Adapting Stream Processing Framework for Video Analysis

AbstractStream processing (SP) became relevant mainly due to inexpensive and hence ubiquitous deployment of sensors in many domains (e.g., environmental monitoring, battle field monitoring). Other continuous data generators (surveillance, traffic data) have also prompted processing and analysis of these streams for applications such as traffic congestion/accidents and personalized marketing. Image processing has been researched for several decades. Recently there is emphasis on video stream analysis for situation monitoring due to the ubiquitous deployment of video cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles for security and other applications.This paper elaborates on the research and development issues that need to be addressed for extending the traditional stream processing framework for video analysis, especially for situation awareness. This entails extensions to: data model, operators and language for expressing complex situations, QoS (Quality of service) specifications and algorithms needed for their satisfaction. Specifically, this paper demonstrates inadequacy of current data representation (e.g., relation and arrable) and querying capabilities to infer long-term research and development issues

Heavy metal accumulation in Artemisia and foliaceous lichen species from the Azerbaijan flora

Artemisia plants and foliaceous lichens are known to be capable of accumulating heavy metals (HM) from soil and air. These plant species are widespread on polluted sites of Azerbaijan. However, so far their capacity to accumulate HM in their shoots and roots has not been tested. Three Artemisia and two lichen species were collected from different contaminated sites of Azerbaijan. Plant and surface soil samples were measured for Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn concentrations by ICP-AES.The results indicated that among the Artemisia species A. scoparia showed the best HM accumulation properties. Lichen species were also distinguished by very high amounts of HM in their biomass, while in surrounding soil samples HM concentrations had higher contents than the soils occupied only with Artemisia species.The results indicate that on contaminated sites Artemisia and lichens accumulated metals in their biomass without toxicity symptoms. Taking large biomass and high adaptation ability into account, A. scoparia represents a good tool for a phytoremediation approach on polluted soils

Preparation and quality control of 177Lu-[tris(1,10-phenanthroline) lutetium(III)] complex for therapy

The 177Lu-[tris(1,10-phenanthroline)lutetium(III)] complex (177Lu-PQ3) was prepared successfully with high radiochemical purity (> 99%). Lu-177 chloride was obtained by thermal neutron flux (4 × 1013 n.cm–2.s–1) of natural Lu2(NO3)3 sample, dissolved in acidic media. The radiochemical yield was checked by measuring the radiochemical purity of the 177Lu-PQ complex by ITLC (10 mM DTPA, pH = 5, as mobile phase). The final complex solution was injected intravenously into wild-type male rats and bio-distribution of the complex was checked for up to 48 hours. The dose limiting organs were shown to be the reticulu-endothelial system. The bio-distribution of the labelled compounds in tumour-bearing animals is under investigation. Nuclear Med Rev 2010; 13, 2: 49–5

A Novel Handoff Prioritization Scheme Based on Propagation and Traffic Criteria

In this paper, in order to modify and improve the handoff process, which contains initiation and execution phases, three new prioritization schemes have been investigated. These new schemes prioritize handoff requests considering both traffic and propagation conditions. According to suggested schemes, priority of different candidate base-stations is based on three measurements in a joint state. These measurements are received power at mobile unit, power variation rates, and the number of free traffic channels of adjacent base-stations. Simulation results show that considering similar conditions, i.e. equal number of handoffs, lower call dropping (outage) and smaller delay distance will be achieved by new prioritization schemes rather than previous works. It means access to lower forced termination probability and interference and hence better QoS (Quality of Service). Finally, due to the best trade offs between propagation and traffic criteria, simulation results introduce SPBPS3 as optimum scheme

Application of Queuing Analytic Theory to Decrease Waiting Times in Emergency Department: Does it Make Sense?

Background: Patients who receive care in an emergency department (ED), are usually unattended while waiting in queues. Objectives: This study was done to determine, whether the application of queuing theory analysis might shorten the waiting times of patients admitted to emergency wards. Patients and Methods: This was an operational study to use queuing theory analysis in the ED. In the first phase, a field study was conducted to delineate the performance of the ED and enter the data obtained into simulator software. In the second phase, "ARENA" software was used for modeling, analysis, creating a simulation and improving the movement of patients in the ED. Validity of the model was confirmed through comparison of the results with the real data using the same instrument. The third phase of the study concerned modeling in order to assess the effect of various operational strategies, on the queue waiting time of patients who were receiving care in the ED. Results: In the first phase, it was shown that 47.7% of the 3000 patient records were cases referred for trauma treatment, and the remaining 52.3% were referred for non-trauma services. A total of 56% of the cases were male and 44% female. Maximum input was 4.5 patients per hour and the minimum input was 0.5 per hour. The average length of stay for patients in the trauma section was three hours, while for the non-trauma section it was four hours. In the second phase, modeling was tested with common scenarios. In the third phase, the scenario with the addition of one or more senior emergency resident(s) on each shift resulted in a decreased length of stay from 4 to 3.75 hours. Moreover, the addition of one bed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and/or Critical Care Unit (CCU) in the study hospital, reduced the occupancy rate of the nursing service from 76% to 67%. By adding another clerk to take electrocardiograms (ECG) in the ED, the average time from a request to performing the procedure is reduced from 26 to 18 minutes. Furthermore, the addition of 50% more staff to the laboratory and specialist consultations led to a 90 minute reduction in the length of stay. It was also shown that earlier consultations had no effect on the length of stay. Conclusions: Application of queuing theory analysis can improve movement and reduce the waiting times of patients in bottlenecks within the ED throughput

Spiritual care for cancer patients in Iran

Background: Studies have shown that a return to spirituality is a major coping response in cancer patients so that therapists can adopt a holistic approach by addressing spirituality in their patient care. The present study was conducted to develop a guideline in the spiritual field for healthcare providers who serve cancer patients in Iran. Materials and Methods: Relevant statements were extracted from scientific documents that through study questions were reviewed and modified by a consensus panel. Results: The statements were arranged in six areas, including spiritual needs assessment, spiritual care candidates, the main components of spiritual care, spiritual care providers, the settings of spiritual care and the resources and facilities for spiritual care. Conclusions: In addition to the development and preparation of these guidelines, health policy-makers should also seek to motivate and train health service providers to offer these services and facilitate their provision and help with widespread implementation

Numerical analysis of thermal stresses around fasteners in composite metal foils

The process of composite metal foil manufacturing (CMFM) has reduced a number of limitations associated with commercial additive manufacturing (AM) methods. The existing metal AM machines are restricted by their build envelope and there is a growing market for the manufacture of large parts using AM. These parts are subsequently manufactured in fragments and are fastened together. This paper analyses the thermal stresses around cylindrical fasteners for three layered metal composite parts consisting of aluminium foil, brazing paste and copper foil layers. The investigation aims to examine the mechanical integrity of the metallurgically bonded aluminium/copper foils of 100 micron thickness manufactured in a disc shape. A cylindrical fastener set at an elevated temperature of 100 °C is fitted in the middle of the disc which results in a steady-state thermal distribution. Radial and shear stresses are computed using finite element method which shows that non-zero shear stresses developed by the copper layer inhibit the axial slippage of the fastener and thereby establishing the suitability of rivet joints for CMFM parts

Motion-corrected multiparametric renal arterial spin labelling at 3T: Reproducibility and effect of vasodilator challenge

Objectives We investigated the feasibility and reproducibility of free-breathing motion-corrected multiple inversion time (multi-TI) pulsed renal arterial spin labelling (PASL), with general kinetic model parametric mapping, to simultaneously quantify renal perfusion (RBF), bolus arrival time (BAT) and tissue T1. Methods In a study approved by the Health Research Authority, 12 healthy volunteers (mean age, 27.6 ± 18.5 years; 5 male) gave informed consent for renal imaging at 3 T using multi-TI ASL and conventional single-TI ASL. Glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) was used as a vasodilator challenge in six subjects. Flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) preparation was used with background suppression and 3D-GRASE (gradient and spin echo) read-out, and images were motion-corrected. Parametric maps of RBF, BAT and T1 were derived for both kidneys. Agreement was assessed using Pearson correlation and Bland-Altman plots. Results Inter-study correlation of whole-kidney RBF was good for both single-TI (r2 = 0.90), and multi-TI ASL (r2 = 0.92). Single-TI ASL gave a higher estimate of whole-kidney RBF compared to multi-TI ASL (mean bias, 29.3 ml/min/100 g; p <0.001). Using multi-TI ASL, the median T1 of renal cortex was shorter than that of medulla (799.6 ms vs 807.1 ms, p = 0.01), and mean whole-kidney BAT was 269.7 ± 56.5 ms. GTN had an effect on systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) but the change in RBF was not significant. Conclusions Free-breathing multi-TI renal ASL is feasible and reproducible at 3 T, providing simultaneous measurement of renal perfusion, haemodynamic parameters and tissue characteristics at baseline and during pharmacological challenge

Demographic characteristics and the first program of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in north of Iran (2016)

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of gastrointestinal cancers. This study aimed to determine the demographic characteristics and their relationships with the results of the first screening program for CRC in people over 50 years old in northern Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 on 924 eligible people over 50 years old. Initial screening was done by IFOBT and then colonoscopy was performed if the results were positive. The demographic characteristics of individuals including age, sex, place of residence, marital status, body mass index (BMI) and education level were investigated with the results of the colonoscopy and the test results. Results: The mean age of participants was 59.38 years, and the participation of women (57.0) and rural residents (54.2) were higher in the screening program. According to the demographic variables, age was considered as a strong independent predictor variable, so that the prevalence of positive test results was more than 2 times higher in subjects older than 70 compared with subjects aged �60 (OR =2.05; 95 CI, 1.18-3.55, P=0.010). Also, the chance of positive test result in the age group �55 years old was 23, with an increase of 64 in the age group above 75 years (P<0.001). Among the positive test subjects, 118 cases underwent colonoscopy. Conclusions: The prevalence of IFOBT positivity was increased with age. Therefore, given the aging population of the country, it is recommended to emphasize on the screening of older people in the general population. ©Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology