Image Fusion and Axial Labeling of the Spine

In order to improve radiological diagnosis of back pain and spine disease, two new algorithms have been developed to aid the 75% of Canadians who will suffer from back pain in a given year. With the associated medical imaging required for many of these patients, there is a potential for improvement in both patient care and healthcare economics by increasing the accuracy and efficiency of spine diagnosis. A real-time spine image fusion system and an automatic vertebra/disc labeling system have been developed to address this. Both magnetic resonance (MR) images and computed tomography (CT) images are often acquired for patients. The MR image highlights soft tissue detail while the CT image highlights bone detail. It is desirable to present both modalities on a single fused image containing the clinically relevant detail. The fusion problem was encoded in an energy functional balancing three competing goals for the fused image: 1) similarity to the MR image, 2) similarity to the CT image and 3) smoothness (containing natural transitions). Graph-Cut and convex solutions have been developed. They have similar performance to each other and outperform other fusion methods from recent literature. The convex solution has real-time performance on modern graphics processing units, allowing for interactive control of the fused image. Clinical validation has been conducted on the convex solution based on 15 patient images. The fused images have been shown to increase confidence of diagnosis compared to unregistered MR and CT images, with no change in time for diagnosis based on readings from 5 radiologists. Spinal vertebrae serve as a reference for the location of surrounding tissues, but vertebrae have a very similar appearance to each other, making it time consume for radiologist to keep track of their locations. To automate this, an axial MR labeling algorithm was developed that runs in near real-time. Probability product kernels and fast integral images combined with simple geometric rules were used to classify pixels, slices and vertebrae. Evaluation was conducted on 32 lumbar spine images and 24 cervical spine images. The algorithm demonstrated 99% and 79% accuracy on the lumbar and cervical spine respectively

The Lived Experiences of Secondary Teachers Who Give Grades and Feedback: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of secondary teachers who grade student work, including their grading beliefs, decisions, and feedback practices at Discovery Hills Unified School District. The theory that guided this study was self-determination theory as it helps explain the motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, for teacher grading practices and the impact of teacher feedback on students. The central question was: What are secondary teachers’ lived experiences with grading student work? Sub questions were used to explore the beliefs, decisions, and practices secondary teachers employ when grading student work or providing feedback. The design for this study followed phenomenological research data collection methods to guide the gathering of data from the lived experiences of secondary teachers across the history/social studies and English content areas in three middle and two high schools. Data sources included individual interviews, focus groups, and letter-writing. The data was analyzed via triangulation and thematic saturation. Further analysis included micro coding, memoing, pattern coding, in vivo coding, and member checks. From the analysis of the data, themes were generated and their interpretations detailed. The results of this study revealed that teachers desire training on best grading and feedback practices that will uncomplicate and systematize grades. Moreover, effective feedback practices were found to impact teacher and student motivation for learning in secondary English and history/social studies classes

Intensive Cultural Resources Survey For Portions Of The Proposed 17-Mile El Paso Natural Gas Mainline Expansion Project On Public Lands In El Paso And Hudspeth Counties, Texas

On behalf of El Paso Natural Gas Company, LLC (EPNG), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on a portion of the proposed 17.0-mile-long (27.4- kilometer [km]) EPNG Mainline Expansion Project (Project) that crosses public lands administered by the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the Clint Independent School District (CISD) in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, Texas. Investigations were conducted in support of EPNG’s filing of a standard 7c application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The 17-mile proposed project is one component of a larger project that includes construction in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Project activities would occur at three distinct locations along the EPNG’s existing South Mainline system including construction and operation of a new 17-mile-long loop line and construction and operation of two new compressor stations. In Texas, the proposed project consists of the construction of an approximate 17-mile, 30-inch outside diameter loop line extension in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, Texas. This report addresses only the portions of the 17-mile loop extension on Texas public lands. The public lands component of the project includes 1.85 miles of 300-foot-wide corridor (67.3 acres) on three GLO properties (i.e., parcels 0003.000.00.00-HU-TX, 0004.000.00.00-HU-TX, and 0125.000.00.00-EP-TX) and 0.15 mile of 300-foot-wide corridor (5.5 acres) on one CISD property (parcel 0064.000.00.00-EP-TX). Cultural resources investigations were conducted on the public lands to comply with the Antiquities Code of Texas, as the agencies administering those lands are political subdivisions of the State of Texas. Additionally, as the project is subject to FERC review and the project may cross waters of the U.S. under jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, work was performed in support of EPNG’s compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108) and its implementing regulations (36 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 800). Impacts associated with the construction of the pipeline will occur within a variable width construction right-of-way (ROW) measuring 60 feet wide in residential areas and 180 feet wide in dunal areas, but averaging 90 feet wide. For the 2.0 miles of cultural resources survey on public lands, SWCA investigated a 300-foot-wide corridor to give EPNG options for the ultimate centerline placement. The anticipated typical depth of construction impacts is approximately 6 feet below ground surface, although, in dunal areas, the depth of impacts will be approximately 9 feet; however, subsurface impacts are anticipated to extend up to 12 feet below ground surface via subsurface bores to avoid impacts to areas with existing infrastructure and drainages. The project area of potential effects (APE) on public lands consists of approximately 10,500 feet (2.0 miles) of 300-foot-wide survey corridor encompassing 72.7 acres, which includes 7.3 acres of permanent 30-foot-wide ROW and 12.1 acres of construction corridor. Included within the 300-foot-wide survey corridor are proposed access roads for the project that consist of existing 15- to 25-foot-wide gravel access roads for several previously constructed pipelines that parallel the current APE. Investigations included a cultural resources background review and literature search of the APE and an intensive pedestrian survey of the APE augmented with shovel testing. SWCA’s background review indicated that 11 previous cultural resources surveys have been conducted within a 1-mile radius of the APE. Seven of the 11 previously surveyed project areas intersect the APE or are adjacent to (within 300 feet of) the APE; the remainder of the previous survey areas are within the 1-mile buffer, but due to their distance to the APE, will not be traversed by the planned construction. None of the seven previous cultural surveys intersect or are adjacent to the four public land parcels discussed in this report. The review also indicates that 40 previously recorded archaeological sites are within a 1-mile buffer of the APE; however, only four sites (i.e., 41EP868, 41EP4768, 41EP5490, and 41HZ234) appear to be intersected by, or within 300 feet of, the APE. None of these four sites are located within any of the public lands. The closest previous site to a public land parcel is 41HZ234, which is located just within the northern boundary of the 300-foot-wide survey corridor but is several hundred feet outside the northern boundary of parcel 0004.000.00.00-HU-TX on private property. Because of the current survey effort, SWCA recorded one new archaeological site (41HZ803). Owing to the paucity or commonality of recovered assemblages, lack of features, lack of unique character, and/or lack of contextual integrity, this resource possesses negligible research value and is unlikely to contribute new or important information regarding local and/or regional prehistory. Consequently, no further work is recommended for 41HZ803

Short vs. long: cognitive load, retention and changing class structures

University class structure is changing. To accommodate working students, programmes are increasing their offerings of long night classes – some lasting as long as six hours. While these long classes may be more convenient for students, they have unintended consequences as a result of cognitive load. Using a panel of 124 students (372 observations) and a differencing approach that controls for student characteristics, we show that student exam performance decreases by approximately one-half letter grade on content taught in the second half of a long class (significant at the 5% level)

Influence of Atmospheric Turbulence on Optical Communications using Orbital Angular Momentum for Encoding

We describe an experimental implementation of a free-space 11-dimensional communication system using orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes. This system has a maximum measured OAM channel capacity of 2.12 bits/photon. The effects of Kolmogorov thin-phase turbulence on the OAM channel capacity are quantified. We find that increasing the turbulence leads to a degradation of the channel capacity. We are able to mitigate the effects of turbulence by increasing the spacing between detected OAM modes. This study has implications for high-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. We describe the sort of QKD system that could be built using our current technology.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Evaluating evolution as a learning algorithm

We interpret the Moran model of natural selection and drift as an algorithm for learning features of a simplified fitness landscape, specifically genotype superiority. This algorithm's efficiency in extracting these characteristics is evaluated by comparing it to a novel Bayesian learning algorithm developed using information-theoretic tools. This algorithm makes use of a communication channel analogy between an environment and an evolving population. We use the associated channel-rate to determine an informative population-sampling procedure. We find that the algorithm can identify genotype superiority faster than the Moran model but at the cost of larger fluctuations in uncertainty

High-dimensional quantum cryptography with twisted light

Quantum key distributions (QKD) systems often rely on polarization of light for encoding, thus limiting the amount of information that can be sent per photon and placing tight bounds on the error that such a system can tolerate. Here we describe a proof-of-principle experiment that indicates the feasibility of high-dimensional QKD based on the transverse structure of the light field, allowing for the transfer of more than 1 bit per photon. Our implementation uses the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons and the corresponding mutually unbiased basis of angular position (ANG). Our experiment uses a digital micro-mirror device for the rapid generation of OAM and ANG modes at 4 kHz, and a mode sorter capable of sorting single photons based on their OAM and ANG content with a separation efficiency of 93\%. Through the use of a 7-dimensional alphabet encoded in the OAM and ANG bases, we achieve a channel capacity of 2.05 bits per sifted photon. Our experiment shows that, in addition to having an increased information capacity, QKD systems based on spatial-mode encoding will be more tolerant to errors and thus more robust against eavesdropping attacks

Senior Recital: Connor Osburn, horn

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Mr. Connor studies horn with Tom Witte.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1257/thumbnail.jp

SUMOylation of DISC1: a potential role in neural progenitor proliferation in the developing cortex

DISC1 is a multifunctional, intracellular scaffold protein. At the cellular level, DISC1 plays a pivotal role in neural progenitor proliferation, migration, and synaptic maturation. Perturbation of the biological pathways involving DISC1 is known to lead to behavioral changes in rodents, which supports a clinical report of a Scottish pedigree in which the majority of family members with disruption of the DISC1 gene manifest depression, schizophrenia, and related mental conditions. The discrepancy between modest evidence in genetics and strong biological support for the role of DISC1 in mental conditions suggests a working hypothesis that regulation of DISC1 at the protein level, such as posttranslational modification, may play a role in the pathology of mental conditions. In this study, we report on the SUMOylation of DISC1. This posttranslational modification occurs on lysine residues where the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) and its homologs are conjugated to a large number of cellular proteins, which in turn regulates their subcellular distribution and protein stability. By using in silico, biochemical, and cell-biological approaches, we now demonstrate that human DISC1 is SUMOylated at one specific lysine 643 (K643). We also show that this residue is crucial for proper neural progenitor proliferation in the developing cortex