Comparative Evaluation of Action Recognition Methods via Riemannian Manifolds, Fisher Vectors and GMMs: Ideal and Challenging Conditions

We present a comparative evaluation of various techniques for action recognition while keeping as many variables as possible controlled. We employ two categories of Riemannian manifolds: symmetric positive definite matrices and linear subspaces. For both categories we use their corresponding nearest neighbour classifiers, kernels, and recent kernelised sparse representations. We compare against traditional action recognition techniques based on Gaussian mixture models and Fisher vectors (FVs). We evaluate these action recognition techniques under ideal conditions, as well as their sensitivity in more challenging conditions (variations in scale and translation). Despite recent advancements for handling manifolds, manifold based techniques obtain the lowest performance and their kernel representations are more unstable in the presence of challenging conditions. The FV approach obtains the highest accuracy under ideal conditions. Moreover, FV best deals with moderate scale and translation changes

11-Deoxycorticosterone Producing Adrenal Hyperplasia as a Very Unusual Cause of Endocrine Hypertension: Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature

Background and Objectives: 11-deoxycorticosterone overproduction due to an adrenal tumor or hyperplasia is a very rare cause of mineralocorticoid-induced hypertension. The objective is to provide the most relevant clinical features that clinicians dealing with patients presenting with the hallmarks of hypertension due to 11-deoxycorticosterone-producing adrenal lesions should be aware of. Design and Methods: We report the case of a patient with an 11-deoxycorticosterone-producing adrenal lesion and provide a systematic review of all published cases (PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE) between 1965 and 2021. Results: We identified 46 cases (including ours). Most cases (31, 67%) affected women with a mean age of 42.9 +/- 15.2 years and presented with high blood pressure and hypokalemia (average of 2.68 +/- 0.62 mmol/L). Median (interquartile range) time from onset of first suggestive symptoms to diagnosis was 24 (55) months. Aldosterone levels were low or in the reference range in 98% of the cases when available. 11-deoxycorticosterone levels were a median of 12.5 (18.9) times above the upper limit of the normal reference range reported in each article and overproduction of more than one hormone was seen in 31 (67%). Carcinoma was the most common histological type (21, 45.7%). Median tumor size was 61.5 (60) mm. Malignant lesions were larger, had higher 11-deoxycorticosterone levels and shorter time of evolution at diagnosis compared to benign lesions. Conclusion: 11-deoxycorticosterone-producing adrenal lesions are very rare, affecting mostly middle-aged women with a primary aldosteronism-like clinical presentation and carcinoma is the most frequent histological diagnosis. Measuring 11-deoxycorticosterone levels, when low aldosterone levels or in the lower limit of the reference range are present in hypertensive patients, is advisable. Systematic Review Registration:Open Science Framework, 10.17605/OSF.IO/NR7UV

Coupled effect of microstructure and topology on the mechanical behavior of Inconel718 additively manufactured lattices

LPBF-manufactured Inconel718 lattices with six cubic and hexagonal structures and with two material microstructures (as-built, without γ” precipitation, and heat-treated, with γ” precipitates, but with similar cell/grain size, shape and texture) were compressed at room temperature and at 600 °C. The behavior of the base material under identical microstructure and test conditions was also investigated using dedicated LPBF-manufactured specimens with single strut gauges. Irrespective of topology, precipitation led to a transition in the lattice mechanical behavior from bending-dominated to stretch-dominated, which was associated to a change in the strut deformation mode from plastic hinging to elastic buckling, as well as to a decrease in the base material strain to fracture. For all topologies investigated, precipitation led to lattice strengthening, consistent with particle-strengthening of the base material. Additionally, high temperature straining resulted both in a decrease in the lattice yield strength, consistent with softening of the base material, and in a reduction in the width of the stress oscillations in the stretch-dominated lattices, which is associated to the decrease in the base material ductility. This work proves that material microstructure influences strongly the behavior of additively manufactured architectured structures and that it must be considered as a design criterion for performance optimization

A Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems: Computational Creativity Evaluation Based on What it is to be Creative

Computational creativity is a flourishing research area, with a variety of creative systems being produced and developed. Creativity evaluation has not kept pace with system development with an evident lack of systematic evaluation of the creativity of these systems in the literature. This is partially due to difficulties in defining what it means for a computer to be creative; indeed, there is no consensus on this for human creativity, let alone its computational equivalent. This paper proposes a Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems (SPECS). SPECS is a three-step process: stating what it means for a particular computational system to be creative, deriving and performing tests based on these statements. To assist this process, the paper offers a collection of key components of creativity, identified empirically from discussions of human and computational creativity. Using this approach, the SPECS methodology is demonstrated through a comparative case study evaluating computational creativity systems that improvise music

Derrame pleuropericárdico: no todo es lupus

A 69-year-old woman was admitted in our hospital with dyspnoea in context of heart failure. She was diagnosed of autoimmune hemolityc anemia, treated with steroids. Echocardiography revealed a severe pleuropericardial effusion. A pericardiocentesis and thoracocentesis were performed and other test was performed due to obtain a diagnosis. The patient was diagnosed of primary effusion lymphoma associated to Epstein-Barr infection. Primary effusion lymphoma is an uncommon type of lymphoma found mainly in immunosuppressed patients positive HIV and human herpesvirus 8 infection with unfavourable prognosis. After chemotherapy treatment with R-CHOP cycles, the patient is now in remission.Mujer de 69 años que presenta cuadro clínico de disnea en el contexto de insuficiencia cardíaca aguda y tratamiento crónico con corticoides por anemia hemolítica autoinmune. En las pruebas complementarias se observa derrame pleuropericárdico severo. Ante estos hallazgos se realiza pericardiocentesis y toracocentesis y se completa estudio para descartar patología tumoral, infecciosa, tiroidea y autoinmune. Se diagnostica a la paciente de linfoma primario de cavidades, asociado a infección por virus de Epstein-Barr. Es un tipo poco frecuente de linfoma que se describe fundamentalmente en pacientes infectados por virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana y asociados al virus herpes humano tipo 8 con pronóstico muy desfavorable. Tras tratamiento quimioterápico con ciclos de R-CHOP la paciente se encuentra actualmente en remisión completa

Más allá del hipo persistente. A propósito de un caso

A 69-year-old man, after several emergency medical care admissions, and one admission to Internal Medicine Service for persistent hiccup, was been discharged without conclusive results. After 48 hours, patient showed lower limb paraesthesia and hypaesthesia, finding in physical exams pyramidalism with positive Babinski reflex and sensitive level at D5. Myelography is performed finding out extensive cervical-thoracic myelitis, indeed neuromyelitis optica is diagnosed, confirmed by the presence of the anti-aquaporin-4 antibody in blood test. Therefore, this case shows one possible atypical presentations of neuromyelitis optica.Varón de 69 años que tras varias consultas a Urgencias y un ingreso en Medicina Interna por hipo persistente, es dado de alta sin resultados concluyentes. A las 48 horas comienza con parestesias e hipoestesia en miembros inferiores, objetivando en la exploración piramidalismo con Babinski bilateral positivo y nivel sensitivo en D5. Se realiza mielografía en la que se observan signos de mielitis extensa cervicodorsal, confirmando mediante la presencia en sangre de anticuerpos antiacuaporina-4, el diagnóstico de enfermedad de Devic. Por tanto, este caso muestra una de las posibles presentaciones atípicas de la neuromielitis óptica

Phytoplankton dynamics in relation to seasonal variability and upwelling and relaxation patterns at the mouth of Ria de Aveiro (West Iberian Margin) over a four-year period

From June 2004 to December 2007, samples were weekly collected at a fixed station located at the mouth of Ria de Aveiro (West Iberian Margin). We examined the seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations in composition and community structure of the phytoplankton in relation to the main environmental drivers and assessed the influence of the oceano-graphic regime, namely changes in frequency and intensity of upwelling events, over the dynamics of the phytoplankton assemblage. The samples were consistently handled and a final subset of 136 OTUs (taxa with relative abundance > 0.01%) was subsequently submitted to various multivariate analyses. The phytoplankton assemblage showed significant changes at all temporal scales but with an overriding importance of seasonality over longer-(inter-annual) or shorter-term fluctuations (upwelling-related). Sea-surface temperature, salinity and maximum upwelling index were retrieved as the main driver of seasonal change. Seasonal signal was most evident in the fluctuations of chlorophyll a concentration and in the high turnover from the winter to spring phytoplankton assemblage. The seasonal cycle of production and succession was disturbed by upwelling events known to disrupt thermal stratification and induce changes in the phytoplankton assemblage. Our results indicate that both the frequency and intensity of physical forcing were important drivers of such variability, but the outcome in terms of species composition was highly dependent on the available local pool of species and the timing of those events in relation to the seasonal cycle. We conclude that duration, frequency and intensity of upwelling events, which vary seasonally and inter-annually, are paramount for maintaining long-term phytoplankton diversity likely by allowing unstable coexistence and incorporating species turnover at different scales. Our results contribute to the understanding of the complex mechanisms of coastal phytoplankton dynamics in relation to changing physical forcing which is fundamental to improve predictability of future prospects under climate change.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) [SFRH/BPD/ 94562/2013]; FEDER funds; national funds; CESAM [UID/AMB/50017]; FCT/MEC through national funds; FEDERinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Spectral determination of the colour and vertical structure of dark spots in Neptune’s atmosphere

Previous observations of dark vortices in Neptune’s atmosphere, such as Voyager 2’s Great Dark Spot (1989), have been made in only a few broad-wavelength channels, hampering efforts to determine these vortices’ pressure levels and darkening processes. We analyse spectroscopic observations of a dark spot on Neptune identified by the Hubble Space Telescope as NDS-2018; the spectral observations were made in 2019 by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) of the Very Large Telescope (Chile). The MUSE medium-resolution 475–933 nm reflection spectra allow us to show that dark spots are caused by darkening at short wavelengths (700 nm). This bright feature is much deeper than previously studied dark-spot companion clouds and may be connected with the circulation that generates and sustains such spots

New ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs from the European lower cretaceous demonstrate extensive ichthyosaur survival across the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary

Background Ichthyosauria is a diverse clade of marine amniotes that spanned most of the Mesozoic. Until recently, most authors interpreted the fossil record as showing that three major extinction events affected this group during its history: one during the latest Triassic, one at the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary (JCB), and one (resulting in total extinction) at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary. The JCB was believed to eradicate most of the peculiar morphotypes found in the Late Jurassic, in favor of apparently less specialized forms in the Cretaceous. However, the record of ichthyosaurs from the Berriasian–Barremian interval is extremely limited, and the effects of the end-Jurassic extinction event on ichthyosaurs remains poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings Based on new material from the Hauterivian of England and Germany and on abundant material from the Cambridge Greensand Formation, we name a new ophthalmosaurid, Acamptonectes densus gen. et sp. nov. This taxon shares numerous features with Ophthalmosaurus, a genus now restricted to the Callovian–Berriasian interval. Our phylogenetic analysis indicates that Ophthalmosauridae diverged early in its history into two markedly distinct clades, Ophthalmosaurinae and Platypterygiinae, both of which cross the JCB and persist to the late Albian at least. To evaluate the effect of the JCB extinction event on ichthyosaurs, we calculated cladogenesis, extinction, and survival rates for each stage of the Oxfordian–Barremian interval, under different scenarios. The extinction rate during the JCB never surpasses the background extinction rate for the Oxfordian–Barremian interval and the JCB records one of the highest survival rates of the interval. Conclusions/Significance There is currently no evidence that ichthyosaurs were affected by the JCB extinction event, in contrast to many other marine groups. Ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs remained diverse from their rapid radiation in the Middle Jurassic to their total extinction at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous