MUCKE aims to mine a large volume of images, to structure them conceptually and to use this conceptual structuring in order to improve large-scale image retrieval. The last decade witnessed important progress concerning low-level image representations. However, there are a number problems which need to be solved in order to unleash the full potential of image mining in applications. The central problem with low-level representations is the mismatch between them and the human interpretation of image content. This problem can be instantiated, for instance, by the incapability of existing descriptors to capture spatial relationships between the concepts represented or by their incapability to convey an explanation of why two images are similar in a content-based image retrieval framework. We start by assessing existing local descriptors for image classification and by proposing to use co-occurrence matrices to better capture spatial relationships in images. The main focus in MUCKE is on cleaning large scale Web image corpora and on proposing image representations which are closer to the human interpretation of images. Consequently, we introduce methods which tackle these two problems and compare results to state of the art methods. Note: some aspects of this deliverable are withheld at this time as they are pending review. Please contact the authors for a preview.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel2/4524/12820/00592460.pdf

Image Processing

Section I: Anatomy Surgical Anatomy of the Retroperitoneum, Kidneys, and Ureters Anatomy of the Lower Urinary Tract and Male Genitalia Section II: Clinical Decision Making Evaluation of the Urologic Patient: History, Physical Examination, and Urinalysis Urinary Tract Imaging: Basic Principles Outcomes Research Section III: Basics of Urologic Surgery Basic Instrumentation and Cystoscopy Basics of Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery Section IV: Infections and Inflammation Infections of the Urinary Tract-A. Schaeffer Inflammatory Conditions of the Male Genitourinary Tract Interstitial Cystitis and Related Disorders Sexually Transmitted and Associated Diseases Urological Implications of AIDS and Related Conditions Cutaneous Diseases of the External Genitalia Tuberculosis and Other Opportunistic Infections of the Genitourinary System Section V: Molecular and Cellular Biology Basic Principles of Immunology Molecular Genetics and Cancer Biology Tissue Engineering Perspectives for Reconstructive Surgery Section VI: Reproductive and Sexual Function Male Reproductive Physiology Male Infertility Surgical Management of Male Infertility Physiology of Erectile Dysfunction: Pathophysiology, Evaluation, Nonsurgical Management Epidemiology, Evaluation, and Nonsurgical Management of Erectile Dysfunction Prosthetic Surgery for Erectile Dysfunction Vascular Surgery for Erectile Dysfunction Peyronie's Disease Priapism Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male Female Sexual Function and Dysfunction Section VII: Male Genitalia Neoplasms of the Testis Surgery of Testicular Tumors Tumors of the Penis Surgery of Penile and Urethral Carcinoma Surgery of the Penis and Urethra Surgery of the Scrotum and Seminal Vesicles Section VIII: Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology Renovascular Hypertension Section IX: Upper Urinary Tract Obstruction and Trauma Pathophysiology of Obstruction Management of Upper Urinary Tract Obstruction Upper Urinary Tract Trauma Section X: Renal Failure and Transplantation Renal Transplantation Etiology, Pathogenesis, and Management of Renal Failure Section XI: Urinary Lithiasis and Endourology Urinary Lithiasis: Etiology, Epidemiology, and Pathophysiology Evaluation and Medical Management of Urinary Lithiasis Surgical Management of Upper Urinary Tract Calculi Ureteroscopy and Retrograde Ureteral Access Percutaneous Approaches to the Upper Urinary Tract Section XII: Neoplasms of the Upper Urinary Tract Renal Tumors Urothelial Tumors of the Upper Urinary Tract Urothelial Tumors of the Renal Pelvis and Ureter Open Surgery of the Kidney Laparoscopic Surgery of the Kidney Ablative Therapy for Renal Tumors Section XIII: The Adrenals Pathophysiology, Evaluation, and Medical Management of Adrenal Disorders Surgery of the Adrenals Section XIV: Urine Transport, Storage, and Emptying Physiology and Pharmacology of the Renal Pelvis and Ureter Physiology and Pharmacology of the Bladder and Urethra Pathophysiology, Categorization, and Management of Voiding Dysfunction Urodynamic and Video dynamic Evaluation of Voiding Dysfunction Neuromuscular Dysfunction of the Lower Urinary Tract Urinary Incontinence: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Evaluation, and Overview of Management The Overactive Bladder Pharmacologic Management of Storage and Emptying Failure Conservative Management of Urinary Incontinence: Behavioral and Pelvic Floor Therapy, Urethral and Pelvic Devices Electrical Stimulation and Neuromodulation in Storage and Emptying Failure Retropubic Suspension Surgery for Incontinence in Women Vaginal Reconstructive Surgery for Sphincteric Incontinence Pubovaginal Slings Tension-Free Vaginal Tape Procedures Injection Therapy for Urinary Incontinence Additional Treatment for Storage and Emptying Failure Geriatric Voiding Dysfunction and Urinary Incontinence Urinary Tract Fistulae Bladder and Urethral Diverticula Surgical Procedures for Sphincteric Incontinence in the Male: The Artificial Genitourinary Sphincter Perineal Sling Procedures Section XV: Bladder Lower Genitourinary Calculi and Trauma Urothelial Tumors of the Bladder Management of Superficial Bladder Cancer Management of Metastatic and Invasive Bladder Cancer Surgery of Bladder Cancer Laparoscopic Bladder Surgery Use of Intestinal Segments in Urinary Diversion Cutaneous Continent Urinary Diversion Orthotopic Urinary Diversion Genital and Lower Urinary Tract Trauma Lower Urinary Tract Calculi Section XVI: Prostate Molecular Biology, Endocrinology, and Physiology of the Prostate and Seminal Vesicles Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Epidemiology of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Natural History, Evaluation, and Nonsurgical Management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Minimally Invasive and Endoscopic Management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Retropubic and Superpubic Open Radical Prostatectomy Epidemiology, Etiology, and Prevention of Prostate Cancer Pathology of Prostatic Neoplasms Ultrasonography and Biopsy of the Prostate Tumor Markers in Prostate Cancer Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Staging of Prostate Cancer Definitive Therapy of Localized Prostate Cancer: Outcomes Expectant Management of Prostate Cancer Anatomic Retrograde Retropubic Prostatectomy Radical Perineal Prostatectomy Laparoscopic and Robotic Radical Prostatectomy and Pelvic Lymphadenectomy Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Cryotherapy of Prostate Cancer Treatment of Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer Management of Rising Prostate-Specific Antigen after Definitive Therapy Hormonal Therapy for Prostate Cancer Management of Hormone-Resistant Prostate Cancer Section XVII: Pediatric Urology Normal and Anomalous Development of the Urinary Tract Renal Function in the Fetus Congenital Obstructive Uropathy Perinatal Urology Evaluation of Pediatric Urologic Patient Renal Disease in Childhood Urinary Tract Infections in Infants and Children Anomalies of the Kidney Renal Dysplasia and Cystic Disease of Kidney Anomalies and Surgery of the Ureteropelvic Junction Ectopic Ureter Vesicoureteral Reflux Prune-Belly Syndrome Exstrophy and Epispadias Complex Surgical Technique for One-Stage Exstrophy Reconstruction Bladder Anomalies in Children Posterior Urethral Valves and Other Urethral Anomalies Voiding Dysfunction in Children: Neurogenic and Non-neurogenic Urinary Tract Reconstruction Hypospadias Abnormalities of External Genitalia in Boys Abnormalities of Testis and Scrotum: Surgical Management Sexual Differentiation: Normal and Abnormal Surgical Management of Intersex Pediatric Oncology Pediatric Endourology and Laparoscopy Pediatric Genitourinary Trauma

Campbell-Walsh urology

by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England,
Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4

Teaching for quality learning at university

Linear models

http://carmenere.ucsd.edu/jorge/publications/data/2014_KiCoMa-auto.pdf

Distributed convex optimization via continuous-time coordination algorithms with discrete-time communication

We address the problem of distributed unconstrained convex optimization under separability assumptions, i.e., the framework where each agent of a network is endowed with a local private multidimensional convex cost, is subject to communication constraints, and wants to collaborate to compute the minimizer of the sum of the local costs. We propose a design methodology that combines average consensus algorithms and separation of time-scales ideas. This strategy is proved, under suitable hypotheses, to be globally convergent to the true minimizer. Intuitively, the procedure lets the agents distributedly compute and sequentially update an approximated Newton-Raphson direction by means of suitable average consensus ratios. We show with numerical simulations that the speed of convergence of this strategy is comparable with alternative optimization strategies such as the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers. Finally, we propose some alternative strategies which trade-off communication and computational requirements with convergence speed.

Newton-Raphson Consensus for Distributed Convex Optimization

We study the problem of unconstrained distributed optimization in the context of multi-agents systems subject to limited communication connectivity. In particular we focus on the minimization of a sum of convex cost functions, where each component of the global function is available only to a specific agent and can thus be seen as a private local cost. The agents need to cooperate to compute the minimizer of the sum of all costs. We propose a consensus-like strategy to estimate a Newton-Raphson descending update for the local estimates of the global minimizer at each agent. In particular, the algorithm is based on the separation of time-scales principle and it is proved to converge to the global minimizer if a specific parameter that tunes the rate of convergence is chosen sufficiently small. We also provide numerical simulations and compare them with alternative distributed optimization strategies like the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers and the Distributed Subgradient Method.

http://automatica.dei.unipd.it/tl_files/utenti/lucaschenato/Papers/Journal/TAC16_Newton-Raphson_Consensus.pdf.pdf

Newton-Raphson consensus for distributed convex optimization

We address the problem of estimating the occupancy levels in rooms using the information available in standard HVAC systems. Instead of employing dedicated devices, we exploit the significant statistical correlations between the occupancy levels and the CO2 concentration, room temperature, and ventilation actuation signals in order to identify a dynamic model. The building occupancy estimation problem is formulated as a regularized deconvolution problem, where the estimated occupancy is the input that, when injected into the identified model, best explains the currently measured CO2 levels. Since occupancy levels are piecewise constant, the zero norm of occupancy is plugged into the cost function to penalize non-piecewise constant inputs. The problem then is seen as a particular case of fused-lasso estimator by relaxing the zero norm into the e1 norm. We propose both online and offline estimators; the latter is shown to perform favorably compared to other data-based building occupancy estimators. Results on a real testbed show that the MSE of the proposed scheme, trained on a one-week-long dataset, is half the MSE of equivalent Neural Network (NN) or Support Vector Machine (SVM) estimation strategies.

/pdf/estimation-of-building-occupancy-levels-through-2dclivt11e.pdf

Estimation of building occupancy levels through environmental signals deconvolution

In this paper we study the problem of estimating the channel parameters for a generic wireless sensor network (WSN) in a completely distributed manner, using consensus algorithms. Specifically, we first propose a distributed strategy to minimize the effects of unknown constant offsets in the reading of the radio strength signal indicator due to uncalibrated sensors. Then we show how the computation of the optimal wireless channels parameters, which are the solution of a global least-square optimization problem, can be obtained with a consensus-based algorithm. The proposed algorithms are general algorithms for sensor calibration and distributed least-square parameter identification, and do not require any knowledge either on the global topology of the network nor the total number of nodes. Finally, we apply these algorithms to experimental data collected from an indoor WSN. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

/pdf/consensus-based-distributed-sensor-calibration-and-least-6chlr9of4c.pdf

Consensus‐based distributed sensor calibration and least‐square parameter identification in WSNs

We present a Stochastic Model Predictive Control (SMPC) algorithm that maintains predefined comfort levels in building Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems while minimizing the overall energy use. The strategy uses the knowledge of the statistics of the building occupancy and ambient conditions forecasts errors and determines the optimal control inputs by solving a scenario-based stochastic optimization problem. Peculiarities of this strategy are that it does not make assumptions on the distribution of the uncertain variables, and that it allows dynamical learning of these statistics from true data through the use of copulas, i.e., opportune probabilistic description of random vectors. The scheme, investigated on a prototypical student laboratory, shows good performance and computational tractability.

/pdf/a-scenario-based-predictive-control-approach-to-building-4q62gwkm1x.pdf

Damiano Varagnolo

Papers

Newton-Raphson Consensus for Distributed Convex Optimization

Newton-Raphson consensus for distributed convex optimization

Estimation of building occupancy levels through environmental signals deconvolution

Consensus‐based distributed sensor calibration and least‐square parameter identification in WSNs

A scenario-based predictive control approach to building HVAC management systems