Analysis of movement quality in full-body physical activities

Full-body human movement is characterized by fine-grain expressive qualities that humans are easily capable of exhibiting and recognizing in others' movement. In sports (e.g., martial arts) and performing arts (e.g., dance), the same sequence of movements can be performed in a wide range of ways characterized by different qualities, often in terms of subtle (spatial and temporal) perturbations of the movement. Even a non-expert observer can distinguish between a top-level and average performance by a dancer or martial artist. The difference is not in the performed movements-the same in both cases-but in the \u201cquality\u201d of their performance. In this article, we present a computational framework aimed at an automated approximate measure of movement quality in full-body physical activities. Starting from motion capture data, the framework computes low-level (e.g., a limb velocity) and high-level (e.g., synchronization between different limbs) movement features. Then, this vector of features is integrated to compute a value aimed at providing a quantitative assessment of movement quality approximating the evaluation that an external expert observer would give of the same sequence of movements. Next, a system representing a concrete implementation of the framework is proposed. Karate is adopted as a testbed. We selected two different katas (i.e., detailed choreographies of movements in karate) characterized by different overall attitudes and expressions (aggressiveness, meditation), and we asked seven athletes, having various levels of experience and age, to perform them. Motion capture data were collected from the performances and were analyzed with the system. The results of the automated analysis were compared with the scores given by 14 karate experts who rated the same performances. Results show that the movement-quality scores computed by the system and the ratings given by the human observers are highly correlated (Pearson's correlations r = 0.84, p = 0.001 and r = 0.75, p = 0.005)

Automated Analysis of the Origin of Movement: An Approach Based on Cooperative Games on Graphs

In this work, a computational method is proposed to automatically investigate the perception of the origin of full-body human movement and its propagation. The method is based on a mathematical game built over a suitably defined graph structure representing the human body. The players of this game are the graph vertices, which form a subset of body joints. Since each vertex contributes to a shared goal (i.e., to the way in which a specific movement-related feature is transferred among the joints), a cooperative game-theoretical model (specifically a transferable-utility game) is adopted, which is able (via the Shapley value) to measure the relevance of the various joints in human movement when performing full-body movement analysis. The method is theoretically investigated and applied to a motion capture dataset obtained from subjects who performed expressive movements. Finally, the method is validated through an online survey, in which several dancers/nondancers participated. The results show the capability of the proposed approach to represent the evolution of the most important joint responsible for originating each dancer\u2019s movement

Enhancement of spontaneous emission in Tamm plasmon structures

It was theoretically and experimentally demonstrated that in metal/semiconductor Tamm plasmon structures the probability of spontaneous emission can be increased despite losses in metal, and theoretical analysis of experimental results suggested that the enhancement could be as high as one order of magnitude. Tamm plasmon structure with quantum dots has been fabricated and the emission pattern has been measured. Electromagnetic modes of the structure have been analyzed and modification of spontaneous emission rates has been calculated showing a good agreement with experimentally observed emission pattern.Funding Agencies|Russian Science Foundation [16-12-10503]; Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) on ANR project NEHMESIS; FP7 project HyMeCav</p

Turn-on delay of QD and QW laser diodes: What is the difference?

Turn-on delay of laser diodes with quantum-sized active media is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. In this research we show the striking difference in turn-on delay of quantum dot and quantum well laser diodes: With quantum-well lasers turn on delay tends to zero in the limit of high pumping, while with quantum dot lasers turn-on delay has the non-vanishing component which is independent of pumping. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.SCOPUS: cp.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Molecular Mechanisms of Scombroid Food Poisoning

Scombroid food poisoning (SFP) is a foodborne disease that develops after consumption of fresh fish and, rarely, seafood that has fine organoleptic characteristics but contains a large amount of exogenous histamine. SFP, like other food pseudo-allergic reactions (FPA), is a disorder that is clinically identical to allergic reactions type I, but there are many differences in their pathogenesis. To date, SFP has been widespread throughout the world and is an urgent problem, although exact epidemiological data on incidence varies greatly. The need to distinguish SFP from true IgE-associated allergy to fish and seafood is one of the most difficult examples of the differential diagnosis of allergic conditions. The most important difference is the absence of an IgE response in SFP. The pathogenesis of SFP includes a complex system of interactions between the body and chemical triggers such as exogenous histamine, other biogenic amines, cis-urocanic acid, salicylates, and other histamine liberators. Because of the wide range of molecular pathways involved in this process, it is critical to understand their differences. This may help predict and prevent poor outcomes in patients and contribute to the development of adequate hygienic rules and regulations for seafood product safety. Despite the vast and lengthy history of research on SFP mechanisms, there are still many blank spots in our understanding of this condition. The goals of this review are to differentiate various molecular mechanisms of SFP and describe methods of hygienic regulation of some biogenic amines that influence the concentration of histamine in the human body and play an important role in the mechanism of SFP