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The computer-assisted resuscitation algorithm (CARA) is the software component of an automatic infusion pump system being designed by US Army’s Walter Reed Institute of Research (WRAIR) to be used in the battlefields of tomorrow. Such medical devices are safety critical, and their use needs to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – a process on which formal methods can have a great impact. In this special section, six papers on the analysis of CARA’s requirements are presented. In the rest of this introduction, we present the framework and summary of results from those papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algorithmic vision, the computational process of making meaning from digital images or visual information, has changed the relationship between the image and the human subject. In this paper, I explicate on the role of algorithmic vision as a technique of algorithmic governance, the organization of a population by algorithmic means. With its roots in the United States post-war cybernetic sciences, the ontological status of the computational image undergoes a shift, giving way to the hegemonic use of automated facial recognition technologies towards predatory policing and profiling practices. By way of example, I argue that algorithmic vision reconfigures the philosophical links between vision, image, and truth, paradigmatically changing the way a human subject is represented through imagistic data. With algorithmic vision, the relationship between subject and representation challenges the humanistic discourse around images, calling for a critical displacement of the human subject from the center of an analysis of how computational images make meaning. I will explore the relationship between the operative image, the image that acts but is not seen by human eyes, and what Louise Amoore calls an "emergent subject," a subject that is made visible through algorithmic techniques (2013). Algorithmic vision reveals subjects to power in a mode that requires a new approach towards analyzing the entanglement and invisiblization of the human in automated decision-making systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), one of the major and long-term microvascular complications of diabetes, is the most common cause of vision loss and blindness in the working population of the world. Even with the management of diabetes, most patients will develop some forms of DR after approximately 20 years. However, DR is a treatable disease throughout the disease progression. To provide appropriate DR management, the USA and European countries have successfully implemented systematic early DR screening programs. At the same time, some computer-aided DR screening systems, which combine advanced DR detection algorithms and telemedicine technology, have also been developed for early-stage DR detection. Some of them have been tested in the DR screening programs. In this paper, we focus on a review of the major automatic DR screening systems which have performed large-scale evaluation rather than give an extensive review of all published DR grading algorithms. We first present the structures of the automatic systems and their supporting algorithms developed by the research groups, as well as the practices of the systems in their screening programs. We further present a more detailed review of the DR lesion detection algorithms in each system and reveal how the DR screening systems successfully practiced in clinical trials or large-scale screening programs. We also review recently new research areas as well as deep learning-based DR screening systems and compare them with the traditional lesion detection-based DR screening systems. The performances of the systems in the trials are summarized by considering the specificity and sensitivity with respect to the scale of testing datasets. At last, we will discuss future challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Forteo Patient Registry (FPR) aims to estimate the incidence of osteosarcoma in US patients treated with teriparatide. Enrollment began in 2009 and will continue through 2019, with linkage planned through 2024. To date, no incident cases of osteosarcoma have been identified among patients registered in the FPR.Introduction: The Forteo Patient Registry (FPR) was established in 2009 to estimate the incidence of osteosarcoma in US patients treated with teriparatide. The objective of this paper is to describe study methods, challenges encountered, and progress to date.Methods: The FPR is a prospective US registry designed to link data from participants annually with state cancer registries. Patient enrollment is planned for 10 years (2009-2019) and annual linkage with US state cancer registries for 15 years (2010-2024). All US state cancer registries and DC were invited to participate. Patients are recruited using pre-enrollment materials included in teriparatide device packaging, kits, and brochures distributed by health-care providers; a toll-free number; and a study website. A linkage algorithm is used to match data from enrolled participants with cancer registry data.Results: For the eighth annual linkage in 2017, information necessary for linkage with 63,270 patients in the FPR was submitted to each of the 42 participating registries. These patients contributed approximately 242,782 person-years of follow-up. A total of 5268 adult osteosarcoma cases diagnosed since January 1, 2009, were available for linkage from participating state cancer registries. To date, no incident cases of osteosarcoma have been identified among patients registered in the FPR.Conclusions: Based on the estimated 242,782 person-years of observation as of the eighth annual linkage and projecting current enrollment rate to study end in 2024, it is anticipated that the completed study will be able to detect a fourfold increase in the risk of osteosarcoma if one exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of wearable actimetry devices in cohort studies can provide a deep and objective insight in physical activity (PA) patterns. For reliable and reproducible pattern recognition, and to minimize the influence of specific device characteristics, there is a need for a generic method to identify relevant PA events in sensor data sets on the basis of comprehensive features such as PA duration and intensity. The objectives of this paper are to present a method to identify universal event detection thresholds for such parameters, and to attempt to find stable meta-clusters of PA behaviour. PA events of 5, 10, 20 and 30 min with low, medium and high intensity thresholds found in literature and intensity deciles were computed for a random sample ( N = 100) of the NHANES 2005-06 accelerometer data set ( N = 7457). On the basis of all combinations of the above, activity events were detected, and parameters mean duration, mean intensity and event regularity were computed. Results were clustered using x-Means clustering and visualized for 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-min events. Stable clustering results are obtained with intensity thresholds up to the 8th decile and for event durations up to 10 min. Two stable meta-clusters were detected: 'irregularly active' (intensity at 52nd percentile) and 'regularly active' (intensity at 42nd percentile). Distinct generic thresholds could be identified and are proposed. They may prove useful for further investigations of similar actimetry data sets, minimising the influence of specific device characteristics. The results also confirm that distinct PA event patterns - including event regularity - can be identified using wearable sensor devices, especially when regarding low-intensity, short-term activities which do not correspond to current PA recommendations. Further research is necessary to evaluate actual associations between sensor-based PA parameters and health outcome. The author identified generic intensity and duration thresholds for analysing objective PA data from wearable devices. This may contribute to further analyses of PA patterns along with their relations with health outcome parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient solution of the single source shortest path (SSSP) problem on road networks is an important requirement for numerous real-world applications. This paper introduces an algorithm for the SSSP problem using compression method. Owning to precomputing and storing all-pairs shortest path (APSP), the process of solving SSSP problem is a simple lookup of a little data from precomputed APSP and decompression. APSP without compression needs at least 1TB memory for a road network with one million vertices. Our algorithm can compress such an APSP into several GB, and ensure a good performance of decompression. In our experiment on a dataset about Northwest USA (with 1.2 millions vertices), our method can achieve about three orders of magnitude faster than Dijkstra algorithm based on binary heap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For evaluating the contents of trucks, containers, cargo, and passenger vehicles by a non-intrusive gamma-ray or X-ray imaging system to determine the possible presence of contraband, three-dimensional (3D) measurements could provide more information than just 2D measurements. In this paper, a linear pushbroom scanning model is built for such a commonly used gamma-ray or X-ray cargo inspection system. Three-dimensional (3D) measurements of the objects inside a cargo can be obtained by effectively constructing a pushbroom stereo system using two such scanning systems with different scanning angles. A simple but robust calibration method is proposed to find the important parameters of the linear pushbroom sensors. Then, a fast stereo matching algorithm is developed to obtain 3D measurements of the objects under inspection. This algorithm is fully automatic based on free-form deformable registration. An interactive user interface is designed for 3D visualization of the objects of interest. Using the interactive tool, the automatic algorithm is also compared with a very simple semi-automatic algorithm based on point correlation. Experimental results of sensor calibration, stereo matching, 3D measurements and visualization of a 3D cargo container, and the objects inside, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new methodology in form of three sequencing techniques for the development of alternative quarry plans using cement quarry production-sequencing algorithm. The algorithm generates multi-period quarry plans, satisfying geometric (slope) and cement plant production capacity constraints. The benefits of the approach are demonstrated through application on an existing cement manufacturing operation in Midwestern USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been much recent interest in synthesis algorithms that generate finite state machines from scenarios of intended system behavior. One of the uses of such algorithms is in the transition from requirements scenarios to design. Despite much theoretical work on the nature of these algorithms, there has been very little work on applying the algorithms to practical applications. In this paper, we apply the Whittle&Schumann synthesis algorithm [32] to a component of an air traffic advisory system under development at NASA Ames Research Center. We not only apply the algorithm to generate state machine designs from scenarios but also show how to generate code from the generated state machines using existing commercial code generation tools. The results demonstrate the possibility of generating application code directly from scenarios of system behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, early detection of schizophrenia types such as hallucination and delusion propose through the high Q-factor of RADWT in EEG signal acquired during the cognitive task of the patient. The earlier diagnose obtains from the energy distribution of the EEG signal in the high resolution via optimum tuning in dilation factor,which influences the Q-factor, redundancy and ringing in the EEG signal. The early detection of type of schizophrenia prevents the illness progression and lifelong disease. In existing clinical trial, the psych clinician diagnose only the schizophrenia disease through the standard DSM screening question and Prodromal signs checklist according to the standard of American Psychiatric Association. Furthermore, clinician tries to diagnose the disease through brain imaging and EEG signal. However, procedure in the diagnosis of Schizophrenia possible only in the acute stage, minimum after 2 years of illness progression and still sub classification of the type of schizophrenia is a challenging task. In the proposed system, we acquire EEG signal during the three conditions such as reverse counting of the number, screening questions (DSM), and eye rest state with a distance of 1-m part of the clinician and patient to analyse cognitive behaviour. From the result of 25 patients EEG, signal during cognitive task show the different sub band energy pattern in RADWT to distinguish hallucination and delusion patient exactly for 21 patients and provide 84% of accuracy in sub-classification of type schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]