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Six tangents may be drawn from a point X to a planar cubic curve U (a.k.a. a curve of the third degree, triangle cubic or 3-curve). It is shown that their six points of contact determine another cubic curve V which passes through eleven easily determined points. Furthermore there is quartic curve which connects no fewer than 41 points related to these two cubic curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate skin dose in both VMAT and tangent treatment deliveries for the purpose of identifying suitable bolus use protocols that should produce similar superficial doses. Methods: Phantom measurements were used to investigate skin dose in chest wall radiotherapy with and without bolus for 3D and rotational treatment techniques. Optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs) with and without housing and EBT3 film were used. Superflab (3, 5, and 10 mm) and brass mesh were considered. Measured doses were compared with predictions by the Eclipse treatment planning system. Patient measurements were also performed and the bolusing effect of hospital gowns and blankets were highlighted. The effect of flash for VMAT plans was considered experimentally by using 2 mm couch shifts. Results: For tangents, average skin doses without bolus were 0.64 (EBT3), 0.62 (bare OSLD), 0.77 (jacketed OSLD), and 0.68 (Eclipse) as a fraction of prescription. For VMAT, doses without bolus were 0.53 (EBT3), 0.53 (bare OSLD), 0.64 (jacketed OSLD), and 0.60 (Eclipse). For tangents, the average doses with different boluses as measured by EBT3 were 0.99 (brass mesh), 1.02 (3 mm), 1.03 (5 mm), and 1.07 (10 mm). For VMAT with bolus, average doses as measured by EBT3 were 0.83 (brass), 0.96 (3 mm), 1.03 (5 mm), and 1.04 (10 mm). Eclipse doses agreed with measurements to within 5% of measurements for all Superflab thicknesses and within 15% of measurements for no bolus. The presence of a hospital gown and blanket had a bolusing effect that increased the surface dose by approximately 10%. Conclusions: Results of this work allow for consideration of different bolus thicknesses, materials, and usage schedules based on desired skin dose and choice of either tangents or an arc beam techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this study is to compare pedestrian evacuation strategies in the large-scale public space (LPS) using microscopic model. Data were collected by video recording from Tian-yi square for 36 hours in city of Ningbo, China. A pedestrian evacuation simulation model was developed based on the social force model (SFM). The simulation model parameters, such as reaction time, elasticity coefficient, sliding coefficient, et al, were calibrated using the real data extracted from the video. Five evacuation strategies, strategy 1 (S1) to strategy 5 (S5) involving distance, density and capacity factors were simulated and compared by indicators of evacuation time and channel utilization rate, as well as the evacuation efficiency. The simulation model parameters calibration results showed that a) the pedestrians walking speed is 1.0 ~ 1.5m/s; b) the pedestrians walking diameter is 0.3 ~ 0.4m; c) the frequency of pedestrian arrival and departure followed multi-normal distribution. The simulation results showed that, (a) in terms of total evacuation time, the performance of S4 and S5 which considering the capacity and density factors were best in all evacuation scenarios, the performance of S3 which only considering the density factor was the worst, relatively, and S1 and S2 which considering the distance factor were in the middle. (b) the utilization rate of channels under S5 strategy was better than other strategies, which performs best in the balance of evacuation. S3 strategy was the worst, and S1, S2 and S4 were in the middle. (c) in terms of the evacuation efficiency, when the number of evacuees is within 2, 500 peds, the S1 and S2 strategy which considering the distance factor have best evacuation efficiency than other strategies. And when the number of evacuees is above 2, 500 peds, the S4 and S5 strategy which considering the capacity factor are better than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine pericardium is currently the most popular biomaterial utilized in the creation of bioprosthetic heart valves. However, recent studies indicate that glutaraldehyde fixation results in calcification and structural valve deterioration, limiting the longevity of bioprosthetic heart valves. Additionally, glutaraldehyde fixation renders the tissue incompatible with constructive recipient cellular repopulation, remodeling and growth. Use of unfixed xenogeneic biomaterials devoid of antigenic burden has potential to overcome the limitations of current glutaraldehyde-fixed biomaterials. Heart valves undergo billion cycles of opening and closing throughout the patient’s lifetime. Therefore, understanding the response of unfixed tissues to cyclic loading is crucial to these in a heart valve leaflet configuration. In this manuscript we quantify the effect of cyclic deformation on cycle dependent strain, structural, compositional and mechanical properties of fixed and unfixed tissues. Glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine pericardium underwent marked cyclic dependent strain, resulting from significant changes in structure, composition and mechanical function of the material. Conversely, unfixed bovine pericardium underwent minimal strain and maintained its structure, composition and mechanical integrity. This manuscript demonstrates that unfixed bovine pericardium can withstand cyclic deformations equivalent to 6 months of in vivo heart valve leaflet performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unless the targeted mesh is developable, metric distortion is inevitable during the process of surface mesh parameterization, thus one important objective of all involved parametric studies is to reduce the metric distortion. In order to further reduce area and angle distortion, a novel method of boundary-free mesh parameterization is presented in the paper. Firstly, the initial boundary-fixed conformal parameterization from 3D surface mesh patch to a plane is performed in the method. Then, based on the initial parameterization, the iterations of boundary-free quasi-harmonic parameterization are developed, where the tensor field is updated in each iterative step and the principal curvature direction is utilized to terminate the iteration. The solution of the novel method is convenient to calculate since it involves a series of linear systems. In our novel parameterization method, lower metric distortion and considerable efficiency have been obtained in experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our motor commands can be exquisitely timed according to the demands of the environment, and the ability to generate rhythms of different tempos is a hallmark of musical cognition. Yet, the neuronal underpinnings behind rhythmic tapping remain elusive. Here, we found that the activity of hundreds of primate medial premotor cortices (MPCs; pre-supplementary motor area [preSMA] and supplementary motor area [SMA]) neurons show a strong periodic pattern that becomes evident when their responses are projected into a state space using dimensionality reduction analysis. We show that different tapping tempos are encoded by circular trajectories that travelled at a constant speed but with different radii, and that this neuronal code is highly resilient to the number of participating neurons. Crucially, the changes in the amplitude of the oscillatory dynamics in neuronal state space are a signature of duration encoding during rhythmic timing, regardless of whether it is guided by an external metronome or is internally controlled and is not the result of repetitive motor commands. This dynamic state signal predicted the duration of the rhythmically produced intervals on a trial-by-trial basis. Furthermore, the increase in variability of the neural trajectories accounted for the scalar property, a hallmark feature of temporal processing across tasks and species. Finally, we found that the interval-dependent increments in the radius of periodic neural trajectories are the result of a larger number of neurons engaged in the production of longer intervals. Our results support the notion that rhythmic timing during tapping behaviors is encoded in the radial curvature of periodic MPC neural population trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel adaptive online-feedback methodology for Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI). The method uses ElectroEncephaloGraphic (EEG) signals and combines motor with speech imagery to allow for tasks that involve multiple degrees of freedom (DoF). The main approach utilizes the covariance matrix descriptor as feature, and the Relevance Vector Machines (RVM) classifier. The novel contributions include, (1) a new method to select representative data to update the RVM model, and (2) an online classifier which is an adaptively-weighted mixture of RVM models to account for the users’ exploration and exploitation processes during the learning phase. Instead of evaluating the subjects’ performance solely based on the conventional metric of accuracy, we analyze their skill’s improvement based on 3 other criteria, namely the confusion matrix’s quality, the separability of the data, and their instability. After collecting calibration data for 8 minutes in the first run, 8 participants were able to control the system while receiving visual feedback in the subsequent runs. We observed significant improvement in all subjects, including two of them who fell into the BCI illiteracy category. Our proposed BCI system complements the existing approaches in several aspects. First, the co-adaptation paradigm not only adapts the classifiers, but also allows the users to actively discover their own way to use the BCI through their exploration and exploitation processes. Furthermore, the auto-calibrating system can be used immediately with a minimal calibration time. Finally, this is the first work to combine motor and speech imagery in an online feedback experiment to provide multiple DoF for BCI control applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an equivalence between stochastic and deterministic variable approaches to represent ranked data and find the expressions obtained to be suggestive of statistical-mechanical meanings. We first reproduce size-rank distributions N(k) from real data sets by straightforward considerations based on the assumed knowledge of the background probability distribution P(N) that generates samples of random variable values similar to real data. The choice of different functional expressions for P(N): power law, exponential, Gaussian, etc., leads to different classes of distributions N(k) for which we find examples in nature. Then we show that all of these types of functions can be alternatively obtained from deterministic dynamical systems. These correspond to one-dimensional nonlinear iterated maps near a tangent bifurcation whose trajectories are proved to be precise analogues of the N(k). We provide explicit expressions for the maps and their trajectories and find they operate under conditions of vanishing or small Lyapunov exponent, therefore at or near a transition to or out of chaos. We give explicit examples ranging from exponential to logarithmic behavior, including Zipf’s law. Adoption of the nonlinear map as the formalism central character is a useful viewpoint, as variation of its few parameters, that modify its tangency property, translate into the different classes for N(k). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “cost of begging” is a prominent prediction of costly signalling theory, suggesting that offspring begging has to be costly in order to be honest. Seminal signalling models predict that there is a unique equilibrium cost function for the offspring that results in honest signalling and this cost function must be proportional to parent’s fitness loss. This prediction is only valid if signal cost and offspring condition is assumed to be independent. Here we generalize these models by allowing signal cost to depend on offspring condition. We demonstrate in the generalized model that any signal cost proportional to the fitness gain of the offspring also results in honest signalling. Moreover, we show that any linear combination of the two cost functions (one proportional to parent’s fitness loss, as in previous models, the other to offspring’s fitness gain) also leads to honest signalling in equilibrium, yielding infinitely many solutions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that there exist linear combinations such that the equilibrium cost of signals is negative and the signal is honest. Our results show that costly signalling theory cannot predict a unique equilibrium cost in signalling games of parent-offspring conflicts if signal cost depends on offspring condition. It follows, contrary to previous claims, that the existence of parent-offspring conflict does not imply costly equilibrium signals. As an important consequence, it is meaningless to measure the “cost of begging” as long as the dependence of signal cost on offspring condition is unknown. Any measured equilibrium cost in case of condition-dependent signal cost has to be compared both to the parent’s fitness loss and to the offspring’s fitness gain in order to provide meaningful interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the ROCA (ROad Curvature Analyst) software, in the form of an ESRI ArcGIS Toolbox, intended for vector line data processing. The software segments road network data into tangents and horizontal curves. Horizontal curve radii and azimuth of tangents are then automatically computed. Simultaneously, additional frequently used road section characteristics are calculated, such as the sinuosity of a road section (detour ratio), the number of turns along an individual road section and the average cumulative angle for a road section. The identification of curves is based on the naïve Bayes classifier and users are allowed to prepare their own training data files. We applied ROCA software to secondary roads within the Czech road network (9,980 km). The data processing took less than ten minutes. Approximately 43% of the road network in question consists of 42,752 horizontal curves. The ROCA software outperforms other existing automatic methods by 26% with respect to the percentage of correctly identified curves. The segmented secondary roads within the Czech road network can be viewed on the roca.cdvgis.cz/czechia web-map application. We combined data on road geometry with road crashes database to develop the crash modification factors for horizontal curves with various radii. We determined that horizontal curves with radii of 50 m are approximately 3.7 times more hazardous than horizontal curves with radii accounting for 1000 m. ROCA software can be freely downloaded for noncommercial use from website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest to understand financial markets as ecological systems, where the variety of trading strategies correspond to that of biological species. For this purpose, transaction data for individual traders are studied recently as empirical analyses. However, there are few empirical studies addressing how traders submit limit and market order at the level of individual traders. Since limit and market orders are key ingredients finally leading to transactions, it would be necessary to understand what kind of strategies are actually employed among traders before making transactions. Here we demonstrate the variety of limit-order and market-order strategies and show their roles in the financial markets from an ecological perspective. We find these trading strategies can be well-characterized by their response pattern to historical price changes. By applying a clustering analysis, we provide an overall picture of trading strategies as an ecological matrix, illustrating that liquidity consumers are likely to exhibit high trading performances compared with liquidity providers. Furthermore, we reveal both high-frequency traders (HFTs) and low-frequency traders (LFTs) exhibit high trading performance, despite the difference in their trading styles; HFTs attempt to maximize their trading efficiency by reducing risk, whereas LFTs make their profit by taking risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has recently experienced unprecedented development. Among many other areas, it has been widely applied in blood station management, automatic supermarket checkout, and logistics. In the application of RFID for large-scale passive tags, tag collision is inevitable owing to the non-cooperation mechanism among tags. Therefore, a tag anti-collision method is a key factor affecting the identification efficiency. In this paper, we propose a tag anti-collision method based on Aloha technology for RFID. It estimates the number of remaining tags using the secant iteration method. To achieve optimal identification efficiency, it adaptively and dynamically adjusts the lengths of the subsequent frames according to the principle that the length of a frame should be the same as the number of tags to be identified. For pseudo-solutions of tag population estimation while using secant iteration, we present an elimination method by two probing frames. The simulation results show that the estimation precision of our method can reach above 97%. Thus, it can meet the requirement of the tag anti-collision estimation accuracy. Its global throughput is obviously superior to the Q algorithm adopted by the current international standard, and it is close to the ideal system. It consequently outperforms existing schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cornea is a soft, transparent, composite organic tissue, which forms the anterior outer coat of the eyeball. Although high myopia is increasing in prevalence worldwide and is known to alter the structure and biomechanical properties of the sclera, remarkably little is known about its impact on the biomechanics of the cornea. We developed and validated a novel optical-coherence-tomography-indentation probe–to measure corneal biomechanical properties in situ, in chicks having experimentally-induced high myopia, while maintaining intraocular pressure at levels covering the physiological range. We found that the cornea of highly myopic chicks was more steeply curved and softer, at all tested intraocular pressures, than that in contralateral, non-myopic eyes, or in age-matched normal, untreated eyes. These results indicate that the biomechanical properties of the cornea are altered in chicks developing experimentally-induced myopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of motion field in respiration-correlated 4DCT images, is a precondition for the analysis of patient-specific breathing dynamics and subsequent image-supported treatment planning. However, the lung motion estimation often suffers from the sliding motion. In this paper, a novel lung motion method based on the non-rigid registration of point clouds is proposed, and the tangent-plane distance is used to represent the distance term, which describes the difference between two point clouds. Local affine transformation model is used to express the non-rigid deformation of the lung motion. The final objective function is expressed in the Frobenius norm formation, and matrix optimization scheme is carried out to find out the optimal transformation parameters that minimize the objective function. A key advantage of our proposed method is that it alleviates the requirement that the source point cloud and the reference point cloud should be in one-to-one corresponding relationship, and the requirement is difficult to be satisfied in practical application. Furthermore, the proposed method takes the sliding motion of the lung into consideration and improves the registration accuracy by reducing the constraint of the motion along the tangent direction. Non-rigid registration experiments are carried out to validate the performance of the proposed method using popi-model data. The results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the traditional method with about 20% accuracy increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present a scheme for the reconstruction of cellular morphology and the inference of mechanical forces in the early C. elegans embryo. We have developed and bench-marked a morphological reconstruction scheme that transforms flourescence-based in vivo images of membranes into a point cloud of smoothed surface patches, which facilitates an accurate estimation of membrane curvatures and the angles between membranes. Assuming an isotropic and homogeneous distribution of tensions along individual membranes, we infer a pattern of forces that are 7% deviated from force balance at edges, and 10% deviated from the Young-Laplace relation across membranes. We demonstrate the stability of our inference scheme via a sensitivity analysis, and the reproducibility of our image-analysis and force inference pipelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to run most effectively to catch a projectile, such as a baseball, that is flying in the air for a long period of time? The question about the best solution to the ball catching problem has been subject to intense scientific debate for almost 50 years. It turns out that this scientific debate is not focused on the ball catching problem alone, but revolves around the research question what constitutes the ingredients of intelligent decision making. Over time, two opposing views have emerged: the generalist view regarding intelligence as the ability to solve any task without knowing goal and environment in advance, based on optimal decision making using predictive models; and the specialist view which argues that intelligent decision making does not have to be based on predictive models and not even optimal, advocating simple and efficient rules of thumb (heuristics) as superior to enable accurate decisions. We study two types of approaches to the ball catching problem, one for each view, and investigate their properties using both a theoretical analysis and a broad set of simulation experiments. Our study shows that neither of the two types of approaches can be regarded as superior in solving all relevant variants of the ball catching problem: each approach is optimal under a different realistic environmental condition. Therefore, predictive models neither guarantee nor prevent success a priori, and we further show that the key difference between the generalist and the specialist approach to ball catching is the type of input representation used to control the agent. From this finding, we conclude that the right solution to a decision making or control problem is orthogonal to the generalist and specialist approach, and thus requires a reconciliation of the two views in favor of a representation-centric view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is extensive knowledge on the relationship of posterior scleral biomechanics and intraocular pressure (IOP) load on glaucomatous optic neuropathy; however, the role for biomechanical influence of the perilimbal scleral tissue on the aqueous humor drainage pathway, including the distal venous outflow system, and IOP regulation is not fully understood. The purpose of this work is to study the outflow characteristics of perfused porcine eyes relative to the biomechanical properties of the perilimbal sclera, the posterior sclera and the cornea. Enucleated porcine eyes from eleven different animals were perfused with surrogate aqueous at two fixed flow rates while monitoring their IOP. After perfusion, mechanical stress-strain and relaxation tests were conducted on specimens of perilimbal sclera, posterior sclera, and cornea from the same perfused eyes. Statistical analysis of the data demonstrated a strong correlation between increased tangent modulus of the perilimbal sclera tissues and increased perfusion IOP (R2 = 0.74, p = 0.0006 at lower flow rate and R2 = 0.71, p = 0.0011 at higher flow rate). In contrast, there were no significant correlations between IOP and the tangent modulus of the other tissues (Posterior sclera: R2 = 0.17 at lower flow rate and R2 = 0.30 at higher flow rate; cornea: R2 = 0.02 at lower flow rate and R2<0.01 at higher flow rate) nor the viscoelastic properties of any tissue (R2 ≤ 0.08 in all cases). Additionally, the correlation occurred for IOP and not net outflow facility (R2 ≤ 0.12 in all cases). These results provide new evidence that IOP in perfused porcine eyes is strongly influenced by the tangent modulus, sometimes called the tissue stiffness, of the most anterior portion of the sclera, i.e. the limbus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis is widely used to describe the discriminatory power of a diagnostic test to differentiate between populations having or not having a specific disease, using a dichotomous threshold. In this way, positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR-) can be calculated to be used in Bayes’ way of estimating disease probabilities. Similarly, LRs can be calculated for certain ranges of test results. However, since many diagnostic tests are of quantitative nature, it would be desirable to estimate LRs for each quantitative result. These LRs are equal to the slope of the tangent to the ROC curve at the corresponding point. Since the exact distribution of test results in diseased and non-diseased people is often not known, the calculation of such LRs for quantitative test results is not straightforward. Here, a simple distribution-independent method is described to reach this goal using Bézier curves that are defined by tangents to a curve. The use of such a method would help in standardizing quantitative test results, which are not always comparable between different test providers, by reporting them as LRs for a specific diagnosis, in addition to, or instead of, quantities such as mg/L or nmol/L, or even indices or units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motorsport has developed into a professional international competition. However, limited research is available on the perceptual and cognitive skills of racing drivers. By means of a racing simulator, we compared the driving performance of seven racing drivers with ten non-racing drivers. Participants were tasked to drive the fastest possible lap time. Additionally, both groups completed a choice reaction time task and a tracking task. Results from the simulator showed faster lap times, higher steering activity, and a more optimal racing line for the racing drivers than for the non-racing drivers. The non-racing drivers’ gaze behavior corresponded to the tangent point model, whereas racing drivers showed a more variable gaze behavior combined with larger head rotations while cornering. Results from the choice reaction time task and tracking task showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Our results are consistent with the current consensus in sports sciences in that task-specific differences exist between experts and novices while there are no major differences in general cognitive and motor abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video summarization is a process to extract objects and their activities from a video and represent them in a condensed form. Existing methods for video summarization fail to detect moving (dynamic) objects in the low color contrast area of a video frame due to the pixel intensities of objects and non-objects are almost similar. However, edges of objects are prominent in the low contrast regions. Moreover, to represent objects, geometric primitives (such as lines, arcs) are distinguishable and high level shape descriptors than edges. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for video summarization using geometric primitives such as conic parts, line segments and angles. Using these features, objects are extracted from each video frame. A cost function is applied to measure the dissimilarity of locations of geometric primitives to detect the movement of objects between consecutive frames. The total distance of object movement is calculated and each video frame is assigned a probability score. Finally, a set of key frames is selected based on the probability scores as per user provided skimming ratio or system default skimming ratio. The proposed approach is evaluated using three benchmark datasets—BL-7F, Office, and Lobby. The experimental results show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art method in terms of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between two different types of ranked data, frequencies and magnitudes. We consider data that can be sorted out either way, through numbers of occurrences or size of the measures, as it is the case, say, of moon craters, earthquakes, billionaires, etc. We indicate that these two types of distributions are functional inverses of each other, and specify this link, first in terms of the assumed parent probability distribution that generates the data samples, and then in terms of an analog (deterministic) nonlinear iterated map that reproduces them. For the particular case of hyperbolic decay with rank the distributions are identical, that is, the classical Zipf plot, a pure power law. But their difference is largest when one displays logarithmic decay and its counterpart shows the inverse exponential decay, as it is the case of Benford law, or viceversa. For all intermediate decay rates generic differences appear not only between the power-law exponents for the midway rank decline but also for small and large rank. We extend the theoretical framework to include thermodynamic and statistical-mechanical concepts, such as entropies and configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collagen fibers play an important role in the biomechanics of the blood vessel wall. The objective of this study was to determine the 3D microstructure of collagen fibers in the media and adventitia of coronary arteries. We present a novel optimal angle consistence algorithm to reform image slices in the visualization and analysis of 3D collagen images. 3D geometry was reconstructed from resliced image space where the 3D skeleton was extracted as the primary feature for accurate reconstruction of geometrical parameters. Collagen fibers (range 80–200) were reconstructed from the porcine coronary artery wall for the measurement of various morphological parameters. Collagen waviness and diameters were 1.37 ± 0.19 and 2.61 ± 0.89 μm, respectively. The biaxial distributions of orientation had two different peaks at 110.7 ± 25.2° and 18.4 ± 19.3°. Results for width, waviness, and orientation were found to be in good agreement with manual measurements. In addition to accurately measuring 2D features more efficiently than the manual approach, the present method produced 3D features that could not be measured in the 2D manual approach. These additional parameters included the tilt angle (5.10 ± 2.95°) and cross-sectional area (CSA; 5.98 ± 3.79 μm2) of collagen fibers. These 3D collagen reconstructions provide accurate and reliable microstructure for biomechanical modeling of vessel wall mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel symmetrical split ring resonator (SSRR) based microwave sensor with spurline filters for detecting and characterizing the properties of solid materials has been developed. Due to the weak perturbation in the interaction of material under test (MUT) and planar microwave sensor, spurline filters were embedded to the SSRR microwave sensor which effectively enhanced Q-factor with suppressing the undesired harmonic frequency. The spurline filter structures force the presented sensor to resonate at a fundamental frequency of 2.2 GHz with the capabilities of suppressing rejected harmonic frequency and miniaturization in circuit size. A wide bandwidth rejection is achieved by using double spurlines filters with high Q-factor achievement (up to 652.94) compared to single spurline filter. The new SSRR sensor with spurline filters displayed desired properties such as high sensitivity, accuracy, and performance with a 1.3% typical percentage error in the measurement results. Furthermore, the sensor has been successfully applied for detecting and characterizing solid materials (such as Roger 5880, Roger 4350, and FR4) and evidently demonstrated that it can suppress the harmonic frequency effectively. This novel design with harmonic suppression is useful for various applications such as food industry (meat, fruit, vegetables), biological medicine (derived from proteins and other substances produced by the body), and Therapeutic goods (antiseptics, vitamins, anti-psychotics, and other medicines). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Understanding the factors and mechanisms that determine balance in seniors appears vital in terms of their self-reliance and overall safety. The study aimed to determine the relationship between the features of feet structure and the indicators of postural stability in the elderly. Methods: The study group comprised 80 seniors (41F, 39M; aged 75–85 years). CQ-ST podoscope and the CQ-Stab 2P two-platform posturograph were used as primary research tools. The data were analyzed based on Spearman’s rank correlation and forward stepwise regression. Results: Analysis of forward stepwise regression identified the left foot length in females and Clarke’s angle of the left foot in men as significant and independent predictors of postural up to 30% of the variance of dependent variables. Conclusions: Longer feet provide older women with better stability, whereas in men, the lowering of the longitudinal arch results in postural deterioration. In the elderly, the left lower limb shows greater activity in the stabilizing processes in the standing position than the right one. In gerontological rehabilitation special attention should be paid to the individually tailored, gender-specific treatment, with a view to enhancing overall safety and quality of seniors’ lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate QT-interval dynamics in patients and in drug safety analysis, beat-to-beat QT-interval measurements are increasingly used. However, interobserver differences, aberrant T-wave morphologies and changes in heart axis might hamper accurate QT-interval measurements. Objective: To develop and validate a QT-interval algorithm robust to heart axis orientation and T-wave morphology that can be applied on a beat-to-beat basis. Methods: Additionally to standard ECG leads, the root mean square (ECGRMS), standard deviation and vectorcardiogram were used. QRS-onset was defined from the ECGRMS. T-wave end was defined per individual lead and scalar ECG using an automated tangent method. A median of all T-wave ends was used as the general T-wave end per beat. Supine-standing tests of 73 patients with Long-QT syndrome (LQTS) and 54 controls were used because they have wide ranges of RR and QT-intervals as well as changes in T-wave morphology and heart axis orientation. For each subject, automatically estimated QT-intervals in three random complexes chosen from the low, middle and high RR range, were compared with manually measured QT-intervals by three observers. Results: After visual inspection of the randomly selected complexes, 21 complexes were excluded because of evident noise, too flat T-waves or premature ventricular beats. Bland-Altman analyses of automatically and manually determined QT-intervals showed a bias of <4ms and limits of agreement of ±25ms. Intra-class coefficient indicated excellent agreement (>0.9) between the algorithm and all observers individually as well as between the algorithm and the mean QT-interval of the observers. Conclusion: Our automated algorithm provides reliable beat-to-beat QT-interval assessment, robust to heart axis and T-wave morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since railway transport possesses the advantage of high volume and low carbon emissions, diverting some freight from road to railway will help reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with transport. This paper develops a flow assignment model for quantitative analysis of diverting truck freight to railway. First, a general network which considers road transportation, railway transportation, handling and transferring is established according to all the steps in the whole transportation process. Then general functions which embody the factors which the shippers will pay attention to when choosing mode and path are formulated. The general functions contain the congestion cost on road, the capacity constraints of railways and freight stations. Based on the general network and general cost function, a user equilibrium flow assignment model is developed to simulate the flow distribution on the general network under the condition that all shippers choose transportation mode and path independently. Since the model is nonlinear and challenging, we adopt a method that uses tangent lines to constitute envelope curve to linearize it. Finally, a numerical example is presented to test the model and show the method of making quantitative analysis of bulk freight modal shift between road and railway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting extrema of chaotic systems in high-dimensional phase space remains a challenge. Methods, which give extrema that are valid in the long term, have thus far been restricted to models of only a few variables. Here, a method is presented which treats extrema of chaotic systems as belonging to discretised manifolds of low dimension (low-D) embedded in high-dimensional (high-D) phase space. As a central feature, the method exploits that strange attractor dimension is generally much smaller than parent system phase space dimension. This is important, since the computational cost associated with discretised manifolds depends exponentially on their dimension. Thus, systems that would otherwise be associated with tremendous computational challenges, can be tackled on a laptop. As a test, bounding manifolds are calculated for high-D modifications of the canonical Duffing system. Parameters can be set such that the bounding manifold displays harmonic behaviour even if the underlying system is chaotic. Thus, solving for one post-transient forcing cycle of the bounding manifold predicts the extrema of the underlying chaotic problem indefinitely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the required coefficient of friction (RCOF) and the tangent of center of mass (COM)–center of pressure (COP) angle in the mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) directions during turning at different walking speeds. Sixteen healthy young adults (8 males and 8 females) participated in this study. The participants were instructed to conduct trials of straight walking and 90° step and spin turns to the right at each of three self-selected speeds (slow, normal, and fast). The ML and AP directions during turning gait were defined using the orientation of the pelvis to construct a body-fixed reference frame. The RCOF values and COM–COP angle tangent in the ML direction during turning at weight acceptance phase were higher than those during straight walking, and those values increased with increasing walking speed. The ML component of the RCOF and COM–COP tangent values during weight acceptance for step turns were higher than those for spin turns. The mean centripetal force during turning tended to increase with an increase in walking speed and had a strong positive correlation with the RCOF values in the ML direction (R = 0.97 during the weight acceptance phase; R = 0.95 during the push-off phase). Therefore, turning, particularly step turn, is likely to cause lateral slip at weight acceptance because of the increased centripetal force compared with straight walking. Future work should test at-risk population and compare with the present results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel L network (LN) is presented, which is composed of a frequency-selected section (FSS) and a middle stub (MS). Based on the proposed LN, a tri-band T-junction power divider (TTPD) with impedance transformation and independent power division ratios is designed. Moreover, the closed-form design theory of the TTPD is derived based on the transmission line theory and circuit theory. Finally, a microstrip prototype of the TTPD is simulated, fabricated, and measured. The design is for three arbitrarily chosen frequencies, 1 GHz, 1.6 GHz, and 2.35 GHz with the independent power division ratios of 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. The measured results show that the fabricated prototype is consistent with the simulation, which demonstrates the effectiveness of this proposed design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a novel compact, coplanar, tag antenna design for metallic objects. Electrically small antenna has designed for a UHF RFID (860–960 MHz) based on a proximity-coupled feed through. Furthermore, two symmetrical Via-loaded coplanar grounds fed by a U-shaped inductively coupled feed through an embedded transmission line. This configuration results in an antenna with dimensions of 31 × 19.5 × 3.065 mm3 at 915 MHz, and the total gain for the antenna is 0.12 dBi. The Via-loaded coplanar and U-shaped inductively coupled feeds allow the antenna to provide flexible tuning in terms of antenna impedance. In addition, a figure of merit is applied for the proposed tag antenna, and the results are presented. The read range is measured to be 4.2 m, which is very close to simulated values. This antenna measurement shows very good agreement with simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a reaction, determination of an optimal path with a high reaction rate (or a low free energy barrier) is important for the study of the reaction mechanism. This is a complicated problem that involves lots of degrees of freedom. For simple models, one can build an initial path in the collective variable space by the interpolation method first and then update the whole path constantly in the optimization. However, such interpolation method could be risky in the high dimensional space for large molecules. On the path, steric clashes between neighboring atoms could cause extremely high energy barriers and thus fail the optimization. Moreover, performing simulations for all the snapshots on the path is also time-consuming. In this paper, we build and optimize the path by a growing method on the free energy surface. The method grows a path from the reactant and extends its length in the collective variable space step by step. The growing direction is determined by both the free energy gradient at the end of the path and the direction vector pointing at the product. With fewer snapshots on the path, this strategy can let the path avoid the high energy states in the growing process and save the precious simulation time at each iteration step. Applications show that the presented method is efficient enough to produce optimal paths on either the two-dimensional or the twelve-dimensional free energy surfaces of different small molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Derive the quantitative predictions of constraint-based models require of conversion algorithms to enumerate and construct the skeleton graph conformed by the extreme points of the feasible region, where all constraints in the model are fulfilled. The conversion is problematic when the system of linear constraints is degenerate. This paper describes a conversion algorithm that combines the best of two methods: the incremental slicing of cones that defeats degeneracy and pivoting for a swift traversal of the set of extreme points. An extensive computational practice uncovers two complementary classes of conversion problems. The two classes are distinguished by a practical measure of complexity that involves the input and output sizes. Detailed characterizations of the complexity classes and the corresponding performances of the algorithm are presented. For the benefit of implementors, a simple example illustrates the stages of the exposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers tips on preparing short and swift scientific presentations. Since immediacy is important, preparing one primary message for the audience is suggested. Slides can be used to present a clear story by discussing one major point per slide. Using simple visuals is recommended. The style, graphical design, language and imagery of the presentation should be consistent.

We introduce a new map-based neuron model derived from the dynamical perceptron family that has the best compromise between computational efficiency, analytical tractability, reduced parameter space and many dynamical behaviors. We calculate bifurcation and phase diagrams analytically and computationally that underpins a rich repertoire of autonomous and excitable dynamical behaviors. We report the existence of a new regime of cardiac spikes corresponding to nonchaotic aperiodic behavior. We compare the features of our model to standard neuron models currently available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine if tangent visual fields gathered during assessment of superior visual field deficits caused by blepharoptosis and dermatochalasis offer good correlation to clinical exam in a time and cost efficient manner. Methods: Prospective, observational case series. Subjects included all patients referred to a single surgeon (CCN) who underwent surgical correction of blepharoptosis and/or dermatochalasis. Preoperatively and postoperatively, upper margin-to-reflex distances were assessed. Tangent visual fields were performed in a timed fashion and analyzed for degrees of intact vision in the vertical meridian and degrees squared of area under the curve. Data were compared by Student t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Mean preoperative superior visual fields with the eyelid in the natural position measured 8° in the vertical meridian. Measurements in the vertical meridian and area under the curve showed excellent correlation (r = 0.87). Patients with ptosis showed strong correlation between margin-to-reflex distance and superior visual fields. Patients completed field testing faster than reported times for automated or Goldmann testing. Finally, tangent screens were the least expensive type of equipment to purchase. Conclusions: Tangent visual fields are a rapid and inexpensive way to test for functional loss of superior visual field in patients with upper eyelid malposition. Our data revealed potential differences between tangent screen results and published results for automated or Goldmann visual field testing which warrants further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine whether kinematic data collected by the Microsoft Kinect 2 (MK2) could be used to quantify postural stability in healthy subjects. Twelve subjects were recruited for the project, and were instructed to perform a sequence of simple postural stability tasks. The movement sequence was performed as subjects were seated on top of a force platform, and the MK2 was positioned in front of them. This sequence of tasks was performed by each subject under three different postural conditions: “both feet on the ground” (1), “One foot off the ground” (2), and “both feet off the ground” (3). We compared force platform and MK2 data to quantify the degree to which the MK2 was returning reliable data across subjects. We then applied a novel machine-learning paradigm to the MK2 data in order to determine the extent to which data from the MK2 could be used to reliably classify different postural conditions. Our initial comparison of force plate and MK2 data showed a strong agreement between the two devices, with strong Pearson correlations between the trunk centroids “Spine_Mid” (0.85 ± 0.06), “Neck” (0.86 ± 0.07) and “Head” (0.87 ± 0.07), and the center of pressure centroid inferred by the force platform. Mean accuracy for the machine learning classifier from MK2 was 97.0%, with a specific classification accuracy breakdown of 90.9%, 100%, and 100% for conditions 1 through 3, respectively. Mean accuracy for the machine learning classifier derived from the force platform data was lower at 84.4%. We conclude that data from the MK2 has sufficient information content to allow us to classify sequences of tasks being performed under different levels of postural stability. Future studies will focus on validating this protocol on large populations of individuals with actual balance impairments in order to create a toolkit that is clinically validated and available to the medical community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accuracy Maximization Analysis (AMA) is a recently developed Bayesian ideal observer method for task-specific dimensionality reduction. Given a training set of proximal stimuli (e.g. retinal images), a response noise model, and a cost function, AMA returns the filters (i.e. receptive fields) that extract the most useful stimulus features for estimating a user-specified latent variable from those stimuli. Here, we first contribute two technical advances that significantly reduce AMA’s compute time: we derive gradients of cost functions for which two popular estimators are appropriate, and we implement a stochastic gradient descent (AMA-SGD) routine for filter learning. Next, we show how the method can be used to simultaneously probe the impact on neural encoding of natural stimulus variability, the prior over the latent variable, noise power, and the choice of cost function. Then, we examine the geometry of AMA’s unique combination of properties that distinguish it from better-known statistical methods. Using binocular disparity estimation as a concrete test case, we develop insights that have general implications for understanding neural encoding and decoding in a broad class of fundamental sensory-perceptual tasks connected to the energy model. Specifically, we find that non-orthogonal (partially redundant) filters with scaled additive noise tend to outperform orthogonal filters with constant additive noise; non-orthogonal filters and scaled additive noise can interact to sculpt noise-induced stimulus encoding uncertainty to match task-irrelevant stimulus variability. Thus, we show that some properties of neural response thought to be biophysical nuisances can confer coding advantages to neural systems. Finally, we speculate that, if repurposed for the problem of neural systems identification, AMA may be able to overcome a fundamental limitation of standard subunit model estimation. As natural stimuli become more widely used in the study of psychophysical and neurophysiological performance, we expect that task-specific methods for feature learning like AMA will become increasingly important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Different methodologies for electrocardiographic acquisition in horses have been used since the first ECG recordings in equines were reported early in the last century. This study aimed to determine the best ECG electrodes positioning method and the most reliable calculation of mean cardiac axis (MEA) in equines. Materials and Methods: We evaluated the electrocardiographic profile of 53 clinically healthy Thoroughbreds, 38 males and 15 females, with ages ranging 2–7 years old, all reared at the São Paulo Jockey Club, in Brazil. Two ECG tracings were recorded from each animal, one using the Dubois lead positioning system, the second using the base-apex method. QRS complex amplitudes were analyzed to obtain MEA values in the frontal plane for each of the two electrode positioning methods mentioned above, using two calculation approaches, the first by Tilley tables and the second by trigonometric calculation. Results were compared between the two methods. Results: There was significant difference in cardiac axis values: MEA obtained by the Tilley tables was +135.1° ± 90.9° vs. -81.1° ± 3.6° (p<0.0001), and by trigonometric calculation it was -15.0° ± 11.3° vs. -79.9° ± 7.4° (p<0.0001), base-apex and Dubois, respectively. Furthermore, Dubois method presented small range of variation without statistical or clinical difference by either calculation mode, while there was a wide variation in the base-apex method. Conclusion: Dubois improved centralization of the Thoroughbreds' hearts, engendering what seems to be the real frontal plane. By either calculation mode, it was the most reliable methodology to obtain cardiac mean electrical axis in equines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study inter-trial movement fluctuations exhibited by human participants during the repeated execution of a virtual shuffleboard task. Focusing on skilled performance, theoretical analysis of a previously-developed general model of inter-trial error correction is used to predict the temporal and geometric structure of variability near a goal equivalent manifold (GEM). The theory also predicts that the goal-level error scales linearly with intrinsic body-level noise via the total body-goal sensitivity, a new derived quantity that illustrates how task performance arises from the interaction of active error correction and passive sensitivity properties along the GEM. Linear models estimated from observed fluctuations, together with a novel application of bootstrapping to the estimation of dynamical and correlation properties of the inter-trial dynamics, are used to experimentally confirm all predictions, thus validating our model. In addition, we show that, unlike “static” variability analyses, our dynamical approach yields results that are independent of the coordinates used to measure task execution and, in so doing, provides a new set of task coordinates that are intrinsic to the error-regulation process itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a clump model based on Discrete Element Method. The clump model was more close to the real particle than a spherical particle. Numerical simulations of several tests of dry granular flow impacting a rigid wall flowing in an inclined chute have been achieved. Five clump models with different sphericity have been used in the simulations. By comparing the simulation results with the experimental results of normal force on the rigid wall, a clump model with better sphericity was selected to complete the following numerical simulation analysis and discussion. The calculation results of normal force showed good agreement with the experimental results, which verify the effectiveness of the clump model. Then, total normal force and bending moment of the rigid wall and motion process of the granular flow were further analyzed. Finally, comparison analysis of the numerical simulations using the clump model with different grain composition was obtained. By observing normal force on the rigid wall and distribution of particle size at the front of the rigid wall at the final state, the effect of grain composition on the force of the rigid wall has been revealed. It mainly showed that, with the increase of the particle size, the peak force at the retaining wall also increase. The result can provide a basis for the research of relevant disaster and the design of protective structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for the automatic identification of road geometry from digital vector data is presented. The method is capable of efficiently identifying circular curves with their radii and tangents (straight sections). The average error of identification ranged from 0.01 to 1.30 % for precisely drawn data and 4.81 % in the case of actual road data with noise in the location of vertices. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is faster and more precise than commonly used techniques. This approach can be used by road administrators to complete their databases with information concerning the geometry of roads. It can also be utilized by transport engineers or traffic safety analysts to investigate the possible dependence of traffic accidents on road geometries. The method presented is applicable as well to railroads and rivers or other line features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the application of a bootstrap test error estimation of radial basis functions, specifically thin-plate spline fitting, in surface smoothing. The presence of noisy data is a common issue of the point set model that is generated from 3D scanning devices, and hence, point set denoising is one of the main concerns in point set modelling. Bootstrap test error estimation, which is applied when searching for the smoothing parameters of radial basis functions, is revisited. The main contribution of this paper is a smoothing algorithm that relies on a bootstrap-based radial basis function. The proposed method incorporates a k-nearest neighbour search and then projects the point set to the approximated thin-plate spline surface. Therefore, the denoising process is achieved, and the features are well preserved. A comparison of the proposed method with other smoothing methods is also carried out in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasound imaging is often used to measure muscle fascicle lengths and pennation angles in human muscles in vivo. Theoretically the most accurate measurements are made when the transducer is oriented so that the image plane aligns with muscle fascicles and, for measurements of pennation, when the image plane also intersects the aponeuroses perpendicularly. However this orientation is difficult to achieve and usually there is some degree of misalignment. Here, we used simulated ultrasound images based on three-dimensional models of the human medial gastrocnemius, derived from magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor images, to describe the relationship between transducer orientation and measurement errors. With the transducer oriented perpendicular to the surface of the leg, the error in measurement of fascicle lengths was about 0.4 mm per degree of misalignment of the ultrasound image with the muscle fascicles. If the transducer is then tipped by 20°, the error increases to 1.1 mm per degree of misalignment. For a given degree of misalignment of muscle fascicles with the image plane, the smallest absolute error in fascicle length measurements occurs when the transducer is held perpendicular to the surface of the leg. Misalignment of the transducer with the fascicles may cause fascicle length measurements to be underestimated or overestimated. Contrary to widely held beliefs, it is shown that pennation angles are always overestimated if the image is not perpendicular to the aponeurosis, even when the image is perfectly aligned with the fascicles. An analytical explanation is provided for this finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft tissue often displays marked age-associated stiffening. This study aims to investigate how age affects scleral biomechanical properties in a canine glaucoma model with ADAMTS10 mutation, whose extracellular matrix is concomitantly influenced by the mutation and an increased mechanical load from an early age. Biomechanical data was acquired from ADAMTS10-mutant dogs (n = 10, 21 to 131 months) and normal dogs (n = 5, 69 to 113 months). Infusion testing was first performed in the whole globes to measure ocular rigidity. After infusion experiments, the corneas were immediately trephined to prepare scleral shells that were mounted on a pressurization chamber to measure strains in the posterior sclera using an inflation testing protocol. Dynamic viscoelastic mechanical testing was then performed on dissected posterior scleral strips and the data were combined with those reported earlier by our group from the same animal model (Palko et al, IOVS 2013). The association between age and scleral biomechanical properties was evaluated using multivariate linear regression. The relationships between scleral properties and the mean and last measured intraocular pressure (IOP) were also evaluated. Our results showed that age was positively associated with complex modulus (p<0.001) and negatively associated with loss tangent (p<0.001) in both the affected and the normal groups, suggesting an increased stiffness and decreased mechanical damping with age. The regression slopes were not different between the groups, although the complex modulus was significantly lower in the affected group (p = 0.041). The posterior circumferential tangential strain was negatively correlated with complex modulus (R = -0.744, p = 0.006) showing consistent mechanical evaluation between the testing methods. Normalized ocular rigidity was negatively correlated with the last IOP in the affected group (p = 0.003). Despite a mutation that affects the extracellular matrix and a chronic IOP elevation in the affected dogs, age-associated scleral stiffening and loss of mechanical damping were still prominent and had a similar rate of change as in the normal dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report synthesis of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) stabilized Zn1+xSnO3+x (0 ≤ x ≤1) nano-crystallites by facile cost-effective wet chemistry route. The X-ray diffraction patterns of as-synthesized powders at the Zn/Sn ratio of 1 exhibited formation of ZnSn(OH)6. Increasing the Zn/Sn ratio further resulted in the precipitation of an additional phase corresponding to Zn(OH)2. The decomposition of these powders at 650°C for 3h led to the formation of the orthorhombic phase of ZnSnO3 and tetragonal SnO2-type phase of Zn2SnO4 at the Zn/Sn ratio of 1 and 2, respectively, with the formation of their mixed phases at intermediate compositions, i.e., at Zn/Sn ratio of 1.25, 1.50 and 1.75, respectively. The lattice parameters of orthorhombic and tetragonal phases were a ~ 3.6203 Å, b ~ 4.2646 Å and c ~ 12.8291Å (for ZnSnO3) and a = b ~ 5.0136 Å and c ~ 3.3055Å (for Zn2SnO4). The transmission electron micrographs revealed the formation of nano-crystallites with aspect ratio ~ 2; the length and thickness being 24, 13 nm (for ZnSnO3) and 47, 22 nm (for Zn2SnO4), respectively. The estimated direct bandgap values for the ZnSnO3 and Zn2SnO4 were found to be 4.21 eV and 4.12 eV, respectively. The ac conductivity values at room temperature (at 10 kHz) for the ZnSnO3 and Zn2SnO4 samples were 8.02 × 10−8 Ω-1 cm-1 and 6.77 × 10−8 Ω-1 cm-1, respectively. The relative permittivity was found to increase with increase in temperature, the room temperature values being 14.24 and 25.22 for the samples ZnSnO3 and Zn2SnO4, respectively. Both the samples, i.e., ZnSnO3 and Zn2SnO4, exhibited low values of loss tangent up to 300 K, the room temperature values being 0.89 and 0.72, respectively. A dye-sensitized solar cell has been fabricated using the optimized sample of zinc stannate photo-anode, i.e., Zn2SnO4. The cyclic voltammetry revealed oxidation and reduction around 0.40 V (current density ~ 11.1 mA/cm2) and 0.57 V (current density– 11.7 mA/cm2) for Zn2SnO4 photo-anode in presence of light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maxillofacial trauma are common, secondary to road traffic accident, sports injury, falls and require sophisticated radiological imaging to precisely diagnose. A direct surgical reconstruction is complex and require clinical expertise. Bio-modelling helps in reconstructing surface model from 2D contours. In this manuscript we have constructed the 3D surface using 2D Computerized Tomography (CT) scan contours. The fracture part of the cranial vault are reconstructed using GC1 rational cubic Ball curve with three free parameters, later the 2D contours are flipped into 3D with equidistant z component. The constructed surface is represented by contours blending interpolant. At the end of this manuscript a case report of parietal bone fracture is also illustrated by employing this method with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection-nondetection data are often used to investigate species range dynamics using Bayesian occupancy models which rely on the use of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to sample from the posterior distribution of the parameters of the model. In this article we develop two Variational Bayes (VB) approximations to the posterior distribution of the parameters of a single-season site occupancy model which uses logistic link functions to model the probability of species occurrence at sites and of species detection probabilities. This task is accomplished through the development of iterative algorithms that do not use MCMC methods. Simulations and small practical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. We specifically show that (under certain circumstances) the variational distributions can provide accurate approximations to the true posterior distributions of the parameters of the model when the number of visits per site (K) are as low as three and that the accuracy of the approximations improves as K increases. We also show that the methodology can be used to obtain the posterior distribution of the predictive distribution of the proportion of sites occupied (PAO). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]