A Closer Look at Spatiotemporal Convolutions for Action Recognition

In this paper we discuss several forms of spatiotemporal convolutions for video analysis and study their effects on action recognition. Our motivation stems from the observation that 2D CNNs applied to individual frames of the video have remained solid performers in action recognition. In this work we empirically demonstrate the accuracy advantages of 3D CNNs over 2D CNNs within the framework of residual learning. Furthermore, we show that factorizing the 3D convolutional filters into separate spatial and temporal components yields significantly advantages in accuracy. Our empirical study leads to the design of a new spatiotemporal convolutional block "R(2+1)D" which gives rise to CNNs that achieve results comparable or superior to the state-of-the-art on Sports-1M, Kinetics, UCF101 and HMDB51

Ryanair Holdings

The crass Irish CEO of Ryanair presides over a modern miracle. Ryanair, with its ridiculously low prices and poor reputation for service, has become one of Europe’s largest and most successful airlines. Employees pay for their own training, flights are cancelled if they won’t be full enough to be profitable, and the concept of “no frills” is heartily embraced. However, some new competitors have come on the scene, and Ryanair may be forced to improve its service and reputation to keep up

Social Participation in College Students with Chronic Pain

Background: College students with invisible disabilities, including chronic pain, often experience difficulty engaging in social occupations, both on and off campus, because of stigma, misconceptions, or social exclusion. Previous research has examined the use of academic accommodations to address these concerns or focused on the physical barriers to participation, failing to address the psychosocial and holistic impact of pain. Chronic pain can affect a variety of occupations, including social participation, which is a significant occupation for college students. This research explores the lived experience of chronic pain for college students and the impact of pain on social participation from an occupational perspective. Method: To fully understand the impact that chronic pain has on social engagement, the researchers employed a qualitative phenomenological approach using semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of 15 college students with chronic pain. Results: Four main themes were identified: personality and chronic pain, stigma, the “domino effect,” and self-awareness. College students with chronic pain were able to push through the pain using coping strategies, pain management, and adaptations to promote social engagement. Conclusion: By understanding the lived experiences of college students with chronic pain, occupational therapists can engage in an open dialogue with clients about the holistic nature of their pain and collaborate with them to create strategies to curtail occupational injustice and promote engagement in meaningful social occupation

Social Participation in College Students with Chronic Pain

Background: College students with invisible disabilities, including chronic pain, often experience difficulty engaging in social occupations, both on and off campus, because of stigma, misconceptions, or social exclusion. Previous research has examined the use of academic accommodations to address these concerns or focused on the physical barriers to participation, failing to address the psychosocial and holistic impact of pain. Chronic pain can affect a variety of occupations, including social participation, which is a significant occupation for college students. This research explores the lived experience of chronic pain for college students and the impact of pain on social participation from an occupational perspective. Method: To fully understand the impact that chronic pain has on social engagement, the researchers employed a qualitative phenomenological approach using semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of 15 college students with chronic pain. Results: Four main themes were identified: personality and chronic pain, stigma, the “domino effect,” and self-awareness. College students with chronic pain were able to push through the pain using coping strategies, pain management, and adaptations to promote social engagement. Conclusion: By understanding the lived experiences of college students with chronic pain, occupational therapists can engage in an open dialogue with clients about the holistic nature of their pain and collaborate with them to create strategies to curtail occupational injustice and promote engagement in meaningful social occupation

Role of oxido incorporation and ligand lability in expanding redox accessibility of structurally related Mn4 clusters

Photosystem II supports four manganese centers through nine oxidation states from manganese(II) during assembly through to the most oxidized state before O_2 formation and release. The protein-based carboxylate and imidazole ligands allow for significant changes of the coordination environment during the incorporation of hydroxido and oxido ligands upon oxidation of the metal centers. We report the synthesis and characterization of a series of tetramanganese complexes in four of the six oxidation states from Mn^(II)_(3)Mn^III to Mn^(III)_(2)Mn^(IV)_2 with the same ligand framework (L) by incorporating four oxido ligands. A 1,3,5-triarylbenzene framework appended with six pyridyl and three alkoxy groups was utilized along with three acetate anions to access tetramanganese complexes, Mn_(4)O_x, with x = 1, 2, 3, and 4. Alongside two previously reported complexes, four new clusters in various states were isolated and characterized by crystallography, and four were observed electrochemically, thus accessing the eight oxidation states from Mn^(II)_4 to Mn^(III)Mn^(IV)_3. This structurally related series of compounds was characterized by EXAFS, XANES, EPR, magnetism, and cyclic voltammetry. Similar to the ligands in the active site of the protein, the ancillary ligand (L) is preserved throughout the series and changes its binding mode between the low and high oxido-content clusters. Implications for the rational assembly and properties of high oxidation state metal–oxido clusters are presented

Controlling magnetic order and quantum disorder in molecule-based magnets

We investigate the structural and magnetic properties of two molecule-based magnets synthesized from the same starting components. Their different structural motifs promote contrasting exchange pathways and consequently lead to markedly different magnetic ground states. Through examination of their structural and magnetic properties we show that [Cu(pyz)(H2O)(gly)2](ClO4)2 may be considered a quasi-one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet whereas the related compound [Cu(pyz)(gly)](ClO4), which is formed from dimers of antiferromagnetically interacting Cu2+ spins, remains disordered down to at least 0.03 K in zero field but shows a field-temperature phase diagram reminiscent of that seen in materials showing a Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons

Two cases of bacteriemia caused by nontoxigenic, non-O1, non-O139 Vibrio cholerae isolates in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The toxigenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae belonging to the O1 and O139 serogroups is commonly associated with epidemic diarrhea in tropical settings; other diseases caused by this environmental pathogen are seldom identified. Here we report two unassociated cases of nonfatal, nontoxigenic V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139 bacteremia in patients with comorbidities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, that occurred within a 4-week period

Crystal structures of pertussis toxin with NAD(+) and analogs provide structural insights into the mechanism of its cytosolic ADP-ribosylation activity

Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease. Pertussis toxin (PT), a major virulence factor secreted by B. pertussis, is an AB5-type protein complex topologically related to cholera toxin. The PT protein complex is internalized by host cells and follows a retrograde trafficking route to the endoplasmic reticulum, where it subsequently dissociates. The released enzymatic S1 subunit is then translocated from the endoplasmic reticulum into the cytosol and subsequently ADP-ribosylates the inhibitory alpha-subunits (G alpha i) of heterotrimeric G proteins, thus promoting dysregulation of G protein-coupled receptor signaling. However, the mechanistic details of the ADP-ribosylation activity of PT are not well understood. Here, we describe crystal structures of the S1 subunit in complex with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), with NAD+ hydrolysis products ADP-ribose and nicotinamide, with NAD+ analog PJ34, and with a novel NAD+ analog formed upon S1 subunit crystallization with 3-amino benzamide and NAD+, which we name benzamide amino adenine dinucleotide. These crystal structures provide unprecedented insights into pre-and post-NAD+ hydrolysis steps of the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of PT. We propose that these data may aid in rational drug design approaches and further development of PT-specific small-molecule inhibitors

Crystal structures of pertussis toxin with NAD+ and analogs provide structural insights into the mechanism of its cytosolic ADP-ribosylation activity

Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease. Pertussis toxin (PT), a major virulence factor secreted by B. pertussis, is an AB5-type protein complex topologically related to cholera toxin. The PT protein complex is internalized by host cells and follows a retrograde trafficking route to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where it subsequently dissociates. The released enzymatic S1 subunit is then translocated from the ER into the cytosol and subsequently ADP-ribosylates the inhibitory alpha-subunits (Gαi) of heterotrimeric G proteins, thus promoting dysregulation of G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. However, the mechanistic details of the ADP-ribosylation activity of PT are not well understood. Here, we describe crystal structures of the S1 subunit in complex with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), with NAD+ hydrolysis products ADP-ribose and nicotinamide, with NAD+ analog PJ34, and with a novel NAD+ analog formed upon S1 subunit crystallization with 3-amino benzamide (3AB) and NAD+, which we name benzamide amino adenine dinucleotide (BaAD). These crystal structures provide unprecedented insights into pre- and post-NAD+ hydrolysis steps of the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of PT. We propose that these data may aid in rational drug design approaches and further development of PT-specific small molecule inhibitors