65463 research outputs found
Sort by
A 3D data processing pipeline to automatically estimate tree dendrometric parameters from a single mobile phone video
No full textMeasurement of tree dendrometric parameters, such as height or trunk diameter at breast height (DBH), has been facilitated in the last decade using handheld devices such as smartphones or tablet computers. However, the solutions so far often require manual interaction, specific expertise or advanced technology. We present a simple and fully automatic method to compute the height, DBH and crown volume of individual urban trees using a single RGB video taken with any kind of device. It uses Structure-from-Motion to build a 3D point cloud from the video, scale it, isolate the tree within the cloud and fit geometric models to the trunk and the crown. In testing with a variety of tree taxa and sizes, the method accurately measures DBH and height and is robust to most environmental and video-recording parameters. This makes it suitable for use by expert and non-expert surveyors and a wide range of applications, including in citizen or community science
Using Charitable Donations to Rebuild Corporate Reputation Following Controversies
Get PDFWe examine the consequences of controversies on corporate reputation and identify a strategy that companies often adopt to restore their trust relationships with stakeholders in the aftermath of media condemnation. In the post-controversy period, firms appear to use a bolstering strategy of engaging more actively in philanthropic activities. In terms of regaining reputation, as measured by the increase in the Britain’s Most Admired Companies ranking, such strategy proves to be ineffectual. This may be because charitable giving in such context could be viewed as superficial virtue signaling rather than a fundamental change in the company’s ethical stance
The semiotic remediation of hardtack biscuits during World War One
Get PDFThis study offers the first detailed examination of the materiality of World War One hardtack biscuits – a dense biscuit made from flour, water and salt, which was a key component of ration packs for both Australian and British soldiers. It is specifically concerned with the types of repurposing – or acts of semiotic remediation – that take place, their broader sociocultural functions and the semiotic resources drawn upon to make meaning. Using a combination of multimodal analysis and archival research, it identifies five key acts of semiotic remediation by soldiers – declarations of ownership, letters, diary entries, photo frames and objets d’arts – which showcase hardtacks as unique, unmediated resources for understanding WW1 experiences. It also notes the frequent use of humour as a coping mechanism, as well as the important memorialisation function of hardtacks, acquiring symbolic values disproportionate to their everyday value for bereaved families. Hardtacks, thus, stand as a testimony to the resourcefulness of humans in trying circumstances, holding a wealth of knowledge on the aestheticisation of war that no living person possesses
The architecture of floral diversity: a bipartite network of flower morphology in the Neotropical rainforest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama
No full textFlower morphology varies greatly between different plant taxa, and the variety of flower types has stimulated a number of different approaches to the analysis of floral form. In this paper we have thought of flower morphology as a network, with individual morphological characters and taxa linked as a system. We scored the flowers of 951 species of plants in a Neotropical rainforest (Barro Colorado Island, Panama) for 9 discrete characters that have a total of 35 character states and constructed a bipartite network connecting nodes representing species to nodes representing morphological characters. The basic unit of this bipartite network is a single node that is connected to nine other nodes: a star. The creation of larger networks results in variation in network architecture, which arises as a consequence of the patterns of connectivity between taxa and morphological characters. We find that the network of BCI flower morphology is characterised by disassortative mixing in which nodes with high degree are preferentially connected to nodes with low degree. From an architectural perspective this is a consequence of the prevalence of stars in our networks. The floral characters we have analysed here are distributed non-randomly among five plant groups on BCI: herbs, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs and trees. Trees show a negative association with sympetaly, zygomorphy and epigyny while herbs show the opposite patterns of association. From an ecological perspective this means that the most common individual characters are only rarely combined into a single flower
A bagging ensemble machine learning method for imbalanced data to predict anxiety disorders and analyze risk factors in older people: An observational study
No full textAnxiety disorders rank among the most prevalent mental health problems. Older people are more susceptible to anxiety disorders due to factors such as chronic illness and health conditions, financial insecurity, social isolation and loneliness. The high risk and prevalence of anxiety disorders underscore the need for effective mental healthcare. Artificial intelligence has gained popularity in the diagnosis and prediction of medical conditions and diseases, including mental health problems. In this study we developed an adapted bagging ensemble machine learning system that can be used for the diagnosis and prediction of anxiety disorders and can address the challenges posed by extremely imbalanced data from the Trinity-Ulster-Department of Agriculture (TUDA) study. Statistical techniques are used to identify the risk factors for anxiety disorders. Feature selection and feature engineering were conducted based on the analysis of biomarker risk factors. We constructed balanced subsets in the training dataset, and built weak learner models in parallel for each of the constructed balanced subsets. During the testing phase, a held-out test set was used to assess the system’s performance by passing through all the sub-models, concatenating the prediction results of all sub-models, and making a final prediction through voting based on a decision threshold. Five machine learning methods have been used in the developed system to build weak learner sub-models, yielding promising prediction results. Some risk factors were identified. These findings will benefit the early prediction of anxiety disorders in our future studies
The use of technology by organisations to enhance social and environmental sustainability: framing and research agenda
No full textPurpose This study aims to explore the current state of research into the use of technology by organisations to enhance social and environmental sustainability and develops a research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach The authors discuss the types of technology that can be used by organisations to enhance social and environmental sustainability. The authors then introduce and discuss 11 papers selected for this special issue, which cover a wide range of social and environmental issues and reflect a variety of different organisational, cultural and economic settings. The authors reflect on these papers in terms of their overall contribution to literature and practice, develop a conceptual framework for how they link to the firm life cycle and develop a research agenda.
Findings Three themes emerge which reflect how and why technology is being used within organisations: to improve efficiency and innovation, to improve governance and to improve decision-making. The authors reflect on these themes in the context of recent exponential advances in artificial intelligence and consider and discuss the social and environmental risks posed by such technological advances.
Practical implications The authors discuss the practical implications of using technology for enhancing social and environmental sustainability in organisations, providing insights relevant to practitioners and policymakers.
Social implications This study’s discussion considers the broader social implications of integrating technology into business practices, highlighting risks and emphasising the need for further research in this area.
Originality/value The authors provide an overview of the current research landscape on the use of technology for social and environmental sustainability, categorise and discuss the special issue contributions and propose future research directions. The authors present a new conceptual framework that links the topics addressed in this special issue to the life cycle of the firm
Prediction of outdoor ground effect
No full textA classification of outdoor ground surfaces for calculating the attenuation due to destructive interference between direct and ground-reflected sound is proposed which uses a physically admissible ground impedance model with parameters of porosity, flow resistivity, and, for some ground surfaces, layer depth. This impedance model is shown to enable good fits to short range level difference measurements over a wide range of ground surfaces. Ranges of parameter values are suggested in each class to allow for variations in soil depth profiles, moisture content and surface roughness. Also, methods are proposed to account for mean ground roughness heights of less than 0.1 m and for waves on a water surface. The influence of atmospheric turbulence on ground effect is included through a coherence factor which assumes a Kolmogorov turbulence spectrum with parameters for which values can be calculated if heat flux and friction velocity are known. To account for changes in impedance along the propagation path, a Fresnel zone method is proposed which weights pressures squared since this method has been shown to compare better with 2D Boundary Element Method predictions than a method that weights excess attenuation
