β\beta-Multivariational Autoencoder for Entangled Representation Learning in Video Frames

It is crucial to choose actions from an appropriate distribution while learning a sequential decision-making process in which a set of actions is expected given the states and previous reward. Yet, if there are more than two latent variables and every two variables have a covariance value, learning a known prior from data becomes challenging. Because when the data are big and diverse, many posterior estimate methods experience posterior collapse. In this paper, we propose the $\beta$-Multivariational Autoencoder ($\beta$MVAE) to learn a Multivariate Gaussian prior from video frames for use as part of a single object-tracking in form of a decision-making process. We present a novel formulation for object motion in videos with a set of dependent parameters to address a single object-tracking task. The true values of the motion parameters are obtained through data analysis on the training set. The parameters population is then assumed to have a Multivariate Gaussian distribution. The $\beta$MVAE is developed to learn this entangled prior $p = N(\mu, \Sigma)$ directly from frame patches where the output is the object masks of the frame patches. We devise a bottleneck to estimate the posterior's parameters, i.e. $\mu', \Sigma'$. Via a new reparameterization trick, we learn the likelihood $p(\hat{x}|z)$ as the object mask of the input. Furthermore, we alter the neural network of $\beta$MVAE with the U-Net architecture and name the new network $\beta$Multivariational U-Net ($\beta$MVUnet). Our networks are trained from scratch via over 85k video frames for 24 ($\beta$MVUnet) and 78 ($\beta$MVAE) million steps. We show that $\beta$MVUnet enhances both posterior estimation and segmentation functioning over the test set. Our code and the trained networks are publicly released

A study of Carter's Wolf-Alice based on showalter's gynocriticism

One of the most radical and stylish fiction authors of the 20th century, Angela Carter, expresses her views of feminism through her various novels and fairy tales. Carter began experimenting with writing fairy tales in 1970, which coincided with the period of second wave feminism in the Unites States. The majority of Angela Carter's work revolve around a specific type of feminism, radical libertarian feminism and her critique of the patriarchal role that have been placed on women. In this article, the main concentrate is on heroine’s internalized consciousness which echoes in their behavior. All of the female protagonists in carter's short stories; such as The Company of Wolves, and Werewolf and mainly in Wolf-Alice have similar characteristics with different conditions, in which they are represented in a very negative light with less than ideal roles. In these stories, the protagonist is a young girl who has many conflicts with love and desire. Carter attempts to encourage women to do something about this degrading representation

A gynocritical study of The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter

In 1979, Carter published one of her mast renowned collections of short fiction, The Bloody Chamber. The majority of Angela Carter's work revolve around a specific type of feminism, radical libertarian feminism and her critique of the patriarchal role that have been placed on women. which she promotes feminist due to her style, referred to as "Galm-Rock" feminism In this article, the main concentrate is on heroine's internalized consciousness which echoes in their behavior. All of the female protagonists in carter's short stories; such as The Werewolf, The Wolf-Alice, and mainly in The Company of Wolves have similar characteristics with different conditions, in which they are represented in a very negative light with less than ideal roles. In these stories, the protagonist is a young girl who has many conflicts with love and desire. Carter attempts to encourage women to do something about this degrading representation

Studying Postmerger Outflows from Magnetized Neutrino-cooled Accretion Disks

Neutrino-cooled accretion flow around a spinning black hole, produced by a compact binary merger is a promising scenario for jet formation and launching magnetically-driven outflows. Based on GW170817 gravitational wave detection by LIGO and Virgo observatories followed by electromagnetic counterparts, this model can explain the central engine of the short duration gamma ray bursts (GRB) and kilonova radiations. Using the open-source GRMHD HARM-COOL code, we evolved several 2D magnetized accretion disk-black hole models with realistic equation of state in the fixed curved space-time background. We applied particle tracer technique to measure the properties of the outflows. The disk and black hole's initial parameters are chosen in a way to represent different possible post-merger scenarios of the merging compact objects. Our simulations show a strong correlation between black hole's spin and ejected mass. Generally, mergers producing massive disks and rapidly spinning black holes launch stronger outflows. We observed our models generate winds with moderate velocity ($v/c \sim 0.1-0.2$), and broad range of electron fraction. We use these results to estimate the luminosity and light curves of possible radioactively powered transients emitted by such systems. We found the luminosity peaks within the range of $10^{40}-10^{42}$ erg/s which agrees with previous studies for disk wind outflows

Agricultural Adaptation to Reconcile Food Security and Water Sustainability Under Climate Change:The Case of Cereals in Iran

In this study, we simulate the crop yield and water footprint (WF) of major food crops of Iran on irrigated and rainfed croplands for the historical and the future climate. We assesse the effects of three agricultural adaptation strategies to climate change in terms of potential blue water savings. We then evaluate to what extent these savings can reduce unsustainable blue WF. We find that cereal production increases under climate change in both irrigated and rainfed croplands (by 2.6-3.1 and 1.4-2.3 million t y-1, respectively) due to increased yields (6.6%-78.7%). Simultaneously, the unit WF (m3 t-1) tends to decrease in most scenarios. However, the annual consumptive water use increases in both irrigated and rainfed croplands (by 0.3-1.8 and 0.5-1.7 billion m3 y-1, respectively). This is most noticeable in the arid regions, where consumptive water use increases by roughly 70% under climate change. Off-season cultivation is the most effective adaptation strategy to alleviate additional pressure on blue water resources, with blue water savings of 14-15 billion m3 y-1. The second most effective is WF benchmarking, which results in blue water savings of 1.1-3.5 billion m3 y-1. The early planting strategy is less effective, but still leads to blue water savings of 1.7-1.9 billion m3 y-1. In the same order of effectiveness, these three strategies can reduce blue water scarcity and unsustainable blue water use in Iran under current conditions. However, we find that these strategies do not mitigate water scarcity in all provinces per se, nor all months of the year

System reliability analysis of the scoliosis disorder.

BACKGROUND: Scoliosis is a spine abnormal deviation, which is an idiopathic disorder among children and adolescents. As a matter of the fact, distribution of loads on the patient\u27s spine and load-carrying capacity of the vertebral column are both random variables. Therefore, the probabilistic approach may consider as a sophisticated method to deal with this problem. METHOD: Reliability analysis is a probabilistic-based approach to consider the uncertainties of load and resistance of the vertebral column. The main contribution of this paper is to compare the reliability level of a normal and scoliosis spinal. To do so, the numerical analyses associated with the inherent random parameters of bones and applied load are performed. Then, the reliability indices for all vertebrae and discs are determined. Accordingly, as the main innovation of this paper, the system reliability indices of the spinal column for both normal and damaged backbone systems are represented. RESULTS: Based on the required reliability index for normal spinal curvature the target system reliability level for scoliosis disorder is proposed. CONCLUSION: Since the proposed target reliability index is based on the strength limit state of the vertebral column, it can be considered as a reliability level for any proposed treatment approaches

α-Synuclein interacts with lipoproteins in plasma

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by dopaminergic neural cell death in the substantia nigra of the brain and α-synuclein (α-syn) accumulation in Lewy bodies. α-Syn can be detected in blood and is a potential biomarker for PD. It has been shown recently that α-syn can pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB), but the mechanism is not yet understood. We hypothesized that α-syn could interact with lipoproteins, and in association with these particles, could pass through the BBB. Here, we show that apoE, apoJ, and apoA1, but not apoB, were co-immunocaptured along with α-syn from human blood plasma, suggesting that α-syn is associated with high density lipoproteins (HDL). This association was also supported by experiments involving western blotting of plasma fractions separated by gel filtration,which revealed that α-syn was found in fractions identified as HDL. Interestingly, we could also detect α-syn and ApoJ in the intermediate fraction between HDL and LDL, referred to as lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), which has an important role in cholesterol metabolism. Overall, the results provide best support for the hypothesis that α-syn interacts with HDL, and this has potential implications for transport of α-syn from the brain to peripheral blood, across the BBB

The Status of Knowledge Management in the Libraries of selected Medical Sciences Universities in Tehran: Using Bukowitz and Williams Model

Introduction: Libraries are considered to be an important link in the knowledge management chain at universities as the basis for gathering, processing, storing and distributing knowledge. So this research was done with the aim of investigating the knowledge management status in selected libraries of medical sciences universities in Tehran using the Beckowitz and William model. Methods: in term of goals, this research is Applicability and was conducted in descriptive way and scrolling method. A questionnaire was used to collect information that its validity was estimated by experts and its reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha. The Research community consisted of 153 managers and librarians of central and faculty libraries of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Shahid-beheshtie University of Medical Sciences Results: The results showed that the mean scores of knowledge management status in libraries of Tehran University of Medical Sciences were 144/85 and more than average.  Also between the components studied, the mean score for components of knowledge deployment, knowledge learning, knowledge sharing and knowledge removal were more than average, the knowledge creation / maintenance was average and knowledge assessment and finding knowledge were lower than average. Conclusion: The findings showed that the knowledge management selected libraries status of medical sciences universities in Tehran was desirable. Therefore, according to past research and comparison with them, it can be concluded that knowledge management in mentioned libraries progressing