Learning Convolutional Neural Network For Face Verification

Convolutional neural networks (ConvNet) have improved the state of the art in many applications. Face recognition tasks, for example, have seen a significantly improved performance due to ConvNets. However, less attention has been given to video-based face recognition. Here, we make three contributions along these lines. First, we proposed a ConvNet-based system for long-term face tracking from videos. Through taking advantage of pre-trained deep learning models on big data, we developed a novel system for accurate video face tracking in the unconstrained environments depicting various people and objects moving in and out of the frame. In the proposed system, we presented a Detection-Verification-Tracking method (DVT) which accomplishes the long-term face tracking task through the collaboration of face detection, face verification, and (short-term) face tracking. An online trained detector based on cascaded convolutional neural networks localizes all faces appeared in the frames, and an online trained face verifier based on deep convolutional neural networks and similarity metric learning decides if any face or which face corresponds to the query person. An online trained tracker follows the face from frame to frame. When validated on a sitcom episode and a TV show, the DVT method outperforms tracking-learning-detection (TLD) and face-TLD in terms of recall and precision. The proposed system is tested on many other types of videos and shows very promising results. Secondly, as the availability of large-scale training dataset has a significant effect on the performance of ConvNet-based recognition methods, we presented a successful automatic video collection approach to generate a large-scale video training dataset. We designed a procedure for generating a face verification dataset from videos based on the long-term face tracking algorithm, DVT. In this procedure, the streams can be collected from videos, and labeled automatically without human annotation intervention. Using this procedure, we assembled a widely scalable dataset, FaceSequence. FaceSequence includes 1.5M streams capturing ~500K individuals. A key distinction between this dataset and the existing video datasets is that FaceSequence is generated from publicly available videos and labeled automatically, hence widely scalable at no annotation cost. Lastly, we introduced a stream-based ConvNet architecture for video face verification task. The proposed network is designed to optimize the differentiable error function, referred to as stream loss, using unlabeled temporal face sequences. Using the unlabeled video dataset, FaceSequence, we trained our network to minimize the stream loss. The network achieves verification accuracy comparable to the state of the art on the LFW and YTF datasets with much smaller model complexity. In comparison to VGG, our method demonstrates a significant improvement in TAR/FAR, considering the fact that the VGG dataset is highly puried and includes a small label noise. We also fine-tuned the network using the IJB-A dataset. The validation results show competitive verifiation accuracy compared with the best previous video face verification results

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin

Global burden of chronic respiratory diseases and risk factors, 1990–2019: an update from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Updated data on chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are vital in their prevention, control, and treatment in the path to achieving the third UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a one-third reduction in premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 2030. We provided global, regional, and national estimates of the burden of CRDs and their attributable risks from 1990 to 2019. Methods: Using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we estimated mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), prevalence, and incidence of CRDs, i.e. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, pneumoconiosis, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis, and other CRDs, from 1990 to 2019 by sex, age, region, and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) in 204 countries and territories. Deaths and DALYs from CRDs attributable to each risk factor were estimated according to relative risks, risk exposure, and the theoretical minimum risk exposure level input. Findings: In 2019, CRDs were the third leading cause of death responsible for 4.0 million deaths (95% uncertainty interval 3.6–4.3) with a prevalence of 454.6 million cases (417.4–499.1) globally. While the total deaths and prevalence of CRDs have increased by 28.5% and 39.8%, the age-standardised rates have dropped by 41.7% and 16.9% from 1990 to 2019, respectively. COPD, with 212.3 million (200.4–225.1) prevalent cases, was the primary cause of deaths from CRDs, accounting for 3.3 million (2.9–3.6) deaths. With 262.4 million (224.1–309.5) prevalent cases, asthma had the highest prevalence among CRDs. The age-standardised rates of all burden measures of COPD, asthma, and pneumoconiosis have reduced globally from 1990 to 2019. Nevertheless, the age-standardised rates of incidence and prevalence of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis have increased throughout this period. Low- and low-middle SDI countries had the highest age-standardised death and DALYs rates while the high SDI quintile had the highest prevalence rate of CRDs. The highest deaths and DALYs from CRDs were attributed to smoking globally, followed by air pollution and occupational risks. Non-optimal temperature and high body-mass index were additional risk factors for COPD and asthma, respectively. Interpretation: Albeit the age-standardised prevalence, death, and DALYs rates of CRDs have decreased, they still cause a substantial burden and deaths worldwide. The high death and DALYs rates in low and low-middle SDI countries highlights the urgent need for improved preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic measures. Global strategies for tobacco control, enhancing air quality, reducing occupational hazards, and fostering clean cooking fuels are crucial steps in reducing the burden of CRDs, especially in low- and lower-middle income countries

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

A head-worn display ( smart glasses ) has adverse impacts on the dynamics of lateral position control during gait

BACKGROUND: Head-worn displays (e.g., smart glasses ) are an emerging technology to provide information, and in many situations they might be used while walking. However, little evidence exists regarding the effects of head-worn displays on walking performance. We found earlier that smart glasses had smaller adverse effects on measures of gait variability in the anterior-posterior direction vs. other types of information displays. Participants, however, complained about motion sickness and perceived instability while using smart glasses. RESEARCH QUESTION: Were the participants\u27 complaints a result of adverse effects of the smart glasses on the dynamics of lateral stepping and gait stability? METHODS: Twenty individuals walked on a treadmill in four different conditions; single-task walking, and three dual-task walking conditions, the latter using smart glasses, smartphone, and a paper-based system to provide secondary cognitive tasks. We assessed the dynamics of lateral stepping and gait stability using the goal equivalent manifold and maximum Lyapunov exponent, respectively. RESULTS: The dynamics of the lateral stepping were more adversely affected using smart glasses compared to the other types of information displays. However, stability measures revealed that the participants were more unstable when they used the smartphone and paper-based system. SIGNIFICANCE: Promising results in terms of stability and adaptability suggest that head-worn display technology is a potentially useful alternative to smartphones and other types of information displays for reducing the risk of a fall. Results regarding perceptions of instability and a loss of control over lateral stepping, however, imply that this technology requires further development prior to real-work implementations