Non-Destructive Evaluation of Iowa Pavements Phase 2: Development of a Fully Automated Software System for Rapid Analysis/Processing of the Falling Weight Deflectometer Data, 2009

The Office of Special Investigations at Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) collects FWD data on regular basis to evaluate pavement structural conditions. The primary objective of this study was to develop a fully-automated software system for rapid processing of the FWD data along with a user manual. The software system automatically reads the FWD raw data collected by the JILS-20 type FWD machine that Iowa DOT owns, processes and analyzes the collected data with the rapid prediction algorithms developed during the phase I study. This system smoothly integrates the FWD data analysis algorithms and the computer program being used to collect the pavement deflection data. This system can be used to assess pavement condition, estimate remaining pavement life, and eventually help assess pavement rehabilitation strategies by the Iowa DOT pavement management team. This report describes the developed software in detail and can also be used as a user-manual for conducting simulation studies and detailed analyses. *********************** Large File ***********************

Revisión: tecnologia de agentes de software

Los agentes de software en la era de las redes globales son una herramienta vital para superar el fenómeno llamado "sobrecarga de información". El grado de madurez alcanzado en esta tecnología permite que hoy se puedan ver aplicaciones concretas funcionado en organizaciones, como así también en el escritorio del usuario hogareño. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar una revisión bibliográfica sobre la tecnología de agentes de software, con orientación a los modelos que permiten gerenciar la sobrecarga de información.

Proposta de um método para escolha de software de automação de bibliotecas

Apresenta um método para avaliação e seleção de softwares de automação de bibliotecas. Consiste na atribuição de critérios e cálculos estatísticos em uma lista elaborada para a seleção e avaliação deste tipo de software. Este método pretender servir como instrumento de apoio à tomada de decisão no processo de escolha do software mais adequado às necessidades de cada instituição. Este trabalho foi motivado por uma demanda do Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia (IBICT) para automatizar a sua biblioteca.

Soft Photogrammetry for Highway Engineering, HR-387, 1998

The SoftPlotter, a soft photogrammetric software and Silicon Graphics workstation, was used to evaluate the accuracy of soft photogrammetry and identify applications of this technology to highway engineering. A comparative study showed that SoftPlotter compares well with other software such as Socket and Integraph. The PC software TNTMips is inexpensive but needs further development to be comparable to SoftPlotter. The Campus Project showed that soft photogrammetry is accurate for traditional photogrammetric applications. It is also accurate for producing orthophoto and base maps for Geographic Information Systems (GISs). The Highway Project showed that soft photogrammetry is accurate for highway engineering and that the technical staff at the Iowa Department of Transportation (IA DOT) can be easily trained in this new technology. The research demonstrated that soft photogrammetry can be used with low-flight helicopter photography for large-scale mapping in highway engineering. The researchers recommend that research be conducted to test the use of digital cameras instead of the traditional aerial cameras in helicopter photography. Research that examines the use of soft photogrammetry with video logging imagery for inventory and GIS studies in highway maintenance is also recommended. Research is also warranted into the integration of soft photogrammetry with virtual reality, which can be used in three-dimensional designing and visualization of highways and subdivisions in real time. The IA DOT owns one analytical plotter and two analogue plotters. The analytical plotter is used for aerial triangulation, and the analogue plotters are used for plotting. However, neither is capable of producing orthophotos. Therefore, the researchers recommend that the IA DOT purchase soft photogrammetric workstations for orthophoto production, and if and when required, use it for aerial triangulation and plotting. In the future, the analogue plotters may become obsolete. At that time, the researchers recommend that the analogue plotters be phased out and replaced by soft photogrammetric workstations.

Cerebellar cortical layers: in vivo visualization with structural high-field-strength MR imaging.

Purpose: To perform in vivo imaging of the cerebellum with an in-plane resolution of 120 mm to observe its cortical granular and molecular layers by taking advantage of the high signal-to-noise ratio and the increased magnetic susceptibility-related contrast available at high magnetic field strength such as 7 T. Materials and Methods: The study was approved by the institutional review board, and all patients provided written consent. Three healthy persons (two men, one woman; mean age, 30 years; age range, 28-31 years) underwent MR imaging with a 7-T system. Gradient-echo images (repetition time msec/echo time msec, 1000/25) of the human cerebellum were acquired with a nominal in-plane resolution of approximately 120 mum and a section thickness of 1 mm. Results: Structures with dimensions as small as 240 mum, such as the granular and molecular layers in the cerebellar cortex, were detected in vivo. The detection of these structures was confirmed by comparing the contrast obtained on T2*-weighted and phase images with that obtained on images of rat cerebellum acquired at 14 T with 30 mum in-plane resolution. Conclusion: In vivo cerebellar imaging at near-microscopic resolution is feasible at 7 T. Such detailed observation of an anatomic area that can be affected by a number of neurologic and psychiatric diseases, such as stroke, tumors, autism, and schizophrenia, could potentially provide newer markers for diagnosis and follow-up in patients with such pathologic conditions. (c) RSNA, 2010.

Social reciprocity measures based on dyadic discrepancies: Methodological review and software development

This paper examines statistical analysis of social reciprocity at group, dyadic, and individual levels. Given that testing statistical hypotheses regarding social reciprocity can be also of interest, a statistical procedure based on Monte Carlo sampling has been developed and implemented in R in order to allow social researchers to describe groups and make statistical decisions.

Visualization of aqueous shunt position and patency using anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE: To describe the use of anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) to clarify the position and patency of aqueous shunt devices in the anterior chamber of eyes where corneal edema or tube position does not permit a satisfactory view. DESIGN: Noncomparative observational case series. METHODS: Four cases are reported in which aqueous shunt malposition or obstruction was suspected but the shunt could not be seen on clinical examination. The patients underwent AS-OCT to identify the position and patency of the shunt tip. RESULTS: In each case, AS-OCT provided data regarding tube position and/or patency that could not be obtained by slit-lamp examination or by gonioscopy that influenced management. CONCLUSIONS: AS-OCT can be used to visualize anterior chamber tubes in the presence of corneal edema that precludes an adequate view or in cases where the tube is retracted into the cornea. In such cases, AS-OCT is useful in identifying shunt patency and position, which helps guide clinical decision making.

Selective in vivo visualization of immune-cell infiltration in a mouse model of autoimmune myocarditis by fluorine-19 cardiac magnetic resonance.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to characterize the performance of fluorine-19 ((19)F) cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for the specific detection of inflammatory cells in a mouse model of myocarditis. Intravenously administered perfluorocarbons are taken up by infiltrating inflammatory cells and can be detected by (19)F-CMR. (19)F-labeled cells should, therefore, generate an exclusive signal at the inflamed regions within the myocardium. METHODS AND RESULTS: Experimental autoimmune myocarditis was induced in BALB/c mice. After intravenous injection of 2×200 µL of a perfluorocarbon on day 19 and 20 (n=9) after immunization, in vivo (19)F-CMR was performed at the peak of myocardial inflammation (day 21). In 5 additional animals, perfluorocarbon combined with FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate) was administered for postmortem immunofluorescence and flow-cytometry analyses. Control experiments were performed in 9 animals. In vivo (19)F-CMR detected myocardial inflammation in all experimental autoimmune myocarditis-positive animals. Its resolution was sufficient to identify even small inflammatory foci, that is, at the surface of the right ventricle. Postmortem immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry confirmed the presence of perfluorocarbon in macrophages, dendritic cells, and granulocytes, but not in lymphocytes. The myocardial volume of elevated (19)F signal (rs=0.96; P<0.001), the (19)F signal-to-noise ratio (rs=0.92; P<0.001), and the (19)F signal integral (rs=0.96; P<0.001) at day 21 correlated with the histological myocarditis severity score. CONCLUSIONS: In vivo (19)F-CMR was successfully used to visualize the inflammation specifically and robustly in experimental autoimmune myocarditis, and thus allowed for an unprecedented insight into the involvement of inflammatory cells in the disease process.

Calculation of wood volume and stem taper using terrestrial single-image close-range photogrammetry and contemporary software tools

Abstract

ABCtoolbox: a versatile toolkit for approximate Bayesian computations.

BACKGROUND: The estimation of demographic parameters from genetic data often requires the computation of likelihoods. However, the likelihood function is computationally intractable for many realistic evolutionary models, and the use of Bayesian inference has therefore been limited to very simple models. The situation changed recently with the advent of Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) algorithms allowing one to obtain parameter posterior distributions based on simulations not requiring likelihood computations. RESULTS: Here we present ABCtoolbox, a series of open source programs to perform Approximate Bayesian Computations (ABC). It implements various ABC algorithms including rejection sampling, MCMC without likelihood, a Particle-based sampler and ABC-GLM. ABCtoolbox is bundled with, but not limited to, a program that allows parameter inference in a population genetics context and the simultaneous use of different types of markers with different ploidy levels. In addition, ABCtoolbox can also interact with most simulation and summary statistics computation programs. The usability of the ABCtoolbox is demonstrated by inferring the evolutionary history of two evolutionary lineages of Microtus arvalis. Using nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial sequence data in the same estimation procedure enabled us to infer sex-specific population sizes and migration rates and to find that males show smaller population sizes but much higher levels of migration than females. CONCLUSION: ABCtoolbox allows a user to perform all the necessary steps of a full ABC analysis, from parameter sampling from prior distributions, data simulations, computation of summary statistics, estimation of posterior distributions, model choice, validation of the estimation procedure, and visualization of the results.

Machine learning for spatial environmental data. Theory, applications and software

The book presents the state of the art in machine learning algorithms (artificial neural networks of different architectures, support vector machines, etc.) as applied to the classification and mapping of spatially distributed environmental data. Basic geostatistical algorithms are presented as well. New trends in machine learning and their application to spatial data are given, and real case studies based on environmental and pollution data are carried out. The book provides a CD-ROM with the Machine Learning Office software, including sample sets of data, that will allow both students and researchers to put the concepts rapidly to practice.

Open source software in translator training

La formació de traductors implica l´ús de procediments i eines que permetin els estudiants familiaritzar-se amb contextos professionals. El software lliure especialitzat inclou eines de qualitat professional i procediments accessibles per a les institucions acadèmiques i els estudiants a distància que treballen a casa seva. Els projectes reals que utilitzen software lliure i traducció col·laborativa (crowdsourcing) constitueixen recursos indispensables en la formació de traductors.

Dextramers: new generation of fluorescent MHC class I/peptide multimers for visualization of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells.

Direct identification as well as isolation of antigen-specific T cells became possible since the development of "tetramers" based on avidin-fluorochrome conjugates associated with mono-biotinylated class I MHC-peptide monomeric complexes. In principle, a series of distinct class I MHC-peptide tetramers, each labelled with a different fluorochrome, would allow to simultaneously enumerate as many unique antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells. Practically, however, only phycoerythrin and allophycocyanin conjugated tetramers have been generally available, imposing serious constraints for multiple labeling. To overcome this limitation, we have developed dextramers which are multimers based on a dextran backbone bearing multiple fluorescein and streptavidin moieties. Here we demonstrate the functionality and optimization of these new probes on human CD8(+) T cell clones with four independent antigen specificities. Their applications to the analysis of relatively low frequency antigen-specific T cells in peripheral blood, as well as their use in fluorescence microscopy, are demonstrated. The data show that dextramers produce a stronger signal than their fluoresceinated tetramer counterparts. Thus, these could become the reagents of choice as the antigen-specific T cell labeling transitions from basic research to clinical application.