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A study of deep learning based face recognition models for addressing the interclass similarity challenges in face recognition systems
No full textPrecisely recognising siblings through facial recognition poses a significant challenge, primarily due to the pronounced similarities found in sibling’s faces. This research assesses the effectiveness of computational face recognition models in distinguishing between siblings, conducting a comprehensive analysis of both global facial features and specific attributes.
Leveraging datasets from SiblingDB, we have devised four customised frameworks aimed at discerning closely resembling sibling faces. This examination explores accuracy fluctuations across various facial regions.
The investigation starts with assessing sibling differentiation accuracy utilising state-of-the-art pre-trained face recognition models, incorporating diverse facial features and established similarity measures to predict the accuracy.
Second framework integrates an aggregate model, incorporating a custom object detector to identify facial parts. Informed by the first framework's analysis, this approach distinguishes between siblings using the optimal face recognition model and similarity measure.
Next framework adopts a fusion strategy, enhancing result robustness by amalgamating face recognition models and classifiers from prior experiments. This fusion approach addresses discrepancies, ensuring a robust outcome by considering various model combinations and similarity measures to discriminate between siblings. The research concludes by addressing threshold dependency through a fine-tuned framework, incorporating the Softmax activation function as the final layer in advanced face recognition models. This final layer predicts whether input images depict the same or different individuals, mitigating challenges associated with threshold variations.
Overall, this study contributes innovative approaches and insights, advancing the realism of discriminating siblings based on diverse facial features and unravelling the complexities of face recognition in differentiating individuals with high facial similarity
Spatial distribution of corrosion products from a bridge pier
Get PDFYesThis paper studies the spatial distribution of corrosion by-products by a bridge pier within a conductive medium. An electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was used to investigate an uncoated metallic bridge pier submerged in static distilled water. An equivalent circuit model, derived from EIS results, served as the foundation for the study. Further, the role of diffusion was analysed, considering its significance in characterising the transfer of particles from the pier into the surrounding water. This exploration revealed the complex interaction between the diffusion processes of various corrosion by-products as a function of distance. In addition, by evaluating the spatial distribution of iron (II) corrosion by-products and modelling nanoparticle diffusion, the research examined the impact of diffusion and concentration on corrosion particle transmission. The findings, analysed via Nyquist and Bode plots, demonstrate significant differences between theoretical and empirical diffusion coefficients. Results indicated that under natural corrosion conditions, the primary product of the corrosion reaction, iron (II), disperses into the medium when oxidation occurs. The elevated resistivity due to the presence of iron (II) underscores the diffusion effect, leading to corrosion product precipitation and reaching saturation level. Additionally, the results demonstrated ideal values for the diffusion coefficient, which are crucial for advanced corrosion modelling. The results emphasised the need for empirical data to improve corrosion prediction models and informed maintenance strategies for submerged structures
Development of a Dignity Experience Scale in Mental Healthcare. Co-creating Empirical Measures with Service Users and Healthcare Professionals
Get PDFDignity is enshrined in statute, healthcare professional (HCP) ethics and policy, yet worldwide, mental healthcare violates service user dignity. Dignity lacks empirical definition as an operational concept. The aim of this study is to operationalize dignity in mental healthcare service user experience, to inform service design and delivery.
This thesis addresses concepts of dignity within a theoretical framework of service experience and proposes a new paradigm for understanding dignity which emphasizes the dynamic co-production of dignity experiences. It proposes a consensus model for the mechanisms of dignity co-production and the first Dignity Experience Scale found in mental healthcare, co-created with service users (SUs) and HCPs.
The study uses a sequential mixed methods approach to knowledge co-creation which privileges SU perspectives, comprising: 1. a literature meta-synthesis to specify an initial scale; 2. 17 experiential narratives to develop the scale and a Delphi panel of 11 HCPs to refine it; 3. quantitative research with 160 SUs and HCPs to test the scale; 4. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to identify latent factors.
Study findings show the importance of dignity co-production in rights-based, person-centred, recovery-oriented mental healthcare across 3 domains: Relationships, Environment and Confidentiality. EFA proposes an internally consistent 25-item, 5-factor scale. The primary factor, Empowering Empathy, emphasizes collaborative therapeutic relationships in which SUs are met with understanding and empowered with information and choice for recovery beyond symptom reduction. Other factors emphasize Respect for Equal Humanity, No Informal Coercion and creating Safe Space for Difference within relationships; and developing Comfortable, Confidential Environments
Using hybrid qualitative analysis to explore lived experience of motherhood and postnatal depression: A thematic-dialogical approach
Get PDFYesThis paper illustrates a novel hybrid approach to analysis which offers unique insights into the experience of postnatal depression in British Pakistani-Muslim women, through the prioritising of voice. To do so, we combine thematic and dialogical analysis, using data from a study on motherhood and postnatal depression. Participants were part of the birth cohort ‘Born in Bradford's Better Start’. The rationale for developing a hybridised approach is discussed. The ensuing analyses highlight the role of internal voices and chronotope, which give a detailed insight into women's meaning making of psychological distress and motherhood during the postnatal period. We go onto discuss the strength and limitations of hybridising thematic-dialogical analysis in the context of health research.This work is funded by a University of Bradford, Faculty of Social Sciences scholarship. This study was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Yorkshire and Humber Applied Research Collaboration
A rapid review of interventions to improve medicine self-management for older people living at home
Get PDFYesBackground: As people age, they are more likely to develop multiple long-term conditions that require complicated medicine regimens. Safely self-managing multiple medicines at home is challenging and how older people can be better supported to do so has not been fully explored.
Aim: This study aimed to identify interventions to improve medicine self-management for older people living at home and the aspects of medicine self-management that they address.
Design: A rapid review was undertaken of publications up to April 2022. Eight databases were searched. Inclusion criteria were as follows: interventions aimed at people 65 years of age or older and their informal carers, living at home. Interventions needed to include at least one component of medicine self-management. Study protocols, conference papers, literature reviews and articles not in the English language were not included. The results from the review were reported through narrative synthesis, underpinned by the Resilient Healthcare theory.
Results: Database searches returned 14,353 results. One hundred and sixty-seven articles were individually appraised (full-text screening) and 33 were included in the review. The majority of interventions identified were educational. In most cases, they aimed to improve older people's adherence and increase their knowledge of medicines. Only very few interventions addressed potential issues with medicine supply. Only a minority of interventions specifically targeted older people with either polypharmacy, multimorbidities or frailty.
Conclusion: To date, the emphasis in supporting older people to manage their medicines has been on the ability to adhere to medicine regimens. Most interventions identify and target deficiencies within the patient, rather than preparing patients for problems inherent in the medicine management system. Medicine self-management requires a much wider range of skills than taking medicines as prescribed. Interventions supporting older people to anticipate and respond to problems with their medicines may reduce the risk of harm associated with polypharmacy and may contribute to increased resilience in the system.
Patient or Public Contribution: A patient with lived experience of medicine self-management in older age contributed towards shaping the research question as well as the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this review. She is also the coauthor of this article. A patient advisory group oversaw the study.Research for Patient Benefit Programme, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Grant Number: NIHR20105
Citizen attitudes towards the environment and association with perceived threats to the countryside: Evidence from countries in five European biogeographic zones
Get PDFYesCitizens play a crucial role in attaining the United Nations 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). There is growing awareness of the importance of understanding citizen perspectives on environmental issues, in relation to developing and maintaining sustainable lifestyles, and in addressing perceived threats to protection and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity. This analysis sought to understand people’s attitudes towards environmental conservation, how they relate to perceived threats to the countryside, and to determine how attitudes and perceived threats vary demographically and between countries. A survey was administered to citizens (quota sampled on age, gender, education, and split between rural and urban residency) across five countries representative of differing biogeographical regions (N = 3, 190): Czech Republic (n = 649) (Continental); Spain (Mediterranean) (n = 623); Sweden (Boreal) (n = 645); Switzerland (Alpine) (n = 641); United Kingdom (UK) (Atlantic) (n = 632). Attitudes were measured using the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI-24) on 2 factors (utilization; preservation) and perceived threat to the countryside on 1-factor (15 items). Multigroup regression analysis indicated that preservationist attitudes were associated with greater perceived threat to the countryside in all five countries. Higher perceived threat was associated with activities linked to environmental degradation, socio-economic uncertainty and risks in agri-food supply chains in all countries. The “bad behaviour of visitors” was the greatest perceived threat in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the UK, while “lack of young farmers taking over farming” was the greatest perceived threat in Spain and Sweden. To promote pro-environmental attitudes and obtain greater public support for policies and interventions targeting environmental conservation, communication about environmental threats is needed, together with threat mitigation measures. Raising peoples’ awareness of threats to the countryside through targeted communications could promote pro-environment attitudes and potentially result in pro-environmental behaviours.The SUPER-G project (Grant Agreement No.: 774124) has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme
Effective Technique and Mechanism for Simultaneous Adsorption of As(III/V) from Wastewater by Fe-ZIF-8@MXene
Get PDFYesArsenic (As) contamination of surface water has become a global concern, especially for the third world countries, and it is imperative to develop advanced materials and an effective treatment method to address the issue. In this paper, iron doped ZIF-8@MXene (Fe-ZIF-8@MXene) was prepared as a potential adsorbent to effectively and simultaneously remove As(III/V) from wastewater. To investigate this, Fe-ZIF-8@MXene was characterized before and after the removal of mixed As(III/V). The results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), specific surface area (BET) and point of zero charge (pHpzc) showed that Fe-ZIF-8@MXene was prepared successfully and kept a stable structure after As(III) and As(V) adsorption. The particle size of Fe-ZIF-8@MXene was in the range of 0.5 μm to 2.5 μm, where its BET was 531.7 m2/g. For both contaminants, adsorption was found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics and was best-fitted by the Langmuir adsorption model with correlation coefficients (R2) of 0.998 and 0.997, for As(III) and As(V), respectively. The adsorbent was then applied to remove As from two actual water samples, giving maximum removal rates of 91.07% and 98.96% for As(III) and As(V), respectively. Finally, removal mechanisms for As(III/V) by Fe-ZIF-8@MXene were also explored. During the adsorption, multiple complexes were formed under the effect of its abundant surface functional groups involving multiple mechanisms, which included Van der Waals force, surface adsorption, chemical complexation and electrostatic interactions. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that Fe-ZIF-8@MXene was an advanced and reusable material for simultaneous removal of As(III/V) in wastewater
Spirit at work and its impact on employee outcomes in Australian higher education
Get PDFYesThis study adopted a mixed methods approach, with the quantitative element forming the core component and the qualitative dimension assuming the supplementary component to assess Job Satisfaction (JS)and Organisational Commitment (OC) as mediators in the relationship between Spirit at Work (SAW) and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour(OCB) within the Australian higher education sector. It is expected that by 2025, job satisfaction and burnout will cause large numbers of academic staff to leave Australian universities. Regression and structural equation modelling analysed the study’s quantitative data. NVivo was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings illustrate that SAW significantly affects OCB, JS and OC. Most notably, the results indicate no significant differences between the permanent and casual staff’s level of SAW and none between their JS, OC and OCB levels. This finding contradicts previous research. The overall findings in this article further highlight necessary changes to Australian universities’ current management and leadership approaches to create more satisfied and committed employees
Using firm-level intellectual capital to achieve strategic sustainability: examination of phenomenon of business failure in terms of the critical events"
Get PDFYesThe purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, the authors have conducted a systematic investigation considering the historical pandemic periods (1991–2021) over 30 years to identify critical factors and business failure phenomenon during pandemics to explore “what”, “why” and “how” factors contributing to business failure during the COVID-19 pandemic and secondly identified interlinks of these factors to explain the phenomenon of business failure strategically through various quantitative models
Interdisciplinary study of human remains from the Early Iron Age cemetery at Zagorje ob Savi (Slovenia)
Get PDFYesThis paper presents the results of interdisciplinary investigations of human remains, discovered in 2011 at the Early Iron Age cemetery at Zagorje ob Savi (Cesta Borisa l(jdrica) in Slovenia. The present study is a part of a larger isotopic and osteological investigation of Bronze/Iron Age (14th-4th centuries BC) skeletal assemblages from Croatia and Slovenia. The osteological analysis of the six individuals uncovered on this site indicates that they represent the remains of two adult males, two adult females and two infants of unknown sex. The results of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on the bone and dentine collagen extracted from these six individuals is strongly indicative of a terrestrial based diet, including animal-based protein (meat and/or dairy) and a mix of C3 and C4 plants