28 research outputs found
Diverse and Aligned Audio-to-Video Generation via Text-to-Video Model Adaptation
We consider the task of generating diverse and realistic videos guided by
natural audio samples from a wide variety of semantic classes. For this task,
the videos are required to be aligned both globally and temporally with the
input audio: globally, the input audio is semantically associated with the
entire output video, and temporally, each segment of the input audio is
associated with a corresponding segment of that video. We utilize an existing
text-conditioned video generation model and a pre-trained audio encoder model.
The proposed method is based on a lightweight adaptor network, which learns to
map the audio-based representation to the input representation expected by the
text-to-video generation model. As such, it also enables video generation
conditioned on text, audio, and, for the first time as far as we can ascertain,
on both text and audio. We validate our method extensively on three datasets
demonstrating significant semantic diversity of audio-video samples and further
propose a novel evaluation metric (AV-Align) to assess the alignment of
generated videos with input audio samples. AV-Align is based on the detection
and comparison of energy peaks in both modalities. In comparison to recent
state-of-the-art approaches, our method generates videos that are better
aligned with the input sound, both with respect to content and temporal axis.
We also show that videos produced by our method present higher visual quality
and are more diverse.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
From Likert scales to images: Validating a novel creativity measure with image based response scales.
The use of image-based testing to assess individual differences has increased substantially in recent years, with proponents arguing that they offer a more engaging alternative to text-based psychometric tests. Yet research examining the validity of these tests is near to non-existent. Traditional image-based formats have been little more than an adaptation of self-reports, with images replacing questions but not response options. The current study develops a novel image-based creativity measure, where images replace conventional response scales, and scores on the measures are obtained using a linear regression scoring algorithm to predict three self-reported creativity measures. Using sequential forward selection on a set of 77 image-based items, an optimal solution of 14 items that were valid predictors of self-reported creativity scores were identified. The image-based measure had good test-retest reliability. Implications are discussed in terms of the usefulness of image-based testing for practitioners seeking engaging and short test formats
DNA Dynamics Is Likely to Be a Factor in the Genomic Nucleotide Repeats Expansions Related to Diseases
Trinucleotide repeats sequences (TRS) represent a common type of genomic DNA
motif whose expansion is associated with a large number of human diseases. The
driving molecular mechanisms of the TRS ongoing dynamic expansion across
generations and within tissues and its influence on genomic DNA functions are
not well understood. Here we report results for a novel and notable collective
breathing behavior of genomic DNA of tandem TRS, leading to propensity for large
local DNA transient openings at physiological temperature. Our Langevin
molecular dynamics (LMD) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations
demonstrate that the patterns of openings of various TRSs depend specifically on
their length. The collective propensity for DNA strand separation of repeated
sequences serves as a precursor for outsized intermediate bubble states
independently of the G/C-content. We report that repeats have the potential to
interfere with the binding of transcription factors to their consensus sequence
by altered DNA breathing dynamics in proximity of the binding sites. These
observations might influence ongoing attempts to use LMD and MCMC simulations
for TRS–related modeling of genomic DNA functionality in elucidating the
common denominators of the dynamic TRS expansion mutation with potential
therapeutic applications
Which Religion is Most Sacrificial? Reflections on the Transformations of Sacrifice in Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism
Sacrifice as concession in Christian and Jewish sources: The Didascalia Apostolorum and Rabbinic literature
Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrifice of Christ: Thomas Aquinas against Later Thomists
According to Aquinas, Christ’s body and blood are really present in the Eucharist, his historical sacrifice on the cross is not. The latter is said to be ‘represented’ in the Eucharist, but the expression does not mean that it is made present in the way Christ’s body and blood are. Christ’s passion and sacrifice are to be remembered by the faithful as a historical event of the past. This is in contrast with the reading of later 16th and 17th century Thomist commentators. It goes against the ‘hyper-realist’ interpretation of Bellarmine. But, unlike the more moderate theories of Cano and others, Aquinas also does not think that the act of Christ being immolated is ritually re-enacted in the mass by some specific ritual gestures
‘So the Sons are Free’: The Temple Tax in the Matthean Community
This paper assesses possible exegetical underpinnings of Jesus paying the Temple tax. It concludes that the Matthean tradition does not address exegetical concerns but social considerations to buttress his legal position, which marks Matthew's view as unique in first Century Judaism