Audiovisual annotation procedure for multi-view field recordings

Audio and video parts of an audiovisual document interact to produce an audiovisual, or multi-modal, perception. Yet, automatic analysis on these documents are usually based on separate audio and video annotations. Regarding the audiovisual content, these annotations could be incomplete, or not relevant. Besides, the expanding possibilities of creating audiovisual documents lead to consider different kinds of contents, including videos filmed in uncontrolled conditions (i.e. fields recordings), or scenes filmed from different points of view (multi-view). In this paper we propose an original procedure to produce manual annotations in different contexts, including multi-modal and multi-view documents. This procedure, based on using both audio and video annotations, ensures consistency considering audio or video only, and provides additionally audiovisual information at a richer level. Finally, different applications are made possible when considering such annotated data. In particular, we present an example application in a network of recordings in which our annotations allow multi-source retrieval using mono or multi-modal queries

Adaptive Optics Imaging of QSOs with Double-Peaked Narrow Lines: Are they Dual AGNs?

Active galaxies hosting two accreting and merging super-massive black holes (SMBHs) -- dual Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) -- are predicted by many current and popular models of black hole-galaxy co-evolution. We present here the results of a program that has identified a set of probable dual AGN candidates based on near Infra-red (NIR) Laser Guide-Star Adaptive Optics (LGS AO) imaging with the Keck II telescope. These candidates are selected from a complete sample of radio-quiet Quasi-stellar Objects (QSOs) drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which show double-peaked narrow AGN emission lines. Of the twelve AGNs imaged, we find six with double galaxy structure, of which four are in galaxy mergers. We measure the ionization of the two velocity components in the narrow AGN lines to test the hypothesis that both velocity components come from an active nucleus. The combination of a well-defined parent sample and high-quality imaging allows us to place constraints on the fraction of SDSS QSOs that host dual accreting black holes separated on kiloparsec (kpc) scales: ~0.3%-0.65%. We derive from this fraction the time spent in a QSO phase during a typical merger and find a value that is much lower than estimates that arise from QSO space densities and galaxy merger statistics. We discuss possible reasons for this difference. Finally, we compare the SMBH mass distributions of single and dual AGN and find little difference between the two within the limited statistics of our program, hinting that most SMBH growth happens in the later stages of a merger process.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

A comparison of the development of audiovisual integration in children with autism spectrum disorders and typically developing children

This study aimed to investigate the development of audiovisual integration in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Audiovisual integration was measured using the McGurk effect in children with ASD aged 7–16 years and typically developing children (control group) matched approximately for age, sex, nonverbal ability and verbal ability. Results showed that the children with ASD were delayed in visual accuracy and audiovisual integration compared to the control group. However, in the audiovisual integration measure, children with ASD appeared to ‘catch-up’ with their typically developing peers at the older age ranges. The suggestion that children with ASD show a deficit in audiovisual integration which diminishes with age has clinical implications for those assessing and treating these children

The NAVIGATE Program for First-Episode Psychosis: Rationale, Overview, and Description of Psychosocial Components

Comprehensive coordinated specialty care programs for first-episode psychosis have been widely implemented in other countries but not in the United States. The National Institute of Mental Health\u27s Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) initiative focused on the development and evaluation of first-episode treatment programs designed for the U.S. health care system. This article describes the background, rationale, and nature of the intervention developed by the RAISE Early Treatment Program project-known as the NAVIGATE program-with a particular focus on its psychosocial components. NAVIGATE is a team-based, multicomponent treatment program designed to be implemented in routine mental health treatment settings and aimed at guiding people with a first episode of psychosis (and their families) toward psychological and functional health. The core services provided in the NAVIGATE program include the family education program (FEP), individual resiliency training (IRT), supported employment and education (SEE), and individualized medication treatment. NAVIGATE embraces a shared decision-making approach with a focus on strengths and resiliency and on collaboration with clients and family members in treatment planning and reviews. The NAVIGATE program has the potential to fill an important gap in the U.S. health care system by providing a comprehensive intervention specially designed to meet the unique treatment needs of persons recovering from a first episode of psychosis. A cluster-randomized controlled trial comparing NAVIGATE with usual community care has recently been completed

A change in the NICE guidelines on antibiotic prophylaxis

Since 2008, NICE clinical guidelines have stated: ‘Antibiotic prophylaxis against infective endocarditis is not recommended for people undergoing dental procedures’. This put UK guidance at odds with guidance in the rest of the world, where antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended for patients at high-risk of infective endocarditis undergoing invasive dental procedures. Many dentists also felt this wording prohibited the use of antibiotic prophylaxis, regardless of the wishes of the patient or their personal risk of infective endocarditis and made it difficult for them to use their clinical judgment to deliver individualised care in the best interests of their patients. NICE have now changed this guidance to ‘Antibiotic prophylaxis against infective endocarditis is not recommended routinely for people undergoing dental procedures.’ This article examines the implications of this small but important change

Correlation Between the Deuteron Characteristics and the Low-energy Triplet np Scattering Parameters

The correlation relationship between the deuteron asymptotic normalization constant, $A_{S}$, and the triplet np scattering length, $a_{t}$, is investigated. It is found that 99.7% of the asymptotic constant $A_{S}$ is determined by the scattering length $a_{t}$. It is shown that the linear correlation relationship between the quantities $A_{S}^{-2}$ and $1/a_{t}$ provides a good test of correctness of various models of nucleon-nucleon interaction. It is revealed that, for the normalization constant $A_{S}$ and for the root-mean-square deuteron radius $r_{d}$, the results obtained with the experimental value recommended at present for the triplet scattering length $a_{t}$ are exaggerated with respect to their experimental counterparts. By using the latest experimental phase shifts of Arndt et al., we obtain, for the low-energy scattering parameters ($a_{t}$, $r_{t}$, $P_{t}$) and for the deuteron characteristics ($A_{S}$, $r_{d}$), results that comply well with experimental data.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, To be published in Physics of Atomic Nucle

A Novel Microfluidic Dielectrophoresis Technology to Enable Rapid Diagnosis of Mycobacteria tuberculosis in Clinical Samples

To achieve the global efforts to end tuberculosis, affordable diagnostics suitable for true point-of-care implementation are required to reach the missing millions. In addition, diagnostics with increased sensitivity and expanded drug susceptibility testing are needed to address drug resistance and to diagnose low-bacterial burden cases. The laboratory-on-a-chip technology described herein used dielectrophoresis to selectively isolate Mycobacterium tuberculosis from sputum samples, purifying the bacterial population ahead of molecular confirmation by multiplex real-time quantitative PCR. After optimization using a panel of 50 characterized sputum samples, the performance of the prototype was assessed against the current gold standards, screening 100 blinded sputum samples using characterized and biobanked sputum provided by Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics. Concordance with culture diagnosis was 100% for smear-negative samples and 87% for smear-positive samples. Of the smear-positive samples, the high burden sample concordance was 100%. Samples were diagnosed on the basis of visual assessment of the dielectrophoresis array and by multiplex real-time quantitative PCR assay. The results described herein demonstrate the potential of the CAPTURE-XT technology to provide a powerful sample preparation tool that could function as a front-end platform for molecular detection. This versatile tool could equally be applied as a visual detection diagnostic, potentially associated with bacterial identification for low-cost screening or coupled with an expanded PCR assay for genotypic drug susceptibility testing

Early outcome of facial reconstructive surgery abroad: a comparative study

Every year, many medical missions are undertaken in the developing world but there is almost a universal lack of outcome data on the quality of these missions. The present study compares early clinical outcome and complication rate in two consecutive missions (facial reconstruction) undertaken to Ethiopia in 2007 and 2008. The object was to establish if measures adopted following feedback from the first mission led to improvement of the results. A significant improvement was observed in early clinical outcome and there were less severe complications in the 2008 compared to the 2007 mission. On both occasions, significantly more complications were experienced after complex compared to simple procedures. Despite improved outcome in 2008, 50% of the complex cases had an unfavourable clinical result. The data suggest that early outcome studies are a useful method of critically evaluating the quality of surgical mission. The unsatisfactory outcome of complex procedures underlines the need for feedback on the quality of these missions

“This is not a test”:How do human resource development professionals use personality tests as tools of their professional practice?

Although human resource development (HRD) professionals enjoy the use of personality tests in their practice, the appeal of these tests to some is harshly criticized by others. Personality tests attract through optimistic descriptions and ease of use for individual and team development while often lacking predictive and discriminant validities. Despite those concerns, the personality‐testing market can be characterized as a dynamic industry, with many professionals using assessments in developmental settings such as management training and executive coaching. The aim of this article is to explore how individual meaning‐making and organizational sensemaking theories help to explain the widespread and sustained use of personality tests in developmental contexts among HRD professionals. Using grounded theory and inductive analysis, we distill meaning from semistructured interviews with 18 HRD professionals. Through pattern analysis, we establish six strategies that describe practical approaches in personality testing: 1. Ethical‐protective, 2. Scientific‐selective, 3. Cautious‐avoiding, 4. Cautious‐embracing, 5. User friendly‐pragmatic, and 6. Knowledgeable‐accommodating. We find that HRD professionals deal with cognitive dissonances and paradoxical situations in their professional personality test use practice on a regular basis. Research limitations and implications for practice and future research are discussed