Reading Scene Text in Deep Convolutional Sequences

We develop a Deep-Text Recurrent Network (DTRN) that regards scene text reading as a sequence labelling problem. We leverage recent advances of deep convolutional neural networks to generate an ordered high-level sequence from a whole word image, avoiding the difficult character segmentation problem. Then a deep recurrent model, building on long short-term memory (LSTM), is developed to robustly recognize the generated CNN sequences, departing from most existing approaches recognising each character independently. Our model has a number of appealing properties in comparison to existing scene text recognition methods: (i) It can recognise highly ambiguous words by leveraging meaningful context information, allowing it to work reliably without either pre- or post-processing; (ii) the deep CNN feature is robust to various image distortions; (iii) it retains the explicit order information in word image, which is essential to discriminate word strings; (iv) the model does not depend on pre-defined dictionary, and it can process unknown words and arbitrary strings. Codes for the DTRN will be available.Comment: To appear in the 13th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-16), 201

Seasonal variations of the atmospheric temperature structure at South Pole

Fe/Rayleigh lidar measurements are combined with the high-altitude balloonsonde data and used to characterize the seasonal variations of atmospheric temperature at South Pole from the surface (2.835 km) to 110 km altitude. Twelve-month oscillations, associated with solar UV absorption by ozone, dominate the seasonal variations of temperature throughout the stratosphere and lower mesosphere from 10 to 60 km. In the mesopause region between 70 and 100 km, 12- and 6-month oscillations dominate the seasonal variations with the warmest temperatures occurring near the spring and fall equinoxes. During the month of March, temperature near 80 km is more than 25 K warmer than MSIS-00. The spring and fall temperature maxima in the mesopause region appear to be associated with the combined effects of the annual variations in adiabatic heating and cooling and the annual variations in solar heating, which are 180 out of phase. During the month of June, the stratopause and mesopause temperatures are about 20–30 K colder than the model predictions. The seasonal temperature variations are the largest near 85 km altitude, where they are approximately 85 K peak to peak.Ope

Methylprednisolone as Adjunct to Endovascular Thrombectomy for Large-Vessel Occlusion Stroke

Importance It is uncertain whether intravenous methylprednisolone improves outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion (LVO) undergoing endovascular thrombectomy. Objective To assess the efficacy and adverse events of adjunctive intravenous low-dose methylprednisolone to endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke secondary to LVO. Design, Setting, and Participants This investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was implemented at 82 hospitals in China, enrolling 1680 patients with stroke and proximal intracranial LVO presenting within 24 hours of time last known to be well. Recruitment took place between February 9, 2022, and June 30, 2023, with a final follow-up on September 30, 2023.InterventionsEligible patients were randomly assigned to intravenous methylprednisolone (n = 839) at 2 mg/kg/d or placebo (n = 841) for 3 days adjunctive to endovascular thrombectomy. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary efficacy outcome was disability level at 90 days as measured by the overall distribution of the modified Rankin Scale scores (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]). The primary safety outcomes included mortality at 90 days and the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 48 hours. Results Among 1680 patients randomized (median age, 69 years; 727 female [43.3%]), 1673 (99.6%) completed the trial. The median 90-day modified Rankin Scale score was 3 (IQR, 1-5) in the methylprednisolone group vs 3 (IQR, 1-6) in the placebo group (adjusted generalized odds ratio for a lower level of disability, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.96-1.25]; P = .17). In the methylprednisolone group, there was a lower mortality rate (23.2% vs 28.5%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71-0.98]; P = .03) and a lower rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (8.6% vs 11.7%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.55-0.99]; P = .04) compared with placebo. Conclusions and Relevance Among patients with acute ischemic stroke due to LVO undergoing endovascular thrombectomy, adjunctive methylprednisolone added to endovascular thrombectomy did not significantly improve the degree of overall disability.Trial RegistrationChiCTR.org.cn Identifier: ChiCTR210005172

The temperature structure of the winter atmosphere at South Pole

Fe/Rayleigh lidar measurements and balloon observations made recently at the geographic South Pole are used to characterize the monthly mean winter temperature profiles from the surface to about 110 km. The measured temperatures during mid-winter in both the stratopause and mesopause regions are 20–30 K colder than current model predictions. These differences are caused by weaker than expected compressional heating associated with subsidence over the polar cap. The measured mesopause temperature responds much more rapidly to changes in sunlight than model predictions, which suggests that IR heating by CO2 absorption may also be important to the thermal balance in the mesopause region.Ope

LIDAR Studies of the Middle Atmosphere Temperatures and Iron Layer at South Pole

72 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.Similar to the Na observations at South Pole in 1995--1997, the seasonal variations in Fe column abundance, height, and width exhibit a strong annual cycle. The Fe and Na densities exhibit strong 12-month oscillations with the amplitudes comparable to the background level, resulting in extremely thin layers and very low abundances during summer. The bottom sides of the Fe and Na layers are governed by different temperature-dependent neutral chemistry. The Fe density is correlated more closely with the temperature than is the Na. Above 95 km, both species have a negative correlation with the temperatures due to their ionic chemistry and photoionization.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD