4 research outputs found
Multi-scale keypoints in V1 and face detection
No full textEnd-stopped cells in cortical area V1, which combine out-
puts of complex cells tuned to different orientations, serve to detect line
and edge crossings (junctions) and points with a large curvature. In this
paper we study the importance of the multi-scale keypoint representa-
tion, i.e. retinotopic keypoint maps which are tuned to different spatial
frequencies (scale or Level-of-Detail). We show that this representation
provides important information for Focus-of-Attention (FoA) and object
detection. In particular, we show that hierarchically-structured saliency
maps for FoA can be obtained, and that combinations over scales in
conjunction with spatial symmetries can lead to face detection through
grouping operators that deal with keypoints at the eyes, nose and mouth,
especially when non-classical receptive field inhibition is employed. Al-
though a face detector can be based on feedforward and feedback loops
within area V1, such an operator must be embedded into dorsal and
ventral data streams to and from higher areas for obtaining translation-,
rotation- and scale-invariant face (object) detection
Draconarius catillus Wang, Griswold & Miller, 2010, sp. nov.
No full textDraconarius catillus sp. nov. (Figs 62-69, 535) Type material: Holotype. ♂, CHINA: Yunnan: Fugong County: 1 km E Yaping Pass, turning rocks among dormant bamboo, N27.20854°, E98.20854°, 3506 m, May 6, 2004, C. Griswold (HNU, CASENT 9020765). Paratype. CHINA: Yunnan: Lushui County: 1♂, Feng Xue Yakou, 100 m S of Pianma Road, N25.97288°, E98.68336°, 3150 m, Rhododendron/Bamboo thicket, pitfall traps, May 11-21, 2005, C. Griswold, D. Kavanaugh & K.J. Guo (CAS, CASENT9022109). Etymology: The species name is derived from Latin word “catillus”, which means "small bowl, dish, plate", and refers to the broad, dish-shaped conductor; noun in apposition. Diagnosis: The male is similar to D. nudulus Wang2003 in having a short conductor, a proximally originating embolus, and in lacking a patellar apophysis, but can be distinguished by the large, distally protruding cymbial furrow and the spoon-shaped median apophysis (Figs 62-63). Description: Male (holotype). Medium sized Coelotinae, total length 7.45 (Fig. 67). Dorsal shield of prosoma 4.10 long, 2.85 wide; opisthosoma 3.35 long, 2.10 wide. AME smallest, half the size of ALE; ALE largest; PME slightly larger than AME, PLE slightly smaller than ALE (AME 0.07, ALE 0.14, PME 0.09, PLE 0.12); AME separated from each other by their diameter, from ALE by 1.5 times AME diameter; PME separated from each other by approximately 1.5 times PME diameter, from PLE by slightly less than two times PME diameter (AME-AME 0.07, AME-ALE 0.10, PME-PME 0.12, PME-PLE 0.16, AME-PME 0.12) (Fig. 68). Chelicera with 3 promarginal and 2 retromarginal teeth. Labium longer than wide (L / W =1.16) (Fig. 69). Palp without a patellar apophysis; RTA more than half of tibial length, with a sharply protruding distal end; lateral tibial apophysis broad, close to RTA; cymbial furrow large, slightly less than cymbial length, with distal end slightly protruding beyond cymbium; conductor broad, short, with a large basal lamella and a dorsal apophysis; median apophysis spoon-shaped, elongated, free-standing along anterior edge; embolus long, filiform, proximal in origin, with thread arising at 6- o’clock-position, running half an oval, extending posteriorly to middle part of tibia and anteriorly coiling beyond distal part of bulb (Figs 62-66). Female. Unknown. Distribution: China (Yunnan: Lushui, Fugong) (Fig. 535).Published as part of Wang, XIN-PING, Griswold, CHARLES E. & Miller, JEREMY A., 2010, Revision of the genus Draconarius Ovtchinnikov 1999 (Agelenidae: Coelotinae) in Yunnan, China, with an analysis of the Coelotinae diversity in the Gaoligongshan Mountains, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 2593 on pages 28-2
EFL/ESP teacher development and classroom innovation through teacher-initiated action research
No full textThis study is an investigation of the potential of teacher-initiated action research for
EFL/ESP teacher development and classroom innovation. The Collaborative Academic
Writing Research Project (CAWRP), on which it is based, was carried out at the ESP
Centre, Damascus University, in 1996-1997. It was in two phases, Baseline and
Main. The researcher, a teacher in the context, assumed a participatory and facilitating
role. The pedagogic problem was the teaching of research paper writing to
postgraduate students. The CAWRP was proposed to ease this problem and introduce
classroom innovation through teacher-initiated action research, the long-term aim of
which was continuous professional development. The baseline research aimed at
articulating a picture of teacher and context needs and assessing project viability. The
proposal was refined in the light of the findings, and a programme of teacher
development activities was agreed with the participants. This was implemented in the
Main Phase, which had three stages: Orientation, Research and Reporting, and
Summative Evaluation and Follow-up. The role of the researcher was to facilitate the
teachers to self-direct their professional learning and introduce needed pedagogic
innovations.
The thesis is in eight chapters and 32 appendices. Chapter One sets the scene
and introduces the study. Chapter Two focuses on the baseline investigation: its
methodology, findings, and their implications for the Main Phase study. Chapter Three
is a review of the relevant literature in the fields of teacher development and classroom
innovation. Chapter Four focuses on project design and methodology and gives more
details on the principles, values, strategies, and procedures that guided project
implementation and how they worked out in action. Chapter Five reports the findings,
focusing on the contribution of the Orientation Stage activities to the development of
the teacher group as a whole (a total of 20 out of 23 Centre teachers). Its main sources
of data are recordings, feedback questionnaires, and participant observation. Chapter
Six focuses on the teachers who carried out action research and reported on it (8 out
of the 20 Orientation Stage participants). It presents two case studies of frill
participants, starting with their entry points and showing how they developed in the
Research and Reporting Stage. One case exemplifies the experienced teachers and
those who did research individually, and the other the novices and those who worked in
collaboration. Chapter Seven reports on the participants' sununative evaluation of the
project and the effect of this evaluation on project continuity. Chapter Eight
summarises the main findings and evaluates them with reference to the literature, on
the one hand, and design principles and methodology, on the other. In this chapter, I
have looked critically at the lessons learnt from the study, discussed its significance and
limitations, and put forward some recommendations. The appendices include some of
the materials and documentary evidence used in the research
Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
No full textBackgroundTranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.MethodsWe did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124.FindingsBetween July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98).InterpretationWe found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial.</div
