Multi-rate, real time image compression for images dominated by point sources

An image compression system recently developed for compression of digital images dominated by point sources is presented. Encoding consists of minimum-mean removal, vector quantization, adaptive threshold truncation, and modified Huffman encoding. Simulations are presented showing that the peaks corresponding to point sources can be transmitted losslessly for low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and high point source densities while maintaining a reduced output bit rate. Encoding and decoding hardware has been built and tested which processes 552,960 12-bit pixels per second at compression rates of 10:1 and 4:1. Simulation results are presented for the 10:1 case only

The intersection of race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, trans identity, and mental health outcomes

The present study examined patterns in trans individuals’ multiple identities and mental health outcomes. Cluster 1 (socioeconomic and racial privilege; n = 239) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans women or cross-dressers, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning; had associates degrees; reported household incomes of $60,000 or more a year; and were non-Latino White. Cluster 2 (educational privilege; n = 191) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans men or genderqueer, gay, or queer; had a bachelor’s degree; reported household incomes of$10,000 or less a year; and were people of color. There was a pattern of individuals in Cluster 1 who identified with two privileged identities (identifying as White and having higher household incomes), whereas individuals in Cluster 2 identified only formal education as a privilege. Individuals in Cluster 2 reported statistically significant levels of anxiety. Implications of these results for future research and clinical practice are examined.Accepted manuscrip

Quantifying the value of ecosystem services: a case study of honeybee pollination in the UK

There is concern that insect pollinators, such as honey bees, are currently declining in abundance, and are under serious threat from environmental changes such as habitat loss and climate change; the use of pesticides in intensive agriculture, and emerging diseases. This paper aims to evaluate how much public support there would be in preventing further decline to maintain the current number of bee colonies in the UK. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to obtain the willingness to pay (WTP) for a theoretical pollinator protection policy. Respondents were asked whether they would be WTP to support such a policy and how much would they pay? Results show that the mean WTP to support the bee protection policy was £1.37/week/household. Based on there being 24.9 million households in the UK, this is equivalent to £1.77 billion per year. This total value can show the importance of maintaining the overall pollination service to policy makers. We compare this total with estimates obtained using a simple market valuation of pollination for the UK

Computing Bounds for Linear Functionals of Exact Weak Solutions to Poisson’s Equation

We present a method for Poisson’s equation that computes guaranteed upper and lower bounds for the values of linear functional outputs of the exact weak solution of the infinite dimensional continuum problem using traditional finite element approximations. The guarantee holds uniformly for any level of refinement, not just in the asymptotic limit of refinement. Given a finite element solution and its output adjoint solution, the method can be used to provide a certificate of precision for the output with an asymptotic complexity which is linear in the number of elements in the finite element discretization.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Computing bounds for linear functionals of exact weak solutions to Poisson's equation

We present a method for Poisson’s equation that computes guaranteed upper and lower bounds for the values of piecewise-polynomial linear functional outputs of the exact weak solution of the infinite-dimensional continuum problem with piecewise-polynomial forcing. The method results from exploiting the Lagrangian saddle point property engendered by recasting the output problem as a constrained minimization problem. Localization is achieved by Lagrangian relaxation and the bounds are computed by appeal to a local dual problem. The proposed method computes approximate Lagrange multipliers using traditional finite element approximations to calculate a primal and an adjoint solution along with well known hybridization techniques to calculate interelement continuity multipliers. The computed bounds hold uniformly for any level of refinement, and in the asymptotic convergence regime of the finite element method, the bound gap decreases at twice the rate of the energy norm measure of the error in the finite element solution. Given a finite element solution and its output adjoint solution, the method can be used to provide a certificate of precision for the output with an asymptotic complexity that is linear in the number of elements in the finite element discretization. The elemental contributions to the bound gap are always positive and hence lend themselves to be used as adaptive indicators, as we demonstrate with a numerical example

Manager ambidexterity in healthcare: the effect of paradoxical thinking, reflective learning, and context responsiveness

Manager ambidexterity is the capability to demonstrate equally well exploiting and exploring behaviour. Managers vary in ambidexterity capability therefore there is need for further scholarly work to examine the factors which explain this variation. The purpose of the current study was to explore and develop hypotheses on the influence of paradoxical thinking, leader role behaviour, and contextual factors on managerial ambidexterity. A self-report questionnaire was distributed to 152 managers of a public healthcare organisation. Findings of the study indicated although paradoxical thinking did not significantly predict manager ambidexterity, leader role behaviours characterising reflective learning and context responsiveness accounted for higher levels of exploiting and exploring behaviour. These findings suggest manager ambidexterity could be developed and enhanced through the development of skills and competencies for reflective learning and context responsiveness

Maternal parity and its effect on adipose tissue deposition and endocrine sensitivity in the postnatal sheep

Maternal parity influences size at birth, postnatal growth and body composition with firstborn infants being more likely to be smaller with increased fat mass, suggesting that adiposity is set in early life. The precise effect of parity on fat mass and its endocrine sensitivity remains unclear and was, therefore, investigated in the present study. We utilised an established sheep model in which perirenal–abdominal fat mass (the major fat depot in the neonatal sheep) increases ∼10-fold over the first month of life and focussed on the impact of parity on glucocorticoid sensitivity and adipokine expression in the adipocyte. Twin-bearing sheep of similar body weight and adiposity that consumed identical diets were utilised, and maternal blood samples were taken at 130 days of gestation. One offspring from each twin pair was sampled at 1 day of age, coincident with the time of maximal recruitment of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), whilst its sibling was sampled at 1 month, when UCP1 had disappeared. Plasma leptin was lower in nulliparous mothers than in multiparous mothers, and offspring of nulliparous mothers possessed more adipose tissue with increased mRNA abundance of leptin, glucocorticoid receptor and UCP2, adaptations that persisted up to 1 month of age when gene expression for interleukin-6 and adiponectin was also raised. The increase in fat mass associated with firstborn status is therefore accompanied by a resetting of the leptin and glucocorticoid axis within the adipocyte. Our findings emphasise the importance of parity in determining adipose tissue development and that firstborn offspring have an increased capacity for adipogenesis which may be critical in determining later adiposity

Australian local governments and affordable housing: Challenges and possibilities

© The Author(s) 2019. For an increasing proportion of Australian households, the Australian dream of home ownership is no longer an option. Neoliberal housing policy and the financialisation of housing has resulted in a housing affordability crisis. Historically, Australian housing policy has afforded only a limited role to local government. This article analyses the results of a nation-wide survey of Australian local governments’ perceptions of housing affordability in their local government area, the possibilities for their meaningful intervention, the challenges they face, the role of councillors and councils’ perceptions of what levels of government should take responsibility for housing. Almost all of the respondents from Sydney and Melbourne councils were clear that there is a housing affordability crisis in their local government area. We apply a framework analysing housing policy in the context of neoliberalism and the related financialisation of housing in order to analyse the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne. We conclude that in order to begin resolving the housing crisis in Australia’s two largest cities there has to be an increasing role for local government, a substantial increase in the building of social and affordable housing and a rollback of policies that encourage residential property speculation. JEL Codes: R31, R21

The Intersection of Race, Sexual Orientation, Socioeconomic Status, Trans Identity, and Mental Health Outcomes

The present study examined patterns in trans individuals’ multiple identities and mental health outcomes. Cluster 1 (socioeconomic and racial privilege; n = 239) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans women or crossdressers, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning; had associates degrees; reported household incomes of $60,000 or more a year; and were non-Latino White. Cluster 2 (educational privilege; n = 191) was characterized by individuals who identified as trans men or genderqueer, gay, or queer; had a bachelor’s degree; reported household incomes of$10,000 or less a year; and were people of color. There was a pattern of individuals in Cluster 1 who identified with two privileged identities (identifying as White and having higher household incomes), whereas individuals in Cluster 2 identified only formal education as a privilege. Individuals in Cluster 2 reported statistically significant levels of anxiety. Implications of these results for future research and clinical practice are examined

Blood Pressure and Cognitive Function in an African-American and a Caucasian-American Sample: The Maine-Syracuse Study

Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to examine associations between indices of blood pressure (BP) and cognitive function for African-American participants in the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS). Corresponding data for the Caucasian-American MSLS participants were included to provide a basis for comparison. Interactions of age with BP indices were also assessed in relation to cognitive function. Methods: Data were drawn from the baseline MSLS questionnaires, medical interviews and examinations, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale subtests, and measurements of BP for 1563 participants, of whom 147 were African American. Multiple linear regression analyses were employed to examine the relationship between several BP predictors and cognitive outcomes with statistical adjustment for demographic, psychosocial, and cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Significant inverse associations between BP indices and cognitive performance were obtained for both racial cohorts but were generally of higher magnitude for the African-American cohort. Interactions of BP with age were not obtained for any of the cognitive test scores. Conclusions: Elevations in BP are associated with poorer cognitive function for African-American and Caucasian-American cohorts. These associations are similar for younger and older participants