Matching Area Research Articles

Does improving the physical street environment create satisfactory and active streets? Evidence from Seoul’s Design Street Project

As the overall interest regarding pedestrian-friendly environments grows, street-improvement projects are continually implemented. These projects aim to encourage walking activities and promote street-based social activities through the improvement of pedestrian environments; however, only a few studies have empirically evaluated the impact of street improvement on pedestrian satisfaction and pedestrian volume. The present research study examines the influence of the Design Street Project of Seoul, Korea, for which sidewalks, public spaces, and the other physical elements of streets were improved. For a difference-in-difference analysis, the pedestrian-satisfaction levels and the pedestrian volumes of the Design Streets and the matching areas from before and after the implementation of the Design Street Project are compared. Multilevel models indicate that the improvement of the street environment positively influences pedestrian-satisfaction levels, but is not effective for increasing the pedestrian volume. The results imply that the physical improvement of street environments can be effective for the elevation of pedestrian-satisfaction levels, as well as quality of life.

Multiscale and multimodality computed tomography for cortical bone analysis

In clinical studies, high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) is used to separately evaluate cortical bone and trabecular bone with an isotropic voxel of 82 µm3, and typical cortical parameters are cortical density (D.comp), thickness (Ct.Th), and porosity (Ct.Po).In vitro, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is used to explore the internal cortical bone micro-structure with isotropic voxels and high resolution synchrotron radiation (SR); micro-CT is considered the ‘gold standard’.In 16 tibias and 8 femurs, HR-pQCT measurements were compared to conventional micro-CT measurements. To test modality effects, conventional micro-CT measurements were compared to SR micro-CT measurements at 7.5 µm3; SR micro-CT measurements were also tested at different voxel sizes for the femurs, specifically, 7.5 µm3 versus 2.8 µm3.D.comp (r = −0.88, p < 10−3) was the parameter best correlated with porosity (Po.V/TV). The correlation was not affected by the removal of pores under 130 µm. Ct.Th was also significantly highly correlated (r = −0.89 p < 10−3), while Ct.Po was correlated with its counterpart Po.V/TV (r = 0.74, p < 10−3).From SR micro-CT and conventional micro-CT at 7.5 µm3 in matching areas, Po.V/TV and pore diameter were underestimated in conventional micro-CT with mean ± standard deviation (SD) biases of −2.5 ± 1.9% and −0.08 ± 0.08 mm, respectively. In contrast, pore number (Po.N) and pore separation (Po.Sp) were overestimated with mean ± SD biases of +0.03 ± 0.04 mm−1 and +0.02 ± 0.04 mm, respectively. The results from the tibia and femur were similar when the results of SR micro-CT at 7.5 µm3 and 2.8 µm3 were compared. Po.V/TV, specific surface of pores (Po.S/Po.V), and Po.N were underestimated with mean biases of −1.7 ± 0.9%, −4.6 ± 4.4 mm−1, and −0.26 ± 0.15 mm−1, respectively. In contrast, pore spacing was overestimated at 7.5 µm3 compared to 2.8 µm3 with mean biases of 0.05 ± 0.03 mm.Cortical bone measurements from HR-pQCT images provided consistent results compared to those obtained using conventional micro-CT at the distal tibia. D.comp was highly correlated to Po.V/TV because it considers both the micro-porosity (Haversian systems) and macro-porosity (resorption lacunae) of cortical bone. The complexity of canal organization, (including shape, connectivity, and surface) are not fully considered in conventional micro-CT in relation to beam hardening and cone beam reconstruction artifacts. With the exception of Po.V/TV measurements, morphological and topological measurements depend on the characteristics of the x-ray beam, and to a lesser extent, on image resolution.

Matching supply with demand in supply chain management education

Purpose The field of supply chain management (SCM) evolves dramatically due to factors of globalization, innovation, sustainability, and technology. These changes raise challenges not only to higher education institutions, but also to students, employing organizations, and third parties like SCM-related professional bodies. To understand the challenge, the purpose of this paper is to examine the gap between demand and supply of SCM-related knowledge areas, answer-related design questions, and make recommendations to close the gaps. Design/methodology/approach To compare the demand and supply of SCM-related knowledge areas, demand data is collected from a professional career website and supply data is gathered from operations management (OM) and SCM course syllabi from AACSB-accredited business schools in the USA. Cluster analysis identifies how supply and demand are matched on the data collected. Findings First, gaps exist between SCM talent requirements from industry and the knowledge/skill training by US business schools. This paper identifies matching, under-supplying, and over-supplying knowledge areas. Under-supply in emerging areas such as SCM information technology and certain logistics management topics are found. Some traditional OM topics are over-supplied due to out-of-date industry applications and should be revised to reflect the field’s transition from an OM to SCM view. Last, this paper makes recommendations to different stakeholders in this matching supply with demand process. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it provides an up-to-date understanding on demand and supply of SCM talent in USA. Second, it provides insights and recommendations not only to educators on curriculum design, but also to potential candidates interested in SCM careers, to companies’ job recruiters, and to professional organizations (such as APICS and Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) to reduce the gaps between demand and supply.

Health impacts of the M74 urban motorway extension: a natural experimental study

BackgroundIncreasing people's mobility can improve access to diverse opportunities, but new roads are associated with noise and community severance, and their effects on physical activity, injuries, and health inequalities are poorly understood. This study investigated how an urban motorway, opened in Glasgow in 2011, affected travel and activity patterns, injuries, and wellbeing in local communities, and how these impacts were experienced and brought about. MethodsThis was a mixed-method, controlled, before and after natural experimental study. We conducted multivariable cohort, cross-sectional, and repeat cross-sectional analyses of survey responses from adults resident in the M74 corridor (intervention area) and two matched control areas, one surrounding the existing M8 motorway and one with no motorway (numbers by area: baseline [in 2005] 449, 431, 465, respectively; follow-up [in 2013] 430, 446, 467; cohort participants 126, 112, 127). We also conducted interrupted time-series analyses of police casualty data (STATS19 forms, 1997–2014; n=78 919), and thematic analysis of ethnographic data from 42 participants using constant comparison. Graded exposure measures based on the log distance of the motorway from each participant's home served as a further basis for controlled comparisons. The study was approved by the University of Glasgow Faculty of Medicine (ref FM01304) and Social Sciences (refs 400120077, 400130156, and 400130157) ethics committees. FindingsLiving closer to the new motorway was associated with an estimated 3·6 unit (95% CI 0·7–6·6) reduction over time in mental wellbeing (mental component summary score [MCS-8] of SF-8) per unit of proximity in cohort analysis, and associated with a greater likelihood of car use at follow-up in repeat cross-sectional analysis (odds ratio 3·4, 95% CI 1·1–10·7). We found some evidence that participation in physical activity declined among cohort participants living closer to the existing M8 motorway (0·4, 0·2–0·9). We found no evidence of changes in active travel (survey data) or casualties (STATS19 data). Although the new motorway improved connectivity for individuals with more dispersed social networks and access to a motor vehicle, the impacts on those with neither of them were more complex and sometimes negative. Changes in community composition and cohesion, and perceptions of personal safety, were widely perceived as more important influences than was the opening of the motorway. InterpretationAlthough the study identified both benefits and harms, overall these findings highlight the potential for new major road infrastructure to add further burdens to already disadvantaged communities, exacerbating inequalities and contributing to poorer health outcomes. FundingNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research Programme. The funder had no role in the design of the study, the analysis or interpretation of the data, the writing of the abstract, or the decision to submit it for publication.

2D Matching Using Repetitive and Salient Features in Architectural Images

Matching and aligning architectural imagery is an important step for many applications but can be a difficult task due to repetitive elements often present in buildings. Many keypoint descriptor and matching methods will fail to produce distinctive descriptors for each region of man-made structures, which causes ambiguity when attempting to match areas between images. In this paper, we outline a technique for reducing the search space for matching by taking a two-step approach, aligning pairs one dimension at a time and by abstracting images that originally contain many repetitive elements into a set of distinct, representative patches. We also present a simple, but very effective method for computing the intra-image saliency for a single image that allows us to directly identify unique areas in an image without machine learning. We use this information to find distinctive keypoint matches across image pairs. We show that our pipeline is able to overcome many of the pitfalls encountered when using traditional keypoint and regional matching techniques on commonly encountered images of urban scenes.

An overview of the knapped stone economy at the Tărtăria site (Romania)

This study focused on sourcing the lithic artefacts from the Tărtăria site in the Transylvanian Basin. The objective was to establish a model of the procurement patterns of the population at the settlement. This site is located along the middle region of the Mureș River and has several habitation levels belonging to the Vinča A, Vinča B, Vinča-Turdaș (or Vinča C), Petrești and Coțofeni cultures (Middle Neolithic to Chalcolithic). Most of the results of this study are based on analysis of the artefacts from Iuliu Paul’s excavation in 1989. This knapped artefacts from the Tărtăria site were categorised by tool type, signs of usage and retouch, and probably geographic origin. The sources of the artefact materials were predicted based on macroscopic and petrographic analyses (polarized light optical microscopy).&#x0D; The lithics appear to be made from the same types of materials found at other contemporary sites in the area. As with other sites, the most common imported material is obsidian, followed by Moldavian flint. Balkan flints represent only a small part of the assemblage. Of the local material, the vast majority is chert, likely local Trascău Mts. chert, which represents over half of the pieces in the assemblage. Although the site is closer to sources of jasper in the Metaliferi Mts. than some other Neotlihic and Chalcolithic sites down river, very few of the artefacts were made from jasper. (This may be due to an economic connection with nearby and contemporary, quarrying activity at the Piatra Tomii site.)&#x0D; Obsidian is used almost exclusively for blades and flakes. The same is true for Moldavian flint, although scrapers were not uncommon. Cores and scrapers are more common among local material than among imported material. The percentages of each artefact type seem to remain relatively similar for each culture (i.e. with the progress of time). This shows that people were still using the same general types of tools. &#x0D; The percentages of the different materials varies over time though. During the Vinča A and Vinča B phrases, local materials represent approximately 30% of the assemblage and imported materials represent c. 70%. After the Vinča B phase (i.e. entering into the Chalcolithic), the emphasis switches to local sources (representing c. 87%) while imported drop to c. 13%.&#x0D; Two important observations can be made from this study. Firstly, with the possible exception of Balkan flint, the imported materials came from outside of the territories of the cultures at this site. This indicates that areas of similar artistic style (the main characteristic used to define culture areas) do not in fact match areas of economic interaction. This further supports the need for a redefining of cultures and cultural territories. Secondly, although the inhabitants during the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic used imported materials (especially obsidian), local materials became more and more predominant over time, possibly due to the introduction and continually increasing value of copper or increased self-sufficiency. The fact that this shift in material usage occurs most drastically during the transition to the Chalcolithic supports this idea.

OS 12-05 THE EFFECT OF INTENSIVE LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION ON BLOOD PRESSURE IN PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION, SUB-ANALYSIS FROM CHIEF

Objective: Chinese Hypertension Intervention Efficacy Study (CHIEF) is a multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial. The objective is to evaluate the collective effects of antihypertensive therapy, lipid lowering treatment and lifestyle modification in patients with hypertension. This paper merely present blood pressure lowering effect of intensive lifestyle intervention compared with standard lifestyle intervention. Clinical Trial Registration: Clinical Trials.gov.number NCT 01011660. Design and Method: Patients are eligible for inclusion if they are diagnosed with essential hypertension, aged 50–79 years with at least one cardiovascular risk factor and sign the consent forms. Besides randomized to different antihypertensive drug regimens, patients were randomly assigned to intensive lifestyle intervention group(I) or standard lifestyle intervention group(S) according to the socioeconomic matched community area where they live. After randomization, Patients were followed up at 2- week,1-,2-,3- month and once 3 months thereafter until the final visit at 48- month. Results: 13542 patients from 180 centers in China were randomized into I group or S group. 12552 cases have complete data, with 6028 in I group and 6524 in S group. The baseline characteristics between I group and S group were similar. The mean age was 61.5 years, With 11%, 12% and 18% history of stoke, coronary heart disease and diabetes respectively. 49% patients were male. 91% were taking antihypertensive drugs. The average blood pressure at screening and randomization was 149/89 and 157/93 mmHg respectively. Mean systolic blood pressure reduced by 27.2, 27.6, 27.8 and 27.1 mmHg in I group, and 24.5, 24.9, 25.8 and 25.4 mmHg in S group at 12-,24-,36- and 48- month after different lifestyle modification. Conclusions: Conclusion: Systolic blood pressure reduced to a lower level by intensive lifestyle intervention than standard lifestyle intervention in patients with hypertension.

A Particle Filter-Based Matching Algorithm With Gravity Sample Vector for Underwater Gravity Aided Navigation

Gravity matching algorithm is a key technique of gravity aided navigation for underwater vehicles. The reliability of traditional single point matching algorithm can be easily affected by environmental disturbance, which results in mismatching and decrease of navigation accuracy. Therefore, a particle filter (PF)-based matching algorithm with gravity sample vector is proposed. The correlation between adjacent sample points of inertial navigation system is considered in the vector matching algorithm in order to solve the mismatching problem. The current sampling point matching result is rectified by the vectors composed by the selected sampling points and matching point. The amount of selected sampling points is determined by the gravity field distribution and the real-time performance of the algorithm. A PF-based on Bayesian estimation is introduced in the proposed method to overcome the divergence disadvantage of the traditional point matching algorithm in some matching areas with obvious gravity variation. Simulation results prove that compared with the traditional methods, the proposed method is robust to the changes of gravity anomaly in the matching areas, with more accurate and reliable matching results.

Deteksi Copy Move Forgery Pada Citra Menggunakan Exact Match, DWT Haar dan Daubechies

AbstrakCopy-Move Forgery adalah satu tipe gangguan citra digital, di mana bagian dari citra dicopy dan dipastekan ke bagian lain dalam citra yang sama untuk menutupi fitur citra yang penting. Pada penelitian ini, dibangun sistem pendeteksi copy move forgery pada citra. Sistem ini dimaksudkan untuk membantu user mengetahui bahwa suatu citra masih asli atau sudah terdapat copy move dan dibagian mana terjadinya copy move tersebut. Sistem ini dibangun dengan menggunakan metode Exact Match, DWT Haar, DWT DB2 dan DWT DB4 dengan menggunakan blok 4 x 4, 8 x 8 dan 16 x 16. Masukan dari sistem ini berupa citra input dan juga ukuran blok . Keluaran dari sistem ini adalah daerah yang terdeteksi sebagai copy move atau tidak terdeteksi sama sekali beserta dengan daerah yang di duga sebagai false match.Hasil akhir dari sistim ini ditunjukkan dalam bentuk akurasi, area false match dan waktu ekseukusi. Akurasi metode Exact Match untuk blok 4 x 4, 8 x 8 dan 16 x 16 adalah lebih baik dibandingkan dengan DWT walaupun memiliki area false match yang lebih besar. Akurasi dari DWT Haar, DWT db2 dan DWT db4 tergantung dari wilayah atau daerah copy move dalam citra. Blok 4 x 4 mempunyai area false match yang lebih besar dari blok 8 x 8 dan 16 x 16. Waktu eksekusi tergantung dari besar blok, semakin besar blok semakin besar waktu eksekusi.Kata kunci—copy move forgery, Exact Match, DWT Haar, DWT DB2, DWT DB4. AbstractCopy-Move Forgery is a special type of image forgery, in which a part of a digital image is copied and pasted to another part in the same image in order to cover an important image feature. This research developed a system to detect copy move forgery in digital image. The system is intended to help the user determine whether an image is authentic or already contained a copy move object, and if the image already contains copy move object, the system can determine in which section the copy move object is located. Copy move forgery detection system discussed in this research, was developed by using Exact Match, DWT Haar, DWT db2 and DWT db4 using blocks of 4 x 4, 8 x 8 and 16 x 16. Users can use the system by using the digital image as input. The output of the system is the information about the area detected as a copy move forgery along with areas suspected of being false match.The final result is shown in the form of accuracy, the area of the false match and execution time. Based on the test results, the accuracy of Exact Match method for blocks of 4 x 4, 8 x 8 and 16 x 16 is better than the DWT, although exact match have an bigger false match area. Accuracy of DWT Haar, DWT db2 and DWT DB4 depending on the copy move area on the image. Block 4 x 4 has a false match area larger than the block 8 x 8 and 16 x 16. The execution time depends on the size of the block, the larger the block, the longer the time of execution. Keywords— Copy move forgery, Exact Match, DWT Haar, DWT db2, DWT db4

Analysis and Simulation of Geomagnetic Map Suitability Based on Vague Set

An evaluation method named vague set is proposed to describe the suitability of a geomagnetic map. It is based on the Fuzzy Decision Making (FDM) method, and overcomes the FDM model's shortcomings that favouring and opposing content cannot be taken into account simultaneously. The membership function and non-membership function are used to define the influence of the geomagnetic map parameters on map suitability, including standard deviation, information entropy, roughness and slope variance. The weight of each geomagnetic map parameter is calculated by establishing an optimisation model. Vague set data are divided into four types after classification, and Weighted Score Function Values (WSFVs) of matching areas are obtained by using the Weighted Score Function (WSF) method. Then, WSFV of each matching area are compared to select an optimal area. Simulation results demonstrate that geomagnetic map suitability is positively proportional to the function value, and matching error is negatively proportional to the WSFV of the matching area.

Stuttering lacunar infarction captured on serial MRIs

A 61-year-old man with a history of untreated hyperlipidemia presented with acute onset of dysarthria and right-sided weakness. His symptoms had improved but not resolved upon arrival at the hospital (NIH Stroke Scale [NIHSS] score was 4). Brain MRI showed a hyperintense lesion in the medial left pons on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with a matching area of hypointensity on apparent diffusion coefficient map. The fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence showed no changes in this area, suggesting a hyperacute lesion. There was no evidence of focal stenosis of the large intracranial vessels (figure 1) or intracranial hemorrhage. Perfusion-weighted imaging demonstrated an area of increased mean transit time (MTT) within the ischemic lesion (figure 2A). The patient's symptoms had completely resolved after the imaging (NIHSS score = 0). His symptoms recurred 30 minutes later for only 5 minutes. Brain MRI repeated 2 hours later, while asymptomatic, showed complete resolution of the abovementioned lesions (figure 2B). Therefore, IV thrombolysis was not indicated. The patient was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of TIA for further workup. He was started on aspirin 81 mg and atorvastatin 80 mg daily. Systolic blood pressure values ranged from 103 to 154 mm Hg, with most values between 110 and 140 mm Hg. No clear association between blood pressure and neurologic symptoms was noted during hospital admission. On the third day of hospitalization, the patient was discharged home while he remained asymptomatic and repeat brain MRI was intact (figure 2C).

Surface-directed Nanoepitaxy on a Surface with an Irregular Lattice.

Understanding and developing metrics on how nanocrystals respond to local external surface stimuli at their interfaces during growth or operation is a key step in advancing scalable and deterministic approaches for fabricating functional one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) nanoscale networks. Here, we present early results on a general approach for surface-directed nanocrystal epitaxy on a surface with an irregular lattice constant. We show that patches of lattice matched areas as small as 7 nm in a background of surface lattice disorder could satisfy the condition for epitaxial growth of a crawling nanocrystal over the disordered region. Threshold of failure in nanocrystal epitaxy is found to depend on the spacing between the patches and their total surface area. Results indicate nanoepitaxy on a disordered surface occurs if it contains patches of lattice matched regions with at least 20% of surface coverage, illustrating the remarkable tolerance of this type of growth to surface lattice disorder. By adjusting this threshold, it is possible to scalably restrict nanocrystal growth, filter out single nanowires and partition nanowire heterojunctions into segments with different orientations or modulate their electronic structures. This approach is expected to impact epitaxy of highly-mismatched semiconductors and lead to realization of ultrathin heterojunctions of 1D-2D materials.

Prospective evaluation of the utility of intraoperative confocal laser endomicroscopy in patients with brain neoplasms using fluorescein sodium: experience with 74 cases.

This study evaluated the utility, specificity, and sensitivity of intraoperative confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) to provide diagnostic information during resection of human brain tumors. CLE imaging was used in the resection of intracranial neoplasms in 74 consecutive patients (31 male; mean age 47.5 years; sequential 10-month study period). Intraoperative in vivo and ex vivo CLE was performed after intravenous injection of fluorescein sodium (FNa). Tissue samples from CLE imaging-matched areas were acquired for comparison with routine histological analysis (frozen and permanent sections). CLE images were classified as diagnostic or nondiagnostic. The specificities and sensitivities of CLE and frozen sections for gliomas and meningiomas were calculated using permanent histological sections as the standard. CLE images were obtained for each patient. The mean duration of intraoperative CLE system use was 15.7 minutes (range 3-73 minutes). A total of 20,734 CLE images were correlated with 267 biopsy specimens (mean number of images/biopsy location, in vivo 84, ex vivo 70). CLE images were diagnostic for 45.98% in vivo and 52.97% ex vivo specimens. After initiation of CLE, an average of 14 in vivo images and 7 ex vivo images were acquired before identification of a first diagnostic image. CLE specificity and sensitivity were, respectively, 94% and 91% for gliomas and 93% and 97% for meningiomas. CLE with FNa provided intraoperative histological information during brain tumor removal. Specificities and sensitivities of CLE for gliomas and meningiomas were comparable to those for frozen sections. These data suggest that CLE could allow the interactive identification of tumor areas, substantially improving intraoperative decisions during the resection of brain tumors.

Largest Matching Areas for Illumination and Occlusion Robust Face Recognition.

In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to face recognition which simultaneously tackles three combined challenges: (1) uneven illumination; (2) partial occlusion; and (3) limited training data. The new approach performs lighting normalization, occlusion de-emphasis and finally face recognition, based on finding the largest matching area (LMA) at each point on the face, as opposed to traditional fixed-size local areabased approaches. Robustness is achieved with novel approaches for feature extraction, LMA-based face image comparison and unseen data modeling. On the extended YaleB and AR face databases for face identification, our method using only a single training image per person, outperforms other methods using a single training image, and matches or exceeds methods which require multiple training images. On the labeled faces in the wild face verification database, our method outperforms comparable unsupervised methods. We also show that the new method performs competitively even when the training images are corrupted.

Effectiveness of a pay-for-performance intervention to improve maternal and child health services in Afghanistan: a cluster-randomized trial.

A cluster randomized trial of a pay-for-performance (P4P) scheme was implemented in Afghanistan to test whether P4P could improve maternal and child (MCH) services. All 442 primary care facilities in 11 provinces were matched by type of facility and outpatient volume, and randomly assigned to the P4P or comparison arm. P4P facilities were given bonus payments based on the MCH services provided. An endline household sample survey was conducted in 72 randomly selected matched pair catchment areas (3421 P4P households; 3427 comparison).The quality of services was assessed in 81 randomly sampled matched pairs of facilities. Data collectors and households were blinded to the intervention assignment. MCH outcomes were assessed at the cluster level. There were no substantial differences in any of the five MCH coverage indicators (P4P vs comparison): modern contraception(10.7% vs 11.2% (P = 0.90); antenatal care: 56.2% vs 55.6% (P = 0.94); skilled birth attendance (33.9% vs 28.5%, P = 0.17); postnatal care (31.2% vs 30.3%, P = 0.98); and childhood pentavalent3 vaccination (49.6 vs 52.3%, P = 0.41), or in the equity measures. There were substantial increases in the quality of history and physical examinations index (P = 0.01); client counselling index (P = 0.01); and time spent with patients (P = 0.05). Health workers reported limited understanding about the bonuses. The intervention had minimal effect, possibly due to difficulties communicating with health workers and inattention to demand-side factors. P4P interventions need to consider management and community demand issues.

Influence of nanomechanical stress induced by ZnO nanoparticles of different shapes on the viability of cells.

There is growing interest in nanostructures interacting with living organisms. However, there are still no general rules for the design of biocompatible nanodevices. Here, we present a step towards understanding the interactions between nanostructures and living cells. We study the influence of nanomechanical stress induced by zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures of different shapes on the viability of both prokaryotic (Gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes, and Gram-positive bacteria: Staphylococcus epidermidis and Corynebacterium glutamicum) and eukaryotic cells (yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and liver cancer cell line HepG2). Nanoparticles (NPs) and nanorods (NRs) of matching crystallographic structure (P63mc) and active surface area (in the order of 5 × 10(-2)μm(2)) are almost non-toxic for cells under static conditions. However, under conditions that enable collisions between ZnO nanostructures and cells, NRs appear to be more damaging compared to NPs. This is due to the increased probability of mechanical damage caused by nanorods upon puncturing of the cell wall and membranes. Gram-positive bacteria, which have thicker cell walls, are more resistant to nanomechanical stress induced by NRs compared to Gram-negative strains and eukaryotic cells. The presented results may be exploited to improve the properties of nanotechnology based products such as implants, drug delivery systems, antibacterial emulsions and cosmetics.

Fuzzy zoning for feature matching technique in 3D reconstruction of nasal endoscopic images

3D reconstruction from nasal endoscopic images greatly supports an otolaryngologist in examining nasal passages, mucosa, polyps, sinuses, and nasopharyx. In general, structure from motion is a popular technique. It consists of four main steps; (1) camera calibration, (2) feature extraction, (3) feature matching, and (4) 3D reconstruction. Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm is normally used for both feature extraction and feature matching. However, SIFT algorithm relatively consumes computational time particularly in the feature matching process because each feature in an image of interest is compared with all features in the subsequent image in order to find the best matched pair. A fuzzy zoning approach is developed for confining feature matching area. Matching between two corresponding features from different images can be efficiently performed. With this approach, it can greatly reduce the matching time. The proposed technique is tested with endoscopic images created from phantoms and compared with the original SIFT technique in terms of the matching time and average errors of the reconstructed models. Finally, original SIFT and the proposed fuzzy-based technique are applied to 3D model reconstruction of real nasal cavity based on images taken from a rigid nasal endoscope. The results showed that the fuzzy-based approach was significantly faster than traditional SIFT technique and provided similar quality of the 3D models. It could be used for creating a nasal cavity taken by a rigid nasal endoscope.

Matching study areas using Google Street View: A new application for an emerging technology

Google Street View (GSV) can be used as an effective tool to conduct virtual neighborhood audits. We expand on this research by exploring the utility of a GSV-based neighborhood audit to measure and match target and comparison study areas. We developed a GSV-based inventory to measure characteristics of retail alcohol stores and their surrounding neighborhoods. We assessed its reliability and assessed the utility of GSV-based audits for matching target and comparison study areas. We found that GSV-based neighborhood audits can be a useful, reliable, and cost-effective tool for matching target and comparison study areas when archival data are insufficient and primary data collection is prohibitive. We suggest that researchers focus on characteristics that are easily visible on GSV and are relatively stable over time when creating future GSV-based measuring and matching tools. Dividing the study area into small segments may also provide more accurate measurements and more precise matching.

Minimizing investment cost for multi-period heat exchanger network retrofit by matching heat transfer areas with different strategies

Multi-period heat exchanger network (HEN) retrofit is usually performed by targeting and matching heat transfer areas. In this paper, based on the reverse order matching method we proposed previously, three strategies of matching heat transfer areas are proposed to minimize the investment cost for the retrofit of HEN in multi-period, in which replacement of heat exchangers, addition of heat exchangers and addition of heat transfer areas are performed. We demonstrate the procedures through three scenarios, including maximum number of substituted heat exchangers after retrofit, minimum additional heat transfer areas in the retrofitted HEN, and minimum investment cost for retrofit. The strategies are extended to a single period HEN retrofit problem. The results of multi-period and single period HEN retrofit problems indicate the effectiveness of the strategies. Moreover, these results are better than those reported in literature. The strategies are simple and easy to implement, which are of great benefit to large-scale HEN retrofit in practice.

Navigability analysis of magnetic map with projecting pursuit-based selection method by using firefly algorithm

The performance of geomagnetic aided navigation is closely related to the selection of geomagnetic matching area. This paper mainly studies the selection method of multi-parameter geomagnetic matching area based on the projection pursuit model, and then adopts the firefly algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm and differential evolution algorithm to obtain the optimal projection direction. After that, we compare the optimizing results comprehensively and give the evaluation of navigation performance in geomagnetic matching area to provide the basis for the selection of matching area. The implementation results show that when there are large differences between the characteristic parameters, the computation efficiency of firefly algorithm performs significantly better than the other two optimization algorithms. And under the same experimental conditions, the optimal geomagnetic matching area obtained by the method presented in this paper has the minimum matching position error and optimal navigation performance.