Human Pose Estimation using Global and Local Normalization

In this paper, we address the problem of estimating the positions of human joints, i.e., articulated pose estimation. Recent state-of-the-art solutions model two key issues, joint detection and spatial configuration refinement, together using convolutional neural networks. Our work mainly focuses on spatial configuration refinement by reducing variations of human poses statistically, which is motivated by the observation that the scattered distribution of the relative locations of joints e.g., the left wrist is distributed nearly uniformly in a circular area around the left shoulder) makes the learning of convolutional spatial models hard. We present a two-stage normalization scheme, human body normalization and limb normalization, to make the distribution of the relative joint locations compact, resulting in easier learning of convolutional spatial models and more accurate pose estimation. In addition, our empirical results show that incorporating multi-scale supervision and multi-scale fusion into the joint detection network is beneficial. Experiment results demonstrate that our method consistently outperforms state-of-the-art methods on the benchmarks.Comment: ICCV201

Looking at Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus–Host Interactions from a microRNA Viewpoint

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also called human herpesvirus 8, belongs to the gamma herpesviruses and is the etiological agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and some types of multicentric Castleman’s disease. In vivo, KSHV mainly infects B cells and endothelial cells. The interactions between KSHV and its host cells determine the outcome of viral infection and subsequent viral pathogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that are important in fine-tuning cellular signaling. During infection, KSHV modulates the expression profiles and/or functions of a number of host miRNAs, for example hsa-miR-132 and hsa-miR-146a. Meanwhile, KSHV itself encodes 12 pre-miRNAs, including miR-K12-11, which is the functional ortholog of the host miR-155. A number of cellular and viral targets of deregulated cellular miRNAs and viral miRNAs are found in KSHV-infected cells, which suggests that miRNAs may be important in mediating KSHV–host interactions. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of how KSHV modulates the expression and/or functions of host miRNAs; we review in detail the functions of miR-K12-11 as the ortholog of miR-155; and we examine the functions of viral miRNAs in KSHV life cycle control, immune evasion, and pathogenesis

Comparison of the refractive error changes among young children in ten years interval

AIM: To compare the optometric examination results of myopic young children between those diagnosed in the period from 1998 to 2000 and those diagnosed in the period from 2008 to 2010; and to find out the causes of myopia and factors that worsen the condition, and suggest methods of its prevention and treatment.<p>METHODS: This study was a retrospective case study. We randomly selected sample from out-patient department register of cases and divided them into two main groups, ‘ten year before group'(TYBG)(1998/2000 year cases)and ‘ten years later group'(2008/2010 year cases)(TYLG). Each group was further subdivided into three sub-groups by age: under-six years old children group(CG), seven-twelve years old primary-school group(PSG)and thirteen-eighteen years old middle-school group(MSG). The optometric examination results were statistically analyzed.<p>RESULTS: The difference of the mean dioptre between the TYBG and TYLG was strongly statistically significant, also forward-lead trend of age when children suffered from myopia was found(<i>P<</i>0.01). There was a significant increase of dioptre among PSG and MSG in TYLG compared to TYBG(<i>P</i><0.01). After analyzing the relationship between dioptre and age, this study showed an increase of the proportion of myopia patients from 35.2% to 50.0% in PSG in ten years interval. This proportion decreases in MSG and remains stable in CG. All cases had been divided into slight myopia, medium myopia and high myopia, depending on their own myopia dioptre. The biggest difference of myopia dioptre were seen in MSG where the proportion of medium myopia patients increased 11.4% and high myopia patients increased 7.9% in TYLG.<p>CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the age of getting myopia was forward lead, the dioptre increases by 1.00 degree and the prevalence of myopia is increasing gradually. This situation may due to the modern life style and changes of living standard of the population. Therefore, prevention of myopia should concentrate more on younger children at kindergarten and primary school stage students