Robust extended kalman filter applied to location tracking and trajectory prediction for PCS networks

Provisioning of real-time multimedia sessions over wireless cellular network poses unique challenges due to frequent handoff and rerouting of a connection. For this reason, the wireless networks with cellular architecture require efficient user mobility estimation and prediction. This paper proposes using robust extended Kalman filter (REKF) as a location heading altitude estimator of mobile user for next cell prediction in order to improve the connection reliability and bandwidth efficiency of the underlying system. Through analysis we demonstrate that our algorithm reduces the system complexity (compared to existing approach using pattern matching and Kalman filter) as it requires only two base station measurements or only the measurement from the closest base station. Further, the technique is robust against system uncertainties due to inherent deterministic nature in the mobility model and more effective in comparison with the standard Kalman filter.

Drifting or walking? colonisation routes used by different instars and species of lotic, macroinvertebrate filter feeders

Many views of stream invertebrate populations centre on drift as the major route of larval dispersal, but few studies have presented unambiguous information about the role of drift. We present the results from an experiment designed to determine whether the major route of colonisation of substrata by hydropsychid larvae (commonly found in the drift) is by drifting directly onto substrata or by walking along the stream bottom. The experimental design contained four treatments: substrata open to drifters and walkers; fenced substrata open to drifters only; and two treatments open to drifters and walkers that provided forms of fence controls. Fifteen replicates of each treatment were set out at random locations within a riffle at each of three sites, with each site on a different river (the Little River, the Steavenson River and the Acheron River) in the Acheron River catchment. The experiment was run twice, once during autumn (April 1999) and once during early summer (January 2000). Both experiments were colonised by three species of hydropsychids, Asmicridea sp. AV1, and Smicrophylax sp. AV1 and AV2. We found that 2nd/3rd instars of Asmicridea sp. AV1 walked as well as drifted, whereas all others primarily drifted. No relation between numbers of recruits and water speed was found when substrata were open only to drifters, whereas substrata open also to walkers gained more recruits in faster flows. Additionally, larvae more frequently abandoned nets in slow than fast flows, indicating that drifting into unfavourable flow environments may result in mortality or redispersal of larvae. These findings demonstrate that, although drift is important, it is not necessarily the only method used by hydropsychids to colonise substrata. Larvae may have more capacity to choose substrata in fast flows when they colonise substrata by walking. Spot measures of hydropsychid distribution cannot distinguish between these explanations. The finding that walkers can sometimes comprise significant numbers of recruits raises the prospect that hydropsychids can be sourced locally and have not inevitably drifted in from upstream locations.

The right tool for the job? Use of the multiple intelligences and Bloom's taxonomy grid

This article explores the tacit understanding of teachers in the field of gifted educational practices after their participation in gifted education professional development. The data for this article are drawn from a single-case qualitative study where semi-structured interviews were held with teachers, administrators and support staff in a metropolitan Victorian primary school. The findings lead to two main arguments: first, that some teachers preserved their deeply entrenched beliefs and assumptions about the gifted, the talented and intelligence[s]; and second, that teachers, without critical examination, eagerly adopted and adapted Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory, overlaid with Bloom's Revised Taxonomy of Thinking as a means for addressing individual differences in the classroom. The article argues that teachers welcomed the Gardner/Bloom matrix for its 'tick-the-box' simplicity, with little insight into the theoretical models. Whilst the matrix had an immediate value in the mixed ability classrooms, in the long term it did not support the learning needs of gifted students. [Author abstract]

Initial experience in 115 patients with the retrievable Cook Celect vena cava filter

The aim of this study was to evaluate our experience with the retrievable Cook Celect inferior vena cava (IVC) filter (William Cook, Europe) with regard to insertion, efficiency, ease of retrieval, and any associated complications. A retrospective review was performed of 115 patients (41 female, 74 male, mean age 47.97 years) who underwent Cook Celect IVC filter insertion between December 2005 and October 2007. Filter insertion was successful in all patients. Of the 115 filters inserted, 57 have been successfully retrieved (49.6%) to date. The successful retrieval rate from attempted retrieval was 93.4%. The mean dwell time of successfully retrieved filters was 114.9 days (range 14–267 days). Failed retrievals were due to a thrombosed vena cava ( n = 1) and endothelialisation of the filter ( n = 3). In the failed retrieval group the mean implantation time was 142 days (range 78–211 days). While this is the first retrospective clinical study on the Cook Celect filter, results to date are promising. We demonstrated an efficacious filter with a high successful retrieval rate of 93.4% and a low complication rate. The filter was assessed with extended dwell times (range 14–267 days). Failed retrieval secondary to hook endothelialisation continues to be an issue with this filter. We recognize that a limitation of our study was the lack of systematic follow-up for clinically silent complications. Further studies to evaluate longer term outcomes and effectiveness of this filter are warranted.

Microcapsules and emulsions containing low bloom gelatine and methods of making and using thereof

Described herein are microcapsules and emulsions prepared from low Bloom gelatin and methods of making and using thereof.

The effect of multi-feeding on trickling filter performance

Trickling filters have been used to treat wastewater for over 100 years. In this thesis, wastewater was introduced into laboratory trickling filters at 1 to 4 places simultaneously. Where traditional single feeding led to ponding, multi-feeding let to reduced ponding and improved removal of carbon and nitrogen.

Design and simulation of a tunable MEMS filter for wireless biomedical signal transceivers

This paper presents a new architecture for a high quality tunable MEMS filter that can be used in wireless biomedical signal transceivers. It consists of a π match circuit with two shunt capacitive coupling switches separated by a piece of high impedance short transmission line, and also a series switch placed at the quarter wavelength distance away from the π match circuit. The low actuation voltage and also tunability are important features of the design objective. All portions of the filter can be realized simultaneously. Thus, the filter docs not require any extra steps during its fabrication, and is not costly. The simulation results confirm the good performance of the filter.

A multi-filter enhanced genetic ensemble system for gene selection and sample classification of microarray data

Background: Feature selection techniques are critical to the analysis of high dimensional datasets. This is especially true in gene selection from microarray data which are commonly with extremely high feature-to-sample ratio. In addition to the essential objectives such as to reduce data noise, to reduce data redundancy, to improve sample classification accuracy, and to improve model generalization property, feature selection also helps biologists to focus on the selected genes to further validate their biological hypotheses.
Results: In this paper we describe an improved hybrid system for gene selection. It is based on a recently proposed genetic ensemble (GE) system. To enhance the generalization property of the selected genes or gene subsets and to overcome the overfitting problem of the GE system, we devised a mapping strategy to fuse the goodness information of each gene provided by multiple filtering algorithms. This information is then used for initialization and mutation operation of the genetic ensemble system.
Conclusion: We used four benchmark microarray datasets (including both binary-class and multi-class classification problems) for concept proving and model evaluation. The experimental results indicate that the proposed multi-filter enhanced genetic ensemble (MF-GE) system is able to improve sample classification accuracy, generate more compact gene subset, and converge to the selection results more quickly. The MF-GE system is very flexible as various combinations of multiple filters and classifiers can be incorporated based on the data characteristics and the user preferences.

Mathematical modelling of downflow floating medium filter (DFF) with in-line flocculation arrangement

A laboratory-scale set-up consisting of rapid mixing device and floating medium filter was used to study the use of a downflow floating medium filter (DFF) with an in-line flocculation arrangement as a static flocculator and a prefilter. The semi-empirical mathematical model formulated incorporates flocculation within the filter, particle/floc attachment onto the filter and the detachment of flocs from the medium. The mathematical model for filtration takes into account the expansion of the filter bed. The removal efficiency of DFF and headless development were successfully simulated for different conditions of filtration velocity, filter depth and influent suspended solids (SS). The values of attachment coefficient a(p)β and headless coefficient β1 were found to be independent of filtration velocity, filter depth and influent SS concentration.

Surface coverage of filter medium in deep bed filtration : mathematical modelling and experiments

This paper highlights the importance of surface coverage in modeling the removal of particles in deep bed filtration. A model that considers the saturation of sites on which particle deposition occurs is used. Experimental results obtained with monodispersed suspensions of 0.46 and 0.816 μm latex particles at different influent concentrations and ionic strengths were used to calculate the fraction of filter grain surface (β1) on which actual particle deposition occurs. This will be useful in evaluating the filter performance in terms of the utilization of available surface area of the filter medium. Further, the level of dendrite formation of particles on filter grains during filtration is expressed in terms of β1 and the specific surface coverage, θT (the fraction of a filter grain surface that is covered by particles at time T, assuming that the filter grain is covered by a monolayer of particles). This can be used to compare the contribution of deposited particles in the removal efficiency of deep bed filtration for suspensions with different physical and chemical characteristics.

Local energy, the pre-envelope, and filter resolution

We examine the construction of new filters for computing local energy, and compare these filters with the Gabor filters and the three-point-filter of Venkatesh [l]. Further, we demonstrate that the effect of convolution with complex Gabor filters is to band-pass (with some differentiating effect) and compute the local energy of the result. The magnitude of the resulting local energy is then used to detect features [2], [3] (step features, texture etc.), and the phase is used to classify the detected features [l], [4] or provide disparity information for stereo [5] and motion work [6], [7]. Each of these types of information can be obtained at multiple resolutions, enabling the use of course to fine strategies for computing disparity, and allowing the discrimination of image textures on the basis of which parts of the Fourier domain they dominate [8], [9].