240 research outputs found
Facial asymmetry: A Computer Vision based behaviometric index for assessment during a face-to-face interview
Choosing the right person for the right job makes the personnel interview
process a cognitively demanding task. Psychometric tests, followed by an
interview, have often been used to aid the process although such mechanisms
have their limitations. While psychometric tests suffer from faking or social
desirability of responses, the interview process depends on the way the
responses are analyzed by the interviewers. We propose the use of behaviometry
as an assistive tool to facilitate an objective assessment of the interviewee
without increasing the cognitive load of the interviewer. Behaviometry is a
relatively little explored field of study in the selection process, that
utilizes inimitable behavioral characteristics like facial expressions,
vocalization patterns, pupillary reactions, proximal behavior, body language,
etc. The method analyzes thin slices of behavior and provides unbiased
information about the interviewee. The current study proposes the methodology
behind this tool to capture facial expressions, in terms of facial asymmetry
and micro-expressions. Hemi-facial composites using a structural similarity
index was used to develop a progressive time graph of facial asymmetry, as a
test case. A frame-by-frame analysis was performed on three YouTube video
samples, where Structural similarity index (SSID) scores of 75% and more showed
behavioral congruence. The research utilizes open-source computer vision
algorithms and libraries (python-opencv and dlib) to formulate the procedure
for analysis of the facial asymmetry
COVID-19 in India: who are we leaving behind?
The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered and intensified existing societal inequalities. People on the move and residents of urban slums and informal settlements are among some of the most affected groups in the Global South. Given the current living conditions of migrants, the WHO guidelines on how to prevent COVID-19 (such as handwashing, physical distancing and working from home) are challenging to nearly impossible in informal settlements. We use the case of India to highlight the challenges of migrants and urban slum dwellers during the COVID-19 response, and to provide human rights-based recommendations for immediate action to safeguard these vulnerable population
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A 3-Mb High-Resolution BAC/PAC Contig of 12q22 Encompassing the 830-kb Consensus Minimal Deletion in Male Germ Cell Tumors
Cytogenetic and molecular genetic analyses have shown that the 12q22 region is recurrently deleted in male germ cell tumors (GCTs), suggesting that this site may harbor a tumor suppressor gene (TSG). Previous loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analyses identified a consensus minimal deleted region between the markers D12S377 and D12S296, and a YAC clone contig covering the region was generated. Here, we describe a high-resolution sequence-ready physical map of this contig covering a 3-Mb region. The map comprised of 52 cosmids, 49 PACs, and 168 BACs that were anchored to the previous YAC contig; 99 polymorphic, nonpolymorphic, EST, and gene-based markers are now placed on this map in a unique order. Of these, 61 markers were isolated in the present study, including one that was polymorphic. In addition, we have narrowed the minimal deletion to ∼830 kb between D12S1716 (proximal) and P382A8-AG (distal) by LOH analysis of 108 normal-tumor DNAs from GCT patients using 21 polymorphic STSs. These physical and deletion maps should prove useful for identification of the candidate TSG in GCTs, provide framework to generate complete DNA sequence, and ultimately generate a gene map of this segment of the chromosome 12
Revenue Driven Resource Allocation for Virtualized Data Centers
Abstract—The increasing VM density in cloud hosting services makes careful management of physical resources such as CPU, memory, and I/O bandwidth within individual virtualized servers a priority. To maximize cost-efficiency, resource management needs to be coupled with the revenue generating mechanisms of cloud hosting: the service level agreements (SLAs) of hosted client applications. In this paper, we develop a server resource man-agement framework that reduces data center resource manage-ment complexity substantially. Our solution implements revenue-driven dynamic resource allocation which continuously steers the resource distribution across hosted VMs within a server such as to maximize the SLA-generated revenue from the server. Our experimental evaluation for a VMware ESX hypervisor highlights the importance of both resource isolation and resource sharing across VMs. The empirical data shows a 7%-54 % increase in total revenue generated for a mix of 10-25 VMs hosting either similar or diverse workloads when compared to using the currently available resource distribution mechanisms in ESX. I
Deoxydehydration of vicinal diols and polyols catalyzed by pyridinium perrhenate salts
Simple ammonium and pyridinium perrhenate salts were evaluated as catalysts for the deoxydehydration (DODH) of diols into alkenes. Pyridinium perrhenates were found to be effective catalysts at much lower temperatures than those in previous reports, outperforming primary, secondary, and tertiary ammonium salts, while quaternary ammonium salts are effectively inactive. The mechanism of reaction was studied computationally using DFT calculations which indicate that proton shuttling between the ion pair is intrinsic to the mechanism and that the reduction of rhenium by the phosphine occurs before the diol condensation
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Genetic Analysis of the APAF1 Gene in Male Germ Cell Tumors
Cytogenetic and molecular analyses have shown that the chromosome band 12q22 is recurrently deleted in male germ cell tumors (GCTs), indicating the presence of a candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in this region. To identify the TSG, we mapped the APAF1 gene, a proapoptotic mammalian homologue of ced-4, to chromosomal band 12q22, that suggested that this might be the candidate deleted gene in GCTs. We further localized the gene between the polymorphic markers D12S1671 and D12S1082 at 12q22 to determine the role of APAF1 in the pathogenesis of GCT, and we characterized its normal genomic structure and analyzed its alterations in GCTs. The APAF1 gene comprises 27 exons, with the coding region spanning 26. The region containing APAF1 was found to be deleted in GCT by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, but without evidence of coding sequence alterations. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed APAF1 gene expression at detectable levels in all GCT cell lines analyzed. An aberrant-sized APAF1 protein was seen in one cell line. This and 2 other cell lines carrying APAF1 deletions also exhibited defects in dATP-mediated caspase-3 activation. Caspase-3 activity was effectively restored by addition of recombinant caspase-9 and APAF1 proteins, and to a lesser extent by caspase-9 alone, but not by APAF1 alone. These data do not support a TSG role for APAF1, but defects in other components of the apoptotic pathway that may be related to 12q22 deletion cannot be ruled out
SPATIAL CORRELATIONS OF MALARIA INCIDENCE HOTSPOTS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN ASSAM, NORTH EAST INDIA
Disease spectrum and its molecular characterisation in the lentil production system of lower-Indo Gangetic plains
Lentil is a food legume grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains including lower Gangetic Bengal (LGB). Lentil productivity in this zone is severely impeded because of the prevalence of several biotic cues. Plausible reports regarding the status of disease scenario and the associated risk factors are missing. Therefore, judicious crop management strategies are lacking. An intensive survey of 267 farmers’ fields was conducted over 3 years in major lentil-growing districts of LGB to evaluate the disease incidence and prevalence. Additional insights were generated, apprehending isolation and characterisation of associated pathogens through spore morphology and molecular markers as well as elucidating the role of biophysical factors in influencing disease development. Climate change has shifted the disease dimension of lentil and precipitated new disease complexes of great risk, which was reflected through geospatial mapping results in the present study. The prevalence of three major diseases, namely collar rot (Sclerotium rolfsii), lentil blight complex (LBC) incited by both Alternaria and Stemphylium, and lentil rust (Uromyces viciae-fabae), was ascertained through cultural and molecular studies and contextualised through pathogenicity appraisal. This study is the first to investigate the complex mixed infection of Alternaria alternata and Stemphylium botryosum, successfully isolating S. botyrosum in India, and confirming the pathogens through sequencing by using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) primers and Stemphylium-specific Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 (gpd1) and gpd2 primers. Unlike late planting, early planting promoted collar rot infestation. LBC and rust incidence were magnified in late planting. Soil texture resulted in the spatial distribution of collar rot disease. The surveyed data also highlighted the potential role of resistant cultivars and cropping pattern intervention to ensure associational resistance towards addressing the disease bottleneck in lentil
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