基于角膜图像的人体死亡时间推断模型初探

目的尸体角膜随死后时间延长发生的形态学变化是规律性较好的指标,常用来判断死亡时间(postmortem interval,PMI)。本文尝试用机器视觉代替人的肉眼主观判断,收集尸体样本以建立通过人体角膜图像推断PMI的模型。方法收集实际案例建立包含505例人体死后角膜图像的数据库,PMI范围为0.24h(约死后14min)至492h(约死后20.5d),大致分为三类(依次为:0~<6h、6~<20h、20h及以上)或二类(0~<15h、15h及以上);使用由华盛顿大学陈天奇博士提出的Xgboost模型分别进行二分类与三分类分析;使用多种卷积神经网络模型分别进行分类和回归学习,并通过比较最终选择了由微软研究院提出的ResNet模型进行分析。结果Xgboost在三分类时预测准确率依次为71.8%、40.7%、65.7%,二分类时为90%、48.5%。ResNet分类模型中,精准率、召回率在三分类时分别依次为:81%、75%,30%、50%,61%、71%,二分类时为:70%、92%,76%、38%。ResNet回归模型中,比较整个模型的预测结果,0~6h内的预测值与真实值较为接近,均值误差为0.5616,均方误差为0.5873,6h之后开始出现较大误差。结论分类和回归模型都在0~6h之内得到了很好的结果,说明在此时间段内,角膜图像噪声较低,可预测性强。     

国外新区域主义理论的三重理解

新区域主义是地方治理研究在传统联合政府模式和公共选择模式基础上产生发展起来的。在英文文献当中,新区域主义理论可以从区域空间、区域身份与区域整合等三个角度进行解读。从区域空间角度来看,新区域主义主要强调各种不同主体在“区域空间”范围内的关系构建;从区域身份角度来看,新区域主义理论将区域治理与社会建构理论相结合,强调了区域在形成过程中的主观性和文化价值取向;从区域整合角度来看,新区域主义理论强调区域整合方式的弹性化,政府负责提供交流合作的平台,引导地方政府和公民主体在区域内流动并促进各主体在自愿基础上开展自发的合作。     

Applying the Strategies of International Peacebuilding to Family Conflicts: What Those Involved in Family Disputes Can Learn from the Efforts of Peacebuilders Working to Transform War‐Torn Societies

Intractable international conflicts and difficult or intractable family conflicts have much in common. Relationships are damaged or destroyed, escalation causes parties to become polarized and make bad decisions, communication is strained or nonexistent, and competition and coercion take the place of collaboration. Similarities also exist in the realm of solutions, and those caught in (or intervening in) difficult family conflicts can learn much from the strategies and tactics of international peacebuilders. This article describes eight steps that peacebuilders at both the family level and the international level can take to make very damaging conflicts more constructive.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• Limiting escalation is important in both contexts.
• Preventing or correcting misunderstandings is key to resolution in both contexts as well.
• Be sure you are focusing on the real problem(s).
• Get the facts straight (and agreed upon) before making agreements.
• Healing past wrongs is important for long term stability.
• Working both within and beyond the zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) is essential in both contexts.
• Working to improve relationships helps all parties and improves the outcome.

     

Food distribution's socio-economic relationships and public policy: Mexico City's municipal public markets

Traditional food supply systems, like municipal public markets (MPM), are in crisis. Nevertheless, MPMs continue to demonstrate importance in the lives of the cities. In this article we discuss the case of Mexico City and the importance of the public markets for its neighbourhoods. We present the results of two research projects, completed in Mexico City at two different historical times and interpreted longitudinally. The results demonstrate the importance of socio-economic relationships for MPM's survival and potential. The article concludes with public policy recommendations to permit conservation, given the MPM's importance for the city's social cohesion.     

Farmer-to-farmer extension: opportunities for enhancing performance of volunteer farmer trainers in Kenya

Farmer-to-farmer extension (FFE) is playing a complementary role to formal extension services in facilitating the spread of agricultural technologies and improving farmers’ capacities. The effectiveness and sustainability of such programmes depend on volunteer farmer trainers (VFTs) having technical skills and overcoming process-related challenges that hinder them from achieving the desired outcomes. This article uses quantitative and qualitative data collected from seven sites to explore the challenges experienced by VFTs as they share their knowledge on livestock feed innovations in a dairy development project in Kenya. Sustainable opportunities for enhancing VFTs’ performance are discussed.     

Rural development from the ground up: agro-food initiatives in Tasmania

Concerns about the decline of rural agricultural communities have recently refocused on new economic opportunities available in regional food production. This article analyses three on-the-ground case studies of rural development projects in Tasmania, Australia that aimed to develop new regional food opportunities. It analyses these projects to identify how local food producers can create viable economic alternatives in rural settings. The projects illustrate that the existence of regional food assets alone is not enough to guarantee economic development success: rural producers need connections into relevant knowledge networks if they are to identify and respond to new agro-food market opportunities.     

Collective action in small-scale mushroom production in Swaziland: does organisational form matter?

While substantial literature is available on the determinants of small-scale farmers’ participation in collective action, and the welfare impacts of producing and/or marketing collectively, studies on the likely implications of organisational form on producers’ collective behaviour remain scant. This article attempts to address this knowledge gap by using an example of different forms of small-scale mushroom-producing groups in Swaziland. Given the importance of collective action in sub-Saharan Africa, the overall results of this article provide valuable insights into alternative means of coordinating commercial small-scale agricultural activities, which can improve producers’ ultimate benefits while reducing the likelihood of internal free-riding.     

Erstwhile villages in urban India

In the process of urbanisation villages are becoming parts of cities or towns, and are becoming almost irreversibly transformed as a result. Erstwhile villages, now parts of cities and towns, are on the margins of an urbanising India. They are lagging behind other parts of the cities in terms of receiving basic urban services and infrastructures. Urban development processes should look at the specific issues and concerns of these villages independently from the need and scope of planning for the city at large. This would make the transition from rural to urban status fair and inclusive for erstwhile villagers.     

Investment Treaty Law and the Fear for Sovereignty: Transnational Challenges and Solutions

This article addresses the vagueness, and the interpretative challenges associated with, international investment agreements (IIAs) and develops a new normative framework for interpreting these treaties. It focuses on the historical embedding of investment protection as a means of facilitating economic development as well as upon its synthetic public law nature. The analysis shows that a teleological approach to interpretation imposes boundaries on the meaning of substantive IIA provisions. The article then elaborates how the transnational dimension of IIAs provides a benchmark, which is the level of protection offered to economic actors against interference by the state in countries with the highest rule of law standards. The article then shows how the resulting challenges of comparative public law could be addressed through the methodology of re‐ and pre‐statement of transnational uniform ‘principles’: sophisticated and detailed rules striking the proper balance between private economic interests and the public regulatory interest, so as to provide more legal certainty for both investors and host states.     

Ancestry and BMI Influences on Facial Soft Tissue Depths for A Cohort of Chinese and Caucasoid Women in Dunedin,New Zealand

This study measured and assessed facial soft tissue depths (FSTDs) in adult female Chinese and New Zealand (NZ) Europeans (Caucasoids). Ultrasound was used to obtain depths at nine landmarks on 108 healthy subjects (51 Chinese, 57 NZ European), erect positioned, of same age group (18–29 years). Height and weight were also recorded. Statistical analysis focused on comparison of tissue depth between the two ancestry groups and the influence of Body Mass Index (BMI) (kg/m²). Results showed mean depth differences at Supra M2 and Infra M2 landmarks significantly greater for Chinese than Caucasoid women for all three BMI Classes (BMI <20, 20 ≤ BMI < 25, 25 ≤ BMI < 30), even BMI <20. For both groups BMI positively correlated with FSTD values at all landmarks except Labrale superius. This study enabled ancestry and BMI influence on FSTDs to be observed and compared for two distinct groups. Results add to knowledge about facial tissue depth variation.