Symbolic computation with finite biquandles

A method of computing a basis for the second Yang–Baxter cohomology of a finite biquandle with coefficients in Q$\mathbb{Q}$ and _Zp${\mathbb{Z}}_p$ from a matrix presentation of the finite biquandle is described. We also describe a method for computing the Yang–Baxter cocycle invariants of an oriented knot or link represented as a signed Gauss code. We provide a URL for our Maple implementations of these algorithms.     

Effects of socio-emotional stressors on ventilation rate and subjective workload during simulated CPR by lay rescuers

Several studies have documented the occurrence of high ventilation rates during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but to date, there have been no scientific investigation of the causes of hyperventilation. The objective of the current study was to test the effects of socio-emotional stressors on lay rescuers' ventilation rate in a simulated resuscitation setting using a manikin model. A within-subjects experiment with randomized order of conditions tested lay rescuers' ventilation rate on an intubated manikin during exposure to socio-emotional stressors and during a control condition where no external stressors were present. Ventilation rates and subjective workload were significantly higher during exposure to socio-emotional stressors than during the control condition. All but one of the nine participants ventilated at a higher ventilation rate in the experimental condition. All nine participants rated the subjective workload to be higher during exposure to socio-emotional stressors. Hence, exposure to socio-emotional stressors is associated with increased ventilation rates performed by lay rescuers during simulated cardiac arrest using a manikin model. These findings might have implications for the understanding of the type of situations which hyperventilation may occur. Awareness of these situations may have implications for training of lay rescues.     

EnvironalPlanning: Analytic Network Process Model for Environmentally Conscious Construction Planning

Although the construction pollution index has been put forward and proved to be an efficient approach to reducing or mitigating pollution level during the construction planning stage, the problem of how to select the best construction plan based on distinguishing the degree of its potential adverse environmental impacts is still a research task. This paper first reviews environmental issues and their characteristics in construction, which are critical factors in evaluating potential adverse impacts of a construction plan. These environmental characteristics are then used to structure two decision models for environmental-conscious construction planning by using an analytic network process (ANP), including a complicated model and a simplified model. The two ANP models are combined and called the EnvironalPlanning system, which is applied to evaluate potential adverse environmental impacts of alternative construction plans.     

An integrated model for supplier selection process

0　ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＩｎｔｏｄａｙ’ｓｈｉｇｈｌｙｃｏｍｐｅｔｉｔｉｖｅｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｉｎｇｅｎ ｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔ,ｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｉｎｇｃｏｍｐａｎｉｅｓｍｕｓｔｃｏｎｓｔａｎｔｌｙａｓｋｔｈｅｍｓｅｌｖｅｓｔｈｅｓｅｔｏｕｇｈｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎｓ :Ｄｏｗｅｈａｖｅｔｈｅｂｅｓｔｓｕｐｐｌｉｅｒｓａｔｔｈｅｌｏｗｅｓｔｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅｐｒｉｃｅｓ?Ａｒｅｗｅｇｅｔｔｉｎｇａｎｄｓｅｎｄｉｎｇｍａｔｅｒｉａｌｓａｓｑｕｉｃｋｌｙａｓｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅ ?Ａｄｄｉｔｉｏｎａｌｌｙ ,ｔｈｅ…     

Structurally noise resistant classifier for multi-modal person verification

In this letter we propose a piece-wise linear (PL) classifier for use as the decision stage in a two-modal verification system, comprised of a face and a speech expert. The classifier utilizes a fixed decision boundary that has been specifically designed to account for the effects of noisy audio conditions. Experimental results on the VidTIMIT database show that in clean conditions, the proposed classifier is outperformed by a traditional weighted summation decision stage (using both fixed and adaptive weights). Using white Gaussian noise to corrupt the audio data resulted in the PL classifier obtaining better performance than the fixed approach and similar performance to the adaptive approach. Using a more realistic noise type, namely “operations room” noise from the NOISEX-92 corpus, resulted in the PL classifier obtaining better performance than both the fixed and adaptive approaches. The better results in this case stem from the PL classifier not making a direct assumption about the type of noise that causes the mismatch between training and testing conditions (unlike the adaptive approach). Moreover, the PL classifier has the advantage of having a fixed (non-adaptive, thus simpler) structure.     

Preserving Topology by a Digitization Process

The main task of digital image processing is to recognize properties of real objects based on their digital images. These images are obtained by some sampling device, like a CCD camera, and represented as finite sets of points that are assigned some value in a gray-level or color scale. Based on technical properties of sampling devices, these points are usually assumed to form a square grid and are modeled as finite subsets of Z². Therefore, a fundamental question in digital image processing is which features in the digital image correspond, under certain conditions, to properties of the underlying objects. In practical applications this question is mostly answered by visually judging the obtained digital images. In this paper we present a comprehensive answer to this question with respect to topological properties. In particular, we derive conditions relating properties of real objects to the grid size of the sampling device which guarantee that a real object and its digital image are topologically equivalent. These conditions also imply that two digital images of a given object are topologically equivalent. This means, for example, that shifting or rotating an object or the camera cannot lead to topologically different images, i.e., topological properties of obtained digital images are invariant under shifting and rotation.     

Selecting and assessing challenge problems

Abstract

Organisations conducting research programs often focus the work of their scientists and technologists on challenge problems (CPs). These challenges are designed to ensure that progress is measurable and relevant to the goals of the program sponsor. Generating and selecting pertinent CPs is difficult, as is assessing their value. We describe a method of generating and selecting CPs and its application in a highly collaborative, multi-organisation research program. Thirty-eight biologists, chemists, mathematicians and computer scientists across academic, commercial and government organisations generated and ranked their top choices from among 12 richly described candidate challenge problems. A ranked-choice voting formula was applied. Five CPs were highly scored; the remaining seven were distributed across a lower range of scores. The program sponsor subsequently directed researchers to address six CPs, including the elected five. Analysis of the rationales that participants offered for their CP rankings revealed four domain-independent dimensions of value: capability, speed, impact and synergy. These dimensions of value can help managers of interdisciplinary research programs systematically select a portfolio of CPs that will efficiently apply utilise resources towards program goals and facilitate measurement of scientific progress.