99 research outputs found
A hierarchical spectral clustering and nonlinear dimensionality reduction scheme for detection of prostate cancer from magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
No full textIn this article the authors present a novel CAD scheme that integrates nonlinear dimensionality reduction (NLDR) with an unsupervised hierarchical clustering algorithm to automatically identify suspicious regions on the prostate using MRS and hence avoids the need to explicitly identify metabolite peaks.The published version of this article is available at: http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=MPHYA6000036000009003927000001&idtype=cvips&prog=normalThis work was made possible via grants from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (Grant Nos. R01CA136535-01, ARRA-NCl-3 R21CA127186–02S1, R21CA127186–01, and R03CA128081-01), the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and the Life Science Commercialization Award from Rutgers University
Digital pathology image analysis: opportunities and challenges
No full textThe published version of this article is available at: http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/pdf/10.2217/iim.09.
Ecology and Conservation of Shrubland Bird Communities in the Eastern Ghats of Indi
No full textAnthropogenic disturbance, in its multiple facets represents a major threat to biodiversity and habitat quality. Consequently, extensive research is guided towards understanding anthropogenic disturbance and their effects on wildlife for development of wildlife management plans. However, for development of effective wildlife management plans it is imperative that we understand the habitat use and preference by local fauna along with effects of anthropogenic presence. In this dissertation, I studied the habitat usage and preferences of Shrubland birds in the Eastern Ghats of India during the pre-monsoon and post monsoon seasons. Eastern Ghats show a marked difference from pre-monsoon season to post-monsoon season thereby affecting the habitat use by birds depending upon various vegetational characteristics identified in this study. I also studied the dependence of local community on the forest products, impact of goats and sheep on forest structure. When juxtaposed with Land Use and Land Change (LULC) patterns these changes in habitat usage, anthropogenic effects it will help in predicting future habitat usage patterns in the face of climate change. This dissertation answers the following questions: 1) Do birds select a habitat based on vegetational structure or floral composition? 2) Is there any association between plant species and bird assemblages? 3) What is the structural preference of a bird assemblages? 4)How has LULC changed over five years owing to drought? 5)Effect of anthropogenic presence on habitat structure
Current Distribution of the Nine-Banded Armadillo (<i>Dasypus novemcinctus</i>) in the United States
No full textThe nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus: hereafter armadillo) was first recorded in the United States (U.S.) in the state of Texas in 1849 and has been expanding its range northward and eastward since then. With the widespread adoption of participatory science as well as the proliferation of nationwide wildlife game camera studies, occurrence data of armadillos can be compiled more rapidly and thoroughly than at any time in the past. Here, we use disparate data sources to update the current geographic distribution of the armadillo in the United States and use occurrence data from the leading edge of its range expansion to create a species distribution model to understand their relationship with landscape and bioclimatic factors. Since the last report on the geographic distribution of the armadillo in 2014, we show that armadillos have expanded to cover the entirety of Missouri and established in southern Iowa, expanded modestly within Kansas and Illinois, expanded northward and eastward in Indiana, expanded eastward in both Kentucky and Tennessee, established throughout the entirety of South Carolina and Georgia and established in the western third of North Carolina. Our species distribution model indicates that there is substantial opportunity for the species to continue to expand its geographic range, particularly in the Eastern United States. These results provide information to managers who are now or might soon be co-existing with the armadillo to proactively manage the species or inform the public regarding potential conflicts
Placement Strategies to Monitor the Inter-Autonomous System Routing Information
No full textInter-Autonomous System (AS) route monitoring is the process of collecting the inter-AS routing information. This information flows on the Internet in the form of BGP UPDATE messages, and the BGP data are the messages obtained by the monitors. Existing methods of monitor placement rely on the network topology which provides inadequate visibility. This thesis proposes a novel scheme for monitoring the BGP data by selecting monitoring locations based on BGP message flow.Electrical Engineerin
Measuring accessibility of popular websites while using Tor
No full textTor is an anonymity network used by a vast number of users in order to protect their privacy on the internet. It should not come as a surprise that this service is also used for abuse such as Denial of service attacks and other malicious activities because of the anonymity it provides. For protecting themselves from this abuse, websites block Tor in various ways. We investigate the extent and frequency of this kind of blocking by requesting the Alexa top 1000 websites with and without Tor with the objective of highlighting the differential treatment observed by privacy-minded users. We build upon existing studies by using diverse metrics to measure discrimination and by extending our search to three sub pages of websites for detecting sophisticated blocking. We find at least 25.8% of the Alexa top 1000 websites discriminating on the home page against Tor users as opposed to 20.03% observed in previous studies. This number rises to 31.7% after including the three sub pages. We also discover new types of blocks such as Tor users being served old or different versions of websites. We categorize the blocked websites and find that Online Shopping and Finance/ Banking categories discriminate most against Tor while Social Networking sites and Search Engines discriminate the least.CSE3000 Research ProjectComputer Science and Engineerin
Response Surface Based Design Optimization of a Low-Pressure Microresistojet's Heat Exchanger
No full textA Low-Pressure Micro-resistojet (LPM) is a type of in-space electrothermal propulsion system for satellites that works by heating low-pressure (50 to 300 Pa) fluid flowing through microchannels/slots (typically <1 mm diameter) using resistive heating elements like thin-film Molybdenum. This thesis delineates a response surface based method to explore and optimize the cross-sectional design of microchannels, which, as documented in literature, have so far only been either rectangular or circular in shape. Experimental studies place the efficiency of LPM systems at 25% which can be increased to 30% by reducing heat losses from the heat exchanger to the plenum. The concept is still in its early stages of development and therefore offers plenty of opportunities in the improvement of the propulsion system whether it be regarding the choice of propellant, design of propellant management system, choice of thruster materials or the design of the microchannels, which is the focus of this thesis. Usage of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to optimize the design of a microchannel for greater thrust efficiency requires the following steps: Design of Experiment (DoE) run to select samples from the design space, performing experiments to evaluate the performance of selected samples, building a response surface (or surrogate model) from the generated data and finally using an optimization algorithm to find a high-efficiency design. In this thesis, these steps were performed using (respectively): Sobol Sequences, Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method using Sparc Industries' VSTRAP software, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). As a case study, the optimization was performed for Argon as the propellant, inlet pressure of 50 Pa, inlet temperature of 300 K and microchannel wall temperature of 600 K. The number of design parameters were set as 8 though the base geometry supports higher numbers as well. Using Sobol sequences to determine parametric values, 512 designs (termed polar designs) were generated. After DSMC simulations (validated with an experimental study in literature), the best performing design was found to have a thrust efficiency of 0.7019. 512 Rectangular designs were generated as well among which the best performing design had a thrust efficiency of 0.6566. From this dataset, the main takeaway is that the thrust efficiency peaks at a certain slot area and that small areal rectangular slots, common in literature, are not as efficient as broader slots with higher cross-sectional area (up to a limit). The CNN was trained on the polar dataset (CNN1) as well as the combination of both datasets (CNN2) to predict thrust efficiency from slot images. The predictions were, on average, within 10% from the simulation results. A GA run with 8-parameter geometry and with CNN1 as the response surface resulted in an optimum design with a thrust efficiency of 0.732. With CNN2, the optimized efficiency for 8-parameter and 15-parameter geometry was 0.7281 and 0.7455 respectively. However, on simulating the GA results it was found that CNN1 and CNN2 had overestimated the thrust efficiency by 11%. Thus in this case study, the most thrust efficient design is the best one from the polar dataset. The conclusion drawn is that a high number of designs generated using Sobol Sequences are enough to find the best performing design for a given set of input conditions i.e. choice of propellant, inlet pressure and temperature, and heaterchip temperature. As it seems that there is a strong correlation between slot area and performance, the number of designs to be generated can be based on whether it spans the allowable minimum to the allowable maximum area set by the designer. However, if the correlation between slot area and performance is not found after a DoE run for a different set of input conditions, then a CNN would have to be trained and used by the GA for design optimization. The thesis concludes with a design recommendation for the shape of a microchannel that may on experimental testing result in a high performing thruster. Improvement in LPM technology will further the capabilities of PocketQube satellites (5 x 5 x 5 cm^3 form factor) and also of large satellites for which it could function as precise attitude control thrusters. Low pressure operation allows for a compact and lightweight propellant management system and the thruster's high thrust-to-power ratio gives it a major advantage over competing propulsion systems such as hall-effect and electrospray thrusters.Aerospace Engineerin
Quantitative Modelling of the Effect of Speed Mismatch on Technological Parameters in Steel Rolling
No full textSteel production is a critical index to measure the infrastructural growth and development of a nation. The steel production capacity of a nation has a significant impact on its GDP. Even though steel rolling has been in the industry since the early 1700s, there have not been significant advancements in its technology space. The safety hazards to personnel and failure of process components have persistently posed daunting challenges for the steel industry. The advent of automation in the late 1900s helped the industry manage some of these challenges to a certain extent. Despite these technological improvements, the realm of steel rolling is still not explored thoroughly because steel rolling is a highly integrated and complex system with numerous process parameters impacting the quality of the finished product. As a result, the study of the dynamics of steel rolling is still under active research targeted toward improving the complex processes involved in the industry.External factors play a significant role in the complexity of the steel rolling process. The scope of the work herein attempts to identify and model some of these significant external factors, also known as "disturbances" in control terminology. A Finite-Element Method (FEM) based simulator for the rolling process simulation incorporating the external disturbances is explored. The outcomes from this simulation will enable establishing regression models that facilitate quantifying external disturbances’ effects on the technological/process parameters in steel rolling.The thesis is focused on studying the external disturbance of speed mismatch and proposing a quantitative model for evaluating the effect of speed mismatch on the process parameters of rolling. Subsequent to the development of the proposed disturbance quantitative model, three controller systems - Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller, Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controller, and Model Predictive Control (MPC) controller will be implemented to evaluate comparisons between the controllers for disturbance rejection and reference tracking.The scope of the work presented in this thesis is significant as it focuses on developing a quantitative model for the process disturbances that prevail in the steel rolling industry.Mechanical Engineering | Systems and Contro
The investment motivation, strategy, and structure of Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in the United States: An exploratory interview-based study
No full textThis dissertation is exploratory in nature and has three objectives: (1) to describe the investment motivation, strategy, and structure of Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in the United States, (2) to compare the investment behavior, strategy, and structure of Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in terms of their industry affiliation, size, and timing of entry into the United States, and (3) to explore possible relationships between the strategy and structure of Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in the United States.Data were collected from the author's personal interviews of thirty-six executives from twenty-seven Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in the United States between December 1988 and February 1989. The sample companies had thirty-three plants in three industries: (1) transportation equipment, (2) electronics/electrical equipment, and (3) industrial/commercial machinery and computer equipment.Some of the important findings of this study are as follows: (1) some of the most significant factors influencing the Japanese companies' decision to invest in the United States were the large U.S. market, currency fluctuation, the presence or threat of trade restrictions, and pressures from competitors or customers; (2) most of the sample companies emphasized production or sales growth, localization, and expansion or protection of market share in their goal setting; (3) most sample companies maintained multiple linkages with general management or functional departments, or both, in the parent company; and (4) the parent company relied upon personal control in overseeing the operations of their U.S. subsidiary."The study found several important differences in the investment motivation, strategy, and structure of Japanese companies from different industries, and among companies of different sizes and ages. Both Chandler's thesis that ""structure follows strategy,"" and Fayerweather's paradigm of ""unification vs. fragmentation"" offer useful paradigms to explain the relationships between some aspects of the sample companies' strategy and structure."Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T12:25:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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