Distributed Kalman Filter

The continuing trend toward connected sensors (“internet of things” and” ubiquitous computing”) drives a demand for powerful distributed estimation methodologies. In tracking applications, the distributed Kalman filter (DKF) provides an optimal solution under Kalman filter conditions. The optimal solution in terms of the estimation accuracy is also achieved by a centralized fusion algorithm, which receives all associated measurements. However, the centralized approach requires full communication of all measurements at each time step, whereas the DKF works at arbitrary communication rates since the calculation is fully distributed. A more recent methodology is based on ”accumulated state density” (ASD), which augments the states from multiple time instants to overcome spatial cross-correlations. This chapter explains the challenges in distributed tracking. Then, possible solutions are derived, which include the DKF and ASD approach

A Comparison of PDF Projection with Normalizing Flows and SurVAE

Normalizing flows (NF) recently gained attention as a way to construct generative networks with exact likelihood calculation out of composable layers. However, NF is restricted to dimension-preserving transformations. Surjection VAE (SurVAE) has been proposed to extend NF to dimension-altering transformations. Such networks are desirable because they are expressive and can be precisely trained. We show that the approaches are a re-invention of PDF projection, which appeared over twenty years earlier and is much further developed

Clinical significance of signal changes in the quadratus femoris muscle on MR

'Objectives: 'To evaluate the clinical significance of quadratus femoris muscle signal changes (QFMC) on MRI. 'Methods: '204 consecutive bilateral MRI hip examinations (132 female, 72 male) were reviewed in retrospect for QFMC. Inclusion imaging parameters were edema or atrophy of the quadratus femoris muscle. The presence or absence of symptoms and additional ipsilateral and/or contralateral imaging findings were used to differentiate between isolated symptomatic, co-incidental and asymptomatic QFMC. 'Results: '24 (11.8%) patients and 30 (7.3%) hips demonstrated QFMC. Atrophy was present in 5 symptomatic hips. Female to male ratio was 23:1. Isolated symptomatic QFMC: 4 hips (13.3%), 1 bilateral. Clinical symptoms in this group were non-specific greater trochanter pain and stiffness of the hip. Co-incidental QFMC: 19 symptomatic hips, ipsilateral associated findings present in 18 hips (94.7%) and contralateral additional findings present in 8 hips (42.1%). Asymptomatic QFMC: 7 hips (23.3%), ipsilateral associated asymptomatic findings in 5 hips (71.4%) and contralateral associated symptomatic findings in 6 hips (85.7%). Edema around the greater trochanter and hamstring insertions were the most frequent associated findings. 'Conclusion: 'In this study, most cases of QFMC were co-incidental or asymptomatic. In isolated symptomatic QFMC clinical complaints were non-specific. Atrophy was found only in the symptomatic hips

Towards Canonical Quantum Gravity for G1 Geometries in 2+1 Dimensions with a Lambda--Term

The canonical analysis and subsequent quantization of the (2+1)-dimensional action of pure gravity plus a cosmological constant term is considered, under the assumption of the existence of one spacelike Killing vector field. The proper imposition of the quantum analogues of the two linear (momentum) constraints reduces an initial collection of state vectors, consisting of all smooth functionals of the components (and/or their derivatives) of the spatial metric, to particular scalar smooth functionals. The demand that the midi-superspace metric (inferred from the kinetic part of the quadratic (Hamiltonian) constraint) must define on the space of these states an induced metric whose components are given in terms of the same states, which is made possible through an appropriate re-normalization assumption, severely reduces the possible state vectors to three unique (up to general coordinate transformations) smooth scalar functionals. The quantum analogue of the Hamiltonian constraint produces a Wheeler-DeWitt equation based on this reduced manifold of states, which is completely integrated.Comment: Latex 2e source file, 25 pages, no figures, final version (accepted in CQG

Towards Canonical Quantum Gravity for Geometries Admitting Maximally Symmetric Two-dimensional Surfaces

The 3+1 (canonical) decomposition of all geometries admitting two-dimensional space-like surfaces is exhibited. A proposal consisting of a specific re-normalization {\bf Assumption} and an accompanying {\bf Requirement} is put forward, which enables the canonical quantization of these geometries. The resulting Wheeler-deWitt equation is based on a re-normalized manifold parameterized by three smooth scalar functionals. The entire space of solutions to this equation is analytically given, exploiting the freedom left by the imposition of the {\bf Requirement} and contained in the third functional.Comment: 27 pages, no figures, LaTex2e source fil

Der situationsorientierte Ansatz in der Lehrerausbildung. An der Kaderschule für die Krankenpflege wird ein neues Konzept für die Lehrerbildung erprobt

Aus den Entscheidungen, beim ersten 2-jährigen berufsbegleitenden Studiengang für Krankenpflegelehrer/Innen wirklich vermehrt praxisbezogen und teilnehmerorientiert zu arbeiten, entstand 1983 ein Konzept, dem ein situationsorientierter, fächerübergreifender Ansatz zugrunde liegt. Nach einer ausführlichen Eingangs-, Zwischen- und Schlussevaluation konnte vor einem Jahr der erste Kurs abgeschlossen und der zweite in leicht veränderter Form mit vielen positiven Erfahrungen gestartet werden. Trotz aller Begeisterung, die von Lehrern und Studierenden getragen wird, bleiben Bedenken, ob es die Grundlage für ein neues Curriculum in der Ausbildung von Krankenpflegelehrer/Innen bilden kann und soll. Ein inzwischen an der Kaderschule gestartetes Projekt soll die Ausbildungs- und Berufssituation von Krankenpflegelehrer/Innen analysieren und Vorschläge für ein neues Curriculum erarbeiten. Wir möchten in einem 1. Teil unsere Institution als eine schweizerische Erwachsenenbildungsstätte und unsere Lehrerausbildungen als Formen möglicher Voll- und Teilzeit-Berufsschullehrerausbildungen, und im 2. Teil den berufsbegleitenden Studiengang für Krankenpflegelehrer/Innen mit einem neuen Konzept vorstellen, das noch der weiteren Erprobung und Absicherung bedarf, aber v.a. der Diskussion mit anderen in der Lehrerausbildung erfahrenen Partnern

Ministers van Staat: onbekend en bemind; van podium naar de coulissen?

In the Netherlands, the title of Minister of State is granted to a select set of senior politicians and administrators, generally towards the end of their career. They are appointed by the monarch, acting on a proposal by the cabinet. In this capacity, they are then asked to perform certain activities or to carry out specific tasks. Both the content of the Minister of State role itself and the appointment process are quite vague. Nevertheless, this exclusive ministerial title has considerable social status. The aim of this research study is to provide insight into the title of Minister of State. The problem description is as follows: What development has taken place in the role of Minister of State; what has the legal and political significance of the Minister of State been; and what can be said about the present-day role of Minister of State, in the Netherlands and in various other countries? Chapter 2 investigates the development of the Minister of State from a historical perspective. In Chapter 3 the various appointments as Minister of State are studied for each monarch. Chapter 4 examines the present-day role of Minister of State. In Chapter 5 a comparative legal study is made of whether other countries also have a Minister of State and what parallels and differences can be seen in relation to this title in the Netherlands.Chapter 6 brings together the findings of the research study and presents the conclusions that were drawn. The Legitimacy and Effectiveness of Law & Governance in a World of Multilevel Jurisdiction

Time evolution for dynamic probabilistic tensors in hierarchical tucker decomposition form

Many real world applications of target tracking and state estimation are non-linear filtering problems and can therefore not be solved by closed-form analytical solutions. In the recent past, tensor based approaches have become increasingly popular due to very effective decomposition algorithms, which allow the representation of discretized, high-dimensional data in compressed form. In this paper, a solution of the prediction step for a Bayesian filter is proposed, where the probability density function (pdf) is approximated by a tensor in Hierarchical Tucker Decomposition. It is shown, that the computation of the predicted pdf is about five times faster than the previously proposed Canonical Polyadic Decomposition format