Censoring and Fusion in Non-linear Distributed Tracking Systems with Application to 2D Radar

The objective of this research is to study various methods for censoring state estimate updates generated from radar measurements. The generated 2-D radar data are sent to a fusion center using the J-Divergence metric as the means to assess the quality of the data. Three different distributed sensor network architectures are considered which include different levels of feedback. The Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and the Gaussian Particle Filter (GPF) were used in order to test the censoring methods in scenarios which vary in their degrees of non-linearity. A derivation for the direct calculation of the J-Divergence using a particle filter is provided. Results show that state estimate updates can be censored using the J-Divergence as a metric controlled via feedback, with higher J-Divergence thresholds leading to a larger covariance at the fusion center

Population dynamics and reproduction biology of slender mudskipper (Scartelaos tenuis) from Hormuzgan Province creeks, Persian Gulf

Slender Mudskipper (Scartelaos tenuis) is one of the dominant fishes in inter-tidal mud flats area. Reproduction and population parameters of 2047 Slender mudskipper were studied monthly from october 2008 to september 2009. The asymptotic length (L∞) and growth coefficient (K) were estimated as 19.43(cm) and 0.64(yr-1), respectively. The minimum and maximum T.L. was 1.1 and 19.5cm, respectively. The value of to was -8.28, and Tmax was 4.6 year. The growth equation of Von Bertalanffy was obtained at L(t) = 19.43(1- exp (-0.64(t(-0.28))) for this species. The rates of natural mortality (M) on Pauly's empirical equation, was estimated 1.51 (yr-1). Five cohorts were distinguished annualy on Bhattacharya's method with mean length of 7.89, 11.42, 13.86, 15.6 and 16.81cm. Maximum recruitment was in Seprember at 18.8 percent. Reproductive studies showed that peak of maturity season occurred in April. The female to male ratio was calculated as 1:1.47 and chi-square analysis showed that it was statistically significant deviated from 1:1. LM50 is attained at a total length of 13.3cm. The mean of absolute and relative fecundity were 6742 (±1939) and 707 (±210), respectively. The length-weight relationship was as W= 0.02735 L 2.1655, that was isometric growth. Result showed that slender mudskipper population was in congenial condition, nevertheless less not evaluated

A Comparative Expected Value Analysis Study to Determine the Cost Benefit or Cost Effectiveness of Early Discharge, Medical Transport, Home Health as Well as Home Care Devices, Services and Technologies in The United States

Abstract It was found that Amazon products (Alexa™, Echo™, Halo™), EMRs, fire extinguishers, genome sequencing test, on-line pharmacies, remote patient monitoring, provided economic value, while emergency medical service membership programs, fire alarm subscription services, helicopter emergency medical services, home fire insurance policies, home fire sprinklers, and home security systems were not found to have provided economic value. Tele-health (virtual office visits) would provide economic value if most tele-health visits replaced existing in-person visits and the low cost virtual didn’t drive demand for unnecessary visits. Robotic surgery technologies provide economic value if fully utilized (high patient demand to reduce overhead costs per procedure) in a facility with little excess capacity as long as it did not compete with non-robotic surgical offerings at the present facility. AEDs provide economic value if appropriately placed in high demand locales based on future probability of use

The North American and Pelican Nebulae I. IRAC Observations

We present a 9 deg^2 map of the North American and Pelican Nebulae regions obtained in all four IRAC channels with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The resulting photometry is merged with that at JHKs from 2MASS and a more spatially limited $BVI$ survey from previous ground-based work. We use a mixture of color- color diagrams to select a minimally contaminated set of more than 1600 objects that we claim are young stellar objects (YSOs) associated with the star forming region. Because our selection technique uses IR excess as a requirement, our sample is strongly biased against inclusion of Class III YSOs. The distribution of IRAC spectral slopes for our YSOs indicates that most of these objects are Class II, with a peak towards steeper spectral slopes but a substantial contribution from a tail of flat spectrum and Class I type objects. By studying the small fraction of the sample that is optically visible, we infer a typical age of a few Myr for the low mass population. The young stars are clustered, with about a third of them located in eight clusters that are located within or near the LDN 935 dark cloud. Half of the YSOs are located in regions with surface densities higher than 1000 YSOs / deg^2. The Class I objects are more clustered than the Class II stars.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, ApJ In pres

Ligand selectivity in stabilising tandem parallel folded G-quadruplex motifs in human telomeric DNA sequences

Biophysical studies of ligand interactions with three human telomeric repeat sequences (d(AGGG(TTAGGG)n, n = 3, 7 and 11)) show that an oxazole-based ‘click’ ligand, which induces parallel folded quadruplexes, preferentially stabilises longer telomeric repeats providing evidence for selectivity in binding at the interface between tandem quadruplex motifs

Utilization of solar collector for treatment of plant growth substrates.

Solar collectors were tested for the control of Meloidogyne arenaria, Sclerotium rolfsii, Verticillium sp. and nut sedge (Cyperus rotundus). Verticillium isolate multiplied on popcorn, soil infested with M. arenaria, sclerodia of S. rofsii and nodules of nut sedge were mixed with soil and treated for different times in solar collectors. The recovered popcorn seeds and sclerodia were desinfected and transferred to Petri dishes for the evaluation of the pathogen survival. The sedge nodules recovered from treated soil were planted in pots for the evaluation of emergence. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme) seedlings were planted in soil infested with M. arenaria and the effect of soil exposure was evaluated by weighting the intact plants, by counting the number of nodules on the root system, and by determining the nematode population before and after the treatment. The results showed that depending upon the climatic conditions, two days are required for the desinfestation of soil infested with M. arenaria and Verticillium sp. whereas only one day is required for S. rolfsii and nut sedge, since under the condition of complete solar radiation the substrate reaches temperatures up to 85 .C

The VISCACHA survey -- V. Rejuvenating three faint SMC clusters

We present the analysis of three faint clusters of the Small Magellanic Cloud RZ82, HW42 and RZ158. We employed the SOAR telescope instrument SAM with adaptive optics, allowing us to reach to V~23-24 mag, unprecedentedly, a depth sufficient to measure ages of up to about 10-12Gyr. All three clusters are resolved to their centres, and the resulting colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) allow us to derive ages of 3.9, 2.6, and 4.8Gyr respectively. These results are significantly younger than previous determinations (7.1, 5.0, and 8.3Gyr, respectively), based on integrated photometry or shallower CMDs. We rule out older ages for these clusters based on deep photometry and statistical isochrone fitting. We also estimate metallicities for the three clusters of [Fe/H]=-0.68, -0.57 and -0.90, respectively. These updated ages and metallicities are in good agreement with the age-metallicity relation for the bulk of SMC clusters. Total cluster masses ranging from ~7-11x10^3Mo were estimated from integrated flux, consistent with masses estimated for other SMC clusters of similar ages. These results reduce the number of SMC clusters known to be older than about 5 Gyr and highlight the need of deep and spatially resolved photometry to determine accurate ages for older, low-luminosity SMC star clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication as MNRAS letter, 5 pages, 5 figure

Lactation and neonatal nutrition: defining and refining the critical questions.

This paper resulted from a conference entitled "Lactation and Milk: Defining and refining the critical questions" held at the University of Colorado School of Medicine from January 18-20, 2012. The mission of the conference was to identify unresolved questions and set future goals for research into human milk composition, mammary development and lactation. We first outline the unanswered questions regarding the composition of human milk (Section I) and the mechanisms by which milk components affect neonatal development, growth and health and recommend models for future research. Emerging questions about how milk components affect cognitive development and behavioral phenotype of the offspring are presented in Section II. In Section III we outline the important unanswered questions about regulation of mammary gland development, the heritability of defects, the effects of maternal nutrition, disease, metabolic status, and therapeutic drugs upon the subsequent lactation. Questions surrounding breastfeeding practice are also highlighted. In Section IV we describe the specific nutritional challenges faced by three different populations, namely preterm infants, infants born to obese mothers who may or may not have gestational diabetes, and infants born to undernourished mothers. The recognition that multidisciplinary training is critical to advancing the field led us to formulate specific training recommendations in Section V. Our recommendations for research emphasis are summarized in Section VI. In sum, we present a roadmap for multidisciplinary research into all aspects of human lactation, milk and its role in infant nutrition for the next decade and beyond