Efficient and effective human action recognition in video through motion boundary description with a compact set of trajectories

Human action recognition (HAR) is at the core of human-computer interaction and video scene understanding. However, achieving effective HAR in an unconstrained environment is still a challenging task. To that end, trajectory-based video representations are currently widely used. Despite the promising levels of effectiveness achieved by these approaches, problems regarding computational complexity and the presence of redundant trajectories still need to be addressed in a satisfactory way. In this paper, we propose a method for trajectory rejection, reducing the number of redundant trajectories without degrading the effectiveness of HAR. Furthermore, to realize efficient optical flow estimation prior to trajectory extraction, we integrate a method for dynamic frame skipping. Experiments with four publicly available human action datasets show that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art HAR approaches in terms of effectiveness, while simultaneously mitigating the computational complexity

Perceptions of health status, physical fitness, and participation in physical activity among adolescents before and after COVID-19: analysis of 2019‑2021 data from the Republic of Korea national sports survey

Research has examined the detrimental effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on health and physical fitness in adolescents; however, studies comparing these parameters before and after the COVID-19 outbreak have been scarce. Therefore, this study investigated differences in perceived health status, perceived physical fitness, and participation in physical activity among adolescents in the Republic of Korea before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. We chose a sample of data from 2102 adolescents aged 14–19, collected as part of a national survey by the Republic of Korea Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism from 2019 to 2021. We focused on five items from the survey related to health awareness and physical activity. Although perceived health status was lower in 2021 than in 2019 or 2020, there were no differences in perceived physical fitness during the three years of the study. Regular participation in physical activity was less common in 2020 than in 2019 or 2021. The proportion of adolescents reporting sufficient rest and sleep was lower in 2021 than in 2020. In addition, fewer adolescents reported eating regular meals and engaging in nutritional supplementation in 2021 than in 2019 and 2020. Rates of abstinence from alcohol and smoking cessation were higher in 2021 than in 2019 or 2020. For all three years, adolescents reported the following as the primary reasons for engaging in regular physical activity (in order): “maintenance of mental health”, “maintenance of physical health”, “help in daily life”, and “reduction of medical expenses”. In preparation for the post-COVID-19 era, these results highlight the need to prepare measures and countermeasures to promote health and physical activity among adolescents in the Republic of Korea

An Optimization of Composition Ratio among Triple-Filled Atoms in In

Bulk nanostructured materials are important as energy materials. Among thermoelectric materials, the skutterudite system of CoSb3 is a representative material of bulk nanostructured materials. Filling a skutterudite structure with atoms that have different localized frequencies (also known as triple filling) was reported to be effective for lowering thermal conductivity. Among studies representing superior power factors, In-filled skutterudite systems showed higher Seebeck coefficients. This study sought to optimize the composition ratio among the triple-filled atoms in an In0.3-x-yBaxCeyCo4Sb12 system. The composition dependence of the thermoelectric properties was investigated for specimens with different ratios among the three kinds of filler atoms in the In0.3-x-yBaxCeyCo4Sb12 system. In addition, the process variables were carefully optimized for filled skutterudite systems to obtain a maximum ZT value

Continuous process of carbon nanotubes synthesis by decomposition of methane using an arc-jet plasma

Author's version; The Joint Meeting of 7th APCPST (Asia Pacific Conference on Plasma Science and Technology) and 17th SPSM (Symposium on Plasma Science for Materials) - 7th APCPST/17th SPSMWe present a method of producing carbon nanotubes by means of the thermal plasma decomposition of methane in an arc-jet plasma of high temperature (5000–20,000 K). Carbon nanotubes are produced under a floating condition by introducing methane and a mixture of Ni–Y powders into the arc-jet plasma flame generated by a non-transferred plasma torch. Material evaluations of the synthesized product by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that the growth rate of carbon nanotubes is very high, and that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes of high purity are mainly produced. Since this process is continuously operable and easily scalable, it is expected to be a promising technique for large-scale commercial production of carbon nanotubes.Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP

Histologic confirmation of huge pancreatic lipoma: a case report and review of literatures

Pancreatic lipomas are commonly diagnosed based on radiologic images, although the prevalence of lipomas has not been established. Histologic confirmation of pancreatic lipomas is extremely rare because surgical treatment is unnecessary in most cases. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology has been suggested to avoid unnecessary surgery to distinguish between a lipoma and a well-differentiated liposarcoma; however, surgery would be needed when the tumor is associated with symptoms or difficult to distinguish from a liposarcoma. We present a case of a pancreatic lipoma in a 54-year-old male patient that was histologically-confirmed by subtotal pancreatectomy

Lateral Decubitus Positioning Stereotactic Vacuum-Assisted Breast Biopsy with True Lateral Mammography

Stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VAB) has been used to evaluate microcalcifications or non-palpable breast lesions on mammography. Although stereotactic VAB is usually performed in a prone or upright position, an expensive prone table is necessary and vasovagal reactions often occur during the procedure. For these reasons, the lateral decubitus position can be applied for stereotactic VAB, and true lateral mammography can be used to detect the lesion. We report on 15 cases of lateral decubitus positioning for stereotactic VAB with true lateral mammography for non-palpable breast lesions or microcalcifications. The mean procedure time was approximately 30.1 minutes, and no complications occurred during the procedures. Fourteen cases had benign breast lesions and one case had a ductal carcinoma in situ. The lateral decubitus stereotactic VAB with true lateral mammography can be applied for microcalcifications or non-palpable breast lesions and helps to minimize anxiety and vasovagal reactions in patients

Ubiquitous-Severance Hospital Project: Implementation and Results

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to review an implementation of u-Severance information system with focus on electronic hospital records (EHR) and to suggest future improvements. METHODS: Clinical Data Repository (CDR) of u-Severance involved implementing electronic medical records (EMR) as the basis of EHR and the management of individual health records. EHR were implemented with service enhancements extending to the clinical decision support system (CDSS) and expanding the knowledge base for research with a repository for clinical data and medical care information. RESULTS: The EMR system of Yonsei University Health Systems (YUHS) consists of HP integrity superdome servers using MS SQL as a database management system and MS Windows as its operating system. CONCLUSIONS: YUHS is a high-performing medical institution with regards to efficient management and customer satisfaction; however, after 5 years of implementation of u-Severance system, several limitations with regards to expandability and security have been identifiedope

Gravitational-wave Electromagnetic Counterpart Korean Observatory (GECKO): GECKO Follow-up Observation of GW190425

One of the keys to the success of multimessenger astronomy is the rapid identification of the electromagnetic wave counterpart, kilonova (KN), of the gravitational-wave (GW) event. Despite its importance, it is hard to find a KN associated with a GW event, due to a poorly constrained GW localization map and numerous signals that could be confused as a KN. Here, we present the Gravitational-wave Electromagnetic wave Counterpart Korean Observatory (GECKO) project, the GECKO observation of GW190425, and prospects of GECKO in the fourth observing run (O4) of the GW detectors. We outline our follow-up observation strategies during O3. In particular, we describe our galaxy-targeted observation criteria that prioritize based on galaxy properties. Armed with this strategy, we performed an optical and/or near-infrared follow-up observation of GW190425, the first binary neutron star merger event during the O3 run. Despite a vast localization area of 7460 deg^2, we observed 621 host galaxy candidates, corresponding to 29.5% of the scores we assigned, with most of them observed within the first 3 days of the GW event. Ten transients were discovered during this search, including a new transient with a host galaxy. No plausible KN was found, but we were still able to constrain the properties of potential KNe using upper limits. The GECKO observation demonstrates that GECKO can possibly uncover a GW170817-like KN at a distance less than 200 Mpc if the localization area is of the order of hundreds of square degrees, providing a bright prospect for the identification of GW electromagnetic wave counterparts during the O4 run.Comment: 35 pages, 19 figures Accepted for publication in Ap

Proteomic analysis of pregnancy-related proteins from pig uterus endometrium during pregnancy

Many important molecular events associated with implantation and development occur within the female reproductive tract, especially within the uterus endometrium, during pregnancy periods. The endometrium includes the mucosal lining of the uterus, which provides a suitable site for implantation and development of a fertilized egg and fetus. To date, the molecular cascades in the uterus endometrium during pregnancy periods in pigs have not been elucidated fully. In this study, we compared the functional regulated proteins in the endometrium during pregnancy periods with those in non-pregnant conditions and investigated changes in expression patterns during pregnancy (days 40, 70, and 93) using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and western blotting. The functional regulated proteins were identified and discovered from differentially expressed proteins in the uterus endometrium during pregnancy. We discovered 820 protein spots in a proteomic analysis of uterus endometrium tissues with 2-DE gels. We identified 63 of the 98 proteins regulated differentially among non-pregnant and pregnant tissues (matched and unmatched spots). Interestingly, 10 of these 63 proteins are development-, cytoskeleton- and chaperon-related proteins such as transferrin, protein DJ-1, transgelin, galectin-1, septin 2, stathmin 1, cofilin 1, fascin 1, heat shock protein (HSP) 90β and HSP 27. The specific expression patterns of these proteins in the endometrium during pregnancy were confirmed by western blotting. Our results suggest that the expressions of these genes involved in endometrium function and endometrium development from early to late gestation are associated with the regulation of endometrium development for maintaining pregnancy

A Successful Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Twelve Days After a Cabrol Composite Graft Operation in Marfan Syndrome

The Cabrol procedure is one of several techniques used for re-implantation of a coronary artery. After replacement of the ascending aorta and aortic valve using a composite graft, second Dacron tube grafts are used for anastomosis between the ascending aortic graft and the coronary arteries. Ostial stenosis is one of the complications associated with the Cabrol operation. However, there have been no reported cases of acute thrombosis of a Cabrol graft. Here we report a case with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction due to thrombotic total occlusion of a right Cabrol graft-to-right coronary artery (RCA) twelve days after surgery in a patient with Marfan syndrome. He was successfully treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)