A Novel QoS provisioning Scheme for OBS networks

This paper presents Classified Cloning, a novel QoS provisioning mechanism for OBS networks carrying real-time applications (such as video on demand, Voice over IP, online gaming and Grid computing). It provides such applications with a minimum loss rate while minimizing end-to-end delay and jitter. ns-2 has been used as the simulation tool, with new OBS modules having been developed for performance evaluation purposes. Ingress node performance has been investigated, as well as the overall performance of the suggested scheme. The results obtained showed that new scheme has superior performance to classical cloning. In particular, QoS provisioning offers a guaranteed burst loss rate, delay and expected value of jitter, unlike existing proposals for QoS implementation in OBS which use the burst offset time to provide such differentiation. Indeed, classical schemes increase both end-to-end delay and jitter. It is shown that the burst loss rate is reduced by 50% reduced over classical cloning

Improving Trust in Deep Neural Networks with Nearest Neighbors

Deep neural networks are used increasingly for perception and decision-making in UAVs. For example, they can be used to recognize objects from images and decide what actions the vehicle should take. While deep neural networks can perform very well at complex tasks, their decisions may be unintuitive to a human operator. When a human disagrees with a neural network prediction, due to the black box nature of deep neural networks, it can be unclear whether the system knows something the human does not or whether the system is malfunctioning. This uncertainty is problematic when it comes to ensuring safety. As a result, it is important to develop technologies for explaining neural network decisions for trust and safety. This paper explores a modification to the deep neural network classification layer to produce both a predicted label and an explanation to support its prediction. Specifically, at test time, we replace the final output layer of the neural network classifier by a k-nearest neighbor classifier. The nearest neighbor classifier produces 1) a predicted label through voting and 2) the nearest neighbors involved in the prediction, which represent the most similar examples from the training dataset. Because prediction and explanation are derived from the same underlying process, this approach guarantees that the explanations are always relevant to the predictions. We demonstrate the approach on a convolutional neural network for a UAV image classification task. We perform experiments using a forest trail image dataset and show empirically that the hybrid classifier can produce intuitive explanations without loss of predictive performance compared to the original neural network. We also show how the approach can be used to help identify potential issues in the network and training process

Thermal diffractive corrections to Casimir energies

We study the interplay of thermal and diffractive effects in Casimir energies. We consider plates with edges, oriented either parallel or perpendicular to each other, as well as a single plate with a slit. We compute the Casimir energy at finite temperature using a formalism in which the diffractive effects are encoded in a lower dimensional non-local field theory that lives in the gap between the plates. The formalism allows for a clean separation between direct or geometric effects and diffractive effects, and makes an analytic derivation of the temperature dependence of the free energy possible. At low temperatures, with Dirichlet boundary conditions on the plates, we find that diffractive effects make a correction to the free energy which scales as T^6 for perpendicular plates, as T^4 for slits, and as T^4 log T for parallel plates.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX. v2: minor typos fixed, version to appear in PR

CEACAM19 (carcinoembryonic antigen related cell adhesion molecule 19)

CEACAM19 is a member of the CEACAM subfamily of genes, described for the first time by Scorilas et al. (2003). Very few studies have been conducted so far concerning the CEACAM19 gene. Consequently, very little is known about it, and its function in either physiological or pathological cellular processes remains poorly elucidated. Here, we present a review on the DNA, mRNA and protein level of the gene and on its implication in various types of human malignancies

A comparative evaluation of time-delay, deep learning and echo state neural networks when used as simulated transhumeral prosthesis controllers

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors are grateful to ten anonymous, able-bodied, human participants who participated in the recording of all of the datasets used to train and test the above neural networks.Postprin

Firestorms on Social Media: Effects of Social Information Characteristics on Customer Responses

Firestorms on social media have become one of the biggest challenges for organizations engaging with such online platforms. Handling a firestorm on social media has not been easy because customers\u27 responses towards the incident is influenced by not only the original content, but also others’ responses towards the firestorm on the platform. Drawing on social impact theory and the dual-process model of social influences, this study develops a conceptual framework and explores the effects of social information characteristics (i.e., strength, number, and immediacy) on the customers\u27 perceptions of social influences (i.e., social proof and social pressure), and then their immediate and distal responses towards the organization. The conceptual framework will be tested with social media users using a focus group study and an experiment. This study is expected to contribute to the growing body of knowledge of firestorms on social media and provide organizations with insights into tackling such firestorm

Once-yearly zoledronic acid in the prevention of osteoporotic bone fractures in postmenopausal women

Zoledronic acid is a nitrogen-containing, third-generation bisphosphonate that has recently been approved for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis as an annual intravenous infusion. Zoledronic acid is an antiresorptive agent which has a high affinity for mineralized bone and especially for sites of high bone turnover. Zoledronic acid is excreted by the kidney without further metabolism. Zoledronic acid administered as a 5 mg intravenous infusion annually increases bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and femoral neck by 6.7% and 5.1% respectively and reduces the incidence of new vertebral and hip fractures by 70% and 41% respectively in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Most common side effects are post-dose fever, flu-like symptoms, myalgia, arthralgia, and headache which usually occur in the first 3 days after infusion and are self-limited. Rare adverse effects include renal dysfunction, hypocalcemia, atrial fibrillation, and osteonecrosis of the jaw

Feasibility of using combined EMG and kinematic signals for prosthesis control : A simulation study using a virtual reality environment

Acknowledgment This study was partly supported by a UK Medical Research Council Centenary Award to Keele University.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Casimir effect: Edges and diffraction

The Casimir effect refers to the existence of a macroscopic force between conducting plates in vacuum due to quantum fluctuations of fields. These forces play an important role, among other things, in the design of nano-scale mechanical devices. Accurate experimental observations of this phenomenon have motivated the development of new theoretical approaches in dealing with the effects of different geometries, temperature etc. In this talk, I will focus on a new method we have developed in calculating the contribution to the Casimir effect due to diffraction from edges and holes in different geometries, at zero and at finite temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Talk at the QTS7 conference, Prague, 2011; to appear in the proceeding