Henri Temianka Correspondence; (schuller)

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/temianka_correspondence/2758/thumbnail.jp

DeepCoder: Semi-parametric Variational Autoencoders for Automatic Facial Action Coding

Human face exhibits an inherent hierarchy in its representations (i.e., holistic facial expressions can be encoded via a set of facial action units (AUs) and their intensity). Variational (deep) auto-encoders (VAE) have shown great results in unsupervised extraction of hierarchical latent representations from large amounts of image data, while being robust to noise and other undesired artifacts. Potentially, this makes VAEs a suitable approach for learning facial features for AU intensity estimation. Yet, most existing VAE-based methods apply classifiers learned separately from the encoded features. By contrast, the non-parametric (probabilistic) approaches, such as Gaussian Processes (GPs), typically outperform their parametric counterparts, but cannot deal easily with large amounts of data. To this end, we propose a novel VAE semi-parametric modeling framework, named DeepCoder, which combines the modeling power of parametric (convolutional) and nonparametric (ordinal GPs) VAEs, for joint learning of (1) latent representations at multiple levels in a task hierarchy1, and (2) classification of multiple ordinal outputs. We show on benchmark datasets for AU intensity estimation that the proposed DeepCoder outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches, and related VAEs and deep learning models.Comment: ICCV 2017 - accepte

Comment on the new STS (367/2022 of May 4) regarding revolving credits Has there been a change of doctrine?

La nueva sentencia del TS en materia de créditos revolving ha dado pie a múltiples interpretaciones. Las diferencias interpretativas sobre esta sentencia han sido tan relevantes, que el TS ha tenido que hacer uso de una nota informativa para aclarar el asunto. En este comentario, se analizará el caso concreto, así como también se intentará poner de relieve los puntos más controvertidos del caso. De este modo, se pretende aclarar el status quo de los créditos revolving tras la nueva STS.The new ruling of the Supreme Court on revolving credits has given rise to multiple interpretations. The interpretative differences on this sentence have been so relevant that the Supreme Court has had to make use of an informative note to clarify the matter. In this commentary, the specific case will be analyzed, as well as an attempt to highlight the most controversial points of the case. In this way, it is intended to clarify the status quo of revolving credits after the new STS

Nulidad de los créditos revolving a través de la normativa de usura

Revolving credits are characterized by being a flexible form of credit that can be used for both commercial and consumer purposes. The APRs that are generally charged as consideration are usually quite high; This has meant an avalanche of litigation in the last five years when considering this typology of usurious credit. It behooves us to analyze the characteristics of the revolving credits and to see in the light of the only two pronouncements (plenary) of the TS if the inefficiency channel really crosses usury or if there are other formsLos créditos revolving se caracterizan por ser una modalidad crediticia flexible que puede ser utilizada tanto para fines empresariales, como de consumo. Las TAEs que suelen cobrarse como contraprestación suelen ser bastante elevadas; esto ha supuesto un alud de litigios en los últimos cinco años al considerarse esta tipología crediticia usuraria. Nos corresponde analizar las características de los créditos revolving y ver, a la luz de los dos únicos pronunciamientos (plenarios) del TS, si realmente el cauce de ineficacia pasa por la usura o si existen otras vías

Cryptoassets: Legal categorization of cryptoassets and introduction to the technology DLT/Blockchain

Los criptoactivos han emergido durante los últimos años como algo muy atractivo entre la población, pero a la vez han supuesto un verdadero quebradero de cabeza para el legislador y diferentes países del mundo. La novedad y la trascendencia transfronteriza obliga a acudir a distintos proyectos normativos, recomendaciones de utoridades, así como a doctrina comparada. En el presente trabajo se afronta el difícil reto de encajar a los criptoactivos en el ordenamiento jurídico español, sin menoscabo de proponer una serie de mejoras o sugerencias a nivel europeo. Para afrontar el desafío con seguridad y certeza, será necesario vislumbrar las bases tecnológicas de blockchain, también conocido como DLT.Cryptoassets have emerged in recent years as something very attractive among the population, but at the same time it has been a real headache for the legislator and also for differents countries of the world. The novelty and cross-border importance forces us to go to different regulatory projects, recommendations of authorities, as well as comparative doctrine. In the present work, the difficult challenge of fitting cryptoassets into the Spanish legal system is faced, without prejudice to proposing a series of improvements or suggestions at a European level. To face the challenge with security and certainty, it will be necessary to glimpse the technological bases of blockchain, also known as DLT

Der Wahlsieg von Enrique Bolanos in Nikaragua: "Continuismo" statt "Rückkehr zur Revolution"

"Enrique Bolaños vom Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC), ehemals Vizepräsident der Regierung von Arnoldo Aleman, hat mit weitem Vorsprung vor dem sandinistischen Ex-Präsidenten Daniel Ortega die nikaraguanischen Präsidentschaftswahlen am 4. November 2001 gewonnen. In den Parlamentswahlen hat der PLC die absolute Mehrheit erreicht. Die von den Liberalen im Wahlkampf geschürte Angst vor einem Rückfall in die Politik der 80er Jahre hat offensichtlich die Mehrheit der Wähler abgeschreckt, dem FSLN nach elf Jahren in der Opposition wieder Regierungsverantwortung zu übertragen. Ein radikaler Politikwechsel oder gar die befürchtete "Rückkehr der Revolution" wäre auch nach einem Sieg Ortegas unwahrscheinlich gewesen." (Brennpkt. Lat.am/DÜI

Procedures for the Collection of Representative Water Quality Data from Monitoring Wells

Data collected from six monitoring wells at waste disposal sites in Illinois were used to evaluate procedures for the collection of "representative" water samples from monitoring wells. The effects of four types of pumping mechanisms, the extent of well flushing, the rate and time of pumping, and storage and preservation techniques on chemical composition of water samples were studied. Pump tests and multiple sample experiments provided data on which recommended sampling protocols and sample preservation, preparation, and storage procedures are based. The selection of the type of sampling device; sample preparation, preservation and storage; and sampling procedures all must be tailored to the size and accessibility of the individual well, its hydrologic and chemical character, the chemical constituents of interest, and the purpose for monitoring the site. Generally recommended sampling procedures include: 1) using peristaltic or submersible diaphragm type pumps when possible; 2) conducting pump tests prior to sampling to determine sampling frequency and time and rate of pumping; 3) flushing the well by pumping four to six well volumes; 4) measuring key parameters such as pH, specific conductance, oxidation-reduction potential, and alkalinity at the time of sample collection; and 5) filtering samples immediately on site through a 0.45 μm pore size filter and then preserving the samples immediately after filtration, according to U.S. EPA (1979) recommended procedures. i

Online Centroidal Angular Momentum Reference Generation and Motion Optimization for Humanoid Push Recovery

This letter presents a new push recovery algorithm for humanoid robots in balancing scenarios by exploiting the system's rotational dynamics. The proposed framework actively generates centroidal angular momentum (CAM) references based on the force magnitude and direction of the push to counteract the disturbance and maintain its balance. Since a humanoid robot can only store a limited amount of angular momentum, the CAM reference is generated in three consecutive phases: 1) CAM generation phase to counteract the push; 2) CAM reduction phase to bring the robot to a halt; and 3) posture recovery phase to converge to the reference pose again. A subsequent whole-body motion optimizer, formulated as a constrained quadratic optimization problem, generates kinematically feasible whole-body trajectories based on the CAM reference. The proposed framework is validated through experiments with the humanoid robot TORO