Extracting Dynamic Facial Expressions from Naturalistic Videos

Facial expressions are critical in our daily interactions. Studying how humans recognize dynamic facial expressions is an important area of research in social perception, but advancements are hampered by the difficulty of creating well-controlled stimuli. Research on the perception of static faces has made significant progress thanks to techniques that make it possible to generate synthetic face stimuli. However, synthetic dynamic expressions are more difficult to generate; methods that yield realistic dynamics typically rely on the use of infrared markers applied on the face, making it expensive to create datasets that include large numbers of different expressions. In addition, the use of markers might interfere with facial dynamics. In this paper, we contribute a new method to generate large amounts of realistic and well-controlled facial expression videos. We use a deep convolutional neural network with attention and asymmetric loss to extract the dynamics of action units from videos, and demonstrate that this approach outperforms a baseline model based on convolutional neural networks without attention on the same stimuli. Next, we develop a pipeline to use the action unit dynamics to render realistic synthetic videos. This pipeline makes it possible to generate large scale naturalistic and controllable facial expression datasets to facilitate future research in social cognitive science.

Global horizontal irradiation: spatio-temporal variability on a regional scale in the south of the Pampeana region (Argentina)

The objective of this work is to analyze the spatio-temporal distribution of Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) on a regional scale and its relationship with frequent synoptic situations in the south of the Pampeana region (Argentina). It was verified that the latitudinal pattern of distribution of the GHI is modified in the region by cloud cover, which is in turn determined by the seasonal dynamics of action centers and the passage of fronts in summer and winter. The South America Monsoon System (SAMS) defines differential situations of cloudiness and rainfall in the region, which affect GHI. GHI increased successively between the decades 1981–2010, a factor associated with the variability of rainfall that characterizes the region.

Prerequisite Binding Modes Determine the Dynamics of Action of Covalent Agonists of Ion Channel TRPA1

Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is a transmembrane protein channeling the influx of calcium ions. As a polymodal nocisensor, TRPA1 can be activated by thermal, mechanical stimuli and a wide range of chemically damaging molecules including small volatile environmental toxicants and endogenous algogenic lipids. After activation by such compounds, the ion channel opens up, its central pore widens allowing calcium influx into the cytosol inducing signal transduction pathways. Afterwards, the calcium influx desensitizes irritant evoked responses and results in an inactive state of the ion channel. Recent experimental determination of structures of apo and holo forms of TRPA1 opened the way towards the design of new agonists, which can activate the ion channel. The present study is aimed at the elucidation of binding dynamics of agonists using experimental structures of TRPA1-agonist complexes at the atomic level applying molecular docking and dynamics methods accounting for covalent and non-covalent interactions. Following a test of docking methods focused on the final, holo structures, prerequisite binding modes were detected involving the apo forms. It was shown how reversible interactions with prerequisite binding sites contribute to structural changes of TRPA1 leading to covalent bonding of agonists. The proposed dynamics of action allowed a mechanism-based forecast of new, druggable binding sites of potent agonists.

Post-action memory enhancement: Exploring the temporal relationship between action and memory formation

Actions enhance incidental memory for items that appear in close succession. However, the role of action processes, such as preparation and execution, on the processes underlying such an interaction is unclear. Here, we examined the temporal dynamics of action-induced memory enhancement. In two experiments, participants performed Go/No-Go tasks while viewing task-unrelated pictures before or after their Go motor responses. Compared to items presented at similar time points in the No-Go trials, items presented after, not before, action execution were consistently better remembered in the subsequent memory tests. Our findings highlight the role of action execution and post-action processes, such as action-effect monitoring, in memory formation.

"Syntactic stylistics in contemporary Russian comics"

This paper explores the usage of devices of syntactic stylistics in contemporary Russian comics. The research aims to determine the functions that are achieved through elements of expressive syntax. The objective is to explore comics style in general, as well as devices on the phonostylistic, graphostylistic and the lexical stylistics plane. During the research, the analytic and synthetic method of scientific research was used, as well as the procedure of modern stylistic and syntactic analysis. The paper collects and analyzes examples of contemporary Russian comics that contain the following devices of syntactic stylistics: ellipsis, parcellation, nominative clauses, inversion and ecphonesis. The conclusion reached is that expressive syntax devices, as well as numerous other stylistic devices, are very frequently used in Russian comics. The function of these devises consists in conveying the features of conversational style, heroes’ emotional states, their relation to specific events, in achieving the verbal characterization of characters, in conveying the dynamics of action, emphasizing messages, as well as in formulating a concise expression which constitutes one of the main distinctive features of comics style.

Competing Theories of Nonviolent Politics

The contemporary literature on nonviolent politics relies upon a sharp distinction between strategic and principled nonviolence. Gandhi and King are associated with the latter, defined as a strict moral commitment to nonviolence that both scholars and activists view as unnecessary for the successful practice of nonviolent politics. I argue the distinction between strategic and principled nonviolence is misleading. It misunderstands the most distinctive feature of classical nonviolent politics, namely, how Gandhi and King tethered ethical practice—practices of self-discipline or suffering—to political strategy. This chapter reconstructs an alternative account of nonviolent action—nonviolence as disciplined action—and argues that it is also strategic in orientation but premised upon a different theory of politics and political action. Disciplined action is underpinned by a skeptical ontology of action which highlights the affective dynamics of action. I contrast this to the prevailing model of nonviolence as collective power, which focuses on techniques of mass mobilization and the generation of social power. I distinguish the conceptual logic of these competing theories of nonviolent politics and the differing forms of protest and dissent they recommend.

Temporally-precise disruption of prefrontal cortex informed by the timing of beta bursts impairs human action-stopping

ABSTRACTHuman action-stopping is thought to rely on a prefronto-basal ganglia-thalamocortical network, with right inferior frontal cortex (rIFC) posited to play a critical role in the early stage of implementation. Here we sought causal evidence for this idea in experiments involving healthy human participants. We first show that action-stopping is preceded by bursts of electroencephalographic activity in the beta band over prefrontal electrodes, putatively rIFC, and that the timing of these bursts correlates with the latency of stopping at a single-trial level: earlier bursts are associated with faster stopping. From this we reasoned that the integrity of rIFC at the time of beta bursts might be critical to successful stopping. We then used fMRI-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to disrupt rIFC at the approximate time of beta bursting. Stimulation prolonged stopping latencies and, moreover, the prolongation was most pronounced in individuals for whom the pulse appeared closer to the presumed time of beta bursting. These results help validate a model of the neural architecture and temporal dynamics of action-stopping. They also highlight the usefulness of prefrontal beta bursts to index an apparently important sub-process of stopping, the timing of which might help explain within- and between-individual variation in impulse control.

The embodiment of social capital at individual and communal levels

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the study of social capital focused on the level at which it is embodied, cross-comparing two prominent camps that have emerged in the social capital literature: a communal level and an individual level. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the intersections and departures between communal level and individual level conceptualizations of social capital according to the social dynamics of action within social exchanges that they stimulate, the processes by which social capital is activated/mobilized and the rewards they yield, and their linkages to inequality through network diversity. Findings This paper articulates new directions for future research in social capital: more analytical precision for studying returns to social capital; more efforts to transcend the individual-communal divide; the depreciation of social capital or tie decay; and recognizing the importance of ties whose value does not come from the ability to provide instrumental gain, but just from their very existence. Originality/value Social capital has informed many influential agendas in the social sciences, but the sheer volume of which has largely gone unscoped. This paper reviews this literature to provide an accessible introduction to social capital, organized by social processes foundational to sociology and a novel contribution to the literature by articulating new directions for future research in the area.