Linear Facial Expression Transfer With Active Appearance Models

The issue of transferring facial expressions from one person's face to another's has been an area of interest for the movie industry and the computer graphics community for quite some time. In recent years, with the proliferation of online image and video collections and web applications, such as Google Street View, the question of preserving privacy through face de-identification has gained interest in the computer vision community. In this paper, we focus on the problem of real-time dynamic facial expression transfer using an Active Appearance Model framework. We provide a theoretical foundation for a generalisation of two well-known expression transfer methods and demonstrate the improved visual quality of the proposed linear extrapolation transfer method on examples of face swapping and expression transfer using the AVOZES data corpus. Realistic talking faces can be generated in real-time at low computational cost

Epiphanies

“When did you realize that you were a first-generation college student?” Through a collection of narratives in response to this question, Dr. Rease Miles shows how personal moments of first-gen awareness can lead students to affirm their individual strengths and values

Threshold Behavior in the Initiation of Hippocampal Population Bursts

SummaryHippocampal population discharges such as sharp waves, epileptiform firing, and GDPs recur at long and variable intervals. The mechanisms for their precise timing are not well understood. Here, we show that population bursts in the disinhibited CA3 region are initiated at a threshold level of population firing after recovery from a previous event. Each population discharge follows an active buildup period when synaptic traffic and cell firing increase to threshold levels. Single-cell firing can advance burst onset by increasing population firing to suprathreshold values. Population synchrony is suppressed when threshold frequencies cannot be reached due to reduced cellular excitability or synaptic efficacy. Reducing synaptic strength reveals partially synchronous population bursts that are curtailed by GABAB-mediated conductances. Excitatory glutamatergic transmission and delayed GABAB-mediated signals have opposing feedback effects on CA3 cell firing and so determine threshold behavior for population synchrony

Brachiaria Hybrids with Larger Root Length Densities Show Greater Shoot Vigor under Drought

Brachiaria grasses are the most widely planted forages in Tropical America, and their demand is increasing across Africa and South-East Asia. One of the most limiting factors affecting productivity of Brachiaria forage grasses is seasonal drought. Genotypic variation for drought resistance has been found among Brachiaria forage grasses, making possible to genetically improve the productivity of Brachiaria forage grasses under water-limiting conditions (Rao, 2014). The ongoing Brachiaria breeding program at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has been developing and testing Brachiaria hybrids that combine resistance to biotic constraints with adaptation to abiotic stresses such as drought. Adaptation to drought conditions greatly relies on an efficient root system that facilitates water capture in drying soil. Among root traits, greater root length density (the length of roots per unit volume of soil, RLD cm/cm3) generally indicates greater ability for water uptake in drying soil (Wasson et al., 2012). Screening of forage germplasm for resistance to drought conditions has often overlooked root traits. This is because of the difficulty to separate roots out of soil, which inevitably ends up in a very low-through-put system. However, new imaging techniques allow rapid estimation and quantification of RLD within the soil (i.e., without the need to separate roots from soil). The following work was therefore performed to evaluate the variation in dry mass, water uptake and RLD of 103 hybrids of Brachiaria after three weeks of growth under drought conditions. We hypothesized that hybrids with greater RLD could extract (particularly with increasing depth) more water in drying soil, which in turn is reflected in greater shoot dry mass production after three weeks of drought treatment

Resist, comply or workaround? An examination of different facets of user engagement with information systems

This paper provides a summary of studies of user resistance to Information Technology (IT) and identifies workaround activity as an understudied and distinct, but related, phenomenon. Previous categorizations of resistance have largely failed to address the relationships between the motivations for divergences from procedure and the associated workaround activity. This paper develops a composite model of resistance/workaround derived from two case study sites. We find four key antecedent conditions derived from both positive and negative resistance rationales and identify associations and links to various resultant workaround behaviours and provide supporting Chains of Evidence from two case studies

Declaración pública por el derecho a la salud de las mujeres por la interrupción legal del embarazo por razones terapéuticas en Chile

MILES–Chile en este 28 de septiembre, Día por la Despenalización del Aborto en América Latina y el Caribe, hace un llamado urgente a la sociedad chilena como un imperativo humanitario velar por la salud de las mujeres. No se trata de imponer sino de que las mujeres y sus más cercanos tengan la posibilidad de optar frente a circunstancias tan difíciles como un problema grave de salud, una inviabilidad fetal y en caso de violaciónhttp://www.aprofa.cl/Comunicado28septiembre.pd

Economic analyses of supported employment programmes for people with mental health conditions: a systematic review

Background Employment is intrinsic to recovery from mental health conditions, helping people live independently. Systematic reviews indicate supported employment (SE) focused on competitive employment, including individual placement and support (IPS), is effective in helping people with mental health conditions into work. Evidence is limited on cost-effectiveness. We comprehensively reviewed evidence on the economic case for SE/IPS programmes. Methods We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, IBSS, Business Source Complete, and EconLit for economic and return on investment analyses of SE/IPS programmes for mental health conditions. Traditional vocational rehabilitation, sheltered work, and return to work initiatives after sickness absence of less than 1 year were excluded. Studies were independently screened by two reviewers. We assessed quality using the Consolidate Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards checklist. The protocol was preregistered with PROSPERO-CRD42020184359. Results From 40,015 references, 28 studies examined the economic case for IPS, four IPS augmented by another intervention, and 24 other forms of SE. Studies were very heterogenous, quality was variable. Of 41 studies with quality scores over 50%, 10 reported cost per quality-adjusted life year gained, (8 favourable to SE/IPS), 14 net monetary benefits (12 positive), 5 return on investment (4 positive), and 20 cost per employment outcome (14 favorable, 5 inconclusive, 1 negative). Totally, 24 of these 41 studies had monetary benefits that more than outweighed the additional costs of SE/IPS programmes. Conclusions There is a strong economic case for the implementation of SE/IPS programmes. The economic case is conservative as evidence on long-term impacts of programmes is limited

The mass assembly of galaxy groups and the evolution of the magnitude gap

We investigate the assembly of groups and clusters of galaxies using the Millennium dark matter simulation and the associated gas simulations and semi-analytic catalogues of galaxies. In particular, in order to find an observable quantity that could be used to identify early-formed groups, we study the development of the difference in magnitude between their brightest galaxies to assess the use of magnitude gaps as possible indicators. We select galaxy groups and clusters at redshift z=1 with dark matter halo mass M(R200) > 1E13/h Msun, and trace their properties until the present time (z=0). We consider only the systems with X-ray luminosity L_X> 0.25E42/h^2 erg/s at z=0. While it is true that a large magnitude gap between the two brightest galaxies of a particular group often indicates that a large fraction of its mass was assembled at an early epoch, it is not a necessary condition. More than 90% of fossil groups defined on the basis of their magnitude gaps (at any epoch between 0<z<1) cease to be fossils within 4 Gyr, mostly because other massive galaxies are assembled within their cores, even though most of the mass in their haloes might have been assembled at early times. We show that, compared to the conventional definition of fossil galaxy groups based on the magnitude gap Delta m(12)> 2 (in the R-band, within 0.5R200 of the centre of the group), an alternative criterion Delta m(14)>2.5 (within the same radius) finds 50% more early-formed systems, and those that on average retain their fossil phase longer. However, the conventional criterion performs marginally better at finding early-formed groups at the high-mass end of groups. Nevertheless, both criteria fail to identify a majority of the early-formed systems.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Picture This! Community-Led Production of Alternative Views of the Heritage of Gwynedd

The digital camera has become ubiquitous. Every mobile phone has one built in, almost everyone has a mobile phone, and people use them constantly for all kinds of things, including taking pictures. In a new collaborative project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Bangor, Aberystwyth and Manchester Metropolitan Universities have teamed up with Gwynedd Archaeological Trust to develop tools to allow communities to picture their heritage and upload the images to an automated photogrammetry server to create metrical 3D models of the sites and objects they are recording. The data created will then feed into the local Historic Environment Record, providing a valuable tool for monitoring changes to heritage sites, while providing communities with added information and alternative views of their heritage. This paper is not intended to provide a formal research design or a fully developed prototype. Rather, it is intended to outline an experimental and collaborative approach that is situated as both practice and research, with neither enterprise being privileged over the other. The activities outlined here will be developed and evaluated over the next year and a half, after which we will report on whether or how the contingent aims and outcomes expressed were realized