3D Reconstruction using Kinect Sensor and Parallel Processing on 3D Graphics Processing Unit

One of depth cameras such as the Microsoft Kinect is much cheaper than conventional 3D scanning devices, thus it can be acquired for everyday users easily. However, the depth data captured by Kinect over a certain distance is of low quality. In this work, we implement a set of algorithms allowing users to capture 3D surfaces by using the handheld Kinect. As a classic alignment algorithm such as the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) does not show efficacy in aligning point clouds that have limited overlapped regions, another coarse alignment using the Sample Consensus Initial Alignment (SAC-IA) is incorporated in to the registration process in order to ameliorate 3D point clouds’ fitness. Two robust reconstruction methods namely the Alpha Shapes and the Grid Projection are also implemented to reconstruct 3D surface from registered point clouds. The experimental results have shown the efficiency and applicability of of our blueprint. The constructed system obtains acceptable results in a few minutes with a low price device, thus it may practically be an useful approach for avatar generations or online shoppings

Spatiotemporal analysis of historical records (2001-2012) on dengue fever in Vietnam and development of a statistical model for forecasting risk

Background: Dengue fever is the most widespread infectious disease of humans transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. It is the leading cause of hospitalization and death in children in the Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions. We analyzed surveillance records from health centers in Vietnam collected between 2001–2012 to determine seasonal trends, develop risk maps and an incidence forecasting model. Methods: The data were analyzed using a hierarchical spatial Bayesian model that approximates its posterior parameter distributions using the integrated Laplace approximation algorithm (INLA). Meteorological, altitude and land cover (LC) data were used as predictors. The data were grouped by province (n = 63) and month (n = 144) and divided into training (2001–2009) and validation (2010–2012) sets. Thirteen meteorological variables, 7 land cover data and altitude were considered as predictors. Only significant predictors were kept in the final multivariable model. Eleven dummy variables representing month were also fitted to account for seasonal effects. Spatial and temporal effects were accounted for using Besag-York-Mollie (BYM) and autoregressive (1) models. Their levels of significance were analyzed using deviance information criterion (DIC). The model was validated based on the Theil’s coefficient which compared predicted and observed incidence estimated using the validation data. Dengue incidence predictions for 2010–2012 were also used to generate risk maps. Results: The mean monthly dengue incidence during the period was 6.94 cases (SD 14.49) per 100,000 people. Analyses on the temporal trends of the disease showed regular seasonal epidemics that were interrupted every 3 years (specifically in July 2004, July 2007 and September 2010) by major fluctuations in incidence. Monthly mean minimum temperature, rainfall, area under urban settlement/build-up areas and altitude were significant in the final model. Minimum temperature and rainfall had non-linear effects and lagging them by two months provided a better fitting model compared to using unlagged variables. Forecasts for the validation period closely mirrored the observed data and accurately captured the troughs and peaks of dengue incidence trajectories. A favorable Theil’s coefficient of inequality of 0.22 was generated. Conclusions: The study identified temperature, rainfall, altitude and area under urban settlement as being significant predictors of dengue incidence. The statistical model fitted the data well based on Theil’s coefficient of inequality, and risk maps generated from its predictions identified most of the high-risk provinces throughout the country

Geo-chemical fractionations of arsenic and lead in the surface sediments of Thuy Trieu lagoon, Khanh Hoa province

The sequential extraction method of Tessier et al. was applied to identify the phase associations of As and Pb in the surface sediment of Thuy Trieu lagoon. The results showed that these two metals were mainly found in the residual fractions. Meanwhile, the carbonate fractions stayed at the lowest portions. Levels of arsenic and lead as Fe-Mn oxide fractions were higher than those as organic fractions and exchangeable fractions. Exchangeable fractions and carbonate fractions of two elements seemed to increase in rainy season. Generally, the mobility of Pb was higher than that of As. In the sediments of Thuy Trieu lagoon, Pb levels cannot currently cause adverse effects on the ecosystems. On the contrary, the risk of As was assessed as moderate level

ARSENIC POLLUTION IN GROUNDWATER IN RED RIVER DELTA, VIETNAM : SITUATION AND HUMAN EXPOSURE

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Lessons learned from implementation of a demonstration program to reduce the burden of anemia and hookworm in women in Yen Bai Province, Viet Nam

Background Iron deficiency, anemia and hookworm disease are important public health problems for women of reproductive age living in developing countries and affect the health of newborns and infants. Iron supplementation and deworming treatment are effective in addressing these problems in both pregnant and non-pregnant women. Daily iron supplementation and deworming after the first trimester is recommended for pregnant women although these programs usually do not operate efficiently or effectively. Weekly iron-folic acid supplementation and regular deworming for non-pregnant women may be a viable approach for improving iron status and preventing anemia during the reproductive years. Addressing these diseases at a population level before women become pregnant could significantly improve women's health before and during pregnancy, as well as their infants' growth and development. Methods and Results This paper describes the major processes undertaken in a demonstration intervention of preventive weekly iron-folic acid supplementation with regular deworming for all 52,000 women aged 15–45 years in two districts of Yen Bai province, in northern Viet Nam. The intervention strategy included extensive consultation with community leaders and village, commune, district and provincial health staff, and training for village health workers. Distribution of the drugs was integrated with the existing health service infrastructure and the village health workers were the direct point of contact with women. Iron-folic acid tablets and deworming treatment were provided free of charge from May 2006. An independent Vietnamese NGO was commissioned to evaluate compliance and identify potential problems. The program resulted in effective distribution of iron-folic acid tablets and deworming treatment to all villages in the target districts, with full or partial compliance of 85%. Conclusion Training for health staff, the strong commitment of all partners and the use of appropriate educational materials led to broad support for weekly iron-folic acid supplementation and high participation in the regular deworming days. In March 2008 the program was expanded to all districts in the province, a target population of approximately 250,000 WRA, and management was handed over to provincial authorities

Prospects for Food Fermentation in South-East Asia, Topics From the Tropical Fermentation and Biotechnology Network at the End of the AsiFood Erasmus+Project

Fermentation has been used for centuries to produce food in South-East Asia and some foods of this region are famous in the whole world. However, in the twenty first century, issues like food safety and quality must be addressed in a world changing from local business to globalization. In Western countries, the answer to these questions has been made through hygienisation, generalization of the use of starters, specialization of agriculture and use of long-distance transportation. This may have resulted in a loss in the taste and typicity of the products, in an extensive use of antibiotics and other chemicals and eventually, in a loss in the confidence of consumers to the products. The challenges awaiting fermentation in South-East Asia are thus to improve safety and quality in a sustainable system producing tasty and typical fermented products and valorising by-products. At the end of the “AsiFood Erasmus+ project” (www.asifood.org), the goal of this paper is to present and discuss these challenges as addressed by the Tropical Fermentation Network, a group of researchers from universities, research centers and companies in Asia and Europe. This paper presents current actions and prospects on hygienic, environmental, sensorial and nutritional qualities of traditional fermented food including screening of functional bacteria and starters, food safety strategies, research for new antimicrobial compounds, development of more sustainable fermentations and valorisation of by-products. A specificity of this network is also the multidisciplinary approach dealing with microbiology, food, chemical, sensorial, and genetic analyses, biotechnology, food supply chain, consumers and ethnology

Spread of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum has emerged in Southeast Asia and now poses a threat to the control and elimination of malaria. Mapping the geographic extent of resistance is essential for planning containment and elimination strategies. METHODS: Between May 2011 and April 2013, we enrolled 1241 adults and children with acute, uncomplicated falciparum malaria in an open-label trial at 15 sites in 10 countries (7 in Asia and 3 in Africa). Patients received artesunate, administered orally at a daily dose of either 2 mg per kilogram of body weight per day or 4 mg per kilogram, for 3 days, followed by a standard 3-day course of artemisinin-based combination therapy. Parasite counts in peripheral-blood samples were measured every 6 hours, and the parasite clearance half-lives were determined. RESULTS: The median parasite clearance half-lives ranged from 1.9 hours in the Democratic Republic of Congo to 7.0 hours at the Thailand-Cambodia border. Slowly clearing infections (parasite clearance half-life >5 hours), strongly associated with single point mutations in the "propeller" region of the P. falciparum kelch protein gene on chromosome 13 (kelch13), were detected throughout mainland Southeast Asia from southern Vietnam to central Myanmar. The incidence of pretreatment and post-treatment gametocytemia was higher among patients with slow parasite clearance, suggesting greater potential for transmission. In western Cambodia, where artemisinin-based combination therapies are failing, the 6-day course of antimalarial therapy was associated with a cure rate of 97.7% (95% confidence interval, 90.9 to 99.4) at 42 days. CONCLUSIONS: Artemisinin resistance to P. falciparum, which is now prevalent across mainland Southeast Asia, is associated with mutations in kelch13. Prolonged courses of artemisinin-based combination therapies are currently efficacious in areas where standard 3-day treatments are failing. (Funded by the U.K. Department of International Development and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01350856.)

In the quest of a social identity and professional project of French auditors: a longitudinal study and discourse analysis

International audienceIn this paper, we study the social and collective identity of French auditors by considering them as a group of professionals distinct from chartered accountants. The concept of identity and perspectives in accounting's professional trajectory literature help us to understand and explain the process of construction of social identity and professional project of the French auditing. The methodology used is qualitative and based on the content analysis of the plenary discourses given by the Presidents of the National Company of Auditors (CNCC) and of discourses given by personalities representing different stakeholders during the annual Assises of the CNCC, professional and economic press articles, completed by twenty semi-structured interviews conducted with institutional stakeholders in the profession. This paper contributes to critical research in auditing and to the literature on the sociology of the auditing profession, by proposing a framework of patterns of social identity(s) of auditors, mixing their ideal status based on education, ethics and expertise, as so as on their social status and commercial values of auditing

Emergence of legitimacy crisis of the French auditing profession over 2000-2020 period: a critical historical analysis

International audienceIn this paper, we trace the movements of the French auditing profession over the 2000-2020 period shed light by legitimacy theory. The research methodology is qualitative and based on the review of documentary sources along with a series of 30 semi-structured interviews conducted with auditors, corporate directors and researchers in the audit field. We find that while the French auditing profession resisted and mobilized efforts over the last two decades to adapt to important mutations in the economic and regulatory environments for regaining its autonomy and recognition, it failed to re-invent or to reconstruct its legitimation strategies and actions. Through the PACTE law promulgated in May 2019, the French auditors face a serious legitimacy crisis in upholding the public's trust to maintain social legitimacy and to ensure the survival of auditing as a profession. The failure of the profession to defend its social legitimacy and power may lead to process of audit deprofessionalization in France, constrains the auditors to reconstruct their professional project and professionalization trajectory. From an inductive analysis of empirical data, we propose a conceptual framework of production of legitimacy that the auditing profession can adopt to maintain and nourish its social legitimacy and professional trajectory. This paper makes contribution to critical research in auditing and to literature on the sociology of the auditing profession