Query: VabCut: A video extension of GrabCut for unsupervised video foreground object segmentation

Relevant passages:
Object Segmentation by Long Term Analysis of Point Trajectories <=SEP=> Unsupervised learning requires a grouping step that defines which data belong together. A natural way of grouping in images is the segmentation of objects or parts of objects. While pure bottom-up segmentation from static cues is well known to be ambiguous at the object level, the story changes as soon as objects move. In this paper, we present a method that uses long term point trajectories based on dense optical flow. Defining pair-wise distances between these trajectories allows to cluster them, which results in temporally consistent segmentations of moving objects in a video shot. In contrast to multi-body factorization, points and even whole objects may appear or disappear during the shot. We provide a benchmark dataset and an evaluation method for this so far uncovered setting.

"GrabCut": interactive foreground extraction using iterated graph cuts <=SEP=> 

Good features to track <=SEP=> No feature-based vision system can work unless good features can be identi ed and tracked from frame to frame. Although tracking itself is by and large a solved problem, selecting features that can be tracked well and correspond to physical points in the world is still hard. We propose a feature selection criterion that is optimal by construction because it is based on how the tracker works, and a feature monitoring method that can detect occlusions, disocclusions, and features that do not correspond to points in the world. These methods are based on a new tracking algorithm that extends previous Newton-Raphson style search methods to work under a ne image transformations. We test performance with several simulations and experiments.

LabelMe video: Building a video database with human annotations <=SEP=> Currently, video analysis algorithms suffer from lack of information regarding the objects present, their interactions, as well as from missing comprehensive annotated video databases for benchmarking. We designed an online and openly accessible video annotation system that allows anyone with a browser and internet access to efficiently annotate object category, shape, motion, and activity information in real-world videos. The annotations are also complemented with knowledge from static image databases to infer occlusion and depth information. Using this system, we have built a scalable video database composed of diverse video samples and paired with human-guided annotations. We complement this paper demonstrating potential uses of this database by studying motion statistics as well as cause-effect motion relationships between objects.

The structure of images <=SEP=> In practice the relevant details of images exist only over a restricted range of scale. Hence it is important to study the dependence of image structure on the level of resolution. It seems clear enough that visual perception treats images on several levels of resolution simultaneously and that this fact must be important for the study of perception. However, no applicable mathematically formulated theory to deal with such problems appers to exist. In this paper it is shown that any image can be embedded in a one-parameter family of derived images (with resolution as the parameter) in essentially only one unique way if the constraint that no spurious detail should be generated when the resolution is diminished, is applied. The structure of this family is governed by the well known diffusion equation (a parabolic, linear, partial differential equation of the second order). As such the structure fits into existing theories that treat the front end of the visual system as a continuous tack of homogeneous layer, characterized by iterated local processing schemes. When resolution is decreased the images becomes less articulated because the extrem (“light and dark blobs”) disappear one after the other. This erosion of structure is a simple process that is similar in every case. As a result any image can be described as a juxtaposed and nested set of light and dark blobs, wherein each blod has a limited range of resolution in which it manifests itself. The structure of the family of derived images permits a derivation of the sampling density required to sample the image at multiple scales of resolution. The natural scale along the resolution axis (leading to an informationally uniform sampling density) is logarithmic, thus the structure is apt for the description of size invariances.

Gaussian processes for multi-sensor environmental monitoring <=SEP=> Efficiently monitoring environmental conditions across large indoor spaces (such as warehouses, factories or data centers) is an important problem with many applications. Deployment of a sensor network across the space can provide very precise readings at discrete locations. However, construction of a continuous model from this discrete sensor data is a challenge. The challenge is made harder by economic and logistical constraints that may limit the number of sensor motes in the network. The required model, therefore, must be able to interpolate sparse data and give accurate predictions at unsensed locations, as well as provide some notion of the uncertainty on those predictions. We propose a Gaussian process based model to answer both of these issues. We use Gaussian processes to model temperature and humidity distributions across an indoor space as functions of a 3-dimensional point. We study the model selection process and show that good results can be obtained, even with sparse sensor data. Deployment of a sensor network across an indoor lab provides real-world data that we use to construct an environmental model of the lab space. We seek to refine the model obtained from the initial deployment by using the uncertainty estimates provided by the Gaussian process methodology to modify sensor distribution such that each sensor is most advantageously placed. We explore multiple sensor placement techniques and experimentally validate a near-optimal criterion.

A Parking Occupancy Detection Algorithm Based on AMR Sensor <=SEP=> Recently, with the explosive increase of automobiles in cities, parking problems are serious and even worsen in many cities. This paper proposes a new algorithm for parking occupancy detection based on the use of anisotropic magnetoresistive sensors. Parking occupancy detection is abstracted as binary pattern recognition problem. According to the status of the parking space, the recognition result contains two categories: vacant and occupied. The feature extraction method of the parking magnetic signal is proposed. In addition, the classification criteria are derived based on the distance discriminate analysis method. Eighty-two sensor nodes are deployed on the roadside parking spaces. By running the system for six months, we observed that the accuracy rate of the proposed parking occupancy detection algorithm is better than 98%.

Quantifying immersion in virtual reality <=SEP=> Virtual Reality (VR) has generated much excitement but little formal proof that it is useful. Because VR interfaces are difficult and expensive to build, the computer graphics community needs to be able to predict which applications will benefit from VR. In this paper, we show that users with a VR interface complete a search task faster than users with a stationary monitor and a hand-based input device. We placed users in the center of the virtual room shown in Figure 1 and told them to look for camouflaged targets. VR users did not do significantly better than desktop users. However, when asked to search the room and conclude if a target existed, VR users were substantially better at determining when they had searched the entire room. Desktop users took 41% more time, re-examining areas they had already searched. We also found a positive transfer of training from VR to stationary displays and a negative transfer of training from stationary displays to VR.

Evidence-based practice: functional rhinoplasty. <=SEP=> The cause of nasal obstruction can often be attributed to pathologic conditions of the nasal valve. The key physical examination finding in nasal valve compromise is inspiratory collapse of the nasal sidewall. Validated subjective and objective measures evaluating nasal obstruction exist, although with weak correlation. Functional rhinoplasty encompasses the surgical techniques used to address obstruction occurring in this area. These techniques aim to increase the size of the nasal valve opening and/or strengthen the lateral nasal wall and nasal ala, preventing dynamic collapse. Much of the supporting evidence for functional rhinoplasty consists of observational studies that are universally favorable.

Agile software development in theory and practice <=SEP=> Kalermo, Jonna Maria Rissanen, Jenni Karoliina Agile software development in theory and practice / Jonna Kalermo and Jenni Rissanen Jyväskylä, University of Jyväskylä, 2002. 188 pp. Master's thesis In turn of the millennium, new software development ideas were presented in the form of Agile Manifesto as a counteraction to the traditional, rigorous development methods and process models. Agile Manifesto consists of four values and twelve principles of which the authors of this thesis formed a conceptual framework. It assists in analysing different aspects of agile software development one by one but also as a whole. Agile software development aims at fast, light and efficient development that supports customer's business without being chaotic or following any rigorous method. The aim of this study was to analyse Agile Manifesto and its applicability. This was done by conducting a literature review and an empirical case study. Agile Manifesto gives an ideological background for agile methods, such as Extreme Programming (XP). Such methods are most feasible for small organisations developing innovative software products. We analysed Agile Manifesto and found out that literature supported the ideas of it, although no revolutionary ideas were discovered. We used an empirical case study as an example of an agile in-house software development method in corporate venturing context. The case study supported principles and values of Agile Manifesto and confirmed the assumption that agility is heavily based on tacit knowledge, skilled and motivated employees and frequent communication. This sets several requirements for management and employees working in an agile mode: they have to be communicative, social, responsible and skilled.

Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Methyl B12 for Children with Autism. <=SEP=> OBJECTIVE
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been reported to have reduced ability to methylate DNA and elevated markers of oxidative stress. We sought to determine if methyl B12, a key metabolic cofactor for cellular methylation reactions and antioxidant defense, could improve symptoms of ASD.


METHODS
A total of 57 children with ASD were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of treatment with methyl B12 (75 μg/kg) or saline placebo every 3 days in a subcutaneous injection. The primary outcome measure was overall improvement in symptoms of ASD as measured by the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) score. Secondary outcome measures included changes in the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Laboratory measures of methionine methylation and antioxidant glutathione metabolism were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks.


RESULTS
A total of 50 children (mean age 5.3 years, 79% male) completed the study. The primary outcome measure - the clinician rated CGI-I score - was statistically significantly better (lower) in the methyl B12 group (2.4) than in the placebo group (3.1) (0.7 greater improvement in the methyl B12 group, 95% CI 1.2-0.2, p = 0.005). Clinical improvement among children treated with methyl B12 was positively correlated with increases in plasma methionine (p = 0.05), decreases in S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine (SAH) (p = 0.007) and improvements in the ratio of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to SAH (p = 0.007), indicating an improvement in cellular methylation capacity. No improvements were observed in the parent-rated ABC or SRS.


CONCLUSIONS
Methyl B12 treatment improved clinician-rated symptoms of ASD that were correlated with improvements in measures of methionine metabolism and cellular methylation capacity. Clinical Trial Registry: Efficacy Study of Subcutaneous Methyl B12 in Children with Autism: NCT01039792 ( clinicaltrials.gov1 ).

Implementation of a Restricted Boltzmann Machine in a Spiking Neural Network <=SEP=> Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs) have been demonstrated to perform efficiently on a variety of applications, such as dimensionality reduction and classification. Implementing RBMs on neuromorphic hardware has certain advantages, particularly from a concurrency and lowpower perspective. This paper outlines some of the requirements involved for neuromorphic adaptation of an RBM and attempts to address these issues with suitably targeted modifications for sampling and weight updates. Results show the feasibility of such alterations which will serve as a guide for future implementation of such algorithms in VLSI arrays of spiking neurons.

Insider Threat Security Reference Architecture <=SEP=> The Insider Threat Security Reference Architecture, ITSRA, provides an enterprise wide solution to insider threat. The architecture consists of four security layers - Business, Information, Data, and Application. Organizations should deploy and enforce controls at each layer in order to address insider attacks. Each layer does not function in isolation or independently of other layers. Rather, the correlation of indicators and application of controls across all four layers forms the crux of this approach. Based on empirical data consisting of over 600 cases of insider crimes, insider attacks proved successful in inflicting damage when an organization failed to implement adequate controls in any of three security principles - authorized access, acceptable use, and continuous monitoring. The ITSRA draws from existing best practices and standards as well as from analysis of these cases to provide actionable guidance for organizations to improve their posture against the insider threat.

Exploring multicriteria decision strategies in GIS with linguistic quantifiers: A case study of residential quality evaluation <=SEP=> Commonly used GIS combination operators such as Boolean conjunction/disjunction and weighted linear combination can be generalized to the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) family of operators. This multicriteria evaluation method allows decision-makers to define a decision strategy on a continuum between pessimistic and optimistic strategies. Recently, OWA has been introduced to GIS-based decision support systems. We propose to extend a previous implementation of OWA with linguistic quantifiers to simplify the definition of decision strategies and to facilitate an exploratory analysis of multiple criteria. The linguistic quantifier-guided OWA procedure is illustrated using a dataset for evaluating residential quality of neighborhoods in London, Ontario.

"Eczema coxsackium" and unusual cutaneous findings in an enterovirus outbreak. <=SEP=> OBJECTIVE
To characterize the atypical cutaneous presentations in the coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6)-associated North American enterovirus outbreak of 2011-2012.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective case series of pediatric patients who presented with atypical cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) from July 2011 to June 2012 at 7 academic pediatric dermatology centers. Patients were included if they tested positive for CVA6 or if they met clinical criteria for atypical HFMD (an enanthem or exanthem characteristic of HFMD with unusual morphology or extent of cutaneous findings). We collected demographic, epidemiologic, and clinical data including history of skin conditions, morphology and extent of exanthem, systemic symptoms, and diagnostic test results.


RESULTS
Eighty patients were included in this study (median age 1.5 years, range 4 months-16 years). Seventeen patients were CVA6-positive, and 63 met clinical inclusion criteria. Ninety-nine percent of patients exhibited a vesiculobullous and erosive eruption; 61% of patients had rash involving >10% body surface area. The exanthem had a perioral, extremity, and truncal distribution in addition to involving classic HFMD areas such as palms, soles, and buttocks. In 55% of patients, the eruption was accentuated in areas of eczematous dermatitis, termed "eczema coxsackium." Other morphologies included Gianotti-Crosti-like (37%), petechial/purpuric (17%) eruptions, and delayed onychomadesis and palm and sole desquamation. There were no patients with serious systemic complications.


CONCLUSIONS
The CVA6-associated enterovirus outbreak was responsible for an exanthem potentially more widespread, severe, and varied than classic HFMD that could be confused with bullous impetigo, eczema herpeticum, vasculitis, and primary immunobullous disease.

The efficacy and safety of postoperative adjuvant transarterial embolization and radiotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with portal vein tumor thrombus <=SEP=> OBJECTIVE
This study aims to find out the safety and efficiency of postoperative adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiotherapy (RT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT).


METHODS
From 2009 to 2010, a total of 92 HCC patients with PVTT were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into three groups according to their adjuvant therapies (conservative group, n=51; TACE group, n=31; RT group, n=10).


RESULTS
In our analysis, median survival in patients with postoperative adjuvant TACE (21.91±3.60 months) or RT (14.53±1.61 months) was significantly longer than patients with hepatectomy alone (8.99±1.03 months). But the difference between adjuvant TACE and RT was of no significance (P=0.716). Also a similar result could be observed in median disease-free survival: conservative group (6.51±1.44 months), TACE group (13.98±3.38 months), and RT group (14.03±2.40 months). Treatment strategies (hazard ratio [HR] =0.411, P<0.001) and PVTT type (HR =4.636, P<0.001) were the independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Similarly, the risk factors were the same when multivariate analysis was conducted in disease-free survival (treatment strategies, HR =0.423, P<0.001; PVTT type, HR =4.351, P<0.001) and recurrence (treatment strategies, HR =0.459, P=0.030; PVTT type, HR =2.908, P=0.047). Patients with PVTT type I had longer overall survival than patients with PVTT type II (median survival: 18.43±2.88 months vs 11.59±1.45 months, P=0.035).


CONCLUSION
Postoperative adjuvant TACE and RT may be a choice for HCC patients with PVTT.

Minimum Inhibitory Concentration ( MIC ) Of various synthetic and natural antimicrobial agents using E coli screened from VIT sewage treatment plant * <=SEP=> The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) Test is an important evaluating tool in the field of microbiology. It gives us an idea of the microbial activity assessment in any source sample containing microbes. Validating the effectiveness of disinfection and decontamination is a vital and often challenging task. In clinical and laboratory environments, presence of sterile conditions is a compulsion and various disinfectants are used to sterilize the surroundings from bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms. The broth dilution and agar diffusion methods of MIC Test tell us about the efficiency of the disinfectant under use. By subjecting a given disinfectant sample to the MIC Test, we can find out its efficiency in lysing the microorganisms present in the inoculums. Thus two or more disinfectants can be compared also at the same time to test their lysing capacity under normal conditions. The MIC Test also helps to choose the more economic disinfectant from a given batch of disinfectants. The results obtained from the MIC Test can also be used to prepare a new anti microbial agent which has greater efficiency in lysing the microorganisms and is economic financially. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of various synthetic like chloramphenical, chloroxylenol and 10% hydrochloric acid with butyl oleylamine in aqueous solution), and natural antimicrobial agents like Sample C (Grass extract) and Sample D (Grass+Neem extract) using E coli screened from VIT sewage treatment plant will be discussed.

Evaluation of the Wireless M-Bus standard for future smart water grids <=SEP=> The most recent Wireless Sensor Networks technologies can provide viable solutions to perform automatic monitoring of the water grid, and smart metering of water consumptions. However, sensor nodes located along water pipes cannot access power grid facilities, to get the necessary energy imposed by their working conditions. In this sense, it is of basic importance to design the network architecture in such a way as to require the minimum possible power. This paper investigates the suitability of the Wireless Metering Bus protocol for possible adoption in future smart water grids, by evaluating its transmission performance, through simulations and experimental tests executed by means of prototype sensor nodes.

Evaluation of a dynamic role-playing platform for simulations based on Octalysis gamification framework <=SEP=> The use of serious games (SG) in education and their pedagogical benefit is being widely recognized. However, effective integration of SGs in education depends on addressing two big challenges: successful incorporation of motivation and engagement that can lead to learning; and high cost and specialised skills associated with customised development to achieve the required pedagogical results. This paper presents a SG platform that offers tools to educators to dynamically create three dimensional (3D) scenes and verbal and non-verbal interaction with fully embodied conversational agents (ECA) that can be used to simulate numerous educational scenarios. We then evaluate the effectiveness of the platform in terms of supporting the creation of motivating and engaging educational simulations based on the Octalysis gamification framework. The latter includes a number of game design elements that can be used as appropriate in the optimization of the experience in each phase of the player’s journey. We conclude with directions of the further extension to our platform to address the aforementioned gamification framework, as well as directions for further development of the Octalysis framework.

Ad Exchanges: Research Issues <=SEP=> An emerging way to sell and buy display ads on the Internet is via ad exchanges. RightMedia [1], AdECN [2] and DoubleClick Ad Exchange [3] are examples of such real-time two-sided markets. We describe an abstraction of ad exchanges. Based on that abstraction, we present several research directions and discuss some insights.

Joint Entity and Event Coreference Resolution across Documents <=SEP=> We introduce a novel coreference resolution system that models entities and events jointly. Our iterative method cautiously constructs clusters of entity and event mentions using linear regression to model cluster merge operations. As clusters are built, information flows between entity and event clusters through features that model semantic role dependencies. Our system handles nominal and verbal events as well as entities, and our joint formulation allows information from event coreference to help entity coreference, and vice versa. In a cross-document domain with comparable documents, joint coreference resolution performs significantly better (over 3 CoNLL F1 points) than two strong baselines that resolve entities and events separately.

Understanding Difficulties and Resulting Confusion in Learning: An Integrative Review <=SEP=> Difficulties are often an unavoidable but important part of the learning process. This seems particularly so for complex conceptual learning. Challenges in the learning process are however, particularly difficult to detect and respond to in educational environments where growing class sizes and the increased use of digital technologies mean that teachers are unable to provide nuanced and personalized feedback and support to help students overcome their difficulties. Individual differences, the specifics of the learning activity, and the difficulty of giving individual feedback in large classes and digital environments all add to the challenge of responding to student difficulties and confusion. In this integrative review, we aim to explore difficulties and resulting emotional responses in learning. We will review the primary principles of cognitive disequilibrium and contrast these principles with work on desirable difficulties, productive failure, impasse driven learning, and pure discovery-based learning. We conclude with a theoretical model of the zones of optimal and sub-optimal confusion as a way of conceptualizing the parameters of productive and non-productive difficulties experienced by students while they learn.

Hand Gesture Recognition for Sign Language Recognition: A Review <=SEP=> For deaf and dumb people, Sign language is the only way of communication. With the help of sign language, these physical impaired people express their emotions and thoughts to other person. Since for the common person, it is difficult to understand these language therefore often these physically challenged has to keep the translator along with them to communicate with the world. Hence sign language recognition has become empirical task. Since sign language consist of various movement and gesture of hand therefore the accuracy of sign language depends on the accurate recognition of hand gesture. This paper present various method of hand gesture and sign language recognition proposed in the past by various researchers. Keywords—SL, DCT, Self organizing Map, Camshift

Using Ontology and Data Provenance to Improve Software Processes <=SEP=> Provenance refers to the origin of a particular object. In computational terms, provenance is a historical record of the derivation of data that can help to understand the current record. In this context, this work presents a proposal for software processes improvement using a provenance data model and an ontology. This improvement can be obtained by process data execution analysis with an approach called PROV-Process, which uses a layer for storing process provenance and an ontology based on PROV-O.

A Bayesian Classification Model for Fraud Detection over ATM Platforms Milgo , Carolyne <=SEP=> The banking system relies greatly on the use of Automated Teller Machines, debit and credit cards as a vital element of its payment processing systems. The efficient functioning of payment processing systems allows transactions to be completed safely and on time thereby contributing to operational performance. Customer accounts are equally exposed to risk with respect to fraud. The major security risk identified is identity and access management of customer funds. This research sought to use classification techniques to implement a novel fraud detection solution to establish legitimacy of customer transactions. It also sought to identify the main security issues encountered with use of ATM cards and establish internal control mechanisms which can be implemented to deter possibility of card fraud. The data was obtained from a local bank and was consequently preprocessed and fed into WEKA which was used to develop the training model which was to be used for classification of incoming transactions.

Should Investors Avoid All Actively Managed Mutual Funds ? A Study in Bayesian Performance Evaluation <=SEP=> This paper analyzes mutual-fund performance from an investor’s perspective. We study the portfolio-choice problem for a mean-variance investor choosing among a risk-free asset, index funds, and actively managed mutual funds. To solve this problem, we employ a Bayesian method of performance evaluation; a key innovation in our approach is the development of a f lexible set of prior beliefs about managerial skill. We then apply our methodology to a sample of 1,437 mutual funds. We find that some extremely skeptical prior beliefs nevertheless lead to economically significant allocations to active managers. ACTIVELY MANAGED EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS have trillions of dollars in assets, collect tens of billions in management fees, and are the subject of enormous attention from investors, the press, and researchers. For years, many experts have been saying that investors would be better off in low-cost passively managed index funds. Notwithstanding the recent growth in index funds, active managers still control the vast majority of mutual-fund assets. Are any of these active managers worth their added expenses? Should investors avoid all actively managed mutual funds? Since Jensen ~1968!, most studies have found that the universe of mutual funds does not outperform its benchmarks after expenses.1 This evidence indicates that the average active mutual fund should be avoided. On the other hand, recent studies have found that future abnormal returns ~“alphas”! can be forecast using past returns or alphas,2 past fund * Baks and Metrick are from the Department of Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Wachter is from the Department of Finance, The Stern School, New York University. We thank Nick Barberis, Gary Chamberlain, Ken French, Will Goetzmann, Karsten Hansen, Chris Jones, Tom Knox, Tony Lancaster, L̆ubos̆ Pástor, André Perold, Steve Ross, Andrei Shleifer, Rob Stambaugh, René Stulz, Sheridan Titman, an anonymous referee, and seminar participants at Columbia, Wharton, the NBER, the 1999 NBER Summer Institute, and the 2000 AFA meetings for helpful comments. Wachter thanks Lehman Brothers for financial support. 1 Recently, Carhart ~1995!, Malkiel ~1995!, and Daniel et al. ~1997! all find small or zero average abnormal returns by using modern performance-evaluation methods on samples that are relatively free of survivorship bias. 2 Carlson ~1970!, Lehman and Modest ~1987!, Grinblatt and Titman ~1988, 1992!, Hendricks, Patel, and Zechhauser ~1993!, Goetzmann and Ibbotson ~1994!, Brown and Goetzmann ~1995!, Elton, Gruber, and Blake ~1996!, and Carhart ~1997!. THE JOURNAL OF FINANCE • VOL. LVI, NO. 1 • FEBRUARY 2001

The world of emotions is not two-dimensional. <=SEP=> For more than half a century, emotion researchers have attempted to establish the dimensional space that most economically accounts for similarities and differences in emotional experience. Today, many researchers focus exclusively on two-dimensional models involving valence and arousal. Adopting a theoretically based approach, we show for three languages that four dimensions are needed to satisfactorily represent similarities and differences in the meaning of emotion words. In order of importance, these dimensions are evaluation-pleasantness, potency-control, activation-arousal, and unpredictability. They were identified on the basis of the applicability of 144 features representing the six components of emotions: (a) appraisals of events, (b) psychophysiological changes, (c) motor expressions, (d) action tendencies, (e) subjective experiences, and (f) emotion regulation.

On the Origin of CRISPR-Cas Technology: From Prokaryotes to Mammals. <=SEP=> Clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) sequences cooperate with CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins to form the basis of CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems in prokaryotes. For more than 20 years, these systems were of interest only to specialists, mainly molecular microbiologists, who tried to understand the properties of this unique defense mechanism. In 2012, the potential of CRISPR-Cas systems was uncovered and these were presented as genome-editing tools with an outstanding capacity to trigger targeted genetic modifications that can be applied to virtually any organism. Shortly thereafter, in early 2013, these tools were shown to efficiently drive specific modification of mammalian genomes. This review attempts to summarize, in a comprehensive manner, the key events and milestones that brought CRISPR-Cas technology from prokaryotes to mammals.

Deep Analysis of Binary Code to Recover Program Structure <=SEP=> Title of dissertation: DEEP ANALYSIS OF BINARY CODE TO RECOVER PROGRAM STRUCTURE Khaled ElWazeer, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Dissertation directed by: Professor Rajeev Barua Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Reverse engineering binary executable code is gaining more i nterest in the research community. Agencies as diverse as anti-virus companies, se curity consultants, code forensics consultants, law-enforcement agencies and nati onal security agencies routinely try to understand binary code. Engineers also often need to d ebug, optimize or instrument binary code during the software development process. In this dissertation, we present novel techniques to extend he capabilities of existing binary analysis and rewriting tools to be more scalab le, handling a larger set of stripped binaries with better and more understandable outp uts as well as ensuring correct recovered intermediate representation (IR) from binar ies such that any modified or rewritten binaries compiled from this representation work correctly. In the first part of the dissertation, we present techniques t o recover accurate function boundaries from stripped executables. Our techniques as opposed to current techniques ensure complete live executable code coverage, high quality recovered code, and functional behavior for most application binaries. We use s tatic and dynamic based techniques to remove as much spurious code as possible in a safe ma nner that does not hurt code coverage or IR correctness. Next, we present static tec hniques to recover correct prototypes for the recovered functions. The recovered prot otypes include the complete set of all arguments and returns. Our techniques ensure corr ct behavior of rewritten binaries for both internal and external functions. Finally, we present scalable and precise techniques to reco ver l cal variables for every function obtained as well as global and heap variables . Different techniques are represented for floating point stack allocated variables an d memory allocated variables. Data type recovery techniques are presented to declare mean ingful data types for the detected variables. Our data type recovery techniques can rec over integer, pointer, structural and recursive data types. We discuss the correctness of the r ecovered representation. The evaluation of all the methods proposed is conducted on Se condWrite, a binary rewriting framework developed by our research group. An imp ortant metric in the evaluation is to be able to recompile the IR with the recovered info rmation and run it producing the same answer that is produced when running the original ex ecutable. Another metric is the analysis time. Some other metrics are proposed to meas ure the quality of the IR with respect to the IR with source code information availabl e. DEEP ANALYSIS OF BINARY CODE TO RECOVER PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Ultrasonography for clinical decision-making and intervention in airway management: from the mouth to the lungs and pleurae <=SEP=> OBJECTIVES
To create a state-of-the-art overview of the new and expanding role of ultrasonography in clinical decision-making, intervention and management of the upper and lower airways, that is clinically relevant, up-to-date and practically useful for clinicians.


METHODS
This is a narrative review combined with a structured Medline literature search.


RESULTS
Ultrasonography can be utilised to predict airway difficulty during induction of anaesthesia, evaluate if the stomach is empty or possesses gastric content that poses an aspiration risk, localise the essential cricothyroid membrane prior to difficult airway management, perform nerve blocks for awake intubation, confirm tracheal or oesophageal intubation and facilitate localisation of tracheal rings for tracheostomy. Ultrasonography is an excellent diagnostic tool in intraoperative and emergency diagnosis of pneumothorax. It also enables diagnosis and treatment of interstitial syndrome, lung consolidation, atelectasis, pleural effusion and differentiates causes of acute breathlessness during pregnancy. Patient safety can be enhanced by performing procedures under ultrasound guidance, e.g. thoracocentesis, vascular line access and help guide timing of removal of chest tubes by quantification of residual pneumothorax size.


CONCLUSIONS
Ultrasonography used in conjunction with hands-on management of the upper and lower airways has multiple advantages. There is a rapidly growing body of evidence showing its benefits.


TEACHING POINTS
• Ultrasonography is becoming essential in management of the upper and lower airways. • The tracheal structures can be identified by ultrasonography, even when unidentifiable by palpation. • Ultrasonography is the primary diagnostic approach in suspicion of intraoperative pneumothorax. • Point-of-care ultrasonography of the airways has a steep learning curve. • Lung ultrasonography allows treatment of interstitial syndrome, consolidation, atelectasis and effusion.