6,631 research outputs found
Mindful Eating: Trait and State Mindfulness Predict Healthier Eating Behavior
Obesity and excess weight are significant societal problems. Mindfulness may encourage healthier weight and eating habits. Across four studies, we found a positive relation between mindfulness and healthier eating. Trait mindfulness was associated with less impulsive eating, reduced calorie consumption, and healthier snack choices. In addition, we found a causal effect of mindfulness on healthier eating. An experimental manipulation of state mindfulness led participants to consume fewer calories in a spontaneous eating task. We also found preliminary evidence that mindfulness affects eating behavior by encouraging attitudinal preferences for healthier foods. Taken together, these results provide strong evidence that mindfulness encourages healthier eating, even in the absence of specific instruction in mindful eating. These results suggest that generic mindfulness-based strategies could have ancillary benefits for encouraging healthier eating behavior
Anytime Stereo Image Depth Estimation on Mobile Devices
Many applications of stereo depth estimation in robotics require the
generation of accurate disparity maps in real time under significant
computational constraints. Current state-of-the-art algorithms force a choice
between either generating accurate mappings at a slow pace, or quickly
generating inaccurate ones, and additionally these methods typically require
far too many parameters to be usable on power- or memory-constrained devices.
Motivated by these shortcomings, we propose a novel approach for disparity
prediction in the anytime setting. In contrast to prior work, our end-to-end
learned approach can trade off computation and accuracy at inference time.
Depth estimation is performed in stages, during which the model can be queried
at any time to output its current best estimate. Our final model can process
1242375 resolution images within a range of 10-35 FPS on an NVIDIA
Jetson TX2 module with only marginal increases in error -- using two orders of
magnitude fewer parameters than the most competitive baseline. The source code
is available at https://github.com/mileyan/AnyNet .Comment: Accepted by ICRA201
Transition Matrix Monte Carlo
Although histogram methods have been extremely effective for analyzing data
from Monte Carlo simulations, they do have certain limitations, including the
range over which they are valid and the difficulties of combining data from
independent simulations. In this paper, we describe an complementary approach
to extracting information from Monte Carlo simulations that uses the matrix of
transition probabilities. Combining the Transition Matrix with an N-fold way
simulation technique produces an extremely flexible and efficient approach to
rather general Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: Maui Conference on Statistical Physic
Building a Collaborative Phone Blacklisting System with Local Differential Privacy
Spam phone calls have been rapidly growing from nuisance to an increasingly
effective scam delivery tool. To counter this increasingly successful attack
vector, a number of commercial smartphone apps that promise to block spam phone
calls have appeared on app stores, and are now used by hundreds of thousands or
even millions of users. However, following a business model similar to some
online social network services, these apps often collect call records or other
potentially sensitive information from users' phones with little or no formal
privacy guarantees.
In this paper, we study whether it is possible to build a practical
collaborative phone blacklisting system that makes use of local differential
privacy (LDP) mechanisms to provide clear privacy guarantees. We analyze the
challenges and trade-offs related to using LDP, evaluate our LDP-based system
on real-world user-reported call records collected by the FTC, and show that it
is possible to learn a phone blacklist using a reasonable overall privacy
budget and at the same time preserve users' privacy while maintaining utility
for the learned blacklist.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 7 algorithm
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Caveolin-1 Phosphorylation Is Essential for Axonal Growth of Human Neurons Derived From iPSCs.
Proper axonal growth and guidance is essential for neuron differentiation and development. Abnormal neuronal development due to genetic or epigenetic influences can contribute to neurological and mental disorders such as Down syndrome, Rett syndrome, and autism. Identification of the molecular targets that promote proper neuronal growth and differentiation may restore structural and functional neuroplasticity, thus improving functional performance in neurodevelopmental disorders. Using differentiated human neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), the present study demonstrates that during early stage differentiation of human NPCs, neuron-targeted overexpression constitutively active Rac1 (Rac1CA) and constitutively active Cdc42 (Cdc42CA) enhance expression of P-Cav-1, T-Cav-1, and P-cofilin and increases axonal growth. Similarly, neuron-targeted over-expression of Cav-1 (termed SynCav1) increases axonal development by increasing both axon length and volume. Moreover, inhibition of Cav-1(Y14A) phosphorylation blunts Rac1/Cdc42-mediated both axonal growth and differentiation of human NPCs and SynCav1(Y14A)-treated NPCs exhibited blunted axonal growth. These results suggest that: (1) SynCav1-mediated dendritic and axonal growth in human NPCs is dependent upon P-Cav-1, (2) P-Cav-1 is necessary for proper axonal growth during early stages of neuronal differentiation, and (3) Rac1/Cdc42CA-mediated neuronal growth is in part dependent upon P-Cav-1. In conclusion, Cav-1 phosphorylation is essential for human neuronal axonal growth during early stages of neuronal differentiation
Generalized four-point characterization method for resistive and capacitive contacts
In this paper, a four-point characterization method is developed for
resistive samples connected to either resistive or capacitive contacts.
Provided the circuit equivalent of the complete measurement system is known
including coaxial cable and connector capacitances as well as source output and
amplifier input impedances, a frequency range and capacitive scaling factor can
be determined, whereby four-point characterization can be performed. The
technique is demonstrated with a discrete element test sample over a wide
frequency range using lock-in measurement techniques from 1 Hz - 100 kHz. The
data fit well with a circuit simulation of the entire measurement system. A
high impedance preamplifier input stage gives best results, since lock-in input
impedances may differ from manufacturer specifications. The analysis presented
here establishes the utility of capacitive contacts for four-point
characterizations at low frequency.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure
The detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia by electrical impedance spectroscopy: The effects of acetic acid and tissue homogeneity
Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of an electrical impedance probe (Epitheliometer) in the diagnosis of high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in women referred with cervical smear abnormalities and to assess the effect of acetic acid (AA) and tissue boundaries on the measurements.
Methods. A prospective observational study was undertaken in the colposcopy clinic. One hundred and sixty-five women, either with a clinical indication or abnormal cervical cytology, were recruited into the study. A pencil type probe was used to record impedance spectra from 12 points on the cervix before and after the application of 5% AA. Spectra were also recorded from tissue boundaries. Colposcopic examinations, including probe positioning, were video recorded to allow for correlations between histopathological diagnosis of colposcopically directed biopsies, colposcopic impression and the diagnosis based on impedance measurements.
Results. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were derived. The areas under the curves (AUCs) to discriminate original squamous from high grade CIN were 0.80 (pre AA) and 0.79 (post AA). Comparison of these curves showed no significant difference, indicating that application of AA does not produce a large change in spectra. The probe Could distinguish tissue boundaries from homogeneous tissue points.
Conclusion. The Epitheliometer has the potential to be used as an adjunct to colposcopy in the diagnosis of high grade CIN. It has the advantage of real time results, decreasing the need for diagnostic cervical biopsies, and facilitates a wider use of the 'see and treat' policy without the risk of overtreatment. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
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