A Matlab-Based Tool for Video Quality Evaluation without Reference

This paper deals with the design of a Matlab based tool for measuring video quality with no use of a reference sequence. The main goals are described and the tool and its features are shown. The paper begins with a description of the existing pixel-based no-reference quality metrics. Then, a novel algorithm for simple PSNR estimation of H.264/AVC coded videos is presented as an alternative. The algorithm was designed and tested using publicly available video database of H.264/AVC coded videos. Cross-validation was used to confirm the consistency of results

Can Yamhill County Feed Itself?

In this paper, we considered the following question: If Yamhill County in northwest Oregon were to become isolated, would the population be able to survive off the agricultural products grown within its boundaries? We looked at what the farms in Yamhill County grow and how large of a population they could support. Essentially, this looked at the feasibility of a purely local food system within the borders of Yamhill County. We hypothesized that Yamhill County would not be able to feed itself without outsourcing; stemming from this hypothesis, we examined the maximum amount of food that can be produced locally and what would need to be imported to meet basic nutritional guidelines. A study done in 2010 looked at the local food system of the Willamette Valley and compared the local agriculture with dietary needs for the population to determine if the valley could support itself. The study determined that the Willamette Valley does not meet any of the nutrient needs for a healthy diet given by the USDA for any of the food groups (Giombolini et al, 2010). Due to the scope and methods of this study, we decided to use this paper as a model for examining the local food system of Yamhill County

Might-E Wheel

Electric bikes are proving to be an increasingly reliable source of transportation, but with large price tags and existing conversion kits proving too complicated and unapproachable for the average user, commuters are failing to consider electric bicycles as an option. A prototype of a wireless, rear-wheel replacement to convert a bicycle from manual to full-power electric was built. This motorized wheel is called Might-E Wheel. Might-E Wheel was designed as the most approachable and user-friendly way to convert a bicycle from manual to full-power electric. Might-E Wheel was able to achieve a top speed of 27.5 km/h, a range of 24.6 km, and run at 311 W of power. Range tests were inconclusive. The fully assembled system weighed 6.8 kg. The system was found to adequately meet the goals of the project. Battery failure limited the testing of Might-E Wheel, but the system was found to run smoothly before the failure, which was unrelated to the system design. In the future, further tests are planned with new batteries. Also, further development of the product is desired in order to lower the weight and reduce the size of the system. Ideally, the next prototype of the system would consist of a custom built motor and a fully-enclosed system within the hub of the wheel

Evaluation of Juntos 4-H: A Wraparound Program Helping Latinx High Schoolers Succeed

Preprogram and postprogram surveys of 241 Latinx 4-H youths from five counties in North Carolina provided a snapshot of their experiences in the Juntos 4-H program. The study findings demonstrate that Juntos 4-H has positive impacts on academics, college readiness, parent engagement, and community engagement. Suggestions are made to help Extension professionals elsewhere develop effective programs for Latinx youths

Decidability of quantified propositional intuitionistic logic and S4 on trees

Quantified propositional intuitionistic logic is obtained from propositional intuitionistic logic by adding quantifiers \forall p, \exists p over propositions. In the context of Kripke semantics, a proposition is a subset of the worlds in a model structure which is upward closed. Kremer (1997) has shown that the quantified propositional intuitionistic logic H\pi+ based on the class of all partial orders is recursively isomorphic to full second-order logic. He raised the question of whether the logic resulting from restriction to trees is axiomatizable. It is shown that it is, in fact, decidable. The methods used can also be used to establish the decidability of modal S4 with propositional quantification on similar types of Kripke structures.Comment: v2, 9 pages, corrections and additions; v1 8 page

Case Report: Tocilizumab for the Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a Patient With Aplastic Anemia

While cytokine storm develops in a minority of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, novel treatment approaches are desperately needed for those in whom it does. Tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 receptor antibody, has been utilized for the treatment of cytokine storm in a number of severe inflammatory conditions, including in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we present the first published case utilizing this therapy in a patient with underlying immunodeficiency. Our patient with aplastic anemia developed cytokine storm due to COVID-19 manifested by fever, severe hypoxia, pulmonary infiltrates, and elevated inflammatory markers. Following treatment with tocilizumab, cytokine storm resolved, and the patient was ultimately safely discharged from the hospital

Automatic Brain Tumor Segmentation using Convolutional Neural Networks with Test-Time Augmentation

Automatic brain tumor segmentation plays an important role for diagnosis, surgical planning and treatment assessment of brain tumors. Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been widely used for this task. Due to the relatively small data set for training, data augmentation at training time has been commonly used for better performance of CNNs. Recent works also demonstrated the usefulness of using augmentation at test time, in addition to training time, for achieving more robust predictions. We investigate how test-time augmentation can improve CNNs' performance for brain tumor segmentation. We used different underpinning network structures and augmented the image by 3D rotation, flipping, scaling and adding random noise at both training and test time. Experiments with BraTS 2018 training and validation set show that test-time augmentation helps to improve the brain tumor segmentation accuracy and obtain uncertainty estimation of the segmentation results.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, MICCAI BrainLes 201

Flux tube delocalization at the deconfinement point

We study the behaviour of the flux tube thickness in the vicinity of the deconfinement transition. We show, using effective string methods, that in this regime the square width increases linearly and not logarithmically with the interquark distance. The amplitude of this linear growth is an increasing function of the temperature and diverges as the deconfinement transition is approached from below. These predictions are in good agreement with a set of simulations performed in the 3d gauge Ising model.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure. Revised version, with an improved discussion of the dimensional reduction approach. Accepted for publication in JHE