EmotiW 2018: Audio-Video, Student Engagement and Group-Level Affect Prediction

This paper details the sixth Emotion Recognition in the Wild (EmotiW) challenge. EmotiW 2018 is a grand challenge in the ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction 2018, Colorado, USA. The challenge aims at providing a common platform to researchers working in the affective computing community to benchmark their algorithms on `in the wild' data. This year EmotiW contains three sub-challenges: a) Audio-video based emotion recognition; b) Student engagement prediction; and c) Group-level emotion recognition. The databases, protocols and baselines are discussed in detail

Area Efficient, Low Power 4:1 Multiplexer using NMOS 45nm Technology

The field of electronics is trending with miniaturization and reduction in the threshold voltage. In this paper, we dealt with the efficient use of die area and optimum usage of power. This paper shows the contrast between “conventional MUX” and “MUX using NMOS transistors” and accentuates the advantages of the latter. The conventional 4:1 MUX consisted of a total of four AND gates and few inverters which made it occupy more die area but in this paper we have presented the design of 4:1 MUX which occupies less area on the die. Multiplexer is a device which works on the principle of MISO (Multiple Input Single Output)

A vaccine that prevents pregnancy in women

We report here results of clinical trials on a birth control vaccine, consisting of a heterospecies dimer of the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) associated noncovalently with the alpha subunit of ovine luteinizing hormone and conjugated to tetanus and diphtheria toxoids as carriers, that induces antibodies of high avidity (K(a) approximately 10(10) M-1) against hCG. Fertile women exposed to conception over 1224 cycles recorded only one pregnancy at antibody titers of > 50 ng/ml (hCG bioneutralization capacity). The antibody response declines with time; fertility was regained when titers fell to < 35 ng/ml. This study presents evidence of the feasibility of a vaccine for control of human fertility

A novel method for the development of latent fingerprints recovered from arson simulation

AbstractA diverse range of physical and chemical methods is available for the development of latent fingerprints. But fingerprints exposed to extreme conditions like fire or arson are generally perceived to have been damaged. Electromagnetic radiations, soot deposition and high temperatures are the forces generated in a fire, which may affect the fingerprints at the scene. Thus, the potential value of highly crucial evidence like fingerprints remains unutilized. This study was conducted to determine if fingerprints could be developed after being subjected to an arson/fire scene simulation. Fingerprints on nonporous surfaces were subjected to high temperatures, soot deposition and subsequently treated with water. A novel fluorescent and a pre-existing small particle reagent was investigated for the same. Zinc carbonate based fluorescent small particle reagent was capable of developing latent fingerprints exposed to a maximum temperature of 800°C

Optimized protocol for assay for transposase-accessible chromatin by sequencing (ATAC-seq) from Drosophila melanogaster brain tissue

Summary: Transposase-accessible chromatin by sequencing (ATAC-seq) has emerged as an advantageous technique to assess chromatin accessibility owing to the robustness of ''tagmentation'' process and a relatively faster library preparation. A comprehensive ATAC-seq protocol from Drosophila brain tissue is currently unavailable. Here, we have provided a detailed protocol of ATAC-seq assay from Drosophila brain tissue. Starting from dissection and transposition to amplification of libraries has been elaborated. Furthermore, a robust ATAC-seq analysis pipeline has been presented. The protocol can be easily adapted for other soft tissues. : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics

Standardized agronomic practices for mechanical harvesting of the single-harvest garden pea in India

The field investigations were conducted at Vegetable Research Farm, Department of vegetable Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana with the objective to standarize the agronomic practices for mechical harvesting of garden pea. Therefore, effect of different agronomic traits including time of sowing, spacing and sowing method on yield and its attributing traits were studied on single-harvest garden pea. The experiment was laid out in split-plot design with 30 treatments comprising five dates of sowing in main plots and 2 different planting methods (flat and bed) sown at three different spacing in subplots and replicated three times. The bed size was standardized according to front-loading width of the pea combine. Significant interactions were observed between the date of sowing and spacing for a number of pods per plant, green seeds per pod, green pod yield per plant, green pod yield per plot; date of sowing and sowing method for pod length; spacing and sowing method for plant height. However, for all the traits, there was non-significant 3-way interaction. The late sown (20th December) crop resulted in the least number of pods per plant, green seeds per pod, green pod yield per plant and green pod yield per plot which was due to high temperature and low relative humidity conditions at pod development and filling stage. It is concluded that the garden pea cultivar Punjab-89 sown on 5th November at the spacing of 20 × 7.5 cm on beds (bed width of 1.0 m) resulted in significantly highest green pod yield of 12.75 kg/9 m2 in the single harvest. Therefore, the 3 beds of 1 m width can be harvested together with pea combine (because combine has working front width of 3.1 m) results into maximum yield when pea crops is sown on 5th November @ 20 × 7.5 cm spacing