Move Forward and Tell: A Progressive Generator of Video Descriptions

We present an efficient framework that can generate a coherent paragraph to describe a given video. Previous works on video captioning usually focus on video clips. They typically treat an entire video as a whole and generate the caption conditioned on a single embedding. On the contrary, we consider videos with rich temporal structures and aim to generate paragraph descriptions that can preserve the story flow while being coherent and concise. Towards this goal, we propose a new approach, which produces a descriptive paragraph by assembling temporally localized descriptions. Given a video, it selects a sequence of distinctive clips and generates sentences thereon in a coherent manner. Particularly, the selection of clips and the production of sentences are done jointly and progressively driven by a recurrent network -- what to describe next depends on what have been said before. Here, the recurrent network is learned via self-critical sequence training with both sentence-level and paragraph-level rewards. On the ActivityNet Captions dataset, our method demonstrated the capability of generating high-quality paragraph descriptions for videos. Compared to those by other methods, the descriptions produced by our method are often more relevant, more coherent, and more concise.Comment: Accepted by ECCV 201

Prestressing wire breakage monitoring using sound event detection

Detecting prestressed wire breakage in concrete bridges is essential for ensuring safety and longevity and preventing catastrophic failures. This study proposes a novel approach for wire breakage detection using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) and back-propagation neural network (BPNN). Experimental data from two bridges in Italy were acquired to train and test the models. To overcome the limited availability of real-world training data, data augmentation techniques were employed to increase the data set size, enhancing the capability of the models and preventing over-fitting problems. The proposed method uses MFCCs to extract features from acoustic emission signals produced by wire breakage, which are then classified by the BPNN. The results show that the proposed method can detect and classify sound events effectively, demonstrating the promising potential of BPNN for real-time monitoring and diagnosis of bridges. The significance of this work lies in its contribution to improving bridge safety and preventing catastrophic failures. The combination of MFCCs and BPNN offers a new approach to wire breakage detection, while the use of real-world data and data augmentation techniques are significant contributions to overcoming the limited availability of training data. The proposed method has the potential to be a generalized and robust model for real-time monitoring of bridges, ultimately leading to safer and longer-lasting infrastructure

Endoscopic repair of transsellar transsphenoidal meningoencephalocele; Case report and review of approaches

We present an extremely rare case of transsellar transsphenoidal meningoencephalocele in a 36-year-old woman with pituitary dwarfism complaining of nasal obstruction. Imaging studies showed a bony defect in the sellar floor and sphenoid sinus with huge nasopharyngeal mass and 3rd ventricle involvement. Using endoscopic endonasal approach the sac was partially removed and the defect was reconstructed with fat and fascial graft, and buttressed with titanium mesh and septal flap. Visual field improvement was noticed post-operatively and no complication was encountered during follow-up. So, endoscopic endonasal approach with partial resection of the sac is a safe and effective treatment for this disease. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Assimilation of Freeze - Thaw Observations into the NASA Catchment Land Surface Model

The land surface freeze-thaw (F-T) state plays a key role in the hydrological and carbon cycles and thus affects water and energy exchanges and vegetation productivity at the land surface. In this study, we developed an F-T assimilation algorithm for the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5) modeling and assimilation framework. The algorithm includes a newly developed observation operator that diagnoses the landscape F-T state in the GEOS-5 Catchment land surface model. The F-T analysis is a rule-based approach that adjusts Catchment model state variables in response to binary F-T observations, while also considering forecast and observation errors. A regional observing system simulation experiment was conducted using synthetically generated F-T observations. The assimilation of perfect (error-free) F-T observations reduced the root-mean-square errors (RMSE) of surface temperature and soil temperature by 0.206 C and 0.061 C, respectively, when compared to model estimates (equivalent to a relative RMSE reduction of 6.7 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively). For a maximum classification error (CEmax) of 10 percent in the synthetic F-T observations, the F-T assimilation reduced the RMSE of surface temperature and soil temperature by 0.178 C and 0.036 C, respectively. For CEmax=20 percent, the F-T assimilation still reduces the RMSE of model surface temperature estimates by 0.149 C but yields no improvement over the model soil temperature estimates. The F-T assimilation scheme is being developed to exploit planned operational F-T products from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission

The Effect of Experience on Recognition of Mother’s Voice in Preterm Infants

Background: According to existing theories, supportive cares provided through specific kinds of stimuli affect the growth, development and neurobehavioral functioning of preterm infants. Some of the studies indicate that the fetal heart rate response to mother’s voice begins in the week 32 of pregnancy. However, the fact that whether preterm infant is able to recognize mother’s live voice from the voice of a stranger woman is unknown. Objectives: The present study aimed to compare the effects of mother’s voice and a stranger’s voice on the heart rate of preterm infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: In a clinical trial study, 66 preterm infants hospitalized in the NICU were randomly assigned into three groups of 22 (i.e. mother’s voice and stranger’s voice groups and a silent group). The infants’ heart rates were recorded by a monitoring system in all of the three groups each five minutes for 30 minutes overall (10 minutes before, during and after the intervention) in three consecutive days. Both one-way and repeated measures analysis of variance were used to analyze the data in terms of significant differences. Also, the chi-square test and analysis of variance were used to compare the demographic variables of the groups. Results: The heart rate of the infants in the mother’s voice group, stranger’s voice group and the silent group were 133.99 � 2.72, 134.26 � 2.43 and 137.94 � 2.92 per minutes, respectively (P > 0.588) and changed to 143.42 � 2.85, 133.22 � 2.15 and 138.28 � 2.21, respectively (P = 0.016). Moreover, the infants’ heart rates were respectively 136.87�3.38, 132.68�2.22 and 138.19�2.65 per minutes, 10 minutes after the intervention (P > 0.345). Conclusions: No significant difference was found between the mean heart rates of the three groups neither before, nor 10 minutes after the intervention. However, a significant difference was observed among the three groups during the intervention. Therefore, we can conclude that the preterm infants can recall and differentiate their mothers’ voice from the voice of a stranger. Then, an opportunity can be provided during the developmental care for the infants to hear their mothers’ voice

Investigating the reward cycle of play in pigs (Sus scrofa)

Observations of play in animals have been suggested as a promising indicator of positive emotions and thus of positive animal welfare. However, if play can follow the proposed reward cycle concept where animals estimate and value reward differently in different phases of the cycle (anticipation, consummation and post-consummation) is unclear. To investigate if a reward cycle for play exists in growing pigs, we carried out an exploratory study where pigs were tested when they were naïve to a reward cycle test (first occasion) against when they were accustomed to going through the test after having the access to an open play arena with objects. Forty undocked pigs were housed in a weaner stable with two castrated males and two females per pen. Within each litter, we randomly selected and tested one male and one female test pig, each being tested as naïve or accustomed to the testing environment. The first week the pigs (n = 20) were tested four times and regarded as naïve during the first day. After that they were regarded as accustomed, and were tested twice a week for 3 weeks. We observed the behavior of the tested pairs in three subsequent stages: (1) in a holding pen 3 min, (2) in a play arena 15 min, and (3) in their home pen 10 min. When accustomed, pigs showed more locomotor play, social interactions and standing, and a tendency of more orientation toward the play arena and exploring bars facing the play arena (i.e., reward-seeking behavior) in the holding pen than when they were naïve, suggesting an anticipation to enter the play arena. Performing high numbers of object play in all sessions, and for accustomed pigs more exploration and social interaction, but less locomotor play and walking in the play arena may suggest consumption of play and exploration. Finding more lying and sitting in accustomed pigs, but less standing and walking in the home pen is in line with the previous hypothesis of the post-consummatory behaviors. Our study showed mixed results for the existence of a reward cycle for play in pigs and generated questions for future research