Discriminant analysis of resting-state functional connectivity patterns on the Grassmann manifold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Yong; Liu, Yong; Jiang, Tianzi; Liu, Zhening; Hao, Yihui; Liu, Haihong

2010-03-01

The functional networks, extracted from fMRI images using independent component analysis, have been demonstrated informative for distinguishing brain states of cognitive functions and neurological diseases. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for discriminant analysis of functional networks encoded by spatial independent components. The functional networks of each individual are used as bases for a linear subspace, referred to as a functional connectivity pattern, which facilitates a comprehensive characterization of temporal signals of fMRI data. The functional connectivity patterns of different individuals are analyzed on the Grassmann manifold by adopting a principal angle based subspace distance. In conjunction with a support vector machine classifier, a forward component selection technique is proposed to select independent components for constructing the most discriminative functional connectivity pattern. The discriminant analysis method has been applied to an fMRI based schizophrenia study with 31 schizophrenia patients and 31 healthy individuals. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method not only achieves a promising classification performance for distinguishing schizophrenia patients from healthy controls, but also identifies discriminative functional networks that are informative for schizophrenia diagnosis.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the life support and airlock support subsystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arbet, Jim; Duffy, R.; Barickman, K.; Saiidi, Mo J.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Life Support System (LSS) and Airlock Support System (ALSS). Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. The LSS provides for the management of the supply water, collection of metabolic waste, management of waste water, smoke detection, and fire suppression. The ALSS provides water, oxygen, and electricity to support an extravehicular activity in the airlock.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the orbital maneuvering system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prust, C. D.; Paul, D. J.; Burkemper, V. J.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) hardware are documented. The OMS provides the thrust to perform orbit insertion, orbit circularization, orbit transfer, rendezvous, and deorbit. The OMS is housed in two independent pods located one on each side of the tail and consists of the following subsystems: Helium Pressurization; Propellant Storage and Distribution; Orbital Maneuvering Engine; and Electrical Power Distribution and Control. The IOA analysis process utilized available OMS hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluted and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was asigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Ranking and averaging independent component analysis by reproducibility (RAICAR).

PubMed

Yang, Zhi; LaConte, Stephen; Weng, Xuchu; Hu, Xiaoping

2008-06-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a data-driven approach that has exhibited great utility for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Standard ICA implementations, however, do not provide the number and relative importance of the resulting components. In addition, ICA algorithms utilizing gradient-based optimization give decompositions that are dependent on initialization values, which can lead to dramatically different results. In this work, a new method, RAICAR (Ranking and Averaging Independent Component Analysis by Reproducibility), is introduced to address these issues for spatial ICA applied to fMRI. RAICAR utilizes repeated ICA realizations and relies on the reproducibility between them to rank and select components. Different realizations are aligned based on correlations, leading to aligned components. Each component is ranked and thresholded based on between-realization correlations. Furthermore, different realizations of each aligned component are selectively averaged to generate the final estimate of the given component. Reliability and accuracy of this method are demonstrated with both simulated and experimental fMRI data. Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the atmospheric revitalization pressure control subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saiidi, M. J.; Duffy, R. E.; Mclaughlin, T. D.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis/Critical Items List (FMEA/CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Atmospheric Revitalization and Pressure Control Subsystem (ARPCS) are documented. The ARPCS hardware was categorized into the following subdivisions: (1) Atmospheric Make-up and Control (including the Auxiliary Oxygen Assembly, Oxygen Assembly, and Nitrogen Assembly); and (2) Atmospheric Vent and Control (including the Positive Relief Vent Assembly, Negative Relief Vent Assembly, and Cabin Vent Assembly). The IOA analysis process utilized available ARPCS hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the mechanical actuation subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bacher, J. L.; Montgomery, A. D.; Bradway, M. W.; Slaughter, W. T.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Mechanical Actuation System (MAS) hardware. Specifically, the MAS hardware consists of the following components: Air Data Probe (ADP); Elevon Seal Panel (ESP); External Tank Umbilical (ETU); Ku-Band Deploy (KBD); Payload Bay Doors (PBD); Payload Bay Radiators (PBR); Personnel Hatches (PH); Vent Door Mechanism (VDM); and Startracker Door Mechanism (SDM). The IOA analysis process utilized available MAS hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

N(1520) 3/2- Helicity Amplitudes from an Energy-Independent Multipole Analysis Based on New Polarization Data on Photoproduction of Neutral Pions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, J.; Dutz, H.; Anisovich, A. V.; Bayadilov, D.; Beck, R.; Becker, M.; Beloglazov, Y.; Berlin, A.; Bichow, M.; Böse, S.; Brinkmann, K.-Th.; Crede, V.; Dieterle, M.; Eberhardt, H.; Elsner, D.; Fornet-Ponse, K.; Friedrich, St.; Frommberger, F.; Funke, Ch.; Gottschall, M.; Gridnev, A.; Grüner, M.; Gutz, E.; Hammann, Ch.; Hannappel, J.; Hannen, V.; Herick, J.; Hillert, W.; Hoffmeister, Ph.; Honisch, Ch.; Jahn, O.; Jude, T.; Käser, A.; Kaiser, D.; Kalinowsky, H.; Kalischewski, F.; Klassen, P.; Keshelashvili, I.; Klein, F.; Klempt, E.; Koop, K.; Krusche, B.; Kube, M.; Lang, M.; Lopatin, I.; Makonyi, K.; Messi, F.; Metag, V.; Meyer, W.; Müller, J.; Nanova, M.; Nikonov, V.; Novinski, D.; Novotny, R.; Piontek, D.; Rosenbaum, C.; Roth, B.; Reicherz, G.; Rostomyan, T.; Sarantsev, A.; Schmidt, Ch.; Schmieden, H.; Schmitz, R.; Seifen, T.; Sokhoyan, V.; Thämer, Ph.; Thiel, A.; Thoma, U.; Urban, M.; van Pee, H.; Walther, D.; Wendel, Ch.; Wiedner, U.; Wilson, A.; Winnebeck, A.; Witthauer, L.; Wunderlich, Y.; Cbelsa/Taps Collaboration

2014-08-01

New data on the polarization observables T, P, and H for the reaction γp→pπ0 are reported. The results are extracted from azimuthal asymmetries when a transversely polarized butanol target and a linearly polarized photon beam are used. The data were taken at the Bonn electron stretcher accelerator ELSA using the CBELSA/TAPS detector. These and earlier data are used to perform a truncated energy-independent partial wave analysis in sliced-energy bins. This energy-independent analysis is compared to the results from energy-dependent partial wave analyses.

Constrained independent component analysis approach to nonobtrusive pulse rate measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsouri, Gill R.; Kyal, Survi; Dianat, Sohail; Mestha, Lalit K.

2012-07-01

Nonobtrusive pulse rate measurement using a webcam is considered. We demonstrate how state-of-the-art algorithms based on independent component analysis suffer from a sorting problem which hinders their performance, and propose a novel algorithm based on constrained independent component analysis to improve performance. We present how the proposed algorithm extracts a photoplethysmography signal and resolves the sorting problem. In addition, we perform a comparative study between the proposed algorithm and state-of-the-art algorithms over 45 video streams using a finger probe oxymeter for reference measurements. The proposed algorithm provides improved accuracy: the root mean square error is decreased from 20.6 and 9.5 beats per minute (bpm) for existing algorithms to 3.5 bpm for the proposed algorithm. An error of 3.5 bpm is within the inaccuracy expected from the reference measurements. This implies that the proposed algorithm provided performance of equal accuracy to the finger probe oximeter.

Constrained independent component analysis approach to nonobtrusive pulse rate measurements.

PubMed

Tsouri, Gill R; Kyal, Survi; Dianat, Sohail; Mestha, Lalit K

2012-07-01

Nonobtrusive pulse rate measurement using a webcam is considered. We demonstrate how state-of-the-art algorithms based on independent component analysis suffer from a sorting problem which hinders their performance, and propose a novel algorithm based on constrained independent component analysis to improve performance. We present how the proposed algorithm extracts a photoplethysmography signal and resolves the sorting problem. In addition, we perform a comparative study between the proposed algorithm and state-of-the-art algorithms over 45 video streams using a finger probe oxymeter for reference measurements. The proposed algorithm provides improved accuracy: the root mean square error is decreased from 20.6 and 9.5 beats per minute (bpm) for existing algorithms to 3.5 bpm for the proposed algorithm. An error of 3.5 bpm is within the inaccuracy expected from the reference measurements. This implies that the proposed algorithm provided performance of equal accuracy to the finger probe oximeter.

CO component estimation based on the independent component analysis

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

Ichiki, Kiyotomo; Kaji, Ryohei; Yamamoto, Hiroaki

2014-01-01

Fast Independent Component Analysis (FastICA) is a component separation algorithm based on the levels of non-Gaussianity. Here we apply FastICA to the component separation problem of the microwave background, including carbon monoxide (CO) line emissions that are found to contaminate the PLANCK High Frequency Instrument (HFI) data. Specifically, we prepare 100 GHz, 143 GHz, and 217 GHz mock microwave sky maps, which include galactic thermal dust, NANTEN CO line, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) emissions, and then estimate the independent components based on the kurtosis. We find that FastICA can successfully estimate the CO component as the first independentmore » component in our deflection algorithm because its distribution has the largest degree of non-Gaussianity among the components. Thus, FastICA can be a promising technique to extract CO-like components without prior assumptions about their distributions and frequency dependences.« less

Estimation of 1RM for knee extension based on the maximal isometric muscle strength and body composition.

PubMed

Kanada, Yoshikiyo; Sakurai, Hiroaki; Sugiura, Yoshito; Arai, Tomoaki; Koyama, Soichiro; Tanabe, Shigeo

2017-11-01

[Purpose] To create a regression formula in order to estimate 1RM for knee extensors, based on the maximal isometric muscle strength measured using a hand-held dynamometer and data regarding the body composition. [Subjects and Methods] Measurement was performed in 21 healthy males in their twenties to thirties. Single regression analysis was performed, with measurement values representing 1RM and the maximal isometric muscle strength as dependent and independent variables, respectively. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis was performed, with data regarding the body composition incorporated as another independent variable, in addition to the maximal isometric muscle strength. [Results] Through single regression analysis with the maximal isometric muscle strength as an independent variable, the following regression formula was created: 1RM (kg)=0.714 + 0.783 × maximal isometric muscle strength (kgf). On multiple regression analysis, only the total muscle mass was extracted. [Conclusion] A highly accurate regression formula to estimate 1RM was created based on both the maximal isometric muscle strength and body composition. Using a hand-held dynamometer and body composition analyzer, it was possible to measure these items in a short time, and obtain clinically useful results.

A Subject-Independent Method for Automatically Grading Electromyographic Features During a Fatiguing Contraction

PubMed Central

Jesunathadas, Mark; Poston, Brach; Santello, Marco; Ye, Jieping; Panchanathan, Sethuraman

2014-01-01

Many studies have attempted to monitor fatigue from electromyogram (EMG) signals. However, fatigue affects EMG in a subject-specific manner. We present here a subject-independent framework for monitoring the changes in EMG features that accompany muscle fatigue based on principal component analysis and factor analysis. The proposed framework is based on several time- and frequency-domain features, unlike most of the existing work, which is based on two to three features. Results show that latent factors obtained from factor analysis on these features provide a robust and unified framework. This framework learns a model from EMG signals of multiple subjects, that form a reference group, and monitors the changes in EMG features during a sustained submaximal contraction on a test subject on a scale from zero to one. The framework was tested on EMG signals collected from 12 muscles of eight healthy subjects. The distribution of factor scores of the test subject, when mapped onto the framework was similar for both the subject-specific and subject-independent cases. PMID:22498666

Verification of Sulfate Attack Penetration Rates for Saltstone Disposal Unit Modeling

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

Flach, G. P.

Recent Special Analysis modeling of Saltstone Disposal Units consider sulfate attack on concrete and utilize degradation rates estimated from Cementitious Barriers Partnership software simulations. This study provides an independent verification of those simulation results using an alternative analysis method and an independent characterization data source. The sulfate penetration depths estimated herein are similar to the best-estimate values in SRNL-STI-2013-00118 Rev. 2 and well below the nominal values subsequently used to define Saltstone Special Analysis base cases.

Electronic Nose Based on Independent Component Analysis Combined with Partial Least Squares and Artificial Neural Networks for Wine Prediction

PubMed Central

Aguilera, Teodoro; Lozano, Jesús; Paredes, José A.; Álvarez, Fernando J.; Suárez, José I.

2012-01-01

The aim of this work is to propose an alternative way for wine classification and prediction based on an electronic nose (e-nose) combined with Independent Component Analysis (ICA) as a dimensionality reduction technique, Partial Least Squares (PLS) to predict sensorial descriptors and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for classification purpose. A total of 26 wines from different regions, varieties and elaboration processes have been analyzed with an e-nose and tasted by a sensory panel. Successful results have been obtained in most cases for prediction and classification. PMID:22969387

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the auxiliary power unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barnes, J. E.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). The APUs are required to provide power to the Orbiter hydraulics systems during ascent and entry flight phases for aerosurface actuation, main engine gimballing, landing gear extension, and other vital functions. For analysis purposes, the APU system was broken down into ten functional subsystems. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. A preponderance of 1/1 criticality items were related to failures that allowed the hydrazine fuel to escape into the Orbiter aft compartment, creating a severe fire hazard, and failures that caused loss of the gas generator injector cooling system.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the electrical power generation/fuel cell powerplant subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, K. L.; Bertsch, P. J.

1986-01-01

Results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Electrical Power Generation (EPG)/Fuel Cell Powerplant (FCP) hardware. The EPG/FCP hardware is required for performing functions of electrical power generation and product water distribution in the Orbiter. Specifically, the EPG/FCP hardware consists of the following divisions: (1) Power Section Assembly (PSA); (2) Reactant Control Subsystem (RCS); (3) Thermal Control Subsystem (TCS); and (4) Water Removal Subsystem (WRS). The IOA analysis process utilized available EPG/FCP hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Determining the optimal number of independent components for reproducible transcriptomic data analysis.

PubMed

Kairov, Ulykbek; Cantini, Laura; Greco, Alessandro; Molkenov, Askhat; Czerwinska, Urszula; Barillot, Emmanuel; Zinovyev, Andrei

2017-09-11

Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a method that models gene expression data as an action of a set of statistically independent hidden factors. The output of ICA depends on a fundamental parameter: the number of components (factors) to compute. The optimal choice of this parameter, related to determining the effective data dimension, remains an open question in the application of blind source separation techniques to transcriptomic data. Here we address the question of optimizing the number of statistically independent components in the analysis of transcriptomic data for reproducibility of the components in multiple runs of ICA (within the same or within varying effective dimensions) and in multiple independent datasets. To this end, we introduce ranking of independent components based on their stability in multiple ICA computation runs and define a distinguished number of components (Most Stable Transcriptome Dimension, MSTD) corresponding to the point of the qualitative change of the stability profile. Based on a large body of data, we demonstrate that a sufficient number of dimensions is required for biological interpretability of the ICA decomposition and that the most stable components with ranks below MSTD have more chances to be reproduced in independent studies compared to the less stable ones. At the same time, we show that a transcriptomics dataset can be reduced to a relatively high number of dimensions without losing the interpretability of ICA, even though higher dimensions give rise to components driven by small gene sets. We suggest a protocol of ICA application to transcriptomics data with a possibility of prioritizing components with respect to their reproducibility that strengthens the biological interpretation. Computing too few components (much less than MSTD) is not optimal for interpretability of the results. The components ranked within MSTD range have more chances to be reproduced in independent studies.

Crude oil price analysis and forecasting based on variational mode decomposition and independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

E, Jianwei; Bao, Yanling; Ye, Jimin

2017-10-01

As one of the most vital energy resources in the world, crude oil plays a significant role in international economic market. The fluctuation of crude oil price has attracted academic and commercial attention. There exist many methods in forecasting the trend of crude oil price. However, traditional models failed in predicting accurately. Based on this, a hybrid method will be proposed in this paper, which combines variational mode decomposition (VMD), independent component analysis (ICA) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), called VMD-ICA-ARIMA. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence factors of crude oil price and predict the future crude oil price. Major steps can be concluded as follows: Firstly, applying the VMD model on the original signal (crude oil price), the modes function can be decomposed adaptively. Secondly, independent components are separated by the ICA, and how the independent components affect the crude oil price is analyzed. Finally, forecasting the price of crude oil price by the ARIMA model, the forecasting trend demonstrates that crude oil price declines periodically. Comparing with benchmark ARIMA and EEMD-ICA-ARIMA, VMD-ICA-ARIMA can forecast the crude oil price more accurately.

Artifacts and noise removal in electrocardiograms using independent component analysis.

PubMed

Chawla, M P S; Verma, H K; Kumar, Vinod

2008-09-26

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a novel technique capable of separating independent components from electrocardiogram (ECG) complex signals. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the effectiveness of ICA in removing artifacts and noise from ECG recordings. ICA is applied to remove artifacts and noise in ECG segments of either an individual ECG CSE data base file or all files. The reconstructed ECGs are compared with the original ECG signal. For the four special cases discussed, the R-Peak magnitudes of the CSE data base ECG waveforms before and after applying ICA are also found. In the results, it is shown that in most of the cases, the percentage error in reconstruction is very small. The results show that there is a significant improvement in signal quality, i.e. SNR. All the ECG recording cases dealt showed an improved ECG appearance after the use of ICA. This establishes the efficacy of ICA in elimination of noise and artifacts in electrocardiograms.

Independent Predictors of Prognosis Based on Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Surgical Margins.

PubMed

Buchakjian, Marisa R; Ginader, Timothy; Tasche, Kendall K; Pagedar, Nitin A; Smith, Brian J; Sperry, Steven M

2018-05-01

Objective To conduct a multivariate analysis of a large cohort of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) cases for independent predictors of local recurrence (LR) and overall survival (OS), with emphasis on the relationship between (1) prognosis and (2) main specimen permanent margins and intraoperative tumor bed frozen margins. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary academic head and neck cancer program. Subjects and Methods This study included 426 patients treated with OCSCC resection between 2005 and 2014 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Patients underwent excision of OCSCC with intraoperative tumor bed frozen margin sampling and main specimen permanent margin assessment. Multivariate analysis of the data set to predict LR and OS was performed. Results Independent predictors of LR included nodal involvement, histologic grade, and main specimen permanent margin status. Specifically, the presence of a positive margin (odds ratio, 6.21; 95% CI, 3.3-11.9) or <1-mm/carcinoma in situ margin (odds ratio, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.19-4.87) on the main specimen was an independent predictor of LR, whereas intraoperative tumor bed margins were not predictive of LR on multivariate analysis. Similarly, independent predictors of OS on multivariate analysis included nodal involvement, extracapsular extension, and a positive main specimen margin. Tumor bed margins did not independently predict OS. Conclusion The main specimen margin is a strong independent predictor of LR and OS on multivariate analysis. Intraoperative tumor bed frozen margins do not independently predict prognosis. We conclude that emphasis should be placed on evaluating the main specimen margins when estimating prognosis after OCSCC resection.

Overview of Infrastructure Science and Analysis for Homeland Security

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

Backhaus, Scott N.

This presentation offers an analysis of infrastructure science with goals to provide third-party independent science based input into complex problems of national concern and to use scientific analysis to "turn down the noise" around complex problems.

Functional Connectivity Parcellation of the Human Thalamus by Independent Component Analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Sheng; Li, Chiang-Shan R

2017-11-01

As a key structure to relay and integrate information, the thalamus supports multiple cognitive and affective functions through the connectivity between its subnuclei and cortical and subcortical regions. Although extant studies have largely described thalamic regional functions in anatomical terms, evidence accumulates to suggest a more complex picture of subareal activities and connectivities of the thalamus. In this study, we aimed to parcellate the thalamus and examine whole-brain connectivity of its functional clusters. With resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 96 adults, we used independent component analysis (ICA) to parcellate the thalamus into 10 components. On the basis of the independence assumption, ICA helps to identify how subclusters overlap spatially. Whole brain functional connectivity of each subdivision was computed for independent component's time course (ICtc), which is a unique time series to represent an IC. For comparison, we computed seed-region-based functional connectivity using the averaged time course across all voxels within a thalamic subdivision. The results showed that, at p < 10 -6 , corrected, 49% of voxels on average overlapped among subdivisions. Compared with seed-region analysis, ICtc analysis revealed patterns of connectivity that were more distinguished between thalamic clusters. ICtc analysis demonstrated thalamic connectivity to the primary motor cortex, which has eluded the analysis as well as previous studies based on averaged time series, and clarified thalamic connectivity to the hippocampus, caudate nucleus, and precuneus. The new findings elucidate functional organization of the thalamus and suggest that ICA clustering in combination with ICtc rather than seed-region analysis better distinguishes whole-brain connectivities among functional clusters of a brain region.

Microbial composition during Chinese soy sauce koji-making based on culture dependent and independent methods.

PubMed

Yan, Yin-zhuo; Qian, Yu-lin; Ji, Feng-di; Chen, Jing-yu; Han, Bei-zhong

2013-05-01

Koji-making is a key process for production of high quality soy sauce. The microbial composition during koji-making was investigated by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods to determine predominant bacterial and fungal populations. The culture-dependent methods used were direct culture and colony morphology observation, and PCR amplification of 16S/26S rDNA fragments followed by sequencing analysis. The culture-independent method was based on the analysis of 16S/26S rDNA clone libraries. There were differences between the results obtained by different methods. However, sufficient overlap existed between the different methods to identify potentially significant microbial groups. 16 and 20 different bacterial species were identified using culture-dependent and culture-independent methods, respectively. 7 species could be identified by both methods. The most predominant bacterial genera were Weissella and Staphylococcus. Both 6 different fungal species were identified using culture-dependent and culture-independent methods, respectively. Only 3 species could be identified by both sets of methods. The most predominant fungi were Aspergillus and Candida species. This work illustrated the importance of a comprehensive polyphasic approach in the analysis of microbial composition during soy sauce koji-making, the knowledge of which will enable further optimization of microbial composition and quality control of koji to upgrade Chinese traditional soy sauce product. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Biaxial Stress Fields in Plates Cracking at Elevated Temperatures

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-10-19

used . Based on the enhanced theory, it is predicted that the minimum resolvable stress amplitude using thermographic stress analysis will be...because of limitations in the commercial thermographic equipment used . Based on the enhanced theory, it is predicted that the minimum resolvable stress...amplitude using thermographic stress analysis will be approximately independent of temperature, provided relevant thermal and mechanical material

A demonstration of an independent-station radio interferometry system with 4-cm precision on a 16-km base line. [for geodesy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, J. B.; Fanselow, J. L.; Macdoran, P. F.; Skjerve, L. J.; Spitzmesser, D. J.; Fliegel, H. F.

1976-01-01

Radio interferometry promises eventually to measure directly, with accuracies of a few centimeters, both whole earth motions and relative crustal motions with respect to an 'inertial' reference frame. Interferometry measurements of arbitrarily long base lines require, however, the development of new techniques for independent-station observation. In connection with the development of such techniques, a series of short base line demonstration experiments has been conducted between two antennas. The experiments were related to a program involving the design of independent-station instrumentation capable of making three-dimensional earth-fixed base line measurements with an accuracy of a few centimeters. Attention is given to the instrumentation used in the experiments, aspects of data analysis, and the experimental results.

Independent Component Analysis applied to Ground-based observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martins-Filho, Walter; Griffith, Caitlin; Pearson, Kyle; Waldmann, Ingo; Alvarez-Candal, Alvaro; Zellem, Robert Thomas

2018-01-01

Transit measurements of Jovian-sized exoplanetary atmospheres allow one to study the composition of exoplanets, largely independent of the planet’s temperature profile. However, measurements of hot-Jupiter transits must archive a level of accuracy in the flux to determine the spectral modulation of the exoplanetary atmosphere. To accomplish this level of precision, we need to extract systematic errors, and, for ground-based measurements, the effects of Earth’s atmosphere, from signal due to the exoplanet, which is several orders of magnitude smaller. The effects of the terrestrial atmosphere and some of the time-dependent systematic errors of ground-based transit measurements are treated mainly by dividing the host star by a reference star at each wavelength and time step of the transit. Recently, Independent Component Analysis (ICA) have been used to remove systematics effects from the raw data of space-based observations (Waldmann, 2014, 2012; Morello et al., 2016, 2015). ICA is a statistical method born from the ideas of the blind-source separations studies, which can be used to de-trend several independent source signals of a data set (Hyvarinen and Oja, 2000). This technique requires no additional prior knowledge of the data set. In addition, this technique has the advantage of requiring no reference star. Here we apply the ICA to ground-based photometry of the exoplanet XO-2b recorded by the 61” Kuiper Telescope and compare the results of the ICA to those of a previous analysis from Zellem et al. (2015), which does not use ICA. We also simulate the effects of various conditions (concerning the systematic errors, noise and the stability of object on the detector) to determine the conditions under which an ICA can be used with high precision to extract the light curve of exoplanetary photometry measurements

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the active thermal control subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sinclair, S. K.; Parkman, W. E.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical (PCIs) items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Active Thermal Control Subsystem (ATCS) are documented. The major purpose of the ATCS is to remove the heat, generated during normal Shuttle operations from the Orbiter systems and subsystems. The four major components of the ATCS contributing to the heat removal are: Freon Coolant Loops; Radiator and Flow Control Assembly; Flash Evaporator System; and Ammonia Boiler System. In order to perform the analysis, the IOA process utilized available ATCS hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Of the 310 failure modes analyzed, 101 were determined to be PCIs.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the hydraulics/water spray boiler subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duval, J. D.; Davidson, W. R.; Parkman, William E.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items (PCIs). To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results for the Orbiter Hydraulics/Water Spray Boiler Subsystem. The hydraulic system provides hydraulic power to gimbal the main engines, actuate the main engine propellant control valves, move the aerodynamic flight control surfaces, lower the landing gear, apply wheel brakes, steer the nosewheel, and dampen the external tank (ET) separation. Each hydraulic system has an associated water spray boiler which is used to cool the hydraulic fluid and APU lubricating oil. The IOA analysis process utilized available HYD/WSB hardware drawings, schematics and documents for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Of the 430 failure modes analyzed, 166 were determined to be PCIs.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the electrical power distribution and control/electrical power generation subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patton, Jeff A.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Electrical Power Distribution and Control (EPD and C)/Electrical Power Generation (EPG) hardware. The EPD and C/EPG hardware is required for performing critical functions of cryogenic reactant storage, electrical power generation and product water distribution in the Orbiter. Specifically, the EPD and C/EPG hardware consists of the following components: Power Section Assembly (PSA); Reactant Control Subsystem (RCS); Thermal Control Subsystem (TCS); Water Removal Subsystem (WRS); and Power Reactant Storage and Distribution System (PRSDS). The IOA analysis process utilized available EPD and C/EPG hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Concurrent Development and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Paper-Based and Digitized Instructional Material.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annand, David

2002-01-01

Describes the simultaneous development of paper-based and digitized versions of a textbook and related instructional material used in an undergraduate, independent study, distance education course at Athabasca University (Canada). Used break-even analysis as an initial evaluation measure to determine cost-effectiveness, and discusses the next…

Face-space architectures: evidence for the use of independent color-based features.

PubMed

Nestor, Adrian; Plaut, David C; Behrmann, Marlene

2013-07-01

The concept of psychological face space lies at the core of many theories of face recognition and representation. To date, much of the understanding of face space has been based on principal component analysis (PCA); the structure of the psychological space is thought to reflect some important aspects of a physical face space characterized by PCA applications to face images. In the present experiments, we investigated alternative accounts of face space and found that independent component analysis provided the best fit to human judgments of face similarity and identification. Thus, our results challenge an influential approach to the study of human face space and provide evidence for the role of statistically independent features in face encoding. In addition, our findings support the use of color information in the representation of facial identity, and we thus argue for the inclusion of such information in theoretical and computational constructs of face space.

Classifying Facial Actions

PubMed Central

Donato, Gianluca; Bartlett, Marian Stewart; Hager, Joseph C.; Ekman, Paul; Sejnowski, Terrence J.

2010-01-01

The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) [23] is an objective method for quantifying facial movement in terms of component actions. This system is widely used in behavioral investigations of emotion, cognitive processes, and social interaction. The coding is presently performed by highly trained human experts. This paper explores and compares techniques for automatically recognizing facial actions in sequences of images. These techniques include analysis of facial motion through estimation of optical flow; holistic spatial analysis, such as principal component analysis, independent component analysis, local feature analysis, and linear discriminant analysis; and methods based on the outputs of local filters, such as Gabor wavelet representations and local principal components. Performance of these systems is compared to naive and expert human subjects. Best performances were obtained using the Gabor wavelet representation and the independent component representation, both of which achieved 96 percent accuracy for classifying 12 facial actions of the upper and lower face. The results provide converging evidence for the importance of using local filters, high spatial frequencies, and statistical independence for classifying facial actions. PMID:21188284

A Multilevel Testlet Model for Dual Local Dependence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiao, Hong; Kamata, Akihito; Wang, Shudong; Jin, Ying

2012-01-01

The applications of item response theory (IRT) models assume local item independence and that examinees are independent of each other. When a representative sample for psychometric analysis is selected using a cluster sampling method in a testlet-based assessment, both local item dependence and local person dependence are likely to be induced.…

A new multicriteria risk mapping approach based on a multiattribute frontier concept

Treesearch

Denys Yemshanov; Frank H. Koch; Yakov Ben-Haim; Marla Downing; Frank Sapio; Marty Siltanen

2013-01-01

Invasive species risk maps provide broad guidance on where to allocate resources for pest monitoring and regulation, but they often present individual risk components (such as climatic suitability, host abundance, or introduction potential) as independent entities. These independent risk components are integrated using various multicriteria analysis techniques that...

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the mechanical actuation subsystem, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bradway, M. W.; Slaughter, W. T.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine draft failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the proposed Post 51-L NASA FMEA/CIL baseline that was available. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison was provided through additional analysis as required. These discrepancies were flagged as issues, and recommendations were made based on the FMEA data available at the time. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter Mechanical Actuation System (MAS) hardware. Specifically, the MAS hardware consists of the following components: Air Data Probe (ADP); Elevon Seal Panel (ESP); External Tank Umbilical (ETU); Ku-Band Deploy (KBD); Payload Bay Doors (PBD); Payload Bay Radiators (PBR); Personnel Hatches (PH); Vent Door Mechanism (VDM); and Startracker Door Mechanism (SDM). Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the guidance, navigation, and control subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trahan, W. H.; Odonnell, R. A.; Pietz, K. C.; Hiott, J. M.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) is presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Subsystem hardware are documented. The function of the GNC hardware is to respond to guidance, navigation, and control software commands to effect vehicle control and to provide sensor and controller data to GNC software. Some of the GNC hardware for which failure modes analysis was performed includes: hand controllers; Rudder Pedal Transducer Assembly (RPTA); Speed Brake Thrust Controller (SBTC); Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU); Star Tracker (ST); Crew Optical Alignment Site (COAS); Air Data Transducer Assembly (ADTA); Rate Gyro Assemblies; Accelerometer Assembly (AA); Aerosurface Servo Amplifier (ASA); and Ascent Thrust Vector Control (ATVC). The IOA analysis process utilized available GNC hardware drawings, workbooks, specifications, schematics, and systems briefs for defining hardware assemblies, components, and circuits. Each hardware item was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Independent Component Analysis of Textures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manduchi, Roberto; Portilla, Javier

2000-01-01

A common method for texture representation is to use the marginal probability densities over the outputs of a set of multi-orientation, multi-scale filters as a description of the texture. We propose a technique, based on Independent Components Analysis, for choosing the set of filters that yield the most informative marginals, meaning that the product over the marginals most closely approximates the joint probability density function of the filter outputs. The algorithm is implemented using a steerable filter space. Experiments involving both texture classification and synthesis show that compared to Principal Components Analysis, ICA provides superior performance for modeling of natural and synthetic textures.

Independent component analysis for the extraction of reliable protein signal profiles from MALDI-TOF mass spectra.

PubMed

Mantini, Dante; Petrucci, Francesca; Del Boccio, Piero; Pieragostino, Damiana; Di Nicola, Marta; Lugaresi, Alessandra; Federici, Giorgio; Sacchetta, Paolo; Di Ilio, Carmine; Urbani, Andrea

2008-01-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a signal processing technique that can be utilized to recover independent signals from a set of their linear mixtures. We propose ICA for the analysis of signals obtained from large proteomics investigations such as clinical multi-subject studies based on MALDI-TOF MS profiling. The method is validated on simulated and experimental data for demonstrating its capability of correctly extracting protein profiles from MALDI-TOF mass spectra. The comparison on peak detection with an open-source and two commercial methods shows its superior reliability in reducing the false discovery rate of protein peak masses. Moreover, the integration of ICA and statistical tests for detecting the differences in peak intensities between experimental groups allows to identify protein peaks that could be indicators of a diseased state. This data-driven approach demonstrates to be a promising tool for biomarker-discovery studies based on MALDI-TOF MS technology. The MATLAB implementation of the method described in the article and both simulated and experimental data are freely available at http://www.unich.it/proteomica/bioinf/.

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

Bower, G.

We summarize the current status and future developments of the North American Group's Java-based system for studying physics and detector design issues at a linear collider. The system is built around Java Analysis Studio (JAS) an experiment-independent Java-based utility for data analysis. Although the system is an integrated package running in JAS, many parts of it are also standalone Java utilities.

An Investigation of Document Partitions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, W. M., Jr.

1986-01-01

Empirical significance of document partitions is investigated as a function of index term-weight and similarity thresholds. Results show the same empirically preferred partitions can be detected by two independent strategies: an analysis of cluster-based retrieval analysis and an analysis of regularities in the underlying structure of the document…

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the DPS subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lowery, H. J.; Haufler, W. A.; Pietz, K. C.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis/Critical Items List (FMEA/CIL) is presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to independently determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. The independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Data Processing System (DPS) hardware are documented. The DPS hardware is required for performing critical functions of data acquisition, data manipulation, data display, and data transfer throughout the Orbiter. Specifically, the DPS hardware consists of the following components: Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM); General Purpose Computer (GPC); Multifunction CRT Display System (MCDS); Data Buses and Data Bus Couplers (DBC); Data Bus Isolation Amplifiers (DBIA); Mass Memory Unit (MMU); and Engine Interface Unit (EIU). The IOA analysis process utilized available DPS hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Due to the extensive redundancy built into the DPS the number of critical items are few. Those identified resulted from premature operation and erroneous output of the GPCs.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the nose wheel steering subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mediavilla, Anthony Scott

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Orbiter Nose Wheel Steering (NWS) hardware are documented. The NWS hardware provides primary directional control for the Orbiter vehicle during landing rollout. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. The original NWS design was envisioned as a backup system to differential braking for directional control of the Orbiter during landing rollout. No real effort was made to design the NWS system as fail operational. The brakes have much redundancy built into their design but the poor brake/tire performance has forced the NSTS to upgrade NWS to the primary mode of directional control during rollout. As a result, a large percentage of the NWS system components have become Potential Critical Items (PCI).

On an Additive Semigraphoid Model for Statistical Networks With Application to Pathway Analysis.

PubMed

Li, Bing; Chun, Hyonho; Zhao, Hongyu

2014-09-01

We introduce a nonparametric method for estimating non-gaussian graphical models based on a new statistical relation called additive conditional independence, which is a three-way relation among random vectors that resembles the logical structure of conditional independence. Additive conditional independence allows us to use one-dimensional kernel regardless of the dimension of the graph, which not only avoids the curse of dimensionality but also simplifies computation. It also gives rise to a parallel structure to the gaussian graphical model that replaces the precision matrix by an additive precision operator. The estimators derived from additive conditional independence cover the recently introduced nonparanormal graphical model as a special case, but outperform it when the gaussian copula assumption is violated. We compare the new method with existing ones by simulations and in genetic pathway analysis.

Analysis of MLS Based Surveillance System (MLSS) Concepts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1989-04-01

This report examines a number of surveillance system concepts to support safe independent runway approaches and converging runways under weather conditons. All surveillance conepts are based on the use of MLS signals. The resultin surveillance is ava...

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the body flap subsystem FMEA/CIL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Body Flap (BF) hardware, generating draft failure modes and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the NASA FMEA/CIL baseline with proposed Post 51-L updates included. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison is provided through additional analysis as required. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter BF hardware. The IOA product for the BF analysis consisted of 43 failure mode worksheets that resulted in 19 potential critical items being identified. Comparison was made to the NASA baseline which consisted of 34 FMEAs and 15 CIL items. This comparison produced agreement on all CIL items. Based on the Pre 51-L baseline, all non-CIL FMEAs were also in agreement.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the elevon actuator subsystem FMEA/CIL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Elevon Subsystem hardware, generating draft failure modes, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the NASA FMEA/CIL baseline with proposed Post 51-L updates included. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison is provided through additional analysis as required. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter Elevon hardware. The IOA product for the Elevon analysis consisted of 25 failure mode worksheets that resulted in 17 potential critical items being identified. Comparison was made to the NASA FMEA/CIL, which consisted of 23 FMEAs and 13 CIL items. This comparison produced agreement on all CIL items. Based on the Pre 51-L baseline, all non-CIL FMEAs were also in agreement.

Differential expression analysis for RNAseq using Poisson mixed models

PubMed Central

Sun, Shiquan; Hood, Michelle; Scott, Laura; Peng, Qinke; Mukherjee, Sayan; Tung, Jenny

2017-01-01

Abstract Identifying differentially expressed (DE) genes from RNA sequencing (RNAseq) studies is among the most common analyses in genomics. However, RNAseq DE analysis presents several statistical and computational challenges, including over-dispersed read counts and, in some settings, sample non-independence. Previous count-based methods rely on simple hierarchical Poisson models (e.g. negative binomial) to model independent over-dispersion, but do not account for sample non-independence due to relatedness, population structure and/or hidden confounders. Here, we present a Poisson mixed model with two random effects terms that account for both independent over-dispersion and sample non-independence. We also develop a scalable sampling-based inference algorithm using a latent variable representation of the Poisson distribution. With simulations, we show that our method properly controls for type I error and is generally more powerful than other widely used approaches, except in small samples (n <15) with other unfavorable properties (e.g. small effect sizes). We also apply our method to three real datasets that contain related individuals, population stratification or hidden confounders. Our results show that our method increases power in all three data compared to other approaches, though the power gain is smallest in the smallest sample (n = 6). Our method is implemented in MACAU, freely available at www.xzlab.org/software.html. PMID:28369632

The Changing Landscape of School Choice in Canada: From Pluralism to Parental Preference?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bosetti, Lynn; Van Pelt, Deani; Allison, Derek J.

2017-01-01

This paper provides a descriptive account of the growing landscape of school choice in Canada through a comparative analysis of funding and student enrolment in the public, independent and home-based education sectors in each province. Given that the provinces have responsibility for K-12 education, the mixture of public, independent and home…

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the mechanical actuation subsystem, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bradway, M. W.; Slaughter, W. T.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine draft failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the proposed Post 51-L NASA FMEA/CIL baseline that was available. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison was provided through additional analysis as required. These discrepancies were flagged as issues, and recommendations were made based on the FMEA data available at the time. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter Mechanical Actuation System (MAS) hardware. Specifically, the MAS hardware consists of the following components: Air Data Probe (ADP); Elevon Seal Panel (ESP); External Tank Umbilical (ETU); Ku-Band Deploy (KBD); Payload Bay Doors (PBD); Payload Bay Radiators (PBR); Personnel Hatches (PH); Vent Door Mechanism (VDM); and Startracker Door Mechanism (SDM). Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Volume 2 continues the presentation of IOA analysis worksheets and contains the potential critical items list, detailed analysis, and NASA FMEA/CIL to IOA worksheet cross reference and recommendations.

Frequency-domain-independent vector analysis for mode-division multiplexed transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yunhe; Hu, Guijun; Li, Jiao

2018-04-01

In this paper, we propose a demultiplexing method based on frequency-domain independent vector analysis (FD-IVA) algorithm for mode-division multiplexing (MDM) system. FD-IVA extends frequency-domain independent component analysis (FD-ICA) from unitary variable to multivariate variables, and provides an efficient method to eliminate the permutation ambiguity. In order to verify the performance of FD-IVA algorithm, a 6 ×6 MDM system is simulated. The simulation results show that the FD-IVA algorithm has basically the same bit-error-rate(BER) performance with the FD-ICA algorithm and frequency-domain least mean squares (FD-LMS) algorithm. Meanwhile, the convergence speed of FD-IVA algorithm is the same as that of FD-ICA. However, compared with the FD-ICA and the FD-LMS, the FD-IVA has an obviously lower computational complexity.

Error Propagation Analysis in the SAE Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) and the EDICT Tool Framework

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaValley, Brian W.; Little, Phillip D.; Walter, Chris J.

2011-01-01

This report documents the capabilities of the EDICT tools for error modeling and error propagation analysis when operating with models defined in the Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL). We discuss our experience using the EDICT error analysis capabilities on a model of the Scalable Processor-Independent Design for Enhanced Reliability (SPIDER) architecture that uses the Reliable Optical Bus (ROBUS). Based on these experiences we draw some initial conclusions about model based design techniques for error modeling and analysis of highly reliable computing architectures.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the electrical power distribution and control/remote manipulator system subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, W. W.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the Electrical Power Distribution and Control (EPD and C)/Remote Manipulator System (RMS) hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained in the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the results of the independent analysis of the EPD and C/RMS (both port and starboard) hardware. The EPD and C/RMS subsystem hardware provides the electrical power and power control circuitry required to safely deploy, operate, control, and stow or guillotine and jettison two (one port and one starboard) RMSs. The EPD and C/RMS subsystem is subdivided into the four following functional divisions: Remote Manipulator Arm; Manipulator Deploy Control; Manipulator Latch Control; Manipulator Arm Shoulder Jettison; and Retention Arm Jettison. The IOA analysis process utilized available EPD and C/RMS hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based on the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the displays and controls subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trahan, W. H.; Prust, E. E.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Displays and Controls (D and C) subsystem hardware. The function of the D and C hardware is to provide the crew with the monitor, command, and control capabilities required for management of all normal and contingency mission and flight operations. The D and C hardware for which failure modes analysis was performed consists of the following: Acceleration Indicator (G-METER); Head Up Display (HUD); Display Driver Unit (DDU); Alpha/Mach Indicator (AMI); Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI); Attitude Director Indicator (ADI); Propellant Quantity Indicator (PQI); Surface Position Indicator (SPI); Altitude/Vertical Velocity Indicator (AVVI); Caution and Warning Assembly (CWA); Annunciator Control Assembly (ACA); Event Timer (ET); Mission Timer (MT); Interior Lighting; and Exterior Lighting. Each hardware item was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

NOTE: Entropy-based automated classification of independent components separated from fMCG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comani, S.; Srinivasan, V.; Alleva, G.; Romani, G. L.

2007-03-01

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is a noninvasive technique suitable for the prenatal diagnosis of the fetal heart function. Reliable fetal cardiac signals can be reconstructed from multi-channel fMCG recordings by means of independent component analysis (ICA). However, the identification of the separated components is usually accomplished by visual inspection. This paper discusses a novel automated system based on entropy estimators, namely approximate entropy (ApEn) and sample entropy (SampEn), for the classification of independent components (ICs). The system was validated on 40 fMCG datasets of normal fetuses with the gestational age ranging from 22 to 37 weeks. Both ApEn and SampEn were able to measure the stability and predictability of the physiological signals separated with ICA, and the entropy values of the three categories were significantly different at p <0.01. The system performances were compared with those of a method based on the analysis of the time and frequency content of the components. The outcomes of this study showed a superior performance of the entropy-based system, in particular for early gestation, with an overall ICs detection rate of 98.75% and 97.92% for ApEn and SampEn respectively, as against a value of 94.50% obtained with the time-frequency-based system.

Culture-independent Analysis of Pediatric Broncho-alveolar Lavage (BAL) Specimens.

PubMed

Zachariah, Philip; Ryan, Chanelle; Nadimpalli, Sruti; Coscia, Gina; Kolb, Michelle; Smith, Hannah; Foca, Marc; Saiman, Lisa; Planet, Paul J

2018-06-07

The clinical utility of culture-independent testing of pediatric bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens is unknown. Additionally, the variability of the pediatric pulmonary microbiome with patient characteristics is not well understood. Study subjects were ≤22 years old and underwent BAL from May 2013 - July 2015 as part of clinical care. DNA extracted from BAL specimens was used for 16S rRNA gene-based (16S-based) microbiome analysis, and results compared to routine cultures from the same samples. Indices of microbial diversity and relative taxon abundances were compared based on subject characteristics. From 81 participants (51% male, median age 9 years), 89 samples were collected and the 16S rRNA genes of 77 (86.5%) samples were successfully analyzed. Subjects included 23 cystic fibrosis (CF), 19 immunocompromised (IC), and 28 non-immunocompromised (nIC) patients. Of 68 organisms identified in culture, 16S-based analyses were concordant with culture results in 66 (97.1%), and also identified potentially clinically significant taxa missed by cultures (e.g. Staphylococcus, Legionella, Pseudomonas). Significant differences in abundance were noted mostly for non-cultured taxa with diagnosis and antibiotic use (Veillonella, Corynebacterium, Haemophilus). The microbiota of CF samples was less diverse and a "core" group of fifteen taxa shared across samples was identified. 16S-based culture independent analysis was concordant with routine cultures and showed potential to detect non-cultured pathogens. While 16S- based testing identified relative changes in organism abundance associated with clinical characteristics, distinct microbiome profiles associated with disease states were not identified.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the Orbiter Experiment (OEX) subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Compton, J. M.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Experiments hardware. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. The Orbiter Experiments (OEX) Program consists of a multiple set of experiments for the purpose of gathering environmental and aerodynamic data to develop more accurate ground models for Shuttle performance and to facilitate the design of future spacecraft. This assessment only addresses currently manifested experiments and their support systems. Specifically this list consists of: Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS); Shuttle Upper Atmosphere Mass Spectrometer (SUMS); Forward Fuselage Support System for OEX (FFSSO); Shuttle Infrared Laced Temperature Sensor (SILTS); Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package (ACIP); and Support System for OEX (SSO). There are only two potential critical items for the OEX, since the experiments only gather data for analysis post mission and are totally independent systems except for power. Failure of any experiment component usually only causes a loss of experiment data and in no way jeopardizes the crew or mission.

Meta-analysis of pathway enrichment: combining independent and dependent omics data sets.

PubMed

Kaever, Alexander; Landesfeind, Manuel; Feussner, Kirstin; Morgenstern, Burkhard; Feussner, Ivo; Meinicke, Peter

2014-01-01

A major challenge in current systems biology is the combination and integrative analysis of large data sets obtained from different high-throughput omics platforms, such as mass spectrometry based Metabolomics and Proteomics or DNA microarray or RNA-seq-based Transcriptomics. Especially in the case of non-targeted Metabolomics experiments, where it is often impossible to unambiguously map ion features from mass spectrometry analysis to metabolites, the integration of more reliable omics technologies is highly desirable. A popular method for the knowledge-based interpretation of single data sets is the (Gene) Set Enrichment Analysis. In order to combine the results from different analyses, we introduce a methodical framework for the meta-analysis of p-values obtained from Pathway Enrichment Analysis (Set Enrichment Analysis based on pathways) of multiple dependent or independent data sets from different omics platforms. For dependent data sets, e.g. obtained from the same biological samples, the framework utilizes a covariance estimation procedure based on the nonsignificant pathways in single data set enrichment analysis. The framework is evaluated and applied in the joint analysis of Metabolomics mass spectrometry and Transcriptomics DNA microarray data in the context of plant wounding. In extensive studies of simulated data set dependence, the introduced correlation could be fully reconstructed by means of the covariance estimation based on pathway enrichment. By restricting the range of p-values of pathways considered in the estimation, the overestimation of correlation, which is introduced by the significant pathways, could be reduced. When applying the proposed methods to the real data sets, the meta-analysis was shown not only to be a powerful tool to investigate the correlation between different data sets and summarize the results of multiple analyses but also to distinguish experiment-specific key pathways.

Using independent component analysis for electrical impedance tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Peimin; Mo, Yulong

2004-05-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a way to resolve signals into independent components based on the statistical characteristics of the signals. It is a method for factoring probability densities of measured signals into a set of densities that are as statistically independent as possible under the assumptions of a linear model. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is used to detect variations of the electric conductivity of the human body. Because there are variations of the conductivity distributions inside the body, EIT presents multi-channel data. In order to get all information contained in different location of tissue it is necessary to image the individual conductivity distribution. In this paper we consider to apply ICA to EIT on the signal subspace (individual conductivity distribution). Using ICA the signal subspace will then be decomposed into statistically independent components. The individual conductivity distribution can be reconstructed by the sensitivity theorem in this paper. Compute simulations show that the full information contained in the multi-conductivity distribution will be obtained by this method.

Gastric cancer, nutritional status, and outcome.

PubMed

Liu, Xuechao; Qiu, Haibo; Kong, Pengfei; Zhou, Zhiwei; Sun, Xiaowei

2017-01-01

We aim to investigate the prognostic value of several nutrition-based indices, including the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), performance status, body mass index, serum albumin, and preoperative body weight loss in patients with gastric cancer (GC). We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1,330 consecutive patients with GC undergoing curative surgery between October 2000 and September 2012. The relationship between nutrition-based indices and overall survival (OS) was examined using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression model. Following multivariate analysis, the PNI and preoperative body weight loss were the only nutritional-based indices independently associated with OS (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.356, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.051-1.748, P =0.019; HR: 1.152, 95% CI: 1.014-1.310, P =0.030, retrospectively). In stage-stratified analysis, multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative body weight loss was identified as an independent prognostic factor only in patients with stage III GC (HR: 1.223, 95% CI: 1.065-1.405, P =0.004), while the prognostic significance of PNI was not significant (all P >0.05). In patients with stage III GC, preoperative body weight loss stratified 5-year OS from 41.1% to 26.5%. When stratified by adjuvant chemotherapy, the prognostic significance of preoperative body weight loss was maintained in patients treated with surgery plus adjuvant chemotherapy and in patients treated with surgery alone ( P <0.001; P =0.003). Preoperative body weight loss is an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with GC, especially in stage III disease. Preoperative body weight loss appears to be a superior predictor of outcome compared with other established nutrition-based indices.

SaaS Platform for Time Series Data Handling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oplachko, Ekaterina; Rykunov, Stanislav; Ustinin, Mikhail

2018-02-01

The paper is devoted to the description of MathBrain, a cloud-based resource, which works as a "Software as a Service" model. It is designed to maximize the efficiency of the current technology and to provide a tool for time series data handling. The resource provides access to the following analysis methods: direct and inverse Fourier transforms, Principal component analysis and Independent component analysis decompositions, quantitative analysis, magnetoencephalography inverse problem solution in a single dipole model based on multichannel spectral data.

Independent components analysis to increase efficiency of discriminant analysis methods (FDA and LDA): Application to NMR fingerprinting of wine.

PubMed

Monakhova, Yulia B; Godelmann, Rolf; Kuballa, Thomas; Mushtakova, Svetlana P; Rutledge, Douglas N

2015-08-15

Discriminant analysis (DA) methods, such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA) or factorial discriminant analysis (FDA), are well-known chemometric approaches for solving classification problems in chemistry. In most applications, principle components analysis (PCA) is used as the first step to generate orthogonal eigenvectors and the corresponding sample scores are utilized to generate discriminant features for the discrimination. Independent components analysis (ICA) based on the minimization of mutual information can be used as an alternative to PCA as a preprocessing tool for LDA and FDA classification. To illustrate the performance of this ICA/DA methodology, four representative nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data sets of wine samples were used. The classification was performed regarding grape variety, year of vintage and geographical origin. The average increase for ICA/DA in comparison with PCA/DA in the percentage of correct classification varied between 6±1% and 8±2%. The maximum increase in classification efficiency of 11±2% was observed for discrimination of the year of vintage (ICA/FDA) and geographical origin (ICA/LDA). The procedure to determine the number of extracted features (PCs, ICs) for the optimum DA models was discussed. The use of independent components (ICs) instead of principle components (PCs) resulted in improved classification performance of DA methods. The ICA/LDA method is preferable to ICA/FDA for recognition tasks based on NMR spectroscopic measurements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new framework of statistical inferences based on the valid joint sampling distribution of the observed counts in an incomplete contingency table.

PubMed

Tian, Guo-Liang; Li, Hui-Qiong

2017-08-01

Some existing confidence interval methods and hypothesis testing methods in the analysis of a contingency table with incomplete observations in both margins entirely depend on an underlying assumption that the sampling distribution of the observed counts is a product of independent multinomial/binomial distributions for complete and incomplete counts. However, it can be shown that this independency assumption is incorrect and can result in unreliable conclusions because of the under-estimation of the uncertainty. Therefore, the first objective of this paper is to derive the valid joint sampling distribution of the observed counts in a contingency table with incomplete observations in both margins. The second objective is to provide a new framework for analyzing incomplete contingency tables based on the derived joint sampling distribution of the observed counts by developing a Fisher scoring algorithm to calculate maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of interest, the bootstrap confidence interval methods, and the bootstrap testing hypothesis methods. We compare the differences between the valid sampling distribution and the sampling distribution under the independency assumption. Simulation studies showed that average/expected confidence-interval widths of parameters based on the sampling distribution under the independency assumption are shorter than those based on the new sampling distribution, yielding unrealistic results. A real data set is analyzed to illustrate the application of the new sampling distribution for incomplete contingency tables and the analysis results again confirm the conclusions obtained from the simulation studies.

Towards automatic music transcription: note extraction based on independent subspace analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wellhausen, Jens; Hoynck, Michael

2005-01-01

Due to the increasing amount of music available electronically the need of automatic search, retrieval and classification systems for music becomes more and more important. In this paper an algorithm for automatic transcription of polyphonic piano music into MIDI data is presented, which is a very interesting basis for database applications, music analysis and music classification. The first part of the algorithm performs a note accurate temporal audio segmentation. In the second part, the resulting segments are examined using Independent Subspace Analysis to extract sounding notes. Finally, the results are used to build a MIDI file as a new representation of the piece of music which is examined.

Towards automatic music transcription: note extraction based on independent subspace analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wellhausen, Jens; Höynck, Michael

2004-12-01

Due to the increasing amount of music available electronically the need of automatic search, retrieval and classification systems for music becomes more and more important. In this paper an algorithm for automatic transcription of polyphonic piano music into MIDI data is presented, which is a very interesting basis for database applications, music analysis and music classification. The first part of the algorithm performs a note accurate temporal audio segmentation. In the second part, the resulting segments are examined using Independent Subspace Analysis to extract sounding notes. Finally, the results are used to build a MIDI file as a new representation of the piece of music which is examined.

Network-based diffusion analysis reveals cultural transmission of lobtail feeding in humpback whales.

PubMed

Allen, Jenny; Weinrich, Mason; Hoppitt, Will; Rendell, Luke

2013-04-26

We used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, through a population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over a period of 27 years. Support for models with a social transmission component was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude greater than for models without. The spatial and temporal distribution of sand lance, a prey species, was also important in predicting the rate of acquisition. Our results, coupled with existing knowledge about song traditions, show that this species can maintain multiple independently evolving traditions in its populations. These insights strengthen the case that cetaceans represent a peak in the evolution of nonhuman culture, independent of the primate lineage.

Continuous-Variable Measurement-Device-Independent Multipartite Quantum Communication Using Coherent States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jian; Guo, Ying

2017-02-01

A continuous-variable measurement-device-independent (CV-MDI) multipartite quantum communication protocol is designed to realize multipartite communication based on the GHZ state analysis using Gaussian coherent states. It can remove detector side attack as the multi-mode measurement is blindly done in a suitable Black Box. The entanglement-based CV-MDI multipartite communication scheme and the equivalent prepare-and-measurement scheme are proposed to analyze the security and guide experiment, respectively. The general eavesdropping and coherent attack are considered for the security analysis. Subsequently, all the attacks are ascribed to coherent attack against imperfect links. The asymptotic key rate of the asymmetric configuration is also derived with the numeric simulations illustrating the performance of the proposed protocol.

Functional connectivity analysis of the neural bases of emotion regulation: A comparison of independent component method with density-based k-means clustering method.

PubMed

Zou, Ling; Guo, Qian; Xu, Yi; Yang, Biao; Jiao, Zhuqing; Xiang, Jianbo

2016-04-29

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an important tool in neuroscience for assessing connectivity and interactions between distant areas of the brain. To find and characterize the coherent patterns of brain activity as a means of identifying brain systems for the cognitive reappraisal of the emotion task, both density-based k-means clustering and independent component analysis (ICA) methods can be applied to characterize the interactions between brain regions involved in cognitive reappraisal of emotion. Our results reveal that compared with the ICA method, the density-based k-means clustering method provides a higher sensitivity of polymerization. In addition, it is more sensitive to those relatively weak functional connection regions. Thus, the study concludes that in the process of receiving emotional stimuli, the relatively obvious activation areas are mainly distributed in the frontal lobe, cingulum and near the hypothalamus. Furthermore, density-based k-means clustering method creates a more reliable method for follow-up studies of brain functional connectivity.

Metabolomics Approach to Investigate Estrogen Receptor-Dependent and Independent Effects of o,p'-DDT in the Uterus and Brain of Immature Mice.

PubMed

Wang, Dezhen; Zhu, Wentao; Wang, Yao; Yan, Jin; Teng, Miaomiao; Miao, Jiyan; Zhou, Zhiqiang

2017-05-10

Previous studies have demonstrated the endocrine disruption of o,p'-DDT. In this study, we used a 1 H NMR based metabolomics approach to investigate the estrogenic effects of o,p'-DDT (300 mg/kg) on the uterus and brain after 3 days of oral gavage administration, and ethynylestradiol (EE, 100 μg/kg) was used as a positive control. A supervised statistical analysis (PLS-DA) indicated that o,p'-DDT exerted both estrogenic receptor-(ER)-dependent and independent effects on the uterus but mainly ER-independent effects on the brain at metabolome levels, which was verified by coexposing with the antiestrogenic ICI 182,780. Four changed metabolites-glycine, choline, fumarate, and phenylalanine-were identified as ER-independent alterations in the uterus, while more metabolites, including γ-aminobutyrate, N-acetyl aspartate, and some amino acids, were disturbed based on the ER-independent mechanism in the brain. Together with biological end points, metabolomics is a promising approach to study potential estrogenic chemicals.

[Extraction of evoked related potentials by using the combination of independent component analysis and wavelet analysis].

PubMed

Zou, Ling; Chen, Shuyue; Sun, Yuqiang; Ma, Zhenghua

2010-08-01

In this paper we present a new method of combining Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and Wavelet de-noising algorithm to extract Evoked Related Potentials (ERPs). First, the extended Infomax-ICA algorithm is used to analyze EEG signals and obtain the independent components (Ics); Then, the Wave Shrink (WS) method is applied to the demixed Ics as an intermediate step; the EEG data were rebuilt by using the inverse ICA based on the new Ics; the ERPs were extracted by using de-noised EEG data after being averaged several trials. The experimental results showed that the combined method and ICA method could remove eye artifacts and muscle artifacts mixed in the ERPs, while the combined method could retain the brain neural activity mixed in the noise Ics and could extract the weak ERPs efficiently from strong background artifacts.

BLIND EXTRACTION OF AN EXOPLANETARY SPECTRUM THROUGH INDEPENDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS

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

Waldmann, I. P.; Tinetti, G.; Hollis, M. D. J.

2013-03-20

Blind-source separation techniques are used to extract the transmission spectrum of the hot-Jupiter HD189733b recorded by the Hubble/NICMOS instrument. Such a 'blind' analysis of the data is based on the concept of independent component analysis. The detrending of Hubble/NICMOS data using the sole assumption that nongaussian systematic noise is statistically independent from the desired light-curve signals is presented. By not assuming any prior or auxiliary information but the data themselves, it is shown that spectroscopic errors only about 10%-30% larger than parametric methods can be obtained for 11 spectral bins with bin sizes of {approx}0.09 {mu}m. This represents a reasonablemore » trade-off between a higher degree of objectivity for the non-parametric methods and smaller standard errors for the parametric de-trending. Results are discussed in light of previous analyses published in the literature. The fact that three very different analysis techniques yield comparable spectra is a strong indication of the stability of these results.« less

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the landing/deceleration subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Compton, J. M.; Beaird, H. G.; Weissinger, W. D.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Landing/Deceleration Subsystem hardware. The Landing/Deceleration Subsystem is utilized to allow the Orbiter to perform a safe landing, allowing for landing-gear deploy activities, steering and braking control throughout the landing rollout to wheel-stop, and to allow for ground-handling capability during the ground-processing phase of the flight cycle. Specifically, the Landing/Deceleration hardware consists of the following components: Nose Landing Gear (NLG); Main Landing Gear (MLG); Brake and Antiskid (B and AS) Electrical Power Distribution and Controls (EPD and C); Nose Wheel Steering (NWS); and Hydraulics Actuators. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Due to the lack of redundancy in the Landing/Deceleration Subsystems there is a high number of critical items.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the ascent thrust vector control actuator subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.; Riccio, J. R.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Ascent Thrust Vector Control (ATVC) Actuator hardware are documented. The function of the Ascent Thrust Vector Control Actuators (ATVC) is to gimbal the main engines to provide for attitude and flight path control during ascent. During first stage flight, the SRB nozzles provide nearly all the steering. After SRB separation, the Orbiter is steered by gimbaling of its main engines. There are six electrohydraulic servoactuators, one pitch and one yaw for each of the three main engines. Each servoactuator is composed of four electrohydraulic servovalve assemblies, one second stage power spool valve assembly, one primary piston assembly and a switching valve. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Critical failures resulting in loss of ATVC were mainly due to loss of hydraulic fluid, fluid contamination and mechanical failures.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the elevon subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.; Riccio, J. R.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results for the Orbiter Elevon system hardware. The elevon actuators are located at the trailing edge of the wing surface. The proper function of the elevons is essential during the dynamic flight phases of ascent and entry. In the ascent phase of flight, the elevons are used for relieving high wing loads. For entry, the elevons are used to pitch and roll the vehicle. Specifically, the elevon system hardware comprises the following components: flow cutoff valve; switching valve; electro-hydraulic (EH) servoactuator; secondary delta pressure transducer; bypass valve; power valve; power valve check valve; primary actuator; primary delta pressure transducer; and primary actuator position transducer. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Of the 25 failure modes analyzed, 18 were determined to be PCIs.

Differential expression analysis for RNAseq using Poisson mixed models.

PubMed

Sun, Shiquan; Hood, Michelle; Scott, Laura; Peng, Qinke; Mukherjee, Sayan; Tung, Jenny; Zhou, Xiang

2017-06-20

Identifying differentially expressed (DE) genes from RNA sequencing (RNAseq) studies is among the most common analyses in genomics. However, RNAseq DE analysis presents several statistical and computational challenges, including over-dispersed read counts and, in some settings, sample non-independence. Previous count-based methods rely on simple hierarchical Poisson models (e.g. negative binomial) to model independent over-dispersion, but do not account for sample non-independence due to relatedness, population structure and/or hidden confounders. Here, we present a Poisson mixed model with two random effects terms that account for both independent over-dispersion and sample non-independence. We also develop a scalable sampling-based inference algorithm using a latent variable representation of the Poisson distribution. With simulations, we show that our method properly controls for type I error and is generally more powerful than other widely used approaches, except in small samples (n <15) with other unfavorable properties (e.g. small effect sizes). We also apply our method to three real datasets that contain related individuals, population stratification or hidden confounders. Our results show that our method increases power in all three data compared to other approaches, though the power gain is smallest in the smallest sample (n = 6). Our method is implemented in MACAU, freely available at www.xzlab.org/software.html. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Effectiveness of problem-based learning in Chinese pharmacy education: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Zhou, Jiyin; Zhou, Shiwen; Huang, Chunji; Xu, Rufu; Zhang, Zuo; Zeng, Shengya; Qian, Guisheng

2016-01-19

This review provides a critical overview of problem-based learning (PBL) practices in Chinese pharmacy education. PBL has yet to be widely applied in pharmaceutical education in China. The results of those studies that have been conducted are published in Chinese and thus may not be easily accessible to international researchers. Therefore, this meta-analysis was carried out to review the effectiveness of PBL. Databases were searched for studies in accordance with the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently performed the study identification and data extraction. A meta-analysis was conducted using Revman 5.3 software. Sixteen randomized controlled trials were included. The meta-analysis revealed that PBL had a positive association with higher theoretical scores (SMD = 1.17, 95% CI [0.77, 11.57], P < 0.00001). The questionnaire results show that PBL methods are superior to conventional teaching methods in improving students' learning interest, independent analysis skills, scope of knowledge, self-study, team spirit, and oral expression. This meta-analysis indicates that PBL pedagogy is superior to traditional lecture-based teaching in Chinese pharmacy education. PBL methods could be an optional, supplementary method of pharmaceutical teaching in China. However, Chinese pharmacy colleges and universities should revise PBL curricula according to their own needs, which would maximize the effectiveness of PBL.

Estimation of the engineering elastic constants of a directionally solidified superalloy for finite element structural analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Kalluri, Sreeramesh

1991-01-01

The temperature-dependent engineering elastic constants of a directionally solidified nickel-base superalloy were estimated from the single-crystal elastic constants of nickel and MAR-MOO2 superalloy by using Wells' method. In this method, the directionally solidified (columnar-grained) nickel-base superalloy was modeled as a transversely isotropic material, and the five independent elastic constants of the transversely isotropic material were determined from the three independent elastic constants of a cubic single crystal. Solidification for both the single crystals and the directionally solidified superalloy was assumed to be along the (001) direction. Temperature-dependent Young's moduli in longitudinal and transverse directions, shear moduli, and Poisson's ratios were tabulated for the directionally solidified nickel-base superalloy. These engineering elastic constants could be used as input for performing finite element structural analysis of directionally solidified turbine engine components.

Multiplexed data independent acquisition (MSX-DIA) applied by high resolution mass spectrometry improves quantification quality for the analysis of histone peptides

PubMed Central

Sidoli, Simone; Fujiwara, Rina; Garcia, Benjamin A.

2016-01-01

We present the mass spectrometry (MS) based application of the innovative, although scarcely exploited, multiplexed data-independent acquisition (MSX-DIA) for the analysis of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs). Histones are golden standard for complexity in MS based proteomics, due to their large number of combinatorial modifications, leading to isobaric peptides after proteolytic digestion. DIA has thus gained popularity for the purpose as it allows for MS/MS-based quantification without upfront assay development. In this work, we evaluated the performance of traditional DIA versus MSX-DIA in terms of MS/MS spectra quality, instrument scan rate and quantification precision using histones from HeLa cells. We used an MS/MS isolation window of 10 and 6 m/z for DIA and MSX-DIA, respectively. Four MS/MS scans were multiplexed for MSX-DIA. Despite MSX-DIA was programmed to perform 2-fold more MS/MS events than traditional DIA, it acquired on average ~5% more full MS scans, indicating even faster scan rate. Results highlighted an overall decrease of background ion signals using MSX-DIA, and we illustrated specific examples where peptides of different precursor masses were co-fragmented by DIA but not MSX-DIA. Taken together, MSX-DIA proved thus to be a more favorable method for histone analysis in data independent mode. PMID:27193262

Multiplexed data independent acquisition (MSX-DIA) applied by high resolution mass spectrometry improves quantification quality for the analysis of histone peptides.

PubMed

Sidoli, Simone; Fujiwara, Rina; Garcia, Benjamin A

2016-08-01

We present the MS-based application of the innovative, although scarcely exploited, multiplexed data-independent acquisition (MSX-DIA) for the analysis of histone PTMs. Histones are golden standard for complexity in MS based proteomics, due to their large number of combinatorial modifications, leading to isobaric peptides after proteolytic digestion. DIA has, thus, gained popularity for the purpose as it allows for MS/MS-based quantification without upfront assay development. In this work, we evaluated the performance of traditional DIA versus MSX-DIA in terms of MS/MS spectra quality, instrument scan rate and quantification precision using histones from HeLa cells. We used an MS/MS isolation window of 10 and 6 m/z for DIA and MSX-DIA, respectively. Four MS/MS scans were multiplexed for MSX-DIA. Despite MSX-DIA was programmed to perform two-fold more MS/MS events than traditional DIA, it acquired on average ∼5% more full MS scans, indicating even faster scan rate. Results highlighted an overall decrease of background ion signals using MSX-DIA, and we illustrated specific examples where peptides of different precursor masses were co-fragmented by DIA but not MSX-DIA. Taken together, MSX-DIA proved thus to be a more favorable method for histone analysis in data independent mode. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Systems-based biological concordance and predictive reproducibility of gene set discovery methods in cardiovascular disease.

PubMed

Azuaje, Francisco; Zheng, Huiru; Camargo, Anyela; Wang, Haiying

2011-08-01

The discovery of novel disease biomarkers is a crucial challenge for translational bioinformatics. Demonstration of both their classification power and reproducibility across independent datasets are essential requirements to assess their potential clinical relevance. Small datasets and multiplicity of putative biomarker sets may explain lack of predictive reproducibility. Studies based on pathway-driven discovery approaches have suggested that, despite such discrepancies, the resulting putative biomarkers tend to be implicated in common biological processes. Investigations of this problem have been mainly focused on datasets derived from cancer research. We investigated the predictive and functional concordance of five methods for discovering putative biomarkers in four independently-generated datasets from the cardiovascular disease domain. A diversity of biosignatures was identified by the different methods. However, we found strong biological process concordance between them, especially in the case of methods based on gene set analysis. With a few exceptions, we observed lack of classification reproducibility using independent datasets. Partial overlaps between our putative sets of biomarkers and the primary studies exist. Despite the observed limitations, pathway-driven or gene set analysis can predict potentially novel biomarkers and can jointly point to biomedically-relevant underlying molecular mechanisms. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the body flap subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.; Riccio, J. R.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items (PCIs). To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Orbiter Body Flap (BF) subsystem hardware are documented. The BF is a large aerosurface located at the trailing edge of the lower aft fuselage of the Orbiter. The proper function of the BF is essential during the dynamic flight phases of ascent and entry. During the ascent phase of flight, the BF trails in a fixed position. For entry, the BF provides elevon load relief, trim control, and acts as a heat shield for the main engines. Specifically, the BF hardware comprises the following components: Power Drive Unit (PDU), rotary actuators, and torque tubes. The IOA analysis process utilized available BF hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware assemblies, components, and hardware items. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Of the 35 failure modes analyzed, 19 were determined to be PCIs.

Analysis of an optimization-based atomistic-to-continuum coupling method for point defects

DOE PAGES

Olson, Derek; Shapeev, Alexander V.; Bochev, Pavel B.; ...

2015-11-16

Here, we formulate and analyze an optimization-based Atomistic-to-Continuum (AtC) coupling method for problems with point defects. Application of a potential-based atomistic model near the defect core enables accurate simulation of the defect. Away from the core, where site energies become nearly independent of the lattice position, the method switches to a more efficient continuum model. The two models are merged by minimizing the mismatch of their states on an overlap region, subject to the atomistic and continuum force balance equations acting independently in their domains. We prove that the optimization problem is well-posed and establish error estimates.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the rudder/speed brake subsystem FMEA/CIL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Rudder/Speed Brake (RSB) hardware, generating draft failure modes and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the NASA FMEA/CIL baseline along with the proposed Post 51-L CIL updates included. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison was provided through additional analysis as required. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter RSB hardware. The IOA product for the RSB analysis consisted of 38 failure mode worksheets that resulted in 27 potential critical items being identified. Comparison was made to the NASA baseline which consisted of 34 FMEAs and 18 CIL items. This comparison produced agreement on all CIL items. Based on the Pre 51-L baseline, all non-CIL FMEAs were also in agreement.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the manned maneuvering unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huynh, M.; Duffy, R. E.; Saiidi, M. J.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) hardware, generating draft failure modes and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contain within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the proposed Martin Marietta FMEA/CIL Post 51-L updates. A discussion of each discrepancy from the comparison is provided through additional analysis as required. These discrepancies were flagged as issues, and recommendations were made based on the FMEA data available at the time. The results of this comparison for the Orbiter MMU hardware are documented. The IOA product for the MMU analysis consisted of 204 failure mode worksheets that resulted in 95 potential critical items being identified. Comparison was made to the NASA baseline which consisted of 179 FMEAs and 110 CIL items. This comparison produced agreement on all 121 FMEAs which caused differences in 92 CIL items.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the ascent thrust vector control actuator subsystem FMEA/CIL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Ascent Thrust Vector Control Actuator (ATVD) hardware, generating draft failure modes and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the NASA FMEA/CIL baseline with proposed Post 51-L updates included. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison is provided through additional analysis as required. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter ATVC hardware. The IOA product for the ATVC actuator analysis consisted of 25 failure mode worksheets that resulted in 16 potential critical items being identified. Comparison was made to the NASA baseline which consisted of 21 FMEAs and 13 CIL items. This comparison produced agreement on all CIL items. Based on the Pre 51-L baseline, all non-CIL FMEAs were also in agreement.

Grouping individual independent BOLD effects: a new way to ICA group analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duann, Jeng-Ren; Jung, Tzyy-Ping; Sejnowski, Terrence J.; Makeig, Scott

2009-04-01

A new group analysis method to summarize the task-related BOLD responses based on independent component analysis (ICA) was presented. As opposite to the previously proposed group ICA (gICA) method, which first combined multi-subject fMRI data in either temporal or spatial domain and applied ICA decomposition only once to the combined fMRI data to extract the task-related BOLD effects, the method presented here applied ICA decomposition to the individual subjects' fMRI data to first find the independent BOLD effects specifically for each individual subject. Then, the task-related independent BOLD component was selected among the resulting independent components from the single-subject ICA decomposition and hence grouped across subjects to derive the group inference. In this new ICA group analysis (ICAga) method, one does not need to assume that the task-related BOLD time courses are identical across brain areas and subjects as used in the grand ICA decomposition on the spatially concatenated fMRI data. Neither does one need to assume that after spatial normalization, the voxels at the same coordinates represent exactly the same functional or structural brain anatomies across different subjects. These two assumptions have been problematic given the recent BOLD activation evidences. Further, since the independent BOLD effects were obtained from each individual subject, the ICAga method can better account for the individual differences in the task-related BOLD effects. Unlike the gICA approach whereby the task-related BOLD effects could only be accounted for by a single unified BOLD model across multiple subjects. As a result, the newly proposed method, ICAga, was able to better fit the task-related BOLD effects at individual level and thus allow grouping more appropriate multisubject BOLD effects in the group analysis.

The Role of Sexual Orientation in School-Based Victimization: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toomey, Russell B.; Russell, Stephen T.

2016-01-01

School-based victimization is associated with poorer developmental, academic, and health outcomes. This meta-analytic review compared the mean levels of school-based victimization experienced by sexual minority youth to those of heterosexual youth, and examined moderators of this difference. Results from 18 independent studies (N = 56,752…

Visual Skills and Chinese Reading Acquisition: A Meta-Analysis of Correlation Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Ling-Yan; Guo, Jian-Peng; Richman, Lynn C.; Schmidt, Frank L.; Gerken, Kathryn C.; Ding, Yi

2013-01-01

This paper used meta-analysis to synthesize the relation between visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition based on the empirical results from 34 studies published from 1991 to 2011. We obtained 234 correlation coefficients from 64 independent samples, with a total of 5,395 participants. The meta-analysis revealed that visual skills as a…

Independent Component Analysis applied to Ground-based observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martins-Filho, Walter; Griffith, Caitlin Ann; Pearson, Kyle; Waldmann, Ingo; Alvarez-Candal, Alvaro; Zellem, Robert

2017-10-01

Transit measurements of Jovian-sized exoplanetary atmospheres allow one to study the composition of exoplanets, largely independent of the planet’s temperature profile. However, measurements of hot-Jupiter transits must archive a level of accuracy in the flux to determine the spectral modulations of the exoplanetary atmosphere. To accomplish this level of precision, we need to extract systematic errors, and, for ground-based measurements, the effects of Earth’s atmosphere, from signal due to the exoplanet, which is several orders of magnitudes smaller.The effects of the terrestrial atmosphere and some of the time dependent systematic errors of ground-based transit measurements are treated mainly by dividing the host star by a reference star at each wavelength and time step of the transit. Recently, Independent Component Analyses (ICA) have been used to remove systematics effects from the raw data of space-based observations (Waldmann, 2014, 2012; Morello et al., 2016, 2015). ICA is a statistical method born from the ideas of the blind-source separations studies, which can be used to de-trend several independent source signals of a data set (Hyvarinen and Oja, 2000). This technique requires no additional prior knowledge of the data set. In addition this technique has the advantage of requiring no reference star.Here we apply the ICA to ground-based photometry of the exoplanet XO-2b recorded by the 61” Kuiper Telescope and compare the results of the ICA to those of a previous analysis from Zellem et al. (2015), which does not use ICA. We also simulate the effects of various conditions (concerning the systematic errors, noise and the stability of object on the detector) to determine the conditions under which an ICA can be used with high precision to extract the light curve of exoplanetary photometry measurements.

Fetal ECG extraction using independent component analysis by Jade approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giraldo-Guzmán, Jader; Contreras-Ortiz, Sonia H.; Lasprilla, Gloria Isabel Bautista; Kotas, Marian

2017-11-01

Fetal ECG monitoring is a useful method to assess the fetus health and detect abnormal conditions. In this paper we propose an approach to extract fetal ECG from abdomen and chest signals using independent component analysis based on the joint approximate diagonalization of eigenmatrices approach. The JADE approach avoids redundancy, what reduces matrix dimension and computational costs. Signals were filtered with a high pass filter to eliminate low frequency noise. Several levels of decomposition were tested until the fetal ECG was recognized in one of the separated sources output. The proposed method shows fast and good performance.

Model-independent curvature determination with 21 cm intensity mapping experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witzemann, Amadeus; Bull, Philip; Clarkson, Chris; Santos, Mario G.; Spinelli, Marta; Weltman, Amanda

2018-06-01

Measurements of the spatial curvature of the Universe have improved significantly in recent years, but still tend to require strong assumptions to be made about the equation of state of dark energy (DE) in order to reach sub-percent precision. When these assumptions are relaxed, strong degeneracies arise that make it hard to disentangle DE and curvature, degrading the constraints. We show that forthcoming 21 cm intensity mapping experiments such as Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) are ideally designed to carry out model-independent curvature measurements, as they can measure the clustering signal at high redshift with sufficient precision to break many of the degeneracies. We consider two different model-independent methods, based on `avoiding' the DE-dominated regime and non-parametric modelling of the DE equation of state, respectively. Our forecasts show that HIRAX will be able to improve upon current model-independent constraints by around an order of magnitude, reaching percent-level accuracy even when an arbitrary DE equation of state is assumed. In the same model-independent analysis, the sample variance limit for a similar survey is another order of magnitude better.

Use of streamflow data to estimate base flowground-water recharge for Wisconsin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gebert, W.A.; Radloff, M.J.; Considine, E.J.; Kennedy, J.L.

2007-01-01

The average annual base flow/recharge was determined for streamflow-gaging stations throughout Wisconsin by base-flow separation. A map of the State was prepared that shows the average annual base flow for the period 1970-99 for watersheds at 118 gaging stations. Trend analysis was performed on 22 of the 118 streamflow-gaging stations that had long-term records, unregulated flow, and provided aerial coverage of the State. The analysis found that a statistically significant increasing trend was occurring for watersheds where the primary land use was agriculture. Most gaging stations where the land cover was forest had no significant trend. A method to estimate the average annual base flow at ungaged sites was developed by multiple-regression analysis using basin characteristics. The equation with the lowest standard error of estimate, 9.5%, has drainage area, soil infiltration and base flow factor as independent variables. To determine the average annual base flow for smaller watersheds, estimates were made at low-flow partial-record stations in 3 of the 12 major river basins in Wisconsin. Regression equations were developed for each of the three major river basins using basin characteristics. Drainage area, soil infiltration, basin storage and base-flow factor were the independent variables in the regression equations with the lowest standard error of estimate. The standard error of estimate ranged from 17% to 52% for the three river basins. ?? 2007 American Water Resources Association.

Residential expansion as a continental threat to U.S. coastal ecosystems

Treesearch

J.G. Bartlett; D.M. Mageean; R.J. O' Connor

2000-01-01

Spatially extensive analysis of satellite, climate, and census data reveals human-environment interactions of regional or continental concern in the United States. A grid-based principal components analysis of Bureau of Census variables revealed two independent demographic phenomena, a-settlement reflecting traditional human settlement patterns and p-settlement...

Separation of GRACE geoid time-variations using Independent Component Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frappart, F.; Ramillien, G.; Maisongrande, P.; Bonnet, M.

2009-12-01

Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a blind separation method based on the simple assumptions of the independence of the sources and the non-Gaussianity of the observations. An approach based on this numerical method is used here to extract hydrological signals over land and oceans from the polluting striping noise due to orbit repetitiveness and present in the GRACE global mass anomalies. We took advantage of the availability of monthly Level-2 solutions from three official providers (i.e., CSR, JPL and GFZ) that can be considered as different observations of the same phenomenon. The efficiency of the methodology is first demonstrated on a synthetic case. Applied to one month of GRACE solutions, it allows to clearly separate the total water storage change from the meridional-oriented spurious gravity signals on the continents but not on the oceans. This technique gives results equivalent as the destriping method for continental water storage for the hydrological patterns with less smoothing. This methodology is then used to filter the complete series of the 2002-2009 GRACE solutions.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the orbiter main propulsion system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcnicoll, W. J.; Mcneely, M.; Holden, K. A.; Emmons, T. E.; Lowery, H. J.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items (PCIs). To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Orbiter Main Propulsion System (MPS) hardware are documented. The Orbiter MPS consists of two subsystems: the Propellant Management Subsystem (PMS) and the Helium Subsystem. The PMS is a system of manifolds, distribution lines and valves by which the liquid propellants pass from the External Tank (ET) to the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) and gaseous propellants pass from the SSMEs to the ET. The Helium Subsystem consists of a series of helium supply tanks and their associated regulators, check valves, distribution lines, and control valves. The Helium Subsystem supplies helium that is used within the SSMEs for inflight purges and provides pressure for actuation of SSME valves during emergency pneumatic shutdowns. The balance of the helium is used to provide pressure to operate the pneumatically actuated valves within the PMS. Each component was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticalities were assigned based on the worst possible effect of each failure mode. Of the 690 failure modes analyzed, 349 were determined to be PCIs.

Model specification in oral health-related quality of life research.

PubMed

Kieffer, Jacobien M; Verrips, Erik; Hoogstraten, Johan

2009-10-01

The aim of this study was to analyze conventional wisdom regarding the construction and analysis of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) questionnaires and to outline statistical complications. Most methods used for developing and analyzing questionnaires, such as factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha, presume psychological constructs to be latent, inferring a reflective measurement model with the underlying assumption of local independence. Local independence implies that the latent variable explains why the variables observed are related. Many OHRQoL questionnaires are analyzed as if they were based on a reflective measurement model; local independence is thus assumed. This assumption requires these questionnaires to consist solely of items that reflect, instead of determine, OHRQoL. The tenability of this assumption is the main topic of the present study. It is argued that OHRQoL questionnaires are a mix of both a formative measurement model and a reflective measurement model, thus violating the assumption of local independence. The implications are discussed.

Lapin Data Interchange Among Database, Analysis and Display Programs Using XML-Based Text Files

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The purpose was to investigate and evaluate the interchange of application- specific data among multiple programs each carrying out part of the analysis and design task. This has been carried out previously by creating a custom program to read data produced by one application and then write that data to a file whose format is specific to the second application that needs all or part of that data. In this investigation, data of interest is described using the XML markup language that allows the data to be stored in a text-string. Software to transform output data of a task into an XML-string and software to read an XML string and extract all or a portion of the data needed for another application is used to link two independent applications together as part of an overall design effort. This approach was initially used with a standard analysis program, Lapin, along with standard applications a standard spreadsheet program, a relational database program, and a conventional dialog and display program to demonstrate the successful sharing of data among independent programs. See Engineering Analysis Using a Web-Based Protocol by J.D. Schoeffler and R.W. Claus, NASA TM-2002-211981, October 2002. Most of the effort beyond that demonstration has been concentrated on the inclusion of more complex display programs. Specifically, a custom-written windowing program organized around dialogs to control the interactions have been combined with an independent CAD program (Open Cascade) that supports sophisticated display of CAD elements such as lines, spline curves, and surfaces and turbine-blade data produced by an independent blade design program (UD0300).

Internal Communication Study. 1974-75 Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin Independent School District, TX. Office of Research and Evaluation.

This report attempts to identify some communication problem areas in the Austin Independent School District, based on an open-ended interview questionnaire and a network analysis. Guidelines based on a review of the literature are included for communicators at all levels of the organizational structure. Backup summaries of that review are also…

A water balance based, spatiotemporal evaluation of terrestrial evapotranspiration products across the contiguous United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Accurate gridded estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) are essential to the analysis of terrestrial water budgets. In this study, ET estimates from three gridded energy-balance based products (ETEB) with independent model formations and data forcings are evaluated for their ability to capture long te...

Independent component analysis of DTI data reveals white matter covariances in Alzheimer's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, Xin; Sun, Xiaoyu; Guo, Ting; Sun, Qiaoyue; Chen, Kewei; Yao, Li; Wu, Xia; Guo, Xiaojuan

2014-03-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with the clinical symptom of the continuous deterioration of cognitive and memory functions. Multiple diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indices such as fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) can successfully explain the white matter damages in AD patients. However, most studies focused on the univariate measures (voxel-based analysis) to examine the differences between AD patients and normal controls (NCs). In this investigation, we applied a multivariate independent component analysis (ICA) to investigate the white matter covariances based on FA measurement from DTI data in 35 AD patients and 45 NCs from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. We found that six independent components (ICs) showed significant FA reductions in white matter covariances in AD compared with NC, including the genu and splenium of corpus callosum (IC-1 and IC-2), middle temporal gyral of temporal lobe (IC-3), sub-gyral of frontal lobe (IC-4 and IC-5) and sub-gyral of parietal lobe (IC-6). Our findings revealed covariant white matter loss in AD patients and suggest that the unsupervised data-driven ICA method is effective to explore the changes of FA in AD. This study assists us in understanding the mechanism of white matter covariant reductions in the development of AD.

[Object Separation from Medical X-Ray Images Based on ICA].

PubMed

Li, Yan; Yu, Chun-yu; Miao, Ya-jian; Fei, Bin; Zhuang, Feng-yun

2015-03-01

X-ray medical image can examine diseased tissue of patients and has important reference value for medical diagnosis. With the problems that traditional X-ray images have noise, poor level sense and blocked aliasing organs, this paper proposes a method for the introduction of multi-spectrum X-ray imaging and independent component analysis (ICA) algorithm to separate the target object. Firstly image de-noising preprocessing ensures the accuracy of target extraction based on independent component analysis and sparse code shrinkage. Then according to the main proportion of organ in the images, aliasing thickness matrix of each pixel was isolated. Finally independent component analysis obtains convergence matrix to reconstruct the target object with blind separation theory. In the ICA algorithm, it found that when the number is more than 40, the target objects separate successfully with the aid of subjective evaluation standard. And when the amplitudes of the scale are in the [25, 45] interval, the target images have high contrast and less distortion. The three-dimensional figure of Peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) shows that the different convergence times and amplitudes have a greater influence on image quality. The contrast and edge information of experimental images achieve better effects with the convergence times 85 and amplitudes 35 in the ICA algorithm.

Parallel group independent component analysis for massive fMRI data sets.

PubMed

Chen, Shaojie; Huang, Lei; Qiu, Huitong; Nebel, Mary Beth; Mostofsky, Stewart H; Pekar, James J; Lindquist, Martin A; Eloyan, Ani; Caffo, Brian S

2017-01-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) is widely used in the field of functional neuroimaging to decompose data into spatio-temporal patterns of co-activation. In particular, ICA has found wide usage in the analysis of resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data. Recently, a number of large-scale data sets have become publicly available that consist of rs-fMRI scans from thousands of subjects. As a result, efficient ICA algorithms that scale well to the increased number of subjects are required. To address this problem, we propose a two-stage likelihood-based algorithm for performing group ICA, which we denote Parallel Group Independent Component Analysis (PGICA). By utilizing the sequential nature of the algorithm and parallel computing techniques, we are able to efficiently analyze data sets from large numbers of subjects. We illustrate the efficacy of PGICA, which has been implemented in R and is freely available through the Comprehensive R Archive Network, through simulation studies and application to rs-fMRI data from two large multi-subject data sets, consisting of 301 and 779 subjects respectively.

Independent Confirmation of the Pioneer 10 Anomalous Acceleration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Markwardt, Craig B.

2002-01-01

I perform an independent analysis of radio Doppler tracking data from the Pioneer 10 spacecraft for the time period 1987-1994. All of the tracking data were taken from public archive sources, and the analysis tools were developed independently by myself. I confirm that an apparent anomalous acceleration is acting on the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, which is not accounted for by present physical models of spacecraft navigation. My best fit value for the acceleration, including corrections for systematic biases and uncertainties, is (8.60 plus or minus 1.34) x 10(exp -8) centimeters per second, directed towards the Sun. This value compares favorably to previous results. I examine the robustness of my result to various perturbations of the analysis method, and find agreement to within plus or minus 5%. The anomalous acceleration is reasonably constant with time, with a characteristic variation time scale of greater than 70 yr. Such a variation timescale is still too short to rule out on-board thermal radiation effects, based on this particular Pioneer 10 data set.

The mass-action law based algorithm for cost-effective approach for cancer drug discovery and development.

PubMed

Chou, Ting-Chao

2011-01-01

The mass-action law based system analysis via mathematical induction and deduction lead to the generalized theory and algorithm that allows computerized simulation of dose-effect dynamics with small size experiments using a small number of data points in vitro, in animals, and in humans. The median-effect equation of the mass-action law deduced from over 300 mechanism specific-equations has been shown to be the unified theory that serves as the common-link for complicated biomedical systems. After using the median-effect principle as the common denominator, its applications are mechanism-independent, drug unit-independent, and dynamic order-independent; and can be used generally for single drug analysis or for multiple drug combinations in constant-ratio or non-constant ratios. Since the "median" is the common link and universal reference point in biological systems, these general enabling lead to computerized quantitative bio-informatics for econo-green bio-research in broad disciplines. Specific applications of the theory, especially relevant to drug discovery, drug combination, and clinical trials, have been cited or illustrated in terms of algorithms, experimental design and computerized simulation for data analysis. Lessons learned from cancer research during the past fifty years provide a valuable opportunity to reflect, and to improve the conventional divergent approach and to introduce a new convergent avenue, based on the mass-action law principle, for the efficient cancer drug discovery and the low-cost drug development.

The mass-action law based algorithm for cost-effective approach for cancer drug discovery and development

PubMed Central

Chou, Ting-Chao

2011-01-01

The mass-action law based system analysis via mathematical induction and deduction lead to the generalized theory and algorithm that allows computerized simulation of dose-effect dynamics with small size experiments using a small number of data points in vitro, in animals, and in humans. The median-effect equation of the mass-action law deduced from over 300 mechanism specific-equations has been shown to be the unified theory that serves as the common-link for complicated biomedical systems. After using the median-effect principle as the common denominator, its applications are mechanism-independent, drug unit-independent, and dynamic order-independent; and can be used generally for single drug analysis or for multiple drug combinations in constant-ratio or non-constant ratios. Since the “median” is the common link and universal reference point in biological systems, these general enabling lead to computerized quantitative bio-informatics for econo-green bio-research in broad disciplines. Specific applications of the theory, especially relevant to drug discovery, drug combination, and clinical trials, have been cited or illustrated in terms of algorithms, experimental design and computerized simulation for data analysis. Lessons learned from cancer research during the past fifty years provide a valuable opportunity to reflect, and to improve the conventional divergent approach and to introduce a new convergent avenue, based on the mass-action law principle, for the efficient cancer drug discovery and the low-cost drug development. PMID:22016837

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the manned maneuvering unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, P. S.

1986-01-01

Results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items (PCIs). To preserve indepedence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) hardware. The MMU is a propulsive backpack, operated through separate hand controllers that input the pilot's translational and rotational maneuvering commands to the control electronics and then to the thrusters. The IOA analysis process utilized available MMU hardware drawings and schematics for defining hardware subsystems, assemblies, components, and hardware items. Final levels of detail were evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the worst case severity of the effect for each identified failure mode. The IOA analysis of the MMU found that the majority of the PCIs identified are resultant from the loss of either the propulsion or control functions, or are resultant from inability to perform an immediate or future mission. The five most severe criticalities identified are all resultant from failures imposed on the MMU hand controllers which have no redundancy within the MMU.

Development of an Automated Modality-Independent Elastographic Image Analysis System for Tumor Screening

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-01

further develop modality-independent elastography as a system that is able to reproducibly detect regions of increased stiffness within the breast based...tested on a tissue-like polymer phantom. elastography , breast cancer screening, image processing 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION...is a map of the breast (or other tissue of interest) that reflects material inhomogeneity, such as in the case of a tumor mass that disrupts the

Genome-Wide SNP Analysis Reveals Distinct Origins of Trypanosoma evansi and Trypanosoma equiperdum

PubMed Central

Cuypers, Bart; Van den Broeck, Frederik; Van Reet, Nick; Meehan, Conor J.; Cauchard, Julien; Wilkes, Jonathan M.; Claes, Filip; Goddeeris, Bruno; Birhanu, Hadush; Dujardin, Jean-Claude; Laukens, Kris; Büscher, Philippe

2017-01-01

Abstract Trypanosomes cause a variety of diseases in man and domestic animals in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. In the Trypanozoon subgenus, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense cause human African trypanosomiasis, whereas Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trypanosoma evansi, and Trypanosoma equiperdum are responsible for nagana, surra, and dourine in domestic animals, respectively. The genetic relationships between T. evansi and T. equiperdum and other Trypanozoon species remain unclear because the majority of phylogenetic analyses has been based on only a few genes. In this study, we have conducted a phylogenetic analysis based on genome-wide SNP analysis comprising 56 genomes from the Trypanozoon subgenus. Our data reveal that T. equiperdum has emerged at least once in Eastern Africa and T. evansi at two independent occasions in Western Africa. The genomes within the T. equiperdum and T. evansi monophyletic clusters show extremely little variation, probably due to the clonal spread linked to the independence from tsetse flies for their transmission. PMID:28541535

Independent Research Projects Using Protein Extraction: Affordable Ways to Inquire, Discover & Publish for Undergraduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pu, Rongsun

2010-01-01

This article describes how to use protein extraction, quantification, and analysis in the undergraduate teaching laboratory to engage students in inquiry-based, discovery-driven learning. Detailed instructions for obtaining proteins from animal tissues, using BCA assay to quantify the proteins, and data analysis are provided. The experimental…

Self-Informant Agreement in Well-Being Ratings: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Leann; Schimmack, Ulrich

2009-01-01

A meta-analysis of published studies that reported correlations between self-ratings and informant ratings of well-being (life-satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, negative affect) was performed. The average self-informant correlation based on 44 independent samples and 81 correlations for a total of 8,897 participants was r = 0.42 [99%…

A multifaceted independent performance analysis of facial subspace recognition algorithms.

PubMed

Bajwa, Usama Ijaz; Taj, Imtiaz Ahmad; Anwar, Muhammad Waqas; Wang, Xuan

2013-01-01

Face recognition has emerged as the fastest growing biometric technology and has expanded a lot in the last few years. Many new algorithms and commercial systems have been proposed and developed. Most of them use Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as a base for their techniques. Different and even conflicting results have been reported by researchers comparing these algorithms. The purpose of this study is to have an independent comparative analysis considering both performance and computational complexity of six appearance based face recognition algorithms namely PCA, 2DPCA, A2DPCA, (2D)(2)PCA, LPP and 2DLPP under equal working conditions. This study was motivated due to the lack of unbiased comprehensive comparative analysis of some recent subspace methods with diverse distance metric combinations. For comparison with other studies, FERET, ORL and YALE databases have been used with evaluation criteria as of FERET evaluations which closely simulate real life scenarios. A comparison of results with previous studies is performed and anomalies are reported. An important contribution of this study is that it presents the suitable performance conditions for each of the algorithms under consideration.

Improvement of Speckle Contrast Image Processing by an Efficient Algorithm.

PubMed

Steimers, A; Farnung, W; Kohl-Bareis, M

2016-01-01

We demonstrate an efficient algorithm for the temporal and spatial based calculation of speckle contrast for the imaging of blood flow by laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA). It reduces the numerical complexity of necessary calculations, facilitates a multi-core and many-core implementation of the speckle analysis and enables an independence of temporal or spatial resolution and SNR. The new algorithm was evaluated for both spatial and temporal based analysis of speckle patterns with different image sizes and amounts of recruited pixels as sequential, multi-core and many-core code.

Music video shot segmentation using independent component analysis and keyframe extraction based on image complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wei; Chen, Ting; Zhang, Wenjun; Shi, Yunyu; Li, Jun

2012-04-01

In recent years, Music video data is increasing at an astonishing speed. Shot segmentation and keyframe extraction constitute a fundamental unit in organizing, indexing, retrieving video content. In this paper a unified framework is proposed to detect the shot boundaries and extract the keyframe of a shot. Music video is first segmented to shots by illumination-invariant chromaticity histogram in independent component (IC) analysis feature space .Then we presents a new metric, image complexity, to extract keyframe in a shot which is computed by ICs. Experimental results show the framework is effective and has a good performance.

Optimum extrusion-cooking conditions for improving physical properties of fish-cereal based snacks by response surface methodology.

PubMed

Singh, R K Ratankumar; Majumdar, Ranendra K; Venkateshwarlu, G

2014-09-01

To establish the effect of barrel temperature, screw speed, total moisture and fish flour content on the expansion ratio and bulk density of the fish based extrudates, response surface methodology was adopted in this study. The experiments were optimized using five-levels, four factors central composite design. Analysis of Variance was carried to study the effects of main factors and interaction effects of various factors and regression analysis was carried out to explain the variability. The fitting was done to a second order model with the coded variables for each response. The response surface plots were developed as a function of two independent variables while keeping the other two independent variables at optimal values. Based on the ANOVA, the fitted model confirmed the model fitness for both the dependent variables. Organoleptically highest score was obtained with the combination of temperature-110(0) C, screw speed-480 rpm, moisture-18 % and fish flour-20 %.

Technology Transfer Opportunities for the Construction Engineering Community: Materials and Diagnostics.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-02-27

pavement testing include the use of the falling weight deflectometer and layered -elastic analysis. The falling weight deflectometer has the advantages of...being more transportable, lighter weight, and requires fewer operational personnel. The layer -elastic analysis provides for calculation of the elastic...moduli for pavement layers and sub- grade based on deflection measurements at the pavement surface. This analysis is device independent and will

Research on Improved Depth Belief Network-Based Prediction of Cardiovascular Diseases

PubMed Central

Zhang, Hongpo

2018-01-01

Quantitative analysis and prediction can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Quantitative prediction based on traditional model has low accuracy. The variance of model prediction based on shallow neural network is larger. In this paper, cardiovascular disease prediction model based on improved deep belief network (DBN) is proposed. Using the reconstruction error, the network depth is determined independently, and unsupervised training and supervised optimization are combined. It ensures the accuracy of model prediction while guaranteeing stability. Thirty experiments were performed independently on the Statlog (Heart) and Heart Disease Database data sets in the UCI database. Experimental results showed that the mean of prediction accuracy was 91.26% and 89.78%, respectively. The variance of prediction accuracy was 5.78 and 4.46, respectively. PMID:29854369

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the purge, vent and drain subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bynum, M. C., III

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter PV and D (Purge, Vent and Drain) Subsystem hardware. The PV and D Subsystem controls the environment of unpressurized compartments and window cavities, senses hazardous gases, and purges Orbiter/ET Disconnect. The subsystem is divided into six systems: Purge System (controls the environment of unpressurized structural compartments); Vent System (controls the pressure of unpressurized compartments); Drain System (removes water from unpressurized compartments); Hazardous Gas Detection System (HGDS) (monitors hazardous gas concentrations); Window Cavity Conditioning System (WCCS) (maintains clear windows and provides pressure control of the window cavities); and External Tank/Orbiter Disconnect Purge System (prevents cryo-pumping/icing of disconnect hardware). Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Four of the sixty-two failure modes analyzed were determined as single failures which could result in the loss of crew or vehicle. A possible loss of mission could result if any of twelve single failures occurred. Two of the criticality 1/1 failures are in the Window Cavity Conditioning System (WCCS) outer window cavity, where leakage and/or restricted flow will cause failure to depressurize/repressurize the window cavity. Two criticality 1/1 failures represent leakage and/or restricted flow in the Orbiter/ET disconnect purge network which prevent cryopumping/icing of disconnect hardware. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode.

Education Quality in Kazakhstan in the Context of Competence-Based Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nabi, Yskak; Zhaxylykova, Nuriya Ermuhametovna; Kenbaeva, Gulmira Kaparbaevna; Tolbayev, Abdikerim; Bekbaeva, Zeinep Nusipovna

2016-01-01

The background of this paper is to present how education system of Kazakhstan evolved during the last 24 years of independence, highlighting the contemporary transformational processes. We defined the aim to identify the education quality in the context of competence-based approach. Methods: Analysis of references, interviewing, experimental work.…

Decision technologies and the independent professional: the future's challenge to learning and leadership

PubMed Central

Dowie, J.

2001-01-01

Most references to "leadership" and "learning" as sources of quality improvement in medical care reflect an implicit commitment to the decision technology of "clinical judgement". All attempts to sustain this waning decision technology by clinical guidelines, care pathways, "evidence based practice", problem based curricula, and other stratagems only increase the gap between what is expected of doctors in today's clinical situation and what is humanly possible, hence the morale, stress, and health problems they are increasingly experiencing. Clinical guidance programmes based on decision analysis represent the coming decision technology, and proactive adaptation will produce independent doctors who can deliver excellent evidence based and preference driven care while concentrating on the human aspects of the therapeutic relation, having been relieved of the unbearable burdens of knowledge and information processing currently laid on them. History is full of examples of the incumbents of dominant technologies preferring to die than to adapt, and medicine needs both learning and leadership if it is to avoid repeating this mistake. Key Words: decision technology; clinical guidance programmes; decision analysis PMID:11700381

45 CFR 1309.44 - Independent analysis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Independent analysis. 1309.44 Section 1309.44... § 1309.44 Independent analysis. (a) The responsible HHS official may direct the grantee applying for funds to acquire or make major renovations to a facility to obtain an independent analysis of the cost...

45 CFR 1309.44 - Independent analysis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Independent analysis. 1309.44 Section 1309.44... § 1309.44 Independent analysis. (a) The responsible HHS official may direct the grantee applying for funds to acquire or make major renovations to a facility to obtain an independent analysis of the cost...

Stimulus-related independent component and voxel-wise analysis of human brain activity during free viewing of a feature film.

PubMed

Lahnakoski, Juha M; Salmi, Juha; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P; Lampinen, Jouko; Glerean, Enrico; Tikka, Pia; Sams, Mikko

2012-01-01

Understanding how the brain processes stimuli in a rich natural environment is a fundamental goal of neuroscience. Here, we showed a feature film to 10 healthy volunteers during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of hemodynamic brain activity. We then annotated auditory and visual features of the motion picture to inform analysis of the hemodynamic data. The annotations were fitted to both voxel-wise data and brain network time courses extracted by independent component analysis (ICA). Auditory annotations correlated with two independent components (IC) disclosing two functional networks, one responding to variety of auditory stimulation and another responding preferentially to speech but parts of the network also responding to non-verbal communication. Visual feature annotations correlated with four ICs delineating visual areas according to their sensitivity to different visual stimulus features. In comparison, a separate voxel-wise general linear model based analysis disclosed brain areas preferentially responding to sound energy, speech, music, visual contrast edges, body motion and hand motion which largely overlapped the results revealed by ICA. Differences between the results of IC- and voxel-based analyses demonstrate that thorough analysis of voxel time courses is important for understanding the activity of specific sub-areas of the functional networks, while ICA is a valuable tool for revealing novel information about functional connectivity which need not be explained by the predefined model. Our results encourage the use of naturalistic stimuli and tasks in cognitive neuroimaging to study how the brain processes stimuli in rich natural environments.

Stimulus-Related Independent Component and Voxel-Wise Analysis of Human Brain Activity during Free Viewing of a Feature Film

PubMed Central

Lahnakoski, Juha M.; Salmi, Juha; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Lampinen, Jouko; Glerean, Enrico; Tikka, Pia; Sams, Mikko

2012-01-01

Understanding how the brain processes stimuli in a rich natural environment is a fundamental goal of neuroscience. Here, we showed a feature film to 10 healthy volunteers during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of hemodynamic brain activity. We then annotated auditory and visual features of the motion picture to inform analysis of the hemodynamic data. The annotations were fitted to both voxel-wise data and brain network time courses extracted by independent component analysis (ICA). Auditory annotations correlated with two independent components (IC) disclosing two functional networks, one responding to variety of auditory stimulation and another responding preferentially to speech but parts of the network also responding to non-verbal communication. Visual feature annotations correlated with four ICs delineating visual areas according to their sensitivity to different visual stimulus features. In comparison, a separate voxel-wise general linear model based analysis disclosed brain areas preferentially responding to sound energy, speech, music, visual contrast edges, body motion and hand motion which largely overlapped the results revealed by ICA. Differences between the results of IC- and voxel-based analyses demonstrate that thorough analysis of voxel time courses is important for understanding the activity of specific sub-areas of the functional networks, while ICA is a valuable tool for revealing novel information about functional connectivity which need not be explained by the predefined model. Our results encourage the use of naturalistic stimuli and tasks in cognitive neuroimaging to study how the brain processes stimuli in rich natural environments. PMID:22496909

Research on Intelligent Interface in Double-front Work Machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamezaki, Mitsuhiro; Iwata, Hiroyasu; Sugano, Shigeki

This paper proposes a work state identification method with full independent of work environmental conditions and operator skill levels for construction machinery. Advanced operated-work machines, which have been designed for complicated tasks, require intelligent systems that can provide the quantitative work analysis needed to determine effective work procedures and that can provide operational and cognitive support for operators. Construction work environments are extremely complicated, however, and this makes state identification, which is a key technology for an intelligent system, difficult. We therefore defined primitive static states (PSS) that are determined using on-off information for the lever inputs and manipulator loads for each part of the grapple and front and that are completely independent of the various environmental conditions and variation in operator skill level that can cause an incorrect work state identification. To confirm the usefulness of PSS, we performed experiments with a demolition task by using our virtual reality simulator. We confirmed that PSS could robustly and accurately identify the work states and that untrained skills could be easily inferred from the results of PSS-based work analysis. We also confirmed in skill-training experiments that advice information based on PSS-based skill analysis greatly improved operator's work performance. We thus confirmed that PSS can adequately identify work states and are useful for work analysis and skill improvement.

Universal sequence map (USM) of arbitrary discrete sequences

PubMed Central

2002-01-01

Background For over a decade the idea of representing biological sequences in a continuous coordinate space has maintained its appeal but not been fully realized. The basic idea is that any sequence of symbols may define trajectories in the continuous space conserving all its statistical properties. Ideally, such a representation would allow scale independent sequence analysis – without the context of fixed memory length. A simple example would consist on being able to infer the homology between two sequences solely by comparing the coordinates of any two homologous units. Results We have successfully identified such an iterative function for bijective mappingψ of discrete sequences into objects of continuous state space that enable scale-independent sequence analysis. The technique, named Universal Sequence Mapping (USM), is applicable to sequences with an arbitrary length and arbitrary number of unique units and generates a representation where map distance estimates sequence similarity. The novel USM procedure is based on earlier work by these and other authors on the properties of Chaos Game Representation (CGR). The latter enables the representation of 4 unit type sequences (like DNA) as an order free Markov Chain transition table. The properties of USM are illustrated with test data and can be verified for other data by using the accompanying web-based tool:http://bioinformatics.musc.edu/~jonas/usm/. Conclusions USM is shown to enable a statistical mechanics approach to sequence analysis. The scale independent representation frees sequence analysis from the need to assume a memory length in the investigation of syntactic rules. PMID:11895567

Humanized Androgen Receptor Mice: A Genetic Model for Differential Response to Prostate Cancer Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

transfected with 4 ng of receptor (12Q, 21Q or 48Q), 400 ng of reporter and 100 ng of promoterless renilla luciferase as an internal control. 24 hrs...The histograms represent average values normalized to renilla from either three (A and B) or two (C) independent trials. Fold activation was...luciferase activities normalized to renilla from three independent trials. * p≤0.02, significant differences based on Anova single factor analysis

Culture-Independent Analysis of Probiotic Products by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis

PubMed Central

Temmerman, R.; Scheirlinck, I.; Huys, G.; Swings, J.

2003-01-01

In order to obtain functional and safe probiotic products for human consumption, fast and reliable quality control of these products is crucial. Currently, analysis of most probiotics is still based on culture-dependent methods involving the use of specific isolation media and identification of a limited number of isolates, which makes this approach relatively insensitive, laborious, and time-consuming. In this study, a collection of 10 probiotic products, including four dairy products, one fruit drink, and five freeze-dried products, were subjected to microbial analysis by using a culture-independent approach, and the results were compared with the results of a conventional culture-dependent analysis. The culture-independent approach involved extraction of total bacterial DNA directly from the product, PCR amplification of the V3 region of the 16S ribosomal DNA, and separation of the amplicons on a denaturing gradient gel. Digital capturing and processing of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) band patterns allowed direct identification of the amplicons at the species level. This whole culture-independent approach can be performed in less than 30 h. Compared with culture-dependent analysis, the DGGE approach was found to have a much higher sensitivity for detection of microbial strains in probiotic products in a fast, reliable, and reproducible manner. Unfortunately, as reported in previous studies in which the culture-dependent approach was used, a rather high percentage of probiotic products suffered from incorrect labeling and yielded low bacterial counts, which may decrease their probiotic potential. PMID:12513998

Impact of Gender on 30-Day Complications After Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty.

PubMed

Robinson, Jonathan; Shin, John I; Dowdell, James E; Moucha, Calin S; Chen, Darwin D

2017-08-01

Impact of gender on 30-day complications has been investigated in other surgical procedures but has not yet been studied in total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Patients who received THA or TKA from 2012 to 2014 were identified in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on gender. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess associations between gender and patient factors and complications after THA or TKA and to assess whether gender was an independent risk factor. THA patients consisted of 45.1% male and 54.9% female. In a multivariate analysis, female gender was found to be a protective factor for mortality, sepsis, cardiovascular complications, unplanned reintubation, and renal complications and as an independent risk factor for urinary tract infection, blood transfusion, and nonhome discharge after THA. TKA patients consisted of 36.7% male and 62.3% female. Multivariate analysis revealed female gender as a protective factor for sepsis, cardiovascular complications, and renal complications and as an independent risk factor for urinary tract infection, blood transfusion, and nonhome discharge after TKA. There are discrepancies in the THA or TKA complications based on gender, and the multivariate analyses confirmed gender as an independent risk factor for certain complications. Physicians should be mindful of patient's gender for better risk stratification and informed consent. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do executive deficits and delay aversion make independent contributions to preschool attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms?

PubMed

Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J S; Dalen, Lindy; Remington, Bob

2003-11-01

To test whether deficits in executive function and delay aversion make independent contributions to levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms exhibited by preschool children. One hundred fifty-six children between 3 and 5.5 years old (78 girls and 78 boys) selected from the community completed an age-appropriate battery of tests measuring working memory, set shifting, planning, delay of gratification, and preference for delayed rewards. Parents completed a clinical interview about their children's ADHD symptoms. Analysis of test performance revealed two factors: executive dysfunction and delay aversion. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that when other factors (i.e., age, IQ, and conduct problems) were controlled, executive dysfunction and delay aversion each made significant independent contributions to predictions of ADHD symptoms. Preschool ADHD symptoms are psychologically heterogeneous. Executive dysfunction and delay aversion may represent two distinct and early appearing neurodevelopmental bases for ADHD symptoms.

Extinction-ratio-independent electrical method for measuring chirp parameters of Mach-Zehnder modulators using frequency-shifted heterodyne.

PubMed

Zhang, Shangjian; Wang, Heng; Zou, Xinhai; Zhang, Yali; Lu, Rongguo; Liu, Yong

2015-06-15

An extinction-ratio-independent electrical method is proposed for measuring chirp parameters of Mach-Zehnder electric-optic intensity modulators based on frequency-shifted optical heterodyne. The method utilizes the electrical spectrum analysis of the heterodyne products between the intensity modulated optical signal and the frequency-shifted optical carrier, and achieves the intrinsic chirp parameters measurement at microwave region with high-frequency resolution and wide-frequency range for the Mach-Zehnder modulator with a finite extinction ratio. Moreover, the proposed method avoids calibrating the responsivity fluctuation of the photodiode in spite of the involved photodetection. Chirp parameters as a function of modulation frequency are experimentally measured and compared to those with the conventional optical spectrum analysis method. Our method enables an extinction-ratio-independent and calibration-free electrical measurement of Mach-Zehnder intensity modulators by using the high-resolution frequency-shifted heterodyne technique.

Resolving fluorophores by unmixing multispectral fluorescence tomography with independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Huangsheng; Zhang, Guanglei; He, Wei; Liu, Fei; Guang, Huizhi; Zhang, Yue; Bai, Jing; Luo, Jianwen

2014-09-01

It is a challenging problem to resolve and identify drug (or non-specific fluorophore) distribution throughout the whole body of small animals in vivo. In this article, an algorithm of unmixing multispectral fluorescence tomography (MFT) images based on independent component analysis (ICA) is proposed to solve this problem. ICA is used to unmix the data matrix assembled by the reconstruction results from MFT. Then the independent components (ICs) that represent spatial structures and the corresponding spectrum courses (SCs) which are associated with spectral variations can be obtained. By combining the ICs with SCs, the recovered MFT images can be generated and fluorophore concentration can be calculated. Simulation studies, phantom experiments and animal experiments with different concentration contrasts and spectrum combinations are performed to test the performance of the proposed algorithm. Results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can not only provide the spatial information of fluorophores, but also recover the actual reconstruction of MFT images.

Model-independent analysis of the Fermilab Tevatron turn-by-turn beam position monitor measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrenko, A. V.; Valishev, A. A.; Lebedev, V. A.

2011-09-01

Coherent transverse beam oscillations in the Tevatron were analyzed with the model-independent analysis (MIA) technique. This allowed one to obtain the model-independent values of coupled betatron amplitudes, phase advances, and dispersion function around the ring from a single dipole kick measurement. In order to solve the MIA mode mixing problem which limits the accuracy of determination of the optical functions, we have developed a new technique of rotational MIA mode untangling. The basic idea is to treat each beam position monitor (BPM) as two BPMs separated in a ring by exactly one turn. This leads to a simple criterion of MIA mode separation: the betatron phase advance between any BPM and its counterpart shifted by one turn should be equal to the betatron tune and therefore should not depend on the BPM position in the ring. Furthermore, we describe a MIA-based technique to locate vibrating magnets in a storage ring.

Outcome of transarterial chemoembolization-based multi-modal treatment in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

PubMed

Song, Do Seon; Nam, Soon Woo; Bae, Si Hyun; Kim, Jin Dong; Jang, Jeong Won; Song, Myeong Jun; Lee, Sung Won; Kim, Hee Yeon; Lee, Young Joon; Chun, Ho Jong; You, Young Kyoung; Choi, Jong Young; Yoon, Seung Kew

2015-02-28

To investigate the efficacy and safety of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE)-based multimodal treatment in patients with large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 146 consecutive patients were included in the analysis, and their medical records and radiological data were reviewed retrospectively. In total, 119 patients received TACE-based multi-modal treatments, and the remaining 27 received conservative management. Overall survival (P<0.001) and objective tumor response (P=0.003) were significantly better in the treatment group than in the conservative group. After subgroup analysis, survival benefits were observed not only in the multi-modal treatment group compared with the TACE-only group (P=0.002) but also in the surgical treatment group compared with the loco-regional treatment-only group (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis identified tumor stage (P<0.001) and tumor type (P=0.009) as two independent pre-treatment factors for survival. After adjusting for significant pre-treatment prognostic factors, objective response (P<0.001), surgical treatment (P=0.009), and multi-modal treatment (P=0.002) were identified as independent post-treatment prognostic factors. TACE-based multi-modal treatments were safe and more beneficial than conservative management. Salvage surgery after successful downstaging resulted in long-term survival in patients with large, unresectable HCC.

Outcome of transarterial chemoembolization-based multi-modal treatment in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

PubMed Central

Song, Do Seon; Nam, Soon Woo; Bae, Si Hyun; Kim, Jin Dong; Jang, Jeong Won; Song, Myeong Jun; Lee, Sung Won; Kim, Hee Yeon; Lee, Young Joon; Chun, Ho Jong; You, Young Kyoung; Choi, Jong Young; Yoon, Seung Kew

2015-01-01

AIM: To investigate the efficacy and safety of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE)-based multimodal treatment in patients with large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: A total of 146 consecutive patients were included in the analysis, and their medical records and radiological data were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: In total, 119 patients received TACE-based multi-modal treatments, and the remaining 27 received conservative management. Overall survival (P < 0.001) and objective tumor response (P = 0.003) were significantly better in the treatment group than in the conservative group. After subgroup analysis, survival benefits were observed not only in the multi-modal treatment group compared with the TACE-only group (P = 0.002) but also in the surgical treatment group compared with the loco-regional treatment-only group (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis identified tumor stage (P < 0.001) and tumor type (P = 0.009) as two independent pre-treatment factors for survival. After adjusting for significant pre-treatment prognostic factors, objective response (P < 0.001), surgical treatment (P = 0.009), and multi-modal treatment (P = 0.002) were identified as independent post-treatment prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: TACE-based multi-modal treatments were safe and more beneficial than conservative management. Salvage surgery after successful downstaging resulted in long-term survival in patients with large, unresectable HCC. PMID:25741147

Person-independent facial expression analysis by fusing multiscale cell features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Lubing; Wang, Han

2013-03-01

Automatic facial expression recognition is an interesting and challenging task. To achieve satisfactory accuracy, deriving a robust facial representation is especially important. A novel appearance-based feature, the multiscale cell local intensity increasing patterns (MC-LIIP), to represent facial images and conduct person-independent facial expression analysis is presented. The LIIP uses a decimal number to encode the texture or intensity distribution around each pixel via pixel-to-pixel intensity comparison. To boost noise resistance, MC-LIIP carries out comparison computation on the average values of scalable cells instead of individual pixels. The facial descriptor fuses region-based histograms of MC-LIIP features from various scales, so as to encode not only textural microstructures but also the macrostructures of facial images. Finally, a support vector machine classifier is applied for expression recognition. Experimental results on the CK+ and Karolinska directed emotional faces databases show the superiority of the proposed method.

Treatment integrity of school-based interventions with children in the journal of applied behavior analysis 1991-2005.

PubMed

McIntyre, Laura Lee; Gresham, Frank M; DiGennaro, Florence D; Reed, Derek D

2007-01-01

We reviewed all school-based experimental studies with individuals 0 to 18 years published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) between 1991 and 2005. A total of 142 articles (152 studies) that met review criteria were included. Nearly all (95%) of these experiments provided an operational definition of the independent variable, but only 30% of the studies provided treatment integrity data. Nearly half of studies (45%) were judged to be at high risk for treatment inaccuracies. Treatment integrity data were more likely to be included in studies that used teachers, multiple treatment agents, or both. Although there was a substantial increase in reporting operational definitions of independent variables, results suggest that there was only a modest improvement in reported integrity over the past 30 years of JABA studies. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed.

Neural correlates of the natural observation of an emotionally loaded video

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Santos, Leopoldo

2018-01-01

Studies based on a paradigm of free or natural viewing have revealed characteristics that allow us to know how the brain processes stimuli within a natural environment. This method has been little used to study brain function. With a connectivity approach, we examine the processing of emotions using an exploratory method to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. This research describes our approach to modeling stress paradigms suitable for neuroimaging environments. We showed a short film (4.54 minutes) with high negative emotional valence and high arousal content to 24 healthy male subjects (36.42 years old; SD = 12.14) during fMRI. Independent component analysis (ICA) was used to identify networks based on spatial statistical independence. Through this analysis we identified the sensorimotor system and its influence on the dorsal attention and default-mode networks, which in turn have reciprocal activity and modulate networks described as emotional. PMID:29883494

APPLEPIPS /Apple Personal Image Processing System/ - An interactive digital image processing system for the Apple II microcomputer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masuoka, E.; Rose, J.; Quattromani, M.

1981-01-01

Recent developments related to microprocessor-based personal computers have made low-cost digital image processing systems a reality. Image analysis systems built around these microcomputers provide color image displays for images as large as 256 by 240 pixels in sixteen colors. Descriptive statistics can be computed for portions of an image, and supervised image classification can be obtained. The systems support Basic, Fortran, Pascal, and assembler language. A description is provided of a system which is representative of the new microprocessor-based image processing systems currently on the market. While small systems may never be truly independent of larger mainframes, because they lack 9-track tape drives, the independent processing power of the microcomputers will help alleviate some of the turn-around time problems associated with image analysis and display on the larger multiuser systems.

Temperature-independent fiber-Bragg-grating-based atmospheric pressure sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhiguo; Shen, Chunyan; Li, Luming

2018-03-01

Atmospheric pressure is an important way to achieve a high degree of measurement for modern aircrafts, moreover, it is also an indispensable parameter in the meteorological telemetry system. With the development of society, people are increasingly concerned about the weather. Accurate and convenient atmospheric pressure parameters can provide strong support for meteorological analysis. However, electronic atmospheric pressure sensors currently in application suffer from several shortcomings. After an analysis and discussion, we propose an innovative structural design, in which a vacuum membrane box and a temperature-independent strain sensor based on an equal strength cantilever beam structure and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are used. We provide experimental verification of that the atmospheric pressure sensor device has the characteristics of a simple structure, lack of an external power supply, automatic temperature compensation, and high sensitivity. The sensor system has good sensitivity, which can be up to 100 nm/MPa, and repeatability. In addition, the device exhibits desired hysteresis.

Polarization independent thermally tunable erbium-doped fiber amplifier gain equalizer using a cascaded Mach-Zehnder coupler.

PubMed

Sahu, P P

2008-02-10

A thermally tunable erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) gain equalizer filter based on compact point symmetric cascaded Mach-Zehnder (CMZ) coupler is presented with its mathematical model and is found to be polarization dependent due to stress anisotropy caused by local heating for thermo-optic phase change from its mathematical analysis. A thermo-optic delay line structure with a stress releasing groove is proposed and designed for the reduction of polarization dependent characteristics of the high index contrast point symmetric delay line structure of the device. It is found from thermal analysis by using an implicit finite difference method that temperature gradients of the proposed structure, which mainly causes the release of stress anisotropy, is approximately nine times more than that of the conventional structure. It is also seen that the EDFA gain equalized spectrum by using the point symmetric CMZ device based on the proposed structure is almost polarization independent.

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Learning Outcomes and Parental Involvement during Early Childhood Education and Early Elementary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, Xin; Shen, Jianping; Krenn, Huilan Y.; Hu, Shanshan; Yuan, Jing

2016-01-01

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between learning outcomes of children and educational involvement of parents during a unique period of early childhood education and early elementary education based on 100 independent effect sizes from 46 studies. Learning outcomes are academic achievement, and frameworks of parental involvement…

Independent Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS): What Does CAS Measure?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kranzler, John H.; Keith, Timothy Z.

1999-01-01

Uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to address unresolved issues concerning the structure of the Cognitive Assessment System, a test of intelligence based upon the planning, attention, and simultaneous-successive (PASS) processes theory of human cognition. Results reveal that the CFA of the standardization data do not support use of the CAS…

Channels selection using independent component analysis and scalp map projection for EEG-based driver fatigue classification.

PubMed

Rifai Chai; Naik, Ganesh R; Sai Ho Ling; Tran, Yvonne; Craig, Ashley; Nguyen, Hung T

2017-07-01

This paper presents a classification of driver fatigue with electroencephalography (EEG) channels selection analysis. The system employs independent component analysis (ICA) with scalp map back projection to select the dominant of EEG channels. After channel selection, the features of the selected EEG channels were extracted based on power spectral density (PSD), and then classified using a Bayesian neural network. The results of the ICA decomposition with the back-projected scalp map and a threshold showed that the EEG channels can be reduced from 32 channels into 16 dominants channels involved in fatigue assessment as chosen channels, which included AF3, F3, FC1, FC5, T7, CP5, P3, O1, P4, P8, CP6, T8, FC2, F8, AF4, FP2. The result of fatigue vs. alert classification of the selected 16 channels yielded a sensitivity of 76.8%, specificity of 74.3% and an accuracy of 75.5%. Also, the classification results of the selected 16 channels are comparable to those using the original 32 channels. So, the selected 16 channels is preferable for ergonomics improvement of EEG-based fatigue classification system.

Visualization of Global Sensitivity Analysis Results Based on a Combination of Linearly Dependent and Independent Directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davies, Misty D.; Gundy-Burlet, Karen

2010-01-01

A useful technique for the validation and verification of complex flight systems is Monte Carlo Filtering -- a global sensitivity analysis that tries to find the inputs and ranges that are most likely to lead to a subset of the outputs. A thorough exploration of the parameter space for complex integrated systems may require thousands of experiments and hundreds of controlled and measured variables. Tools for analyzing this space often have limitations caused by the numerical problems associated with high dimensionality and caused by the assumption of independence of all of the dimensions. To combat both of these limitations, we propose a technique that uses a combination of the original variables with the derived variables obtained during a principal component analysis.

Imputation and subset-based association analysis across different cancer types identifies multiple independent risk loci in the TERT-CLPTM1L region on chromosome 5p15.33

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhaoming; Zhu, Bin; Zhang, Mingfeng; Parikh, Hemang; Jia, Jinping; Chung, Charles C.; Sampson, Joshua N.; Hoskins, Jason W.; Hutchinson, Amy; Burdette, Laurie; Ibrahim, Abdisamad; Hautman, Christopher; Raj, Preethi S.; Abnet, Christian C.; Adjei, Andrew A.; Ahlbom, Anders; Albanes, Demetrius; Allen, Naomi E.; Ambrosone, Christine B.; Aldrich, Melinda; Amiano, Pilar; Amos, Christopher; Andersson, Ulrika; Andriole, Gerald; Andrulis, Irene L.; Arici, Cecilia; Arslan, Alan A.; Austin, Melissa A.; Baris, Dalsu; Barkauskas, Donald A.; Bassig, Bryan A.; Beane Freeman, Laura E.; Berg, Christine D.; Berndt, Sonja I.; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Biritwum, Richard B.; Black, Amanda; Blot, William; Boeing, Heiner; Boffetta, Paolo; Bolton, Kelly; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Bracci, Paige M.; Brennan, Paul; Brinton, Louise A.; Brotzman, Michelle; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H. Bas; Buring, Julie E.; Butler, Mary Ann; Cai, Qiuyin; Cancel-Tassin, Geraldine; Canzian, Federico; Cao, Guangwen; Caporaso, Neil E.; Carrato, Alfredo; Carreon, Tania; Carta, Angela; Chang, Gee-Chen; Chang, I-Shou; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Che, Xu; Chen, Chien-Jen; Chen, Chih-Yi; Chen, Chung-Hsing; Chen, Constance; Chen, Kuan-Yu; Chen, Yuh-Min; Chokkalingam, Anand P.; Chu, Lisa W.; Clavel-Chapelon, Francoise; Colditz, Graham A.; Colt, Joanne S.; Conti, David; Cook, Michael B.; Cortessis, Victoria K.; Crawford, E. David; Cussenot, Olivier; Davis, Faith G.; De Vivo, Immaculata; Deng, Xiang; Ding, Ti; Dinney, Colin P.; Di Stefano, Anna Luisa; Diver, W. Ryan; Duell, Eric J.; Elena, Joanne W.; Fan, Jin-Hu; Feigelson, Heather Spencer; Feychting, Maria; Figueroa, Jonine D.; Flanagan, Adrienne M.; Fraumeni, Joseph F.; Freedman, Neal D.; Fridley, Brooke L.; Fuchs, Charles S.; Gago-Dominguez, Manuela; Gallinger, Steven; Gao, Yu-Tang; Gapstur, Susan M.; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Garcia-Closas, Reina; Gastier-Foster, Julie M.; Gaziano, J. Michael; Gerhard, Daniela S.; Giffen, Carol A.; Giles, Graham G.; Gillanders, Elizabeth M.; Giovannucci, Edward L.; Goggins, Michael; Gokgoz, Nalan; Goldstein, Alisa M.; Gonzalez, Carlos; Gorlick, Richard; Greene, Mark H.; Gross, Myron; Grossman, H. Barton; Grubb, Robert; Gu, Jian; Guan, Peng; Haiman, Christopher A.; Hallmans, Goran; Hankinson, Susan E.; Harris, Curtis C.; Hartge, Patricia; Hattinger, Claudia; Hayes, Richard B.; He, Qincheng; Helman, Lee; Henderson, Brian E.; Henriksson, Roger; Hoffman-Bolton, Judith; Hohensee, Chancellor; Holly, Elizabeth A.; Hong, Yun-Chul; Hoover, Robert N.; Hosgood, H. Dean; Hsiao, Chin-Fu; Hsing, Ann W.; Hsiung, Chao Agnes; Hu, Nan; Hu, Wei; Hu, Zhibin; Huang, Ming-Shyan; Hunter, David J.; Inskip, Peter D.; Ito, Hidemi; Jacobs, Eric J.; Jacobs, Kevin B.; Jenab, Mazda; Ji, Bu-Tian; Johansen, Christoffer; Johansson, Mattias; Johnson, Alison; Kaaks, Rudolf; Kamat, Ashish M.; Kamineni, Aruna; Karagas, Margaret; Khanna, Chand; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Kim, Christopher; Kim, In-Sam; Kim, Jin Hee; Kim, Yeul Hong; Kim, Young-Chul; Kim, Young Tae; Kang, Chang Hyun; Jung, Yoo Jin; Kitahara, Cari M.; Klein, Alison P.; Klein, Robert; Kogevinas, Manolis; Koh, Woon-Puay; Kohno, Takashi; Kolonel, Laurence N.; Kooperberg, Charles; Kratz, Christian P.; Krogh, Vittorio; Kunitoh, Hideo; Kurtz, Robert C.; Kurucu, Nilgun; Lan, Qing; Lathrop, Mark; Lau, Ching C.; Lecanda, Fernando; Lee, Kyoung-Mu; Lee, Maxwell P.; Le Marchand, Loic; Lerner, Seth P.; Li, Donghui; Liao, Linda M.; Lim, Wei-Yen; Lin, Dongxin; Lin, Jie; Lindstrom, Sara; Linet, Martha S.; Lissowska, Jolanta; Liu, Jianjun; Ljungberg, Börje; Lloreta, Josep; Lu, Daru; Ma, Jing; Malats, Nuria; Mannisto, Satu; Marina, Neyssa; Mastrangelo, Giuseppe; Matsuo, Keitaro; McGlynn, Katherine A.; McKean-Cowdin, Roberta; McNeill, Lorna H.; McWilliams, Robert R.; Melin, Beatrice S.; Meltzer, Paul S.; Mensah, James E.; Miao, Xiaoping; Michaud, Dominique S.; Mondul, Alison M.; Moore, Lee E.; Muir, Kenneth; Niwa, Shelley; Olson, Sara H.; Orr, Nick; Panico, Salvatore; Park, Jae Yong; Patel, Alpa V.; Patino-Garcia, Ana; Pavanello, Sofia; Peeters, Petra H. M.; Peplonska, Beata; Peters, Ulrike; Petersen, Gloria M.; Picci, Piero; Pike, Malcolm C.; Porru, Stefano; Prescott, Jennifer; Pu, Xia; Purdue, Mark P.; Qiao, You-Lin; Rajaraman, Preetha; Riboli, Elio; Risch, Harvey A.; Rodabough, Rebecca J.; Rothman, Nathaniel; Ruder, Avima M.; Ryu, Jeong-Seon; Sanson, Marc; Schned, Alan; Schumacher, Fredrick R.; Schwartz, Ann G.; Schwartz, Kendra L.; Schwenn, Molly; Scotlandi, Katia; Seow, Adeline; Serra, Consol; Serra, Massimo; Sesso, Howard D.; Severi, Gianluca; Shen, Hongbing; Shen, Min; Shete, Sanjay; Shiraishi, Kouya; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Siddiq, Afshan; Sierrasesumaga, Luis; Sierri, Sabina; Loon Sihoe, Alan Dart; Silverman, Debra T.; Simon, Matthias; Southey, Melissa C.; Spector, Logan; Spitz, Margaret; Stampfer, Meir; Stattin, Par; Stern, Mariana C.; Stevens, Victoria L.; Stolzenberg-Solomon, Rachael Z.; Stram, Daniel O.; Strom, Sara S.; Su, Wu-Chou; Sund, Malin; Sung, Sook Whan; Swerdlow, Anthony; Tan, Wen; Tanaka, Hideo; Tang, Wei; Tang, Ze-Zhang; Tardon, Adonina; Tay, Evelyn; Taylor, Philip R.; Tettey, Yao; Thomas, David M.; Tirabosco, Roberto; Tjonneland, Anne; Tobias, Geoffrey S.; Toro, Jorge R.; Travis, Ruth C.; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Troisi, Rebecca; Truelove, Ann; Tsai, Ying-Huang; Tucker, Margaret A.; Tumino, Rosario; Van Den Berg, David; Van Den Eeden, Stephen K.; Vermeulen, Roel; Vineis, Paolo; Visvanathan, Kala; Vogel, Ulla; Wang, Chaoyu; Wang, Chengfeng; Wang, Junwen; Wang, Sophia S.; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Weinstein, Stephanie J.; Wentzensen, Nicolas; Wheeler, William; White, Emily; Wiencke, John K.; Wolk, Alicja; Wolpin, Brian M.; Wong, Maria Pik; Wrensch, Margaret; Wu, Chen; Wu, Tangchun; Wu, Xifeng; Wu, Yi-Long; Wunder, Jay S.; Xiang, Yong-Bing; Xu, Jun; Yang, Hannah P.; Yang, Pan-Chyr; Yatabe, Yasushi; Ye, Yuanqing; Yeboah, Edward D.; Yin, Zhihua; Ying, Chen; Yu, Chong-Jen; Yu, Kai; Yuan, Jian-Min; Zanetti, Krista A.; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Zheng, Wei; Zhou, Baosen; Mirabello, Lisa; Savage, Sharon A.; Kraft, Peter; Chanock, Stephen J.; Yeager, Meredith; Landi, Maria Terese; Shi, Jianxin; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Amundadottir, Laufey T.

2014-01-01

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have mapped risk alleles for at least 10 distinct cancers to a small region of 63 000 bp on chromosome 5p15.33. This region harbors the TERT and CLPTM1L genes; the former encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase reverse transcriptase and the latter may play a role in apoptosis. To investigate further the genetic architecture of common susceptibility alleles in this region, we conducted an agnostic subset-based meta-analysis (association analysis based on subsets) across six distinct cancers in 34 248 cases and 45 036 controls. Based on sequential conditional analysis, we identified as many as six independent risk loci marked by common single-nucleotide polymorphisms: five in the TERT gene (Region 1: rs7726159, P = 2.10 × 10−39; Region 3: rs2853677, P = 3.30 × 10−36 and PConditional = 2.36 × 10−8; Region 4: rs2736098, P = 3.87 × 10−12 and PConditional = 5.19 × 10−6, Region 5: rs13172201, P = 0.041 and PConditional = 2.04 × 10−6; and Region 6: rs10069690, P = 7.49 × 10−15 and PConditional = 5.35 × 10−7) and one in the neighboring CLPTM1L gene (Region 2: rs451360; P = 1.90 × 10−18 and PConditional = 7.06 × 10−16). Between three and five cancers mapped to each independent locus with both risk-enhancing and protective effects. Allele-specific effects on DNA methylation were seen for a subset of risk loci, indicating that methylation and subsequent effects on gene expression may contribute to the biology of risk variants on 5p15.33. Our results provide strong support for extensive pleiotropy across this region of 5p15.33, to an extent not previously observed in other cancer susceptibility loci. PMID:25027329

Task Analysis Schema Based on Cognitive Style and Supplantational Instructional Design with Application to an Air Force Training Course.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-02-01

ADOAA82 342 OKLAHOMA UNIV NORMAN COLL OF EDUCATION F/B 5/9 TASK ANALYSIS SCHEMA BASED ON COGNITIVE STYLE AND SUPPLANFATION--ETC(U) FEB GO F B AUSBURN...separately- perceived fragments) 6. Tasks requiring use of a. Visual/haptic (pre- kinesthetic or tactile ference for kinesthetic stimuli stimuli; ability...to transform kinesthetic stimuli into visual images; ability to learn directly from tactile or kinesthet - ic impressions) b. Field independence/de

View subspaces for indexing and retrieval of 3D models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutagaci, Helin; Godil, Afzal; Sankur, Bülent; Yemez, Yücel

2010-02-01

View-based indexing schemes for 3D object retrieval are gaining popularity since they provide good retrieval results. These schemes are coherent with the theory that humans recognize objects based on their 2D appearances. The viewbased techniques also allow users to search with various queries such as binary images, range images and even 2D sketches. The previous view-based techniques use classical 2D shape descriptors such as Fourier invariants, Zernike moments, Scale Invariant Feature Transform-based local features and 2D Digital Fourier Transform coefficients. These methods describe each object independent of others. In this work, we explore data driven subspace models, such as Principal Component Analysis, Independent Component Analysis and Nonnegative Matrix Factorization to describe the shape information of the views. We treat the depth images obtained from various points of the view sphere as 2D intensity images and train a subspace to extract the inherent structure of the views within a database. We also show the benefit of categorizing shapes according to their eigenvalue spread. Both the shape categorization and data-driven feature set conjectures are tested on the PSB database and compared with the competitor view-based 3D shape retrieval algorithms.

Alignment-Independent Comparisons of Human Gastrointestinal Tract Microbial Communities in a Multidimensional 16S rRNA Gene Evolutionary Space▿

PubMed Central

Rudi, Knut; Zimonja, Monika; Kvenshagen, Bente; Rugtveit, Jarle; Midtvedt, Tore; Eggesbø, Merete

2007-01-01

We present a novel approach for comparing 16S rRNA gene clone libraries that is independent of both DNA sequence alignment and definition of bacterial phylogroups. These steps are the major bottlenecks in current microbial comparative analyses. We used direct comparisons of taxon density distributions in an absolute evolutionary coordinate space. The coordinate space was generated by using alignment-independent bilinear multivariate modeling. Statistical analyses for clone library comparisons were based on multivariate analysis of variance, partial least-squares regression, and permutations. Clone libraries from both adult and infant gastrointestinal tract microbial communities were used as biological models. We reanalyzed a library consisting of 11,831 clones covering complete colons from three healthy adults in addition to a smaller 390-clone library from infant feces. We show that it is possible to extract detailed information about microbial community structures using our alignment-independent method. Our density distribution analysis is also very efficient with respect to computer operation time, meeting the future requirements of large-scale screenings to understand the diversity and dynamics of microbial communities. PMID:17337554

Addressing Spatial Dependence Bias in Climate Model Simulations—An Independent Component Analysis Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nahar, Jannatun; Johnson, Fiona; Sharma, Ashish

2018-02-01

Conventional bias correction is usually applied on a grid-by-grid basis, meaning that the resulting corrections cannot address biases in the spatial distribution of climate variables. To solve this problem, a two-step bias correction method is proposed here to correct time series at multiple locations conjointly. The first step transforms the data to a set of statistically independent univariate time series, using a technique known as independent component analysis (ICA). The mutually independent signals can then be bias corrected as univariate time series and back-transformed to improve the representation of spatial dependence in the data. The spatially corrected data are then bias corrected at the grid scale in the second step. The method has been applied to two CMIP5 General Circulation Model simulations for six different climate regions of Australia for two climate variables—temperature and precipitation. The results demonstrate that the ICA-based technique leads to considerable improvements in temperature simulations with more modest improvements in precipitation. Overall, the method results in current climate simulations that have greater equivalency in space and time with observational data.

Quantification method for the appearance of melanin pigmentation using independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojima, Nobutoshi; Okiyama, Natsuko; Okaguchi, Saya; Tsumura, Norimichi; Nakaguchi, Toshiya; Hori, Kimihiko; Miyake, Yoichi

2005-04-01

In the cosmetics industry, skin color is very important because skin color gives a direct impression of the face. In particular, many people suffer from melanin pigmentation such as liver spots and freckles. However, it is very difficult to evaluate melanin pigmentation using conventional colorimetric values because these values contain information on various skin chromophores simultaneously. Therefore, it is necessary to extract information of the chromophore of individual skins independently as density information. The isolation of the melanin component image based on independent component analysis (ICA) from a single skin image was reported in 2003. However, this technique has not developed a quantification method for melanin pigmentation. This paper introduces a quantification method based on the ICA of a skin color image to isolate melanin pigmentation. The image acquisition system we used consists of commercially available equipment such as digital cameras and lighting sources with polarized light. The images taken were analyzed using ICA to extract the melanin component images, and Laplacian of Gaussian (LOG) filter was applied to extract the pigmented area. As a result, for skin images including those showing melanin pigmentation and acne, the method worked well. Finally, the total amount of extracted area had a strong correspondence to the subjective rating values for the appearance of pigmentation. Further analysis is needed to recognize the appearance of pigmentation concerning the size of the pigmented area and its spatial gradation.

Genome-wide scan in Hispanics highlights candidate loci for brain white matter hyperintensities

PubMed Central

Beecham, Ashley; Dong, Chuanhui; Wright, Clinton B.; Dueker, Nicole; Brickman, Adam M.; Wang, Liyong; DeCarli, Charles; Blanton, Susan H.; Rundek, Tatjana; Mayeux, Richard

2017-01-01

Objective: To investigate genetic variants influencing white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in the understudied Hispanic population. Methods: Using 6.8 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify SNPs associated with WMH volume (WMHV) in 922 Hispanics who underwent brain MRI as a cross-section of 2 community-based cohorts in the Northern Manhattan Study and the Washington Heights–Inwood Columbia Aging Project. Multiple linear modeling with PLINK was performed to examine the additive genetic effects on ln(WMHV) after controlling for age, sex, total intracranial volume, and principal components of ancestry. Gene-based tests of association were performed using VEGAS. Replication was performed in independent samples of Europeans, African Americans, and Asians. Results: From the SNP analysis, a total of 17 independent SNPs in 7 genes had suggestive evidence of association with WMHV in Hispanics (p < 1 × 10−5) and 5 genes from the gene-based analysis with p < 1 × 10−3. One SNP (rs9957475 in GATA6) and 1 gene (UBE2C) demonstrated evidence of association (p < 0.05) in the African American sample. Four SNPs with p < 1 × 10−5 were shown to affect binding of SPI1 using RegulomeDB. Conclusions: This GWAS of 2 community-based Hispanic cohorts revealed several novel WMH-associated genetic variants. Further replication is needed in independent Hispanic samples to validate these suggestive associations, and fine mapping is needed to pinpoint causal variants. PMID:28975155

Analysis of blood-based gene expression in idiopathic Parkinson disease.

PubMed

Shamir, Ron; Klein, Christine; Amar, David; Vollstedt, Eva-Juliane; Bonin, Michael; Usenovic, Marija; Wong, Yvette C; Maver, Ales; Poths, Sven; Safer, Hershel; Corvol, Jean-Christophe; Lesage, Suzanne; Lavi, Ofer; Deuschl, Günther; Kuhlenbaeumer, Gregor; Pawlack, Heike; Ulitsky, Igor; Kasten, Meike; Riess, Olaf; Brice, Alexis; Peterlin, Borut; Krainc, Dimitri

2017-10-17

To examine whether gene expression analysis of a large-scale Parkinson disease (PD) patient cohort produces a robust blood-based PD gene signature compared to previous studies that have used relatively small cohorts (≤220 samples). Whole-blood gene expression profiles were collected from a total of 523 individuals. After preprocessing, the data contained 486 gene profiles (n = 205 PD, n = 233 controls, n = 48 other neurodegenerative diseases) that were partitioned into training, validation, and independent test cohorts to identify and validate a gene signature. Batch-effect reduction and cross-validation were performed to ensure signature reliability. Finally, functional and pathway enrichment analyses were applied to the signature to identify PD-associated gene networks. A gene signature of 100 probes that mapped to 87 genes, corresponding to 64 upregulated and 23 downregulated genes differentiating between patients with idiopathic PD and controls, was identified with the training cohort and successfully replicated in both an independent validation cohort (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.79, p = 7.13E-6) and a subsequent independent test cohort (AUC = 0.74, p = 4.2E-4). Network analysis of the signature revealed gene enrichment in pathways, including metabolism, oxidation, and ubiquitination/proteasomal activity, and misregulation of mitochondria-localized genes, including downregulation of COX4I1 , ATP5A1 , and VDAC3 . We present a large-scale study of PD gene expression profiling. This work identifies a reliable blood-based PD signature and highlights the importance of large-scale patient cohorts in developing potential PD biomarkers. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

The Difference That Data Make: Examining Bird Migration Data to Build Scientific Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sturner, Kelly; Lucci, Karen

2015-01-01

This inquiry-based activity for high school students introduces concepts of ecology and the importance of data analysis to science. Using an investigative case, students generate independent questions about birds, access Cornell Lab of Ornithology online resources to collect data, organize and graph data using Excel, and make claims based on…

Cognitive Style Factors and Learning from Micro-Computer Based and Programmed Instructional Materials: A Preliminary Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canelos, James; And Others

This study examined the effects of two cognitive styles--field dependents-independents and reflectivity-impulsivity--on learning from microcomputer-based instruction. In the first of three experimental designs, a programmed instruction text on the human heart was used which contained both visual and verbal information in an instructional display,…

Figurative Language Comprehension in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalandadze, Tamar; Norbury, Courtenay; Naerland, Terje; Naess, Kari-Anne B.

2018-01-01

We present a meta-analysis of studies that compare figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and in typically developing controls who were matched based on chronological age or/and language ability. A total of 41 studies and 45 independent effect sizes were included based on predetermined inclusion criteria.…

Anomalous neural circuit function in schizophrenia during a virtual Morris water task.

PubMed

Folley, Bradley S; Astur, Robert; Jagannathan, Kanchana; Calhoun, Vince D; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2010-02-15

Previous studies have reported learning and navigation impairments in schizophrenia patients during virtual reality allocentric learning tasks. The neural bases of these deficits have not been explored using functional MRI despite well-explored anatomic characterization of these paradigms in non-human animals. Our objective was to characterize the differential distributed neural circuits involved in virtual Morris water task performance using independent component analysis (ICA) in schizophrenia patients and controls. Additionally, we present behavioral data in order to derive relationships between brain function and performance, and we have included a general linear model-based analysis in order to exemplify the incremental and differential results afforded by ICA. Thirty-four individuals with schizophrenia and twenty-eight healthy controls underwent fMRI scanning during a block design virtual Morris water task using hidden and visible platform conditions. Independent components analysis was used to deconstruct neural contributions to hidden and visible platform conditions for patients and controls. We also examined performance variables, voxel-based morphometry and hippocampal subparcellation, and regional BOLD signal variation. Independent component analysis identified five neural circuits. Mesial temporal lobe regions, including the hippocampus, were consistently task-related across conditions and groups. Frontal, striatal, and parietal circuits were recruited preferentially during the visible condition for patients, while frontal and temporal lobe regions were more saliently recruited by controls during the hidden platform condition. Gray matter concentrations and BOLD signal in hippocampal subregions were associated with task performance in controls but not patients. Patients exhibited impaired performance on the hidden and visible conditions of the task, related to negative symptom severity. While controls showed coupling between neural circuits, regional neuroanatomy, and behavior, patients activated different task-related neural circuits, not associated with appropriate regional neuroanatomy. GLM analysis elucidated several comparable regions, with the exception of the hippocampus. Inefficient allocentric learning and memory in patients may be related to an inability to recruit appropriate task-dependent neural circuits. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Notional Scoring for Technical Review Weighting As Applied to Simulation Credibility Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hale, Joseph Peter; Hartway, Bobby; Thomas, Danny

2008-01-01

NASA's Modeling and Simulation Standard requires a credibility assessment for critical engineering data produced by models and simulations. Credibility assessment is thus a "qualifyingfactor" in reporting results from simulation-based analysis. The degree to which assessors should be independent of the simulation developers, users and decision makers is a recurring question. This paper provides alternative "weighting algorithms" for calculating the value-added for independence of the levels of technical review defined for the NASA Modeling and Simulation Standard.

An Independent and Coordinated Criterion for Kinematic Aircraft Maneuvers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Narkawicz, Anthony J.; Munoz, Cesar A.; Hagen, George

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a mathematical definition of an aircraft-separation criterion for kinematic-based horizontal maneuvers. It has been formally proved that kinematic maneu- vers that satisfy the new criterion are independent and coordinated for repulsiveness, i.e., the distance at closest point of approach increases whether one or both aircraft maneuver according to the criterion. The proposed criterion is currently used in NASA's Airborne Coordinated Resolution and Detection (ACCoRD) set of tools for the design and analysis of separation assurance systems.

Subject order-independent group ICA (SOI-GICA) for functional MRI data analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Han; Zuo, Xi-Nian; Ma, Shuang-Ye; Zang, Yu-Feng; Milham, Michael P; Zhu, Chao-Zhe

2010-07-15

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a data-driven approach to study functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Particularly, for group analysis on multiple subjects, temporally concatenation group ICA (TC-GICA) is intensively used. However, due to the usually limited computational capability, data reduction with principal component analysis (PCA: a standard preprocessing step of ICA decomposition) is difficult to achieve for a large dataset. To overcome this, TC-GICA employs multiple-stage PCA data reduction. Such multiple-stage PCA data reduction, however, leads to variable outputs due to different subject concatenation orders. Consequently, the ICA algorithm uses the variable multiple-stage PCA outputs and generates variable decompositions. In this study, a rigorous theoretical analysis was conducted to prove the existence of such variability. Simulated and real fMRI experiments were used to demonstrate the subject-order-induced variability of TC-GICA results using multiple PCA data reductions. To solve this problem, we propose a new subject order-independent group ICA (SOI-GICA). Both simulated and real fMRI data experiments demonstrated the high robustness and accuracy of the SOI-GICA results compared to those of traditional TC-GICA. Accordingly, we recommend SOI-GICA for group ICA-based fMRI studies, especially those with large data sets. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Slow dynamics in protein fluctuations revealed by time-structure based independent component analysis: The case of domain motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naritomi, Yusuke; Fuchigami, Sotaro

2011-02-01

Protein dynamics on a long time scale was investigated using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and time-structure based independent component analysis (tICA). We selected the lysine-, arginine-, ornithine-binding protein (LAO) as a target protein and focused on its domain motions in the open state. A MD simulation of the LAO in explicit water was performed for 600 ns, in which slow and large-amplitude domain motions of the LAO were observed. After extracting domain motions by rigid-body domain analysis, the tICA was applied to the obtained rigid-body trajectory, yielding slow modes of the LAO's domain motions in order of decreasing time scale. The slowest mode detected by the tICA represented not a closure motion described by a largest-amplitude mode determined by the principal component analysis but a twist motion with a time scale of tens of nanoseconds. The slow dynamics of the LAO were well described by only the slowest mode and were characterized by transitions between two basins. The results show that tICA is promising for describing and analyzing slow dynamics of proteins.

Slow dynamics in protein fluctuations revealed by time-structure based independent component analysis: the case of domain motions.

PubMed

Naritomi, Yusuke; Fuchigami, Sotaro

2011-02-14

Protein dynamics on a long time scale was investigated using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and time-structure based independent component analysis (tICA). We selected the lysine-, arginine-, ornithine-binding protein (LAO) as a target protein and focused on its domain motions in the open state. A MD simulation of the LAO in explicit water was performed for 600 ns, in which slow and large-amplitude domain motions of the LAO were observed. After extracting domain motions by rigid-body domain analysis, the tICA was applied to the obtained rigid-body trajectory, yielding slow modes of the LAO's domain motions in order of decreasing time scale. The slowest mode detected by the tICA represented not a closure motion described by a largest-amplitude mode determined by the principal component analysis but a twist motion with a time scale of tens of nanoseconds. The slow dynamics of the LAO were well described by only the slowest mode and were characterized by transitions between two basins. The results show that tICA is promising for describing and analyzing slow dynamics of proteins.

Measuring the number of independent emitters in single-molecule fluorescence images and trajectories using coincident photons.

PubMed

Weston, Kenneth D; Dyck, Martina; Tinnefeld, Philip; Müller, Christian; Herten, Dirk P; Sauer, Markus

2002-10-15

A simple new approach is described and demonstrated for measuring the number of independent emitters along with the fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and emission wavelength for trajectories and images of single molecules and multichromophoric systems using a single PC plug-in card for time-correlated single-photon counting. The number of independent emitters present in the detection volume can be determined using the interphoton times in a manner similar to classical antibunching experiments. In contrast to traditional coincidence analysis based on pulsed laser excitation and direct measurement of coincident photon pairs using a time-to-amplitude converter, the interphoton distances are retrieved afterward by recording the absolute arrival time of each photon with nanosecond time resolution on two spectrally separated detectors. Intensity changes that result from fluctuations of a photophysical parameter can be distinguished from fluctuations due to changes in the number of emitters (e.g., photobleaching) in single chromophore and multichromophore intensity trajectories. This is the first report to demonstrate imaging with contrast based on the number of independently emitting species within the detection volume.

Ultrasonic Data Display and Analysis System Developed (Including Fuzzy Logic Analysis) for the Windows-Based PC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lovelace, Jeffrey J.; Cios, Kryzsztof J.; Roth, Don J.; cAO, wEI n.

2001-01-01

Post-Scan Interactive Data Display (PSIDD) III is a user-oriented Windows-based system that facilitates the display and comparison of ultrasonic contact measurement data obtained at NASA Glenn Research Center's Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation measurement facility. The system is optimized to compare ultrasonic measurements made at different locations within a material or at different stages of material degradation. PSIDD III provides complete analysis of the primary waveforms in the time and frequency domains along with the calculation of several frequency-dependent properties including phase velocity and attenuation coefficient and several frequency-independent properties, like the cross correlation velocity. The system allows image generation on all the frequency-dependent properties at any available frequency (limited by the bandwidth used in the scans) and on any of the frequency-independent properties. From ultrasonic contact scans, areas of interest on an image can be studied with regard to underlying raw waveforms and derived ultrasonic properties by simply selecting the point on the image. The system offers various modes of indepth comparison between scan points. Up to five scan points can be selected for comparative analysis at once. The system was developed with Borland Delphi software (Visual Pascal) and is based on an SQL data base. It is ideal for the classification of material properties or the location of microstructure variations in materials. Along with the ultrasonic contact measurement software that it is partnered with, this system is technology ready and can be transferred to users worldwide.

True Ortho Generation of Urban Area Using High Resolution Aerial Photos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yong; Stanley, David; Xin, Yubin

2016-06-01

The pros and cons of existing methods for true ortho generation are analyzed based on a critical literature review for its two major processing stages: visibility analysis and occlusion compensation. They process frame and pushbroom images using different algorithms for visibility analysis due to the need of perspective centers used by the z-buffer (or alike) techniques. For occlusion compensation, the pixel-based approach likely results in excessive seamlines in the ortho-rectified images due to the use of a quality measure on the pixel-by-pixel rating basis. In this paper, we proposed innovative solutions to tackle the aforementioned problems. For visibility analysis, an elevation buffer technique is introduced to employ the plain elevations instead of the distances from perspective centers by z-buffer, and has the advantage of sensor independency. A segment oriented strategy is developed to evaluate a plain cost measure per segment for occlusion compensation instead of the tedious quality rating per pixel. The cost measure directly evaluates the imaging geometry characteristics in ground space, and is also sensor independent. Experimental results are demonstrated using aerial photos acquired by UltraCam camera.

Two kinds of phase transitions in a voting model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hisakado, M.; Mori, S.

2012-08-01

In this paper, we discuss a voting model with two candidates, C0 and C1. We consider two types of voters—herders and independents. The voting of independents is based on their fundamental values, while the voting of herders is based on the number of previous votes. We can identify two kinds of phase transitions. One is an information cascade transition similar to a phase transition seen in the Ising model. The other is a transition of super and normal diffusions. These phase transitions coexist. We compared our results to the conclusions of experiments and identified the phase transitions in the upper limit of the time t by using the analysis of human behavior obtained from experiments.

Removal of EMG and ECG artifacts from EEG based on wavelet transform and ICA.

PubMed

Zhou, Weidong; Gotman, Jean

2004-01-01

In this study, the methods of wavelet threshold de-noising and independent component analysis (ICA) are introduced. ICA is a novel signal processing technique based on high order statistics, and is used to separate independent components from measurements. The extended ICA algorithm does not need to calculate the higher order statistics, converges fast, and can be used to separate subGaussian and superGaussian sources. A pre-whitening procedure is performed to de-correlate the mixed signals before extracting sources. The experimental results indicate the electromyogram (EMG) and electrocardiograph (ECG) artifacts in electroencephalograph (EEG) can be removed by a combination of wavelet threshold de-noising and ICA.

SU-E-T-48: A Multi-Institutional Study of Independent Dose Verification for Conventional, SRS and SBRT

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

Takahashi, R; Kamima, T; Tachibana, H

2015-06-15

Purpose: To show the results of a multi-institutional study of the independent dose verification for conventional, Stereotactic radiosurgery and body radiotherapy (SRS and SBRT) plans based on the action level of AAPM TG-114. Methods: This study was performed at 12 institutions in Japan. To eliminate the bias of independent dose verification program (Indp), all of the institutions used the same CT-based independent dose verification software (Simple MU Analysis, Triangle Products, JP) with the Clarkson-based algorithm. Eclipse (AAA, PBC), Pinnacle{sup 3} (Adaptive Convolve) and Xio (Superposition) were used as treatment planning system (TPS). The confidence limits (CL, Mean±2SD) for 18 sitesmore » (head, breast, lung, pelvis, etc.) were evaluated in comparison in dose between the TPS and the Indp. Results: A retrospective analysis of 6352 treatment fields was conducted. The CLs for conventional, SRS and SBRT were 1.0±3.7 %, 2.0±2.5 % and 6.2±4.4 %, respectively. In conventional plans, most of the sites showed within 5 % of TG-114 action level. However, there were the systematic difference (4.0±4.0 % and 2.5±5.8 % for breast and lung, respectively). In SRS plans, our results showed good agreement compared to the action level. In SBRT plans, the discrepancy between the Indp was variable depending on dose calculation algorithms of TPS. Conclusion: The impact of dose calculation algorithms for the TPS and the Indp affects the action level. It is effective to set the site-specific tolerances, especially for the site where inhomogeneous correction can affect dose distribution strongly.« less

Predictive value of EEG in postanoxic encephalopathy: A quantitative model-based approach.

PubMed

Efthymiou, Evdokia; Renzel, Roland; Baumann, Christian R; Poryazova, Rositsa; Imbach, Lukas L

2017-10-01

The majority of comatose patients after cardiac arrest do not regain consciousness due to severe postanoxic encephalopathy. Early and accurate outcome prediction is therefore essential in determining further therapeutic interventions. The electroencephalogram is a standardized and commonly available tool used to estimate prognosis in postanoxic patients. The identification of pathological EEG patterns with poor prognosis relies however primarily on visual EEG scoring by experts. We introduced a model-based approach of EEG analysis (state space model) that allows for an objective and quantitative description of spectral EEG variability. We retrospectively analyzed standard EEG recordings in 83 comatose patients after cardiac arrest between 2005 and 2013 in the intensive care unit of the University Hospital Zürich. Neurological outcome was assessed one month after cardiac arrest using the Cerebral Performance Category. For a dynamic and quantitative EEG analysis, we implemented a model-based approach (state space analysis) to quantify EEG background variability independent from visual scoring of EEG epochs. Spectral variability was compared between groups and correlated with clinical outcome parameters and visual EEG patterns. Quantitative assessment of spectral EEG variability (state space velocity) revealed significant differences between patients with poor and good outcome after cardiac arrest: Lower mean velocity in temporal electrodes (T4 and T5) was significantly associated with poor prognostic outcome (p<0.005) and correlated with independently identified visual EEG patterns such as generalized periodic discharges (p<0.02). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis confirmed the predictive value of lower state space velocity for poor clinical outcome after cardiac arrest (AUC 80.8, 70% sensitivity, 15% false positive rate). Model-based quantitative EEG analysis (state space analysis) provides a novel, complementary marker for prognosis in postanoxic encephalopathy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the rudder/speed brake subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, R. E.; Riccio, J. R.

1986-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Orbiter Rudder/Speedbrake Actuation Mechanism is documented. The function of the Rudder/Speedbrake (RSB) is to provide directional control and to provide a means of energy control during entry. The system consists of two panels on a vertical hinge mounted on the aft part of the vertical stabilizer. These two panels move together to form a rudder but split apart to make a speedbrake. The Rudder/Speedbrake Actuation Mechanism consists of the following elements: (1) Power Drive Unit (PDU) which is composed of hydraulic valve module and a hydraulic motor-powered gearbox which contains differentials and mixer gears to provide PDU torque output; (2) four geared rotary actuators which apply the PDU generated torque to the rudder/speedbrake panels; and (3) ten torque shafts which join the PDU to the rotary actuators and interconnect the four rotary actuators. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failures and causes. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Critical RSB failures which result in potential loss of vehicle control were mainly due to loss of hydraulic fluid, fluid contaminators, and mechanical failures in gears and shafts.

Technology-based innovation for independent living: policy and innovation in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and the United States.

PubMed

Berridge, Clara; Furseth, Peder Inge; Cuthbertson, Richard; Demello, Steven

2014-01-01

Interest in utilizing technology to help older adults remain living at home is growing; however, uptake remains low. We present a conceptual framework for understanding independent living technology innovation within health and social services. Public policy and innovation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia are profiled as case studies. In all profiled countries, independent living technology is more rapidly advancing than associated state policy, regulation, and payment systems. The findings from this comparative analysis reveal areas for further exploration, including policy subsystem environments in which technologies and services are regulated, as well as trends and desires of older adults and their caregivers within particular cultural contexts.

A survey of compiler optimization techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schneck, P. B.

1972-01-01

Major optimization techniques of compilers are described and grouped into three categories: machine dependent, architecture dependent, and architecture independent. Machine-dependent optimizations tend to be local and are performed upon short spans of generated code by using particular properties of an instruction set to reduce the time or space required by a program. Architecture-dependent optimizations are global and are performed while generating code. These optimizations consider the structure of a computer, but not its detailed instruction set. Architecture independent optimizations are also global but are based on analysis of the program flow graph and the dependencies among statements of source program. A conceptual review of a universal optimizer that performs architecture-independent optimizations at source-code level is also presented.

Spatiotemporal patterns of ERP based on combined ICA-LORETA analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jiacai; Guo, Taomei; Xu, Yaqin; Zhao, Xiaojie; Yao, Li

2007-03-01

In contrast to the FMRI methods widely used up to now, this method try to understand more profoundly how the brain systems work under sentence processing task map accurately the spatiotemporal patterns of activity of the large neuronal populations in the human brain from the analysis of ERP data recorded on the brain scalp. In this study, an event-related brain potential (ERP) paradigm to record the on-line responses to the processing of sentences is chosen as an example. In order to give attention to both utilizing the ERPs' temporal resolution of milliseconds and overcoming the insensibility of cerebral location ERP sources, we separate these sources in space and time based on a combined method of independent component analysis (ICA) and low-resolution tomography (LORETA) algorithms. ICA blindly separate the input ERP data into a sum of temporally independent and spatially fixed components arising from distinct or overlapping brain or extra-brain sources. And then the spatial maps associated with each ICA component are analyzed, with use of LORETA to uniquely locate its cerebral sources throughout the full brain according to the assumption that neighboring neurons are simultaneously and synchronously activated. Our results show that the cerebral computation mechanism underlies content words reading is mediated by the orchestrated activity of several spatially distributed brain sources located in the temporal, frontal, and parietal areas, and activate at distinct time intervals and are grouped into different statistically independent components. Thus ICA-LORETA analysis provides an encouraging and effective method to study brain dynamics from ERP.

Genome-wide analytical approaches for reverse metabolic engineering of industrially relevant phenotypes in yeast

PubMed Central

Oud, Bart; Maris, Antonius J A; Daran, Jean-Marc; Pronk, Jack T

2012-01-01

Successful reverse engineering of mutants that have been obtained by nontargeted strain improvement has long presented a major challenge in yeast biotechnology. This paper reviews the use of genome-wide approaches for analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originating from evolutionary engineering or random mutagenesis. On the basis of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, we conclude that for the initial identification of relevant genetic changes, whole genome sequencing is superior to other analytical techniques, such as transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, or array-based genome analysis. Key advantages of this technique over gene expression analysis include the independency of genome sequences on experimental context and the possibility to directly and precisely reproduce the identified changes in naive strains. The predictive value of genome-wide analysis of strains with industrially relevant characteristics can be further improved by classical genetics or simultaneous analysis of strains derived from parallel, independent strain improvement lineages. PMID:22152095

Genome-wide analytical approaches for reverse metabolic engineering of industrially relevant phenotypes in yeast.

PubMed

Oud, Bart; van Maris, Antonius J A; Daran, Jean-Marc; Pronk, Jack T

2012-03-01

Successful reverse engineering of mutants that have been obtained by nontargeted strain improvement has long presented a major challenge in yeast biotechnology. This paper reviews the use of genome-wide approaches for analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originating from evolutionary engineering or random mutagenesis. On the basis of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, we conclude that for the initial identification of relevant genetic changes, whole genome sequencing is superior to other analytical techniques, such as transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, or array-based genome analysis. Key advantages of this technique over gene expression analysis include the independency of genome sequences on experimental context and the possibility to directly and precisely reproduce the identified changes in naive strains. The predictive value of genome-wide analysis of strains with industrially relevant characteristics can be further improved by classical genetics or simultaneous analysis of strains derived from parallel, independent strain improvement lineages. © 2011 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatiotemporal analysis of single-trial EEG of emotional pictures based on independent component analysis and source location

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jiangang; Tian, Jie

2007-03-01

The present study combined the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) algorithms to identify the spatial distribution and time course of single-trial EEG record differences between neural responses to emotional stimuli vs. the neutral. Single-trial multichannel (129-sensor) EEG records were collected from 21 healthy, right-handed subjects viewing the emotion emotional (pleasant/unpleasant) and neutral pictures selected from International Affective Picture System (IAPS). For each subject, the single-trial EEG records of each emotional pictures were concatenated with the neutral, and a three-step analysis was applied to each of them in the same way. First, the ICA was performed to decompose each concatenated single-trial EEG records into temporally independent and spatially fixed components, namely independent components (ICs). The IC associated with artifacts were isolated. Second, the clustering analysis classified, across subjects, the temporally and spatially similar ICs into the same clusters, in which nonparametric permutation test for Global Field Power (GFP) of IC projection scalp maps identified significantly different temporal segments of each emotional condition vs. neutral. Third, the brain regions accounted for those significant segments were localized spatially with LORETA analysis. In each cluster, a voxel-by-voxel randomization test identified significantly different brain regions between each emotional condition vs. the neutral. Compared to the neutral, both emotional pictures elicited activation in the visual, temporal, ventromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulated gyrus. In addition, the pleasant pictures activated the left middle prefrontal cortex and the posterior precuneus, while the unpleasant pictures activated the right orbitofrontal cortex, posterior cingulated gyrus and somatosensory region. Our results were well consistent with other functional imaging studies, while revealed temporal dynamics of emotional processing of specific brain structure with high temporal resolution.

Coastal sea level measurements using a single geodetic GPS receiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, Kristine M.; Löfgren, Johan S.; Haas, Rüdiger

2013-04-01

This paper presents a method to derive local sea level variations using data from a single geodetic-quality Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver using GPS (Global Positioning System) signals. This method is based on multipath theory for specular reflections and the use of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) data. The technique could be valuable for altimeter calibration and validation. Data from two test sites, a dedicated GPS tide gauge at the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO) in Sweden and the Friday Harbor GPS site of the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) in USA, are analyzed. The sea level results are compared to independently observed sea level data from nearby and in situ tide gauges. For OSO, the Root-Mean-Square (RMS) agreement is better than 5 cm, while it is in the order of 10 cm for Friday Harbor. The correlation coefficients are better than 0.97 for both sites. For OSO, the SNR-based results are also compared with results from a geodetic analysis of GPS data of a two receivers/antennae tide gauge installation. The SNR-based analysis results in a slightly worse RMS agreement with respect to the independent tide gauge data than the geodetic analysis (4.8 cm and 4.0 cm, respectively). However, it provides results even for rough sea surface conditions when the two receivers/antennae installation no longer records the necessary data for a geodetic analysis.

Does the modality effect exist? And if so, which modality effect?

PubMed

Reinwein, Joachim

2012-02-01

The modality effect is a central issue in multimedia learning [see Mayer (Cambridge University Press, 2005a), for a review]. Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), for example, presumes that an illustrated text is better understood when presented visually rather than orally. The predictive power of CLT lies in how it links in to Baddeley's (1986) model of working memory and Penney's (Mem Cognit 17:398-442, 1989) Separate-Streams Hypothesis. Ginns's (Learn Instr 4:313-331, 2005) recent meta-analysis also supports the modality effect (d = 0.72, based on 43 independent effects). This article replicates the meta-analysis of the modality effect based on 86 independent effects (with within-study subgroups as the unit of analysis and with mean of the outcomes as the dependent measure), with results showing a reduction of the overall effect size by almost half (d = 0.38), and even more when Duval and Tweedie's Trim and Fill method is used to correct publication bias (d = 0.20). This article also widens the scope of the analysis of moderator variables (e.g. Pace of presentation, Type of visualization, Research group) as well as their potentially confounded effects. Finally, it is argued that, for theoretical reasons, the so-called modality effect cannot be based on Penney's or Baddeley's theories and must be explained in a different way.

Isolation of circulating tumor cells from pancreatic cancer by automated filtration

PubMed Central

Brychta, Nora; Drosch, Michael; Driemel, Christiane; Fischer, Johannes C.; Neves, Rui P.; Esposito, Irene; Knoefel, Wolfram; Möhlendick, Birte; Hille, Claudia; Stresemann, Antje; Krahn, Thomas; Kassack, Matthias U.; Stoecklein, Nikolas H.; von Ahsen, Oliver

2017-01-01

It is now widely recognized that the isolation of circulating tumor cells based on cell surface markers might be hindered by variability in their protein expression. Especially in pancreatic cancer, isolation based only on EpCAM expression has produced very diverse results. Methods that are independent of surface markers and therefore independent of phenotypical changes in the circulating cells might increase CTC recovery also in pancreatic cancer. We compared an EpCAM-dependent (IsoFlux) and a size-dependent (automated Siemens Healthineers filtration device) isolation method for the enrichment of pancreatic cancer CTCs. The recovery rate of the filtration based approach is dramatically superior to the EpCAM-dependent approach especially for cells with low EpCAM-expression (filtration: 52%, EpCAM-dependent: 1%). As storage and shipment of clinical samples is important for centralized analyses, we also evaluated the use of frozen diagnostic leukapheresis (DLA) as source for isolating CTCs and subsequent genetic analysis such as KRAS mutation detection analysis. Using frozen DLA samples of pancreatic cancer patients we detected CTCs in 42% of the samples by automated filtration. PMID:29156783

Isolation of circulating tumor cells from pancreatic cancer by automated filtration.

PubMed

Brychta, Nora; Drosch, Michael; Driemel, Christiane; Fischer, Johannes C; Neves, Rui P; Esposito, Irene; Knoefel, Wolfram; Möhlendick, Birte; Hille, Claudia; Stresemann, Antje; Krahn, Thomas; Kassack, Matthias U; Stoecklein, Nikolas H; von Ahsen, Oliver

2017-10-17

It is now widely recognized that the isolation of circulating tumor cells based on cell surface markers might be hindered by variability in their protein expression. Especially in pancreatic cancer, isolation based only on EpCAM expression has produced very diverse results. Methods that are independent of surface markers and therefore independent of phenotypical changes in the circulating cells might increase CTC recovery also in pancreatic cancer. We compared an EpCAM-dependent (IsoFlux) and a size-dependent (automated Siemens Healthineers filtration device) isolation method for the enrichment of pancreatic cancer CTCs. The recovery rate of the filtration based approach is dramatically superior to the EpCAM-dependent approach especially for cells with low EpCAM-expression (filtration: 52%, EpCAM-dependent: 1%). As storage and shipment of clinical samples is important for centralized analyses, we also evaluated the use of frozen diagnostic leukapheresis (DLA) as source for isolating CTCs and subsequent genetic analysis such as KRAS mutation detection analysis. Using frozen DLA samples of pancreatic cancer patients we detected CTCs in 42% of the samples by automated filtration.

Enhanced automatic artifact detection based on independent component analysis and Renyi's entropy.

PubMed

Mammone, Nadia; Morabito, Francesco Carlo

2008-09-01

Artifacts are disturbances that may occur during signal acquisition and may affect their processing. The aim of this paper is to propose a technique for automatically detecting artifacts from the electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. In particular, a technique based on both Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to extract artifactual signals and on Renyi's entropy to automatically detect them is presented. This technique is compared to the widely known approach based on ICA and the joint use of kurtosis and Shannon's entropy. The novel processing technique is shown to detect on average 92.6% of the artifactual signals against the average 68.7% of the previous technique on the studied available database. Moreover, Renyi's entropy is shown to be able to detect muscle and very low frequency activity as well as to discriminate them from other kinds of artifacts. In order to achieve an efficient rejection of the artifacts while minimizing the information loss, future efforts will be devoted to the improvement of blind artifact separation from EEG in order to ensure a very efficient isolation of the artifactual activity from any signals deriving from other brain tasks.

Concurrent white matter bundles and grey matter networks using independent component analysis.

PubMed

O'Muircheartaigh, Jonathan; Jbabdi, Saad

2018-04-15

Developments in non-invasive diffusion MRI tractography techniques have permitted the investigation of both the anatomy of white matter pathways connecting grey matter regions and their structural integrity. In parallel, there has been an expansion in automated techniques aimed at parcellating grey matter into distinct regions based on functional imaging. Here we apply independent component analysis to whole-brain tractography data to automatically extract brain networks based on their associated white matter pathways. This method decomposes the tractography data into components that consist of paired grey matter 'nodes' and white matter 'edges', and automatically separates major white matter bundles, including known cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical tracts. We show how this framework can be used to investigate individual variations in brain networks (in terms of both nodes and edges) as well as their associations with individual differences in behaviour and anatomy. Finally, we investigate correspondences between tractography-based brain components and several canonical resting-state networks derived from functional MRI. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validating the Effectiveness of Switching the Vancomycin TDM Analysis Software Based on the Predictive Accuracy.

PubMed

Imai, Shungo; Yamada, Takehiro; Ishiguro, Nobuhisa; Miyamoto, Takenori; Kagami, Keisuke; Tomiyama, Naoki; Niinuma, Yusuke; Nagasaki, Daisuke; Suzuki, Koji; Yamagami, Akira; Kasashi, Kumiko; Kobayashi, Masaki; Iseki, Ken

2017-01-01

Based on the predictive performance in our previous study, we switched the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) analysis software for dose setting of vancomycin (VCM) from "Vancomycin MEEK TDM analysis software Ver2.0" (MEEK) to "SHIONOGI-VCM-TDM ver.2009" (VCM-TDM) in January 2015. In the present study, our aim was to validate the effectiveness of the changing VCM TDM analysis software in initial dose setting of VCM. The enrolled patients were divided into two groups, each having 162 patients in total, who received VCM with the initial dose set using MEEK (MEEK group) or VCM-TDM (VCM-TDM group). We compared the rates of attaining the therapeutic range (trough value; 10-20 μg/mL) of serum VCM concentration between the groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to confirm that changing the VCM TDM analysis software was an independent factor related to attaining the therapeutic range. Switching the VCM TDM analysis software from MEEK to VCM-TDM improved the rate of attaining the therapeutic range by 21.6% (MEEK group: 42.6% vs. VCM-TDM group: 64.2%, p<0.01). Patient age ≥65 years, concomitant medication (furosemide) and the TDM analysis software used VCM-TDM were considered to be independent factors for attaining the therapeutic range. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of switching the VCM TDM analysis software from MEEK to VCM-TDM for initial dose setting of VCM.

Metabolic acidosis as a risk factor for the development of acute kidney injury and hospital mortality.

PubMed

Hu, Jiachang; Wang, Yimei; Geng, Xuemei; Chen, Rongyi; Xu, Xialian; Zhang, Xiaoyan; Lin, Jing; Teng, Jie; Ding, Xiaoqiang

2017-05-01

Metabolic acidosis has been proved to be a risk factor for the progression of chronic kidney disease, but its relation to acute kidney injury (AKI) has not been investigated. In general, a diagnosis of metabolic acidosis is based on arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis, but the diagnostic role of carbon dioxide combining power (CO 2 CP) in the venous blood may also be valuable to non-respiratory patients. This retrospective study included all adult non-respiratory patients admitted consecutively to our hospital between October 01, 2014 and September 30, 2015. A total of 71,089 non-respiratory patients were included, and only 4,873 patients were evaluated by ABG analysis at admission. In patients with ABG, acidosis, metabolic acidosis, decreased HCO 3 - and hypocapnia at admission was associated with the development of AKI, while acidosis and hypocapnia were independent predictors of hospital mortality. Among non-respiratory patients, decreased CO 2 CP at admission was an independent risk factor for AKI and hospital mortality. ROC curves indicated that CO 2 CP was a reasonable biomarker to exclude metabolic acidosis, dual and triple acid-base disturbances. The effect sizes of decreased CO 2 CP on AKI and hospital mortality varied according to age and different underlying diseases. Metabolic acidosis is an independent risk factor for the development of AKI and hospital mortality. In non-respiratory patient, decreased CO 2 CP is also an independent contributor to AKI and mortality and can be used as an indicator of metabolic acidosis.

Digital microarray analysis for digital artifact genomics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaenisch, Holger; Handley, James; Williams, Deborah

2013-06-01

We implement a Spatial Voting (SV) based analogy of microarray analysis for digital gene marker identification in malware code sections. We examine a famous set of malware formally analyzed by Mandiant and code named Advanced Persistent Threat (APT1). APT1 is a Chinese organization formed with specific intent to infiltrate and exploit US resources. Manidant provided a detailed behavior and sting analysis report for the 288 malware samples available. We performed an independent analysis using a new alternative to the traditional dynamic analysis and static analysis we call Spatial Analysis (SA). We perform unsupervised SA on the APT1 originating malware code sections and report our findings. We also show the results of SA performed on some members of the families associated by Manidant. We conclude that SV based SA is a practical fast alternative to dynamics analysis and static analysis.

Frequency analysis of uncertain structures using imprecise probability

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

Modares, Mehdi; Bergerson, Joshua

2015-01-01

Two new methods for finite element based frequency analysis of a structure with uncertainty are developed. An imprecise probability formulation based on enveloping p-boxes is used to quantify the uncertainty present in the mechanical characteristics of the structure. For each element, independent variations are considered. Using the two developed methods, P-box Frequency Analysis (PFA) and Interval Monte-Carlo Frequency Analysis (IMFA), sharp bounds on natural circular frequencies at different probability levels are obtained. These methods establish a framework for handling incomplete information in structural dynamics. Numerical example problems are presented that illustrate the capabilities of the new methods along with discussionsmore » on their computational efficiency.« less

High-Speed Device-Independent Quantum Random Number Generation without a Detection Loophole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yang; Yuan, Xiao; Li, Ming-Han; Zhang, Weijun; Zhao, Qi; Zhong, Jiaqiang; Cao, Yuan; Li, Yu-Huai; Chen, Luo-Kan; Li, Hao; Peng, Tianyi; Chen, Yu-Ao; Peng, Cheng-Zhi; Shi, Sheng-Cai; Wang, Zhen; You, Lixing; Ma, Xiongfeng; Fan, Jingyun; Zhang, Qiang; Pan, Jian-Wei

2018-01-01

Quantum mechanics provides the means of generating genuine randomness that is impossible with deterministic classical processes. Remarkably, the unpredictability of randomness can be certified in a manner that is independent of implementation devices. Here, we present an experimental study of device-independent quantum random number generation based on a detection-loophole-free Bell test with entangled photons. In the randomness analysis, without the independent identical distribution assumption, we consider the worst case scenario that the adversary launches the most powerful attacks against the quantum adversary. After considering statistical fluctuations and applying an 80 Gb ×45.6 Mb Toeplitz matrix hashing, we achieve a final random bit rate of 114 bits /s , with a failure probability less than 10-5. This marks a critical step towards realistic applications in cryptography and fundamental physics tests.

Independent Life Skills among psychosocial care network users of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Cândida Garcia Sinott Silveira; Jardim, Vanda Maria da Rosa; Kantorski, Luciane Prado; Coimbra, Valeria Cristina Christello; Treichel, Carlos Alberto Dos Santos; Francchini, Beatriz; Bretanha, Andreia Ferreira; Neutzling, Aline Dos Santos

2016-08-01

This is a cross-sectional study that aims to identify the prevalence of lower independent living skills and their associations in 390 users of psychiatric community-based services in the state Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. For tracing the outcome it was used the "scale Independent Living Skills Survey", adopting a cut-off value lower than 2. The crude and adjusted analyses were conducted on binary logistic regressions and they considered a hierarchical model developed through a systematic literature review. In adjusted analysis the level of the same variables were adjusted to each other and to previous levels. The statistical significance remained as a < 0.05 p-value. The prevalence of smaller independent living skills was 33% and their associations were: younger age; no partner; lower education; resident at SRT; diagnosis of schizophrenia and younger diagnosis.

Photon - electron identification in the PHENIX Electromagnetic Calorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edouard, Kistenev; Gabor, David; Sebastian, White; Craig, Woody; Alexander, Bazilevsky; Vladimir, Kochetkov; Valeriy, Onuchin

1998-10-01

The results on the electron/hadron descrimination based upon analysis of the data collected from PHENIX electromagnetic calorimeter are presented. Two configurations are considered: (a) stand alone calorimeter; (b) calorimeter assisted by tracking devices to provide an independent estimates for particle momenta.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Energy Consumption at an Air Force Base.

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-12-01

include them in energy consumption projections. 28 Table 2-3 Selected Independent Variables ( Morill , 1985) Dependent Variable Energy Conservation...most appropriate method for forecasting energy consumption (Weck, 1981; Tinsley, 1981; and Morill , 1985). This section will present a brief

SCANS (Shipping Cask ANalysis System) a microcomputer-based analysis system for shipping cask design review: User`s manual to Version 3a. Volume 1, Revision 2

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

Mok, G.C.; Thomas, G.R.; Gerhard, M.A.

SCANS (Shipping Cask ANalysis System) is a microcomputer-based system of computer programs and databases developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for evaluating safety analysis reports on spent fuel shipping casks. SCANS is an easy-to-use system that calculates the global response to impact loads, pressure loads and thermal conditions, providing reviewers with an independent check on analyses submitted by licensees. SCANS is based on microcomputers compatible with the IBM-PC family of computers. The system is composed of a series of menus, input programs, cask analysis programs, and output display programs. All data is entered through fill-in-the-blank input screens thatmore » contain descriptive data requests. Analysis options are based on regulatory cases described in the Code of Federal Regulations 10 CFR 71 and Regulatory Guides published by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1977 and 1978.« less

Prognostic value of DNA repair based stratification of hepatocellular carcinoma

PubMed Central

Lin, Zhuo; Xu, Shi-Hao; Wang, Hai-Qing; Cai, Yi-Jing; Ying, Li; Song, Mei; Wang, Yu-Qun; Du, Shan-Jie; Shi, Ke-Qing; Zhou, Meng-Tao

2016-01-01

Aberrant activation of DNA repair is frequently associated with tumor progression and response to therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Bioinformatics analyses of HCC data in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were performed to define DNA repair based molecular classification that could predict the prognosis of patients with HCC. Furthermore, we tested its predictive performance in 120 independent cases. Four molecular subgroups were identified on the basis of coordinate DNA repair cluster (CDRC) comprising 15 genes in TCGA dataset. Increasing expression of CDRC genes were significantly associated with TP53 mutation. High CDRC was significantly correlated with advanced tumor grades, advanced pathological stage and increased vascular invasion rate. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the molecular subgrouping was an independent prognostic parameter for both overall survival (p = 0.004, hazard ratio (HR): 2.989) and tumor-free survival (p = 0.049, HR: 3.366) in TCGA dataset. Similar results were also obtained by analyzing the independent cohort. These data suggest that distinct dysregulation of DNA repair constituents based molecular classes in HCC would be useful for predicting prognosis and designing clinical trials for targeted therapy. PMID:27174663

On the derivation of approximations to cellular automata models and the assumption of independence.

PubMed

Davies, K J; Green, J E F; Bean, N G; Binder, B J; Ross, J V

2014-07-01

Cellular automata are discrete agent-based models, generally used in cell-based applications. There is much interest in obtaining continuum models that describe the mean behaviour of the agents in these models. Previously, continuum models have been derived for agents undergoing motility and proliferation processes, however, these models only hold under restricted conditions. In order to narrow down the reason for these restrictions, we explore three possible sources of error in deriving the model. These sources are the choice of limiting arguments, the use of a discrete-time model as opposed to a continuous-time model and the assumption of independence between the state of sites. We present a rigorous analysis in order to gain a greater understanding of the significance of these three issues. By finding a limiting regime that accurately approximates the conservation equation for the cellular automata, we are able to conclude that the inaccuracy between our approximation and the cellular automata is completely based on the assumption of independence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attendance rates in a workplace predict subsequent outcome of employment-based reinforcement of cocaine abstinence in methadone patients.

PubMed

Donlin, Wendy D; Knealing, Todd W; Needham, Mick; Wong, Conrad J; Silverman, Kenneth

2008-01-01

This study assessed whether attendance rates in a workplace predicted subsequent outcome of employment-based reinforcement of cocaine abstinence. Unemployed adults in Baltimore methadone programs who used cocaine (N=111) could work in a workplace for 4 hr every weekday and earn $10.00 per hour in vouchers for 26 weeks. During an induction period, participants provided urine samples but could work independent of their urinalysis results. After the induction period, participants had to provide urinalysis evidence of cocaine abstinence to work and maintain maximum pay. A multiple regression analysis showed that induction period attendance was independently associated with urinalysis evidence of cocaine abstinence under the employment-based abstinence reinforcement contingency. Induction period attendance may measure the reinforcing value of employment and could be used to guide the improvement of employment-based abstinence reinforcement.

Attempted suicide among transgender persons: The influence of gender-based discrimination and victimization.

PubMed

Clements-Nolle, Kristen; Marx, Rani; Katz, Mitchell

2006-01-01

To determine the independent predictors of attempted suicide among transgender persons we interviewed 392 male-to-female (MTF) and 123 female-to-male (FTM) individuals. Participants were recruited through targeted sampling, respondent-driven sampling, and agency referrals in San Francisco. The prevalence of attempted suicide was 32% (95% CI = 28% to 36%). In multivariate logistic regression analysis younger age (<25 years), depression, a history of substance abuse treatment, a history of forced sex, gender-based discrimination, and gender-based victimization were independently associated with attempted suicide. Suicide prevention interventions for transgender persons are urgently needed, particularly for young people. Medical, mental health, and social service providers should address depression, substance abuse, and forced sex in an attempt to reduce suicidal behaviors among transgender persons. In addition, increasing societal acceptance of the transgender community and decreasing gender-based prejudice may help prevent suicide in this highly stigmatized population.

Security analysis of quadratic phase based cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muniraj, Inbarasan; Guo, Changliang; Malallah, Ra'ed; Healy, John J.; Sheridan, John T.

2016-09-01

The linear canonical transform (LCT) is essential in modeling a coherent light field propagation through first-order optical systems. Recently, a generic optical system, known as a Quadratic Phase Encoding System (QPES), for encrypting a two-dimensional (2D) image has been reported. It has been reported together with two phase keys the individual LCT parameters serve as keys of the cryptosystem. However, it is important that such the encryption systems also satisfies some dynamic security properties. Therefore, in this work, we examine some cryptographic evaluation methods, such as Avalanche Criterion and Bit Independence, which indicates the degree of security of the cryptographic algorithms on QPES. We compare our simulation results with the conventional Fourier and the Fresnel transform based DRPE systems. The results show that the LCT based DRPE has an excellent avalanche and bit independence characteristics than that of using the conventional Fourier and Fresnel based encryption systems.

Hearing aid fine-tuning based on Dutch descriptions.

PubMed

Thielemans, Thijs; Pans, Donné; Chenault, Michelene; Anteunis, Lucien

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to derive an independent fitting assistant based on expert consensus. Two questions were asked: (1) what (Dutch) terms do hearing impaired listeners use nowadays to describe their specific hearing aid fitting problems? (2) What is the expert consensus on how to resolve these complaints by adjusting hearing aid parameters? Hearing aid dispensers provided descriptors that impaired listeners use to describe their reactions to specific hearing aid fitting problems. Hearing aid fitting experts were asked "How would you adjust the hearing aid if its user reports that the aid sounds…?" with the blank filled with each of the 40 most frequently mentioned descriptors. 112 hearing aid dispensers and 15 hearing aid experts. The expert solution with the highest weight value was considered the best solution for that descriptor. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify a factor structure in fitting problems. Nine fitting problems could be identified resulting in an expert-based, hearing aid manufacturer independent, fine-tuning fitting assistant for clinical use. The construction of an expert-based, hearing aid manufacturer independent, fine-tuning fitting assistant to be used as an additional tool in the iterative fitting process is feasible.

Multivariate Analysis, Retrieval, and Storage System (MARS). Volume 6: MARS System - A Sample Problem (Gross Weight of Subsonic Transports)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hague, D. S.; Woodbury, N. W.

1975-01-01

The Mars system is a tool for rapid prediction of aircraft or engine characteristics based on correlation-regression analysis of past designs stored in the data bases. An example of output obtained from the MARS system, which involves derivation of an expression for gross weight of subsonic transport aircraft in terms of nine independent variables is given. The need is illustrated for careful selection of correlation variables and for continual review of the resulting estimation equations. For Vol. 1, see N76-10089.

FAMA: Fast Automatic MOOG Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magrini, Laura; Randich, Sofia; Friel, Eileen; Spina, Lorenzo; Jacobson, Heather; Cantat-Gaudin, Tristan; Donati, Paolo; Baglioni, Roberto; Maiorca, Enrico; Bragaglia, Angela; Sordo, Rosanna; Vallenari, Antonella

2014-02-01

FAMA (Fast Automatic MOOG Analysis), written in Perl, computes the atmospheric parameters and abundances of a large number of stars using measurements of equivalent widths (EWs) automatically and independently of any subjective approach. Based on the widely-used MOOG code, it simultaneously searches for three equilibria, excitation equilibrium, ionization balance, and the relationship between logn(FeI) and the reduced EWs. FAMA also evaluates the statistical errors on individual element abundances and errors due to the uncertainties in the stellar parameters. Convergence criteria are not fixed "a priori" but instead are based on the quality of the spectra.

Home-based wrinkle reduction using a novel handheld multisource phase-controlled radiofrequency device.

PubMed

Shemer, Avner; Levy, Hanna; Sadick, Neil S; Harth, Yoram; Dorizas, Andrew S

2014-11-01

In the last decade, energy-based aesthetic treatments, using light, radiofrequency (RF), and ultrasound, have gained scientific acceptance as safe and efficacious for non-invasive treatment for aesthetic skin disorders. The phase-controlled multisource radiofrequency technology (3DEEP™), which is based on the simultaneous use of multiple RF generators, was proven to allow significant pigment-independent dermal heating without pain or the need of epidermal cooling. This study was performed in order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new handheld device delivering multisource radiofrequency to the skin for wrinkle reduction and skin tightening in the home setting. A total of 69 participants (age 54.3 years ± 8.09; age range 37-72 years) were enrolled in the study after meeting all inclusion/exclusion criteria (100%) and providing informed consent. Participants were provided with the tested device together with a user manual and treatment diary, to perform independent treatments at home for 4 weeks. The tested device, (Newa™, EndyMed Medical, Cesarea, Israel) emits 12 W of 1Mhz, RF energy through six electrodes arranged in a linear fashion. Independent control of RF polarity through each one of the 6 electrodes allows significant reduction of energy flow through the epidermis with increased dermal penetration. Participants were instructed to perform at least 5 treatments a week, for one month. Four follow-up visits were scheduled (once a week) during the period of independent treatments at home, following 4 weeks of home treatments, 1 month follow-up visit (1 month after treatment end) and at 3 months follow-up (3 months following treatment end). Analysis of pre-and post treatment images was conducted by three uninvolved physicians experienced with the Fitzpatrick Wrinkle and Elastosis Scale. Fitzpatrick Wrinkle and Elastosis score of each time point (4 weeks following home use treatments; 1 month follow-up, 3 months follow-up) was compared to baseline. Participants were asked a series of questions designed to explore usability concerns and level of satisfaction regarding the device use and subjective efficacy. Altogether, 62 subjects completed the study course and follow-up visits. No unexpected adverse effects were detected or reported throughout the independent treatment. All study participants did not experience any difficulties while operating the tested device for independent wrinkle reduction treatments. Photographic analysis of pre- and post-one month of independent home use treatments, and one and three months follow-up after end of treatment course, was conducted by three uninvolved board certified dermatologists. Analysis of results revealed improvement (downgrade of at least 1 score according to the Fitzpatrick scale) in 91.93%, 96.77%, and 98.39% of study subjects (according to the first, second, and third reviewer, respectively). Results were found to be statistically significant. The majority of study participants were very satisfied from the results of the independent treatment using the tested device for wrinkle reduction.

Integrative topological analysis of mass spectrometry data reveals molecular features with clinical relevance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

PubMed Central

Gao, She-Gan; Liu, Rui-Min; Zhao, Yun-Gang; Wang, Pei; Ward, Douglas G.; Wang, Guang-Chao; Guo, Xiang-Qian; Gu, Juan; Niu, Wan-Bin; Zhang, Tian; Martin, Ashley; Guo, Zhi-Peng; Feng, Xiao-Shan; Qi, Yi-Jun; Ma, Yuan-Fang

2016-01-01

Combining MS-based proteomic data with network and topological features of such network would identify more clinically relevant molecules and meaningfully expand the repertoire of proteins derived from MS analysis. The integrative topological indexes representing 95.96% information of seven individual topological measures of node proteins were calculated within a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, built using 244 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) identified by iTRAQ 2D-LC-MS/MS. Compared with DEPs, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and comprehensive features (CFs), structurally dominant nodes (SDNs) based on integrative topological index distribution produced comparable classification performance in three different clinical settings using five independent gene expression data sets. The signature molecules of SDN-based classifier for distinction of early from late clinical TNM stages were enriched in biological traits of protein synthesis, intracellular localization and ribosome biogenesis, which suggests that ribosome biogenesis represents a promising therapeutic target for treating ESCC. In addition, ITGB1 expression selected exclusively by integrative topological measures correlated with clinical stages and prognosis, which was further validated with two independent cohorts of ESCC samples. Thus the integrative topological analysis of PPI networks proposed in this study provides an alternative approach to identify potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets from MS/MS data with functional insights in ESCC. PMID:26898710

PSIDD3: Post-Scan Ultrasonic Data Display System for the Windows-Based PC Including Fuzzy Logic Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lovelace, Jeffrey J.; Cios, Krzysztof J.; Roth, Don J.; Cao, Wei

2000-01-01

Post-Scan Interactive Data Display (PSIDD) III is a user-oriented Windows-based system that facilitates the display and comparison of ultrasonic contact data. The system is optimized to compare ultrasonic measurements made at different locations within a material or at different stages of material degradation. PSIDD III provides complete analysis of the primary wave forms in the time and frequency domains along with the calculation of several frequency dependent properties including Phase Velocity and Attenuation Coefficient and several frequency independent properties, like the Cross Correlation Velocity. The system allows image generation on all of the frequency dependent properties at any available frequency (limited by the bandwidth used in the scans) and on any of the frequency independent properties. From ultrasonic contact scans, areas of interest on an image can be studied with regard to underlying raw waveforms and derived ultrasonic properties by simply selecting the point on the image. The system offers various modes of in-depth comparison between scan points. Up to five scan points can be selected for comparative analysis at once. The system was developed with Borland Delphi software (Visual Pascal) and is based on a SQL database. It is ideal for classification of material properties, or location of microstructure variations in materials.

A markup language for electrocardiogram data acquisition and analysis (ecgML)

PubMed Central

Wang, Haiying; Azuaje, Francisco; Jung, Benjamin; Black, Norman

2003-01-01

Background The storage and distribution of electrocardiogram data is based on different formats. There is a need to promote the development of standards for their exchange and analysis. Such models should be platform-/ system- and application-independent, flexible and open to every member of the scientific community. Methods A minimum set of information for the representation and storage of electrocardiogram signals has been synthesised from existing recommendations. This specification is encoded into an XML-vocabulary. The model may aid in a flexible exchange and analysis of electrocardiogram information. Results Based on advantages of XML technologies, ecgML has the ability to present a system-, application- and format-independent solution for representation and exchange of electrocardiogram data. The distinction between the proposal developed by the U.S Food and Drug Administration and ecgML model is given. A series of tools, which aim to facilitate ecgML-based applications, are presented. Conclusions The models proposed here can facilitate the generation of a data format, which opens ways for better and clearer interpretation by both humans and machines. Its structured and transparent organisation will allow researchers to expand and test its capabilities in different application domains. The specification and programs for this protocol are publicly available. PMID:12735790

Weighting by Inverse Variance or by Sample Size in Random-Effects Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marin-Martinez, Fulgencio; Sanchez-Meca, Julio

2010-01-01

Most of the statistical procedures in meta-analysis are based on the estimation of average effect sizes from a set of primary studies. The optimal weight for averaging a set of independent effect sizes is the inverse variance of each effect size, but in practice these weights have to be estimated, being affected by sampling error. When assuming a…

A New Mixing Diagnostic and Gulf Oil Spill Movement

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-10-01

could be used with new estimates of the suppression parameter to yield appreciably larger estimates of the hydrogen content in the shallow lunar ...paradigm for mixing in fluid flows with simple time dependence. Its skeletal structure is based on analysis of invariant attracting and repelling...continues to the present day. Model analysis and forecasts are compared to independent (nonassimilated) infrared frontal po- sitions and drifter trajectories

Independent Verification and Validation of Complex User Interfaces: A Human Factors Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Mihriban; Berman, Andrea; Chmielewski, Cynthia

1996-01-01

The Usability Testing and Analysis Facility (UTAF) at the NASA Johnson Space Center has identified and evaluated a potential automated software interface inspection tool capable of assessing the degree to which space-related critical and high-risk software system user interfaces meet objective human factors standards across each NASA program and project. Testing consisted of two distinct phases. Phase 1 compared analysis times and similarity of results for the automated tool and for human-computer interface (HCI) experts. In Phase 2, HCI experts critiqued the prototype tool's user interface. Based on this evaluation, it appears that a more fully developed version of the tool will be a promising complement to a human factors-oriented independent verification and validation (IV&V) process.

Data Independent Acquisition analysis in ProHits 4.0.

PubMed

Liu, Guomin; Knight, James D R; Zhang, Jian Ping; Tsou, Chih-Chiang; Wang, Jian; Lambert, Jean-Philippe; Larsen, Brett; Tyers, Mike; Raught, Brian; Bandeira, Nuno; Nesvizhskii, Alexey I; Choi, Hyungwon; Gingras, Anne-Claude

2016-10-21

Affinity purification coupled with mass spectrometry (AP-MS) is a powerful technique for the identification and quantification of physical interactions. AP-MS requires careful experimental design, appropriate control selection and quantitative workflows to successfully identify bona fide interactors amongst a large background of contaminants. We previously introduced ProHits, a Laboratory Information Management System for interaction proteomics, which tracks all samples in a mass spectrometry facility, initiates database searches and provides visualization tools for spectral counting-based AP-MS approaches. More recently, we implemented Significance Analysis of INTeractome (SAINT) within ProHits to provide scoring of interactions based on spectral counts. Here, we provide an update to ProHits to support Data Independent Acquisition (DIA) with identification software (DIA-Umpire and MSPLIT-DIA), quantification tools (through DIA-Umpire, or externally via targeted extraction), and assessment of quantitative enrichment (through mapDIA) and scoring of interactions (through SAINT-intensity). With additional improvements, notably support of the iProphet pipeline, facilitated deposition into ProteomeXchange repositories and enhanced export and viewing functions, ProHits 4.0 offers a comprehensive suite of tools to facilitate affinity proteomics studies. It remains challenging to score, annotate and analyze proteomics data in a transparent manner. ProHits was previously introduced as a LIMS to enable storing, tracking and analysis of standard AP-MS data. In this revised version, we expand ProHits to include integration with a number of identification and quantification tools based on Data-Independent Acquisition (DIA). ProHits 4.0 also facilitates data deposition into public repositories, and the transfer of data to new visualization tools. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

State-plane analysis of parallel resonant converter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oruganti, R.; Lee, F. C.

1985-01-01

A method for analyzing the complex operation of a parallel resonant converter is developed, utilizing graphical state-plane techniques. The comprehensive mode analysis uncovers, for the first time, the presence of other complex modes besides the continuous conduction mode and the discontinuous conduction mode and determines their theoretical boundaries. Based on the insight gained from the analysis, a novel, high-frequency resonant buck converter is proposed. The voltage conversion ratio of the new converter is almost independent of load.

An expert system for natural language processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hennessy, John F.

1988-01-01

A solution to the natural language processing problem that uses a rule based system, written in OPS5, to replace the traditional parsing method is proposed. The advantage to using a rule based system are explored. Specifically, the extensibility of a rule based solution is discussed as well as the value of maintaining rules that function independently. Finally, the power of using semantics to supplement the syntactic analysis of a sentence is considered.

Improved application of independent component analysis to functional magnetic resonance imaging study via linear projection techniques.

PubMed

Long, Zhiying; Chen, Kewei; Wu, Xia; Reiman, Eric; Peng, Danling; Yao, Li

2009-02-01

Spatial Independent component analysis (sICA) has been widely used to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The well accepted implicit assumption is the spatially statistical independency of intrinsic sources identified by sICA, making the sICA applications difficult for data in which there exist interdependent sources and confounding factors. This interdependency can arise, for instance, from fMRI studies investigating two tasks in a single session. In this study, we introduced a linear projection approach and considered its utilization as a tool to separate task-related components from two-task fMRI data. The robustness and feasibility of the method are substantiated through simulation on computer data and fMRI real rest data. Both simulated and real two-task fMRI experiments demonstrated that sICA in combination with the projection method succeeded in separating spatially dependent components and had better detection power than pure model-based method when estimating activation induced by each task as well as both tasks.

The Removal of EOG Artifacts From EEG Signals Using Independent Component Analysis and Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition.

PubMed

Wang, Gang; Teng, Chaolin; Li, Kuo; Zhang, Zhonglin; Yan, Xiangguo

2016-09-01

The recorded electroencephalography (EEG) signals are usually contaminated by electrooculography (EOG) artifacts. In this paper, by using independent component analysis (ICA) and multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD), the ICA-based MEMD method was proposed to remove EOG artifacts (EOAs) from multichannel EEG signals. First, the EEG signals were decomposed by the MEMD into multiple multivariate intrinsic mode functions (MIMFs). The EOG-related components were then extracted by reconstructing the MIMFs corresponding to EOAs. After performing the ICA of EOG-related signals, the EOG-linked independent components were distinguished and rejected. Finally, the clean EEG signals were reconstructed by implementing the inverse transform of ICA and MEMD. The results of simulated and real data suggested that the proposed method could successfully eliminate EOAs from EEG signals and preserve useful EEG information with little loss. By comparing with other existing techniques, the proposed method achieved much improvement in terms of the increase of signal-to-noise and the decrease of mean square error after removing EOAs.

A two-step super-Gaussian independent component analysis approach for fMRI data.

PubMed

Ge, Ruiyang; Yao, Li; Zhang, Hang; Long, Zhiying

2015-09-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) has been widely applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis. Although ICA assumes that the sources underlying data are statistically independent, it usually ignores sources' additional properties, such as sparsity. In this study, we propose a two-step super-GaussianICA (2SGICA) method that incorporates the sparse prior of the sources into the ICA model. 2SGICA uses the super-Gaussian ICA (SGICA) algorithm that is based on a simplified Lewicki-Sejnowski's model to obtain the initial source estimate in the first step. Using a kernel estimator technique, the source density is acquired and fitted to the Laplacian function based on the initial source estimates. The fitted Laplacian prior is used for each source at the second SGICA step. Moreover, the automatic target generation process for initial value generation is used in 2SGICA to guarantee the stability of the algorithm. An adaptive step size selection criterion is also implemented in the proposed algorithm. We performed experimental tests on both simulated data and real fMRI data to investigate the feasibility and robustness of 2SGICA and made a performance comparison between InfomaxICA, FastICA, mean field ICA (MFICA) with Laplacian prior, sparse online dictionary learning (ODL), SGICA and 2SGICA. Both simulated and real fMRI experiments showed that the 2SGICA was most robust to noises, and had the best spatial detection power and the time course estimation among the six methods. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Denoising of chaotic signal using independent component analysis and empirical mode decomposition with circulate translating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen-Bo, Wang; Xiao-Dong, Zhang; Yuchan, Chang; Xiang-Li, Wang; Zhao, Wang; Xi, Chen; Lei, Zheng

2016-01-01

In this paper, a new method to reduce noises within chaotic signals based on ICA (independent component analysis) and EMD (empirical mode decomposition) is proposed. The basic idea is decomposing chaotic signals and constructing multidimensional input vectors, firstly, on the base of EMD and its translation invariance. Secondly, it makes the independent component analysis on the input vectors, which means that a self adapting denoising is carried out for the intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) of chaotic signals. Finally, all IMFs compose the new denoised chaotic signal. Experiments on the Lorenz chaotic signal composed of different Gaussian noises and the monthly observed chaotic sequence on sunspots were put into practice. The results proved that the method proposed in this paper is effective in denoising of chaotic signals. Moreover, it can correct the center point in the phase space effectively, which makes it approach the real track of the chaotic attractor. Project supported by the National Science and Technology, China (Grant No. 2012BAJ15B04), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41071270 and 61473213), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China (Grant No. 2015CFB424), the State Key Laboratory Foundation of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, China (Grant No. SOED1405), the Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory Foundation of Metallurgical Industry Process System Science, China (Grant No. Z201303), and the Hubei Key Laboratory Foundation of Transportation Internet of Things, Wuhan University of Technology, China (Grant No.2015III015-B02).

Characterizing the spatial structure of endangered species habitat using geostatistical analysis of IKONOS imagery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wallace, C.S.A.; Marsh, S.E.

2005-01-01

Our study used geostatistics to extract measures that characterize the spatial structure of vegetated landscapes from satellite imagery for mapping endangered Sonoran pronghorn habitat. Fine spatial resolution IKONOS data provided information at the scale of individual trees or shrubs that permitted analysis of vegetation structure and pattern. We derived images of landscape structure by calculating local estimates of the nugget, sill, and range variogram parameters within 25 ?? 25-m image windows. These variogram parameters, which describe the spatial autocorrelation of the 1-m image pixels, are shown in previous studies to discriminate between different species-specific vegetation associations. We constructed two independent models of pronghorn landscape preference by coupling the derived measures with Sonoran pronghorn sighting data: a distribution-based model and a cluster-based model. The distribution-based model used the descriptive statistics for variogram measures at pronghorn sightings, whereas the cluster-based model used the distribution of pronghorn sightings within clusters of an unsupervised classification of derived images. Both models define similar landscapes, and validation results confirm they effectively predict the locations of an independent set of pronghorn sightings. Such information, although not a substitute for field-based knowledge of the landscape and associated ecological processes, can provide valuable reconnaissance information to guide natural resource management efforts. ?? 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.

Classification of high-resolution multispectral satellite remote sensing images using extended morphological attribute profiles and independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yu; Zheng, Lijuan; Xie, Donghai; Zhong, Ruofei

2017-07-01

In this study, the extended morphological attribute profiles (EAPs) and independent component analysis (ICA) were combined for feature extraction of high-resolution multispectral satellite remote sensing images and the regularized least squares (RLS) approach with the radial basis function (RBF) kernel was further applied for the classification. Based on the major two independent components, the geometrical features were extracted using the EAPs method. In this study, three morphological attributes were calculated and extracted for each independent component, including area, standard deviation, and moment of inertia. The extracted geometrical features classified results using RLS approach and the commonly used LIB-SVM library of support vector machines method. The Worldview-3 and Chinese GF-2 multispectral images were tested, and the results showed that the features extracted by EAPs and ICA can effectively improve the accuracy of the high-resolution multispectral image classification, 2% larger than EAPs and principal component analysis (PCA) method, and 6% larger than APs and original high-resolution multispectral data. Moreover, it is also suggested that both the GURLS and LIB-SVM libraries are well suited for the multispectral remote sensing image classification. The GURLS library is easy to be used with automatic parameter selection but its computation time may be larger than the LIB-SVM library. This study would be helpful for the classification application of high-resolution multispectral satellite remote sensing images.

Selection of independent components based on cortical mapping of electromagnetic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Hui-Ling; Chen, Yong-Sheng; Chen, Li-Fen

2012-10-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) has been widely used to attenuate interference caused by noise components from the electromagnetic recordings of brain activity. However, the scalp topographies and associated temporal waveforms provided by ICA may be insufficient to distinguish functional components from artifactual ones. In this work, we proposed two component selection methods, both of which first estimate the cortical distribution of the brain activity for each component, and then determine the functional components based on the parcellation of brain activity mapped onto the cortical surface. Among all independent components, the first method can identify the dominant components, which have strong activity in the selected dominant brain regions, whereas the second method can identify those inter-regional associating components, which have similar component spectra between a pair of regions. For a targeted region, its component spectrum enumerates the amplitudes of its parceled brain activity across all components. The selected functional components can be remixed to reconstruct the focused electromagnetic signals for further analysis, such as source estimation. Moreover, the inter-regional associating components can be used to estimate the functional brain network. The accuracy of the cortical activation estimation was evaluated on the data from simulation studies, whereas the usefulness and feasibility of the component selection methods were demonstrated on the magnetoencephalography data recorded from a gender discrimination study.

An interactive web-based application for Comprehensive Analysis of RNAi-screen Data.

PubMed

Dutta, Bhaskar; Azhir, Alaleh; Merino, Louis-Henri; Guo, Yongjian; Revanur, Swetha; Madhamshettiwar, Piyush B; Germain, Ronald N; Smith, Jennifer A; Simpson, Kaylene J; Martin, Scott E; Buehler, Eugen; Beuhler, Eugen; Fraser, Iain D C

2016-02-23

RNAi screens are widely used in functional genomics. Although the screen data can be susceptible to a number of experimental biases, many of these can be corrected by computational analysis. For this purpose, here we have developed a web-based platform for integrated analysis and visualization of RNAi screen data named CARD (for Comprehensive Analysis of RNAi Data; available at https://card.niaid.nih.gov). CARD allows the user to seamlessly carry out sequential steps in a rigorous data analysis workflow, including normalization, off-target analysis, integration of gene expression data, optimal thresholds for hit selection and network/pathway analysis. To evaluate the utility of CARD, we describe analysis of three genome-scale siRNA screens and demonstrate: (i) a significant increase both in selection of subsequently validated hits and in rejection of false positives, (ii) an increased overlap of hits from independent screens of the same biology and (iii) insight to microRNA (miRNA) activity based on siRNA seed enrichment.

An interactive web-based application for Comprehensive Analysis of RNAi-screen Data

PubMed Central

Dutta, Bhaskar; Azhir, Alaleh; Merino, Louis-Henri; Guo, Yongjian; Revanur, Swetha; Madhamshettiwar, Piyush B.; Germain, Ronald N.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Simpson, Kaylene J.; Martin, Scott E.; Beuhler, Eugen; Fraser, Iain D. C.

2016-01-01

RNAi screens are widely used in functional genomics. Although the screen data can be susceptible to a number of experimental biases, many of these can be corrected by computational analysis. For this purpose, here we have developed a web-based platform for integrated analysis and visualization of RNAi screen data named CARD (for Comprehensive Analysis of RNAi Data; available at https://card.niaid.nih.gov). CARD allows the user to seamlessly carry out sequential steps in a rigorous data analysis workflow, including normalization, off-target analysis, integration of gene expression data, optimal thresholds for hit selection and network/pathway analysis. To evaluate the utility of CARD, we describe analysis of three genome-scale siRNA screens and demonstrate: (i) a significant increase both in selection of subsequently validated hits and in rejection of false positives, (ii) an increased overlap of hits from independent screens of the same biology and (iii) insight to microRNA (miRNA) activity based on siRNA seed enrichment. PMID:26902267

Data-Driven Model Reduction and Transfer Operator Approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klus, Stefan; Nüske, Feliks; Koltai, Péter; Wu, Hao; Kevrekidis, Ioannis; Schütte, Christof; Noé, Frank

2018-06-01

In this review paper, we will present different data-driven dimension reduction techniques for dynamical systems that are based on transfer operator theory as well as methods to approximate transfer operators and their eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and eigenmodes. The goal is to point out similarities and differences between methods developed independently by the dynamical systems, fluid dynamics, and molecular dynamics communities such as time-lagged independent component analysis, dynamic mode decomposition, and their respective generalizations. As a result, extensions and best practices developed for one particular method can be carried over to other related methods.

Temporal Synchronization Analysis for Improving Regression Modeling of Fecal Indicator Bacteria Levels

EPA Science Inventory

Multiple linear regression models are often used to predict levels of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in recreational swimming waters based on independent variables (IVs) such as meteorologic, hydrodynamic, and water-quality measures. The IVs used for these analyses are traditiona...

Fully automated registration of first-pass myocardial perfusion MRI using independent component analysis.

PubMed

Milles, J; van der Geest, R J; Jerosch-Herold, M; Reiber, J H C; Lelieveldt, B P F

2007-01-01

This paper presents a novel method for registration of cardiac perfusion MRI. The presented method successfully corrects for breathing motion without any manual interaction using Independent Component Analysis to extract physiologically relevant features together with their time-intensity behavior. A time-varying reference image mimicking intensity changes in the data of interest is computed based on the results of ICA, and used to compute the displacement caused by breathing for each frame. Qualitative and quantitative validation of the method is carried out using 46 clinical quality, short-axis, perfusion MR datasets comprising 100 images each. Validation experiments showed a reduction of the average LV motion from 1.26+/-0.87 to 0.64+/-0.46 pixels. Time-intensity curves are also improved after registration with an average error reduced from 2.65+/-7.89% to 0.87+/-3.88% between registered data and manual gold standard. We conclude that this fully automatic ICA-based method shows an excellent accuracy, robustness and computation speed, adequate for use in a clinical environment.

Application of new methodologies based on design of experiments, independent component analysis and design space for robust optimization in liquid chromatography.

PubMed

Debrus, Benjamin; Lebrun, Pierre; Ceccato, Attilio; Caliaro, Gabriel; Rozet, Eric; Nistor, Iolanda; Oprean, Radu; Rupérez, Francisco J; Barbas, Coral; Boulanger, Bruno; Hubert, Philippe

2011-04-08

HPLC separations of an unknown sample mixture and a pharmaceutical formulation have been optimized using a recently developed chemometric methodology proposed by W. Dewé et al. in 2004 and improved by P. Lebrun et al. in 2008. This methodology is based on experimental designs which are used to model retention times of compounds of interest. Then, the prediction accuracy and the optimal separation robustness, including the uncertainty study, were evaluated. Finally, the design space (ICH Q8(R1) guideline) was computed as the probability for a criterion to lie in a selected range of acceptance. Furthermore, the chromatograms were automatically read. Peak detection and peak matching were carried out with a previously developed methodology using independent component analysis published by B. Debrus et al. in 2009. The present successful applications strengthen the high potential of these methodologies for the automated development of chromatographic methods. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Driver Fatigue Classification With Independent Component by Entropy Rate Bound Minimization Analysis in an EEG-Based System.

PubMed

Chai, Rifai; Naik, Ganesh R; Nguyen, Tuan Nghia; Ling, Sai Ho; Tran, Yvonne; Craig, Ashley; Nguyen, Hung T

2017-05-01

This paper presents a two-class electroencephal-ography-based classification for classifying of driver fatigue (fatigue state versus alert state) from 43 healthy participants. The system uses independent component by entropy rate bound minimization analysis (ERBM-ICA) for the source separation, autoregressive (AR) modeling for the features extraction, and Bayesian neural network for the classification algorithm. The classification results demonstrate a sensitivity of 89.7%, a specificity of 86.8%, and an accuracy of 88.2%. The combination of ERBM-ICA (source separator), AR (feature extractor), and Bayesian neural network (classifier) provides the best outcome with a p-value < 0.05 with the highest value of area under the receiver operating curve (AUC-ROC = 0.93) against other methods such as power spectral density as feature extractor (AUC-ROC = 0.81). The results of this study suggest the method could be utilized effectively for a countermeasure device for driver fatigue identification and other adverse event applications.

Taxonomic structure and stability of the bacterial community in belgian sourdough ecosystems as assessed by culture and population fingerprinting.

PubMed

Scheirlinck, Ilse; Van der Meulen, Roel; Van Schoor, Ann; Vancanneyt, Marc; De Vuyst, Luc; Vandamme, Peter; Huys, Geert

2008-04-01

A total of 39 traditional sourdoughs were sampled at 11 bakeries located throughout Belgium which were visited twice with a 1-year interval. The taxonomic structure and stability of the bacterial communities occurring in these traditional sourdoughs were assessed using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. A total of 1,194 potential lactic acid bacterium (LAB) isolates were tentatively grouped and identified by repetitive element sequence-based PCR, followed by sequence-based identification using 16S rRNA and pheS genes from a selection of genotypically unique LAB isolates. In parallel, all samples were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of V3-16S rRNA gene amplicons. In addition, extensive metabolite target analysis of more than 100 different compounds was performed. Both culturing and DGGE analysis showed that the species Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, Lactobacillus paralimentarius, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus pontis dominated the LAB population of Belgian type I sourdoughs. In addition, DGGE band sequence analysis demonstrated the presence of Acetobacter sp. and a member of the Erwinia/Enterobacter/Pantoea group in some samples. Overall, the culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches each exhibited intrinsic limitations in assessing bacterial LAB diversity in Belgian sourdoughs. Irrespective of the LAB biodiversity, a large majority of the sugar and amino acid metabolites were detected in all sourdough samples. Principal component-based analysis of biodiversity and metabolic data revealed only little variation among the two samples of the sourdoughs produced at the same bakery. The rare cases of instability observed could generally be linked with variations in technological parameters or differences in detection capacity between culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. Within a sampling interval of 1 year, this study reinforces previous observations that the bakery environment rather than the type or batch of flour largely determines the development of a stable LAB population in sourdoughs.

Taxonomic Structure and Stability of the Bacterial Community in Belgian Sourdough Ecosystems as Assessed by Culture and Population Fingerprinting▿ †

PubMed Central

Scheirlinck, Ilse; Van der Meulen, Roel; Van Schoor, Ann; Vancanneyt, Marc; De Vuyst, Luc; Vandamme, Peter; Huys, Geert

2008-01-01

A total of 39 traditional sourdoughs were sampled at 11 bakeries located throughout Belgium which were visited twice with a 1-year interval. The taxonomic structure and stability of the bacterial communities occurring in these traditional sourdoughs were assessed using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. A total of 1,194 potential lactic acid bacterium (LAB) isolates were tentatively grouped and identified by repetitive element sequence-based PCR, followed by sequence-based identification using 16S rRNA and pheS genes from a selection of genotypically unique LAB isolates. In parallel, all samples were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of V3-16S rRNA gene amplicons. In addition, extensive metabolite target analysis of more than 100 different compounds was performed. Both culturing and DGGE analysis showed that the species Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, Lactobacillus paralimentarius, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus pontis dominated the LAB population of Belgian type I sourdoughs. In addition, DGGE band sequence analysis demonstrated the presence of Acetobacter sp. and a member of the Erwinia/Enterobacter/Pantoea group in some samples. Overall, the culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches each exhibited intrinsic limitations in assessing bacterial LAB diversity in Belgian sourdoughs. Irrespective of the LAB biodiversity, a large majority of the sugar and amino acid metabolites were detected in all sourdough samples. Principal component-based analysis of biodiversity and metabolic data revealed only little variation among the two samples of the sourdoughs produced at the same bakery. The rare cases of instability observed could generally be linked with variations in technological parameters or differences in detection capacity between culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. Within a sampling interval of 1 year, this study reinforces previous observations that the bakery environment rather than the type or batch of flour largely determines the development of a stable LAB population in sourdoughs. PMID:18310426

An attempt to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within Caribbean nummulitids: simulating relationships and tracing character evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eder, Wolfgang; Ives Torres-Silva, Ana; Hohenegger, Johann

2017-04-01

Phylogenetic analysis and trees based on molecular data are broadly applied and used to infer genetical and biogeographic relationship in recent larger foraminifera. Molecular phylogenetic is intensively used within recent nummulitids, however for fossil representatives these trees are only of minor informational value. Hence, within paleontological studies a phylogenetic approach through morphometric analysis is of much higher value. To tackle phylogenetic relationships within the nummulitid family, a much higher number of morphological character must be measured than are commonly used in biometric studies, where mostly parameters describing embryonic size (e.g., proloculus diameter, deuteroloculus diameter) and/or the marginal spiral (e.g., spiral diagrams, spiral indices) are studied. For this purpose 11 growth-independent and/or growth-invariant characters have been used to describe the morphological variability of equatorial thin sections of seven Carribbean nummulitid taxa (Nummulites striatoreticulatus, N. macgillavry, Palaeonummulites willcoxi, P.floridensis, P. soldadensis, P.trinitatensis and P.ocalanus) and one outgroup taxon (Ranikothalia bermudezi). Using these characters, phylogenetic trees were calculated using a restricted maximum likelihood algorithm (REML), and results are cross-checked by ordination and cluster analysis. Square-change parsimony method has been run to reconstruct ancestral states, as well as to simulate the evolution of the chosen characters along the calculated phylogenetic tree and, independent - contrast analysis was used to estimate confidence intervals. Based on these simulations, phylogenetic tendencies of certain characters proposed for nummulitids (e.g., Cope's rule or nepionic acceleration) can be tested, whether these tendencies are valid for the whole family or only for certain clades. At least, within the Carribean nummulitids, phylogenetic trends along some growth-independent characters of the embryo (e.g., first chamber length and P/D ratio) and some growth-invariant characters of the chamber sequence (e.g., backbend angle, initial chamber base length and chamber length increase) are evident.

Including foreshocks and aftershocks in time-independent probabilistic seismic hazard analyses

USGS Publications Warehouse

Boyd, Oliver S.

2012-01-01

Time‐independent probabilistic seismic‐hazard analysis treats each source as being temporally and spatially independent; hence foreshocks and aftershocks, which are both spatially and temporally dependent on the mainshock, are removed from earthquake catalogs. Yet, intuitively, these earthquakes should be considered part of the seismic hazard, capable of producing damaging ground motions. In this study, I consider the mainshock and its dependents as a time‐independent cluster, each cluster being temporally and spatially independent from any other. The cluster has a recurrence time of the mainshock; and, by considering the earthquakes in the cluster as a union of events, dependent events have an opportunity to contribute to seismic ground motions and hazard. Based on the methods of the U.S. Geological Survey for a high‐hazard site, the inclusion of dependent events causes ground motions that are exceeded at probability levels of engineering interest to increase by about 10% but could be as high as 20% if variations in aftershock productivity can be accounted for reliably.

Independent component analysis-based source-level hyperlink analysis for two-person neuroscience studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yang; Dai, Rui-Na; Xiao, Xiang; Zhang, Zong; Duan, Lian; Li, Zheng; Zhu, Chao-Zhe

2017-02-01

Two-person neuroscience, a perspective in understanding human social cognition and interaction, involves designing immersive social interaction experiments as well as simultaneously recording brain activity of two or more subjects, a process termed "hyperscanning." Using newly developed imaging techniques, the interbrain connectivity or hyperlink of various types of social interaction has been revealed. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-hyperscanning provides a more naturalistic environment for experimental paradigms of social interaction and has recently drawn much attention. However, most fNIRS-hyperscanning studies have computed hyperlinks using sensor data directly while ignoring the fact that the sensor-level signals contain confounding noises, which may lead to a loss of sensitivity and specificity in hyperlink analysis. In this study, on the basis of independent component analysis (ICA), a source-level analysis framework is proposed to investigate the hyperlinks in a fNIRS two-person neuroscience study. The performance of five widely used ICA algorithms in extracting sources of interaction was compared in simulative datasets, and increased sensitivity and specificity of hyperlink analysis by our proposed method were demonstrated in both simulative and real two-person experiments.

Associations of job demands and intelligence with cognitive performance among men in late life.

PubMed

Potter, Guy G; Helms, Michael J; Plassman, Brenda L

2008-05-06

To examine the association of job characteristics and intelligence to cognitive status in members of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twins Registry of World War II veterans. Participants (n = 1,036) included individuals with an assessment of intelligence based on Armed Services testing in early adulthood. In late adulthood, these individuals completed the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) and occupational history as part of an epidemiologic study of aging and dementia. Occupational history was coded to produce a matrix of job characteristics. Based on factor analysis, job characteristics were interpreted as reflecting general intellectual demands (GI), human interaction and communication (HC), physical activity (PA), and visual attention (VA). Based on regression analysis of TICS-m score covarying for age, intelligence, and years of education, higher levels of GI and HC were independently associated with higher TICS-m performance, whereas higher PA was independently associated with lower performance. There was an interaction of GI and intelligence, indicating that individuals at the lower range of intellectual aptitude in early adulthood derived greater cognitive benefit from intellectually demanding work. Intellectually demanding work was associated with greater benefit to cognitive performance in later life independent of related factors like education and intelligence. The fact that individuals with lower intellectual aptitude demonstrated a stronger positive association between work and higher cognitive performance during retirement suggests that behavior may enhance intellectual reserve, perhaps even years after peak intellectual activity.

Associations of job demands and intelligence with cognitive performance among men in late life

PubMed Central

Potter, Guy G.; Helms, Michael J.; Plassman, Brenda L.

2013-01-01

Objective To examine the association of job characteristics and intelligence to cognitive status in members of the National Academy of Sciences–National Research Council Twins Registry of World War II veterans. Methods Participants (n = 1,036) included individuals with an assessment of intelligence based on Armed Services testing in early adulthood. In late adulthood, these individuals completed the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) and occupational history as part of an epidemiologic study of aging and dementia. Occupational history was coded to produce a matrix of job characteristics. Based on factor analysis, job characteristics were interpreted as reflecting general intellectual demands (GI), human interaction and communication (HC), physical activity (PA), and visual attention (VA). Results Based on regression analysis of TICS-m score covarying for age, intelligence, and years of education, higher levels of GI and HC were independently associated with higher TICS-m performance, whereas higher PA was independently associated with lower performance. There was an interaction of GI and intelligence, indicating that individuals at the lower range of intellectual aptitude in early adulthood derived greater cognitive benefit from intellectually demanding work. Conclusions Intellectually demanding work was associated with greater benefit to cognitive performance in later life independent of related factors like education and intelligence. The fact that individuals with lower intellectual aptitude demonstrated a stronger positive association between work and higher cognitive performance during retirement suggests that behavior may enhance intellectual reserve, perhaps even years after peak intellectual activity. PMID:18077796

Interaction Analysis of Longevity Interventions Using Survival Curves.

PubMed

Nowak, Stefan; Neidhart, Johannes; Szendro, Ivan G; Rzezonka, Jonas; Marathe, Rahul; Krug, Joachim

2018-01-06

A long-standing problem in ageing research is to understand how different factors contributing to longevity should be expected to act in combination under the assumption that they are independent. Standard interaction analysis compares the extension of mean lifespan achieved by a combination of interventions to the prediction under an additive or multiplicative null model, but neither model is fundamentally justified. Moreover, the target of longevity interventions is not mean life span but the entire survival curve. Here we formulate a mathematical approach for predicting the survival curve resulting from a combination of two independent interventions based on the survival curves of the individual treatments, and quantify interaction between interventions as the deviation from this prediction. We test the method on a published data set comprising survival curves for all combinations of four different longevity interventions in Caenorhabditis elegans . We find that interactions are generally weak even when the standard analysis indicates otherwise.

Interaction Analysis of Longevity Interventions Using Survival Curves

PubMed Central

Nowak, Stefan; Neidhart, Johannes; Szendro, Ivan G.; Rzezonka, Jonas; Marathe, Rahul; Krug, Joachim

2018-01-01

A long-standing problem in ageing research is to understand how different factors contributing to longevity should be expected to act in combination under the assumption that they are independent. Standard interaction analysis compares the extension of mean lifespan achieved by a combination of interventions to the prediction under an additive or multiplicative null model, but neither model is fundamentally justified. Moreover, the target of longevity interventions is not mean life span but the entire survival curve. Here we formulate a mathematical approach for predicting the survival curve resulting from a combination of two independent interventions based on the survival curves of the individual treatments, and quantify interaction between interventions as the deviation from this prediction. We test the method on a published data set comprising survival curves for all combinations of four different longevity interventions in Caenorhabditis elegans. We find that interactions are generally weak even when the standard analysis indicates otherwise. PMID:29316622

Separation of the light and heavy mass groups of 1016 - 1018 eV cosmic rays by studying the ratio muon size to shower size of KASCADE-Grande data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apel, W. D.; Arteaga-Velazquez, J. C.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Engler, J.; Finger, M.; Fuchs, B.; Fuhrmann, D.; Garino, F.; Gils, H. J.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Huber, D.; Huege, T.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Klages, H. O.; Link, K.; Łuczak, P.; Ludwig, M.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Melissas, M.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Oehlschläger, J.; Ostapchenko, S.; Palmieri, N.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Schieler, H.; Schoo, S.; Schroder, F. G.; Sima, O.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Wommer, M.; Zabierowski, J.

2013-02-01

KASCADE-Grande is an air-shower observatory devoted to the study of cosmic rays with energies in the range 1016 - 1018 eV. In KASCADE-Grande, different detector systems allow independent measurements of the number of muons (Nμ) and charged particles (Nch) of air showers, which are the basis for several energy and composition studies of cosmic rays. In this contribution, a composition analysis using the shower size ratio lgNμ/lgNch, corrected for attenuation in the atmosphere, is described. Using QGSJET II-based simulations of different primaries, it is shown that an energy independent cut on the shower ratio can be chosen in order to separate the cosmic ray events into light and heavy mass groups. The analysis is applied to the KASCADE-Grande data. The energy spectra derived from the analysis are presented.

Improved statistical fluctuation analysis for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with four-intensity decoy-state method.

PubMed

Mao, Chen-Chen; Zhou, Xing-Yu; Zhu, Jian-Rong; Zhang, Chun-Hui; Zhang, Chun-Mei; Wang, Qin

2018-05-14

Recently Zhang et al [ Phys. Rev. A95, 012333 (2017)] developed a new approach to estimate the failure probability for the decoy-state BB84 QKD system when taking finite-size key effect into account, which offers security comparable to Chernoff bound, while results in an improved key rate and transmission distance. Based on Zhang et al's work, now we extend this approach to the case of the measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), and for the first time implement it onto the four-intensity decoy-state MDI-QKD system. Moreover, through utilizing joint constraints and collective error-estimation techniques, we can obviously increase the performance of practical MDI-QKD systems compared with either three- or four-intensity decoy-state MDI-QKD using Chernoff bound analysis, and achieve much higher level security compared with those applying Gaussian approximation analysis.

Family-Based Interventions in Preventing Children and Adolescents from Using Tobacco: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Thomas, Roger E; Baker, Philip R A; Thomas, Bennett C

2016-07-01

Tobacco is the main preventable cause of death and disease worldwide. Adolescent smoking is increasing in many countries with poorer countries following the earlier experiences of affluent countries. Preventing adolescents from starting smoking is crucial to decreasing tobacco-related illness. To assess effectiveness of family-based interventions alone and combined with school-based interventions to prevent children and adolescents from initiating tobacco use. Fourteen bibliographic databases and the Internet, journals hand-searched, and experts consulted. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with children or adolescents and families, interventions to prevent starting tobacco use, and follow-up ≥6 months. Abstracts/titles independently assessed and data independently entered by 2 authors. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool. Twenty-seven RCTs were included. Nine trials of never-smokers compared with a control provided data for meta-analysis. Family intervention trials had significantly fewer students who started smoking. Meta-analysis of 2 RCTs of combined family and school interventions compared with school only, showed additional significant benefit. The common feature of effective high-intensity interventions was encouraging authoritative parenting. Only 14 RCTs provided data for meta-analysis (approximately a third of participants). Of the 13 RCTs that did not provide data for meta-analysis 8 compared a family intervention with no intervention and 1 reported significant effects, and 5 compared a family combined with school intervention with a school intervention only and none reported additional significant effects. There is moderate-quality evidence that family-based interventions prevent children and adolescents from starting to smoke. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Information-Correction Method for Testlet-Based Test Analysis: From the Perspectives of Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory. Research Report. ETS RR-17-27

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Feifei

2017-01-01

An information-correction method for testlet-based tests is introduced. This method takes advantage of both generalizability theory (GT) and item response theory (IRT). The measurement error for the examinee proficiency parameter is often underestimated when a unidimensional conditional-independence IRT model is specified for a testlet dataset. By…

SU-E-T-49: A Multi-Institutional Study of Independent Dose Verification for IMRT

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

Baba, H; Tachibana, H; Kamima, T

2015-06-15

Purpose: AAPM TG114 does not cover the independent verification for IMRT. We conducted a study of independent dose verification for IMRT in seven institutes to show the feasibility. Methods: 384 IMRT plans in the sites of prostate and head and neck (HN) were collected from the institutes, where the planning was performed using Eclipse and Pinnacle3 with the two techniques of step and shoot (S&S) and sliding window (SW). All of the institutes used a same independent dose verification software program (Simple MU Analysis: SMU, Triangle Product, Ishikawa, JP), which is Clarkson-based and CT images were used to compute radiologicalmore » path length. An ion-chamber measurement in a water-equivalent slab phantom was performed to compare the doses computed using the TPS and an independent dose verification program. Additionally, the agreement in dose computed in patient CT images between using the TPS and using the SMU was assessed. The dose of the composite beams in the plan was evaluated. Results: The agreement between the measurement and the SMU were −2.3±1.9 % and −5.6±3.6 % for prostate and HN sites, respectively. The agreement between the TPSs and the SMU were −2.1±1.9 % and −3.0±3.7 for prostate and HN sites, respectively. There was a negative systematic difference with similar standard deviation and the difference was larger in the HN site. The S&S technique showed a statistically significant difference between the SW. Because the Clarkson-based method in the independent program underestimated (cannot consider) the dose under the MLC. Conclusion: The accuracy would be improved when the Clarkson-based algorithm should be modified for IMRT and the tolerance level would be within 5%.« less

Validity and power of association testing in family-based sampling designs: evidence for and against the common wisdom.

PubMed

Knight, Stacey; Camp, Nicola J

2011-04-01

Current common wisdom posits that association analyses using family-based designs have inflated type 1 error rates (if relationships are ignored) and independent controls are more powerful than familial controls. We explore these suppositions. We show theoretically that family-based designs can have deflated type-error rates. Through simulation, we examine the validity and power of family designs for several scenarios: cases from randomly or selectively ascertained pedigrees; and familial or independent controls. Family structures considered are as follows: sibships, nuclear families, moderate-sized and extended pedigrees. Three methods were considered with the χ(2) test for trend: variance correction (VC), weighted (weights assigned to account for genetic similarity), and naïve (ignoring relatedness) as well as the Modified Quasi-likelihood Score (MQLS) test. Selectively ascertained pedigrees had similar levels of disease enrichment; random ascertainment had no such restriction. Data for 1,000 cases and 1,000 controls were created under the null and alternate models. The VC and MQLS methods were always valid. The naïve method was anti-conservative if independent controls were used and valid or conservative in designs with familial controls. The weighted association method was generally valid for independent controls, and was conservative for familial controls. With regard to power, independent controls were more powerful for small-to-moderate selectively ascertained pedigrees, but familial and independent controls were equivalent in the extended pedigrees and familial controls were consistently more powerful for all randomly ascertained pedigrees. These results suggest a more complex situation than previously assumed, which has important implications for study design and analysis. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Time-Sharing-Based Synchronization and Performance Evaluation of Color-Independent Visual-MIMO Communication.

PubMed

Kwon, Tae-Ho; Kim, Jai-Eun; Kim, Ki-Doo

2018-05-14

In the field of communication, synchronization is always an important issue. The communication between a light-emitting diode (LED) array (LEA) and a camera is known as visual multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), for which the data transmitter and receiver must be synchronized for seamless communication. In visual-MIMO, LEDs generally have a faster data rate than the camera. Hence, we propose an effective time-sharing-based synchronization technique with its color-independent characteristics providing the key to overcome this synchronization problem in visual-MIMO communication. We also evaluated the performance of our synchronization technique by varying the distance between the LEA and camera. A graphical analysis is also presented to compare the symbol error rate (SER) at different distances.

Developing a complex independent component analysis technique to extract non-stationary patterns from geophysical time-series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forootan, Ehsan; Kusche, Jürgen

2016-04-01

Geodetic/geophysical observations, such as the time series of global terrestrial water storage change or sea level and temperature change, represent samples of physical processes and therefore contain information about complex physical interactionswith many inherent time scales. Extracting relevant information from these samples, for example quantifying the seasonality of a physical process or its variability due to large-scale ocean-atmosphere interactions, is not possible by rendering simple time series approaches. In the last decades, decomposition techniques have found increasing interest for extracting patterns from geophysical observations. Traditionally, principal component analysis (PCA) and more recently independent component analysis (ICA) are common techniques to extract statistical orthogonal (uncorrelated) and independent modes that represent the maximum variance of observations, respectively. PCA and ICA can be classified as stationary signal decomposition techniques since they are based on decomposing the auto-covariance matrix or diagonalizing higher (than two)-order statistical tensors from centered time series. However, the stationary assumption is obviously not justifiable for many geophysical and climate variables even after removing cyclic components e.g., the seasonal cycles. In this paper, we present a new decomposition method, the complex independent component analysis (CICA, Forootan, PhD-2014), which can be applied to extract to non-stationary (changing in space and time) patterns from geophysical time series. Here, CICA is derived as an extension of real-valued ICA (Forootan and Kusche, JoG-2012), where we (i) define a new complex data set using a Hilbert transformation. The complex time series contain the observed values in their real part, and the temporal rate of variability in their imaginary part. (ii) An ICA algorithm based on diagonalization of fourth-order cumulants is then applied to decompose the new complex data set in (i). (iii) Dominant non-stationary patterns are recognized as independent complex patterns that can be used to represent the space and time amplitude and phase propagations. We present the results of CICA on simulated and real cases e.g., for quantifying the impact of large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction on global mass changes. Forootan (PhD-2014) Statistical signal decomposition techniques for analyzing time-variable satellite gravimetry data, PhD Thesis, University of Bonn, http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/2014/3766/3766.htm Forootan and Kusche (JoG-2012) Separation of global time-variable gravity signals into maximally independent components, Journal of Geodesy 86 (7), 477-497, doi: 10.1007/s00190-011-0532-5

Noise reduction in functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals by independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santosa, Hendrik; Jiyoun Hong, Melissa; Kim, Sung-Phil; Hong, Keum-Shik

2013-07-01

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is used to detect concentration changes of oxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin in the human brain. The main difficulty entailed in the analysis of fNIRS signals is the fact that the hemodynamic response to a specific neuronal activation is contaminated by physiological and instrument noises, motion artifacts, and other interferences. This paper proposes independent component analysis (ICA) as a means of identifying the original hemodynamic response in the presence of noises. The original hemodynamic response was reconstructed using the primary independent component (IC) and other, less-weighting-coefficient ICs. In order to generate experimental brain stimuli, arithmetic tasks were administered to eight volunteer subjects. The t-value of the reconstructed hemodynamic response was improved by using the ICs found in the measured data. The best t-value out of 16 low-pass-filtered signals was 37, and that of the reconstructed one was 51. Also, the average t-value of the eight subjects' reconstructed signals was 40, whereas that of all of their low-pass-filtered signals was only 20. Overall, the results showed the applicability of the ICA-based method to noise-contamination reduction in brain mapping.

Preoperative Thromboelastometry as a Predictor of Transfusion Requirements during Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

PubMed

Fayed, Nirmeen; Mourad, Wessam; Yassen, Khaled; Görlinger, Klaus

2015-03-01

The ability to predict transfusion requirements may improve perioperative bleeding management as an integral part of a patient blood management program. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate preoperative thromboelastometry as a predictor of transfusion requirements for adult living donor liver transplant recipients. The correlation between preoperative thromboelastometry variables in 100 adult living donor liver transplant recipients and intraoperative blood transfusion requirements was examined by univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis. Thresholds of thromboelastometric parameters for prediction of packed red blood cells (PRBCs), fresh frozen plasma (FFP), platelets, and cryoprecipitate transfusion requirements were determined with receiver operating characteristics analysis. The attending anesthetists were blinded to the preoperative thromboelastometric analysis. However, a thromboelastometry-guided transfusion algorithm with predefined trigger values was used intraoperatively. The transfusion triggers in this algorithm did not change during the study period. Univariate analysis confirmed significant correlations between PRBCs, FFP, platelets or cryoprecipitate transfusion requirements and most thromboelastometric variables. Backward stepwise logistic regression indicated that EXTEM coagulation time (CT), maximum clot firmness (MCF) and INTEM CT, clot formation time (CFT) and MCF are independent predictors for PRBC transfusion. EXTEM CT, CFT and FIBTEM MCF are independent predictors for FFP transfusion. Only EXTEM and INTEM MCF were independent predictors of platelet transfusion. EXTEM CFT and MCF, INTEM CT, CFT and MCF as well as FIBTEM MCF are independent predictors for cryoprecipitate transfusion. Thromboelastometry-based regression equation accounted for 63% of PRBC, 83% of FFP, 61% of cryoprecipitate, and 44% of platelet transfusion requirements. Preoperative thromboelastometric analysis is helpful to predict transfusion requirements in adult living donor liver transplant recipients. This may allow for better preparation and less cross-matching prior to surgery. The findings of our study need to be re-validated in a second prospective patient population.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the electrical power distribution and control subsystem, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmeckpeper, K. R.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Electrical Power Distribution and Control (EPD and C) hardware. The EPD and C hardware performs the functions of distributing, sensing, and controlling 28 volt DC power and of inverting, distributing, sensing, and controlling 117 volt 400 Hz AC power to all Orbiter subsystems from the three fuel cells in the Electrical Power Generation (EPG) subsystem. Each level of hardware was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticality was assigned based upon the severity of the effect for each failure mode. Of the 1671 failure modes analyzed, 9 single failures were determined to result in loss of crew or vehicle. Three single failures unique to intact abort were determined to result in possible loss of the crew or vehicle. A possible loss of mission could result if any of 136 single failures occurred. Six of the criticality 1/1 failures are in two rotary and two pushbutton switches that control External Tank and Solid Rocket Booster separation. The other 6 criticality 1/1 failures are fuses, one each per Aft Power Control Assembly (APCA) 4, 5, and 6 and one each per Forward Power Control Assembly (FPCA) 1, 2, and 3, that supply power to certain Main Propulsion System (MPS) valves and Forward Reaction Control System (RCS) circuits.

Rapid Monitoring of Bacteria and Fungi aboard the International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gunter, D.; Flores, G.; Effinger, M.; Maule, J.; Wainwright, N.; Steele, A.; Damon, M.; Wells, M.; Williams, S.; Morris, H.;

[Proximate analysis of straw by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)].

PubMed

Huang, Cai-jin; Han, Lu-jia; Liu, Xian; Yang, Zeng-ling

2009-04-01

Proximate analysis is one of the routine analysis procedures in utilization of straw for biomass energy use. The present paper studied the applicability of rapid proximate analysis of straw by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology, in which the authors constructed the first NIRS models to predict volatile matter and fixed carbon contents of straw. NIRS models were developed using Foss 6500 spectrometer with spectra in the range of 1,108-2,492 nm to predict the contents of moisture, ash, volatile matter and fixed carbon in the directly cut straw samples; to predict ash, volatile matter and fixed carbon in the dried milled straw samples. For the models based on directly cut straw samples, the determination coefficient of independent validation (R2v) and standard error of prediction (SEP) were 0.92% and 0.76% for moisture, 0.94% and 0.84% for ash, 0.88% and 0.82% for volatile matter, and 0.75% and 0.65% for fixed carbon, respectively. For the models based on dried milled straw samples, the determination coefficient of independent validation (R2v) and standard error of prediction (SEP) were 0.98% and 0.54% for ash, 0.95% and 0.57% for volatile matter, and 0.78% and 0.61% for fixed carbon, respectively. It was concluded that NIRS models can predict accurately as an alternative analysis method, therefore rapid and simultaneous analysis of multicomponents can be achieved by NIRS technology, decreasing the cost of proximate analysis for straw.

High-Speed Device-Independent Quantum Random Number Generation without a Detection Loophole.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Yuan, Xiao; Li, Ming-Han; Zhang, Weijun; Zhao, Qi; Zhong, Jiaqiang; Cao, Yuan; Li, Yu-Huai; Chen, Luo-Kan; Li, Hao; Peng, Tianyi; Chen, Yu-Ao; Peng, Cheng-Zhi; Shi, Sheng-Cai; Wang, Zhen; You, Lixing; Ma, Xiongfeng; Fan, Jingyun; Zhang, Qiang; Pan, Jian-Wei

2018-01-05

Quantum mechanics provides the means of generating genuine randomness that is impossible with deterministic classical processes. Remarkably, the unpredictability of randomness can be certified in a manner that is independent of implementation devices. Here, we present an experimental study of device-independent quantum random number generation based on a detection-loophole-free Bell test with entangled photons. In the randomness analysis, without the independent identical distribution assumption, we consider the worst case scenario that the adversary launches the most powerful attacks against the quantum adversary. After considering statistical fluctuations and applying an 80  Gb×45.6  Mb Toeplitz matrix hashing, we achieve a final random bit rate of 114  bits/s, with a failure probability less than 10^{-5}. This marks a critical step towards realistic applications in cryptography and fundamental physics tests.

Unified design of sinusoidal-groove fused-silica grating.

PubMed

Feng, Jijun; Zhou, Changhe; Cao, Hongchao; Lu, Peng

2010-10-20

A general design rule of deep-etched subwavelength sinusoidal-groove fused-silica grating as a highly efficient polarization-independent or polarization-selective device is studied based on the simplified modal method, which shows that the device structure depends little on the incident wavelength, but mainly on the ratio of groove depth to incident wavelength and the ratio of wavelength to grating period. These two ratios could be used as the design guidelines for wavelength-independent structure from deep ultraviolet to far infrared. The optimized grating profile with a different function as a polarizing beam splitter, a polarization-independent two-port beam splitter, or a polarization-independent grating with high efficiency of -1st order is obtained at a wavelength of 1064 nm, and verified by using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The performance of the sinusoidal grating is better than a conventional rectangular one, which could be useful for practical applications.

A Feature Fusion Based Forecasting Model for Financial Time Series

PubMed Central

Guo, Zhiqiang; Wang, Huaiqing; Liu, Quan; Yang, Jie

2014-01-01

Predicting the stock market has become an increasingly interesting research area for both researchers and investors, and many prediction models have been proposed. In these models, feature selection techniques are used to pre-process the raw data and remove noise. In this paper, a prediction model is constructed to forecast stock market behavior with the aid of independent component analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and a support vector machine. First, two types of features are extracted from the historical closing prices and 39 technical variables obtained by independent component analysis. Second, a canonical correlation analysis method is utilized to combine the two types of features and extract intrinsic features to improve the performance of the prediction model. Finally, a support vector machine is applied to forecast the next day's closing price. The proposed model is applied to the Shanghai stock market index and the Dow Jones index, and experimental results show that the proposed model performs better in the area of prediction than other two similar models. PMID:24971455

Sparse dictionary learning for resting-state fMRI analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kangjoo; Han, Paul Kyu; Ye, Jong Chul

2011-09-01

Recently, there has been increased interest in the usage of neuroimaging techniques to investigate what happens in the brain at rest. Functional imaging studies have revealed that the default-mode network activity is disrupted in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is no consensus, as yet, on the choice of analysis method for the application of resting-state analysis for disease classification. This paper proposes a novel compressed sensing based resting-state fMRI analysis tool called Sparse-SPM. As the brain's functional systems has shown to have features of complex networks according to graph theoretical analysis, we apply a graph model to represent a sparse combination of information flows in complex network perspectives. In particular, a new concept of spatially adaptive design matrix has been proposed by implementing sparse dictionary learning based on sparsity. The proposed approach shows better performance compared to other conventional methods, such as independent component analysis (ICA) and seed-based approach, in classifying the AD patients from normal using resting-state analysis.

Imputation and subset-based association analysis across different cancer types identifies multiple independent risk loci in the TERT-CLPTM1L region on chromosome 5p15.33.

PubMed

Wang, Zhaoming; Zhu, Bin; Zhang, Mingfeng; Parikh, Hemang; Jia, Jinping; Chung, Charles C; Sampson, Joshua N; Hoskins, Jason W; Hutchinson, Amy; Burdette, Laurie; Ibrahim, Abdisamad; Hautman, Christopher; Raj, Preethi S; Abnet, Christian C; Adjei, Andrew A; Ahlbom, Anders; Albanes, Demetrius; Allen, Naomi E; Ambrosone, Christine B; Aldrich, Melinda; Amiano, Pilar; Amos, Christopher; Andersson, Ulrika; Andriole, Gerald; Andrulis, Irene L; Arici, Cecilia; Arslan, Alan A; Austin, Melissa A; Baris, Dalsu; Barkauskas, Donald A; Bassig, Bryan A; Beane Freeman, Laura E; Berg, Christine D; Berndt, Sonja I; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Biritwum, Richard B; Black, Amanda; Blot, William; Boeing, Heiner; Boffetta, Paolo; Bolton, Kelly; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Bracci, Paige M; Brennan, Paul; Brinton, Louise A; Brotzman, Michelle; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Buring, Julie E; Butler, Mary Ann; Cai, Qiuyin; Cancel-Tassin, Geraldine; Canzian, Federico; Cao, Guangwen; Caporaso, Neil E; Carrato, Alfredo; Carreon, Tania; Carta, Angela; Chang, Gee-Chen; Chang, I-Shou; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Che, Xu; Chen, Chien-Jen; Chen, Chih-Yi; Chen, Chung-Hsing; Chen, Constance; Chen, Kuan-Yu; Chen, Yuh-Min; Chokkalingam, Anand P; Chu, Lisa W; Clavel-Chapelon, Francoise; Colditz, Graham A; Colt, Joanne S; Conti, David; Cook, Michael B; Cortessis, Victoria K; Crawford, E David; Cussenot, Olivier; Davis, Faith G; De Vivo, Immaculata; Deng, Xiang; Ding, Ti; Dinney, Colin P; Di Stefano, Anna Luisa; Diver, W Ryan; Duell, Eric J; Elena, Joanne W; Fan, Jin-Hu; Feigelson, Heather Spencer; Feychting, Maria; Figueroa, Jonine D; Flanagan, Adrienne M; Fraumeni, Joseph F; Freedman, Neal D; Fridley, Brooke L; Fuchs, Charles S; Gago-Dominguez, Manuela; Gallinger, Steven; Gao, Yu-Tang; Gapstur, Susan M; Garcia-Closas, Montserrat; Garcia-Closas, Reina; Gastier-Foster, Julie M; Gaziano, J Michael; Gerhard, Daniela S; Giffen, Carol A; Giles, Graham G; Gillanders, Elizabeth M; Giovannucci, Edward L; Goggins, Michael; Gokgoz, Nalan; Goldstein, Alisa M; Gonzalez, Carlos; Gorlick, Richard; Greene, Mark H; Gross, Myron; Grossman, H Barton; Grubb, Robert; Gu, Jian; Guan, Peng; Haiman, Christopher A; Hallmans, Goran; Hankinson, Susan E; Harris, Curtis C; Hartge, Patricia; Hattinger, Claudia; Hayes, Richard B; He, Qincheng; Helman, Lee; Henderson, Brian E; Henriksson, Roger; Hoffman-Bolton, Judith; Hohensee, Chancellor; Holly, Elizabeth A; Hong, Yun-Chul; Hoover, Robert N; Hosgood, H Dean; Hsiao, Chin-Fu; Hsing, Ann W; Hsiung, Chao Agnes; Hu, Nan; Hu, Wei; Hu, Zhibin; Huang, Ming-Shyan; Hunter, David J; Inskip, Peter D; Ito, Hidemi; Jacobs, Eric J; Jacobs, Kevin B; Jenab, Mazda; Ji, Bu-Tian; Johansen, Christoffer; Johansson, Mattias; Johnson, Alison; Kaaks, Rudolf; Kamat, Ashish M; Kamineni, Aruna; Karagas, Margaret; Khanna, Chand; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Kim, Christopher; Kim, In-Sam; Kim, Jin Hee; Kim, Yeul Hong; Kim, Young-Chul; Kim, Young Tae; Kang, Chang Hyun; Jung, Yoo Jin; Kitahara, Cari M; Klein, Alison P; Klein, Robert; Kogevinas, Manolis; Koh, Woon-Puay; Kohno, Takashi; Kolonel, Laurence N; Kooperberg, Charles; Kratz, Christian P; Krogh, Vittorio; Kunitoh, Hideo; Kurtz, Robert C; Kurucu, Nilgun; Lan, Qing; Lathrop, Mark; Lau, Ching C; Lecanda, Fernando; Lee, Kyoung-Mu; Lee, Maxwell P; Le Marchand, Loic; Lerner, Seth P; Li, Donghui; Liao, Linda M; Lim, Wei-Yen; Lin, Dongxin; Lin, Jie; Lindstrom, Sara; Linet, Martha S; Lissowska, Jolanta; Liu, Jianjun; Ljungberg, Börje; Lloreta, Josep; Lu, Daru; Ma, Jing; Malats, Nuria; Mannisto, Satu; Marina, Neyssa; Mastrangelo, Giuseppe; Matsuo, Keitaro; McGlynn, Katherine A; McKean-Cowdin, Roberta; McNeill, Lorna H; McWilliams, Robert R; Melin, Beatrice S; Meltzer, Paul S; Mensah, James E; Miao, Xiaoping; Michaud, Dominique S; Mondul, Alison M; Moore, Lee E; Muir, Kenneth; Niwa, Shelley; Olson, Sara H; Orr, Nick; Panico, Salvatore; Park, Jae Yong; Patel, Alpa V; Patino-Garcia, Ana; Pavanello, Sofia; Peeters, Petra H M; Peplonska, Beata; Peters, Ulrike; Petersen, Gloria M; Picci, Piero; Pike, Malcolm C; Porru, Stefano; Prescott, Jennifer; Pu, Xia; Purdue, Mark P; Qiao, You-Lin; Rajaraman, Preetha; Riboli, Elio; Risch, Harvey A; Rodabough, Rebecca J; Rothman, Nathaniel; Ruder, Avima M; Ryu, Jeong-Seon; Sanson, Marc; Schned, Alan; Schumacher, Fredrick R; Schwartz, Ann G; Schwartz, Kendra L; Schwenn, Molly; Scotlandi, Katia; Seow, Adeline; Serra, Consol; Serra, Massimo; Sesso, Howard D; Severi, Gianluca; Shen, Hongbing; Shen, Min; Shete, Sanjay; Shiraishi, Kouya; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Siddiq, Afshan; Sierrasesumaga, Luis; Sierri, Sabina; Loon Sihoe, Alan Dart; Silverman, Debra T; Simon, Matthias; Southey, Melissa C; Spector, Logan; Spitz, Margaret; Stampfer, Meir; Stattin, Par; Stern, Mariana C; Stevens, Victoria L; Stolzenberg-Solomon, Rachael Z; Stram, Daniel O; Strom, Sara S; Su, Wu-Chou; Sund, Malin; Sung, Sook Whan; Swerdlow, Anthony; Tan, Wen; Tanaka, Hideo; Tang, Wei; Tang, Ze-Zhang; Tardon, Adonina; Tay, Evelyn; Taylor, Philip R; Tettey, Yao; Thomas, David M; Tirabosco, Roberto; Tjonneland, Anne; Tobias, Geoffrey S; Toro, Jorge R; Travis, Ruth C; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Troisi, Rebecca; Truelove, Ann; Tsai, Ying-Huang; Tucker, Margaret A; Tumino, Rosario; Van Den Berg, David; Van Den Eeden, Stephen K; Vermeulen, Roel; Vineis, Paolo; Visvanathan, Kala; Vogel, Ulla; Wang, Chaoyu; Wang, Chengfeng; Wang, Junwen; Wang, Sophia S; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Weinstein, Stephanie J; Wentzensen, Nicolas; Wheeler, William; White, Emily; Wiencke, John K; Wolk, Alicja; Wolpin, Brian M; Wong, Maria Pik; Wrensch, Margaret; Wu, Chen; Wu, Tangchun; Wu, Xifeng; Wu, Yi-Long; Wunder, Jay S; Xiang, Yong-Bing; Xu, Jun; Yang, Hannah P; Yang, Pan-Chyr; Yatabe, Yasushi; Ye, Yuanqing; Yeboah, Edward D; Yin, Zhihua; Ying, Chen; Yu, Chong-Jen; Yu, Kai; Yuan, Jian-Min; Zanetti, Krista A; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Zheng, Wei; Zhou, Baosen; Mirabello, Lisa; Savage, Sharon A; Kraft, Peter; Chanock, Stephen J; Yeager, Meredith; Landi, Maria Terese; Shi, Jianxin; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Amundadottir, Laufey T

2014-12-15

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have mapped risk alleles for at least 10 distinct cancers to a small region of 63 000 bp on chromosome 5p15.33. This region harbors the TERT and CLPTM1L genes; the former encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase reverse transcriptase and the latter may play a role in apoptosis. To investigate further the genetic architecture of common susceptibility alleles in this region, we conducted an agnostic subset-based meta-analysis (association analysis based on subsets) across six distinct cancers in 34 248 cases and 45 036 controls. Based on sequential conditional analysis, we identified as many as six independent risk loci marked by common single-nucleotide polymorphisms: five in the TERT gene (Region 1: rs7726159, P = 2.10 × 10(-39); Region 3: rs2853677, P = 3.30 × 10(-36) and PConditional = 2.36 × 10(-8); Region 4: rs2736098, P = 3.87 × 10(-12) and PConditional = 5.19 × 10(-6), Region 5: rs13172201, P = 0.041 and PConditional = 2.04 × 10(-6); and Region 6: rs10069690, P = 7.49 × 10(-15) and PConditional = 5.35 × 10(-7)) and one in the neighboring CLPTM1L gene (Region 2: rs451360; P = 1.90 × 10(-18) and PConditional = 7.06 × 10(-16)). Between three and five cancers mapped to each independent locus with both risk-enhancing and protective effects. Allele-specific effects on DNA methylation were seen for a subset of risk loci, indicating that methylation and subsequent effects on gene expression may contribute to the biology of risk variants on 5p15.33. Our results provide strong support for extensive pleiotropy across this region of 5p15.33, to an extent not previously observed in other cancer susceptibility loci. Published by Oxford University Press 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Factor Analysis of Temperament Category Scores in a Sample of Nursery School Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simonds, John F.; Simonds, M. Patricia

1982-01-01

Mothers of children attending nursery schools completed the Behavior Style Questionnaire (BSQ) from which scores for nine temperament categories were derived. Found membership in groups based on factor scores independent of sex, socioeconomic class, age but not ordinal birth position. (Author)

Content Analysis of Morskoy Sbornik: 1978-1982

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-09-01

independent decision-making at all levels of command is advocated. In April, 1982, Captain 1st Rank B. Makeyev , a candidate of naval science, entered the...a prominence in the Soviet defense establishment. Makeyev believes that naval weapons development is based on decisions of defense planners who must

DEEP Revisited.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luker, William A.; And Others

1984-01-01

Based on an independent analysis of the data used to evaluate the Developmental Economic Education Program, questions are raised about the methodology and conclusions reached by Walstad and Soper in an article published in the Winter 1982 issue of the Journal. The original study is also defended in two replies. (Author/RM)

A new statistical PCA-ICA algorithm for location of R-peaks in ECG.

PubMed

Chawla, M P S; Verma, H K; Kumar, Vinod

2008-09-16

The success of ICA to separate the independent components from the mixture depends on the properties of the electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings. This paper discusses some of the conditions of independent component analysis (ICA) that could affect the reliability of the separation and evaluation of issues related to the properties of the signals and number of sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) scatter plots are plotted to indicate the diagnostic features in the presence and absence of base-line wander in interpreting the ECG signals. In this analysis, a newly developed statistical algorithm by authors, based on the use of combined PCA-ICA for two correlated channels of 12-channel ECG data is proposed. ICA technique has been successfully implemented in identifying and removal of noise and artifacts from ECG signals. Cleaned ECG signals are obtained using statistical measures like kurtosis and variance of variance after ICA processing. This analysis also paper deals with the detection of QRS complexes in electrocardiograms using combined PCA-ICA algorithm. The efficacy of the combined PCA-ICA algorithm lies in the fact that the location of the R-peaks is bounded from above and below by the location of the cross-over points, hence none of the peaks are ignored or missed.

Comparing a number line and audio prompts in supporting price comparison by students with intellectual disability.

PubMed

Bouck, Emily C; Satsangi, Rajiv; Bartlett, Whitney

2016-01-01

Price comparison is an important and complex skill, but it lacks sufficient research attention in terms of educating secondary students with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder. This alternating treatment design study compared the use of a paper-based number line and audio prompts delivered via an audio recorder to support three secondary students with intellectual disability to independently and accuracy compare the price of three separate grocery items. The study consisted of 22 sessions, spread across baseline, intervention, best treatment, and two different generalization phases. Data were collected on the percent of task analysis steps completed independently, the type of prompts needed, students' accuracy selecting the lowest priced item, and task completion time. With both intervention conditions, students were able to independently complete the task analysis steps as well as accurately select the lowest priced item and decrease their task completion time. For two of the students, the audio recorder condition resulted in the greatest independence and for one the number line. For only one student was the condition with the greatest independence also the condition for the highest rate of accuracy. The results suggest both tools can support students with price comparison. Yet, audio recorders offer students and teachers an age-appropriate and setting-appropriate option. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the semi-permanent house in Merauke city in terms of aesthetic value in architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topan, Anton; Octavia, Sari; Soleman, Henry

2018-05-01

Semi permanent houses are also used called “Rumah Kancingan” is the houses that generally exist in the Merauke city. Called semi permanent because the main structure use is woods even if the walls uses bricks. This research tries to analyze more about Semi permanent house in terms of aesthethics value. This research is a qualitative research with data collection techniques using questionnaire method and direct observation field and study of literature. The result of questionnaire data collection then processed using SPSS to get the influence of independent variable against the dependent variable and found that color, ornament, shape of the door-window and shape of roof (independent) gives 97,1% influence to the aesthetics of the Semi permanent house and based on the output coefficient SPSS obtained that the dependent variable has p-value < 0.05 which means independent variables have an effect on significant to aesthetic variable. For variables of semi permanent and wooden structure gives an effect of 98,6% to aesthetics and based on the result of SPSS coefficient it is found that free variable has p-value < 0.05 which means independent variables have an effect on significant to aesthetic variable.

[Evaluation of three methods for constructing craniofacial mid-sagittal plane based on the cone beam computed tomography].

PubMed

Wang, S W; Li, M; Yang, H F; Zhao, Y J; Wang, Y; Liu, Y

2016-04-18

To compare the accuracyof interactive closet point (ICP) algorithm, Procrustes analysis (PA) algorithm,and a landmark-independent method to construct the mid-sagittal plane (MSP) of the cone beam computed tomography.To provide theoretical basis for establishing coordinate systemof CBCT images and symmetric analysis. Ten patients were selected and scanned by CBCT before orthodontic treatment.The scan data was imported into Mimics 10.0 to reconstructthree dimensional skulls.And the MSP of each skull was generated by ICP algorithm, PA algorithm and landmark-independent method. MSP extracted by ICP algorithm or PA algorithm involvedthree steps. First, the 3D skull processing was performed by reverse engineering software geomagic studio 2012 to obtain the mirror skull. Then, the original and its mirror skull was registered separately by ICP algorithm in geomagic studio 2012 and PA algorithm in NX Imageware 11.0. Finally, the registered data were united into new data to calculate the MSP of the originaldata in geomagic studio 2012. The mid-sagittal plane was determined by SELLA (S), nasion (N), basion (Ba) as traditional landmark-dependent methodconducted in software InVivoDental 5.0. The distance from 9 pairs of symmetric anatomical marked points to three sagittal plane were measured and calculated to compare the differences of the absolute value. The one-way ANOVA test was used to analyze the variable differences among the 3 MSPs. The pairwise comparison was performed with LSD method. MSPs calculated by the three methods were available for clinic analysis, which could be concluded from the front view.However, there was significant differences among the distances from the 9 pairs of symmetric anatomical marked points to the MSPs (F=10.932,P=0.001).LSD test showed there was no significant difference between the ICP algorithm and landmark-independent method (P=0.11), while there was significant difference between the PA algorithm and landmark-independent methods (P=0.01) . Mid-sagittal plane of 3D skulls could be generated base on ICP algorithm or PA algorithm. There was no significant difference between the ICP algorithm and landmark-independent method. For the subjects with no evident asymmetry, ICP algorithm is feasible in clinical analysis.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the reaction control system, volume 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burkemper, V. J.; Haufler, W. A.; Odonnell, R. A.; Paul, D. J.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results for the Reaction Control System (RCS). The RCS is situated in three independent modules, one forward in the orbiter nose and one in each OMS/RCS pod. Each RCS module consists of the following subsystems: Helium Pressurization Subsystem; Propellant Storage and Distribution Subsystem; Thruster Subsystem; and Electrical Power Distribution and Control Subsystem. Volume 3 continues the presentation of IOA analysis worksheets and the potential critical items list.

Slow dynamics of a protein backbone in molecular dynamics simulation revealed by time-structure based independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naritomi, Yusuke; Fuchigami, Sotaro

2013-12-01

We recently proposed the method of time-structure based independent component analysis (tICA) to examine the slow dynamics involved in conformational fluctuations of a protein as estimated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation [Y. Naritomi and S. Fuchigami, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 065101 (2011)]. Our previous study focused on domain motions of the protein and examined its dynamics by using rigid-body domain analysis and tICA. However, the protein changes its conformation not only through domain motions but also by various types of motions involving its backbone and side chains. Some of these motions might occur on a slow time scale: we hypothesize that if so, we could effectively detect and characterize them using tICA. In the present study, we investigated slow dynamics of the protein backbone using MD simulation and tICA. The selected target protein was lysine-, arginine-, ornithine-binding protein (LAO), which comprises two domains and undergoes large domain motions. MD simulation of LAO in explicit water was performed for 1 μs, and the obtained trajectory of Cα atoms in the backbone was analyzed by tICA. This analysis successfully provided us with slow modes for LAO that represented either domain motions or local movements of the backbone. Further analysis elucidated the atomic details of the suggested local motions and confirmed that these motions truly occurred on the expected slow time scale.

Image analysis-based modelling for flower number estimation in grapevine.

PubMed

Millan, Borja; Aquino, Arturo; Diago, Maria P; Tardaguila, Javier

2017-02-01

Grapevine flower number per inflorescence provides valuable information that can be used for assessing yield. Considerable research has been conducted at developing a technological tool, based on image analysis and predictive modelling. However, the behaviour of variety-independent predictive models and yield prediction capabilities on a wide set of varieties has never been evaluated. Inflorescence images from 11 grapevine Vitis vinifera L. varieties were acquired under field conditions. The flower number per inflorescence and the flower number visible in the images were calculated manually, and automatically using an image analysis algorithm. These datasets were used to calibrate and evaluate the behaviour of two linear (single-variable and multivariable) and a nonlinear variety-independent model. As a result, the integrated tool composed of the image analysis algorithm and the nonlinear approach showed the highest performance and robustness (RPD = 8.32, RMSE = 37.1). The yield estimation capabilities of the flower number in conjunction with fruit set rate (R 2  = 0.79) and average berry weight (R 2  = 0.91) were also tested. This study proves the accuracy of flower number per inflorescence estimation using an image analysis algorithm and a nonlinear model that is generally applicable to different grapevine varieties. This provides a fast, non-invasive and reliable tool for estimation of yield at harvest. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Improving MEG source localizations: an automated method for complete artifact removal based on independent component analysis.

PubMed

Mantini, D; Franciotti, R; Romani, G L; Pizzella, V

2008-03-01

The major limitation for the acquisition of high-quality magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings is the presence of disturbances of physiological and technical origins: eye movements, cardiac signals, muscular contractions, and environmental noise are serious problems for MEG signal analysis. In the last years, multi-channel MEG systems have undergone rapid technological developments in terms of noise reduction, and many processing methods have been proposed for artifact rejection. Independent component analysis (ICA) has already shown to be an effective and generally applicable technique for concurrently removing artifacts and noise from the MEG recordings. However, no standardized automated system based on ICA has become available so far, because of the intrinsic difficulty in the reliable categorization of the source signals obtained with this technique. In this work, approximate entropy (ApEn), a measure of data regularity, is successfully used for the classification of the signals produced by ICA, allowing for an automated artifact rejection. The proposed method has been tested using MEG data sets collected during somatosensory, auditory and visual stimulation. It was demonstrated to be effective in attenuating both biological artifacts and environmental noise, in order to reconstruct clear signals that can be used for improving brain source localizations.

Prognostic value of inflammation-based scores in patients with osteosarcoma

PubMed Central

Liu, Bangjian; Huang, Yujing; Sun, Yuanjue; Zhang, Jianjun; Yao, Yang; Shen, Zan; Xiang, Dongxi; He, Aina

2016-01-01

Systemic inflammation responses have been associated with cancer development and progression. C-reactive protein (CRP), Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), and neutrophil-platelet score (NPS) have been shown to be independent risk factors in various types of malignant tumors. This retrospective analysis of 162 osteosarcoma cases was performed to estimate their predictive value of survival in osteosarcoma. All statistical analyses were performed by SPSS statistical software. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was generated to set optimal thresholds; area under the curve (AUC) was used to show the discriminatory abilities of inflammation-based scores; Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to plot the survival curve; cox regression models were employed to determine the independent prognostic factors. The optimal cut-off points of NLR, PLR, and LMR were 2.57, 123.5 and 4.73, respectively. GPS and NLR had a markedly larger AUC than CRP, PLR and LMR. High levels of CRP, GPS, NLR, PLR, and low level of LMR were significantly associated with adverse prognosis (P < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that GPS, NLR, and occurrence of metastasis were top risk factors associated with death of osteosarcoma patients. PMID:28008988

Quantitative Assessment of In-solution Digestion Efficiency Identifies Optimal Protocols for Unbiased Protein Analysis*

PubMed Central

León, Ileana R.; Schwämmle, Veit; Jensen, Ole N.; Sprenger, Richard R.

2013-01-01

The majority of mass spectrometry-based protein quantification studies uses peptide-centric analytical methods and thus strongly relies on efficient and unbiased protein digestion protocols for sample preparation. We present a novel objective approach to assess protein digestion efficiency using a combination of qualitative and quantitative liquid chromatography-tandem MS methods and statistical data analysis. In contrast to previous studies we employed both standard qualitative as well as data-independent quantitative workflows to systematically assess trypsin digestion efficiency and bias using mitochondrial protein fractions. We evaluated nine trypsin-based digestion protocols, based on standard in-solution or on spin filter-aided digestion, including new optimized protocols. We investigated various reagents for protein solubilization and denaturation (dodecyl sulfate, deoxycholate, urea), several trypsin digestion conditions (buffer, RapiGest, deoxycholate, urea), and two methods for removal of detergents before analysis of peptides (acid precipitation or phase separation with ethyl acetate). Our data-independent quantitative liquid chromatography-tandem MS workflow quantified over 3700 distinct peptides with 96% completeness between all protocols and replicates, with an average 40% protein sequence coverage and an average of 11 peptides identified per protein. Systematic quantitative and statistical analysis of physicochemical parameters demonstrated that deoxycholate-assisted in-solution digestion combined with phase transfer allows for efficient, unbiased generation and recovery of peptides from all protein classes, including membrane proteins. This deoxycholate-assisted protocol was also optimal for spin filter-aided digestions as compared with existing methods. PMID:23792921

Applications of independent component analysis in SAR images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shiqi; Cai, Xinhua; Hui, Weihua; Xu, Ping

2009-07-01

The detection of faint, small and hidden targets in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image is still an issue for automatic target recognition (ATR) system. How to effectively separate these targets from the complex background is the aim of this paper. Independent component analysis (ICA) theory can enhance SAR image targets and improve signal clutter ratio (SCR), which benefits to detect and recognize faint targets. Therefore, this paper proposes a new SAR image target detection algorithm based on ICA. In experimental process, the fast ICA (FICA) algorithm is utilized. Finally, some real SAR image data is used to test the method. The experimental results verify that the algorithm is feasible, and it can improve the SCR of SAR image and increase the detection rate for the faint small targets.

The AMIDAS Website: An Online Tool for Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments

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

Shan, Chung-Lin

2010-02-10

Following our long-erm work on development of model-independent data analysis methods for reconstructing the one-dimensional velocity distribution function of halo WIMPs as well as for determining their mass and couplings on nucleons by using data from direct Dark Matter detection experiments directly, we combined the simulation programs to a compact system: AMIDAS (A Model-Independent Data Analysis System). For users' convenience an online system has also been established at the same time. AMIDAS has the ability to do full Monte Carlo simulations, faster theoretical estimations, as well as to analyze (real) data sets recorded in direct detection experiments without modifying themore » source code. In this article, I give an overview of functions of the AMIDAS code based on the use of its website.« less

Evidence based management of polyps of the gall bladder: A systematic review of the risk factors of malignancy.

PubMed

Bhatt, Nikita R; Gillis, Amy; Smoothey, Craig O; Awan, Faisal N; Ridgway, Paul F

2016-10-01

There are no evidence-based guidelines to dictate when Gallbladder Polyps (GBPs) of varying sizes should be resected. To identify factors that accurately predict malignant disease in GBP; to provide an evidence-based algorithm for management. A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was performed using terms "gallbladder polyps" AND "polypoid lesion of gallbladder", from January 1993 and September 2013. Inclusion criteria required histopathological report or follow-up of 2 years. RTI-IB tool was used for quality analysis. Correlation with GBP size and malignant potential was analysed using Euclidean distance; a logistics mixed effects model was used for assessing independent risk factors for malignancy. Fifty-three articles were included in review. Data from 21 studies was pooled for analysis. Optimum size cut-off for resection of GBPs was 10 mm. Probability of malignancy is approximately zero at size <4.15 mm. Patient age >50 years, sessile and single polyps were independent risk factors for malignancy. For polyps sized 4 mm-10 mm, a risk assessment model was formulated. This review and analysis has provided an evidence-based algorithm for the management of GBPs. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the behaviour of polyps <10 mm, that are not at a high risk of malignancy, but may change over time. Copyright © 2016 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A GWAS meta-analysis from 5 population-based cohorts implicates ion channel genes in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome.

PubMed

Bonfiglio, F; Henström, M; Nag, A; Hadizadeh, F; Zheng, T; Cenit, M C; Tigchelaar, E; Williams, F; Reznichenko, A; Ek, W E; Rivera, N V; Homuth, G; Aghdassi, A A; Kacprowski, T; Männikkö, M; Karhunen, V; Bujanda, L; Rafter, J; Wijmenga, C; Ronkainen, J; Hysi, P; Zhernakova, A; D'Amato, M

2018-04-19

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) shows genetic predisposition, however, large-scale, powered gene mapping studies are lacking. We sought to exploit existing genetic (genotype) and epidemiological (questionnaire) data from a series of population-based cohorts for IBS genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and their meta-analysis. Based on questionnaire data compatible with Rome III Criteria, we identified a total of 1335 IBS cases and 9768 asymptomatic individuals from 5 independent European genotyped cohorts. Individual GWAS were carried out with sex-adjusted logistic regression under an additive model, followed by meta-analysis using the inverse variance method. Functional annotation of significant results was obtained via a computational pipeline exploiting ontology and interaction networks, and tissue-specific and gene set enrichment analyses. Suggestive GWAS signals (P ≤ 5.0 × 10 -6 ) were detected for 7 genomic regions, harboring 64 gene candidates to affect IBS risk via functional or expression changes. Functional annotation of this gene set convincingly (best FDR-corrected P = 3.1 × 10 -10 ) highlighted regulation of ion channel activity as the most plausible pathway affecting IBS risk. Our results confirm the feasibility of population-based studies for gene-discovery efforts in IBS, identify risk genes and loci to be prioritized in independent follow-ups, and pinpoint ion channels as important players and potential therapeutic targets warranting further investigation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mathematical visualization process of junior high school students in solving a contextual problem based on cognitive style

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utomo, Edy Setiyo; Juniati, Dwi; Siswono, Tatag Yuli Eko

2017-08-01

The aim of this research was to describe the mathematical visualization process of Junior High School students in solving contextual problems based on cognitive style. Mathematical visualization process in this research was seen from aspects of image generation, image inspection, image scanning, and image transformation. The research subject was the students in the eighth grade based on GEFT test (Group Embedded Figures Test) adopted from Within to determining the category of cognitive style owned by the students namely field independent or field dependent and communicative. The data collection was through visualization test in contextual problem and interview. The validity was seen through time triangulation. The data analysis referred to the aspect of mathematical visualization through steps of categorization, reduction, discussion, and conclusion. The results showed that field-independent and field-dependent subjects were difference in responding to contextual problems. The field-independent subject presented in the form of 2D and 3D, while the field-dependent subject presented in the form of 3D. Both of the subjects had different perception to see the swimming pool. The field-independent subject saw from the top, while the field-dependent subject from the side. The field-independent subject chose to use partition-object strategy, while the field-dependent subject chose to use general-object strategy. Both the subjects did transformation in an object rotation to get the solution. This research is reference to mathematical curriculum developers of Junior High School in Indonesia. Besides, teacher could develop the students' mathematical visualization by using technology media or software, such as geogebra, portable cabri in learning.

Software Engineering Principles for Courseware Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magel, Kenneth

1980-01-01

Courseware (computer based curriculum materials) development should follow the lessons learned by software engineers. The most important of 28 principles of software development presented here include a stress on human readability, the importance of early planning and analysis, the need for independent evaluation, and the need to be flexible.…

The Dynamics of Online User Behavior and IS Policy Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Keehyung

2016-01-01

This dissertation, which comprises three independent essays, explores the dynamics of online user behavior and provides IS policy implications across three different applications. The first essay employs an econometric empirical analysis to examine the role of IT interventions on online users' gambling behavior, based on field data collected over…

Technology Transfer and Utilization Methodology; Further Analysis of the Linker Concept.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jolly, James A.; Creighton, J. W.

This study is based on a comparison of data from two independent studies of technology utilization and dissemination methodology that sought to identify the behavior characteristics of "linkers" and "stabilizers" and their relative existence within different groups of technical personnel. Hypothesis for this study is that the…

Brief Report: Further Evidence of Sensory Subtypes in Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Alison E.; Dennis, Simon J.; Geraghty, Maureen E.

2011-01-01

Distinct sensory processing (SP) subtypes in autism have been reported previously. This study sought to replicate the previous findings in an independent sample of thirty children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Model-based cluster analysis of parent-reported sensory functioning (measured using the Short Sensory Profile) confirmed the…

Further Evaluation of Emerging Speech in Children with Developmental Disabilities: Training Verbal Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, M. E.; Shillingsburg, M.A.; Castro, M. J.; Addison, L. R.; LaRue, R. H., Jr.

2007-01-01

The conceptual basis for many effective language-training programs are based on Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. Skinner described several elementary verbal operants including mands, tacts, intraverbals, and echoics. According to Skinner, responses that are the same topography may actually be functionally independent. Previous…

Migration monitoring with automated technology

Treesearch

Rhonda L. Millikin

2005-01-01

Automated technology can supplement ground-based methods of migration monitoring by providing: (1) unbiased and automated sampling; (2) independent validation of current methods; (3) a larger sample area for landscape-level analysis of habitat selection for stopover, and (4) an opportunity to study flight behavior. In particular, radar-acoustic sensor fusion can...

ECG-based gating in ultra high field cardiovascular magnetic resonance using an independent component analysis approach.

PubMed

Krug, Johannes W; Rose, Georg; Clifford, Gari D; Oster, Julien

2013-11-19

In Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR), the synchronization of image acquisition with heart motion is performed in clinical practice by processing the electrocardiogram (ECG). The ECG-based synchronization is well established for MR scanners with magnetic fields up to 3 T. However, this technique is prone to errors in ultra high field environments, e.g. in 7 T MR scanners as used in research applications. The high magnetic fields cause severe magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects which disturb the ECG signal. Image synchronization is thus less reliable and yields artefacts in CMR images. A strategy based on Independent Component Analysis (ICA) was pursued in this work to enhance the ECG contribution and attenuate the MHD effect. ICA was applied to 12-lead ECG signals recorded inside a 7 T MR scanner. An automatic source identification procedure was proposed to identify an independent component (IC) dominated by the ECG signal. The identified IC was then used for detecting the R-peaks. The presented ICA-based method was compared to other R-peak detection methods using 1) the raw ECG signal, 2) the raw vectorcardiogram (VCG), 3) the state-of-the-art gating technique based on the VCG, 4) an updated version of the VCG-based approach and 5) the ICA of the VCG. ECG signals from eight volunteers were recorded inside the MR scanner. Recordings with an overall length of 87 min accounting for 5457 QRS complexes were available for the analysis. The records were divided into a training and a test dataset. In terms of R-peak detection within the test dataset, the proposed ICA-based algorithm achieved a detection performance with an average sensitivity (Se) of 99.2%, a positive predictive value (+P) of 99.1%, with an average trigger delay and jitter of 5.8 ms and 5.0 ms, respectively. Long term stability of the demixing matrix was shown based on two measurements of the same subject, each being separated by one year, whereas an averaged detection performance of Se = 99.4% and +P = 99.7% was achieved.Compared to the state-of-the-art VCG-based gating technique at 7 T, the proposed method increased the sensitivity and positive predictive value within the test dataset by 27.1% and 42.7%, respectively. The presented ICA-based method allows the estimation and identification of an IC dominated by the ECG signal. R-peak detection based on this IC outperforms the state-of-the-art VCG-based technique in a 7 T MR scanner environment.

Radar fall detection using principal component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jokanovic, Branka; Amin, Moeness; Ahmad, Fauzia; Boashash, Boualem

2016-05-01

Falls are a major cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in people aged 65 years and older. Radar has the potential to become one of the leading technologies for fall detection, thereby enabling the elderly to live independently. Existing techniques for fall detection using radar are based on manual feature extraction and require significant parameter tuning in order to provide successful detections. In this paper, we employ principal component analysis for fall detection, wherein eigen images of observed motions are employed for classification. Using real data, we demonstrate that the PCA based technique provides performance improvement over the conventional feature extraction methods.

A method to estimate weight and dimensions of aircraft gas turbine engines. Volume 1: Method of analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pera, R. J.; Onat, E.; Klees, G. W.; Tjonneland, E.

1977-01-01

Weight and envelope dimensions of aircraft gas turbine engines are estimated within plus or minus 5% to 10% using a computer method based on correlations of component weight and design features of 29 data base engines. Rotating components are estimated by a preliminary design procedure where blade geometry, operating conditions, material properties, shaft speed, hub-tip ratio, etc., are the primary independent variables used. The development and justification of the method selected, the various methods of analysis, the use of the program, and a description of the input/output data are discussed.

A One-Year Case Study: Understanding the Rich Potential of Project-Based Learning in a Virtual Reality Class for High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Teresa M.; Bang, EunJin; Andre, Thomas

2013-01-01

This paper presents a qualitative case analysis of a new and unique, high school, student-directed, project-based learning (PBL), virtual reality (VR) class. In order to create projects, students learned, on an independent basis, how to program an industrial-level VR machine. A constraint was that students were required to produce at least one…

Proceedings of the Annual Ada Software Engineering Education and Training Symposium (3rd) Held in Denver, Colorado on June 14-16, 1988

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-01

Based Software Engineering Project Course .............. 83 SSoftware Engineering, Software Engineering Concepts: The Importance of Object-Based...quality assurance, and independent system testing . The Chief Programmer is responsible for all software development activities, including prototyping...during the Requirements Analysis phase, the Preliminary Design, the Detailed Design, Coding and Unit Testing , CSC Integration and Testing , and informal

Remote sensing and geographically based information systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cicone, R. C.

1977-01-01

A structure is proposed for a geographically-oriented computer-based information system applicable to the analysis of remote sensing digital data. The structure, intended to answer a wide variety of user needs, would permit multiple views of the data, provide independent management of data security, quality and integrity, and rely on automatic data filing. Problems in geographically-oriented data systems, including those related to line encoding and cell encoding, are considered.

A Risk Stratification Model for Lung Cancer Based on Gene Coexpression Network and Deep Learning

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Risk stratification model for lung cancer with gene expression profile is of great interest. Instead of previous models based on individual prognostic genes, we aimed to develop a novel system-level risk stratification model for lung adenocarcinoma based on gene coexpression network. Using multiple microarray, gene coexpression network analysis was performed to identify survival-related networks. A deep learning based risk stratification model was constructed with representative genes of these networks. The model was validated in two test sets. Survival analysis was performed using the output of the model to evaluate whether it could predict patients' survival independent of clinicopathological variables. Five networks were significantly associated with patients' survival. Considering prognostic significance and representativeness, genes of the two survival-related networks were selected for input of the model. The output of the model was significantly associated with patients' survival in two test sets and training set (p < 0.00001, p < 0.0001 and p = 0.02 for training and test sets 1 and 2, resp.). In multivariate analyses, the model was associated with patients' prognosis independent of other clinicopathological features. Our study presents a new perspective on incorporating gene coexpression networks into the gene expression signature and clinical application of deep learning in genomic data science for prognosis prediction. PMID:29581968

Involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex in time-based prospective memory task monitoring: An EEG analysis of brain sources using Independent Component and Measure Projection Analysis

PubMed Central

Burgos, Pablo; Kilborn, Kerry; Evans, Jonathan J.

2017-01-01

Objective Time-based prospective memory (PM), remembering to do something at a particular moment in the future, is considered to depend upon self-initiated strategic monitoring, involving a retrieval mode (sustained maintenance of the intention) plus target checking (intermittent time checks). The present experiment was designed to explore what brain regions and brain activity are associated with these components of strategic monitoring in time-based PM tasks. Method 24 participants were asked to reset a clock every four minutes, while performing a foreground ongoing word categorisation task. EEG activity was recorded and data were decomposed into source-resolved activity using Independent Component Analysis. Common brain regions across participants, associated with retrieval mode and target checking, were found using Measure Projection Analysis. Results Participants decreased their performance on the ongoing task when concurrently performed with the time-based PM task, reflecting an active retrieval mode that relied on withdrawal of limited resources from the ongoing task. Brain activity, with its source in or near the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), showed changes associated with an active retrieval mode including greater negative ERP deflections, decreased theta synchronization, and increased alpha suppression for events locked to the ongoing task while maintaining a time-based intention. Activity in the ACC was also associated with time-checks and found consistently across participants; however, we did not find an association with time perception processing per se. Conclusion The involvement of the ACC in both aspects of time-based PM monitoring may be related to different functions that have been attributed to it: strategic control of attention during the retrieval mode (distributing attentional resources between the ongoing task and the time-based task) and anticipatory/decision making processing associated with clock-checks. PMID:28863146

Marital status independently predicts testis cancer survival--an analysis of the SEER database.

PubMed

Abern, Michael R; Dude, Annie M; Coogan, Christopher L

2012-01-01

Previous reports have shown that married men with malignancies have improved 10-year survival over unmarried men. We sought to investigate the effect of marital status on 10-year survival in a U.S. population-based cohort of men with testis cancer. We examined 30,789 cases of testis cancer reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER 17) database between 1973 and 2005. All staging were converted to the 1997 AJCC TNM system. Patients less than 18 years of age at time of diagnosis were excluded. A subgroup analysis of patients with stages I or II non-seminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT) was performed. Univariate analysis using t-tests and χ(2) tests compared characteristics of patients separated by marital status. Multivariate analysis was performed using a Cox proportional hazard model to generate Kaplan-Meier survival curves, with all-cause and cancer-specific mortality as the primary endpoints. 20,245 cases met the inclusion criteria. Married men were more likely to be older (38.9 vs. 31.4 years), Caucasian (94.4% vs. 92.1%), stage I (73.1% vs. 61.4%), and have seminoma as the tumor histology (57.3% vs. 43.4%). On multivariate analysis, married status (HR 0.58, P < 0.001) and Caucasian race (HR 0.66, P < 0.001) independently predicted improved overall survival, while increased age (HR 1.05, P < 0.001), increased stage (HR 1.53-6.59, P < 0.001), and lymphoid (HR 4.05, P < 0.001), or NSGCT (HR 1.89, P < 0.001) histology independently predicted death. Similarly, on multivariate analysis, married status (HR 0.60, P < 0.001) and Caucasian race (HR 0.57, P < 0.001) independently predicted improved testis cancer-specific survival, while increased age (HR 1.03, P < 0.001), increased stage (HR 2.51-15.67, P < 0.001), and NSGCT (HR 2.54, P < 0.001) histology independently predicted testis cancer-specific death. A subgroup analysis of men with stages I or II NSGCT revealed similar predictors of all-cause survival as the overall cohort, with retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) as an additional independent predictor of overall survival (HR 0.59, P = 0.001), despite equal rates of the treatment between married and unmarried men (44.8% vs. 43.4%, P = 0.33). Marital status is an independent predictor of improved overall and cancer-specific survival in men with testis cancer. In men with stages I or II NSGCT, RPLND is an additional predictor of improved overall survival. Marital status does not appear to influence whether men undergo RPLND. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis and development of fourth order LCLC resonant based capacitor charging power supply for pulse power applications.

PubMed

Naresh, P; Hitesh, C; Patel, A; Kolge, T; Sharma, Archana; Mittal, K C

2013-08-01

A fourth order (LCLC) resonant converter based capacitor charging power supply (CCPS) is designed and developed for pulse power applications. Resonant converters are preferred t utilize soft switching techniques such as zero current switching (ZCS) and zero voltage switching (ZVS). An attempt has been made to overcome the disadvantages in 2nd and 3rd resonant converter topologies; hence a fourth order resonant topology is used in this paper for CCPS application. In this paper a novel fourth order LCLC based resonant converter has been explored and mathematical analysis carried out to calculate load independent constant current. This topology provides load independent constant current at switching frequency (fs) equal to resonant frequency (fr). By changing switching condition (on time and dead time) this topology has both soft switching techniques such as ZCS and ZVS for better switching action to improve the converter efficiency. This novel technique has special features such as low peak current through switches, DC blocking for transformer, utilizing transformer leakage inductance as resonant component. A prototype has been developed and tested successfully to charge a 100 μF capacitor to 200 V.

CASKS (Computer Analysis of Storage casKS): A microcomputer based analysis system for storage cask design review. User`s manual to Version 1b (including program reference)

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

Chen, T.F.; Gerhard, M.A.; Trummer, D.J.

CASKS (Computer Analysis of Storage casKS) is a microcomputer-based system of computer programs and databases developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for evaluating safety analysis reports on spent-fuel storage casks. The bulk of the complete program and this user`s manual are based upon the SCANS (Shipping Cask ANalysis System) program previously developed at LLNL. A number of enhancements and improvements were added to the original SCANS program to meet requirements unique to storage casks. CASKS is an easy-to-use system that calculates global response of storage casks to impact loads, pressure loads and thermal conditions. This provides reviewers withmore » a tool for an independent check on analyses submitted by licensees. CASKS is based on microcomputers compatible with the IBM-PC family of computers. The system is composed of a series of menus, input programs, cask analysis programs, and output display programs. All data is entered through fill-in-the-blank input screens that contain descriptive data requests.« less

Improving estimates of genetic maps: a meta-analysis-based approach.

PubMed

Stewart, William C L

2007-07-01

Inaccurate genetic (or linkage) maps can reduce the power to detect linkage, increase type I error, and distort haplotype and relationship inference. To improve the accuracy of existing maps, I propose a meta-analysis-based method that combines independent map estimates into a single estimate of the linkage map. The method uses the variance of each independent map estimate to combine them efficiently, whether the map estimates use the same set of markers or not. As compared with a joint analysis of the pooled genotype data, the proposed method is attractive for three reasons: (1) it has comparable efficiency to the maximum likelihood map estimate when the pooled data are homogeneous; (2) relative to existing map estimation methods, it can have increased efficiency when the pooled data are heterogeneous; and (3) it avoids the practical difficulties of pooling human subjects data. On the basis of simulated data modeled after two real data sets, the proposed method can reduce the sampling variation of linkage maps commonly used in whole-genome linkage scans. Furthermore, when the independent map estimates are also maximum likelihood estimates, the proposed method performs as well as or better than when they are estimated by the program CRIMAP. Since variance estimates of maps may not always be available, I demonstrate the feasibility of three different variance estimators. Overall, the method should prove useful to investigators who need map positions for markers not contained in publicly available maps, and to those who wish to minimize the negative effects of inaccurate maps. Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Heritability estimates on resting state fMRI data using ENIGMA analysis pipeline.

PubMed

Adhikari, Bhim M; Jahanshad, Neda; Shukla, Dinesh; Glahn, David C; Blangero, John; Reynolds, Richard C; Cox, Robert W; Fieremans, Els; Veraart, Jelle; Novikov, Dmitry S; Nichols, Thomas E; Hong, L Elliot; Thompson, Paul M; Kochunov, Peter

2018-01-01

Big data initiatives such as the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis consortium (ENIGMA), combine data collected by independent studies worldwide to achieve more generalizable estimates of effect sizes and more reliable and reproducible outcomes. Such efforts require harmonized image analyses protocols to extract phenotypes consistently. This harmonization is particularly challenging for resting state fMRI due to the wide variability of acquisition protocols and scanner platforms; this leads to site-to-site variance in quality, resolution and temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR). An effective harmonization should provide optimal measures for data of different qualities. We developed a multi-site rsfMRI analysis pipeline to allow research groups around the world to process rsfMRI scans in a harmonized way, to extract consistent and quantitative measurements of connectivity and to perform coordinated statistical tests. We used the single-modality ENIGMA rsfMRI preprocessing pipeline based on modelfree Marchenko-Pastur PCA based denoising to verify and replicate resting state network heritability estimates. We analyzed two independent cohorts, GOBS (Genetics of Brain Structure) and HCP (the Human Connectome Project), which collected data using conventional and connectomics oriented fMRI protocols, respectively. We used seed-based connectivity and dual-regression approaches to show that the rsfMRI signal is consistently heritable across twenty major functional network measures. Heritability values of 20-40% were observed across both cohorts.

The impact of joint responses of devices in an airport security system.

PubMed

Nie, Xiaofeng; Batta, Rajan; Drury, Colin G; Lin, Li

2009-02-01

In this article, we consider a model for an airport security system in which the declaration of a threat is based on the joint responses of inspection devices. This is in contrast to the typical system in which each check station independently declares a passenger as having a threat or not having a threat. In our framework the declaration of threat/no-threat is based upon the passenger scores at the check stations he/she goes through. To do this we use concepts from classification theory in the field of multivariate statistics analysis and focus on the main objective of minimizing the expected cost of misclassification. The corresponding correct classification and misclassification probabilities can be obtained by using a simulation-based method. After computing the overall false alarm and false clear probabilities, we compare our joint response system with two other independently operated systems. A model that groups passengers in a manner that minimizes the false alarm probability while maintaining the false clear probability within specifications set by a security authority is considered. We also analyze the staffing needs at each check station for such an inspection scheme. An illustrative example is provided along with sensitivity analysis on key model parameters. A discussion is provided on some implementation issues, on the various assumptions made in the analysis, and on potential drawbacks of the approach.

Procedural and longer-term outcomes of wire- versus device-based antegrade dissection and re-entry techniques for the percutaneous revascularization of coronary chronic total occlusions.

PubMed

Azzalini, Lorenzo; Dautov, Rustem; Brilakis, Emmanouil S; Ojeda, Soledad; Benincasa, Susanna; Bellini, Barbara; Karatasakis, Aris; Chavarría, Jorge; Rangan, Bavana V; Pan, Manuel; Carlino, Mauro; Colombo, Antonio; Rinfret, Stéphane

2017-03-15

There are few data regarding the procedural and follow-up outcomes of different antegrade dissection/re-entry (ADR) techniques for chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We compiled a multicenter registry of consecutive patients undergoing ADR-based CTO PCI at four high-volume specialized institutions. Patients were divided according to the specific ADR technique used: subintimal tracking and re-entry (STAR), limited antegrade subintimal tracking (LAST), or device-based with the CrossBoss/Stingray system (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA). Major adverse cardiac events (MACE: cardiac death, target-vessel myocardial infarction and target-vessel revascularization) on follow-up were the main outcome of this study. Independent predictors of MACE were sought with Cox regression analysis. A total of 223 patients were included (STAR n=39, LAST n=68, CrossBoss/Stingray n=116). Baseline characteristics were similar across groups. Technical and procedural success was lower with STAR (59% and 59%), as compared with LAST (96% and 96%) and CrossBoss/Stingray (89% and 87%; p<0.001 for both). At 24-month follow-up, MACE rates were higher in STAR (15.4%) and LAST (17.5%), as compared with device-based ADR with CrossBoss/Stingray (4.3%, p=0.02), driven by TVR (7.7% vs. 15.5% vs. 3.1%, respectively; p=0.02). Multivariable Cox regression analysis identified wire-based ADR (STAR and LAST) and total stent length as independent predictors of MACE. In this multicenter cohort of patients undergoing CTO PCI with ADR techniques, STAR had lower success rates, as compared with the CrossBoss/Stingray system and LAST. The CrossBoss/Stingray system was independently associated with lower risk of MACE on follow-up, as compared with wire-based ADR techniques. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clinical, morphological, and hemodynamic independent characteristic factors for rupture of posterior communicating artery aneurysms.

PubMed

Zhang, Ying; Jing, Linkai; Liu, Jian; Li, Chuanhui; Fan, Jixing; Wang, Shengzhang; Li, Haiyun; Yang, Xinjian

2016-08-01

To identify clinical, morphological, and hemodynamic independent characteristic factors that discriminate posterior communicating artery (PCoA) aneurysm rupture status. 173 patients with single PCoA aneurysms (108 ruptured, 65 unruptured) between January 2012 and June 2014 were retrospectively collected. Patient-specific models based on their three-dimensional digital subtraction angiography images were constructed and analyzed by a computational fluid dynamic method. All variables were analyzed by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Two clinical factors (younger age and atherosclerosis), three morphological factors (higher aspect ratio, bifurcation type, and irregular shape), and six hemodynamic factors (lower mean and minimum wall shear stress, higher oscillatory shear index, a greater portion of area under low wall shear stress, unstable and complex flow pattern) were significantly associated with PCoA aneurysm rupture. Independent factors characterizing the rupture status were identified as age (OR 0.956, p=0.015), irregular shape (OR 6.709, p<0.001), and minimum wall shear stress (OR 0.001, p=0.038). We combined clinical, morphological, and hemodynamic characteristics analysis and found the three strongest independent factors for PCoA aneurysm rupture were younger age, irregular shape, and low minimum wall shear stress. This may be useful for guiding risk assessments and subsequent treatment decisions for PCoA aneurysms. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Interface Technology for Geometrically Nonlinear Analysis of Multiple Connected Subdomains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ransom, Jonathan B.

1997-01-01

Interface technology for geometrically nonlinear analysis is presented and demonstrated. This technology is based on an interface element which makes use of a hybrid variational formulation to provide for compatibility between independently modeled connected subdomains. The interface element developed herein extends previous work to include geometric nonlinearity and to use standard linear and nonlinear solution procedures. Several benchmark nonlinear applications of the interface technology are presented and aspects of the implementation are discussed.

Controversial opinion: evaluation of EGR1 and LAMA2 loci for high myopia in Chinese populations.

PubMed

Lin, Fang-yu; Huang, Zhu; Lu, Ning; Chen, Wei; Fang, Hui; Han, Wei

2016-03-01

Functional studies have suggested the important role of early growth response 1 (EGR1) and Laminin α2-chain (LAMA2) in human eye development. Genetic studies have reported a significant association of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the LAMA2 gene with myopia. This study aimed to evaluate the association of the tagging SNPs (tSNPs) in the EGR1 and LAMA2 genes with high myopia in two independent Han Chinese populations. Four tSNPs (rs11743810 in the EGR1 gene; rs2571575, rs9321170, and rs1889891 in the LAMA2 gene) were selected, according to the HapMap database (http://hapmap.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), and were genotyped using the ligase detection reaction (LDR) approach for 167 Han Chinese nuclear families with extremely highly myopic offspring (<-10.0 diopters) and an independent group with 485 extremely highly myopic cases (<-10.0 diopters) and 499 controls. Direct sequencing was used to confirm the LDR results in twenty randomly selected subjects. Family-based association analysis was performed using the family-based association test (FBAT) software package (Version 1.5.5). Population-based association analysis was performed using the Chi-square test. The association analysis power was estimated using online software (http://design.cs.ucla.edu). The FBAT demonstrated that all four tSNPs tested did not show association with high myopia (P>0.05). Haplotype analysis of tSNPs in the LAMA2 genes also did not show a significant association (P>0.05). Meanwhile, population-based association analysis also showed no significant association results with high myopia (P>0.05). On the basis of our family- and population-based analyses for the Han Chinese population, we did not find positive association signals of the four SNPs in the LAMA2 and EGR1 genes with high myopia.

Accounting for Non-Gaussian Sources of Spatial Correlation in Parametric Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Paradigms II: A Method to Obtain First-Level Analysis Residuals with Uniform and Gaussian Spatial Autocorrelation Function and Independent and Identically Distributed Time-Series.

PubMed

Gopinath, Kaundinya; Krishnamurthy, Venkatagiri; Lacey, Simon; Sathian, K

2018-02-01

In a recent study Eklund et al. have shown that cluster-wise family-wise error (FWE) rate-corrected inferences made in parametric statistical method-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies over the past couple of decades may have been invalid, particularly for cluster defining thresholds less stringent than p < 0.001; principally because the spatial autocorrelation functions (sACFs) of fMRI data had been modeled incorrectly to follow a Gaussian form, whereas empirical data suggest otherwise. Hence, the residuals from general linear model (GLM)-based fMRI activation estimates in these studies may not have possessed a homogenously Gaussian sACF. Here we propose a method based on the assumption that heterogeneity and non-Gaussianity of the sACF of the first-level GLM analysis residuals, as well as temporal autocorrelations in the first-level voxel residual time-series, are caused by unmodeled MRI signal from neuronal and physiological processes as well as motion and other artifacts, which can be approximated by appropriate decompositions of the first-level residuals with principal component analysis (PCA), and removed. We show that application of this method yields GLM residuals with significantly reduced spatial correlation, nearly Gaussian sACF and uniform spatial smoothness across the brain, thereby allowing valid cluster-based FWE-corrected inferences based on assumption of Gaussian spatial noise. We further show that application of this method renders the voxel time-series of first-level GLM residuals independent, and identically distributed across time (which is a necessary condition for appropriate voxel-level GLM inference), without having to fit ad hoc stochastic colored noise models. Furthermore, the detection power of individual subject brain activation analysis is enhanced. This method will be especially useful for case studies, which rely on first-level GLM analysis inferences.

Multiple UAV Cooperation for Wildfire Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Zhongjie

Wildfires have been a major factor in the development and management of the world's forest. An accurate assessment of wildfire status is imperative for fire management. This thesis is dedicated to the topic of utilizing multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to cooperatively monitor a large-scale wildfire. This is achieved through wildfire spreading situation estimation based on on-line measurements and wise cooperation strategy to ensure efficiency. First, based on the understanding of the physical characteristics of the wildfire propagation behavior, a wildfire model and a Kalman filter-based method are proposed to estimate the wildfire rate of spread and the fire front contour profile. With the enormous on-line measurements from on-board sensors of UAVs, the proposed method allows a wildfire monitoring mission to benefit from on-line information updating, increased flexibility, and accurate estimation. An independent wildfire simulator is utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Second, based on the filter analysis, wildfire spreading situation and vehicle dynamics, the influence of different cooperation strategies of UAVs to the overall mission performance is studied. The multi-UAV cooperation problem is formulated in a distributed network. A consensus-based method is proposed to help address the problem. The optimal cooperation strategy of UAVs is obtained through mathematical analysis. The derived optimal cooperation strategy is then verified in an independent fire simulation environment to verify its effectiveness.

Multi-party Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution Based on Cluster States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chuanqi; Zhu, Changhua; Ma, Shuquan; Pei, Changxing

2018-03-01

We propose a novel multi-party measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol based on cluster states. A four-photon analyzer which can distinguish all the 16 cluster states serves as the measurement device for four-party MDI-QKD. Any two out of four participants can build secure keys after the analyzers obtains successful outputs and the two participants perform post-processing. We derive a security analysis for the protocol, and analyze the key rates under different values of polarization misalignment. The results show that four-party MDI-QKD is feasible over 280 km in the optical fiber channel when the key rate is about 10- 6 with the polarization misalignment parameter 0.015. Moreover, our work takes an important step toward a quantum communication network.

Tissue Non-Specific Genes and Pathways Associated with Diabetes: An Expression Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Mei, Hao; Li, Lianna; Liu, Shijian; Jiang, Fan; Griswold, Michael; Mosley, Thomas

2017-01-21

We performed expression studies to identify tissue non-specific genes and pathways of diabetes by meta-analysis. We searched curated datasets of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and identified 13 and five expression studies of diabetes and insulin responses at various tissues, respectively. We tested differential gene expression by empirical Bayes-based linear method and investigated gene set expression association by knowledge-based enrichment analysis. Meta-analysis by different methods was applied to identify tissue non-specific genes and gene sets. We also proposed pathway mapping analysis to infer functions of the identified gene sets, and correlation and independent analysis to evaluate expression association profile of genes and gene sets between studies and tissues. Our analysis showed that PGRMC1 and HADH genes were significant over diabetes studies, while IRS1 and MPST genes were significant over insulin response studies, and joint analysis showed that HADH and MPST genes were significant over all combined data sets. The pathway analysis identified six significant gene sets over all studies. The KEGG pathway mapping indicated that the significant gene sets are related to diabetes pathogenesis. The results also presented that 12.8% and 59.0% pairwise studies had significantly correlated expression association for genes and gene sets, respectively; moreover, 12.8% pairwise studies had independent expression association for genes, but no studies were observed significantly different for expression association of gene sets. Our analysis indicated that there are both tissue specific and non-specific genes and pathways associated with diabetes pathogenesis. Compared to the gene expression, pathway association tends to be tissue non-specific, and a common pathway influencing diabetes development is activated through different genes at different tissues.

Cognitive and physical functions related to the level of supervision and dependence in the toileting of stroke patients.

PubMed

Sato, Atsushi; Okuda, Yutaka; Fujita, Takaaki; Kimura, Norihiko; Hoshina, Noriyuki; Kato, Sayaka; Tanaka, Shigenari

2016-01-01

This study aimed to clarify which cognitive and physical factors are associated with the need for toileting assistance in stroke patients and to calculate cut-off values for discriminating between independent supervision and dependent toileting ability. This cross-sectional study included 163 first-stroke patients in nine convalescent rehabilitation wards. Based on their FIM Ⓡ instrument score for toileting, the patients were divided into an independent-supervision group and a dependent group. Multiple logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed to identify factors related to toileting performance. The Minimental State Examination (MMSE); the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS) score for the affected lower limb, speech, and visuospatial functions; and the Functional Assessment for Control of Trunk (FACT) were analyzed as independent variables. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the FIM Ⓡ instrument score for toileting was associated with the SIAS score for the affected lower limb function, MMSE, and FACT. On receiver operating characteristic analysis, the SIAS score for the affected lower limb function cut-off value was 8/7 points, the MMSE cut-off value was 25/24 points, and the FACT cut-off value was 14/13 points. Affected lower limb function, cognitive function, and trunk function were related with the need for toileting assistance. These cut-off values may be useful for judging whether toileting assistance is needed in stroke patients.

Exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation from mobile telephony and the association with psychiatric symptoms.

PubMed

Silva, Denize Francisca da; Barros, Warley Rocha; Almeida, Maria da Conceição Chagas de; Rêgo, Marco Antônio Vasconcelos

2015-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone base stations and psychiatric symptoms. In a cross-sectional study in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil, 440 individuals were interviewed. Psychiatric complaints and diagnoses were the dependent variables and distance from the individual's residence to the base station was considered the main independent variable. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess confounding. An association was observed between psychiatric symptoms and residential proximity to the base station and different forms of mobile phone use (making calls with weak signal coverage, keeping the mobile phone close to the body, having two or more chips, and never turning off the phone while sleeping), and with the use of other electronic devices. The study concluded that exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone base stations and other electronic devices was associated with psychiatric symptoms, independently of gender, schooling, and smoking status. The adoption of precautionary measures to reduce such exposure is recommended.

Research on Application of Automatic Weather Station Based on Internet of Things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jianyun, Chen; Yunfan, Sun; Chunyan, Lin

2017-12-01

In this paper, the Internet of Things is briefly introduced, and then its application in the weather station is studied. A method of data acquisition and transmission based on NB-iot communication mode is proposed, Introduction of Internet of things technology, Sensor digital and independent power supply as the technical basis, In the construction of Automatic To realize the intelligent interconnection of the automatic weather station, and then to form an automatic weather station based on the Internet of things. A network structure of automatic weather station based on Internet of things technology is constructed to realize the independent operation of intelligent sensors and wireless data transmission. Research on networking data collection and dissemination of meteorological data, through the data platform for data analysis, the preliminary work of meteorological information publishing standards, networking of meteorological information receiving terminal provides the data interface, to the wisdom of the city, the wisdom of the purpose of the meteorological service.

Sevelamer is cost effective versus calcium carbonate for the first-line treatment of hyperphosphatemia in new patients to hemodialysis: a patient-level economic evaluation of the INDEPENDENT-HD study.

PubMed

Ruggeri, Matteo; Bellasi, Antonio; Cipriani, Filippo; Molony, Donald; Bell, Cynthia; Russo, Domenico; Di Iorio, Biagio

2015-10-01

The recent multicenter, randomized, open-label INDEPENDENT study demonstrated that sevelamer improves survival in new to hemodialysis (HD) patients compared with calcium carbonate. The objective of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of sevelamer versus calcium carbonate for patients new to HD, using patient-level data from the INDEPENDENT study. Cost-effectiveness analysis. Adult patients new to HD in Italy. A patient-level cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted from the perspective of the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, Italy's national health service. The analysis was conducted for a 3-year time horizon. The cost of dialysis was excluded from the base case analysis. Sevelamer was compared to calcium carbonate. Total life years (LYs), total costs, and the incremental cost per LY gained were calculated. Bootstrapping was used to estimate confidence intervals around LYs, costs, and cost-effectiveness and to calculate the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve. Sevelamer was associated with a gain of 0.26 in LYs compared to calcium carbonate, over the 3-year time horizon. Total drug costs were €3,282 higher for sevelamer versus calcium carbonate, while total hospitalization costs were €2,020 lower for sevelamer versus calcium carbonate. The total incremental cost of sevelamer versus calcium carbonate was €1,262, resulting in a cost per LY gained of €4,897. The bootstrap analysis demonstrated that sevelamer was cost effective compared with calcium carbonate in 99.4 % of 10,000 bootstrap replicates, assuming a willingness-to-pay threshold of €20,000 per LY gained. Data on hospitalizations was taken from a post hoc retrospective chart review of the patients included in the INDEPENDENT study. Patient quality of life or health utility was not included in the analysis. Sevelamer is a cost-effective alternative to calcium carbonate for the first-line treatment of hyperphosphatemia in new to HD patients in Italy.

Impact of Sex on the Nonmotor Symptoms and the Health-Related Quality of Life in Parkinson's Disease

PubMed Central

Kovács, Márton; Makkos, Attila; Aschermann, Zsuzsanna; Janszky, József; Komoly, Sámuel; Weintraut, Rita; Karádi, Kázmér; Kovács, Norbert

2016-01-01

Background. Female Parkinson's disease (PD) patients seem to experience not only more severe motor complications and postural instability but also more pronounced depression, anxiety, pain, and sleep disturbances. Objective. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of sex as a possible independent predictor of HRQoL in PD. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 621 consecutive patients treated at the University of Pécs were enrolled. Severity of PD symptoms was assessed by MDS-UPDRS, UDysRS, Non-Motor Symptoms Scale, PDSS-2, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, Lille Apathy Rating Scale, and Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination. HRQoL was assessed by PDQ-39 and EQ-5D. Multiple regression analysis was performed to estimate the PDQ-39 and EQ-5D index values based on various clinical factors. Results. Although females received significantly lower dosage of levodopa, they had significantly more disabling dyskinesia and worse postural instability. Anxiety, pain, sleep disturbances, and orthostatic symptoms were more frequent among females while sexual dysfunction, apathy, and daytime sleepiness were more severe among males. Women had worse HRQoL than men (EQ-5D index value: 0.620 ± 0.240 versus 0.663 ± 0.229, p = 0.025, and PDQ-39 SI: 27.1 ± 17.0 versus 23.5 ± 15.9, p = 0.010). Based on multiple regression analysis, sex was an independent predictor for HRQoL in PD. Conclusions. Based on our results, female sex is an independent predictor for having worse HRQoL in PD. PMID:27293959

A group ICA based framework for evaluating resting fMRI markers when disease categories are unclear: application to schizophrenia, bipolar, and schizoaffective disorders

PubMed Central

Du, Yuhui; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Liu, Jingyu; Sui, Jing; Yu, Qingbao; He, Hao; Castro, Eduardo; Calhoun, Vince D.

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BP) and schizoaffective disorder (SAD) share some common symptoms, and there is a debate about whether SAD is an independent category. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been done to differentiate these three disorders or to investigate the distinction of SAD as an independent category using fMRI data. The present study is aimed to explore biomarkers from resting-state fMRI networks for differentiating these disorders and investigate the relationship among these disorders based on fMRI networks with an emphasis on SAD. Firstly, a novel group ICA method, group information guided independent component analysis (GIG-ICA), was applied to extract subject-specific brain networks from fMRI data of 20 healthy controls (HC), 20 SZ patients, 20 BP patients, 20 patients suffering SAD with manic episodes (SADM), and 13 patients suffering SAD with depressive episodes exclusively (SADD). Then, five-level one-way analysis of covariance and multiclass support vector machine recursive feature elimination were employed to identify discriminative regions from the networks. Subsequently, the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) projection and the hierarchical clustering methods were implemented to investigate the relationship among those groups. Finally, to evaluate the generalization ability, 16 new subjects were classified based on the found regions and the trained model using original 93 subjects. Results show that the discriminative regions mainly include frontal, parietal, precuneus, cingulate, supplementary motor, cerebellar, insula and supramarginal cortices, which performed well in distinguishing different groups. SADM and SADD were the most similar to each other, although SADD had greater similarity to SZ compared to other groups, which indicates SAD may be an independent category. BP was closer to HC compared with other psychotic disorders. In summary, resting-state fMRI brain networks extracted via GIG-ICA provide a promising potential to differentiate SZ, BP, and SAD. PMID:26216278

The effectiveness of problem-based learning on development of nursing students' critical thinking: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Kong, Ling-Na; Qin, Bo; Zhou, Ying-qing; Mou, Shao-yu; Gao, Hui-Ming

2014-03-01

The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the effectiveness of problem-based learning in developing nursing students' critical thinking. Searches of PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Proquest, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were undertaken to identify randomized controlled trails from 1965 to December 2012, comparing problem-based learning with traditional lectures on the effectiveness of development of nursing students' critical thinking, with no language limitation. The mesh-terms or key words used in the search were problem-based learning, thinking, critical thinking, nursing, nursing education, nurse education, nurse students, nursing students and pupil nurse. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and extracted data. Quality assessment was conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias Tool. We analyzed critical thinking scores (continuous outcomes) using a standardized mean difference (SMD) or weighted mean difference (WMD) with a 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran's Q statistic and I(2) statistic. Publication bias was assessed by means of funnel plot and Egger's test of asymmetry. Nine articles representing eight randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Most studies were of low risk of bias. The pooled effect size showed problem-based learning was able to improve nursing students' critical thinking (overall critical thinking scores SMD=0.33, 95%CI=0.13-0.52, P=0.0009), compared with traditional lectures. There was low heterogeneity (overall critical thinking scores I(2)=45%, P=0.07) in the meta-analysis. No significant publication bias was observed regarding overall critical thinking scores (P=0.536). Sensitivity analysis showed that the result of our meta-analysis was reliable. Most effect sizes for subscales of the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI) and Bloom's Taxonomy favored problem-based learning, while effect sizes for all subscales of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and most subscales of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WCGTA) were inconclusive. The results of the current meta-analysis indicate that problem-based learning might help nursing students to improve their critical thinking. More research with larger sample size and high quality in different nursing educational contexts are required. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

'It's a cultural expectation...' The pressure on medical trainees to work independently in clinical practice.

PubMed

Kennedy, Tara J T; Regehr, Glenn; Baker, G Ross; Lingard, Lorelei A

2009-07-01

Medical trainees demonstrate a reluctance to ask for help unless they believe it is absolutely necessary, a situation which could impact on the safety of patients. This study aimed to develop a theoretical exploration of the pressure on medical trainees to be independent and to generate theory-based approaches to the implications for patient safety of this pressure towards independent working. In Phase 1, 88 teaching team members from internal and emergency medicine were observed during clinical activities (216 hours), and 65 participants completed brief interviews. In Phase 2, 36 in-depth interviews were conducted using video vignettes. Data collection and analysis employed grounded theory methodology. Participants conceived that the pressure towards independence in clinical work originated in trainees' desire to lay claim to the identity of a doctor (as a member of a group of autonomous high achievers), and in organisational issues such as heavy workloads and constant evaluations. The identity and organisational issues related to the pressure towards independence were explored through the lenses of established theories from education and psychology. Consideration of Lave and Wenger's situated learning theory suggests that giving attention to the 'independent doctor' ideal, through measures such as involving trainees when their supervisors ask for help, could impact the safety of teaching team practice. Amalberti et al.'s migration model explains how pressures to maximise productivity and individual gain may cause teaching teams to migrate beyond the boundaries of safe practice and suggests that managing triggers (such as workload and high-stakes evaluations) for violations of safe practice might improve safety. Implementation and evaluation of these theory-based approaches to the safety of teaching team practice would contribute to a better understanding of the links between trainee independence and patient safety.

An analysis of life expectancy of airplane wings in normal cruising flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Putnam, Abbott A

1945-01-01

In order to provide a basis for judging the relative importance of wing failure by fatigue and by single intense gusts, an analysis of wing life for normal cruising flight was made based on data on the frequency of atmospheric gusts. The independent variables considered in the analysis included stress-concentration factor, stress-load relation, wing loading, design and cruising speeds, design gust velocity, and airplane size. Several methods for estimating fatigue life from gust frequencies are discussed. The procedure selected for the analysis is believed to be simple and reasonably accurate, though slightly conservative.

Model-independent curvature determination with 21cm intensity mapping experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witzemann, Amadeus; Bull, Philip; Clarkson, Chris; Santos, Mario G.; Spinelli, Marta; Weltman, Amanda

2018-04-01

Measurements of the spatial curvature of the Universe have improved significantly in recent years, but still tend to require strong assumptions to be made about the equation of state of dark energy (DE) in order to reach sub-percent precision. When these assumptions are relaxed, strong degeneracies arise that make it hard to disentangle DE and curvature, degrading the constraints. We show that forthcoming 21cm intensity mapping experiments such as HIRAX are ideally designed to carry out model-independent curvature measurements, as they can measure the clustering signal at high redshift with sufficient precision to break many of the degeneracies. We consider two different model-independent methods, based on `avoiding' the DE-dominated regime and non-parametric modelling of the DE equation of state respectively. Our forecasts show that HIRAX will be able to improve upon current model-independent constraints by around an order of magnitude, reaching percent-level accuracy even when an arbitrary DE equation of state is assumed. In the same model-independent analysis, the sample variance limit for a similar survey is another order of magnitude better.

Integrated Analysis of Transcriptomic and Proteomic Data

PubMed Central

Haider, Saad; Pal, Ranadip

2013-01-01

Until recently, understanding the regulatory behavior of cells has been pursued through independent analysis of the transcriptome or the proteome. Based on the central dogma, it was generally assumed that there exist a direct correspondence between mRNA transcripts and generated protein expressions. However, recent studies have shown that the correlation between mRNA and Protein expressions can be low due to various factors such as different half lives and post transcription machinery. Thus, a joint analysis of the transcriptomic and proteomic data can provide useful insights that may not be deciphered from individual analysis of mRNA or protein expressions. This article reviews the existing major approaches for joint analysis of transcriptomic and proteomic data. We categorize the different approaches into eight main categories based on the initial algorithm and final analysis goal. We further present analogies with other domains and discuss the existing research problems in this area. PMID:24082820

PLANS; a finite element program for nonlinear analysis of structures. Volume 2: User's manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pifko, A.; Armen, H., Jr.; Levy, A.; Levine, H.

1977-01-01

The PLANS system, rather than being one comprehensive computer program, is a collection of finite element programs used for the nonlinear analysis of structures. This collection of programs evolved and is based on the organizational philosophy in which classes of analyses are treated individually based on the physical problem class to be analyzed. Each of the independent finite element computer programs of PLANS, with an associated element library, can be individually loaded and used to solve the problem class of interest. A number of programs have been developed for material nonlinear behavior alone and for combined geometric and material nonlinear behavior. The usage, capabilities, and element libraries of the current programs include: (1) plastic analysis of built-up structures where bending and membrane effects are significant, (2) three dimensional elastic-plastic analysis, (3) plastic analysis of bodies of revolution, and (4) material and geometric nonlinear analysis of built-up structures.

The effect of physical rehabilitation on activities of daily living in older residents of long-term care facilities: systematic review with meta-analysis.

PubMed

Crocker, Tom; Young, John; Forster, Anne; Brown, Lesley; Ozer, Seline; Greenwood, Darren C

2013-11-01

the worldwide population is ageing. One expected consequence of this is an increase in morbidity and an associated increased demand for long-term care. Physical rehabilitation is beneficial in older people, but relatively little is known about effects in residents of long-term care facilities. to examine the effects of physical rehabilitation on activities of daily living (ADL) in elderly residents of long-term care facilities. systematic review with meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. We included studies that compared the effect of a physical rehabilitation intervention on independence in ADL with either no intervention or an alternative intervention in older people (over 60 years) living in long-term care facilities. We searched 19 databases including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar. Two researchers independently screened papers and extracted data. Outcomes of included studies were combined in a standardised mean difference random-effects meta-analysis. thirteen of 14 studies identified were included in the meta-analysis. Independence in ADL was improved by 0.24 standard units (95% CI: 0.11-0.38; P = 0.0005). This is equivalent to 1.3 points on the Barthel Index (0-20 scale). No significant differences in effect were found based on participant or intervention characteristics. Larger sample size and low attrition were associated with smaller estimates of effect. All studies were assessed to be at risk of bias. physical rehabilitation may improve independence for elderly long-term care facility residents, but mean effects are small. It is unclear which interventions are most appropriate.

Conceptualization of the Complex Outcomes of Sexual Abuse: A Signal Detection Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pechtel, Pia; Evans, Ian M.; Podd, John V.

2011-01-01

Eighty-five New Zealand based practitioners experienced in treating adults with a history of child sexual abuse participated in an online judgment study of child sexual abuse outcomes using signal detection theory methodology. Participants' level of sensitivity was assessed independent of their degree of response bias when discriminating (a) known…

49 CFR Appendix D to Part 236 - Independent Review of Verification and Validation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... associated with the product, the products subsystems, or the products components, in order to preserve the... if they have been agreed to previously with FRA. Based on these analyses, the reviewer shall identify...) The reviewer shall analyze the Hazard Log and/or any other hazard analysis documents for...

49 CFR Appendix D to Part 236 - Independent Review of Verification and Validation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... associated with the product, the products subsystems, or the products components, in order to preserve the... if they have been agreed to previously with FRA. Based on these analyses, the reviewer shall identify...) The reviewer shall analyze the Hazard Log and/or any other hazard analysis documents for...

49 CFR Appendix D to Part 236 - Independent Review of Verification and Validation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... associated with the product, the products subsystems, or the products components, in order to preserve the... if they have been agreed to previously with FRA. Based on these analyses, the reviewer shall identify...) The reviewer shall analyze the Hazard Log and/or any other hazard analysis documents for...

49 CFR Appendix D to Part 236 - Independent Review of Verification and Validation

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... associated with the product, the products subsystems, or the products components, in order to preserve the... if they have been agreed to previously with FRA. Based on these analyses, the reviewer shall identify...) The reviewer shall analyze the Hazard Log and/or any other hazard analysis documents for...

An Emic Lens into Online Learning Environments in PPL in Undergraduate Dentistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bridges, Susan

2015-01-01

Whilst face-to-face tutorial group interaction has been the focus of quantitative and qualitative studies in problem-based learning (PBL), little work has explored the independent learning phase of the PBL cycle from an interactionist perspective. An interactional ethnographic logic of inquiry guided collection and analysis of video recordings and…

Parent Training: A Review of Methods for Children with Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matson, Johnny L.; Mahan, Sara; LoVullo, Santino V.

2009-01-01

Great strides have been made in the development of skills and procedures to aid children with developmental disabilities to establish maximum independence and quality of life. Paramount among the treatment methods that have empirical support are treatments based on applied behavior analysis. These methods are often very labor intensive. Thus,…

Liberal Arts Colleges: Thriving, Surviving, or Endangered?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breneman, David W.

This book examines the recent and changing financial circumstances of the independent liberal arts college in America through financial and economic analysis and discussion of educational purpose and mission. The work is based on a study of 212 colleges including site visits to 12. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 contains an overview of…

Construction of the Entrepreneurship Education Teachers Based on the Characteristics of Business Education Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Yaping; Guo, Wenting

2010-01-01

College entrepreneurship education relatively lags behind in China at present. The main reason is that the lack of qualified teachers. For the construction of teachers' team training, firstly analysis the characteristics of the entrepreneurship education level, and then divide into two relatively independent levels which are basic entrepreneurship…

Digest on Youth in Transition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harnisch, Delwyn L.; And Others

The report, which is part of a series, contains data examining the educational, employment, and independent living outcomes attained by handicapped youth as they exit school and enter the work force. An introduction to the secondary analysis of extant data sources (such as the High School and Beyond data base) is provided in Chapter I. Chapter II…

The Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiaburu, Dan S.; Oh, In-Sue; Berry, Christopher M.; Li, Ning; Gardner, Richard G.

2011-01-01

Using meta-analytic tests based on 87 statistically independent samples, we investigated the relationships between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors in both the aggregate and specific forms, including individual-directed, organization-directed, and change-oriented citizenship. We found that…

Symbol recognition with kernel density matching.

PubMed

Zhang, Wan; Wenyin, Liu; Zhang, Kun

2006-12-01

We propose a novel approach to similarity assessment for graphic symbols. Symbols are represented as 2D kernel densities and their similarity is measured by the Kullback-Leibler divergence. Symbol orientation is found by gradient-based angle searching or independent component analysis. Experimental results show the outstanding performance of this approach in various situations.

A Typology for Finite Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tou, Erik R

2013-01-01

This project classifies groups of small order using a group's center as the key feature. Groups of a given order "n" are typed based on the order of each group's center. Students are led through a sequence of exercises that combine proof-writing, independent research, and an analysis of specific classes of finite groups…

An Analysis of Testing Time within a Mastery-Based Medical School Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wade, David R.; Williams, Reed G.

1979-01-01

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's personalized teaching system has the following features: students are provided with behavioral objectives prior to instruction; passing levels for tests are set in advance and are independent of class performance; and the program is divided into small units and students are tested frequently. (LBH)

Conditional Covariance-Based Subtest Selection for DIMTEST

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Froelich, Amy G.; Habing, Brian

2008-01-01

DIMTEST is a nonparametric hypothesis-testing procedure designed to test the assumptions of a unidimensional and locally independent item response theory model. Several previous Monte Carlo studies have found that using linear factor analysis to select the assessment subtest for DIMTEST results in a moderate to severe loss of power when the exam…

Speckle noise reduction technique for Lidar echo signal based on self-adaptive pulse-matching independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Fan; Wang, Jiaxing; Zhu, Daiyin; Tu, Qi

2018-04-01

Speckle noise has always been a particularly tricky problem in improving the ranging capability and accuracy of Lidar system especially in harsh environment. Currently, effective speckle de-noising techniques are extremely scarce and should be further developed. In this study, a speckle noise reduction technique has been proposed based on independent component analysis (ICA). Since normally few changes happen in the shape of laser pulse itself, the authors employed the laser source as a reference pulse and executed the ICA decomposition to find the optimal matching position. In order to achieve the self-adaptability of algorithm, local Mean Square Error (MSE) has been defined as an appropriate criterion for investigating the iteration results. The obtained experimental results demonstrated that the self-adaptive pulse-matching ICA (PM-ICA) method could effectively decrease the speckle noise and recover the useful Lidar echo signal component with high quality. Especially, the proposed method achieves 4 dB more improvement of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than a traditional homomorphic wavelet method.

A performance analysis of advanced I/O architectures for PC-based network file servers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huynh, K. D.; Khoshgoftaar, T. M.

1994-12-01

In the personal computing and workstation environments, more and more I/O adapters are becoming complete functional subsystems that are intelligent enough to handle I/O operations on their own without much intervention from the host processor. The IBM Subsystem Control Block (SCB) architecture has been defined to enhance the potential of these intelligent adapters by defining services and conventions that deliver command information and data to and from the adapters. In recent years, a new storage architecture, the Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), has been quickly gaining acceptance in the world of computing. In this paper, we would like to discuss critical system design issues that are important to the performance of a network file server. We then present a performance analysis of the SCB architecture and disk array technology in typical network file server environments based on personal computers (PCs). One of the key issues investigated in this paper is whether a disk array can outperform a group of disks (of same type, same data capacity, and same cost) operating independently, not in parallel as in a disk array.

Determination of Energy Independent Neutron Densities using Dirac Phenomenology based on the RIA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, B. C.; Kerr, L. J.; Hama, S.; Mercer, R. L.

2002-04-01

A new method for extracting neutron densities from intermediate energy elastic proton-nucleus scattering observables using a global Dirac phenomenological (DP) approach based on the Relativistic Impulse Approximation (RIA) is presented. (B. C. Clark, et al.) BAPS Vol 46, No. 7 pg.139, 2001. We have considered data sets for ^40Ca, ^48Ca and ^208Pb and energies from 500 MeV to 1040 MeV. The global fits are successful in reproducing the data and in predicting data sets not included in the analysis. Using this global DP approach we have obtained energy independent neutron densities. The vector point proton density distribution, ρ^p_v, is determined from the empirical charge density after unfolding the proton form factor. The other densities, ρ^n_v, ρ^p_s, ρ^n_s, are parameterized using the cosh form given in our paper on global DP optical potentials.(E. D. Cooper, et al.) Phys Rev. 47C, pg. 297, 1993 Neutron skin thicknesses extracted using the global analysis are compared to predictions from theoretical models.

Stealthy false data injection attacks using matrix recovery and independent component analysis in smart grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

JiWei, Tian; BuHong, Wang; FuTe, Shang; Shuaiqi, Liu

2017-05-01

Exact state estimation is vital important to maintain common operations of smart grids. Existing researches demonstrate that state estimation output could be compromised by malicious attacks. However, to construct the attack vectors, a usual presumption in most works is that the attacker has perfect information regarding the topology and so on even such information is difficult to acquire in practice. Recent research shows that Independent Component Analysis (ICA) can be used for inferring topology information which can be used to originate undetectable attacks and even to alter the price of electricity for the profits of attackers. However, we found that the above ICA-based blind attack tactics is merely feasible in the environment with Gaussian noises. If there are outliers (device malfunction and communication errors), the Bad Data Detector will easily detect the attack. Hence, we propose a robust ICA based blind attack strategy that one can use matrix recovery to circumvent the outlier problem and construct stealthy attack vectors. The proposed attack strategies are tested with IEEE representative 14-bus system. Simulations verify the feasibility of the proposed method.

Application of Independent Component Analysis for the Data Mining of Simultaneous EEG-fMRI: Preliminary Experience on Sleep Onset

PubMed Central

Lee, Jong-Hwan; Oh, Sungsuk; Jolesz, Ferenc A.; Park, Hyunwook; Yoo, Seung-Schik

2010-01-01

The simultaneous acquisition of electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional MRI (fMRI) signals is potentially advantageous because of the superior resolution that is achieved in both the temporal and spatial domains, respectively. However, ballistocardiographic artifacts along with the ocular artifacts are a major obstacle for the detection of the EEG signatures of interest. Since the sources corresponding to these artifacts are independent from those producing the EEG signatures, we applied the Infomax-based independent component analysis (ICA) technique to separate the EEG signatures from the artifacts. The isolated EEG signatures were further utilized to model the canonical hemodynamic response functions (HRFs). Subsequently, the brain areas from which these EEG signatures originated were identified as locales of activation patterns from the analysis of fMRI data. Upon the identification and subsequent evaluation of brain areas generating interictal epileptic discharge (IED) spikes from an epileptic subject, the presented method was successfully applied to detect the theta- and alpha-rhythms that are sleep onset related EEG signatures along with the subsequent neural circuitries from a sleep deprived volunteer. These results suggest that the ICA technique may be useful for the preprocessing of simultaneous EEG-fMRI acquisitions, especially when a reference paradigm is unavailable. PMID:19922343

Application of independent component analysis for the data mining of simultaneous Eeg-fMRI: preliminary experience on sleep onset.

PubMed

Lee, Jong-Hwan; Oh, Sungsuk; Jolesz, Ferenc A; Park, Hyunwook; Yoo, Seung-Schik

2009-01-01

The simultaneous acquisition of electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional MRI (fMRI) signals is potentially advantageous because of the superior resolution that is achieved in both the temporal and spatial domains, respectively. However, ballistocardiographic artifacts along with ocular artifacts are a major obstacle for the detection of the EEG signatures of interest. Since the sources corresponding to these artifacts are independent from those producing the EEG signatures, we applied the Infomax-based independent component analysis (ICA) technique to separate the EEG signatures from the artifacts. The isolated EEG signatures were further utilized to model the canonical hemodynamic response functions (HRFs). Subsequently, the brain areas from which these EEG signatures originated were identified as locales of activation patterns from the analysis of fMRI data. Upon the identification and subsequent evaluation of brain areas generating interictal epileptic discharge (IED) spikes from an epileptic subject, the presented method was successfully applied to detect the theta and alpha rhythms that are sleep onset-related EEG signatures along with the subsequent neural circuitries from a sleep-deprived volunteer. These results suggest that the ICA technique may be useful for the preprocessing of simultaneous EEG-fMRI acquisitions, especially when a reference paradigm is unavailable.

Bayesian network representing system dynamics in risk analysis of nuclear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varuttamaseni, Athi

2011-12-01

A dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) model is used in conjunction with the alternating conditional expectation (ACE) regression method to analyze the risk associated with the loss of feedwater accident coupled with a subsequent initiation of the feed and bleed operation in the Zion-1 nuclear power plant. The use of the DBN allows the joint probability distribution to be factorized, enabling the analysis to be done on many simpler network structures rather than on one complicated structure. The construction of the DBN model assumes conditional independence relations among certain key reactor parameters. The choice of parameter to model is based on considerations of the macroscopic balance statements governing the behavior of the reactor under a quasi-static assumption. The DBN is used to relate the peak clad temperature to a set of independent variables that are known to be important in determining the success of the feed and bleed operation. A simple linear relationship is then used to relate the clad temperature to the core damage probability. To obtain a quantitative relationship among different nodes in the DBN, surrogates of the RELAP5 reactor transient analysis code are used. These surrogates are generated by applying the ACE algorithm to output data obtained from about 50 RELAP5 cases covering a wide range of the selected independent variables. These surrogates allow important safety parameters such as the fuel clad temperature to be expressed as a function of key reactor parameters such as the coolant temperature and pressure together with important independent variables such as the scram delay time. The time-dependent core damage probability is calculated by sampling the independent variables from their probability distributions and propagate the information up through the Bayesian network to give the clad temperature. With the knowledge of the clad temperature and the assumption that the core damage probability has a one-to-one relationship to it, we have calculated the core damage probably as a function of transient time. The use of the DBN model in combination with ACE allows risk analysis to be performed with much less effort than if the analysis were done using the standard techniques.

Factors Associated with Lower Extremity Dysmorphia Caused by Lower Extremity Lymphoedema.

PubMed

Yamamoto, T; Yamamoto, N; Yoshimatsu, H; Narushima, M; Koshima, I

2017-07-01

Indocyanine green (ICG) lymphography has been reported to be useful for the early diagnosis of lymphoedema. However, no study has reported the usefulness of ICG lymphography for evaluation of lymphoedema with lower extremity dysmorphia (LED). This study aimed to elucidate independent factors associated with LED in secondary lower extremity lymphoedema (LEL) patients. This was a retrospective observational study of 268 legs of 134 secondary LEL patients. The medical charts were reviewed to obtain data of clinical demographics and ICG lymphography based severity stage (leg dermal backflow [LDB] stage). LED was defined as a leg with a LEL index of 250 or higher. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent factors associated with LED. LED was observed in 106 legs (39.6%). Multivariate analysis revealed that independent factors associated with LED were higher LDB stages compared with LDB stage 0 (LDB stage III; OR 17.586; 95% CI 2.055-150.482; p = .009) (LDB stage IV; OR 76.794; 95% CI 8.132-725.199; p < .001) (LDB stage V; OR 47.423; 95% CI 3.704-607.192; p = .003). On the other hand, inverse associations were observed in higher age (65 years or older; OR 0.409; 95% CI 0.190-0.881; p = .022) and higher body mass index (25 kg/m 2 or higher; OR 0.408; 95% CI 0.176-0.946; p = .037). Independent factors associated with LED were elucidated. ICG lymphography based severity stage showed the strongest association with LED, and was useful for evaluation of progressed LEL with LED. Copyright © 2017 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seasonal severity of depressive symptoms as a predictor of health service use in a community-based sample.

PubMed

Vigod, Simone N; Levitt, Anthony J

2011-05-01

To determine whether severity of seasonal depressive symptoms is an independent predictor of depression-specific health service use. Cross-sectional telephone survey evaluating mood-related symptom changes across seasons using a structured interview based on the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview, in a community sample representative of the province of Ontario, Canada (N = 1605). This study focuses on the 625 individuals (out of a total of 1605 interviewed) who screened positive for lifetime depressive symptoms. Severity of seasonal symptoms of depression (or "seasonality") was measured using the Seasonal Depression Severity (SDS) score (range 0-36). The primary outcome was lifetime depression-specific use of health services from a physician (family physician or psychiatrist). Lifetime psychotropic medication use, use of health services from a non-physician therapist, and psychiatric hospitalization were secondary outcomes. Other important variables that are known to predict depression-specific health service use were considered in multivariable analysis. In our sample of individuals with depressive symptoms, those who had used physician health services had higher SDS scores than non-users (11.5 (SD 7.2) vs. 9.7 (SD 6.4), t(616) = 3.182, P = 0.001). In multivariable analysis, SDS score was independently associated with depression-specific health service use by a physician (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07, p = 0.004). The relationship between seasonality and use of psychotropic medication use was similar (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07, p = 0.007). Seasonality was independently associated with depression-specific health service use for individuals with depressive symptoms. The results imply that greater seasonality may independently reflect increased severity and need for treatment of depression. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GOATS Image Projection Component

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haber, Benjamin M.; Green, Joseph J.

2011-01-01

When doing mission analysis and design of an imaging system in orbit around the Earth, answering the fundamental question of imaging performance requires an understanding of the image products that will be produced by the imaging system. GOATS software represents a series of MATLAB functions to provide for geometric image projections. Unique features of the software include function modularity, a standard MATLAB interface, easy-to-understand first-principles-based analysis, and the ability to perform geometric image projections of framing type imaging systems. The software modules are created for maximum analysis utility, and can all be used independently for many varied analysis tasks, or used in conjunction with other orbit analysis tools.

Quantum walks with an anisotropic coin II: scattering theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, S.; Suzuki, A.; de Aldecoa, R. Tiedra

2018-05-01

We perform the scattering analysis of the evolution operator of quantum walks with an anisotropic coin, and we prove a weak limit theorem for their asymptotic velocity. The quantum walks that we consider include one-defect models, two-phase quantum walks, and topological phase quantum walks as special cases. Our analysis is based on an abstract framework for the scattering theory of unitary operators in a two-Hilbert spaces setting, which is of independent interest.

An epigenome-wide association meta-analysis of prenatal maternal stress in neonates: A model approach for replication

PubMed Central

Rijlaarsdam, Jolien; Pappa, Irene; Walton, Esther; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.; Mileva-Seitz, Viara R.; Rippe, Ralph C.A.; Roza, Sabine J.; Jaddoe, Vincent W.V.; Verhulst, Frank C.; Felix, Janine F.; Cecil, Charlotte A.M.; Relton, Caroline L.; Gaunt, Tom R.; McArdle, Wendy; Mill, Jonathan; Barker, Edward D.; Tiemeier, Henning; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Prenatal maternal stress exposure has been associated with neonatal differential DNA methylation. However, the available evidence in humans is largely based on candidate gene methylation studies, where only a few CpG sites were evaluated. The aim of this study was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to maternal stress and offspring genome-wide cord blood methylation using different methods. First, we conducted a meta-analysis and follow-up pathway analyses. Second, we used novel region discovery methods [i.e., differentially methylated regions (DMRs) analyses]. To this end, we used data from two independent population-based studies, the Generation R Study (n = 912) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, n = 828), to (i) measure genome-wide DNA methylation in cord blood and (ii) extract a prenatal maternal stress composite. The meta-analysis (ntotal = 1,740) revealed no epigenome-wide (meta P <1.00e-07) associations of prenatal maternal stress exposure with neonatal differential DNA methylation. Follow-up analyses of the top hits derived from our epigenome-wide meta-analysis (meta P <1.00e-04) indicated an over-representation of the methyltransferase activity pathway. We identified no Bonferroni-corrected (P <1.00e-06) DMRs associated with prenatal maternal stress exposure. Combining data from two independent population-based samples in an epigenome-wide meta-analysis, the current study indicates that there are no large effects of prenatal maternal stress exposure on neonatal DNA methylation. Such replication efforts are essential in the search for robust associations, whether derived from candidate gene methylation or epigenome-wide studies. PMID:26889969

Individualized home-based exercise programs for older people to reduce falls and improve physical performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hill, Keith D; Hunter, Susan W; Batchelor, Frances A; Cavalheri, Vinicius; Burton, Elissa

2015-09-01

There is considerable diversity in the types of exercise programs investigated to reduce falls in older people. The purpose of this paper was to review the effectiveness of individualized (tailored) home-based exercise programs in reducing falls and improving physical performance among older people living in the community. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of randomized or quasi-randomized trials that utilized an individualized home-based exercise program with at least one falls outcome measure reported. Single intervention exercise studies, and multifactorial interventions where results for an exercise intervention were reported independently were included. Two researchers independently rated the quality of each included study. Of 16,871 papers identified from six databases, 12 met all inclusion criteria (11 randomized trials and a pragmatic trial). Study quality overall was high. Sample sizes ranged from 40 to 981, participants had an average age 80.1 years, and although the majority of studies targeted the general older population, several studies included clinical groups as their target (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and hip fracture). The meta-analysis results for the five studies reporting number of fallers found no significant effect of the intervention (RR [95% CI]=0.93 [0.72-1.21]), although when a sensitivity analysis was performed with one study of participants recently discharged from hospital removed, this result was significant (RR [95% CI] = 0.84 [0.72-0.99]). The meta-analysis also found that intervention led to significant improvements in physical activity, balance, mobility and muscle strength. There were no significant differences for measures of injurious falls or fractures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

SolarSoft Web Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeland, S.; Hurlburt, N.

2005-12-01

The SolarSoft system (SSW) is a set of integrated software libraries, databases, and system utilities which provide a common programming and data analysis environment for solar physics. The system includes contributions from a large community base, representing the efforts of many NASA PI team MO&DA teams,spanning many years and multiple NASA and international orbital and ground based missions. The SSW general use libraries include Many hundreds of utilities which are instrument and mission independent. A large subset are also SOLAR independent, such as time conversions, digital detector cleanup, time series analysis, mathematics, image display, WWW server communications and the like. PI teams may draw on these general purpose libraries for analysis and application development while concentrating efforts on instrument specific calibration issues rather than reinvention of general use software. By the same token, PI teams are encouraged to contribute new applications or enhancements to existing utilities which may have more general interest. Recent areas of intense evolution include space weather applications, automated distributed data access and analysis, interfaces with the ongoing Virtual Solar Observatory efforts, and externalization of SolarSoft power through Web Services. We will discuss the current status of SSW web services and demonstrate how this facilitates accessing the underlying power of SolarSoft in more abstract terms. In this context, we will describe the use of SSW services within the Collaborative Sun Earth Connector environment.

Independent component analysis decomposition of hospital emergency department throughput measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Qiang; Chu, Henry

2016-05-01

We present a method adapted from medical sensor data analysis, viz. independent component analysis of electroencephalography data, to health system analysis. Timely and effective care in a hospital emergency department is measured by throughput measures such as median times patients spent before they were admitted as an inpatient, before they were sent home, before they were seen by a healthcare professional. We consider a set of five such measures collected at 3,086 hospitals distributed across the U.S. One model of the performance of an emergency department is that these correlated throughput measures are linear combinations of some underlying sources. The independent component analysis decomposition of the data set can thus be viewed as transforming a set of performance measures collected at a site to a collection of outputs of spatial filters applied to the whole multi-measure data. We compare the independent component sources with the output of the conventional principal component analysis to show that the independent components are more suitable for understanding the data sets through visualizations.

Removing Grit During Wastewater Treatment: CFD Analysis of HDVS Performance.

PubMed

Meroney, Robert N; Sheker, Robert E

2016-05-01

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate the grit and sand separation effectiveness of a typical hydrodynamic vortex separator (HDVS) system. The analysis examined the influences on the separator efficiency of: flow rate, fluid viscosities, total suspended solids (TSS), and particle size and distribution. It was found that separator efficiency for a wide range of these independent variables could be consolidated into a few curves based on the particle fall velocity to separator inflow velocity ratio, Ws/Vin. Based on CFD analysis it was also determined that systems of different sizes with length scale ratios ranging from 1 to 10 performed similarly when Ws/Vin and TSS were held constant. The CFD results have also been compared to a limited range of experimental data.

Information theory applications for biological sequence analysis.

PubMed

Vinga, Susana

2014-05-01

Information theory (IT) addresses the analysis of communication systems and has been widely applied in molecular biology. In particular, alignment-free sequence analysis and comparison greatly benefited from concepts derived from IT, such as entropy and mutual information. This review covers several aspects of IT applications, ranging from genome global analysis and comparison, including block-entropy estimation and resolution-free metrics based on iterative maps, to local analysis, comprising the classification of motifs, prediction of transcription factor binding sites and sequence characterization based on linguistic complexity and entropic profiles. IT has also been applied to high-level correlations that combine DNA, RNA or protein features with sequence-independent properties, such as gene mapping and phenotype analysis, and has also provided models based on communication systems theory to describe information transmission channels at the cell level and also during evolutionary processes. While not exhaustive, this review attempts to categorize existing methods and to indicate their relation with broader transversal topics such as genomic signatures, data compression and complexity, time series analysis and phylogenetic classification, providing a resource for future developments in this promising area.

Change detection for synthetic aperture radar images based on pattern and intensity distinctiveness analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiao; Gao, Feng; Dong, Junyu; Qi, Qiang

2018-04-01

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image is independent on atmospheric conditions, and it is the ideal image source for change detection. Existing methods directly analysis all the regions in the speckle noise contaminated difference image. The performance of these methods is easily affected by small noisy regions. In this paper, we proposed a novel change detection framework for saliency-guided change detection based on pattern and intensity distinctiveness analysis. The saliency analysis step can remove small noisy regions, and therefore makes the proposed method more robust to the speckle noise. In the proposed method, the log-ratio operator is first utilized to obtain a difference image (DI). Then, the saliency detection method based on pattern and intensity distinctiveness analysis is utilized to obtain the changed region candidates. Finally, principal component analysis and k-means clustering are employed to analysis pixels in the changed region candidates. Thus, the final change map can be obtained by classifying these pixels into changed or unchanged class. The experiment results on two real SAR images datasets have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Evidence-Based Diagnostic Algorithm for Glioma: Analysis of the Results of Pathology Panel Review and Molecular Parameters of EORTC 26951 and 26882 Trials.

PubMed

Kros, Johan M; Huizer, Karin; Hernández-Laín, Aurelio; Marucci, Gianluca; Michotte, Alex; Pollo, Bianca; Rushing, Elisabeth J; Ribalta, Teresa; French, Pim; Jaminé, David; Bekka, Nawal; Lacombe, Denis; van den Bent, Martin J; Gorlia, Thierry

2015-06-10

With the rapid discovery of prognostic and predictive molecular parameters for glioma, the status of histopathology in the diagnostic process should be scrutinized. Our project aimed to construct a diagnostic algorithm for gliomas based on molecular and histologic parameters with independent prognostic values. The pathology slides of 636 patients with gliomas who had been included in EORTC 26951 and 26882 trials were reviewed using virtual microscopy by a panel of six neuropathologists who independently scored 18 histologic features and provided an overall diagnosis. The molecular data for IDH1, 1p/19q loss, EGFR amplification, loss of chromosome 10 and chromosome arm 10q, gain of chromosome 7, and hypermethylation of the promoter of MGMT were available for some of the cases. The slides were divided in discovery (n = 426) and validation sets (n = 210). The diagnostic algorithm resulting from analysis of the discovery set was validated in the latter. In 66% of cases, consensus of overall diagnosis was present. A diagnostic algorithm consisting of two molecular markers and one consensus histologic feature was created by conditional inference tree analysis. The order of prognostic significance was: 1p/19q loss, EGFR amplification, and astrocytic morphology, which resulted in the identification of four diagnostic nodes. Validation of the nodes in the validation set confirmed the prognostic value (P < .001). We succeeded in the creation of a timely diagnostic algorithm for anaplastic glioma based on multivariable analysis of consensus histopathology and molecular parameters. © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

One input-class and two input-class classifications for differentiating olive oil from other edible vegetable oils by use of the normal-phase liquid chromatography fingerprint of the methyl-transesterified fraction.

PubMed

Jiménez-Carvelo, Ana M; Pérez-Castaño, Estefanía; González-Casado, Antonio; Cuadros-Rodríguez, Luis

2017-04-15

A new method for differentiation of olive oil (independently of the quality category) from other vegetable oils (canola, safflower, corn, peanut, seeds, grapeseed, palm, linseed, sesame and soybean) has been developed. The analytical procedure for chromatographic fingerprinting of the methyl-transesterified fraction of each vegetable oil, using normal-phase liquid chromatography, is described and the chemometric strategies applied and discussed. Some chemometric methods, such as k-nearest neighbours (kNN), partial least squared-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), support vector machine classification analysis (SVM-C), and soft independent modelling of class analogies (SIMCA), were applied to build classification models. Performance of the classification was evaluated and ranked using several classification quality metrics. The discriminant analysis, based on the use of one input-class, (plus a dummy class) was applied for the first time in this study. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Meta-Analysis of the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) to Understanding Health Behaviors.

PubMed

McEachan, Rosemary; Taylor, Natalie; Harrison, Reema; Lawton, Rebecca; Gardner, Peter; Conner, Mark

2016-08-01

Reasoned action approach (RAA) includes subcomponents of attitude (experiential/instrumental), perceived norm (injunctive/descriptive), and perceived behavioral control (capacity/autonomy) to predict intention and behavior. To provide a meta-analysis of the RAA for health behaviors focusing on comparing the pairs of RAA subcomponents and differences between health protection and health-risk behaviors. The present research reports a meta-analysis of correlational tests of RAA subcomponents, examination of moderators, and combined effects of subcomponents on intention and behavior. Regressions were used to predict intention and behavior based on data from studies measuring all variables. Capacity and experiential attitude had large, and other constructs had small-medium-sized correlations with intention; all constructs except autonomy were significant independent predictors of intention in regressions. Intention, capacity, and experiential attitude had medium-large, and other constructs had small-medium-sized correlations with behavior; intention, capacity, experiential attitude, and descriptive norm were significant independent predictors of behavior in regressions. The RAA subcomponents have utility in predicting and understanding health behaviors.

Modeling of laser transmission contour welding process using FEA and DoE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acherjee, Bappa; Kuar, Arunanshu S.; Mitra, Souren; Misra, Dipten

2012-07-01

In this research, a systematic investigation on laser transmission contour welding process is carried out using finite element analysis (FEA) and design of experiments (DoE) techniques. First of all, a three-dimensional thermal model is developed to simulate the laser transmission contour welding process with a moving heat source. The commercial finite element code ANSYS® multi-physics is used to obtain the numerical results by implementing a volumetric Gaussian heat source, and combined convection-radiation boundary conditions. Design of experiments together with regression analysis is then employed to plan the experiments and to develop mathematical models based on simulation results. Four key process parameters, namely power, welding speed, beam diameter, and carbon black content in absorbing polymer, are considered as independent variables, while maximum temperature at weld interface, weld width, and weld depths in transparent and absorbing polymers are considered as dependent variables. Sensitivity analysis is performed to determine how different values of an independent variable affect a particular dependent variable.

Gene expression analysis of microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 2 in non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Marshall, Erin A; Ng, Kevin W; Anderson, Christine; Hubaux, Roland; Thu, Kelsie L; Lam, Wan L; Martinez, Victor D

2015-12-01

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and has a five-year survival rate of 18% [1]. MARK2 is a serine/threonine-protein kinase, and is a key component in the phosphorylation of microtubule-associated proteins [2], [3]. A recent study published by Hubaux et al. found that microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 2 (MARK2) showed highly frequent DNA and RNA level disruption in lung cancer cell lines and independent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cohorts [4]. These alterations result in the acquisition of oncogenic properties in cell lines, such as increased viability and anchorage-independent growth. Furthermore, a microarray-based transcriptome analysis of three short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated MARK2 knockdown lung adenocarcinoma cell lines (GEO#: GSE57966) revealed an association between MARK2 gene expression and cell cycle activation and DNA damage response. Here, we present a detailed description of transcriptome analysis to support the described role of MARK2 in promoting a malignant phenotype.

Community-Based Services for Independent Living: Topic Paper G.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Council on the Handicapped, Washington, DC.

This paper assesses federal legislation and programs affecting community-based services for independent living for people with disabilities. Independent living entitlement programs are contained in Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and include comprehensive services, centers for independent living, and independent living services for…

A SVM-based quantitative fMRI method for resting-state functional network detection.

PubMed

Song, Xiaomu; Chen, Nan-kuei

2014-09-01

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) aims to measure baseline neuronal connectivity independent of specific functional tasks and to capture changes in the connectivity due to neurological diseases. Most existing network detection methods rely on a fixed threshold to identify functionally connected voxels under the resting state. Due to fMRI non-stationarity, the threshold cannot adapt to variation of data characteristics across sessions and subjects, and generates unreliable mapping results. In this study, a new method is presented for resting-state fMRI data analysis. Specifically, the resting-state network mapping is formulated as an outlier detection process that is implemented using one-class support vector machine (SVM). The results are refined by using a spatial-feature domain prototype selection method and two-class SVM reclassification. The final decision on each voxel is made by comparing its probabilities of functionally connected and unconnected instead of a threshold. Multiple features for resting-state analysis were extracted and examined using an SVM-based feature selection method, and the most representative features were identified. The proposed method was evaluated using synthetic and experimental fMRI data. A comparison study was also performed with independent component analysis (ICA) and correlation analysis. The experimental results show that the proposed method can provide comparable or better network detection performance than ICA and correlation analysis. The method is potentially applicable to various resting-state quantitative fMRI studies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rapid detection of Listeria monocytogenes in milk using confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy and chemometric analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Junping; Xie, Xinfang; Feng, Jinsong; Chen, Jessica C; Du, Xin-jun; Luo, Jiangzhao; Lu, Xiaonan; Wang, Shuo

2015-07-02

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultatively anaerobic, Gram-positive, rod-shape foodborne bacterium causing invasive infection, listeriosis, in susceptible populations. Rapid and high-throughput detection of this pathogen in dairy products is critical as milk and other dairy products have been implicated as food vehicles in several outbreaks. Here we evaluated confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy (785 nm laser) coupled with chemometric analysis to distinguish six closely related Listeria species, including L. monocytogenes, in both liquid media and milk. Raman spectra of different Listeria species and other bacteria (i.e., Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli) were collected to create two independent databases for detection in media and milk, respectively. Unsupervised chemometric models including principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to differentiate L. monocytogenes from Listeria and other bacteria. To further evaluate the performance and reliability of unsupervised chemometric analyses, supervised chemometrics were performed, including two discriminant analyses (DA) and soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA). By analyzing Raman spectra via two DA-based chemometric models, average identification accuracies of 97.78% and 98.33% for L. monocytogenes in media, and 95.28% and 96.11% in milk were obtained, respectively. SIMCA analysis also resulted in satisfied average classification accuracies (over 93% in both media and milk). This Raman spectroscopic-based detection of L. monocytogenes in media and milk can be finished within a few hours and requires no extensive sample preparation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Uncertainty quantification for accident management using ACE surrogates

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

Varuttamaseni, A.; Lee, J. C.; Youngblood, R. W.

The alternating conditional expectation (ACE) regression method is used to generate RELAP5 surrogates which are then used to determine the distribution of the peak clad temperature (PCT) during the loss of feedwater accident coupled with a subsequent initiation of the feed and bleed (F and B) operation in the Zion-1 nuclear power plant. The construction of the surrogates assumes conditional independence relations among key reactor parameters. The choice of parameters to model is based on the macroscopic balance statements governing the behavior of the reactor. The peak clad temperature is calculated based on the independent variables that are known tomore » be important in determining the success of the F and B operation. The relationship between these independent variables and the plant parameters such as coolant pressure and temperature is represented by surrogates that are constructed based on 45 RELAP5 cases. The time-dependent PCT for different values of F and B parameters is calculated by sampling the independent variables from their probability distributions and propagating the information through two layers of surrogates. The results of our analysis show that the ACE surrogates are able to satisfactorily reproduce the behavior of the plant parameters even though a quasi-static assumption is primarily used in their construction. The PCT is found to be lower in cases where the F and B operation is initiated, compared to the case without F and B, regardless of the F and B parameters used. (authors)« less

Quantifying (dis)agreement between direct detection experiments in a halo-independent way

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

Feldstein, Brian; Kahlhoefer, Felix, E-mail: brian.feldstein@physics.ox.ac.uk, E-mail: felix.kahlhoefer@physics.ox.ac.uk

We propose an improved method to study recent and near-future dark matter direct detection experiments with small numbers of observed events. Our method determines in a quantitative and halo-independent way whether the experiments point towards a consistent dark matter signal and identifies the best-fit dark matter parameters. To achieve true halo independence, we apply a recently developed method based on finding the velocity distribution that best describes a given set of data. For a quantitative global analysis we construct a likelihood function suitable for small numbers of events, which allows us to determine the best-fit particle physics properties of darkmore » matter considering all experiments simultaneously. Based on this likelihood function we propose a new test statistic that quantifies how well the proposed model fits the data and how large the tension between different direct detection experiments is. We perform Monte Carlo simulations in order to determine the probability distribution function of this test statistic and to calculate the p-value for both the dark matter hypothesis and the background-only hypothesis.« less

Independent component analysis-based algorithm for automatic identification of Raman spectra applied to artistic pigments and pigment mixtures.

PubMed

González-Vidal, Juan José; Pérez-Pueyo, Rosanna; Soneira, María José; Ruiz-Moreno, Sergio

2015-03-01

A new method has been developed to automatically identify Raman spectra, whether they correspond to single- or multicomponent spectra. The method requires no user input or judgment. There are thus no parameters to be tweaked. Furthermore, it provides a reliability factor on the resulting identification, with the aim of becoming a useful support tool for the analyst in the decision-making process. The method relies on the multivariate techniques of principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA), and on some metrics. It has been developed for the application of automated spectral analysis, where the analyzed spectrum is provided by a spectrometer that has no previous knowledge of the analyzed sample, meaning that the number of components in the sample is unknown. We describe the details of this method and demonstrate its efficiency by identifying both simulated spectra and real spectra. The method has been applied to artistic pigment identification. The reliable and consistent results that were obtained make the methodology a helpful tool suitable for the identification of pigments in artwork or in paint in general.

Order-crossing removal in Gabor order tracking by independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Yu; Tan, Kok Kiong

2009-08-01

Order-crossing problems in Gabor order tracking (GOT) of rotating machinery often occur when noise due to power-frequency interference, local structure resonance, etc., is prominent in applications. They can render the analysis results and the waveform-reconstruction tasks in GOT inaccurate or even meaningless. An approach is proposed in this paper to address the order-crossing problem by independent component analysis (ICA). With the approach, accurate order analysis results can be obtained and the waveforms of the order components of interest can be reconstructed or extracted from the recorded noisy data series. In addition, the ambiguities (permutation and scaling) of ICA results are also solved with the approach. The approach is amenable to applications in condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. The evaluation of the approach is presented in detail based on simulations and an experiment on a rotor test rig. The results obtained using the proposed approach are compared with those obtained using the standard GOT. The comparison shows that the presented approach is more effective to solve order-crossing problems in GOT.

Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in synovial sarcoma.

PubMed

Koh, Kyoung Hwan; Cho, Eun Yoon; Kim, Dong Wook; Seo, Sung Wook

2009-11-01

Many studies have described the diversity of synovial sarcoma in terms of its biological characteristics and clinical features. Moreover, much effort has been expended on the identification of prognostic factors because of unpredictable behaviors of synovial sarcomas. However, with the exception of tumor size, published results have been inconsistent. We attempted to identify independent risk factors using survival analysis. Forty-one consecutive patients with synovial sarcoma were prospectively followed from January 1997 to March 2008. Overall and progression-free survival for age, sex, tumor size, tumor location, metastasis at presentation, histologic subtype, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and resection margin were analyzed, and standard multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to evaluate potential prognostic factors. Tumor size (>5 cm), nonlimb-based tumors, metastasis at presentation, and a monophasic subtype were associated with poorer overall survival. Multivariate analysis showed metastasis at presentation and monophasic tumor subtype affected overall survival. For the progression-free survival, monophasic subtype was found to be only 1 prognostic factor. The study confirmed that histologic subtype is the single most important independent prognostic factors of synovial sarcoma regardless of tumor stage.

Novel glioblastoma markers with diagnostic and prognostic value identified through transcriptome analysis.

PubMed

Reddy, Sreekanth P; Britto, Ramona; Vinnakota, Katyayni; Aparna, Hebbar; Sreepathi, Hari Kishore; Thota, Balaram; Kumari, Arpana; Shilpa, B M; Vrinda, M; Umesh, Srikantha; Samuel, Cini; Shetty, Mitesh; Tandon, Ashwani; Pandey, Paritosh; Hegde, Sridevi; Hegde, A S; Balasubramaniam, Anandh; Chandramouli, B A; Santosh, Vani; Kondaiah, Paturu; Somasundaram, Kumaravel; Rao, M R Satyanarayana

2008-05-15

Current methods of classification of astrocytoma based on histopathologic methods are often subjective and less accurate. Although patients with glioblastoma have grave prognosis, significant variability in patient outcome is observed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify glioblastoma diagnostic and prognostic markers through microarray analysis. We carried out transcriptome analysis of 25 diffusely infiltrating astrocytoma samples [WHO grade II--diffuse astrocytoma, grade III--anaplastic astrocytoma, and grade IV--glioblastoma (GBM)] using cDNA microarrays containing 18,981 genes. Several of the markers identified were also validated by real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR and immunohistochemical analysis on an independent set of tumor samples (n = 100). Survival analysis was carried out for two markers on another independent set of retrospective cases (n = 51). We identified several differentially regulated grade-specific genes. Independent validation by real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR analysis found growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible alpha (GADD45alpha) and follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) to be up-regulated in most GBMs (both primary and secondary), whereas superoxide dismutase 2 and adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 were up-regulated in the majority of primary GBM. Further, identification of the grade-specific expression of GADD45alpha and FSTL1 by immunohistochemical staining reinforced our findings. Analysis of retrospective GBM cases with known survival data revealed that cytoplasmic overexpression of GADD45alpha conferred better survival while the coexpression of FSTL1 with p53 was associated with poor survival. Our study reveals that GADD45alpha and FSTLI are GBM-specific whereas superoxide dismutase 2 and adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 are primary GBM-specific diagnostic markers. Whereas GADD45alpha overexpression confers a favorable prognosis, FSTL1 overexpression is a hallmark of poor prognosis in GBM patients.

Analysis of pressure distortion testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koch, K. E.; Rees, R. L.

1976-01-01

The development of a distortion methodology, method D, was documented, and its application to steady state and unsteady data was demonstrated. Three methodologies based upon DIDENT, a NASA-LeRC distortion methodology based upon the parallel compressor model, were investigated by applying them to a set of steady state data. The best formulation was then applied to an independent data set. The good correlation achieved with this data set showed that method E, one of the above methodologies, is a viable concept. Unsteady data were analyzed by using the method E methodology. This analysis pointed out that the method E sensitivities are functions of pressure defect level as well as corrected speed and pattern.

Online Statistical Modeling (Regression Analysis) for Independent Responses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Made Tirta, I.; Anggraeni, Dian; Pandutama, Martinus

2017-06-01

Regression analysis (statistical analmodelling) are among statistical methods which are frequently needed in analyzing quantitative data, especially to model relationship between response and explanatory variables. Nowadays, statistical models have been developed into various directions to model various type and complex relationship of data. Rich varieties of advanced and recent statistical modelling are mostly available on open source software (one of them is R). However, these advanced statistical modelling, are not very friendly to novice R users, since they are based on programming script or command line interface. Our research aims to developed web interface (based on R and shiny), so that most recent and advanced statistical modelling are readily available, accessible and applicable on web. We have previously made interface in the form of e-tutorial for several modern and advanced statistical modelling on R especially for independent responses (including linear models/LM, generalized linier models/GLM, generalized additive model/GAM and generalized additive model for location scale and shape/GAMLSS). In this research we unified them in the form of data analysis, including model using Computer Intensive Statistics (Bootstrap and Markov Chain Monte Carlo/ MCMC). All are readily accessible on our online Virtual Statistics Laboratory. The web (interface) make the statistical modeling becomes easier to apply and easier to compare them in order to find the most appropriate model for the data.

Design and Analysis Techniques for Concurrent Blackboard Systems. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcmanus, John William

1992-01-01

Blackboard systems are a natural progression of knowledge-based systems into a more powerful problem solving technique. They provide a way for several highly specialized knowledge sources to cooperate to solve large, complex problems. Blackboard systems incorporate the concepts developed by rule-based and expert systems programmers and include the ability to add conventionally coded knowledge sources. The small and specialized knowledge sources are easier to develop and test, and can be hosted on hardware specifically suited to the task that they are solving. The Formal Model for Blackboard Systems was developed to provide a consistent method for describing a blackboard system. A set of blackboard system design tools has been developed and validated for implementing systems that are expressed using the Formal Model. The tools are used to test and refine a proposed blackboard system design before the design is implemented. My research has shown that the level of independence and specialization of the knowledge sources directly affects the performance of blackboard systems. Using the design, simulation, and analysis tools, I developed a concurrent object-oriented blackboard system that is faster, more efficient, and more powerful than existing systems. The use of the design and analysis tools provided the highly specialized and independent knowledge sources required for my concurrent blackboard system to achieve its design goals.

Revisiting the incidence of Mg II absorbers along the blazar sightlines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Sapna; Chand, Hum; Gopal-Krishna; Joshi, Ravi

2018-04-01

It is believed that the cool gas clouds traced by Mg II absorption, within a velocity offset of 5000 km/s from the background quasar, are associated with the quasar itself, whereas the absorbers seen at larger velocity offsets towards us are intervening systems and hence their existence is completely independent of the background quasar. Recent evidence by Bergeron et al. 2011 (hereafter BBM), however, seriously questions this canonical view, by showing that the number density of intervening Mg II absorbers along the sightlines towards 45 blazars is, on average, 2 times the expectation based on the Mg II absorption systems seen on the sightlines to normal QSOs. Given the serious implications of this finding, it becomes important to revisit this issue by enlarging the source sample and subjecting it to an independent analysis. Here, we first report our results based on a re-analysis of the spectroscopic data for the BBM sample; this has reproduced their factor 2 excess in dN/dz along blazar sightlines, vis-a-vis the normal QSOs. Next, we assemble a 6 times larger sample of blazar sightlines, albeit with lower SNR. Using this enlarged sample together with the BBM sample, our analysis shows that the dN/dz of Mg II absorbers statistically matches that known for normal QSO sightlines.

Comparison of two different Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) systems with markerless elementary geometrical shape modeling for the measurement of stem migration.

PubMed

Li, Ye; Röhrl, Stephan M; Bøe, B; Nordsletten, Lars

2014-09-01

Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) is the gold standard of measurement for in vivo 3D implants migration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo precision of 2 RSA marker-based systems compared with that of marker-free, elementary geometrical shape modeling RSA. Stem migration was measured in 50 patients recruited from an on-going Randomized Controlled Trial. We performed marker-based analysis with the Um RSA and RSAcore systems and compared these results with those of the elementary geometrical shape RSA. The precision for subsidence was 0.118 mm for Um RSA, 0.141 mm for RSAcore, and 0.136 mm for elementary geometrical shape RSA. The precision for retroversion was 1.3° for elementary geometrical shape RSA, approximately 2-fold greater than that for the other methods. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the marker-based systems and elementary geometrical shape RSA was approximately 0.5 for retroversion. All 3 methods yielded ICCs for subsidence and varus-valgus rotation above 0.9. We found an excellent correlation between marker-based RSA and elementary geometrical shape RSA for subsidence and varus-valgus rotation, independent of the system used. The precisions for out-of-plane migration were inferior for elementary geometrical shape RSA. Therefore, as a mechanism of failure, retroversion may be more difficult to detect early. This is to our knowledge the first study to compare different RSA systems with or without markers on the implant. Marker-based RSA has high precision in all planes, independent of the system used. Elementary geometrical shape RSA is inferior in out-of-plane migration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic analysis of a spontaneous cocoa bean fermentation metagenome reveals new insights into its bacterial and fungal community diversity.

PubMed

Illeghems, Koen; De Vuyst, Luc; Papalexandratou, Zoi; Weckx, Stefan

2012-01-01

This is the first report on the phylogenetic analysis of the community diversity of a single spontaneous cocoa bean box fermentation sample through a metagenomic approach involving 454 pyrosequencing. Several sequence-based and composition-based taxonomic profiling tools were used and evaluated to avoid software-dependent results and their outcome was validated by comparison with previously obtained culture-dependent and culture-independent data. Overall, this approach revealed a wider bacterial (mainly γ-Proteobacteria) and fungal diversity than previously found. Further, the use of a combination of different classification methods, in a software-independent way, helped to understand the actual composition of the microbial ecosystem under study. In addition, bacteriophage-related sequences were found. The bacterial diversity depended partially on the methods used, as composition-based methods predicted a wider diversity than sequence-based methods, and as classification methods based solely on phylogenetic marker genes predicted a more restricted diversity compared with methods that took all reads into account. The metagenomic sequencing analysis identified Hanseniaspora uvarum, Hanseniaspora opuntiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Acetobacter pasteurianus as the prevailing species. Also, the presence of occasional members of the cocoa bean fermentation process was revealed (such as Erwinia tasmaniensis, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactococcus lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and Oenococcus oeni). Furthermore, the sequence reads associated with viral communities were of a restricted diversity, dominated by Myoviridae and Siphoviridae, and reflecting Lactobacillus as the dominant host. To conclude, an accurate overview of all members of a cocoa bean fermentation process sample was revealed, indicating the superiority of metagenomic sequencing over previously used techniques.

Resting State Functional Connectivity in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury at the Acute Stage: Independent Component and Seed-Based Analyses

PubMed Central

Iraji, Armin; Benson, Randall R.; Welch, Robert D.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Woodard, John L.; Imran Ayaz, Syed; Kulek, Andrew; Mika, Valerie; Medado, Patrick; Soltanian-Zadeh, Hamid; Liu, Tianming; Haacke, E. Mark

2015-01-01

Abstract Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) accounts for more than 1 million emergency visits each year. Most of the injured stay in the emergency department for a few hours and are discharged home without a specific follow-up plan because of their negative clinical structural imaging. Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), particularly functional MRI (fMRI), has been reported as being sensitive to functional disturbances after brain injury. In this study, a cohort of 12 patients with mTBI were prospectively recruited from the emergency department of our local Level-1 trauma center for an advanced MRI scan at the acute stage. Sixteen age- and sex-matched controls were also recruited for comparison. Both group-based and individual-based independent component analysis of resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) demonstrated reduced functional connectivity in both posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and precuneus regions in comparison with controls, which is part of the default mode network (DMN). Further seed-based analysis confirmed reduced functional connectivity in these two regions and also demonstrated increased connectivity between these regions and other regions of the brain in mTBI. Seed-based analysis using the thalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala regions further demonstrated increased functional connectivity between these regions and other regions of the brain, particularly in the frontal lobe, in mTBI. Our data demonstrate alterations of multiple brain networks at the resting state, particularly increased functional connectivity in the frontal lobe, in response to brain concussion at the acute stage. Resting-state functional connectivity of the DMN could serve as a potential biomarker for improved detection of mTBI in the acute setting. PMID:25285363

Size-based emphysema cluster analysis on low attenuation area in 3D volumetric CT: comparison with pulmonary functional test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Minho; Kim, Namkug; Lee, Sang Min; Seo, Joon Beom; Oh, Sang Young

2015-03-01

To quantify low attenuation area (LAA) of emphysematous regions according to cluster size in 3D volumetric CT data of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and to compare these indices with their pulmonary functional test (PFT). Sixty patients with COPD were scanned by a more than 16-multi detector row CT scanner (Siemens Sensation 16 and 64) within 0.75mm collimation. Based on these LAA masks, a length scale analysis to estimate each emphysema LAA's size was performed as follows. At first, Gaussian low pass filter from 30mm to 1mm kernel size with 1mm interval on the mask was performed from large to small size, iteratively. Centroid voxels resistant to the each filter were selected and dilated by the size of the kernel, which was regarded as the specific size emphysema mask. The slopes of area and number of size based LAA (slope of semi-log plot) were analyzed and compared with PFT. PFT parameters including DLco, FEV1, and FEV1/FVC were significantly (all p-value< 0.002) correlated with the slopes (r-values; -0.73, 0.54, 0.69, respectively) and EI (r-values; -0.84, -0.60, -0.68, respectively). In addition, the D independently contributed regression for FEV1 and FEV1/FVC (adjust R sq. of regression study: EI only, 0.70, 0.45; EI and D, 0.71, 0.51, respectively). By the size based LAA segmentation and analysis, we evaluated the Ds of area, number, and distribution of size based LAA, which would be independent factors for predictor of PFT parameters.

A PLSPM-Based Test Statistic for Detecting Gene-Gene Co-Association in Genome-Wide Association Study with Case-Control Design

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xiaoshuai; Yang, Xiaowei; Yuan, Zhongshang; Liu, Yanxun; Li, Fangyu; Peng, Bin; Zhu, Dianwen; Zhao, Jinghua; Xue, Fuzhong

2013-01-01

For genome-wide association data analysis, two genes in any pathway, two SNPs in the two linked gene regions respectively or in the two linked exons respectively within one gene are often correlated with each other. We therefore proposed the concept of gene-gene co-association, which refers to the effects not only due to the traditional interaction under nearly independent condition but the correlation between two genes. Furthermore, we constructed a novel statistic for detecting gene-gene co-association based on Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLSPM). Through simulation, the relationship between traditional interaction and co-association was highlighted under three different types of co-association. Both simulation and real data analysis demonstrated that the proposed PLSPM-based statistic has better performance than single SNP-based logistic model, PCA-based logistic model, and other gene-based methods. PMID:23620809

A PLSPM-based test statistic for detecting gene-gene co-association in genome-wide association study with case-control design.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoshuai; Yang, Xiaowei; Yuan, Zhongshang; Liu, Yanxun; Li, Fangyu; Peng, Bin; Zhu, Dianwen; Zhao, Jinghua; Xue, Fuzhong

2013-01-01

For genome-wide association data analysis, two genes in any pathway, two SNPs in the two linked gene regions respectively or in the two linked exons respectively within one gene are often correlated with each other. We therefore proposed the concept of gene-gene co-association, which refers to the effects not only due to the traditional interaction under nearly independent condition but the correlation between two genes. Furthermore, we constructed a novel statistic for detecting gene-gene co-association based on Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLSPM). Through simulation, the relationship between traditional interaction and co-association was highlighted under three different types of co-association. Both simulation and real data analysis demonstrated that the proposed PLSPM-based statistic has better performance than single SNP-based logistic model, PCA-based logistic model, and other gene-based methods.

Assessment of the Uniqueness of Wind Tunnel Strain-Gage Balance Load Predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulbrich, N.

2016-01-01

A new test was developed to assess the uniqueness of wind tunnel strain-gage balance load predictions that are obtained from regression models of calibration data. The test helps balance users to gain confidence in load predictions of non-traditional balance designs. It also makes it possible to better evaluate load predictions of traditional balances that are not used as originally intended. The test works for both the Iterative and Non-Iterative Methods that are used in the aerospace testing community for the prediction of balance loads. It is based on the hypothesis that the total number of independently applied balance load components must always match the total number of independently measured bridge outputs or bridge output combinations. This hypothesis is supported by a control volume analysis of the inputs and outputs of a strain-gage balance. It is concluded from the control volume analysis that the loads and bridge outputs of a balance calibration data set must separately be tested for linear independence because it cannot always be guaranteed that a linearly independent load component set will result in linearly independent bridge output measurements. Simple linear math models for the loads and bridge outputs in combination with the variance inflation factor are used to test for linear independence. A highly unique and reversible mapping between the applied load component set and the measured bridge output set is guaranteed to exist if the maximum variance inflation factor of both sets is less than the literature recommended threshold of five. Data from the calibration of a six{component force balance is used to illustrate the application of the new test to real-world data.

The use of generalized estimating equations in the analysis of motor vehicle crash data.

PubMed

Hutchings, Caroline B; Knight, Stacey; Reading, James C

2003-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if it is necessary to use generalized estimating equations (GEEs) in the analysis of seat belt effectiveness in preventing injuries in motor vehicle crashes. The 1992 Utah crash dataset was used, excluding crash participants where seat belt use was not appropriate (n=93,633). The model used in the 1996 Report to Congress [Report to congress on benefits of safety belts and motorcycle helmets, based on data from the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES). National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NHTSA, Washington, DC, February 1996] was analyzed for all occupants with logistic regression, one level of nesting (occupants within crashes), and two levels of nesting (occupants within vehicles within crashes) to compare the use of GEEs with logistic regression. When using one level of nesting compared to logistic regression, 13 of 16 variance estimates changed more than 10%, and eight of 16 parameter estimates changed more than 10%. In addition, three of the independent variables changed from significant to insignificant (alpha=0.05). With the use of two levels of nesting, two of 16 variance estimates and three of 16 parameter estimates changed more than 10% from the variance and parameter estimates in one level of nesting. One of the independent variables changed from insignificant to significant (alpha=0.05) in the two levels of nesting model; therefore, only two of the independent variables changed from significant to insignificant when the logistic regression model was compared to the two levels of nesting model. The odds ratio of seat belt effectiveness in preventing injuries was 12% lower when a one-level nested model was used. Based on these results, we stress the need to use a nested model and GEEs when analyzing motor vehicle crash data.

A pathway-based analysis provides additional support for an immune-related genetic susceptibility to Parkinson's disease

PubMed Central

Holmans, Peter; Moskvina, Valentina; Jones, Lesley; Sharma, Manu; Vedernikov, Alexey; Buchel, Finja; Sadd, Mohamad; Bras, Jose M.; Bettella, Francesco; Nicolaou, Nayia; Simón-Sánchez, Javier; Mittag, Florian; Gibbs, J. Raphael; Schulte, Claudia; Durr, Alexandra; Guerreiro, Rita; Hernandez, Dena; Brice, Alexis; Stefánsson, Hreinn; Majamaa, Kari; Gasser, Thomas; Heutink, Peter; Wood, Nicholas W.; Martinez, Maria; Singleton, Andrew B.; Nalls, Michael A.; Hardy, John; Morris, Huw R.; Williams, Nigel M.; Arepalli, Sampath; Barker, Roger; Barrett, Jeffrey; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav; Berendse, Henk W.; Berg, Daniela; Bhatia, Kailash; de Bie, Rob M.A.; Biffi, Alessandro; Bloem, Bas; Brice, Alexis; Bochdanovits, Zoltan; Bonin, Michael; Bras, Jose M.; Brockmann, Kathrin; Brooks, Janet; Burn, David J.; Charlesworth, Gavin; Chen, Honglei; Chinnery, Patrick F.; Chong, Sean; Clarke, Carl E.; Cookson, Mark R.; Cooper, Jonathan M.; Corvol, Jen-Christophe; Counsell, Carl; Damier, Philippe; Dartigues, Jean Francois; Deloukas, Panagiotis; Deuschl, Günther; Dexter, David T.; van Dijk, Karin D.; Dillman, Allissa; Durif, Frank; Durr, Alexandra; Edkins, Sarah; Evans, Jonathan R.; Foltynie, Thomas; Gao, Jianjun; Gardner, Michelle; Gasser, Thomas; Gibbs, J. Raphael; Goate, Alison; Gray, Emma; Guerreiro, Rita; Gústafsson, Ómar; Hardy, John; Harris, Clare; Hernandez, Dena G.; Heutink, Peter; van Hilten, Jacobus J.; Hofman, Albert; Hollenbeck, Albert; Holmans, Peter; Holton, Janice; Hu, Michele; Huber, Heiko; Hudson, Gavin; Hunt, Sarah E.; Huttenlocher, Johanna; Illig, Thomas; Langford, Cordelia; Lees, Andrew; Lesage, Suzanne; Lichtner, Peter; Limousin, Patricia; Lopez, Grisel; Lorenz, Delia; Martinez, Maria; McNeill, Alisdair; Moorby, Catriona; Moore, Matthew; Morris, Huw; Morrison, Karen E.; Moskvina, Valentina; Mudanohwo, Ese; Nalls, Michael A.; Pearson, Justin; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Pétursson, Hjörvar; Plagnol, Vincent; Pollak, Pierre; Post, Bart; Potter, Simon; Ravina, Bernard; Revesz, Tamas; Riess, Olaf; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Rizzu, Patrizia; Ryten, Mina; Saad, Mohamad; Sawcer, Stephen; Schapira, Anthony; Scheffer, Hans; Sharma, Manu; Shaw, Karen; Sheerin, Una-Marie; Shoulson, Ira; Schulte, Claudia; Sidransky, Ellen; Simón-Sánchez, Javier; Singleton, Andrew B.; Smith, Colin; Stefánsson, Hreinn; Stefánsson, Kári; Steinberg, Stacy; Stockton, Joanna D.; Sveinbjornsdottir, Sigurlaug; Talbot, Kevin; Tanner, Carlie M.; Tashakkori-Ghanbaria, Avazeh; Tison, François; Trabzuni, Daniah; Traynor, Bryan J.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Velseboer, Daan; Vidailhet, Marie; Walker, Robert; van de Warrenburg, Bart; Wickremaratchi, Mirdhu; Williams, Nigel; Williams-Gray, Caroline H.; Winder-Rhodes, Sophie; Wood, Nicholas

2013-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting 1–2% in people >60 and 3–4% in people >80. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have now implicated significant evidence for association in at least 18 genomic regions. We have studied a large PD-meta analysis and identified a significant excess of SNPs (P < 1 × 10−16) that are associated with PD but fall short of the genome-wide significance threshold. This result was independent of variants at the 18 previously implicated regions and implies the presence of additional polygenic risk alleles. To understand how these loci increase risk of PD, we applied a pathway-based analysis, testing for biological functions that were significantly enriched for genes containing variants associated with PD. Analysing two independent GWA studies, we identified that both had a significant excess in the number of functional categories enriched for PD-associated genes (minimum P = 0.014 and P = 0.006, respectively). Moreover, 58 categories were significantly enriched for associated genes in both GWA studies (P < 0.001), implicating genes involved in the ‘regulation of leucocyte/lymphocyte activity’ and also ‘cytokine-mediated signalling’ as conferring an increased susceptibility to PD. These results were unaltered by the exclusion of all 178 genes that were present at the 18 genomic regions previously reported to be strongly associated with PD (including the HLA locus). Our findings, therefore, provide independent support to the strong association signal at the HLA locus and imply that the immune-related genetic susceptibility to PD is likely to be more widespread in the genome than previously appreciated. PMID:23223016

Multi-modal data fusion using source separation: Two effective models based on ICA and IVA and their properties

PubMed Central

Adali, Tülay; Levin-Schwartz, Yuri; Calhoun, Vince D.

2015-01-01

Fusion of information from multiple sets of data in order to extract a set of features that are most useful and relevant for the given task is inherent to many problems we deal with today. Since, usually, very little is known about the actual interaction among the datasets, it is highly desirable to minimize the underlying assumptions. This has been the main reason for the growing importance of data-driven methods, and in particular of independent component analysis (ICA) as it provides useful decompositions with a simple generative model and using only the assumption of statistical independence. A recent extension of ICA, independent vector analysis (IVA) generalizes ICA to multiple datasets by exploiting the statistical dependence across the datasets, and hence, as we discuss in this paper, provides an attractive solution to fusion of data from multiple datasets along with ICA. In this paper, we focus on two multivariate solutions for multi-modal data fusion that let multiple modalities fully interact for the estimation of underlying features that jointly report on all modalities. One solution is the Joint ICA model that has found wide application in medical imaging, and the second one is the the Transposed IVA model introduced here as a generalization of an approach based on multi-set canonical correlation analysis. In the discussion, we emphasize the role of diversity in the decompositions achieved by these two models, present their properties and implementation details to enable the user make informed decisions on the selection of a model along with its associated parameters. Discussions are supported by simulation results to help highlight the main issues in the implementation of these methods. PMID:26525830

Design of a tight frame of 2D shearlets based on a fast non-iterative analysis and synthesis algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goossens, Bart; Aelterman, Jan; Luong, Hi"p.; Pižurica, Aleksandra; Philips, Wilfried

2011-09-01

The shearlet transform is a recent sibling in the family of geometric image representations that provides a traditional multiresolution analysis combined with a multidirectional analysis. In this paper, we present a fast DFT-based analysis and synthesis scheme for the 2D discrete shearlet transform. Our scheme conforms to the continuous shearlet theory to high extent, provides perfect numerical reconstruction (up to floating point rounding errors) in a non-iterative scheme and is highly suitable for parallel implementation (e.g. FPGA, GPU). We show that our discrete shearlet representation is also a tight frame and the redundancy factor of the transform is around 2.6, independent of the number of analysis directions. Experimental denoising results indicate that the transform performs the same or even better than several related multiresolution transforms, while having a significantly lower redundancy factor.

Final Independent External Peer Review Report, Cache la Poudre at Greeley, Colorado General Investigation Feasibility Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-06

Adaptive Management Plan NED national economic development NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NER National Ecosystem Restoration NFIP... management and flow maintenance (e.g., flood water height, channel and culvert sizing) are based on high water events (i.e., FEMA base flood – 1% or 100...Minimum 15 years of experience in economics X Minimum 15 years of experience in flood risk management analysis and benefits calculations X Direct

Development of an Automated Modality-Independent Elastographic Image Analysis System for Tumor Screening

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

determined by its neighbors’ correspondence. Thus, the algorithm consists of four main steps: ICP registration of the base and nipple regions of the...the nipple and the base of the breast, as a location for accurately determining initial correspondence. However, due to the compression, the nipple of...cloud) is translated and lies at a different angle than the nipple of the pendant breast (the source point cloud). By minimizing the average distance

Lapin Data Interchange Among Database, Analysis and Display Programs Using XML-Based Text Files

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

The purpose of grant NCC3-966 was to investigate and evaluate the interchange of application-specific data among multiple programs each carrying out part of the analysis and design task. This has been carried out previously by creating a custom program to read data produced by one application and then write that data to a file whose format is specific to the second application that needs all or part of that data. In this investigation, data of interest is described using the XML markup language that allows the data to be stored in a text-string. Software to transform output data of a task into an XML-string and software to read an XML string and extract all or a portion of the data needed for another application is used to link two independent applications together as part of an overall design effort. This approach was initially used with a standard analysis program, Lapin, along with standard applications a standard spreadsheet program, a relational database program, and a conventional dialog and display program to demonstrate the successful sharing of data among independent programs. Most of the effort beyond that demonstration has been concentrated on the inclusion of more complex display programs. Specifically, a custom-written windowing program organized around dialogs to control the interactions have been combined with an independent CAD program (Open Cascade) that supports sophisticated display of CAD elements such as lines, spline curves, and surfaces and turbine-blade data produced by an independent blade design program (UD0300).

Comparison of Bobath based and movement science based treatment for stroke: a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

van Vliet, P M; Lincoln, N B; Foxall, A

2005-04-01

Bobath based (BB) and movement science based (MSB) physiotherapy interventions are widely used for patients after stroke. There is little evidence to suggest which is most effective. This single-blind randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of these treatments on movement abilities and functional independence. A total of 120 patients admitted to a stroke rehabilitation ward were randomised into two treatment groups to receive either BB or MSB treatment. Primary outcome measures were the Rivermead Motor Assessment and the Motor Assessment Scale. Secondary measures assessed functional independence, walking speed, arm function, muscle tone, and sensation. Measures were performed by a blinded assessor at baseline, and then at 1, 3, and 6 months after baseline. Analysis of serial measurements was performed to compare outcomes between the groups by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) and inserting AUC values into Mann-Whitney U tests. Comparison between groups showed no significant difference for any outcome measures. Significance values for the Rivermead Motor Assessment ranged from p = 0.23 to p = 0.97 and for the Motor Assessment Scale from p = 0.29 to p = 0.87. There were no significant differences in movement abilities or functional independence between patients receiving a BB or an MSB intervention. Therefore the study did not show that one approach was more effective than the other in the treatment of stroke patients.

Comparison of Bobath based and movement science based treatment for stroke: a randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

van Vliet, P M; Lincoln, N; Foxall, A

2005-01-01

Objectives: Bobath based (BB) and movement science based (MSB) physiotherapy interventions are widely used for patients after stroke. There is little evidence to suggest which is most effective. This single-blind randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of these treatments on movement abilities and functional independence. Methods: A total of 120 patients admitted to a stroke rehabilitation ward were randomised into two treatment groups to receive either BB or MSB treatment. Primary outcome measures were the Rivermead Motor Assessment and the Motor Assessment Scale. Secondary measures assessed functional independence, walking speed, arm function, muscle tone, and sensation. Measures were performed by a blinded assessor at baseline, and then at 1, 3, and 6 months after baseline. Analysis of serial measurements was performed to compare outcomes between the groups by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) and inserting AUC values into Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: Comparison between groups showed no significant difference for any outcome measures. Significance values for the Rivermead Motor Assessment ranged from p = 0.23 to p = 0.97 and for the Motor Assessment Scale from p = 0.29 to p = 0.87. Conclusions: There were no significant differences in movement abilities or functional independence between patients receiving a BB or an MSB intervention. Therefore the study did not show that one approach was more effective than the other in the treatment of stroke patients. PMID:15774435

A Multifunctional Interface Method for Coupling Finite Element and Finite Difference Methods: Two-Dimensional Scalar-Field Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ransom, Jonathan B.

2002-01-01

A multifunctional interface method with capabilities for variable-fidelity modeling and multiple method analysis is presented. The methodology provides an effective capability by which domains with diverse idealizations can be modeled independently to exploit the advantages of one approach over another. The multifunctional method is used to couple independently discretized subdomains, and it is used to couple the finite element and the finite difference methods. The method is based on a weighted residual variational method and is presented for two-dimensional scalar-field problems. A verification test problem and a benchmark application are presented, and the computational implications are discussed.

Use of sEMG in identification of low level muscle activities: features based on ICA and fractal dimension.

PubMed

Naik, Ganesh R; Kumar, Dinesh K; Arjunan, Sridhar

2009-01-01

This paper has experimentally verified and compared features of sEMG (Surface Electromyogram) such as ICA (Independent Component Analysis) and Fractal Dimension (FD) for identification of low level forearm muscle activities. The fractal dimension was used as a feature as reported in the literature. The normalized feature values were used as training and testing vectors for an Artificial neural network (ANN), in order to reduce inter-experimental variations. The identification accuracy using FD of four channels sEMG was 58%, and increased to 96% when the signals are separated to their independent components using ICA.

Source separation on hyperspectral cube applied to dermatology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitra, J.; Jolivot, R.; Vabres, P.; Marzani, F. S.

2010-03-01

This paper proposes a method of quantification of the components underlying the human skin that are supposed to be responsible for the effective reflectance spectrum of the skin over the visible wavelength. The method is based on independent component analysis assuming that the epidermal melanin and the dermal haemoglobin absorbance spectra are independent of each other. The method extracts the source spectra that correspond to the ideal absorbance spectra of melanin and haemoglobin. The noisy melanin spectrum is fixed using a polynomial fit and the quantifications associated with it are reestimated. The results produce feasible quantifications of each source component in the examined skin patch.

Application of least median of squared orthogonal distance (LMD) and LMD-based reweighted least squares (RLS) methods on the stock-recruitment relationship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yan-Jun; Liu, Qun

1999-03-01

Analysis of stock-recruitment (SR) data is most often done by fitting various SR relationship curves to the data. Fish population dynamics data often have stochastic variations and measurement errors, which usually result in a biased regression analysis. This paper presents a robust regression method, least median of squared orthogonal distance (LMD), which is insensitive to abnormal values in the dependent and independent variables in a regression analysis. Outliers that have significantly different variance from the rest of the data can be identified in a residual analysis. Then, the least squares (LS) method is applied to the SR data with defined outliers being down weighted. The application of LMD and LMD-based Reweighted Least Squares (RLS) method to simulated and real fisheries SR data is explored.

Relationships between media use, body fatness and physical activity in children and youth: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Marshall, S J; Biddle, S J H; Gorely, T; Cameron, N; Murdey, I

2004-10-01

To review the empirical evidence of associations between television (TV) viewing, video/computer game use and (a) body fatness, and (b) physical activity. Meta-analysis. Published English-language studies were located from computerized literature searches, bibliographies of primary studies and narrative reviews, and manual searches of personal archives. Included studies presented at least one empirical association between TV viewing, video/computer game use and body fatness or physical activity among samples of children and youth aged 3-18 y. The mean sample-weighted corrected effect size (Pearson r). Based on data from 52 independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between TV viewing and body fatness was 0.066 (95% CI=0.056-0.078; total N=44,707). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was 0.084. Based on data from six independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between video/computer game use and body fatness was 0.070 (95% CI=-0.048 to 0.188; total N=1,722). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was 0.128. Based on data from 39 independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between TV viewing and physical activity was -0.096 (95% CI=-0.080 to -0.112; total N=141,505). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was -0.129. Based on data from 10 independent samples, the mean sample-weighted effect size between video/computer game use and physical activity was -0.104 (95% CI=-0.080 to -0.128; total N=119,942). The sample-weighted fully corrected effect size was -0.141. A statistically significant relationship exists between TV viewing and body fatness among children and youth although it is likely to be too small to be of substantial clinical relevance. The relationship between TV viewing and physical activity is small but negative. The strength of these relationships remains virtually unchanged even after correcting for common sources of bias known to impact study outcomes. While the total amount of time per day engaged in sedentary behavior is inevitably prohibitive of physical activity, media-based inactivity may be unfairly implicated in recent epidemiologic trends of overweight and obesity among children and youth. Relationships between sedentary behavior and health are unlikely to be explained using single markers of inactivity, such as TV viewing or video/computer game use.

Microsatellite analysis of medfly bioinfestations in California.

PubMed

Bonizzoni, M; Zheng, L; Guglielmino, C R; Haymer, D S; Gasperi, G; Gomulski, L M; Malacrida, A R

2001-10-01

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is a destructive agricultural pest with a long history of invasion success. This pest has been affecting different regions of the United States for the past 30 years, but a number of studies of medfly bioinfestations has focused on the situation in California. Although some progress has been made in terms of establishing the origin of infestations, the overall status of this pest in this area remains controversial. Specifically, do flies captured over the years represent independent infestations or the persistence of a resident population? We present an effort to answer this question based on the use of multilocus genotyping. Ten microsatellite loci were used to analyse 109 medflies captured in several infestations within California between 1992 and 1998. Using these same markers, 242 medflies from regions of the world having 'established' populations of this pest including Hawaii, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina and Peru, were also analysed. Although phylogenetic analysis, amova analysis, the IMMANC assignment test and geneclass exclusion test analysis suggest that some of the medflies captured in California are derived from independent invasion events, analysis of specimens from the Los Angeles basin provides support for the hypothesis that an endemic population, probably derived from Guatemala, has been established.

Risk Factors for Chronic Subdural Hematoma Recurrence Identified Using Quantitative Computed Tomography Analysis of Hematoma Volume and Density.

PubMed

Stavrinou, Pantelis; Katsigiannis, Sotirios; Lee, Jong Hun; Hamisch, Christina; Krischek, Boris; Mpotsaris, Anastasios; Timmer, Marco; Goldbrunner, Roland

2017-03-01

Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), a common condition in elderly patients, presents a therapeutic challenge with recurrence rates of 33%. We aimed to identify specific prognostic factors for recurrence using quantitative analysis of hematoma volume and density. We retrospectively reviewed radiographic and clinical data of 227 CSDHs in 195 consecutive patients who underwent evacuation of the hematoma through a single burr hole, 2 burr holes, or a mini-craniotomy. To examine the relationship between hematoma recurrence and various clinical, radiologic, and surgical factors, we used quantitative image-based analysis to measure the hematoma and trapped air volumes and the hematoma densities. Recurrence of CSDH occurred in 35 patients (17.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the percentage of hematoma drained and postoperative CSDH density were independent risk factors for recurrence. All 3 evacuation methods were equally effective in draining the hematoma (71.7% vs. 73.7% vs. 71.9%) without observable differences in postoperative air volume captured in the subdural space. Quantitative image analysis provided evidence that percentage of hematoma drained and postoperative CSDH density are independent prognostic factors for subdural hematoma recurrence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ASKI: A modular toolbox for scattering-integral-based seismic full waveform inversion and sensitivity analysis utilizing external forward codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, Florian; Friederich, Wolfgang

Due to increasing computational resources, the development of new numerically demanding methods and software for imaging Earth's interior remains of high interest in Earth sciences. Here, we give a description from a user's and programmer's perspective of the highly modular, flexible and extendable software package ASKI-Analysis of Sensitivity and Kernel Inversion-recently developed for iterative scattering-integral-based seismic full waveform inversion. In ASKI, the three fundamental steps of solving the seismic forward problem, computing waveform sensitivity kernels and deriving a model update are solved by independent software programs that interact via file output/input only. Furthermore, the spatial discretizations of the model space used for solving the seismic forward problem and for deriving model updates, respectively, are kept completely independent. For this reason, ASKI does not contain a specific forward solver but instead provides a general interface to established community wave propagation codes. Moreover, the third fundamental step of deriving a model update can be repeated at relatively low costs applying different kinds of model regularization or re-selecting/weighting the inverted dataset without need to re-solve the forward problem or re-compute the kernels. Additionally, ASKI offers the user sensitivity and resolution analysis tools based on the full sensitivity matrix and allows to compose customized workflows in a consistent computational environment. ASKI is written in modern Fortran and Python, it is well documented and freely available under terms of the GNU General Public License (http://www.rub.de/aski).

Independent Risk Factors Contributing to Acute Kidney Injury According to Updated Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 Criteria After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: A Meta-analysis and Meta-regression of 13 Studies.

PubMed

Wang, Jiayang; Yu, Wenyuan; Zhou, Ye; Yang, Yong; Li, Chenglong; Liu, Nan; Hou, Xiaotong; Wang, Longfei

2017-06-01

This study aimed to examine the risk factors for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) according to the AKI definition from the Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 (VARC-2). A meta-analysis. A total of 661 patients with post-TAVI AKI according to the VARC-2 definition and 2,012 controls were included in the meta-analysis. Patients undergoing TAVI were included in this meta-analysis. Multiple electronic databases were searched using predefined criteria. The diagnosis of AKI was based on the VARC-2 classification. The authors found that preoperative New York Heart Association class IV (odds ratio [OR], 7.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.81-15.85), previous chronic renal disease (CKD) (OR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.96-4.03), and requirement for transfusion (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.59-2.59) were associated significantly with an increased risk for post-TAVI AKI. Furthermore, previous peripheral vascular disease (PVD), hypertension, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and stroke were also risk factors for TAVI-associated AKI. Additionally, transfemoral access significantly correlated with a reduced risk for post-TAVI AKI (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.33-0.57). The potential confounders, including Society of Thoracic Surgeons Score, the logistic European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation, aortic valve area, mean pressure gradient, left ventricular ejection fraction, age, body mass index, contrast volume, and valve type, had no impact on the association between the risk factors and post-TAVI AKI. Subgroup analysis of the eligible studies presenting multivariate logistic regression analysis on the independent risk factors for post-TAVI AKI revealed that previous CKD, previous PVD, and transapical access were independent risk factors for TAVI-associated AKI. The current meta-analysis suggested that previous CKD, previous PVD, and transapical access may be independent risk factors for TAVI-associated AKI. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Analysis of biofluids in aqueous environment based on mid-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Fabian, Heinz; Lasch, Peter; Naumann, Dieter

2005-01-01

In this study we describe a semiautomatic Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic methodology for the analysis of liquid serum samples, which combines simple sample introduction with high sample throughput. The applicability of this new infrared technology to the analysis of liquid serum samples from a cohort of cattle naturally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy and from controls was explored in comparison to the conventional approach based on transmission infrared spectroscopy of dried serum films. Artifical neural network analysis of the infrared data was performed to differentiate between bovine spongiform encephalopathy-negative controls and animals in the late stage of the disease. After training of artifical neural network classifiers, infrared spectra of sera from an independent external validation data set were analyzed. In this way, sensitivities between 90 and 96% and specificities between 84 and 92% were achieved, respectively, depending upon the strategy of data collection and data analysis. Based on these results, the advantages and limitations of the liquid sample technique and the dried film approach for routine analysis of biofluids are discussed. 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Numerical models analysis of energy conversion process in air-breathing laser propulsion

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

Hong Yanji; Song Junling; Cui Cunyan

Energy source was considered as a key essential in this paper to describe energy conversion process in air-breathing laser propulsion. Some secondary factors were ignored when three independent modules, ray transmission module, energy source term module and fluid dynamic module, were established by simultaneous laser radiation transportation equation and fluid mechanics equation. The incidence laser beam was simulated based on ray tracing method. The calculated results were in good agreement with those of theoretical analysis and experiments.

INFANT SIGN TRAINING AND FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

PubMed Central

Normand, Matthew P; Machado, Mychal A; Hustyi, Kristin M; Morley, Allison J

2011-01-01

We taught manual signs to typically developing infants using a reversal design and caregiver-nominated stimuli. We delivered the stimuli on a time-based schedule during baseline. During the intervention, we used progressive prompting and reinforcement, described by Thompson et al. (2004, 2007), to establish mands. Following sign training, we conducted functional analyses and verified that the signs functioned as mands. These results provide preliminary validation for the verbal behavior functional analysis methodology and further evidence of the functional independence of verbal operants. PMID:21709786

Comments on "Entransy analysis and optimization of performance of nano-scale irreversible Otto cycle operating with Maxwell-Boltzmann ideal gas"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awad, M. M.

2017-03-01

The purpose of this discussion is to increase the awareness of the divergent views on the entransy concept among the readers of chemical physics. Comments are presented in particular on the paper by Ahmadi et al. (2016) where the authors used entransy dissipation in their analysis. Based on the view points of independent different groups of researchers world wide, I draw the attention of readers to the reality that entransy has no physical meaning.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the extravehicular mobility unit, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raffaelli, Gary G.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort performed an independent analysis of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) hardware and system, generating draft failure modes criticalities and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were than compared to the most recent proposed Post 51-L NASA FMEA/CIL baseline. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison was provided through additional analysis as required. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter EMU hardware.

Sectorial Relations & Chicago School Reform: A Preliminary View from the Foundation Sector. A Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKersie, William S.

Are sectorial relations among nonprofit organizations, business, and government truly dependent, or are they instead a complex mix of dependent and independent actions? This working paper is based on a dissertation in progress, which is a comparative analysis of how private foundations influence the reform of urban public education. It compares…

Analysis of an Asynchronous Online Discussion as a Supportive Model for Peer Collaboration and Reflection in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plešec Gasparic, Romina; Pecar, Mojca

2016-01-01

Professional development of future teachers is based on connecting theory and practice with the aim of supporting and developing critical, independent, responsible decision-making and active teaching. With this aim we designed a blended learning environment with an asynchronous online discussion, enabling collaboration and reflection even when…

Recognising and Revealing Knowers: An Enhanced Bernsteinian Analysis of Masonic Recruitment and Apprenticeship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poulet, Celia

2010-01-01

The increasing opening of French freemasonry to lower social classes raises the question of how individuals from different social backgrounds can be assimilated into the practice of context-independent ways of speaking and writing. I address these issues by, first, describing a selection by existing members based on the dispositions already…

Analysis of the gut microbiome in beef cattle and its association with feed intake, growth, and efficiency

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Next-generation sequencing has taken a central role in studies of microbial ecology, especially with regard to culture-independent methods based on molecular phylogenies of the small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene (16S rRNA gene). The ability to relate trends at the species or genus level to host/envir...

Leveraging University Research to Serve Economic Development: An Analysis of Policy Dynamics in and across Three US States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warshaw, Jarrett B.; Hearn, James C.

2014-01-01

As economic competition becomes more global and knowledge-based, US states have independently pursued initiatives in research and development (R&D) and science and technology (S&T). Policy efforts often entwine government, universities, and industry, aiming to stimulate socially optimal levels of innovation and economic growth.…

Concurrent EEG And NIRS Tomographic Imaging Based on Wearable Electro-Optodes

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-13

Interfaces   ( BCIs ),   and   other   systems   in   the   same   computational   framework.   Figure   11   below   shows...Improving  Brain-­‐Computer   Interfaces  Using   Independent  Component   Analysis,  In:  Towards  Future   BCIs ,  2012

Extracting Intrinsic Functional Networks with Feature-Based Group Independent Component Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calhoun, Vince D.; Allen, Elena

2013-01-01

There is increasing use of functional imaging data to understand the macro-connectome of the human brain. Of particular interest is the structure and function of intrinsic networks (regions exhibiting temporally coherent activity both at rest and while a task is being performed), which account for a significant portion of the variance in…

Improved cardiac motion detection from ultrasound images using TDIOF: a combined B-mode/ tissue Doppler approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavakoli, Vahid; Stoddard, Marcus F.; Amini, Amir A.

2013-03-01

Quantitative motion analysis of echocardiographic images helps clinicians with the diagnosis and therapy of patients suffering from cardiac disease. Quantitative analysis is usually based on TDI (Tissue Doppler Imaging) or speckle tracking. These methods are based on two independent techniques - the Doppler Effect and image registration, respectively. In order to increase the accuracy of the speckle tracking technique and cope with the angle dependency of TDI, herein, a combined approach dubbed TDIOF (Tissue Doppler Imaging Optical Flow) is proposed. TDIOF is formulated based on the combination of B-mode and Doppler energy terms in an optical flow framework and minimized using algebraic equations. In this paper, we report on validations with simulated, physical cardiac phantom, and in-vivo patient data. It is shown that the additional Doppler term is able to increase the accuracy of speckle tracking, the basis for several commercially available echocardiography analysis techniques.

Do Concomitant Cranium and Axis Injuries Predict Worse Outcome? A Trauma Database Quantitative Analysis

PubMed Central

Chittiboina, Prashant; Banerjee, Anirban Deep; Nanda, Anil

2011-01-01

We performed a trauma database analysis to identify the effect of concomitant cranial injuries on outcome in patients with fractures of the axis. We identified patients with axis fractures over a 14-year period. A binary outcome measure was used. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. There were 259 cases with axis fractures. Closed head injury was noted in 57% and skull base trauma in 14%. Death occurred in 17 cases (6%). Seventy-two percent had good outcome. Presence of abnormal computed tomography head findings, skull base fractures, and visceral injury was significantly associated with poor outcome. Skull base injury in association with fractures of the axis is a significant independent predictor of worse outcomes, irrespective of the severity of the head injury. We propose that presence of concomitant cranial and upper vertebral injuries require careful evaluation in view of the associated poor prognosis. PMID:22470268

Dynamics of intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from epilepsy patients using univariate and bivariate recurrence networks.

PubMed

Subramaniyam, Narayan Puthanmadam; Hyttinen, Jari

2015-02-01

Recently Andrezejak et al. combined the randomness and nonlinear independence test with iterative amplitude adjusted Fourier transform (iAAFT) surrogates to distinguish between the dynamics of seizure-free intracranial electroencephalographic (EEG) signals recorded from epileptogenic (focal) and nonepileptogenic (nonfocal) brain areas of epileptic patients. However, stationarity is a part of the null hypothesis for iAAFT surrogates and thus nonstationarity can violate the null hypothesis. In this work we first propose the application of the randomness and nonlinear independence test based on recurrence network measures to distinguish between the dynamics of focal and nonfocal EEG signals. Furthermore, we combine these tests with both iAAFT and truncated Fourier transform (TFT) surrogate methods, which also preserves the nonstationarity of the original data in the surrogates along with its linear structure. Our results indicate that focal EEG signals exhibit an increased degree of structural complexity and interdependency compared to nonfocal EEG signals. In general, we find higher rejections for randomness and nonlinear independence tests for focal EEG signals compared to nonfocal EEG signals. In particular, the univariate recurrence network measures, the average clustering coefficient C and assortativity R, and the bivariate recurrence network measure, the average cross-clustering coefficient C(cross), can successfully distinguish between the focal and nonfocal EEG signals, even when the analysis is restricted to nonstationary signals, irrespective of the type of surrogates used. On the other hand, we find that the univariate recurrence network measures, the average path length L, and the average betweenness centrality BC fail to distinguish between the focal and nonfocal EEG signals when iAAFT surrogates are used. However, these two measures can distinguish between focal and nonfocal EEG signals when TFT surrogates are used for nonstationary signals. We also report an improvement in the performance of nonlinear prediction error N and nonlinear interdependence measure L used by Andrezejak et al., when TFT surrogates are used for nonstationary EEG signals. We also find that the outcome of the nonlinear independence test based on the average cross-clustering coefficient C(cross) is independent of the outcome of the randomness test based on the average clustering coefficient C. Thus, the univariate and bivariate recurrence network measures provide independent information regarding the dynamics of the focal and nonfocal EEG signals. In conclusion, recurrence network analysis combined with nonstationary surrogates can be applied to derive reliable biomarkers to distinguish between epileptogenic and nonepileptogenic brain areas using EEG signals.

Dynamics of intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from epilepsy patients using univariate and bivariate recurrence networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramaniyam, Narayan Puthanmadam; Hyttinen, Jari

2015-02-01

Recently Andrezejak et al. combined the randomness and nonlinear independence test with iterative amplitude adjusted Fourier transform (iAAFT) surrogates to distinguish between the dynamics of seizure-free intracranial electroencephalographic (EEG) signals recorded from epileptogenic (focal) and nonepileptogenic (nonfocal) brain areas of epileptic patients. However, stationarity is a part of the null hypothesis for iAAFT surrogates and thus nonstationarity can violate the null hypothesis. In this work we first propose the application of the randomness and nonlinear independence test based on recurrence network measures to distinguish between the dynamics of focal and nonfocal EEG signals. Furthermore, we combine these tests with both iAAFT and truncated Fourier transform (TFT) surrogate methods, which also preserves the nonstationarity of the original data in the surrogates along with its linear structure. Our results indicate that focal EEG signals exhibit an increased degree of structural complexity and interdependency compared to nonfocal EEG signals. In general, we find higher rejections for randomness and nonlinear independence tests for focal EEG signals compared to nonfocal EEG signals. In particular, the univariate recurrence network measures, the average clustering coefficient C and assortativity R , and the bivariate recurrence network measure, the average cross-clustering coefficient Ccross, can successfully distinguish between the focal and nonfocal EEG signals, even when the analysis is restricted to nonstationary signals, irrespective of the type of surrogates used. On the other hand, we find that the univariate recurrence network measures, the average path length L , and the average betweenness centrality BC fail to distinguish between the focal and nonfocal EEG signals when iAAFT surrogates are used. However, these two measures can distinguish between focal and nonfocal EEG signals when TFT surrogates are used for nonstationary signals. We also report an improvement in the performance of nonlinear prediction error N and nonlinear interdependence measure L used by Andrezejak et al., when TFT surrogates are used for nonstationary EEG signals. We also find that the outcome of the nonlinear independence test based on the average cross-clustering coefficient Ccross is independent of the outcome of the randomness test based on the average clustering coefficient C . Thus, the univariate and bivariate recurrence network measures provide independent information regarding the dynamics of the focal and nonfocal EEG signals. In conclusion, recurrence network analysis combined with nonstationary surrogates can be applied to derive reliable biomarkers to distinguish between epileptogenic and nonepileptogenic brain areas using EEG signals.

Independent component analysis for cochlear implant artifacts attenuation from electrically evoked auditory steady-state response measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deprez, Hanne; Gransier, Robin; Hofmann, Michael; van Wieringen, Astrid; Wouters, Jan; Moonen, Marc

2018-02-01

Objective. Electrically evoked auditory steady-state responses (EASSRs) are potentially useful for objective cochlear implant (CI) fitting and follow-up of the auditory maturation in infants and children with a CI. EASSRs are recorded in the electro-encephalogram (EEG) in response to electrical stimulation with continuous pulse trains, and are distorted by significant CI artifacts related to this electrical stimulation. The aim of this study is to evaluate a CI artifacts attenuation method based on independent component analysis (ICA) for three EASSR datasets. Approach. ICA has often been used to remove CI artifacts from the EEG to record transient auditory responses, such as cortical evoked auditory potentials. Independent components (ICs) corresponding to CI artifacts are then often manually identified. In this study, an ICA based CI artifacts attenuation method was developed and evaluated for EASSR measurements with varying CI artifacts and EASSR characteristics. Artifactual ICs were automatically identified based on their spectrum. Main results. For 40 Hz amplitude modulation (AM) stimulation at comfort level, in high SNR recordings, ICA succeeded in removing CI artifacts from all recording channels, without distorting the EASSR. For lower SNR recordings, with 40 Hz AM stimulation at lower levels, or 90 Hz AM stimulation, ICA either distorted the EASSR or could not remove all CI artifacts in most subjects, except for two of the seven subjects tested with low level 40 Hz AM stimulation. Noise levels were reduced after ICA was applied, and up to 29 ICs were rejected, suggesting poor ICA separation quality. Significance. We hypothesize that ICA is capable of separating CI artifacts and EASSR in case the contralateral hemisphere is EASSR dominated. For small EASSRs or large CI artifact amplitudes, ICA separation quality is insufficient to ensure complete CI artifacts attenuation without EASSR distortion.

LDH is an adverse prognostic factor independent of ISS in transplant-eligible myeloma patients receiving bortezomib-based induction regimens.

PubMed

Chim, Chor Sang; Sim, Joycelyn; Tam, Sidney; Tse, Eric; Lie, Albert Kwok Wai; Kwong, Yok Lam

2015-04-01

Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has been an adverse prognostic factor for myeloma but does not feature in the International Staging System (ISS). We examined whether elevated serum LDH at diagnosis remains an adverse risk factor independent of ISS for survivals transplant-eligible myeloma patients receiving early/frontline bortezomib-based induction, followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Seventy-seven transplant-eligible Chinese patients received three induction regimens [staged approach (N = 25), PAD (N = 19), VTD (N = 33)], followed by ASCT and thalidomide maintenance. Five-year overall (OS) and event-free (EFS) survivals were 66.4% and 36.2%. There was no difference in demographics, complete remission/near complete remission (CR/nCR rates postinduction or ASCT, and survivals among patients induced by the three induction regimens. Elevated LDH was associated with male gender (P = 0.006), ISS III (P = 0.042) and serum β2-microglobulin (P = 0.040). Univariate analysis showed that elevated LDH, ISS III, high β2-microglobulin, and failure to attain CR/nCR post-ACST were risk factors adversely impacting both OS and EFS. Multivariate analysis showed that elevated LDH was the only factor impacting both OS (P = 0.007) and EFS (P = 0.008). In this uniformly treated cohort of transplant-eligible myeloma patients, elevated serum LDH is an adverse risk factor independent of ISS for both OS and EFS. Bortezomib-based induction/ASCT regimen had not abolished the adverse impact of elevated LDH. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of an inflammation-based prognostic score in patients with metastatic renal cancer.

PubMed

Ramsey, Sara; Lamb, Gavin W A; Aitchison, Michael; Graham, John; McMillan, Donald C

2007-01-15

Recently, it was shown that an inflammation-based prognostic score, the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), provides additional prognostic information in patients with advanced cancer. The objective of the current study was to examine the value of the GPS compared with established scoring systems in predicting cancer-specific survival in patients with metastatic renal cancer. One hundred nineteen patients who underwent immunotherapy for metastatic renal cancer were recruited. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) score and the Metastatic Renal Carcinoma Comprehensive Prognostic System (MRCCPS) score were calculated as described previously. Patients who had both an elevated C-reactive protein level (>10 mg/L) and hypoalbuminemia (<35 g/L) were allocated a GPS of 2. Patients who had only 1 of those 2 biochemical abnormalities were allocated a GPS of 1. Patients who had neither abnormality were allocated a GPS of 0. On multivariate analysis of significant individual factors, only calcium (hazard ratio [HR], 3.21; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.51-6.83; P = .002), white cell count (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.17-2.35; P = .004), albumin (HR, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.38-5.03; P = .003), and C-reactive protein (HR, 2.85; 95% CI; 1.49-5.45; P = .002) were associated independently with cancer-specific survival. On multivariate analysis of the different scoring systems, the MSKCC (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.22-2.88; P = .004), the MRCCPS (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 0.97-2.09; P = .071), and the GPS (HR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.51-3.67; P < .001) were associated independently with cancer-specific survival. An inflammation-based prognostic score (GPS) predicted survival independent of established scoring systems in patients with metastatic renal cancer.

Technical Note: Independent component analysis for quality assurance in functional MRI.

PubMed

Astrakas, Loukas G; Kallistis, Nikolaos S; Kalef-Ezra, John A

2016-02-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) is an established method of analyzing human functional MRI (fMRI) data. Here, an ICA-based fMRI quality control (QC) tool was developed and used. ICA-based fMRI QC tool to be used with a commercial phantom was developed. In an attempt to assess the performance of the tool relative to preexisting alternative tools, it was used seven weeks before and eight weeks after repair of a faulty gradient amplifier of a non-state-of-the-art MRI unit. More specifically, its performance was compared with the AAPM 100 acceptance testing and quality assurance protocol and two fMRI QC protocols, proposed by Freidman et al. ["Report on a multicenter fMRI quality assurance protocol," J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 23, 827-839 (2006)] and Stocker et al. ["Automated quality assurance routines for fMRI data applied to a multicenter study," Hum. Brain Mapp. 25, 237-246 (2005)], respectively. The easily developed and applied ICA-based QC protocol provided fMRI QC indices and maps equally sensitive to fMRI instabilities with the indices and maps of other established protocols. The ICA fMRI QC indices were highly correlated with indices of other fMRI QC protocols and in some cases theoretically related to them. Three or four independent components with slow varying time series are detected under normal conditions. ICA applied on phantom measurements is an easy and efficient tool for fMRI QC. Additionally, it can protect against misinterpretations of artifact components as human brain activations. Evaluating fMRI QC indices in the central region of a phantom is not always the optimal choice.

Rotation of EOFs by the Independent Component Analysis: Towards A Solution of the Mixing Problem in the Decomposition of Geophysical Time Series

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aires, Filipe; Rossow, William B.; Chedin, Alain; Hansen, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The Independent Component Analysis is a recently developed technique for component extraction. This new method requires the statistical independence of the extracted components, a stronger constraint that uses higher-order statistics, instead of the classical decorrelation, a weaker constraint that uses only second-order statistics. This technique has been used recently for the analysis of geophysical time series with the goal of investigating the causes of variability in observed data (i.e. exploratory approach). We demonstrate with a data simulation experiment that, if initialized with a Principal Component Analysis, the Independent Component Analysis performs a rotation of the classical PCA (or EOF) solution. This rotation uses no localization criterion like other Rotation Techniques (RT), only the global generalization of decorrelation by statistical independence is used. This rotation of the PCA solution seems to be able to solve the tendency of PCA to mix several physical phenomena, even when the signal is just their linear sum.

Value of trainees in a radiology department. A retrospective semi-quantitative analysis.

PubMed

Vardhanabhuti, V; Bhatnagar, G; Brown, S; James, J; Shuen, V; Sidhu, H; Thomas, R; Fox, B

2011-07-01

To examine the productivity (both economic and otherwise) of trainees within a radiology department at our institution. Productivity was measured in three ways: (1) independent workload contribution, (2) impact on on-call services, and (3) impact on day-to-day practice as perceived by consultant radiologists. Data were collected using retrospective searches on computerized radiology information system (CRIS), analysis of trainees and consultant rotas, and a questionnaire to consultants and trainees. Where possible, productivity was quantified in terms of number of programmed activities (PAs). The contribution of independent work by trainees in a single week was 52.75 PAs (or 1.45 PAs per trainee per week). In addition, the on-call contribution was 23.1 PAs per week (or 0.93 PAs per trainee per week). When both trainees and consultants report independently, productivity in a single list in most cases increased and can be as much as 197%. On calculating the economic impact, this amounts to significant savings of around £1.2million per year at our institution. Based upon objectively measurable areas of service provision, the employment of trainees yields considerable economic benefit. Furthermore, based upon qualitative methods we have shown that trainees contribute positively in those areas, which are much harder to quantifiably evaluate. These are benefits in addition to fundamental requirement to train future competent radiologists. Copyright © 2011 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A 2-D Interface Element for Coupled Analysis of Independently Modeled 3-D Finite Element Subdomains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kandil, Osama A.

1998-01-01

Over the past few years, the development of the interface technology has provided an analysis framework for embedding detailed finite element models within finite element models which are less refined. This development has enabled the use of cascading substructure domains without the constraint of coincident nodes along substructure boundaries. The approach used for the interface element is based on an alternate variational principle often used in deriving hybrid finite elements. The resulting system of equations exhibits a high degree of sparsity but gives rise to a non-positive definite system which causes difficulties with many of the equation solvers in general-purpose finite element codes. Hence the global system of equations is generally solved using, a decomposition procedure with pivoting. The research reported to-date for the interface element includes the one-dimensional line interface element and two-dimensional surface interface element. Several large-scale simulations, including geometrically nonlinear problems, have been reported using the one-dimensional interface element technology; however, only limited applications are available for the surface interface element. In the applications reported to-date, the geometry of the interfaced domains exactly match each other even though the spatial discretization within each domain may be different. As such, the spatial modeling of each domain, the interface elements and the assembled system is still laborious. The present research is focused on developing a rapid modeling procedure based on a parametric interface representation of independently defined subdomains which are also independently discretized.

Accuracy Evaluation of the Unified P-Value from Combining Correlated P-Values

PubMed Central

Alves, Gelio; Yu, Yi-Kuo

2014-01-01

Meta-analysis methods that combine -values into a single unified -value are frequently employed to improve confidence in hypothesis testing. An assumption made by most meta-analysis methods is that the -values to be combined are independent, which may not always be true. To investigate the accuracy of the unified -value from combining correlated -values, we have evaluated a family of statistical methods that combine: independent, weighted independent, correlated, and weighted correlated -values. Statistical accuracy evaluation by combining simulated correlated -values showed that correlation among -values can have a significant effect on the accuracy of the combined -value obtained. Among the statistical methods evaluated those that weight -values compute more accurate combined -values than those that do not. Also, statistical methods that utilize the correlation information have the best performance, producing significantly more accurate combined -values. In our study we have demonstrated that statistical methods that combine -values based on the assumption of independence can produce inaccurate -values when combining correlated -values, even when the -values are only weakly correlated. Therefore, to prevent from drawing false conclusions during hypothesis testing, our study advises caution be used when interpreting the -value obtained from combining -values of unknown correlation. However, when the correlation information is available, the weighting-capable statistical method, first introduced by Brown and recently modified by Hou, seems to perform the best amongst the methods investigated. PMID:24663491

Empirical validation of the triple-code model of numerical processing for complex math operations using functional MRI and group Independent Component Analysis of the mental addition and subtraction of fractions.

PubMed

Schmithorst, Vincent J; Brown, Rhonda Douglas

2004-07-01

The suitability of a previously hypothesized triple-code model of numerical processing, involving analog magnitude, auditory verbal, and visual Arabic codes of representation, was investigated for the complex mathematical task of the mental addition and subtraction of fractions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 15 normal adult subjects were processed using exploratory group Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Separate task-related components were found with activation in bilateral inferior parietal, left perisylvian, and ventral occipitotemporal areas. These results support the hypothesized triple-code model corresponding to the activated regions found in the individual components and indicate that the triple-code model may be a suitable framework for analyzing the neuropsychological bases of the performance of complex mathematical tasks. Copyright 2004 Elsevier Inc.

Intra-seasonal Oscillations (ISO) of Zonal-Mean Meridional Winds and Temperatures as Measured by UARS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Frank T.; Mayr, Hans G.; Reber, Carl A.

2004-01-01

Based on an empirical analysis of measurements with the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the UARS spacecraft in the upper mesosphere (95 km), persistent and regular intra-seasonal oscillations (ISO) with periods of about 2 to 4 months have recently been reported in the zonal-mean meridional winds. Similar oscillations have also been discussed independently in a modeling study, and they were attributed to wave-mean-flow interactions. The observed and modeled meridional wind ISOs were largely confined to low latitudes. We report here an analysis of concurrent temperature measurements on UARS, which produces oscillations similar to those seen in the meridional winds. Although the temperature oscillations are observed at lower altitudes (55 km), their phase variations with latitude are qualitatively consistent with the inferred properties seen in the meridional winds and thus provide independent evidence for the existence of ISOs in the mesosphere.

Computational and experimental analysis of DNA shuffling

PubMed Central

Maheshri, Narendra; Schaffer, David V.

2003-01-01

We describe a computational model of DNA shuffling based on the thermodynamics and kinetics of this process. The model independently tracks a representative ensemble of DNA molecules and records their states at every stage of a shuffling reaction. These data can subsequently be analyzed to yield information on any relevant metric, including reassembly efficiency, crossover number, type and distribution, and DNA sequence length distributions. The predictive ability of the model was validated by comparison to three independent sets of experimental data, and analysis of the simulation results led to several unique insights into the DNA shuffling process. We examine a tradeoff between crossover frequency and reassembly efficiency and illustrate the effects of experimental parameters on this relationship. Furthermore, we discuss conditions that promote the formation of useless “junk” DNA sequences or multimeric sequences containing multiple copies of the reassembled product. This model will therefore aid in the design of optimal shuffling reaction conditions. PMID:12626764

Association Analysis Suggests SOD2 as a Newly Identified Candidate Gene Associated With Leprosy Susceptibility.

PubMed

Ramos, Geovana Brotto; Salomão, Heloisa; Francio, Angela Schneider; Fava, Vinícius Medeiros; Werneck, Renata Iani; Mira, Marcelo Távora

2016-08-01

Genetic studies have identified several genes and genomic regions contributing to the control of host susceptibility to leprosy. Here, we test variants of the positional and functional candidate gene SOD2 for association with leprosy in 2 independent population samples. Family-based analysis revealed an association between leprosy and allele G of marker rs295340 (P = .042) and borderline evidence of an association between leprosy and alleles C and A of markers rs4880 (P = .077) and rs5746136 (P = .071), respectively. Findings were validated in an independent case-control sample for markers rs295340 (P = .049) and rs4880 (P = .038). These results suggest SOD2 as a newly identified gene conferring susceptibility to leprosy. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Specter: linear deconvolution for targeted analysis of data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry proteomics.

PubMed

Peckner, Ryan; Myers, Samuel A; Jacome, Alvaro Sebastian Vaca; Egertson, Jarrett D; Abelin, Jennifer G; MacCoss, Michael J; Carr, Steven A; Jaffe, Jacob D

2018-05-01

Mass spectrometry with data-independent acquisition (DIA) is a promising method to improve the comprehensiveness and reproducibility of targeted and discovery proteomics, in theory by systematically measuring all peptide precursors in a biological sample. However, the analytical challenges involved in discriminating between peptides with similar sequences in convoluted spectra have limited its applicability in important cases, such as the detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and alternative site localizations in phosphoproteomics data. We report Specter (https://github.com/rpeckner-broad/Specter), an open-source software tool that uses linear algebra to deconvolute DIA mixture spectra directly through comparison to a spectral library, thus circumventing the problems associated with typical fragment-correlation-based approaches. We validate the sensitivity of Specter and its performance relative to that of other methods, and show that Specter is able to successfully analyze cases involving highly similar peptides that are typically challenging for DIA analysis methods.

Climate Change Risk Management Consulting: The opportunity for an independent business practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciccozzi, R.

2009-04-01

The Paper outlines the main questions to be addressed with reference to the actual demand of climate change risk management consulting, in the financial services. Moreover, the Project shall also try to investigate if the Catastrophe Modelling Industry can start and manage a business practice specialised on climate change risk exposures. In this context, the Paper aims at testing the possibility to build a sound business case, based upon typical MBA course analysis tools, such as PEST(LE), SWOT, etc. Specific references to the tools to be used and to other contribution from academic literature and general documentation are also discussed in the body of the Paper and listed at the end. The analysis shall also focus on the core competencies required for an independent climate change risk management consulting business practice, with the purpose to outline a valid definition of how to achieve competitive advantage in climate change risk management consulting.

Performance of an open-source heart sound segmentation algorithm on eight independent databases.

PubMed

Liu, Chengyu; Springer, David; Clifford, Gari D

2017-08-01

Heart sound segmentation is a prerequisite step for the automatic analysis of heart sound signals, facilitating the subsequent identification and classification of pathological events. Recently, hidden Markov model-based algorithms have received increased interest due to their robustness in processing noisy recordings. In this study we aim to evaluate the performance of the recently published logistic regression based hidden semi-Markov model (HSMM) heart sound segmentation method, by using a wider variety of independently acquired data of varying quality. Firstly, we constructed a systematic evaluation scheme based on a new collection of heart sound databases, which we assembled for the PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2016. This collection includes a total of more than 120 000 s of heart sounds recorded from 1297 subjects (including both healthy subjects and cardiovascular patients) and comprises eight independent heart sound databases sourced from multiple independent research groups around the world. Then, the HSMM-based segmentation method was evaluated using the assembled eight databases. The common evaluation metrics of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, as well as the [Formula: see text] measure were used. In addition, the effect of varying the tolerance window for determining a correct segmentation was evaluated. The results confirm the high accuracy of the HSMM-based algorithm on a separate test dataset comprised of 102 306 heart sounds. An average [Formula: see text] score of 98.5% for segmenting S1 and systole intervals and 97.2% for segmenting S2 and diastole intervals were observed. The [Formula: see text] score was shown to increases with an increases in the tolerance window size, as expected. The high segmentation accuracy of the HSMM-based algorithm on a large database confirmed the algorithm's effectiveness. The described evaluation framework, combined with the largest collection of open access heart sound data, provides essential resources for evaluators who need to test their algorithms with realistic data and share reproducible results.

The Financial Resilience of Independent Colleges and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chessman, Hollie M.; Hartley, Harold V., III; Williams, Michael

2017-01-01

This report explores the financial resilience of independent colleges and universities through an analysis of 14 years (fiscal years 2001-2014) of financial data from 559 private nondoctoral institutions. Through analysis of financial performance in several domains, the data reveal that the majority of independent baccalaureate and master's-level…

24 CFR 202.3 - Approval status for lenders and mortgagees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... own portfolio or the portfolios of other mortgagees with which it has a servicing contract. (d... by the Secretary and signed by the mortgagee; (ii) Be accompanied by an independent analysis of the... and claim rate. The independent analysis must be prepared by an independent Certified Public...

The Impact of Epidemiological Factors and Treatment Interventions on Survival in Patients With Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas.

PubMed

Patel, Mausam; Hans, Harliv S; Pan, Kelsey; Khan, Humza; Donath, Elie; Caldera, Humberto

2018-04-18

Primary pancreatic signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) is a rare histologic variant of pancreatic carcinoma. A population-based analysis of pancreatic SRCC was performed to determine the predictive effects of epidemiological factors and treatment interventions on overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry was searched for pancreatic SRCC cases diagnosed between January 1, 1973 and December 31, 2013. Statistical analysis was performed using the Fisher exact test, χ analysis, Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards regression. The mean age among 497 patients was 66.6 years (SD, 11.9). Most patients were white (82.7%) and male (54.5%). The 1-, 2-, and 5-year OS rates were 17%, 9%, and 4%, respectively, while the corresponding 1-, 2-, and 5-year rates for DSS were 18%, 10%, and 5%, respectively. On univariable analysis; age, site, grade, stage, and treatment were predictive of OS and DSS (P<0.05). On multivariable analysis; radiation improved OS and DSS (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.592 and 0.589, respectively), pancreatectomy improved OS and DSS (aHR, 0.360 and 0.355, respectively), and combination therapy improved OS and DSS (aHR, 0.295 and 0.286, respectively). Age, site, and stage were also independent predictors of OS and DSS. Subgroup analysis demonstrated treatment to be an independent predictor of OS and DSS in localized/regional disease, in distant disease, and in patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2013. Age, site, stage, and treatment independently predict OS and DSS in pancreatic SRCC.

Sparse SPM: Group Sparse-dictionary learning in SPM framework for resting-state functional connectivity MRI analysis.

PubMed

Lee, Young-Beom; Lee, Jeonghyeon; Tak, Sungho; Lee, Kangjoo; Na, Duk L; Seo, Sang Won; Jeong, Yong; Ye, Jong Chul

2016-01-15

Recent studies of functional connectivity MR imaging have revealed that the default-mode network activity is disrupted in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is not yet a consensus on the preferred method for resting-state analysis. Because the brain is reported to have complex interconnected networks according to graph theoretical analysis, the independency assumption, as in the popular independent component analysis (ICA) approach, often does not hold. Here, rather than using the independency assumption, we present a new statistical parameter mapping (SPM)-type analysis method based on a sparse graph model where temporal dynamics at each voxel position are described as a sparse combination of global brain dynamics. In particular, a new concept of a spatially adaptive design matrix has been proposed to represent local connectivity that shares the same temporal dynamics. If we further assume that local network structures within a group are similar, the estimation problem of global and local dynamics can be solved using sparse dictionary learning for the concatenated temporal data across subjects. Moreover, under the homoscedasticity variance assumption across subjects and groups that is often used in SPM analysis, the aforementioned individual and group analyses using sparse dictionary learning can be accurately modeled by a mixed-effect model, which also facilitates a standard SPM-type group-level inference using summary statistics. Using an extensive resting fMRI data set obtained from normal, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease patient groups, we demonstrated that the changes in the default mode network extracted by the proposed method are more closely correlated with the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Nasal Brush-based Classifier of Asthma Identified by Machine Learning Analysis of Nasal RNA Sequence Data.

PubMed

Pandey, Gaurav; Pandey, Om P; Rogers, Angela J; Ahsen, Mehmet E; Hoffman, Gabriel E; Raby, Benjamin A; Weiss, Scott T; Schadt, Eric E; Bunyavanich, Supinda

2018-06-11

Asthma is a common, under-diagnosed disease affecting all ages. We sought to identify a nasal brush-based classifier of mild/moderate asthma. 190 subjects with mild/moderate asthma and controls underwent nasal brushing and RNA sequencing of nasal samples. A machine learning-based pipeline identified an asthma classifier consisting of 90 genes interpreted via an L2-regularized logistic regression classification model. This classifier performed with strong predictive value and sensitivity across eight test sets, including (1) a test set of independent asthmatic and control subjects profiled by RNA sequencing (positive and negative predictive values of 1.00 and 0.96, respectively; AUC of 0.994), (2) two independent case-control cohorts of asthma profiled by microarray, and (3) five cohorts with other respiratory conditions (allergic rhinitis, upper respiratory infection, cystic fibrosis, smoking), where the classifier had a low to zero misclassification rate. Following validation in large, prospective cohorts, this classifier could be developed into a nasal biomarker of asthma.

Point-by-point compositional analysis for atom probe tomography.

PubMed

Stephenson, Leigh T; Ceguerra, Anna V; Li, Tong; Rojhirunsakool, Tanaporn; Nag, Soumya; Banerjee, Rajarshi; Cairney, Julie M; Ringer, Simon P

2014-01-01

This new alternate approach to data processing for analyses that traditionally employed grid-based counting methods is necessary because it removes a user-imposed coordinate system that not only limits an analysis but also may introduce errors. We have modified the widely used "binomial" analysis for APT data by replacing grid-based counting with coordinate-independent nearest neighbour identification, improving the measurements and the statistics obtained, allowing quantitative analysis of smaller datasets, and datasets from non-dilute solid solutions. It also allows better visualisation of compositional fluctuations in the data. Our modifications include:.•using spherical k-atom blocks identified by each detected atom's first k nearest neighbours.•3D data visualisation of block composition and nearest neighbour anisotropy.•using z-statistics to directly compare experimental and expected composition curves. Similar modifications may be made to other grid-based counting analyses (contingency table, Langer-Bar-on-Miller, sinusoidal model) and could be instrumental in developing novel data visualisation options.

Independent component model for cognitive functions of multiple subjects using [15O]H2O PET images.

PubMed

Park, Hae-Jeong; Kim, Jae-Jin; Youn, Tak; Lee, Dong Soo; Lee, Myung Chul; Kwon, Jun Soo

2003-04-01

An independent component model of multiple subjects' positron emission tomography (PET) images is proposed to explore the overall functional components involved in a task and to explain subject specific variations of metabolic activities under altered experimental conditions utilizing the Independent component analysis (ICA) concept. As PET images represent time-compressed activities of several cognitive components, we derived a mathematical model to decompose functional components from cross-sectional images based on two fundamental hypotheses: (1) all subjects share basic functional components that are common to subjects and spatially independent of each other in relation to the given experimental task, and (2) all subjects share common functional components throughout tasks which are also spatially independent. The variations of hemodynamic activities according to subjects or tasks can be explained by the variations in the usage weight of the functional components. We investigated the plausibility of the model using serial cognitive experiments of simple object perception, object recognition, two-back working memory, and divided attention of a syntactic process. We found that the independent component model satisfactorily explained the functional components involved in the task and discuss here the application of ICA in multiple subjects' PET images to explore the functional association of brain activations. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Haplowebs as a graphical tool for delimiting species: a revival of Doyle's "field for recombination" approach and its application to the coral genus Pocillopora in Clipperton

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Usual methods for inferring species boundaries from molecular sequence data rely either on gene trees or on population genetic analyses. Another way of delimiting species, based on a view of species as "fields for recombination" (FFRs) characterized by mutual allelic exclusivity, was suggested in 1995 by Doyle. Here we propose to use haplowebs (haplotype networks with additional connections between haplotypes found co-occurring in heterozygous individuals) to visualize and delineate single-locus FFRs (sl-FFRs). Furthermore, we introduce a method to quantify the reliability of putative species boundaries according to the number of independent markers that support them, and illustrate this approach with a case study of taxonomically difficult corals of the genus Pocillopora collected around Clipperton Island (far eastern Pacific). Results One haploweb built from intron sequences of the ATP synthase β subunit gene revealed the presence of two sl-FFRs among our 74 coral samples, whereas a second one built from ITS sequences turned out to be composed of four sl-FFRs. As a third independent marker, we performed a combined analysis of two regions of the mitochondrial genome: since haplowebs are not suited to analyze non-recombining markers, individuals were sorted into four haplogroups according to their mitochondrial sequences. Among all possible bipartitions of our set of samples, thirteen were supported by at least one molecular dataset, none by two and only one by all three datasets: this congruent pattern obtained from independent nuclear and mitochondrial markers indicates that two species of Pocillopora are present in Clipperton. Conclusions Our approach builds on Doyle's method and extends it by introducing an intuitive, user-friendly graphical representation and by proposing a conceptual framework to analyze and quantify the congruence between sl-FFRs obtained from several independent markers. Like delineation methods based on population-level statistical approaches, our method can distinguish closely-related species that have not yet reached reciprocal monophyly at most or all of their loci; like tree-based approaches, it can yield meaningful conclusions using a number of independent markers as low as three. Future efforts will aim to develop programs that speed up the construction of haplowebs from FASTA sequence alignments and help perform the congruence analysis outlined in this article. PMID:21118572

Haplowebs as a graphical tool for delimiting species: a revival of Doyle's "field for recombination" approach and its application to the coral genus Pocillopora in Clipperton.

PubMed

Flot, Jean-François; Couloux, Arnaud; Tillier, Simon

2010-11-30

Usual methods for inferring species boundaries from molecular sequence data rely either on gene trees or on population genetic analyses. Another way of delimiting species, based on a view of species as "fields for recombination" (FFRs) characterized by mutual allelic exclusivity, was suggested in 1995 by Doyle. Here we propose to use haplowebs (haplotype networks with additional connections between haplotypes found co-occurring in heterozygous individuals) to visualize and delineate single-locus FFRs (sl-FFRs). Furthermore, we introduce a method to quantify the reliability of putative species boundaries according to the number of independent markers that support them, and illustrate this approach with a case study of taxonomically difficult corals of the genus Pocillopora collected around Clipperton Island (far eastern Pacific). One haploweb built from intron sequences of the ATP synthase β subunit gene revealed the presence of two sl-FFRs among our 74 coral samples, whereas a second one built from ITS sequences turned out to be composed of four sl-FFRs. As a third independent marker, we performed a combined analysis of two regions of the mitochondrial genome: since haplowebs are not suited to analyze non-recombining markers, individuals were sorted into four haplogroups according to their mitochondrial sequences. Among all possible bipartitions of our set of samples, thirteen were supported by at least one molecular dataset, none by two and only one by all three datasets: this congruent pattern obtained from independent nuclear and mitochondrial markers indicates that two species of Pocillopora are present in Clipperton. Our approach builds on Doyle's method and extends it by introducing an intuitive, user-friendly graphical representation and by proposing a conceptual framework to analyze and quantify the congruence between sl-FFRs obtained from several independent markers. Like delineation methods based on population-level statistical approaches, our method can distinguish closely-related species that have not yet reached reciprocal monophyly at most or all of their loci; like tree-based approaches, it can yield meaningful conclusions using a number of independent markers as low as three. Future efforts will aim to develop programs that speed up the construction of haplowebs from FASTA sequence alignments and help perform the congruence analysis outlined in this article.

Self-perceived health-related quality of life of Indian children with specific learning disability.

PubMed

Karande, S; Venkataraman, R

2012-01-01

Specific learning disability (SpLD) often remains undetected, resulting in the afflicted child experiencing chronic poor school performance. To measure and analyze the self-perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with newly-diagnosed SpLD. Cross-sectional questionnaire-based study in our clinic. From February to December 2008, 150 children consecutively diagnosed as having SpLD were enrolled and their HRQoL documented using the DISABKIDS chronic generic module self-report version instrument. Multiple regression analysis was carried out for determining the 'independent' impact that each of the clinical and socio-demographic variables had on a poor facet score outcome and on a poor total score outcome. Clinically significant deficits were detected in all 6 facets, namely: 'large deficits (effect size ≥-0.8)' in "social exclusion", "emotion", "limitation", "treatment", and "independence"; and 'medium deficit (effect size -0.5 to <-0.8)' in "social inclusion"; and 'large deficit' in "total score". Multivariate analysis revealed that: (i) not belonging to the upper socio-economic strata of society was an independent predictor of a poor "independence" facet outcome (P=0.010, OR=1.99, 95% CI: 1.18 to 3.37); (ii) not having experienced class detainment was an independent predictor of a poor "emotion" facet outcome (P=0.008, OR=3.04, 95% CI: 1.34 to 6.85); (iii) first-born status was an independent predictor of a poor "limitation" facet outcome (P=0.022, OR=2.60, 95% CI: 1.15 to 5.90); and (iv) female gender was an independent predictor of a poor "social exclusion" facet outcome (P=0.024, OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.85) and a poor "overall health" outcome (P=0.025, OR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.87). Children with newly-diagnosed SpLD perceive their psychosocial, physical, and overall HRQoL to be significantly compromised.

Spotlight-8 Image Analysis Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimek, Robert; Wright, Ted

2006-01-01

Spotlight is a cross-platform GUI-based software package designed to perform image analysis on sequences of images generated by combustion and fluid physics experiments run in a microgravity environment. Spotlight can perform analysis on a single image in an interactive mode or perform analysis on a sequence of images in an automated fashion. Image processing operations can be employed to enhance the image before various statistics and measurement operations are performed. An arbitrarily large number of objects can be analyzed simultaneously with independent areas of interest. Spotlight saves results in a text file that can be imported into other programs for graphing or further analysis. Spotlight can be run on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Apple OS X platforms.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the Electrical Power Distribution and Control Subsystem, Volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmeckpeper, K. R.

1987-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. This report documents the independent analysis results corresponding to the Orbiter Electrical Power Distribution and Control (EPD and C) hardware. The EPD and C hardware performs the functions of distributing, sensing, and controlling 28 volt DC power and of inverting, distributing, sensing, and controlling 117 volt 400 Hz AC power to all Orbiter subsystems from the three fuel cells in the Electrical Power Generation (EPG) subsystem. Volume 2 continues the presentation of IOA analysis worksheets and contains the potential critical items list.

[Determination of somatotype of man in cranio-facial personality identification].

PubMed

2004-01-01

On the basis of their independent research and through the analysis of published data the authors suggested quantitative criteria for the diagnosis of a somatotype of man by the dimensional features of the face and skull. M. A. Negasheva method, based on the discriminative analysis of 7 measurement features, was used in the individual diagnosis of a somatotype by V. V. Bunaka scheme (somatotypes-pectoral, muscular, abdominal and indefinite). The authors suggest 2 diagnostic models based on the linear and discriminative analysis of 11 and 7 measurement features for the skull. The diagnostic accuracy in case of main male som-atotypes makes 87 and 64.4%, respectively, with the canonic correlations of 0.574 and 0.292. The designed methods can be used in forensic medicine for the cranio-facial and portrait expertise.

Robust demarcation of basal cell carcinoma by dependent component analysis-based segmentation of multi-spectral fluorescence images.

PubMed

Kopriva, Ivica; Persin, Antun; Puizina-Ivić, Neira; Mirić, Lina

2010-07-02

This study was designed to demonstrate robust performance of the novel dependent component analysis (DCA)-based approach to demarcation of the basal cell carcinoma (BCC) through unsupervised decomposition of the red-green-blue (RGB) fluorescent image of the BCC. Robustness to intensity fluctuation is due to the scale invariance property of DCA algorithms, which exploit spectral and spatial diversities between the BCC and the surrounding tissue. Used filtering-based DCA approach represents an extension of the independent component analysis (ICA) and is necessary in order to account for statistical dependence that is induced by spectral similarity between the BCC and surrounding tissue. This generates weak edges what represents a challenge for other segmentation methods as well. By comparative performance analysis with state-of-the-art image segmentation methods such as active contours (level set), K-means clustering, non-negative matrix factorization, ICA and ratio imaging we experimentally demonstrate good performance of DCA-based BCC demarcation in two demanding scenarios where intensity of the fluorescent image has been varied almost two orders of magnitude. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Extended Spectral-Spatial Classification Approach for Hyperspectral Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbari, D.

2017-11-01

In this paper an extended classification approach for hyperspectral imagery based on both spectral and spatial information is proposed. The spatial information is obtained by an enhanced marker-based minimum spanning forest (MSF) algorithm. Three different methods of dimension reduction are first used to obtain the subspace of hyperspectral data: (1) unsupervised feature extraction methods including principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA), and minimum noise fraction (MNF); (2) supervised feature extraction including decision boundary feature extraction (DBFE), discriminate analysis feature extraction (DAFE), and nonparametric weighted feature extraction (NWFE); (3) genetic algorithm (GA). The spectral features obtained are then fed into the enhanced marker-based MSF classification algorithm. In the enhanced MSF algorithm, the markers are extracted from the classification maps obtained by both SVM and watershed segmentation algorithm. To evaluate the proposed approach, the Pavia University hyperspectral data is tested. Experimental results show that the proposed approach using GA achieves an approximately 8 % overall accuracy higher than the original MSF-based algorithm.

Prognostic Significance of NSCLC and Response to EGFR-TKIs of EGFR-Mutated NSCLC Based on PD-L1 Expression.

PubMed

Kobayashi, Kenichi; Seike, Masahiro; Zou, Fenfei; Noro, Rintaro; Chiba, Mika; Ishikawa, Arimi; Kunugi, Shinobu; Kubota, Kaoru; Gemma, Akihiko

2018-02-01

Recent clinical trials have shown that immune checkpoint blockades that target either PD-1 or PD-L1 yield remarkable responses in a subgroup of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We retrospectively examined, by immunohistochemical analysis, 211 NSCLC samples. Using 32 independent samples, we also evaluated PD-L1 expression in NSCLC patients with EGFR gene mutations treated by EGFR-TKIs. Overall survival of PD-L1-positive stages I-III NSCLC and stage I NSCLC and stages I-III squamous cell carcinoma (SQ) were significantly shorter than those of PD-L1-negative NSCLC (p<0.01 and p=0.02 and p=0.01, respectively). In stage I NSCLC and stages I-III SQ, PD-L1 expression was found to be independent predictor of death after multivariate analysis. Response to EGFR-TKIs was not significantly different between PD-L1-positive and PD-L1-negative NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations. PD-L1 expression was a significant independent predictor of poor outcome in NSCLC patients. Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Performance comparison of six independent components analysis algorithms for fetal signal extraction from real fMCG data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hild, Kenneth E.; Alleva, Giovanna; Nagarajan, Srikantan; Comani, Silvia

2007-01-01

In this study we compare the performance of six independent components analysis (ICA) algorithms on 16 real fetal magnetocardiographic (fMCG) datasets for the application of extracting the fetal cardiac signal. We also compare the extraction results for real data with the results previously obtained for synthetic data. The six ICA algorithms are FastICA, CubICA, JADE, Infomax, MRMI-SIG and TDSEP. The results obtained using real fMCG data indicate that the FastICA method consistently outperforms the others in regard to separation quality and that the performance of an ICA method that uses temporal information suffers in the presence of noise. These two results confirm the previous results obtained using synthetic fMCG data. There were also two notable differences between the studies based on real and synthetic data. The differences are that all six ICA algorithms are independent of gestational age and sensor dimensionality for synthetic data, but depend on gestational age and sensor dimensionality for real data. It is possible to explain these differences by assuming that the number of point sources needed to completely explain the data is larger than the dimensionality used in the ICA extraction.

Validating independent ratings of executive functioning following acquired brain injury using Rasch analysis.

PubMed

Simblett, Sara K; Badham, Rachel; Greening, Kate; Adlam, Anna; Ring, Howard; Bateman, Andrew

2012-01-01

Assessment of everyday problems with executive functioning following acquired brain injury (ABI) is greatly valued by neurorehabilitation services. Reliance on self-report measures alone is problematic within this client group who may experience difficulties with awareness and memory. The construct validity and reliability of independent ratings (i.e., ratings provided by a carer/relative) on the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX-I) was explored in this study. Consistent with the results recently reported on the self-rated version of the DEX (DEX-S; Simblett & Bateman, 2011 ), Rasch analysis completed on 271 responses to the DEX-I revealed that the scale did not fit the Rasch model and did not meet the assumption of unidimensionality, that is, a single underlying construct could not be found for the DEX-I that would allow development of an interval-level measure as a whole. Subscales, based on theoretical conceptualisations of executive functioning (Stuss, 2007 ) previously suggested for the DEX-S, were able to demonstrate fit to the Rasch model and unidimensionality. Reliability of independent responses to these subscales in comparison to self-reported ratings is discussed. These results contribute to a greater understanding of how assessment of executive functioning can be improved.

Two-port connecting-layer-based sandwiched grating by a polarization-independent design.

PubMed

Li, Hongtao; Wang, Bo

2017-05-02

In this paper, a two-port connecting-layer-based sandwiched beam splitter grating with polarization-independent property is reported and designed. Such the grating can separate the transmission polarized light into two diffraction orders with equal energies, which can realize the nearly 50/50 output with good uniformity. For the given wavelength of 800 nm and period of 780 nm, a simplified modal method can design a optimal duty cycle and the estimation value of the grating depth can be calculated based on it. In order to obtain the precise grating parameters, a rigorous coupled-wave analysis can be employed to optimize grating parameters by seeking for the precise grating depth and the thickness of connecting layer. Based on the optimized design, a high-efficiency two-port output grating with the wideband performances can be gained. Even more important, diffraction efficiencies are calculated by using two analytical methods, which are proved to be coincided well with each other. Therefore, the grating is significant for practical optical photonic element in engineering.

Modified Weekly Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy Is Acceptable in Postoperative Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

PubMed Central

Lu, Hsueh-Ju; Yang, Chao-Chun; Wang, Ling-Wei; Chu, Pen-Yuan; Tai, Shyh-Kuan; Chen, Ming-Huang; Yang, Muh-Hwa; Chang, Peter Mu-Hsin

2015-01-01

Background. Triweekly cisplatin-based postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) has high intolerance and toxicities in locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC). We evaluated the effect of a modified weekly cisplatin-based chemotherapy in postoperative CCRT. Methods. A total of 117 patients with LAHNC were enrolled between December 2007 and December 2012. Survival, compliance/adverse events, and independent prognostic factors were analyzed. Results. Median follow-up time was 30.0 (3.1–73.0) months. Most patients completed the entire course of postoperative CCRT (radiotherapy ≥ 60 Gy, 94.9%; ≥6 times weekly chemotherapy, 75.2%). Only 17.1% patients required hospital admission. The most common adverse effect was grade 3/4 mucositis (28.2%). No patient died due to protocol-related adverse effects. Multivariate analysis revealed the following independent prognostic factors: oropharyngeal cancer, extracapsular spread, and total radiation dose. Two-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 70.9% and 79.5%, respectively. Conclusion. Modified weekly cisplatin-based chemotherapy is an acceptable regimen in postoperative CCRT for LAHNC. PMID:25793192

Optical diagnosis of cervical cancer by higher order spectra and boosting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratiher, Sawon; Mukhopadhyay, Sabyasachi; Barman, Ritwik; Pratiher, Souvik; Pradhan, Asima; Ghosh, Nirmalya; Panigrahi, Prasanta K.

2017-03-01

In this contribution, we report the application of higher order statistical moments using decision tree and ensemble based learning methodology for the development of diagnostic algorithms for optical diagnosis of cancer. The classification results were compared to those obtained with an independent feature extractors like linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The performance and efficacy of these methodology using higher order statistics as a classifier using boosting has higher specificity and sensitivity while being much faster as compared to other time-frequency domain based methods.

A comparison of organized and traditional health care: implications for health promotion and prospective medicine.

PubMed

Lawrence, D M

2005-01-01

To compare organized and traditional health care delivery systems and their ability to meet several major challenges facing health care in the next 25 years. Analysis of traditional and organized health care systems based on a career spent in organized health care systems. The traditional health care system based on independent autonomous physicians is not able to meet the challenges of current healthcare. Stronger integration and coordination, i.e., organized health care delivery systems are required.

Estimation and enhancement of real-time software reliability through mutation analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Geist, Robert; Offutt, A. J.; Harris, Frederick C., Jr.

1992-01-01

A simulation-based technique for obtaining numerical estimates of the reliability of N-version, real-time software is presented. An extended stochastic Petri net is employed to represent the synchronization structure of N versions of the software, where dependencies among versions are modeled through correlated sampling of module execution times. Test results utilizing specifications for NASA's planetary lander control software indicate that mutation-based testing could hold greater potential for enhancing reliability than the desirable but perhaps unachievable goal of independence among N versions.

LPL is the strongest prognostic factor in a comparative analysis of RNA-based markers in early chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

PubMed

Kaderi, Mohd Arifin; Kanduri, Meena; Buhl, Anne Mette; Sevov, Marie; Cahill, Nicola; Gunnarsson, Rebeqa; Jansson, Mattias; Smedby, Karin Ekström; Hjalgrim, Henrik; Jurlander, Jesper; Juliusson, Gunnar; Mansouri, Larry; Rosenquist, Richard

2011-08-01

The expression levels of LPL, ZAP70, TCL1A, CLLU1 and MCL1 have recently been proposed as prognostic factors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. However, few studies have systematically compared these different RNA-based markers. Using real-time quantitative PCR, we measured the mRNA expression levels of these genes in unsorted samples from 252 newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients and correlated our data with established prognostic markers (for example Binet stage, CD38, IGHV gene mutational status and genomic aberrations) and clinical outcome. High expression levels of all RNA-based markers, except MCL1, predicted shorter overall survival and time to treatment, with LPL being the most significant. In multivariate analysis including the RNA-based markers, LPL expression was the only independent prognostic marker for overall survival and time to treatment. When studying LPL expression and the established markers, LPL expression retained its independent prognostic strength for overall survival. All of the RNA-based markers, albeit with varying ability, added prognostic information to established markers, with LPL expression giving the most significant results. Notably, high LPL expression predicted a worse outcome in good-prognosis subgroups, such as patients with mutated IGHV genes, Binet stage A, CD38 negativity or favorable cytogenetics. In particular, the combination of LPL expression and CD38 could further stratify Binet stage A patients. LPL expression is the strongest RNA-based prognostic marker in chronic lymphocytic leukemia that could potentially be applied to predict outcome in the clinical setting, particularly in the large group of patients with favorable prognosis.

Ottawa Model of Implementation Leadership and Implementation Leadership Scale: mapping concepts for developing and evaluating theory-based leadership interventions.

PubMed

Gifford, Wendy; Graham, Ian D; Ehrhart, Mark G; Davies, Barbara L; Aarons, Gregory A

2017-01-01

Leadership in health care is instrumental to creating a supportive organizational environment and positive staff attitudes for implementing evidence-based practices to improve patient care and outcomes. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the alignment of the Ottawa Model of Implementation Leadership (O-MILe), a theoretical model for developing implementation leadership, with the Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS), an empirically validated tool for measuring implementation leadership. A secondary objective is to describe the methodological process for aligning concepts of a theoretical model with an independently established measurement tool for evaluating theory-based interventions. Modified template analysis was conducted to deductively map items of the ILS onto concepts of the O-MILe. An iterative process was used in which the model and scale developers (n=5) appraised the relevance, conceptual clarity, and fit of each ILS items with the O-MILe concepts through individual feedback and group discussions until consensus was reached. All 12 items of the ILS correspond to at least one O-MILe concept, demonstrating compatibility of the ILS as a measurement tool for the O-MILe theoretical constructs. The O-MILe provides a theoretical basis for developing implementation leadership, and the ILS is a compatible tool for measuring leadership based on the O-MILe. Used together, the O-MILe and ILS provide an evidence- and theory-based approach for developing and measuring leadership for implementing evidence-based practices in health care. Template analysis offers a convenient approach for determining the compatibility of independently developed evaluation tools to test theoretical models.

Ottawa Model of Implementation Leadership and Implementation Leadership Scale: mapping concepts for developing and evaluating theory-based leadership interventions

PubMed Central

Gifford, Wendy; Graham, Ian D; Ehrhart, Mark G; Davies, Barbara L; Aarons, Gregory A

2017-01-01

Purpose Leadership in health care is instrumental to creating a supportive organizational environment and positive staff attitudes for implementing evidence-based practices to improve patient care and outcomes. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the alignment of the Ottawa Model of Implementation Leadership (O-MILe), a theoretical model for developing implementation leadership, with the Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS), an empirically validated tool for measuring implementation leadership. A secondary objective is to describe the methodological process for aligning concepts of a theoretical model with an independently established measurement tool for evaluating theory-based interventions. Methods Modified template analysis was conducted to deductively map items of the ILS onto concepts of the O-MILe. An iterative process was used in which the model and scale developers (n=5) appraised the relevance, conceptual clarity, and fit of each ILS items with the O-MILe concepts through individual feedback and group discussions until consensus was reached. Results All 12 items of the ILS correspond to at least one O-MILe concept, demonstrating compatibility of the ILS as a measurement tool for the O-MILe theoretical constructs. Conclusion The O-MILe provides a theoretical basis for developing implementation leadership, and the ILS is a compatible tool for measuring leadership based on the O-MILe. Used together, the O-MILe and ILS provide an evidence- and theory-based approach for developing and measuring leadership for implementing evidence-based practices in health care. Template analysis offers a convenient approach for determining the compatibility of independently developed evaluation tools to test theoretical models. PMID:29355212

Principal component analysis-based unsupervised feature extraction applied to in silico drug discovery for posttraumatic stress disorder-mediated heart disease.

PubMed

Taguchi, Y-h; Iwadate, Mitsuo; Umeyama, Hideaki

2015-04-30

Feature extraction (FE) is difficult, particularly if there are more features than samples, as small sample numbers often result in biased outcomes or overfitting. Furthermore, multiple sample classes often complicate FE because evaluating performance, which is usual in supervised FE, is generally harder than the two-class problem. Developing sample classification independent unsupervised methods would solve many of these problems. Two principal component analysis (PCA)-based FE, specifically, variational Bayes PCA (VBPCA) was extended to perform unsupervised FE, and together with conventional PCA (CPCA)-based unsupervised FE, were tested as sample classification independent unsupervised FE methods. VBPCA- and CPCA-based unsupervised FE both performed well when applied to simulated data, and a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-mediated heart disease data set that had multiple categorical class observations in mRNA/microRNA expression of stressed mouse heart. A critical set of PTSD miRNAs/mRNAs were identified that show aberrant expression between treatment and control samples, and significant, negative correlation with one another. Moreover, greater stability and biological feasibility than conventional supervised FE was also demonstrated. Based on the results obtained, in silico drug discovery was performed as translational validation of the methods. Our two proposed unsupervised FE methods (CPCA- and VBPCA-based) worked well on simulated data, and outperformed two conventional supervised FE methods on a real data set. Thus, these two methods have suggested equivalence for FE on categorical multiclass data sets, with potential translational utility for in silico drug discovery.

Correlates of HIV infection among street-based and venue-based sex workers in Vietnam.

PubMed

Le, Thuy Tc; Nguyen, Quoc C; Tran, Ha Tt; Schwandt, Michael; Lim, Hyun J

2016-10-01

Commercial sex work is one of the driving forces of the HIV epidemic across the world. In Vietnam, although female sex workers (FSWs) carry a disproportionate burden of HIV, little is known about the risk profile and associated factors for HIV infection among this population. There is a need for large-scale research to obtain reliable and representative estimates of the measures of association. This study involved secondary data analysis of the 'HIV/STI Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance' study in Vietnam in 2009-2010 to examine the correlates of HIV among FSWs. Data collected from 5298 FSWs, including 2530 street-based sex workers and 2768 venue-based sex workers from 10 provinces in Vietnam, were analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. HIV prevalence among the overall FSW population was 8.6% (n = 453). However, when stratified by FSW subpopulations, HIV prevalence was 10.6% (n = 267) for street-based sex workers and 6.7% (n = 186) for venue-based sex workers. Factors independently associated with HIV infection in the multivariate analysis, regardless of sex work types, were injecting drug use, high self-perceived HIV risk, and age ≥ 25 years. Additional factors independently associated with HIV risk within each FSW subpopulation included having ever been married among street-based sex workers and inconsistent condom use with clients and having sex partners who injected drugs among venue-based sex workers. Apart from strategies addressing modifiable risk behaviours among all FSWs, targeted strategies to address specific risk behaviours within each FSW subpopulation should be adopted. © The Author(s) 2016.

Three-dimensional localization and optical imaging of objects in turbid media with independent component analysis.

PubMed

Xu, M; Alrubaiee, M; Gayen, S K; Alfano, R R

2005-04-01

A new approach for optical imaging and localization of objects in turbid media that makes use of the independent component analysis (ICA) from information theory is demonstrated. Experimental arrangement realizes a multisource illumination of a turbid medium with embedded objects and a multidetector acquisition of transmitted light on the medium boundary. The resulting spatial diversity and multiple angular observations provide robust data for three-dimensional localization and characterization of absorbing and scattering inhomogeneities embedded in a turbid medium. ICA of the perturbations in the spatial intensity distribution on the medium boundary sorts out the embedded objects, and their locations are obtained from Green's function analysis based on any appropriate light propagation model. Imaging experiments were carried out on two highly scattering samples of thickness approximately 50 times the transport mean-free path of the respective medium. One turbid medium had two embedded absorptive objects, and the other had four scattering objects. An independent component separation of the signal, in conjunction with diffusive photon migration theory, was used to locate the embedded inhomogeneities. In both cases, improved lateral and axial localizations of the objects over the result obtained by use of common photon migration reconstruction algorithms were achieved. The approach is applicable to different medium geometries, can be used with any suitable photon propagation model, and is amenable to near-real-time imaging applications.

Cerebrovascular risk factors for patients with cerebral watershed infarction: A case-control study based on computed tomography angiography in a population from Southwest China.

PubMed

Dong, Mei-Xue; Hu, Ling; Huang, Yuan-Jun; Xu, Xiao-Min; Liu, Yang; Wei, You-Dong

2017-07-01

To determine cerebrovascular risk factors for patients with cerebral watershed infarction (CWI) from Southwest China.Patients suffering from acute ischemic stroke were categorized into internal CWI (I-CWI), external CWI (E-CWI), or non-CWI (patients without CWI) groups. Clinical data were collected and degrees of steno-occlusion of all cerebral arteries were scored. Arteries associated with the circle of Willis were also assessed. Data were compared using Pearson chi-squared tests for categorical data and 1-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc tests for continuous data, as appropriate. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent cerebrovascular risk factors for CWI.Compared with non-CWI, I-CWI had higher degrees of steno-occlusion of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery, ipsilateral carotid artery, and contralateral middle cerebral artery. E-CWI showed no significant differences. All the 3 arteries were independent cerebrovascular risk factors for I-CWI confirmed by multivariate binary logistic regression analysis. I-CWI had higher degrees of steno-occlusion of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery compared with E-CWI. No significant differences were found among arteries associated with the circle of Willis.The ipsilateral middle cerebral artery, carotid artery, and contralateral middle cerebral artery were independent cerebrovascular risk factors for I-CWI. No cerebrovascular risk factor was identified for E-CWI.

Factors associated with abnormal eating attitudes among Greek adolescents.

PubMed

Bilali, Aggeliki; Galanis, Petros; Velonakis, Emmanuel; Katostaras, Theofanis

2010-01-01

To estimate the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes among Greek adolescents and identify possible risk factors associated with these attitudes. Cross-sectional, school-based study. Six randomly selected schools in Patras, southern Greece. The study population consisted of 540 Greek students aged 13-18 years, and the response rate was 97%. The dependent variable was scores on the Eating Attitudes Test-26, with scores > or = 20 indicating abnormal eating attitudes. Bivariate analysis included independent Student t test, chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied for the identification of the predictive factors, which were associated independently with abnormal eating attitudes. A 2-sided P value of less than .05 was considered statistically significant. The prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes was 16.7%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that females, urban residents, and those with a body mass index outside normal range, a perception of being overweight, body dissatisfaction, and a family member on a diet were independently related to abnormal eating attitudes. The results indicate that a proportion of Greek adolescents report abnormal eating attitudes and suggest that multiple factors contribute to the development of these attitudes. These findings are useful for further research into this topic and would be valuable in designing preventive interventions. Copyright 2010 Society for Nutrition Education. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ADJUST: An automatic EEG artifact detector based on the joint use of spatial and temporal features.

PubMed

Mognon, Andrea; Jovicich, Jorge; Bruzzone, Lorenzo; Buiatti, Marco

2011-02-01

A successful method for removing artifacts from electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings is Independent Component Analysis (ICA), but its implementation remains largely user-dependent. Here, we propose a completely automatic algorithm (ADJUST) that identifies artifacted independent components by combining stereotyped artifact-specific spatial and temporal features. Features were optimized to capture blinks, eye movements, and generic discontinuities on a feature selection dataset. Validation on a totally different EEG dataset shows that (1) ADJUST's classification of independent components largely matches a manual one by experts (agreement on 95.2% of the data variance), and (2) Removal of the artifacted components detected by ADJUST leads to neat reconstruction of visual and auditory event-related potentials from heavily artifacted data. These results demonstrate that ADJUST provides a fast, efficient, and automatic way to use ICA for artifact removal. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

On an additive partial correlation operator and nonparametric estimation of graphical models.

PubMed

Lee, Kuang-Yao; Li, Bing; Zhao, Hongyu

2016-09-01

We introduce an additive partial correlation operator as an extension of partial correlation to the nonlinear setting, and use it to develop a new estimator for nonparametric graphical models. Our graphical models are based on additive conditional independence, a statistical relation that captures the spirit of conditional independence without having to resort to high-dimensional kernels for its estimation. The additive partial correlation operator completely characterizes additive conditional independence, and has the additional advantage of putting marginal variation on appropriate scales when evaluating interdependence, which leads to more accurate statistical inference. We establish the consistency of the proposed estimator. Through simulation experiments and analysis of the DREAM4 Challenge dataset, we demonstrate that our method performs better than existing methods in cases where the Gaussian or copula Gaussian assumption does not hold, and that a more appropriate scaling for our method further enhances its performance.

On an additive partial correlation operator and nonparametric estimation of graphical models

PubMed Central

Li, Bing; Zhao, Hongyu

2016-01-01

Abstract We introduce an additive partial correlation operator as an extension of partial correlation to the nonlinear setting, and use it to develop a new estimator for nonparametric graphical models. Our graphical models are based on additive conditional independence, a statistical relation that captures the spirit of conditional independence without having to resort to high-dimensional kernels for its estimation. The additive partial correlation operator completely characterizes additive conditional independence, and has the additional advantage of putting marginal variation on appropriate scales when evaluating interdependence, which leads to more accurate statistical inference. We establish the consistency of the proposed estimator. Through simulation experiments and analysis of the DREAM4 Challenge dataset, we demonstrate that our method performs better than existing methods in cases where the Gaussian or copula Gaussian assumption does not hold, and that a more appropriate scaling for our method further enhances its performance. PMID:29422689

Measurement of Form-Factor-Independent Observables in the Decay B0→K*0μ+μ-

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aaij, R.; Adeva, B.; Adinolfi, M.; Adrover, C.; Affolder, A.; Ajaltouni, Z.; Albrecht, J.; Alessio, F.; Alexander, M.; Ali, S.; Alkhazov, G.; Alvarez Cartelle, P.; Alves, A. A., Jr.; Amato, S.; Amerio, S.; Amhis, Y.; Anderlini, L.; Anderson, J.; Andreassen, R.; Andrews, J. E.; Appleby, R. B.; Aquines Gutierrez, O.; Archilli, F.; Artamonov, A.; Artuso, M.; Aslanides, E.; Auriemma, G.; Baalouch, M.; Bachmann, S.; Back, J. J.; Baesso, C.; Balagura, V.; Baldini, W.; Barlow, R. J.; Barschel, C.; Barsuk, S.; Barter, W.; Bauer, Th.; Bay, A.; Beddow, J.; Bedeschi, F.; Bediaga, I.; Belogurov, S.; Belous, K.; Belyaev, I.; Ben-Haim, E.; Bencivenni, G.; Benson, S.; Benton, J.; Berezhnoy, A.; Bernet, R.; Bettler, M.-O.; van Beuzekom, M.; Bien, A.; Bifani, S.; Bird, T.; Bizzeti, A.; Bjørnstad, P. M.; Blake, T.; Blanc, F.; Blouw, J.; Blusk, S.; Bocci, V.; Bondar, A.; Bondar, N.; Bonivento, W.; Borghi, S.; Borgia, A.; Bowcock, T. J. V.; Bowen, E.; Bozzi, C.; Brambach, T.; van den Brand, J.; Bressieux, J.; Brett, D.; Britsch, M.; Britton, T.; Brook, N. H.; Brown, H.; Burducea, I.; Bursche, A.; Busetto, G.; Buytaert, J.; Cadeddu, S.; Callot, O.; Calvi, M.; Calvo Gomez, M.; Camboni, A.; Campana, P.; Campora Perez, D.; Carbone, A.; Carboni, G.; Cardinale, R.; Cardini, A.; Carranza-Mejia, H.; Carson, L.; Carvalho Akiba, K.; Casse, G.; Castillo Garcia, L.; Cattaneo, M.; Cauet, Ch.; Cenci, R.; Charles, M.; Charpentier, Ph.; Chen, P.; Chiapolini, N.; Chrzaszcz, M.; Ciba, K.; Cid Vidal, X.; Ciezarek, G.; Clarke, P. E. L.; Clemencic, M.; Cliff, H. V.; Closier, J.; Coca, C.; Coco, V.; Cogan, J.; Cogneras, E.; Collins, P.; Comerma-Montells, A.; Contu, A.; Cook, A.; Coombes, M.; Coquereau, S.; Corti, G.; Couturier, B.; Cowan, G. A.; Craik, D. C.; Cunliffe, S.; Currie, R.; D'Ambrosio, C.; David, P.; David, P. N. Y.; Davis, A.; De Bonis, I.; De Bruyn, K.; De Capua, S.; De Cian, M.; De Miranda, J. M.; De Paula, L.; De Silva, W.; De Simone, P.; Decamp, D.; Deckenhoff, M.; Del Buono, L.; Déléage, N.; Derkach, D.; Deschamps, O.; Dettori, F.; Di Canto, A.; Dijkstra, H.; Dogaru, M.; Donleavy, S.; Dordei, F.; Dosil Suárez, A.; Dossett, D.; Dovbnya, A.; Dupertuis, F.; Durante, P.; Dzhelyadin, R.; Dziurda, A.; Dzyuba, A.; Easo, S.; Egede, U.; Egorychev, V.; Eidelman, S.; van Eijk, D.; Eisenhardt, S.; Eitschberger, U.; Ekelhof, R.; Eklund, L.; El Rifai, I.; Elsasser, Ch.; Falabella, A.; Färber, C.; Fardell, G.; Farinelli, C.; Farry, S.; Ferguson, D.; Fernandez Albor, V.; Ferreira Rodrigues, F.; Ferro-Luzzi, M.; Filippov, S.; Fiore, M.; Fitzpatrick, C.; Fontana, M.; Fontanelli, F.; Forty, R.; Francisco, O.; Frank, M.; Frei, C.; Frosini, M.; Furcas, S.; Furfaro, E.; Gallas Torreira, A.; Galli, D.; Gandelman, M.; Gandini, P.; Gao, Y.; Garofoli, J.; Garosi, P.; Garra Tico, J.; Garrido, L.; Gaspar, C.; Gauld, R.; Gersabeck, E.; Gersabeck, M.; Gershon, T.; Ghez, Ph.; Gibson, V.; Giubega, L.; Gligorov, V. V.; Göbel, C.; Golubkov, D.; Golutvin, A.; Gomes, A.; Gorbounov, P.; Gordon, H.; Gotti, C.; Grabalosa Gándara, M.; Graciani Diaz, R.; Granado Cardoso, L. A.; Graugés, E.; Graziani, G.; Grecu, A.; Greening, E.; Gregson, S.; Griffith, P.; Grünberg, O.; Gui, B.; Gushchin, E.; Guz, Yu.; Gys, T.; Hadjivasiliou, C.; Haefeli, G.; Haen, C.; Haines, S. C.; Hall, S.; Hamilton, B.; Hampson, T.; Hansmann-Menzemer, S.; Harnew, N.; Harnew, S. T.; Harrison, J.; Hartmann, T.; He, J.; Head, T.; Heijne, V.; Hennessy, K.; Henrard, P.; Hernando Morata, J. A.; van Herwijnen, E.; Hess, M.; Hicheur, A.; Hicks, E.; Hill, D.; Hoballah, M.; Hombach, C.; Hopchev, P.; Hulsbergen, W.; Hunt, P.; Huse, T.; Hussain, N.; Hutchcroft, D.; Hynds, D.; Iakovenko, V.; Idzik, M.; Ilten, P.; Jacobsson, R.; Jaeger, A.; Jans, E.; Jaton, P.; Jawahery, A.; Jing, F.; John, M.; Johnson, D.; Jones, C. R.; Joram, C.; Jost, B.; Kaballo, M.; Kandybei, S.; Kanso, W.; Karacson, M.; Karbach, T. M.; Kenyon, I. R.; Ketel, T.; Keune, A.; Khanji, B.; Kochebina, O.; Komarov, I.; Koopman, R. F.; Koppenburg, P.; Korolev, M.; Kozlinskiy, A.; Kravchuk, L.; Kreplin, K.; Kreps, M.; Krocker, G.; Krokovny, P.; Kruse, F.; Kucharczyk, M.; Kudryavtsev, V.; Kurek, K.; Kvaratskheliya, T.; La Thi, V. N.; Lacarrere, D.; Lafferty, G.; Lai, A.; Lambert, D.; Lambert, R. W.; Lanciotti, E.; Lanfranchi, G.; Langenbruch, C.; Latham, T.; Lazzeroni, C.; Le Gac, R.; van Leerdam, J.; Lees, J.-P.; Lefèvre, R.; Leflat, A.; Lefrançois, J.; Leo, S.; Leroy, O.; Lesiak, T.; Leverington, B.; Li, Y.; Li Gioi, L.; Liles, M.; Lindner, R.; Linn, C.; Liu, B.; Liu, G.; Lohn, S.; Longstaff, I.; Lopes, J. H.; Lopez-March, N.; Lu, H.; Lucchesi, D.; Luisier, J.; Luo, H.; Machefert, F.; Machikhiliyan, I. V.; Maciuc, F.; Maev, O.; Malde, S.; Manca, G.; Mancinelli, G.; Maratas, J.; Marconi, U.; Marino, P.; Märki, R.; Marks, J.; Martellotti, G.; Martens, A.; Martín Sánchez, A.; Martinelli, M.; Martinez Santos, D.; Martins Tostes, D.; Martynov, A.; Massafferri, A.; Matev, R.; Mathe, Z.; Matteuzzi, C.; Maurice, E.; Mazurov, A.; McCarthy, J.; McNab, A.; McNulty, R.; McSkelly, B.; Meadows, B.; Meier, F.; Meissner, M.; Merk, M.; Milanes, D. A.; Minard, M.-N.; Molina Rodriguez, J.; Monteil, S.; Moran, D.; Morawski, P.; Mordà, A.; Morello, M. J.; Mountain, R.; Mous, I.; Muheim, F.; Müller, K.; Muresan, R.; Muryn, B.; Muster, B.; Naik, P.; Nakada, T.; Nandakumar, R.; Nasteva, I.; Needham, M.; Neubert, S.; Neufeld, N.; Nguyen, A. D.; Nguyen, T. D.; Nguyen-Mau, C.; Nicol, M.; Niess, V.; Niet, R.; Nikitin, N.; Nikodem, T.; Nomerotski, A.; Novoselov, A.; Oblakowska-Mucha, A.; Obraztsov, V.; Oggero, S.; Ogilvy, S.; Okhrimenko, O.; Oldeman, R.; Orlandea, M.; Otalora Goicochea, J. M.; Owen, P.; Oyanguren, A.; Pal, B. K.; Palano, A.; Palczewski, T.; Palutan, M.; Panman, J.; Papanestis, A.; Pappagallo, M.; Parkes, C.; Parkinson, C. J.; Passaleva, G.; Patel, G. D.; Patel, M.; Patrick, G. N.; Patrignani, C.; Pavel-Nicorescu, C.; Pazos Alvarez, A.; Pellegrino, A.; Penso, G.; Pepe Altarelli, M.; Perazzini, S.; Perez Trigo, E.; Pérez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Perret, P.; Perrin-Terrin, M.; Pescatore, L.; Pesen, E.; Petridis, K.; Petrolini, A.; Phan, A.; Picatoste Olloqui, E.; Pietrzyk, B.; Pilař, T.; Pinci, D.; Playfer, S.; Plo Casasus, M.; Polci, F.; Polok, G.; Poluektov, A.; Polycarpo, E.; Popov, A.; Popov, D.; Popovici, B.; Potterat, C.; Powell, A.; Prisciandaro, J.; Pritchard, A.; Prouve, C.; Pugatch, V.; Puig Navarro, A.; Punzi, G.; Qian, W.; Rademacker, J. H.; Rakotomiaramanana, B.; Rangel, M. S.; Raniuk, I.; Rauschmayr, N.; Raven, G.; Redford, S.; Reid, M. M.; dos Reis, A. C.; Ricciardi, S.; Richards, A.; Rinnert, K.; Rives Molina, V.; Roa Romero, D. A.; Robbe, P.; Roberts, D. A.; Rodrigues, E.; Rodriguez Perez, P.; Roiser, S.; Romanovsky, V.; Romero Vidal, A.; Rouvinet, J.; Ruf, T.; Ruffini, F.; Ruiz, H.; Ruiz Valls, P.; Sabatino, G.; Saborido Silva, J. J.; Sagidova, N.; Sail, P.; Saitta, B.; Salustino Guimaraes, V.; Sanmartin Sedes, B.; Sannino, M.; Santacesaria, R.; Santamarina Rios, C.; Santovetti, E.; Sapunov, M.; Sarti, A.; Satriano, C.; Satta, A.; Savrie, M.; Savrina, D.; Schaack, P.; Schiller, M.; Schindler, H.; Schlupp, M.; Schmelling, M.; Schmidt, B.; Schneider, O.; Schopper, A.; Schune, M.-H.; Schwemmer, R.; Sciascia, B.; Sciubba, A.; Seco, M.; Semennikov, A.; Senderowska, K.; Sepp, I.; Serra, N.; Serrano, J.; Seyfert, P.; Shapkin, M.; Shapoval, I.; Shatalov, P.; Shcheglov, Y.; Shears, T.; Shekhtman, L.; Shevchenko, O.; Shevchenko, V.; Shires, A.; Silva Coutinho, R.; Sirendi, M.; Skwarnicki, T.; Smith, N. A.; Smith, E.; Smith, J.; Smith, M.; Sokoloff, M. D.; Soler, F. J. P.; Soomro, F.; Souza, D.; Souza De Paula, B.; Spaan, B.; Sparkes, A.; Spradlin, P.; Stagni, F.; Stahl, S.; Steinkamp, O.; Stevenson, S.; Stoica, S.; Stone, S.; Storaci, B.; Straticiuc, M.; Straumann, U.; Subbiah, V. K.; Sun, L.; Swientek, S.; Syropoulos, V.; Szczekowski, M.; Szczypka, P.; Szumlak, T.; T'Jampens, S.; Teklishyn, M.; Teodorescu, E.; Teubert, F.; Thomas, C.; Thomas, E.; van Tilburg, J.; Tisserand, V.; Tobin, M.; Tolk, S.; Tonelli, D.; Topp-Joergensen, S.; Torr, N.; Tournefier, E.; Tourneur, S.; Tran, M. T.; Tresch, M.; Tsaregorodtsev, A.; Tsopelas, P.; Tuning, N.; Ubeda Garcia, M.; Ukleja, A.; Urner, D.; Ustyuzhanin, A.; Uwer, U.; Vagnoni, V.; Valenti, G.; Vallier, A.; Van Dijk, M.; Vazquez Gomez, R.; Vazquez Regueiro, P.; Vázquez Sierra, C.; Vecchi, S.; Velthuis, J. J.; Veltri, M.; Veneziano, G.; Vesterinen, M.; Viaud, B.; Vieira, D.; Vilasis-Cardona, X.; Vollhardt, A.; Volyanskyy, D.; Voong, D.; Vorobyev, A.; Vorobyev, V.; Voß, C.; Voss, H.; Waldi, R.; Wallace, C.; Wallace, R.; Wandernoth, S.; Wang, J.; Ward, D. R.; Watson, N. K.; Webber, A. D.; Websdale, D.; Whitehead, M.; Wicht, J.; Wiechczynski, J.; Wiedner, D.; Wiggers, L.; Wilkinson, G.; Williams, M. P.; Williams, M.; Wilson, F. F.; Wimberley, J.; Wishahi, J.; Wislicki, W.; Witek, M.; Wotton, S. A.; Wright, S.; Wu, S.; Wyllie, K.; Xie, Y.; Xing, Z.; Yang, Z.; Young, R.; Yuan, X.; Yushchenko, O.; Zangoli, M.; Zavertyaev, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, W. C.; Zhang, Y.; Zhelezov, A.; Zhokhov, A.; Zhong, L.; Zvyagin, A.

2013-11-01

We present a measurement of form-factor-independent angular observables in the decay B0→K*(892)0μ+μ-. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0fb-1, collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. Four observables are measured in six bins of the dimuon invariant mass squared q2 in the range 0.1

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the extravehicular mobility unit, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raffaelli, Gary G.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort performed an independent analysis of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) hardware and system, generating draft failure modes criticalities and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were then compared to the most recent proposed Post 51-L NASA FMEA/CIL baseline. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison was provided through additional analysis as required. This report documents the results of that comparison for the Orbiter EMU hardware. Volume 2 continues the presentation of IOA analysis worksheets and contains the potential critical items list and NASA FMEA to IOA worksheet cross references and recommendations.

Student perceptions of independent versus facilitated small group learning approaches to compressed medical anatomy education.

PubMed

Whelan, Alexander; Leddy, John J; Mindra, Sean; Matthew Hughes, J D; El-Bialy, Safaa; Ramnanan, Christopher J

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare student perceptions regarding two, small group learning approaches to compressed (46.5 prosection-based laboratory hours), integrated anatomy education at the University of Ottawa medical program. In the facilitated active learning (FAL) approach, tutors engage students and are expected to enable and balance both active learning and progression through laboratory objectives. In contrast, the emphasized independent learning (EIL) approach stresses elements from the "flipped classroom" educational model: prelaboratory preparation, independent laboratory learning, and limited tutor involvement. Quantitative (Likert-style questions) and qualitative data (independent thematic analysis of open-ended commentary) from a survey of students who had completed the preclerkship curriculum identified strengths from the EIL (promoting student collaboration and communication) and FAL (successful progression through objectives) approaches. However, EIL led to student frustration related to a lack of direction and impaired completion of objectives, whereas active learning opportunities in FAL were highly variable and dependent on tutor teaching style. A "hidden curriculum" was also identified, where students (particularly EIL and clerkship students) commonly compared their compressed anatomy education or their anatomy learning environment with other approaches. Finally, while both groups highly regarded the efficiency of prosection-based learning and expressed value for cadaveric-based learning, student commentary noted that the lack of grade value dedicated to anatomy assessment limited student accountability. This study revealed critical insights into small group learning in compressed anatomy education, including the need to balance student active learning opportunities with appropriate direction and feedback (including assessment). © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Impact of satellite-based data on FGGE general circulation statistics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salstein, David A.; Rosen, Richard D.; Baker, Wayman E.; Kalnay, Eugenia

1987-01-01

The NASA Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres (GLA) analysis/forecast system was run in two different parallel modes in order to evaluate the influence that data from satellites and other FGGE observation platforms can have on analyses of large scale circulation; in the first mode, data from all observation systems were used, while in the second only conventional upper air and surface reports were used. The GLA model was also integrated for the same period without insertion of any data; an independent objective analysis based only on rawinsonde and pilot balloon data is also performed. A small decrease in the vigor of the general circulation is noted to follow from the inclusion of satellite observations.

A quasi-experimental evaluation of a school-based intervention for children experiencing family disruption.

PubMed

Abel, Eileen Mazur; Chung-Canine, Unju; Broussard, Karen

2013-01-01

Despite the fact that children are negatively impacted by family separation and divorce (Amato, 2001 ; Dreman & Shemi, 2004 ; Kelly, 2000 ) there is a paucity of information regarding evidence-based social work practice with children coping with family disruption. In order to address this gap, the authors describe the process and outcomes of a quasi-experimental evaluation (N = 79) designed to reduce the behavioral, emotional, and academic problems that children often face when experiencing divorce or parental separation. Results of data analysis (paired t-tests, independent t-tests, and analysis of variance) suggest (p < .05) that the intervention is effective in helping children cope with family disruption.

Reliability Modeling Methodology for Independent Approaches on Parallel Runways Safety Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Babcock, P.; Schor, A.; Rosch, G.

1998-01-01

This document is an adjunct to the final report An Integrated Safety Analysis Methodology for Emerging Air Transport Technologies. That report presents the results of our analysis of the problem of simultaneous but independent, approaches of two aircraft on parallel runways (independent approaches on parallel runways, or IAPR). This introductory chapter presents a brief overview and perspective of approaches and methodologies for performing safety analyses for complex systems. Ensuing chapter provide the technical details that underlie the approach that we have taken in performing the safety analysis for the IAPR concept.

Quantitative genetic analysis of the body composition and blood pressure association in two ethnically diverse populations.

PubMed

Ghosh, Sudipta; Dosaev, Tasbulat; Prakash, Jai; Livshits, Gregory

2017-04-01

The major aim of this study was to conduct comparative quantitative-genetic analysis of the body composition (BCP) and somatotype (STP) variation, as well as their correlations with blood pressure (BP) in two ethnically, culturally and geographically different populations: Santhal, indigenous ethnic group from India and Chuvash, indigenous population from Russia. Correspondently two pedigree-based samples were collected from 1,262 Santhal and1,558 Chuvash individuals, respectively. At the first stage of the study, descriptive statistics and a series of univariate regression analyses were calculated. Finally, multiple and multivariate regression (MMR) analyses, with BP measurements as dependent variables and age, sex, BCP and STP as independent variables were carried out in each sample separately. The significant and independent covariates of BP were identified and used for re-examination in pedigree-based variance decomposition analysis. Despite clear and significant differences between the populations in BCP/STP, both Santhal and Chuvash were found to be predominantly mesomorphic irrespective of their sex. According to MMR analyses variation of BP significantly depended on age and mesomorphic component in both samples, and in addition on sex, ectomorphy and fat mass index in Santhal and on fat free mass index in Chuvash samples, respectively. Additive genetic component contributes to a substantial proportion of blood pressure and body composition variance. Variance component analysis in addition to above mentioned results suggests that additive genetic factors influence BP and BCP/STP associations significantly. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Visual target modulation of functional connectivity networks revealed by self-organizing group ICA.

PubMed

van de Ven, Vincent; Bledowski, Christoph; Prvulovic, David; Goebel, Rainer; Formisano, Elia; Di Salle, Francesco; Linden, David E J; Esposito, Fabrizio

2008-12-01

We applied a data-driven analysis based on self-organizing group independent component analysis (sogICA) to fMRI data from a three-stimulus visual oddball task. SogICA is particularly suited to the investigation of the underlying functional connectivity and does not rely on a predefined model of the experiment, which overcomes some of the limitations of hypothesis-driven analysis. Unlike most previous applications of ICA in functional imaging, our approach allows the analysis of the data at the group level, which is of particular interest in high order cognitive studies. SogICA is based on the hierarchical clustering of spatially similar independent components, derived from single subject decompositions. We identified four main clusters of components, centered on the posterior cingulate, bilateral insula, bilateral prefrontal cortex, and right posterior parietal and prefrontal cortex, consistently across all participants. Post hoc comparison of time courses revealed that insula, prefrontal cortex and right fronto-parietal components showed higher activity for targets than for distractors. Activation for distractors was higher in the posterior cingulate cortex, where deactivation was observed for targets. While our results conform to previous neuroimaging studies, they also complement conventional results by showing functional connectivity networks with unique contributions to the task that were consistent across subjects. SogICA can thus be used to probe functional networks of active cognitive tasks at the group-level and can provide additional insights to generate new hypotheses for further study. Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Fine tuning breath-hold-based cerebrovascular reactivity analysis models.

PubMed

van Niftrik, Christiaan Hendrik Bas; Piccirelli, Marco; Bozinov, Oliver; Pangalu, Athina; Valavanis, Antonios; Regli, Luca; Fierstra, Jorn

2016-02-01

We elaborate on existing analysis methods for breath-hold (BH)-derived cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) measurements and describe novel insights and models toward more exact CVR interpretation. Five blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI datasets of neurovascular patients with unilateral hemispheric hemodynamic impairment were used to test various BH CVR analysis methods. Temporal lag (phase), percent BOLD signal change (CVR), and explained variance (coherence) maps were calculated using three different sine models and two novel "Optimal Signal" model-free methods based on the unaffected hemisphere and the sagittal sinus fMRI signal time series, respectively. All models showed significant differences in CVR and coherence between the affected-hemodynamic impaired-and unaffected hemisphere. Voxel-wise phase determination significantly increases CVR (0.60 ± 0.18 vs. 0.82 ± 0.27; P < 0.05). Incorporating different durations of breath hold and resting period in one sine model (two-task) did increase coherence in the unaffected hemisphere, as well as eliminating negative phase commonly obtained by one-task frequency models. The novel model-free "optimal signal" methods both explained the BOLD MR data similar to the two task sine model. Our CVR analysis demonstrates an improved CVR and coherence after implementation of voxel-wise phase and frequency adjustment. The novel "optimal signal" methods provide a robust and feasible alternative to the sine models, as both are model-free and independent of compliance. Here, the sagittal sinus model may be advantageous, as it is independent of hemispheric CVR impairment.

A One-year Case Study: Understanding the Rich Potential of Project-based Learning in a Virtual Reality Class for High School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales, Teresa M.; Bang, EunJin; Andre, Thomas

2013-10-01

This paper presents a qualitative case analysis of a new and unique, high school, student-directed, project-based learning (PBL), virtual reality (VR) class. In order to create projects, students learned, on an independent basis, how to program an industrial-level VR machine. A constraint was that students were required to produce at least one educational application of VR. This study incorporated in-depth classroom observations, interviews with students, analyses of student projects, and surveys of parents and teachers to examine the social and learning processes in the class, and the nature of content learning represented in student projects. The results demonstrated that PBL can be effective even with minimal teacher guidance. The findings substantiate an educational approach rich with promise, for at least some students, that deserves considerable additional study to maximize its powerful potentials for independent and peer-mentored learning.

Radar velocity determination using direction of arrival measurements

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

Doerry, Armin W.; Bickel, Douglas L.; Naething, Richard M.

The various technologies presented herein relate to utilizing direction of arrival (DOA) data to determine various flight parameters for an aircraft A plurality of radar images (e.g., SAR images) can be analyzed to identify a plurality of pixels in the radar images relating to one or more ground targets. In an embodiment, the plurality of pixels can be selected based upon the pixels exceeding a SNR threshold. The DOA data in conjunction with a measurable Doppler frequency for each pixel can be obtained. Multi-aperture technology enables derivation of an independent measure of DOA to each pixel based on interferometric analysis.more » This independent measure of DOA enables decoupling of the aircraft velocity from the DOA in a range-Doppler map, thereby enabling determination of a radar velocity. The determined aircraft velocity can be utilized to update an onboard INS, and to keep it aligned, without the need for additional velocity-measuring instrumentation.« less

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition-associated secretory phenotype predicts survival in lung cancer patients

PubMed Central

Reka, Ajaya Kumar; Chen, Guoan; Keshamouni, Venkateshwar G.

2014-01-01

In cancer cells, the process of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) confers migratory and invasive capacity, resistance to apoptosis, drug resistance, evasion of host immune surveillance and tumor stem cell traits. Cells undergoing EMT may represent tumor cells with metastatic potential. Characterizing the EMT secretome may identify biomarkers to monitor EMT in tumor progression and provide a prognostic signature to predict patient survival. Utilizing a transforming growth factor-β-induced cell culture model of EMT, we quantitatively profiled differentially secreted proteins, by GeLC-tandem mass spectrometry. Integrating with the corresponding transcriptome, we derived an EMT-associated secretory phenotype (EASP) comprising of proteins that were differentially upregulated both at protein and mRNA levels. Four independent primary tumor-derived gene expression data sets of lung cancers were used for survival analysis by the random survival forests (RSF) method. Analysis of 97-gene EASP expression in human lung adenocarcinoma tumors revealed strong positive correlations with lymph node metastasis, advanced tumor stage and histological grade. RSF analysis built on a training set (n = 442), including age, sex and stage as variables, stratified three independent lung cancer data sets into low-, medium- and high-risk groups with significant differences in overall survival. We further refined EASP to a 20 gene signature (rEASP) based on variable importance scores from RSF analysis. Similar to EASP, rEASP predicted survival of both adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma patients. More importantly, it predicted survival in the early-stage cancers. These results demonstrate that integrative analysis of the critical biological process of EMT provides mechanism-based and clinically relevant biomarkers with significant prognostic value. PMID:24510113

ST-analyzer: a web-based user interface for simulation trajectory analysis.

PubMed

Jeong, Jong Cheol; Jo, Sunhwan; Wu, Emilia L; Qi, Yifei; Monje-Galvan, Viviana; Yeom, Min Sun; Gorenstein, Lev; Chen, Feng; Klauda, Jeffery B; Im, Wonpil

2014-05-05

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has become one of the key tools to obtain deeper insights into biological systems using various levels of descriptions such as all-atom, united-atom, and coarse-grained models. Recent advances in computing resources and MD programs have significantly accelerated the simulation time and thus increased the amount of trajectory data. Although many laboratories routinely perform MD simulations, analyzing MD trajectories is still time consuming and often a difficult task. ST-analyzer, http://im.bioinformatics.ku.edu/st-analyzer, is a standalone graphical user interface (GUI) toolset to perform various trajectory analyses. ST-analyzer has several outstanding features compared to other existing analysis tools: (i) handling various formats of trajectory files from MD programs, such as CHARMM, NAMD, GROMACS, and Amber, (ii) intuitive web-based GUI environment--minimizing administrative load and reducing burdens on the user from adapting new software environments, (iii) platform independent design--working with any existing operating system, (iv) easy integration into job queuing systems--providing options of batch processing either on the cluster or in an interactive mode, and (v) providing independence between foreground GUI and background modules--making it easier to add personal modules or to recycle/integrate pre-existing scripts utilizing other analysis tools. The current ST-analyzer contains nine main analysis modules that together contain 18 options, including density profile, lipid deuterium order parameters, surface area per lipid, and membrane hydrophobic thickness. This article introduces ST-analyzer with its design, implementation, and features, and also illustrates practical analysis of lipid bilayer simulations. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Multimodal neural correlates of cognitive control in the Human Connectome Project.

PubMed

Lerman-Sinkoff, Dov B; Sui, Jing; Rachakonda, Srinivas; Kandala, Sridhar; Calhoun, Vince D; Barch, Deanna M

2017-12-01

Cognitive control is a construct that refers to the set of functions that enable decision-making and task performance through the representation of task states, goals, and rules. The neural correlates of cognitive control have been studied in humans using a wide variety of neuroimaging modalities, including structural MRI, resting-state fMRI, and task-based fMRI. The results from each of these modalities independently have implicated the involvement of a number of brain regions in cognitive control, including dorsal prefrontal cortex, and frontal parietal and cingulo-opercular brain networks. However, it is not clear how the results from a single modality relate to results in other modalities. Recent developments in multimodal image analysis methods provide an avenue for answering such questions and could yield more integrated models of the neural correlates of cognitive control. In this study, we used multiset canonical correlation analysis with joint independent component analysis (mCCA + jICA) to identify multimodal patterns of variation related to cognitive control. We used two independent cohorts of participants from the Human Connectome Project, each of which had data from four imaging modalities. We replicated the findings from the first cohort in the second cohort using both independent and predictive analyses. The independent analyses identified a component in each cohort that was highly similar to the other and significantly correlated with cognitive control performance. The replication by prediction analyses identified two independent components that were significantly correlated with cognitive control performance in the first cohort and significantly predictive of performance in the second cohort. These components identified positive relationships across the modalities in neural regions related to both dynamic and stable aspects of task control, including regions in both the frontal-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks, as well as regions hypothesized to be modulated by cognitive control signaling, such as visual cortex. Taken together, these results illustrate the potential utility of multi-modal analyses in identifying the neural correlates of cognitive control across different indicators of brain structure and function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

5-Fluorouracil Adjuvant Chemotherapy Does Not Increase Survival in Patients with CpG Island Methylator Phenotype Colorectal Cancer

PubMed Central

Jover, Rodrigo; Nguyen, Thuy-Phuong; Pérez-Carbonell, Lucía; Zapater, Pedro; Payá, Artemio; Alenda, Cristina; Rojas, Estefanía; Cubiella, Joaquín; Balaguer, Francesc; Morillas, Juan D.; Clofent, Juan; Bujanda, Luis; Reñé, Josep M; Bessa, Xavier; Xicola, Rosa M.; Nicolás-Pérez, David; Castells, Antoni; Andreu, Montserrat; Llor, Xavier; Boland, C. Richard; Goel, Ajay

2011-01-01

Background & Aims 5-FU-based adjuvant chemotherapy does not increase survival times of patients with colorectal tumors with microsatellite instability. We determined the response of patients with colorectal tumors with the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) to 5-FU-based therapy. Methods We analyzed a population-based cohort of 302 patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) for a median follow-up time of 50.7 months. CIMP status was determined by analysis of the CACNAG1, SOCS1, RUNX3, NEUROG1, and MLH1 promoters; tumors were considered to be CIMP-positive (CIMP+) if at least 3 promoters were methylated. Results Tumors from 29.5% (89/302) of patients were CIMP+; this did not influence disease-free survival (log rank=.26). Of tumors of TNM stages II–III (n=196), 32.7% were CIMP+. Among patients with CRC stages II–III who did not receive adjuvant 5-FU chemotherapy, those with CIMP+ tumors had longest times of disease-free survival (log rank=.04); patients with CIMP+ tumors who received chemotherapy had shorter times of disease-free survival (log rank=0.02). In patients with CIMP-negative tumors, adjuvant 5-FU chemotherapy significantly increased time of disease-free survival (log-rank=.00001). However, in patients with CIMP+ tumors, adjuvant 5-FU chemotherapy did not affect time of disease-free survival (log rank=.7). Multivariate analysis showed a significant, independent interaction between 5-FU treatment and CIMP status (hazard ratio [HR]=0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], .5–.8). Among patients with CIMP+ tumors, adjuvant chemotherapy was not an independent predictor of outcome (HR=0.8; 95% CI, 0.3–2.0). In patients who did not receive adjuvant 5-FU chemotherapy, CIMP status was the only independent predictor of survival (HR=2.0; 95% CI, 1.1–3.8) Conclusion Patients with CIMP+ colorectal tumors do not benefit from 5-FU–based adjuvant chemotherapy. PMID:21185836

Improved disparity map analysis through the fusion of monocular image segmentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perlant, Frederic P.; Mckeown, David M.

1991-01-01

The focus is to examine how estimates of three dimensional scene structure, as encoded in a scene disparity map, can be improved by the analysis of the original monocular imagery. The utilization of surface illumination information is provided by the segmentation of the monocular image into fine surface patches of nearly homogeneous intensity to remove mismatches generated during stereo matching. These patches are used to guide a statistical analysis of the disparity map based on the assumption that such patches correspond closely with physical surfaces in the scene. Such a technique is quite independent of whether the initial disparity map was generated by automated area-based or feature-based stereo matching. Stereo analysis results are presented on a complex urban scene containing various man-made and natural features. This scene contains a variety of problems including low building height with respect to the stereo baseline, buildings and roads in complex terrain, and highly textured buildings and terrain. The improvements are demonstrated due to monocular fusion with a set of different region-based image segmentations. The generality of this approach to stereo analysis and its utility in the development of general three dimensional scene interpretation systems are also discussed.

Neutron die-away experiment for remote analysis of the surface of the moon and the planets, phase 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mills, W. R.; Allen, L. S.

1972-01-01

Continuing work on the two die-away measurements proposed to be made in the combined pulsed neutron experiment (CPNE) for analysis of lunar and planetary surfaces is described. This report documents research done during Phase 3. A general exposition of data analysis by the least-squares method and the related problem of the prediction of variance is given. A data analysis procedure for epithermal die-away data has been formulated. In order to facilitate the analysis, the number of independent material variables has been reduced to two: the hydrogen density and an effective oxygen density, the latter being determined uniquely from the nonhydrogeneous elemental composition. Justification for this reduction in the number of variables is based on a set of 27 new theoretical calculations. Work is described related to experimental calibration of the epithermal die-away measurement. An interim data analysis technique based solely on theoretical calculations seems to be adequate and will be used for future CPNE field tests.

Home-Town Values and High Accountability: A Texas Recipe for Districtwide Success in an Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skrla, Linda; McKenzie, Kathryn Bell; Scheurich, James Joseph; Dickerson, Kimberly L.

2011-01-01

This article reports the findings from a case study of urban school district effectiveness taken from a larger, multistate study. The case study district, Galena Park Independent School District in Galena Park, Texas, was chosen for inclusion in the study based on quantitative analysis of student achievement data in Texas. An education production…

Improving Systematic Constraint-driven Analysis Using Incremental and Parallel Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

and modeling latency of a cloud based subsystem. Members of my research group provided useful comments and ideas on my work in group meetings and...122 5.7.1 One structurally complex argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 5.7.2 Multiple independent arguments...Subject Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 6.1.1.1 JPF — Model Checker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 6.1.1.2 Alloy — Using a SAT

[The algorithms and development for the extraction of evoked potentials].

PubMed

Niu, Jie; Qiu, Tianshuang

2004-06-01

The extraction of evoked potentials is a main subject in the area of brain signal processing. In recent years, the single-trial extraction of evoked potentials has been focused on by many studies. In this paper, the approaches based on the wavelet transform, the neural network, the high order acumulants and the independent component analysis are briefly reviewed.

Accuracy assessment of the vegetation continuous field tree cover product using 3954 ground plots in the southwestern USA

Treesearch

M. A. White; J. D. Shaw; R. D. Ramsey

2005-01-01

An accuracy assessment of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation continuous field (VCF) tree cover product using two independent ground-based tree cover databases was conducted. Ground data included 1176 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots for Arizona and 2778 Southwest Regional GAP (SWReGAP) plots for Utah and western Colorado....

Qualitative and Semiquantitative Elastography for the Diagnosis of Intermediate Suspicious Thyroid Nodules Based on the 2015 American Thyroid Association Guidelines.

PubMed

Yang, Bo Ra; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Moon, Hee Jung; Yoon, Jung Hyun; Park, Vivian Y; Kwak, Jin Young

2018-04-01

To evaluate qualitative and semiquantitative elastography for the diagnosis of intermediate suspicious thyroid nodules based on the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines. Through a retrospective search of our institutional database, 746 solid thyroid nodules found on grayscale ultrasonography, strain elastography, and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration between June and November 2009 were collected. Among them, 80 nodules from 80 patients with an intermediate suspicion of malignancy based on the 2015 ATA guidelines that were 10 mm or larger were recruited as the final study nodules. Elastographic findings were categorized according to the criteria of Rago et al (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007; 92:2917-2922) and Asteria et al (Thyroid 2008; 18:523-531), and strain ratio values were calculated and recorded. The independent 2-sample t test and χ 2 test (or Fisher exact test) were used to evaluate differences in clinical parameters between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. All variables were compared by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Of the 80 nodules, 6 (7.5%) were malignant, and 74 (92.5%) were benign. No significant differences were observed in age, sex, nodule size, elasticity score, and strain ratio between benign and malignant nodules. No variables significantly predicted thyroid malignancy on the univariate analysis. On the multivariate logistic regression analysis, there were no independent variables associated with thyroid malignancy, including the elasticity score and strain ratio (all P > .05). Elastographic analysis using the elasticity score and strain ratio has limited ability to characterize the benignity or malignancy of thyroid nodules with an intermediate suspicion of malignancy based on the 2015 ATA guidelines. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

US Intergroup Anal Carcinoma Trial: Tumor Diameter Predicts for Colostomy

PubMed Central

Ajani, Jaffer A.; Winter, Kathryn A.; Gunderson, Leonard L.; Pedersen, John; Benson, Al B.; Thomas, Charles R.; Mayer, Robert J.; Haddock, Michael G.; Rich, Tyvin A.; Willett, Christopher G.

2009-01-01

Purpose The US Gastrointestinal Intergroup Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 98-11 anal carcinoma trial showed that cisplatin-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy resulted in a significantly higher rate of colostomy compared with mitomycin-based therapy. Established prognostic variables for patients with anal carcinoma include tumor diameter, clinical nodal status, and sex, but pretreatment variables that would predict the likelihood of colostomy are unknown. Methods A secondary analysis was performed by combining patients in the two treatment arms to evaluate whether new predictive and prognostic variables would emerge. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to correlate overall survival (OS), disease-free survival, and time to colostomy (TTC) with pretreatment and treatment variables. Results Of 682 patients enrolled, 644 patients were assessable and analyzed. In the multivariate analysis, tumor-related prognosticators for poorer OS included node-positive cancer (P ≤ .0001), large (> 5 cm) tumor diameter (P = .01), and male sex (P = .016). In the treatment-related categories, cisplatin-based therapy was statistically significantly associated with a higher rate of colostomy (P = .03) than was mitomycin-based therapy. In the pretreatment variables category, only large tumor diameter independently predicted for TTC (P = .008). Similarly, the cumulative 5-year colostomy rate was statistically significantly higher for large tumor diameter than for small tumor diameter (Gray's test; P = .0074). Clinical nodal status and sex were not predictive of TTC. Conclusion The combined analysis of the two arms of RTOG 98-11, representing the largest prospective database, reveals that tumor diameter (irrespective of the nodal status) is the only independent pretreatment variable that predicts TTC and 5-year colostomy rate in patients with anal carcinoma. PMID:19139424

PreSurgMapp: a MATLAB Toolbox for Presurgical Mapping of Eloquent Functional Areas Based on Task-Related and Resting-State Functional MRI.

PubMed

Huang, Huiyuan; Ding, Zhongxiang; Mao, Dewang; Yuan, Jianhua; Zhu, Fangmei; Chen, Shuda; Xu, Yan; Lou, Lin; Feng, Xiaoyan; Qi, Le; Qiu, Wusi; Zhang, Han; Zang, Yu-Feng

2016-10-01

The main goal of brain tumor surgery is to maximize tumor resection while minimizing the risk of irreversible postoperative functional sequelae. Eloquent functional areas should be delineated preoperatively, particularly for patients with tumors near eloquent areas. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a noninvasive technique that demonstrates great promise for presurgical planning. However, specialized data processing toolkits for presurgical planning remain lacking. Based on several functions in open-source software such as Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM), Resting-State fMRI Data Analysis Toolkit (REST), Data Processing Assistant for Resting-State fMRI (DPARSF) and Multiple Independent Component Analysis (MICA), here, we introduce an open-source MATLAB toolbox named PreSurgMapp. This toolbox can reveal eloquent areas using comprehensive methods and various complementary fMRI modalities. For example, PreSurgMapp supports both model-based (general linear model, GLM, and seed correlation) and data-driven (independent component analysis, ICA) methods and processes both task-based and resting-state fMRI data. PreSurgMapp is designed for highly automatic and individualized functional mapping with a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for time-saving pipeline processing. For example, sensorimotor and language-related components can be automatically identified without human input interference using an effective, accurate component identification algorithm using discriminability index. All the results generated can be further evaluated and compared by neuro-radiologists or neurosurgeons. This software has substantial value for clinical neuro-radiology and neuro-oncology, including application to patients with low- and high-grade brain tumors and those with epilepsy foci in the dominant language hemisphere who are planning to undergo a temporal lobectomy.

Comprehensive gene- and pathway-based analysis of depressive symptoms in older adults.

PubMed

Nho, Kwangsik; Ramanan, Vijay K; Horgusluoglu, Emrin; Kim, Sungeun; Inlow, Mark H; Risacher, Shannon L; McDonald, Brenna C; Farlow, Martin R; Foroud, Tatiana M; Gao, Sujuan; Callahan, Christopher M; Hendrie, Hugh C; Niculescu, Alexander B; Saykin, Andrew J

2015-01-01

Depressive symptoms are common in older adults and are particularly prevalent in those with or at elevated risk for dementia. Although the heritability of depression is estimated to be substantial, single nucleotide polymorphism-based genome-wide association studies of depressive symptoms have had limited success. In this study, we performed genome-wide gene- and pathway-based analyses of depressive symptom burden. Study participants included non-Hispanic Caucasian subjects (n = 6,884) from three independent cohorts, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and the Indiana Memory and Aging Study (IMAS). Gene-based meta-analysis identified genome-wide significant associations (ANGPT4 and FAM110A, q-value = 0.026; GRM7-AS3 and LRFN5, q-value = 0.042). Pathway analysis revealed enrichment of association in 105 pathways, including multiple pathways related to ERK/MAPK signaling, GSK3 signaling in bipolar disorder, cell development, and immune activation and inflammation. GRM7, ANGPT4, and LRFN5 have been previously implicated in psychiatric disorders, including the GRM7 region displaying association with major depressive disorder. The ERK/MAPK signaling pathway is a known target of antidepressant drugs and has important roles in neuronal plasticity, and GSK3 signaling has been previously implicated in Alzheimer's disease and as a promising therapeutic target for depression. Our results warrant further investigation in independent and larger cohorts and add to the growing understanding of the genetics and pathobiology of depressive symptoms in aging and neurodegenerative disorders. In particular, the genes and pathways demonstrating association with depressive symptoms may be potential therapeutic targets for these symptoms in older adults.

A pipeline VLSI design of fast singular value decomposition processor for real-time EEG system based on on-line recursive independent component analysis.

PubMed

Huang, Kuan-Ju; Shih, Wei-Yeh; Chang, Jui Chung; Feng, Chih Wei; Fang, Wai-Chi

2013-01-01

This paper presents a pipeline VLSI design of fast singular value decomposition (SVD) processor for real-time electroencephalography (EEG) system based on on-line recursive independent component analysis (ORICA). Since SVD is used frequently in computations of the real-time EEG system, a low-latency and high-accuracy SVD processor is essential. During the EEG system process, the proposed SVD processor aims to solve the diagonal, inverse and inverse square root matrices of the target matrices in real time. Generally, SVD requires a huge amount of computation in hardware implementation. Therefore, this work proposes a novel design concept for data flow updating to assist the pipeline VLSI implementation. The SVD processor can greatly improve the feasibility of real-time EEG system applications such as brain computer interfaces (BCIs). The proposed architecture is implemented using TSMC 90 nm CMOS technology. The sample rate of EEG raw data adopts 128 Hz. The core size of the SVD processor is 580×580 um(2), and the speed of operation frequency is 20MHz. It consumes 0.774mW of power during the 8-channel EEG system per execution time.

Towards more realistic in vitro release measurement techniques for biodegradable microparticles.

PubMed

Klose, D; Azaroual, N; Siepmann, F; Vermeersch, G; Siepmann, J

2009-03-01

To better understand the importance of the environmental conditions for drug release from biodegradable microparticles allowing for the development of more appropriate in vitro release measurement techniques. Propranolol HCl diffusion in various agarose gels was characterized by NMR and UV analysis. Fick's law was used to theoretically predict the mass transport kinetics. Drug release from PLGA-based microparticles in such agarose gels was compared to that measured in agitated bulk fluids ("standard" method). NMR analysis revealed that the drug diffusivity was almost independent of the hydrogel concentration, despite of the significant differences in the systems' mechanical properties. This is due to the small size of the drug molecules/ions with respect to the hydrogel mesh size. Interestingly, the theoretically predicted drug concentration-distance-profiles could be confirmed by independent experiments. Most important from a practical point of view, significant differences in the release rates from the same batch of PLGA-based microparticles into a well agitated bulk fluid versus a semi-solid agarose gel were observed. Great care must be taken when defining the in vitro conditions for drug release measurements from biodegradable microparticles. The obtained new insight can help facilitating the development of more appropriate in vitro release testing procedures.

a Buffer Analysis Based on Co-Location Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, G.; Huang, S.; Wang, H.; Zhang, R.; Wang, Q.; Sha, H.; Liu, X.; Pan, Q.

2018-05-01

Buffer analysis is a common tool of spatial analysis, which deals with the problem of proximity in GIS. Buffer analysis researches the relationship between the center object and other objects around a certain distance. Buffer analysis can make the complicated problem be more scientifically and visually, and provide valuable information for users. Over the past decades, people have done a lot of researches on buffer analysis. Along with the constantly improvement of spatial analysis accuracy needed by people, people hope that the results of spatial analysis can be more exactly express the actual situation. Due to the influence of some certain factors, the impact scope and contact range of a geographic elements on the surrounding objects are uncertain. As all we know, each object has its own characteristics and changing rules in the nature. They are both independent and relative to each other. However, almost all the generational algorithms of existing buffer analysis are based on fixed buffer distance, which do not consider the co-location relationship among instances. Consequently, it is a waste of resource to retrieve the useless information, and useful information is ignored.

Functional proteomic analysis revealed ground-base ion radiations cannot reflect biological effects of space radiations of rice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei; Sun, Yeqing; Zhao, Qian; Han, Lu

2016-07-01

Highly ionizing radiation (HZE) in space is considered as main factor causing biological effects. Radiobiological studies during space flights are unrepeatable due to the variable space radiation environment, ground-base ion radiations are usually performed to simulate of the space biological effect. Spaceflights present a low-dose rate (0.1˜~0.3mGy/day) radiation environment inside aerocrafts while ground-base ion radiations present a much higher dose rate (100˜~500mGy/min). Whether ground-base ion radiation can reflect effects of space radiation is worth of evaluation. In this research, we compared the functional proteomic profiles of rice plants between on-ground simulated HZE particle radiation and spaceflight treatments. Three independent ground-base seed ionizing radiation experiments with different cumulative doses (dose range: 2˜~20000mGy) and different liner energy transfer (LET) values (13.3˜~500keV/μμm) and two independent seed spaceflight experiments onboard Chinese 20th satellite and SZ-6 spacecraft were carried out. Alterations in the proteome were analyzed by two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) with MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry identifications. 45 and 59 proteins showed significant (p<0.05) and reproducible quantitative differences in ground-base ion radiation and spaceflight experiments respectively. The functions of ground-base radiation and spaceflight proteins were both involved in a wide range of biological processes. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis further revealed that ground-base radiation responsive proteins were mainly involved in removal of superoxide radicals, defense response to stimulus and photosynthesis, while spaceflight responsive proteins mainly participate in nucleoside metabolic process, protein folding and phosphorylation. The results implied that ground-base radiations cannot truly reflect effects of spaceflight radiations, ground-base radiation was a kind of indirect effect to rice causing oxidation and metabolism stresses, but space radiation was a kind of direct effect leading to macromolecule (DNA and protein) damage and signal pathway disorders. This functional proteomic analysis work might provide a new evaluation method for further on-ground simulated HZE radiation experiments.

Investigation of quartz grain surface textures by atomic force microscopy for forensic analysis.

PubMed

Konopinski, D I; Hudziak, S; Morgan, R M; Bull, P A; Kenyon, A J

2012-11-30

This paper presents a study of quartz sand grain surface textures using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to image the surface. Until now scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has provided the primary technique used in the forensic surface texture analysis of quartz sand grains as a means of establishing the provenance of the grains for forensic reconstructions. The ability to independently corroborate the grain type classifications is desirable and provides additional weight to the findings of SEM analysis of the textures of quartz grains identified in forensic soil/sediment samples. AFM offers a quantitative means of analysis that complements SEM examination, and is a non-destructive technique that requires no sample preparation prior to scanning. It therefore has great potential to be used for forensic analysis where sample preservation is highly valuable. By taking quantitative topography scans, it is possible to produce 3D representations of microscopic surface textures and diagnostic features for examination. Furthermore, various empirical measures can be obtained from analysing the topography scans, including arithmetic average roughness, root-mean-square surface roughness, skewness, kurtosis, and multiple gaussian fits to height distributions. These empirical measures, combined with qualitative examination of the surfaces can help to discriminate between grain types and provide independent analysis that can corroborate the morphological grain typing based on the surface textures assigned using SEM. Furthermore, the findings from this study also demonstrate that quartz sand grain surfaces exhibit a statistically self-similar fractal nature that remains unchanged across scales. This indicates the potential for a further quantitative measure that could be utilised in the discrimination of quartz grains based on their provenance for forensic investigations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Karnaugh map based approach towards systemic reviews and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hassan, Abdul Wahab; Hassan, Ahmad Kamal

2016-01-01

Studying meta-analysis and systemic reviews since long had helped us conclude numerous parallel or conflicting studies. Existing studies are presented in tabulated forms which contain appropriate information for specific cases yet it is difficult to visualize. On meta-analysis of data, this can lead to absorption and subsumption errors henceforth having undesirable potential of consecutive misunderstandings in social and operational methodologies. The purpose of this study is to investigate an alternate forum for meta-data presentation that relies on humans' strong pictorial perception capability. Analysis of big-data is assumed to be a complex and daunting task often reserved on the computational powers of machines yet there exist mapping tools which can analyze such data in a hand-handled manner. Data analysis on such scale can benefit from the use of statistical tools like Karnaugh maps where all studies can be put together on a graph based mapping. Such a formulation can lead to more control in observing patterns of research community and analyzing further for uncertainty and reliability metrics. We present a methodological process of converting a well-established study in Health care to its equaling binary representation followed by furnishing values on to a Karnaugh Map. The data used for the studies presented herein is from Burns et al (J Publ Health 34(1):138-148, 2011) consisting of retrospectively collected data sets from various studies on clinical coding data accuracy. Using a customized filtration process, a total of 25 studies were selected for review with no, partial, or complete knowledge of six independent variables thus forming 64 independent cells on a Karnaugh map. The study concluded that this pictorial graphing as expected had helped in simplifying the overview of meta-analysis and systemic reviews.

Prostate weight: an independent predictor for positive surgical margins during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

PubMed

Msezane, Lambda P; Gofrit, Ofer N; Lin, Shang; Shalhav, Arieh L; Zagaja, Gregory P; Zorn, Kevin C

2007-10-01

Pre-operative prediction of pathological stage represents the cornerstone of prostate cancer management. Patient counseling is routinely based on pre-operative PSA, Gleason score and clinical stage. In this study, we evaluated whether prostate weight (PW) is an independent predictor of extracapsular extension (ECE) and positive surgical margin (PSM). Between February 2003 and November 2006, 709 men underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RLRP). Pre-operative parameters (patient age, pre-operative PSA, biopsy Gleason score, clinical stage) as well as pathological data (prostate weight, pathological stage) were prospectively gathered after internal-review board (IRB) approval. Evaluation of the influence of these variables on ECE and PSM outcomes were assessed using both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Mean overall patient age, pre-operative PSA and PW were 59.6 years, 6.5 ng/ml and 52.9 g (range 5.5 g-198.7 g), respectively. Of the 393, 209 and 107 men with PW < 50 g, 50 g-< 70 g and < 70 g, ECE was observed in 20.1%, 15.3% and 9.3%, respectively (p = 0.015). In the same patient cohorts, PSM was observed in 25.4%, 14.4% and 7.5%, respectively (p < 0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, PW, in addition to pre-operative PSA, biopsy Gleason score and clinical stage, was an independent risk factor for ECE (p < 0.001). Similarly, in multi-variate analysis, PW was observed to be a risk factor for PSM (p < 0.001). PW is an independent predictor of both ECE and PSM, with an inverse relationship having been demonstrated between both variables. PW should be considered when counseling patients with prostate cancer treatment.