536 research outputs found
Populations of OB-type stars in galaxies
One of the challenges for stellar astrophysics is to reach the point at which
we can undertake reliable spectral synthesis of unresolved populations in
young, star-forming galaxies at high redshift. Here I summarise recent studies
of massive stars in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds, which span a range of
metallicities commensurate with those in high-redshift systems, thus providing
an excellent laboratory in which to study the role of environment on stellar
evolution. I also give an overview of observations of luminous supergiants in
external galaxies out to a remarkable 6.7 Mpc, in which we can exploit our
understanding of stellar evolution to study the chemistry and dynamics of the
host systems.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, invited review at IAU Symposium 272 (eds Neiner,
Wade, Meynet & Peters
Medical imaging analysis with artificial neural networks
Given that neural networks have been widely reported in the research community of medical imaging, we provide a focused literature survey on recent neural network developments in computer-aided diagnosis, medical image segmentation and edge detection towards visual content analysis, and medical image registration for its pre-processing and post-processing, with the aims of increasing awareness of how neural networks can be applied to these areas and to provide a foundation for further research and practical development. Representative techniques and algorithms are explained in detail to provide inspiring examples illustrating: (i) how a known neural network with fixed structure and training procedure could be applied to resolve a medical imaging problem; (ii) how medical images could be analysed, processed, and characterised by neural networks; and (iii) how neural networks could be expanded further to resolve problems relevant to medical imaging. In the concluding section, a highlight of comparisons among many neural network applications is included to provide a global view on computational intelligence with neural networks in medical imaging
THINK PIECE: Reflecting on Medical Anthropology in Aotearoa New Zealand
In considering what makes New Zealand unique for medical anthropological focus, this think piece sets out four themes. These reflect New Zealand’s particular historical, political, social and cultural landscape, and reveal the relevance of local scholarship for wider global debates about health. By tracing the neoliberal reform of state healthcare, indigenous approaches to wellbeing, local cultural practices of health, and the complex ethics involved in health and illness, this paper spotlights the opportunities that New Zealand medical anthropology affords us for addressing the important health and wellbeing challenges that we face today
Paradoxes of Human Nature
Our psychobiological nature is characterized paradoxically by our limitedly having and not having
free will — our having this will and being subject to causes understood scientifically. Both
characteristics are necessary for an intelligible ethics, politics, and political science. In particular,
political science as a science must admit of our behavior being partially caused and of political
rights and responsibilities in virtue of our limited free will. Admitting of either only this will or
only the determinism is a central error of modern totalitarian ideology
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