Monolithic simulation of convection-coupled phase-change - verification and reproducibility

Phase interfaces in melting and solidification processes are strongly affected by the presence of convection in the liquid. One way of modeling their transient evolution is to couple an incompressible flow model to an energy balance in enthalpy formulation. Two strong nonlinearities arise, which account for the viscosity variation between phases and the latent heat of fusion at the phase interface. The resulting coupled system of PDE's can be solved by a single-domain semi-phase-field, variable viscosity, finite element method with monolithic system coupling and global Newton linearization. A robust computational model for realistic phase-change regimes furthermore requires a flexible implementation based on sophisticated mesh adaptivity. In this article, we present first steps towards implementing such a computational model into a simulation tool which we call Phaseflow. Phaseflow utilizes the finite element software FEniCS, which includes a dual-weighted residual method for goal-oriented adaptive mesh refinement. Phaseflow is an open-source, dimension-independent implementation that, upon an appropriate parameter choice, reduces to classical benchmark situations including the lid-driven cavity and the Stefan problem. We present and discuss numerical results for these, an octadecane PCM convection-coupled melting benchmark, and a preliminary 3D convection-coupled melting example, demonstrating the flexible implementation. Though being preliminary, the latter is, to our knowledge, the first published 3D result for this method. In our work, we especially emphasize reproducibility and provide an easy-to-use portable software container using Docker.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

Evolutionary dynamic optimisation of airport security lane schedules

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Reducing costs whilst maintaining passenger satisfaction is an important problem for airports. One area this can be applied is the security lane checks at the airport. However, reducing costs through reducing lane openings typically increases queue length and hence passenger dissatisfaction. This paper demonstrates that evolutionary methods can be used to optimise airport security lane schedules such that passenger dissatisfaction and staffing costs can be minimised. However, it is shown that these schedules typically over-fit the forecasts of passenger arrivals at security such that in actuality significant passenger delays can occur with deviations from the forecast. Consequently, this paper further demonstrates that dynamic evolutionary re-optimisation of these schedules can significantly mitigate this over-fitting problem with much reduced passenger delays

Towards Real-Time Head Pose Estimation: Exploring Parameter-Reduced Residual Networks on In-the-wild Datasets

Head poses are a key component of human bodily communication and thus a decisive element of human-computer interaction. Real-time head pose estimation is crucial in the context of human-robot interaction or driver assistance systems. The most promising approaches for head pose estimation are based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). However, CNN models are often too complex to achieve real-time performance. To face this challenge, we explore a popular subgroup of CNNs, the Residual Networks (ResNets) and modify them in order to reduce their number of parameters. The ResNets are modifed for different image sizes including low-resolution images and combined with a varying number of layers. They are trained on in-the-wild datasets to ensure real-world applicability. As a result, we demonstrate that the performance of the ResNets can be maintained while reducing the number of parameters. The modified ResNets achieve state-of-the-art accuracy and provide fast inference for real-time applicability.Comment: 32nd International Conference on Industrial, Engineering & Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems (IEA/AIE 2019

Significance of Aurora B overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma. Aurora B Overexpression in HCC

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the significance of Aurora B expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The <it>Aurora B </it>and <it>Aurora A </it>mRNA level was measured in 160 HCCs and the paired nontumorous liver tissues by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Mutations of the <it>p53 </it>and <it>β-catenin </it>genes were analyzed in 134 and 150 tumors, respectively, by direct sequencing of exon 2 to exon 11 of <it>p53 </it>and exon 3 of <it>β-catenin</it>. Anticancer effects of AZD1152-HQPA, an Aurora B kinase selective inhibitor, were examined in Huh-7 and Hep3B cell lines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Aurora B </it>was overexpressed in 98 (61%) of 160 HCCs and in all 7 HCC cell lines examined. The overexpression of <it>Aurora B </it>was associated with <it>Aurora A </it>overexpression (<it>P </it>= 0.0003) and <it>p53 </it>mutation (<it>P </it>= 0.002) and was inversely associated with <it>β</it>-<it>catenin </it>mutation (<it>P </it>= 0.002). <it>Aurora B </it>overexpression correlated with worse clinicopathologic characteristics. Multivariate analysis confirmed that <it>Aurora B </it>overexpression was an independent poor prognostic factor, despite its interaction with Aurora A overexpression and mutations of <it>p53 </it>and <it>β</it>-<it>catenin</it>. In Huh-7 and Hep3B cells, AZD1152-HQPA induced proliferation blockade, histone H3 (Ser10) dephosphorylation, cell cycle disturbance, and apoptosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>Aurora B </it>overexpression is an independent molecular marker predicting tumor invasiveness and poor prognosis of HCC. Aurora B kinase selective inhibitors are potential therapeutic agents for HCC treatment.</p

Painful rib hump: a new clinical sign for detecting intraspinal rib displacement in scoliosis due to neurofibromatosis

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord compression and associate neurological impairment is rare in patients with scoliosis and neurofibromatosis. Common reasons are vertebral subluxation, dislocation, angulation and tumorous lesions around the spinal canal. Only twelve cases of intraspinal rib dislocation have been reported in the literature. The aim of this report is to present a case of rib penetration through neural foramen at the apex of a scoliotic curve in neurofibromatosis and to introduce a new clinical sign for its detection. METHODS: A 13-year-old girl was evaluated for progressive left thoracic kyphoscoliotic curve due to a type I neurofibromatosis. Clinical examination revealed multiple large thoracic and abdominal "cafe-au-lait" spots, neurological impairment of the lower limbs and the presence of a thoracic gibbous that was painful to pressure at the level of the left eighth rib (Painful Rib Hump). CT-scan showed detachment and translocation of the cephalic end of the left eighth rib into the adjacent enlarged neural foramen. The M.R.I. examination of the spine showed neither cord abnormality nor neurogenic tumor. RESULTS: The patient underwent resection of the intraspinal mobile eighth rib head and posterior spinal instrumentation and was neurologically fully recovered six months postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Spine surgeons should be aware of intraspinal rib displacement in scoliotic curves in neurofibromatosis. Painful rib hump is a valuable diagnostic tool for this rare clinical entity

Robustness and evolutionary dynamic optimisation of airport security schedules

Reducing security lane operations whilst minimising passenger waiting times in unforseen circumstances is important for airports. Evolutionary methods can design optimised schedules but these tend to over-fit passenger arrival forecasts resulting in lengthy waiting times for unforeseen events. Dynamic re-optimisation can mitigate for this issue but security lane schedules are an example of a constrained problem due to the human element preventing major modifications. This paper postulates that for dynamic re-optimisation to be more effective in constrained circumstances consideration of schedule robustness is required. To reduce over-fitting a simple methodology for evolving more robust schedules is investigated. Random delays are introduced into forecasts of passenger arrivals to better reflect actuality and a range of these randomly perturbed forecasts are used to evaluate schedules. These steps reduced passenger waiting times for actual events for both static and dynamic policies with minimal increases in security operations

Viunalikeviruses are environmentally common agents of horizontal gene transfer in pathogens and biocontrol bacteria.

Bacteriophages have been used as natural biocontrol and therapeutic agents, but also as biotechnological tools for bacterial engineering. We showed recently that the transducing bacteriophage ϕMAM1 is a ViI-like phage and a member of the new genus, 'Viunalikevirus'. Here, we show that four additional ViI-like phages and three new environmentally isolated viunalikeviruses, all infecting plant and human pathogens, are very efficient generalised transducers capable of transducing chromosomal markers at frequencies of up to 10(-4) transductants per plaque-forming unit. We also demonstrate the interstrain transduction of plasmids and chromosomal markers, including genes involved in anabolism, genes for virulence and genes encoding secondary metabolites involved in biocontrol. We propose that all viunalikeviruses are likely to perform efficient horizontal gene transfer. Viunalikeviruses therefore represent useful agents for functional genomics and bacterial engineering, and for chemical and synthetic biology studies, but could be viewed as inappropriate choices for phage therapy.This research was supported by the EU Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development (FP7- PEOPLE-2011-IEF) grant number 298003.This is the version of record of the article "Viunalikeviruses are environmentally common agents of horizontal gene transfer in pathogens and biocontrol bacteria" published in ISME Journal on August 2104 under the NPG Open Access option. The published version of record is available on the journal website at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.15

An Analysis of How Interactive Technology Supports the Appreciation of Traditional Chinese Puppetry: A Review of Case Studies

From the perspective of safeguarding Chinese Cultural Heritage, this paper discusses how to enhance the appreciation of traditional Chinese puppetry through the support of interactive technology. The author analyses extensive, yet current case studies, based on the findings described in the interactive systems for puppetry performances and interactive technology for puppetry appreciation. The author summarises four aspects of how to enhance the appreciation of, and engagement with, traditional Chinese puppetry: (1) maintaining originality is necessary for the design phase; (2) it is crucial to explore how to use interactive technology in order to design a way for adults to appreciate this form of art; (3) it is also necessary to determine ways to support adult audiences in grasping the cultural significance and folk customs of traditional Chinese puppetry; and (4) the study’s further main research goals are to investigate ways to use emotional expressions, digital storytelling and other methods in conjunction with interactive technology to help multi-cultural users comprehend traditional Chinese puppetry