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Summary: Shoot branching is determined by a balance between factors that promote axillary bud dormancy and factors that release buds from the quiescent state. The TCP family of transcription factors is classified into two classes, Class I and Class II, which usually play different roles. While the role of the Class II TCP BRANCHED1 (BRC1) in suppressing axillary bud development in Arabidopsis thaliana has been widely explored, the function of Class I TCPs in this process remains unknown.We analyzed the role of Class I TCP14 and TCP15 in axillary branch development in Arabidopsis through a series of genetic and molecular studies.In contrast to the increased branch number shown by brc1 mutants, tcp14 tcp15 plants exhibit a reduced number of branches compared with wild‐type. Our findings provide evidence that TCP14 and TCP15 act by counteracting BRC1 function through two distinct mechanisms. First, they indirectly reduce BRC1 expression levels. Additionally, TCP15 directly interacts with BRC1 decoying it from chromatin and thereby preventing the transcriptional activation of a set of BRC1‐dependent genes.We describe a molecular mechanism by which Class I TCPs physically antagonize the action of the Class II TCP BRC1, aligning with their opposite roles in axillary bud development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the earlier proposed action prediction methods, such as PoseGAN, C2GAN, etc. are limited to unidirectional prediction and not intended to perform the desired class of action. In this paper, we propose an action-guided Cycle Generative Adversarial Network (AGCGAN), which is a bi-directional video prediction model to anticipate future frames from current visual frames and vice versa. The proposed CycleGAN architecture consists of two generators and two discriminators along with two additional keypoint detectors to make keypoint loss measurements. The adversarial and cycle losses perform the appearance modelling whereas the keypoint loss provides the necessary motion correction. We evaluated the effectiveness of our proposed method on the UT-Interaction dataset. Furthermore, we also tested our model on the standard Market-1501 dataset against the state-of-the-art schemes. Results show that our proposed method provides comparable visual quality with the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The space \mathbf {H}^{4,2} of vectors of norm -1 in \mathbb {R}^{4,3} has a natural pseudo-Riemannian metric and a compatible almost complex structure. The group of automorphisms of both of these structures is the split real form \mathsf {G}_2'. In this paper we consider a class of holomorphic curves in \mathbf {H}^{4,2} which we call alternating. We show that such curves admit a so called Frenet framing. Using this framing, we show that the space of alternating holomorphic curves which are equivariant with respect to a surface group is naturally parameterized by certain \mathsf {G}_2'-Higgs bundles. This leads to a holomorphic description of the moduli space as a fibration over Teichmüller space with a holomorphic action of the mapping class group. Using a generalization of Labourie's cyclic surfaces, we then show that equivariant alternating holomorphic curves are infinitesimally rigid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task of few-shot action recognition aims to recognize novel action classes using only a small number of labeled training samples. How to better describe the action in each video and how to compare the similarity between videos are two of the most critical factors in this task. Directly describing the video globally or by its individual frames cannot well represent the spatiotemporal dependencies within an action. On the other hand, naively matching the global representations of two videos is also not optimal since action can happen at different locations in a video with different speeds. In this work, we propose a novel approach that describes each video using multiple types of prototypes and then computes the video similarity with a particular matching strategy for each type of prototypes. To better model the spatiotemporal dependency, we describe the video by generating prototypes that model the multi-level spatiotemporal relations via transformers. There are a total of three types of prototypes. The first type of prototypes are trained to describe specific aspects of the action in the video e.g., the start of the action, regardless of its timestamp. These prototypes are directly matched one-to-one between two videos to compare their similarity. The second type of prototypes are the timestamp-centered prototypes that are trained to focus on specific timestamps of the video. To deal with the temporal variation of actions in a video, we apply bipartite matching to allow the matching of prototypes of different timestamps. The third type of prototypes are generated from the timestamp-centered prototypes, which regularize their temporal consistency while serving as an auxiliary summarization of the whole video. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed method achieves state-of-the-art results on multiple benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the Hirzebruch–Milnor class of a hypersurface |$X$| in an ambient complex algebraic manifold to the case where the normal bundle is nontrivial and |$X$| cannot be defined by a global function, using the associated line bundle and the graded quotients of the monodromy filtration. The earlier definition requiring a global defining function of |$X$| can be applied rarely to projective hypersurfaces with non-isolated singularities. Indeed, it is surprisingly difficult to get a one-parameter smoothing with total space smooth without destroying the singularities by blowing-ups (except certain quite special cases). As an application, assuming the singular locus is a projective variety, we show that the minimal exponent of a hypersurface can be captured by the spectral Hirzebruch–Milnor class, and higher du Bois and rational singularities of a hypersurface are detectable by the unnormalized Hirzebruch–Milnor class. Here the unnormalized class can be replaced by the normalized one in the higher du Bois case, but for the higher rational case, we must use also the decomposition of the Hirzebruch–Milnor class by the action of the semisimple part of the monodromy (which is equivalent to the spectral Hirzebruch–Milnor class). We cannot extend these arguments to the non-projective compact case by Hironaka's example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a compact orientable surface Σ g , 1 of genus 푔 with one boundary component and for an odd prime number 푝, we study the homology of the unordered configuration spaces C ∙ (Σ g , 1) : = ∐ n ≥ 0 C n (Σ g , 1) with coefficients in F p . We describe H ∗ ⁢ (C ∙ ⁢ (Σ g , 1) ; F p) as a bigraded module over the Pontryagin ring H ∗ ⁢ (C ∙ ⁢ (D) ; F p) , where 퐷 is a disc, and compute in particular the bigraded dimension over F p . We also consider the action of the mapping class group Γ g , 1 and prove that the mod-푝 Johnson kernel K g , 1 ⁢ (p) ⊆ Γ g , 1 is the kernel of the action on H ∗ ⁢ (C ∙ ⁢ (Σ g , 1 ; F p)) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naturalistic stimuli used in modern human neuroscience research are often narratives, but there has been limited discussion of a core property of these narratives: causal structure. Causal structure of narratives has a powerful impact on episodic memory, and emerging evidence suggests that causal variables play a role in the activity of brain systems during narrative encoding and retrieval. Consideration of how humans identify and use causal information in narratives may inform studies and computational models of the neural mechanisms that enable organisms to link actions and outcomes. Narrative schema may be especially valuable for improving value-guided learning and decision-making by enabling efficient credit assignment in complex, high-dimensional state spaces like those encountered in natural environments. Many human behavioral and brain imaging studies have used narratively structured stimuli (e.g., written, audio, or audiovisual stories) to better emulate real-world experience in the laboratory. However, narratives are a special class of real-world experience, largely defined by their causal connections across time. Much contemporary neuroscience research does not consider this key property. We review behavioral and neuroscientific work that speaks to how causal structure shapes comprehension of and memory for narratives. We further draw connections between this work and reinforcement learning, highlighting how narratives help link causes to outcomes in complex environments. By incorporating the plausibility of causal connections between classes of actions and outcomes, reinforcement learning models may become more ecologically valid, while simultaneously elucidating the value of narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The set of equivalence classes of cobounded actions of a group G$G$ on different hyperbolic metric spaces carries a natural partial order. Following Abbott–Balasubramanya–Osin, the group G$G$ is H$\mathcal {H}$‐accessible if the resulting poset has a largest element. In this paper, we prove that every nongeometric 3‐manifold has a finite cover with H$\mathcal {H}$‐inaccessible fundamental group and give conditions under which the fundamental group of the original manifold is H$\mathcal {H}$‐inaccessible. We also prove that every Croke–Kleiner admissible group (a class of graphs of groups that generalizes fundamental groups of three‐dimensional graph manifolds) has a finite index subgroup that is H$\mathcal {H}$‐inaccessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the equivariant classification results of Escher and Searle for closed, simply connected, Riemannian n-manifolds with non-negative sectional curvature admitting isometric isotropy-maximal torus actions to the class of such manifolds admitting isometric strictly almost isotropy-maximal torus actions. In particular, we prove that any such manifold is equivariantly diffeomorphic to the free, linear quotient by a torus of a product of spheres of dimensions greater than or equal to three. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we study combinatorial non-positive curvature aspects of various simplicial complexes with natural A ˜ n shaped simplices, including Euclidean buildings of type A ˜ n and Cayley graphs of Garside groups and their quotients by the Garside elements. All these examples fit into the more general setting of lattices with order-increasing Z -actions and the associated lattice quotients proposed in a previous work by the first named author. We show that both the lattice quotients and the lattices themselves give rise to weakly modular graphs, which is a form of combinatorial non-positive curvature. We also show that several other objects fit into this setting of lattices/lattice quotients, including Artin complexes of Artin-Tits groups of type A ˜ n , a class of arc complexes and weak Garside groups arising from a categorical Garside structure in the sense of Bessis. Hence our result also implies to these objects and shows that they give weakly modular graphs. Along the way, we also clarify the relationship between categorical Garside structures, lattices with Z action and different classes of complexes studied this article. We use this point of view to describe the first examples of Garside groups with exotic properties, like non-linearity or rigidity results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CSIDH is a post-quantum key-exchange scheme based on the action of ideal class groups on supersingular elliptic curves over prime fields. Its short keys and ciphertexts, together with its flexibility as a building block to construct complex cryptographic primitives, has motivated significant research on the efficiency of CSIDH and its resistance against side-channel attacks. In this work, some cutting-edge results from recent contributions are reviewed in a unified treatment, focusing on the mathematical ideas lying behind them rather than on cryptographic and low-level implementation techniques. In particular, we first describe ways to speed up the class-group-action evaluation, which range from the use of different models of elliptic curves to working with different ideal class groups. We then survey some constant-time variants of CSIDH, that make the time and memory consumption during the computation of a public/shared key independent of the secret key. Finally, we examine the computation of the ideal class action when the structure of the ideal class group is known, which is the case for a specific set of CSIDH parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting action units is an important task in face analysis, especially in facial expression recognition. This is due, in part, to the idea that expressions can be decomposed into multiple action units. To evaluate systems that detect action units, F1-binary score is often used as the evaluation metric. In this paper, we argue that F1-binary score does not reliably evaluate these models due largely to class imbalance. Because of this, F1-binary score should be retired and a suitable replacement should be used. We justify this argument through a detailed evaluation of the negative influence of class imbalance on action unit detection. This includes an investigation into the influence of class imbalance in train and test sets and in new data (i.e., generalizability). We empirically show that F1-micro should be used as the replacement for F1-binary. • We show that AU base rates have a large influence on detection across different architectures. • We show how different evaluation metrics are impacted by AU base rates. • We argue that F1-binary should not be used, for AU detection, and that F1-micro should replace it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a finite group |$G$|⁠ , a central subgroup |$H$| of |$G$|⁠ , and an operator space |$X$| equipped with an action of |$H$| by complete isometries, we construct an operator space |$X_{G}$| equipped with an action of |$G$| that is unique under a "reasonable" condition. This generalizes the operator space complexification |$X_{c}$| of |$X$|⁠. As a linear space |$X_{G}$| is the space obtained from inducing the representation of |$H$| to |$G$| (in the sense of Frobenius). Indeed a main achievement of our paper is the induced representation construction in the category of operator spaces. This has been hitherto elusive even for Banach spaces since it is not clear how to norm the induced space. We show that for a large class of group actions the induced space has a unique operator space norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Class actions make it economically viable for plaintiffs to pursue low-value claims. Through class actions, plaintiffs are compensated, and defendants are deterred. An important component of class actions is the class representative. Without a class representative, a class action cannot occur. Therefore, in an effort to induce class representatives to participate in the suit-and thus maintain the sustainability of class actions-lass representatives are given incentive awards. These incentive awards seek to compensate class representatives for their work done on behalf of the class, to offset any, financial and reputational risk, and to recognize their work as a private attorney general. Incentive awards became commonplace by the turn of the twenty-first century. However, the legal basis for them was rarely, if ever, discussed. Courts would frequently dodge the opportunity to address the permissibility of incentive awards-until recently. Since the end of 2020, four circuit courts have addressed whether incentive awards should be categorically banned: a result that would severely impact the viability of class actions. Yet, rather than addressing this question by analyzing whether there is a legal basis for modern incentive awards, the courts have focused on the applicability Of a pair of over-a-century old cases. Therefore, despite the attention that incentive awards have recently received, the legal basis for such awards remains unclear. This Note seeks to provide the analysis that is missing: What, if any, is the legal basis giving courts authority to approve incentive awards to class representatives? In particular, this Note searches for a legal basis in Rules, common law, and principles of freedom of contract. Upon finding that incentive awards are legally permissible, this Note proposes a new framework for how courts should analyze incentive awards moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the legal complexities surrounding copyright laws and generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It examines various lawsuits that have been filed, focusing on copyright claims related to the training data and output produced by AI models. The article provides an overview of recent court rulings in four cases, which shed light on the evolving legal landscape and offer insight into the types of claims that are likely to be successful. It also discusses specific cases, including Andersen v. Stability AI and Kadrey v. Meta Platforms, providing details of the initial complaints and the courts' rulings on motions to dismiss. The article emphasizes the challenges faced by plaintiffs in proving copyright infringement and fair use in generative AI cases. [Extracted from the article]

Companies are increasingly expected to publicly report on not only their traditional financial results, but also environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") issues. Trillions of dollars are being invested with ESG considerations in mind, and boosters urge that ESG investing can address environmental and social impacts that are normally ignored by managers focused on share prices. This raises the question of how companies should be punished if they lie about ESG matters. How should the traditional elements of securities fraud map onto the novel ESG context? Commentators have vigorously debated ESG's relationship to the materiality element of securities fraud. But the literature has largely overlooked the reliance element. Securities class action plaintiffs normally show reliance using the presumption introduced by the Supreme Court's decision in Basic Inc. v. Levinson. If a plaintiff can show that a company's shares trade in an efficient market, share prices are presumed to reflect all publicly available material information about the company. As a result, a material misstatement operates as a "fraud on the market," and anyone who traded the company's shares at the market price is presumed to have relied on the misstatement. This presumption makes securities class actions possible by dispensing with the need to prove that every individual plaintiff actually relied on the false information. As ESG disclosures expand, a new wave of litigation powered by Basic is developing. This Article explores the reliance element of securities fraud and identifies a deep tension between the premises of the ESG movement and the premises of Basic. The advocates who urge corporations to do better on environmental and social matters largely--and justifiably--believe that share prices do not properly reflect corporate performance on those fronts. That belief is difficult to reconcile with Basic's assumption that material information about a company is reflected in its share price. The Basic presumption could also chill valuable experimentation and voluntary disclosures by companies, and it could absolve institutional investors of the need to actually review and act on ESG disclosures. Counterintuitively, requiring plaintiffs who attack an ESG disclosure to show reliance without using Basic may help advance the goals of the ESG movement, particularly if other enforcers such as the Securities and Exchange Commission step up. These points suggest the need to proactively consider how the Basic presumption should work for ESG misstatements, along with the development of new and creative approaches. By shifting the conversation on ESG disclosures from its current emphasis on materiality to a proper focus on investor reliance and enforcement, this analysis generates fresh and actionable insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the overwhelming majority of class action lawsuits filed in this country are plaintiff class actions—with named plaintiffs representing larger classes of plaintiffs—Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure technically permits plaintiffs to sue a named defendant representing a class of defendants as well. However, such suits are exceptionally rare—so much so that they have been described as “as rare as unicorns.” Still, when defendant classes emerge, they create two distinct problems. First, defendant classes cause both federal district courts and their state counterparts severe administrative headaches. Second, defendant classes trample on the due process rights of the defendants who are bound by their judgments. At least partially in response to these administrative and due process concerns, states have experimented with fixes to the defendant class action device in their equivalent class action rules. This Note categorizes and analyzes those variations on Federal Rule 23. It shows that Maryland’s solution of plaintiffonly classes is good; Mississippi and Virginia’s solution of nixing class actions altogether is bad; and Iowa, New Hampshire, and North Dakota’s solution of barring opt-outs from defendant class actions is quite clearly unconstitutional. Ultimately, this Note concludes that—given the due process issues deeply embedded in the defendant class action device— other states and the federal judiciary should follow the lead of Maryland and abrogate defendant classes altogether. However, in the alternative, it argues that, at the very least, state statutes and rules barring a defendant from opting out of a defendant class violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and the Supreme Court should intervene as soon as a case comes to its attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Class actions require class representation. In class actions, plaintiffs litigate not only on their own behalf but “on behalf of all others similarly situated.” For almost fifty years, federal courts have routinely exercised their inherent equitable authority to award modest compensation to deserving class representatives who help recover common funds benefiting the plaintiff class. These discretionary “incentive awards” are generally intended to compensate class representatives for shouldering certain costs and risks—which are not borne by absent class members—during the pendency of class litigation. The ubiquity of permitting class action incentive awards ended in 2020. In an extraordinary ruling, the Eleventh Circuit held that incentive awards are per se unlawful under late nineteenth-century Supreme Court precedent. This holding has ignited a new controversy in the federal courts with far-reaching implications for the future of class actions. Much of the existing legal scholarship on incentive awards analyzes policy rationales, quantitative trends, and legal standards involving the questions of “When?” and “How much?” to compensate class representatives. Only recently have scholars turned their attention to the more foundational question of whether federal courts have a sound basis to allocate incentive awards to class representatives under any circumstances. This Note weighs in on that debate by revisiting the Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision to categorically ban incentive awards More importantly, this Note looks to the future and confronts the reality that other federal circuit courts or the Supreme Court could eventually adopt the Eleventh Circuit’s position on incentive awards. Facing that unsettling prospect, this Note presents three proposals—one for policymakers and two for plaintiffside class action practitioners—that could save the equitable tradition of compensating class representatives and reinforce the viability of the class action device itself [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to rise world-wide, highlighting the need for better treatment of this condition. The last few decades have seen the emergence of several new anti-diabetic agents. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are novel oral hypoglycaemic agents that have only recently been added to the local government formulary list. We hereby discuss the mechanism of action of this oral class of agents and highlight their role and indications in clinical practice. This review provides a detailed summary of the available cardiovascular outcome trials and how these recommendations have been included in the most recent international guidelines. Finally we highlight the adverse events and contraindications of this class of agents and discuss possible future roles for SGLT-2 inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article underscores the challenges faced by courts due to the increasing frequency of data breaches and cyberattacks, coupled with the complexity of emerging technology. It highlights the role of court-appointed neutrals, or masters, in assisting courts throughout the various stages of class action data breach cases. It provide expertise in cybersecurity, offering recommendations on technical matters, aiding in class action certification.

The classification of trivectors(trilinear alternating forms) depends essentially on the dimen-sion n of the base space. This classification seems to be a difficult problem (unlike in the bilinear case). For n ≤ 8 there exist finitely many trivector classes under the action of the general linear group GL(n). The methods of Galois cohomology can be used to determine the classes of nondegenerate trivectors which split into multiple classes when going from ̅K (the algebraic closure of K) to K. In this paper, we are interested in the classification of trivectors of an eight dimensional vector space over a finite field of characteristic 3; K = F3m. We obtain a 31 inequivalent trivectors, 20 of which are full rank. Having its motivation in the theory of the generalized elliptic curves and commutative moufang loop, this research studies the case of the forms over the 3 elements field. We use a transfer theorem providing a one-to-one correspondence between the classes of trilinear alternating forms of rank 8 over a finite field with 3 elements F3 and the rank 9 class 2 Hall generalized elliptic curves (GECs) of 3-order 9 and commutative moufang loop (CMLs). We derive a classification and explicit descriptions of the 31 Hall GECs whose rank and 3-order both equal 9 and the number of order 39-CMLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the National Lawyers Guild's (NLG) extensive support for radical left activists and progressive social movements, highlighting its holistic approach to legal support beyond legal observing. Topics include NLG's diverse legal support initiatives, such as monitoring police misconduct, defending activists in court, setting up legal offices during protests, and collaborating with activist-led legal collectives and community-based groups.

Introduction and hypothesis: Class action against Ethicon (J&J), manufacturer of transvaginal mesh devices, including mid-urethral slings (MUS), was brought to the Federal Court of Australia in 2016 by Shine Lawyers. As a result, subpoenas to all hospitals and networks were received, which overrode patient privacy concerns. This medical record search allowed a complete audit and communication with patients to offer clinical review. This enabled a review of complications, readmission and re-operation for women who underwent a MUS for stress urinary incontinence. Methods: A cohort study of women who underwent MUS treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) at a single tertiary teaching hospital between 1999 and 2017 was carried out. The main outcome measures were the rate of readmission and re-operation following MUS procedures. These include voiding dysfunction managed by sling loosening or sling division, mesh pain or exposure managed by mesh removal and reoperation for recurrent stress urinary incontinence. Results: Between 1999 and 2017, a total of 1,462 women were identified as having a MUS; of these, 1,195 (81.7%) had full patient records available. Voiding dysfunction requiring surgical intervention with sling loosening or division was 3%, excision for mesh exposure was 2%, and partial or complete excision for pain was 1% at a median of 10 years from index surgery. The reoperation rate for recurrent stress urinary incontinence was 3%. Conclusion(s): This audit of all MUS procedures performed at a tertiary centre confirms an overall low rate of readmission for complications and recurrent SUI surgery; this justifies its continued availability with appropriate informed consent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The defense of collective rights, and the appropriate reparation of damages to victims is a recent development issue in the Colombian legal system. Although some legal provisions mentioned damages to an indeterminate group of people in cases of negligence, it was not until the 1991 Constitution that Colombia established the types of actions all individuals or groups can initiate to advocate for the integrity of their rights in the face of illegal actions or omissions by the State. There is currently no mechanism for groups to sue private entities efficiently that guarantees all individual and collective rights, akin to class actions. This scientific article delves into the multifaceted landscape of collective rights protection in Colombia, focusing specifically on the mechanisms and implications surrounding the deployment of group actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On December 23, 1969, the National Education Association and the Alabama State Teachers Association (a black organization) filed a class action suit in federal court against the Alabama Department of Education on behalf of Carrie Coleman Robinson, Negro School Library Supervisor in Alabama's Department of Education. The suit argued that Robinson had suffered racial discrimination in hiring and stated that her First, Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated. The American Association of School Librarians and its parent American Library Association (Robinson had been a member of both for decades) chose not to participate in the suit. The decision reflected the library profession's unwillingness to openly discuss public school segregation, one of the nation's major social issues in the last half of the twentieth century that was sparked by the Supreme Court's landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954). This article recounts the heretofore untold story of Carrie Coleman Robinson's experiences with racial discrimination within the professions of education and librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Meta Video Dataset (MetaVD) provides annotated relations between action classes in major datasets for human action recognition in videos. Although these annotated relations enable dataset augmentation, it is only applicable to those covered by MetaVD. For an external dataset to enjoy the same benefit, the relations between its action classes and those in MetaVD need to be determined. To address this issue, we consider two new machine learning tasks: action class relation detection and classification. We propose a unified model to predict relations between action classes, using language and visual information associated with classes. Experimental results show that (i) pre-trained recent neural network models for texts and videos contribute to high predictive performance, (ii) the relation prediction based on action label texts is more accurate than based on videos, and (iii) a blending approach that combines predictions by both modalities can further improve the predictive performance in some cases. • Two proposed tasks aim to predict relations between action classes. • The ground-truth relations are provided from Meta Video Dataset (MetaVD). • Recent pre-trained models in NLP and CV are useful in the tasks. • Action label texts contribute to higher predictive performance than videos. • Using both action label texts and videos can improve the performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the evolving landscape of environmental litigation, focusing on both traditional and nontraditional cases. Traditional cases involve pollution, endangered species, and climate change, while nontraditional cases center around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) lawsuits. The article provides examples of ongoing cases and court rulings, highlighting the expanding scope of environmental litigation and its impact on industries and corporate behavior. Recent lawsuits include claims against fast-food chains for PFAS in food packaging, a gas company for misleading marketing, and companies for environmental and social governance issues. Activist plaintiffs are also targeting industries with claims related to fair trade, labor inequities, animal welfare, and diversity. Despite some dismissals, environmental litigation is expected to continue increasing across various sectors. [Extracted from the article]

Temporal action localization (TAL) task which is to predict the start and end of each action in a video along with the class label of the action has numerous applications in the real world. But due to the complexity of this task, acceptable accuracy rates have not been achieved yet, whereas this is not the case regarding the action recognition task. In this paper, we propose a new network based on gated recurrent unit (GRU) and two novel post-processing methods for TAL task. Specifically, we propose a new design for the output layer of the conventionally GRU resulting in the so-called GRU-Split network. Moreover, linear interpolation is used to generate the action proposals with precise start and end times. Finally, to rank the generated proposals appropriately, we use a Learn to Rank approach. We evaluated the performance of the proposed method on Thumos14 and ActivityNet-1.3 datasets. Results show the superiority of the performance of the proposed method compared to state of the art. Specifically in the mean Average Precision metric at Intersection over Union of 0.7 on Thumos14, we get 27.52% accuracy which is 5.12% better than that of state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the establishment of a national clinical registry for mesh rectopexy, a surgical procedure used to treat rectal prolapse. The use of mesh in pelvic surgery has been controversial due to concerns about complications and patient safety. The Australasian Pelvic Floor Procedure Registry (APFPR) was established in 2019 to collect data on pelvic surgeries, and it is now intended to include data on mesh rectopexy. The article highlights the need for more research and evidence on the use of different types of mesh in rectopexy and emphasizes the importance of a registry for improving clinical practice and patient care. [Extracted from the article]

This paper addresses the general problem of designing ordinal classification methods based on comparing actions with limiting boundaries of ordered classes (categories). The fundamental requirement of the method consists of setting a relational system (D,S), where S and D are reflexive and transitive relations, respectively, S should be compatible with the order of the set of classes, and D is a subset of S. An asymmetric preference relation P is defined from S. Other requirements are imposed on the actions which compose the limiting boundaries between adjacent classes, in such a way that each class is closed below and above. The paper proposes S-based and P-based assignment procedures. Each of them is composed of two complementary assignment procedures, which correspond through the transposition operation and should be used conjointly. The methods work under several basic conditions on the set of limiting boundaries. Under other more demanding separability requirements, each procedure fulfills the set of structural properties established for other outranking-based ordinal classification methods. Our proposal avoids the conflict between the required correspondence through the transposition operation and the assignment of limiting actions to the classes to which they belong. We thus propose very diverse S and P-based ordinal classification approaches with desirable properties, which can be designed by using decision models with the capacity to build preference relations fulfilling the basic requirements to S and D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of cy pres awards in class action settlements has increased remarkably in the last several decades. However as class action cy pres practice has become more commonplace, so have the concerns for its propriety in the class action context. Indeed because these concerns were recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court without further clarity on how, and whether, they can be alleviated, the viability of class action cy pres practice is uncertain. In response to this uncertainty, this Comment presents an exhaustive inquiry into cy pres practice in class action settlements. It demonstrates that while certain courts' cy pres practices are distorting the purposes of the remedy and contributing to its myriad of criticisms, other courts' contrasting practices indicate that so long as cy pres is appropriately restricted, it can be a meaningful remedy for some class action settlements. It argues that if the limitations of these courts are uniformly implemented and accompanied by several further guidelines, the remedy warrants preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid renewed debates and theorizing about informality and the role of informal workers in Africa and across the globe, there remains little in the way of class-based understandings of Africa's informal workers and of informal worker politics. Marxists, especially Analytical Marxists, have been slow to study and consider the role and potential role of informal workers in geopolitics and class struggle across the Global South, and Africa, in particular. Drawing on ethnographic field work and interviews conducted in Sierra Leone, and broader informal worker-led struggles and events across Africa and the Global South, this work argues for a renewed understanding of collective action and class formation among informal workers. JEL Classification: J0, J2, J6 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously reported that kenpaullone, which inhibits GSK-3a/b and CDKs inhibited CCCP mediated mitochondrial depolarisation and augments the mitochondrial network. To investigate the actions of this class of drug further, we compared the ability of kenpaullone, alsterpaullone, 1-azakenapaullone, AZD5438, AT7519 (CDK and GSK-3a/b inhibitors) and dexpramipexole and olesoxime (mitochondrial permeability transition pore inhibitors) to prevent CCCP mediated mitochondrial depolarisation and found that AZD5438 and AT7519, were the most effective. Furthermore, treatment with AZD5438 alone increased the complexity of the mitochondrial network. We also found that AZD5438 prevented the rotenone induced decrease in PGC-1alpha and TOM20 levels and that it mediated powerful anti-apoptotic effects and promoted glycolytic respiration. Importantly, experiments in human iPSC derived cortical and midbrain neurons showed AZD5438 mediated significant protective effects, preventing the neuronal cell death, and collapse in the neurite and mitochondrial network associated with rotenone treatment. These results suggest drugs that target GSK-3a/b and CDKs should be developed and assessed further as they may have significant therapeutic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residents living in close proximity to contaminated sites may experience adverse effects from financial losses and property devaluation, leading to poor mental health and physical illnesses—effects that may require compensation. The most common legal process of seeking compensation is the toxic tort—litigation pressed on the basis that contamination has harmed the victims. Several recent toxic tort class actions in Australia brought by residents living in areas affected by contamination from per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exemplify that process. Two such actions, those at Williamtown and Richmond, provide an opportunity to explore how toxic torts currently function as a means to secure compensation, whether they mitigate the harms of the contamination and considering how spatio‐legal manoeuvres may shape the litigation. In this article, we use a legal geography approach to analyse how plaintiffs' bodies, litigants' properties, and the state are constructed and represented by parties involved in these toxic torts. Legal geographers contend that examining the spatio‐legal manoeuvres made via litigation can make visible the effects of legal action on those involved and draw out how the law and its instruments may shape places and communities. Toxic tort class actions have allowed those affected by the contamination to be heard and receive some compensation. However, we argue that they do little to alleviate plaintiffs' concerns about the effects of contamination on their health, properties, and the environment. The findings have significance given that torts will likely play an increasingly prominent role in dealing with such challenges. This article examines a recent series of toxic tort class actions brought by residents living in areas affected by contamination from per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in New South Wales, Australia. It explores in particular how the torts function as a form of compensation for those affected by the contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Article III standing in data breach litigation with a focus on the important changes from 2021 in the 2021 Supreme Court case TransUnion, LLC v. Ramirez. It mentions overview of data breaches and class actions and proposition is that standing under the substantial risk of harm theory should be entirely based on the type of data lost in the breach. It also mentions Government Accountability Office to provide an updated report on the impact of data breaches.

In the United States, in relation to Class Actions, there is more insecurity and instability in terms of legislation than in Brazil. First, in Brazil most collective actions have constitutional dignity (Public Civil Action is the best example, Brazilian of Federal Constitution, article 129, III), so that here the process of amending the Constitution is very rigid and complex. In the United States, member states are autonomous and can regulate, each in its own way, on Class Actions. However, most States, in practice, adopt the discipline provided for in Rule 23 of the Federal Code of Civil Procedure of the United States. In addition, the US Supreme Court has power, transferred by the US Congress in 1934, to legislate on procedural matters, including evidence. In Brazil, the Judiciary does not have the competence to create rules on procedural law. The competence to legislate on procedural law is exclusive to the Legislative of the Union (article 22, I, of the Brazilian Federal Constitution). The Courts in Brazil have competence only to create their internal regulations, but they do not have it to legislate on procedural law or on evidence. Currently, however, Brazilian Courts have enormous power to create mandatory precedents, especially with the advent in 2015 of Civil Procedure Code (article 927). In Brazil, the member States cannot legislate on procedural law, except on specific rules of procedure or if there is express authorization from the Union via Complementary Statute (articles. 22, sole paragraph, 24, XI, of Brazilian Constitution). However, there are many common risks in the United States and Brazil, in view of the strong movements exerted by economic and political powers against collective actions in Brazil and Class Actions in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the action of the mapping class group on the space of measured foliations, we construct a new boundary of the mapping class group and study the structure of this boundary. As an application, for any point in Teichmüller space, we consider the orbit of this point under the action of the mapping class group and describe the closure of this orbit in the Thurston compactification and the Gardiner–Masur compactification of Teichmüller space. We also construct some new points in the Gardiner–Masur boundary of Teichmüller space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explore the viability of international class commercial arbitration as a method of dispute resolution. It discusses the background of class actions and arbitration, particularly in the context of commercial disputes. It further analyzes the current state of affairs regarding class arbitration in the U.S. and other countries, evaluating the legal and practical factors that influence its viability.

Analysis of malpractice lawsuits that involve in vitro fertilization (IVF) can provide insight into the breadth of legal challenges faced by IVF clinics and the patient harms and financial consequences that can result from alleged errors in practice. We aimed to review malpractice litigations involving IVF and identify common themes in plaintiff allegations and defense arguments. We queried Nexis Uni, Westlaw, and CourtListener legal databases to collect records from malpractice litigations involving IVF. The nature of the cases, allegations, and outcomes were abstracted from court documents. Of the 447 cases identified in the query, 53 involved both malpractice and IVF, occurring between 1993 and 2022. Defendants included a reproductive endocrinologist in 19 (35.8%) cases, an academic institution in 17 (32.1%) cases, embryology personnel in 9 (17.0%) cases, and nursing staff in 2 (3.8%) cases. Twenty-four (45.3%) cases involved embryology errors (e.g., lost specimens and incorrect sperm donor), 11 (20.8%) preimplantation genetic testing errors (e.g., child born with genetic illness despite testing), 6 (11.3%) medical or surgical complications (e.g., ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome), 4 (7.5%) misdiagnoses (e.g., malignancy before cycle start), 3 (5.6%) misrepresentations of IVF outcomes, 2 (3.8%) medical eligibility screening issues (e.g., medical comorbidities in a gestational carrier), 2 (3.8%) confidentiality breaches, and 1 (1.9%) case of discrimination. The most common secondary claims were negligence (23 cases, 16.4% of all claims), breach of contract (13, 9.3%), lack of informed consent (11, 7.9%), and negligent infliction of emotional distress (11, 7.9%). Twenty-nine (54.7%) cases were decided in favor of the defending IVF clinic or provider, 13 (24.5%) cases were decided in favor of the plaintiff, and 11 (20.8%) involved ongoing proceedings. Financial awards ranged from $4171 to $14,975,000, with the largest monetary award resulting from a cryostorage accident class action lawsuit. In vitro fertilization malpractice claims are varied, with the most common issues involving embryology laboratory processes and genetic testing errors. Some errors may be avoidable with increased vigilance and implementation of stringent laboratory and clinical guidelines. Understanding jurisdiction-specific legislation and court processes may also assist IVF providers in navigating the malpractice litigation process. This comprehensive review of IVF litigation may have the potential to promote practices that protect both providers and patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of a "negotiation class" in the context of addressing the heterogeneous class problem in opioid epidemic litigation. It is reported that this problem arises when a class action involves plaintiffs with varying claim values. It is further reported that the negotiation class is proposed as a mechanism to align the interests of all parties and facilitate settlements.

The article presents the discussion on class certification confering a fearsome power on plaintiffs. Topics include disparate potential claimants through a class action producing a mighty concentration of power that plaintiffs can wield against defendants; and student subject to a challenged admissions rule, every employee working under the same compensation policy.