Underwater Computer Vision - Fish Recognition

The Underwater Computer Vision – Fish Recognition project includes the design and implementation of a device that can withstand staying underwater for a duration of time, take pictures of underwater creatures, such as fish, and be able to identify certain fish. The system is meant to be cheap to create, yet still able to process the images it takes and identify the objects in the pictures with some accuracy. The device can output its results to another device or an end user

A thermodynamic approach to obtain materials properties for engineering applications

With the ever increases in the capabilities of computers for numerical computations, we are on the verge of using these tools to model manufacturing processes for improving the efficiency of these processes as well as the quality of the products. One such process is casting for the production of metals. However, in order to model metal casting processes in a meaningful way it is essential to have the basic properties of these materials in their molten state, solid state as well as in the mixed state of solid and liquid. Some of the properties needed may be considered as intrinsic such as the density, heat capacity or enthalpy of freezing of a pure metal, while others are not. For instance, the enthalpy of solidification of an alloy is not a defined thermodynamic quantity. Its value depends on the micro-segregation of the phases during the course of solidification. The objective of the present study is to present a thermodynamic approach to obtain some of the intrinsic properties and combining thermodynamics with kinetic models to estimate such quantities as the enthalpy of solidification of an alloy

Regularizing Face Verification Nets For Pain Intensity Regression

Limited labeled data are available for the research of estimating facial expression intensities. For instance, the ability to train deep networks for automated pain assessment is limited by small datasets with labels of patient-reported pain intensities. Fortunately, fine-tuning from a data-extensive pre-trained domain, such as face verification, can alleviate this problem. In this paper, we propose a network that fine-tunes a state-of-the-art face verification network using a regularized regression loss and additional data with expression labels. In this way, the expression intensity regression task can benefit from the rich feature representations trained on a huge amount of data for face verification. The proposed regularized deep regressor is applied to estimate the pain expression intensity and verified on the widely-used UNBC-McMaster Shoulder-Pain dataset, achieving the state-of-the-art performance. A weighted evaluation metric is also proposed to address the imbalance issue of different pain intensities.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure; Camera-ready version to appear at IEEE ICIP 201

Subcritical Flow at Open Channel Structures Bridge Constructions

The techniques previously employed by the writers for describing subcritical flow at open channel constrictions have been found valid for analyzing nonuniform flow in open channels. Combining the nonuniform flow analysis with the submerged flow ratings for various bridge geometrics has provided an analytical means for determining the backwater due to the bridge constrictions under “abnormal stage – discharge” conditions

Attitude Determination and Control System With Variable-Speed Single-Gimbal Control Moment Gyroscopes for Nanosatellites

This paper presents a novel Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) utilizing Variable-Speed Control Moment Gyroscopes (VSCMG) tailored explicitly for nanosatellites. The VSCMG was realized by spherical motor technology, in which a patented magnetic field design controls the inner rotor and gimbal. Because of the characteristics of the control moment gyroscope, the proposed ADCS offers improved attitude maneuverability and reduced power consumption, addressing the limitations of traditional ADCS solutions for nanosatellites. Furthermore, the adoption of spherical motor technology shrinks the VSCMG into a smaller form factor, which allows the VSCMG to be fitted into a nanosatellite. This research paper introduces the specifications of the integrated ADCS family based on VSCMG, as well as the components used in the system

Comparative Review of the Socioeconomic Burden of Lower Back Pain in the United States and Globally.

Internationally, the United States (U.S.) cites the highest cost burden of low back pain (LBP). The cost continues to rise, faster than the rate of inflation and overall growth of health expenditures. We performed a comprehensive literature review of peer-reviewed and non- peer-reviewed literature from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for contemporary data on prevalence, cost, and projected future costs. Policymakers in the U.S. have long attempted to address the high-cost burden of LBP through limiting low-value services and early imaging. Despite these efforts, costs (~$40 billion; ~$2,000/patient/yr) continue to rise with increasing rates of unindicated imaging, high rates of surgery, and subsequent revision surgery without proper trial of non-pharmacologic measures and no corresponding reduction in LBP prevalence. Globally, the overall prevalence of LBP continues to rise largely secondary to a growing aging population. Cost containment methods should focus on careful and comprehensive clinical assessment of patients to better understand when more resource-intensive interventions are indicated

Attitude Control Calibration and Experiment Testbed to Characterize Attitude Determination and Control System Performance

This paper describes the design, development, and construction of an attitude control testbed to investigate the performance of ADCS. The Testbed consists of three instruments, an air-bearing platform, a Helmholtz cage, and an AM0 spectrum solar simulator. The Testbed in this research features the capability to measure the mass properties of the tested satellite. One of the motivations of this paper is to share the experience while building this highly automated Testbed. Finally, the procedure of the mass properties measurement will be well described in this paper

Optimal SBP targets in routine clinical care

Objective: Compare outcomes of intensive treatment of SBP to less than 120 mmHg versus standard treatment to less than 140 mmHg in the US clinical Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) with similar hypertensive patients managed in routine primary care in the United Kingdom. Methods: Hypertensive patients aged 50–90 without diabetes or chronic kidney disease (CKD) were selected in SPRINT and The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. Patients were enrolled in 2010–2013 and followed-up to 2015 (SPRINT N = 4112; THIN N = 8631). Cox's proportional hazards regressions were fitted to estimate the hazard of all-cause mortality or CKD (main adverse effect) associated with intensive treatment, adjusted for sex, age, ethnicity, smoking, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, aspirin, statin, number of antihypertensive drugs at baseline, change in number of antihypertensive drugs at trial entry, and clinical site. Results: Almost half of the patients had intensive treatment (43–45%). In SPRINT, intensive treatment was associated with a decreased hazard of mortality of 0.63 (0.43–0.92), while in THIN with an increased hazard of 1.66 (1.28–2.15). In THIN, this effect was time-dependent. Intensive treatment was associated with an increased hazard of CKD of 2.67 (1.74–4.11) in SPRINT and 1.35 (1.08–1.70) in THIN. In THIN, this effect differed by the number of antihypertensive drugs prescribed at baseline. Conclusion: It appears that intensive treatment of SBP may be harmful in the general population where all have access to routine healthcare as with the UK National Health Services, but could be beneficial in high-risk patients who are closely monitored