Facial Expression Recognition System

This thesis describes the problem of facial expression recognition in the field of computer vision. Firstly, the psychological background of a problem is presented. Then, the idea of facial expression recognition system (FERS) is outlined and the requirements of such system are specified. The FER system consists of 3 stages: face detection, feature extraction and expression recognition. Methods proposed in literature are reviewed for each stage of a system. Finally, the design and implementation of my system are explained. The face detection algorithm used in the system is based on work by Viola and Jones [13]. The expressions are described by appearance features obtained from texture encoded with Local Binary Patterns [32]. The Support Vector Machine with RBF kernel function is used for classification. Databases that were used are: The Facial Expressions and Emotion Database [34], which contains spontaneous emotions and Cohn- Kanade Database [35] with posed emotions. The system was trained on two databases separately and achieves accuracy of 71% for spontaneous emotions recognition and 77% for posed actions recognition

Orthopedic diseases in dairy cattle: causes, effects, and preventions

Locomotor diseases in cattle can have various causes, both infectious and non-infectious. Infectious agents, such as bacteria, mainly cause finger dermatitis and interdigital dermatitis. In turn, the non-infectious factors include deformation of the claws and the animal housing system, including the bedding material in the barn. Orthopedic disorders and diseases generate financial losses due to lower milk yield, extension of the calving period, or the need to implement treatment. Moreover, animals suffering from any hoof dysfunction suffer from reduced welfare, which results from the sensation of pain, discomfort, and stress associated with a hoof injury or deformation of the claw, or an infection developing on the bovine hoof. It is necessary to take measures to prevent the appearance of diseases and dysfunctions within the cow?s hooves, and early detection of disorders is associated with faster implementation of treatment.FE1B-06B2-126F | Jos? Pedro Pinto de Ara?joN/

Clinical application of bioextracts in supporting the reproductive system of animals and humans: potential and Limitations

There is an increasing demand of spices and herbs in developing countries due to the beneficial effects of plants and herbal preparations as medicines. The basic technological process of obtaining extracts from natural raw materials is extraction, consisting in etching with solvents. Plant extracts are extremely complex, multicomponent mixtures obtained from flowers, fruits, leaves, stems, twigs, or seeds of various plant materials. They are a rich source of polyphenols, flavonoids, phytosterols, carotenoids, and vitamins. The search for alternative methods of treatment is increasingly replacing the scientists? excessive focus on the healing properties of bioextracts. Recent research offers great hope for the development of alternative methods to improve the reproductive system. The use of animal models in experimental research has increased knowledge regarding the beneficial effects of bioextracts on both male and female reproductive systems and reproductive cells. Demonstrating the positive effect of plant extracts creates new opportunities for the use of biowaste, which is a by-product in various production sectors. The aim of this review is to present the functional properties of extracts of natural origin, a cross section of modern methods of their preparation, and a discussion of the possibilities of their use in the auxiliary reproductive system.FE1B-06B2-126F | Jos? Pedro Pinto de Ara?joN/

Limited predictive value of achieving beneficial plasma (Z)-endoxifen threshold level by CYP2D6 genotyping in tamoxifen-treated Polish women with breast cancer

Background Tamoxifen, the most frequently used drug for treating estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, must be converted into active metabolites to exert its therapeutic efficacy, mainly through CYP2D6 enzymes. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of CYP2D6 polymorphisms on (Z)-endoxifen-directed tamoxifen metabolism and to assess the usefulness of CYP2D6 genotyping for identifying patients who are likely to have insufficient (Z)-endoxifen concentrations to benefit from standard therapy. Methods Blood samples from 279 Polish women with breast cancer receiving tamoxifen 20 mg daily were analyzed for CYP2D6 genotype and drug metabolite concentration. Steady-state plasma levels of tamoxifen and its 14 metabolites were measured by using the ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method. Results In nearly 60 % of patients, including over 30 % of patients with fully functional CYP2D6, (Z)-endoxifen concentration was below the predefined threshold of therapeutic efficacy. The most frequently observed CYP2D6 genotype was EM/PM (34.8 %), among which 83.5 % of patients had a combination of wild-type and *4 alleles. Plasma concentration of five metabolites was significantly correlated with CYP2D6 genotype. For the first time, we identified an association between decreased (E/Z)-4-OH-N-desmethyl-tamoxifen-β-D-glucuronide levels (r 2  = 0.23; p < 10 −16 ) and increased CYP2D6 functional impairment. The strongest correlation was observed for (Z)-endoxifen, whose concentration was significantly lower in groups of patients carrying at least one CYP2D6 null allele, compared with EM/EM patients. The CYP2D6 genotype accounted for plasma level variability of (Z)-endoxifen by 27 % (p < 10 −16 ) and for the variability of metabolic ratio indicating (Z)-endoxifen-directed metabolism of tamoxifen by 51 % (p < 10 −43 ). Conclusions The majority of breast cancer patients in Poland may not achieve a therapeutic level of (Z)-endoxifen upon receiving a standard dose of tamoxifen. This finding emphasizes the limited value of CYP2D6 genotyping in routine clinical practice for identifying patients who might not benefit from the therapy. In its place, direct monitoring of plasma steady-state (Z)-endoxifen concentration should be performed to personalize and optimize the treatment

Tool support for data protection impact assessment in the smart grid.

The smart grid promises to enable novel energy services, supporting a greater integration of renewable energy sources. Major issues in this context are data protection and privacy risks, wherein malicious actors or organizations misuse personal data that is collected, processed and stored to enable these services. To address this problem, the European Commission has proposed a risk-driven process to data protection impact assessment. In this article, we introduce this process and present a tool that can support its implementation

Online Reasoning about the Root Causes of Software Rollout Failures in the Smart Grid.

An essential ingredient of the smart grid is software-based services. Increasingly, software is used to support control strategies and services that are critical to the grid's operation. Therefore, its correct operation is essential. For various reasons, software and its configuration needs to be updated. This update process represents a significant overhead for smart grid operators and failures can result in financial losses and grid instabilities. In this paper, we present a framework for determining the root causes of software rollout failures in the smart grid. It uses distributed sensors that indicate potential issues, such as anomalous grid states and cyber-attacks, and a causal inference engine based on a formalism called evidential networks. The aim of the framework is to support an adaptive approach to software rollouts, ensuring that a campaign completes in a timely and secure manner. The framework is evaluated for a software rollout use-case in a low voltage distribution grid. Experimental results indicate it can successfully discriminate between different root causes of failure, supporting an adaptive rollout strategy

Ligands of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ increase the generation of vascular endothelial growth factor in vascular smooth muscle cells and in macrophages.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-γ (PPARγ) are ligand-inducible transcription factors of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. We examined the effect of PPARγ activation on the generation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), one of the major angiogenic agents. Rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and murine macrophages RAW264.7 were incubated for 24 h with PPARγ activators: prostaglandin J2 and ciglitazone. PPARγ were expressed in VSMC and RAW cells and their activity was upregulated in the presence of PGJ2 and ciglitazone. Incubation of the cells with PPARγ activators significantly augmented the release of VEGF protein into the media, both in resting and in IL-1β- or LPS-stimulated cultures. The higher protein generation was connected with the increased expression of mRNA and transcriptional activation of VEGF promoter. We conclude that the activation of PPARγ upregulates the generation of VEGF and may be involved in the regulation of angiogenesis

Towards a Systematic Approach for Smart Grid Hazard Analysis and Experiment Specification.

The transition to the smart grid introduces complexity to the design and operation of electric power systems. This complexity has the potential to result in safety-related losses that are caused, for example, by unforeseen interactions between systems and cyber-Attacks. Consequently, it is important to identify potential losses and their root causes, ideally during system design. This is non-Trivial and requires a systematic approach. Furthermore, due to complexity, it may not possible to reason about the circumstances that could lead to a loss; in this case, experiments are required. In this work, we present how two complementary deductive approaches can be usefully integrated to address these concerns: Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) is a systems approach to identifying safety-related hazard scenarios; and the ERIGrid Holistic Test Description (HTD) provides a structured approach to refine and document experiments. The intention of combining these approaches is to enable a systematic approach to hazard analysis whose findings can be experimentally tested. We demonstrate the use of this approach with a reactive power voltage control case study for a low voltage distribution network

Tool Support für Data Protection Impact Assessment im Smart Grid

The smart grid promises to enable novel energy services, supporting a greater integration of renewable energy sources. Major issues in this context are data protection and privacy risks, wherein malicious actors or organizations misuse personal data that is collected, processed and stored to enable these services. To address this problem, the European Commission has proposed a risk-driven process to data protection impact assessment. In this article, we introduce this process and present a tool that can support its implementation