RNA secondary structure prediction using large margin methods

The secondary structure of RNA is essential for its biological role. Recently, Do, Woods, Batzoglou, (ISMB 2006) proposed a probabilistic approach that generalizes SCFGs using conditional maximum likelihood to estimate the model parameters. We propose an alternative approach to parameter estimation which is based on an SVM-like large margin method

The Nernst effect in high-TcT_c superconductors

The observation of a large Nernst signal $e_N$ in an extended region above the critical temperature $T_c$ in hole-doped cuprates provides evidence that vortex excitations survive above $T_c$. The results support the scenario that superfluidity vanishes because long-range phase coherence is destroyed by thermally-created vortices (in zero field), and that the pair condensate extends high into the pseudogap state in the underdoped (UD) regime. We present a series of measurements to high fields $H$ which provide strong evidence for this phase-disordering scenario.Comment: 21 pages, 28 figure

Event generators for two charged and neutral pions production in proton-antiproton annihilation

In the technical reports of Panda, The Orsay hadronic physics group have proposed to measure the electromagnetic time-like form factors of the proton via the $p \bar{p}$ annihilation into $e^{+}e^{-}$ reaction. The physics interest of the two-body hadronics channels is also emphasized in order to complete a full physics program of our letter of intent. The event generators for the two-body hadronic reactions are investigated in this repor

Strange quarks in the nucleon and parity violation in polarized electron scattering

In this review, we show that the measurement of asymmetry in polarized electron- nucleon scattering provides information about the quark structure of the nucleon.. The formalism of parity-violating electron-nucleon scattering with the theoretical assumptions is presented. An experimental overview of specific experiments with recent results as well as upcoming experiments is discussed

Locally optimal unstructured finite element meshes in 3 dimensions

This paper investigates the adaptive finite element solution of a general class of variational problems in three dimensions using a combination of node movement, edge swapping, face swapping and node insertion. The adaptive strategy proposed is a generalization of previous work in two dimensions and is based upon the construction of a hierarchy of locally optimal meshes. Results presented, both for a single equation and a system of coupled equations, suggest that this approach is able to produce better meshes of tetrahedra than those obtained by more conventional adaptive strategies and in a relatively efficient manner

Electromagnetic radiative corrections in parity-violating electron-proton scattering

QED radiative corrections have been calculated for leptonic and hadronic variables in parity-violating elastic ep scattering. For the first time, the calculation of the asymmetry in the elastic radiative tail is performed without the peaking-approximation assumption in hadronic variables configuration. A comparison with the PV-A4 data validates our approach. This method has been also used to evaluate the radiative corrections to the parity-violating asymmetry measured in the G0 experiment. The results obtained are here presented.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Burnout and work-related stressors in gastroenterology: a protocol for a multinational observational study in the ASEAN region.

BACKGROUND: Clinician burnout is an important occupational hazard that may be exacerbated by the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Within Southeast Asia, burnout in gastroenterology is understudied. The primary objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of burnout symptoms within gastroenterology, in member states of the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary objective is to identify work-related stressors that contribute to burnout in ASEAN gastroenterologists. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is an observational study that will use anonymised online surveys to estimate the prevalence of burnout symptoms at two time points: during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and in 2022 (assumed to be after the pandemic). Gastroenterologists from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Brunei will be invited to participate in the online survey through their national gastroenterology and endoscopy societies. Burnout will be assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey tool. Supplementary questions will collect demographic and qualitative data. Associations between demographic characteristics and burnout will be tested by multiple regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of burnout symptoms in gastroenterology during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the baseline prevalence after COVID-19, will be established in the above-mentioned countries. Work-related stressors commonly associated with burnout will be identified, allowing the introduction of preventative measures to reduce burnout in the future. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was granted by the Singhealth Centralised Institutional Review Board (2020/2709). Results will be submitted for publication

Two-body dynamic simulations of a combined semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine and torus wave energy converter

Dynamic responses of a combined wind and wave energy system which consist of a 5MW semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) and a torus-shaped wave energy converter (WEC) are investigated. In the investigated configuration, the torus WEC is constrained to move only in the heave direction with respect to the FOWT. This results in a two-body dynamic system that allows for the extraction of wave energy through the relative heave motion. A Modelica-based multi-body system (MBS) code is used to perform fully coupled dynamic analyses of the combined system. The wind turbine loads are calculated using the state-of-the-art Blade Element Momentum (BEM) method, while the wave power take-off (PTO) system is modelled as a linear spring and a viscous damper. A case study is presented where the mass of the torus is varied to investigate the impact on the two-body dynamics of the combined system. The system performance is assessed in terms of the maximum wave power absorption and the quality of wind power production.publishedVersio

Call-duration and triage decisions in out of hours cooperatives with and without the use of an expert system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cooperatives delivering out of hours care in the Netherlands are hesitant about the use of expert systems during triage. Apart from the extra costs, cooperatives are not sure that quality of triage is sufficiently enhanced by these systems and believe that call duration will be prolonged drastically. No figures about the influence of the use of an expert system during triage on call duration and triage decisions in out of hours care in the Netherlands are available.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Electronically registered data concerning call duration and triage decisions were collected in two cooperatives. One in Tilburg, a cooperative in a Southern city of the Netherlands using an expert system, and one in Groningen, a cooperative in a Northern city not using an expert system. Some other relevant information about the care process was collected additionally. Data about call duration was compared using an independent sample t-test. Data about call decisions was compared using Chi Square.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean call time in the cooperative using the TAS expert system is 4.6 minutes, in the cooperative not using the expert system 3.9 minutes. A significant difference of 0.7 minutes (0.4 – 1.0, 95% CI) minutes. In the cooperative with an expert system a larger percentage of patients is handled by the assistant, patients are less often referred to a telephone consultation with the GP and are less likely to be offered a visit by the GP.</p> <p>A quick interpretation of the impact of the difference in triage decisions, show that these may be large enough to support the hypothesis that longer call duration is compensated for by less contacts with the GP (by telephone or face-to-face). There is no proof, however, that these differences are caused by the use of the triage system. The larger amount of calls handled by the assistant may be partly caused by the fact that the assistants in the cooperative with an expert system more often consult the GP during triage. And it is not likely that the larger amount of home visits in Groningen can be attributed to the absence of an expert system. The expert system only offers advice whether a GP should be seen, not in which way (by consultation in the office or by home visit).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The differences in call times between a cooperative using an expert system and a cooperative not using an expert system are small; 0.4 – 1.0 min. Differences in triage decisions were found, but it is not proven that these can be contributed to the use of an expert system.</p

Hand gesture recognition system based in computer vision and machine learning

"Lecture notes in computational vision and biomechanics series, ISSN 2212-9391, vol. 19"Hand gesture recognition is a natural way of human computer interaction and an area of very active research in computer vision and machine learning. This is an area with many different possible applications, giving users a simpler and more natural way to communicate with robots/systems interfaces, without the need for extra devices. So, the primary goal of gesture recognition research applied to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is to create systems, which can identify specific human gestures and use them to convey information or controlling devices. For that, vision-based hand gesture interfaces require fast and extremely robust hand detection, and gesture recognition in real time. This paper presents a solution, generic enough, with the help of machine learning algorithms, allowing its application in a wide range of human-computer interfaces, for real-time gesture recognition. Experiments carried out showed that the system was able to achieve an accuracy of 99.4% in terms of hand posture recognition and an average accuracy of 93.72% in terms of dynamic gesture recognition. To validate the proposed framework, two applications were implemented. The first one is a real-time system able to help a robotic soccer referee judge a game in real time. The prototype combines a vision-based hand gesture recognition system with a formal language definition, the Referee CommLang, into what is called the Referee Command Language Interface System (ReCLIS). The second one is a real-time system able to interpret the Portuguese Sign Language. Sign languages are not standard and universal and the grammars differ from country to country. Although the implemented prototype was only trained to recognize the vowels, it is easily extended to recognize the rest of the alphabet, being a solid foundation for the development of any vision-based sign language recognition user interface system.(undefined