7,444 research outputs found
ContextVP: Fully Context-Aware Video Prediction
Video prediction models based on convolutional networks, recurrent networks,
and their combinations often result in blurry predictions. We identify an
important contributing factor for imprecise predictions that has not been
studied adequately in the literature: blind spots, i.e., lack of access to all
relevant past information for accurately predicting the future. To address this
issue, we introduce a fully context-aware architecture that captures the entire
available past context for each pixel using Parallel Multi-Dimensional LSTM
units and aggregates it using blending units. Our model outperforms a strong
baseline network of 20 recurrent convolutional layers and yields
state-of-the-art performance for next step prediction on three challenging
real-world video datasets: Human 3.6M, Caltech Pedestrian, and UCF-101.
Moreover, it does so with fewer parameters than several recently proposed
models, and does not rely on deep convolutional networks, multi-scale
architectures, separation of background and foreground modeling, motion flow
learning, or adversarial training. These results highlight that full awareness
of past context is of crucial importance for video prediction.Comment: 19 pages. ECCV 2018 oral presentation. Project webpage is at
https://wonmin-byeon.github.io/publication/2018-ecc
Theoretical analysis of total-pressure loss and airflow distribution for tubular turbojet combustors with constant annulus and liner cross-sectional areas
Compressible and incompressible flow calculations were made of the combustor total-pressure-loss coefficient and liner airflow distribution for tubular turbojet combustors having constant annulus and liner cross-sectional areas along the combustor axis. Information on static and total pressure distribution and liner air-jet entrance angles along the length of the combustor was obtained as an intermediate step in the calculations. The calculations include the effects of heat release, annulus wall friction, and variation in discharge coefficients of the liner wall openings along the combustor. The combustor total-pressure-loss coefficient and liner air-flow distribution are presented graphically in terms of the following dimensionless parameters: (1) combustor reference Mach number, (2) ratio of combustor-exit to inlet total temperature, (3) fraction of total airflow passing through the liner dome, (4) ratio of total open hole area in liner wall to total combustor cross-sectional area, and (5) ratio of liner cross-sectional area to total combustor cross-sectional area
Risk factors for persistent and new chronic opioid use in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty: a retrospective cohort study
Objectives: To determine chronic opioid use pre-THA (total hip arthroplasty) and post-THA, and risk factors for persistent or new chronic opioid use post-THA. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs health claims database. Participants: 9525 patients who had an elective unilateral THA between 1/01/2001 and 12/31/2012. Primary outcome measure: Chronic opioid use. Defined as 90 days of continuous opioid use or 120 days of non-continuous use. Results: Pre-THA, 6.2% (n=593) of patients were chronic users, while 5.2% (n=492) were post-THA. Among the 492 postoperative chronic users, 302 (61%) were chronic users pre-THA and post-THA and 190 (39%) became new chronic users after surgery. Risk factors for persistent chronic use were younger age (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99/1-year increment), back pain (OR=1.99, 95% CI 1.20 to 3.23), diabetes (OR=3.52, 95% CI 1.05 to 11.8), hypnotics use (OR=2.52, 95% CI 1.48 to 4.30) and higher pre-THA opioid exposure (compared with opioid use for 94–157 days, 157–224 days (OR=3.75, 95% CI 2.28 to 6.18), 225+ days (OR=5.18, 95% CI 2.92 to 9.19). Risk factors for new chronic opioid use post-THA were being a woman (OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.96), back pain (OR=3.90, 95% CI 2.85 to 5.33), depression (OR=1.70, 95% CI 1.20 to 2.41), gastric acid disease (OR=1.62, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.25), migraine (OR=5.11, 95% CI 1.08 to 24.18), liver disease (OR=4.33, 95% CI 1.08 to 17.35), weight loss (OR=2.60, 95% CI 1.06 to 6.39), dementia (OR=2.19, 95% CI 1.04 to 4.61), hyperlipidaemia (OR=1.38, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.91), hypnotics (OR=1.56, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.16) and antineuropathic pain medication use (OR=3.11, 95% CI 2.05 to 4.72). Conclusions: Patients undergoing THA are exposed to opioids for long periods of time, putting them at high risk of harm related to opioid use. We identified groups at risk of chronic opioid use, including younger patients and women, as well as modifiable risk factors of chronic opioid use, including level of opioid exposure presurgery and hypnotic use. These indicators of chronic opioid use can be used by clinicians to target patient groups for suitable pain management interventions.Maria C S Inacio, Craig Hansen, Nicole L Pratt, Stephen E Graves, Elizabeth E Roughea
Effect of periodic parametric excitation on an ensemble of force-coupled self-oscillators
We report the synchronization behavior in a one-dimensional chain of
identical limit cycle oscillators coupled to a mass-spring load via a force
relation. We consider the effect of periodic parametric modulation on the final
synchronization states of the system. Two types of external parametric
excitations are investigated numerically: periodic modulation of the stiffness
of the inertial oscillator and periodic excitation of the frequency of the
self-oscillatory element. We show that the synchronization scenarios are ruled
not only by the choice of parameters of the excitation force but depend on the
initial collective state in the ensemble. We give detailed analysis of
entrainment behavior for initially homogeneous and inhomogeneous states. Among
other results, we describe a regime of partial synchronization. This regime is
characterized by the frequency of collective oscillation being entrained to the
stimulation frequency but different from the average individual oscillators
frequency.Comment: Comments and suggestions are welcom
Distributions of eight meteorological variables at Cape Kennedy, Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Extreme values, median values, and nine percentile values are tabulated for eight meteorological variables at Cape Kennedy, Florida and at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The variables are temperature, relative humidity, station pressure, water vapor pressure, water vapor mixing ratio, density, and enthalpy. For each month eight hours are tabulated, namely, 0100, 0400, 0700, 1000, 1300, 1600, 1900, and 2200 local time. These statistics are intended for general use for the space shuttle design trade-off analysis and are not to be used for specific design values
Ages and Abundances of Red Sequence Galaxies as a Function of LINER Emission Line Strength
Although the spectrum of a prototypical early-type galaxy is assumed to lack
emission lines, a substantial fraction (likely as high as 30%) of nearby red
sequence galaxy spectra contain emission lines with line ratios characteristic
of low ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). We use spectra of
~6000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in a narrow redshift
slice (0.06 < z < 0.08) to compare the stellar populations of red sequence
galaxies with and without LINER-like emission. The spectra are binned by
internal velocity dispersion and by emission properties to produce high S/N
stacked spectra. The recent stellar population models of R. Schiavon (2007)
make it possible to measure ages, [Fe/H], and individual elemental abundance
ratios [Mg/Fe], [C/Fe], [N/Fe], and [Ca/Fe] for each of the stacked spectra. We
find that red sequence galaxies with strong LINER-like emission are
systematically 2-3.5 Gyr (10-40%) younger than their emission-free counterparts
at the same velocity dispersion. This suggests a connection between the
mechanism powering the emission (whether AGN, post-AGB stars, shocks, or
cooling flows) and more recent star formation in the galaxy. We find that mean
stellar age and [Fe/H] increase with velocity dispersion for all galaxies.
Elemental abundance [Mg/Fe] increases modestly with velocity dispersion in
agreement with previous results, and [C/Fe] and [N/Fe] increase more strongly
with velocity dispersion than does [Mg/Fe]. [Ca/Fe] appears to be roughly solar
for all galaxies. At fixed velocity dispersion, galaxies with fainter r-band
luminosities have lower [Fe/H] and older ages but similar abundance ratios
compared to brighter galaxies.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ as of 16 July
2007; acceptance status updated, paper unchange
What is a hospital bed day worth? A contingent valuation study of hospital Chief Executive Officers
BACKGROUND: Decreasing hospital length of stay, and so freeing up hospital beds, represents an important cost saving which is often used in economic evaluations. The savings need to be accurately quantified in order to make optimal health care resource allocation decisions. Traditionally the accounting cost of a bed is used. We argue instead that the economic cost of a bed day is the better value for making resource decisions, and we describe our valuation method and estimations for costing this important resource. METHODS: We performed a contingent valuation using 37 Australian Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs) willingness to pay (WTP) to release bed days in their hospitals, both generally and using specific cases. We provide a succinct thematic analysis from qualitative interviews post survey completion, which provide insight into the decision making process. RESULTS: On average CEOs are willing to pay a marginal rate of 436 for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed day, with estimates of uncertainty being greater for ICU beds. These estimates are significantly lower (four times for ward beds and seven times for ICU beds) than the traditional accounting costs often used. Key themes to emerge from the interviews include the importance of national funding and targets, and their associated incentive structures, as well as the aversion to discuss bed days as an economic resource. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance for valuing bed days as an economic resource to inform cost effectiveness models and thus improve hospital decision making and resource allocation. Significantly under or over valuing the resource is very likely to result in sub-optimal decision making. We discuss the importance of recognising the opportunity costs of this resource and highlight areas for future research. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2079-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Automated Morphological Classification of SDSS Red Sequence Galaxies
(abridged) In the last decade, the advent of enormous galaxy surveys has
motivated the development of automated morphological classification schemes to
deal with large data volumes. Existing automated schemes can successfully
distinguish between early and late type galaxies and identify merger
candidates, but are inadequate for studying detailed morphologies of red
sequence galaxies. To fill this need, we present a new automated classification
scheme that focuses on making finer distinctions between early types roughly
corresponding to Hubble types E, S0, and Sa. We visually classify a sample of
984 non-starforming SDSS galaxies with apparent sizes >14". We then develop an
automated method to closely reproduce the visual classifications, which both
provides a check on the visual results and makes it possible to extend
morphological analysis to much larger samples. We visually classify the
galaxies into three bulge classes (BC) by the shape of the light profile in the
outer regions: discs have sharp edges and bulges do not, while some galaxies
are intermediate. We separately identify galaxies with features: spiral arms,
bars, clumps, rings, and dust. We find general agreement between BC and the
bulge fraction B/T measured by the galaxy modeling package GIM2D, but many
visual discs have B/T>0.5. Three additional automated parameters -- smoothness,
axis ratio, and concentration -- can identify many of these high-B/T discs to
yield automated classifications that agree ~70% with the visual classifications
(>90% within one BC). Both methods are used to study the bulge vs. disc
frequency as a function of four measures of galaxy 'size': luminosity, stellar
mass, velocity dispersion, and radius. All size indicators show a fall in disc
fraction and a rise in bulge fraction among larger galaxies.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figures, MNRAS accepte
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