Prediction of 3D Body Parts from Face Shape and Anthropometric Measurements

While 3D body models have been vastly studied in the last decade, acquiring accurate models from the sparse information about the subject and few computational resources is still a main open challenge. In this paper, we propose a methodology for finding the most relevant anthropometric measurements and facial shape features for the prediction of the shape of an arbitrary segmented body part. For the evaluation, we selected 12 features that are easy to obtain or measure including age, gender, weight and height; and augmented them with shape parameters extracted from 3D facial scans. For each subset of features, with and without facial parameters, we predicted the shape of 5 segmented body parts using linear and non-linear regression models. The results show that the modeling approach is effective and giving sub cm reconstruction accuracy. Moreover, adding face shape features always significantly improves the prediction

METHODOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES OF STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL OF RUSSIAN REGIONS

The article considers the methodology of the analysis of the scientific potential of the regions. The paper notes the importance of an integrated, systemic approach to understanding of the category of scientific potential. The author emphasizes the importance of quantitative indicators of the scientific potential of the regions, amenable to statistical analysis. The study attempts to analyse the key statistical indicators of the development of science used to assess the scientific potential of the regions. As a rule, the list of such indicators is limited to the number of scientific organizations functioning in the region, the volume of their funding, as well as a number of personnel indicators. At the same time, the author notes the narrowness of the exclusively resource-based approach to the assessment of the scientific potential and the need to take into account its other factors: informational, social, financial, etc

Renovate or defeat: about creation of Russian Imperial bureaucracy and “domino principle” in Petrine reforms

The article considers the process of reforming the civil service in the context of the state transformations of Peter the Great. The author pays special attention to the periodization of reforms. Based on its analysis, the conclusion is drawn not only about the validity of the chronological division of Peter the Great’s state transformations into conditionally spontaneous and organized stages, but also about a kind of “domino principle”: the implementation of one reform necessitated the next. The author gives his own interpretation of the features of the formation of the imperial bureaucracy in Russia in the first quarter of the XVIII century. The relatively slow development of this process is noted, which can be explained by the inertia of the bureaucracy itself and, first of all, the podyachy corps

TO THE ISSUE ABOUT SOCIAL FACTORS OF FORMATION OF MODERN UNIVERSITY’S SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL

The object of the research is the scientific potential of the modern university, and the subject is the system of social factors of its formation. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of social factors in the development of the scientific potential of the modern university. The methodological basis of the paper is a system-dynamic approach to the study of scientific potential, which consists in the consistent disclosure of its spatial, temporal and technological components. Within the framework of the first component, it is necessary to emphasize such a little-studied aspect as the social foundations of scientific potential, including the system of values of employees and students of the university, their motivation to engage in scientific activity and the level of prestige of scientific activity at the university. The components of the scientific potential of the modern university have been analysed in the article. In particular, the close interrelation of the specified social factors with personnel bases of scientific potential of higher education institution, namely with tendencies of development of its personnel structure has been revealed. A system for assessing the social factors of the scientific potential of the university has been proposed. The results of the study can be used by universities to increase the level of motivation of teaching staff to research activities, as well as the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia – in assessing the research activities of Russian universities

Antibodies to myofibril antigens in cosmonauts after spaceflights

Serum samples obtained from 15 astronauts before and after spaceflights were studied with the use of the indirect immunofluorescent method. In seven astronauts antibodies to different elements of the human heart muscle appeared after flights. Strong and very strong luminescence of the elements of heart muscle tissue was detected in the astronauts after the third space flight. In a study of the sera on sections of bovine heart muscle tissue the reactions of the sera taken before and after flight were found to show no essential differences

Public policy in universities’ science development: stages of lifecircle

The subject of the study is the policy of the Russian Federation to manage the scientific potential of higher education. The purpose of this article is to identify and characterize the trends in modern public policy in this area. As a basic method of research, a system-dynamic approach to policy research is used that involves the allocation of spatial, temporal and technological components. At the same time, the author focuses on the temporary component of the state policy for managing the scientific potential of higher education, which is revealed through the characterization of various stages of its life cycle. Primary data were obtained as a result of an in-depth expert questionnaire, as well as a focus group interview.The main theoretical result of the study is to substantiate the category “life cycle of public policy”, covering such major stages as its formation, implementation and evaluation. It is proved that each stage corresponds to a certain type of assessment of the scientific potential of higher education: factor, performance and final. The article gives an original approach to the research of the life cycle of the state policy on management of the scientific potential of the higher school, the interrelation of its stages and stages of the life cycle of the most scientific potential of the higher school is grounded.The main empirical result of the study is the identification of the main risks in the processes under consideration and an analysis of the specific influences of various public and political organizations on their formation. The practical significance of the results obtained is conditioned by the possibility of their use in the development of the concept of state policy for the development of university science

Expert methods use in undergraduate political science programs

The article studies experience of using expert methods in undergraduate political science programs. The author pays special attention to expert assessments algorithms development in conditions as close as possible to real political campaigns. The article describes experience of organizing expert assessments by students of the State University of Management within the framework of the educational project of a socio-political situation in a city in the context of municipal elections, implemented in the process of studying such disciplines as Methods of Political Science Research and Political Analysis. The key factors of successful expert methods application in educational process include the approach to the experts selection, their informational and organizational-methodological preparation for work, and strict adherence to the prescribed algorithms in the course of expertise

Mesoscale cortical dynamics reflect the interaction of sensory evidence and temporal expectation during perceptual decision-making

How sensory evidence is transformed across multiple brain regions to influence behavior remains poorly understood. We trained mice in a visual change detection task designed to separate the covert antecedents of choices from activity associated with their execution. Wide-field calcium imaging across the dorsal cortex revealed fundamentally different dynamics of activity underlying these processes. Although signals related to execution of choice were widespread, fluctuations in sensory evidence in the absence of overt motor responses triggered a confined activity cascade, beginning with transient modulation of visual cortex and followed by sustained recruitment of the secondary and primary motor cortex. Activation of the motor cortex by sensory evidence was modulated by animals’ expectation of when the stimulus was likely to change. These results reveal distinct activation timescales of specific cortical areas by sensory evidence during decision-making and show that recruitment of the motor cortex depends on the interaction of sensory evidence and temporal expectation

The conflict potential of Petrine bureaucracy reform in the mirror of post-Petrine “epoch of palace coups”

The article considers the reform of the civil service in Russia 1716–1722, and it’s influence on the social processes of post-Peter Russia. The author pays particular attention to the conflict potential of the transformations carried out by Peter I in public service, thereby the most acute conflicts caused by the reforms are distinguished, and their classification and analysis of factors that directly influenced their development are given. The author interprets the events of the first fifth anniversary of the «era of palace coups» in terms of conflict science, analyses the conflicting parties social composition, the logic of their actions, the socio- political results of the confrontation. The initial value gap between the “old” and “new” bureaucracy and a number of problems, have not been solved in the reign of Peter I, are highlighted as key conflict triggers