17,254 research outputs found
Anatomically Constrained Video-CT Registration via the V-IMLOP Algorithm
Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is a surgical procedure used to
treat acute cases of sinusitis and other sinus diseases. FESS is fast becoming
the preferred choice of treatment due to its minimally invasive nature.
However, due to the limited field of view of the endoscope, surgeons rely on
navigation systems to guide them within the nasal cavity. State of the art
navigation systems report registration accuracy of over 1mm, which is large
compared to the size of the nasal airways. We present an anatomically
constrained video-CT registration algorithm that incorporates multiple video
features. Our algorithm is robust in the presence of outliers. We also test our
algorithm on simulated and in-vivo data, and test its accuracy against
degrading initializations.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, MICCA
Patterns in high-frequency FX data: Discovery of 12 empirical scaling laws
We have discovered 12 independent new empirical scaling laws in foreign
exchange data-series that hold for close to three orders of magnitude and
across 13 currency exchange rates. Our statistical analysis crucially depends
on an event-based approach that measures the relationship between different
types of events. The scaling laws give an accurate estimation of the length of
the price-curve coastline, which turns out to be surprisingly long. The new
laws substantially extend the catalogue of stylised facts and sharply constrain
the space of possible theoretical explanations of the market mechanisms.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, 23 tables,2nd version (text made more concise
and readable, algorithm pseudocode, results unchanged), 5-year datasets
(USD-JPY, EUR-USD) provided at http://www.olsen.ch/more/datasets
Modelling testing and response strategies for COVID-19 outbreaks in remote Australian Aboriginal communities
Background: Remote Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have potential to be severely impacted by COVID-19, with multiple factors predisposing to increased transmission and disease severity. Our modelling aims to inform optimal public health responses. Methods: An individual-based simulation model represented SARS-CoV2 transmission in communities ranging from 100 to 3500 people, comprised of large, interconnected households. A range of strategies for case finding, quarantining of contacts, testing, and lockdown were examined, following the silent introduction of a case. Results: Multiple secondary infections are likely present by the time the first case is identified. Quarantine of close contacts, defined by extended household membership, can reduce peak infection prevalence from 60 to 70% to around 10%, but subsequent waves may occur when community mixing resumes. Exit testing significantly reduces ongoing transmission. Concurrent lockdown of non-quarantined households for 14 days is highly effective for epidemic control and reduces overall testing requirements; peak prevalence of the initial outbreak can be constrained to less than 5%, and the final community attack rate to less than 10% in modelled scenarios. Lockdown also mitigates the effect of a delay in the initial response. Compliance with lockdown must be at least 80–90%, however, or epidemic control will be lost. Conclusions: A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak will spread rapidly in remote communities. Prompt case detection with quarantining of extended-household contacts and a 14 day lockdown for all other residents, combined with exit testing for all, is the most effective strategy for rapid containment. Compliance is crucial, underscoring the need for community supported, culturally sensitive responses
Who are the new COVID-19 cohort of benefit claimants? : Welfare at a (Social) Distance Rapid Report #2
Microcavity controlled coupling of excitonic qubits
Controlled non-local energy and coherence transfer enables light harvesting
in photosynthesis and non-local logical operations in quantum computing. The
most relevant mechanism of coherent coupling of distant qubits is coupling via
the electromagnetic field. Here, we demonstrate the controlled coherent
coupling of spatially separated excitonic qubits via the photon mode of a solid
state microresonator. This is revealed by two-dimensional spectroscopy of the
sample's coherent response, a sensitive and selective probe of the coherent
coupling. The experimental results are quantitatively described by a rigorous
theory of the cavity mediated coupling within a cluster of quantum dots
excitons. Having demonstrated this mechanism, it can be used in extended
coupling channels - sculptured, for instance, in photonic crystal cavities - to
enable a long-range, non-local wiring up of individual emitters in solids
Brucellosis remains a neglected disease inthe developing world: a call forinterdisciplinary action
Brucellosis places significant burdens on the human healthcare system and limits the economic growth of individuals, communities, and nations where such development is especially important to diminish the prevalence of poverty. The implementation of public policy focused on mitigating the socioeconomic effects of brucellosis in human and animal populations is desperately needed. When developing a plan to mitigate the associated consequences, it is vital to consider both the abstract and quantifiable effects. This requires an interdisciplinary and collaborative, or One Health, approach that consists of public education, the development of an infrastructure for disease surveillance and reporting in both veterinary and medical fields, and campaigns for control in livestock and wildlife species
Mean first-passage times of non-Markovian random walkers in confinement
The first-passage time (FPT), defined as the time a random walker takes to
reach a target point in a confining domain, is a key quantity in the theory of
stochastic processes. Its importance comes from its crucial role to quantify
the efficiency of processes as varied as diffusion-limited reactions, target
search processes or spreading of diseases. Most methods to determine the FPT
properties in confined domains have been limited to Markovian (memoryless)
processes. However, as soon as the random walker interacts with its
environment, memory effects can not be neglected. Examples of non Markovian
dynamics include single-file diffusion in narrow channels or the motion of a
tracer particle either attached to a polymeric chain or diffusing in simple or
complex fluids such as nematics \cite{turiv2013effect}, dense soft colloids or
viscoelastic solution. Here, we introduce an analytical approach to calculate,
in the limit of a large confining volume, the mean FPT of a Gaussian
non-Markovian random walker to a target point. The non-Markovian features of
the dynamics are encompassed by determining the statistical properties of the
trajectory of the random walker in the future of the first-passage event, which
are shown to govern the FPT kinetics.This analysis is applicable to a broad
range of stochastic processes, possibly correlated at long-times. Our
theoretical predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations for several
examples of non-Markovian processes including the emblematic case of the
Fractional Brownian Motion in one or higher dimensions. These results show, on
the basis of Gaussian processes, the importance of memory effects in
first-passage statistics of non-Markovian random walkers in confinement.Comment: Submitted version. Supplementary Information can be found on the
Nature website :
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7607/full/nature18272.htm
Poor survival outcomes in HER2 positive breast cancer patients with low grade, node negative tumours
We present a retrospective analysis on a cohort of low-grade, node-negative patients showing that human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status significantly affects the survival in this otherwise very good prognostic group. Our results provide support for the use of adjuvant trastuzumab in patients who are typically classified as having very good prognosis, not routinely offered standard chemotherapy, and who as such do not fit current UK prescribing guidelines for trastuzumab
Estimating Entropy of Liquids from Atom-Atom Radial Distribution Functions: Silica, Beryllium Fluoride and Water
Molecular dynamics simulations of water, liquid beryllium fluoride and silica
melt are used to study the accuracy with which the entropy of ionic and
molecular liquids can be estimated from atom-atom radial distribution function
data. All three systems are known to display similar liquid-state thermodynamic
and kinetic anomalies due to a region of anomalous excess entropy behaviour
where entropy rises on isothermal compression. The pair correlation entropy is
demonstrated to be sufficiently accurate that the density-temperature regime of
anomalous behaviour as well as the strength of the entropy anomaly can be
predicted reliably for both ionic melts as well as different rigid-body pair
potentials for water. Errors in the total thermodynamic entropy for ionic melts
due to the pair correlation approximation are of the order of 10% or less for
most state points but can be significantly larger in the anomalous regime at
very low temperatures. In the case of water, as expected given the rigid-body
constraints for a molecular liquids, the pair correlation approximation causes
significantly larger errors, between 20 and 30%, for most state points.
Comparison of the excess entropy, Se, of ionic melts with the pair correlation
entropy, S2, shows that the temperature dependence of Se is well described by T
??2=5 scaling across both the normal and anomalous regimes, unlike in the case
of S2. As a function of density, the Se(rho) curves shows only a single maximum
while the S2(rho) curves show both a maximum and a minimum. These differences
in the behaviour of S2 and Se are due to the fact that the residual
multiparticle entropy, delta(S) = Se - S2, shows a strong negative correlation
with tetrahedral order in the anomalous regime.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figure
Conditional control of the quantum states of remote atomic memories for quantum networking
Quantum networks hold the promise for revolutionary advances in information
processing with quantum resources distributed over remote locations via
quantum-repeater architectures. Quantum networks are composed of nodes for
storing and processing quantum states, and of channels for transmitting states
between them. The scalability of such networks relies critically on the ability
to perform conditional operations on states stored in separated quantum
memories. Here we report the first implementation of such conditional control
of two atomic memories, located in distinct apparatuses, which results in a
28-fold increase of the probability of simultaneously obtaining a pair of
single photons, relative to the case without conditional control. As a first
application, we demonstrate a high degree of indistinguishability for remotely
generated single photons by the observation of destructive interference of
their wavepackets. Our results demonstrate experimentally a basic principle for
enabling scalable quantum networks, with applications as well to linear optics
quantum computation.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures; Minor corrections. References updated. Published
at Nature Physics 2, Advanced Online Publication of 10/29 (2006
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