Abstract: The segmentation of endovascular tools in fluoroscopy images can be accurately performed automatically or by minimum user intervention, using known modern techniques. It has been proven in literature, but no clinical implementation exists so far because the computational time requirements of such technology have not yet been met. A classical segmentation scheme is composed of edge enhancement filtering, line detection, and segmentation. A new method is presented that consists of a vector that propagates in the image to track an edge as it advances. The filtering is performed progressively in the projected path of the vector, whose orientation allows for oriented edge detection, and a minimal image area is globally filtered. Such an algorithm is rapidly computed and can be implemented in real-time applications. It was tested on medical fluoroscopy images from an endovascular cerebral intervention. Ex- periments showed that the 2D tracking was limited to guidewires without intersection crosspoints, while the 3D implementation was able to cope with such planar difficulties.
Abstract: Candida spp. are common and aggressive pathogens.
Because of the growing resistance of Candida spp. to current
antifungals, novel targets, found in Candida spp. but not in humans
or other flora, have to be identified. The alternative oxidase (AOX)
is one such possibility. This enzyme is insensitive to cyanide, but is
sensitive to compounds such as salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM),
disulfiram and n-alkyl gallates. The growth Candida albicans was
inhibited by SHAM (Ki = 9-15 mM) and cyanide (Ki = 2-4 mM),
albeit to differing extents. The rate of O2 uptake was inhibited by
less than 10% by 25 mM SHAM and by about 90% by 250 μM
KCN. Although SHAM substantially inhibited the growth of C.
albicans, it is unlikely that the inhibition of AOX was the cause.
Salicylhydroxamic acid is used therapeutically in the treatment of
urinary tract infections and urolithiasis, but it also has some potential
in the treatment of C. albicans infection.
Abstract: A series of microarray experiments produces observations
of differential expression for thousands of genes across multiple
conditions.
Principal component analysis(PCA) has been widely used in
multivariate data analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the data in
order to simplify subsequent analysis and allow for summarization of
the data in a parsimonious manner. PCA, which can be implemented
via a singular value decomposition(SVD), is useful for analysis of
microarray data.
For application of PCA using SVD we use the DNA microarray
data for the small round blue cell tumors(SRBCT) of childhood
by Khan et al.(2001). To decide the number of components which
account for sufficient amount of information we draw scree plot.
Biplot, a graphic display associated with PCA, reveals important
features that exhibit relationship between variables and also the
relationship of variables with observations.
Abstract: The paper provides a discussion of the most relevant
aspects of yield curve modeling. Two classes of models are
considered: stochastic and parsimonious function based, through the
approaches developed by Vasicek (1977) and Nelson and Siegel
(1987). Yield curve estimates for Croatia are presented and their
dynamics analyzed and finally, a comparative analysis of models is
conducted.
Abstract: We present the development of a system of programs designed for the compilation and execution of applications for handheld computers. In introduction we describe the purpose of the project and its components. The next two paragraphs present the first two components of the project (the scanner and parser generators). Then we describe the Object Pascal compiler and the virtual machines for Windows and Palm OS. In conclusion we emphasize the ways in which the project can be extended.
Abstract: Several models have been introduced so far for single
electron box, SEB, which all of them were restricted to DC response
and or low temperature limit. In this paper we introduce a new time
dependent, high temperature analytical model for SEB for the first
time. DC behavior of the introduced model will be verified against
SIMON software and its time behavior will be verified against a
newly published paper regarding step response of SEB.
Abstract: Fungal infections are becoming more common and the
range of susceptible individuals has expanded. While Candida
albicans remains the most common infective species, other Candida
spp. are becoming increasingly significant. In a range of large-scale
studies of candidaemia between 1999 and 2006, about 52% of 9717
cases involved C. albicans, about 30% involved either C. glabrata or
C. parapsilosis and less than 15% involved C. tropicalis, C. krusei or
C. guilliermondii. However, the probability of mortality within 30
days of infection with a particular species was at least 40% for C.
tropicalis, C. albicans, C. glabrata and C. krusei and only 22% for
C. parapsilopsis. Clinical isolates of Candida spp. grew at rates
ranging from 1.65 h-1 to 4.9 h-1. Three species (C. krusei, C. albicans
and C. glabrata) had relatively high growth rates (μm > 4 h-1), C.
tropicalis and C. dubliniensis grew moderately quickly (Ôëê 3 h-1) and
C. parapsilosis and C. guilliermondii grew slowly (< 2 h-1). Based
on these data, the log of the odds of mortality within 30 days of
diagnosis was linearly related to μm. From this the underlying
probability of mortality is 0.13 (95% CI: 0.10-0.17) and it increases
by about 0.09 ± 0.02 for each unit increase in μm. Given that the
overall crude mortality is about 0.36, the growth of Candida spp.
approximately doubles the rate, consistent with the results of larger
case-matched studies of candidaemia.
Abstract: Emerging Bio-engineering fields such as Brain
Computer Interfaces, neuroprothesis devices and modeling and
simulation of neural networks have led to increased research activity
in algorithms for the detection, isolation and classification of Action
Potentials (AP) from noisy data trains. Current techniques in the field
of 'unsupervised no-prior knowledge' biosignal processing include
energy operators, wavelet detection and adaptive thresholding. These
tend to bias towards larger AP waveforms, AP may be missed due to
deviations in spike shape and frequency and correlated noise
spectrums can cause false detection. Also, such algorithms tend to
suffer from large computational expense.
A new signal detection technique based upon the ideas of phasespace
diagrams and trajectories is proposed based upon the use of a
delayed copy of the AP to highlight discontinuities relative to
background noise. This idea has been used to create algorithms that
are computationally inexpensive and address the above problems.
Distinct AP have been picked out and manually classified from
real physiological data recorded from a cockroach. To facilitate
testing of the new technique, an Auto Regressive Moving Average
(ARMA) noise model has been constructed bases upon background
noise of the recordings. Along with the AP classification means this
model enables generation of realistic neuronal data sets at arbitrary
signal to noise ratio (SNR).
Abstract: This paper outlines the development of a learning retrieval agent. Task of this agent is to extract knowledge of the Active Semantic Network in respect to user-requests. Based on a reinforcement learning approach, the agent learns to interpret the user-s intention. Especially, the learning algorithm focuses on the retrieval of complex long distant relations. Increasing its learnt knowledge with every request-result-evaluation sequence, the agent enhances his capability in finding the intended information.
Abstract: Adjacent Hall microsensors, comprising a silicon
substrate and four contacts, providing simultaneously two supply inputs and two differential outputs, are characterized. The voltage
related sensitivity is in the order of 0.11T-1, and a cancellation method for offset compensation is used, achieving residual offset in
the micro scale which is also compared to a single Hall plate.
Abstract: Software developed for a specific customer under contract
typically undergoes a period of testing by the customer before
acceptance. This is known as user acceptance testing and the process
can reveal both defects in the system and requests for changes to
the product. This paper uses nonhomogeneous Poisson processes to
model a real user acceptance data set from a recently developed
system. In particular a split Poisson process is shown to provide an
excellent fit to the data. The paper explains how this model can be
used to aid the allocation of resources through the accurate prediction
of occurrences both during the acceptance testing phase and before
this activity begins.
Abstract: The data exchanged on the Web are of different nature
from those treated by the classical database management systems;
these data are called semi-structured data since they do not have a
regular and static structure like data found in a relational database;
their schema is dynamic and may contain missing data or types.
Therefore, the needs for developing further techniques and
algorithms to exploit and integrate such data, and extract relevant
information for the user have been raised. In this paper we present
the system OSIX (Osiris based System for Integration of XML
Sources). This system has a Data Warehouse model designed for the
integration of semi-structured data and more precisely for the
integration of XML documents. The architecture of OSIX relies on
the Osiris system, a DL-based model designed for the representation
and management of databases and knowledge bases. Osiris is a viewbased
data model whose indexing system supports semantic query
optimization. We show that the problem of query processing on a
XML source is optimized by the indexing approach proposed by
Osiris.
Abstract: Candida albicans ATCC 10231 had low endogenous activity of the alternative oxidase compared with that of C. albicans ATCC 10261. In C. albicans ATCC 10231 the endogenous activity declined as the cultures aged. Alternative oxidase activity could be induced in C. albicans ATCC 10231 by treatment with cyanide, but the induction of this activity required the presence of oxygen which could be replaced, at least in part, with high concentrations of potassium ferricyanide. We infer from this that the expression of the gene encoding the alternative oxidase is under the control of a redoxsensitive transcription factor.
Abstract: Using a scoring system, this paper provides a
comparative assessment of the quality of data between XBRL
formatted financial reports and non-XBRL financial reports. It shows a
major improvement in the quality of data of XBRL formatted financial
reports. Although XBRL formatted financial reports do not show
much advantage in the quality at the beginning, XBRL financial
reports lately display a large improvement in the quality of data in
almost all aspects. With the improved XBRL web data managing,
presentation and analysis applications, XBRL formatted financial
reports have a much better accessibility, are more accurate and better
in timeliness.