The software for the robotization of the TROBAR telescope

The Telescopi ROBotic de ARas (TROBAR) is a new robotic facility built at Aras de Los Olmos (Valencia-Spain). This is a 60cm telescope equipped with a 4kx4k optical camera, corresponding to 30x30 arcmin2 FoV, and it will be primarily used for a systematic search of Ha emitting stars in the Galactic Plane to a depth of ~14mag. Both data acquisition and reduction will be performed automatically. The robotization of data acquisition is now entering its final phase while the development of the data reduction pipeline has just started.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Advances in Astronomy - Robotic Astronomy special issu

Rahmetli Aras

Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 342-Tevfik Rüştü Aras. Not: Gazetenin "Günden Güne" köşesinde yayımlanmıştır.Unutma İstanbul projesi İstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı'nın 2016 yılı "Yenilikçi ve Yaratıcı İstanbul Mali Destek Programı" kapsamında desteklenmiştir. Proje No: TR10/16/YNY/010

Heart Rate Variability: A possible machine learning biomarker for mechanical circulatory device complications and heart recovery

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the number one cause of death in the United States, with heart failure patients expected to increase to \u3e8 million by 2030. Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices are now better able to manage acute and chronic heart failure refractory to medical therapy, both as bridge to transplant or as bridge to destination. Despite significant advances in MCS device design and surgical implantation technique, it remains difficult to predict response to device therapy. Heart rate variability (HRV), measuring the variation in time interval between adjacent heartbeats, is an objective device diagnostic regularly recorded by various MCS devices that has been shown to have significant prognostic value for both sudden cardiac death as well as all-cause mortality in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. Limited studies have examined HRV indices as promising risk factors and predictors of complication and recovery from left ventricular assist device therapy in end-stage CHF patients. If paired with new advances in machine learning utilization in medicine, HRV represents a potential dynamic biomarker for monitoring and predicting patient status as more patients enter the mechanotrope era of MCS devices for destination therapy

Mixed Integer Linear Programming For Exact Finite-Horizon Planning In Decentralized Pomdps

We consider the problem of finding an n-agent joint-policy for the optimal finite-horizon control of a decentralized Pomdp (Dec-Pomdp). This is a problem of very high complexity (NEXP-hard in n >= 2). In this paper, we propose a new mathematical programming approach for the problem. Our approach is based on two ideas: First, we represent each agent's policy in the sequence-form and not in the tree-form, thereby obtaining a very compact representation of the set of joint-policies. Second, using this compact representation, we solve this problem as an instance of combinatorial optimization for which we formulate a mixed integer linear program (MILP). The optimal solution of the MILP directly yields an optimal joint-policy for the Dec-Pomdp. Computational experience shows that formulating and solving the MILP requires significantly less time to solve benchmark Dec-Pomdp problems than existing algorithms. For example, the multi-agent tiger problem for horizon 4 is solved in 72 secs with the MILP whereas existing algorithms require several hours to solve it

Computing the Equilibria of Bimatrix Games using Dominance Heuristics

We propose a formulation of a general-sum bimatrix game as a bipartite directed graph with the objective of establishing a correspondence between the set of the relevant structures of the graph (in particular elementary cycles) and the set of the Nash equilibria of the game. We show that finding the set of elementary cycles of the graph permits the computation of the set of equilibria. For games whose graphs have a sparse adjacency matrix, this serves as a good heuristic for computing the set of equilibria. The heuristic also allows the discarding of sections of the support space that do not yield any equilibrium, thus serving as a useful pre-processing step for algorithms that compute the equilibria through support enumeration

Kajian terhadap minat kerjaya di kalangan pelajar di Sekolah Menengah Teknik Pengkalan Chepa

Kajian ini dijalankan untuk melihat minat kerjaya di kalangan pe!ajar. Seramai 95 orang pelajar telah dipilih secara rawak mudah dan sebuah Sekolah Menengah Teknik Pengkalan Chepa di daerah Kota Bharu. Mereka terdiri daripada pelajar-pelajar tingkatan empat yang terdiri dari pelbagai jantina, bangsa, persekitaran tempat tinggai dan latar beiakang ibu bapa. Instrumen kajian yang digunakan iaiah Career TH/'ere-sV 7/?ven/orp (CII) dan &yD;rec^eJ&arc/! (SDS) yang telah diterjemahkan ke daiam Bahasa Melayu. Data-data yang diperoiehi diproses secara statistik deskriptif dan inferensi yang bertujuan untuk mengukur dan menguji hipotesis-hipotesis yang dibina dengan menggunakan min, anahsis varian sehata (ANOVA) pada aras signifikan 0.05 dan anahsis korelasi Pearson pada aras signifikan 0.01. Hasil kajian menunjukkan pelajar-pelajar cenderung daiam orientasi Intelek dan Daya Usaha. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan peiajar-peiajarmeminati bidangjurutera, ah!i perniagaan, melanjutkan pelajaran dan kesenian. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan tidak ada perbezaan yang signifikan minat kerjaya pelajar-pelajar daiam bidang-bidang CII dan SDS dari segi jantina, bangsa dan persekitaran tempat tinggai. Dari segi hubungan, hasil kajian menunjukkan wujud hubungan yang signifikan daiam pemilihan kerjaya dengan tahap pendidikan ibu bapa

Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis is prevalent in cardiorenal patients but not associated with left ventricular function and myocardial fibrosis as assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) is common in cardiovascular diseases and associated with hypertension, renal dysfunction and/or heart failure. There is a paucity of data about the prevalence and the role of ARAS in the pathophysiology of combined chronic heart failure (CHF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated the prevalence in patients with combined CHF/CKD and its association with renal function, cardiac dysfunction and the presence and extent of myocardial fibrosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The EPOCARES study (ClinTrialsNCT00356733) investigates the role of erythropoietin in anaemic patients with combined CHF/CKD. Eligible subjects underwent combined cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI), including late gadolinium enhancement, with magnetic resonance angiography of the renal arteries (MRA).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MR study was performed in 37 patients (median age 74 years, eGFR 37.4 ± 15.6 ml/min, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 43.3 ± 11.2%), of which 21 (56.8%) had ARAS (defined as stenosis >50%). Of these 21 subjects, 8 (21.6%) had more severe ARAS >70% and 8 (21.6%) had a bilateral ARAS >50% (or previous bilateral PTA). There were no differences in age, NT-proBNP levels and medication profile between patients with ARAS versus those without. Renal function declined with the severity of ARAS (p = 0.03), although this was not significantly different between patients with ARAS versus those without. Diabetes mellitus was more prevalent in patients without ARAS (56.3%) against those with ARAS (23.8%) (p = 0.04). The presence and extent of late gadolinium enhancement, depicting myocardial fibrosis, did not differ (p = 0.80), nor did end diastolic volume (p = 0.60), left ventricular mass index (p = 0.11) or LVEF (p = 0.15). Neither was there a difference in the presence of an ischemic pattern of late enhancement in patients with ARAS versus those without.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>ARAS is prevalent in combined CHF/CKD and its severity is associated with a decline in renal function. However, its presence does not correlate with a worse LVEF, a higher left ventricular mass or with the presence and extent of myocardial fibrosis. Further research is required for the role of ARAS in the pathophysiology of combined chronic heart and renal failure.</p