Undersampled Phase Retrieval with Outliers

We propose a general framework for reconstructing transform-sparse images from undersampled (squared)-magnitude data corrupted with outliers. This framework is implemented using a multi-layered approach, combining multiple initializations (to address the nonconvexity of the phase retrieval problem), repeated minimization of a convex majorizer (surrogate for a nonconvex objective function), and iterative optimization using the alternating directions method of multipliers. Exploiting the generality of this framework, we investigate using a Laplace measurement noise model better adapted to outliers present in the data than the conventional Gaussian noise model. Using simulations, we explore the sensitivity of the method to both the regularization and penalty parameters. We include 1D Monte Carlo and 2D image reconstruction comparisons with alternative phase retrieval algorithms. The results suggest the proposed method, with the Laplace noise model, both increases the likelihood of correct support recovery and reduces the mean squared error from measurements containing outliers. We also describe exciting extensions made possible by the generality of the proposed framework, including regularization using analysis-form sparsity priors that are incompatible with many existing approaches.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Inclusive schools: Are teachers adequately prepared for inclusion?

This article will discuss one of the main topics on the educational and social agendas in Israel. Integrating children and adults with special needs into schools and the community is a worldwide issue. Many researchers have tried to find and evaluate the most effective integration methods, to assist people with special needs and enable them high quality of life and equality. In this article, we will look at the process of integrating students with special needs and the transition that took place during the last few decades regarding the idea of “inclusion”, which is now a top priority for the Ministry of Education’s directors. Based on recent studies, we will examine whether school teaching staff and student teachers are ready to implement inclusive programs in schools as required. We will then propose ways to optimize the training of the educational staff, towards the implementation of the inclusive programs.This article will discuss one of the main topics on the educational and social agendas in Israel. Integrating children and adults with special needs into schools and the community is a worldwide issue. Many researchers have tried to find and evaluate the most effective integration methods, to assist people with special needs and enable them high quality of life and equality. In this article, we will look at the process of integrating students with special needs and the transition that took place during the last few decades regarding the idea of “inclusion”, which is now a top priority for the Ministry of Education’s directors. Based on recent studies, we will examine whether school teaching staff and student teachers are ready to implement inclusive programs in schools as required. We will then propose ways to optimize the training of the educational staff, towards the implementation of the inclusive programs

Externalities produced by interplay between development interventions : impact on health in the Millennium Villages Project, Ruhiira, Uganda

Achieving multiple development goals by means of several interventions produces a number of synergies and trade-offs (externalities) affecting the desired impact. The aim of this study is to develop and test a conceptual framework which will enable the identification of externalities produced by Millennium Village Project (MVP) interventions towards a specific health issue: diarrheal diseases. This issue was chosen since it incorporates challenges within health, environment and development. A basic conceptual approach was used as a sensitizing concept to identify the relevant components of MVP interventions in Ruhiira, Uganda. Data was gathered through a number of qualitative methods including: transect walks, semistructured interviews, non-participant observation, focus group discussions and collection of secondary data. A number of sectors for data collection were identified including education, health and infrastructure. In the education sector the school feeding program coupled with current infrastructure and water challenges, may result in the creation of reservoirs for diarrheal pathogens. In the health sector, practices associated with infrastructure challenges may result in cross infections. In the infrastructure sector, failure of some communities to meet their maintenance obligations results in contamination of protected water sources. Poor or inadequate infrastructure and knowledge application deficiencies result in increased risk of acquiring diarrheal pathogens in markets, schools, HCs’ and households. The results indicate that a number of externalities produced by certain project interventions create challenges that reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of impacts of other interventions, thus impairing the ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This indicates that the suggested framework can be used to evaluate MVP interventions, and to correct unwanted externalities, improving project efficiency and effectiveness, thus contributing to the long term sustainability of the project.M-IE

Playful activism : memetic performances of palestinian resistance in TikTok #Challenges

Palestinians have long been using social media as a tool for activism. Each platform provides unique socio-technological affordances that shape users' communicative practices as networked publics. Focusing on the video-sharing platform TikTok, which has taken a "serious turn" in recent years, this article examines how Palestinian users performed playful acts of resistance during the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in May 2021. Applying a multimodal analysis to 500 TikTok videos posted during the conflict under #gazaunderattack, we identify three memetic templates (#challenge)-(1) lip-syncing, (2) duets, and (3) point-of-view-that unfold the ways TikTok's design and its play-based affordances ignite affective streams of audiovisual content that render playful activism in times of conflict. Driven by TikTok's culture of imitation and competition, playful activism enables the participation of ordinary users in political emerging events with the help of looping meme videos composed of collaborative, dialogic, and communal socio-technical functions. Playful activism transforms users' ritualized performances into powerful political instruments on TikTok and makes democratic participation more relatable, tangible, and accessible to various audiences

Analysis of factors influencing the ultrasonic fetal weight estimation

Objective: The aim of our study was the evaluation of sonographic fetal weight estimation taking into consideration 9 of the most important factors of influence on the precision of the estimation. Methods: We analyzed 820 singleton pregnancies from 22 to 42 weeks of gestational age. We evaluated 9 different factors that potentially influence the precision of sonographic weight estimation ( time interval between estimation and delivery, experts vs. less experienced investigator, fetal gender, gestational age, fetal weight, maternal BMI, amniotic fluid index, presentation of the fetus, location of the placenta). Finally, we compared the results of the fetal weight estimation of the fetuses with poor scanning conditions to those presenting good scanning conditions. Results: Of the 9 evaluated factors that may influence accuracy of fetal weight estimation, only a short interval between sonographic weight estimation and delivery (0-7 vs. 8-14 days) had a statistically significant impact. Conclusion: Of all known factors of influence, only a time interval of more than 7 days between estimation and delivery had a negative impact on the estimation

Aguu: From Acholi Post War Street Youth and Children to ‘Criminal Gangs’ in Modern Day Gulu City, Uganda

This paper analyses the origin and evolution of the Aguu, a group of street youth/children labelled as a criminal gang operating in the streets of Gulu, Uganda. Based on a series of interviews, focus group discussions, participant observations, archival work and literature review, the paper traces the origin of the Aguu to the conflict in Northern Uganda, and describes the transformation of the Aguu from street youth/children linked to war and displacement to their present day labelling as ‘criminal gang’. Anchored in an analysis based on Assemblage Theory, this paper demonstrates the complexity, multiplicity and fluidity of the Aguu identity as a group whose inception and evolution, both internal and external, occurs through a process of relationship between social, political, economic and infrastructural changes linked to war, culture, aid and politics, affecting present day security discourses in Gulu, Uganda.publishedVersio

Models for Natural Killer Cell Repertoire Formation

Natural killer (NK) cells lyse only cells that do not express sufficient levels of self class I MHC molecules. Inhibition of lysis is mediated by inhibitory receptors expressed by NK cells, such as the murine Ly49 receptors, that bind to MHC class I molecules. Since inhibitory receptor genes and MHC class I genes are located on different chromosomes, and are hence not automatically co-inherited, NK cells apparently adapt to the MHC environment during their development. Two models have been proposed to account for this “education” process of NK cells. The two-step selection model postulates that developing NK cells initiate the stable expression of a random set of Ly49 genes, and then undergo two selection steps, one for cells that express a sufficient number of self-MHC receptors, and one against cells that express too many inhibitory receptors. The sequential model postulates that a cell keeps initiating the stable expression of additional inhibitory receptors until a sufficient expression level of self-MHC specific receptors is reached, and the cell matures. In this study we implement both models in computer simulations, and compare simulation results to experimental data, in order to evaluate the relative plausibility of the two models

A Preliminary Study of Three-dimensional Sonographic Measurements of the Fetus

OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed at establishing an ideal method for performing three-dimensional measurements of the fetus in order to improve the estimation of fetal weight. METHODS: The study consisted of two phases. Phase I was a prospective cross-sectional study performed between 28 and 40 weeks\u27 gestation. The study population (n=110) comprised low-risk singleton pregnancies who underwent a routine third-trimester sonographic estimation of fetal weight. The purpose of this phase was to establish normal values for the fetal abdominal and head volumes throughout the third trimester. Phase II was a prospective study that included patients admitted for an elective cesarean section or for induction of labor between 38 and 41 weeks\u27 gestation (n=91). This phase of the study compared the actual birth weight to two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) measurements of the fetus. Conventional 2D ultrasound fetal biometry was performed measuring the biparietal diameter (BPD), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur diaphysis length (FL). Volume estimates were computed utilizing Virtual Organ Computer-aided AnaLysis (VOCAL), and the correlation between measured volumes and actual neonatal weight was calculated. RESULTS: Overall, this longitudinal study consisted of 110 patients between 28 and 41 weeks\u27 gestation. Normal values were computed for the fetal abdomen and head volume throughout the third trimester. Ultrasound examination was performed within three days prior to delivery on 91 patients. A good correlation was found between birth weight and abdominal volume (r=0.77) and between birth weight and head volume (r=0.5). Correlation between bidimensional measurements and actual fetal weights was found to be comparable with previously published correlations. CONCLUSION: Volume measurements of the fetus may improve the accuracy of estimating fetal size. Additional studies using different volume measurement of the fetus are necessary