From a theoretical point of view, Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs) are similar, still in practice they pose different challenges and perform in a different manner. In this study we present a comparative analysis of the two spatial-temporal classification methods: HMMs and DBNs applied to the Facial Action Units (AUs) recognition problem. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) developed by Ekman and Friesen decomposes the face into 46 AUs, each AU being related to the contraction of one or more specific facial muscles. FACS proved its applicability to facial behavior modeling, enabling the recognition of an extensive palette of facial expressions. Even though a lot has been published on this theme, it is still difficult to draw a conclusion regarding the best methodology to follow, as there is no common basis for comparison and sometimes no argument is given why a certain classification method was chosen. Therefore, our main contributions reside in discussing and comparing the relative performance of the two proposed classifiers (HMMs vs. DBNs) and also of different Region of Interest (ROI) selections proposed by us and different optical flow estimation methods. We can consider our automatic system towards AUs classification an important step in the facial expression recognition process, given that even one emotion can be expressed in different ways, fact that suggests the complexity of the analyzed problem. The experiments were performed on the Cohn-Kanade database and showed that under the same conditions regarding initialization, labeling, and sampling, both classification methods produced similar results, achieving the same recognition rate of 89% for the classification of facial AUs. Still, by enabling non-fixed sampling and using HTK, HMMs rendered a better performance of 93% suggesting that they are better suited for the special task of AUs recognition.
Reactive hyperemia (RH) in forearm muscle or skin microcirculation has been considered as a surrogate endpoint in clinical studies of cardiovascular disea e. We evaluated two potential confounders that might limit such use of RH, namely laterality of measurement and intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Twenty-three young non-smoking healthy adults were enrolled. In Experiment 1 (n=16), the RH elicited by 3 min of ischemia was recorded in the muscle (strain gauge plethysmography, hand excluded) and skin (laser Doppler imaging) of both forearms. In Experiment 2 (n=7), RH was determined in the dominant forearm only, one hour following oral acetylsalicylic acid (1 g) or placebo. In Experiment 1, peak RH was identical in both forearms, and so were the corresponding durations of responses. RH lasted significantly less in muscle than in skin (p=0.003), a hitherto unrecognized fact. In the skin, acetylsalicylate reduced duration (43 vs. 57.4 s for placebo, p=0.03), without affecting the peak response. In muscle, duration tended to decrease with acetylsalicylate (21.4 vs. 26.0 s with placebo, p=0.06) and the peak increase in blood flow was blunted (27.2 vs. 32.4 ml/min/100 ml tissue with placebo, p=0.003). We conclude that, when using RH as a surrogate endpoint in studies of cardiovascular disease, a confounding by laterality of measurement need not be feared, but NSAIDS may have an influence, although perhaps not on the peak response in the skin., G. Addor, A. Delachaux, B. Dischl, D. Hayoz, L. Liaudet, B. Waeber, F. Feihl., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Studied are differences of two approaches targeted to reveal latent variables in binary data. These approaches assume that the observed high dimensional data are driven by a small number of hidden binary sources combined due to Boolean superposition. The first approach is the Boolean matrix factorization (BMF) and the second one is the Boolean factor analysis (BFA). The two BMF methods are used for comparison. First is the M8 method from the BMDP statistical software package and the second one is the method suggested by Belohlavek \& Vychodil. These two are compared to BFA, especially with the Expectation-maximization Boolean Factor Analysis we had developed earlier has, however, been extended with a binarization step developed here. The well-known bars problem and the mushroom dataset are used for revealing the methods' peculiarities. In particular, the reconstruction ability of the computed factors and the information gain as the measure of dimension reduction was under scrutiny. It was shown that BFA slightly loses to BMF in performance when noise-free signals are analyzed. Conversely, BMF loses considerably to BFA when input signals are noisy.
Yellow-green foliage cultivars of four vegetables grown outdoors, i.e., Chinese mustard (Brassica rapa), Chinese kale (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and Chinese amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor), had lower chlorophyll (Chl) (a+b) (29-36% of green cultivars of the same species), total carotenoids (46-62%) and ascorbate (72-90%) contents per leaf area. Furthermore, yellow-green cultivars had smaller photosystem II (PSII) antenna size (65-70%) and lower photosynthetic capacity (52-63%), but higher Chl a/b (107-156%) and from low (60%) to high (129%) ratios of de-epoxidized xanthophyll cycle pigments per Chl a content. Potential quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) of all overnight dark-adapted leaves was ca. 0.8, with no significant difference between yellow-green and green cultivars of the same species. However, yellow-green cultivars displayed a higher degree of photoinhibition (lower Fv/Fm after illumination) when they were exposed to high irradiance. Although vegetables used in this study are of either temperate or tropical origin and include both C3 and C4 plants, data from all cultivars combined revealed that Fv/Fm after illumination still showed a significant positive linear regression with xanthophyll cycledependent energy quenching (qE) and a negative linear regression with photoinhibitory quenching (qI). Fv/Fm was, however, not correlated with nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). Yet, a higher degree of photoinhibition in yellow-green cultivars could recover during the night darkness period, suggesting that the repair of PSII in yellow-green cultivars would allow them to grow normally in the field. and J.-H. Weng ... [et al.].
Several counterparts of Bayesian networks based on different paradigms have been proposed in evidence theory. Nevertheless, none of them is completely satisfactory. In this paper we will present a new one, based on a recently introduced concept of conditional independence. We define a conditioning rule for variables, and the relationship between conditional independence and irrelevance is studied with the aim of constructing a Bayesian-network-like model. Then, through a simple example, we will show a problem appearing in this model caused by the use of a conditioning rule. We will also show that this problem can be avoided if undirected or compositional models are used instead.
This paper pursues the effect of changes in distance and vibration frequency on the vibration velocity amplitude. As an example, we used the vibrating sheet piles at the cons truction of a new multi-functional FEI building on the premises of VŠB - TU Ostrava, at 17 listopadu street. The effect of these changes is monitored both in in-situ measurements and in a simulated real-life situation. The calculation software Plaxis 2D is used for creation of numer ical models. At the close, the results from in-situ measurements are confronted with those achieved from the models., Tomáš Petřík, Eva Hrubešová and Markéta Lednická., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Changium smyrnioides Wolff. and Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm. have similar photosynthetic characters; they use radiant energy in winter and early spring effectively, but cannot take full advantage of higher irradiance after spring. The specific leaf area (SLA), leaf area ratio (LAR), and leaf mass ratio (LMR) of C. smyrnioides were lower than those of A. sylvestris. The photosynthetic period of C smyrnioides was about 160 d shorter than that of A. sylvestris, causing the total photosynthetic production of C. smyrnioides to be lower than that of A. sylvestris. Hence if C. smyrnioides is disturbed, it could not recover within a short period. and J. Chang ... [et al.].
Photosynthetic and transpiration (E) rates, stomatal conductance, and leaf nitrogen content were surveyed for Myrica gale var. tomentosa, a N2-fixing wetland shrub, Betula platyphylla var. japonica, and Rhododendron japonicum in Ozegahara moor, an oligotrophic moor in Central Japan. Net photosynthetic rate saturated with irradiance (Pmax) of M. gale was 15.2-16.5 μmol(CO2) m-2 s-1, higher than those of the other species throughout the growing season. Pmax was positively correlated with leaf N content among the three species. The large leaf N content in M. gale was due to N2-fixation in root nodules. In a comparison of M. gale in two habitats, Pmax, leaf N content, and root nodule development were larger in the wetter habitat. M. gale showed high E and no midday depression of Pmax even under high irradiance and large vapour pressure deficit between leaves and ambient air on a midsummer day. These traits of photosynthesis and water relations were associated with the dominance of this shrub in wetter sites such as stream sides and hollows. and K, Maeda ... [et al.].
To determine whether PHEMA [poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate)] is suitable for portal vein embolization in patients scheduled to right hepatectomy and whether it is as effective as the currently used agent (a histoacryl/lipiodol mixture). Two groups of nine patients each scheduled for extended right hepatectomy for primary or secondary hepatic tumor, had right portal vein embolization in an effort to induce future liver remnant (FLR) hypertrophy. One group had embolization with PHEMA, the other one with the histoacryl/lipiodol mixture. In all patients, embolization was performed using the right retrograde transhepatic access. Embolization was technically successful in all 18 patients, with no complication related to the embolization agent. Eight patients of either group developed FLR hypertrophy allowing extended right hepatectomy. Likewise, one patient in each group had recanalization of a portal vein branch. Hist ology showed that both embolization agents reach the periphery of portal vein branches, with PHEMA penetrating somewhat deeper into the periphery. PHEMA has been shown to be an agent suitable for embolization in the portal venous system comparable with existing embolization agent (histoacryl/lipiodol mixture)., J. H. Peregrin, R. Janoušek, D. Kautznerová, M. Oliverius, E. Sticová, M. Přádný, J. Michálek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The paper deals with results of special fatigue life tests. Random processes of different power spectral densities loaded tube specimens made of a mild carbon steel ČSN 411523.1 (11523.1), notched by a perpendicular hole. It has been found that fatigue lives build similar S-N curves like by harmonic loadings, when the standard deviation s^d of peaks of an effective damaging stress and number of loading blocks Nb are used instead of amplitudes oa, and number of cycles Na, respectively. S-N curves of unaxial and multiaxial loading are compared in the paper.