Online Structured Sparsity-based Moving Object Detection from Satellite Videos

Inspired by the recent developments in computer vision, low-rank and structured sparse matrix decomposition can be potentially be used for extract moving objects in satellite videos. This set of approaches seeks for rank minimization on the background that typically requires batch-based optimization over a sequence of frames, which causes delays in processing and limits their applications. To remedy this delay, we propose an Online Low-rank and Structured Sparse Decomposition (O-LSD). O-LSD reformulates the batch-based low-rank matrix decomposition with the structured sparse penalty to its equivalent frame-wise separable counterpart, which then defines a stochastic optimization problem for online subspace basis estimation. In order to promote online processing, O-LSD conducts the foreground and background separation and the subspace basis update alternatingly for every frame in a video. We also show the convergence of O-LSD theoretically. Experimental results on two satellite videos demonstrate the performance of O-LSD in term of accuracy and time consumption is comparable with the batch-based approaches with significantly reduced delay in processing

Hybrid suspension/solution precursor plasma spraying of a complex Ba(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3 perovskite: Effects of processing parameters and precursor chemistry on phase formation and decomposition

Abstract: Ba(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3 (BMT) has a high melting point and is envisioned as a thermal barrier coating material. In this study, a hybrid suspension/solution precursor plasma spray process with a radio frequency thermal plasma torch is designed to deposit BMT nanostructured coatings. Six combinations of chemical reagents are investigated as coating precursors: one BMT powder suspension and five Ta2O5 suspensions in nitrate- or acetate-based solutions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to evaluate the element evaporation during plasma spraying, while a thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis is applied to investigate the BMT formation. Parameters such as precursor chemistry, plasma power, spraying distance and substrate preheating are studied with regard to the coating phase structure. Twice the Mg stoichiometric amount with a power of 50 kW shows the best results when using nanocrystallized Ta2O5 as a tantalum precursor. When choosing nitrates as Ba and Mg precursors, crystallized BMT is obtained at lower plasma power (45 kW) when compared to acetates (50 kW). BaTa2O6, Ba3Ta5O15, Ba4Ta2O9, Mg4Ta2O9 are the main secondary phases observed during the BMT coatings deposition. Because of the complicated acetate decomposition process, the coating deposition rate from nitrate precursors is 1.56 times higher than that from acetate precursors

Addressing climate change with behavioral science:A global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions' effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior-several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people's initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors.</p

Addressing climate change with behavioral science: a global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions’ effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior—several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people’s initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors

Addressing climate change with behavioral science:A global intervention tournament in 63 countries

Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions' effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior-several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people's initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors.</p

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

Impact of cardiac arrest centers on the survival of patients with nontraumatic out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest : a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Background The role of cardiac arrest centers (CACs) in out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest care systems is continuously evolving. Interpretation of existing literature is limited by heterogeneity in CAC characteristics and types of patients transported to CACs. This study assesses the impact of CACs on survival in out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest according to varying definitions of CAC and prespecified subgroups. Methods and Results Electronic databases were searched from inception to March 9, 2021 for relevant studies. Centers were considered CACs if self‐declared by study authors and capable of relevant interventions. Main outcomes were survival and neurologically favorable survival at hospital discharge or 30 days. Meta‐analyses were performed for adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and crude odds ratios. Thirty‐six studies were analyzed. Survival with favorable neurological outcome significantly improved with treatment at CACs (aOR, 1.85 [95% CI, 1.52–2.26]), even when including high‐volume centers (aOR, 1.50 [95% CI, 1.18–1.91]) or including improved‐care centers (aOR, 2.13 [95% CI, 1.75–2.59]) as CACs. Survival significantly increased with treatment at CACs (aOR, 1.92 [95% CI, 1.59–2.32]), even when including high‐volume centers (aOR, 1.74 [95% CI, 1.38–2.18]) or when including improved‐care centers (aOR, 1.97 [95% CI, 1.71–2.26]) as CACs. The treatment effect was more pronounced among patients with shockable rhythm ( P =0.006) and without prehospital return of spontaneous circulation ( P =0.005). Conclusions were robust to sensitivity analyses, with no publication bias detected. Conclusions Care at CACs was associated with improved survival and neurological outcomes for patients with nontraumatic out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest regardless of varying CAC definitions. Patients with shockable rhythms and those without prehospital return of spontaneous circulation benefited more from CACs. Evidence for bypassing hospitals or interhospital transfer remains inconclusive