Outlier-robust manifold pre-integration for INS/GPS fusion

We tackle the INS/GPS sensor fusion problem for pose estimation, particularly in the common setting where the INS components (IMU and magnetometer) function at much higher frequencies than GPS, and where the magnetometer and GPS are prone to giving erroneous measurements (outliers) due to magnetic disturbances and glitches. Our main contribution is a novel non-linear optimization framework that (1) fuses preintegrated IMU and magnetometer measurements with GPS, in a manner that respects the manifold structure of the state space; and (2) supports the usage of robust norms and efficient large scale optimization to effectively mitigate the effects of outliers. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate the superior accuracy and robustness of our approach over filtering methods (which are customarily applied in the target setting) with minimal impact to computational efficiency. Our work further illustrates the strength of optimization approaches in state estimation problems and paves the way for their adoption in the control and navigation communities.Shin-Fang Ch'ng, Alireza Khosravian, Anh-Dzung Doan and Tat-Jun Chi

Cost-effectiveness of different cervical screening strategies in Islamic Republic of Iran: A middle-income country with a low incidence rate of cervical cancer

Objective: Invasive cervical cancer (ICC) is the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide. Cervical screening programs have reduced the incidence and mortality rates of ICC. We studied the cost-effectiveness of different cervical screening strategies in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Muslim country with a low incidence rate of ICC. Methods: We constructed an 11-state Markov model, in which the parameters included regression and progression probabilities, test characteristics, costs, and utilities; these were extracted from primary data and the literature. Our strategies included Pap smear screening and human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing plus Pap smear triaging with different starting ages and screening intervals. Model outcomes included lifetime costs, life years gained, quality-adjusted life years (QALY), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). One-way sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the stability of the results. Results: We found that the prevented mortalities for the 11 strategies compared with no screening varied from 26 to 64. The most cost-effective strategy was HPV screening, starting at age 35 years and repeated every 10 years. The ICER of this strategy was 8,875 per QALY compared with no screening. We found that screening at 5-year intervals was also cost-effective based on GDP per capita in Iran. Conclusion: We recommend organized cervical screening with HPV DNA testing for women in Iran, beginning at age 35 and repeated every 10 or 5 years. The results of this study could be generalized to other countries with low incidence rates of cervical cancer. � 2016 Nahvijou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

DyeVert™ PLUS EZ System for Preventing Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Diagnostic Coronary Angiography and/or Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A UK-Based Cost–Utility Analysis

Background: Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is a complication commonly associated with invasive angiographic procedures and is considered the leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury. CI-AKI can lead to a prolonged hospital stay, with a substantial economic impact, and increased mortality. The DyeVert™ PLUS EZ system (FDA approved and CE marked) is a device that has been developed to divert a portion of the theoretical injected contrast media volume (CMV), reducing the overall volume of contrast media injected and aortic reflux, and potentially improving long-term health outcomes. Objectives: To assess the long-term costs and health outcomes associated with the introduction of the DyeVert™ PLUS EZ system into the UK health care service for the prevention of CI-AKI in a cohort of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3–4 undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography (DAG) and/or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and to compare these costs and outcomes with those of the current practice. Methods: A de novo economic model was developed based on the current pathway of managing patients undergoing DAG and/or PCI and on evidence related to the clinical effectiveness of DyeVert™ in terms of its impact on relevant clinical outcomes and health service resource use. Clinical data used to populate the model were derived from the literature or were based on assumptions informed by expert clinical input. Costs included in the model were from the NHS and personal social services perspective and obtained from the literature and UK-based routine sources. Probabilistic distributions were assigned to the majority of model parameters so that a probabilistic analysis could be undertaken, while deterministic sensitivity analyses were also carried out to explore the impact of key parameter variation on the model results. Results: Base-case results indicate that the intervention leads to cost savings (− £435) and improved effectiveness (+ 0.028 QALYs) over the patient’s lifetime compared with current practice. Output from the probabilistic analysis points to a high likelihood of the intervention being cost-effective across presented willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds. The overall long-term cost saving for the NHS associated with the introduction of the DyeVert™ PLUS EZ system is over £19.7 million for each annual cohort of patients. The cost savings are mainly driven by a lower risk of subsequent diseases and their associated costs. Conclusions: The introduction of the DyeVert™ PLUS EZ system has the potential to reduce costs for the health care service and yield improved clinical outcomes for patients with CKD stage 3–4 undergoing angiographic procedures

Habitat quality, configuration and context effects on roe deer fecundity across a forested landscape mosaic

Effective landscape-scale management of source-sink deer populations will be strengthened by understanding whether local variation in habitat quality drives heterogeneity in productivity. We related female roe deer Capreolus capreolus fecundity and body mass to habitat composition and landscape context, separately for adults and yearlings, using multi-model inference (MMI) applied to a large sample of individuals (yearlings: fecundity=202, body mass=395; adults: fecundity=908, body mass=1669) culled during 2002-2015 from an extensive (195 km2) heterogeneous forest landscape. Adults were heavier (inter-quartile, IQ, effect size=+0.5kg) when culled in buffers comprising more arable lands while contrary to our prediction no effects on body mass of grassland, young forest or access to vegetation on calcareous soil were found. Heavier adults were more fertile (IQ effect size, +12% probability of having two embryos instead of one or zero). Counter-intuitively, adults with greater access to arable lands were less fecund (IQ effect of arable: -7% probability of having two embryos, instead of one or zero), and even accounting for greater body mass of adults with access to arable, their modelled fecundity was similar to or lower than that of adults in the forest interior. In contrast, effects of grassland, young forest and calcareous soil did not receive support. Yearling body mass had an effect on fecundity twice that found in adults (+23% probability of having one additional embryo), but yearling body mass and fecundity were not affected by any candidate habitat or landscape variables. Effect of arable lands on body mass and fecundity were small, with little variance explained (Coefficient of Variation of predicted fecundity across forest sub-regions=0.03 for adults). More variance in fecundity was attributed to other differences between forest management sub-regions (modelled as random effects), suggesting other factors might be important. When analysing source-sink population dynamics to support management, an average value of fecundity can be appropriate across a heterogeneous forest landscape

A Polychaete’s Powerful Punch: Venom Gland Transcriptomics of Glycera Reveals a Complex Cocktail of Toxin Homologs

© The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The article attached is the publisher's pdf

Body size and digestive system shape resource selection by ungulates : a cross-taxa test of the forage maturation hypothesis

The forage maturation hypothesis (FMH) states that energy intake for ungulates is maximised when forage biomass is at intermediate levels. Nevertheless, metabolic allometry and different digestive systems suggest that resource selection should vary across ungulate species. By combining GPS relocations with remotely sensed data on forage characteristics and surface water, we quantified the effect of body size and digestive system in determining movements of 30 populations of hindgut fermenters (equids) and ruminants across biomes. Selection for intermediate forage biomass was negatively related to body size, regardless of digestive system. Selection for proximity to surface water was stronger for equids relative to ruminants, regardless of body size. To be more generalisable, we suggest that the FMH explicitly incorporate contingencies in body size and digestive system, with small-bodied ruminants selecting more strongly for potential energy intake, and hindgut fermenters selecting more strongly for surface water.DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The dataset used in our analyses is available via Dryad repository (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jsxksn09f) following a year-long embargo from publication of the manuscript. The coordinates associated with mountain zebra data are not provided in an effort to protect critically endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis) locations. Interested researchers can contact the data owner (Minnesota Zoo) directly for inquiries.https://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/elehj2022Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog