Real-time head nod and shake detection for continuous human affect recognition

Human affect recognition is the field of study associated with using automatic techniques to identify human emotion or human affective state. A person’s affective states is often communicated non-verbally through body language. A large part of human body language communication is the use of head gestures. Almost all cultures use subtle head movements to convey meaning. Two of the most common and distinct head gestures are the head nod and the head shake gestures. In this paper we present a robust system to automatically detect head nod and shakes. We employ the Microsoft Kinect and utilise discrete Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) as the backbone to a to a machine learning based classifier within the system. The system achieves 86% accuracy on test datasets and results are provided

A smart-site-survey system using Image-based 3D metric reconstruction and interactive panorama visualization

This work presents a so-called Smart Site Survey (SSS) system that provides an efficient, web-based platform for virtual inspection of remote sites with absolute 3D metrics. Traditional manual surveying requires sending surveyors and specialised measuring tools to the targeted scene, which takes time and requires significant human resource, and often includes human error. The proposed system provides an automated site survey tool. Sample indoor scenes including offices, storage rooms, and laboratory are used for testing purposes, and highly precise virtual scenes are restored, with the measurement accuracy of 1%, i.e. an error ±1.5cm to a 150cm length. This is comparable or superior to existing works or commercial products

Analysis of multiple chromosomal rearrangements in the genome of Willisornis vidua using BAC-FISH and chromosome painting on a supposed conserved karyotype

Background Thamnophilidae birds are the result of a monophyletic radiation of insectivorous Passeriformes. They are a diverse group of 225 species and 45 genera and occur in lowlands and lower montane forests of Neotropics. Despite the large degree of diversity seen in this family, just four species of Thamnophilidae have been karyotyped with a diploid number ranging from 76 to 82 chromosomes. The karyotypic relationships within and between Thamnophilidae and another Passeriformes therefore remain poorly understood. Recent studies have identified the occurrence of intrachromosomal rearrangements in Passeriformes using in silico data and molecular cytogenetic tools. These results demonstrate that intrachromosomal rearrangements are more common in birds than previously thought and are likely to contribute to speciation events. With this in mind, we investigate the apparently conserved karyotype of Willisornis vidua, the Xingu Scale-backed Antbird, using a combination of molecular cytogenetic techniques including chromosome painting with probes derived from Gallus gallus (chicken) and Burhinus oedicnemus (stone curlew), combined with Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) probes derived from the same species. The goal was to investigate the occurrence of rearrangements in an apparently conserved karyotype in order to understand the evolutionary history and taxonomy of this species. In total, 78 BAC probes from the Gallus gallus and Taeniopygia guttata (the Zebra Finch) BAC libraries were tested, of which 40 were derived from Gallus gallus macrochromosomes 1-8, and 38 from microchromosomes 9-28. Results The karyotype is similar to typical Passeriformes karyotypes, with a diploid number of 2n = 80. Our chromosome painting results show that most of the Gallus gallus chromosomes are conserved, except GGA-1, 2 and 4, with some rearrangements identified among macro- and microchromosomes. BAC mapping revealed many intrachromosomal rearrangements, mainly inversions, when comparing Willisornis vidua karyotype with Gallus gallus, and corroborates the fissions revealed by chromosome painting. Conclusions Willisornis vidua presents multiple chromosomal rearrangements despite having a supposed conservative karyotype, demonstrating that our approach using a combination of FISH tools provides a higher resolution than previously obtained by chromosome painting alone. We also show that populations of Willisornis vidua appear conserved from a cytogenetic perspective, despite significant phylogeographic structure.Peer reviewe

Analysis of multiple chromosomal rearrangements in the genome of Willisornis vidua using BAC-FISH and chromosome painting on a supposed conserved karyotype

Background Thamnophilidae birds are the result of a monophyletic radiation of insectivorous Passeriformes. They are a diverse group of 225 species and 45 genera and occur in lowlands and lower montane forests of Neotropics. Despite the large degree of diversity seen in this family, just four species of Thamnophilidae have been karyotyped with a diploid number ranging from 76 to 82 chromosomes. The karyotypic relationships within and between Thamnophilidae and another Passeriformes therefore remain poorly understood. Recent studies have identified the occurrence of intrachromosomal rearrangements in Passeriformes using in silico data and molecular cytogenetic tools. These results demonstrate that intrachromosomal rearrangements are more common in birds than previously thought and are likely to contribute to speciation events. With this in mind, we investigate the apparently conserved karyotype of Willisornis vidua, the Xingu Scale-backed Antbird, using a combination of molecular cytogenetic techniques including chromosome painting with probes derived from Gallus gallus (chicken) and Burhinus oedicnemus (stone curlew), combined with Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) probes derived from the same species. The goal was to investigate the occurrence of rearrangements in an apparently conserved karyotype in order to understand the evolutionary history and taxonomy of this species. In total, 78 BAC probes from the Gallus gallus and Taeniopygia guttata (the Zebra Finch) BAC libraries were tested, of which 40 were derived from Gallus gallus macrochromosomes 1-8, and 38 from microchromosomes 9-28. Results The karyotype is similar to typical Passeriformes karyotypes, with a diploid number of 2n = 80. Our chromosome painting results show that most of the Gallus gallus chromosomes are conserved, except GGA-1, 2 and 4, with some rearrangements identified among macro- and microchromosomes. BAC mapping revealed many intrachromosomal rearrangements, mainly inversions, when comparing Willisornis vidua karyotype with Gallus gallus, and corroborates the fissions revealed by chromosome painting. Conclusions Willisornis vidua presents multiple chromosomal rearrangements despite having a supposed conservative karyotype, demonstrating that our approach using a combination of FISH tools provides a higher resolution than previously obtained by chromosome painting alone. We also show that populations of Willisornis vidua appear conserved from a cytogenetic perspective, despite significant phylogeographic structure.Peer reviewe

Chromosomal Evolution in the Phylogenetic Context: A Remarkable Karyotype Reorganization in Neotropical Parrot Myiopsitta monachus (Psittacidae).

Myiopsitta monachus is a small Neotropical parrot (Psittaciformes: Arini Tribe) from subtropical and temperate regions of South America. It has a diploid chromosome number 2n = 48, different from other members of the Arini Tribe that have usually 70 chromosomes. The species has the lowest 2n within the Arini Tribe. In this study, we combined comparative chromosome painting with probes generated from chromosomes of Gallus gallus and Leucopternis albicollis, and FISH with bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) selected from the genome library of G. gallus with the aim to shed light on the dynamics of genome reorganization in M. monachus in the phylogenetic context. The homology maps showed a great number of fissions in macrochromosomes, and many fusions between microchromosomes and fragments of macrochromosomes. Our phylogenetic analysis by Maximum Parsimony agree with molecular data, placing M. monachus in a basal position within the Arini Tribe, together with Amazona aestiva (short tailed species). In M. monachus many chromosome rearrangements were found to represent autopomorphic characters, indicating that after this species split as an independent branch, an intensive karyotype reorganization took place. In addition, our results show that M. monachus probes generated by flow cytometry provide novel cytogenetic tools for the detection of avian chromosome rearrangements, since this species presents breakpoints that have not been described in other species

An interdisciplinary team communication framework and its application to healthcare 'e-teams' systems design

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are few studies that examine the processes that interdisciplinary teams engage in and how we can design health information systems (HIS) to support those team processes. This was an exploratory study with two purposes: (1) To develop a framework for interdisciplinary team communication based on structures, processes and outcomes that were identified as having occurred during weekly team meetings. (2) To use the framework to guide 'e-teams' HIS design to support interdisciplinary team meeting communication.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An ethnographic approach was used to collect data on two interdisciplinary teams. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data according to structures, processes and outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present details for team meta-concepts of structures, processes and outcomes and the concepts and sub concepts within each meta-concept. We also provide an exploratory framework for interdisciplinary team communication and describe how the framework can guide HIS design to support 'e-teams'.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The structures, processes and outcomes that describe interdisciplinary teams are complex and often occur in a non-linear fashion. Electronic data support, process facilitation and team video conferencing are three HIS tools that can enhance team function.</p

Use of selected complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments in veterans with cancer or chronic pain: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is emerging as an important form of care in the United States. We sought to measure the prevalence of selected CAM use among veterans attending oncology and chronic pain clinics and to describe the characteristics of CAM use in this population. METHODS: The self-administered, mail-in survey included questions on demographics, health beliefs, medical problems and 6 common CAM treatments (herbs, dietary supplements, chiropractic care, massage therapy, acupuncture and homeopathy) use. We used the chi-square test to examine bivariate associations between our predictor variables and CAM use. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients (27.3%) reported CAM use within the past 12 months. CAM use was associated with more education (p = 0.02), higher income (p = 0.006), non-VA insurance (p = 0.003), additional care outside the VA (p = 0.01) and the belief that lifestyle contributes to illness (p = 0.015). The diagnosis of chronic pain versus cancer was not associated with differential CAM use (p = 0.15). Seventy-six percent of CAM non-users reported that they would use it if offered at the VA. CONCLUSION: Use of 6 common CAM treatments among these veterans is lower than among the general population, but still substantial. A large majority of veterans reported interest in using CAM modalities if they were offered at the VA. A national assessment of veteran interest in CAM may assist VA leaders to respond to patients' needs

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

Observational constraints on the distribution, seasonality, and environmental predictors of North American boreal methane emissions

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106685/1/GBC_20128_REVISED_suppinfo.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106685/2/gbc20128.pd