Matthew Anderson

Bio: Matthew Anderson is an academic researcher from Toshiba. The author has contributed to research in topics: Photon & Quantum dot. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 17 publications receiving 1180 citations. Previous affiliations of Matthew Anderson include University of California & University of Oregon.

Determinants in Canadian health care workers of the decision to withdraw life support from the critically ill

Abstract: Objective. —To examine the attitudes of health care workers regarding the withdrawal of life support. Design. —Cross-sectional survey. Participants. —Attending staff, house staff, and intensive care unit (ICU) nurses in 37 Canadian university-affiliated hospitals. Main Outcome Measures. —Health care workers' ratings of the importance of 17 factors considered in the decision to withdraw life support, and their ratings of five levels of care ranging from comfort measures to intensive care in two of 12 different clinical scenarios. Results. —We surveyed 1361 respondents (149 of 167 potentially eligible ICU attending staff, 142 of 173 ICU house staff, and 1070 of 1455 ICU nurses, with response rates of 89%, 82% and 74%, respectively). The most important factors were likelihood of surviving the current episode, likelihood of long-term survival, premorbid cognitive function, and age of the patient. In choosing the level of care for the patient scenarios, the same option was chosen by more than 50% of respondents in only one of 12 scenarios; opposite extremes of care were chosen by more than 10% of the respondents in eight of 12 scenarios. Respondent characteristics affecting choices included the number of years since graduation, the city and province in which they worked, the number of beds in their ICU, and their assessment of the likelihood that they would withdraw life support in comparison with their colleagues (P Conclusions. —While ICU health care workers consistently identify a number of patient factors as important in decisions to withdraw care, there is extreme variability, which may be explained in part by the values of individual health care providers. (JAMA. 1995;273:703-708)

Quadrature squeezing with ultrashort pulses in nonlinear-optical waveguides.

Abstract: Using ultrashort laser pulses, we have observed quadrature squeezing and parametric gain in quasi-phasematched KTiOPO4 waveguides. Using a local oscillator pulse that is 2.5 times shorter than the squeezed pulse, we observed noise reduction of 12 6 1% below the shot-noise level. Parametric amplification and deamplification of a coherent seed pulse have also been observed, with no indication of gain-induced diffraction.

Millimetro: mmWave retro-reflective tags for accurate, long range localization

Abstract: This paper presents Millimetro, an ultra-low-power tag that can be localized at high accuracy over extended distances. We develop Millimetro in the context of autonomous driving to efficiently localize roadside infrastructure such as lane markers and road signs, even if obscured from view, where visual sensing fails. While RF-based localization offers a natural solution, current ultra-low-power localization systems struggle to operate accurately at extended ranges under strict latency requirements. Millimetro addresses this challenge by re-using existing automotive radars that operate at mmWave frequency where plentiful bandwidth is available to ensure high accuracy and low latency. We address the crucial free space path loss problem experienced by signals from the tag at mmWave bands by building upon Van Atta Arrays that retro-reflect incident energy back towards the transmitting radar with minimal loss and low power consumption. Our experimental results indoors and outdoors demonstrate a scalable system that operates at a desirable range (over 100 m), accuracy (centimeter-level), and ultra-low-power (

A controlled trial to improve care for seriously ill hospitalized patients: The study to understand prognoses and preferences for outcomes and risks of treatments (SUPPORT)

Abstract: Objectives. —To improve end-of-life decision making and reduce the frequency of a mechanically supported, painful, and prolonged process of dying. Design. —A 2-year prospective observational study (phase I) with 4301 patients followed by a 2-year controlled clinical trial (phase II) with 4804 patients and their physicians randomized by specialty group to the intervention group (n=2652) or control group (n=2152). Setting. —Five teaching hospitals in the United States. Patients. —A total of 9105 adults hospitalized with one or more of nine life-threatening diagnoses; an overall 6-month mortality rate of 47%. Intervention. —Physicians in the intervention group received estimates of the likelihood of 6-month survival for every day up to 6 months, outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and functional disability at 2 months. A specially trained nurse had multiple contacts with the patient, family, physician, and hospital staff to elicit preferences, improve understanding of outcomes, encourage attention to pain control, and facilitate advance care planning and patient-physician communication. Results. —The phase I observation documented shortcomings in communication, frequency of aggressive treatment, and the characteristics of hospital death: only 47% of physicians knew when their patients preferred to avoid CPR; 46% of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders were written within 2 days of death; 38% of patients who died spent at least 10 days in an intensive care unit (ICU); and for 50% of conscious patients who died in the hospital, family members reported moderate to severe pain at least half the time. During the phase II intervention, patients experienced no improvement in patient-physician communication (eg, 37% of control patients and 40% of intervention patients discussed CPR preferences) or in the five targeted outcomes, ie, incidence or timing of written DNR orders (adjusted ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval [Cl], 0.90 to 1.15), physicians' knowledge of their patients'preferences not to be resuscitated (adjusted ratio, 1.22; 95% Cl, 0.99 to 1.49), number of days spent in an ICU, receiving mechanical ventilation, or comatose before death (adjusted ratio, 0.97; 95% Cl, 0.87 to 1.07), or level of reported pain (adjusted ratio, 1.15; 95% Cl, 1.00 to 1.33). The intervention also did not reduce use of hospital resources (adjusted ratio, 1.05; 95% Cl, 0.99 to 1.12). Conclusions. —The phase I observation of SUPPORT confirmed substantial shortcomings in care for seriously ill hospitalized adults. The phase II intervention failed to improve care or patient outcomes. Enhancing opportunities for more patient-physician communication, although advocated as the major method for improving patient outcomes, may be inadequate to change established practices. To improve the experience of seriously ill and dying patients, greater individual and societal commitment and more proactive and forceful measures may be needed. (JAMA. 1995;274:1591-1598)

Most apparent distortion: full-reference image quality assessment and the role of strategy

Abstract: The mainstream approach to image quality assessment has centered around accurately modeling the single most relevant strategy employed by the human visual system (HVS) when judging image quality (e.g., detecting visible differences, and extracting image structure/information). In this work, we suggest that a single strategy may not be sufficient; rather, we advocate that the HVS uses multiple strategies to determine image quality. For images containing near-threshold distortions, the image is most apparent, and thus the HVS attempts to look past the image and look for the distortions (a detection-based strategy). For images containing clearly visible distortions, the distortions are most apparent, and thus the HVS attempts to look past the distortion and look for the image's subject matter (an appearance-based strategy). Here, we present a quality assessment method [most apparent distortion (MAD)], which attempts to explicitly model these two separate strategies. Local luminance and contrast masking are used to estimate detection-based perceived distortion in high-quality images, whereas changes in the local statistics of spatial-frequency components are used to estimate appearance-based perceived distortion in low-quality images. We show that a combination of these two measures can perform well in predicting subjective ratings of image quality.

VSNR: A Wavelet-Based Visual Signal-to-Noise Ratio for Natural Images

Abstract: This paper presents an efficient metric for quantifying the visual fidelity of natural images based on near-threshold and suprathreshold properties of human vision. The proposed metric, the visual signal-to-noise ratio (VSNR), operates via a two-stage approach. In the first stage, contrast thresholds for detection of distortions in the presence of natural images are computed via wavelet-based models of visual masking and visual summation in order to determine whether the distortions in the distorted image are visible. If the distortions are below the threshold of detection, the distorted image is deemed to be of perfect visual fidelity (VSNR = infin)and no further analysis is required. If the distortions are suprathreshold, a second stage is applied which operates based on the low-level visual property of perceived contrast, and the mid-level visual property of global precedence. These two properties are modeled as Euclidean distances in distortion-contrast space of a multiscale wavelet decomposition, and VSNR is computed based on a simple linear sum of these distances. The proposed VSNR metric is generally competitive with current metrics of visual fidelity; it is efficient both in terms of its low computational complexity and in terms of its low memory requirements; and it operates based on physical luminances and visual angle (rather than on digital pixel values and pixel-based dimensions) to accommodate different viewing conditions.

Continuous-variable optical quantum-state tomography

Abstract: This review covers the latest developments in continuous-variable quantum-state tomography of optical fields and photons, placing a special emphasis on its practical aspects and applications in quantum-information technology. Optical homodyne tomography is reviewed as a method of reconstructing the state of light in a given optical mode. A range of relevant practical topics is discussed, such as state-reconstruction algorithms (with emphasis on the maximum-likelihood technique), the technology of time-domain homodyne detection, mode-matching issues, and engineering of complex quantum states of light. The paper also surveys quantum-state tomography for the transverse spatial state (spatial mode) of the field in the special case of fields containing precisely one photon.

End-of-life practices in European intensive care units: the Ethicus Study.

Abstract: Context While the adoption of practice guidelines is standardizing many aspects of patient care, ethical dilemmas are occurring because of forgoing life-sustaining therapies in intensive care and are dealt with in diverse ways between different countries and cultures. Objectives To determine the frequency and types of actual end-of-life practices in European intensive care units (ICUs) and to analyze the similarities and differences. Design and Setting A prospective, observational study of European ICUs. Participants Consecutive patients who died or had any limitation of therapy. Intervention Prospectively defined end-of-life practices in 37 ICUs in 17 European countries were studied from January 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000. Main Outcome Measures Comparison and analysis of the frequencies and patterns of end-of-life care by geographic regions and different patients and professionals. Results Of 31417 patients admitted to ICUs, 4248 patients (13.5%) died or had a limitation of life-sustaining therapy. Of these, 3086 patients (72.6%) had limitations of treatments (10% of admissions). Substantial intercountry variability was found in the limitations and the manner of dying: unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 20% (range, 5%-48%), brain death in 8% (range, 0%-15%), withholding therapy in 38% (range, 16%-70%), withdrawing therapy in 33% (range, 5%-69%), and active shortening of the dying process in 2% (range, 0%-19%). Shortening of the dying process was reported in 7 countries. Doses of opioids and benzodiazepines reported for shortening of the dying process were in the same range as those used for symptom relief in previous studies. Limitation of therapy vs continuation of life-sustaining therapy was associated with patient age, acute and chronic diagnoses, number of days in ICU, region, and religion (P<.001). Conclusion The limiting of life-sustaining treatment in European ICUs is common and variable. Limitations were associated with patient age, diagnoses, ICU stay, and geographic and religious factors. Although shortening of the dying process is rare, clarity between withdrawing therapies and shortening of the dying process and between therapies intended to relieve pain and suffering and those intended to shorten the dying process may be lacking.