In response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, there is an ever-increasing number of national governments that are rolling out contact-tracing Apps to aid the containment of the virus. The first hugely contentious issue facing the Apps is the deployment framework, i.e. centralised or decentralised. Based on this, the debate branches out to the corresponding technologies that underpin these architectures, i.e. GPS, QR codes, and Bluetooth. This work conducts a pioneering review of the above scenarios and contributes a geolocation mapping of the current deployment. The vulnerabilities and the directions of research are identified, with a special focus on the Bluetooth-based decentralised scheme.

This paper reviews the NTIRE 2020 Challenge on NonHomogeneous Dehazing of images (restoration of rich details in hazy image). We focus on the proposed solutions and their results evaluated on NH-Haze, a novel dataset consisting of 55 pairs of real haze free and nonhomogeneous hazy images recorded outdoor. NH-Haze is the first realistic nonhomogeneous haze dataset that provides ground truth images. The nonhomogeneous haze has been produced using a professional haze generator that imitates the real conditions of haze scenes. 168 participants registered in the challenge and 27 teams competed in the final testing phase. The proposed solutions gauge the state-of-the-art in image dehazing.

This paper reviews the second challenge on spectral reconstruction from RGB images, i.e., the recovery of whole-scene hyperspectral (HS) information from a 3-channel RGB image. As in the previous challenge, two tracks were provided: (i) a "Clean" track where HS images are estimated from noise-free RGBs, the RGB images are themselves calculated numerically using the ground-truth HS images and supplied spectral sensitivity functions (ii) a "Real World" track, simulating capture by an uncalibrated and unknown camera, where the HS images are recovered from noisy JPEG-compressed RGB images. A new, larger-than-ever, natural hyperspectral image data set is presented, containing a total of 510 HS images. The Clean and Real World tracks had 103 and 78 registered participants respectively, with 14 teams competing in the final testing phase. A description of the proposed methods, alongside their challenge scores and an extensive evaluation of top performing methods is also provided. They gauge the state-of-the-art in spectral reconstruction from an RGB image.

A big part of the video content we consume from video providers consists of genres featuring low-light aesthetics. Low light sequences have special characteristics, such as spatio-temporal varying acquisition noise and light flickering, that make the encoding process challenging. To deal with the spatio-temporal incoherent noise, higher bitrates are used to achieve high objective quality. Additionally, the quality assessment metrics and methods have not been designed, trained or tested for this type of content. This has inspired us to trigger research in that area and propose a Grand Challenge on encoding low-light video sequences. In this paper, we present an overview of the proposed challenge, and test state-of-the-art methods that will be part of the benchmark methods at the stage of the participants' deliverable assessment. From this exploration, our results show that VVC already achieves a high performance compared to simply denoising the video source prior to encoding. Moreover, the quality of the video streams can be further improved by employing a post-processing image enhancement method.

This paper reviews the Challenge on Image Demoireing that was part of the New Trends in Image Restoration and Enhancement (NTIRE) workshop, held in conjunction with CVPR 2020. Demoireing is a difficult task of removing moire patterns from an image to reveal an underlying clean image. The challenge was divided into two tracks. Track 1 targeted the single image demoireing problem, which seeks to remove moire patterns from a single image. Track 2 focused on the burst demoireing problem, where a set of degraded moire images of the same scene were provided as input, with the goal of producing a single demoired image as output. The methods were ranked in terms of their fidelity, measured using the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) between the ground truth clean images and the restored images produced by the participants' methods. The tracks had 142 and 99 registered participants, respectively, with a total of 14 and 6 submissions in the final testing stage. The entries span the current state-of-the-art in image and burst image demoireing problems.

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A gaming system (10, 100) implementing a base game and a feature game. A game controller (101) controls play of the game. The gaming system has at least one display (14, 106) and a player interface (107). The feature game comprises at least one series of game events, in which a plurality of symbols from at least one predetermined symbol set that includes at least first and second symbols, are randomly selected and displayed on the at least one display (14, 106). The feature game is a challenge feature and during play of the feature game, the game controller (101) maintains in computer memory (103) counters for said at least first and second symbols, varies the value of said counters on the occurrence of the at least first and second symbols and causes the at least one display to show a value of the counters. The values of the counters are evaluated against predetermined competitive criteria to determine the outcome of the series of game events.

A fitness challenge program designed to encourage physical activity as well as to entertain and engage participants. Individuals are organized into teams and compete individually as well as against other teams. The program incorporates the use of computer technology to record physical activity and track progress for individuals as well as their teams. The individual and team activity information is posted to a web site accessible to the participants. Each participant has an account and can access his or her activity data through the web site. Team progress can also be viewed in the form of activity level data as well as movement to various locations associated with activity levels. The program incorporates educational content that is tied to team progress in the challenge. The program may be organized and administered through the middle schools that student participants attend.

The present invention relates to a swim chair that allows a mobility challenged individual to be transported across the sand with exceptional ease, to lounge on the chair and enjoy the company and sights, to be pulled into the water and, if able, to slip off the chair to go for a swim, remount the chair and return to shore. The chair includes a main frame, defined by a top frame member and two side frame members; two axle support plates, at or in communication with the side frame members of the main frame, the axle support plates having a plurality of openings to receive a wheel axle and optionally a pull rod axle; a wheel assembly; a drop seat; a footrest and a backrest.

An apparatus and system whereby a user can move by guidance of a return track on a challenger course. The return track may extend away from the challenge course and overhang its main frame so the user can experience an element outside of the main frame.

Upper Shirley High School prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Valentine Primary prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Wellow Primary prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Wildern School prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Woodlands School prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Wordsworth Primary prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Colden Common Primary School prepares for this year's Rock Challenge.

Video from the first night of the Rock Challenge 2015.

Video from the second night of the Rock Challenge 2015.

Video from the third night of the Rock Challenge 2015.

As a penniless wanderer making landfall in The Trail: Frontier Challenge, you have one thing to do: push the thumbstick forward and hike to the next camp.

WITH 70 activities at 16 venues there was plenty of chance to burn off the calories during Southampton’s 30-Minute Sportathon.

Pearl Jam, in the meantime, takes part in the viral challenge by proposing to fans a chance to write their future setlist and be Eddie Vedder's personal guitar technician.

After joining social media site TikTok to tackle the challenge, the leading man in'The Two Popes' passes it on to action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After joining social media site TikTok to tackle the challenge, the leading man in'The Two Popes' passes it on to action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A free professorial lecture being delivered at Coventry University on Thursday 31 January 2013 will address the major issues facing the global sport industry in the 21st century.

Aston Villa defender to take on Wolves star in charity FIFA 2020 match.

Retail in India has not developed at the same pace as the products. Getting good quality retail is a challenge. The country has limited number of malls. There is no high street.

A northern Illinois economic development group is working on what’s being called a “code of ethics” for its member communities. They’re not alone. In this WNIJ Friday Forum, Guy Stephens looks at codes that are being created and what they can mean to economic development. Striking a balance between competing local interests to achieve a benefit of all long has been a mantra of regional economic development. No one involved seems to disagree. Still, it has been deemed necessary to “get it in writing.” The Region 1 Planning Council is an economic development alliance that comprises the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning (RMAP) and the Economic Development District of Northern Illinois (EDDNI). It includes the City of Rochelle along with governments in Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone and McHenry Counties. The Council has been working on its so-called “code of ethics” with the aim of having something in place this year. It would, among other things, prohibit local governments from

Coronavirus has highlighted the digital divide among low-income as well as rural students. Schools that don’t send students home with laptops rushed them equipment so they could do their homework online. School administrators say some parents claim to have internet access, but it may only be through a phone plan. Districts have distributed hot spots for families without a plan or where service is undependable. Particularly in rural communities like Montmorency, reliable internet connectivity is a major hurdle. Montmorency is a K-8 district in Whiteside County with around 230 students. Alex Moore is the superintendent. “On a good day, I get four megabytes per second download speed, so I knew that was going to be an issue. About half of our families probably have decent internet,” said Moore. Even that “good day” download speed doesn’t meet the FCC’s minimum recommendation for e-learning. For many younger students, remote learning has to be pencil and paper. Schools like Somonauk set up

GLASGOW CLAN have been eliminated from the Challenge Cup after a 4-0 defeat to Sheffield Steelers last night.

Glasgow Clan head coach Zack Fitzgerald believes the Challenge Cup format needs a revamp.

Communications agency Brand Definition was ready to go live with their brand-new production studio when COVID-19 shut everything down. Here's how they pivoted to remote production to meet their clients' shifting needs.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Nurses and doctors have been at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. And yet even as health care workers fight back against the virus, the health care industry is crumbling around them. Today we learned that of the more than 20 million jobs that vanished last month, nearly 1 1/2 million were in health care. AILSA CHANG, HOST: And despite this dismal news for American workers, we heard a more optimistic message from the president today, who spoke about his belief that the country may soon turn an economic corner. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we're looking at the transition to greatness, and I think it's starting right now. CHANG: Meanwhile, the virus is inching closer and closer to the president, with another White House aide testing positive today for COVID-19. All right. To talk more about all of this, we're joined now by NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, science

Bay Area Artist Journee Premieres "Options" on All Streaming Platforms and Creates the #OptionsChallenge.

Biography

Journee is a 21 year old singer, songwriter, and model from San Jose, CA and is one of 5 brothers and sisters. She’s currently in college at UC Riverside and has immersed herself onto the LA music scene, perfecting her craft, and frequently collaborating with creatives making her one of the most exciting new acts from the region. Her single “This and That” was recently added to the Emerging R&B Playlist on Sound Cloud where out of 55 records she has the 6th most streams overall trailing only major artists. Often being compared to Aaliyah as a vocalist her lyrics are edgy but her voice is smooth and leaves any listener wanting more.

The post Bay Area Artist Journee Premieres “Options” on All Streaming Platforms and Creates the #OptionsChallenge appeared first on Singersroom.com.

When Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell certifies the state's final presidential election results, declaring President Bush the winner by about 119,000 votes, critics say they intend to present two challenges.

Passed by the City Council in 2016, the pioneering Seattle law requires landlords to publicize their criteria for prospective renters and to accept the first qualified applicant.

We asked Seattle Times readers to make something with green beans, an egg, tomato sauce and potatoes and to tell us what you created — and our readers did not disappoint. These 12 were the strongest entries.

We asked Seattle Times readers to make something with green beans, an egg, tomato sauce and potatoes and to tell us what you created — and our readers did not disappoint. These 12 were the strongest entries.

The first female commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment updates us on the challenges of keeping local vessels afloat and off the rocks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a massive effort, the nation faces “truly daunting” challenges to deploy millions of coronavirus tests to safely re-open the economy, the head of the National Institutes of Health told lawmakers Thursday. NIH Director Francis Collins told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee that government and private industry have launched […]

(Bloomberg) — Senate Democrats challenged a vow of “fairness and impartiality” by Brian Miller, President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee trillions of dollars being spent in the effort to rescue the economy from the coronavirus pandemic. “President Trump has shown outright hostility to anyone who has tried to hold him accountable to the American people,” […]

(Bloomberg) — Senate Democrats challenged a vow of “fairness and impartiality” by Brian Miller, President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee trillions of dollars being spent in the effort to rescue the economy from the coronavirus pandemic. “President Trump has shown outright hostility to anyone who has tried to hold him accountable to the American people,” […]

The health care sector has cut 1.4 million jobs in April. And as COVID-19 has consumed health care resources, other essential routine procedures — like screenings for strokes — have gone down.

While most remain isolated in their homes, solely relying on Netflix and social media to carry them through to the other side of the pandemic, many have found this a time of inspiration to launch online TikTok and YouTube careers.

A self-declared "free spirit man" who contested a parking fine in court loses his year-long battle, with a judge saying the case involved "legal nonsense" and was "an unnecessary waste" of resources.

It's a 73-year-old event, but for the first time, wheelchair dancers have taken to the stage at the Mackay Eisteddfod in north Queensland, to the audience's delight.

Perth Glory fans could be forgiven for being sceptical of Kristian Popovic's spot in a team coached by his dad Tony, given the club's somewhat disastrous history of father-son duos.

There is a part of Australia where the rivers are high but the crops are dying, where farmers can see plenty of water but have no access to it. And that could mean a change in political fortunes.