Flexible interactive retrieval SysTem 3.0 for visual lifelog exploration at LSC 2022

Building a retrieval system with lifelogging data is more complicated than with ordinary data due to the redundancies, blurriness, massive amount of data, various sources of information accompanying lifelogging data, and especially the ad-hoc nature of queries. The Lifelog Search Challenge (LSC) is a benchmarking challenge that encourages researchers and developers to push the boundaries in lifelog retrieval. For LSC'22, we develop FIRST 3.0, a novel and flexible system that leverages expressive cross-domain embeddings to enhance the searching process. Our system aims to adaptively capture the semantics of an image at different levels of detail. We also propose to augment our system with an external search engine to help our system with initial visual examples for unfamiliar concepts. Finally, we organize image data in hierarchical clusters based on their visual similarity and location to assist users in data exploration. Experiments show that our system is both fast and effective in handling various retrieval scenarios

FIRST - Flexible interactive retrieval SysTem for visual lifelog exploration at LSC 2020

Lifelog can provide useful insights of our daily activities. It is essential to provide a flexible way for users to retrieve certain events or moments of interest, corresponding to a wide variation of query types. This motivates us to develop FIRST, a Flexible Interactive Retrieval SysTem, to help users to combine or integrate various query components in a flexible manner to handle different query scenarios, such as visual clustering data based on color histogram, visual similarity, GPS location, or scene attributes. We also employ personalized concept detection and image captioning to enhance image understanding from visual lifelog data, and develop an autoencoderlike approach for query text and image feature mapping. Furthermore, we refine the user interface of the retrieval system to better assist users in query expansion and verifying sequential events in a flexible temporal resolution to control the navigation speed through sequences of images

Ventilator-associated respiratory infection in a resource-restricted setting: impact and etiology.

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated respiratory infection (VARI) is a significant problem in resource-restricted intensive care units (ICUs), but differences in casemix and etiology means VARI in resource-restricted ICUs may be different from that found in resource-rich units. Data from these settings are vital to plan preventative interventions and assess their cost-effectiveness, but few are available. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study in four Vietnamese ICUs to assess the incidence and impact of VARI. Patients ≥ 16 years old and expected to be mechanically ventilated > 48 h were enrolled in the study and followed daily for 28 days following ICU admission. RESULTS: Four hundred fifty eligible patients were enrolled over 24 months, and after exclusions, 374 patients' data were analyzed. A total of 92/374 cases of VARI (21.7/1000 ventilator days) were diagnosed; 37 (9.9%) of these met ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) criteria (8.7/1000 ventilator days). Patients with any VARI, VAP, or VARI without VAP experienced increased hospital and ICU stay, ICU cost, and antibiotic use (p < 0.01 for all). This was also true for all VARI (p < 0.01 for all) with/without tetanus. There was no increased risk of in-hospital death in patients with VARI compared to those without (VAP HR 1.58, 95% CI 0.75-3.33, p = 0.23; VARI without VAP HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.14-1.17, p = 0.09). In patients with positive endotracheal aspirate cultures, most VARI was caused by Gram-negative organisms; the most frequent were Acinetobacter baumannii (32/73, 43.8%) Klebsiella pneumoniae (26/73, 35.6%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (24/73, 32.9%). 40/68 (58.8%) patients with positive cultures for these had carbapenem-resistant isolates. Patients with carbapenem-resistant VARI had significantly greater ICU costs than patients with carbapenem-susceptible isolates (6053 USD (IQR 3806-7824) vs 3131 USD (IQR 2108-7551), p = 0.04) and after correction for adequacy of initial antibiotics and APACHE II score, showed a trend towards increased risk of in-hospital death (HR 2.82, 95% CI 0.75-6.75, p = 0.15). CONCLUSIONS: VARI in a resource-restricted setting has limited impact on mortality, but shows significant association with increased patient costs, length of stay, and antibiotic use, particularly when caused by carbapenem-resistant bacteria. Evidence-based interventions to reduce VARI in these settings are urgently needed

AVSeeker: an active video retrieval engine at VBS2022

Exploring video clips in a vast collection of videos is a difficult task. It is necessary to provide an efficient system for users to express the information need for sought events in that video collection. Thus, we propose to develop AVSeeker – an active video retrieval engine – to assist users in finding appropriate moments in videos with two main query types: textual descriptions and visual examples. The main characteristic of AVSeekeris that we change the retrieval engine from a passive system to an active one, which narrows the search space by gaining clues from users through an interactive relevance feedback manner. The AVSeeker is based on the LifeSeeker system from the annual Lifelog Search Challenge with the addition of an interactive relevance feedback via concept recommendation, enriched temporal concepts, and query-bysketch functionalit

Застосування методів багатокритеріального прийняття рішень при виборі мастильно-охолоджуючої емульсії

Many machining processes would not be possible without the presence of cutting oils. There are many diffe­rent types of cutting oils on the market today, each with different properties. The difference of oils is manifested in many parameters such as viscosity, combustion temperature, recyclability, pollution tendency, stability, price, etc. Choosing the best oil is a difficult and tedious task for customers. In this work, we present the results of a study on the selection of cutting oil using multi­criteria decision­making (MCDM) methods. The selection of the best oil is made on the basis of ranking of seven different types. Two MCDM methods used in this study are Proximity Indexed Value (PIV) and Collaborative Unbiased Rank List Integration (CURLI). This two methods have been used to rank cutting oils. These are two methods with completely different characteristics. When using the PIV method, it is necessary to standardize the data and determine the weights for the criteria. Meanwhile, if using the CURLI method, these two tasks are not needed. In addition, three different weight methods were also used to calculate the weights for the criteria including EQUAL, Rank Order Centroid weight (ROC weight) and Rank Sum weight (RS weight). These three methods have been used to determine the weights for the criteria of cutting oil. The PIV method was used three times corresponding to three different weight methods. The results showed that out of the four ranking results (three using the PIV method and one using the CURLI method), the same best oil was unani­mously identified. It is recommended that the CURLI method should be used if weighting of criteria and data normalization are not desiredБагато процесів механічної обробки були б неможливі без наявності мастильно­охолоджуючих емульсій. Сьогодні на ринку представлено безліч різних видів мастильно­охолоджуючих емульсій, кожна з яких володіє різними властивостями. Різниця між емульсіями проявляється у багатьох параметрах, таких як в’язкість, температура горіння, можливість переробки, схильність до забруднення, стійкість, ціна тощо. Вибір кращої емульсії є складним та стомлюючим завданням для покупців. У даній роботі представлені результати дослідження щодо вибору мастильно­охолоджуючої емульсії з використанням методів багатокритеріального прийняття рішень (MCDM). Вибір кращої емульсії проводиться на основі ранжування семи різних видів. У дослідженні використовувалися два методи MCDM: індексоване за близькістю значення (PIV) та спільна інтеграція незміщеного списку рангів (CURLI). Ці два методи використовуються для ранжування мастильно­охолоджуючих емульсій і мають абсолютно різні характеристики. При використанні методу PIV необхідно стандартизувати дані та визначити ваги критеріїв. Тим часом, при використанні методу CURLI ці два завдання не потрібні. Крім того, для розрахунку ваг критеріїв також використовувались три різні вагові методи, включаючи рівний (EQUAL), вагу центроїда порядку ранжування (вага ROC) та вагу суми рангів (вага RS). Дані три методи також використовувалися для визначення ваг критеріїв мастильно­охолоджуючої емульсії. Метод PIV застосовувався тричі відповідно до трьох різних вагових методів. Результати показали, що з чотирьох результатів ранжування (три з використанням методу PIV і один з використанням методу CURLI) була одноголосно визначена одна і та ж краща емульсія. Метод CURLI рекомендується використовувати, якщо не потрібне зважування критеріїв та нормалізація дани

Thunderstorm Activity and Extremes in Vietnam for the Period 2015–2019

Within a meteorological capacity building project in Vietnam, lightning location data and manual (human-observed) thunderstorm day observations were analyzed for the period 2015–2019. The lightning location dataset, based on the global lightning detection system Vaisala GLD360, consists of a total of 315,522,761 lightning strokes. The results indicate that, on average, 6.9 million lightning flashes per year occur in the land areas of Vietnam; this equals a lightning flash density of 20 flashes km−2 yr−1. The largest average annual flash density values occur in three regions in North, Central and South Vietnam. The majority of lightning occurs in the monsoon season (April–September), peaking in May, while in October–March, the lightning activity is very modest. During individual intense thunderstorm days, the flash density may exceed 12 flashes km−2 day−1. Thunderstorms in Central Vietnam are generally more intense, i.e., more lightning is expected on average per one thunderstorm day in Central Vietnam than in other regions. This study is a continuation of several years of meteorological capacity building in Vietnam, and the results suggest that large socio-economic benefits can be received by understanding the local thunderstorm climatology in high detail, especially in a country such as Vietnam, where lightning causes substantial socio-economic losses annually

Spatiotemporal Variability of Hot Days in Association with the Large-Scale Atmospheric Drivers over Vietnam

The severe heatwaves and hot spells in Vietnam were observed more frequently in intensity and duration due to global warming and climate change impacts. The hot days and extreme summer events make the weather harsh and significantly affect human health and the environment. This study presents the spatiotemporal distribution of the number of hot days (NHDs) in Vietnam. The variability of NHD in seven climate subregions is also examined in association with the large-scale drivers. The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis version 5 (ERA5) data for the period 1981–2020 are used. Principal component analysis is also applied to the observed monthly NHD to obtain spatial patterns and time series. The results show that the NHD in the Highland and South subregions from March to May is linked with the subtropical high associated with decreased 500hPa-level vertical velocity (VV500). From May to June, the North and Central subregions seem related to deepening the Asiatic low and enhancement of southwest flows across the Indochina Peninsula. Finally, both increased southwest flows and decreased VV500 can partly contribute to the intensification of NHD in the North and Central subregions during July and August. The long trends of NHD are also examined. The results reveal that the increasing trends in NHD occur in most subregions, except for the Central Highland, and changing trends of NHD in June greatly contribute to the annual trend of NHD. Finally, the examinations with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation events show that NHD is significantly higher in El Niño events than in La Niña events in March and April for the Northwest, South Central, Central Highlands, and South, in May and June for all subregions, and in July and August for only the Red River Delta subregion. This suggests that ENSO can provide the potential for improving seasonal climate forecasts and mitigating natural disaster risks for the community

Attribution of typhoon-induced torrential precipitation in Central Vietnam, October 2020

In October 2020, Central Vietnam was struck by heavy rain resulting from a sequence of 5 tropical depressions and typhoons. The immense amount of water led to extensive flooding and landslides that killed more than 200 people, injured more than 500 people, and caused direct damages valued at approximately 1.2 billion USD. Here, we quantify how the intensity of the precipitation leading to such exceptional impacts is attributable to anthropogenic climate change. First, we define the event as the regional maximum of annual maximum 15-day average rainfall (Rx15day). We then analyse the trend in Rx15day over Central Vietnam from the observations and simulations in the PRIMAVERA and CORDEX-CORE ensembles, which pass our evaluation tests, by applying the generalised extreme value (GEV) distribution in which location and scale parameters exponentially covary with increasing global temperatures. Combining these observations and model results, we find that the 2020 event, occurring about once every 80 years (at least 17 years), has not changed in either probability of occurrence (a factor 1.0, ranging from 0.4 to 2.4) or intensity (0%, ranging from −8 to +8%) in the present climate in comparison with early-industrial climate. This implies that the effect of human-induced climate change contributing to this persistent extreme rainfall event is small compared to natural variability. However, given the scale of damage of this hazard, our results underline that more investment in disaster risk reduction for this type of rainfall-induced flood hazard is of importance, even independent of the effect of anthropogenic climate change. Moreover, as both observations and model simulations will be extended with the passage of time, we encourage more climate change impact investigations on the extreme in the future that help adaptation and mitigation plans and raise awareness in the country