The potentials of heresthetic and rhetoric in an open framing situation: theory and evidence from a survey experiment

To win a policy debate, political actors may apply two analytically distinct counterframing strategies, rhetoric and heresthetic. Rhetoric is when counterarguments are formulated in the original dimension of the debate, while heresthetic is using arguments in a different dimension compared to the original frame. Although both rhetoric and heresthetic are ubiquitous phenomena in the process of public opinion formation, there are no general rules to specify their efficacy. Drawing on a survey experiment carried out in Hungary in 2020 (N = 2000), this paper uncovers the factors determining the effect of the two strategies. Introducing a conceptual distinction between open and trade-off framing situations, the paper demonstrates that the structure of the situation matters. While heresthetic has a robust effect in trade-off framing situations, rhetoric may have a strong impact in open framing situations. Moreover, the effectiveness of counterframing depends on the party affiliation of respondents and the strength of their related attitudes.

Machine-Type Video Communication Using Pretrained Network for Internet of Things

With the increasing demand for internet of things (IoT) applications, machine-type video communications have become an indispensable means of communication. It is changing the way we live and work. In machine-type video communications, the quality and delay of the video transmission should be guaranteed to satisfy the requirements of communication devices at the condition of limited resources. It is necessary to reduce the burden of transmitting video by losing frames at the video sender and then to increase the frame rate of transmitting video at the receiver. In this paper, based on the pretrained network, we proposed a frame rate up-conversion (FRUC) algorithm to guarantee low-latency video transmitting in machine-type video communications. At the IoT node, by periodically discarding the video frames, the video sequences are significantly compressed. At the IoT cloud, a pretrained network is used to extract the feature layers of the transmitted video frames, which is fused into the bidirectional matching to produce the motion vectors (MVs) of the losing frames, and according to the output MVs, the motion-compensated interpolation is implemented to recover the original frame rate of the video sequence. Experimental results show that the proposed FRUC algorithm effectively improve both objective and subjective qualities of the transmitted video sequences.

Recycling of damaged RC frames: Replacing crumbled concrete and installing steel haunches below/above the beam at connections

Experimental and numerical studies are presented evaluating the efficacy of a recycling technique applied to a 1:3 reduced scale damaged RC frame. The crumbled concrete at the beam-column connections was replaced with new high-strength concrete. Epoxy mortar was applied at the interface to secure bonding between the old and new concrete. Additionally, the connections were provisioned with steel haunches, applied below and above the beams. The retrofitted frame was tested under quasi-static cyclic loads. The lateral resistance-displacement hysteretic response of the tested frame was obtained to quantify hysteretic damping, derive the lateral resistance-displacement capacity curve, and develop performance levels. The technique improved the response of the frame; exhibiting an increase in the lateral stiffness, resistance and post-yield stiffness of the frame in comparison to the undamaged original frame. This good behaviour is attributed to the steel haunches installed at connections. A representative numerical model was calibrated in the finite element program SeismoStruct. A set of spectrum compatible ground motions were input to the numerical model for response history analysis. The story drift demands were computed for both the design basis and maximum considered earthquakes. Moreover, the technique was extended to a five-story frame, which was evaluated through nonlinear static pushover and response history analyses. Overstrength factor WR = 4.0 is proposed to facilitate analysis and preliminary design of steel haunches and anchors for retrofitting the low-/mid-rise RC frames.

Face Swapping Consistency Transfer with Neural Identity Carrier

Deepfake aims to swap a face of an image with someone else’s likeness in a reasonable manner. Existing methods usually perform deepfake frame by frame, thus ignoring video consistency and producing incoherent results. To address such a problem, we propose a novel framework Neural Identity Carrier (NICe), which learns identity transformation from an arbitrary face-swapping proxy via a U-Net. By modeling the incoherence between frames as noise, NICe naturally suppresses its disturbance and preserves primary identity information. Concretely, NICe inputs the original frame and learns transformation supervised by swapped pseudo labels. As the temporal incoherence has an uncertain or stochastic pattern, NICe can filter out such outliers and well maintain the target content by uncertainty prediction. With the predicted temporally stable appearance, NICe enhances its details by constraining 3D geometry consistency, making NICe learn fine-grained facial structure across the poses. In this way, NICe guarantees the temporal stableness of deepfake approaches and predicts detailed results against over-smoothness. Extensive experiments on benchmarks demonstrate that NICe significantly improves the quality of existing deepfake methods on video-level. Besides, data generated by our methods can benefit video-level deepfake detection methods.

Detection and Model of Thermal Traces Left after Aggressive Behavior of Laboratory Rodents

Automation of complex social behavior analysis of experimental animals would allow for faster, more accurate and reliable research results in many biological, pharmacological, and medical fields. However, there are behaviors that are not only difficult to detect for the computer, but also for the human observer. Here, we present an analysis of the method for identifying aggressive behavior in thermal images by detecting traces of saliva left on the animals’ fur after a bite, nape attack, or grooming. We have checked the detection capabilities using simulations of social test conditions inspired by real observations and measurements. Detection of simulated traces different in size and temperature on single original frame revealed the dependence of the parameters of commonly used corner detectors (R score, ranking) on the parameters of the traces. We have also simulated temperature of saliva changes in time and proved that the detection time does not affect the correctness of the approximation of the observed process. Furthermore, tracking the dynamics of temperature changes of these traces allows to conclude about the exact moment of the aggressive action. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm together with thermal imaging provides additional data necessary to automate the analysis of social behavior in rodents.

Indoor Distance Measurement System COPS (COVID-19 Prevention System)

With the rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), measures are needed to detect social distancing and prevent further infection. In this paper, we propose a system that detects social distancing in indoor environments and identifies the movement path and contact objects according to the presence or absence of an infected person. This system detects objects through frames of video data collected from a closed-circuit television using You Only Look Once (v. 4) and assigns and tracks object IDs using DeepSORT, a multiple object tracking algorithm. Next, the coordinates of the detected object are transformed by image warping the area designated by the top angle composition in the original frame. The converted coordinates are matched with the actual map to measure the distance between objects and detect the social distance. If an infected person is present, the object that violates the movement path and social distancing of the infected person is detected using the ID assigned to each object. The proposed system can be used to prevent the rapid spread of infection by detecting social distancing and detecting and tracking objects according to the presence of infected persons.

DATA TRANSFER RATE IN NOISY CHANNELS OF WIRELESS NETWORKS

Analysis of new technologies IEEE 802.11ac/ax of wireless networks showed that increasing their noise immunity is an actual task. The article studies the efficiency of fragmented data frames transmission. Comparison of the efficiencies in the case of retransmission of the corrupted original frame and in the case of its fragmentation in a wide range of the physical data transfer rates is carried out.

The intersemiotic affordances of photography and poetry

This article explores the intersemiotic affordances of photography and poetry and the expansion of meaning that surpasses the meanings embedded in and elicited from both. We specifically investigate the processes and mechanisms of this semantic expansion by systematically reconstructing the compositional process of poems written from three photographs and forensically investigate how the poems emerged out of each visual frame. We discovered that intersemiosis between photography and poetry demonstrates a strong interpretative component. Intra-semiotic connections between elements within the photograph are interpreted by the viewer or writer and are translated by means of inter-semiotic triggers into intra-semiotic connections within the emerging poem during the process of composition. The resulting inter-semiotic connections between the photograph and the poem create and multiply meaning for both mediums together and independently. In other words, in the process of composition, the poem reads the meanings of components of the photograph framed by the photographer and super-frames them; creating a new frame of meanings that draw upon, and extend, meanings in the original frame of the photograph. At the same time, the poem enters a stage of self-change and self-reflection, inhabiting the life of the photograph.

Reconstruction of the Historic Bridge Located in Portz Insel

The paper presents a structural survey of the arch bridge from the 17th century located in Portz Insel near Mikulov. The purpose of the research was to analyze service life and reliability of the bridge structure including long-term functional durability. There were performed probes in order to search for the original frame foundation and defining a shape of particular arches buried in the ground for decades. The probes also helped to check up the structure of the bridge deck in several places. Currently, throughout 2019 and 2020, the bridge will undergo major reconstruction work in the context of the project „Mikulov, Portz Insel – restructuralisation of the historic countryside“.

Surgical treatment of severe posttraumatic foot deformity

The surgical treatment of a 17-year-old patient with posttraumatic complex and rigid foot deformity by the transosseous osteosynthesis method by Ilizarov (original frame) is presented in the article. Previously, the patient incurred a fracture of the left tibia. He was treated by open reduction and internal fixation with a plate in the private clinic. Within four years, an equinovarus adductus foot deformity had developed. During our treatment, the deformity of the foot was eliminated without resection of the bones of this segment. After one year of treatment, the patient was satisfied with the functional condition of the foot, its cosmetic appearance, and the absence of pain in the foot. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society scale score increased significantly from 30 points preoperatively to 82 postoperatively, whereas the visual analog scale (VAS)-pain scale score decreased from 7 to 1. His ankle motion increased from 10 preoperatively to 29 postoperatively. This case demonstrates the possibilities of the Ilizarov method and our approach in the treatment of severe rigid foot deformities by the Ilizarov technique.