Hoops: 3D Curves as Conservative Occluders for Cell-Visibility

Most visibility culling algorithms require convexity of occluders. Occluder synthesis algorithms attempt to construct large convex occluders inside bulky non-convex sets. Occluder fusion algorithms generate convex occluders that are contained in the umbra cast by a group of objects given an area light. In this paper we prove that convexity requirements can be shifted from the occluders to their umbra with no loss of efficiency, and use this property to show how some special non-planar, non-convex closed polylines that we call "hoops" can be used to compute occlusion efficiently for objects that have no large interior convex sets and were thus rejected by previous approaches.     

Preventing risky driving: A novel and efficient brief intervention focusing on acknowledgement of personal risk factors

Impulsive personality is an important predictor of risky driving. Acknowledging their impulsive tendencies may help novice drivers to drive more safely. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a novel brief intervention targeting novice drivers’ risky behavior in traffic, taking into account potential moderator effects. Driving school students (n = 1866) were divided into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention consisted of a lecture and group work (1.5 h). Subjects’ traffic offenses and crashes were monitored during the following year using police and traffic insurance fund databases. The groups were similar in their baseline characteristics. The intervention group had half as many speeding violations in the year following the intervention compared with the controls. The proportion of speeders was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group in subgroups of subjects with medium cognitive abilities and low or medium BIS-11 impulsiveness levels. In alpha_2A-adrenoceptor gene (ADRA2A) G allele carriers, general traffic risk and speeding decreased in response to the intervention, unlike in subjects with the CC genotype. It is concluded that brief interventions that are integrated into the driving education program and focus on personal psychological risk factors may be effective for improving traffic safety.     

Early Stage CAD-Compliant Energy Performance Assessment Method

A simple calculator for early stage energy performance assessment in residential buildings was developed and partially validated in this study. The calculator is based on the correlation of heat loss and energy need for heating and has fixed internal heat gains as intended for compliance assessment. With the calculator, the effect of any parameter implemented can be immediately seen on delivered and primary energy. Because of simple equations, it is suitable for implementation into CAD （computer aided design） design tools including basic BIM （building information modeling） data. Results showed that the accuracy of the correlation for the cases with practical relevance was not worse than 14% of the energy need of space heating. This applies for passive house insulation level; for less insulated building envelopes, the deviations were smaller. This 14% equals to only 3 kWh/（m2.a）, i.e., the percentage difference in the total delivered and primary energy was much lower because of other components in the energy balance. The deviations determined were implemented in the calculator as safety margin. Results prove that simple energy performance assessment based on specific heat loss coefficient is well justified for early stage energy analyses as well as for compliance assessment implemented in Estonian regulation.     

Summer thermal comfort: compliance assessment and overheating prevention in new apartment buildings in Estonia

This study analyses which building parameters contribute the most to overheating in dwellings and which properties will make a room ‘critical’, to be chosen for compliance assessment procedure through temperature simulation, as required in Estonia for new residential buildings. Indoor temperature measurements, conducted in 18 apartments from 16 apartment buildings, show clear evidence of overheating. Compliance assessment of 25 new buildings were conducted using IDA-ICE software. The analysed sample consisted of typical multi-storeyed buildings with mainly massive concrete structures. From the simulated buildings, 68% did not meet the requirements, showing that this relatively new building code requirement was not fully established in practice. Results of the analysis indicate that the requirement in apartment buildings is achievable without cooling, if passive measures are properly applied. Recommendations are given to designers, as well as policy-makers, to improve the situation in the residential building sector.     

Recent Development in NKT-Based Immunotherapy of Glioblastoma: From Bench to Bedside

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive and dismal disease with a median overall survival of around 15 months and a 5-year survival rate of 7.2%. Owing to genetic mutations, drug resistance, disruption to the blood–brain barrier (BBB)/blood–brain tumor barrier (BBTB), and the complexity of the immunosuppressive environment, the therapeutic approaches to GBM represent still major challenges. Conventional therapies, including surgery, radiotherapy, and standard chemotherapy with temozolomide, have not resulted in satisfactory improvements in the overall survival of GBM patients. Among cancer immunotherapeutic approaches, we propose that adjuvant NKT immunotherapy with invariant NKT (iNKT) and cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells may improve the clinical scenario of this devastating disease. Considering this, herein, we discuss the current strategies of NKT therapy for GBM based primarily on in vitro/in vivo experiments, clinical trials, and the combinatorial approaches with future therapeutic potential.     

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by inhalation of respiratory aerosol in the Skagit Valley Chorale superspreading event

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak occurred following attendance of a symptomatic index case at a weekly rehearsal on 10 March of the Skagit Valley Chorale (SVC). After that rehearsal, 53 members of the SVC among 61 in attendance were confirmed or strongly suspected to have contracted COVID-19 and two died. Transmission by the aerosol route is likely; it appears unlikely that either fomite or ballistic droplet transmission could explain a substantial fraction of the cases. It is vital to identify features of cases such as this to better understand the factors that promote superspreading events. Based on a conditional assumption that transmission during this outbreak was dominated by inhalation of respiratory aerosol generated by one index case, we use the available evidence to infer the emission rate of aerosol infectious quanta. We explore how the risk of infection would vary with several influential factors: ventilation rate, duration of event, and deposition onto surfaces. The results indicate a best-estimate emission rate of 970 ± 390 quanta/h. Infection risk would be reduced by a factor of two by increasing the aerosol loss rate to 5 h⁻¹ and shortening the event duration from 2.5 to 1 h.     

External shading optimal control macros for 1- and 2-piece automated blinds in European climates

Dynamic external shading is considered an effective measure for improving energy performance and decreasing cooling loads. Optimal control principle is needed to minimize energy use and maximize occupants’ satisfaction. We developed and described in detail optimal control macros in software IDA ICE 4.5 and simulated office building energy performances with varying facade solutions and climates over Europe. Primary energy savings between 1 and 32 kWh/m² were reached. Shading control to avoid glare during office hours and overheating outside work time was recommended in Tallinn and Paris. In addition shading adjustment according to room temperature during work time was necessary in Athens to minimize energy use. Also suntracking could be used in Tallinn and Paris, but PI-controllers for slat angle control were needed in Athens. Cooling load comparison of internal and external shading showed significant reduction in space cooling capacities ranging between 40% and 70%, whereas design date selection influenced cooling system design considerably besides facade solutions and orientations. Developed control macros are proposed for testing in other studies in order to find optimal control principles satisfying office workers which then could be generally implemented in design guidelines and manuals.     

Holes in joins

A join of two relations in real databases is usually much smaller than their Cartesian product. This means that most of the combinations of tuples in the crossproduct of the respective relations do not appear together in the join result. We characterize these combinations as ranges of attributes that do not appear together. We sketch an algorithm for finding such combinations and present experimental results from real data sets. We then explore two potential applications of this knowledge in query processing. In the first application, we model empty joins as materialized views, we show how they can be used for query optimization. In the second application, we propose a strategy that uses information about empty joins for an improved join selectivity estimation.     

Layout transformation support for the disk resident arrays framework

The Global Arrays (GA) toolkit provides a shared-memory programming model in which data locality is explicitly managed by the programmer. It inter-operates with MPI and supports a variety of language bindings. The Disk Resident Arrays (DRA) model extends the GA programming model to secondary storage. GA and DRA together provide a convenient programming model that encourages locality-aware programming by the user, while presenting a high-level abstraction. High performance depends on the appropriate distribution of the data in the disk-resident arrays. In this paper, we discuss the addition of layout transformation support to DRA. The implementation of an efficient parallel layout transformation algorithm is done on top of existing GA/DRA functions; thus GA/DRA is itself used in implementing the enhanced DRA functionality. Experimental performance data is provided that demonstrates the effectiveness of the new layout transformation functionality. This work was supported in part through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation (award 0121676).     

OCTOR: Subset selection in recursive pattern hierarchies

We present an approach for encoding and specifying selections in recursive pattern hierarchies. Hierarchies of patterns of features or other modeling entities are used in architectural and mechanical CAD to eliminate laborious repetitions from the design process. Yet, often a subset of the repeated occurrences in the model must be edited. Specifying a desired selection is often tedious and difficult. Our approach addresses these two drawbacks simultaneously, offering an effective and intuitive solution which requires only two mouse-clicks to specify any one of a wide range of selections, including selections in recursive hierarchies. The selection has a concise representation that is simple to compute.