82 research outputs found
Towards automatic estimation of conversation floors within F-formations
No full textThe detection of free-standing conversing groups has received significant attention in recent years. In the absence of a formal definition, most studies operationalize the notion of a conversation group either through a spatial or a temporal lens. Spatially, the most commonly used representation is the F-formation, defined by social scientists as the configuration in which people arrange themselves to sustain an interaction. However, the use of this representation is often accompanied with the simplifying assumption that a single conversation occurs within an F-formation. Temporally, various categories have been used to organize conversational units; these include, among others, turn, topic, and floor. Some of these concepts are hard to define objectively by themselves. The present work constitutes an initial exploration into unifying these perspectives by primarily posing the question: can we use the observation of simultaneous speaker turns to infer whether multiple conversation floors exist within an F-formation? We motivate a metric for the existence of distinct conversation floors based on simultaneous speaker turns, and provide an analysis using this metric to characterize conversations across F-formations of varying cardinality. We contribute two key findings: firstly, at the average speaking turn duration of about two seconds for humans, there is evidence for the existence of multiple floors within an F-formation; and secondly, an increase in the cardinality of an F-formation correlates with a decrease in duration of simultaneous speaking turns.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatic
Using and evaluating CASE tools : from software engineering to phenomenology
Get PDFCASE (Computer-Aided Systems Engineering) is a recent addition to the long line of
"silver bullets" that promise to transform information systems development, delivering
new levels of quality and productivity. CASE is particularly intriguing because
information systems (IS) practitioners spend their working lives applying information
technology (IT) to other people's work, and now they are applying it to themselves.
CASE research to date has been dominated by accounts of tool development,
normative writings (for example practitioner success stories) and surveys recording
IT specialists' perceptions. There have been very few in-depth studies of tool use,
and very few attempts to quantify benefits, therefore the essence of the CASE process
remains largely unexplored, and the views of stakeholders other than the IT specialists
have yet to be heard.
The research presented here addresses these concerns by adopting a hybrid research
approach combining action research, grounded theory and phenoinenology and using
both qualitative and quantitative data in order to tell the story of a system developer's
experience in using CASE tools in three information systems projects for a major UK
car manufacturer over a four year period. The author was the lead developer on all
three projects. Action research is a learning process, the researcher is an explorer.
At the start of this project it was assumed that the tools would be the focus of the
work. As the research progressed it became evident that the tools were but part of
a richer organisational context in which culture, politics, history, external initiatives
and cognitive limitations played important roles. The author continued to record
experiences and impressions of tool use in the project diary together with quality and
productivity metrics. But the diary also became home to a story of organisational
developments that had not originally been foreseen.
The principal contribution made by the work is to identity the narrow positivistic
nature of CASE knowledge, and to show via the research stories the overwhelming
importance of organisational context to systems development success and how the
exploration of context is poorly supported by the tools. Sixteen further contributions
are listed in the Conclusions to the thesis, including a major extension to Wynekoop
and Conger's CASE research taxonomy, an identification of the potentially
misleading nature of quantitative IS assessment and further evidence of the limitations
of the "scientific" approach to systems development.
The thesis is completed by two proposals for further work. The first seeks to
advance IS theory by developing further a number of emerging process models of IS
development. The second seeks to advance IS practice by asking the question "How
can CASE tools be used to stimulate awareness and debate about the effects of
organisational context?", and outlines a programme of research in this area
Dynamics using LSTMs
No full textIn this paper, we investigate the use of proxemics and dynamics for automatically identifying conversing groups, or so-called F-formations. More formally we aim to automatically identify whether wearable sensor data coming from 2 people is indicative of F-formation membership. We also explore the problem of jointly detecting membership and more descriptive information about the pair relating to the role they take in the conversation (i.e. speaker or listener). We jointly model the concepts of proxemics and dynamics using binary proximity and acceleration obtained through a single wearable sensor per person. We test our approaches on the publicly available MatchNMingle dataset which was collected during real-life mingling events. We find out that fusion of these two modalities performs significantly better than them independently, providing an AUC of 0.975 when data from 30-second windows are used. Furthermore, our investigation into roles detection shows that each role pair requires a different time resolution for accurate detection.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatic
Robust and prototypical immune responses toward COVID-19 vaccine in First Nations peoples are impacted by comorbidities.
Get PDFHigh-risk groups, including Indigenous people, are at risk of severe COVID-19. Here we found that Australian First Nations peoples elicit effective immune responses to COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccination, including neutralizing antibodies, receptor-binding domain (RBD) antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific B cells, and CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. In First Nations participants, RBD IgG antibody titers were correlated with body mass index and negatively correlated with age. Reduced RBD antibodies, spike-specific B cells and follicular helper T cells were found in vaccinated participants with chronic conditions (diabetes, renal disease) and were strongly associated with altered glycosylation of IgG and increased interleukin-18 levels in the plasma. These immune perturbations were also found in non-Indigenous people with comorbidities, indicating that they were related to comorbidities rather than ethnicity. However, our study is of a great importance to First Nations peoples who have disproportionate rates of chronic comorbidities and provides evidence of robust immune responses after COVID-19 vaccination in Indigenous people.Wuji Zhang, Lukasz Kedzierski, Brendon Y. Chua, Mark Mayo, Claire Lonzi, Vanessa Rigas, Bianca F. Middleton, Hayley A. McQuilten, Louise C. Rowntree, Lilith F. Allen, Ruth A. Purcell, Hyon-Xhi Tan, Jan Petersen, Priyanka Chaurasia, Francesca Mordant, Mikhail V. Pogorelyy, Anastasia A. Minervina, Jeremy Chase Crawford, Griffith B. Perkins, Eva Zhang, Stephanie Gras, E. Bridie Clemens, Jennifer A. Juno, Jennifer Audsley, David S. Khoury, Natasha E. Holmes, Irani Thevarajan, Kanta Subbarao, Florian Krammer, Allen C. Cheng, Miles P. Davenport, Branka Grubor-Bauk, P. Toby Coates, Britt Christensen, Paul G. Thomas, Adam K. Wheatley, Stephen J. Kent, Jamie Rossjohn, Amy W. Chung, John Boffa, Adrian Miller, Sarah Lynar, Jane Nelson, Thi H. O. Nguyen, Jane Davies, Katherine Kedziersk
Mind to screen : the conveyance of disordered mental states in film
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the way in which film as a specific medium is capable of
communicating a subjectivity that is troubled or otherwise compromised by
mental illness. It is traditionally held that the written word is a far more suitable
medium for communicating interiority than the medium of film, as the word is
characterised as complex, abstract and conceptual, whilst the image is
characterised as straightforward, obvious and concrete. This thesis will argue,
however, that the medium of film is entirely capable of dealing with the abstract
and conceptual, and can in fact construct extremely complex frameworks of
subjectivity due to its multitrack character. Using detailed textual analysis, I will
interrogate the way in which film utilises the multiple channels available to it
(the visual, verbal, and aural) to create complex systems of meaning.
Due to the tendency of filmmakers to appeal to literary sources for guidance
when conveying mental states, the issue of adaptation is crucial to my entry into
this discussion. My corpus primarily consists of films that are based on literary
accounts of troubled subjectivity (either biographical or fictional). My thesis will
compare and contrast filmic and literary conveyances of mental illness to
establish the symbols, metaphors and analogies that communicate complex
interiority. My key case studies are: A Scanner Darkly (dir. Richard Linklater,
2006), Clean, Shaven (dir. Lodge Kerrigan, 1993), A Beautiful Mind (dir. Ron
Howard, 2001), Fight Club (dir. David Fincher, 1999), Secret Window (dir.
David Koepp, 2004), The Hours (dir. Stephen Daldry, 2002), and A Single
Man (dir. Tom Ford, 2008).
This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by generating alternative
readings of these films that take into account the multitrack character of the
medium. These readings will highlight the specific techniques and vocabularies
that are drawn on and developed to communicate disordered interiority
Bottom-up approaches: the contribution of marine benthos to management, conservation and monitoring; taking stock, and setting research direction
No full text No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author. Conveners: Silvana Birchenough (United Kingdom), Ingrid Kröncke (Germany), Steven Degraer (Belgium).CM 2018/F:126. Risk, politics, and science: a new approach to monitoring UK marine benthic ecosystems. Hayley Hinchen, Yessica Griffiths, Henk van ReinCM 2018/F:527. Bottom-up approaches: the contribution of marine benthos to management,conservation and monitoring, taking stock and setting research direction. Maarten Platteeuw, Maarten de Jong, Aylin Erkman, Suzanne Lubbe, Marijke Warnas, Ingeborg van SplunderCM 2018/F:380. MARLIN – a large-scale/high resolution information system as a backbone for marine management. Gregor von Halem, Jennifer Dannheim, Jan Beermann, Mathias Robeck, Anne ElsnerCM 2018/F:599. Global hotspots of seahorse richness and extinction risks. Rui Rosa, Inês Bom, Catarina Santos, Catarina Frazão-SantosCM 2018/F:318. Using underwater video to assess megabenthic community vulnerability to trawling in the Grande Vasiere (Bay of Biscay). MERILLET Laurène, MOUCHET Maud, ROBERT Marianne, SALAUN Michèle, VAZ Sandrine, KOPP DorothéeCM 2018/F:429. Comparison of functional and structural long-term variability of south-eastern North Sea macrofauna communities in relation to environmental parameters. Julia Meyer, Ingrid KrönckeCM 2018/F:128. Trophic positions of coastal consumers, determined using trophic mass-balance modelling and stable isotope analyses. Rasa Morkūnė, Egidijus Bacevičius, Artūras Razinkovas-BaziukasCM 2018/F:310. Benthic epifauna long-term trends in the North Sea from 1998 to 2018. Hermann Neumann, Ingrid KrönckeCM 2018/F:383. Recent findings about benthic non-indigenous species in the ports of the southern part of the Baltic Sea. Mara Harju, Monta Grudcina, Solvita StrakeCM 2018/F:99. Intertidal salt-marsh creeks: benthos-rich feeding grounds for fish. Julia Friese, Axel Temming, Andreas DänhardtCM 2018/F408:. Effects of fisheries closures on seafloor integrity: a modelling example from the German part of the North Sea. Diekmann, R., Neumann, H., Rambo, H., Kröncke, I., Stelzenmüller, V.CM 2018/F:. Evaluating the risk of vulnerable marine ecosystems in arctic and sub-arctic waters to commercial fisheries. J.M. Burgos, L. Buhl-Mortensen, P. Buhl-Mortensen, S.H. Ólafsdóttir, P. Steingrund, S.Á. RagnarssonCM 2018/F:283. Spatial variability in benthic community structure along benthoscapes in offshore Canadian waters: implications for monitoring. Myriam Lacharité, Craig J. BrownCM 2018/F:162. Estimating sensitivity of seabed habitats to disturbance by bottom trawling based on the longevity of benthic fauna. Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Stefan G. Bolam, Clement Garcia, Jan Geert Hiddink, Niels T. Hintzen, P. Daniel van Denderen, Tobias van Kooten</p
Using the Business Classroom to Help Fe y Alegría- Bolivia Schools with Analytics and Pattern Visualizatio
No full textThis article describes the analytical support a Saint Joseph’s University (SJU) data mining class provided over the past three academic years to Fe y Alegría in Bolivia (FyAB), a Jesuit-sponsored institution dedicated to the education of the poor and looking for a feasible model that could help them identify which students and schools have the most need. SJU undergraduates, working without viable socio-economic household income information for each student in the database, had to be creative in assisting FyAB using only survey data provided by Bolivian school-age pupils. Working in consultation with FyAB school representatives, their goal for each iteration was twofold: 1) create a model that provides evidence, given current sample data, of the students most in need and 2) expand it for application across the larger population of FyAB schools. Such work exemplifies, as noted by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015), the importance of equality and justice in education as instruments toward sustainability. This article thus provides context for, and a historical background of, this ongoing initiative, and describes its specific characteristics. It reviews sequential cohorts of students by semester, how the requests, focus, and models evolved with new and changing issues, and concludes by sharing a system SJU students created in the fall of 2017—an innovative web-based and easily updated visualization tool that allows for very efficient examination of survey answers—to help make initial analyses easier for those looking to implement immediate student outreach initiatives in Bolivia
Development of surface replacement prostheses for the proximal interphalangeal and metacarpo phalangeal joints
Get PDFThere were two main aims of the project. A surface replacement prosthesis was previously designed at the University of Durham for the metacarpo-phalangeal joint (MCPJ). Tools were required to assess the joint prosthesis pre-operatively and postoperatively. The areas of assessment which the author was involved in were joint stiffness and a self-assessment questionnaire. The Durham arthrograph had previously been used for many clinical trials to assess joint stiffness objectively. However, the computer system was not portable. Hence a new computer system was developed, in Lab VIEW, for a lap-top computer. Ten normal individuals were assessed to validate the system. A questionnaire was also developed for patients to self-assess the performance of their joints. The questionnaire assessed parameters such as range of movement, hand strength, stiffness and pain on visual analogue scales. The difficulty in performing activities of daily living were assessed on simple descriptive scales. The second part of the project was to develop a surface replacement prosthesis for the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ). Since there was inadequate information in the literature on the architecture of the PEPJ bearing surfaces and phalangeal bone shafts, a detailed study was performed on the bones from 83 PIPJs. Proximal and middle phalangeal bones were dissected, modelled in bone cement, sectioned and shadowgraphed. The shadowgraphs were measured and models of the proximal phalangeal heads were produced. These models were then used to design four PIPJ surface replacement prostheses over a range of sizes which covered 97.6% of the sample population of PIPJs. It was proposed that the MCPJ and PIPJ prostheses would be made entirely from cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). Hence wear tests on pin-on-plate apparatuses were carried out to investigate the wear characteristics of XLPE-on-XLPE compared with other biomaterial combinations. The wear of XLPE-on-XLPE was comparable with UHMWPE-on-stainless steel. XLPE-on-stainless steel wore 10 times faster than XLPE-on-XLPE, and UHMWPE-on-UHMWPE wore 100 times faster than XLPE-on- XLPE. Hence it was concluded that all XLPE joint prostheses were feasible as far as the wear considerations were concerned
Avidity of influenza-specific memory CD8+ T-cell populations decays over time compromising antiviral immunity
Get PDFDecline of cell-mediated immunity is often attributed to decaying T-cell numbers and their distribution in peripheral organs. This study examined the hypothesis that qualitative as well as quantitative changes contribute to the declining efficacy of CD8+ T-cell memory. Using a model of influenza virus infection, where loss of protective CD8+ T-cell immunity was observed 6 months postinfection, we found no decline in antigen-specific T-cell numbers or migration to the site of secondary infection. There was, however, a large reduction in antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell degranulation, cytokine secretion, and polyfunctionality. A profound loss of high-avidity T cells over time indicated that failure to confer protective immunity resulted from the inferior functional capacity of remaining low avidity cells. These data imply that high-avidity central memory T cells wane with declining antigen levels, leaving lower avidity T cells with reduced functional capabilities
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