Utilising semantic technologies for intelligent indexing and retrieval of digital images

The proliferation of digital media has led to a huge interest in classifying and indexing media objects for generic search and usage. In particular, we are witnessing colossal growth in digital image repositories that are difficult to navigate using free-text search mechanisms, which often return inaccurate matches as they in principle rely on statistical analysis of query keyword recurrence in the image annotation or surrounding text. In this paper we present a semantically-enabled image annotation and retrieval engine that is designed to satisfy the requirements of the commercial image collections market in terms of both accuracy and efficiency of the retrieval process. Our search engine relies on methodically structured ontologies for image annotation, thus allowing for more intelligent reasoning about the image content and subsequently obtaining a more accurate set of results and a richer set of alternatives matchmaking the original query. We also show how our well-analysed and designed domain ontology contributes to the implicit expansion of user queries as well as the exploitation of lexical databases for explicit semantic-based query expansion

Casein kinase iδ mutations in familial migraine and advanced sleep phase.

Migraine is a common disabling disorder with a significant genetic component, characterized by severe headache and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and light sensitivity. We identified two families, each with a distinct missense mutation in the gene encoding casein kinase Iδ (CKIδ), in which the mutation cosegregated with both the presence of migraine and advanced sleep phase. The resulting alterations (T44A and H46R) occurred in the conserved catalytic domain of CKIδ, where they caused reduced enzyme activity. Mice engineered to carry the CKIδ-T44A allele were more sensitive to pain after treatment with the migraine trigger nitroglycerin. CKIδ-T44A mice also exhibited a reduced threshold for cortical spreading depression (believed to be the physiological analog of migraine aura) and greater arterial dilation during cortical spreading depression. Astrocytes from CKIδ-T44A mice showed increased spontaneous and evoked calcium signaling. These genetic, cellular, physiological, and behavioral analyses suggest that decreases in CKIδ activity can contribute to the pathogenesis of migraine

Comparison of performance achievement award recognition with primary stroke center certification for acute ischemic stroke care.

BackgroundHospital certification and recognition programs represent 2 independent but commonly used systems to distinguish hospitals, yet they have not been directly compared. This study assessed acute ischemic stroke quality of care measure conformity by hospitals receiving Primary Stroke Center (PSC) certification and those receiving the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) Performance Achievement Award (PAA) recognition.Methods and resultsThe patient and hospital characteristics as well as performance/quality measures for acute ischemic stroke from 1356 hospitals participating in the GWTG-Stroke Program 2010-2012 were compared. Hospitals were classified as PAA+/PSC+ (hospitals n = 410, patients n = 169,302), PAA+/PSC- (n = 415, n = 129,454), PAA-/PSC+ (n = 88, n = 26,386), and PAA-/PSC- (n = 443, n = 75,565). A comprehensive set of stroke measures were compared with adjustment for patient and hospital characteristics. Patient characteristics were similar by PAA and PSC status but PAA-/PSC- hospitals were more likely to be smaller and nonteaching. Measure conformity was highest for PAA+/PSC+ and PAA+/PSC- hospitals, intermediate for PAA-/PSC+ hospitals, and lowest for PAA-/PSC- hospitals (all-or-none care measure 91.2%, 91.2%, 84.3%, and 76.9%, respectively). After adjustment for patient and hospital characteristics, PAA+/PSC+, PAA+/PSC-, and PAA-/PSC+ hospitals had 3.15 (95% CIs 2.86 to 3.47); 3.23 (2.93 to 3.56) and 1.72 (1.47 to 2.00), higher odds for providing all indicated stroke performance measures to patients compared with PAA-/PSC- hospitals.ConclusionsWhile both PSC certification and GWTG-Stroke PAA recognition identified hospitals providing higher conformity with care measures for patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke, PAA recognition was a more robust identifier of hospitals with better performance

Inhibition of Chromium(III) Oxidation through Manganese(IV) Oxide Passivation and Iron(II) Abiotic Reduction

Manganese (Mn) oxides are strong oxidants that are ubiquitous in soils and can oxidize redox-active metals, including chromium (Cr). In soil environments, trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) is a benign, immobile micronutrient, whereas the hexavalent Cr(VI) form is present as a highly mobile, toxic chromate oxyanion. Although many studies have characterized the capacity of Mn(III/IV) oxides to oxidize Cr(III) to toxic Cr(VI), the oxidative capacity of Mn oxides in the presence of potentially passivating soil constituents, specifically reduced soluble iron (Fe(II)aq), remains unresolved. We hypothesized that chemical processes at redox interfaces, such as diffusion-limited environments within soil aggregates, can lead to decreased Cr(VI) production from Mn oxide-driven oxidation due to passivation by Fe(II)aq. A multichamber diffusion-limited reactor was used to simulate transport at soil redox interfaces and investigate the capacity of poorly crystalline and crystalline Mn oxides to oxidize solid Cr(III) minerals to Cr(VI) in the presence of Fe(II)aq. As predicted, Cr(VI) was produced through the Mn oxide-catalyzed oxidation of Cr(III) at a rate controlled by the solubility of Cr(OH)3. However, in the presence of Fe(II)aq, the concentration of aqueous Cr(VI) decreased as a function of the Fe(II)aq concentration, where high concentrations of Fe(II)aq completely inhibited Cr(VI) production, likely through both the passivation of the Mn oxide and the direct reduction of Cr(VI) by Fe(II). At both low (14 μM) and high (100 μM) Fe(II)aq concentrations, the iron oxide minerals hematite (Fe2O3) and goethite (α-FeOOH) were associated with the Mn oxides, which can cause surface passivation, a likely role that decreases Cr(III) oxidation. Additionally, the Cr(III) oxidation rate decreased with increasing crystallinity of the Mn oxides whether or not Fe(II) was present

Patterns, predictors, variations, and temporal trends in emergency medical service hospital prenotification for acute ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND#ENTITYSTARTX02014;: Emergency medical services (EMS) hospital prenotification of an incoming stroke patient is guideline recommended as a means of increasing the timeliness with which stroke patients are evaluated and treated. Still, data are limited with regard to national use of, variations in, and temporal trends in EMS prenotification and associated predictors of its use. METHODS AND RESULTS#ENTITYSTARTX02014;: We examined 371 988 patients with acute ischemic stroke who were transported by EMS and enrolled in 1585 hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines-Stroke from April 1, 2003, through March 31, 2011. Prenotification occurred in 249 197 EMS-transported patients (67.0%) and varied widely by hospital (range, 0% to 100%). Substantial variations by geographic regions and by state, ranging from 19.7% in Washington, DC, to 93.4% in Montana, also were noted. Patient factors associated with lower use of prenotification included older age, diabetes mellitus, and peripheral vascular disease. Prenotification was less likely for black patients than for white patients (adjusted odds ratio 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.92-0.97, P<0.0001). Hospital factors associated with greater EMS prenotification use were absence of academic affiliation, higher annual volume of tissue plasminogen activator administration, and geographic location outside the Northeast. Temporal improvements in prenotification rates showed a modest general increase, from 58.0% in 2003 to 67.3% in 2011 (P temporal trend <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS#ENTITYSTARTX02014;: EMS hospital prenotification is guideline recommended, yet among patients transported to Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals it is not provided for 1 in 3 EMS-arriving patients with acute ischemic stroke and varies substantially by hospital, state, and region. These results support the need for enhanced implementation of stroke systems of care. (J Am Heart Assoc. 2012;1:e002345 doi: 10.1161/JAHA.112.002345.)

Synthesis of SnO 2

Zinc oxides deposited on Tin dioxide nanowires have been successfully synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The diameter of SnO2-ZnO core-shell nanowires is 100 nm by ALD 200 cycles. The result of electricity measurements shows that the resistance of SnO2-ZnO core-shell nanowires (ALD: 200 cycles) is 925 Ω, which is much lower than pure SnO2 nanowires (3.6 × 106 Ω). The result of UV light test shows that the recovery time of SnO2-ZnO core-shell nanowires (ALD: 200 cycles) is 328 seconds, which is lower than pure SnO2 nanowires (938 seconds). These results demonstrated that the SnO2-ZnO core-shell nanowires have potential application as UV photodetectors with high photon-sensing properties

Optically Mapping Multiple Bacterial Genomes Simultaneously in a Single Run

Optical mapping of bacterial chromosomes provides an unambiguous low-resolution sequence scaffold of the entire chromosome. In comparison to some techniques, such as pulse field gel electrophoresis, cost and throughput limit the application of this technique outside of genome finishing. We have demonstrated the production of multiple bacterial maps using a single set of consumables; this significantly reduces the time and expense of map production

Finite-Wavevector Electromagnetic Response of Fractional Quantized Hall States

A fractional quantized Hall state with filling fraction $\nu = p/(2mp+1)$ can be modeled as an integer quantized Hall state of transformed fermions, interacting with a Chern-Simons field. The electromagnetic response function for these states at arbitrary frequency and wavevector can be calculated using a semiclassical approximation or the Random Phase Approximation (RPA). However, such calculations do not properly take into account the large effective mass renormalization which is present in the Chern-Simons theory. We show how the mass renormalization can be incorporated in a calculation of the response function within a Landau Fermi liquid theory approach such that Kohn's theorem and the $f$-sum rules are properly satisfied. We present results of such calculations.Comment: 19 pages (REVTeX 3.0), 5 figures available on request; HU-CMT-93S0

Intermedia and interculturalism: practitioners’ perspectives on an interactive theatre for young ethnic minority students in Hong Kong

This paper reports findings from a case study of an interactive theatre for young ethnic minority pupils in Hong Kong. Drawing upon Higgins’s (1966) notion of ‘intermedia’ as a configurational principle, this creative project entails collaboratively-designed performances with elements of drama, music, dance, puppetry, and language learning principles. This study explores – from practitioners’ perspectives – the pedagogical affordances of this intermedia-inspired collaborative project in early childhood settings targeting culturally diverse groups in Hong Kong. Qualitative findings emerging out of autoethnographic reflections of five practitioners, complemented with nonparticipant observation, have pointed to the emergence of an interculturalist gestalt in dialogue with an intermedial configuration. We argue that this opens up spaces for artistic participation and learning beyond language(s) in the early years through tapping into the pedagogical potentials of this creative project. Qualitative data also suggest that practitioners’ abilities to exercise flexibility and openness in response to an intermedial configuration have a mediating effect. Concluding remarks are made of the under-utilisation of intermedia as a boundary-destabilising and configurational principle in arts-based endeavours, and as a pedagogical principle in which multimodal and multisensory learning is embraced as the way forward, with insights drawn from cultural democracy and culturally responsive pedagogy