Self scale estimation of the tracking window merged with adaptive particle filter tracker

Tracking a mobile object is one of the important topics in pattern recognition, but style has some obstacles. A Reliable tracking system must adjust their tracking windows in real time according to appearance changes of the tracked object. Furthermore, it has to deal with many challenges when one or multiple objects need to be tracked, for instance when the target is partially or fully occluded, background clutter, or even some target region is blurred. In this paper, we will present a novel approach for a single object tracking that combines particle filter algorithm and kernel distribution that update its tracking window according to object scale changes, whose name is multi-scale adaptive particle filter tracker. We will demonstrate that the use of particle filter combined with kernel distribution inside the resampling process will provide more accurate object localization within a research area. Furthermore, its average error for target localization was significantly lower than 21.37 pixels as the mean value. We have conducted several experiments on real video sequences and compared acquired results to other existing state of the art trackers to demonstrate the effectiveness of the multi-scale adaptive particle filter tracker

Deep Belief Network and Auto-Encoder for Face Classification

The Deep Learning models have drawn ever-increasing research interest owing to their intrinsic capability of overcoming the drawback of traditional algorithm. Hence, we have adopted the representative Deep Learning methods which are Deep Belief Network (DBN) and Stacked Auto-Encoder (SAE), to initialize deep supervised Neural Networks (NN), besides of Back Propagation Neural Networks (BPNN) applied to face classification task. Moreover, our contribution is to extract hierarchical representations of face image based on the Deep Learning models which are: DBN, SAE and BPNN. Then, the extracted feature vectors of each model are used as input of NN classifier. Next, to test our approach and evaluate its performance, a simulation series of experiments were performed on two facial databases: BOSS and MIT. Our proposed approach which is (DBN,NN) has a significant improvement on the classification error rate compared to (SAE,NN) and BPNN which we get 1.14% and 1.96% in terms of error rate with BOSS and MIT respectively

Spinsterhood and its impact on disease features in women with rheumatoid arthritis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To evaluate the impact of spinsterhood on disease characteristics and quality of life (QoL) in Moroccan women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>185 women with RA were recruited in this study. Marital status was specified as follow: 1. Spinsterhood (never-married woman aged 38 or over), 2. Distressed marriage; 3. Nondistressed marriage and 4. Divorced or widowed. Marital distress was assessed by a self-report concerning coping efficacy and burden caring of husbands. Assessment criteria included the evaluation of: age at onset (years), diagnosis delay (months), disease duration (years), disease activity (evaluated by physical examination, biological inflammatory tests; and disease activity score (DAS 28)), pain intensity (measured with a visual analogue scale (VAS)); and radiographic damage (evaluated by the Sharp's method as modified by van der Heijde). Treatments (doses and duration) were specified. The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was used to evaluate functional disability. QoL was measured using the Arabic version of the generic instrument SF-36.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our data, spinsterhood was detected in 42 (22.7%) patients vs. 88 (47.5%) with distressed marriage, 28 (15.1%) with nondistressed marriage and 27 (14.6%) divorced or widowed. Comparing the 4 groups, we found that QoL in never-married women was damaged in a significant way comparing to the other groups. Mental as well as physical aspects were affected. Also, we found that spinsterhood was associated to an early age at onset (p = 0.009), pain intensity (p < 0.001); clinical (p < 0.001) and biological disease activity (C-reactive protein; p = 0.02) and functional disability (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between spinsterhood and early age at onset and severe functional disability (for all p ≤ 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that spinsterhood in our RA patients was associated with an altered QoL even compared with distressed married women. Also, we state that spinsterhood was associated with an early age at onset, severe joint pain; higher disease activity and with altered functional ability. It seems important to consider not only disease-related parameters but also social status as a determinant factor of poor course in RA.</p

STRATEGIES OF INFLUENCE: THE SPECIFICATIONS OF MOROCCAN COMPANIES LISTED

ABSTRACT Lobbying can be defined as a strategic process aiming at improving the perspectives of the company. It aims at altering decisions towards an expected outcome impacting positively the productivity and the results of the company. This paper highlights the different strategies and a technique of lobbying used by Moroccan companies traded in Casablanca Stock Exchange, and measures their effectiveness. To do so, a database of lobbying actions used between 2010 and 2013 is prepared. Based on multiple exchanges and facts, these actions are described, analyzed, and classified into five main strategies. Nevertheless, and given the changes in the expectations and behaviors of stakeholders in the financial market, lobbying strategies seem to be of limited impact. Outcomes are usually outdated and misleading. They are not powerful in front of the high expectations of investors, looking to incorporate the ethical and social dimensions into the financial aspects. Hence, it is extremely important to include the ethical dimension into lobbying strategies

The Performance of LBP and NSVC Combination Applied to Face Classification

The growing demand in the field of security led to the development of interesting approaches in face classification. These works are interested since their beginning in extracting the invariant features of the face to build a single model easily identifiable by classification algorithms. Our goal in this article is to develop more efficient practical methods for face detection. We present a new fast and accurate approach based on local binary patterns (LBP) for the extraction of the features that is combined with the new classifier Neighboring Support Vector Classifier (NSVC) for classification. The experimental results on different natural images show that the proposed method can get very good results at a very short detection time. The best precision obtained by LBP-NSVC exceeds 99%

Use of medicinal plants by cancer patients at the National Institute of Oncology, Rabat: a cross-sectional survey

Introduction:&nbsp;the use of medicinal plants has increased significantly in recent years. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of the world's population uses medicinal plants to treat themselves. Our study aims to estimate the prevalence of medicinal plant use by cancer patients, list the different plants and identify their adverse effects cited by users and their reported efficacy. Methods:&nbsp;this study was realised among 100 patients via a questionnaire with 14-items. Socio-economic and clinical characteristics have been analysed. The bivariate and multivariate analyses have been used to demonstrate the association between the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, the duration of the disease and the use of medicinal plants. Results:&nbsp;45% of participants used medicinal plants. The most commonly reported reason for using medicinal plants was cancer cure (22%). During this study, 32 plants were identified. The Honey was the most commonly used (25%), thyme was also consumed at 15%, fenugreek at 13% and garlic at 7%. According to the multivariate analysis, the residence is predictor of medicinal plant use, urban residents used medicinal plants more than rural patients with an OR: 3,098, IC, 95%: [1,183-8,113] and P = 0,021. Fifty patients reported the moderate efficacy of the use of medicinal plants, and 20% described some side effects such as abdominal pain in 34%. Conclusion:&nbsp;in order to avoid any interaction with oncological drugs and to improve their effectiveness, a great importance must be given to information, education and awareness sessions

Chronic neck pain and anxiety-depression: prevalence and associated risk factors

Introduction: Chronic pain in rheumatology often has a psychic impact, which may aggravate the daily life of patients. Chronic neck pain, as an example, is a frequent reason for consultation. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with neck pain, and identify risk factors associated with their occurrence. Methods: it was a cross-sectional study that concerned 80 patients with neck pain lasting for more than 3 months, seen in rheumatology consultations. All patients with symptomatic neck pain or psychological history or receiving psychotropic medication were excluded from the study. For each patient, we determined the sociodemographic characteristics and clinical ones. The anxious and depressed mood was assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). Results: Of the 80 patients, 67 (83.8%) were women. Average age of our population was 51.8± 11.8 years. Median duration of symptoms was 24 months [12, 48]. Mean VAS pain was 63.9% ± 12.5, mean VAS functional discomfort was 60.9% ± 14.2 and mean VAS disability was 59.8% ± 14.7. 32 patients (40%) were illiterate and 18 (22.5%) had university level. Anxiety was found in 54 (68.4%) and 44 (55.7%) patients were depressed. In univariate analysis, VAS disability was statistically linked to anxiety (OR:1.05; 95%CI: 1.01-1.08; p = 0.02). The cervicobrachial neuralgia (CBN) was significantly associated with depression (OR: 3.33; 95%CI: 1.20-9.23; p=0.02). Primary education level had a statistically significant relationship with anxiety (OR: 6.00; 95%CI: 1.03-34.84; p=0.04) and depression (OR: 5.00; 95%CI: 1.09-22.82; p=0.03). In multivariate analysis, VAS disability and CBN were independently associated with anxiety and depression respectively. Conclusion: This study underlines the fact that anxiety and depression are prevalent in chronic neck pain (CNP) patients. Furthermore, disability and CBN which are linked to CNP can predict which patient is at higher risk of psychological distress.The Pan African Medical Journal 2016;2

Evolutions and threats to land management in the peri-urban area of the city of Sidi Bel Abbes (Algeria) - an analysis based on spatial cadastral data

Sidi Bel Abbes, the capital of Mekerra, a city of the interior plain, where agricultural land has experienced urban spillover at the expense of peri-urban land. The accelerated sprawl between 1987 and 2019 is expressed by threats to peri-urban state land, the pressure on agricultural activity on the peripheries of the city, and a relaxation of respect for planning policies at the local level. How can peri-urban land be better protected, and consequently encourage agricul-tural use, without abandoning it? This work analyses the legal nature of the land taken for the benefit of urban construction and characterizes its spread using Landsat multispectral satellite data. Our approach is based on the following question: Does urban sprawl impact the man-agement of land and its legal nature? What is the future of this land in the face of current threats and future planning and urban development orientations? The cartographic analyses with the actual practices of the different social groups in the field have made it possible to evaluate the relationship between agricultural policy, and implementation and to situate the conflicts or threats about urban sprawl. The north of the city of Sidi Bel Abbes (cadastral sec-tion n°3, 324.74 ha), is where 45% of state land is acquired for building purposes. A reorienta-tion of the peri-urban land is currently presented by a new management mode of an individual type, as a means of freezing and/or preserving the land: the creation of hedges and fences, the introduction of arboriculture (olive tree or other). Observations on site made it possible to ex-plain these practices, which are at the origin of these current representations. The crops prac-tice is linked to the profit drawn on compensations, and the plantations are a source of good remuneration

Primary malignant melanoma of the nipple: a case report

Primary melanoma origi­nating on the female nipple remains an extremely rare variant of malignant melanoma and only a few cases haves been reported in the literature. We describe a case of a patient admitted for a black pigment deposition on the left nipple. Surgical resection of the left nipple and areola with clear margins and an axillary lymph node dissection was performed confirming the diagnosis of non-invasive superficial spreading melanoma