WorldWideScience

Sample records for significantly improved retrieval

  1. Improved ultrashort pulse-retrieval algorithm for frequency-resolved optical gating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeLong, K.W.; Trebino, R.

    1994-01-01

    We report on significant improvements in the pulse-retrieval algorithm used to reconstruct the amplitude and the phase of ultrashort optical pulses from the experimental frequency-resolved optical gating trace data in the polarization-gate geometry. These improvements involve the use of an intensity constraint, an overcorrection technique, and a multidimensional minimization scheme. While the previously published, basic algorithm converged for most common ultrashort pulses, it failed to retrieve pulses with significant intensity substructure. The improved composite algorithm successfully converges for such pulses. It can now retrieve essentially all pulses of practical interest. We present examples of complex waveforms that were retrieved by the improved algorithm

  2. Dictionary Pruning with Visual Word Significance for Medical Image Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Fan; Song, Yang; Cai, Weidong; Hauptmann, Alexander G; Liu, Sidong; Pujol, Sonia; Kikinis, Ron; Fulham, Michael J; Feng, David Dagan; Chen, Mei

    2016-02-12

    Content-based medical image retrieval (CBMIR) is an active research area for disease diagnosis and treatment but it can be problematic given the small visual variations between anatomical structures. We propose a retrieval method based on a bag-of-visual-words (BoVW) to identify discriminative characteristics between different medical images with Pruned Dictionary based on Latent Semantic Topic description. We refer to this as the PD-LST retrieval. Our method has two main components. First, we calculate a topic-word significance value for each visual word given a certain latent topic to evaluate how the word is connected to this latent topic. The latent topics are learnt, based on the relationship between the images and words, and are employed to bridge the gap between low-level visual features and high-level semantics. These latent topics describe the images and words semantically and can thus facilitate more meaningful comparisons between the words. Second, we compute an overall-word significance value to evaluate the significance of a visual word within the entire dictionary. We designed an iterative ranking method to measure overall-word significance by considering the relationship between all latent topics and words. The words with higher values are considered meaningful with more significant discriminative power in differentiating medical images. We evaluated our method on two public medical imaging datasets and it showed improved retrieval accuracy and efficiency.

  3. Credibility improves topical blog post retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weerkamp, W.; de Rijke, M.

    2008-01-01

    Topical blog post retrieval is the task of ranking blog posts with respect to their relevance for a given topic. To improve topical blog post retrieval we incorporate textual credibility indicators in the retrieval process. We consider two groups of indicators: post level (determined using

  4. FRESCO+: an improved O2 A-band cloud retrieval algorithm for tropospheric trace gas retrievals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. van Roozendael

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available The FRESCO (Fast Retrieval Scheme for Clouds from the Oxygen A-band algorithm has been used to retrieve cloud information from measurements of the O2 A-band around 760 nm by GOME, SCIAMACHY and GOME-2. The cloud parameters retrieved by FRESCO are the effective cloud fraction and cloud pressure, which are used for cloud correction in the retrieval of trace gases like O3 and NO2. To improve the cloud pressure retrieval for partly cloudy scenes, single Rayleigh scattering has been included in an improved version of the algorithm, called FRESCO+. We compared FRESCO+ and FRESCO effective cloud fractions and cloud pressures using simulated spectra and one month of GOME measured spectra. As expected, FRESCO+ gives more reliable cloud pressures over partly cloudy pixels. Simulations and comparisons with ground-based radar/lidar measurements of clouds show that the FRESCO+ cloud pressure is about the optical midlevel of the cloud. Globally averaged, the FRESCO+ cloud pressure is about 50 hPa higher than the FRESCO cloud pressure, while the FRESCO+ effective cloud fraction is about 0.01 larger. The effect of FRESCO+ cloud parameters on O3 and NO2 vertical column density (VCD retrievals is studied using SCIAMACHY data and ground-based DOAS measurements. We find that the FRESCO+ algorithm has a significant effect on tropospheric NO2 retrievals but a minor effect on total O3 retrievals. The retrieved SCIAMACHY tropospheric NO2 VCDs using FRESCO+ cloud parameters (v1.1 are lower than the tropospheric NO2VCDs which used FRESCO cloud parameters (v1.04, in particular over heavily polluted areas with low clouds. The difference between SCIAMACHY tropospheric NO2 VCDs v1.1 and ground-based MAXDOAS measurements performed in Cabauw, The Netherlands, during the DANDELIONS campaign is about −2.12×1014molec cm−2.

  5. Improving inferior vena cava filter retrieval rates with the define, measure, analyze, improve, control methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutphin, Patrick D; Reis, Stephen P; McKune, Angie; Ravanzo, Maria; Kalva, Sanjeeva P; Pillai, Anil K

    2015-04-01

    To design a sustainable process to improve optional inferior vena cava (IVC) filter retrieval rates based on the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology of the Six Sigma process improvement paradigm. DMAIC, an acronym for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control, was employed to design and implement a quality improvement project to increase IVC filter retrieval rates at a tertiary academic hospital. Retrievable IVC filters were placed in 139 patients over a 2-year period. The baseline IVC filter retrieval rate (n = 51) was reviewed through a retrospective analysis, and two strategies were devised to improve the filter retrieval rate: (a) mailing of letters to clinicians and patients for patients who had filters placed within 8 months of implementation of the project (n = 43) and (b) a prospective automated scheduling of a clinic visit at 4 weeks after filter placement for all new patients (n = 45). The effectiveness of these strategies was assessed by measuring the filter retrieval rates and estimated increase in revenue to interventional radiology. IVC filter retrieval rates increased from a baseline of 8% to 40% with the mailing of letters and to 52% with the automated scheduling of a clinic visit 4 weeks after IVC filter placement. The estimated revenue per 100 IVC filters placed increased from $2,249 to $10,518 with the mailing of letters and to $17,022 with the automated scheduling of a clinic visit. Using the DMAIC methodology, a simple and sustainable quality improvement intervention was devised that markedly improved IVC filter retrieval rates in eligible patients. Copyright © 2015 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Improved surface-wave retrieval from ambient seismic noise by multi-dimensional deconvolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wapenaar, Kees; Ruigrok, Elmer; van der Neut, Joost; Draganov, Deyan

    2011-01-01

    The methodology of surface-wave retrieval from ambient seismic noise by crosscorrelation relies on the assumption that the noise field is equipartitioned. Deviations from equipartitioning degrade the accuracy of the retrieved surface-wave Green's function. A point-spread function, derived from the same ambient noise field, quantifies the smearing in space and time of the virtual source of the Green's function. By multidimensionally deconvolving the retrieved Green's function by the point-spread function, the virtual source becomes better focussed in space and time and hence the accuracy of the retrieved surface-wave Green's function may improve significantly. We illustrate this at the hand of a numerical example and discuss the advantages and limitations of this new methodology.

  7. SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN THE DEPLOYMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE RETRIEVAL OF HANFORD RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE TANKS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    RAYMOND RE; DODD RA; CARPENTER KE; STURGES MH

    2008-01-01

    Significant enhancements in the development and deployment of new technologies for removing waste from storage tanks at the Hanford Site have resulted in accelerated progress and reduced costs for tank cleanup. CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. is the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection's prime contractor responsible for safely storing and retrieving approximately 53 million gallons of highly-radioactive and hazardous waste stored in 177 underground tanks. The waste is stored in 149 older single-shell tanks (SST) and 28 newer double-shell tanks (DST) that are grouped in 18 so-called farms near the center of the Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington State. Tank contents include materials from years of World-War II and post-war weapons production, which account for 60 percent by volume of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. A key strategy for improved cleanup is the development and deployment of innovative technologies, which enhance worker safety, resolve technical challenges, streamline retrieval processes, and cut project costs and durations. During the past seven years of tank cleanout projects we have encountered conditions and waste chemistry that defy conventional approaches, requiring a variety of new tools and techniques. Through the deployment of advanced technology and the creative application of resources, we are finding ways to accomplish the retrieval process safely, swiftly, and economically. To date, retrieval operations have been completed in seven tanks, including a record six tanks in a two-year period. Retrieval operations are in progress for another three tanks. This paper describes the following tank cleanup technologies deployed at Hanford in the past few years: Modified waste sluicing, High pressure water lance, Mobile retrieval tools, Saltcake dissolution, Vacuum retrieval, Sparging of wastes, Selective dissolution for waste treatment, Oxalic acid dissolution, High-pressure water mixers, Variable height pumps

  8. SSRF-PDM and its full-text retrieval improvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tong Xingfan; Deng Huiyu; Li Zhiming

    2011-01-01

    Project and data management is essential for Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) which is a huge scientific platform for science research and technology development in China. With Product Data Management (PDM) system, SSRF improves its information service greatly. In this paper, we introduce the network structure, configuration modules and client terminals of the PDM system and the improvement in full-text retrieval subsystem, including its algorithms and details of implement in order to optimize the retrieval system.(authors)

  9. Multi-clues image retrieval based on improved color invariants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Liu; Li, Jian-Xun

    2012-05-01

    At present, image retrieval has a great progress in indexing efficiency and memory usage, which mainly benefits from the utilization of the text retrieval technology, such as the bag-of-features (BOF) model and the inverted-file structure. Meanwhile, because the robust local feature invariants are selected to establish BOF, the retrieval precision of BOF is enhanced, especially when it is applied to a large-scale database. However, these local feature invariants mainly consider the geometric variance of the objects in the images, and thus the color information of the objects fails to be made use of. Because of the development of the information technology and Internet, the majority of our retrieval objects is color images. Therefore, retrieval performance can be further improved through proper utilization of the color information. We propose an improved method through analyzing the flaw of shadow-shading quasi-invariant. The response and performance of shadow-shading quasi-invariant for the object edge with the variance of lighting are enhanced. The color descriptors of the invariant regions are extracted and integrated into BOF based on the local feature. The robustness of the algorithm and the improvement of the performance are verified in the final experiments.

  10. Agricultural Library Information Retrieval Based on Improved Semantic Algorithm

    OpenAIRE

    Meiling , Xie

    2014-01-01

    International audience; To support users to quickly access information they need from the agricultural library’s vast information and to improve the low intelligence query service, a model for intelligent library information retrieval was constructed. The semantic web mode was introduced and the information retrieval framework was designed. The model structure consisted of three parts: Information data integration, user interface and information retrieval match. The key method supporting retr...

  11. Exploring Database Improvements for GPM Constellation Precipitation Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ringerud, S.; Kidd, C.; Skofronick Jackson, G.

    2017-12-01

    The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) offers an unprecedented opportunity for understanding and mapping of liquid and frozen precipitation on a global scale. GPM mission development of physically based retrieval algorithms, for application consistently across the constellation radiometers, relies on combined active-passive retrievals from the GPM core satellite as a transfer standard. Radiative transfer modeling is then utilized to compute a priori databases at the frequency and footprint geometry of each individual radiometer. The Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) performs constellation retrievals across the GPM databases in a Bayesian framework, constraining searches using model data on a pixel-by-pixel basis. This work explores how the retrieval might be enhanced with additional information available within the brightness temperature observations themselves. In order to better exploit available information content, model water vapor is replaced with retrieved water vapor. Rather than treating each footprint as a 1D profile alone in space, information regarding Tb variability in the horizontal is added as well as variability in the time dimension. This additional information is tested and evaluated for retrieval improvement in the context of the Bayesian retrieval scheme. Retrieval differences are presented as a function of precipitation and surface type for evaluation of where the added information proves most effective.

  12. Non-retrieval of inferior vena cava filters as a patient safety concern: evaluation of a new process improvement project to increase retrieval rates in a vascular and interventional radiology clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Joshua; Talbert, Jeffery; Pennington, Ryan; Han, Qiong; Raissi, Driss

    2018-01-01

    Retrieval of inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs) is important to decrease the long-term risk of complications associated with indwelling devices. Our hospital experienced low retrieval rates and implemented a low-cost intervention and evaluation for quality improvement. The working hypothesis was that a simple, mailed letter intervention could increase retrieval rates by increasing patient and primary care provider knowledge of the need for retrieval. For all prospective patients who received a retrievable IVCF during the intervention period from January 1, 2014 to February 29, 2016, patients and their primary care providers were mailed letters encouraging contact with the clinic for evaluation of eligibility for retrieval. The main outcome was retrieval of the IVCF if clinically indicated with a secondary outcome of time-to-retrieval. A pre-intervention control group from October 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013 was used to evaluate the impact of the intervention. Competing risks, time-to-event analysis was used to compare the pre- and post-intervention period retrieval rates correcting for patients who died during follow-up. Between the pre- and post-intervention periods, crude retrieval rates increased from 4.4% to 8.1% with a 12-fold change at comparable time points. The time-to-retrieval in the pre-intervention period was a mean (SD) of 503 (207) days with a median (IQR) of 505 (301-742). In the post-intervention period, time-to-retrieval was a mean (SD) of 119 (83) days and with median (IQR) of 128 (38-164) days. This low-cost intervention significantly increased retrieval rates in a single clinic. However, retrieval rates remain low and can be further improved. Ongoing interventions, including improved patient follow-up and physician education, are being implemented to further improve retrieval and use of inferior vena cava filters. Implanting clinics should implement quality improvement initiatives to improve patient care and follow-up with IVCFs to ensure

  13. Guenter Tulip Filter Retrieval Experience: Predictors of Successful Retrieval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turba, Ulku Cenk; Arslan, Bulent; Meuse, Michael; Sabri, Saher; Macik, Barbara Gail; Hagspiel, Klaus D.; Matsumoto, Alan H.; Angle, John F.

    2010-01-01

    We report our experience with Guenter Tulip filter placement indications, retrievals, and procedural problems, with emphasis on alternative retrieval techniques. We have identified 92 consecutive patients in whom a Guenter Tulip filter was placed and filter removal attempted. We recorded patient demographic information, filter placement and retrieval indications, procedures, standard and nonstandard filter retrieval techniques, complications, and clinical outcomes. The mean time to retrieval for those who experienced filter strut penetration was statistically significant [F(1,90) = 8.55, p = 0.004]. Filter strut(s) IVC penetration and successful retrieval were found to be statistically significant (p = 0.043). The filter hook-IVC relationship correlated with successful retrieval. A modified guidewire loop technique was applied in 8 of 10 cases where the hook appeared to penetrate the IVC wall and could not be engaged with a loop snare catheter, providing additional technical success in 6 of 8 (75%). Therefore, the total filter retrieval success increased from 88 to 95%. In conclusion, the Guenter Tulip filter has high successful retrieval rates with low rates of complication. Additional maneuvers such as a guidewire loop method can be used to improve retrieval success rates when the filter hook is endothelialized.

  14. Improved MODIS aerosol retrieval in urban areas using a land classification approach and empirical orthogonal functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levitan, Nathaniel; Gross, Barry

    2016-10-01

    New, high-resolution aerosol products are required in urban areas to improve the spatial coverage of the products, in terms of both resolution and retrieval frequency. These new products will improve our understanding of the spatial variability of aerosols in urban areas and will be useful in the detection of localized aerosol emissions. Urban aerosol retrieval is challenging for existing algorithms because of the high spatial variability of the surface reflectance, indicating the need for improved urban surface reflectance models. This problem can be stated in the language of novelty detection as the problem of selecting aerosol parameters whose effective surface reflectance spectrum is not an outlier in some space. In this paper, empirical orthogonal functions, a reconstruction-based novelty detection technique, is used to perform single-pixel aerosol retrieval using the single angular and temporal sample provided by the MODIS sensor. The empirical orthogonal basis functions are trained for different land classes using the MODIS BRDF MCD43 product. Existing land classification products are used in training and aerosol retrieval. The retrieval is compared against the existing operational MODIS 3 KM Dark Target (DT) aerosol product and co-located AERONET data. Based on the comparison, our method allows for a significant increase in retrieval frequency and a moderate decrease in the known biases of MODIS urban aerosol retrievals.

  15. Transcranial direct current stimulation of the primary motor cortex improves word-retrieval in older adults.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcus eMeinzer

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Language facilitation by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS in healthy individuals has generated hope that tDCS may also allow improving language impairment after stroke (aphasia. However, current stimulation protocols have yielded variable results and may require identification of residual language cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, which complicates incorporation into clinical practice. Based on previous behavioral studies that demonstrated improved language processing by motor system pre-activation, the present study assessed whether tDCS administered to the primary motor cortex (M1 can enhance language functions.This proof-of-concept study employed a sham-tDCS controlled, cross-over, within-subject design and assessed the impact of unilateral excitatory (anodal and bihemispheric (dual tDCS in eighteen healthy older adults during semantic word-retrieval and motor speech tasks. Simultaneous fMRI scrutinized the neural mechanisms underlying tDCS effects.Both active tDCS conditions significantly improved word-retrieval compared to sham-tDCS. The direct comparison of activity elicited by word-retrieval vs. motor-speech trials revealed bilateral frontal activity increases during both anodal- and dual-tDCS compared to sham-tDCS. This effect was driven by more pronounced deactivation of frontal regions during the motor-speech task, while activity during word-retrieval trials was unaffected by the stimulation. No effects were found in M1 and secondary motor regions.Our results show that tDCS administered to M1 can improve word-retrieval in healthy individuals, thereby providing a rationale to explore whether M1-tDCS may offer a novel approach to improve language functions in aphasia. fMRI revealed neural facilitation specifically during motor speech trials, which may have reduced switching costs between the overlapping neural systems for lexical retrieval and speech processing, thereby resulting in improved

  16. Transcranial direct current stimulation of the primary motor cortex improves word-retrieval in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinzer, Marcus; Lindenberg, Robert; Sieg, Mira M; Nachtigall, Laura; Ulm, Lena; Flöel, Agnes

    2014-01-01

    Language facilitation by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in healthy individuals has generated hope that tDCS may also allow improving language impairment after stroke (aphasia). However, current stimulation protocols have yielded variable results and may require identification of residual language cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which complicates incorporation into clinical practice. Based on previous behavioral studies that demonstrated improved language processing by motor system pre-activation, the present study assessed whether tDCS administered to the primary motor cortex (M1) can enhance language functions. This proof-of-concept study employed a sham-tDCS controlled, cross-over, within-subject design and assessed the impact of unilateral excitatory (anodal) and bihemispheric (dual) tDCS in 18 healthy older adults during semantic word-retrieval and motor speech tasks. Simultaneous fMRI scrutinized the neural mechanisms underlying tDCS effects. Both active tDCS conditions significantly improved word-retrieval compared to sham-tDCS. The direct comparison of activity elicited by word-retrieval vs. motor-speech trials revealed bilateral frontal activity increases during both anodal- and dual-tDCS compared to sham-tDCS. This effect was driven by more pronounced deactivation of frontal regions during the motor-speech task, while activity during word-retrieval trials was unaffected by the stimulation. No effects were found in M1 and secondary motor regions. Our results show that tDCS administered to M1 can improve word-retrieval in healthy individuals, thereby providing a rationale to explore whether M1-tDCS may offer a novel approach to improve language functions in aphasia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed neural facilitation specifically during motor speech trials, which may have reduced switching costs between the overlapping neural systems for lexical retrieval and speech processing, thereby resulting in

  17. Selective memory retrieval can impair and improve retrieval of other memories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T; Samenieh, Anuscheh

    2012-03-01

    Research from the past decades has shown that retrieval of a specific memory (e.g., retrieving part of a previous vacation) typically attenuates retrieval of other memories (e.g., memories for other details of the event), causing retrieval-induced forgetting. More recently, however, it has been shown that retrieval can both attenuate and aid recall of other memories (K.-H. T. Bäuml & A. Samenieh, 2010). To identify the circumstances under which retrieval aids recall, the authors examined retrieval dynamics in listwise directed forgetting, context-dependent forgetting, proactive interference, and in the absence of any induced memory impairment. They found beneficial effects of selective retrieval in listwise directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting but detrimental effects in all the other conditions. Because context-dependent forgetting and listwise directed forgetting arguably reflect impaired context access, the results suggest that memory retrieval aids recall of memories that are subject to impaired context access but attenuates recall in the absence of such circumstances. The findings are consistent with a 2-factor account of memory retrieval and suggest the existence of 2 faces of memory retrieval. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

  18. Designing the OPAC User Interface to Improve Access and Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basista, Thomas; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Discussion of problems with retrieval of records in library online public access catalogs (OPACs) focuses on an ongoing research project at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) that has been trying to improve subject retrieval vocabulary control using natural and thesaural language and on the design of a good graphical user interface.…

  19. Using AIRS retrievals in the WRF-LETKF system to improve regional numerical weather prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takemasa Miyoshi

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In addition to conventional observations, atmospheric temperature and humidity profile data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS Version 5 retrieval products are assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model, using the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF. Although a naive assimilation of all available quality-controlled AIRS retrieval data yields an inferior analysis, the additional enhancements of adaptive inflation and horizontal data thinning result in a general improvement of numerical weather prediction skill due to AIRS data. In particular, the adaptive inflation method is enhanced so that it no longer assumes temporal homogeneity of the observing network and allows for a better treatment of the temporally inhomogeneous AIRS data. Results indicate that the improvements due to AIRS data are more significant in longer-lead forecasts. Forecasts of Typhoons Sinlaku and Jangmi in September 2008 show improvements due to AIRS data.

  20. Improving information retrieval with multiple health terminologies in a quality-controlled gateway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soualmia, Lina F; Sakji, Saoussen; Letord, Catherine; Rollin, Laetitia; Massari, Philippe; Darmoni, Stéfan J

    2013-01-01

    The Catalog and Index of French-language Health Internet resources (CISMeF) is a quality-controlled health gateway, primarily for Web resources in French (n=89,751). Recently, we achieved a major improvement in the structure of the catalogue by setting-up multiple terminologies, based on twelve health terminologies available in French, to overcome the potential weakness of the MeSH thesaurus, which is the main and pivotal terminology we use for indexing and retrieval since 1995. The main aim of this study was to estimate the added-value of exploiting several terminologies and their semantic relationships to improve Web resource indexing and retrieval in CISMeF, in order to provide additional health resources which meet the users' expectations. Twelve terminologies were integrated into the CISMeF information system to set up multiple-terminologies indexing and retrieval. The same sets of thirty queries were run: (i) by exploiting the hierarchical structure of the MeSH, and (ii) by exploiting the additional twelve terminologies and their semantic links. The two search modes were evaluated and compared. The overall coverage of the multiple-terminologies search mode was improved by comparison to the coverage of using the MeSH (16,283 vs. 14,159) (+15%). These additional findings were estimated at 56.6% relevant results, 24.7% intermediate results and 18.7% irrelevant. The multiple-terminologies approach improved information retrieval. These results suggest that integrating additional health terminologies was able to improve recall. Since performing the study, 21 other terminologies have been added which should enable us to make broader studies in multiple-terminologies information retrieval.

  1. Improving information retrieval using Medical Subject Headings Concepts: a test case on rare and chronic diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darmoni, Stéfan J; Soualmia, Lina F; Letord, Catherine; Jaulent, Marie-Christine; Griffon, Nicolas; Thirion, Benoît; Névéol, Aurélie

    2012-07-01

    As more scientific work is published, it is important to improve access to the biomedical literature. Since 2000, when Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Concepts were introduced, the MeSH Thesaurus has been concept based. Nevertheless, information retrieval is still performed at the MeSH Descriptor or Supplementary Concept level. The study assesses the benefit of using MeSH Concepts for indexing and information retrieval. Three sets of queries were built for thirty-two rare diseases and twenty-two chronic diseases: (1) using PubMed Automatic Term Mapping (ATM), (2) using Catalog and Index of French-language Health Internet (CISMeF) ATM, and (3) extrapolating the MEDLINE citations that should be indexed with a MeSH Concept. Type 3 queries retrieve significantly fewer results than type 1 or type 2 queries (about 18,000 citations versus 200,000 for rare diseases; about 300,000 citations versus 2,000,000 for chronic diseases). CISMeF ATM also provides better precision than PubMed ATM for both disease categories. Using MeSH Concept indexing instead of ATM is theoretically possible to improve retrieval performance with the current indexing policy. However, using MeSH Concept information retrieval and indexing rules would be a fundamentally better approach. These modifications have already been implemented in the CISMeF search engine.

  2. Improvements to TOVS retrievals over sea ice and applications to estimating Arctic energy fluxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Jennifer A.

    1994-01-01

    Modeling studies suggest that polar regions play a major role in modulating the Earth's climate and that they may be more sensitive than lower latitudes to climate change. Until recently, however, data from meteorological stations poleward of 70 degs have been sparse, and consequently, our understanding of air-sea-ice interaction processes is relatively poor. Satellite-borne sensors now offer a promising opportunity to observe polar regions and ultimately to improve parameterizations of energy transfer processes in climate models. This study focuses on the application of the TIROS-N operational vertical sounder (TOVS) to sea-ice-covered regions in the nonmelt season. TOVS radiances are processed with the improved initialization inversion ('3I') algorithm, providng estimates of layer-average temperature and moisture, cloud conditions, and surface characteristics at a horizontal resolution of approximately 100 km x 100 km. Although TOVS has flown continuously on polar-orbiting satellites since 1978, its potential has not been realized in high latitudes because the quality of retrievals is often significantly lower over sea ice and snow than over the surfaces. The recent availability of three Arctic data sets has provided an opportunity to validate TOVS retrievals: the first from the Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX) in winter 1988/1989, the second from the LeadEx field program in spring 1992, and the third from Russian drifting ice stations. Comparisons with these data reveal deficiencies in TOVS retrievals over sea ice during the cold season; e.g., ice surface temperature is often 5 to 15 K too warm, microwave emissivity is approximately 15% too low at large view angles, clear/cloudy scenes are sometimes misidentified, and low-level inversions are often not captured. In this study, methods to reduce these errors are investigated. Improvements to the ice surface temperature retrieval have reduced rms errors from approximately 7 K to 3 K; correction of

  3. Elaborative Retrieval: Do Semantic Mediators Improve Memory?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehman, Melissa; Karpicke, Jeffrey D.

    2016-01-01

    The elaborative retrieval account of retrieval-based learning proposes that retrieval enhances retention because the retrieval process produces the generation of semantic mediators that link cues to target information. We tested 2 assumptions that form the basis of this account: that semantic mediators are more likely to be generated during…

  4. On the retrieval of significant wave heights from spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar using the Max-Planck Institut algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Violante-Carvalho, Nelson

    2005-12-01

    Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) onboard satellites is the only source of directional wave spectra with continuous and global coverage. Millions of SAR Wave Mode (SWM) imagettes have been acquired since the launch in the early 1990's of the first European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 and its successors ERS-2 and ENVISAT, which has opened up many possibilities specially for wave data assimilation purposes. The main aim of data assimilation is to improve the forecasting introducing available observations into the modeling procedures in order to minimize the differences between model estimates and measurements. However there are limitations in the retrieval of the directional spectrum from SAR images due to nonlinearities in the mapping mechanism. The Max-Planck Institut (MPI) scheme, the first proposed and most widely used algorithm to retrieve directional wave spectra from SAR images, is employed to compare significant wave heights retrieved from ERS-1 SAR against buoy measurements and against the WAM wave model. It is shown that for periods shorter than 12 seconds the WAM model performs better than the MPI, despite the fact that the model is used as first guess to the MPI method, that is the retrieval is deteriorating the first guess. For periods longer than 12 seconds, the part of the spectrum that is directly measured by SAR, the performance of the MPI scheme is at least as good as the WAM model.

  5. Web multimedia information retrieval using improved Bayesian algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yi-Jun; Chen, Chun; Yu, Yi-Min; Lin, Huai-Zhong

    2003-01-01

    The main thrust of this paper is application of a novel data mining approach on the log of user's feedback to improve web multimedia information retrieval performance. A user space model was constructed based on data mining, and then integrated into the original information space model to improve the accuracy of the new information space model. It can remove clutter and irrelevant text information and help to eliminate mismatch between the page author's expression and the user's understanding and expectation. User space model was also utilized to discover the relationship between high-level and low-level features for assigning weight. The authors proposed improved Bayesian algorithm for data mining. Experiment proved that the authors' proposed algorithm was efficient.

  6. Divided attention improves delayed, but not immediate retrieval of a consolidated memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kessler, Yoav; Vandermorris, Susan; Gopie, Nigel; Daros, Alexander; Winocur, Gordon; Moscovitch, Morris

    2014-01-01

    A well-documented dissociation between memory encoding and retrieval concerns the role of attention in the two processes. The typical finding is that divided attention (DA) during encoding impairs future memory, but retrieval is relatively robust to attentional manipulations. However, memory research in the past 20 years had demonstrated that retrieval is a memory-changing process, in which the strength and availability of information are modified by various characteristics of the retrieval process. Based on this logic, several studies examined the effects of DA during retrieval (Test 1) on a future memory test (Test 2). These studies yielded inconsistent results. The present study examined the role of memory consolidation in accounting for the after-effect of DA during retrieval. Initial learning required a classification of visual stimuli, and hence involved incidental learning. Test 1 was administered 24 hours after initial learning, and therefore required retrieval of consolidated information. Test 2 was administered either immediately following Test 1 or after a 24-hour delay. Our results show that the effect of DA on Test 2 depended on this delay. DA during Test 1 did not affect performance on Test 2 when it was administered immediately, but improved performance when Test 2 was given 24-hours later. The results are consistent with other findings showing long-term benefits of retrieval difficulty. Implications for theories of reconsolidation in human episodic memory are discussed.

  7. The effects of spaced retrieval training in improving hyperphagia of people living with dementia in residential settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Chia-Ning; Lin, Li-Chan; Wu, Shiao-Chi

    2017-10-01

    To investigate the effectiveness of spaced retrieval for improving hyperphagia in patients with dementia in residential care settings. Although 10-30% of patients with dementia have hyperphagia, most studies have focused on eating difficulties. Only a few studies have focused on hyperphagia. Various memory problems cause hyperphagia in patients with dementia. Spaced retrieval, a cognitive technique for information learning, can be used as a training method to improve memory loss. Recent studies showed that patients who received the training successfully memorised information learned in the training and correctly applied it to their daily lives. Single-blind experiments were performed. The 97 subjects with dementia were recruited from seven institutions. All research participants were stratified into three groups according to cognitive impairment severity and Hyperphagic Behavior Scale scores and then randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a six-week one-by-one spaced retrieval training for hyperphagia behaviour. The control group received routine care. After the intervention, the frequency and severity of hyperphagia in the patients with dementia, and food intake were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group. However, body mass index did not significantly differ. Our results suggest that the spaced retrieval training could decrease the frequency and severity of hyperphagia in patients with dementia. The content of this training programme is consistent with the normal manner of eating in daily life and is easy for patients to understand and perform. Therefore, it can be applied in residents' daily lives. This study confirms the efficacy of the spaced retrieval training protocol for hyperphagia in patients with dementia. In future studies, the follow-up duration can be increased to determine the long-term effectiveness of the intervention. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Divided attention improves delayed, but not immediate retrieval of a consolidated memory.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoav Kessler

    Full Text Available A well-documented dissociation between memory encoding and retrieval concerns the role of attention in the two processes. The typical finding is that divided attention (DA during encoding impairs future memory, but retrieval is relatively robust to attentional manipulations. However, memory research in the past 20 years had demonstrated that retrieval is a memory-changing process, in which the strength and availability of information are modified by various characteristics of the retrieval process. Based on this logic, several studies examined the effects of DA during retrieval (Test 1 on a future memory test (Test 2. These studies yielded inconsistent results. The present study examined the role of memory consolidation in accounting for the after-effect of DA during retrieval. Initial learning required a classification of visual stimuli, and hence involved incidental learning. Test 1 was administered 24 hours after initial learning, and therefore required retrieval of consolidated information. Test 2 was administered either immediately following Test 1 or after a 24-hour delay. Our results show that the effect of DA on Test 2 depended on this delay. DA during Test 1 did not affect performance on Test 2 when it was administered immediately, but improved performance when Test 2 was given 24-hours later. The results are consistent with other findings showing long-term benefits of retrieval difficulty. Implications for theories of reconsolidation in human episodic memory are discussed.

  9. Bayesian aerosol retrieval algorithm for MODIS AOD retrieval over land

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipponen, Antti; Mielonen, Tero; Pitkänen, Mikko R. A.; Levy, Robert C.; Sawyer, Virginia R.; Romakkaniemi, Sami; Kolehmainen, Ville; Arola, Antti

    2018-03-01

    We have developed a Bayesian aerosol retrieval (BAR) algorithm for the retrieval of aerosol optical depth (AOD) over land from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). In the BAR algorithm, we simultaneously retrieve all dark land pixels in a granule, utilize spatial correlation models for the unknown aerosol parameters, use a statistical prior model for the surface reflectance, and take into account the uncertainties due to fixed aerosol models. The retrieved parameters are total AOD at 0.55 µm, fine-mode fraction (FMF), and surface reflectances at four different wavelengths (0.47, 0.55, 0.64, and 2.1 µm). The accuracy of the new algorithm is evaluated by comparing the AOD retrievals to Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AOD. The results show that the BAR significantly improves the accuracy of AOD retrievals over the operational Dark Target (DT) algorithm. A reduction of about 29 % in the AOD root mean square error and decrease of about 80 % in the median bias of AOD were found globally when the BAR was used instead of the DT algorithm. Furthermore, the fraction of AOD retrievals inside the ±(0.05+15 %) expected error envelope increased from 55 to 76 %. In addition to retrieving the values of AOD, FMF, and surface reflectance, the BAR also gives pixel-level posterior uncertainty estimates for the retrieved parameters. The BAR algorithm always results in physical, non-negative AOD values, and the average computation time for a single granule was less than a minute on a modern personal computer.

  10. Microcirculatory Improvement Induced by Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Is Related to Insulin Sensitivity Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ministrini, Stefano; Fattori, Chiara; Ricci, Maria Anastasia; Bianconi, Vanessa; Paltriccia, Rita; Boni, Marcello; Paganelli, Maria Teresa; Vaudo, Gaetano; Lupattelli, Graziana; Pasqualini, Leonella

    2018-05-12

    Microvascular dysfunction is a potential factor explaining the association of obesity, insulin resistance, and vascular damage in morbidly obese subjects. The purpose of the study was to evaluate possible determinants of microcirculatory improvement 1 year after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) intervention. Thirty-seven morbidly obese subjects eligible for bariatric surgery were included in the study. Post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) of the forearm skin was measured as area of hyperemia (AH) by laser-Doppler flowmetry before LSG and after a 1-year follow-up. After intervention, we observed a significant reduction in BMI, HOMA index, HbA1c, and a significant increase of AH in all patients after surgery; this variation was significant only in those patients having insulin resistance or prediabetes/diabetes. Although significant correlation between the increase of AH and the reduction of both BMI, HOMA index, and HbA1c was observed, BMI was the only independent predictor of AH variation after LSG at the linear regression analysis. Our study shows that LSG intervention is correlated with a significant improvement in the microvascular function of morbidly obese subjects; this improvement seems to be related to the baseline degree of insulin-resistance and to the retrieval of insulin-sensitivity post-intervention.

  11. Using the weighted keyword model to improve information retrieval for answering biomedical questions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Hong; Cao, Yong-Gang

    2009-03-01

    Physicians ask many complex questions during the patient encounter. Information retrieval systems that can provide immediate and relevant answers to these questions can be invaluable aids to the practice of evidence-based medicine. In this study, we first automatically identify topic keywords from ad hoc clinical questions with a Condition Random Field model that is trained over thousands of manually annotated clinical questions. We then report on a linear model that assigns query weights based on their automatically identified semantic roles: topic keywords, domain specific terms, and their synonyms. Our evaluation shows that this weighted keyword model improves information retrieval from the Text Retrieval Conference Genomics track data.

  12. Query-Time Optimization Techniques for Structured Queries in Information Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cartright, Marc-Allen

    2013-01-01

    The use of information retrieval (IR) systems is evolving towards larger, more complicated queries. Both the IR industrial and research communities have generated significant evidence indicating that in order to continue improving retrieval effectiveness, increases in retrieval model complexity may be unavoidable. From an operational perspective,…

  13. Modeling and mining term association for improving biomedical information retrieval performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Qinmin; Huang, Jimmy Xiangji; Hu, Xiaohua

    2012-06-11

    The growth of the biomedical information requires most information retrieval systems to provide short and specific answers in response to complex user queries. Semantic information in the form of free text that is structured in a way makes it straightforward for humans to read but more difficult for computers to interpret automatically and search efficiently. One of the reasons is that most traditional information retrieval models assume terms are conditionally independent given a document/passage. Therefore, we are motivated to consider term associations within different contexts to help the models understand semantic information and use it for improving biomedical information retrieval performance. We propose a term association approach to discover term associations among the keywords from a query. The experiments are conducted on the TREC 2004-2007 Genomics data sets and the TREC 2004 HARD data set. The proposed approach is promising and achieves superiority over the baselines and the GSP results. The parameter settings and different indices are investigated that the sentence-based index produces the best results in terms of the document-level, the word-based index for the best results in terms of the passage-level and the paragraph-based index for the best results in terms of the passage2-level. Furthermore, the best term association results always come from the best baseline. The tuning number k in the proposed recursive re-ranking algorithm is discussed and locally optimized to be 10. First, modelling term association for improving biomedical information retrieval using factor analysis, is one of the major contributions in our work. Second, the experiments confirm that term association considering co-occurrence and dependency among the keywords can produce better results than the baselines treating the keywords independently. Third, the baselines are re-ranked according to the importance and reliance of latent factors behind term associations. These latent

  14. Combining Passive Microwave Sounders with CYGNSS information for improved retrievals: Observations during Hurricane Harvey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schreier, M. M.

    2017-12-01

    The launch of CYGNSS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System) has added an interesting component to satellite observations: it can provide wind speeds in the tropical area with a high repetition rate. Passive microwave sounders that are overpassing the same region can benefit from this information, when it comes to the retrieval of temperature or water profiles: the uncertainty about wind speeds has a strong impact on emissivity and reflectivity calculations with respect to surface temperature. This has strong influences on the uncertainty of retrieval of temperature and water content, especially under extreme weather conditions. Adding CYGNSS information to the retrieval can help to reduce errors and provide a significantly better sounder retrieval. Based on observations during Hurricane Harvey, we want to show the impact of CYGNSS data on the retrieval of passive microwave sensors. We will show examples on the impact on the retrieval from polar orbiting instruments, like the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and AMSU-A/B on NOAA-18 and 19. In addition we will also show the impact on retrievals from HAMSR (High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer), which was flying on the Global Hawk during the EPOCH campaign. We will compare the results with other observations and estimate the impact of additional CYGNSS information on the microwave retrieval, especially on the impact in error and uncertainty reduction. We think, that a synergetic use of these different data sources could significantly help to produce better assimilation products for forecast assimilation.

  15. Content-based analysis improves audiovisual archive retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huurnink, B.; Snoek, C.G.M.; de Rijke, M.; Smeulders, A.W.M.

    2012-01-01

    Content-based video retrieval is maturing to the point where it can be used in real-world retrieval practices. One such practice is the audiovisual archive, whose users increasingly require fine-grained access to broadcast television content. In this paper, we take into account the information needs

  16. Improving biomedical information retrieval by linear combinations of different query expansion techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdulla, Ahmed AbdoAziz Ahmed; Lin, Hongfei; Xu, Bo; Banbhrani, Santosh Kumar

    2016-07-25

    Biomedical literature retrieval is becoming increasingly complex, and there is a fundamental need for advanced information retrieval systems. Information Retrieval (IR) programs scour unstructured materials such as text documents in large reserves of data that are usually stored on computers. IR is related to the representation, storage, and organization of information items, as well as to access. In IR one of the main problems is to determine which documents are relevant and which are not to the user's needs. Under the current regime, users cannot precisely construct queries in an accurate way to retrieve particular pieces of data from large reserves of data. Basic information retrieval systems are producing low-quality search results. In our proposed system for this paper we present a new technique to refine Information Retrieval searches to better represent the user's information need in order to enhance the performance of information retrieval by using different query expansion techniques and apply a linear combinations between them, where the combinations was linearly between two expansion results at one time. Query expansions expand the search query, for example, by finding synonyms and reweighting original terms. They provide significantly more focused, particularized search results than do basic search queries. The retrieval performance is measured by some variants of MAP (Mean Average Precision) and according to our experimental results, the combination of best results of query expansion is enhanced the retrieved documents and outperforms our baseline by 21.06 %, even it outperforms a previous study by 7.12 %. We propose several query expansion techniques and their combinations (linearly) to make user queries more cognizable to search engines and to produce higher-quality search results.

  17. Improved Temperature Sounding and Quality Control Methodology Using AIRS/AMSU Data: The AIRS Science Team Version 5 Retrieval Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Blaisdell, John M.; Iredell, Lena; Keita, Fricky

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm in terms of its three most significant improvements over the methodology used in the AIRS Science Team Version 4 retrieval algorithm. Improved physics in Version 5 allows for use of AIRS clear column radiances in the entire 4.3 micron CO2 absorption band in the retrieval of temperature profiles T(p) during both day and night. Tropospheric sounding 15 micron CO2 observations are now used primarily in the generation of clear column radiances .R(sub i) for all channels. This new approach allows for the generation of more accurate values of .R(sub i) and T(p) under most cloud conditions. Secondly, Version 5 contains a new methodology to provide accurate case-by-case error estimates for retrieved geophysical parameters and for channel-by-channel clear column radiances. Thresholds of these error estimates are used in a new approach for Quality Control. Finally, Version 5 also contains for the first time an approach to provide AIRS soundings in partially cloudy conditions that does not require use of any microwave data. This new AIRS Only sounding methodology, referred to as AIRS Version 5 AO, was developed as a backup to AIRS Version 5 should the AMSU-A instrument fail. Results are shown comparing the relative performance of the AIRS Version 4, Version 5, and Version 5 AO for the single day, January 25, 2003. The Goddard DISC is now generating and distributing products derived using the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm. This paper also described the Quality Control flags contained in the DISC AIRS/AMSU retrieval products and their intended use for scientific research purposes.

  18. Practicing more retrieval routes leads to greater memory retention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Jun; Zhang, Wei; Li, Tongtong; Liu, Zhaomin; Luo, Liang

    2016-09-01

    A wealth of research has shown that retrieval practice plays a significant role in improving memory retention. The current study focused on one simple yet rarely examined question: would repeated retrieval using two different retrieval routes or using the same retrieval route twice lead to greater long-term memory retention? Participants elaborately learned 22 Japanese-Chinese translation word pairs using two different mediators. Half an hour after the initial study phase, the participants completed two retrieval sessions using either one mediator (Tm1Tm1) or two different mediators (Tm1Tm2). On the final test, which was performed 1week after the retrieval practice phase, the participants received only the cue with a request to report the mediator (M1 or M2) followed by the target (Experiment 1) or only the mediator (M1 or M2) with a request to report the target (Experiment 2). The results of Experiment 1 indicated that the participants who practiced under the Tm1Tm2 condition exhibited greater target retention than those who practiced under the Tm1Tm1 condition. This difference in performance was due to the significant disadvantage in mediator retrieval and decoding of the unpracticed mediator under the Tm1Tm1 condition. Although mediators were provided to participants on the final test in Experiment 2, decoding of the unpracticed mediators remained less effective than decoding of the practiced mediators. We conclude that practicing multiple retrieval routes leads to greater memory retention than focusing on a single retrieval route. Thus, increasing retrieval variability during repeated retrieval practice indeed significantly improves long-term retention in a delay test. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Formaldehyde OMI operational retrieval upgrades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez Abad, G.; Chance, K.; Liu, X.

    2013-05-01

    Total column of formaldehyde (HCHO), a proxy for biogenic emissions, can be observed from satellites using the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. The operational HCHO retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the AURA satellite, part of NASA's A-train constellation of Earth Observing satellites, are described. The operational retrieval, based on a basic optical absorption spectroscopy (BOAS) algorithm, has been affected by the degradation of the instrument especially from 2008 onwards. The most significant problems are the unrealistic increasing high background concentrations of HCHO retrieved from OMI and the row anomaly. An upgrade for the original operational algorithm is therefore needed to ensure its trend quality and to account for these difficulties. The strategies implemented to deal with the instrumental degradation are presented here. Air mass factors (AMFs) in the current fitting window show significant wavelength dependence. Fitting uncertainties can potentially be improved by including shorter wavelengths as long as the AMFs wavelength dependence is taken into account. As part of these improvements a look-up table of wavelength-dependent AMFs have been calculated. Using this new table it is possible to retrieve the HCHO total column directly, weighting the HCHO cross sections with the wavelength-dependent AMFs. Additionally, the pixels affected by the row anomaly are now flagged in the level 2 data generated with the upgraded algorithm.

  20. An Improved Single-Channel Method to Retrieve Land Surface Temperature from the Landsat-8 Thermal Band

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jordi Cristóbal

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Land surface temperature (LST is one of the sources of input data for modeling land surface processes. The Landsat satellite series is the only operational mission with more than 30 years of archived thermal infrared imagery from which we can retrieve LST. Unfortunately, stray light artifacts were observed in Landsat-8 TIRS data, mostly affecting Band 11, currently making the split-window technique impractical for retrieving surface temperature without requiring atmospheric data. In this study, a single-channel methodology to retrieve surface temperature from Landsat TM and ETM+ was improved to retrieve LST from Landsat-8 TIRS Band 10 using near-surface air temperature (Ta and integrated atmospheric column water vapor (w as input data. This improved methodology was parameterized and successfully evaluated with simulated data from a global and robust radiosonde database and validated with in situ data from four flux tower sites under different types of vegetation and snow cover in 44 Landsat-8 scenes. Evaluation results using simulated data showed that the inclusion of Ta together with w within a single-channel scheme improves LST retrieval, yielding lower errors and less bias than models based only on w. The new proposed LST retrieval model, developed with both w and Ta, yielded overall errors on the order of 1 K and a bias of −0.5 K validated against in situ data, providing a better performance than other models parameterized using w and Ta or only w models that yielded higher error and bias.

  1. On the functional significance of retrieval mode: Task switching disrupts the recollection of conceptual stimulus information from episodic memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Küper, Kristina

    2018-01-01

    Episodic memory retrieval is assumed to be associated with the tonic cognitive state of retrieval mode. Despite extensive research into the neurophysiological correlates of retrieval mode, as of yet, relatively little is known about its functional significance. The present event-related potential (ERP) study was aimed at examining the impact of retrieval mode on the specificity of memory content retrieved in the course of familiarity and recollection processes. In two experiments, participants performed a recognition memory inclusion task in which they had to distinguish identically repeated and re-colored versions of study items from new items. In Experiment 1, participants had to alternate between the episodic memory task and a semantic task requiring a natural/artificial decision. In Experiment 2, the two tasks were instead performed in separate blocks. ERPs locked to the preparatory cues in the test phases indicated that participants did not establish retrieval mode on switch trials in Experiment 1. In the absence of retrieval mode, neither type of studied item elicited ERP correlates of familiarity-based retrieval (FN400). Recollection-related late positive complex (LPC) old/new effects emerged only for identically repeated but not for conceptually identical but perceptually changed versions of study items. With blocked retrieval in Experiment 2, both types of old items instead elicited equivalent FN400 and LPC old/new effects. The LPC data indicate that retrieval mode may play an important role in the successful recollection of conceptual stimulus information. The FN400 results additionally suggest that task switching may have a detrimental effect on familiarity-based memory retrieval. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. CrIS/ATMS Retrievals Using the Latest AIRS/AMSU Retrieval Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis C.; Blaisdell, John; Iredell, Lena

    2015-01-01

    This research is being done under the NPP Science Team Proposal: Analysis of CrISATMS Using an AIRS Version 6-like Retrieval Algorithm Objective: Generate a long term CrISATMS level-3 data set that is consistent with that of AIRSAMSU Approach: Adapt the currently operational AIRS Science Team Version-6 Retrieval Algorithm, or an improved version of it, for use with CrISATMS data. Metric: Generate monthly mean level-3 CrISATMS climate data sets and evaluate the results by comparison of monthly mean AIRSAMSU and CrISATMS products, and more significantly, their inter-annual differences and, eventually, anomaly time series. The goal is consistency between the AIRSAMSU and CrISATMS climate data sets.

  3. Retrieval practice enhances the accessibility but not the quality of memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutterer, David W; Awh, Edward

    2016-06-01

    Numerous studies have demonstrated that retrieval from long-term memory (LTM) can enhance subsequent memory performance, a phenomenon labeled the retrieval practice effect. However, the almost exclusive reliance on categorical stimuli in this literature leaves open a basic question about the nature of this improvement in memory performance. It has not yet been determined whether retrieval practice improves the probability of successful memory retrieval or the quality of the retrieved representation. To answer this question, we conducted three experiments using a mixture modeling approach (Zhang & Luck, 2008) that provides a measure of both the probability of recall and the quality of the recalled memories. Subjects attempted to memorize the color of 400 unique shapes. After every 10 images were presented, subjects either recalled the last 10 colors (the retrieval practice condition) by clicking on a color wheel with each shape as a retrieval cue or they participated in a control condition that involved no further presentations (Experiment 1) or restudy of the 10 shape/color associations (Experiments 2 and 3). Performance in a subsequent delayed recall test revealed a robust retrieval practice effect. Subjects recalled a significantly higher proportion of items that they had previously retrieved relative to items that were untested or that they had restudied. Interestingly, retrieval practice did not elicit any improvement in the precision of the retrieved memories. The same empirical pattern also was observed following delays of greater than 24 hours. Thus, retrieval practice increases the probability of successful memory retrieval but does not improve memory quality.

  4. SenseCam improves memory for recent events and quality of life in a patient with memory retrieval difficulties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browne, Georgina; Berry, Emma; Kapur, Narinder; Hodges, Steve; Smyth, Gavin; Watson, Peter; Wood, Ken

    2011-10-01

    A wearable camera that takes pictures automatically, SenseCam, was used to generate images for rehearsal, promoting consolidation and retrieval of memories for significant events in a patient with memory retrieval deficits. SenseCam images of recent events were systematically reviewed over a 2-week period. Memory for these events was assessed throughout and longer-term recall was tested up to 6 months later. A written diary control condition followed the same procedure. The SenseCam review procedure resulted in significantly more details of an event being recalled, with twice as many details recalled at 6 months follow up compared to the written diary method. Self-report measures suggested autobiographical recollection was triggered by the SenseCam condition but not by reviewing the written diary. Emotional and social wellbeing questionnaires indicated improved confidence and decreased anxiety as a result of memory rehearsal using SenseCam images. We propose that SenseCam images provide a powerful boost to autobiographical recall, with secondary benefits for quality of life.

  5. Improved image retrieval based on fuzzy colour feature vector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben-Ahmeida, Ahlam M.; Ben Sasi, Ahmed Y.

    2013-03-01

    One of Image indexing techniques is the Content-Based Image Retrieval which is an efficient way for retrieving images from the image database automatically based on their visual contents such as colour, texture, and shape. In this paper will be discuss how using content-based image retrieval (CBIR) method by colour feature extraction and similarity checking. By dividing the query image and all images in the database into pieces and extract the features of each part separately and comparing the corresponding portions in order to increase the accuracy in the retrieval. The proposed approach is based on the use of fuzzy sets, to overcome the problem of curse of dimensionality. The contribution of colour of each pixel is associated to all the bins in the histogram using fuzzy-set membership functions. As a result, the Fuzzy Colour Histogram (FCH), outperformed the Conventional Colour Histogram (CCH) in image retrieving, due to its speedy results, where were images represented as signatures that took less size of memory, depending on the number of divisions. The results also showed that FCH is less sensitive and more robust to brightness changes than the CCH with better retrieval recall values.

  6. Practice patterns of retrievable inferior vena cava filters and predictors of filter retrieval in patients with pulmonary embolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Jieun; Ko, Heung-Kyu; Shin, Ji Hoon; Ko, Gi-Young; Jo, Kyung-Wook; Huh, Jin Won; Oh, Yeon-Mok; Lee, Sang-Do; Lee, Jae Seung

    2017-12-01

    Retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters are increasingly used in patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) who have contraindications to anticoagulant therapy. However, previous studies have shown that many retrievable filters are left permanently in patients. This study aimed to identify the common indications for IVC filter insertion, the filter retrieval rate, and the predictive factors for filter retrieval attempts. To this end, a retrospective cohort study was performed at a tertiary care center in South Korea between January 2010 and May 2016. Electronic medical charts were reviewed for patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) who underwent IVC filter insertion. A total of 439 cases were reviewed. The most common indication for filter insertion was a preoperative/procedural aim, followed by extensive iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Retrieval of the IVC filter was attempted in 44.9% of patients. The retrieval success rate was 93.9%. History of cerebral hemorrhage, malignancy, and admission to a nonsurgical department were the significant predictive factors of a lower retrieval attempt rate in multivariate analysis. With the increased use of IVC filters, more issues should be addressed before placing a filter and physicians should attempt to improve the filter retrieval rate.

  7. Improved OMI Nitrogen Dioxide Retrievals Aided by NASA's A-Train High-Resolution Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamsal, L. N.; Krotkov, N. A.; Vasilkov, A. P.; Marchenko, S. V.; Qin, W.; Yang, E. S.; Fasnacht, Z.; Haffner, D. P.; Swartz, W. H.; Spurr, R. J. D.; Joiner, J.

    2017-12-01

    Space-based global observation of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is among the main objectives of the NASA Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) mission, aimed at advancing our understanding of the sources and trends of nitrogen oxides (NOx). These applications benefit from improved retrieval techniques and enhancement in data quality. Here, we describe our recent and planned updates to the NASA OMI standard NO2 products. The products and documentation are publicly available from the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/OMNO2_V003/summary/). The major changes include (1) improvements in spectral fitting algorithms for NO2 and cloud, (2) improved information in the vertical distribution of NO2, and (3) use of geometry-dependent surface reflectivity information derived from NASA's Aqua MODIS over land and the Cox-Munk slope distribution over ocean with a contribution from water-leaving radiance. These algorithm updates, which lead to more accurate tropospheric NO2 retrievals from OMI, are relevant for other past, contemporary, and future satellite instruments.

  8. Improve Biomedical Information Retrieval using Modified Learning to Rank Methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Bo; Lin, Hongfei; Lin, Yuan; Ma, Yunlong; Yang, Liang; Wang, Jian; Yang, Zhihao

    2016-06-14

    In these years, the number of biomedical articles has increased exponentially, which becomes a problem for biologists to capture all the needed information manually. Information retrieval technologies, as the core of search engines, can deal with the problem automatically, providing users with the needed information. However, it is a great challenge to apply these technologies directly for biomedical retrieval, because of the abundance of domain specific terminologies. To enhance biomedical retrieval, we propose a novel framework based on learning to rank. Learning to rank is a series of state-of-the-art information retrieval techniques, and has been proved effective in many information retrieval tasks. In the proposed framework, we attempt to tackle the problem of the abundance of terminologies by constructing ranking models, which focus on not only retrieving the most relevant documents, but also diversifying the searching results to increase the completeness of the resulting list for a given query. In the model training, we propose two novel document labeling strategies, and combine several traditional retrieval models as learning features. Besides, we also investigate the usefulness of different learning to rank approaches in our framework. Experimental results on TREC Genomics datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework for biomedical information retrieval.

  9. An improved method for storing and retrieving tabulated data in a scalar Monte Carlo code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hollenbach, D.F.; Reynolds, K.H.; Dodds, H.L.; Landers, N.F.; Petrie, L.M.

    1990-01-01

    The KENO-Va code is a production-level criticality safety code used to calculate the k eff of a system. The code is stochastic in nature, using a Monte Carlo algorithm to track individual particles one at a time through the system. The advent of computers with vector processors has generated an interest in improving KENO-Va to take advantage of the potential speed-up associated with these new processors. Unfortunately, the original Monte Carlo algorithm and method of storing and retrieving cross-section data is not adaptable to vector processing. This paper discusses an alternate method for storing and retrieving data that not only is readily vectorizable but also improves the efficiency of the current scalar code

  10. Probabilistic and machine learning-based retrieval approaches for biomedical dataset retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karisani, Payam; Qin, Zhaohui S; Agichtein, Eugene

    2018-01-01

    Abstract The bioCADDIE dataset retrieval challenge brought together different approaches to retrieval of biomedical datasets relevant to a user’s query, expressed as a text description of a needed dataset. We describe experiments in applying a data-driven, machine learning-based approach to biomedical dataset retrieval as part of this challenge. We report on a series of experiments carried out to evaluate the performance of both probabilistic and machine learning-driven techniques from information retrieval, as applied to this challenge. Our experiments with probabilistic information retrieval methods, such as query term weight optimization, automatic query expansion and simulated user relevance feedback, demonstrate that automatically boosting the weights of important keywords in a verbose query is more effective than other methods. We also show that although there is a rich space of potential representations and features available in this domain, machine learning-based re-ranking models are not able to improve on probabilistic information retrieval techniques with the currently available training data. The models and algorithms presented in this paper can serve as a viable implementation of a search engine to provide access to biomedical datasets. The retrieval performance is expected to be further improved by using additional training data that is created by expert annotation, or gathered through usage logs, clicks and other processes during natural operation of the system. Database URL: https://github.com/emory-irlab/biocaddie

  11. Radiology-led Follow-up System for IVC Filters: Effects on Retrieval Rates and Times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, L.; Taylor, J.; Munneke, G.; Morgan, R.; Belli, A.-M.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Successful IVC filter retrieval rates fall with time. Serious complications have been reported following attempts to remove filters after 3–18 months. Failed retrieval may be associated with adverse clinical sequelae. This study explored whether retrieval rates are improved if interventional radiologists organize patient follow-up, rather than relying on the referring clinicians. Methods: Proactive follow-up of patients who undergo filter placement was implemented in May 2008. At the time of filter placement, a report was issued to the referring consultant notifying them of the advised timeframe for filter retrieval. Clinicians were contacted to arrange retrieval within 30 days. We compared this with our practice for the preceding year. Results: The numbers of filters inserted during the two time periods was similar, as were the numbers of retrieval attempts and the time scale at which they occurred. The rate of successful retrievals increased but not significantly. The major changes were better documentation of filter types and better clinical follow-up. After the change in practice, only one patient was lost to follow-up compared with six the preceding year. Conclusions: Although there was no significant improvement in retrieval rates, the proactive, radiology-led approach improved follow-up and documentation, ensuring that a clinical decision was made about how long the filter was required and whether retrieval should be attempted and ensuring that patients were not lost to follow-up.

  12. Moving beyond Text Highlights: Inferring Users' Interests to Improve the Relevance of Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balakrishnan, Vimala; Mehmood, Yasir; Nagappan, Yoganathan

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Studies have indicated that users' text highlighting behaviour can be further manipulated to improve the relevance of retrieved results. This article reports on a study that examined users' text highlight frequency, length and users' copy-paste actions. Method: A binary voting mechanism was employed to determine the weights for the…

  13. Improvement of Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval over Hong Kong from a Geostationary Meteorological Satellite Using Critical Reflectance with Background Optical Depth Correction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Mijin; Kim, Jhoon; Wong, Man Sing; Yoon, Jongmin; Lee, Jaehwa; Wu, Dong L.; Chan, P.W.; Nichol, Janet E.; Chung, Chu-Yong; Ou, Mi-Lim

    2014-01-01

    Despite continuous efforts to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD) using a conventional 5-channelmeteorological imager in geostationary orbit, the accuracy in urban areas has been poorer than other areas primarily due to complex urban surface properties and mixed aerosol types from different emission sources. The two largest error sources in aerosol retrieval have been aerosol type selection and surface reflectance. In selecting the aerosol type from a single visible channel, the season-dependent aerosol optical properties were adopted from longterm measurements of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun-photometers. With the aerosol optical properties obtained fromthe AERONET inversion data, look-up tableswere calculated by using a radiative transfer code: the Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S). Surface reflectance was estimated using the clear sky composite method, awidely used technique for geostationary retrievals. Over East Asia, the AOD retrieved from the Meteorological Imager showed good agreement, although the values were affected by cloud contamination errors. However, the conventional retrieval of the AOD over Hong Kong was largely underestimated due to the lack of information on the aerosol type and surface properties. To detect spatial and temporal variation of aerosol type over the area, the critical reflectance method, a technique to retrieve single scattering albedo (SSA), was applied. Additionally, the background aerosol effect was corrected to improve the accuracy of the surface reflectance over Hong Kong. The AOD retrieved froma modified algorithmwas compared to the collocated data measured by AERONET in Hong Kong. The comparison showed that the new aerosol type selection using the critical reflectance and the corrected surface reflectance significantly improved the accuracy of AODs in Hong Kong areas,with a correlation coefficient increase from0.65 to 0.76 and a regression line change from tMI [basic algorithm] = 0

  14. Improvement of encoding and retrieval in normal and pathological aging with word-picture paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iodice, Rosario; Meilán, Juan José G; Carro, Juan

    2015-01-01

    During the aging process, there is a progressive deficit in the encoding of new information and its retrieval. Different strategies are used in order to maintain, optimize or diminish these deficits in people with and without dementia. One of the classic techniques is paired-associate learning (PAL), which is based on improving the encoding of memories, but it has yet to be used to its full potential in people with dementia. In this study, our aim is to corroborate the importance of PAL tasks as instrumental tools for creating contextual cues, during both the encoding and retrieval phases of memory. Additionally, we aim to identify the most effective form of presenting the related items. Pairs of stimuli were shown to healthy elderly people and to patients with moderate and mild Alzheimer's disease. The encoding conditions were as follows: word/word, picture/picture, picture/word, and word/picture. Associative cued recall of the second item in the pair shows that retrieval is higher for the word/picture condition in the two groups of patients with dementia when compared to the other conditions, while word/word is the least effective in all cases. These results confirm that PAL is an effective tool for creating contextual cues during both the encoding and retrieval phases in people with dementia when the items are presented using the word/picture condition. In this way, the encoding and retrieval deficit can be reduced in these people.

  15. Enhancing Young Infants' Representations of Physical Events through Improved Retrieval (Not Encoding) of Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Su-hua; Onishi, Kristine H.

    2017-01-01

    Infants' representations of physical events are surprisingly flexible. Brief exposure to one event can immediately enhance infants' representations of another event. The present experiments tested two potential mechanisms underlying this priming: enhanced encoding or improved retrieval. Five-month-olds saw a target block become hidden inside a…

  16. Information Retrieval and Graph Analysis Approaches for Book Recommendation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chahinez Benkoussas

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A combination of multiple information retrieval approaches is proposed for the purpose of book recommendation. In this paper, book recommendation is based on complex user's query. We used different theoretical retrieval models: probabilistic as InL2 (Divergence from Randomness model and language model and tested their interpolated combination. Graph analysis algorithms such as PageRank have been successful in Web environments. We consider the application of this algorithm in a new retrieval approach to related document network comprised of social links. We called Directed Graph of Documents (DGD a network constructed with documents and social information provided from each one of them. Specifically, this work tackles the problem of book recommendation in the context of INEX (Initiative for the Evaluation of XML retrieval Social Book Search track. A series of reranking experiments demonstrate that combining retrieval models yields significant improvements in terms of standard ranked retrieval metrics. These results extend the applicability of link analysis algorithms to different environments.

  17. Information Retrieval and Graph Analysis Approaches for Book Recommendation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benkoussas, Chahinez; Bellot, Patrice

    2015-01-01

    A combination of multiple information retrieval approaches is proposed for the purpose of book recommendation. In this paper, book recommendation is based on complex user's query. We used different theoretical retrieval models: probabilistic as InL2 (Divergence from Randomness model) and language model and tested their interpolated combination. Graph analysis algorithms such as PageRank have been successful in Web environments. We consider the application of this algorithm in a new retrieval approach to related document network comprised of social links. We called Directed Graph of Documents (DGD) a network constructed with documents and social information provided from each one of them. Specifically, this work tackles the problem of book recommendation in the context of INEX (Initiative for the Evaluation of XML retrieval) Social Book Search track. A series of reranking experiments demonstrate that combining retrieval models yields significant improvements in terms of standard ranked retrieval metrics. These results extend the applicability of link analysis algorithms to different environments.

  18. Propagation based phase retrieval of simulated intensity measurements using artificial neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Z. D. C.

    2018-04-01

    Determining the phase of a wave from intensity measurements has many applications in fields such as electron microscopy, visible light optics, and medical imaging. Propagation based phase retrieval, where the phase is obtained from defocused images, has shown significant promise. There are, however, limitations in the accuracy of the retrieved phase arising from such methods. Sources of error include shot noise, image misalignment, and diffraction artifacts. We explore the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to improve the accuracy of propagation based phase retrieval algorithms applied to simulated intensity measurements. We employ a phase retrieval algorithm based on the transport-of-intensity equation to obtain the phase from simulated micrographs of procedurally generated specimens. We then train an ANN with pairs of retrieved and exact phases, and use the trained ANN to process a test set of retrieved phase maps. The total error in the phase is significantly reduced using this method. We also discuss a variety of potential extensions to this work.

  19. Improved Retrieval Technique of pin-wise composition for spent fuel recycling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, YunSeo; Kim, Myung Hyun [Kyung Hee University , Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    New reutilization method which does not require fabrication processing was suggested and showed feasibility by Dr. Aung Tharn Daing. This new reutilization method is predict spent nuclear fuel pin composition, reconstruct new fuel assembly by spent nuclear pin, and directly reutilize in same PWR core. There are some limitation to predict spent nuclear fuel pin composition on his methodology such as spatial effect was not considered enough. This research suggests improving Dr. Aung Tharn Daing's retrieval technique of pin-wise composition. This new method classify fuel pin groups by its location effect in fuel assembly. Most of fuel pin composition along to burnup in fuel assembly is not highly dependent on location. However, compositions of few fuel pins where near water hole and corner of fuel assembly are quite different in same burnup. Required number of nuclide table is slightly increased from 3 to 6 for one fuel assembly with this new method. Despite of this little change, prediction of the pin-wise composition became more accurate. This new method guarantees two advantages than previous retrieving technique. First, accurate pin-wise isotope prediction is possible by considering location effect in a fuel assembly. Second, it requires much less nuclide tables than using full single assembly database. Retrieving technique of pin-wise composition can be applied on spent fuel management field useful. This technique can be used on direct use of spent fuel such as Dr. Aung Tharn Daing showed or applied on pin-wise waste management instead of conventional assembly-wise waste management.

  20. Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Factors that Affect Retrieval Success

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Geisbuesch, Philipp, E-mail: philippgeisbuesch@gmx.de; Benenati, James F.; Pena, Constantino S.; Couvillon, Joseph; Powell, Alex; Gandhi, Ripal; Samuels, Shaun; Uthoff, Heiko [Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (United States)

    2012-10-15

    Purpose: To report and analyze the indications, procedural success, and complications of retrievable inferior vena cava filters (rIVCF) placement and to identify parameters that influence retrieval attempt and failure. Methods: Between January 2005 and December 2010, a total of 200 patients (80 men, median age 67 years, range 11-95 years) received a rIVCF with the clinical possibility that it could be removed. All patients with rIVCF were prospectively entered into a database and followed until retrieval or a decision not to retrieve the filter was made. A retrospective analysis of this database was performed. Results: Sixty-one percent of patients had an accepted indication for filter placement; 39% of patients had a relative indication. There was a tendency toward a higher retrieval rate in patients with relative indications (40% vs. 55%, P = 0.076). Filter placement was technically successful in all patients, with no procedure-related mortality. The retrieval rate was 53%. Patient age of >80 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.056, P > 0.0001) and presence of malignancy (OR 0.303, P = 0.003) was associated with a significantly reduced probability for attempted retrieval. Retrieval failure occurred in 7% (6 of 91) of all retrieval attempts. A time interval of > 90 days between implantation and attempted retrieval was associated with retrieval failure (OR 19.8, P = 0.009). Conclusions: Patient age >80 years and a history of malignancy are predictors of a reduced probability for retrieval attempt. The rate of retrieval failure is low and seems to be associated with a time interval of >90 days between filter placement and retrieval.

  1. Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Factors that Affect Retrieval Success

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geisbüsch, Philipp; Benenati, James F.; Peña, Constantino S.; Couvillon, Joseph; Powell, Alex; Gandhi, Ripal; Samuels, Shaun; Uthoff, Heiko

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To report and analyze the indications, procedural success, and complications of retrievable inferior vena cava filters (rIVCF) placement and to identify parameters that influence retrieval attempt and failure. Methods: Between January 2005 and December 2010, a total of 200 patients (80 men, median age 67 years, range 11–95 years) received a rIVCF with the clinical possibility that it could be removed. All patients with rIVCF were prospectively entered into a database and followed until retrieval or a decision not to retrieve the filter was made. A retrospective analysis of this database was performed. Results: Sixty-one percent of patients had an accepted indication for filter placement; 39% of patients had a relative indication. There was a tendency toward a higher retrieval rate in patients with relative indications (40% vs. 55%, P = 0.076). Filter placement was technically successful in all patients, with no procedure-related mortality. The retrieval rate was 53%. Patient age of >80 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.056, P > 0.0001) and presence of malignancy (OR 0.303, P = 0.003) was associated with a significantly reduced probability for attempted retrieval. Retrieval failure occurred in 7% (6 of 91) of all retrieval attempts. A time interval of > 90 days between implantation and attempted retrieval was associated with retrieval failure (OR 19.8, P = 0.009). Conclusions: Patient age >80 years and a history of malignancy are predictors of a reduced probability for retrieval attempt. The rate of retrieval failure is low and seems to be associated with a time interval of >90 days between filter placement and retrieval.

  2. Estimated capacity of object files in visual short-term memory is not improved by retrieval cueing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Jun; Miyatsuji, Hirofumi

    2009-03-23

    Visual short-term memory (VSTM) has been claimed to maintain three to five feature-bound object representations. Some results showing smaller capacity estimates for feature binding memory have been interpreted as the effects of interference in memory retrieval. However, change-detection tasks may not properly evaluate complex feature-bound representations such as triple conjunctions in VSTM. To understand the general type of feature-bound object representation, evaluation of triple conjunctions is critical. To test whether interference occurs in memory retrieval for complete object file representations in a VSTM task, we cued retrieval in novel paradigms that directly evaluate the memory for triple conjunctions, in comparison with a simple change-detection task. In our multiple object permanence tracking displays, observers monitored for a switch in feature combination between objects during an occlusion period, and we found that a retrieval cue provided no benefit with the triple conjunction tasks, but significant facilitation with the change-detection task, suggesting that low capacity estimates of object file memory in VSTM reflect a limit on maintenance, not retrieval.

  3. Errors induced by different approximations in handling horizontal atmospheric inhomogeneities in MIPAS/ENVISAT retrievals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Castelli

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding is a mid-infrared limb emission sounder that operated on board the polar satellite ENVISAT from 2002 to 2012. The retrieval algorithm used by the European Space Agency to process MIPAS measurements exploits the assumption that the atmosphere is horizontally homogeneous. However, previous studies highlighted how this assumption causes significant errors on the retrieved profiles of some MIPAS target species.In this paper we quantify the errors induced by this assumption and evaluate the performances of three different algorithms that can be used to mitigate the problem. We generate synthetic observations with a high spatial resolution atmospheric model and carry out the retrievals with four alternative methods. The first assumes horizontal homogeneity (1-D retrieval, the second includes a model of the horizontal gradient of atmospheric temperature (1-D plus temperature gradient retrieval, the third accounts for an horizontal gradient of temperature and composition (1-D plus temperature and composition gradient retrieval, while the fourth is the full two-dimensional (2-D inversion approach.Our results highlight that the 1-D retrieval implies errors that are significant for averages of profiles. Furthermore, for some targets (e.g. T, CH4 and N2O below 10 hPa the error induced by the 1-D approximation also becomes visible in the individual retrieved profiles. The inclusion of any kind of horizontal variability model improves all the targets with respect to the horizontal homogeneity assumption. For temperature, HNO3 and CFC-11, the inclusion of an horizontal temperature gradient leads to a significant reduction of the error. For other targets, such as H2O, O3, N2O, CH4, the improvements due to the inclusion of an horizontal temperature gradient are minor. In these cases, the inclusion of a gradient in the target volume mixing ratio leads to significant improvements. Among all the

  4. A short cut to the past: Cueing via concrete objects improves autobiographical memory retrieval in Alzheimer's disease patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk, Marie; Berntsen, Dorthe

    2018-02-01

    Older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have difficulties accessing autobiographical memories. However, this deficit tends to spare memories dated to earlier parts of their lives, and may partially reflect retrieval deficits rather than complete memory loss. Introducing a novel paradigm, the present study examines whether autobiographical memory recall can be improved in AD by manipulating the sensory richness, concreteness and cultural dating of the memory cues. Specifically, we examine whether concrete everyday objects historically dated to the participants' youth (e.g., a skipping rope), relative to verbal cues (i.e., the verbal signifiers for the objects) facilitate access to autobiographical memories. The study includes 49 AD patients, and 50 healthy, older matched control participants, all tested on word versus object-cued recall. Both groups recalled significantly more memories, when cued by objects relative to words, but the advantage was significantly larger in the AD group. In both groups, memory descriptions were longer and significantly more episodic in nature in response to object-cued recall. Together these findings suggest that the multimodal nature of the object cues (i.e. vision, olfaction, audition, somatic sensation) along with specific cue characteristics, such as time reference, texture, shape, may constrain the retrieval search, potentially minimizing executive function demands, and hence strategic processing requirements, thus easing access to autobiographical memories in AD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Divided Attention Improves Delayed, but Not Immediate Retrieval of a Consolidated Memory

    OpenAIRE

    Kessler, Yoav; Vandermorris, Susan; Gopie, Nigel; Daros, Alexander; Winocur, Gordon; Moscovitch, Morris

    2014-01-01

    A well-documented dissociation between memory encoding and retrieval concerns the role of attention in the two processes. The typical finding is that divided attention (DA) during encoding impairs future memory, but retrieval is relatively robust to attentional manipulations. However, memory research in the past 20 years had demonstrated that retrieval is a memory-changing process, in which the strength and availability of information are modified by various characteristics of the retrieval p...

  6. Improving Satellite Retrieved Infrared Sea Surface Temperatures in Aerosol-Contaminated Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, B.; Minnett, P. J.; Szczodrak, G.; Kilpatrick, K. A.

    2017-12-01

    Infrared satellite observations of sea surface temperature (SST) have become essential for many applications in meteorology, climatology, and oceanography. Applications often require high accuracy SST data: for climate research and monitoring an absolute uncertainty of 0.1K and stability of better than 0.04K per decade are required. Tropospheric aerosol concentrations increase infrared signal attenuation and prevent the retrieval of accurate satellite SST. We compare satellite-derived skin SST with measurements from the Marine-Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (M-AERI) deployed on ships during the Aerosols and Ocean Science Expeditions (AEROSE) and with quality-controlled drifter temperatures. After match-up with in-situ SST and filtering of cloud contaminated data, the results indicate that SST retrieved from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites have negative (cool) biases compared to shipboard radiometric measurements. There is also a pronounced negative bias in the Saharan outflow area that can introduce SST errors >1 K at aerosol optical depths > 0.5. In this study, we present a new method to derive night-time Saharan Dust Index (SDI) algorithms based on simulated brightness temperatures at infrared wavelengths of 3.9, 10.8 and 12.0 μm, derived using RTTOV. We derived correction coefficients for Aqua MODIS measurements by regression of the SST errors against the SDI. The biases and standard deviations are reduced by 0.25K and 0.19K after the SDI correction. The goal of this study is to understand better the characteristics and physical mechanisms of aerosol effects on satellite retrieved infrared SST, as well as to derive empirical formulae for improved accuracies in aerosol-contaminated regions.

  7. DOLPHIn—Dictionary Learning for Phase Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillmann, Andreas M.; Eldar, Yonina C.; Mairal, Julien

    2016-12-01

    We propose a new algorithm to learn a dictionary for reconstructing and sparsely encoding signals from measurements without phase. Specifically, we consider the task of estimating a two-dimensional image from squared-magnitude measurements of a complex-valued linear transformation of the original image. Several recent phase retrieval algorithms exploit underlying sparsity of the unknown signal in order to improve recovery performance. In this work, we consider such a sparse signal prior in the context of phase retrieval, when the sparsifying dictionary is not known in advance. Our algorithm jointly reconstructs the unknown signal - possibly corrupted by noise - and learns a dictionary such that each patch of the estimated image can be sparsely represented. Numerical experiments demonstrate that our approach can obtain significantly better reconstructions for phase retrieval problems with noise than methods that cannot exploit such "hidden" sparsity. Moreover, on the theoretical side, we provide a convergence result for our method.

  8. Wellhead bowl protector and retrieving tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Young, J.A.

    1991-01-01

    This patent describes improvement in a wellhead protection system including a wear bushing and a retrieving tool. The improvement comprises a wear bushing supported within the wellhead, wherein the wear bushing includes an enlarged upper end having an external support shoulder for engagement with an internal support shoulder formed in the wellhead; wherein the wear bushing further includes an internal circumferential slot intersected by at least one vertically extending slot, the vertical slot extending from the circumferential slot to the upper end of the wear bushing; a retrieving tool having at least one outwardly biased, retractable lug member mounted thereon; and wherein the retrieving tool includes an enlarged portion adapted to be received within the enlarged upper end of the wear bushing. This patent also describes a method of retrieving a wear bushing from a wellhead comprising the steps of: lowering a retrieving tool into the wellhead for locking engagement with the wear bushing; aligning the retrieving tool with the wear bushing for automatically forcing lug members carried by the retrieving tool outwardly into locking engagement with the wear bushing; monitoring drill string weight for determining engagement of the retrieving tool with the wear bushing, wherein a substantial decrease in drill string weight is an indication that the retrieving tool is engaged with the wear bushing; and removing the wear bushing from the wellhead

  9. Improvements of a COMS Land Surface Temperature Retrieval Algorithm Based on the Temperature Lapse Rate and Water Vapor/Aerosol Effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A-Ra Cho

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The National Meteorological Satellite Center in Korea retrieves land surface temperature (LST by applying the split-window LST algorithm (CSW_v1.0 to Communication, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite (COMS data. Considerable errors were detected under conditions of high water vapor content or temperature lapse rates during validation with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS LST because of the too simplified LST algorithm. In this study, six types of LST retrieval equations (CSW_v2.0 were developed to upgrade the CSW_v1.0. These methods were developed by classifying “dry,” “normal,” and “wet” cases for day and night and considering the relative sizes of brightness temperature difference (BTD values. Similar to CSW_v1.0, the LST retrieved by CSW_v2.0 had a correlation coefficient of 0.99 with the prescribed LST and a slightly larger bias of −0.03 K from 0.00K; the root mean square error (RMSE improved from 1.41 K to 1.39 K. In general, CSW_v2.0 improved the retrieval accuracy compared to CSW_v1.0, especially when the lapse rate was high (mid-day and dawn and the water vapor content was high. The spatial distributions of LST retrieved by CSW_v2.0 were found to be similar to the MODIS LST independently of the season, day/night, and geographic locations. The validation using one year’s MODIS LST data showed that CSW_v2.0 improved the retrieval accuracy of LST in terms of correlations (from 0.988 to 0.989, bias (from −1.009 K to 0.292 K, and RMSEs (from 2.613 K to 2.237 K.

  10. Learning semantic and visual similarity for endomicroscopy video retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andre, Barbara; Vercauteren, Tom; Buchner, Anna M; Wallace, Michael B; Ayache, Nicholas

    2012-06-01

    Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is a valuable computer vision technique which is increasingly being applied in the medical community for diagnosis support. However, traditional CBIR systems only deliver visual outputs, i.e., images having a similar appearance to the query, which is not directly interpretable by the physicians. Our objective is to provide a system for endomicroscopy video retrieval which delivers both visual and semantic outputs that are consistent with each other. In a previous study, we developed an adapted bag-of-visual-words method for endomicroscopy retrieval, called "Dense-Sift," that computes a visual signature for each video. In this paper, we present a novel approach to complement visual similarity learning with semantic knowledge extraction, in the field of in vivo endomicroscopy. We first leverage a semantic ground truth based on eight binary concepts, in order to transform these visual signatures into semantic signatures that reflect how much the presence of each semantic concept is expressed by the visual words describing the videos. Using cross-validation, we demonstrate that, in terms of semantic detection, our intuitive Fisher-based method transforming visual-word histograms into semantic estimations outperforms support vector machine (SVM) methods with statistical significance. In a second step, we propose to improve retrieval relevance by learning an adjusted similarity distance from a perceived similarity ground truth. As a result, our distance learning method allows to statistically improve the correlation with the perceived similarity. We also demonstrate that, in terms of perceived similarity, the recall performance of the semantic signatures is close to that of visual signatures and significantly better than those of several state-of-the-art CBIR methods. The semantic signatures are thus able to communicate high-level medical knowledge while being consistent with the low-level visual signatures and much shorter than them

  11. Monetary incentives at retrieval promote recognition of involuntarily learned emotional information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Chunping; Li, Yunyun; Zhang, Qin; Cui, Lixia

    2018-03-07

    Previous studies have suggested that the effects of reward on memory processes are affected by certain factors, but it remains unclear whether the effects of reward at retrieval on recognition processes are influenced by emotion. The event-related potential was used to investigate the combined effect of reward and emotion on memory retrieval and its neural mechanism. The behavioral results indicated that the reward at retrieval improved recognition performance under positive and negative emotional conditions. The event-related potential results indicated that there were significant interactions between the reward and emotion in the average amplitude during recognition, and the significant reward effects from the frontal to parietal brain areas appeared at 130-800 ms for positive pictures and at 190-800 ms for negative pictures, but there were no significant reward effects of neutral pictures; the reward effect of positive items appeared relatively earlier, starting at 130 ms, and that of negative pictures began at 190 ms. These results indicate that monetary incentives at retrieval promote recognition of involuntarily learned emotional information.

  12. Exploiting the synergy between SMAP and SMOS to improve brightness temperature simulations and soil moisture retrievals in arid regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebrahimi, Mohsen; Alavipanah, Seyed Kazem; Hamzeh, Saeid; Amiraslani, Farshad; Neysani Samany, Najmeh; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre

    2018-02-01

    The objective of this study was to exploit the synergy between SMOS and SMAP based on vegetation optical depth (VOD) to improve brightness temperature (TB) simulations and land surface soil moisture (SM) retrievals in arid regions of the world. In the current operational algorithm of SMAP (level 2), vegetation water content (VWC) is considered as a proxy to compute VOD which is calculated by an empirical conversion function of NDVI. Avoiding the empirical estimation of VOD, the SMOS algorithm is used to retrieve simultaneously SM and VOD from TB observations. The present study attempted to improve SMAP TB simulations and SM retrievals by benefiting from the advantages of the SMOS (L-MEB) algorithm. This was achieved by using a synergy method based on replacing the default value of SMAP VOD with the retrieved value of VOD from the SMOS multi angular and bi-polarization observations of TB. The insitu SM measurements, used as reference SM in this study, were obtained from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) over 180 stations located in arid regions of the world. Furthermore, four stations were randomly selected to analyze the temporal variations in VOD and SM. Results of the synergy method showed that the accuracy of the TB simulations and SM retrievals was respectively improved at 144 and 124 stations (out of a total of 180 stations) in terms of coefficient of determination (R2) and unbiased root mean squared error (UbRMSE). Analyzing the temporal variations in VOD showed that the SMOS VOD, conversely to the SMAP VOD, can better illustrate the presence of herbaceous plants and may be a better indicator of the seasonal changes in the vegetation density and biomass over the year.

  13. Retrieval Practice Benefits Deductive Inference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eglington, Luke G.; Kang, Sean H. K.

    2018-01-01

    Retrieval practice has been shown to benefit learning. However, the benefit has sometimes been attenuated with more complex materials that require integrating multiple units of information. Critically, Tran et al. "Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22," 135-140 (2015) found that retrieval practice improves sentence memory but not the…

  14. Recent Improvements in Retrieving Near-Surface Air Temperature and Humidity Using Microwave Remote Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, J. Brent

    2010-01-01

    Detailed studies of the energy and water cycles require accurate estimation of the turbulent fluxes of moisture and heat across the atmosphere-ocean interface at regional to basin scale. Providing estimates of these latent and sensible heat fluxes over the global ocean necessitates the use of satellite or reanalysis-based estimates of near surface variables. Recent studies have shown that errors in the surface (10 meter)estimates of humidity and temperature are currently the largest sources of uncertainty in the production of turbulent fluxes from satellite observations. Therefore, emphasis has been placed on reducing the systematic errors in the retrieval of these parameters from microwave radiometers. This study discusses recent improvements in the retrieval of air temperature and humidity through improvements in the choice of algorithms (linear vs. nonlinear) and the choice of microwave sensors. Particular focus is placed on improvements using a neural network approach with a single sensor (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) and the use of combined sensors from the NASA AQUA satellite platform. The latter algorithm utilizes the unique sampling available on AQUA from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A). Current estimates of uncertainty in the near-surface humidity and temperature from single and multi-sensor approaches are discussed and used to estimate errors in the turbulent fluxes.

  15. An improved ptychographical phase retrieval algorithm for diffractive imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maiden, Andrew M.; Rodenburg, John M.

    2009-01-01

    The ptychographical iterative engine (or PIE) is a recently developed phase retrieval algorithm that employs a series of diffraction patterns recorded as a known illumination function is translated to a set of overlapping positions relative to a target sample. The technique has been demonstrated successfully at optical and X-ray wavelengths and has been shown to be robust to detector noise and to converge considerably faster than support-based phase retrieval methods. In this paper, the PIE is extended so that the requirement for an accurate model of the illumination function is removed.

  16. Content-Based Image Retrieval Based on Electromagnetism-Like Mechanism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid A. Jalab

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Recently, many researchers in the field of automatic content-based image retrieval have devoted a remarkable amount of research looking for methods to retrieve the best relevant images to the query image. This paper presents a novel algorithm for increasing the precision in content-based image retrieval based on electromagnetism optimization technique. The electromagnetism optimization is a nature-inspired technique that follows the collective attraction-repulsion mechanism by considering each image as an electrical charge. The algorithm is composed of two phases: fitness function measurement and electromagnetism optimization technique. It is implemented on a database with 8,000 images spread across 80 classes with 100 images in each class. Eight thousand queries are fired on the database, and the overall average precision is computed. Experimental results of the proposed approach have shown significant improvement in the retrieval performance in regard to precision.

  17. Contextual Bandits for Information Retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hofmann, K.; Whiteson, S.; de Rijke, M.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we give an overview of and outlook on research at the intersection of information retrieval (IR) and contextual bandit problems. A critical problem in information retrieval is online learning to rank, where a search engine strives to improve the quality of the ranked result lists it

  18. Improvements to the swath-level near-surface atmospheric state parameter retrievals within the NRL Ocean Surface Flux System (NFLUX)

    Science.gov (United States)

    May, J. C.; Rowley, C. D.; Meyer, H.

    2017-12-01

    The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Ocean Surface Flux System (NFLUX) is an end-to-end data processing and assimilation system used to provide near-real-time satellite-based surface heat flux fields over the global ocean. The first component of NFLUX produces near-real-time swath-level estimates of surface state parameters and downwelling radiative fluxes. The focus here will be on the satellite swath-level state parameter retrievals, namely surface air temperature, surface specific humidity, and surface scalar wind speed over the ocean. Swath-level state parameter retrievals are produced from satellite sensor data records (SDRs) from four passive microwave sensors onboard 10 platforms: the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) sensor onboard the DMSP F16, F17, and F18 platforms; the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) sensor onboard the NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19, Metop-A, and Metop-B platforms; the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sensor onboard the S-NPP platform; and the Advanced Microwave Scannin Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) sensor onboard the GCOM-W1 platform. The satellite SDRs are translated into state parameter estimates using multiple polynomial regression algorithms. The coefficients to the algorithms are obtained using a bootstrapping technique with all available brightness temperature channels for a given sensor, in addition to a SST field. For each retrieved parameter for each sensor-platform combination, unique algorithms are developed for ascending and descending orbits, as well as clear vs cloudy conditions. Each of the sensors produces surface air temperature and surface specific humidity retrievals. The SSMIS and AMSR2 sensors also produce surface scalar wind speed retrievals. Improvement is seen in the SSMIS retrievals when separate algorithms are used for the even and odd scans, with the odd scans performing better than the even scans. Currently, NFLUX treats all SSMIS scans as even scans. Additional improvement in all of

  19. Effect of Methylphenidate on Retention and Retrieval of Passive Avoidance Memory in Young and Aged Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arzi

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Background Several studies showed that dopamine and norepinephrine improve retention and retrieval of memory. Methylphenidate is an enhancer of dopamine and norepinephrine in brain. Objectives In the present study, the effect of methylphenidate was evaluated on retention and retrieval of memory in young and aged mice using passive avoidance apparatus. Materials and Methods Animals were divided into groups (n = 8 as follows: test groups received electric shock plus methylphenidate (2.5, 5 and 10mg kg-1, i. P., control group received electric shock plus normal saline and blank group received only electric shock. In all groups, step-down latency for both retention and retrieval test of memory was measured. Methylphenidate was administered immediately after receiving electric shock in the retention test, but methylphenidate was administered 23.5 hours after receiving electric shock in the retrieval test. Results The mean of step-down latency on day 4 was significantly higher compared to day 2 (P < 0.05 in all young and aged groups of mice. The best response was attained with 5 mg/kg of methylphenidate. In memory retention test, the mean of step-down latency in young groups that received 2.5 and 5 mg/kg methylphenidate was significantly longer(P < 0.05 than aged groups. However, this difference was not significant in memory retrieval test. Conclusions Methylphenidate may improve memory retention and retrieval.

  20. Retrieval-practice task affects relationship between working memory capacity and retrieval-induced forgetting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Storm, Benjamin C; Bui, Dung C

    2016-11-01

    Retrieving a subset of items from memory can cause forgetting of other items in memory, a phenomenon referred to as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). Individuals who exhibit greater amounts of RIF have been shown to also exhibit superior working memory capacity (WMC) and faster stop-signal reaction times (SSRTs), results which have been interpreted as suggesting that RIF reflects an inhibitory process that is mediated by the processes of executive control. Across four experiments, we sought to further elucidate this issue by manipulating the way in which participants retrieved items during retrieval practice and examining how the resulting effects of forgetting correlated with WMC (Experiments 1-3) and SSRT (Experiment 4). Significant correlations were observed when participants retrieved items from an earlier study phase (within-list retrieval practice), but not when participants generated items from semantic memory (extra-list retrieval practice). These results provide important new insight into the role of executive-control processes in RIF.

  1. Incorporating GOES Satellite Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) Retrievals to Improve Biogenic Emission Estimates in Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Rui; White, Andrew T.; Pour Biazar, Arastoo; McNider, Richard T.; Cohan, Daniel S.

    2018-01-01

    This study examines the influence of insolation and cloud retrieval products from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system on biogenic emission estimates and ozone simulations in Texas. Compared to surface pyranometer observations, satellite-retrieved insolation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) values tend to systematically correct the overestimation of downwelling shortwave radiation in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The correlation coefficient increases from 0.93 to 0.97, and the normalized mean error decreases from 36% to 21%. The isoprene and monoterpene emissions estimated by the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature are on average 20% and 5% less, respectively, when PAR from the direct satellite retrieval is used rather than the control WRF run. The reduction in biogenic emission rates using satellite PAR reduced the predicted maximum daily 8 h ozone concentration by up to 5.3 ppbV over the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region on some days. However, episode average ozone response is less sensitive, with a 0.6 ppbV decrease near DFW and 0.3 ppbV increase over East Texas. The systematic overestimation of isoprene concentrations in a WRF control case is partially corrected by using satellite PAR, which observes more clouds than are simulated by WRF. Further, assimilation of GOES-derived cloud fields in WRF improved CAMx model performance for ground-level ozone over Texas. Additionally, it was found that using satellite PAR improved the model's ability to replicate the spatial pattern of satellite-derived formaldehyde columns and aircraft-observed vertical profiles of isoprene.

  2. Retrieval Practice Enhances the Accessibility but not the Quality of Memory

    OpenAIRE

    Sutterer, David W.; Awh, Edward

    2016-01-01

    Numerous studies have demonstrated that retrieval from long term memory (LTM) can enhance subsequent memory performance, a phenomenon labeled the retrieval practice effect. However, the almost exclusive reliance on categorical stimuli in this literature leaves open a basic question about the nature of this improvement in memory performance. It has not yet been determined whether retrieval practice improves the probability of successful memory retrieval or the quality of the retrieved represen...

  3. A Comparison of Retrievability: Celect versus Option Filter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryu, Robert K; Desai, Kush; Karp, Jennifer; Gupta, Ramona; Evans, Alan Emerson; Rajeswaran, Shankar; Salem, Riad; Lewandowski, Robert J

    2015-06-01

    To compare the retrievability of 2 potentially retrievable inferior vena cava filter devices. A retrospective, institutional review board-approved study of Celect (Cook, Inc, Bloomington, Indiana) and Option (Rex Medical, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania) filters was conducted over a 33-month period at a single institution. Fluoroscopy time, significant filter tilt, use of adjunctive retrieval technique, and strut perforation in the inferior vena cava were recorded on retrieval. Fisher exact test and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test were used for comparison. There were 99 Celect and 86 Option filters deployed. After an average of 2.09 months (range, 0.3-7.6 mo) and 1.94 months (range, 0.47-9.13 mo), respectively, 59% (n = 58) of patients with Celect filters and 74.7% (n = 65) of patients with Option filters presented for filter retrieval. Retrieval failure rates were 3.4% for Celect filters versus 7.7% for Option filters (P = .45). Median fluoroscopy retrieval times were 4.25 minutes for Celect filters versus 6 minutes for Option filters (P = .006). Adjunctive retrieval techniques were used in 5.4% of Celect filter retrievals versus 18.3% of Option filter retrievals (P = .045). The incidence of significant tilting was 8.9% for Celect filters versus 16.7% for Option filters (P = .27). The incidence of strut perforation was 43% for Celect filters versus 0% for Option filters (P Option filters were not significantly different. However, retrieval of the Option filter required a significantly increased amount of fluoroscopy time compared with the Celect filter, and there was a significantly greater usage of adjunctive retrieval techniques for the Option filter. The Celect filter had a significantly higher rate of strut perforation. Copyright © 2015 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Towards Improving Satellite Tropospheric NO2 Retrieval Products: Impacts of the spatial resolution and lighting NOx production from the a priori chemical transport model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smeltzer, C. D.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Boersma, F.

    2009-12-01

    Polar orbiting satellite retrievals of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) columns are important to a variety of scientific applications. These NO2 retrievals rely on a priori profiles from chemical transport models and radiative transfer models to derive the vertical columns (VCs) from slant columns measurements. In this work, we compare the retrieval results using a priori profiles from a global model (TM4) and a higher resolution regional model (REAM) at the OMI overpass hour of 1330 local time, implementing the Dutch OMI NO2 (DOMINO) retrieval. We also compare the retrieval results using a priori profiles from REAM model simulations with and without lightning NOx (NO + NO2) production. A priori model resolution and lightning NOx production are both found to have large impact on satellite retrievals by altering the satellite sensitivity to a particular observation by shifting the NO2 vertical distribution interpreted by the radiation model. The retrieved tropospheric NO2 VCs may increase by 25-100% in urban regions and be reduced by 50% in rural regions if the a priori profiles from REAM simulations are used during the retrievals instead of the profiles from TM4 simulations. The a priori profiles with lightning NOx may result in a 25-50% reduction of the retrieved tropospheric NO2 VCs compared to the a priori profiles without lightning. As first priority, a priori vertical NO2 profiles from a chemical transport model with a high resolution, which can better simulate urban-rural NO2 gradients in the boundary layer and make use of observation-based parameterizations of lightning NOx production, should be first implemented to obtain more accurate NO2 retrievals over the United States, where NOx source regions are spatially separated and lightning NOx production is significant. Then as consequence of a priori NO2 profile variabilities resulting from lightning and model resolution dynamics, geostationary satellite, daylight observations would further promote the next

  5. Combining kernel matrix optimization and regularization to improve particle size distribution retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Qian; Xia, Houping; Xu, Qiang; Zhao, Lei

    2018-05-01

    A new method combining Tikhonov regularization and kernel matrix optimization by multi-wavelength incidence is proposed for retrieving particle size distribution (PSD) in an independent model with improved accuracy and stability. In comparison to individual regularization or multi-wavelength least squares, the proposed method exhibited better anti-noise capability, higher accuracy and stability. While standard regularization typically makes use of the unit matrix, it is not universal for different PSDs, particularly for Junge distributions. Thus, a suitable regularization matrix was chosen by numerical simulation, with the second-order differential matrix found to be appropriate for most PSD types.

  6. Operant conditioning of autobiographical memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debeer, Elise; Raes, Filip; Williams, J Mark G; Craeynest, Miet; Hermans, Dirk

    2014-01-01

    Functional avoidance is considered as one of the key mechanisms underlying overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM). According to this view OGM is regarded as a learned cognitive avoidance strategy, based on principles of operant conditioning; i.e., individuals learn to avoid the emotionally painful consequences associated with the retrieval of specific negative memories. The aim of the present study was to test one of the basic assumptions of the functional avoidance account, namely that autobiographical memory retrieval can be brought under operant control. Here 41 students were instructed to retrieve personal memories in response to 60 emotional cue words. Depending on the condition, they were punished with an aversive sound for the retrieval of specific or nonspecific memories in an operant conditioning procedure. Analyzes showed that the course of memory specificity significantly differed between conditions. After the procedure participants punished for nonspecific memories retrieved significantly more specific memories compared to participants punished for specific memories. However, whereas memory specificity significantly increased in participants punished for specific memories, it did not significantly decrease in participants punished for nonspecific memories. Thus, while our findings indicate that autobiographical memory retrieval can be brought under operant control, they do not support a functional avoidance view on OGM.

  7. Impact of Metadata on Full-text Information Retrieval Performance: An Experimental Research on a Small Scale Turkish Corpus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Çağdaş Çapkın

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Information institutions use text-based information retrieval systems to store, index and retrieve metadata, full-text, or both metadata and full-text (hybrid contents. The aim of this research was to evaluate impact of these contents on information retrieval performance. For this purpose, metadata (MIR, full-text (FIR and hybrid (HIR content information retrieval systems were developed with default Lucene information retrieval model for a small scale Turkish corpus. In order to evaluate performance of this three systems, “precision - recall” and “normalized recall” tests were conducted. Experimental findings showed that there were no significant differences between MIR and FIR in mean average precision (MAP performance. On the other hand, MAP performance of HIR was significantly higher in comparison to MIR and FIR. When information retrieval performance was evaluated as user-centered, the “normalized recall” performances of MIR and HIR were significantly higher than FIR. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the systems in retrieved relevant document means. Processing different types of contents such as metadata and full-text had some advantages and disadvantages for information retrieval systems in terms of term management. The advantages brought together in hybrid content processing (HIR and information retrieval performance improved.

  8. Measuring and Predicting Tag Importance for Image Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shangwen; Purushotham, Sanjay; Chen, Chen; Ren, Yuzhuo; Kuo, C-C Jay

    2017-12-01

    Textual data such as tags, sentence descriptions are combined with visual cues to reduce the semantic gap for image retrieval applications in today's Multimodal Image Retrieval (MIR) systems. However, all tags are treated as equally important in these systems, which may result in misalignment between visual and textual modalities during MIR training. This will further lead to degenerated retrieval performance at query time. To address this issue, we investigate the problem of tag importance prediction, where the goal is to automatically predict the tag importance and use it in image retrieval. To achieve this, we first propose a method to measure the relative importance of object and scene tags from image sentence descriptions. Using this as the ground truth, we present a tag importance prediction model to jointly exploit visual, semantic and context cues. The Structural Support Vector Machine (SSVM) formulation is adopted to ensure efficient training of the prediction model. Then, the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is employed to learn the relation between the image visual feature and tag importance to obtain robust retrieval performance. Experimental results on three real-world datasets show a significant performance improvement of the proposed MIR with Tag Importance Prediction (MIR/TIP) system over other MIR systems.

  9. An Improved Local Gradient Method for Sea Surface Wind Direction Retrieval from SAR Imagery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lizhang Zhou

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Sea surface wind affects the fluxes of energy, mass and momentum between the atmosphere and ocean, and therefore regional and global weather and climate. With various satellite microwave sensors, sea surface wind can be measured with large spatial coverage in almost all-weather conditions, day or night. Like any other remote sensing measurements, sea surface wind measurement is also indirect. Therefore, it is important to develop appropriate wind speed and direction retrieval models for different types of microwave instruments. In this paper, a new sea surface wind direction retrieval method from synthetic aperture radar (SAR imagery is developed. In the method, local gradients are computed in frequency domain by combining the operation of smoothing and computing local gradients in one step to simplify the process and avoid the difference approximation. This improved local gradients (ILG method is compared with the traditional two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2D FFT method and local gradients (LG method, using interpolating wind directions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF reanalysis data and the Cross-Calibrated Multi-Platform (CCMP wind vector product. The sensitivities to the salt-and-pepper noise, the additive noise and the multiplicative noise are analyzed. The ILG method shows a better performance of retrieval wind directions than the other two methods.

  10. Retrieval Practice Is an Efficient Method of Enhancing the Retention of Anatomy and Physiology Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobson, John L.

    2013-01-01

    Although a great deal of empirical evidence has indicated that retrieval practice is an effective means of promoting learning and memory, very few studies have investigated the strategy in the context of an actual class. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a series of very brief retrieval quizzes could significantly improve the…

  11. An extended Kalman-Bucy filter for atmospheric temperature profile retrieval with a passive microwave sounder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ledsham, W. H.; Staelin, D. H.

    1978-01-01

    An extended Kalman-Bucy filter has been implemented for atmospheric temperature profile retrievals from observations made using the Scanned Microwave Spectrometer (SCAMS) instrument carried on the Nimbus 6 satellite. This filter has the advantage that it requires neither stationary statistics in the underlying processes nor linear production of the observed variables from the variables to be estimated. This extended Kalman-Bucy filter has yielded significant performance improvement relative to multiple regression retrieval methods. A multi-spot extended Kalman-Bucy filter has also been developed in which the temperature profiles at a number of scan angles in a scanning instrument are retrieved simultaneously. These multi-spot retrievals are shown to outperform the single-spot Kalman retrievals.

  12. Improving life sciences information retrieval using semantic web technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quan, Dennis

    2007-05-01

    The ability to retrieve relevant information is at the heart of every aspect of research and development in the life sciences industry. Information is often distributed across multiple systems and recorded in a way that makes it difficult to piece together the complete picture. Differences in data formats, naming schemes and network protocols amongst information sources, both public and private, must be overcome, and user interfaces not only need to be able to tap into these diverse information sources but must also assist users in filtering out extraneous information and highlighting the key relationships hidden within an aggregated set of information. The Semantic Web community has made great strides in proposing solutions to these problems, and many efforts are underway to apply Semantic Web techniques to the problem of information retrieval in the life sciences space. This article gives an overview of the principles underlying a Semantic Web-enabled information retrieval system: creating a unified abstraction for knowledge using the RDF semantic network model; designing semantic lenses that extract contextually relevant subsets of information; and assembling semantic lenses into powerful information displays. Furthermore, concrete examples of how these principles can be applied to life science problems including a scenario involving a drug discovery dashboard prototype called BioDash are provided.

  13. BIR 2014 - Bibliometric-enhanced Information Retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    This first “Bibliometric-enhanced Information Retrieval” (BIR 2014) workshop1 aims to engage with the IR community about possible links to bibliometrics and scholarly communication. Bibliometric techniques are not yet widely used to enhance retrieval processes in digital libraries, although...... analysis of co-authorship network, can improve retrieval services for specific communities, as well as for large, cross-domain collections. This workshop aims to raise awareness of the missing link between information retrieval (IR) and bibliometrics / scientometrics and to create a common ground...... for the incorporation of bibliometric-enhanced services into retrieval at the digital library interface. Our interests include information retrieval, information seeking, science modelling, network analysis, and digital libraries. The goal is to apply insights from bibliometrics, scientometrics, and informetrics...

  14. An Improved Mono-Window Algorithm for Land Surface Temperature Retrieval from Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Wang

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The successful launch of the Landsat 8 satellite with two thermal infrared bands on February 11, 2013, for continuous Earth observation provided another opportunity for remote sensing of land surface temperature (LST. However, calibration notices issued by the United States Geological Survey (USGS indicated that data from the Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS Band 11 have large uncertainty and suggested using TIRS Band 10 data as a single spectral band for LST estimation. In this study, we presented an improved mono-window (IMW algorithm for LST retrieval from the Landsat 8 TIRS Band 10 data. Three essential parameters (ground emissivity, atmospheric transmittance and effective mean atmospheric temperature were required for the IMW algorithm to retrieve LST. A new method was proposed to estimate the parameter of effective mean atmospheric temperature from local meteorological data. The other two essential parameters could be both estimated through the so-called land cover approach. Sensitivity analysis conducted for the IMW algorithm revealed that the possible error in estimating the required atmospheric water vapor content has the most significant impact on the probable LST estimation error. Under moderate errors in both water vapor content and ground emissivity, the algorithm had an accuracy of ~1.4 K for LST retrieval. Validation of the IMW algorithm using the simulated datasets for various situations indicated that the LST difference between the retrieved and the simulated ones was 0.67 K on average, with an RMSE of 0.43 K. Comparison of our IMW algorithm with the single-channel (SC algorithm for three main atmosphere profiles indicated that the average error and RMSE of the IMW algorithm were −0.05 K and 0.84 K, respectively, which were less than the −2.86 K and 1.05 K of the SC algorithm. Application of the IMW algorithm to Nanjing and its vicinity in east China resulted in a reasonable LST estimation for the region. Spatial

  15. Follicular flushing during oocyte retrieval: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roque, Matheus; Sampaio, Marcos; Geber, Selmo

    2012-11-01

    The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the literature and identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs), in order to answer if performing follicular flushing during the oocyte retrieval may improve the assisted reproductive technologies (ART) outcomes. An exhaustive electronic search was performed using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Only RCTs comparing follicular flushing to aspiration only during ART, were included. We included 5 trials, with a total of 482 patients randomized, with median ages ranging from 30.5 to 37.1. The data analyses did not show significant differences regarding live birth rate, clinical pregnancies rates, and the number of oocytes retrieved. The duration of oocyte retrieval was significantly increased in the follicular flushing group. The results from this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that there is no advantage to use of routine follicular flushing during OR in an unselected group of patients.

  16. Retrieval practice is an efficient method of enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobson, John L

    2013-06-01

    Although a great deal of empirical evidence has indicated that retrieval practice is an effective means of promoting learning and memory, very few studies have investigated the strategy in the context of an actual class. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a series of very brief retrieval quizzes could significantly improve the retention of previously tested information throughout an anatomy and physiology course. A second purpose was to determine if there were any significant differences between expanding and uniform patterns of retrieval that followed a standardized initial retrieval delay. Anatomy and physiology students were assigned to either a control group or groups that were repeatedly prompted to retrieve a subset of previously tested course information via a series of quizzes that were administered on either an expanding or a uniform schedule. Each retrieval group completed a total of 10 retrieval quizzes, and the series of quizzes required (only) a total of 2 h to complete. Final retention of the exam subset material was assessed during the last week of the semester. There were no significant differences between the expanding and uniform retrieval groups, but both retained an average of 41% more of the subset material than did the control group (ANOVA, F = 129.8, P = 0.00, ηp(2) = 0.36). In conclusion, retrieval practice is a highly efficient and effective strategy for enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology material.

  17. A Survey of Stemming Algorithms in Information Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moral, Cristian; de Antonio, Angélica; Imbert, Ricardo; Ramírez, Jaime

    2014-01-01

    Background: During the last fifty years, improved information retrieval techniques have become necessary because of the huge amount of information people have available, which continues to increase rapidly due to the use of new technologies and the Internet. Stemming is one of the processes that can improve information retrieval in terms of…

  18. Results from CrIS-ATMS Obtained Using the AIRS Science Team Retrieval Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis C.; Iredell, Lena

    2013-01-01

    which significantly improved results of AIRS Version-6. Version-5.70 CrIS/ATMS temperature profile and surface skin temperature retrievals are of very good quality, and are better than AIRS Version-5 retrievals, but are still significantly poorer than those of AIRS Version-6. CrIS/ATMS retrievals should improve when a Neural-Net start-up system is ready for use. We also examined CrIS/ATMS retrievals generated by NOAA using their NUCAPS retrieval algorithm, which is based on earlier versions of the AIRS Science Team retrieval algorithms. We show that the NUCAPS algorithm as currently configured is not well suited for climate monitoring purposes.

  19. Improved surface?wave retrieval from ambient seismic noise by multi?dimensional deconvolution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wapenaar, C.P.A.; Ruigrok, E.N.; Van der Neut, J.R.; Draganov, D.S.

    2011-01-01

    The methodology of surface?wave retrieval from ambient seismic noise by crosscorrelation relies on the assumption that the noise field is equipartitioned. Deviations from equipartitioning degrade the accuracy of the retrieved surface?wave Green's function. A point?spread function, derived from the

  20. The influence of learning methods on collaboration: prior repeated retrieval enhances retrieval organization, abolishes collaborative inhibition, and promotes post-collaborative memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Congleton, Adam R; Rajaram, Suparna

    2011-11-01

    Research on collaborative memory has unveiled the counterintuitive yet robust phenomenon that collaboration impairs group recall. A candidate explanation for this collaborative inhibition effect is the disruption of people's idiosyncratic retrieval strategies during collaboration, and it is hypothesized that employing methods that improve one's organization protects against retrieval disruption. Here it is investigated how one's learning method during the study phase--defined as either repeatedly studying or repeatedly retrieving information--influences retrieval organization and what effects this has on collaborative recall and post-collaborative individual recall. Results show that repeated retrieval consistently eliminated collaborative inhibition. This enabled participants to gain the most from re-exposure to materials recalled by their partners that they themselves did not recall and led to improvements in their individual memory following collaboration. This repeated retrieval advantage stemmed from the preferential manner in which this learning method strengthened retrieval organization. Findings are also discussed that reveal a relationship between retrieval organization and the interaction observed between learning method and short versus long delay seen in the testing effect literature. Finally, results show that the elusive benefits of cross-cuing during collaboration may be best detected with a longer study-test delay. Together, these findings illuminate when and how collaboration can enhance memory.

  1. Memory retrieval as a self-propagating process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T; Schlichting, Andreas

    2014-07-01

    Retrieval of a subset of studied items and the presentation of those items as retrieval cues typically impair retrieval of the other items. Previous research on this self-limiting property of memory retrieval has relied heavily on short retention intervals and similar context between encoding and test. Here, we examined retrieval dynamics also after a prolonged retention interval with different spatial and social context between encoding and test, conditions that mimic people's remembering in many situations of daily life. For both unrelated word lists and more integrated prose material, we found retrieval and cuing to impair recall of other studied items after a short retention interval, but to improve recall in the prolonged retention interval condition. The results demonstrate that retrieval dynamics depend critically on situation, indicating that quite often in daily life, retrieval may be a self-propagating, rather than a self-limiting process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. PageRank without hyperlinks: Reranking with PubMed related article networks for biomedical text retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Jimmy

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Graph analysis algorithms such as PageRank and HITS have been successful in Web environments because they are able to extract important inter-document relationships from manually-created hyperlinks. We consider the application of these techniques to biomedical text retrieval. In the current PubMed® search interface, a MEDLINE® citation is connected to a number of related citations, which are in turn connected to other citations. Thus, a MEDLINE record represents a node in a vast content-similarity network. This article explores the hypothesis that these networks can be exploited for text retrieval, in the same manner as hyperlink graphs on the Web. Results We conducted a number of reranking experiments using the TREC 2005 genomics track test collection in which scores extracted from PageRank and HITS analysis were combined with scores returned by an off-the-shelf retrieval engine. Experiments demonstrate that incorporating PageRank scores yields significant improvements in terms of standard ranked-retrieval metrics. Conclusion The link structure of content-similarity networks can be exploited to improve the effectiveness of information retrieval systems. These results generalize the applicability of graph analysis algorithms to text retrieval in the biomedical domain.

  3. PageRank without hyperlinks: reranking with PubMed related article networks for biomedical text retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Jimmy

    2008-06-06

    Graph analysis algorithms such as PageRank and HITS have been successful in Web environments because they are able to extract important inter-document relationships from manually-created hyperlinks. We consider the application of these techniques to biomedical text retrieval. In the current PubMed(R) search interface, a MEDLINE(R) citation is connected to a number of related citations, which are in turn connected to other citations. Thus, a MEDLINE record represents a node in a vast content-similarity network. This article explores the hypothesis that these networks can be exploited for text retrieval, in the same manner as hyperlink graphs on the Web. We conducted a number of reranking experiments using the TREC 2005 genomics track test collection in which scores extracted from PageRank and HITS analysis were combined with scores returned by an off-the-shelf retrieval engine. Experiments demonstrate that incorporating PageRank scores yields significant improvements in terms of standard ranked-retrieval metrics. The link structure of content-similarity networks can be exploited to improve the effectiveness of information retrieval systems. These results generalize the applicability of graph analysis algorithms to text retrieval in the biomedical domain.

  4. Improving Satellite Quantitative Precipitation Estimation Using GOES-Retrieved Cloud Optical Depth

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stenz, Ronald; Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Feng, Zhe; Kuligowski, Robert J.

    2016-02-01

    To address significant gaps in ground-based radar coverage and rain gauge networks in the U.S., geostationary satellite quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) such as the Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrievals (SCaMPR) can be used to fill in both the spatial and temporal gaps of ground-based measurements. Additionally, with the launch of GOES-R, the temporal resolution of satellite QPEs may be comparable to that of Weather Service Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) volume scans as GOES images will be available every five minutes. However, while satellite QPEs have strengths in spatial coverage and temporal resolution, they face limitations particularly during convective events. Deep Convective Systems (DCSs) have large cloud shields with similar brightness temperatures (BTs) over nearly the entire system, but widely varying precipitation rates beneath these clouds. Geostationary satellite QPEs relying on the indirect relationship between BTs and precipitation rates often suffer from large errors because anvil regions (little/no precipitation) cannot be distinguished from rain-cores (heavy precipitation) using only BTs. However, a combination of BTs and optical depth (τ) has been found to reduce overestimates of precipitation in anvil regions (Stenz et al. 2014). A new rain mask algorithm incorporating both τ and BTs has been developed, and its application to the existing SCaMPR algorithm was evaluated. The performance of the modified SCaMPR was evaluated using traditional skill scores and a more detailed analysis of performance in individual DCS components by utilizing the Feng et al. (2012) classification algorithm. SCaMPR estimates with the new rain mask applied benefited from significantly reduced overestimates of precipitation in anvil regions and overall improvements in skill scores.

  5. Hierarchical Fuzzy Feature Similarity Combination for Presentation Slide Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Kushki

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel XML-based system for retrieval of presentation slides to address the growing data mining needs in presentation archives for educational and scholarly settings. In particular, contextual information, such as structural and formatting features, is extracted from the open format XML representation of presentation slides. In response to a textual user query, each extracted feature is used to compute a fuzzy relevance score for each slide in the database. The fuzzy scores from the various features are then combined through a hierarchical scheme to generate a single relevance score per slide. Various fusion operators and their properties are examined with respect to their effect on retrieval performance. Experimental results indicate a significant increase in retrieval performance measured in terms of precision-recall. The improvements are attributed to both the incorporation of the contextual features and the hierarchical feature combination scheme.

  6. The impact of intermediate-term alcohol abstinence on memory retrieval and suppression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viola Luca Nemeth

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The nature of episodic memory deficit in intermediate-term abstinence from alcohol in alcohol dependence (AD is not yet clarified. Deficits in inhibitory control are commonly reported in substance use disorders. However, much less is known about cognitive control suppressing interference from memory. The Think/No-think (TNT paradigm is a well established method to investigate inhibition of associative memory retrieval.Methods: Thirty-six unmedicated alcohol dependent (AD patients and 36 healthy controls (HC performed the TNT task. Thirty image-word pairs were trained up to a predefined accuracy level. Cued recall was examined in three conditions: Think (T for items instructed to-be-remembered, No-think (NT assessing the ability to suppress retrieval and Baseline (B for general relational memory. Premorbid IQ, clinical variables and impulsivity measures were quantified. Results: AD patients had a significantly increased demand for training. Baseline memory abilities and effect of practice on retrieval were not markedly different between the groups. We found a significant main effect of group (HC vs AD x condition (B, T and NT and a significant difference in mean NT-B scores for the two groups. Discussion: AD and HC groups did not differ essentially in their baseline memory abilities. Also, the instruction to focus on retrieval improved episodic memory performance in both groups. Crucially, control participants were able to suppress relational words in the NT condition supporting the critical effect of cognitive control processes over inhibition of retrieval. In contrast to this, the ability of AD patients to suppress retrieval was found to be impaired.

  7. Age-Related Decline in Controlled Retrieval: The Role of the PFC and Sleep

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristine A. Wilckens

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Age-related cognitive impairments often include difficulty retrieving memories, particularly those that rely on executive control. In this paper we discuss the influence of the prefrontal cortex on memory retrieval, and the specific memory processes associated with the prefrontal cortex that decline in late adulthood. We conclude that preretrieval processes associated with preparation to make a memory judgment are impaired, leading to greater reliance on postretrieval processes. This is consistent with the view that impairments in executive control significantly contribute to deficits in controlled retrieval. Finally, we discuss age-related changes in sleep as a potential mechanism that contributes to deficiencies in executive control that are important for efficient retrieval. The sleep literature points to the importance of slow-wave sleep in restoration of prefrontal cortex function. Given that slow-wave sleep significantly declines with age, we hypothesize that age-related changes in slow-wave sleep could mediate age-related decline in executive control, manifesting a robust deficit in controlled memory retrieval processes. Interventions, like physical activity, that improve sleep could be effective methods to enhance controlled memory processes in late life.

  8. Comparative Results of AIRS AMSU and CrIS/ATMS Retrievals Using a Scientifically Equivalent Retrieval Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis; Iredell, Lena

    2016-01-01

    The AIRS Science Team Version 6 retrieval algorithm is currently producing high quality level-3 Climate Data Records (CDRs) from AIRSAMSU which are critical for understanding climate processes. The AIRS Science Team is finalizing an improved Version-7 retrieval algorithm to reprocess all old and future AIRS data. AIRS CDRs should eventually cover the period September 2002 through at least 2020. CrISATMS is the only scheduled follow on to AIRSAMSU. The objective of this research is to prepare for generation of a long term CrISATMS level-3 data using a finalized retrieval algorithm that is scientifically equivalent to AIRSAMSU Version-7.

  9. Transcranial direct current stimulation improves word retrieval in healthy and nonfluent aphasic subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiori, Valentina; Coccia, Michela; Marinelli, Chiara V; Vecchi, Veronica; Bonifazi, Silvia; Ceravolo, M Gabriella; Provinciali, Leandro; Tomaiuolo, Francesco; Marangolo, Paola

    2011-09-01

    A number of studies have shown that modulating cortical activity by means of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) affects performances of both healthy and brain-damaged subjects. In this study, we investigated the potential of tDCS to enhance associative verbal learning in 10 healthy individuals and to improve word retrieval deficits in three patients with stroke-induced aphasia. In healthy individuals, tDCS (20 min, 1 mA) was applied over Wernicke's area (position CP5 of the International 10-20 EEG System) while they learned 20 new "words" (legal nonwords arbitrarily assigned to 20 different pictures). The healthy subjects participated in a randomized counterbalanced double-blind procedure in which they were subjected to one session of anodic tDCS over left Wernicke's area, one sham session over this location and one session of anodic tDCS stimulating the right occipito-parietal area. Each experimental session was performed during a different week (over three consecutive weeks) with 6 days of intersession interval. Over 2 weeks, three aphasic subjects participated in a randomized double-blind experiment involving intensive language training for their anomic difficulties in two tDCS conditions. Each subject participated in five consecutive daily sessions of anodic tDCS (20 min, 1 mA) and sham stimulation over Wernicke's area while they performed a picture-naming task. By the end of each week, anodic tDCS had significantly improved their accuracy on the picture-naming task. Both normal subjects and aphasic patients also had shorter naming latencies during anodic tDCS than during sham condition. At two follow-ups (1 and 3 weeks after the end of treatment), performed only in two aphasic subjects, response accuracy and reaction times were still significantly better in the anodic than in the sham condition, suggesting a long-term effect on recovery of their anomic disturbances.

  10. Dialog-based Interactive Image Retrieval

    OpenAIRE

    Guo, Xiaoxiao; Wu, Hui; Cheng, Yu; Rennie, Steven; Feris, Rogerio Schmidt

    2018-01-01

    Existing methods for interactive image retrieval have demonstrated the merit of integrating user feedback, improving retrieval results. However, most current systems rely on restricted forms of user feedback, such as binary relevance responses, or feedback based on a fixed set of relative attributes, which limits their impact. In this paper, we introduce a new approach to interactive image search that enables users to provide feedback via natural language, allowing for more natural and effect...

  11. Exploring The Limits Of Variational Passive Microwave Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncan, David Ian

    Passive microwave observations from satellite platforms constitute one of the most important data records of the global observing system. Operational since the late 1970s, passive microwave data underpin climate records of precipitation, sea ice extent, water vapor, and more, and contribute significantly to numerical weather prediction via data assimilation. Detailed understanding of the observation errors in these data is key to maximizing their utility for research and operational applications alike. However, the treatment of observation errors in this data record has been lacking and somewhat divergent when considering the retrieval and data assimilation communities. In this study, some limits of passive microwave imager data are considered in light of more holistic treatment of observation errors. A variational retrieval, named the CSU 1DVAR, was developed for microwave imagers and applied to the GMI and AMSR2 sensors for ocean scenes. Via an innovative method to determine forward model error, this retrieval accounts for error covariances across all channels used in the iteration. This improves validation in more complex scenes such as high wind speed and persistently cloudy regimes. In addition, it validates on par with a benchmark dataset without any tuning to in-situ observations. The algorithm yields full posterior error diagnostics and its physical forward model is applicable to other sensors, pending intercalibration. This retrieval is used to explore the viability of retrieving parameters at the limits of the available information content from a typical microwave imager. Retrieval of warm rain, marginal sea ice, and falling snow are explored with the variational retrieval. Warm rain retrieval shows some promise, with greater sensitivity than operational GPM algorithms due to leveraging CloudSat data and accounting for drop size distribution variability. Marginal sea ice is also detected with greater sensitivity than a standard operational retrieval

  12. Chlorophyll induced fluorescence retrieved from GOME2 for improving gross primary productivity estimates of vegetation

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Leth, Thomas C.; Verstraeten, Willem W.; Sanders, Abram F. J.

    2014-05-01

    Mapping terrestrial chlorophyll fluorescence is a crucial activity to obtain information on the functional status of vegetation and to improve estimates of light-use efficiency (LUE) and global primary productivity (GPP). GPP quantifies carbon fixation by plant ecosystems and is therefore an important parameter for budgeting terrestrial carbon cycles. Satellite remote sensing offers an excellent tool for investigating GPP in a spatially explicit fashion across different scales of observation. The GPP estimates, however, still remain largely uncertain due to biotic and abiotic factors that influence plant production. Sun-induced fluorescence has the ability to enhance our knowledge on how environmentally induced changes affect the LUE. This can be linked to optical derived remote sensing parameters thereby reducing the uncertainty in GPP estimates. Satellite measurements provide a relatively new perspective on global sun-induced fluorescence, enabling us to quantify spatial distributions and changes over time. Techniques have recently been developed to retrieve fluorescence emissions from hyperspectral satellite measurements. We use data from the Global Ozone Monitoring Instrument 2 (GOME2) to infer terrestrial fluorescence. The spectral signatures of three basic components atmospheric: absorption, surface reflectance, and fluorescence radiance are separated using reference measurements of non-fluorescent surfaces (desserts, deep oceans and ice) to solve for the atmospheric absorption. An empirically based principal component analysis (PCA) approach is applied similar to that of Joiner et al. (2013, ACP). Here we show our first global maps of the GOME2 retrievals of chlorophyll fluorescence. First results indicate fluorescence distributions that are similar with that obtained by GOSAT and GOME2 as reported by Joiner et al. (2013, ACP), although we find slightly higher values. In view of optimizing the fluorescence retrieval, we will show the effect of the references

  13. Improving data retrieval quality: Evidence based medicine perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamalov, M; Dobrynin, V; Balykina, J; Kolbin, A; Verbitskaya, E; Kasimova, M

    2015-01-01

    The actively developing approach in modern medicine is the approach focused on principles of evidence-based medicine. The assessment of quality and reliability of studies is needed. However, in some cases studies corresponding to the first level of evidence may contain errors in randomized control trials (RCTs). Solution of the problem is the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Studies both in the fields of medicine and information retrieval are conducted for developing search engines for the MEDLINE database [1]; combined techniques for summarization and information retrieval targeted to solving problems of finding the best medication based on the levels of evidence are being developed [2]. Based on the relevance and demand for studies both in the field of medicine and information retrieval, it was decided to start the development of a search engine for the MEDLINE database search on the basis of the Saint-Petersburg State University with the support of Pavlov First Saint-Petersburg State Medical University and Tashkent Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education. Novelty and value of the proposed system are characterized by the use of ranking method of relevant abstracts. It is suggested that the system will be able to perform ranking based on studies level of evidence and to apply GRADE criteria for system evaluation. The assigned task falls within the domain of information retrieval and machine learning. Based on the results of implementation from previous work [3], in which the main goal was to cluster abstracts from MEDLINE database by subtypes of medical interventions, a set of algorithms for clustering in this study was selected: K-means, K-means ++, EM from the sklearn (http://scikit-learn.org) and WEKA (http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~ml/weka/) libraries, together with the methods of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) [4] choosing the first 210 facts and the model "bag of words" [5] to represent clustered documents

  14. [Application of spaced retrieval training on patients with dementia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hua-Shan; Lin, Li-Chan

    2012-10-01

    Dementia causes semantic and episodic memory impairments that limit patients' activities of daily living (ADL) and increase caregiver burden. Spaced retrieval training uses repetitive retrieval to strengthen cognitive and motor skills intuitively in mild / moderate dementia patients who retain preserved implicit / non-declarative memory. This article describes and discusses the operative mechanism, influencing variables, and practical applications of spaced retrieval training. We hope this article increases professional understanding and application of this training approach to improve dementia patient ADL and improve quality of life for both caregivers and patients.

  15. Pareto-depth for multiple-query image retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiao, Ko-Jen; Calder, Jeff; Hero, Alfred O

    2015-02-01

    Most content-based image retrieval systems consider either one single query, or multiple queries that include the same object or represent the same semantic information. In this paper, we consider the content-based image retrieval problem for multiple query images corresponding to different image semantics. We propose a novel multiple-query information retrieval algorithm that combines the Pareto front method with efficient manifold ranking. We show that our proposed algorithm outperforms state of the art multiple-query retrieval algorithms on real-world image databases. We attribute this performance improvement to concavity properties of the Pareto fronts, and prove a theoretical result that characterizes the asymptotic concavity of the fronts.

  16. User Needs and Strategies in Structured Information Retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    G. Ramirez Camps (Georgina)

    2005-01-01

    textabstractStructured information retrieval studies the combination of the content and the structure information of documents to perform different IR tasks. Different approaches make use of the structural information of documents to improve information retrieval effectiveness. However, most of

  17. Improved Algorithms for Accurate Retrieval of UV - Visible Diffuse Attenuation Coefficients in Optically Complex, Inshore Waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Fang; Fichot, Cedric G.; Hooker, Stanford B.; Miller, William L.

    2014-01-01

    Photochemical processes driven by high-energy ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in inshore, estuarine, and coastal waters play an important role in global bio geochemical cycles and biological systems. A key to modeling photochemical processes in these optically complex waters is an accurate description of the vertical distribution of UVR in the water column which can be obtained using the diffuse attenuation coefficients of down welling irradiance (Kd()). The Sea UV Sea UVc algorithms (Fichot et al., 2008) can accurately retrieve Kd ( 320, 340, 380,412, 443 and 490 nm) in oceanic and coastal waters using multispectral remote sensing reflectances (Rrs(), Sea WiFS bands). However, SeaUVSeaUVc algorithms are currently not optimized for use in optically complex, inshore waters, where they tend to severely underestimate Kd(). Here, a new training data set of optical properties collected in optically complex, inshore waters was used to re-parameterize the published SeaUVSeaUVc algorithms, resulting in improved Kd() retrievals for turbid, estuarine waters. Although the updated SeaUVSeaUVc algorithms perform best in optically complex waters, the published SeaUVSeaUVc models still perform well in most coastal and oceanic waters. Therefore, we propose a composite set of SeaUVSeaUVc algorithms, optimized for Kd() retrieval in almost all marine systems, ranging from oceanic to inshore waters. The composite algorithm set can retrieve Kd from ocean color with good accuracy across this wide range of water types (e.g., within 13 mean relative error for Kd(340)). A validation step using three independent, in situ data sets indicates that the composite SeaUVSeaUVc can generate accurate Kd values from 320 490 nm using satellite imagery on a global scale. Taking advantage of the inherent benefits of our statistical methods, we pooled the validation data with the training set, obtaining an optimized composite model for estimating Kd() in UV wavelengths for almost all marine waters. This

  18. Image Retrieval Berdasarkan Fitur Warna, Bentuk, dan Tekstur

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita Layona

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Along with the times, information retrieval is no longer just on textual data, but also the visual data. The technique was originally used is Text-Based Image Retrieval (TBIR, but the technique still has some shortcomings such as the relevance of the picture successfully retrieved, and the specific space required to store meta-data in the image. Seeing the shortage of Text-Based Image Retrieval techniques, then other techniques were developed, namely Image Retrieval based on content or commonly called Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR. In this research, CBIR will be discussed based on color, shape and texture using a color histogram, Gabor and SIFT. This study aimed to compare the results of image retrieval with some of these techniques. The results obtained are by combining color, shape and texture features, the performance of the system can be improved.

  19. Mutual Influence of Reward Anticipation and Emotion on Brain Activity during Memory Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Chunping; Liu, Fang; Li, Yunyun; Zhang, Qin; Cui, Lixia

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies on the joint effect of reward motivation and emotion on memory retrieval have obtained inconsistent results. Furthermore, whether and how any such joint effect might vary over time remains unclear too. Accordingly, using the event-related potential (ERP) measurement of high temporal resolution, our study investigates the cognitive and brain mechanisms of monetary reward and emotion affecting the retrieval processes of episodic memory. Twenty undergraduate and graduate students participated in the research, and our study's behavioral results indicated that reward (relative to no reward) and negative emotion (relative to positive and neutral emotion) significantly improved recognition performance. The ERP results showed that there were significant interactions between monetary reward and emotion on memory retrieval, and the reward effects of positive, neutral, and negative memory occurred at varied intervals in mean amplitude. The reward effect of positive memory appeared relatively early, at 260-330 ms after the stimulus onset in the frontal-frontocentral area, at 260-500 ms in the centroparietal-parietal area and at 500-700 ms in the frontocentral area. However, the reward effects of neutral and negative memory occurred relatively later, and that of negative memory appeared at 500-700 ms in the frontocentral and centroparietal area and that of neutral memory was at 500-700 ms in the frontocentral and centroparietal-parietal area. Meanwhile, significant FN400 old/new effects were observed in the negative and rewarded positive items, and the old/new effects of negative items appeared earlier at FN400 than positive items. Also, significant late positive component (LPC) old/new effects were found in the positive, negative, and rewarded neutral items. These results suggest that, monetary reward and negative emotion significantly improved recognition performance, and there was a mutual influence between reward and emotion on brain activity during memory

  20. Mutual Influence of Reward Anticipation and Emotion on Brain Activity during Memory Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunping Yan

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies on the joint effect of reward motivation and emotion on memory retrieval have obtained inconsistent results. Furthermore, whether and how any such joint effect might vary over time remains unclear too. Accordingly, using the event-related potential (ERP measurement of high temporal resolution, our study investigates the cognitive and brain mechanisms of monetary reward and emotion affecting the retrieval processes of episodic memory. Twenty undergraduate and graduate students participated in the research, and our study’s behavioral results indicated that reward (relative to no reward and negative emotion (relative to positive and neutral emotion significantly improved recognition performance. The ERP results showed that there were significant interactions between monetary reward and emotion on memory retrieval, and the reward effects of positive, neutral, and negative memory occurred at varied intervals in mean amplitude. The reward effect of positive memory appeared relatively early, at 260–330 ms after the stimulus onset in the frontal-frontocentral area, at 260–500 ms in the centroparietal-parietal area and at 500–700 ms in the frontocentral area. However, the reward effects of neutral and negative memory occurred relatively later, and that of negative memory appeared at 500–700 ms in the frontocentral and centroparietal area and that of neutral memory was at 500–700 ms in the frontocentral and centroparietal-parietal area. Meanwhile, significant FN400 old/new effects were observed in the negative and rewarded positive items, and the old/new effects of negative items appeared earlier at FN400 than positive items. Also, significant late positive component (LPC old/new effects were found in the positive, negative, and rewarded neutral items. These results suggest that, monetary reward and negative emotion significantly improved recognition performance, and there was a mutual influence between reward and emotion on

  1. An Abstraction-Based Data Model for Information Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAllister, Richard A.; Angryk, Rafal A.

    Language ontologies provide an avenue for automated lexical analysis that may be used to supplement existing information retrieval methods. This paper presents a method of information retrieval that takes advantage of WordNet, a lexical database, to generate paths of abstraction, and uses them as the basis for an inverted index structure to be used in the retrieval of documents from an indexed corpus. We present this method as a entree to a line of research on using ontologies to perform word-sense disambiguation and improve the precision of existing information retrieval techniques.

  2. Comparative Results of AIRS/AMSU and CrIS/ATMS Retrievals Using a Scientifically Equivalent Retrieval Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis; Iredell, Lena

    2016-01-01

    The AIRS Science Team Version-6 retrieval algorithm is currently producing high quality level-3 Climate Data Records (CDRs) from AIRS/AMSU which are critical for understanding climate processes. The AIRS Science Team is finalizing an improved Version-7 retrieval algorithm to reprocess all old and future AIRS data. AIRS CDRs should eventually cover the period September 2002 through at least 2020. CrIS/ATMS is the only scheduled follow on to AIRS/AMSU. The objective of this research is to prepare for generation of long term CrIS/ATMS CDRs using a retrieval algorithm that is scientifically equivalent to AIRS/AMSU Version-7.

  3. Compact binary hashing for music retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Jin S.

    2014-03-01

    With the huge volume of music clips available for protection, browsing, and indexing, there is an increased attention to retrieve the information contents of the music archives. Music-similarity computation is an essential building block for browsing, retrieval, and indexing of digital music archives. In practice, as the number of songs available for searching and indexing is increased, so the storage cost in retrieval systems is becoming a serious problem. This paper deals with the storage problem by extending the supervector concept with the binary hashing. We utilize the similarity-preserving binary embedding in generating a hash code from the supervector of each music clip. Especially we compare the performance of the various binary hashing methods for music retrieval tasks on the widely-used genre dataset and the in-house singer dataset. Through the evaluation, we find an effective way of generating hash codes for music similarity estimation which improves the retrieval performance.

  4. Retrieval evaluation and distance learning from perceived similarity between endomicroscopy videos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    André, Barbara; Vercauteren, Tom; Buchner, Anna M; Wallace, Michael B; Ayache, Nicholas

    2011-01-01

    Evaluating content-based retrieval (CBR) is challenging because it requires an adequate ground-truth. When the available groundtruth is limited to textual metadata such as pathological classes, retrieval results can only be evaluated indirectly, for example in terms of classification performance. In this study we first present a tool to generate perceived similarity ground-truth that enables direct evaluation of endomicroscopic video retrieval. This tool uses a four-points Likert scale and collects subjective pairwise similarities perceived by multiple expert observers. We then evaluate against the generated ground-truth a previously developed dense bag-of-visual-words method for endomicroscopic video retrieval. Confirming the results of previous indirect evaluation based on classification, our direct evaluation shows that this method significantly outperforms several other state-of-the-art CBR methods. In a second step, we propose to improve the CBR method by learning an adjusted similarity metric from the perceived similarity ground-truth. By minimizing a margin-based cost function that differentiates similar and dissimilar video pairs, we learn a weight vector applied to the visual word signatures of videos. Using cross-validation, we demonstrate that the learned similarity distance is significantly better correlated with the perceived similarity than the original visual-word-based distance.

  5. Retrieval of macrophysical cloud parameters from MIPAS: algorithm description

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Hurley

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS onboard ENVISAT has the potential to be particularly useful for studying high, thin clouds, which have been difficult to observe in the past. This paper details the development, implementation and testing of an optimal-estimation-type retrieval for three macrophysical cloud parameters (cloud top height, cloud top temperature and cloud extinction coefficient from infrared spectra measured by MIPAS. A preliminary estimation of a parameterisation of the optical and geometrical filling of the measurement field-of-view by cloud is employed as the first step of the retrieval process to improve the choice of a priori for the macrophysical parameters themselves.

    Preliminary application to single-scattering simulations indicates that the retrieval error stemming from uncertainties introduced by noise and by a priori variances in the retrieval process itself is small – although it should be noted that these retrieval errors do not include the significant errors stemming from the assumption of homogeneity and the non-scattering nature of the forward model. Such errors are preliminarily and qualitatively assessed here, and are likely to be the dominant error sources. The retrieval converges for 99% of input cases, although sometimes fails to converge for vetically-thin (<1 km clouds. The retrieval algorithm is applied to MIPAS data; the results of which are qualitatively compared with CALIPSO cloud top heights and PARASOL cloud opacities. From comparison with CALIPSO cloud products, it must be noted that the cloud detection method used in this algorithm appears to potentially misdetect stratospheric aerosol layers as cloud.

    This algorithm has been adopted by the European Space Agency's "MIPclouds" project.

  6. A high accuracy land use/cover retrieval system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alaa Hefnawy

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available The effects of spatial resolution on the accuracy of mapping land use/cover types have received increasing attention as a large number of multi-scale earth observation data become available. Although many methods of semi automated image classification of remotely sensed data have been established for improving the accuracy of land use/cover classification during the past 40 years, most of them were employed in single-resolution image classification, which led to unsatisfactory results. In this paper, we propose a multi-resolution fast adaptive content-based retrieval system of satellite images. Through our proposed system, we apply a Super Resolution technique for the Landsat-TM images to have a high resolution dataset. The human–computer interactive system is based on modified radial basis function for retrieval of satellite database images. We apply the backpropagation supervised artificial neural network classifier for both the multi and single resolution datasets. The results show significant improved land use/cover classification accuracy for the multi-resolution approach compared with those from single-resolution approach.

  7. Criterial learning is not enough: Retrieval practice is necessary for improving post-stress memory accessibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Amy M; Davis, F Caroline; Thomas, Ayanna K

    2018-06-01

    In a recent study, having participants make three retrieval attempts (i.e., retrieval practice) when learning information strengthened memory against the detrimental effects of psychological stress. We aimed to determine whether learning to criterion, in which only one successful retrieval attempt is made, would similarly buffer memory against stress, or whether multiple retrieval attempts are necessary to achieve that effect. In Experiment 1, participants learned to criterion and then engaged in additional restudying (CL S ) or retrieval practice (CL R ). Twenty-four hours later, stress was induced and stress-related increases in cortisol were observed. However, no differences in recall performance were observed between any of the groups. Experiment 2 was similar but introduced a 1-week delay between encoding and retrieval. Recall performance was impaired for both groups under stress, but recall for those in the CL R group was still better than either pre- or post-stress performance for those in the CL S group. Thus, criterial learning may protect memory against stress in the short-term, but additional retrieval practice is more beneficial for achieving this effect in the long-term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Assessing Boundary Conditions of the Testing Effect: On the Relative Efficacy of Covert vs. Overt Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Max L. Sundqvist

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Repeated testing during learning often improves later memory, which is often referred to as the testing effect. To clarify its boundary conditions, we examined whether the testing effect was selectively affected by covert (retrieved but not articulated or overt (retrieved and articulated response format. In Experiments 1 and 2, we compared immediate (5 min and delayed (1 week cued recall for paired associates following study-only, covert, and overt conditions, including two types of overt articulation (typing and writing. A clear testing effect was observed in both experiments, but with no selective effects of response format. In Experiments 3 and 4, we compared covert and overt retrieval under blocked and random list orders. The effect sizes were small in both experiments, but there was a significant effect of response format, with overt retrieval showing better final recall performance than covert retrieval. There were no significant effects of blocked vs. random list orders with respect to the testing effect produced. Taken together, these findings suggest that, under specific circumstances, overt retrieval may lead to a greater testing effect than that of covert retrieval, but because of small effect sizes, it appears that the testing effect is mainly the result of retrieval processes and that articulation has fairly little to add to its magnitude in a paired-associates learning paradigm.

  9. Retrieval-travel-time model for free-fall-flow-rack automated storage and retrieval system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metahri, Dhiyaeddine; Hachemi, Khalid

    2018-03-01

    Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) are material handling systems that are frequently used in manufacturing and distribution centers. The modelling of the retrieval-travel time of an AS/RS (expected product delivery time) is practically important, because it allows us to evaluate and improve the system throughput. The free-fall-flow-rack AS/RS has emerged as a new technology for drug distribution. This system is a new variation of flow-rack AS/RS that uses an operator or a single machine for storage operations, and uses a combination between the free-fall movement and a transport conveyor for retrieval operations. The main contribution of this paper is to develop an analytical model of the expected retrieval-travel time for the free-fall flow-rack under a dedicated storage assignment policy. The proposed model, which is based on a continuous approach, is compared for accuracy, via simulation, with discrete model. The obtained results show that the maximum deviation between the continuous model and the simulation is less than 5%, which shows the accuracy of our model to estimate the retrieval time. The analytical model is useful to optimise the dimensions of the rack, assess the system throughput, and evaluate different storage policies.

  10. Improving Zernike moments comparison for optimal similarity and rotation angle retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Revaud, Jérôme; Lavoué, Guillaume; Baskurt, Atilla

    2009-04-01

    Zernike moments constitute a powerful shape descriptor in terms of robustness and description capability. However the classical way of comparing two Zernike descriptors only takes into account the magnitude of the moments and loses the phase information. The novelty of our approach is to take advantage of the phase information in the comparison process while still preserving the invariance to rotation. This new Zernike comparator provides a more accurate similarity measure together with the optimal rotation angle between the patterns, while keeping the same complexity as the classical approach. This angle information is particularly of interest for many applications, including 3D scene understanding through images. Experiments demonstrate that our comparator outperforms the classical one in terms of similarity measure. In particular the robustness of the retrieval against noise and geometric deformation is greatly improved. Moreover, the rotation angle estimation is also more accurate than state-of-the-art algorithms.

  11. The Retrieval Knowledge Center Evaluation Of Low Tank Level Mixing Technologies For DOE High Level Waste Tank Retrieval 10516

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fellinger, A.

    2009-01-01

    The Department of Energy (DOE) Complex has over two-hundred underground storage tanks containing over 80-million gallons of legacy waste from the production of nuclear weapons. The majority of the waste is located at four major sites across the nation and is planned for treatment over a period of almost forty years. The DOE Office of Technology Innovation and Development within the Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) sponsors technology research and development programs to support processing advancements and technology maturation designed to improve the costs and schedule for disposal of the waste and closure of the tanks. Within the waste processing focus area are numerous technical initiatives which included the development of a suite of waste removal technologies to address the need for proven equipment and techniques to remove high level radioactive wastes from the waste tanks that are now over fifty years old. In an effort to enhance the efficiency of waste retrieval operations, the DOE-EM Office of Technology Innovation and Development funded an effort to improve communications and information sharing between the DOE's major waste tank locations as it relates to retrieval. The task, dubbed the Retrieval Knowledge Center (RKC) was co-lead by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with core team members representing the Oak Ridge and Idaho sites, as well as, site contractors responsible for waste tank operations. One of the greatest challenges to the processing and closure of many of the tanks is complete removal of all tank contents. Sizeable challenges exist for retrieving waste from High Level Waste (HLW) tanks; with complications that are not normally found with tank retrieval in commercial applications. Technologies currently in use for waste retrieval are generally adequate for bulk removal; however, removal of tank heels, the materials settled in the bottom of the tank, using the same

  12. Relevance of useful visual words in object retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Siyuan; Luo, Yupin

    2013-07-01

    The most popular methods in object retrieval are almost based on bag-of-words(BOW) which is both effective and efficient. In this paper we present a method use the relations between words of the vocabulary to improve the retrieval performance based on the BOW framework. In basic BOW retrieval framework, only a few words of the vocabulary is useful for retrieval, which are spatial consistent in images. We introduce a method to useful select useful words and build a relevance between these words. We combine useful relevance with basic BOW framework and query expansion as well. The useful relevance is able to discover latent related words which is not exist in the query image, so that we can get a more accurate vector model for retrieval. Combined with query expansion method, the retrieval performance are better and fewer time cost.

  13. Content-aware network storage system supporting metadata retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ke; Qin, Leihua; Zhou, Jingli; Nie, Xuejun

    2008-12-01

    Nowadays, content-based network storage has become the hot research spot of academy and corporation[1]. In order to solve the problem of hit rate decline causing by migration and achieve the content-based query, we exploit a new content-aware storage system which supports metadata retrieval to improve the query performance. Firstly, we extend the SCSI command descriptor block to enable system understand those self-defined query requests. Secondly, the extracted metadata is encoded by extensible markup language to improve the universality. Thirdly, according to the demand of information lifecycle management (ILM), we store those data in different storage level and use corresponding query strategy to retrieval them. Fourthly, as the file content identifier plays an important role in locating data and calculating block correlation, we use it to fetch files and sort query results through friendly user interface. Finally, the experiments indicate that the retrieval strategy and sort algorithm have enhanced the retrieval efficiency and precision.

  14. Initial ACTR retrieval technology evaluation test material recommendations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Powell, M.R.

    1996-04-01

    Millions of gallons of radiaoctive waste are contained in underground storage tanks at Hanford (SE Washington). Techniques for retrieving much of this waste from the storage tanks have been developed. Current baseline approach is to use sluice jets for single-shell tanks and mixer pumps for double-shell tanks. The Acquire Commercial Technology for Retrieval (ACTR) effort was initiated to identify potential improvements in or alternatives to the baseline waste retrieval methods. Communications with a variety of vendors are underway to identify improved methods that can be implemented at Hanford with little or no additional development. Commercially available retrieval methods will be evaluated by a combination of testing and system-level cost estimation. Current progress toward developing waste simulants for testing ACTR candidate methods is reported; the simulants are designed to model 4 different types of tank waste. Simulant recipes are given for wet sludge, hardpan/dried sludge,hard saltcake, and soft saltcake. Comparisons of the waste and simulant properties are documented in this report

  15. Exploring Techniques for Improving Retrievals of Bio-optical Properties of Coastal Waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-30

    site, compared with WaveCIS site in Gulf of Mexico . Two Neural Networks (NN) approaches are explored for the retrieval of chlorophyll concentration...AERONET-OC sites (Long Island Sound and Gulf of Mexico respectively) as well as OC retrievals of the MODIS sensor. The underlying cause of the...cases of water conditions ranging from clear oceanic waters to turbid coastal waters, while ξ for both types of particles is fixed at 4.0, and for

  16. Emotional memory can be persistently weakened by suppressing cortisol during retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rimmele, Ulrike; Besedovsky, Luciana; Lange, Tanja; Born, Jan

    2015-03-01

    Cortisol's effects on memory follow an inverted U-shaped function such that memory retrieval is impaired with very low concentrations, presumably due to insufficient activation of high-affine mineralocorticoid receptors (MR), or with very high concentrations, due to predominant low-affine glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activation. Through corresponding changes in re-encoding, the retrieval effect of cortisol might translate into a persistent change of the retrieved memory. We tested whether partial suppression of morning cortisol synthesis by metyrapone, leading to intermediate, circadian nadir-like levels with presumed predominant MR activation, improves retrieval, particularly of emotional memory, and persistently changes the memory. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, within-subject cross-over design, 18 men were orally administered metyrapone (1g) vs. placebo at 4:00 AM to suppress the morning cortisol rise. Retrieval of emotional and neutral texts and pictures (learned 3 days earlier) was assessed 4h after substance administration and a second time one week later. Metyrapone suppressed endogenous cortisol release to circadian nadir-equivalent levels at the time of retrieval testing. Contrary to our expectations, metyrapone significantly impaired free recall of emotional texts (ppictures remained unaffected. One week later, participants still showed lower memory for emotional texts in the metyrapone than placebo condition (pmemories corroborates the concept that retrieval effects of cortisol produce persistent memory changes, possibly by affecting re-encoding. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Retrieval practice with short-answer, multiple-choice, and hybrid tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Megan A; Karpicke, Jeffrey D

    2014-01-01

    Retrieval practice improves meaningful learning, and the most frequent way of implementing retrieval practice in classrooms is to have students answer questions. In four experiments (N=372) we investigated the effects of different question formats on learning. Students read educational texts and practised retrieval by answering short-answer, multiple-choice, or hybrid questions. In hybrid conditions students first attempted to recall answers in short-answer format, then identified answers in multiple-choice format. We measured learning 1 week later using a final assessment with two types of questions: those that could be answered by recalling information verbatim from the texts and those that required inferences. Practising retrieval in all format conditions enhanced retention, relative to a study-only control condition, on both verbatim and inference questions. However, there were little or no advantages of answering short-answer or hybrid format questions over multiple-choice questions in three experiments. In Experiment 4, when retrieval success was improved under initial short-answer conditions, there was an advantage of answering short-answer or hybrid questions over multiple-choice questions. The results challenge the simple conclusion that short-answer questions always produce the best learning, due to increased retrieval effort or difficulty, and demonstrate the importance of retrieval success for retrieval-based learning activities.

  18. Intelligent retrieval of chest X-ray image database using sketches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasegawa, Jun-ichi; Okada, Noritake; Toriwaki, Jun-ichiro

    1988-01-01

    This paper presents further experiments on intelligent retrieval in our chest X-ray image database system using 'sketches'. First, in the previous sketch extraction procedure, vertical-location-invariant thresholding and shape-oriented smoothing are newly developed to improve the precision of lung borders and rib images in each sketch, respectively. Then, two new ways for image retrieval using sketches; (1) image-description retrieval and (2) pattern-matching retrieval, are proposed. In each retrieval way, a procedure for understanding picture queries input through a sketch is described in detail. (author)

  19. Retrieving handwriting by combining word spotting and manifold ranking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña Saldarriaga, Sebastián; Morin, Emmanuel; Viard-Gaudin, Christian

    2012-01-01

    Online handwritten data, produced with Tablet PCs or digital pens, consists in a sequence of points (x, y). As the amount of data available in this form increases, algorithms for retrieval of online data are needed. Word spotting is a common approach used for the retrieval of handwriting. However, from an information retrieval (IR) perspective, word spotting is a primitive keyword based matching and retrieval strategy. We propose a framework for handwriting retrieval where an arbitrary word spotting method is used, and then a manifold ranking algorithm is applied on the initial retrieval scores. Experimental results on a database of more than 2,000 handwritten newswires show that our method can improve the performances of a state-of-the-art word spotting system by more than 10%.

  20. EM-21 Retrieval Knowledge Center: Waste Retrieval Challenges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fellinger, Andrew P.; Rinker, Michael W.; Berglin, Eric J.; Minichan, Richard L.; Poirier, Micheal R.; Gauglitz, Phillip A.; Martin, Bruce A.; Hatchell, Brian K.; Saldivar, Eloy; Mullen, O Dennis; Chapman, Noel F.; Wells, Beric E.; Gibbons, Peter W.

    2009-04-10

    EM-21 is the Waste Processing Division of the Office of Engineering and Technology, within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM). In August of 2008, EM-21 began an initiative to develop a Retrieval Knowledge Center (RKC) to provide the DOE, high level waste retrieval operators, and technology developers with centralized and focused location to share knowledge and expertise that will be used to address retrieval challenges across the DOE complex. The RKC is also designed to facilitate information sharing across the DOE Waste Site Complex through workshops, and a searchable database of waste retrieval technology information. The database may be used to research effective technology approaches for specific retrieval tasks and to take advantage of the lessons learned from previous operations. It is also expected to be effective for remaining current with state-of-the-art of retrieval technologies and ongoing development within the DOE Complex. To encourage collaboration of DOE sites with waste retrieval issues, the RKC team is co-led by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Two RKC workshops were held in the Fall of 2008. The purpose of these workshops was to define top level waste retrieval functional areas, exchange lessons learned, and develop a path forward to support a strategic business plan focused on technology needs for retrieval. The primary participants involved in these workshops included retrieval personnel and laboratory staff that are associated with Hanford and Savannah River Sites since the majority of remaining DOE waste tanks are located at these sites. This report summarizes and documents the results of the initial RKC workshops. Technology challenges identified from these workshops and presented here are expected to be a key component to defining future RKC-directed tasks designed to facilitate tank waste retrieval solutions.

  1. EM-21 Retrieval Knowledge Center: Waste Retrieval Challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fellinger, Andrew P.; Rinker, Michael W.; Berglin, Eric J.; Minichan, Richard L.; Poirier, Micheal R.; Gauglitz, Phillip A.; Martin, Bruce A.; Hatchell, Brian K.; Saldivar, Eloy; Mullen, O Dennis; Chapman, Noel F.; Wells, Beric E.; Gibbons, Peter W.

    2009-01-01

    EM-21 is the Waste Processing Division of the Office of Engineering and Technology, within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM). In August of 2008, EM-21 began an initiative to develop a Retrieval Knowledge Center (RKC) to provide the DOE, high level waste retrieval operators, and technology developers with centralized and focused location to share knowledge and expertise that will be used to address retrieval challenges across the DOE complex. The RKC is also designed to facilitate information sharing across the DOE Waste Site Complex through workshops, and a searchable database of waste retrieval technology information. The database may be used to research effective technology approaches for specific retrieval tasks and to take advantage of the lessons learned from previous operations. It is also expected to be effective for remaining current with state-of-the-art of retrieval technologies and ongoing development within the DOE Complex. To encourage collaboration of DOE sites with waste retrieval issues, the RKC team is co-led by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Two RKC workshops were held in the Fall of 2008. The purpose of these workshops was to define top level waste retrieval functional areas, exchange lessons learned, and develop a path forward to support a strategic business plan focused on technology needs for retrieval. The primary participants involved in these workshops included retrieval personnel and laboratory staff that are associated with Hanford and Savannah River Sites since the majority of remaining DOE waste tanks are located at these sites. This report summarizes and documents the results of the initial RKC workshops. Technology challenges identified from these workshops and presented here are expected to be a key component to defining future RKC-directed tasks designed to facilitate tank waste retrieval solutions

  2. A cloud-based framework for large-scale traditional Chinese medical record retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lijun; Liu, Li; Fu, Xiaodong; Huang, Qingsong; Zhang, Xianwen; Zhang, Yin

    2018-01-01

    Electronic medical records are increasingly common in medical practice. The secondary use of medical records has become increasingly important. It relies on the ability to retrieve the complete information about desired patient populations. How to effectively and accurately retrieve relevant medical records from large- scale medical big data is becoming a big challenge. Therefore, we propose an efficient and robust framework based on cloud for large-scale Traditional Chinese Medical Records (TCMRs) retrieval. We propose a parallel index building method and build a distributed search cluster, the former is used to improve the performance of index building, and the latter is used to provide high concurrent online TCMRs retrieval. Then, a real-time multi-indexing model is proposed to ensure the latest relevant TCMRs are indexed and retrieved in real-time, and a semantics-based query expansion method and a multi- factor ranking model are proposed to improve retrieval quality. Third, we implement a template-based visualization method for displaying medical reports. The proposed parallel indexing method and distributed search cluster can improve the performance of index building and provide high concurrent online TCMRs retrieval. The multi-indexing model can ensure the latest relevant TCMRs are indexed and retrieved in real-time. The semantics expansion method and the multi-factor ranking model can enhance retrieval quality. The template-based visualization method can enhance the availability and universality, where the medical reports are displayed via friendly web interface. In conclusion, compared with the current medical record retrieval systems, our system provides some advantages that are useful in improving the secondary use of large-scale traditional Chinese medical records in cloud environment. The proposed system is more easily integrated with existing clinical systems and be used in various scenarios. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. A diagram retrieval method with multi-label learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Songping; Lu, Xiaoqing; Liu, Lu; Qu, Jingwei; Tang, Zhi

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, the retrieval of plane geometry figures (PGFs) has attracted increasing attention in the fields of mathematics education and computer science. However, the high cost of matching complex PGF features leads to the low efficiency of most retrieval systems. This paper proposes an indirect classification method based on multi-label learning, which improves retrieval efficiency by reducing the scope of compare operation from the whole database to small candidate groups. Label correlations among PGFs are taken into account for the multi-label classification task. The primitive feature selection for multi-label learning and the feature description of visual geometric elements are conducted individually to match similar PGFs. The experiment results show the competitive performance of the proposed method compared with existing PGF retrieval methods in terms of both time consumption and retrieval quality.

  4. Cross-Domain Shoe Retrieval with a Semantic Hierarchy of Attribute Classification Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Huijing; Shi, Boxin; Kot, Alex C

    2017-08-04

    Cross-domain shoe image retrieval is a challenging problem, because the query photo from the street domain (daily life scenario) and the reference photo in the online domain (online shop images) have significant visual differences due to the viewpoint and scale variation, self-occlusion, and cluttered background. This paper proposes the Semantic Hierarchy Of attributE Convolutional Neural Network (SHOE-CNN) with a three-level feature representation for discriminative shoe feature expression and efficient retrieval. The SHOE-CNN with its newly designed loss function systematically merges semantic attributes of closer visual appearances to prevent shoe images with the obvious visual differences being confused with each other; the features extracted from image, region, and part levels effectively match the shoe images across different domains. We collect a large-scale shoe dataset composed of 14341 street domain and 12652 corresponding online domain images with fine-grained attributes to train our network and evaluate our system. The top-20 retrieval accuracy improves significantly over the solution with the pre-trained CNN features.

  5. Crossover Improvement for the Genetic Algorithm in Information Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vrajitoru, Dana

    1998-01-01

    In information retrieval (IR), the aim of genetic algorithms (GA) is to help a system to find, in a huge documents collection, a good reply to a query expressed by the user. Analysis of phenomena seen during the implementation of a GA for IR has led to a new crossover operation, which is introduced and compared to other learning methods.…

  6. Context based multimedia information retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mølgaard, Lasse Lohilahti

    The large amounts of digital media becoming available require that new approaches are developed for retrieving, navigating and recommending the data to users in a way that refl ects how we semantically perceive the content. The thesis investigates ways to retrieve and present content for users...... topics from a large collection of the transcribed speech to improve retrieval of spoken documents. The context modelling is done using a variant of probabilistic latent semantic analysis (PLSA), to extract properties of the textual sources that refl ect how humans perceive context. We perform PLSA...... of Wikipedia , as well as text-based semantic similarity. The final aspect investigated is how to include some of the structured data available in Wikipedia to include temporal information. We show that a multiway extension of PLSA makes it possible to extract temporally meaningful topics, better than using...

  7. Evaluation of Current Planetary Boundary Layer Retrieval Capabilities from Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Schaefer, Alexander J.; Blaisdell, John; Yorks, John

    2016-01-01

    The PBL over land remains a significant gap in our water and energy cycle understanding from space. This work combines unique NASA satellite and model products to demonstrate the ability of current sensors (advanced IR sounding and lidar) to retrieve PBL properties and in turn their potential to be used globally to evaluate and improve weather and climate prediction models. While incremental progress has been made in recent AIRS retrieval versions, insufficient vertical resolution remains in terms of detecting PBL properties. Lidar shows promise in terms of detecting vertical gradients (and PBLh) in the lower troposphere, but daytime conditions over land remain a challenge due to noise, and their coverage is limited to approximately 2 weeks or longer return times.

  8. Using the fuzzy modeling for the retrieval algorithms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed, A.H

    2010-01-01

    A rapid growth in number and size of images in databases and world wide web (www) has created a strong need for more efficient search and retrieval systems to exploit the benefits of this large amount of information. However, the collection of this information is now based on the image technology. One of the limitations of the current image analysis techniques necessitates that most image retrieval systems use some form of text description provided by the users as the basis to index and retrieve images. To overcome this problem, the proposed system introduces the using of fuzzy modeling to describe the image by using the linguistic ambiguities. Also, the proposed system can include vague or fuzzy terms in modeling the queries to match the image descriptions in the retrieval process. This can facilitate the indexing and retrieving process, increase their performance and decrease its computational time . Therefore, the proposed system can improve the performance of the traditional image retrieval algorithms.

  9. Fuzzy Information Retrieval Using Genetic Algorithms and Relevance Feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petry, Frederick E.; And Others

    1993-01-01

    Describes an approach that combines concepts from information retrieval, fuzzy set theory, and genetic programing to improve weighted Boolean query formulation via relevance feedback. Highlights include background on information retrieval systems; genetic algorithms; subproblem formulation; and preliminary results based on a testbed. (Contains 12…

  10. Analysis of CrIS ATMS and AIRS AMSU Data Using Scientifically Equivalent Retrieval Algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis; Iredell, Lena; Blaisdell, John

    2016-01-01

    Monthly mean August 2014 Version-6.28 AIRS and CrIS products agree well with OMPS and CERES, and reasonably well with each other. Version-6.28 CrIS total precipitable water is biased dry compared to AIRS. AIRS and CrIS Version-6.36 water vapor products are both improved compared to Version-6.28. Version-6.36 AIRS and CrIS total precipitable water also shows improved agreement with each other. AIRS Version-6.36 total ozone agrees even better with OMPS than does AIRS Version-6.28, and gives reasonable results during polar winter where OMPS does not generate products. CrIS and ATMS are high spectral resolution IR and Microwave atmospheric sounders currently flying on the SNPP satellite, and are also scheduled for flight on future NPOESS satellites. CrIS/ATMS have similar sounding capabilities to those of the AIRS/AMSU sounder suite flying on EOS Aqua. The objective of this research is to develop and implement scientifically equivalent AIRS/AMSU and CrIS/ATMS retrieval algorithms with the goal of generating a continuous data record of AIRS/AMSU and CrIS/ATMS level-3 data products with a seamless transition between them in time. To achieve this, monthly mean AIRS/AMSU and CrIS/ATMS retrieved products, and more importantly their interannual differences, should show excellent agreement with each other. The currently operational AIRS Science Team Version-6 retrieval algorithm has generated 14 years of level-3 data products. A scientifically improved AIRS Version-7 retrieval algorithm is expected to become operational in 2017. We see significant improvements in water vapor and ozone in Version-7 retrieval methodology compared to Version-6.We are working toward finalization and implementation of scientifically equivalent AIRS/AMSU and CrIS/ATMS Version-7 retrieval algorithms to be used for the eventual processing of all AIRS/AMSU and CrIS/ATMS data. The latest version of our retrieval algorithm is Verison-6.36, which includes almost all the improvements we want in Version-7

  11. Functional-anatomic study of episodic retrieval using fMRI. I. Retrieval effort versus retrieval success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckner, R L; Koutstaal, W; Schacter, D L; Wagner, A D; Rosen, B R

    1998-04-01

    A number of recent functional imaging studies have identified brain areas activated during tasks involving episodic memory retrieval. The identification of such areas provides a foundation for targeted hypotheses regarding the more specific contributions that these areas make to episodic retrieval. As a beginning effort toward such an endeavor, whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine 14 subjects during episodic word recognition in a block-designed fMRI experiment. Study conditions were manipulated by presenting either shallow or deep encoding tasks. This manipulation yielded two recognition conditions that differed with regard to retrieval effort and retrieval success: shallow encoding yielded low levels of recognition success with high levels of retrieval effort, and deep encoding yielded high levels of recognition success with low levels of effort. Many brain areas were activated in common by these two recognition conditions compared to a low-level fixation condition, including left and right prefrontal regions often detected during PET episodic retrieval paradigms (e.g., R. L. Buckner et al., 1996, J. Neurosci. 16, 6219-6235) thereby generalizing these findings to fMRI. Characterization of the activated regions in relation to the separate recognition conditions showed (1) bilateral anterior insular regions and a left dorsal prefrontal region were more active after shallow encoding, when retrieval demanded greatest effort, and (2) right anterior prefrontal cortex, which has been implicated in episodic retrieval, was most active during successful retrieval after deep encoding. We discuss these findings in relation to component processes involved in episodic retrieval and in the context of a companion study using event-related fMRI.

  12. Improving evaluation of climate change impacts on the water cycle by remote sensing ET-retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. G. García Galiano

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Population growth and intense consumptive water uses are generating pressures on water resources in the southeast of Spain. Improving the knowledge of the climate change impacts on water cycle processes at the basin scale is a step to building adaptive capacity. In this work, regional climate model (RCM ensembles are considered as an input to the hydrological model, for improving the reliability of hydroclimatic projections. To build the RCMs ensembles, the work focuses on probability density function (PDF-based evaluation of the ability of RCMs to simulate of rainfall and temperature at the basin scale. To improve the spatial calibration of the continuous hydrological model used, an algorithm for remote sensing actual evapotranspiration (AET retrieval was applied. From the results, a clear decrease in runoff is expected for 2050 in the headwater basin studied. The plausible future scenario of water shortage will produce negative impacts on the regional economy, where the main activity is irrigated agriculture.

  13. A Survey: Framework of an Information Retrieval for Malay Translated Hadith Document

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zulkefli Nurul Syeilla Syazhween

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews and analyses the limitation of the existing method used in the IR process in retrieving Malay Translated Hadith documents related to the search request. Traditional Malay Translated Hadith retrieval system has not focused on semantic extraction from text. The bag-of-words representation ignores the conceptual similarity of information in the query text and documents, which produce unsatisfactory retrieval results. Therefore, a more efficient IR framework is needed. This paper claims that the significant information extraction and subject-related information are actually important because the clues from this information can be used to search and find the relevance document to a query. Also, unimportant information can be discarded to represent the document content. So, semantic understanding of query and document is necessary to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of retrieval results for this domain study. Therefore, advance research is needed and it will be experimented in the future work. It is hoped that it will help users to search and find information regarding to the Malay Translated Hadith document.

  14. Long-Term Retrievability of IVC Filters: Should We Abandon Permanent Devices?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berczi, V.; Bottomley, J. R.; Thomas, S. M.; Taneja, S.; Gaines, P. A.; Cleveland, T. J.

    2007-01-01

    Thromboembolic disease produces a considerable disease burden, with death from pulmonary embolism in the UK alone estimated at 30,000-40,000 per year. Whilst it is unproven whether filters actually improve longevity, the morbidity and mortality associated with thromboembolic disease in the presence of contraindications to anticoagulation is high. Thus complications associated with filter insertion, and whilst they remain in situ, must be balanced against the alternatives. Permanent filters remain in situ for the remainder of the patient's life and any complications from the filters are of significant concern. Filters that are not permanent are therefore attractive in these circumstances. Retrievable filters, to avoid or decrease long-term filter complications, appear to be a significant advance in the prevention of pulmonary embolism. In this review, we discuss the safety and effectiveness of both permanent and retrievable filters as well as the retrievability of retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters, to explore whether the use of permanent IVC filters can be abandoned in favor of retrievable filters. Currently four types of retrievable filters are available: the Recovery filter (Bard Peripheral Vascular, Tempe, AZ, USA), the Guenther Tulip filter (Cook, Bloomington, IN, USA), the OptEase Filter (Cordis, Roden, The Netherlands), and the ALN filter (ALN Implants Chirurgicaux, Ghisonaccia, France). Efficacy and safety data for retrievable filters are as yet based on small series, with a total number of fewer than 1,000 insertions, and follow-up is mostly short term. Current long-term data are poor and insufficient to warrant the long-term implantation of these devices into humans. The case of fractured wire from a Recovery filter that migrated to the heart causing pericardial tamponade requiring open heart surgery is a reminder that any new endovascular device remaining in situ in the long term may produce unexpected problems. We should also bear in mind that

  15. Working memory capacity predicts the beneficial effect of selective memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlichting, Andreas; Aslan, Alp; Holterman, Christoph; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T

    2015-01-01

    Selective retrieval of some studied items can both impair and improve recall of the other items. This study examined the role of working memory capacity (WMC) for the two effects of memory retrieval. Participants studied an item list consisting of predefined target and nontarget items. After study of the list, half of the participants performed an imagination task supposed to induce a change in mental context, whereas the other half performed a counting task which does not induce such context change. Following presentation of a second list, memory for the original list's target items was tested, either with or without preceding retrieval of the list's nontarget items. Consistent with previous work, preceding nontarget retrieval impaired target recall in the absence of the context change, but improved target recall in its presence. In particular, there was a positive relationship between WMC and the beneficial, but not the detrimental effect of memory retrieval. On the basis of the view that the beneficial effect of memory retrieval reflects context-reactivation processes, the results indicate that individuals with higher WMC are better able to capitalise on retrieval-induced context reactivation than individuals with lower WMC.

  16. Transformed Neural Pattern Reinstatement during Episodic Memory Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Xiaoqian; Dong, Qi; Gao, Jiahong; Men, Weiwei; Poldrack, Russell A; Xue, Gui

    2017-03-15

    Contemporary models of episodic memory posit that remembering involves the reenactment of encoding processes. Although encoding-retrieval similarity has been consistently reported and linked to memory success, the nature of neural pattern reinstatement is poorly understood. Using high-resolution fMRI on human subjects, our results obtained clear evidence for item-specific pattern reinstatement in the frontoparietal cortex, even when the encoding-retrieval pairs shared no perceptual similarity. No item-specific pattern reinstatement was found in the ventral visual cortex. Importantly, the brain regions and voxels carrying item-specific representation differed significantly between encoding and retrieval, and the item specificity for encoding-retrieval similarity was smaller than that for encoding or retrieval, suggesting different nature of representations between encoding and retrieval. Moreover, cross-region representational similarity analysis suggests that the encoded representation in the ventral visual cortex was reinstated in the frontoparietal cortex during retrieval. Together, these results suggest that, in addition to reinstatement of the originally encoded pattern in the brain regions that perform encoding processes, retrieval may also involve the reinstatement of a transformed representation of the encoded information. These results emphasize the constructive nature of memory retrieval that helps to serve important adaptive functions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Episodic memory enables humans to vividly reexperience past events, yet how this is achieved at the neural level is barely understood. A long-standing hypothesis posits that memory retrieval involves the faithful reinstatement of encoding-related activity. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the neural representations during encoding and retrieval. We found strong pattern reinstatement in the frontoparietal cortex, but not in the ventral visual cortex, that represents visual details. Critically

  17. Retrieval activates related words more than presentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hausman, Hannah; Rhodes, Matthew G

    2018-03-23

    Retrieving information enhances learning more than restudying. One explanation of this effect is based on the role of mediators (e.g., sand-castle can be mediated by beach). Retrieval is hypothesised to activate mediators more than restudying, but existing tests of this hypothesis have had mixed results [Carpenter, S. K. (2011). Semantic information activated during retrieval contributes to later retention: Support for the mediator effectiveness hypothesis of the testing effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(6), 1547-1552. doi: 10.1037/a0024140 ; Lehman, M., & Karpicke, J. D. (2016). Elaborative retrieval: Do semantic mediators improve memory? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(10), 1573-1591. doi: 10.1037/xlm0000267 ]. The present experiments explored an explanation of the conflicting results, testing whether mediator activation during a retrieval attempt depends on the accessibility of the target information. A target was considered less versus more accessible when fewer versus more cues were given during retrieval practice (Experiments 1 and 2), when the target had been studied once versus three times initially (Experiment 3), or when the target could not be recalled versus could be recalled during retrieval practice (Experiments 1-3). A mini meta-analysis of all three experiments revealed a small effect such that retrieval activated mediators more than presentation, but mediator activation was not reliably related to target accessibility. Thus, retrieval may enhance learning by activating mediators, in part, but these results suggest the role of other processes, too.

  18. Impaired cue identification and intention retrieval underlie prospective memory deficits in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dengtang; Ji, Chengfeng; Zhuo, Kaiming; Song, Zhenhua; Wang, Yingchan; Mei, Li; Zhu, Dianming; Xiang, Qiong; Chen, Tianyi; Yang, Zhilei; Zhu, Guang; Wang, Ya; Cheung, Eric Fc; Xiang, Yu-Tao; Fan, Xiaoduo; Chan, Raymond Ck; Xu, Yifeng; Jiang, Kaida

    2017-03-01

    Schizophrenia is associated with impairment in prospective memory, the ability to remember to carry out an intended action in the future. It has been established that cue identification (detection of the cue event signaling that an intended action should be performed) and intention retrieval (retrieval of an intention from long-term memory following the recognition of a prospective cue) are two important processes underlying prospective memory. The purpose of this study was to examine prospective memory deficit and underlying cognitive processes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. This study examined cue identification and intention retrieval components of event-based prospective memory using a dual-task paradigm in 30 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls. All participants were also administered a set of tests assessing working memory and retrospective memory. Both cue identification and intention retrieval were impaired in patients with first-episode schizophrenia compared with healthy controls ( ps cue identification (Cohen's d = 0.98) and a medium effect size for intention retrieval (Cohen's d = 0.62). After controlling for working memory and retrospective memory, the difference in cue identification between patients and healthy controls remained significant. However, the difference in intention retrieval between the two groups was no longer significant. In addition, there was a significant inverse relationship between cue identification and negative symptoms ( r = -0.446, p = 0.013) in the patient group. These findings suggest that both cue identification and intention retrieval in event-based prospective memory are impaired in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Cue identification and intention retrieval could be potentially used as biomarkers for early detection and treatment prognosis of schizophrenia. In addition, addressing cue identification deficit through cognitive enhancement training may

  19. A novel stone retrieval basket for more efficient lithotripsy procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salimi, N; Mahajan, A; Don, J; Schwartz, B

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the development of an improved stone retrieval device that uses a newly designed cage of Nitinol wires encompassing a mesh basket made of a material that is laser resistant. Current methods to extract large stones involve imaging, using a laser to fragment the stones and then using existing cage-like baskets to trap the fragments individually and extracting them one at a time. These procedures are tedious, and may result in leaving some fragments behind that can reform causing the need for another procedure. The device presented in this paper will have a mesh-like sack which will consist of a laser resistant material of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) enclosed within a newly designed Nitinol cage. Two alternate designs are provided for the cage in this paper. The handle of the device is revised to allow for a 3 Fr (1 mm) opening such that a laser's fiber optic cable can enter the device. Using this device a laser can be used to fragment the stone, and all the fragments are retained in the basket in both the design options. The basket can then be retracted allowing for the retrieval of all the fragments in one shot. The stone retrieval basket presented in this paper will significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of lithotripsy procedures for removal of large kidney and biliary tract stones.

  20. Natural texture retrieval based on perceptual similarity measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Ying; Dong, Junyu; Lou, Jianwen; Qi, Lin; Liu, Jun

    2018-04-01

    A typical texture retrieval system performs feature comparison and might not be able to make human-like judgments of image similarity. Meanwhile, it is commonly known that perceptual texture similarity is difficult to be described by traditional image features. In this paper, we propose a new texture retrieval scheme based on texture perceptual similarity. The key of the proposed scheme is that prediction of perceptual similarity is performed by learning a non-linear mapping from image features space to perceptual texture space by using Random Forest. We test the method on natural texture dataset and apply it on a new wallpapers dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed texture retrieval scheme with perceptual similarity improves the retrieval performance over traditional image features.

  1. Harnessing Reconsolidation to Weaken Fear and Appetitive Memories: A Meta-Analysis of Post-Retrieval Extinction Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kredlow, M. Alexandra; Unger, Leslie D.; Otto, Michael W.

    2015-01-01

    A new understanding of the mechanisms of memory retrieval and reconsolidation holds the potential for improving exposure-based treatments. Basic research indicates that following fear extinction, safety and fear memories may compete, raising the possibility of return of fear. One possible solution is to modify original fear memories through reconsolidation interference, reducing the likelihood of return of fear. Post-retrieval extinction is a behavioral method of reconsolidation interference that has been explored in the context of conditioned fear and appetitive memory paradigms. This meta-analysis examines the magnitude of post-retrieval extinction effects and potential moderators of these effects. A PubMed and PsycINFO search was conducted through June 2014. Sixty-three comparisons examining post-retrieval extinction for preventing the return of fear or appetitive responses in animals or humans met inclusion criteria. Post-retrieval extinction demonstrated a significant, small-to-moderate effect (g = .40) for further reducing the return of fear in humans and a significant, large effect (g = 0.89) for preventing the return of appetitive responses in animals relative to standard extinction. For fear outcomes in animals, effects were small (g = 0.21) and non-significant, but moderated by the number of animals housed together and the duration of time between post-retrieval extinction/extinction and test. Across paradigms, these findings support the efficacy of this pre-clinical strategy for preventing the return of conditioned fear and appetitive responses. Overall, findings to date support the continued translation of post-retrieval extinction research to human and clinical applications, with particular application to the treatment of anxiety, traumatic stress, and substance use disorders. PMID:26689086

  2. Impact of an inferior vena cava filter retrieval algorithm on filter retrieval rates in a cancer population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litwin, Robert J; Huang, Steven Y; Sabir, Sharjeel H; Hoang, Quoc B; Ahrar, Kamran; Ahrar, Judy; Tam, Alda L; Mahvash, Armeen; Ensor, Joe E; Kroll, Michael; Gupta, Sanjay

    2017-09-01

    Our primary purpose was to assess the impact of an inferior vena cava filter retrieval algorithm in a cancer population. Because cancer patients are at persistently elevated risk for development of venous thromboembolism (VTE), our secondary purpose was to assess the incidence of recurrent VTE in patients who underwent filter retrieval. Patients with malignant disease who had retrievable filters placed at a tertiary care cancer hospital from August 2010 to July 2014 were retrospectively studied. A filter retrieval algorithm was established in August 2012. Patients and referring physicians were contacted in the postintervention period when review of the medical record indicated that filter retrieval was clinically appropriate. Patients were classified into preintervention (August 2010-July 2012) and postintervention (August 2012-July 2014) study cohorts. Retrieval rates and clinical pathologic records were reviewed. Filter retrieval was attempted in 34 (17.4%) of 195 patients in the preintervention cohort and 66 (32.8%) of 201 patients in the postintervention cohort (P filter retrieval in the preintervention and postintervention cohorts was 60 days (range, 20-428 days) and 107 days (range, 9-600 days), respectively (P = .16). In the preintervention cohort, 49 of 195 (25.1%) patients were lost to follow-up compared with 24 of 201 (11.9%) patients in the postintervention cohort (P filter placement to death, when available. The overall survival for patients whose filters were retrieved was longer compared with the overall survival for patients whose filters were not retrieved (P filter retrieval, two patients (2.5%) suffered from recurrent VTE (n = 1 nonfatal pulmonary embolism; n = 1 deep venous thrombosis). Both patients were treated with anticoagulation without filter replacement. Inferior vena cava filter retrieval rates can be significantly increased in patients with malignant disease with a low rate (2.5%) of recurrent VTE after filter retrieval

  3. Foreign Body Retrieval

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Foreign Body Retrieval Foreign body retrieval is the removal of ... foreign body detection and removal? What is Foreign Body Retrieval? Foreign body retrieval involves the removal of ...

  4. The role of retrieval mode and retrieval orientation in retrieval practice: insights from comparing recognition memory testing formats and restudying.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Chuanji; Rosburg, Timm; Hou, Mingzhu; Li, Bingbing; Xiao, Xin; Guo, Chunyan

    2016-12-01

    The effectiveness of retrieval practice for aiding long-term memory, referred to as the testing effect, has been widely demonstrated. However, the specific neurocognitive mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. In the present study, we sought to explore the role of pre-retrieval processes at initial testing on later recognition performance by using event-related potentials (ERPs). Subjects studied two lists of words (Chinese characters) and then performed a recognition task or a source memory task, or restudied the word lists. At the end of the experiment, subjects received a final recognition test based on the remember-know paradigm. Behaviorally, initial testing (active retrieval) enhanced memory retention relative to restudying (passive retrieval). The retrieval mode at initial testing was indexed by more positive-going ERPs for unstudied items in the active-retrieval tasks than in passive retrieval from 300 to 900 ms. Follow-up analyses showed that the magnitude of the early ERP retrieval mode effect (300-500 ms) was predictive of the behavioral testing effect later on. In addition, the ERPs for correctly rejected new items during initial testing differed between the two active-retrieval tasks from 500 to 900 ms, and this ERP retrieval orientation effect predicted differential behavioral testing gains between the two active-retrieval conditions. Our findings confirm that initial testing promotes later retrieval relative to restudying, and they further suggest that adopting pre-retrieval processing in the forms of retrieval mode and retrieval orientation might contribute to these memory enhancements.

  5. Interference from retrieval cues in Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crescentini, Cristiano; Marin, Dario; Del Missier, Fabio; Biasutti, Emanuele; Shallice, Tim

    2011-11-01

    Existing studies on memory interference in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have provided mixed results and it is unknown whether PD patients have problems in overcoming interference from retrieval cues. We investigated this issue by using a part-list cuing paradigm. In this paradigm, after the study of a list of items, the presentation of some of these items as retrieval cues hinders the recall of the remaining ones. We tested PD patients' (n = 19) and control participants' (n = 16) episodic memory in the presence and absence of part-list cues, using initial-letter probes, and following either weak or strong serial associative encoding of list items. Both PD patients and control participants showed a comparable and significant part-list cuing effect after weak associative encoding (13% vs. 12% decrease in retrieval in part-list cuing vs. no part-list cuing -control- conditions in PD patients and control participants, respectively), denoting a similar effect of cue-driven interference in the two populations when a serial retrieval strategy is hard to develop. However, only PD patients showed a significant part-list cuing effect after strong associative encoding (20% vs. 5% decrease in retrieval in patients and controls, respectively). When encoding promotes the development of an effective serial retrieval strategy, the presentation of part-list cues has a specifically disruptive effect in PD patients. This indicates problems in strategic retrieval, probably related to PD patients' increased tendency to rely on external cues. Findings in control conditions suggest that less effective encoding may have contributed to PD patients' memory performance.

  6. Dissociating the Electrophysiological correlates between Item Retrieval and Associative Retrieval in Associative Recognition: From the Perspective of Directed Forgetting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yujuan Wang

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Although many behavioral studies have reported associative memory was different from item memory, evidence coming from ERP researches has been in debate. In addition, directed forgetting effect for items has been fully discussed, but whether association between items can be directed-forgotten was unclear. The directed forgetting effect was important for disassociating the item retrieval and associative retrieval because of the one-to-one mapping relationship both between item retrieval and familiarity and between associative retrieval and recollection Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the dissociation between item retrieval and associative retrieval and test directed forgetting effect for associative information. Associative recognition paradigm combined with directed forgetting paradigm by ERP recording was employed. Old/rearranged effect in to-be-remembered condition, which was associated with associative memory, was significant at 500-800 ms (LPC but not at 300-500 ms interval (FN400, indicating that item information was retrieved prior to associative information. The ERP wave calculated by subtracting the to-be-forgotten old pairs with old response from those with rearranged response, which reflected associative retrieval in the to-be-forgotten condition, was negative from 500 to 800 ms (reversal old/new effect, indicating that association between items can be directed-forgotten. Similar evidence was obtained by contrasting rearranged responses aimed to the to-be-forgotten old pairs with those aimed to the to-be-remembered rearranged pairs, which actually represented the complete failure of associative retrieval. Therefore, item retrieval and associative retrieval were indexed by FN400 and LPC respectively, with associative retrieval more inhibited than item retrieval.

  7. Using spaced retrieval and Montessori-based activities in improving eating ability for residents with dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Li-Chan; Huang, Ya-Ju; Su, Su-Gen; Watson, Roger; Tsai, Belina W-J; Wu, Shiao-Chi

    2010-10-01

    To construct a training protocol for spaced retrieval (SR) and to investigate the effectiveness of SR and Montessori-based activities in decreasing eating difficulty in older residents with dementia. A single evaluator, blind, and randomized control trial was used. Eighty-five residents with dementia were chosen from three special care units for residents with dementia in long-term care facilities in Taiwan. To avoid any confounding of subjects, the three institutions were randomized into three groups: spaced retrieval, Montessori-based activities, and a control group. The invention consisted of three 30-40 min sessions per week, for 8 weeks. After receiving the intervention, the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia (EdFED) scores and assisted feeding scores for the SR and Montessori-based activity groups were significantly lower than that of the control group. However, the frequencies of physical assistance and verbal assistance for the Montessori-based activity group after intervention were significantly higher than that of the control group, which suggests that residents who received Montessori-based activity need more physical and verbal assistance during mealtimes. In terms of the effects of nutritional status after intervention, Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in the SR group was significantly higher than that of the control group. This study confirms the efficacy of SR and Montessori-based activities for eating difficulty and eating ability. A longitudinal study to follow the long-term effects of SR and Montessori-based activities on eating ability and nutritional status is recommended. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  8. A passage retrieval method based on probabilistic information retrieval model and UMLS concepts in biomedical question answering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrouti, Mourad; Ouatik El Alaoui, Said

    2017-04-01

    Passage retrieval, the identification of top-ranked passages that may contain the answer for a given biomedical question, is a crucial component for any biomedical question answering (QA) system. Passage retrieval in open-domain QA is a longstanding challenge widely studied over the last decades. However, it still requires further efforts in biomedical QA. In this paper, we present a new biomedical passage retrieval method based on Stanford CoreNLP sentence/passage length, probabilistic information retrieval (IR) model and UMLS concepts. In the proposed method, we first use our document retrieval system based on PubMed search engine and UMLS similarity to retrieve relevant documents to a given biomedical question. We then take the abstracts from the retrieved documents and use Stanford CoreNLP for sentence splitter to make a set of sentences, i.e., candidate passages. Using stemmed words and UMLS concepts as features for the BM25 model, we finally compute the similarity scores between the biomedical question and each of the candidate passages and keep the N top-ranked ones. Experimental evaluations performed on large standard datasets, provided by the BioASQ challenge, show that the proposed method achieves good performances compared with the current state-of-the-art methods. The proposed method significantly outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods by an average of 6.84% in terms of mean average precision (MAP). We have proposed an efficient passage retrieval method which can be used to retrieve relevant passages in biomedical QA systems with high mean average precision. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Cortisol effects on autobiographic memory retrieval in PTSD: an analysis of word valence and time until retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wingenfeld, Katja; Driessen, Martin; Schlosser, Nicole; Terfehr, Kirsten; Carvalho Fernando, Silvia; Wolf, Oliver Tobias

    2013-09-01

    In healthy participants, cortisol administration has been found to impair autobiographic memory retrieval. We recently reported that administration of 10 mg of hydrocortisone had enhancing effects on autobiographical memory retrieval, i.e. more specific memory retrieval, in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while in healthy controls the impairing effects were replicated. We here report a re-analysis of these data with respect to cue-word valence and retrieval time. In a placebo-controlled cross-over study, 43 patients with PTSD and 43 age- and sex-matched healthy controls received either placebo or hydrocortisone orally before the autobiographical memory test was performed. We found that the effects of cortisol on memory retrieval depended on cue-word valence and group (significant interaction effects of drug by group and drug by valence by group). The enhancing effect of cortisol on memory retrieval in PTSD seemed to be relatively independent of cue-word valence, while in the control group the impairing effects of cortisol were only seen in response to neutral cue-words. The second result of the study was that in patients as well as in controls, cortisol administration led to faster memory retrieval compared to placebo. This was seen in response to positive and (to lesser extend) to neutral cue-words, but not in response to negative cue-words. Our findings illustrate that the opposing effects of cortisol on autobiographical memory retrieval in PTSD patients and controls are further modulated by the emotionality of the cue-words.

  10. Network and User-Perceived Performance of Web Page Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruse, Hans; Allman, Mark; Mallasch, Paul

    1998-01-01

    The development of the HTTP protocol has been driven by the need to improve the network performance of the protocol by allowing the efficient retrieval of multiple parts of a web page without the need for multiple simultaneous TCP connections between a client and a server. We suggest that the retrieval of multiple page elements sequentially over a single TCP connection may result in a degradation of the perceived performance experienced by the user. We attempt to quantify this perceived degradation through the use of a model which combines a web retrieval simulation and an analytical model of TCP operation. Starting with the current HTTP/l.1 specification, we first suggest a client@side heuristic to improve the perceived transfer performance. We show that the perceived speed of the page retrieval can be increased without sacrificing data transfer efficiency. We then propose a new client/server extension to the HTTP/l.1 protocol to allow for the interleaving of page element retrievals. We finally address the issue of the display of advertisements on web pages, and in particular suggest a number of mechanisms which can make efficient use of IP multicast to send advertisements to a number of clients within the same network.

  11. The Value of Applied Research: Retrieval Practice Improves Classroom Learning and Recommendations from a Teacher, a Principal, and a Scientist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agarwal, Pooja K.; Bain, Patrice M.; Chamberlain, Roger W.

    2012-01-01

    Over the course of a 5-year applied research project with more than 1,400 middle school students, evidence from a number of studies revealed that retrieval practice in authentic classroom settings improves long-term learning (Agarwal et al. 2009; McDaniel et al., "Journal of Educational Psychology" 103:399-414, 2011; McDaniel et al.…

  12. A Novel Technique for Shape Feature Extraction Using Content Based Image Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dhanoa Jaspreet Singh

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available With the advent of technology and multimedia information, digital images are increasing very quickly. Various techniques are being developed to retrieve/search digital information or data contained in the image. Traditional Text Based Image Retrieval System is not plentiful. Since it is time consuming as it require manual image annotation. Also, the image annotation differs with different peoples. An alternate to this is Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR system. It retrieves/search for image using its contents rather the text, keywords etc. A lot of exploration has been compassed in the range of Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR with various feature extraction techniques. Shape is a significant image feature as it reflects the human perception. Moreover, Shape is quite simple to use by the user to define object in an image as compared to other features such as Color, texture etc. Over and above, if applied alone, no descriptor will give fruitful results. Further, by combining it with an improved classifier, one can use the positive features of both the descriptor and classifier. So, a tryout will be made to establish an algorithm for accurate feature (Shape extraction in Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR. The main objectives of this project are: (a To propose an algorithm for shape feature extraction using CBIR, (b To evaluate the performance of proposed algorithm and (c To compare the proposed algorithm with state of art techniques.

  13. Content Based Retrieval System for Magnetic Resonance Images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trojachanets, Katarina

    2010-01-01

    The amount of medical images is continuously increasing as a consequence of the constant growth and development of techniques for digital image acquisition. Manual annotation and description of each image is impractical, expensive and time consuming approach. Moreover, it is an imprecise and insufficient way for describing all information stored in medical images. This induces the necessity for developing efficient image storage, annotation and retrieval systems. Content based image retrieval (CBIR) emerges as an efficient approach for digital image retrieval from large databases. It includes two phases. In the first phase, the visual content of the image is analyzed and the feature extraction process is performed. An appropriate descriptor, namely, feature vector is then associated with each image. These descriptors are used in the second phase, i.e. the retrieval process. With the aim to improve the efficiency and precision of the content based image retrieval systems, feature extraction and automatic image annotation techniques are subject of continuous researches and development. Including the classification techniques in the retrieval process enables automatic image annotation in an existing CBIR system. It contributes to more efficient and easier image organization in the system.Applying content based retrieval in the field of magnetic resonance is a big challenge. Magnetic resonance imaging is an image based diagnostic technique which is widely used in medical environment. According to this, the number of magnetic resonance images is enormously growing. Magnetic resonance images provide plentiful medical information, high resolution and specific nature. Thus, the capability of CBIR systems for image retrieval from large database is of great importance for efficient analysis of this kind of images. The aim of this thesis is to propose content based retrieval system architecture for magnetic resonance images. To provide the system efficiency, feature

  14. Improving Land Surface Temperature Retrievals over Mountainous Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Virgílio A. Bento

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Algorithms for Land Surface Temperature (LST retrieval from infrared measurements are usually sensitive to the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere. The Satellite Application Facilities on Climate Monitoring and Land Surface Analysis (CM SAF and LSA SAF are currently compiling a 25 year LST Climate data record (CDR, which uses water vapor information from ERA-Int reanalysis. However, its relatively coarse spatial resolution may lead to systematic errors in the humidity profiles with implications in LST, particularly over mountainous areas. The present study compares LST estimated with three different retrieval algorithms: a radiative transfer-based physical mono-window (PMW, a statistical mono-window (SMW, and a generalized split-windows (GSW. The algorithms were tested over the Alpine region using ERA-Int reanalysis data and relied on the finer spatial scale Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMO model data as a reference. Two methods were developed to correct ERA-Int water vapor misestimation: (1 an exponential parametrization of total precipitable water (TPW appropriate for SMW/GSW; and (2 a level reduction method to be used in PMW. When ERA-Int TPW was used, the algorithm missed the right TPW class in 87% of the cases. When the exponential parametrization was used, the missing class rate decreased to 9%, and when the level reduction method was applied, the LST corrections went up to 1.7 K over the study region. Overall, the correction for pixel orography in TPW leads to corrections in LST estimations, which are relevant to ensure that long-term LST records meet climate requirements, particularly over mountainous regions.

  15. Do age-related word retrieval difficulties appear (or disappear) in connected speech?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kavé, Gitit; Goral, Mira

    2017-09-01

    We conducted a comprehensive literature review of studies of word retrieval in connected speech in healthy aging and reviewed relevant aphasia research that could shed light on the aging literature. Four main hypotheses guided the review: (1) Significant retrieval difficulties would lead to reduced output in connected speech. (2) Significant retrieval difficulties would lead to a more limited lexical variety in connected speech. (3) Significant retrieval difficulties would lead to an increase in word substitution errors and in pronoun use as well as to greater dysfluency and hesitation in connected speech. (4) Retrieval difficulties on tests of single-word production would be associated with measures of word retrieval in connected speech. Studies on aging did not confirm these four hypotheses, unlike studies on aphasia that generally did. The review suggests that future research should investigate how context facilitates word production in old age.

  16. Preliminary study of technical terminology for the retrieval of scientific book metadata records

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Birger; Lioma, Christina; Frommholz, Ingo

    2012-01-01

    Books only represented by brief metadata (book records) are particularly hard to retrieve. One way of improving their retrieval is by extracting retrieval enhancing features from them. This work focusses on scientific (physics) book records. We ask if their technical terminology can be used...

  17. On the query reformulation technique for effective MEDLINE document retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Sooyoung; Choi, Jinwook

    2010-10-01

    Improving the retrieval accuracy of MEDLINE documents is still a challenging issue due to low retrieval precision. Focusing on a query expansion technique based on pseudo-relevance feedback (PRF), this paper addresses the problem by systematically examining the effects of expansion term selection and adjustment of the term weights of the expanded query using a set of MEDLINE test documents called OHSUMED. Implementing a baseline information retrieval system based on the Okapi BM25 retrieval model, we compared six well-known term ranking algorithms for useful expansion term selection and then compared traditional term reweighting algorithms with our new variant of the standard Rocchio's feedback formula, which adopts a group-based weighting scheme. Our experimental results on the OHSUMED test collection showed a maximum improvement of 20.2% and 20.4% for mean average precision and recall measures over unexpanded queries when terms were expanded using a co-occurrence analysis-based term ranking algorithm in conjunction with our term reweighting algorithm (p-valueretrieval.

  18. Improving retrieval of volcanic sulphur dioxide from backscattered UV satellite observations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yang, Kai; Krotkov, N.A.; Krueger, A.J.; Carn, S.A.; Bhartia, P.K.; Levelt, P.F.

    2009-01-01

    Existing algorithms that use satellite measurements of solar backscattered ultraviolet (BUV) radiances to retrieve sulfur dioxide (SO2) vertical columns underestimate the large SO2 amounts encountered in fresh volcanic eruption clouds. To eliminate this underestimation we have developed a new

  19. Later maturation of the beneficial than the detrimental effect of selective memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aslan, Alp; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T

    2014-04-01

    In adults, selective memory retrieval can both impair and improve recall of other memories. The study reported here examined whether children also show these two faces of memory retrieval. Employing a variant of the directed-forgetting task, we asked second, fourth, and seventh graders to study a list of target and nontarget words. After study, the participants received a cue to either forget or continue remembering the list. We subsequently asked some participants to recall the nontarget words before we tested their memory for the target words; for the remaining participants, we tested memory only for the target words. Prior retrieval of nontarget words impaired retrieval of to-be-remembered target words, regardless of children's age. In contrast, prior retrieval of nontarget words improved recall of to-be-forgotten target words in seventh graders, though not in fourth and second graders. These results suggest a developmental dissociation between the two faces of memory retrieval and indicate later maturation of the beneficial effect than of the detrimental effect of selective memory retrieval.

  20. Improved optical flow velocity analysis in SO2 camera images of volcanic plumes - implications for emission-rate retrievals investigated at Mt Etna, Italy and Guallatiri, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gliß, Jonas; Stebel, Kerstin; Kylling, Arve; Sudbø, Aasmund

    2018-02-01

    Accurate gas velocity measurements in emission plumes are highly desirable for various atmospheric remote sensing applications. The imaging technique of UV SO2 cameras is commonly used to monitor SO2 emissions from volcanoes and anthropogenic sources (e.g. power plants, ships). The camera systems capture the emission plumes at high spatial and temporal resolution. This allows the gas velocities in the plume to be retrieved directly from the images. The latter can be measured at a pixel level using optical flow (OF) algorithms. This is particularly advantageous under turbulent plume conditions. However, OF algorithms intrinsically rely on contrast in the images and often fail to detect motion in low-contrast image areas. We present a new method to identify ill-constrained OF motion vectors and replace them using the local average velocity vector. The latter is derived based on histograms of the retrieved OF motion fields. The new method is applied to two example data sets recorded at Mt Etna (Italy) and Guallatiri (Chile). We show that in many cases, the uncorrected OF yields significantly underestimated SO2 emission rates. We further show that our proposed correction can account for this and that it significantly improves the reliability of optical-flow-based gas velocity retrievals. In the case of Mt Etna, the SO2 emissions of the north-eastern crater are investigated. The corrected SO2 emission rates range between 4.8 and 10.7 kg s-1 (average of 7.1 ± 1.3 kg s-1) and are in good agreement with previously reported values. For the Guallatiri data, the emissions of the central crater and a fumarolic field are investigated. The retrieved SO2 emission rates are between 0.5 and 2.9 kg s-1 (average of 1.3 ± 0.5 kg s-1) and provide the first report of SO2 emissions from this remotely located and inaccessible volcano.

  1. Automatic medical image annotation and keyword-based image retrieval using relevance feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ko, Byoung Chul; Lee, JiHyeon; Nam, Jae-Yeal

    2012-08-01

    This paper presents novel multiple keywords annotation for medical images, keyword-based medical image retrieval, and relevance feedback method for image retrieval for enhancing image retrieval performance. For semantic keyword annotation, this study proposes a novel medical image classification method combining local wavelet-based center symmetric-local binary patterns with random forests. For keyword-based image retrieval, our retrieval system use the confidence score that is assigned to each annotated keyword by combining probabilities of random forests with predefined body relation graph. To overcome the limitation of keyword-based image retrieval, we combine our image retrieval system with relevance feedback mechanism based on visual feature and pattern classifier. Compared with other annotation and relevance feedback algorithms, the proposed method shows both improved annotation performance and accurate retrieval results.

  2. Retrieval-induced forgetting in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nestor, Paul G; Piech, Richard; Allen, Christopher; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Shenton, Martha; McCarley, Robert W

    2005-06-15

    Retrieving category associates (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE) may induce forgetting other category members (e.g., FRUIT-BANANA), a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). We designed 2 experiments to examine the role of RIF in the associative memory impairment of schizophrenia (SZ). Subjects studied 36 category-exemplar pairs, generated from 6 categories composed of 6 members each. For half of the studied category-exemplar pairs, subjects practiced retrieval by completing word stems, followed by a delayed category-cued recall on all of the practiced and unpracticed items. Experiment 1 used unrelated category exemplars-pairs (e.g., FRUIT-ORANGE, METALS-IRON), whereas experiment 2 included related category exemplar pairs (e.g., COTTON-SHIRT, LEATHER-SKIRT). SZ showed reduced associative memory but normal RIF for unrelated categories used in experiment 1. For experiment 2, SZ showed a significant decline in associative memory for related but not unrelated category-exemplars in comparison to controls. Results suggested faulty specificity/distinctiveness for encoding and retrieval, but not abnormal RIF in the associative memory disturbance of SZ.

  3. The first international workshop on "Advancement of POLarimetric Observations: calibration and improved aerosol retrievals": APOLO-2017

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubovik, Oleg; Li, Zhengqiang; Mishchenko, Michael I.

    2018-06-01

    The international workshop on "Advancement of POLarimetric Observations: calibration and improved aerosol retrievals-2017" (APOLO-2017) took place in Hefei, China on 24 - 27 October 2017. This was the inaugural meeting of a planned series of workshops on satellite polarimetry aimed at addressing the rapidly growing interest of the scientific community in polarimetric remote-sensing observations from space. The workshop was held at the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei, widely known for 15 years of experience in the development of research polarimetry sensors and for hosting the building in parallel of several orbital polarimeters.

  4. MANAGEMENT OF TRANSURANIC (TRU) WASTE RETRIEVAL PROJECT RISKS SUCCESSES IN THE STARTUP OF THE HANFORD 200 AREA TRU WASTE RETRIEVAL PROJECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    GREENWLL, R.D.

    2005-01-01

    A risk identification and mitigation method applied to the Transuranic (TRU) Waste Retrieval Project performed at the Hanford 200 Area burial grounds is described. Retrieval operations are analyzed using process flow diagramming. and the anticipated project contingencies are included in the Authorization Basis and operational plans. Examples of uncertainties assessed include degraded container integrity, bulged drums, unknown containers, and releases to the environment. Identification and mitigation of project risks contributed to the safe retrieval of over 1700 cubic meters of waste without significant work stoppage and below the targeted cost per cubic meter retrieved. This paper will be of interest to managers, project engineers, regulators, and others who are responsible for successful performance of waste retrieval and other projects with high safety and performance risks

  5. Ten Years of Cloud Optical and Microphysical Retrievals from MODIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platnick, Steven; King, Michael D.; Wind, Galina; Hubanks, Paul; Arnold, G. Thomas; Amarasinghe, Nandana

    2010-01-01

    The MODIS cloud optical properties algorithm (MOD06/MYD06 for Terra and Aqua MODIS, respectively) has undergone extensive improvements and enhancements since the launch of Terra. These changes have included: improvements in the cloud thermodynamic phase algorithm; substantial changes in the ice cloud light scattering look up tables (LUTs); a clear-sky restoral algorithm for flagging heavy aerosol and sunglint; greatly improved spectral surface albedo maps, including the spectral albedo of snow by ecosystem; inclusion of pixel-level uncertainty estimates for cloud optical thickness, effective radius, and water path derived for three error sources that includes the sensitivity of the retrievals to solar and viewing geometries. To improve overall retrieval quality, we have also implemented cloud edge removal and partly cloudy detection (using MOD35 cloud mask 250m tests), added a supplementary cloud optical thickness and effective radius algorithm over snow and sea ice surfaces and over the ocean, which enables comparison with the "standard" 2.1 11m effective radius retrieval, and added a multi-layer cloud detection algorithm. We will discuss the status of the MOD06 algorithm and show examples of pixellevel (Level-2) cloud retrievals for selected data granules, as well as gridded (Level-3) statistics, notably monthly means and histograms (lD and 2D, with the latter giving correlations between cloud optical thickness and effective radius, and other cloud product pairs).

  6. Geological and geotechnical limitations of radioactive waste retrievability in geologic disposals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stahlmann, Joachim; Leon-Vargas, Rocio; Mintzlaff, Volker; Treidler, Ann-Kathrin [TU Braunschweig (Germany). Inst. for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering

    2015-07-01

    The capability of retrieving radioactive waste emplaced in deep geological formations is nowadays in discussion in many countries. Based on the storage of high-level radioactive waste (HAW) in deep geological repositories there is a number of possible scenarios for their retrieval. Measurements for an improved retrieving capability may impact on the geotechnical and geological barriers, e.g. keeping open the access drifts for a long period of time can result in a bigger evacuation damage zone (EDZ) in the host rock which implies potential flow paths for ground water. Nevertheless, to limit the possible scenarios associated to the retrieval implementation, it is necessary to take in consideration which criteria will be used for an efficient monitoring program, while clearly determining the performance reliability of the geotechnical barriers. In addition, the integrity of the host rock as geological barrier has to be verified. Therefore, it is important to evaluate different design solutions and the most appropriate measurement methods to improve the retrievability process of wastes from a geological repository. A short presentation of the host rocks is given is this paper.

  7. Retrieval-Based Learning: Positive Effects of Retrieval Practice in Elementary School Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey D. Karpicke

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available A wealth of research has demonstrated that practicing retrieval is a powerful way to enhance learning. However, nearly all prior research has examined retrieval practice with college students. Little is known about retrieval practice in children, and even less is known about possible individual differences in retrieval practice. In three experiments, 88 children (mean age 10 years studied a list of words and either restudied the items or practiced retrieving them. They then took a final free recall test (Experiments 1 and 2 or recognition test (Experiment 3. In all experiments, children showed robust retrieval practice effects. Although a range of individual differences in reading comprehension and processing speed were observed among these children, the benefits of retrieval practice were independent of these factors. The results contribute to the growing body of research supporting the mnemonic benefits of retrieval practice and provide preliminary evidence that practicing retrieval may be an effective learning strategy for children with varying levels of reading comprehension and processing speed.

  8. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for temperature and humidity profile retrieval from microwave radiometer observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramesh, K.; Kesarkar, A. P.; Bhate, J.; Venkat Ratnam, M.; Jayaraman, A.

    2015-01-01

    The retrieval of accurate profiles of temperature and water vapour is important for the study of atmospheric convection. Recent development in computational techniques motivated us to use adaptive techniques in the retrieval algorithms. In this work, we have used an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to retrieve profiles of temperature and humidity up to 10 km over the tropical station Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), India. ANFIS is trained by using observations of temperature and humidity measurements by co-located Meisei GPS radiosonde (henceforth referred to as radiosonde) and microwave brightness temperatures observed by radiometrics multichannel microwave radiometer MP3000 (MWR). ANFIS is trained by considering these observations during rainy and non-rainy days (ANFIS(RD + NRD)) and during non-rainy days only (ANFIS(NRD)). The comparison of ANFIS(RD + NRD) and ANFIS(NRD) profiles with independent radiosonde observations and profiles retrieved using multivariate linear regression (MVLR: RD + NRD and NRD) and artificial neural network (ANN) indicated that the errors in the ANFIS(RD + NRD) are less compared to other retrieval methods. The Pearson product movement correlation coefficient (r) between retrieved and observed profiles is more than 92% for temperature profiles for all techniques and more than 99% for the ANFIS(RD + NRD) technique Therefore this new techniques is relatively better for the retrieval of temperature profiles. The comparison of bias, mean absolute error (MAE), RMSE and symmetric mean absolute percentage error (SMAPE) of retrieved temperature and relative humidity (RH) profiles using ANN and ANFIS also indicated that profiles retrieved using ANFIS(RD + NRD) are significantly better compared to the ANN technique. The analysis of profiles concludes that retrieved profiles using ANFIS techniques have improved the temperature retrievals substantially; however, the retrieval of RH by all techniques considered in this paper (ANN, MVLR and

  9. Integral Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) Facility conceptual design report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-09-01

    This document, Volume 5 Book 7, contains cost estimate information for a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility. Cost estimates are for onsite improvements, waste storage, and offsite improvements for the Clinch River Site

  10. Three-Dimensional Model Retrieval Using Dynamic Multi-Descriptor Fusion

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jau-Ling Shi; Chang-Hsing Lee; Yao-Wen Hou; Po-Ting Yeh

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a dynamic multi-descriptor fusion (DMDF) approach to improving the retrieval accuracy of 3-dimensional (3D) model retrieval systems. First, an independent retrieval list is generated by using each individual descriptor. Second, we propose an automatic relevant/irrelevant models selection (ARMS) approach to selecting the relevant and irrelevant 3D models automatically without any user interaction. A weighted distance, in which the weight associated with each individual descriptor is learnt by using the selected relevant and irrelevant models, is used to measure the similarity between two 3D models. Furthermore, a descriptor-dependent adaptive query point movement (AQPM) approach is employed to update every feature vector. This set of new feature vectors is used to index 3D models in the next search process. Four 3D model databases are used to compare the retrieval accuracy of our proposed DMDF approach with several descriptors as well as some well-known information fusion methods. Experimental results have shown that our proposed DMDF approach provides a promising retrieval result and always yields the best retrieval accuracy.

  11. Taste aversion memory reconsolidation is independent of its retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez-Ortiz, Carlos J; Balderas, Israela; Garcia-DeLaTorre, Paola; Bermudez-Rattoni, Federico

    2012-10-01

    Reconsolidation refers to the destabilization/re-stabilization memory process upon its activation. However, the conditions needed to undergo reconsolidation, as well as its functional significance is quite unclear and a matter of intense investigation. Even so, memory retrieval is held as requisite to initiate reconsolidation. Therefore, in the present work we examined whether transient pharmacological disruption of memory retrieval impedes reconsolidation of stored memory in the widely used associative conditioning task, taste aversion. We found that AMPA receptors inhibition in the amygdala impaired retrieval of taste aversion memory. Furthermore, AMPA receptors blockade impeded retrieval regardless of memory strength. However, inhibition of retrieval did not affect anisomycin-mediated disruption of reconsolidation. These results indicate that retrieval is a dispensable condition to undergo reconsolidation and provide evidence of molecular dissociation between retrieval and activation of memory in the non-declarative memory model taste aversion. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Social and Demographic Factors Influencing Inferior Vena Cava Filter Retrieval at a Single Institution in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith, S. Christian, E-mail: csmith@aemrc.arizona.edu; Shanks, Candace, E-mail: Candace.Shanks@osumc.edu; Guy, Gregory, E-mail: Gregory.Guy@osumc.edu; Yang, Xiangyu, E-mail: Xiangyu.Yang@osumc.edu; Dowell, Joshua D., E-mail: Joshua.Dowell@osumc.edu [The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology (United States)

    2015-10-15

    PurposeRetrievable inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs) are associated with long-term adverse events that have increased interest in improving filter retrieval rates. Determining the influential patient social and demographic factors affecting IVCF retrieval is important to personalize patient management strategies and attain optimal patient care.Materials and MethodsSeven-hundred and sixty-two patients were retrospectively studied who had a filter placed at our institution between January 2011 and November 2013. Age, gender, race, cancer history, distance to residence from retrieval institution, and insurance status were identified for each patient, and those receiving retrievable IVCFs were further evaluated for retrieval rate and time to retrieval.ResultsOf the 762 filters placed, 133 were permanent filters. Of the 629 retrievable filters placed, 406 met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for retrieval. Results revealed patients with Medicare were less likely to have their filters retrieved (p = 0.031). Older age was also associated with a lower likelihood of retrieval (p < 0.001) as was living further from the medical center (p = 0.027). Patients who were white and had Medicare were more likely than similarly insured black patients to have their filters retrieved (p = 0.024).ConclusionsThe retrieval rate of IVCFs was most influenced by insurance status, distance from the medical center, and age. Race was statistically significant only when combined with insurance status. The results of this study suggest that these patient groups may need closer follow-up in order to obtain optimal IVCF retrieval rates.

  13. Social and Demographic Factors Influencing Inferior Vena Cava Filter Retrieval at a Single Institution in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, S. Christian; Shanks, Candace; Guy, Gregory; Yang, Xiangyu; Dowell, Joshua D.

    2015-01-01

    PurposeRetrievable inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs) are associated with long-term adverse events that have increased interest in improving filter retrieval rates. Determining the influential patient social and demographic factors affecting IVCF retrieval is important to personalize patient management strategies and attain optimal patient care.Materials and MethodsSeven-hundred and sixty-two patients were retrospectively studied who had a filter placed at our institution between January 2011 and November 2013. Age, gender, race, cancer history, distance to residence from retrieval institution, and insurance status were identified for each patient, and those receiving retrievable IVCFs were further evaluated for retrieval rate and time to retrieval.ResultsOf the 762 filters placed, 133 were permanent filters. Of the 629 retrievable filters placed, 406 met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for retrieval. Results revealed patients with Medicare were less likely to have their filters retrieved (p = 0.031). Older age was also associated with a lower likelihood of retrieval (p < 0.001) as was living further from the medical center (p = 0.027). Patients who were white and had Medicare were more likely than similarly insured black patients to have their filters retrieved (p = 0.024).ConclusionsThe retrieval rate of IVCFs was most influenced by insurance status, distance from the medical center, and age. Race was statistically significant only when combined with insurance status. The results of this study suggest that these patient groups may need closer follow-up in order to obtain optimal IVCF retrieval rates

  14. Retrieval of diagnostic and treatment studies for clinical use through PubMed and PubMed's Clinical Queries filters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lokker, Cynthia; Haynes, R Brian; Wilczynski, Nancy L; McKibbon, K Ann; Walter, Stephen D

    2011-01-01

    Clinical Queries filters were developed to improve the retrieval of high-quality studies in searches on clinical matters. The study objective was to determine the yield of relevant citations and physician satisfaction while searching for diagnostic and treatment studies using the Clinical Queries page of PubMed compared with searching PubMed without these filters. Forty practicing physicians, presented with standardized treatment and diagnosis questions and one question of their choosing, entered search terms which were processed in a random, blinded fashion through PubMed alone and PubMed Clinical Queries. Participants rated search retrievals for applicability to the question at hand and satisfaction. For treatment, the primary outcome of retrieval of relevant articles was not significantly different between the groups, but a higher proportion of articles from the Clinical Queries searches met methodologic criteria (p=0.049), and more articles were published in core internal medicine journals (p=0.056). For diagnosis, the filtered results returned more relevant articles (p=0.031) and fewer irrelevant articles (overall retrieval less, p=0.023); participants needed to screen fewer articles before arriving at the first relevant citation (p<0.05). Relevance was also influenced by content terms used by participants in searching. Participants varied greatly in their search performance. Clinical Queries filtered searches returned more high-quality studies, though the retrieval of relevant articles was only statistically different between the groups for diagnosis questions. Retrieving clinically important research studies from Medline is a challenging task for physicians. Methodological search filters can improve search retrieval.

  15. The EcoData retriever: improving access to existing ecological data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin D Morris

    Full Text Available Ecological research relies increasingly on the use of previously collected data. Use of existing datasets allows questions to be addressed more quickly, more generally, and at larger scales than would otherwise be possible. As a result of large-scale data collection efforts, and an increasing emphasis on data publication by journals and funding agencies, a large and ever-increasing amount of ecological data is now publicly available via the internet. Most ecological datasets do not adhere to any agreed-upon standards in format, data structure or method of access. Some may be broken up across multiple files, stored in compressed archives, and violate basic principles of data structure. As a result acquiring and utilizing available datasets can be a time consuming and error prone process. The EcoData Retriever is an extensible software framework which automates the tasks of discovering, downloading, and reformatting ecological data files for storage in a local data file or relational database. The automation of these tasks saves significant time for researchers and substantially reduces the likelihood of errors resulting from manual data manipulation and unfamiliarity with the complexities of individual datasets.

  16. A humming retrieval system based on music fingerprint

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Xingkai; Cao, Baiyu

    2011-10-01

    In this paper, we proposed an improved music information retrieval method utilizing the music fingerprint. The goal of this method is to represent the music with compressed musical information. Based on the selected MIDI files, which are generated automatically as our music target database, we evaluate the accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency of this method. In this research we not only extract the feature sequence, which can represent the file effectively, from the query and melody database, but also make it possible for retrieving the results in an innovative way. We investigate on the influence of noise to the performance of our system. As experimental result shows, the retrieval accuracy arriving at up to91% without noise is pretty well

  17. Factors affecting Cook Gunther Tulip and Cook Celect inferior vena cava filter retrieval success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glocker, Roan J; Novak, Zdenek; Matthews, Thomas C; Patterson, Mark A; Jordan, William D; Pearce, Benjamin J; Passman, Marc A

    2014-01-01

    Success rates vary for the retrieval of inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs). The optimal retrieval time and factors influencing retrieval success remain unproven. This study aims to determine optimal time and evaluate factors related to successful IVCF retrieval. An institutional prospectively maintained database was reviewed for all IVCF retrieval attempts from 2006 to 2012. Patient demographics, comorbidities, indications for procedure, placement technique, IVCF type, presence of angulation, and time to retrieval were evaluated with respect to success or failure of retrieval. Statistical analyses (t-test, χ(2), correlations, and Kaplan-Meier plots) were performed comparing successful and unsuccessful retrievals. Of 121 attempted IVCF retrievals, 92 (76%) were successful and 29 (24%) were unsuccessful. There were no significant differences between the successful and unsuccessful attempts in terms of patient demographics, comorbidities, indications for procedure, placement technique, or IVCF type, which included 93 Celect (77%) and 28 Gunther Tulip (23%). Time since IVCF placement was significantly different (P = .025) between the successful and unsuccessful retrieval groups (medians were 105 [7-368] and 162 [43-379] days, respectively). Time since IVCF placement greater than 117 days correlated significantly with unsuccessful IVCF retrieval (R = 0.218; P = .017; odds ratio, 2.88; P = .02). Angulation greater than 20 degrees on anteroposterior radiograph was noted in seven of 29 (24%) unsuccessful retrievals compared with seven of 92 (8%) successful retrievals and was significant (P = .012). Cook Gunther Tulip and Celect IVCF retrieval is most likely to be successful within 3 to 4 months of placement. Unsuccessful retrieval attempts are more likely to occur when IVCF position is angulated. Copyright © 2014 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Magpies can use local cues to retrieve their food caches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feenders, Gesa; Smulders, Tom V

    2011-03-01

    Much importance has been placed on the use of spatial cues by food-hoarding birds in the retrieval of their caches. In this study, we investigate whether food-hoarding birds can be trained to use local cues ("beacons") in their cache retrieval. We test magpies (Pica pica) in an active hoarding-retrieval paradigm, where local cues are always reliable, while spatial cues are not. Our results show that the birds use the local cues to retrieve their caches, even when occasionally contradicting spatial information is available. The design of our study does not allow us to test rigorously whether the birds prefer using local over spatial cues, nor to investigate the process through which they learn to use local cues. We furthermore provide evidence that magpies develop landmark preferences, which improve their retrieval accuracy. Our findings support the hypothesis that birds are flexible in their use of memory information, using a combination of the most reliable or salient information to retrieve their caches. © Springer-Verlag 2010

  19. Improved optical flow velocity analysis in SO2 camera images of volcanic plumes – implications for emission-rate retrievals investigated at Mt Etna, Italy and Guallatiri, Chile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Gliß

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Accurate gas velocity measurements in emission plumes are highly desirable for various atmospheric remote sensing applications. The imaging technique of UV SO2 cameras is commonly used to monitor SO2 emissions from volcanoes and anthropogenic sources (e.g. power plants, ships. The camera systems capture the emission plumes at high spatial and temporal resolution. This allows the gas velocities in the plume to be retrieved directly from the images. The latter can be measured at a pixel level using optical flow (OF algorithms. This is particularly advantageous under turbulent plume conditions. However, OF algorithms intrinsically rely on contrast in the images and often fail to detect motion in low-contrast image areas. We present a new method to identify ill-constrained OF motion vectors and replace them using the local average velocity vector. The latter is derived based on histograms of the retrieved OF motion fields. The new method is applied to two example data sets recorded at Mt Etna (Italy and Guallatiri (Chile. We show that in many cases, the uncorrected OF yields significantly underestimated SO2 emission rates. We further show that our proposed correction can account for this and that it significantly improves the reliability of optical-flow-based gas velocity retrievals. In the case of Mt Etna, the SO2 emissions of the north-eastern crater are investigated. The corrected SO2 emission rates range between 4.8 and 10.7 kg s−1 (average of 7.1  ±  1.3 kg s−1 and are in good agreement with previously reported values. For the Guallatiri data, the emissions of the central crater and a fumarolic field are investigated. The retrieved SO2 emission rates are between 0.5 and 2.9 kg s−1 (average of 1.3  ±  0.5 kg s−1 and provide the first report of SO2 emissions from this remotely located and inaccessible volcano.

  20. Towards brain-activity-controlled information retrieval: Decoding image relevance from MEG signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauppi, Jukka-Pekka; Kandemir, Melih; Saarinen, Veli-Matti; Hirvenkari, Lotta; Parkkonen, Lauri; Klami, Arto; Hari, Riitta; Kaski, Samuel

    2015-05-15

    We hypothesize that brain activity can be used to control future information retrieval systems. To this end, we conducted a feasibility study on predicting the relevance of visual objects from brain activity. We analyze both magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and gaze signals from nine subjects who were viewing image collages, a subset of which was relevant to a predetermined task. We report three findings: i) the relevance of an image a subject looks at can be decoded from MEG signals with performance significantly better than chance, ii) fusion of gaze-based and MEG-based classifiers significantly improves the prediction performance compared to using either signal alone, and iii) non-linear classification of the MEG signals using Gaussian process classifiers outperforms linear classification. These findings break new ground for building brain-activity-based interactive image retrieval systems, as well as for systems utilizing feedback both from brain activity and eye movements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Study on retrievability of waste package in geological disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Noda, Masaru

    2002-02-01

    Retrievability of waste packages in geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste has been investigated from a technical aspect in various foreign countries, reflecting a social concern while retrievability is not provided as a technical requirement. This study investigates the concept of reversibility and retrievability in foreign countries and a technical feasibility on retrievability of waste packages in the geological disposal concept shown in the H12 report. The conclusion obtained through this study is as follows: 1. Concept of reversibility and retrievability in foreign countries. Many organizations have reconsidered the retrievability as one option in the geological disposal to improve the reversibility of the stepwise decision-making process and provide the flexibility, even based upon the principle of the geological disposal that retrieval of waste from the repository is not intended. 2. Technical feasibility on the retrievability in disposal concept in the H12 report. It is confirmed to be able to remove the buffer and to retrieve the waste packages by currently available technologies even after the stages following emplacement of the buffer. It must be noted that a large effort and expense would be required for some activities such as the reconstruction of access route if the activities started after a stage of backfilling disposal tunnels. 3. Evaluation of feasibility on the retrievability and extraction of the issues. In the near future, it is necessary to study and confirm the practical workability and economical efficiency for the retrieving method of waste packages proposed in this study, the handling and processing method of removed buffer materials, and the retrieving method of waste packages in the case of degrading the integrity of waste packages or not emplacing the waste packages in the assumed attitude, etc. (author)

  2. Retrieval of reflections from ambient noise using illumination diagnosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidal, C. Almagro; Draganov, D.; van der Neut, J.; Drijkoningen, G.; Wapenaar, K.

    2014-09-01

    Seismic interferometry (SI) enables the retrieval of virtual sources at the location of receivers. In the case of passive SI, no active sources are used for the retrieval of the reflection response of the subsurface, but ambient-noise recordings only. The resulting retrieved response is determined by the illumination characteristics of the recorded ambient noise. Characteristics like geometrical distribution and signature of the noise sources, together with the complexity of the medium and the length of the noise records, determine the quality of the retrieved virtual-shot events. To retrieve body wave reflections, one needs to correlate body-wave noise. A source of such noise might be regional seismicity. In regions with notable human presence, the dominant noise sources are generally located at or close to the surface. In the latter case, the noise will be dominated by surface waves and consequently also the retrieved virtual common-source panels will contain dominant retrieved surface waves, drowning out possible retrieved reflections. In order to retrieve reflection events, suppression of the surface waves becomes the most important pre-processing goal. Because of the reasons mentioned above, we propose a fast method to evaluate the illumination characteristics of ambient noise using the correlation results from ambient-noise records. The method is based on the analysis of the so-called source function of the retrieved virtual-shot panel, and evaluates the apparent slowness of arrivals in the correlation results that pass through the position of the virtual source and at zero time. The results of the diagnosis are used to suppress the retrieval of surface waves and therefore to improve the quality of the retrieved reflection response. We explain the approach using modelled data from transient and continuous noise sources and an example from a passive field data set recorded at Annerveen, Northern Netherlands.

  3. Sensitivity Analysis for Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) CO2 Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gat, Ilana

    2012-01-01

    The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is a thermal infrared sensor able to retrieve the daily atmospheric state globally for clear as well as partially cloudy field-of-views. The AIRS spectrometer has 2378 channels sensing from 15.4 micrometers to 3.7 micrometers, of which a small subset in the 15 micrometers region has been selected, to date, for CO2 retrieval. To improve upon the current retrieval method, we extended the retrieval calculations to include a prior estimate component and developed a channel ranking system to optimize the channels and number of channels used. The channel ranking system uses a mathematical formalism to rapidly process and assess the retrieval potential of large numbers of channels. Implementing this system, we identifed a larger optimized subset of AIRS channels that can decrease retrieval errors and minimize the overall sensitivity to other iridescent contributors, such as water vapor, ozone, and atmospheric temperature. This methodology selects channels globally by accounting for the latitudinal, longitudinal, and seasonal dependencies of the subset. The new methodology increases accuracy in AIRS CO2 as well as other retrievals and enables the extension of retrieved CO2 vertical profiles to altitudes ranging from the lower troposphere to upper stratosphere. The extended retrieval method for CO2 vertical profile estimation using a maximum-likelihood estimation method. We use model data to demonstrate the beneficial impact of the extended retrieval method using the new channel ranking system on CO2 retrieval.

  4. Experiments in Discourse Analysis Impact on Information Classification and Retrieval Algorithms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morato, Jorge; Llorens, J.; Genova, G.; Moreiro, J. A.

    2003-01-01

    Discusses the inclusion of contextual information in indexing and retrieval systems to improve results and the ability to carry out text analysis by means of linguistic knowledge. Presents research that investigated whether discourse variables have an impact on information and retrieval and classification algorithms. (Author/LRW)

  5. Combining textual and visual information for image retrieval in the medical domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gkoufas, Yiannis; Morou, Anna; Kalamboukis, Theodore

    2011-01-01

    In this article we have assembled the experience obtained from our participation in the imageCLEF evaluation task over the past two years. Exploitation on the use of linear combinations for image retrieval has been attempted by combining visual and textual sources of images. From our experiments we conclude that a mixed retrieval technique that applies both textual and visual retrieval in an interchangeably repeated manner improves the performance while overcoming the scalability limitations of visual retrieval. In particular, the mean average precision (MAP) has increased from 0.01 to 0.15 and 0.087 for 2009 and 2010 data, respectively, when content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is performed on the top 1000 results from textual retrieval based on natural language processing (NLP).

  6. Assessment of aerosol models to AOD retrieval from HJ1 Satellites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuhuan, Zhang; Zhengqiang, Li; Weizhen, Hou; Ying, Zhang; Yan, Ma; Li Donghui

    2014-01-01

    The Chinese environmental satellites HJ1 A and B can play a significant role in the aerosol retrieval due to their high spatial and temporal resolution. The current Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrieval methods from HJ1-CCD are almost based on the LUT (Look-Up Table), by selecting the best fitting result to determine the AOD. However, aerosol model selection has an important impact on the retrieval results when creating the lookup table; inappropriate choice of aerosol model will significantly affect the accuracy and applicability of the method. This paper determined the local aerosol physical properties (such as complex refractive index, and size distribution) based on the observational data, thus we defined the aerosol type and retrieved the AOD of the local aerosol. Furthermore we compared the results retrieved from the measurement aerosol model with those retrieved from the inherent aerosol model in the radiative transfer model and then evaluate its effect on the aerosol type

  7. Memory retrieval of everyday information under stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stock, Lisa-Marie; Merz, Christian J

    2018-07-01

    Psychosocial stress is known to crucially influence learning and memory processes. Several studies have already shown an impairing effect of elevated cortisol concentrations on memory retrieval. These studies mainly used learning material consisting of stimuli with a limited ecological validity. When using material with a social contextual component or with educational relevant material both impairing and enhancing stress effects on memory retrieval could be observed. In line with these latter studies, the present experiment also used material with a higher ecological validity (a coherent text consisting of daily relevant numeric, figural and verbal information). After encoding, retrieval took place 24 h later after exposure to psychosocial stress or a control procedure (20 healthy men per group). The stress group was further subdivided into cortisol responders and non-responders. Results showed a significantly impaired retrieval of everyday information in non-responders compared to responders and controls. Altogether, the present findings indicate the need of an appropriate cortisol response for the successful memory retrieval of everyday information. Thus, the present findings suggest that cortisol increases - contrary to a stressful experience per se - seem to play a protective role for retrieving everyday information. Additionally, it could be speculated that the previously reported impairing stress effects on memory retrieval might depend on the used learning material. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. [CHALLENGING THE OPTIMAL NUMBER OF RETRIEVED OOCYTES AND ITS IMPACT ON PREGNANCY AND LIVE BIRTH RATES IN IVF/ICSI CYCLES].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blais, Idit; Lahav-Baratz, Shirly; Koifman, Mara; Wiener-Megnazi, Zofnat; Auslender, Ron; Dirnfeld, Martha

    2015-06-01

    Large numbers of retrieved oocytes are associated with higher chances of having cryopreservation of embryos. However, the process entailed exposes women to increased risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Furthermore, mild ovary stimulation protocols are more patient-friendly and with less adverse effects. Only limited reports exist on the significance of the number of retrieved oocytes achieved in a single stimulation cycle. To investigate the optimal number of retrieved oocytes to achieve pregnancy and live birth. This retrospective analysis included 1590 IVF cycles. Oocytes maturation, fertilization, cleavage, as well as pregnancy and live birth rates were analyzed according to the number of retrieved oocytes. Oocyte maturation, fertilization and cleavage rates were lower in cycles with more than 10 retrieved oocytes compared with other groups. Live birth rates were highest when the number of retrieved oocytes was 11-15. Retrieval of more than 15 oocytes was not associated with a significant increase in chances of conception and birth. The better oocyte quality with 10 or less oocytes retrieved could be the result of a possible interference with the natural selection, or the minimized exposure of growing follicles to the potentially negative effects of ovarian stimulation. Although the average number of available embryos was higher when more than 10 oocytes were retrieved, achievement of more than 15 oocytes did not improve IVF outcome in terms of pregnancy and delivery rates. Analysis of 1590 IVF cycles including the frozen-thawed transfers shows that the best outcomes were achieved with an optimal number of 11-15 oocytes.

  9. Retrieval Attempts Enhance Learning, but Retrieval Success (versus Failure) Does Not Matter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kornell, Nate; Klein, Patricia Jacobs; Rawson, Katherine A.

    2015-01-01

    Retrieving information from memory enhances learning. We propose a 2-stage framework to explain the benefits of retrieval. Stage 1 takes place as one attempts to retrieve an answer, which activates knowledge related to the retrieval cue. Stage 2 begins when the answer becomes available, at which point appropriate connections are strengthened and…

  10. Development and Testing of the New Surface LER Climatology for OMI UV Aerosol Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Pawan; Torres, Omar; Jethva, Hiren; Ahn, Changwoo

    2014-01-01

    Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard Aura satellite retrieved aerosols properties using UV part of solar spectrum. The OMI near UV aerosol algorithm (OMAERUV) is a global inversion scheme which retrieves aerosol properties both over ocean and land. The current version of the algorithm makes use of TOMS derived Lambertian Equivalent Reflectance (LER) climatology. A new monthly climatology of surface LER at 354 and 388 nm have been developed. This will replace TOMS LER (380 nm and 354nm) climatology in OMI near UV aerosol retrieval algorithm. The main objectives of this study is to produce high resolution (quarter degree) surface LER sets as compared to existing one degree TOMS surface LERs, to product instrument and wavelength consistent surface climatology. Nine years of OMI observations have been used to derive monthly climatology of surface LER. MODIS derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) have been used to make aerosol corrections on OMI wavelengths. MODIS derived BRDF adjusted reflectance product has been also used to capture seasonal changes in the surface characteristics. Finally spatial and temporal averaging techniques have been used to fill the gaps around the globes, especially in the regions with consistent cloud cover such as Amazon. After implementation of new surface data in the research version of algorithm, comparisons of AOD and single scattering albedo (SSA) have been performed over global AERONET sites for year 2007. Preliminary results shows improvements in AOD retrievals globally but more significance improvement were observed over desert and bright locations. We will present methodology of deriving surface data sets and will discuss the observed changes in retrieved aerosol properties with respect to reference AERONET measurements.

  11. Reliability of goniometry in Labrador Retrievers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaegger, Gayle; Marcellin-Little, Denis J; Levine, David

    2002-07-01

    To evaluate the reliability of goniometry by comparing goniometric measurements with radiographic measurements and evaluate the effects of sedation on range of joint motion. 16 healthy adult Labrador Retrievers. 3 investigators blindly and independently measured range of motion of the carpus, elbow, shoulder, tarsus, stifle, and hip joints of 16 Labrador Retrievers in triplicate before and after dogs were sedated. Radiographs of all joints in maximal flexion and extension were made during under sedation. Goniometric measurements were compared with radiographic measurements. The influence of sedation and the intra- and intertester variability were evaluated; 95% confidence intervals for all ranges of motion were determined. Results of goniometric and radiographic measurements were not significantly different. Results of measurements made by the 3 investigators were not significantly different. Multiple measurements made by 1 investigator varied from 1 to 6 degrees (median, 3 degrees) depending on the joint. Sedation did not influence the range of motion of the evaluated joints. Goniometry is a reliable and objective method for determining range of motion of joints in healthy Labrador Retrievers.

  12. Improving Web Page Retrieval using Search Context from Clicked Domain Names

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Li, R.

    Search context is a crucial factor that helps to understand a user’s information need in ad-hoc Web page retrieval. A query log of a search engine contains rich information on issued queries and their corresponding clicked Web pages. The clicked data implies its relevance to the query and can be

  13. Constraining the Structure of Hot Jupiter Atmospheres Using a Hybrid Version of the NEMESIS Retrieval Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badhan, Mahmuda A.; Mandell, Avi M.; Hesman, Brigette; Nixon, Conor; Deming, Drake; Irwin, Patrick; Barstow, Joanna; Garland, Ryan

    2015-11-01

    Understanding the formation environments and evolution scenarios of planets in nearby planetary systems requires robust measures for constraining their atmospheric physical properties. Here we have utilized a combination of two different parameter retrieval approaches, Optimal Estimation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo, as part of the well-validated NEMESIS atmospheric retrieval code, to infer a range of temperature profiles and molecular abundances of H2O, CO2, CH4 and CO from available dayside thermal emission observations of several hot-Jupiter candidates. In order to keep the number of parameters low and henceforth retrieve more plausible profile shapes, we have used a parametrized form of the temperature profile based upon an analytic radiative equilibrium derivation in Guillot et al. 2010 (Line et al. 2012, 2014). We show retrieval results on published spectroscopic and photometric data from both the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer missions, and compare them with simulations from the upcoming JWST mission. In addition, since NEMESIS utilizes correlated distribution of absorption coefficients (k-distribution) amongst atmospheric layers to compute these models, updates to spectroscopic databases can impact retrievals quite significantly for such high-temperature atmospheres. As high-temperature line databases are continually being improved, we also compare retrievals between old and newer databases.

  14. Retrieval options study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-03-01

    This Retrieval Options Study is part of the systems analysis activities of the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation to develop the scientific and technological bases for radioactive waste repositories in various geologic media. The study considers two waste forms, high level waste and spent fuel, and defines various classes of waste retrieval and recovery. A methodology and data base are developed which allow the relative evaluation of retrieval and recovery costs and the following technical criteria: safety; technical feasibility; ease of retrieval; probable intact retrieval time; safeguards; monitoring; criticality; and licensability. A total of 505 repository options are defined and the cost and technical criteria evaluated utilizing a combination of facts and engineering judgments. The repositories evaluated are selected combinations of the following parameters: Geologic Media (salt, granite, basalt, shale); Retrieval Time after Emplacement (5 and 25 years); Emplacement Design (nominal hole, large hole, carbon steel canister, corrosion resistant canister, backfill in hole, nominal sleeves, thick wall sleeves); Emplacement Configuration (single vertical, multiple vertical, single horizontal, multiple horizontal, vaults; Thermal Considerations; (normal design, reduced density, once-through ventilation, recirculated ventilation); Room Backfill; (none, run-of-mine, early, 5 year delay, 25 year delay, decommissioned); and Rate of Retrieval;

  15. Evaluation and use of TOVS retrievals at NMC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, N. A.

    1980-01-01

    In a current analysis procedure at the National Meteorological Center (NMC), a first guess analysis (from the latest 6 or 12 hour forecast) is updated by new data. In the newest analysis procedures, which are based on optimum interpolation, the observational correction depends on the size of preassigned, expected observational errors versus the size of expected errors in the first guess forecast. In the case of Northern Hemisphere ocean temperatures, the latter are around 2 degrees. The infrared satellite retrievals have a similar size "error". If (as assumed) their errors are uncorrelated with the first guess error, they will improve the analysis. The larger errors of the microwave retrievals, however, mean that they will be given little weight in the analysis. An evaluation of the TIROS-N retrievals is currently underway at NMC to determine the impact of satellite derived data within operational analysis schemes, to isolate possible problems within current retrieval methods, and to offer possible solutions for these problems.

  16. Retrievability, ethics and democracy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, M.; Westerlind, M.

    2000-01-01

    Ethics is always a social concern, an integrated part of laws and regulations. Treatment of ethics as a separate part in the decision making process is therefore always debatable. It cannot be introduced as an extraneous component to compensate for, or to improve, a morally flawed practice, and the margin for unethical practices is strongly circumscribed by regulation in the nuclear field, internationally. However, a discussion on different stakeholders and their different ethical concerns should always be welcome. One example is the implementer's views on ethics. Even if they are in complete parity with existing legal and regulatory goals, the goals may still represent the implementer's own motives and choices. Also, stakeholders may view the laws or regulations as unfair. In making the critique, the stakeholder simply formulates a separate political standpoint. Finally, an alternative discussion is to place existing regulations into an ethical perspective - adding a new dimension to the issues. Retrievability for high level waste repositories is often in focus in ethical discussions. Unfortunately, it is used in many ways and has become an unclear term. It may cover anything from planned recuperation to the property of waste being retrievable in years or tens of years, or in the distant time range of hundreds or thousands of years. The term retrievability is often proposed to cover mainly positive qualities such as the option of later changes to the repository or a new disposal concept. However, as ICRP and others have pointed out, it also implies the possibility of: i) operational exposures, ii) continuing risks of accidental releases, iii) financial provisions to cover operating costs and iv) continuing reliance on institutional control, thus imposing some burdens to future generations. In a certain sense, anything can be retrieved from any repository. There is therefore a need for a clear and operable definition of retrievability requirements, including the

  17. Improving performance of content-based image retrieval schemes in searching for similar breast mass regions: an assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xiaohui; Park, Sang Cheol; Zheng Bin

    2009-01-01

    This study aims to assess three methods commonly used in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) schemes and investigate the approaches to improve scheme performance. A reference database involving 3000 regions of interest (ROIs) was established. Among them, 400 ROIs were randomly selected to form a testing dataset. Three methods, namely mutual information, Pearson's correlation and a multi-feature-based k-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm, were applied to search for the 15 'the most similar' reference ROIs to each testing ROI. The clinical relevance and visual similarity of searching results were evaluated using the areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (A Z ) and average mean square difference (MSD) of the mass boundary spiculation level ratings between testing and selected ROIs, respectively. The results showed that the A Z values were 0.893 ± 0.009, 0.606 ± 0.021 and 0.699 ± 0.026 for the use of KNN, mutual information and Pearson's correlation, respectively. The A Z values increased to 0.724 ± 0.017 and 0.787 ± 0.016 for mutual information and Pearson's correlation when using ROIs with the size adaptively adjusted based on actual mass size. The corresponding MSD values were 2.107 ± 0.718, 2.301 ± 0.733 and 2.298 ± 0.743. The study demonstrates that due to the diversity of medical images, CBIR schemes using multiple image features and mass size-based ROIs can achieve significantly improved performance.

  18. GOCI Yonsei aerosol retrieval version 2 aerosol products: improved algorithm description and error analysis with uncertainty estimation from 5-year validation over East Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, M.; Kim, J.; Lee, J.; KIM, M.; Park, Y. J.; Holben, B. N.; Eck, T. F.; Li, Z.; Song, C. H.

    2017-12-01

    The Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) Yonsei aerosol retrieval (YAER) version 1 algorithm was developed for retrieving hourly aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (AOD) and other subsidiary aerosol optical properties over East Asia. The GOCI YAER AOD showed comparable accuracy compared to ground-based and other satellite-based observations, but still had errors due to uncertainties in surface reflectance and simple cloud masking. Also, it was not capable of near-real-time (NRT) processing because it required a monthly database of each year encompassing the day of retrieval for the determination of surface reflectance. This study describes the improvement of GOCI YAER algorithm to the version 2 (V2) for NRT processing with improved accuracy from the modification of cloud masking, surface reflectance determination using multi-year Rayleigh corrected reflectance and wind speed database, and inversion channels per surface conditions. Therefore, the improved GOCI AOD ( ) is similar with those of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) AOD compared to V1 of the YAER algorithm. The shows reduced median bias and increased ratio within range (i.e. absolute expected error range of MODIS AOD) compared to V1 in the validation results using Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AOD ( ) from 2011 to 2016. The validation using the Sun-Sky Radiometer Observation Network (SONET) over China also shows similar results. The bias of error ( is within -0.1 and 0.1 range as a function of AERONET AOD and AE, scattering angle, NDVI, cloud fraction and homogeneity of retrieved AOD, observation time, month, and year. Also, the diagnostic and prognostic expected error (DEE and PEE, respectively) of are estimated. The estimated multiple PEE of GOCI V2 AOD is well matched with actual error over East Asia, and the GOCI V2 AOD over Korea shows higher ratio within PEE compared to over China and Japan. Hourly AOD products based on the

  19. Application of discriminative models for interactive query refinement in video retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srivastava, Amit; Khanwalkar, Saurabh; Kumar, Anoop

    2013-12-01

    The ability to quickly search for large volumes of videos for specific actions or events can provide a dramatic new capability to intelligence agencies. Example-based queries from video are a form of content-based information retrieval (CBIR) where the objective is to retrieve clips from a video corpus, or stream, using a representative query sample to find more like this. Often, the accuracy of video retrieval is largely limited by the gap between the available video descriptors and the underlying query concept, and such exemplar queries return many irrelevant results with relevant ones. In this paper, we present an Interactive Query Refinement (IQR) system which acts as a powerful tool to leverage human feedback and allow intelligence analyst to iteratively refine search queries for improved precision in the retrieved results. In our approach to IQR, we leverage discriminative models that operate on high dimensional features derived from low-level video descriptors in an iterative framework. Our IQR model solicits relevance feedback on examples selected from the region of uncertainty and updates the discriminating boundary to produce a relevance ranked results list. We achieved 358% relative improvement in Mean Average Precision (MAP) over initial retrieval list at a rank cutoff of 100 over 4 iterations. We compare our discriminative IQR model approach to a naïve IQR and show our model-based approach yields 49% relative improvement over the no model naïve system.

  20. A study on knowledge and attitude toward brain death and organ retrieval among health care professionals in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, K O; Kim, B N; Kim, H S; Byeon, N-I; Hong, J J; Bae, S H; Son, S Y

    2012-05-01

    The practice of retrieving vital organs from brain-dead donors is legally and medically accepted in Korea, but health care professionals' beliefs and opinions regarding these matters have not been sufficiently explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals to the concepts of brain death and organ retrieval. Data were collected using a 41-item questionnaire during a week in June 2011. Sixty-one doctors and 109 nurses from five hospitals with more than 2000 beds in Seoul, Korea, participated in the survey. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, Illinois, USA). There were statistically significant differences in the scores on knowledge according to marital status (P = .001) education level (P = .019), whether the participants were informed about organ donation from a brain-dead donor (P = .002), and the participant's experience managing potential brain-dead patients (P = .037). There were statistically significant differences in the scores on the attitude according to gender (P based organ procurement organization (P = .001). Significantly, attitude's positively correlated with knowledge about brain-dead organ donation (P < .001). Compared with previous studies, the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals' regarding brain death and organ retrieval were not improved. There are passive attitudes to brain death and organ retrieval. More research must be performed to promote knowledge and understanding toward brain death and organ retrieval among health care professionals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Size matters!: how thumbnail number, size, and motion influence mobile video retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hürst, W.; Snoek, C.G.M.; Spoel, W.J.; Tomin, M.

    2011-01-01

    Various interfaces for video browsing and retrieval have been proposed that provide improved usability, better retrieval performance, and richer user experience compared to simple result lists that are just sorted by relevance. These browsing interfaces take advantage of the rather large screen

  2. Less we forget: retrieval cues and release from retrieval-induced forgetting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonker, Tanya R; Seli, Paul; Macleod, Colin M

    2012-11-01

    Retrieving some items from memory can impair the subsequent recall of other related but not retrieved items, a phenomenon called retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The dominant explanation of RIF-the inhibition account-asserts that forgetting occurs because related items are suppressed during retrieval practice to reduce retrieval competition. This item inhibition persists, making it more difficult to recall the related items on a later test. In our set of experiments, each category was designed such that each exemplar belonged to one of two subcategories (e.g., each BIRD exemplar was either a bird of prey or a pet bird), but this subcategory information was not made explicit during study or retrieval practice. Practicing retrieval of items from only one subcategory led to RIF for items from the other subcategory when cued only with the overall category label (BIRD) at test. However, adapting the technique of Gardiner, Craik, and Birtwistle (Journal of Learning and Verbal Behavior 11:778-783, 1972), providing subcategory cues during the final test eliminated RIF. The results challenge the inhibition account's fundamental assumption of cue independence but are consistent with a cue-based interference account.

  3. Development and Validation of Improved Techniques for Cloud Property Retrieval from Environmental Satellites

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Gustafson, Gary

    2000-01-01

    ...) develop extensible cloud property retrieval algorithms suitable for expanding existing cloud analysis capabilities to utilize data from new and future environmental satellite sensing systems; (2...

  4. Relating the new language models of information retrieval to the traditional retrieval models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hiemstra, Djoerd; de Vries, A.P.

    During the last two years, exciting new approaches to information retrieval were introduced by a number of different research groups that use statistical language models for retrieval. This paper relates the retrieval algorithms suggested by these approaches to widely accepted retrieval algorithms

  5. Single-footprint retrievals of temperature, water vapor and cloud properties from AIRS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irion, Fredrick W.; Kahn, Brian H.; Schreier, Mathias M.; Fetzer, Eric J.; Fishbein, Evan; Fu, Dejian; Kalmus, Peter; Wilson, R. Chris; Wong, Sun; Yue, Qing

    2018-02-01

    Single-footprint Atmospheric Infrared Sounder spectra are used in an optimal estimation-based algorithm (AIRS-OE) for simultaneous retrieval of atmospheric temperature, water vapor, surface temperature, cloud-top temperature, effective cloud optical depth and effective cloud particle radius. In a departure from currently operational AIRS retrievals (AIRS V6), cloud scattering and absorption are in the radiative transfer forward model and AIRS single-footprint thermal infrared data are used directly rather than cloud-cleared spectra (which are calculated using nine adjacent AIRS infrared footprints). Coincident MODIS cloud data are used for cloud a priori data. Using single-footprint spectra improves the horizontal resolution of the AIRS retrieval from ˜ 45 to ˜ 13.5 km at nadir, but as microwave data are not used, the retrieval is not made at altitudes below thick clouds. An outline of the AIRS-OE retrieval procedure and information content analysis is presented. Initial comparisons of AIRS-OE to AIRS V6 results show increased horizontal detail in the water vapor and relative humidity fields in the free troposphere above the clouds. Initial comparisons of temperature, water vapor and relative humidity profiles with coincident radiosondes show good agreement. Future improvements to the retrieval algorithm, and to the forward model in particular, are discussed.

  6. Retrievability as proposed in the US repository concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrington, P.G.

    2000-01-01

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Act states that any repository shall be designed and constructed to permit retrieval. Reasons for retrieval include public health and safety, environmental concerns, and recovery of economically valuable contents of spent nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires that waste must be retrievable at any time up to 50 years after start of emplacement. The US Department of Energy intends to maintain a retrieval capability throughout the preclosure period. Possible preclosure periods range from a minimum of 50 years to as much as 300 years. Repository closure includes sealing all accessible portions of the repository, including ventilation shafts, access ramps and boreholes. Drip shields will be installed over the waste packages. Access to the repository after closure is not intended. The proposed repository includes horizontal emplacement drifts located in the unsaturated zone. The emplacement drift centerline spacing is 81 meters to provide a subboiling region between drifts for water drainage. A drip shield covers the waste packages. All emplacement drifts remain open until closure of the repository, providing performance benefits such as removing heat and moisture during the preclosure period and lowering postclosure temperatures. This does not impede retrieval, permitting a reversal of the emplacement process to accomplish retrieval under normal conditions. The preclosure period is therefore not to enhance retrievability, but does improve performance, and the resultant extension of the retrievability capability is a secondary effect. Information must be provided from the performance confirmation program to support a regulatory decision to close. Closure would isolate the repository from the accessible environment, preclude preferential flowpaths for water into the mountain, and minimize the possibility of inadvertent intrusion. (author)

  7. Episodic Memory Retrieval Benefits from a Less Modular Brain Network Organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Most complex cognitive tasks require the coordinated interplay of multiple brain networks, but the act of retrieving an episodic memory may place especially heavy demands for communication between the frontoparietal control network (FPCN) and the default mode network (DMN), two networks that do not strongly interact with one another in many task contexts. We applied graph theoretical analysis to task-related fMRI functional connectivity data from 20 human participants and found that global brain modularity—a measure of network segregation—is markedly reduced during episodic memory retrieval relative to closely matched analogical reasoning and visuospatial perception tasks. Individual differences in modularity were correlated with memory task performance, such that lower modularity levels were associated with a lower false alarm rate. Moreover, the FPCN and DMN showed significantly elevated coupling with each other during the memory task, which correlated with the global reduction in brain modularity. Both networks also strengthened their functional connectivity with the hippocampus during the memory task. Together, these results provide a novel demonstration that reduced modularity is conducive to effective episodic retrieval, which requires close collaboration between goal-directed control processes supported by the FPCN and internally oriented self-referential processing supported by the DMN. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Modularity, an index of the degree to which nodes of a complex system are organized into discrete communities, has emerged as an important construct in the characterization of brain connectivity dynamics. We provide novel evidence that the modularity of the human brain is reduced when individuals engage in episodic memory retrieval, relative to other cognitive tasks, and that this state of lower modularity is associated with improved memory performance. We propose a neural systems mechanism for this finding where the nodes of the frontoparietal

  8. Episodic Memory Retrieval Benefits from a Less Modular Brain Network Organization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westphal, Andrew J; Wang, Siliang; Rissman, Jesse

    2017-03-29

    Most complex cognitive tasks require the coordinated interplay of multiple brain networks, but the act of retrieving an episodic memory may place especially heavy demands for communication between the frontoparietal control network (FPCN) and the default mode network (DMN), two networks that do not strongly interact with one another in many task contexts. We applied graph theoretical analysis to task-related fMRI functional connectivity data from 20 human participants and found that global brain modularity-a measure of network segregation-is markedly reduced during episodic memory retrieval relative to closely matched analogical reasoning and visuospatial perception tasks. Individual differences in modularity were correlated with memory task performance, such that lower modularity levels were associated with a lower false alarm rate. Moreover, the FPCN and DMN showed significantly elevated coupling with each other during the memory task, which correlated with the global reduction in brain modularity. Both networks also strengthened their functional connectivity with the hippocampus during the memory task. Together, these results provide a novel demonstration that reduced modularity is conducive to effective episodic retrieval, which requires close collaboration between goal-directed control processes supported by the FPCN and internally oriented self-referential processing supported by the DMN. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Modularity, an index of the degree to which nodes of a complex system are organized into discrete communities, has emerged as an important construct in the characterization of brain connectivity dynamics. We provide novel evidence that the modularity of the human brain is reduced when individuals engage in episodic memory retrieval, relative to other cognitive tasks, and that this state of lower modularity is associated with improved memory performance. We propose a neural systems mechanism for this finding where the nodes of the frontoparietal control

  9. Retrieval options study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1980-03-01

    This Retrieval Options Study is part of the systems analysis activities of the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation to develop the scientific and technological bases for radioactive waste repositories in various geologic media. The study considers two waste forms, high level waste and spent fuel, and defines various classes of waste retrieval and recovery. A methodology and data base are developed which allow the relative evaluation of retrieval and recovery costs and the following technical criteria: safety; technical feasibility; ease of retrieval; probable intact retrieval time; safeguards; monitoring; criticality; and licensability. A total of 505 repository options are defined and the cost and technical criteria evaluated utilizing a combination of facts and engineering judgments. The repositories evaluated are selected combinations of the following parameters: Geologic Media (salt, granite, basalt, shale); Retrieval Time after Emplacement (5 and 25 years); Emplacement Design (nominal hole, large hole, carbon steel canister, corrosion resistant canister, backfill in hole, nominal sleeves, thick wall sleeves); Emplacement Configuration (single vertical, multiple vertical, single horizontal, multiple horizontal, vaults; Thermal Considerations; (normal design, reduced density, once-through ventilation, recirculated ventilation); Room Backfill; (none, run-of-mine, early, 5 year delay, 25 year delay, decommissioned); and Rate of Retrieval; (same as emplacement, variably slower depending on repository/canister condition).

  10. The Effects of Different Doses of Curcuma longa Aqueous Extract on Memory Retention and Retrieval in Male Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Curcumin belongs to ginger family, which is used as food and drug from ancient times. Different studies have shown beneficial effects of curcumin on peptic ulcer, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and various types of cancer. In this study, the effect of different doses of Curcuma longa aqueous extract on memory retention and retrieval of mice, was investigated using passive avoidance apparatus. Methods: Mice were divided into 6 groups of 8 each for memory retention test and 6 groups of 8 each for memory retrieval test {experimental groups receiving the extract intraperitoneally at doses of 100, 200, 400, 800mg/kg, blank group, and control group}. In memory retention test, the curcumin extract was administered immediately after electric shock, while in the memory retrieval test, it was administered 24 h after receiving electric shock. To compare the complete stepping in the experiment days, One-way ANOVA and post-test LSD were used. The level of significance was considered p<0.05. Results: In this study, curcuma longa aqueous extract significantly increased memory retention and retrieval on the 4th day compared to blank and control groups. The best response for memory retention was obtained at the dose of 100mg/kg and for memory retrieval at the dose of 200mg/kg. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it seems that Curcuma longa aqueous extract improves memory retention and retrieval in healthy mice.  

  11. Effects of Opportunities for Word Retrieval during Second Language Vocabulary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barcroft, Joe

    2007-01-01

    Research suggests that memory for an item improves when one is allowed to retrieve the item (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). This study explored benefits of providing opportunities for target-word retrieval during second language vocabulary learning. English speakers studied new Spanish words while viewing 24 word-picture pairs. They first viewed all 24…

  12. Performance of the Line-By-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM for temperature, water vapor, and trace gas retrievals: recent updates evaluated with IASI case studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. J. Alvarado

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Modern data assimilation algorithms depend on accurate infrared spectroscopy in order to make use of the information related to temperature, water vapor (H2O, and other trace gases provided by satellite observations. Reducing the uncertainties in our knowledge of spectroscopic line parameters and continuum absorption is thus important to improve the application of satellite data to weather forecasting. Here we present the results of a rigorous validation of spectroscopic updates to an advanced radiative transfer model, the Line-By-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM, against a global dataset of 120 near-nadir, over-ocean, nighttime spectra from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI. We compare calculations from the latest version of LBLRTM (v12.1 to those from a previous version (v9.4+ to determine the impact of spectroscopic updates to the model on spectral residuals as well as retrieved temperature and H2O profiles. We show that the spectroscopy in the CO2 ν2 and ν3 bands is significantly improved in LBLRTM v12.1 relative to v9.4+, and that these spectroscopic updates lead to mean changes of ~0.5 K in the retrieved vertical temperature profiles between the surface and 10 hPa, with the sign of the change and the variability among cases depending on altitude. We also find that temperature retrievals using each of these two CO2 bands are remarkably consistent in LBLRTM v12.1, potentially allowing these bands to be used to retrieve atmospheric temperature simultaneously. The updated H2O spectroscopy in LBLRTM v12.1 substantially improves the a posteriori residuals in the P-branch of the H2O ν2 band, while the improvements in the R-branch are more modest. The H2O amounts retrieved with LBLRTM v12.1 are on average 14% lower between 100 and 200 hPa, 42% higher near 562 hPa, and 31% higher near the surface compared to the amounts retrieved with v9.4+ due to a combination of the different retrieved temperature profiles and the

  13. Gunther Tulip Retrievable Inferior Vena Caval Filters: Indications, Efficacy, Retrieval, and Complications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Looby, S.; Given, M.F.; Geoghegan, T.; McErlean, A.; Lee, M.J.

    2007-01-01

    Purpose. We evaluated the Gunther Tulip (GT) retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filter with regard to indications, filtration efficacy, complications, retrieval window, and use of anticoagulation. Method. A retrospective study was performed of 147 patients (64 men, 83 women; mean age 58.8 years) who underwent retrievable GT filter insertion between 2001 and 2005. The indications for placement included a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis with a contraindication to anticoagulation (n = 68), pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis while on anticoagulation (n = 49), prophylactic filter placement for high-risk surgical patients with a past history of pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis (n = 20), and a high risk of pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis (n = 10). Forty-nine of the 147 patients did not receive anticoagulation (33.7%) while 96 of 147 patients did, 82 of these receiving warfarin (56.5%), 11 receiving low-molecular weight heparins (7.58%), and 3 receiving antiplatelet agents alone (2.06%). Results. Filter placement was successful in 147 patients (100%). Two patients had two filters inserted. Of the 147 patients, filter deployment was on a permanent basis in 102 and with an intention to retrieve in 45 patients. There were 36 (80%) successful retrievals and 9 (20%) failed retrievals. The mean time to retrieval was 33.6 days. The reasons for failed retrieval included filter struts tightly adherent to the IVC wall (5/9), extreme filter tilt (2/9), and extensive filter thrombus (2/9). Complications included pneumothorax (n = 4), failure of filter expansion (n = 1), and breakthrough pulmonary embolism (n = 1). No IVC thrombotic episodes were recorded. Discussion. The Gunther Tulip retrievable filter can be used as a permanent or a retrievable filter. It is safe and efficacious. GT filters can be safely retrieved at a mean time interval of 33.6 days. The newly developed Celect filter may extend the retrieval interval

  14. An Approach to Retrieval of OCR Degraded Text

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuen-Hsien Tseng

    1998-12-01

    Full Text Available The major problem with retrieval of OCR text is the unpredictable distortion of characters due to recognition errors. Because users have no ideas of such distortion, the terms they query can hardly match the terms stored in the OCR text exactly. Thus retrieval effectiveness is significantly reduced , especially for low-quality input. To reduce the losses from retrieving such noisy OCR text, a fault-tolerant retrieval strategy based on automatic keyword extraction and fuzzy matching is proposed. In this strategy, terms, correct or not, and their term frequencies are extracted from the noisy text and presented for browsing and selection in response to users' initial queries , With theunderstanding of the real terms stored in the noisy text and of their estimated frequency distributions, users may then choose appropriate terms for a more effective searching, A text retrieval system based on this strategy has been built. Examples to show the effectiveness are demonstrated. Finally, some OCR issues for further enhancingretrieval effectiveness are discussed.

  15. Eye movement during retrieval of emotional autobiographical memories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Haj, Mohamad; Nandrino, Jean-Louis; Antoine, Pascal; Boucart, Muriel; Lenoble, Quentin

    2017-03-01

    This study assessed whether specific eye movement patterns are observed during emotional autobiographical retrieval. Participants were asked to retrieve positive, negative and neutral memories while their scan path was recorded by an eye-tracker. Results showed that positive and negative emotional memories triggered more fixations and saccades but shorter fixation duration than neutral memories. No significant differences were observed between emotional and neutral memories for duration and amplitude of saccades. Positive and negative retrieval triggered similar eye movement (i.e., similar number of fixations and saccades, fixation duration, duration of saccades, and amplitude of saccades). Interestingly, the participants reported higher visual imagery for emotional memories than for neutral memories. The findings demonstrate similarities and differences in eye movement during retrieval of neutral and emotional memories. Eye movement during autobiographical retrieval seems to be triggered by the creation of visual mental images as the latter are indexed by autobiographical reconstruction. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Dietary Mannoheptulose Does Not Significantly Alter Daily Energy Expenditure in Adult Labrador Retrievers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leslie L McKnight

    Full Text Available Mannoheptulose (MH, a sugar found in avocados that inhibits glycolysis in vitro, has been preliminarily investigated as a novel food ingredient for dogs. This study aimed to determine the effects of dietary MH, delivered as an extract of un-ripened avocado, on energy expenditure (EE in healthy adult Labrador Retriever dogs (total of 12 dogs, 26.99 ± 0.634 kg, 4.9 ± 0.2 y. The study was a double-blind, cross-over with each dog receiving both dietary treatments, control (CON and MH (400 mg/kg of diet; 6 mg/kg BW, in random order. Resting and post-prandial (10 h EE and respiratory quotient (RQ were determined by indirect calorimetry (d 42. The following day, body composition was assessed using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Continuous activity monitoring was conducted using an Atical® accelerometer (d 43-47. A vastus lateralis muscle biopsy was obtained prior to the morning meal (d 49 and 4 h after consumption of their meal (d 56 to determine the protein content and phosphorylation of 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK. Diet did not affect body weight, resting EE or skeletal muscle AMPK phosphorylation. Dogs fed MH had significantly lower post-prandial RQ (p = 0.02 and ratio of fat to lean body mass (p = 0.02. Physical activity during light time periods (but not dark was lower in dogs fed MH (p < 0.05 during weekends, but not on weekdays. These results suggest that MH affects energy balance of adult dogs, but that these effects are not dose dependent and not due to physical activity.

  17. Application of a regularized model inversion system (REGFLEC) to multi-temporal RapidEye imagery for retrieving vegetation characteristics

    KAUST Repository

    Houborg, Rasmus

    2015-10-14

    Accurate retrieval of canopy biophysical and leaf biochemical constituents from space observations is critical to diagnosing the functioning and condition of vegetation canopies across spatio-temporal scales. Retrieved vegetation characteristics may serve as important inputs to precision farming applications and as constraints in spatially and temporally distributed model simulations of water and carbon exchange processes. However significant challenges remain in the translation of composite remote sensing signals into useful biochemical, physiological or structural quantities and treatment of confounding factors in spectrum-trait relations. Bands in the red-edge spectrum have particular potential for improving the robustness of retrieved vegetation properties. The development of observationally based vegetation retrieval capacities, effectively constrained by the enhanced information content afforded by bands in the red-edge, is a needed investment towards optimizing the benefit of current and future satellite sensor systems. In this study, a REGularized canopy reFLECtance model (REGFLEC) for joint leaf chlorophyll (Chll) and leaf area index (LAI) retrieval is extended to sensor systems with a band in the red-edge region for the first time. Application to time-series of 5 m resolution multi-spectral RapidEye data is demonstrated over an irrigated agricultural region in central Saudi Arabia, showcasing the value of satellite-derived crop information at this fine scale for precision management. Validation against in-situ measurements in fields of alfalfa, Rhodes grass, carrot and maize indicate improved accuracy of retrieved vegetation properties when exploiting red-edge information in the model inversion process. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

  18. Comparison of the effectiveness of alternative feature sets in shape retrieval of multicomponent images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eakins, John P.; Edwards, Jonathan D.; Riley, K. Jonathan; Rosin, Paul L.

    2001-01-01

    Many different kinds of features have been used as the basis for shape retrieval from image databases. This paper investigates the relative effectiveness of several types of global shape feature, both singly and in combination. The features compared include well-established descriptors such as Fourier coefficients and moment invariants, as well as recently-proposed measures of triangularity and ellipticity. Experiments were conducted within the framework of the ARTISAN shape retrieval system, and retrieval effectiveness assessed on a database of over 10,000 images, using 24 queries and associated ground truth supplied by the UK Patent Office . Our experiments revealed only minor differences in retrieval effectiveness between different measures, suggesting that a wide variety of shape feature combinations can provide adequate discriminating power for effective shape retrieval in multi-component image collections such as trademark registries. Marked differences between measures were observed for some individual queries, suggesting that there could be considerable scope for improving retrieval effectiveness by providing users with an improved framework for searching multi-dimensional feature space.

  19. Extension of frequency-based dissimilarity for retrieving similar plasma waveforms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hochin, Teruhisa; Koyama, Katsumasa; Nakanishi, Hideya; Kojima, Mamoru

    2008-01-01

    Some computer-aided assistance in finding the waveforms similar to a waveform has become indispensable for accelerating data analysis in the plasma experiments. For the slowly-varying waveforms and those having time-sectional oscillation patterns, the methods using the Fourier series coefficients of waveforms in calculating the dissimilarity have successfully improved the performance in retrieving similar waveforms. This paper treats severely-varying waveforms, and proposes two extensions to the dissimilarity of waveforms. The first extension is to capture the difference of the importance of the Fourier series coefficients of waveforms against frequency. The second extension is to consider the outlines of waveforms. The correctness of the extended dissimilarity is experimentally evaluated by using the metrics used in evaluating that of the information retrieval, i.e. precision and recall. The experimental results show that the extended dissimilarity could improve the correctness of the similarity retrieval of plasma waveforms

  20. RETRIEVAL EVENTS EVALUATION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, T.

    1999-01-01

    The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate impacts to the retrieval concept presented in the Design Analysis ''Retrieval Equipment and Strategy'' (Reference 6), from abnormal events based on Design Basis Events (DBE) and Beyond Design Basis Events (BDBE) as defined in two recent analyses: (1) DBE/Scenario Analysis for Preclosure Repository Subsurface Facilities (Reference 4); and (2) Preliminary Preclosure Design Basis Event Calculations for the Monitored Geologic Repository (Reference 5) The objective of this task is to determine what impacts the DBEs and BDBEs have on the equipment developed for retrieval. The analysis lists potential impacts and recommends changes to be analyzed in subsequent design analyses for developed equipment, or recommend where additional equipment may be needed, to allow retrieval to be performed in all DBE or BDBE situations. This analysis supports License Application design and therefore complies with the requirements of Systems Description Document input criteria comparison as presented in Section 7, Conclusions. In addition, the analysis discusses the impacts associated with not using concrete inverts in the emplacement drifts. The ''Retrieval Equipment and Strategy'' analysis was based on a concrete invert configuration in the emplacement drift. The scope of the analysis, as presented in ''Development Plan for Retrieval Events Evaluation'' (Reference 3) includes evaluation and criteria of the following: Impacts to retrieval from the emplacement drift based on DBE/BDBEs, and changes to the invert configuration for the preclosure period. Impacts to retrieval from the main drifts based on DBE/BDBEs for the preclosure period

  1. Application of Tikhonov regularization method to wind retrieval from scatterometer data II: cyclone wind retrieval with consideration of rain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Jian; Huang Si-Xun; Fei Jian-Fang; Du Hua-Dong; Zhang Liang

    2011-01-01

    According to the conclusion of the simulation experiments in paper I, the Tikhonov regularization method is applied to cyclone wind retrieval with a rain-effect-considering geophysical model function (called GMF+Rain). The GMF+Rain model which is based on the NASA scatterometer-2 (NSCAT2) GMF is presented to compensate for the effects of rain on cyclone wind retrieval. With the multiple solution scheme (MSS), the noise of wind retrieval is effectively suppressed, but the influence of the background increases. It will cause a large wind direction error in ambiguity removal when the background error is large. However, this can be mitigated by the new ambiguity removal method of Tikhonov regularization as proved in the simulation experiments. A case study on an extratropical cyclone of hurricane observed with SeaWinds at 25-km resolution shows that the retrieved wind speed for areas with rain is in better agreement with that derived from the best track analysis for the GMF+Rain model, but the wind direction obtained with the two-dimensional variational (2DVAR) ambiguity removal is incorrect. The new method of Tikhonov regularization effectively improves the performance of wind direction ambiguity removal through choosing appropriate regularization parameters and the retrieved wind speed is almost the same as that obtained from the 2DVAR. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

  2. Data Mining for Efficient and Accurate Large Scale Retrieval of Geophysical Parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obradovic, Z.; Vucetic, S.; Peng, K.; Han, B.

    2004-12-01

    Our effort is devoted to developing data mining technology for improving efficiency and accuracy of the geophysical parameter retrievals by learning a mapping from observation attributes to the corresponding parameters within the framework of classification and regression. We will describe a method for efficient learning of neural network-based classification and regression models from high-volume data streams. The proposed procedure automatically learns a series of neural networks of different complexities on smaller data stream chunks and then properly combines them into an ensemble predictor through averaging. Based on the idea of progressive sampling the proposed approach starts with a very simple network trained on a very small chunk and then gradually increases the model complexity and the chunk size until the learning performance no longer improves. Our empirical study on aerosol retrievals from data obtained with the MISR instrument mounted at Terra satellite suggests that the proposed method is successful in learning complex concepts from large data streams with near-optimal computational effort. We will also report on a method that complements deterministic retrievals by constructing accurate predictive algorithms and applying them on appropriately selected subsets of observed data. The method is based on developing more accurate predictors aimed to catch global and local properties synthesized in a region. The procedure starts by learning the global properties of data sampled over the entire space, and continues by constructing specialized models on selected localized regions. The global and local models are integrated through an automated procedure that determines the optimal trade-off between the two components with the objective of minimizing the overall mean square errors over a specific region. Our experimental results on MISR data showed that the combined model can increase the retrieval accuracy significantly. The preliminary results on various

  3. Six sigma for revenue retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plonien, Cynthia

    2013-01-01

    Deficiencies in revenue retrieval due to failures in obtaining charges have contributed to a negative bottom line for numerous hospitals. Improving documentation practices through a Six Sigma process improvement initiative can minimize opportunities for errors through reviews and instill structure for compliance and consistency. Commitment to the Six Sigma principles with continuous monitoring of outcomes and constant communication of results to departments, management, and payers is a strong approach to reducing the financial impact of denials on an organization's revenues and expenses. Using Six Sigma tools can help improve the organization's financial performance not only for today, but also for health care's uncertain future.

  4. Private information retrieval

    CERN Document Server

    Yi, Xun; Bertino, Elisa

    2013-01-01

    This book deals with Private Information Retrieval (PIR), a technique allowing a user to retrieve an element from a server in possession of a database without revealing to the server which element is retrieved. PIR has been widely applied to protect the privacy of the user in querying a service provider on the Internet. For example, by PIR, one can query a location-based service provider about the nearest car park without revealing his location to the server.The first PIR approach was introduced by Chor, Goldreich, Kushilevitz and Sudan in 1995 in a multi-server setting, where the user retriev

  5. GOCI Yonsei aerosol retrieval version 2 products: an improved algorithm and error analysis with uncertainty estimation from 5-year validation over East Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Myungje; Kim, Jhoon; Lee, Jaehwa; Kim, Mijin; Park, Young-Je; Holben, Brent; Eck, Thomas F.; Li, Zhengqiang; Song, Chul H.

    2018-01-01

    The Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) Yonsei aerosol retrieval (YAER) version 1 algorithm was developed to retrieve hourly aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (AOD) and other subsidiary aerosol optical properties over East Asia. The GOCI YAER AOD had accuracy comparable to ground-based and other satellite-based observations but still had errors because of uncertainties in surface reflectance and simple cloud masking. In addition, near-real-time (NRT) processing was not possible because a monthly database for each year encompassing the day of retrieval was required for the determination of surface reflectance. This study describes the improved GOCI YAER algorithm version 2 (V2) for NRT processing with improved accuracy based on updates to the cloud-masking and surface-reflectance calculations using a multi-year Rayleigh-corrected reflectance and wind speed database, and inversion channels for surface conditions. The improved GOCI AOD τG is closer to that of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) AOD than was the case for AOD from the YAER V1 algorithm. The V2 τG has a lower median bias and higher ratio within the MODIS expected error range (0.60 for land and 0.71 for ocean) compared with V1 (0.49 for land and 0.62 for ocean) in a validation test against Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AOD τA from 2011 to 2016. A validation using the Sun-Sky Radiometer Observation Network (SONET) over China shows similar results. The bias of error (τG - τA) is within -0.1 and 0.1, and it is a function of AERONET AOD and Ångström exponent (AE), scattering angle, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), cloud fraction and homogeneity of retrieved AOD, and observation time, month, and year. In addition, the diagnostic and prognostic expected error (PEE) of τG are estimated. The estimated PEE of GOCI V2 AOD is well correlated with the actual error over East Asia, and the GOCI V2 AOD over South

  6. A Process Model for Goal-Based Information Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harvey Hyman

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we examine the domain of information search and propose a "goal-based" approach to study search strategy. We describe "goal-based information search" using a framework of Knowledge Discovery. We identify two Information Retrieval (IR goals using the constructs of Knowledge Acquisition (KA and Knowledge Explanation (KE. We classify these constructs into two specific information problems: An exploration-exploitation problem and an implicit-explicit problem. Our proposed framework is an extension of prior work in this domain, applying an IR Process Model originally developed for Legal-IR and adapted to Medical-IR. The approach in this paper is guided by the recent ACM-SIG Medical Information Retrieval (MedIR Workshop definition: "methodologies and technologies that seek to improve access to medical information archives via a process of information retrieval."

  7. Semantic concept-enriched dependence model for medical information retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Sungbin; Choi, Jinwook; Yoo, Sooyoung; Kim, Heechun; Lee, Youngho

    2014-02-01

    In medical information retrieval research, semantic resources have been mostly used by expanding the original query terms or estimating the concept importance weight. However, implicit term-dependency information contained in semantic concept terms has been overlooked or at least underused in most previous studies. In this study, we incorporate a semantic concept-based term-dependence feature into a formal retrieval model to improve its ranking performance. Standardized medical concept terms used by medical professionals were assumed to have implicit dependency within the same concept. We hypothesized that, by elaborately revising the ranking algorithms to favor documents that preserve those implicit dependencies, the ranking performance could be improved. The implicit dependence features are harvested from the original query using MetaMap. These semantic concept-based dependence features were incorporated into a semantic concept-enriched dependence model (SCDM). We designed four different variants of the model, with each variant having distinct characteristics in the feature formulation method. We performed leave-one-out cross validations on both a clinical document corpus (TREC Medical records track) and a medical literature corpus (OHSUMED), which are representative test collections in medical information retrieval research. Our semantic concept-enriched dependence model consistently outperformed other state-of-the-art retrieval methods. Analysis shows that the performance gain has occurred independently of the concept's explicit importance in the query. By capturing implicit knowledge with regard to the query term relationships and incorporating them into a ranking model, we could build a more robust and effective retrieval model, independent of the concept importance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Old/New Effect of Digital Memory Retrieval in Chinese Dyscalculia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Enguo; Du, Chenguang; Ma, Yujun

    This study reports the neurophysiological and behavioral correlates of digital memory retrieval features in Chinese individuals with and without dyscalculia. A total of 18 children with dyscalculia (ages 11.5-13.5) and 18 controls were tested, and their event-related potentials were digitally recorded simultaneously with behavior measurement. Behavioral data showed that the dyscalculia group had lower hit rates and higher false rates than the control group. The electroencephalography results showed that both groups had a significant old/new effect and that this effect was greater in the control group. In the 300 to 400 ms processing stages, both groups showed significant differences in digital memory retrieval in the frontal regions. In the 400 to 500 and 500 to 600 ms epochs, the old/new effect in the control group was significantly greater than it was in the dyscalculia group at the frontal, central, and parietal regions. In the 600 to 700 ms processing stages, both groups showed significant differences in digital memory retrieval in the frontal, central, parietal, and occipital regions. These results suggest that individuals with dyscalculia exhibit impaired digital memory retrieval. Extraction failure may be an important cause of calculation difficulties.

  9. SEOM's Sentinel-3/OLCI' project CAWA: advanced GRASP aerosol retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubovik, Oleg; litvinov, Pavel; Huang, Xin; Aspetsberger, Michael; Fuertes, David; Brockmann, Carsten; Fischer, Jürgen; Bojkov, Bojan

    2016-04-01

    The CAWA "Advanced Clouds, Aerosols and WAter vapour products for Sentinel-3/OLCI" ESA-SEOM project aims on the development of advanced atmospheric retrieval algorithms for the Sentinel-3/OLCI mission, and is prepared using Envisat/MERIS and Aqua/MODIS datasets. This presentation discusses mainly CAWA aerosol product developments and results. CAWA aerosol retrieval uses recently developed GRASP algorithm (Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties) algorithm described by Dubovik et al. (2014). GRASP derives extended set of atmospheric parameters using multi-pixel concept - a simultaneous fitting of a large group of pixels under additional a priori constraints limiting the time variability of surface properties and spatial variability of aerosol properties. Over land GRASP simultaneously retrieves properties of both aerosol and underlying surface even over bright surfaces. GRAPS doesn't use traditional look-up-tables and performs retrieval as search in continuous space of solution. All radiative transfer calculations are performed as part of the retrieval. The results of comprehensive sensitivity tests, as well as results obtained from real Envisat/MERIS data will be presented. The tests analyze various aspects of aerosol and surface reflectance retrieval accuracy. In addition, the possibilities of retrieval improvement by means of implementing synergetic inversion of a combination of OLCI data with observations by SLSTR are explored. Both the results of numerical tests, as well as the results of processing several years of Envisat/MERIS data illustrate demonstrate reliable retrieval of AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) and surface BRDF. Observed retrieval issues and advancements will be discussed. For example, for some situations we illustrate possibilities of retrieving aerosol absorption - property that hardly accessible from satellite observations with no multi-angular and polarimetric capabilities.

  10. Neural activations associated with feedback and retrieval success

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiklund-Hörnqvist, Carola; Andersson, Micael; Jonsson, Bert; Nyberg, Lars

    2017-11-01

    There is substantial behavioral evidence for a phenomenon commonly called "the testing effect", i.e. superior memory performance after repeated testing compared to re-study of to-be-learned materials. However, considerably less is known about the underlying neuro-cognitive processes that are involved in the initial testing phase, and thus underlies the actual testing effect. Here, we investigated functional brain activity related to test-enhanced learning with feedback. Subjects learned foreign vocabulary across three consecutive tests with correct-answer feedback. Functional brain-activity responses were analyzed in relation to retrieval and feedback events, respectively. Results revealed up-regulated activity in fronto-striatal regions during the first successful retrieval, followed by a marked reduction in activity as a function of improved learning. Whereas feedback improved behavioral performance across consecutive tests, feedback had a negligable role after the first successful retrieval for functional brain-activity modulations. It is suggested that the beneficial effects of test-enhanced learning is regulated by feedback-induced updating of memory representations, mediated via the striatum, that might underlie the stabilization of memory commonly seen in behavioral studies of the testing effect.

  11. Statistical Language Models and Information Retrieval: Natural Language Processing Really Meets Retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hiemstra, Djoerd; de Jong, Franciska M.G.

    2001-01-01

    Traditionally, natural language processing techniques for information retrieval have always been studied outside the framework of formal models of information retrieval. In this article, we introduce a new formal model of information retrieval based on the application of statistical language models.

  12. Automated Medical Literature Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Hawking

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Background The constantly growing publication rate of medical research articles puts increasing pressure on medical specialists who need to be aware of the recent developments in their field. The currently used literature retrieval systems allow researchers to find specific papers; however the search task is still repetitive and time-consuming. Aims In this paper we describe a system that retrieves medical publications by automatically generating queries based on data from an electronic patient record. This allows the doctor to focus on medical issues and provide an improved service to the patient, with higher confidence that it is underpinned by current research. Method Our research prototype automatically generates query terms based on the patient record and adds weight factors for each term. Currently the patient’s age is taken into account with a fuzzy logic derived weight, and terms describing blood-related anomalies are derived from recent blood test results. Conditionally selected homonyms are used for query expansion. The query retrieves matching records from a local index of PubMed publications and displays results in descending relevance for the given patient. Recent publications are clearly highlighted for instant recognition by the researcher. Results Nine medical specialists from the Royal Adelaide Hospital evaluated the system and submitted pre-trial and post-trial questionnaires. Throughout the study we received positive feedback as doctors felt the support provided by the prototype was useful, and which they would like to use in their daily routine. Conclusion By supporting the time-consuming task of query formulation and iterative modification as well as by presenting the search results in order of relevance for the specific patient, literature retrieval becomes part of the daily workflow of busy professionals.

  13. Analysis of the impact of retrievable spent fuel storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merrill, E.T.; White, M.K.; Fleischman, R.M.

    1978-03-01

    The impact of retrievably storing spent fuel is measurable in terms of the contribution the stored spent fuel makes to implementing the fuel management option selected. For the case of a decision to recycle LWR fuel in LWRs, a useful indicator of impact is the ratio of energy production with varying degrees of spent fuel retrievability to that achievable with total spent fuel retrievability. For a decision made in the year 2000, this ratio varies from 0.81 (10 yr storage in reactor basins) to 0.97 (retrievable storage for 25 years after fuel discharge). An earlier decision to recycle in LWRs results in both of these ratios being nearer to 1.0. If a decision is reached to implement a breeder reactor economy, the chosen comparison is the installed breeder capacity achievable with varying degrees of spent fuel retrievability. If a decision to build breeder reactors is reached in the year 2000, the maximum possible installed breeder capacity in 2040 varies from 490 GWe (10 yr storage in reactor basins) to 660 GWe (all fuel retrievably stored). If all fuel is retrievably stored 25 years, 635 GWe of breeder capacity is achievable by 2040. For an earlier decision date, such as 1985, the maximum possible installed breeder capacity in 2040 ranges from 740 GWe (no retrievable storage) to 800 GWe (all fuel retrievably stored). As long as a decision to reprocess is reached before 2000, most of the potential benefit of retrievable storage may be realized by implementing retrievable storage after such a decision is made. Neither providing retrievable spent fuel storage prior to a decision to reprocess, nor designing such storage for more than 25 years of retrievability appear to offer significant incremental benefit

  14. Biomedical image representation approach using visualness and spatial information in a concept feature space for interactive region-of-interest-based retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Md Mahmudur; Antani, Sameer K; Demner-Fushman, Dina; Thoma, George R

    2015-10-01

    This article presents an approach to biomedical image retrieval by mapping image regions to local concepts where images are represented in a weighted entropy-based concept feature space. The term "concept" refers to perceptually distinguishable visual patches that are identified locally in image regions and can be mapped to a glossary of imaging terms. Further, the visual significance (e.g., visualness) of concepts is measured as the Shannon entropy of pixel values in image patches and is used to refine the feature vector. Moreover, the system can assist the user in interactively selecting a region-of-interest (ROI) and searching for similar image ROIs. Further, a spatial verification step is used as a postprocessing step to improve retrieval results based on location information. The hypothesis that such approaches would improve biomedical image retrieval is validated through experiments on two different data sets, which are collected from open access biomedical literature.

  15. Operational Retrievals of Evapotranspiration: Are we there yet?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neale, C. M. U.; Anderson, M. C.; Hain, C.; Schull, M.; Isidro, C., Sr.; Goncalves, I. Z.

    2017-12-01

    Remote sensing based retrievals of evapotranspiration (ET) have progressed significantly over the last two decades with the improvement of methods and algorithms and the availability of multiple satellite sensors with shortwave and thermal infrared bands on polar orbiting platforms. The modeling approaches include simpler vegetation index (VI) based methods such as the reflectance-based crop coefficient approach coupled with surface reference evapotranspiration estimates to derive actual evapotranspiration of crops or, direct inputs to the Penman-Monteith equation through VI relationships with certain input variables. Methods that are more complex include one-layer or two-layer energy balance approaches that make use of both shortwave and longwave spectral band information to estimate different inputs to the energy balance equation. These models mostly differ in the estimation of sensible heat fluxes. For continental and global scale applications, other satellite-based products such as solar radiation, vegetation leaf area and cover are used as inputs, along with gridded re-analysis weather information. This presentation will review the state-of-the-art in satellite-based evapotranspiration estimation, giving examples of existing efforts to obtain operational ET retrievals over continental and global scales and discussing difficulties and challenges.

  16. Remote sensing of tropospheric total column water vapor: Intercomparison of POLDER, AMSR-E and MODIS retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riedi, J.; Mcharek, L.; Dubuisson, P.; Parol, F.; Thieuleux, F.

    2013-05-01

    Since December 2004, the CNES Parasol (Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Science coupled with Observations from a Lidar) mission has been flying in the A-train with Aqua (NASA) providing more than 5 years of temporally and spatially coincident observations from POLDER, MODIS and AMSRE which enable total column water vapor amount retrievals. We are providing here a temporal and statistical analysis of water vapor near-infrared retrievals from POLDER against MODIS and AMSR-E products derived from nearinfrared, thermal infrared and microwave observations over ocean. A temporal analysis of POLDER official product is conducted in view of AMSR-E and MODIS coincident retrievals over ocean. In a second step, an alternative approach based on the use of simple multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network (NN) is developed to improve the mathematical parameterization used to retrieve water vapor amount from near-infrared observation. The retrievals are further improved when an estimate of the 910 nm surface reflectance is obtained through interpolation between PARASOL 865 nm and 1020 nm channels. This last improvement now allows for a unified land/ocean retrieval algorithm for PARASOL/POLDER.

  17. Exposure to retrieval cues improves retention performance and induces changes in ACTH and corticosterone release.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gisquet-Verrier, Pascale; Botreau, Fanny; Venero, Cesar; Sandi, Carmen

    2004-05-01

    Memory retrieval can be facilitated by pretest exposure to cues associated with the original training. The present series of experiments was aimed at investigating whether the effectiveness of the retrieval cues might be due to their emotional value and thus be associated to a particular pattern of activation of stress systems. Therefore, the effects of exposing rats to different cueing conditions were investigated both on retention performance and on the level of different stress hormones (ACTH, corticosterone and glucose; the latter as an indirect index of adrenergic/sympathetic nervous system activation). Rats trained in a brightness avoidance discrimination task exhibited an enhancement of the retention performance following exposure to the light discriminative stimulus when delivered 1-day after training and not after 21 days, while exposure to contextual cues led to opposite effects on the retention performance, confirming our previous results. Analyses of the level of stress hormones at the time of testing indicated that when the retrieval cues were effective at the behavioral level, cued rats exhibited higher ACTH plasmatic levels than controls, but did not differ in their glucose or corticosterone levels. Further experiments showed that one day after training, both ACTH and corticosterone levels were elevated in light-cued rats if hormone samples were taken 15 min after cueing. These results show that exposure to an effective retrieval cue is accompanied by the activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. The possible involvement of the Corticotropin Releasing Factor at the level of the hypothalamus and amygdala (particularly the central nucleus) on the facilitating effect on retention performance following exposure to aversive training-associated cues is discussed. The present results strengthen the notion that emotion can interact with retrieval processes.

  18. Monetary rewards influence retrieval orientations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halsband, Teresa M; Ferdinand, Nicola K; Bridger, Emma K; Mecklinger, Axel

    2012-09-01

    Reward anticipation during learning is known to support memory formation, but its role in retrieval processes is so far unclear. Retrieval orientations, as a reflection of controlled retrieval processing, are one aspect of retrieval that might be modulated by reward. These processes can be measured using the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by retrieval cues from tasks with different retrieval requirements, such as via changes in the class of targeted memory information. To determine whether retrieval orientations of this kind are modulated by reward during learning, we investigated the effects of high and low reward expectancy on the ERP correlates of retrieval orientation in two separate experiments. The reward manipulation at study in Experiment 1 was associated with later memory performance, whereas in Experiment 2, reward was directly linked to accuracy in the study task. In both studies, the participants encoded mixed lists of pictures and words preceded by high- or low-reward cues. After 24 h, they performed a recognition memory exclusion task, with words as the test items. In addition to a previously reported material-specific effect of retrieval orientation, a frontally distributed, reward-associated retrieval orientation effect was found in both experiments. These findings suggest that reward motivation during learning leads to the adoption of a reward-associated retrieval orientation to support the retrieval of highly motivational information. Thus, ERP retrieval orientation effects not only reflect retrieval processes related to the sought-for materials, but also relate to the reward conditions with which items were combined during encoding.

  19. SNF fuel retrieval sub project safety analysis document

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    BERGMANN, D.W.

    1999-01-01

    This safety analysis is for the SNF Fuel Retrieval (FRS) Sub Project. The FRS equipment will be added to K West and K East Basins to facilitate retrieval, cleaning and repackaging the spent nuclear fuel into Multi-Canister Overpack baskets. The document includes a hazard evaluation, identifies bounding accidents, documents analyses of the accidents and establishes safety class or safety significant equipment to mitigate accidents as needed

  20. SNF fuel retrieval sub project safety analysis document

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    BERGMANN, D.W.

    1999-02-24

    This safety analysis is for the SNF Fuel Retrieval (FRS) Sub Project. The FRS equipment will be added to K West and K East Basins to facilitate retrieval, cleaning and repackaging the spent nuclear fuel into Multi-Canister Overpack baskets. The document includes a hazard evaluation, identifies bounding accidents, documents analyses of the accidents and establishes safety class or safety significant equipment to mitigate accidents as needed.

  1. The Influence of Retrieval Practice on Memory and Comprehension of Science Texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinze, Scott R.

    2010-01-01

    The testing effect, where retrieval practice aids performance on later tests, may be a powerful tool for improving learning and retention. Three experiments test the potentials and limitations of retrieval practice for retention and comprehension of the content of science texts. Experiment 1 demonstrated that cued recall of paragraphs, but not…

  2. An information retrieval system using weighted descriptors generated by automatic frequency counting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Komatsubara, Yasutoshi

    1979-01-01

    An information retrieval system with improved relevance is described, in which a weighted descriptor file, generated by feedback of requester's relevance judgement on pretest results, is used. This method does not need modification of search formulas, and works better by only setting weight thresholds, and can alleviate searcher duties, as examples show. Index word weighting and retrieval word weighting are compared and some problems to be encountered when retrieval word weighting is combined to operational systems are pointed out. (author)

  3. Vasectomy reversal versus IVF with sperm retrieval: which is better?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shridharani, Anand; Sandlow, Jay I

    2010-11-01

    This paper will describe why this review is timely and relevant. Over the past two decades, treatment options for couples with reconstructible obstructive azoospermia have improved tremendously. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), specifically sperm retrieval techniques for intracytoplasmic sperm injection coupled with in-vitro fertilization, as well as refinements in microsurgical reconstruction have led to improved outcomes and cost-effectiveness. Providing the most up-to-date care based on the most recent data allows for better patient outcomes and satisfaction. Microsurgical reconstruction of the vas has remained a cost-effective, reliable and effective means of restoring fertility in the majority of men who have previously undergone vasectomy when the reconstruction is performed by an experienced microsurgeon. However, there are specific instances in which sperm retrieval/IVF/ICSI may be a more appropriate treatment modality as ART techniques continue to improve. Data comparing surgical reconstruction versus sperm retrieval/ICSI/IVF are neither randomized nor homogenous. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the factors that can affect outcomes, overall cost, and the morbidity associated with each treatment modality, respective of the institution providing the treatment, is strongly recommended.

  4. A boosting framework for visuality-preserving distance metric learning and its application to medical image retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Liu; Jin, Rong; Mummert, Lily; Sukthankar, Rahul; Goode, Adam; Zheng, Bin; Hoi, Steven C H; Satyanarayanan, Mahadev

    2010-01-01

    Similarity measurement is a critical component in content-based image retrieval systems, and learning a good distance metric can significantly improve retrieval performance. However, despite extensive study, there are several major shortcomings with the existing approaches for distance metric learning that can significantly affect their application to medical image retrieval. In particular, "similarity" can mean very different things in image retrieval: resemblance in visual appearance (e.g., two images that look like one another) or similarity in semantic annotation (e.g., two images of tumors that look quite different yet are both malignant). Current approaches for distance metric learning typically address only one goal without consideration of the other. This is problematic for medical image retrieval where the goal is to assist doctors in decision making. In these applications, given a query image, the goal is to retrieve similar images from a reference library whose semantic annotations could provide the medical professional with greater insight into the possible interpretations of the query image. If the system were to retrieve images that did not look like the query, then users would be less likely to trust the system; on the other hand, retrieving images that appear superficially similar to the query but are semantically unrelated is undesirable because that could lead users toward an incorrect diagnosis. Hence, learning a distance metric that preserves both visual resemblance and semantic similarity is important. We emphasize that, although our study is focused on medical image retrieval, the problem addressed in this work is critical to many image retrieval systems. We present a boosting framework for distance metric learning that aims to preserve both visual and semantic similarities. The boosting framework first learns a binary representation using side information, in the form of labeled pairs, and then computes the distance as a weighted Hamming

  5. A Novel Optimization-Based Approach for Content-Based Image Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manyu Xiao

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Content-based image retrieval is nowadays one of the possible and promising solutions to manage image databases effectively. However, with the large number of images, there still exists a great discrepancy between the users’ expectations (accuracy and efficiency and the real performance in image retrieval. In this work, new optimization strategies are proposed on vocabulary tree building, retrieval, and matching methods. More precisely, a new clustering strategy combining classification and conventional K-Means method is firstly redefined. Then a new matching technique is built to eliminate the error caused by large-scaled scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT. Additionally, a new unit mechanism is proposed to reduce the cost of indexing time. Finally, the numerical results show that excellent performances are obtained in both accuracy and efficiency based on the proposed improvements for image retrieval.

  6. Dorsal hippocampal NMDA receptors mediate the interactive effects of arachidonylcyclopropylamide and MDMA/ecstasy on memory retrieval in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghaderi, Marzieh; Rezayof, Ameneh; Vousooghi, Nasim; Zarrindast, Mohammad-Reza

    2016-04-03

    A combination of cannabis and ecstasy may change the cognitive functions more than either drug alone. The present study was designed to investigate the possible involvement of dorsal hippocampal NMDA receptors in the interactive effects of arachidonylcyclopropylamide (ACPA) and ecstasy/MDMA on memory retrieval. Adult male Wistar rats were cannulated into the CA1 regions of the dorsal hippocampus (intra-CA1) and memory retrieval was examined using the step-through type of passive avoidance task. Intra-CA1 microinjection of a selective CB1 receptor agonist, ACPA (0.5-4ng/rat) immediately before the testing phase (pre-test), but not after the training phase (post-training), impaired memory retrieval. In addition, pre-test intra-CA1 microinjection of MDMA (0.5-1μg/rat) dose-dependently decreased step-through latency, indicating an amnesic effect of the drug by itself. Interestingly, pre-test microinjection of a higher dose of MDMA into the CA1 regions significantly improved ACPA-induced memory impairment. Moreover, pre-test intra-CA1 microinjection of a selective NMDA receptor antagonist, D-AP5 (1 and 2μg/rat) inhibited the reversal effect of MDMA on the impairment of memory retrieval induced by ACPA. Pre-test intra-CA1 microinjection of the same doses of D-AP5 had no effect on memory retrieval alone. These findings suggest that ACPA or MDMA consumption can induce memory retrieval impairment, while their co-administration improves this amnesic effect through interacting with hippocampal glutamatergic-NMDA receptor mechanism. Thus, it seems that the tendency to abuse cannabis with ecstasy may be for avoiding cognitive dysfunction. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  7. Can We Retrieve the Information Which Was Intentionally Forgotten? Electrophysiological Correlates of Strategic Retrieval in Directed Forgetting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinrui Mao

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Retrieval inhibition hypothesis of directed forgetting effects assumed TBF (to-be-forgotten items were not retrieved intentionally, while selective rehearsal hypothesis assumed the memory representation of retrieved TBF (to-be-forgotten items was weaker than TBR (to-be-remembered items. Previous studies indicated that directed forgetting effects of item-cueing method resulted from selective rehearsal at encoding, but the mechanism of retrieval inhibition that affected directed forgetting of TBF (to-be-forgotten items was not clear. Strategic retrieval is a control process allowing the selective retrieval of target information, which includes retrieval orientation and strategic recollection. Retrieval orientation via the comparison of tasks refers to the specific form of processing resulted by retrieval efforts. Strategic recollection is the type of strategies to recollect studied items for the retrieval success of targets. Using a “directed forgetting” paradigm combined with a memory exclusion task, our investigation of strategic retrieval in directed forgetting assisted to explore how retrieval inhibition played a role on directed forgetting effects. When TBF items were targeted, retrieval orientation showed more positive ERPs to new items, indicating that TBF items demanded more retrieval efforts. The results of strategic recollection indicated that: (a when TBR items were retrieval targets, late parietal old/new effects were only evoked by TBR items but not TBF items, indicating the retrieval inhibition of TBF items; (b when TBF items were retrieval targets, the late parietal old/new effect were evoked by both TBR items and TBF items, indicating that strategic retrieval could overcome retrieval inhibition of TBF items. These findings suggested the modulation of strategic retrieval on retrieval inhibition of directed forgetting, supporting that directed forgetting effects were not only caused by selective rehearsal, but also retrieval

  8. Light scattering and absorption properties of dust particles retrieved from satellite measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, R.-M.; Sokhi, R.S.

    2009-01-01

    We use the radiative transfer model and chemistry transport model to improve our retrievals of dust optical properties from satellite measurements. The optical depth and absorbing optical depth of mineral dust can be obtained from our improved retrieval algorithm. We find the nonsphericity and absorption of dust particles strongly affect the scattering signatures such as phase function and polarization at the ultraviolet wavelengths. From our retrieval results, we find the high levels of dust concentration occurred over most desert regions such as Saharan and Gobi deserts. The dust absorption is found to be sensitive to mineral chemical composition, particularly the fraction of strongly absorbing dust particles. The enhancement of polarization at the scattering angles exceeding 120 0 is found for the nonspherical dust particles. If the polarization is neglected in the radiative transfer calculation, a maximum 50 percent error is introduced for the case of forward scattering and 25 percent error for the case of backscattering. We suggest that the application of polarimeter at the ultraviolet wavelengths has the great potential to improve the satellite retrievals of dust properties. Using refined optical model and radiative transfer model to calculate the solar radiative forcing of dust aerosols can reduce the uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcing assessment.

  9. Amphetamine increases errors during episodic memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballard, Michael Edward; Gallo, David A; de Wit, Harriet

    2014-02-01

    Moderate doses of stimulant drugs are known to enhance memory encoding and consolidation, but their effects on memory retrieval have not been explored in depth. In laboratory animals, stimulants seem to improve retrieval of emotional memories, but comparable studies have not been carried out in humans. In the present study, we examined the effects of dextroamphetamine (AMP) on retrieval of emotional and unemotional stimuli in healthy young adults, using doses that enhanced memory formation when administered before encoding in our previous study. During 3 sessions, healthy volunteers (n = 31) received 2 doses of AMP (10 and 20 mg) and placebo in counterbalanced order under double-blind conditions. During each session, they first viewed emotional and unemotional pictures and words in a drug-free state, and then 2 days later their memory was tested, 1 hour after AMP or placebo administration. Dextroamphetamine did not affect the number of emotional or unemotional stimuli remembered, but both doses increased recall intrusions and false recognition. Dextroamphetamine (20 mg) also increased the number of positively rated picture descriptions and words generated during free recall. These data provide the first evidence that therapeutic range doses of stimulant drugs can increase memory retrieval errors. The ability of AMP to positively bias recollection of prior events could contribute to its potential for abuse.

  10. Transuranic (TRU) Waste Phase I Retrieval Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MCDONALD, K.M.

    1999-01-01

    From 1970 to 1987, TRU and suspect TRU wastes at Hanford were placed in the SWBG. At the time of placement in the SWBG these wastes were not regulated under existing Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations, since they were generated and disposed of prior to the effective date of RCRA at the Hanford Site (1987). From the standpoint of DOE Order 5820.2A', the TRU wastes are considered retrievably stored, and current plans are to retrieve these wastes for shipment to WIPP for disposal. This plan provides a strategy for the Phase I retrieval that meets the intent of TPA milestone M-91 and Project W-113, and incorporates the lessons learned during TRU retrieval campaigns at Hanford, LANL, and SRS. As in the original Project W-I13 plans, the current plan calls for examination of approximately 10,000 suspect-TRU drums located in the 218-W-4C burial ground followed by the retrieval of those drums verified to contain TRU waste. Unlike the older plan, however, this plan proposes an open-air retrieval scenario similar to those used for TRU drum retrieval at LANL and SRS. Phase I retrieval consists of the activities associated with the assessment of approximately 10,000 55-gallon drums of suspect TRU-waste in burial ground 218-W-4C and the retrieval of those drums verified to contain TRU waste. Four of the trenches in 218-W-4C (Trenches 1,4,20, and 29) are prime candidates for Phase I retrieval because they contain large numbers of suspect TRU drums, stacked from 2 to 5 drums high, on an asphalt pad. In fact, three of the trenches (Trenches 1,20, and 29) contain waste that has not been covered with soil, and about 1500 drums can be retrieved without excavation. The other three trenches in 218-W-4C (Trenches 7, 19, and 24) are not candidates for Phase I retrieval because they contain significant numbers of boxes. Drums will be retrieved from the four candidate trenches, checked for structural integrity, overpacked, if necessary, and assayed at the burial

  11. Transuranic (TRU) Waste Phase I Retrieval Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MCDONALD, K.M.

    2000-01-01

    From 1970 to 1987, TRU and suspect TRU wastes at Hanford were placed in the SWBG. At the time of placement in the SWBG these wastes were not regulated under existing Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations, since they were generated and disposed of prior to the effective date of RCRA at the Hanford Site (1987). From the standpoint of DOE Order 5820.2A1, the TRU wastes are considered retrievably stored, and current plans are to retrieve these wastes for shipment to WIPP for disposal. This plan provides a strategy for the Phase I retrieval that meets the intent of TPA milestone M-91 and Project W-113, and incorporates the lessons learned during TRU retrieval campaigns at Hanford, LANL, and SRS. As in the original Project W-113 plans, the current plan calls for examination of approximately 10,000 suspect-TRU drums located in the 218-W-4C burial ground followed by the retrieval of those drums verified to contain TRU waste. Unlike the older plan, however, this plan proposes an open-air retrieval scenario similar to those used for TRU drum retrieval at LANL and SRS. Phase I retrieval consists of the activities associated with the assessment of approximately 10,000 55-gallon drums of suspect TRU-waste in burial ground 218-W-4C and the retrieval of those drums verified to contain TRU waste. Four of the trenches in 218-W-4C (Trenches 1, 4, 20, and 29) are prime candidates for Phase I retrieval because they contain large numbers of suspect TRU drums, stacked from 2 to 5 drums high, on an asphalt pad. In fact, three of the trenches (Trenches 1 , 20, and 29) contain waste that has not been covered with soil, and about 1500 drums can be retrieved without excavation. The other three trenches in 218-W-4C (Trenches 7, 19, and 24) are not candidates for Phase I retrieval because they contain significant numbers of boxes. Drums will be retrieved from the four candidate trenches, checked for structural integrity, overpacked, if necessary, and assayed at the burial

  12. MRS [monitored retrievable storage] to transportation system interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Row, T.H.; Croff, A.G.

    1987-01-01

    In March 1987, the US Department of Energy presented to Congress the proposal to construct and operate a facility for the monitored retrievable storage (MRS) of spent fuel at a site on the Clinch River in the Roane County portions of Oak Ridge. In discussing the MRS to Transportation System Interfaces, the authors provide a blending of the technical and institutional issues, for they do not believe the solutions to success of this enterprise lie wholly in one area. The authors cover: early chronology of the MRS; comparison of total-system life cycle cost estimates of the authorized system and improved-performance system (i.e., the system that includes a facility for MRS); transportation costs resulting from shipping, security and cask; assumptions for dedicated rail transport from MRS to repository; and significant results from the Total System Life Cycle Cost (TSLCC) analysis of the improved performance system. (AT)

  13. Retrievals of Surface Air Temperature Using Multiple Satellite Data Combinations over Complex Terrain in the Korean Peninsula

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, K.; Won, M.; Yoon, S.; Lim, J.

    2016-12-01

    Surface air temperature (Tair) is a fundamental factor for terrestrial environments and plays a major role in the fields of applied meteorology, climatology, and ecology. The satellite remotely sensed data offers the opportunity to estimate Tair on the earth's surface with high spatial and temporal resolutions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides effective Tair retrievals although restricted to clear sky condition. MODIS Tair over complex terrain can result in significant retrieval errors due to the retrieval height mismatch to the elevation of local weather stations. In this study, we propose the methodology to estimate Tair over complex terrain for all sky conditions using multiple satellite data fusion based on the pixel-wise regression method. The combination of synergistic information from MODIS Tair and the brightness temperature (Tb) retrievals at 37 GHz frequency from the satellite microwave sensor were used for analysis. The air temperature lapse rate was applied to estimate the near-surface Tair considering the complex terrain such as mountainous regions. The retrieval results produced from this study showed a good agreement (RMSE Administration (KMA). The gaps in the MODIS Tair data due to cloud contamination were successfully filled using the proposed method which yielded similar accuracy as retrievals of clear sky. The results of this study indicate that the satellite data fusion can continuously produce Tair retrievals with reasonable accuracy and that the application of the temperature lapse rate can lead to improvement of the reliability over complex terrains such as the Korean Peninsula.

  14. Connectionist Interaction Information Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dominich, Sandor

    2003-01-01

    Discussion of connectionist views for adaptive clustering in information retrieval focuses on a connectionist clustering technique and activation spreading-based information retrieval model using the interaction information retrieval method. Presents theoretical as well as simulation results as regards computational complexity and includes…

  15. An improvement of the retrieval of temperature and relative humidity profiles from a combination of active and passive remote sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Che, Yunfei; Ma, Shuqing; Xing, Fenghua; Li, Siteng; Dai, Yaru

    2018-03-01

    This paper focuses on an improvement of the retrieval of atmospheric temperature and relative humidity profiles through combining active and passive remote sensing. Ground-based microwave radiometer and millimeter-wavelength cloud radar were used to acquire the observations. Cloud base height and cloud thickness determinations from cloud radar were added into the atmospheric profile retrieval process, and a back-propagation neural network method was used as the retrieval tool. Because a substantial amount of data are required to train a neural network, and as microwave radiometer data are insufficient for this purpose, 8 years of radiosonde data from Beijing were used as the database. The monochromatic radiative transfer model was used to calculate the brightness temperatures in the same channels as the microwave radiometer. Parts of the cloud base heights and cloud thicknesses in the training data set were also estimated using the radiosonde data. The accuracy of the results was analyzed through a comparison with L-band sounding radar data and quantified using the mean bias, root-mean-square error (RMSE), and correlation coefficient. The statistical results showed that an inversion with cloud information was the optimal method. Compared with the inversion profiles without cloud information, the RMSE values after adding cloud information reduced to varying degrees for the vast majority of height layers. These reductions were particularly clear in layers with clouds. The maximum reduction in the RMSE for the temperature profile was 2.2 K, while that for the humidity profile was 16%.

  16. Noncompetitive retrieval practice causes retrieval-induced forgetting in cued recall but not in recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grundgeiger, Tobias

    2014-04-01

    Retrieving a subset of learned items can lead to the forgetting of related items. Such retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) can be explained by the inhibition of irrelevant items in order to overcome retrieval competition when the target item is retrieved. According to the retrieval inhibition account, such retrieval competition is a necessary condition for RIF. However, research has indicated that noncompetitive retrieval practice can also cause RIF by strengthening cue-item associations. According to the strength-dependent competition account, the strengthened items interfere with the retrieval of weaker items, resulting in impaired recall of weaker items in the final memory test. The aim of this study was to replicate RIF caused by noncompetitive retrieval practice and to determine whether this forgetting is also observed in recognition tests. In the context of RIF, it has been assumed that recognition tests circumvent interference and, therefore, should not be sensitive to forgetting due to strength-dependent competition. However, this has not been empirically tested, and it has been suggested that participants may reinstate learned cues as retrieval aids during the final test. In the present experiments, competitive practice or noncompetitive practice was followed by either final cued-recall tests or recognition tests. In cued-recall tests, RIF was observed in both competitive and noncompetitive conditions. However, in recognition tests, RIF was observed only in the competitive condition and was absent in the noncompetitive condition. The result underscores the contribution of strength-dependent competition to RIF. However, recognition tests seem to be a reliable way of distinguishing between RIF due to retrieval inhibition or strength-dependent competition.

  17. 1D-Var temperature retrievals from microwave radiometer and convective scale model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pauline Martinet

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper studies the potential of ground-based microwave radiometers (MWR for providing accurate temperature retrievals by combining convective scale numerical models and brightness temperatures (BTs. A one-dimensional variational (1D-Var retrieval technique has been tested to optimally combine MWR and 3-h forecasts from the French convective scale model AROME. A microwave profiler HATPRO (Humidity and Temperature PROfiler was operated during 6 months at the meteorological station of Bordeaux (Météo France. MWR BTs were monitored against simulations from the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator 2 radiative transfer model. An overall good agreement was found between observations and simulations for opaque V-band channels but large errors were observed for channels the most affected by liquid water and water vapour emissions (51.26 and 52.28 GHz. 1D-Var temperature retrievals are performed in clear-sky and cloudy conditions using a screening procedure based on cloud base height retrieval from ceilometer observations, infrared radiometer temperature and liquid water path derived from the MWR observations. The 1D-Var retrievals were found to improve the AROME forecasts up to 2 km with a maximum gain of approximately 50 % in root-mean-square-errors (RMSE below 500 m. They were also found to outperform neural network retrievals. A static bias correction was proposed to account for systematic instrumental errors. This correction was found to have a negligible impact on the 1D-Var retrievals. The use of low elevation angles improves the retrievals up to 12 % in RMSE in cloudy-sky in the first layers. The present implementation achieved a RMSE with respect to radiosondes within 1 K in clear-sky and 1.3 K in cloudy-sky conditions for temperature.

  18. Salton and Buckley’s Landmark Research in Experimental Text Information Retrieval. A Review of: Salton, G., & Buckley, C. (1990. Improving retrieval performance by relevance feedback. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 41(4, 288–297.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine F. Marton

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives – To compare the performance of the vector space model and the probabilistic weighting model of relevance feedback for the overall purpose of determining the most useful relevance feedback procedures. The amount of improvement that can be obtained from searching several test document collections with only one feedback iteration of each relevance feedback model was measured.Design – The experimental design consisted of 72 different tests: 2 different relevance feedback methods, each with 6 permutations, on 6 test document collections of various sizes. A residual collection method was utilized to ascertain the “true advantage provided by the relevance feedback process.” (Salton & Buckley, 1990, p. 293Setting – Department of Computer Science at Cornell University.Subjects – Six test document collections.Methods – Relevance feedback is an effective technique for query modification that provides significant improvement in search performance. Relevance feedback entails both “term reweighting,” the modification of term weights based on term use in retrieved relevant and non-relevant documents, and “query expansion,” which is the addition of new terms from relevant documents retrieved (Harman, 1992. Salton and Buckley (1990 evaluated two established relevance feedback models based on the vector space model (a spatial model and the probabilistic model, respectively. Harman (1992 describes the two key differences between these competing models of relevance feedback.[The vector space model merges] document vectors and original query vectors. This automatically reweights query terms by adding the weights from the actual occurrence of those query terms in the relevant documents, and subtracting the weights of those terms occurring in the non-relevant documents. Queries are automatically expanded by adding all the terms not in the original query that are in the relevant documents and non-relevant documents. They are expanded

  19. [Competition-dependence on retrieval-induced forgetting: the influence of the amount of retrieval cues].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamada, Yohei; Tsukimoto, Takashi; Hirano, Tetsuji

    2010-02-01

    Remembering some of the studied (target) items impairs subsequent remembrance of relevant (non-target) items. This phenomenon, retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), occurs when non-targets actively compete with the retrieval of a target. Researchers suggest that suppression mechanisms reduce interference from relevant items to facilitate the retrieval of target items (Anderson, 2003). Competition-dependence is one of the properties that support the suppression hypothesis (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994). In the present study, we manipulated the type of retrieval practice (normal, last-letter, or category-name) in order to vary the degree of competition between the target and the non-targets. For the high-scoring retrieval practice group, RIF occurred in the normal retrieval condition, but not in the last-letter or in the category-name conditions. For the low-scoring retrieval practice group, RIF did not occur in any of the conditions. These findings provide new evidence that the occurrence of RIF depends on the degree of competition between a target item and related non-target items during retrieval practice.

  20. Information Retrieval on social network: An Adaptive Proof

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elveny, M.; Syah, R.; Elfida, M.; Nasution, M. K. M.

    2018-01-01

    Information Retrieval has become one of the areas for studying to get the trusty information, with which the recall and precision become the measurement form that represents it. Nevertheless, development in certain scientific fields make it possible to improve the performance of the Information Retrieval. In this case, through social networks whereby the role of social actor degrees plays a role. This is an implication of the query in which co-occurrence becomes an indication of social networks. An adaptive approach we use by involving this query in sequence to a stand-alone query, it has proven the relationship among them.

  1. Improving data retrieval rates using remote data servers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Ottavio, T.; Frak, B.; Nemesure, S.; Morris, J.

    2012-01-01

    The power and scope of modern Control Systems has led to an increased amount of data being collected and stored, including data collected at high (kHz) frequencies. One consequence is that users now routinely make data requests that can cause giga-bytes of data to be read and displayed. Given that a user's patience can be measured in seconds, this can be quite a technical challenge. This paper explores one possible solution to this problem - the creation of remote data servers whose performance is optimized to handle context-sensitive data requests. Methods for increasing data delivery performance include the use of high speed network connections between the stored data and the data servers, smart caching of frequently used data, and the culling of data delivered as determined by the context of the data request. This paper describes decisions made when constructing these servers and compares data retrieval performance by clients that use or do not use an intermediate data server. (authors)

  2. Atmospheric Pre-Corrected Differential Absorption Techniques to Retrieve Columnar Water Vapor: Theory and Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borel, Christoph C.; Schlaepfer, Daniel

    1996-01-01

    Two different approaches exist to retrieve columnar water vapor from imaging spectrometer data: (1) Differential absorption techniques based on: (a) Narrow-Wide (N/W) ratio between overlapping spectrally wide and narrow channels; (b) Continuum Interpolated Band Ratio (CIBR) between a measurement channel and the weighted sum of two reference channels. (2) Non-linear fitting techniques which are based on spectral radiative transfer calculations. The advantage of the first approach is computational speed and of the second, improved retrieval accuracy. Our goal was to improve the accuracy of the first technique using physics based on radiative transfer. Using a modified version of the Duntley equation, we derived an "Atmospheric Pre-corrected Differential Absorption" (APDA) technique and described an iterative scheme to retrieve water vapor on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Next we compared both, the CIBR and the APDA using the Duntley equation for MODTRAN3 computed irradiances, transmissions and path radiance (using the DISORT option). This simulation showed that the CIBR is very sensitive to reflectance effects and that the APDA performs much better. An extensive data set was created with the radiative transfer code 6S over 379 different ground reflectance spectra. The calculated relative water vapor error was reduced significantly for the APDA. The APDA technique had about 8% (vs. over 35% for the CIBR) of the 379 spectra with a relative water vapor error of greater than +5%. The APDA has been applied to 1991 and 1995 AVIRIS scenes which visually demonstrate the improvement over the CIBR technique.

  3. Atmospheric pre-corrected differential absorption techniques to retrieve columnar water vapor: Theory and simulations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borel, C.C.; Schlaepfer, D.

    1996-03-01

    Two different approaches exist to retrieve columnar water vapor from imaging spectrometer data: (1) Differential absorption techniques based on: (a) Narrow-Wide (N/W) ratio between overlapping spectrally wide and narrow channels (b) Continuum Interpolated Band Ratio (CIBR) between a measurement channel and the weighted sum of two reference channels; and (2) Non-linear fitting techniques which are based on spectral radiative transfer calculations. The advantage of the first approach is computational speed and of the second, improved retrieval accuracy. Our goal was to improve the accuracy of the first technique using physics based on radiative transfer. Using a modified version of the Duntley equation, we derived an {open_quote}Atmospheric Pre-corrected Differential Absorption{close_quote} (APDA) technique and described an iterative scheme to retrieve water vapor on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Next we compared both, the CIBR and the APDA using the Duntley equation for MODTRAN3 computed irradiances, transmissions and path radiance (using the DISORT option). This simulation showed that the CIBR is very sensitive to reflectance effects and that the APDA performs much better. An extensive data set was created with the radiative transfer code 6S over 379 different ground reflectance spectra. The calculated relative water vapor error was reduced significantly for the APDA. The APDA technique had about 8% (vs. over 35% for the CIBR) of the 379 spectra with a relative water vapor error of greater than {+-}5%. The APDA has been applied to 1991 and 1995 AVIRIS scenes which visually demonstrate the improvement over the CIBR technique.

  4. Distributed retrieval practice promotes superior recall of anatomy information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobson, John L; Perez, Jose; Linderholm, Tracy

    2017-07-01

    Effortful retrieval produces greater long-term recall of information when compared to studying (i.e., reading), as do learning sessions that are distributed (i.e., spaced apart) when compared to those that are massed together. Although the retrieval and distributed practice effects are well-established in the cognitive science literature, no studies have examined their additive effect with regard to learning anatomy information. The aim of this study was to determine how the benefits of retrieval practice vary with massed versus distributed learning. Participants used the following strategies to learn sets of skeletal muscle anatomy: (1) studying on three different days over a seven day period (SSSS 7,2,0 ), (2) studying and retrieving on three different days over a seven day period (SRSR 7,2,0 ), (3) studying on two different days over a two day period (SSSSSS 2,0 ), (4) studying and retrieving on two separate days over a two day period (SRSRSR 2,0 ), and (5) studying and retrieving on one day (SRx6 0 ). All strategies consisted of 12 learning phases and lasted exactly 24 minutes. Muscle information retention was assessed via free recall and using repeated measures ANOVAs. A week after learning, the recall scores were 24.72 ± 3.12, 33.88 ± 3.48, 15.51 ± 2.48, 20.72 ± 2.94, and 12.86 ± 2.05 for the SSSS 7,2,0 , SRSR 7,2,0 , SSSSSS 2,0 , STSTST 2,0 , and SRx6 0 strategies, respectively. In conclusion, the distributed strategies produced significantly better recall than the massed strategies, the retrieval-based strategies produced significantly better recall than the studying strategies, and the combination of distributed and retrieval practice generated the greatest recall of anatomy information. Anat Sci Educ 10: 339-347. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

  5. MODIS Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth over Turbid Coastal Water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Wang

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available We present a new approach to retrieve Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS over the turbid coastal water. This approach supplements the operational Dark Target (DT aerosol retrieval algorithm that currently does not conduct AOD retrieval in shallow waters that have visible sediments or sea-floor (i.e., Class 2 waters. Over the global coastal water regions in cloud-free conditions, coastal screening leads to ~20% unavailability of AOD retrievals. Here, we refine the MODIS DT algorithm by considering that water-leaving radiance at 2.1 μm to be negligible regardless of water turbidity, and therefore the 2.1 μm reflectance at the top of the atmosphere is sensitive to both change of fine-mode and coarse-mode AODs. By assuming that the aerosol single scattering properties over coastal turbid water are similar to those over the adjacent open-ocean pixels, the new algorithm can derive AOD over these shallow waters. The test algorithm yields ~18% more MODIS-AERONET collocated pairs for six AERONET stations in the coastal water regions. Furthermore, comparison of the new retrieval with these AERONET observations show that the new AOD retrievals have equivalent or better accuracy than those retrieved by the MODIS operational algorithm’s over coastal land and non-turbid coastal water product. Combining the new retrievals with the existing MODIS operational retrievals yields an overall improvement of AOD over those coastal water regions. Most importantly, this refinement extends the spatial and temporal coverage of MODIS AOD retrievals over the coastal regions where 60% of human population resides. This expanded coverage is crucial for better understanding of impact of anthropogenic aerosol particles on coastal air quality and climate.

  6. Cross document ontology based information for multimedia retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reidsma, Dennis; Kuper, Jan; Declerck, T.; Saggion, H.; Cunningham, H.; Ganter, B.; de Moor, A.

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes the MUMIS project, which applies ontology based Information Extraction to improve the results of Information Retrieval in multimedia archives. It makes use of a domain specific ontology, multilingual lexicons and reasoning algorithms to automatically create a semantic annotation

  7. Automatic video shot boundary detection using k-means clustering and improved adaptive dual threshold comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sa, Qila; Wang, Zhihui

    2018-03-01

    At present, content-based video retrieval (CBVR) is the most mainstream video retrieval method, using the video features of its own to perform automatic identification and retrieval. This method involves a key technology, i.e. shot segmentation. In this paper, the method of automatic video shot boundary detection with K-means clustering and improved adaptive dual threshold comparison is proposed. First, extract the visual features of every frame and divide them into two categories using K-means clustering algorithm, namely, one with significant change and one with no significant change. Then, as to the classification results, utilize the improved adaptive dual threshold comparison method to determine the abrupt as well as gradual shot boundaries.Finally, achieve automatic video shot boundary detection system.

  8. Retrieving self-vocalized information: An event-related potential (ERP) study on the effect of retrieval orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosburg, Timm; Johansson, Mikael; Sprondel, Volker; Mecklinger, Axel

    2014-11-18

    Retrieval orientation refers to a pre-retrieval process and conceptualizes the specific form of processing that is applied to a retrieval cue. In the current event-related potential (ERP) study, we sought to find evidence for an involvement of the auditory cortex when subjects attempt to retrieve vocalized information, and hypothesized that adopting retrieval orientation would be beneficial for retrieval accuracy. During study, participants saw object words that they subsequently vocalized or visually imagined. At test, participants had to identify object names of one study condition as targets and to reject object names of the second condition together with new items. Target category switched after half of the test trials. Behaviorally, participants responded less accurately and more slowly to targets of the vocalize condition than to targets of the imagine condition. ERPs to new items varied at a single left electrode (T7) between 500 and 800ms, indicating a moderate retrieval orientation effect in the subject group as a whole. However, whereas the effect was strongly pronounced in participants with high retrieval accuracy, it was absent in participants with low retrieval accuracy. A current source density (CSD) mapping of the retrieval orientation effect indicated a source over left temporal regions. Independently from retrieval accuracy, the ERP retrieval orientation effect was surprisingly also modulated by test order. Findings are suggestive for an involvement of the auditory cortex in retrieval attempts of vocalized information and confirm that adopting retrieval orientation is potentially beneficial for retrieval accuracy. The effects of test order on retrieval-related processes might reflect a stronger focus on the newness of items in the more difficult test condition when participants started with this condition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Multiscale comparison of GPM radar and passive microwave precipitation fields over oceans and land: effective resolution and global/regional/local diagnostics for improving retrieval algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilloteau, C.; Foufoula-Georgiou, E.; Kummerow, C.; Kirstetter, P. E.

    2017-12-01

    A multiscale approach is used to compare precipitation fields retrieved from GMI using the last version of the GPROF algorithm (GPROF-2017) to the DPR fields all over the globe. Using a wavelet-based spectral analysis, which renders the multi-scale decompositions of the original fields independent of each other spatially and across scales, we quantitatively assess the various scales of variability of the retrieved fields, and thus define the spatially-variable "effective resolution" (ER) of the retrievals. Globally, a strong agreement is found between passive microwave and radar patterns at scales coarser than 80km. Over oceans the patterns match down to the 20km scale. Over land, comparison statistics are spatially heterogeneous. In most areas a strong discrepancy is observed between passive microwave and radar patterns at scales finer than 40-80km. The comparison is also supported by ground-based observations over the continental US derived from the NOAA/NSSL MRMS suite of products. While larger discrepancies over land than over oceans are classically explained by land complex surface emissivity perturbing the passive microwave retrieval, other factors are investigated here, such as intricate differences in the storm structure over oceans and land. Differences in term of statistical properties (PDF of intensities and spatial organization) of precipitation fields over land and oceans are assessed from radar data, as well as differences in the relation between the 89GHz brightness temperature and precipitation. Moreover, the multiscale approach allows quantifying the part of discrepancies caused by miss-match of the location of intense cells and instrument-related geometric effects. The objective is to diagnose shortcomings of current retrieval algorithms such that targeted improvements can be made to achieve over land the same retrieval performance as over oceans.

  10. A LDA-based approach to promoting ranking diversity for genomics information retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yan; Yin, Xiaoshi; Li, Zhoujun; Hu, Xiaohua; Huang, Jimmy Xiangji

    2012-06-11

    In the biomedical domain, there are immense data and tremendous increase of genomics and biomedical relevant publications. The wealth of information has led to an increasing amount of interest in and need for applying information retrieval techniques to access the scientific literature in genomics and related biomedical disciplines. In many cases, the desired information of a query asked by biologists is a list of a certain type of entities covering different aspects that are related to the question, such as cells, genes, diseases, proteins, mutations, etc. Hence, it is important of a biomedical IR system to be able to provide relevant and diverse answers to fulfill biologists' information needs. However traditional IR model only concerns with the relevance between retrieved documents and user query, but does not take redundancy between retrieved documents into account. This will lead to high redundancy and low diversity in the retrieval ranked lists. In this paper, we propose an approach which employs a topic generative model called Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to promoting ranking diversity for biomedical information retrieval. Different from other approaches or models which consider aspects on word level, our approach assumes that aspects should be identified by the topics of retrieved documents. We present LDA model to discover topic distribution of retrieval passages and word distribution of each topic dimension, and then re-rank retrieval results with topic distribution similarity between passages based on N-size slide window. We perform our approach on TREC 2007 Genomics collection and two distinctive IR baseline runs, which can achieve 8% improvement over the highest Aspect MAP reported in TREC 2007 Genomics track. The proposed method is the first study of adopting topic model to genomics information retrieval, and demonstrates its effectiveness in promoting ranking diversity as well as in improving relevance of ranked lists of genomics search

  11. Beyond information retrieval: information discovery and multimedia information retrieval

    OpenAIRE

    Roberto Raieli

    2017-01-01

    The paper compares the current methodologies for search and discovery of information and information resources: terminological search and term-based language, own of information retrieval (IR); semantic search and information discovery, being developed mainly through the language of linked data; semiotic search and content-based language, experienced by multimedia information retrieval (MIR).MIR semiotic methodology is, then, detailed.

  12. Self-Referential Information Alleviates Retrieval Inhibition of Directed Forgetting Effects—An ERP Evidence of Source Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinrui Mao

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Directed forgetting (DF assists in preventing outdated information from interfering with cognitive processing. Previous studies pointed that self-referential items alleviated DF effects due to the elaboration of encoding processes. However, the retrieval mechanism of this phenomenon remains unknown. Based on the dual-process framework of recognition, the retrieval of self-referential information was involved in familiarity and recollection. Using source memory tasks combined with event-related potential (ERP recording, our research investigated the retrieval processes of alleviative DF effects elicited by self-referential information. The FN400 (frontal negativity at 400 ms is a frontal potential at 300–500 ms related to familiarity and the late positive complex (LPC is a later parietal potential at 500–800 ms related to recollection. The FN400 effects of source memory suggested that familiarity processes were promoted by self-referential effects without the modulation of to-be-forgotten (TBF instruction. The ERP results of DF effects were involved with LPCs of source memory, which indexed retrieval processing of recollection. The other-referential source memory of TBF instruction caused the absence of LPC effects, while the self-referential source memory of TBF instruction still elicited the significant LPC effects. Therefore, our neural findings suggested that self-referential processing improved both familiarity and recollection. Furthermore, the self-referential processing advantage which was caused by the autobiographical retrieval alleviated retrieval inhibition of DF, supporting that the self-referential source memory alleviated DF effects.

  13. EM-31 Retrieval Knowledge Center Meeting Report: Mobilize And Dislodge Tank Waste Heels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fellinger, A.

    2010-01-01

    The Retrieval Knowledge Center sponsored a meeting in June 2009 to review challenges and gaps to retrieval of tank waste heels. The facilitated meeting was held at the Savannah River Research Campus with personnel broadly representing tank waste retrieval knowledge at Hanford, Savannah River, Idaho, and Oak Ridge. This document captures the results of this meeting. In summary, it was agreed that the challenges to retrieval of tank waste heels fell into two broad categories: (1) mechanical heel waste retrieval methodologies and equipment and (2) understanding and manipulating the heel waste (physical, radiological, and chemical characteristics) to support retrieval options and subsequent processing. Recent successes and lessons from deployments of the Sand and Salt Mantis vehicles as well as retrieval of C-Area tanks at Hanford were reviewed. Suggestions to address existing retrieval approaches that utilize a limited set of tools and techniques are included in this report. The meeting found that there had been very little effort to improve or integrate the multiple proven or new techniques and tools available into a menu of available methods for rapid insertion into baselines. It is recommended that focused developmental efforts continue in the two areas underway (low-level mixing evaluation and pumping slurries with large solid materials) and that projects to demonstrate new/improved tools be launched to outfit tank farm operators with the needed tools to complete tank heel retrievals effectively and efficiently. This document describes the results of a meeting held on June 3, 2009 at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to identify technology gaps and potential technology solutions to retrieving high-level waste (HLW) heels from waste tanks within the complex of sites run by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). The meeting brought together personnel with extensive tank waste retrieval knowledge from DOE's four major waste sites - Hanford, Savannah River

  14. Genetic myostatin decrease in the golden retriever muscular dystrophy model does not significantly affect the ubiquitin proteasome system despite enhancing the severity of disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotten, Steven W; Kornegay, Joe N; Bogan, Daniel J; Wadosky, Kristine M; Patterson, Cam; Willis, Monte S

    2013-01-01

    Recent studies suggest that inhibiting the protein myostatin, a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, may improve outcomes in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy by enhancing muscle mass. When the dystrophin-deficient golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD) dog was bred with whippets having a heterozygous mutation for the myostatin gene, affected GRMD dogs with decreased myostatin (GRippets) demonstrated an accelerated physical decline compared to related affected GRMD dogs with full myostatin. To examine the role of the ubiquitin proteasome and calpain systems in this accelerated decline, we determined the expression of the muscle ubiquitin ligases MuRF1, Atrogin-1, RNF25, RNF11, and CHIP: the proteasome subunits PSMA6, PSMB4, and PSME1: and calpain 1/2 by real time PCR in the cranial sartorius and vastus lateralis muscles in control, affected GRMD, and GRippet dogs. While individual affected GRMD and GRippet dogs contributed to an increased variability seen in ubiquitin ligase expression, neither group was significantly different from the control group. The affected GRMD dogs demonstrated significant increases in caspase-like and trypsin-like activity in the cranial sartorius; however, all three proteasome activities in the GRippet muscles did not differ from controls. Increased variability in calpain 1 and calpain 2 expression and activity in the affected GRMD and GRippet groups were identified, but no statistical differences from the control group were seen. These studies suggest a role of myostatin in the disease progression of GRMD, which does not significantly involve key components of the ubiquitin proteasome and calpain systems involved in the protein quality control of sarcomere and other structural skeletal muscle proteins.

  15. Implementation-intention encoding in a prospective memory task enhances spontaneous retrieval of intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rummel, Jan; Einstein, Gilles O; Rampey, Hilary

    2012-01-01

    Although forming implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999) has been demonstrated to generally improve prospective memory, the underlying cognitive mechanisms are not completely understood. It has been proposed that implementation-intention encoding encourages spontaneous retrieval (McDaniel & Scullin, 2010). Alternatively one could assume the positive effect of implementation-intention encoding is caused by increased or more efficient monitoring for target cues. To test these alternative explanations and to further investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying implementation-intention benefits, in two experiments participants formed the intention to respond to specific target cues in a lexical decision task with a special key, but then had to suspend this intention during an intervening word-categorisation task. Response times on trials directly following the occurrence of target cues in the intervening task were significantly slower with implementation-intention encoding than with standard encoding, indicating that spontaneous retrieval was increased (Experiment 1). However, when activation of the target cues was controlled for, similar slowing was found with both standard and implementation-intention encoding (Experiment 2). The results imply that implementation-intention encoding as well as increased target-cue activation foster spontaneous retrieval processes.

  16. Contextual Distance Refining for Image Retrieval

    KAUST Repository

    Islam, Almasri

    2014-01-01

    Recently, a number of methods have been proposed to improve image retrieval accuracy by capturing context information. These methods try to compensate for the fact that a visually less similar image might be more relevant because it depicts the same object. We propose a new quick method for refining any pairwise distance metric, it works by iteratively discovering the object in the image from the most similar images, and then refine the distance metric accordingly. Test show that our technique improves over the state of art in terms of accuracy over the MPEG7 dataset.

  17. Contextual Distance Refining for Image Retrieval

    KAUST Repository

    Islam, Almasri

    2014-09-16

    Recently, a number of methods have been proposed to improve image retrieval accuracy by capturing context information. These methods try to compensate for the fact that a visually less similar image might be more relevant because it depicts the same object. We propose a new quick method for refining any pairwise distance metric, it works by iteratively discovering the object in the image from the most similar images, and then refine the distance metric accordingly. Test show that our technique improves over the state of art in terms of accuracy over the MPEG7 dataset.

  18. Towards Augmented Human Memory: Retrieval-Induced Forgetting and Retrieval Practice in an Interactive, End-of-Day Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-01-01

    The authors report 6 experiments that examined the contention that an end-of-day review could lead to augmentation in human memory. In Experiment 1, participants in the study phase were presented with a campus tour of different to-be-remembered objects in different university locations. Each to-be-remembered object was presented with an associated specific comment. Participants were then shown the location name and photographs of half of the objects from half of the locations, and they were asked to try to name the object and recall the associated comment specific to each item. Following a filled delay, participants were presented with the name of each campus location and were asked to free recall the to-be-remembered objects. Relative to the recall from the unpracticed location categories, participants recalled the names of significantly more objects that they practiced (retrieval practice) and significantly fewer unpracticed objects from the practiced locations (retrieval-induced forgetting, RIF). These findings were replicated in Experiment 2 using a campus scavenger hunt in which participants selected their own stimuli from experimenter’s categories. Following an examination of factors that maximized the effects of RIF and retrieval practice in the laboratory (Experiment 3), the authors applied these findings to the campus scavenger hunt task to create different retrieval practice schedules to maximize and minimize recall of items based on experimenter-selected (Experiment 4) and participant-selected items using both category-cued free recall (Experiment 5) and item-specific cues (Experiment 6). Their findings support the claim that an interactive, end-of-day review could lead to augmentation in human memory. PMID:29745709

  19. A Novel Integrated Algorithm for Wind Vector Retrieval from Conically Scanning Scatterometers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuetong Xie

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Due to the lower efficiency and the larger wind direction error of traditional algorithms, a novel integrated wind retrieval algorithm is proposed for conically scanning scatterometers. The proposed algorithm has the dual advantages of less computational cost and higher wind direction retrieval accuracy by integrating the wind speed standard deviation (WSSD algorithm and the wind direction interval retrieval (DIR algorithm. It adopts wind speed standard deviation as a criterion for searching possible wind vector solutions and retrieving a potential wind direction interval based on the change rate of the wind speed standard deviation. Moreover, a modified three-step ambiguity removal method is designed to let more wind directions be selected in the process of nudging and filtering. The performance of the new algorithm is illustrated by retrieval experiments using 300 orbits of SeaWinds/QuikSCAT L2A data (backscatter coefficients at 25 km resolution and co-located buoy data. Experimental results indicate that the new algorithm can evidently enhance the wind direction retrieval accuracy, especially in the nadir region. In comparison with the SeaWinds L2B Version 2 25 km selected wind product (retrieved wind fields, an improvement of 5.1° in wind direction retrieval can be made by the new algorithm for that region.

  20. Episodic retrieval involves early and sustained effects of reactivating information from encoding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Jeffrey D; Price, Mason H; Leiker, Emily K

    2015-02-01

    Several fMRI studies have shown a correspondence between the brain regions activated during encoding and retrieval, consistent with the view that memory retrieval involves hippocampally-mediated reinstatement of cortical activity. With the limited temporal resolution of fMRI, the precise timing of such reactivation is unclear, calling into question the functional significance of these effects. Whereas reactivation influencing retrieval should emerge with neural correlates of retrieval success, that signifying post-retrieval monitoring would trail retrieval. The present study employed EEG to provide a temporal landmark of retrieval success from which we could investigate the sub-trial time course of reactivation. Pattern-classification analyses revealed that early-onsetting reactivation differentiated the outcome of recognition-memory judgments and was associated with individual differences in behavioral accuracy, while reactivation was also evident in a sustained form later in the trial. The EEG findings suggest that, whereas prior fMRI findings could be interpreted as reflecting the contribution of reinstatement to retrieval success, they could also indicate the maintenance of episodic information in service of post-retrieval evaluation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Mechanical Thrombectomy with the Embolus Retriever with Interlinked Cages in Acute Ischemic Stroke

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steglich-Arnholm, H; Kondziella, D; Wagner, A

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Embolus Retriever with Interlinked Cages (ERIC) device is a novel stent retriever for mechanical thrombectomy. It consists of interlinked cages and could improve procedural benchmarks and clinical outcome compared with classic stent retrievers. This study compares.......00). However, in patients treated with the ERIC device, thrombectomy procedures were less time-consuming (67 versus 98 minutes,P= .009) and a rescue device was needed less often (18% versus 39%,P= .02) compared with classic stent retrievers. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical thrombectomy with the ERIC device...... the rates of recanalization, favorable clinical outcome, procedural adverse events, and benchmarks between the ERIC device and classic stent retrievers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 545 patients treated with thrombectomy between 2012 and 2015, 316 patients were included. The mean age was 69 ±13 years...

  2. Retrieval of Saharan desert dust optical depth from thermal infrared measurements by IASI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandenbussche, S.; Kochenova, S.; Vandaele, A.-C.; Kumps, N.; De Mazière, M.

    2012-04-01

    Aerosols are a major actor in the climate system. They are responsible for climate forcing by both direct (by emission, absorption and scattering) and indirect effects (for example, by altering cloud microphysics). A better knowledge of aerosol optical properties, of the atmospheric aerosol load and of aerosol sources and sinks may therefore significantly improve the modeling of climate changes. Aerosol optical depth and other properties are retrieved on an operational basis from daytime measurements in the visible and near infrared spectral range by a number of instruments, like the satellite instruments MODIS, CALIOP, POLDER, MISR and ground-based sunphotometers. Aerosol retrievals from day and night measurements at thermal infrared (TIR) wavelengths (for example, from SEVIRI, AIRS and IASI satellite instruments) are less common, but they receive growing interest in more recent years. Among those TIR measuring instruments, IASI on METOP has one major advantage for aerosol retrievals: its large continuous spectral coverage, allowing to better capture the broadband signature of aerosols. Furthermore, IASI has a high spectral resolution (0.5cm-1 after apodization) which allows retrieving a large number of trace gases at the same time, it will nominally be in orbit for 15 years and offers a quasi global Earth coverage twice a day. Here we will show recently obtained results of desert aerosol properties (concentration, altitude, optical depth) retrieved from IASI TIR measurements, using the ASIMUT software (BIRA-IASB, Belgium) linked to (V)LIDORT (R. Spurr, RTsolutions Inc, US) and to SPHER (M. Mishchenko, NASA GISS, USA). In particular, we will address the case of Saharan desert dust storms, which are a major source of desert dust particles in the atmosphere. Those storms frequently transport sand to Europe, Western Asia or even South America. We will show some test-case comparisons between our retrievals and measurements from other instruments like those listed

  3. Chlorophyll-a retrieval in the Philippine waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez, G. J. P.; Leonardo, E. M.; Felix, M. J.

    2017-12-01

    results to a significant improvement on calculated RMSE of satellite-derived Chl-a values. Meanwhile, it was observed that the blue-green band ratio has low Chl-a predictive capability in turbid waters. A more accurate estimation was found using the NIR and red band ratios for turbid waters with covarying Chl-a concentration and low sediment load.

  4. Significant improvement in the thermal annealing process of optical resonators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salzenstein, Patrice; Zarubin, Mikhail

    2017-05-01

    Thermal annealing performed during process improves the quality of the roughness of optical resonators reducing stresses at the periphery of their surface thus allowing higher Q-factors. After a preliminary realization, the design of the oven and the electronic method were significantly improved thanks to nichrome resistant alloy wires and chopped basalt fibers for thermal isolation during the annealing process. Q-factors can then be improved.

  5. Trial-to-trial dynamics of selective long-term-memory retrieval with continuously changing retrieval targets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kizilirmak, Jasmin M; Rösler, Frank; Khader, Patrick H

    2014-10-01

    How do we control the successive retrieval of behaviorally relevant information from long-term memory (LTM) without being distracted by other potential retrieval targets associated to the same retrieval cues? Here, we approach this question by investigating the nature of trial-by-trial dynamics of selective LTM retrieval, i.e., in how far retrieval in one trial has detrimental or facilitatory effects on selective retrieval in the following trial. Participants first learned associations between retrieval cues and targets, with one cue always being linked to three targets, forming small associative networks. In successive trials, participants had to access either the same or a different target belonging to either the same or a different cue. We found that retrieval times were faster for targets that had already been relevant in the previous trial, with this facilitatory effect being substantially weaker when the associative network changed in which the targets were embedded. Moreover, staying within the same network still had a facilitatory effect even if the target changed, which became evident in a relatively higher memory performance in comparison to a network change. Furthermore, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) showed topographically and temporally dissociable correlates of these effects, suggesting that they result from combined influences of distinct processes that aid memory retrieval when relevant and irrelevant targets change their status from trial to trial. Taken together, the present study provides insight into the different processing stages of memory retrieval when fast switches between retrieval targets are required. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. The Next-Generation Goddard Convective-Stratiform Heating Algorithm: New Retrievals for Tropical and Extra-tropical Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, S. E.; Tao, W. K.; Iguchi, T.

    2017-12-01

    The Goddard Convective-Stratiform Heating (or CSH) algorithm has been used to estimate cloud heating over the global Tropics using TRMM rainfall data and a set of look-up-tables (LUTs) derived from a series of multi-week cloud-resolving model (CRM) simulations using the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model (GCE). These simulations link satellite observables (i.e., surface rainfall and stratiform fraction) with cloud heating profiles, which are not directly observable. However, with the launch of GPM in 2014, the range over which such algorithms can be applied has been extended from the Tropics into higher latitudes, including cold season and synoptic weather systems. In response, the CSH algorithm and its LUTs have been revised both to improve the retrievals in the Tropics as well as expand retrievals to higher latitudes. For the Tropics, the GCE simulations used to build the LUTs were upgraded using larger 2D model domains (512 vs 256 km) and a new, improved Goddard 4-ice scheme as well as expanded with additional cases (4 land and 6 ocean in total). The new tropical LUTs are also re-built using additional metrics. Besides surface type, conditional rain intensity and stratiform fraction, the new LUTs incorporate echo top heights and low-level (0-2 km) vertical reflectivity gradients. CSH retrievals in the Tropics based on the new LUTs show significant differences from previous iterations using TRMM data or the old LUT metrics. For the Extra-tropics, 6 NU-WRF simulations of synoptic events (3 East Coast and 3 West Coast), including snow, were used to build new extra-tropical CSH LUTs. The LUT metrics for the extra-tropics are based on radar characteristics and freezing level height. The extra-tropical retrievals are evaluated with a self-consistency check approach using the model heating as `truth,' and freezing level height is used to transition CSH retrievals from the Tropics to Extra-tropics. Retrieved zonal average heating structures in the Extra-tropics are

  7. Iterative Filtering of Retrieved Information to Increase Relevance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Zeidman

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Efforts have been underway for years to find more effective ways to retrieve information from large knowledge domains. This effort is now being driven particularly by the Internet and the vast amount of information that is available to unsophisticated users. In the early days of the Internet, some effort involved allowing users to enter Boolean equations of search terms into search engines, for example, rather than just a list of keywords. More recently, effort has focused on understanding a user's desires from past search histories in order to narrow searches. Also there has been much effort to improve the ranking of results based on some measure of relevancy. This paper discusses using iterative filtering of retrieved information to focus in on useful information. This work was done for finding source code correlation and the author extends his findings to Internet searching and e-commerce. The paper presents specific information about a particular filtering application and then generalizes it to other forms of information retrieval.

  8. 2007-2017: 10 years of IASI CO retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, M.; Clerbaux, C.; Hadji-Lazaro, J.; Pierre-Francois, C.; Hurtmans, D.; Edwards, D. P.; Worden, H. M.; Deeter, M. N.; Mao, D.; August, T.; Crapeau, M.

    2017-12-01

    Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important trace gas for understanding air quality and atmospheric composition. It is a good tracer of pollution plumes and atmospheric dynamics. IASI CO concentrations are retrieved from the radiance data using the Fast Operational Retrievals on Layers for IASI (FORLI) algorithm, based on the Optimal Estimation theory. The operational production is performed at EUMETSAT and the products are distributed in NRT via EUMETCast under the AC SAF auspices. We present here an analysis of 10 years of global distributions of CO. Improvements of the last FORLI-CO version (v20151001) will be shown. Updates in the auxiliary parameters (temperature, cloud information) have an impact on the retrieved product. Comparison with MOPITT CO data (v7T, record starting in 2000) was performed, both for partial and total columns. Harmonizing IASI and MOPITT CO products is challenging: a method using corrective factors (developed in the framework of the QA4ECV project) will be presented.

  9. Reduced context effects on retrieval in first-episode schizophrenia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucia M Talamini

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A recent modeling study by the authors predicted that contextual information is poorly integrated into episodic representations in schizophrenia, and that this is a main cause of the retrieval deficits seen in schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have tested this prediction in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and matched controls. The benefit from contextual cues in retrieval was strongly reduced in patients. On the other hand, retrieval based on item cues was spared. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that reduced integration of context information into episodic representations is a core deficit in schizophrenia and one of the main causes of episodic memory impairment.

  10. A Multisensor Approach to Global Retrievals of Land Surface Albedo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aku Riihelä

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Satellite-based retrievals offer the most cost-effective way to comprehensively map the surface albedo of the Earth, a key variable for understanding the dynamics of radiative energy interactions in the atmosphere-surface system. Surface albedo retrievals have commonly been designed separately for each different spaceborne optical imager. Here, we introduce a novel type of processing framework that combines the data from two polar-orbiting optical imager families, the Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate that multisensor albedo retrievals can provide a significant reduction in the sampling time required for a robust and comprehensive surface albedo retrieval, without a major degradation in retrieval accuracy, as compared to state-of-the-art single-sensor retrievals. We evaluated the multisensor retrievals against reference in situ albedo measurements and compare them with existing datasets. The results show that global land surface albedo retrievals with a sampling period of 10 days can offer near-complete spatial coverage, with a retrieval bias mostly comparable to existing single sensor datasets, except for bright surfaces (deserts and snow where the retrieval framework shows degraded performance because of atmospheric correction design compromises. A level difference is found between the single sensor datasets and the demonstrator developed here, pointing towards a need for further work in the atmospheric correction, particularly over bright surfaces, and inter-sensor radiance homogenization. The introduced framework is expandable to include other sensors in the future.

  11. Omega-3 fatty acid therapy dose-dependently and significantly decreased triglycerides and improved flow-mediated dilation, however, did not significantly improve insulin sensitivity in patients with hypertriglyceridemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Pyung Chun; Koh, Kwang Kon; Sakuma, Ichiro; Lim, Soo; Lee, Yonghee; Lee, Seungik; Lee, Kyounghoon; Han, Seung Hwan; Shin, Eak Kyun

    2014-10-20

    Experimental studies demonstrate that higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA) improves insulin sensitivity, however, we reported that n-3 FA 2g therapy, most commonly used dosage did not significantly improve insulin sensitivity despite reducing triglycerides by 21% in patients. Therefore, we investigated the effects of different dosages of n-3 FA in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. This was a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study. Age, sex, and body mass index were matched among groups. All patients were recommended to maintain a low fat diet. Forty-four patients (about 18 had metabolic syndrome/type 2 diabetes mellitus) in each group were given placebo, n-3 FA 1 (O1), 2 (O2), or 4 g (O4), respectively daily for 2 months. n-3 FA therapy dose-dependently and significantly decreased triglycerides and triglycerides/HDL cholesterol and improved flow-mediated dilation, compared with placebo (by ANOVA). However, each n-3 FA therapy did not significantly decrease high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fibrinogen, compared with placebo. O1 significantly increased insulin levels and decreased insulin sensitivity (determined by QUICKI) and O2 significantly decreased plasma adiponectin levels relative to baseline measurements. Of note, when compared with placebo, each n-3 FA therapy did not significantly change insulin, glucose, adiponectin, glycated hemoglobin levels and insulin sensitivity (by ANOVA). We observed similar results in a subgroup of patients with the metabolic syndrome. n-3 FA therapy dose-dependently and significantly decreased triglycerides and improved flow-mediated dilation. Nonetheless, n-3 FA therapy did not significantly improve acute-phase reactants and insulin sensitivity in patients with hypertriglyceridemia, regardless of dosages. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  12. Retrieval characteristics of the Bard Denali and Argon Option inferior vena cava filters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dowell, Joshua D; Semaan, Dominic; Makary, Mina S; Ryu, John; Khayat, Mamdouh; Pan, Xueliang

    2017-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the retrieval characteristics of the Option Elite (Argon Medical, Plano, Tex) and Denali (Bard, Tempe, Ariz) retrievable inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs), two filters that share a similar conical design. A single-center, retrospective study reviewed all Option and Denali IVCF removals during a 36-month period. Attempted retrievals were classified as advanced if the routine "snare and sheath" technique was initially unsuccessful despite multiple attempts or an alternative endovascular maneuver or access site was used. Patient and filter characteristics were documented. In our study, 63 Option and 45 Denali IVCFs were retrieved, with an average dwell time of 128.73 and 99.3 days, respectively. Significantly higher median fluoroscopy times were experienced in retrieving the Option filter compared with the Denali filter (12.18 vs 6.85 minutes; P = .046). Use of adjunctive techniques was also higher in comparing the Option filter with the Denali filter (19.0% vs 8.7%; P = .079). No significant difference was noted between these groups in regard to gender, age, or history of malignant disease. Option IVCF retrieval procedures required significantly longer retrieval fluoroscopy time compared with Denali IVCFs. Although procedure time was not analyzed in this study, as a surrogate, the increased fluoroscopy time may also have an impact on procedural direct costs and throughput. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Secure image retrieval with multiple keys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Haihua; Zhang, Xinpeng; Wei, Qiuhan; Cheng, Hang

    2018-03-01

    This article proposes a secure image retrieval scheme under a multiuser scenario. In this scheme, the owner first encrypts and uploads images and their corresponding features to the cloud; then, the user submits the encrypted feature of the query image to the cloud; next, the cloud compares the encrypted features and returns encrypted images with similar content to the user. To find the nearest neighbor in the encrypted features, an encryption with multiple keys is proposed, in which the query feature of each user is encrypted by his/her own key. To improve the key security and space utilization, global optimization and Gaussian distribution are, respectively, employed to generate multiple keys. The experiments show that the proposed encryption can provide effective and secure image retrieval for each user and ensure confidentiality of the query feature of each user.

  14. The effect of episodic retrieval on inhibition in task switching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grange, James A; Kowalczyk, Agnieszka W; O'Loughlin, Rory

    2017-08-01

    Inhibition in task switching is inferred from n-2 repetition costs: the observation that ABA task switching sequences are responded to slower than CBA sequences. This is thought to reflect the persisting inhibition of Task A, which slows reactivation attempts. Mayr (2002) reported an experiment testing a critical noninhibitory account of this effect, namely episodic retrieval: If the trial parameters for Task A match across an ABA sequence, responses should be facilitated because of priming from episodic retrieval; a cost would occur if trial parameters mismatch. In a rule-switching paradigm, Mayr reported no significant difference in n-2 repetition cost when the trial parameters repeated or switched across an ABA sequence, in clear contrast to the episodic retrieval account. What remains unclear is whether successful episodic retrieval modulates the n-2 repetition cost. Across 3 experiments-including a close replication of Mayr-we find clear evidence of reduced n-2 task repetition costs when episodic retrieval is controlled. We find that the effect of episodic retrieval on the n-2 task repetition cost is increased when the cue-task relationship is made more abstract, suggesting the effect is because of interference in establishing the relevant attentional set. We also demonstrate that the episodic retrieval effect is not influenced by retrieval of low-level, perceptual, elements. Together, the data suggest the n-2 task repetition cost-typically attributable to an inhibitory mechanism-also reflects episodic retrieval effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Impact of NO2 Profile Shape in OMI Tropospheric NO2 Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamsal, Lok; Krotkov, Nickolay A.; Pickering, K.; Schwartz, W. H.; Celarier, E. A.; Bucsela, E. J.; Gleason, J. F.; Philip, S.; Nowlan, C.; Martin, R. V.; hide

    2013-01-01

    Nitrogen oxides (NOx NO + NO2) are key actors in air quality and climate change. Tropospheric NO2 columns from the nadir-viewing satellite sensors have been widely used to understand sources and chemistry of NOx. We have implemented several improvements to the operational algorithm developed at NASA GSFC and retrieved tropospheric NO2 columns. We present tropospheric NO2 validation studies of the new OMI Standard Product version 2.1 using ground-based and in-situ aircraft measurements. We show how vertical profile of scattering weight and a-priori NO2 profile shapes, which are taken from chemistry-transport models, affect air mass factor (AMF) and therefore tropospheric NO2 retrievals. Users can take advantage of scattering weights information that is made available in the operational NO2 product. Improved tropospheric NO2 data retrieved using thoroughly evaluated high spatial resolution NO2 profiles are helpful to test models.

  16. Retrieval of fluidizable radioactive wastes from storage facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-08-01

    This report provides guidance for strategic planning and implementation of resuspension and retrieval of stored fluid or fluidizable radioactive wastes. The potential risks associated with preparation and realization of these processes are included in the report, and lessons learned from previous applications are highlighted. Technological procedures and equipment used in various countries for resuspension and remobilization of stored fluidizable radioactive wastes are described in the attached annexes as potential options. Waste retrieval is a maturing technology of major importance now that Member States are moving forward in the responsible management of wastes by removal to safe interim storage or disposal. Retrieval of fluidizable wastes is a four-phase operation: (1) access to the waste, (2) mobilize the waste, (3) remove the waste; and (4) transfer the waste.This report divides successful retrieval of radioactive waste into two areas. The first area applies the concept of the waste retrieval as being the final component of a systematic process of old waste management. It also encompasses characterization as it applies to waste retrieval and downstream processes, including acceptance of wastes for treatment, conditioning, storage or disposal. It should be in conformity with national policy, as well as complying with international safety standards and environmental agreements. The second area of the report focuses on implementation of waste retrieval in a wide range of scenarios and using a wide range of retrieval approaches, equipment and technologies. Technical processes are further explained as part of the experience gained in advanced countries on the subject. A set of detailed retrieval technology descriptions by country is included as Annexes to this report. Thirteen experts from seven Member States that previously implemented, or have planned for the near future, significant resuspension and remobilization operations were involved in the preparation of

  17. Innovative grout/retrieval demonstration final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loomis, G.G.; Thompson, D.N.

    1995-01-01

    This report presents the results of an evaluation of an innovative retrieval technique for buried transuranic waste. Application of this retrieval technique was originally designed for full pit retrieval; however, it applies equally to a hot spot retrieval technology. The technique involves grouting the buried soil waste matrix with a jet grouting procedure, applying an expansive demolition grout to the matrix, and retrieving the debris. The grouted matrix provides an agglomeration of fine soil particles and contaminants resulting in an inherent contamination control during the dusty retrieval process. A full-scale field demonstration of this retrieval technique was performed on a simulated waste pit at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Details are reported on all phases of this proof-of-concept demonstration including pit construction, jet grouting activities, application of the demolition grout, and actual retrieval of the grouted pit. A quantitative evaluation of aerosolized soils and rare earth tracer spread is given for all phases of the demonstration, and these results are compared to a baseline retrieval activity using conventional retrieval means. 8 refs., 47 figs., 10 tabs

  18. Multimodal Feature Integration in the Angular Gyrus during Episodic and Semantic Retrieval

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnici, Heidi M.; Richter, Franziska R.; Yazar, Yasemin

    2016-01-01

    Much evidence from distinct lines of investigation indicates the involvement of angular gyrus (AnG) in the retrieval of both episodic and semantic information, but the region's precise function and whether that function differs across episodic and semantic retrieval have yet to be determined. We used univariate and multivariate fMRI analysis methods to examine the role of AnG in multimodal feature integration during episodic and semantic retrieval. Human participants completed episodic and semantic memory tasks involving unimodal (auditory or visual) and multimodal (audio-visual) stimuli. Univariate analyses revealed the recruitment of functionally distinct AnG subregions during the retrieval of episodic and semantic information. Consistent with a role in multimodal feature integration during episodic retrieval, significantly greater AnG activity was observed during retrieval of integrated multimodal episodic memories compared with unimodal episodic memories. Multivariate classification analyses revealed that individual multimodal episodic memories could be differentiated in AnG, with classification accuracy tracking the vividness of participants' reported recollections, whereas distinct unimodal memories were represented in sensory association areas only. In contrast to episodic retrieval, AnG was engaged to a statistically equivalent degree during retrieval of unimodal and multimodal semantic memories, suggesting a distinct role for AnG during semantic retrieval. Modality-specific sensory association areas exhibited corresponding activity during both episodic and semantic retrieval, which mirrored the functional specialization of these regions during perception. The results offer new insights into the integrative processes subserved by AnG and its contribution to our subjective experience of remembering. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Using univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses, we provide evidence that functionally distinct subregions of angular gyrus (An

  19. Topological Aspects of Information Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egghe, Leo; Rousseau, Ronald

    1998-01-01

    Discusses topological aspects of theoretical information retrieval, including retrieval topology; similarity topology; pseudo-metric topology; document spaces as topological spaces; Boolean information retrieval as a subsystem of any topological system; and proofs of theorems. (LRW)

  20. Improving Forecast Skill by Assimilation of Quality Controlled AIRS Version 5 Temperature Soundings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Reale, Oreste

    2009-01-01

    The AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm has been finalized and is now operational at the Goddard DAAC in the processing (and reprocessing) of all AIRS data. The AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm contains two significant improvements over Version 4: 1) Improved physics allows for use of AIRS observations in the entire 4.3 micron CO2 absorption band in the retrieval of temperature profile T(p) during both day and night. Tropospheric sounding 15 micron CO2 observations are now used primarily in the generation of cloud cleared radiances R(sub i). This approach allows for the generation of accurate values of R(sub i) and T(p) under most cloud conditions. 2) Another very significant improvement in Version 5 is the ability to generate accurate case-by-case, level-by-level error estimates for the atmospheric temperature profile, as well as for channel-by-channel error estimates for R(sub i). These error estimates are used for Quality Control of the retrieved products. We have conducted forecast impact experiments assimilating AIRS temperature profiles with different levels of Quality Control using the NASA GEOS-5 data assimilation system. Assimilation of Quality Controlled T(p) resulted in significantly improved forecast skill compared to that obtained from analyses obtained when all data used operationally by NCEP, except for AIRS data, is assimilated. We also conducted an experiment assimilating AIRS radiances uncontaminated by clouds, as done operationally by ECMWF and NCEP. Forecast resulting from assimilated AIRS radiances were of poorer quality than those obtained assimilating AIRS temperatures.

  1. Retrieval of spheroid particle size distribution from spectral extinction data in the independent mode using PCA approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, Hong; Lin, Jian-Zhong

    2013-01-01

    An improved anomalous diffraction approximation (ADA) method is presented for calculating the extinction efficiency of spheroids firstly. In this approach, the extinction efficiency of spheroid particles can be calculated with good accuracy and high efficiency in a wider size range by combining the Latimer method and the ADA theory, and this method can present a more general expression for calculating the extinction efficiency of spheroid particles with various complex refractive indices and aspect ratios. Meanwhile, the visible spectral extinction with varied spheroid particle size distributions and complex refractive indices is surveyed. Furthermore, a selection principle about the spectral extinction data is developed based on PCA (principle component analysis) of first derivative spectral extinction. By calculating the contribution rate of first derivative spectral extinction, the spectral extinction with more significant features can be selected as the input data, and those with less features is removed from the inversion data. In addition, we propose an improved Tikhonov iteration method to retrieve the spheroid particle size distributions in the independent mode. Simulation experiments indicate that the spheroid particle size distributions obtained with the proposed method coincide fairly well with the given distributions, and this inversion method provides a simple, reliable and efficient method to retrieve the spheroid particle size distributions from the spectral extinction data. -- Highlights: ► Improved ADA is presented for calculating the extinction efficiency of spheroids. ► Selection principle about spectral extinction data is developed based on PCA. ► Improved Tikhonov iteration method is proposed to retrieve the spheroid PSD.

  2. The development of brain systems associated with successful memory retrieval of scenes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ofen, Noa; Chai, Xiaoqian J; Schuil, Karen D I; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Gabrieli, John D E

    2012-07-18

    Neuroanatomical and psychological evidence suggests prolonged maturation of declarative memory systems in the human brain from childhood into young adulthood. Here, we examine functional brain development during successful memory retrieval of scenes in children, adolescents, and young adults ages 8-21 via functional magnetic resonance imaging. Recognition memory improved with age, specifically for accurate identification of studied scenes (hits). Successful retrieval (correct old-new decisions for studied vs unstudied scenes) was associated with activations in frontal, parietal, and medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions. Activations associated with successful retrieval increased with age in left parietal cortex (BA7), bilateral prefrontal, and bilateral caudate regions. In contrast, activations associated with successful retrieval did not change with age in the MTL. Psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed that there were, however, age-relate changes in differential connectivity for successful retrieval between MTL and prefrontal regions. These results suggest that neocortical regions related to attentional or strategic control show the greatest developmental changes for memory retrieval of scenes. Furthermore, these results suggest that functional interactions between MTL and prefrontal regions during memory retrieval also develop into young adulthood. The developmental increase of memory-related activations in frontal and parietal regions for retrieval of scenes and the absence of such an increase in MTL regions parallels what has been observed for memory encoding of scenes.

  3. RETRIEVAL EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    J. Steinhoff

    1997-01-01

    The objective and the scope of this document are to list and briefly describe the major mobile equipment necessary for waste package (WP) retrieval from the proposed subsurface nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Primary performance characteristics and some specialized design features of the equipment are explained and summarized in the individual subsections of this document. There are no quality assurance requirements or QA controls in this document. Retrieval under normal conditions is accomplished with the same fleet of equipment as is used for emplacement. Descriptions of equipment used for retrieval under normal conditions is found in Emplacement Equipment Descriptions, DI: BCAF00000-01717-5705-00002 (a document in progress). Equipment used for retrieval under abnormal conditions is addressed in this document and consists of the following: (1) Inclined Plane Hauler; (2) Bottom Lift Transporter; (3) Load Haul Dump (LHD) Loader; (4) Heavy Duty Forklift for Emplacement Drifts; (5) Covered Shuttle Car; (6) Multipurpose Vehicle; and (7) Scaler

  4. Self-construal priming affects speed of retrieval from short-term memory.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justin A Macdonald

    Full Text Available We investigated the effects of collective or individual self-construal priming on recall in a short-term memory (STM task. We primed participants to either their individual or their collective self-construals or a neutral control condition. Participants then completed a STM retrieval task using either random or patterned digit strings. Findings revealed that priming an individual self-construal resulted in faster retrieval of information from STM for both stimulus types. These results indicate that individual self-accessibility improves retrieval speed of digits from STM, regardless of set configuration. More broadly, the present findings extend prior research by adding further evidence of the effects of self-construal priming on cognitive information processing.

  5. Significant Improvement of Catalytic Efficiencies in Ionic Liquids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Choong Eui; Yoon, Mi Young; Choi, Doo Seong

    2005-01-01

    The use of ionic liquids as reaction media can confer many advantages upon catalytic reactions over reactions in organic solvents. In ionic liquids, catalysts having polar or ionic character can easily be immobilized without additional structural modification and thus the ionic solutions containing the catalyst can easily be separated from the reagents and reaction products, and then, be reused. More interestingly, switching from an organic solvent to an ionic liquid often results in a significant improvement in catalytic performance (e.g., rate acceleration, (enantio)selectivity improvement and an increase in catalyst stability). In this review, some recent interesting results which can nicely demonstrate these positive 'ionic liquid effect' on catalysis are discussed

  6. Improving the Remote Sensing Retrieval of Phytoplankton Functional Types (PFT Using Empirical Orthogonal Functions: A Case Study in a Coastal Upwelling Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Correa-Ramirez

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available An approach that improves the spectral-based PHYSAT method for identifying phytoplankton functional types (PFT in satellite ocean-color imagery is developed and applied to one study case. This new approach, called PHYSTWO, relies on the assumption that the dominant effect of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a in the normalized water-leaving radiance (nLw spectrum can be effectively isolated from the signal of accessory pigment biomarkers of different PFT by using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF decomposition. PHYSTWO operates in the dimensionless plane composed by the first two EOF modes generated through the decomposition of a space–nLw matrix at seven wavelengths (412, 443, 469, 488, 531, 547, and 555 nm. PFT determination is performed using orthogonal models derived from the acceptable ranges of anomalies proposed by PHYSAT but adjusted with the available regional and global data. In applying PHYSTWO to study phytoplankton community structures in the coastal upwelling system off central Chile, we find that this method increases the accuracy of PFT identification, extends the application of this tool to waters with high Chl-a concentration, and significantly decreases (~60% the undetermined retrievals when compared with PHYSAT. The improved accuracy of PHYSTWO and its applicability for the identification of new PFT are discussed.

  7. Mammogram retrieval through machine learning within BI-RADS standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Chia-Hung; Li, Yue; Huang, Pai Jung

    2011-08-01

    A content-based mammogram retrieval system can support usual comparisons made on images by physicians, answering similarity queries over images stored in the database. The importance of searching for similar mammograms lies in the fact that physicians usually try to recall similar cases by seeking images that are pathologically similar to a given image. This paper presents a content-based mammogram retrieval system, which employs a query example to search for similar mammograms in the database. In this system the mammographic lesions are interpreted based on their medical characteristics specified in the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) standards. A hierarchical similarity measurement scheme based on a distance weighting function is proposed to model user's perception and maximizes the effectiveness of each feature in a mammographic descriptor. A machine learning approach based on support vector machines and user's relevance feedback is also proposed to analyze the user's information need in order to retrieve target images more accurately. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed machine learning approach with Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernel function achieves the best performance among all tested ones. Furthermore, the results also show that the proposed learning approach can improve retrieval performance when applied to retrieve mammograms with similar mass and calcification lesions, respectively. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Microphysical retrievals from simultaneous polarimetric and profiling radar observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. P. Morris

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The character of precipitation detected at the surface is the final product of many microphysical interactions in the cloud above, the combined effects of which may be characterized by the observed drop size distribution (DSD. This necessitates accurate retrieval of the DSD from remote sensing data, especially radar as it offers large areal coverage, high spatial resolution, and rigorous quality control and testing. Combined instrument observations with a UHF wind profiler, an S-band polarimetric weather radar, and a video disdrometer are analyzed for two squall line events occuring during the calendar year 2007. UHF profiler Doppler velocity spectra are used to estimate the DSD aloft, and are complemented by DSDs retrieved from an exponential model applied to polarimetric data. Ground truth is provided by the disdrometer. A complicating factor in the retrieval from UHF profiler spectra is the presence of ambient air motion, which can be corrected using the method proposed by Teshiba et al. (2009, in which a comparison between idealized Doppler spectra calculated from the DSDs retrieved from KOUN and those retrieved from contaminated wind profiler spectra is performed. It is found that DSDs measured using the distrometer at the surface and estimated using the wind profiler and polarimetric weather radar generally showed good agreement. The DSD retrievals using the wind profiler were improved when the estimates of the vertical wind were included into the analysis, thus supporting the method of Teshiba et al. (2009. Furthermore, the the study presents a method of investigating the time and height structure of DSDs.

  9. Laparoscopic specimen retrieval bags.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smorgick, Noam

    2014-10-01

    Specimen retrieval bags have long been used in laparoscopic gynecologic surgery for contained removal of adnexal cysts and masses. More recently, the concerns regarding spread of malignant cells during mechanical morcellation of myoma have led to an additional use of specimen retrieval bags for contained "in-bag" morcellation. This review will discuss the indications for use retrieval bags in gynecologic endoscopy, and describe the different specimen bags available to date.

  10. On the Estimation and Use of Statistical Modelling in Information Retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Casper

    Automatic text processing often relies on assumptions about the distribution of some property (such as term frequency) in the data being processed. In information retrieval (IR) such assumptions may be contributed to (i) the absence of principled approaches for determining the correct statistical...... that assumptions regarding the distribution of dataset properties can be replaced with an effective, efficient and principled method for determining the best-fitting distribution and that using this distribution can lead to improved retrieval performance....

  11. Training directionally selective motion pathways can significantly improve reading efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, Teri

    2004-06-01

    This study examined whether perceptual learning at early levels of visual processing would facilitate learning at higher levels of processing. This was examined by determining whether training the motion pathways by practicing leftright movement discrimination, as found previously, would improve the reading skills of inefficient readers significantly more than another computer game, a word discrimination game, or the reading program offered by the school. This controlled validation study found that practicing left-right movement discrimination 5-10 minutes twice a week (rapidly) for 15 weeks doubled reading fluency, and significantly improved all reading skills by more than one grade level, whereas inefficient readers in the control groups barely improved on these reading skills. In contrast to previous studies of perceptual learning, these experiments show that perceptual learning of direction discrimination significantly improved reading skills determined at higher levels of cognitive processing, thereby being generalized to a new task. The deficits in reading performance and attentional focus experienced by the person who struggles when reading are suggested to result from an information overload, resulting from timing deficits in the direction-selectivity network proposed by Russell De Valois et al. (2000), that following practice on direction discrimination goes away. This study found that practicing direction discrimination rapidly transitions the inefficient 7-year-old reader to an efficient reader.

  12. The effectiveness of spaced retrieval combined with Montessori-based activities in improving the eating ability of residents with dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hua Shan; Lin, Li Chan; Wu, Shiao Chi; Lin, Ke Neng; Liu, Hsiu Chih

    2014-08-01

    To explore the long-term effects of standardized and individualized spaced retrieval combined with Montessori-based activities on the eating ability of residents with dementia. Eating difficulty is common in residents with dementia, resulting in low food intake, followed by eating dependence, weight loss and malnutrition. A single-blinded and quasi-experimental design with repeated measures. Ninety residents with dementia from four veterans' homes in Taiwan took part in this study. The intervention consisted of spaced retrieval combined with Montessori-based activities. Twenty-five participants in the standardized group received 24 intervention sessions over 8 weeks. Thirty-eight participants in the individualized group received tailored intervention sessions. The number of intervention sessions was adjusted according to the participant's recall responses in spaced retrieval. Twenty-seven participants in the control group received no treatment. The Chinese version of the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia was used, and eating amounts and body weight were measured pre-test, posttest and at 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Data were collected between July 2008-February 2010. Repeated measures of all dependent variables for the three groups were analysed by the linear mixed model. The standardized and individualized interventions could significantly decrease the scores for the Chinese version of the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia and increase the eating amount and body weight over time. Trained nurses in institutions can schedule the standardized or individualized intervention in usual activity time to ameliorate eating difficulty and its sequels. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Assessment of Snared-Loop Technique When Standard Retrieval of Inferior Vena Cava Filters Fails

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doody, Orla; Noe, Geertje; Given, Mark F.; Foley, Peter T.; Lyon, Stuart M.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose To identify the success and complications related to a variant technique used to retrieve inferior vena cava filters when simple snare approach has failed. Methods A retrospective review of all Cook Guenther Tulip filters and Cook Celect filters retrieved between July 2006 and February 2008 was performed. During this period, 130 filter retrievals were attempted. In 33 cases, the standard retrieval technique failed. Retrieval was subsequently attempted with our modified retrieval technique. Results The retrieval was successful in 23 cases (mean dwell time, 171.84 days; range, 5-505 days) and unsuccessful in 10 cases (mean dwell time, 162.2 days; range, 94-360 days). Our filter retrievability rates increased from 74.6% with the standard retrieval method to 92.3% when the snared-loop technique was used. Unsuccessful retrieval was due to significant endothelialization (n = 9) and caval penetration by the filter (n = 1). A single complication occurred in the group, in a patient developing pulmonary emboli after attempted retrieval. Conclusion The technique we describe increased the retrievability of the two filters studied. Hook endothelialization is the main factor resulting in failed retrieval and continues to be a limitation with these filters.

  14. Enhanced Deep Blue Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm: The Second Generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, N. C.; Jeong, M.-J.; Bettenhausen, C.; Sayer, A. M.; Hansell, R.; Seftor, C. S.; Huang, J.; Tsay, S.-C.

    2013-01-01

    The aerosol products retrieved using the MODIS collection 5.1 Deep Blue algorithm have provided useful information about aerosol properties over bright-reflecting land surfaces, such as desert, semi-arid, and urban regions. However, many components of the C5.1 retrieval algorithm needed to be improved; for example, the use of a static surface database to estimate surface reflectances. This is particularly important over regions of mixed vegetated and non- vegetated surfaces, which may undergo strong seasonal changes in land cover. In order to address this issue, we develop a hybrid approach, which takes advantage of the combination of pre-calculated surface reflectance database and normalized difference vegetation index in determining the surface reflectance for aerosol retrievals. As a result, the spatial coverage of aerosol data generated by the enhanced Deep Blue algorithm has been extended from the arid and semi-arid regions to the entire land areas.

  15. Recent advances in intelligent image search and video retrieval

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    This book initially reviews the major feature representation and extraction methods and effective learning and recognition approaches, which have broad applications in the context of intelligent image search and video retrieval. It subsequently presents novel methods, such as improved soft assignment coding, Inheritable Color Space (InCS) and the Generalized InCS framework, the sparse kernel manifold learner method, the efficient Support Vector Machine (eSVM), and the Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) features in multiple color spaces. Lastly, the book presents clothing analysis for subject identification and retrieval, and performance evaluation methods of video analytics for traffic monitoring. Digital images and videos are proliferating at an amazing speed in the fields of science, engineering and technology, media and entertainment. With the huge accumulation of such data, keyword searches and manual annotation schemes may no longer be able to meet the practical demand for retrieving relevant conte...

  16. Distributed Systems and Applications of Information Filtering and Retrieval

    CERN Document Server

    Giuliani, Alessandro; Semeraro, Giovanni; DART 2012

    2014-01-01

    This volume focuses on new challenges in distributed Information Filtering and Retrieval. It collects invited chapters and extended research contributions from the special session on Information Filtering and Retrieval: Novel Distributed Systems and Applications (DART) of the 4th International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Information Retrieval (KDIR 2012), held in Barcelona, Spain, on 4-7 October 2012. The main focus of DART was to discuss and compare suitable novel solutions based on intelligent techniques and applied to real-world applications. The chapters of this book present a comprehensive review of related works and state of the art. Authors, both practitioners and researchers, shared their results in several topics such as "Multi-Agent Systems", "Natural Language Processing", "Automatic Advertisement", "Customer Interaction Analytics", "Opinion Mining". Contributions have been careful reviewed by experts in the area, who also gave useful suggestions to improve the quality of the volume.

  17. A Novel Technique for Assessing Antioxidant Concentration in Retrieved UHMWPE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currier, Barbara H; Van Citters, Douglas W

    2017-05-01

    Antioxidants added to UHMWPE to prevent in vivo oxidation are important to the long-term performance of hip and knee arthroplasty. Diffused vitamin E antioxidant polyethylene raised questions about potential in vivo elution that could cause inflammatory reactions in periprosthetic tissues and also potentially leave the implant once again prone to oxidation. Currently, there is no information on the elution, if any, of antioxidants from implant polyethylene materials in vivo. (1) Do antioxidants, especially diffused vitamin E, elute from antioxidant polyethylene in vivo? (2) Can extraction of the retrieved antioxidant polyethylene (to remove absorbed species from the in vivo environment near the articular and nonarticular surfaces) improve the identification of antioxidant content? (3) Can actual antioxidant content be estimated from calculated antioxidant indices by accounting for ester content (from absorbed species) near the articular and nonarticular surfaces? An institutional review board-approved retrieval laboratory received 39 antioxidant polyethylene hip and knee retrievals at revision from 25 surgeons with in vivo time of 0.02 to 3.6 years (median, 1.3 years). These consecutive antioxidant polyethylene retrievals, received between May 2010 and February 2016, were made from three different antioxidant highly crosslinked polyethylene materials: diffused vitamin E, blended vitamin E, and hindered phenol antioxidant pentaerythritol tetrakis[3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)] propionate (here and after referred to as PBHP). Retrievals were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Absorbed ester index (1725-1740 cm -1 normalized to 1365-1371 cm -1 ), and vitamin E index (1245-1275 cm -1 ) and PBHP index (1125-1150 cm -1 ), normalized to 1850-1985 cm -1 , were defined. Microtomed thin sections of PBHP and vitamin E retrievals were hexane-extracted to remove absorbed species from the in vivo environment in an effort to improve

  18. POST-RETRIEVAL EXTINCTION ATTENUATES ALCOHOL CUE REACTIVITY IN RATS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cofresí, Roberto U.; Lewis, Suzanne M.; Chaudhri, Nadia; Lee, Hongjoo J.; Monfils, Marie-H.; Gonzales, Rueben A.

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND Conditioned responses to alcohol-associated cues can hinder recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Cue exposure (extinction) therapy (CET) can reduce reactivity to alcohol cues, but its efficacy is limited by phenomena such as spontaneous recovery and reinstatement that can cause a return of conditioned responding after extinction. Using a preclinical model of alcohol cue reactivity in rats, we evaluated whether the efficacy of alcohol CET could be improved by conducting CET during the memory reconsolidation window after retrieval of a cue-alcohol association. METHODS Rats were provided with intermittent access to unsweetened alcohol. Rats were then trained to predict alcohol access based on a visual cue. Next, rats were treated with either standard extinction (n=14) or post-retrieval extinction (n=13). Rats were then tested for long-term memory of extinction and susceptibility to spontaneous recovery and reinstatement. RESULTS Despite equivalent extinction, rats treated with post-retrieval extinction exhibited reduced spontaneous recovery and reinstatement relative to rats treated with standard extinction. CONCLUSIONS Post-retrieval CET shows promise for persistently attenuating the risk to relapse posed by alcohol cues in individuals with AUD. PMID:28169439

  19. Retrieving autobiographical memories: How different retrieval strategies associated with different cues explain reaction time differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzer, Tugba

    2016-02-01

    Previous research has shown that memories cued by concrete concepts, such as objects, are retrieved faster than those cued by more abstract concepts, such as emotions. This effect has been explained by the fact that more memories are directly retrieved from object versus emotion cues. In the present study, we tested whether RT differences between memories cued by emotion versus object terms occur not only because object cues elicit direct retrieval of more memories (Uzer, Lee, & Brown, 2012), but also because of differences in memory generation in response to emotions versus objects. One hundred university students retrieved memories in response to basic-level (e.g. orange), superordinate-level (e.g. plant), and emotion (e.g. surprised) cues. Retrieval speed was measured and participants reported whether memories were directly retrieved or generated on each trial. Results showed that memories were retrieved faster in response to basic-level versus superordinate-level and emotion cues because a) basic-level cues elicited more directly retrieved memories, and b) generating memories was more difficult when cues were abstract versus concrete. These results suggest that generative retrieval is a cue generation process in which additional cues that provide contextual information including the target event are produced. Memories are retrieved more slowly in response to emotion cues in part because emotion labels are less effective cues of appropriate contextual information. This particular finding is inconsistent with the idea that emotion is a primary organizational unit for autobiographical memories. In contrast, the difficulty of emotional memory generation implies that emotions represent low-level event information in the organization of autobiographical memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Quantitative Analysis of Retrieved Glenoid Liners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katelyn Childs

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Revision of orthopedic surgeries is often expensive and involves higher risk from complications. Since most total joint replacement devices use a polyethylene bearing, which serves as a weak link, the assessment of damage to the liner due to in vivo exposure is very important. The failures often are due to excessive polyethylene wear. The glenoid liners are complex and hemispherical in shape and present challenges while assessing the damage. Therefore, the study on the analysis of glenoid liners retrieved from revision surgery may lend insight into common wear patterns and improve future product designs. The purpose of this pilot study is to further develop the methods of segmenting a liner into four quadrants to quantify the damage in the liner. Different damage modes are identified and statistically analyzed. Multiple analysts were recruited to conduct the damage assessments. In this paper, four analysts evaluated nine glenoid liners, retrieved from revision surgery, two of whom had an engineering background and two of whom had a non-engineering background. Associated human factor mechanisms are reported in this paper. The wear patterns were quantified using the Hood/Gunther, Wasielewski, Brandt, and Lombardi methods. The quantitative assessments made by several observers were analyzed. A new, composite damage parameter was developed and applied to assess damage. Inter-observer reliability was assessed using a paired t-test. Data reported by four analysts showed a high standard deviation; however, only two analysts performed the tests in a significantly similar way and they had engineering backgrounds.

  1. Content-based histopathology image retrieval using CometCloud.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Xin; Wang, Daihou; Rodero, Ivan; Diaz-Montes, Javier; Gensure, Rebekah H; Xing, Fuyong; Zhong, Hua; Goodell, Lauri; Parashar, Manish; Foran, David J; Yang, Lin

    2014-08-26

    The development of digital imaging technology is creating extraordinary levels of accuracy that provide support for improved reliability in different aspects of the image analysis, such as content-based image retrieval, image segmentation, and classification. This has dramatically increased the volume and rate at which data are generated. Together these facts make querying and sharing non-trivial and render centralized solutions unfeasible. Moreover, in many cases this data is often distributed and must be shared across multiple institutions requiring decentralized solutions. In this context, a new generation of data/information driven applications must be developed to take advantage of the national advanced cyber-infrastructure (ACI) which enable investigators to seamlessly and securely interact with information/data which is distributed across geographically disparate resources. This paper presents the development and evaluation of a novel content-based image retrieval (CBIR) framework. The methods were tested extensively using both peripheral blood smears and renal glomeruli specimens. The datasets and performance were evaluated by two pathologists to determine the concordance. The CBIR algorithms that were developed can reliably retrieve the candidate image patches exhibiting intensity and morphological characteristics that are most similar to a given query image. The methods described in this paper are able to reliably discriminate among subtle staining differences and spatial pattern distributions. By integrating a newly developed dual-similarity relevance feedback module into the CBIR framework, the CBIR results were improved substantially. By aggregating the computational power of high performance computing (HPC) and cloud resources, we demonstrated that the method can be successfully executed in minutes on the Cloud compared to weeks using standard computers. In this paper, we present a set of newly developed CBIR algorithms and validate them using two

  2. Memory networks supporting retrieval effort and retrieval success under conditions of full and divided attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skinner, Erin I; Fernandes, Myra A; Grady, Cheryl L

    2009-01-01

    We used a multivariate analysis technique, partial least squares (PLS), to identify distributed patterns of brain activity associated with retrieval effort and retrieval success. Participants performed a recognition memory task under full attention (FA) or two different divided attention (DA) conditions during retrieval. Behaviorally, recognition was disrupted when a word, but not digit-based distracting task, was performed concurrently with retrieval. PLS was used to identify patterns of brain activation that together covaried with the three memory conditions and which were functionally connected with activity in the right hippocampus to produce successful memory performance. Results indicate that activity in the right dorsolateral frontal cortex increases during conditions of DA at retrieval, and that successful memory performance in the DA-digit condition is associated with activation of the same network of brain regions functionally connected to the right hippocampus, as under FA, which increases with increasing memory performance. Finally, DA conditions that disrupt successful memory performance (DA-word) interfere with recruitment of both retrieval-effort and retrieval-success networks.

  3. Technical Note: Regularization performances with the error consistency method in the case of retrieved atmospheric profiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Ceccherini

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The retrieval of concentration vertical profiles of atmospheric constituents from spectroscopic measurements is often an ill-conditioned problem and regularization methods are frequently used to improve its stability. Recently a new method, that provides a good compromise between precision and vertical resolution, was proposed to determine analytically the value of the regularization parameter. This method is applied for the first time to real measurements with its implementation in the operational retrieval code of the satellite limb-emission measurements of the MIPAS instrument and its performances are quantitatively analyzed. The adopted regularization improves the stability of the retrieval providing smooth profiles without major degradation of the vertical resolution. In the analyzed measurements the retrieval procedure provides a vertical resolution that, in the troposphere and low stratosphere, is smaller than the vertical field of view of the instrument.

  4. An Agent-Based Framework for E-Commerce Information Retrieval Management Using Genetic Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Floarea NASTASE

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the issue of improving retrieval performance management for retrieval from document collections that exist on the Internet. It also comes with a solution that uses the benefits of the agent technology and genetic algorithms in the process of the information retrieving management. The most important paradigms of information retrieval are mentioned having the goal to make more evident the advantages of using the genetic algorithms based one. Within the paper, also a genetic algorithm that can be use for the proposed solution is detailed and a comparative description between the dynamic and static proposed solution is made. In the end, new future directions are shown based on elements presented in this paper. The future results look very encouraging.

  5. Retrieving clinically relevant diabetic retinopathy images using a multi-class multiple-instance framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandakkar, Parag S.; Venkatesan, Ragav; Li, Baoxin

    2013-02-01

    Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a vision-threatening complication from diabetes mellitus, a medical condition that is rising globally. Unfortunately, many patients are unaware of this complication because of absence of symptoms. Regular screening of DR is necessary to detect the condition for timely treatment. Content-based image retrieval, using archived and diagnosed fundus (retinal) camera DR images can improve screening efficiency of DR. This content-based image retrieval study focuses on two DR clinical findings, microaneurysm and neovascularization, which are clinical signs of non-proliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The authors propose a multi-class multiple-instance image retrieval framework which deploys a modified color correlogram and statistics of steerable Gaussian Filter responses, for retrieving clinically relevant images from a database of DR fundus image database.

  6. Evaluation of Retrieval Algorithms for Ice Microphysics Using CALIPSO/CloudSat and Earthcare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Okamoto Hajime

    2016-01-01

    We performed several sensitivity studies to evaluate uncertainties in the retrieved ice microphysics due to ice particle orientation and shape. It was found that the implementation of orientation of horizontally oriented ice plate model in the algorithm drastically improved the retrieval results in both for nadir- and off-nadir lidar pointing periods. Differences in the retrieved microphysics between only randomly oriented ice model (3D-ice and mixture of 3D-ice and Q2Dplate model were large especially in off-nadir period, e.g., 100% in effective radius and one order in ice water content, respectively. And differences in the retrieved ice microphysics among different mixture models were smaller than about 50% for effective radius in nadir period.

  7. Assimilation of SMOS Retrieved Soil Moisture into the Land Information System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blankenship, Clay; Case, Jonathan; Zavodsky, Bradley; Jedlovec, Gary

    2014-01-01

    Soil moisture retrievals from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) instrument are assimilated into the Noah land surface model (LSM) within the NASA Land Information System (LIS). Before assimilation, SMOS retrievals are bias-corrected to match the model climatological distribution using a Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) matching approach. Data assimilation is done via the Ensemble Kalman Filter. The goal is to improve the representation of soil moisture within the LSM, and ultimately to improve numerical weather forecasts through better land surface initialization. We present a case study showing a large area of irrigation in the lower Mississippi River Valley, in an area with extensive rice agriculture. High soil moisture value in this region are observed by SMOS, but not captured in the forcing data. After assimilation, the model fields reflect the observed geographic patterns of soil moisture. Plans for a modeling experiment and operational use of the data are given. This work helps prepare for the assimilation of Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) retrievals in the near future.

  8. The effect of cloud screening on MAX-DOAS aerosol retrievals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gielen, Clio; Van Roozendael, Michel; Hendrik, Francois; Fayt, Caroline; Hermans, Christian; Pinardi, Gaia; De Backer, Hugo; De Bock, Veerle; Laffineur, Quentin; Vlemmix, Tim

    2014-05-01

    In recent years, ground-based multi-axis differential absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) has shown to be ideally suited for the retrieval of tropospheric trace gases and deriving information on the aerosol properties. These measurements are invaluable to our understanding of the physics and chemistry of the atmospheric system, and the impact on the Earth's climate. Unfortunately, MAX-DOAS measurements are often performed under strong non-clear-sky conditions, causing strong data quality degradation and uncertainties on the retrievals. Here we present the result of our cloud-screening method, using the colour index (CI), on aerosol retrievals from MAX-DOAS measurements (AOD and vertical profiles). We focus on two large data sets, from the Brussels and Beijing area. Using the CI we define 3 different sky conditions: bad (=full thick cloud cover/extreme aerosols), mediocre (=thin clouds/aerosols) and good (=clear sky). We also flag the presence of broken/scattered clouds. We further compare our cloud-screening method with results from cloud-cover fractions derived from thermic infrared measurements. In general, our method shows good results to qualify the sky and cloud conditions of MAX-DOAS measurements, without the need for other external cloud-detection systems. Removing data under bad-sky and broken-cloud conditions results in a strongly improved agreement, in both correlation and slope, between the MAX-DOAS aerosol retrievals and data from other instruments (e.g. AERONET, Brewer). With the improved AOD retrievals, the seasonal and diurnal variations of the aerosol content and vertical distribution at both sites can be investigated in further detail. By combining with additional information derived by other instruments (Brewer, lidar, ...) operated at the stations, we will further study the observed aerosol characteristics, and their influence on and by meteorological conditions such as clouds and/or the boundary layer height.

  9. The Wikipedia Image Retrieval Task

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    T. Tsikrika (Theodora); J. Kludas

    2010-01-01

    htmlabstractThe wikipedia image retrieval task at ImageCLEF provides a testbed for the system-oriented evaluation of visual information retrieval from a collection of Wikipedia images. The aim is to investigate the effectiveness of retrieval approaches that exploit textual and visual evidence in the

  10. DORS: DDC Online Retrieval System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Songqiao; Svenonius, Elaine

    1991-01-01

    Describes the Dewey Online Retrieval System (DORS), which was developed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to experiment with classification-based search strategies in online catalogs. Classification structures in automated information retrieval are discussed; and specifications for a classification retrieval interface are…

  11. Satellite retrievals of leaf chlorophyll and photosynthetic capacity for improved modeling of GPP

    KAUST Repository

    Houborg, Rasmus; Cescatti, Alessandro; Migliavacca, Mirco; Kustas, W.P.

    2013-01-01

    This study investigates the utility of in situ and satellite-based leaf chlorophyll (Chl) estimates for quantifying leaf photosynthetic capacity and for constraining model simulations of Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) over a corn field in Maryland, U.S.A. The maximum rate of carboxylation (V-max) represents a key control on leaf photosynthesis within the widely employed C-3 and C-4 photosynthesis models proposed by Farquhar et al. (1980) and Collatz et al. (1992), respectively. A semi-mechanistic relationship between V-max(5) (V-max normalized to 25 degrees C) and Chl is derived based on interlinkages between V-max(25), Rubisco enzyme kinetics, leaf nitrogen, and Chl reported in the experimental literature. The resulting linear V-max(25) - Chl relationship is embedded within the photosynthesis scheme of the Community Land Model (CLM), thereby bypassing the use of fixed plant functional type (PFT) specific V-max(25) values. The effect of the updated parameterization on simulated carbon fluxes is tested over a corn field growing season using: (1) a detailed Chl time-series established on the basis of intensive field measurements and (2) Chl estimates derived from Landsat imagery using the REGularized canopy reFLECtance (REGFLEC) tool. Validations against flux tower observations demonstrate benefit of using Chl to parameterize V-max(25) to account for variations in nitrogen availability imposed by severe environmental conditions. The use of V-max(25) that varied seasonally as a function of satellite-based Chl, rather than a fixed PFT-specific value, significantly improved the agreement with observed tower fluxes with Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) increasing from 0.88 to 0.93 and the root-mean-square-deviation decreasing from 4.77 to 3.48 mu mol m(-2) s(-1). The results support the use of Chl as a proxy for photosynthetic capacity using generalized relationships between V-max(25) and Chl, and advocate the potential of satellite retrieved Chl for constraining

  12. Satellite retrievals of leaf chlorophyll and photosynthetic capacity for improved modeling of GPP

    KAUST Repository

    Houborg, Rasmus

    2013-08-01

    This study investigates the utility of in situ and satellite-based leaf chlorophyll (Chl) estimates for quantifying leaf photosynthetic capacity and for constraining model simulations of Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) over a corn field in Maryland, U.S.A. The maximum rate of carboxylation (V-max) represents a key control on leaf photosynthesis within the widely employed C-3 and C-4 photosynthesis models proposed by Farquhar et al. (1980) and Collatz et al. (1992), respectively. A semi-mechanistic relationship between V-max(5) (V-max normalized to 25 degrees C) and Chl is derived based on interlinkages between V-max(25), Rubisco enzyme kinetics, leaf nitrogen, and Chl reported in the experimental literature. The resulting linear V-max(25) - Chl relationship is embedded within the photosynthesis scheme of the Community Land Model (CLM), thereby bypassing the use of fixed plant functional type (PFT) specific V-max(25) values. The effect of the updated parameterization on simulated carbon fluxes is tested over a corn field growing season using: (1) a detailed Chl time-series established on the basis of intensive field measurements and (2) Chl estimates derived from Landsat imagery using the REGularized canopy reFLECtance (REGFLEC) tool. Validations against flux tower observations demonstrate benefit of using Chl to parameterize V-max(25) to account for variations in nitrogen availability imposed by severe environmental conditions. The use of V-max(25) that varied seasonally as a function of satellite-based Chl, rather than a fixed PFT-specific value, significantly improved the agreement with observed tower fluxes with Pearson\\'s correlation coefficient (r) increasing from 0.88 to 0.93 and the root-mean-square-deviation decreasing from 4.77 to 3.48 mu mol m(-2) s(-1). The results support the use of Chl as a proxy for photosynthetic capacity using generalized relationships between V-max(25) and Chl, and advocate the potential of satellite retrieved Chl for

  13. Single-Shell Tank (SST) Retrieval Project Plan for Tank 241-C-104 Retrieval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DEFIGH PRICE, C.

    2000-01-01

    In support of the SST Interim Closure Project, Project W-523 ''Tank 241-C-104 Waste Retrieval System'' will provide systems for retrieval and transfer of radioactive waste from tank 241-C-104 (C-104) to the DST staging tank 241-AY-101 (AY-101). At the conclusion of Project W-523, a retrieval system will have been designed and tested to meet the requirements for Acceptance of Beneficial Use and been turned over to operations. Completion of construction and operations of the C-104 retrieval system will meet the recently proposed near-term Tri-Party Agreement milestone, M-45-03F (Proposed Tri-Party Agreement change request M-45-00-01A, August, 30 2000) for demonstrating limits of retrieval technologies on sludge and hard heels in SSTs, reduce near-term storage risks associated with aging SSTs, and provide feed for the tank waste treatment plant. This Project Plan documents the methodology for managing Project W-523; formalizes responsibilities; identifies key interfaces required to complete the retrieval action; establishes the technical, cost, and schedule baselines; and identifies project organizational requirements pertaining to the engineering process such as environmental, safety, quality assurance, change control, design verification, testing, and operational turnover

  14. Accelerating Information Retrieval from Profile Hidden Markov Model Databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamimi, Ahmad; Ashhab, Yaqoub; Tamimi, Hashem

    2016-01-01

    Profile Hidden Markov Model (Profile-HMM) is an efficient statistical approach to represent protein families. Currently, several databases maintain valuable protein sequence information as profile-HMMs. There is an increasing interest to improve the efficiency of searching Profile-HMM databases to detect sequence-profile or profile-profile homology. However, most efforts to enhance searching efficiency have been focusing on improving the alignment algorithms. Although the performance of these algorithms is fairly acceptable, the growing size of these databases, as well as the increasing demand for using batch query searching approach, are strong motivations that call for further enhancement of information retrieval from profile-HMM databases. This work presents a heuristic method to accelerate the current profile-HMM homology searching approaches. The method works by cluster-based remodeling of the database to reduce the search space, rather than focusing on the alignment algorithms. Using different clustering techniques, 4284 TIGRFAMs profiles were clustered based on their similarities. A representative for each cluster was assigned. To enhance sensitivity, we proposed an extended step that allows overlapping among clusters. A validation benchmark of 6000 randomly selected protein sequences was used to query the clustered profiles. To evaluate the efficiency of our approach, speed and recall values were measured and compared with the sequential search approach. Using hierarchical, k-means, and connected component clustering techniques followed by the extended overlapping step, we obtained an average reduction in time of 41%, and an average recall of 96%. Our results demonstrate that representation of profile-HMMs using a clustering-based approach can significantly accelerate data retrieval from profile-HMM databases.

  15. Diffused holographic information storage and retrieval using photorefractive optical materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMillen, Deanna Kay

    Holography offers a tremendous opportunity for dense information storage, theoretically one bit per cubic wavelength of material volume, with rapid retrieval, of up to thousands of pages of information simultaneously. However, many factors prevent the theoretical storage limit from being reached, including dynamic range problems and imperfections in recording materials. This research explores new ways of moving closer to practical holographic information storage and retrieval by altering the recording materials, in this case, photorefractive crystals, and by increasing the current storage capacity while improving the information retrieved. As an experimental example of the techniques developed, the information retrieved is the correlation peak from an optical recognition architecture, but the materials and methods developed are applicable to many other holographic information storage systems. Optical correlators can potentially solve any signal or image recognition problem. Military surveillance, fingerprint identification for law enforcement or employee identification, and video games are but a few examples of applications. A major obstacle keeping optical correlators from being universally accepted is the lack of a high quality, thick (high capacity) holographic recording material that operates with red or infrared wavelengths which are available from inexpensive diode lasers. This research addresses the problems from two positions: find a better material for use with diode lasers, and reduce the requirements placed on the material while maintaining an efficient and effective system. This research found that the solutions are new dopants introduced into photorefractive lithium niobate to improve wavelength sensitivities and the use of a novel inexpensive diffuser that reduces the dynamic range and optical element quality requirements (which reduces the cost) while improving performance. A uniquely doped set of 12 lithium niobate crystals was specified and

  16. Pup retrieval and maternal attraction to canine amniotic fluids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunbar, I; Ranson, E; Buehler, M

    1981-10-01

    Three purebred female beagles were observed with both their first and second litters. Dams were given three separate simultaneous-choice retrieval tests: In addition, the maternal response to amniotic fluids was observed when one pup in the litter was treated with amniotic fluids and all other pups were treated with water. There was no evidence to suggest that pups were retrieved preferentially on the basis of their sex. One female retrieved her own but not alien pups, whereas another female made no such discrimination and readily retrieved alien pups in addition to her own. Retrieval behavior developed at the time of each whelping and normally lasted until the pups were about 5 days old, although a bitch would retrieve younger (alien) pups up to 14 days post partum. Maternal bitches were strongly attracted towards amniotic fluids: they investigated pups daubed with amniotic fluids to a significantly greater extent than control pups treated with water. The attraction of maternal females towards amniotic fluids developed at the time of each whelping and persisted for up to 30 days, well beyond the time that a whelping bitch would normally be exposed to her own fetal fluids. A possible role for amniotic fluids in the development of maternal behaviour and the establishment of the maternal/puppy bond is discussed. Copyright © 1981. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. Intelligence as the efficiency of cue-driven retrieval from secondary memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liesefeld, Heinrich René; Hoffmann, Eugenia; Wentura, Dirk

    2016-01-01

    Complex-span (working-memory-capacity) tasks are among the most successful predictors of intelligence. One important contributor to this relationship is the ability to efficiently employ cues for the retrieval from secondary memory. Presumably, intelligent individuals can considerably restrict their memory search sets by using such cues and can thereby improve recall performance. We here test this assumption by experimentally manipulating the validity of retrieval cues. When memoranda are drawn from the same semantic category on two successive trials of a verbal complex-span task, the category is a very strong retrieval cue on its first occurrence (strong-cue trial) but loses some of its validity on its second occurrence (weak-cue trial). If intelligent individuals make better use of semantic categories as retrieval cues, their recall accuracy suffers more from this loss of cue validity. Accordingly, our results show that less variance in intelligence is explained by recall accuracy on weak-cue compared with strong-cue trials.

  18. Impaired retrieval processes evident during visual working memory in schizophrenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter A. Lynn

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Prominent working memory (WM deficits have been observed in people with schizophrenia (PSZ across multiple sensory modalities, including the visuospatial realm. Electrophysiological abnormalities noted during early visual processing as well as later cognitive functions in PSZ may underlie deficiencies in WM ability, though the mechanisms linking behavior to neural responses are not well understood. WM dysfunction has also been observed in biological relatives of PSZ (REL and therefore may be a manifestation of genetic liability for the disorder. We administered a delayed response visuospatial WM task to 23 PSZ, 30 of their REL, and 37 healthy controls (CTRL to better understand the contributions of neural abnormalities to WM performance deficits associated with schizophrenia. PSZ performed more poorly on the WM task and failed to effectively process distractor stimuli as well as CTRL and REL. N1 electrophysiological responses to probes during retrieval differentiated the type and locations of stimuli presented during encoding in CTRL. Retrieval N1 responses in PSZ, however, failed to do so, while retrieval responses in REL showed more pronounced differentiation of stimulus features during encoding. Furthermore, neural responses during retrieval predicted behavioral performance in PSZ and REL, but not CTRL. These results suggest that retrieval processes are particularly important to efficient visuospatial WM function in PSZ and REL, and support further investigation of WM retrieval as a potential target for improving overall WM function through clinical intervention.

  19. Venous Thromboembolism After Removal of Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamagami, Takuji; Tanaka, Osamu; Yoshimatsu, Rika; Miura, Hiroshi; Nishimura, Tsunehiko

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of new or recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) after retrieval of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters and risk factors associated with such recurrence. Between March 2001 and September 2008, at our institution, implanted retrievable vena cava filters were retrieved in 76 patients. The incidence of new or recurrent VTE after retrieval was reviewed and numerous variables were analyzed to assess risk factors for redevelopment of VTE after filter retrieval. In 5 (6.6%) of the 76 patients, redevelopment or worsening of VTE was seen after retrieval of the filter. Three patients (4.0%) had recurrent deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in the lower extremities and 2 (2.6%) had development of pulmonary embolism, resulting in death. Although there was no significant difference in the incidence of new or recurrent VTE related to any risk factor investigated, a tendency for development of VTE after filter retrieval was higher in patients in whom DVT in the lower extremities had been so severe during filter implantation that interventional radiological therapies in addition to traditional anticoagulation therapies were required (40% in patients with recurrent VTE vs. 23% in those without VTE; p = 0.5866 according to Fisher's exact probability test) and in patients in whom DVT remained at the time of filter retrieval (60% in patients with recurrent VTE vs. 37% in those without VTE; p = 0.3637). In conclusion, new or recurrent VTE was rare after retrieval of IVC filters but was most likely to occur in patients who had severe DVT during filter implantation and/or in patients with a DVT that remained at the time of filter retrieval. We must point out that the fatality rate from PE after filter removal was high (2.6%).

  20. Memory Binding in Early Childhood: Evidence for a Retrieval Deficit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd, Marianne E.; Doydum, Ayzit O.; Newcombe, Nora S.

    2009-01-01

    Previous research has suggested that performance for items requiring memory-binding processes improves between ages 4 and 6 (J. Sluzenski, N. Newcombe, & S. L. Kovacs, 2006). The present study suggests that much of this improvement is due to retrieval, as opposed to encoding, deficits for 4-year-olds. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 48 per age)…

  1. Subhypnotic doses of propofol impair spatial memory retrieval in rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Abundant evidence indicates that propofol profoundly affects memory processes, although its specific effects on memory retrieval have not been clarified. A recent study has indicated that hippocampal glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β activity affects memory. Constitutively active GSK-3β is required for memory retrieval, and propofol has been shown to inhibit GSK-3β. Thus, the present study examined whether propofol affects memory retrieval, and, if so, whether that effect is mediated through altered GSK-3β activity. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on a Morris water maze task (eight acquisition trials in one session and subjected under the influence of a subhypnotic dose of propofol to a 24-hour probe trial memory retrieval test. The results showed that rats receiving pretest propofol (25 mg/kg spent significantly less time in the target quadrant but showed no change in locomotor activity compared with those in the control group. Memory retrieval was accompanied by reduced phosphorylation of the serine-9 residue of GSK-3β in the hippocampus, whereas phosphorylation of the tyrosine-216 residue was unaffected. However, propofol blocked this retrieval-associated serine-9 phosphorylation. These findings suggest that subhypnotic propofol administration impairs memory retrieval and that the amnestic effects of propofol may be mediated by attenuated GSK-3β signaling in the hippocampus.

  2. Uniform Atmospheric Retrievals of Ultracool Late-T and Early-Y dwarfs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garland, Ryan; Irwin, Patrick

    2018-01-01

    A significant number of ultracool (types of objects with a uniform retrieval method, we hope to elucidate any trends and (dis)similarities found in atmospheric parameters, such as chemical abundances, temperature-pressure profile, and cloud structure, for a sample of 7 ultracool brown dwarfs as we transition from hotter (~700K) to colder objects (~450K).We perform atmospheric retrievals on two late-T and five early-Y dwarfs. We use the NEMESIS atmospheric retrieval code coupled to a Nested Sampling algorithm, along with a standard uniform model for all of our retrievals. The uniform model assumes the atmosphere is described by a gray radiative-convective temperature profile, (optionally) a self-consistent Mie scattering cloud, and a number of relevant gases. We first verify our methods by comparing it to a benchmark retrieval for Gliese 570D, which is found to be consistent. Furthermore, we present the retrieved gaseous composition, temperature structure, spectroscopic mass and radius, cloud structure and the trends associated with decreasing temperature found in this small sample of objects.

  3. Development of retrievability plans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richardson, P.J.

    1999-03-01

    It has become clear, from monitoring of many national programmes for siting of final repositories for radioactive waste disposal, that the potential or otherwise for retrievability of emplaced wastes is the one issue in particular which is repeatedly raised during public consultation and interaction. Although even those repositories which may be constructed over the next decades will operate for many decades more and be sealed only after a long-term monitoring phase, there is little operational pressure to finalise retrievability concepts. However, as siting processes require detailed conceptual designs to be developed, as do the associated safety assessment exercises, it is becoming increasingly recognised that the potential for retrieval must be examined now. This report is the culmination of a short project carried out for the Swedish National Co-ordinator for Nuclear Waste Disposal to examine the situation as regards the development and possible implementation of retrievability as an integral part of a disposal concept for nuclear waste. Because of the short work period involved, it can at best be only an overview, designed to provide a broad picture of current plans. The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate has begun to examine the issue, and a report is due later in 1999. A major collaborative investigation, which began in March 1998, is also currently underway under the auspices of the EU, but only involves implementing agencies from the various Member States. This report is intended to serve as background to these other studies when they appear. Utilising currently available information, as well as personal contacts, those countries currently examining retrievability or reversibility of disposal in some form have been identified. Information regarding these proposals has been collated, and contact made with relevant agencies and national regulatory bodies where possible. The report includes some review of the technical aspects of retrievability, with especial

  4. Phase 2, Solid waste retrieval strategy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, D.M.

    1994-01-01

    Solid TRU retrieval, Phase 1 is scheduled to commence operation in 1998 at 218W-4C-T01 and complete recovery of the waste containers in 2001. Phase 2 Retrieval will recover the remaining buried TRU waste to be retrieved and provide the preliminary characterization by non-destructive means to allow interim storage until processing for disposal. This document reports on researching the characterization documents to determine the types of wastes to be retrieved and where located, waste configurations, conditions, and required methods for retrieval. Also included are discussions of wastes encompassed by Phase 2 for which there are valid reasons to not retrieve

  5. Phase 2, Solid waste retrieval strategy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, D.M.

    1994-09-29

    Solid TRU retrieval, Phase 1 is scheduled to commence operation in 1998 at 218W-4C-T01 and complete recovery of the waste containers in 2001. Phase 2 Retrieval will recover the remaining buried TRU waste to be retrieved and provide the preliminary characterization by non-destructive means to allow interim storage until processing for disposal. This document reports on researching the characterization documents to determine the types of wastes to be retrieved and where located, waste configurations, conditions, and required methods for retrieval. Also included are discussions of wastes encompassed by Phase 2 for which there are valid reasons to not retrieve.

  6. Autobiographical memory in Parkinson's disease: a retrieval deficit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souchay, Celine; Smith, Sarah Jane

    2013-09-01

    This study examined the effects of providing cues to facilitate autobiographical memory retrieval in Parkinson's disease. Previous findings have shown that individuals with Parkinson's disease retrieve fewer specific autobiographical memories than older adult controls. These findings are clinically significant since the quality of autobiographical memory is linked to identity and sense of self. In the current study, 16 older adults with Parkinson's disease without dementia and 16 matched older adult controls were given 3 min in which to recall autobiographical memories associated with five different time periods and to give each memory a short title. Participants were later asked to retrieve the memories in three phases: firstly in a free recall phase; secondly in response to general cues (time periods) and finally in response to specific cues (the short titles previously given). The number of memories and the quality of the memory (general or specific) was recorded in each condition. Compared with matched older adult controls, the Parkinson's disease group was impaired in retrieving the memories that they had previously given in the free recall phase and in response to general cues. The performance of the group with Parkinson's disease was only equivalent to the older adults when they retrieved memories in response to self-generated cues. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of autobiographical memory and the neuropsychology of Parkinson's disease. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

  7. Complex amplitude reconstruction by iterative amplitude-phase retrieval algorithm with reference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Cheng; Guo, Cheng; Tan, Jiubin; Liu, Shutian; Liu, Zhengjun

    2018-06-01

    Multi-image iterative phase retrieval methods have been successfully applied in plenty of research fields due to their simple but efficient implementation. However, there is a mismatch between the measurement of the first long imaging distance and the sequential interval. In this paper, an amplitude-phase retrieval algorithm with reference is put forward without additional measurements or priori knowledge. It gets rid of measuring the first imaging distance. With a designed update formula, it significantly raises the convergence speed and the reconstruction fidelity, especially in phase retrieval. Its superiority over the original amplitude-phase retrieval (APR) method is validated by numerical analysis and experiments. Furthermore, it provides a conceptual design of a compact holographic image sensor, which can achieve numerical refocusing easily.

  8. Physically-Retrieving Cloud and Thermodynamic Parameters from Ultraspectral IR Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Daniel K.; Smith, William L., Sr.; Liu, Xu; Larar, Allen M.; Mango, Stephen A.; Huang, Hung-Lung

    2007-01-01

    A physical inversion scheme has been developed, dealing with cloudy as well as cloud-free radiance observed with ultraspectral infrared sounders, to simultaneously retrieve surface, atmospheric thermodynamic, and cloud microphysical parameters. A fast radiative transfer model, which applies to the clouded atmosphere, is used for atmospheric profile and cloud parameter retrieval. A one-dimensional (1-d) variational multi-variable inversion solution is used to improve an iterative background state defined by an eigenvector-regression-retrieval. The solution is iterated in order to account for non-linearity in the 1-d variational solution. It is shown that relatively accurate temperature and moisture retrievals can be achieved below optically thin clouds. For optically thick clouds, accurate temperature and moisture profiles down to cloud top level are obtained. For both optically thin and thick cloud situations, the cloud top height can be retrieved with relatively high accuracy (i.e., error < 1 km). NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed Interferometer (NAST-I) retrievals from the Atlantic-THORPEX Regional Campaign are compared with coincident observations obtained from dropsondes and the nadir-pointing Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). This work was motivated by the need to obtain solutions for atmospheric soundings from infrared radiances observed for every individual field of view, regardless of cloud cover, from future ultraspectral geostationary satellite sounding instruments, such as the Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS) and the Hyperspectral Environmental Suite (HES). However, this retrieval approach can also be applied to the ultraspectral sounding instruments to fly on Polar satellites, such as the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the European MetOp satellite, the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the NPOESS Preparatory Project and the following NPOESS series of satellites.

  9. Optimization of reference library used in content-based medical image retrieval scheme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sang Cheol; Sukthankar, Rahul; Mummert, Lily; Satyanarayanan, Mahadev; Zheng Bin

    2007-01-01

    Building an optimal image reference library is a critical step in developing the interactive computer-aided detection and diagnosis (I-CAD) systems of medical images using content-based image retrieval (CBIR) schemes. In this study, the authors conducted two experiments to investigate (1) the relationship between I-CAD performance and size of reference library and (2) a new reference selection strategy to optimize the library and improve I-CAD performance. The authors assembled a reference library that includes 3153 regions of interest (ROI) depicting either malignant masses (1592) or CAD-cued false-positive regions (1561) and an independent testing data set including 200 masses and 200 false-positive regions. A CBIR scheme using a distance-weighted K-nearest neighbor algorithm is applied to retrieve references that are considered similar to the testing sample from the library. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (A z ) is used as an index to evaluate the I-CAD performance. In the first experiment, the authors systematically increased reference library size and tested I-CAD performance. The result indicates that scheme performance improves initially from A z =0.715 to 0.874 and then plateaus when the library size reaches approximately half of its maximum capacity. In the second experiment, based on the hypothesis that a ROI should be removed if it performs poorly compared to a group of similar ROIs in a large and diverse reference library, the authors applied a new strategy to identify 'poorly effective' references. By removing 174 identified ROIs from the reference library, I-CAD performance significantly increases to A z =0.914 (p<0.01). The study demonstrates that increasing reference library size and removing poorly effective references can significantly improve I-CAD performance

  10. Use of information-retrieval languages in automated retrieval of experimental data from long-term storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khovanskiy, Y. D.; Kremneva, N. I.

    1975-01-01

    Problems and methods are discussed of automating information retrieval operations in a data bank used for long term storage and retrieval of data from scientific experiments. Existing information retrieval languages are analyzed along with those being developed. The results of studies discussing the application of the descriptive 'Kristall' language used in the 'ASIOR' automated information retrieval system are presented. The development and use of a specialized language of the classification-descriptive type, using universal decimal classification indices as the main descriptors, is described.

  11. Significant wave height retrieval from synthetic radar images

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijaya, Andreas Parama; van Groesen, Embrecht W.C.

    2014-01-01

    In many offshore activities radar imagery is used to observe and predict ocean waves. An important issue in analyzing the radar images is to resolve the significant wave height. Different from 3DFFT methods that use an estimate related to the square root of the signal-to-noise ratio of radar images,

  12. The impact of using different ozone cross sections on ozone profile retrievals from OMI UV measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Cheng; Liu, Xiong; Chance, Kelly

    2013-01-01

    We compare three datasets of high-resolution O 3 cross sections and evaluate the effects of using these cross sections on O 3 profile retrievals from OMI UV (270–330 nm) measurements. These O 3 cross sections include Brion–Daumont–Malicet (BDM), Bass–Paur (BP) and a new dataset measured by Serdyuchenko et al. (SGWCB), which is made from measurements at more temperatures and in a wider temperature range than BDM and BP, 193–293 K. Relative to the BDM dataset, the SGWCB data have systematic biases of −2 to +4% for 260–340 nm, and the BP data have smaller biases of 1–2% below 315 nm but larger spiky biases of up to ±6% at longer wavelengths. These datasets show distinctly different temperature dependences. Using different cross sections can significantly affect atmospheric retrievals. Using SGWCB data leads to retrieval failure for almost half of the OMI spatial pixels, producing large negative ozone values that cannot be handled by radiative transfer models and using BP data leads to large fitting residuals over 310–330 nm. Relative to the BDM retrievals, total ozone retrieved using original SGWCB data (with linear temperature interpolation/extrapolation) typically shows negative biases of 5–10 DU; retrieved tropospheric ozone column generally shows negative biases of 5–10 DU and 5–20 DU for parameterized and original SGWCB data, respectively. Compared to BDM retrievals, ozone profiles retrieved with BP/SGWCB data on average show large altitude-dependent oscillating differences of up to ±20–40% biases below ∼20 km with almost opposite bias patterns. Validation with ozonesonde observations demonstrates that the BDM retrievals agree well with ozonesondes, to typically within 10%, while both BP and SGWCB retrievals consistently show large altitude-dependent biases of up to ±20–70% below 20 km. Therefore, we recommend using the BDM dataset for ozone profile retrievals from UV measurements. Its improved performance is likely due to its

  13. How to average logarithmic retrievals?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Funke

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Calculation of mean trace gas contributions from profiles obtained by retrievals of the logarithm of the abundance rather than retrievals of the abundance itself are prone to biases. By means of a system simulator, biases of linear versus logarithmic averaging were evaluated for both maximum likelihood and maximum a priori retrievals, for various signal to noise ratios and atmospheric variabilities. These biases can easily reach ten percent or more. As a rule of thumb we found for maximum likelihood retrievals that linear averaging better represents the true mean value in cases of large local natural variability and high signal to noise ratios, while for small local natural variability logarithmic averaging often is superior. In the case of maximum a posteriori retrievals, the mean is dominated by the a priori information used in the retrievals and the method of averaging is of minor concern. For larger natural variabilities, the appropriateness of the one or the other method of averaging depends on the particular case because the various biasing mechanisms partly compensate in an unpredictable manner. This complication arises mainly because of the fact that in logarithmic retrievals the weight of the prior information depends on abundance of the gas itself. No simple rule was found on which kind of averaging is superior, and instead of suggesting simple recipes we cannot do much more than to create awareness of the traps related with averaging of mixing ratios obtained from logarithmic retrievals.

  14. Retrieval and analysis of atmospheric XCO2 using ground-based spectral observation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Xiu-Chun; Lei, Li-Ping; Kawasaki, Masahiro; Masafumi, Ohashi; Takahiro, Kuroki; Zeng, Zhao-Cheng; Zhang, Bing

    2014-07-01

    Atmospheric CO2 column concentration (column-averaged dry air mole fractions of atmospheric carbon dioxide) data obtained by ground-based hyperspectral observation is an important source of data for the verification and improvement of the results of CO2 retrieval based on satellite hyperspectral observation. However, few studies have been conducted on atmospheric CO2 column concentration retrieval based on ground-based spectral hyperspectral observation in China. In the present study, we carried out the ground-based hyperspectral observation in Xilingol Grassland, Inner Mongolia of China by using an observation system which is consisted of an optical spectral analyzer, a sun tracker, and some other elements. The atmospheric CO2 column concentration was retrieved using the observed hyperspectral data. The effect of a wavelength shift of the observation spectra and the meteorological parameters on the retrieval precision of the atmospheric CO2 concentration was evaluated and analyzed. The results show that the mean value of atmospheric CO2 concentration was 390.9 microg x mL(-1) in the study area during the observing period from July to September. The shift of wavelength in the range between -0.012 and 0.042 nm will generally lead to 1 microg x mL(-1) deviation in the CO2 retrievals. This study also revealed that the spectral transmittance was sensitive to meteorological parameters in the wavelength range of 6 357-6 358, 6 360-6 361, and 6 363-6 364 cm(-1). By comparing the CO2 retrievals derived from the meteorological parameters observed in synchronous and non-synchronous time, respectively, with the spectral observation, it was showed that the concentration deviation caused by using the non-synchronously observed meteorological parameters is ranged from 0.11 to 4 microg x mL(-1). These results can be used as references for the further improvement of retrieving CO2 column concentration based on spectral observation.

  15. Within-session spacing improves delayed recall in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zigterman, Jessica R; Simone, Patricia M; Bell, Matthew C

    2015-01-01

    Multiple retrievals of a memory over a spaced manner improve long-term memory performance in infants, children, younger and older adults; however, few studies have examined spacing effects with young school-age children. To expand the understanding of the spacing benefit in children, the current study presented weakly associated English word-pairs to children aged 7-11 and cued their recall two times immediately (massed), after a delay of 5 or 10 items (spaced) or not at all (control). After this encoding session with or without two retrievals, participants were tested two times for memory of all word-pairs: immediately and 30 minutes after the encoding session. Multiple retrievals significantly improved memory on the tests. However, words repeated in a spaced design were remembered at higher rates than those that were massed, while gap size between repetitions (5 or 10) did not differentially impact performance. The data show that a within-session spacing strategy can benefit children's ability to remember word-pairs after 30 minutes. Thus, asking students to recall what they have learned within a lesson is a technique that can be used in a classroom to improve long-term recall.

  16. Semantic-based surveillance video retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Weiming; Xie, Dan; Fu, Zhouyu; Zeng, Wenrong; Maybank, Steve

    2007-04-01

    Visual surveillance produces large amounts of video data. Effective indexing and retrieval from surveillance video databases are very important. Although there are many ways to represent the content of video clips in current video retrieval algorithms, there still exists a semantic gap between users and retrieval systems. Visual surveillance systems supply a platform for investigating semantic-based video retrieval. In this paper, a semantic-based video retrieval framework for visual surveillance is proposed. A cluster-based tracking algorithm is developed to acquire motion trajectories. The trajectories are then clustered hierarchically using the spatial and temporal information, to learn activity models. A hierarchical structure of semantic indexing and retrieval of object activities, where each individual activity automatically inherits all the semantic descriptions of the activity model to which it belongs, is proposed for accessing video clips and individual objects at the semantic level. The proposed retrieval framework supports various queries including queries by keywords, multiple object queries, and queries by sketch. For multiple object queries, succession and simultaneity restrictions, together with depth and breadth first orders, are considered. For sketch-based queries, a method for matching trajectories drawn by users to spatial trajectories is proposed. The effectiveness and efficiency of our framework are tested in a crowded traffic scene.

  17. Web information retrieval for health professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ting, S L; See-To, Eric W K; Tse, Y K

    2013-06-01

    This paper presents a Web Information Retrieval System (WebIRS), which is designed to assist the healthcare professionals to obtain up-to-date medical knowledge and information via the World Wide Web (WWW). The system leverages the document classification and text summarization techniques to deliver the highly correlated medical information to the physicians. The system architecture of the proposed WebIRS is first discussed, and then a case study on an application of the proposed system in a Hong Kong medical organization is presented to illustrate the adoption process and a questionnaire is administrated to collect feedback on the operation and performance of WebIRS in comparison with conventional information retrieval in the WWW. A prototype system has been constructed and implemented on a trial basis in a medical organization. It has proven to be of benefit to healthcare professionals through its automatic functions in classification and summarizing the medical information that the physicians needed and interested. The results of the case study show that with the use of the proposed WebIRS, significant reduction of searching time and effort, with retrieval of highly relevant materials can be attained.

  18. Bilateral Alternating Auditory Stimulations Facilitate Fear Extinction and Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Boukezzi

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Disruption of fear conditioning, its extinction and its retrieval are at the core of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD. Such deficits, especially fear extinction delay, disappear after alternating bilateral stimulations (BLS during eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR therapy. An animal model of fear recovery, based on auditory cued fear conditioning and extinction learning, recently showed that BLS facilitate fear extinction and fear extinction retrieval. Our goal was to determine if these previous results found in animals can be reproduced in humans. Twenty-two healthy participants took part in a classical fear conditioning, extinction, and extinction recall paradigm. Behavioral responses (fear expectations as well as psychophysiological measures (skin conductance responses, SCRs were recorded. The results showed a significant fear expectation decrease during fear extinction with BLS. Additionally, SCR for fear extinction retrieval were significantly lower with BLS. Our results demonstrate the importance of BLS to reduce negative emotions, and provide a successful model to further explore the neural mechanisms underlying the sole BLS effect in the EMDR.

  19. Inert gas narcosis disrupts encoding but not retrieval of long term memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobbs, Malcolm; Kneller, Wendy

    2015-05-15

    Exposure to increased ambient pressure causes inert gas narcosis of which one symptom is long-term memory (LTM) impairment. Narcosis is posited to impair LTM by disrupting information encoding, retrieval (self-guided search), or both. The effect of narcosis on the encoding and retrieval of LTM was investigated by testing the effect of learning-recall pressure and levels of processing (LoP) on the free-recall of word lists in divers underwater. All participants (n=60) took part in four conditions in which words were learnt and then recalled at either low pressure (1.4-1.9atm/4-9msw) or high pressure (4.4-5.0atm/34-40msw), as manipulated by changes in depth underwater: low-low (LL), low-high(LH), high-high (HH), and high-low (HL). In addition, participants were assigned to either a deep or shallow processing condition, using LoP methodology. Free-recall memory ability was significantly impaired only when words were initially learned at high pressure (HH & HL conditions). When words were learned at low pressure and then recalled at low pressure (LL condition) or high pressure (LH condition) free-recall was not impaired. Although numerically superior in several conditions, deeper processing failed to significantly improve free-recall ability in any of the learning-recall conditions. This pattern of results support the hypothesis that narcosis disrupts encoding of information into LTM, while retrieval appears to be unaffected. These findings are discussed in relation to similar effects reported by some memory impairing drugs and the practical implications for workers in pressurised environments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. TRADEMARK IMAGE RETRIEVAL USING LOW LEVEL FEATURE EXTRACTION IN CBIR

    OpenAIRE

    Latika Pinjarkar*, Manisha Sharma, Smita Selot

    2016-01-01

    Trademarks work as significant responsibility in industry and commerce. Trademarks are important component of its industrial property, and violation can have severe penalty. Therefore designing an efficient trademark retrieval system and its assessment for uniqueness is thus becoming very important task now a days. Trademark image retrieval system where a new candidate trademark is compared with already registered trademarks to check that there is no possibility of resembl...

  1. Innovative technology summary report: Innovative grouting and retrieval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-10-01

    Innovative grouting and retrieval (IGR) technology provides an innovative and cost-effective approach for full-pit and hot-spot retrieval of buried transuranic (TRU) waste sites and in situ disposal of buried waste with improved confinement. Innovative grouting technology: minimizes spreading of contamination by agglomerating the soil particles containing plutonium/americium particulates into nonaerosolizable particles; minimizes worker risks and exposure; is more effective in controlling the spread of contamination than common mining practices such as directed air flow, misting, and fixant sprays; eliminates further treatment because the grouted, rubberized waste is ready for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP); reduces capital expenditures, operating costs, and containment structure requirements; and is an estimated five times faster than the baseline technology of removal, packaging, and storage

  2. Aerosol retrieval experiments in the ESA Aerosol_cci project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Holzer-Popp

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Within the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI project Aerosol_cci (2010–2013, algorithms for the production of long-term total column aerosol optical depth (AOD datasets from European Earth Observation sensors are developed. Starting with eight existing pre-cursor algorithms three analysis steps are conducted to improve and qualify the algorithms: (1 a series of experiments applied to one month of global data to understand several major sensitivities to assumptions needed due to the ill-posed nature of the underlying inversion problem, (2 a round robin exercise of "best" versions of each of these algorithms (defined using the step 1 outcome applied to four months of global data to identify mature algorithms, and (3 a comprehensive validation exercise applied to one complete year of global data produced by the algorithms selected as mature based on the round robin exercise. The algorithms tested included four using AATSR, three using MERIS and one using PARASOL. This paper summarizes the first step. Three experiments were conducted to assess the potential impact of major assumptions in the various aerosol retrieval algorithms. In the first experiment a common set of four aerosol components was used to provide all algorithms with the same assumptions. The second experiment introduced an aerosol property climatology, derived from a combination of model and sun photometer observations, as a priori information in the retrievals on the occurrence of the common aerosol components. The third experiment assessed the impact of using a common nadir cloud mask for AATSR and MERIS algorithms in order to characterize the sensitivity to remaining cloud contamination in the retrievals against the baseline dataset versions. The impact of the algorithm changes was assessed for one month (September 2008 of data: qualitatively by inspection of monthly mean AOD maps and quantitatively by comparing daily gridded satellite data against daily averaged AERONET sun

  3. Classification of Aerosol Retrievals from Spaceborne Polarimetry Using a Multiparameter Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Philip B.; Kacenelenbogen, Meloe; Livingston, John M.; Hasekamp, Otto P.; Burton, Sharon P.; Schuster, Gregory L.; Johnson, Matthew S.; Knobelspiesse, Kirk D.; Redemann, Jens; Ramachandran, S.; hide

    2013-01-01

    In this presentation, we demonstrate application of a new aerosol classification algorithm to retrievals from the POLDER-3 polarimter on the PARASOL spacecraft. Motivation and method: Since the development of global aerosol measurements by satellites and AERONET, classification of observed aerosols into several types (e.g., urban-industrial, biomass burning, mineral dust, maritime, and various subtypes or mixtures of these) has proven useful to: understanding aerosol sources, transformations, effects, and feedback mechanisms; improving accuracy of satellite retrievals and quantifying assessments of aerosol radiative impacts on climate.

  4. The GRAPE aerosol retrieval algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. E. Thomas

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available The aerosol component of the Oxford-Rutherford Aerosol and Cloud (ORAC combined cloud and aerosol retrieval scheme is described and the theoretical performance of the algorithm is analysed. ORAC is an optimal estimation retrieval scheme for deriving cloud and aerosol properties from measurements made by imaging satellite radiometers and, when applied to cloud free radiances, provides estimates of aerosol optical depth at a wavelength of 550 nm, aerosol effective radius and surface reflectance at 550 nm. The aerosol retrieval component of ORAC has several incarnations – this paper addresses the version which operates in conjunction with the cloud retrieval component of ORAC (described by Watts et al., 1998, as applied in producing the Global Retrieval of ATSR Cloud Parameters and Evaluation (GRAPE data-set.

    The algorithm is described in detail and its performance examined. This includes a discussion of errors resulting from the formulation of the forward model, sensitivity of the retrieval to the measurements and a priori constraints, and errors resulting from assumptions made about the atmospheric/surface state.

  5. Blocking mineralocorticoid receptors prior to retrieval reduces contextual fear memory in mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Zhou

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Corticosteroid hormones regulate appraisal and consolidation of information via mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs respectively. How activation of these receptors modulates retrieval of fearful information and the subsequent expression of fear is largely unknown. We tested here whether blockade of MRs or GRs during retrieval also affects subsequent expression of fear memory. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mice were trained in contextual or tone cue fear conditioning paradigms, by pairing mild foot shocks with a particular context or tone respectively. Twenty-four hours after training, context-conditioned animals were re-exposed to the context for 3 or 30 minutes (day 2; tone-conditioned animals were placed in a different context and re-exposed to one or six tones. Twenty-four hours (day 3 and one month later, freezing behavior to the aversive context/tone was scored again. MR or GR blockade was achieved by giving spironolactone or RU486 subcutaneously one hour before retrieval on day 2. Spironolactone administered prior to brief context re-exposure reduced freezing behavior during retrieval and 24 hours later, but not one month later. Administration of spironolactone without retrieval of the context or immediately after retrieval on day 2 did not reduce freezing on day 3. Re-exposure to the context for 30 minutes on day 2 significantly reduced freezing on day 3 and one month later, but freezing was not further reduced by spironolactone. Administration of spironolactone prior to tone-cue re-exposure on day 2 did not affect freezing behavior. Treatment with RU486 prior to re-exposure did not affect context or tone-cue fear memories at any time point. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that MR blockade prior to retrieval strongly reduces the expression of contextual fear, implying that MRs, rather than GRs, play an important role in retrieval of emotional information and subsequent fear expression.

  6. Experiences with automated categorization in e-government information retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jonasen, Tanja Svarre; Lykke, Marianne

    2014-01-01

    High-precision search results are essential for supporting e-government employees’ information tasks. Prior studies have shown that existing features of e-government retrieval systems need improvement in terms of search facilities (e.g., Goh et al. 2008), navigation (e.g., de Jong and Lentz 2006)...

  7. The MIGHTI Wind Retrieval Algorithm: Description and Verification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Brian J.; Makela, Jonathan J.; Englert, Christoph R.; Marr, Kenneth D.; Harlander, John M.; England, Scott L.; Immel, Thomas J.

    2017-10-01

    We present an algorithm to retrieve thermospheric wind profiles from measurements by the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument on NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission. MIGHTI measures interferometric limb images of the green and red atomic oxygen emissions at 557.7 nm and 630.0 nm, spanning 90-300 km. The Doppler shift of these emissions represents a remote measurement of the wind at the tangent point of the line of sight. Here we describe the algorithm which uses these images to retrieve altitude profiles of the line-of-sight wind. By combining the measurements from two MIGHTI sensors with perpendicular lines of sight, both components of the vector horizontal wind are retrieved. A comprehensive truth model simulation that is based on TIME-GCM winds and various airglow models is used to determine the accuracy and precision of the MIGHTI data product. Accuracy is limited primarily by spherical asymmetry of the atmosphere over the spatial scale of the limb observation, a fundamental limitation of space-based wind measurements. For 80% of the retrieved wind samples, the accuracy is found to be better than 5.8 m/s (green) and 3.5 m/s (red). As expected, significant errors are found near the day/night boundary and occasionally near the equatorial ionization anomaly, due to significant variations of wind and emission rate along the line of sight. The precision calculation includes pointing uncertainty and shot, read, and dark noise. For average solar minimum conditions, the expected precision meets requirements, ranging from 1.2 to 4.7 m/s.

  8. Enhanced Resolution for Aquarius Salinity Retrieval near Land-Water Boundaries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utku, Cuneyt; Le Vine, David M.

    2014-01-01

    A numerical reconstruction of the brightness temperature is examined as a potential way to improve the retrieval of salinity from Aquarius measurements closer to landwater boundaries. A test case using simulated ocean-land scenes suggest promise for the technique.

  9. Ontology-based Information Retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Styltsvig, Henrik Bulskov

    In this thesis, we will present methods for introducing ontologies in information retrieval. The main hypothesis is that the inclusion of conceptual knowledge such as ontologies in the information retrieval process can contribute to the solution of major problems currently found in information...... retrieval. This utilization of ontologies has a number of challenges. Our focus is on the use of similarity measures derived from the knowledge about relations between concepts in ontologies, the recognition of semantic information in texts and the mapping of this knowledge into the ontologies in use......, as well as how to fuse together the ideas of ontological similarity and ontological indexing into a realistic information retrieval scenario. To achieve the recognition of semantic knowledge in a text, shallow natural language processing is used during indexing that reveals knowledge to the level of noun...

  10. Extinction learning, which consists of the inhibition of retrieval, can be learned without retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Carvalho Myskiw, Jociane; Furini, Cristiane Regina Guerino; Schmidt, Bianca; Ferreira, Flávia; Izquierdo, Ivan

    2015-01-13

    In the present study we test the hypothesis that extinction is not a consequence of retrieval in unreinforced conditioned stimulus (CS) presentation but the mere perception of the CS in the absence of a conditioned response. Animals with cannulae implanted in the CA1 region of hippocampus were subjected to extinction of contextual fear conditioning. Muscimol infused intra-CA1 before an extinction training session of contextual fear conditioning (CFC) blocks retrieval but not consolidation of extinction measured 24 h later. Additionally, this inhibition of retrieval does not affect early persistence of extinction when tested 7 d later or its spontaneous recovery after 2 wk. Furthermore, both anisomycin, an inhibitor of ribosomal protein synthesis, and rapamycin, an inhibitor of extraribosomal protein synthesis, given into the CA1, impair extinction of CFC regardless of whether its retrieval was blocked by muscimol. Therefore, retrieval performance in the first unreinforced session is not necessary for the installation, maintenance, or spontaneous recovery of extinction of CFC.

  11. Neural substrate of initiation of cross-modal working memory retrieval.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yangyang Zhang

    Full Text Available Cross-modal working memory requires integrating stimuli from different modalities and it is associated with co-activation of distributed networks in the brain. However, how brain initiates cross-modal working memory retrieval remains not clear yet. In the present study, we developed a cued matching task, in which the necessity for cross-modal/unimodal memory retrieval and its initiation time were controlled by a task cue appeared in the delay period. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, significantly larger brain activations were observed in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (l-LPFC, left superior parietal lobe (l-SPL, and thalamus in the cued cross-modal matching trials (CCMT compared to those in the cued unimodal matching trials (CUMT. However, no significant differences in the brain activations prior to task cue were observed for sensory stimulation in the l-LPFC and l-SPL areas. Although thalamus displayed differential responses to the sensory stimulation between two conditions, the differential responses were not the same with responses to the task cues. These results revealed that the frontoparietal-thalamus network participated in the initiation of cross-modal working memory retrieval. Secondly, the l-SPL and thalamus showed differential activations between maintenance and working memory retrieval, which might be associated with the enhanced demand for cognitive resources.

  12. Neural substrate of initiation of cross-modal working memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yangyang; Hu, Yang; Guan, Shuchen; Hong, Xiaolong; Wang, Zhaoxin; Li, Xianchun

    2014-01-01

    Cross-modal working memory requires integrating stimuli from different modalities and it is associated with co-activation of distributed networks in the brain. However, how brain initiates cross-modal working memory retrieval remains not clear yet. In the present study, we developed a cued matching task, in which the necessity for cross-modal/unimodal memory retrieval and its initiation time were controlled by a task cue appeared in the delay period. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), significantly larger brain activations were observed in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (l-LPFC), left superior parietal lobe (l-SPL), and thalamus in the cued cross-modal matching trials (CCMT) compared to those in the cued unimodal matching trials (CUMT). However, no significant differences in the brain activations prior to task cue were observed for sensory stimulation in the l-LPFC and l-SPL areas. Although thalamus displayed differential responses to the sensory stimulation between two conditions, the differential responses were not the same with responses to the task cues. These results revealed that the frontoparietal-thalamus network participated in the initiation of cross-modal working memory retrieval. Secondly, the l-SPL and thalamus showed differential activations between maintenance and working memory retrieval, which might be associated with the enhanced demand for cognitive resources.

  13. Using citation data to improve retrieval from MEDLINE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernstam, Elmer V; Herskovic, Jorge R; Aphinyanaphongs, Yindalon; Aliferis, Constantin F; Sriram, Madurai G; Hersh, William R

    2006-01-01

    To determine whether algorithms developed for the World Wide Web can be applied to the biomedical literature in order to identify articles that are important as well as relevant. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS A direct comparison of eight algorithms: simple PubMed queries, clinical queries (sensitive and specific versions), vector cosine comparison, citation count, journal impact factor, PageRank, and machine learning based on polynomial support vector machines. The objective was to prioritize important articles, defined as being included in a pre-existing bibliography of important literature in surgical oncology. RESULTS Citation-based algorithms were more effective than noncitation-based algorithms at identifying important articles. The most effective strategies were simple citation count and PageRank, which on average identified over six important articles in the first 100 results compared to 0.85 for the best noncitation-based algorithm (p PageRank more than simple citation count. However, in spite of citation lag, citation-based algorithms remain more effective than noncitation-based algorithms. CONCLUSION Algorithms that have proved successful on the World Wide Web can be applied to biomedical information retrieval. Citation-based algorithms can help identify important articles within large sets of relevant results. Further studies are needed to determine whether citation-based algorithms can effectively meet actual user information needs.

  14. Multimedia information retrieval theory and techniques

    CERN Document Server

    Raieli, Roberto

    2013-01-01

    Novel processing and searching tools for the management of new multimedia documents have developed. Multimedia Information Retrieval (MMIR) is an organic system made up of Text Retrieval (TR); Visual Retrieval (VR); Video Retrieval (VDR); and Audio Retrieval (AR) systems. So that each type of digital document may be analysed and searched by the elements of language appropriate to its nature, search criteria must be extended. Such an approach is known as the Content Based Information Retrieval (CBIR), and is the core of MMIR. This novel content-based concept of information handling needs to be integrated with more traditional semantics. Multimedia Information Retrieval focuses on the tools of processing and searching applicable to the content-based management of new multimedia documents. Translated from Italian by Giles Smith, the book is divided in to two parts. Part one discusses MMIR and related theories, and puts forward new methodologies; part two reviews various experimental and operating MMIR systems, a...

  15. Retrieval of RTG'S in earth orbit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raab, B.; Frieder, M.A.; Skrabek, A.

    1982-01-01

    Since 1961, some ten Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG's) have been placed into a variety of spacecraft which are now in earth orbit. All of these spacecraft are in orbits with lifetimes in excess of 100 years and pose no risk. However, since most of these spacecraft are no longer being actively used, these may be subject to an active removal program to reduce the population of objects in space. Therefore, a study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of retrieving or disposing of spacecraft with RTGs on board. Intervention scenarios are developed and an orbital rendezvous vehicle is conceptualized. The costs of RTG retrieval are derived and compared to the costs of RTG disposal, i.e., boost to a higher, multi-millenium-lifetime orbit, and are found to be not significantly different

  16. Multilayered Clouds Identification and Retrieval for CERES Using MODIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Chen, Yan; Yi, Yuhong; Huang, Jainping; Lin, Bin; Fan, Alice; Gibson, Sharon; Chang, Fu-Lung

    2006-01-01

    Traditionally, analyses of satellite data have been limited to interpreting the radiances in terms of single layer clouds. Generally, this results in significant errors in the retrieved properties for multilayered cloud systems. Two techniques for detecting overlapped clouds and retrieving the cloud properties using satellite data are explored to help address the need for better quantification of cloud vertical structure. The first technique was developed using multispectral imager data with secondary imager products (infrared brightness temperature differences, BTD). The other method uses microwave (MWR) data. The use of BTD, the 11-12 micrometer brightness temperature difference, in conjunction with tau, the retrieved visible optical depth, was suggested by Kawamoto et al. (2001) and used by Pavlonis et al. (2004) as a means to detect multilayered clouds. Combining visible (VIS; 0.65 micrometer) and infrared (IR) retrievals of cloud properties with microwave (MW) retrievals of cloud water temperature Tw and liquid water path LWP retrieved from satellite microwave imagers appears to be a fruitful approach for detecting and retrieving overlapped clouds (Lin et al., 1998, Ho et al., 2003, Huang et al., 2005). The BTD method is limited to optically thin cirrus over low clouds, while the MWR method is limited to ocean areas only. With the availability of VIS and IR data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and MW data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer EOS (AMSR-E), both on Aqua, it is now possible to examine both approaches simultaneously. This paper explores the use of the BTD method as applied to MODIS and AMSR-E data taken from the Aqua satellite over non-polar ocean surfaces.

  17. Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Indications, Indwelling Time, Removal, Success and Complication Rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tashbayev, Alisher; Belenky, Alexander; Litvin, Sergey; Knizhnik, Michael; Bachar, Gil N; Atar, Eli

    2016-02-01

    Various vena cava filters (VCF) are designed with the ability to be retrieved percutaneously. Yet, despite this option most of them remain in the inferior vena cava (IVC). To report our experience in the placement and retrieval of three different types of VCFs, and to compare the indications for their insertion and retrieval as reported in the literature. During a 5 year period three types of retrievable VCF (ALN, OptEase, and Celect) were inserted in 306 patients at the Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson and Hasharon hospitals). Indications, retrieval rates, median time to retrieval, success and complication rates were viewed and assessed in the three groups of filter types and were compared with the data of similar studies in the literature. Of the 306 VCFs inserted, 31 (10.1%) were retrieved with equal distribution in the three groups. In most patients the reason for filter insertion was venous thromboembolic events (VTE) and contraindications to anticoagulant therapy. Mean age was 68.38 ± 17.5 years (range 18-99) and was noted to be significantly higher compared to similar studies (53-56 years) (P < 0.0001). Multi-trauma patients were significantly older (71.11 ± 14.99 years) than post-pulmonary embolism patients (48.03 ± 20.98 years, P < 0.0001) and patients with preventive indication (26.00 ± 11.31, P < 0.0001). The mean indwelling time was 100.6 ± 103.399 days. Our results are comparable with the results of other studies, and there was no difference in percentage of retrieval or complications between patients in each of the three groups. In 1 of 10 patients filters should be removed after an average of 3.5 months. All three IVC filter types used are safe to insert and retrieve.

  18. Assimilation of SMOS Retrievals in the Land Information System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blankenship, Clay B.; Case, Jonathan L.; Zavodsky, Bradley T.; Crosson, William L.

    2016-01-01

    The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite provides retrievals of soil moisture in the upper 5 cm with a 30-50 km resolution and a mission accuracy requirement of 0.04 cm(sub 3 cm(sub -3). These observations can be used to improve land surface model soil moisture states through data assimilation. In this paper, SMOS soil moisture retrievals are assimilated into the Noah land surface model via an Ensemble Kalman Filter within the NASA Land Information System. Bias correction is implemented using Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) matching, with points aggregated by either land cover or soil type to reduce sampling error in generating the CDFs. An experiment was run for the warm season of 2011 to test SMOS data assimilation and to compare assimilation methods. Verification of soil moisture analyses in the 0-10 cm upper layer and root zone (0-1 m) was conducted using in situ measurements from several observing networks in the central and southeastern United States. This experiment showed that SMOS data assimilation significantly increased the anomaly correlation of Noah soil moisture with station measurements from 0.45 to 0.57 in the 0-10 cm layer. Time series at specific stations demonstrate the ability of SMOS DA to increase the dynamic range of soil moisture in a manner consistent with station measurements. Among the bias correction methods, the correction based on soil type performed best at bias reduction but also reduced correlations. The vegetation-based correction did not produce any significant differences compared to using a simple uniform correction curve.

  19. Catheter-assisted retrieval of adhesive Geunther Tulip filter: preliminary experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao Liang; Tong Jiajie; Xie Shiyang; Shen Jing

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To retrospectively summarize the technical experience in performing catheter-assisted retrieval of adhesive Geunther Tulip filter. Methods: During the period from November 2007 to October 2009, 95 patients with pulmonary embolism and acute deep vein thrombosis of lower limbs were admitted to authors' hospital. As simple snare technique failed to catch the adhesive Geunther Tulip filter previously implanted in inferior vena cava (IVC) in 6 patients (four males and two females with a mean age of 43.7 years), catheter-assisted retrieval of adhesive Geunther Tulip filter had to be carried out. The specific procedure was as follows. After phlebography of IVC confirmed that the filter's retrieval hook had adhered to IVC wall, the adhesion was separated with the help of catheter as well as goose-neck capturing device, then, the Geunther Tulip filter was retrieved. After the procedure, both anticoagulation and antibiotic medication were employed for 3-5 days. All the patients were followed up for 4-12 months. Vascular ultrasonography and pulmonary 3D CTA were re-examined in 6 months after primary operation. Results: All 6 adhesive Geunther Tulip filters were successfully removed with a success rate of 100%. The manipulation used in the procedure included catheter-twisting technique (n=1), catheter-looping technique (n=1) and catheter-snare looping technique (n=4). The mean operation time was 40.5 minutes (in the range of 17-78 minutes). The average filter-dwelling time was 46.7 days (ranging from 14 to 80 days). No thrombus formation in deep veins of lower extremity or pulmonary embolism occurred during the follow-up period. Conclusion: The catheter-assisted retrieval technique carries high retrieval rate for adhesive Geunther Tulip filter in IVC, it can markedly improve the retrieval success rate of Tulip IVC filter. (authors)

  20. Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste: Technological Implications for Retrievability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    conclusions of the study are that: - Several Member States are incorporating reversibility and/or retrievability provisions in their development plans for geological repositories, largely in response to public concerns. - The timescales for when retrieval is likely to be practicable on technical grounds is of the order of hundreds of years. - Retrieval of waste from a repository may be feasible during repository operations or following closure. Depending on the concept, however, waste retrieval is likely to become progressively more difficult during the operating life of the facility and beyond. - Waste retrieval may have a negative impact on both conventional and radiological safety. Any potential deleterious effects could be reduced by appropriate provisions, especially by incorporating the provision for retrievability as early as possible into the design process. - Any retrievability provision must not have a negative impact on the long term safety of the disposal system. -There may be significant additional costs associated with retrieval provisions. - Many disposal concepts have inherent provisions for retrievability (e.g. long lived containers, removable backfill) and some concepts include specific design provisions (e.g. waste package handling facilities that are designed for both emplacement and retrieval). Retrieval of waste from repositories without specific provisions is also possible, but may be more difficult and costly. - Suitable monitoring would be required to ensure that waste package retrieval remains possible. Additional work may be useful in confirming the results of studies to date on retrievable concepts and waste retrieval processes. In particular, it would be useful to gain further practical experience of the removal of engineered barriers and the retrieval of waste packages in different types of geological repositories.

  1. Large-scale retrieval for medical image analytics: A comprehensive review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhongyu; Zhang, Xiaofan; Müller, Henning; Zhang, Shaoting

    2018-01-01

    Over the past decades, medical image analytics was greatly facilitated by the explosion of digital imaging techniques, where huge amounts of medical images were produced with ever-increasing quality and diversity. However, conventional methods for analyzing medical images have achieved limited success, as they are not capable to tackle the huge amount of image data. In this paper, we review state-of-the-art approaches for large-scale medical image analysis, which are mainly based on recent advances in computer vision, machine learning and information retrieval. Specifically, we first present the general pipeline of large-scale retrieval, summarize the challenges/opportunities of medical image analytics on a large-scale. Then, we provide a comprehensive review of algorithms and techniques relevant to major processes in the pipeline, including feature representation, feature indexing, searching, etc. On the basis of existing work, we introduce the evaluation protocols and multiple applications of large-scale medical image retrieval, with a variety of exploratory and diagnostic scenarios. Finally, we discuss future directions of large-scale retrieval, which can further improve the performance of medical image analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. The influence of aerosols and land-use type on NO2 satellite retrieval over China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Mengyao; Lin, Jintai; Boersma, Folkert; Eskes, Henk; Chimot, Julien

    2017-04-01

    Both aerosols and surface reflectance have a strong influence on the retrieval of NO2 tropospheric vertical column densities (VCDs), especially over China with its heavy aerosol loading and rapid changes in land-use type. However, satellite retrievals of NO2 VCDs usually do not explicitly account for aerosol optical effects and surface reflectance anisotropy (BRDF) that varies in space and time. We develop an improved algorithm to derive tropospheric AMFs and VCDs over China from the OMI instrument - POMINO and DOMINO. This method can also be applied to TropOMI NO2 retrievals in the future. With small pixels of TropOMI and higher probability of encountering clear-sky scenes, the influence of BRDF and aerosol interference becomes more important than for OMI. Daily aerosol information is taken from the GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model and the aerosol optical depth (AOD) is adjusted via MODIS AOD climatology. We take the MODIS MCD43C2 C5 product to account for BRDF effects. The relative altitude of NO2 and aerosols is critical factor influencing the NO2 retrieval. In order to evaluate the aerosol extinction profiles (AEP) of GEOS-Chem improve our algorithm, we compare the GEOS-Chem simulation with CALIOP and develop a CALIOP AEP climatology to regulate the model's AEP. This provides a new way to include aerosol information into the tracer gas retrieval for OMI and TropOMI. Preliminary results indicate that the model performs reasonably well in reproducing the AEP shape. However, it seems to overestimate aerosols under 2km and underestimate above. We find that relative humidity (RH) is an important factor influencing the AEP shape when comparing the model with observations. If we adjust the GEOS-Chem RH to CALIOP's RH, the correlations of their AEPs also improve. Besides, take advantage of our retrieval method, we executed sensitivity tests to analyze their influences on NO2 trend and spatiotemporal variations in retrieval. It' the first time to investigate

  3. Retrieval Cues on Tests: A Strategy for Helping Students Overcome Retrieval Failure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallagher, Kristel M.

    2017-01-01

    Students often struggle to recall information on tests, frequently claiming to experience a "retrieval failure" of learned information. Thus, the retrieval of information from memory may be a roadblock to student success. I propose a relatively simple adjustment to the wording of test items to help eliminate this potential barrier.…

  4. Retrieval from semantic memory.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noordman-Vonk, Wietske

    1977-01-01

    The present study has been concerned with the retrieval of semantic information. Retrieving semantic information is a fundamental process in almost any kind of cognitive behavior. The introduction presented the main experimental paradigms and results found in the literature on semantic memory as

  5. High resolution satellite image indexing and retrieval using SURF features and bag of visual words

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouteldja, Samia; Kourgli, Assia

    2017-03-01

    In this paper, we evaluate the performance of SURF descriptor for high resolution satellite imagery (HRSI) retrieval through a BoVW model on a land-use/land-cover (LULC) dataset. Local feature approaches such as SIFT and SURF descriptors can deal with a large variation of scale, rotation and illumination of the images, providing, therefore, a better discriminative power and retrieval efficiency than global features, especially for HRSI which contain a great range of objects and spatial patterns. Moreover, we combine SURF and color features to improve the retrieval accuracy, and we propose to learn a category-specific dictionary for each image category which results in a more discriminative image representation and boosts the image retrieval performance.

  6. Cluster-based query expansion using external collections in medical information retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Heung-Seon; Jung, Yuchul

    2015-12-01

    Utilizing external collections to improve retrieval performance is challenging research because various test collections are created for different purposes. Improving medical information retrieval has also gained much attention as various types of medical documents have become available to researchers ever since they started storing them in machine processable formats. In this paper, we propose an effective method of utilizing external collections based on the pseudo relevance feedback approach. Our method incorporates the structure of external collections in estimating individual components in the final feedback model. Extensive experiments on three medical collections (TREC CDS, CLEF eHealth, and OHSUMED) were performed, and the results were compared with a representative expansion approach utilizing the external collections to show the superiority of our method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. The Potential of User Feedback Through the Iterative Refining of Queries in an Image Retrieval System

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ben Moussa, Maher; Pasch, Marco; Hiemstra, Djoerd; van der Vet, P.E.; Huibers, Theo W.C.; Marchand-Maillet, Stephane; Bruno, Eric; Nürnberger, Andreas; Detyniecki, Marcin

    2007-01-01

    Inaccurate or ambiguous expressions in queries lead to poor results in information retrieval. We assume that iterative user feedback can improve the quality of queries. To this end we developed a system for image retrieval that utilizes user feedback to refine the user’s search query. This is done

  8. Biomedical information retrieval across languages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daumke, Philipp; Markü, Kornél; Poprat, Michael; Schulz, Stefan; Klar, Rüdiger

    2007-06-01

    This work presents a new dictionary-based approach to biomedical cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) that addresses many of the general and domain-specific challenges in current CLIR research. Our method is based on a multilingual lexicon that was generated partly manually and partly automatically, and currently covers six European languages. It contains morphologically meaningful word fragments, termed subwords. Using subwords instead of entire words significantly reduces the number of lexical entries necessary to sufficiently cover a specific language and domain. Mediation between queries and documents is based on these subwords as well as on lists of word-n-grams that are generated from large monolingual corpora and constitute possible translation units. The translations are then sent to a standard Internet search engine. This process makes our approach an effective tool for searching the biomedical content of the World Wide Web in different languages. We evaluate this approach using the OHSUMED corpus, a large medical document collection, within a cross-language retrieval setting.

  9. Competitive retrieval is not a prerequisite for forgetting in the retrieval practice paradigm.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Camp, Gino; Dalm, Sander

    2018-01-01

    Retrieving information from memory can lead to forgetting of other, related information. The inhibition account of this retrieval-induced forgetting effect predicts that this form of forgetting occurs when competition arises between the practiced information and the related information, leading to

  10. A Part-Of-Speech term weighting scheme for biomedical information retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yanshan; Wu, Stephen; Li, Dingcheng; Mehrabi, Saeed; Liu, Hongfang

    2016-10-01

    In the era of digitalization, information retrieval (IR), which retrieves and ranks documents from large collections according to users' search queries, has been popularly applied in the biomedical domain. Building patient cohorts using electronic health records (EHRs) and searching literature for topics of interest are some IR use cases. Meanwhile, natural language processing (NLP), such as tokenization or Part-Of-Speech (POS) tagging, has been developed for processing clinical documents or biomedical literature. We hypothesize that NLP can be incorporated into IR to strengthen the conventional IR models. In this study, we propose two NLP-empowered IR models, POS-BoW and POS-MRF, which incorporate automatic POS-based term weighting schemes into bag-of-word (BoW) and Markov Random Field (MRF) IR models, respectively. In the proposed models, the POS-based term weights are iteratively calculated by utilizing a cyclic coordinate method where golden section line search algorithm is applied along each coordinate to optimize the objective function defined by mean average precision (MAP). In the empirical experiments, we used the data sets from the Medical Records track in Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) 2011 and 2012 and the Genomics track in TREC 2004. The evaluation on TREC 2011 and 2012 Medical Records tracks shows that, for the POS-BoW models, the mean improvement rates for IR evaluation metrics, MAP, bpref, and P@10, are 10.88%, 4.54%, and 3.82%, compared to the BoW models; and for the POS-MRF models, these rates are 13.59%, 8.20%, and 8.78%, compared to the MRF models. Additionally, we experimentally verify that the proposed weighting approach is superior to the simple heuristic and frequency based weighting approaches, and validate our POS category selection. Using the optimal weights calculated in this experiment, we tested the proposed models on the TREC 2004 Genomics track and obtained average of 8.63% and 10.04% improvement rates for POS-BoW and POS

  11. Adaptation of machine translation for multilingual information retrieval in the medical domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pecina, Pavel; Dušek, Ondřej; Goeuriot, Lorraine; Hajič, Jan; Hlaváčová, Jaroslava; Jones, Gareth J F; Kelly, Liadh; Leveling, Johannes; Mareček, David; Novák, Michal; Popel, Martin; Rosa, Rudolf; Tamchyna, Aleš; Urešová, Zdeňka

    2014-07-01

    We investigate machine translation (MT) of user search queries in the context of cross-lingual information retrieval (IR) in the medical domain. The main focus is on techniques to adapt MT to increase translation quality; however, we also explore MT adaptation to improve effectiveness of cross-lingual IR. Our MT system is Moses, a state-of-the-art phrase-based statistical machine translation system. The IR system is based on the BM25 retrieval model implemented in the Lucene search engine. The MT techniques employed in this work include in-domain training and tuning, intelligent training data selection, optimization of phrase table configuration, compound splitting, and exploiting synonyms as translation variants. The IR methods include morphological normalization and using multiple translation variants for query expansion. The experiments are performed and thoroughly evaluated on three language pairs: Czech-English, German-English, and French-English. MT quality is evaluated on data sets created within the Khresmoi project and IR effectiveness is tested on the CLEF eHealth 2013 data sets. The search query translation results achieved in our experiments are outstanding - our systems outperform not only our strong baselines, but also Google Translate and Microsoft Bing Translator in direct comparison carried out on all the language pairs. The baseline BLEU scores increased from 26.59 to 41.45 for Czech-English, from 23.03 to 40.82 for German-English, and from 32.67 to 40.82 for French-English. This is a 55% improvement on average. In terms of the IR performance on this particular test collection, a significant improvement over the baseline is achieved only for French-English. For Czech-English and German-English, the increased MT quality does not lead to better IR results. Most of the MT techniques employed in our experiments improve MT of medical search queries. Especially the intelligent training data selection proves to be very successful for domain adaptation of

  12. Improving Simulated Soil Moisture Fields Through Assimilation of AMSR-E Soil Moisture Retrievals with an Ensemble Kalman Filter and a Mass Conservation Constraint

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Bailing; Toll, David; Zhan, Xiwu; Cosgrove, Brian

    2011-01-01

    Model simulated soil moisture fields are often biased due to errors in input parameters and deficiencies in model physics. Satellite derived soil moisture estimates, if retrieved appropriately, represent the spatial mean of soil moisture in a footprint area, and can be used to reduce model bias (at locations near the surface) through data assimilation techniques. While assimilating the retrievals can reduce model bias, it can also destroy the mass balance enforced by the model governing equation because water is removed from or added to the soil by the assimilation algorithm. In addition, studies have shown that assimilation of surface observations can adversely impact soil moisture estimates in the lower soil layers due to imperfect model physics, even though the bias near the surface is decreased. In this study, an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) with a mass conservation updating scheme was developed to assimilate the actual value of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) soil moisture retrievals to improve the mean of simulated soil moisture fields by the Noah land surface model. Assimilation results using the conventional and the mass conservation updating scheme in the Little Washita watershed of Oklahoma showed that, while both updating schemes reduced the bias in the shallow root zone, the mass conservation scheme provided better estimates in the deeper profile. The mass conservation scheme also yielded physically consistent estimates of fluxes and maintained the water budget. Impacts of model physics on the assimilation results are discussed.

  13. TANK WASTE RETRIEVAL LESSONS LEARNED AT THE HANFORD SITE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DODD, R.A.

    2006-01-01

    One of the environmental remediation challenges facing the nation is the retrieval and permanent disposal of approximately 90 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks at the US Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. The Hanford Site is located in southeastern Washington State and stores roughly 60% of this waste. An estimated 53 million gallons of high-level, transuranic, and low-level radioactive waste is stored underground in 149 single-shell tanks (SSTs) and 28 newer double-shell tanks (DSTs) at the Hanford Site. These SSTs range in size from 55,000 gallons to 1,000,000 gallon capacity. Approximately 30 million gallons of this waste is stored in SSTs. The SSTs were constructed between 1943 and 1964 and all have exceeded the nominal 20-year design life. Sixty-seven SSTs are known or suspected to have leaked an estimated 1,000,000 gallons of waste. The risk of additional SST leakage has been greatly reduced by removing more than 3 million gallons of interstitial liquids and supernatant and transferring the waste to the DST system since 1997 as part of the interim stabilization program. Retrieval of SST saltcake and sludge waste is underway to further reduce risks and stage feed materials for the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant. This paper presents lessons learned from retrieval of tank waste at the Hanford Site and discusses how this information is used to optimize retrieval system efficiency, improve overall cost effectiveness of retrieval operations, and ensure that HFFACO requirements are met

  14. Accelerating Information Retrieval from Profile Hidden Markov Model Databases.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Tamimi

    Full Text Available Profile Hidden Markov Model (Profile-HMM is an efficient statistical approach to represent protein families. Currently, several databases maintain valuable protein sequence information as profile-HMMs. There is an increasing interest to improve the efficiency of searching Profile-HMM databases to detect sequence-profile or profile-profile homology. However, most efforts to enhance searching efficiency have been focusing on improving the alignment algorithms. Although the performance of these algorithms is fairly acceptable, the growing size of these databases, as well as the increasing demand for using batch query searching approach, are strong motivations that call for further enhancement of information retrieval from profile-HMM databases. This work presents a heuristic method to accelerate the current profile-HMM homology searching approaches. The method works by cluster-based remodeling of the database to reduce the search space, rather than focusing on the alignment algorithms. Using different clustering techniques, 4284 TIGRFAMs profiles were clustered based on their similarities. A representative for each cluster was assigned. To enhance sensitivity, we proposed an extended step that allows overlapping among clusters. A validation benchmark of 6000 randomly selected protein sequences was used to query the clustered profiles. To evaluate the efficiency of our approach, speed and recall values were measured and compared with the sequential search approach. Using hierarchical, k-means, and connected component clustering techniques followed by the extended overlapping step, we obtained an average reduction in time of 41%, and an average recall of 96%. Our results demonstrate that representation of profile-HMMs using a clustering-based approach can significantly accelerate data retrieval from profile-HMM databases.

  15. The effectiveness of concept mapping and retrieval practice as learning strategies in an undergraduate physiology course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burdo, Joseph; O'Dwyer, Laura

    2015-12-01

    Concept mapping and retrieval practice are both educational methods that have separately been reported to provide significant benefits for learning in diverse settings. Concept mapping involves diagramming a hierarchical representation of relationships between distinct pieces of information, whereas retrieval practice involves retrieving information that was previously coded into memory. The relative benefits of these two methods have never been tested against each other in a classroom setting. Our study was designed to investigate whether or not concept mapping or retrieval practice produced a significant learning benefit in an undergraduate physiology course as measured by exam performance and, if so, was the benefit of one method significantly greater than the other. We found that there was a trend toward increased exam scores for the retrieval practice group compared with both the control group and concept mapping group, and that trend achieved statistical significance for one of the four module exams in the course. We also found that women performed statistically better than men on the module exam that contained a substantial amount of material relating to female reproductive physiology. Copyright © 2015 The American Physiological Society.

  16. Inhaler Reminders Significantly Improve Asthma Patients' Use of Controller Medications

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... controller medications Share | Inhaler reminders significantly improve asthma patients’ use of controller medications Published Online: July 22, ... the burden and risk of asthma, but many patients do not use them regularly. This poor adherence ...

  17. Impact of retrievability of repository design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heijdra, J.J.; Gaag, J. v.d.; Prij, J.

    1995-01-01

    In this paper the impact of the retrievability on the design of the repository will be handled. Retrievability of radioactive waste from a repository in geological formations has received increasing attention during recent years. It is obvious that this retrievability will have consequences in terms of mining engineering, safety and cost. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate cost consequences by comparing two extreme options for retrievable storage. (author). 6 refs., 3 figs

  18. The Effect of New Ozone Cross Sections Applied to SBUV and TOMS Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPeters, Richard D.; Labow, Gordon J.

    2010-01-01

    The ozone cross sections as measured by Bass and Paur have been used for processing of SBUV and TOMS data since 1986. While these cross sections were a big improvement over those previously available, there were known minor problems with accuracy for wavelengths longward of 330 nm and with the temperature dependance. Today's requirements to separate stratospheric ozone from tropospheric ozone and for the derivation of minor species such as BrO and N02 place stringent new requirements on the accuracy needed. The ozone cross section measurements of Brion, Daumont, and Malicet (BDM) are being considered for use in UV-based ozone retrievals. They have much better resolution, an extended wavelength range, and a more consistent temperature dependance. Tests show that BDM retrievals exhibit lower retrieval residuals in the satellite data; i.e., they explain our measured atmospheric radiances more accurately. Total column ozone retrieved by the TOMS instruments is about 1.5% higher than before. Ozone profiles retrieved from SBUV using the new cross sections are lower in the upper stratosphere and higher in the lower stratosphere and troposphere.

  19. Interactive Information Retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borlund, Pia

    2013-01-01

    The paper introduces the research area of interactive information retrieval (IIR) from a historical point of view. Further, the focus here is on evaluation, because much research in IR deals with IR evaluation methodology due to the core research interest in IR performance, system interaction...... and satisfaction with retrieved information. In order to position IIR evaluation, the Cranfield model and the series of tests that led to the Cranfield model are outlined. Three iconic user-oriented studies and projects that all have contributed to how IIR is perceived and understood today are presented......: The MEDLARS test, the Book House fiction retrieval system, and the OKAPI project. On this basis the call for alternative IIR evaluation approaches motivated by the three revolutions (the cognitive, the relevance, and the interactive revolutions) put forward by Robertson & Hancock-Beaulieu (1992) is presented...

  20. Does Degree of Work Task Completion Influence Retrieval Performance?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ingwersen, Peter; Bogers, Toine; Lykke, Marianne

    2010-01-01

    their perception of task completion. Also, with the exception of full text records and across all document types, both measured at rank 10, no statistically significant correlation is observed with respect to retrieval performance influenced by degrees of perceived work task completion or individual types......In this contribution we investigate the potential influence between assessors’ perceived completion of their work task at hand and their actual assessment of usefulness of the retrieved information. The results indicate that the number of useful documents found by assessors does not influence...

  1. Comparison of retrievable stents and permanent stents for Budd-Chiari syndrome due to obstructive inferior vena cava.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bi, Yonghua; Chen, Hongmei; Ding, Penxu; Ren, Jianzhuang; Han, Xinwei

    2018-05-30

    To compare long-term outcomes of retrievable stents and permanent stents for BCS due to long-segment obstructive IVC. Between July 2000 and August 2016, 42 patients with BCS due to long-segment obstructive IVC were treated with retrievable stents (RS) and 41 patients were treated with permanent stents (PS). The retrievable stents was removed eventually after thrombus disappeared. Patients were subsequently followed-up by color Doppler sonography or CT scanning. All retrievable stent placements were successfully, and 37 retrievable stents were retrieved 8 to 29 days later. Forty-two stents were implanted in PS Group. One failure retrieval of retrievable stents occurred, and two failures of cannulations were found in PS Group. Two deaths may procedure-related and died from acute pulmonary thromboembolism perioperatively. One patient developed acute cerebral infarction and recovered after treatment. In PS Group, minor complications were found in 3 patients. The length of IVC lesion segment, length and thickness of IVC thrombus decreased significantly, and diameter of retrocaval IVC and diaphragm IVC increased significantly in both groups. During follow up, 3 patients died from liver failure in RS Group and 2 patients died in PS Group. RS Group showed a significantly higher primary patency rate than PS Group. Cumulative 1-, 3-, and 5-year secondary patency rates were 95.2%, 89.6%, 89.6% in RS Group, and 100%, 96.6%, 96.6% in PS Group (p= 0.7109). Retrievable stents is effective for BCS due to long-segment obstructive IVC, with a higher primary patency rate. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  2. An Assessment of Existing Methodologies to Retrieve Snow Cover Fraction from MODIS Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Théo Masson

    2018-04-01

    of MOD10A1 (Collection 6 compared to the older version (Collection 5 are significant. Products based on SU provide a good alternative and more accurate retrieval of the snow fraction where wider ranges of land covers are concerned. The fusion process and its resulting 250 m spatial resolution product improve snow line retrieval. False detection in mixed pixels, probably due to the spectral variability associated with the various materials in the spectral mixture, has been identified as an area that will require improvement.

  3. On the reliability of retrieval-induced forgetting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher eRowland

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Memory is modified through the act of retrieval. Although retrieving a target piece of information may strengthen the retrieved information itself, it may also serve to weaken retention of related information. This phenomenon, termed retrieval-induced forgetting, has garnered substantial interest for its implications as to why forgetting occurs. The present study attempted to replicate the seminal work by Anderson, Bjork, and Bjork (1994 on retrieval-induced forgetting, given the apparent sensitivity of the effect to certain deviations from the original paradigm developed to study the phenomenon. The study extends the conditions under which retrieval-induced forgetting has been examined by utilizing both a traditional college undergraduate sample (Experiment 1, along with a more diverse internet sample (Experiment 2. In addition, Experiment 3 details a replication attempt of retrieval-induced forgetting using Anderson and Spellman’s (1995 independent cue procedure. Retrieval-induced forgetting was observed when using the traditional retrieval practice paradigm with undergraduate (Experiment 1 and internet (Experiment 2 samples, though the effect was not found when using the independent cue procedure (Experiment 3. Thus, the study can provide an indication as to the robustness of retrieval-induced forgetting to deviations from the traditional college undergraduate samples that have been used in the majority of existing research on the effect.

  4. [Effects of self-touching behavior on the performance of lexical retrieval].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujii, M

    1997-08-01

    In this study, effects of self-touching behavior on the performance of lexical retrieval were investigated. In Experiment 1, 52 women were required to retrieve Japanese idioms, and to recall them approximately 2 minutes after the retrieval. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups; in one group, they were tested with the restriction of their hand movement, whereas in the other group, they were allowed to move their hands freely. Results revealed that when the movement was restricted, their performance in the retrieval task was significantly deteriorated. In Experiment 2, after the presentation of tape-recorded verbal stimuli, 26 women were required to recall them either with an interval of 2 minutes or with an interval of 2 weeks. The self-touching behavior was found to occur more often when the recall was performed with the interval of 2 weeks than when it took place immediately after the stimulus presentation. Thus self-touching is considered to serve as a cue to retrieve information stored in the long term memory.

  5. An Optimal-Estimation-Based Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm Using OMI Near-UV Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, U; Kim, J.; Ahn, C.; Torres, O.; Liu, X.; Bhartia, P. K.; Spurr, R. J. D.; Haffner, D.; Chance, K.; Holben, B. N.

    2016-01-01

    An optimal-estimation(OE)-based aerosol retrieval algorithm using the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) near-ultraviolet observation was developed in this study. The OE-based algorithm has the merit of providing useful estimates of errors simultaneously with the inversion products. Furthermore, instead of using the traditional lookup tables for inversion, it performs online radiative transfer calculations with the VLIDORT (linearized pseudo-spherical vector discrete ordinate radiative transfer code) to eliminate interpolation errors and improve stability. The measurements and inversion products of the Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Network campaign in northeast Asia (DRAGON NE-Asia 2012) were used to validate the retrieved aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and single scattering albedo (SSA). The retrieved AOT and SSA at 388 nm have a correlation with the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) products that is comparable to or better than the correlation with the operational product during the campaign. The OEbased estimated error represented the variance of actual biases of AOT at 388 nm between the retrieval and AERONET measurements better than the operational error estimates. The forward model parameter errors were analyzed separately for both AOT and SSA retrievals. The surface reflectance at 388 nm, the imaginary part of the refractive index at 354 nm, and the number fine-mode fraction (FMF) were found to be the most important parameters affecting the retrieval accuracy of AOT, while FMF was the most important parameter for the SSA retrieval. The additional information provided with the retrievals, including the estimated error and degrees of freedom, is expected to be valuable for relevant studies. Detailed advantages of using the OE method were described and discussed in this paper.

  6. Music information retrieval in compressed audio files: a survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zampoglou, Markos; Malamos, Athanasios G.

    2014-07-01

    In this paper, we present an organized survey of the existing literature on music information retrieval systems in which descriptor features are extracted directly from the compressed audio files, without prior decompression to pulse-code modulation format. Avoiding the decompression step and utilizing the readily available compressed-domain information can significantly lighten the computational cost of a music information retrieval system, allowing application to large-scale music databases. We identify a number of systems relying on compressed-domain information and form a systematic classification of the features they extract, the retrieval tasks they tackle and the degree in which they achieve an actual increase in the overall speed-as well as any resulting loss in accuracy. Finally, we discuss recent developments in the field, and the potential research directions they open toward ultra-fast, scalable systems.

  7. Do family physicians retrieve synopses of clinical research previously read as email alerts?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grad, Roland; Pluye, Pierre; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique; Granikov, Vera; Shulha, Michael; Bartlett, Gillian; Marlow, Bernard

    2011-11-30

    A synopsis of new clinical research highlights important aspects of one study in a brief structured format. When delivered as email alerts, synopses enable clinicians to become aware of new developments relevant for practice. Once read, a synopsis can become a known item of clinical information. In time-pressured situations, remembering a known item may facilitate information retrieval by the clinician. However, exactly how synopses first delivered as email alerts influence retrieval at some later time is not known. We examined searches for clinical information in which a synopsis previously read as an email alert was retrieved (defined as a dyad). Our study objectives were to (1) examine whether family physicians retrieved synopses they previously read as email alerts and then to (2) explore whether family physicians purposefully retrieved these synopses. We conducted a mixed-methods study in which a qualitative multiple case study explored the retrieval of email alerts within a prospective longitudinal cohort of practicing family physicians. Reading of research-based synopses was tracked in two contexts: (1) push, meaning to read on email and (2) pull, meaning to read after retrieval from one electronic knowledge resource. Dyads, defined as synopses first read as email alerts and subsequently retrieved in a search of a knowledge resource, were prospectively identified. Participants were interviewed about all of their dyads. Outcomes were the total number of dyads and their type. Over a period of 341 days, 194 unique synopses delivered to 41 participants resulted in 4937 synopsis readings. In all, 1205 synopses were retrieved over an average of 320 days. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 21 (1.7%) were dyads made by 17 family physicians. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 6 (0.5%) were known item type dyads. However, dyads also occurred serendipitously. In the single knowledge resource we studied, email alerts containing research-based synopses were rarely retrieved

  8. Impact of PubMed search filters on the retrieval of evidence by physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shariff, Salimah Z; Sontrop, Jessica M; Haynes, R Brian; Iansavichus, Arthur V; McKibbon, K Ann; Wilczynski, Nancy L; Weir, Matthew A; Speechley, Mark R; Thind, Amardeep; Garg, Amit X

    2012-02-21

    Physicians face challenges when searching PubMed for research evidence, and they may miss relevant articles while retrieving too many nonrelevant articles. We investigated whether the use of search filters in PubMed improves searching by physicians. We asked a random sample of Canadian nephrologists to answer unique clinical questions derived from 100 systematic reviews of renal therapy. Physicians provided the search terms that they would type into PubMed to locate articles to answer these questions. We entered the physician-provided search terms into PubMed and applied two types of search filters alone or in combination: a methods-based filter designed to identify high-quality studies about treatment (clinical queries "therapy") and a topic-based filter designed to identify studies with renal content. We evaluated the comprehensiveness (proportion of relevant articles found) and efficiency (ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles) of the filtered and nonfiltered searches. Primary studies included in the systematic reviews served as the reference standard for relevant articles. The average physician-provided search terms retrieved 46% of the relevant articles, while 6% of the retrieved articles were relevant (corrected) (the ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles was 1:16). The use of both filters together produced a marked improvement in efficiency, resulting in a ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles of 1:5 (16 percentage point improvement; 99% confidence interval 9% to 22%; p PubMed search filters improves the efficiency of physician searches. Improved search performance may enhance the transfer of research into practice and improve patient care.

  9. Retrieval of vertical concentration profiles from OSIRIS UV-visible limb spectra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strong, K.; Joseph, B.M.; Dosanjh, R.; McDade, I.C.; McLinden, C.A.; McConnell, J.C.; Stegman, J.; Murtagh, D.P.; Llewellyn, E.J.

    2002-01-01

    , and a number of future improvements to the forward model and refinements of the retrieval algorithms are identified. (author)

  10. INTEGRATION OF SPATIAL INFORMATION WITH COLOR FOR CONTENT RETRIEVAL OF REMOTE SENSING IMAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bikesh Kumar Singh

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available There is rapid increase in image databases of remote sensing images due to image satellites with high resolution, commercial applications of remote sensing & high available bandwidth in last few years. The problem of content-based image retrieval (CBIR of remotely sensed images presents a major challenge not only because of the surprisingly increasing volume of images acquired from a wide range of sensors but also because of the complexity of images themselves. In this paper, a software system for content-based retrieval of remote sensing images using RGB and HSV color spaces is presented. Further, we also compare our results with spatiogram based content retrieval which integrates spatial information along with color histogram. Experimental results show that the integration of spatial information in color improves the image analysis of remote sensing data. In general, retrievals in HSV color space showed better performance than in RGB color space.

  11. Interactive information seeking, behaviour and retrieval

    CERN Document Server

    Ruthven, Ian

    2011-01-01

    Information retrieval (IR) is a complex human activity supported by sophisticated systems. This book covers the whole spectrum of information retrieval, including: history and background information; behaviour and seeking task-based information; searching and retrieval approaches to investigating information; and, evaluation interfaces for IR.

  12. AIR PERMIT COMPLIANCE FOR WASTE RETRIEVAL OEPRATIONS INVOLVING MULTI-UNIT EMISSIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    SIMMONS FM

    2007-01-01

    Since 1970, approximately 38,000 suspect-transuranic and transuranic waste containers have been placed in retrievable storage on the Hanford Site in the 200 Areas burial grounds. Hanford's Waste Retrieval Project is retrieving these buried containers and processing them for safe storage and disposition. Container retrieval activities require an air emissions permit to account for potential emissions of radionuclides. The air permit covers the excavation activities as well as activities associated with assaying containers and installing filters in the retrieved transuranic containers lacking proper venting devices. Fluor Hanford, Inc. is required to track radioactive emissions resulting from the retrieval activities. Air, soil, and debris media contribute to the emissions and enabling assumptions allow for calculation of emissions. Each of these activities is limited to an allowed annual emission (per calendar year) and .contributes to the overall total emissions allowed for waste retrieval operations. Tracking these emissions is required to ensure a permit exceedance does not occur. A tracking tool was developed to calculate potential emissions in real time sense. Logic evaluations are established within the tracking system to compare real time data against license limits to ensure values are not exceeded for either an individual activity or the total limit. Data input are based on field survey and workplace air monitoring activities. This tracking tool is used monthly and quarterly to verify compliance to the license limits. Use of this tool has allowed Fluor Hanford, Inc. to successfully retrieve a significant number of containers in a safe manner without any exceedance of emission limits

  13. Color image encryption using random transforms, phase retrieval, chaotic maps, and diffusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Annaby, M. H.; Rushdi, M. A.; Nehary, E. A.

    2018-04-01

    The recent tremendous proliferation of color imaging applications has been accompanied by growing research in data encryption to secure color images against adversary attacks. While recent color image encryption techniques perform reasonably well, they still exhibit vulnerabilities and deficiencies in terms of statistical security measures due to image data redundancy and inherent weaknesses. This paper proposes two encryption algorithms that largely treat these deficiencies and boost the security strength through novel integration of the random fractional Fourier transforms, phase retrieval algorithms, as well as chaotic scrambling and diffusion. We show through detailed experiments and statistical analysis that the proposed enhancements significantly improve security measures and immunity to attacks.

  14. Does retrieval intentionality really matter? Similarities and differences between involuntary memories and directly and generatively retrieved voluntary memories

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barzykowski, Krystian; Staugaard, Søren Risløv

    2016-01-01

    differences between the characteristics of involuntary and directly retrieved memories. The results imply that retrieval intention seems to differentiate how a memory appears in a person’s mind. Furthermore, we argue that these differences in part could result from differences in encoding and consolidation.......Theories of autobiographical memory distinguish between involuntary and voluntary retrieval as a consequence of conscious intention (i.e., wanting to remember). Another distinction can be made between direct and generative retrieval, which reflects the effort involved (i.e., trying to remember......). However, it is unclear how intention and effort interacts. For example, involuntary memories and directly retrieved memories have been used interchangeably in the literature to refer to the same phenomenon of effortless, nonstrategic retrieval. More recent theoretical advances suggest...

  15. The promises and pitfalls of retrieval-extinction procedures in preventing relapse to drug seeking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gavan P McNally

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Relapse to drug seeking after treatment or a period of abstinence remains a fundamental challenge for drug users. The retrieval – extinction procedure offers promise in augmenting the efficacy of exposure based treatment for drug use and for protecting against relapse to drug seeking. Preceding extinction training with a brief retrieval or reminder trial, retrieval – extinction training, has been shown to reduce reinstatement of extinguished drug seeking in animal models and also to produce profound and long lasting decrements in cue-induced craving in human heroin users. However, the mechanisms that mediate these effects of retrieval - extinction training are unclear. Moreover, under some circumstances, the retrieval – extinction procedure can significantly increase vulnerability to reinstatement in animal models.

  16. Acute stress impairs the retrieval of extinction memory in humans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raio, Candace M.; Brignoni-Perez, Edith; Goldman, Rachel; Phelps, Elizabeth A.

    2014-01-01

    Extinction training is a form of inhibitory learning that allows an organism to associate a previously aversive cue with a new, safe outcome. Extinction does not erase a fear association, but instead creates a competing association that may or may not be retrieved when a cue is subsequently encountered. Characterizing the conditions under which extinction learning is expressed is important to enhancing the treatment of anxiety disorders that rely on extinction-based exposure therapy as a primary treatment technique. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which plays an important role in the expression of extinction memory, has been shown to be functionally impaired after stress exposure. Further, recent research in rodents found that exposure to stress led to deficits in extinction retrieval, although this has yet to be tested in humans. To explore how stress might influence extinction retrieval in humans, participants underwent a differential aversive learning paradigm, in which one image was probabilistically paired with an aversive shock while the other image denoted safety. Extinction training directly followed, at which point reinforcement was omitted. A day later, participants returned to the lab and either completed an acute stress manipulation (i.e., cold pressor), or a control task, before undergoing an extinction retrieval test. Skin conductance responses and salivary cortisol concentrations were measured throughout each session as indices of fear arousal and neuroendocrine stress responses, respectively. The efficacy of our stress induction was established by observing significant increases in cortisol for the stress condition only. We examined extinction retrieval by comparing conditioned responses during the last trial of extinction (day 1) with that of the first trial of re-extinction (day 2). Groups did not differ on initial fear acquisition or extinction, however, one day later participants in the stress group (n = 27) demonstrated significantly less

  17. Effect of Cognitive Style on Learning and Retrieval of Navigational Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maddalena Boccia

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Field independence (FI has been found to correlate with a wide range of cognitive processes requiring cognitive restructuring. Cognitive restructuring, that is going beyond the information given by the setting, is pivotal in creating stable mental representations of the environment, the so-called “cognitive maps,” and it affects visuo-spatial abilities underpinning environmental navigation. Here we evaluated whether FI, by fostering cognitive restructuring of environmental cues on the basis of an internal frame of reference, affects the learning and retrieval of a novel environment. Fifty-four participants were submitted to the Embedded Figure Test (EFT for assessing their Cognitive Style (CS and to the Perspective Taking/Spatial Orientation Test (PTSOT and the Santa Barbara Sense of Direction Scale (SBSOD for assessing their spatial perspective taking and orientation skills. They were also required to learn a path in a novel, real environment (route learning, RL, to recognize landmarks of this path among distracters (landmark recognition, LR, to order them (landmark ordering, LO and to draw the learned path on a map (map drawing, MD. Retrieval tasks were performed both immediately after learning (immediate-retrieval and the day after (24 h-retrieval. Performances on EFT significantly correlated with the time needed to learn the path, with MD (both in the immediate- and in the 24 h- retrievals, results on LR (in 24-retrieval and performances on PTSOT. Interestingly, we found that gender interacted with CS on RL (time of learning and MD. Females performed significantly worse than males only if they were classified as FD, but did not differ from males if they were classified as FI. These results suggest that CS affects learning and retrieval of navigational environment, especially when a map-like representation is required. We propose that CS may be pivotal in forming the cognitive map of the environment, likely due to the higher ability of FI

  18. Different implications of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus on contextual memory retrieval after stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierard, C; Dorey, R; Henkous, N; Mons, N; Béracochéa, D

    2017-09-01

    This study assessed the relative contributions of dorsal (dHPC) and ventral (vHPC) hippocampus regions in mediating the rapid effects of an acute stress on contextual memory retrieval. Indeed, we previously showed that an acute stress (3 electric footschocks; 0.9 mA each) delivered 15 min before the 24 h-test inversed the memory retrieval pattern in a contextual discrimination task. Specifically, mice learned in a four-hole board two successive discriminations (D1 and D2) varying by the color and texture of the floor. Twenty-four hours later, nonstressed animals remembered accurately D1 but not D2 whereas stressed mice showed an opposite memory retrieval pattern, D2 being more accurately remembered than D1. We showed here that, at the time of memory testing in that task, stressed animals exhibited no significant changes neither in pCREB activity nor in the time-course evolution of corticosterone into the vHPC; in contrast, a significant decrease in pCREB activity and a significant increase in corticosterone were observed in the dHPC as compared to nonstressed mice. Moreover, local infusion of the anesthetic lidocaine into the vHPC 15 min before the onset of the stressor did not modify the memory retrieval pattern in nonstress and stress conditions whereas lidocaine infusion into the dHPC induced in nonstressed mice an memory retrieval pattern similar to that observed in stressed animals. The overall set of data shows that memory retrieval in nonstress condition involved primarily the dHPC and that the inversion of memory retrieval pattern after stress is linked to a dHPC but not vHPC dysfunction. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Formal Concept Analysis for Information Retrieval

    OpenAIRE

    Qadi, Abderrahim El; Aboutajedine, Driss; Ennouary, Yassine

    2010-01-01

    In this paper we describe a mechanism to improve Information Retrieval (IR) on the web. The method is based on Formal Concepts Analysis (FCA) that it is makes semantical relations during the queries, and allows a reorganizing, in the shape of a lattice of concepts, the answers provided by a search engine. We proposed for the IR an incremental algorithm based on Galois lattice. This algorithm allows a formal clustering of the data sources, and the results which it turns over are classified by ...

  20. 8th International Workshop on Information Filtering and Retrieval

    CERN Document Server

    Giuliani, Alessandro; Semeraro, Giovanni

    2017-01-01

    This book focuses on new research challenges in intelligent information filtering and retrieval. It collects invited chapters and extended research contributions from DART 2014 (the 8th International Workshop on Information Filtering and Retrieval), held in Pisa (Italy), on December 10, 2014, and co-hosted with the XIII AI*IA Symposium on Artificial Intelligence. The main focus of DART was to discuss and compare suitable novel solutions based on intelligent techniques and applied to real-world contexts. The chapters of this book present a comprehensive review of related works and the current state of the art. The contributions from both practitioners and researchers have been carefully reviewed by experts in the area, who also gave useful suggestions to improve the quality of the book.

  1. University of Twente at GeoCLEF 2006: geofiltered document retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hauff, C.; Trieschnigg, Rudolf Berend; Rode, H.

    2006-01-01

    In this report we describe the approach of the University of Twente to the 2006 Geo-CLEF task. It is based on retrieval by content and the subsequent filtering by geographical relevance utilizing a gazetteer. The results do not show an improvement inretrieval performance when taking geographical

  2. Annotation and retrieval system of CAD models based on functional semantics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhansong; Tian, Ling; Duan, Wenrui

    2014-11-01

    CAD model retrieval based on functional semantics is more significant than content-based 3D model retrieval during the mechanical conceptual design phase. However, relevant research is still not fully discussed. Therefore, a functional semantic-based CAD model annotation and retrieval method is proposed to support mechanical conceptual design and design reuse, inspire designer creativity through existing CAD models, shorten design cycle, and reduce costs. Firstly, the CAD model functional semantic ontology is constructed to formally represent the functional semantics of CAD models and describe the mechanical conceptual design space comprehensively and consistently. Secondly, an approach to represent CAD models as attributed adjacency graphs(AAG) is proposed. In this method, the geometry and topology data are extracted from STEP models. On the basis of AAG, the functional semantics of CAD models are annotated semi-automatically by matching CAD models that contain the partial features of which functional semantics have been annotated manually, thereby constructing CAD Model Repository that supports model retrieval based on functional semantics. Thirdly, a CAD model retrieval algorithm that supports multi-function extended retrieval is proposed to explore more potential creative design knowledge in the semantic level. Finally, a prototype system, called Functional Semantic-based CAD Model Annotation and Retrieval System(FSMARS), is implemented. A case demonstrates that FSMARS can successfully botain multiple potential CAD models that conform to the desired function. The proposed research addresses actual needs and presents a new way to acquire CAD models in the mechanical conceptual design phase.

  3. Semantics-driven modelling of user preferences for information retrieval in the biomedical domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gladun, Anatoly; Rogushina, Julia; Valencia-García, Rafael; Béjar, Rodrigo Martínez

    2013-03-01

    A large amount of biomedical and genomic data are currently available on the Internet. However, data are distributed into heterogeneous biological information sources, with little or even no organization. Semantic technologies provide a consistent and reliable basis with which to confront the challenges involved in the organization, manipulation and visualization of data and knowledge. One of the knowledge representation techniques used in semantic processing is the ontology, which is commonly defined as a formal and explicit specification of a shared conceptualization of a domain of interest. The work presented here introduces a set of interoperable algorithms that can use domain and ontological information to improve information-retrieval processes. This work presents an ontology-based information-retrieval system for the biomedical domain. This system, with which some experiments have been carried out that are described in this paper, is based on the use of domain ontologies for the creation and normalization of lightweight ontologies that represent user preferences in a determined domain in order to improve information-retrieval processes.

  4. Improvement of aerosol optical depth retrieval from MODIS spectral reflectance over the global ocean using new aerosol models archived from AERONET inversion data and tri-axial ellipsoidal dust database

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Lee

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available New over-ocean aerosol models are developed by integrating the inversion data from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET sun/sky radiometers with a database for the optical properties of tri-axial ellipsoid particles. The new aerosol models allow more accurate retrieval of aerosol optical depth (AOD from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS in the case of high AOD (AOD > 0.3. The aerosol models are categorized by using the fine-mode fraction (FMF at 550 nm and the single-scattering albedo (SSA at 440 nm from the AERONET inversion data to include a variety of aerosol types found around the globe. For each aerosol model, the changes in the aerosol optical properties (AOPs as functions of AOD are considered to better represent aerosol characteristics. Comparisons of AODs between AERONET and MODIS for the period from 2003 to 2010 show that the use of the new aerosol models enhances the AOD accuracy with a Pearson coefficient of 0.93 and a regression slope of 0.99 compared to 0.92 and 0.85 calculated using the MODIS Collection 5 data. Moreover, the percentage of data within an expected error of ± (0.03 + 0.05 × AOD is increased from 62% to 64% for overall data and from 39% to 5% for AOD > 0.3. Errors in the retrieved AOD are further characterized with respect to the Ångström exponent (AE, scattering angle (Θ, SSA, and air mass factor (AMF. Due to more realistic AOPs assumptions, the new algorithm generally reduces systematic errors in the retrieved AODs compared with the current operational algorithm. In particular, the underestimation of fine-dominated AOD and the scattering angle dependence of dust-dominated AOD are significantly mitigated as results of the new algorithm's improved treatment of aerosol size distribution and dust particle nonsphericity.

  5. Improvement of Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval from MODIS Spectral Reflectance over the Global Ocean Using New Aerosol Models Archived from AERONET Inversion Data and Tri-axial Ellipsoidal Dust Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, J.; Kim, J.; Yang, P.; Hsu, N. C.

    2012-01-01

    New over-ocean aerosol models are developed by integrating the inversion data from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun/sky radiometers with a database for the optical properties of tri-axial ellipsoid particles. The new aerosol models allow more accurate retrieval of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in the case of high AOD (AOD greater than 0.3). The aerosol models are categorized by using the fine-mode fraction (FMF) at 550 nm and the singlescattering albedo (SSA) at 440 nm from the AERONET inversion data to include a variety of aerosol types found around the globe. For each aerosol model, the changes in the aerosol optical properties (AOPs) as functions of AOD are considered to better represent aerosol characteristics. Comparisons of AODs between AERONET and MODIS for the period from 2003 to 2010 show that the use of the new aerosol models enhances the AOD accuracy with a Pearson coefficient of 0.93 and a regression slope of 0.99 compared to 0.92 and 0.85 calculated using the MODIS Collection 5 data. Moreover, the percentage of data within an expected error of +/-(0.03 + 0.05xAOD) is increased from 62 percent to 64 percent for overall data and from 39 percent to 51 percent for AOD greater than 0.3. Errors in the retrieved AOD are further characterized with respect to the Angstrom exponent (AE), scattering angle, SSA, and air mass factor (AMF). Due to more realistic AOPs assumptions, the new algorithm generally reduces systematic errors in the retrieved AODs compared with the current operational algorithm. In particular, the underestimation of fine-dominated AOD and the scattering angle dependence of dust-dominated AOD are significantly mitigated as results of the new algorithm's improved treatment of aerosol size distribution and dust particle nonsphericity.

  6. Analysis, Retrieval and Delivery of Multimedia Content

    CERN Document Server

    Cavallaro, Andrea; Leonardi, Riccardo; Migliorati, Pierangelo

    2013-01-01

    Covering some of the most cutting-edge research on the delivery and retrieval of interactive multimedia content, this volume of specially chosen contributions provides the most updated perspective on one of the hottest contemporary topics. The material represents extended versions of papers presented at the 11th International Workshop on Image Analysis for Multimedia Interactive Services, a vital international forum on this fast-moving field. Logically organized in discrete sections that approach the subject from its various angles, the content deals in turn with content analysis, motion and activity analysis, high-level descriptors and video retrieval, 3-D and multi-view, and multimedia delivery. The chapters cover the finest detail of emerging techniques such as the use of high-level audio information in improving scene segmentation and the use of subjective logic for forensic visual surveillance. On content delivery, the book examines both images and video, focusing on key subjects including an efficient p...

  7. Development of Dual-Retrieval Processes in Recall: Learning, Forgetting, and Reminiscence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brainerd, C. J.; Aydin, C.; Reyna, V. F.

    2012-01-01

    We investigated the development of dual-retrieval processes with a low-burden paradigm that is suitable for research with children and neurocognitively impaired populations (e.g., older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia). Rich quantitative information can be obtained about recollection, reconstruction, and familiarity judgment by defining a Markov model over simple recall tasks like those that are used in clinical neuropsychology batteries. The model measures these processes separately for learning, forgetting, and reminiscence. We implemented this procedure in some developmental experiments, whose aims were (a) to measure age changes in recollective and nonrecollective retrieval during learning, forgetting, and reminiscence and (b) to measure age changes in content dimensions (e.g., taxonomic relatedness) that affect the two forms of retrieval. The model provided excellent fits in all three domains. Concerning (a), recollection, reconstruction, and familiarity judgment all improved during the child-to-adolescent age range in the learning domain, whereas only recollection improved in the forgetting domain, and the processes were age-invariant in the reminiscence domain. Concerning (b), although some elements of the adult pattern of taxonomic relatedness effects were detected by early adolescence, the adult pattern differs qualitatively from corresponding patterns in children and adolescents. PMID:22778491

  8. Care episode retrieval: distributional semantic models for information retrieval in the clinical domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moen, Hans; Ginter, Filip; Marsi, Erwin; Peltonen, Laura-Maria; Salakoski, Tapio; Salanterä, Sanna

    2015-01-01

    Patients' health related information is stored in electronic health records (EHRs) by health service providers. These records include sequential documentation of care episodes in the form of clinical notes. EHRs are used throughout the health care sector by professionals, administrators and patients, primarily for clinical purposes, but also for secondary purposes such as decision support and research. The vast amounts of information in EHR systems complicate information management and increase the risk of information overload. Therefore, clinicians and researchers need new tools to manage the information stored in the EHRs. A common use case is, given a--possibly unfinished--care episode, to retrieve the most similar care episodes among the records. This paper presents several methods for information retrieval, focusing on care episode retrieval, based on textual similarity, where similarity is measured through domain-specific modelling of the distributional semantics of words. Models include variants of random indexing and the semantic neural network model word2vec. Two novel methods are introduced that utilize the ICD-10 codes attached to care episodes to better induce domain-specificity in the semantic model. We report on experimental evaluation of care episode retrieval that circumvents the lack of human judgements regarding episode relevance. Results suggest that several of the methods proposed outperform a state-of-the art search engine (Lucene) on the retrieval task.

  9. Utah Text Retrieval Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hollaar, L A

    1983-10-01

    The Utah Text Retrieval project seeks well-engineered solutions to the implementation of large, inexpensive, rapid text information retrieval systems. The project has three major components. Perhaps the best known is the work on the specialized processors, particularly search engines, necessary to achieve the desired performance and cost. The other two concern the user interface to the system and the system's internal structure. The work on user interface development is not only concentrating on the syntax and semantics of the query language, but also on the overall environment the system presents to the user. Environmental enhancements include convenient ways to browse through retrieved documents, access to other information retrieval systems through gateways supporting a common command interface, and interfaces to word processing systems. The system's internal structure is based on a high-level data communications protocol linking the user interface, index processor, search processor, and other system modules. This allows them to be easily distributed in a multi- or specialized-processor configuration. It also allows new modules, such as a knowledge-based query reformulator, to be added. 15 references.

  10. Design and usability study of an iconic user interface to ease information retrieval of medical guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffon, Nicolas; Kerdelhué, Gaétan; Hamek, Saliha; Hassler, Sylvain; Boog, César; Lamy, Jean-Baptiste; Duclos, Catherine; Venot, Alain; Darmoni, Stéfan J

    2014-10-01

    Doc'CISMeF (DC) is a semantic search engine used to find resources in CISMeF-BP, a quality controlled health gateway, which gathers guidelines available on the internet in French. Visualization of Concepts in Medicine (VCM) is an iconic language that may ease information retrieval tasks. This study aimed to describe the creation and evaluation of an interface integrating VCM in DC in order to make this search engine much easier to use. Focus groups were organized to suggest ways to enhance information retrieval tasks using VCM in DC. A VCM interface was created and improved using the ergonomic evaluation approach. 20 physicians were recruited to compare the VCM interface with the non-VCM one. Each evaluator answered two different clinical scenarios in each interface. The ability and time taken to select a relevant resource were recorded and compared. A usability analysis was performed using the System Usability Scale (SUS). The VCM interface contains a filter based on icons, and icons describing each resource according to focus group recommendations. Some ergonomic issues were resolved before evaluation. Use of VCM significantly increased the success of information retrieval tasks (OR=11; 95% CI 1.4 to 507). Nonetheless, it took significantly more time to find a relevant resource with VCM interface (101 vs 65 s; p=0.02). SUS revealed 'good' usability with an average score of 74/100. VCM was successfully implemented in DC as an option. It increased the success rate of information retrieval tasks, despite requiring slightly more time, and was well accepted by end-users. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  11. User centered and ontology based information retrieval system for life sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sy, Mohameth-François; Ranwez, Sylvie; Montmain, Jacky; Regnault, Armelle; Crampes, Michel; Ranwez, Vincent

    2012-01-25

    Because of the increasing number of electronic resources, designing efficient tools to retrieve and exploit them is a major challenge. Some improvements have been offered by semantic Web technologies and applications based on domain ontologies. In life science, for instance, the Gene Ontology is widely exploited in genomic applications and the Medical Subject Headings is the basis of biomedical publications indexation and information retrieval process proposed by PubMed. However current search engines suffer from two main drawbacks: there is limited user interaction with the list of retrieved resources and no explanation for their adequacy to the query is provided. Users may thus be confused by the selection and have no idea on how to adapt their queries so that the results match their expectations. This paper describes an information retrieval system that relies on domain ontology to widen the set of relevant documents that is retrieved and that uses a graphical rendering of query results to favor user interactions. Semantic proximities between ontology concepts and aggregating models are used to assess documents adequacy with respect to a query. The selection of documents is displayed in a semantic map to provide graphical indications that make explicit to what extent they match the user's query; this man/machine interface favors a more interactive and iterative exploration of data corpus, by facilitating query concepts weighting and visual explanation. We illustrate the benefit of using this information retrieval system on two case studies one of which aiming at collecting human genes related to transcription factors involved in hemopoiesis pathway. The ontology based information retrieval system described in this paper (OBIRS) is freely available at: http://www.ontotoolkit.mines-ales.fr/ObirsClient/. This environment is a first step towards a user centred application in which the system enlightens relevant information to provide decision help.

  12. User centered and ontology based information retrieval system for life sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sy Mohameth-François

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Because of the increasing number of electronic resources, designing efficient tools to retrieve and exploit them is a major challenge. Some improvements have been offered by semantic Web technologies and applications based on domain ontologies. In life science, for instance, the Gene Ontology is widely exploited in genomic applications and the Medical Subject Headings is the basis of biomedical publications indexation and information retrieval process proposed by PubMed. However current search engines suffer from two main drawbacks: there is limited user interaction with the list of retrieved resources and no explanation for their adequacy to the query is provided. Users may thus be confused by the selection and have no idea on how to adapt their queries so that the results match their expectations. Results This paper describes an information retrieval system that relies on domain ontology to widen the set of relevant documents that is retrieved and that uses a graphical rendering of query results to favor user interactions. Semantic proximities between ontology concepts and aggregating models are used to assess documents adequacy with respect to a query. The selection of documents is displayed in a semantic map to provide graphical indications that make explicit to what extent they match the user's query; this man/machine interface favors a more interactive and iterative exploration of data corpus, by facilitating query concepts weighting and visual explanation. We illustrate the benefit of using this information retrieval system on two case studies one of which aiming at collecting human genes related to transcription factors involved in hemopoiesis pathway. Conclusions The ontology based information retrieval system described in this paper (OBIRS is freely available at: http://www.ontotoolkit.mines-ales.fr/ObirsClient/. This environment is a first step towards a user centred application in which the system enlightens

  13. Structure retrieval in HREM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gribelyuk, M.A.

    1991-01-01

    A new iteration method for direct structure retrieval starting from the exit plane-wave function Ψ e (r) is proposed and tested on models. The imaginary part of the potential cannot be retrieved. The effects of the limited resolution of Ψ e (r) as well as neglect of high-order Laue-zone effects and the choice of the starting potential on the result are discussed. The procedure is found to be preferable to that based on the subsequent approximation method with respect to a higher convergence rate. It is shown that an error as low as 10% may be obtained for the real part of the retrieved potential up to vertical strokeσV(r)tvertical stroke<5. (orig.)

  14. Inhibitory control, word retrieval and bilingual aphasia: is there a relationship?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasmeen Faroqi-Shah

    2014-04-01

    Responses to incongruent trials were slower than congruent for linguistic (F(1,126.3=44.9, p.05. While confrontation naming and category fluency were highly correlated (r=.77, p<.001, correlations between linguistic and non-linguistic inhibition and between word retrieval and linguistic/non-linguistic inhibition were non-significant. This large group study poses challenges to theories of bilingual advantage and the role of non-lexical inhibitory measures in word retrieval in PWA.

  15. 1D-VAR Retrieval Using Superchannels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xu; Zhou, Daniel; Larar, Allen; Smith, William L.; Schluessel, Peter; Mango, Stephen; SaintGermain, Karen

    2008-01-01

    Since modern ultra-spectral remote sensors have thousands of channels, it is difficult to include all of them in a 1D-var retrieval system. We will describe a physical inversion algorithm, which includes all available channels for the atmospheric temperature, moisture, cloud, and surface parameter retrievals. Both the forward model and the inversion algorithm compress the channel radiances into super channels. These super channels are obtained by projecting the radiance spectra onto a set of pre-calculated eigenvectors. The forward model provides both super channel properties and jacobian in EOF space directly. For ultra-spectral sensors such as Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and the NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed Interferometer (NAST), a compression ratio of more than 80 can be achieved, leading to a significant reduction in computations involved in an inversion process. Results will be shown applying the algorithm to real IASI and NAST data.

  16. On the use of the singular value decomposition for text retrieval

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Husbands, P.; Simon, H.D.; Ding, C.

    2000-12-04

    The use of the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) has been proposed for text retrieval in several recent works. This technique uses the SVD to project very high dimensional document and query vectors into a low dimensional space. In this new space it is hoped that the underlying structure of the collection is revealed thus enhancing retrieval performance. Theoretical results have provided some evidence for this claim and to some extent experiments have confirmed this. However, these studies have mostly used small test collections and simplified document models. In this work we investigate the use of the SVD on large document collections. We show that, if interpreted as a mechanism for representing the terms of the collection, this technique alone is insufficient for dealing with the variability in term occurrence. Section 2 introduces the text retrieval concepts necessary for our work. A short description of our experimental architecture is presented in Section 3. Section 4 describes how term occurrence variability affects the SVD and then shows how the decomposition influences retrieval performance. A possible way of improving SVD-based techniques is presented in Section 5 and concluded in Section 6.

  17. On the retrieval of ice cloud particle shapes from POLDER measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Wenbo; Loeb, Norman G.; Yang Ping

    2006-01-01

    Shapes of ice crystals can significantly affect the radiative transfer in ice clouds. The angular distribution of the polarized reflectance over ice clouds strongly depends on ice crystal shapes. Although the angular-distribution features of the total or polarized reflectance over ice clouds imply a possibility of retrieving ice cloud particle shapes by use of remote sensing data, the accuracy of the retrieval must be evaluated. In this study, a technique that applies single ice crystal habit and multidirectional polarized radiance to retrieve ice cloud particle shapes is assessed. Our sensitivity studies show that the retrieved particle shapes from this algorithm can be considered good approximations to those in actual clouds in calculation of the phase matrix elements. However, this algorithm can only work well under the following conditions: (1) the retrievable must be overcast and thick ice cloud pixels, (2) the particles in the cloud must be randomly oriented, (3) the particle shapes and size distributions used in the lookup tables must be representative, and (4) the multi-angle polarized measurements must be accurate and sufficient to identify ice cloud pixels of randomly oriented particles. In practice, these conditions will exclude most of the measured cloud pixels. Additionally, because the polarized measurements are only sensitive to the upper cloud part not deeper than an optical thickness of 4, the retrieved particle shapes with the polarized radiance may only approximate those in the upper parts of the clouds. In other words, for thicker clouds with vertical inhomogeneity in particle shapes, these retrieved particle shapes cannot represent those of whole clouds. More robust algorithm is needed in accurate retrieval of ice cloud particle shapes

  18. Context-based adaptive filtering of interest points in image retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nguyen, Phuong Giang; Andersen, Hans Jørgen

    2009-01-01

    Interest points have been used as local features with success in many computer vision applications such as image/video retrieval and object recognition. However, a major issue when using this approach is a large number of interest points detected from each image and created a dense feature space...... a subset of features. Our approach differs from others in a fact that selected feature is based on the context of the given image. Our experimental results show a significant reduction rate of features while preserving the retrieval performance....

  19. Electrophysiological Evidence for Late Maturation of Strategic Episodic Retrieval Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sprondel, Volker; Kipp, Kerstin H.; Mecklinger, Axel

    2012-01-01

    Improvement in source memory performance throughout development is thought to be mediated by strategic processes that facilitate the retrieval of task-relevant information. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we examined developmental changes in these processes during adolescence. Adolescents (13-14 years) and adults (19-29 years) completed a…

  20. Ranked retrieval of Computational Biology models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henkel, Ron; Endler, Lukas; Peters, Andre; Le Novère, Nicolas; Waltemath, Dagmar

    2010-08-11

    The study of biological systems demands computational support. If targeting a biological problem, the reuse of existing computational models can save time and effort. Deciding for potentially suitable models, however, becomes more challenging with the increasing number of computational models available, and even more when considering the models' growing complexity. Firstly, among a set of potential model candidates it is difficult to decide for the model that best suits ones needs. Secondly, it is hard to grasp the nature of an unknown model listed in a search result set, and to judge how well it fits for the particular problem one has in mind. Here we present an improved search approach for computational models of biological processes. It is based on existing retrieval and ranking methods from Information Retrieval. The approach incorporates annotations suggested by MIRIAM, and additional meta-information. It is now part of the search engine of BioModels Database, a standard repository for computational models. The introduced concept and implementation are, to our knowledge, the first application of Information Retrieval techniques on model search in Computational Systems Biology. Using the example of BioModels Database, it was shown that the approach is feasible and extends the current possibilities to search for relevant models. The advantages of our system over existing solutions are that we incorporate a rich set of meta-information, and that we provide the user with a relevance ranking of the models found for a query. Better search capabilities in model databases are expected to have a positive effect on the reuse of existing models.

  1. Establishment of an inferior vena cava filter database and interventional radiology led follow-up - retrieval rates and patients lost to follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klinken, Sven; Humphries, Charlotte; Ferguson, John

    2017-10-01

    To evaluate the rates of inferior vena cava (IVC) filter retrieval and the number of patient's lost to follow-up, before and after the establishment of an IVC filter database and interventional radiology (inserting physician) led follow-up. On the 1st of June 2012, an electronic interventional radiology database was established at our Institution. In addition, the interventional radiology team took responsibility for follow-up of IVC filters. Data were prospectively collected from the database for all patients who had an IVC filter inserted between the 1st June 2012 and the 31st May 2014. Data on patients who had an IVC filter inserted between the 1st of June 2009 to the 31st of May 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, insertion indications, filter types, retrieval status, documented retrieval decisions, time in situ, trackable events and complications were obtained in the pre-database (n = 136) and post-database (n = 118) cohorts. Attempted IVC filter retrieval rates were improved from 52.9% to 72.9% (P = 0.001) following the establishment of the database. The number of patients with no documented decision (lost to follow-up) regarding their IVC filter reduced from 31 of 136 (23%) to 0 of 118 patients (P = database group (113 as compared to 137 days, P = 0.129). Following the establishment of an IVC filter database and interventional radiology led follow-up, we demonstrate a significant improvement in the attempted retrieval rates of IVC filters and the number of patient's lost to follow-up. © 2017 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

  2. Denali, Tulip, and Option Inferior Vena Cava Filter Retrieval: A Single Center Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramaswamy, Raja S; Jun, Emily; van Beek, Darren; Mani, Naganathan; Salter, Amber; Kim, Seung K; Akinwande, Olaguoke

    2018-04-01

    To compare the technical success of filter retrieval in Denali, Tulip, and Option inferior vena cava filters. A retrospective analysis of Denali, Gunther Tulip, and Option IVC filters was conducted. Retrieval failure rates, fluoroscopy time, sedation time, use of advanced retrieval techniques, and filter-related complications that led to retrieval failure were recorded. There were 107 Denali, 43 Option, and 39 Tulip filters deployed and removed with average dwell times of 93.5, 86.0, and 131 days, respectively. Retrieval failure rates were 0.9% for Denali, 11.6% for Option, and 5.1% for Tulip filters (Denali vs. Option p = 0.018; Denali vs. Tulip p = 0.159; Tulip vs. Option p = 0.045). Median fluoroscopy time for filter retrieval was 3.2 min for the Denali filter, 6.75 min for the Option filter, and 4.95 min for the Tulip filter (Denali vs. Option p Option p = 0.67). Advanced retrieval techniques were used in 0.9% of Denali filters, 21.1% in Option filters, and 10.8% in Tulip filters (Denali vs. Option p Option p Option filter when compared to both the Denali and Tulip filters. Retrieval of the Denali filter required significantly less amount of fluoroscopy time and use of advanced retrieval techniques when compared to both the Option and Tulip filters. The findings of this study indicate easier retrieval of the Denali and Tulip IVC filters when compared to the Option filter.

  3. Overlap in the functional neural systems involved in semantic and episodic memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajah, M N; McIntosh, A R

    2005-03-01

    Neuroimaging and neuropsychological data suggest that episodic and semantic memory may be mediated by distinct neural systems. However, an alternative perspective is that episodic and semantic memory represent different modes of processing within a single declarative memory system. To examine whether the multiple or the unitary system view better represents the data we conducted a network analysis using multivariate partial least squares (PLS ) activation analysis followed by covariance structural equation modeling (SEM) of positron emission tomography data obtained while healthy adults performed episodic and semantic verbal retrieval tasks. It is argued that if performance of episodic and semantic retrieval tasks are mediated by different memory systems, then there should differences in both regional activations and interregional correlations related to each type of retrieval task, respectively. The PLS results identified brain regions that were differentially active during episodic retrieval versus semantic retrieval. Regions that showed maximal differences in regional activity between episodic retrieval tasks were used to construct separate functional models for episodic and semantic retrieval. Omnibus tests of these functional models failed to find a significant difference across tasks for both functional models. The pattern of path coefficients for the episodic retrieval model were not different across tasks, nor were the path coefficients for the semantic retrieval model. The SEM results suggest that the same memory network/system was engaged across tasks, given the similarities in path coefficients. Therefore, activation differences between episodic and semantic retrieval may ref lect variation along a continuum of processing during task performance within the context of a single memory system.

  4. TMS evidence for a selective role of the precuneus in source memory retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnì, Sonia; Veniero, Domenica; Mastropasqua, Chiara; Ponzo, Viviana; Caltagirone, Carlo; Bozzali, Marco; Koch, Giacomo

    2015-04-01

    The posteromedial cortex including the precuneus (PC) is thought to be involved in episodic memory retrieval. Here we used continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to disentangle the role of the precuneus in the recognition memory process in a sample of healthy subjects. During the encoding phase, subjects were presented with a series of colored pictures. Afterwards, during the retrieval phase, all previously presented items and a sample of new pictures were presented in black, and subjects were asked to indicate whether each item was new or old, and in the latter case to indicate the associated color. cTBS was delivered over PC, posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and vertex before the retrieval phase. The data were analyzed in terms of hits, false alarms, source errors and omissions. cTBS over the precuneus, but not over the PPC or the vertex, induced a selective decrease in source memory errors, indicating an improvement in context retrieval. All the other accuracy measurements were unchanged. These findings suggest a direct implication of the precuneus in successful context-dependent retrieval. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. A sea surface reflectance model for (AATSR, and application to aerosol retrievals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. M. Sayer

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available A model of the sea surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF is presented for the visible and near-IR channels (over the spectral range 550 nm to 1.6 μm of the dual-viewing Along-Track Scanning Radiometers (ATSRs. The intended application is as part of the Oxford-RAL Aerosols and Clouds (ORAC retrieval scheme. The model accounts for contributions to the observed reflectance from whitecaps, sun-glint and underlight. Uncertainties in the parametrisations used in the BRDF model are propagated through into the forward model and retrieved state. The new BRDF model offers improved coverage over previous methods, as retrievals are possible into the sun-glint region, through the ATSR dual-viewing system. The new model has been applied in the ORAC aerosol retrieval algorithm to process Advanced ATSR (AATSR data from September 2004 over the south-eastern Pacific. The assumed error budget is shown to be generally appropriate, meaning the retrieved states are consistent with the measurements and a priori assumptions. The resulting field of aerosol optical depth (AOD is compared with colocated MODIS-Terra observations, AERONET observations at Tahiti, and cruises over the oceanic region. MODIS and AATSR show similar spatial distributions of AOD, although MODIS reports values which are larger and more variable. It is suggested that assumptions in the MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithm may lead to a positive bias in MODIS AOD of order 0.01 at 550 nm over ocean regions where the wind speed is high.

  6. Bedtime Blood Pressure Chronotherapy Significantly Improves Hypertension Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermida, Ramón C; Ayala, Diana E; Fernández, José R; Mojón, Artemio; Crespo, Juan J; Ríos, María T; Smolensky, Michael H

    2017-10-01

    Consistent evidence of numerous studies substantiates the asleep blood pressure (BP) mean derived from ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) is both an independent and a stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk than are daytime clinic BP measurements or the ABPM-determined awake or 24-hour BP means. Hence, cost-effective adequate control of sleep-time BP is of marked clinical relevance. Ingestion time, according to circadian rhythms, of hypertension medications of 6 different classes and their combinations significantly improves BP control, particularly sleep-time BP, and reduces adverse effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. National Emergency Preparedness and Response: Improving for Incidents of National Significance

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Clayton, Christopher M

    2006-01-01

    The national emergency management system has need of significant improvement in its contingency planning and early consolidation of effort and coordination between federal, state, and local agencies...

  8. Divided attention reduces resistance to distraction at encoding but not retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weeks, Jennifer C; Hasher, Lynn

    2017-08-01

    Older adults show implicit memory for previously seen distraction, an effect attributed to poor attentional control. It is unclear whether this effect results from lack of control over encoding during the distraction task, lack of retrieval constraint during the test task, or both. In the present study, we simulated poor distraction control in young adults using divided attention at encoding, at retrieval, at both times, or not at all. The encoding task was a 1-back task on pictures with distracting superimposed letter strings, some of which were words. The retrieval task was a word fragment completion task testing implicit memory for the distracting words. Attention was divided using an auditory odd digit detection task. Dividing attention at encoding, but not at retrieval, resulted in significant priming for distraction, which suggests that control over encoding processes is a primary determinant of distraction transfer in populations with low inhibitory control (e.g. older adults).

  9. Episodic memory retrieval in adolescents with and without developmental language disorder (DLD).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joanna C

    2018-03-01

    Two reasons may explain the discrepant findings regarding declarative memory in developmental language disorder (DLD) in the literature. First, standardized tests are one of the primary tools used to assess declarative memory in previous studies. It is possible they are not sensitive enough to subtle memory impairment. Second, the system underlying declarative memory is complex, and thus results may vary depending on the types of encoding and retrieval processes measured (e.g., item specific or relational) and/or task demands (e.g., recall or recognition during memory retrieval). To adopt an experimental paradigm to examine episodic memory functioning in adolescents with and without DLD, with the focus on memory recognition of item-specific and relational information. Two groups of adolescents, one with DLD (n = 23; mean age = 16.73 years) and the other without (n = 23; mean age = 16.75 years), participated in the study. The Relational and Item-Specific Encoding (RISE) paradigm was used to assess the effect of different encoding processes on episodic memory retrieval in DLD. The advantage of using the RISE task is that both item-specific and relational encoding/retrieval can be examined within the same learning paradigm. Adolescents with DLD and those with typical language development showed comparable engagement during the encoding phase. The DLD group showed significantly poorer item recognition than the comparison group. Associative recognition was not significantly different between the two groups; however, there was a non-significant trend for to be poorer in the DLD group than in the comparison group, suggesting a possible impairment in associative recognition in individuals with DLD, but to a lesser magnitude. These results indicate that adolescents with DLD have difficulty with episodic memory retrieval when stimuli are encoded and retrieved without support from contextual information. Associative recognition is relatively less affected than item

  10. Operational tank leak detection and minimization during retrieval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hertzel, J.S.

    1996-03-01

    This report evaluates the activities associated with the retrieval of wastes from the single-shell tanks proposed under the initial Single-Shell Tank Retrieval System. This report focuses on minimizing leakage during retrieval by using effective leak detection and mitigating actions. After reviewing the historical data available on single-shell leakage, and evaluating current leak detection technology, this report concludes that the only currently available leak detection method which can function within the most probable leakage range is the mass balance system. If utilized after each sluicing campaign, this method should allow detection at a leakage value well below the leakage value where significant health effects occur which is calculated for each tank. Furthermore, this report concludes that the planned sequence or sluicing activities will serve to further minimize the probability and volume of leaks by keeping liquid away from areas with the greatest potential for leaking. Finally, this report identifies a series of operational responses which when used in conjunction with the recommended sluicing sequence and leak detection methods will minimize worker exposure and environmental safety health risks

  11. Integration of satellite-induced fluorescence and vegetation optical depth to improve the retrieval of land evaporation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagán, B. R.; Martens, B.; Maes, W. H.; Miralles, D. G.

    2017-12-01

    Global satellite-based data sets of land evaporation overcome limitations in coverage of in situ measurements while retaining some observational nature. Although their potential for real world applications are promising, their value during dry conditions is still poorly understood. Most evaporation retrieval algorithms are not directly sensitive to soil moisture. An exception is the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM), which uses satellite surface soil moisture and precipitation to account for land water availability. The existing methodology may greatly benefit from the optimal integration of novel observations of the land surface. Microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD) and near-infrared solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) are expected to reflect different aspects of evaporative stress. While the former is considered to be a proxy of vegetation water content, the latter is indicative of the activity of photosynthetic machinery. As stomata regulate both photosynthesis and transpiration, we expect a relationship between SIF and transpiration. An important motivation to incorporate observations in land evaporation calculations is that plant transpiration - usually the largest component of the flux - is extremely challenging to model due to species-dependent responses to drought. Here we present an innovative integration of VOD and SIF into the GLEAM evaporative stress function. VOD is utilized as a measurement of isohydricity to improve the representation of species specific drought responses. SIF is used for transpiration modelling, a novel application, and standardized by incoming solar radiation to better account for radiation-limited periods. Results are validated with global FLUXNET and International Soil Moisture Network data and demonstrate that the incorporation of VOD and SIF can yield accurate estimates of transpiration over large-scales, which are essential to further understand ecosystem-atmosphere feedbacks and the response of terrestrial

  12. Improving 7-Day Forecast Skill by Assimilation of Retrieved AIRS Temperature Profiles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susskind, Joel; Rosenberg, Bob

    2016-01-01

    We conducted a new set of Data Assimilation Experiments covering the period January 1 to February 29, 2016 using the GEOS-5 DAS. Our experiments assimilate all data used operationally by GMAO (Control) with some modifications. Significant improvement in Global and Southern Hemisphere Extra-tropical 7-day forecast skill was obtained when: We assimilated AIRS Quality Controlled temperature profiles in place of observed AIRS radiances, and also did not assimilate CrISATMS radiances, nor did we assimilate radiosonde temperature profiles or aircraft temperatures. This new methodology did not improve or degrade 7-day Northern Hemispheric Extra-tropical forecast skill. We are conducting experiments aimed at further improving of Northern Hemisphere Extra-tropical forecast skill.

  13. Comparisons of Upper Tropospheric Humidity Retrievals from TOVS and METEOSAT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escoffier, C.; Bates, J.; Chedin, A.; Rossow, W. B.; Schmetz, J.

    1999-01-01

    Two different methods for retrieving Upper Tropospheric Humidities (UTH) from the TOVS (TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder) instruments aboard NOAA polar orbiting satellites are presented and compared. The first one, from the Environmental Technology Laboratory, computed by J. Bates and D. Jackson (hereafter BJ method), estimates UTH from a simplified radiative transfer analysis of the upper tropospheric infrared water vapor channel at wavelength measured by HIRS (6.3 micrometer). The second one results from a neural network analysis of the TOVS (HIRS and MSU) data developed at, the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (hereafter the 3I (Improved Initialization Inversion) method). Although the two methods give very similar retrievals in temperate regions (30-60 N and S), an absolute bias up to 16% appears in the convective zone of the tropics. The two datasets have also been compared with UTH retrievals from infrared radiance measurements in the 6.3 micrometer channel from the geostationary satellite METEOSAT (hereafter MET method). The METEOSAT retrievals are systematically drier than the TOVS-based results by an absolute bias between 5 and 25%. Despite the biases, the spatial and temporal correlations are very good. The purpose of this study is to explain the deviations observed between the three datasets. The sensitivity of UTH to air temperature and humidity profiles is analysed as are the clouds effects. Overall, the comparison of the three retrievals gives an assessment of the current uncertainties in water vapor amounts in the upper troposphere as determined from NOAA and METEOSAT satellites.

  14. Temporal lobe cortical electrical stimulation during the encoding and retrieval phase reduces false memories.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo S Boggio

    Full Text Available A recent study found that false memories were reduced by 36% when low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS was applied to the left anterior temporal lobe after the encoding (study phase. Here we were interested in the consequences on a false memory task of brain stimulation throughout the encoding and retrieval task phases. We used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS because it has been shown to be a useful tool to enhance cognition. Specifically, we examined whether tDCS can induce changes in a task assessing false memories. Based on our preliminary results, three conditions of stimulation were chosen: anodal left/cathodal right anterior temporal lobe (ATL stimulation ("bilateral stimulation"; anodal left ATL stimulation (with a large contralateral cathodal electrode--referred as "unilateral stimulation" and sham stimulation. Our results showed that false memories were reduced significantly after the two active conditions (unilateral and bilateral stimulation as compared with sham stimulation. There were no significant changes in veridical memories. Our findings show that false memories are reduced by 73% when anodal tDCS is applied to the anterior temporal lobes throughout the encoding and retrieval stages, suggesting a possible strategy for improving certain aspects of learning.

  15. Health Professionals' Use of Online Information Retrieval Systems and Online Evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lialiou, Paschalina; Pavlopoulou, Ioanna; Mantas, John

    2016-01-01

    Across-sectional survey was designed to determine health professionals' awareness and usage of online evidence retrieval systems in clinical practice. A questionnaire was used to measure professionals' behavior and utilization of online evidences, as well as, reasons and barriers on information retrieval. 439 nurses and physicians from public and private hospitals in Greece formulate the study's sample. The two most common reasons that individuals are using online information systems were for writing scientific manuscripts or filling a knowledge gap. A positive correlation was found between participants with postgraduate studies and information system usage. The majority of them (90,6%) believe that online information systems improves patient care and 67,6% of them had their own experiences on this. More support is needed to nurses and physicians in order to use the online evidence and as a result to improve the provided care and practices.

  16. Reward eliminates retrieval-induced forgetting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imai, Hisato; Kim, Dongho; Sasaki, Yuka; Watanabe, Takeo

    2014-12-02

    Although it is well known that reward enhances learning and memory, how extensively such enhancement occurs remains unclear. To address this question, we examined how reward influences retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) in which the retrieval of a nonpracticed item under the same category as a practiced item is worse than the retrieval of a nonpracticed item outside the category. Subjects were asked to try to encode category-exemplar pairs (e.g., FISH-salmon). Then, they were presented with a category name and a two-letter word stem (e.g., FISH-sa) and were asked to complete an encoded word (retrieval practice). For a correct response, apple juice was given as a reward in the reward condition and a beeping sound was presented in the no-reward condition. Finally, subjects were asked to report whether each exemplar had been presented in the first phase. RIF was replicated in the no-reward condition. However, in the reward condition, RIF was eliminated. These results suggest that reward enhances processing of retrieval of unpracticed members by mechanisms such as spreading activation within the same category, irrespective of whether items were practiced or not.

  17. Multimodal Feature Integration in the Angular Gyrus during Episodic and Semantic Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnici, Heidi M; Richter, Franziska R; Yazar, Yasemin; Simons, Jon S

    2016-05-18

    Much evidence from distinct lines of investigation indicates the involvement of angular gyrus (AnG) in the retrieval of both episodic and semantic information, but the region's precise function and whether that function differs across episodic and semantic retrieval have yet to be determined. We used univariate and multivariate fMRI analysis methods to examine the role of AnG in multimodal feature integration during episodic and semantic retrieval. Human participants completed episodic and semantic memory tasks involving unimodal (auditory or visual) and multimodal (audio-visual) stimuli. Univariate analyses revealed the recruitment of functionally distinct AnG subregions during the retrieval of episodic and semantic information. Consistent with a role in multimodal feature integration during episodic retrieval, significantly greater AnG activity was observed during retrieval of integrated multimodal episodic memories compared with unimodal episodic memories. Multivariate classification analyses revealed that individual multimodal episodic memories could be differentiated in AnG, with classification accuracy tracking the vividness of participants' reported recollections, whereas distinct unimodal memories were represented in sensory association areas only. In contrast to episodic retrieval, AnG was engaged to a statistically equivalent degree during retrieval of unimodal and multimodal semantic memories, suggesting a distinct role for AnG during semantic retrieval. Modality-specific sensory association areas exhibited corresponding activity during both episodic and semantic retrieval, which mirrored the functional specialization of these regions during perception. The results offer new insights into the integrative processes subserved by AnG and its contribution to our subjective experience of remembering. Using univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses, we provide evidence that functionally distinct subregions of angular gyrus (AnG) contribute to the retrieval of

  18. A Unified Mathematical Definition of Classical Information Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dominich, Sandor

    2000-01-01

    Presents a unified mathematical definition for the classical models of information retrieval and identifies a mathematical structure behind relevance feedback. Highlights include vector information retrieval; probabilistic information retrieval; and similarity information retrieval. (Contains 118 references.) (Author/LRW)

  19. Retrieval and Validation of aerosol optical properties from AHI measurements: impact of surface reflectance assumption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, H.; Choi, M.; Kim, J.; Go, S.; Chan, P.; Kasai, Y.

    2017-12-01

    This study attempts to retrieve the aerosol optical properties (AOPs) based on the spectral matching method, with using three visible and one near infrared channels (470, 510, 640, 860nm). This method requires the preparation of look-up table (LUT) approach based on the radiative transfer modeling. Cloud detection is one of the most important processes for guaranteed quality of AOPs. Since the AHI has several infrared channels, which are very advantageous for cloud detection, clouds can be removed by using brightness temperature difference (BTD) and spatial variability test. The Yonsei Aerosol Retrieval (YAER) algorithm is basically utilized on a dark surface, therefore a bright surface (e.g., desert, snow) should be removed first. Then we consider the characteristics of the reflectance of land and ocean surface using three visible channels. The known surface reflectivity problem in high latitude area can be solved in this algorithm by selecting appropriate channels through improving tests. On the other hand, we retrieved the AOPs by obtaining the visible surface reflectance using NIR to normalized difference vegetation index short wave infrared (NDVIswir) relationship. ESR tends to underestimate urban and cropland area, we improved the visible surface reflectance considering urban effect. In this version, ocean surface reflectance is using the new cox and munk method which considers ocean bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). Input of this method has wind speed, chlorophyll, salinity and so on. Based on validation results with the sun-photometer measurement in AErosol Robotic NETwork (AERONET), we confirm that the quality of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from the YAER algorithm is comparable to the product from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) retrieval algorithm. Our future update includes a consideration of improvement land surface reflectance by hybrid approach, and non-spherical aerosols. This will improve the quality of YAER

  20. Improving volcanic ash predictions with the HYSPLIT dispersion model by assimilating MODIS satellite retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chai, Tianfeng; Crawford, Alice; Stunder, Barbara; Pavolonis, Michael J.; Draxler, Roland; Stein, Ariel

    2017-02-01

    Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) runs the HYSPLIT dispersion model with a unit mass release rate to predict the transport and dispersion of volcanic ash. The model predictions provide information for the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAAC) to issue advisories to meteorological watch offices, area control centers, flight information centers, and others. This research aims to provide quantitative forecasts of ash distributions generated by objectively and optimally estimating the volcanic ash source strengths, vertical distribution, and temporal variations using an observation-modeling inversion technique. In this top-down approach, a cost functional is defined to quantify the differences between the model predictions and the satellite measurements of column-integrated ash concentrations weighted by the model and observation uncertainties. Minimizing this cost functional by adjusting the sources provides the volcanic ash emission estimates. As an example, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite retrievals of the 2008 Kasatochi volcanic ash clouds are used to test the HYSPLIT volcanic ash inverse system. Because the satellite retrievals include the ash cloud top height but not the bottom height, there are different model diagnostic choices for comparing the model results with the observed mass loadings. Three options are presented and tested. Although the emission estimates vary significantly with different options, the subsequent model predictions with the different release estimates all show decent skill when evaluated against the unassimilated satellite observations at later times. Among the three options, integrating over three model layers yields slightly better results than integrating from the surface up to the observed volcanic ash cloud top or using a single model layer. Inverse tests also show that including the ash-free region to constrain the model is not

  1. Further Studies of Forest Structure Parameter Retrievals Using the Echidna® Ground-Based Lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strahler, A. H.; Yao, T.; Zhao, F.; Yang, X.; Schaaf, C.; Wang, Z.; Li, Z.; Woodcock, C. E.; Culvenor, D.; Jupp, D.; Newnham, G.; Lovell, J.

    2012-12-01

    visible in the 2010 point cloud canopy reconstruction. A new method for retrieval of the forest canopy between-crown clumping index from angular gaps in hemispherically-projected EVI data traces gaps as they narrow with range from the instrument, thus providing the approximate physical size, rather than angular size, of the gaps. In applying this method to a range of sites in the southern Sierra Nevada, element clumping index values are lower (more between-crown clumping effect) in more open stands, providing improved results as compared to conventional hemispherical photography. In dense stands with fewer gaps, the clumping index values were closer. Foliage profiles retrieved from EVI scans at five Sierra Nevada sites are closely correlated with those of the airborne Lidar Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) when averaged over a diameter of 100 m. At smaller diameters, the EVI scans have more detail in lower canopy layers and the LVIS and EVI foliage profiles are more distinct. Foliage profiles derived from processing 3-D site point clouds with a nadir view match the LVIS foliage profiles more closely than profiles derived from EVI in scan mode. Removal of terrain effects significantly enhances the match with LVIS profiles. This research was supported by the US National Science Foundation under grant MRI DBI-0923389.

  2. Rhetorical relations for information retrieval

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lioma, Christina; Larsen, Birger; Lu, Wei

    2012-01-01

    -called discourse structure has been applied successfully to several natural language processing tasks. This work studies the use of rhetorical relations for Information Retrieval (IR): Is there a correlation between certain rhetorical relations and retrieval performance? Can knowledge about a document’s rhetorical...... relations be useful to IR? We present a language model modification that considers rhetorical relations when estimating the relevance of a document to a query. Empirical evaluation of different versions of our model on TREC settings shows that certain rhetorical relations can benefit retrieval effectiveness...

  3. Image retrieval by information fusion based on scalable vocabulary tree and robust Hausdorff distance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Che, Chang; Yu, Xiaoyang; Sun, Xiaoming; Yu, Boyang

    2017-12-01

    In recent years, Scalable Vocabulary Tree (SVT) has been shown to be effective in image retrieval. However, for general images where the foreground is the object to be recognized while the background is cluttered, the performance of the current SVT framework is restricted. In this paper, a new image retrieval framework that incorporates a robust distance metric and information fusion is proposed, which improves the retrieval performance relative to the baseline SVT approach. First, the visual words that represent the background are diminished by using a robust Hausdorff distance between different images. Second, image matching results based on three image signature representations are fused, which enhances the retrieval precision. We conducted intensive experiments on small-scale to large-scale image datasets: Corel-9, Corel-48, and PKU-198, where the proposed Hausdorff metric and information fusion outperforms the state-of-the-art methods by about 13, 15, and 15%, respectively.

  4. Information Retrieval Evaluation

    CERN Document Server

    Harman, Donna

    2011-01-01

    Evaluation has always played a major role in information retrieval, with the early pioneers such as Cyril Cleverdon and Gerard Salton laying the foundations for most of the evaluation methodologies in use today. The retrieval community has been extremely fortunate to have such a well-grounded evaluation paradigm during a period when most of the human language technologies were just developing. This lecture has the goal of explaining where these evaluation methodologies came from and how they have continued to adapt to the vastly changed environment in the search engine world today. The lecture

  5. Assimilation of SMOS Brightness Temperatures or Soil Moisture Retrievals into a Land Surface Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Reichle, Rolf H.

    2016-01-01

    Three different data products from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated separately into the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, version 5 (GEOS-5) to improve estimates of surface and root-zone soil moisture. The first product consists of multi-angle, dual-polarization brightness temperature (Tb) observations at the bottom of the atmosphere extracted from Level 1 data. The second product is a derived SMOS Tb product that mimics the data at a 40 degree incidence angle from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. The third product is the operational SMOS Level 2 surface soil moisture (SM) retrieval product. The assimilation system uses a spatially distributed ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) with seasonally varying climatological bias mitigation for Tb assimilation, whereas a time-invariant cumulative density function matching is used for SM retrieval assimilation. All assimilation experiments improve the soil moisture estimates compared to model-only simulations in terms of unbiased root-mean-square differences and anomaly correlations during the period from 1 July 2010 to 1 May 2015 and for 187 sites across the US. Especially in areas where the satellite data are most sensitive to surface soil moisture, large skill improvements (e.g., an increase in the anomaly correlation by 0.1) are found in the surface soil moisture. The domain-average surface and root-zone skill metrics are similar among the various assimilation experiments, but large differences in skill are found locally. The observation-minus-forecast residuals and analysis increments reveal large differences in how the observations add value in the Tb and SM retrieval assimilation systems. The distinct patterns of these diagnostics in the two systems reflect observation and model errors patterns that are not well captured in the assigned EnKF error parameters. Consequently, a localized optimization of the EnKF error parameters is needed to further improve Tb or SM retrieval

  6. Evaluation and Windspeed Dependence of MODIS Aerosol Retrievals Over Open Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleidman, Richard G.; Smirnov, Alexander; Levy, Robert C.; Mattoo, Shana; Tanre, Didier

    2011-01-01

    The Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) data set provides high quality ground-truth to validate the MODIS aerosol product over open ocean. Prior validation of the ocean aerosol product has been limited to coastal and island sites. Comparing MODIS Collection 5 ocean aerosol retrieval products with collocated MAN measurements from ships shows that MODIS is meeting the pre-launch uncertainty estimates for aerosol optical depth (AOD) with 64% and 67% of retrievals at 550 nm, and 74% and 78% of retrievals at 870 nm, falling within expected uncertainty for Terra and Aqua, respectively. Angstrom Exponent comparisons show a high correlation between MODIS retrievals and shipboard measurements (R= 0.85 Terra, 0.83 Aqua), although the MODIS aerosol algorithm tends to underestimate particle size for large particles and overestimate size for small particles, as seen in earlier Collections. Prior analysis noted an offset between Terra and Aqua ocean AOD, without concluding which sensor was more accurate. The simple linear regression reported here, is consistent with other anecdotal evidence that Aqua agreement with AERONET is marginally better. However we cannot claim based on the current study that the better Aqua comparison is statistically significant. Systematic increase of error as a function of wind speed is noted in both Terra and Aqua retrievals. This wind speed dependency enters the retrieval when winds deviate from the 6 m/s value assumed in the rough ocean surface and white cap parameterizations. Wind speed dependency in the results can be mitigated by using auxiliary NCEP wind speed information in the retrieval process.

  7. Learning to rank for information retrieval and natural language processing

    CERN Document Server

    Li, Hang

    2014-01-01

    Learning to rank refers to machine learning techniques for training a model in a ranking task. Learning to rank is useful for many applications in information retrieval, natural language processing, and data mining. Intensive studies have been conducted on its problems recently, and significant progress has been made. This lecture gives an introduction to the area including the fundamental problems, major approaches, theories, applications, and future work.The author begins by showing that various ranking problems in information retrieval and natural language processing can be formalized as tw

  8. Reversibility and retrievability in geologic disposal of radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    Reversibility of decisions is an important consideration in the step-wise decision-making process that is foreseen for engineered geologic disposal of radioactive waste. The implications of favouring retrievability of the waste within disposal strategies and the methods to implement it are also being considered by NEA Member countries. This report reviews the concepts of reversibility and retrievability as they may apply to the planning and development of engineered geologic repositories. The concepts span technical, policy and ethical issues, and it is important that a broad understanding is developed of their value and implications. Furthermore, improved comprehension and communication of these issues will clarify the value of flexible, step-wise decision making in repository development programmes and may help to generate a climate conducive to the further progress of such programmes. (author)

  9. Image Information Retrieval: An Overview of Current Research

    OpenAIRE

    Abby A. Goodrum

    2000-01-01

    This paper provides an overview of current research in image information retrieval and provides an outline of areas for future research. The approach is broad and interdisciplinary and focuses on three aspects of image research (IR): text-based retrieval, content-based retrieval, and user interactions with image information retrieval systems. The review concludes with a call for image retrieval evaluation studies similar to TREC.

  10. TRMM Version 7 Level 3 Gridded Monthly Accumulations of GPROF Precipitation Retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stocker, E. F.; Kelley, O. A.

    2012-01-01

    In July 2011, improved versions of the retrieval algorithms were approved for TRMM. All data starting with June 2011 are produced only with the version 7 code. At the same time, version 7 reprocessing of all TRMM mission data was started. By the end of August 2011, the 14+ years of the reprocessed mission data became available online to users. This reprocessing provided the opportunity to redo and enhance upon an analysis of V7 impacts on L3 data accumulations that was presented at the 2010 EGU General Assembly. This paper will discuss the impact of algorithm changes made in th GPROF retrieval on the Level 2 swath products. Perhaps the most important change in that retrieval was to replacement of a model based a priori database with one created from Precipitation Radar (PR) and TMI brightness temperature (Tb) data. The radar pays a major role in the V7 GPROF (GPROF2010) in determining existence of rain. The level 2 retrieval algorithm also introduced a field providing the probability of rain. This combined use of the PR has some impact on the retrievals and created areas, particularly over ocean, where many areas of low-probability precipitation are retrieved whereas in version 6, these areas contained zero rain rates. This paper will discuss how these impacts get translated to the space/time averaged monthly products that use the GPROF retrievals. The level 3 products discussed are the gridded text product 3G68 and the standard 3A12 and 3B31 products. The paper provides an overview of the changes and explanation of how the level 3 products dealt with the change in the retrieval approach. Using the .25 deg x .25 degree grid, the paper will show that agreement between the swath product and the level 3 remains very high. It will also present comparisons of V6 and V7 GPROF retrievals as seen both at the swath level and the level 3 time/space gridded accumulations. It will show that the various L3 products based on GPROF level 2 retrievals are in close agreement. The

  11. Content-based retrieval of brain tumor in contrast-enhanced MRI images using tumor margin information and learned distance metric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Wei; Feng, Qianjin; Yu, Mei; Lu, Zhentai; Gao, Yang; Xu, Yikai; Chen, Wufan

    2012-11-01

    A content-based image retrieval (CBIR) method for T1-weighted contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) images of brain tumors is presented for diagnosis aid. The method is thoroughly evaluated on a large image dataset. Using the tumor region as a query, the authors' CBIR system attempts to retrieve tumors of the same pathological category. Aside from commonly used features such as intensity, texture, and shape features, the authors use a margin information descriptor (MID), which is capable of describing the characteristics of tissue surrounding a tumor, for representing image contents. In addition, the authors designed a distance metric learning algorithm called Maximum mean average Precision Projection (MPP) to maximize the smooth approximated mean average precision (mAP) to optimize retrieval performance. The effectiveness of MID and MPP algorithms was evaluated using a brain CE-MRI dataset consisting of 3108 2D scans acquired from 235 patients with three categories of brain tumors (meningioma, glioma, and pituitary tumor). By combining MID and other features, the mAP of retrieval increased by more than 6% with the learned distance metrics. The distance metric learned by MPP significantly outperformed the other two existing distance metric learning methods in terms of mAP. The CBIR system using the proposed strategies achieved a mAP of 87.3% and a precision of 89.3% when top 10 images were returned by the system. Compared with scale-invariant feature transform, the MID, which uses the intensity profile as descriptor, achieves better retrieval performance. Incorporating tumor margin information represented by MID with the distance metric learned by the MPP algorithm can substantially improve the retrieval performance for brain tumors in CE-MRI.

  12. Test Objectives for the Saltcake Dissolution Retrieval Demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DEFIGH PRICE, C.

    2000-01-01

    This document describes the objectives the Saltcake Dissolution Retrieval Demonstration. The near term strategy for single-shell tank waste retrieval activities has shifted from focusing on maximizing the number of tanks entered for retrieval (regardless of waste volume or content) to a focus on scheduling the retrieval of wastes from those single-shell tanks with a high volume of contaminants of concern. These contaminants are defined as mobile, long-lived radionuclides that have a potential of reaching the groundwater and the Columbia River. This strategy also focuses on the performance of key retrieval technology demonstrations, including the Saltcake Dissolution Retrieval Demonstration, in a variety of waste forms and tank farm locations to establish a technical basis for future work. The work scope will also focus on the performance of risk assessment, retrieval performance evaluations (RPE) and incorporating vadose zone characterization data on a tank-by-tank basis, and on updating tank farm closure/post closure work plans. The deployment of a retrieval technology other than Past-Practice Sluicing (PPS) allows determination of limits of technical capabilities, as well as, providing a solid planning basis for future SST retrievals. This saltcake dissolution technology deployment test will determine if saltcake dissolution is a viable retrieval option for SST retrieval. CH2M Hill Hanford Group (CHG) recognizes the SST retrieval mission is key to the success of the River Protection Project (RPP) and the overall completion of the Hanford Site cleanup. The objectives outlined in this document will be incorporated into and used to develop the test and evaluation plan for saltcake dissolution retrievals. The test and evaluation plan will be developed in fiscal year 2001

  13. Eight-component retrievals from ground-based MAX-DOAS observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Irie

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available We attempt for the first time to retrieve lower-tropospheric vertical profile information for 8 quantities from ground-based Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS observations. The components retrieved are the aerosol extinction coefficients at two wavelengths, 357 and 476 nm, and NO2, HCHO, CHOCHO, H2O, SO2, and O3 volume mixing ratios. A Japanese MAX-DOAS profile retrieval algorithm, version 1 (JM1, is applied to observations performed at Cabauw, the Netherlands (51.97° N, 4.93° E, in June–July 2009 during the Cabauw Intercomparison campaign of Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI. Of the retrieved profiles, we focus here on the lowest-layer data (mean values at altitudes 0–1 km, where the sensitivity is usually highest owing to the longest light path. In support of the capability of the multi-component retrievals, we find reasonable overall agreement with independent data sets, including a regional chemical transport model (CHIMERE and in situ observations performed near the surface (2–3 m and at the 200-m height level of the tall tower in Cabauw. Plumes of enhanced HCHO and SO2 were likely affected by biogenic and ship emissions, respectively, and an improvement in their emission strengths is suggested for better agreement between CHIMERE simulations and MAX-DOAS observations. Analysis of air mass factors indicates that the horizontal spatial representativeness of MAX-DOAS observations is about 3–15 km (depending mainly on aerosol extinction, comparable to or better than the spatial resolution of current UV-visible satellite observations and model calculations. These demonstrate that MAX-DOAS provides multi-component data useful for the evaluation of satellite observations and model calculations and can play an important role in bridging different data sets having different spatial resolutions.

  14. Infectious Cognition: Risk Perception Affects Socially Shared Retrieval-Induced Forgetting of Medical Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coman, Alin; Berry, Jessica N

    2015-12-01

    When speakers selectively retrieve previously learned information, listeners often concurrently, and covertly, retrieve their memories of that information. This concurrent retrieval typically enhances memory for mentioned information (the rehearsal effect) and impairs memory for unmentioned but related information (socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting, SSRIF), relative to memory for unmentioned and unrelated information. Building on research showing that anxiety leads to increased attention to threat-relevant information, we explored whether concurrent retrieval is facilitated in high-anxiety real-world contexts. Participants first learned category-exemplar facts about meningococcal disease. Following a manipulation of perceived risk of infection (low vs. high risk), they listened to a mock radio show in which some of the facts were selectively practiced. Final recall tests showed that the rehearsal effect was equivalent between the two risk conditions, but SSRIF was significantly larger in the high-risk than in the low-risk condition. Thus, the tendency to exaggerate consequences of news events was found to have deleterious consequences. © The Author(s) 2015.

  15. RETRIEVING SUSPECT TRANSURANIC WASTE FROM THE HANFORD BURIAL GROUNDS PROGRESS PLANS AND CHALLENGES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    FRENCH, M.S.

    2006-01-01

    This paper describes the scope and status of the program for retrieval of suspect transuranic (TRU) waste stored in the Hanford Site low-level burial grounds. Beginning in 1970 and continuing until the late 1980's, waste suspected of containing significant quantities of transuranic isotopes was placed in ''retrievable'' storage in designated modules in the Hanford burial grounds, with the intent that the waste would be retrieved when a national repository for disposal of such waste became operational. Approximately 15,000 cubic meters of waste, suspected of being TRU, was placed in storage modules in four burial grounds. With the availability of the national repository (the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant), retrieval of the suspect TRU waste is now underway. Retrieval efforts, to date, have been conducted in storage modules that contain waste, which is in general, contact-handled, relatively new (1980's and later), is stacked in neat, engineered configurations, and has a relatively good record of waste characteristics. Even with these optimum conditions, retrieval personnel have had to deal with a large number of structurally degraded containers, radioactive contamination issues, and industrial hazards (including organic vapors). Future retrieval efforts in older, less engineered modules are expected to present additional hazards and difficult challenges

  16. Study of Query Expansion Techniques and Their Application in the Biomedical Information Retrieval

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. R. Rivas

    2014-01-01

    retrieval systems. These techniques help to overcome vocabulary mismatch issues by expanding the original query with additional relevant terms and reweighting the terms in the expanded query. In this paper, different text preprocessing and query expansion approaches are combined to improve the documents initially retrieved by a query in a scientific documental database. A corpus belonging to MEDLINE, called Cystic Fibrosis, is used as a knowledge source. Experimental results show that the proposed combinations of techniques greatly enhance the efficiency obtained by traditional queries.

  17. Generating region proposals for histopathological whole slide image retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yibing; Jiang, Zhiguo; Zhang, Haopeng; Xie, Fengying; Zheng, Yushan; Shi, Huaqiang; Zhao, Yu; Shi, Jun

    2018-06-01

    Content-based image retrieval is an effective method for histopathological image analysis. However, given a database of huge whole slide images (WSIs), acquiring appropriate region-of-interests (ROIs) for training is significant and difficult. Moreover, histopathological images can only be annotated by pathologists, resulting in the lack of labeling information. Therefore, it is an important and challenging task to generate ROIs from WSI and retrieve image with few labels. This paper presents a novel unsupervised region proposing method for histopathological WSI based on Selective Search. Specifically, the WSI is over-segmented into regions which are hierarchically merged until the WSI becomes a single region. Nucleus-oriented similarity measures for region mergence and Nucleus-Cytoplasm color space for histopathological image are specially defined to generate accurate region proposals. Additionally, we propose a new semi-supervised hashing method for image retrieval. The semantic features of images are extracted with Latent Dirichlet Allocation and transformed into binary hashing codes with Supervised Hashing. The methods are tested on a large-scale multi-class database of breast histopathological WSIs. The results demonstrate that for one WSI, our region proposing method can generate 7.3 thousand contoured regions which fit well with 95.8% of the ROIs annotated by pathologists. The proposed hashing method can retrieve a query image among 136 thousand images in 0.29 s and reach precision of 91% with only 10% of images labeled. The unsupervised region proposing method can generate regions as predictions of lesions in histopathological WSI. The region proposals can also serve as the training samples to train machine-learning models for image retrieval. The proposed hashing method can achieve fast and precise image retrieval with small amount of labels. Furthermore, the proposed methods can be potentially applied in online computer-aided-diagnosis systems. Copyright

  18. The impact of retrievability on disposal of radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gera, F.; Hill, M.

    2000-01-01

    There are discussions in various countries about whether and to what degree the ability to retrieve wastes might be built into geological repositories for long lived radioactive waste. It is generally accepted that repositories should be designed so that retrieval will never be necessary on safety grounds. Nevertheless, reasons for retrieval have been put forward. The ways in which retrievability might be built into geological repositories and various expected impacts of such actions are briefly discussed in this paper. A preliminary comparison of some notional geological disposal strategies with varying degrees of retrievability is proposed. The comparison is qualitative because at present there are few detailed designs for geological repositories with retrievability and few assessments of the safety and other aspects of such repositories. The comparison has the aims of highlighting those factors that differ most from one strategy to another and identifying which of these factors require further assessment in order to make more complete and quantitative comparisons. The framework used for the preliminary comparison is that of a multi-attribute analysis, such as might be employed in an environmental impact assessment (EIA). This type of framework is chosen because it would be used in many countries to aid decisions between disposal options or strategies. The framework encompasses radiological and nuclear safety factors but goes well beyond these and includes a number of factors that are not quantifiable in the technical sense. However, consideration of such factors is considered important because they can have a significant impact on decision-making. The groups of factors are: radiological, nuclear safety and financial (quantifiable factors); non-radiological environmental impacts (partially quantifiable factors); non-quantifiable attributes (such as ethical and societal factors). (author)

  19. Human memory retrieval as Lévy foraging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhodes, Theo; Turvey, Michael T.

    2007-11-01

    When people attempt to recall as many words as possible from a specific category (e.g., animal names) their retrievals occur sporadically over an extended temporal period. Retrievals decline as recall progresses, but short retrieval bursts can occur even after tens of minutes of performing the task. To date, efforts to gain insight into the nature of retrieval from this fundamental phenomenon of semantic memory have focused primarily upon the exponential growth rate of cumulative recall. Here we focus upon the time intervals between retrievals. We expected and found that, for each participant in our experiment, these intervals conformed to a Lévy distribution suggesting that the Lévy flight dynamics that characterize foraging behavior may also characterize retrieval from semantic memory. The closer the exponent on the inverse square power-law distribution of retrieval intervals approximated the optimal foraging value of 2, the more efficient was the retrieval. At an abstract dynamical level, foraging for particular foods in one's niche and searching for particular words in one's memory must be similar processes if particular foods and particular words are randomly and sparsely located in their respective spaces at sites that are not known a priori. We discuss whether Lévy dynamics imply that memory processes, like foraging, are optimized in an ecological way.

  20. Coupled binary embedding for large-scale image retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Liang; Wang, Shengjin; Tian, Qi

    2014-08-01

    Visual matching is a crucial step in image retrieval based on the bag-of-words (BoW) model. In the baseline method, two keypoints are considered as a matching pair if their SIFT descriptors are quantized to the same visual word. However, the SIFT visual word has two limitations. First, it loses most of its discriminative power during quantization. Second, SIFT only describes the local texture feature. Both drawbacks impair the discriminative power of the BoW model and lead to false positive matches. To tackle this problem, this paper proposes to embed multiple binary features at indexing level. To model correlation between features, a multi-IDF scheme is introduced, through which different binary features are coupled into the inverted file. We show that matching verification methods based on binary features, such as Hamming embedding, can be effectively incorporated in our framework. As an extension, we explore the fusion of binary color feature into image retrieval. The joint integration of the SIFT visual word and binary features greatly enhances the precision of visual matching, reducing the impact of false positive matches. Our method is evaluated through extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets (Ukbench, Holidays, DupImage, and MIR Flickr 1M). We show that our method significantly improves the baseline approach. In addition, large-scale experiments indicate that the proposed method requires acceptable memory usage and query time compared with other approaches. Further, when global color feature is integrated, our method yields competitive performance with the state-of-the-arts.