Dance-the-music : an educational platform for the modeling, recognition and audiovisual monitoring of dance steps using spatiotemporal motion templates

In this article, a computational platform is presented, entitled “Dance-the-Music”, that can be used in a dance educational context to explore and learn the basics of dance steps. By introducing a method based on spatiotemporal motion templates, the platform facilitates to train basic step models from sequentially repeated dance figures performed by a dance teacher. Movements are captured with an optical motion capture system. The teachers’ models can be visualized from a first-person perspective to instruct students how to perform the specific dance steps in the correct manner. Moreover, recognition algorithms-based on a template matching method can determine the quality of a student’s performance in real time by means of multimodal monitoring techniques. The results of an evaluation study suggest that the Dance-the-Music is effective in helping dance students to master the basics of dance figures

Enabling computation of correlation bounds for finite-dimensional quantum systems via symmetrisation

We present a technique for reducing the computational requirements by several orders of magnitude in the evaluation of semidefinite relaxations for bounding the set of quantum correlations arising from finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. The technique, which we make publicly available through a user-friendly software package, relies on the exploitation of symmetries present in the optimisation problem to reduce the number of variables and the block sizes in semidefinite relaxations. It is widely applicable in problems encountered in quantum information theory and enables computations that were previously too demanding. We demonstrate its advantages and general applicability in several physical problems. In particular, we use it to robustly certify the non-projectiveness of high-dimensional measurements in a black-box scenario based on self-tests of $d$-dimensional symmetric informationally complete POVMs.Comment: A. T. and D. R. contributed equally for this projec

On Probability Distributions for Trees: Representations, Inference and Learning

We study probability distributions over free algebras of trees. Probability distributions can be seen as particular (formal power) tree series [Berstel et al 82, Esik et al 03], i.e. mappings from trees to a semiring K . A widely studied class of tree series is the class of rational (or recognizable) tree series which can be defined either in an algebraic way or by means of multiplicity tree automata. We argue that the algebraic representation is very convenient to model probability distributions over a free algebra of trees. First, as in the string case, the algebraic representation allows to design learning algorithms for the whole class of probability distributions defined by rational tree series. Note that learning algorithms for rational tree series correspond to learning algorithms for weighted tree automata where both the structure and the weights are learned. Second, the algebraic representation can be easily extended to deal with unranked trees (like XML trees where a symbol may have an unbounded number of children). Both properties are particularly relevant for applications: nondeterministic automata are required for the inference problem to be relevant (recall that Hidden Markov Models are equivalent to nondeterministic string automata); nowadays applications for Web Information Extraction, Web Services and document processing consider unranked trees

Cellular uptake of soy-derived phytoestrogens in vitro and in human whole blood

Epidemiological studies comparing typical Western and traditional Eastern lifestyles indicate that dietary intake of soyderived phytoestrogens, including genistein, daidzein, and equol, may have significant health protective effects on hormone-dependent cancers, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases. Phytoestrogens have been demonstrated to exert varying effects depending on tissue, endogenous hormone concentrations, and receptor types. Thus, a detailed understanding of the biodistribution and bioavailability of specific phytoestrogens is required in order to predict the subsequent biologic activities. In this study we aimed to investigate the cellular uptake of these soy-derived phytoestrogens in different cell types, including the mammary MCF-7/6 and MDAB-MB 231 cell lines, the ovarian Ishikawa Var-I cell lines and in murine adipocyte clusters. Furthermore, the biodistribution between serum and cell fraction was also investigated in human whole blood. Equol generally shows a higher cellular uptake when compared with genistein and daidzein. Therefore, equol may be more potent with respect to its relative bioactivity, which is corroborated by the observations of specific health effects associated with the equol-producer phenotype

Continuous downstream process development following quality by design philosophy

Continuous process technologies are available for essentially every step in a fully integrated continuous downstream processing platform. Most of these technologies have a significantly higher throughput and specific productivity than their batch equivalent process steps. The consequence is that the amount of material required to run experiments during continuous process development work is significantly higher than in batch process development. High throughput experimentation platforms have been established for performing design of experiments studies for many batch downstream processing steps, but for the equivalent continuous bioprocessing technologies this doesn’t exist. This limits the amount of different process variations that can be tested as part of the process characterization studies. In this presentation, we will analyze a continuous monoclonal antibody purification platform, using the Quality by Design approach to identify the key process parameters and critical process parameters. Based on the process knowledge and process design information available for the various continuous bioprocessing technologies, we will analyze how these critical process parameters translate into a continuous bioprocessing platform for monoclonal antibodies

Sustainable Cooperative Coevolution with a Multi-Armed Bandit

This paper proposes a self-adaptation mechanism to manage the resources allocated to the different species comprising a cooperative coevolutionary algorithm. The proposed approach relies on a dynamic extension to the well-known multi-armed bandit framework. At each iteration, the dynamic multi-armed bandit makes a decision on which species to evolve for a generation, using the history of progress made by the different species to guide the decisions. We show experimentally, on a benchmark and a real-world problem, that evolving the different populations at different paces allows not only to identify solutions more rapidly, but also improves the capacity of cooperative coevolution to solve more complex problems.Comment: Accepted at GECCO 201

Interprétations psycho-culturelles de l’inadaptation juvénile dans la société de masse contemporaine

A PSYCHO-CULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF JUVENILE MALADJUSTMENT IN MASS SOCIETY Juvenile maladjustment in the post-industrial societies has not only augmented alarmingly but has also taken on a new dimension. The number and seriousness of offences as well as their obvious wantonness are increasing. This article is an attempt to understand the forces which engender this phenomenon. A first experiment in measuring some of the elements which constitute the moral fact is also described here. A culture conflict Maladjustment of the young in the mass society can be looked at in the perspective of a culture conflict, that is, the confrontation of morals between adult and youth in a society undergoing an historical acceleration not only of its technology but also of its institutions and culture. The dialectic, youth versus adult, is due to the fact that each group has a particular position in society which, therefore, implies different morals or different normative systems. The credo of the adult is founded upon a numerous variety of experiences marked by success or failure. This traditional morality will shift in direct proportion to the degree of evolution within the existing society. The morals of youth are founded upon its involvement in new experiences. Youth uses the technology of its era, rebels against old-fashioned morals and reformulates its ethical needs. This type of questioning leads the adult to ambiguity of values, to uncertainty of moral judgment and to a wavering in fundamental choices; it leads the young into contesting adult order, truth and conviction. The integration of youth into mass society has to be made in the light of « neotenistic » mechanisms of adjustment to innovation. It must also be examined in the light of « misoneism » — resistance to change .— as well as of stability of social relationships and institutions. The young, new citizens of a mass society and trustees of mass culture, have to cope with the institutions, ideologies, controls and rules forged by a society of production. Psycho-cultural pressures Recent social transformations have generated a new type of society known as the « mass society » which in turn has generated a « mass culture ». The interaction between culture and society creates, for the individual, new problems of adjustment which merit careful study. The relative freedom from the pressures of mechanization coincides with the increase of psycho-cultural pressures due to the means of mass communication. We require a new conceptual plan of analysis adapted to a different type of society. The theories based on culture conflicts, the concepts of subcultures and contracultures have attempted to explain these new phenomena. Today, external pressure has increased the possibility of choice for the individual. We might suggest therefore, that if the maladjustments of the past were due to the hide-bound socio-economic laws, those which characterize the mass society would be due to an extreme degree of freedom to make these numberless choices. Obligation: first foundation of morals Psycho-cultural analysis achieves its entire meaning when we study morals or the moral fact. In other words, the obligation to accomplish one act or another constitutes the main springboard for interaction within a social system. The moral fact, in its objective and subjective aspects, constitutes the core of the problem: how to explain that the very foundation of moral order is being radically and universally questioned ? To answer this, we must use an analysis of mechanisms and procedures which take precedence in internalizing moral values in different cultures. The questions asked are as follows : a) What is the content and meaning of obligation to the youth of today ? b) What is the relationship between its aspirations and those of the preceding generations ? c) Are these aspirations the same for the youth of different classes ? d) Do they then engender cultures, subcultures and contracultures ? Psycho-cultural analysis is the meeting point of questions asked by the sociology of knowledge and of socialization and by contemporary social psychology. The moral fact seems to be an integral part of the problem of man's maladjustment to the civilization he has created, and its study becomes necessary in order to find the key to certain paradoxes in the human condition. Measurement of the moral fact Psycho-cultural interpretation seeks to isolate maladjustment, regarding it essentially as a type of moral behaviour. If we accept the following postulate — adjustment or deviance results at the limit of conformity or non-conformity to values .— how do we measure this obligation ? What are the variables necessary to isolate this idea of obligation ? What are the instruments capable of measuring them ? In the context of our work, obligation is envisaged, on the one hand, as a normative system related to the position of an individual, of a collectivity or of a category of individuals, in the social structure. On the other hand, it is regarded as a physical function, representing the internal controls of the subject, who is submitted to a system of impulses and motivations. Two theories seem pertinent in explaining obligation: the theory of « moral conscience », related to subjective motivations, and the theory of « social character », related to substantive or group motivations. According to Erick Fromm (1949), every society and every social structure within the society forms the type of man it needs and transmits values, attitudes and motivations necessary for the individual to act out the role it expects him to. It accomplishes this by giving the individual a « social character » adapted to its demands and which enables the subject to behave in the manner called for by the social system. The hypothesis showing that the social character is formed by the role the individual plays in his own culture and that he reflects collective obligations individually, enables us to connect this problem of adjustment with socio-cultural controls. Thus we can suppose that the normative aspects of adolescent subcultures and contracultures, where they exist, form a social character in these young people, and so constitute a different source of orientation or obligation from that of the adult culture. This article gives an account of the construction and validity of scales of moral attitudes and of an implement capable of measuring certain aspects of the moral conscience. Their function is to isolate this idea of obligation. Five scales of moral attitudes were established and verified with the help of factoral analysis .— moral attitudes of authority, of conformity to peers, of aspiration, of hedonist anxiety and of self-evaluation. This scale discriminates between the socio-economic milieux of the working class and the leisure class and weighs the variables .— age and delinquency. If social character is the cultural counterpart of obligation, then moral conscience is the psychological counterpart. Whereas social character depends on the position of a group in the social structure, moral conscience is conditioned by interprofessional relationships. Seen in this light, moral conscience becomes a psychic function, the fruit of identification within a succession of values presented by parents, teachers and peers. Since it is almost impossible to measure moral conscience directly and experimentally by objective tests, we thought it best to measure the psychological procedures of transmission and internalization of moral values, that is, by perception and identification. The Role Construction Repertory Test of George A. Kelly (1955) seems to answer this problem because it is based on these two psychological mechanisms as well as on « role playing ». This test enables us to find out with which persons and what values adolescents identify, whether or not they are well adjusted to life in society. It also enables us, with the help of the construction analysis, to pin-point the image young people have of themselves and of those who make up their phenomenal or experimental universe. These instruments, tested on adjusted or maladjusted adolescents from different socio-economic milieux, will enable us to verify certain hypothesis resulting from psycho-cultural analysis.INTERPRETACION SICO-CULTURAL DE LA INADAPTACION JUVENIL EN LA SOCIEDAD DE MASAS La inadaptacion juvenil en las sociedades postindustrializadas alcanza proporciones alarmantes y toma nuevas orientaciones. El numero y la gravedad de delitos que ocasiona aumenta considerablemente, asi como su aparente gratuidad. El presente trabajo representa un esfuerzo de comprension de las fuerzas que engendran este fenomeno y una primera tentativa de medida de los elementos que componen el hecho moral. Conflicto de culture La inadaptacion de los jovenes a la sociedad de masas puede ser tratada bajo la perspectiva de un conflicto de cultura, es decir, de un afrontamiento entre la moral de los adultos y la de los jovenes en una sociedad que sufre una aceleracion historica no solo de sus tecnicas sino tambien de sus institu-ciones y de su cultura. La dialectica jovenes-adultos proviene del hecho que tanto estos como aquellos ocupan en la sociedad una posicion particular que implica morales o sistemas normativos diferentes. Las creencias de los adultos se han forjado gracias a un numero considerable de experiencias seguidas de exitos o de fracasos. Esta moral tradicional, a causa del nivel de evolucion de la sociedad moderna, puede considerar.se como anticuada. Al contrario, los jovenes se crean una moral propia comprometiendose en nuevas experiencias, utilizando las tecnicas de su epoca, rebelandose contra morales caducas y formulando de nuevo ciertas exigencias eticas. Este constante poner en tela de juicio tiene repercusiones incalculables sobre los adultos (ambiguedad de valores, incertidumbre respecta al juicio moral, dudas sobre ciertas opciones fundamentals) y los jovenes (contes-tacion del orden, de la verdad y de la certidumbre de los adultos). La integracion de los jovenes a la sociedad de masas debe pues abordarse no solo a la luz de mecanismos « neotenicos » de adaptacion a las innovaciones, sino tambien teniendo en cuenta el « misoneismo », sinonimo de resistencia al cambio y de estabilidad de las instituciones y relaciones sociales. Los jovenes, nuevos ciudadanos de una sociedad de masas y depositarios de una cultura de masas, deben hacer frente a instituciones, ideologias, sistemas de control e imperativos forjados por una sociedad de produccion. Los apremios sico-cultuvales Las recientes transformaciones sociales han engendrado un nuevo tipo de sociedad denominada « sociedad de masas », que a su vez ha producido una « cultura de masas ». La accion reciproca de la cultura y de la sociedad origina para los individuos nuevos problemas de adaptacion que merecen un examen atento. La liberacion relativa de los constrenimientos debidos al maqumismo coincide con el aumento de la obligacion sico-cultural de los medios de comunicacion de masas. La sociedad actual necesita un nuevo esquema conceptual adaptado a las exigencias del analisis de un tipo diferente de comunidad. Las teorias basadas en los conflictos de cultura y en los conceptos de subcultura y anti-cultura han intentado explicar estos nuevos fenomenos. Hoy dia, la presion de los factores exogenos ha aumentado las posibilidades de eleccion del individuo y se puede afirmar que si las inadaptaciones del pasado eran debidas a las leyes implacables del orden socioeconomico, las que caracterizan a la sociedad de masas dependeran de una libertad extrema ante demasiadas posibilidades de eleccion. La obligacion, fundamento primero de la moral El analisis sico-cultural adquiere toda su significacion cuando se aborda el estudio de la moralidad o del hecho moral. Efectivamente, la obligacion de ejecutar tal o cual acto constituye el movil principal de la interaccion en un sistema social. El hecho moral, en sus dimensiones objetivas y subjetivas, constituye el nucleo mismo del problema. ? Como explicar la puesta en tela de juicio cada vez mas radical y universal de los fundamentos del orden moral ? Para contestar a esta pregunta de manera adecuada, hay que dar prioridad al analisis de los mecanismos y procesos que rigen la interiorizacion de los valores morales en las diversas culturas. Las cuestiones primordiales en esta materia podrian formularse de la manera siguiente : a) ? cual es el contenido y el sentido de la obligacion en los jovenes de hoy ? b) ? que relaciones existen entre sus aspiraciones y las de las generaciones precedentes ? c) ? son estas aspiraciones las mismas en los jovenes pertenecientes a distintas clases sociales ? d) ? engendran por consiguiente culturas, subculturas e incluso anticulturas ? El analisis sico-cultural constituye el punto de convergencia de las preguntas hechas por la sociologia del conocimiento y por la sicologia social contemporanea. El hecho moral esta siempre presente en el problema de la inadaptacion del hombre a la civilizacion que el mismo ha creado. Su estudio es absolutamente necesario para poder explicar ciertas paradojas de la condicion humana. La medida del hecho moral La interpretacion sico-cultural intenta abordar la inadaptacion considerada esencialmente como una conducta moral. ? Como medir entonces esta obligacion, si se acepta el postulado segun el cual la adaptacion o inadaptacion son finalmente el resultado de la conformidad o de la no conformidad con los valores ? ? Cuales son las variables mas adecuadas para circunscribir esta nocion de obligacion ? ? Que instrumentos pueden servir para medirlas ? En la presente investigacion, se considera la obligacion de una parte como un sistema normativo ligado a la posicion de un individuo, de una colectividad o de una categoria de personas respecto a una estructura social determinada, y de otra parte como una funcion siquica que representa los mecanismos internos de control del sujeto sometidos a ciertas impulsiones y motivaciones. Dos nociones parecen esenciales para explicar el concepto de obligacion: la nocion de « conciencia moral » unida a motivaciones subjetivas y la de « caracter social » ligada a motivaciones sustantivas o de grupo. Segun Erick Fromm (1949), cada sociedad y cada estructura social dentro de una sociedad determinada forman el tipo de hombre que necesitan y transmiten a los individuos que las componen los valores, actitudes y motivaciones indispensables a la funcion que van a exigir de ellos. Lo consiguen creando en el individuo un « caracter social » adaptado a sus exigencias, lo que permitira al sujeto comportarse conformemente a lo esperado por el sistema social. La hipotesis que pretende que el caracter social esta formado por la funcion que el individuo representa en su propia cultura y es un reflejo individual de las obligaciones colectivas, permite enlazar los problemas de adaptacion a los apremios sico-culturales. Podemos suponer, en efecto, que los aspectos normativos de las subculturas y anti-culturas de los adolescentes forman en ellos un caracter social y constituyen por consiguiente un principio de direccion o de deber diferente de lo que se exige en la cultura de los adultos. El presente trabajo da cuenta de la construccion y validacion de escalas de actitudes morales y de un instrumento susceptible de medir ciertos aspectos de la conciencia moral. Su funcion es delimitar de manera precisa esta nocion de apremio o deber. Gracias al analisis factorial se han construido y validado cinco escalas de actitudes morales: actitudes morales de autoridad, de conformidad con sus semejantes, de aspiracion, de ansiedad hedonista y de auto-valorizacion. Estas escalas distinguen el medio socio-economico obrero del acomodado y tienen en cuenta asimismo de las variables edad y delincuencia. Si el caracter social es la contrapartida cultural del deber, la conciencia moral constituye su contrapartida sicologica. Mientras que el caracter social depende de la posicion de un grupo en la estructura social, la conciencia moral esta subordinada a sus relaciones interprofesionales. Tratada bajo este punto de vista, la conciencia moral se convierte en una funcion siquica, fruto de identificaciones sucesivas a los valores ensenados por los padres, los maestros o los semejantes. Dado que es casi imposible medir directa y experimentalmente la conciencia moral con tests objetivos, los autores han pensado conseguirlo midiendo los procesos sicologicos de transmision e interiorizacion de los valores morales, es decir, gracias a la percepcion y a la identificacion. La prueba de los « construidos personales » o Role Construction Repertory Test de George A. Kelly (1955), basada en estos dos mecanismos sicologicos asi como en el role playing, parece poder servir para este fin. El test precitado permite conocer las personas y valores a los que se identifican los adolescentes y, gracias al analisis de los « construidos » descubrir la imagen que los jovenes tienen de si mismos y de las personas que forman parte de su universo fenomenico o experimental. Dichos instrumentos, aplicados a adolescentes adaptados e inadaptados procedentes de medios socio-economicos diferentes, podran permitir la verificacion de ciertas hipotesis elaboradas como consecuencia del analisis sico-cultural.EINE PSYCHO-KULTURELLE DARSTELLUNG DER ANPASSUNGSSCHWIERIGKEITEN DER JUGENDLICHEN IM RAHMEN DER MASSENGESELLSCHAFT Die mangelhafte Anpassung der Jugendlichen in den postindustriellen Gesellschaften erreicht nicht nur erschreckende Proportionen, sondern schlagt eine neue Richtung ein. Die Zahl und die Schwere der Verbrechen, sowie die Mutmassigkeit mit der sie anscheinend begangen werden, nimmt standig zu. Diese Darlegung ist ein Versuch, die Krafte, die dieses Phanomen verursachen, zu begreifen. Sie enthalt ebenfalls die Beschreibung eines ersten Entwurfs zur Einschatzung der Elemente, die den moralischen Tatbestand darstellen. Bin Kultutkontlikt Dass die Jugend sich schlecht an die Massengesellschaft anpasst, kann als den Ausdruck eines Kulturkonfliktes betrachtet werden, d.h. einer Gegenuberstellung der Moral der Erwachsenen mit jener der Jugendlichen im Rahmen einer Gesellschaft, die nicht nur in der Entwicklung ihrer Technik, sondern auch in der ihrer Institutionen und ihrer Kultur, eine historische Beschleunigung erlebt. Die Dialektik zwischen Erwachsenen und Jugendlichen ist dadurch begrundet, als dass die einen sowie die anderen binnen der Gesellschaft eine bestimmte Stellung eingenommen haben, die voneinander verschiedene Sitten und normative Systeme ins Spiel bringen. Diese traditionelle Moral hatte ihren Daseinszweck verloren, weil sie nicht mehr dem Entwicklungsgrade der heutigen Gesellschaft entspricht. Andererseits gestaltet sich die Moral der Jugendlichen dadurch, dass sie neuen Erfahrungen begegnen mussen. Sie bediehnen sich der Technik ihres Zeitalters, sie rebellieren gegen altmodische Grundsatze und formulieren neue ethische Anspruche. Dass die Jugend nun alles wieder in Frage stellt, verursacht bei den Erwachsenen eine zweideutige Einstellung gegenuber ihrer eigenen Werte, eine Verminderung ihrer moralischen Urteilskraft, das Schwanken ihrer Grundsatze, so dass die Jugendlichen die Ordnung, die Wahrheiten und die Sicherheiten der Erwachsenen in Zweifel ziehen. Der Anschluss der Jugend an die Massengesellschaft muss nicht nur im Lichte der « neotenischen » Anpassungsmechanismen gegenuber Neuerungen ins Auge gefasst werden, sondern auch im Lichte des « Misoeismus », das synonym mit allem Widerstand zum Wechsel und mit der Bestandigkeit sozialer Beziehungen und Institutionen ist. Die Jugendlichen, neue Burger einer Massengesellschaft und die Verwarer einer Massenkultur, befinden sich vor den Institutionen, den Ideologien, den Kontrollen und den Gesetzen, welche eine Produktionsgesellschaft aufgestellt hat. Der psycho-kulturelle Zwang Soziale Wandlungen haben einen neuen Gesellschaftstypus geschaffen, der « Massengesellschaft » genannt wird, und der wiederum eine Massenkultur geschaffen hat. Der gegenseitige Einfluss von Gesellschaft und Kultur schafft fur den Einzelmenschen neue Anpassungsprobleme, mit denen man sich aufmerksam befassen sollte. Die relative Befreiung von dem Zwang des Maschinismus stimmt mit der Verstarkung des psycho-kulturellen Zwangs der Massenverbindungsmittel uberein. Wir brauchen ein neues Begriffssc