In this letter, an edge detector using weighted directional Bhattacharyya coefficients (WDBCs) is proposed to improve the edge detection performance on real synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The ...Bhattacharyya coefficient (BC) is a similarity measure that considers the grayscale distribution of pixels around edges and gives a better description of textured and nonuniform regions than the ratio of averages (ROAs). However, in addition to the grayscale distribution, the spatial distribution of pixels around the edges also has a significant impact on the edge strength. To consider both grayscale and spatial distribution, the weighted histograms are computed by Gaussian-Gamma-shaped (GGS) bi-windows to obtain WDBCs in eight directions. Then the edge strength map (ESM) and edge direction map (EDM) are defined by WDBCs. The edge detector can be obtained after non-maximum suppression and hysteresis thresholding. Experimental results on real SAR images compared with five existing detectors show the effectiveness of the proposed detector.
During the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), consistent and considerable differences in disease severity and mortality rate of patients treated in Hubei province compared to those in ...other parts of China have been observed. We sought to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients being treated inside and outside Hubei province, and explore the factors underlying these differences.
Collaborating with the National Health Commission, we established a retrospective cohort to study hospitalised COVID-19 cases in China. Clinical characteristics, the rate of severe events and deaths, and the time to critical illness (invasive ventilation or intensive care unit admission or death) were compared between patients within and outside Hubei. The impact of Wuhan-related exposure (a presumed key factor that drove the severe situation in Hubei, as Wuhan is the epicentre as well the administrative centre of Hubei province) and the duration between symptom onset and admission on prognosis were also determined.
At the data cut-off (31 January 2020), 1590 cases from 575 hospitals in 31 provincial administrative regions were collected (core cohort). The overall rate of severe cases and mortality was 16.0% and 3.2%, respectively. Patients in Hubei (predominantly with Wuhan-related exposure, 597 (92.3%) out of 647) were older (mean age 49.7
44.9 years), had more cases with comorbidity (32.9%
19.7%), higher symptomatic burden, abnormal radiologic manifestations and, especially, a longer waiting time between symptom onset and admission (5.7
4.5 days) compared with patients outside Hubei. Patients in Hubei (severe event rate 23.0%
11.1%, death rate 7.3%
0.3%, HR (95% CI) for critical illness 1.59 (1.05-2.41)) have a poorer prognosis compared with patients outside Hubei after adjusting for age and comorbidity. However, among patients outside Hubei, the duration from symptom onset to hospitalisation (mean 4.4
4.7 days) and prognosis (HR (95%) 0.84 (0.40-1.80)) were similar between patients with or without Wuhan-related exposure. In the overall population, the waiting time, but neither treated in Hubei nor Wuhan-related exposure, remained an independent prognostic factor (HR (95%) 1.05 (1.01-1.08)).
There were more severe cases and poorer outcomes for COVID-19 patients treated in Hubei, which might be attributed to the prolonged duration of symptom onset to hospitalisation in the epicentre. Future studies to determine the reason for delaying hospitalisation are warranted.
Abstract
Topology data analysis (TDA) is a combination of topology and data science. The analysis process will not cause information loss. It has been widely used in various industries in recent ...years. However, how to display TDA data with simpler data structure is still under exploration. This paper designs and simulates a method of TDA point cloud data segmentation and classification data topology information simplification. Firstly, the point cloud data is segmented based on the region growing method. Secondly, the idea of “topological compression” is used to express the richer data information of each segmentation part with a simpler data structure; in the experimental model, the experiment is completed on the platform of MATLAB 2016 (b), and the simple and complex representation of segmented vehicle targets completely includes all the pixel positions and gray 3D data information of the vehicle.
In this paper, we introduce a simple and effective scheme to achieve joint blind source separation (BSS) of multiple datasets using multiset canonical correlation analysis (M-CCA) J. R. Kettenring, ..."Canonical analysis of several sets of variables", Biometrika , vol. 58, pp. 433-451, 1971. We first propose a generative model of joint BSS based on the correlation of latent sources within and between datasets. We specify source separability conditions, and show that, when the conditions are satisfied, the group of corresponding sources from each dataset can be jointly extracted by M-CCA through maximization of correlation among the extracted sources. We compare source separation performance of the M-CCA scheme with other joint BSS methods and demonstrate the superior performance of the M-CCA scheme in achieving joint BSS for a large number of datasets, group of corresponding sources with heterogeneous correlation values, and complex-valued sources with circular and non-circular distributions. We apply M-CCA to analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from multiple subjects and show its utility in estimating meaningful brain activations from a visuomotor task.
Operation speed and coherence time are two core measures for the viability of a qubit. Strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and relatively weak hyperfine interaction make holes in germanium (Ge) ...intriguing candidates for spin qubits with rapid, all-electrical coherent control. Here we report ultrafast single-spin manipulation in a hole-based double quantum dot in a germanium hut wire (GHW). Mediated by the strong SOI, a Rabi frequency exceeding 540 MHz is observed at a magnetic field of 100 mT, setting a record for ultrafast spin qubit control in semiconductor systems. We demonstrate that the strong SOI of heavy holes (HHs) in our GHW, characterized by a very short spin-orbit length of 1.5 nm, enables the rapid gate operations we accomplish. Our results demonstrate the potential of ultrafast coherent control of hole spin qubits to meet the requirement of DiVincenzo's criteria for a scalable quantum information processor.
Characters with a variety of typefaces are ubiquitous in our daily lives. How do typeface characteristics influence consumers’ preferences toward different kinds of products? The current research ...identifies the effect of an important design characteristic of typefaces—curvature on consumers’ preferences toward hedonic products. Our four experiments reveal that when consumers are exposed to hedonic products whose advertisements or packaging use round typefaces (high curvature), they show greater preferences toward them. This phenomenon is induced by the implicit associations between round typefaces and hedonic products which automatically initiate consumers’ mental simulation of experiences related with the products. This simulation process triggers pleasant feelings which eventually enhance preferences. We conclude with the implications of these findings for marketers, such as for their typeface choices in marketing actions. Theoretically, we contribute to a growing body of research examining the congruity between typeface characteristics and product type.
Abstract
The multicomponent reactions of quinoxalin‐2(1
H
)‐ones has attracted considerable interest due to their significant biological and chemical activities. The very recent advances (from 2021 ...to the beginning of 2023) on the radical three‐component cascade reaction of quinoxalin‐2(1
H
)‐one derivatives at the C3 position were summarized in this mini‐review. According to the kind of radical types involved, some representative examples and detailed reaction mechanism have been categorized and discussed.
The red front was covered by Figure 1.
The novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID‐19) has had a significant impact on the global retail market. Nonetheless, consumers will eventually return to the market once the pandemic is effectively ...controlled. Therefore, it is critical to consider which features closely linked to COVID‐19 may affect consumer behavior. The present study thus addresses this gap by investigating the relationship of risk perceptions regarding COVID‐19 with an important component of consumer behavior—namely, willingness‐to‐pay (WTP)—and further explores the underlying mechanisms behind this relationship. Data collected from 480 Chinese participants were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that those with a greater risk perception regarding COVID‐19 were more likely to exhibit a higher WTP for various commodities, which can be driven by awe and perceived loss of control induced by COVID‐19. The present study delineates the effect that public health emergencies have on the consumption intentions of the general public.
Although the effects of product packaging on food healthiness and product/brand anthropomorphism on consumer response have been extensively studied, there has been little attention paid to how ...anthropomorphizing the package could potentially bias consumers' perception of food healthiness and subsequent consumption. Drawing on theory from evolutionary psychology, the current paper proposes that package signaling a dominant male body (vs. nondominant package) promoted healthy food consumption among males rather than female consumers. In a field study (Study 1), preliminary real‐world evidence was collected that showed that both genders perceived food as healthier when it was packaged in a dominant (vs. nondominant) package. However, in terms of food content satisfaction, only males reported more satisfaction when exposed to the dominant (vs. nondominant) package, and this effect was not observed for unhealthy food. Next, two lab experiments directly assessed the impact of package dominance on male consumers' purchase intention of healthy food products and found that intrasexual competition underlies such effect (Studies 2 and 3). These findings were contingent on individual differences in competitive mindset (Study 4); competitive (vs. cooperative) consumers were more inclined to pay a premium for healthy food within dominant package. Our work adds to the growing body of literature on anthropomorphic package by highlighting the influential role of package dominance on healthy food consumption. Marketers selling healthy food may adopt a dominant (i.e., V‐shaped package) to communicate the product's healthiness and promote consumption for male consumers.
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