Ultra-wideband WDM VCSEL arrays by lateral heterogeneous integration

Science.gov (United States)

Geske, Jon

Advancements in heterogeneous integration are a driving factor in the development of evermore sophisticated and functional electronic and photonic devices. Such advancements will merge the optical and electronic capabilities of different material systems onto a common integrated device platform. This thesis presents a new lateral heterogeneous integration technology called nonplanar wafer bonding. The technique is capable of integrating multiple dissimilar semiconductor device structures on the surface of a substrate in a single wafer bond step, leaving different integrated device structures adjacent to each other on the wafer surface. Material characterization and numerical simulations confirm that the material quality is not compromised during the process. Nonplanar wafer bonding is used to fabricate ultra-wideband wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays. The optically-pumped VCSEL arrays span 140 nm from 1470 to 1610 nm, a record wavelength span for devices operating in this wavelength range. The array uses eight wavelength channels to span the 140 nm with all channels separated by precisely 20 nm. All channels in the array operate single mode to at least 65°C with output power uniformity of +/- 1 dB. The ultra-wideband WDM VCSEL arrays are a significant first step toward the development of a single-chip source for optical networks based on coarse WDM (CWDM), a low-cost alternative to traditional dense WDM. The CWDM VCSEL arrays make use of fully-oxidized distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) to provide the wideband reflectivity required for optical feedback and lasing across 140 rim. In addition, a novel optically-pumped active region design is presented. It is demonstrated, with an analytical model and experimental results, that the new active-region design significantly improves the carrier uniformity in the quantum wells and results in a 50% lasing threshold reduction and a 20°C improvement in the peak

Simplified nonplanar wafer bonding for heterogeneous device integration

Science.gov (United States)

Geske, Jon; Bowers, John E.; Riley, Anton

2004-07-01

We demonstrate a simplified nonplanar wafer bonding technique for heterogeneous device integration. The improved technique can be used to laterally integrate dissimilar semiconductor device structures on a lattice-mismatched substrate. Using the technique, two different InP-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser active regions have been integrated onto GaAs without compromising the quality of the photoluminescence. Experimental and numerical simulation results are presented.

Integration Of Data From Heterogeneous Sources Using Etl Technology.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marek Macura

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Data integration is a crucial issue in environments of heterogeneous data sources. At present mentioned heterogeneity is becoming widespread. Whenever, based on various data sources, we want to gain useful information and knowledge we must solve data integration problem in order to apply appropriate analytical methods on comprehensive and uniform data. Such activity is known as knowledge discovery from data process. Therefore approaches to data integration problem are very interesting and bring us closer to the "age of information". The paper presents an architecture, which implements knowledge discovery from data process. The solution combines ETL technology and wrapper layer known from mediated systems. It also provides semantic integration through connections mechanism between data elements. The solution allows for integration of any data sources and implementation of analytical methods in one environment. The proposed environment is verified by applying it to data sources on the foundry industry.

XML-based approaches for the integration of heterogeneous bio-molecular data.

Science.gov (United States)

Mesiti, Marco; Jiménez-Ruiz, Ernesto; Sanz, Ismael; Berlanga-Llavori, Rafael; Perlasca, Paolo; Valentini, Giorgio; Manset, David

2009-10-15

The today's public database infrastructure spans a very large collection of heterogeneous biological data, opening new opportunities for molecular biology, bio-medical and bioinformatics research, but raising also new problems for their integration and computational processing. In this paper we survey the most interesting and novel approaches for the representation, integration and management of different kinds of biological data by exploiting XML and the related recommendations and approaches. Moreover, we present new and interesting cutting edge approaches for the appropriate management of heterogeneous biological data represented through XML. XML has succeeded in the integration of heterogeneous biomolecular information, and has established itself as the syntactic glue for biological data sources. Nevertheless, a large variety of XML-based data formats have been proposed, thus resulting in a difficult effective integration of bioinformatics data schemes. The adoption of a few semantic-rich standard formats is urgent to achieve a seamless integration of the current biological resources.

An integration bridge for heterogeneous e-service environments

OpenAIRE

Baeta, Henrique Jorge Lourenço

2012-01-01

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores Home automation has evolved from a single integration of services (provided by devices, equipment, etc.) in the environment to a more broad integration of these core services with others(external to the environment) to create some added-value services for home users. This presents a key challenge of how to integrate disparate and heterogeneous e-service networks. To this, there exist already...

Integration of heterogeneous molecular networks to unravel gene-regulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

van Dam, Jesse C J; Schaap, Peter J; Martins dos Santos, Vitor A P; Suárez-Diez, María

2014-09-26

Different methods have been developed to infer regulatory networks from heterogeneous omics datasets and to construct co-expression networks. Each algorithm produces different networks and efforts have been devoted to automatically integrate them into consensus sets. However each separate set has an intrinsic value that is diluted and partly lost when building a consensus network. Here we present a methodology to generate co-expression networks and, instead of a consensus network, we propose an integration framework where the different networks are kept and analysed with additional tools to efficiently combine the information extracted from each network. We developed a workflow to efficiently analyse information generated by different inference and prediction methods. Our methodology relies on providing the user the means to simultaneously visualise and analyse the coexisting networks generated by different algorithms, heterogeneous datasets, and a suite of analysis tools. As a show case, we have analysed the gene co-expression networks of Mycobacterium tuberculosis generated using over 600 expression experiments. Regarding DNA damage repair, we identified SigC as a key control element, 12 new targets for LexA, an updated LexA binding motif, and a potential mismatch repair system. We expanded the DevR regulon with 27 genes while identifying 9 targets wrongly assigned to this regulon. We discovered 10 new genes linked to zinc uptake and a new regulatory mechanism for ZuR. The use of co-expression networks to perform system level analysis allows the development of custom made methodologies. As show cases we implemented a pipeline to integrate ChIP-seq data and another method to uncover multiple regulatory layers. Our workflow is based on representing the multiple types of information as network representations and presenting these networks in a synchronous framework that allows their simultaneous visualization while keeping specific associations from the different

Integration of crosswell seismic data for simulating porosity in a heterogeneous carbonate aquifer

Science.gov (United States)

Emery, Xavier; Parra, Jorge

2013-11-01

A challenge for the geostatistical simulation of subsurface properties in mining, petroleum and groundwater applications is the integration of well logs and seismic measurements, which can provide information on geological heterogeneities at a wide range of scales. This paper presents a case study conducted at the Port Mayaca aquifer, located in western Martin County, Florida, in which it is of interest to simulate porosity, based on porosity logs at two wells and high-resolution crosswell seismic measurements of P-wave impedance. To this end, porosity and impedance are transformed into cross-correlated Gaussian random fields, using local transformations. The model parameters (transformation functions, mean values and correlation structure of the transformed fields) are inferred and checked against the data. Multiple realizations of porosity can then be constructed conditionally to the impedance information in the interwell region, which allow identifying one low-porosity structure and two to three flow units that connect the two wells, mapping heterogeneities within these units and visually assessing fluid paths in the aquifer. In particular, the results suggest that the paths in the lower flow units, formed by a network of heterogeneous conduits, are not as smooth as in the upper flow unit.

Thin Film Magnetless Faraday Rotators for Compact Heterogeneous Integrated Optical Isolators (Postprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-15

AFRL-RX-WP-JA-2017-0348 THIN-FILM MAGNETLESS FARADAY ROTATORS FOR COMPACT HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATED OPTICAL ISOLATORS (POSTPRINT) Dolendra Karki...Interim 9 May 2016 – 1 December 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE THIN-FILM MAGNETLESS FARADAY ROTATORS FOR COMPACT HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATED OPTICAL...transfer of ultra-compact thin-film magnetless Faraday rotators to silicon photonic substrates. Thin films of magnetization latching bismuth

A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyeonghwan Park

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors.

Multiple Spatial Coherence Resonances and Spatial Patterns in a Noise-Driven Heterogeneous Neuronal Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yu-Ye; Ding Xue-Li

2014-01-01

Heterogeneity of the neurons and noise are inevitable in the real neuronal network. In this paper, Gaussian white noise induced spatial patterns including spiral waves and multiple spatial coherence resonances are studied in a network composed of Morris—Lecar neurons with heterogeneity characterized by parameter diversity. The relationship between the resonances and the transitions between ordered spiral waves and disordered spatial patterns are achieved. When parameter diversity is introduced, the maxima of multiple resonances increases first, and then decreases as diversity strength increases, which implies that the coherence degrees induced by noise are enhanced at an intermediate diversity strength. The synchronization degree of spatial patterns including ordered spiral waves and disordered patterns is identified to be a very low level. The results suggest that the nervous system can profit from both heterogeneity and noise, and the multiple spatial coherence resonances are achieved via the emergency of spiral waves instead of synchronization patterns. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Multiple Spatial Coherence Resonances and Spatial Patterns in a Noise-Driven Heterogeneous Neuronal Network

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yu-Ye; Ding, Xue-Li

2014-12-01

Heterogeneity of the neurons and noise are inevitable in the real neuronal network. In this paper, Gaussian white noise induced spatial patterns including spiral waves and multiple spatial coherence resonances are studied in a network composed of Morris—Lecar neurons with heterogeneity characterized by parameter diversity. The relationship between the resonances and the transitions between ordered spiral waves and disordered spatial patterns are achieved. When parameter diversity is introduced, the maxima of multiple resonances increases first, and then decreases as diversity strength increases, which implies that the coherence degrees induced by noise are enhanced at an intermediate diversity strength. The synchronization degree of spatial patterns including ordered spiral waves and disordered patterns is identified to be a very low level. The results suggest that the nervous system can profit from both heterogeneity and noise, and the multiple spatial coherence resonances are achieved via the emergency of spiral waves instead of synchronization patterns.

Modeling and interoperability of heterogeneous genomic big data for integrative processing and querying.

Science.gov (United States)

Masseroli, Marco; Kaitoua, Abdulrahman; Pinoli, Pietro; Ceri, Stefano

2016-12-01

While a huge amount of (epi)genomic data of multiple types is becoming available by using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, the most important emerging problem is the so-called tertiary analysis, concerned with sense making, e.g., discovering how different (epi)genomic regions and their products interact and cooperate with each other. We propose a paradigm shift in tertiary analysis, based on the use of the Genomic Data Model (GDM), a simple data model which links genomic feature data to their associated experimental, biological and clinical metadata. GDM encompasses all the data formats which have been produced for feature extraction from (epi)genomic datasets. We specifically describe the mapping to GDM of SAM (Sequence Alignment/Map), VCF (Variant Call Format), NARROWPEAK (for called peaks produced by NGS ChIP-seq or DNase-seq methods), and BED (Browser Extensible Data) formats, but GDM supports as well all the formats describing experimental datasets (e.g., including copy number variations, DNA somatic mutations, or gene expressions) and annotations (e.g., regarding transcription start sites, genes, enhancers or CpG islands). We downloaded and integrated samples of all the above-mentioned data types and formats from multiple sources. The GDM is able to homogeneously describe semantically heterogeneous data and makes the ground for providing data interoperability, e.g., achieved through the GenoMetric Query Language (GMQL), a high-level, declarative query language for genomic big data. The combined use of the data model and the query language allows comprehensive processing of multiple heterogeneous data, and supports the development of domain-specific data-driven computations and bio-molecular knowledge discovery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dynamic heterogeneity: a framework to promote ecological integration and hypothesis generation in urban systems

Science.gov (United States)

S. T. A. Pickett; M. L. Cadenasso; E. J. Rosi-Marshall; Ken Belt; P. M. Groffman; Morgan Grove; E. G. Irwin; S. S. Kaushal; S. L. LaDeau; C. H. Nilon; C. M. Swan; P. S. Warren

2016-01-01

Urban areas are understood to be extraordinarily spatially heterogeneous. Spatial heterogeneity, and its causes, consequences, and changes, are central to ecological science. The social sciences and urban design and planning professions also include spatial heterogeneity as a key concern. However, urban ecology, as a pursuit that integrates across these disciplines,...

On the multiple depots vehicle routing problem with heterogeneous fleet capacity and velocity

Science.gov (United States)

Hanum, F.; Hartono, A. P.; Bakhtiar, T.

2018-03-01

This current manuscript concerns with the optimization problem arising in a route determination of products distribution. The problem is formulated in the form of multiple depots and time windowed vehicle routing problem with heterogeneous capacity and velocity of fleet. Model includes a number of constraints such as route continuity, multiple depots availability and serving time in addition to generic constraints. In dealing with the unique feature of heterogeneous velocity, we generate a number of velocity profiles along the road segments, which then converted into traveling-time tables. An illustrative example of rice distribution among villages by bureau of logistics is provided. Exact approach is utilized to determine the optimal solution in term of vehicle routes and starting time of service.

Heterogeneously Integrated Microwave Signal Generators with Narrow Linewidth Lasers

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-20

have shown that heterogeneous integration not only allows for a reduced cost due to economy of scale, but also allows for same or even better...advantage of introducing SOAs for microwave generator is the control and boosting of optical power before the detector providing higher RF powers. A

A Semantic Big Data Platform for Integrating Heterogeneous Wearable Data in Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Mezghani, Emna; Exposito, Ernesto; Drira, Khalil; Da Silveira, Marcos; Pruski, Cédric

2015-12-01

Advances supported by emerging wearable technologies in healthcare promise patients a provision of high quality of care. Wearable computing systems represent one of the most thrust areas used to transform traditional healthcare systems into active systems able to continuously monitor and control the patients' health in order to manage their care at an early stage. However, their proliferation creates challenges related to data management and integration. The diversity and variety of wearable data related to healthcare, their huge volume and their distribution make data processing and analytics more difficult. In this paper, we propose a generic semantic big data architecture based on the "Knowledge as a Service" approach to cope with heterogeneity and scalability challenges. Our main contribution focuses on enriching the NIST Big Data model with semantics in order to smartly understand the collected data, and generate more accurate and valuable information by correlating scattered medical data stemming from multiple wearable devices or/and from other distributed data sources. We have implemented and evaluated a Wearable KaaS platform to smartly manage heterogeneous data coming from wearable devices in order to assist the physicians in supervising the patient health evolution and keep the patient up-to-date about his/her status.

The Stanford Data Miner: a novel approach for integrating and exploring heterogeneous immunological data.

Science.gov (United States)

Siebert, Janet C; Munsil, Wes; Rosenberg-Hasson, Yael; Davis, Mark M; Maecker, Holden T

2012-03-28

Systems-level approaches are increasingly common in both murine and human translational studies. These approaches employ multiple high information content assays. As a result, there is a need for tools to integrate heterogeneous types of laboratory and clinical/demographic data, and to allow the exploration of that data by aggregating and/or segregating results based on particular variables (e.g., mean cytokine levels by age and gender). Here we describe the application of standard data warehousing tools to create a novel environment for user-driven upload, integration, and exploration of heterogeneous data. The system presented here currently supports flow cytometry and immunoassays performed in the Stanford Human Immune Monitoring Center, but could be applied more generally. Users upload assay results contained in platform-specific spreadsheets of a defined format, and clinical and demographic data in spreadsheets of flexible format. Users then map sample IDs to connect the assay results with the metadata. An OLAP (on-line analytical processing) data exploration interface allows filtering and display of various dimensions (e.g., Luminex analytes in rows, treatment group in columns, filtered on a particular study). Statistics such as mean, median, and N can be displayed. The views can be expanded or contracted to aggregate or segregate data at various levels. Individual-level data is accessible with a single click. The result is a user-driven system that permits data integration and exploration in a variety of settings. We show how the system can be used to find gender-specific differences in serum cytokine levels, and compare them across experiments and assay types. We have used the tools and techniques of data warehousing, including open-source business intelligence software, to support investigator-driven data integration and mining of diverse immunological data.

The Stanford Data Miner: a novel approach for integrating and exploring heterogeneous immunological data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siebert Janet C

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Systems-level approaches are increasingly common in both murine and human translational studies. These approaches employ multiple high information content assays. As a result, there is a need for tools to integrate heterogeneous types of laboratory and clinical/demographic data, and to allow the exploration of that data by aggregating and/or segregating results based on particular variables (e.g., mean cytokine levels by age and gender. Methods Here we describe the application of standard data warehousing tools to create a novel environment for user-driven upload, integration, and exploration of heterogeneous data. The system presented here currently supports flow cytometry and immunoassays performed in the Stanford Human Immune Monitoring Center, but could be applied more generally. Results Users upload assay results contained in platform-specific spreadsheets of a defined format, and clinical and demographic data in spreadsheets of flexible format. Users then map sample IDs to connect the assay results with the metadata. An OLAP (on-line analytical processing data exploration interface allows filtering and display of various dimensions (e.g., Luminex analytes in rows, treatment group in columns, filtered on a particular study. Statistics such as mean, median, and N can be displayed. The views can be expanded or contracted to aggregate or segregate data at various levels. Individual-level data is accessible with a single click. The result is a user-driven system that permits data integration and exploration in a variety of settings. We show how the system can be used to find gender-specific differences in serum cytokine levels, and compare them across experiments and assay types. Conclusions We have used the tools and techniques of data warehousing, including open-source business intelligence software, to support investigator-driven data integration and mining of diverse immunological data.

Cascade of chromosomal rearrangements caused by a heterogeneous T-DNA integration supports the double-stranded break repair model for T-DNA integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yufei; Chen, Zhiyu; Zhuang, Chuxiong; Huang, Jilei

2017-06-01

Transferred DNA (T-DNA) from Agrobacterium tumefaciens can be integrated into the plant genome. The double-stranded break repair (DSBR) pathway is a major model for T-DNA integration. From this model, we expect that two ends of a T-DNA molecule would invade into a single DNA double-stranded break (DSB) or independent DSBs in the plant genome. We call the later phenomenon a heterogeneous T-DNA integration, which has never been observed. In this work, we demonstrated it in an Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion mutant seb19. To resolve the chromosomal structural changes caused by T-DNA integration at both the nucleotide and chromosome levels, we performed inverse PCR, genome resequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization and linkage analysis. We found, in seb19, a single T-DNA connected two different chromosomal loci and caused complex chromosomal rearrangements. The specific break-junction pattern in seb19 is consistent with the result of heterogeneous T-DNA integration but not of recombination between two T-DNA insertions. We demonstrated that, in seb19, heterogeneous T-DNA integration evoked a cascade of incorrect repair of seven DSBs on chromosomes 4 and 5, and then produced translocation, inversion, duplication and deletion. Heterogeneous T-DNA integration supports the DSBR model and suggests that two ends of a T-DNA molecule could be integrated into the plant genome independently. Our results also show a new origin of chromosomal abnormalities. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Generative Adversarial Networks Based Heterogeneous Data Integration and Its Application for Intelligent Power Distribution and Utilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanpeng Tan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Heterogeneous characteristics of a big data system for intelligent power distribution and utilization have already become more and more prominent, which brings new challenges for the traditional data analysis technologies and restricts the comprehensive management of distribution network assets. In order to solve the problem that heterogeneous data resources of power distribution systems are difficult to be effectively utilized, a novel generative adversarial networks (GANs based heterogeneous data integration method for intelligent power distribution and utilization is proposed. In the proposed method, GANs theory is introduced to expand the distribution of completed data samples. Then, a so-called peak clustering algorithm is proposed to realize the finite open coverage of the expanded sample space, and repair those incomplete samples to eliminate the heterogeneous characteristics. Finally, in order to realize the integration of the heterogeneous data for intelligent power distribution and utilization, the well-trained discriminator model of GANs is employed to check the restored data samples. The simulation experiments verified the validity and stability of the proposed heterogeneous data integration method, which provides a novel perspective for the further data quality management of power distribution systems.

On the area spectral efficiency improvement of heterogeneous network by exploiting the integration of macro-femto cellular networks

KAUST Repository

Shakir, Muhammad

2012-06-01

Heterogeneous networks are an attractive means of expanding mobile network capacity. A heterogeneous network is typically composed of multiple radio access technologies (RATs) where the base stations are transmitting with variable power. In this paper, we consider a Heterogeneous network where we complement the macrocell network with low-power low-cost user deployed nodes, such as femtocell base stations to increase the mean achievable capacity of the system. In this context, we integrate macro-femto cellular networks and derive the area spectral efficiency of the proposed two tier Heterogeneous network. We consider the deployment of femtocell base stations around the edge of the macrocell such that this configuration is referred to as femto-on-edge (FOE) configuration. Moreover, FOE configuration mandates reduction in intercell interference due to the mobile users which are located around the edge of the macrocell since these femtocell base stations are low-power nodes which has significantly lower transmission power than macrocell base stations. We present a mathematical analysis to calculate the instantaneous carrier to interference ratio (CIR) of the desired mobile user in macro and femto cellular networks and determine the total area spectral efficiency of the Heterogeneous network. Details of the simulation processes are included to support the analysis and show the efficacy of the proposed deployment. It has been shown that the proposed setup of the Heterogeneous network offers higher area spectral efficiency which aims to fulfill the expected demand of the future mobile users. © 2012 IEEE.

Integrative Analysis of Prognosis Data on Multiple Cancer Subtypes

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Zhang, Yawei; Lan, Qing; Rothman, Nathaniel; Zheng, Tongzhang; Ma, Shuangge

2014-01-01

Summary In cancer research, profiling studies have been extensively conducted, searching for genes/SNPs associated with prognosis. Cancer is diverse. Examining the similarity and difference in the genetic basis of multiple subtypes of the same cancer can lead to a better understanding of their connections and distinctions. Classic meta-analysis methods analyze each subtype separately and then compare analysis results across subtypes. Integrative analysis methods, in contrast, analyze the raw data on multiple subtypes simultaneously and can outperform meta-analysis methods. In this study, prognosis data on multiple subtypes of the same cancer are analyzed. An AFT (accelerated failure time) model is adopted to describe survival. The genetic basis of multiple subtypes is described using the heterogeneity model, which allows a gene/SNP to be associated with prognosis of some subtypes but not others. A compound penalization method is developed to identify genes that contain important SNPs associated with prognosis. The proposed method has an intuitive formulation and is realized using an iterative algorithm. Asymptotic properties are rigorously established. Simulation shows that the proposed method has satisfactory performance and outperforms a penalization-based meta-analysis method and a regularized thresholding method. An NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) prognosis study with SNP measurements is analyzed. Genes associated with the three major subtypes, namely DLBCL, FL, and CLL/SLL, are identified. The proposed method identifies genes that are different from alternatives and have important implications and satisfactory prediction performance. PMID:24766212

Whole-body voxel-based personalized dosimetry: Multiple voxel S-value approach for heterogeneous media with non-uniform activity distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Min Sun; Kim, Joong Hyun; Paeng, Jin Chul; Kang, Keon Wook; Jeong, Jae Min; Lee, Dong Soo; Lee, Jae Sung

2017-12-14

Personalized dosimetry with high accuracy is becoming more important because of the growing interests in personalized medicine and targeted radionuclide therapy. Voxel-based dosimetry using dose point kernel or voxel S-value (VSV) convolution is available. However, these approaches do not consider medium heterogeneity. Here, we propose a new method for whole-body voxel-based personalized dosimetry for heterogeneous media with non-uniform activity distributions, which is referred to as the multiple VSV approach. Methods: The multiple numbers (N) of VSVs for media with different densities covering the whole-body density ranges were used instead of using only a single VSV for water. The VSVs were pre-calculated using GATE Monte Carlo simulation; those were convoluted with the time-integrated activity to generate density-specific dose maps. Computed tomography-based segmentation was conducted to generate binary maps for each density region. The final dose map was acquired by the summation of N segmented density-specific dose maps. We tested several sets of VSVs with different densities: N = 1 (single water VSV), 4, 6, 8, 10, and 20. To validate the proposed method, phantom and patient studies were conducted and compared with direct Monte Carlo, which was considered the ground truth. Finally, patient dosimetry (10 subjects) was conducted using the multiple VSV approach and compared with the single VSV and organ-based dosimetry approaches. Errors at the voxel- and organ-levels were reported for eight organs. Results: In the phantom and patient studies, the multiple VSV approach showed significant improvements regarding voxel-level errors, especially for the lung and bone regions. As N increased, voxel-level errors decreased, although some overestimations were observed at lung boundaries. In the case of multiple VSVs ( N = 8), we achieved voxel-level errors of 2.06%. In the dosimetry study, our proposed method showed much improved results compared to the single VSV and

Understanding as Integration of Heterogeneous Representations

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Sergio F.

2014-03-01

The search for understanding is a major aim of science. Traditionally, understanding has been undervalued in the philosophy of science because of its psychological underpinnings; nowadays, however, it is widely recognized that epistemology cannot be divorced from psychology as sharp as traditional epistemology required. This eliminates the main obstacle to give scientific understanding due attention in philosophy of science. My aim in this paper is to describe an account of scientific understanding as an emergent feature of our mastering of different (causal) explanatory frameworks that takes place through the mastering of scientific practices. Different practices lead to different kinds of representations. Such representations are often heterogeneous. The integration of such representations constitute understanding.

Polymer-based 2D/3D wafer level heterogeneous integration for SSL module

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yuan, C.; Wei, J.; Ye, H.; Koh, S.; Harianto, S.; Nieuwenhof, M.A. van den; Zhang, G.Q.

2012-01-01

This paper demonstrates a heterogeneous integration of solid state lighting (SSL) module, including light source (LED) and driver/control components. Such integration has been realized by the polymer-based reconfigured wafer level package technologies and such structure has been prototyped and

Integration of Grid and Sensor Web for Flood Monitoring and Risk Assessment from Heterogeneous Data

Science.gov (United States)

Kussul, Nataliia; Skakun, Sergii; Shelestov, Andrii

2013-04-01

Over last decades we have witnessed the upward global trend in natural disaster occurrence. Hydrological and meteorological disasters such as floods are the main contributors to this pattern. In recent years flood management has shifted from protection against floods to managing the risks of floods (the European Flood risk directive). In order to enable operational flood monitoring and assessment of flood risk, it is required to provide an infrastructure with standardized interfaces and services. Grid and Sensor Web can meet these requirements. In this paper we present a general approach to flood monitoring and risk assessment based on heterogeneous geospatial data acquired from multiple sources. To enable operational flood risk assessment integration of Grid and Sensor Web approaches is proposed [1]. Grid represents a distributed environment that integrates heterogeneous computing and storage resources administrated by multiple organizations. SensorWeb is an emerging paradigm for integrating heterogeneous satellite and in situ sensors and data systems into a common informational infrastructure that produces products on demand. The basic Sensor Web functionality includes sensor discovery, triggering events by observed or predicted conditions, remote data access and processing capabilities to generate and deliver data products. Sensor Web is governed by the set of standards, called Sensor Web Enablement (SWE), developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Different practical issues regarding integration of Sensor Web with Grids are discussed in the study. We show how the Sensor Web can benefit from using Grids and vice versa. For example, Sensor Web services such as SOS, SPS and SAS can benefit from the integration with the Grid platform like Globus Toolkit. The proposed approach is implemented within the Sensor Web framework for flood monitoring and risk assessment, and a case-study of exploiting this framework, namely the Namibia SensorWeb Pilot Project, is

Enhancing yeast transcription analysis through integration of heterogeneous data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grotkjær, Thomas; Nielsen, Jens

2004-01-01

of Saccharomyces cerevisiae whole genome transcription data. A special focus is on the quantitative aspects of normalisation and mathematical modelling approaches, since they are expected to play an increasing role in future DNA microarray analysis studies. Data analysis is exemplified with cluster analysis......DNA microarray technology enables the simultaneous measurement of the transcript level of thousands of genes. Primary analysis can be done with basic statistical tools and cluster analysis, but effective and in depth analysis of the vast amount of transcription data requires integration with data...... from several heterogeneous data Sources, such as upstream promoter sequences, genome-scale metabolic models, annotation databases and other experimental data. In this review, we discuss how experimental design, normalisation, heterogeneous data and mathematical modelling can enhance analysis...

Ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types: understanding the interactions and suggesting pathways for sustaining multiple ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Alamgir, Mohammed; Turton, Stephen M; Macgregor, Colin J; Pert, Petina L

2016-10-01

As ecosystem services supply from tropical forests is declining due to deforestation and forest degradation, much effort is essential to sustain ecosystem services supply from tropical forested landscapes, because tropical forests provide the largest flow of multiple ecosystem services among the terrestrial ecosystems. In order to sustain multiple ecosystem services, understanding ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types and identifying certain ecosystem services that could be managed to leverage positive effects across the wider bundle of ecosystem services are required. We sampled three forest types, tropical rainforests, sclerophyll forests, and rehabilitated plantation forests, over an area of 32,000m(2) from Wet Tropics bioregion, Australia, aiming to compare supply and evaluate interactions and patterns of eight ecosystem services (global climate regulation, air quality regulation, erosion regulation, nutrient regulation, cyclone protection, habitat provision, energy provision, and timber provision). On average, multiple ecosystem services were highest in the rainforests, lowest in sclerophyll forests, and intermediate in rehabilitated plantation forests. However, a wide variation was apparent among the plots across the three forest types. Global climate regulation service had a synergistic impact on the supply of multiple ecosystem services, while nutrient regulation service was found to have a trade-off impact. Considering multiple ecosystem services, most of the rehabilitated plantation forest plots shared the same ordination space with rainforest plots in the ordination analysis, indicating that rehabilitated plantation forests may supply certain ecosystem services nearly equivalent to rainforests. Two synergy groups and one trade-off group were identified. Apart from conserving rainforests and sclerophyll forests, our findings suggest two additional integrated pathways to sustain the supply of multiple ecosystem services from a

Heterogeneous computing with OpenCL

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

Heterogeneous Computing with OpenCL teaches OpenCL and parallel programming for complex systems that may include a variety of device architectures: multi-core CPUs, GPUs, and fully-integrated Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) such as AMD Fusion technology. Designed to work on multiple platforms and with wide industry support, OpenCL will help you more effectively program for a heterogeneous future. Written by leaders in the parallel computing and OpenCL communities, this book will give you hands-on OpenCL experience to address a range of fundamental parallel algorithms. The authors explore memory spaces, optimization techniques, graphics interoperability, extensions, and debugging and profiling. Intended to support a parallel programming course, Heterogeneous Computing with OpenCL includes detailed examples throughout, plus additional online exercises and other supporting materials.

Automated Integration of Dedicated Hardwired IP Cores in Heterogeneous MPSoCs Designed with ESPAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ed Deprettere

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodology and techniques for automated integration of dedicated hardwired (HW IP cores into heterogeneous multiprocessor systems. We propose an IP core integration approach based on an HW module generation that consists of a wrapper around a predefined IP core. This approach has been implemented in a tool called ESPAM for automated multiprocessor system design, programming, and implementation. In order to keep high performance of the integrated IP cores, the structure of the IP core wrapper is devised in a way that adequately represents and efficiently implements the main characteristics of the formal model of computation, namely, Kahn process networks, we use as an underlying programming model in ESPAM. We present details about the structure of the HW module, the supported types of IP cores, and the minimum interfaces these IP cores have to provide in order to allow automated integration in heterogeneous multiprocessor systems generated by ESPAM. The ESPAM design flow, the multiprocessor platforms we consider, and the underlying programming (KPN model are introduced as well. Furthermore, we present the efficiency of our approach by applying our methodology and ESPAM tool to automatically generate, implement, and program heterogeneous multiprocessor systems that integrate dedicated IP cores and execute real-life applications.

Interstitial integrals in the multiple-scattering model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swanson, J.R.; Dill, D.

1982-01-01

We present an efficient method for the evaluation of integrals involving multiple-scattering wave functions over the interstitial region. Transformation of the multicenter interstitial wave functions to a single center representation followed by a geometric projection reduces the integrals to products of analytic angular integrals and numerical radial integrals. The projection function, which has the value 1 in the interstitial region and 0 elsewhere, has a closed-form partial-wave expansion. The method is tested by comparing its results with exact normalization and dipole integrals; the differences are 2% at worst and typically less than 1%. By providing an efficient means of calculating Coulomb integrals, the method allows treatment of electron correlations using a multiple scattering basis set

Algorithmic Foundation of Spectral Rarefaction for Measuring Satellite Imagery Heterogeneity at Multiple Spatial Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Rocchini, Duccio

2009-01-01

Measuring heterogeneity in satellite imagery is an important task to deal with. Most measures of spectral diversity have been based on Shannon Information theory. However, this approach does not inherently address different scales, ranging from local (hereafter referred to alpha diversity) to global scales (gamma diversity). The aim of this paper is to propose a method for measuring spectral heterogeneity at multiple scales based on rarefaction curves. An algorithmic solution of rarefaction applied to image pixel values (Digital Numbers, DNs) is provided and discussed. PMID:22389600

Complex heterogeneous tissue constructs containing multiple cell types prepared by inkjet printing technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Tao; Zhao, Weixin; Zhu, Jian-Ming; Albanna, Mohammad Z; Yoo, James J; Atala, Anthony

2013-01-01

This study was designed to develop a versatile method for fabricating complex and heterogeneous three-dimensional (3D) tissue constructs using simultaneous ink-jetting of multiple cell types. Human amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (hAFSCs), canine smooth muscle cells (dSMCs), and bovine aortic endothelial cells (bECs), were separately mixed with ionic cross-linker calcium chloride (CaCl(2)), loaded into separate ink cartridges and printed using a modified thermal inkjet printer. The three cell types were delivered layer-by-layer to pre-determined locations in a sodium alginate-collagen composite located in a chamber under the printer. The reaction between CaCl(2) and sodium alginate resulted in a rapid formation of a solid composite gel and the printed cells were anchored in designated areas within the gel. The printing process was repeated for several cycles leading to a complex 3D multi-cell hybrid construct. The biological functions of the 3D printed constructs were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Each of the printed cell types maintained their viability and normal proliferation rates, phenotypic expression, and physiological functions within the heterogeneous constructs. The bioprinted constructs were able to survive and mature into functional tissues with adequate vascularization in vivo. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating complex heterogeneous tissue constructs containing multiple cell types using inkjet printing technology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research on Heterogeneous Data Exchange based on XML

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huanqin; Liu, Jinfeng

Integration of multiple data sources is becoming increasingly important for enterprises that cooperate closely with their partners for e-commerce. OLAP enables analysts and decision makers fast access to various materialized views from data warehouses. However, many corporations have internal business applications deployed on different platforms. This paper introduces a model for heterogeneous data exchange based on XML. The system can exchange and share the data among the different sources. The method used to realize the heterogeneous data exchange is given in this paper.

On the importance of considering heterogeneity in witnesses' competence levels when reconstructing crimes from multiple witness testimonies.

Science.gov (United States)

Waubert de Puiseau, Berenike; Greving, Sven; Aßfalg, André; Musch, Jochen

2017-09-01

Aggregating information across multiple testimonies may improve crime reconstructions. However, different aggregation methods are available, and research on which method is best suited for aggregating multiple observations is lacking. Furthermore, little is known about how variance in the accuracy of individual testimonies impacts the performance of competing aggregation procedures. We investigated the superiority of aggregation-based crime reconstructions involving multiple individual testimonies and whether this superiority varied as a function of the number of witnesses and the degree of heterogeneity in witnesses' ability to accurately report their observations. Moreover, we examined whether heterogeneity in competence levels differentially affected the relative accuracy of two aggregation procedures: a simple majority rule, which ignores individual differences, and the more complex general Condorcet model (Romney et al., Am Anthropol 88(2):313-338, 1986; Batchelder and Romney, Psychometrika 53(1):71-92, 1988), which takes into account differences in competence between individuals. 121 participants viewed a simulated crime and subsequently answered 128 true/false questions about the crime. We experimentally generated groups of witnesses with homogeneous or heterogeneous competences. Both the majority rule and the general Condorcet model provided more accurate reconstructions of the observed crime than individual testimonies. The superiority of aggregated crime reconstructions involving multiple individual testimonies increased with an increasing number of witnesses. Crime reconstructions were most accurate when competences were heterogeneous and aggregation was based on the general Condorcet model. We argue that a formal aggregation should be considered more often when eyewitness testimonies have to be assessed and that the general Condorcet model provides a good framework for such aggregations.

Iterative resonance self-shielding methods using resonance integral table in heterogeneous transport lattice calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Ser Gi; Kim, Kang-Seog

2011-01-01

This paper describes the iteration methods using resonance integral tables to estimate the effective resonance cross sections in heterogeneous transport lattice calculations. Basically, these methods have been devised to reduce an effort to convert resonance integral table into subgroup data to be used in the physical subgroup method. Since these methods do not use subgroup data but only use resonance integral tables directly, these methods do not include an error in converting resonance integral into subgroup data. The effective resonance cross sections are estimated iteratively for each resonance nuclide through the heterogeneous fixed source calculations for the whole problem domain to obtain the background cross sections. These methods have been implemented in the transport lattice code KARMA which uses the method of characteristics (MOC) to solve the transport equation. The computational results show that these iteration methods are quite promising in the practical transport lattice calculations.

Heterogeneity and plasticity of epidermal stem cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schepeler, Troels; Page, Mahalia E; Jensen, Kim Bak

2014-01-01

The epidermis is an integral part of our largest organ, the skin, and protects us against the hostile environment. It is a highly dynamic tissue that, during normal steady-state conditions, undergoes constant turnover. Multiple stem cell populations residing in autonomously maintained compartments...... facilitate this task. In this Review, we discuss stem cell behaviour during normal tissue homeostasis, regeneration and disease within the pilosebaceous unit, an integral structure of the epidermis that is responsible for hair growth and lubrication of the epithelium. We provide an up-to-date view...... of the pilosebaceous unit, encompassing the heterogeneity and plasticity of multiple discrete stem cell populations that are strongly influenced by external cues to maintain their identity and function....

Integration of heterogeneous molecular networks to unravel gene-regulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, van J.C.J.; Schaap, P.J.; Martins dos Santos, V.A.P.; Suarez Diez, M.

2014-01-01

Background: Different methods have been developed to infer regulatory networks from heterogeneous omics datasets and to construct co-expression networks. Each algorithm produces different networks and efforts have been devoted to automatically integrate them into consensus sets. However each

Heterogeneous computing with OpenCL 2.0

CERN Document Server

Kaeli, David R; Schaa, Dana; Zhang, Dong Ping

2015-01-01

Heterogeneous Computing with OpenCL 2.0 teaches OpenCL and parallel programming for complex systems that may include a variety of device architectures: multi-core CPUs, GPUs, and fully-integrated Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). This fully-revised edition includes the latest enhancements in OpenCL 2.0 including: Shared virtual memory to increase programming flexibility and reduce data transfers that consume resources Dynamic parallelism which reduces processor load and avoids bottlenecks Improved imaging support and integration with OpenGL  Designed to work on multiple platfor

Seamless Data Services for Real Time Communication in a Heterogeneous Networks using Network Tracking and Management

OpenAIRE

T, Adiline Macriga.; Kumar, Dr. P. Anandha

2010-01-01

Heterogeneous Networks is the integration of all existing networks under a single environment with an understanding between the functional operations and also includes the ability to make use of multiple broadband transport technologies and to support generalized mobility. It is a challenging feature for Heterogeneous networks to integrate several IP-based access technologies in a seamless way. The focus of this paper is on the requirements of a mobility management scheme for multimedia real-...

Data Integration The Relational Logic Approach

CERN Document Server

Genesereth, Michael

2010-01-01

Data integration is a critical problem in our increasingly interconnected but inevitably heterogeneous world. There are numerous data sources available in organizational databases and on public information systems like the World Wide Web. Not surprisingly, the sources often use different vocabularies and different data structures, being created, as they are, by different people, at different times, for different purposes. The goal of data integration is to provide programmatic and human users with integrated access to multiple, heterogeneous data sources, giving each user the illusion of a sin

Dynamics and heterogeneity of brain damage in multiple sclerosis

KAUST Repository

Kotelnikova, Ekaterina

2017-10-26

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease driving inflammatory and degenerative processes that damage the central nervous system (CNS). However, it is not well understood how these events interact and evolve to evoke such a highly dynamic and heterogeneous disease. We established a hypothesis whereby the variability in the course of MS is driven by the very same pathogenic mechanisms responsible for the disease, the autoimmune attack on the CNS that leads to chronic inflammation, neuroaxonal degeneration and remyelination. We propose that each of these processes acts more or less severely and at different times in each of the clinical subgroups. To test this hypothesis, we developed a mathematical model that was constrained by experimental data (the expanded disability status scale [EDSS] time series) obtained from a retrospective longitudinal cohort of 66 MS patients with a long-term follow-up (up to 20 years). Moreover, we validated this model in a second prospective cohort of 120 MS patients with a three-year follow-up, for which EDSS data and brain volume time series were available. The clinical heterogeneity in the datasets was reduced by grouping the EDSS time series using an unsupervised clustering analysis. We found that by adjusting certain parameters, albeit within their biological range, the mathematical model reproduced the different disease courses, supporting the dynamic CNS damage hypothesis to explain MS heterogeneity. Our analysis suggests that the irreversible axon degeneration produced in the early stages of progressive MS is mainly due to the higher rate of myelinated axon degeneration, coupled to the lower capacity for remyelination. However, and in agreement with recent pathological studies, degeneration of chronically demyelinated axons is not a key feature that distinguishes this phenotype. Moreover, the model reveals that lower rates of axon degeneration and more rapid remyelination make relapsing MS more resilient than the

Dynamics and heterogeneity of brain damage in multiple sclerosis

KAUST Repository

Kotelnikova, Ekaterina; Kiani, Narsis A.; Abad, Elena; Martinez-Lapiscina, Elena H.; Andorra, Magi; Zubizarreta, Irati; Pulido-Valdeolivas, Irene; Pertsovskaya, Inna; Alexopoulos, Leonidas G.; Olsson, Tomas; Martin, Roland; Paul, Friedemann; Tegner, Jesper; Garcia-Ojalvo, Jordi; Villoslada, Pablo

2017-01-01

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease driving inflammatory and degenerative processes that damage the central nervous system (CNS). However, it is not well understood how these events interact and evolve to evoke such a highly dynamic and heterogeneous disease. We established a hypothesis whereby the variability in the course of MS is driven by the very same pathogenic mechanisms responsible for the disease, the autoimmune attack on the CNS that leads to chronic inflammation, neuroaxonal degeneration and remyelination. We propose that each of these processes acts more or less severely and at different times in each of the clinical subgroups. To test this hypothesis, we developed a mathematical model that was constrained by experimental data (the expanded disability status scale [EDSS] time series) obtained from a retrospective longitudinal cohort of 66 MS patients with a long-term follow-up (up to 20 years). Moreover, we validated this model in a second prospective cohort of 120 MS patients with a three-year follow-up, for which EDSS data and brain volume time series were available. The clinical heterogeneity in the datasets was reduced by grouping the EDSS time series using an unsupervised clustering analysis. We found that by adjusting certain parameters, albeit within their biological range, the mathematical model reproduced the different disease courses, supporting the dynamic CNS damage hypothesis to explain MS heterogeneity. Our analysis suggests that the irreversible axon degeneration produced in the early stages of progressive MS is mainly due to the higher rate of myelinated axon degeneration, coupled to the lower capacity for remyelination. However, and in agreement with recent pathological studies, degeneration of chronically demyelinated axons is not a key feature that distinguishes this phenotype. Moreover, the model reveals that lower rates of axon degeneration and more rapid remyelination make relapsing MS more resilient than the

Use of Graph Database for the Integration of Heterogeneous Biological Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Byoung-Ha; Kim, Seon-Kyu; Kim, Seon-Young

2017-03-01

Understanding complex relationships among heterogeneous biological data is one of the fundamental goals in biology. In most cases, diverse biological data are stored in relational databases, such as MySQL and Oracle, which store data in multiple tables and then infer relationships by multiple-join statements. Recently, a new type of database, called the graph-based database, was developed to natively represent various kinds of complex relationships, and it is widely used among computer science communities and IT industries. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of using a graph-based database for complex biological relationships by comparing the performance between MySQL and Neo4j, one of the most widely used graph databases. We collected various biological data (protein-protein interaction, drug-target, gene-disease, etc.) from several existing sources, removed duplicate and redundant data, and finally constructed a graph database containing 114,550 nodes and 82,674,321 relationships. When we tested the query execution performance of MySQL versus Neo4j, we found that Neo4j outperformed MySQL in all cases. While Neo4j exhibited a very fast response for various queries, MySQL exhibited latent or unfinished responses for complex queries with multiple-join statements. These results show that using graph-based databases, such as Neo4j, is an efficient way to store complex biological relationships. Moreover, querying a graph database in diverse ways has the potential to reveal novel relationships among heterogeneous biological data.

Service Oriented Integration of Distributed Heterogeneous IT Systems in Production Engineering Using Information Standards and Linked Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navid Shariat Zadeh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available While design of production systems based on digital models brings benefits, the communication of models comes with challenges since models typically reside in a heterogeneous IT environment using different syntax and semantics. Coping with heterogeneity requires a smart integration strategy. One main paradigm to integrate data and IT systems is to deploy information standards. In particular, ISO 10303 STEP has been endorsed as a suitable standard to exchange a wide variety of product manufacturing data. One the other hand, service-oriented tool integration solutions are progressively adopted for the integration of data and IT-tools, especially with the emergence of Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration whose focus is on the linking of data from heterogeneous software tools. In practice, there should be a combination of these approaches to facilitate the integration process. Hence, the aim of this paper is to investigate the applications of the approaches and the principles behind them and try to find criteria for where to use which approach. In addition, we explore the synergy between them and consequently suggest an approach based on combination of them. In addition, a systematic approach is suggested to identify required level of integrations and their corresponding approaches exemplified in a typical IT system architecture in Production Engineering.

Multimodal diagnosis of multiple and heterogeneous liver lesions in a young patient; Multimodale Bildgebung multipler Leberlaesionen bei einem jungen Patienten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiessling, F.; Schlemmer, H.-P. [Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) Heidelberg (Germany). Abteilung fuer onkologische Diagnostik und Therapie

2005-10-01

The classification of liver lesions is often problematic in particular if they are multiple and show an heterogeneous shape. Here we report of a young patient with multiple liver lesions of up to 3 cm size. Using ultrasound, the lesions were hyper-, hypoechogen or mixed. In serial contrast enhanced CT scans some of the lesions showed the typical enhancement pattern of hemangiomas, however, the diagnosis could still not be faithfully determined for all lesions. Therefore, the patient was conducted to contrast enhanced MRI (Gd-DTPA and MnDPDP). While with Gd-DTPA some of the lesions showed a strong enhancement, they remained hypointense after administration of MnDPDP. Finally to exclude a metastatic disease a {sup 99m}Tc-erythrocyte SPECT was performed confirming the diagnosis of hemangiomas for most of the lesions. Diagnosis was not assessed by biopsy because this would only clarify the diagnosis for one or few of the lesions. The patient was subsequently followed up for 3 years and all lesions remained unchanged. This case clearly illustrates the difficulty to get a certain diagnosis of multiple liver lesions with heterogeneous appearance despite the multimodal diagnostic conduct. (orig.) [German] Bei einer Routineuntersuchung wurden bei einem jungen Patienten sonographisch multiple Leberrundherde mit hyper-, hypoechogener und gemischter Echogenitaet detektiert. Auch mittels triphasischer kontrastmittelverstaerkter CT gelang nur bei einem Teil der Herde die Einstufung als Haemangiome anhand ihres Irisblendenphaenomens. MRT-Untersuchungen unter Verwendung von Gd-DTPA und MnDPDP wurden angeschlossen. Mit Gd-DTPA zeigten einige Herde ein kraeftiges Enhancement, unter Verwendung von MnDPDP jedoch blieben sie hypointens. Auf eine Biopsie wurde verzichtet, da diese nur bei einem oder wenigen Herden die Diagnose liefern wuerde, die anderen Herde aber unter Beruecksichtigung ihrer Heterogenitaet unklar geblieben waeren. Eine Sicherung der Diagnose gelang fuer die meisten

2 μm wavelength range InP-based type-II quantum well photodiodes heterogeneously integrated on silicon photonic integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruijun; Sprengel, Stephan; Muneeb, Muhammad; Boehm, Gerhard; Baets, Roel; Amann, Markus-Christian; Roelkens, Gunther

2015-10-05

The heterogeneous integration of InP-based type-II quantum well photodiodes on silicon photonic integrated circuits for the 2 µm wavelength range is presented. A responsivity of 1.2 A/W at a wavelength of 2.32 µm and 0.6 A/W at 2.4 µm wavelength is demonstrated. The photodiodes have a dark current of 12 nA at -0.5 V at room temperature. The absorbing active region of the integrated photodiodes consists of six periods of a "W"-shaped quantum well, also allowing for laser integration on the same platform.

A Sensor Middleware for integration of heterogeneous medical devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Brito, M; Vale, L; Carvalho, P; Henriques, J

2010-01-01

In this paper, the architecture of a modular, service-oriented, Sensor Middleware for data acquisition and processing is presented. The described solution was developed with the purpose of solving two increasingly relevant problems in the context of modern pHealth systems: i) to aggregate a number of heterogeneous, off-the-shelf, devices from which clinical measurements can be acquired and ii) to provide access and integration with an 802.15.4 network of wearable sensors. The modular nature of the Middleware provides the means to easily integrate pre-processing algorithms into processing pipelines, as well as new drivers for adding support for new sensor devices or communication technologies. Tests performed with both real and artificially generated data streams show that the presented solution is suitable for use both in a Windows PC or a Windows Mobile PDA with minimal overhead.

Integration of Heterogeneous Information Sources into a Knowledge Resource Management System for Lifelong Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Demidova, Elena; Ternier, Stefaan; Olmedilla, Daniel; Duval, Erik; Dicerto, Michele; Stefanov, Krassen; Sacristán, Naiara

2007-01-01

Demidova, E., Ternier, S., Olmedilla, D., Duval, E., Dicerto, M., Stefanov, K., et al. (2007). Integration of Heterogeneous Information Sources into a Knowledge Resource Management System for Lifelong. TENCompetence Workshop on Service Oriented Approaches and Lifelong Competence Development

Heterogeneous Biomedical Database Integration Using a Hybrid Strategy: A p53 Cancer Research Database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vadim Y. Bichutskiy

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Complex problems in life science research give rise to multidisciplinary collaboration, and hence, to the need for heterogeneous database integration. The tumor suppressor p53 is mutated in close to 50% of human cancers, and a small drug-like molecule with the ability to restore native function to cancerous p53 mutants is a long-held medical goal of cancer treatment. The Cancer Research DataBase (CRDB was designed in support of a project to find such small molecules. As a cancer informatics project, the CRDB involved small molecule data, computational docking results, functional assays, and protein structure data. As an example of the hybrid strategy for data integration, it combined the mediation and data warehousing approaches. This paper uses the CRDB to illustrate the hybrid strategy as a viable approach to heterogeneous data integration in biomedicine, and provides a design method for those considering similar systems. More efficient data sharing implies increased productivity, and, hopefully, improved chances of success in cancer research. (Code and database schemas are freely downloadable, http://www.igb.uci.edu/research/research.html.

A framework for integrating heterogeneous clinical data for a disease area into a central data warehouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Karmen, Christian; Ganzinger, Matthias; Kohl, Christian D; Firnkorn, Daniel; Knaup-Gregori, Petra

2014-01-01

Structured collection of clinical facts is a common approach in clinical research. Especially in the analysis of rare diseases it is often necessary to aggregate study data from several sites in order to achieve a statistically significant cohort size. In this paper we describe a framework how to approach an integration of heterogeneous clinical data into a central register. This enables site-spanning queries for the occurrence of specific clinical facts and thus supports clinical research. The framework consists of three sequential steps, starting from a formal data harmonization process, to the data transformation methods and finally the integration into a proper data warehouse. We implemented reusable software templates that are based on our best practices in several projects in integrating heterogeneous clinical data. Our methods potentially increase the efficiency and quality for future data integration projects by reducing the implementation effort as well as the project management effort by usage of our approaches as a guideline.

A spring-mass-damper system dynamics-based driver-vehicle integrated model for representing heterogeneous traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Munigety, Caleb Ronald

2018-04-01

The traditional traffic microscopic simulation models consider driver and vehicle as a single unit to represent the movements of drivers in a traffic stream. Due to this very fact, the traditional car-following models have the driver behavior related parameters, but ignore the vehicle related aspects. This approach is appropriate for homogeneous traffic conditions where car is the major vehicle type. However, in heterogeneous traffic conditions where multiple vehicle types are present, it becomes important to incorporate the vehicle related parameters exclusively to account for the varying dynamic and static characteristics. Thus, this paper presents a driver-vehicle integrated model hinged on the principles involved in physics-based spring-mass-damper mechanical system. While the spring constant represents the driver’s aggressiveness, the damping constant and the mass component take care of the stability and size/weight related aspects, respectively. The proposed model when tested, behaved pragmatically in representing the vehicle-type dependent longitudinal movements of vehicles.

Cytokine profiles show heterogeneity of interferon-β response in multiple sclerosis patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hegen, Harald; Adrianto, Indra; Lessard, Christopher J

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate serum cytokine profiles for their utility to determine the heterogeneous responses to interferon (IFN)-β treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) or clinically isolated syndrome receiving de novo IFN-β treatment...... were included in this prospective, observational study. Number of relapses and changes in disability were assessed 2 years prior to and 2 years after initiation of treatment. Sera were collected at baseline and after 3 months on therapy. Cytokine levels in sera were assessed by Luminex multiplex assays...

A Spatial Data Infrastructure Integrating Multisource Heterogeneous Geospatial Data and Time Series: A Study Case in Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gloria Bordogna

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Currently, the best practice to support land planning calls for the development of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI capable of integrating both geospatial datasets and time series information from multiple sources, e.g., multitemporal satellite data and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI. This paper describes an original OGC standard interoperable SDI architecture and a geospatial data and metadata workflow for creating and managing multisource heterogeneous geospatial datasets and time series, and discusses it in the framework of the Space4Agri project study case developed to support the agricultural sector in Lombardy region, Northern Italy. The main novel contributions go beyond the application domain for which the SDI has been developed and are the following: the ingestion within an a-centric SDI, potentially distributed in several nodes on the Internet to support scalability, of products derived by processing remote sensing images, authoritative data, georeferenced in-situ measurements and voluntary information (VGI created by farmers and agronomists using an original Smart App; the workflow automation for publishing sets and time series of heterogeneous multisource geospatial data and relative web services; and, finally, the project geoportal, that can ease the analysis of the geospatial datasets and time series by providing complex intelligent spatio-temporal query and answering facilities.

Ultrasound scatter in heterogeneous 3D microstructures: Parameters affecting multiple scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Engle, B. J.; Roberts, R. A.; Grandin, R. J.

2018-04-01

This paper reports on a computational study of ultrasound propagation in heterogeneous metal microstructures. Random spatial fluctuations in elastic properties over a range of length scales relative to ultrasound wavelength can give rise to scatter-induced attenuation, backscatter noise, and phase front aberration. It is of interest to quantify the dependence of these phenomena on the microstructure parameters, for the purpose of quantifying deleterious consequences on flaw detectability, and for the purpose of material characterization. Valuable tools for estimation of microstructure parameters (e.g. grain size) through analysis of ultrasound backscatter have been developed based on approximate weak-scattering models. While useful, it is understood that these tools display inherent inaccuracy when multiple scattering phenomena significantly contribute to the measurement. It is the goal of this work to supplement weak scattering model predictions with corrections derived through application of an exact computational scattering model to explicitly prescribed microstructures. The scattering problem is formulated as a volume integral equation (VIE) displaying a convolutional Green-function-derived kernel. The VIE is solved iteratively employing FFT-based con-volution. Realizations of random microstructures are specified on the micron scale using statistical property descriptions (e.g. grain size and orientation distributions), which are then spatially filtered to provide rigorously equivalent scattering media on a length scale relevant to ultrasound propagation. Scattering responses from ensembles of media representations are averaged to obtain mean and variance of quantities such as attenuation and backscatter noise levels, as a function of microstructure descriptors. The computational approach will be summarized, and examples of application will be presented.

Effect of heterogeneity in a horizontal well with multiple fractures on the long term forecast in shale gas reservoirs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nobakht, M.; Ambrose, R.; Clarkson, C.R. [Society of Petroleum Engineers (Canada)

2011-07-01

Multiple fracture horizontal wells (MFHWs) are the most popular type of method used for exploiting shale gas reservoirs. When analyzing MFHW's a homogeneous completion model is often used, but this rarely occurs in the field. This paper develops a hybrid method for forecasting MFHWs based on a heterogeneous completion and investigates the effect of completion heterogeneity on production forecasts. First, a current forecasting method for homogeneous completions was modified for heterogeneous completions. The new forecasting method was then validated using a numerical simulation. A relationship between Arps' hyperbolic decline exponent and the heterogeneity of a completion for a particular case was then developed. Lastly, a field case was analyzed to compare the impact of forecasting with and without taking a heterogeneous completion into consideration. Through analysis and simulations this paper found that the long-term forecast of MFHWs can be greatly impacted should heterogeneity of the completion be ignored.

A service platform architecture design towards a light integration of heterogeneous systems in the wellbeing domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yaojin; Ahtinen, Aino; Lahteenmaki, Jaakko; Nyman, Petri; Paajanen, Henrik; Peltoniemi, Teijo; Quiroz, Carlos

2007-01-01

System integration is one of the major challenges for building wellbeing or healthcare related information systems. In this paper, we are going to share our experiences on how to design a service platform called Nuadu service platform, for providing integrated services in occupational health promotion and health risk management through two heterogeneous systems. Our design aims for a light integration covering the layers, from data through service up to presentation, while maintaining the integrity of the underlying systems.

Static multiplicities in heterogeneous azeotropic distillation sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esbjerg, Klavs; Andersen, Torben Ravn; Jørgensen, Sten Bay

1998-01-01

In this paper the results of a bifurcation analysis on heterogeneous azeotropic distillation sequences are given. Two sequences suitable for ethanol dehydration are compared: The 'direct' and the 'indirect' sequence. It is shown, that the two sequences, despite their similarities, exhibit very...... different static behavior. The method of Petlyuk and Avet'yan (1971), Bekiaris et al. (1993), which assumes infinite reflux and infinite number of stages, is extended to and applied on heterogeneous azeotropic distillation sequences. The predictions are substantiated through simulations. The static sequence...

Microenvironmental Heterogeneity Parallels Breast Cancer Progression: A Histology-Genomic Integration Analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachael Natrajan

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The intra-tumor diversity of cancer cells is under intense investigation; however, little is known about the heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment that is key to cancer progression and evolution. We aimed to assess the degree of microenvironmental heterogeneity in breast cancer and correlate this with genomic and clinical parameters.We developed a quantitative measure of microenvironmental heterogeneity along three spatial dimensions (3-D in solid tumors, termed the tumor ecosystem diversity index (EDI, using fully automated histology image analysis coupled with statistical measures commonly used in ecology. This measure was compared with disease-specific survival, key mutations, genome-wide copy number, and expression profiling data in a retrospective study of 510 breast cancer patients as a test set and 516 breast cancer patients as an independent validation set. In high-grade (grade 3 breast cancers, we uncovered a striking link between high microenvironmental heterogeneity measured by EDI and a poor prognosis that cannot be explained by tumor size, genomics, or any other data types. However, this association was not observed in low-grade (grade 1 and 2 breast cancers. The prognostic value of EDI was superior to known prognostic factors and was enhanced with the addition of TP53 mutation status (multivariate analysis test set, p = 9 × 10-4, hazard ratio = 1.47, 95% CI 1.17-1.84; validation set, p = 0.0011, hazard ratio = 1.78, 95% CI 1.26-2.52. Integration with genome-wide profiling data identified losses of specific genes on 4p14 and 5q13 that were enriched in grade 3 tumors with high microenvironmental diversity that also substratified patients into poor prognostic groups. Limitations of this study include the number of cell types included in the model, that EDI has prognostic value only in grade 3 tumors, and that our spatial heterogeneity measure was dependent on spatial scale and tumor size.To our knowledge, this is the first

A network integration approach for drug-target interaction prediction and computational drug repositioning from heterogeneous information.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Yunan; Zhao, Xinbin; Zhou, Jingtian; Yang, Jinglin; Zhang, Yanqing; Kuang, Wenhua; Peng, Jian; Chen, Ligong; Zeng, Jianyang

2017-09-18

The emergence of large-scale genomic, chemical and pharmacological data provides new opportunities for drug discovery and repositioning. In this work, we develop a computational pipeline, called DTINet, to predict novel drug-target interactions from a constructed heterogeneous network, which integrates diverse drug-related information. DTINet focuses on learning a low-dimensional vector representation of features, which accurately explains the topological properties of individual nodes in the heterogeneous network, and then makes prediction based on these representations via a vector space projection scheme. DTINet achieves substantial performance improvement over other state-of-the-art methods for drug-target interaction prediction. Moreover, we experimentally validate the novel interactions between three drugs and the cyclooxygenase proteins predicted by DTINet, and demonstrate the new potential applications of these identified cyclooxygenase inhibitors in preventing inflammatory diseases. These results indicate that DTINet can provide a practically useful tool for integrating heterogeneous information to predict new drug-target interactions and repurpose existing drugs.Network-based data integration for drug-target prediction is a promising avenue for drug repositioning, but performance is wanting. Here, the authors introduce DTINet, whose performance is enhanced in the face of noisy, incomplete and high-dimensional biological data by learning low-dimensional vector representations.

Formation Learning Control of Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles With Heterogeneous Nonlinear Uncertain Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Chengzhi; Licht, Stephen; He, Haibo

2017-09-26

In this paper, a new concept of formation learning control is introduced to the field of formation control of multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which specifies a joint objective of distributed formation tracking control and learning/identification of nonlinear uncertain AUV dynamics. A novel two-layer distributed formation learning control scheme is proposed, which consists of an upper-layer distributed adaptive observer and a lower-layer decentralized deterministic learning controller. This new formation learning control scheme advances existing techniques in three important ways: 1) the multi-AUV system under consideration has heterogeneous nonlinear uncertain dynamics; 2) the formation learning control protocol can be designed and implemented by each local AUV agent in a fully distributed fashion without using any global information; and 3) in addition to the formation control performance, the distributed control protocol is also capable of accurately identifying the AUVs' heterogeneous nonlinear uncertain dynamics and utilizing experiences to improve formation control performance. Extensive simulations have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.

Smart wheelchair: integration of multiple sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Gassara, H. E.; Almuhamed, S.; Moukadem, A.; Schacher, L.; Dieterlen, A.; Adolphe, D.

2017-10-01

The aim of the present work is to develop a smart wheelchair by integrating multiple sensors for measuring user’s physiological signals and subsequently transmitting and monitoring the treated signals to the user, a designated person or institution. Among other sensors, force, accelerometer, and temperature sensors are successfully integrated within both the backrest and the seat cushions of the wheelchair; while a pulse sensor is integrated within the armrest. The pulse sensor is connected to an amplification circuit board that is, in turn, placed within the armrest. The force and temperature sensors are integrated into a textile cover of the cushions by means of embroidery and sewing techniques. The signal from accelerometer is transmitted through Wi-Fi connection. The electrical connections needed for power supplying of sensors are made by embroidered conductive threads.

A Preliminary Study on the Multiple Mapping Structure of Classification Systems for Heterogeneous Databases

OpenAIRE

Seok-Hyoung Lee; Hwan-Min Kim; Ho-Seop Choe

2012-01-01

While science and technology information service portals and heterogeneous databases produced in Korea and other countries are integrated, methods of connecting the unique classification systems applied to each database have been studied. Results of technologists' research, such as, journal articles, patent specifications, and research reports, are organically related to each other. In this case, if the most basic and meaningful classification systems are not connected, it is difficult to ach...

Ontology-based data integration from heterogeneous urban systems : A knowledge representation framework for smart cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Psyllidis, A.

2015-01-01

This paper presents a novel knowledge representation framework for smart city planning and management that enables the semantic integration of heterogeneous urban data from diverse sources. Currently, the combination of information across city agencies is cumbersome, as the increasingly available

FACILITATING INTEGRATED SPATIO-TEMPORAL VISUALIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF HETEROGENEOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Willmes

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In the context of the Collaborative Research Centre 806 "Our way to Europe" (CRC806, a research database is developed for integrating data from the disciplines of archaeology, the geosciences and the cultural sciences to facilitate integrated access to heterogeneous data sources. A practice-oriented data integration concept and its implementation is presented in this contribution. The data integration approach is based on the application of Semantic Web Technology and is applied to the domains of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data. The aim is to provide integrated spatio-temporal access to an existing wealth of data to facilitate research on the integrated data basis. For the web portal of the CRC806 research database (CRC806-Database, a number of interfaces and applications have been evaluated, developed and implemented for exposing the data to interactive analysis and visualizations.

Silica-based PLC with heterogeneously-integrated PDs for one-chip DP-QPSK receiver.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurata, Yu; Nasu, Yusuke; Tamura, Munehisa; Kasahara, Ryoichi; Aozasa, Shinichi; Mizuno, Takayuki; Yokoyama, Haruki; Tsunashima, Satoshi; Muramoto, Yoshifumi

2012-12-10

To realize a DP-QPSK receiver PLC, we heterogeneously integrated eight high-speed PDs on a silica-based PLC platform with a PBS, 90-degree optical hybrids and a VOA. The use of a 2.5%-Δ waveguide reduced the receiver PLC size to 11 mm x 11 mm. We successfully demonstrated 32 Gbaud DP-QPSK signal demodulation with the receiver PLC.

Integrating heterogeneous earth observation data for assessment of high-resolution inundation boundaries generated during flood emergencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sava, E.; Cervone, G.; Kalyanapu, A. J.; Sampson, K. M.

2017-12-01

The increasing trend in flooding events, paired with rapid urbanization and an aging infrastructure is projected to enhance the risk of catastrophic losses and increase the frequency of both flash and large area floods. During such events, it is critical for decision makers and emergency responders to have access to timely actionable knowledge regarding preparedness, emergency response, and recovery before, during and after a disaster. Large volumes of data sets derived from sophisticated sensors, mobile phones, and social media feeds are increasingly being used to improve citizen services and provide clues to the best way to respond to emergencies through the use of visualization and GIS mapping. Such data, coupled with recent advancements in data fusion techniques of remote sensing with near real time heterogeneous datasets have allowed decision makers to more efficiently extract precise and relevant knowledge and better understand how damage caused by disasters have real time effects on urban population. This research assesses the feasibility of integrating multiple sources of contributed data into hydrodynamic models for flood inundation simulation and estimating damage assessment. It integrates multiple sources of high-resolution physiographic data such as satellite remote sensing imagery coupled with non-authoritative data such as Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and `during-event' social media observations of flood inundation in order to improve the identification of flood mapping. The goal is to augment remote sensing imagery with new open-source datasets to generate flood extend maps at higher temporal and spatial resolution. The proposed methodology is applied on two test cases, relative to the 2013 Boulder Colorado flood and the 2015 floods in Texas.

Effect of clonal integration on nitrogen cycling in rhizosphere of rhizomatous clonal plant, Phyllostachys bissetii, under heterogeneous light.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yang; Chen, Jing-Song; Xue, Ge; Peng, Yuanying; Song, Hui-Xing

2018-07-01

Clonal integration plays an important role in clonal plant adapting to heterogeneous habitats. It was postulated that clonal integration could exhibit positive effects on nitrogen cycling in the rhizosphere of clonal plant subjected to heterogeneous light conditions. An in-situ experiment was conducted using clonal fragments of Phyllostachys bissetii with two successive ramets. Shading treatments were applied to offspring or mother ramets, respectively, whereas counterparts were treated to full sunlight. Rhizomes between two successive ramets were either severed or connected. Extracellular enzyme activities and nitrogen turnover were measured, as well as soil properties. Abundance of functional genes (archaeal or bacterial amoA, nifH) in the rhizosphere of shaded, offspring or mother ramets were determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Carbon or nitrogen availabilities were significantly influenced by clonal integration in the rhizosphere of shaded ramets. Clonal integration significantly increased extracellular enzyme activities and abundance of functional genes in the rhizosphere of shaded ramets. When rhizomes were connected, higher nitrogen turnover (nitrogen mineralization or nitrification rates) was exhibited in the rhizosphere of shaded offspring ramets. However, nitrogen turnover was significantly decreased by clonal integration in the rhizosphere of shaded mother ramets. Path analysis indicated that nitrogen turnover in the rhizosphere of shaded, offspring or mother ramets were primarily driven by the response of soil microorganisms to dissolved organic carbon or nitrogen. This unique in-situ experiment provided insights into the mechanism of nutrient recycling mediated by clonal integration. It was suggested that effects of clonal integration on the rhizosphere microbial processes were dependent on direction of photosynthates transport in clonal plant subjected to heterogeneous light conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights

BIOZON: a system for unification, management and analysis of heterogeneous biological data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yona Golan

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Integration of heterogeneous data types is a challenging problem, especially in biology, where the number of databases and data types increase rapidly. Amongst the problems that one has to face are integrity, consistency, redundancy, connectivity, expressiveness and updatability. Description Here we present a system (Biozon that addresses these problems, and offers biologists a new knowledge resource to navigate through and explore. Biozon unifies multiple biological databases consisting of a variety of data types (such as DNA sequences, proteins, interactions and cellular pathways. It is fundamentally different from previous efforts as it uses a single extensive and tightly connected graph schema wrapped with hierarchical ontology of documents and relations. Beyond warehousing existing data, Biozon computes and stores novel derived data, such as similarity relationships and functional predictions. The integration of similarity data allows propagation of knowledge through inference and fuzzy searches. Sophisticated methods of query that span multiple data types were implemented and first-of-a-kind biological ranking systems were explored and integrated. Conclusion The Biozon system is an extensive knowledge resource of heterogeneous biological data. Currently, it holds more than 100 million biological documents and 6.5 billion relations between them. The database is accessible through an advanced web interface that supports complex queries, "fuzzy" searches, data materialization and more, online at http://biozon.org.

Heterogeneous Deformable Modeling of Bio-Tissues and Haptic Force Rendering for Bio-Object Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shiyong; Lee, Yuan-Shin; Narayan, Roger J.

This paper presents a novel technique for modeling soft biological tissues as well as the development of an innovative interface for bio-manufacturing and medical applications. Heterogeneous deformable models may be used to represent the actual internal structures of deformable biological objects, which possess multiple components and nonuniform material properties. Both heterogeneous deformable object modeling and accurate haptic rendering can greatly enhance the realism and fidelity of virtual reality environments. In this paper, a tri-ray node snapping algorithm is proposed to generate a volumetric heterogeneous deformable model from a set of object interface surfaces between different materials. A constrained local static integration method is presented for simulating deformation and accurate force feedback based on the material properties of a heterogeneous structure. Biological soft tissue modeling is used as an example to demonstrate the proposed techniques. By integrating the heterogeneous deformable model into a virtual environment, users can both observe different materials inside a deformable object as well as interact with it by touching the deformable object using a haptic device. The presented techniques can be used for surgical simulation, bio-product design, bio-manufacturing, and medical applications.

A Context-Aware Adaptive Streaming Media Distribution System in a Heterogeneous Network with Multiple Terminals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yepeng Ni

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the problem of streaming media transmission in a heterogeneous network from a multisource server to home multiple terminals. In wired network, the transmission performance is limited by network state (e.g., the bandwidth variation, jitter, and packet loss. In wireless network, the multiple user terminals can cause bandwidth competition. Thus, the streaming media distribution in a heterogeneous network becomes a severe challenge which is critical for QoS guarantee. In this paper, we propose a context-aware adaptive streaming media distribution system (CAASS, which implements the context-aware module to perceive the environment parameters and use the strategy analysis (SA module to deduce the most suitable service level. This approach is able to improve the video quality for guarantying streaming QoS. We formulate the optimization problem of QoS relationship with the environment parameters based on the QoS testing algorithm for IPTV in ITU-T G.1070. We evaluate the performance of the proposed CAASS through 12 types of experimental environments using a prototype system. Experimental results show that CAASS can dynamically adjust the service level according to the environment variation (e.g., network state and terminal performances and outperforms the existing streaming approaches in adaptive streaming media distribution according to peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR.

Sepsis: Multiple Abnormalities, Heterogeneous Responses, and Evolving Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Iskander, Kendra N.; Osuchowski, Marcin F.; Stearns-Kurosawa, Deborah J.; Kurosawa, Shinichiro; Stepien, David; Valentine, Catherine

2013-01-01

Sepsis represents the host's systemic inflammatory response to a severe infection. It causes substantial human morbidity resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Despite decades of intense research, the basic mechanisms still remain elusive. In either experimental animal models of sepsis or human patients, there are substantial physiological changes, many of which may result in subsequent organ injury. Variations in age, gender, and medical comorbidities including diabetes and renal failure create additional complexity that influence the outcomes in septic patients. Specific system-based alterations, such as the coagulopathy observed in sepsis, offer both potential insight and possible therapeutic targets. Intracellular stress induces changes in the endoplasmic reticulum yielding misfolded proteins that contribute to the underlying pathophysiological changes. With these multiple changes it is difficult to precisely classify an individual's response in sepsis as proinflammatory or immunosuppressed. This heterogeneity also may explain why most therapeutic interventions have not improved survival. Given the complexity of sepsis, biomarkers and mathematical models offer potential guidance once they have been carefully validated. This review discusses each of these important factors to provide a framework for understanding the complex and current challenges of managing the septic patient. Clinical trial failures and the therapeutic interventions that have proven successful are also discussed. PMID:23899564

Multiple co-clustering based on nonparametric mixture models with heterogeneous marginal distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokuda, Tomoki; Yoshimoto, Junichiro; Shimizu, Yu; Okada, Go; Takamura, Masahiro; Okamoto, Yasumasa; Yamawaki, Shigeto; Doya, Kenji

2017-01-01

We propose a novel method for multiple clustering, which is useful for analysis of high-dimensional data containing heterogeneous types of features. Our method is based on nonparametric Bayesian mixture models in which features are automatically partitioned (into views) for each clustering solution. This feature partition works as feature selection for a particular clustering solution, which screens out irrelevant features. To make our method applicable to high-dimensional data, a co-clustering structure is newly introduced for each view. Further, the outstanding novelty of our method is that we simultaneously model different distribution families, such as Gaussian, Poisson, and multinomial distributions in each cluster block, which widens areas of application to real data. We apply the proposed method to synthetic and real data, and show that our method outperforms other multiple clustering methods both in recovering true cluster structures and in computation time. Finally, we apply our method to a depression dataset with no true cluster structure available, from which useful inferences are drawn about possible clustering structures of the data.

Multiple co-clustering based on nonparametric mixture models with heterogeneous marginal distributions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomoki Tokuda

Full Text Available We propose a novel method for multiple clustering, which is useful for analysis of high-dimensional data containing heterogeneous types of features. Our method is based on nonparametric Bayesian mixture models in which features are automatically partitioned (into views for each clustering solution. This feature partition works as feature selection for a particular clustering solution, which screens out irrelevant features. To make our method applicable to high-dimensional data, a co-clustering structure is newly introduced for each view. Further, the outstanding novelty of our method is that we simultaneously model different distribution families, such as Gaussian, Poisson, and multinomial distributions in each cluster block, which widens areas of application to real data. We apply the proposed method to synthetic and real data, and show that our method outperforms other multiple clustering methods both in recovering true cluster structures and in computation time. Finally, we apply our method to a depression dataset with no true cluster structure available, from which useful inferences are drawn about possible clustering structures of the data.

Multiple co-clustering based on nonparametric mixture models with heterogeneous marginal distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimoto, Junichiro; Shimizu, Yu; Okada, Go; Takamura, Masahiro; Okamoto, Yasumasa; Yamawaki, Shigeto; Doya, Kenji

2017-01-01

We propose a novel method for multiple clustering, which is useful for analysis of high-dimensional data containing heterogeneous types of features. Our method is based on nonparametric Bayesian mixture models in which features are automatically partitioned (into views) for each clustering solution. This feature partition works as feature selection for a particular clustering solution, which screens out irrelevant features. To make our method applicable to high-dimensional data, a co-clustering structure is newly introduced for each view. Further, the outstanding novelty of our method is that we simultaneously model different distribution families, such as Gaussian, Poisson, and multinomial distributions in each cluster block, which widens areas of application to real data. We apply the proposed method to synthetic and real data, and show that our method outperforms other multiple clustering methods both in recovering true cluster structures and in computation time. Finally, we apply our method to a depression dataset with no true cluster structure available, from which useful inferences are drawn about possible clustering structures of the data. PMID:29049392

J-integral analysis of heterogeneous mismatched girth welds in clamped single-edge notched tension specimens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hertelé, Stijn; De Waele, Wim; Verstraete, Matthias; Denys, Rudi; O'Dowd, Noel

2014-01-01

Flaw assessment procedures require a quantification of crack driving force, and such procedures are generally based on the assumption of weld homogeneity. However, welds generally have a heterogeneous microstructure, which will influence the crack driving force. This paper describes a stress-based methodology to assess complex heterogeneous welds using a J-based approach. Clamped single-edge notched tension specimens, representative of girth weld flaws, are analyzed and the influence of weld heterogeneity on crack driving force has been determined. The use of a modified limit load for heterogeneous welds is proposed, suitable for implementation in a ‘homogenized’ J-integral estimation scheme. It follows from an explicit modification of an existing solution for centre cracked tension specimens. The proposed solution provides a good estimate of crack driving force and any errors in the approximation may be accounted for by means of a small safety factor on load bearing capacity. - Highlights: • We present a crack driving force estimation procedure for heterogeneous welds. • The procedure is based on a ‘homogenized’ version of the EPRI equation. • Complex welds are translated into equivalent idealized mismatched welds. • The procedure is validated for clamped SE(T) specimens. • A mismatch limit load for clamped SE(T) specimens is developed

Heterogeneous recurrence monitoring and control of nonlinear stochastic processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Hui, E-mail: huiyang@usf.edu; Chen, Yun [Complex Systems Monitoring, Modeling and Analysis Laboratory, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 (United States)

2014-03-15

Recurrence is one of the most common phenomena in natural and engineering systems. Process monitoring of dynamic transitions in nonlinear and nonstationary systems is more concerned with aperiodic recurrences and recurrence variations. However, little has been done to investigate the heterogeneous recurrence variations and link with the objectives of process monitoring and anomaly detection. Notably, nonlinear recurrence methodologies are based on homogeneous recurrences, which treat all recurrence states in the same way as black dots, and non-recurrence is white in recurrence plots. Heterogeneous recurrences are more concerned about the variations of recurrence states in terms of state properties (e.g., values and relative locations) and the evolving dynamics (e.g., sequential state transitions). This paper presents a novel approach of heterogeneous recurrence analysis that utilizes a new fractal representation to delineate heterogeneous recurrence states in multiple scales, including the recurrences of both single states and multi-state sequences. Further, we developed a new set of heterogeneous recurrence quantifiers that are extracted from fractal representation in the transformed space. To that end, we integrated multivariate statistical control charts with heterogeneous recurrence analysis to simultaneously monitor two or more related quantifiers. Experimental results on nonlinear stochastic processes show that the proposed approach not only captures heterogeneous recurrence patterns in the fractal representation but also effectively monitors the changes in the dynamics of a complex system.

Multiple Kernel Learning with Random Effects for Predicting Longitudinal Outcomes and Data Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tianle; Zeng, Donglin

2015-01-01

Summary Predicting disease risk and progression is one of the main goals in many clinical research studies. Cohort studies on the natural history and etiology of chronic diseases span years and data are collected at multiple visits. Although kernel-based statistical learning methods are proven to be powerful for a wide range of disease prediction problems, these methods are only well studied for independent data but not for longitudinal data. It is thus important to develop time-sensitive prediction rules that make use of the longitudinal nature of the data. In this paper, we develop a novel statistical learning method for longitudinal data by introducing subject-specific short-term and long-term latent effects through a designed kernel to account for within-subject correlation of longitudinal measurements. Since the presence of multiple sources of data is increasingly common, we embed our method in a multiple kernel learning framework and propose a regularized multiple kernel statistical learning with random effects to construct effective nonparametric prediction rules. Our method allows easy integration of various heterogeneous data sources and takes advantage of correlation among longitudinal measures to increase prediction power. We use different kernels for each data source taking advantage of the distinctive feature of each data modality, and then optimally combine data across modalities. We apply the developed methods to two large epidemiological studies, one on Huntington's disease and the other on Alzheimer's Disease (Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, ADNI) where we explore a unique opportunity to combine imaging and genetic data to study prediction of mild cognitive impairment, and show a substantial gain in performance while accounting for the longitudinal aspect of the data. PMID:26177419

Heterogeneous Integration Technology

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-19

integrated CMOS imaging system for high frame rate applications [171]. .................... 68 Figure 83: CPU-DRAM Memory Landscape . [127... film transistors (TFT) were integrated with GaN HEMTs on the same wafer at AFRL. The thin film transistor fabrication using metal-oxide...second layer. Layer transfer produces the best quality devices compared to other additive technologies such as re-crystallization of thin films [148

A Novel Multiple-Time Scale Integrator for the Hybrid Monte Carlo Algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamleh, Waseem

2011-01-01

Hybrid Monte Carlo simulations that implement the fermion action using multiple terms are commonly used. By the nature of their formulation they involve multiple integration time scales in the evolution of the system through simulation time. These different scales are usually dealt with by the Sexton-Weingarten nested leapfrog integrator. In this scheme the choice of time scales is somewhat restricted as each time step must be an exact multiple of the next smallest scale in the sequence. A novel generalisation of the nested leapfrog integrator is introduced which allows for far greater flexibility in the choice of time scales, as each scale now must only be an exact multiple of the smallest step size.

A Multiple Iterated Integral Inequality and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zongyi Hou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We establish new multiple iterated Volterra-Fredholm type integral inequalities, where the composite function w(u(s of the unknown function u with nonlinear function w in integral functions in [Ma, QH, Pečarić, J: Estimates on solutions of some new nonlinear retarded Volterra-Fredholm type integral inequalities. Nonlinear Anal. 69 (2008 393–407] is changed into the composite functions w1(u(s,w2(u(s,…, wn (u(s of the unknown function u with different nonlinear functions w1,w2,…,wn, respectively. By adopting novel analysis techniques, the upper bounds of the embedded unknown functions are estimated explicitly. The derived results can be applied in the study of solutions of ordinary differential equations and integral equations.

Rapid heterogeneous assembly of multiple magma reservoirs prior to Yellowstone supereruptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wotzlaw, Jörn-Frederik; Bindeman, Ilya N; Stern, Richard A; D'Abzac, Francois-Xavier; Schaltegger, Urs

2015-09-10

Large-volume caldera-forming eruptions of silicic magmas are an important feature of continental volcanism. The timescales and mechanisms of assembly of the magma reservoirs that feed such eruptions as well as the durations and physical conditions of upper-crustal storage remain highly debated topics in volcanology. Here we explore a comprehensive data set of isotopic (O, Hf) and chemical proxies in precisely U-Pb dated zircon crystals from all caldera-forming eruptions of Yellowstone supervolcano. Analysed zircons record rapid assembly of multiple magma reservoirs by repeated injections of isotopically heterogeneous magma batches and short pre-eruption storage times of 10(3) to 10(4) years. Decoupled oxygen-hafnium isotope systematics suggest a complex source for these magmas involving variable amounts of differentiated mantle-derived melt, Archean crust and hydrothermally altered shallow-crustal rocks. These data demonstrate that complex magma reservoirs with multiple sub-chambers are a common feature of rift- and hotspot related supervolcanoes. The short duration of reservoir assembly documents rapid crustal remelting and two to three orders of magnitude higher magma production rates beneath Yellowstone compared to continental arc volcanoes. The short pre-eruption storage times further suggest that the detection of voluminous reservoirs of eruptible magma beneath active supervolcanoes may only be possible prior to an impending eruption.

Integrated approaches to long-term studies of urban ecological systems

Science.gov (United States)

Nancy B. Grimm; J. Morgan Grove; Steward T.A. Pickett; Charles L. Redman

2000-01-01

Urban ecological systems present multiple challenges to ecologists—pervasive human impact and extreme heterogeneity of cities, and the need to integrate social and ecological approaches, concepts, and theory.

MBsums. A Mathematica package for the representation of Mellin-Barnes integrals by multiple sums

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochman, Michal; Riemann, Tord

2015-11-01

Feynman integrals may be represented by the Mathematica package AMBRE and MB as multiple Mellin-Barnes integrals. With the Mathematica package MBsums we transform these Mellin-Barnes integrals into multiple sums.

Multiple integrals in the calculus of variations

CERN Document Server

Morrey, Charles B

1966-01-01

From the reviews: "…the book contains a wealth of material essential to the researcher concerned with multiple integral variational problems and with elliptic partial differential equations. The book not only reports the researches of the author but also the contributions of his contemporaries in the same and related fields. The book undoubtedly will become a standard reference for researchers in these areas. …The book is addressed mainly to mature mathematical analysts. However, any student of analysis will be greatly rewarded by a careful study of this book." M. R. Hestenes in Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications "The work intertwines in masterly fashion results of classical analysis, topology, and the theory of manifolds and thus presents a comprehensive treatise of the theory of multiple integral variational problems." L. Schmetterer in Monatshefte für Mathematik "The book is very clearly exposed and contains the last modern theory in this domain. A comprehensive bibliography ends the book...

Web-GIS approach for integrated analysis of heterogeneous georeferenced data

Science.gov (United States)

Okladnikov, Igor; Gordov, Evgeny; Titov, Alexander; Shulgina, Tamara

2014-05-01

Georeferenced datasets are currently actively used for modeling, interpretation and forecasting of climatic and ecosystem changes on different spatial and temporal scales [1]. Due to inherent heterogeneity of environmental datasets as well as their huge size (up to tens terabytes for a single dataset) a special software supporting studies in the climate and environmental change areas is required [2]. Dedicated information-computational system for integrated analysis of heterogeneous georeferenced climatological and meteorological data is presented. It is based on combination of Web and GIS technologies according to Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards, and involves many modern solutions such as object-oriented programming model, modular composition, and JavaScript libraries based on GeoExt library (http://www.geoext.org), ExtJS Framework (http://www.sencha.com/products/extjs) and OpenLayers software (http://openlayers.org). The main advantage of the system lies in it's capability to perform integrated analysis of time series of georeferenced data obtained from different sources (in-situ observations, model results, remote sensing data) and to combine the results in a single map [3, 4] as WMS and WFS layers in a web-GIS application. Also analysis results are available for downloading as binary files from the graphical user interface or can be directly accessed through web mapping (WMS) and web feature (WFS) services for a further processing by the user. Data processing is performed on geographically distributed computational cluster comprising data storage systems and corresponding computational nodes. Several geophysical datasets represented by NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis II, JMA/CRIEPI JRA-25 Reanalysis, ECMWF ERA-40 Reanalysis, ECMWF ERA Interim Reanalysis, MRI/JMA APHRODITE's Water Resources Project Reanalysis, DWD Global Precipitation Climatology Centre's data, GMAO Modern Era-Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, reanalysis of Monitoring

A MODEL OF HETEROGENEOUS DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM FOR FOREIGN EXCHANGE PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragutin Kermek

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The paper investigates the design of heterogeneous distributed system for foreign exchange portfolio analysis. The proposed model includes few separated and dislocated but connected parts through distributed mechanisms. Making system distributed brings new perspectives to performance busting where software based load balancer gets very important role. Desired system should spread over multiple, heterogeneous platforms in order to fulfil open platform goal. Building such a model incorporates different patterns from GOF design patterns, business patterns, J2EE patterns, integration patterns, enterprise patterns, distributed design patterns to Web services patterns. The authors try to find as much as possible appropriate patterns for planned tasks in order to capture best modelling and programming practices.

Heterogeneous integration of lithium niobate and silicon nitride waveguides for wafer-scale photonic integrated circuits on silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Lin; Pfeiffer, Martin H P; Volet, Nicolas; Zervas, Michael; Peters, Jon D; Manganelli, Costanza L; Stanton, Eric J; Li, Yifei; Kippenberg, Tobias J; Bowers, John E

2017-02-15

An ideal photonic integrated circuit for nonlinear photonic applications requires high optical nonlinearities and low loss. This work demonstrates a heterogeneous platform by bonding lithium niobate (LN) thin films onto a silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguide layer on silicon. It not only provides large second- and third-order nonlinear coefficients, but also shows low propagation loss in both the Si3N4 and the LN-Si3N4 waveguides. The tapers enable low-loss-mode transitions between these two waveguides. This platform is essential for various on-chip applications, e.g., modulators, frequency conversions, and quantum communications.

Heterogenous integration of a thin-film GaAs photodetector and a microfluidic device on a silicon substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Fuchuan; Xiao, Jing; Udawala, Fidaali; Seo, Sang-Woo

2011-01-01

In this paper, heterogeneous integration of a III–V semiconductor thin-film photodetector (PD) with a microfluidic device is demonstrated on a SiO 2 –Si substrate. Thin-film format of optical devices provides an intimate integration of optical functions with microfluidic devices. As a demonstration of a multi-material and functional system, the biphasic flow structure in the polymeric microfluidic channels was co-integrated with a III–V semiconductor thin-film PD. The fluorescent drops formed in the microfluidic device are successfully detected with an integrated thin-film PD on a silicon substrate. The proposed three-dimensional integration structure is an alternative approach to combine optical functions with microfluidic functions on silicon-based electronic functions.

Integration of thermo-vapor compressor with multiple-effect evaporator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharan, Prashant; Bandyopadhyay, Santanu

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Energy integration of thermo-vapor compressor with multiple-effect evaporator. • Proposed a new methodology for optimal placement of thermo-vapor compressor. • Extended Pinch Analysis for overall energy conservation. • Obtained simultaneous reduction in evaporator area requirement and energy consumption with optimal integration. - Abstract: Thermo-vapor compressor (TVC) is used for compressing the low-pressure vapor with the help of the high-pressure motive steam, to produce the medium pressure vapor. A substantial portion of energy may be conserved by integrating TVC with the multiple-effect evaporator (MEE). The common practice in desalination industry is to compress the vapor produced in the last effect of a MEE using TVC to reduce the overall motive steam requirement. Such integration does not necessarily guarantee energy optimality. The objective of the present work is to optimally integrate TVC with a MEE system to maximize the gain output ratio (GOR). GOR is defined as the ratio of the mass flow rate of vapor produced in MEE to the mass flow rate of the motive steam supplied to TVC. GOR is the measure of the energy efficiency of MEE system. Using the principles of Pinch Analysis and techniques of mathematical optimization, a new methodology for integration of TVC with MEE is proposed in this paper. This is the first analytical methodology to optimally integrate TVC with MEE, avoiding multiple simulations of the overall system. A Theorem is proposed to directly calculate the optimal location of TVC suction position. The proposed methodology gives the designer the freedom to design an MEE-TVC with minimum energy consumption and without carrying out the detailed simulation of the entire system. The methodology is demonstrated through the illustrative case studies for concentrating corn glucose, and freshwater production through thermal desalination. In the case of corn glucose, the optimal integration of TVC with 2-effect MEE resulted in

Heterogeneous reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moura Neto, C. de; Nair, R.P.K.

1979-08-01

The microscopic study of a cell is meant for the determination of the infinite multiplication factor of the cell, which is given by the four factor formula: K(infinite) = n(epsilon)pf. The analysis of an homogeneous reactor is similar to that of an heterogeneous reactor, but each factor of the four factor formula can not be calculated by the formulas developed in the case of an homogeneous reactor. A great number of methods was developed for the calculation of heterogeneous reactors and some of them are discussed. (Author) [pt

Genetic variants influencing phenotypic variance heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ek, Weronica E; Rask-Andersen, Mathias; Karlsson, Torgny; Enroth, Stefan; Gyllensten, Ulf; Johansson, Åsa

2018-03-01

Most genetic studies identify genetic variants associated with disease risk or with the mean value of a quantitative trait. More rarely, genetic variants associated with variance heterogeneity are considered. In this study, we have identified such variance single-nucleotide polymorphisms (vSNPs) and examined if these represent biological gene × gene or gene × environment interactions or statistical artifacts caused by multiple linked genetic variants influencing the same phenotype. We have performed a genome-wide study, to identify vSNPs associated with variance heterogeneity in DNA methylation levels. Genotype data from over 10 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and DNA methylation levels at over 430 000 CpG sites, were analyzed in 729 individuals. We identified vSNPs for 7195 CpG sites (P mean DNA methylation levels. We further showed that variance heterogeneity between genotypes mainly represents additional, often rare, SNPs in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the respective vSNP and for some vSNPs, multiple low frequency variants co-segregating with one of the vSNP alleles. Therefore, our results suggest that variance heterogeneity of DNA methylation mainly represents phenotypic effects by multiple SNPs, rather than biological interactions. Such effects may also be important for interpreting variance heterogeneity of more complex clinical phenotypes.

Rapidly reconfigurable high-fidelity optical arbitrary waveform generation in heterogeneous photonic integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Shaoqi; Qin, Chuan; Shang, Kuanping; Pathak, Shibnath; Lai, Weicheng; Guan, Binbin; Clements, Matthew; Su, Tiehui; Liu, Guangyao; Lu, Hongbo; Scott, Ryan P; Ben Yoo, S J

2017-04-17

This paper demonstrates rapidly reconfigurable, high-fidelity optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) in a heterogeneous photonic integrated circuit (PIC). The heterogeneous PIC combines advantages of high-speed indium phosphide (InP) modulators and low-loss, high-contrast silicon nitride (Si3N4) arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) so that high-fidelity optical waveform syntheses with rapid waveform updates are possible. The generated optical waveforms spanned a 160 GHz spectral bandwidth starting from an optical frequency comb consisting of eight comb lines separated by 20 GHz channel spacing. The Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) values of the generated waveforms were approximately 16.4%. The OAWG module can rapidly and arbitrarily reconfigure waveforms upon every pulse arriving at 2 ns repetition time. The result of this work indicates the feasibility of truly dynamic optical arbitrary waveform generation where the reconfiguration rate or the modulator bandwidth must exceed the channel spacing of the AWG and the optical frequency comb.

Vertically Integrated Models for Carbon Storage Modeling in Heterogeneous Domains

Science.gov (United States)

Bandilla, K.; Celia, M. A.

2017-12-01

Numerical modeling is an essential tool for studying the impacts of geologic carbon storage (GCS). Injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into deep saline aquifers leads to multi-phase flow (injected CO2 and resident brine), which can be described by a set of three-dimensional governing equations, including mass-balance equation, volumetric flux equations (modified Darcy), and constitutive equations. This is the modeling approach on which commonly used reservoir simulators such as TOUGH2 are based. Due to the large density difference between CO2 and brine, GCS models can often be simplified by assuming buoyant segregation and integrating the three-dimensional governing equations in the vertical direction. The integration leads to a set of two-dimensional equations coupled with reconstruction operators for vertical profiles of saturation and pressure. Vertically-integrated approaches have been shown to give results of comparable quality as three-dimensional reservoir simulators when applied to realistic CO2 injection sites such as the upper sand wedge at the Sleipner site. However, vertically-integrated approaches usually rely on homogeneous properties over the thickness of a geologic layer. Here, we investigate the impact of general (vertical and horizontal) heterogeneity in intrinsic permeability, relative permeability functions, and capillary pressure functions. We consider formations involving complex fluvial deposition environments and compare the performance of vertically-integrated models to full three-dimensional models for a set of hypothetical test cases consisting of high permeability channels (streams) embedded in a low permeability background (floodplains). The domains are randomly generated assuming that stream channels can be represented by sinusoidal waves in the plan-view and by parabolas for the streams' cross-sections. Stream parameters such as width, thickness and wavelength are based on values found at the Ketzin site in Germany. Results from the

Nonparametric estimation of the heterogeneity of a random medium using compound Poisson process modeling of wave multiple scattering.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Bihan, Nicolas; Margerin, Ludovic

2009-07-01

In this paper, we present a nonparametric method to estimate the heterogeneity of a random medium from the angular distribution of intensity of waves transmitted through a slab of random material. Our approach is based on the modeling of forward multiple scattering using compound Poisson processes on compact Lie groups. The estimation technique is validated through numerical simulations based on radiative transfer theory.

Integrated design of intelligent surveillance systems and their user interface

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Toet, A.

2005-01-01

Modern complex surveillance systems consisting of multiple and heterogeneous sensors, automatic information registration and data analysis techniques, and decision support tools should provide the human operator an integrated, transparent and easily comprehensible view of the surveyed scene.

Heterogeneous treatment in the variational nodal method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fanning, T.H.

1995-01-01

The variational nodal transport method is reduced to its diffusion form and generalized for the treatment of heterogeneous nodes while maintaining nodal balances. Adapting variational methods to heterogeneous nodes requires the ability to integrate over a node with discontinuous cross sections. In this work, integrals are evaluated using composite gaussian quadrature rules, which permit accurate integration while minimizing computing time. Allowing structure within a nodal solution scheme avoids some of the necessity of cross section homogenization, and more accurately defines the intra-nodal flux shape. Ideally, any desired heterogeneity can be constructed within the node; but in reality, the finite set of basis functions limits the practical resolution to which fine detail can be defined within the node. Preliminary comparison tests show that the heterogeneous variational nodal method provides satisfactory results even if some improvements are needed for very difficult, configurations

Multiple proviral integration events after virological synapse-mediated HIV-1 spread

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, Rebecca A.; Martin, Nicola; Mitar, Ivonne; Jones, Emma; Sattentau, Quentin J.

2013-01-01

HIV-1 can move directly between T cells via virological synapses (VS). Although aspects of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this mode of spread have been elucidated, the outcomes for infection of the target cell remain incompletely understood. We set out to determine whether HIV-1 transfer via VS results in productive, high-multiplicity HIV-1 infection. We found that HIV-1 cell-to-cell spread resulted in nuclear import of multiple proviruses into target cells as seen by fluorescence in-situ hybridization. Proviral integration into the target cell genome was significantly higher than that seen in a cell-free infection system, and consequent de novo viral DNA and RNA production in the target cell detected by quantitative PCR increased over time. Our data show efficient proviral integration across VS, implying the probability of multiple integration events in target cells that drive productive T cell infection. - Highlights: • Cell-to-cell HIV-1 infection delivers multiple vRNA copies to the target cell. • Cell-to-cell infection results in productive infection of the target cell. • Cell-to-cell transmission is more efficient than cell-free HIV-1 infection. • Suggests a mechanism for recombination in cells infected with multiple viral genomes

Direct integration multiple collision integral transport analysis method for high energy fusion neutronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, K.R.

1985-01-01

A new analysis method specially suited for the inherent difficulties of fusion neutronics was developed to provide detailed studies of the fusion neutron transport physics. These studies should provide a better understanding of the limitations and accuracies of typical fusion neutronics calculations. The new analysis method is based on the direct integration of the integral form of the neutron transport equation and employs a continuous energy formulation with the exact treatment of the energy angle kinematics of the scattering process. In addition, the overall solution is analyzed in terms of uncollided, once-collided, and multi-collided solution components based on a multiple collision treatment. Furthermore, the numerical evaluations of integrals use quadrature schemes that are based on the actual dependencies exhibited in the integrands. The new DITRAN computer code was developed on the Cyber 205 vector supercomputer to implement this direct integration multiple-collision fusion neutronics analysis. Three representative fusion reactor models were devised and the solutions to these problems were studied to provide suitable choices for the numerical quadrature orders as well as the discretized solution grid and to understand the limitations of the new analysis method. As further verification and as a first step in assessing the accuracy of existing fusion-neutronics calculations, solutions obtained using the new analysis method were compared to typical multigroup discrete ordinates calculations

Integral Methodological Pluralism in Science Education Research: Valuing Multiple Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Nancy T.; Callihan, Laurie P.

2013-01-01

This article examines the multiple methodologies used in educational research and proposes a model that includes all of them as contributing to understanding educational contexts and research from multiple perspectives. The model, based on integral theory (Wilber in a theory of everything. Shambhala, Boston, 2000) values all forms of research as…

Intra-tumoral Heterogeneity of KRAS and BRAF Mutation Status in Patients with Advanced Colorectal Cancer (aCRC and Cost-Effectiveness of Multiple Sample Testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan D. Richman

2011-01-01

Full Text Available KRAS mutation status is established as a predictive biomarker of benefit from anti-EGFr therapies. Mutations are normally assessed using DNA extracted from one formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE tumor block. We assessed heterogeneity of KRAS and BRAF mutation status intra-tumorally (multiple blocks from the same primary tumor. We also investigated the utility and efficiency of genotyping a ‘DNA cocktail’ prepared from multiple blocks. We studied 68 consenting patients in two randomized clinical trials. DNA was extracted, from ≥2 primary tumor FFPE blocks per patient. DNA was genotyped by pyrosequencing for KRAS codons 12, 13 and 61 and BRAF codon 600. In patients with heterogeneous mutation status, DNA cocktails were prepared and genotyped. Among 69 primary tumors in 68 patients, 7 (10.1% showed intratumoral heterogeneity; 5 (7.2% at KRAS codons 12, 13 and 2 (2.9% at BRAF codon 600. In patients displaying heterogeneity, the relevant KRAS or BRAF mutation was also identified in ‘DNA cocktail’ samples when including DNA from mutant and wild-type blocks. Heterogeneity is uncommon but not insignificant. Testing DNA from a single block will wrongly assign wild-type status to 10% patients. Testing more than one block, or preferably preparation of a ‘DNA cocktail’ from two or more tumor blocks, improves mutation detection at minimal extra cost.

Heterogeneous Economic Integration Agreement Effects

OpenAIRE

Baier, Scott L.; Bergstrand, Jeffrey H.; Clance, Matthew W.

2015-01-01

Gravity equations have been used for more than 50 years to estimate ex post the partial effects of trade costs on international trade flows, and the well-known - and traditionally presumed exogenous – "trade-cost elasticity" plays a central role in computing general equilibrium trade-flow and welfare effects of trade-cost changes. This paper addresses theoretically and empirically the influence of variable and fixed export costs in explaining the likely heterogeneity in the trade-cost elast...

InP-DHBT-on-BiCMOS technology with fT/fmax of 400/350 GHz for heterogeneous integrated millimeter-wave sources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraemer, Tomas; Ostermay, Ina; Jensen, Thomas

2013-01-01

-100 GHz. The 0.8 × 5 μm2 InP DHBTs show fT/fmax of 400/350 GHz with an output power of more than 26 mW at 96 GHz. These are record values for a heterogeneously integrated transistor on silicon. As a circuit example, a 164-GHz signal source is presented. It features a voltage-controlled oscillator in Bi......This paper presents a novel InP-SiGe BiCMOS technology using wafer-scale heterogeneous integration. The vertical stacking of the InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) circuitry directly on top of the BiCMOS wafer enables ultra-broadband interconnects with

Heterogeneity and Developmental Connections between Cell Types Inhabiting Teeth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Krivanek

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Every tissue is composed of multiple cell types that are developmentally, evolutionary and functionally integrated into the unit we call an organ. Teeth, our organs for biting and mastication, are complex and made of many different cell types connected or disconnected in terms of their ontogeny. In general, epithelial and mesenchymal compartments represent the major framework of tooth formation. Thus, they give rise to the two most important matrix–producing populations: ameloblasts generating enamel and odontoblasts producing dentin. However, the real picture is far from this quite simplified view. Diverse pulp cells, the immune system, the vascular system, the innervation and cells organizing the dental follicle all interact, and jointly participate in transforming lifeless matrix into a functional organ that can sense and protect itself. Here we outline the heterogeneity of cell types that inhabit the tooth, and also provide a life history of the major populations. The mouse model system has been indispensable not only for the studies of cell lineages and heterogeneity, but also for the investigation of dental stem cells and tooth patterning during development. Finally, we briefly discuss the evolutionary aspects of cell type diversity and dental tissue integration.

Semantic Health Knowledge Graph: Semantic Integration of Heterogeneous Medical Knowledge and Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Longxiang Shi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the explosion of healthcare information, there has been a tremendous amount of heterogeneous textual medical knowledge (TMK, which plays an essential role in healthcare information systems. Existing works for integrating and utilizing the TMK mainly focus on straightforward connections establishment and pay less attention to make computers interpret and retrieve knowledge correctly and quickly. In this paper, we explore a novel model to organize and integrate the TMK into conceptual graphs. We then employ a framework to automatically retrieve knowledge in knowledge graphs with a high precision. In order to perform reasonable inference on knowledge graphs, we propose a contextual inference pruning algorithm to achieve efficient chain inference. Our algorithm achieves a better inference result with precision and recall of 92% and 96%, respectively, which can avoid most of the meaningless inferences. In addition, we implement two prototypes and provide services, and the results show our approach is practical and effective.

NoSQL data model for semi-automatic integration of ethnomedicinal plant data from multiple sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Ningthoujam, Sanjoy Singh; Choudhury, Manabendra Dutta; Potsangbam, Kumar Singh; Chetia, Pankaj; Nahar, Lutfun; Sarker, Satyajit D; Basar, Norazah; Das Talukdar, Anupam

2014-01-01

Sharing traditional knowledge with the scientific community could refine scientific approaches to phytochemical investigation and conservation of ethnomedicinal plants. As such, integration of traditional knowledge with scientific data using a single platform for sharing is greatly needed. However, ethnomedicinal data are available in heterogeneous formats, which depend on cultural aspects, survey methodology and focus of the study. Phytochemical and bioassay data are also available from many open sources in various standards and customised formats. To design a flexible data model that could integrate both primary and curated ethnomedicinal plant data from multiple sources. The current model is based on MongoDB, one of the Not only Structured Query Language (NoSQL) databases. Although it does not contain schema, modifications were made so that the model could incorporate both standard and customised ethnomedicinal plant data format from different sources. The model presented can integrate both primary and secondary data related to ethnomedicinal plants. Accommodation of disparate data was accomplished by a feature of this database that supported a different set of fields for each document. It also allowed storage of similar data having different properties. The model presented is scalable to a highly complex level with continuing maturation of the database, and is applicable for storing, retrieving and sharing ethnomedicinal plant data. It can also serve as a flexible alternative to a relational and normalised database. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On the area spectral efficiency improvement of heterogeneous network by exploiting the integration of macro-femto cellular networks

KAUST Repository

Shakir, Muhammad; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2012-01-01

. In this paper, we consider a Heterogeneous network where we complement the macrocell network with low-power low-cost user deployed nodes, such as femtocell base stations to increase the mean achievable capacity of the system. In this context, we integrate macro

Implementation of integrated heterogeneous electronic electrocardiography data into Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital Information System.

Science.gov (United States)

Khumrin, Piyapong; Chumpoo, Pitupoom

2016-03-01

Electrocardiography is one of the most important non-invasive diagnostic tools for diagnosing coronary heart disease. The electrocardiography information system in Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital required a massive manual labor effort. In this article, we propose an approach toward the integration of heterogeneous electrocardiography data and the implementation of an integrated electrocardiography information system into the existing Hospital Information System. The system integrates different electrocardiography formats into a consistent electrocardiography rendering by using Java software. The interface acts as middleware to seamlessly integrate different electrocardiography formats. Instead of using a common electrocardiography protocol, we applied a central format based on Java classes for mapping different electrocardiography formats which contains a specific parser for each electrocardiography format to acquire the same information. Our observations showed that the new system improved the effectiveness of data management, work flow, and data quality; increased the availability of information; and finally improved quality of care. © The Author(s) 2014.

Practical management of heterogeneous neuroimaging metadata by global neuroimaging data repositories.

Science.gov (United States)

Neu, Scott C; Crawford, Karen L; Toga, Arthur W

2012-01-01

Rapidly evolving neuroimaging techniques are producing unprecedented quantities of digital data at the same time that many research studies are evolving into global, multi-disciplinary collaborations between geographically distributed scientists. While networked computers have made it almost trivial to transmit data across long distances, collecting and analyzing this data requires extensive metadata if the data is to be maximally shared. Though it is typically straightforward to encode text and numerical values into files and send content between different locations, it is often difficult to attach context and implicit assumptions to the content. As the number of and geographic separation between data contributors grows to national and global scales, the heterogeneity of the collected metadata increases and conformance to a single standardization becomes implausible. Neuroimaging data repositories must then not only accumulate data but must also consolidate disparate metadata into an integrated view. In this article, using specific examples from our experiences, we demonstrate how standardization alone cannot achieve full integration of neuroimaging data from multiple heterogeneous sources and why a fundamental change in the architecture of neuroimaging data repositories is needed instead.

Vertical and lateral heterogeneous integration

Science.gov (United States)

Geske, Jon; Okuno, Yae L.; Bowers, John E.; Jayaraman, Vijay

2001-09-01

A technique for achieving large-scale monolithic integration of lattice-mismatched materials in the vertical direction and the lateral integration of dissimilar lattice-matched structures has been developed. The technique uses a single nonplanar direct-wafer-bond step to transform vertically integrated epitaxial structures into lateral epitaxial variation across the surface of a wafer. Nonplanar wafer bonding is demonstrated by integrating four different unstrained multi-quantum-well active regions lattice matched to InP on a GaAs wafer surface. Microscopy is used to verify the quality of the bonded interface, and photoluminescence is used to verify that the bonding process does not degrade the optical quality of the laterally integrated wells. The authors propose this technique as a means to achieve greater levels of wafer-scale integration in optical, electrical, and micromechanical devices.

An integral for second-order multiple scattering perturbation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, G.G.

1997-01-01

This paper presents the closed form evaluation of a six-dimensional integral. The integral arises in the application to many-electron systems of a multiple scattering perturbation expansion at second order when formulated in fourier space. The resulting function can be used for the calculation of both the electron density and the effective one-electron potential in an SCF calculations. The closed form expression derived here greatly facilitates these calculations. In addition, the evaluated integral can be used for the computation of second-order corrections to the open-quotes optimized Thomas-Fermi theory.close quotes 10 refs., 2 figs

Climate forcing and infectious disease transmission in urban landscapes: integrating demographic and socioeconomic heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Vega, Mauricio; Martinez, Pamela P; Pascual, Mercedes

2016-10-01

Urbanization and climate change are the two major environmental challenges of the 21st century. The dramatic expansion of cities around the world creates new conditions for the spread, surveillance, and control of infectious diseases. In particular, urban growth generates pronounced spatial heterogeneity within cities, which can modulate the effect of climate factors at local spatial scales in large urban environments. Importantly, the interaction between environmental forcing and socioeconomic heterogeneity at local scales remains an open area in infectious disease dynamics, especially for urban landscapes of the developing world. A quantitative and conceptual framework on urban health with a focus on infectious diseases would benefit from integrating aspects of climate forcing, population density, and level of wealth. In this paper, we review what is known about these drivers acting independently and jointly on urban infectious diseases; we then outline elements that are missing and would contribute to building such a framework. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

Heterogeneity in Multiple Sclerosis: Scratching the Surface of a Complex Disease

Science.gov (United States)

Disanto, Giulio; Berlanga, Antonio J.; Handel, Adam E.; Para, Andrea E.; Burrell, Amy M.; Fries, Anastasia; Handunnetthi, Lahiru; De Luca, Gabriele C.; Morahan, Julia M.

2011-01-01

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Although the etiology and the pathogenesis of MS has been extensively investigated, no single pathway, reliable biomarker, diagnostic test, or specific treatment have yet been identified for all MS patients. One of the reasons behind this failure is likely to be the wide heterogeneity observed within the MS population. The clinical course of MS is highly variable and includes several subcategories and variants. Moreover, apart from the well-established association with the HLA-class II DRB1*15:01 allele, other genetic variants have been shown to vary significantly across different populations and individuals. Finally both pathological and immunological studies suggest that different pathways may be active in different MS patients. We conclude that these “MS subtypes” should still be considered as part of the same disease but hypothesize that spatiotemporal effects of genetic and environmental agents differentially influence MS course. These considerations are extremely relevant, as outcome prediction and personalised medicine represent the central aim of modern research. PMID:21197462

Spatial Preference Heterogeneity for Integrated River Basin Management: The Case of the Shiyang River Basin, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fanus Asefaw Aregay

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Integrated river basin management (IRBM programs have been launched in most parts of China to ease escalating environmental degradation. Meanwhile, little is known about the benefits from and the support for these programs. This paper presents a case study of the preference heterogeneity for IRBM in the Shiyang River Basin, China, as measured by the Willingness to Pay (WTP, for a set of major restoration attributes. A discrete choice analysis of relevant restoration attributes was conducted. The results based on a sample of 1012 households in the whole basin show that, on average, there is significant support for integrated ecological restoration as indicated by significant WTP for all ecological attributes. However, residential location induced preference heterogeneities are prevalent. Generally, compared to upper-basin residents, middle sub-basin residents have lower mean WTP while lower sub-basin residents express higher mean WTP. The disparity in utility is partially explained by the difference in ecological and socio-economic status of the residents. In conclusion, estimating welfare benefit of IRBM projects based on sample responses from a specific sub-section of the basin only may either understate or overstate the welfare estimate.

Heterogeneous Embedded Real-Time Systems Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2003-12-01

AFRL-IF-RS-TR-2003-290 Final Technical Report December 2003 HETEROGENEOUS EMBEDDED REAL - TIME SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENT Integrated...HETEROGENEOUS EMBEDDED REAL - TIME SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENT 6. AUTHOR(S) Cosmo Castellano and James Graham 5. FUNDING NUMBERS C - F30602-97-C-0259

Spatial heterogeneity regulates plant-pollinator networks across multiple landscape scales.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Freitas Moreira

Full Text Available Mutualistic plant-pollinator interactions play a key role in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning. In a community, the combination of these interactions can generate emergent properties, e.g., robustness and resilience to disturbances such as fluctuations in populations and extinctions. Given that these systems are hierarchical and complex, environmental changes must have multiple levels of influence. In addition, changes in habitat quality and in the landscape structure are important threats to plants, pollinators and their interactions. However, despite the importance of these phenomena for the understanding of biological systems, as well as for conservation and management strategies, few studies have empirically evaluated these effects at the network level. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of local conditions and landscape structure at multiple scales on the characteristics of plant-pollinator networks. This study was conducted in agri-natural lands in Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. Pollinators were collected in 27 sampling units distributed orthogonally along a gradient of proportion of agriculture and landscape diversity. The Akaike information criterion was used to select models that best fit the metrics for network characteristics, comparing four hypotheses represented by a set of a priori candidate models with specific combinations of the proportion of agriculture, the average shape of the landscape elements, the diversity of the landscape and the structure of local vegetation. The results indicate that a reduction of habitat quality and landscape heterogeneity can cause species loss and decrease of networks nestedness. These structural changes can reduce robustness and resilience of plant-pollinator networks what compromises the reproductive success of plants, the maintenance of biodiversity and the pollination service stability. We also discuss the possible explanations for

Spatial heterogeneity regulates plant-pollinator networks across multiple landscape scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Eduardo Freitas; Boscolo, Danilo; Viana, Blandina Felipe

2015-01-01

Mutualistic plant-pollinator interactions play a key role in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning. In a community, the combination of these interactions can generate emergent properties, e.g., robustness and resilience to disturbances such as fluctuations in populations and extinctions. Given that these systems are hierarchical and complex, environmental changes must have multiple levels of influence. In addition, changes in habitat quality and in the landscape structure are important threats to plants, pollinators and their interactions. However, despite the importance of these phenomena for the understanding of biological systems, as well as for conservation and management strategies, few studies have empirically evaluated these effects at the network level. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of local conditions and landscape structure at multiple scales on the characteristics of plant-pollinator networks. This study was conducted in agri-natural lands in Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. Pollinators were collected in 27 sampling units distributed orthogonally along a gradient of proportion of agriculture and landscape diversity. The Akaike information criterion was used to select models that best fit the metrics for network characteristics, comparing four hypotheses represented by a set of a priori candidate models with specific combinations of the proportion of agriculture, the average shape of the landscape elements, the diversity of the landscape and the structure of local vegetation. The results indicate that a reduction of habitat quality and landscape heterogeneity can cause species loss and decrease of networks nestedness. These structural changes can reduce robustness and resilience of plant-pollinator networks what compromises the reproductive success of plants, the maintenance of biodiversity and the pollination service stability. We also discuss the possible explanations for these relationships and

Towards Integration of CAx Systems and a Multiple-View Product Modeller in Mechanical Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Song

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the development of an integration framework and its implementation for the connexion of CAx systems and multiple-view product modelling. The integration framework is presented regarding its conceptual level and the implementation level is described currently with the connexion of a functional modeller, a multiple-view product modeller, an optimisation module and a CAD system. The integration between the multiple-view product modeller and CATIA V5 based on the STEP standard is described in detail. Finally, the presented works are discussed and future research developments are suggested. 

Using Natural Language to Enable Mission Managers to Control Multiple Heterogeneous UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

Trujillo, Anna C.; Puig-Navarro, Javier; Mehdi, S. Bilal; Mcquarry, A. Kyle

2016-01-01

The availability of highly capable, yet relatively cheap, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is opening up new areas of use for hobbyists and for commercial activities. This research is developing methods beyond classical control-stick pilot inputs, to allow operators to manage complex missions without in-depth vehicle expertise. These missions may entail several heterogeneous UAVs flying coordinated patterns or flying multiple trajectories deconflicted in time or space to predefined locations. This paper describes the functionality and preliminary usability measures of an interface that allows an operator to define a mission using speech inputs. With a defined and simple vocabulary, operators can input the vast majority of mission parameters using simple, intuitive voice commands. Although the operator interface is simple, it is based upon autonomous algorithms that allow the mission to proceed with minimal input from the operator. This paper also describes these underlying algorithms that allow an operator to manage several UAVs.

Exploring the dynamic integration of heterogeneous services

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Makamba, M

2016-08-01

Full Text Available components for communication and collaboration amongst enterprises internally and externally. Since Internet has stimulated the use of services, different services have been developed for different purposes prompting those services to be heterogeneous due...

Cell signaling heterogeneity is modulated by both cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic mechanisms: An integrated approach to understanding targeted therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Eunjung; Kim, Jae-Young; Smith, Matthew A; Haura, Eric B; Anderson, Alexander R A

2018-03-01

During the last decade, our understanding of cancer cell signaling networks has significantly improved, leading to the development of various targeted therapies that have elicited profound but, unfortunately, short-lived responses. This is, in part, due to the fact that these targeted therapies ignore context and average out heterogeneity. Here, we present a mathematical framework that addresses the impact of signaling heterogeneity on targeted therapy outcomes. We employ a simplified oncogenic rat sarcoma (RAS)-driven mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) signaling pathway in lung cancer as an experimental model system and develop a network model of the pathway. We measure how inhibition of the pathway modulates protein phosphorylation as well as cell viability under different microenvironmental conditions. Training the model on this data using Monte Carlo simulation results in a suite of in silico cells whose relative protein activities and cell viability match experimental observation. The calibrated model predicts distributional responses to kinase inhibitors and suggests drug resistance mechanisms that can be exploited in drug combination strategies. The suggested combination strategies are validated using in vitro experimental data. The validated in silico cells are further interrogated through an unsupervised clustering analysis and then integrated into a mathematical model of tumor growth in a homogeneous and resource-limited microenvironment. We assess posttreatment heterogeneity and predict vast differences across treatments with similar efficacy, further emphasizing that heterogeneity should modulate treatment strategies. The signaling model is also integrated into a hybrid cellular automata (HCA) model of tumor growth in a spatially heterogeneous microenvironment. As a proof of concept, we simulate tumor responses to targeted therapies in a spatially segregated tissue structure containing tumor

Heterogeneity of reward mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Lajtha, A; Sershen, H

2010-06-01

The finding that many drugs that have abuse potential and other natural stimuli such as food or sexual activity cause similar chemical changes in the brain, an increase in extracellular dopamine (DA) in the shell of the nucleus accumbens (NAccS), indicated some time ago that the reward mechanism is at least very similar for all stimuli and that the mechanism is relatively simple. The presently available information shows that the mechanisms involved are more complex and have multiple elements. Multiple brain regions, multiple receptors, multiple distinct neurons, multiple transmitters, multiple transporters, circuits, peptides, proteins, metabolism of transmitters, and phosphorylation, all participate in reward mechanisms. The system is variable, is changed during development, is sex-dependent, and is influenced by genetic differences. Not all of the elements participate in the reward of all stimuli. Different set of mechanisms are involved in the reward of different drugs of abuse, yet different mechanisms in the reward of natural stimuli such as food or sexual activity; thus there are different systems that distinguish different stimuli. Separate functions of the reward system such as anticipation, evaluation, consummation and identification; all contain function-specific elements. The level of the stimulus also influences the participation of the elements of the reward system, there are possible reactions to even below threshold stimuli, and excessive stimuli can change reward to aversion involving parts of the system. Learning and memory of past reward is an important integral element of reward and addictive behavior. Many of the reward elements are altered by repeated or chronic stimuli, and chronic exposure to one drug is likely to alter the response to another stimulus. To evaluate and identify the reward stimulus thus requires heterogeneity of the reward components in the brain.

Neuropsychological heterogeneity in multiple sclerosis / Heterogeneidade neuropsicológica na esclerose múlipla

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo de Paula Lima

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Multiple sclerosis (MS is a progressively disabling neurological disease which symptoms affect sensory, motor and psychological functioning. Several clinical neurological and psychological variables influence the neuropsychological profile in MS, which is extremely heterogeneous. The main objective of the present study was to investigate if it is possible to statistically stratify control subjects and MS patients from neurological, socio-demographic and neuropsychological dimensions. With this purpose we applied cluster analysis procedures to five neuropsychological instruments selected according to diagnostic accuracy from a pool of 9 neuropsychological tests. The sample was composed of 45 healthy controls and 35 MS patients with similar socio-demographic characteristics. The results indicated an ideal solution with 4 different clusters according to two dimensions: "cognitive" and "psychosocial" functioning, which represent independent but non-disjunctive aspects of neuropsychological functioning in MS.

HMC algorithm with multiple time scale integration and mass preconditioning

Science.gov (United States)

Urbach, C.; Jansen, K.; Shindler, A.; Wenger, U.

2006-01-01

We present a variant of the HMC algorithm with mass preconditioning (Hasenbusch acceleration) and multiple time scale integration. We have tested this variant for standard Wilson fermions at β=5.6 and at pion masses ranging from 380 to 680 MeV. We show that in this situation its performance is comparable to the recently proposed HMC variant with domain decomposition as preconditioner. We give an update of the "Berlin Wall" figure, comparing the performance of our variant of the HMC algorithm to other published performance data. Advantages of the HMC algorithm with mass preconditioning and multiple time scale integration are that it is straightforward to implement and can be used in combination with a wide variety of lattice Dirac operators.

Linking transcriptional and genetic tumor heterogeneity through allele analysis of single-cell RNA-seq data.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jean; Lee, Hae-Ock; Lee, Soohyun; Ryu, Da-Eun; Lee, Semin; Xue, Catherine; Kim, Seok Jin; Kim, Kihyun; Barkas, Nikolas; Park, Peter J; Park, Woong-Yang; Kharchenko, Peter V

2018-06-13

Characterization of intratumoral heterogeneity is critical to cancer therapy, as presence of phenotypically diverse cell populations commonly fuels relapse and resistance to treatment. Although genetic variation is a well-studied source of intratumoral heterogeneity, the functional impact of most genetic alterations remains unclear. Even less understood is the relative importance of other factors influencing heterogeneity, such as epigenetic state or tumor microenvironment. To investigate the relationship between genetic and transcriptional heterogeneity in a context of cancer progression, we devised a computational approach called HoneyBADGER to identify copy number variation and loss-of-heterozygosity in individual cells from single-cell RNA-sequencing data. By integrating allele and normalized expression information, HoneyBADGER is able to identify and infer the presence of subclone-specific alterations in individual cells and reconstruct underlying subclonal architecture. Examining several tumor types, we show that HoneyBADGER is effective at identifying deletion, amplifications, and copy-neutral loss-of-heterozygosity events, and is capable of robustly identifying subclonal focal alterations as small as 10 megabases. We further apply HoneyBADGER to analyze single cells from a progressive multiple myeloma patient to identify major genetic subclones that exhibit distinct transcriptional signatures relevant to cancer progression. Surprisingly, other prominent transcriptional subpopulations within these tumors did not line up with the genetic subclonal structure, and were likely driven by alternative, non-clonal mechanisms. These results highlight the need for integrative analysis to understand the molecular and phenotypic heterogeneity in cancer. Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Use of Persistent Identifiers to link Heterogeneous Data Systems in the Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA) Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, L.; Lehnert, K. A.; Carbotte, S. M.; Arko, R. A.; Ferrini, V.; O'hara, S. H.; Walker, J. D.

2012-12-01

The Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA) facility maintains multiple data systems with a wide range of solid earth data types from the marine, terrestrial, and polar environments. Examples of the different data types include syntheses of ultra-high resolution seafloor bathymetry collected on large collaborative cruises and analytical geochemistry measurements collected by single investigators in small, unique projects. These different data types have historically been channeled into separate, discipline-specific databases with search and retrieval tailored for the specific data type. However, a current major goal is to integrate data from different systems to allow interdisciplinary data discovery and scientific analysis. To increase discovery and access across these heterogeneous systems, IEDA employs several unique IDs, including sample IDs (International Geo Sample Number, IGSN), person IDs (GeoPass ID), funding award IDs (NSF Award Number), cruise IDs (from the Marine Geoscience Data System Expedition Metadata Catalog), dataset IDs (DOIs), and publication IDs (DOIs). These IDs allow linking of a sample registry (System for Earth SAmple Registration), data libraries and repositories (e.g. Geochemical Research Library, Marine Geoscience Data System), integrated synthesis databases (e.g. EarthChem Portal, PetDB), and investigator services (IEDA Data Compliance Tool). The linked systems allow efficient discovery of related data across different levels of granularity. In addition, IEDA data systems maintain links with several external data systems, including digital journal publishers. Links have been established between the EarthChem Portal and ScienceDirect through publication DOIs, returning sample-level objects and geochemical analyses for a particular publication. Linking IEDA-hosted data to digital publications with IGSNs at the sample level and with IEDA-allocated dataset DOIs are under development. As an example, an individual investigator could sign up

HYDRA: Revealing heterogeneity of imaging and genetic patterns through a multiple max-margin discriminative analysis framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Varol, Erdem; Sotiras, Aristeidis; Davatzikos, Christos

2017-01-15

Multivariate pattern analysis techniques have been increasingly used over the past decade to derive highly sensitive and specific biomarkers of diseases on an individual basis. The driving assumption behind the vast majority of the existing methodologies is that a single imaging pattern can distinguish between healthy and diseased populations, or between two subgroups of patients (e.g., progressors vs. non-progressors). This assumption effectively ignores the ample evidence for the heterogeneous nature of brain diseases. Neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders are largely characterized by high clinical heterogeneity, which likely stems in part from underlying neuroanatomical heterogeneity of various pathologies. Detecting and characterizing heterogeneity may deepen our understanding of disease mechanisms and lead to patient-specific treatments. However, few approaches tackle disease subtype discovery in a principled machine learning framework. To address this challenge, we present a novel non-linear learning algorithm for simultaneous binary classification and subtype identification, termed HYDRA (Heterogeneity through Discriminative Analysis). Neuroanatomical subtypes are effectively captured by multiple linear hyperplanes, which form a convex polytope that separates two groups (e.g., healthy controls from pathologic samples); each face of this polytope effectively defines a disease subtype. We validated HYDRA on simulated and clinical data. In the latter case, we applied the proposed method independently to the imaging and genetic datasets of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI 1) study. The imaging dataset consisted of T1-weighted volumetric magnetic resonance images of 123 AD patients and 177 controls. The genetic dataset consisted of single nucleotide polymorphism information of 103 AD patients and 139 controls. We identified 3 reproducible subtypes of atrophy in AD relative to controls: (1) diffuse and extensive

A large deviation principle in H\\"older norm for multiple fractional integrals

OpenAIRE

Sanz-Solé, Marta; Torrecilla-Tarantino, Iván

2007-01-01

For a fractional Brownian motion $B^H$ with Hurst parameter $H\\in]{1/4},{1/2}[\\cup]{1/2},1[$, multiple indefinite integrals on a simplex are constructed and the regularity of their sample paths are studied. Then, it is proved that the family of probability laws of the processes obtained by replacing $B^H$ by $\\epsilon^{{1/2}} B^H$ satisfies a large deviation principle in H\\"older norm. The definition of the multiple integrals relies upon a representation of the fractional Brownian motion in t...

A link prediction method for heterogeneous networks based on BP neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ji-chao; Zhao, Dan-ling; Ge, Bing-Feng; Yang, Ke-Wei; Chen, Ying-Wu

2018-04-01

Most real-world systems, composed of different types of objects connected via many interconnections, can be abstracted as various complex heterogeneous networks. Link prediction for heterogeneous networks is of great significance for mining missing links and reconfiguring networks according to observed information, with considerable applications in, for example, friend and location recommendations and disease-gene candidate detection. In this paper, we put forward a novel integrated framework, called MPBP (Meta-Path feature-based BP neural network model), to predict multiple types of links for heterogeneous networks. More specifically, the concept of meta-path is introduced, followed by the extraction of meta-path features for heterogeneous networks. Next, based on the extracted meta-path features, a supervised link prediction model is built with a three-layer BP neural network. Then, the solution algorithm of the proposed link prediction model is put forward to obtain predicted results by iteratively training the network. Last, numerical experiments on the dataset of examples of a gene-disease network and a combat network are conducted to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed MPBP. It shows that the MPBP with very good performance is superior to the baseline methods.

3D stacked chips from emerging processes to heterogeneous systems

CERN Document Server

Fettweis, Gerhard

2016-01-01

This book explains for readers how 3D chip stacks promise to increase the level of on-chip integration, and to design new heterogeneous semiconductor devices that combine chips of different integration technologies (incl. sensors) in a single package of the smallest possible size.  The authors focus on heterogeneous 3D integration, addressing some of the most important challenges in this emerging technology, including contactless, optics-based, and carbon-nanotube-based 3D integration, as well as signal-integrity and thermal management issues in copper-based 3D integration. Coverage also includes the 3D heterogeneous integration of power sources, photonic devices, and non-volatile memories based on new materials systems.   •Provides single-source reference to the latest research in 3D optoelectronic integration: process, devices, and systems; •Explains the use of wireless 3D integration to improve 3D IC reliability and yield; •Describes techniques for monitoring and mitigating thermal behavior in 3D I...

Human disease MiRNA inference by combining target information based on heterogeneous manifolds.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Pingjian; Luo, Jiawei; Liang, Cheng; Xiao, Qiu; Cao, Buwen

2018-04-01

The emergence of network medicine has provided great insight into the identification of disease-related molecules, which could help with the development of personalized medicine. However, the state-of-the-art methods could neither simultaneously consider target information and the known miRNA-disease associations nor effectively explore novel gene-disease associations as a by-product during the process of inferring disease-related miRNAs. Computational methods incorporating multiple sources of information offer more opportunities to infer disease-related molecules, including miRNAs and genes in heterogeneous networks at a system level. In this study, we developed a novel algorithm, named inference of Disease-related MiRNAs based on Heterogeneous Manifold (DMHM), to accurately and efficiently identify miRNA-disease associations by integrating multi-omics data. Graph-based regularization was utilized to obtain a smooth function on the data manifold, which constitutes the main principle of DMHM. The novelty of this framework lies in the relatedness between diseases and miRNAs, which are measured via heterogeneous manifolds on heterogeneous networks integrating target information. To demonstrate the effectiveness of DMHM, we conducted comprehensive experiments based on HMDD datasets and compared DMHM with six state-of-the-art methods. Experimental results indicated that DMHM significantly outperformed the other six methods under fivefold cross validation and de novo prediction tests. Case studies have further confirmed the practical usefulness of DMHM. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Simplifying Differential Equations for Multiscale Feynman Integrals beyond Multiple Polylogarithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Luise; Chaubey, Ekta; Weinzierl, Stefan

2017-04-07

In this Letter we exploit factorization properties of Picard-Fuchs operators to decouple differential equations for multiscale Feynman integrals. The algorithm reduces the differential equations to blocks of the size of the order of the irreducible factors of the Picard-Fuchs operator. As a side product, our method can be used to easily convert the differential equations for Feynman integrals which evaluate to multiple polylogarithms to an ϵ form.

Integrated Production-Distribution Scheduling Problem with Multiple Independent Manufacturers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhong Hao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the nonstandard parts supply chain with a public service platform for machinery integration in China. The platform assigns orders placed by a machinery enterprise to multiple independent manufacturers who produce nonstandard parts and makes production schedule and batch delivery schedule for each manufacturer in a coordinate manner. Each manufacturer has only one plant with parallel machines and is located at a location far away from other manufacturers. Orders are first processed at the plants and then directly shipped from the plants to the enterprise in order to be finished before a given deadline. We study the above integrated production-distribution scheduling problem with multiple manufacturers to maximize a weight sum of the profit of each manufacturer under the constraints that all orders are finished before the deadline and the profit of each manufacturer is not negative. According to the optimal condition analysis, we formulate the problem as a mixed integer programming model and use CPLEX to solve it.

Targeting multiple heterogeneous hardware platforms with OpenCL

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Paul A.; Kozacik, Stephen T.; Humphrey, John R.; Paolini, Aaron; Kuller, Aryeh; Kelmelis, Eric J.

2014-06-01

The OpenCL API allows for the abstract expression of parallel, heterogeneous computing, but hardware implementations have substantial implementation differences. The abstractions provided by the OpenCL API are often insufficiently high-level to conceal differences in hardware architecture. Additionally, implementations often do not take advantage of potential performance gains from certain features due to hardware limitations and other factors. These factors make it challenging to produce code that is portable in practice, resulting in much OpenCL code being duplicated for each hardware platform being targeted. This duplication of effort offsets the principal advantage of OpenCL: portability. The use of certain coding practices can mitigate this problem, allowing a common code base to be adapted to perform well across a wide range of hardware platforms. To this end, we explore some general practices for producing performant code that are effective across platforms. Additionally, we explore some ways of modularizing code to enable optional optimizations that take advantage of hardware-specific characteristics. The minimum requirement for portability implies avoiding the use of OpenCL features that are optional, not widely implemented, poorly implemented, or missing in major implementations. Exposing multiple levels of parallelism allows hardware to take advantage of the types of parallelism it supports, from the task level down to explicit vector operations. Static optimizations and branch elimination in device code help the platform compiler to effectively optimize programs. Modularization of some code is important to allow operations to be chosen for performance on target hardware. Optional subroutines exploiting explicit memory locality allow for different memory hierarchies to be exploited for maximum performance. The C preprocessor and JIT compilation using the OpenCL runtime can be used to enable some of these techniques, as well as to factor in hardware

Analogue of Pontryagin's maximum principle for multiple integrals minimization problems

OpenAIRE

Mikhail, Zelikin

2016-01-01

The theorem like Pontryagin's maximum principle for multiple integrals is proved. Unlike the usual maximum principle, the maximum should be taken not over all matrices, but only on matrices of rank one. Examples are given.

Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors

Science.gov (United States)

Goussen, Benoit; Price, Oliver R.; Rendal, Cecilie; Ashauer, Roman

2016-10-01

Current environmental risk assessments (ERA) do not account explicitly for ecological factors (e.g. species composition, temperature or food availability) and multiple stressors. Assessing mixtures of chemical and ecological stressors is needed as well as accounting for variability in environmental conditions and uncertainty of data and models. Here we propose a novel probabilistic ERA framework to overcome these limitations, which focusses on visualising assessment outcomes by construct-ing and interpreting prevalence plots as a quantitative prediction of risk. Key components include environmental scenarios that integrate exposure and ecology, and ecological modelling of relevant endpoints to assess the effect of a combination of stressors. Our illustrative results demonstrate the importance of regional differences in environmental conditions and the confounding interactions of stressors. Using this framework and prevalence plots provides a risk-based approach that combines risk assessment and risk management in a meaningful way and presents a truly mechanistic alternative to the threshold approach. Even whilst research continues to improve the underlying models and data, regulators and decision makers can already use the framework and prevalence plots. The integration of multiple stressors, environmental conditions and variability makes ERA more relevant and realistic.

Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors.

Science.gov (United States)

Goussen, Benoit; Price, Oliver R; Rendal, Cecilie; Ashauer, Roman

2016-10-26

Current environmental risk assessments (ERA) do not account explicitly for ecological factors (e.g. species composition, temperature or food availability) and multiple stressors. Assessing mixtures of chemical and ecological stressors is needed as well as accounting for variability in environmental conditions and uncertainty of data and models. Here we propose a novel probabilistic ERA framework to overcome these limitations, which focusses on visualising assessment outcomes by construct-ing and interpreting prevalence plots as a quantitative prediction of risk. Key components include environmental scenarios that integrate exposure and ecology, and ecological modelling of relevant endpoints to assess the effect of a combination of stressors. Our illustrative results demonstrate the importance of regional differences in environmental conditions and the confounding interactions of stressors. Using this framework and prevalence plots provides a risk-based approach that combines risk assessment and risk management in a meaningful way and presents a truly mechanistic alternative to the threshold approach. Even whilst research continues to improve the underlying models and data, regulators and decision makers can already use the framework and prevalence plots. The integration of multiple stressors, environmental conditions and variability makes ERA more relevant and realistic.

Can the meaning of multiple words be integrated unconsciously?

Science.gov (United States)

van Gaal, Simon; Naccache, Lionel; Meuwese, Julia D I; van Loon, Anouk M; Leighton, Alexandra H; Cohen, Laurent; Dehaene, Stanislas

2014-05-05

What are the limits of unconscious language processing? Can language circuits process simple grammatical constructions unconsciously and integrate the meaning of several unseen words? Using behavioural priming and electroencephalography (EEG), we studied a specific rule-based linguistic operation traditionally thought to require conscious cognitive control: the negation of valence. In a masked priming paradigm, two masked words were successively (Experiment 1) or simultaneously presented (Experiment 2), a modifier ('not'/'very') and an adjective (e.g. 'good'/'bad'), followed by a visible target noun (e.g. 'peace'/'murder'). Subjects indicated whether the target noun had a positive or negative valence. The combination of these three words could either be contextually consistent (e.g. 'very bad - murder') or inconsistent (e.g. 'not bad - murder'). EEG recordings revealed that grammatical negations could unfold partly unconsciously, as reflected in similar occipito-parietal N400 effects for conscious and unconscious three-word sequences forming inconsistent combinations. However, only conscious word sequences elicited P600 effects, later in time. Overall, these results suggest that multiple unconscious words can be rapidly integrated and that an unconscious negation can automatically 'flip the sign' of an unconscious adjective. These findings not only extend the limits of subliminal combinatorial language processes, but also highlight how consciousness modulates the grammatical integration of multiple words.

Interconnecting heterogeneous database management systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gligor, V. D.; Luckenbaugh, G. L.

1984-01-01

It is pointed out that there is still a great need for the development of improved communication between remote, heterogeneous database management systems (DBMS). Problems regarding the effective communication between distributed DBMSs are primarily related to significant differences between local data managers, local data models and representations, and local transaction managers. A system of interconnected DBMSs which exhibit such differences is called a network of distributed, heterogeneous DBMSs. In order to achieve effective interconnection of remote, heterogeneous DBMSs, the users must have uniform, integrated access to the different DBMs. The present investigation is mainly concerned with an analysis of the existing approaches to interconnecting heterogeneous DBMSs, taking into account four experimental DBMS projects.

High-density multicore fiber with heterogeneous core arrangement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amma, Y.; Sasaki, Y.; Takenaga, K.

2015-01-01

A 30-core fiber with heterogeneous cores that achieved large spatial multiplicity and low crosstalk of less than −40 dB at 100 km was demonstrated. The correlation lengths were estimated to be more than 1 m.......A 30-core fiber with heterogeneous cores that achieved large spatial multiplicity and low crosstalk of less than −40 dB at 100 km was demonstrated. The correlation lengths were estimated to be more than 1 m....

Integrating non-colocated well and geophysical data to capture subsurface heterogeneity at an aquifer recharge and recovery site

Science.gov (United States)

Gottschalk, Ian P.; Hermans, Thomas; Knight, Rosemary; Caers, Jef; Cameron, David A.; Regnery, Julia; McCray, John E.

2017-12-01

Geophysical data have proven to be very useful for lithological characterization. However, quantitatively integrating the information gained from acquiring geophysical data generally requires colocated lithological and geophysical data for constructing a rock-physics relationship. In this contribution, the issue of integrating noncolocated geophysical and lithological data is addressed, and the results are applied to simulate groundwater flow in a heterogeneous aquifer in the Prairie Waters Project North Campus aquifer recharge site, Colorado. Two methods of constructing a rock-physics transform between electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data and lithology measurements are assessed. In the first approach, a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is used to fit a bimodal lognormal distribution to horizontal crosssections of the ERT resistivity histogram. In the second approach, a spatial bootstrap is applied to approximate the rock-physics relationship. The rock-physics transforms provide soft data for multiple point statistics (MPS) simulations. Subsurface models are used to run groundwater flow and tracer test simulations. Each model's uncalibrated, predicted breakthrough time is evaluated based on its agreement with measured subsurface travel time values from infiltration basins to selected groundwater recovery wells. We find that incorporating geophysical information into uncalibrated flow models reduces the difference with observed values, as compared to flow models without geophysical information incorporated. The integration of geophysical data also narrows the variance of predicted tracer breakthrough times substantially. Accuracy is highest and variance is lowest in breakthrough predictions generated by the MLE-based rock-physics transform. Calibrating the ensemble of geophysically constrained models would help produce a suite of realistic flow models for predictive purposes at the site. We find that the success of breakthrough predictions is highly

Imaging metabolic heterogeneity in cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Sengupta, Debanti; Pratx, Guillem

2016-01-06

As our knowledge of cancer metabolism has increased, it has become apparent that cancer metabolic processes are extremely heterogeneous. The reasons behind this heterogeneity include genetic diversity, the existence of multiple and redundant metabolic pathways, altered microenvironmental conditions, and so on. As a result, methods in the clinic and beyond have been developed in order to image and study tumor metabolism in the in vivo and in vitro regimes. Both regimes provide unique advantages and challenges, and may be used to provide a picture of tumor metabolic heterogeneity that is spatially and temporally comprehensive. Taken together, these methods may hold the key to appropriate cancer diagnoses and treatments in the future.

Heterogeneous integration of thin film compound semiconductor lasers and SU8 waveguides on SiO2/Si

Science.gov (United States)

Palit, Sabarni; Kirch, Jeremy; Mawst, Luke; Kuech, Thomas; Jokerst, Nan Marie

2010-02-01

We present the heterogeneous integration of a 3.8 μm thick InGaAs/GaAs edge emitting laser that was metal-metal bonded to SiO2/Si and end-fire coupled into a 2.8 μm thick tapered SU8 polymer waveguide integrated on the same substrate. The system was driven in pulsed mode and the waveguide output was captured on an IR imaging array to characterize the mode. The waveguide output was also coupled into a multimode fiber, and into an optical head and spectrum analyzer, indicating lasing at ~997 nm and a threshold current density of 250 A/cm2.

Heterogeneous porous media permeability field characterization from fluid displacement data; Integration de donnees de deplacements de fluides dans la caracterisation de milieux poreux heterogenes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kretz, V.

2002-11-01

The prediction of oil recovery or pollutant dispersion requires an accurate knowledge of the permeability field distribution. Available data are usually measurements in well bores, and, since a few years, 4D-seismic data (seismic mappings repeated in time). Such measurements allow to evaluate fluids displacements fronts evolution. The purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the possibility to determinate permeability fields from fluid displacement measurements in heterogeneous porous media. At the laboratory scale, experimental studies are made on a model and on numerical simulations. The system uses blocks of granular materials whose individual geometries and permeabilities are controlled. The fluids displacements are detected with an acoustical. The key parameters of the study are the size and spatial correlation of the permeability heterogeneity distribution, and the influence of viscosity and gravity contrasts between the injected ant displaced fluid. Then the inverse problem - evaluating the permeability field from concentration fronts evolution - is approached. At the reservoir scale, the work will mainly be focused on the integration of 4D-seismic data into inversion programs on a 3D synthetic case. A particular importance will be given to the calculation of gradients, in order to obtain a complementary information about the sensitivity of data. The information provided by 4D-seismic data consists in maps showing the vertical average of oil saturation or the presence of gas. The purpose is to integrate this qualitative information in the inversion process and to evaluate the impact on the reservoir characterization. Comparative studies - with or without 4D-seismic data - will be realized on a synthetic case. (author)

Clinical results of HIS, RIS, PACS integration using data integration CASE tools

Science.gov (United States)

Taira, Ricky K.; Chan, Hing-Ming; Breant, Claudine M.; Huang, Lu J.; Valentino, Daniel J.

1995-05-01

Current infrastructure research in PACS is dominated by the development of communication networks (local area networks, teleradiology, ATM networks, etc.), multimedia display workstations, and hierarchical image storage architectures. However, limited work has been performed on developing flexible, expansible, and intelligent information processing architectures for the vast decentralized image and text data repositories prevalent in healthcare environments. Patient information is often distributed among multiple data management systems. Current large-scale efforts to integrate medical information and knowledge sources have been costly with limited retrieval functionality. Software integration strategies to unify distributed data and knowledge sources is still lacking commercially. Systems heterogeneity (i.e., differences in hardware platforms, communication protocols, database management software, nomenclature, etc.) is at the heart of the problem and is unlikely to be standardized in the near future. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of newly available CASE (computer- aided software engineering) tools to rapidly integrate HIS, RIS, and PACS information systems. The advantages of these tools include fast development time (low-level code is generated from graphical specifications), and easy system maintenance (excellent documentation, easy to perform changes, and centralized code repository in an object-oriented database). The CASE tools are used to develop and manage the `middle-ware' in our client- mediator-serve architecture for systems integration. Our architecture is scalable and can accommodate heterogeneous database and communication protocols.

Quantifying spatial heterogeneity from images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomerantz, Andrew E; Song Yiqiao

2008-01-01

Visualization techniques are extremely useful for characterizing natural materials with complex spatial structure. Although many powerful imaging modalities exist, simple display of the images often does not convey the underlying spatial structure. Instead, quantitative image analysis can extract the most important features of the imaged object in a manner that is easier to comprehend and to compare from sample to sample. This paper describes the formulation of the heterogeneity spectrum to show the extent of spatial heterogeneity as a function of length scale for all length scales to which a particular measurement is sensitive. This technique is especially relevant for describing materials that simultaneously present spatial heterogeneity at multiple length scales. In this paper, the heterogeneity spectrum is applied for the first time to images from optical microscopy. The spectrum is measured for thin section images of complex carbonate rock cores showing heterogeneity at several length scales in the range 10-10 000 μm.

Hybrid integrated single-wavelength laser with silicon micro-ring reflector

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Min; Pu, Jing; Krishnamurthy, Vivek; Xu, Zhengji; Lee, Chee-Wei; Li, Dongdong; Gonzaga, Leonard; Toh, Yeow T.; Tjiptoharsono, Febi; Wang, Qian

2018-02-01

A hybrid integrated single-wavelength laser with silicon micro-ring reflector is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. It consists of a heterogeneously integrated III-V section for optical gain, an adiabatic taper for light coupling, and a silicon micro-ring reflector for both wavelength selection and light reflection. Heterogeneous integration processes for multiple III-V chips bonded to an 8-inch Si wafer have been developed, which is promising for massive production of hybrid lasers on Si. The III-V layer is introduced on top of a 220-nm thick SOI layer through low-temperature wafer-boning technology. The optical coupling efficiency of >85% between III-V and Si waveguide has been achieved. The silicon micro-ring reflector, as the key element of the hybrid laser, is studied, with its maximized reflectivity of 85.6% demonstrated experimentally. The compact single-wavelength laser enables fully monolithic integration on silicon wafer for optical communication and optical sensing application.

Integral criteria for large-scale multiple fingerprint solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Ushmaev, Oleg S.; Novikov, Sergey O.

2004-08-01

We propose the definition and analysis of the optimal integral similarity score criterion for large scale multmodal civil ID systems. Firstly, the general properties of score distributions for genuine and impostor matches for different systems and input devices are investigated. The empirical statistics was taken from the real biometric tests. Then we carry out the analysis of simultaneous score distributions for a number of combined biometric tests and primary for ultiple fingerprint solutions. The explicit and approximate relations for optimal integral score, which provides the least value of the FRR while the FAR is predefined, have been obtained. The results of real multiple fingerprint test show good correspondence with the theoretical results in the wide range of the False Acceptance and the False Rejection Rates.

Micromechanics Based Failure Analysis of Heterogeneous Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Sertse, Hamsasew M.

In recent decades, heterogeneous materials are extensively used in various industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive and others due to their desirable specific properties and excellent capability of accumulating damage. Despite their wide use, there are numerous challenges associated with the application of these materials. One of the main challenges is lack of accurate tools to predict the initiation, progression and final failure of these materials under various thermomechanical loading conditions. Although failure is usually treated at the macro and meso-scale level, the initiation and growth of failure is a complex phenomena across multiple scales. The objective of this work is to enable the mechanics of structure genome (MSG) and its companion code SwiftComp to analyze the initial failure (also called static failure), progressive failure, and fatigue failure of heterogeneous materials using micromechanics approach. The initial failure is evaluated at each numerical integration point using pointwise and nonlocal approach for each constituent of the heterogeneous materials. The effects of imperfect interfaces among constituents of heterogeneous materials are also investigated using a linear traction-displacement model. Moreover, the progressive and fatigue damage analyses are conducted using continuum damage mechanics (CDM) approach. The various failure criteria are also applied at a material point to analyze progressive damage in each constituent. The constitutive equation of a damaged material is formulated based on a consistent irreversible thermodynamics approach. The overall tangent modulus of uncoupled elastoplastic damage for negligible back stress effect is derived. The initiation of plasticity and damage in each constituent is evaluated at each numerical integration point using a nonlocal approach. The accumulated plastic strain and anisotropic damage evolution variables are iteratively solved using an incremental algorithm. The damage analyses

Visual Analytics for Heterogeneous Geoscience Data

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Y.; Yu, L.; Zhu, F.; Rilee, M. L.; Kuo, K. S.; Jiang, H.; Yu, H.

2017-12-01

Geoscience data obtained from diverse sources have been routinely leveraged by scientists to study various phenomena. The principal data sources include observations and model simulation outputs. These data are characterized by spatiotemporal heterogeneity originated from different instrument design specifications and/or computational model requirements used in data generation processes. Such inherent heterogeneity poses several challenges in exploring and analyzing geoscience data. First, scientists often wish to identify features or patterns co-located among multiple data sources to derive and validate certain hypotheses. Heterogeneous data make it a tedious task to search such features in dissimilar datasets. Second, features of geoscience data are typically multivariate. It is challenging to tackle the high dimensionality of geoscience data and explore the relations among multiple variables in a scalable fashion. Third, there is a lack of transparency in traditional automated approaches, such as feature detection or clustering, in that scientists cannot intuitively interact with their analysis processes and interpret results. To address these issues, we present a new scalable approach that can assist scientists in analyzing voluminous and diverse geoscience data. We expose a high-level query interface that allows users to easily express their customized queries to search features of interest across multiple heterogeneous datasets. For identified features, we develop a visualization interface that enables interactive exploration and analytics in a linked-view manner. Specific visualization techniques such as scatter plots to parallel coordinates are employed in each view to allow users to explore various aspects of features. Different views are linked and refreshed according to user interactions in any individual view. In such a manner, a user can interactively and iteratively gain understanding into the data through a variety of visual analytics operations. We

Study of the asymptotic expansion of multiple integrals in mathematical physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chako, N.

1968-01-01

We have applied the method of stationary phase to evaluate double and multiple integrals of the type: (A) U(k) = g(x)e ikφ(x) d(x), (x)=(x 1 ,..., x n ) for large values of the parameter k. In the first part we have established in a rigorous manner the stationary phase method to double and multiple integrals of type (A). Furthermore we have obtained an asymptotic expansion of (A), if the amplitude and phase functions can be developed in a canonical form near the vicinity of critical or stationary points of the integral. This development contains as particular cases all those which are important in physical applications, especially, to diffraction and scattering of electromagnetic and corpuscular waves by optical systems, diffracting bodies and potential scatterers. In the second part we have considered the problem of convergence of the expansion of the principal contribution to the integral in the asymptotic sense of Poincare. The proof is based on the increasing method used in mathematical analysis. The third part is devoted to the derivation of various asymptotic series due to different types of critical or stationary points associated with the amplitude and phase functions. In the fourth part we have generalized the method to multiple integrals and to the case where the parameter k enter implicitly in the phase function The latter type of integrals extend the scope of the former type to a number of important physical problems; for instance, to the propagation of waves in dispersive and absorbing media. In the last chapter we have made a study and compared the results obtained by the application of the stationary phase method to the integrals (double) of diffraction and the results derived by using the Young-Rubinowicz method. Result of our analysis shows the equivalence of the two methods of approach to the problems of diffraction based, on one hand, on the Fresnel-Kirchhoff theory and, on the other hand, the Young-Rubinowicz theory, provided one interprets in

INTEGRATED FUSION METHOD FOR MULTIPLE TEMPORAL-SPATIAL-SPECTRAL IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Shen

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Data fusion techniques have been widely researched and applied in remote sensing field. In this paper, an integrated fusion method for remotely sensed images is presented. Differently from the existed methods, the proposed method has the performance to integrate the complementary information in multiple temporal-spatial-spectral images. In order to represent and process the images in one unified framework, two general image observation models are firstly presented, and then the maximum a posteriori (MAP framework is used to set up the fusion model. The gradient descent method is employed to solve the fused image. The efficacy of the proposed method is validated using simulated images.

Heterogeneous Silicon III-V Mode-Locked Lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Davenport, Michael Loehrlein

Mode-locked lasers are useful for a variety of applications, such as sensing, telecommunication, and surgical instruments. This work focuses on integrated-circuit mode-locked lasers: those that combine multiple optical and electronic functions and are manufactured together on a single chip. While this allows production at high volume and lower cost, the true potential of integration is to open applications for mode-locked laser diodes where solid state lasers cannot fit, either due to size and power consumption constraints, or where small optical or electrical paths are needed for high bandwidth. Unfortunately, most high power and highly stable mode-locked laser diode demonstrations in scientific literature are based on the Fabry-Perot resonator design, with cleaved mirrors, and are unsuitable for use in integrated circuits because of the difficulty of producing integrated Fabry-Perot cavities. We use silicon photonics and heterogeneous integration with III-V gain material to produce the most powerful and lowest noise fully integrated mode-locked laser diode in the 20 GHz frequency range. If low noise and high peak power are required, it is arguably the best performing fully integrated mode-locked laser ever demonstrated. We present the design methodology and experimental pathway to realize a fully integrated mode-locked laser diode. The construction of the device, beginning with the selection of an integration platform, and proceeding through the fabrication process to final optimization, is presented in detail. The dependence of mode-locked laser performance on a wide variety of design parameters is presented. Applications for integrated circuit mode-locked lasers are also discussed, as well as proposed methods for using integration to improve mode-locking performance to beyond the current state of the art.

Glucose uptake heterogeneity of the leg muscles is similar between patients with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls during walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Kindred, John H; Ketelhut, Nathaniel B; Rudroff, Thorsten

2015-02-01

Difficulties in ambulation are one of the main problems reported by patients with multiple sclerosis. A previous study by our research group showed increased recruitment of muscle groups during walking, but the influence of skeletal muscle properties, such as muscle fiber activity, has not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this investigation was to use the novel method of calculating glucose uptake heterogeneity in the leg muscles of patients with multiple sclerosis and compare these results to healthy controls. Eight patients with multiple sclerosis (4 men) and 8 healthy controls (4 men) performed 15 min of treadmill walking at a comfortable self-selected speed following muscle strength tests. Participants were injected with ≈ 8 mCi of [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose during walking after which positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging was performed. No differences in muscle strength were detected between multiple sclerosis and control groups (P>0.27). Within the multiple sclerosis, group differences in muscle volume existed between the stronger and weaker legs in the vastus lateralis, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus (Pmuscle group or individual muscle of the legs (P>0.16, P≥0.05). Patients with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls showed similar muscle fiber activity during walking. Interpretations of these results, with respect to our previous study, suggest that walking difficulties in patients with multiple sclerosis may be more associated with altered central nervous system motor patterns rather than alterations in skeletal muscle properties. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Coordinated Energy Management in Heterogeneous Processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indrani Paul

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines energy management in a heterogeneous processor consisting of an integrated CPU–GPU for high-performance computing (HPC applications. Energy management for HPC applications is challenged by their uncompromising performance requirements and complicated by the need for coordinating energy management across distinct core types – a new and less understood problem. We examine the intra-node CPU–GPU frequency sensitivity of HPC applications on tightly coupled CPU–GPU architectures as the first step in understanding power and performance optimization for a heterogeneous multi-node HPC system. The insights from this analysis form the basis of a coordinated energy management scheme, called DynaCo, for integrated CPU–GPU architectures. We implement DynaCo on a modern heterogeneous processor and compare its performance to a state-of-the-art power- and performance-management algorithm. DynaCo improves measured average energy-delay squared (ED2 product by up to 30% with less than 2% average performance loss across several exascale and other HPC workloads.

Shared mental models of integrated care: aligning multiple stakeholder perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Jenna M; Baker, G Ross

2012-01-01

Health service organizations and professionals are under increasing pressure to work together to deliver integrated patient care. A common understanding of integration strategies may facilitate the delivery of integrated care across inter-organizational and inter-professional boundaries. This paper aims to build a framework for exploring and potentially aligning multiple stakeholder perspectives of systems integration. The authors draw from the literature on shared mental models, strategic management and change, framing, stakeholder management, and systems theory to develop a new construct, Mental Models of Integrated Care (MMIC), which consists of three types of mental models, i.e. integration-task, system-role, and integration-belief. The MMIC construct encompasses many of the known barriers and enablers to integrating care while also providing a comprehensive, theory-based framework of psychological factors that may influence inter-organizational and inter-professional relations. While the existing literature on integration focuses on optimizing structures and processes, the MMIC construct emphasizes the convergence and divergence of stakeholders' knowledge and beliefs, and how these underlying cognitions influence interactions (or lack thereof) across the continuum of care. MMIC may help to: explain what differentiates effective from ineffective integration initiatives; determine system readiness to integrate; diagnose integration problems; and develop interventions for enhancing integrative processes and ultimately the delivery of integrated care. Global interest and ongoing challenges in integrating care underline the need for research on the mental models that characterize the behaviors of actors within health systems; the proposed framework offers a starting point for applying a cognitive perspective to health systems integration.

Pointwise mutual information quantifies intratumor heterogeneity in tissue sections labeled with multiple fluorescent biomarkers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel M Spagnolo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Measures of spatial intratumor heterogeneity are potentially important diagnostic biomarkers for cancer progression, proliferation, and response to therapy. Spatial relationships among cells including cancer and stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME are key contributors to heterogeneity. Methods: We demonstrate how to quantify spatial heterogeneity from immunofluorescence pathology samples, using a set of 3 basic breast cancer biomarkers as a test case. We learn a set of dominant biomarker intensity patterns and map the spatial distribution of the biomarker patterns with a network. We then describe the pairwise association statistics for each pattern within the network using pointwise mutual information (PMI and visually represent heterogeneity with a two-dimensional map. Results: We found a salient set of 8 biomarker patterns to describe cellular phenotypes from a tissue microarray cohort containing 4 different breast cancer subtypes. After computing PMI for each pair of biomarker patterns in each patient and tumor replicate, we visualize the interactions that contribute to the resulting association statistics. Then, we demonstrate the potential for using PMI as a diagnostic biomarker, by comparing PMI maps and heterogeneity scores from patients across the 4 different cancer subtypes. Estrogen receptor positive invasive lobular carcinoma patient, AL13-6, exhibited the highest heterogeneity score among those tested, while estrogen receptor negative invasive ductal carcinoma patient, AL13-14, exhibited the lowest heterogeneity score. Conclusions: This paper presents an approach for describing intratumor heterogeneity, in a quantitative fashion (via PMI, which departs from the purely qualitative approaches currently used in the clinic. PMI is generalizable to highly multiplexed/hyperplexed immunofluorescence images, as well as spatial data from complementary in situ methods including FISSEQ and CyTOF, sampling many different

H∞ Consensus for Multiagent Systems with Heterogeneous Time-Varying Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beibei Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We apply the linear matrix inequality method to consensus and H∞ consensus problems of the single integrator multiagent system with heterogeneous delays in directed networks. To overcome the difficulty caused by heterogeneous time-varying delays, we rewrite the multiagent system into a partially reduced-order system and an integral system. As a result, a particular Lyapunov function is constructed to derive sufficient conditions for consensus of multiagent systems with fixed (switched topologies. We also apply this method to the H∞ consensus of multiagent systems with disturbances and heterogeneous delays. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results.

Collision-free motion coordination of heterogeneous robots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ko, Nak Yong [Chosun University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Seo, Dong Jin [RedOne Technologies, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Simmons, Reid G. [Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania (United States)

2008-11-15

This paper proposes a method to coordinate the motion of multiple heterogeneous robots on a network. The proposed method uses prioritization and avoidance. Priority is assigned to each robot; a robot with lower priority avoids the robots of higher priority. To avoid collision with other robots, elastic force and potential field force are used. Also, the method can be applied separately to the motion planning of a part of a robot from that of the other parts of the robot. This is useful for application to the robots of the type mobile manipulator or highly redundant robots. The method is tested by simulation, and it results in smooth and adaptive coordination in an environment with multiple heterogeneous robots

Collision-free motion coordination of heterogeneous robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Nak Yong; Seo, Dong Jin; Simmons, Reid G.

2008-01-01

This paper proposes a method to coordinate the motion of multiple heterogeneous robots on a network. The proposed method uses prioritization and avoidance. Priority is assigned to each robot; a robot with lower priority avoids the robots of higher priority. To avoid collision with other robots, elastic force and potential field force are used. Also, the method can be applied separately to the motion planning of a part of a robot from that of the other parts of the robot. This is useful for application to the robots of the type mobile manipulator or highly redundant robots. The method is tested by simulation, and it results in smooth and adaptive coordination in an environment with multiple heterogeneous robots

The tsunami service bus, an integration platform for heterogeneous sensor systems

Science.gov (United States)

Haener, R.; Waechter, J.; Kriegel, U.; Fleischer, J.; Mueller, S.

2009-04-01

components remain unchanged, components can be maintained and evolved independently on each other and service functionality as a whole can be reused. In GITEWS the functional integration pattern was adopted by applying the principles of an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) as a backbone. Four services provided by the so called Tsunami Service Bus (TSB) which are essential for early warning systems are realized compliant to services specified within the Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). 3. ARCHITECTURE The integration platform was developed to access proprietary, heterogeneous sensor data and to provide them in a uniform manner for further use. Its core, the TSB provides both a messaging-backbone and -interfaces on the basis of a Java Messaging Service (JMS). The logical architecture of GITEWS consists of four independent layers: • A resource layer where physical or virtual sensors as well as data or model storages provide relevant measurement-, event- and analysis-data: Utilizable for the TSB are any kind of data. In addition to sensors databases, model data and processing applications are adopted. SWE specifies encoding both to access and to describe these data in a comprehensive way: 1. Sensor Model Language (SensorML): Standardized description of sensors and sensor data 2. Observations and Measurements (O&M): Model and encoding of sensor measurements • A service layer to collect and conduct data from heterogeneous and proprietary resources and provide them via standardized interfaces: The TSB enables interaction with sensors via the following services: 1. Sensor Observation Service (SOS): Standardized access to sensor data 2. Sensor Planning Service (SPS): Controlling of sensors and sensor networks 3. Sensor Alert Service (SAS): Active sending of data if defined events occur 4. Web Notification Service (WNS): Conduction of asynchronous dialogues between services • An orchestration layer where atomic services are composed and

Heterogeneous Face Attribute Estimation: A Deep Multi-Task Learning Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Hu; K Jain, Anil; Shan, Shiguang; Chen, Xilin

2017-08-10

Face attribute estimation has many potential applications in video surveillance, face retrieval, and social media. While a number of methods have been proposed for face attribute estimation, most of them did not explicitly consider the attribute correlation and heterogeneity (e.g., ordinal vs. nominal and holistic vs. local) during feature representation learning. In this paper, we present a Deep Multi-Task Learning (DMTL) approach to jointly estimate multiple heterogeneous attributes from a single face image. In DMTL, we tackle attribute correlation and heterogeneity with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) consisting of shared feature learning for all the attributes, and category-specific feature learning for heterogeneous attributes. We also introduce an unconstrained face database (LFW+), an extension of public-domain LFW, with heterogeneous demographic attributes (age, gender, and race) obtained via crowdsourcing. Experimental results on benchmarks with multiple face attributes (MORPH II, LFW+, CelebA, LFWA, and FotW) show that the proposed approach has superior performance compared to state of the art. Finally, evaluations on a public-domain face database (LAP) with a single attribute show that the proposed approach has excellent generalization ability.

Predictive Big Data Analytics: A Study of Parkinson?s Disease Using Large, Complex, Heterogeneous, Incongruent, Multi-Source and Incomplete Observations

OpenAIRE

Dinov, Ivo D.; Heavner, Ben; Tang, Ming; Glusman, Gustavo; Chard, Kyle; Darcy, Mike; Madduri, Ravi; Pa, Judy; Spino, Cathie; Kesselman, Carl; Foster, Ian; Deutsch, Eric W.; Price, Nathan D.; Van Horn, John D.; Ames, Joseph

2016-01-01

Background A unique archive of Big Data on Parkinson?s Disease is collected, managed and disseminated by the Parkinson?s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). The integration of such complex and heterogeneous Big Data from multiple sources offers unparalleled opportunities to study the early stages of prevalent neurodegenerative processes, track their progression and quickly identify the efficacies of alternative treatments. Many previous human and animal studies have examined the relationsh...

Spatial and molecular resolution of diffuse malignant mesothelioma heterogeneity by integrating label-free FTIR imaging, laser capture microdissection and proteomics

Science.gov (United States)

Großerueschkamp, Frederik; Bracht, Thilo; Diehl, Hanna C.; Kuepper, Claus; Ahrens, Maike; Kallenbach-Thieltges, Angela; Mosig, Axel; Eisenacher, Martin; Marcus, Katrin; Behrens, Thomas; Brüning, Thomas; Theegarten, Dirk; Sitek, Barbara; Gerwert, Klaus

2017-03-01

Diffuse malignant mesothelioma (DMM) is a heterogeneous malignant neoplasia manifesting with three subtypes: epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic. DMM exhibit a high degree of spatial heterogeneity that complicates a thorough understanding of the underlying different molecular processes in each subtype. We present a novel approach to spatially resolve the heterogeneity of a tumour in a label-free manner by integrating FTIR imaging and laser capture microdissection (LCM). Subsequent proteome analysis of the dissected homogenous samples provides in addition molecular resolution. FTIR imaging resolves tumour subtypes within tissue thin-sections in an automated and label-free manner with accuracy of about 85% for DMM subtypes. Even in highly heterogeneous tissue structures, our label-free approach can identify small regions of interest, which can be dissected as homogeneous samples using LCM. Subsequent proteome analysis provides a location specific molecular characterization. Applied to DMM subtypes, we identify 142 differentially expressed proteins, including five protein biomarkers commonly used in DMM immunohistochemistry panels. Thus, FTIR imaging resolves not only morphological alteration within tissue but it resolves even alterations at the level of single proteins in tumour subtypes. Our fully automated workflow FTIR-guided LCM opens new avenues collecting homogeneous samples for precise and predictive biomarkers from omics studies.

A calderón multiplicative preconditioner for the combined field integral equation

KAUST Repository

Bagci, Hakan; Andriulli, Francesco P.; Cools, Kristof; Olyslager, Femke; Michielssen, Eric

2009-01-01

A Calderón multiplicative preconditioner (CMP) for the combined field integral equation (CFIE) is developed. Just like with previously proposed Caldern-preconditioned CFIEs, a localization procedure is employed to ensure that the equation

Integrated reservoir characterization: Improvement in heterogeneities stochastic modelling by integration of additional external constraints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doligez, B.; Eschard, R. [Institut Francais du Petrole, Rueil Malmaison (France); Geffroy, F. [Centre de Geostatistique, Fontainebleau (France)] [and others

1997-08-01

The classical approach to construct reservoir models is to start with a fine scale geological model which is informed with petrophysical properties. Then scaling-up techniques allow to obtain a reservoir model which is compatible with the fluid flow simulators. Geostatistical modelling techniques are widely used to build the geological models before scaling-up. These methods provide equiprobable images of the area under investigation, which honor the well data, and which variability is the same than the variability computed from the data. At an appraisal phase, when few data are available, or when the wells are insufficient to describe all the heterogeneities and the behavior of the field, additional constraints are needed to obtain a more realistic geological model. For example, seismic data or stratigraphic models can provide average reservoir information with an excellent areal coverage, but with a poor vertical resolution. New advances in modelisation techniques allow now to integrate this type of additional external information in order to constrain the simulations. In particular, 2D or 3D seismic derived information grids, or sand-shale ratios maps coming from stratigraphic models can be used as external drifts to compute the geological image of the reservoir at the fine scale. Examples are presented to illustrate the use of these new tools, their impact on the final reservoir model, and their sensitivity to some key parameters.

InterMine: a flexible data warehouse system for the integration and analysis of heterogeneous biological data.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard N; Aleksic, Jelena; Butano, Daniela; Carr, Adrian; Contrino, Sergio; Hu, Fengyuan; Lyne, Mike; Lyne, Rachel; Kalderimis, Alex; Rutherford, Kim; Stepan, Radek; Sullivan, Julie; Wakeling, Matthew; Watkins, Xavier; Micklem, Gos

2012-12-01

InterMine is an open-source data warehouse system that facilitates the building of databases with complex data integration requirements and a need for a fast customizable query facility. Using InterMine, large biological databases can be created from a range of heterogeneous data sources, and the extensible data model allows for easy integration of new data types. The analysis tools include a flexible query builder, genomic region search and a library of 'widgets' performing various statistical analyses. The results can be exported in many commonly used formats. InterMine is a fully extensible framework where developers can add new tools and functionality. Additionally, there is a comprehensive set of web services, for which client libraries are provided in five commonly used programming languages. Freely available from http://www.intermine.org under the LGPL license. g.micklem@gen.cam.ac.uk Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Integrated reconfigurable multiple-input–multiple-output antenna system with an ultra-wideband sensing antenna for cognitive radio platforms

KAUST Repository

Hussain, Rifaqat

2015-06-18

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2015. A compact, novel multi-mode, multi-band frequency reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system, integrated with ultra-wideband (UWB) sensing antenna, is presented. The developed model can be used as a complete antenna platform for cognitive radio applications. The antenna system is developed on a single substrate area of dimensions 65 × 120 mm². The proposed sensing antenna is used to cover a wide range of frequency bands from 710 to 3600 MHz. The frequency reconfigurable dual-element MIMO antenna is integrated with P-type, intrinsic, N-type (PIN) diodes for frequency agility. Different modes of selection are used for the MIMO antenna system reconfigurability to support different wireless system standards. The proposed MIMO antenna configuration is used to cover various frequency bands from 755 to 3450 MHz. The complete system comprising the multi-band reconfigurable MIMO antennas and UWB sensing antenna for cognitive radio applications is proposed with a compact form factor.

Feasibility Study of Neutron Multiplicity Assay for a Heterogeneous Sludge Sample containing Na, Pu and other Impurities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, H.; Nakamichi, H.; Mukai, Y.; Yoshimoto, K.; Beddingfield, D.H.

2010-01-01

To reduce radioactivity of liquid waste generated at PCDF, a neutralization precipitation processes of radioactive nuclides by sodium hydroxide is used. We call the precipitate a 'sludge' after calcination. Pu mass in the sludge is normally determined by sampling and DA within the required uncertainty on DIQ. Annual yield of the mass is small but it accumulates and reaches to a few kilograms, so it is declared as retained waste and verified at PIV. A HM-5-based verification is applied for sludge verification. The sludge contains many chemical components. For example, Pu (-10wt%), U, Am, SUS components, halogens, NaNO 3 (main component), residual NaOH, and moisture. They are mixed together as an impure heterogeneous sludge sample. As a result, there is a large uncertainty in the sampling and DA that is currently used at PCDF. In order to improve the material accounting, we performed a feasibility study using neutron multiplicity assay for impure sludge samples. We have measured selected sludge samples using a multiplicity counter which is called FCAS (Fast Carton Assay System) which was designed by JAEA and Canberra. The PCDF sludge materials fall into the category of 'difficult to measure' because of the high levels of impurities, high alpha values and somewhat small Pu mass. For the sludge measurements, it was confirmed that good consistency between Pu mass in a pure sludge standard (PuO 2 -Na 2 U 2 O 7 , alpha=7) and the DA could be obtained. For unknown samples, using 14-hour measurements, we could obtain quite low statistical uncertainty on Doubles (-1%) and Triples (-10%) count rate although the alpha value was extremely high (15-25) and FCAS efficiency was relatively low (40%) for typical multiplicity counters. Despite the detector efficiency challenges and the material challenges (high alpha, low Pu mass, heterogeneous matrix), we have been able to obtain assay results that greatly exceed the accountancy requirements for retained waste materials. We have

Green heterogeneous wireless networks

CERN Document Server

Ismail, Muhammad; Nee, Hans-Peter; Qaraqe, Khalid A; Serpedin, Erchin

2016-01-01

This book focuses on the emerging research topic "green (energy efficient) wireless networks" which has drawn huge attention recently from both academia and industry. This topic is highly motivated due to important environmental, financial, and quality-of-experience (QoE) considerations. Specifically, the high energy consumption of the wireless networks manifests in approximately 2% of all CO2 emissions worldwide. This book presents the authors’ visions and solutions for deployment of energy efficient (green) heterogeneous wireless communication networks. The book consists of three major parts. The first part provides an introduction to the "green networks" concept, the second part targets the green multi-homing resource allocation problem, and the third chapter presents a novel deployment of device-to-device (D2D) communications and its successful integration in Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets). The book is novel in that it specifically targets green networking in a heterogeneous wireless medium, which re...

Deciphering cancer heterogeneity: the biological space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie eRoessler

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Most lethal solid tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC are considered incurable due to extensive heterogeneity in clinical presentation and tumor biology. Tumor heterogeneity may result from different cells of origin, patient ethnicity, etiology, underlying disease and diversity of genomic and epigenomic changes which drive tumor development. Cancer genomic heterogeneity thereby impedes treatment options and poses a significant challenge to cancer management. Studies of the HCC genome have revealed that although various genomic signatures identified in different HCC subgroups share a common prognosis, each carries unique molecular changes which are linked to different sets of cancer hallmarks whose misregulation has been proposed by Hanahan and Weinberg to be essential for tumorigenesis. We hypothesize that these specific sets of cancer hallmarks collectively occupy different tumor biological space representing the misregulation of different biological processes. In principle, a combination of different cancer hallmarks can result in new convergent molecular networks that are unique to each tumor subgroup and represent ideal druggable targets. Due to the ability of the tumor to adapt to external factors such as treatment or changes in the tumor microenvironment, the tumor biological space is elastic. Our ability to identify distinct groups of cancer patients with similar tumor biology who are most likely to respond to a specific therapy would have a significant impact on improving patient outcome. It is currently a challenge to identify a particular hallmark or a newly emerged convergent molecular network for a particular tumor. Thus, it is anticipated that the integration of multiple levels of data such as genomic mutations, somatic copy number aberration, gene expression, proteomics, and metabolomics, may help us grasp the tumor biological space occupied by each individual, leading to improved therapeutic intervention and outcome.

Integrated Markov-neural reliability computation method: A case for multiple automated guided vehicle system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fazlollahtabar, Hamed; Saidi-Mehrabad, Mohammad; Balakrishnan, Jaydeep

2015-01-01

This paper proposes an integrated Markovian and back propagation neural network approaches to compute reliability of a system. While states of failure occurrences are significant elements for accurate reliability computation, Markovian based reliability assessment method is designed. Due to drawbacks shown by Markovian model for steady state reliability computations and neural network for initial training pattern, integration being called Markov-neural is developed and evaluated. To show efficiency of the proposed approach comparative analyses are performed. Also, for managerial implication purpose an application case for multiple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in manufacturing networks is conducted. - Highlights: • Integrated Markovian and back propagation neural network approach to compute reliability. • Markovian based reliability assessment method. • Managerial implication is shown in an application case for multiple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in manufacturing networks

The use of agents and objects to integrate virtual enterprises

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pancerella, C.M.

1998-01-01

The manufacturing complex for the Department of Energy (DOE) is distributed: design laboratories, manufacturing facilities, and industrial partners. Designers must have a concurrent engineering environment to support all aspects of the cradle-to-grave product realization process across the distributed sites. Engineers must be able to analyze and simulate processes, retrieve and process heterogeneous information, both archived and current, and access multiple databases. Manufacturers must be able to coordinate activities of various manufacturing centers, which may involve a negotiation process. Furthermore, Sandia must be able to export manufacturing capabilities, such as on-machine acceptance, to outside suppliers. A key element to making this a reality is a flexible information architecture. The DOE information architecture must support a wide-area virtual enterprise, with distributed intelligent software components. The architecture must provide for asynchronous communication; multiple programming languages and operating systems; incorporation of geographically distributed manufacturing services; various hardware platforms; and heterogeneous workstations, PC`s, machine tool controllers, and special-purpose compute engines. Further, it is critical that manufacturing facilities are not isolated from design, planning, and other business activities and that information flows easily and bidirectionally between these activities. To accomplish this seamlessly, heterogeneous knowledge must be exchanged across both domain and organizational boundaries. Distributed object and software agent technologies are two methods for connecting such engineering and manufacturing systems. The two technologies have overlapping goals - interoperability and architectural support for integrating software components - though to date little or no integration of the two technologies has been made.

HardwareSoftware Co-design for Heterogeneous Multi-core Platforms The hArtes Toolchain

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

This book describes the results and outcome of the FP6 project, known as hArtes, which focuses on the development of an integrated tool chain targeting a heterogeneous multi core platform comprising of a general purpose processor (ARM or powerPC), a DSP (the diopsis) and an FPGA. The tool chain takes existing source code and proposes transformations and mappings such that legacy code can easily be ported to a modern, multi-core platform. Benefits of the hArtes approach, described in this book, include: Uses a familiar programming paradigm: hArtes proposes a familiar programming paradigm which is compatible with the widely used programming practice, irrespective of the target platform. Enables users to view multiple cores as a single processor: the hArtes approach abstracts away the heterogeneity as well as the multi-core aspect of the underlying hardware so the developer can view the platform as consisting of a single, general purpose processor. Facilitates easy porting of existing applications: hArtes provid...

Proof-of-Concept of a Millimeter-Wave Integrated Heterogeneous Network for 5G Cellular.

Science.gov (United States)

Okasaka, Shozo; Weiler, Richard J; Keusgen, Wilhelm; Pudeyev, Andrey; Maltsev, Alexander; Karls, Ingolf; Sakaguchi, Kei

2016-08-25

The fifth-generation mobile networks (5G) will not only enhance mobile broadband services, but also enable connectivity for a massive number of Internet-of-Things devices, such as wireless sensors, meters or actuators. Thus, 5G is expected to achieve a 1000-fold or more increase in capacity over 4G. The use of the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum is a key enabler to allowing 5G to achieve such enhancement in capacity. To fully utilize the mmWave spectrum, 5G is expected to adopt a heterogeneous network (HetNet) architecture, wherein mmWave small cells are overlaid onto a conventional macro-cellular network. In the mmWave-integrated HetNet, splitting of the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) will allow continuous connectivity and increase the capacity of the mmWave small cells. mmWave communication can be used not only for access linking, but also for wireless backhaul linking, which will facilitate the installation of mmWave small cells. In this study, a proof-of-concept (PoC) was conducted to demonstrate the practicality of a prototype mmWave-integrated HetNet, using mmWave technologies for both backhaul and access.

A retrospective likelihood approach for efficient integration of multiple omics factors in case-control association studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Balliu, Brunilda; Tsonaka, Roula; Boehringer, Stefan; Houwing-Duistermaat, Jeanine

2015-03-01

Integrative omics, the joint analysis of outcome and multiple types of omics data, such as genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics data, constitute a promising approach for powerful and biologically relevant association studies. These studies often employ a case-control design, and often include nonomics covariates, such as age and gender, that may modify the underlying omics risk factors. An open question is how to best integrate multiple omics and nonomics information to maximize statistical power in case-control studies that ascertain individuals based on the phenotype. Recent work on integrative omics have used prospective approaches, modeling case-control status conditional on omics, and nonomics risk factors. Compared to univariate approaches, jointly analyzing multiple risk factors with a prospective approach increases power in nonascertained cohorts. However, these prospective approaches often lose power in case-control studies. In this article, we propose a novel statistical method for integrating multiple omics and nonomics factors in case-control association studies. Our method is based on a retrospective likelihood function that models the joint distribution of omics and nonomics factors conditional on case-control status. The new method provides accurate control of Type I error rate and has increased efficiency over prospective approaches in both simulated and real data. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Fireball integrated code package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dobranich, D.; Powers, D.A.; Harper, F.T.

1997-07-01

Many deep-space satellites contain a plutonium heat source. An explosion, during launch, of a rocket carrying such a satellite offers the potential for the release of some of the plutonium. The fireball following such an explosion exposes any released plutonium to a high-temperature chemically-reactive environment. Vaporization, condensation, and agglomeration processes can alter the distribution of plutonium-bearing particles. The Fireball code package simulates the integrated response of the physical and chemical processes occurring in a fireball and the effect these processes have on the plutonium-bearing particle distribution. This integrated treatment of multiple phenomena represents a significant improvement in the state of the art for fireball simulations. Preliminary simulations of launch-second scenarios indicate: (1) most plutonium vaporization occurs within the first second of the fireball; (2) large non-aerosol-sized particles contribute very little to plutonium vapor production; (3) vaporization and both homogeneous and heterogeneous condensation occur simultaneously; (4) homogeneous condensation transports plutonium down to the smallest-particle sizes; (5) heterogeneous condensation precludes homogeneous condensation if sufficient condensation sites are available; and (6) agglomeration produces larger-sized particles but slows rapidly as the fireball grows.

Structural Optimization of a High-Speed Press Considering Multi-Source Uncertainties Based on a New Heterogeneous TOPSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Cheng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to achieve high punching precision, good operational reliability and low manufacturing cost, the structural optimization of a high-speed press in the presence of a set of available alternatives comprises a heterogeneous multiple-attribute decision-making (HMADM problem involving deviation, fixation, cost and benefit attributes that can be described in various mathematical forms due to the existence of multi-source uncertainties. Such a HMADM problem cannot be easily resolved by existing methods. To overcome this difficulty, a new heterogeneous technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (HTOPSIS is proposed. A new approach to normalization of heterogeneous attributes is proposed by integrating the possibility degree method, relative preference relation and the attribute transformation technique. Expressions for determining positive and negative ideal solutions corresponding to heterogeneous attributes are also developed. Finally, alternative structural configurations are ranked according to their relative closeness coefficients, and the optimal structural configuration can be determined. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed HTOPSIS are demonstrated by a numerical example. The proposed HTOPSIS can also be applied to structural optimization of other complex equipment, because there is no prerequisite of independency among various attributes for its application.

Heterogeneous networking in the home environment

OpenAIRE

Bolla, Raffaele; Davoli, Franco; Repetto, Matteo; Fragopoulos, Tasos; Serpanos, D.; Chessa, Stefano; Ferro, Erina

2006-01-01

The management and control at multiple protocol layers of a heterogeneous networking structure, to support multimedia applications in the home environment, is considered. The paper examines possible scenarios, and corresponding architectural solutions, also in the light of existing wireless and sensor networks technologies.

Multiplicity and Self-Identity: Trauma and Integration in Shirley Mason's Art

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Geoffrey

2011-01-01

This viewpoint appeared in its original form as the catalogue essay that accompanied the exhibition "Multiplicity and Self-Identity: Trauma and Integration in Shirley Mason's Art," curated by the author for Gallery 2110, Sacramento, CA, and the 2010 Annual Conference of the American Art Therapy Association. The exhibition featured 17 artworks by…

A Methodology for Multiple Rule System Integration and Resolution Within a Singular Knowledge Base

Science.gov (United States)

Kautzmann, Frank N., III

1988-01-01

Expert Systems which support knowledge representation by qualitative modeling techniques experience problems, when called upon to support integrated views embodying description and explanation, especially when other factors such as multiple causality, competing rule model resolution, and multiple uses of knowledge representation are included. A series of prototypes are being developed to demonstrate the feasibility of automating the process of systems engineering, design and configuration, and diagnosis and fault management. A study involves not only a generic knowledge representation; it must also support multiple views at varying levels of description and interaction between physical elements, systems, and subsystems. Moreover, it will involve models of description and explanation for each level. This multiple model feature requires the development of control methods between rule systems and heuristics on a meta-level for each expert system involved in an integrated and larger class of expert system. The broadest possible category of interacting expert systems is described along with a general methodology for the knowledge representation and control of mutually exclusive rule systems.

Transfers in heterogeneous environments; Transferts en milieux heterogenes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flesselles, J M [Saint-Gobain Recherche, 93 - Aubervilliers (France); Gouesbet, G; Mees, L; Roze, C; Girasole, Th; Grehan, G [Laboratoire d' Electromagnetisme et Systemes Particulaires (LESP), UMR CNRS 6614, CORIA. Universite de Rouen et INSA de Rouen, 76 - Saint-Etienne du Rouvray (France); Goyheneche, J M; Vignoles, G; Coindreau, O [Laboratoire des Composites Thermostructuraux (LCTS), UMR 5801, 33 - Pessac (France); Moyne, Ch [LEMTA (UMR 7563) CNRS-INPL-UHP, 54 - Vandoeuvre les Nancy (France); Coussy, O [Institut Navier - ENPC, 77 - Marne-la-Vallee (France); Lassabatere, Th [Electricite de France Les Renardieres, Dept. Materiaux Mecanique des Composants, 77 - Moret sur Loing (France); Tadrist, L [IUSTI - UMR 6595, 13 - Marseille (France)

2004-07-01

This document gathers the articles and transparencies of the invited talks given at the 2004 French congress of thermal engineering about transfers in heterogeneous environment. Content: transfer phenomena in industrial glass furnaces; simple and multiple scattering diagnosis by femto-second pulsed laser: application to particulate diagnoses; thermal modeling of thermo-structural composites; hybrid mixtures theory, average volumic measurement, periodical or stochastic homogenization: advance in scale change processes; thermo-hydro-chemical-mechanical coupling in porous medium: application to young concrete structures and to clay barriers of disposal facilities; transfers and flows in fluidization: recent advances and future challenges. (J.S.)

Heterogeneity of smooth muscle cells in tunica media of aorta in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... of the tunica media of goat aorta are phenotypically heterogeneous and run in multiple directions. These characteristics probably confer mechanical strength and functional plasticity to the aortic wall. Designers of aortic substitutes should bear this in mind. Keywords: Vascular, Smooth Muscle Cells, Heterogeneity, Aorta ...

Adsorption of gas mixtures on heterogeneous solid surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaroniec, M; Rudzinski, W

1977-01-01

A review of theoretical studies on the physical adsorption from gas mixtures on heterogeneous solid surfaces, mainly by Jaroniec and coworkers, covers the vector notation used in the calculations; adsorption isotherms for multicomponent gases; the generalized integral equation for adsorption of gas mixtures, its numerical and analytical solutions, applied, (e.g., to interpret the experimental adsorption isotherms of ethane/ethylene on Nuxit-AL); thermodynamic relations, applied, (e.g., to calculating isosteric adsorption heats from experimental parameters for the adsorption of propylene from propane/propylene mixtures on Nuxit-AL); and the derivation and use of a simplified integral equation for describing the adsorption from gas mixtures on heterogeneous surfaces. 75 references.

Integration of Multisensor Hybrid Reasoners to Support Personal Autonomy in the Smart Home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Ángel Valero

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The deployment of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI paradigm requires designing and integrating user-centered smart environments to assist people in their daily life activities. This research paper details an integration and validation of multiple heterogeneous sensors with hybrid reasoners that support decision making in order to monitor personal and environmental data at a smart home in a private way. The results innovate on knowledge-based platforms, distributed sensors, connected objects, accessibility and authentication methods to promote independent living for elderly people. TALISMAN+, the AmI framework deployed, integrates four subsystems in the smart home: (i a mobile biomedical telemonitoring platform to provide elderly patients with continuous disease management; (ii an integration middleware that allows context capture from heterogeneous sensors to program environment´s reaction; (iii a vision system for intelligent monitoring of daily activities in the home; and (iv an ontologies-based integrated reasoning platform to trigger local actions and manage private information in the smart home. The framework was integrated in two real running environments, the UPM Accessible Digital Home and MetalTIC house, and successfully validated by five experts in home care, elderly people and personal autonomy.

Integration of multisensor hybrid reasoners to support personal autonomy in the smart home.

Science.gov (United States)

Valero, Miguel Ángel; Bravo, José; Chamizo, Juan Manuel García; López-de-Ipiña, Diego

2014-09-17

The deployment of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) paradigm requires designing and integrating user-centered smart environments to assist people in their daily life activities. This research paper details an integration and validation of multiple heterogeneous sensors with hybrid reasoners that support decision making in order to monitor personal and environmental data at a smart home in a private way. The results innovate on knowledge-based platforms, distributed sensors, connected objects, accessibility and authentication methods to promote independent living for elderly people. TALISMAN+, the AmI framework deployed, integrates four subsystems in the smart home: (i) a mobile biomedical telemonitoring platform to provide elderly patients with continuous disease management; (ii) an integration middleware that allows context capture from heterogeneous sensors to program environment's reaction; (iii) a vision system for intelligent monitoring of daily activities in the home; and (iv) an ontologies-based integrated reasoning platform to trigger local actions and manage private information in the smart home. The framework was integrated in two real running environments, the UPM Accessible Digital Home and MetalTIC house, and successfully validated by five experts in home care, elderly people and personal autonomy.

Integration of Multisensor Hybrid Reasoners to Support Personal Autonomy in the Smart Home

Science.gov (United States)

Valero, Miguel Ángel; Bravo, José; Chamizo, Juan Manuel García; López-de-Ipiña, Diego

2014-01-01

The deployment of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) paradigm requires designing and integrating user-centered smart environments to assist people in their daily life activities. This research paper details an integration and validation of multiple heterogeneous sensors with hybrid reasoners that support decision making in order to monitor personal and environmental data at a smart home in a private way. The results innovate on knowledge-based platforms, distributed sensors, connected objects, accessibility and authentication methods to promote independent living for elderly people. TALISMAN+, the AmI framework deployed, integrates four subsystems in the smart home: (i) a mobile biomedical telemonitoring platform to provide elderly patients with continuous disease management; (ii) an integration middleware that allows context capture from heterogeneous sensors to program environment's reaction; (iii) a vision system for intelligent monitoring of daily activities in the home; and (iv) an ontologies-based integrated reasoning platform to trigger local actions and manage private information in the smart home. The framework was integrated in two real running environments, the UPM Accessible Digital Home and MetalTIC house, and successfully validated by five experts in home care, elderly people and personal autonomy. PMID:25232910

Deconstructing stem cell population heterogeneity: Single-cell analysis and modeling approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jincheng; Tzanakakis, Emmanuel S.

2014-01-01

Isogenic stem cell populations display cell-to-cell variations in a multitude of attributes including gene or protein expression, epigenetic state, morphology, proliferation and proclivity for differentiation. The origins of the observed heterogeneity and its roles in the maintenance of pluripotency and the lineage specification of stem cells remain unclear. Addressing pertinent questions will require the employment of single-cell analysis methods as traditional cell biochemical and biomolecular assays yield mostly population-average data. In addition to time-lapse microscopy and flow cytometry, recent advances in single-cell genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling are reviewed. The application of multiple displacement amplification, next generation sequencing, mass cytometry and spectrometry to stem cell systems is expected to provide a wealth of information affording unprecedented levels of multiparametric characterization of cell ensembles under defined conditions promoting pluripotency or commitment. Establishing connections between single-cell analysis information and the observed phenotypes will also require suitable mathematical models. Stem cell self-renewal and differentiation are orchestrated by the coordinated regulation of subcellular, intercellular and niche-wide processes spanning multiple time scales. Here, we discuss different modeling approaches and challenges arising from their application to stem cell populations. Integrating single-cell analysis with computational methods will fill gaps in our knowledge about the functions of heterogeneity in stem cell physiology. This combination will also aid the rational design of efficient differentiation and reprogramming strategies as well as bioprocesses for the production of clinically valuable stem cell derivatives. PMID:24035899

A Preliminary Study on the Multiple Mapping Structure of Classification Systems for Heterogeneous Databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seok-Hyoung Lee

2012-06-01

Full Text Available While science and technology information service portals and heterogeneous databases produced in Korea and other countries are integrated, methods of connecting the unique classification systems applied to each database have been studied. Results of technologists' research, such as, journal articles, patent specifications, and research reports, are organically related to each other. In this case, if the most basic and meaningful classification systems are not connected, it is difficult to achieve interoperability of the information and thus not easy to implement meaningful science technology information services through information convergence. This study aims to address the aforementioned issue by analyzing mapping systems between classification systems in order to design a structure to connect a variety of classification systems used in the academic information database of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, which provides science and technology information portal service. This study also aims to design a mapping system for the classification systems to be applied to actual science and technology information services and information management systems.

Secondary components, integral multiplicity factor and coupling coefficients of cosmic rays in the Earth atmosphere and other planets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorman, L.I.; Yanke, V.G.

1979-01-01

Integral multiples of cosmic rays in Earth and other planets atmospheres have been determined. Kinetic equations describing the evolution of hadronic cascade in atmosphere using modern accelerating data have been solved with that end in view. Bond coefficients for nucleonic, muonic and electronic components of secondary cosmic radiation have been built using integral multiples. Normalized bond coefficients for three components obtained for maximum solar activity are presented. Integral muon and nucleon generation and bond coefficients have also been given for Mars

Pervasive Sensing: Addressing the Heterogeneity Problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Grady, Michael J; Murdoch, Olga; Kroon, Barnard; Lillis, David; Carr, Dominic; Collier, Rem W; O'Hare, Gregory M P

2013-01-01

Pervasive sensing is characterized by heterogeneity across a number of dimensions. This raises significant problems for those designing, implementing and deploying sensor networks, irrespective of application domain. Such problems include for example, issues of data provenance and integrity, security, and privacy amongst others. Thus engineering a network that is fit-for-purpose represents a significant challenge. In this paper, the issue of heterogeneity is explored from the perspective of those who seek to harness a pervasive sensing element in their applications. A initial solution is proposed based on the middleware construct.

Construction of a food-grade multiple-copy integration system for Lactococcus lactis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leenhouts, K.; Bolhuis, A.; Venema, G.; Kok, J.

A food-grade vector system was developed that allows stable integration of multiple plasmid copies in the chromosome of Lactococcus lactis. The vector consists of the plus origin of replication (Ori(+)) of the lactococcal plasmid pWV01, the sucrose genes of the lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus

Proof-of-Concept of a Millimeter-Wave Integrated Heterogeneous Network for 5G Cellular

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shozo Okasaka

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The fifth-generation mobile networks (5G will not only enhance mobile broadband services, but also enable connectivity for a massive number of Internet-of-Things devices, such as wireless sensors, meters or actuators. Thus, 5G is expected to achieve a 1000-fold or more increase in capacity over 4G. The use of the millimeter-wave (mmWave spectrum is a key enabler to allowing 5G to achieve such enhancement in capacity. To fully utilize the mmWave spectrum, 5G is expected to adopt a heterogeneous network (HetNet architecture, wherein mmWave small cells are overlaid onto a conventional macro-cellular network. In the mmWave-integrated HetNet, splitting of the control plane (CP and user plane (UP will allow continuous connectivity and increase the capacity of the mmWave small cells. mmWave communication can be used not only for access linking, but also for wireless backhaul linking, which will facilitate the installation of mmWave small cells. In this study, a proof-of-concept (PoC was conducted to demonstrate the practicality of a prototype mmWave-integrated HetNet, using mmWave technologies for both backhaul and access.

Geological entropy and solute transport in heterogeneous porous media

Science.gov (United States)

Bianchi, Marco; Pedretti, Daniele

2017-06-01

We propose a novel approach to link solute transport behavior to the physical heterogeneity of the aquifer, which we fully characterize with two measurable parameters: the variance of the log K values (σY2), and a new indicator (HR) that integrates multiple properties of the K field into a global measure of spatial disorder or geological entropy. From the results of a detailed numerical experiment considering solute transport in K fields representing realistic distributions of hydrofacies in alluvial aquifers, we identify empirical relationship between the two parameters and the first three central moments of the distributions of arrival times of solute particles at a selected control plane. The analysis of experimental data indicates that the mean and the variance of the solutes arrival times tend to increase with spatial disorder (i.e., HR increasing), while highly skewed distributions are observed in more orderly structures (i.e., HR decreasing) or at higher σY2. We found that simple closed-form empirical expressions of the bivariate dependency of skewness on HR and σY2 can be used to predict the emergence of non-Fickian transport in K fields considering a range of structures and heterogeneity levels, some of which based on documented real aquifers. The accuracy of these predictions and in general the results from this study indicate that a description of the global variability and structure of the K field in terms of variance and geological entropy offers a valid and broadly applicable approach for the interpretation and prediction of transport in heterogeneous porous media.

EasyCloneMulti: A Set of Vectors for Simultaneous and Multiple Genomic Integrations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maury, Jerome; Germann, Susanne Manuela; Jacobsen, Simo Abdessamad

2016-01-01

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used in the biotechnology industry for production of ethanol, recombinant proteins, food ingredients and other chemicals. In order to generate highly producing and stable strains, genome integration of genes encoding metabolic pathway enzymes is the preferred...... of integrative vectors, EasyCloneMulti, that enables multiple and simultaneous integration of genes in S. cerevisiae. By creating vector backbones that combine consensus sequences that aim at targeting subsets of Ty sequences and a quickly degrading selective marker, integrations at multiple genomic loci...... and a range of expression levels were obtained, as assessed with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter system. The EasyCloneMulti vector set was applied to balance the expression of the rate-controlling step in the β-alanine pathway for biosynthesis of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP). The best 3HP...

Thesaurus-based search in large heterogeneous collections

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Wielemaker (Jan); M. Hildebrand (Michiel); J.R. van Ossenbruggen (Jacco); G. Schreiber (Guus); A. Sheth; not CWI et al

2008-01-01

htmlabstractIn cultural heritage, large virtual collections are coming into existence. Such collections contain heterogeneous sets of metadata and vocabulary concepts, originating from multiple sources. In the context of the E-Culture demonstrator we have shown earlier that such virtual

Meta-path based heterogeneous combat network link prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jichao; Ge, Bingfeng; Yang, Kewei; Chen, Yingwu; Tan, Yuejin

2017-09-01

The combat system-of-systems in high-tech informative warfare, composed of many interconnected combat systems of different types, can be regarded as a type of complex heterogeneous network. Link prediction for heterogeneous combat networks (HCNs) is of significant military value, as it facilitates reconfiguring combat networks to represent the complex real-world network topology as appropriate with observed information. This paper proposes a novel integrated methodology framework called HCNMP (HCN link prediction based on meta-path) to predict multiple types of links simultaneously for an HCN. More specifically, the concept of HCN meta-paths is introduced, through which the HCNMP can accumulate information by extracting different features of HCN links for all the six defined types. Next, an HCN link prediction model, based on meta-path features, is built to predict all types of links of the HCN simultaneously. Then, the solution algorithm for the HCN link prediction model is proposed, in which the prediction results are obtained by iteratively updating with the newly predicted results until the results in the HCN converge or reach a certain maximum iteration number. Finally, numerical experiments on the dataset of a real HCN are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed HCNMP, in comparison with 30 baseline methods. The results show that the performance of the HCNMP is superior to those of the baseline methods.

Integrated control platform for converged optical and wireless networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yan, Ying

The next generation of broadband access networks is expected to be heterogeneous. Multiple wired and wireless systems can be integrated, in order to simultaneously provide seamless access with an appropriate Quality of Service (QoS). Wireless networks support ubiquitous connectivity yet low data...... rates, whereas optical networks can offer much higher data rates but only provide fixed connection structures. Their complementary characteristics make the integration of the two networks a promising trend for next generation networks. With combined strengths, the converged network will provide both...... the complementary characteristics of the optical networks and the wireless networks, addresses motivations for their interworking, discusses the current progress in hybrid network architectures as well as the functionalities of a control system, and identifies the achieved research contributions in the integrated...

Digital Microdroplet Ejection Technology-Based Heterogeneous Objects Prototyping

OpenAIRE

Li, Na; Yang, Jiquan; Feng, Chunmei; Yang, Jianfei; Zhu, Liya; Guo, Aiqing

2016-01-01

An integrate fabrication framework is presented to build heterogeneous objects (HEO) using digital microdroplets injecting technology and rapid prototyping. The heterogeneous materials part design and manufacturing method in structure and material was used to change the traditional process. The net node method was used for digital modeling that can configure multimaterials in time. The relationship of material, color, and jetting nozzle was built. The main important contributions are to combi...

Monte Carlo-narrow resonance calculational techniques for treating double-heterogeneity effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelbard, E.M.; Chen, I.J.

1986-01-01

Reliable methods already exist for computing resonance integrals (RI's) in regular lattices. But lattice structures always contain irregularities. Such effects have been called ''double-heterogeneity'' effects. Two methods for computing double heterogeneity effects on RI's are reviewed and evaluated. 2 refs., 1 tab

Application of multiple timestep integration method in SSC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guppy, J.G.

1979-01-01

The thermohydraulic transient simulation of an entire LMFBR system is, by its very nature, complex. Physically, the entire plant consists of many subsystems which are coupled by various processes and/or components. The characteristic integration timesteps for these processes/components can vary over a wide range. To improve computing efficiency, a multiple timestep scheme (MTS) approach has been used in the development of the Super System Code (SSC). In this paper: (1) the partitioning of the system and the timestep control are described, and (2) results are presented showing a savings in computer running time using the MTS of as much as five times the time required using a single timestep scheme

Speculative segmented sum for sparse matrix-vector multiplication on heterogeneous processors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Weifeng; Vinter, Brian

2015-01-01

of the same chip is triggered to re-arrange the predicted partial sums for a correct resulting vector. On three heterogeneous processors from Intel, AMD and nVidia, using 20 sparse matrices as a benchmark suite, the experimental results show that our method obtains significant performance improvement over...

Transcription elongation. Heterogeneous tracking of RNA polymerase and its biological implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Imashimizu, Masahiko; Shimamoto, Nobuo; Oshima, Taku; Kashlev, Mikhail

2014-01-01

Regulation of transcription elongation via pausing of RNA polymerase has multiple physiological roles. The pausing mechanism depends on the sequence heterogeneity of the DNA being transcribed, as well as on certain interactions of polymerase with specific DNA sequences. In order to describe the mechanism of regulation, we introduce the concept of heterogeneity into the previously proposed alternative models of elongation, power stroke and Brownian ratchet. We also discuss molecular origins and physiological significances of the heterogeneity.

Thesaurus-based search in large heterogeneous collections

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wielemaker, J.; Hildebrand, M.; van Ossenbruggen, J.; Schreiber, G.

2008-01-01

In cultural heritage, large virtual collections are coming into existence. Such collections contain heterogeneous sets of metadata and vocabulary concepts, originating from multiple sources. In the context of the E-Culture demonstrator we have shown earlier that such virtual collections can be

Waves spontaneously generated by heterogeneity in oscillatory media

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Xiaohua; Huang, Xiaodong; Hu, Gang

2016-05-01

Wave propagation is an important characteristic for pattern formation and pattern dynamics. To date, various waves in homogeneous media have been investigated extensively and have been understood to a great extent. However, the wave behaviors in heterogeneous media have been studied and understood much less. In this work, we investigate waves that are spontaneously generated in one-dimensional heterogeneous oscillatory media governed by complex Ginzburg-Landau equations; the heterogeneity is modeled by multiple interacting homogeneous media with different system control parameters. Rich behaviors can be observed by varying the control parameters of the systems, whereas the behavior is incomparably simple in the homogeneous cases. These diverse behaviors can be fully understood and physically explained well based on three aspects: dispersion relation curves, driving-response relations, and wave competition rules in homogeneous systems. Possible applications of heterogeneity-generated waves are anticipated.

Designing Domain-Specific Heterogeneous Architectures from Dataflow Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Süleyman Savas

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The last ten years have seen performance and power requirements pushing computer architectures using only a single core towards so-called manycore systems with hundreds of cores on a single chip. To further increase performance and energy efficiency, we are now seeing the development of heterogeneous architectures with specialized and accelerated cores. However, designing these heterogeneous systems is a challenging task due to their inherent complexity. We proposed an approach for designing domain-specific heterogeneous architectures based on instruction augmentation through the integration of hardware accelerators into simple cores. These hardware accelerators were determined based on their common use among applications within a certain domain.The objective was to generate heterogeneous architectures by integrating many of these accelerated cores and connecting them with a network-on-chip. The proposed approach aimed to ease the design of heterogeneous manycore architectures—and, consequently, exploration of the design space—by automating the design steps. To evaluate our approach, we enhanced our software tool chain with a tool that can generate accelerated cores from dataflow programs. This new tool chain was evaluated with the aid of two use cases: radar signal processing and mobile baseband processing. We could achieve an approximately 4 × improvement in performance, while executing complete applications on the augmented cores with a small impact (2.5–13% on area usage. The generated accelerators are competitive, achieving more than 90% of the performance of hand-written implementations.

Integrated modeling and up-scaling of landfill processes and heterogeneity using stochastic approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bun, A.; Heimovaara, T.J.; Baviskar, S.M.; van Turnhout, A.G.; Konstantaki, L.A.

2012-01-01

Municipal solid waste landfills are a very complex and heterogeneous systems. The waste in a landfill body is a heterogeneous mixture of a wide range of materials containing high levels of organic matter, high amounts of salts and a wide range of different organic and inorganic substances, such as

MSblender: A probabilistic approach for integrating peptide identifications from multiple database search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Taejoon; Choi, Hyungwon; Vogel, Christine; Nesvizhskii, Alexey I; Marcotte, Edward M

2011-07-01

Shotgun proteomics using mass spectrometry is a powerful method for protein identification but suffers limited sensitivity in complex samples. Integrating peptide identifications from multiple database search engines is a promising strategy to increase the number of peptide identifications and reduce the volume of unassigned tandem mass spectra. Existing methods pool statistical significance scores such as p-values or posterior probabilities of peptide-spectrum matches (PSMs) from multiple search engines after high scoring peptides have been assigned to spectra, but these methods lack reliable control of identification error rates as data are integrated from different search engines. We developed a statistically coherent method for integrative analysis, termed MSblender. MSblender converts raw search scores from search engines into a probability score for every possible PSM and properly accounts for the correlation between search scores. The method reliably estimates false discovery rates and identifies more PSMs than any single search engine at the same false discovery rate. Increased identifications increment spectral counts for most proteins and allow quantification of proteins that would not have been quantified by individual search engines. We also demonstrate that enhanced quantification contributes to improve sensitivity in differential expression analyses.

Modular design of artificial tissue homeostasis: robust control through synthetic cellular heterogeneity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miles Miller

Full Text Available Synthetic biology efforts have largely focused on small engineered gene networks, yet understanding how to integrate multiple synthetic modules and interface them with endogenous pathways remains a challenge. Here we present the design, system integration, and analysis of several large scale synthetic gene circuits for artificial tissue homeostasis. Diabetes therapy represents a possible application for engineered homeostasis, where genetically programmed stem cells maintain a steady population of β-cells despite continuous turnover. We develop a new iterative process that incorporates modular design principles with hierarchical performance optimization targeted for environments with uncertainty and incomplete information. We employ theoretical analysis and computational simulations of multicellular reaction/diffusion models to design and understand system behavior, and find that certain features often associated with robustness (e.g., multicellular synchronization and noise attenuation are actually detrimental for tissue homeostasis. We overcome these problems by engineering a new class of genetic modules for 'synthetic cellular heterogeneity' that function to generate beneficial population diversity. We design two such modules (an asynchronous genetic oscillator and a signaling throttle mechanism, demonstrate their capacity for enhancing robust control, and provide guidance for experimental implementation with various computational techniques. We found that designing modules for synthetic heterogeneity can be complex, and in general requires a framework for non-linear and multifactorial analysis. Consequently, we adapt a 'phenotypic sensitivity analysis' method to determine how functional module behaviors combine to achieve optimal system performance. We ultimately combine this analysis with Bayesian network inference to extract critical, causal relationships between a module's biochemical rate-constants, its high level functional behavior in

Modular design of artificial tissue homeostasis: robust control through synthetic cellular heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Miles; Hafner, Marc; Sontag, Eduardo; Davidsohn, Noah; Subramanian, Sairam; Purnick, Priscilla E M; Lauffenburger, Douglas; Weiss, Ron

2012-01-01

Synthetic biology efforts have largely focused on small engineered gene networks, yet understanding how to integrate multiple synthetic modules and interface them with endogenous pathways remains a challenge. Here we present the design, system integration, and analysis of several large scale synthetic gene circuits for artificial tissue homeostasis. Diabetes therapy represents a possible application for engineered homeostasis, where genetically programmed stem cells maintain a steady population of β-cells despite continuous turnover. We develop a new iterative process that incorporates modular design principles with hierarchical performance optimization targeted for environments with uncertainty and incomplete information. We employ theoretical analysis and computational simulations of multicellular reaction/diffusion models to design and understand system behavior, and find that certain features often associated with robustness (e.g., multicellular synchronization and noise attenuation) are actually detrimental for tissue homeostasis. We overcome these problems by engineering a new class of genetic modules for 'synthetic cellular heterogeneity' that function to generate beneficial population diversity. We design two such modules (an asynchronous genetic oscillator and a signaling throttle mechanism), demonstrate their capacity for enhancing robust control, and provide guidance for experimental implementation with various computational techniques. We found that designing modules for synthetic heterogeneity can be complex, and in general requires a framework for non-linear and multifactorial analysis. Consequently, we adapt a 'phenotypic sensitivity analysis' method to determine how functional module behaviors combine to achieve optimal system performance. We ultimately combine this analysis with Bayesian network inference to extract critical, causal relationships between a module's biochemical rate-constants, its high level functional behavior in isolation, and

Clinical heterogeneity in Fabry disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. N. Salogub

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Fabry disease is an X-linked, lysosomal storage disease (OMIM: 301500, caused by α-galactosidase A deficiency, resulting in accumulation of its substrates, glycosphingolipids, primarily – globotriaosylceramide, in the lysosomes of multiple cell types with multi-system clinical manifestations, even within the same family, including abnormalities of the central and peripheral nervous system, kidneys, heart, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, organ of vision. Clinical heterogeneity is often the reason of the delayed diagnosis. Nowadays enzyme replacement therapy has proved its efficiency in the treatment of Fabry disease. Including Fabry disease in the differential diagnosis of a large range of disorders is important because of its wide clinical heterogeneity and the possibility of an earlier intervention with a beneficial treatment.

Do COPD subtypes really exist? COPD heterogeneity and clustering in 10 independent cohorts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Castaldi, Peter J; Benet, Marta; Petersen, Hans; Rafaels, Nicholas; Finigan, James; Paoletti, Matteo; Marike Boezen, H; Vonk, Judith M; Bowler, Russell; Pistolesi, Massimo; Puhan, Milo A; Anto, Josep; Wauters, Els; Lambrechts, Diether; Janssens, Wim; Bigazzi, Francesca; Camiciottoli, Gianna; Cho, Michael H; Hersh, Craig P; Barnes, Kathleen; Rennard, Stephen; Boorgula, Meher Preethi; Dy, Jennifer; Hansel, Nadia N; Crapo, James D; Tesfaigzi, Yohannes; Agusti, Alvar; Silverman, Edwin K; Garcia-Aymerich, Judith

Background COPD is a heterogeneous disease, but there is little consensus on specific definitions for COPD subtypes. Unsupervised clustering offers the promise of 'unbiased' data-driven assessment of COPD heterogeneity. Multiple groups have identified COPD subtypes using cluster analysis, but there

Integrative Analysis of High-throughput Cancer Studies with Contrasted Penalization

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Shi, Xingjie; Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Zhou, Yong; Shia, BenChang; Ma, Shuangge

2015-01-01

In cancer studies with high-throughput genetic and genomic measurements, integrative analysis provides a way to effectively pool and analyze heterogeneous raw data from multiple independent studies and outperforms “classic” meta-analysis and single-dataset analysis. When marker selection is of interest, the genetic basis of multiple datasets can be described using the homogeneity model or the heterogeneity model. In this study, we consider marker selection under the heterogeneity model, which includes the homogeneity model as a special case and can be more flexible. Penalization methods have been developed in the literature for marker selection. This study advances from the published ones by introducing the contrast penalties, which can accommodate the within- and across-dataset structures of covariates/regression coefficients and, by doing so, further improve marker selection performance. Specifically, we develop a penalization method that accommodates the across-dataset structures by smoothing over regression coefficients. An effective iterative algorithm, which calls an inner coordinate descent iteration, is developed. Simulation shows that the proposed method outperforms the benchmark with more accurate marker identification. The analysis of breast cancer and lung cancer prognosis studies with gene expression measurements shows that the proposed method identifies genes different from those using the benchmark and has better prediction performance. PMID:24395534

An integrated probabilistic risk analysis decision support methodology for systems with multiple state variables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, P.; Tan, John K.G.; Spencer, David

1999-01-01

Probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) methods have been proven to be valuable in risk and reliability analysis. However, a weak link seems to exist between methods for analysing risks and those for making rational decisions. The integrated decision support system (IDSS) methodology presented in this paper attempts to address this issue in a practical manner. In consists of three phases: a PRA phase, a risk sensitivity analysis (SA) phase and an optimisation phase, which are implemented through an integrated computer software system. In the risk analysis phase the problem is analysed by the Boolean representation method (BRM), a PRA method that can deal with systems with multiple state variables and feedback loops. In the second phase the results obtained from the BRM are utilised directly to perform importance and risk SA. In the third phase, the problem is formulated as a multiple objective decision making problem in the form of multiple objective reliability optimisation. An industrial example is included. The resultant solutions of a five objective reliability optimisation are presented, on the basis of which rational decision making can be explored

Upscaling of permeability heterogeneities in reservoir rocks; an integrated approach

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Mikes, D.

2002-01-01

This thesis presents a hierarchical and geologically constrained deterministic approach to incorporate small-scale heterogeneities into reservoir flow simulators. We use a hierarchical structure to encompass all scales from laminae to an entire depositional system. For the geological models under

Integrating conflicting information from multiple texts: Effects of prior attitudes and text format

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Strien, Johan; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Boshuizen, Els

2011-01-01

Van Strien, J. L. H., Brand-Gruwel, S., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2011, August). Integrating conflicting information from multiple texts: Effects of prior attitudes and text format. Round table session presented at the Junior Researchers pre-conference of the biannual meeting of the European

Concurrent heterogeneous neural model simulation on real-time neuromimetic hardware.

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Rast, Alexander; Galluppi, Francesco; Davies, Sergio; Plana, Luis; Patterson, Cameron; Sharp, Thomas; Lester, David; Furber, Steve

2011-11-01

Dedicated hardware is becoming increasingly essential to simulate emerging very-large-scale neural models. Equally, however, it needs to be able to support multiple models of the neural dynamics, possibly operating simultaneously within the same system. This may be necessary either to simulate large models with heterogeneous neural types, or to simplify simulation and analysis of detailed, complex models in a large simulation by isolating the new model to a small subpopulation of a larger overall network. The SpiNNaker neuromimetic chip is a dedicated neural processor able to support such heterogeneous simulations. Implementing these models on-chip uses an integrated library-based tool chain incorporating the emerging PyNN interface that allows a modeller to input a high-level description and use an automated process to generate an on-chip simulation. Simulations using both LIF and Izhikevich models demonstrate the ability of the SpiNNaker system to generate and simulate heterogeneous networks on-chip, while illustrating, through the network-scale effects of wavefront synchronisation and burst gating, methods that can provide effective behavioural abstractions for large-scale hardware modelling. SpiNNaker's asynchronous virtual architecture permits greater scope for model exploration, with scalable levels of functional and temporal abstraction, than conventional (or neuromorphic) computing platforms. The complete system illustrates a potential path to understanding the neural model of computation, by building (and breaking) neural models at various scales, connecting the blocks, then comparing them against the biology: computational cognitive neuroscience. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Noninvasive In-Vivo Quantification of Mechanical Heterogeneity of Invasive Breast Carcinomas.

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Tengxiao Liu

Full Text Available Heterogeneity is a hallmark of cancer whether one considers the genotype of cancerous cells, the composition of their microenvironment, the distribution of blood and lymphatic microvasculature, or the spatial distribution of the desmoplastic reaction. It is logical to expect that this heterogeneity in tumor microenvironment will lead to spatial heterogeneity in its mechanical properties. In this study we seek to quantify the mechanical heterogeneity within malignant and benign tumors using ultrasound based elasticity imaging. By creating in-vivo elastic modulus images for ten human subjects with breast tumors, we show that Young's modulus distribution in cancerous breast tumors is more heterogeneous when compared with tumors that are not malignant, and that this signature may be used to distinguish malignant breast tumors. Our results complement the view of cancer as a heterogeneous disease on multiple length scales by demonstrating that mechanical properties within cancerous tumors are also spatially heterogeneous.

Effects of reservoir heterogeneity on scaling of effective mass transfer coefficient for solute transport

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Leung, Juliana Y.; Srinivasan, Sanjay

2016-09-01

Modeling transport process at large scale requires proper scale-up of subsurface heterogeneity and an understanding of its interaction with the underlying transport mechanisms. A technique based on volume averaging is applied to quantitatively assess the scaling characteristics of effective mass transfer coefficient in heterogeneous reservoir models. The effective mass transfer coefficient represents the combined contribution from diffusion and dispersion to the transport of non-reactive solute particles within a fluid phase. Although treatment of transport problems with the volume averaging technique has been published in the past, application to geological systems exhibiting realistic spatial variability remains a challenge. Previously, the authors developed a new procedure where results from a fine-scale numerical flow simulation reflecting the full physics of the transport process albeit over a sub-volume of the reservoir are integrated with the volume averaging technique to provide effective description of transport properties. The procedure is extended such that spatial averaging is performed at the local-heterogeneity scale. In this paper, the transport of a passive (non-reactive) solute is simulated on multiple reservoir models exhibiting different patterns of heterogeneities, and the scaling behavior of effective mass transfer coefficient (Keff) is examined and compared. One such set of models exhibit power-law (fractal) characteristics, and the variability of dispersion and Keff with scale is in good agreement with analytical expressions described in the literature. This work offers an insight into the impacts of heterogeneity on the scaling of effective transport parameters. A key finding is that spatial heterogeneity models with similar univariate and bivariate statistics may exhibit different scaling characteristics because of the influence of higher order statistics. More mixing is observed in the channelized models with higher-order continuity. It

Integrative Analysis of Cancer Diagnosis Studies with Composite Penalization

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Ma, Shuangge

2013-01-01

Summary In cancer diagnosis studies, high-throughput gene profiling has been extensively conducted, searching for genes whose expressions may serve as markers. Data generated from such studies have the “large d, small n” feature, with the number of genes profiled much larger than the sample size. Penalization has been extensively adopted for simultaneous estimation and marker selection. Because of small sample sizes, markers identified from the analysis of single datasets can be unsatisfactory. A cost-effective remedy is to conduct integrative analysis of multiple heterogeneous datasets. In this article, we investigate composite penalization methods for estimation and marker selection in integrative analysis. The proposed methods use the minimax concave penalty (MCP) as the outer penalty. Under the homogeneity model, the ridge penalty is adopted as the inner penalty. Under the heterogeneity model, the Lasso penalty and MCP are adopted as the inner penalty. Effective computational algorithms based on coordinate descent are developed. Numerical studies, including simulation and analysis of practical cancer datasets, show satisfactory performance of the proposed methods. PMID:24578589

Modulation of C. elegans Touch Sensitivity Is Integrated at Multiple Levels

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Chen, Xiaoyin

2014-01-01

Sensory systems can adapt to different environmental signals. Here we identify four conditions that modulate anterior touch sensitivity in Caenorhabditis elegans after several hours and demonstrate that such sensory modulation is integrated at multiple levels to produce a single output. Prolonged vibration involving integrin signaling directly sensitizes the touch receptor neurons (TRNs). In contrast, hypoxia, the dauer state, and high salt reduce touch sensitivity by preventing the release of long-range neuroregulators, including two insulin-like proteins. Integration of these latter inputs occurs at upstream neurohormonal cells and at the insulin signaling cascade within the TRNs. These signals and those from integrin signaling converge to modulate touch sensitivity by regulating AKT kinases and DAF-16/FOXO. Thus, activation of either the integrin or insulin pathways can compensate for defects in the other pathway. This modulatory system integrates conflicting signals from different modalities, and adapts touch sensitivity to both mechanical and non-mechanical conditions. PMID:24806678

Physical heterogeneity control on effective mineral dissolution rates

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Heewon; Navarre-Sitchler, Alexis

2018-04-01

Hydrologic heterogeneity may be an important factor contributing to the discrepancy in laboratory and field measured dissolution rates, but the governing factors influencing mineral dissolution rates among various representations of physical heterogeneity remain poorly understood. Here, we present multiple reactive transport simulations of anorthite dissolution in 2D latticed random permeability fields and link the information from local grid scale (1 cm or 4 m) dissolution rates to domain-scale (1m or 400 m) effective dissolution rates measured by the flux-weighted average of an ensemble of flow paths. We compare results of homogeneous models to heterogeneous models with different structure and layered permeability distributions within the model domain. Chemistry is simplified to a single dissolving primary mineral (anorthite) distributed homogeneously throughout the domain and a single secondary mineral (kaolinite) that is allowed to dissolve or precipitate. Results show that increasing size in correlation structure (i.e. long integral scales) and high variance in permeability distribution are two important factors inducing a reduction in effective mineral dissolution rates compared to homogeneous permeability domains. Larger correlation structures produce larger zones of low permeability where diffusion is an important transport mechanism. Due to the increased residence time under slow diffusive transport, the saturation state of a solute with respect to a reacting mineral approaches equilibrium and reduces the reaction rate. High variance in permeability distribution favorably develops large low permeability zones that intensifies the reduction in mixing and effective dissolution rate. However, the degree of reduction in effective dissolution rate observed in 1 m × 1 m domains is too small (equilibrium conditions reduce the effective dissolution rate by increasing the saturation state. However, in large domains where less- or non-reactive zones develop, higher

Virtual drug screen schema based on multiview similarity integration and ranking aggregation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hong; Sheng, Zhen; Zhu, Ruixin; Huang, Qi; Liu, Qi; Cao, Zhiwei

2012-03-26

The current drug virtual screen (VS) methods mainly include two categories. i.e., ligand/target structure-based virtual screen and that, utilizing protein-ligand interaction fingerprint information based on the large number of complex structures. Since the former one focuses on the one-side information while the later one focuses on the whole complex structure, they are thus complementary and can be boosted by each other. However, a common problem faced here is how to present a comprehensive understanding and evaluation of the various virtual screen results derived from various VS methods. Furthermore, there is still an urgent need for developing an efficient approach to fully integrate various VS methods from a comprehensive multiview perspective. In this study, our virtual screen schema based on multiview similarity integration and ranking aggregation was tested comprehensively with statistical evaluations, providing several novel and useful clues on how to perform drug VS from multiple heterogeneous data sources. (1) 18 complex structures of HIV-1 protease with ligands from the PDB were curated as a test data set and the VS was performed with five different drug representations. Ritonavir ( 1HXW ) was selected as the query in VS and the weighted ranks of the query results were aggregated from multiple views through four similarity integration approaches. (2) Further, one of the ranking aggregation methods was used to integrate the similarity ranks calculated by gene ontology (GO) fingerprint and structural fingerprint on the data set from connectivity map, and two typical HDAC and HSP90 inhibitors were chosen as the queries. The results show that rank aggregation can enhance the result of similarity searching in VS when two or more descriptions are involved and provide a more reasonable similarity rank result. Our study shows that integrated VS based on multiple data fusion can achieve a remarkable better performance compared to that from individual ones and

DAVID Knowledgebase: a gene-centered database integrating heterogeneous gene annotation resources to facilitate high-throughput gene functional analysis

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Baseler Michael W

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Due to the complex and distributed nature of biological research, our current biological knowledge is spread over many redundant annotation databases maintained by many independent groups. Analysts usually need to visit many of these bioinformatics databases in order to integrate comprehensive annotation information for their genes, which becomes one of the bottlenecks, particularly for the analytic task associated with a large gene list. Thus, a highly centralized and ready-to-use gene-annotation knowledgebase is in demand for high throughput gene functional analysis. Description The DAVID Knowledgebase is built around the DAVID Gene Concept, a single-linkage method to agglomerate tens of millions of gene/protein identifiers from a variety of public genomic resources into DAVID gene clusters. The grouping of such identifiers improves the cross-reference capability, particularly across NCBI and UniProt systems, enabling more than 40 publicly available functional annotation sources to be comprehensively integrated and centralized by the DAVID gene clusters. The simple, pair-wise, text format files which make up the DAVID Knowledgebase are freely downloadable for various data analysis uses. In addition, a well organized web interface allows users to query different types of heterogeneous annotations in a high-throughput manner. Conclusion The DAVID Knowledgebase is designed to facilitate high throughput gene functional analysis. For a given gene list, it not only provides the quick accessibility to a wide range of heterogeneous annotation data in a centralized location, but also enriches the level of biological information for an individual gene. Moreover, the entire DAVID Knowledgebase is freely downloadable or searchable at http://david.abcc.ncifcrf.gov/knowledgebase/.

Identifying and quantifying heterogeneity in high content analysis: application of heterogeneity indices to drug discovery.

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Albert H Gough

Full Text Available One of the greatest challenges in biomedical research, drug discovery and diagnostics is understanding how seemingly identical cells can respond differently to perturbagens including drugs for disease treatment. Although heterogeneity has become an accepted characteristic of a population of cells, in drug discovery it is not routinely evaluated or reported. The standard practice for cell-based, high content assays has been to assume a normal distribution and to report a well-to-well average value with a standard deviation. To address this important issue we sought to define a method that could be readily implemented to identify, quantify and characterize heterogeneity in cellular and small organism assays to guide decisions during drug discovery and experimental cell/tissue profiling. Our study revealed that heterogeneity can be effectively identified and quantified with three indices that indicate diversity, non-normality and percent outliers. The indices were evaluated using the induction and inhibition of STAT3 activation in five cell lines where the systems response including sample preparation and instrument performance were well characterized and controlled. These heterogeneity indices provide a standardized method that can easily be integrated into small and large scale screening or profiling projects to guide interpretation of the biology, as well as the development of therapeutics and diagnostics. Understanding the heterogeneity in the response to perturbagens will become a critical factor in designing strategies for the development of therapeutics including targeted polypharmacology.

Guild-specific responses of avian species richness to LiDAR-derived habitat heterogeneity

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Weisberg, Peter J.; Dilts, Thomas E.; Becker, Miles E.; Young, Jock S.; Wong-Kone, Diane C.; Newton, Wesley E.; Ammon, Elisabeth M.

2014-01-01

Ecological niche theory implies that more heterogeneous habitats have the potential to support greater biodiversity. Positive heterogeneity-diversity relationships have been found for most studies investigating animal taxa, although negative relationships also occur and the scale dependence of heterogeneity-diversity relationships is little known. We investigated multi-scale, heterogeneity-diversity relationships for bird communities in a semi-arid riparian landscape, using airborne LiDAR data to derive key measures of structural habitat complexity. Habitat heterogeneity-diversity relationships were generally positive, although the overall strength of relationships varied across avian life history guilds (R2 range: 0.03–0.41). Best predicted were the species richness indices of cavity nesters, habitat generalists, woodland specialists, and foliage foragers. Heterogeneity-diversity relationships were also strongly scale-dependent, with strongest associations at the 200-m scale (4 ha) and weakest associations at the 50-m scale (0.25 ha). Our results underscore the value of LiDAR data for fine-grained quantification of habitat structure, as well as the need for biodiversity studies to incorporate variation among life-history guilds and to simultaneously consider multiple guild functional types (e.g. nesting, foraging, habitat). Results suggest that certain life-history guilds (foliage foragers, cavity nesters, woodland specialists) are more susceptible than others (ground foragers, ground nesters, low nesters) to experiencing declines in local species richness if functional elements of habitat heterogeneity are lost. Positive heterogeneity-diversity relationships imply that riparian conservation efforts need to not only provide high-quality riparian habitat locally, but also to provide habitat heterogeneity across multiple scales.

Integration of multiple determinants in the neuronal computation of economic values.

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Raghuraman, Anantha P; Padoa-Schioppa, Camillo

2014-08-27

Economic goods may vary on multiple dimensions (determinants). A central conjecture in decision neuroscience is that choices between goods are made by comparing subjective values computed through the integration of all relevant determinants. Previous work identified three groups of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of monkeys engaged in economic choices: (1) offer value cells, which encode the value of individual offers; (2) chosen value cells, which encode the value of the chosen good; and (3) chosen juice cells, which encode the identity of the chosen good. In principle, these populations could be sufficient to generate a decision. Critically, previous work did not assess whether offer value cells (the putative input to the decision) indeed encode subjective values as opposed to physical properties of the goods, and/or whether offer value cells integrate multiple determinants. To address these issues, we recorded from the OFC while monkeys chose between risky outcomes. Confirming previous observations, three populations of neurons encoded the value of individual offers, the value of the chosen option, and the value-independent choice outcome. The activity of both offer value cells and chosen value cells encoded values defined by the integration of juice quantity and probability. Furthermore, both populations reflected the subjective risk attitude of the animals. We also found additional groups of neurons encoding the risk associated with a particular option, the risky nature of the chosen option, and whether the trial outcome was positive or negative. These results provide substantial support for the conjecture described above and for the involvement of OFC in good-based decisions. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3311583-21$15.00/0.

Joint sparsity based heterogeneous data-level fusion for target detection and estimation

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Niu, Ruixin; Zulch, Peter; Distasio, Marcello; Blasch, Erik; Shen, Dan; Chen, Genshe

2017-05-01

Typical surveillance systems employ decision- or feature-level fusion approaches to integrate heterogeneous sensor data, which are sub-optimal and incur information loss. In this paper, we investigate data-level heterogeneous sensor fusion. Since the sensors monitor the common targets of interest, whose states can be determined by only a few parameters, it is reasonable to assume that the measurement domain has a low intrinsic dimensionality. For heterogeneous sensor data, we develop a joint-sparse data-level fusion (JSDLF) approach based on the emerging joint sparse signal recovery techniques by discretizing the target state space. This approach is applied to fuse signals from multiple distributed radio frequency (RF) signal sensors and a video camera for joint target detection and state estimation. The JSDLF approach is data-driven and requires minimum prior information, since there is no need to know the time-varying RF signal amplitudes, or the image intensity of the targets. It can handle non-linearity in the sensor data due to state space discretization and the use of frequency/pixel selection matrices. Furthermore, for a multi-target case with J targets, the JSDLF approach only requires discretization in a single-target state space, instead of discretization in a J-target state space, as in the case of the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) or the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate that the proposed JSDLF approach achieves excellent performance with near real-time accurate target position and velocity estimates.

Analysis of the Coupled Influence of Hydraulic Conductivity and Porosity Heterogeneity on Probabilistic Risk Analysis

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Libera, A.; Henri, C.; de Barros, F.

2017-12-01

Heterogeneities in natural porous formations, mainly manifested through the hydraulic conductivity (K) and, to a lesser degree, the porosity (Φ), largely control subsurface flow and solute transport. The influence of the heterogeneous structure of K on flow and solute transport processes has been widely studied, whereas less attention is dedicated to the joint heterogeneity of conductivity and porosity fields. Our study employs computational tools to investigate the joint effect of the spatial variabilities of K and Φ on the transport behavior of a solute plume. We explore multiple scenarios, characterized by different levels of heterogeneity of the geological system, and compare the computational results from the joint K and Φ heterogeneous system with the results originating from the generally adopted constant porosity case. In our work, we assume that the heterogeneous porosity is positively correlated to hydraulic conductivity. We perform numerical Monte Carlo simulations of conservative and reactive contaminant transport in a 3D aquifer. Contaminant mass and plume arrival times at multiple control planes and/or pumping wells operating under different extraction rates are analyzed. We employ different probabilistic metrics to quantify the risk at the monitoring locations, e.g., increased lifetime cancer risk and exceedance of Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), under multiple transport scenarios (i.e., different levels of heterogeneity, conservative or reactive solutes and different contaminant species). Results show that early and late arrival times of the solute mass at the selected sensitive locations (i.e. control planes/pumping wells) as well as risk metrics are strongly influenced by the spatial variability of the Φ field.

A computational method based on the integration of heterogeneous networks for predicting disease-gene associations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingli Guo

Full Text Available The identification of disease-causing genes is a fundamental challenge in human health and of great importance in improving medical care, and provides a better understanding of gene functions. Recent computational approaches based on the interactions among human proteins and disease similarities have shown their power in tackling the issue. In this paper, a novel systematic and global method that integrates two heterogeneous networks for prioritizing candidate disease-causing genes is provided, based on the observation that genes causing the same or similar diseases tend to lie close to one another in a network of protein-protein interactions. In this method, the association score function between a query disease and a candidate gene is defined as the weighted sum of all the association scores between similar diseases and neighbouring genes. Moreover, the topological correlation of these two heterogeneous networks can be incorporated into the definition of the score function, and finally an iterative algorithm is designed for this issue. This method was tested with 10-fold cross-validation on all 1,126 diseases that have at least a known causal gene, and it ranked the correct gene as one of the top ten in 622 of all the 1,428 cases, significantly outperforming a state-of-the-art method called PRINCE. The results brought about by this method were applied to study three multi-factorial disorders: breast cancer, Alzheimer disease and diabetes mellitus type 2, and some suggestions of novel causal genes and candidate disease-causing subnetworks were provided for further investigation.

A framework for interactive visual analysis of heterogeneous marine data in an integrated problem solving environment

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shuai; Chen, Ge; Yao, Shifeng; Tian, Fenglin; Liu, Wei

2017-07-01

This paper presents a novel integrated marine visualization framework which focuses on processing, analyzing the multi-dimension spatiotemporal marine data in one workflow. Effective marine data visualization is needed in terms of extracting useful patterns, recognizing changes, and understanding physical processes in oceanography researches. However, the multi-source, multi-format, multi-dimension characteristics of marine data pose a challenge for interactive and feasible (timely) marine data analysis and visualization in one workflow. And, global multi-resolution virtual terrain environment is also needed to give oceanographers and the public a real geographic background reference and to help them to identify the geographical variation of ocean phenomena. This paper introduces a data integration and processing method to efficiently visualize and analyze the heterogeneous marine data. Based on the data we processed, several GPU-based visualization methods are explored to interactively demonstrate marine data. GPU-tessellated global terrain rendering using ETOPO1 data is realized and the video memory usage is controlled to ensure high efficiency. A modified ray-casting algorithm for the uneven multi-section Argo volume data is also presented and the transfer function is designed to analyze the 3D structure of ocean phenomena. Based on the framework we designed, an integrated visualization system is realized. The effectiveness and efficiency of the framework is demonstrated. This system is expected to make a significant contribution to the demonstration and understanding of marine physical process in a virtual global environment.

Information system architecture to support transparent access to distributed, heterogeneous data sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.C.

1994-08-01

Quality situation assessment and decision making require access to multiple sources of data and information. Insufficient accessibility to data exists for many large corporations and Government agencies. By utilizing current advances in computer technology, today's situation analyst's have a wealth of information at their disposal. There are many potential solutions to the information accessibility problem using today's technology. The United States Department of Energy (US-DOE) faced this problem when dealing with one class of problem in the US. The result of their efforts has been the creation of the Tank Waste Information Network System -- TWINS. The TWINS solution combines many technologies to address problems in several areas such as User Interfaces, Transparent Access to Multiple Data Sources, and Integrated Data Access. Data related to the complex is currently distributed throughout several US-DOE installations. Over time, each installation has adopted their own set of standards as related to information management. Heterogeneous hardware and software platforms exist both across the complex and within a single installation. Standards for information management vary between US-DOE mission areas within installations. These factors contribute to the complexity of accessing information in a manner that enhances the performance and decision making process of the analysts. This paper presents one approach taken by the DOE to resolve the problem of distributed, heterogeneous, multi-media information management for the HLW Tank complex. The information system architecture developed for the DOE by the TWINS effort is one that is adaptable to other problem domains and uses

Assessing District Energy Systems Performance Integrated with Multiple Thermal Energy Storages

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Rezaie, Behnaz

The goal of this study is to examine various energy resources in district energy (DE) systems and then DE system performance development by means of multiple thermal energy storages (TES) application. This study sheds light on areas not yet investigated precisely in detail. Throughout the research, major components of the heat plant, energy suppliers of the DE systems, and TES characteristics are separately examined; integration of various configurations of the multiple TESs in the DE system is then analysed. In the first part of the study, various sources of energy are compared, in a consistent manner, financially and environmentally. The TES performance is then assessed from various aspects. Then, TES(s) and DE systems with several sources of energy are integrated, and are investigated as a heat process centre. The most efficient configurations of the multiple TESs integrated with the DE system are investigated. Some of the findings of this study are applied on an actual DE system. The outcomes of this study provide insight for researchers and engineers who work in this field, as well as policy makers and project managers who are decision-makers. The accomplishments of the study are original developments TESs and DE systems. As an original development the Enviro-Economic Function, to balance the economic and environmental aspects of energy resources technologies in DE systems, is developed; various configurations of multiple TESs, including series, parallel, and general grid, are developed. The developed related functions are discharge temperature and energy of the TES, and energy and exergy efficiencies of the TES. The TES charging and discharging behavior of TES instantaneously is also investigated to obtain the charging temperature, the maximum charging temperature, the charging energy flow, maximum heat flow capacity, the discharging temperature, the minimum charging temperature, the discharging energy flow, the maximum heat flow capacity, and performance

Deconstructing transcriptional heterogeneity in pluripotent stem cells

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Shalek, Alex K.; Satija, Rahul; DaleyKeyser, AJay; Li, Hu; Zhang, Jin; Pardee, Keith; Gennert, David; Trombetta, John J.; Ferrante, Thomas C.; Regev, Aviv; Daley, George Q.; Collins, James J.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are capable of dynamic interconversion between distinct substates, but the regulatory circuits specifying these states and enabling transitions between them are not well understood. We set out to characterize transcriptional heterogeneity in PSCs by single-cell expression profiling under different chemical and genetic perturbations. Signaling factors and developmental regulators show highly variable expression, with expression states for some variable genes heritable through multiple cell divisions. Expression variability and population heterogeneity can be influenced by perturbation of signaling pathways and chromatin regulators. Strikingly, either removal of mature miRNAs or pharmacologic blockage of signaling pathways drives PSCs into a low-noise ground state characterized by a reconfigured pluripotency network, enhanced self-renewal, and a distinct chromatin state, an effect mediated by opposing miRNA families acting on the c-myc / Lin28 / let-7 axis. These data illuminate the nature of transcriptional heterogeneity in PSCs. PMID:25471879

Assessment of the integrity of degraded steam generator tube by the use of heterogeneous finite element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan, X.; Kozluk, M.; Pagan, S.; Mills, B.

2006-01-01

Steam generator tubes at Ontario Power Generation (OPG) have been experiencing a variety of degradations such as pitting, fretting wear, erosion-corrosion, thinning and denting. To assist with steam generator life cycle management, OPG has developed Fitness-For-Service Guidelines (FFSG) for steam generator tubes. The FFSG are intended to provide standard acceptance criteria and evaluation procedures for assessing the condition of steam generator tubes for structural integrity, operational leak rate, and consequential leakage during an upset or abnormal event. Based on inspection results in conjunction with representative, postulated distributions of flaws in the un-inspected tubes, the FFSG provide an acceptable method of satisfying the intent of CSA-N285.4 and justifying the continued operation of degraded steam generator tubes. Some non-mandatory empirical axial and circumferential flaw models are also provided in the FFSG for structural integrity assessments. The test data from the OPG Steam Generator Tube Test Program (SGTTP) showed that the FFSG axial flaw model is conservative for a wide range of defect morphologies. A defect-specific axial flaw model was proposed for lattice-bar fret defects in I800 tubes by utilizing the SGTTP database of extensive test results. A defect-specific flaw model for outer diameter (OD) pitting and inner diameter (ID) intergranular attack in Monel 400 tubes was also developed using the SGTTP test data. More tests have been scheduled to support the development of defect specific models for axial flaws (OD cracks or ID laps) in Monel 400 and to supplement the database for Monel 400 pits. This paper explores the use of simulated testing for use in developing defect specific flaw models to reduce the amount of expensive tests. The Heterogeneous Finite Element Model (HFEM) has been developed and successfully applied to predict the failure behaviour of ductile metals under various deformation modes, i.e. plane stress, plane strain and

Heterogeneous Multicore Parallel Programming for Graphics Processing Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francois Bodin

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Hybrid parallel multicore architectures based on graphics processing units (GPUs can provide tremendous computing power. Current NVIDIA and AMD Graphics Product Group hardware display a peak performance of hundreds of gigaflops. However, exploiting GPUs from existing applications is a difficult task that requires non-portable rewriting of the code. In this paper, we present HMPP, a Heterogeneous Multicore Parallel Programming workbench with compilers, developed by CAPS entreprise, that allows the integration of heterogeneous hardware accelerators in a unintrusive manner while preserving the legacy code.

Integration and Assessment of Multiple Mobile Manipulators in a Real-World Industrial Production Facility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøgh, Simon; Schou, Casper; Rühr, Thomas

2014-01-01

This paper presents a large-scale research experiment carried out within the TAPAS project, where multiple mobile manipulators were integrated and assessed in an industrial context. We consider an industrial scenario in which mobile manipulators naturally extend automation of logistic tasks towar...

Research on efficiency evaluation model of integrated energy system based on hybrid multi-attribute decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yan

2017-05-25

The efficiency evaluation model of integrated energy system, involving many influencing factors, and the attribute values are heterogeneous and non-deterministic, usually cannot give specific numerical or accurate probability distribution characteristics, making the final evaluation result deviation. According to the characteristics of the integrated energy system, a hybrid multi-attribute decision-making model is constructed. The evaluation model considers the decision maker's risk preference. In the evaluation of the efficiency of the integrated energy system, the evaluation value of some evaluation indexes is linguistic value, or the evaluation value of the evaluation experts is not consistent. These reasons lead to ambiguity in the decision information, usually in the form of uncertain linguistic values and numerical interval values. In this paper, the risk preference of decision maker is considered when constructing the evaluation model. Interval-valued multiple-attribute decision-making method and fuzzy linguistic multiple-attribute decision-making model are proposed. Finally, the mathematical model of efficiency evaluation of integrated energy system is constructed.

New Recursive Representations for the Favard Constants with Application to Multiple Singular Integrals and Summation of Series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Snezhana Georgieva Gocheva-Ilieva

2013-01-01

Full Text Available There are obtained integral form and recurrence representations for some Fourier series and connected with them Favard constants. The method is based on preliminary integration of Fourier series which permits to establish general recursion formulas for Favard constants. This gives the opportunity for effective summation of infinite series and calculation of some classes of multiple singular integrals by the Favard constants.

Integrating Multiple Teaching Methods into a General Chemistry Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Francisco, Joseph S.; Nicoll, Gayle; Trautmann, Marcella

1998-02-01

In addition to the traditional lecture format, three other teaching strategies (class discussions, concept maps, and cooperative learning) were incorporated into a freshman level general chemistry course. Student perceptions of their involvement in each of the teaching methods, as well as their perceptions of the utility of each method were used to assess the effectiveness of the integration of the teaching strategies as received by the students. Results suggest that each strategy serves a unique purpose for the students and increased student involvement in the course. These results indicate that the multiple teaching strategies were well received by the students and that all teaching strategies are necessary for students to get the most out of the course.

Transient well flow in vertically heterogeneous aquifers.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hemker, C.J.

1999-01-01

A solution for the general problem of computing well flow in vertically heterogeneous aquifers is found by an integration of both analytical and numerical techniques. The radial component of flow is treated analytically; the drawdown is a continuous function of the distance to the well. The

Structure of the EGF receptor transactivation circuit integrates multiple signals with cell context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joslin, Elizabeth J.; Shankaran, Harish; Opresko, Lee K.; Bollinger, Nikki; Lauffenburger, Douglas A.; Wiley, H. S.

2010-05-10

Transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been proposed to be a mechanism by which a variety of cellular inputs can be integrated into a single signaling pathway, but the regulatory topology of this important system is unclear. To understand the transactivation circuit, we first created a “non-binding” reporter for ligand shedding. We then quantitatively defined how signals from multiple agonists were integrated both upstream and downstream of the EGFR into the extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) cascade in human mammary epithelial cells. We found that transactivation is mediated by a recursive autocrine circuit where ligand shedding drives EGFR-stimulated ERK that in turn drives further ligand shedding. The time from shedding to ERK activation is fast (<5 min) whereas the recursive feedback is slow (>15 min). Simulations showed that this delay in positive feedback greatly enhanced system stability and robustness. Our results indicate that the transactivation circuit is constructed so that the magnitude of ERK signaling is governed by the sum of multiple direct inputs, while recursive, autocrine ligand shedding controls signal duration.

MULTI-SCALE SEGMENTATION OF HIGH RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING IMAGES BY INTEGRATING MULTIPLE FEATURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Di

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Most of multi-scale segmentation algorithms are not aiming at high resolution remote sensing images and have difficulty to communicate and use layers’ information. In view of them, we proposes a method of multi-scale segmentation of high resolution remote sensing images by integrating multiple features. First, Canny operator is used to extract edge information, and then band weighted distance function is built to obtain the edge weight. According to the criterion, the initial segmentation objects of color images can be gained by Kruskal minimum spanning tree algorithm. Finally segmentation images are got by the adaptive rule of Mumford–Shah region merging combination with spectral and texture information. The proposed method is evaluated precisely using analog images and ZY-3 satellite images through quantitative and qualitative analysis. The experimental results show that the multi-scale segmentation of high resolution remote sensing images by integrating multiple features outperformed the software eCognition fractal network evolution algorithm (highest-resolution network evolution that FNEA on the accuracy and slightly inferior to FNEA on the efficiency.

Intertumoral Heterogeneity within Medulloblastoma Subgroups.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavalli, Florence M G; Remke, Marc; Rampasek, Ladislav; Peacock, John; Shih, David J H; Luu, Betty; Garzia, Livia; Torchia, Jonathon; Nor, Carolina; Morrissy, A Sorana; Agnihotri, Sameer; Thompson, Yuan Yao; Kuzan-Fischer, Claudia M; Farooq, Hamza; Isaev, Keren; Daniels, Craig; Cho, Byung-Kyu; Kim, Seung-Ki; Wang, Kyu-Chang; Lee, Ji Yeoun; Grajkowska, Wieslawa A; Perek-Polnik, Marta; Vasiljevic, Alexandre; Faure-Conter, Cecile; Jouvet, Anne; Giannini, Caterina; Nageswara Rao, Amulya A; Li, Kay Ka Wai; Ng, Ho-Keung; Eberhart, Charles G; Pollack, Ian F; Hamilton, Ronald L; Gillespie, G Yancey; Olson, James M; Leary, Sarah; Weiss, William A; Lach, Boleslaw; Chambless, Lola B; Thompson, Reid C; Cooper, Michael K; Vibhakar, Rajeev; Hauser, Peter; van Veelen, Marie-Lise C; Kros, Johan M; French, Pim J; Ra, Young Shin; Kumabe, Toshihiro; López-Aguilar, Enrique; Zitterbart, Karel; Sterba, Jaroslav; Finocchiaro, Gaetano; Massimino, Maura; Van Meir, Erwin G; Osuka, Satoru; Shofuda, Tomoko; Klekner, Almos; Zollo, Massimo; Leonard, Jeffrey R; Rubin, Joshua B; Jabado, Nada; Albrecht, Steffen; Mora, Jaume; Van Meter, Timothy E; Jung, Shin; Moore, Andrew S; Hallahan, Andrew R; Chan, Jennifer A; Tirapelli, Daniela P C; Carlotti, Carlos G; Fouladi, Maryam; Pimentel, José; Faria, Claudia C; Saad, Ali G; Massimi, Luca; Liau, Linda M; Wheeler, Helen; Nakamura, Hideo; Elbabaa, Samer K; Perezpeña-Diazconti, Mario; Chico Ponce de León, Fernando; Robinson, Shenandoah; Zapotocky, Michal; Lassaletta, Alvaro; Huang, Annie; Hawkins, Cynthia E; Tabori, Uri; Bouffet, Eric; Bartels, Ute; Dirks, Peter B; Rutka, James T; Bader, Gary D; Reimand, Jüri; Goldenberg, Anna; Ramaswamy, Vijay; Taylor, Michael D

2017-06-12

While molecular subgrouping has revolutionized medulloblastoma classification, the extent of heterogeneity within subgroups is unknown. Similarity network fusion (SNF) applied to genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression data across 763 primary samples identifies very homogeneous clusters of patients, supporting the presence of medulloblastoma subtypes. After integration of somatic copy-number alterations, and clinical features specific to each cluster, we identify 12 different subtypes of medulloblastoma. Integrative analysis using SNF further delineates group 3 from group 4 medulloblastoma, which is not as readily apparent through analyses of individual data types. Two clear subtypes of infants with Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma with disparate outcomes and biology are identified. Medulloblastoma subtypes identified through integrative clustering have important implications for stratification of future clinical trials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EasyClone: method for iterative chromosomal integration of multiple genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Niels Bjerg; Strucko, Tomas; Kildegaard, Kanchana Rueksomtawin

2014-01-01

of multiple genes with an option of recycling selection markers. The vectors combine the advantage of efficient uracil excision reaction-based cloning and Cre-LoxP-mediated marker recycling system. The episomal and integrative vector sets were tested by inserting genes encoding cyan, yellow, and red...... fluorescent proteins into separate vectors and analyzing for co-expression of proteins by flow cytometry. Cells expressing genes encoding for the three fluorescent proteins from three integrations exhibited a much higher level of simultaneous expression than cells producing fluorescent proteins encoded...... on episomal plasmids, where correspondingly 95% and 6% of the cells were within a fluorescence interval of Log10 mean ± 15% for all three colors. We demonstrate that selective markers can be simultaneously removed using Cre-mediated recombination and all the integrated heterologous genes remain...

MONIL Language, an Alternative for Data Integration

OpenAIRE

Larre, Mónica; Torres-Jiménez, José; Morales, Eduardo; Frausto-Solís, Juan; Torres, Sócrates

2006-01-01

Data integration is a process of retrieving, merging and storing of data originated in heterogeneous sources of data. The main problem facing the data integration is the structural and semantic heterogeneity of participating data. A concern of research communities in computer sciences is the development of semi-automatic tools to assist the user in an effective way in the data integration processes. This paper introduces a programming language called MONIL, as an alternative to integrate data...

A calderón multiplicative preconditioner for the combined field integral equation

KAUST Repository

Bagci, Hakan

2009-10-01

A Calderón multiplicative preconditioner (CMP) for the combined field integral equation (CFIE) is developed. Just like with previously proposed Caldern-preconditioned CFIEs, a localization procedure is employed to ensure that the equation is resonance-free. The iterative solution of the linear system of equations obtained via the CMP-based discretization of the CFIE converges rapidly regardless of the discretization density and the frequency of excitation. © 2009 IEEE.

Neuroscience data integration through mediation: An (FBIRN case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naveen Ashish

2010-12-01

Full Text Available We describe an application of the BIRN mediator to the integration of neuroscience experimental data sources. The BIRN mediator is a general purpose solution to the problem of providing integrated, semantically-consistent access to biomedical data from multiple, distributed, heterogeneous data sources. The system follows the mediation approach, where the data remains at the sources, providers maintain control of the data, and the integration system retrieves data from the sources in real-time in response to client queries. Our aim with this paper is to illustrate how domain-specific data integration applications can be developed quickly and in a principled way by using our general mediation technology. We describe in detail the integration of two leading, but radically different, experimental neuroscience sources, namely, the Human Imaging Database (HID, a relational database, and the eXtensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit (XNAT, an XML web services system. We discuss the steps, sources of complexity, effort and time required to build such applications, as well as outline directions of ongoing and future research on biomedical data integration.

Broadband microwave photonic fully tunable filter using a single heterogeneously integrated III-V/SOI-microdisk-based phase shifter.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloret, Juan; Morthier, Geert; Ramos, Francisco; Sales, Salvador; Van Thourhout, Dries; Spuesens, Thijs; Olivier, Nicolas; Fédéli, Jean-Marc; Capmany, José

2012-05-07

A broadband microwave photonic phase shifter based on a single III-V microdisk resonator heterogeneously integrated on and coupled to a nanophotonic silicon-on-insulator waveguide is reported. The phase shift tunability is accomplished by modifying the effective index through carrier injection. A comprehensive semi-analytical model aiming at predicting its behavior is formulated and confirmed by measurements. Quasi-linear and continuously tunable 2π phase shifts at radiofrequencies greater than 18 GHz are experimentally demonstrated. The phase shifter performance is also evaluated when used as a key element in tunable filtering schemes. Distortion-free and wideband filtering responses with a tuning range of ~100% over the free spectral range are obtained.

Tools and Models for Integrating Multiple Cellular Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerstein, Mark [Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States). Gerstein Lab.

2015-11-06

In this grant, we have systematically investigated the integrated networks, which are responsible for the coordination of activity between metabolic pathways in prokaryotes. We have developed several computational tools to analyze the topology of the integrated networks consisting of metabolic, regulatory, and physical interaction networks. The tools are all open-source, and they are available to download from Github, and can be incorporated in the Knowledgebase. Here, we summarize our work as follow. Understanding the topology of the integrated networks is the first step toward understanding its dynamics and evolution. For Aim 1 of this grant, we have developed a novel algorithm to determine and measure the hierarchical structure of transcriptional regulatory networks [1]. The hierarchy captures the direction of information flow in the network. The algorithm is generally applicable to regulatory networks in prokaryotes, yeast and higher organisms. Integrated datasets are extremely beneficial in understanding the biology of a system in a compact manner due to the conflation of multiple layers of information. Therefore for Aim 2 of this grant, we have developed several tools and carried out analysis for integrating system-wide genomic information. To make use of the structural data, we have developed DynaSIN for protein-protein interactions networks with various dynamical interfaces [2]. We then examined the association between network topology with phenotypic effects such as gene essentiality. In particular, we have organized E. coli and S. cerevisiae transcriptional regulatory networks into hierarchies. We then correlated gene phenotypic effects by tinkering with different layers to elucidate which layers were more tolerant to perturbations [3]. In the context of evolution, we also developed a workflow to guide the comparison between different types of biological networks across various species using the concept of rewiring [4], and Furthermore, we have developed

Modelling Configuration Knowledge in Heterogeneous Product Families

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Queva, Matthieu Stéphane Benoit; Männistö, Tomi; Ricci, Laurent

2011-01-01

Product configuration systems play an important role in the development of Mass Customisation. The configuration of complex product families may nowadays involve multiple design disciplines, e.g. hardware, software and services. In this paper, we present a conceptual approach for modelling...... the variability in such heterogeneous product families. Our approach is based on a framework that aims to cater for the different stakeholders involved in the modelling and management of the product family. The modelling approach is centred around the concepts of views, types and constraints and is illustrated...... by a motivation example. Furthermore, as a proof of concept, a prototype has been implemented for configuring a non-trivial heterogeneous product family....

Loss Performance Modeling for Hierarchical Heterogeneous Wireless Networks With Speed-Sensitive Call Admission Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Qian; Huang, Yue-Cai; Ko, King-Tim

2011-01-01

. This approach avoids unnecessary and frequent handoff between cells and reduces signaling overheads. An approximation model with guaranteed accuracy and low computational complexity is presented for the loss performance of multiservice traffic. The accuracy of numerical results is validated by comparing......A hierarchical overlay structure is an alternative solution that integrates existing and future heterogeneous wireless networks to provide subscribers with better mobile broadband services. Traffic loss performance in such integrated heterogeneous networks is necessary for an operator's network...

SIMS: addressing the problem of heterogeneity in databases

Science.gov (United States)

Arens, Yigal

1997-02-01

The heterogeneity of remotely accessible databases -- with respect to contents, query language, semantics, organization, etc. -- presents serious obstacles to convenient querying. The SIMS (single interface to multiple sources) system addresses this global integration problem. It does so by defining a single language for describing the domain about which information is stored in the databases and using this language as the query language. Each database to which SIMS is to provide access is modeled using this language. The model describes a database's contents, organization, and other relevant features. SIMS uses these models, together with a planning system drawing on techniques from artificial intelligence, to decompose a given user's high-level query into a series of queries against the databases and other data manipulation steps. The retrieval plan is constructed so as to minimize data movement over the network and maximize parallelism to increase execution speed. SIMS can recover from network failures during plan execution by obtaining data from alternate sources, when possible. SIMS has been demonstrated in the domains of medical informatics and logistics, using real databases.

Multiclass classification for skin cancer profiling based on the integration of heterogeneous gene expression series.

Science.gov (United States)

Gálvez, Juan Manuel; Castillo, Daniel; Herrera, Luis Javier; San Román, Belén; Valenzuela, Olga; Ortuño, Francisco Manuel; Rojas, Ignacio

2018-01-01

Most of the research studies developed applying microarray technology to the characterization of different pathological states of any disease may fail in reaching statistically significant results. This is largely due to the small repertoire of analysed samples, and to the limitation in the number of states or pathologies usually addressed. Moreover, the influence of potential deviations on the gene expression quantification is usually disregarded. In spite of the continuous changes in omic sciences, reflected for instance in the emergence of new Next-Generation Sequencing-related technologies, the existing availability of a vast amount of gene expression microarray datasets should be properly exploited. Therefore, this work proposes a novel methodological approach involving the integration of several heterogeneous skin cancer series, and a later multiclass classifier design. This approach is thus a way to provide the clinicians with an intelligent diagnosis support tool based on the use of a robust set of selected biomarkers, which simultaneously distinguishes among different cancer-related skin states. To achieve this, a multi-platform combination of microarray datasets from Affymetrix and Illumina manufacturers was carried out. This integration is expected to strengthen the statistical robustness of the study as well as the finding of highly-reliable skin cancer biomarkers. Specifically, the designed operation pipeline has allowed the identification of a small subset of 17 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from which to distinguish among 7 involved skin states. These genes were obtained from the assessment of a number of potential batch effects on the gene expression data. The biological interpretation of these genes was inspected in the specific literature to understand their underlying information in relation to skin cancer. Finally, in order to assess their possible effectiveness in cancer diagnosis, a cross-validation Support Vector Machines (SVM

INTEGRATING MULTIPLE CRITERIA EVALUATION AND GIS IN ECOTOURISM: A REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. H. Mohd

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The concept of 'Eco-tourism' is increasingly heard in recent decades. Ecotourism is one adventure that environmentally responsible intended to appreciate the nature experiences and cultures. Ecotourism should have low impact on environment and must contribute to the prosperity of local residents. This article reviews the use of Multiple Criteria Evaluation (MCE and Geographic Information System (GIS in ecotourism. Multiple criteria evaluation mostly used to land suitability analysis or fulfill specific objectives based on various attributes that exist in the selected area. To support the process of environmental decision making, the application of GIS is used to display and analysis the data through Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. Integration between MCE and GIS tool is important to determine the relative weight for the criteria used objectively. With the MCE method, it can resolve the conflict between recreation and conservation which is to minimize the environmental and human impact. Most studies evidences that the GIS-based AHP as a multi criteria evaluation is a strong and effective in tourism planning which can aid in the development of ecotourism industry effectively.

Integrating Multiple Criteria Evaluation and GIS in Ecotourism: a Review

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd, Z. H.; Ujang, U.

2016-09-01

The concept of 'Eco-tourism' is increasingly heard in recent decades. Ecotourism is one adventure that environmentally responsible intended to appreciate the nature experiences and cultures. Ecotourism should have low impact on environment and must contribute to the prosperity of local residents. This article reviews the use of Multiple Criteria Evaluation (MCE) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in ecotourism. Multiple criteria evaluation mostly used to land suitability analysis or fulfill specific objectives based on various attributes that exist in the selected area. To support the process of environmental decision making, the application of GIS is used to display and analysis the data through Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Integration between MCE and GIS tool is important to determine the relative weight for the criteria used objectively. With the MCE method, it can resolve the conflict between recreation and conservation which is to minimize the environmental and human impact. Most studies evidences that the GIS-based AHP as a multi criteria evaluation is a strong and effective in tourism planning which can aid in the development of ecotourism industry effectively.

Real-time simulation of contact and cutting of heterogeneous soft-tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Courtecuisse, Hadrien; Allard, Jérémie; Kerfriden, Pierre; Bordas, Stéphane P A; Cotin, Stéphane; Duriez, Christian

2014-02-01

This paper presents a numerical method for interactive (real-time) simulations, which considerably improves the accuracy of the response of heterogeneous soft-tissue models undergoing contact, cutting and other topological changes. We provide an integrated methodology able to deal both with the ill-conditioning issues associated with material heterogeneities, contact boundary conditions which are one of the main sources of inaccuracies, and cutting which is one of the most challenging issues in interactive simulations. Our approach is based on an implicit time integration of a non-linear finite element model. To enable real-time computations, we propose a new preconditioning technique, based on an asynchronous update at low frequency. The preconditioner is not only used to improve the computation of the deformation of the tissues, but also to simulate the contact response of homogeneous and heterogeneous bodies with the same accuracy. We also address the problem of cutting the heterogeneous structures and propose a method to update the preconditioner according to the topological modifications. Finally, we apply our approach to three challenging demonstrators: (i) a simulation of cataract surgery (ii) a simulation of laparoscopic hepatectomy (iii) a brain tumor surgery. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantification of the heterogeneity of prognostic cellular biomarkers in ewing sarcoma using automated image and random survival forest analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Bühnemann

Full Text Available Driven by genomic somatic variation, tumour tissues are typically heterogeneous, yet unbiased quantitative methods are rarely used to analyse heterogeneity at the protein level. Motivated by this problem, we developed automated image segmentation of images of multiple biomarkers in Ewing sarcoma to generate distributions of biomarkers between and within tumour cells. We further integrate high dimensional data with patient clinical outcomes utilising random survival forest (RSF machine learning. Using material from cohorts of genetically diagnosed Ewing sarcoma with EWSR1 chromosomal translocations, confocal images of tissue microarrays were segmented with level sets and watershed algorithms. Each cell nucleus and cytoplasm were identified in relation to DAPI and CD99, respectively, and protein biomarkers (e.g. Ki67, pS6, Foxo3a, EGR1, MAPK localised relative to nuclear and cytoplasmic regions of each cell in order to generate image feature distributions. The image distribution features were analysed with RSF in relation to known overall patient survival from three separate cohorts (185 informative cases. Variation in pre-analytical processing resulted in elimination of a high number of non-informative images that had poor DAPI localisation or biomarker preservation (67 cases, 36%. The distribution of image features for biomarkers in the remaining high quality material (118 cases, 104 features per case were analysed by RSF with feature selection, and performance assessed using internal cross-validation, rather than a separate validation cohort. A prognostic classifier for Ewing sarcoma with low cross-validation error rates (0.36 was comprised of multiple features, including the Ki67 proliferative marker and a sub-population of cells with low cytoplasmic/nuclear ratio of CD99. Through elimination of bias, the evaluation of high-dimensionality biomarker distribution within cell populations of a tumour using random forest analysis in quality

Quantification of the heterogeneity of prognostic cellular biomarkers in ewing sarcoma using automated image and random survival forest analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bühnemann, Claudia; Li, Simon; Yu, Haiyue; Branford White, Harriet; Schäfer, Karl L; Llombart-Bosch, Antonio; Machado, Isidro; Picci, Piero; Hogendoorn, Pancras C W; Athanasou, Nicholas A; Noble, J Alison; Hassan, A Bassim

2014-01-01

Driven by genomic somatic variation, tumour tissues are typically heterogeneous, yet unbiased quantitative methods are rarely used to analyse heterogeneity at the protein level. Motivated by this problem, we developed automated image segmentation of images of multiple biomarkers in Ewing sarcoma to generate distributions of biomarkers between and within tumour cells. We further integrate high dimensional data with patient clinical outcomes utilising random survival forest (RSF) machine learning. Using material from cohorts of genetically diagnosed Ewing sarcoma with EWSR1 chromosomal translocations, confocal images of tissue microarrays were segmented with level sets and watershed algorithms. Each cell nucleus and cytoplasm were identified in relation to DAPI and CD99, respectively, and protein biomarkers (e.g. Ki67, pS6, Foxo3a, EGR1, MAPK) localised relative to nuclear and cytoplasmic regions of each cell in order to generate image feature distributions. The image distribution features were analysed with RSF in relation to known overall patient survival from three separate cohorts (185 informative cases). Variation in pre-analytical processing resulted in elimination of a high number of non-informative images that had poor DAPI localisation or biomarker preservation (67 cases, 36%). The distribution of image features for biomarkers in the remaining high quality material (118 cases, 104 features per case) were analysed by RSF with feature selection, and performance assessed using internal cross-validation, rather than a separate validation cohort. A prognostic classifier for Ewing sarcoma with low cross-validation error rates (0.36) was comprised of multiple features, including the Ki67 proliferative marker and a sub-population of cells with low cytoplasmic/nuclear ratio of CD99. Through elimination of bias, the evaluation of high-dimensionality biomarker distribution within cell populations of a tumour using random forest analysis in quality controlled tumour

A Nonparametric, Multiple Imputation-Based Method for the Retrospective Integration of Data Sets

Science.gov (United States)

Carrig, Madeline M.; Manrique-Vallier, Daniel; Ranby, Krista W.; Reiter, Jerome P.; Hoyle, Rick H.

2015-01-01

Complex research questions often cannot be addressed adequately with a single data set. One sensible alternative to the high cost and effort associated with the creation of large new data sets is to combine existing data sets containing variables related to the constructs of interest. The goal of the present research was to develop a flexible, broadly applicable approach to the integration of disparate data sets that is based on nonparametric multiple imputation and the collection of data from a convenient, de novo calibration sample. We demonstrate proof of concept for the approach by integrating three existing data sets containing items related to the extent of problematic alcohol use and associations with deviant peers. We discuss both necessary conditions for the approach to work well and potential strengths and weaknesses of the method compared to other data set integration approaches. PMID:26257437

Genetic dissection of the Drosophila melanogaster female head transcriptome reveals widespread allelic heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Elizabeth G; Sanderson, Brian J; McNeil, Casey L; Long, Anthony D; Macdonald, Stuart J

2014-05-01

Modern genetic mapping is plagued by the "missing heritability" problem, which refers to the discordance between the estimated heritabilities of quantitative traits and the variance accounted for by mapped causative variants. One major potential explanation for the missing heritability is allelic heterogeneity, in which there are multiple causative variants at each causative gene with only a fraction having been identified. The majority of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) implicitly assume that a single SNP can explain all the variance for a causative locus. However, if allelic heterogeneity is prevalent, a substantial amount of genetic variance will remain unexplained. In this paper, we take a haplotype-based mapping approach and quantify the number of alleles segregating at each locus using a large set of 7922 eQTL contributing to regulatory variation in the Drosophila melanogaster female head. Not only does this study provide a comprehensive eQTL map for a major community genetic resource, the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource, but it also provides a direct test of the allelic heterogeneity hypothesis. We find that 95% of cis-eQTLs and 78% of trans-eQTLs are due to multiple alleles, demonstrating that allelic heterogeneity is widespread in Drosophila eQTL. Allelic heterogeneity likely contributes significantly to the missing heritability problem common in GWAS studies.

Constrained Active Learning for Anchor Link Prediction Across Multiple Heterogeneous Social Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Junxing; Zhang, Jiawei; Wu, Quanyuan; Jia, Yan; Zhou, Bin; Wei, Xiaokai; Yu, Philip S

2017-08-03

Nowadays, people are usually involved in multiple heterogeneous social networks simultaneously. Discovering the anchor links between the accounts owned by the same users across different social networks is crucial for many important inter-network applications, e.g., cross-network link transfer and cross-network recommendation. Many different supervised models have been proposed to predict anchor links so far, but they are effective only when the labeled anchor links are abundant. However, in real scenarios, such a requirement can hardly be met and most anchor links are unlabeled, since manually labeling the inter-network anchor links is quite costly and tedious. To overcome such a problem and utilize the numerous unlabeled anchor links in model building, in this paper, we introduce the active learning based anchor link prediction problem. Different from the traditional active learning problems, due to the one-to-one constraint on anchor links, if an unlabeled anchor link a = ( u , v ) is identified as positive (i.e., existing), all the other unlabeled anchor links incident to account u or account v will be negative (i.e., non-existing) automatically. Viewed in such a perspective, asking for the labels of potential positive anchor links in the unlabeled set will be rewarding in the active anchor link prediction problem. Various novel anchor link information gain measures are defined in this paper, based on which several constraint active anchor link prediction methods are introduced. Extensive experiments have been done on real-world social network datasets to compare the performance of these methods with state-of-art anchor link prediction methods. The experimental results show that the proposed Mean-entropy-based Constrained Active Learning (MC) method can outperform other methods with significant advantages.

Analysis of the Decoupled Access for Downlink and Uplink in Wireless Heterogeneous Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smiljkovikj, K.; Popovski, Petar; Gavrilovska, L.

2015-01-01

Wireless cellular networks evolve towards a heterogeneous infrastructure, featuring multiple types of Base Stations (BSs), such as Femto BSs (FBSs) and Macro BSs (MBSs). A wireless device observes multiple points (BSs) through which it can access the infrastructure and it may choose to receive th...

Multiple constant multiplication optimizations for field programmable gate arrays

CERN Document Server

Kumm, Martin

2016-01-01

This work covers field programmable gate array (FPGA)-specific optimizations of circuits computing the multiplication of a variable by several constants, commonly denoted as multiple constant multiplication (MCM). These optimizations focus on low resource usage but high performance. They comprise the use of fast carry-chains in adder-based constant multiplications including ternary (3-input) adders as well as the integration of look-up table-based constant multipliers and embedded multipliers to get the optimal mapping to modern FPGAs. The proposed methods can be used for the efficient implementation of digital filters, discrete transforms and many other circuits in the domain of digital signal processing, communication and image processing. Contents Heuristic and ILP-Based Optimal Solutions for the Pipelined Multiple Constant Multiplication Problem Methods to Integrate Embedded Multipliers, LUT-Based Constant Multipliers and Ternary (3-Input) Adders An Optimized Multiple Constant Multiplication Architecture ...

Quasi-linear score for capturing heterogeneous structure in biomarkers.

Science.gov (United States)

Omae, Katsuhiro; Komori, Osamu; Eguchi, Shinto

2017-06-19

Linear scores are widely used to predict dichotomous outcomes in biomedical studies because of their learnability and understandability. Such approaches, however, cannot be used to elucidate biodiversity when there is heterogeneous structure in target population. Our study was focused on describing intrinsic heterogeneity in predictions. Because heterogeneity can be captured by a clustering method, integrating different information from different clusters should yield better predictions. Accordingly, we developed a quasi-linear score, which effectively combines the linear scores of clustered markers. We extended the linear score to the quasi-linear score by a generalized average form, the Kolmogorov-Nagumo average. We observed that two shrinkage methods worked well: ridge shrinkage for estimating the quasi-linear score, and lasso shrinkage for selecting markers within each cluster. Simulation studies and applications to real data show that the proposed method has good predictive performance compared with existing methods. Heterogeneous structure is captured by a clustering method. Quasi-linear scores combine such heterogeneity and have a better predictive ability compared with linear scores.

Technology advancement for integrative stem cell analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Yoon; Choi, Jonghoon; Lee, Kwan Hyi

2014-12-01

Scientists have endeavored to use stem cells for a variety of applications ranging from basic science research to translational medicine. Population-based characterization of such stem cells, while providing an important foundation to further development, often disregard the heterogeneity inherent among individual constituents within a given population. The population-based analysis and characterization of stem cells and the problems associated with such a blanket approach only underscore the need for the development of new analytical technology. In this article, we review current stem cell analytical technologies, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each, followed by applications of these technologies in the field of stem cells. Furthermore, while recent advances in micro/nano technology have led to a growth in the stem cell analytical field, underlying architectural concepts allow only for a vertical analytical approach, in which different desirable parameters are obtained from multiple individual experiments and there are many technical challenges that limit vertically integrated analytical tools. Therefore, we propose--by introducing a concept of vertical and horizontal approach--that there is the need of adequate methods to the integration of information, such that multiple descriptive parameters from a stem cell can be obtained from a single experiment.

Multiscale integration of -omic, imaging, and clinical data in biomedical informatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Phan, John H; Quo, Chang F; Cheng, Chihwen; Wang, May Dongmei

2012-01-01

This paper reviews challenges and opportunities in multiscale data integration for biomedical informatics. Biomedical data can come from different biological origins, data acquisition technologies, and clinical applications. Integrating such data across multiple scales (e.g., molecular, cellular/tissue, and patient) can lead to more informed decisions for personalized, predictive, and preventive medicine. However, data heterogeneity, community standards in data acquisition, and computational complexity are big challenges for such decision making. This review describes genomic and proteomic (i.e., molecular), histopathological imaging (i.e., cellular/tissue), and clinical (i.e., patient) data; it includes case studies for single-scale (e.g., combining genomic or histopathological image data), multiscale (e.g., combining histopathological image and clinical data), and multiscale and multiplatform (e.g., the Human Protein Atlas and The Cancer Genome Atlas) data integration. Numerous opportunities exist in biomedical informatics research focusing on integration of multiscale and multiplatform data.

Emerging understanding of multiscale tumor heterogeneity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J Gerdes

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Cancer is a multifaceted disease characterized by heterogeneous genetic alterations and cellular metabolism, at the organ, tissue, and cellular level. Key features of cancer heterogeneity are summarized by ten acquired capabilities, which govern malignant transformation and progression of invasive tumors. The relative contribution of these hallmark features to the disease process varies between cancers. At the DNA and cellular level, germ-line and somatic gene mutations are found across all cancer types, causing abnormal protein production, cell behavior, and growth. The tumor microenvironment and its individual components (immune cells, fibroblasts, collagen, and blood vessels can also facilitate or restrict tumor growth and metastasis. Oncology research is currently in the midst of a tremendous surge of comprehension of these disease mechanisms. This will lead not only to novel drug targets, but also to new challenges in drug discovery. Integrated, multi-omic, multiplexed technologies are essential tools in the quest to understand all of the various cellular changes involved in tumorigenesis. This review examines features of cancer heterogeneity and discusses how multiplexed technologies can facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of these features.

Activity-Centred Tool Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Klaus Marius

2003-01-01

This paper is concerned with integration of heterogeneous tools for system development. We argue that such tools should support concrete activities (e.g., programming, unit testing, conducting workshops) in contrast to abstract concerns (e.g., analysis, design, implementation). A consequence of t...... of this is that tools — or components —that support activities well should be integrated in ad-hoc, dynamic, and heterogeneous ways. We present a peer-to-peer architecture for this based on type-based publish subscribe and give an example of its use....

Overview of medium heterogeneity and transport processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsang, Y.; Tsang, C.F.

1993-11-01

Medium heterogeneity can have significant impact on the behavior of solute transport. Tracer breakthrough curves from transport in a heterogeneous medium are distinctly different from that in a homogeneous porous medium. Usually the shape of the breakthrough curves are highly non-symmetrical with a fast rise at early times and very long tail at late times, and often, they consist of multiple peaks. Moreover, unlike transport in a homogeneous medium where the same transport parameters describe the entire medium, transport through heterogeneous media gives rise to breakthrough curves which have strong spatial dependence. These inherent characteristics of transport in heterogeneous medium present special challenge to the performance assessment of a potential high level nuclear waste repository with respect to the possible release of radio nuclides to the accessible environment. Since an inherently desirable site characteristic for a waste repository is that flow and transport should be slow, then transport measurements in site characterization efforts will necessarily be spatially small and temporally short compare to the scales which are of relevance to performance assessment predictions. In this paper we discuss the role of medium heterogeneity in site characterization and performance assessment. Our discussion will be based on a specific example of a 3D heterogeneous stochastic model of a site generally similar to, the Aespoe Island, the site of the Hard Rock Laboratory in Southern Sweden. For our study, alternative 3D stochastic fields of hydraulic conductivities conditioned on ''point'' measurements shall be generated. Results of stochastic flow and transport simulations would be used to address the issues of (1) the relationship of tracer breakthrough with the structure of heterogeneity, and (2) the inference from small scale testing results to large scale and long term predictions

A Multianalyzer Machine Learning Model for Marine Heterogeneous Data Schema Mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Wang; Jiajin, Le; Yun, Zhang

2014-01-01

The main challenges that marine heterogeneous data integration faces are the problem of accurate schema mapping between heterogeneous data sources. In order to improve the schema mapping efficiency and get more accurate learning results, this paper proposes a heterogeneous data schema mapping method basing on multianalyzer machine learning model. The multianalyzer analysis the learning results comprehensively, and a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation system is introduced for output results' evaluation and multi factor quantitative judging. Finally, the data mapping comparison experiment on the East China Sea observing data confirms the effectiveness of the model and shows multianalyzer's obvious improvement of mapping error rate. PMID:25250372

BiologicalNetworks 2.0 - an integrative view of genome biology data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ponomarenko Julia

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A significant problem in the study of mechanisms of an organism's development is the elucidation of interrelated factors which are making an impact on the different levels of the organism, such as genes, biological molecules, cells, and cell systems. Numerous sources of heterogeneous data which exist for these subsystems are still not integrated sufficiently enough to give researchers a straightforward opportunity to analyze them together in the same frame of study. Systematic application of data integration methods is also hampered by a multitude of such factors as the orthogonal nature of the integrated data and naming problems. Results Here we report on a new version of BiologicalNetworks, a research environment for the integral visualization and analysis of heterogeneous biological data. BiologicalNetworks can be queried for properties of thousands of different types of biological entities (genes/proteins, promoters, COGs, pathways, binding sites, and other and their relations (interactions, co-expression, co-citations, and other. The system includes the build-pathways infrastructure for molecular interactions/relations and module discovery in high-throughput experiments. Also implemented in BiologicalNetworks are the Integrated Genome Viewer and Comparative Genomics Browser applications, which allow for the search and analysis of gene regulatory regions and their conservation in multiple species in conjunction with molecular pathways/networks, experimental data and functional annotations. Conclusions The new release of BiologicalNetworks together with its back-end database introduces extensive functionality for a more efficient integrated multi-level analysis of microarray, sequence, regulatory, and other data. BiologicalNetworks is freely available at http://www.biologicalnetworks.org.

Converting homogeneous to heterogeneous in electrophilic catalysis using monodisperse metal nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Witham, Cole A; Huang, Wenyu; Tsung, Chia-Kuang; Kuhn, John N; Somorjai, Gabor A; Toste, F Dean

2010-01-01

A continuing goal in catalysis is to unite the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic processes. To this end, nanoparticles represent a new frontier in heterogeneous catalysis, where this unification can also be supplemented by the ability to obtain new or divergent reactivity and selectivity. We report a novel method for applying heterogeneous catalysts to known homogeneous catalytic reactions through the design and synthesis of electrophilic platinum nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are selectively oxidized by the hypervalent iodine species PhICl(2), and catalyse a range of π-bond activation reactions previously only catalysed through homogeneous processes. Multiple experimental methods are used to unambiguously verify the heterogeneity of the catalytic process. The discovery of treatments for nanoparticles that induce the desired homogeneous catalytic activity should lead to the further development of reactions previously inaccessible in heterogeneous catalysis. Furthermore, a size and capping agent study revealed that Pt PAMAM dendrimer-capped nanoparticles demonstrate superior activity and recyclability compared with larger, polymer-capped analogues.

Emergent dynamics of spatio-temporal chaos in a heterogeneous excitable medium.

Science.gov (United States)

Bittihn, Philip; Berg, Sebastian; Parlitz, Ulrich; Luther, Stefan

2017-09-01

Self-organized activation patterns in excitable media such as spiral waves and spatio-temporal chaos underlie dangerous cardiac arrhythmias. While the interaction of single spiral waves with different types of heterogeneity has been studied extensively, the effect of heterogeneity on fully developed spatio-temporal chaos remains poorly understood. We investigate how the complexity and stability properties of spatio-temporal chaos in the Bär-Eiswirth model of excitable media depend on the heterogeneity of the underlying medium. We employ different measures characterizing the chaoticity of the system and find that the spatial arrangement of multiple discrete lower excitability regions has a strong impact on the complexity of the dynamics. Varying the number, shape, and spatial arrangement of the heterogeneities, we observe strong emergent effects ranging from increases in chaoticity to the complete cessation of chaos, contrasting the expectation from the homogeneous behavior. The implications of our findings for the development and treatment of arrhythmias in the heterogeneous cardiac muscle are discussed.

Converting Homogeneous to Heterogeneous in Electrophilic Catalysis using Monodisperse Metal Nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Witham, Cole A.; Huang, Wenyu; Tsung, Chia-Kuang; Kuhn, John N.; Somorjai, Gabor A.; Toste, F. Dean

2009-10-15

A continuing goal in catalysis is the transformation of processes from homogeneous to heterogeneous. To this end, nanoparticles represent a new frontier in heterogeneous catalysis, where this conversion is supplemented by the ability to obtain new or divergent reactivity and selectivity. We report a novel method for applying heterogeneous catalysts to known homogeneous catalytic reactions through the design and synthesis of electrophilic platinum nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are selectively oxidized by the hypervalent iodine species PhICl{sub 2}, and catalyze a range of {pi}-bond activation reactions previously only homogeneously catalyzed. Multiple experimental methods are utilized to unambiguously verify the heterogeneity of the catalytic process. The discovery of treatments for nanoparticles that induce the desired homogeneous catalytic activity should lead to the further development of reactions previously inaccessible in heterogeneous catalysis. Furthermore, our size and capping agent study revealed that Pt PAMAM dendrimer-capped nanoparticles demonstrate superior activity and recyclability compared to larger, polymer-capped analogues.

A multiple index integrating different levels of organization.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortes, Rui; Hughes, Samantha; Coimbra, Ana; Monteiro, Sandra; Pereira, Vítor; Lopes, Marisa; Pereira, Sandra; Pinto, Ana; Sampaio, Ana; Santos, Cátia; Carrola, João; de Jesus, Joaquim; Varandas, Simone

2016-10-01

Many methods in freshwater biomonitoring tend to be restricted to a few levels of biological organization, limiting the potential spectrum of measurable of cause-effect responses to different anthropogenic impacts. We combined distinct organisational levels, covering biological biomarkers (histopathological and biochemical reactions in liver and fish gills), community based bioindicators (fish guilds, invertebrate metrics/traits and chironomid pupal exuviae) and ecosystem functional indicators (decomposition rates) to assess ecological status at designated Water Framework Directive monitoring sites, covering a gradient of human impact across several rivers in northern Portugal. We used Random Forest to rank the variables that contributed more significantly to successfully predict the different classes of ecological status and also to provide specific cut levels to discriminate each WFD class based on reference condition. A total of 59 Biological Quality Elements and functional indicators were determined using this procedure and subsequently applied to develop the integrated Multiple Ecological Level Index (MELI Index), a potentially powerful bioassessment tool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intratumor heterogeneity alters most effective drugs in designed combinations.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Boyang; Hemann, Michael T; Lauffenburger, Douglas A

2014-07-22

The substantial spatial and temporal heterogeneity observed in patient tumors poses considerable challenges for the design of effective drug combinations with predictable outcomes. Currently, the implications of tissue heterogeneity and sampling bias during diagnosis are unclear for selection and subsequent performance of potential combination therapies. Here, we apply a multiobjective computational optimization approach integrated with empirical information on efficacy and toxicity for individual drugs with respect to a spectrum of genetic perturbations, enabling derivation of optimal drug combinations for heterogeneous tumors comprising distributions of subpopulations possessing these perturbations. Analysis across probabilistic samplings from the spectrum of various possible distributions reveals that the most beneficial (considering both efficacy and toxicity) set of drugs changes as the complexity of genetic heterogeneity increases. Importantly, a significant likelihood arises that a drug selected as the most beneficial single agent with respect to the predominant subpopulation in fact does not reside within the most broadly useful drug combinations for heterogeneous tumors. The underlying explanation appears to be that heterogeneity essentially homogenizes the benefit of drug combinations, reducing the special advantage of a particular drug on a specific subpopulation. Thus, this study underscores the importance of considering heterogeneity in choosing drug combinations and offers a principled approach toward designing the most likely beneficial set, even if the subpopulation distribution is not precisely known.

Development of a multiple-gene-loading method by combining multi-integration system-equipped mouse artificial chromosome vector and CRISPR-Cas9.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazuhisa Honma

Full Text Available Mouse artificial chromosome (MAC vectors have several advantages as gene delivery vectors, such as stable and independent maintenance in host cells without integration, transferability from donor cells to recipient cells via microcell-mediated chromosome transfer (MMCT, and the potential for loading a megabase-sized DNA fragment. Previously, a MAC containing a multi-integrase platform (MI-MAC was developed to facilitate the transfer of multiple genes into desired cells. Although the MI system can theoretically hold five gene-loading vectors (GLVs, there are a limited number of drugs available for the selection of multiple-GLV integration. To overcome this issue, we attempted to knock out and reuse drug resistance genes (DRGs using the CRISPR-Cas9 system. In this study, we developed new methods for multiple-GLV integration. As a proof of concept, we introduced five GLVs in the MI-MAC by these methods, in which each GLV contained a gene encoding a fluorescent or luminescent protein (EGFP, mCherry, BFP, Eluc, and Cluc. Genes of interest (GOI on the MI-MAC were expressed stably and functionally without silencing in the host cells. Furthermore, the MI-MAC carrying five GLVs was transferred to other cells by MMCT, and the resultant recipient cells exhibited all five fluorescence/luminescence signals. Thus, the MI-MAC was successfully used as a multiple-GLV integration vector using the CRISPR-Cas9 system. The MI-MAC employing these methods may resolve bottlenecks in developing multiple-gene humanized models, multiple-gene monitoring models, disease models, reprogramming, and inducible gene expression systems.

Surface current double-heterogeneous multilayer multicell methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stepanek, J.; Segev, M.

1991-01-01

A surface current methodology is developed to respond to the need for treating the various levels of material heterogeneity in a double-heterogeneous multilayer multicell in processing neutron multigroup cross sections in the resonance as well as thermal energy range. First, the basic surface cosine current transport equations to calculate the energy-dependent neutron flux spatial distribution in the multilayered multicell are formulated. Slab, spherical and cylindrical geometries, as well as square and hexagonal lattices and pebble-bed configurations with white or reflective cell boundary conditions, are considered. Second, starting from the surface cosine-current formulation, a two-zone three-layer multicell formalism for reduction of heterogeneous flux expressions to equivalent homogeneous flux expression for table method was developed. This formalism allows an infinite, as well as a limited, number of second-heterogeneity cells within a partial first-heterogeneity cell layer to be considered. Also, the number of the first-and second-heterogeneity cell types is quite general. The 'outer' (right side) as well as 'inner' (left side) Dancoff probabilities can be calculated for any particular layer. An accurate, efficient, and compact interpolation procedure is developed to calculate the basic collision probabilities. These are transmission and escape probabilities for shells in slab, cylindrical, and spherical geometries, as well as Dancoff probabilities for cylinders in square and hexagonal lattices. The use of the interpolation procedure is exemplified in a multilayer multicell approximation for the Dancoff probability, enabling a routine evaluation of the equivalence-based shielded resonance integral in highly complex lattices of slab, cylindrical, or spherical cells. (author) 1 fig., 2 tabs., 10 refs

PopHR: a knowledge-based platform to support integration, analysis, and visualization of population health data.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaban-Nejad, Arash; Lavigne, Maxime; Okhmatovskaia, Anya; Buckeridge, David L

2017-01-01

Population health decision makers must consider complex relationships between multiple concepts measured with differential accuracy from heterogeneous data sources. Population health information systems are currently limited in their ability to integrate data and present a coherent portrait of population health. Consequentially, these systems can provide only basic support for decision makers. The Population Health Record (PopHR) is a semantic web application that automates the integration and extraction of massive amounts of heterogeneous data from multiple distributed sources (e.g., administrative data, clinical records, and survey responses) to support the measurement and monitoring of population health and health system performance for a defined population. The design of the PopHR draws on the theories of the determinants of health and evidence-based public health to harmonize and explicitly link information about a population with evidence about the epidemiology and control of chronic diseases. Organizing information in this manner and linking it explicitly to evidence is expected to improve decision making related to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of population health and health system interventions. In this paper, we describe the PopHR platform and discuss the architecture, design, key modules, and its implementation and use. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

Mining Heterogeneous Information Networks by Exploring the Power of Links

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jiawei

Knowledge is power but for interrelated data, knowledge is often hidden in massive links in heterogeneous information networks. We explore the power of links at mining heterogeneous information networks with several interesting tasks, including link-based object distinction, veracity analysis, multidimensional online analytical processing of heterogeneous information networks, and rank-based clustering. Some recent results of our research that explore the crucial information hidden in links will be introduced, including (1) Distinct for object distinction analysis, (2) TruthFinder for veracity analysis, (3) Infonet-OLAP for online analytical processing of information networks, and (4) RankClus for integrated ranking-based clustering. We also discuss some of our on-going studies in this direction.

Establishing multiple omics baselines for three Southeast Asian populations in the Singapore Integrative Omics Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Saw, Woei-Yuh; Tantoso, Erwin; Begum, Husna; Zhou, Lihan; Zou, Ruiyang; He, Cheng; Chan, Sze Ling; Tan, Linda Wei-Lin; Wong, Lai-Ping; Xu, Wenting; Moong, Don Kyin Nwe; Lim, Yenly; Li, Bowen; Pillai, Nisha Esakimuthu; Peterson, Trevor A; Bielawny, Tomasz; Meikle, Peter J; Mundra, Piyushkumar A; Lim, Wei-Yen; Luo, Ma; Chia, Kee-Seng; Ong, Rick Twee-Hee; Brunham, Liam R; Khor, Chiea-Chuen; Too, Heng Phon; Soong, Richie; Wenk, Markus R; Little, Peter; Teo, Yik-Ying

2017-09-21

The Singapore Integrative Omics Study provides valuable insights on establishing population reference measurement in 364 Chinese, Malay, and Indian individuals. These measurements include > 2.5 millions genetic variants, 21,649 transcripts expression, 282 lipid species quantification, and 284 clinical, lifestyle, and dietary variables. This concept paper introduces the depth of the data resource, and investigates the extent of ethnic variation at these omics and non-omics biomarkers. It is evident that there are specific biomarkers in each of these platforms to differentiate between the ethnicities, and intra-population analyses suggest that Chinese and Indians are the most biologically homogeneous and heterogeneous, respectively, of the three groups. Consistent patterns of correlations between lipid species also suggest the possibility of lipid tagging to simplify future lipidomics assays. The Singapore Integrative Omics Study is expected to allow the characterization of intra-omic and inter-omic correlations within and across all three ethnic groups through a systems biology approach.The Singapore Genome Variation projects characterized the genetics of Singapore's Chinese, Malay, and Indian populations. The Singapore Integrative Omics Study introduced here goes further in providing multi-omic measurements in individuals from these populations, including genetic, transcriptome, lipidome, and lifestyle data, and will facilitate the study of common diseases in Asian communities.

Managing multimorbidity: profiles of integrated care approaches targeting people with multiple chronic conditions in Europe.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijken, M.; Hujala, A.; Ginneken, E. van; Melchiorre, M.G.; Groenewegen, P.; Schellevis, F.

2018-01-01

In response to the growing populations of people with multiple chronic diseases, new models of care are currently being developed in European countries to better meet the needs of these people. This paper aims to describe the occurrence and characteristics of various types of integrated care

Towards Integration of Biological and Physiological Functions at Multiple Levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taishin eNomura

2010-12-01

Full Text Available An aim of systems physiology today can be stated as to establish logical and quantitative bridges between phenomenological attributes of physiological entities such as cells and organs and physical attributes of biological entities, i.e., biological molecules, allowing us to describe and better understand physiological functions in terms of underlying biological functions. This article illustrates possible schema that can be used for promoting systems physiology by integrating quantitative knowledge of biological and physiological functions at multiple levels of time and space with the use of information technology infrastructure. Emphasis will be made for systematic, modular, hierarchical, and standardized descriptions of mathematical models of the functions and advantages for the use of them.

Study of the asymptotic expansion of multiple integrals in mathematical physics; Etudes sur les developpements asymptotiques des integrales multiples de la physique mathematique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chako, N [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1968-07-01

We have applied the method of stationary phase to evaluate double and multiple integrals of the type: (A) U(k) = g(x)e{sup ik{phi}}{sup (x)} d(x), (x)=(x{sub 1},..., x{sub n}) for large values of the parameter k. In the first part we have established in a rigorous manner the stationary phase method to double and multiple integrals of type (A). Furthermore we have obtained an asymptotic expansion of (A), if the amplitude and phase functions can be developed in a canonical form near the vicinity of critical or stationary points of the integral. This development contains as particular cases all those which are important in physical applications, especially, to diffraction and scattering of electromagnetic and corpuscular waves by optical systems, diffracting bodies and potential scatterers. In the second part we have considered the problem of convergence of the expansion of the principal contribution to the integral in the asymptotic sense of Poincare. The proof is based on the increasing method used in mathematical analysis. The third part is devoted to the derivation of various asymptotic series due to different types of critical or stationary points associated with the amplitude and phase functions. In the fourth part we have generalized the method to multiple integrals and to the case where the parameter k enter implicitly in the phase function The latter type of integrals extend the scope of the former type to a number of important physical problems; for instance, to the propagation of waves in dispersive and absorbing media. In the last chapter we have made a study and compared the results obtained by the application of the stationary phase method to the integrals (double) of diffraction and the results derived by using the Young-Rubinowicz method. Result of our analysis shows the equivalence of the two methods of approach to the problems of diffraction based, on one hand, on the Fresnel-Kirchhoff theory and, on the other hand, the Young-Rubinowicz theory

Genetic dissection of the Drosophila melanogaster female head transcriptome reveals widespread allelic heterogeneity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth G King

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Modern genetic mapping is plagued by the "missing heritability" problem, which refers to the discordance between the estimated heritabilities of quantitative traits and the variance accounted for by mapped causative variants. One major potential explanation for the missing heritability is allelic heterogeneity, in which there are multiple causative variants at each causative gene with only a fraction having been identified. The majority of genome-wide association studies (GWAS implicitly assume that a single SNP can explain all the variance for a causative locus. However, if allelic heterogeneity is prevalent, a substantial amount of genetic variance will remain unexplained. In this paper, we take a haplotype-based mapping approach and quantify the number of alleles segregating at each locus using a large set of 7922 eQTL contributing to regulatory variation in the Drosophila melanogaster female head. Not only does this study provide a comprehensive eQTL map for a major community genetic resource, the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource, but it also provides a direct test of the allelic heterogeneity hypothesis. We find that 95% of cis-eQTLs and 78% of trans-eQTLs are due to multiple alleles, demonstrating that allelic heterogeneity is widespread in Drosophila eQTL. Allelic heterogeneity likely contributes significantly to the missing heritability problem common in GWAS studies.

A review on machine learning principles for multi-view biological data integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yifeng; Wu, Fang-Xiang; Ngom, Alioune

2018-03-01

Driven by high-throughput sequencing techniques, modern genomic and clinical studies are in a strong need of integrative machine learning models for better use of vast volumes of heterogeneous information in the deep understanding of biological systems and the development of predictive models. How data from multiple sources (called multi-view data) are incorporated in a learning system is a key step for successful analysis. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review on omics and clinical data integration techniques, from a machine learning perspective, for various analyses such as prediction, clustering, dimension reduction and association. We shall show that Bayesian models are able to use prior information and model measurements with various distributions; tree-based methods can either build a tree with all features or collectively make a final decision based on trees learned from each view; kernel methods fuse the similarity matrices learned from individual views together for a final similarity matrix or learning model; network-based fusion methods are capable of inferring direct and indirect associations in a heterogeneous network; matrix factorization models have potential to learn interactions among features from different views; and a range of deep neural networks can be integrated in multi-modal learning for capturing the complex mechanism of biological systems.

Integrated Solar-Energy-Harvesting and -Storage Device

Science.gov (United States)

whitacre, Jay; Fleurial, Jean-Pierre; Mojarradi, Mohammed; Johnson, Travis; Ryan, Margaret Amy; Bugga, Ratnakumar; West, William; Surampudi, Subbarao; Blosiu, Julian

2004-01-01

A modular, integrated, completely solid-state system designed to harvest and store solar energy is under development. Called the power tile, the hybrid device consists of a photovoltaic cell, a battery, a thermoelectric device, and a charge-control circuit that are heterogeneously integrated to maximize specific energy capacity and efficiency. Power tiles could be used in a variety of space and terrestrial environments and would be designed to function with maximum efficiency in the presence of anticipated temperatures, temperature gradients, and cycles of sunlight and shadow. Because they are modular in nature, one could use a single power tile or could construct an array of as many tiles as needed. If multiple tiles are used in an array, the distributed and redundant nature of the charge control and distribution hardware provides an extremely fault-tolerant system. The figure presents a schematic view of the device.

Heterogeneous MEMS device assembly and integration

Science.gov (United States)

Topart, Patrice; Picard, Francis; Ilias, Samir; Alain, Christine; Chevalier, Claude; Fisette, Bruno; Paultre, Jacques E.; Généreux, Francis; Legros, Mathieu; Lepage, Jean-François; Laverdière, Christian; Ngo Phong, Linh; Caron, Jean-Sol; Desroches, Yan

2014-03-01

In recent years, smart phone applications have both raised the pressure for cost and time to market reduction, and the need for high performance MEMS devices. This trend has led the MEMS community to develop multi-die packaging of different functionalities or multi-technology (i.e. wafer) approaches to fabricate and assemble devices respectively. This paper reports on the fabrication, assembly and packaging at INO of various MEMS devices using heterogeneous assembly at chip and package-level. First, the performance of a giant (e.g. about 3 mm in diameter), electrostatically actuated beam steering mirror is presented. It can be rotated about two perpendicular axes to steer an optical beam within an angular cone of up to 60° in vector scan mode with an angular resolution of 1 mrad and a response time of 300 ms. To achieve such angular performance relative to mirror size, the microassembly was performed from sub-components fabricated from 4 different wafers. To combine infrared detection with inertial sensing, an electroplated proof mass was flip-chipped onto a 256×1 pixel uncooled bolometric FPA and released using laser ablation. In addition to the microassembly technology, performance results of packaged devices are presented. Finally, to simulate a 3072×3 pixel uncooled detector for cloud and fire imaging in mid and long-wave IR, the staggered assembly of six 512×3 pixel FPAs with a less than 50 micron pixel co-registration is reported.

Programming signal processing applications on heterogeneous wireless sensor platforms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buondonno, L.; Fortino, G.; Galzarano, S.; Giannantonio, R.; Giordano, A.; Gravina, R.; Guerrieri, A.

2009-01-01

This paper proposes the SPINE frameworks (SPINE1.x and SPINE2) for the programming of signal processing applications on heterogeneous wireless sensor platforms. In particular, two integrable approaches based on the proposed frameworks are described that allow to develop applications for wireless

Generic, network schema agnostic sparse tensor factorization for single-pass clustering of heterogeneous information networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jibing; Meng, Qinggang; Deng, Su; Huang, Hongbin; Wu, Yahui; Badii, Atta

2017-01-01

Heterogeneous information networks (e.g. bibliographic networks and social media networks) that consist of multiple interconnected objects are ubiquitous. Clustering analysis is an effective method to understand the semantic information and interpretable structure of the heterogeneous information networks, and it has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. However, most studies assume that heterogeneous information networks usually follow some simple schemas, such as bi-typed networks or star network schema, and they can only cluster one type of object in the network each time. In this paper, a novel clustering framework is proposed based on sparse tensor factorization for heterogeneous information networks, which can cluster multiple types of objects simultaneously in a single pass without any network schema information. The types of objects and the relations between them in the heterogeneous information networks are modeled as a sparse tensor. The clustering issue is modeled as an optimization problem, which is similar to the well-known Tucker decomposition. Then, an Alternating Least Squares (ALS) algorithm and a feasible initialization method are proposed to solve the optimization problem. Based on the tensor factorization, we simultaneously partition different types of objects into different clusters. The experimental results on both synthetic and real-world datasets have demonstrated that our proposed clustering framework, STFClus, can model heterogeneous information networks efficiently and can outperform state-of-the-art clustering algorithms as a generally applicable single-pass clustering method for heterogeneous network which is network schema agnostic.

Heterogeneous Optimization Framework: Reproducible Preprocessing of Multi-Spectral Clinical MRI for Neuro-Oncology Imaging Research

OpenAIRE

Milchenko, Mikhail; Snyder, Abraham Z.; LaMontagne, Pamela; Shimony, Joshua S; Benzinger, Tammie L.; Fouke, Sarah Jost; Marcus, Daniel S.

2016-01-01

Neuroimaging research often relies on clinically acquired magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets that can originate from multiple institutions. Such datasets are characterized by high heterogeneity of modalities and variability of sequence parameters. This heterogeneity complicates the automation of image processing tasks such as spatial co-registration and physiological or functional image analysis.

A Multianalyzer Machine Learning Model for Marine Heterogeneous Data Schema Mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Yan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The main challenges that marine heterogeneous data integration faces are the problem of accurate schema mapping between heterogeneous data sources. In order to improve the schema mapping efficiency and get more accurate learning results, this paper proposes a heterogeneous data schema mapping method basing on multianalyzer machine learning model. The multianalyzer analysis the learning results comprehensively, and a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation system is introduced for output results’ evaluation and multi factor quantitative judging. Finally, the data mapping comparison experiment on the East China Sea observing data confirms the effectiveness of the model and shows multianalyzer’s obvious improvement of mapping error rate.

Heterogeneity and contaminant transport modeling for the Savannah River integrated demonstration site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chesnut, D.A.

1992-11-01

The effectiveness of remediating aquifers and vadose zone sediments is frequently controlled by spatial heterogeneities. A continuing and long-recognized problem in selecting, planning, implementing, and operating remediation projects is the development of methods for quantitatively describing heterogeneity and predicting its effects on process performance. The similarity to and differences from modeling oil recovery processes in the petroleum industry are illustrated by the extension to contaminant extraction processes of an analytic model originally developed for waterflooding petroleum reservoirs. The resulting equations incorporate the effects of heterogeneity through a single parameter, σ. Fitting this model to the Savannah River in situ Air Stripping test data suggests that the injection of air into a horizontal well below the water table may have improved performance by changing the flow pattern in the vadose zone. This change increased the capture volume, and consequently the contaminant mass inventory, of the horizontal injection well completed in the vadose zone. The apparent increases (compared to extraction only from the horizontal well) are from 10,200 to 21,000 pounds for TCE and from 3,600 pounds to 59,800 pounds for PCE. The predominance of PCE in this calculated increase suggests that redistribution of flow paths in the vadose zone, rather than in-situ stripping, may provide most of the improvement. Although this preliminary conclusion remains to be reinforced by more sophisticated modeling currently in progress, there appears to be a definite improvement, which is attributable to air injection, over conventional remediation methods

Does heterogeneity of pimonidazole labelling correspond to the heterogeneity of radiation-response of FaDu human squamous cell carcinoma?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yaromina, Ala; Hoelscher, Tobias; Eicheler, Wolfgang; Rosner, Andrea; Krause, Mechthild; Hessel, Franziska; Petersen, Cordula; Thames, Howard D.; Baumann, Michael; Zips, Daniel

2005-01-01

Background and purpose: Pimonidazole is a marker for hypoxic cells which are radioresistant and thereby important for the outcome of radiotherapy. The present study evaluates heterogeneity in pimonidazole binding within and between tumours and relates the results to the heterogeneity of radiation response in the same tumour cell line. Materials and methods: FaDu, a poorly differentiated human squamous cell carcinoma line, was transplanted subcutaneously into the right hind-leg of NMRI nude mice. Tumours were irradiated with graded single doses either under ambient or clamped blood flow conditions and local tumour control was evaluated after 120 days. Complete dose-response curves for local tumour control were generated and the slope, a measure of heterogeneity of radiation response, was determined. In parallel, 12 unirradiated tumours were examined histologically. Seven serial 10 μm cross-sections per tumour were evaluated using fluorescence microscopy and computerised image analysis to determine the pimonidazole hypoxic fraction (pHF). Heterogeneity in pHF was quantified by its coefficient of variation (CV). Poisson-based model calculations considering the intertumoural heterogeneity of pHF were performed and the slopes of the predicted and the observed dose-response curves were compared. Results: The mean pHF was 11% [CV 50%] when one central section per tumour was evaluated. Measurements of multiple sections per tumour resulted in a mean pHF of 12% [CV 46%] (P=0.7). Intertumoural heterogeneity in pHF was more pronounced than heterogeneity in individual tumours by a factor of 2. Model calculations based on the variability in pHF resulted in similar slopes of the dose-response curve for local tumour control in comparison with the observed slope when the heterogeneity in an unknown and arbitrarily chosen additional radiobiologically relevant parameter, in this example clonogen density, was taken into account. Conclusions: While the average pimonidazole hypoxic

Integrated conservation planning for coral reefs: Designing conservation zones for multiple conservation objectives in spatial prioritisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael A. Magris

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Decision-makers focus on representing biodiversity pattern, maintaining connectivity, and strengthening resilience to global warming when designing marine protected area (MPA systems, especially in coral reef ecosystems. The achievement of these broad conservation objectives will likely require large areas, and stretch limited funds for MPA implementation. We undertook a spatial prioritisation of Brazilian coral reefs that considered two types of conservation zones (i.e. no-take and multiple use areas and integrated multiple conservation objectives into MPA planning, while assessing the potential impact of different sets of objectives on implementation costs. We devised objectives for biodiversity, connectivity, and resilience to global warming, determined the extent to which existing MPAs achieved them, and designed complementary zoning to achieve all objectives combined in expanded MPA systems. In doing so, we explored interactions between different sets of objectives, determined whether refinements to the existing spatial arrangement of MPAs were necessary, and tested the utility of existing MPAs by comparing their cost effectiveness with an MPA system designed from scratch. We found that MPAs in Brazil protect some aspects of coral reef biodiversity pattern (e.g. threatened fauna and ecosystem types more effectively than connectivity or resilience to global warming. Expanding the existing MPA system was as cost-effective as designing one from scratch only when multiple objectives were considered and management costs were accounted for. Our approach provides a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of integrating multiple objectives in the initial stages of conservation planning, and yields insights for planners of MPAs tackling multiple objectives in other regions.

Scalable and massively parallel Monte Carlo photon transport simulations for heterogeneous computing platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Leiming; Nina-Paravecino, Fanny; Kaeli, David; Fang, Qianqian

2018-01-01

We present a highly scalable Monte Carlo (MC) three-dimensional photon transport simulation platform designed for heterogeneous computing systems. Through the development of a massively parallel MC algorithm using the Open Computing Language framework, this research extends our existing graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated MC technique to a highly scalable vendor-independent heterogeneous computing environment, achieving significantly improved performance and software portability. A number of parallel computing techniques are investigated to achieve portable performance over a wide range of computing hardware. Furthermore, multiple thread-level and device-level load-balancing strategies are developed to obtain efficient simulations using multiple central processing units and GPUs. (2018) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

ADvanced IMage Algebra (ADIMA): a novel method for depicting multiple sclerosis lesion heterogeneity, as demonstrated by quantitative MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Yiannakas, Marios C; Tozer, Daniel J; Schmierer, Klaus; Chard, Declan T; Anderson, Valerie M; Altmann, Daniel R; Miller, David H; Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia A M

2013-05-01

There are modest correlations between multiple sclerosis (MS) disability and white matter lesion (WML) volumes, as measured by T2-weighted (T2w) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (T2-WML). This may partly reflect pathological heterogeneity in WMLs, which is not apparent on T2w scans. To determine if ADvanced IMage Algebra (ADIMA), a novel MRI post-processing method, can reveal WML heterogeneity from proton-density weighted (PDw) and T2w images. We obtained conventional PDw and T2w images from 10 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and ADIMA images were calculated from these. We classified all WML into bright (ADIMA-b) and dark (ADIMA-d) sub-regions, which were segmented. We obtained conventional T2-WML and T1-WML volumes for comparison, as well as the following quantitative magnetic resonance parameters: magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR), T1 and T2. Also, we assessed the reproducibility of the segmentation for ADIMA-b, ADIMA-d and T2-WML. Our study's ADIMA-derived volumes correlated with conventional lesion volumes (p < 0.05). ADIMA-b exhibited higher T1 and T2, and lower MTR than the T2-WML (p < 0.001). Despite the similarity in T1 values between ADIMA-b and T1-WML, these regions were only partly overlapping with each other. ADIMA-d exhibited quantitative characteristics similar to T2-WML; however, they were only partly overlapping. Mean intra- and inter-observer coefficients of variation for ADIMA-b, ADIMA-d and T2-WML volumes were all < 6 % and < 10 %, respectively. ADIMA enabled the simple classification of WML into two groups having different quantitative magnetic resonance properties, which can be reproducibly distinguished.

Knowledge Representation and Management, It's Time to Integrate!

Science.gov (United States)

Dhombres, F; Charlet, J

2017-08-01

Objectives: To select, present, and summarize the best papers published in 2016 in the field of Knowledge Representation and Management (KRM). Methods: A comprehensive and standardized review of the medical informatics literature was performed based on a PubMed query. Results: Among the 1,421 retrieved papers, the review process resulted in the selection of four best papers focused on the integration of heterogeneous data via the development and the alignment of terminological resources. In the first article, the authors provide a curated and standardized version of the publicly available US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. Such a resource will improve the quality of the underlying data, and enable standardized analyses using common vocabularies. The second article describes a project developed in order to facilitate heterogeneous data integration in the i2b2 framework. The originality is to allow users integrate the data described in different terminologies and to build a new repository, with a unique model able to support the representation of the various data. The third paper is dedicated to model the association between multiple phenotypic traits described within the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) and the corresponding genotype in the specific context of rare diseases (rare variants). Finally, the fourth paper presents solutions to annotation-ontology mapping in genome-scale data. Of particular interest in this work is the Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO) and its generic association model, the Ontology of Biomedical AssociatioN (OBAN). Conclusion: Ontologies have started to show their efficiency to integrate medical data for various tasks in medical informatics: electronic health records data management, clinical research, and knowledge-based systems development. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.

Mining Functional Modules in Heterogeneous Biological Networks Using Multiplex PageRank Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jun; Zhao, Patrick X

2016-01-01

Identification of functional modules/sub-networks in large-scale biological networks is one of the important research challenges in current bioinformatics and systems biology. Approaches have been developed to identify functional modules in single-class biological networks; however, methods for systematically and interactively mining multiple classes of heterogeneous biological networks are lacking. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm (called mPageRank) that utilizes the Multiplex PageRank approach to mine functional modules from two classes of biological networks. We demonstrate the capabilities of our approach by successfully mining functional biological modules through integrating expression-based gene-gene association networks and protein-protein interaction networks. We first compared the performance of our method with that of other methods using simulated data. We then applied our method to identify the cell division cycle related functional module and plant signaling defense-related functional module in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results demonstrated that the mPageRank method is effective for mining sub-networks in both expression-based gene-gene association networks and protein-protein interaction networks, and has the potential to be adapted for the discovery of functional modules/sub-networks in other heterogeneous biological networks. The mPageRank executable program, source code, the datasets and results of the presented two case studies are publicly and freely available at http://plantgrn.noble.org/MPageRank/.

Non-linear waves in heterogeneous elastic rods via homogenization

KAUST Repository

Quezada de Luna, Manuel

2012-03-01

We consider the propagation of a planar loop on a heterogeneous elastic rod with a periodic microstructure consisting of two alternating homogeneous regions with different material properties. The analysis is carried out using a second-order homogenization theory based on a multiple scale asymptotic expansion. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large epidemic thresholds emerge in heterogeneous networks of heterogeneous nodes

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hui; Tang, Ming; Gross, Thilo

2015-08-01

One of the famous results of network science states that networks with heterogeneous connectivity are more susceptible to epidemic spreading than their more homogeneous counterparts. In particular, in networks of identical nodes it has been shown that network heterogeneity, i.e. a broad degree distribution, can lower the epidemic threshold at which epidemics can invade the system. Network heterogeneity can thus allow diseases with lower transmission probabilities to persist and spread. However, it has been pointed out that networks in which the properties of nodes are intrinsically heterogeneous can be very resilient to disease spreading. Heterogeneity in structure can enhance or diminish the resilience of networks with heterogeneous nodes, depending on the correlations between the topological and intrinsic properties. Here, we consider a plausible scenario where people have intrinsic differences in susceptibility and adapt their social network structure to the presence of the disease. We show that the resilience of networks with heterogeneous connectivity can surpass those of networks with homogeneous connectivity. For epidemiology, this implies that network heterogeneity should not be studied in isolation, it is instead the heterogeneity of infection risk that determines the likelihood of outbreaks.

Large epidemic thresholds emerge in heterogeneous networks of heterogeneous nodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hui; Tang, Ming; Gross, Thilo

2015-08-21

One of the famous results of network science states that networks with heterogeneous connectivity are more susceptible to epidemic spreading than their more homogeneous counterparts. In particular, in networks of identical nodes it has been shown that network heterogeneity, i.e. a broad degree distribution, can lower the epidemic threshold at which epidemics can invade the system. Network heterogeneity can thus allow diseases with lower transmission probabilities to persist and spread. However, it has been pointed out that networks in which the properties of nodes are intrinsically heterogeneous can be very resilient to disease spreading. Heterogeneity in structure can enhance or diminish the resilience of networks with heterogeneous nodes, depending on the correlations between the topological and intrinsic properties. Here, we consider a plausible scenario where people have intrinsic differences in susceptibility and adapt their social network structure to the presence of the disease. We show that the resilience of networks with heterogeneous connectivity can surpass those of networks with homogeneous connectivity. For epidemiology, this implies that network heterogeneity should not be studied in isolation, it is instead the heterogeneity of infection risk that determines the likelihood of outbreaks.

The integration of occupational therapy into primary care: a multiple case study design

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background For over two decades occupational therapists have been encouraged to enhance their roles within primary care and focus on health promotion and prevention activities. While there is a clear fit between occupational therapy and primary care, there have been few practice examples, despite a growing body of evidence to support the role. In 2010, the province of Ontario, Canada provided funding to include occupational therapists as members of Family Health Teams, an interprofessional model of primary care. The integration of occupational therapists into this model of primary care is one of the first large scale initiatives of its kind in North America. The objective of the study was to examine how occupational therapy services are being integrated into primary care teams and understand the structures supporting the integration. Methods A multiple case study design was used to provide an in-depth description of the integration of occupational therapy. Four Family Health Teams with occupational therapists as part of the team were identified. Data collection included in-depth interviews, document analyses, and questionnaires. Results Each Family Health Team had a unique organizational structure that contributed to the integration of occupational therapy. Communication, trust and understanding of occupational therapy were key elements in the integration of occupational therapy into Family Health Teams, and were supported by a number of strategies including co-location, electronic medical records and team meetings. An understanding of occupational therapy was critical for integration into the team and physicians were less likely to understand the occupational therapy role than other health providers. Conclusion With an increased emphasis on interprofessional primary care, new professions will be integrated into primary healthcare teams. The study found that explicit strategies and structures are required to facilitate the integration of a new professional group

Flow shop scheduling with heterogeneous workers

OpenAIRE

Benavides, Alexander J.; Ritt, Marcus; Miralles Insa, Cristóbal Javier

2014-01-01

We propose an extension to the flow shop scheduling problem named Heterogeneous Flow Shop Scheduling Problem (Het-FSSP), where two simultaneous issues have to be resolved: finding the best worker assignment to the workstations, and solving the corresponding scheduling problem. This problem is motivated by Sheltered Work centers for Disabled, whose main objective is the labor integration of persons with disabilities, an important aim not only for these centers but for any company d...

Heterogeneous IP Ecosystem enabling Reuse (HIER)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-22

HIER project, DARPA also established additional concepts in the formation of the Common Heterogeneous Integration and IP Reuse Strategies (CHIPS...would need a major change to  business model to offer  Hard  or Soft IP – So CHIPS program can be a better fit to these firms • DoD‐Contractor IP pricing

The doctrinal illusion of heterogeneity of international law-making processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

d' Aspremont, J.; Ruiz Fabri, H.; Wofrum, R.; Gogolin, J.

2010-01-01

Contemporary practice shows that the image of international lawmaking as a diverse and heterogeneous process, understood in terms of the multiplicity of the actors involved, is mostly an illusion. Despite strong empirical evidence, many scholars have been lured by this idea or have tried to promote

An investigation of multidisciplinary complex health care interventions - steps towards an integrative treatment model in the rehabilitation of People with Multiple Sclerosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skovgaard Lasse

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Society initiated a large-scale bridge building and integrative treatment project to take place from 2004–2010 at a specialized Multiple Sclerosis (MS hospital. In this project, a team of five conventional health care practitioners and five alternative practitioners was set up to work together in developing and offering individualized treatments to 200 people with MS. The purpose of this paper is to present results from the six year treatment collaboration process regarding the development of an integrative treatment model. Discussion The collaborative work towards an integrative treatment model for people with MS, involved six steps: 1 Working with an initial model 2 Unfolding the different treatment philosophies 3 Discussing the elements of the Intervention-Mechanism-Context-Outcome-scheme (the IMCO-scheme 4 Phrasing the common assumptions for an integrative MS program theory 5 Developing the integrative MS program theory 6 Building the integrative MS treatment model. The model includes important elements of the different treatment philosophies represented in the team and thereby describes a common understanding of the complexity of the courses of treatment. Summary An integrative team of practitioners has developed an integrative model for combined treatments of People with Multiple Sclerosis. The model unites different treatment philosophies and focuses on process-oriented factors and the strengthening of the patients’ resources and competences on a physical, an emotional and a cognitive level.

The blackboard model - A framework for integrating multiple cooperating expert systems

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, W. K.

1985-01-01

The use of an artificial intelligence (AI) architecture known as the blackboard model is examined as a framework for designing and building distributed systems requiring the integration of multiple cooperating expert systems (MCXS). Aerospace vehicles provide many examples of potential systems, ranging from commercial and military aircraft to spacecraft such as satellites, the Space Shuttle, and the Space Station. One such system, free-flying, spaceborne telerobots to be used in construction, servicing, inspection, and repair tasks around NASA's Space Station, is examined. The major difficulties found in designing and integrating the individual expert system components necessary to implement such a robot are outlined. The blackboard model, a general expert system architecture which seems to address many of the problems found in designing and building such a system, is discussed. A progress report on a prototype system under development called DBB (Distributed BlackBoard model) is given. The prototype will act as a testbed for investigating the feasibility, utility, and efficiency of MCXS-based designs developed under the blackboard model.

Image-based computational quantification and visualization of genetic alterations and tumour heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Qing; Rüschoff, Jan H; Guo, Tiannan; Gabrani, Maria; Schüffler, Peter J; Rechsteiner, Markus; Liu, Yansheng; Fuchs, Thomas J; Rupp, Niels J; Fankhauser, Christian; Buhmann, Joachim M; Perner, Sven; Poyet, Cédric; Blattner, Miriam; Soldini, Davide; Moch, Holger; Rubin, Mark A; Noske, Aurelia; Rüschoff, Josef; Haffner, Michael C; Jochum, Wolfram; Wild, Peter J

2016-04-07

Recent large-scale genome analyses of human tissue samples have uncovered a high degree of genetic alterations and tumour heterogeneity in most tumour entities, independent of morphological phenotypes and histopathological characteristics. Assessment of genetic copy-number variation (CNV) and tumour heterogeneity by fluorescence in situ hybridization (ISH) provides additional tissue morphology at single-cell resolution, but it is labour intensive with limited throughput and high inter-observer variability. We present an integrative method combining bright-field dual-colour chromogenic and silver ISH assays with an image-based computational workflow (ISHProfiler), for accurate detection of molecular signals, high-throughput evaluation of CNV, expressive visualization of multi-level heterogeneity (cellular, inter- and intra-tumour heterogeneity), and objective quantification of heterogeneous genetic deletions (PTEN) and amplifications (19q12, HER2) in diverse human tumours (prostate, endometrial, ovarian and gastric), using various tissue sizes and different scanners, with unprecedented throughput and reproducibility.

Heterogeneity of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lochner, Christine; Stein, Dan J

2003-01-01

Significant advances have been made in characterizing the phenomenology and psychobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in recent years. In many ways, such advances suggest a conceptualization of OCD as a relatively homogeneous neuropsychiatric entity, underpinned by particular mechanisms that manifest in universal symptoms. Nevertheless, some data have pointed to the heterogeneity of this disorder. A computerized literature search (MEDLINE: 1964-2001) was used to collect studies addressing the heterogeneity of OCD. In addition, reviews of the phenomenology, psychobiology, family studies, and treatment of OCD were examined in an attempt to collate data addressing this issue. There is a growing consensus that some subtypes of OCD are valid and provide a useful means of integrating data on its symptomatology, neurobiology, and treatment response; for example, OCD with comorbid tics is characterized by earlier onset, a particular range of OCD symptoms, and worse response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The heterogeneity of OCD has important clinical and research implications.

MPTCP Tunnel: An Architecture for Aggregating Bandwidth of Heterogeneous Access Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaolan Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Fixed and cellular networks are two typical access networks provided by operators. Fixed access network is widely employed; nevertheless, its bandwidth is sometimes not sufficient enough to meet user bandwidth requirements. Meanwhile, cellular access network owns unique advantages of wider coverage, faster increasing link speed, more flexible deployment, and so forth. Therefore, it is attractive for operators to mitigate the bandwidth shortage by bundling these two. Actually, there have been existing schemes proposed to aggregate the bandwidth of two access networks, whereas they all have their own problems, like packet reordering or extra latency overhead. To address this problem, we design new architecture, MPTCP Tunnel, to aggregate the bandwidth of multiple heterogeneous access networks from the perspective of operators. MPTCP Tunnel uses MPTCP, which solves the reordering problem essentially, to bundle multiple access networks. Besides, MPTCP Tunnel sets up only one MPTCP connection at play which adapts itself to multiple traffic types and TCP flows. Furthermore, MPTCP Tunnel forwards intact IP packets through access networks, maintaining the end-to-end TCP semantics. Experimental results manifest that MPTCP Tunnel can efficiently aggregate the bandwidth of multiple access networks and is more adaptable to the increasing heterogeneity of access networks than existing mechanisms.

Mining and Integration of Environmental Data

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, V.; Hluchy, L.; Habala, O.; Ciglan, M.

2009-04-01

The project ADMIRE (Advanced Data Mining and Integration Research for Europe) is a 7th FP EU ICT project aims to deliver a consistent and easy-to-use technology for extracting information and knowledge. The project is motivated by the difficulty of extracting meaningful information by data mining combinations of data from multiple heterogeneous and distributed resources. It will also provide an abstract view of data mining and integration, which will give users and developers the power to cope with complexity and heterogeneity of services, data and processes. The data sets describing phenomena from domains like business, society, and environment often contain spatial and temporal dimensions. Integration of spatio-temporal data from different sources is a challenging task due to those dimensions. Different spatio-temporal data sets contain data at different resolutions (e.g. size of the spatial grid) and frequencies. This heterogeneity is the principal challenge of geo-spatial and temporal data sets integration - the integrated data set should hold homogeneous data of the same resolution and frequency. Thus, to integrate heterogeneous spatio-temporal data from distinct source, transformation of one or more data sets is necessary. Following transformation operation are required: • transformation to common spatial and temporal representation - (e.g. transformation to common coordinate system), • spatial and/or temporal aggregation - data from detailed data source are aggregated to match the resolution of other resources involved in the integration process, • spatial and/or temporal record decomposition - records from source with lower resolution data are decomposed to match the granularity of the other data source. This operation decreases data quality (e.g. transformation of data from 50km grid to 10 km grid) - data from lower resolution data set in the integrated schema are imprecise, but it allows us to preserve higher resolution data. We can decompose the

Managing heterogeneous knowledge: A Theory of External Knowledge Integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen; Wijnhoven, Alphonsus B.J.M.

2008-01-01

Knowledge integration has been theorised at the levels of organisations and inter-organisational dyads. However, no theory exists yet of the integration of knowledge from an organisation's environment. This paper addresses this void in the literature by presenting a theory of external knowledge

Simultaneous Two-Way Clustering of Multiple Correspondence Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Heungsun; Dillon, William R.

2010-01-01

A 2-way clustering approach to multiple correspondence analysis is proposed to account for cluster-level heterogeneity of both respondents and variable categories in multivariate categorical data. Specifically, in the proposed method, multiple correspondence analysis is combined with k-means in a unified framework in which "k"-means is…

Very large scale heterogeneous integration (VLSHI) and wafer-level vacuum packaging for infrared bolometer focal plane arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Forsberg, Fredrik; Roxhed, Niclas; Fischer, Andreas C.; Samel, Björn; Ericsson, Per; Hoivik, Nils; Lapadatu, Adriana; Bring, Martin; Kittilsland, Gjermund; Stemme, Göran; Niklaus, Frank

2013-09-01

Imaging in the long wavelength infrared (LWIR) range from 8 to 14 μm is an extremely useful tool for non-contact measurement and imaging of temperature in many industrial, automotive and security applications. However, the cost of the infrared (IR) imaging components has to be significantly reduced to make IR imaging a viable technology for many cost-sensitive applications. This paper demonstrates new and improved fabrication and packaging technologies for next-generation IR imaging detectors based on uncooled IR bolometer focal plane arrays. The proposed technologies include very large scale heterogeneous integration for combining high-performance, SiGe quantum-well bolometers with electronic integrated read-out circuits and CMOS compatible wafer-level vacuum packing. The fabrication and characterization of bolometers with a pitch of 25 μm × 25 μm that are arranged on read-out-wafers in arrays with 320 × 240 pixels are presented. The bolometers contain a multi-layer quantum well SiGe thermistor with a temperature coefficient of resistance of -3.0%/K. The proposed CMOS compatible wafer-level vacuum packaging technology uses Cu-Sn solid-liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding. The presented technologies are suitable for implementation in cost-efficient fabless business models with the potential to bring about the cost reduction needed to enable low-cost IR imaging products for industrial, security and automotive applications.

Cumulative health risk assessment: integrated approaches for multiple contaminants, exposures, and effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, Glenn; Teuschler, Linda; MacDonel, Margaret; Butler, Jim; Finster, Molly; Hertzberg, Rick; Harou, Lynne

2007-01-01

Available in abstract form only. Full text of publication follows: As information about environmental contamination has increased in recent years, so has public interest in the combined effects of multiple contaminants. This interest has been highlighted by recent tragedies such as the World Trade Center disaster and hurricane Katrina. In fact, assessing multiple contaminants, exposures, and effects has long been an issue for contaminated sites, including U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) legacy waste sites. Local citizens have explicitly asked the federal government to account for cumulative risks, with contaminants moving offsite via groundwater flow, surface runoff, and air dispersal being a common emphasis. Multiple exposures range from ingestion and inhalation to dermal absorption and external gamma irradiation. Three types of concerns can lead to cumulative assessments: (1) specific sources or releases - e.g., industrial facilities or accidental discharges; (2) contaminant levels - in environmental media or human tissues; and (3) elevated rates of disease - e.g., asthma or cancer. The specific initiator frames the assessment strategy, including a determination of appropriate models to be used. Approaches are being developed to better integrate a variety of data, extending from environmental to internal co-location of contaminants and combined effects, to support more practical assessments of cumulative health risks. (authors)

Semantic-JSON: a lightweight web service interface for Semantic Web contents integrating multiple life science databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Norio; Ishii, Manabu; Takahashi, Satoshi; Mochizuki, Yoshiki; Matsushima, Akihiro; Toyoda, Tetsuro

2011-07-01

Global cloud frameworks for bioinformatics research databases become huge and heterogeneous; solutions face various diametric challenges comprising cross-integration, retrieval, security and openness. To address this, as of March 2011 organizations including RIKEN published 192 mammalian, plant and protein life sciences databases having 8.2 million data records, integrated as Linked Open or Private Data (LOD/LPD) using SciNetS.org, the Scientists' Networking System. The huge quantity of linked data this database integration framework covers is based on the Semantic Web, where researchers collaborate by managing metadata across public and private databases in a secured data space. This outstripped the data query capacity of existing interface tools like SPARQL. Actual research also requires specialized tools for data analysis using raw original data. To solve these challenges, in December 2009 we developed the lightweight Semantic-JSON interface to access each fragment of linked and raw life sciences data securely under the control of programming languages popularly used by bioinformaticians such as Perl and Ruby. Researchers successfully used the interface across 28 million semantic relationships for biological applications including genome design, sequence processing, inference over phenotype databases, full-text search indexing and human-readable contents like ontology and LOD tree viewers. Semantic-JSON services of SciNetS.org are provided at http://semanticjson.org.

IDENTIFIABILITY VERSUS HETEROGENEITY IN GROUNDWATER MODELING SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A M BENALI

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Review of history matching of reservoirs parameters in groundwater flow raises the problem of identifiability of aquifer systems. Lack of identifiability means that there exists parameters to which the heads are insensitive. From the guidelines of the study of the homogeneous case, we inspect the identifiability of the distributed transmissivity field of heterogeneous groundwater aquifers. These are derived from multiple realizations of a random function Y = log T  whose probability distribution function is normal. We follow the identifiability of the autocorrelated block transmissivities through the measure of the sensitivity of the local derivatives DTh = (∂hi  ∕ ∂Tj computed for each sample of a population N (0; σY, αY. Results obtained from an analysis of Monte Carlo type suggest that the more a system is heterogeneous, the less it is identifiable.

Mass Spectrometry Imaging for the Investigation of Intratumor Heterogeneity.

Science.gov (United States)

Balluff, B; Hanselmann, M; Heeren, R M A

2017-01-01

One of the big clinical challenges in the treatment of cancer is the different behavior of cancer patients under guideline therapy. An important determinant for this phenomenon has been identified as inter- and intratumor heterogeneity. While intertumor heterogeneity refers to the differences in cancer characteristics between patients, intratumor heterogeneity refers to the clonal and nongenetic molecular diversity within a patient. The deciphering of intratumor heterogeneity is recognized as key to the development of novel therapeutics or treatment regimens. The investigation of intratumor heterogeneity is challenging since it requires an untargeted molecular analysis technique that accounts for the spatial and temporal dynamics of the tumor. So far, next-generation sequencing has contributed most to the understanding of clonal evolution within a cancer patient. However, it falls short in accounting for the spatial dimension. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a powerful tool for the untargeted but spatially resolved molecular analysis of biological tissues such as solid tumors. As it provides multidimensional datasets by the parallel acquisition of hundreds of mass channels, multivariate data analysis methods can be applied for the automated annotation of tissues. Moreover, it integrates the histology of the sample, which enables studying the molecular information in a histopathological context. This chapter will illustrate how MSI in combination with statistical methods and histology has been used for the description and discovery of intratumor heterogeneity in different cancers. This will give evidence that MSI constitutes a unique tool for the investigation of intratumor heterogeneity, and could hence become a key technology in cancer research. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Nth-order linear algorithm for extracting diffuse correlation spectroscopy blood flow indices in heterogeneous tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Yu; Yu, Guoqiang

2014-09-29

Conventional semi-infinite analytical solutions of correlation diffusion equation may lead to errors when calculating blood flow index (BFI) from diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) measurements in tissues with irregular geometries. Very recently, we created an algorithm integrating a N th-order linear model of autocorrelation function with the Monte Carlo simulation of photon migrations in homogenous tissues with arbitrary geometries for extraction of BFI (i.e., αD B ). The purpose of this study is to extend the capability of the N th-order linear algorithm for extracting BFI in heterogeneous tissues with arbitrary geometries. The previous linear algorithm was modified to extract BFIs in different types of tissues simultaneously through utilizing DCS data at multiple source-detector separations. We compared the proposed linear algorithm with the semi-infinite homogenous solution in a computer model of adult head with heterogeneous tissue layers of scalp, skull, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain. To test the capability of the linear algorithm for extracting relative changes of cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in deep brain, we assigned ten levels of αD B in the brain layer with a step decrement of 10% while maintaining αD B values constant in other layers. Simulation results demonstrate the accuracy (errors model simplifies data analysis, thus allowing for online data processing and displaying. Future study will test this linear algorithm in heterogeneous tissues with different levels of blood flow variations and noises.

A heterogeneous stochastic FEM framework for elliptic PDEs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou, Thomas Y.; Liu, Pengfei

2015-01-01

We introduce a new concept of sparsity for the stochastic elliptic operator −div(a(x,ω)∇(⋅)), which reflects the compactness of its inverse operator in the stochastic direction and allows for spatially heterogeneous stochastic structure. This new concept of sparsity motivates a heterogeneous stochastic finite element method (HSFEM) framework for linear elliptic equations, which discretizes the equations using the heterogeneous coupling of spatial basis with local stochastic basis to exploit the local stochastic structure of the solution space. We also provide a sampling method to construct the local stochastic basis for this framework using the randomized range finding techniques. The resulting HSFEM involves two stages and suits the multi-query setting: in the offline stage, the local stochastic structure of the solution space is identified; in the online stage, the equation can be efficiently solved for multiple forcing functions. An online error estimation and correction procedure through Monte Carlo sampling is given. Numerical results for several problems with high dimensional stochastic input are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the HSFEM in the online stage

Cortical mechanisms for trans-saccadic memory and integration of multiple object features

Science.gov (United States)

Prime, Steven L.; Vesia, Michael; Crawford, J. Douglas

2011-01-01

Constructing an internal representation of the world from successive visual fixations, i.e. separated by saccadic eye movements, is known as trans-saccadic perception. Research on trans-saccadic perception (TSP) has been traditionally aimed at resolving the problems of memory capacity and visual integration across saccades. In this paper, we review this literature on TSP with a focus on research showing that egocentric measures of the saccadic eye movement can be used to integrate simple object features across saccades, and that the memory capacity for items retained across saccades, like visual working memory, is restricted to about three to four items. We also review recent transcranial magnetic stimulation experiments which suggest that the right parietal eye field and frontal eye fields play a key functional role in spatial updating of objects in TSP. We conclude by speculating on possible cortical mechanisms for governing egocentric spatial updating of multiple objects in TSP. PMID:21242142

Integrative Functional Genomics for Systems Genetics in GeneWeaver.org.

Science.gov (United States)

Bubier, Jason A; Langston, Michael A; Baker, Erich J; Chesler, Elissa J

2017-01-01

The abundance of existing functional genomics studies permits an integrative approach to interpreting and resolving the results of diverse systems genetics studies. However, a major challenge lies in assembling and harmonizing heterogeneous data sets across species for facile comparison to the positional candidate genes and coexpression networks that come from systems genetic studies. GeneWeaver is an online database and suite of tools at www.geneweaver.org that allows for fast aggregation and analysis of gene set-centric data. GeneWeaver contains curated experimental data together with resource-level data such as GO annotations, MP annotations, and KEGG pathways, along with persistent stores of user entered data sets. These can be entered directly into GeneWeaver or transferred from widely used resources such as GeneNetwork.org. Data are analyzed using statistical tools and advanced graph algorithms to discover new relations, prioritize candidate genes, and generate function hypotheses. Here we use GeneWeaver to find genes common to multiple gene sets, prioritize candidate genes from a quantitative trait locus, and characterize a set of differentially expressed genes. Coupling a large multispecies repository curated and empirical functional genomics data to fast computational tools allows for the rapid integrative analysis of heterogeneous data for interpreting and extrapolating systems genetics results.

MiSTIC, an integrated platform for the analysis of heterogeneity in large tumour transcriptome datasets.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Sebastien; Sargeant, Tobias; Laperrière, David; Ismail, Houssam; Boucher, Geneviève; Rozendaal, Marieke; Lavallée, Vincent-Philippe; Ashton-Beaucage, Dariel; Wilhelm, Brian; Hébert, Josée; Hilton, Douglas J; Mader, Sylvie; Sauvageau, Guy

2017-07-27

Genome-wide transcriptome profiling has enabled non-supervised classification of tumours, revealing different sub-groups characterized by specific gene expression features. However, the biological significance of these subtypes remains for the most part unclear. We describe herein an interactive platform, Minimum Spanning Trees Inferred Clustering (MiSTIC), that integrates the direct visualization and comparison of the gene correlation structure between datasets, the analysis of the molecular causes underlying co-variations in gene expression in cancer samples, and the clinical annotation of tumour sets defined by the combined expression of selected biomarkers. We have used MiSTIC to highlight the roles of specific transcription factors in breast cancer subtype specification, to compare the aspects of tumour heterogeneity targeted by different prognostic signatures, and to highlight biomarker interactions in AML. A version of MiSTIC preloaded with datasets described herein can be accessed through a public web server (http://mistic.iric.ca); in addition, the MiSTIC software package can be obtained (github.com/iric-soft/MiSTIC) for local use with personalized datasets. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

On transport in formations of large heterogeneity scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dagan, Gedeon

1990-01-01

It has been suggested that in transport through heterogeneous aquifers, the effective dispersivity increases with the travel distance, since plumes encounter heterogeneity of increasing scales. This conclusion is underlain, however, by the assumption of ergodicity. If the plume is viewed as made up of different particles, this means that these particles move independently from a statistical point of view. To satisfy ergodicity the solute body has to be of a much larger extent than heterogeneity scales. Thus, if the latter are increasing for ever and the solute body is finite, ergodicity cannot be obeyed. To demonstrate this thesis we relate to the two-dimensional heterogeneity associated with transmissivity variations in the horizontal plane. First, the effective dispersion coefficient is defined as half the rate of change of the expected value of the solute body second spatial moment relative to its centroid. Subsequently the asymptotic large time limit of dispersivity is evaluated in terms of the log transmissivity integral scale and of the dimensions of the initial solute body in the direction of mean flow and normal to it. It is shown that for a thin plume aligned with the mean flow the effective dispersivity is zero and the effect of heterogeneity is a slight and finite expansion determined solely by the solute body size. In the case of a solute body transverse to the mean flow the effective dispersivity is different from zero, but has a maximal value which is again dependent on the solute body size and not on the heterogeneity scale. It is concluded that from a theoretical standpoint and for the definition of dispersivity adopted here for non-ergodic conditions, the claim of ever-increasing dispersivity with travel distance is not valid for the scale of heterogeneity analyzed here. (Author) (21 refs., 6 figs.)

Integrative harm reduction psychotherapy: a case of substance use, multiple trauma, and suicidality.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatarsky, Andrew; Kellogg, Scott

2010-02-01

Harm reduction is a new paradigm that seeks to reduce the harmful consequences of substance use and other risky behaviors without requiring abstinence. This article discusses integrative harm reduction psychotherapy, one application of harm reduction principles to psychotherapy. Seven therapeutic tasks are described with attention to clinical process, skills, and strategies. A case is presented that illustrates the application of this approach with life-threatening substance use that was related to multiple trauma and suicidal depression. (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integrating Multiple Data Sources for Combinatorial Marker Discovery: A Study in Tumorigenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bandyopadhyay, Sanghamitra; Mallik, Saurav

2018-01-01

Identification of combinatorial markers from multiple data sources is a challenging task in bioinformatics. Here, we propose a novel computational framework for identifying significant combinatorial markers ( s) using both gene expression and methylation data. The gene expression and methylation data are integrated into a single continuous data as well as a (post-discretized) boolean data based on their intrinsic (i.e., inverse) relationship. A novel combined score of methylation and expression data (viz., ) is introduced which is computed on the integrated continuous data for identifying initial non-redundant set of genes. Thereafter, (maximal) frequent closed homogeneous genesets are identified using a well-known biclustering algorithm applied on the integrated boolean data of the determined non-redundant set of genes. A novel sample-based weighted support ( ) is then proposed that is consecutively calculated on the integrated boolean data of the determined non-redundant set of genes in order to identify the non-redundant significant genesets. The top few resulting genesets are identified as potential s. Since our proposed method generates a smaller number of significant non-redundant genesets than those by other popular methods, the method is much faster than the others. Application of the proposed technique on an expression and a methylation data for Uterine tumor or Prostate Carcinoma produces a set of significant combination of markers. We expect that such a combination of markers will produce lower false positives than individual markers.

Collectives for Multiple Resource Job Scheduling Across Heterogeneous Servers

Science.gov (United States)

Tumer, K.; Lawson, J.

2003-01-01

Efficient management of large-scale, distributed data storage and processing systems is a major challenge for many computational applications. Many of these systems are characterized by multi-resource tasks processed across a heterogeneous network. Conventional approaches, such as load balancing, work well for centralized, single resource problems, but breakdown in the more general case. In addition, most approaches are often based on heuristics which do not directly attempt to optimize the world utility. In this paper, we propose an agent based control system using the theory of collectives. We configure the servers of our network with agents who make local job scheduling decisions. These decisions are based on local goals which are constructed to be aligned with the objective of optimizing the overall efficiency of the system. We demonstrate that multi-agent systems in which all the agents attempt to optimize the same global utility function (team game) only marginally outperform conventional load balancing. On the other hand, agents configured using collectives outperform both team games and load balancing (by up to four times for the latter), despite their distributed nature and their limited access to information.

Real-time video streaming in mobile cloud over heterogeneous wireless networks

Science.gov (United States)

Abdallah-Saleh, Saleh; Wang, Qi; Grecos, Christos

2012-06-01

Recently, the concept of Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) has been proposed to offload the resource requirements in computational capabilities, storage and security from mobile devices into the cloud. Internet video applications such as real-time streaming are expected to be ubiquitously deployed and supported over the cloud for mobile users, who typically encounter a range of wireless networks of diverse radio access technologies during their roaming. However, real-time video streaming for mobile cloud users across heterogeneous wireless networks presents multiple challenges. The network-layer quality of service (QoS) provision to support high-quality mobile video delivery in this demanding scenario remains an open research question, and this in turn affects the application-level visual quality and impedes mobile users' perceived quality of experience (QoE). In this paper, we devise a framework to support real-time video streaming in this new mobile video networking paradigm and evaluate the performance of the proposed framework empirically through a lab-based yet realistic testing platform. One particular issue we focus on is the effect of users' mobility on the QoS of video streaming over the cloud. We design and implement a hybrid platform comprising of a test-bed and an emulator, on which our concept of mobile cloud computing, video streaming and heterogeneous wireless networks are implemented and integrated to allow the testing of our framework. As representative heterogeneous wireless networks, the popular WLAN (Wi-Fi) and MAN (WiMAX) networks are incorporated in order to evaluate effects of handovers between these different radio access technologies. The H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) standard is employed for real-time video streaming from a server to mobile users (client nodes) in the networks. Mobility support is introduced to enable continuous streaming experience for a mobile user across the heterogeneous wireless network. Real-time video stream packets

Single-event phenomena on recent semiconductor devices. Charge-type multiple-bit upsets in high integrated memories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makihara, Akiko; Shindou, Hiroyuki; Nemoto, Norio; Kuboyama, Satoshi; Matsuda, Sumio; Ohshima, Takeshi; Hirao, Toshio; Itoh, Hisayoshi

2001-01-01

High integrated memories are used in solid state data recorder (SSDR) of the satellite for accumulating observation data. Single event upset phenomena which turn over an accumulated data in the memory cells are caused by heavy ion incidence. Studies on single-bit upset and multiple-bit upset phenomena in the high integrated memory cells are in progress recently. 16 Mbit DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memories) and 64 Mbit DRAM are irradiated by heavy ion species, such as iodine, bromine and nickel, in comparison with the irradiation damage in the cosmic environment. Data written on the memory devices are read out after the irradiation. The memory cells in three kinds of states, all of charged state, all of discharged state, and an alternative state of charge and discharge, are irradiated for sorting out error modes caused by heavy ion incidence. The soft error in a single memory cells is known as a turn over from charged state to discharged state. Electrons in electron-hole pair generated by heavy ion incidence are captured in a diffusion region between capacitor electrodes of semiconductor. The charged states in the capacitor electrodes before the irradiation are neutralized and changed to the discharged states. According to high integration of the memories, many of the cells are affected by a single ion incidence. The multiple-bit upsets, however, are generated in the memory cells of discharged state before the irradiation, also. The charge-type multiple-bit upsets is considered as that error data are written on the DRAM during refresh cycle of a sense-up circuit and a pre-charge circuit which control the DRAM. (M. Suetake)

Heterogeneity, histological features and DNA ploidy in oral carcinoma by image-based analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Diwakar, N; Sperandio, M; Sherriff, M; Brown, A; Odell, E W

2005-04-01

Oral squamous carcinomas appear heterogeneous on DNA ploidy analysis. However, this may be partly a result of sample dilution or the detection limit of techniques. The aim of this study was to determine whether oral squamous carcinomas are heterogeneous for ploidy status using image-based ploidy analysis and to determine whether ploidy status correlates with histological parameters. Multiple samples from 42 oral squamous carcinomas were analysed for DNA ploidy using an image-based system and scored for histological parameters. 22 were uniformly aneuploid, 1 uniformly tetraploid and 3 uniformly diploid. 16 appeared heterogeneous but only 8 appeared to be genuinely heterogeneous when minor ploidy histogram peaks were taken into account. Ploidy was closely related to nuclear pleomorphism but not differentiation. Sample variation, detection limits and diagnostic criteria account for much of the ploidy heterogeneity observed. Confident diagnosis of diploid status in an oral squamous cell carcinoma requires a minimum of 5 samples.

Ontology-based knowledge representation for resolution of semantic heterogeneity in GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ying; Xiao, Han; Wang, Limin; Han, Jialing

2017-07-01

Lack of semantic interoperability in geographical information systems has been identified as the main obstacle for data sharing and database integration. The new method should be found to overcome the problems of semantic heterogeneity. Ontologies are considered to be one approach to support geographic information sharing. This paper presents an ontology-driven integration approach to help in detecting and possibly resolving semantic conflicts. Its originality is that each data source participating in the integration process contains an ontology that defines the meaning of its own data. This approach ensures the automation of the integration through regulation of semantic integration algorithm. Finally, land classification in field GIS is described as the example.

Ontology Based Resolution of Semantic Conflicts in Information Integration

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LU Han; LI Qing-zhong

2004-01-01

Semantic conflict is the conflict caused by using different ways in heterogeneous systems to express the same entity in reality.This prevents information integration from accomplishing semantic coherence.Since ontology helps to solve semantic problems, this area has become a hot topic in information integration.In this paper, we introduce semantic conflict into information integration of heterogeneous applications.We discuss the origins and categories of the conflict, and present an ontology-based schema mapping approach to eliminate semantic conflicts.

Conversion of Sugars to Lactic Acid Derivatives Using Heterogeneous Zeotype Catalysts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Martin Spangsberg; Shunmugavel, Saravanamurugan; Taarning, Esben

2010-01-01

of mono-and disaccharides that are dissolved in methanol to methyl lactate at 160 C. With sucrose as the substrate, methyl lactate yield reaches 68%, and the heterogeneous catalyst can be easily recovered by filtration and reused multiple times after calcination without any substantial change...

Integrated packaging of multiple double sided cooling planar bond power modules

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Zhenxian

2018-04-10

An integrated double sided cooled power module has one or multiple phase legs configuration including one or more planar power packages, each planar power package having an upper power switch unit and a lower power switch unit directly bonded and interconnected between two insulated power substrates, and further sandwiched between two heat exchangers via direct bonds. A segmented coolant manifold is interposed with the one or more planar power packages and creates a sealed enclosure that defines a coolant inlet, a coolant outlet and a coolant flow path between the inlet and the outlet. A coolant circulates along the flow path to remove heat and increase the power density of the power module.

Chaos Synchronization Based on Unknown Input Proportional Multiple-Integral Fuzzy Observer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Youssef

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an unknown input Proportional Multiple-Integral Observer (PIO for synchronization of chaotic systems based on Takagi-Sugeno (TS fuzzy chaotic models subject to unmeasurable decision variables and unknown input. In a secure communication configuration, this unknown input is regarded as a message encoded in the chaotic system and recovered by the proposed PIO. Both states and outputs of the fuzzy chaotic models are subject to polynomial unknown input with kth derivative zero. Using Lyapunov stability theory, sufficient design conditions for synchronization are proposed. The PIO gains matrices are obtained by resolving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs constraints. Simulation results show through two TS fuzzy chaotic models the validity of the proposed method.

Estimation of noise-free variance to measure heterogeneity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tilo Winkler

Full Text Available Variance is a statistical parameter used to characterize heterogeneity or variability in data sets. However, measurements commonly include noise, as random errors superimposed to the actual value, which may substantially increase the variance compared to a noise-free data set. Our aim was to develop and validate a method to estimate noise-free spatial heterogeneity of pulmonary perfusion using dynamic positron emission tomography (PET scans. On theoretical grounds, we demonstrate a linear relationship between the total variance of a data set derived from averages of n multiple measurements, and the reciprocal of n. Using multiple measurements with varying n yields estimates of the linear relationship including the noise-free variance as the constant parameter. In PET images, n is proportional to the number of registered decay events, and the variance of the image is typically normalized by the square of its mean value yielding a coefficient of variation squared (CV(2. The method was evaluated with a Jaszczak phantom as reference spatial heterogeneity (CV(r(2 for comparison with our estimate of noise-free or 'true' heterogeneity (CV(t(2. We found that CV(t(2 was only 5.4% higher than CV(r2. Additional evaluations were conducted on 38 PET scans of pulmonary perfusion using (13NN-saline injection. The mean CV(t(2 was 0.10 (range: 0.03-0.30, while the mean CV(2 including noise was 0.24 (range: 0.10-0.59. CV(t(2 was in average 41.5% of the CV(2 measured including noise (range: 17.8-71.2%. The reproducibility of CV(t(2 was evaluated using three repeated PET scans from five subjects. Individual CV(t(2 were within 16% of each subject's mean and paired t-tests revealed no difference among the results from the three consecutive PET scans. In conclusion, our method provides reliable noise-free estimates of CV(t(2 in PET scans, and may be useful for similar statistical problems in experimental data.

Semantic Metadata for Heterogeneous Spatial Planning Documents

Science.gov (United States)

Iwaniak, A.; Kaczmarek, I.; Łukowicz, J.; Strzelecki, M.; Coetzee, S.; Paluszyński, W.

2016-09-01

Spatial planning documents contain information about the principles and rights of land use in different zones of a local authority. They are the basis for administrative decision making in support of sustainable development. In Poland these documents are published on the Web according to a prescribed non-extendable XML schema, designed for optimum presentation to humans in HTML web pages. There is no document standard, and limited functionality exists for adding references to external resources. The text in these documents is discoverable and searchable by general-purpose web search engines, but the semantics of the content cannot be discovered or queried. The spatial information in these documents is geographically referenced but not machine-readable. Major manual efforts are required to integrate such heterogeneous spatial planning documents from various local authorities for analysis, scenario planning and decision support. This article presents results of an implementation using machine-readable semantic metadata to identify relationships among regulations in the text, spatial objects in the drawings and links to external resources. A spatial planning ontology was used to annotate different sections of spatial planning documents with semantic metadata in the Resource Description Framework in Attributes (RDFa). The semantic interpretation of the content, links between document elements and links to external resources were embedded in XHTML pages. An example and use case from the spatial planning domain in Poland is presented to evaluate its efficiency and applicability. The solution enables the automated integration of spatial planning documents from multiple local authorities to assist decision makers with understanding and interpreting spatial planning information. The approach is equally applicable to legal documents from other countries and domains, such as cultural heritage and environmental management.

Community integration outcomes of people with spinal cord injury and multiple matched controls: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Callaway, Libby; Enticott, Joanne; Farnworth, Louise; McDonald, Rachael; Migliorini, Christine; Willer, Barry

2017-06-01

Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is designed to influence home, social and economic participation for Scheme participants. Given the major disability reform underway, this pilot study aimed to: (i) examine community integration outcomes of people with spinal cord injury (SCI); (ii) compare findings with multiple matched controls and (iii) consider findings within the context of Australia's NDIS. Setting: Victoria, Australia. Matched analysis (people with and without SCI). Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ). n = 40 adults with SCI (M age = 52.8 years; 61% male; 77% traumatic SCI). Matched analyses from each SCI subject aged integration (ρ = 0.02). Relative risk of low home integration was significant in the SCI cohort (conditional RR (95% CI) = 3.1 (1.5-6.3), ρ = 0.001). Relative risk of low CIQ total, social integration and productivity scores did not reach significance. This cohort of SCI participants was less integrated into home and productive occupations than matched norms, holding implications for planning and allocation of supports to influence outcomes within an NDIS. Further research is necessary to understand community integration outcomes in larger matched samples. © 2016 Occupational Therapy Australia.

The Energy Integration Strategies in the Great Caribbean: Multiple Processes and Regional Leadership in Dispute

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Camila Moncada Guevara

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to demonstrate, through the paradigm of the complex interdependency that the energy integration processes in the Caribbean during the 21st Century have been multiple, given the integrationist traditions and the strategic regional leadership interests displayed by Venezuela, Mexico and the United States. Therefore, gendas proposed to supply the energy demand in the region deepen the existence of hegemonic projects in dispute. In the first part, political, economic and military aspects of the integration processes in the Caribbean are defined. Then, energy agendas of the 90’s with the Hemisphere Integration Strategy are characterized. Finally, the most recent experience of CARICOM on the matter is analyzed and it is concluded that the region is going through a period of recomposition of the regional powers.

Computer Aided Prototyping System (CAPS) for Heterogeneous Systems Development and Integration

OpenAIRE

Luqi; Berzins, V.; Shing, M.; Nada, N.; Eagle, C.

2000-01-01

2000 Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (CCRTS), June 11-13, 2000, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA This paper addresses the problem of how to produce reliable software that is also flexible and cost effective for the DoD distributed software domain. DoD software systems fall into two categories: information systems and war fighter systems. Both types of systems can be distributed, heterogeneous and network-based, consisting of a set of components running...

Move to learn: Integrating spatial information from multiple viewpoints.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Corinne A; Newcombe, Nora S; Shipley, Thomas F

2018-05-11

Recalling a spatial layout from multiple orientations - spatial flexibility - is challenging, even when the global configuration can be viewed from a single vantage point, but more so when it must be viewed piecemeal. In the current study, we examined whether experiencing the transition between multiple viewpoints enhances spatial memory and flexible recall for a spatial configuration viewed simultaneously (Exp. 1) and sequentially (Exp. 2), whether the type of transition matters, and whether action provides an additional advantage over passive experience. In Experiment 1, participants viewed an array of dollhouse furniture from four viewpoints, but with all furniture simultaneously visible. In Experiment 2, participants viewed the same array piecemeal, from four partitioned viewpoints that allowed for viewing only a segment at a time. The transition between viewpoints involved rotation of the array or participant movement around it. Rotation and participant movement were passively experienced or actively generated. The control condition presented the dollhouse as a series of static views. Across both experiments, participant movement significantly enhanced spatial memory relative to array rotation or static views. However, in Exp. 2, there was a further advantage for actively walking around the array compared to being passively pushed. These findings suggest that movement around a stable environment is key to spatial memory and flexible recall, with action providing an additional boost to the integration of temporally segmented spatial events. Thus, spatial memory may be more flexible than prior data indicate, when studied under more natural acquisition conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrating multiple scientific computing needs via a Private Cloud infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagnasco, S; Berzano, D; Brunetti, R; Lusso, S; Vallero, S

2014-01-01

In a typical scientific computing centre, diverse applications coexist and share a single physical infrastructure. An underlying Private Cloud facility eases the management and maintenance of heterogeneous use cases such as multipurpose or application-specific batch farms, Grid sites catering to different communities, parallel interactive data analysis facilities and others. It allows to dynamically and efficiently allocate resources to any application and to tailor the virtual machines according to the applications' requirements. Furthermore, the maintenance of large deployments of complex and rapidly evolving middleware and application software is eased by the use of virtual images and contextualization techniques; for example, rolling updates can be performed easily and minimizing the downtime. In this contribution we describe the Private Cloud infrastructure at the INFN-Torino Computer Centre, that hosts a full-fledged WLCG Tier-2 site and a dynamically expandable PROOF-based Interactive Analysis Facility for the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC and several smaller scientific computing applications. The Private Cloud building blocks include the OpenNebula software stack, the GlusterFS filesystem (used in two different configurations for worker- and service-class hypervisors) and the OpenWRT Linux distribution (used for network virtualization). A future integration into a federated higher-level infrastructure is made possible by exposing commonly used APIs like EC2 and by using mainstream contextualization tools like CloudInit.

Supporting Keyword Search for Image Retrieval with Integration of Probabilistic Annotation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tie Hua Zhou

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The ever-increasing quantities of digital photo resources are annotated with enriching vocabularies to form semantic annotations. Photo-sharing social networks have boosted the need for efficient and intuitive querying to respond to user requirements in large-scale image collections. In order to help users formulate efficient and effective image retrieval, we present a novel integration of a probabilistic model based on keyword query architecture that models the probability distribution of image annotations: allowing users to obtain satisfactory results from image retrieval via the integration of multiple annotations. We focus on the annotation integration step in order to specify the meaning of each image annotation, thus leading to the most representative annotations of the intent of a keyword search. For this demonstration, we show how a probabilistic model has been integrated to semantic annotations to allow users to intuitively define explicit and precise keyword queries in order to retrieve satisfactory image results distributed in heterogeneous large data sources. Our experiments on SBU (collected by Stony Brook University database show that (i our integrated annotation contains higher quality representatives and semantic matches; and (ii the results indicating annotation integration can indeed improve image search result quality.

Stochastic description of heterogeneities of permeability within groundwater flow models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cacas, M.C.; Lachassagne, P.; Ledoux, E.; Marsily, G. de

1991-01-01

In order to model radionuclide migration in the geosphere realistically at the field scale, the hydrogeologist needs to be able to simulate groundwater flow in heterogeneous media. Heterogeneity of the medium can be described using a stochastic approach, that affects the way in which a flow model is formulated. In this paper, we discuss the problems that we have encountered in modelling both continuous and fractured media. The stochastic approach leads to a methodology that enables local measurements of permeability to be integrated into a model which gives a good prediction of groundwater flow on a regional scale. 5 Figs.; 8 Refs

Impulsive synchronization of Markovian jumping randomly coupled neural networks with partly unknown transition probabilities via multiple integral approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekar, A; Rakkiyappan, R; Cao, Jinde

2015-10-01

This paper studies the impulsive synchronization of Markovian jumping randomly coupled neural networks with partly unknown transition probabilities via multiple integral approach. The array of neural networks are coupled in a random fashion which is governed by Bernoulli random variable. The aim of this paper is to obtain the synchronization criteria, which is suitable for both exactly known and partly unknown transition probabilities such that the coupled neural network is synchronized with mixed time-delay. The considered impulsive effects can be synchronized at partly unknown transition probabilities. Besides, a multiple integral approach is also proposed to strengthen the Markovian jumping randomly coupled neural networks with partly unknown transition probabilities. By making use of Kronecker product and some useful integral inequalities, a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional was designed for handling the coupled neural network with mixed delay and then impulsive synchronization criteria are solvable in a set of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Market Integration, Choice of Technology and Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Jørgen Drud; Nielsen, Jørgen Ulff-Møller

2010-01-01

technologies. Market integration may induce a technological restructuring where firms either diversify their technologies or switch to a homogeneous technology. In general, market integration improves welfare. However, a small decrease of trade costs which induces a switch from heterogeneous technologies...... to a homogeneous technology may locally reduce global welfare. The model also shows that productivity differences lead to intra-industry firm heterogeneity in size and exports similar to the "new-new" trade models with monopolistic competition....

A Semi-Supervised Learning Algorithm for Predicting Four Types MiRNA-Disease Associations by Mutual Information in a Heterogeneous Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaotian; Yin, Jian; Zhang, Xu

2018-03-02

Increasing evidence suggests that dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) may lead to a variety of diseases. Therefore, identifying disease-related miRNAs is a crucial problem. Currently, many computational approaches have been proposed to predict binary miRNA-disease associations. In this study, in order to predict underlying miRNA-disease association types, a semi-supervised model called the network-based label propagation algorithm is proposed to infer multiple types of miRNA-disease associations (NLPMMDA) by mutual information derived from the heterogeneous network. The NLPMMDA method integrates disease semantic similarity, miRNA functional similarity, and Gaussian interaction profile kernel similarity information of miRNAs and diseases to construct a heterogeneous network. NLPMMDA is a semi-supervised model which does not require verified negative samples. Leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV) was implemented for four known types of miRNA-disease associations and demonstrated the reliable performance of our method. Moreover, case studies of lung cancer and breast cancer confirmed effective performance of NLPMMDA to predict novel miRNA-disease associations and their association types.

Digital Microdroplet Ejection Technology-Based Heterogeneous Objects Prototyping

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jiquan; Feng, Chunmei; Yang, Jianfei; Zhu, Liya; Guo, Aiqing

2016-01-01

An integrate fabrication framework is presented to build heterogeneous objects (HEO) using digital microdroplets injecting technology and rapid prototyping. The heterogeneous materials part design and manufacturing method in structure and material was used to change the traditional process. The net node method was used for digital modeling that can configure multimaterials in time. The relationship of material, color, and jetting nozzle was built. The main important contributions are to combine the structure, material, and visualization in one process and give the digital model for manufacture. From the given model, it is concluded that the method is effective for HEO. Using microdroplet rapid prototyping and the model given in the paper HEO could be gotten basically. The model could be used in 3D biomanufacturing. PMID:26981110

Digital Microdroplet Ejection Technology-Based Heterogeneous Objects Prototyping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Na Li

2016-01-01

Full Text Available An integrate fabrication framework is presented to build heterogeneous objects (HEO using digital microdroplets injecting technology and rapid prototyping. The heterogeneous materials part design and manufacturing method in structure and material was used to change the traditional process. The net node method was used for digital modeling that can configure multimaterials in time. The relationship of material, color, and jetting nozzle was built. The main important contributions are to combine the structure, material, and visualization in one process and give the digital model for manufacture. From the given model, it is concluded that the method is effective for HEO. Using microdroplet rapid prototyping and the model given in the paper HEO could be gotten basically. The model could be used in 3D biomanufacturing.

Digital Microdroplet Ejection Technology-Based Heterogeneous Objects Prototyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Na; Yang, Jiquan; Feng, Chunmei; Yang, Jianfei; Zhu, Liya; Guo, Aiqing

2016-01-01

An integrate fabrication framework is presented to build heterogeneous objects (HEO) using digital microdroplets injecting technology and rapid prototyping. The heterogeneous materials part design and manufacturing method in structure and material was used to change the traditional process. The net node method was used for digital modeling that can configure multimaterials in time. The relationship of material, color, and jetting nozzle was built. The main important contributions are to combine the structure, material, and visualization in one process and give the digital model for manufacture. From the given model, it is concluded that the method is effective for HEO. Using microdroplet rapid prototyping and the model given in the paper HEO could be gotten basically. The model could be used in 3D biomanufacturing.

A Promising Approach to Integrally Evaluate the Disease Outcome of Cerebral Ischemic Rats Based on Multiple-Biomarker Crosstalk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guimei Ran

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The study was designed to evaluate the disease outcome based on multiple biomarkers related to cerebral ischemia. Methods. Rats were randomly divided into sham, permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion, and edaravone-treated groups. Cerebral ischemia was induced by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion surgery in rats. To form a simplified crosstalk network, the related multiple biomarkers were chosen as S100β, HIF-1α, IL-1β, PGI2, TXA2, and GSH-Px. The levels or activities of these biomarkers in plasma were detected before and after ischemia. Concurrently, neurological deficit scores and cerebral infarct volumes were assessed. Based on a mathematic model, network balance maps and three integral disruption parameters (k, φ, and u of the simplified crosstalk network were achieved. Results. The levels or activities of the related biomarkers and neurological deficit scores were significantly impacted by cerebral ischemia. The balance maps intuitively displayed the network disruption, and the integral disruption parameters quantitatively depicted the disruption state of the simplified network after cerebral ischemia. The integral disruption parameter u values correlated significantly with neurological deficit scores and infarct volumes. Conclusion. Our results indicate that the approach based on crosstalk network may provide a new promising way to integrally evaluate the outcome of cerebral ischemia.

HeNCE: A Heterogeneous Network Computing Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Beguelin

1994-01-01

Full Text Available Network computing seeks to utilize the aggregate resources of many networked computers to solve a single problem. In so doing it is often possible to obtain supercomputer performance from an inexpensive local area network. The drawback is that network computing is complicated and error prone when done by hand, especially if the computers have different operating systems and data formats and are thus heterogeneous. The heterogeneous network computing environment (HeNCE is an integrated graphical environment for creating and running parallel programs over a heterogeneous collection of computers. It is built on a lower level package called parallel virtual machine (PVM. The HeNCE philosophy of parallel programming is to have the programmer graphically specify the parallelism of a computation and to automate, as much as possible, the tasks of writing, compiling, executing, debugging, and tracing the network computation. Key to HeNCE is a graphical language based on directed graphs that describe the parallelism and data dependencies of an application. Nodes in the graphs represent conventional Fortran or C subroutines and the arcs represent data and control flow. This article describes the present state of HeNCE, its capabilities, limitations, and areas of future research.

XML and Graphs for Modeling, Integration and Interoperability:a CMS Perspective

CERN Document Server

van Lingen, Frank

2004-01-01

This thesis reports on a designer's Ph.D. project called “XML and Graphs for Modeling, Integration and Interoperability: a CMS perspective”. The project has been performed at CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of the West of England in Bristol. CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) is a next-generation high energy physics experiment at CERN, which will start running in 2007. The complexity of such a detector used in the experiment and the autonomous groups that are part of the CMS experiment, result in disparate data sources (different in format, type and structure). Users need to access and exchange data located in multiple heterogeneous sources in a domain-specific manner and may want to access a simple unit of information without having to understand details of the underlying schema. Users want to access the same information from several different heterogeneous sources. It is neither desirable nor fea...

Provably Secure Heterogeneous Access Control Scheme for Wireless Body Area Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Omala, Anyembe Andrew; Mbandu, Angolo Shem; Mutiria, Kamenyi Domenic; Jin, Chunhua; Li, Fagen

2018-04-28

Wireless body area network (WBAN) provides a medium through which physiological information could be harvested and transmitted to application provider (AP) in real time. Integrating WBAN in a heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem would enable an AP to monitor patients from anywhere and at anytime. However, the IoT roadmap of interconnected 'Things' is still faced with many challenges. One of the challenges in healthcare is security and privacy of streamed medical data from heterogeneously networked devices. In this paper, we first propose a heterogeneous signcryption scheme where a sender is in a certificateless cryptographic (CLC) environment while a receiver is in identity-based cryptographic (IBC) environment. We then use this scheme to design a heterogeneous access control protocol. Formal security proof for indistinguishability against adaptive chosen ciphertext attack and unforgeability against adaptive chosen message attack in random oracle model is presented. In comparison with some of the existing access control schemes, our scheme has lower computation and communication cost.

A note on variational multiscale methods for high-contrast heterogeneous porous media flows with rough source terms

KAUST Repository

Calo, Victor M.

2011-09-01

In this short note, we discuss variational multiscale methods for solving porous media flows in high-contrast heterogeneous media with rough source terms. Our objective is to separate, as much as possible, subgrid effects induced by the media properties from those due to heterogeneous source terms. For this reason, enriched coarse spaces designed for high-contrast multiscale problems are used to represent the effects of heterogeneities of the media. Furthermore, rough source terms are captured via auxiliary correction equations that appear in the formulation of variational multiscale methods [23]. These auxiliary equations are localized and one can use additive or multiplicative constructions for the subgrid corrections as discussed in the current paper. Our preliminary numerical results show that one can capture the effects due to both spatial heterogeneities in the coefficients (such as permeability field) and source terms (e.g., due to singular well terms) in one iteration. We test the cases for both smooth source terms and rough source terms and show that with the multiplicative correction, the numerical approximations are more accurate compared to the additive correction. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Astrocytes regulate heterogeneity of presynaptic strengths in hippocampal networks

Science.gov (United States)

Letellier, Mathieu; Park, Yun Kyung; Chater, Thomas E.; Chipman, Peter H.; Gautam, Sunita Ghimire; Oshima-Takago, Tomoko; Goda, Yukiko

2016-01-01

Dendrites are neuronal structures specialized for receiving and processing information through their many synaptic inputs. How input strengths are modified across dendrites in ways that are crucial for synaptic integration and plasticity remains unclear. We examined in single hippocampal neurons the mechanism of heterosynaptic interactions and the heterogeneity of synaptic strengths of pyramidal cell inputs. Heterosynaptic presynaptic plasticity that counterbalances input strengths requires N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and astrocytes. Importantly, this mechanism is shared with the mechanism for maintaining highly heterogeneous basal presynaptic strengths, which requires astrocyte Ca2+ signaling involving NMDAR activation, astrocyte membrane depolarization, and L-type Ca2+ channels. Intracellular infusion of NMDARs or Ca2+-channel blockers into astrocytes, conditionally ablating the GluN1 NMDAR subunit, or optogenetically hyperpolarizing astrocytes with archaerhodopsin promotes homogenization of convergent presynaptic inputs. Our findings support the presence of an astrocyte-dependent cellular mechanism that enhances the heterogeneity of presynaptic strengths of convergent connections, which may help boost the computational power of dendrites. PMID:27118849

Assessing the scale of tumor heterogeneity by complete hierarchical segmentation of MRI.

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Gensheimer, Michael F; Hawkins, Douglas S; Ermoian, Ralph P; Trister, Andrew D

2015-02-07

In many cancers, intratumoral heterogeneity has been found in histology, genetic variation and vascular structure. We developed an algorithm to interrogate different scales of heterogeneity using clinical imaging. We hypothesize that heterogeneity of perfusion at coarse scale may correlate with treatment resistance and propensity for disease recurrence. The algorithm recursively segments the tumor image into increasingly smaller regions. Each dividing line is chosen so as to maximize signal intensity difference between the two regions. This process continues until the tumor has been divided into single voxels, resulting in segments at multiple scales. For each scale, heterogeneity is measured by comparing each segmented region to the adjacent region and calculating the difference in signal intensity histograms. Using digital phantom images, we showed that the algorithm is robust to image artifacts and various tumor shapes. We then measured the primary tumor scales of contrast enhancement heterogeneity in MRI of 18 rhabdomyosarcoma patients. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we explored the influence of heterogeneity parameters on relapse-free survival. Coarser scale of maximum signal intensity heterogeneity was prognostic of shorter survival (p = 0.05). By contrast, two fractal parameters and three Haralick texture features were not prognostic. In summary, our algorithm produces a biologically motivated segmentation of tumor regions and reports the amount of heterogeneity at various distance scales. If validated on a larger dataset, this prognostic imaging biomarker could be useful to identify patients at higher risk for recurrence and candidates for alternative treatment.

The enigma of multiple sclerosis: inflammation and neurodegeneration cause heterogeneous dysfunction and damage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Owens, Trevor

2003-01-01

progression correlate with axonal damage, and that brain atrophy resulting from axonal loss is a feature of early multiple sclerosis, and is not restricted to the secondary progressive forms of the disease. Inflammatory mediators (CD8 T cells and antibodies) are implicated in axonal damage, and treatment...... cells for oligodendrocytes. SUMMARY: Oligodendrocyte precursors are abundant in multiple sclerosis lesions, but fail to remyelinate. Oligodendrocyte growth and regeneration are probably compromised by the action of growth inhibitory signals and lack of growth stimuli. Inflammatory cells and mediators......PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis has an autoimmune inflammatory component, which has dominated the description of multiple sclerosis. A degenerative component to multiple sclerosis was always apparent, but was underappreciated until recently. Recent work has brought...

Integrating landscape system and meta-ecosystem frameworks to advance the understanding of ecosystem function in heterogeneous landscapes: An analysis on the carbon fluxes in the Northern Highlands Lake District (NHLD) of Wisconsin and Michigan.

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Yang, Haile; Chen, Jiakuan

2018-01-01

The successful integration of ecosystem ecology with landscape ecology would be conducive to understanding how landscapes function. There have been several attempts at this, with two main approaches: (1) an ecosystem-based approach, such as the meta-ecosystem framework and (2) a landscape-based approach, such as the landscape system framework. These two frameworks are currently disconnected. To integrate these two frameworks, we introduce a protocol, and then demonstrate application of the protocol using a case study. The protocol includes four steps: 1) delineating landscape systems; 2) classifying landscape systems; 3) adjusting landscape systems to meta-ecosystems and 4) integrating landscape system and meta-ecosystem frameworks through meta-ecosystems. The case study is the analyzing of the carbon fluxes in the Northern Highlands Lake District (NHLD) of Wisconsin and Michigan using this protocol. The application of this protocol revealed that one could follow this protocol to construct a meta-ecosystem and analyze it using the integrative framework of landscape system and meta-ecosystem frameworks. That is, one could (1) appropriately describe and analyze the spatial heterogeneity of the meta-ecosystem; (2) understand the emergent properties arising from spatial coupling of local ecosystems in the meta-ecosystem. In conclusion, this protocol is a useful approach for integrating the meta-ecosystem framework and the landscape system framework, which advances the describing and analyzing of the spatial heterogeneity and ecosystem function of interconnected ecosystems.

Zebrafish as a model to assess cancer heterogeneity, progression and relapse

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Blackburn, Jessica S.; Langenau, David M.

2014-01-01

Clonal evolution is the process by which genetic and epigenetic diversity is created within malignant tumor cells. This process culminates in a heterogeneous tumor, consisting of multiple subpopulations of cancer cells that often do not contain the same underlying mutations. Continuous selective pressure permits outgrowth of clones that harbor lesions that are capable of enhancing disease progression, including those that contribute to therapy resistance, metastasis and relapse. Clonal evolution and the resulting intratumoral heterogeneity pose a substantial challenge to biomarker identification, personalized cancer therapies and the discovery of underlying driver mutations in cancer. The purpose of this Review is to highlight the unique strengths of zebrafish cancer models in assessing the roles that intratumoral heterogeneity and clonal evolution play in cancer, including transgenesis, imaging technologies, high-throughput cell transplantation approaches and in vivo single-cell functional assays. PMID:24973745

Design of all-optical high-order temporal integrators based on multiple-phase-shifted Bragg gratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Asghari, Mohammad H; Azaña, José

2008-07-21

In exact analogy with their electronic counterparts, photonic temporal integrators are fundamental building blocks for constructing all-optical circuits for ultrafast information processing and computing. In this work, we introduce a simple and general approach for realizing all-optical arbitrary-order temporal integrators. We demonstrate that the N(th) cumulative time integral of the complex field envelope of an input optical waveform can be obtained by simply propagating this waveform through a single uniform fiber/waveguide Bragg grating (BG) incorporating N pi-phase shifts along its axial profile. We derive here the design specifications of photonic integrators based on multiple-phase-shifted BGs. We show that the phase shifts in the BG structure can be arbitrarily located along the grating length provided that each uniform grating section (sections separated by the phase shifts) is sufficiently long so that its associated peak reflectivity reaches nearly 100%. The resulting designs are demonstrated by numerical simulations assuming all-fiber implementations. Our simulations show that the proposed approach can provide optical operation bandwidths in the tens-of-GHz regime using readily feasible photo-induced fiber BG structures.

Homogenization technique for strongly heterogeneous zones in research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.T.; Lee, B.H.; Cho, N.Z.; Oh, S.K.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on an iterative homogenization method using transport theory in a one-dimensional cylindrical cell model developed to improve the homogenized cross sections fro strongly heterogeneous zones in research reactors. The flux-weighting homogenized cross sections are modified by a correction factor, the cell flux ratio under an albedo boundary condition. The albedo at the cell boundary is iteratively determined to reflect the geometry effects of the material properties of the adjacent cells. This method has been tested with a simplified core model of the Korea Multipurpose Research Reactor. The results demonstrate that the reaction rates of an off-center control shroud cell, the multiplication factor, and the power distribution of the reactor core are close to those of the fine-mesh heterogeneous transport model

77 FR 33486 - Certain Integrated Circuit Packages Provided With Multiple Heat-Conducting Paths and Products...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-06

...Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has received a complaint entitled Certain Integrated Circuit Packages Provided With Multiple Heat-Conducting Paths and Products Containing Same, DN 2899; the Commission is soliciting comments on any public interest issues raised by the complaint or complainant's filing under section 210.8(b) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 210.8(b)).

Programming heterogeneous MPSoCs tool flows to close the software productivity gap

CERN Document Server

Castrillón Mazo, Jerónimo

2014-01-01

This book provides embedded software developers with techniques for programmingheterogeneous Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip (MPSoCs), capable of executing multiple applications simultaneously. It describes a set of algorithms and methodologies to narrow the software productivity gap, as well as an in-depth description of the underlying problems and challenges of today’s programming practices. The authors present four different tool flows: A parallelism extraction flow for applications writtenusing the C programming language, a mapping and scheduling flow for parallel applications, a special mapping flow for baseband applications in the context of Software Defined Radio (SDR) and a final flow for analyzing multiple applications at design time. The tool flows are evaluated on Virtual Platforms (VPs), which mimic different characteristics of state-of-the-art heterogeneous MPSoCs.   • Provides a novel set of algorithms and methodologies for programming heterogeneous Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip (MPSoCs)...

Using Images, Metaphor, and Hypnosis in Integrating Multiple Personality and Dissociative States: A Review of the Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Carrie L.

1990-01-01

Reviews literature on hypnosis, imagery, and metaphor as applied to the treatment and integration of those with multiple personality disorder (MPD) and dissociative states. Considers diagnostic criteria of MPD; explores current theories of etiology and treatment; and suggests specific examples of various clinical methods of treatment using…

A Heterogeneous Medium Analytical Benchmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1999-01-01

A benchmark, called benchmark BLUE, has been developed for one-group neutral particle (neutron or photon) transport in a one-dimensional sub-critical heterogeneous plane parallel medium with surface illumination. General anisotropic scattering is accommodated through the Green's Function Method (GFM). Numerical Fourier transform inversion is used to generate the required Green's functions which are kernels to coupled integral equations that give the exiting angular fluxes. The interior scalar flux is then obtained through quadrature. A compound iterative procedure for quadrature order and slab surface source convergence provides highly accurate benchmark qualities (4- to 5- places of accuracy) results

Monolithic integration of InGaAs/InP multiple quantum wells on SOI substrates for photonic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhibo; Wang, Mengqi; Fang, Xin; Li, Yajie; Zhou, Xuliang; Yu, Hongyan; Wang, Pengfei; Wang, Wei; Pan, Jiaoqing

2018-02-01

A direct epitaxy of III-V nanowires with InGaAs/InP multiple quantum wells on v-shaped trenches patterned silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates was realized by combining the standard semiconductor fabrication process with the aspect ratio trapping growth technique. Silicon thickness as well as the width and gap of each nanowire were carefully designed to accommodate essential optical properties and appropriate growth conditions. The III-V element ingredient, crystalline quality, and surface topography of the grown nanowires were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and scanning electron microscope. Geometrical details and chemical information of multiple quantum wells were revealed by transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Numerical simulations confirmed that the optical guided mode supported by one single nanowire was able to propagate 50 μm with ˜30% optical loss. This proposed integration scheme opens up an alternative pathway for future photonic integrations of III-V devices on the SOI platform at nanoscale.

Imaging intratumor heterogeneity: role in therapy response, resistance, and clinical outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, James P B; Rose, Chris J; Waterton, John C; Carano, Richard A D; Parker, Geoff J M; Jackson, Alan

2015-01-15

Tumors exhibit genomic and phenotypic heterogeneity, which has prognostic significance and may influence response to therapy. Imaging can quantify the spatial variation in architecture and function of individual tumors through quantifying basic biophysical parameters such as CT density or MRI signal relaxation rate; through measurements of blood flow, hypoxia, metabolism, cell death, and other phenotypic features; and through mapping the spatial distribution of biochemical pathways and cell signaling networks using PET, MRI, and other emerging molecular imaging techniques. These methods can establish whether one tumor is more or less heterogeneous than another and can identify subregions with differing biology. In this article, we review the image analysis methods currently used to quantify spatial heterogeneity within tumors. We discuss how analysis of intratumor heterogeneity can provide benefit over more simple biomarkers such as tumor size and average function. We consider how imaging methods can be integrated with genomic and pathology data, instead of being developed in isolation. Finally, we identify the challenges that must be overcome before measurements of intratumoral heterogeneity can be used routinely to guide patient care. ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.

An integrated modeling approach to support management decisions of coupled groundwater-agricultural systems under multiple uncertainties

Science.gov (United States)

Hagos Subagadis, Yohannes; Schütze, Niels; Grundmann, Jens

2015-04-01

The planning and implementation of effective water resources management strategies need an assessment of multiple (physical, environmental, and socio-economic) issues, and often requires new research in which knowledge of diverse disciplines are combined in a unified methodological and operational frameworks. Such integrative research to link different knowledge domains faces several practical challenges. Such complexities are further compounded by multiple actors frequently with conflicting interests and multiple uncertainties about the consequences of potential management decisions. A fuzzy-stochastic multiple criteria decision analysis tool was developed in this study to systematically quantify both probabilistic and fuzzy uncertainties associated with complex hydrosystems management. It integrated physical process-based models, fuzzy logic, expert involvement and stochastic simulation within a general framework. Subsequently, the proposed new approach is applied to a water-scarce coastal arid region water management problem in northern Oman, where saltwater intrusion into a coastal aquifer due to excessive groundwater extraction for irrigated agriculture has affected the aquifer sustainability, endangering associated socio-economic conditions as well as traditional social structure. Results from the developed method have provided key decision alternatives which can serve as a platform for negotiation and further exploration. In addition, this approach has enabled to systematically quantify both probabilistic and fuzzy uncertainties associated with the decision problem. Sensitivity analysis applied within the developed tool has shown that the decision makers' risk aversion and risk taking attitude may yield in different ranking of decision alternatives. The developed approach can be applied to address the complexities and uncertainties inherent in water resources systems to support management decisions, while serving as a platform for stakeholder participation.

Heterogeneidade neuropsicológica na esclerose múlipla Neuropsychological heterogeneity in multiple sclerosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo de Paula Lima

2008-01-01

Full Text Available A esclerose múltipla (EM é uma doença neurológica progressiva e incapacitante, cujos sintomas afetam o funcionamento motor, sensorial e psicológico. Diversas variáveis clínicas e psicossociais influenciam o perfil neuropsicológico na EM, que é extremamente heterogêneo. O objetivo principal do presente estudo foi investigar a possibilidade de estratificar estatisticamente portadores de EM e controles a partir das dimensões neurológica, sócio-demográfica e neuropsicológica de funcionamento. A partir desse objetivo, foi conduzido um procedimento de análise de conglomerados utilizando cinco instrumentos neuropsicológicos, selecionados dentre uma gama de nove medidas, de acordo com a acurácia diagnóstica. A amostra foi constituída por 45 pessoas saudáveis e 35 portadores de EM com características sócio-demográficas semelhantes. Os resultados indicaram uma solução ideal com quatro conglomerados a partir de duas dimensões, funcionamento "cognitivo" e "psicossocial", que representam aspectos independentes, porém não disjuntivos, do funcionamento neuropsicológico na EM.Multiple sclerosis (MS is a progressively disabling neurological disease which symptoms affect sensory, motor and psychological functioning. Several clinical neurological and psychological variables influence the neuropsychological profile in MS, which is extremely heterogeneous. The main objective of the present study was to investigate if it is possible to statistically stratify control subjects and MS patients from neurological, socio-demographic and neuropsychological dimensions. With this purpose we applied cluster analysis procedures to five neuropsychological instruments selected according to diagnostic accuracy from a pool of 9 neuropsychological tests. The sample was composed of 45 healthy controls and 35 MS patients with similar socio-demographic characteristics. The results indicated an ideal solution with 4 different clusters according to two

ePRISM: A case study in multiple proxy and mixed temporal resolution integration

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Marci M.; Dowsett, Harry J.

2010-01-01

As part of the Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) Project, we present the ePRISM experiment designed I) to provide climate modelers with a reconstruction of an early Pliocene warm period that was warmer than the PRISM interval (similar to 3.3 to 3.0 Ma), yet still similar in many ways to modern conditions and 2) to provide an example of how best to integrate multiple-proxy sea surface temperature (SST) data from time series with varying degrees of temporal resolution and age control as we begin to build the next generation of PRISM, the PRISM4 reconstruction, spanning a constricted time interval. While it is possible to tie individual SST estimates to a single light (warm) oxygen isotope event, we find that the warm peak average of SST estimates over a narrowed time interval is preferential for paleoclimate reconstruction as it allows for the inclusion of more records of multiple paleotemperature proxies.

Identification of Subtype Specific miRNA-mRNA Functional Regulatory Modules in Matched miRNA-mRNA Expression Data: Multiple Myeloma as a Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunpeng Zhang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Identification of miRNA-mRNA modules is an important step to elucidate their combinatorial effect on the pathogenesis and mechanisms underlying complex diseases. Current identification methods primarily are based upon miRNA-target information and matched miRNA and mRNA expression profiles. However, for heterogeneous diseases, the miRNA-mRNA regulatory mechanisms may differ between subtypes, leading to differences in clinical behavior. In order to explore the pathogenesis of each subtype, it is important to identify subtype specific miRNA-mRNA modules. In this study, we integrated the Ping-Pong algorithm and multiobjective genetic algorithm to identify subtype specific miRNA-mRNA functional regulatory modules (MFRMs through integrative analysis of three biological data sets: GO biological processes, miRNA target information, and matched miRNA and mRNA expression data. We applied our method on a heterogeneous disease, multiple myeloma (MM, to identify MM subtype specific MFRMs. The constructed miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks provide modular outlook at subtype specific miRNA-mRNA interactions. Furthermore, clustering analysis demonstrated that heterogeneous MFRMs were able to separate corresponding MM subtypes. These subtype specific MFRMs may aid in the further elucidation of the pathogenesis of each subtype and may serve to guide MM subtype diagnosis and treatment.

High Intra- and Inter-Tumoral Heterogeneity of RAS Mutations in Colorectal Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marion Jeantet

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Approximately 30% of patients with wild type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer are non-responders to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibodies (anti-EGFR mAbs, possibly due to undetected tumoral subclones harboring RAS mutations. The aim of this study was to analyze the distribution of RAS mutations in different areas of the primary tumor, metastatic lymph nodes and distant metastasis. A retrospective cohort of 18 patients with a colorectal cancer (CRC was included in the study. Multiregion analysis was performed in 60 spatially separated tumor areas according to the pathological tumor node metastasis (pTNM staging and KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutations were tested using pyrosequencing. In primary tumors, intra-tumoral heterogeneity for RAS mutation was found in 33% of cases. Inter-tumoral heterogeneity for RAS mutation between primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes or distant metastasis was found in 36% of cases. Moreover, 28% of tumors had multiple RAS mutated subclones in the same tumor. A high proportion of CRCs presented intra- and/or inter-tumoral heterogeneity, which has relevant clinical implications for anti-EGFR mAbs prescription. These results suggest the need for multiple RAS testing in different parts of the same tumor and/or more sensitive techniques.

Quantifying multiple telecouplings using an integrated suite of spatially-explicit tools

Science.gov (United States)

Tonini, F.; Liu, J.

2016-12-01

Telecoupling is an interdisciplinary research umbrella concept that enables natural and social scientists to understand and generate information for managing how humans and nature can sustainably coexist worldwide. To systematically study telecoupling, it is essential to build a comprehensive set of spatially-explicit tools for describing and quantifying multiple reciprocal socioeconomic and environmental interactions between a focal area and other areas. Here we introduce the Telecoupling Toolbox, a new free and open-source set of tools developed to map and identify the five major interrelated components of the telecoupling framework: systems, flows, agents, causes, and effects. The modular design of the toolbox allows the integration of existing tools and software (e.g. InVEST) to assess synergies and tradeoffs associated with policies and other local to global interventions. We show applications of the toolbox using a number of representative studies that address a variety of scientific and management issues related to telecouplings throughout the world. The results suggest that the toolbox can thoroughly map and quantify multiple telecouplings under various contexts while providing users with an easy-to-use interface. It provides a powerful platform to address globally important issues, such as land use and land cover change, species invasion, migration, flows of ecosystem services, and international trade of goods and products.

[Molecular heterogeneity of malignant pleural mesotheliomas].

Science.gov (United States)

Tranchant, Robin; Montagne, François; Jaurand, Marie-Claude; Jean, Didier

2018-01-01

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is predominantly an occupational cancer, most often linked to asbestos exposure. Malignant pleural mesothelioma prognosis is poor with a short survival median, due to the aggressiveness of tumor cells and the weak efficiency of conventional anti-cancer therapies. Clinical, histological, and molecular data suggest tumor heterogeneity between patients as it was also shown for other cancer types. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new therapies that take into account this heterogeneity and the molecular characteristics of malignant pleural mesothelioma, in particular by identifying new anti-cancer drugs targeting the molecular specificities of each malignant pleural mesothelioma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is characterized by numerous molecular alterations at the chromosomal, genetic and epigenetic levels. Molecular classification based on gene expression profile has firstly defined two tumor groups, C1 and C2, and more recently, four groups. By integrating genetic and transcriptomic analysis, a C2 LN tumor subgroup of the C2 group has been identified and characterized. In addition to tumor heterogeneity between patients, intra-tumor heterogeneity is supported by several evidences. Most therapeutic strategies that take into account the tumor molecular characteristics have focused on targeted therapies based on mutated genes. A more appropriate strategy would be to consider better-defined tumor groups on the basis of several molecular alterations types as it has been proposed for the C2 LN subgroup. A robust definition of homogeneous tumor groups sharing common molecular characteristics is necessary for the development of effective precision medicine for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Copyright © 2017 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Data Integration against Multiple Evolving Autonomous Schemata

CERN Document Server

Koch, Christoph

Research in the area of data integration has resulted in approaches such as federated and multidatabases, mediation, data warehousing, global information systems, and the model management/schema matching approach. Architecturally, approaches can be categorized into those that integrate against a single global schema and those that do not, while on the level of inter-schema constraints, most work can be classied either as so-called global-as-view or as local-as-view integration. These approaches dier widely in their strengths and weaknesses. Federated databases have been found applicable in environments in which several autonomous information systems coexist { each with their individual schemata { and need to share data. However, this approach does not provide sucient support for dealing with change of schemata and requirements. Other approaches to data integration which are centered around a single \\global" integration schema, on the other hand, cannot handle design autonomy of information systems. Under evol...

Tackling Energy Loss for High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells with Integrated Multiple Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Lijian; Shi, Xueliang; Jo, Sae Byeok; Liu, Yun; Lin, Fracis; Jen, Alex K-Y

2018-04-01

Limited by the various inherent energy losses from multiple channels, organic solar cells show inferior device performance compared to traditional inorganic photovoltaic techniques, such as silicon and CuInGaSe. To alleviate these fundamental limitations, an integrated multiple strategy is implemented including molecular design, interfacial engineering, optical manipulation, and tandem device construction into one cell. Considering the close correlation among these loss channels, a sophisticated quantification of energy-loss reduction is tracked along with each strategy in a perspective to reach rational overall optimum. A novel nonfullerene acceptor, 6TBA, is synthesized to resolve the thermalization and V OC loss, and another small bandgap nonfullerene acceptor, 4TIC, is used in the back sub-cell to alleviate transmission loss. Tandem architecture design significantly reduces the light absorption loss, and compensates carrier dynamics and thermalization loss. Interfacial engineering further reduces energy loss from carrier dynamics in the tandem architecture. As a result of this concerted effort, a very high power conversion efficiency (13.20%) is obtained. A detailed quantitative analysis on the energy losses confirms that the improved device performance stems from these multiple strategies. The results provide a rational way to explore the ultimate device performance through molecular design and device engineering. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

MULTIPLE OBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Bosov

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The development of complicated techniques of production and management processes, information systems, computer science, applied objects of systems theory and others requires improvement of mathematical methods, new approaches for researches of application systems. And the variety and diversity of subject systems makes necessary the development of a model that generalizes the classical sets and their development – sets of sets. Multiple objects unlike sets are constructed by multiple structures and represented by the structure and content. The aim of the work is the analysis of multiple structures, generating multiple objects, the further development of operations on these objects in application systems. Methodology. To achieve the objectives of the researches, the structure of multiple objects represents as constructive trio, consisting of media, signatures and axiomatic. Multiple object is determined by the structure and content, as well as represented by hybrid superposition, composed of sets, multi-sets, ordered sets (lists and heterogeneous sets (sequences, corteges. Findings. In this paper we study the properties and characteristics of the components of hybrid multiple objects of complex systems, proposed assessments of their complexity, shown the rules of internal and external operations on objects of implementation. We introduce the relation of arbitrary order over multiple objects, we define the description of functions and display on objects of multiple structures. Originality.In this paper we consider the development of multiple structures, generating multiple objects.Practical value. The transition from the abstract to the subject of multiple structures requires the transformation of the system and multiple objects. Transformation involves three successive stages: specification (binding to the domain, interpretation (multiple sites and particularization (goals. The proposed describe systems approach based on hybrid sets

Investigation of interference in multiple-input multiple-output wireless transmission at W band for an optical wireless integration system.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xinying; Yu, Jianjun; Dong, Ze; Zhang, Junwen; Chi, Nan; Yu, Jianguo

2013-03-01

We experimentally investigate the interference in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless transmission by adjusting the relative locations of horn antennas (HAs) in a 100 GHz optical wireless integration system, which can deliver a 50 Gb/s polarization-division-multiplexing quadrature-phase-shift-keying signal over 80 km single-mode fiber-28 and a 2×2 MIMO wireless link. For the parallel 2×2 MIMO wireless link, each receiver HA can only get wireless power from the corresponding transmitter HA, while for the crossover ones, the receiver HA can get wireless power from two transmitter HAs. At the wireless receiver, polarization demultiplexing is realized by the constant modulus algorithm (CMA) in the digital-signal-processing part. Compared to the parallel case, wireless interference causes about 2 dB optical signal-to-noise ratio penalty at a bit-error ratio (BER) of 3.8×10(-3) for the crossover cases if similar CMA taps are employed. The increase in CMA tap length can reduce wireless interference and improve BER performance. Furthermore, more CMA taps should be adopted to overcome the severe wireless interference when two pairs of transmitter and receiver HAs have different wireless distances.

Nanoscale heterogeneity at the aqueous electrolyte-electrode interface

Science.gov (United States)

Limmer, David T.; Willard, Adam P.

2015-01-01

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal emergent properties of hydrated electrode interfaces that while molecular in origin are integral to the behavior of the system across long times scales and large length scales. Specifically, we describe the impact of a disordered and slowly evolving adsorbed layer of water on the molecular structure and dynamics of the electrolyte solution adjacent to it. Generically, we find that densities and mobilities of both water and dissolved ions are spatially heterogeneous in the plane parallel to the electrode over nanosecond timescales. These and other recent results are analyzed in the context of available experimental literature from surface science and electrochemistry. We speculate on the implications of this emerging microscopic picture on the catalytic proficiency of hydrated electrodes, offering a new direction for study in heterogeneous catalysis at the nanoscale.

Control of aliphatic halogenated DBP precursors with multiple drinking water treatment processes: Formation potential and integrated toxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yimeng; Chu, Wenhai; Yao, Dechang; Yin, Daqiang

2017-08-01

The comprehensive control efficiency for the formation potentials (FPs) of a range of regulated and unregulated halogenated disinfection by-products (DBPs) (including carbonaceous DBPs (C-DBPs), nitrogenous DBPs (N-DBPs), and iodinated DBPs (I-DBPs)) with the multiple drinking water treatment processes, including pre-ozonation, conventional treatment (coagulation-sedimentation, pre-sand filtration), ozone-biological activated carbon (O 3 -BAC) advanced treatment, and post-sand filtration, was investigated. The potential toxic risks of DBPs by combing their FPs and toxicity values were also evaluated. The results showed that the multiple drinking water treatment processes had superior performance in removing organic/inorganic precursors and reducing the formation of a range of halogenated DBPs. Therein, ozonation significantly removed bromide and iodide, and thus reduced the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The removal of organic carbon and nitrogen precursors by the conventional treatment processes was substantially improved by O 3 -BAC advanced treatment, and thus prevented the formation of chlorinated C-DBPs and N-DBPs. However, BAC filtration leads to the increased formation of brominated C-DBPs and N-DBPs due to the increase of bromide/DOC and bromide/DON. After the whole multiple treatment processes, the rank order for integrated toxic risk values caused by these halogenated DBPs was haloacetonitriles (HANs)≫haloacetamides (HAMs)>haloacetic acids (HAAs)>trihalomethanes (THMs)>halonitromethanes (HNMs)≫I-DBPs (I-HAMs and I-THMs). I-DBPs failed to cause high integrated toxic risk because of their very low FPs. The significant higher integrated toxic risk value caused by HANs than other halogenated DBPs cannot be ignored. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Graph embedding with rich information through heterogeneous graph

KAUST Repository

Sun, Guolei

2017-11-12

Graph embedding, aiming to learn low-dimensional representations for nodes in graphs, has attracted increasing attention due to its critical application including node classification, link prediction and clustering in social network analysis. Most existing algorithms for graph embedding only rely on the topology information and fail to use the copious information in nodes as well as edges. As a result, their performance for many tasks may not be satisfactory. In this thesis, we proposed a novel and general framework for graph embedding with rich text information (GERI) through constructing a heterogeneous network, in which we integrate node and edge content information with graph topology. Specially, we designed a novel biased random walk to explore the constructed heterogeneous network with the notion of flexible neighborhood. Our sampling strategy can compromise between BFS and DFS local search on heterogeneous graph. To further improve our algorithm, we proposed semi-supervised GERI (SGERI), which learns graph embedding in an discriminative manner through heterogeneous network with label information. The efficacy of our method is demonstrated by extensive comparison experiments with 9 baselines over multi-label and multi-class classification on various datasets including Citeseer, Cora, DBLP and Wiki. It shows that GERI improves the Micro-F1 and Macro-F1 of node classification up to 10%, and SGERI improves GERI by 5% in Wiki.

GenHtr: a tool for comparative assessment of genetic heterogeneity in microbial genomes generated by massive short-read sequencing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu GongXin

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microevolution is the study of short-term changes of alleles within a population and their effects on the phenotype of organisms. The result of the below-species-level evolution is heterogeneity, where populations consist of subpopulations with a large number of structural variations. Heterogeneity analysis is thus essential to our understanding of how selective and neutral forces shape bacterial populations over a short period of time. The Solexa Genome Analyzer, a next-generation sequencing platform, allows millions of short sequencing reads to be obtained with great accuracy, allowing for the ability to study the dynamics of the bacterial population at the whole genome level. The tool referred to as GenHtr was developed for genome-wide heterogeneity analysis. Results For particular bacterial strains, GenHtr relies on a set of Solexa short reads on given bacteria pathogens and their isogenic reference genome to identify heterogeneity sites, the chromosomal positions with multiple variants of genes in the bacterial population, and variations that occur in large gene families. GenHtr accomplishes this by building and comparatively analyzing genome-wide heterogeneity genotypes for both the newly sequenced genomes (using massive short-read sequencing and their isogenic reference (using simulated data. As proof of the concept, this approach was applied to SRX007711, the Solexa sequencing data for a newly sequenced Staphylococcus aureus subsp. USA300 cell line, and demonstrated that it could predict such multiple variants. They include multiple variants of genes critical in pathogenesis, e.g. genes encoding a LysR family transcriptional regulator, 23 S ribosomal RNA, and DNA mismatch repair protein MutS. The heterogeneity results in non-synonymous and nonsense mutations, leading to truncated proteins for both LysR and MutS. Conclusion GenHtr was developed for genome-wide heterogeneity analysis. Although it is much more time

Coding of time-dependent stimuli in homogeneous and heterogeneous neural populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Beiran, Manuel; Kruscha, Alexandra; Benda, Jan; Lindner, Benjamin

2018-04-01

We compare the information transmission of a time-dependent signal by two types of uncoupled neuron populations that differ in their sources of variability: i) a homogeneous population whose units receive independent noise and ii) a deterministic heterogeneous population, where each unit exhibits a different baseline firing rate ('disorder'). Our criterion for making both sources of variability quantitatively comparable is that the interspike-interval distributions are identical for both systems. Numerical simulations using leaky integrate-and-fire neurons unveil that a non-zero amount of both noise or disorder maximizes the encoding efficiency of the homogeneous and heterogeneous system, respectively, as a particular case of suprathreshold stochastic resonance. Our findings thus illustrate that heterogeneity can render similarly profitable effects for neuronal populations as dynamic noise. The optimal noise/disorder depends on the system size and the properties of the stimulus such as its intensity or cutoff frequency. We find that weak stimuli are better encoded by a noiseless heterogeneous population, whereas for strong stimuli a homogeneous population outperforms an equivalent heterogeneous system up to a moderate noise level. Furthermore, we derive analytical expressions of the coherence function for the cases of very strong noise and of vanishing intrinsic noise or heterogeneity, which predict the existence of an optimal noise intensity. Our results show that, depending on the type of signal, noise as well as heterogeneity can enhance the encoding performance of neuronal populations.

Integrative Genomics: Quantifying significance of phenotype-genotype relationships from multiple sources of high-throughput data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric eGamazon

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Given recent advances in the generation of high-throughput data such as whole genome genetic variation and transcriptome expression, it is critical to come up with novel methods to integrate these heterogeneous datasets and to assess the significance of identified phenotype-genotype relationships. Recent studies show that genome-wide association findings are likely to fall in loci with gene regulatory effects such as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs, demonstrating the utility of such integrative approaches. When genotype and gene expression data are available on the same individuals, we developed methods wherein top phenotype-associated genetic variants are prioritized if they are associated, as eQTLs, with gene expression traits that are themselves associated with the phenotype. Yet there has been no method to determine an overall p-value for the findings that arise specifically from the integrative nature of the approach. We propose a computationally feasible permutation method that accounts for the assimilative nature of the method and the correlation structure among gene expression traits and among genotypes. We apply the method to data from a study of cellular sensitivity to etoposide, one of the most widely used chemotherapeutic drugs. To our knowledge, this study is the first statistically sound quantification of the significance of the genotype-phenotype relationships resulting from applying an integrative approach. This method can be easily extended to cases in which gene expression data are replaced by other molecular phenotypes of interest, e.g., microRNA or proteomic data. This study has important implications for studies seeking to expand on genetic association studies by the use of omics data. Finally, we provide an R code to compute the empirical FDR when p-values for the observed and simulated phenotypes are available.

Hurricane Harvey Riverine Flooding: Part 2: Integration of Heterogeneous Earth Observation Data for Comparative Analysis with High-Resolution Inundation Boundaries Reconstructed from Flood2D-GPU Model

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, C.; Sava, E.; Cervone, G.

2017-12-01

Hurricane Harvey has been noted as the wettest cyclone on record for the US as well as the most destructive (so far) for the 2017 hurricane season. An entire year worth of rainfall occurred over the course of a few days. The city of Houston was greatly impacted as the storm lingered over the city for five days, causing a record-breaking 50+ inches of rain as well as severe damage from flooding. Flood model simulations were performed to reconstruct the event in order to better understand, assess, and predict flooding dynamics for the future. Additionally, number of remote sensing platforms, and on ground instruments that provide near real-time data have also been used for flood identification, monitoring, and damage assessment. Although both flood models and remote sensing techniques are able to identify inundated areas, rapid and accurate flood prediction at a high spatio-temporal resolution remains a challenge. Thus a methodological approach which fuses the two techniques can help to better validate what is being modeled and observed. Recent advancements in data fusion techniques of remote sensing with near real time heterogeneous datasets have allowed emergency responders to more efficiently extract increasingly precise and relevant knowledge from the available information. In this work the use of multiple sources of contributed data, coupled with remotely sensed and open source geospatial datasets is demonstrated to generate an understanding of potential damage assessment for the floods after Hurricane Harvey in Harris County, Texas. The feasibility of integrating multiple sources at different temporal and spatial resolutions into hydrodynamic models for flood inundation simulations is assessed. Furthermore the contributed datasets are compared against a reconstructed flood extent generated from the Flood2D-GPU model.

Three-dimensional imaging of aquifer and aquitard heterogeneity via transient hydraulic tomography at a highly heterogeneous field site

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhanfeng; Illman, Walter A.

2018-04-01

Previous studies have shown that geostatistics-based transient hydraulic tomography (THT) is robust for subsurface heterogeneity characterization through the joint inverse modeling of multiple pumping tests. However, the hydraulic conductivity (K) and specific storage (Ss) estimates can be smooth or even erroneous for areas where pumping/observation densities are low. This renders the imaging of interlayer and intralayer heterogeneity of highly contrasting materials including their unit boundaries difficult. In this study, we further test the performance of THT by utilizing existing and newly collected pumping test data of longer durations that showed drawdown responses in both aquifer and aquitard units at a field site underlain by a highly heterogeneous glaciofluvial deposit. The robust performance of the THT is highlighted through the comparison of different degrees of model parameterization including: (1) the effective parameter approach; (2) the geological zonation approach relying on borehole logs; and (3) the geostatistical inversion approach considering different prior information (with/without geological data). Results reveal that the simultaneous analysis of eight pumping tests with the geostatistical inverse model yields the best results in terms of model calibration and validation. We also find that the joint interpretation of long-term drawdown data from aquifer and aquitard units is necessary in mapping their full heterogeneous patterns including intralayer variabilities. Moreover, as geological data are included as prior information in the geostatistics-based THT analysis, the estimated K values increasingly reflect the vertical distribution patterns of permeameter-estimated K in both aquifer and aquitard units. Finally, the comparison of various THT approaches reveals that differences in the estimated K and Ss tomograms result in significantly different transient drawdown predictions at observation ports.

SEMANTIC METADATA FOR HETEROGENEOUS SPATIAL PLANNING DOCUMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Iwaniak

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Spatial planning documents contain information about the principles and rights of land use in different zones of a local authority. They are the basis for administrative decision making in support of sustainable development. In Poland these documents are published on the Web according to a prescribed non-extendable XML schema, designed for optimum presentation to humans in HTML web pages. There is no document standard, and limited functionality exists for adding references to external resources. The text in these documents is discoverable and searchable by general-purpose web search engines, but the semantics of the content cannot be discovered or queried. The spatial information in these documents is geographically referenced but not machine-readable. Major manual efforts are required to integrate such heterogeneous spatial planning documents from various local authorities for analysis, scenario planning and decision support. This article presents results of an implementation using machine-readable semantic metadata to identify relationships among regulations in the text, spatial objects in the drawings and links to external resources. A spatial planning ontology was used to annotate different sections of spatial planning documents with semantic metadata in the Resource Description Framework in Attributes (RDFa. The semantic interpretation of the content, links between document elements and links to external resources were embedded in XHTML pages. An example and use case from the spatial planning domain in Poland is presented to evaluate its efficiency and applicability. The solution enables the automated integration of spatial planning documents from multiple local authorities to assist decision makers with understanding and interpreting spatial planning information. The approach is equally applicable to legal documents from other countries and domains, such as cultural heritage and environmental management.

Porting AMG2013 to Heterogeneous CPU+GPU Nodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samfass, Philipp [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-01-26

LLNL's future advanced technology system SIERRA will feature heterogeneous compute nodes that consist of IBM PowerV9 CPUs and NVIDIA Volta GPUs. Conceptually, the motivation for such an architecture is quite straightforward: While GPUs are optimized for throughput on massively parallel workloads, CPUs strive to minimize latency for rather sequential operations. Yet, making optimal use of heterogeneous architectures raises new challenges for the development of scalable parallel software, e.g., with respect to work distribution. Porting LLNL's parallel numerical libraries to upcoming heterogeneous CPU+GPU architectures is therefore a critical factor for ensuring LLNL's future success in ful lling its national mission. One of these libraries, called HYPRE, provides parallel solvers and precondi- tioners for large, sparse linear systems of equations. In the context of this intern- ship project, I consider AMG2013 which is a proxy application for major parts of HYPRE that implements a benchmark for setting up and solving di erent systems of linear equations. In the following, I describe in detail how I ported multiple parts of AMG2013 to the GPU (Section 2) and present results for di erent experiments that demonstrate a successful parallel implementation on the heterogeneous ma- chines surface and ray (Section 3). In Section 4, I give guidelines on how my code should be used. Finally, I conclude and give an outlook for future work (Section 5).

Modelling Preference Heterogeneity for Theatre Tickets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baldin, Andrea; Bille, Trine

2018-01-01

This article analyses the behavioural choice for theatre tickets using a rich data set for 2010–2013 from the sale system of the Royal Danish National Theatre. A consumer who decides to attend a theatre production faces multiple sources of price variation that involves a choice by the consumer...... among different ticket alternatives. Three modelling approaches are proposed in order to model ticket purchases: conditional logit with socio-demographic characteristics, nested logit and latent class. These models allow us explicitly to take into account consumers’ preference heterogeneity with respect...... of behaviour in the choice of theatre ticket....

An orthogonal wavelet division multiple-access processor architecture for LTE-advanced wireless/radio-over-fiber systems over heterogeneous networks

Science.gov (United States)

Mahapatra, Chinmaya; Leung, Victor CM; Stouraitis, Thanos

2014-12-01

The increase in internet traffic, number of users, and availability of mobile devices poses a challenge to wireless technologies. In long-term evolution (LTE) advanced system, heterogeneous networks (HetNet) using centralized coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmitting radio over optical fibers (LTE A-ROF) have provided a feasible way of satisfying user demands. In this paper, an orthogonal wavelet division multiple-access (OWDMA) processor architecture is proposed, which is shown to be better suited to LTE advanced systems as compared to orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) as in LTE systems 3GPP rel.8 (3GPP, http://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/36300.htm). ROF systems are a viable alternative to satisfy large data demands; hence, the performance in ROF systems is also evaluated. To validate the architecture, the circuit is designed and synthesized on a Xilinx vertex-6 field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The synthesis results show that the circuit performs with a clock period as short as 7.036 ns (i.e., a maximum clock frequency of 142.13 MHz) for transform size of 512. A pipelined version of the architecture reduces the power consumption by approximately 89%. We compare our architecture with similar available architectures for resource utilization and timing and provide performance comparison with OFDMA systems for various quality metrics of communication systems. The OWDMA architecture is found to perform better than OFDMA for bit error rate (BER) performance versus signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in wireless channel as well as ROF media. It also gives higher throughput and mitigates the bad effect of peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR).

Analysis of a homogenous and heterogeneous stylized half core of a CANDU reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

EL-Khawlani, Afrah [Physics Department, Sana' a (Yemen); Aziz, Moustafa [Nuclear and radiological regulatory authority, Cairo (Egypt); Ismail, Mahmud Yehia; Ellithi, Ali Yehia [Cairo Univ. (Egypt). Faculty of Science

2015-03-15

The MCNPX (Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code System) code has been used for modeling and simulation of a half core of CANDU (CANada Deuterium-Uranium) reactor, both homogenous and heterogeneous model for the reactor core are designed. The fuel is burnt in normal operation conditions of CANDU reactors. Natural uranium fuel is used in the model. The multiplication factor for homogeneous and heterogeneous reactor core is calculated and compared during fuel burnup. The concentration of both uranium and plutonium isotopes are analysed in the model. The flux and power distributions through channels are calculated.

Simulating propagation of decomposed elastic waves using low-rank approximate mixed-domain integral operators for heterogeneous transversely isotropic media

KAUST Repository

Cheng, Jiubing

2014-08-05

In elastic imaging, the extrapolated vector fields are decomposed into pure wave modes, such that the imaging condition produces interpretable images, which characterize reflectivity of different reflection types. Conventionally, wavefield decomposition in anisotropic media is costly as the operators involved is dependent on the velocity, and thus not stationary. In this abstract, we propose an efficient approach to directly extrapolate the decomposed elastic waves using lowrank approximate mixed space/wavenumber domain integral operators for heterogeneous transverse isotropic (TI) media. The low-rank approximation is, thus, applied to the pseudospectral extrapolation and decomposition at the same time. The pseudo-spectral implementation also allows for relatively large time steps in which the low-rank approximation is applied. Synthetic examples show that it can yield dispersionfree extrapolation of the decomposed quasi-P (qP) and quasi- SV (qSV) modes, which can be used for imaging, as well as the total elastic wavefields.

Intercloud Architecture Framework for Interoperability and Integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Demchenko, Y.; Ngo, C.; Makkes, M.X.; Strijkers, R.J.

2013-01-01

This report presents on-going research to develop the Intercloud Architecture Framework (ICAF) that addresses interoperability and integration issues in multi-provider multi-domain heterogeneous Cloud based infrastructure services and applications provisioning, including integration and

Tumor Heterogeneity: Mechanisms and Bases for a Reliable Application of Molecular Marker Design

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz-Cano, Salvador J.

2012-01-01

Tumor heterogeneity is a confusing finding in the assessment of neoplasms, potentially resulting in inaccurate diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tests. This tumor heterogeneity is not always a random and unpredictable phenomenon, whose knowledge helps designing better tests. The biologic reasons for this intratumoral heterogeneity would then be important to understand both the natural history of neoplasms and the selection of test samples for reliable analysis. The main factors contributing to intratumoral heterogeneity inducing gene abnormalities or modifying its expression include: the gradient ischemic level within neoplasms, the action of tumor microenvironment (bidirectional interaction between tumor cells and stroma), mechanisms of intercellular transference of genetic information (exosomes), and differential mechanisms of sequence-independent modifications of genetic material and proteins. The intratumoral heterogeneity is at the origin of tumor progression and it is also the byproduct of the selection process during progression. Any analysis of heterogeneity mechanisms must be integrated within the process of segregation of genetic changes in tumor cells during the clonal expansion and progression of neoplasms. The evaluation of these mechanisms must also consider the redundancy and pleiotropism of molecular pathways, for which appropriate surrogate markers would support the presence or not of heterogeneous genetics and the main mechanisms responsible. This knowledge would constitute a solid scientific background for future therapeutic planning. PMID:22408433

Multiple equilibria and minimum wages in labor markets with informationale frictions and heterogeneous production technologies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, G.J.

2003-01-01

It is often argued that a mandatory minimum wage is binding only if the wage density displays a spike at it. In this article, we analyze a model with search frictions and heterogeneous production technologies, in which imposition of a minimum wage affects wages even though, after imposition, the

Multiple Equilibria and Minimum Wages in Labor Markets with Informational Frictions and Heterogeneous Production Technologies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.J. van den Berg (Gerard)

2003-01-01

textabstractIt is often argued that a mandatory minimum wage is binding only if the wage density displays a spike at it. In this paper we analyze a model with wage setting, search frictions, and heterogeneous production technologies, in which imposition of a minimum wage affects wages even though,

Application of multiple-point geostatistics to simulate the effect of small-scale aquifer heterogeneity on the efficiency of aquifer thermal energy storage

Science.gov (United States)

Possemiers, Mathias; Huysmans, Marijke; Batelaan, Okke

2015-08-01

Adequate aquifer characterization and simulation using heat transport models are indispensible for determining the optimal design for aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) systems and wells. Recent model studies indicate that meter-scale heterogeneities in the hydraulic conductivity field introduce a considerable uncertainty in the distribution of thermal energy around an ATES system and can lead to a reduction in the thermal recoverability. In a study site in Bierbeek, Belgium, the influence of centimeter-scale clay drapes on the efficiency of a doublet ATES system and the distribution of the thermal energy around the ATES wells are quantified. Multiple-point geostatistical simulation of edge properties is used to incorporate the clay drapes in the models. The results show that clay drapes have an influence both on the distribution of thermal energy in the subsurface and on the efficiency of the ATES system. The distribution of the thermal energy is determined by the strike of the clay drapes, with the major axis of anisotropy parallel to the clay drape strike. The clay drapes have a negative impact (3.3-3.6 %) on the energy output in the models without a hydraulic gradient. In the models with a hydraulic gradient, however, the presence of clay drapes has a positive influence (1.6-10.2 %) on the energy output of the ATES system. It is concluded that it is important to incorporate small-scale heterogeneities in heat transport models to get a better estimate on ATES efficiency and distribution of thermal energy.

Application of multiple-point geostatistics to simulate the effect of small scale aquifer heterogeneity on the efficiency of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES)

Science.gov (United States)

Possemiers, Mathias; Huysmans, Marijke; Batelaan, Okke

2015-04-01

Adequate aquifer characterization and simulation using heat transport models are indispensible for determining the optimal design for Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) systems and wells. Recent model studies indicate that meter scale heterogeneities in the hydraulic conductivity field introduce a considerable uncertainty in the distribution of thermal energy around an ATES system and can lead to a reduction in the thermal recoverability. In this paper, the influence of centimeter scale clay drapes on the efficiency of a doublet ATES system and the distribution of the thermal energy around the ATES wells are quantified. Multiple-point geostatistical simulation of edge properties is used to incorporate the clay drapes in the models. The results show that clay drapes have an influence both on the distribution of thermal energy in the subsurface and on the efficiency of the ATES system. The distribution of the thermal energy is determined by the strike of the clay drapes, with the major axis of anisotropy parallel to the clay drape strike. The clay drapes have a negative impact (3.3 - 3.6%) on the energy output in the models without a hydraulic gradient. In the models with a hydraulic gradient, however, the presence of clay drapes has a positive influence (1.6 - 10.2%) on the energy output of the ATES system. It is concluded that it is important to incorporate small scale heterogeneities in heat transport models to get a better estimate on ATES efficiency and distribution of thermal energy.

Design and Applications of a GeoSemantic Framework for Integration of Data and Model Resources in Hydrologic Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Elag, M.; Kumar, P.

2016-12-01

Hydrologists today have to integrate resources such as data and models, which originate and reside in multiple autonomous and heterogeneous repositories over the Web. Several resource management systems have emerged within geoscience communities for sharing long-tail data, which are collected by individual or small research groups, and long-tail models, which are developed by scientists or small modeling communities. While these systems have increased the availability of resources within geoscience domains, deficiencies remain due to the heterogeneity in the methods, which are used to describe, encode, and publish information about resources over the Web. This heterogeneity limits our ability to access the right information in the right context so that it can be efficiently retrieved and understood without the Hydrologist's mediation. A primary challenge of the Web today is the lack of the semantic interoperability among the massive number of resources, which already exist and are continually being generated at rapid rates. To address this challenge, we have developed a decentralized GeoSemantic (GS) framework, which provides three sets of micro-web services to support (i) semantic annotation of resources, (ii) semantic alignment between the metadata of two resources, and (iii) semantic mediation among Standard Names. Here we present the design of the framework and demonstrate its application for semantic integration between data and models used in the IML-CZO. First we show how the IML-CZO data are annotated using the Semantic Annotation Services. Then we illustrate how the Resource Alignment Services and Knowledge Integration Services are used to create a semantic workflow among TopoFlow model, which is a spatially-distributed hydrologic model and the annotated data. Results of this work are (i) a demonstration of how the GS framework advances the integration of heterogeneous data and models of water-related disciplines by seamless handling of their semantic

Assessing the scale of tumor heterogeneity by complete hierarchical segmentation of MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gensheimer, Michael F; Ermoian, Ralph P; Hawkins, Douglas S; Trister, Andrew D

2015-01-01

In many cancers, intratumoral heterogeneity has been found in histology, genetic variation and vascular structure. We developed an algorithm to interrogate different scales of heterogeneity using clinical imaging. We hypothesize that heterogeneity of perfusion at coarse scale may correlate with treatment resistance and propensity for disease recurrence. The algorithm recursively segments the tumor image into increasingly smaller regions. Each dividing line is chosen so as to maximize signal intensity difference between the two regions. This process continues until the tumor has been divided into single voxels, resulting in segments at multiple scales. For each scale, heterogeneity is measured by comparing each segmented region to the adjacent region and calculating the difference in signal intensity histograms. Using digital phantom images, we showed that the algorithm is robust to image artifacts and various tumor shapes. We then measured the primary tumor scales of contrast enhancement heterogeneity in MRI of 18 rhabdomyosarcoma patients. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we explored the influence of heterogeneity parameters on relapse-free survival. Coarser scale of maximum signal intensity heterogeneity was prognostic of shorter survival (p = 0.05). By contrast, two fractal parameters and three Haralick texture features were not prognostic. In summary, our algorithm produces a biologically motivated segmentation of tumor regions and reports the amount of heterogeneity at various distance scales. If validated on a larger dataset, this prognostic imaging biomarker could be useful to identify patients at higher risk for recurrence and candidates for alternative treatment. (paper)

Integrating transient heterogeneity of non-photochemical quenching in shade-grown heterobaric leaves of avocado (Persea americana L.): responses to CO2 concentration, stomatal occlusion, dehydration and relative humidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Takayama, Kotaro; King, Diana; Robinson, Sharon A; Osmond, Barry

2013-11-01

Long-lived shade leaves of avocado had extremely low rates of photosynthesis. Gas exchange measurements of photosynthesis were of limited use, so we resorted to Chl fluorescence imaging (CFI) and spot measurements to evaluate photosynthetic electron transport rates (ETRs) and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Imaging revealed a remarkable transient heterogeneity of NPQ during photosynthetic induction in these hypostomatous, heterobaric leaves, but was adequately integrated by spot measurements, despite long-lasting artifacts from repeated saturating flashes during assays. Major veins (mid-vein, first- and second-order veins) defined areas of more static large-scale heterogeneous NPQ, with more dynamic small-scale heterogeneity most strongly expressed in mesophyll cells between third- and fourth-order veins. Both responded to external CO2 concentration ([CO2]), occlusion of stomata with Vaseline™, leaf dehydration and relative humidity (RH). We interpreted these responses in terms of independent behavior of stomata in adjacent areoles that was largely expressed through CO2-limited photosynthesis. Heterogeneity was most pronounced and prolonged in the absence of net CO2 fixation in 100 p.p.m. [CO2] when respiratory and photorespiratory CO2 cycling constrained the inferred ETR to ~75% of values in 400 or 700 p.p.m. [CO2]. Likewise, sustained higher NPQ under Vaseline™, after dehydration or at low RH, also restricted ETR to ~75% of control values. Low NPQ in chloroplast-containing cells adjacent to major veins but remote from stomata suggested internal sources of high [CO2] in these tissues.

Heterogeneity Measurement Based on Distance Measure for Polarimetric SAR Data

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Xiaoli; Chen, Qihao; Liu, Xiuguo

2018-04-01

To effectively test the scene heterogeneity for polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data, in this paper, the distance measure is introduced by utilizing the similarity between the sample and pixels. Moreover, given the influence of the distribution and modeling texture, the K distance measure is deduced according to the Wishart distance measure. Specifically, the average of the pixels in the local window replaces the class center coherency or covariance matrix. The Wishart and K distance measure are calculated between the average matrix and the pixels. Then, the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean is established for the Wishart and K distance measure, and the two features are defined and applied to reflect the complexity of the scene. The proposed heterogeneity measure is proceeded by integrating the two features using the Pauli basis. The experiments conducted on the single-look and multilook PolSAR data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for the detection of the scene heterogeneity.

@neurIST: infrastructure for advanced disease management through integration of heterogeneous data, computing, and complex processing services.

Science.gov (United States)

Benkner, Siegfried; Arbona, Antonio; Berti, Guntram; Chiarini, Alessandro; Dunlop, Robert; Engelbrecht, Gerhard; Frangi, Alejandro F; Friedrich, Christoph M; Hanser, Susanne; Hasselmeyer, Peer; Hose, Rod D; Iavindrasana, Jimison; Köhler, Martin; Iacono, Luigi Lo; Lonsdale, Guy; Meyer, Rodolphe; Moore, Bob; Rajasekaran, Hariharan; Summers, Paul E; Wöhrer, Alexander; Wood, Steven

2010-11-01

The increasing volume of data describing human disease processes and the growing complexity of understanding, managing, and sharing such data presents a huge challenge for clinicians and medical researchers. This paper presents the @neurIST system, which provides an infrastructure for biomedical research while aiding clinical care, by bringing together heterogeneous data and complex processing and computing services. Although @neurIST targets the investigation and treatment of cerebral aneurysms, the system's architecture is generic enough that it could be adapted to the treatment of other diseases. Innovations in @neurIST include confining the patient data pertaining to aneurysms inside a single environment that offers clinicians the tools to analyze and interpret patient data and make use of knowledge-based guidance in planning their treatment. Medical researchers gain access to a critical mass of aneurysm related data due to the system's ability to federate distributed information sources. A semantically mediated grid infrastructure ensures that both clinicians and researchers are able to seamlessly access and work on data that is distributed across multiple sites in a secure way in addition to providing computing resources on demand for performing computationally intensive simulations for treatment planning and research.

MACSIMS : multiple alignment of complete sequences information management system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plewniak Frédéric

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the post-genomic era, systems-level studies are being performed that seek to explain complex biological systems by integrating diverse resources from fields such as genomics, proteomics or transcriptomics. New information management systems are now needed for the collection, validation and analysis of the vast amount of heterogeneous data available. Multiple alignments of complete sequences provide an ideal environment for the integration of this information in the context of the protein family. Results MACSIMS is a multiple alignment-based information management program that combines the advantages of both knowledge-based and ab initio sequence analysis methods. Structural and functional information is retrieved automatically from the public databases. In the multiple alignment, homologous regions are identified and the retrieved data is evaluated and propagated from known to unknown sequences with these reliable regions. In a large-scale evaluation, the specificity of the propagated sequence features is estimated to be >99%, i.e. very few false positive predictions are made. MACSIMS is then used to characterise mutations in a test set of 100 proteins that are known to be involved in human genetic diseases. The number of sequence features associated with these proteins was increased by 60%, compared to the features available in the public databases. An XML format output file allows automatic parsing of the MACSIM results, while a graphical display using the JalView program allows manual analysis. Conclusion MACSIMS is a new information management system that incorporates detailed analyses of protein families at the structural, functional and evolutionary levels. MACSIMS thus provides a unique environment that facilitates knowledge extraction and the presentation of the most pertinent information to the biologist. A web server and the source code are available at http://bips.u-strasbg.fr/MACSIMS/.

Compensatory Analysis and Optimization for MADM for Heterogeneous Wireless Network Selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Zhou

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the next-generation heterogeneous wireless networks, a mobile terminal with a multi-interface may have network access from different service providers using various technologies. In spite of this heterogeneity, seamless intersystem mobility is a mandatory requirement. One of the major challenges for seamless mobility is the creation of a network selection scheme, which is for users that select an optimal network with best comprehensive performance between different types of networks. However, the optimal network may be not the most reasonable one due to compensation of MADM (Multiple Attribute Decision Making, and the network is called pseudo-optimal network. This paper conducts a performance evaluation of a number of widely used MADM-based methods for network selection that aim to keep the mobile users always best connected anywhere and anytime, where subjective weight and objective weight are all considered. The performance analysis shows that the selection scheme based on MEW (weighted multiplicative method and combination weight can better avoid accessing pseudo-optimal network for balancing network load and reducing ping-pong effect in comparison with three other MADM solutions.

Integration of heterogeneous industrial consumers to provide regulating power to the smart grid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahnama, Samira; Stoustrup, Jakob; Rasmussen, Henrik

2013-01-01

In this paper, we propose a framework to utilize the flexibility of consumers in the future smart grid with a high share of fluctuating power. Focus is on industrial cases, where a total power consumption of a few number of consumers are large enough in order to bid in the market. Heterogeneous...

Representation Learning from Time Labelled Heterogeneous Data for Mobile Crowdsensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunmei Ma

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile crowdsensing is a new paradigm that can utilize pervasive smartphones to collect and analyze data to benefit users. However, sensory data gathered by smartphone usually involves different data types because of different granularity and multiple sensor sources. Besides, the data are also time labelled. The heterogeneous and time sequential data raise new challenges for data analyzing. Some existing solutions try to learn each type of data one by one and analyze them separately without considering time information. In addition, the traditional methods also have to determine phone orientation because some sensors equipped in smartphone are orientation related. In this paper, we think that a combination of multiple sensors can represent an invariant feature for a crowdsensing context. Therefore, we propose a new representation learning method of heterogeneous data with time labels to extract typical features using deep learning. We evaluate that our proposed method can adapt data generated by different orientations effectively. Furthermore, we test the performance of the proposed method by recognizing two group mobile activities, walking/cycling and driving/bus with smartphone sensors. It achieves precisions of 98.6% and 93.7% in distinguishing cycling from walking and bus from driving, respectively.

Heterogeneous network architectures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henrik Lehrmann

2006-01-01

is flexibility. This thesis investigates such heterogeneous network architectures and how to make them flexible. A survey of algorithms for network design is presented, and it is described how using heuristics can increase the speed. A hierarchical, MPLS based network architecture is described......Future networks will be heterogeneous! Due to the sheer size of networks (e.g., the Internet) upgrades cannot be instantaneous and thus heterogeneity appears. This means that instead of trying to find the olution, networks hould be designed as being heterogeneous. One of the key equirements here...... and it is discussed that it is advantageous to heterogeneous networks and illustrated by a number of examples. Modeling and simulation is a well-known way of doing performance evaluation. An approach to event-driven simulation of communication networks is presented and mixed complexity modeling, which can simplify...

Extensions to the Parallel Real-Time Artificial Intelligence System (PRAIS) for fault-tolerant heterogeneous cycle-stealing reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, David

1991-01-01

Extensions to an architecture for real-time, distributed (parallel) knowledge-based systems called the Parallel Real-time Artificial Intelligence System (PRAIS) are discussed. PRAIS strives for transparently parallelizing production (rule-based) systems, even under real-time constraints. PRAIS accomplished these goals (presented at the first annual C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) conference) by incorporating a dynamic task scheduler, operating system extensions for fact handling, and message-passing among multiple copies of CLIPS executing on a virtual blackboard. This distributed knowledge-based system tool uses the portability of CLIPS and common message-passing protocols to operate over a heterogeneous network of processors. Results using the original PRAIS architecture over a network of Sun 3's, Sun 4's and VAX's are presented. Mechanisms using the producer-consumer model to extend the architecture for fault-tolerance and distributed truth maintenance initiation are also discussed.

Multiple recharge processes to heterogeneous Mediterranean coastal aquifers and implications on recharge rates evolution in time

Science.gov (United States)

Santoni, S.; Huneau, F.; Garel, E.; Celle-Jeanton, H.

2018-04-01

Climate change is nowadays widely considered to have major effects on groundwater resources. Climatic projections suggest a global increase in evaporation and higher frequency of strong rainfall events especially in Mediterranean context. Since evaporation is synonym of low recharge conditions whereas strong rainfall events are more favourable to recharge in heterogeneous subsurface contexts, a lack of knowledge remains then on the real ongoing and future drinking groundwater supply availability at aquifers scale. Due to low recharge potential and high inter-annual climate variability, this issue is strategic for the Mediterranean hydrosystems. This is especially the case for coastal aquifers because they are exposed to seawater intrusion, sea-level rise and overpumping risks. In this context, recharge processes and rates were investigated in a Mediterranean coastal aquifer with subsurface heterogeneity located in Southern Corsica (France). Aquifer recharge rates from combining ten physical and chemical methods were computed. In addition, hydrochemical and isotopic investigations were carried out through a monthly two years monitoring combining major ions and stable isotopes of water in rain, runoff and groundwater. Diffuse, focused, lateral mountain system and irrigation recharge processes were identified and characterized. A predominant focused recharge conditioned by subsurface heterogeneity is evidenced in agreement with variable but highly favourable recharge rates. The fast water transfer from the surface to the aquifer implied by this recharge process suggests less evaporation, which means higher groundwater renewal and availability in such Mediterranean coastal aquifers.

A molybdenum disulfide/carbon nanotube heterogeneous complementary inverter.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jun; Somu, Sivasubramanian; Busnaina, Ahmed

2012-08-24

We report a simple, bottom-up/top-down approach for integrating drastically different nanoscale building blocks to form a heterogeneous complementary inverter circuit based on layered molybdenum disulfide and carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles. The fabricated CNT/MoS(2) inverter is composed of n-type molybdenum disulfide (MOS(2)) and p-type CNT transistors, with a high voltage gain of 1.3. The CNT channels are fabricated using directed assembly while the layered molybdenum disulfide channels are fabricated by mechanical exfoliation. This bottom-up fabrication approach for integrating various nanoscale elements with unique characteristics provides an alternative cost-effective methodology to complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors, laying the foundation for the realization of high performance logic circuits.

Using a data-centric event-driven architecture approach in the integration of real-time systems at DTP2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuominen, Janne; Viinikainen, Mikko; Alho, Pekka; Mattila, Jouni

2014-01-01

Integration of heterogeneous and distributed systems is a challenging task, because they might be running on different platforms and written with different implementation languages by multiple organizations. Data-centricity and event-driven architecture (EDA) are concepts that help to implement versatile and well-scaling distributed systems. This paper focuses on the implementation of inter-subsystem communication in a prototype distributed remote handling control system developed at Divertor Test Platform 2 (DTP2). The control system consists of a variety of heterogeneous subsystems, including a client–server web application and hard real-time controllers. A standardized middleware solution (Data Distribution Services (DDS)) that supports a data-centric EDA approach is used to integrate the system. One of the greatest challenges in integrating a system with a data-centric EDA approach is in defining the global data space model. The selected middleware is currently only used for non-deterministic communication. For future application, we evaluated the performance of point-to-point communication with and without the presence of additional network load to ensure applicability to real-time systems. We found that, under certain limitations, the middleware can be used for soft real-time communication. Hard real-time use will require more validation with a more suitable environment

Using a data-centric event-driven architecture approach in the integration of real-time systems at DTP2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tuominen, Janne, E-mail: janne.m.tuominen@tut.fi; Viinikainen, Mikko; Alho, Pekka; Mattila, Jouni

2014-10-15

Integration of heterogeneous and distributed systems is a challenging task, because they might be running on different platforms and written with different implementation languages by multiple organizations. Data-centricity and event-driven architecture (EDA) are concepts that help to implement versatile and well-scaling distributed systems. This paper focuses on the implementation of inter-subsystem communication in a prototype distributed remote handling control system developed at Divertor Test Platform 2 (DTP2). The control system consists of a variety of heterogeneous subsystems, including a client–server web application and hard real-time controllers. A standardized middleware solution (Data Distribution Services (DDS)) that supports a data-centric EDA approach is used to integrate the system. One of the greatest challenges in integrating a system with a data-centric EDA approach is in defining the global data space model. The selected middleware is currently only used for non-deterministic communication. For future application, we evaluated the performance of point-to-point communication with and without the presence of additional network load to ensure applicability to real-time systems. We found that, under certain limitations, the middleware can be used for soft real-time communication. Hard real-time use will require more validation with a more suitable environment.

Catchment heterogeneity controls emergent archetype concentration-discharge relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Musolff, A.; Fleckenstein, J. H.; Rao, P. S.; Jawitz, J. W.

2017-12-01

Relationships between in-stream dissolved solute concentrations (C) and discharge (Q) are often-used indicators of catchment-scale processes and their interference with human activities. Here we analyze observational C-Q relationships from 61 catchments and 8 different solutes across a wide range of land-uses and discharge regimes. This analysis is combined with a parsimonious stochastic modeling approach to test how C-Q relationships arise from spatial heterogeneity in catchment solute sources coupled with different timescales of biogeochemical reactions. The observational data exhibit archetypical dilution, enrichment, and constant C-Q patterns. Moreover, with land-use intensification we find decreasing C variability relative to Q variability (chemostatic export regime). Our model indicates that the dominant driver of emergent C-Q patterns was structured heterogeneity of solute sources implemented as correlation of source concentration to travel time. Regardless of the C-Q pattern, with decreasing source heterogeneity we consistently find lower variability in C than in Q and a dominance of chemostatic export regimes. Here, the variance in exported loads is determined primarily by variance of Q. We conclude that efforts to improve stream water quality and ecological integrity in intensely managed catchments should lead away from landscape homogenization by introducing structured source heterogeneity. References: Musolff, A., J. H. Fleckenstein, P. S. C. Rao, and J. W. Jawitz (2017), Emergent archetype patterns of coupled hydrologic and biogeochemical responses in catchments, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44(9), 4143-4151, doi: 10.1002/2017GL072630.

Characterization of Cellular and Molecular Heterogeneity of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elsafadi, Mona; Manikandan, Muthurangan; Atteya, Muhammad

2016-01-01

and osteoblast differentiation genes which included several homeobox genes: TBX15, HOXA2 and HOXA10, and IGF1, FGFR3, BMP6, MCAM, ITGA10, IGFBP5, and ALP. siRNA-based downregulation of the ALP gene in CL1 impaired osteoblastic and adipocytic differentiation. Our studies demonstrate the existence of molecular......Human bone marrow-derived stromal stem cells (hBMSC) exhibit multiple functions, including differentiation into skeletal cells (progenitor function), hematopoiesis support, and immune regulation (nonprogenitor function). We have previously demonstrated the presence of morphological and functional...... and functional heterogeneity in cultured hBMSC. ALP can be employed to identify osteoblastic and adipocytic progenitor cells in the heterogeneous hBMSC cultures...

The continuous end-state comfort effect: weighted integration of multiple biases.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbort, Oliver; Butz, Martin V

2012-05-01

The grasp orientation when grasping an object is frequently aligned in anticipation of the intended rotation of the object (end-state comfort effect). We analyzed grasp orientation selection in a continuous task to determine the mechanisms underlying the end-state comfort effect. Participants had to grasp a box by a circular handle-which allowed for arbitrary grasp orientations-and then had to rotate the box by various angles. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed both that the rotation's direction considerably determined grasp orientations and that end-postures varied considerably. Experiments 3 and 4 further showed that visual stimuli and initial arm postures biased grasp orientations if the intended rotation could be easily achieved. The data show that end-state comfort but also other factors determine grasp orientation selection. A simple mechanism that integrates multiple weighted biases can account for the data.

An Overview of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Heterogeneity and Treatment Options

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Anne Masi; Marilena M.DeMayo; Nicholas Glozier; Adam J.Guastella

2017-01-01

Since the documented observations of Kanner in 1943,there has been great debate about the diagnoses,the sub-types,and the diagnostic threshold that relates to what is now known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Reflecting this complicated history,there has been continual refinement from DSM-Ⅲ with ‘Infantile Autism’ to the current DSM-Ⅴ diagnosis.The disorder is now widely accepted as a complex,pervasive,heterogeneous condition with multiple etiologies,sub-types,and developmental trajectories.Diagnosis remains based on observation of atypical behaviors,with criteria of persistent deficits in social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior.This review provides a broad overview of the history,prevalence,etiology,clinical presentation,and heterogeneity of ASD.Factors contributing to heterogeneity,including genetic variability,comorbidity,and gender are reviewed.We then explore current evidencebased pharmacological and behavioral treatments for ASD and highlight the complexities of conducting clinical trials that evaluate therapeutic efficacy in ASD populations.Finally,we discuss the potential of a new wave of research examining objective biomarkers to facilitate the evaluation of sub-typing,diagnosis,and treatment response in ASD.

Bayesian inversion analysis of nonlinear dynamics in surface heterogeneous reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Omori, Toshiaki; Kuwatani, Tatsu; Okamoto, Atsushi; Hukushima, Koji

2016-09-01

It is essential to extract nonlinear dynamics from time-series data as an inverse problem in natural sciences. We propose a Bayesian statistical framework for extracting nonlinear dynamics of surface heterogeneous reactions from sparse and noisy observable data. Surface heterogeneous reactions are chemical reactions with conjugation of multiple phases, and they have the intrinsic nonlinearity of their dynamics caused by the effect of surface-area between different phases. We adapt a belief propagation method and an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to partial observation problem, in order to simultaneously estimate the time course of hidden variables and the kinetic parameters underlying dynamics. The proposed belief propagation method is performed by using sequential Monte Carlo algorithm in order to estimate nonlinear dynamical system. Using our proposed method, we show that the rate constants of dissolution and precipitation reactions, which are typical examples of surface heterogeneous reactions, as well as the temporal changes of solid reactants and products, were successfully estimated only from the observable temporal changes in the concentration of the dissolved intermediate product.

A Fuzzy Logic Framework for Integrating Multiple Learned Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartog, Bobi Kai Den [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)

1999-03-01

The Artificial Intelligence field of Integrating Multiple Learned Models (IMLM) explores ways to combine results from sets of trained programs. Aroclor Interpretation is an ill-conditioned problem in which trained programs must operate in scenarios outside their training ranges because it is intractable to train them completely. Consequently, they fail in ways related to the scenarios. We developed a general-purpose IMLM solution, the Combiner, and applied it to Aroclor Interpretation. The Combiner's first step, Scenario Identification (M), learns rules from very sparse, synthetic training data consisting of results from a suite of trained programs called Methods. S1 produces fuzzy belief weights for each scenario by approximately matching the rules. The Combiner's second step, Aroclor Presence Detection (AP), classifies each of three Aroclors as present or absent in a sample. The third step, Aroclor Quantification (AQ), produces quantitative values for the concentration of each Aroclor in a sample. AP and AQ use automatically learned empirical biases for each of the Methods in each scenario. Through fuzzy logic, AP and AQ combine scenario weights, automatically learned biases for each of the Methods in each scenario, and Methods' results to determine results for a sample.

Analytical bounds on the area spectral efficiency of uplink heterogeneous networks over generalized fading channels

KAUST Repository

Shakir, Muhammad; Tabassum, Hina; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2014-01-01

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are envisioned to enable next-generation cellular networks by providing higher spectral and energy efficiency. A HetNet is typically composed of multiple radio access technologies where several low-power low

Integrative set enrichment testing for multiple omics platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poisson Laila M

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Enrichment testing assesses the overall evidence of differential expression behavior of the elements within a defined set. When we have measured many molecular aspects, e.g. gene expression, metabolites, proteins, it is desirable to assess their differential tendencies jointly across platforms using an integrated set enrichment test. In this work we explore the properties of several methods for performing a combined enrichment test using gene expression and metabolomics as the motivating platforms. Results Using two simulation models we explored the properties of several enrichment methods including two novel methods: the logistic regression 2-degree of freedom Wald test and the 2-dimensional permutation p-value for the sum-of-squared statistics test. In relation to their univariate counterparts we find that the joint tests can improve our ability to detect results that are marginal univariately. We also find that joint tests improve the ranking of associated pathways compared to their univariate counterparts. However, there is a risk of Type I error inflation with some methods and self-contained methods lose specificity when the sets are not representative of underlying association. Conclusions In this work we show that consideration of data from multiple platforms, in conjunction with summarization via a priori pathway information, leads to increased power in detection of genomic associations with phenotypes.

Optimal Routing for Heterogeneous Fixed Fleets of Multicompartment Vehicles

OpenAIRE

Wang, Qian; Ji, Qingkai; Chiu, Chun-Hung

2014-01-01

We present a metaheuristic called the reactive guided tabu search (RGTS) to solve the heterogeneous fleet multicompartment vehicle routing problem (MCVRP), where a single vehicle is required for cotransporting multiple customer orders. MCVRP is commonly found in delivery of fashion apparel, petroleum distribution, food distribution, and waste collection. In searching the optimum solution of MCVRP, we need to handle a large amount of local optima in the solution spaces. To overcome this proble...

Peace Through Integration or Peace Through Separation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reher, Stefanie

2011-01-01

to the different groups by creating homogeneous federal units will mediate political conflict and prevent secession by reducing discrimination of minorities. Integrationists reject this idea, claiming that integration in form of heterogeneous federal units promotes tolerance and thereby peace. This study sheds...... light on the debate by comparing India’s federal states, which differ in their levels of religious heterogeneity. The results of the quantitative analysis indicate that religiously homogeneous federal units have higher levels of interreligious tolerance than heterogeneous units, lending support...

Clinical and pathological heterogeneity of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannah P Yang

Full Text Available Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3, the immediate cervical cancer precursor, is a target of cervical cancer prevention. However, less than half of CIN3s will progress to cancer. Routine treatment of all CIN3s and the majority of CIN2s may lead to overtreatment of many lesions that would not progress. To improve our understanding of CIN3 natural history, we performed a detailed characterization of CIN3 heterogeneity in a large referral population in the US.We examined 309 CIN3 cases in the SUCCEED, a large population-based study of women with abnormal cervical cancer screening results. Histology information for 12 individual loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP segments was evaluated for each woman. We performed case-case comparisons of CIN3s to analyze determinants of heterogeneity and screening test performance.CIN3 cases varied substantially by size (1-10 LEEP segments and by presentation with concomitant CIN2 and CIN1. All grades of CINs were equally distributed over the cervical surface. In half of the women, CIN3 lesions were found as multiple distinct lesions on the cervix. Women with large and solitary CIN3 lesions were more likely to be older, have longer sexual activity span, and have fewer multiple high risk HPV infections. Screening frequency, but not HPV16 positivity, was an important predictor of CIN3 size. Large CIN3 lesions were also characterized by high-grade clinical test results.We demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in clinical and pathological presentation of CIN3 in a US population. Time since sexual debut and participation in screening were predictors of CIN3 size. We did not observe a preferential site of CIN3 on the cervical surface that could serve as a target for cervical biopsy. Cervical cancer screening procedures were more likely to detect larger CIN3s, suggesting that CIN3s detected by multiple independent diagnostic tests may represent cases with increased risk of invasion.

Effect of tissue heterogeneity on quantification in positron emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blomqvist, G.; Lammertsma, A.A.; Mazoyer, B.; Wienhard, K.

1995-01-01

As a result of the limited spatial resolution of positron emission tomographic scanners, the measurements of physiological parameters are compromised by tissue heterogeneity. The effect of tissue heterogeneity on a number of parameters was studied by simulation and an analytical method. Five common tracer models were assessed. The input and tissue response functions were assumed to be free from noise and systematic errors. The kinetic model was assumed to be perfect. Two components with different kinetics were mixed in different proportions and contrast with respect to the model parameters. Different experimental protocols were investigated. Of three methods investigated for the measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF) (steady state, dynamic, integral), the second one was least sensitive to errors caused by tissue heterogeneity and the main effect was an underestimation of the distribution volume. With the steady state method, errors in oxygen extraction fraction caused by tissue heterogeneity were always found to be less than the corresponding errors in CBF. For myocardial blood flow the steady state method was found to perform better than the bolus method. The net accumulation of substrate (i.e. rCMR glc in the case of glucose analogs) was found to be comparatively insensitive to tissue heterogeneity. Individual rate constans such as k 2 and k 3 for efflux and metabolism of the substrate in the pool of unmetabolized substrate in the tissue, respectively, were found to be more sensitive. In studies of radioligand binding, using only tracer doses, the effect of tissue heterogeneity on the parameter k on .B max could be considerable. In studies of radioligand binding using a protocol with two experiments, one with high and one with low specific activity, B max was found to be insensitive while K d was very sensitive to tissue heterogeneity. (orig.)

Effect of tissue heterogeneity on quantification in positron emission tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blomqvist, G [Dept. of Clinical Neuroscience, Experimental Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research Section, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm (Sweden); Lammertsma, A A [PET Methodology Group, Cyclotron Unit, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Mazoyer, B [Service Hospitalier Frederic Joliot CEA/Dept. de Biologie, Hopital d` Orsay and Antenne d` Informatique Medicale, Hopital Robert Debre, Paris (France); Wienhard, K [Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Neurologische Forschung, Koeln (Germany)

1995-07-01

As a result of the limited spatial resolution of positron emission tomographic scanners, the measurements of physiological parameters are compromised by tissue heterogeneity. The effect of tissue heterogeneity on a number of parameters was studied by simulation and an analytical method. Five common tracer models were assessed. The input and tissue response functions were assumed to be free from noise and systematic errors. The kinetic model was assumed to be perfect. Two components with different kinetics were mixed in different proportions and contrast with respect to the model parameters. Different experimental protocols were investigated. Of three methods investigated for the measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF) (steady state, dynamic, integral), the second one was least sensitive to errors caused by tissue heterogeneity and the main effect was an underestimation of the distribution volume. With the steady state method, errors in oxygen extraction fraction caused by tissue heterogeneity were always found to be less than the corresponding errors in CBF. For myocardial blood flow the steady state method was found to perform better than the bolus method. The net accumulation of substrate (i.e. rCMR{sub glc} in the case of glucose analogs) was found to be comparatively insensitive to tissue heterogeneity. Individual rate constans such as k{sub 2} and k{sub 3} for efflux and metabolism of the substrate in the pool of unmetabolized substrate in the tissue, respectively, were found to be more sensitive. In studies of radioligand binding, using only tracer doses, the effect of tissue heterogeneity on the parameter k{sub on}.B{sub max} could be considerable. In studies of radioligand binding using a protocol with two experiments, one with high and one with low specific activity, B{sub max} was found to be insensitive while K{sub d} was very sensitive to tissue heterogeneity. (orig.)

Integrated Site Investigation Methods and Modeling: Recent Developments at the BHRS (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Barrash, W.; Bradford, J. H.; Cardiff, M. A.; Dafflon, B.; Johnson, B. A.; Malama, B.; Thoma, M. J.

2010-12-01

The Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site (BHRS) is a field-scale test facility in an unconfined aquifer with the goals of: developing cost-effective, non-invasive methods for quantitative characterization of heterogeneous aquifers using hydrologic and geophysical techniques; understanding fundamental relations and processes at multiple scales; and testing theories and models for groundwater flow and solute transport. The design of the BHRS supports a wide range of single-well, cross-hole, multiwell and multilevel hydrologic, geophysical, and combined hydrogeophysical experiments. New installations support direct and geophysical monitoring of hydrologic fluxes and states from the aquifer through the vadose zone to the atmosphere, including ET and river boundary behavior. Efforts to date have largely focused on establishing the 1D, 2D, and 3D distributions of geologic, hydrologic, and geophysical parameters which can then be used as the basis for testing methods to integrate direct and indirect data and invert for “known” parameter distributions, material boundaries, and tracer test or other system state behavior. Aquifer structure at the BHRS is hierarchical and includes layers and lenses that are recognized with geologic, hydrologic, radar, electrical, and seismic methods. Recent advances extend findings and method developments, but also highlight the need to examine assumptions and understand secular influences when designing and modeling field tests. Examples of advances and caveats include: New high-resolution 1D K profiles obtained from multi-level slug tests (inversion improves with priors for aquifer K, wellbore skin, and local presence of roots) show variable correlation with porosity and bring into question a Kozeny-Carman-type relation for much of the system. Modeling of 2D conservative tracer transport through a synthetic BHRS-like heterogeneous system shows the importance of including porosity heterogeneity (rather than assuming constant porosity for

Characterizing Tumor Heterogeneity With Functional Imaging and Quantifying High-Risk Tumor Volume for Early Prediction of Treatment Outcome: Cervical Cancer as a Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayr, Nina A., E-mail: Nina.Mayr@osumc.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Huang Zhibin [Department of Radiation Oncology and Department of Physics, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC (United States); Wang, Jian Z. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Lo, Simon S. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States); Fan, Joline M. [Department of Molecular Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (United States); Grecula, John C. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Sammet, Steffen [Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Department of Radiology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Sammet, Christina L. [Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Jia Guang; Zhang Jun; Knopp, Michael V.; Yuh, William T.C. [Department of Radiology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)

2012-07-01

Purpose: Treatment response in cancer has been monitored by measuring anatomic tumor volume (ATV) at various times without considering the inherent functional tumor heterogeneity known to critically influence ultimate treatment outcome: primary tumor control and survival. This study applied dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) functional MRI to characterize tumors' heterogeneous subregions with low DCE values, at risk for treatment failure, and to quantify the functional risk volume (FRV) for personalized early prediction of treatment outcome. Methods and Materials: DCE-MRI was performed in 102 stage IB{sub 2}-IVA cervical cancer patients to assess tumor perfusion heterogeneity before and during radiation/chemotherapy. FRV represents the total volume of tumor voxels with critically low DCE signal intensity (<2.1 compared with precontrast image, determined by previous receiver operator characteristic analysis). FRVs were correlated with treatment outcome (follow-up: 0.2-9.4, mean 6.8 years) and compared with ATVs (Mann-Whitney, Kaplan-Meier, and multivariate analyses). Results: Before and during therapy at 2-2.5 and 4-5 weeks of RT, FRVs >20, >13, and >5 cm{sup 3}, respectively, significantly predicted unfavorable 6-year primary tumor control (p = 0.003, 7.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -8}, 2.0 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -8}) and disease-specific survival (p = 1.9 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4}, 2.1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -6}, 2.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7}, respectively). The FRVs were superior to the ATVs as early predictors of outcome, and the differentiating power of FRVs increased during treatment. Discussion: Our preliminary results suggest that functional tumor heterogeneity can be characterized by DCE-MRI to quantify FRV for predicting ultimate long-term treatment outcome. FRV is a novel functional imaging heterogeneity parameter, superior to ATV, and can be clinically translated for personalized early outcome prediction before or as early as 2

Optimal Operation System of the Integrated District Heating System with Multiple Regional Branches

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ui Sik; Park, Tae Chang; Kim, Lae-Hyun; Yeo, Yeong Koo

This paper presents an optimal production and distribution management for structural and operational optimization of the integrated district heating system (DHS) with multiple regional branches. A DHS consists of energy suppliers and consumers, district heating pipelines network and heat storage facilities in the covered region. In the optimal management system, production of heat and electric power, regional heat demand, electric power bidding and sales, transport and storage of heat at each regional DHS are taken into account. The optimal management system is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) where the objectives is to minimize the overall cost of the integrated DHS while satisfying the operation constraints of heat units and networks as well as fulfilling heating demands from consumers. Piecewise linear formulation of the production cost function and stairwise formulation of the start-up cost function are used to compute nonlinear cost function approximately. Evaluation of the total overall cost is based on weekly operations at each district heat branches. Numerical simulations show the increase of energy efficiency due to the introduction of the present optimal management system.

Brachytherapy dose measurements in heterogeneous tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paiva F, G.; Luvizotto, J.; Salles C, T.; Guimaraes A, P. C.; Dalledone S, P. de T.; Yoriyaz, H.; Rubo, R.

2014-08-01

Recently, Beau lieu et al. published an article providing guidance for Model-Based Dose Calculation Algorithms (MBDCAs), where tissue heterogeneity considerations are addressed. It is well-known that T G-43 formalism which considers only water medium is limited and significant dose differences have been found comparing both methodologies. The aim of the present work is to experimentally quantify dose values in heterogeneous medium using different dose measurement methods and techniques and compare them with those obtained with Monte Carlo simulations. Experiments have been performed using a Nucletron micro Selectron-Hdr Ir-192 brachytherapy source and a heterogeneous phantom composed by PMMA and different tissue equivalent cylinders like bone, lungs and muscle. Several dose measurements were obtained using tissue equivalent materials with height 1.8 cm and 4.3 cm positioned between the radiation source and the detectors. Radiochromic films, TLDs and MOSFET S have been used for the dose measurements. Film dosimetry has been performed using two methodologies: a) linearization for dose-response curve based on calibration curves to create a functional form that linearize s the dose response and b) 177 multichannel analysis dosimetry where the multiple color channels are analyzed allowing to address not only disturbances in the measurements caused by thickness variation in the film layer, but also, separate other external influences in the film response. All experiments have been simulated using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo radiation transport code. Comparison of experimental results are in good agreement with calculated dose values with differences less than 6% for almost all cases. (Author)

Brachytherapy dose measurements in heterogeneous tissues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paiva F, G.; Luvizotto, J.; Salles C, T.; Guimaraes A, P. C.; Dalledone S, P. de T.; Yoriyaz, H. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares / CNEN, Av. Lineu Prestes 2242, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-000 Sao Paulo (Brazil); Rubo, R., E-mail: gabrielpaivafonseca@gmail.com [Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 05403-900 Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2014-08-15

Recently, Beau lieu et al. published an article providing guidance for Model-Based Dose Calculation Algorithms (MBDCAs), where tissue heterogeneity considerations are addressed. It is well-known that T G-43 formalism which considers only water medium is limited and significant dose differences have been found comparing both methodologies. The aim of the present work is to experimentally quantify dose values in heterogeneous medium using different dose measurement methods and techniques and compare them with those obtained with Monte Carlo simulations. Experiments have been performed using a Nucletron micro Selectron-Hdr Ir-192 brachytherapy source and a heterogeneous phantom composed by PMMA and different tissue equivalent cylinders like bone, lungs and muscle. Several dose measurements were obtained using tissue equivalent materials with height 1.8 cm and 4.3 cm positioned between the radiation source and the detectors. Radiochromic films, TLDs and MOSFET S have been used for the dose measurements. Film dosimetry has been performed using two methodologies: a) linearization for dose-response curve based on calibration curves to create a functional form that linearize s the dose response and b) 177 multichannel analysis dosimetry where the multiple color channels are analyzed allowing to address not only disturbances in the measurements caused by thickness variation in the film layer, but also, separate other external influences in the film response. All experiments have been simulated using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo radiation transport code. Comparison of experimental results are in good agreement with calculated dose values with differences less than 6% for almost all cases. (Author)

Aquifer heterogeneity characterization with oscillatory pumping: Sensitivity analysis and imaging potential

Science.gov (United States)

Cardiff, M.; Bakhos, T.; Kitanidis, P. K.; Barrash, W.

2013-09-01

Periodic pumping tests, in which a fluid is extracted during half a period, then reinjected, have been used historically to estimate effective aquifer properties. In this work, we suggest a modified approach to periodic pumping test analysis in which one uses several periodic pumping signals of different frequencies as stimulation, and responses are analyzed through inverse modeling using a "steady-periodic" model formulation. We refer to this strategy as multifrequency oscillatory hydraulic imaging. Oscillating pumping tests have several advantages that have been noted, including no net water extraction during testing and robust signal measurement through signal processing. Through numerical experiments, we demonstrate additional distinct advantages that multifrequency stimulations have, including: (1) drastically reduced computational cost through use of a steady-periodic numerical model and (2) full utilization of the aquifer heterogeneity information provided by responses at different frequencies. We first perform fully transient numerical modeling for heterogeneous aquifers and show that equivalent results are obtained using a faster steady-periodic heterogeneous numerical model of the wave phasor. The sensitivities of observed signal response to aquifer heterogeneities are derived using an adjoint state-based approach, which shows that different frequency stimulations provide complementary information. Finally, we present an example 2-D application in which sinusoidal signals at multiple frequencies are used as a data source and are inverted to obtain estimates of aquifer heterogeneity. These analyses show the different heterogeneity information that can be obtained from different stimulation frequencies, and that data from several sinusoidal pumping tests can be rapidly inverted using the steady-periodic framework.

Tumor Heterogeneity: Mechanisms and Bases for a Reliable Application of Molecular Marker Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvador J. Diaz-Cano

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Tumor heterogeneity is a confusing finding in the assessment of neoplasms, potentially resulting in inaccurate diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tests. This tumor heterogeneity is not always a random and unpredictable phenomenon, whose knowledge helps designing better tests. The biologic reasons for this intratumoral heterogeneity would then be important to understand both the natural history of neoplasms and the selection of test samples for reliable analysis. The main factors contributing to intratumoral heterogeneity inducing gene abnormalities or modifying its expression include: the gradient ischemic level within neoplasms, the action of tumor microenvironment (bidirectional interaction between tumor cells and stroma, mechanisms of intercellular transference of genetic information (exosomes, and differential mechanisms of sequence-independent modifications of genetic material and proteins. The intratumoral heterogeneity is at the origin of tumor progression and it is also the byproduct of the selection process during progression. Any analysis of heterogeneity mechanisms must be integrated within the process of segregation of genetic changes in tumor cells during the clonal expansion and progression of neoplasms. The evaluation of these mechanisms must also consider the redundancy and pleiotropism of molecular pathways, for which appropriate surrogate markers would support the presence or not of heterogeneous genetics and the main mechanisms responsible. This knowledge would constitute a solid scientific background for future therapeutic planning.

Heterogeneously Nd3+ doped single nanoparticles for NIR-induced heat conversion, luminescence, and thermometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Marciniak, Lukasz; Pilch, Aleksandra; Arabasz, Sebastian; Jin, Dayong; Bednarkiewicz, Artur

2017-06-22

The current frontier in nanomaterials engineering is to intentionally design and fabricate heterogeneous nanoparticles with desirable morphology and composition, and to integrate multiple functionalities through highly controlled epitaxial growth. Here we show that heterogeneous doping of Nd 3+ ions following a core-shell design already allows three optical functions, namely efficient (η > 72%) light-to-heat conversion, bright NIR emission, and sensitive (S R > 0.1% K -1 ) localized temperature quantification, to be built within a single ca. 25 nm nanoparticle. Importantly, all these optical functions operate within the transparent biological window of the NIR spectral region (λ exc ∼ 800 nm, λ emi ∼ 860 nm), in which light scattering and absorption by tissues and water are minimal. We find NaNdF 4 as a core is efficient in absorbing and converting 808 nm light to heat, while NaYF 4 :1%Nd 3+ as a shell is a temperature sensor based on the ratio-metric luminescence reading but an intermediate inert spacer shell, e.g. NaYF 4 , is necessary to insulate the heat convertor and thermometer by preventing the possible Nd-Nd energy relaxation. Moreover, we notice that while temperature sensitivity and luminescence intensity are optically stable, increased excitation intensity to generate heat above room temperature may saturate the sensing capacity of temperature feedback. We therefore propose a dual beam photoexcitation scheme as a solution for possible light-induced hyperthermia treatment.

Multiple-integrations of HPV16 genome and altered transcription of viral oncogenes and cellular genes are associated with the development of cervical cancer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xulian Lu

Full Text Available The constitutive expression of the high-risk HPV E6 and E7 viral oncogenes is the major cause of cervical cancer. To comprehensively explore the composition of HPV16 early transcripts and their genomic annotation, cervical squamous epithelial tissues from 40 HPV16-infected patients were collected for analysis of papillomavirus oncogene transcripts (APOT. We observed different transcription patterns of HPV16 oncogenes in progression of cervical lesions to cervical cancer and identified one novel transcript. Multiple-integration events in the tissues of cervical carcinoma (CxCa are significantly more often than those of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL. Moreover, most cellular genes within or near these integration sites are cancer-associated genes. Taken together, this study suggests that the multiple-integrations of HPV genome during persistent viral infection, which thereby alters the expression patterns of viral oncogenes and integration-related cellular genes, play a crucial role in progression of cervical lesions to cervix cancer.

Dynamic heterogeneity in life histories

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tuljapurkar, Shripad; Steiner, Uli; Orzack, Steven Hecht

2009-01-01

or no fixed heterogeneity influences this trait. We propose that dynamic heterogeneity provides a 'neutral' model for assessing the possible role of unobserved 'quality' differences between individuals. We discuss fitness for dynamic life histories, and the implications of dynamic heterogeneity...... generate dynamic heterogeneity: life-history differences produced by stochastic stratum dynamics. We characterize dynamic heterogeneity in a range of species across taxa by properties of the Markov chain: the entropy, which describes the extent of heterogeneity, and the subdominant eigenvalue, which...... distributions of lifetime reproductive success. Dynamic heterogeneity contrasts with fixed heterogeneity: unobserved differences that generate variation between life histories. We show by an example that observed distributions of lifetime reproductive success are often consistent with the claim that little...

Scaling the heterogeneously heated convective boundary layer

Science.gov (United States)

Van Heerwaarden, C.; Mellado, J.; De Lozar, A.

2013-12-01

We have studied the heterogeneously heated convective boundary layer (CBL) by means of large-eddy simulations (LES) and direct numerical simulations (DNS). What makes our study different from previous studies on this subject are our very long simulations in which the system travels through multiple states and that from there we have derived scaling laws. In our setup, a stratified atmosphere is heated from below by square patches with a high surface buoyancy flux, surrounded by regions with no or little flux. By letting a boundary layer grow in time we let the system evolve from the so-called meso-scale to the micro-scale regime. In the former the heterogeneity is large and strong circulations can develop, while in the latter the heterogeneity is small and does no longer influence the boundary layer structure. Within each simulation we can now observe the formation of a peak in kinetic energy, which represents the 'optimal' heterogeneity size in the meso-scale, and the subsequent decay of the peak and the development towards the transition to the micro-scale. We have created a non-dimensional parameter space that describes all properties of this system. By studying the previously described evolution for different combinations of parameters, we have derived three important conclusions. First, there exists a horizontal length scale of the heterogeneity (L) that is a function of the boundary layer height (h) and the Richardson (Ri) number of the inversion at the top of the boundary layer. This relationship has the form L = h Ri^(3/8). Second, this horizontal length scale L allows for expressing the time evolution, and thus the state of the system, as a ratio of this length scale and the distance between two patches Xp. This ratio thus describes to which extent the circulation fills up the space that exists between two patch centers. The timings of the transition from the meso- to the micro-scale collapse under this scaling for all simulations sharing the same flux