Showing items 1 - 20 of 13099

Generalised rational approximation and its application to improve deep learning classifiers

  • Authors: Peiris, V , Sharon, Nir , Sukhorukova, Nadezda , Ugon, Julien
  • Date: 2021
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Applied Mathematics and Computation Vol. 389, no. (2021), p.
  • Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100602
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  • Description: A rational approximation (that is, approximation by a ratio of two polynomials) is a flexible alternative to polynomial approximation. In particular, rational functions exhibit accurate estimations to nonsmooth and non-Lipschitz functions, where polynomial approximations are not efficient. We prove that the optimisation problems appearing in the best uniform rational approximation and its generalisation to a ratio of linear combinations of basis functions are quasiconvex even when the basis functions are not restricted to monomials. Then we show how this fact can be used in the development of computational methods. This paper presents a theoretical study of the arising optimisation problems and provides results of several numerical experiments. We apply our approximation as a preprocessing step to deep learning classifiers and demonstrate that the classification accuracy is significantly improved compared to the classification of the raw signals. © 2020
  • Description: This research was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC), Solving hard Chebyshev approximation problems through nonsmooth analysis (Discovery Project DP180100602 ).  This research was partially sponsored by Tel Aviv-Swinburne Research Collaboration Grant (2019).

Model predictive control of microgrids – An overview

  • Authors: Hu, Jiefeng , Shan, Yinghao , Guerrero, Josep , Ioinovici, Adrian , Chan, Ka , Rodriguez, Jose
  • Date: 2021
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Vol. 136, no. (2021), p.
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  • Description: The development of microgrids is an advantageous option for integrating rapidly growing renewable energies. However, the stochastic nature of renewable energies and variable power demand have created many challenges like unstable voltage/frequency and complicated power management and interaction with the utility grid. Recently, predictive control with its fast transient response and flexibility to accommodate different constraints has presented huge potentials in microgrid applications. This paper provides a comprehensive review of model predictive control (MPC) in individual and interconnected microgrids, including both converter-level and grid-level control strategies applied to three layers of the hierarchical control architecture. This survey shows that MPC is at the beginning of the application in microgrids and that it emerges as a competitive alternative to conventional methods in voltage regulation, frequency control, power flow management and economic operation optimization. Also, some of the most important trends in MPC development have been highlighted and discussed as future perspectives. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
  • Description: This work was supported by School of Engineering, IT and Physical Sciences, Federation University Australia , under Project RGS20-5 .

2020 International Society of Hypertension global hypertension practice guidelines

A Ballarat chinese family biography – an intergenerational study

  • Authors: Horsfield, Yvonne
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: This thesis addresses the gap that has existed in Ballarat’s historiography regarding the historical neglect and ignorance of Chinese family narratives and their life experiences. In doing so this thesis presents a longitudinal, three generational study of an immigrant Ballarat Chinese family from the early 1860s until the 1950s. It examines how members of each Tong Way generation strove to gain acceptance and establish an enduring sense of cultural belonging in a former regional, Victorian gold mining city. An ancestor, Liu Chou Hock, was a sojourner who arrived on the Haddon goldfield in 1862 and successfully worked a claim. Within three years, he returned to his village, Wang Tung, in Taishan, China. His experience was in sharp contrast to that of his son John Tong Way (Liu’ Zongwei) who permanently settled in Ballarat. The family strived to integrate against a background of migrant adjustment, ethnic discrimination and later a policy of assimilation. These factors represented a challenge for all Chinese who remained until the White Australia Policy was abandoned by the Whitlam Labor government in 1973. Unlike Caucasian immigrants, who could assimilate, whilst retaining certain features of their ethnic identification, the Chinese were culturally alienated and often excluded from everyday cultural life and practice. They represented a demographically significant ethnic minority. The thesis also compares the experiences of the Ballarat and Bendigo Chinese communities in order to examine the similarities and differences. In doing so, it analyses how they were able to establish a sense of belonging in their respective communities. The analysis of the Ballarat family’s experiences, combined with that of other Chinese descent families forms the basis of an extended case study. One that argues that adaptation was necessitated by their individual aspirations for acceptance, respectability and success.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy

A combined virtual element method and the scaled boundary finite element method for linear elastic fracture mechanics

  • Authors: Adak, Dibyendu , Pramod, ALN , Ooi, Ean Tat , Natarajan, Sundararajan
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements Vol. 113, no. (2020), p. 9-16
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  • Description: In this paper, we propose a framework that combines the recently introduced virtual element method (VEM) and the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) to evaluate the fracture parameters. The domain is discretized with arbitrary polygons and the element that contains the crack tip is treated within the framework of the SBFEM. This facilitates a semi-analytical treatment of the crack tip singularity allowing the fracture parameters are estimated directly from the definition. The VEM is employed for the rest of the domain. The salient feature of the VEM is that the terms in the stiffness matrix are computed without requiring higher order quadrature schemes. As both the methods satisfy partition of unity and the compatibility condition, the matrices are assembled as in the conventional FEM. The accuracy of the proposed formulation is demonstrated with two standard benchmark examples. The proposed VEM-SBFEM framework yields accurate results. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

A comprehensive analyses of aging characteristics of oil-paper insulation system in HVDC converter transformers

  • Authors: Cui, Huize , Yang, Liuqing , Zhu, Yuanwei , Li, Shengtao , Abu-Siada, A. , Islam, Syed
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 27, no. 5 (2020), p. 1707-1714
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  • Description: This paper investigates the dissolved gases evolution in transformer oil under combined DC/AC electrical-Thermal stress. Dissolved gases detected in transformer aged insulation oil reveal that oil under AC electric field combined with thermal stress can produce more dissolved gases than oil under DC electric field with thermal stress but less than the gases produced in oil under distorted AC or combined AC/DC voltage stress. This is attributed to the divergent migration properties of the charged components under different types of electric fields. To further understand this behavior, carrier recombination coefficient is proposed to explain the oil DGA results under various aging stresses. Results show that diagnostic parameters such as breakdown voltage, oil interfacial tension, and moisture content in pressboard should be used along with DGA results in order to accurately diagnose the insulation condition within converter transformers that impose a combined AC/DC voltage stress on the insulation system. © 1994-2012 IEEE.
  • Description: This work has been supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB0902705), State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment (EIPE20210), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51907148), the Youth Fund of State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment (EIPE19308), the Foundation Project of State Grid in Shaanxi province section, China (SGSNKY00SPJS1900302). The authors thank the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (2019JQ-070).

A cross-sectional survey of nursing students' patient safety knowledge

  • Authors: Levett-Jones, Tracy , Andersen, Patrea , Bogossian, Fiona , Cooper, Simon , Guinea, Stephen , Hopmans, Ruben , McKenna, Lisa , Pich, Jacqui , Reid-Searl, Kerry , Seaton, Philippa
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 88, no. (2020), p.
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  • Description: Background: Knowledge provides a foundation for safe and effective nursing practice. However, most previous studies have focused on exploring nursing students' self-reported perceptions of, or confidence in, their level of patient safety knowledge, rather than examining their actual levels of knowledge. Objective: The overarching objective of this study was to examine final year nursing students' levels of knowledge about key patient safety concepts. Design: A cross-sectional design was used for this study. Data collection was undertaken during 2018 using a web-based patient safety quiz with 45 multiple choice questions informed by the Patient Safety Competency Framework for Nursing Students. A Modified Angoff approach was used to establish a pass mark or ‘cut score’ for the quiz. Setting and participants: Nursing students enrolled in the final year of a pre-registration nursing program in Australia or New Zealand were invited to participate in the study. Results: In total, 2011 final year nursing students from 23 educational institutions completed the quiz. Mean quiz scores were 29.35/45 or 65.23% (SD 5.63). Participants achieved highest scores in the domains of person-centred care and therapeutic communication, and lowest scores for infection prevention and control and medication safety. Based on the pass mark of 67.3% determined by the Modified Angoff procedure, 44.7% of students (n = 899) demonstrated passing performance on the quiz. For eight of the institutions, less than half of their students achieved a passing mark. Conclusions: Given the pivotal role that nurses play in maintaining patient safety, the results from this quiz raise important questions about the preparation of nursing students for safe and effective clinical practice. The institutional results also suggest the need for increased curricula attention to patient safety. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

A distributed and anonymous data collection framework based on multilevel edge computing architecture

  • Authors: Usman, Muhammad , Jan, Mian , Jolfaei, Alireza , Xu, Min , He, Xiangjian , Chen, Jinjun
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics Vol. 16, no. 9 (2020), p. 6114-6123
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  • Description: Industrial Internet of Things applications demand trustworthiness in terms of quality of service (QoS), security, and privacy, to support the smooth transmission of data. To address these challenges, in this article, we propose a distributed and anonymous data collection (DaaC) framework based on a multilevel edge computing architecture. This framework distributes captured data among multiple level-one edge devices (LOEDs) to improve the QoS and minimize packet drop and end-to-end delay. Mobile sinks are used to collect data from LOEDs and upload to cloud servers. Before data collection, the mobile sinks are registered with a level-two edge-device to protect the underlying network. The privacy of mobile sinks is preserved through group-based signed data collection requests. Experimental results show that our proposed framework improves QoS through distributed data transmission. It also helps in protecting the underlying network through a registration scheme and preserves the privacy of mobile sinks through group-based data collection requests. © 2005-2012 IEEE.

A DNA toolbox for non-invasive genetic studies of sambar deer (Rusa unicolor)

  • Authors: Davies, Chris , Wright, Wendy , Wedrowicz, Faye , Hogan, Fiona
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Mammalogy Vol. 42, no. 1 (2020), p. 58-66
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  • Description: Invasive sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) are having significant detrimental impacts on natural environments in south-eastern Australia. Little, however, is known about their ecology, limiting evidence-based management strategies directed at reducing deer impacts. Genetic data, generated from DNA isolated from deer scats, can be used to fill ecological knowledge gaps. This study outlines a non-invasive genetic sampling strategy by which good-quality DNA from a single deer scat can be used to determine (1) species of origin, (2) sex and (3) a unique DNA profile. DNA from deer tissue and sambar deer scat samples were used to develop and optimise molecular methods to collect reliable genetic information. A DNA toolbox is presented that describes how to find, collect and store scat samples, isolate DNA and use molecular markers to generate informative genetic data. Generating genetic data using this approach will support studies aimed at acquiring ecological knowledge about sambar deer. Such knowledge will be critical for developing evidence-based recommendations to improve on-ground management decisions for sambar deer.

A dual scaled boundary finite element formulation over arbitrary faceted star convex polyhedra

  • Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Saputra, Albert , Natarajan, Sundararajan , Ooi, Ean Hin , Song, Chongmin
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Computational Mechanics Vol. 66, no. 1 (2020), p. 27-47
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  • Description: A novel technique to formulate arbritrary faceted polyhedral elements in three-dimensions is presented. The formulation is applicable for arbitrary faceted polyhedra, provided that a scaling requirement is satisfied and the polyhedron facets are planar. A triangulation process can be applied to non-planar facets to generate an admissible geometry. The formulation adopts two separate scaled boundary coordinate systems with respect to: (i) a scaling centre located within a polyhedron and; (ii) a scaling centre on a polyhedron’s facets. The polyhedron geometry is scaled with respect to both the scaling centres. Polygonal shape functions are derived using the scaled boundary finite element method on the polyhedron facets. The stiffness matrix of a polyhedron is obtained semi-analytically. Numerical integration is required only for the line elements that discretise the polyhedron boundaries. The new formulation passes the patch test. Application of the new formulation in computational solid mechanics is demonstrated using a few numerical benchmarks. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

A good sheep run. Letters from New South Wales in Scottish newspapers between 1820 and 1850 with potential to influence decisions on emigration

  • Authors: Hannaford, Graham
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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  • Description: The primary aim of this thesis is to contribute to ongoing historical research into migration to and settlement in Australia by Scots. It achieves this by identifying and examining letters sent from the colonies in New South Wales which were printed in historic Scottish newspapers between 1820 and 1850. In examining the material, this thesis argues that the letters had potential to influence emigration decisions by Scots. The study shows some of the ways in which New South Wales was reported in the Scottish press and compares those reports with conditions in Scotland at the time. The comparisons and analyses of the letters, with consideration of their authors and likely readers as well as the newspapers in which they were printed demonstrate that the letters did have potential to influence emigration decisions. Its particular contribution to knowledge arises from demonstrating how mostly private letters which became publicly available through publication in newspapers had potential to influence emigrants’ decisions about moving to Australia. Rather than claiming direct evidence of the publication of particular letters as having influenced emigration, it shows how reporting of conditions in Australia when set into a context of contemporary events and conditions in Scotland had potential to influence decisions. It is grounded in the body of historical research about colonial Australia and sits within this Australian historiographical context. Given the motivations and attractions of Scots to colonial Australia this thesis also engages with techniques and theoretical approaches associated with Scottish diaspora studies, an area of research that often emphasises other Scottish migration patterns to Canada, New Zealand and the USA. When considered together both of these historiographical approaches lend themselves to primary source material analysis and a methodological approach that this doctoral study uses to examine the motivations of Scots who migrated to colonial Australia.
  • Description: Doctor of Philosophy

A guide to the short, long and circular RNAs in hypertension and cardiovascular disease

  • Authors: Prestes, Priscilla , Maier, Michelle , Woods, Bradley , Charchar, Fadi
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 21, no. 10 (2020)
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  • Description: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in adults in developed countries. CVD encompasses many diseased states, including hypertension, coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis. Studies in animal models and human studies have elucidated the contribution of many genetic factors, including non-coding RNAs. Non-coding RNAs are RNAs not translated into protein, involved in gene expression regulation post-transcriptionally and implicated in CVD. Of these, circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs are relevant. CircRNAs are created by the back-splicing of pre-messenger RNA and have been underexplored as contributors to CVD. These circRNAs may also act as biomarkers of human disease, as they can be extracted from whole blood, plasma, saliva and seminal fluid. CircRNAs have recently been implicated in various disease processes, including hypertension and other cardiovascular disease. This review article will explore the promising and emerging roles of circRNAs as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in CVD, in particular hypertension. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

A low-complexity equalizer for video broadcasting in cyber-physical social systems through handheld mobile devices

  • Authors: Solyman, Ahmad , Attar, Hani , Khosravi, Mohammad , Menon, Varun , Jolfaei, Alireza , Balasubramanian, Venki , Selvaraj, Buvana , Tavallali, Pooya
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Access Vol. 8, no. (2020), p. 67591-67602
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  • Description: In Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) devices for cyber-physical social systems, the Discrete Fractional Fourier Transform-Orthogonal Chirp Division Multiplexing (DFrFT-OCDM) has been suggested to enhance the performance over Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems under time and frequency-selective fading channels. In this case, the need for equalizers like the Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) and Zero-Forcing (ZF) arises, though it is excessively complex due to the need for a matrix inversion, especially for DVB-H extensive symbol lengths. In this work, a low complexity equalizer, Least-Squares Minimal Residual (LSMR) algorithm, is used to solve the matrix inversion iteratively. The paper proposes the LSMR algorithm for linear and nonlinear equalizers with the simulation results, which indicate that the proposed equalizer has significant performance and reduced complexity over the classical MMSE equalizer and other low complexity equalizers, in time and frequency-selective fading channels. © 2013 IEEE.

A machine learning approach for prediction of pregnancy outcome following IVF treatment

  • Authors: Hassan, Md Rafiul , Al-Insaif, Sadiq , Hossain, Muhammad , Kamruzzaman, Joarder
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Neural Computing and Applications Vol. 32, no. 7 (2020), p. 2283-2297
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  • Description: Infertility affects one out of seven couples around the world. Therefore, the best possible management of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and patient advice is crucial for both patients and medical practitioners. The ultimate concern of the patients is the success of an IVF procedure, which depends on a number of influencing attributes. Without any automated tool, it is hard for the practitioners to assess any influencing trend of the attributes and factors that might lead to a successful IVF pregnancy. This paper proposes a hill climbing feature (attribute) selection algorithm coupled with automated classification using machine learning techniques with the aim to analyze and predict IVF pregnancy in greater accuracy. Using 25 attributes, we assessed the prediction ability of IVF pregnancy success for five different machine learning models, namely multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machines (SVM), C4.5, classification and regression trees (CART) and random forest (RF). The prediction ability was measured in terms of widely used performance metrics, namely accuracy rate, F-measure and AUC. Feature selection algorithm reduced the number of most influential attributes to nineteen for MLP, sixteen for RF, seventeen for SVM, twelve for C4.5 and eight for CART. Overall, the most influential attributes identified are: ‘age’, ‘indication’ of fertility factor, ‘Antral Follicle Counts (AFC)’, ‘NbreM2’, ‘method of sperm collection’, ‘Chamotte’, ‘Fertilization rate in vitro’, ‘Follicles on day 14’ and ‘Embryo transfer day.’ The machine learning models trained with the selected set of features significantly improved the prediction accuracy of IVF pregnancy success to a level considerably higher than those reported in the current literature. © 2018, The Natural Computing Applications Forum.

A narrative review of pharmacotherapy treatment for opioid addiction and application in a community-based model in Victoria, Australia

  • Authors: Vishwanath, Tejaswini , Cash, Penelope , Penney, Wendy , Cant, Robyn
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction Vol. 18, no. 1 (2020), p. 66-76
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  • Description: To review the literature regarding the value and consumer focus of research on opioid replacement therapy (ORT) programs, relevant to the Australian rural context and community pharmacy. We conducted a narrative review of literature published between 1995 and 2015, searching EBSCOhost, PubMed and Google Scholar. Three authors collaborated to screen and synthesise studies. Effectiveness, cost affordability, diversion and retention benefits were reported from pharmacological or prescribers’ or dispensers’ standpoint. Research was fragmented and evaluated contributions of these individual types of stakeholders with less discussion of consumers, or consumers’ everyday experiences of ORT. No studies took into account consumers’ psychosocial aspects or power discourses. We found ORT as a beneficial treatment for opioid dependence is well researched, although overall Australian program evaluation was lacking. A gap within ORT literature should be addressed by making consumer experiences central in designs for future research and for program evaluation. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

A new coupling structure and position detection method for segmented control dynamic wireless power transfer systems

  • Authors: Li, Xiaofei , Hu, Jiefeng , Wang, Heshou , Dai, Xin , Sun, Yue
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Vol. 35, no. 7 (2020), p. 6741-6745
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  • Description: In this letter, a new coupling structure for dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) systems is proposed. Bipolar coils are symmetrically placed on the transmitter unipolar coils, resulting in natural decoupling between the bipolar coils and the unipolar coils. This special structure can mitigate the self-couplings between the adjacent unipolar transmitter coils and hence facilitate the design of the compensation circuit. Another remarkable advantage of this design is that it can lead to a stable mutual coupling between the transmitter array and the receiver when the receiver moves along the transmitter, making it a natural fit for DWPT applications. Furthermore, to reduce the electromagnetic interference and power loss, an automatic segmented control scheme is implemented, and a position detection method by monitoring the primary current is developed. The feasibility of the proposed coupling structure and the position detection method are verified on a laboratory prototype with 72-V output voltage. The experimental results show that the power fluctuation is within ±2.5%, and system efficiency is around 90%. (This letter is accompanied by a video demonstrating the experimental test). © 2020 IEEE.

A new data driven long-term solar yield analysis model of photovoltaic power plants

  • Authors: Ray, Biplob , Shah, Rakibuzzaman , Islam, Md Rabiul , Islam, Syed
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Access Vol. 8, no. (2020), p. 136223-136233
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  • Description: Historical data offers a wealth of knowledge to the users. However, often restrictively mammoth that the information cannot be fully extracted, synthesized, and analyzed efficiently for an application such as the forecasting of variable generator outputs. Moreover, the accuracy of the prediction method is vital. Therefore, a trade-off between accuracy and efficacy is required for the data-driven energy forecasting method. It has been identified that the hybrid approach may outperform the individual technique in minimizing the error while challenging to synthesize. A hybrid deep learning-based method is proposed for the output prediction of the solar photovoltaic systems (i.e. proposed PV system) in Australia to obtain the trade-off between accuracy and efficacy. The historical dataset from 1990-2013 in Australian locations (e.g. North Queensland) are used to train the model. The model is developed using the combination of multivariate long and short-term memory (LSTM) and convolutional neural network (CNN). The proposed hybrid deep learning (LSTM-CNN) is compared with the existing neural network ensemble (NNE), random forest, statistical analysis, and artificial neural network (ANN) based techniques to assess the performance. The proposed model could be useful for generation planning and reserve estimation in power systems with high penetration of solar photovoltaics (PVs) or other renewable energy sources (RESs). © 2013 IEEE.

A note on primal-dual stability in infinite linear programming

  • Authors: Goberna, Miguel , López, Marco , Ridolfi, Andrea , Vera de Serio, Virginia
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Optimization Letters Vol. 14, no. 8 (2020), p. 2247-2263
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  • Description: In this note we analyze the simultaneous preservation of the consistency (and of the inconsistency) of linear programming problems posed in infinite dimensional Banach spaces, and their corresponding dual problems, under sufficiently small perturbations of the data. We consider seven different scenarios associated with the different possibilities of perturbations of the data (the objective functional, the constraint functionals, and the right hand-side function), i.e., which of them are known, and remain fixed, and which ones can be perturbed because of their uncertainty. The obtained results allow us to give sufficient and necessary conditions for the coincidence of the optimal values of both problems and for the stability of the duality gap under the same type of perturbations. There appear substantial differences with the finite dimensional case due to the distinct topological properties of cones in finite and infinite dimensional Banach spaces. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
  • Description: Funding details: Australian Research Council, ARC, DP180100602: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100602

A perspective on the discovery of selected compounds with anthelmintic activity against the barber's pole worm—Where to from here?

  • Authors: Jiao, Yaqing , Preston, Sarah , Hofmann, Andreas , Taki, Aya , Baell, Jonathan , Chang, Bill , Jabbar, Abdul , Gasser, Robin
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Advances in Parasitology p. 1-45
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  • Description: Parasitic roundworms (nematodes) cause substantial morbidity and mortality in animals worldwide. Anthelmintic treatment is central to controlling these worms, but widespread resistance to most of the commercially available anthelmintics for veterinary and agricultural use is compromising control, such that there is an urgency to discover new and effective drugs. The purpose of this article is to review information on parasitic nematodes, the treatment and control of parasitic nematode infections and aspects of discovering new anthelmintics in the context of anthelmintic resistance problems, and then to discuss some progress that our group has made in identifying selected compounds with activity against nematodes. The focus of our recent work has been on discovering new chemical entities and known drugs with anthelmintic activities against Haemonchus contortus as well as other socioeconomically important parasitic nematodes for subsequent development. Using whole worm-based phenotypic assays, we have been screening compound collections obtained via product-development-partnerships and/or collaborators, and active compounds have been assessed for their potential as anthelmintic candidates. Following the screening of 15,333 chemicals from five distinct compound collections against H. contortus, we have discovered one new chemical entity (designated SN00797439), two human kinase inhibitors (SNS-032 and AG-1295), 14 tetrahydroquinoxaline analogues, one insecticide (tolfenpyrad) and two tolfenpyrad (pyrazole-5-carboxamide) derivatives (a-15 and a-17) with anthelmintic activity in vitro. Some of these 20 ‘hit’ compounds have selectivity against H. contortus in vitro when compared to particular human cell lines. In our opinion, some of these compounds could represent starting points for ‘lead’ development. Accordingly, the next research steps to be pursued include: (i) chemical optimisation of representative chemicals via structure-activity relationship (SAR) evaluations; (ii) assessment of the breadth of spectrum of anthelmintic activity on a range of other parasitic nematodes, such as strongyloids, ascaridoids, enoplids and filarioids; (iii) detailed investigations of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) of optimised chemicals with broad nematocidal or nematostatic activity; and (iv) establishment of the modes of action of lead candidates. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

A pupil-positioning method based on the starburst model

  • Authors: Yu, Pingping , Duan, Wenjie , Sun, Yi , Cao, Ning , Wang, Zhenzhou , Lu, Guojun
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Cmc-Computers Materials & Continua Vol. 64, no. 2 (2020), p. 1199-1217
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  • Description: Human eye detection has become an area of interest in the field of computer vision with an extensive range of applications in human-computer interaction, disease diagnosis, and psychological and physiological studies. Gaze-tracking systems are an important research topic in the human-computer interaction field. As one of the core modules of the head-mounted gaze-tracking system, pupil positioning affects the accuracy and stability of the system. By tracking eye movements to better locate the center of the pupil, this paper proposes a method for pupil positioning based on the starburst model. The method uses vertical and horizontal coordinate integral projections in the rectangular region of the human eye for accurate positioning and applies a linear interpolation method that is based on a circular model to the reflections in the human eye. In this paper, we propose a method for detecting the feature points of the pupil edge based on the starburst model, which clusters feature points and uses the RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm to perform ellipse fitting of the pupil edge to accurately locate the pupil center. Our experimental results show that the algorithm has higher precision, higher efficiency and more robustness than other algorithms and excellent accuracy even when the image of the pupil is incomplete.
  • Description: Science and Technology Support Plan Project of Hebei Province (grant numbers 17210803D and 19273703D Science and Technology Spark Project of the Hebei Seismological Bureau (grant number DZ20180402056) Education Department of Hebei Province (grant number QN2018095) Polytechnic College of Hebei University of Science and Technology