SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Management of crowdsourced first-person video

We present a framework for large-scale crowdsourcing of first-person viewpoint videos recorded on mobile devices. Collecting videos at a massive scale poses a number of major issues in terms of network planning. To improve the scalability with regards to the number of users, videos and geographical area and better cope with restrictions on storage, bandwidth and processing power, the framework is distributed and based on the two-layer cloudlet architecture. To mitigate the limited bandwidth in the access network, a set of decision algorithms is constructed and evaluated that are able to filter out irrelevant videos based on their metadata and given selection criteria. To illustrate the crowdsourcing framework, we present Street View Live, an application for presenting videos based on location, similar to the popular Google Street View but with up-to-date videos covering the location instead of possibly outdated images. In order to have an up-to-date view of every location, the video collection is continuously extended and updated by crowdsourcing videos from mobile devices.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers fate in China: A review with an emphasis on environmental contamination levels, human exposure and regulation

Because of their highly effective flame-retardant capability, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been extensively used as flame retardants in consumer goods. However, compelling evidence shows that many congeners of PBDEs have been accumulating in the environment, in biota and in human populations worldwide. In China, although octabrominated diphenyl ether (octaBDE) has never been produced or used, pentabrominated diphenyl ether (pentaBDE) and decabrominated diphenyl ether (decaBDE) have been produced and used in large quantities. In the face of increasing evidence about PBDE pollution and the adoption of international conventions, there is a growing push for China to develop more stringent methods of managing PBDE waste. This paper summarizes the information about PBDE production and application, describes the flame-retarding mechanism, and then reviews the toxicity and levels of PBDEs in China's environmental media and human tissues. Based on international regulations on PBDEs, the paper finally puts forward some suggestions for Chinese policy making and for self-regulation within the flame retardant industry.
“To Watch and Control the Government”. ‘Rediscovering’ Parliaments’ Oversight Function

The chapter argues that the best answer to the challenges for representative democracy is based on strengthening parliamentary oversight powers of executive activities. In the last two decades, two threats have been putting into question the role and functions of parliaments. First, executives that are expanding well beyond the boundaries fixed by the constitution to the expense of parliaments’ prerogatives. Second, populism, which disregards any constraint on the will of the majority embodied in the charismatic leader. To counter these two threats, both tending to the creation of powerful and unaccountable executives, parliaments need to fully recover their capacity to hold the executive to account. By analysing the Italian and Spanish parliaments’ activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapter shows that the implementation of more instruments for ensuring executive accountability and guaranteeing the involvement of parliaments in governmental decision-making may well compensate the loss of legislative functions. Thus, injecting in constitutional democracy another, but not less important, input of democratic legitimacy.
Neurotuberculose: um relato de caso

Introdução: A Tuberculose (TB) permanece uma doença com elevada morbimortalidade no Brasil.Pode acometer o sistema nervoso central, com a meningite tuberculosa representando 4,5% dos casos de TB e 13,9% dos casos de meningite, com mortalidade entre 55 e 75%.A apresentação clínica constitui em cefaleia, febre, vômitos e sintomas neurológicos, incluindo alteração do nível de consciência e de personalidade e paralisia de nervos cranianos.O diagnóstico é confirmado por análise liquórica com BAAR positivo ou identificação do Mycobacterium tuberculosis em cultura ou teste molecular (TRM-TB) detectável.Entretanto, o diagnóstico de certeza é desafiador, dada a sensibilidade e especificidade subótimas dos testes diagnósticos.O BAAR possui sensibilidade aproximada de 30%, a cultura de 60% e o TRM-TB entre 50-95%.Um diagnóstico presuntivo pode ser feito baseando-se na clínica, na epidemiologia e em um líquor sugestivo.O principal determinante do desfecho clínico é a precocidade do tratamento em relação
Advanced mmics for sotm and satellites constellations

The proliferation of LEO (Low Earth Orbit) and MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) satellite constellations is changing the requirements needed by satellites and antennas in order to support the bandwidth and beam agility to accommodate the much more challenging tracking requirements uniquely associated with NGSO (non-geostationary orbit) operations. The development of beamforming techniques beyond today’s state-of-the-art is an important demand in the telecommunications industry. WIMMIC is currently developing a novel beamforming system for the ground antenna market. We now want, through SME Innovation Associate programme, to implement our expertise in this area to develop a beamformer to be implemented in telecommunication satellites. This is an important business innovation opportunity as there are no similar products in the market yet. For this, we need and IA expert in space qualified processes.
The urine patch diffusional area: An important N 2 O source?

Abstract Urine patches contribute greatly to greenhouse gas emissions within livestock grazed ecosystems. The effective area of a ruminant urine patch comprises the wetted area, the diffusional area and the pasture response area. This study specifically assesses the importance of considering the diffusional area for monitoring urine patch N2O emissions. Spatial and temporal changes in N2O emissions and potential drivers of emissions (soil pH, EC, redox potential, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, NO 3 − and NH 4 + ) were measured in sheep urine amended Eutric Cambisol mesocosms, maintained at 50% or 70% water-filled pore space (WFPS). At 70% WFPS, over 10 weeks, the emission factor (EF) was greater when considering the wetted area plus a 9 cm diffusional area (EF = 2.75 ± 0.72% of applied N) than when considering the wetted area alone (EF = 1.44 ± 0.30% of applied N); differences were not statistically significant at 50% WFPS. Redox potential, total extractable N and WFPS contributed significantly to the observed variation in daily N2O fluxes from the urine patch. We conclude that the urine patch diffusional area is an extremely important source of emissions from urine patches. This has implications when measuring EFs, as the lateral diffusion of solutes may be restricted by chamber walls resulting in an underestimate of N2O emissions, particularly at higher soil moisture contents. Site-specific assessments of the urine patch diffusional area should be made, and accounted for, prior to monitoring emissions and calculating emission factors from urine patches applied within chambers.
Contemporary Environmental Issues of Landfill Leachate: Assessment and Remedies

Landfills are the primary option for waste disposal all over the world. Most of the landfill sites across the world are old and are not engineered to prevent contamination of the underlying soil and groundwater by the toxic leachate. The pollutants from landfill leachate have accumulative and detrimental effect on the ecology and food chains leading to carcinogenic effects, acute toxicity, and genotoxicity among human beings. Management of this highly toxic leachate presents a challenging problem to the regulatory authorities who have set specific regulations regarding maximum limits of contaminants in treated leachate prior to disposal into the environment to ensure minimal environmental impact. There are different stages of leachate management such as monitoring of its formation and flow into the environment, identification of hazards associated with it, and its treatment prior to disposal into the environment. This article focuses on: (i) leachate composition, (ii) plume migration, (iii) contaminant fa...
Tuning the Guest-Binding Ability of a Helically Folded Capsule by In Situ Modification of the Aromatic Oligoamide Backbone

Starting from a previously described aromatic oligoamide helically folded capsule that binds tartaric acid with high affinity and diastereoselectivity, we demonstrate the feasibility of the direct in situ modification of the helix backbone, which results in a conformational change that reduces its affinity for guests by two orders of magnitude. Specifically, ring contraction of the central pyridazine unit into a pyrrole in the full helical sequence was investigated by using electrochemical and chemical processes. The sequence containing the pyrrole was synthesized independently in a convergent manner to ascertain its structure. The conformation of the pyrrolic folded capsule was elucidated in the solid state by X-ray crystallography and in solution by using (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. Solution studies revealed an unanticipated solvent-dependent equilibrium between the anti-anti and syn-syn conformations of the pyrrole ring with respect to its two adjacent pyridine units. Titrations of the pyrrole-containing sequence monitored by (1)H NMR spectroscopy confirmed the expected drop in affinity for tartaric acid and malic acid that arises from the conformation change in the backbone that follows the replacement of the pyridazine by a pyrrole. The reduction of the pyridazine to a pyrrole was characterized by cyclic voltammetry both on the entire sequence and on a shorter precursor. The lower cathodic potential of the precursor made its preparative-scale electroreduction possible. Direct in situ modification of the pyridazine within the entire capsule sequence was achieved chemically by using zinc in acetic acid.
The challenges of waste management to Nigeria sustainable development: A study of Enugu State

The problem of solid waste management has become a debilitating factor towards sustainable development in Nigeria. The study therefore was carried out to evaluate the chains of problems militating against solid waste management in Nigeria with particular stress on Enugu State. The study adopted survey research method. Data collected through questionnaire were analyzed and hypotheses tested using Z-test statistical measure. The scientific investigation revealed among other things that resources normally voted by Government year by year to manage solid waste is always very meager. There is no environmental education at all as was observed during the field investigation. Furthermore, some of the waste management staff were poorly trained and no plan in the future to give them further training or to improve already acquired skill. Based on the findings, some of the major recommendations are that solid waste management should be provided with a separate head in the budget for the purpose of adequate revenue allocation, implementation and monitoring. The participation of the local communities in solid waste management should be encouraged. Environmental education should be intensified by both the state and local government. Also primary, secondary and tertiary schools curricula should inculcate detailed topics on solid waste management.
Empowering innovation capacity of SMEs, maritime clusters and networks in MED islands and coastal areas to support blue circular economy growth in fishing/aquaculture

BLUEfasma integrates and implements Circular Economy(CE) principles in the key blue growth sector of fishing/aquaculture to benefit MED insular/coastal areas in a novel/innovative way. Project team tackles the transnational challenge of continual depletion of natural resources and the below-EU-average MED CE innovation performance in fishing/aquaculture. Its overall objective is to empower innovation capacity of SMEs, maritime clusters/networks, PAs to boost blue CE growth in insular/coastal areas. CE prevents depletion of resources by closing energy & materials loops, leading to smart/sustainable growth as a key MED joint asset. Currently PAs/SMEs are cautious to embrace CE practices, which PAs perceive as cumbersome & SMEs as non-profitable. BLUEfasma approach will change current thinking on circularity by:-replicating effective CE work (eg in efficient use of waste & by-products), mainly from North-EU&MED projects-testing the upgraded circularity self-assessment tool in 11 participating MED territories and monitoring business readiness/willingness to invest in R&I -organising Blue Living Labs & targeted transferring activities -shifting policy towards CE-systematizing funding opportunities for blue CE innovation business investmentMain outputs: -BLUEfasma online platform-Blue Living Labs-BLUEfasma Capacity Building Instrument-Capitalization eventsThe outputs will increase innovation capacity and transnational activities among blue actors of Inter. MED Community.
An Evaluation of Safety Culture Initiatives at BNSF Railway

Major safety culture (SC) initiatives initiated in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research, Technology and Development (RT&D), such as Clear Signal for Action (CSA), the Investigation of Safety Related Occurrences Protocol (ISROP), the Participative Safety Rules Revision, and the Confidential Close Calls Reporting System (C³RS) have evolved from successful pilot demonstration projects to company-wide and industry-wide initiatives, including Amtrak’s Safe-2-Safer program, the BNSF Railway (BNSF) SC program, Union Pacific Railroad’s Total Safety Culture program, and FRA R&D CSA’s Program for the Passenger/High-Speed Rail Industry, among others. These successful SC pilot initiatives illuminate challenges which occur when similar but larger-scale implementations are evaluated: − How can a very large, complex dynamic corporate railroad organization, with a multitude of crafts and locations, improve upon and institutionalize a stronger safety culture company-wide? − How can FRA R&D support broad scale acceptance, adoption and implementation of stronger safety cultures across the rail industry? To address these key questions, FRA R&D has begun to evaluate company-wide or industry-wide SC initiatives. This report describes the evaluation of one such initiative at BNSF.
THE METHODS FOR TREATMENT OF TUMORS

This invention is in the area of improved therapeutic combinations for and methods of treating selected cancers using specific Mer tyrosine kinase (MerTK) inhibitors in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. In one aspect, an improved treatment for select cancers is disclosed using specific Mer tyrosine kinase (MerTK) inhibitors, for example UNC2371, in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor, for example, a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) inhibitor, a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) inhibitor, or a programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL-1) inhibitor.
Theatronomics: the business of theatres, 1732-1809

Eighteenth-century literary studies has taken a ‘theatrical turn’ over the past twenty-five years and the century historically associated with the ‘rise of the novel’ now acknowledges the centrality of the theatre to Georgian cultural and political life. However, we have virtually ignored its remarkable financial archive. Account-books, ledgers, and ephemeral manuscript folios contain rich data on ticket sales, audience members, revenues, actor salaries, repayments to investors, costume, scenery and other costs: this is richly detailed source material that needs to be understood.  THEATRONOMICS places money at the heart of eighteenth-century theatrical culture. This project will apply financial and econometric analysis to this data to write a new history of eighteenth-century theatrical culture (1732-1809). Manuscript data for Covent Garden and Drury Lane—the two major theatres of Europe’s biggest city—will be transcribed, digitized, and analysed using econometric methods in order to incorporate the theatres’ underlying commercial operations to our research. Our central goal is the application of economic methodologies so that new perspectives on the careers of managers, playwrights, actors, and plays emerge. When we look at the hard financial data underpinning the performance scheduling decisions; the productivity and profitability of actors; the amounts spent on scenery, costumes, scenery, and candles; and the socioeconomic profiles of the audience, we will have a transformative understanding of the ‘back end’ of the theatre business. By synthesizing this complex data, THEATRONOMICS will further enable us, by interacting with other datasets, to ask new interdisciplinary questions about the place of theatre within the ecology of London. THEATRONOMICS’s insistence on gazing through the financial lens of cultural production gives us an innovative and sustainable basis for the next generation of eighteenth-century theatre studies.
Past and present musical encounters across the strait of gibraltar

MESG explores how the notion of a collective European-North African cultural memory has been articulated through music for different sociopolitical ends in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Based on the notion of convivencia (the alleged coexistence between Christians, Jews and Muslims in Islamic Spain), music has been employed as a means of social control and representation during French-Spanish colonialism in North Africa (1912–56) and as a model for multiculturalism among North African communities in Europe today. Current scholarship on musical exchange between Europe and North Africa is fragmented, often focusing on isolated geographical case studies. There is limited understanding of how a collective cultural memory has shaped musical practice and discourse in the colonial past and the postcolonial present. In contrast, MESG offers a comparative study of music and colonialism in the Maghreb. By examining colonial music scholarship, policy and education, and musical encounters between different cultural groups, MESG probes the social dynamics of musical interaction at this time, framed by issues of race, imperialism and cultural memory. Second, MESG explores how the idea of a collective cultural memory is invoked through musical collaboration today, by focusing on various genres such as Arab-Andalusian music and flamenco. Rather than separating these historical periods, however, MESG analyses how modern-day practices of musical exchange in the region are shaped by discourses and networks formed during colonialism. Musical exchange will be read against the wider context of multiculturalism, immigration and cultural diplomacy that underpins postcolonial relations between Europe and North Africa. Combining archival and ethnographic research, this groundbreaking project brings together for the first time different geographical, linguistic and musical specialisms, leading towards a fuller understanding of musical exchange in the region.
Development of a vocabulary of object shapes in a child with a very-early-acquired visual agnosia: A unique case

We report a longitudinal study of an exceptional child (S.R.) whose early-acquired visual agnosia, following encephalitis at 8 weeks of age, did not prevent her from learning to construct an increasing vocabulary of visual object forms (drawn from different categories), albeit slowly. S.R. had problems perceiving subtle differences in shape; she was unable to segment local letters within global displays; and she would bring complex scenes close to her eyes: a symptom suggestive of an attempt to reduce visual crowding. Investigations revealed a robust ability to use the gestalt grouping factors of proximity and collinearity to detect fragmented forms in noisy backgrounds, compared with a very weak ability to segment fragmented forms on the basis of contrasts of shape. When contrasts in spatial grouping and shape were pitted against each other, shape made little contribution, consistent with problems in perceiving complex scenes, but when shape contrast was varied, and spatial grouping was held constant, S.R. showed the same hierarchy of difficulty as the controls, although her responses were slowed. This is the first report of a child's visual–perceptual development following very early neurological impairments to the visual cortex. Her ability to learn to perceive visual shape following damage at a rudimentary stage of perceptual development contrasts starkly with the loss of such ability in childhood cases of acquired visual agnosia that follow damage to the established perceptual system. Clearly, there is a critical period during which neurological damage to the highly active, early developing visual–perceptual system does not prevent but only impairs further learning.
The Evolution of Civil Society in Yunnan Province: contending models of civil society management in China

This article examines the evolution of the Yunnan model of civil society management, and through a pretest–posttest research design, finds that new regulations in 2010 create a larger role for the local state in developing civil society. These changes bring the Yunnan model closer to the more supervised model of social management pioneered by Beijing and away from the more autonomous model exemplified by Guangdong. This has important implications for the future regulation and development of civil society as the central government debates adopting one of these models as a national system of social management. While both the Guangdong and Beijing models encourage relaxing registration requirements, the social management model in Yunnan develops new channels for state guidance of civil society such as government training, funding, and project collaboration or supervision.
Rapid Screening of Antimicrobial Synthetic Peptides

Increasing resistance to conventional antibiotics among microorganisms is one of the leading problems of medicine nowadays. Antimicrobial peptides are compounds exhibiting both antibacterial and antifungal activities. However, it is difficult to predict whether a designed new compound would exhibit any biological activity. Moreover, purification of the peptides is one of the most time-consuming and expensive steps of the synthesis that sometimes leads to unnecessary loss of solvents and reagents. In our study we have developed a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) direct bioautography technique for rapid determination of antimicrobial activity of peptides without the necessity of high-performance liquid chromatography purification. In this assay, crude peptides were applied and separated on a TLC plate. Then, pre-prepared plates were dipped into microbial suspension and incubated under optimum conditions for bacteria and fungi as well. The activity of the tested compounds was visualized by spraying the TLC plates with a cell viability reagent, resazurin (7-hydroxy-3H-phenoxazin-3-one 10-oxide). Effectiveness of this assay was compared with minimal inhibitory concentration results obtained by broth microdilution assay. Interestingly, so far such a screening method has not been applied for this group of compounds.