Learning based automatic face annotation for arbitrary poses and expressions from frontal images only

Statistical approaches for building non-rigid deformable models, such as the active appearance model (AAM), have enjoyed great popularity in recent years, but typically require tedious manual annotation of training images. In this paper, a learning based approach for the automatic annotation of visually deformable objects from a single annotated frontal image is presented and demonstrated on the example of automatically annotating face images that can be used for building AAMs for fitting and tracking. This approach employs the idea of initially learning the correspondences between landmarks in a frontal image and a set of training images with a face in arbitrary poses. Using this learner, virtual images of unseen faces at any arbitrary pose for which the learner was trained can be reconstructed by predicting the new landmark locations and warping the texture from the frontal image. View-based AAMs are then built from the virtual images and used for automatically annotating unseen images, including images of different facial expressions, at any random pose within the maximum range spanned by the virtually reconstructed images. The approach is experimentally validated by automatically annotating face images from three different databases

Hadronic contribution to the muon g-2: a Dyson-Schwinger perspective

We summarize our results for hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon ($a_\mu$), the one from hadronic vacuum-polarisation (HVP) and the light-by-light scattering contribution (LBL), obtained from the Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSE's) of QCD. In the case of HVP we find good agreement with model independent determinations from dispersion relations for $a_\mu^\mathrm{HVP}$ as well as for the Adler function with deviations well below the ten percent level. From this we conclude that the DSE approach should be capable of describing $a_\mu^\mathrm{LBL}$ with similar accuracy. We also present results for LBL using a resonance expansion of the quark anti-quark T-matrix. Our preliminary value is $a_\mu^\mathrm{LBL}=(217 \pm 91) \times 10^{-11}$.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of 'International school of nuclear physics, 33rd course', Erice-Sicily: 16 - 24 September 201

Implications of LHC Searches on SUSY Particle Spectra: The pMSSM Parameter Space with Neutralino Dark Matter

We study the implications of LHC searches on SUSY particle spectra using flat scans of the 19-parameter pMSSM phase space. We apply constraints from flavour physics, g_mu-2, dark matter and earlier LEP and Tevatron searches. The sensitivity of the LHC SUSY searches with jets, leptons and missing energy is assessed by reproducing with fast simulation the recent CMS analyses after validation on benchmark points. We present results in terms of the fraction of pMSSM points compatible with all the constraints which are excluded by the LHC searches with 1 fb^{-1} and 15 fb^{-1} as a function of the mass of strongly and weakly interacting SUSY particles. We also discuss the suppression of Higgs production cross sections for the MSSM points not excluded and contrast the region of parameter space tested by the LHC data with the constraints from dark matter direct detection experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures. v2: increased statistics, to appear in EPJ

Hadronic Contributions to the Muon Anomaly in the Constituent Chiral Quark Model

The hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon which are relevant for the confrontation between theory and experiment at the present level of accuracy, are evaluated within the same framework: the constituent chiral quark model. This includes the contributions from the dominant hadronic vacuum polarization as well as from the next--to--leading order hadronic vacuum polarization, the contributions from the hadronic light-by-light scattering, and the contributions from the electroweak hadronic $Z\gamma\gamma$ vertex. They are all evaluated as a function of only one free parameter: the constituent quark mass. We also comment on the comparison between our results and other phenomenological evaluations.Comment: Several misprints corrected and a clarifying sentence added. Three figures superposed and two references added. Version to appear in JHE

Hadron shower decomposition in the highly granular CALICE analogue hadron calorimeter

The spatial development of hadronic showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter is studied using test beam data collected at CERN and FNAL for single positive pions and protons with initial momenta in the range from 10 to 80 GeV/c. Both longitudinal and radial development of hadron showers are parametrised with two-component functions. The parametrisation is fit to test beam data and simulations using the QGSP_BERT and FTFP_BERT physics lists from Geant4 version 9.6. The parameters extracted from data and simulated samples are compared for the two types of hadrons. The response to pions and the ratio of the non-electromagnetic to the electromagnetic calorimeter response, h/e, are estimated using the extrapolation and decomposition of the longitudinal profiles.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables; author list changed; submitted to JINS

Accuracy of prenatal diagnosis of X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia by tooth germ sonography

Objective: X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (XLHED), a developmental disorder characterized by malformation of hair, teeth, and sweat glands, results from defective ectodysplasin A1 (EDA1) caused by EDA mutations. Inability to sweat, the major problem of XLHED which can lead to life-threatening hyperthermia, has been shown to be amenable to intrauterine therapy with recombinant EDA1. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of tooth germ sonography to identify affected fetuses in pregnant women with EDA mutations. Methods: Tooth germ sonography was performed in 38 cases at 10 study sites between gestational weeks 18 and 28. XLHED was diagnosed if fewer than six tooth germs were detected in mandible and/or maxilla. In all subjects, diagnoses were verified postnatally by EDA sequencing and/or clinical findings (standardized clinical assessments of hair, sweating, and dentition; orthopantomograms). Estimated weights of 12 affected male fetuses and postnatal weight gain of 12 boys with XLHED were assessed using appropriate growth charts. Results: In 19 of 38 sonografic examinations of 23 male and 13 female fetuses, a prenatal diagnosis of XLHED was made. The diagnosis proved to be correct in 37 cases; one affected male fetus was missed. Specificity and positive predictive value were both 100%. Tooth counting by clinical assessment corresponded well with radiografic findings. We observed no weight deficits of subjects with XLHED in utero but occasionally during infancy. Conclusions: Tooth germ sonography is highly specific and reliable in establishing a prenatal diagnosis of XLHED

Functional characterisation of a Fads2 fatty acyl desaturase with delta6/delta8 activity and an Elovl5 with C16, C18 and C20 elongase activity in the anadromous teleost meagre (Argyrosomus regius)

The meagre, Argyrosomus regius, is a carnivorous fish with great potential to diversify finfish aquaculture in the Mediterranean. However, currently nothing is known about their essential fatty acid requirements. Meagres are marine fish but also display anadromous behaviour migrating to river estuaries to spawn, and thus may provide an insight to the influence of diadromy on biosynthetic ability for long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA). Our primary aim was to characterise key cDNAs (fatty acyl desaturases and elongases) of the biosynthetic pathway as a key step to establish the capacity of meagre for LC-PUFA biosynthesis from shorter chain PUFA. The cDNA sequences of a fatty acyl desaturase (Fads) and elongase of very long-chain fatty acids (Elovl) were obtained using PCR-based methodologies, and function of the proteins was investigated by expression of the coding sequences of the putative desaturase and elongase in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The tissue distribution of both cDNAs was studied by reverse transcription PCR. Our results demonstrated that meagre possesses at least one fatty acyl desaturase and one elongase involved in the endogenous production of LC-PUFA. The meagre desaturase and elongase were identified as orthologues of Fads2 and Elovl5, respectively. Functionally, the desaturase had dual Δ6/Δ8 activity, whereas the elongase exhibited high elongation efficiency for C18 and C20 PUFA with low activity towards C22 PUFA. However, we also showed that the meagre Elovl5 elongated 16:3n - 3 to 18:3n - 3, the first time that C16 elongation activity had been demonstrated for a fish elongase. Similar to other marine teleosts, expression of fads2 and elovl5 transcripts was highest in brain. The functions and expression of the meagre Fads2 and Elovl5 proteins suggest that the meagre has a ‘marine type' LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway, and that its anadromous behaviour has no major influence