Analytic studies in the learning and memory of skilled performance second semi-annual report, oct. 1, 1964 - mar. 30, 1965

Analytic studies in learning and memory of skilled performanc

Feature Tracking Cardiac Magnetic Resonance via Deep Learning and Spline Optimization

Feature tracking Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) has recently emerged as an area of interest for quantification of regional cardiac function from balanced, steady state free precession (SSFP) cine sequences. However, currently available techniques lack full automation, limiting reproducibility. We propose a fully automated technique whereby a CMR image sequence is first segmented with a deep, fully convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, and quadratic basis splines are fitted simultaneously across all cardiac frames using least squares optimization. Experiments are performed using data from 42 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and 21 healthy control subjects. In terms of segmentation, we compared state-of-the-art CNN frameworks, U-Net and dilated convolution architectures, with and without temporal context, using cross validation with three folds. Performance relative to expert manual segmentation was similar across all networks: pixel accuracy was ~97%, intersection-over-union (IoU) across all classes was ~87%, and IoU across foreground classes only was ~85%. Endocardial left ventricular circumferential strain calculated from the proposed pipeline was significantly different in control and disease subjects (-25.3% vs -29.1%, p = 0.006), in agreement with the current clinical literature.Comment: Accepted to Functional Imaging and Modeling of the Heart (FIMH) 201

A kinetic model of radiating electrons

A kinetic theory is developed to describe radiating electrons whose motion is governed by the Lorentz-Dirac equation. This gives rise to a generalized Vlasov equation coupled to an equation for the evolution of the physical submanifold of phase space. The pathological solutions of the 1-particle theory may be removed by expanding the latter equation in powers of τ ≔ q 2/6πm. The radiation-induced change in entropy is explored and its physical origin is discussed. As a simple demonstration of the theory, the radiative damping rate of longitudinal plasma waves is calculated

The view from elsewhere: perspectives on ALife Modeling

Many artificial life researchers stress the interdisciplinary character of the field. Against such a backdrop, this report reviews and discusses artificial life, as it is depicted in, and as it interfaces with, adjacent disciplines (in particular, philosophy, biology, and linguistics), and in the light of a specific historical example of interdisciplinary research (namely cybernetics) with which artificial life shares many features. This report grew out of a workshop held at the Sixth European Conference on Artificial Life in Prague and features individual contributions from the workshop's eight speakers, plus a section designed to reflect the debates that took place during the workshop's discussion sessions. The major theme that emerged during these sessions was the identity and status of artificial life as a scientific endeavor

Estimating Small Area Income Deprivation: An Iterative Proportional Fitting Approach

Small area estimation and in particular the estimation of small area income deprivation has potential value in the development of new or alternative components of multiple deprivation indices. These new approaches enable the development of income distribution threshold based as opposed to benefit count based measures of income deprivation and so enable the alignment of regional and national measures such as the Households Below Average Income with small area measures. This paper briefly reviews a number of approaches to small area estimation before describing in some detail an iterative proportional fitting based spatial microsimulation approach. This approach is then applied to the estimation of small area HBAI rates at the small area level in Wales in 2003-5. The paper discusses the results of this approach, contrasts them with contemporary ‘official’ income deprivation measures for the same areas and describes a range of ways to assess the robustness of the results

Global and regional left ventricular myocardial deformation measures by magnetic resonance feature tracking in healthy volunteers: comparison with tagging and relevance of gender

This work was funded by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G030693/1) and supported by the Oxford British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence and the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centr

Post-graduate education, training and extension at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin

In view of the increasing demand for trained personnel to meet the requirements of mariculture and brackishwater culture activities in the country, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute took steps to institute a post-graduate education programme In mariculture at the institute, leading to the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees awarded by the Cochin University of Science and Technology. Through this programme a number of post-graduates have been turned out in the subject during the past seven years. The students were given both theoretical and practical instructions in different aspects of mariculture including basic subjects like physiology, nutrition, genetics and pathology. The Scientists of the Institute constitute the faculty for the programme and a number of members of the faculty have also been trained abroad in different specialisations. The Programme also had the advantage of consultants from other countries who have contributed greatly to its improvement and also in the development of Infrastructural facilities at the Institute. As a result of the consultancy, a number of manuals on special subjects have also been published. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the Trainers' Training Centre handle a number of courses at the farmers level and at the trainers level based on the technologies developed at the Institute. In addition, an integrated programme of training including subjects in agriculture, animal husbandry and home management is also conducted

The Effect of Loyalty Program Fees on Program Perceptions and Engagement

Retailers may introduce loyalty program enrollment fees for several reasons, including to offset the costs of the program. The principle of commitment-consistency and sunk cost effects suggest consumers who pay a fee have a higher value to the firm and exhibit behavioral loyalty, while the zero-price effect predicts the opposite. Three studies show: consumers who pay to participate in a loyalty program have more favorable attitudes, more positive evaluations of value for the money and benefits than non-paying members (Study 1); and altering the wording of denominations of accrual can affect willingness to join fee-based programs (Studies 2 and 3). The results suggest a boundary effect to the numerosity heuristic. Presenting reward credit accumulations in higher numbers may be advantageous when program fees are high, since it shifts the focus of processing from the fee to the rewards. However, standard units may be more favorable when program fees are low