2,971 research outputs found
Robustness of rule sets using VHR imagery to detect informal settlements:a case of Mumbai, India
Frameworks for logically classifying polynomial-time optimisation problems.
We show that a logical framework, based around a fragment of existential second-order logic formerly proposed by others so as to capture the class of polynomially-bounded P-optimisation problems, cannot hope to do so, under the assumption that P ≠ NP. We do this by exhibiting polynomially-bounded maximisation and minimisation problems that can be expressed in the framework but whose decision versions are NP-complete. We propose an alternative logical framework, based around inflationary fixed-point logic, and show that we can capture the above classes of optimisation problems. We use the inductive depth of an inflationary fixed-point as a means to describe the objective functions of the instances of our optimisation problems
Iterative graph cuts for image segmentation with a nonlinear statistical shape prior
Shape-based regularization has proven to be a useful method for delineating
objects within noisy images where one has prior knowledge of the shape of the
targeted object. When a collection of possible shapes is available, the
specification of a shape prior using kernel density estimation is a natural
technique. Unfortunately, energy functionals arising from kernel density
estimation are of a form that makes them impossible to directly minimize using
efficient optimization algorithms such as graph cuts. Our main contribution is
to show how one may recast the energy functional into a form that is
minimizable iteratively and efficiently using graph cuts.Comment: Revision submitted to JMIV (02/24/13
Causal Effects of the Timing of Life-course Events Age at Retirement and Subsequent Health
In this article, we combine the extensive literature on the analysis of life-course trajectories as sequences with the literature on causal inference and propose a new matching approach to investigate the causal effect of the timing of life-course events on subsequent outcomes. Our matching approach takes into account pre-event confounders that are both time-independent and time-dependent as well as life-course trajectories. After matching, treated and control individuals can be compared using standard statistical tests or regression models. We apply our approach to the study of the consequences of the age at retirement on subsequent health outcomes, using a unique data set from Swedish administrative registers. Once selectivity in the timing of retirement is taken into account, effects on hospitalization are small, while early retirement has negative effects on survival. Our approach also allows for heterogeneous treatment effects. We show that the effects of early retirement differ according to preretirement income, with higher income individuals tending to benefit from early retirement, while the opposite is true for individuals with lower income
P02.175. A randomized controlled pilot study assessing quality of life, stress and feasibility of yoga practice in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer
Design of a Novel Two-Component Hybrid Dermal Scaffold for the Treatment of Pressure Sores
The aim of this study is to design a novel two‐component hybrid scaffold using the fibrin/alginate porous hydrogel Smart Matrix combined to a backing layer of plasma polymerized polydimethylsiloxane (Sil) membrane to make the fibrin‐based dermal scaffold more robust for the treatment of the clinically challenging pressure sores. A design criteria are established, according to which the Sil membranes are punched to avoid collection of fluid underneath. Manual peel test shows that native silicone does not attach to the fibrin/alginate component while the plasma polymerized silicone membranes are firmly bound to fibrin/alginate. Structural characterization shows that the fibrin/alginate matrix is intact after the addition of the Sil membrane. By adding a Sil membrane to the original fibrin/alginate scaffold, the resulting two‐component scaffolds have a significantly higher shear or storage modulus G′. In vitro cell studies show that dermal fibroblasts remain viable, proliferate, and infiltrate the two‐component hybrid scaffolds during the culture period. These results show that the design of a novel two‐component hybrid dermal scaffold is successful according to the proposed design criteria. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that reports the combination of a fibrin‐based scaffold with a plasma‐polymerized silicone membrane
Probing BFKL Dynamics in the Dijet Cross Section at Large Rapidity Intervals in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1800 and 630 GeV
Inclusive dijet production at large pseudorapidity intervals (delta_eta)
between the two jets has been suggested as a regime for observing BFKL
dynamics. We have measured the dijet cross section for large delta_eta in ppbar
collisions at sqrt{s}=1800 and 630 GeV using the DO detector. The partonic
cross section increases strongly with the size of delta_eta. The observed
growth is even stronger than expected on the basis of BFKL resummation in the
leading logarithmic approximation. The growth of the partonic cross section can
be accommodated with an effective BFKL intercept of
a_{BFKL}(20GeV)=1.65+/-0.07.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter
Search for Electroweak Production of Single Top Quarks in ppbar Collisions
We present a search for electroweak production of single top quarks in the
electron+jets and muon+jets decay channels. The measurements use ~90 pb^-1 of
data from Run 1 of the Fermilab Tevatron collider, collected at 1.8 TeV with
the DZero detector between 1992 and 1995. We use events that include a tagging
muon, implying the presence of a b jet, to set an upper limit at the 95%
confidence level on the cross section for the s-channel process ppbar->tb+X of
39 pb. The upper limit for the t-channel process ppbar->tqb+X is 58 pb.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. This is the published versio
A Quasi-Model-Independent Search for New Physics at Large Transverse Momentum
We apply a quasi-model-independent strategy ("Sleuth") to search for new high
p_T physics in approximately 100 pb^-1 of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV
collected by the DZero experiment during 1992-1996 at the Fermilab Tevatron.
Over thirty-two e mu X, W+jets-like, Z+jets-like, and 3(lepton/photon)X
exclusive final states are systematically analyzed for hints of physics beyond
the standard model. Simultaneous sensitivity to a variety of models predicting
new phenomena at the electroweak scale is demonstrated by testing the method on
a particular signature in each set of final states. No evidence of new high p_T
physics is observed in the course of this search, and we find that 89% of an
ensemble of hypothetical similar experimental runs would have produced a final
state with a candidate signal more interesting than the most interesting
observed in these data.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures. Submitted to Physical Review
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