Generation of synthetic documents for performance evaluation of symbol recognition & spotting systems

This paper deals with the topic of performance evaluation of symbol recognition & spotting systems. We propose here a new approach to the generation of synthetic graphics documents containing non-isolated symbols in a real context. This approach is based on the definition of a set of constraints that permit us to place the symbols on a pre-defined background according to the properties of a particular domain (architecture, electronics, engineering, etc.). In this way, we can obtain a large amount of images resembling real documents by simply defining the set of constraints and providing a few pre-defined backgrounds. As documents are synthetically generated, the groundtruth (the location and the label of every symbol) becomes automatically available. We have applied this approach to the generation of a large database of architectural drawings and electronic diagrams, which shows the flexibility of the system. Performance evaluation experiments of a symbol localization system show that our approach permits to generate documents with different features that are reflected in variation of localization results.     

Web Service Composition Using a Deductive XML Rule Language

This paper describes a knowledge-based Web Service composition system, called SWIM, which is based on the Service Domain model. Service Domains are communities of related Web Services that are mediated by a single Web Service, called the Mediator Service, which functions as a proxy for them. When a requestor sends a message to the Mediator Service one or more of the related Web Services are selected to dispatch the message and the results returned are aggregated to a single answer to the requestor. Mediator Services can be further composed to more complex Mediator Services that combine several selection and aggregation algorithms among many heterogeneous web services. The system utilizes the X-DEVICE deductive XML rule language for defining complex algorithms for selecting registered web services, combining the results, and synchronizing the workflow of information among the combined web services in a declarative way. In the paper, we demonstrate the flexibility and expressibility of our approach for composing Web Services using several e-business examples, covering most of the workflow patterns found in a comprehensive workflow management system (van der Aalst et al., Distributed and Parallel Databases, vol. 14, no, 1, pp. 5–15, 2003).     

SiSiC Heat Exchangers for Recuperative Gas Burners with Highly Structured Surface Elements

Heat exchangers are used in gas burners as recuperators. Their efficiency is proportional to their surface which is usually limited by the burner length and diameter. Ceramic recuperators used nowadays in industrial burners are tubular. We studied and developed a new generation of ceramic heat exchanger with the final goal of increasing the efficiency or, at similar efficiencies, of reducing their size and weight. A commercial SiSiC heat exchanger component was used to guarantee safety and robustness. The use of structured textile geometries followed by their conversion into a ceramic is the main innovation of this work.     

Development of a wireless radioactive material sensor network

Our team at the United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has designed and developed a low-power, compact, wireless-networked gamma sensor (WGS) array. The WGS system provides high sensitivity gamma photon detection and remote warning for a broad range of radioactive materials. This sensor identifies the presence of a 1 μCi Cs137 source at a distance of 1.5 m. The networked array of sensors presently operates as a facility and laboratory sensor for the movement of radioactive check sources. Our goal has been to apply this architecture for field security applications by incorporating low-power design with compact packaging. The performance of this radiation measurement network is demonstrated for both detection and location of radioactive material.     

Synthesis and characterization of silica core/nano-ferrite shell particles

Core/shell particles were synthesized by assembling oppositely charged ferrite (Fe₃O₄ or NiFe₂O₄) nanoparticles on the surface of monodispersed silica core particles (having size ～0.4 μm) prepared by hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethylortosilicate. Optimal conditions for synthesis of silica core/nano-Fe₃O₄ shell particles were found at pH ～ 5.4. The obtained particles have superparamagnetic behavior above a blocking temperature of ≈25 K, which make them very attractive for a broad range of biomedical and bioengineering applications. Incorporation of nickel into ferrite structure could not be achieved at lower pH value, so functionalization of core particles was required. Incorporation of nickel into ferrite structure was successful at pH above 7, however at higher pH the formation rate of nickel–ferrite particles becomes very fast and the self-aggregation dominates the competing formation of the nickel–ferrite shell. Because of that the self-aggregation was prevented by surface modification of nickel–ferrite nanoparticles with citric acid before their deposition on the functionalized silica core and homogenous and continuous NiFe₂O₄ shell was finally obtained.     

Multivariate chemometric discrimination of cigarette tobacco blends based on the UV–Vis spectrum of their hydrophilic extracts

The application of UV–Vis spectrophotometry as an alternative or complementary approach to the classification of tobacco products is presented in this work for the first time. Two hundred fifty samples from five different cigarette brands composed of single and mixed tobacco blends were examined for that purpose on the basis of the UV–Vis spectrum of their aqueous extracts. Data transformation based on the normalization of absorbance intensities as a function of sample weight was employed in order to account for differences in the relative intensities of each sample. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to extract outlier cases and sample classification was then pursued with the aid of discriminant analysis (DA) suggesting that a reduced number of variables (thirteen out of seven hundred initially available) could provide perfect classification (100% correct assignations) of samples containing single tobacco species or different blends and a fair classification of samples with similar composition (80% correct assignations) yielding an overall 95.7% correct classification. To this pursue, classification and regression trees were found to afford perfect classification of all samples using only a few logic rules based on appropriate split conditions at the expense of inserting 15 variables in the model.     

Circulating miRNA Expression Profiles and Machine Learning Models in Association with Response to Irinotecan-Based Treatment in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer represents a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Despite improvements, chemotherapy remains the backbone of colorectal cancer treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate the variation of circulating microRNA expression profiles and the response to irinotecan-based treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer and to identify relevant target genes and molecular functions. Serum samples from 95 metastatic colorectal cancer patients were analyzed. The microRNA expression was tested with a NucleoSpin miRNA kit (Machnery-Nagel, Germany), and a machine learning approach was subsequently applied for microRNA profiling. The top 10 upregulated microRNAs in the non-responders group were hsa-miR-181b-5p, hsa-miR-10b-5p, hsa-let-7f-5p, hsa-miR-181a-5p, hsa-miR-181d-5p, hsa-miR-301a-3p, hsa-miR-92a-3p, hsa-miR-155-5p, hsa-miR-30c-5p, and hsa-let-7i-5p. Similarly, the top 10 downregulated microRNAs were hsa-let-7d-5p, hsa-let-7c-5p, hsa-miR-215-5p, hsa-miR-143-3p, hsa-let-7a-5p, hsa-miR-10a-5p, hsa-miR-142-5p, hsa-miR-148a-3p, hsa-miR-122-5p, and hsa-miR-17-5p. The upregulation of microRNAs in the miR-181 family and the downregulation of those in the let-7 family appear to be mostly involved with non-responsiveness to irinotecan-based treatment.     

Dynamic ventilation 3He MRI for the quantification of disease in the rat lung

Pulmonary diseases are known to be largely inhomogeneous. To evaluate such inhomogeneities, we are testing an image-based method to measure gas flow in the lung regionally. Dynamic, spin-density-weighted hyperpolarized (3)He MR images performed during slow inhalation of this gas were analyzed to quantify regional inflation rate. This parameter was measured in regions of interest (ROIs) that were defined by a rectangular grid that covered the entire rat lung and grew dynamically with it during its inflation. We used regional inflation rate to quantify elastase-induced emphysema and to differentiate healthy (n = 8) from elastase-treated (n = 9) rat lungs as well as healthy from elastase-treated areas of one rat unilaterally treated with elastase in the left lung. Emphysema was also assessed by gold standard morphological and well-established hyperpolarized (3)He MRI diffusion measurements. Mean values of regional inflation rates were significantly different for healthy and elastase-treated animals and correlated well with the apparent diffusion coefficient of (3)He and morphological measurements. The image-based biomarker inflation rate may be useful for the assessment of regional lung ventilation.     

How the coarse fraction influences the microstructure and the effective thermal conductivity of alumina castables – An experimental and numerical study

This study investigates the particle size distribution's effect on the microstructure and effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of alumina castables. The ETC was measured by the transient plane source method and predicted numerically based on a two-scale model describing the structure on a fine and coarse scale. The prediction considered particle and pore size distributions, porosity (around 20%) and grain morphology. The microstructure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. For a constant fines content, increasing the coarse grain fraction while decreasing the medium fraction enhanced sintering of the matrix. Small pores (≤250 nm) increased the sintering activity. The densest castable contained the most small pores. The particles’ and pores’ contributions to the sintering activity led to intensified microcracking and a decreased ETC. The numerical model did not consider constituents ≤500 nm like the small pores and microcracks and the calculated ETC values consequently deviated from the measured values.