Fast kappa-space sample selection in MRSI with a limited region of support

One of the primary drawbacks in the application of magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging is the long acquisition times required to obtained the desired resolution. When region of support information is available, the number of phase-encoding steps and thus time can be reduced without loss of information if the kappa-space locations are chosen well. We propose to select locations using a rectangular sampling array that is shifted to various positions in kappa-space to obtain the necessary sampling density. This method allows multiple samples to be selected simultaneously and reduces the computation required to evaluate the selection criterion. We present an efficient forward selection algorithm for optimizing the shift pattern so that the image can be reconstructed as reliably as possible from a periodic nonuniform set of samples. The proposed algorithm has important practical potential in that it can finish the selection in less than half a minute for typical image sizes and can reconstruct the image with fewer samples than regular sampling. With appropriate imaging hardware, this new algorithm makes selective sampling possible in a real-time image acquisition setting.     

Predicting Blast Waves from the Axial Direction of a Cylindrical Charge

Bare, cylindrical, explosive charges produce secondary shock waves in the direction of least presented area. Whilst the source of these shock waves was explored in the 1940’s, no attempt was made to predict them. This paper describes the detonation of bare, cylindrical charges of PE4 (RDX binder 88/12 %), mass 0.2 to 0.46 kg and with a length to diameter ratio of 4 to 1. High speed camera footage showed (i) the formation of the separate, primary, shock waves from the sides and ends of the charge, (ii) Mach reflection of these separate shock waves, giving rise to reflected, secondary shock waves, and (iii) the secondary shock waves catching and merging with the primary shock wave. In the axial direction, the secondary shock wave’s peak overpressure and impulse exceeded that of the primary shock wave for scaled distances, Z=R/M^1/3 ≥3.9 m kg^−1/3, where M is the mass in kg and R the distance from the charge in m. It was found possible to predict the primary peak overpressure, P, at all distances in the axial direction, for a constant length to diameter ratio, using P=3075 Z⁻³−1732 Z⁻²+305 Z⁻¹. Close in the primary peak overpressure is proportional to M/R³ in the axial direction. It was not possible to predict the secondary peak overpressure with the data obtained. The total impulse from both shock waves, I, in the axial direction can be predicted using I=746(M^2/3/R)³−708(M^2/3/R)²+306(M^2/3/R).     

A scalable manufacturing process for flexible active‐matrix e‐paper displays

Abstract— A scalable manufacturing process for fabricating active‐matrix backplanes on low‐cost flexible substrates, a key enabler for electronic‐paper displays, is presented. This process is based on solution processing, ink‐jet printing, and laser patterning. A multilayer architecture is employed to enable high aperture ratio and array performance. These backplanes were combined with E Ink electrophoretic media to create high‐performance displays that have high contrast, are bistable, and can be flexed repeatedly to a radius of curvature of 5 mm.     

Man vs machine: examining the three themes of service robotics in tourism and hospitality

Electronic Markets - There is a growing need in the tourism and hospitality literature to harmonise service robots and artificial intelligence’s (AI) meaning and foundations, while also...     

Trading agents competing: performance, progress, and market effectiveness

The annual trading agent competition offers agent designers a forum for evaluating programmed trading techniques in a challenging market scenario. TAC aims to spur research by enabling researchers to compare techniques on a common problem and build on each other's ideas. A fixed set of assumptions and environment settings facilitates communication of methods and results. As a multiyear event, TAC lets researchers observe trading agents' progress over time, in effect accelerating the evolution of an adapted population of traders. Given all the participant effort invested, it is incumbent on us to learn as much from the experience as possible. After three years of TAC, we're ready to examine there we stand. To do this, we used data from actual TAC tournaments and some post-competition experimentation. We based our analysis almost entirely on outcomes (profits and allocations), with very little direct accounting for specific agent techniques.     

Resources for health: A primary-care-based diet and physical activity intervention targeting urban Latinos with multiple chronic conditions.

Objective: The Resources for Health trial evaluates a social-ecologically based lifestyle (physical activity and diet) intervention targeting low-income, largely Spanish-speaking patients with multiple chronic conditions. Design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 200 patients recruited from an urban community health center and assigned to intervention and usual care conditions. Intervention involved 2 face-to-face, self-management support and community linkage sessions with a health educator, 3 follow-up phone calls, and 3 tailored newsletters. Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcomes measured at 6-months were changes in dietary behavior and physical activity. Changes in multilevel support for healthy living were evaluated as a secondary outcome. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, language, and number of chronic conditions, significant intervention effects were observed for dietary behavior and multilevel support for healthy lifestyles but not for physical activity. Conclusion: The Resources for Health intervention provides an effective and practical model for improving health behavior among low-income, Spanish-speaking patients with multiple chronic conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interval-based flow watermarking for tracing interactive traffic

Tracing interactive attack traffic that traverses stepping stones (i.e., intermediate hosts) is challenging, as the packet headers, lengths, and contents can all be changed by the stepping stones. The traffic timing (delays between packets) has therefore been studied as a means of tracing traffic. One such technique uses traffic timing as a side channel into which a watermark, or identifying tag, can be embedded to aid with tracing. The effectiveness of such techniques is greatly reduced when the packet count of the traffic is changed at the stepping stone. Such transformations may occur as a result of either active countermeasures (e.g. chaff packets, flow splitting) by an adversary attempting to defeat tracing, or by incidental repacketization of the traffic by network interfaces.This paper presents a new method of embedding a watermark in traffic timing, for purposes of tracing the traffic in the presence of flow splitting, chaff packets, timing perturbation, and repacketization. This method uses an invariant characteristic of two connection flows which are part of the same stepping stone chain, namely, the elapsed time of the flows. The duration of each flow is sliced into short fixed-length intervals. Packet timing is adjusted to manipulate the packet count in specific intervals (without adding or deleting any packets), for purposes of embedding the watermark. The method is self-synchronizing and does not require clock synchronization between the watermark encoder and decoder.A statistical analysis of the method, with no assumptions or limitations concerning the distribution of packet times, proves the effectiveness of the method given a sufficient number of packets, despite natural and/or deliberate repacketization and countermeasures by an adversary. The method has been implemented and tested on a large number of SSH traffic flows. The results demonstrate that 100% detection rates and very low false positive rates are achieved under conditions of multiple countermeasures, and using only a few hundred packets.     

Gaming Prediction Markets: Equilibrium Strategies with a Market Maker

We study the equilibrium behavior of informed traders interacting with market scoring rule (MSR) market makers. One attractive feature of MSR is that it is myopically incentive compatible: it is optimal for traders to report their true beliefs about the likelihood of an event outcome provided that they ignore the impact of their reports on the profit they might garner from future trades. In this paper, we analyze non-myopic strategies and examine what information structures lead to truthful betting by traders. Specifically, we analyze the behavior of risk-neutral traders with incomplete information playing in a dynamic game. We consider finite-stage and infinite-stage game models. For each model, we study the logarithmic market scoring rule (LMSR) with two different information structures: conditionally independent signals and (unconditionally) independent signals. In the finite-stage model, when signals of traders are independent conditional on the state of the world, truthful betting is a Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium (PBE). Moreover, it is the unique Weak Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium (WPBE) of the game. In contrast, when signals of traders are unconditionally independent, truthful betting is not a WPBE. In the infinite-stage model with unconditionally independent signals, there does not exist an equilibrium in which all information is revealed in a finite amount of time. We propose a simple discounted market scoring rule that reduces the opportunity for bluffing strategies. We show that in any WPBE for the infinite-stage market with discounting, the market price converges to the fully-revealing price, and the rate of convergence can be bounded in terms of the discounting parameter. When signals are conditionally independent, truthful betting is the unique WPBE for the infinite-stage market with and without discounting.     

Liquid‐crystal displays using printed plastic TFT backplanes

Abstract— In this paper, we present results from a new liquid crystal over plastic printed thin‐film‐transistor (TFT) display. The display demonstrator shows that the processing incompatibilities between the plastic TFT backplane and the liquid‐crystal materials can be addressed to make a stable twisted‐nematic structure. New fabrication processes such as the photo‐alignment of liquid crystals have made it possible to create a new generation of displays, which pave the way towards fully integrated plastic liquid‐crystal‐display technologies.     

Effects of soil composition and mineralogy on remote sensing of crop residue cover

The management of crop residues (non-photosynthetic vegetation) in agricultural fields influences soil erosion and soil carbon sequestration. Remote sensing methods can efficiently assess crop residue cover and related tillage intensity over many fields in a region. Although the reflectance spectra of soils and crop residues are often similar in the visible, near infrared, and the lower part of the shortwave infrared (400-1900 nm) wavelength region, specific diagnostic chemical absorption features are evident in the upper shortwave infrared (1900-2500 nm) region. Two reflectance band height indices used for estimating residue cover are the Cellulose Absorption Index (CAI) and the Lignin-Cellulose Absorption (LCA) index, both of which use reflectances in the upper shortwave infrared (SWIR). Soil mineralogy and composition will affect soil spectral properties and may limit the usefulness of these spectral indices in certain areas. Our objectives were to (1) identify minerals and soil components with absorption features in the 2000 nm to 2400 nm wavelength region that would affect CAI and LCA and (2) assess their potential impact on remote sensing estimates of crop residue cover. Most common soil minerals had CAI values ≤ 0.5, whereas crop residues were always > 0.5, allowing for good contrast between soils and residues. However, a number of common soil minerals had LCA values > 0.5, and, in some cases, the mineral LCA values were greater than those of the crop residues, which could limit the effectiveness of LCA for residue cover estimation. The LCA of some dry residues and live corn canopies were similar in value, unlike CAI. Thus, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or similar method should be used to separate out green vegetation pixels. Mineral groups, such as garnets and chlorites, often have wide ranges of CAI and LCA values, and thus, mineralogical analyses often do not identify individual mineral species required for precise CAI estimation. However, these methods are still useful for identifying mineral soils requiring additional scrutiny. Future advanced multi- and hyperspectral remote sensing platforms should include CAI bands to allow for crop residue cover estimation.