1,231 research outputs found
Stratifying quotient stacks and moduli stacks
Recent results in geometric invariant theory (GIT) for non-reductive linear
algebraic group actions allow us to stratify quotient stacks of the form [X/H],
where X is a projective scheme and H is a linear algebraic group with
internally graded unipotent radical acting linearly on X, in such a way that
each stratum [S/H] has a geometric quotient S/H. This leads to stratifications
of moduli stacks (for example, sheaves over a projective scheme) such that each
stratum has a coarse moduli space.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to the Proceedings of the Abel Symposium 201
Online Human Activity Recognition using Low-Power Wearable Devices
Human activity recognition~(HAR) has attracted significant research interest
due to its applications in health monitoring and patient rehabilitation. Recent
research on HAR focuses on using smartphones due to their widespread use.
However, this leads to inconvenient use, limited choice of sensors and
inefficient use of resources, since smartphones are not designed for HAR. This
paper presents the first HAR framework that can perform both online training
and inference. The proposed framework starts with a novel technique that
generates features using the fast Fourier and discrete wavelet transforms of a
textile-based stretch sensor and accelerometer. Using these features, we design
an artificial neural network classifier which is trained online using the
policy gradient algorithm. Experiments on a low power IoT device (TI-CC2650
MCU) with nine users show 97.7% accuracy in identifying six activities and
their transitions with less than 12.5 mW power consumption.Comment: This is in proceedings of ICCAD 2018. The datasets are available at
https://github.com/gmbhat/human-activity-recognitio
Staying in touch in the digital era: New social work practice
The findings of a small-scale empirical study are drawn upon to explore the concept of social presence and the way in which it can contribute to meeting service users’ expectations of relationship-based social work. Findings from the study highlight the role of mobile communication technologies in establishing social presence with service users and an argument is made for the proactive use of mobile devices as a component of direct practice. However, such emerging digital social work practices will require practitioners, and social work organisations, to respond positively to new ethical and organisational challenges
Protocol for studying cough frequency in people with pulmonary tuberculosis.
INTRODUCTION: Cough is a key symptom of tuberculosis (TB) as well as the main cause of transmission. However, a recent literature review found that cough frequency (number of coughs per hour) in patients with TB has only been studied once, in 1969. The main aim of this study is to describe cough frequency patterns before and after the start of TB treatment and to determine baseline factors that affect cough frequency in these patients. Secondarily, we will evaluate the correlation between cough frequency and TB microbiological resolution. METHODS: This study will select participants with culture confirmed TB from 2 tertiary hospitals in Lima, Peru. We estimated that a sample size of 107 patients was sufficient to detect clinically significant changes in cough frequency. Participants will initially be evaluated through questionnaires, radiology, microscopic observation drug susceptibility broth TB-culture, auramine smear microscopy and cough recordings. This cohort will be followed for the initial 60 days of anti-TB treatment, and throughout the study several microbiological samples as well as 24 h recordings will be collected. We will describe the variability of cough episodes and determine its association with baseline laboratory parameters of pulmonary TB. In addition, we will analyse the reduction of cough frequency in predicting TB cure, adjusted for potential confounders. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the ethics committees at each participating hospital in Lima, Peru, Asociación Benéfica PRISMA in Lima, Peru, the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. We aim to publish and disseminate our findings in peer-reviewed journals. We also expect to create and maintain an online repository for TB cough sounds as well as the statistical analysis employed
Where do we diagnose HIV infection? Monitoring new diagnoses made in nontraditional settings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were to describe 10-year trends in HIV diagnosis setting and to explore predictors of being diagnosed outside a sexual health clinic (SHC). METHODS: Analyses of national HIV surveillance data were restricted to adults (aged ≥ 15 years) diagnosed in 2005-2014 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Logistic regression identified factors associated with diagnosis outside an SHC (2011-2014). RESULTS: Between 2005 and 2014, 63 599 adults were newly diagnosed with HIV infection; 83% had a diagnosis setting reported. Most people were diagnosed in SHCs (69%) followed by: medical admissions/accident and emergency (A&E; 8.6%), general practice (6.4%), antenatal services (5.5%), out-patient services (3.6%), infectious disease units (2.7%) and other settings (4.0%). The proportion of people diagnosed outside SHCs increased from 2005 to 2014, overall (from 27% to 32%, respectively) and among men who have sex with men (MSM) (from 14% to 21%) and black African men (from 25% to 37%) and women (from 39% to 52%) (all trend P < 0.001). Median CD4 increased across all settings, but was highest in SHCs (384 cells/μL) and lowest in medical admissions/A&E (94 cells/μL). Predictors of being diagnosed outside SHCs included: acquiring HIV through heterosexual contact [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.99; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.81-2.18] or injecting drug use (aOR: 3.28; 95% CI: 2.56-4.19; reference: MSM), being diagnosed late (< 350 cells/μL) (aOR: 2.55; 95% CI: 2.36-2.74; reference: diagnosed promptly) and being of older age at diagnosis (35-49 years: aOR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.39-1.83; ≥ 50 years: aOR: 2.48; 95% CI: 2.13-2.88; reference: 15-24 years). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of HIV diagnoses made outside SHCs has increased over the past decade in line with evolving HIV testing guidelines. However, the rate of late diagnosis remains high, indicating that further expansion of testing is necessary, as many people may have had missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis
The Effectiveness and Feasibility of Using Ochre as a Soil Amendment to Sequester Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus in Runoff
Incidental losses of dissolved reactive phosphorus
(DRP) to a surface waterbody originate from
direct losses during land application of fertilizer, or
where a rainfall event occurs immediately thereafter.
Another source is the soil. One way of immobilising
DRP in runoff before discharge to a surface waterbody,
is to amend soil within the edge of field area with a
high phosphorus (P) sequestration material. One such
amendment is iron ochre, a by-product of acid mine
drainage. Batch experiments utilising two grassland
soils at two depths (topsoil and sub-soil), six ochre
amendment rates (0, 0.15, 1.5, 7.5, 15 and 30 g kg−1
mass per dry weight of soil) and five P concentrations
(0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg L−1) were carried out. A
proportional equation, which incorporated P sources
and losses, was developed and used to form a
statistical model. Back calculation identified optimal
rates of ochre amendment to soil to ameliorate a
specific DRP concentration in runoff. Ochre amendment
of soils (with no further P inputs) was effective
at decreasing DRP concentrations to acceptable
levels. A rate of 30 g ochre kg−1 soil was needed to
decrease DRP concentrations to acceptable levels for
P inputs of ≤10 mg L−1, which represents the vast
majority of cases in grassland runoff experiments.
However, although very quick and sustained metal
release above environmental limits occurred, which
makes it unfeasible for use as a soil amendment to
control P release to a waterbody, the methodology
developed within this paper may be used to test the
effectiveness and feasibility of other amendments
Distributed situation awareness in dynamic systems: Theoretical development and application of an ergonomics methodology
The purpose of this paper is to propose foundations for a theory of situation awareness based on the analysis of interactions between agents (i.e., both human and non-human) in subsystems. This approach may help promote a better understanding of technology-mediated interaction in systems, as well as helping in the formulation of hypotheses and predictions concerning distributed situation awareness. It is proposed that agents within a system each hold their own situation awareness which may be very different from (although compatible with) other agents. It is argued that we should not always hope for, or indeed want, sharing of this awareness, as different system agents have different purposes. This view marks situation awareness as a
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dynamic and collaborative process that binds agents together on tasks on a moment-by-moment basis. Implications of this viewpoint for development of a new theory of, and accompanying methodology for, distributed situation awareness are offered
Morse theory of the moment map for representations of quivers
The results of this paper concern the Morse theory of the norm-square of the
moment map on the space of representations of a quiver. We show that the
gradient flow of this function converges, and that the Morse stratification
induced by the gradient flow co-incides with the Harder-Narasimhan
stratification from algebraic geometry. Moreover, the limit of the gradient
flow is isomorphic to the graded object of the
Harder-Narasimhan-Jordan-H\"older filtration associated to the initial
conditions for the flow. With a view towards applications to Nakajima quiver
varieties we construct explicit local co-ordinates around the Morse strata and
(under a technical hypothesis on the stability parameter) describe the negative
normal space to the critical sets. Finally, we observe that the usual Kirwan
surjectivity theorems in rational cohomology and integral K-theory carry over
to this non-compact setting, and that these theorems generalize to certain
equivariant contexts.Comment: 48 pages, small revisions from previous version based on referee's
comments. To appear in Geometriae Dedicat
Equivariant volumes of non-compact quotients and instanton counting
Motivated by Nekrasov's instanton counting, we discuss a method for
calculating equivariant volumes of non-compact quotients in symplectic and
hyper-K\"ahler geometry by means of the Jeffrey-Kirwan residue-formula of
non-abelian localization. In order to overcome the non-compactness, we use
varying symplectic cuts to reduce the problem to a compact setting, and study
what happens in the limit that recovers the original problem. We implement this
method for the ADHM construction of the moduli spaces of framed Yang-Mills
instantons on and rederive the formulas for the equivariant volumes
obtained earlier by Nekrasov-Shadchin, expressing these volumes as iterated
residues of a single rational function.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures; minor typos corrected, to appear in Comm. Math.
Phy
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