BodyNet: Volumetric Inference of 3D Human Body Shapes

Human shape estimation is an important task for video editing, animation and fashion industry. Predicting 3D human body shape from natural images, however, is highly challenging due to factors such as variation in human bodies, clothing and viewpoint. Prior methods addressing this problem typically attempt to fit parametric body models with certain priors on pose and shape. In this work we argue for an alternative representation and propose BodyNet, a neural network for direct inference of volumetric body shape from a single image. BodyNet is an end-to-end trainable network that benefits from (i) a volumetric 3D loss, (ii) a multi-view re-projection loss, and (iii) intermediate supervision of 2D pose, 2D body part segmentation, and 3D pose. Each of them results in performance improvement as demonstrated by our experiments. To evaluate the method, we fit the SMPL model to our network output and show state-of-the-art results on the SURREAL and Unite the People datasets, outperforming recent approaches. Besides achieving state-of-the-art performance, our method also enables volumetric body-part segmentation.Comment: Appears in: European Conference on Computer Vision 2018 (ECCV 2018). 27 page

Semi-Automated & Collaborative Online Training Module For Improving Communication Skills

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ACM via the DOI in this recordThis paper presents a description and evaluation of the ROC Speak system, a platform that allows ubiquitous access to communication skills training. ROC Speak (available at rocspeak.com) enables anyone to go to a website, record a video, and receive feedback on smile intensity, body movement, volume modulation, filler word usage, unique word usage, word cloud of the spoken words, in addition to overall assessment and subjective comments by peers. Peer comments are automatically ranked and sorted for usefulness and sentiment (i.e., positive vs. negative). We evaluated the system with a diverse group of 56 online participants for a 10-day period. Participants submitted responses to career oriented prompts every other day. The participants were randomly split into two groups: 1) treatment - full feedback from the ROC Speak system; 2) control - written feedback from online peers. When judged by peers (p<.001) and independent raters (p<.05), participants from the treatment group demonstrated statistically significant improvement in overall speaking skills rating while the control group did not. Furthermore, in terms of speaking attributes, treatment group showed an improvement in friendliness (p<.001), vocal variety (p<.05) and articulation (p<.01)

PUBLIC SECURITY IN BRAZIL

A segurança pública é um direito de todos os cidadãos que estejam em território nacional. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar o cenário da segurança pública no Brasil. O exame dos critérios socioeconômicos e históricos que fizeram com que o paí­s chegasse a esta situação caótica na área. A metodologia empregada para a realização deste artigo acadêmico foi a da pesquisa sistemática bibliográfica e análise de dados oficiais. A necessidade da reinvenção da polí­tica pública de segurança e de uma nova visão sobre o tema é de fundamental importância. A "Constituição Cidadã" deixou um vácuo sobre o tema, sendo tratado de forma superficial e insuficiente. A segurança pública é uma demanda social que carece de aparato estatal. Biografia do Autor Me. Jonas Rodrigo Gonçalves - Doutorando em Psicologia pela UCB. Mestre em Ciência Polí­tica (Polí­ticas Públicas, Direitos Humanos e Cidadania). Licenciado em Filosofia e Letras. Habilitado em Sociologia, História, Psicologia e Ensino Religioso. Especialista em: Letras (Linguí­stica: Revisão de Texto); Didática do Ensino Superior em EAD; Formação em EAD; Docência do Ensino Superior; Gestão do Agronegócio. Professor universitário. Escritor, autor/coautor de 61 livros. Revisor. Marcus Vinicius Barbosa Siqueira -&nbsp;Graduando em Direito pela Faculdade Processus (Brasí­lia/DF). Autor do artigo "Segurança Pública no Brasil" e "Prova Discursiva do Concurso para Agente de Polí­cia Federal". Participante do grupo de pesquisa Direito e Polí­ticas Públicas, da Faculdade Processus, sob coordenação do professor MSc. Jonas Rodrigo Gonçalves. Palestrante no Seminário de Pesquisa da Faculdade Processus em 2018. Referências&nbsp; CANOTILHO, J. J. Gomes. MENDES, Gilmar F. SARLET, Ingo W. Comentários í  Constituição do Brasil. São Paulo: Saraiva, 2013.&nbsp;CARVALHO, Viobaldo Adelí­dio de. Silva, Maria do Rosário de Fátima e. Polí­tica de Segurança Pública no Brasil: avanços, limites e desafios. Katálysis. Florianópolis: UFSC, v. 14, n. 1, p. 59-67, 2011.COSTA, Arthur Trindade Maranhão. Entre a Lei e a Ordem. Rio de Janeiro: FGV, 2004.COSTA, Arthur. GROSSI, Bruno C. Relações intergovernamentais e segurança pública: uma análise do fundo nacional de segurança pública. Revista brasileira de Segurança Pública. São Paulo: ano.1, Ed. 1, p. 7-21, 2007.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo. Metodologia Cientí­fica e Redação Acadêmica. 8.ed. Brasí­lia: JRG, 2019.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo, SERPA, Mauro Pinto. Direito e Polí­ticas Públicas: extrato da pesquisa de programas sociais vigentes em 2012. Brasí­lia: JRG, 2013.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo Gonçalves; MOURA, Mayara Gomes Ferreira de. Programa "Bolsa Famí­lia" como Polí­tica Pública de Transferência de Renda no Brasil. Revista Processus de Estudos de Gestão, Jurí­dicos e Financeiros. Brasí­lia: Processus, Ano V, Vol.V, n.13, 2013.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo; OLIVEIRA, César Cavalcante de. Análise da Polí­tica Pública Acerca das Unidades De Pronto Atendimento – (UPAs). Revista Processus de Estudos de Gestão, Jurí­dicos e Financeiros. Ano VI, Vol.VI, n.16, jan.-jul., 2015.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo. Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), Polí­ticas Públicas de Saúde e Estomia Intestinal. Revista Processus de Estudos de Gestão, Jurí­dicos e Financeiros. Ano VIII, Vol.VIII, n.18, jan.-jul., 2017.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo; SIQUEIRA, Marcus Viní­cius Barbosa. Polí­ticas Públicas, Meio Ambiente e Justiça. Agro em Questão: Revista de Iniciação Cientí­fica da Faculdade CNA. Ano II, Vol.II, n.3, jan.-jul., 2018.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo; GONÇALVES, Selton Lucas Barbosa. Caracterí­sticas e Modificações Iniciais do Pronaf. Agro em Questão: Revista de Iniciação Cientí­fica da Faculdade CNA. Ano II, Vol.II, n.3, jan.-jul., 2018.REGIS, Arthur H. P.; GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo; SIQUEIRA, Marcus Viní­cius Barbosa. Da necessidade de polí­ticas públicas brasileiras efetivas para os pacientes com Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica – ELA. Revista JRG de Estudos Acadêmicos. Ano I, Vol.I, n.2, jul-dez., 2018.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo; GURGEL, Caroline Pereira. A inclusão educacional no Ensino Superior. Revista JRG de Estudos Acadêmicos. Ano I, Vol.I, n.2, jul-dez., 2018.GONÇALVES, Jonas Rodrigo; GURGEL, Caroline Pereira. Cuidados e prevenções ao diabetes no Brasil. Revista JRG de Estudos Acadêmicos. Ano II, Vol.II, n.4, jan-jun., 2019.PONCIONI, Paula. Tendências e desafios na formação profissional do policial no Brasil. Revista brasileira de Segurança Pública. São Paulo: ano.1, Ed. 1, p. 22-31, 2007. Acesso em: 13 maio 2018. Disponí­vel em: &lt;https://thalitabomfim.jusbrasil.com.br/artigos/264407405/direito-a-seguranca- publica-direito-fundamental-de-segunda-geracao-funcao-do-poder-executivo&gt;.ROLIM, Marcos. Caminhos para a Inovação em Segurança Pública no Brasil. Revista brasileira de Segurança Pública. São Paulo: ano.1, Ed. 1, p. 32-47, 2007.SOARES, Luiz Eduardo. Segurança Pública: presente e futuro. Estudos Avançados. São Paulo: SciELO Brasil, v. 20, n. 56, p. 91-105, 2006.SOUZA NETO, Cláudio Pereira de. A segurança Pública na Constituição Federal de 1988: Conceituação Constitucionalmente adequada, Competências Federativas e Órgãos de Execução das Polí­ticas. Revista de Direito do Estado. Florianópolis: UFSC, v. 1, n. 1, p. 1-61. 2007.Public safety is a right of all citizens who are in national territory. The purpose of this article is to analyze the public safety scenario in Brazil. The examination of the socio-economic and historical criteria that made the country come to this chaotic situation in the area. The methodology used for the accomplishment of this academic article was the systematic bibliographical research and analysis of official data. The need for the reinvention of public security policy and a new vision on the subject is of fundamental importance. The "Citizen Constitution" left a vacuum on the subject, being treated superficially and insufficiently. Public safety is a social demand that lacks state apparatus

Utility of Gene Panels for the Diagnosis of Inborn Errors of Metabolism in a Metabolic Reference Center

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have been proposed as a first-line test for the diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM), a group of genetically heterogeneous disorders with overlapping or nonspecific phenotypes. Over a 3-year period, we prospectively analyzed 311 pediatric patients with a suspected IEM using four targeted gene panels. The rate of positive diagnosis was 61.86% for intermediary metabolism defects, 32.84% for complex molecular defects, 19% for hypoglycemic/hyperglycemic events, and 17% for mitochondrial diseases, and a conclusive molecular diagnosis was established in 2-4 weeks. Forty-one patients for whom negative results were obtained with the mitochondrial diseases panel underwent subsequent analyses using the NeuroSeq panel, which groups all genes from the individual panels together with genes associated with neurological disorders (1870 genes in total). This achieved a diagnostic rate of 32%. We next evaluated the utility of a tool, Phenomizer, for differential diagnosis, and established a correlation between phenotype and molecular findings in 39.3% of patients. Finally, we evaluated the mutational architecture of the genes analyzed by determining z-scores, loss-of-function observed/expected upper bound fraction (LOEUF), and haploinsufficiency (HI) scores. In summary, targeted gene panels for specific groups of IEMs enabled rapid and effective diagnosis, which is critical for the therapeutic management of IEM patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Addressing drinking water salinity due to sea water intrusion in Praia de Leste, Parana, by a brackish water desalination pilot plant

Seawater intrusion into the Pombas River, source of freshwater to Praia de Leste on the coast of Parana in Brazil presents a problem to the water utility as most water treatment plants in Brazil are conventional. To find a solution to this problem, a pilot plant (1 m3 /h) consisting of ultrafiltration (UF) followed by reverse osmosis (RO) was developed and evaluated. For testing, brackish water was produced with a concentration of 1,500 ± 100 mg/L of total dissolved solids (TDS), mixing seawater and fresh water. To evaluate the water quality, TDS, electrical conductivity, pH, temperature, apparent color, turbidity, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, chloride and sulfate were monitored. For operational performance, flowrates, osmotic pressure, filtration rate, recovery rate and mass balance were analyzed. On average, the UF system removed 96.4% of turbidity and 98.6% of apparent color; whereas the RO system removed 99.4% of TDS. The overall average recovery (UF and RO) was 45.81% with average osmotic pressure of 8.21 bar, filtration rate of 30.7 L/h/m2 in the UF system and 21.7 L/h/m2 in the RO system. From a water quality point of view, the system was effective in processing brackish into fresh water of high quality

Eliminating Malaria Vectors.

Malaria vectors which predominantly feed indoors upon humans have been locally eliminated from several settings with insecticide treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying or larval source management. Recent dramatic declines of An. gambiae in east Africa with imperfect ITN coverage suggest mosquito populations can rapidly collapse when forced below realistically achievable, non-zero thresholds of density and supporting resource availability. Here we explain why insecticide-based mosquito elimination strategies are feasible, desirable and can be extended to a wider variety of species by expanding the vector control arsenal to cover a broader spectrum of the resources they need to survive. The greatest advantage of eliminating mosquitoes, rather than merely controlling them, is that this precludes local selection for behavioural or physiological resistance traits. The greatest challenges are therefore to achieve high biological coverage of targeted resources rapidly enough to prevent local emergence of resistance and to then continually exclude, monitor for and respond to re-invasion from external populations

Effect of phosphorus on the attenuation of lead and chromium

This study analyses the adsorption of Pb(II) and Cr(III) in soils. These metals are commonly found together in nature in urban wastes or industrial spillages, and the theoretical approach of the work was to evaluate the response of the soil to continuous Cr and Pb spillages to soil in terms of several physicochemical parameters. The influence of an anthropogenic input of phosphorus was evaluated. Continuous flow experiments were run in duplicates in acrylic columns (25 cm × 3.2 cm). The influent Cr(III) and Pb(II) solutions of 10 mg l−1 and 25 mg l−1 at pH 5 were pumped upward through the bottom of the columns to ensure saturation flow conditions. Also, successive experiments were run with the above concentrations of Cr(III) and Pb(II) and NaH2PO4, keeping metal to phosphorus ratio of 1:0, 1:0.1 and 1:1. Modelling parameters included Freundlich and Langmuir equations, together with the Two-site adsorption model using CXTFIT code. Results obtained allowed concluding that Pb(II) adsorption presents a certain degree of irreversibility and the continued spillages over soil increment the fraction which is not easily desorbed. Cr(III) desorption was almost complete, evidencing its high mobility in nature. The presence of an anthropogenic input of phosphorus leads to a marked increase of both Pb(II) and Cr(III) adsorption in soils. Z-potential measurements allow to discard the electrostatic attraction of Cr(III) and Pb(II) with the surface charged soil as the dominant process of metal sorption. Instead, CheaqsPro simulation allows to identify PbH2PO4 +, PbHPO4 (aq) and CrHPO4 + as the dominant species which regulate Cr(III) and Pb(II) transport in soils.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Wheat seed embryo excision enables the creation of axenic seedlings and Koch’s postulates testing of putative bacterial endophytes

Early establishment of endophytes can play a role in pathogen suppression and improve seedling development. One route for establishment of endophytes in seedlings is transmission of bacteria from the parent plant to the seedling via the seed. In wheat seeds, it is not clear whether this transmission route exists, and the identities and location of bacteria within wheat seeds are unknown. We identified bacteria in the wheat (Triticum aestivum) cv. Hereward seed environment using embryo excision to determine the location of the bacterial load. Axenic wheat seedlings obtained with this method were subsequently used to screen a putative endophyte bacterial isolate library for endophytic competency. This absence of bacteria recovered from seeds indicated low bacterial abundance and/or the presence of inhibitors. Diversity of readily culturable bacteria in seeds was low with 8 genera identified, dominated by Erwinia and Paenibacillus. We propose that anatomical restrictions in wheat limit embryo associated vertical transmission, and that bacterial load is carried in the seed coat, crease tissue and endosperm. This finding facilitates the creation of axenic wheat plants to test competency of putative endophytes and also provides a platform for endophyte competition, plant growth, and gene expression studies without an indigenous bacterial background