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Hand pose estimation (HPE) can be used for a variety of human-computer interaction applications such as gesture-based control for physical or virtual/augmented reality devices. Recent works have shown that videos or multi-view images carry rich information regarding the hand, allowing for the development of more robust HPE systems. In this paper, we present the Multi-View Video-Based 3D Hand (MuViHand) dataset, consisting of multi-view videos of the hand along with ground-truth 3D pose labels. Our dataset includes more than 402,000 synthetic hand images available in 4,560 videos. The videos have been simultaneously captured from six different angles with complex backgrounds and random levels of dynamic lighting. The data has been captured from 10 distinct animated subjects using 12 cameras in a semi-circle topology where six tracking cameras only focus on the hand and the other six fixed cameras capture the entire body. Next, we implement MuViHandNet, a neural pipeline consisting of image encoders for obtaining visual embeddings of the hand, recurrent learners to learn both temporal and angular sequential information, and graph networks with U-Net architectures to estimate the final 3D pose information. We perform extensive experiments and show the challenging nature of this new dataset as well as the effectiveness of our proposed method. Ablation studies show the added value of each component in MuViHandNet, as well as the benefit of having temporal and sequential information in the dataset., Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures

The Dictionary of Christianity and Science, published in 2017, contains no dedicated entry to the topic of transhumanism. This is striking, given that the subtitle of this particular dictionary is The Definitive Reference for the Intersection of Christian Faith and Contemporary Science. Clearly, there is much work to be done on this topic by Christian thinkers. Since the conversation between Christians and transhumanists seems to be in the early stages, I think it would be helpful to suggest a framework for what it should look like to think like a Christian about transhumanism.

Apart from its literary context, the parable of the Good Samaritan is commonly understood to teach a simple moral: act like the Samaritan. Closer attention to its Lukan context, however, reveals that this parable is serving the larger purpose of teaching one how to interpret the Law, made particularly evident by the questions that closely precede the parable: "What is in the Law, and how do you read it?" Through a close reading of the parable's grammar, structure, and narrative context, one discovers that the parable illustrates how life-giving interpretation of Torah is characterized by compassion, action, and solidarity with the suffering. The priest and Levite function as foils—those whose embodiment of the Law attests to a distorted interpretation of Torah. The Samaritan, in contrast, embodies a surprisingly exemplary reading of Torah. There is also good reason to suspect another twist at the end of the parable, one that invites the reader to adopt the point of view of the parable's victim, thereby teaching that proper interpretation of the Law must take into account the perspective of the suffering and marginalized.

This article opens with an example of what a Christian interpretive paradigm might look like. For help with this, it turns to Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana (DDC), which will be shown to have a hermeneutic with a priori theological convictions. Augustine's ecclesially located exegetical framework results in a hermeneutic that (1) calls for humble, submissive, and virtuous readers; (2) highly values authorial communicative intent; (3) is nonetheless open to polysemy; and (4) delimits interpretations by appealing to the rule of faith, the double love commandment, and clearer canonical texts. Insights from DDC are then brought into conversation with the hermeneutical paradigms of Räisänen and Stendahl. In brief, Augustine's hermeneutic clashes with Räisänen's, because Augustine reads Scripture from the standpoint of Christian faith, whereas Räisänen attempts to read from a so-called neutral standpoint. Regarding Stendahl's exclusive privileging of authorial intent, an ecclesially located theology would seem to challenge Stendahl because of (1) how NT writers often seem to read OT texts beyond the intent of the OT author, and (2) the inability of sola scriptura to determine crucial theological doctrines. The last section of this article notes how Augustine's approach to delimiting polysemic interpretations holds together many of the strengths offered by contemporary theological interpreters, including Max Turner, Richard Hays, Joel Green, Stephen Fowl, A. K. M. Adam, Richard Briggs, and others. The hope is that, by bringing DDC into the conversation, this article can contribute to the elusive task of making room for, while simultaneously bounding, polysemy in biblical interpretation.

Background Constitutive activation of Ras in immortalized bronchial epithelial cells increases electron transport chain activity, oxygen consumption and tricarboxylic acid cycling through unknown mechanisms. We hypothesized that members of the Ras family may stimulate respiration by enhancing the expression of the Vb regulatory subunit of cytochrome c oxidase (COX). Results We found that the introduction of activated H-RasV12 into immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells increased eIF4E-dependent COX Vb protein expression simultaneously with an increase in COX activity and oxygen consumption. In support of the regulation of COX Vb expression by the Ras family, we also found that selective siRNA-mediated inhibition of K-Ras expression in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells reduced COX Vb protein expression, COX activity, oxygen consumption and the steady-state concentration of ATP. We postulated that COX Vb-mediated activation of COX activity may be required for the anchorage-independent growth of A549 cells as soft agar colonies or as lung xenografts. We transfected the A549 cells with COX Vb small interfering or shRNA and observed a significant reduction of their COX activity, oxygen consumption, ATP and ability to grow in soft agar and as poorly differentiated tumors in athymic mice. Conclusion Taken together, our findings indicate that the activation of Ras increases COX activity and mitochondrial respiration in part via up-regulation of COX Vb and that this regulatory subunit of COX may have utility as a Ras effector target for the development of anti-neoplastic agents.

A number of transport models such as HETC-HEDS, MCNP-X, HZETRN, PHITS, FLUKA, GEANT, MARS, and SHIELD-HIT have all recently incorporated heavy-ion interactions, and as such they can provide a complete description of Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) transport.1 2 These models are essential tools for the design of spacecraft, habitats, and instrumentation used in space. In the past decade, benchmark comparisons between experimental data and model calculations have been performed in order to provide a measure of the accuracy of those calculations. There is a large range of data which can be selected for comparison, data that includes measurements of accelerator-based cross sections and thick-target yields. We discuss some of the trends seen in the comparisons, with a focus on the sensitivity of the trends as a function of the projectile/ion system being studied, as well as the charge and mass of the secondary particle. Results indicate the models do well, in general, for heavy and intermediate-mass charged secondaries, but don't do well for light ion secondaries. In addition, there are significant differences between the models, indicating more work is needed.