The algorithm for people counting in crowded scenes, based on the idea of virtual gate which uses optical flow method is presented. The concept and practical application of the developed algorithm under real conditions is depicted. The aim of the work is to estimate the number of people passing through entrances of a large sport hall. The most challenging problem was the unpredicted behavior of people while entering the building. The examined flow of people fluctuated between individual persons and dense crowd. A series of experiments during sport and entertainment events was made. The results of the experiments show a high efficiency of the elaborated algorithm.

A simple and general strategy for the synthesis of 3-methylene-4-(2-oxoalkyl)-3,4-dihydrocoumarins has been developed. The elaborated synthetic protocol includes 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD)- or Cs₂CO₃-promoted conjugate addition of enolizable ketones to 3-(diethoxyphosphoryl)coumarins followed by Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction of the resulting 3-diethoxyphosphoryl-4-(2-oxoalkyl)-3,4-dihydrocoumarins with formaldehyde. For prochiral ketones, the corresponding α-methylene-δ-lactones were obtained as single syn-diastereoisomers. All α-methylene-δ-lactones were evaluated in vitro for their cytotoxic activity against two human leukemia cell lines, HL-60 and NALM-6, as well as the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. One selected compound, 13h, was further tested in order to elucidate the mechanism behind its cytotoxic effect. In MCF-7 cells, this compound was shown to induce subG0/G1 cell cycle arrest, increased Bax and decreased Bcl-2 mRNA levels, and cause the dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential which indicated that it induced the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis.