A Deep Moving-camera Background Model

In video analysis, background models have many applications such as background/foreground separation, change detection, anomaly detection, tracking, and more. However, while learning such a model in a video captured by a static camera is a fairly-solved task, in the case of a Moving-camera Background Model (MCBM), the success has been far more modest due to algorithmic and scalability challenges that arise due to the camera motion. Thus, existing MCBMs are limited in their scope and their supported camera-motion types. These hurdles also impeded the employment, in this unsupervised task, of end-to-end solutions based on deep learning (DL). Moreover, existing MCBMs usually model the background either on the domain of a typically-large panoramic image or in an online fashion. Unfortunately, the former creates several problems, including poor scalability, while the latter prevents the recognition and leveraging of cases where the camera revisits previously-seen parts of the scene. This paper proposes a new method, called DeepMCBM, that eliminates all the aforementioned issues and achieves state-of-the-art results. Concretely, first we identify the difficulties associated with joint alignment of video frames in general and in a DL setting in particular. Next, we propose a new strategy for joint alignment that lets us use a spatial transformer net with neither a regularization nor any form of specialized (and non-differentiable) initialization. Coupled with an autoencoder conditioned on unwarped robust central moments (obtained from the joint alignment), this yields an end-to-end regularization-free MCBM that supports a broad range of camera motions and scales gracefully. We demonstrate DeepMCBM's utility on a variety of videos, including ones beyond the scope of other methods. Our code is available at https://github.com/BGU-CS-VIL/DeepMCBM .Comment: 26 paged, 5 figures. To be published in ECCV 202

Integrating Traditional and Social Media Data to Predict Bilateral Migrant Stocks in the European Union

Although up-to-date information on the nature and extent of migration within the European Union (EU) is important for policymaking, timely and reliable statistics on the number of EU citizens residing in or moving across other member states are difficult to obtain. In this paper, we develop a statistical model that integrates data on EU migrant stocks using traditional sources such as census, population registers and Labour Force Survey, with novel data sources, primarily from the Facebook Advertising Platform. Findings suggest that combining different data sources provides near real-time estimates that can serve as early warnings about shifts in EU mobility patterns. Estimated migrant stocks match relatively well to the observed data, despite some overestimation of smaller migrant populations and underestimation for larger migrant populations in Germany and the United Kingdom. In addition, the model estimates missing stocks for migrant corridors and years where no data are available, offering timely now-casted estimates

Comparative Testing Report on the Detection and Quantification of Maize Event MON 810 - Comparative testing round: ILC-CRL-GMFF-CT-02/10

In the frame of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, the European Union Reference Laboratory for Genetically Modified Food and Feed has the duty to organise comparative testing rounds and to ensure an appropriate follow-up of these activities. This report describes the outcome of the second comparative testing round ILC-CRL-GMFF-CT-02/10. Participants had to determine the GM content in two test items denoted maize powder levels 1 and 2, containing different GM percentages of maize event MON 810. This comparative testing round was organised in collaboration with the Reference Materials Unit and the Food Safety and Quality Unit of the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (Geel, BE). The maize event MON 810 test items were produced by the Reference Materials Unit. The Food Safety and Quality Unit managed the on-line registration and submission of results. A total of 136 laboratories were invited to participate in ILC-CRL-GMFF-CT-02/10. Six National Reference Laboratories declined participation, of which two were no longer a National Reference Laboratory. Ninety laboratories from 41 countries returned results, of which 65 were National Reference Laboratories, six were members of the European Network of GMO Laboratories only and 19 were laboratories from third countries. Two National Reference Laboratories, two Official control laboratories and nine laboratories from a third country did not submit any results. Participants could report the results of the exercise either in mass/mass % or in copy/copy %. The outcome of this second comparative testing round was in general positive, with 82-100 % of participants gaining a z-score in the range of -2 to +2 for both maize powder levels 1 and 2 regardless of the calibration method, the measurement unit and the approach used for calculating the z-score.JRC.I.3-Molecular Biology and Genomic

Disentangling magnetic hardening and molecular spin chain contributions to exchange bias in ferromagnet/molecule bilayers

We performed SQUID and FMR magnetometry experiments to clarify the relationship between two reported magnetic exchange effects arising from interfacial spin-polarized charge transfer within ferromagnetic metal (FM)/molecule bilayers: the magnetic hardening effect, and spinterface-stabilized molecular spin chains. To disentangle these effects, both of which can affect the FM magnetization reversal, we tuned the metal phthalocyanine molecule central site's magnetic moment to selectively enhance or suppress the formation of spin chains within the molecular film. We find that both effects are distinct, and additive. In the process, we 1) extended the list of FM/molecule candidate pairs that are known to generate magnetic exchange effects, 2) experimentally confirmed the predicted increase in anisotropy upon molecular adsorption; and 3) showed that spin chains within the molecular film can enhance magnetic exchange. This magnetic ordering within the organic layer implies a structural ordering. Thus, by distengangling the magnetic hardening and exchange bias contributions, our results confirm, as an echo to progress regarding inorganic spintronic tunnelling, that the milestone of spintronic tunnelling across structurally ordered organic barriers has been reached through previous magnetotransport experiments. This paves the way for solid-state devices studies that exploit the quantum physical properties of spin chains, notably through external stimuli.Comment: Non

Technical Report: Anomaly Detection for a Critical Industrial System using Context, Logs and Metrics

Recent advances in contextual anomaly detection attempt to combine resource metrics and event logs to un- cover unexpected system behaviors and malfunctions at run- time. These techniques are highly relevant for critical software systems, where monitoring is often mandated by international standards and guidelines. In this technical report, we analyze the effectiveness of a metrics-logs contextual anomaly detection technique in a middleware for Air Traffic Control systems. Our study addresses the challenges of applying such techniques to a new case study with a dense volume of logs, and finer monitoring sampling rate. We propose an automated abstraction approach to infer system activities from dense logs and use regression analysis to infer the anomaly detector. We observed that the detection accuracy is impacted by abrupt changes in resource metrics or when anomalies are asymptomatic in both resource metrics and event logs. Guided by our experimental results, we propose and evaluate several actionable improvements, which include a change detection algorithm and the use of time windows on contextual anomaly detection. This technical report accompanies the paper “Contextual Anomaly Detection for a Critical Industrial System based on Logs and Metrics” [1] and provides further details on the analysis method, case study and experimental results

Ethanol consumption impairs vestibulo-ocular reflex function measured by the video head impulse test and dynamic visual acuity

Ethanol affects many parts of the nervous system, from the periphery to higher cognitive functions. Due to the established effects of ethanol on vestibular and oculomotor function, we wished to examine its effect on two new tests of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR): the video head impulse test (vHIT) and dynamic visual acuity (DVA). We tested eight healthy subjects with no history of vestibular disease after consumption of standardized drinks of 40% ethanol. We used a repeated measures design to track vestibular function over multiple rounds of ethanol consumption up to a maximum breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) of 1.38‰. All tests were normal at baseline. VOR gain measured by vHIT decreased 25% by the highest BrAC level tested in each subject. Catch-up saccades were negligible at baseline and increased in number and size with increasing ethanol consumption (from 0.13° to 1.43° cumulative amplitude per trial). DVA scores increased by 86% indicating a deterioration of acuity, while static visual acuity (SVA) remained unchanged. Ethanol consumption systematically impaired the VOR evoked by high-acceleration head impulses and led to a functional loss of visual acuity during head movement.NHMR

Comparative Testing Report on the Detection and Quantification of Maize Event NK603 - Comparative testing round: ILC-CRL-GMFF-CT-01/10

In the frame of Regulation EC (No) 882/2004, the European Reference Laboratory for Genetically Modified Food and Feed has the duty to organise comparative testing rounds and to ensure an appropriate follow-up of these activities. This report describes the outcome of the first comparative testing round ILC-CRL-GMFF-CT-01/10. Participants had to determine the GM content in two test items denoted maize powder level 1 and level 2, containing different GM percentages of maize event NK603. This comparative testing round was organised in collaboration with the Reference Materials Unit and the Food Safety and Quality Unit of the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (Geel, BE). The maize event NK603 test items were produced by the Reference Materials Unit. The Food Safety and Quality Unit managed the on-line registration and submission of results. A total of 110 laboratories were invited to participate in ILC-CRL-GMFF-CT-01/10. Five National Reference Laboratories declined participation. Ninety-three results were returned from 84 laboratories from 36 countries, of which 66 were National Reference Laboratories, seven were members of the European Network of GMO Laboratories only and 11 were laboratories from third countries. Two National Reference Laboratories, two European Network of GMO Laboratories only members and one laboratory from a third country did not submit any results. Participants could report the results of the exercise either in mass/mass % or in copy/copy %. The outcome of this first comparative testing round was in general positive with a share of 86-96 % and 94-100 % of participants exhibiting a z-score in the range of -2 to +2 for maize powder level 1 and level 2, respectively.JRC.DG.I.4-Molecular biology and genomic

Strabismus measurements with novel video goggles

PURPOSE: To assess the validity of a novel, simplified, noninvasive test for strabismus using video goggles. DESIGN: Cross-sectional method comparison study in which the new test, the strabismus video goggles, is compared with the existing reference standard, the Hess screen test. PARTICIPANTS: We studied 41 adult and child patients aged ≥6 years with ocular misalignment owing to congenital or acquired paralytic or comitant strabismus and 17 healthy volunteers. METHODS: All participants were tested with binocular infrared video goggles with built-in laser target projection and liquid crystal display shutters for alternate occlusion of the eyes and the conventional Hess screen test. In both tests, ocular deviations were measured on a 9-point target grid located at 0±15° horizontal and vertical eccentricity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Horizontal and vertical ocular deviations at 9 different gaze positions of each eye were measured by the strabismus video goggles and the Hess screen test. Agreement was quantified as the intraclass correlation coefficient. Secondary outcomes were the utility of the goggles in patients with visual suppression and in children. RESULTS: There was good agreement between the strabismus video goggles and the Hess screen test in the measurements of horizontal and vertical deviation (intraclass correlation coefficient horizontal 0.83, 95% confidence interval [0.77, 0.88], vertical 0.76, 95% confidence interval [0.68, 0.82]). Both methods reproduced the characteristic strabismus patterns in the 9-point grid. In contrast to Hess screen testing, strabismus video goggle measurements were even possible in patients with comitant strabismus and visual suppression. CONCLUSIONS The new device is simple and is fast and accurate in measuring ocular deviations, and the results are closely correlated with those obtained using the conventional Hess screen test. It can even be used in patients with visual suppression who are not suitable for the Hess screen test. The device can be applied in children as young as 6 years of age