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CanFuUI:a Canvas-centric web user interface for iterative image generation with diffusion models and ControlNet
No full textToday, various AI generation tools are emerging in succession. And the majority of existing tools are predominantly model-centric in design, resulting in steep learning curves and high usability thresholds for users. Moreover, current user interfaces lack built-in image editing capabilities, forcing users to rely on external software even for basic image editing tasks. Considering that most image generation is an iterative process, this limitation significantly hampers user experience and creative potential. Instead, this paper proposes a novel canvas-centric design that seamlessly integrates editing functionalities into the UI called CanFuUI, streamlining secondary image processing. Users can crop, modify, and annotation of specific regions of generated images within the same canvas in CanFuUI. Furthermore, canvas content is utilized as preprocessed images, directly integrated into the ControlNet preprocessing procedure, reinforcing the customization capabilities of AI-generated outputs
Policy and practice in increasing BME teachers’ access to ITE and a leadership career in the teaching profession in England
No full textIn 2018 the Department for Education (DfE) in England published its “Statement of Intent” to make the teacher workforce more diverse. This included increasing the number of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) teachers and those in headship/principal positions in English schools (DfE, Statement of intent on the diversity of the teaching workforce. DfE. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diversity-of-the-teaching-workforce-statement-of-intent. Accessed 2 Sept 2020, 2018). Through critical analysis of the “Statement of Intent” policy initiative, this chapter explores the policy implications for making the teacher workforce more ethnically diverse and what this means in practice for schools and teacher education and focuses on policy enablers and inhibitors in this process. To understand the ethnic makeup of the teacher workforce the chapter provides insight into the numbers, positions, and experiences of BME teachers/leaders in England together with how BME teachers are conceptualized in English schools. An integral part of the discussion concerns the recruitment strategies employed by governments with different political perspectives vis-à-vis ethnic diversity in teaching and learning. This framing facilitates understanding of British government efforts to foster an ethnically diverse teacher workforce, and changes in initial teacher education (ITE) set out for the preparation of new preservice teachers. Contextualizing the ethnicity of the teacher workforce in England is salient to understanding any implications for the recruitment and development of future BME teachers and senior school leaders. Equally important, the chapter considers what does the UK government’s desire to produce “brilliant teachers” through “high-quality initial teacher training” mean in practice for BME preservice teachers
Swarm robot SLAM with point-line matching in weak information environments
No full textSimultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) in weak information environment scenarios where there are only sparse and ambiguous references are available presents significant challenges. This paper introduces a swarm robots based point-line matching based solution to enhance the accuracy and robustness of localization and mapping within such environments. Our approach employs a centralized serverbased architecture for the swarm robot system and utilizes an ORB-based Distributed Bag-of-Words (DBoW) algorithm to construct point and line feature dictionaries. By generating point-line pairs, the proposed method effectively addresses perceptual overlap issues, thereby improving the overall performance of localization and mapping for swarm robots. Experimental results validate the superiority of the proposed approach in comparison to traditional methods, highlighting its potential for real-world applications in challenging environments for swarm robot SLAM
A horizon scan of issues affecting UK forest management within 50 years
Get PDFForests are in the spotlight: they are expected to play a pivotal role in our response to society's greatest challenges, such as the climate and biodiversity crises. Yet, the forests themselves, and the sector that manages them, face a range of interrelated threats and opportunities. Many of these are well understood, even if the solutions remain elusive. However, there are also emerging trends that are currently less widely appreciated. We report here the results of a horizon scan to identify developing issues likely to affect UK forest management within the next 50 years. These are issues that are presently under-recognized but have potential for significant impact across the sector and beyond. As the forest management sector naturally operates over long timescales, the importance of using good foresight is self-evident. We followed a tried-and-tested horizon scanning methodology involving a diverse Expert Panel to collate and prioritize a longlist of 180 issues. The top 15 issues identified are presented in the Graphical Abstract. The issues represent a diverse range of themes, within a spectrum of inf luences from environmental shocks and perturbations to changing political and socio-economic drivers, with complex emerging interactions between them. The most highly ranked issue was 'Catastrophic forest ecosystem collapse', ref lecting agreement that not only is such collapse a likely prospect but it would also have huge implications across the sector and wider society. These and many of the other issues are large scale, with far-reaching implications. We must be careful to avoid inaction through being overwhelmed, or indeed to merely focus on 'easy wins' without considering broader ramifications. Our responses to each of the challenges and opportunities highlighted must be synergistic and coherent, involving landscape-scale planning. A more adaptive approach to forest management will be essential, encouraging continual innovation and learning. The 15 horizon scan issues presented here are a starting point on which to build further research, prompt debate and action, and develop evidence-based policy and practice. We hope that this stimulates greater recognition of how our forests and sector may need to change to be fit for the future. In some cases, these changes will need to be fundamental and momentous.</p
Stress and work performance responses to a multicomponent intervention for reducing and breaking up sitting in office workers: a cluster randomized controlled trial
No full textObjective: The aim of the study is to explore the potential of a sitting reduction workplace intervention for improving stress and work performance. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated an intervention to reduce and break up occupational sitting in 12 clusters ( n = 89 office workers) over 8 weeks. Outcomes were physiological stress (cortisol concentrations), perceived stress, and work performance. Results: Linear mixed model group × time interaction effects were nonsignificant. Exploratory analyses showed a trend, with a large effect, for lower cortisol concentrations over the day in the intervention group relative to controls at 8 weeks (-0.85; 95% confidence interval, -1.70 to 0.03 nmol·L -1 ; P = 0.06, d = 0.79). The intervention group had higher vigor and cognitive liveliness at 8 weeks relative to controls ( P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that there could be meaningful changes in physiological stress and work-related outcomes that should be investigated in future studies
Slicing mechanism deployment in 5G networks for robotic use cases
No full textRobotics is a rapidly growing field that is set to play an important role in automating many activities. The requirements that a robot can have for effective use can have large appeals. For example, in the case of its use for transport applications where it moves between people and vehicles, it is necessary to connect to a network with extremely low latency so that its reaction is immediate. In contrast, applications such as video transmission and recording and sending data require high throughput. The different demands on network resources lead to the need to implement flexible networks that can guarantee the necessary resources in the most efficient and reliable way. Slicing is a network capability that can provide specific network characteristics and can be implemented in different 5G network domain elements such as Radio Access Network (RAN), 5G Core or end-to-end. This paper presents the slicing mechanism that was implemented to be utilized for the needs of the use cases described in the 5G-ERA research project. In phase 1 of the implementation, which is described, slicing is focused on the packet core of the network that was integrated based on 5G SA Rel. 16 architecture
A graphical derivation and statistical evaluation of simplified polynomials to determine vapour pressure deficit for use in ultra-low power microcontroller applications
No full textThe aim of this work has been to derive and statistically evaluate the accuracy of second-order and third-order polynomials to determine vapour pressure deficit (VPD). These polynomials take air temperature and relative humidity measurements to determine VPD without the use of an exponential function, as proposed by F W Murray in 1967. Replacing the exponential function with a 2nd or 3rd order polynomial may be beneficial in ultra-low power microcontroller-based measurement applications where; code size, memory usage and power requirements are critical design drivers. However, oversimplification may impact precision. This work presents alternative 2nd order and 3rd order equations that have been derived from a Murray equation dataset where VPD isothermal datasets were plotted against relative humidity. These linear relationships allow y = mx + c analysis where, (i) 'c' can be set to zero with a offset in the relative humidity data, and, (ii) 'm' can be derived from a 2nd or 3rd order polynomial where 'm' = f(T) and is derived using Excel-based fitting of the gradients from the isothermal datasets. The resulting 'm' = f(T) 2nd and 3rd order polynomials presented R2 values of 0.998 04 and 0.999 98 respectively. A Bland-Altman statistical assessment was performed, where the Murray equation (reference) dataset is plotted against the difference between the reference and polynomial datasets using the same air temperature and relative humidity inputs. The difference datasets presented 2-sigma (95% confidence interval) variances for the 2nd and 3rd order polynomials as <±0.1 kPa and <±0.01 kPa respectively. The 2nd and 3rd order polynomials also resulted in a bias values of <0.0037 kPa and <0.0013 kPa respectively. These results suggest that a 3rd order polynomial equation could be used to determine VPD in ultra-low-power microcontroller measurement applications, with minimal impact on VPD measurement precision
A comprehensive review on food waste reduction based on IoT and Big Data technologies
Get PDFFood waste reduction, as a major application area of the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data technologies, has become one of the most pressing issues. In recent years, there has been an unprecedented increase in food waste, which has had a negative impact on economic growth in many countries. Food waste has also caused serious environmental problems. Agricultural production, post-harvest handling, and storage, as well as food processing, distribution, and consumption, can all lead to food wastage. This wastage is primarily caused by inefficiencies in the food supply chain and a lack of information at each stage of the food cycle. In order to minimize such effects, the Internet of Things, big data-based systems, and various management models are used to reduce food waste in food supply chains. This paper provides a comprehensive review of IoT and big data-based food waste management models, algorithms, and technologies with the aim of improving resource efficiency and highlights the key challenges and opportunities for future research
The attachment relationship between hostel-based homeless individuals and their keyworkers
Get PDFResearch on the relationship between individuals experiencing homelessness and their keyworkers from an attachment perspective is scarce. In Study 1, 84 young individuals experiencing homelessness and their keyworkers completed measures of attachment, post-traumatic stress, and work-related distress. Hierarchical regression indicated that secure attachment with the keyworker was independently predicted by failed protection and goal-corrected partnership. Preoccupied attachment with the keyworker was predicted by fear of parental loss and client post-traumatic stress while avoidant attachment to the keyworker was predicted by goal-corrected partnership. These findings suggested that the relationship between youth experiencing homelessness and hostel staff was linked with the formers’ attachment experiences with their caregivers. In Study 2, 46 homeless individuals undergoing psychological therapy completed measures of attachment and psychopathology before and after treatment. Moderated hierarchical regression suggested that individuals experiencing homelessness who tended to be avoidantly attached to their keyworkers had relatively limited improvement in post-traumatic stress after therapy. Present studies identified specific ways in which the attachment system is implicated in the homeless-keyworker relationship
'A team around the child': professionals' experiences of unmet needs, access and expectations in children's palliative care services, a phenomenological study in the UK
Get PDFThis study aims to understand the experiences of professionals involved in caring for families of children with life-limiting illnesses to ascertain unmet needs, access issues and expectations of services.A phenomenological approach comprising semi-structured interviews with professionals from various services was used. Interviews that happened between July and November 2018 were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed based on descriptive phenomenology.In total, 29 interviews were conducted. Findings showed how essential collaborative working was for becoming a team around the child. Barriers to this include complex working relationships, overprotectiveness of families, roles and responsibilities and use of independent care records. The pressures of waiting times and the impact of staffing shortages affected the experiences of providing care. The reality of meeting families' expectations was shaped by family networking, online research and previous services resistance, which was influential in more challenging interactions. Expectations of care were also impacted by misunderstandings and anxieties surrounding access to services. Overall, professionals were concerned about families being used as a bottomless caring resource and stressed the need for short breaks to alleviate parents.Interventions that educate families and professionals on these services and how they can benefit the child and family would be well received
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