Perspective model-based visual tracking scheme for robust tracking of objects in complex environs

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Robust tracking of moving objects is still an open problem in computer vision. The problem and its difficulty depend on many factors, which includes the...     

Thromboelastography in healthy dairy cows

Thromboelastography is a whole blood-based coagulation assay that can be used to investigate hypocoagulability and hypercoagulability, as seen with thromboembolic diseases and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Numerous coagulopathies due to different causes are reported in cows. The objective was to establish reference intervals for thromboelastography using the TEG 5000 (Haemonetics GmbH, Munich, Germany) with citrated whole blood samples and kaolin activation in dairy cows and to investigate possible thromboelastographic changes between cows in different lactation periods. An additional objective was to test the stability of samples for up to 100 h. Sixty blood samples from healthy Holstein-Friesian cows were examined. The samples were allocated to 3 different lactation groups (≤30 d postcalving, 31–99 d postcalving, ≥100 d postcalving). Thromboelastography was performed by using the TEG 5000 analyzer with citrated whole blood samples with kaolin activation. The calculated reference intervals were as follows: reaction time = 2.2 to 6.2 min, coagulation time = 0.8 to 2.0 min, angle α = 58.2 to 81.8°, maximum amplitude = 64.3 to 89.2 mm, and clot rigidity = 9.2 to 41.2 dyn/cm². The 3 different lactation groups showed no significant differences in TEG parameters. No significant difference was seen in samples stored for up to 48 h at room temperature, which indicates that delays in processing samples, such as those arising during transit, are not an issue.     

Student success prediction in MOOCs

Predictive models of student success in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a critical component of effective content personalization and adaptive interventions. In this article we review the state of the art in predictive models of student success in MOOCs and present a categorization of MOOC research according to the predictors (features), prediction (outcomes), and underlying theoretical model. We critically survey work across each category, providing data on the raw data source, feature engineering, statistical model, evaluation method, prediction architecture, and other aspects of these experiments. Such a review is particularly useful given the rapid expansion of predictive modeling research in MOOCs since the emergence of major MOOC platforms in 2012. This survey reveals several key methodological gaps, which include extensive filtering of experimental subpopulations, ineffective student model evaluation, and the use of experimental data which would be unavailable for real-world student success prediction and intervention, which is the ultimate goal of such models. Finally, we highlight opportunities for future research, which include temporal modeling, research bridging predictive and explanatory student models, work which contributes to learning theory, and evaluating long-term learner success in MOOCs.     

Rheological properties of wheat flour and quality characteristics of pan bread as modified by partial additions of wheat bran or whole grain wheat flour

The use of bran and whole grain flour changes dough rheology and causes difficulties in manufacturing bakery products. The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of substituting refined wheat flour (WF) by wheat bran (WB; 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) or whole grain wheat flour (WGWF; 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) on dough rheological properties and pan bread quality characteristics. The addition of WB and WGWF increased water absorption and resistance to extension and decreased stability, extensibility and peak viscosity. Effects with WB were more pronounced. The presence of WB or WGWF increased crumb moisture content, firmness and hardness and decreased specific volume of pan bread. It is important to set new farinographic and extensographic standards when using WB and WGWF, allowing for a correct correlation between rheology and quality characteristics of bakery products, as the same standards used for WF are not valid.     

Inhibition of yeast‐to‐filamentous growth transitions in Candida albicans by a small molecule inducer of mammalian apoptosis

The opportunistic fungal pathogen of humans Candida albicans is able to grow in different morphological forms such as round or oval yeasts and filamentous hyphae and pseudohyphae. Morphogenesis, the ability to switch between the yeast and filamentous growth forms, is important for adapting to new microenvironments in the human host and for pathogenesis. The molecular pathways governing morphogenesis are complex and incompletely understood. Previously, we identified several small organic molecules that specifically inhibit the initiation of hyphal growth in C. albicans without affecting cell viability or budded growth. One molecule from that screen is known to induce apoptosis in mammalian cells. In this study, we have screened additional inducers of mammalian apoptosis and identified BH3I‐1, as well as several structural derivatives of BH3I‐1, that act as specific inhibitors of morphogenesis under a variety of environmental conditions. Chemical epistasis experiments suggest that BH3I‐1 acts downstream of the hypha‐specific gene regulators Rfg1, Nrg1 and Ume6.     

Response to “From a hard place to a rock: Questioning the energy security of a coal-based economy”

We would like to thank Sovacool et al. for engaging our recent work, however, we feel their criticisms are primarily directed at the claims of carbon capture and storage technology, which was not addressed in our analysis. The intent of our original analysis was to provide a systematic approach to judge the most efficient use of coal resources as a method for addressing the problem of foreign oil dependence. We have attempted to separate this discussion involving the most effective use of a resource from a discussion of the desirability of using the resource at all, which we feel is a separate issue.     

Urban crash-related child pedestrian injury incidence and characteristics associated with injury severity

Objective

Describe age-based urban pedestrian versus auto crash characteristics and identify crash characteristics associated with injury severity.

Materials and methods

Secondary analysis of the 2004–2010 National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration database for Illinois. All persons in Chicago crashes with age data who were listed as pedestrians (n = 7175 child age ≤19 yo, n = 16,398 adult age ≥20 yo) were included. Incidence and crash characteristics were analyzed by age groups and year. Main outcome measures were incidence, crash setting, and injury severity. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate injury severity by crash characteristics.

Results

Overall incidence was higher for child (146.6 per 100,000) versus adult (117.3 per 100,000) pedestrians but case fatality rate was lower (0.7% for children, 1.7% for adults). Child but not adult pedestrian injury incidence declined over time (trend test p < 0.0001 for <5 yo, 5–9 yo, and 10–14 yo; p < 0.05 for 15–19 yo, p = 0.96 for ≥20 yo). Most crashes for both children and adults took place during optimal driving conditions. Injuries were more frequent during warmer months for younger age groups compared to older (χ²p < 0.001). Midblock crashes increased as age decreased (p < 0.0001 for trend). Most crashes occurred at sites with sub-optimal traffic controls but varied by age (p < 0.0001 for trend). Crashes were more likely to be during daylight on dry roads in clear weather conditions for younger age groups compared to older (χ²p < 0.001). Daylight was associated with less severe injury (child OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.87–0.98; adult OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87–0.93).

Conclusion

The incidence of urban pedestrian crashes declined over time for child subgroups but not for adults. The setting of pedestrian crashes in Chicago today varies by age but is similar to that seen in other urban locales previously. Injuries for all age groups tend to be less severe during daylight conditions. Age-based prevention efforts may prove beneficial.     

Cinemetrics: Embodying architectural representation in the digital age

How can architecture emerge from the prison of its current forms of representation? Grahame Shane1 1 D.G. Shane, “Balkanization and the Postmodern City,” in Peter Lang (ed.), Mortal City, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1995, pp. 55-69. interprets the concluding diagram of Robin Evans' Projective Cast: Architecture and its Three Geometries2 2 Robin Evans, The Projective Cast: Architecture and Its Three Geometries, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995. as a critique of postmodern architecture's self-reflection and lack of engagement with the world. Shane argues that Evan's diagram depicts architectural representation as a self-reinforcing, closed, conceptual triangle of mirrored reflections between the human observer, the scopic regime of perspective, orthographic architectural drawing conventions, and designed objects. Shane draws his interpretation from Evans's early work on Victorian prison architecture as well as one of Evan's last public lectures. Shane characterized Evans' critical view of postmodern architectural practice and representation as a “self-correcting means of stabilization and pacification of the physical, built environment.”3 3 Shane, “Balkanization and the Postmodern City,” p. 68 This essay develops a theory of Cinemetrics that demonstrates how contemporary architectural production, with the aid of digital tools, has the capacity to break this closed system with open-ended, embodied cybernetic feed-back loops within a wider public culture engaged in the making and imagining of architecture.4 4 Brian McGrath and Jean Gardner, Cinemetrics: Architectural Drawing Today, London: Wiley-Academy, 2007. This essay argues that this break can only be accomplished by embodying architectural representation through a careful engagement with Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of movement and time images derived from cinema,5 5 Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: the movement image, Hugh Tomlinson and Habberjam (trans.), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 1986; Cinema 2: the time-image, Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Galeta (trans.), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 1989. Henri Bergson's theories of memory, attention and duration,6 6 Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution, Arthur Mitchell (trans.), Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1991; Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory, M.N. Paul and W.S. Palmer (trans.), New York: Zone Books, 1991. and from Charles Sanders Peirce's pragmatic semiosis.7 7 Charles Sanders Peirce, The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings, Vol. 2 (1893-1913), Peirce Edition Project, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1998.