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Cinephilia falls to earth: thinking the image after Daney
Get PDFThis essay explores the posterity of Serge Daney’s writings by proposing a series of provisional categorizations in the manner of Daney, who often worked with tripartite distinctions. To think the image after Daney is here to think both in his aftermath and in his lineage (i.e. with him). It is to continue to think with the repertoire of concepts and approaches enshrined in his writing and to think with the conflicted practice of cinephilia that we find in his understanding of his own career as a critic. To think the image after Daney, I propose, is paradoxically to continue to think about the contemporary in a manner attentive to and following his own already retrospective disposition
Robert Sholl Piano Improvisation to The Phantom of the Opera Unmasking Scene
No full textThis live recording of the Unmasking scene from The Phantom of the Opera (1925) dir. Rupert Julian was made at Tempo Rubato, Melbourne, Australia, on 14 July 2023, part of a complete performance of the film. The piano heard here is the magnificent 102-key instrument by Wayne Stuart and Sons (the bottom register is heard particularly towards the end of this improvisation). My thanks to Justin Paterson for technical assistance
Automated mitral inflow Doppler peak velocity measurement using deep learning
Get PDFDoppler echocardiography is a widely utilised non-invasive imaging modality for assessing the functionality
of heart valves, including the mitral valve. Manual assessments of Doppler traces by clinicians introduce
variability, prompting the need for automated solutions. This study introduces an innovative deep learning
model for automated detection of peak velocity measurements from mitral inflow Doppler images, independent
from Electrocardiogram information. A dataset of Doppler images annotated by multiple expert cardiologists
was established, serving as a robust benchmark. The model leverages heatmap regression networks, achieving
96% detection accuracy. The model discrepancy with the expert consensus falls comfortably within the range
of inter- and intra-observer variability in measuring Doppler peak velocities. The dataset and models are
open-source, fostering further research and clinical application
An improved tie force method for progressive collapse resistance
No full textThis paper involves a fundamental study of a numerical method for progressive collapse resistance design of floor-to-floor joint in the precast cross wall structures. It presents a 3D numerical study of floor-to-floor system with longitudinal and transverse ties. The model is also used to derive, the post-bond-behaviour and the mechanism of forming catenary action in relation to the bond behaviour in precast cross wall structures. The results obtained inform indicate the adequacy and applicability of the code specifications in British Standard, Euro Codes and DoD 2013. Discrepancies in the tie force between the numerical results and codified specifications have suggested that an inappropriate use of current TF method, hence improved model based on the numerical results has been proposed to address this concern. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first numerical study to investigate the behaviour of floor-to-floor joints following the removal of a wall support in typical precast cross wall structures when considering bar fracture and pull-out failure mode
Handbook on Sustainable Urban Tourism
Get PDFThe Handbook on Sustainable Urban Tourism focuses on an important topic, sustainability in urban tourism destinations, which is an under-researched area of study (Maxim, 2016; Morrison & Maxim, 2022). Cities, in particular large cities, are important destinations that attract many types of visitors due to their complex characteristics and the variety of attractions they offer. However, they are also confronted with many challenges, with sustainability being a key challenge that many large cities are currently facing. At the same time, cities are expected to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with one of the goals specifically designed for urban destinations – Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. This Handbook therefore covers topics related to the importance of sustainability debates for tourism cities, as well as challenges and issues associated with the implementation of sustainable development in urban destinations, as reflected in research or seen in practice.
The main aims of the Handbook of Sustainable Urban Tourism are therefore to:
- Review contemporary issues, challenges and trends in sustainable urban tourism.
- Present practical approaches and solutions for the implementation of sustainable tourism development in urban destinations.
- Discuss the contribution of urban destinations towards advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Examine important aspects related to sustainable urban tourism, such as overtourism, social justice, environmental protection, and local community participation.
- Explore the sustainable urban tourism practices and challenges in different parts of the world.
The Handbook thus covers key challenges and issues in sustainable urban tourism, as well as contemporary debates related to research and practice in this field. Topics discussed include contemporary trends and issues in sustainable urban tourism, aspects related to the planning and managing of sustainable urban destinations, and views on sustainable urban tourism development from different parts of the world
Becoming George.
Get PDFThere are two philosophically inclined ways to understand films. The first comes from the belief that the world we inhabit is constructed from the thoughts we have about it. With this in mind, films are understood as a dialogue between what they present and the world as it is shaped by our own imagination. While the second position sees film as a purely realist phenomenon, focused not on our subjective power to imagine but on film’s formal presentation of what is. Of course, how we tend to approach films is usually from somewhere in between these two positions. In failing to fully convince us, being neither entirely idealistic nor realistic, films then serve to activate an unsettling thoughtfulness around our own subjectivity. Through a reading of the film A Single Man (2009), this paper examines how subjectivity is best understood dialectically, as an idealist project undergoing a never-ending transformation toward realism. It outlines what I tentatively call a subject of the cinematic: a subjectivity shaped by the questions we have about how we understand films
Gender Identification using 2D Ear Biometric
No full textDue to the advancement of technologies, organizations, and governments increasingly rely on digital technologies to validate a person's identity for secure interactions and to provide services for digital access control. Critical transactions require accurate and reliable authentication and verification of a person to prevent fraud. The most reliable and secure digital technology is biometrics. In this work, we are analyzing ear biometrics. Previous studies in biometrics have shown that gender can be recognized by face and voice. In this paper, ear biometrics are used to recognize and identify genders. Machine learning and deep learning are explored for gender identification. Mask RCNN and Grabcut segmentation techniques are used for ear detection, and features are extracted from Histogram-Oriented Gradient and Gabor filters and classified by gender using machine learning and deep learning techniques. The machine and deep network models achieved recognition rates of 81.48% and 87.52% for the EarVN1.0 dataset, respectively. The proposed automated system is useful to recognize people using ear biometrics
Autogenic training for chronic health conditions: A service evaluation.
Get PDFBackground
Autogenic training (AT) is a structured meditative-style practice, consisting of a sequence of simple mental exercises intended to induce a relaxed state in patients. There is some emerging evidence to suggest that AT can be effective in treating certain chronic conditions, however, further evidence is required. A service evaluation of AT services at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine was conducted to evaluate the impact of AT on patients with chronic conditions.
Methods
The service evaluation consisted of the completion of validated quantitative outcome measures pre and posttreatment to explore the impact of AT. AT patients were asked to complete the Measure Yourself Medical Outcomes Profile (MYMOP) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) at their first hospital appointment (baseline) and then again 8 weeks later following completion of their AT sessions. Pre- and posttreatment scores for each outcome measure were analysed in SPSS using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Results
One hundred ninety-nine patients completed both initial and follow-up MYMOP forms and were included in the evaluation. The most common presenting complaints for MYMOP symptom 1 were prolonged anxiety/stress and depression (n = 70, 35.2%), chronic pain and migraine headache (n = 44, 22.1%), chronic insomnia and sleep problems (n = 42, 21.1%) and, long-term exhaustion and fatigue (n = 18, 9%). The change in median score pre- and posttreatment for all MYMOP categories (symptoms, activity and well-being) were statistically highly significant p < 0.001. Anxiety, stress, depression, pain and insomnia were the symptoms that had the largest statistically significant difference between the median score pre- and posttreatment. Fifty-five patients completed the PSS questionnaire at two time points (pre- and posttreatment). It showed a highly statistically significant change in PSS median score in patients experiencing stress (p < 0.001).
Discussion
The findings of the evaluation indicate that 8 weeks of AT appears to be effective in improving symptoms of concern to patients and enhancing patients' overall well-being. In particular, AT was found to be beneficial for patients with symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, pain and insomnia
Audio steganalysis using multi‐scale feature fusion‐based attention neural network
Get PDFDeep learning techniques have shown promise in audio steganalysis, which involves detecting the presence of hidden information (steganography) in audio files. However, deep learning models are prone to overfitting, particularly when there is limited data or when the model architecture is too complex relative to the available data for VoIP steganography. To address these issues, new deep learning approaches need to be explored. In this study, a new convolutional neural network for audio steganalysis, incorporating a multi-scale feature fusion method and an attention mechanism, was devised to enhance the detection of steganographic content in audio signals encoded with G729a. To improve the network's adaptability, a multi-scale parallel multi-branch architecture was employed, allowing characteristic signals to be sampled with varying granularities and adjusting the receptive field effectively. The attention mechanism enables weight learning on the feature information after multi-scale processing, capturing the most relevant information for steganalysis. By combining multiple feature representations using a weighted combination, the deep learning model's performance was significantly enhanced. Through rigorous experimentation, an impressive accuracy rate of 94.55% was achieved in detecting malicious steganography. This outcome demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed neural network, leveraging both the multi-scale feature fusion method and the attention mechanism
Taking Stock – Legalization of Polish Medicinal Cannabis Seven Years Later: Users’ Perspectives, Substance Use & Misuse
No full textBackground
It has been seven years since Poland legalized medical cannabis. Doctors in Poland are allowed to prescribe medical cannabis, which can be then obtained via pharmacies. However, no evaluation has been produced to explore what this policy has achieved.
Method
This article uses online surveys (N = 571) and qualitative interviews to explore what Polish cannabis users think of the current system.
Results
Most users – medical and recreational – think that it is currently easy to obtain a prescription for medical cannabis in Poland, and medical cannabis from a pharmacy. The users seem to have a clear preference for cannabis clinics as a source of prescriptions for medical cannabis over traditional doctors. Doctors in cannabis clinics seem much more inclined to prescribe medical cannabis. Many respondents, however, agree that the current system remains too expensive, and many users also raise concerns about the quality of cannabis available from pharmacies and strain variation.
Conclusion
This article shows the emergence of a unique drug policy/model. The access to medical cannabis has improved significantly since the early stages of the policy. Notably – contrary to the wishes of the policymakers who wanted to create a “strict” medical model with the use of pharmacies, both – medical and recreational users seem to be benefiting from the current system