Covariant un-reduction for curve matching

The process of un-reduction, a sort of reversal of reduction by the Lie group symmetries of a variational problem, is explored in the setting of field theories. This process is applied to the problem of curve matching in the plane, when the curves depend on more than one independent variable. This situation occurs in a variety of instances such as matching of surfaces or comparison of evolution between species. A discussion of the appropriate Lagrangian involved in the variational principle is given, as well as some initial numerical investigations.Comment: Conference paper for MFCA201

Inflated 3D ConvNet context analysis for violence detection

According to the Wall Street Journal, one billion surveillance cameras will be deployed around the world by 2021. This amount of information can be hardly managed by humans. Using a Inflated 3D ConvNet as backbone, this paper introduces a novel automatic violence detection approach that outperforms state-of-the-art existing proposals. Most of those proposals consider a pre-processing step to only focus on some regions of interest in the scene, i.e., those actually containing a human subject. In this regard, this paper also reports the results of an extensive analysis on whether and how the context can affect or not the adopted classifier performance. The experiments show that context-free footage yields substantial deterioration of the classifier performance (2% to 5%) on publicly available datasets. However, they also demonstrate that performance stabilizes in context-free settings, no matter the level of context restriction applied. Finally, a cross-dataset experiment investigates the generalizability of results obtained in a single-collection experiment (same dataset used for training and testing) to cross-collection settings (different datasets used for training and testing)

Gait Analysis for Gender Classification in Forensics

Gender Classification (GC) is a natural ability that belongs to the human beings. Recent improvements in computer vision provide the possibility to extract information for different classification/recognition purposes. Gender is a soft biometrics useful in video surveillance, especially in uncontrolled contexts such as low-light environments, with arbitrary poses, facial expressions, occlusions and motion blur. In this work we present a methodology for the construction of a gait analyzer. The methodology is divided into three major steps: (1) data extraction, where body keypoints are extracted from video sequences; (2) feature creation, where body features are constructed using body keypoints; and (3) classifier selection when such data are used to train four different classifiers in order to determine the one that best performs. The results are analyzed on the dataset Gotcha, characterized by user and camera either in motion

Gotcha-I: A Multiview Human Videos Dataset

The growing need of security in large open spaces led to the need to use video capture of people in different context and illumination and with multiple biometric traits as head pose, body gait, eyes, nose, mouth, and further more. All these traits are useful for a multibiometric identification or a person re-identification in a video surveillance context. Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) are used by the police of different countries all around the word and their use is growing significantly. This raises the need to develop new recognition methods that consider multibiometric traits on person re-identification. The purpose of this work is to present a new video dataset called Gotcha-I. This dataset has been obtained using more mobile cameras to adhere to the data of BWCs. The dataset includes videos from 62 subjects in indoor and outdoor environments to address both security and surveillance problem. During these videos, subjects may have a different behavior in videos such as freely, path, upstairs, avoid the camera. The dataset is composed by 493 videos including a set of 180° videos for each face of the subjects in the dataset. Furthermore, there are already processed data, such as: the 3D model of the face of each subject with all the poses of the head in pitch, yaw and roll; and the body keypoint coordinates of the gait for each video frame. It’s also shown an application of gender recognition performed on Gotcha-I, confirming the usefulness and innovativeness of the proposed dataset

Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor diversity in an admixed South American population

Natural Killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells that mediate antiviral and antitumor responses. NK cell activation and induction of effector functions are tightly regulated by the integration of activating and inhibitory receptors such as killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR)

The LKB1 Tumor Suppressor as a Biomarker in Mouse and Human Tissues

Germline mutations in the LKB1 gene (also known as STK11) cause the Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome, and somatic loss of LKB1 has emerged as causal event in a wide range of human malignancies, including melanoma, lung cancer, and cervical cancer. The LKB1 protein is a serine-threonine kinase that phosphorylates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and other downstream targets. Conditional knockout studies in mouse models have consistently shown that LKB1 loss promotes a highly-metastatic phenotype in diverse tissues, and human studies have demonstrated a strong association between LKB1 inactivation and tumor recurrence. Furthermore, LKB1 deficiency confers sensitivity to distinct classes of anticancer drugs. The ability to reliably identify LKB1-deficient tumors is thus likely to have important prognostic and predictive implications. Previous research studies have employed polyclonal antibodies with limited success, and there is no widely-employed immunohistochemical assay for LKB1. Here we report an assay based on a rabbit monoclonal antibody that can reliably detect endogenous LKB1 protein (and its absence) in mouse and human formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. LKB1 protein levels determined through this assay correlated strongly with AMPK phosphorylation both in mouse and human tumors, and with mRNA levels in human tumors. Our studies fully validate this immunohistochemical assay for LKB1 in paraffin-embedded formalin tissue sections. This assay should be broadly useful for research studies employing mouse models and also for the development of human tissue-based assays for LKB1 in diverse clinical settings

Genetic divergence in biomass sorghum genotypes through agronomic and physicalchemical characters.

The present research aimed to evaluate the genetic divergence in 34 sorghum biomass genotypes via agronomic and physicochemical characters. The design used was randomized blocks with three replications. The agronomic and physical-chemical characteristics evaluated were: days for flowering, number of stems, plant height, number of leaves, green mass production, dry mass production, determination of total ash, determination of volatile content, insoluble lignin and determination of fixed carbon content. The data were submitted to analysis of variance and then, to estimate divergence,the generalized Mahalanobisdistance was used as a measure of dissimilarity. Based on this matrix, the methods of Tocher's optimization clusters and the Hierarchical method of Average Grouping Between Groups (UPGMA) were used, and analysis of canonical variables, and the projection based on the first two canonical variables arranged in two-dimensional space. Singh criterion was also used to quantify the relative contribution of these characteristics to genetic divergence. The evaluated genotypes showed significant differences for all the evaluated characteristics. The combination between the 201429B001 and 201429B028 (394.98) genotype pairs was the most divergent and the combination between the 201429B015 and 201429B031 (6.31) genotypes was the most similar. The grouping generated by the Tocher Optimization method, hierarchical UPGMA and graphical dispersion showed similarity in the grouping of genotypes. The first two canonical variables were sufficient to explain about 81.78% of the total variation observed. Theresults showed a wide genetic diversity among the 34 genotypes of sorghum biomass

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Abstract:  There is often a two-year delay in the diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) because the initial symptoms (dyspnoea and fatigue) are frequently attributed to other comorbidities. In addition, it is diagnosed by an invasive technique:  right heart catheterization  (RHC), responsible for the appearance of adverse events such as arrhythmias, hypotension and pneumothorax, among others. Non-invasive tests are playing an important role in early detection. A tomographic marker, the egg and banana sign (EBS) was recently introduced, which could contribute to the diagnosis.  Objectives: To determine if EBS is a sensitive and specific diagnostic marker for PH. To re-evaluate the correlation between the principal diameter of the pulmonary artery (PA) and the pulmonary artery-ascending aorta ratio (PA-Ao ratio) both individually and in combination with EBS.  A total of 42 patients were evaluated who, between 2017 and 2021, underwent RHC and CT that included the aortic arch. Two blind observers determined whether EBS was present or absent on CT scans. Qualitative data were described using absolute and relative frequencies, ROC curves. The Chi Square test was performed for the association between variables. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The work was approved by the Departamento de Investigación y Docencia del Hospital Italiano de Córdoba. Of the total number of patients, 19 had PH and 23 were control subjects. 75% of the patients in whom EBS was observed had PH with an average mPAP of 39 mmHg (Sensitivity: 62%; Specificity: 88.24%; P: 0.036). Regarding the PA, EBS was observed in patients with a diameter greater than 32 mm, with an average of 40mm. (Sensitivity: 75%; Specificity: 82%; p = 0.0001). Of the patients with PH, 74% had a PA-Ao ratio greater than 1 (p: 0.0034).  Conclusion:  in our population EBS presented a high specificity for mPAP from 39 mmHg. In association with the diameter of the PA, the classic marker, both its sensitivity and specificity were high.Resumen:  A menudo se produce un retraso de dos años en el diagnóstico de Hipertensión Pulmonar (HP) porque los síntomas iniciales (disnea y fatiga) se atribuyen con frecuencia a otras comorbilidades. Además, se diagnostica mediante una técnica invasiva: el cateterismo cardiaco derecho (CCD), responsable de la aparición de eventos adversos como  arritmias, hipotensión y neumotórax, entre otros. Las pruebas no invasivas están desempeñando un papel más importante en la detección precoz. Se introdujo recientemente un marcador tomográfico, el signo de huevo y la banana (SHB), que podría contribuir en el diagnóstico.  Objetivos: Determinar si el SHB es un marcador diagnóstico sensible y específico para la HP. Reevaluar la correlación entre el diámetro principal de arteria pulmonar (AP) y la relación de arteria pulmonar-aorta ascendente (relación AP-Ao) tanto individualmente como en combinación con el SHB.  Se evaluó un total de 42 pacientes que, entre  2017 a 2021, se realizaron CCD y se sometieron a TC que incluyeran el arco aórtico.  Dos observadores ciegos determinaron si el SHB estaba presente o ausente en las TC. Los datos cualitativos se describieron utilizando frecuencias absolutas y relativas, se realizaron curvas ROC, y para la asociación entre las variables se realizó test de Chi2. P <0,05 se consideró significativo. El trabajo fue aprobado por el Departamento de Investigación y Docencia del Hospital Italiano de Córdoba. Del total de pacientes, 19 tenían HP y 23 representaron los sujetos control. El 75% de los pacientes en los que se observó el SHB presentaba HP con una PAPm  promedio de 39 mmHg (Sensibilidad: 62%; Especificidad: 88,24%; p: 0,036). Con respecto a la AP, se observó el SHB en pacientes con un diámetro mayor a 32mm, con un promedio de 40mm. (Sensibilidad: 75%; Especificidad: 82%; p= 0,0001). De los pacientes con HP el 74% tenían una relación AP-Ao mayor a 1 (p: 0,0034).  En conclusión, en nuestra población, el SHB presentó una alta especificidad para una PAPm a partir de 39 mmHg. En asociación con el diámetro de la AP, el marcador clásico, tanto su sensibilidad como la  especificidad fueron elevadas.