ESTIMATING DYNAMIC RECREATIONAL DEMAND BY THE HEDONIC TRAVEL COST METHOD

This research explores how recreational values change over time. Hedonic functions linking travel costs to site amenities are estimated using data on nearly 70,000 visitors to Ohio State Parks from 1997 to 2002. The results suggest substantial changes in recreational values over time. Effects are estimated to show the importance of capturing changes in the hedonic prices.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

SINGLE VERSUS MULTIPLE OBJECTIVE RECREATION TRIPS: A SPLIT-SAMPLE MULTI-SITE ANALYSIS

A random utility model of the choice over trip duration on multiple objective recreation trips is developed. We explore several methods for allocating trip expenses to estimate the welfare of single and multiple-objective trips. Preliminary results suggest that traditional methods for handling travel costs are inadequate in a multiple-objective setting.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Radiographic Disclosure of Fournier’s Gangrene

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PreFallKD: Pre-Impact Fall Detection via CNN-ViT Knowledge Distillation

Fall accidents are critical issues in an aging and aged society. Recently, many researchers developed pre-impact fall detection systems using deep learning to support wearable-based fall protection systems for preventing severe injuries. However, most works only employed simple neural network models instead of complex models considering the usability in resource-constrained mobile devices and strict latency requirements. In this work, we propose a novel pre-impact fall detection via CNN-ViT knowledge distillation, namely PreFallKD, to strike a balance between detection performance and computational complexity. The proposed PreFallKD transfers the detection knowledge from the pre-trained teacher model (vision transformer) to the student model (lightweight convolutional neural networks). Additionally, we apply data augmentation techniques to tackle issues of data imbalance. We conduct the experiment on the KFall public dataset and compare PreFallKD with other state-of-the-art models. The experiment results show that PreFallKD could boost the student model during the testing phase and achieves reliable F1-score (92.66%) and lead time (551.3 ms)

Early astrocytic atrophy in the entorhinal cortex of a triple transgenic animal model of Alzheimer's disease

The EC (entorhinal cortex) is fundamental for cognitive and mnesic functions. Thus damage to this area appears as a key element in the progression of AD (Alzheimer's disease), resulting in memory deficits arising from neuronal and synaptic alterations as well as glial malfunction. In this paper, we have performed an in-depth analysis of astroglial morphology in the EC by measuring the surface and volume of the GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) profiles in a triple transgenic mouse model of AD [3xTg-AD (triple transgenic mice of AD)]. We found significant reduction in both the surface and volume of GFAP-labelled profiles in 3xTg-AD animals from very early ages (1 month) when compared with non-Tg (non-transgenic) controls (48 and 54%, reduction respectively), which was sustained for up to 12 months (33 and 45% reduction respectively). The appearance of Lambda beta (amyloid beta-peptide) depositions at 12 months of age did not trigger astroglial hypertrophy; nor did it result in the close association of astrocytes with senile plaques. Our results suggest that the AD progressive cognitive deterioration can be associated with an early reduction of astrocytic arborization and shrinkage of the astroglial domain, which may affect synaptic connectivity within the EC and between the EC and other brain regions. In addition, the EC seems to be particularly vulnerable to AD pathology because of the absence of evident astrogliosis in response to A beta accumulation. Thus we can consider that targeting astroglial atrophy may represent a therapeutic strategy which might slow down the progression of AD.This work was supported by an Alzheimer's Research Trust's Programme Grant [grant number ART/PG2004A/1 (to J.J.R. and A.V.)]; the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [grant numbers GACR 309/09/1696 and GACR 304/11/0184 (to J.J.R.) and GACR 305/08/1381 and GACR 305/08/1384 (to A.V.)]; the Spanish Government, Plan Nacional de I+D+I 2008-2011 and ISCIII-Subdireccion General de Evaluacion y Fomento de la investigacion [grant number PI10/02738 (to J.J.R. and A.V.)]; and the Government of the Basque Country grants [grant numbers AE-2010-1-28 and AEGV10/16 (to J.J.R.)]

Changes in endotracheal tube cuff pressure during laparoscopic surgery in head-up or head-down position

BACKGROUND: The abdominal insufflation and surgical positioning in the laparoscopic surgery have been reported to result in an increase of airway pressure. However, associated effects on changes of endotracheal tube cuff pressure are not well established. METHODS: 70 patients undergoing elective laparoscopic colorectal tumor resection (head-down position, n = 38) and laparoscopic cholecystecomy (head-up position, n = 32) were enrolled and were compared to 15 patients undergoing elective open abdominal surgery. Changes of cuff and airway pressures before and after abdominal insufflation in supine position and after head-down or head-up positioning were analysed and compared. RESULTS: There was no significant cuff and airway pressure changes during the first fifteen minutes in open abdominal surgery. After insufflation, the cuff pressure increased from 26 ± 3 to 32 ± 6 and 27 ± 3 to 33 ± 5 cmH(2)O in patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystecomy and laparoscopic colorectal tumor resection respectively (both p < 0.001). The head-down tilt further increased cuff pressure from 33 ± 5 to 35 ± 5 cmH(2)O (p < 0.001). There six patients undergoing colorectal tumor resection (18.8%) and eight patients undergoing cholecystecomy (21.1%) had a total increase of cuff pressure more than 10 cm H(2)O (18.8%). There was no significant correlation between increase of cuff pressure and either the patient's body mass index or the common range of intra-abdominal pressure (10-15 mmHg) used in laparoscopic surgery. CONCLUSIONS: An increase of endotracheal tube cuff pressure may occur during laparoscopic surgery especially in the head-down position

Probability-Based Mode Decision Algorithm for Scalable Video Coding

Abstract-To reduce the computational complexity of the encoding process in Scalable Video Coding, we utilize the information of motion vector predictor (MVP) and the number of non-zero coefficients(NZC) to propose a fast mode decision algorithm. The probability models of motion vector predictor and the number of non-zero coefficients are built to predict the partition mode in the enhancement layer. In addition, the search range of motion estimation is adaptively adjusted to further reduce computational complexity. Experiment results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce coding time by up to 76% in average and provide higher time saving and better performance than previous work