Urban growth monitoring techniques for sustainable development

This paper discusses the role of advance techniques for monitoring urban growth and change for sustainable development of urban environment. It also presents results of a case study involving satellite data for land use/land cover classification of Lucknow city using IRS-1C multi-spectral features. Two classification algorithms have been used in the study. Experiments were conducted to see the level of improvement in digital classification of urban environment using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique.

Predicting dry eye using non-invasive techniques of tear film surface assessment

PURPOSE. To measure tear film surface quality in healthy and dry eye subjects using three noninvasive techniques of tear film quality assessment and to establish the ability of these noninvasive techniques to predict dry eye. METHODS. Thirty four subjects participated in the study, and were classified as dry eye or normal, based on standard clinical assessments. Three non-invasive techniques were applied for measurement of tear film surface quality: dynamic-area high-speed videokeratoscopy (HSV), wavefront sensing (DWS) and lateral shearing interferometry (LSI). The measurements were performed in both natural blinking conditions (NBC) and in suppressed blinking conditions (SBC). RESULTS. In order to investigate the capability of each method to discriminate dry eye subjects from normal subjects, the receiver operating curve (ROC) was calculated and then the area under the curve (AUC) was extracted. The best result was obtained for the LSI technique (AUC=0.80 in SBC and AUC=0.73 in NBC), which was followed by HSV (AUC=0.72 in SBC and AUC=0.71 in NBC). The best result for DWS was AUC=0.64 obtained for changes in vertical coma in suppressed blinking conditions, while for normal blinking conditions the results were poorer. CONCLUSIONS. Non-invasive techniques of tear film surface assessment can be used for predicting dry eye and this can be achieved in natural blinking as well as suppressed blinking conditions. In this study, LSI showed the best detection performance, closely followed by the dynamic-area HSV. The wavefront sensing technique was less powerful, particularly in natural blinking conditions.

Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI) : a review of available techniques

Breast conservation therapy (BCT) is the procedure of choice for the management of the early stage breast cancer. However, its utilization has not been maximized because of logistics issues associated with the protracted treatment involved with the radiation treatment. Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI) is an approach that treats only the lumpectomy bed plus a 1-2 cm margin, rather than the whole breast. Hence because of the small volume of irradiation a higher dose can be delivered in a shorter period of time. There has been growing interest for APBI and various approaches have been developed under phase I-III clinical studies; these include multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy, balloon catheter brachytherapy, conformal external beam radiation therapy and intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT). Balloon-based brachytherapy approaches include Mammosite, Axxent electronic brachytherapy and Contura, Hybrid brachytherapy devices include SAVI and ClearPath. This paper reviews the different techniques, identifying the weaknesses and strength of each approach and proposes a direction for future research and development. It is evident that APBI will play a role in the management of a selected group of early breast cancer. However, the relative role of the different techniques is yet to be clearly identified.

The Guardian Reportage of the UK MP Expenses Scandal: a Case Study of Computational Journalism

The Guardian reportage of the United Kingdom Member of Parliament (MP) expenses scandal of 2009 used crowdsourcing and computational journalism techniques. Computational journalism can be broadly defined as the application of computer science techniques to the activities of journalism. Its foundation lies in computer assisted reporting techniques and its importance is increasing due to the: (a) increasing availability of large scale government datasets for scrutiny; (b) declining cost, increasing power and ease of use of data mining and filtering software; and Web 2.0; and (c) explosion of online public engagement and opinion.. This paper provides a case study of the Guardian MP expenses scandal reportage and reveals some key challenges and opportunities for digital journalism. It finds journalists may increasingly take an active role in understanding, interpreting, verifying and reporting clues or conclusions that arise from the interrogations of datasets (computational journalism). Secondly a distinction should be made between information reportage and computational journalism in the digital realm, just as a distinction might be made between citizen reporting and citizen journalism. Thirdly, an opportunity exists for online news providers to take a ‘curatorial’ role, selecting and making easily available the best data sources for readers to use (information reportage). These activities have always been fundamental to journalism, however the way in which they are undertaken may change. Findings from this paper may suggest opportunities and challenges for the implementation of computational journalism techniques in practice by digital Australian media providers, and further areas of research.

Photo-cross-linked poly(D,L-lactide)-based networks. Structural characterization by HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy and hydrolytic degradation behavior

To date, biodegradable networks and particularly their kinetic chain lengths have been characterized by analysis of their degradation products in solution. We characterize the network itself by NMR analysis in the solvent-swollen state under magic angle spinning conditions. The networks were prepared by photoinitiated cross-linking of poly(dl-lactide)−dimethacrylate macromers (5 kg/mol) in the presence of an unreactive diluent. Using diffusion filtering and 2D correlation spectroscopy techniques, all network components are identified. By quantification of network-bound photoinitiator fragments, an average kinetic chain length of 9 ± 2 methacrylate units is determined. The PDLLA macromer solution was also used with a dye to prepare computer-designed structures by stereolithography. For these networks structures, the average kinetic chain length is 24 ± 4 methacrylate units. In all cases the calculated molecular weights of the polymethacrylate chains after degradation are maximally 8.8 kg/mol, which is far below the threshold for renal clearance. Upon incubation in phosphate buffered saline at 37 °C, the networks show a similar mass loss profile in time as linear high-molecular-weight PDLLA (HMW PDLLA). The mechanical properties are preserved longer for the PDLLA networks than for HMW PDLLA. The initial tensile strength of 47 ± 2 MPa does not decrease significantly for the first 15 weeks, while HMW PDLLA lost 85 ± 5% of its strength within 5 weeks. The physical properties, kinetic chain length, and degradation profile of these photo-cross-linked PDLLA networks make them most suited materials for orthopedic applications and use in (bone) tissue engineering.

A review of rapid prototyping techniques for tissue engineering purposes

Rapid prototyping (RP) is a common name for several techniques, which read in data from computer-aided design (CAD) drawings and manufacture automatically threedimensional objects layer-by-layer according to the virtual design. The utilization of RP in tissue engineering enables the production of three-dimensional scaffolds with complex geometries and very fine structures. Adding micro- and nanometer details into the scaffolds improves the mechanical properties of the scaffold and ensures better cell adhesion to the scaffold surface. Thus, tissue engineering constructs can be customized according to the data acquired from the medical scans to match the each patient’s individual needs. In addition RP enables the control of the scaffold porosity making it possible to fabricate applications with desired structural integrity. Unfortunately, every RP process has its own unique disadvantages in building tissue engineering scaffolds. Hence, the future research should be focused into the development of RP machines designed specifically for fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds, although RP methods already can serve as a link between tissue and engineering.

Advances in vegetation management for power line corridor monitoring using aerial remote sensing techniques

This paper presents a comprehensive discussion of vegetation management approaches in power line corridors based on aerial remote sensing techniques. We address three issues 1) strategies for risk management in power line corridors, 2) selection of suitable platforms and sensor suite for data collection and 3) the progress in automated data processing techniques for vegetation management. We present initial results from a series of experiments and, challenges and lessons learnt from our project.