Compactly Supported Tensor Product Complex Tight Framelets with Directionality

Although tensor product real-valued wavelets have been successfully applied to many high-dimensional problems, they can only capture well edge singularities along the coordinate axis directions. As an alternative and improvement of tensor product real-valued wavelets and dual tree complex wavelet transform, recently tensor product complex tight framelets with increasing directionality have been introduced in [8] and applied to image denoising in [13]. Despite several desirable properties, the directional tensor product complex tight framelets constructed in [8,13] are bandlimited and do not have compact support in the space/time domain. Since compactly supported wavelets and framelets are of great interest and importance in both theory and application, it remains as an unsolved problem whether there exist compactly supported tensor product complex tight framelets with directionality. In this paper, we shall satisfactorily answer this question by proving a theoretical result on directionality of tight framelets and by introducing an algorithm to construct compactly supported complex tight framelets with directionality. Our examples show that compactly supported complex tight framelets with directionality can be easily derived from any given eligible low-pass filters and refinable functions. Several examples of compactly supported tensor product complex tight framelets with directionality have been presented

DATA-DRIVEN STORYTELLING FOR CASUAL USERS

Today’s overwhelming volume of data has made effective analysis virtually inaccessible for the general public. The emerging practice of data-driven storytelling is addressing this by framing data using familiar mechanisms such as slideshows, videos, and comics to make even highly complex phenomena understandable. However, current data stories still do not utilize the full potential of the storytelling domain. One reason for this is that current data-driven storytelling practice does not leverage the full repertoire of media that can be used for storytelling, such as speech, e-learning, and video games. In this dissertation, we propose a taxonomy focused specifically on media types for the purpose of widening the purview of data-driven storytelling by putting more tools in the hands of designers. We expand the idea of data-driven storytelling into the group of casual users, who are the consumers of information and non-professionals with limited time, skills, and motivation , to bridge the data gap between the advanced data analytics tools and everyday internet users. To prove the effectiveness and the wide acceptance of our taxonomy and data-driven storytelling among the casual users, we have collected examples for data-driven storytelling by finding, reviewing, and classifying ninety-one examples. Using our taxonomy as a generative tool, we also explored two novel storytelling mechanisms, including live-streaming analytics videos—DataTV—and sequential art (comics) that dynamically incorporates visual representations—Data Comics. Meanwhile, we widened the genres we explored to fill the gaps in the literature. We also evaluated Data Comics and DataTV with user studies and expert reviews. The results show that Data Comics facilitates data-driven storytelling in terms of inviting reading, aiding memory, and viewing as a story. The results also show that an integrated system as DataTV encourages authors to create and present data stories

Sparse orthogonal circulant transform multiplexing for coherent optical fiber communication

This paper introduces a new multicarrier system, named sparse orthogonal circulant transform multiplexing (S-OCTM), for optical fiber communication. This technique uses an inverse sparse orthogonal circulant transform (S-OCT) matrix, which is simple and contains only two nonzero elements in each column, to multiplex information of different subcarriers. We compared the proposed scheme with conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal chirp division multiplexing (OCDM), and discrete-Fourier-transform spreading OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in a coherent optical communication system. It is shown that S-OCTM, while exhibiting the complexity among the least, avoids the performance disadvantages of all investigated conventional schemes. It is theoretically proved that the S-OCT matrix equalizes the bandwidth limitation effect that degrades the performance of conventional OFDM. It also shows a greatly reduced peak-to-average power ratio and higher tolerance to fiber nonlinearity than OFDM and OCDM. On the other hand, compared to DFT-S-OFDM, S-OCTM shows a better dispersion tolerance under insufficient length of cyclic prefix and is more tolerable to strong optical filtering. The performance advantages and low complexity enable the proposed scheme to be a promising multicarrier solution for optical communications

A neural network based landing method for an unmanned aerial vehicle with soft landing gears

This paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a soft landing gear together with a neural network-based control method for replicating avian landing behavior on non-flat surfaces. With full consideration of unmanned aerial vehicles and landing gear requirements, a quadrotor helicopter, comprised of one flying unit and one landing assistance unit, is employed. Considering the touchdown speed and posture, a novel design of a soft mechanism for non-flat surfaces is proposed, in order to absorb the remaining landing impact. The framework of the control strategy is designed based on a derived dynamic model. A neural network-based backstepping controller is applied to achieve the desired trajectory. The simulation and outdoor testing results attest to the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed control method

A neural network based landing method for an unmanned aerial vehicle with soft landing gears

This paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a soft landing gear together with a neural network-based control method for replicating avian landing behavior on non-flat surfaces. With full consideration of unmanned aerial vehicles and landing gear requirements, a quadrotor helicopter, comprised of one flying unit and one landing assistance unit, is employed. Considering the touchdown speed and posture, a novel design of a soft mechanism for non-flat surfaces is proposed, in order to absorb the remaining landing impact. The framework of the control strategy is designed based on a derived dynamic model. A neural network-based backstepping controller is applied to achieve the desired trajectory. The simulation and outdoor testing results attest to the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed control method

Genetically predicted serum testosterone and risk of gynecological disorders: a Mendelian randomization study

BackgroundTestosterone plays a key role in women, but the associations of serum testosterone level with gynecological disorders risk are inconclusive in observational studies.MethodsWe leveraged public genome-wide association studies to analyze the effects of four testosterone related exposure factors on nine gynecological diseases. Causal estimates were calculated by inverse variance–weighted (IVW), MR–Egger and weighted median methods. The heterogeneity test was performed on the obtained data through Cochrane’s Q value, and the horizontal pleiotropy test was performed on the data through MR–Egger intercept and MR-PRESSO methods. “mRnd” online analysis tool was used to evaluate the statistical power of MR estimates.ResultsThe results showed that total testosterone and bioavailable testosterone were protective factors for ovarian cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 0.885, P = 0.012; OR = 0.871, P = 0.005) and endometriosis (OR = 0.805, P = 0.020; OR = 0.842, P = 0.028) but were risk factors for endometrial cancer (OR = 1.549, P < 0.001; OR = 1.499, P < 0.001) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (OR = 1.606, P = 0.019; OR = 1.637, P = 0.017). dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is a protective factor against endometriosis (OR = 0.840, P = 0.016) and premature ovarian failure (POF) (OR = 0.461, P = 0.046) and a risk factor for endometrial cancer (OR= 1.788, P < 0.001) and PCOS (OR= 1.970, P = 0.014). sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a protective factor against endometrial cancer (OR = 0.823, P < 0.001) and PCOS (OR = 0.715, P = 0.031).ConclusionOur analysis suggested causal associations between serum testosterone level and ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, endometriosis, PCOS, POF