Exact and Heuristic Approaches to Speeding Up the MSM Time Series Distance Computation

The computation of the distance of two time series is time-consuming for any elastic distance function that accounts for misalignments. Among those functions, DTW is the most prominent. However, a recent extensive evaluation has shown that the move-split merge (MSM) metric is superior to DTW regarding the analytical accuracy of the 1-NN classifier. Unfortunately, the running time of the standard dynamic programming algorithm for MSM distance computation is $\Omega(n^2)$, where $n$ is the length of the longest time series. In this paper, we provide approaches to reducing the cost of MSM distance computations by using lower and upper bounds for early pruning paths in the underlying dynamic programming table. For the case of one time series being a constant, we present a linear-time algorithm. In addition, we propose new linear-time heuristics and adapt heuristics known from DTW to computing the MSM distance. One heuristic employs the metric property of MSM and the previously introduced linear-time algorithm. Our experimental studies demonstrate substantial speed-ups in our approaches compared to previous MSM algorithms. In particular, the running time for MSM is faster than a state-of-the-art DTW distance computation for a majority of the popular UCR data sets

Event-driven Middleware for Body and Ambient Sensor Applications

Continuing development of on-body and ambient sensors has led to a vast increase in sensor-based assistance and monitoring solutions. A growing range of modular sensors, and the necessity of running multiple applications on the sensor information, has led to an equally extensive increase in efforts for system development. In this work, we present an event-driven middleware for on-body and ambient sensor networks allowing multiple applications to define information types of their interest in a publish/subscribe manner. Incoming sensor data is hereby transformed into the required data representation which lifts the burden of adapting the application with respect to the connected sensors off the developer's shoulders. Furthermore, an unsupervised on-the-fly reloading of transformation rules from a remote server allows the system's adaptation to future applications and sensors at run-time as well as reducing the number of connected sensors. Open communication channels distribute sensor information to all interested applications. In addition to that, application-specific event channels are introduced that provide tailor-made information retrieval as well as control over the dissemination of critical information. The system is evaluated based on an Android implementation with transformation rules implemented as OSGi bundles that are retrieved from a remote web server. Evaluation shows a low impact of running the middleware and the transformation rules on a phone and highlights the reduced energy consumption by having fewer sensors serving multiple applications. It also points out the behavior and limits of the open and application-specific event channels with respect to CPU utilization, delivery ratio, and memory usage. In addition to the middleware approach, four (preventive) health care applications are presented. They take advantage of the mediation between sensors and applications and highlight the system's capabilities. By connecting body sensors for monitoring physical and physiological parameters as well as ambient sensors for retrieving information about user presence and interactions with the environment, full-fledged health monitoring examples for monitoring a user throughout the day are presented. Vital parameters are gathered from commercially available biosensors and the mediator device running both the middleware and the application is an off-the-shelf smart phone. For gaining information about a user's physical activity, custom-built body and ambient sensors are presented and deployed

Working capital management in the Swiss chemical industry

The investigation of Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical companies regarding their working capital management has revealed the huge potential which is lying in the management of short term assets and liabilities. Furthermore, the considerable differences between the single firms show that an optimized working capital management may play an important role for a firm’s competitiveness. A successful working apital strategy relies on the commitment and awareness of the management and on efficient working capital practices on the operative level. In addition, internal and external collaboration leads to more competitiveness, both for the firm as well as for the whole supply chain. A consistent and ongoing monitoring ensures sustainable improvements, and can be supported and enhanced by a benchmarking analysis and the adaption of best practices

On the Complexity of Computing Time Series Medians Under the Move-Split-Merge Metric

We initiate a study of the complexity of MSM-Median, the problem of computing a median of a set of k real-valued time series under the move-split-merge distance. This distance measure is based on three operations: moves, which may shift a data point in a time series; splits, which replace one data point in a time series by two consecutive data points of the same value; and merges, which replace two consecutive data points of equal value by a single data point of the same value. The cost of a move operation is the difference of the data point value before and after the operation, the cost of split and merge operations is defined via a given constant c. Our main results are as follows. First, we show that MSM-Median is NP-hard and W[1]-hard with respect to k for time series with at most three distinct values. Under the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH) our reduction implies that a previous dynamic programming algorithm with running time |I|^?(k) [Holznigenkemper et al., Data Min. Knowl. Discov. \u2723] is essentially optimal. Here, |I| denotes the total input size. Second, we show that MSM-Median can be solved in 2^?(d/c)?|I|^?(1) time where d is the total distance of the median to the input time series

Towards an EBV Analyzer based on VAT

The Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) proposed by GEO BON offer great benefits for decision makers and scientists if they are made readily available. Currently, the usage of EBVs is, however, still a challenge. The required data sets are very large, heterogeneous and temporal. This makes the usage in common tools like GIS very cumbersome. We propose the VAT system, a web-based processing engine for spatio-temporal data, as an ideal tool for EBV visualization and analysis. VAT is being developed as part of GFBio, but was designed to work independently from the start. Here, users can access a rich set of environmental layers and combine them with their own, private data. So-called exploratory workflows allow users to process data in an interactive fashion while guaranteeing reproducibility of the result. In cooperation with GEO BON we are working towards using VAT as the future EBV Browser & Analyzer. In our first use case we considered the global forest change EBV that measures the yearly global loss and gain of tree cover. In particular we wanted to investigate the change over time for a given region of interest. This information is highly relevant for decision makers as well as scientists. In our application users can choose between forest loss and forest gain and then specify their region of interest. This is either done by selecting a country from a list, or by drawing a custom polygon on the map. The relevant part of the EBV data set is added to the map as a new layer. In addition, a plot visualizes the aggregated changes over time. On the technical side this requires intersecting the raster data from the EBV with the user-defined polygon. The size of the raster makes it necessary to work with overviews in order to achieve a low-latency computation. For plotting the temporal development, we make use of our interface to R which allows us exploiting its powerful plotting functionality. In our ongoing work we will implement a public EBV catalogue that allows users to search and submit EBVs. Quality indicators will assist users to decide on the suitability of the data for their given use case. The data from the EBV catalogue will be available in the VAT system for scientists. In addition, VAT also offers simplified report views that hide the complexity of the actual computations and are thus suitable for decision makers and even the general public

Heart rate variability is related to disease severity in children and young adults with pulmonary hypertension

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is frequently associated with an increase in sympathetic tone. This may adversely affect cardiac autonomic control. Knowledge about the clinical impact of autonomic dysfunction in patients with PH is limited. We aimed to assess whether parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) are related to disease severity in children with PH. Methods: Parameters of HRV [SDNN, standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals and SDANN, standard deviation of mean values for normal-to-normal intervals over 5 min] were determined from Holter electrocardiograms of 17 patients with PH without active intracardial shunt (10 female, mean age 12.8 ± 8.7 years). Patients were allocated to two groups according to their disease severity: patients with moderate PH [ratio of pulmonary to systemic arterial pressure (PAP/SAP ratio) 0.75) (n = 6). An additional group of five adolescents with Eisenmenger syndrome (PAP/SAP ratio 1.13 ± 0.36) was included. Results: Children with severe PH had significantly lower values of HRV [SDNN (73.8 ± 21.1 vs. 164.9 ± 38.1 ms), SDANN (62.2 ± 19.0 vs. 139.5 ± 33.3 ms)] compared to patients with moderate PH (p = 0.0001 for all). SDNN inversely correlated with ratio of PAP/SAP of PH patients without shunt (r = -0.82; p = 0.0002). Eisenmenger patients showed no significant difference of HRV [SDNN 157.6 ± 43.2 ms, SDANN 141.2 ± 45.3 ms] compared to patients with moderate PH without shunt (p > 0.05 for all). Conclusion: According to our results, children with severe PH may have alterations in HRV. Since HRV appears to be related to disease severity, it may therefore serve as an additional diagnostic marker of PH. Remarkably, although Eisenmenger patients have systemic pulmonary arterial pressures, they seem to have preserved HRV, which might reflect a more favorable autonomic adaptation

Die wiederkehrende Emissionsprüfung nach 1. BImSchV: Für Betreiber automatisch beschickter Holzfeuerungen bis 100 kW Nennleistung

... im Rahmen der politischen Zielsetzung einer nachhaltigeren und umweltschonenderen Energieerzeugung wird auch die Biomassenutzung in Form der dezentralen Wärmeerzeugung gefördert, um die Energiewende voran zu treiben und Kohlenstoffdioxidemissionen durch die Nutzung nachwachsender Rohstoffe einzusparen. Bei den genutzten Technologien muss jedoch auch sichergestellt sein, dass deren Betrieb hinsichtlich der emittierten Luftschadstoffe unbedenklich ist und die geltenden Vorschriften erfüllt. Dazu zählt bei Feuerungsanlagen die wiederkehrende Emissionsprüfung

Cynomolgus monkey's choroid reference database derived from hybrid deep learning optical coherence tomography segmentation.

Cynomolgus monkeys exhibit human-like features, such as a fovea, so they are often used in non-clinical research. Nevertheless, little is known about the natural variation of the choroidal thickness in relation to origin and sex. A combination of deep learning and a deterministic computer vision algorithm was applied for automatic segmentation of foveolar optical coherence tomography images in cynomolgus monkeys. The main evaluation parameters were choroidal thickness and surface area directed from the deepest point on OCT images within the fovea, marked as the nulla with regard to sex and origin. Reference choroid landmarks were set underneath the nulla and at 500 µm intervals laterally up to a distance of 2000 µm nasally and temporally, complemented by a sub-analysis of the central bouquet of cones. 203 animals contributed 374 eyes for a reference choroid database. The overall average central choroidal thickness was 193 µm with a coefficient of variation of 7.8%, and the overall mean surface area of the central bouquet temporally was 19,335 µm2 and nasally was 19,283 µm2. The choroidal thickness of the fovea appears relatively homogeneous between the sexes and the studied origins. However, considerable natural variation has been observed, which needs to be appreciated

Projeto Piwkeyewün: Lineamentos para o co-design de sistemas de cultivo vegetal tecnológico indígena

El Proyecto Piwkeyewün busca generar una metodología para que diferentes colectivos indígenas ideen y representen formas de cultivo vegetal que, sin dejar de articular lógicas, prácticas y sentidos culturalmente significativos, incorporen materiales contemporáneos y elementos provenientes de tendencias tecnológicas (digitalidad e «internet de las cosas»). A través de estas acciones nos preguntamos por las condiciones de posibilidad de las expresiones materiales indígenas actuales, su relación con discursos asociados a la ancestralidad y por los posibles diálogos entre cosmovisión y tecnología. El siguiente artículo expone cruces entre las disciplinas del diseño y la antropología, utilizando como eje articulador el contexto e historia del pueblo mapuche en Chile, mediante el análisis de los resultados de un taller aplicado de diseño, desarrollado en un contexto universitario durante el año 2021, donde se aborda, mediante actividades lectivas y prácticas, diversos componentes identitarios, ambientales, materiales, territoriales, tecnológicos y de diseño.The Piwkeyewün Project aims to generate a methodology for different indigenous groups to devise and represent forms of vegetable cultivation that, while articulating culturally significant logics, practices, and meanings, incorporate contemporary materials and elements from technological trends (digitality and the «internet of things»). With these actions, we ask ourselves about the conditions of possibility of the current indigenous material expressions, their relationship with discourses associated with ancestry, and the possible dialogues between worldview and technology. The following article exposes intersections between the disciplines of design and anthropology, using the context and history of the Mapuche people in Chile as the articulating axis, with an analysis of the results of a participatory design workshop, developed in a university context during the year 2021, where several identity, environmental, material, territorial, technological and design components are addressed through teaching activities and proposals.O Projeto Piwkeyewün procura gerar uma metodologia para que diferentes coletivos indígenas ideiem e representem formas de cultivo vegetal que, sem deixar de articular lógicas, práticas e sentidos culturalmente significativos, incorporem materiais contemporâneos e elementos procedentes de tendências tecnológicas (digitalidade e «internet das coisas»). Através destas ações nos perguntamos pelas condições de possibilidade das expresões materiais indígenas atuais, sua relação com discursos associados à ancestralidade e pelos possíveis diálogos entre cosmovisão e tecnologia. O seguinte artigo expõe cruzamentos entre as disciplinas do design e a antropologia, utilizando como eixo articulador o contexto e historia do povo mapuche em Chile, mediante o análise dos resultados de um workshop aplicado de design, desenvolvido num contexto universtitário durante o ano 2021, onde são abordados, mediante atividades lectivas e práticas, diversos componentes identitários, ambientais, materiais, territoriais, tecnológicos e de design