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WILDetect - Part II
Get PDFA new non-parametric approach, WILDetect, has been built using an ensemble of supervised Machine Learning (ML) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques. Readers may recall that the first part of the paper was published in May' 24 issue of Coordinates magazine. We present here the concluding part. The habitats of marine life, characteristics of species, and the diverse mix of maritime industries around these habitats are of interest to many researchers, authorities, and policymakers whose aim is to conserve the earth’s biological diversity in an ecologically sustainable manner while being in line with indispensable industrial developments. Automated detection, locating, and monitoring of marine life along with the industry around the habitats of this ecosystem may be helpful to (i) reveal current impacts, (ii) model future possible ecological trends, and (iii) determine required policies which would lead accordingly to a reduced ecological footprint and increased sustainability. New automatic techniques are required to observe this large environment efficiently. Within this context, this study aims to develop a novel platform to monitor marine ecosystems and perform bio census in an automated manner, particularly for birds in regional aerial surveys since birds are a good indicator of overall ecological health. In this manner, a new non-parametric approach, WILDetect, has been built using an ensemble of supervised Machine Learning (ML) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques. It employs several hybrid techniques to segment, split and count maritime species — in particular, birds — in order to perform automated censuses in a highly dynamic marine ecosystem. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated by experiments performed on 26 surveys which include Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) by utilising retrospective data analysis techniques. With this platform, by combining multiple techniques, gannets can be detected and split automatically with very high sensitivity (Se) (0.97), specificity (Sp) (0.99), and accuracy (Acc) (0.99) — these values are validated by precision (Pr) (0.98). Moreover, the evaluation of the system by the APEM staff, which uses a completely new evaluation dataset gathered from recent surveys, shows the viability of the proposed techniques. The experimental results suggest that similar automated data processing techniques — tailored for specific species — can be helpful both in performing time-intensive marine wildlife censuses efficiently and in establishing ecological platforms/models to understand the underlying causes of trends in species populations along with the ecological change
Surgical Treatment of Vitiligo
Get PDFVitiligo is an acquired, idiopathic disorder characterized by depigmented macules and patches with absence of functional melanocytes. Numerous treatment strategies exist, but lesions may be resistant to traditional therapies. Many treatments can help including topical including mainly topical steroids, calcineurine inhibitors and more recent biological therapy, ultraviolet light, laser including needling and surgical with various techniques. In this paper we highlight the various surgical techniques which can be helpful in the treatment of Vitiligo
Suraksha: Spatio-Temporal Crime Forecasting and Micro-Location Analysis
Get PDFSuraksha, a spatiotemporal crime prediction system, designed to elevate crime prevention with precise insights, empowering law enforcement for a safer tomorrow. Utilizing vast datasets, machine learning, and GIS, it forecasts crime hotspots by incorporating Chicago's extensive crime statistics. Addressing both precision and ethical considerations, Suraksha achieves RMSE values of 0.0874 (latitude) and 0.0602 (longitude), marking a leap in predictive policing. This pioneering approach aims to transform public safety by proactively combating crime, ensuring community well-being through innovative data-driven strategies
Next generation blockchain technology: The Entropic Blockchain
Get PDFStorage, transmission and processing of data become a significant problem when large digital data files or databases are involved, as in the case of decentralized online global databases such as blockchain. Here we propose a novel method that allows the scalability of digital assets, including blockchain databases in the download, validation and confidentiality process, by developing a lightweight blockchain technology called Entropic Blockchain. This is a computer-implemented mathematical method to generate an information-entropic numerical barcode representation of a digital asset. Using this technique, a 1 - 2 Mb block of digital data can be represented by a few bytes reducing significantly the size of a blockchain. The entropic barcode file can be utilized on its own, or as an optically machine-readable entropic barcode, for secure data transmission, processing, labelling, identification, one-way encryption and compression, validation, and digital tamper-proof check. The mathematics of this process and all the steps involved in its implementation are discussed in detail in this article
CULTIVATING HOLISTIC APPROACHES TO SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION: INSIGHTS FROM THE REAL-WORLD PROJECTS
Get PDFThis study examines the impact and performance of sustainable building practices through selected case studies. It assesses sustainable design, construction, production, and supply chains, emphasizing the use of advanced materials like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and coated glass to enhance durability and energy efficiency while reducing environmental impact. Nanotechnology and wood innovation in construction are explored alongside insights into reducing energy consumption, utilizing renewable energy, and managing waste across a building's lifecycle. Case studies, including The Edge building in Amsterdam and the Treet building in Bergen, illustrate the efficacy of sustainable practices in creating enduring, eco-friendly structures. The study also highlights successful waste management techniques, exemplified by the Eden Project, demonstrating effective waste reduction, reuse, and recycling in construction. Overall, this research offers a comprehensive view of implementing sustainable building practices to achieve superior performance while minimizing environmental effects
Seeking the koko’ ta’ay: Investigating the Origins of Little People Myths in Taiwan and Beyond
No full textThis volume, edited by Tobie Openshaw and Dean Karalekas, will guide you on a multidisciplinary journey through Indigenous peoples’ centuries-old lore of “little people” in Taiwan and the Pacific. Learn about the Taiwan SaiSiyat people’s paSta’ay ritual, still held to this day to commemorate the koko ta’ay. Follow the distribution of the legends, interspersed with original stories by modern Indigenous authors. Explore the archaeological find of small-statured negrito remains in Taiwan, and delve into the most current research on the topic by linguists, anthropologists, folklorists, and other specialists to unravel the mystery of what—or who—inspired these ancient legends
A Search for Type Ia Supernovae in Globular Clusters
Get PDFIn globular clusters the density is such that stellar interactions are commonplace. It is therefore expected that Type Ia supernovae explosions would occur within them at a high
rate, however no Type Ia supernova has ever been observed in a globular cluster to date. We therefore carried out a search of records in the Open Supernova Catalog from the
Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey to compile a list of Type Ia supernovae recorded there, with their respective coordinates, from 08/04/2018 to 20/11/2021. The survey has a limiting latitude value of −27◦, which was in turn set as a limit for the project. A further limiting distance of 125 Mpc was also set, within which HyperLEDA extragalactic database was used to compile a sample of bright galaxies. A check was carried out to ensure both supernovae and galaxies were within the imposed limits with a final 307 supernovae and 56,903 galaxies and, using the Globular Cluster Luminosity Factor (GCLF) methodology from Jord´an et al. (2007), a figure of 31,679 visible globular clusters was estimated. PanSTARRS and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging was used to view the supernova coordinates before and after the supernova event, with an image of the supernova also included from ZTF archives. No definite supernova was seen to occur in a globular cluster, but there were noted instances of correspondence between 3 supernovae and 3 potential Ultra Compact Dwarfs (UCDs) or compact Elliptical galaxies (cEs). The figures found from the project provided a supernova rate for the volume of 1.47 × 10−5 yr−1 Mpc−3 and an upper limit on the globular cluster supernova rate of 2.52 × 10−12 yr−1M−1⊙ . We feel that this is not yet a strong limit due to the small number of globular clusters
surveyed, but are confident that it forms a sound basis for rapid increase in the following years using the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
Unravelling Emotions in the Dark Tourism Experience: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis
Get PDFSince 1996 the subject of dark tourism was gaining an increasing interest among academics and practitioners. That does not mean that sites of or connected with death did not exist in the literature before, but labelling it somehow allowed the wider public to understand and conform to that term.
Death was fascinating humans for centuries, and if the death occurred rapidly, or as a result of disaster, macabre, muss-murder, or in the other significant way then people for various purposes wanted to “see it for themselves” and participate in safe presence around death. What they took with them as an experience became an interest of the proposed research.
This thesis is aimed to explain visitors’ emotions within dark tourism experiences with the focus on two Holocaust locations. Extermination camps are treated by many authors as pinnacles of dark tourism; they demonstrate the biggest genocide that happened within living memories. In many cases they are able to display the authentic tools which enabled annihilation of the prisoners of Nazi regime.
Although brutal in a message they try to portray, the concentration camps are now museums with as many as 2 million visitors a year. As motives of visiting former concentration camps has been sufficiently covered in the literature, the issue of emotions and overall experience of visitors stays still uninformed. This thesis will attempt to define main emotions declared by visitors of two former extermination camps: Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau. The element of comparison between both camps is perceived as a valuable contribution to the knowledge of dark tourism emotions and may possess an important managerial implication for executives at both camps.
The research also attempts to display emotions in a wider scope of tourism experience, both concentration camps were able to carry high educational and transformational experience, hence looking at the experience solely through the lenses of emotions could be misleading.
Finally, the findings of this thesis also indicate that both positive and negative emotions are experienced simultaneously during the visit. In addition, both types of emotions were found to have a positive association with the quality of the experience
Asking for more information: Can recognition-based enhancements (RBE) made to internal facial features produce more accurate composites?
Get PDFResearch focused around investigative interviewing techniques demonstrate that offering witnesses multiple opportunities to retrieve information about a crime can, considerably, improve the accuracy of information recalled from memory. However, this advantageous effect has yet to be explored in the context of composite construction. Taking this gap into consideration, the primary objective of this thesis is to investigate whether providing witnesses with further opportunity to make recognition-based enhancements (RBE) to the internal facial features of a composite, leads to subsequent improvements in composite accuracy. Across four experiments, participants were presented with an unfamiliar target face (for 60 seconds) and then constructed a composite (Experiment 1, 2 and 3: 24 hours later; Experiment 4: 3-4 hours later). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four Accumulated EvoFIT Stages (AEFS), each offering a different level of opportunity to make RBE to the face: AEFS A: involved choosing the “best” face from arrays: AEFS B: involved AEFS A, plus use of Holistic Scales: AEFS C: involved AEFS B, plus use of the Shape Tool: AEFS D: involved AEFS C, plus use of Holistic Scales for internal facial features. Experiment 1, 2 and 3 revealed that composites constructed with fewer opportunities to make RBE to internal facial features, tended to have a stronger likeness towards the target face. However, Experiment 4 revealed a noteworthy finding that, when used in combination with a holistic-cognitive interview (H-CI) and a short retention interval (3-4 hours), composites constructed with a greater opportunity to make RBE produced more accurate composites. The series of experiments suggest that the incorporation of particular interviewing techniques, and the careful optimisation of timing, can substantially enhance the accuracy of facial composites. An implication drawn from these findings is that the most accurate composites were produced when a retention interval of 3-4 hours was adopted, a timeframe that may not always be achievable to replicate in a real-world setting due to police resources