Robust Background Subtraction with Shadow and Highlight Removal for Indoor Surveillance

This work describes a robust background subtraction scheme involving shadow and highlight removal for indoor environmental surveillance. Foreground regions can be precisely extracted by the proposed scheme despite illumination variations and dynamic background. The Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is applied to construct a color-based probabilistic background model (CBM). Based on CBM, the short-term color-based background model (STCBM) and the long-term color-based background model (LTCBM) can be extracted and applied to build the gradient-based version of the probabilistic background model (GBM). Furthermore, a new dynamic cone-shape boundary in the RGB color space, called a cone-shape illumination model (CSIM), is proposed to distinguish pixels among shadow, highlight, and foreground. A novel scheme combining the CBM, GBM, and CSIM is proposed to determine the background which can be used to detect abnormal conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated via experiments with several video clips collected in a complex indoor environment

Heat transfer coefficient for flow boiling in an annular mini gap

The aim of this paper was to present the concept of mathematical models of heat transfer in flow boiling in an annular mini gap between the metal pipe with enhanced exterior surface and the external glass pipe. The one- and two-dimensional mathematical models were proposed to describe stationary heat transfer in the gap. A set of experimental data governed both the form of energy equations in cylindrical coordinates and the boundary conditions. The models were formulated to minimize the number of experimentally determined constants. Known temperature distributions in the enhanced surface and in the fluid helped to determine, from the Robin condition, the local heat transfer coefficients at the enhanced surface – fluid contact. The Trefftz method was used to find two-dimensional temperature distributions for the thermal conductive filler layer, enhanced surface and flowing fluid. The method of temperature calculation depended on whether the area of single-phase convection ended with boiling incipience in the gap or the two-phase flow region prevailed, with either fully developed bubbly flow or bubbly-slug flow. In the two–phase flow, the fluid temperature was calculated by Trefftz method. Trefftz functions for the Laplace equation and for the energy equation were used in the calculations

Efficacy of 400 mg efavirenz versus standard 600 mg dose in HIV-infected, antiretroviral-naive adults (ENCORE1): A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, non-inferiority trial

Background: The optimum dose of key antiretroviral drugs is often overlooked during product development. The ENCORE1 study compared the efficacy and safety of reduced dose efavirenz with standard dose efavirenz in combination with tenofovir and emtricitabine as first-line treatment for HIV infection. An effective and safe reduced dose could yield meaningful cost savings. Methods: ENCORE1 is a continuing non-inferiority trial in HIV-1-infected antiretroviral-naive adults in 38 clinical sites in 13 countries. Participants (plasma HIV-RNA >1000 log10 copies per mL, CD4 T-cell count 50-500 cells per μL) were randomly assigned by a computer-generated sequence with a blocking factor of four (stratified by clinical site and by screening viral load) to receive tenofovir plus emtricitabine with either a reduced daily dose (400 mg) or a standard dose (600 mg) of efavirenz. Participants, physicians, and all other trial staffwere masked to treatment group. The primary endpoint was the difference in proportions of participants with plasma HIV-RNA of less than 200 copies per mL at 48 weeks. Treatment groups were regarded as non-inferior if the lower limit of the 95% CI for the difference in viral load was less than-10% by modified intention-to-treat analysis. Adverse events were summarised by treatment. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01011413. Findings: The modified intention-to-treat analysis consisted of 630 patients (efavirenz 400=321; efavirenz 600=309). 32% were women; 37% were African, 33% were Asian, and 30% were white. The mean baseline CD4 cell count was 273 cells per μL (SD 99) and median plasma HIV-RNA was 4.75 log 10 copies per mL (IQR 0.88). The proportion of participants with a viral load below 200 copies per mL at week 48 was 94.1% for efavirenz 400 mg and 92.2% for 600 mg (difference 1.85%, 95% CI-2.1 to 5.79). CD4 T-cell counts at week 48 were significantly higher for the 400 mg group than for the 600 mg group (mean difference 25 cells per μL, 95% CI 6-44; p=0.01). We recorded no difference in grade or number of patients reporting adverse events (efavirenz 400=89.1%, efavirenz 600=88.4%; difference 0.75%, 95% CI-4.19 to 5.69; p=0.77). Study drug-related adverse events were significantly more frequent in the 600 mg group than in the 400 mg group (146% [47] vs 118 [37]), difference-10.5%, 95% CI-18.2 to-2.8; p=0.01) and significantly fewer patients with these events stopped treatment (400 mg=6 [2%], 600 mg=18 [6%], difference-3.96%, 95% CI-6.96 to -0.95; p=0.01). Interpretation: Our findings suggest that a reduced dose of 400 mg efavirenz is non-inferior to the standard dose of 600 mg, when combined with tenofovir and emtricitabine during 48 weeks in ART-naive adults with HIV-1 infection. Adverse events related to the study drug were more frequent with 600 mg efavirenz than with 400 mg. Lower dose efavirenz should be recommended as part of routine care