± 0.09/sec and -0.12 ± 0.07/sec for global circumferential strain rate (SrC) (all P < 0.000). This corresponds to a relative difference to the mean of both measurements of -4.4 to -11.0%. Layer-specific myocardial deformation and curvature dependency lead to an inverse correlation between the chosen ROI width and strain and strain rate measurements. Just one step of ROI-width change leads to a significant bias. Precise ROI-width definition is essential but technical factors limit its feasibility. © 2014, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatic learning rate adjustment for self-supervising autonomous robot control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

1992-01-01

Described is an application in which an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) controls the positioning of a robot arm with five degrees of freedom by using visual feedback provided by two cameras. This application and the specific ANN model, local liner maps, are based on the work of Ritter, Martinetz, and Schulten. We extended their approach by generating a filtered, average positioning error from the continuous camera feedback and by coupling the learning rate to this error. When the network learns to position the arm, the positioning error decreases and so does the learning rate until the system stabilizes at a minimum error and learning rate. This abolishes the need for a predetermined cooling schedule. The automatic cooling procedure results in a closed loop control with no distinction between a learning phase and a production phase. If the positioning error suddenly starts to increase due to an internal failure such as a broken joint, or an environmental change such as a camera moving, the learning rate increases accordingly. Thus, learning is automatically activated and the network adapts to the new condition after which the error decreases again and learning is 'shut off'. The automatic cooling is therefore a prerequisite for the autonomy and the fault tolerance of the system.

Method for automatically scramming a nuclear reactor

DOEpatents

Ougouag, Abderrafi M.; Schultz, Richard R.; Terry, William K.

2005-12-27

An automatically scramming nuclear reactor system. One embodiment comprises a core having a coolant inlet end and a coolant outlet end. A cooling system operatively associated with the core provides coolant to the coolant inlet end and removes heated coolant from the coolant outlet end, thus maintaining a pressure differential therebetween during a normal operating condition of the nuclear reactor system. A guide tube is positioned within the core with a first end of the guide tube in fluid communication with the coolant inlet end of the core, and a second end of the guide tube in fluid communication with the coolant outlet end of the core. A control element is positioned within the guide tube and is movable therein between upper and lower positions, and automatically falls under the action of gravity to the lower position when the pressure differential drops below a safe pressure differential.

Automatic allograft bone selection through band registration and its application to distal femur.

PubMed

Zhang, Yu; Qiu, Lei; Li, Fengzan; Zhang, Qing; Zhang, Li; Niu, Xiaohui

2017-09-01

Clinical reports suggest that large bone defects could be effectively restored by allograft bone transplantation, where allograft bone selection acts an important role. Besides, there is a huge demand for developing the automatic allograft bone selection methods, as the automatic methods could greatly improve the management efficiency of the large bone banks. Although several automatic methods have been presented to select the most suitable allograft bone from the massive allograft bone bank, these methods still suffer from inaccuracy. In this paper, we propose an effective allograft bone selection method without using the contralateral bones. Firstly, the allograft bone is globally aligned to the recipient bone by surface registration. Then, the global alignment is further refined through band registration. The band, defined as the recipient points within the lifted and lowered cutting planes, could involve more local structure of the defected segment. Therefore, our method could achieve robust alignment and high registration accuracy of the allograft and recipient. Moreover, the existing contour method and surface method could be unified into one framework under our method by adjusting the lift and lower distances of the cutting planes. Finally, our method has been validated on the database of distal femurs. The experimental results indicate that our method outperforms the surface method and contour method.

Vertical-Control Subsystem for Automatic Coal Mining

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffiths, W. R.; Smirlock, M.; Aplin, J.; Fish, R. B.; Fish, D.

1984-01-01

Guidance and control system automatically positions cutting drums of double-ended longwall shearer so they follow coal seam. System determines location of upper interface between coal and shale and continuously adjusts cutting-drum positions, upward or downward, to track undulating interface. Objective to keep cutting edges as close as practicable to interface and thus extract as much coal as possible from seam.

Functional relationships among monitoring performance: Subjective report of thought process and compromising states of awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freeman, Frederick

1995-01-01

A biocybernetic system for use in adaptive automation was evaluated using EEG indices based on the beta, alpha, and theta bandwidths. Subjects performed a compensatory tracking task while their EEG was recorded and one of three engagement indices was derived: beta/(alpha + theta), beta/alpha, or 1/alpha. The task was switched between manual and automatic modes as a function of the subjects' level of engagement and whether they were under a positive or negative feedback condition. It was hypothesized that negative feedback would produce more switches between manual and automatic modes, and that the beta/(alpha + theta) index would produce the strongest effect. The results confirmed these hypotheses. There were no systematic changes in these effects over three 16-minute trials. Tracking performance was found to be better under negative feedback. An analysis of the different EEG bands under positive and negative feedback in manual and automatic modes found more beta power in the positive feedback/manual condition and less in the positive feedback/automatic condition. The opposite effect was observed for alpha and theta power. The implications of biocybernetic systems for adaptive automation are discussed.

FliPer: checking the reliability of global seismic parameters from automatic pipelines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bugnet, L.; García, R. A.; Davies, G. R.; Mathur, S.; Corsaro, E.

2017-12-01

Our understanding of stars through asteroseismic data analysis is limited by our ability to take advantage of the huge amount of observed stars provided by space missions such as CoRoT, \\keplerp, \\ktop, and soon TESS and PLATO. Global seismic pipelines provide global stellar parameters such as mass and radius using the mean seismic parameters, as well as the effective temperature. These pipelines are commonly used automatically on thousands of stars observed by K2 for 3 months (and soon TESS for at least ˜ 1 month). However, pipelines are not immune from misidentifying noise peaks and stellar oscillations. Therefore, new validation techniques are required to assess the quality of these results. We present a new metric called FliPer (Flicker in Power), which takes into account the average variability at all measured time scales. The proper calibration of \\powvar enables us to obtain good estimations of global stellar parameters such as surface gravity that are robust against the influence of noise peaks and hence are an excellent way to find faults in asteroseismic pipelines.

An Automatic Medium to High Fidelity Low-Thrust Global Trajectory Toolchain; EMTG-GMAT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beeson, Ryne T.; Englander, Jacob A.; Hughes, Steven P.; Schadegg, Maximillian

2015-01-01

Solving the global optimization, low-thrust, multiple-flyby interplanetary trajectory problem with high-fidelity dynamical models requires an unreasonable amount of computational resources. A better approach, and one that is demonstrated in this paper, is a multi-step process whereby the solution of the aforementioned problem is solved at a lower-fidelity and this solution is used as an initial guess for a higher-fidelity solver. The framework presented in this work uses two tools developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: the Evolutionary Mission Trajectory Generator (EMTG) and the General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT). EMTG is a medium to medium-high fidelity low-thrust interplanetary global optimization solver, which now has the capability to automatically generate GMAT script files for seeding a high-fidelity solution using GMAT's local optimization capabilities. A discussion of the dynamical models as well as thruster and power modeling for both EMTG and GMAT are given in this paper. Current capabilities are demonstrated with examples that highlight the toolchains ability to efficiently solve the difficult low-thrust global optimization problem with little human intervention.

Indoor-Outdoor Detection Using a Smart Phone Sensor.

PubMed

Wang, Weiping; Chang, Qiang; Li, Qun; Shi, Zesen; Chen, Wei

2016-09-22

In the era of mobile internet, Location Based Services (LBS) have developed dramatically. Seamless Indoor and Outdoor Navigation and Localization (SNAL) has attracted a lot of attention. No single positioning technology was capable of meeting the various positioning requirements in different environments. Selecting different positioning techniques for different environments is an alternative method. Detecting the users' current environment is crucial for this technique. In this paper, we proposed to detect the indoor/outdoor environment automatically without high energy consumption. The basic idea was simple: we applied a machine learning algorithm to classify the neighboring Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication cellular base station's signal strength in different environments, and identified the users' current context by signal pattern recognition. We tested the algorithm in four different environments. The results showed that the proposed algorithm was capable of identifying open outdoors, semi-outdoors, light indoors and deep indoors environments with 100% accuracy using the signal strength of four nearby GSM stations. The required hardware and signal are widely available in our daily lives, implying its high compatibility and availability.

Investigation of the performance of EOTD for GSM users in telematics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharawi, Mohammad S.; Aloi, Daniel N.

2003-08-01

Location-based services have been standardized for incorporation into 3rd generation wireless communications as a result of the Federal Communications Commission"s (FCC) mandate on wireless carriers to provide automatic location information (ALI) during emergency911 calls. This mandate has driven the wireless carriers to explore terrestrial, satellite, and hybrid based location technology solutions. This paper presents a communications model that investigates the position accuracyof a Global Standard Mobile (GSM) phone employing the enhanced observed time difference (EOTD) location technology. The EOTD positioning technique requires the mobile station (MS) to detect signals from at least three base stations (BS). This studyassumes the three BSs are synchronized in time. For a given BS geometry with respect to the MS, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed to assess the two-dimensional position accuracyof the MS in Rayleigh and Ricean fading channels. In each channel, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed for a good and a bad BS-to-MS geometry. The paper concludes with a list of pros/cons of implementing EOTD as a location technologyenabler in telematics applications.

Prediction of Left Ventricular Filling Pressure by 3-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease.

PubMed

Ma, Hong; Xie, Rong-Ai; Gao, Li-Jian; Zhang, Jin-Ping; Wu, Wei-Chun; Wang, Hao

2015-10-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of 3-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography for estimating left ventricular filling pressure in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. Altogether, 84 patients with CAD and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants in sinus rhythm were recruited prospectively. All participants underwent conventional and 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography. Global strain values were automatically calculated by 3D speckle-tracking analysis. The left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was determined invasively by left heart catheterization. Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization were performed within 24 hours. Compared with the controls, patients with CAD showed lower global longitudinal strain, global circumferential strain, global area strain, and global radial strain. Patients with CAD who had an elevated LVEDP had much lower levels of all 4 3D-speckle-tracking echocardiographic variables. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the LVEDP correlated positively with the early transmitral flow velocity/early diastolic myocardial velocity (E/E') ratio, global longitudinal strain, global circumferential strain, and global area strain. It correlated negatively with global radial strain. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that these 3D speckle-tracking echocardiographic indices could effectively predict elevated left ventricular filling pressure (LVEDP >15 mm Hg) in patients with CAD (areas under the curve: global longitudinal strain, 0.78; global radial strain, 0.77; global circumferential strain, 0.75; and global area strain, 0.74). These parameters, however, showed no advantages over the commonly used E/E' ratio (area under the curve, 0.84). Three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography was a practical technique for predicting elevated left ventricular filling pressure, but it might not be superior to the commonly used E/E' ratio in patients with CAD who have a normal left ventricular ejection fraction. © 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Closed circuit TV system automatically guides welding arc

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stephans, D. L.; Wall, W. A., Jr.

1968-01-01

Closed circuit television /CCTV/ system automatically guides a welding torch to position the welding arc accurately along weld seams. Digital counting and logic techniques incorporated in the control circuitry, ensure performance reliability.

An automatic locating system for cloud-to-ground lightning. [which utilizes a microcomputer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krider, E. P.; Pifer, A. E.; Uman, M. A.

1980-01-01

Automatic locating systems which respond to cloud to ground lightning and which discriminate against cloud discharges and background noise are described. Subsystems of the locating system, which include the direction finder and the position analyzer, are discussed. The direction finder senses the electromagnetic fields radiated by lightning on two orthogonal magnetic loop antennas and on a flat plate electric antenna. The position analyzer is a preprogrammed microcomputer system which automatically computes, maps, and records lightning locations in real time using data inputs from the direction finder. The use of the locating systems for wildfire management and fire weather forecasting is discussed.

Comparison of manual versus automatic continuous positive airway pressure titration and the development of a predictive equation for therapeutic continuous positive airway pressure in Chinese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.

PubMed

Luo, Jiaying; Xiao, Sichang; Qiu, Zhihui; Song, Ning; Luo, Yuanming

2013-04-01

Whether the therapeutic nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) derived from manual titration is the same as derived from automatic titration is controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare the therapeutic pressure derived from manual titration with automatic titration. Fifty-one patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (mean apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) = 50.6 ± 18.6 events/h) who were newly diagnosed after an overnight full polysomnography and who were willing to accept CPAP as a long-term treatment were recruited for the study. Manual titration during full polysomnography monitoring and unattended automatic titration with an automatic CPAP device (REMstar Auto) were performed. A separate cohort study of one hundred patients with OSA (AHI = 54.3 ± 18.9 events/h) was also performed by observing the efficacy of CPAP derived from manual titration. The treatment pressure derived from automatic titration (9.8 ± 2.2 cmH(2)O) was significantly higher than that derived from manual titration (7.3 ± 1.5 cmH(2)O; P < 0.001) in 51 patients. The cohort study of 100 patients showed that AHI was satisfactorily decreased after CPAP treatment using a pressure derived from manual titration (54.3 ± 18.9 events/h before treatment and 3.3 ± 1.7 events/h after treatment; P < 0.001). The results suggest that automatic titration pressure derived from REMstar Auto is usually higher than the pressure derived from manual titration. © 2013 The Authors. Respirology © 2013 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

On the Automaticity of Emotion Processing in Words and Faces: Event-Related Brain Potentials Evidence from a Superficial Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rellecke, Julian; Palazova, Marina; Sommer, Werner; Schacht, Annekathrin

2011-01-01

The degree to which emotional aspects of stimuli are processed automatically is controversial. Here, we assessed the automatic elicitation of emotion-related brain potentials (ERPs) to positive, negative, and neutral words and facial expressions in an easy and superficial face-word discrimination task, for which the emotional valence was…

Automatic imitation of pro- and antisocial gestures: Is implicit social behavior censored?

PubMed

Cracco, Emiel; Genschow, Oliver; Radkova, Ina; Brass, Marcel

2018-01-01

According to social reward theories, automatic imitation can be understood as a means to obtain positive social consequences. In line with this view, it has been shown that automatic imitation is modulated by contextual variables that constrain the positive outcomes of imitation. However, this work has largely neglected that many gestures have an inherent pro- or antisocial meaning. As a result of their meaning, antisocial gestures are considered taboo and should not be used in public. In three experiments, we show that automatic imitation of symbolic gestures is modulated by the social intent of these gestures. Experiment 1 (N=37) revealed reduced automatic imitation of antisocial compared with prosocial gestures. Experiment 2 (N=118) and Experiment 3 (N=118) used a social priming procedure to show that this effect was stronger in a prosocial context than in an antisocial context. These findings were supported in a within-study meta-analysis using both frequentist and Bayesian statistics. Together, our results indicate that automatic imitation is regulated by internalized social norms that act as a stop signal when inappropriate actions are triggered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flight Demonstration of Integrated Airport Surface Technologies for Increased Capacity and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Denise R.; Young, Steven D.; Wills, Robert W.; Smith, Kathryn A.; Shipman, Floyd S.; Bryant, Wayne H.; Eckhardt, Dave E., Jr.

1998-01-01

A flight demonstration was conducted to address airport surface movement area capacity and safety issues by providing pilots with enhanced situational awareness information. The demonstration presented an integration of several technologies to government and industry representatives. These technologies consisted of an electronic moving map display in the cockpit, a Differential Global Positioning system (DGPS) receiver, a high speed very high frequency (VHF) data link, an Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-3) radar, and the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS). Aircraft identification was presented to an air traffic controller on an AMASS display. The onboard electronic map included the display of taxi routes, hold instructions, and clearances, which were sent to the aircraft via data link by the controller. The map also displayed the positions of other traffic and warning information, which were sent to the aircraft automatically from the ASDE-3/AMASS system. This paper describes the flight demonstration in detail, along with test results.

Development of building security integration system using sensors, microcontroller and GPS (Global Positioning System) based android smartphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sihombing, P.; Siregar, Y. M.; Tarigan, J. T.; Jaya, I.; Turnip, A.

2018-03-01

Security system is one of the common problems to protect an environment such as personal house or a warehouse. There are numerous methods and technologies that can be used as part of a security system. In this paper, we present a security system that offers a better efficiency. The purpose of this study is to build a system that can monitor home security at any time in particular fire and theft. Through sensors, the system will be able to provide warning information of hazard conditions via LCD monitor, sound, and alarm. This information will be sent automatically to the home owner’s smartphone as well as to the corresponding to the security agency. Thus the prevention of theft and fire hazards can be immediately anticipated by the police and firefighters. The system will also notify the position of the coordinates of the location of the building (the house) by a link to the Google map in order to make it easier to get the location quickly.

A high-resolution global flood hazard model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sampson, Christopher C.; Smith, Andrew M.; Bates, Paul B.; Neal, Jeffrey C.; Alfieri, Lorenzo; Freer, Jim E.

2015-09-01

Floods are a natural hazard that affect communities worldwide, but to date the vast majority of flood hazard research and mapping has been undertaken by wealthy developed nations. As populations and economies have grown across the developing world, so too has demand from governments, businesses, and NGOs for modeled flood hazard data in these data-scarce regions. We identify six key challenges faced when developing a flood hazard model that can be applied globally and present a framework methodology that leverages recent cross-disciplinary advances to tackle each challenge. The model produces return period flood hazard maps at ˜90 m resolution for the whole terrestrial land surface between 56°S and 60°N, and results are validated against high-resolution government flood hazard data sets from the UK and Canada. The global model is shown to capture between two thirds and three quarters of the area determined to be at risk in the benchmark data without generating excessive false positive predictions. When aggregated to ˜1 km, mean absolute error in flooded fraction falls to ˜5%. The full complexity global model contains an automatically parameterized subgrid channel network, and comparison to both a simplified 2-D only variant and an independently developed pan-European model shows the explicit inclusion of channels to be a critical contributor to improved model performance. While careful processing of existing global terrain data sets enables reasonable model performance in urban areas, adoption of forthcoming next-generation global terrain data sets will offer the best prospect for a step-change improvement in model performance.

A high‐resolution global flood hazard model†

PubMed Central

Smith, Andrew M.; Bates, Paul D.; Neal, Jeffrey C.; Alfieri, Lorenzo; Freer, Jim E.

2015-01-01

Abstract Floods are a natural hazard that affect communities worldwide, but to date the vast majority of flood hazard research and mapping has been undertaken by wealthy developed nations. As populations and economies have grown across the developing world, so too has demand from governments, businesses, and NGOs for modeled flood hazard data in these data‐scarce regions. We identify six key challenges faced when developing a flood hazard model that can be applied globally and present a framework methodology that leverages recent cross‐disciplinary advances to tackle each challenge. The model produces return period flood hazard maps at ∼90 m resolution for the whole terrestrial land surface between 56°S and 60°N, and results are validated against high‐resolution government flood hazard data sets from the UK and Canada. The global model is shown to capture between two thirds and three quarters of the area determined to be at risk in the benchmark data without generating excessive false positive predictions. When aggregated to ∼1 km, mean absolute error in flooded fraction falls to ∼5%. The full complexity global model contains an automatically parameterized subgrid channel network, and comparison to both a simplified 2‐D only variant and an independently developed pan‐European model shows the explicit inclusion of channels to be a critical contributor to improved model performance. While careful processing of existing global terrain data sets enables reasonable model performance in urban areas, adoption of forthcoming next‐generation global terrain data sets will offer the best prospect for a step‐change improvement in model performance. PMID:27594719

Air traffic management system design using satellite based geo-positioning and communications assets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horkin, Phil

1995-01-01

The current FAA and ICAO FANS vision of Air Traffic Management will transition the functions of Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance to satellite based assets in the 21st century. Fundamental to widespread acceptance of this vision is a geo-positioning system that can provide worldwide access with best case differential GPS performance, but without the associated problems. A robust communications capability linking-up aircraft and towers to meet the voice and data requirements is also essential. The current GPS constellation does not provide continuous global coverage with a sufficient number of satellites to meet the precision landing requirements as set by the world community. Periodic loss of the minimum number of satellites in view creates an integrity problem, which prevents GPS from becoming the primary system for navigation. Furthermore, there is reluctance on the part of many countries to depend on assets like GPS and GLONASS which are controlled by military communities. This paper addresses these concerns and provides a system solving the key issues associated with navigation, automatic dependent surveillance, and flexible communications. It contains an independent GPS-like navigation system with 27 satellites providing global coverage with a minimum of six in view at all times. Robust communications is provided by a network of TDMA/FDMA communications payloads contained on these satellites. This network can support simultaneous communications for up to 30,000 links, nearly enough to simultaneously support three times the current global fleet of jumbo air passenger aircraft. All of the required hardware is directly traceable to existing designs.

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.

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.

Introduction To ITS/CVO Participant Manual, Course 1

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-08-01

WEIGH-IN-MOTION OR WIM, COMMERCIAL VEHICLE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND NETWORK OR CVISN, AUTOMATIC VEHICLE INDENTIFICATION OR AVI, AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION OR AVL, ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE OR EDI, GLOCAL POSITIONING SYSTEM OR GPS, INTERNET OR WORD W...

Personal Beacon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

The MicroPLB (personal locator beacon) is a search and rescue satellite-aided tracking (SARSAT) transmitter. When activated it emits a distress signal to a constellation of internationally operated satellites. The endangered person's identity and location anywhere on Earth is automatically forwarded to central monitoring stations around the world. It is accurate to within just a few meters. The user uses the device to download navigation data from a global positioning satellite receiver. After the download is complete, the MicroPLB functions as a self-locating beacon. Also, it is the only PLB to use a safe battery. In the past, other PLB devices have used batteries that have enough volatility to explode with extreme force. It was developed by Microwave Monolithic, Inc. through SBIR funding from Glenn Research Center and Goddard Space Flight Center.

An Electronic Tree Inventory for Arboriculture Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tait, Roger J.; Allen, Tony J.; Sherkat, Nasser; Bellett-Travers, Marcus D.

The integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology into mobile devices provides them with an awareness of their physical location. This geospatial context can be employed in a wide range of applications including locating nearby places of interest as well as guiding emergency services to incidents. In this research, a GPS-enabled Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is used to create a computerised tree inventory for the management of arboriculture. Using the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), GPS information and arboreal image data are sent to a web-server. An office-based PC running customised Geographical Information Software (GIS) then automatically retrieves the GPS tagged image data for display and analysis purposes. The resulting application allows an expert user to view the condition of individual trees in greater detail than is possible using remotely sensed imagery.

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.

A lymphocyte spatial distribution graph-based method for automated classification of recurrence risk on lung cancer images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garciá-Arteaga, Juan D.; Corredor, Germán.; Wang, Xiangxue; Velcheti, Vamsidhar; Madabhushi, Anant; Romero, Eduardo

2017-11-01

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes occurs when various classes of white blood cells migrate from the blood stream towards the tumor, infiltrating it. The presence of TIL is predictive of the response of the patient to therapy. In this paper, we show how the automatic detection of lymphocytes in digital H and E histopathological images and the quantitative evaluation of the global lymphocyte configuration, evaluated through global features extracted from non-parametric graphs, constructed from the lymphocytes' detected positions, can be correlated to the patient's outcome in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The method was assessed on a tissue microarray cohort composed of 63 NSCLC cases. From the evaluated graphs, minimum spanning trees and K-nn showed the highest predictive ability, yielding F1 Scores of 0.75 and 0.72 and accuracies of 0.67 and 0.69, respectively. The predictive power of the proposed methodology indicates that graphs may be used to develop objective measures of the infiltration grade of tumors, which can, in turn, be used by pathologists to improve the decision making and treatment planning processes.

Dynamic load balancing of applications

DOEpatents

Wheat, Stephen R.

1997-01-01

An application-level method for dynamically maintaining global load balance on a parallel computer, particularly on massively parallel MIMD computers. Global load balancing is achieved by overlapping neighborhoods of processors, where each neighborhood performs local load balancing. The method supports a large class of finite element and finite difference based applications and provides an automatic element management system to which applications are easily integrated.

System identification for precision control of a wingsailed GPS-guided catamaran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elkaim, Gabriel Hugh

This thesis details the Atlantis project, whose aim is the design, development, and experimental testing of an autonomous wind-propelled marine craft. Functionally, such a vehicle is the marine equivalent of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and would serve similar purposes. The Atlantis project has been able to demonstrate an advance in control precision of a wind-propelled marine vehicle from typical commercial autopilot accuracy of 100 meters to an accuracy of better than one meter with a prototype based on a modified Prindle-19 light catamaran. The project involves substantial innovations in three areas: wind-propulsion system, overall system architecture, and sensors. The wind-propulsion system is a rigid wing-sail mounted vertically on bearings, mass balanced to allow free rotation in azimuth about a stub-mast. Aerodynamic torque about the stub-mast is trimmed using a flying tail mounted on booms aft of the wing. This arrangement allows the wing-sail to automatically attain the optimum angle to the wind, and weathervane into gusts without inducing large heeling moments. The sensor system uses differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) augmented by a low-cost attitude system based on accelerometer- and magnetometer-triads for position and velocity measurements. Accurate attitude determination is required to create a synthetic position sensor that is located at the center-of-gravity (c.g.) of the boat, rather than at the Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna location. A high-performance estimator/controller was implemented and tested on the full-scale prototype. The identified controllers were able to perform remarkably well, in the presence of wind and waves, tracking the desired line to within 0.3 meters (˜1 foot).

Balanced states of mind in psychopathology and psychological well-being.

PubMed

Wong, Shyh Shin

2010-08-01

The balanced states of mind (BSOM) model proposes that coping with stress and psychological well-being is a function of the BSOM ratio of positive thoughts to the sum of positive and negative thoughts. Based on different BSOM ratios, different BSOM categories are constructed to quantitatively differentiate levels of coping with stress and psychological well-being. The cognitive content-specificity hypothesis states that there are unique themes of semantic content in self-reported automatic thoughts particular to depression or anxiety. This study investigated the BSOM model and its cognitive content-specificity for depression, anxiety, anger, stress, life satisfaction, and happiness, based on negative and positive automatic thoughts. Three hundred and ninety-eight college students from Singapore participated in this study. First, BSOM ratio and positive automatic thoughts were positively correlated with life satisfaction and happiness, and negatively correlated with stress, anxiety, depression, and anger. In contrast, negative automatic thoughts were positively correlated with stress, anxiety, depression, and anger, and negatively correlated with life satisfaction and happiness. Second, levels of psychopathology and psychological well-being were statistically differentiable among the BSOM categories for depression, happiness, perceived stress, and life satisfaction; and less statistically differentiable among the BSOM categories for anxiety and anger, as expected based on the BSOM model and cognitive content-specificity hypothesis. Third, the results were more supportive of the BSOM model for depression, followed by happiness, perceived stress, life satisfaction, anxiety, and anger in terms of percentage of variance accounted for by BSOM categories, as expected based on the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis. Taken together, the results suggested that the more moderately positive thoughts one has (balanced by negative thoughts), the better mental health outcomes one has. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

Abscess in the Lungs

MedlinePlus

... the Professional version Also of Interest Test your knowledge Which of the following automatically closes during swallowing, ... Learn more about our commitment to Global Medical Knowledge . Merck Manuals About Disclaimer Permissions Privacy Contributors Terms ...

An automatic markerless registration method for neurosurgical robotics based on an optical camera.

PubMed

Meng, Fanle; Zhai, Fangwen; Zeng, Bowei; Ding, Hui; Wang, Guangzhi

2018-02-01

Current markerless registration methods for neurosurgical robotics use the facial surface to match the robot space with the image space, and acquisition of the facial surface usually requires manual interaction and constrains the patient to a supine position. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a registration method that is automatic and does not constrain patient position. An optical camera attached to the robot end effector captures images around the patient's head from multiple views. Then, high coverage of the head surface is reconstructed from the images through multi-view stereo vision. Since the acquired head surface point cloud contains color information, a specific mark that is manually drawn on the patient's head prior to the capture procedure can be extracted to automatically accomplish coarse registration rather than using facial anatomic landmarks. Then, fine registration is achieved by registering the high coverage of the head surface without relying solely on the facial region, thus eliminating patient position constraints. The head surface was acquired by the camera with a good repeatability accuracy. The average target registration error of 8 different patient positions measured with targets inside a head phantom was [Formula: see text], while the mean surface registration error was [Formula: see text]. The method proposed in this paper achieves automatic markerless registration in multiple patient positions and guarantees registration accuracy inside the head. This method provides a new approach for establishing the spatial relationship between the image space and the robot space.

Improved pressure-velocity coupling algorithm based on minimization of global residual norm

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

Chatwani, A.U.; Turan, A.

1991-01-01

In this paper an improved pressure velocity coupling algorithm is proposed based on the minimization of the global residual norm. The procedure is applied to SIMPLE and SIMPLEC algorithms to automatically select the pressure underrelaxation factor to minimize the global residual norm at each iteration level. Test computations for three-dimensional turbulent, isothermal flow is a toroidal vortex combustor indicate that velocity underrelaxation factors as high as 0.7 can be used to obtain a converged solution in 300 iterations.

A segmentation approach for a delineation of terrestrial ecoregions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nowosad, J.; Stepinski, T.

2017-12-01

Terrestrial ecoregions are the result of regionalization of land into homogeneous units of similar ecological and physiographic features. Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (TEW) is a commonly used global ecoregionalization based on expert knowledge and in situ observations. Ecological Land Units (ELUs) is a global classification of 250 meters-sized cells into 4000 types on the basis of the categorical values of four environmental variables. ELUs are automatically calculated and reproducible but they are not a regionalization which makes them impractical for GIS-based spatial analysis and for comparison with TEW. We have regionalized terrestrial ecosystems on the basis of patterns of the same variables (land cover, soils, landform, and bioclimate) previously used in ELUs. Considering patterns of categorical variables makes segmentation and thus regionalization possible. Original raster datasets of the four variables are first transformed into regular grids of square-sized blocks of their cells called eco-sites. Eco-sites are elementary land units containing local patterns of physiographic characteristics and thus assumed to contain a single ecosystem. Next, eco-sites are locally aggregated using a procedure analogous to image segmentation. The procedure optimizes pattern homogeneity of all four environmental variables within each segment. The result is a regionalization of the landmass into land units characterized by uniform pattern of land cover, soils, landforms, climate, and, by inference, by uniform ecosystem. Because several disjoined segments may have very similar characteristics, we cluster the segments to obtain a smaller set of segment types which we identify with ecoregions. Our approach is automatic, reproducible, updatable, and customizable. It yields the first automatic delineation of ecoregions on the global scale. In the resulting vector database each ecoregion/segment is described by numerous attributes which make it a valuable GIS resource for global ecological and conservation studies.

Automatic 3D segmentation of spinal cord MRI using propagated deformable models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Leener, B.; Cohen-Adad, J.; Kadoury, S.

2014-03-01

Spinal cord diseases or injuries can cause dysfunction of the sensory and locomotor systems. Segmentation of the spinal cord provides measures of atrophy and allows group analysis of multi-parametric MRI via inter-subject registration to a template. All these measures were shown to improve diagnostic and surgical intervention. We developed a framework to automatically segment the spinal cord on T2-weighted MR images, based on the propagation of a deformable model. The algorithm is divided into three parts: first, an initialization step detects the spinal cord position and orientation by using the elliptical Hough transform on multiple adjacent axial slices to produce an initial tubular mesh. Second, a low-resolution deformable model is iteratively propagated along the spinal cord. To deal with highly variable contrast levels between the spinal cord and the cerebrospinal fluid, the deformation is coupled with a contrast adaptation at each iteration. Third, a refinement process and a global deformation are applied on the low-resolution mesh to provide an accurate segmentation of the spinal cord. Our method was evaluated against a semi-automatic edge-based snake method implemented in ITK-SNAP (with heavy manual adjustment) by computing the 3D Dice coefficient, mean and maximum distance errors. Accuracy and robustness were assessed from 8 healthy subjects. Each subject had two volumes: one at the cervical and one at the thoracolumbar region. Results show a precision of 0.30 +/- 0.05 mm (mean absolute distance error) in the cervical region and 0.27 +/- 0.06 mm in the thoracolumbar region. The 3D Dice coefficient was of 0.93 for both regions.

Electron Flux Dropouts at L ˜ 4.2 From Global Positioning System Satellites: Occurrences, Magnitudes, and Main Driving Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boynton, R. J.; Mourenas, D.; Balikhin, M. A.

2017-11-01

Dropouts in electron fluxes at L ˜ 4.2 were investigated for a broad range of energies from 120 keV to 10 MeV, using 16 years of electron flux data from Combined X-ray Dosimeter on board Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. Dropouts were defined as flux decreases by at least a factor 4 in 12 h, or 24 h during which a decrease by at least a factor of 1.5 must occur during each 12 h time bin. Such fast and strong dropouts were automatically identified from the GPS electron flux data and statistics of dropout magnitudes, and occurrences were compiled as a function of electron energy. Moreover, the Error Reduction Ratio analysis was employed to search for nonlinear relationships between electron flux dropouts and various solar wind and geomagnetic activity indices, in order to identify potential external causes of dropouts. At L ˜ 4.2, the main driving factor for the more numerous and stronger 1-10 MeV electron dropouts turns out to be the southward interplanetary magnetic field Bs, suggesting an important effect from precipitation loss due to combined electromagnetic ion cyclotron and whistler mode waves in a significant fraction of these events, supplementing magnetopause shadowing and outward radial diffusion which are also effective at lower energies.

In search of cybernautics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crow, Steven

1996-01-01

This is a talk about the future of aviation in the information age. Ages come and go. Certainly the atomic age came and went, but the information age looks different. This talk reviews some recent experiments on navigation and control with the Global Positioning System. Vertical position accuracies within 1 foot have been demonstrated in the most recent experiments, and research emphases have shifted to issues of integrity, continuity, and availability. Inertial navigation systems (INS) contribute much to the reliability of GPS-based autoland systems. The GPS data stream can cease, and INS can still complete a precision landing from an altitude of 200 feet. The future of aviation looks like automatic airplanes communicating among each other to schedule ground assets and to avoid collisions and wake hazards. The business of the FAA will be to assure integrity of global navigation systems, to develop and maintain the software rules of the air, and to provide expert pilots to handle emergencies from the ground via radio control. The future of aviation is democratic and lends itself to personal airplanes. Some data analyses reveal that personal airplanes are just as efficient as large turbofan transports and just as fast over distances up to 1,000 miles, thanks to the decelerative influence of the hub and spoke system. Maybe by the year 2020, the airplane will rank with the automobile and computer as an agent of personal freedom.

Assessment of GNSS-based height data of multiple ships for measuring and forecasting great tsunamis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inazu, Daisuke; Waseda, Takuji; Hibiya, Toshiyuki; Ohta, Yusaku

2016-12-01

Ship height positioning by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) was investigated for measuring and forecasting great tsunamis. We first examined GNSS height-positioning data of a navigating vessel. If we use the kinematic precise point positioning (PPP) method, tsunamis greater than 10-1 m will be detected by ship height positioning. Based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, we found that tens of cargo ships and tankers are usually identified to navigate over the Nankai Trough, southwest Japan. We assumed that a future Nankai Trough great earthquake tsunami will be observed by the kinematic PPP height positioning of an AIS-derived ship distribution, and examined the tsunami forecast capability of the offshore tsunami measurements based on the PPP-based ship height. A method to estimate the initial tsunami height distribution using offshore tsunami observations was used for forecasting. Tsunami forecast tests were carried out using simulated tsunami data by the PPP-based ship height of 92 cargo ships/tankers, and by currently operating deep-sea pressure and Global Positioning System (GPS) buoy observations at 71 stations over the Nankai Trough. The forecast capability using the PPP-based height of the 92 ships was shown to be comparable to or better than that using the operating offshore observatories at the 71 stations. We suppose that, immediately after the occurrence of a great earthquake, stations receiving successive ship information (AIS data) along certain areas of the coast would fail to acquire ship data due to strong ground shaking, especially near the epicenter. Such a situation would significantly deteriorate the tsunami-forecast capability using ship data. On the other hand, operational real-time analysis of seismic/geodetic data would be carried out for estimating a tsunamigenic fault model. Incorporating the seismic/geodetic fault model estimation into the tsunami forecast above possibly compensates for the deteriorated forecast capability.

Origin of Emotion Effects on ERP Correlates of Emotional Word Processing: The Emotion Duality Approach.

PubMed

Imbir, Kamil Konrad; Jarymowicz, Maria Teresa; Spustek, Tomasz; Kuś, Rafał; Żygierewicz, Jarosław

2015-01-01

We distinguish two evaluative systems which evoke automatic and reflective emotions. Automatic emotions are direct reactions to stimuli whereas reflective emotions are always based on verbalized (and often abstract) criteria of evaluation. We conducted an electroencephalography (EEG) study in which 25 women were required to read and respond to emotional words which engaged either the automatic or reflective system. Stimulus words were emotional (positive or negative) and neutral. We found an effect of valence on an early response with dipolar fronto-occipital topography; positive words evoked a higher amplitude response than negative words. We also found that topographically specific differences in the amplitude of the late positive complex were related to the system involved in processing. Emotional stimuli engaging the automatic system were associated with significantly higher amplitudes in the left-parietal region; the response to neutral words was similar regardless of the system engaged. A different pattern of effects was observed in the central region, neutral stimuli engaging the reflective system evoked a higher amplitudes response whereas there was no system effect for emotional stimuli. These differences could not be reduced to effects of differences between the arousing properties and concreteness of the words used as stimuli.

Automatic depth grading tool to successfully adapt stereoscopic 3D content to digital cinema and home viewing environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thébault, Cédric; Doyen, Didier; Routhier, Pierre; Borel, Thierry

2013-03-01

To ensure an immersive, yet comfortable experience, significant work is required during post-production to adapt the stereoscopic 3D (S3D) content to the targeted display and its environment. On the one hand, the content needs to be reconverged using horizontal image translation (HIT) so as to harmonize the depth across the shots. On the other hand, to prevent edge violation, specific re-convergence is required and depending on the viewing conditions floating windows need to be positioned. In order to simplify this time-consuming work we propose a depth grading tool that automatically adapts S3D content to digital cinema or home viewing environments. Based on a disparity map, a stereo point of interest in each shot is automatically evaluated. This point of interest is used for depth matching, i.e. to position the objects of interest of consecutive shots in a same plane so as to reduce visual fatigue. The tool adapts the re-convergence to avoid edge-violation, hyper-convergence and hyper-divergence. Floating windows are also automatically positioned. The method has been tested on various types of S3D content, and the results have been validated by a stereographer.

Origin of Emotion Effects on ERP Correlates of Emotional Word Processing: The Emotion Duality Approach

PubMed Central

Imbir, Kamil Konrad; Jarymowicz, Maria Teresa; Spustek, Tomasz; Kuś, Rafał; Żygierewicz, Jarosław

2015-01-01

We distinguish two evaluative systems which evoke automatic and reflective emotions. Automatic emotions are direct reactions to stimuli whereas reflective emotions are always based on verbalized (and often abstract) criteria of evaluation. We conducted an electroencephalography (EEG) study in which 25 women were required to read and respond to emotional words which engaged either the automatic or reflective system. Stimulus words were emotional (positive or negative) and neutral. We found an effect of valence on an early response with dipolar fronto-occipital topography; positive words evoked a higher amplitude response than negative words. We also found that topographically specific differences in the amplitude of the late positive complex were related to the system involved in processing. Emotional stimuli engaging the automatic system were associated with significantly higher amplitudes in the left-parietal region; the response to neutral words was similar regardless of the system engaged. A different pattern of effects was observed in the central region, neutral stimuli engaging the reflective system evoked a higher amplitudes response whereas there was no system effect for emotional stimuli. These differences could not be reduced to effects of differences between the arousing properties and concreteness of the words used as stimuli. PMID:25955719

Automatic anatomy recognition via multiobject oriented active shape models.

PubMed

Chen, Xinjian; Udupa, Jayaram K; Alavi, Abass; Torigian, Drew A

2010-12-01

This paper studies the feasibility of developing an automatic anatomy recognition (AAR) system in clinical radiology and demonstrates its operation on clinical 2D images. The anatomy recognition method described here consists of two main components: (a) multiobject generalization of OASM and (b) object recognition strategies. The OASM algorithm is generalized to multiple objects by including a model for each object and assigning a cost structure specific to each object in the spirit of live wire. The delineation of multiobject boundaries is done in MOASM via a three level dynamic programming algorithm, wherein the first level is at pixel level which aims to find optimal oriented boundary segments between successive landmarks, the second level is at landmark level which aims to find optimal location for the landmarks, and the third level is at the object level which aims to find optimal arrangement of object boundaries over all objects. The object recognition strategy attempts to find that pose vector (consisting of translation, rotation, and scale component) for the multiobject model that yields the smallest total boundary cost for all objects. The delineation and recognition accuracies were evaluated separately utilizing routine clinical chest CT, abdominal CT, and foot MRI data sets. The delineation accuracy was evaluated in terms of true and false positive volume fractions (TPVF and FPVF). The recognition accuracy was assessed (1) in terms of the size of the space of the pose vectors for the model assembly that yielded high delineation accuracy, (2) as a function of the number of objects and objects' distribution and size in the model, (3) in terms of the interdependence between delineation and recognition, and (4) in terms of the closeness of the optimum recognition result to the global optimum. When multiple objects are included in the model, the delineation accuracy in terms of TPVF can be improved to 97%-98% with a low FPVF of 0.1%-0.2%. Typically, a recognition accuracy of > or = 90% yielded a TPVF > or = 95% and FPVF < or = 0.5%. Over the three data sets and over all tested objects, in 97% of the cases, the optimal solutions found by the proposed method constituted the true global optimum. The experimental results showed the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed automatic anatomy recognition system. Increasing the number of objects in the model can significantly improve both recognition and delineation accuracy. More spread out arrangement of objects in the model can lead to improved recognition and delineation accuracy. Including larger objects in the model also improved recognition and delineation. The proposed method almost always finds globally optimum solutions.

Strategies for registering range images from unknown camera positions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardini, Fausto; Rushmeier, Holly E.

2000-03-01

We describe a project to construct a 3D numerical model of Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta to be used in a study of the sculpture. Here we focus on the registration of the range images used to construct the model. The major challenge was the range of length scales involved. A resolution of 1 mm or less required for the 2.25 m tall piece. To achieve this resolution, we could only acquire an area of 20 by 20 cm per scan. A total of approximately 700 images were required. Ideally, a tracker would be attached to the scanner to record position and pose. The use of a tracker was not possible in the field. Instead, we used a crude-to-fine approach to registering the meshes to one another. The crudest level consisted of pairwise manual registration, aided by texture maps containing laser dots that were projected onto the sculpture. This crude alignment was refined by an automatic registration of laser dot centers. In this phase, we found that consistency constraints on dot matches were essential to obtaining accurate results. The laser dot alignment was refined by an automatic registration of laser dot centers. In this phase, we found that consistency constraints on dot matches were essential to obtaining accurate results. The laser dot alignment was further refined using a variation of the ICP algorithm developed by Besl and McKay. In the application of ICP to global registration, we developed a method to avoid one class of local minima by finding a set of points, rather than the single point, that matches each candidate point.

A 3D Laser Profiling System for Rail Surface Defect Detection

PubMed Central

Li, Qingquan; Mao, Qingzhou; Zou, Qin

2017-01-01

Rail surface defects such as the abrasion, scratch and peeling often cause damages to the train wheels and rail bearings. An efficient and accurate detection of rail defects is of vital importance for the safety of railway transportation. In the past few decades, automatic rail defect detection has been studied; however, most developed methods use optic-imaging techniques to collect the rail surface data and are still suffering from a high false recognition rate. In this paper, a novel 3D laser profiling system (3D-LPS) is proposed, which integrates a laser scanner, odometer, inertial measurement unit (IMU) and global position system (GPS) to capture the rail surface profile data. For automatic defect detection, first, the deviation between the measured profile and a standard rail model profile is computed for each laser-imaging profile, and the points with large deviations are marked as candidate defect points. Specifically, an adaptive iterative closest point (AICP) algorithm is proposed to register the point sets of the measured profile with the standard rail model profile, and the registration precision is improved to the sub-millimeter level. Second, all of the measured profiles are combined together to form the rail surface through a high-precision positioning process with the IMU, odometer and GPS data. Third, the candidate defect points are merged into candidate defect regions using the K-means clustering. At last, the candidate defect regions are classified by a decision tree classifier. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed laser-profiling system in rail surface defect detection and classification. PMID:28777323

Evaluation of odometry algorithm performances using a railway vehicle dynamic model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allotta, B.; Pugi, L.; Ridolfi, A.; Malvezzi, M.; Vettori, G.; Rindi, A.

2012-05-01

In modern railway Automatic Train Protection and Automatic Train Control systems, odometry is a safety relevant on-board subsystem which estimates the instantaneous speed and the travelled distance of the train; a high reliability of the odometry estimate is fundamental, since an error on the train position may lead to a potentially dangerous overestimation of the distance available for braking. To improve the odometry estimate accuracy, data fusion of different inputs coming from a redundant sensor layout may be used. Simplified two-dimensional models of railway vehicles have been usually used for Hardware in the Loop test rig testing of conventional odometry algorithms and of on-board safety relevant subsystems (like the Wheel Slide Protection braking system) in which the train speed is estimated from the measures of the wheel angular speed. Two-dimensional models are not suitable to develop solutions like the inertial type localisation algorithms (using 3D accelerometers and 3D gyroscopes) and the introduction of Global Positioning System (or similar) or the magnetometer. In order to test these algorithms correctly and increase odometry performances, a three-dimensional multibody model of a railway vehicle has been developed, using Matlab-Simulink™, including an efficient contact model which can simulate degraded adhesion conditions (the development and prototyping of odometry algorithms involve the simulation of realistic environmental conditions). In this paper, the authors show how a 3D railway vehicle model, able to simulate the complex interactions arising between different on-board subsystems, can be useful to evaluate the odometry algorithm and safety relevant to on-board subsystem performances.

A New Automatic Method of Urban Areas Mapping in East Asia from LANDSAT Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

XU, R.; Jia, G.

2012-12-01

Cities, as places where human activities are concentrated, account for a small percent of global land cover but are frequently cited as the chief causes of, and solutions to, climate, biogeochemistry, and hydrology processes at local, regional, and global scales. Accompanying with uncontrolled economic growth, urban sprawl has been attributed to the accelerating integration of East Asia into the world economy and involved dramatic changes in its urban form and land use. To understand the impact of urban extent on biogeophysical processes, reliable mapping of built-up areas is particularly essential in eastern cities as a result of their characteristics of smaller patches, more fragile, and a lower fraction of the urban landscape which does not have natural than in the West. Segmentation of urban land from other land-cover types using remote sensing imagery can be done by standard classification processes as well as a logic rule calculation based on spectral indices and their derivations. Efforts to establish such a logic rule with no threshold for automatically mapping are highly worthwhile. Existing automatic methods are reviewed, and then a proposed approach is introduced including the calculation of the new index and the improved logic rule. Following this, existing automatic methods as well as the proposed approach are compared in a common context. Afterwards, the proposed approach is tested separately in cities of large, medium, and small scale in East Asia selected from different LANDSAT images. The results are promising as the approach can efficiently segment urban areas, even in the presence of more complex eastern cities. Key words: Urban extraction; Automatic Method; Logic Rule; LANDSAT images; East AisaThe Proposed Approach of Extraction of Urban Built-up Areas in Guangzhou, China

Automatic segmentation of the left ventricle in a cardiac MR short axis image using blind morphological operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irshad, Mehreen; Muhammad, Nazeer; Sharif, Muhammad; Yasmeen, Mussarat

2018-04-01

Conventionally, cardiac MR image analysis is done manually. Automatic examination for analyzing images can replace the monotonous tasks of massive amounts of data to analyze the global and regional functions of the cardiac left ventricle (LV). This task is performed using MR images to calculate the analytic cardiac parameter like end-systolic volume, end-diastolic volume, ejection fraction, and myocardial mass, respectively. These analytic parameters depend upon genuine delineation of epicardial, endocardial, papillary muscle, and trabeculations contours. In this paper, we propose an automatic segmentation method using the sum of absolute differences technique to localize the left ventricle. Blind morphological operations are proposed to segment and detect the LV contours of the epicardium and endocardium, automatically. We test the benchmark Sunny Brook dataset for evaluation of the proposed work. Contours of epicardium and endocardium are compared quantitatively to determine contour's accuracy and observe high matching values. Similarity or overlapping of an automatic examination to the given ground truth analysis by an expert are observed with high accuracy as with an index value of 91.30% . The proposed method for automatic segmentation gives better performance relative to existing techniques in terms of accuracy.

A State-of-the-Art Assessment of Automatic Name Placement.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-08-01

develop an automatic name placement system. 11 Balodis, M., "Positioning of typography on maps," Proc. ACSM Pall Con- vention, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sept...1983, pp. 28-44. This article deals with the selection of typography for maps. It describes psycho-visual experiments with groups of individuals to...Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12181, May 1984. (Also available as Tech. Rept. IPL-TR-063.) SBalodis, M., "Positioning of typography on maps," Proc

Automatic identification of inertial sensor placement on human body segments during walking

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Current inertial motion capture systems are rarely used in biomedical applications. The attachment and connection of the sensors with cables is often a complex and time consuming task. Moreover, it is prone to errors, because each sensor has to be attached to a predefined body segment. By using wireless inertial sensors and automatic identification of their positions on the human body, the complexity of the set-up can be reduced and incorrect attachments are avoided. We present a novel method for the automatic identification of inertial sensors on human body segments during walking. This method allows the user to place (wireless) inertial sensors on arbitrary body segments. Next, the user walks for just a few seconds and the segment to which each sensor is attached is identified automatically. Methods Walking data was recorded from ten healthy subjects using an Xsens MVN Biomech system with full-body configuration (17 inertial sensors). Subjects were asked to walk for about 6 seconds at normal walking speed (about 5 km/h). After rotating the sensor data to a global coordinate frame with x-axis in walking direction, y-axis pointing left and z-axis vertical, RMS, mean, and correlation coefficient features were extracted from x-, y- and z-components and magnitudes of the accelerations, angular velocities and angular accelerations. As a classifier, a decision tree based on the C4.5 algorithm was developed using Weka (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis). Results and conclusions After testing the algorithm with 10-fold cross-validation using 31 walking trials (involving 527 sensors), 514 sensors were correctly classified (97.5%). When a decision tree for a lower body plus trunk configuration (8 inertial sensors) was trained and tested using 10-fold cross-validation, 100% of the sensors were correctly identified. This decision tree was also tested on walking trials of 7 patients (17 walking trials) after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, which also resulted in 100% correct identification, thus illustrating the robustness of the method. PMID:23517757

Automatic identification of inertial sensor placement on human body segments during walking.

PubMed

Weenk, Dirk; van Beijnum, Bert-Jan F; Baten, Chris T M; Hermens, Hermie J; Veltink, Peter H

2013-03-21

Current inertial motion capture systems are rarely used in biomedical applications. The attachment and connection of the sensors with cables is often a complex and time consuming task. Moreover, it is prone to errors, because each sensor has to be attached to a predefined body segment. By using wireless inertial sensors and automatic identification of their positions on the human body, the complexity of the set-up can be reduced and incorrect attachments are avoided.We present a novel method for the automatic identification of inertial sensors on human body segments during walking. This method allows the user to place (wireless) inertial sensors on arbitrary body segments. Next, the user walks for just a few seconds and the segment to which each sensor is attached is identified automatically. Walking data was recorded from ten healthy subjects using an Xsens MVN Biomech system with full-body configuration (17 inertial sensors). Subjects were asked to walk for about 6 seconds at normal walking speed (about 5 km/h). After rotating the sensor data to a global coordinate frame with x-axis in walking direction, y-axis pointing left and z-axis vertical, RMS, mean, and correlation coefficient features were extracted from x-, y- and z-components and magnitudes of the accelerations, angular velocities and angular accelerations. As a classifier, a decision tree based on the C4.5 algorithm was developed using Weka (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis). After testing the algorithm with 10-fold cross-validation using 31 walking trials (involving 527 sensors), 514 sensors were correctly classified (97.5%). When a decision tree for a lower body plus trunk configuration (8 inertial sensors) was trained and tested using 10-fold cross-validation, 100% of the sensors were correctly identified. This decision tree was also tested on walking trials of 7 patients (17 walking trials) after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, which also resulted in 100% correct identification, thus illustrating the robustness of the method.

Dynamic load balancing of applications

DOEpatents

Wheat, S.R.

1997-05-13

An application-level method for dynamically maintaining global load balance on a parallel computer, particularly on massively parallel MIMD computers is disclosed. Global load balancing is achieved by overlapping neighborhoods of processors, where each neighborhood performs local load balancing. The method supports a large class of finite element and finite difference based applications and provides an automatic element management system to which applications are easily integrated. 13 figs.

Automatic brightness control of laser spot vision inspection system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Yang; Zhang, Zhaoxia; Chen, Xiaodong; Yu, Daoyin

2009-10-01

The laser spot detection system aims to locate the center of the laser spot after long-distance transmission. The accuracy of positioning laser spot center depends very much on the system's ability to control brightness. In this paper, an automatic brightness control system with high-performance is designed using the device of FPGA. The brightness is controlled by combination of auto aperture (video driver) and adaptive exposure algorithm, and clear images with proper exposure are obtained under different conditions of illumination. Automatic brightness control system creates favorable conditions for positioning of the laser spot center later, and experiment results illuminate the measurement accuracy of the system has been effectively guaranteed. The average error of the spot center is within 0.5mm.

Segmentation of stereo terrain images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

George, Debra A.; Privitera, Claudio M.; Blackmon, Theodore T.; Zbinden, Eric; Stark, Lawrence W.

2000-06-01

We have studied four approaches to segmentation of images: three automatic ones using image processing algorithms and a fourth approach, human manual segmentation. We were motivated toward helping with an important NASA Mars rover mission task -- replacing laborious manual path planning with automatic navigation of the rover on the Mars terrain. The goal of the automatic segmentations was to identify an obstacle map on the Mars terrain to enable automatic path planning for the rover. The automatic segmentation was first explored with two different segmentation methods: one based on pixel luminance, and the other based on pixel altitude generated through stereo image processing. The third automatic segmentation was achieved by combining these two types of image segmentation. Human manual segmentation of Martian terrain images was used for evaluating the effectiveness of the combined automatic segmentation as well as for determining how different humans segment the same images. Comparisons between two different segmentations, manual or automatic, were measured using a similarity metric, SAB. Based on this metric, the combined automatic segmentation did fairly well in agreeing with the manual segmentation. This was a demonstration of a positive step towards automatically creating the accurate obstacle maps necessary for automatic path planning and rover navigation.

Modifying Automatic Approach Action Tendencies in Individuals with Elevated Social Anxiety Symptoms

PubMed Central

Taylor, Charles T.; Amir, Nader

2012-01-01

Research suggests that social anxiety is associated with a reduced approach orientation for positive social cues. In the current study we examined the effect of experimentally manipulating automatic approach action tendencies on the social behavior of individuals with elevated social anxiety symptoms. The experimental paradigm comprised a computerized Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) in which participants responded to pictures of faces conveying positive or neutral emotional expressions by pulling a joystick toward themselves (approach) or by moving it to the right (sideways control). Participants were randomly assigned to complete an AAT designed to increase approach tendencies for positive social cues by pulling these cues toward themselves on the majority of trials, or to a control condition in which there was no contingency between the arm movement direction and picture type. Following the manipulation, participants took part in a relationship-building task with a trained confederate. Results revealed that participants trained to approach positive stimuli displayed greater social approach behaviors during the social interaction and elicited more positive reactions from their partner compared to participants in the control group. These findings suggest that modifying automatic approach tendencies may facilitate engagement in the types of social approach behaviors that are important for relationship development. PMID:22728645

Automatic control of tracheal tube cuff pressure in ventilated patients in semirecumbent position: a randomized trial.

PubMed

Valencia, Mauricio; Ferrer, Miquel; Farre, Ramon; Navajas, Daniel; Badia, Joan Ramon; Nicolas, Josep Maria; Torres, Antoni

2007-06-01

The aspiration of subglottic secretions colonized by bacteria pooled around the tracheal tube cuff due to inadvertent deflation (<20 cm H2O) of the cuff plays a relevant role in the pathogenesis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. We assessed the efficacy of an automatic, validated device for the continuous regulation of tracheal tube cuff pressure in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia. Prospective randomized controlled trial. Respiratory intensive care unit and general medical intensive care unit. One hundred and forty-two mechanically ventilated patients (age, 64 +/- 17 yrs; Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, 18 +/- 6) without pneumonia or aspiration at admission. Within 24 hrs of intubation, patients were randomly allocated to undergo continuous regulation of the cuff pressure with the automatic device (n = 73) or routine care of the cuff pressure (control group, n = 69). Patients remained in a semirecumbent position in bed. The primary end point variable was the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Main causes for intubation were decreased consciousness (43, 30%) and exacerbation of chronic respiratory diseases (38, 27%). Cuff pressure <20 cm H2O was more frequently observed in the control than the automatic group (45.3 vs. 0.7% determinations, p < .001). However, the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia with clinical criteria (16, 22% vs. 20, 29%) and microbiological confirmation (11, 15% vs. 10, 15%), the distribution of early and late onset, the causative microorganisms, and intensive care unit (20, 27% vs. 16, 23%) and hospital mortality (30, 41% vs. 23, 33%) were similar for the automatic and control groups, respectively. Cuff pressure is better controlled with the automatic device. However, it did not result in additional benefits to the semirecumbent position in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Automatic Approach Tendencies toward High and Low Caloric Food in Restrained Eaters: Influence of Task-Relevance and Mood

PubMed Central

Neimeijer, Renate A. M.; Roefs, Anne; Ostafin, Brian D.; de Jong, Peter J.

2017-01-01

Objective: Although restrained eaters are motivated to control their weight by dieting, they are often unsuccessful in these attempts. Dual process models emphasize the importance of differentiating between controlled and automatic tendencies to approach food. This study investigated the hypothesis that heightened automatic approach tendencies in restrained eaters would be especially prominent in contexts where food is irrelevant for their current tasks. Additionally, we examined the influence of mood on the automatic tendency to approach food as a function of dietary restraint. Methods: An Affective Simon Task-manikin was administered to measure automatic approach tendencies where food is task-irrelevant, and a Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC) to measure automatic approach in contexts where food is task-relevant, in 92 female participants varying in dietary restraint. Prior to the task, sad, stressed, neutral, or positive mood was induced. Food intake was measured during a bogus taste task after the computer tasks. Results: Consistent with their diet goals, participants with a strong tendency to restrain their food intake showed a relatively weak approach bias toward food when food was task-relevant (SRC) and this effect was independent of mood. Restrained eaters showed a relatively strong approach bias toward food when food was task-irrelevant in the positive condition and a relatively weak approach in the sad mood. Conclusion: The weak approach bias in contexts where food is task-relevant may help high-restrained eaters to comply with their diet goal. However, the strong approach bias in contexts where food is task-irrelevant and when being in a positive mood may interfere with restrained eaters’ goal of restricting food-intake. PMID:28443045

Simultaneous Detection and Tracking of Pedestrian from Panoramic Laser Scanning Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Wen; Vallet, Bruno; Schindler, Konrad; Paparoditis, Nicolas

2016-06-01

Pedestrian traffic flow estimation is essential for public place design and construction planning. Traditional data collection by human investigation is tedious, inefficient and expensive. Panoramic laser scanners, e.g. Velodyne HDL-64E, which scan surroundings repetitively at a high frequency, have been increasingly used for 3D object tracking. In this paper, a simultaneous detection and tracking (SDAT) method is proposed for precise and automatic pedestrian trajectory recovery. First, the dynamic environment is detected using two different methods, Nearest-point and Max-distance. Then, all the points on moving objects are transferred into a space-time (x, y, t) coordinate system. The pedestrian detection and tracking amounts to assign the points belonging to pedestrians into continuous trajectories in space-time. We formulate the point assignment task as an energy function which incorporates the point evidence, trajectory number, pedestrian shape and motion. A low energy trajectory will well explain the point observations, and have plausible trajectory trend and length. The method inherently filters out points from other moving objects and false detections. The energy function is solved by a two-step optimization process: tracklet detection in a short temporal window; and global tracklet association through the whole time span. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can automatically recover the pedestrians trajectories with accurate positions and low false detections and mismatches.

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

Automatic classification of 6-month-old infants at familial risk for language-based learning disorder using a support vector machine.

PubMed

Zare, Marzieh; Rezvani, Zahra; Benasich, April A

2016-07-01

This study assesses the ability of a novel, "automatic classification" approach to facilitate identification of infants at highest familial risk for language-learning disorders (LLD) and to provide converging assessments to enable earlier detection of developmental disorders that disrupt language acquisition. Network connectivity measures derived from 62-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) recording were used to identify selected features within two infant groups who differed on LLD risk: infants with a family history of LLD (FH+) and typically-developing infants without such a history (FH-). A support vector machine was deployed; global efficiency and global and local clustering coefficients were computed. A novel minimum spanning tree (MST) approach was also applied. Cross-validation was employed to assess the resultant classification. Infants were classified with about 80% accuracy into FH+ and FH- groups with 89% specificity and precision of 92%. Clustering patterns differed by risk group and MST network analysis suggests that FH+ infants' EEG complexity patterns were significantly different from FH- infants. The automatic classification techniques used here were shown to be both robust and reliable and should provide valuable information when applied to early identification of risk or clinical groups. The ability to identify infants at highest risk for LLD using "automatic classification" strategies is a novel convergent approach that may facilitate earlier diagnosis and remediation. Copyright © 2016 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Automatic Multi-Target Independent Analysis Framework for Non-Planar Infrared-Visible Registration.

PubMed

Sun, Xinglong; Xu, Tingfa; Zhang, Jizhou; Zhao, Zishu; Li, Yuankun

2017-07-26

In this paper, we propose a novel automatic multi-target registration framework for non-planar infrared-visible videos. Previous approaches usually analyzed multiple targets together and then estimated a global homography for the whole scene, however, these cannot achieve precise multi-target registration when the scenes are non-planar. Our framework is devoted to solving the problem using feature matching and multi-target tracking. The key idea is to analyze and register each target independently. We present a fast and robust feature matching strategy, where only the features on the corresponding foreground pairs are matched. Besides, new reservoirs based on the Gaussian criterion are created for all targets, and a multi-target tracking method is adopted to determine the relationships between the reservoirs and foreground blobs. With the matches in the corresponding reservoir, the homography of each target is computed according to its moving state. We tested our framework on both public near-planar and non-planar datasets. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework outperforms the state-of-the-art global registration method and the manual global registration matrix in all tested datasets.

Common psychotic symptoms can be explained by the theory of ecological perception.

PubMed

Golembiewski, Jan Alexander

2012-01-01

The symptoms of psychiatric illness are diverse, as are the causes of the conditions that cause them. Yet, regardless of the heterogeneity of cause and presentation, a great deal of symptoms can be explained by the failure of a single perceptual function--the reprocessing of ecological perception. It is a central tenet of the ecological theory of perception that we perceive opportunities to act. It has also been found that perception automatically causes actions and thoughts to occur unless this primary action pathway is inhibited. Inhibition allows perceptions to be reprocessed into more appropriate alternative actions and thoughts. Reprocessing of this kind takes place over the entire frontal lobe and it renders action optional. Choice about what action to take (if any) is the basis for the feeling of autonomy and ultimately for the sense-of-self. When thoughts and actions occur automatically (without choice) they appear to originate outside of the self, thereby providing prima facie evidence for some of the bizarre delusions that define schizophrenia such as delusional misidentification, delusions of control and Cotard's delusion. Automatic actions and thoughts are triggered by residual stimulation whenever reprocessing is insufficient to balance automatic excitatory cues (for whatever reason). These may not be noticed if they are neutral and therefore unimportant or where actions and thoughts have a positive bias and are desirable. Responses to negative stimulus, on the other hand, are always unwelcome, because the actions that are triggered will carry the negative bias. Automatic thoughts may include spontaneous positive feelings of love and joy, but automatic negative thoughts and visualisations are experienced as hallucinations. Not only do these feel like they emerge from elsewhere but they carry a negative bias (they are most commonly critical, rude and are irrationally paranoid). Automatic positive actions may include laughter and smiling and these are welcome. Automatic behaviours that carry a negative bias, however, are unwelcome and like hallucinations, occur without a sense of choice. These include crying, stereotypies, perseveration, ataxia, utilization and imitation behaviours and catatonia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SU-E-T-362: Automatic Catheter Reconstruction of Flap Applicators in HDR Surface Brachytherapy

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

Buzurovic, I; Devlin, P; Hansen, J

2014-06-01

Purpose: Catheter reconstruction is crucial for the accurate delivery of radiation dose in HDR brachytherapy. The process becomes complicated and time-consuming for large superficial clinical targets with a complex topology. A novel method for the automatic catheter reconstruction of flap applicators is proposed in this study. Methods: We have developed a program package capable of image manipulation, using C++class libraries of The-Visualization-Toolkit(VTK) software system. The workflow for automatic catheter reconstruction is: a)an anchor point is placed in 3D or in the axial view of the first slice at the tip of the first, last and middle points for the curvedmore » surface; b)similar points are placed on the last slice of the image set; c)the surface detection algorithm automatically registers the points to the images and applies the surface reconstruction filter; d)then a structured grid surface is generated through the center of the treatment catheters placed at a distance of 5mm from the patient's skin. As a result, a mesh-style plane is generated with the reconstructed catheters placed 10mm apart. To demonstrate automatic catheter reconstruction, we used CT images of patients diagnosed with cutaneous T-cell-lymphoma and imaged with Freiburg-Flap-Applicators (Nucletron™-Elekta, Netherlands). The coordinates for each catheter were generated and compared to the control points selected during the manual reconstruction for 16catheters and 368control point Results: The variation of the catheter tip positions between the automatically and manually reconstructed catheters was 0.17mm(SD=0.23mm). The position difference between the manually selected catheter control points and the corresponding points obtained automatically was 0.17mm in the x-direction (SD=0.23mm), 0.13mm in the y-direction (SD=0.22mm), and 0.14mm in the z-direction (SD=0.24mm). Conclusion: This study shows the feasibility of the automatic catheter reconstruction of flap applicators with a high level of positioning accuracy. Implementation of this technique has potential to decrease the planning time and may improve overall quality in superficial brachytherapy.« less

Automatic SAR/optical cross-matching for GCP monograph generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nutricato, Raffaele; Morea, Alberto; Nitti, Davide Oscar; La Mantia, Claudio; Agrimano, Luigi; Samarelli, Sergio; Chiaradia, Maria Teresa

2016-10-01

Ground Control Points (GCP), automatically extracted from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images through 3D stereo analysis, can be effectively exploited for an automatic orthorectification of optical imagery if they can be robustly located in the basic optical images. The present study outlines a SAR/Optical cross-matching procedure that allows a robust alignment of radar and optical images, and consequently to derive automatically the corresponding sub-pixel position of the GCPs in the optical image in input, expressed as fractional pixel/line image coordinates. The cross-matching in performed in two subsequent steps, in order to gradually gather a better precision. The first step is based on the Mutual Information (MI) maximization between optical and SAR chips while the last one uses the Normalized Cross-Correlation as similarity metric. This work outlines the designed algorithmic solution and discusses the results derived over the urban area of Pisa (Italy), where more than ten COSMO-SkyMed Enhanced Spotlight stereo images with different beams and passes are available. The experimental analysis involves different satellite images, in order to evaluate the performances of the algorithm w.r.t. the optical spatial resolution. An assessment of the performances of the algorithm has been carried out, and errors are computed by measuring the distance between the GCP pixel/line position in the optical image, automatically estimated by the tool, and the "true" position of the GCP, visually identified by an expert user in the optical images.

It's a two-way street: Automatic and controlled processes in children's emotional responses to moral transgressions.

PubMed

Dys, Sebastian P; Malti, Tina

2016-12-01

This study examined children's automatic, spontaneous emotional reactions to everyday moral transgressions and their relations with self-reported emotions, which are more complex and infused with controlled cognition. We presented children ​(N=242 4-, 8-, and 12-year-olds) with six everyday moral transgression scenarios in an experimental setting, and both their spontaneous facial emotional reactions and self-reported emotions in the role of the transgressor were recorded. We found that across age self-reported guilt was positively associated with spontaneous fear, and self-reported anger was positively related to spontaneous sadness. In addition, we found a developmental increase in spontaneous sadness and decrease in spontaneous happiness. These results support the importance of automatic and controlled processes in evoking children's emotional responses to everyday moral transgressions. We conclude by providing potential explanations for how automatic and controlled processes function in children's everyday moral experiences and how these processes may change with age. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Changes in Global Crop Yields Through Changes in Climate and Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najafi, Ehsan; Devineni, Naresh; Khanbilvardi, Reza M.; Kogan, Felix

2018-03-01

During the last few decades, the global agricultural production has risen and technology enhancement is still contributing to yield growth. However, population growth, water crisis, deforestation, and climate change threaten the global food security. An understanding of the variables that caused past changes in crop yields can help improve future crop prediction models. In this article, we present a comprehensive global analysis of the changes in the crop yields and how they relate to different large-scale and regional climate variables, climate change variables and technology in a unified framework. A new multilevel model for yield prediction at the country level is developed and demonstrated. The structural relationships between average yield and climate attributes as well as trends are estimated simultaneously. All countries are modeled in a single multilevel model with partial pooling to automatically group and reduce estimation uncertainties. El Niño-southern oscillation (ENSO), Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), geopotential height anomalies (GPH), historical carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and country-based time series of GDP per capita as an approximation of technology measurement are used as predictors to estimate annual agricultural crop yields for each country from 1961 to 2013. Results indicate that these variables can explain the variability in historical crop yields for most of the countries and the model performs well under out-of-sample verifications. While some countries were not generally affected by climatic factors, PDSI and GPH acted both positively and negatively in different regions for crop yields in many countries.

A System to Measure Both Inner and Outer Car Tire Temperatures ``in situ''

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koštial, P.; Mokryšová, M.; Šišáková, J.; Mošková, Z.; Rusnáková, S.

2009-02-01

In the paper, a system for the complex analysis of the internal and external tire temperatures and pressure of sporty tires is presented. Tests were performed on the test circuit of a tire producer. The CTPA 05 measuring system (complex temperature-pressure analyzer) enables simultaneous measurements of the internal temperature and pressure in a passenger or sports tire. The experimentalist determines that the CTPA 05 can be used to measure independently the external temperature of the overcoat on the front wheel driving tires at three points. Measurements of both the internal tire temperature and pressure, as well as of the external tire temperature, are collected together with GPS (global position system) data. The system of measurement is fully automatic and contactless. The obtained results are in very good agreement with those obtained by independent methods.

Integration and flight test of a biomimetic heading sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chahl, Javaan; Mizutani, Akiko

2013-04-01

We report on the first successful development and implementation of an automatic polarisation compass as the primary heading sensor for a UAV. Polarisation compassing is the primary navigation sense of many flying and walking insects, including bees, ants and crickets. Manually operated polarisation astrolabes were fitted in some passenger airliners prior to the implementation of the global positioning system, to compensate for the overal degradation of magnetic and gyrocompass sensors in polar regions. The device we developed demonstrated accurate determination of the direction of the Sun, with repeatability of better than 0.2 degrees. These figures are comparable to any solid state magnetic compass, including flux gate based devices. Flight trials were undertaken in which the output of the polarimeter was the only heading reference used by the aircraft as it flew through GPS waypoints.

Design of a portable dose rate detector based on a double Geiger-Mueller counter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Peng; Tang, Xiao-Bin; Gong, Pin; Huang, Xi; Wen, Liang-Sheng; Han, Zhen-Yang; He, Jian-Ping

2018-01-01

A portable dose rate detector was designed to monitor radioactive pollution and radioactive environments. The portable dose detector can measure background radiation levels (0.1 μSv/h) to nuclear accident radiation levels (>10 Sv/h). Both automatic switch technology of a double Geiger-Mueller counter and time-to-count technology were adopted to broaden the measurement range of the instrument. Global positioning systems and the 3G telecommunication protocol were installed to prevent radiation damage to the human body. In addition, the Monte Carlo N-Particle code was used to design the thin layer of metal for energy compensation, which was used to flatten energy response The portable dose rate detector has been calibrated by the standard radiation field method, and it can be used alone or in combination with additional radiation detectors.

Convolution neural-network-based detection of lung structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Akira; Lo, Shih-Chung B.; Freedman, Matthew T.; Mun, Seong K.

1994-05-01

Chest radiography is one of the most primary and widely used techniques in diagnostic imaging. Nowadays with the advent of digital radiology, the digital medical image processing techniques for digital chest radiographs have attracted considerable attention, and several studies on the computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) as well as on the conventional image processing techniques for chest radiographs have been reported. In the automatic diagnostic process for chest radiographs, it is important to outline the areas of the lungs, the heart, and the diaphragm. This is because the original chest radiograph is composed of important anatomic structures and, without knowing exact positions of the organs, the automatic diagnosis may result in unexpected detections. The automatic extraction of an anatomical structure from digital chest radiographs can be a useful tool for (1) the evaluation of heart size, (2) automatic detection of interstitial lung diseases, (3) automatic detection of lung nodules, and (4) data compression, etc. Based on the clearly defined boundaries of heart area, rib spaces, rib positions, and rib cage extracted, one should be able to use this information to facilitate the tasks of the CADx on chest radiographs. In this paper, we present an automatic scheme for the detection of lung field from chest radiographs by using a shift-invariant convolution neural network. A novel algorithm for smoothing boundaries of lungs is also presented.

A new method for automatic tracking of facial landmarks in 3D motion captured images (4D).

PubMed

Al-Anezi, T; Khambay, B; Peng, M J; O'Leary, E; Ju, X; Ayoub, A

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to validate the automatic tracking of facial landmarks in 3D image sequences. 32 subjects (16 males and 16 females) aged 18-35 years were recruited. 23 anthropometric landmarks were marked on the face of each subject with non-permanent ink using a 0.5mm pen. The subjects were asked to perform three facial animations (maximal smile, lip purse and cheek puff) from rest position. Each animation was captured by the 3D imaging system. A single operator manually digitised the landmarks on the 3D facial models and their locations were compared with those of the automatically tracked ones. To investigate the accuracy of manual digitisation, the operator re-digitised the same set of 3D images of 10 subjects (5 male and 5 female) at 1 month interval. The discrepancies in x, y and z coordinates between the 3D position of the manual digitised landmarks and that of the automatic tracked facial landmarks were within 0.17mm. The mean distance between the manually digitised and the automatically tracked landmarks using the tracking software was within 0.55 mm. The automatic tracking of facial landmarks demonstrated satisfactory accuracy which would facilitate the analysis of the dynamic motion during facial animations. Copyright © 2012 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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...

Ingress clearance requirements and seat positioning for automatic belt systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-06-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine how much clearance between a seat belt and seat cushion is needed for a driver to enter the front seat of an automobile equipped with automatic seat belts---without his/her having to lift the webbing, ...

Gait analysis--precise, rapid, automatic, 3-D position and orientation kinematics and dynamics.

PubMed

Mann, R W; Antonsson, E K

1983-01-01

A fully automatic optoelectronic photogrammetric technique is presented for measuring the spatial kinematics of human motion (both position and orientation) and estimating the inertial (net) dynamics. Calibration and verification showed that in a two-meter cube viewing volume, the system achieves one millimeter of accuracy and resolution in translation and 20 milliradians in rotation. Since double differentiation of generalized position data to determine accelerations amplifies noise, the frequency domain characteristics of the system were investigated. It was found that the noise and all other errors in the kinematic data contribute less than five percent error to the resulting dynamics.

SCAN+

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

Kenneth Krebs, John Svoboda

2009-11-01

SCAN+ is a software application specifically designed to control the positioning of a gamma spectrometer by a two dimensional translation system above spent fuel bundles located in a sealed spent fuel cask. The gamma spectrometer collects gamma spectrum information for the purpose of spent fuel cask fuel loading verification. SCAN+ performs manual and automatic gamma spectrometer positioning functions as-well-as exercising control of the gamma spectrometer data acquisitioning functions. Cask configuration files are used to determine the positions of spent fuel bundles. Cask scanning files are used to determine the desired scan paths for scanning a spent fuel cask allowing formore » automatic unattended cask scanning that may take several hours.« less

Automatic Associations Between One's Partner and One's Affect as the Proximal Mechanism of Change in Relationship Satisfaction: Evidence From Evaluative Conditioning.

PubMed

McNulty, James K; Olson, Michael A; Jones, Rachael E; Acosta, Laura M

2017-08-01

The current study examined whether directly altering affective associations involving a relationship partner through evaluative conditioning can lead to changes in relationship satisfaction. Married couples ( N = 144) were asked to view a brief stream of images once every 3 days for 6 weeks. Embedded in this stream were pictures of the partner, which, according to random assignment of couples to experimental group, were paired with either positive or neutral stimuli. Couples also completed measures of automatic partner attitudes and explicit marital satisfaction at baseline and once every 2 weeks for 8 weeks. Spouses who viewed their partners paired with positive stimuli demonstrated more-positive automatic partner attitudes than did control spouses, and these attitudes predicted increased self-reported marital satisfaction over time. These results provide novel evidence for a mechanism of change in relationship satisfaction, represent a step toward documenting how strong attitudes can evolve through passive exposure to information, and suggest novel avenues for relationship interventions.

An Electrophysiological Investigation of Emotional Abnormalities in Groups at Risk for Schizophrenia-Spectrum Personality Disorders

PubMed Central

Martin, Elizabeth A.; Karcher, Nicole R.; Bartholow, Bruce D.; Siegle, Greg J.; Kerns, John G.

2017-01-01

Both extreme levels of social anhedonia (SocAnh) and perceptual aberration/magical ideation (PerMag) are associated with risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and with emotional abnormalities. Yet, the nature of any psychophysiological-measured affective abnormality, including the role of automatic/controlled processes, is unclear. We examined the late positive potential (LPP) during passive viewing (to assess automatic processing) and during cognitive reappraisal (to assess controlled processing) in three groups: SocAnh, PerMag, and controls. The SocAnh group exhibited an increased LPP when viewing negative images. Further, SocAnh exhibited greater reductions in the LPP for negative images when told to use strategies to alter negative emotion. Similar to SocAnh, PerMag exhibited an increased LPP when viewing negative images. However, PerMag also exhibited an increased LPP when viewing positive images as well as an atypical decreased LPP when increasing positive emotion. Overall, these results suggest that at-risk groups are associated with shared and unique automatic and controlled abnormalities. PMID:28174121

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.

75 FR 24737 - Extension of the Designation of Nicaragua for Temporary Protected Status and Automatic Extension...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

... global economic crisis. Economic development has also been hindered and disrupted by electoral fraud and... damaged water supplies, leaving whole communities lacking potable water. According to the United Nations...

Automatic mouse ultrasound detector (A-MUD): A new tool for processing rodent vocalizations.

PubMed

Zala, Sarah M; Reitschmidt, Doris; Noll, Anton; Balazs, Peter; Penn, Dustin J

2017-01-01

House mice (Mus musculus) emit complex ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during social and sexual interactions, which have features similar to bird song (i.e., they are composed of several different types of syllables, uttered in succession over time to form a pattern of sequences). Manually processing complex vocalization data is time-consuming and potentially subjective, and therefore, we developed an algorithm that automatically detects mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (Automatic Mouse Ultrasound Detector or A-MUD). A-MUD is a script that runs on STx acoustic software (S_TOOLS-STx version 4.2.2), which is free for scientific use. This algorithm improved the efficiency of processing USV files, as it was 4-12 times faster than manual segmentation, depending upon the size of the file. We evaluated A-MUD error rates using manually segmented sound files as a 'gold standard' reference, and compared them to a commercially available program. A-MUD had lower error rates than the commercial software, as it detected significantly more correct positives, and fewer false positives and false negatives. The errors generated by A-MUD were mainly false negatives, rather than false positives. This study is the first to systematically compare error rates for automatic ultrasonic vocalization detection methods, and A-MUD and subsequent versions will be made available for the scientific community.

Fortune Favors the Brave. Tactical Behaviors in the Middle Distance Running Events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships.

PubMed

Casado, Arturo; Renfree, Andrew

2018-05-29

To assess tactical and performance factors associated with progression from qualification rounds in the 800 m and 1500 m running events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. Official results were used to access final and intermediate positions and times, as well as performance characteristics of competitors. Shared variance between intermediate positions and rank order lap times (ROSPT) with finishing positions were calculated, along with probability of automatic qualification, for athletes in each available race position at the end of every 400 m lap. Differences in race positions and lap times relative to season´s best (SB) performances were assessed between automatic qualifiers (AQ), fastest losers (FL), and non-qualifiers (NQ). Race positions at the end of each 400 m lap remained more stable through 800 m races than 1500 m races. Probability of automatic qualification decreased with both race position and ROSPT on each lap, although ROSPT accounted for a higher degree of shared variance than did intermediate position. In the 1500 m event FL ran at a higher percentage of SB speed, and adopted positions closer to the race lead in the early stages. This was not the case in the 800 m. Intermediate positioning and the ability to produce a fast final race segment are strongly related to advancement from qualification rounds in middle distance running events. The adoption of a more 'risky' strategy characterized by higher speeds relative to SB may be associated with increased likelihood of qualification as FL in the 1500 m event.

Automatically Locking/Unlocking Orthotic Knee Joint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weddendorf, Bruce

1994-01-01

Proposed orthotic knee joint locks and unlocks automatically, at any position within range of bend angles, without manual intervention by wearer. Includes tang and clevis, locks whenever wearer transfers weight to knee and unlocks when weight removed. Locking occurs at any angle between 45 degrees knee bend and full extension.

Automatic tracking of arbitrarily shaped implanted markers in kilovoltage projection images: A feasibility study

PubMed Central

Regmi, Rajesh; Lovelock, D. Michael; Hunt, Margie; Zhang, Pengpeng; Pham, Hai; Xiong, Jianping; Yorke, Ellen D.; Goodman, Karyn A.; Rimner, Andreas; Mostafavi, Hassan; Mageras, Gig S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Certain types of commonly used fiducial markers take on irregular shapes upon implantation in soft tissue. This poses a challenge for methods that assume a predefined shape of markers when automatically tracking such markers in kilovoltage (kV) radiographs. The authors have developed a method of automatically tracking regularly and irregularly shaped markers using kV projection images and assessed its potential for detecting intrafractional target motion during rotational treatment. Methods: Template-based matching used a normalized cross-correlation with simplex minimization. Templates were created from computed tomography (CT) images for phantom studies and from end-expiration breath-hold planning CT for patient studies. The kV images were processed using a Sobel filter to enhance marker visibility. To correct for changes in intermarker relative positions between simulation and treatment that can introduce errors in automatic matching, marker offsets in three dimensions were manually determined from an approximately orthogonal pair of kV images. Two studies in anthropomorphic phantom were carried out, one using a gold cylindrical marker representing regular shape, another using a Visicoil marker representing irregular shape. Automatic matching of templates to cone beam CT (CBCT) projection images was performed to known marker positions in phantom. In patient data, automatic matching was compared to manual matching as an approximate ground truth. Positional discrepancy between automatic and manual matching of less than 2 mm was assumed as the criterion for successful tracking. Tracking success rates were examined in kV projection images from 22 CBCT scans of four pancreas, six gastroesophageal junction, and one lung cancer patients. Each patient had at least one irregularly shaped radiopaque marker implanted in or near the tumor. In addition, automatic tracking was tested in intrafraction kV images of three lung cancer patients with irregularly shaped markers during 11 volumetric modulated arc treatments. Purpose-built software developed at our institution was used to create marker templates and track the markers embedded in kV images. Results: Phantom studies showed mean ± standard deviation measurement uncertainty of automatic registration to be 0.14 ± 0.07 mm and 0.17 ± 0.08 mm for Visicoil and gold cylindrical markers, respectively. The mean success rate of automatic tracking with CBCT projections (11 frames per second, fps) of pancreas, gastroesophageal junction, and lung cancer patients was 100%, 99.1% (range 98%–100%), and 100%, respectively. With intrafraction images (approx. 0.2 fps) of lung cancer patients, the success rate was 98.2% (range 97%–100%), and 94.3% (range 93%–97%) using templates from 1.25 mm and 2.5 mm slice spacing CT scans, respectively. Correction of intermarker relative position was found to improve the success rate in two out of eight patients analyzed. Conclusions: The proposed method can track arbitrary marker shapes in kV images using templates generated from a breath-hold CT acquired at simulation. The studies indicate its feasibility for tracking tumor motion during rotational treatment. Investigation of the causes of misregistration suggests that its rate of incidence can be reduced with higher frequency of image acquisition, templates made from smaller CT slice spacing, and correction of changes in intermarker relative positions when they occur. PMID:24989384

Automatic tracking of arbitrarily shaped implanted markers in kilovoltage projection images: A feasibility study

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

Regmi, Rajesh; Lovelock, D. Michael; Hunt, Margie

Purpose: Certain types of commonly used fiducial markers take on irregular shapes upon implantation in soft tissue. This poses a challenge for methods that assume a predefined shape of markers when automatically tracking such markers in kilovoltage (kV) radiographs. The authors have developed a method of automatically tracking regularly and irregularly shaped markers using kV projection images and assessed its potential for detecting intrafractional target motion during rotational treatment. Methods: Template-based matching used a normalized cross-correlation with simplex minimization. Templates were created from computed tomography (CT) images for phantom studies and from end-expiration breath-hold planning CT for patient studies. Themore » kV images were processed using a Sobel filter to enhance marker visibility. To correct for changes in intermarker relative positions between simulation and treatment that can introduce errors in automatic matching, marker offsets in three dimensions were manually determined from an approximately orthogonal pair of kV images. Two studies in anthropomorphic phantom were carried out, one using a gold cylindrical marker representing regular shape, another using a Visicoil marker representing irregular shape. Automatic matching of templates to cone beam CT (CBCT) projection images was performed to known marker positions in phantom. In patient data, automatic matching was compared to manual matching as an approximate ground truth. Positional discrepancy between automatic and manual matching of less than 2 mm was assumed as the criterion for successful tracking. Tracking success rates were examined in kV projection images from 22 CBCT scans of four pancreas, six gastroesophageal junction, and one lung cancer patients. Each patient had at least one irregularly shaped radiopaque marker implanted in or near the tumor. In addition, automatic tracking was tested in intrafraction kV images of three lung cancer patients with irregularly shaped markers during 11 volumetric modulated arc treatments. Purpose-built software developed at our institution was used to create marker templates and track the markers embedded in kV images. Results: Phantom studies showed mean ± standard deviation measurement uncertainty of automatic registration to be 0.14 ± 0.07 mm and 0.17 ± 0.08 mm for Visicoil and gold cylindrical markers, respectively. The mean success rate of automatic tracking with CBCT projections (11 frames per second, fps) of pancreas, gastroesophageal junction, and lung cancer patients was 100%, 99.1% (range 98%–100%), and 100%, respectively. With intrafraction images (approx. 0.2 fps) of lung cancer patients, the success rate was 98.2% (range 97%–100%), and 94.3% (range 93%–97%) using templates from 1.25 mm and 2.5 mm slice spacing CT scans, respectively. Correction of intermarker relative position was found to improve the success rate in two out of eight patients analyzed. Conclusions: The proposed method can track arbitrary marker shapes in kV images using templates generated from a breath-hold CT acquired at simulation. The studies indicate its feasibility for tracking tumor motion during rotational treatment. Investigation of the causes of misregistration suggests that its rate of incidence can be reduced with higher frequency of image acquisition, templates made from smaller CT slice spacing, and correction of changes in intermarker relative positions when they occur.« less

Indexing data cubes for content-based searches in radio astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Araya, M.; Candia, G.; Gregorio, R.; Mendoza, M.; Solar, M.

2016-01-01

Methods for observing space have changed profoundly in the past few decades. The methods needed to detect and record astronomical objects have shifted from conventional observations in the optical range to more sophisticated methods which permit the detection of not only the shape of an object but also the velocity and frequency of emissions in the millimeter-scale wavelength range and the chemical substances from which they originate. The consolidation of radio astronomy through a range of global-scale projects such as the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reinforces the need to develop better methods of data processing that can automatically detect regions of interest (ROIs) within data cubes (position-position-velocity), index them and facilitate subsequent searches via methods based on queries using spatial coordinates and/or velocity ranges. In this article, we present the development of an automatic system for indexing ROIs in data cubes that is capable of automatically detecting and recording ROIs while reducing the necessary storage space. The system is able to process data cubes containing megabytes of data in fractions of a second without human supervision, thus allowing it to be incorporated into a production line for displaying objects in a virtual observatory. We conducted a set of comprehensive experiments to illustrate how our system works. As a result, an index of 3% of the input size was stored in a spatial database, representing a compression ratio equal to 33:1 over an input of 20.875 GB, achieving an index of 773 MB approximately. On the other hand, a single query can be evaluated over our system in a fraction of second, showing that the indexing step works as a shock-absorber of the computational time involved in data cube processing. The system forms part of the Chilean Virtual Observatory (ChiVO), an initiative which belongs to the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) that seeks to provide the capability of content-based searches on data cubes to the astronomical community.

A Fast Algorithm for Automatic Detection of Ionospheric Disturbances Using GPS Slant Total Electron Content Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efendi, Emre; Arikan, Feza; Yarici, Aysenur

2016-07-01

Solar, geomagnetic, gravitational and seismic activities cause disturbances in the ionospheric region of upper atmosphere for space based communication, navigation and positioning systems. These disturbances can be categorized with respect to their amplitude, duration and frequency. Typically in the literature, ionospheric disturbances are investigated with gradient based methods on Total Electron Content (TEC) data estimated from ground based dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. In this study, a detection algorithm is developed to determine the variability in Slant TEC (STEC) data. The developed method, namely Differential Rate of TEC (DRoT), is based on Rate of Tec (RoT) method that is widely used in the literature. RoT is usually applied to Vertical TEC (VTEC) and it can be defined as normalized derivative of VTEC. Unfortunately, the resultant data obtained from the application of RoT on VTEC suffer from inaccuracies due to mapping function and the resultant values are very noisy which make it difficult to automatically detect the disturbance due to variability in the ionosphere. The developed DRoT method can be defined as the normalized metric norm (L2) between the RoT and its baseband trend structure. In this study, the error performance of DRoT is determined using synthetic data with variable bounds on the parameter set of amplitude, frequency and period of disturbance. It is observed that DRoT method can detect disturbances in three categories. For DRoT values less than 50%, there is no significant disturbance in STEC data. For DRoT values between 50 to 70 %, a medium scale disturbance can be observed. For DROT values over 70 %, severe disturbances such Large Scale Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TID) or plasma bubbles can be observed. When DRoT is applied to the GPS-STECdata for stations in high latitude, equatorial and mid-latitude regions, it is observed that disturbances with amplitudes larger than 10% of the difference between the minimum and maximum values of STEC; frequencies higher than 0.15 mHz; and durations longer than 10 minutes can be automatically detected with more than 80% accuracy. This study is supported by TUBITAK EEAG 115E915 project.

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.

A new ultra-high-accuracy angle generator: current status and future direction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guertin, Christian F.; Geckeler, Ralf D.

2017-09-01

Lack of an extreme high-accuracy angular positioning device available in the United States has left a gap in industrial and scientific efforts conducted there, requiring certain user groups to undertake time-consuming work with overseas laboratories. Specifically, in x-ray mirror metrology the global research community is advancing the state-of-the-art to unprecedented levels. We aim to fill this U.S. gap by developing a versatile high-accuracy angle generator as a part of the national metrology tool set for x-ray mirror metrology and other important industries. Using an established calibration technique to measure the errors of the encoder scale graduations for full-rotation rotary encoders, we implemented an optimized arrangement of sensors positioned to minimize propagation of calibration errors. Our initial feasibility research shows that upon scaling to a full prototype and including additional calibration techniques we can expect to achieve uncertainties at the level of 0.01 arcsec (50 nrad) or better and offer the immense advantage of a highly automatable and customizable product to the commercial market.

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.

Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology (ACAT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swihart, Donald E.; Skoog, Mark A.

2007-01-01

This document represents two views of the Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology (ACAT). One viewgraph presentation reviews the development and system design of Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology (ACAT). Two types of ACAT exist: Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance (AGCAS) and Automatic Air Collision Avoidance (AACAS). The AGCAS Uses Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) for mapping functions, and uses Navigation data to place aircraft on map. It then scans DTED in front of and around aircraft and uses future aircraft trajectory (5g) to provide automatic flyup maneuver when required. The AACAS uses data link to determine position and closing rate. It contains several canned maneuvers to avoid collision. Automatic maneuvers can occur at last instant and both aircraft maneuver when using data link. The system can use sensor in place of data link. The second viewgraph presentation reviews the development of a flight test and an evaluation of the test. A review of the operation and comparison of the AGCAS and a pilot's performance are given. The same review is given for the AACAS is given.

[The effects of interpretation bias for social events and automatic thoughts on social anxiety].

PubMed

Aizawa, Naoki

2015-08-01

Many studies have demonstrated that individuals with social anxiety interpret ambiguous social situations negatively. It is, however, not clear whether the interpretation bias discriminatively contributes to social anxiety in comparison with depressive automatic thoughts. The present study investigated the effects of negative interpretation bias and automatic thoughts on social anxiety. The Social Intent Interpretation-Questionnaire, which measures the tendency to interpret ambiguous social events as implying other's rejective intents, the short Japanese version of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised, and the Anthropophobic Tendency Scale were administered to 317 university students. Covariance structure analysis indicated that both rejective intent interpretation bias and negative automatic thoughts contributed to mental distress in social situations mediated by a sense of powerlessness and excessive concern about self and others in social situations. Positive automatic thoughts reduced mental distress. These results indicate the importance of interpretation bias and negative automatic thoughts in the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Implications for understanding of the cognitive features of social anxiety were discussed.

Effortful versus automatic emotional processing in schizophrenia: Insights from a face-vignette task.

PubMed

Patrick, Regan E; Rastogi, Anuj; Christensen, Bruce K

2015-01-01

Adaptive emotional responding relies on dual automatic and effortful processing streams. Dual-stream models of schizophrenia (SCZ) posit a selective deficit in neural circuits that govern goal-directed, effortful processes versus reactive, automatic processes. This imbalance suggests that when patients are confronted with competing automatic and effortful emotional response cues, they will exhibit diminished effortful responding and intact, possibly elevated, automatic responding compared to controls. This prediction was evaluated using a modified version of the face-vignette task (FVT). Participants viewed emotional faces (automatic response cue) paired with vignettes (effortful response cue) that signalled a different emotion category and were instructed to discriminate the manifest emotion. Patients made less vignette and more face responses than controls. However, the relationship between group and FVT responding was moderated by IQ and reading comprehension ability. These results replicate and extend previous research and provide tentative support for abnormal conflict resolution between automatic and effortful emotional processing predicted by dual-stream models of SCZ.

Automatic Fastening Large Structures: a New Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lumley, D. F.

1985-01-01

The external tank (ET) intertank structure for the space shuttle, a 27.5 ft diameter 22.5 ft long externally stiffened mechanically fastened skin-stringer-frame structure, was a labor intensitive manual structure built on a modified Saturn tooling position. A new approach was developed based on half-section subassemblies. The heart of this manufacturing approach will be 33 ft high vertical automatic riveting system with a 28 ft rotary positioner coming on-line in mid 1985. The Automatic Riveting System incorporates many of the latest automatic riveting technologies. Key features include: vertical columns with two sets of independently operating CNC drill-riveting heads; capability of drill, insert and upset any one piece fastener up to 3/8 inch diameter including slugs without displacing the workpiece offset bucking ram with programmable rotation and deep retraction; vision system for automatic parts program re-synchronization and part edge margin control; and an automatic rivet selection/handling system.

Automatic detection of new tumors and tumor burden evaluation in longitudinal liver CT scan studies.

PubMed

Vivanti, R; Szeskin, A; Lev-Cohain, N; Sosna, J; Joskowicz, L

2017-11-01

Radiological longitudinal follow-up of liver tumors in CT scans is the standard of care for disease progression assessment and for liver tumor therapy. Finding new tumors in the follow-up scan is essential to determine malignancy, to evaluate the total tumor burden, and to determine treatment efficacy. Since new tumors are typically small, they may be missed by examining radiologists. We describe a new method for the automatic detection and segmentation of new tumors in longitudinal liver CT studies and for liver tumors burden quantification. Its inputs are the baseline and follow-up CT scans, the baseline tumors delineation, and a tumor appearance prior model. Its outputs are the new tumors segmentations in the follow-up scan, the tumor burden quantification in both scans, and the tumor burden change. Our method is the first comprehensive method that is explicitly designed to find new liver tumors. It integrates information from the scans, the baseline known tumors delineations, and a tumor appearance prior model in the form of a global convolutional neural network classifier. Unlike other deep learning-based methods, it does not require large tagged training sets. Our experimental results on 246 tumors, of which 97 were new tumors, from 37 longitudinal liver CT studies with radiologist approved ground-truth segmentations, yields a true positive new tumors detection rate of 86 versus 72% with stand-alone detection, and a tumor burden volume overlap error of 16%. New tumors detection and tumor burden volumetry are important for diagnosis and treatment. Our new method enables a simplified radiologist-friendly workflow that is potentially more accurate and reliable than the existing one by automatically and accurately following known tumors and detecting new tumors in the follow-up scan.

Automated high-performance cIMT measurement techniques using patented AtheroEdge™: a screening and home monitoring system.

PubMed

Molinari, Filippo; Meiburger, Kristen M; Suri, Jasjit

2011-01-01

The evaluation of the carotid artery wall is fundamental for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. This paper presents the general architecture of an automatic strategy, which segments the lumen-intima and media-adventitia borders, classified under a class of Patented AtheroEdge™ systems (Global Biomedical Technologies, Inc, CA, USA). Guidelines to produce accurate and repeatable measurements of the intima-media thickness are provided and the problem of the different distance metrics one can adopt is confronted. We compared the results of a completely automatic algorithm that we developed with those of a semi-automatic algorithm, and showed final segmentation results for both techniques. The overall rationale is to provide user-independent high-performance techniques suitable for screening and remote monitoring.

Cerebral Correlates of Automatic Associations Towards Performance Enhancing Substances

PubMed Central

Schindler, Sebastian; Wolff, Wanja

2015-01-01

The direct assessment of explicit attitudes toward performance enhancing substances, for example Neuroenhancement or doping in sports, can be affected by social desirability biases and cheating attempts. According to Dual Process Theories of cognition, indirect measures like the Implicit Association Test (IAT) measure automatic associations toward a topic (as opposed to explicit attitudes measured by self-report measures). Such automatic associations are thought to occur rapidly and to evade voluntary control. However, whether or not such indirect tests actually reflect automatic associations is difficult to validate. Electroencephalography (EEG) has a superior time resolution which can differentiate between highly automatic compared to more elaborate processing stages. We therefore used EEG to examine on which processing stages cortical differences between negative or positive attitudes to doping occur, and whether or not these differences can be related to BIAT scores. We tested 42 university students (31 females, 24.43 ± 3.17 years old), who were requested to complete a brief doping IAT (BIAT) on attitudes toward doping. Cerebral activity during doping BIAT completion was assessed using high-density EEG. Behaviorally, participants D-scores exhibited negative attitudes toward doping, represented by faster reaction times in the doping + dislike pairing task. Event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed earliest effects between 200 and 300 ms. Here, a relatively larger occipital positivity was found for the doping + dislike pairing task. Further, in the LPP time range between 400 and 600 ms a larger late positive potential was found for the doping + dislike pairing task over central regions. These LPP amplitude differences were successfully predicting participants' BIAT D-scores. Results indicate that event-related potentials differentiate between positive and negative doping attitudes at stages of mid-latency. However, it seems that IAT scores can be predicted only by the later occurring LPP. Our study is the first to investigate the cerebral correlates that contribute to test scores obtained in the indirect testing of automatic associations toward doping. The implications of our results for the broader NE concept are discussed in light of the conceptual similarity of doping and NE. PMID:26733914

Comparison of Efficacy and Tolerance of Automatic Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Devices With the Optimum Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.

PubMed

Tommi, George; Aronow, Wilbert S; Sheehan, John C; McCleay, Matthew T; Meyers, Patrick G

Patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome were randomly placed on automatic continuous positive airway pressure (ACPAP) for 2 hours followed by manual titration for the rest of the night. One hundred sixty-one patients entered the study, with at least 50 patients titrated with each of 3 ACPAP devices. The optimum continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was defined as the lowest pressure with an apnea-hypoxia index of ≤5/hr, which ranged from 4 cm to 18 cm. Success with ACPAP was approximately 60%-80% when the optimum CPAP was 4-6 cm but fell to below 30% if the optimum CPAP was ≥8 cm (P = 0.001). Average ACPAP ranged from 2 to 10 cm below the optimum level if the optimum CPAP was ≥8 cm. Patients who responded to a low CPAP but deteriorated on higher pressures failed to respond to any of the automatic devices. We recommend that CPAP titration be performed manually before initiation of ACPAP in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The basal pressure for ACPAP should be the optimum pressure obtained by manual titration. Limits on the upper level of ACPAP may be necessary for patients who deteriorate on higher positive pressures.

Towards automatic patient positioning and scan planning using continuously moving table MR imaging.

PubMed

Koken, Peter; Dries, Sebastian P M; Keupp, Jochen; Bystrov, Daniel; Pekar, Vladimir; Börnert, Peter

2009-10-01

A concept is proposed to simplify patient positioning and scan planning to improve ease of use and workflow in MR. After patient preparation in front of the scanner the operator selects the anatomy of interest by a single push-button action. Subsequently, the patient table is moved automatically into the scanner, while real-time 3D isotropic low-resolution continuously moving table scout scanning is performed using patient-independent MR system settings. With a real-time organ identification process running in parallel and steering the scanner, the target anatomy can be positioned fully automatically in the scanner's sensitive volume. The desired diagnostic examination of the anatomy of interest can be planned and continued immediately using the geometric information derived from the acquired 3D data. The concept was implemented and successfully tested in vivo in 12 healthy volunteers, focusing on the liver as the target anatomy. The positioning accuracy achieved was on the order of several millimeters, which turned out to be sufficient for initial planning purposes. Furthermore, the impact of nonoptimal system settings on the positioning performance, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was investigated. The present work proved the basic concept of the proposed approach as an element of future scan automation. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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.

AMBULATORY BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING: THE NEED OF 7-DAY RECORD

PubMed Central

HALBERG, F.; KATINAS, G.; CORNÉLISSEN, G.; SCHWARTZKOPFF, O.; FIŠER, B.; SIEGELOVÁ, J.; DUŠEK, J.; JANČÍK, J.

2008-01-01

The need for systematic around-the-clock self-measurements of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR), or preferably for automatic monitoring as the need arises and can be met by inexpensive tools, is illustrated in two case reports. Miniaturized unobtrusive, as yet unavailable instrumentation for the automatic measurement of BP and HR should be a high priority for both government and industry. Automatic ambulatorily functioning monitors already represent great progress, enabling us to introduce the concept of eventually continuous or, as yet, intermittent home ABPM. On BP and HR records, gliding spectra aligned with global spectra visualize the changing dynamics involved in health and disease, and can be part of an eventually automated system of therapy adjusted to the ever-present variability of BP. In the interim, with tools already available, chronomics on self- or automatic measurements can be considered, with analyses provided by the Halberg Chronobiology Center, as an alternative to “flying blind”, as an editor put it. Chronomics assessing variability has to be considered. PMID:19018289

Automatic assessment of the quality of patient positioning in mammography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bülow, Thomas; Meetz, Kirsten; Kutra, Dominik; Netsch, Thomas; Wiemker, Rafael; Bergtholdt, Martin; Sabczynski, Jörg; Wieberneit, Nataly; Freund, Manuela; Schulze-Wenck, Ingrid

2013-02-01

Quality assurance has been recognized as crucial for the success of population-based breast cancer screening programs using x-ray mammography. Quality guidelines and criteria have been defined in the US as well as the European Union in order to ensure the quality of breast cancer screening. Taplin et al. report that incorrect positioning of the breast is the major image quality issue in screening mammography. Consequently, guidelines and criteria for correct positioning and for the assessment of the positioning quality in mammograms play an important role in the quality standards. In this paper we present a system for the automatic evaluation of positioning quality in mammography according to the existing standardized criteria. This involves the automatic detection of anatomic landmarks in medio- lateral oblique (MLO) and cranio-caudal (CC) mammograms, namely the pectoral muscle, the mammilla and the infra-mammary fold. Furthermore, the detected landmarks are assessed with respect to their proper presentation in the image. Finally, the geometric relations between the detected landmarks are investigated to assess the positioning quality. This includes the evaluation whether the pectoral muscle is imaged down to the mammilla level, and whether the posterior nipple line diameter of the breast is consistent between the different views (MLO and CC) of the same breast. Results of the computerized assessment are compared to ground truth collected from two expert readers.

Positive Enteric Contrast Material for Abdominal and Pelvic CT with Automatic Exposure Control: What Is the Effect On Patient Radiation Exposure?

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhen J.; Chen, Katherine S.; Gould, Robert; Coakley, Fergus V.; Fu, Yanjun; Yeh, Benjamin M.

2014-01-01

Objective To assess the effect of positive enteric contrast administration on automatic exposure control (AEC) CT radiation exposure in 1) a CT phantom, and 2) a retrospective review of patients. Materials and Methods We scanned a CT phantom containing simulated bowel that was sequentially filled with water and positive enteric contrast, and recorded the mean volume CT dose index (CTDIvol). We also identified 17 patients who had undergone 2 technically comparable CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis, one with positive enteric contrast and the other with oral water. Paired student t-tests were used to compare the mean CTDIvol between scans performed with and without positive enteric contrast. Both the phantom and patient CT scans were performed using AEC with a fixed noise index. Results The mean CTDIvol for the phantom with simulated bowel containing water and positive enteric contrast were 8.2 ± 0.2 mGy, and 8.7 ± 0.1 mGy (6.1% higher than water, p=0.02), respectively. The mean CTDIvol for patients scanned with oral water and with positive enteric contrast were 11.8mGy and 13.1mGy, respectively (p=0.003). This corresponded to a mean CTDIvol which was 11.0% higher (range: 0.0–20.7% higher) in scans with positive enteric contrast than those with oral water in patients. Conclusions When automatic exposure control is utilized for abdominopelvic CT, the radiation exposure, as measured by CTDIvol, is higher for scans performed with positive enteric contrast than those with oral water. PMID:21493028

Global identifiability of linear compartmental models--a computer algebra algorithm.

PubMed

Audoly, S; D'Angiò, L; Saccomani, M P; Cobelli, C

1998-01-01

A priori global identifiability deals with the uniqueness of the solution for the unknown parameters of a model and is, thus, a prerequisite for parameter estimation of biological dynamic models. Global identifiability is however difficult to test, since it requires solving a system of algebraic nonlinear equations which increases both in nonlinearity degree and number of terms and unknowns with increasing model order. In this paper, a computer algebra tool, GLOBI (GLOBal Identifiability) is presented, which combines the topological transfer function method with the Buchberger algorithm, to test global identifiability of linear compartmental models. GLOBI allows for the automatic testing of a priori global identifiability of general structure compartmental models from general multi input-multi output experiments. Examples of usage of GLOBI to analyze a priori global identifiability of some complex biological compartmental models are provided.

Microfluidic on-chip fluorescence-activated interface control system

PubMed Central

Haiwang, Li; Nguyen, N. T.; Wong, T. N.; Ng, S. L.

2010-01-01

A microfluidic dynamic fluorescence-activated interface control system was developed for lab-on-a-chip applications. The system consists of a straight rectangular microchannel, a fluorescence excitation source, a detection sensor, a signal conversion circuit, and a high-voltage feedback system. Aqueous NaCl as conducting fluid and aqueous glycerol as nonconducting fluid were introduced to flow side by side into the straight rectangular microchannel. Fluorescent dye was added to the aqueous NaCl to work as a signal representing the interface position. Automatic control of the liquid interface was achieved by controlling the electroosmotic effect that exists only in the conducting fluid using a high-voltage feedback system. A LABVIEW program was developed to control the output of high-voltage power supply according the actual interface position, and then the interface position is modified as the output of high-voltage power supply. At last, the interface can be moved to the desired position automatically using this feedback system. The results show that the system presented in this paper can control an arbitrary interface location in real time. The effects of viscosity ratio, flow rates, and polarity of electric field were discussed. This technique can be extended to switch the sample flow and droplets automatically. PMID:21173886

Automatic indexing of scanned documents: a layout-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esser, Daniel; Schuster, Daniel; Muthmann, Klemens; Berger, Michael; Schill, Alexander

2012-01-01

Archiving official written documents such as invoices, reminders and account statements in business and private area gets more and more important. Creating appropriate index entries for document archives like sender's name, creation date or document number is a tedious manual work. We present a novel approach to handle automatic indexing of documents based on generic positional extraction of index terms. For this purpose we apply the knowledge of document templates stored in a common full text search index to find index positions that were successfully extracted in the past.

Nuclear engine flow reactivity shim control

DOEpatents

Walsh, J.M.

1973-12-11

A nuclear engine control system is provided which automatically compensates for reactor reactivity uncertainties at the start of life and reactivity losses due to core corrosion during the reactor life in gas-cooled reactors. The coolant gas flow is varied automatically by means of specially provided control apparatus so that the reactor control drums maintain a predetermined steady state position throughout the reactor life. This permits the reactor to be designed for a constant drum position and results in a desirable, relatively flat temperature profile across the core. (Official Gazette)

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

Saving Space and Time: The Tractor That Einstein Built

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

In 1984, NASA initiated the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) program to test two unverified predictions of Albert Einstein s theory of general relativity, hypotheses about the ways space, time, light, and gravity relate to each other. To test these predictions, the Space Agency and researchers at Stanford University developed an experiment that would check, with extreme precision, tiny changes in the spin direction of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth satellite orbiting at a 400-mile altitude directly over the Earth s poles. When the program first began, the researchers assessed using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to control the attitude of the GP-B spacecraft accurately. At that time, the best GPS receivers could only provide accuracy to nearly 1 meter, but the GP-B spacecraft required a system 100 times more accurate. To address this concern, researchers at Stanford designed high-performance, attitude-determining hardware that used GPS signals, perfecting a high-precision form of GPS called Carrier-Phase Differential GPS that could provide continuous real-time position, velocity, time, and attitude sensor information for all axes of a vehicle. The researchers came to the realization that controlling the GP-B spacecraft with this new system was essentially no different than controlling an airplane. Their thinking took a new direction: If this technology proved successful, the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were ready commercial markets. They set out to test the new technology, the "Integrity Beacon Landing System," using it to automatically land a commercial Boeing 737 over 100 times successfully through Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS technology. The thinking of the researchers shifted again, from automatically landing aircraft, to automating precision farming and construction equipment.

Automatic Rail Extraction and Celarance Check with a Point Cloud Captured by Mls in a Railway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niina, Y.; Honma, R.; Honma, Y.; Kondo, K.; Tsuji, K.; Hiramatsu, T.; Oketani, E.

2018-05-01

Recently, MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning) has been successfully used in a road maintenance. In this paper, we present the application of MLS for the inspection of clearance along railway tracks of West Japan Railway Company. Point clouds around the track are captured by MLS mounted on a bogie and rail position can be determined by matching the shape of the ideal rail head with respect to the point cloud by ICP algorithm. A clearance check is executed automatically with virtual clearance model laid along the extracted rail. As a result of evaluation, the accuracy of extracting rail positions is less than 3 mm. With respect to the automatic clearance check, the objects inside the clearance and the ones related to a contact line is successfully detected by visual confirmation.

29 CFR 1926.803 - Compressed air.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... working chamber is below 12 p.s.i.g., each man lock shall be equipped with automatic controls which... also be equipped with manual controls to permit the lock attendant to override the automatic mechanism... be in a cramped position, and shall not have less than 5 feet clear head room at the center and a...

Automatic vigilance for negative words in lexical decision and naming: comment on Larsen, Mercer, and Balota (2006).

PubMed

Estes, Zachary; Adelman, James S

2008-08-01

An automatic vigilance hypothesis states that humans preferentially attend to negative stimuli, and this attention to negative valence disrupts the processing of other stimulus properties. Thus, negative words typically elicit slower color naming, word naming, and lexical decisions than neutral or positive words. Larsen, Mercer, and Balota analyzed the stimuli from 32 published studies, and they found that word valence was confounded with several lexical factors known to affect word recognition. Indeed, with these lexical factors covaried out, Larsen et al. found no evidence of automatic vigilance. The authors report a more sensitive analysis of 1011 words. Results revealed a small but reliable valence effect, such that negative words (e.g., "shark") elicit slower lexical decisions and naming than positive words (e.g., "beach"). Moreover, the relation between valence and recognition was categorical rather than linear; the extremity of a word's valence did not affect its recognition. This valence effect was not attributable to word length, frequency, orthographic neighborhood size, contextual diversity, first phoneme, or arousal. Thus, the present analysis provides the most powerful demonstration of automatic vigilance to date.

An evaluation of automatic control system concepts for general aviation airplanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, E. C.; Ragsdale, W. A.; Wunschel, A. J.

1988-01-01

A piloted simulation study of automatic longitudinal control systems for general aviation airplanes has been conducted. These automatic control systems were designed to make the simulated airplane easy to fly for a beginning or infrequent pilot. Different control systems are presented and their characteristics are documented. In a conventional airplane control system each cockpit controller commands combinations of both the airspeed and the vertical speed. The best system in the present study decoupled the airspeed and vertical speed responses to cockpit throttle inputs. That is, the cockpit throttle lever commanded only airspeed responses, and the longitudinal wheel position commanded only vertical speed responses. This system significantly reduced the pilot workload throughout an entire mission of the airplane from takeoff to landing. An important feature of the automatic system was that neither changing flap position nor maneuvering in steeply banked turns affected either the airspeed or the vertical speed. All the pilots who flew the control system simulation were favorably impressed with the very low workload and the excellent handling qualities of the simulated airplane.

Effectiveness of Rack Sanitation Procedures for Elimination of Bacteria from Automatic Watering Manifolds.

PubMed

Costello, Terry; Watkins, Linda; Straign, Mike; Bean, William; Toth, Linda; Rehg, Jerold

1998-03-01

An important responsibility of animal care programs is to protect research animals from exposure to potentially pathogenic microorganisms. To validate the need for steam sterilization of rodent automatic watering racks, we evaluate the post-sanitation microbial contamination of experimentally inoculated racks and of racks that had been used to house conventional mice. We tested three sanitation protocols: rack-washer sanitation without manifold flush, sanitation that included manifold flush, and sanitation that included manifold flush followed by autoclaving. Rack sanitation, with or without manifold flush, did not reliably eliminate microbial flora from the lixits or manifold drainage water. A total of 43% of all non-autoclaved racks were positive for bacterial contamination after sanitation, and racks that had been used for conventional animal housing were more frequently positive than were experimentally inoculated racks (79% vs 18%). These data indicate that steam sterilization is necessary for eliminating bacteria from automatic watering systems. These observations are particularly important in light of increasing numbers of immune-impaired rodents that may be inadvertently and unnecessarily exposed to microbial pathogens via the automatic watering system.

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.

75 FR 24734 - Extension of the Designation of Honduras for Temporary Protected Status and Automatic Extension...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

... underemployed in 2008. The 2009 political crisis exacerbated the effects of the global economic downturn in..., much of the housing still lacked water and electricity. In May 2006, the Honduran government said that...

Automatic analysis of the micronucleus test in primary human lymphocytes using image analysis.

PubMed

Frieauff, W; Martus, H J; Suter, W; Elhajouji, A

2013-01-01

The in vitro micronucleus test (MNT) is a well-established test for early screening of new chemical entities in industrial toxicology. For assessing the clastogenic or aneugenic potential of a test compound, micronucleus induction in cells has been shown repeatedly to be a sensitive and a specific parameter. Various automated systems to replace the tedious and time-consuming visual slide analysis procedure as well as flow cytometric approaches have been discussed. The ROBIAS (Robotic Image Analysis System) for both automatic cytotoxicity assessment and micronucleus detection in human lymphocytes was developed at Novartis where the assay has been used to validate positive results obtained in the MNT in TK6 cells, which serves as the primary screening system for genotoxicity profiling in early drug development. In addition, the in vitro MNT has become an accepted alternative to support clinical studies and will be used for regulatory purposes as well. The comparison of visual with automatic analysis results showed a high degree of concordance for 25 independent experiments conducted for the profiling of 12 compounds. For concentration series of cyclophosphamide and carbendazim, a very good correlation between automatic and visual analysis by two examiners could be established, both for the relative division index used as cytotoxicity parameter, as well as for micronuclei scoring in mono- and binucleated cells. Generally, false-positive micronucleus decisions could be controlled by fast and simple relocation of the automatically detected patterns. The possibility to analyse 24 slides within 65h by automatic analysis over the weekend and the high reproducibility of the results make automatic image processing a powerful tool for the micronucleus analysis in primary human lymphocytes. The automated slide analysis for the MNT in human lymphocytes complements the portfolio of image analysis applications on ROBIAS which is supporting various assays at Novartis.

Automatic identification of cochlear implant electrode arrays for post-operative assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noble, Jack H.; Schuman, Theodore A.; Wright, Charles G.; Labadie, Robert F.; Dawant, Benoit M.

2011-03-01

Cochlear implantation is a procedure performed to treat profound hearing loss. Accurately determining the postoperative position of the implant in vivo would permit studying the correlations between implant position and hearing restoration. To solve this problem, we present an approach based on parametric Gradient Vector Flow snakes to segment the electrode array in post-operative CT. By combining this with existing methods for localizing intra-cochlear anatomy, we have developed a system that permits accurate assessment of the implant position in vivo. The system is validated using a set of seven temporal bone specimens. The algorithms were run on pre- and post-operative CTs of the specimens, and the results were compared to histological images. It was found that the position of the arrays observed in the histological images is in excellent agreement with the position of their automatically generated 3D reconstructions in the CT scans.

Transducer-actuator systems and methods for performing on-machine measurements and automatic part alignment

DOEpatents

Barkman, William E.; Dow, Thomas A.; Garrard, Kenneth P.; Marston, Zachary

2016-07-12

Systems and methods for performing on-machine measurements and automatic part alignment, including: a measurement component operable for determining the position of a part on a machine; and an actuation component operable for adjusting the position of the part by contacting the part with a predetermined force responsive to the determined position of the part. The measurement component consists of a transducer. The actuation component consists of a linear actuator. Optionally, the measurement component and the actuation component consist of a single linear actuator operable for contacting the part with a first lighter force for determining the position of the part and with a second harder force for adjusting the position of the part. The actuation component is utilized in a substantially horizontal configuration and the effects of gravitational drop of the part are accounted for in the force applied and the timing of the contact.

Screening for Atrial Fibrillation in Patients ≥65 Years Using an Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor in a Skilled Nursing Facility.

PubMed

Wiesel, Joseph; Salomone, Thomas J

2017-10-15

Early detection of asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) provides an opportunity to treat patients to reduce their risk of stroke. Long-term residents of skilled nursing facilities frequently have multiple risk factors for strokes due to AF and may benefit from screening for AF. Patients in a skilled nursing facility 65 years and older, without a history of AF and without a pacemaker or defibrillator, were evaluated using a Microlife WatchBP Home A automatic blood pressure monitor that can detect AF when set to a triple reading mode. Those with readings positive for AF were evaluated with a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) or a 30-second single-channel ECG to confirm the presence of AF. A total of 101 patients were screened with an average age of 78 years, and 48 (48%) were female. Nine automatic blood pressure monitor readings were positive for possible AF. Of those, 7 (6.9%, 95% confidence intervals 3.0% to 14.2%) had AF confirmed with ECG. Only 2 (2%, 95% confidence interval 0.3% to 7.7%) were false-positive readings. One-time screening for AF using an automatic blood pressure monitor in a skilled nursing facility resulted in a high number of patients with newly diagnosed AF. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic mouse ultrasound detector (A-MUD): A new tool for processing rodent vocalizations

PubMed Central

Reitschmidt, Doris; Noll, Anton; Balazs, Peter; Penn, Dustin J.

2017-01-01

House mice (Mus musculus) emit complex ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during social and sexual interactions, which have features similar to bird song (i.e., they are composed of several different types of syllables, uttered in succession over time to form a pattern of sequences). Manually processing complex vocalization data is time-consuming and potentially subjective, and therefore, we developed an algorithm that automatically detects mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (Automatic Mouse Ultrasound Detector or A-MUD). A-MUD is a script that runs on STx acoustic software (S_TOOLS-STx version 4.2.2), which is free for scientific use. This algorithm improved the efficiency of processing USV files, as it was 4–12 times faster than manual segmentation, depending upon the size of the file. We evaluated A-MUD error rates using manually segmented sound files as a ‘gold standard’ reference, and compared them to a commercially available program. A-MUD had lower error rates than the commercial software, as it detected significantly more correct positives, and fewer false positives and false negatives. The errors generated by A-MUD were mainly false negatives, rather than false positives. This study is the first to systematically compare error rates for automatic ultrasonic vocalization detection methods, and A-MUD and subsequent versions will be made available for the scientific community. PMID:28727808

Ubiquitinated Proteome: Ready for Global?*

PubMed Central

Shi, Yi; Xu, Ping; Qin, Jun

2011-01-01

Ubiquitin (Ub) is a small and highly conserved protein that can covalently modify protein substrates. Ubiquitination is one of the major post-translational modifications that regulate a broad spectrum of cellular functions. The advancement of mass spectrometers as well as the development of new affinity purification tools has greatly expedited proteome-wide analysis of several post-translational modifications (e.g. phosphorylation, glycosylation, and acetylation). In contrast, large-scale profiling of lysine ubiquitination remains a challenge. Most recently, new Ub affinity reagents such as Ub remnant antibody and tandem Ub binding domains have been developed, allowing for relatively large-scale detection of several hundreds of lysine ubiquitination events in human cells. Here we review different strategies for the identification of ubiquitination site and discuss several issues associated with data analysis. We suggest that careful interpretation and orthogonal confirmation of MS spectra is necessary to minimize false positive assignments by automatic searching algorithms. PMID:21339389

Glacial dynamics (glaciology)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whillans, Ian

1991-01-01

Recent results are reviewed from studies of ice dynamics that relate to the objectives of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet initiative. The large amount of knowledge gained is emphasized. The best evidence shows that the ice sheet in West Antarctic is the most rapidly changing ice sheet on earth today. Its rate of change is much faster than most glaciologists had expected and it is changing in a manner much more complex than foreseen. It appears that the changes have two broad causes: a delayed but ongoing response to the termination of the last glaciation about 10,000 years ago; and automatic, internally caused flow adjustments. It is not fully known why the response to the last global termination is so delayed, nor is the operation of internal instabilities understood, and certainly the position has not yet been attained to predict the future course of the evolution of the ice sheet.

A Subpixel Classification of Multispectral Satellite Imagery for Interpetation of Tundra-Taiga Ecotone Vegetation (Case Study on Tuliok River Valley, Khibiny, Russia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikheeva, A. I.; Tutubalina, O. V.; Zimin, M. V.; Golubeva, E. I.

2017-12-01

The tundra-taiga ecotone plays significant role in northern ecosystems. Due to global climatic changes, the vegetation of the ecotone is the key object of many remote-sensing studies. The interpretation of vegetation and nonvegetation objects of the tundra-taiga ecotone on satellite imageries of a moderate resolution is complicated by the difficulty of extracting these objects from the spectral and spatial mixtures within a pixel. This article describes a method for the subpixel classification of Terra ASTER satellite image for vegetation mapping of the tundra-taiga ecotone in the Tuliok River, Khibiny Mountains, Russia. It was demonstrated that this method allows to determine the position of the boundaries of ecotone objects and their abundance on the basis of quantitative criteria, which provides a more accurate characteristic of ecotone vegetation when compared to the per-pixel approach of automatic imagery interpretation.

Unprecented syntonization and syncronization accuracy via simultaneous viewing with GPS receivers: Construction characteristics of an NBS/GPS receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, D. D.; Weiss, M.; Clements, A.; Allan, D. W.

1982-01-01

The National Bureau of Standards/Global Positioning System (NBS/GPS) receiver is discussed. It is designed around the concept of obtaining high accuracy, low cost time and frequency comparisons between remote frequency standards and clocks with the intent to aid international time and frequency coordination. Preliminary tests of this comparison technique between Boulder, CO and Washington, D.C indicate the ability to do accurate time transfer to better that 10 ns, and frequency measurements to better than 1 part in 10 to the 14th power. The hardware and software of the receiver is detailed. The receiver is fully automatic with a built-in 0.1 ns resolution time interval counter. A microprocessor does data processing. Satellite signal stabilities are routinely at the 5 ns level for 15 s averages, and the internal receiver stabilities are at the 1 ns level.

Face to face with emotion: holistic face processing is modulated by emotional state.

PubMed

Curby, Kim M; Johnson, Kareem J; Tyson, Alyssa

2012-01-01

Negative emotions are linked with a local, rather than global, visual processing style, which may preferentially facilitate feature-based, relative to holistic, processing mechanisms. Because faces are typically processed holistically, and because social contexts are prime elicitors of emotions, we examined whether negative emotions decrease holistic processing of faces. We induced positive, negative, or neutral emotions via film clips and measured holistic processing before and after the induction: participants made judgements about cued parts of chimeric faces, and holistic processing was indexed by the interference caused by task-irrelevant face parts. Emotional state significantly modulated face-processing style, with the negative emotion induction leading to decreased holistic processing. Furthermore, self-reported change in emotional state correlated with changes in holistic processing. These results contrast with general assumptions that holistic processing of faces is automatic and immune to outside influences, and they illustrate emotion's power to modulate socially relevant aspects of visual perception.

Linking automatic evaluation to mood and information processing style: consequences for experienced affect, impression formation, and stereotyping.

PubMed

Chartrand, Tanya L; van Baaren, Rick B; Bargh, John A

2006-02-01

According to the feelings-as-information account, a person's mood state signals to him or her the valence of the current environment (N. Schwarz & G. Clore, 1983). However, the ways in which the environment automatically influences mood in the first place remain to be explored. The authors propose that one mechanism by which the environment influences affect is automatic evaluation, the nonconscious evaluation of environmental stimuli as good or bad. A first experiment demonstrated that repeated brief exposure to positive or negative stimuli (which leads to automatic evaluation) induces a corresponding mood in participants. In 3 additional studies, the authors showed that automatic evaluation affects information processing style. Experiment 4 showed that participants' mood mediates the effect of valenced brief primes on information processing. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Linking Automatic Evaluation to Mood and Information Processing Style: Consequences for Experienced Affect, Impression Formation, and Stereotyping

PubMed Central

Chartrand, Tanya L.; van Baaren, Rick B.; Bargh, John A.

2009-01-01

According to the feelings-as-information account, a person’s mood state signals to him or her the valence of the current environment (N. Schwarz & G. Clore, 1983). However, the ways in which the environment automatically influences mood in the first place remain to be explored. The authors propose that one mechanism by which the environment influences affect is automatic evaluation, the nonconscious evaluation of environmental stimuli as good or bad. A first experiment demonstrated that repeated brief exposure to positive or negative stimuli (which leads to automatic evaluation) induces a corresponding mood in participants. In 3 additional studies, the authors showed that automatic evaluation affects information processing style. Experiment 4 showed that participants’ mood mediates the effect of valenced brief primes on information processing. PMID:16478316

Utah State University Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurements Gauss-Markov Kalman filter model of the ionosphere: Model description and validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherliess, L.; Schunk, R. W.; Sojka, J. J.; Thompson, D. C.; Zhu, L.

2006-11-01

The Utah State University Gauss-Markov Kalman Filter (GMKF) was developed as part of the Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurements (GAIM) program. The GMKF uses a physics-based model of the ionosphere and a Gauss-Markov Kalman filter as a basis for assimilating a diverse set of real-time (or near real-time) observations. The physics-based model is the Ionospheric Forecast Model (IFM), which accounts for five ion species and covers the E region, F region, and the topside from 90 to 1400 km altitude. Within the GMKF, the IFM derived ionospheric densities constitute a background density field on which perturbations are superimposed based on the available data and their errors. In the current configuration, the GMKF assimilates slant total electron content (TEC) from a variable number of global positioning satellite (GPS) ground sites, bottomside electron density (Ne) profiles from a variable number of ionosondes, in situ Ne from four Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, and nighttime line-of-sight ultraviolet (UV) radiances measured by satellites. To test the GMKF for real-time operations and to validate its ionospheric density specifications, we have tested the model performance for a variety of geophysical conditions. During these model runs various combination of data types and data quantities were assimilated. To simulate real-time operations, the model ran continuously and automatically and produced three-dimensional global electron density distributions in 15 min increments. In this paper we will describe the Gauss-Markov Kalman filter model and present results of our validation study, with an emphasis on comparisons with independent observations.

Scene Analysis: Non-Linear Spatial Filtering for Automatic Target Detection.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

In this thesis, a method for two-dimensional pattern recognition was developed and tested. The method included a global search scheme for candidate...test global switch TYPEO Creating negative video file only.W 11=0 12=256 13=512 14=768 GO 70 2 1 TYPE" Creating negative and horizontally flipped video...purpose was to develop a base of image processing software for the AFIT Digital Signal Processing Laboratory NOVA- ECLIPSE minicomputer system, for

PAGER - Rapid Assessment of an Earthquake's Impact

USGS Publications Warehouse

Earle, Paul S.; Wald, David J.

2007-01-01

PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) is an automated system to rapidly assess the number of people and regions exposed to severe shaking by an earthquake, and inform emergency responders, government agencies, and the media to the scope of the potential disaster. PAGER monitors the U.S. Geological Survey?s near real-time U.S. and global earthquake detections and automatically identifies events that are of societal importance, well in advance of ground-truth or news accounts.

An electrophysiological investigation of emotional abnormalities in groups at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorders.

PubMed

Martin, Elizabeth A; Karcher, Nicole R; Bartholow, Bruce D; Siegle, Greg J; Kerns, John G

2017-03-01

Both extreme levels of social anhedonia (SocAnh) and perceptual aberration/magical ideation (PerMag) are associated with risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and with emotional abnormalities. Yet, the nature of any psychophysiological-measured affective abnormality, including the role of automatic/controlled processes, is unclear. We examined the late positive potential (LPP) during passive viewing (to assess automatic processing) and during cognitive reappraisal (to assess controlled processing) in three groups: SocAnh, PerMag, and controls. The SocAnh group exhibited an increased LPP when viewing negative images. Further, SocAnh exhibited greater reductions in the LPP for negative images when told to use strategies to alter negative emotion. Similar to SocAnh, PerMag exhibited an increased LPP when viewing negative images. However, PerMag also exhibited an increased LPP when viewing positive images as well as an atypical decreased LPP when increasing positive emotion. Overall, these results suggest that at-risk groups are associated with shared and unique automatic and controlled abnormalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A tool to automatically analyze electromagnetic tracking data from high dose rate brachytherapy of breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Götz, Th I; Lahmer, G; Strnad, V; Bert, Ch; Hensel, B; Tomé, A M; Lang, E W

2017-01-01

During High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR-BT) the spatial position of the radiation source inside catheters implanted into a female breast is determined via electromagnetic tracking (EMT). Dwell positions and dwell times of the radiation source are established, relative to the patient's anatomy, from an initial X-ray-CT-image. During the irradiation treatment, catheter displacements can occur due to patient movements. The current study develops an automatic analysis tool of EMT data sets recorded with a solenoid sensor to assure concordance of the source movement with the treatment plan. The tool combines machine learning techniques such as multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and particle filter (PF) to precisely detect and quantify any mismatch between the treatment plan and actual EMT measurements. We demonstrate that movement artifacts as well as technical signal distortions can be removed automatically and reliably, resulting in artifact-free reconstructed signals. This is a prerequisite for a highly accurate determination of any deviations of dwell positions from the treatment plan.

Automatic analysis for neuron by confocal laser scanning microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satou, Kouhei; Aoki, Yoshimitsu; Mataga, Nobuko; Hensh, Takao K.; Taki, Katuhiko

2005-12-01

The aim of this study is to develop a system that recognizes both the macro- and microscopic configurations of nerve cells and automatically performs the necessary 3-D measurements and functional classification of spines. The acquisition of 3-D images of cranial nerves has been enabled by the use of a confocal laser scanning microscope, although the highly accurate 3-D measurements of the microscopic structures of cranial nerves and their classification based on their configurations have not yet been accomplished. In this study, in order to obtain highly accurate measurements of the microscopic structures of cranial nerves, existing positions of spines were predicted by the 2-D image processing of tomographic images. Next, based on the positions that were predicted on the 2-D images, the positions and configurations of the spines were determined more accurately by 3-D image processing of the volume data. We report the successful construction of an automatic analysis system that uses a coarse-to-fine technique to analyze the microscopic structures of cranial nerves with high speed and accuracy by combining 2-D and 3-D image analyses.

A tool to automatically analyze electromagnetic tracking data from high dose rate brachytherapy of breast cancer patients

PubMed Central

Lahmer, G.; Strnad, V.; Bert, Ch.; Hensel, B.; Tomé, A. M.; Lang, E. W.

2017-01-01

During High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR-BT) the spatial position of the radiation source inside catheters implanted into a female breast is determined via electromagnetic tracking (EMT). Dwell positions and dwell times of the radiation source are established, relative to the patient’s anatomy, from an initial X-ray-CT-image. During the irradiation treatment, catheter displacements can occur due to patient movements. The current study develops an automatic analysis tool of EMT data sets recorded with a solenoid sensor to assure concordance of the source movement with the treatment plan. The tool combines machine learning techniques such as multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and particle filter (PF) to precisely detect and quantify any mismatch between the treatment plan and actual EMT measurements. We demonstrate that movement artifacts as well as technical signal distortions can be removed automatically and reliably, resulting in artifact-free reconstructed signals. This is a prerequisite for a highly accurate determination of any deviations of dwell positions from the treatment plan. PMID:28934238

Automatic Control Of Length Of Welding Arc

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iceland, William F.

1991-01-01

Nonlinear relationships among current, voltage, and length stored in electronic memory. Conceptual microprocessor-based control subsystem maintains constant length of welding arc in gas/tungsten arc-welding system, even when welding current varied. Uses feedback of current and voltage from welding arc. Directs motor to set position of torch according to previously measured relationships among current, voltage, and length of arc. Signal paths marked "calibration" or "welding" used during those processes only. Other signal paths used during both processes. Control subsystem added to existing manual or automatic welding system equipped with automatic voltage control.

Automatic pattern localization across layout database and photolithography mask

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morey, Philippe; Brault, Frederic; Beisser, Eric; Ache, Oliver; Röth, Klaus-Dieter

2016-03-01

Advanced process photolithography masks require more and more controls for registration versus design and critical dimension uniformity (CDU). The distribution of the measurement points should be distributed all over the whole mask and may be denser in areas critical to wafer overlay requirements. This means that some, if not many, of theses controls should be made inside the customer die and may use non-dedicated patterns. It is then mandatory to access the original layout database to select patterns for the metrology process. Finding hundreds of relevant patterns in a database containing billions of polygons may be possible, but in addition, it is mandatory to create the complete metrology job fast and reliable. Combining, on one hand, a software expertise in mask databases processing and, on the other hand, advanced skills in control and registration equipment, we have developed a Mask Dataprep Station able to select an appropriate number of measurement targets and their positions in a huge database and automatically create measurement jobs on the corresponding area on the mask for the registration metrology system. In addition, the required design clips are generated from the database in order to perform the rendering procedure on the metrology system. This new methodology has been validated on real production line for the most advanced process. This paper presents the main challenges that we have faced, as well as some results on the global performances.

Assessment of earthquake effects - contribution from online communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Amico, Sebastiano; Agius, Matthew; Galea, Pauline

2014-05-01

The rapid increase of social media and online newspapers in the last years have given the opportunity to make a national investigation on macroseismic effects on the Maltese Islands based on felt earthquake reports. A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck close to Malta on Sunday 24th April 2011 at 13:02 GMT. The earthquake was preceded and followed by a series of smaller magnitude quakes throughout the day, most of which were felt by the locals on the island. The continuous news media coverage during the day and the extensive sharing of the news item on social media resulted in a strong public response to fill in the 'Did you feel it?' online form on the website of the Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of Malta (http://seismic.research.um.edu.mt/). The results yield interesting information about the demographics of the island, and the different felt experiences possibly relating to geological settings and diverse structural and age-classified buildings. Based on this case study, the SMRU is in the process of developing a mobile phone application dedicated to share earthquake information to the local community. The application will automatically prompt users to fill in a simplified 'Did you feel it?' report to potentially felt earthquakes. Automatic location using Global Positioning Systems can be incorporated to provide a 'real time' intensity map that can be used by the Civil Protection Department.

Computer aided segmentation of kidneys using locally shape constrained deformable models on CT images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erdt, Marius; Sakas, Georgios

2010-03-01

This work presents a novel approach for model based segmentation of the kidney in images acquired by Computed Tomography (CT). The developed computer aided segmentation system is expected to support computer aided diagnosis and operation planning. We have developed a deformable model based approach based on local shape constraints that prevents the model from deforming into neighboring structures while allowing the global shape to adapt freely to the data. Those local constraints are derived from the anatomical structure of the kidney and the presence and appearance of neighboring organs. The adaptation process is guided by a rule-based deformation logic in order to improve the robustness of the segmentation in areas of diffuse organ boundaries. Our work flow consists of two steps: 1.) a user guided positioning and 2.) an automatic model adaptation using affine and free form deformation in order to robustly extract the kidney. In cases which show pronounced pathologies, the system also offers real time mesh editing tools for a quick refinement of the segmentation result. Evaluation results based on 30 clinical cases using CT data sets show an average dice correlation coefficient of 93% compared to the ground truth. The results are therefore in most cases comparable to manual delineation. Computation times of the automatic adaptation step are lower than 6 seconds which makes the proposed system suitable for an application in clinical practice.

Automatic segmentation of brain hemispheres by midplane detection in class images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagenknecht, Gudrun; Kaiser, Hans-Juergen; Sabri, Osama; Buell, Udalrich

2000-06-01

Segmentation of brain hemispheres is necessary to study left- right differences in structure and function. For extraction of a 3D individual region-of-interest atlas of the human brain, detection of the midplane is the sine qua non as it provides the reference plane for determining other anatomical objects. Extraction of the sagittal midplane is done in two main steps. First, a 2D filter is used to give a first approximation of the midplane position. To model symmetry properties of the midplane neighborhood, the different filter columns contain class-dependent weights for cerebrospinal fluid, gray and white matter. The filter can be rotated in a range of angles. In a user-defined range of planes, the global maximum of the filter response is searched for and the resulting position is utilized to restrict the search in the remaining planes. In a second step, midplane extraction is refined by searching for the optimal path of the midplane within the filter mask at optimum position. Symmetry properties are modeled analogous to the first step with class-dependent weights of the filter columns. The extraction of the midplane gives accurate and reliable results in simulated data sets and patient studies even if asymmetric artifacts are simulated.

[Development of an automatic vacuum liquid chromatographic device and its application in the separation of the components from Schisandra chinensis (Turz) Baill].

PubMed

Zhu, Jingbo; Liu, Baoyue; Shan, Shibo; Ding, Yanl; Kou, Zinong; Xiao, Wei

2015-08-01

In order to meet the needs of efficient purification of products from natural resources, this paper developed an automatic vacuum liquid chromatographic device (AUTO-VLC) and applied it to the component separation of petroleum ether extracts of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Baill. The device was comprised of a solvent system, a 10-position distribution valve, a 3-position changes valve, dynamic axis compress chromatographic columns with three diameters, and a 10-position fraction valve. The programmable logic controller (PLC) S7- 200 was adopted to realize the automatic control and monitoring of the mobile phase changing, column selection, separation time setting and fraction collection. The separation results showed that six fractions (S1-S6) of different chemical components from 100 g Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Baill. petroleum ether phase were obtained by the AUTO-VLC with 150 mm diameter dynamic axis compress chromatographic column. A new method used for the VLC separation parameters screened by using multiple development TLC was developed and confirmed. The initial mobile phase of AUTO-VLC was selected by taking Rf of all the target compounds ranging from 0 to 0.45 for fist development on the TLC; gradient elution ratio was selected according to k value (the slope of the linear function of Rf value and development times on the TLC) and the resolution of target compounds; elution times (n) were calculated by the formula n ≈ ΔRf/k. A total of four compounds with the purity more than 85% and 13 other components were separated from S5 under the selected conditions for only 17 h. Therefore, the development of the automatic VLC and its method are significant to the automatic and systematic separation of traditional Chinese medicines.

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.

A Self-Organizing Spatial Clustering Approach to Support Large-Scale Network RTK Systems.

PubMed

Shen, Lili; Guo, Jiming; Wang, Lei

2018-06-06

The network real-time kinematic (RTK) technique can provide centimeter-level real time positioning solutions and play a key role in geo-spatial infrastructure. With ever-increasing popularity, network RTK systems will face issues in the support of large numbers of concurrent users. In the past, high-precision positioning services were oriented towards professionals and only supported a few concurrent users. Currently, precise positioning provides a spatial foundation for artificial intelligence (AI), and countless smart devices (autonomous cars, unmanned aerial-vehicles (UAVs), robotic equipment, etc.) require precise positioning services. Therefore, the development of approaches to support large-scale network RTK systems is urgent. In this study, we proposed a self-organizing spatial clustering (SOSC) approach which automatically clusters online users to reduce the computational load on the network RTK system server side. The experimental results indicate that both the SOSC algorithm and the grid algorithm can reduce the computational load efficiently, while the SOSC algorithm gives a more elastic and adaptive clustering solution with different datasets. The SOSC algorithm determines the cluster number and the mean distance to cluster center (MDTCC) according to the data set, while the grid approaches are all predefined. The side-effects of clustering algorithms on the user side are analyzed with real global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data sets. The experimental results indicate that 10 km can be safely used as the cluster radius threshold for the SOSC algorithm without significantly reducing the positioning precision and reliability on the user side.

Automatic control system of high precision welding of workpieces in mechanical engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, I. N.; Zvezdin, V. V.; Israfilov, I. H.; Portnov, S. M.

2014-12-01

In this paper, based on the conducted patent research, the system of laser welding control with different geometry of weld and shapes of parts is developed. The method of monitoring the position of the spot of laser radiation in relation to the curved weld is worked out; it is based on the tracking the edges of the welded parts by low-power laser radiation reflected from the surface of the parts. It allows to make the positioning of the focus of laser radiation in relation to the juncture of the welded parts automatically.

OCT-based full crystalline lens shape change during accommodation in vivo.

PubMed

Martinez-Enriquez, Eduardo; Pérez-Merino, Pablo; Velasco-Ocana, Miriam; Marcos, Susana

2017-02-01

The full shape of the accommodating crystalline lens was estimated using custom three-dimensional (3-D) spectral OCT and image processing algorithms. Automatic segmentation and distortion correction were used to construct 3-D models of the lens region visible through the pupil. The lens peripheral region was estimated with a trained and validated parametric model. Nineteen young eyes were measured at 0-6 D accommodative demands in 1.5 D steps. Lens volume, surface area, diameter, and equatorial plane position were automatically quantified. Lens diameter & surface area correlated negatively and equatorial plane position positively with accommodation response. Lens volume remained constant and surface area decreased with accommodation, indicating that the lens material is incompressible and the capsular bag elastic.

A semi-automatic method for positioning a femoral bone reconstruction for strict view generation.

PubMed

Milano, Federico; Ritacco, Lucas; Gomez, Adrian; Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quiros, Fernan; Risk, Marcelo

2010-01-01

In this paper we present a semi-automatic method for femoral bone positioning after 3D image reconstruction from Computed Tomography images. This serves as grounding for the definition of strict axial, longitudinal and anterior-posterior views, overcoming the problem of patient positioning biases in 2D femoral bone measuring methods. After the bone reconstruction is aligned to a standard reference frame, new tomographic slices can be generated, on which unbiased measures may be taken. This could allow not only accurate inter-patient comparisons but also intra-patient comparisons, i.e., comparisons of images of the same patient taken at different times. This method could enable medical doctors to diagnose and follow up several bone deformities more easily.

A low-cost inertial smoothing system for landing approach guidance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Niessen, F. R.

1973-01-01

Accurate position and velocity information with low noise content for instrument approaches and landings is required for both control and display applications. In a current VTOL automatic instrument approach and landing research program, radar-derived landing guidance position reference signals, which are noisy, have been mixed with acceleration information derived from low-cost onboard sensors to provide high-quality position and velocity information. An in-flight comparison of signal quality and accuracy has shown good agreement between the low-cost inertial smoothing system and an aided inertial navigation system. Furthermore, the low-cost inertial smoothing system has been proven to be satisfactory in control and display system applications for both automatic and pilot-in-the-loop instrument approaches and landings.

OCT-based full crystalline lens shape change during accommodation in vivo

PubMed Central

Martinez-Enriquez, Eduardo; Pérez-Merino, Pablo; Velasco-Ocana, Miriam; Marcos, Susana

2017-01-01

The full shape of the accommodating crystalline lens was estimated using custom three-dimensional (3-D) spectral OCT and image processing algorithms. Automatic segmentation and distortion correction were used to construct 3-D models of the lens region visible through the pupil. The lens peripheral region was estimated with a trained and validated parametric model. Nineteen young eyes were measured at 0-6 D accommodative demands in 1.5 D steps. Lens volume, surface area, diameter, and equatorial plane position were automatically quantified. Lens diameter & surface area correlated negatively and equatorial plane position positively with accommodation response. Lens volume remained constant and surface area decreased with accommodation, indicating that the lens material is incompressible and the capsular bag elastic. PMID:28270993

Automatically identifying health outcome information in MEDLINE records.

PubMed

Demner-Fushman, Dina; Few, Barbara; Hauser, Susan E; Thoma, George

2006-01-01

Understanding the effect of a given intervention on the patient's health outcome is one of the key elements in providing optimal patient care. This study presents a methodology for automatic identification of outcomes-related information in medical text and evaluates its potential in satisfying clinical information needs related to health care outcomes. An annotation scheme based on an evidence-based medicine model for critical appraisal of evidence was developed and used to annotate 633 MEDLINE citations. Textual, structural, and meta-information features essential to outcome identification were learned from the created collection and used to develop an automatic system. Accuracy of automatic outcome identification was assessed in an intrinsic evaluation and in an extrinsic evaluation, in which ranking of MEDLINE search results obtained using PubMed Clinical Queries relied on identified outcome statements. The accuracy and positive predictive value of outcome identification were calculated. Effectiveness of the outcome-based ranking was measured using mean average precision and precision at rank 10. Automatic outcome identification achieved 88% to 93% accuracy. The positive predictive value of individual sentences identified as outcomes ranged from 30% to 37%. Outcome-based ranking improved retrieval accuracy, tripling mean average precision and achieving 389% improvement in precision at rank 10. Preliminary results in outcome-based document ranking show potential validity of the evidence-based medicine-model approach in timely delivery of information critical to clinical decision support at the point of service.

Visual Benefits in Apparent Motion Displays: Automatically Driven Spatial and Temporal Anticipation Are Partially Dissociated

PubMed Central

Ahrens, Merle-Marie; Veniero, Domenica; Gross, Joachim; Harvey, Monika; Thut, Gregor

2015-01-01

Many behaviourally relevant sensory events such as motion stimuli and speech have an intrinsic spatio-temporal structure. This will engage intentional and most likely unintentional (automatic) prediction mechanisms enhancing the perception of upcoming stimuli in the event stream. Here we sought to probe the anticipatory processes that are automatically driven by rhythmic input streams in terms of their spatial and temporal components. To this end, we employed an apparent visual motion paradigm testing the effects of pre-target motion on lateralized visual target discrimination. The motion stimuli either moved towards or away from peripheral target positions (valid vs. invalid spatial motion cueing) at a rhythmic or arrhythmic pace (valid vs. invalid temporal motion cueing). Crucially, we emphasized automatic motion-induced anticipatory processes by rendering the motion stimuli non-predictive of upcoming target position (by design) and task-irrelevant (by instruction), and by creating instead endogenous (orthogonal) expectations using symbolic cueing. Our data revealed that the apparent motion cues automatically engaged both spatial and temporal anticipatory processes, but that these processes were dissociated. We further found evidence for lateralisation of anticipatory temporal but not spatial processes. This indicates that distinct mechanisms may drive automatic spatial and temporal extrapolation of upcoming events from rhythmic event streams. This contrasts with previous findings that instead suggest an interaction between spatial and temporal attention processes when endogenously driven. Our results further highlight the need for isolating intentional from unintentional processes for better understanding the various anticipatory mechanisms engaged in processing behaviourally relevant stimuli with predictable spatio-temporal structure such as motion and speech. PMID:26623650

Global optimization method based on ray tracing to achieve optimum figure error compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiaolin; Guo, Xuejia; Tang, Tianjin

2017-02-01

Figure error would degrade the performance of optical system. When predicting the performance and performing system assembly, compensation by clocking of optical components around the optical axis is a conventional but user-dependent method. Commercial optical software cannot optimize this clocking. Meanwhile existing automatic figure-error balancing methods can introduce approximate calculation error and the build process of optimization model is complex and time-consuming. To overcome these limitations, an accurate and automatic global optimization method of figure error balancing is proposed. This method is based on precise ray tracing to calculate the wavefront error, not approximate calculation, under a given elements' rotation angles combination. The composite wavefront error root-mean-square (RMS) acts as the cost function. Simulated annealing algorithm is used to seek the optimal combination of rotation angles of each optical element. This method can be applied to all rotational symmetric optics. Optimization results show that this method is 49% better than previous approximate analytical method.

Driving photomask supplier quality through automation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, Drew; Espenscheid, Andrew

2007-10-01

In 2005, Freescale Semiconductor's newly centralized mask data prep organization (MSO) initiated a project to develop an automated global quality validation system for photomasks delivered to Freescale Semiconductor fabs. The system handles Certificate of Conformance (CofC) quality metric collection, validation, reporting and an alert system for all photomasks shipped to Freescale fabs from all qualified global suppliers. The completed system automatically collects 30+ quality metrics for each photomask shipped. Other quality metrics are generated from the collected data and quality metric conformance is automatically validated to specifications or control limits with failure alerts emailed to fab photomask and mask data prep engineering. A quality data warehouse stores the data for future analysis, which is performed quarterly. The improved access to data provided by the system has improved Freescale engineers' ability to spot trends and opportunities for improvement with our suppliers' processes. This paper will review each phase of the project, current system capabilities and quality system benefits for both our photomask suppliers and Freescale.

Automated robot-assisted surgical skill evaluation: Predictive analytics approach.

PubMed

Fard, Mahtab J; Ameri, Sattar; Darin Ellis, R; Chinnam, Ratna B; Pandya, Abhilash K; Klein, Michael D

2018-02-01

Surgical skill assessment has predominantly been a subjective task. Recently, technological advances such as robot-assisted surgery have created great opportunities for objective surgical evaluation. In this paper, we introduce a predictive framework for objective skill assessment based on movement trajectory data. Our aim is to build a classification framework to automatically evaluate the performance of surgeons with different levels of expertise. Eight global movement features are extracted from movement trajectory data captured by a da Vinci robot for surgeons with two levels of expertise - novice and expert. Three classification methods - k-nearest neighbours, logistic regression and support vector machines - are applied. The result shows that the proposed framework can classify surgeons' expertise as novice or expert with an accuracy of 82.3% for knot tying and 89.9% for a suturing task. This study demonstrates and evaluates the ability of machine learning methods to automatically classify expert and novice surgeons using global movement features. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of basal inferolateral scar burden determined by automatic analysis of 99mTc-MIBI myocardial perfusion SPECT on the long-term prognosis of cardiac resynchronization therapy.

PubMed

Morishima, Itsuro; Okumura, Kenji; Tsuboi, Hideyuki; Morita, Yasuhiro; Takagi, Kensuke; Yoshida, Ruka; Nagai, Hiroaki; Tomomatsu, Toshiro; Ikai, Yoshihiro; Terada, Kazushi; Sone, Takahito; Murohara, Toyoaki

2017-04-01

Left-ventricular (LV) scarring may be associated with a poor response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The automatic analysis of myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (MP-SPECT) may provide objective quantification of LV scarring. We investigated the impact of LV scarring determined by an automatic analysis of MP-SPECT on short-term LV volume response as well as long-term outcome. We studied consecutive 51 patients who were eligible to undergo 99mTc-MIBI MP-SPECT both at baseline and 6 months after CRT (ischaemic cardiomyopathies 31%). Quantitative perfusion SPECT was used to evaluate the defect extent (an index of global scarring) and the LV 17-segment regional uptake ratio (an inverse index of regional scar burden). The primary outcome was the composite of overall mortality or first hospitalization for worsening heart failure. A high global scar burden and a low mid/basal inferolateral regional uptake ratio were associated with volume non-responders to CRT at 6 months. The basal inferolateral regional uptake ratio remained as a predictor of volume non-response after adjusting for the type of cardiomyopathy. During a median follow-up of 36.1 months, the outcome occurred in 28 patients. The patients with a low basal inferolateral regional uptake ratio with a cutoff value of 57% showed poor prognosis (log-rank P= 0.006). The scarring determined by automatic analysis of MP-SPECT images may predict a poor response to CRT regardless of the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy. The basal inferolateral scar burden in particular may have an adverse impact on long-term prognosis. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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

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.

Combinatorial-topological framework for the analysis of global dynamics.

PubMed

Bush, Justin; Gameiro, Marcio; Harker, Shaun; Kokubu, Hiroshi; Mischaikow, Konstantin; Obayashi, Ippei; Pilarczyk, Paweł

2012-12-01

We discuss an algorithmic framework based on efficient graph algorithms and algebraic-topological computational tools. The framework is aimed at automatic computation of a database of global dynamics of a given m-parameter semidynamical system with discrete time on a bounded subset of the n-dimensional phase space. We introduce the mathematical background, which is based upon Conley's topological approach to dynamics, describe the algorithms for the analysis of the dynamics using rectangular grids both in phase space and parameter space, and show two sample applications.

Combinatorial-topological framework for the analysis of global dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, Justin; Gameiro, Marcio; Harker, Shaun; Kokubu, Hiroshi; Mischaikow, Konstantin; Obayashi, Ippei; Pilarczyk, Paweł

2012-12-01

We discuss an algorithmic framework based on efficient graph algorithms and algebraic-topological computational tools. The framework is aimed at automatic computation of a database of global dynamics of a given m-parameter semidynamical system with discrete time on a bounded subset of the n-dimensional phase space. We introduce the mathematical background, which is based upon Conley's topological approach to dynamics, describe the algorithms for the analysis of the dynamics using rectangular grids both in phase space and parameter space, and show two sample applications.

Global Survey of Research and Capabilities in Genetically Engineered Organisms That Could be Used in Biological Warfare or Bioterrorism

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

dollars) • produced with the research capabilities (as demonstrated by related publications) within any one of a large number of countries where it would...capabilities, investment, and related research activities from a global perspective. Emphasis is made on demonstrating that access to the actual...sequence into an automatic synthesizer. Once the rDNA, new gene, or whole novel genome has been generated and introduced into either one or a few

Modeling and Prototyping of Automatic Clutch System for Light Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murali, S.; Jothi Prakash, V. M.; Vishal, S.

2017-03-01

Nowadays, recycling or regenerating the waste in to something useful is appreciated all around the globe. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. This study deals with provision of the automatic clutch mechanism in vehicles to facilitate the smooth changing of gears. This study proposed to use the exhaust gases which are normally expelled out as a waste from the turbocharger to actuate the clutch mechanism in vehicles to facilitate the smooth changing of gears. At present, clutches are operated automatically by using an air compressor in the four wheelers. In this study, a conceptual design is proposed in which the clutch is operated by the exhaust gas from the turbocharger and this will remove the usage of air compressor in the existing system. With this system, usage of air compressor is eliminated and the riders need not to operate the clutch manually. This work involved in development, analysation and validation of the conceptual design through simulation software. Then the developed conceptual design of an automatic pneumatic clutch system is tested with proto type.

Strategies for automatic processing of large aftershock sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kvaerna, T.; Gibbons, S. J.

2017-12-01

Aftershock sequences following major earthquakes present great challenges to seismic bulletin generation. The analyst resources needed to locate events increase with increased event numbers as the quality of underlying, fully automatic, event lists deteriorates. While current pipelines, designed a generation ago, are usually limited to single passes over the raw data, modern systems also allow multiple passes. Processing the raw data from each station currently generates parametric data streams that are later subject to phase-association algorithms which form event hypotheses. We consider a major earthquake scenario and propose to define a region of likely aftershock activity in which we will detect and accurately locate events using a separate, specially targeted, semi-automatic process. This effort may use either pattern detectors or more general algorithms that cover wider source regions without requiring waveform similarity. An iterative procedure to generate automatic bulletins would incorporate all the aftershock event hypotheses generated by the auxiliary process, and filter all phases from these events from the original detection lists prior to a new iteration of the global phase-association algorithm.

Positioning and locking apparatus

DOEpatents

Hayward, Milton L.; Harper, William H.

1987-01-01

A positioning and locking apparatus including a fixture having a rotatable torque ring provided with a plurality of cam segments for automatically guiding a container into a desired location within the fixture. Rotation of the ring turns the container into a final position in pressure sealing relation against a hatch member.

Positioning and locking apparatus

DOEpatents

Hayward, M.L.; Harper, W.H.

1985-06-19

A positioning and locking apparatus including a fixture having a rotatable torque ring provided with a plurality of cam segments for automatically guiding a container into a desired location within the fixture. Rotation of the ring turns the container into a final position in pressure sealing relation against a hatch member.

Small Arms Handbook WS - 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1966-01-01

1) Unsupported Position (without use of bipod). (a) Squatting . (b) Kneeling. (c) Kneeling Supported.J (d) Standing. (e) Sling Supported H-ip. Z6 (Z...situations of this nature, the automatic rifle should-be employed In the semiautomatic role from the squatting , kneeling or standing positions as...Unaupported firing positions. (Without Use of the bipod.) (1) Squatting position. The sqtatting position is a relatively stable position which can be assumed

Examining the Effect of Automatic Promotion on Students' Learning Achievements in Uganda's Primary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okurut, Jeje Moses

2015-01-01

This study employed a difference-in-differences analysis technique to estimate the average treatment effect of automatic promotion on students' cognitive learning outcomes in Uganda's primary education. Regression results indicate a positive policy effect on learning achievements in literacy and numeracy at primary three (P3) and primary six (P6).…

Is Mobile-Assisted Language Learning Really Useful? An Examination of Recall Automatization and Learner Autonomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sato, Takeshi; Murase, Fumiko; Burden, Tyler

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the advantages of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL), especially vocabulary learning of English as a foreign or second language (L2) in terms of the two strands: automatization and learner autonomy. Previous studies articulate that technology-enhanced L2 learning could bring about some positive effects.…

Tracking the global footprint of fisheries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroodsma, David A.; Mayorga, Juan; Hochberg, Timothy; Miller, Nathan A.; Boerder, Kristina; Ferretti, Francesco; Wilson, Alex; Bergman, Bjorn; White, Timothy D.; Block, Barbara A.; Woods, Paul; Sullivan, Brian; Costello, Christopher; Worm, Boris

2018-02-01

Although fishing is one of the most widespread activities by which humans harvest natural resources, its global footprint is poorly understood and has never been directly quantified. We processed 22 billion automatic identification system messages and tracked >70,000 industrial fishing vessels from 2012 to 2016, creating a global dynamic footprint of fishing effort with spatial and temporal resolution two to three orders of magnitude higher than for previous data sets. Our data show that industrial fishing occurs in >55% of ocean area and has a spatial extent more than four times that of agriculture. We find that global patterns of fishing have surprisingly low sensitivity to short-term economic and environmental variation and a strong response to cultural and political events such as holidays and closures.

A Police and Insurance Joint Management System Based on High Precision BDS/GPS Positioning

PubMed Central

Zuo, Wenwei; Guo, Chi; Liu, Jingnan; Peng, Xuan; Yang, Min

2018-01-01

Car ownership in China reached 194 million vehicles at the end of 2016. The traffic congestion index (TCI) exceeds 2.0 during rush hour in some cities. Inefficient processing for minor traffic accidents is considered to be one of the leading causes for road traffic jams. Meanwhile, the process after an accident is quite troublesome. The main reason is that it is almost always impossible to get the complete chain of evidence when the accident happens. Accordingly, a police and insurance joint management system is developed which is based on high precision BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning to process traffic accidents. First of all, an intelligent vehicle rearview mirror terminal is developed. The terminal applies a commonly used consumer electronic device with single frequency navigation. Based on the high precision BDS/GPS positioning algorithm, its accuracy can reach sub-meter level in the urban areas. More specifically, a kernel driver is built to realize the high precision positioning algorithm in an Android HAL layer. Thus the third-party application developers can call the general location Application Programming Interface (API) of the original standard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to get high precision positioning results. Therefore, the terminal can provide lane level positioning service for car users. Next, a remote traffic accident processing platform is built to provide big data analysis and management. According to the big data analysis of information collected by BDS high precision intelligent sense service, vehicle behaviors can be obtained. The platform can also automatically match and screen the data that uploads after an accident to achieve accurate reproduction of the scene. Thus, it helps traffic police and insurance personnel to complete remote responsibility identification and survey for the accident. Thirdly, a rapid processing flow is established in this article to meet the requirements to quickly handle traffic accidents. The traffic police can remotely identify accident responsibility and the insurance personnel can remotely survey an accident. Moreover, the police and insurance joint management system has been carried out in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province, and Wuxi, Eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. In a word, a system is developed to obtain and analyze multisource data including precise positioning and visual information, and a solution is proposed for efficient processing of traffic accidents. PMID:29320406

A Police and Insurance Joint Management System Based on High Precision BDS/GPS Positioning.

PubMed

Zuo, Wenwei; Guo, Chi; Liu, Jingnan; Peng, Xuan; Yang, Min

2018-01-10

Car ownership in China reached 194 million vehicles at the end of 2016. The traffic congestion index (TCI) exceeds 2.0 during rush hour in some cities. Inefficient processing for minor traffic accidents is considered to be one of the leading causes for road traffic jams. Meanwhile, the process after an accident is quite troublesome. The main reason is that it is almost always impossible to get the complete chain of evidence when the accident happens. Accordingly, a police and insurance joint management system is developed which is based on high precision BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning to process traffic accidents. First of all, an intelligent vehicle rearview mirror terminal is developed. The terminal applies a commonly used consumer electronic device with single frequency navigation. Based on the high precision BDS/GPS positioning algorithm, its accuracy can reach sub-meter level in the urban areas. More specifically, a kernel driver is built to realize the high precision positioning algorithm in an Android HAL layer. Thus the third-party application developers can call the general location Application Programming Interface (API) of the original standard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to get high precision positioning results. Therefore, the terminal can provide lane level positioning service for car users. Next, a remote traffic accident processing platform is built to provide big data analysis and management. According to the big data analysis of information collected by BDS high precision intelligent sense service, vehicle behaviors can be obtained. The platform can also automatically match and screen the data that uploads after an accident to achieve accurate reproduction of the scene. Thus, it helps traffic police and insurance personnel to complete remote responsibility identification and survey for the accident. Thirdly, a rapid processing flow is established in this article to meet the requirements to quickly handle traffic accidents. The traffic police can remotely identify accident responsibility and the insurance personnel can remotely survey an accident. Moreover, the police and insurance joint management system has been carried out in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, and Wuxi, Eastern China's Jiangsu Province. In a word, a system is developed to obtain and analyze multisource data including precise positioning and visual information, and a solution is proposed for efficient processing of traffic accidents.

Noninvasive, automatic optimization strategy in cardiac resynchronization therapy.

PubMed

Reumann, Matthias; Osswald, Brigitte; Doessel, Olaf

2007-07-01

Optimization of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is still unsolved. It has been shown that optimal electrode position,atrioventricular (AV) and interventricular (VV) delays improve the success of CRT and reduce the number of non-responders. However, no automatic, noninvasive optimization strategy exists to date. Cardiac resynchronization therapy was simulated on the Visible Man and a patient data-set including fiber orientation and ventricular heterogeneity. A cellular automaton was used for fast computation of ventricular excitation. An AV block and a left bundle branch block were simulated with 100%, 80% and 60% interventricular conduction velocity. A right apical and 12 left ventricular lead positions were set. Sequential optimization and optimization with the downhill simplex algorithm (DSA) were carried out. The minimal error between isochrones of the physiologic excitation and the therapy was computed automatically and leads to an optimal lead position and timing. Up to 1512 simulations were carried out per pathology per patient. One simulation took 4 minutes on an Apple Macintosh 2 GHz PowerPC G5. For each electrode pair an optimal pacemaker delay was found. The DSA reduced the number of simulations by an order of magnitude and the AV-delay and VV - delay were determined with a much higher resolution. The findings are well comparable with clinical studies. The presented computer model of CRT automatically evaluates an optimal lead position and AV-delay and VV-delay, which can be used to noninvasively plan an optimal therapy for an individual patient. The application of the DSA reduces the simulation time so that the strategy is suitable for pre-operative planning in clinical routine. Future work will focus on clinical evaluation of the computer models and integration of patient data for individualized therapy planning and optimization.

Automated full-3D digitization system for documentation of paintings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karaszewski, Maciej; Adamczyk, Marcin; Sitnik, Robert; Michoński, Jakub; Załuski, Wojciech; Bunsch, Eryk; Bolewicki, Paweł

2013-05-01

In this paper, a fully automated 3D digitization system for documentation of paintings is presented. It consists of a specially designed frame system for secure fixing of painting, a custom designed, structured light-based, high-resolution measurement head with no IR and UV emission. This device is automatically positioned in two axes (parallel to the surface of digitized painting) with additional manual positioning in third, perpendicular axis. Manual change of observation angle is also possible around two axes to re-measure even partially shadowed areas. The whole system is built in a way which provides full protection of digitized object (moving elements cannot reach its vicinity) and is driven by computer-controlled, highly precise servomechanisms. It can be used for automatic (without any user attention) and fast measurement of the paintings with some limitation to their properties: maximum size of the picture is 2000mm x 2000mm (with deviation of flatness smaller than 20mm) Measurement head is automatically calibrated by the system and its possible working volume starts from 50mm x 50mm x 20mm (10000 points per square mm) and ends at 120mm x 80mm x 60mm (2500 points per square mm). The directional measurements obtained with this system are automatically initially aligned due to the measurement head's position coordinates known from servomechanisms. After the whole painting is digitized, the measurements are fine-aligned with color-based ICP algorithm to remove any influence of possible inaccuracy of positioning devices. We present exemplary digitization results along with the discussion about the opportunities of analysis which appear for such high-resolution, 3D computer models of paintings.

Instituto Nacional de Electrification, Guatemala Load Dispatch Center and Global Communications Center. Feasibility report (Instituto Nacional de Electrificacion, Guatemala Centro Nacional de Despacho de Carga y Sistema Global de Comunicaciones). Export trade information

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

Not Available

1985-07-01

The report presents the results of a feasibility study for the National Load Dispatch Center and Global Communications System Project in Guatemala. The project consists of a communication system which will provide Institute Nacional de Electrificacion (INDE) operations personnel direct voice access to all major power system facilities. In addition, a modern computer based load dispatch center has been configured on a secure and reliable basis to provide automatic generation control of all major interconnected generating plants within Guatemala.

Exploiting the systematic review protocol for classification of medical abstracts.

PubMed

Frunza, Oana; Inkpen, Diana; Matwin, Stan; Klement, William; O'Blenis, Peter

2011-01-01

To determine whether the automatic classification of documents can be useful in systematic reviews on medical topics, and specifically if the performance of the automatic classification can be enhanced by using the particular protocol of questions employed by the human reviewers to create multiple classifiers. The test collection is the data used in large-scale systematic review on the topic of the dissemination strategy of health care services for elderly people. From a group of 47,274 abstracts marked by human reviewers to be included in or excluded from further screening, we randomly selected 20,000 as a training set, with the remaining 27,274 becoming a separate test set. As a machine learning algorithm we used complement naïve Bayes. We tested both a global classification method, where a single classifier is trained on instances of abstracts and their classification (i.e., included or excluded), and a novel per-question classification method that trains multiple classifiers for each abstract, exploiting the specific protocol (questions) of the systematic review. For the per-question method we tested four ways of combining the results of the classifiers trained for the individual questions. As evaluation measures, we calculated precision and recall for several settings of the two methods. It is most important not to exclude any relevant documents (i.e., to attain high recall for the class of interest) but also desirable to exclude most of the non-relevant documents (i.e., to attain high precision on the class of interest) in order to reduce human workload. For the global method, the highest recall was 67.8% and the highest precision was 37.9%. For the per-question method, the highest recall was 99.2%, and the highest precision was 63%. The human-machine workflow proposed in this paper achieved a recall value of 99.6%, and a precision value of 17.8%. The per-question method that combines classifiers following the specific protocol of the review leads to better results than the global method in terms of recall. Because neither method is efficient enough to classify abstracts reliably by itself, the technology should be applied in a semi-automatic way, with a human expert still involved. When the workflow includes one human expert and the trained automatic classifier, recall improves to an acceptable level, showing that automatic classification techniques can reduce the human workload in the process of building a systematic review. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CADLIVE toolbox for MATLAB: automatic dynamic modeling of biochemical networks with comprehensive system analysis.

PubMed

Inoue, Kentaro; Maeda, Kazuhiro; Miyabe, Takaaki; Matsuoka, Yu; Kurata, Hiroyuki

2014-09-01

Mathematical modeling has become a standard technique to understand the dynamics of complex biochemical systems. To promote the modeling, we had developed the CADLIVE dynamic simulator that automatically converted a biochemical map into its associated mathematical model, simulated its dynamic behaviors and analyzed its robustness. To enhance the feasibility by CADLIVE and extend its functions, we propose the CADLIVE toolbox available for MATLAB, which implements not only the existing functions of the CADLIVE dynamic simulator, but also the latest tools including global parameter search methods with robustness analysis. The seamless, bottom-up processes consisting of biochemical network construction, automatic construction of its dynamic model, simulation, optimization, and S-system analysis greatly facilitate dynamic modeling, contributing to the research of systems biology and synthetic biology. This application can be freely downloaded from http://www.cadlive.jp/CADLIVE_MATLAB/ together with an instruction.

Uncontrolled eating in adolescents: The role of impulsivity and automatic approach bias for food.

PubMed

Booth, Charlotte; Spronk, Desiree; Grol, Maud; Fox, Elaine

2018-01-01

Obesity is a global problem reaching epidemic proportions and can be explained by unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles. Understanding the psychological processes underlying unhealthy eating behaviour is crucial for the development of effective obesity prevention programmes. Dual-process models implicate the interplay between impaired cognitive control and enhanced automatic responsivity to rewarding food cues as key risk factors. The current study assessed the influence of four different components of trait impulsivity (reflecting impaired cognitive control) and automatic approach bias for food (reflecting automatic responsivity to food) on uncontrolled eating in a large sample (N = 504) of young adolescents. Of the four impulsivity factors, negative urgency was found to be the strongest predictor of uncontrolled eating. Interestingly, we found that lack of premeditation was a key risk factor for uncontrolled eating, but only when approach bias for food was high, supporting a dual-process model. Lack of perseverance showed a similar interactive pattern to a lesser degree and sensation-seeking did not predict uncontrolled eating. Together, our results show that distinct components of trait impulsivity are differentially associated with uncontrolled eating behaviour in adolescents, and that automatic processing of food cues may be an important factor in modulating this relationship. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

An evaluation of automatic coronary artery calcium scoring methods with cardiac CT using the orCaScore framework.

PubMed

Wolterink, Jelmer M; Leiner, Tim; de Vos, Bob D; Coatrieux, Jean-Louis; Kelm, B Michael; Kondo, Satoshi; Salgado, Rodrigo A; Shahzad, Rahil; Shu, Huazhong; Snoeren, Miranda; Takx, Richard A P; van Vliet, Lucas J; van Walsum, Theo; Willems, Tineke P; Yang, Guanyu; Zheng, Yefeng; Viergever, Max A; Išgum, Ivana

2016-05-01

The amount of coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a strong and independent predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. In clinical practice, CAC is manually identified and automatically quantified in cardiac CT using commercially available software. This is a tedious and time-consuming process in large-scale studies. Therefore, a number of automatic methods that require no interaction and semiautomatic methods that require very limited interaction for the identification of CAC in cardiac CT have been proposed. Thus far, a comparison of their performance has been lacking. The objective of this study was to perform an independent evaluation of (semi)automatic methods for CAC scoring in cardiac CT using a publicly available standardized framework. Cardiac CT exams of 72 patients distributed over four CVD risk categories were provided for (semi)automatic CAC scoring. Each exam consisted of a noncontrast-enhanced calcium scoring CT (CSCT) and a corresponding coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scan. The exams were acquired in four different hospitals using state-of-the-art equipment from four major CT scanner vendors. The data were divided into 32 training exams and 40 test exams. A reference standard for CAC in CSCT was defined by consensus of two experts following a clinical protocol. The framework organizers evaluated the performance of (semi)automatic methods on test CSCT scans, per lesion, artery, and patient. Five (semi)automatic methods were evaluated. Four methods used both CSCT and CCTA to identify CAC, and one method used only CSCT. The evaluated methods correctly detected between 52% and 94% of CAC lesions with positive predictive values between 65% and 96%. Lesions in distal coronary arteries were most commonly missed and aortic calcifications close to the coronary ostia were the most common false positive errors. The majority (between 88% and 98%) of correctly identified CAC lesions were assigned to the correct artery. Linearly weighted Cohen's kappa for patient CVD risk categorization by the evaluated methods ranged from 0.80 to 1.00. A publicly available standardized framework for the evaluation of (semi)automatic methods for CAC identification in cardiac CT is described. An evaluation of five (semi)automatic methods within this framework shows that automatic per patient CVD risk categorization is feasible. CAC lesions at ambiguous locations such as the coronary ostia remain challenging, but their detection had limited impact on CVD risk determination.

Training and subjective workload in a category search task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vidulich, Michael A.; Pandit, Parimal

1986-01-01

This study examined automaticity as a means by which training influences mental workload. Two groups were trained in a category search task. One group received a training paradigm designed to promote the development of automaticity; the other group received a training paradigm designed to prohibit it. Resultant performance data showed the expected improvement as a result of the development of automaticity. Subjective workload assessments mirrored the performance results in most respects. The results supported the position that subjective mental workload assessments may be sensitive to the effect of training when it produces a lower level of cognitive load.

The epidural needle guidance with an intelligent and automatic identification system for epidural anesthesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kao, Meng-Chun; Ting, Chien-Kun; Kuo, Wen-Chuan

2018-02-01

Incorrect placement of the needle causes medical complications in the epidural block, such as dural puncture or spinal cord injury. This study proposes a system which combines an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging probe with an automatic identification (AI) system to objectively identify the position of the epidural needle tip. The automatic identification system uses three features as image parameters to distinguish the different tissue by three classifiers. Finally, we found that the support vector machine (SVM) classifier has highest accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity, which reached to 95%, 98%, and 92%, respectively.

Automatic lung nodule graph cuts segmentation with deep learning false positive reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wenqing; Huang, Xia; Tseng, Tzu-Liang Bill; Qian, Wei

2017-03-01

To automatic detect lung nodules from CT images, we designed a two stage computer aided detection (CAD) system. The first stage is graph cuts segmentation to identify and segment the nodule candidates, and the second stage is convolutional neural network for false positive reduction. The dataset contains 595 CT cases randomly selected from Lung Image Database Consortium and Image Database Resource Initiative (LIDC/IDRI) and the 305 pulmonary nodules achieved diagnosis consensus by all four experienced radiologists were our detection targets. Consider each slice as an individual sample, 2844 nodules were included in our database. The graph cuts segmentation was conducted in a two-dimension manner, 2733 lung nodule ROIs are successfully identified and segmented. With a false positive reduction by a seven-layer convolutional neural network, 2535 nodules remain detected while the false positive dropped to 31.6%. The average F-measure of segmented lung nodule tissue is 0.8501.

Positioning and locking apparatus

DOEpatents

Hayward, M.L.; Harper, W.H.

1987-06-30

A positioning and locking apparatus are disclosed including a fixture having a rotatable torque ring provided with a plurality of cam segments for automatically guiding a container into a desired location within the fixture. Rotation of the ring turns the container into a final position in pressure sealing relation against a hatch member. 6 figs.

Real-time automatic registration in optical surgical navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Qinyong; Yang, Rongqian; Cai, Ken; Si, Xuan; Chen, Xiuwen; Wu, Xiaoming

2016-05-01

An image-guided surgical navigation system requires the improvement of the patient-to-image registration time to enhance the convenience of the registration procedure. A critical step in achieving this aim is performing a fully automatic patient-to-image registration. This study reports on a design of custom fiducial markers and the performance of a real-time automatic patient-to-image registration method using these markers on the basis of an optical tracking system for rigid anatomy. The custom fiducial markers are designed to be automatically localized in both patient and image spaces. An automatic localization method is performed by registering a point cloud sampled from the three dimensional (3D) pedestal model surface of a fiducial marker to each pedestal of fiducial markers searched in image space. A head phantom is constructed to estimate the performance of the real-time automatic registration method under four fiducial configurations. The head phantom experimental results demonstrate that the real-time automatic registration method is more convenient, rapid, and accurate than the manual method. The time required for each registration is approximately 0.1 s. The automatic localization method precisely localizes the fiducial markers in image space. The averaged target registration error for the four configurations is approximately 0.7 mm. The automatic registration performance is independent of the positions relative to the tracking system and the movement of the patient during the operation.

[The mediating role of anger in the relationship between automatic thoughts and physical aggression in adolescents].

PubMed

Yavuzer, Yasemin; Karataş, Zeynep

2013-01-01

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of anger in the relationship between automatic thoughts and physical aggression in adolescents. The study included 224 adolescents in the 9th grade of 3 different high schools in central Burdur during the 2011-2012 academic year. Participants completed the Aggression Questionnaire and Automatic Thoughts Scale in their classrooms during counseling sessions. Data were analyzed using simple and multiple linear regression analysis. There were positive correlations between the adolescents' automatic thoughts, and physical aggression, and anger. According to regression analysis, automatic thoughts effectively predicted the level of physical aggression (b= 0.233, P < 0.001)) and anger (b= 0.325, P < 0.001). Analysis of the mediating role of anger showed that anger fully mediated the relationship between automatic thoughts and physical aggression (Sobel z = 5.646, P < 0.001). Anger fully mediated the relationship between automatic thoughts and physical aggression. Providing adolescents with anger management skills training is very important for the prevention of physical aggression. Such training programs should include components related to the development of an awareness of dysfunctional and anger-triggering automatic thoughts, and how to change them. As the study group included adolescents from Burdur, the findings can only be generalized to groups with similar characteristics.

SU-F-J-34: Automatic Target-Based Patient Positioning Framework for Image-Guided Radiotherapy in Prostate Cancer Treatment

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

Sasahara, M; Arimura, H; Hirose, T

Purpose: Current image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) procedure is bonebased patient positioning, followed by subjective manual correction using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). This procedure might cause the misalignment of the patient positioning. Automatic target-based patient positioning systems achieve the better reproducibility of patient setup. Our aim of this study was to develop an automatic target-based patient positioning framework for IGRT with CBCT images in prostate cancer treatment. Methods: Seventy-three CBCT images of 10 patients and 24 planning CT images with digital imaging and communications in medicine for radiotherapy (DICOM-RT) structures were used for this study. Our proposed framework started from themore » generation of probabilistic atlases of bone and prostate from 24 planning CT images and prostate contours, which were made in the treatment planning. Next, the gray-scale histograms of CBCT values within CTV regions in the planning CT images were obtained as the occurrence probability of the CBCT values. Then, CBCT images were registered to the atlases using a rigid registration with mutual information. Finally, prostate regions were estimated by applying the Bayesian inference to CBCT images with the probabilistic atlases and CBCT value occurrence probability. The proposed framework was evaluated by calculating the Euclidean distance of errors between two centroids of prostate regions determined by our method and ground truths of manual delineations by a radiation oncologist and a medical physicist on CBCT images for 10 patients. Results: The average Euclidean distance between the centroids of extracted prostate regions determined by our proposed method and ground truths was 4.4 mm. The average errors for each direction were 1.8 mm in anteroposterior direction, 0.6 mm in lateral direction and 2.1 mm in craniocaudal direction. Conclusion: Our proposed framework based on probabilistic atlases and Bayesian inference might be feasible to automatically determine prostate regions on CBCT images.« less

[Comparison of different continuous positive airway pressure titration methods for obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome].

PubMed

Li, Jingjing; Ye, Jingying; Zhang, Peng; Kang, Dan; Cao, Xin; Zhang, Yuhuan; Ding, Xiu; Zheng, Li; Li, Hongguang; Bian, Qiuli

2014-10-01

To explore whether there were differences between the results of automatic titration and the results of manual titration for positive airway pressure treatment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and its influencing factors, the results might provide a theoretical basis for the rational use of two pressure titration methods. Sixty one patients with OSAHS were included in this study. All patients underwent a manual titration and an automatic titration within one week. The clinical informations, polysomnography data, and the results of both two titration of all patients were obtained for analysis. The overall apnea/hypopnea index was (63.1 ± 17.7)/h, with a range of 14.9/h to 110.4/h. The treatment pressure of manual titration was (8.4 ± 2.1) cmH(2)O, which was significantly lower than the treatment pressure of automatic titration, (11.5 ± 2.7) cmH(2)O (t = -9.797, P < 0.001). After using a ΔP of 3 cmH(2)O for the cutoff value (ΔP was defined as the difference of automatic titration and manual titration), it was found that the pressure of automatic titration was significantly higher in patients with a ΔP > 3 cmH(2)O than in patients with a ΔP ≤ 3 cmH(2)O, which was (13.3 ± 2.3) cmH(2)O vs (10.0 ± 2.0) cmH(2)O (t = -6.159, P < 0.001). However, there were no differences for the pressure of manual titration between these two groups, which was (8.6 ± 2.4) cmH(2)O vs (8.3 ± 2.0)cmH(2)O (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in age, body mass index, neck circumference, abdomen circumference, apnea hypopnea index, and arterial oxygen saturation between these two groups. The treatment pressure of automatic titration is usually higher than that of manual titration. For patients with a high treatment pressure which is derived from automatic titration, a suggestion about manual titration could be given to decrease the potential treatment pressure of continuous positive airway pressure, which may be helpful in improving the comfortableness and the compliance of this treatment.

Metric learning for automatic sleep stage classification.

PubMed

Phan, Huy; Do, Quan; Do, The-Luan; Vu, Duc-Lung

2013-01-01

We introduce in this paper a metric learning approach for automatic sleep stage classification based on single-channel EEG data. We show that learning a global metric from training data instead of using the default Euclidean metric, the k-nearest neighbor classification rule outperforms state-of-the-art methods on Sleep-EDF dataset with various classification settings. The overall accuracy for Awake/Sleep and 4-class classification setting are 98.32% and 94.49% respectively. Furthermore, the superior accuracy is achieved by performing classification on a low-dimensional feature space derived from time and frequency domains and without the need for artifact removal as a preprocessing step.

Automatic change detection: does the auditory system use representations of individual stimulus features or gestalts?

PubMed

Deacon, D; Nousak, J M; Pilotti, M; Ritter, W; Yang, C M

1998-07-01

The effects of global and feature-specific probabilities of auditory stimuli were manipulated to determine their effects on the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the human event-related potential. The question of interest was whether the automatic comparison of stimuli indexed by the MMN was performed on representations of individual stimulus features or on gestalt representations of their combined attributes. The design of the study was such that both feature and gestalt representations could have been available to the comparator mechanism generating the MMN. The data were consistent with the interpretation that the MMN was generated following an analysis of stimulus features.

Revisiting Gaussian Process Regression Modeling for Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Richter, Philipp; Toledano-Ayala, Manuel

2015-01-01

Signal strength-based positioning in wireless sensor networks is a key technology for seamless, ubiquitous localization, especially in areas where Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals propagate poorly. To enable wireless local area network (WLAN) location fingerprinting in larger areas while maintaining accuracy, methods to reduce the effort of radio map creation must be consolidated and automatized. Gaussian process regression has been applied to overcome this issue, also with auspicious results, but the fit of the model was never thoroughly assessed. Instead, most studies trained a readily available model, relying on the zero mean and squared exponential covariance function, without further scrutinization. This paper studies the Gaussian process regression model selection for WLAN fingerprinting in indoor and outdoor environments. We train several models for indoor/outdoor- and combined areas; we evaluate them quantitatively and compare them by means of adequate model measures, hence assessing the fit of these models directly. To illuminate the quality of the model fit, the residuals of the proposed model are investigated, as well. Comparative experiments on the positioning performance verify and conclude the model selection. In this way, we show that the standard model is not the most appropriate, discuss alternatives and present our best candidate. PMID:26370996

Automatic range selector

DOEpatents

McNeilly, Clyde E.

1977-01-04

A device is provided for automatically selecting from a plurality of ranges of a scale of values to which a meter may be made responsive, that range which encompasses the value of an unknown parameter. A meter relay indicates whether the unknown is of greater or lesser value than the range to which the meter is then responsive. The rotatable part of a stepping relay is rotated in one direction or the other in response to the indication from the meter relay. Various positions of the rotatable part are associated with particular scales. Switching means are sensitive to the position of the rotatable part to couple the associated range to the meter.

Research on Automatic Positioning System of Ultrasonic Testing of Wind Turbine Blade Flaws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Q. X.; Wang, Z. H.; Long, S. G.; Cai, M.; Cai, M.; Wang, X.; Chen, X. Y.; Bu, J. L.

2017-11-01

Ultrasonic testing technology has been used essentially in non-destructive testing of wind turbine blades. However, it is fact that the ultrasonic flaw detection method has inefficiently employed in recent years. This is because the testing result will illustrate a small deviation due to the artificial, environmental and technical factors. Therefore, it is an urgent technical demand for engineers to test the various flaws efficiently and quickly. An automatic positioning system has been designed in this paper to record the moving coordinates and the target distance in real time. Simultaneously, it could launch and acquire the sonic wave automatically. The ADNS-3080 optoelectronic chip is manufactured by Agilent Technologies Inc, which is also utilized in the system. With the combination of the chip, the power conversion module and the USB transmission module, the collected data can be transmitted from the upper monitor to the hardware that could process and control the data through software programming. An experiment has been designed to prove the reliability of automotive positioning system. The result has been validated by comparing the result collected form LABVIEW and actual plots on Perspex plane, it concludes that the system possesses high accuracy and magnificent meanings in practical engineering.

Automatic River Network Extraction from LIDAR Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maderal, E. N.; Valcarcel, N.; Delgado, J.; Sevilla, C.; Ojeda, J. C.

2016-06-01

National Geographic Institute of Spain (IGN-ES) has launched a new production system for automatic river network extraction for the Geospatial Reference Information (GRI) within hydrography theme. The goal is to get an accurate and updated river network, automatically extracted as possible. For this, IGN-ES has full LiDAR coverage for the whole Spanish territory with a density of 0.5 points per square meter. To implement this work, it has been validated the technical feasibility, developed a methodology to automate each production phase: hydrological terrain models generation with 2 meter grid size and river network extraction combining hydrographic criteria (topographic network) and hydrological criteria (flow accumulation river network), and finally the production was launched. The key points of this work has been managing a big data environment, more than 160,000 Lidar data files, the infrastructure to store (up to 40 Tb between results and intermediate files), and process; using local virtualization and the Amazon Web Service (AWS), which allowed to obtain this automatic production within 6 months, it also has been important the software stability (TerraScan-TerraSolid, GlobalMapper-Blue Marble , FME-Safe, ArcGIS-Esri) and finally, the human resources managing. The results of this production has been an accurate automatic river network extraction for the whole country with a significant improvement for the altimetric component of the 3D linear vector. This article presents the technical feasibility, the production methodology, the automatic river network extraction production and its advantages over traditional vector extraction systems.

Prescription and over-the-counter medications tool kit.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-01

Automatic vehicle location (AVL) is a computer-based vehicle tracking system. For transit, the actual real-time position of each vehicle is measured and its location is relayed to a control center. Actual position determination and relay techniques v...

Influence of sampling time on carbon dioxide and methane emissions by grazing cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A need to respond to global climate change has focused great attention towards greenhouse gases produced by domestic ruminants and gas emission mitigation. Respiration chambers have long been the preferred method to measure CO2 and CH4 emission by cattle. With quickly advancing technology, automat...

Automated Detection of Actinic Keratoses in Clinical Photographs

PubMed Central

Hames, Samuel C.; Sinnya, Sudipta; Tan, Jean-Marie; Morze, Conrad; Sahebian, Azadeh; Soyer, H. Peter; Prow, Tarl W.

2015-01-01

Background Clinical diagnosis of actinic keratosis is known to have intra- and inter-observer variability, and there is currently no non-invasive and objective measure to diagnose these lesions. Objective The aim of this pilot study was to determine if automatically detecting and circumscribing actinic keratoses in clinical photographs is feasible. Methods Photographs of the face and dorsal forearms were acquired in 20 volunteers from two groups: the first with at least on actinic keratosis present on the face and each arm, the second with no actinic keratoses. The photographs were automatically analysed using colour space transforms and morphological features to detect erythema. The automated output was compared with a senior consultant dermatologist’s assessment of the photographs, including the intra-observer variability. Performance was assessed by the correlation between total lesions detected by automated method and dermatologist, and whether the individual lesions detected were in the same location as the dermatologist identified lesions. Additionally, the ability to limit false positives was assessed by automatic assessment of the photographs from the no actinic keratosis group in comparison to the high actinic keratosis group. Results The correlation between the automatic and dermatologist counts was 0.62 on the face and 0.51 on the arms, compared to the dermatologist’s intra-observer variation of 0.83 and 0.93 for the same. Sensitivity of automatic detection was 39.5% on the face, 53.1% on the arms. Positive predictive values were 13.9% on the face and 39.8% on the arms. Significantly more lesions (p<0.0001) were detected in the high actinic keratosis group compared to the no actinic keratosis group. Conclusions The proposed method was inferior to assessment by the dermatologist in terms of sensitivity and positive predictive value. However, this pilot study used only a single simple feature and was still able to achieve sensitivity of detection of 53.1% on the arms.This suggests that image analysis is a feasible avenue of investigation for overcoming variability in clinical assessment. Future studies should focus on more sophisticated features to improve sensitivity for actinic keratoses without erythema and limit false positives associated with the anatomical structures on the face. PMID:25615930

Automatic segmentation of relevant structures in DCE MR mammograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, Matthias; Laue, Hendrik; Boehler, Tobias; Peitgen, Heinz-Otto

2007-03-01

The automatic segmentation of relevant structures such as skin edge, chest wall, or nipple in dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging (DCE MRI) of the breast provides additional information for computer aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. Automatic reporting using BI-RADS criteria benefits of information about location of those structures. Lesion positions can be automatically described relatively to such reference structures for reporting purposes. Furthermore, this information can assist data reduction for computation expensive preprocessing such as registration, or for visualization of only the segments of current interest. In this paper, a novel automatic method for determining the air-breast boundary resp. skin edge, for approximation of the chest wall, and locating of the nipples is presented. The method consists of several steps which are built on top of each other. Automatic threshold computation leads to the air-breast boundary which is then analyzed to determine the location of the nipple. Finally, results of both steps are starting point for approximation of the chest wall. The proposed process was evaluated on a large data set of DCE MRI recorded by T1 sequences and yielded reasonable results in all cases.

Automatic sample Dewar for MX beam-line

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

Charignon, T.; Tanchon, J.; Trollier, T.

2014-01-29

It is very common for crystals of large biological macromolecules to show considerable variation in quality of their diffraction. In order to increase the number of samples that are tested for diffraction quality before any full data collections at the ESRF*, an automatic sample Dewar has been implemented. Conception and performances of the Dewar are reported in this paper. The automatic sample Dewar has 240 samples capability with automatic loading/unloading ports. The storing Dewar is capable to work with robots and it can be integrated in a full automatic MX** beam-line. The samples are positioned in the front of themore » loading/unloading ports with and automatic rotating plate. A view port has been implemented for data matrix camera reading on each sample loaded in the Dewar. At last, the Dewar is insulated with polyurethane foam that keeps the liquid nitrogen consumption below 1.6 L/h. At last, the static insulation also makes vacuum equipment and maintenance unnecessary. This Dewar will be useful for increasing the number of samples tested in synchrotrons.« less

Strongly-motivated positive affects induce faster responses to local than global information of visual stimuli: an approach using large-size Navon letters.

PubMed

Noguchi, Yasuki; Tomoike, Kouta

2016-01-12

Recent studies argue that strongly-motivated positive emotions (e.g. desire) narrow a scope of attention. This argument is mainly based on an observation that, while humans normally respond faster to global than local information of a visual stimulus (global advantage), positive affects eliminated the global advantage by selectively speeding responses to local (but not global) information. In other words, narrowing of attentional scope was indirectly evidenced by the elimination of global advantage (the same speed of processing between global and local information). No study has directly shown that strongly-motivated positive affects induce faster responses to local than global information while excluding a bias for global information (global advantage) in a baseline (emotionally-neutral) condition. In the present study, we addressed this issue by eliminating the global advantage in a baseline (neutral) state. Induction of positive affects under this state resulted in faster responses to local than global information. Our results provided direct evidence that positive affects in high motivational intensity narrow a scope of attention.

A fast algorithm for automatic detection of ionospheric disturbances: DROT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efendi, Emre; Arikan, Feza

2017-06-01

Solar, geomagnetic, gravitational and seismic activities cause disturbances in the ionospheric region of upper atmosphere that may disrupt or lower the quality of space based communication, navigation and positioning system signals. These disturbances can be categorized with respect to their amplitude, duration and frequency. Typically in the literature, ionospheric disturbances are investigated with gradient based methods on Total Electron Content (TEC) data estimated from ground based dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. In this study, a fast algorithm is developed for the automatic detection of the variability in Slant TEC (STEC) data. STEC is defined as the total number of electrons on the ray path between the ground based receiver and GPS satellite in the orbital height of 20,000 km. The developed method, namely, Differential Rate of TEC (DROT), is based on Rate of Tec (ROT) method. ROT is widely used in the literature and it is usually applied to Vertical TEC (VTEC) that corresponds to the projection of STEC to the vertical direction along the ray path at the Ionospheric Pierce Point (IPP) using a mapping function. The developed DROT method can be defined as the normalized metric norm between the ROT and its baseband trend structure. In this study, the performance of DROT is determined using synthetic data with variable bounds on the parameter set of amplitude, frequency and duration of disturbance. It is observed that DROT method can detect disturbances in three categories. For DROT values less than 50%, there is no significant disturbance in STEC data. For DROT values between 50% and 70%, a medium scale disturbance can be observed. For DROT values over 70%, severe disturbances such as Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) can be observed. DROT method is highly sensitive to the amplitude of the wave-like oscillations. For a disturbance amplitude as low as 1.01 TECU, the disturbances that have durations longer than or equal to 20 min and frequencies higher than 1.095 mHz; or frequencies higher than 0.511 mHz and durations longer than 55 min can be detected automatically with DROT values of 50%. When DROT method is applied to midlatitude STEC values for disturbed days, it is observed that DROT method can detect the disturbances in near-real time, even if the GPS data from the station is uploaded with 15 min intervals.

Model-based position correlation between breast images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgii, J.; Zöhrer, F.; Hahn, H. K.

2013-02-01

Nowadays, breast diagnosis is based on images of different projections and modalities, such that sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis can be improved. However, this emburdens radiologists to find corresponding locations in these data sets, which is a time consuming task, especially since the resolution of the images increases and thus more and more data have to be considered in the diagnosis. Therefore, we aim at support radiologist by automatically synchronizing cursor positions between different views of the breast. Specifically, we present an automatic approach to compute the spatial correlation between MLO and CC mammogram or tomosynthesis projections of the breast. It is based on pre-computed finite element simulations of generic breast models, which are adapted to the patient-specific breast using a contour mapping approach. Our approach is designed to be fully automatic and efficient, such that it can be implemented directly into existing multimodal breast workstations. Additionally, it is extendable to support other breast modalities in future, too.

Whole-heart magnetic resonance coronary angiography with multiple breath-holds and automatic breathing-level tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuhara, Shigehide; Ninomiya, Ayako; Okada, Tomohisa; Kanao, Shotaro; Kamae, Toshikazu; Togashi, Kaori

2010-05-01

Whole-heart (WH) magnetic resonance coronary angiography (MRCA) studies are usually performed during free breathing while monitoring the position of the diaphragm with real-time motion correction. However, this results in a long scan time and the patient's breathing pattern may change, causing the study to be aborted. Alternatively, WH MRCA can be performed with multiple breath-holds (mBH). However, one problem in the mBH method is that patients cannot hold their breath at the same position every time, leading to image degradation. We have developed a new WH MRCA imaging method that employs both the mBH method and automatic breathing-level tracking to permit automatic tracking of the changes in breathing or breath-hold levels. Evaluation of its effects on WH MRCA image quality showed that this method can provide high-quality images within a shorter scan time. This proposed method is expected to be very useful in clinical WH MRCA studies.

77 FR 56254 - 89th Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-12

... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the eighty-ninth meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS). DATES... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department...

76 FR 27744 - Eighty-Fifth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-12

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning...

75 FR 28318 - Eighty-Second Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-20

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning...

78 FR 13396 - 90th Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-27

... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the eighty-ninth meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS). DATES... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department...

75 FR 2581 - Eighty-First Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-15

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning...

76 FR 33022 - Eighty-Sixth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-07

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is...), notice is hereby given for a Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) meeting. The agenda...

Fully automatic time-window selection using machine learning for global adjoint tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y.; Hill, J.; Lei, W.; Lefebvre, M. P.; Bozdag, E.; Komatitsch, D.; Tromp, J.

2017-12-01

Selecting time windows from seismograms such that the synthetic measurements (from simulations) and measured observations are sufficiently close is indispensable in a global adjoint tomography framework. The increasing amount of seismic data collected everyday around the world demands "intelligent" algorithms for seismic window selection. While the traditional FLEXWIN algorithm can be "automatic" to some extent, it still requires both human input and human knowledge or experience, and thus is not deemed to be fully automatic. The goal of intelligent window selection is to automatically select windows based on a learnt engine that is built upon a huge number of existing windows generated through the adjoint tomography project. We have formulated the automatic window selection problem as a classification problem. All possible misfit calculation windows are classified as either usable or unusable. Given a large number of windows with a known selection mode (select or not select), we train a neural network to predict the selection mode of an arbitrary input window. Currently, the five features we extract from the windows are its cross-correlation value, cross-correlation time lag, amplitude ratio between observed and synthetic data, window length, and minimum STA/LTA value. More features can be included in the future. We use these features to characterize each window for training a multilayer perceptron neural network (MPNN). Training the MPNN is equivalent to solve a non-linear optimization problem. We use backward propagation to derive the gradient of the loss function with respect to the weighting matrices and bias vectors and use the mini-batch stochastic gradient method to iteratively optimize the MPNN. Numerical tests show that with a careful selection of the training data and a sufficient amount of training data, we are able to train a robust neural network that is capable of detecting the waveforms in an arbitrary earthquake data with negligible detection error compared to existing selection methods (e.g. FLEXWIN). We will introduce in detail the mathematical formulation of the window-selection-oriented MPNN and show very encouraging results when applying the new algorithm to real earthquake data.

Global moment tensor computation at GFZ Potsdam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saul, J.; Becker, J.; Hanka, W.

2011-12-01

As part of its earthquake information service, GFZ Potsdam has started to provide seismic moment tensor solutions for significant earthquakes world-wide. The software used to compute the moment tensors is a GFZ-Potsdam in-house development, which uses the framework of the software SeisComP 3 (Hanka et al., 2010). SeisComP 3 (SC3) is a software package for seismological data acquisition, archival, quality control and analysis. SC3 is developed by GFZ Potsdam with significant contributions from its user community. The moment tensor inversion technique uses a combination of several wave types, time windows and frequency bands depending on magnitude and station distance. Wave types include body, surface and mantle waves as well as the so-called 'W-Phase' (Kanamori and Rivera, 2008). The inversion is currently performed in the time domain only. An iterative centroid search can be performed independently both horizontally and in depth. Moment tensors are currently computed in a semi-automatic fashion. This involves inversions that are performed automatically in near-real time, followed by analyst review prior to publication. The automatic results are quite often good enough to be published without further improvements, sometimes in less than 30 minutes from origin time. In those cases where a manual interaction is still required, the automatic inversion usually does a good job at pre-selecting those traces that are the most relevant for the inversion, keeping the work required for the analyst at a minimum. Our published moment tensors are generally in good agreement with those published by the Global Centroid-Moment-Tensor (GCMT) project for earthquakes above a magnitude of about Mw 5. Additionally we provide solutions for smaller earthquakes above about Mw 4 in Europe, which are normally not analyzed by the GCMT project. We find that for earthquakes above Mw 6, the most robust automatic inversions can usually be obtained using the W-Phase time window. The GFZ earthquake bulletin is located at http://geofon.gfz-potsdam.de/eqinfo For more information on the SeisComP 3 software visit http://www.seiscomp3.org

Automatic identification of species with neural networks.

PubMed

Hernández-Serna, Andrés; Jiménez-Segura, Luz Fernanda

2014-01-01

A new automatic identification system using photographic images has been designed to recognize fish, plant, and butterfly species from Europe and South America. The automatic classification system integrates multiple image processing tools to extract the geometry, morphology, and texture of the images. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used as the pattern recognition method. We tested a data set that included 740 species and 11,198 individuals. Our results show that the system performed with high accuracy, reaching 91.65% of true positive fish identifications, 92.87% of plants and 93.25% of butterflies. Our results highlight how the neural networks are complementary to species identification.

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.

Automatic Identification System modular receiver for academic purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabrera, F.; Molina, N.; Tichavska, M.; Araña, V.

2016-07-01

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) standard is encompassed within the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), in force since 1999. The GMDSS is a set of procedures, equipment, and communication protocols designed with the aim of increasing the safety of sea crossings, facilitating navigation, and the rescue of vessels in danger. The use of this system not only is increasingly attractive to security issues but also potentially creates intelligence products throughout the added-value information that this network can transmit from ships on real time (identification, position, course, speed, dimensions, flag, among others). Within the marine electronics market, commercial receivers implement this standard and allow users to access vessel-broadcasted information if in the range of coverage. In addition to satellite services, users may request actionable information from private or public AIS terrestrial networks where real-time feed or historical data can be accessed from its nodes. This paper describes the configuration of an AIS receiver based on a modular design. This modular design facilitates the evaluation of specific modules and also a better understanding of the standard and the possibility of changing hardware modules to improve the performance of the prototype. Thus, the aim of this paper is to describe the system's specifications, its main hardware components, and to present educational didactics on the setup and use of a modular and terrestrial AIS receiver. The latter is for academic purposes and in undergraduate studies such as electrical engineering, telecommunications, and maritime studies.

A new methodology for automating acoustic emission detection of metallic fatigue fractures in highly demanding aerospace environments: An overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holford, Karen M.; Eaton, Mark J.; Hensman, James J.; Pullin, Rhys; Evans, Sam L.; Dervilis, Nikolaos; Worden, Keith

2017-04-01

The acoustic emission (AE) phenomenon has many attributes that make it desirable as a structural health monitoring or non-destructive testing technique, including the capability to continuously and globally monitor large structures using a sparse sensor array and with no dependency on defect size. However, AE monitoring is yet to fulfil its true potential, due mainly to limitations in location accuracy and signal characterisation that often arise in complex structures with high levels of background noise. Furthermore, the technique has been criticised for a lack of quantitative results and the large amount of operator interpretation required during data analysis. This paper begins by introducing the challenges faced in developing an AE based structural health monitoring system and then gives a review of previous progress made in addresing these challenges. Subsequently an overview of a novel methodology for automatic detection of fatigue fractures in complex geometries and noisy environments is presented, which combines a number of signal processing techniques to address the current limitations of AE monitoring. The technique was developed for monitoring metallic landing gear components during pre-flight certification testing and results are presented from a full-scale steel landing gear component undergoing fatigue loading. Fracture onset was successfully identify automatically at 49,000 fatigue cycles prior to final failure (validated by the use of dye penetrant inspection) and the fracture position was located to within 10 mm of the actual location.

Effectiveness of an automatic tracking software in underwater motion analysis.

PubMed

Magalhaes, Fabrício A; Sawacha, Zimi; Di Michele, Rocco; Cortesi, Matteo; Gatta, Giorgio; Fantozzi, Silvia

2013-01-01

Tracking of markers placed on anatomical landmarks is a common practice in sports science to perform the kinematic analysis that interests both athletes and coaches. Although different software programs have been developed to automatically track markers and/or features, none of them was specifically designed to analyze underwater motion. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a software developed for automatic tracking of underwater movements (DVP), based on the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi feature tracker. Twenty-one video recordings of different aquatic exercises (n = 2940 markers' positions) were manually tracked to determine the markers' center coordinates. Then, the videos were automatically tracked using DVP and a commercially available software (COM). Since tracking techniques may produce false targets, an operator was instructed to stop the automatic procedure and to correct the position of the cursor when the distance between the calculated marker's coordinate and the reference one was higher than 4 pixels. The proportion of manual interventions required by the software was used as a measure of the degree of automation. Overall, manual interventions were 10.4% lower for DVP (7.4%) than for COM (17.8%). Moreover, when examining the different exercise modes separately, the percentage of manual interventions was 5.6% to 29.3% lower for DVP than for COM. Similar results were observed when analyzing the type of marker rather than the type of exercise, with 9.9% less manual interventions for DVP than for COM. In conclusion, based on these results, the developed automatic tracking software presented can be used as a valid and useful tool for underwater motion analysis. Key PointsThe availability of effective software for automatic tracking would represent a significant advance for the practical use of kinematic analysis in swimming and other aquatic sports.An important feature of automatic tracking software is to require limited human interventions and supervision, thus allowing short processing time.When tracking underwater movements, the degree of automation of the tracking procedure is influenced by the capability of the algorithm to overcome difficulties linked to the small target size, the low image quality and the presence of background clutters.The newly developed feature-tracking algorithm has shown a good automatic tracking effectiveness in underwater motion analysis with significantly smaller percentage of required manual interventions when compared to a commercial software.

A fast automatic recognition and location algorithm for fetal genital organs in ultrasound images.

PubMed

Tang, Sheng; Chen, Si-ping

2009-09-01

Severe sex ratio imbalance at birth is now becoming an important issue in several Asian countries. Its leading immediate cause is prenatal sex-selective abortion following illegal sex identification by ultrasound scanning. In this paper, a fast automatic recognition and location algorithm for fetal genital organs is proposed as an effective method to help prevent ultrasound technicians from unethically and illegally identifying the sex of the fetus. This automatic recognition algorithm can be divided into two stages. In the 'rough' stage, a few pixels in the image, which are likely to represent the genital organs, are automatically chosen as points of interest (POIs) according to certain salient characteristics of fetal genital organs. In the 'fine' stage, a specifically supervised learning framework, which fuses an effective feature data preprocessing mechanism into the multiple classifier architecture, is applied to every POI. The basic classifiers in the framework are selected from three widely used classifiers: radial basis function network, backpropagation network, and support vector machine. The classification results of all the POIs are then synthesized to determine whether the fetal genital organ is present in the image, and to locate the genital organ within the positive image. Experiments were designed and carried out based on an image dataset comprising 658 positive images (images with fetal genital organs) and 500 negative images (images without fetal genital organs). The experimental results showed true positive (TP) and true negative (TN) results from 80.5% (265 from 329) and 83.0% (415 from 500) of samples, respectively. The average computation time was 453 ms per image.

Automatic Feature Detection, Description and Matching from Mobile Laser Scanning Data and Aerial Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussnain, Zille; Oude Elberink, Sander; Vosselman, George

2016-06-01

In mobile laser scanning systems, the platform's position is measured by GNSS and IMU, which is often not reliable in urban areas. Consequently, derived Mobile Laser Scanning Point Cloud (MLSPC) lacks expected positioning reliability and accuracy. Many of the current solutions are either semi-automatic or unable to achieve pixel level accuracy. We propose an automatic feature extraction method which involves utilizing corresponding aerial images as a reference data set. The proposed method comprise three steps; image feature detection, description and matching between corresponding patches of nadir aerial and MLSPC ortho images. In the data pre-processing step the MLSPC is patch-wise cropped and converted to ortho images. Furthermore, each aerial image patch covering the area of the corresponding MLSPC patch is also cropped from the aerial image. For feature detection, we implemented an adaptive variant of Harris-operator to automatically detect corner feature points on the vertices of road markings. In feature description phase, we used the LATCH binary descriptor, which is robust to data from different sensors. For descriptor matching, we developed an outlier filtering technique, which exploits the arrangements of relative Euclidean-distances and angles between corresponding sets of feature points. We found that the positioning accuracy of the computed correspondence has achieved the pixel level accuracy, where the image resolution is 12cm. Furthermore, the developed approach is reliable when enough road markings are available in the data sets. We conclude that, in urban areas, the developed approach can reliably extract features necessary to improve the MLSPC accuracy to pixel level.

Human abdomen recognition using camera and force sensor in medical robot system for automatic ultrasound scan.

PubMed

Bin Mustafa, Ammar Safwan; Ishii, Takashi; Matsunaga, Yoshiki; Nakadate, Ryu; Ishii, Hiroyuki; Ogawa, Kouji; Saito, Akiko; Sugawara, Motoaki; Niki, Kiyomi; Takanishi, Atsuo

2013-01-01

Physicians use ultrasound scans to obtain real-time images of internal organs, because such scans are safe and inexpensive. However, people in remote areas face difficulties to be scanned due to aging society and physician's shortage. Hence, it is important to develop an autonomous robotic system to perform remote ultrasound scans. Previously, we developed a robotic system for automatic ultrasound scan focusing on human's liver. In order to make it a completely autonomous system, we present in this paper a way to autonomously localize the epigastric region as the starting position for the automatic ultrasound scan. An image processing algorithm marks the umbilicus and mammary papillae on a digital photograph of the patient's abdomen. Then, we made estimation for the location of the epigastric region using the distances between these landmarks. A supporting algorithm distinguishes rib position from epigastrium using the relationship between force and displacement. We implemented these algorithms with the automatic scanning system into an apparatus: a Mitsubishi Electric's MELFA RV-1 six axis manipulator. Tests on 14 healthy male subjects showed the apparatus located the epigastric region with a success rate of 94%. The results suggest that image recognition was effective in localizing a human body part.

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.

Urban heat island investigations in Arctic cities of northwestern Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shumilov, Oleg I.; Kasatkina, Elena A.; Kanatjev, Alexander G.

2017-12-01

Urban microclimate peculiarities in two Arctic cities in northwestern Russia—Kirovsk (67.62°N, 33.67°E) and Apatity (67.57°N, 33.38°E)—were investigated by using mobile temperature records. The experiment was carried out in and around Apatity and Kirovsk in February 2014 and December 2016. The DS18B20 digital thermometer was installed on the roof of a car (height: approximately 1.2 m) to measure and record temperature variations automatically. In addition to the digital thermometer, the car was also equipped with an onboard global positioning system, allowing every temperature measurement to be referenced with an altitude and a latitude/longitude position. The possibility of urban heat island formation in these polar cities, above the Arctic Circle, was studied. Our analysis indicated that on 11 February 2014, the temperature varied in accordance with the background environmental lapse rate (-0.0045°C m-1), and nearly corresponded to it (-0.0165°C m-1) on 12 February 2014. On 6 December 2016, a strong local temperature inversion with a positive value of 0.032°C m-1 was detected, seemingly caused by the formation of a cold air pool in the valley near Kirovsk. It was found that the temperature variations within and outside these cities are strongly influenced by local topographic effects and the physical conditions of the atmospheric boundary layer.

Automated segmentation of ultrasonic breast lesions using statistical texture classification and active contour based on probability distance.

PubMed

Liu, Bo; Cheng, H D; Huang, Jianhua; Tian, Jiawei; Liu, Jiafeng; Tang, Xianglong

2009-08-01

Because of its complicated structure, low signal/noise ratio, low contrast and blurry boundaries, fully automated segmentation of a breast ultrasound (BUS) image is a difficult task. In this paper, a novel segmentation method for BUS images without human intervention is proposed. Unlike most published approaches, the proposed method handles the segmentation problem by using a two-step strategy: ROI generation and ROI segmentation. First, a well-trained texture classifier categorizes the tissues into different classes, and the background knowledge rules are used for selecting the regions of interest (ROIs) from them. Second, a novel probability distance-based active contour model is applied for segmenting the ROIs and finding the accurate positions of the breast tumors. The active contour model combines both global statistical information and local edge information, using a level set approach. The proposed segmentation method was performed on 103 BUS images (48 benign and 55 malignant). To validate the performance, the results were compared with the corresponding tumor regions marked by an experienced radiologist. Three error metrics, true-positive ratio (TP), false-negative ratio (FN) and false-positive ratio (FP) were used for measuring the performance of the proposed method. The final results (TP = 91.31%, FN = 8.69% and FP = 7.26%) demonstrate that the proposed method can segment BUS images efficiently, quickly and automatically.

76 FR 67019 - Eighty-Seventh: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-28

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) 87th meeting. DATES: The meeting will be held November 14-18... Committee 159, Global Positioning System (GPS). The agenda will include the following: November 14-17, 2011... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S...

An Evaluation of Automatic Control System Concepts for General Aviation Airplanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, E. C.

1990-01-01

A piloted simulation study of automatic longitudinal control systems for general aviation airplanes has been conducted. These automatic control systems were designed to make the simulated airplane easy to fly for a beginning or infrequent pilot. Different control systems are presented and their characteristics are documented. In a conventional airplane control system each cockpit controller commands combinations of both the airspeed and the vertical speed. The best system in the present study decoupled the airspeed and vertical speed responses to cockpit controller inputs. An important feature of the automatic system was that neither changing flap position nor maneuvering in steeply banked turns affected either the airspeed or the vertical speed. All the pilots who flew the control system simulation were favorably impressed with the very low workload and the excellent handling qualities of the simulated airplane.

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.

An image-based approach for automatic detecting five true-leaves stage of cotton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yanan; Cao, Zhiguo; Wu, Xi; Yu, Zhenghong; Wang, Yu; Bai, Xiaodong

2013-10-01

Cotton, as one of the four major economic crops, is of great significance to the development of the national economy. Monitoring cotton growth status by automatic image-based detection makes sense due to its low-cost, low-labor and the capability of continuous observations. However, little research has been done to improve close observation of different growth stages of field crops using digital cameras. Therefore, algorithms proposed by us were developed to detect the growth information and predict the starting date of cotton automatically. In this paper, we introduce an approach for automatic detecting five true-leaves stage, which is a critical growth stage of cotton. On account of the drawbacks caused by illumination and the complex background, we cannot use the global coverage as the unique standard of judgment. Consequently, we propose a new method to determine the five true-leaves stage through detecting the node number between the main stem and the side stems, based on the agricultural meteorological observation specification. The error of the results between the predicted starting date with the proposed algorithm and artificial observations is restricted to no more than one day.

Spacecraft operations automation: Automatic alarm notification and web telemetry display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Short, Owen G.; Leonard, Robert E.; Bucher, Allen W.; Allen, Bryan

1999-11-01

In these times of Faster, Better, Cheaper (FBC) spacecraft, Spacecraft Operations Automation is an area that is targeted by many Operations Teams. To meet the challenges of the FBC environment, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Operations Team designed and quickly implemented two new low-cost technologies: one which monitors spacecraft telemetry, checks the status of the telemetry, and contacts technical experts by pager when any telemetry datapoints exceed alarm limits, and a second which allows quick and convenient remote access to data displays. The first new technology is Automatic Alarm Notification (AAN). AAN monitors spacecraft telemetry and will notify engineers automatically if any telemetry is received which creates an alarm condition. The second new technology is Web Telemetry Display (WTD). WTD captures telemetry displays generated by the flight telemetry system and makes them available to the project web server. This allows engineers to check the health and status of the spacecraft from any computer capable of connecting to the global internet, without needing normally-required specialized hardware and software. Both of these technologies have greatly reduced operations costs by alleviating the need to have operations engineers monitor spacecraft performance on a 24 hour per day, 7 day per week basis from a central Mission Support Area. This paper gives details on the design and implementation of AAN and WTD, discusses their limitations, and lists the ongoing benefits which have accrued to MGS Flight Operations since their implementation in late 1996.

Automatic Fault Recognition of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Statistical Analysis of Uav Thermography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, D.; Youn, J.; Kim, C.

2017-08-01

As a malfunctioning PV (Photovoltaic) cell has a higher temperature than adjacent normal cells, we can detect it easily with a thermal infrared sensor. However, it will be a time-consuming way to inspect large-scale PV power plants by a hand-held thermal infrared sensor. This paper presents an algorithm for automatically detecting defective PV panels using images captured with a thermal imaging camera from an UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). The proposed algorithm uses statistical analysis of thermal intensity (surface temperature) characteristics of each PV module to verify the mean intensity and standard deviation of each panel as parameters for fault diagnosis. One of the characteristics of thermal infrared imaging is that the larger the distance between sensor and target, the lower the measured temperature of the object. Consequently, a global detection rule using the mean intensity of all panels in the fault detection algorithm is not applicable. Therefore, a local detection rule based on the mean intensity and standard deviation range was developed to detect defective PV modules from individual array automatically. The performance of the proposed algorithm was tested on three sample images; this verified a detection accuracy of defective panels of 97 % or higher. In addition, as the proposed algorithm can adjust the range of threshold values for judging malfunction at the array level, the local detection rule is considered better suited for highly sensitive fault detection compared to a global detection rule.

Accuracy of two geocoding methods for geographic information system-based exposure assessment in epidemiological studies.

PubMed

Faure, Elodie; Danjou, Aurélie M N; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Dossus, Laure; Fervers, Béatrice

2017-02-24

Environmental exposure assessment based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and study participants' residential proximity to environmental exposure sources relies on the positional accuracy of subjects' residences to avoid misclassification bias. Our study compared the positional accuracy of two automatic geocoding methods to a manual reference method. We geocoded 4,247 address records representing the residential history (1990-2008) of 1,685 women from the French national E3N cohort living in the Rhône-Alpes region. We compared two automatic geocoding methods, a free-online geocoding service (method A) and an in-house geocoder (method B), to a reference layer created by manually relocating addresses from method A (method R). For each automatic geocoding method, positional accuracy levels were compared according to the urban/rural status of addresses and time-periods (1990-2000, 2001-2008), using Chi Square tests. Kappa statistics were performed to assess agreement of positional accuracy of both methods A and B with the reference method, overall, by time-periods and by urban/rural status of addresses. Respectively 81.4% and 84.4% of addresses were geocoded to the exact address (65.1% and 61.4%) or to the street segment (16.3% and 23.0%) with methods A and B. In the reference layer, geocoding accuracy was higher in urban areas compared to rural areas (74.4% vs. 10.5% addresses geocoded to the address or interpolated address level, p < 0.0001); no difference was observed according to the period of residence. Compared to the reference method, median positional errors were 0.0 m (IQR = 0.0-37.2 m) and 26.5 m (8.0-134.8 m), with positional errors <100 m for 82.5% and 71.3% of addresses, for method A and method B respectively. Positional agreement of method A and method B with method R was 'substantial' for both methods, with kappa coefficients of 0.60 and 0.61 for methods A and B, respectively. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of geocoding residential addresses in epidemiological studies not initially recorded for environmental exposure assessment, for both recent addresses and residence locations more than 20 years ago. Accuracy of the two automatic geocoding methods was comparable. The in-house method (B) allowed a better control of the geocoding process and was less time consuming.

Improving the Quality of Welding Seam of Automatic Welding of Buckets Based on TCP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Min

2018-02-01

Since February 2014, the welding defects of the automatic welding line of buckets have been frequently appeared. The average repair time of each bucket is 26min, which seriously affects the production efficiency and welding quality. We conducted troubleshooting, and found the main reasons for the welding defects of the buckets were the deviations of the center points of the robot tools and the poor quality of the locating welding. We corrected the gripper, welding torch, and accuracy of repeat positioning of robots to control the quality of positioning welding. The welding defect rate of buckets was reduced greatly, ensuring the production efficiency and welding quality.

Automatic multi-camera calibration for deployable positioning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Axelsson, Maria; Karlsson, Mikael; Rudner, Staffan

2012-06-01

Surveillance with automated positioning and tracking of subjects and vehicles in 3D is desired in many defence and security applications. Camera systems with stereo or multiple cameras are often used for 3D positioning. In such systems, accurate camera calibration is needed to obtain a reliable 3D position estimate. There is also a need for automated camera calibration to facilitate fast deployment of semi-mobile multi-camera 3D positioning systems. In this paper we investigate a method for automatic calibration of the extrinsic camera parameters (relative camera pose and orientation) of a multi-camera positioning system. It is based on estimation of the essential matrix between each camera pair using the 5-point method for intrinsically calibrated cameras. The method is compared to a manual calibration method using real HD video data from a field trial with a multicamera positioning system. The method is also evaluated on simulated data from a stereo camera model. The results show that the reprojection error of the automated camera calibration method is close to or smaller than the error for the manual calibration method and that the automated calibration method can replace the manual calibration.

The Optimization of Automatically Generated Compilers.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

than their procedural counterparts, and are also easier to analyze for storage optimizations; (2) AGs can be algorithmically checked to be non-circular...Providing algorithms to move the storage for many attributes from the For structure tree into global stacks and variables. -Dd(2) Creating AEs which build and...54 3.5.2. Partitioning algorithm

Lady Academe and Labor-Market Segmentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bousquet, Marc

2012-01-01

The role of gender in the global economy is not represented particularly well by old-school "pipeline" theories of women entering particular industries, whether it is manufacturing, medicine, or college teaching. The pipeline analogy suggests that if women enter a field in equal or greater numbers to men, they will somehow automatically be "piped"…

The Quantified Self (QS) Movement and Some Emerging Opportunities for the Educational Technology Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Victor R.

2013-01-01

The Quantified Self (QS) movement is a growing global effort to use new mobile and wearable technologies to automatically obtain personal data about everyday activities. The social and material infrastructure associated with the Quantified Self (QS) movement provides a number of ideas that educational technologists should consider incorporating…

Automatic Co-Registration of Multi-Temporal Landsat-8/OLI and Sentinel-2A/MSI Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skakun, S.; Roger, J.-C.; Vermote, E.; Justice, C.; Masek, J.

2017-01-01

Many applications in climate change and environmental and agricultural monitoring rely heavily on the exploitation of multi-temporal satellite imagery. Combined use of freely available Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images can offer high temporal frequency of about 1 image every 3-5 days globally.

What Are Data? Museum Data Bank Research Report Number 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vance, David

This paper describes the process of automatic extraction of implicit--global--data from explicit information by file inversion and threading. Each datum is the symbolic representation of a proposition, and as such has a number of movable parts corresponding to the ideal elements of the proposition represented; e.g., subject, predicate. A third…

Contextual Modulation of N400 Amplitude to Lexically Ambiguous Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Titone, Debra A.; Salisbury, Dean F.

2004-01-01

Through much is known about the N400 component, an event-related EEG potential that is sensitive to semantic manipulations, it is unclear whether modulations of N400 amplitude reflect automatic processing, controlled processing, or both. We examined this issue using a semantic judgment task that manipulated local and global contextual cues. Word…

Microseismic event location using global optimization algorithms: An integrated and automated workflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagos, Soledad R.; Velis, Danilo R.

2018-02-01

We perform the location of microseismic events generated in hydraulic fracturing monitoring scenarios using two global optimization techniques: Very Fast Simulated Annealing (VFSA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and compare them against the classical grid search (GS). To this end, we present an integrated and optimized workflow that concatenates into an automated bash script the different steps that lead to the microseismic events location from raw 3C data. First, we carry out the automatic detection, denoising and identification of the P- and S-waves. Secondly, we estimate their corresponding backazimuths using polarization information, and propose a simple energy-based criterion to automatically decide which is the most reliable estimate. Finally, after taking proper care of the size of the search space using the backazimuth information, we perform the location using the aforementioned algorithms for 2D and 3D usual scenarios of hydraulic fracturing processes. We assess the impact of restricting the search space and show the advantages of using either VFSA or PSO over GS to attain significant speed-ups.

Delineation and geometric modeling of road networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poullis, Charalambos; You, Suya

In this work we present a novel vision-based system for automatic detection and extraction of complex road networks from various sensor resources such as aerial photographs, satellite images, and LiDAR. Uniquely, the proposed system is an integrated solution that merges the power of perceptual grouping theory (Gabor filtering, tensor voting) and optimized segmentation techniques (global optimization using graph-cuts) into a unified framework to address the challenging problems of geospatial feature detection and classification. Firstly, the local precision of the Gabor filters is combined with the global context of the tensor voting to produce accurate classification of the geospatial features. In addition, the tensorial representation used for the encoding of the data eliminates the need for any thresholds, therefore removing any data dependencies. Secondly, a novel orientation-based segmentation is presented which incorporates the classification of the perceptual grouping, and results in segmentations with better defined boundaries and continuous linear segments. Finally, a set of gaussian-based filters are applied to automatically extract centerline information (magnitude, width and orientation). This information is then used for creating road segments and transforming them to their polygonal representations.

Global spectral UV-radiometer with automatic shadow band.

PubMed

Rosales, Alejandro; Pedroni, Jorge V; Tocho, Jorge O

2006-01-01

A solar radiometer (GUV-511 C, Biospherical Instruments Inc., San Diego, CA) with four UV channels has been operating at Trelew (43.2 degrees S, 65.3 degrees W), Argentina, since the austral spring of 1997. The instrument provides global (direct + diffuse) irradiance on the horizontal plane year-round, with a 1 min period. On 1 January 1999, an automatic shadow band was added to calculate diffuse and direct radiation. The period of the measurements was increased to 2 min to keep the same signal to noise (S:N) ratio. Once the direct radiation values were available for the 305 nm and 320 nm spectral bands, the total ozone value was calculated and results were compared with data provided by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on the Earth Probe satellite. Results show a root-mean-square (RMS) deviation within 4% compared with that of TOMS, so the quality of results is considered to be quite good. The importance of regular calibration to maintain long-term accuracy is stressed.

Dynamic Price Vector Formation Model-Based Automatic Demand Response Strategy for PV-Assisted EV Charging Stations

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

Chen, Qifang; Wang, Fei; Hodge, Bri-Mathias

A real-time price (RTP)-based automatic demand response (ADR) strategy for PV-assisted electric vehicle (EV) Charging Station (PVCS) without vehicle to grid is proposed. The charging process is modeled as a dynamic linear program instead of the normal day-ahead and real-time regulation strategy, to capture the advantages of both global and real-time optimization. Different from conventional price forecasting algorithms, a dynamic price vector formation model is proposed based on a clustering algorithm to form an RTP vector for a particular day. A dynamic feasible energy demand region (DFEDR) model considering grid voltage profiles is designed to calculate the lower and uppermore » bounds. A deduction method is proposed to deal with the unknown information of future intervals, such as the actual stochastic arrival and departure times of EVs, which make the DFEDR model suitable for global optimization. Finally, both the comparative cases articulate the advantages of the developed methods and the validity in reducing electricity costs, mitigating peak charging demand, and improving PV self-consumption of the proposed strategy are verified through simulation scenarios.« less

Automatic home medical product recommendation.

PubMed

Luo, Gang; Thomas, Selena B; Tang, Chunqiang

2012-04-01

Web-based personal health records (PHRs) are being widely deployed. To improve PHR's capability and usability, we proposed the concept of intelligent PHR (iPHR). In this paper, we use automatic home medical product recommendation as a concrete application to demonstrate the benefits of introducing intelligence into PHRs. In this new application domain, we develop several techniques to address the emerging challenges. Our approach uses treatment knowledge and nursing knowledge, and extends the language modeling method to (1) construct a topic-selection input interface for recommending home medical products, (2) produce a global ranking of Web pages retrieved by multiple queries, and (3) provide diverse search results. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our techniques using USMLE medical exam cases.

Automatic Generation of Building Models with Levels of Detail 1-3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguatem, W.; Drauschke, M.; Mayer, H.

2016-06-01

We present a workflow for the automatic generation of building models with levels of detail (LOD) 1 to 3 according to the CityGML standard (Gröger et al., 2012). We start with orienting unsorted image sets employing (Mayer et al., 2012), we compute depth maps using semi-global matching (SGM) (Hirschmüller, 2008), and fuse these depth maps to reconstruct dense 3D point clouds (Kuhn et al., 2014). Based on planes segmented from these point clouds, we have developed a stochastic method for roof model selection (Nguatem et al., 2013) and window model selection (Nguatem et al., 2014). We demonstrate our workflow up to the export into CityGML.

Automatic liver contouring for radiotherapy treatment planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dengwang; Liu, Li; Kapp, Daniel S.; Xing, Lei

2015-09-01

To develop automatic and efficient liver contouring software for planning 3D-CT and four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) for application in clinical radiation therapy treatment planning systems. The algorithm comprises three steps for overcoming the challenge of similar intensities between the liver region and its surrounding tissues. First, the total variation model with the L1 norm (TV-L1), which has the characteristic of multi-scale decomposition and an edge-preserving property, is used for removing the surrounding muscles and tissues. Second, an improved level set model that contains both global and local energy functions is utilized to extract liver contour information sequentially. In the global energy function, the local correlation coefficient (LCC) is constructed based on the gray level co-occurrence matrix both of the initial liver region and the background region. The LCC can calculate the correlation of a pixel with the foreground and background regions, respectively. The LCC is combined with intensity distribution models to classify pixels during the evolutionary process of the level set based method. The obtained liver contour is used as the candidate liver region for the following step. In the third step, voxel-based texture characterization is employed for refining the liver region and obtaining the final liver contours. The proposed method was validated based on the planning CT images of a group of 25 patients undergoing radiation therapy treatment planning. These included ten lung cancer patients with normal appearing livers and ten patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or liver metastases. The method was also tested on abdominal 4D-CT images of a group of five patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or liver metastases. The false positive volume percentage, the false negative volume percentage, and the dice similarity coefficient between liver contours obtained by a developed algorithm and a current standard delineated by the expert group are on an average 2.15-2.57%, 2.96-3.23%, and 91.01-97.21% for the CT images with normal appearing livers, 2.28-3.62%, 3.15-4.33%, and 86.14-93.53% for the CT images with hepatocellular carcinoma or liver metastases, and 2.37-3.96%, 3.25-4.57%, and 82.23-89.44% for the 4D-CT images also with hepatocellular carcinoma or liver metastases, respectively. The proposed three-step method can achieve efficient automatic liver contouring for planning CT and 4D-CT images with follow-up treatment planning and should find widespread applications in future treatment planning systems.

77 FR 12106 - 88th Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning System (GPS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-28

... 159, Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The..., Global Positioning System (GPS). DATES: The meeting will be held March 13-16, 2012, from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m...

Self-closing shielded container for use with radioactive materials

DOEpatents

Smith, Jay E.

1984-01-01

A container for storage of radioactive material comprising a container body nd a closure member. The closure member being coupled to the container body to enable the closure body to move automatically from a first position (e.g., closed) to a second position (open).

Self-closing shielded container for use with radioactive materials

DOEpatents

Smith, J.E.

A container for storage of radioactive material comprises a container body and a closure member. The closure member is coupled to the container body to enable the closure body to move automatically from a first position (e.g., closed) to a second position (open).

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

Aristophanous, M; Court, L

Purpose: Despite daily image guidance setup uncertainties can be high when treating large areas of the body. The aim of this study was to measure local uncertainties inside the PTV for patients receiving IMRT to the mediastinum region. Methods: Eleven lymphoma patients that received radiotherapy (breath-hold) to the mediastinum were included in this study. The treated region could range all the way from the neck to the diaphragm. Each patient had a CT scan with a CT-on-rails system prior to every treatment. The entire PTV region was matched to the planning CT using automatic rigid registration. The PTV was thenmore » split into 5 regions: neck, supraclavicular, superior mediastinum, upper heart, lower heart. Additional auto-registrations for each of the 5 local PTV regions were performed. The residual local setup errors were calculated as the difference between the final global PTV position and the individual final local PTV positions for the AP, SI and RL directions. For each patient 4 CT scans were analyzed (1 per week of treatment). Results: The residual mean group error (M) and standard deviation of the inter-patient (or systematic) error (Σ) were lowest in the RL direction of the superior mediastinum (0.0mm and 0.5mm) and highest in the RL direction of the lower heart (3.5mm and 2.9mm). The standard deviation of the inter-fraction (or random) error (σ) was lowest in the RL direction of the superior mediastinum (0.5mm) and highest in the SI direction of the lower heart (3.9mm) The directionality of local uncertainties is important; a superior residual error in the lower heart for example keeps it in the global PTV. Conclusion: There is a complex relationship between breath-holding and positioning uncertainties that needs further investigation. Residual setup uncertainties can be significant even under daily CT image guidance when treating large regions of the body.« less

Automated classification of seismic sources in a large database: a comparison of Random Forests and Deep Neural Networks.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibert, Clement; Stumpf, André; Provost, Floriane; Malet, Jean-Philippe

2017-04-01

In the past decades, the increasing quality of seismic sensors and capability to transfer remotely large quantity of data led to a fast densification of local, regional and global seismic networks for near real-time monitoring of crustal and surface processes. This technological advance permits the use of seismology to document geological and natural/anthropogenic processes (volcanoes, ice-calving, landslides, snow and rock avalanches, geothermal fields), but also led to an ever-growing quantity of seismic data. This wealth of seismic data makes the construction of complete seismicity catalogs, which include earthquakes but also other sources of seismic waves, more challenging and very time-consuming as this critical pre-processing stage is classically done by human operators and because hundreds of thousands of seismic signals have to be processed. To overcome this issue, the development of automatic methods for the processing of continuous seismic data appears to be a necessity. The classification algorithm should satisfy the need of a method that is robust, precise and versatile enough to be deployed to monitor the seismicity in very different contexts. In this study, we evaluate the ability of machine learning algorithms for the analysis of seismic sources at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano being Random Forest and Deep Neural Network classifiers. We gather a catalog of more than 20,000 events, belonging to 8 classes of seismic sources. We define 60 attributes, based on the waveform, the frequency content and the polarization of the seismic waves, to parameterize the seismic signals recorded. We show that both algorithms provide similar positive classification rates, with values exceeding 90% of the events. When trained with a sufficient number of events, the rate of positive identification can reach 99%. These very high rates of positive identification open the perspective of an operational implementation of these algorithms for near-real time monitoring of mass movements and other environmental sources at the local, regional and even global scale.

Automated matching of corresponding seed images of three simulator radiographs to allow 3D triangulation of implanted seeds.

PubMed

Altschuler, M D; Kassaee, A

1997-02-01

To match corresponding seed images in different radiographs so that the 3D seed locations can be triangulated automatically and without ambiguity requires (at least) three radiographs taken from different perspectives, and an algorithm that finds the proper permutations of the seed-image indices. Matching corresponding images in only two radiographs introduces inherent ambiguities which can be resolved only with the use of non-positional information obtained with intensive human effort. Matching images in three or more radiographs is an 'NP (Non-determinant in Polynomial time)-complete' problem. Although the matching problem is fundamental, current methods for three-radiograph seed-image matching use 'local' (seed-by-seed) methods that may lead to incorrect matchings. We describe a permutation-sampling method which not only gives good 'global' (full permutation) matches for the NP-complete three-radiograph seed-matching problem, but also determines the reliability of the radiographic data themselves, namely, whether the patient moved in the interval between radiographic perspectives.

Automated matching of corresponding seed images of three simulator radiographs to allow 3D triangulation of implanted seeds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altschuler, Martin D.; Kassaee, Alireza

1997-02-01

To match corresponding seed images in different radiographs so that the 3D seed locations can be triangulated automatically and without ambiguity requires (at least) three radiographs taken from different perspectives, and an algorithm that finds the proper permutations of the seed-image indices. Matching corresponding images in only two radiographs introduces inherent ambiguities which can be resolved only with the use of non-positional information obtained with intensive human effort. Matching images in three or more radiographs is an `NP (Non-determinant in Polynomial time)-complete' problem. Although the matching problem is fundamental, current methods for three-radiograph seed-image matching use `local' (seed-by-seed) methods that may lead to incorrect matchings. We describe a permutation-sampling method which not only gives good `global' (full permutation) matches for the NP-complete three-radiograph seed-matching problem, but also determines the reliability of the radiographic data themselves, namely, whether the patient moved in the interval between radiographic perspectives.

Fusion of local and global detection systems to detect tuberculosis in chest radiographs.

PubMed

Hogeweg, Laurens; Mol, Christian; de Jong, Pim A; Dawson, Rodney; Ayles, Helen; van Ginneken, Bramin

2010-01-01

Automatic detection of tuberculosis (TB) on chest radiographs is a difficult problem because of the diverse presentation of the disease. A combination of detection systems for abnormalities and normal anatomy is used to improve detection performance. A textural abnormality detection system operating at the pixel level is combined with a clavicle detection system to suppress false positive responses. The output of a shape abnormality detection system operating at the image level is combined in a next step to further improve performance by reducing false negatives. Strategies for combining systems based on serial and parallel configurations were evaluated using the minimum, maximum, product, and mean probability combination rules. The performance of TB detection increased, as measured using the area under the ROC curve, from 0.67 for the textural abnormality detection system alone to 0.86 when the three systems were combined. The best result was achieved using the sum and product rule in a parallel combination of outputs.

A robust close-range photogrammetric target extraction algorithm for size and type variant targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyarko, Kofi; Thomas, Clayton; Torres, Gilbert

2016-05-01

The Photo-G program conducted by Naval Air Systems Command at the Atlantic Test Range in Patuxent River, Maryland, uses photogrammetric analysis of large amounts of real-world imagery to characterize the motion of objects in a 3-D scene. Current approaches involve several independent processes including target acquisition, target identification, 2-D tracking of image features, and 3-D kinematic state estimation. Each process has its own inherent complications and corresponding degrees of both human intervention and computational complexity. One approach being explored for automated target acquisition relies on exploiting the pixel intensity distributions of photogrammetric targets, which tend to be patterns with bimodal intensity distributions. The bimodal distribution partitioning algorithm utilizes this distribution to automatically deconstruct a video frame into regions of interest (ROI) that are merged and expanded to target boundaries, from which ROI centroids are extracted to mark target acquisition points. This process has proved to be scale, position and orientation invariant, as well as fairly insensitive to global uniform intensity disparities.

Multiplexed wavelet transform technique for detection of microcalcification in digitized mammograms.

PubMed

Mini, M G; Devassia, V P; Thomas, Tessamma

2004-12-01

Wavelet transform (WT) is a potential tool for the detection of microcalcifications, an early sign of breast cancer. This article describes the implementation and evaluates the performance of two novel WT-based schemes for the automatic detection of clustered microcalcifications in digitized mammograms. Employing a one-dimensional WT technique that utilizes the pseudo-periodicity property of image sequences, the proposed algorithms achieve high detection efficiency and low processing memory requirements. The detection is achieved from the parent-child relationship between the zero-crossings [Marr-Hildreth (M-H) detector] /local extrema (Canny detector) of the WT coefficients at different levels of decomposition. The detected pixels are weighted before the inverse transform is computed, and they are segmented by simple global gray level thresholding. Both detectors produce 95% detection sensitivity, even though there are more false positives for the M-H detector. The M-H detector preserves the shape information and provides better detection sensitivity for mammograms containing widely distributed calcifications.

A comparison of 1D and 2D LSTM architectures for the recognition of handwritten Arabic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yousefi, Mohammad Reza; Soheili, Mohammad Reza; Breuel, Thomas M.; Stricker, Didier

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present an Arabic handwriting recognition method based on recurrent neural network. We use the Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) architecture, that have proven successful in different printed and handwritten OCR tasks. Applications of LSTM for handwriting recognition employ the two-dimensional architecture to deal with the variations in both vertical and horizontal axis. However, we show that using a simple pre-processing step that normalizes the position and baseline of letters, we can make use of 1D LSTM, which is faster in learning and convergence, and yet achieve superior performance. In a series of experiments on IFN/ENIT database for Arabic handwriting recognition, we demonstrate that our proposed pipeline can outperform 2D LSTM networks. Furthermore, we provide comparisons with 1D LSTM networks trained with manually crafted features to show that the automatically learned features in a globally trained 1D LSTM network with our normalization step can even outperform such systems.

Change detection on UGV patrols with respect to a reference tour using VIS imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Thomas

2015-05-01

Autonomous driving robots (UGVs, Unmanned Ground Vehicles) equipped with visual-optical (VIS) cameras offer a high potential to automatically detect suspicious occurrences and dangerous or threatening situations on patrol. In order to explore this potential, the scene of interest is recorded first on a reference tour representing the 'everything okay' situation. On further patrols changes are detected with respect to the reference in a two step processing scheme. In the first step, an image retrieval is done to find the reference images that are closest to the current camera image on patrol. This is done efficiently based on precalculated image-to-image registrations of the reference by optimizing image overlap in a local reference search (after a global search when that is needed). In the second step, a robust spatio-temporal change detection is performed that widely compensates 3-D parallax according to variations of the camera position. Various results document the performance of the presented approach.

A method for the automatic reconstruction of fetal cardiac signals from magnetocardiographic recordings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mantini, D.; Alleva, G.; Comani, S.

2005-10-01

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) allows monitoring the fetal heart function through algorithms able to retrieve the fetal cardiac signal, but no standardized automatic model has become available so far. In this paper, we describe an automatic method that restores the fetal cardiac trace from fMCG recordings by means of a weighted summation of fetal components separated with independent component analysis (ICA) and identified through dedicated algorithms that analyse the frequency content and temporal structure of each source signal. Multichannel fMCG datasets of 66 healthy and 4 arrhythmic fetuses were used to validate the automatic method with respect to a classical procedure requiring the manual classification of fetal components by an expert investigator. ICA was run with input clusters of different dimensions to simulate various MCG systems. Detection rates, true negative and false positive component categorization, QRS amplitude, standard deviation and signal-to-noise ratio of reconstructed fetal signals, and real and per cent QRS differences between paired fetal traces retrieved automatically and manually were calculated to quantify the performances of the automatic method. Its robustness and reliability, particularly evident with the use of large input clusters, might increase the diagnostic role of fMCG during the prenatal period.

Coupling flood forecasting and social media crowdsourcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalas, Milan; Kliment, Tomas; Salamon, Peter

2016-04-01

Social and mainstream media monitoring is being more and more recognized as valuable source of information in disaster management and response. The information on ongoing disasters could be detected in very short time and the social media can bring additional information to traditional data feeds (ground, remote observation schemes). Probably the biggest attempt to use the social media in the crisis management was the activation of the Digital Humanitarian Network by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in response to Typhoon Yolanda. The network of volunteers performing rapid needs & damage assessment by tagging reports posted to social media which were then used by machine learning classifiers as a training set to automatically identify tweets referring to both urgent needs and offers of help. In this work we will present the potential of coupling a social media streaming and news monitoring application ( GlobalFloodNews - www.globalfloodsystem.com) with a flood forecasting system (www.globalfloods.eu) and the geo-catalogue of the OGC services discovered in the Google Search Engine (WMS, WFS, WCS, etc.) to provide a full suite of information available to crisis management centers as fast as possible. In GlobalFloodNews we use advanced filtering of the real-time Twitter stream, where the relevant information is automatically extracted using natural language and signal processing techniques. The keyword filters are adjusted and optimized automatically using machine learning algorithms as new reports are added to the system. In order to refine the search results the forecasting system will be triggering an event-based search on the social media and OGC services relevant for crisis response (population distribution, critical infrastructure, hospitals etc.). The current version of the system makes use of USHAHIDI Crowdmap platform, which is designed to easily crowdsource information using multiple channels, including SMS, email, Twitter and the web we want to show the potential of monitoring floods at the global scale.

A low cost automatic detection and ranging system for space surveillance in the medium Earth orbit region and beyond.

PubMed

Danescu, Radu; Ciurte, Anca; Turcu, Vlad

2014-02-11

The space around the Earth is filled with man-made objects, which orbit the planet at altitudes ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of kilometers. Keeping an eye on all objects in Earth's orbit, useful and not useful, operational or not, is known as Space Surveillance. Due to cost considerations, the space surveillance solutions beyond the Low Earth Orbit region are mainly based on optical instruments. This paper presents a solution for real-time automatic detection and ranging of space objects of altitudes ranging from below the Medium Earth Orbit up to 40,000 km, based on two low cost observation systems built using commercial cameras and marginally professional telescopes, placed 37 km apart, operating as a large baseline stereovision system. The telescopes are pointed towards any visible region of the sky, and the system is able to automatically calibrate the orientation parameters using automatic matching of reference stars from an online catalog, with a very high tolerance for the initial guess of the sky region and camera orientation. The difference between the left and right image of a synchronized stereo pair is used for automatic detection of the satellite pixels, using an original difference computation algorithm that is capable of high sensitivity and a low false positive rate. The use of stereovision provides a strong means of removing false positives, and avoids the need for prior knowledge of the orbits observed, the system being able to detect at the same time all types of objects that fall within the measurement range and are visible on the image.

Automatic search for maximum similarity between molecular electrostatic potential distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manaut, Francesc; Sanz, Ferran; José, Jaume; Milesi, Massimo

1991-08-01

A new computer program has been developed to automatically obtain the relative position of two molecules in which the similarity between molecular electrostatic-potential distributions is greatest. These distributions are considered in a volume around the molecules, and the similarity is measured by the Spearman rank coefficient. The program has been tested using several pairs of molecules: water vs. water; phenylethylamine and phenylpropylamine vs. benzylamine; and methotrexate vs. dihydrofolic acid.

A method for automatic feature points extraction of human vertebrae three-dimensional model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhen; Wu, Junsheng

2017-05-01

A method for automatic extraction of the feature points of the human vertebrae three-dimensional model is presented. Firstly, the statistical model of vertebrae feature points is established based on the results of manual vertebrae feature points extraction. Then anatomical axial analysis of the vertebrae model is performed according to the physiological and morphological characteristics of the vertebrae. Using the axial information obtained from the analysis, a projection relationship between the statistical model and the vertebrae model to be extracted is established. According to the projection relationship, the statistical model is matched with the vertebrae model to get the estimated position of the feature point. Finally, by analyzing the curvature in the spherical neighborhood with the estimated position of feature points, the final position of the feature points is obtained. According to the benchmark result on multiple test models, the mean relative errors of feature point positions are less than 5.98%. At more than half of the positions, the error rate is less than 3% and the minimum mean relative error is 0.19%, which verifies the effectiveness of the method.

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.

Global harmonization of food safety regulation from the perspective of Korea and a novel fast automatic product recall system.

PubMed

Sohn, Mun-Gi; Oh, Sangsuk

2014-08-01

Efforts have been made for global harmonization of food safety regulations among countries through international organizations such as WTO and WHO/FAO. Global harmonization of food safety regulations is becoming increasingly important for Korean consumers because more than half of food and agricultural products are imported and consumed. Through recent reorganization of the Korean government, a consolidated national food safety authority-the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS)-has been established for more efficient food safety control and better communication with consumers. The Automatic Sales Blocking System (ASBS), which blocks the sales of the recalled food products at the point of sale, has been implemented at over 40,000 retail food stores around the nation using state-of-the art information and communication technology (ICT) for faster recall of adulterated food products, and the e-Food Safety Control System has been developed for more efficient monitoring of national food safety surveillance situations. The National Food Safety Information Service was also established for monitoring and collecting food safety information and incidents worldwide, and shares relevant information with all stakeholders. The new approaches adopted by the Korean Food Safety Authority are expected to enhance public trust with regard to food safety issues and expedite the recall process of adulterated products from the market. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Why not the best? Social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism among Israeli Jews and Arabs: a comparative Study.

PubMed

Iancu, I; Bodner, E; Joubran, S; Ben Zion, I; Ram, E

2015-05-01

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western society and is characterized by low self-esteem, pessimism, procrastination and also perfectionism. Very few studies on SAD have been done in the Middle East or in Arab countries, and no study tackled the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in non-Western samples. We examined social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in a group of 132 Israeli Jewish (IJ) and Israeli Arab (IA) students. Subjects completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the Negative Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-N), the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-P) and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The rate of SAD in our sample according to a LSAS score of 60 or more was 17.2% (IJ=13.8%, IA=19%, ns). The correlation between perfectionism and the LSAS was high in both groups, and in particular in the IJ group. The IA group had higher scores of social avoidance, of ATQ-P and of two of the MPS subscales: parental expectations and parental criticism. Concern over mistakes and negative automatic thoughts positively predicted social fear in the IJ group, whereas in the IA group being female, religious and less educated positively predicted social fear. Negative automatic thoughts and age positively predicted social avoidance in the IJ group. In general, the IJ and IA subjects showed higher social anxiety, higher ATQ-N scores and lower parental expectations as compared with non-clinical US samples. Social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism are prevalent in Arab and Jewish students in Israel and seem to be closely related. Further studies among non-western minority groups may detect cultural influences on social anxiety and might add to the growing body of knowledge on this intriguing condition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automation of a flocculation test for syphilis on Groupamatic equipment.

PubMed Central

Garretta, M; Paris-Hamelin, A; Gener, J; Muller, A; Matte, C; Vaisman, A

1975-01-01

A flocculation reaction employing a cardiolipid antigen was used for syphilis screening on Groupamatic equipment in parallel with conventional screening reactions: Kolmer CF, RPCF, Kahn, Kline, and RPR. The positive samples were confirmed by FTA-200, FTA-ABS, TPI, and in some cases by TPHA. There were 5,212 known samples which had already been tested by all methods and of which 1,648 were positive, and 58,636 screened samples including 65 positives. Half of the samples in the first series were taken without anticoagulant; the remainder were collected in potassium EDTA. The percentage of false positives with the Groupamatic was about 1-4 per cent. The percentage of false negatives among positve (greater than or equal+) samples varied from 0-18 to 1-3 per cent.; on the other hand the sensitivity was less good for samples giving doubtful and/or dissociated reactions in conventional screening reactions. The specificity and sensitivity of this technique are acceptable for a blood transfusion centre. The reproducibility is excellent and the automatic reading of results accurate. Additional advantages are rapidity (340 samples processed per hour); simultaneous performance of eleven other immunohaematological reactions; no contamination between samples; automatic reading, interpretation, and print-out of results; and saving of time because samples are not filed sequentially and are automatically identified when the results are obtained. Although the importance of syphilis in blood transfusion seems small, estimates of the risk are difficult and further investigations are planned. Images PMID:1098731

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.

Development of a digital guidance and control law for steep approach automatic landings using modern control techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.

1979-01-01

The development of a digital automatic control law for a small jet transport to perform a steep final approach in automatic landings is reported along with the development of a steady-state Kalman filter used to provide smooth estimates to the control law. The control law performs the functions of localizer and glides capture, localizer and glideslope track, decrab, and place. The control law uses the microwave landing system position data, and aircraft body-mounted accelerators, attitude and attitude rate information. The results obtained from a digital simulation of the aircraft dynamics, wind conditions, and sensor noises using the control law and filter developed are described.

Commitment-Insurance: Compensating for the Autonomy Costs of Interdependence in Close Relationships

PubMed Central

Murray, Sandra L.; Holmes, John G.; Aloni, Maya; Pinkus, Rebecca T.; Derrick, Jaye L.; Leder, Sadie

2014-01-01

A model of the commitment-insurance system is proposed to examine how low and high self-esteem people cope with the costs interdependence imposes on autonomous goal pursuits. In this system, autonomy costs automatically activate compensatory cognitive processes that attach greater value to the partner. Greater partner-valuing compels greater responsiveness to the partner’s needs. Two experiments and a daily diary study of newlyweds supported the model. Autonomy costs automatically activate more positive implicit evaluations of the partner. On explicit measures of positive illusions, high self-esteem people continue to compensate for costs. However, cost-primed low self-esteem people correct and override their positive implicit sentiments when they have the opportunity to do so. Such corrections put the marriages of low self-esteem people at risk: Failing to compensate for costs predicted declines in satisfaction over a one year period. PMID:19634974

Visual perception system and method for a humanoid robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chelian, Suhas E. (Inventor); Linn, Douglas Martin (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor); Wells, James W. (Inventor); Mc Kay, Neil David (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A robotic system includes a humanoid robot with robotic joints each moveable using an actuator(s), and a distributed controller for controlling the movement of each of the robotic joints. The controller includes a visual perception module (VPM) for visually identifying and tracking an object in the field of view of the robot under threshold lighting conditions. The VPM includes optical devices for collecting an image of the object, a positional extraction device, and a host machine having an algorithm for processing the image and positional information. The algorithm visually identifies and tracks the object, and automatically adapts an exposure time of the optical devices to prevent feature data loss of the image under the threshold lighting conditions. A method of identifying and tracking the object includes collecting the image, extracting positional information of the object, and automatically adapting the exposure time to thereby prevent feature data loss of the image.

High Resolution BPM Upgrade for the ATF Damping Ring at KEK

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

Eddy, N.; Briegel, C.; Fellenz, B.

2011-08-17

A beam position monitor (BPM) upgrade at the KEK Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) damping ring has been accomplished, carried out by a KEK/FNAL/SLAC collaboration under the umbrella of the global ILC R&D effort. The upgrade consists of a high resolution, high reproducibility read-out system, based on analog and digital down-conversion techniques, digital signal processing, and also implements a new automatic gain error correction schema. The technical concept and realization as well as results of beam studies are presented. The next generation of linear colliders require ultra-low vertical emittance of <2 pm-rad. The damping ring at the KEK Accelerator Test Facilitymore » (ATF) is designed to demonstrate this mission critical goal. A high resolution beam position monitor (BPM) system for the damping ring is one of the key tools for realizing this goal. The BPM system needs to provide two distnict measurements. First, a very high resolution ({approx}100-200nm) closed-orbit measurement which is averaged over many turns and realized with narrowband filter techniques - 'narrowband mode'. This is needed to monitor and steer the beam along an optimum orbit and to facilitate beam-based alignment to minimize non-linear field effects. Second, is the ability to make turn by turn (TBT) measurements to support optics studies and corrections necessary to achieve the design performance. As the TBT measurement necessitates a wider bandwidth, it is often referred to as 'wideband mode'. The BPM upgrade was initiated as a KEK/SLAC/FNAL collaboration in the frame of the Global Design Initiative of the International Linear Collider. The project was realized and completed using Japan-US funds with Fermilab as the core partner.« less

Automatic alignment method for calibration of hydrometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Y. J.; Chang, K. H.; Chon, J. C.; Oh, C. Y.

2004-04-01

This paper presents a new method to automatically align specific scale-marks for the calibration of hydrometers. A hydrometer calibration system adopting the new method consists of a vision system, a stepping motor, and software to control the system. The vision system is composed of a CCD camera and a frame grabber, and is used to acquire images. The stepping motor moves the camera, which is attached to the vessel containing a reference liquid, along the hydrometer. The operating program has two main functions: to process images from the camera to find the position of the horizontal plane and to control the stepping motor for the alignment of the horizontal plane with a particular scale-mark. Any system adopting this automatic alignment method is a convenient and precise means of calibrating a hydrometer. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated by comparing the calibration results using the automatic alignment method with those obtained using the manual method.

Using genetic algorithms to optimize the analogue method for precipitation prediction in the Swiss Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horton, Pascal; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Obled, Charles

2018-01-01

Analogue methods provide a statistical precipitation prediction based on synoptic predictors supplied by general circulation models or numerical weather prediction models. The method samples a selection of days in the archives that are similar to the target day to be predicted, and consider their set of corresponding observed precipitation (the predictand) as the conditional distribution for the target day. The relationship between the predictors and predictands relies on some parameters that characterize how and where the similarity between two atmospheric situations is defined. This relationship is usually established by a semi-automatic sequential procedure that has strong limitations: (i) it cannot automatically choose the pressure levels and temporal windows (hour of the day) for a given meteorological variable, (ii) it cannot handle dependencies between parameters, and (iii) it cannot easily handle new degrees of freedom. In this work, a global optimization approach relying on genetic algorithms could optimize all parameters jointly and automatically. The global optimization was applied to some variants of the analogue method for the Rhône catchment in the Swiss Alps. The performance scores increased compared to reference methods, especially for days with high precipitation totals. The resulting parameters were found to be relevant and coherent between the different subregions of the catchment. Moreover, they were obtained automatically and objectively, which reduces the effort that needs to be invested in exploration attempts when adapting the method to a new region or for a new predictand. For example, it obviates the need to assess a large number of combinations of pressure levels and temporal windows of predictor variables that were manually selected beforehand. The optimization could also take into account parameter inter-dependencies. In addition, the approach allowed for new degrees of freedom, such as a possible weighting between pressure levels, and non-overlapping spatial windows.

Development of a Global Agricultural Hotspot Detection and Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemoine, G.; Rembold, F.; Urbano, F.; Csak, G.

2015-12-01

The number of web based platforms for crop monitoring has grown rapidly over the last years and anomaly maps and time profiles of remote sensing derived indicators can be accessed online thanks to a number of web based portals. However, while these systems make available a large amount of crop monitoring data to the agriculture and food security analysts, there is no global platform which provides agricultural production hotspot warning in a highly automatic and timely manner. Therefore a web based system providing timely warning evidence as maps and short narratives is currently under development by the Joint Research Centre. The system (called "HotSpot Detection System of Agriculture Production Anomalies", HSDS) will focus on water limited agricultural systems worldwide. The automatic analysis of relevant meteorological and vegetation indicators at selected administrative units (Gaul 1 level) will trigger warning messages for the areas where anomalous conditions are observed. The level of warning (ranging from "watch" to "alert") will depend on the nature and number of indicators for which an anomaly is detected. Information regarding the extent of the agricultural areas concerned by the anomaly and the progress of the agricultural season will complement the warning label. In addition, we are testing supplementary detailed information from other sources for the areas triggering a warning. These regard the automatic web-based and food security-tailored analysis of media (using the JRC Media Monitor semantic search engine) and the automatic detection of active crop area using Sentinel 1, upcoming Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 imagery processed in Google Earth Engine. The basic processing will be fully automated and updated every 10 days exploiting low resolution rainfall estimates and satellite vegetation indices. Maps, trend graphs and statistics accompanied by short narratives edited by a team of crop monitoring experts, will be made available on the website on a monthly basis.

Carrying Position Independent User Heading Estimation for Indoor Pedestrian Navigation with Smartphones

PubMed Central

Deng, Zhi-An; Wang, Guofeng; Hu, Ying; Cui, Yang

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a novel heading estimation approach for indoor pedestrian navigation using the built-in inertial sensors on a smartphone. Unlike previous approaches constraining the carrying position of a smartphone on the user’s body, our approach gives the user a larger freedom by implementing automatic recognition of the device carrying position and subsequent selection of an optimal strategy for heading estimation. We firstly predetermine the motion state by a decision tree using an accelerometer and a barometer. Then, to enable accurate and computational lightweight carrying position recognition, we combine a position classifier with a novel position transition detection algorithm, which may also be used to avoid the confusion between position transition and user turn during pedestrian walking. For a device placed in the trouser pockets or held in a swinging hand, the heading estimation is achieved by deploying a principal component analysis (PCA)-based approach. For a device held in the hand or against the ear during a phone call, user heading is directly estimated by adding the yaw angle of the device to the related heading offset. Experimental results show that our approach can automatically detect carrying positions with high accuracy, and outperforms previous heading estimation approaches in terms of accuracy and applicability. PMID:27187391

76 FR 8699 - Reporting Requirements for Positive Train Control Expenses and Investments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-15

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board 49 CFR Part 1201 [Docket No. EP 706] Reporting Requirements for Positive Train Control Expenses and Investments AGENCY: Surface Transportation... Train Control, a federally mandated safety system that will automatically stop or slow a train before an...

Knowledge-based design of generate-and-patch problem solvers that solve global resource assignment problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voigt, Kerstin

1992-01-01

We present MENDER, a knowledge based system that implements software design techniques that are specialized to automatically compile generate-and-patch problem solvers that satisfy global resource assignments problems. We provide empirical evidence of the superior performance of generate-and-patch over generate-and-test: even with constrained generation, for a global constraint in the domain of '2D-floorplanning'. For a second constraint in '2D-floorplanning' we show that even when it is possible to incorporate the constraint into a constrained generator, a generate-and-patch problem solver may satisfy the constraint more rapidly. We also briefly summarize how an extended version of our system applies to a constraint in the domain of 'multiprocessor scheduling'.

Photoelectric scanning-based method for positioning omnidirectional automatic guided vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Zhe; Yang, Linghui; Zhang, Yunzhi; Guo, Yin; Ren, Yongjie; Lin, Jiarui; Zhu, Jigui

2016-03-01

Automatic guided vehicle (AGV) as a kind of mobile robot has been widely used in many applications. For better adapting to the complex working environment, more and more AGVs are designed to be omnidirectional by being equipped with Mecanum wheels for increasing their flexibility and maneuverability. However, as the AGV with this kind of wheels suffers from the position errors mainly because of the frequent slipping property, how to measure its position accurately in real time is an extremely important issue. Among the ways of achieving it, the photoelectric scanning methodology based on angle measurement is efficient. Hence, we propose a feasible method to ameliorate the positioning process, which mainly integrates four photoelectric receivers and one laser transmitter. To verify the practicality and accuracy, actual experiments and computer simulations have been conducted. In the simulation, the theoretical positioning error is less than 0.28 mm in a 10 m×10 m space. In the actual experiment, the performances about the stability, accuracy, and dynamic capability of this method were inspected. It demonstrates that the system works well and the performance of the position measurement is high enough to fulfill the mainstream tasks.

A robotic multi-channel platform for interstitial photodynamic therapy

PubMed Central

Sharikova, Anna V.; Finlay, Jarod C.; Dimofte, Andreea; Zhu, Timothy C.

2015-01-01

A custom-made robotic multichannel platform for interstitial photodynamic therapy (PDT) and diffuse optical tomography (DOT) was developed and tested in a phantom experiment. The system, which was compatible with the operating room (OR) environment, had 16 channels for independent positioning of light sources and/or isotropic detectors in separate catheters. Each channel’s motor had an optical encoder for position feedback, with resolution of 1.5 mm, and a maximum speed of 5 cm/s. Automatic calibration of detector positions was implemented using an optical diode beam that defined the starting position of each motor, and by means of feedback algorithms controlling individual channels. As a result, the accuracy of zero position of 0.1 mm for all channels was achieved. We have also employed scanning procedures where detectors automatically covered the appropriate range around source positions. Thus, total scan time for a typical optical properties (OP) measurement throughout the phantom was about 1.5 minutes with point sources. The OP were determined based on the measured light fluence rates. These enhancements allow a tremendous improvement of treatment quality for a bulk tumor compared to the systems employed in previous clinical trials. PMID:25914794

Do written mandatory accreditation standards for residential care positively model learning organizations? Textual and critical discourse analysis.

PubMed

Bell, Erica; Robinson, Andrew; See, Catherine

2013-11-01

Unprecedented global population ageing accompanied by increasing complexity of aged care present major challenges of quality in aged care. In the business literature, Senge's theory of adaptive learning organisations offers a model of organisational quality. However, while accreditation of national standards is an increasing mechanism for achieving quality in aged care, there are anecdotal concerns it creates a 'minimum standards compliance mentality' and no evidence about whether it reinforces learning organisations. The research question was 'Do mandatory national accreditation standards for residential aged care, as they are written, positively model learning organisations?'. Automatic text analysis was combined with critical discourse analysis to analyse the presence of learning concepts from Senge's learning organisation theory in an exhaustive sample of national accreditation standards from 7 countries. The two stages of analysis were: (1) quantitative mapping of the presence of learning organisation concepts in standards using Bayesian-based textual analytics software and (2) qualitative critical discourse analysis to further examine how the language of standards so identified may be modelling learning organisation concepts. The learning concepts 'training', 'development', 'knowledge', and 'systems' are present with relative frequencies of 19%, 11%, 10%, and 10% respectively in the 1944 instances, in paragraph-sized text blocks, considered. Concepts such as 'team', 'integration', 'learning', 'change' and 'innovation' occur with 7%, 6%, 5%, 5%, and 1% relative frequencies respectively. Learning concepts tend to co-occur with negative rather than positive sentiment language in the 3176 instances in text blocks containing sentiment language. Critical discourse analysis suggested that standards generally use the language of organisational change and learning in limited ways that appear to model 'learning averse' communities of practice and organisational cultures. The aged care quality challenge and the role of standards need rethinking. All standards implicitly or explicitly model an organisation of some type. If standards can model a limited and negative learning organisation language, they could model a well-developed and positive learning organisation language. In the context of the global aged care crisis, the modelling of learning organisations is probably critical for minimal competence in residential aged care and certainly achievable in the language of standards. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic control of a helicopter with a hanging load. [development and evaluation of automatic pilot for use with S-61 helicopter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, N. K.; Bryson, A. E., Jr.

1973-01-01

An autopilot logic is designed here for controlling a helicopter with a hanging load. A 16th order model for the system is decoupled into four subsystems: (1) a second order system for yawing motion, (2) a second order system for vertical motion, (3) a sixth order system for longitudinal motion, and (4) a sixth order system for lateral motion. A measuring scheme, which could be used in remote areas, is developed and filters are designed to estimate the state variables from these measurements. The autopilot can be used to move the load over short distances without retracting the cables. This is done by automatically shifting the autopilot modes from position-hold (hover) to acceleration-hold to velocity-hold (cruise) to deceleration-hold to velocity-hold (near hover) to position-hold (hover). Use of such an autopilot might save considerable turnaround time. The Sikorsky S-61 helicopter is chosen as an example vehicle. The performance of the controlled system is studied in the presence of longitudinal and lateral winds.

Obesity, food restriction, and implicit attitudes to healthy and unhealthy foods: Lessons learned from the implicit relational assessment procedure.

PubMed

McKenna, Ian; Hughes, Sean; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot; De Schryver, Maarten; Yoder, Ruth; O'Shea, Donal

2016-05-01

It has been argued that obese individuals evaluate high caloric, palatable foods more positively than their normal weight peers, and that this positivity bias causes them to consume such foods, even when healthy alternatives are available. Yet when self-reported and automatic food preferences are assessed no such evaluative biases tend to emerge. We argue that situational (food deprivation) and methodological factors may explain why implicit measures often fail to discriminate between the food-evaluations of these two groups. Across three studies we manipulated the food deprivation state of clinically obese and normal-weight participants and then exposed them to an indirect procedure (IRAP) and self-report questionnaires. We found that automatic food-related cognition was moderated by a person's weight status and food deprivation state. Our findings suggest that the diagnostic and predictive value of implicit measures may be increased when (a) situational moderators are taken into consideration and (b) we pay greater attention to the different ways in which people automatically relate rather than simply categorize food stimuli. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interchangeability of biosimilar and biological reference product: updated regulatory positions and pre- and post-marketing evidence.

PubMed

Trifirò, Gianluca; Marcianò, Ilaria; Ingrasciotta, Ylenia

2018-03-01

Since 2006, biosimilars have been available in several countries worldwide, thus allowing for potential savings in pharmaceutical expenditure. However, there have been numerous debates about the interchangeability of biosimilars and reference products based on concerns of immunogenicity by switching between biological products, which may cause lack of effect and toxicity. Areas covered: The authors provide the reader with an overview of the different positions of regulatory authorities on the interchangeability and automatic substitution of biosimilars and reference products. Presently, the FDA allows automatic substitution without prescriber intervention if the biosimilar is interchangeable with reference products, while the European Medicines Agency delegate to each single EU member state. Expert opinion: Different approaches in defining interchangeability and automatic substitution call for harmonization to increase confidence of healthcare professionals and patients about the clinical impact of switching. Networks of electronic healthcare records and administrative databases, potentially linkable to clinical charts and registries may rapidly assess frequency and benefit-risk profile of different switching patterns in routine care at different levels, thus integrating and strengthening pre-marketing evidence.

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 Docking System Sensor Design, Test, and Mission Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, John L.; Howard, Richard T.; Cole, Helen J.

1998-01-01

The Video Guidance Sensor is a key element of an automatic rendezvous and docking program administered by NASA that was flown on STS-87 in November of 1997. The system used laser illumination of a passive target in the field of view of an on-board camera and processed the video image to determine the relative position and attitude between the target and the sensor. Comparisons of mission results with theoretical models and laboratory measurements will be discussed.

Studies to design and develop improved remote manipulator systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, J. W.; Sword, A. J.

1973-01-01

Remote manipulator control considered is based on several levels of automatic supervision which derives manipulator commands from an analysis of sensor states and task requirements. Principle sensors are manipulator joint position, tactile, and currents. The tactile sensor states can be displayed visually in perspective or replicated in the operator's control handle of perceived by the automatic supervisor. Studies are reported on control organization, operator performance and system performance measures. Unusual hardware and software details are described.

Automatic segmentation and supervised learning-based selection of nuclei in cancer tissue images.

PubMed

Nandy, Kaustav; Gudla, Prabhakar R; Amundsen, Ryan; Meaburn, Karen J; Misteli, Tom; Lockett, Stephen J

2012-09-01

Analysis of preferential localization of certain genes within the cell nuclei is emerging as a new technique for the diagnosis of breast cancer. Quantitation requires accurate segmentation of 100-200 cell nuclei in each tissue section to draw a statistically significant result. Thus, for large-scale analysis, manual processing is too time consuming and subjective. Fortuitously, acquired images generally contain many more nuclei than are needed for analysis. Therefore, we developed an integrated workflow that selects, following automatic segmentation, a subpopulation of accurately delineated nuclei for positioning of fluorescence in situ hybridization-labeled genes of interest. Segmentation was performed by a multistage watershed-based algorithm and screening by an artificial neural network-based pattern recognition engine. The performance of the workflow was quantified in terms of the fraction of automatically selected nuclei that were visually confirmed as well segmented and by the boundary accuracy of the well-segmented nuclei relative to a 2D dynamic programming-based reference segmentation method. Application of the method was demonstrated for discriminating normal and cancerous breast tissue sections based on the differential positioning of the HES5 gene. Automatic results agreed with manual analysis in 11 out of 14 cancers, all four normal cases, and all five noncancerous breast disease cases, thus showing the accuracy and robustness of the proposed approach. Published 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Unification of automatic target tracking and automatic target recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schachter, Bruce J.

2014-06-01

The subject being addressed is how an automatic target tracker (ATT) and an automatic target recognizer (ATR) can be fused together so tightly and so well that their distinctiveness becomes lost in the merger. This has historically not been the case outside of biology and a few academic papers. The biological model of ATT∪ATR arises from dynamic patterns of activity distributed across many neural circuits and structures (including retina). The information that the brain receives from the eyes is "old news" at the time that it receives it. The eyes and brain forecast a tracked object's future position, rather than relying on received retinal position. Anticipation of the next moment - building up a consistent perception - is accomplished under difficult conditions: motion (eyes, head, body, scene background, target) and processing limitations (neural noise, delays, eye jitter, distractions). Not only does the human vision system surmount these problems, but it has innate mechanisms to exploit motion in support of target detection and classification. Biological vision doesn't normally operate on snapshots. Feature extraction, detection and recognition are spatiotemporal. When vision is viewed as a spatiotemporal process, target detection, recognition, tracking, event detection and activity recognition, do not seem as distinct as they are in current ATT and ATR designs. They appear as similar mechanism taking place at varying time scales. A framework is provided for unifying ATT and ATR.

Patient-specific and global convolutional neural networks for robust automatic liver tumor delineation in follow-up CT studies.

PubMed

Vivanti, Refael; Joskowicz, Leo; Lev-Cohain, Naama; Ephrat, Ariel; Sosna, Jacob

2018-03-10

Radiological longitudinal follow-up of tumors in CT scans is essential for disease assessment and liver tumor therapy. Currently, most tumor size measurements follow the RECIST guidelines, which can be off by as much as 50%. True volumetric measurements are more accurate but require manual delineation, which is time-consuming and user-dependent. We present a convolutional neural networks (CNN) based method for robust automatic liver tumor delineation in longitudinal CT studies that uses both global and patient specific CNNs trained on a small database of delineated images. The inputs are the baseline scan and the tumor delineation, a follow-up scan, and a liver tumor global CNN voxel classifier built from radiologist-validated liver tumor delineations. The outputs are the tumor delineations in the follow-up CT scan. The baseline scan tumor delineation serves as a high-quality prior for the tumor characterization in the follow-up scans. It is used to evaluate the global CNN performance on the new case and to reliably predict failures of the global CNN on the follow-up scan. High-scoring cases are segmented with a global CNN; low-scoring cases, which are predicted to be failures of the global CNN, are segmented with a patient-specific CNN built from the baseline scan. Our experimental results on 222 tumors from 31 patients yield an average overlap error of 17% (std = 11.2) and surface distance of 2.1 mm (std = 1.8), far better than stand-alone segmentation. Importantly, the robustness of our method improved from 67% for stand-alone global CNN segmentation to 100%. Unlike other medical imaging deep learning approaches, which require large annotated training datasets, our method exploits the follow-up framework to yield accurate tumor tracking and failure detection and correction with a small training dataset. Graphical abstract Flow diagram of the proposed method. In the offline mode (orange), a global CNN is trained as a voxel classifier to segment liver tumor as in [31]. The online mode (blue) is used for each new case. The input is baseline scan with delineation and the follow-up CT scan to be segmented. The main novelty is the ability to predict failures by trying the system on the baseline scan and the ability to correct them using the patient-specific CNN.

Design studies for a technology assessment receiver for global positioning system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Painter, J. H.

1981-01-01

The operational conditions of a radio receiver - microprocessor for the global positioning system are studied. Navigation fundamentals and orbit characterization are reviewed. The global positioning system is described with emphasis upon signal structure and satellite positioning. Ranging and receiver processing techniques are discussed.

14 CFR 125.139 - Oil system drains.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Oil system drains. 125.139 Section 125.139....139 Oil system drains. Accessible drains incorporating either a manual or automatic means for positive locking in the closed position must be provided to allow safe drainage of the entire oil system. ...

14 CFR 125.139 - Oil system drains.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil system drains. 125.139 Section 125.139....139 Oil system drains. Accessible drains incorporating either a manual or automatic means for positive locking in the closed position must be provided to allow safe drainage of the entire oil system. ...

14 CFR 125.139 - Oil system drains.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Oil system drains. 125.139 Section 125.139....139 Oil system drains. Accessible drains incorporating either a manual or automatic means for positive locking in the closed position must be provided to allow safe drainage of the entire oil system. ...

Self-closing shielded container for use with radioactive materials

DOEpatents

Smith, J.E.

1984-10-16

A container is described for storage of radioactive material comprising a container body and a closure member. The closure member being coupled to the container body to enable the closure body to move automatically from a first position (e.g., closed) to a second position (open). 1 fig.

Evaluation of 14 global GIA forward models using a novel GPS dataset and GRACE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bamber, J. L.; Schumacher, M.; Sha, Z.; Rougier, J.; King, M. A.; Khan, S. A.; Shum, C. K.; Luthcke, S. B.

2017-12-01

Observed mass movement from GRACE and vertical land motion from a global network of permanent GPS stations are used in a data driven approach to estimate GIA signals without introducing any assumptions about Earth structure nor ice loading history. Satellite data and in-situ observations are combined using a multivariate spatiotemporal model within a Bayesian Hierarchical Modelling (BHM) framework. In this study, the GPS data set of the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory (NGL) is used as the starting point for providing an observational estimate of global GIA uplift rates. A novel fully automatic post-processing strategy is developed to correct for non-GIA artifacts, including: (i) outlier detection (e.g. due to icing of Choke Ring Antennas or the antenna being buried in snow); (ii) automatic removal of reported and unreported jumps due to geophysical and hardware issues (a refinement of the jump database provided by NGL); and (iii) filtering for GPS stations that observe primarily the GIA signal rather than unwanted local effects (e.g., unmodelled loading effects from land hydrology, atmosphere, or tides). In order to accurately account for the elastic response of the Earth's crust over Antarctica and Greenland, uplift rates in these regions were corrected for the contemporary ice mass loading impact on elastic deformation using high-resolution ice mass balance time series. The novel global GPS data set shows a clean GIA signal at all post-processed stations and is therefore suitable to investigate the behavior of global GIA forward models. In addition, NASA's GSFC GRACE global mascon solutions are employed. The equal area 1x1 degree gridded mascons are spatially aggregated for larger regions to account for their spatial error correlations. Both the GPS and GRACE datasets are combined with prior information about spatial wavelengths of GIA signals obtained from the ICE-6G model within the BHM framework to solve for GIA. The results are compared with 14 global GIA forward model solutions to identify statistically significant deviations between the forward and inverse solutions, which may be due to either uncertain mantle rheology and/or ice loading history/magnitude.

Fully automatic region of interest selection in glomerular filtration rate estimation from 99mTc-DTPA renogram.

PubMed

Lin, Kun-Ju; Huang, Jia-Yann; Chen, Yung-Sheng

2011-12-01

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a common accepted standard estimation of renal function. Gamma camera-based methods for estimating renal uptake of (99m)Tc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) without blood or urine sampling have been widely used. Of these, the method introduced by Gates has been the most common method. Currently, most of gamma cameras are equipped with a commercial program for GFR determination, a semi-quantitative analysis by manually drawing region of interest (ROI) over each kidney. Then, the GFR value can be computed from the scintigraphic determination of (99m)Tc-DTPA uptake within the kidney automatically. Delineating the kidney area is difficult when applying a fixed threshold value. Moreover, hand-drawn ROIs are tedious, time consuming, and dependent highly on operator skill. Thus, we developed a fully automatic renal ROI estimation system based on the temporal changes in intensity counts, intensity-pair distribution image contrast enhancement method, adaptive thresholding, and morphological operations that can locate the kidney area and obtain the GFR value from a (99m)Tc-DTPA renogram. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, 30 clinical dynamic renograms were introduced. The fully automatic approach failed in one patient with very poor renal function. Four patients had a unilateral kidney, and the others had bilateral kidneys. The automatic contours from the remaining 54 kidneys were compared with the contours of manual drawing. The 54 kidneys were included for area error and boundary error analyses. There was high correlation between two physicians' manual contours and the contours obtained by our approach. For area error analysis, the mean true positive area overlap is 91%, the mean false negative is 13.4%, and the mean false positive is 9.3%. The boundary error is 1.6 pixels. The GFR calculated using this automatic computer-aided approach is reproducible and may be applied to help nuclear medicine physicians in clinical practice.

Monitoring caustic injuries from emergency department databases using automatic keyword recognition software.

PubMed

Vignally, P; Fondi, G; Taggi, F; Pitidis, A

2011-03-31

In Italy the European Union Injury Database reports the involvement of chemical products in 0.9% of home and leisure accidents. The Emergency Department registry on domestic accidents in Italy and the Poison Control Centres record that 90% of cases of exposure to toxic substances occur in the home. It is not rare for the effects of chemical agents to be observed in hospitals, with a high potential risk of damage - the rate of this cause of hospital admission is double the domestic injury average. The aim of this study was to monitor the effects of injuries caused by caustic agents in Italy using automatic free-text recognition in Emergency Department medical databases. We created a Stata software program to automatically identify caustic or corrosive injury cases using an agent-specific list of keywords. We focused attention on the procedure's sensitivity and specificity. Ten hospitals in six regions of Italy participated in the study. The program identified 112 cases of injury by caustic or corrosive agents. Checking the cases by quality controls (based on manual reading of ED reports), we assessed 99 cases as true positive, i.e. 88.4% of the patients were automatically recognized by the software as being affected by caustic substances (99% CI: 80.6%- 96.2%), that is to say 0.59% (99% CI: 0.45%-0.76%) of the whole sample of home injuries, a value almost three times as high as that expected (p < 0.0001) from European codified information. False positives were 11.6% of the recognized cases (99% CI: 5.1%- 21.5%). Our automatic procedure for caustic agent identification proved to have excellent product recognition capacity with an acceptable level of excess sensitivity. Contrary to our a priori hypothesis, the automatic recognition system provided a level of identification of agents possessing caustic effects that was significantly much greater than was predictable on the basis of the values from current codifications reported in the European Database.

Gender Differences of Brain Activity in the Conflicts Based on Implicit Self-Esteem

PubMed Central

Miyamoto, Reiko; Kikuchi, Yoshiaki

2012-01-01

There are gender differences in global and domain-specific self-esteem and the incidence of some psychiatric disorders related to self-esteem, suggesting that there are gender differences in the neural basis underlying one's own self-esteem. We investigated gender differences in the brain activity while subjects (14 males and 12 females) performed an implicit self-esteem task, using fMRI. While ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was significantly activated in females, medial and dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) were activated in males in the incongruent condition (self = negative) compared with the congruent condition (self = positive). Additionally, scores on the explicit self-esteem test were negatively correlated with vmPFC activity in females and positively correlated with dmPFC activity in males. Furthermore, the functional relationships among the regions found by direct gender comparisons were discussed based on the somatic-marker model. These showed that, compared to males, females more firmly store even the incongruent associations as part of their schematic self-knowledge, and such associations automatically activate the neural networks for emotional response and control, in which vmPFC plays a central role. This may explain female cognitive/behavioral traits; females have more tendency to ruminate more often than males, which sometimes results in a prolonged negative affect. PMID:22666409

Lipidomics by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry and its application to complex biological samples

PubMed Central

Triebl, Alexander; Trötzmüller, Martin; Hartler, Jürgen; Stojakovic, Tatjana; Köfeler, Harald C

2018-01-01

An improved approach for selective and sensitive identification and quantitation of lipid molecular species using reversed phase chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry was developed. The method is applicable to a wide variety of biological matrices using a simple liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Together, this approach combines three selectivity criteria: Reversed phase chromatography separates lipids according to their acyl chain length and degree of unsaturation and is capable of resolving positional isomers of lysophospholipids, as well as structural isomers of diacyl phospholipids and glycerolipids. Orbitrap mass spectrometry delivers the elemental composition of both positive and negative ions with high mass accuracy. Finally, automatically generated tandem mass spectra provide structural insight into numerous glycerolipids, phospholipids, and sphingolipids within a single run. Method validation resulted in a linearity range of more than four orders of magnitude, good values for accuracy and precision at biologically relevant concentration levels, and limits of quantitation of a few femtomoles on column. Hundreds of lipid molecular species were detected and quantified in three different biological matrices, which cover well the wide variety and complexity of various model organisms in lipidomic research. Together with a reliable software package, this method is a prime choice for global lipidomic analysis of even the most complex biological samples. PMID:28415015

Lipidomics by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry and its application to complex biological samples.

PubMed

Triebl, Alexander; Trötzmüller, Martin; Hartler, Jürgen; Stojakovic, Tatjana; Köfeler, Harald C

2017-05-15

An improved approach for selective and sensitive identification and quantitation of lipid molecular species using reversed phase chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry was developed. The method is applicable to a wide variety of biological matrices using a simple liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Together, this approach combines multiple selectivity criteria: Reversed phase chromatography separates lipids according to their acyl chain length and degree of unsaturation and is capable of resolving positional isomers of lysophospholipids, as well as structural isomers of diacyl phospholipids and glycerolipids. Orbitrap mass spectrometry delivers the elemental composition of both positive and negative ions with high mass accuracy. Finally, automatically generated tandem mass spectra provide structural insight into numerous glycerolipids, phospholipids, and sphingolipids within a single run. Calibration showed linearity ranges of more than four orders of magnitude, good values for accuracy and precision at biologically relevant concentration levels, and limits of quantitation of a few femtomoles on column. Hundreds of lipid molecular species were detected and quantified in three different biological matrices, which cover well the wide variety and complexity of various model organisms in lipidomic research. Together with a software package, this method is a prime choice for global lipidomic analysis of even the most complex biological samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do people with borderline personality disorder complicated by antisocial personality disorder benefit from the STEPPS treatment program?

PubMed

Black, Donald W; Simsek-Duran, Fatma; Blum, Nancee; McCormick, Brett; Allen, Jeff

2016-08-01

Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) is a group treatment for persons with borderline personality disorder (BPD). We describe results from two data sets on outcome in persons who participated in STEPPS with BPD alone or BPD plus antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). In Study 1, we examined the effect of comorbid ASPD on outcome in 65 persons with BPD who participated in a randomized controlled trial at an academic medical centre. In Study 2, we examined the effect of comorbid ASPD on outcome in 64 offenders with BPD who participated in STEPPS in correctional settings. All subjects were assessed for the presence of BPD and ASPD. In Study 1, subjects with ASPD experienced greater improvement in BPD symptoms, impulsiveness and global symptoms. In Study 2, offenders with ASPD experienced greater improvement in positive and negative behaviours and positive affectivity. We conclude that persons with BPD plus ASPD benefit from STEPPS in community and correctional settings. The findings suggest that persons with BPD plus ASPD show greater improvement in some domains than persons with BPD only. People with ASPD should not be automatically excluded from participation in the program. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

THEMIS Global Mosaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorelick, N. S.; Christensen, P. R.

2005-12-01

We have developed techniques to make seamless, controlled global mosaics from the more than 50,000 multi-spectral infrared images of the Mars returned by the THEMIS instrument aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. These images cover more than 95% of the surface at 100m/pixel resolution at both day and night local times. Uncertainties in the position and pointing of the spacecraft, varying local time, and imaging artifacts make creating well-registered mosaics from these datasets a challenging task. In preparation for making global mosaics, many full-resolution regional mosaics have been made. These mosaics typically cover an area 10x10 degrees or smaller, and are constructed from only a few hundred images. To make regional mosaics, individual images are geo-rectified using the USGS ISIS software. This dead-reckoning is sufficient to approximate position to within 400m in cases where the SPICE information was downlinked. Further coregistration of images is handled in two ways: grayscale differences minimization in overlapping regions through integer pixel shifting, or through automatic tie-point generation using a radial symmetry transformation (RST). The RST identifies points within an image that exhibit 4-way symmetry. Martian craters tend to to be very radially symmetric, and the RST can pin-point a crater center to sub-pixel accuracy in both daytime and nighttime images, independent of lighting, time of day, or seasonal effects. Additionally, the RST works well on visible-light images, and in a 1D application, on MOLA tracks, to provide precision tie-points across multiple data sets. The RST often finds many points of symmetry that aren't related to surface features. These "false-hits" are managed using a clustering algorithm that identifies constellations of points that occur in multiple images, independent of scaling or other affine transformations. This technique is able to make use of data in which the "good" tie-points comprise even less than 1% of total candidate tie-points. Once tie-points have been identified, the individual images are warped into their final shape and position, and then mosaiced and blended. To make seamless mosaics, each image can be level adjusted to normalize its values using histogram-fitting, but in most cases a linear contrast stretch to a fixed standard deviation is sufficient, although it destroys the absolute radiometry of the mosaic. For very large mosaics, using a high-pass/low-pass separation, and blending the two pieces separately before recombining them has also provided positive results.

Algorithms for the automatic generation of 2-D structured multi-block grids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoenfeld, Thilo; Weinerfelt, Per; Jenssen, Carl B.

1995-01-01

Two different approaches to the fully automatic generation of structured multi-block grids in two dimensions are presented. The work aims to simplify the user interactivity necessary for the definition of a multiple block grid topology. The first approach is based on an advancing front method commonly used for the generation of unstructured grids. The original algorithm has been modified toward the generation of large quadrilateral elements. The second method is based on the divide-and-conquer paradigm with the global domain recursively partitioned into sub-domains. For either method each of the resulting blocks is then meshed using transfinite interpolation and elliptic smoothing. The applicability of these methods to practical problems is demonstrated for typical geometries of fluid dynamics.

Automatic temporal segment detection via bilateral long short-term memory recurrent neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Bo; Cao, Siming; He, Jun; Yu, Lejun; Li, Liandong

2017-03-01

Constrained by the physiology, the temporal factors associated with human behavior, irrespective of facial movement or body gesture, are described by four phases: neutral, onset, apex, and offset. Although they may benefit related recognition tasks, it is not easy to accurately detect such temporal segments. An automatic temporal segment detection framework using bilateral long short-term memory recurrent neural networks (BLSTM-RNN) to learn high-level temporal-spatial features, which synthesizes the local and global temporal-spatial information more efficiently, is presented. The framework is evaluated in detail over the face and body database (FABO). The comparison shows that the proposed framework outperforms state-of-the-art methods for solving the problem of temporal segment detection.

The Extraction of Terrace in the Loess Plateau Based on radial method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, W.; Li, F.

2016-12-01

The terrace of Loess Plateau, as a typical kind of artificial landform and an important measure of soil and water conservation, its positioning and automatic extraction will simplify the work of land use investigation. The existing methods of terrace extraction mainly include visual interpretation and automatic extraction. The manual method is used in land use investigation, but it is time-consuming and laborious. Researchers put forward some automatic extraction methods. For example, Fourier transform method can recognize terrace and find accurate position from frequency domain image, but it is more affected by the linear objects in the same direction of terrace; Texture analysis method is simple and have a wide range application of image processing. The disadvantage of texture analysis method is unable to recognize terraces' edge; Object-oriented is a new method of image classification, but when introduce it to terrace extracting, fracture polygons will be the most serious problem and it is difficult to explain its geological meaning. In order to positioning the terraces, we use high- resolution remote sensing image to extract and analyze the gray value of the pixels which the radial went through. During the recognition process, we firstly use the DEM data analysis or by manual selecting, to roughly confirm the position of peak points; secondly, take each of the peak points as the center to make radials in all directions; finally, extracting the gray values of the pixels which the radials went through, and analyzing its changing characteristics to confirm whether the terrace exists. For the purpose of getting accurate position of terrace, terraces' discontinuity, extension direction, ridge width, image processing algorithm, remote sensing image illumination and other influence factors were fully considered when designing the algorithms.

Surface imaging, laser positioning or volumetric imaging for breast cancer with nodal involvement treated by helical TomoTherapy.

PubMed

Crop, Frederik; Pasquier, David; Baczkiewic, Amandine; Doré, Julie; Bequet, Lena; Steux, Emeline; Gadroy, Anne; Bouillon, Jacqueline; Florence, Clement; Muszynski, Laurence; Lacour, Mathilde; Lartigau, Eric

2016-09-08

A surface imaging system, Catalyst (C-Rad), was compared with laser-based positioning and daily mega voltage computed tomography (MVCT) setup for breast patients with nodal involvement treated by helical TomoTherapy. Catalyst-based positioning performed better than laser-based positioning. The respective modalities resulted in a standard deviation (SD), 68% confidence interval (CI) of positioning of left-right, craniocaudal, anterior-posterior, roll: 2.4 mm, 2.7 mm, 2.4 mm, 0.9° for Catalyst positioning, and 6.1 mm, 3.8 mm, 4.9 mm, 1.1° for laser-based positioning, respectively. MVCT-based precision is a combination of the interoperator variability for MVCT fusion and the patient movement during the time it takes for MVCT and fusion. The MVCT fusion interoperator variability for breast patients was evaluated at one SD left-right, craniocaudal, ant-post, roll as: 1.4 mm, 1.8 mm, 1.3 mm, 1.0°. There was no statistically significant difference between the automatic MVCT registration result and the manual adjustment; the automatic fusion results were within the 95% CI of the mean result of 10 users, except for one specific case where the patient was positioned with large yaw. We found that users add variability to the roll correction as the automatic registration was more consistent. The patient position uncertainty confidence interval was evaluated as 1.9 mm, 2.2 mm, 1.6 mm, 0.9° after 4 min, and 2.3 mm, 2.8 mm, 2.2 mm, 1° after 10 min. The combination of this patient movement with MVCT fusion interoperator variability results in total standard deviations of patient posi-tion when treatment starts 4 or 10 min after initial positioning of, respectively: 2.3 mm, 2.8 mm, 2.0 mm, 1.3° and 2.7 mm, 3.3 mm, 2.6 mm, 1.4°. Surface based positioning arrives at the same precision when taking into account the time required for MVCT imaging and fusion. These results can be used on a patient-per-patient basis to decide which positioning system performs the best after the first 5 fractions and when daily MVCT can be omitted. Ideally, real-time monitoring is required to reduce important intrafraction movement. © 2016 The Authors.

Automatic detection of left and right ventricles from CTA enables efficient alignment of anatomy with myocardial perfusion data.

PubMed

Piccinelli, Marina; Faber, Tracy L; Arepalli, Chesnal D; Appia, Vikram; Vinten-Johansen, Jakob; Schmarkey, Susan L; Folks, Russell D; Garcia, Ernest V; Yezzi, Anthony

2014-02-01

Accurate alignment between cardiac CT angiographic studies (CTA) and nuclear perfusion images is crucial for improved diagnosis of coronary artery disease. This study evaluated in an animal model the accuracy of a CTA fully automated biventricular segmentation algorithm, a necessary step for automatic and thus efficient PET/CT alignment. Twelve pigs with acute infarcts were imaged using Rb-82 PET and 64-slice CTA. Post-mortem myocardium mass measurements were obtained. Endocardial and epicardial myocardial boundaries were manually and automatically detected on the CTA and both segmentations used to perform PET/CT alignment. To assess the segmentation performance, image-based myocardial masses were compared to experimental data; the hand-traced profiles were used as a reference standard to assess the global and slice-by-slice robustness of the automated algorithm in extracting myocardium, LV, and RV. Mean distances between the automated and the manual 3D segmented surfaces were computed. Finally, differences in rotations and translations between the manual and automatic surfaces were estimated post-PET/CT alignment. The largest, smallest, and median distances between interactive and automatic surfaces averaged 1.2 ± 2.1, 0.2 ± 1.6, and 0.7 ± 1.9 mm. The average angular and translational differences in CT/PET alignments were 0.4°, -0.6°, and -2.3° about x, y, and z axes, and 1.8, -2.1, and 2.0 mm in x, y, and z directions. Our automatic myocardial boundary detection algorithm creates surfaces from CTA that are similar in accuracy and provide similar alignments with PET as those obtained from interactive tracing. Specific difficulties in a reliable segmentation of the apex and base regions will require further improvements in the automated technique.

Designing and Implementing a Retrospective Earthquake Detection Framework at the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patton, J.; Yeck, W.; Benz, H.

2017-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center (USGS NEIC) is implementing and integrating new signal detection methods such as subspace correlation, continuous beamforming, multi-band picking and automatic phase identification into near-real-time monitoring operations. Leveraging the additional information from these techniques help the NEIC utilize a large and varied network on local to global scales. The NEIC is developing an ordered, rapid, robust, and decentralized framework for distributing seismic detection data as well as a set of formalized formatting standards. These frameworks and standards enable the NEIC to implement a seismic event detection framework that supports basic tasks, including automatic arrival time picking, social media based event detections, and automatic association of different seismic detection data into seismic earthquake events. In addition, this framework enables retrospective detection processing such as automated S-wave arrival time picking given a detected event, discrimination and classification of detected events by type, back-azimuth and slowness calculations, and ensuring aftershock and induced sequence detection completeness. These processes and infrastructure improve the NEIC's capabilities, accuracy, and speed of response. In addition, this same infrastructure provides an improved and convenient structure to support access to automatic detection data for both research and algorithmic development.

Automatic paper sliceform design from 3D solid models.

PubMed

Le-Nguyen, Tuong-Vu; Low, Kok-Lim; Ruiz, Conrado; Le, Sang N

2013-11-01

A paper sliceform or lattice-style pop-up is a form of papercraft that uses two sets of parallel paper patches slotted together to make a foldable structure. The structure can be folded flat, as well as fully opened (popped-up) to make the two sets of patches orthogonal to each other. Automatic design of paper sliceforms is still not supported by existing computational models and remains a challenge. We propose novel geometric formulations of valid paper sliceform designs that consider the stability, flat-foldability and physical realizability of the designs. Based on a set of sufficient construction conditions, we also present an automatic algorithm for generating valid sliceform designs that closely depict the given 3D solid models. By approximating the input models using a set of generalized cylinders, our method significantly reduces the search space for stable and flat-foldable sliceforms. To ensure the physical realizability of the designs, the algorithm automatically generates slots or slits on the patches such that no two cycles embedded in two different patches are interlocking each other. This guarantees local pairwise assembility between patches, which is empirically shown to lead to global assembility. Our method has been demonstrated on a number of example models, and the output designs have been successfully made into real paper sliceforms.

Automatic detection of DNA double strand breaks after irradiation using an γH2AX assay.

PubMed

Hohmann, Tim; Kessler, Jacqueline; Grabiec, Urszula; Bache, Matthias; Vordermark, Dyrk; Dehghani, Faramarz

2018-05-01

Radiation therapy belongs to the most common approaches for cancer therapy leading amongst others to DNA damage like double strand breaks (DSB). DSB can be used as a marker for the effect of radiation on cells. For visualization and assessing the extent of DNA damage the γH2AX foci assay is frequently used. The analysis of the γH2AX foci assay remains complicated as the number of γH2AX foci has to be counted. The quantification is mostly done manually, being time consuming and leading to person-dependent variations. Therefore, we present a method to automatically analyze the number of foci inside nuclei, facilitating and quickening the analysis of DSBs with high reliability in fluorescent images. First nuclei were detected in fluorescent images. Afterwards, the nuclei were analyzed independently from each other with a local thresholding algorithm. This approach allowed accounting for different levels of noise and detection of the foci inside the respective nucleus, using Hough transformation searching for circles. The presented algorithm was able to correctly classify most foci in cases of "high" and "average" image quality (sensitivity>0.8) with a low rate of false positive detections (positive predictive value (PPV)>0.98). In cases of "low" image quality the approach had a decreased sensitivity (0.7-0.9), depending on the manual control counter. The PPV remained high (PPV>0.91). Compared to other automatic approaches the presented algorithm had a higher sensitivity and PPV. The used automatic foci detection algorithm was capable of detecting foci with high sensitivity and PPV. Thus it can be used for automatic analysis of images of varying quality.

A Low Cost Automatic Detection and Ranging System for Space Surveillance in the Medium Earth Orbit Region and Beyond

PubMed Central

Danescu, Radu; Ciurte, Anca; Turcu, Vlad

2014-01-01

The space around the Earth is filled with man-made objects, which orbit the planet at altitudes ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of kilometers. Keeping an eye on all objects in Earth's orbit, useful and not useful, operational or not, is known as Space Surveillance. Due to cost considerations, the space surveillance solutions beyond the Low Earth Orbit region are mainly based on optical instruments. This paper presents a solution for real-time automatic detection and ranging of space objects of altitudes ranging from below the Medium Earth Orbit up to 40,000 km, based on two low cost observation systems built using commercial cameras and marginally professional telescopes, placed 37 km apart, operating as a large baseline stereovision system. The telescopes are pointed towards any visible region of the sky, and the system is able to automatically calibrate the orientation parameters using automatic matching of reference stars from an online catalog, with a very high tolerance for the initial guess of the sky region and camera orientation. The difference between the left and right image of a synchronized stereo pair is used for automatic detection of the satellite pixels, using an original difference computation algorithm that is capable of high sensitivity and a low false positive rate. The use of stereovision provides a strong means of removing false positives, and avoids the need for prior knowledge of the orbits observed, the system being able to detect at the same time all types of objects that fall within the measurement range and are visible on the image. PMID:24521941

In-flight automatic detection of vigilance states using a single EEG channel.

PubMed

Sauvet, F; Bougard, C; Coroenne, M; Lely, L; Van Beers, P; Elbaz, M; Guillard, M; Leger, D; Chennaoui, M

2014-12-01

Sleepiness and fatigue can reach particularly high levels during long-haul overnight flights. Under these conditions, voluntary or even involuntary sleep periods may occur, increasing the risk of accidents. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of an in-flight automatic detection system of low-vigilance states using a single electroencephalogram channel. Fourteen healthy pilots voluntarily wore a miniaturized brain electrical activity recording device during long-haul flights ( 10 ±2.0 h, Atlantic 2 and Falcon 50 M, French naval aviation). No subject was disturbed by the equipment. Seven pilots experienced at least a period of voluntary ( 26.8 ±8.0 min, n = 4) or involuntary sleep (N1 sleep stage, 26.6 ±18.7 s, n = 7) during the flight. Automatic classification (wake/sleep) by the algorithm was made for 10-s epochs (O1-M2 or C3-M2 channel), based on comparison of means to detect changes in α, β, and θ relative power, or ratio [( α+θ)/β], or fuzzy logic fusion (α, β). Pertinence and prognostic of the algorithm were determined using epoch-by-epoch comparison with visual-scoring (two blinded readers, AASM rules). The best concordance between automatic detection and visual-scoring was observed within the O1-M2 channel, using the ratio [( α+θ )/β] ( 98.3 ±4.1% of good detection, K = 0.94 ±0.07, with a 0.04 ±0.04 false positive rate and a 0.87 ±0.10 true positive rate). Our results confirm the efficiency of a miniaturized single electroencephalographic channel recording device, associated with an automatic detection algorithm, in order to detect low-vigilance states during real flights.

The global transmission network of HIV-1.

PubMed

Wertheim, Joel O; Leigh Brown, Andrew J; Hepler, N Lance; Mehta, Sanjay R; Richman, Douglas D; Smith, Davey M; Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L

2014-01-15

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is pandemic, but its contemporary global transmission network has not been characterized. A better understanding of the properties and dynamics of this network is essential for surveillance, prevention, and eventual eradication of HIV. Here, we apply a simple and computationally efficient network-based approach to all publicly available HIV polymerase sequences in the global database, revealing a contemporary picture of the spread of HIV-1 within and between countries. This approach automatically recovered well-characterized transmission clusters and extended other clusters thought to be contained within a single country across international borders. In addition, previously undescribed transmission clusters were discovered. Together, these clusters represent all known modes of HIV transmission. The extent of international linkage revealed by our comprehensive approach demonstrates the need to consider the global diversity of HIV, even when describing local epidemics. Finally, the speed of this method allows for near-real-time surveillance of the pandemic's progression.

[Non-rigid medical image registration based on mutual information and thin-plate spline].

PubMed

Cao, Guo-gang; Luo, Li-min

2009-01-01

To get precise and complete details, the contrast in different images is needed in medical diagnosis and computer assisted treatment. The image registration is the basis of contrast, but the regular rigid registration does not satisfy the clinic requirements. A non-rigid medical image registration method based on mutual information and thin-plate spline was present. Firstly, registering two images globally based on mutual information; secondly, dividing reference image and global-registered image into blocks and registering them; then getting the thin-plate spline transformation according to the shift of blocks' center; finally, applying the transformation to the global-registered image. The results show that the method is more precise than the global rigid registration based on mutual information and it reduces the complexity of getting control points and satisfy the clinic requirements better by getting control points of the thin-plate transformation automatically.

49 CFR 229.77 - Current collectors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS Safety Requirements Electrical System § 229... engineer's normal position in the cab. Pantographs that automatically rise when released shall have an...

49 CFR 229.77 - Current collectors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS Safety Requirements Electrical System § 229... engineer's normal position in the cab. Pantographs that automatically rise when released shall have an...

49 CFR 229.77 - Current collectors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS Safety Requirements Electrical System § 229... engineer's normal position in the cab. Pantographs that automatically rise when released shall have an...

49 CFR 229.77 - Current collectors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS Safety Requirements Electrical System § 229... engineer's normal position in the cab. Pantographs that automatically rise when released shall have an...

49 CFR 229.77 - Current collectors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS Safety Requirements Electrical System § 229... engineer's normal position in the cab. Pantographs that automatically rise when released shall have an...

A new artefacts resistant method for automatic lineament extraction using Multi-Hillshade Hierarchic Clustering (MHHC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šilhavý, Jakub; Minár, Jozef; Mentlík, Pavel; Sládek, Ján

2016-07-01

This paper presents a new method of automatic lineament extraction which includes the removal of the 'artefacts effect' which is associated with the process of raster based analysis. The core of the proposed Multi-Hillshade Hierarchic Clustering (MHHC) method incorporates a set of variously illuminated and rotated hillshades in combination with hierarchic clustering of derived 'protolineaments'. The algorithm also includes classification into positive and negative lineaments. MHHC was tested in two different territories in Bohemian Forest and Central Western Carpathians. The original vector-based algorithm was developed for comparison of the individual lineaments proximity. Its use confirms the compatibility of manual and automatic extraction and their similar relationships to structural data in the study areas.

Automatic calibration method for plenoptic camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luan, Yinsen; He, Xing; Xu, Bing; Yang, Ping; Tang, Guomao

2016-04-01

An automatic calibration method is proposed for a microlens-based plenoptic camera. First, all microlens images on the white image are searched and recognized automatically based on digital morphology. Then, the center points of microlens images are rearranged according to their relative position relationships. Consequently, the microlens images are located, i.e., the plenoptic camera is calibrated without the prior knowledge of camera parameters. Furthermore, this method is appropriate for all types of microlens-based plenoptic cameras, even the multifocus plenoptic camera, the plenoptic camera with arbitrarily arranged microlenses, or the plenoptic camera with different sizes of microlenses. Finally, we verify our method by the raw data of Lytro. The experiments show that our method has higher intelligence than the methods published before.

Automatic identification of bullet signatures based on consecutive matching striae (CMS) criteria.

PubMed

Chu, Wei; Thompson, Robert M; Song, John; Vorburger, Theodore V

2013-09-10

The consecutive matching striae (CMS) numeric criteria for firearm and toolmark identifications have been widely accepted by forensic examiners, although there have been questions concerning its observer subjectivity and limited statistical support. In this paper, based on signal processing and extraction, a model for the automatic and objective counting of CMS is proposed. The position and shape information of the striae on the bullet land is represented by a feature profile, which is used for determining the CMS number automatically. Rapid counting of CMS number provides a basis for ballistics correlations with large databases and further statistical and probability analysis. Experimental results in this report using bullets fired from ten consecutively manufactured barrels support this developed model. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

[Extraction and recognition of attractors in three-dimensional Lorenz plot].

PubMed

Hu, Min; Jang, Chengfan; Wang, Suxia

2018-02-01

Lorenz plot (LP) method which gives a global view of long-time electrocardiogram signals, is an efficient simple visualization tool to analyze cardiac arrhythmias, and the morphologies and positions of the extracted attractors may reveal the underlying mechanisms of the onset and termination of arrhythmias. But automatic diagnosis is still impossible because it is lack of the method of extracting attractors by now. We presented here a methodology of attractor extraction and recognition based upon homogeneously statistical properties of the location parameters of scatter points in three dimensional LP (3DLP), which was constructed by three successive RR intervals as X , Y and Z axis in Cartesian coordinate system. Validation experiments were tested in a group of RR-interval time series and tags data with frequent unifocal premature complexes exported from a 24-hour Holter system. The results showed that this method had excellent effective not only on extraction of attractors, but also on automatic recognition of attractors by the location parameters such as the azimuth of the points peak frequency ( A PF ) of eccentric attractors once stereographic projection of 3DLP along the space diagonal. Besides, A PF was still a powerful index of differential diagnosis of atrial and ventricular extrasystole. Additional experiments proved that this method was also available on several other arrhythmias. Moreover, there were extremely relevant relationships between 3DLP and two dimensional LPs which indicate any conventional achievement of LPs could be implanted into 3DLP. It would have a broad application prospect to integrate this method into conventional long-time electrocardiogram monitoring and analysis system.

Automatic focusing system of BSST in Antarctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Peng-Yi; Liu, Jia-Jing; Zhang, Guang-yu; Wang, Jian

2015-10-01

Automatic focusing (AF) technology plays an important role in modern astronomical telescopes. Based on the focusing requirement of BSST (Bright Star Survey Telescope) in Antarctic, an AF system is set up. In this design, functions in OpenCV is used to find stars, the algorithm of area, HFD or FWHM are used to degree the focus metric by choosing. Curve fitting method is used to find focus position as the method of camera moving. All these design are suitable for unattended small telescope.

Beam/seam alignment control for electron beam welding

DOEpatents

Burkhardt, Jr., James H.; Henry, J. James; Davenport, Clyde M.

1980-01-01

This invention relates to a dynamic beam/seam alignment control system for electron beam welds utilizing video apparatus. The system includes automatic control of workpiece illumination, near infrared illumination of the workpiece to limit the range of illumination and camera sensitivity adjustment, curve fitting of seam position data to obtain an accurate measure of beam/seam alignment, and automatic beam detection and calculation of the threshold beam level from the peak beam level of the preceding video line to locate the beam or seam edges.

Automatic detection of apical roots in oral radiographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yi; Xie, Fangfang; Yang, Jie; Cheng, Erkang; Megalooikonomou, Vasileios; Ling, Haibin

2012-03-01

The apical root regions play an important role in analysis and diagnosis of many oral diseases. Automatic detection of such regions is consequently the first step toward computer-aided diagnosis of these diseases. In this paper we propose an automatic method for periapical root region detection by using the state-of-theart machine learning approaches. Specifically, we have adapted the AdaBoost classifier for apical root detection. One challenge in the task is the lack of training cases especially for diseased ones. To handle this problem, we boost the training set by including more root regions that are close to the annotated ones and decompose the original images to randomly generate negative samples. Based on these training samples, the Adaboost algorithm in combination with Haar wavelets is utilized in this task to train an apical root detector. The learned detector usually generates a large amount of true and false positives. In order to reduce the number of false positives, a confidence score for each candidate detection result is calculated for further purification. We first merge the detected regions by combining tightly overlapped detected candidate regions and then we use the confidence scores from the Adaboost detector to eliminate the false positives. The proposed method is evaluated on a dataset containing 39 annotated digitized oral X-Ray images from 21 patients. The experimental results show that our approach can achieve promising detection accuracy.

Robotic autopositioning of the operating microscope.

PubMed

Oppenlander, Mark E; Chowdhry, Shakeel A; Merkl, Brandon; Hattendorf, Guido M; Nakaji, Peter; Spetzler, Robert F

2014-06-01

Use of the operating microscope has become pervasive since its introduction to the neurosurgical world. Neuronavigation fused with the operating microscope has allowed accurate correlation of the focal point of the microscope and its location on the downloaded imaging study. However, the robotic ability of the Pentero microscope has not been utilized to orient the angle of the microscope or to change its focal length to hone in on a predefined target. To report a novel technology that allows automatic positioning of the operating microscope onto a set target and utilization of a planned trajectory, either determined with the StealthStation S7 by using preoperative imaging or intraoperatively with the microscope. By utilizing the current motorized capabilities of the Zeiss OPMI Pentero microscope, a robotic autopositioning feature was developed in collaboration with Surgical Technologies, Medtronic, Inc. (StealthStation S7). The system is currently being tested at the Barrow Neurological Institute. Three options were developed for automatically positioning the microscope: AutoLock Current Point, Align Parallel to Plan, and Point to Plan Target. These options allow the microscope to pivot around the lesion, hover in a set plane parallel to the determined trajectory, or rotate and point to a set target point, respectively. Integration of automatic microscope positioning into the operative workflow has potential to increase operative efficacy and safety. This technology is best suited for precise trajectories and entry points into deep-seated lesions.

Visual and semi-automatic non-invasive detection of interictal fast ripples: A potential biomarker of epilepsy in children with tuberous sclerosis complex.

PubMed

Bernardo, Danilo; Nariai, Hiroki; Hussain, Shaun A; Sankar, Raman; Salamon, Noriko; Krueger, Darcy A; Sahin, Mustafa; Northrup, Hope; Bebin, E Martina; Wu, Joyce Y

2018-04-03

We aim to establish that interictal fast ripples (FR; 250-500 Hz) are detectable on scalp EEG, and to investigate their association to epilepsy. Scalp EEG recordings of a subset of children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)-associated epilepsy from two large multicenter observational TSC studies were analyzed and compared to control children without epilepsy or any other brain-based diagnoses. FR were identified both by human visual review and compared with semi-automated review utilizing a deep learning-based FR detector. Seven out of 7 children with TSC-associated epilepsy had scalp FR compared to 0 out of 4 children in the control group (p = 0.003). The automatic detector has a sensitivity of 98% and false positive rate with average of 11.2 false positives per minute. Non-invasive detection of interictal scalp FR was feasible, by both visual and semi-automatic detection. Interictal scalp FR occurred exclusively in children with TSC-associated epilepsy and were absent in controls without epilepsy. The proposed detector achieves high sensitivity of FR detection; however, expert review of the results to reduce false positives is advised. Interictal FR are detectable on scalp EEG and may potentially serve as a biomarker of epilepsy in children with TSC. Copyright © 2018 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Positioning at Sea Using the Global Positioning System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

the Global Positioning System (GPS) acquired in Phase II of the Seafloor Benchmark Experiment on R/V Point Sur in August 1986. CPS position...data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) acquired in Phase 11 of the Seafloor Benchmark Experiment on R,:V Point Sur in August 1986. GPS position...The Seafloor Benchmark Experiment, a project of the Hydrographic Sciences Group of the Oceanography Department at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS

Spatial Distortion in MRI-Guided Stereotactic Procedures: Evaluation in 1.5-, 3- and 7-Tesla MRI Scanners.

PubMed

Neumann, Jan-Oliver; Giese, Henrik; Biller, Armin; Nagel, Armin M; Kiening, Karl

2015-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is replacing computed tomography (CT) as the main imaging modality for stereotactic transformations. MRI is prone to spatial distortion artifacts, which can lead to inaccuracy in stereotactic procedures. Modern MRI systems provide distortion correction algorithms that may ameliorate this problem. This study investigates the different options of distortion correction using standard 1.5-, 3- and 7-tesla MRI scanners. A phantom was mounted on a stereotactic frame. One CT scan and three MRI scans were performed. At all three field strengths, two 3-dimensional sequences, volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) and magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition with gradient echo, were acquired, and automatic distortion correction was performed. Global stereotactic transformation of all 13 datasets was performed and two stereotactic planning workflows (MRI only vs. CT/MR image fusion) were subsequently analysed. Distortion correction on the 1.5- and 3-tesla scanners caused a considerable reduction in positional error. The effect was more pronounced when using the VIBE sequences. By using co-registration (CT/MR image fusion), even a lower positional error could be obtained. In ultra-high-field (7 T) MR imaging, distortion correction introduced even higher errors. However, the accuracy of non-corrected 7-tesla sequences was comparable to CT/MR image fusion 3-tesla imaging. MRI distortion correction algorithms can reduce positional errors by up to 60%. For stereotactic applications of utmost precision, we recommend a co-registration to an additional CT dataset. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

[Global MED-NET].

PubMed

Slatina, E

2000-01-01

This poster will show a concept as well as some practical solutions for the database which is intended to be used by all members and institutions of the Emergency Medical Care international institutions network. This poster shows how data is automatically processed in a rapid and good quality way, while in the same time the lives are saved and time and money are saved too.

Time optimal control of a jet engine using a quasi-Hermite interpolation model. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comiskey, J. G.

1979-01-01

This work made preliminary efforts to generate nonlinear numerical models of a two-spooled turbofan jet engine, and subject these models to a known method of generating global, nonlinear, time optimal control laws. The models were derived numerically, directly from empirical data, as a first step in developing an automatic modelling procedure.

Review of the Applications of Formosat-2 on Rapidly Responding to Global Disasters and Monitoring Earth Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C.

2009-12-01

Formosat-2 is the first satellite with high-spatial-resolution sensor deployed in a daily-revisit orbit in the world. Together with its agility of pointing ±45 degree both across and along track, we are able to observe each accessible scene from the same angle under the similar illumination conditions. These characteristics make Formosat-2 an ideal satellite for site surveillance. We developed a Formosat-2 automatic image processing system (F-2 AIPS) that can accurately and rapidly process a large amount of Formosat-2 images to produce the higher levels of products, including rigorous band-to-band coregistration, automatic orthorectification, multi-temporal image coregistration and radiance normalization, and pan-sharpening. This system has been successfully employed to rapidly respond to many international disaster events in the past five years, including flood caused by Typhoon Mindulle (2004), landslide caused by Typhoon Aere (2004), South Asia earthquake and tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), California wildfire (2007), Sichuan Earthquake (2008), Typhoon Kalmaegi (2008), Typhoon Sinlaku (2008), Mountain Ali wildfire (2009), Victoria bushfire in Australia (2009), Honduras earthquake (2009), Typhoon Morakot (2009). This paper reviews the applications of Formosat-2 on rapidly responding to global disasters and monitoring earth environment.

Progresses with Net-VISA on Global Infrasound Association

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mialle, Pierrick; Arora, Nimar

2017-04-01

Global Infrasound Association algorithms are an important area of active development at the International Data Centre (IDC). These algorithms play an important part of the automatic processing system for verification technologies. A key focus at the IDC is to enhance association and signal characterization methods by incorporating the identification of signals of interest and the optimization of the network detection threshold. The overall objective is to reduce the number of associated infrasound arrivals that are rejected from the automatic bulletins when generating the Reviewed Event Bulletins (REB), and hence reduce IDC analyst workload. Despite good accuracy by the IDC categorization, a number of signal detections due to clutter sources such as microbaroms or surf are built into events. In this work we aim to optimize the association criteria based on knowledge acquired by IDC in the last 6 years, and focus on the specificity of seismo-acoustic events. The resulting work has been incorporated into NETVISA [1], a Bayesian approach to network processing. The model that we propose is a fusion of seismic, hydroacoustic and infrasound processing built on a unified probabilistic framework. References: [1] NETVISA: Network Processing Vertically Integrated Seismic Analysis. N. S. Arora, S. Russell, and E. Sudderth. BSSA 2013

Progresses with Net-VISA on Global Infrasound Association

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mialle, P.; Arora, N. S.

2016-12-01

Global Infrasound Association algorithms are an important area of active development at the International Data Centre (IDC). These algorithms play an important part of the automatic processing system for verification technologies. A key focus at the IDC is to enhance association and signal characterization methods by incorporating the identification of signals of interest and the optimization of the network detection threshold. The overall objective is to reduce the number of associated infrasound arrivals that are rejected from the automatic bulletins when generating the Reviewed Event Bulletins (REB), and hence reduce IDC analyst workload. Despite good accuracy by the IDC categorization, a number of signal detections due to clutter sources such as microbaroms or surf are built into events. In this work we aim to optimize the association criteria based on knowledge acquired by IDC in the last 6 years, and focus on the specificity of seismo-acoustic events. The resulting work has been incorporated into NETVISA [1], a Bayesian approach to network processing. The model that we propose is a fusion of seismic, hydroacoustic and infrasound processing built on a unified probabilistic framework. References: [1] NETVISA: Network Processing Vertically Integrated Seismic Analysis. N. S. Arora, S. Russell, and E. Sudderth. BSSA 2013

49 CFR 571.102 - Standard No. 102; Transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... position. S3.1.2Transmission braking effect. In vehicles having more than one forward transmission gear... driver has activated the vehicle's propulsion system: (a) The engine may stop and restart automatically... activated the vehicle's propulsion system if the vehicle can meet the requirements specified in paragraphs...

VHF Ranging and Position Fixing Experiment Using ATS Satellites: Final Report on Phases 1 and 2, 25 November 1968 - 1 May 1971

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The testing program with the ATS-1 and ATS-3 spacecraft showed that geostationary satellites can provide superior communications and position surveillance for mobile craft. Inexpensive modifications to conventional mobile communications equipment aboard the craft can provide reliable, high quality voice and digital communications with distant ground stations and other vehicles, and automatic surveillance of the positions of all the craft by a ground facility. The tests also demonstrated the location and automatic readout of remote data collection platforms. Frequency modulation signals with the narrow audio and radio frequency bandwidths of terrestrial mobile radio communications were relayed through the VHF transponders of the geostationary satellites. The voice and digital communications were far superior in reliability and quality to long-distance mobile communications by other means. It was shown that one satellite can provide nearly uniform high quality performance over approximately one-third of the earth's surface. Position fixes by range measurement from the two satellites were accurate to approximately one nautical mile, except near the equator and the poles.

The unique observing capabilities of the Swift x-ray telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, J. E.; Angelini, L.; Morris, D. C.; Burrows, D. N.; Abbey, A. F.; Campana, S.; Capalbi, M.; Cusumano, G.; Kennea, J. A.; Klar, R.; Mangels, C.; Moretti, A.; Osborne, J. P.; Perri, M.; Racusin, J.; Tagliaferri, G.; Tamburelli, F.; Wood, P.; Nousek, J. A.; Wells, A.

2005-08-01

The XRT is a sensitive, autonomous X-ray imaging spectrometer onboard the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Observatory. The unique observing capabilities of the XRT allow it to autonomously refine the Swift BAT positions (~1-4' uncertainty) to better than 2.5 arcsec in XRT detector coordinates, within 5 seconds of target acquisition by the Swift Observatory for typical bursts, and to measure the flux, spectrum, and light curve of GRBs and afterglows over a wide dynamic range covering more than seven orders of magnitude in flux (62 Crab to < 1 mCrab). The results of the rapid positioning capability of the XRT are presented here for both known sources and newly discovered GRBs, demonstrating the ability to automatically utilise one of two integration times according to the burst brightness, and to correct the position for alignment offsets caused by the fast pointing performance and variable thermal environment of the satellite as measured by the Telescope Alignment Monitor. The onboard results are compared to the positions obtained by groundbased follow-up. After obtaining the position, the XRT switches between four CCD readout modes, automatically optimising the scientific return from the source depending on the flux of the GRB. Typical data products are presented here.

The unique observing capabilities of the Swift x-ray telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, J. E.; Angelini, L.; Morris, D. C.; Burrows, D. N.; Abbey, A. F.; Campana, S.; Cusumano, G.; Kennea, J. A.; Klar, R.; Mangels, C.; Moretti, A.; Perri, M.; Racusin, J.; Tagliaferri, G.; Tamburelli, F.; Wood, P.; Nousek, J. A.; Wells, A.

2005-01-01

The XRT is a sensitive, autonomous X-ray imaging spectrometer onboard the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Observatory. The unique observing capabilities of the XRT allow it to autonomously refine the Swift BAT positions (~1-4' uncertainty) to better than 2.5 arcsec in XRT detector coordinates, within 5 seconds of target acquisition by the Swift Observatory for typical bursts, and to measure the flux, spectrum, and light curve of GRBs and afterglows over a wide dynamic range covering more than seven orders of magnitude in flux (62 Crab to < 1 mCrab). The results of the rapid positioning capability of the XRT are presented here for both known sources and newly discovered GRBs, demonstrating the ability to automatically utilise one of two integration times according to the burst brightness, and to correct the position for alignment offsets caused by the fast pointing performance and variable thermal environment of the satellite as measured by the Telescope Alignment Monitor. The onboard results are compared to the positions obtained by groundbased follow-up. After obtaining the position, the XRT switches between four CCD readout modes, automatically optimising the scientific return from the source depending on the flux of the GRB. Typical data products are presented here.

GAMBIT: the global and modular beyond-the-standard-model inference tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Athron, Peter; Balazs, Csaba; Bringmann, Torsten; Buckley, Andy; Chrząszcz, Marcin; Conrad, Jan; Cornell, Jonathan M.; Dal, Lars A.; Dickinson, Hugh; Edsjö, Joakim; Farmer, Ben; Gonzalo, Tomás E.; Jackson, Paul; Krislock, Abram; Kvellestad, Anders; Lundberg, Johan; McKay, James; Mahmoudi, Farvah; Martinez, Gregory D.; Putze, Antje; Raklev, Are; Ripken, Joachim; Rogan, Christopher; Saavedra, Aldo; Savage, Christopher; Scott, Pat; Seo, Seon-Hee; Serra, Nicola; Weniger, Christoph; White, Martin; Wild, Sebastian

2017-11-01

We describe the open-source global fitting package GAMBIT: the Global And Modular Beyond-the-Standard-Model Inference Tool. GAMBIT combines extensive calculations of observables and likelihoods in particle and astroparticle physics with a hierarchical model database, advanced tools for automatically building analyses of essentially any model, a flexible and powerful system for interfacing to external codes, a suite of different statistical methods and parameter scanning algorithms, and a host of other utilities designed to make scans faster, safer and more easily-extendible than in the past. Here we give a detailed description of the framework, its design and motivation, and the current models and other specific components presently implemented in GAMBIT. Accompanying papers deal with individual modules and present first GAMBIT results. GAMBIT can be downloaded from gambit.hepforge.org.

Do we need a geoelectric index?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holzworth, R.; Volland, H.

1986-01-01

The need for a geoelectric index (GI) measuring the global level of atmospheric electrical activity for a given time is assessed, and methods for defining a GI are compared. Current problems in atmospheric and space electrodynamics (the global circuit, solar-terrestrial coupling, lightning effects on the ionosphere/magnetosphere, and mesospheric generators), atmospheric chemistry (the stratospheric ozone cycle and atmospheric gravity waves), and meteorology (fog forecasting) are reviewed to illustrate the usefullness of a GI. Derivations of a GI from in situ electrical measurements and from ground or satellite remote sensing of source properties are described, and a system based on ground measurement of the intensity of the Schumann resonance lines (as proposed by Polk, 1982) is found to be the most practical, requiring as few as three (automatically operated) stations for global coverage.

Generation-V dual-Purkinje-image eyetracker

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crane, H. D.; Steele, C. M.

1985-01-01

Major advances characterize the Generation-V dual-Purkinje-image eyetracker compared with the Generation-III version previously described. These advances include a large reduction in size, major improvements in frequency response and noise level, automatic alignment to a subject, and automatic adjustment for different separation between the visual and optic axes, which can vary considerably from subject to subject. In a number of applications described in the paper, the eyetracker is coupled with other highly specialized optical devices. These applications include accurately stabilizing an image on a subject's retina; accurately simulating a visually dead retinal region (i.e., a scotoma) of arbitrary shape, size, and position; and, for clinical purposes, stabilizing the position of a laser coagulator beam on a patient's retina so that the point of contact is unaffected by the patient's own eye movements.

A fully automatic three-step liver segmentation method on LDA-based probability maps for multiple contrast MR images.

PubMed

Gloger, Oliver; Kühn, Jens; Stanski, Adam; Völzke, Henry; Puls, Ralf

2010-07-01

Automatic 3D liver segmentation in magnetic resonance (MR) data sets has proven to be a very challenging task in the domain of medical image analysis. There exist numerous approaches for automatic 3D liver segmentation on computer tomography data sets that have influenced the segmentation of MR images. In contrast to previous approaches to liver segmentation in MR data sets, we use all available MR channel information of different weightings and formulate liver tissue and position probabilities in a probabilistic framework. We apply multiclass linear discriminant analysis as a fast and efficient dimensionality reduction technique and generate probability maps then used for segmentation. We develop a fully automatic three-step 3D segmentation approach based upon a modified region growing approach and a further threshold technique. Finally, we incorporate characteristic prior knowledge to improve the segmentation results. This novel 3D segmentation approach is modularized and can be applied for normal and fat accumulated liver tissue properties. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic segmentation of left ventricle in cardiac cine MRI images based on deep learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Tian; Icke, Ilknur; Dogdas, Belma; Parimal, Sarayu; Sampath, Smita; Forbes, Joseph; Bagchi, Ansuman; Chin, Chih-Liang; Chen, Antong

2017-02-01

In developing treatment of cardiovascular diseases, short axis cine MRI has been used as a standard technique for understanding the global structural and functional characteristics of the heart, e.g. ventricle dimensions, stroke volume and ejection fraction. To conduct an accurate assessment, heart structures need to be segmented from the cine MRI images with high precision, which could be a laborious task when performed manually. Herein a fully automatic framework is proposed for the segmentation of the left ventricle from the slices of short axis cine MRI scans of porcine subjects using a deep learning approach. For training the deep learning models, which generally requires a large set of data, a public database of human cine MRI scans is used. Experiments on the 3150 cine slices of 7 porcine subjects have shown that when comparing the automatic and manual segmentations the mean slice-wise Dice coefficient is about 0.930, the point-to-curve error is 1.07 mm, and the mean slice-wise Hausdorff distance is around 3.70 mm, which demonstrates the accuracy and robustness of the proposed inter-species translational approach.

Automatic rectum limit detection by anatomical markers correlation.

PubMed

Namías, R; D'Amato, J P; del Fresno, M; Vénere, M

2014-06-01

Several diseases take place at the end of the digestive system. Many of them can be diagnosed by means of different medical imaging modalities together with computer aided detection (CAD) systems. These CAD systems mainly focus on the complete segmentation of the digestive tube. However, the detection of limits between different sections could provide important information to these systems. In this paper we present an automatic method for detecting the rectum and sigmoid colon limit using a novel global curvature analysis over the centerline of the segmented digestive tube in different imaging modalities. The results are compared with the gold standard rectum upper limit through a validation scheme comprising two different anatomical markers: the third sacral vertebra and the average rectum length. Experimental results in both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography colonography (CTC) acquisitions show the efficacy of the proposed strategy in automatic detection of rectum limits. The method is intended for application to the rectum segmentation in MRI for geometrical modeling and as contextual information source in virtual colonoscopies and CAD systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toward Routine Automatic Pathway Discovery from On-line Scientific Text Abstracts.

PubMed

Ng; Wong

1999-01-01

We are entering a new era of research where the latest scientific discoveries are often first reported online and are readily accessible by scientists worldwide. This rapid electronic dissemination of research breakthroughs has greatly accelerated the current pace in genomics and proteomics research. The race to the discovery of a gene or a drug has now become increasingly dependent on how quickly a scientist can scan through voluminous amount of information available online to construct the relevant picture (such as protein-protein interaction pathways) as it takes shape amongst the rapidly expanding pool of globally accessible biological data (e.g. GENBANK) and scientific literature (e.g. MEDLINE). We describe a prototype system for automatic pathway discovery from on-line text abstracts, combining technologies that (1) retrieve research abstracts from online sources, (2) extract relevant information from the free texts, and (3) present the extracted information graphically and intuitively. Our work demonstrates that this framework allows us to routinely scan online scientific literature for automatic discovery of knowledge, giving modern scientists the necessary competitive edge in managing the information explosion in this electronic age.

Global Positioning System Standard Positioning Service Performance Standard

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-01

The U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning Service (SPS) consists of space-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) signals delivered free of direct user fees for peaceful civil, commercial, and scientific uses worldwide. Th...

Automatic quantitative analysis of in-stent restenosis using FD-OCT in vivo intra-arterial imaging.

PubMed

Mandelias, Kostas; Tsantis, Stavros; Spiliopoulos, Stavros; Katsakiori, Paraskevi F; Karnabatidis, Dimitris; Nikiforidis, George C; Kagadis, George C

2013-06-01

A new segmentation technique is implemented for automatic lumen area extraction and stent strut detection in intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) images for the purpose of quantitative analysis of in-stent restenosis (ISR). In addition, a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) is developed based on the employed algorithm toward clinical use. Four clinical datasets of frequency-domain OCT scans of the human femoral artery were analyzed. First, a segmentation method based on fuzzy C means (FCM) clustering and wavelet transform (WT) was applied toward inner luminal contour extraction. Subsequently, stent strut positions were detected by utilizing metrics derived from the local maxima of the wavelet transform into the FCM membership function. The inner lumen contour and the position of stent strut were extracted with high precision. Compared to manual segmentation by an expert physician, the automatic lumen contour delineation had an average overlap value of 0.917 ± 0.065 for all OCT images included in the study. The strut detection procedure achieved an overall accuracy of 93.80% and successfully identified 9.57 ± 0.5 struts for every OCT image. Processing time was confined to approximately 2.5 s per OCT frame. A new fast and robust automatic segmentation technique combining FCM and WT for lumen border extraction and strut detection in intravascular OCT images was designed and implemented. The proposed algorithm integrated in a GUI represents a step forward toward the employment of automated quantitative analysis of ISR in clinical practice.

Automatic detection of MLC relative position errors for VMAT using the EPID-based picket fence test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christophides, Damianos; Davies, Alex; Fleckney, Mark

2016-12-01

Multi-leaf collimators (MLCs) ensure the accurate delivery of treatments requiring complex beam fluences like intensity modulated radiotherapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy. The purpose of this work is to automate the detection of MLC relative position errors  ⩾0.5 mm using electronic portal imaging device-based picket fence tests and compare the results to the qualitative assessment currently in use. Picket fence tests with and without intentional MLC errors were measured weekly on three Varian linacs. The picket fence images analysed covered a time period ranging between 14-20 months depending on the linac. An algorithm was developed that calculated the MLC error for each leaf-pair present in the picket fence images. The baseline error distributions of each linac were characterised for an initial period of 6 months and compared with the intentional MLC errors using statistical metrics. The distributions of median and one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test p-value exhibited no overlap between baseline and intentional errors and were used retrospectively to automatically detect MLC errors in routine clinical practice. Agreement was found between the MLC errors detected by the automatic method and the fault reports during clinical use, as well as interventions for MLC repair and calibration. In conclusion the method presented provides for full automation of MLC quality assurance, based on individual linac performance characteristics. The use of the automatic method has been shown to provide early warning for MLC errors that resulted in clinical downtime.

How automatic is the hand's automatic pilot? Evidence from dual-task studies.

PubMed

McIntosh, Robert D; Mulroue, Amy; Brockmole, James R

2010-10-01

The ability to correct reaching movements for changes in target position has been described as the hand's 'automatic pilot'. These corrections are preconscious and occur by default in double-step reaching tasks, even if the goal is to react to the target jump in some other way, for instance by stopping the movement (STOP instruction). Nonetheless, corrections are strongly modulated by conscious intention: participants make more corrections when asked to follow the target (GO instruction) and can suppress them when explicitly asked not to follow the target (NOGO instruction). We studied the influence of a cognitively demanding (auditory 1-back) task upon correction behaviour under GO, STOP and NOGO instructions. Correction rates under the STOP instruction were unaffected by cognitive load, consistent with the assumption that they reflect the default behaviour of the automatic pilot. Correction rates under the GO instruction were also unaffected, suggesting that minimal cognitive resources are required to enhance online correction. By contrast, cognitive load impeded the ability to suppress online corrections under the NOGO instruction. These data reveal a constitutional bias in the automatic pilot system: intentional suppression of the default correction behaviour is cognitively demanding, but enhancement towards greater responsiveness is seemingly effortless.

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.

Water vapor measurement system in global atmospheric sampling program, appendix

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Englund, D. R.; Dudzinski, T. J.

1982-01-01

The water vapor measurement system used in the NASA Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP) is described. The system used a modified version of a commercially available dew/frostpoint hygrometer with a thermoelectrically cooled mirror sensor. The modifications extended the range of the hygrometer to enable air sample measurements with frostpoint temperatures down to -80 C at altitudes of 6 to 13 km. Other modifications were made to permit automatic, unattended operation in an aircraft environment. This report described the hygrometer, its integration with the GASP system, its calibration, and operational aspects including measurement errors. The estimated uncertainty of the dew/frostpoint measurements was + or - 1.7 Celsius.

Glacier Frontal Line Extraction from SENTINEL-1 SAR Imagery in Prydz Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, F.; Wang, Z.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, Y.

2018-04-01

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can provide all-day and all-night observation of the earth in all-weather conditions with high resolution, and it is widely used in polar research including sea ice, sea shelf, as well as the glaciers. For glaciers monitoring, the frontal position of a calving glacier at different moments of time is of great importance, which indicates the estimation of the calving rate and flux of the glaciers. In this abstract, an automatic algorithm for glacier frontal extraction using time series Sentinel-1 SAR imagery is proposed. The technique transforms the amplitude imagery of Sentinel-1 SAR into a binary map using SO-CFAR method, and then frontal points are extracted using profile method which reduces the 2D binary map to 1D binary profiles, the final frontal position of a calving glacier is the optimal profile selected from the different average segmented profiles. The experiment proves that the detection algorithm for SAR data can automatically extract the frontal position of glacier with high efficiency.

Using RFID Positioning Technology to Construct an Automatic Rehabilitation Scheduling Mechanism.

PubMed

Wang, Ching-Sheng; Hung, Lun-Ping; Yen, Neil Y

2016-01-01

Accurately and efficiently identifying the location of patients during the course of rehabilitation is an important issue. Wireless transmission technology can reach this goal. Tracking technologies such as RFID (Radio frequency identification) can support process improvement and improve efficiencies of rehabilitation. There are few published models or methods to solve the problem of positioning and apply this technology in the rehabilitation center. We propose a mechanism to enhance the accuracy of positioning technology and provide information about turns and obstacles on the path; and user-centered services based on location-aware to enhanced quality care in rehabilitation environment. This paper outlines the requirements and the role of RFID in assisting rehabilitation environment. A prototype RFID hospital support tool is established. It is designed to provide assistance for monitoring rehabilitation patients. It can simultaneously calculate the rehabilitant's location and the duration of treatment, and automatically record the rehabilitation course of the rehabilitant, so as to improve the management efficiency of the rehabilitation program.

An automatic detection method for the boiler pipe header based on real-time image acquisition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Yi; Liu, YunLong; Qin, Yongliang; Yang, XiangWei; Li, DengKe; Shen, DingJie

2017-06-01

Generally, an endoscope is used to test the inner part of the thermal power plants boiler pipe header. However, since the endoscope hose manual operation, the length and angle of the inserted probe cannot be controlled. Additionally, it has a big blind spot observation subject to the length of the endoscope wire. To solve these problems, an automatic detection method for the boiler pipe header based on real-time image acquisition and simulation comparison techniques was proposed. The magnetic crawler with permanent magnet wheel could carry the real-time image acquisition device to complete the crawling work and collect the real-time scene image. According to the obtained location by using the positioning auxiliary device, the position of the real-time detection image in a virtual 3-D model was calibrated. Through comparing of the real-time detection images and the computer simulation images, the defects or foreign matter fall into could be accurately positioning, so as to repair and clean up conveniently.

Global Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) from Space Based AIS Ship Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwehr, K. D.; Foulkes, J. A.; Lorenzini, D.; Kanawati, M.

2011-12-01

All nations need to be developing long term integrated strategies for how to use and preserve our natural resources. As a part of these strategies, we must evalutate how communities of users react to changes in rules and regulations of ocean use. Global characterization of the vessel traffic on our Earth's oceans is essential to understanding the existing uses to develop international Coast and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP). Ship traffic within 100-200km is beginning to be effectively covered in low latitudes by ground based receivers collecting position reports from the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS). Unfortunately, remote islands, high latitudes, and open ocean Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are not covered by these ground systems. Deploying enough autonomous airborne (UAV) and surface (USV) vessels and buoys to provide adequate coverage is a difficult task. While the individual device costs are plummeting, a large fleet of AIS receivers is expensive to maintain. The global AIS coverage from SpaceQuest's low Earth orbit satellite receivers combined with the visualization and data storage infrastructure of Google (e.g. Maps, Earth, and Fusion Tables) provide a platform that enables researchers and resource managers to begin answer the question of how ocean resources are being utilized. Near real-time vessel traffic data will allow managers of marine resources to understand how changes to education, enforcement, rules, and regulations alter usage and compliance patterns. We will demonstrate the potential for this system using a sample SpaceQuest data set processed with libais which stores the results in a Fusion Table. From there, the data is imported to PyKML and visualized in Google Earth with a custom gx:Track visualization utilizing KML's extended data functionality to facilitate ship track interrogation. Analysts can then annotate and discuss vessel tracks in Fusion Tables.

Gradient Evolution-based Support Vector Machine Algorithm for Classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zulvia, Ferani E.; Kuo, R. J.

2018-03-01

This paper proposes a classification algorithm based on a support vector machine (SVM) and gradient evolution (GE) algorithms. SVM algorithm has been widely used in classification. However, its result is significantly influenced by the parameters. Therefore, this paper aims to propose an improvement of SVM algorithm which can find the best SVMs’ parameters automatically. The proposed algorithm employs a GE algorithm to automatically determine the SVMs’ parameters. The GE algorithm takes a role as a global optimizer in finding the best parameter which will be used by SVM algorithm. The proposed GE-SVM algorithm is verified using some benchmark datasets and compared with other metaheuristic-based SVM algorithms. The experimental results show that the proposed GE-SVM algorithm obtains better results than other algorithms tested in this paper.

General Framework for Animal Food Safety Traceability Using GS1 and RFID

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Weizhu; Zheng, Limin; Zhu, Hong; Wu, Ping

GS1 is global traceability standard, which is composed by the encoding system (EAN/UCC, EPC), the data carriers identified automatically (bar codes, RFID), electronic data interchange standards (EDI, XML). RFID is a non-contact, multi-objective automatic identification technique. Tracing of source food, standardization of RFID tags, sharing of dynamic data are problems to solve urgently for recent traceability systems. The paper designed general framework for animal food safety traceability using GS1 and RFID. This framework uses RFID tags encoding with EPCglobal tag data standards. Each information server has access tier, business tier and resource tier. These servers are heterogeneous and distributed, providing user access interfaces by SOAP or HTTP protocols. For sharing dynamic data, discovery service and object name service are used to locate dynamic distributed information servers.

Automating usability of ATLAS Distributed Computing resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tupputi, S. A.; Di Girolamo, A.; Kouba, T.; Schovancová, J.; Atlas Collaboration

2014-06-01

The automation of ATLAS Distributed Computing (ADC) operations is essential to reduce manpower costs and allow performance-enhancing actions, which improve the reliability of the system. In this perspective a crucial case is the automatic handling of outages of ATLAS computing sites storage resources, which are continuously exploited at the edge of their capabilities. It is challenging to adopt unambiguous decision criteria for storage resources of non-homogeneous types, sizes and roles. The recently developed Storage Area Automatic Blacklisting (SAAB) tool has provided a suitable solution, by employing an inference algorithm which processes history of storage monitoring tests outcome. SAAB accomplishes both the tasks of providing global monitoring as well as automatic operations on single sites. The implementation of the SAAB tool has been the first step in a comprehensive review of the storage areas monitoring and central management at all levels. Such review has involved the reordering and optimization of SAM tests deployment and the inclusion of SAAB results in the ATLAS Site Status Board with both dedicated metrics and views. The resulting structure allows monitoring the storage resources status with fine time-granularity and automatic actions to be taken in foreseen cases, like automatic outage handling and notifications to sites. Hence, the human actions are restricted to reporting and following up problems, where and when needed. In this work we show SAAB working principles and features. We present also the decrease of human interactions achieved within the ATLAS Computing Operation team. The automation results in a prompt reaction to failures, which leads to the optimization of resource exploitation.

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.

Automatic emotion processing as a function of trait emotional awareness: an fMRI study

PubMed Central

Lichev, Vladimir; Sacher, Julia; Ihme, Klas; Rosenberg, Nicole; Quirin, Markus; Lepsien, Jöran; Pampel, André; Rufer, Michael; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Kugel, Harald; Kersting, Anette; Villringer, Arno; Lane, Richard D.

2015-01-01

It is unclear whether reflective awareness of emotions is related to extent and intensity of implicit affective reactions. This study is the first to investigate automatic brain reactivity to emotional stimuli as a function of trait emotional awareness. To assess emotional awareness the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) was administered. During scanning, masked happy, angry, fearful and neutral facial expressions were presented to 46 healthy subjects, who had to rate the fit between artificial and emotional words. The rating procedure allowed assessment of shifts in implicit affectivity due to emotion faces. Trait emotional awareness was associated with increased activation in the primary somatosensory cortex, inferior parietal lobule, anterior cingulate gyrus, middle frontal and cerebellar areas, thalamus, putamen and amygdala in response to masked happy faces. LEAS correlated positively with shifts in implicit affect caused by masked happy faces. According to our findings, people with high emotional awareness show stronger affective reactivity and more activation in brain areas involved in emotion processing and simulation during the perception of masked happy facial expression than people with low emotional awareness. High emotional awareness appears to be characterized by an enhanced positive affective resonance to others at an automatic processing level. PMID:25140051

A Motion Planning Approach to Automatic Obstacle Avoidance during Concentric Tube Robot Teleoperation

PubMed Central

Torres, Luis G.; Kuntz, Alan; Gilbert, Hunter B.; Swaney, Philip J.; Hendrick, Richard J.; Webster, Robert J.; Alterovitz, Ron

2015-01-01

Concentric tube robots are thin, tentacle-like devices that can move along curved paths and can potentially enable new, less invasive surgical procedures. Safe and effective operation of this type of robot requires that the robot’s shaft avoid sensitive anatomical structures (e.g., critical vessels and organs) while the surgeon teleoperates the robot’s tip. However, the robot’s unintuitive kinematics makes it difficult for a human user to manually ensure obstacle avoidance along the entire tentacle-like shape of the robot’s shaft. We present a motion planning approach for concentric tube robot teleoperation that enables the robot to interactively maneuver its tip to points selected by a user while automatically avoiding obstacles along its shaft. We achieve automatic collision avoidance by precomputing a roadmap of collision-free robot configurations based on a description of the anatomical obstacles, which are attainable via volumetric medical imaging. We also mitigate the effects of kinematic modeling error in reaching the goal positions by adjusting motions based on robot tip position sensing. We evaluate our motion planner on a teleoperated concentric tube robot and demonstrate its obstacle avoidance and accuracy in environments with tubular obstacles. PMID:26413381

A Motion Planning Approach to Automatic Obstacle Avoidance during Concentric Tube Robot Teleoperation.

PubMed

Torres, Luis G; Kuntz, Alan; Gilbert, Hunter B; Swaney, Philip J; Hendrick, Richard J; Webster, Robert J; Alterovitz, Ron

2015-05-01

Concentric tube robots are thin, tentacle-like devices that can move along curved paths and can potentially enable new, less invasive surgical procedures. Safe and effective operation of this type of robot requires that the robot's shaft avoid sensitive anatomical structures (e.g., critical vessels and organs) while the surgeon teleoperates the robot's tip. However, the robot's unintuitive kinematics makes it difficult for a human user to manually ensure obstacle avoidance along the entire tentacle-like shape of the robot's shaft. We present a motion planning approach for concentric tube robot teleoperation that enables the robot to interactively maneuver its tip to points selected by a user while automatically avoiding obstacles along its shaft. We achieve automatic collision avoidance by precomputing a roadmap of collision-free robot configurations based on a description of the anatomical obstacles, which are attainable via volumetric medical imaging. We also mitigate the effects of kinematic modeling error in reaching the goal positions by adjusting motions based on robot tip position sensing. We evaluate our motion planner on a teleoperated concentric tube robot and demonstrate its obstacle avoidance and accuracy in environments with tubular obstacles.

Regional vertical total electron content (VTEC) modeling together with satellite and receiver differential code biases (DCBs) using semi-parametric multivariate adaptive regression B-splines (SP-BMARS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durmaz, Murat; Karslioglu, Mahmut Onur

2015-04-01

There are various global and regional methods that have been proposed for the modeling of ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC). Global distribution of VTEC is usually modeled by spherical harmonic expansions, while tensor products of compactly supported univariate B-splines can be used for regional modeling. In these empirical parametric models, the coefficients of the basis functions as well as differential code biases (DCBs) of satellites and receivers can be treated as unknown parameters which can be estimated from geometry-free linear combinations of global positioning system observables. In this work we propose a new semi-parametric multivariate adaptive regression B-splines (SP-BMARS) method for the regional modeling of VTEC together with satellite and receiver DCBs, where the parametric part of the model is related to the DCBs as fixed parameters and the non-parametric part adaptively models the spatio-temporal distribution of VTEC. The latter is based on multivariate adaptive regression B-splines which is a non-parametric modeling technique making use of compactly supported B-spline basis functions that are generated from the observations automatically. This algorithm takes advantage of an adaptive scale-by-scale model building strategy that searches for best-fitting B-splines to the data at each scale. The VTEC maps generated from the proposed method are compared numerically and visually with the global ionosphere maps (GIMs) which are provided by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). The VTEC values from SP-BMARS and CODE GIMs are also compared with VTEC values obtained through calibration using local ionospheric model. The estimated satellite and receiver DCBs from the SP-BMARS model are compared with the CODE distributed DCBs. The results show that the SP-BMARS algorithm can be used to estimate satellite and receiver DCBs while adaptively and flexibly modeling the daily regional VTEC.

Does remote sensing help translating local SGD investigation to large spatial scales?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moosdorf, N.; Mallast, U.; Hennig, H.; Schubert, M.; Knoeller, K.; Neehaul, Y.

2016-02-01

Within the last 20 years, studies on submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) have revealed numerous processes, temporal behavior and quantitative estimations as well as best-practice and localization methods. This plethora on information is valuable regarding the understanding of magnitude and effects of SGD for the respective location. Yet, since given local conditions vary, the translation of local understanding, magnitudes and effects to a regional or global scale is not trivial. In contrast, modeling approaches (e.g. 228Ra budget) tackling SGD on a global scale do provide quantitative global estimates but have not been related to local investigations. This gap between the two approaches, local and global, and the combination and/or translation of either one to the other represents one of the mayor challenges the SGD community currently faces. But what if remote sensing can provide certain information that may be used as translation between the two, similar to transfer functions in many other disciplines allowing an extrapolation from in-situ investigated and quantified SGD (discrete information) to regional scales or beyond? Admittedly, the sketched future is ambitious and we will certainly not be able to present a solution to the raised question. Nonetheless, we will show a remote sensing based approach that is already able to identify potential SGD sites independent on location or hydrogeological conditions. Based on multi-temporal thermal information of the water surface as core of the approach, SGD influenced sites display a smaller thermal variation (thermal anomalies) than surrounding uninfluenced areas. Despite the apparent simplicity, the automatized approach has helped to localize several sites that could be validated with proven in-situ methods. At the same time it embodies the risk to identify false positives that can only be avoided if we can `calibrate' the so obtained thermal anomalies to in-situ data. We will present all pros and cons of our approach with the intention to contribute to the solution of translating SGD investigation to larger scales.

Global inhibition and stimulus competition in the owl optic tectum

PubMed Central

Mysore, Shreesh P.; Asadollahi, Ali; Knudsen, Eric I.

2010-01-01

Stimulus selection for gaze and spatial attention involves competition among stimuli across sensory modalities and across all of space. We demonstrate that such cross-modal, global competition takes place in the intermediate and deep layers of the optic tectum, a structure known to be involved in gaze control and attention. A variety of either visual or auditory stimuli located anywhere outside of a neuron's receptive field (RF) were shown to suppress or completely eliminate responses to a visual stimulus located inside the RF in nitrous oxide sedated owls. The essential mechanism underlying this stimulus competition is global, divisive inhibition. Unlike the effect of the classical inhibitory surround, which decreases with distance from the RF center and shapes neuronal responses to individual stimuli, global inhibition acts across the entirety of space and modulates responses primarily in the context of multiple stimuli. Whereas the source of this global inhibition is as yet unknown, our data indicate that different networks mediate the classical surround and global inhibition. We hypothesize that this global, cross-modal inhibition, which acts automatically in a bottom-up fashion even in sedated animals, is critical to the creation of a map of stimulus salience in the optic tectum. PMID:20130182

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.

Automatic Detection and Positioning of Ground Control Points Using TerraSAR-X Multiaspect Acquisitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montazeri, Sina; Gisinger, Christoph; Eineder, Michael; Zhu, Xiao xiang

2018-05-01

Geodetic stereo Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is capable of absolute three-dimensional localization of natural Persistent Scatterer (PS)s which allows for Ground Control Point (GCP) generation using only SAR data. The prerequisite for the method to achieve high precision results is the correct detection of common scatterers in SAR images acquired from different viewing geometries. In this contribution, we describe three strategies for automatic detection of identical targets in SAR images of urban areas taken from different orbit tracks. Moreover, a complete work-flow for automatic generation of large number of GCPs using SAR data is presented and its applicability is shown by exploiting TerraSAR-X (TS-X) high resolution spotlight images over the city of Oulu, Finland and a test site in Berlin, Germany.

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

Automatic Welding System of Aluminum Pipe by Monitoring Backside Image of Molten Pool Using Vision Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baskoro, Ario Sunar; Kabutomori, Masashi; Suga, Yasuo

An automatic welding system using Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding with vision sensor for welding of aluminum pipe was constructed. This research studies the intelligent welding process of aluminum alloy pipe 6063S-T5 in fixed position and moving welding torch with the AC welding machine. The monitoring system consists of a vision sensor using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to monitor backside image of molten pool. The captured image was processed to recognize the edge of molten pool by image processing algorithm. Neural network model for welding speed control were constructed to perform the process automatically. From the experimental results it shows the effectiveness of the control system confirmed by good detection of molten pool and sound weld of experimental result.

Improving automatic earthquake locations in subduction zones: a case study for GEOFON catalog of Tonga-Fiji region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nooshiri, Nima; Heimann, Sebastian; Saul, Joachim; Tilmann, Frederik; Dahm, Torsten

2015-04-01

Automatic earthquake locations are sometimes associated with very large residuals up to 10 s even for clear arrivals, especially for regional stations in subduction zones because of their strongly heterogeneous velocity structure associated. Although these residuals are most likely not related to measurement errors but unmodelled velocity heterogeneity, these stations are usually removed from or down-weighted in the location procedure. While this is possible for large events, it may not be useful if the earthquake is weak. In this case, implementation of travel-time station corrections may significantly improve the automatic locations. Here, the shrinking box source-specific station term method (SSST) [Lin and Shearer, 2005] has been applied to improve relative location accuracy of 1678 events that occurred in the Tonga subduction zone between 2010 and mid-2014. Picks were obtained from the GEOFON earthquake bulletin for all available station networks. We calculated a set of timing corrections for each station which vary as a function of source position. A separate time correction was computed for each source-receiver path at the given station by smoothing the residual field over nearby events. We begin with a very large smoothing radius essentially encompassing the whole event set and iterate by progressively shrinking the smoothing radius. In this way, we attempted to correct for the systematic errors, that are introduced into the locations by the inaccuracies in the assumed velocity structure, without solving for a new velocity model itself. One of the advantages of the SSST technique is that the event location part of the calculation is separate from the station term calculation and can be performed using any single event location method. In this study, we applied a non-linear, probabilistic, global-search earthquake location method using the software package NonLinLoc [Lomax et al., 2000]. The non-linear location algorithm implemented in NonLinLoc is less sensitive to the problem of local misfit minima in the model space. Moreover, the spatial errors estimated by NonLinLoc are much more reliable than those derived by linearized algorithms. According to the obtained results, the root-mean-square (RMS) residual decreased from 1.37 s for the original GEOFON catalog (using a global 1-D velocity model without station specific corrections) to 0.90 s for our SSST catalog. Our results show 45-70% reduction of the median absolute deviation (MAD) of the travel-time residuals at regional stations. Additionally, our locations exhibit less scatter in depth and a sharper image of the seismicity associated with the subducting slab compared to the initial locations.

A Weld Position Recognition Method Based on Directional and Structured Light Information Fusion in Multi-Layer/Multi-Pass Welding.

PubMed

Zeng, Jinle; Chang, Baohua; Du, Dong; Wang, Li; Chang, Shuhe; Peng, Guodong; Wang, Wenzhu

2018-01-05

Multi-layer/multi-pass welding (MLMPW) technology is widely used in the energy industry to join thick components. During automatic welding using robots or other actuators, it is very important to recognize the actual weld pass position using visual methods, which can then be used not only to perform reasonable path planning for actuators, but also to correct any deviations between the welding torch and the weld pass position in real time. However, due to the small geometrical differences between adjacent weld passes, existing weld position recognition technologies such as structured light methods are not suitable for weld position detection in MLMPW. This paper proposes a novel method for weld position detection, which fuses various kinds of information in MLMPW. First, a synchronous acquisition method is developed to obtain various kinds of visual information when directional light and structured light sources are on, respectively. Then, interferences are eliminated by fusing adjacent images. Finally, the information from directional and structured light images is fused to obtain the 3D positions of the weld passes. Experiment results show that each process can be done in 30 ms and the deviation is less than 0.6 mm. The proposed method can be used for automatic path planning and seam tracking in the robotic MLMPW process as well as electron beam freeform fabrication process.

The global rotating scalar field vacuum on anti-de Sitter space-time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kent, Carl; Winstanley, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

We consider the definition of the global vacuum state of a quantum scalar field on n-dimensional anti-de Sitter space-time as seen by an observer rotating about the polar axis. Since positive (or negative) frequency scalar field modes must have positive (or negative) Klein-Gordon norm respectively, we find that the only sensible choice of positive frequency corresponds to positive frequency as seen by a static observer. This means that the global rotating vacuum is identical to the global nonrotating vacuum. For n ≥ 4, if the angular velocity of the rotating observer is smaller than the inverse of the anti-de Sitter radius of curvature, then modes with positive Klein-Gordon norm also have positive frequency as seen by the rotating observer. We comment on the implications of this result for the construction of global rotating thermal states.

But for the Bad, There Would Not Be Good: Grounding Valence in Brightness through Shared Relational Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lakens, Daniel; Semin, Gun R.; Foroni, Francesco

2012-01-01

Light and dark are used pervasively to represent positive and negative concepts. Recent studies suggest that black and white stimuli are automatically associated with negativity and positivity. However, structural factors in experimental designs, such as the shared opposition in the valence (good vs. bad) and brightness (light vs. dark) dimensions…

Particle swarm optimization-based automatic parameter selection for deep neural networks and its applications in large-scale and high-dimensional data

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

In this paper, we propose a new automatic hyperparameter selection approach for determining the optimal network configuration (network structure and hyperparameters) for deep neural networks using particle swarm optimization (PSO) in combination with a steepest gradient descent algorithm. In the proposed approach, network configurations were coded as a set of real-number m-dimensional vectors as the individuals of the PSO algorithm in the search procedure. During the search procedure, the PSO algorithm is employed to search for optimal network configurations via the particles moving in a finite search space, and the steepest gradient descent algorithm is used to train the DNN classifier with a few training epochs (to find a local optimal solution) during the population evaluation of PSO. After the optimization scheme, the steepest gradient descent algorithm is performed with more epochs and the final solutions (pbest and gbest) of the PSO algorithm to train a final ensemble model and individual DNN classifiers, respectively. The local search ability of the steepest gradient descent algorithm and the global search capabilities of the PSO algorithm are exploited to determine an optimal solution that is close to the global optimum. We constructed several experiments on hand-written characters and biological activity prediction datasets to show that the DNN classifiers trained by the network configurations expressed by the final solutions of the PSO algorithm, employed to construct an ensemble model and individual classifier, outperform the random approach in terms of the generalization performance. Therefore, the proposed approach can be regarded an alternative tool for automatic network structure and parameter selection for deep neural networks. PMID:29236718

Effectiveness of Global Features for Automatic Medical Image Classification and Retrieval – the experiences of OHSU at ImageCLEFmed

PubMed Central

Kalpathy-Cramer, Jayashree; Hersh, William

2008-01-01

In 2006 and 2007, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) participated in the automatic image annotation task for medical images at ImageCLEF, an annual international benchmarking event that is part of the Cross Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF). The goal of the automatic annotation task was to classify 1000 test images based on the Image Retrieval in Medical Applications (IRMA) code, given a set of 10,000 training images. There were 116 distinct classes in 2006 and 2007. We evaluated the efficacy of a variety of primarily global features for this classification task. These included features based on histograms, gray level correlation matrices and the gist technique. A multitude of classifiers including k-nearest neighbors, two-level neural networks, support vector machines, and maximum likelihood classifiers were evaluated. Our official error rates for the 1000 test images were 26% in 2006 using the flat classification structure. The error count in 2007 was 67.8 using the hierarchical classification error computation based on the IRMA code in 2007. Confusion matrices as well as clustering experiments were used to identify visually similar classes. The use of the IRMA code did not help us in the classification task as the semantic hierarchy of the IRMA classes did not correspond well with the hierarchy based on clustering of image features that we used. Our most frequent misclassification errors were along the view axis. Subsequent experiments based on a two-stage classification system decreased our error rate to 19.8% for the 2006 dataset and our error count to 55.4 for the 2007 data. PMID:19884953

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

Research methodology simplification for teaching purposes illustrated by clutch automatic control device testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojs, J.

2016-09-01

The paper proves that simplified, shorter examination of an object, feasible in laboratory classes, can produce results similar to those reached in scientific investigation of the device using extensive equipment. A thorough investigation of an object, an automatic clutch device in this case, enabled identifying the magnitudes that most significantly affect its operation. The knowledge of these most sensitive magnitudes allows focusing in the teaching process on simplified measurement of only selected magnitudes and verifying the given object in the positive or negative.

Isocenter verification for linac‐based stereotactic radiation therapy: review of principles and techniques

PubMed Central

Sabet, Mahsheed; O'Connor, Daryl J.; Greer, Peter B.

2011-01-01

There have been several manual, semi‐automatic and fully‐automatic methods proposed for verification of the position of mechanical isocenter as part of comprehensive quality assurance programs required for linear accelerator‐based stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy (SRS/SRT) treatments. In this paper, a systematic review has been carried out to discuss the present methods for isocenter verification and compare their characteristics, to help physicists in making a decision on selection of their quality assurance routine. PACS numbers: 87.53.Ly, 87.56.Fc, 87.56.‐v PMID:22089022

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.

Autoshaping of key pecking in pigeons with negative reinforcement.

PubMed

Rachlin, H

1969-07-01

Pigeons exposed to gradually increasing intensities of pulsing electric shock pecked a key and thereby reduced the intensity of shock to zero for 2 min. Acquisition of key pecking was brought about through an autoshaping process in which periodic brief keylight presentations immediately preceded automatic reduction of the shock. On the occasions of such automatic reduction of shock preceding the first measured key peck, little or no orientation to the key was observed. Observations of pigeons with autoshaping of positive reinforcement also revealed little evidence of orientation toward the key.

Autistic and schizotypal traits and global functioning in bipolar I disorder.

PubMed

Abu-Akel, Ahmad; Clark, Jennifer; Perry, Amy; Wood, Stephen J; Forty, Liz; Craddock, Nick; Jones, Ian; Gordon-Smith, Katherine; Jones, Lisa

2017-01-01

To determine the expression of autistic and positive schizotypal traits in a large sample of adults with bipolar I disorder (BD I), and the effect of co-occurring autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning in BD I. Autistic and positive schizotypal traits were self-assessed in 797 individuals with BD-I recruited by the Bipolar Disorder Research Network. Differences in global functioning (rated using the Global Assessment Scale) during lifetime worst depressive and manic episodes (GASD and GASM respectively) were calculated in groups with high/low autistic and positive schizotypal traits. Regression analyses assessed the interactive effect of autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning. 47.2% (CI=43.7-50.7%) showed clinically significant levels of autistic traits, and 23.22% (95% CI=20.29-26.14) showed clinically significant levels of positive schizotypal traits. In the worst episode of mania, the high autistic, high positive schizotypal group had better global functioning compared to the other groups. Individual differences analyses showed that high levels of both traits were associated with better global functioning in both mood states. Autistic and schizotypal traits were assessed using self-rated questionnaires. Expression of autistic and schizotypal traits in adults with BD I is prevalent, and may be important to predict illness aetiology, prognosis, and diagnostic practices in this population. Future work should focus on replicating these findings in independent samples, and on the biological and/or psychosocial mechanisms underlying better global functioning in those who have high levels of both autistic and positive schizotypal traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrated approach for automatic target recognition using a network of collaborative sensors.

PubMed

Mahalanobis, Abhijit; Van Nevel, Alan

2006-10-01

We introduce what is believed to be a novel concept by which several sensors with automatic target recognition (ATR) capability collaborate to recognize objects. Such an approach would be suitable for netted systems in which the sensors and platforms can coordinate to optimize end-to-end performance. We use correlation filtering techniques to facilitate the development of the concept, although other ATR algorithms may be easily substituted. Essentially, a self-configuring geometry of netted platforms is proposed that positions the sensors optimally with respect to each other, and takes into account the interactions among the sensor, the recognition algorithms, and the classes of the objects to be recognized. We show how such a paradigm optimizes overall performance, and illustrate the collaborative ATR scheme for recognizing targets in synthetic aperture radar imagery by using viewing position as a sensor parameter.

Technology for noninvasive mechanical ventilation: looking into the black box

PubMed Central

Navajas, Daniel; Montserrat, Josep M.

2016-01-01

Current devices for providing noninvasive respiratory support contain sensors and built-in intelligence for automatically modifying ventilation according to the patient's needs. These devices, including automatic continuous positive airway pressure devices and noninvasive ventilators, are technologically complex and offer a considerable number of different modes of ventilation and setting options, the details of which are sometimes difficult to capture by the user. Therefore, better predicting and interpreting the actual performance of these ventilation devices in clinical application requires understanding their functioning principles and assessing their performance under well controlled bench test conditions with simulated patients. This concise review presents an updated perspective of the theoretical basis of intelligent continuous positive airway pressure and noninvasive ventilation devices, and of the tools available for assessing how these devices respond under specific ventilation phenotypes in patients requiring breathing support. PMID:27730162

Automatic choroid cells segmentation and counting in fluorescence microscopic image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fei, Jianjun; Zhu, Weifang; Shi, Fei; Xiang, Dehui; Lin, Xiao; Yang, Lei; Chen, Xinjian

2016-03-01

In this paper, we proposed a method to automatically segment and count the rhesus choroid-retinal vascular endothelial cells (RF/6A) in fluorescence microscopic images which is based on shape classification, bottleneck detection and accelerated Dijkstra algorithm. The proposed method includes four main steps. First, a thresholding filter and morphological operations are applied to reduce the noise. Second, a shape classifier is used to decide whether a connected component is needed to be segmented. In this step, the AdaBoost classifier is applied with a set of shape features. Third, the bottleneck positions are found based on the contours of the connected components. Finally, the cells segmentation and counting are completed based on the accelerated Dijkstra algorithm with the gradient information between the bottleneck positions. The results show the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.

Automatic measurement of epidermal thickness from optical coherence tomography images using a new algorithm.

PubMed

Josse, G; George, J; Black, D

2011-08-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging system that enables in vivo epidermal thickness (ET) measurement. In order to use OCT in large-scale clinical studies, automatic algorithm detection of the dermo-epidermal junction (DEJ) is needed. This may be difficult due to image noise from optical speckle, which requires specific image treatment procedures to reduce this. In the present work, a description of the position of the DEJ is given, and an algorithm for boundary detection is presented. Twenty-nine images were taken from the skin of normal healthy subjects, from five different body sites. Seven expert assessors were asked to trace the DEJ for ET measurement on each of the images. The variability between experts was compared with a new image processing method. Between-expert variability was relatively low with a mean standard deviation of 3.4 μm. However, local positioning of the DEJ between experts was often different. The described algorithm performed adequately on all images. ET was automatically measured with a precision of < 5 μm compared with the experts on all sites studied except that of the back. Moreover, the local algorithm positioning was verified. The new image processing method for measuring ET from OCT images significantly reduces calculation time for this parameter, and avoids user intervention. The main advantages of this are that data can be analyzed more rapidly and reproducibly in clinical trials. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Combat PTSD and Implicit Behavioral Tendencies for Positive Affective Stimuli: A Brief Report

PubMed Central

Clausen, Ashley N.; Youngren, Westley; Sisante, Jason-Flor V.; Billinger, Sandra A.; Taylor, Charles; Aupperle, Robin L.

2016-01-01

Background: Prior cognitive research in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has focused on automatic responses to negative affective stimuli, including attentional facilitation or disengagement and avoidance action tendencies. More recent research suggests PTSD may also relate to differences in reward processing, which has lead to theories of PTSD relating to approach-avoidance imbalances. The current pilot study assessed how combat-PTSD symptoms relate to automatic behavioral tendencies to both positive and negative affective stimuli. Method: Twenty male combat veterans completed the approach-avoidance task (AAT), Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II. During the AAT, subjects pulled (approach) or pushed (avoid) a joystick in response to neutral, happy, disgust, and angry faces based on border color. Bias scores were calculated for each emotion type (avoid-approach response latency differences). Main and interaction effects for psychological symptom severity and emotion type on bias score were assessed using linear mixed models. Results: There was a significant interaction between PTSD symptoms and emotion type, driven primarily by worse symptoms relating to a greater bias to avoid happy faces. Post hoc tests revealed that veterans with worse PTSD symptoms were slower to approach as well as quicker to avoid happy faces. Neither depressive nor anger symptoms related to avoid or approach tendencies of emotional stimuli. Conclusion: Posttraumatic stress disorder severity was associated with a bias for avoiding positive affective stimuli. These results provide further evidence that PTSD may relate to aberrant processing of positively valenced, or rewarding stimuli. Implicit responses to rewarding stimuli could be an important factor in PTSD pathology and treatment. Specifically, these findings have implications for recent endeavors in using computer-based interventions to influence automatic approach-avoidance tendencies. PMID:27252673

Fully automatic segmentation of arbitrarily shaped fiducial markers in cone-beam CT projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertholet, J.; Wan, H.; Toftegaard, J.; Schmidt, M. L.; Chotard, F.; Parikh, P. J.; Poulsen, P. R.

2017-02-01

Radio-opaque fiducial markers of different shapes are often implanted in or near abdominal or thoracic tumors to act as surrogates for the tumor position during radiotherapy. They can be used for real-time treatment adaptation, but this requires a robust, automatic segmentation method able to handle arbitrarily shaped markers in a rotational imaging geometry such as cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) projection images and intra-treatment images. In this study, we propose a fully automatic dynamic programming (DP) assisted template-based (TB) segmentation method. Based on an initial DP segmentation, the DPTB algorithm generates and uses a 3D marker model to create 2D templates at any projection angle. The 2D templates are used to segment the marker position as the position with highest normalized cross-correlation in a search area centered at the DP segmented position. The accuracy of the DP algorithm and the new DPTB algorithm was quantified as the 2D segmentation error (pixels) compared to a manual ground truth segmentation for 97 markers in the projection images of CBCT scans of 40 patients. Also the fraction of wrong segmentations, defined as 2D errors larger than 5 pixels, was calculated. The mean 2D segmentation error of DP was reduced from 4.1 pixels to 3.0 pixels by DPTB, while the fraction of wrong segmentations was reduced from 17.4% to 6.8%. DPTB allowed rejection of uncertain segmentations as deemed by a low normalized cross-correlation coefficient and contrast-to-noise ratio. For a rejection rate of 9.97%, the sensitivity in detecting wrong segmentations was 67% and the specificity was 94%. The accepted segmentations had a mean segmentation error of 1.8 pixels and 2.5% wrong segmentations.

Mood-congruent amygdala responses to subliminally presented facial expressions in major depression: associations with anhedonia

PubMed Central

Stuhrmann, Anja; Dohm, Katharina; Kugel, Harald; Zwanzger, Peter; Redlich, Ronny; Grotegerd, Dominik; Rauch, Astrid Veronika; Arolt, Volker; Heindel, Walter; Suslow, Thomas; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Dannlowski, Udo

2013-01-01

Background Anhedonia has long been recognized as a key feature of major depressive disorders, but little is known about the association between hedonic symptoms and neurobiological processes in depressed patients. We investigated whether amygdala mood-congruent responses to emotional stimuli in depressed patients are correlated with anhedonic symptoms at automatic levels of processing. Methods We measured amygdala responsiveness to subliminally presented sad and happy facial expressions in depressed patients and matched healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Amygdala responsiveness was compared between patients and healthy controls within a 2 (group) × 2 (emotion) design. In addition, we correlated patients’ amygdala responsiveness to sad and happy facial stimuli with self-report questionnaire measures of anhedonia. Results We included 35 patients and 35 controls in our study. As in previous studies, we observed a strong emotion × group interaction in the bilateral amygdala: depressed patients showed greater amygdala responses to sad than happy faces, whereas healthy controls responded more strongly to happy than sad faces. The lack of automatic right amygdala responsiveness to happy faces in depressed patients was associated with higher physical anhedonia scores. Limitations Almost all depressed patients were taking antidepressant medications. Conclusion We replicated our previous finding of depressed patients showing automatic amygdala mood-congruent biases in terms of enhanced reactivity to negative emotional stimuli and reduced activity to positive emotional stimuli. The altered amygdala processing of positive stimuli in patients was associated with anhedonia scores. The results indicate that reduced amygdala responsiveness to positive stimuli may contribute to an-hedonic symptoms due to reduced/inappropriate salience attribution to positive information at very early processing levels. PMID:23171695

Automatic detection of lameness in gestating group-housed sows using positioning and acceleration measurements.

PubMed

Traulsen, I; Breitenberger, S; Auer, W; Stamer, E; Müller, K; Krieter, J

2016-06-01

Lameness is an important issue in group-housed sows. Automatic detection systems are a beneficial diagnostic tool to support management. The aim of the present study was to evaluate data of a positioning system including acceleration measurements to detect lameness in group-housed sows. Data were acquired at the Futterkamp research farm from May 2012 until April 2013. In the gestation unit, 212 group-housed sows were equipped with an ear sensor to sample position and acceleration per sow and second. Three activity indices were calculated per sow and day: path length walked by a sow during the day (Path), number of squares (25×25 cm) visited during the day (Square) and variance of the acceleration measurement during the day (Acc). In addition, data on lameness treatments of the sows and a weekly lameness score were used as reference systems. To determine the influence of a lameness event, all indices were analysed in a linear random regression model. Test day, parity class and day before treatment had a significant influence on all activity indices (P<0.05). In healthy sows, indices Path and Square increased with increasing parity, whereas variance slightly decreased. The indices Path and Square showed a decreasing trend in a 14-day period before a lameness treatment and to a smaller extent before a lameness score of 2 (severe lameness). For the index acceleration, there was no obvious difference between the lame and non-lame periods. In conclusion, positioning and acceleration measurements with ear sensors can be used to describe the activity pattern of sows. However, improvements in sampling rate and analysis techniques should be made for a practical application as an automatic lameness detection system.

Adolescents growing up amidst intractable conflict attenuate brain response to pain of outgroup

PubMed Central

Levy, Jonathan; Influs, Moran; Masalha, Shafiq; Zagoory-Sharon, Orna; Feldman, Ruth

2016-01-01

Adolescents’ participation in intergroup conflicts comprises an imminent global risk, and understanding its neural underpinnings may open new perspectives. We assessed Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Palestinian adolescents for brain response to the pain of ingroup/outgroup protagonists using magnetoencephalography (MEG), one-on-one positive and conflictual interactions with an outgroup member, attitudes toward the regional conflict, and oxytocin levels. A neural marker of ingroup bias emerged, expressed via alpha modulations in the somatosensory cortex (S1) that characterized an automatic response to the pain of all protagonists followed by rebound/enhancement to ingroup pain only. Adolescents’ hostile social interactions with outgroup members and uncompromising attitudes toward the conflict influenced this neural marker. Furthermore, higher oxytocin levels in the Jewish-Israeli majority and tighter brain-to-brain synchrony among group members in the Arab-Palestinian minority enhanced the neural ingroup bias. Findings suggest that in cases of intractable intergroup conflict, top-down control mechanisms may block the brain’s evolutionary-ancient resonance to outgroup pain, pinpointing adolescents’ interpersonal and sociocognitive processes as potential targets for intervention. PMID:27849588

Integration of forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and traffic information for moving obstacle detection with integrity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Zhen; Vana, Sudha; Bhattacharya, Sumit; Uijt de Haag, Maarten

2009-05-01

This paper discusses the integration of Forward-looking Infrared (FLIR) and traffic information from, for example, the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) or the Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B). The goal of this integration method is to obtain an improved state estimate of a moving obstacle within the Field-of-View of the FLIR with added integrity. The focus of the paper will be on the approach phase of the flight. The paper will address methods to extract moving objects from the FLIR imagery and geo-reference these objects using outputs of both the onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Inertial Navigation System (INS). The proposed extraction method uses a priori airport information and terrain databases. Furthermore, state information from the traffic information sources will be extracted and integrated with the state estimates from the FLIR. Finally, a method will be addressed that performs a consistency check between both sources of traffic information. The methods discussed in this paper will be evaluated using flight test data collected with a Gulfstream V in Reno, NV (GVSITE) and simulated ADS-B.

Adolescents growing up amidst intractable conflict attenuate brain response to pain of outgroup.

PubMed

Levy, Jonathan; Goldstein, Abraham; Influs, Moran; Masalha, Shafiq; Zagoory-Sharon, Orna; Feldman, Ruth

2016-11-29

Adolescents' participation in intergroup conflicts comprises an imminent global risk, and understanding its neural underpinnings may open new perspectives. We assessed Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Palestinian adolescents for brain response to the pain of ingroup/outgroup protagonists using magnetoencephalography (MEG), one-on-one positive and conflictual interactions with an outgroup member, attitudes toward the regional conflict, and oxytocin levels. A neural marker of ingroup bias emerged, expressed via alpha modulations in the somatosensory cortex (S1) that characterized an automatic response to the pain of all protagonists followed by rebound/enhancement to ingroup pain only. Adolescents' hostile social interactions with outgroup members and uncompromising attitudes toward the conflict influenced this neural marker. Furthermore, higher oxytocin levels in the Jewish-Israeli majority and tighter brain-to-brain synchrony among group members in the Arab-Palestinian minority enhanced the neural ingroup bias. Findings suggest that in cases of intractable intergroup conflict, top-down control mechanisms may block the brain's evolutionary-ancient resonance to outgroup pain, pinpointing adolescents' interpersonal and sociocognitive processes as potential targets for intervention.