Detecting Hands in Egocentric Videos: Towards Action Recognition

Recently, there has been a growing interest in analyzing human daily activities from data collected by wearable cameras. Since the hands are involved in a vast set of daily tasks, detecting hands in egocentric images is an important step towards the recognition of a variety of egocentric actions. However, besides extreme illumination changes in egocentric images, hand detection is not a trivial task because of the intrinsic large variability of hand appearance. We propose a hand detector that exploits skin modeling for fast hand proposal generation and Convolutional Neural Networks for hand recognition. We tested our method on UNIGE-HANDS dataset and we showed that the proposed approach achieves competitive hand detection results

New Measurements and Quantitative Analysis of Electron Backscattering in the Energy Range of Neutron Beta-Decay

We report on the first detailed measurements of electron backscattering from plastic scintillator targets, extending our previous work on beryllium and silicon targets. The scintillator experiment posed several additional experimental challenges associated with charging of the scintillator target, and those challenges are addressed in detail. In addition, we quantitatively compare the energy and angular distributions of this data, and our previous data, with electron transport simulations based on the Geant4 and Penelope Monte Carlo simulation codes. The Penelope simulation is found globally to give a superior description of the data. Such information is crucial for a broad array of weak-interaction physics experiments, where electron backscattering can give rise to the dominant detector-related systematic uncertainty.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Topological mass in seven dimensions and dualities in four dimensions

The massive topologically and self dual theories en seven dimensions are considered. The local duality between these theories is established and the dimensional reduction lead to the different dualities for massive antisymmetric fields in four dimensions.Comment: 7 page

Natural Energy Bars With Protein Improvement From Animal Origin Foods

The energy bars provide the consumer with nutritional and organoleptic quality, as well as a prolonged shelf life without the need to modify the temperature for storage, however, they do not satisfy the nutritional requirements of high-quality proteins since they are usually made from cereals, which are low cost ingredients and great energy contribution. The objective of this study was to create an energetic and nutritious bar, without diminishing the technological quality of the commercial bars and that, due to their sensory characteristics, are easily included in the daily consumption of people who exercise and want to control their weight. A product was formulated with a greater contribution and protein quality, and with a functional dose of macronutrients. The product was prepared in compliance with the regulations of the Ecuadorian Institute for Standardization (INEN) and the Food Codex, the premixing and roasting of ingredients was controlled and finally food with animal protein source such as egg white and powdered milk was added. For the premix oat flakes, nuts such as nuts, almonds and hazelnuts, chia seeds and honey were used, then added egg white and powdered milk. The protein content it reached was 29.01% on a wet basis, a fat value of 23.10% and carbohydrates of 25.24% on 100 g of sample on a wet basis. The energy distribution of macronutrients was balanced, and the sensory evaluation showed good product acceptability. Keywords: cereal bars, protein, immediate energy. Resumen Las barras energéticas proporcionan al consumidor calidad nutricional y organoléptica, así como una vida de anaquel prolongada sin necesidad de modificar la temperatura para su almacenamiento, sin embargo, no satisfacen los requerimientos nutricionales de proteínas de alta calidad ya que generalmente están elaboradas a base de cereales, que son ingredientes de bajo costo y gran aporte energético. El objetivo se este estudio fue crear una barra energética y nutritiva, sin disminuir la calidad tecnológica de las barras comerciales y que por sus características sensoriales sean fácilmente incluidas en el consumo diario de personas que se ejercitan y quieren controlar su peso. Se formuló un producto con un mayor aporte y calidad proteica, y con una dosis funcional de macronutrientes. El producto se elaboró cumpliendo las normativas del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Normalización (INEN) y del Codex alimentario, se controló la premezcla y tostado de ingredientes y finalmente se adicionó los alimentos con fuente proteica animal como la clara de huevo y leche en polvo. Para la premezcla se utilizaron hojuelas de avena, frutos secos como nueces, almendras y avellanas, semillas de chía y miel de abeja, luego se adicionó la clara de huevo y la leche en polvo. El contenido proteico que alcanzó fue de 29,01% en base húmeda, un valor en grasas de 23,10% y de carbohidratos de 25,24% de muestra en base húmeda. La distribución energética de macronutrientes fue equilibrada y la evaluación sensorial arrojó una buena aceptabilidad del producto. Palabras claves: barras de cereales, proteína, energía inmediata

Deriving amino acid contact potentials from their frequencies of occurence in proteins: a lattice model study

The possibility of deriving the contact potentials between amino acids from their frequencies of occurence in proteins is discussed in evolutionary terms. This approach allows the use of traditional thermodynamics to describe such frequencies and, consequently, to develop a strategy to include in the calculations correlations due to the spatial proximity of the amino acids and to their overall tendency of being conserved in proteins. Making use of a lattice model to describe protein chains and defining a "true" potential, we test these strategies by selecting a database of folding model sequences, deriving the contact potentials from such sequences and comparing them with the "true" potential. Taking into account correlations allows for a markedly better prediction of the interaction potentials

FIRST REPORT OF USE OF LAND SNAILS FOR HETEROMYS GAUMERI (RODENTIA: HETEROMYIDAE) IN A SUBDECIDUOUS FOREST IN YUCATÁN, MÉXICO

Se presenta el primer registro de uso de caracoles terrestres por Heteromys gaumeri en la selva mediana subcaducifolia localizada en el Rancho Hobonil, Tzucacab, Yucatán, México. Siete por ciento de la población total (n= 789) de H. gaumeri usó caracoles que habitan en el área. Las especies fueron: Choanopoma largillierti y C. gaigei (Annulariidae), Neocyclotus dysoni (Cyclophoridae) y Drymaeus shattucki (Bulimulidae). Cincuenta y uno por ciento de las muestras de los roedores fueron hembras y el 49% machos. Los adultos representaron el 86% y los juveniles 14%. El uso de caracoles tuvo relación significativa entre sexos de los roedores y la estacionalidad (p< 0.01). Los caracoles fueron usados con mayor frecuencia en la estación de sequía por las hembras y por los machos adultos y juveniles en la de lluvias. Treinta y cinco por ciento de las hembras de la muestra que usaron caracoles estaban preñadas o lactantes. El género Choanopoma fue el más abundante y removido por H. gaumeri en ambas estaciones, mientras que Neocyclotus lo fue en la de lluvias y D. shattucki se encontró rara vez. Por lo observado consideramos que este ratón además de semillas come caracoles terrestres en esta región

Interband electron Raman scattering in a quantum wire in a transverse magnetic field

Electron Raman scattering (ERS) is investigated in a parabolic semiconductor quantum wire in a transverse magnetic field neglecting by phonon-assisted transitions. The ERS cross-section is calculated as a function of a frequency shift and magnetic field. The process involves an interband electronic transition and an intraband transition between quantized subbands. We analyze the differential cross-section for different scattering configurations. We study selection rules for the processes. Some singularities in the Raman spectra are found and interpreted. The scattering spectrum shows density-of-states peaks and interband matrix elements maximums and a strong resonance when scattered frequency equals to the "hybrid" frequency or confinement frequency depending on the light polarization. Numerical results are presented for a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wire.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure