Husky Masquerade

Award for Best Demonstration . Abstract Face detection is the process where machines identify faces within an image or visual field. Face detection is used in analyzing emotions, and even in social networking applications, such as Snapchat. The underlying mechanism of face detection is to locate key landmarks on a person’s face. The goal is to detect faces using a webcam, find the facial landmarks of the detected faces, and overlay customized images relative to the facial landmarks. Machines need to be taught to detect faces. It is crucial to teach the program to identify the different types of jawlines. The program is provided a data model which specifies different combinations of facial landmark positions. The machine is then able to compare the objects seen in its visual field to the data model. Once the machine recognizes the landmarks, it places image overlays across the visual display or mutates the visual display. These images can be stationary across the visual field, or mobile relative to the facial landmarks. The programs built for this project are capable of detecting faces using a webcam, finding the facial landmarks of the detected faces, and overlaying customized images relative to the facial landmarks. Before the programs were created, existing software, toolboxes, and libraries were surveyed. The project’s programs closely resemble Snapchat and Instagram filters. The limitation of the programs built for this project is that they have not been optimized for smartphones; the programs work only on a laptop or a smaller computer, such as the Raspberry Pi. Hence, the programs are not widely accessible to the general public

NRL capillary Z-pinch experiment

The current renewed interest in the dense linear z-pinch is due in large part to a recent Los Alamos Study which concluded that a z- pinch based reactor could produce 4.4 KJ of fusion energy per pulse for the modest input of 140 kJ per pulse, if a straight pinch could be maintained for 2 {mu}sec. Early attempts to achieve suitable high density z-pinches were of the implosion type which produced hollow pressure profiles that quickly resulted in disruptive m = 0 instabilities. These instabilities are not found in the gas embedded pinch in which an initially small diameter plasma is kept in radial equilibrium by following a prescribed current waveform. Unfortunately, these pinches are prone to a rapid accretion of the surrounding gas during the early stages of formation. Our approach is to form the pinch inside small diameter quartz capillaries filled with neutral hydrogen. This fixes the line density. By driving currents through the pinch at a rate that exceeds that necessary for radial equilibrium, we expect the pinch to contract away from the walls and be subject to compressional, as well as ohmic heating. This contraction will, of course, produce a plasma between the pinch and the capillary wall, but we anticipate this ``corona`` will be kept at a low temperature (i.e., high resistance) by radiation and hence shunt only a small fraction of the pinch current. We also expect negligible impurities in the pinch as the classical mixing time will be much longer than the pinch duration at the densities (10{sup 21}- 10{sup 22} ions/cm{sup 3}) and magnetic fields (1 - 10 MG) involved. However, we do expect the presence of the dense corona to reduce the growth rate of the m = 1 instability. Our results demonstrate that a z-pinch can be formed inside a capillary, but our limited current rise rates and peak current have limited our test abilities. Planned improvements in electrical equipment should yield successful testing results

Water Intake in Growing Beef Cattle

Water is an essential part of livestock and human diets and is often thought of as an inexpensive, readily available renewable natural resource. However, the amount of competition between humans, wildlife, feed production, and livestock for high-quality water is increasing, not only from the effects of drought but from the pressure of a growing global population (Nardone et al., 2010). With limited resources available for production agriculture, there is a need to identify and select for efficient animals that can produce more product with fewer inputs. Although some work has been done in dairy cattle, very little data is available on individual animal water intake in modern beef cattle (Brew et al., 2011). The majority of the water intake data available in growing beef cattle is derived from dividing the total amount of water drunk in a pen divided by the number of animals in that pen (Sexson et al., 2010; Mader and Davis, 2004). Data derived from groups are not generally useful for the purposes of genetic evaluation, which aims to quantify individual animal variation in a trait for selection. However, in order to practice selection on a large scale, parameters for collecting phenotypic data must be established. The objectives of this study were to measure daily water intake on a large number of beef steers and to estimate the number of test days necessary to collect accurate water intake phenotypes

Polishing material removal correlation on PMMA – FEM simulation

The complexity of polishing is very high and experience in this field is required to achieve reproducible deterministic results concerning shape accuracy. The goal of this work is to predict the material removal of the polishing process on PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) using an industrial robot polisher. In order to predict the material removal, a FEM Model was created representing the polishing process. This model will help to predict the material removal when polishing parameters are changed. Experiments were carried out and compared to the results obtained from the different parameters tested in the simulation

Stark Broadening of the B III 2s-2p Lines

We present a quantum-mechanical calculation of Stark line widths from electron-ion collisions for the $2s_{1/2}-2p_{1/2,3/2}$, lambda = 2066 and 2067 A, resonance transitions in B III. The results confirm the previous quantum-mechanical R-matrix calculations but contradict recent measurements and semi-classical and some semi-empirical calculations. The differences between the calculations can be attributed to the dominance of small L partial waves in the electron-atom scattering, while the large Stark widths inferred from the measurements would be substantially reduced if allowance is made for hydrodynamic turbulence from high Reynolds number flows and the associated Doppler broadening.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev.

Effects of data selection on the assimilation of AIRS data

The Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS), flying aboard NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A), has been providing data for use in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and data assimilation systems (DAS) for over three years. The full AIRS data set is currently not transmitted in near-real-time (NRT) to the NWP centers. Instead, data sets with reduced spatial and spectral information are produced and made available in NRT. In this paper, we evaluate the use of different channel selections and error specifications. We achieved significant positive impact from the Aqua AIRS/AMSU-A combination in both hemispheres during our experimental time period of January 2003. The best results were obtained using a set of 156 channels that did not include any in the 6.7micron water vapor band. The latter have a large influence on both temperature and humidity analyses. If observation and background errors are not properly specified, the partitioning of temperature and humidity information from these channels will not be correct, and this can lead to a degradation in forecast skill. We found that changing the specified channel errors had a significant effect on the amount of data that entered into the analysis as a result of quality control thresholds that are related to the errors. However, changing the channel errors within a relatively small window did not significantly impact forecast skill with the 155 channel set. We also examined the effects of different types of spatial data reduction on assimilated data sets and NWP forecast skill. Whether we picked the center or the warmest AIRS pixel in a 3x3 array affected the amount of data ingested by the analysis but had a negligible impact on the forecast skill

Fatigue, quality of life and physical fitness following an exercise intervention in multiple myeloma survivors (MASCOT): an exploratory randomised Phase 2 trial utilising a modified Zelen design

Background: Exercise may improve fatigue in multiple myeloma survivors, but trial evidence is limited, and exercise may be perceived as risky in this older patient group with osteolytic bone destruction. / Methods: In this Phase 2 Zelen trial, multiple myeloma survivors who had completed treatment at least 6 weeks ago, or were on maintenance only, were enrolled in a cohort study and randomly assigned to usual care or a 6-month exercise programme of tailored aerobic and resistance training. Outcome assessors and usual care participants were masked. The primary outcome was the FACIT-F fatigue score with higher scores denoting less fatigue. / Results: During 2014–2016, 131 participants were randomised 3:1 to intervention (n = 89) or usual care (n = 42) to allow for patients declining allocation to the exercise arm. There was no difference between groups in fatigue at 3 months (between-group mean difference: 1.6 [95% CI: −1.1–4.3]) or 6 months (0.3 [95% CI: −2.6–3.1]). Muscle strength improved at 3 months (8.4 kg [95% CI: 0.5–16.3]) and 6 months (10.8 kg [95% CI: 1.2–20.5]). Using per-protocol analysis, cardiovascular fitness improved at 3 months (+1.2 ml/kg/min [95% CI: 0.3–3.7]). In participants with clinical fatigue (n = 17), there was a trend towards less fatigue with exercise over 6 months (6.3 [95% CI: −0.6–13.3]). There were no serious adverse events. / Conclusions: Exercise appeared safe and improved muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness, but benefits in fatigue appeared limited to participants with clinical fatigue at baseline. Future studies should focus on patients with clinical fatigue. / Clinical trial registration: The study was registered with ISRCTN (38480455) and is completed

Norwegian translation, cultural adaption and testing of the Person-centred Practice Inventory - Staff (PCPI-S)

Background: Person-centred health care has widespread recognition, but there are few instruments aimed at measuring the provision of person-centred practice among health care professionals across a range of settings. The Person-centred Practice Inventory – Staff (PCPI-S) is a new instrument for this purpose, theoretically aligned with McCormack & McCance’s person-centred framework, which has been translated and culturally adapted into Norwegian. Methods: The study used a two-stage research design involving: translation and cultural adaption of the PCPI-S from English to Norwegian language (phase 1), and a quantitative cross sectional survey following psychometric evaluation (phase 2). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the theoretical measurement model. Results: The translation and cultural adaption was carried out according to ten recommend steps. Discrepancies were addressed and revised by all translators until consensus was reached on a reconciled version of the translation. A sample of 258 health care staff participated in the survey. The model fit statistics were overall positive; the model requires minor modifications and these are mostly confined to correlated errors. Conclusions: The translation and cultural adaption process of the PCPI-S from English to Norwegian language was a demanding process in order to retain the conceptual meanings of the original instrument. Overall, the psychometric properties of the tool were acceptable, but testing on a larger sample size is recommended.publishedVersio

Science Requirements and Conceptual Design for a Polarized Medium Energy Electron-Ion Collider at Jefferson Lab

This report presents a brief summary of the science opportunities and program of a polarized medium energy electron-ion collider at Jefferson Lab and a comprehensive description of the conceptual design of such a collider based on the CEBAF electron accelerator facility.Comment: 160 pages, ~93 figures This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Contract No. DE-AC05-06OR23177, DE-AC02-06CH11357, DE-AC05-060R23177, and DESC0005823. The U.S. Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce this manuscript for U.S. Government purpose

The Glial Regenerative Response to Central Nervous System Injury Is Enabled by Pros-Notch and Pros-NFκB Feedback

Organisms are structurally robust, as cells accommodate changes preserving structural integrity and function. The molecular mechanisms underlying structural robustness and plasticity are poorly understood, but can be investigated by probing how cells respond to injury. Injury to the CNS induces proliferation of enwrapping glia, leading to axonal re-enwrapment and partial functional recovery. This glial regenerative response is found across species, and may reflect a common underlying genetic mechanism. Here, we show that injury to the Drosophila larval CNS induces glial proliferation, and we uncover a gene network controlling this response. It consists of the mutual maintenance between the cell cycle inhibitor Prospero (Pros) and the cell cycle activators Notch and NFκB. Together they maintain glia in the brink of dividing, they enable glial proliferation following injury, and subsequently they exert negative feedback on cell division restoring cell cycle arrest. Pros also promotes glial differentiation, resolving vacuolization, enabling debris clearance and axonal enwrapment. Disruption of this gene network prevents repair and induces tumourigenesis. Using wound area measurements across genotypes and time-lapse recordings we show that when glial proliferation and glial differentiation are abolished, both the size of the glial wound and neuropile vacuolization increase. When glial proliferation and differentiation are enabled, glial wound size decreases and injury-induced apoptosis and vacuolization are prevented. The uncovered gene network promotes regeneration of the glial lesion and neuropile repair. In the unharmed animal, it is most likely a homeostatic mechanism for structural robustness. This gene network may be of relevance to mammalian glia to promote repair upon CNS injury or disease