Deviation warnings of ferries based on artificial potential field and historical data

Ferries are usually used for transporting passengers and vehicles among docks, and any deviation of the course can lead to serious consequences. Therefore, transportation ferries must be watched closely by local maritime administrators, which involves much manpower. With the use of historical data, this article proposes an intelligent method of integrating artificial potential field with Bayesian Network to trigger deviation warnings for a ferry based on its trajectory, speed and course. More specifically, a repulsive potential field-based model is first established to capture a customary waterway of ferries. Subsequently, a method based on non-linear optimisation is introduced to train the coefficients of the proposed repulsive potential field. The deviation of a ferry from the customary route can then be quantified by the potential field. Bayesian Network is further introduced to trigger deviation warnings in accordance with the distribution of deviation values, speeds and courses. Finally, the proposed approach is validated by the historical data of a chosen ferry on a specific route. The testing results show that the approach is capable of providing deviation warnings for ferries accurately and can offer a practical solution for maritime supervision. © IMechE 2019

Electronic Transitions of Palladium Dimer

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The Efficacy of Triamcinolone Acetonide in Keloid Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

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BEX3 contributes to cisplatin chemoresistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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Identification of Cellular Targets of MicroRNA-181a in HepG2 Cells: A New Approach for Functional Analysis of MicroRNAs

<div><p>MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to play a part in regulating important cellular processes. They generally perform their regulatory function through their binding with mRNAs, ultimately leading to a repression of target protein expression levels. However, their roles in cellular processes are poorly understood due to the limited understanding of their specific cellular targets. Aberrant levels of miRNAs have been found in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) including miR-181a. Using bioinformatics analysis, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B (CDKN1β) and transcriptional factor E2F7 were identified as potential targets of miR-181a. Validation analysis using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) showed a positive binding between miR-181a and the 3’UTRs of these two potential mRNA targets. <i>In vivo</i> luciferase assay further confirmed the positive miR-181a:mRNA bindings, where a significant decrease in luciferase activity was detected when HepG2 cells were co-transfected with the 3’UTR-containing reporter plasmids and miR-181a. The potential impact of miR-181a binding to its specific targets on the general cellular behavior was further investigated. Results showed that miR-181a significantly activated the MAPK/JNK pathway which regulates cell proliferation, supporting our recently reported findings. Inhibition of miR-181a, on the other hand, abolished the observed activation. Our findings open up a new approach in designing targeted functional analysis of miRNAs in cellular processes, through the identification of their cellular targets.</p></div

Socio-economic and psychological correlates of suicidality among Hong Kong working-age adults: Results from a population-based survey

Background. The global toll of suicide is estimated to be one million lives per year, which exceeded the number of deaths by homicide and war combined. A key step to suicide prevention is to prevent less serious suicidal behaviour to preclude more lethal outcomes. Although 61% of the world's suicides take place in Asia and the suicide rates among middle age groups have been increasing since the economic crisis in many Asian countries, population-based studies of suicidal behaviour among working-age adults in non-western communities are scarce. Method. Data from a population-based survey with 2015 participants were used to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and behaviour among the working-age population in Hong Kong, and to study the associated socio-economic and psychological correlates. We focused particularly on potential modulating factors between life-event-related factors and suicidal ideation. Results. Six per cent of the Hong Kong population aged 20-59 years considered suicide in the past year, while 1.4% attempted suicide. Hopelessness, reasons for living, and reluctance to seek help from family and friends had direct association with past-year suicidal ideation. Reasons for living were found to moderate the effect of perceived stress on suicidal ideation. Conclusions. Suicidality is a multi-faceted problem that calls for a multi-sectored, multi-layered approach to prevention. Prevention programmes can work on modulating factors such as reasons for living to reduce suicidal risk in working-age adults. © 2006 Cambridge University Press.published_or_final_versio

Effects of annealing on the electrical properties of Fe-doped InP

The electrical properties of Fe-doped semi-insulating (SI) InP were investigated before and after annealing. The annealing conditions were controlled by changing either the temperature or duration. Correlation between the change of electrical parameters with the change of defect concentration at different annealing stage was observed. The defects and the change of the concentrations in Fe-doped SI InP were detected by room-temperature photocurrent spectroscopy.published_or_final_versio

Risk perception of individual suppliers in e-commerce transactions

This study aimed to explore the relationship between three kinds of risk characteristics, anxiety, controllability and predictability respectively, and their effects on total risk perception, and their relationship with risk-coping behaviors in e-commerce transactions. 174 individual suppliers participated in the survey. Results indicated that: a) the correlation between controllability and predictability was high, while anxiety remained independently; b) the risk source factors of two risk characteristics were different; c) the anxiety influenced the total risk most; d) individual suppliers tended to take coping risk behaviors as much as possible. Also, part of the risk coping behaviors has significant correlation with risk characteristics

Isoscalar electric multipole strength in C-12

Journals published by the American Physical Society can be found at http://publish.aps.org/The excitation region in C-12 below E-x=45 MeV was studied using 240 MeV alpha-particle scattering. Elastic scattering was measured from theta(c.m.)=3.8degrees to 49.4degrees and density dependant folding optical model parameters were obtained. Inelastic scattering to the 4.44 MeV 2(+), 7.65 MeV 0(+), 9.64 MeV 3(-), 10.3 MeV 0(+), and 10.84 MeV 1(-) states was measured and B(EL) values obtained. Inelastic scattering exciting C-12 to 10 MeVless than or equal toE(x)less than or equal to12.5 MeV was measured from 1.4degreesless than or equal totheta(c.m.)less than or equal to10degrees and to 12.5 MeVless than or equal toE(x)less than or equal to45 MeV from 1.4degreesless than or equal totheta(c.m.)less than or equal to16degrees and E0, E1, E2, and E3 strength distributions were obtained. Strength was identified corresponding to 27+/-5, 78+/-9, and 51+/-7% of the isoscalar E0, E1, and E2 energy weighted sum rule (EWSR), respectively, with centroids of 21.9+/-0.3, 27.5+/-0.4, and 22.6+/-0.5 MeV and rms widths of 4.8+/-0.5, 7.6+/-0.6, and 6.8+/-0.6 MeV. Less than 7% of the E3 EWSR strength was identified

Assessment of median nerve mobility by ultrasound dynamic imaging in carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis

2013 Joint UffC, EFTF and PFM SymposiumCarpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common entrapment neuropathy. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) have been used as a standard for CTS diagnosis. Complementing NCS, ultrasound imaging provides anatomic information on pathologic changes of the median nerve, such as the reduced median nerve mobility. Motion of median nerve is dependent on mechanical characteristics, and body movements. The purpose of this study was therefore to measure transverse sliding patterns of the median nerve during fingers flexion and extension in ultrasound B-mode images for distinguishing healthy from CTS subjects, and to investigate any correlation between NCS severity and median nerve motion. Transverse ultrasound images were acquired from 19 normal, 15 mild, and 10 severe CTS subjects confirmed by NCS. In two-second acquisition, their fingers were initially in natural position; the median nerve was then moved toward the ulnar side and radius side in fingers flexion and extension, respectively. The displacements of the median nerve were calculated by the multilevel block-matching pyramid algorithm and averaged. All the average displacements at different acquisition times were then accumulated to obtain cumulative displacements, which were curve-fitted by polynomial function. To differentiate the normal from CTS cases, the R-squared, curvature, and amplitude of the fitted curves were computed, to evaluate the goodness, variation, and maximum value of the fit, respectively. Compared to the CTS patients, the normal subjects had higher R-square, curvature, and amplitude estimates. The three parameters were then inputted to a fuzzy c-means algorithm to classify normal cases and CTS ones. The diagnostic efficiency had an accuracy of 93.2%, a specificity of 100%, and a sensitivity of 88%. Further study includes measuring mechanical strain and stress at different neural sites to provide elasticity of the median nerve. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio