On Using Gait in Forensic Biometrics

Given the continuing advances in gait biometrics, it appears prudent to investigate the translation of these techniques for forensic use. We address the question as to the confidence that might be given between any two such measurements. We use the locations of ankle, knee and hip to derive a measure of the match between walking subjects in image sequences. The Instantaneous Posture Match algorithm, using Harr templates, kinematics and anthropomorphic knowledge is used to determine their location. This is demonstrated using real CCTV recorded at Gatwick Airport, laboratory images from the multi-view CASIA-B dataset and an example of real scene of crime video. To access the measurement confidence we study the mean intra- and inter-match scores as a function of database size. These measures converge to constant and separate values, indicating that the match measure derived from individual comparisons is considerably smaller than the average match measure from a population

Recasting Economics as if the Climate and Global Ecology Really Mattered

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Effects of Hospital Policy and Procedure on CAUTI Occurrence

Abstract Background: Clients that require indwelling catheterization often get bacterial infection causing catheter-associated urinary tract infections. These infections lead to longer hospital admissions and poorer outcomes for clients. Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of the use of suggested hygiene methods from hospital policy/guidelines in preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Methods: Using the Kennesaw State Library search system, 10 articles were found to support that the use of consistent evidence based practices can prevent urinary tract infection occurrence. Results: Our articles identified appropriate and inappropriate indications for catheterization and effective hygiene techniques used by nurses in the prevention of CAUTIs. These methods have been used for decades, and still result in CAUTI occurrence. The use of a new histotripsy technique was found to drastically reduce the bacterial biofilm within indwelling catheters. Conclusion: The use of histotripsy is a promising prevention strategy for catheter-associated urinary tract infections, but requires further research. Nurses and healthcare staff need to be better educated on the appropriate indications for catheterization and when to advocate for removal

The UNO Aviation Monograph Series: Aviation Security: An Annotated Bibliography of Responses to the Gore Commission

This monograph is a companion to UNOAI Monograph 96-2, "The Image of Airport Security: An Annotated Bibliography," compiled in June 1996. The White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, headed by Vice President Al Gore, was formed as a result of the TWA Flight 800 crash in August 1996. The Commission's final report included 31 recommendations addressed toward aviation security. The recommendations were cause for security issues to be revisited in the media and by the aviation industry. These developments necessitated the need for an updated bibliography to review the resulting literature. Many of the articles were written in response to the recommendations made by the Gore Commission. "Aviation Security: An Annotated Bibliography of Responses to the Gore Commission" is the result of this need

Mitochondrial DNA Deletions and ROS Scavengers

poster abstractThe purpose of this experiment is to observe how deletion of genes that are involved in the electron transport chain cause mitochondrial damage and an increase in reactive oxygen species and if antioxidants could minimize the effects of oxidation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is ideal for this study as it is used for research with chronological aging. Chronological aging is the survival during the stationary phase after nutrients and space becomes limited and has been used to study neurons in the central nervous system, oxidative stress, and changes in morphology. Deletions of mitochondrial DNA and the increase of reactive oxygen species over time has been linked to a decline in the production of ROS scavengers. ROS scavengers serve as a defense against the oxidation of various cells by neutralizing the reactive oxygen species. These include antioxidants such as Vitamin-C, Vitamin-E, and flavonoids. For this experiment, genes from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae will be removed using gene knockout, which will inactivate the genes of interest. The genes of interest are Cox 1, 2, 3, 5a, 12, 23 and SOD 1 (Superoxide Dismutase) and 2, OPA 1, and Atg32. These genes are important in the electron transport chain, fission, fusion, and mitophagy. The mutated yeast will then be placed into a ROS scavenger media containing Vitamin-C and incubated overnight. Assays that will be used include Rhodamine 123 which determines membrane potential and proton flow from the inner membrane to the matrix, Janus Green which reveals alterations in the electron transport chain and amount of oxygen available, Cytochrome c Oxidase assay which can determine cytochrome c activity and outer membrane stress, and dihydrorhodamine to indicate ROS levels. Using fluorescent dyes such as Rhodamine 123 will allow the cells to be observe through a microscope and observe the amount of damage and fission that has been produced by the mutations and the effects of the antioxidants on the destruction of the mutated cells

Experimental micromechanical characterisation of wood cell walls

International audienceThe properties of wood and wood based materials are strongly dependent on the properties of its fibres; i.e. the cell wall properties. The ability to characterize these in order to increase our understanding of structure-property relationships is thus highly important. This article gives a brief overview of the state of the art in experimental techniques to characterize the mechanical properties of wood at both the level of the single cell and that of the cell-wall. Challenges, opportunities, drawbacks and limitations of single fibre tensile tests and nanoindentation are discussed with respect to the wood material properties

Effect of Oral Rinsing with Pre-Workout on Cycling Time Trial Performance

There is evidence that oral rinsing with a carbohydrate solution can have similar effects on aerobic performance compared to consuming the beverage, but less is known of sugar-free and pre-workout beverages. PURPOSE: to examine the effects of oral rinsing with a pre-workout supplement on aerobic performance. METHODS: After recording age (32.4±12.1 yrs), height (173.2±11.2 cm), and weight (76.8±14.8 kg), eleven participants rinsed 10 sec with either 2.5 oz. of carbohydrate (CHO), sugar-free pre-workout (PWO), or a sugar-free placebo (CN) beverage. Participants were interfaced with a metabolic analyzer and resting measurements were collected after two minutes. Participants then cycled for 5 minutes on a stationary bike as a warm up, with load being adjusted to reach 70% of max heart rate. Participants then rode for 15 minutes at this intensity after which they received a five minute break followed by another 10 second oral rinse of the same solution. This was followed by a time trial, which consisted of 15 minutes on the bike at maximum intensity. This was a counter-balanced, repeated-measures design where participants performed the trials no fewer than two days and no more than seven days apart. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to determine differences in performances and physiological responses between trials, with Alpha set at .05 for all tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in distance during the time trial between CHO (7.7±1.2 km), PWO (7.6±1.4 km), and CN (7.4±1.2), F(2,9)=0.95, P=.419. There was also no significant difference in VO2 during the time trial between CHO (2.02±0.58 L/min), PWO (1.94±0.58 L/min), and CN (2.29±1.29 L/min), F(2,9) = 1.0, P=.388, as well as heart rate between CHO (155.6±18.2 b/min), PWO (152.6±19.8 b/min), and CN (150.3±19.1 b/min), F(2,9)=1.5, P=.260. Finally, there was no significant difference in RPE between CHO (14.0±2.6), PWO (13.6±2.3), and CN (13.6±2.1), F(2,9)=.23, P=.797. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that oral rinsing does not enhance performance on a 15-min cycling time trial. For a short, acute bout of intense aerobic exercise, oral rinsing with a CHO or PWO drink will not provide any benefit

Bound-free pair production from nuclear collisions and the steady-state quench limit of the main dipole magnets of the CERN Large Hadron Collider

During its Run 2 (2015-2018), the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) operated at almost twice higher energy, and provided Pb-Pb collisions with an order of magnitude higher luminosity, than in the previous Run 1. In consequence, the power of the secondary beams emitted from the interaction points by the bound-free pair production (BFPP) process increased by a factor ~20, while the propensity of the bending magnets to quench increased with the higher magnetic field. This beam power is about 35 times greater than that contained in the luminosity debris from hadronic interactions and is focused on specific locations that fall naturally inside superconducting magnets. The risk of quenching these magnets has long been recognized as severe and there are operational limitations due to the dynamic heat load that must be evacuated by the cryogenic system. High-luminosity operation was nevertheless possible thanks to orbit bumps that were introduced in the dispersion suppressors around the ATLAS and CMS experiments to prevent quenches by displacing and spreading out these beam losses. Further, in 2015, the BFPP beams were manipulated to induce a controlled quench, thus providing the first direct measurement of the steady-state quench level of an LHC dipole magnet. The same experiment demonstrated the need for new collimators that are being installed around the ALICE experiment to intercept the secondary beams in the future. This paper discusses the experience with BFPP at luminosities very close to the future High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) target, gives results on the risk reduction by orbit bumps and presents a detailed analysis of the controlled quench experiment.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure

Significance of Fundamental Metrology of 3D-Printed Parts for Engineering Design: Dimensional Accuracy

This paper discusses some basic metrology considerations when 3D printing. The importance of ensuring correct measurements is highlighted especially for practical applications.  The last part of the paper presents sample dimensional measurements of 3D-printed parts with varying sizes, infill density and layer thickness.  Different cube sizes of 10 mm3, 15 mm3, and 20 mm3 has been produced using a commercially-available 3D printer. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) has been used for the experiments. Important observations and insights are presented