Watchman routes in the presence of convex obstacles

This thesis deals with the problem of computing shortest watchman routes in the presence of polygonal obstacles. Important recent results on watchman route problems are surveyed. An {dollar}O(n\sp3){dollar} algorithm for computing a shortest watchman route in the presence of a pair of convex obstacles is presented. Important open problems related to watchman route problems are discussed

Bringing Physical Education Home: A Handbook of Fitness Activities for Use Outside of School

A handbook has been developed to aid in the integration of physical fitness and movement of elementary students beyond the school gymnasium. As more and more evidence points to the need and importance of physical activity being a daily part of children\u27s lives, it is clear that the current requirements of physical education in today\u27s schools are not enough. The handbook consists of six sections regarding the scope of where outside the school these activities can be done: at home indoors, your own back yard, within your neighborhood, surrounding cities, around the state, across the Nation. The targeted population for the handbook is families with elementary-aged children, living in the city of Issaquah, Washington. Current literature and research concerning the need for increased levels of physical activity and movement for today\u27s youth were explored

The exploitation of pipeline parallelism by compile time dataflow analysis

The automatic and implicit transformation of sequential instruction streams, which execute efficiently for pipelined architectures is the subject of this paper. This paper proposes a method which maximizes the parallel performance of an instruction pipeline by detecting and eliminating specific pipeline hazards known as resource conflicts. The detection of resource conflicts is accomplished with data dependence analysis, while the elimination of resource conflicts is accomplished by instruction stream code transformation. The transformation of instruction streams is guided by data dependence analysis, and dependence graphs. This thesis is based on the premise that the elimination of resource conflicts is synonymous with the elimination of specific arcs in the dependence graph. Examples will be given showing how detection and elimination of resource conflicts is possible through compiler optimization

Biomedical Informatics Applications for Precision Management of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Modern medicine is in the midst of a revolution driven by “big data,” rapidly advancing computing power, and broader integration of technology into healthcare. Highly detailed and individualized profiles of both health and disease states are now possible, including biomarkers, genomic profiles, cognitive and behavioral phenotypes, high-frequency assessments, and medical imaging. Although these data are incredibly complex, they can potentially be used to understand multi-determinant causal relationships, elucidate modifiable factors, and ultimately customize treatments based on individual parameters. Especially for neurodegenerative diseases, where an effective therapeutic agent has yet to be discovered, there remains a critical need for an interdisciplinary perspective on data and information management due to the number of unanswered questions. Biomedical informatics is a multidisciplinary field that falls at the intersection of information technology, computer and data science, engineering, and healthcare that will be instrumental for uncovering novel insights into neurodegenerative disease research, including both causal relationships and therapeutic targets and maximizing the utility of both clinical and research data. The present study aims to provide a brief overview of biomedical informatics and how clinical data applications such as clinical decision support tools can be developed to derive new knowledge from the wealth of available data to advance clinical care and scientific research of neurodegenerative diseases in the era of precision medicine

A polar space for document storage and retrieval

In a manual retrieval system, the process of associating a book or document with a specified term reflects the recall, associativity and flexibility of the human mind

State Dependence of Stimulus-Induced Variability Tuning in Macaque MT

Behavioral states marked by varying levels of arousal and attention modulate some properties of cortical responses (e.g. average firing rates or pairwise correlations), yet it is not fully understood what drives these response changes and how they might affect downstream stimulus decoding. Here we show that changes in state modulate the tuning of response variance-to-mean ratios (Fano factors) in a fashion that is neither predicted by a Poisson spiking model nor changes in the mean firing rate, with a substantial effect on stimulus discriminability. We recorded motion-sensitive neurons in middle temporal cortex (MT) in two states: alert fixation and light, opioid anesthesia. Anesthesia tended to lower average spike counts, without decreasing trial-to-trial variability compared to the alert state. Under anesthesia, within-trial fluctuations in excitability were correlated over longer time scales compared to the alert state, creating supra-Poisson Fano factors. In contrast, alert-state MT neurons have higher mean firing rates and largely sub-Poisson variability that is stimulus-dependent and cannot be explained by firing rate differences alone. The absence of such stimulus-induced variability tuning in the anesthetized state suggests different sources of variability between states. A simple model explains state-dependent shifts in the distribution of observed Fano factors via a suppression in the variance of gain fluctuations in the alert state. A population model with stimulus-induced variability tuning and behaviorally constrained information-limiting correlations explores the potential enhancement in stimulus discriminability by the cortical population in the alert state.Comment: 36 pages, 18 figure

Building public health preparedness and food and agriculture defense capabilities using whole community and one health concepts

Emergency managers are embracing the Whole Community approach described in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) preparedness policy, doctrine, and guidance. The Whole Community approach entails broad collaboration and integration of effort among multiple disciplines and preparedness partners to coordinate solutions for all threats and hazards. Potential public health emergencies – to include foodborne and animal disease outbreaks – are issues on the emergency management agenda requiring such broad coordination. Scientists and public health practitioners across multiple disciplines describe a philosophy very similar to “Whole Community” known as “One Health,” linking efforts to address the shared threats to human, animal and environmental health. This paper recommends a coordinated strategy for FEMA to link “Whole Community” and “One Health” tenets as part of a national preparedness effort

Device to dynamically stretch cells during microscopic visualization

Cells in physiological systems are constantly subjected to mechanical forces which affect myriad cellular functions and contribute to pathologies. Current devices to study cellular responses to strain in vitro have drawbacks including the inability to analyze cellular responses in “real-time”, non-uniform strains patterns, and limited operation time (\u3c6 hr). To overcome these limitations, a novel stretch device was developed using four linear motors and a novel silicone culture well. The device is capable of cyclic stretching of cells biaxially up to 30% strain in either or both of two orthogonal axes at 0.01 to 1 Hz frequency for a minimum of 6 hr during “real-time” analysis of cells under a standard inverted microscope. This new system will facilitate controlled mechanobiology studies

Carbon Reduction In Reigate & Banstead

This project used energy surveying protocols to identify opportunities for carbon reduction among small and medium enterprises in the borough of Reigate and Banstead. The team conducted energy surveys to discover the most common patterns of energy consumption, as well as areas for businesses to improve energy efficiency. Personalized reports were created for these companies, and separate recommendations were given to the Reigate and Banstead Borough Council regarding the replication of similar projects in the future. Additionally, the project team gained a valuable cross-cultural experience while learning project management and collaboration skills